《The Evolution of a Goblin to the Peak》 1 Ive become a goblin Inside a dark room, a young man was playing a virtual game. He was playing the most popular virtual game, Battle World Online. This young man was none other than the greatest player of the game. No one knows his true identity except himself. Many game clubs tried to recruit him but he rejected them all. He doesn''t had any idea that there''s approaching danger. Suddenly, A white light covered his entire room as the virtual capsule, which he resided, exploded alongside him. Boom! No one knows what really happen regarding this incident. The people only know that there''s a person who died in this incident. His soul got sucked by something powerful and escape the cycle of reincarnation. The soul arrived into a completely different world with different systems and laws. ... "Argh!" A skinny green creature slowly opened his eyes. He felt a pain on his head. It feels like someone just smashed his head with a metal bat. "Damn! It hurts!" He pushed himself and sat on the ground. "Huh? Where is this?" He found himself in an unfamiliar place. He looked around him and saw that he was inside a dark place. There''s torches that was place at the walls that barely lit up the room. "Dungeon?" He was extremely familiar with dungeons as he went hundreds of times in different dungeons when he was playing Battle World Online. He slowly stood up then he noticed that his line of sight was somewhat low. He frowned as he looked down and saw his green colored feet. "Huh? What happened to my character?!" He was confused. The color of his skin turned into a dark green color. His arms and legs were thin. It looked like it doesn''t have any flesh. His haired was gone as he found that he became bald. He found out that he became a GOBLIN!! WHAT?!! One of the weakest monsters, a goblin. "Damn! How did I became a goblin? It should be a bug! That''s right, it''s only a bug!" He opened the interface and found that there''s no GM call function. "Damn! What''s wrong with this? I can''t find the GM call function!" He cursed as he looked around the interface. He soon found that there''s no Log Out function. He was stupefied. He stood on his place with a dumbfounded expression. "What''s happening?! Why there''s no Log Out option here?!" "Don''t tell me... I''m trap here inside this game!" He fell on his butt with mixed expression. He held his head with both of his hand as he curled up in the corner of the room. Various thoughts came into his mind. He''s having a hard time accepting this generic plot. After a few dozen minutes, he regained his clarity. He took a deep breath and slapped his face. Pak! He calmed down and he began to observed his surroundings carefully. "That''s right! I still have the game interface! With this there''s a high chance that I could survive in this world." He quickly took a look at the semi transparent screen in front of him. Name: \u003cunnamed\u003e Race: Goblin Level: 1(0/100) Class: ?none? Health: 10/10 Stamina: 3/3 Mana: 2/2 Strength: 3[+] Agility: 6[+] Dexterity: 4[+] Intelligence: 1[+] Vitality: 5[+] Free attribute point(s): 3 Skill(s): [Dash], [Stab] Skill point(s): 1 "As expected of a goblin, it''s basic attributes is too low compare to other race." He sighed when he saw his stats. He saw that he doesn''t have a name and decided to name himself. He opened the interface and type his real name back in earth. Name: Souta Ieshi He nodded when he saw his name on his stats. Next was his race. A goblin. When he think about it, it''s not that there''s no player who choose goblin as their starting race. There''s two type of characters in the game. The Monster type, and the Human and Demi type. Humans and Demi are in the same type. Their basic attributes every level were already fixed but the Monsters were not. That''s one of the advantage of being a Monster type character. A Monster type was weak at the version 1 of the game. The players back then bashed the creators why there''s a type of character like this. But when the Monster type grew in level they became powerful. A Boss like player. And the answer is... "Evolution, huh?" Souta murmured as he rubbed his chin. This was the advantage of being a Monster type character. Every evolution the character stats will increase greatly and the attribute added to each level will also increase. That''s why a high level Monster type character was powerful. The only problem was that the requirement for evolution was hard to acquire. Souta closed his eyes and recalled every information about the Monster type character. "If I''m not wrong the first evolution is level 10 and the evolution of Goblin is Hobgoblin." There''s other hidden evolution but in his case he need to level up faster to protect himself from other monster here. Also, he would need a lot of time if he focused on the other evolution. He was having a hard time remembering those detailed things from the evolution. Now that he think about it, his memory was hazy. It must be the effect having only one intelligence point. He could only remember the basic things in his past life. There''s no function like this in the game. The intelligence stat were supposed to increased his mana. "I will see it at that time if I could complete it." He muttered as he looked at his level. The max level of a goblin was ten. He wouldn''t be able to level up to level 11 without evolving, so evolution was really important. Level 1 to level 10? If he could find a good farming site for lower level then it would only take 3-5 days to reach the maximum level. Let''s move on to the attributes. Souta had 3 free attribute points. He could allocate it to any of his stats. He decided to save it until he met his opponent. Next is the skills. [Dash] Level 1: Increase the movement speed by 10% when running on straight line. Stamina cost: 2 [Stab] Level 1: Increase the piercing effect by 10%. Stamina cost: 2 Souta looked at the description of his skills while rubbing his chin. He could only use this in combat as he only had 3 stamina. He need the right timing to use this skills as there''s only one chance he could use it in a combat. He had one skill points. There''s two ways to level up a skill. One was to repeatedly use the skill to increase it''s proficiency, and the second one was the use of skill points. One skill points could level up any level 1 skill to 2. The higher the level of skill the higher the skill points need. The skills he had were just a basic skills so he wouldn''t waste his skill points for something like this. "I''ve finally know my current strength." Souta stood up as he looked around him. He need a sword to execute the [Stab] skill so this skill was crossed out in his mind. He already finished checking his stats. He''s now going to check the Quest Function. Quest: 1.[Survival]: Survive for five days. Reward: 200 exp and 1 ap(attribute point) 2.[Raid]: Complete the dungeon. Reward: 100 exp, 1 ap, and 1 sp(skill point) There''s only two quest in the quest interface. The [Survival] and [Raid] quest. A hundred exp were enough to let him level up by one. "Complete the dungeon, huh?" Souta decided to check out the monster in this dungeon. "It''s time to check the level of this monster." He slowly walked ahead while looking carefully at his surrounding. Soon, he found a skeleton soldier walking around. "Skeleton soldier, huh?" Souta squinted his eyes as he looked at the skeleton which was armed with weapons. Skeleton soldier was a low level monster. It''s level was between 1-10. It has a low defense but high attack damage. "Let''s do this!" He muttered as he picked up a fist size rock and then he throw it at the side of the skeleton soldier creating a loud "thud" sound. The skeleton soldier turned around when it heard the sound. Souta quickly dashed towards the skeleton soldier when he saw it turned around. He raised his feet and heavily kick the back of the skeleton soldier. Bang! The skeleton soldier stumble forward. Souta wouldn''t give it a chance to recover. He quickly pulled back his fist and launched a barrage of punches. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! He jumped and twisted his body in the mid air. He launched a powerful kick on the skull of the skeleton. Bang! The skeleton soldier flew two meters away from him. Thud! Souta landed on the ground while looking at the skeleton soldier with a grim expression. He was weaker than he imagined. Even after all that the skeleton soldier was still alive. He felt a numbling sensation on both of his hand. "This level of defense, a level 5 skeleton soldier." The skeleton soldier at this time managed to recover from his attack. It raised its sword and slashed it at the goblin. Swoosh! Souta shifted his body and avoided the sword. "That was close!" He once again launched his combo on the skeleton soldier. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! After a few minutes of attacking, he heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding* [You''ve received 52 exp for defeating Skeleton soldier!] "Hu~" Souta wiped the sweat on his forehead. Just fighting a single skeleton soldier consumed all of his stamina. He looked down at the crumbling skeleton on the ground. He picked up the rusty sword before he sat down. [Rusty Sword: +10 damage. Durability: 2/5] He need to rest now as he was already tired after just one battle. After all, he only had 3 stamina. He decided to use his free attribute points right now as he understood from this battle that he wouldn''t last long if he doesn''t increase his attributes. He looked at his stats and added one point on intelligence and two points on strength. He had a sword right now so he could execute his skill, [Stab]. This would raised his combat ability to the next level. A sword coupled with the skill [Stab] were enough for him to defeat the skeleton soldier easier than before. He added strength because he know that his attack could barely damage the skeleton soldier from before. Skeleton soldier was supposed to had weak defense but from his battle before it looks like the skeleton soldier was a tank. "With the rise of my intelligence attribute, I would be able to remember all the things in the games." Souta muttered as he slowly stood up. If it''s like that then he wasn''t trap in a game, instead he transported in another world as a goblin and the system was given to him as a means to survive. There''s also a possibility that he entered the real world inside the game. Well, he wouldn''t know it until he see it with his own two eyes. 2 Soul Blood Earring Souta checked the exp that he received from killing the skeleton soldier. Level: 1(52/100) He only need to kill one skeleton soldier before he level up. He stood up and armed himself with a short rusty sword that he got from the skeleton soldier. He looked ahead and saw that there''s two path in front of him. He pondered what he should choose. In the end, he decided to go to the left path. He couldn''t describe it but this dungeon was somewhat familiar to him. It feels like he came here before. He walked carefully as he stepped forward and entered the left path. The path was dark and the torches on the walls could barely illuminate the area. He already guess that this was the dungeon of an undead monster. The boss of this dungeon must be a powerful skeleton knight or mage. If it''s a lich then there''s no way that he could conquer this dungeon within five days. Lich was a powerful undead and it''s level hover between thirty to forty. It was a boss type monster that can be found in high level dungeon. He still wasn''t sure if this was a high level dungeon just from seeing one skeleton soldier. But... the system wouldn''t give him such a low reward if this was really a high level dungeon. It must be a low level dungeon if he would receive such reward. One must know that the higher the reward the more dangerous the quest. Souta saw a corpse of a goblin laying down in the pool of blood. He had an idea that the group of goblin tried to invade this dungeon but were killed in the process. That''s must be the reason why his body(goblin) was inside this dungeon when he woke up. "This smell is making me puke." Souta pinched his nose. The goblin smells like a rotten fish. It''s not his first time smelling this kind of thing. The virtual reality could made the people feel like they were really in another world. The game could copy a person''s five senses and Souta would set it to the maximum so that he could really feel that he was in another world. He could smell the blood, feel the wind, and saw the bloody scene inside the game like they were real. The other people would at least turn off their sense of pain or red blood but he wasn''t. When someone cut him in the game he would feel extreme pain, and when he cut someone in the game he would also see the bloody scene that he made. He ignored the corpse as he walked ahead of it. Then, he saw a wooden door five meters away from him. He slowly approached it while carefully looking if there''s any trap. He placed his palm on the door and slowly pushed it. He took a peek inside and saw that there were three skeleton soldiers inside the room. "Three at the same time? I could handle it as I have a sword now and could use the skill [Stab]." Souta muttered while looking at the sword in his hand. He went inside the room without making any sound. He doesn''t want to alert the skeleton soldiers yet. He need to swiftly take out one of the skeleton soldiers to decrease the burden on fighting them. He observed the three skeleton soldiers as he clenched his fingers around the handle of the sword. "One... Two... Three... Go!" Souta pounced at one of the skeleton soldiers. He quickly raised his sword above his head and swiftly swung it down at the skeleton soldier. Bang!! "Die!" Souta then pulled back his sword and used [Stab]. Swoosh!! Bang!! The tip of the sword hit the forehead of the skeleton causing a various cracks to appear. The skeleton soldier fell down but Souta knew that it was still alive. He still haven''t heard the system prompt inside his head yet. He raised his feet and heavily stomped the skeleton soldier on the ground. He then once again slashed the sword in his hand on the skeleton. The bones in the neck of the skeleton wasn''t sturdy enough to stay till when a metal like a piece of sword crashed into it. The bones cracked and the skull was separated from the body as it rolled on the ground. The cracks on the forehead of the skeleton spread and it crumbled down. All of this happened in just a few seconds. [You''ve receive 51 exp from killing Skeleton soldier!] [You''ve level up!] [All attributes increased by 1!] [You''ve received 2 attribute points!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] Souta was sure now that he eliminated the first skeleton soldier. He then saw the other two skeleton soldiers charged at him. One at his left while the other one was at his right. Two on one, huh? The skeleton on his left side slashed it''s sword. Swooosh!! "Ha!" Souta raised his sword and parried the sword of the skeleton soldier. Then, he threw a punch on the rib cage of the skeleton. Bang! He then quickly crouched down as a sword passed above him. "That''s close!" He tripped the skeleton soldier with his foot before he smashed his elbow on its skull. Bang! He doesn''t had a time to finish the skeleton soldier as the other skeleton already made its way in front of him. "Ha!" Souta shouted as he forcefully swing his sword. Clang! Both his and the skeleton soldier''s sword collided causing a metallic sound to echoed in the whole area. Souta was forced back by the skeleton soldier''s strength. His level was lower than skeleton soldier so it was natural that the stats of skeleton was higher than him. He knew that his strength was weak that''s why he need to rely on his sword. The added damage of the sword was enough to cause a crack on the skeleton even if it wasn''t a blunt weapon. He gritted his teeth and bent his knees. Swoosh!! He used the skill [Dash] as he charged straight towards the skeleton while pointing his sword at it. Clang! His sword crashed the few ribs of the skeleton soldier. He then grabbed it''s spine as he kicked the feet of the skeleton. Bang! The skeleton was smashed on the ground and when he was about to finish it, he sense someone behind him. "Hmm?" He immediately rolled his body sideways. Clang! He lifted up his head and looked ahead. He saw the other skeleton soldier and he squinted his eyes. He dashed and slide on the ground while slashing his sword on the knee of the skeleton soldier. He then kicked the ground as he flew in the mid air. Along with the force of gravity he elbowed the skull of the skeleton soldier causing it to cracked. [You''ve receive 54 exp from killing Skeleton soldier!] He ignored the system prompt as he quickly moved his body and dashed to the other skeleton soldier. "This is the end!" He smashed his elbow on the skull of the remaining skeleton soldier with all of his might. Bang! [You''ve receive 51 exp from killing Skeleton soldier!] The skeleton soldiers slowly turned into ashes fading in the air as it leaves it''s weapons. "Ha~" Souta breath a sighed of relief when he heard the system. He slumped down on the ground as his tense muscles finally relax. He looked at the system interface and saw that he level up to 2. He still need to kill two skeleton soldiers before he level up to 3. Level: 2(105/200) "I''m extremely tired!" Souta muttered as he looked at the rough ceiling. "Let''s rest for an hour." Souta moved his body at the corner of the room. He leaned his back on the walls while pondering his next move. He lifted his head and observed the whole room. The whole room was wide and dark. There''s only one lantern at the center of the ceiling that could barely illuminate the entire room. He looked around and found that there''s other four lantern at the corner of the room but there''s no light coming out of it. "This is...? A secret room!!" His game sense was tingling right now. He had an idea that this was a secret room. There''s no doubt about it. He just need to solve this puzzle. He immediately got up and observed the whole room. He felt a sense of nostalgia. It feels that he was familiar with this room but he couldn''t remember if went here before in the game. After a dozen of minutes, he found something. He was standing in front of the walls while tracing his palm at the cold wall. "This is the secret door but I couldn''t open it..." He rubbed his chin while looking at the wall in front of him. He then looked back at the four lantern at the corner of the room. An idea came into his mind as this was familiar to him but he couldn''t remember where he completed this dungeon. He lit up the four lantern of the room and it illuminated the whole room but nothing happens. "Hmm...? There''s still one thing that I need to do." He looked up and extinguished the fire on the lantern on the ceiling, the first lantern that was lighting up the room. Boom!! Suddenly, the ground shook. Souta looked back and saw that the secret door was slowly opening. "As I thought..." He walked forward and saw a dark narrow path. He didn''t think twice as he directly stepped forward. He felt the mana here in this room was too dense, making his chest heavy. He tapped the walls and found that this was no ordinary rock. The mana here made the walls harder than the rest making it a precious stone called Mana Stone. From the looks of it, it looks like a high grade mana stone, no, he think that this walls shouldn''t be called stone. After walking for five minutes, Souta arrived in front of a metal door. He opened it and looked inside the room. There''s nothing inside the room except a golden treasure chest on the center of the room. The treasure chest was emitting a golden light. Souta''s eyes lit up when he saw the golden treasure chest. He approached it and slowly opened the golden chest. There''s a lone silver earring with black orb as it''s design inside the chest. "This...?" He finally remember what it is. This earring was one of his equipments in the game. One of his powerful set in the game, the [Soul Blood Earring]. He''s lucky that he found this in early game. He picked it up and directly wear it on his ear. "Ah!" He felt an overwhelming power went inside his body. [Soul Blood Earring]: A powerful Universal Treasure. It could harvest the soul of every creature to increase the wearers power. Skill 1: [Harvester of the Soul]: It could collect the soul of every dead creature. Soul collected: 0/100. Skill 2: (locked) Effect: +10 strength, +10 vitality, +10 intelligence Souta looked at the detailed information of the [Soul Blood Earring]. He still couldn''t use the skill 2 as it need the other pair of earrings. The [Harvester of the Soul] was a skill to collect the soul of every dead creatures. He couldn''t directly collect the soul of a living creature. He need the soul of a newly killed creature that haven''t left it''s body. If he collected 100 souls he could use it to increase one of his attributes by 10 but everytime he use it the soul requirement get higher. "This earring feels nostalgic..." Souta said with a smirked on his face. It''s time to harvest the soul inside this dungeon. 3 Training and Eating Souta was much more powerful now than before. A single piece of Universal Treasure gave him the power up above his level. Universal Treasures were the highest grade treasure that can be found in the whole cosmos. He stood up and picked up his sword. With the stats he had right now, he could probably conquer this dungeon in just a single day. Well, it all depends on the size of the dungeon. "I should get the other skills for now to increase my battle prowess." He rubbed his chin as he looked at the sword on his hand. "First, I would try to acquire the [Sword Mastery] skill. To acquire it, I need to swing a sword a thousand times in a proper form." He said as he fixed his posture. This was the same in game. Swoosh!! He began to swing his sword. "One... Two... Three... Four..." ... After a few hours, Souta finished swinging his sword and he successfully acquired the [Sword Mastery] skill. He sat on the ground as he tried to catch his breath. The muscles on his arm were sore and he could barely move it. "This will boost my fighting power." He felt that this was really out of this world. When he acquired the skill, he felt he already became well verse in using swords. In the game, it will only increase the players damage when using a sword. Also, some of the sword skills require the [Sword Mastery] skill. [Sword Mastery] Level 1: The most basic level of the Swordsman. At this level, a person could be truly said a Swordsman. Effect: +20% damage when using a sword. Souta picked up the sword and played with it. He really felt that he was a real Swordsman right now. With this, he could accurately pinpoint his [Stab] to the bones of the skeleton. He wouldn''t need to worry about not hitting the bones when he used [Stab]. Before he was reluctant to use the skill [Stab] as he was worried that his sword would pass through the body of the skeleton, so he mostly used his fist and elbow. But now, he doesn''t need to worry as he had the [Sword Mastery] skill. The combination of [Sword Mastery] and [Stab] was great. The added damage of the [Sword Mastery] and [Stab] was enough to pierced an iron not to say the bones of the skeleton. "Am I really in the game or not?" He said with a sighed. He don''t have any information, all he had was the [Soul Blood Earring]. This was the proof that he was inside the game world. What if he died? Gamers never died right? They only spawn. He doesn''t had the guts to try this. He still doesn''t want to die and he had many things that he wanted to do. He wasn''t afraid of dying, the thing that he was most afraid is the unknown. No one knew what will happen if someone die. "And one of that is to finish this game." He said with a smirked on his face. This was a super difficult game as he would finish it without dying. This was not the same as virtual game when he died the system will only give him a penalty. He couldn''t help but tremble while thinking about this. He could dominate the game at that time because of his powerful set, unique skill, and his super high level. If he was really inside the game, he wanted to know the date right now. He wanted to know what version he start. He could already recalled most of the things in the game, must be because of the added 10 intelligence of the [Soul Blood Earring]. But the problem was that he couldn''t remember anything outside the game except his real name. "Hmm...?" Souta saw something while he was looking on his stats. He found that his exp increased while he was practicing. "So training can also increase a person''s level here. It must be because this body wasn''t an avatar anymore but my real body." The increase in exp was low compare to what he get from killing the skeleton soldiers. Suddenly, he felt his stomach growling. He still haven''t eat a single meat ever since he transmigrate into the body of the goblin. He forgot that he had to eat to survive. His head was only filled with leveling up and forgot one of the most important thing, the food. "The monster here in the dungeon were only undead. I couldn''t eat something like that, plus when the undead died their body withers." He said in a low voice. There''s no animals here or other monster. Monster? There''s a corpse of the goblin inside this dungeon. He exited the room and went to the corpse of the goblin that he found before. He looked at it with a frown on his face. "I''m going to eat this! I don''t have a choice but to eat this to survive, I still want to finish this story!" He carried the corpse inside the room. He felt nausea just from the thought of eating this goblin. His face contorted in disgust. He suddenly recalled that there''s torches everywhere inside this dungeon. He would at least cook the meat of this goblin before he eat it. He chopped the meat of the goblin and roasted it to the point that he couldn''t recognized that it was a goblin meat. Chomp! Souta directly bit the meat and quickly gulp it. He felt that he was going to puke the meat. He closed his eyes and erased those thoughts inside his mind. "Souta eat, if you don''t eat you won''t survive!" He said to himself. He felt that he was about to cry just thinking that he would eat this everyday. Souta thought that he should find a way back home. He doesn''t want to stay here in this place living like this. ... Souta rest for a few hours before he exited the room. He was going to conquer this dungeon. He tried to collect the soul of the dead goblin but as he expected the soul already left it''s body. The soul will leave the body after three hours when they died. It means that the goblin died more than three hours from now. Huh? He just remembered that he practice sword for a few hours and that took most of his time. Still, there''s those skeleton soldier. Those skeleton soldier still had their soul on their bodies that''s why they could still moved like a living creature. A necromancer had that kind of skill. They could call the soul from the hell back to the living world to serve them. But he couldn''t collect the soul of those skeleton if he haven''t defeated them. He still need to defeat them to weaken the link of soul and body so it makes easier to collect their soul. "Okay, it''s time to finish this." Souta said in a low voice as he played the sword in his hand. After getting the [Sword Mastery] skill, he really felt that he was an experienced swordsman. He exited the room and went to conquer the dungeon. He met a lot of skeleton soldiers on his way but with his current stats those skeletons were not a problem. He could defeat them easily with his 16 points of strength, plus his 20% added damage when wielding a sword. A ten points of strength was a big gain for a goblin like him. Every time a goblin level up it''s attributes only increase by one point, so a ten points were equals to ten level up. The skeleton soldiers weren''t his match at all. They became his exp pot to further increase his level. By the time he arrived in front of the Boss room, he''s already level 6. At this point, it''s already hard to level up as he already need a large amount of exp. It took him one day before he managed to arrived in front of the boss room. Since fighting for a whole day left him tired, he''s going to take some rest. "I want..." Souta slowly closed his eyes and took a little nap. He woke up exactly four hours before he fell asleep. "Ah!" He yawn as he looked around his surroundings. He didn''t think that he would fell asleep. He only plan to rest for a few minutes before going to fight the boss of this dungeon. He looked at his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Goblin Level: 6 (453/1,300) Class: ?none? Health: 40/40 Stamina: 20/20 Mana: 34/34 Strength: 20 (10+10)[+] Agility: 11 [+] Dexterity: 8 [+] Intelligence: 17 (7+10)[+] Vitality: 20 (10+10)[+] Free attribute point(s): 8 Skill(s): [Dash], [Stab], [Sword Mastery] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul(Soul collected: 31/100)] Skill point(s): 6 ''It''s enough.'' Souta nodded while looking at his stats. His stats was enough for this Boss battle. He also managed to collect the souls of those skeletons. He collected a total of 31 souls from those skeletons. He still need a lot of soul before he could use the skill to increase his attributes. "Okay, let''s do this." Souta took a deep breath while closing his eyes. After a while, he opened his eyes with a will to fight. It need a party of players to take down a dungeon Boss. But Souta always fought alone in the game. He doesn''t have any party members at all. All he need is himself. He raised his hand and put his palm on the cold metal door. He pushed it opened and took a peek inside the Boss room. Woosh! A cold wind brushed his face. Souta took a step forward and entered the room without hesitation. He couldn''t see anything as it was too dark. Suddenly, the torches around the walls lit up and it illuminated the entire room. The room was circular, it doesn''t have the four corners of a normal room. At opposite of his direction, there, a skeleton wearing a black robe. The skeleton was two meters in height and it''s emitting a very ominous aura. On it''s left hand, there''s a black staff with the black orb at it''s tip. With one look, Souta immediately know what it is. "Undead Skeleton Mage!" 4 Undead Skeleton Mage "Undead Skeleton Mage!" Souta looked at the skeleton which was standing on the center of the room. Seeing this, he finally remember were he was. At first, he wasn''t sure where he found the [Soul Blood Earring], but now that he saw the Undead Skeleton Mage memories of this dungeon came into his mind. He remembered that this dungeon was called Undead Sanctuary. Undead Sanctuary was a very large dungeon. It consists of 12 low level dungeons, 6 mid level dungeons, and 3 high level dungeons. The ruler of this place was the powerful undead inside the high level dungeon. He''s currently inside one of the low level dungeon. People didn''t know that this place was hiding a Universal treasure because they don''t expect that one of the low level dungeon here was hiding the real treasure of this sanctuary. They thought that all the good items were inside the high level dungeons. At that time, the players already cleared all the low level and mid level dungeons and they were preparing to clear the high level dungeon when Souta accidentally opened the secret door. They wouldn''t expect something like that inside the low level dungeon. The one in front of him was the Undead Skeleton Mage, one of the bosses of the low level dungeons here in the sanctuary. If he wasn''t wrong this undead level was between 15-20. A powerful opponent for the current him. A cold wind strongly blew over him. "Not good!" Souta quickly turned around and found the door closed on it''s own. "Looks like I''m trap here." a wry smile appeared on his face while looking at the Undead Skeleton Mage. The Undead Skeleton Mage''s eye socket flashed with red light and its aura grew stronger. "It''s coming." Souta murmured as he braced himself. He quickly checked his equipment. He had a sword, and leather armor. These were the only equipment he found in this dungeon this fits his current body. Some of the skeleton soldier dropped a gauntlet, helm, and boots but those things were too large for him. It would make him uncomfortable if he force himself to wear those equipments. This was not like in game that he could just clicked the word "Equip" and it would fit him nicely. "Let''s do this." The Undead Skeleton Mage lifted up its staff and the black orb emitted a strange white light. A fireball at the size of human head formed on its left side and it quickly threw the fireball at Souta. Swoosh! Souta moved his body and avoided the fireball. He then charged at the Undead Skeleton Mage. When the Undead Skeleton Mage saw Souta avoided its attack, it raised its staff higher. Two fireball formed on its side. "Oh~" Souta increased his speed as he moved in a zigzag pattern so that the Undead Skeleton Mage couldn''t easily aim the fireball on him. Swoosh! Souta moved swiftly and in just a few seconds, he arrived in front of the Undead Skeleton Mage. He know that this undead was weak in close combat battle. Tap! The Undead Skeleton Mage quickly tapped its staff on the ground. A barrier formed around the undead and it quickly expanded like a balloon. Souta saw this and he quickly stopped on his track. He jumped backwards while slashing his sword against the barrier. Clang! "It finally use a skill." Souta said in a low voice as he observed the undead. The undead pointed its staff at Souta. Several fire balls appeared around the undead and it quickly flew towards Souta. [Fire Ball Dance] Souta moved his body swiftly as he jump side to side to avoid the fire balls raining down on him. Bang! He got hit by one of the fire balls. It pushed him back by one meter. His HP decreased by 10 points in getting hit by one fire ball. He had a total of 40 health points and it''s pretty low compared to his HP when his avatar was demi. Monster type avatar was really weak at first. If he doesn''t have the [Soul Blood Earring], then his health points would decrease by half leaving him only 20 points. In other words, if he doesn''t have the Universal treasure with him the Skeleton in front of him could two-hit kill him. There''s so many fire balls shooting on his direction. No matter what, he had to avoid getting hit. He would undoubtedly died when three more fire balls hit him. Swooosh! Swooosh! "Shit!" Souta run as fast as he could around the room. He pulled back his arm and throw his sword on the Skeleton Mage. Swooosh! Clang! The sword flew at a high speed and crashed on the barrier around the Skeleton. It fell on the ground without damaging the Skeleton. The fire balls stopped shooting and he know why. The Undead Skeleton Mage could only use one skill at a time. It couldn''t use [Flame Barrier] and [Fire Ball Dance] at the same time. Souta used wouldn''t let this chance go. With a stomp of his feet, he dashed towards the Skeleton Mage using the skill [Dash]. He picked up his sword and smashed it on the barrier. Clang! He didn''t give up as he continued to slash his sword producing a loud sound. Clang! Clang! Clang! After a few slash, he noticed the crack formed on the barrier. He smiled widely as he increased his pace in slashing his sword. Clang! Clang! Clang! The Skeleton Mage tapped it staff on the ground. The barrier flashed dimly and it expanded. Ohm! "Ah!" Souta shouted as he use the skill [Stab]. His sword pierced through the barrier and he slashed it downwards. The barrier was shattered like a fragile glass. Red light glowed in the eye socket of the Skeleton Mage when the barrier broke. It raised its staff in the air and dozen fire balls slowly formed. Souta quickly moved his body and dashed towards the Skeleton Mage. Once again, he throw his sword on the Skeleton. "It''s different this time!" Clang! The sword hit the Skeleton causing it to loose its focus. The red light on its eye socket glowed brighter. It caused a change in the fire balls forming in the air. The fire balls spin faster and it grew bigger. "Ah!" With a boom, Souta jumped and kicked the Skeleton Mage. Souta noticed the fire balls was going wildly. He immediately ducked down and grabbed his sword. Boom! Dozens of fire balls exploded in the air. It produce a powerful shockwave that swept the area around it. Souta was knocked back two meters away because of the shockwave. He gritted his teeth as he stood up. That shockwave costed 5 health points. If he was directly hit by that then he would lose most of his health points. He used the skill [Dash] and arrived in front of the Skeleton Mage in just a second. He launched a barrage of attacks on his opponent. Stab! Stab! The Skeleton Mage swung its staff. Souta saw this and he grabbed the arm of the Skeleton. He couldn''t afford to get knock back once again as there''s already fire ball forming above the Skeleton. He lifted up his sword and used it to blocked the staff. Bang! Although the Skeleton Mage was weak in frontal combat, its level was still higher than him. The damage he took were 7 points. "Argh!" He groaned in pain as he felt that his arm was going numb from taking that hit. His health points were less than 20 and two more hits were enough to take him down. He lifted up his feet and kicked the Skeleton sideways. Bang! "You wouldn''t get away from me!" He shouted as he tightened his grip on the arm of the Skeleton. Once he leave the front of the Skeleton, those fire balls in the air would start bombarding him. Stab! He swung his sword like a madman trying to butcher his enemy. Clang! Clang! Clang! He engaged the Skeleton in frontal combat. He dodge and attack at the same time trying to maximize his damage. Clang! Clang! Clang! "Argh!" He was hit on the head and it caused him to loosen his grip on the arm of the skeleton. The Skeleton Mage waved its arm and jumped backwards. Souta wouldn''t let it go easily just like that. He quickly stood up and used [Dash] to chase the Skeleton Mage. The speed of the Skeleton was slow compared to him who''s using a skill to increase his speed. Swoosh! He grabbed the robe of the Skeleton and once again use [Stab]. He only have one fourth of his total Stamina. He couldn''t carelessly use his skill anymore. "Just die!!" He shouted as he madly waved his sword. Clang! After a few slash, the sword broke into pieces. Souta tightened his fist and launched a barrage of punches on the rib cage of the Skeleton. Bang! Bang! Bang! He added 5 free attribute points to his strength attribute. Strength: 25 (15+10)[+] He pulled back his fist and shot a powerful punch on the Skeleton. Bang! The rib cage of the Skeleton was shattered. Bang! Souta didn''t stopped his punch and he threw another powerful punch one after another. He didn''t stopped until he heard the system prompts inside his head. [You''ve received 1,972 exp from defeating the Undead Skeleton Mage!] [You''ve level up!] [All attributes increased by 1!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [Congratulations for completing the Raid mission!] [You''ve received 100 exp!] [You''ve received 1 attribute point!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] He sighed in relief when he heard the system prompts in his head. He fell down on the ground as he was too tired from fighting the "Boss" of this dungeon. He lay down on his back as he looked at the prompts. He received a lot from conquering this dungeon. He was now a level 7 Goblin and a few more levels were enough for him to evolve. Goblins had a lot of evolution path. The most basic one were Hobgoblin and High Goblin. He already crossed out these two from his evolution path. If he doesn''t have the [Soul Blood Earring], he would be forced to choose between these two but now it''s different. He recalled one hidden evolution of the Goblin from the forum. A powerful and extremely well verse Goblin. The requirements for this evolution was that one of his stats must have reach 50. With [Soul Blood Earring] in his arsenal, he doesn''t need to worry about 50 stat points. The High End Goblin. It''s evolution depends on the stat that you choose. Souta couldn''t help but smirk thinking about his future growth. 5 Loot and Relaxation Souta stood up and walked towards the Undead Skeleton Mage. The Skeleton was slowly crumbling and withering, vanishing into the air like a bubble. There''s still light in the eye socket of the Skeleton. It still have its will this time. "W-Why?" Souta frowned when he heard a voice directly in his head. It was a language that he didn''t recognized but he still could understand it as the Skeleton was directly talking to his mind. "We... didn''t do anything... Why invade... us...?" It was then that the Skeleton vanished and disappeared into thin air. "Why...?" Souta muttered in a low voice. He understood that this was different from game. The "Boss" was not a mindless monster just like in game. They had their own will and thoughts. They weren''t a 2d character anymore. From their perspective, Souta was a monster that invade their home and kill their brethren without reason. They were just living here peacefully and he kill them, more like, he massacre them. "I should be careful from now on." He said in a low voice as he squatted down and harvest the soul of the "Boss" using the skill [Harvester of the Soul]. He then closed his eyes and said, "Thank you for your patronage, the only thing I could do is I will always remember your help in increasing my strength... but I will not stop, I will conquer this whole dungeon!" He really couldn''t help it. At first, he was seriously treating this as game. He fought and kill them for the sake of becoming stronger. It''s seems that he need to think through his every action now. He rubbed his chin and started to think about this whole dungeon. Undead Sanctuary. There''s a total of 12 low level dungeon here in the upper floor of the sanctuary. Six of them were occupied by undead and the other six were occupied by monsters. He saw a corpse of a goblin inside this dungeon. It seems that the other dungeon which were occupied by goblins were going around here in the upper floor trying to conquer every dungeon. It was different in the game. The monster here didn''t spawn out of nowhere. The monster increase their numbers through breeding and that''s what happened to the dungeon which were occupied by monster. There''s nothing that could restrict them here so they could go out of their respective dungeon. That''s also the reason why Souta fought the "Boss" with a fifty percent chance of winning. He couldn''t grind in the same dungeon as the monster didn''t spawn like it did in the game. Their numbers grew exponentially and at the same time the "Bosses" of the dungeon grew ambitious. They started to fight on their own and fought each other trying to conquer each other''s dungeon. Once they know about his situation they will target this dungeon. Well, it doesn''t matter to him as this will gave him a reason to kill them. Once they attack him, he will not hold back at all and retaliate with his full strength. Speaking of killing... He haven''t feel anything at all when he defeated those skeletons. It just like when Humans kill ants or insects. They wouldn''t treat it as killing. Human would only treat someone as murderer when someone kill their own species. Still it doesn''t feel anything like that when fighting the skeleton. It only feels like he''s fighting a dummy. But it''s not the same as fighting humanoid monster. Those monster have the vibe of humans and it was entirely different compared to skeletons. Souta then shook his head hardly putting those gloomy thoughts in the back of his head. "Stop thinking about things like this! I will do what I do normally and nothing will change. If someone help me I repay them." Souta smirked and turned his attention to the staff on the ground. There''s also the black robe of the Undead Skeleton Mage. "What a nice reward! A Yellow equipment!" He smiled widely as he checked the details of the staff. He held the staff in his hand. [Staff of Undead(Yellow)]: It''s a staff made negative energy. +20 mana, +10 magical damage, +5 intelligence. Durability: 8/10 [Undead''s robe(Yellow)]: A robe formed when the dead rises from the grave. +10% magical resistance, +5% physical resistance, +5 intelligence. Durability: 8/10 He had a satisfied smile on his face when he saw the equipment. With its durability, it was enough to last until he went to the surface. Yellow equipments were enough for the current him. There''s different grade of equipment, artifact, and treasure. The lowest grade was Colorless and the highest was Universal. The grade of the sword that he was using before was Colorless. Colorless, Yellow, Blue, Purple, Orange, Red, Dark, and lastly the Universal were the grade of equipment from weakest to strongest. In the game, all of his equipment were Universal grade treasure. The most powerful one at that. Because of this that he became the most dominant player around the world. He conquered countless dungeons at that time to complete his set of equipment. Souta stood up and wield the staff in his hand. He played with it for a while before he staff. The robe was too large for his current 1 meter size so he couldn''t wear it this time. He still need to evolve first before he could wear it. Staff, huh? He looked at the staff in his hand. Back then, he was a powerful Battle Mage. His class was versatile too all ranges, be it melee or long range. He doesn''t plan to change it. He will also become a Great Battle Mage in this lifetime. This class was a powerful class that he used before when he was still Blood. A Goblin becoming a Great Battle Mage was certainly the things he''s looking forward in the future. For now, he still wouldn''t be able to get a class as the requirements for getting the Mage class could only be found in the surface. He shook his head and went to the back of the room. When he saw nothing there, he sighed in disappointment. It''s impossible for a chest containing gold coins to appear out of nowhere. He should be content by what he received. There''s only a door leading down to the middle floor here. The middle floor was impossible for him right now. The mob there were only slightly weaker than the "Boss" here. The "Boss" in downstairs were level 35-40. They were too powerful that even if he finishes his evolution he wouldn''t stand a chance. He could barely kill a level 15-20 monster so he shouldn''t think about the middle floor for now. "Okay, let''s sleep for now." He said as he sat down and leaned his back on the walls. He fall asleep quickly as he was too tired from fighting the "Boss". ... Souta woke up exactly six hours after he sleep. He stood up and checked his surroundings. "I''m still here, I thought that was a dream." He yawned and stretched his body for a while. Picking up the staff and robe, he went out of the dungeon. He stood outside and looked at the bright ceiling. The place outside the dungeon was like forest in the surface. Trees scattered around and there''s river silently flowing. There''s crystal that emitting a light in the whole place. "So much for the name Undead Sanctuary..." He muttered as he turned around and looked at the tunnel behind him. This was where he came from. For him this was the same as the Newbie Village or Town in the game. This place was truly beautiful. A person wouldn''t associated this place to Undead if they don''t know its name. It''s true that only six out of twelve dungeons were undead but that''s not the same for the dungeons below. The dungeons below were truly dark and composed of powerful undead. He walked ahead and squatted down in the riverside. He drink a mouthful of water too satiate his thirst. He haven''t tasted water since yesterday. "Hu~ it''s too good!" Words of satisfaction escaped from his mouth. It feels like he hadn''t tasted any water for a very long time. "I already miss going into hot spring... Ah~ earth-chan I miss you..." He stepped in and he slowly submerged his body in the water. This time he fully intended to relax. If his memory was right, there''s only fish in this river. There''s no monster here so he could peacefully relax here. "Oh right! There''s fish here! I also need to stack food in my stomach!" He went to the surface and looked at the water. He observed and watched silently before he found his target. Swooosh!! In an instant, he jumped down towards his target like a lion hunting their prey. With his current stats, it was easy for him to catch it in bare hands. "Gotcha!" He raised his hand and looked at the fish that he caught. "Hahaha! This wasn''t enough! I still need more!" He once again dive down and caught fish with his own two hands. It''s not that bad to relax before he meet the monster here in the sanctuary. 6 Fighting Kobolds "Hmm... Although I''ve just arrived here yesterday, it feels like I haven''t eaten seafoods for a long time." Souta muttered as he bit the roasted fish in his hand. He still have a general idea how to make fire without using magic. "I''ve already increase my Intelligence attribute but I still couldn''t remember my past." He looked at his stats while eating. He could only remember that he came from earth and played the most popular game, Battle World Online. When he first came here, his memory was hazy. He slowly remember things from the past everytime he increase his Intelligence attribute. "It sucks being a monster with low intelligence." Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming behind him. "Hmm...?" He slowly turned his head and looked behind him. He saw five kobolds coming out of the bushes. They were armed with sword and spear. Shing! The kobolds pointed their weapons on his back. ''Oi! Oi! Why are you pointing that on me? Do you really want to die that much?'' One of the kobolds opened its mouth and said something that he couldn''t understand. "#hdj379@9" ''This humanoid dogs?! I couldn''t understand what they are saying!'' Souta frowned hearing this. There''s no subtitles or speech balloon in his vision like in the game. If that''s really the case, then he wouldn''t understand a single thing in this world. No, there''s an exception... and that''s the Undead Skeleton Mage he fought before. But, it''s different as the Undead Mage talked to his mind directly like some sort of telepathy. Well, he couldn''t understand the logic behind it. It seems that he need to learn the language of this world first in the surface. He just hope that he still have time to learn that. It''s important to learn it because he wouldn''t be able to converse to other race without learning language. Ah! There''s an item that will greatly help him. He recalled one of the most powerful and advance country in the world, the Mechanic Country. The Mechanic Country had that technology. A technology where he could freely converse to other people even without knowing their language. That technology could translated thousands of language around the world. "I''ll just get it at that time." He muttered as he slowly stood up and faced the kobolds. The kobolds were still saying things that he couldn''t understand. The kobolds got fed up with him as he didn''t even replied to their question. They raised their weapon and swung it downwards aiming on his head. Souta saw this and moved his body sideways dodging the sharp weapons. He then picked up the [Staff of Undead] and drew a little distance to the kobolds. "It''s fight, right? Okay, I will give you what you want!" Saying this, he charged straight on the five kobolds in front of him. Clang! Clang! Clang! Metallic sounds echoed in the area near the river. Souta ducked down and used his feet to kick the knee of the kobold. He then moved his hand and swung the staff. Clang! One of the kobolds protected its comrades by blocking his staff. Swoosh! The remaining three kobolds rushed at him and stabbed their spear on his direction. Seeing this, Souta rolled backwards avoiding the sharp end of the spears. ''They have good combination and I praise that but... that''s all'' He used [Dash] and quickly zoomed the distance between him and the kobolds. He swung his staff with greater force than before. Bang! One of the kobolds tried to block him but was pushed backwards by his strength. The kobolds was pushed backwards to its comrades. Souta smirked and he once again used [Dash]. Swooosh! He arrived in front of them in an instant and it caught to kobolds off guard. He raised his feet and swept the kobold in front sideways. Bang! The kobold flew and crashed in the tree causing the leaves to fall. Souta followed up by swinging his staff to the kobolds. Bang! The kobolds was hit in the head. It loosened its grip on the sword. Then a heavy foot bent its body before flying a few meters away. He moved his body as he threw his staff on the other kobolds. He then kicked the sword to the air before he jumped and caught it. Putchi! Blood spurted out from the neck of the kobold. It was so fast that the other two kobolds didn''t saw it clearly. They were shocked that one of them got slain by a mere goblin. There were five of them but they couldn''t even handle a single goblin. Two of them were down and one was dead. Only two kobolds were left. Souta landed on the ground and looked at the remaining two kobolds with a smirked on his face. When he caught the sword in the air, he quickly used the skill [Stab] and slain the kobold. [You''ve received 63 exp for defeating a Kobold!] There''s only one system prompts in his head. It means that the other two were still alive. They were unconscious. "It''s time to finish this." Souta waved the sword and dashed towards the two kobolds. [You''ve received 67 exp for defeating a Kobold!] [You''ve received 49 exp for defeating a Kobold!] [You''ve received 54 exp for defeating a Kobold!] [You''ve received 55 exp for defeating a Kobold!] Series of prompts ringed inside his head. ... Souta cleaned the bloodstains on his body in the river. He also cleaned the sword that he will use. He just recalled that this river was near the dungeon of kobolds. It''s not that surprising that he met them here as he already guess it before. If this was the same as the game then it''s really shocking to see the monster inside the dungeon walking out of it. "Should I go there?" He rubbed his chin and looked at his reflection on the water. "Probably not..." The monsters inside the low level dungeon were 30 to 50. But... It''s different now the kobolds could increase their numbers by breeding. So the monsters inside the dungeon were higher than fifty. He wouldn''t be able to conquer it with his condition. It''s possible if he finish his first evolution. That''s it! He decided that he will increase his level first by conquering the other six dungeon where undead lives, no, it''s five now as he already conquered the first one. He rubbed his chin as he tried to recalled with dungeon have a loot that could bring him benefits. After a few minutes of thinking, he decided that he would go to the dungeon where ghouls reside. By the looks of it, it seems that he doesn''t need to go to the surface to get the basic Class needs. There''s no other treasure inside the dungeon before because there''s a secret room there where one could find the Universal Treasure [Soul Blood Earring]. But it''s different from other dungeon, he could find skill books and knowledge there. Back then, some players even found Spirit fruit. Speaking of loots, the upper floor couldn''t be compared to what''s in the middle floor. The loots there were abundant and all of this were free to take. He doesn''t have any competitor here cause he''s the only one here beside the monsters. Oh! He''s also a monster. Souta stood up and hanged the [Undead''s robe] on his shoulder. On his left hand there''s the sword and the staff was on his right hand. "Okay, let''s conquer and evolve as fast as we can!" Souta shouted even though he''s the only one here. ... Putchi! A dog head flew in the air and sprayed blood on the area below. "I forgot that I''m close to the kobolds dungeon." Souta sighed and gripped his weapon tightly. He used [Dash] and crashed the enemies in front of him, giving him a bunch of exp. He didn''t show any mercy to these kobolds that want to take his life. He killed them as if he was harvesting exp just like in the game. Blood flown on the ground and it turned the green grasses into crimson blood color. Today, the kobolds lost ten men. "Hu~ it really leaves bad taste in my mouth." Souta said as he turned around and leave the scene. Sinking a sharp blade into the flesh of a living being made him feel nausea. This was not a game anymore that he could ignore killing them. It''s a different feeling when he''s killing the undead as those were originally dead. He rested the staff on his shoulder as he walked leisurely towards the direction of the ghoul''s dungeon. After a few minutes of walking, he arrived in front of a dark cave. The dark cave was releasing a very dark aura. It was like he was back inside the skeleton''s dungeon. The only difference was this dungeon was releasing a stinky smell. "It stink here!" Souta frowned as he pinched his nose. The ghouls were a rotten creatures. It''s different from skeleton soldiers that doesn''t have any piece of flesh. These ghouls smell was really bad as its flesh were rotten and there''s even a worm crawling inside their body. That''s what he remembered inside the game. He''s knowledge on game was really helpful to him. "Well, let''s go inside now." Souta took a stepped forward and entered the cave. 7 Sealed door "Good." Souta looked at his stats and nodded. His health, mana and stamina were full. He loses too much health and stamina in the battle yesterday. When someone was not resting, a players ordinary recovery rate was 1 per hour but when they''re sleeping their recovery would increase by five times. In other words, it would become 5 her hour. He only had 42 health so eight hours of sleep were enough to get his health back to full. It''s also the reason why some of the players will choose to go to an inn before they log out. Players wouldn''t be able to move once they choose the activate the function sleep in the game that''s why they have to log out. "Well, let''s enter..." Souta shook his head and stepped inside the cave. ... This dungeon was different from the last dungeon. The floor, walls, and the ceiling were made of stone bricks. It looks like an abandoned underground base or labyrinths. The torches on the wall were organized neatly so Souta could see more clearly in this place. Souta looked ten meters away from him. Five ghouls were standing there without doing anything. He could clearly see their rotten flesh. He brandished his sword and dashed forward. Swooosh! "Die!!" He roared as he waved his sword. The head of the ghouls flew and crashed in the ceiling. Thick blood scattered everywhere. Souta ignored this and he kicked the body of the ghoul that he beheaded. Bang! The headless ghoul crashed on the two ghouls on the left side. It immobilized the two ghouls. The other two ghouls roared as they charged at him. Souta pulled back his sword and used the skill [Stab]. Putchi! The sword pierced through the body of the ghoul. He lifted up his feet and kicked the ghoul, at the same time pulling out his sword. He then moved his other hand and swung the staff. Bang!! He didn''t stopped as he swung his sword again. "Die!!" ... It took him a minute before he defeated the five ghouls. With his current stats, he could defeat these monsters without any problem. Souta looked at the paths in front of him. He frowned as he tried to recall where''s the Boss room. "Ah! I remember now! It''s in the front!" Since the boss was in the path ahead, he decided to finish the left path first. He''s saving the boss for the last. That''s really the way. He would get the other good things here before fighting the boss. The things in the left path were a treasure containing skill books that he need to get a class. While the right path was a room full of more than twenty ghouls. Even though he knew that the right path was a room full of ghouls, he would still enter it as he needed exp and soul the most right now. He wouldn''t let it escape his grasp. Those exp and soul were all his possession. Not now, maybe later after he kill them. "The basic requirements to get the class..." He moved forward and kill some of the ghouls on his way until he reached a sealed metal door. He was familiar with this door. A sealed door where treasure chest lies behind it. Characters were neatly carved in the metal door. Below the characters were things that he knew. A coin, book, fish, and a bed. He couldn''t understand the meaning of these characters. "Ah~ I really need to learn how to read and write in this world." Souta muttered with a sighed. If he wasn''t familiar with this dungeon then he wouldn''t be able to get the treasure inside this sealed door. If he was in the game, the system would translate this words for him. He sighed with a helpless expression. He then rubbed his chin as he began to delved back into his memories. Some part of his memories were fuzzy, covered with thick fog. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and looked at the characters. "If I''m not wrong these characters... It means ''It wears a coat to keep its skins in working order. Transport you to other realms without magic portal." That''s what he found in his memories. It''s strange that he could looked back in his memories like a book. "If I were to answer this back on earth then I would answer Virtual Capsule, but it''s not in the choices below. Well, I know the answer because I already tried this back then." He stepped forward and pressed the book on the door. He then took a stepped backwards as he waited for the door to open. After a few seconds, he heard a metallic sounds stirring inside the door before it slowly opened. It revealed a dark room without any torches. Souta smirked as he looked inside the dark room. If he picked the wrong answer then it would activate a trap to kill him. He died many times because of the trap back in the game. He took a step inside the dark room. A golden treasure chest was laying in the middle of the room. The darkness couldn''t hide the golden treasure chest completely. He squatted down and slowly opened the golden treasure chest. Inside the chest were two black books. These two black books were the skill books that he wanted to acquire. He could also get these books in the academy in the surface or some mysterious guy that sell skill books. Well, there were many ways to get the basic skill required for basic class and going into dungeon were one of this. Souta held it in his hands. Row of words appeared in his vision, as soon as he touched the books. [Do you want to learn Mana Manipulation skill for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] [Do you want to learn Fireball spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] He had 8 skill points and learning these two skills would leave him 4 skill points. He received 1 skill point every time he level up and 4 skill points weren''t a lose to him if he could learn this two skills. ''Yes'' Souta said mentally. He then saw his skill points decreased by four. Knowledge about the two skills were poured inside his head. It made him slightly loss his balance. [You''ve learned Mana Manipulation skill!] [You''ve learned Fireball spell!] Souta took a deep breath when he read the words. He''s one step closer before he could get a class. The requirements for the Mage class were simple. A player need to learn the skill [Mana Manipulation] and five magic spell for the class Mage. He already learned one magic spell. He just need to learn four more spell to complete the requirements to Mage class. But that wasn''t important now. What bothered him was the strange feeling when he learned the skills. The knowledge of the skills that were poured in his head. Souta raised his hand and it emitted a dim blueish light. He could somehow control the mana inside his body. There''s no function like this in the game. The players thought that [Mana Manipulation] skill were useless. For them, and him, this skill were only a requirement to get the class Mage and learn other spells. The feeling of this strange energy inside his body made him felt like nothing could defeat him. He could freely control the mana inside his body. He could use it to coat his fist, legs, or his whole body when fighting an opponent. "Really... This is making me excited." He said with a grin on his face. He''s looking forward to go to the surface. ... After he finished settling his things, he went back and go to the crossing paths before. He finished the left path and time to exterminate the ghouls in the right path. First he looked at his newly acquired skills. [Mana Manipulation] Level 1: A skill that will let you control your mana. No cost [Fireball] Level 1: Creates a fireball that attacks the enemy. Mana cost: 5 These were enough for him. Undead was weak against fire, light, and holy type skills. This lessen the difficulty of this dungeon, no, the boss. He wouldn''t use the [Fireball] against ordinary ghouls as he only had 36 mana. He would save it to finish the boss easier. At the very least, he wouldn''t suffer like when he fought the Undead Skeleton Mage before. He had a higher chance of beating a boss with additional fire type skill. He hummed as he walked forward. He was in a good mood right now. There''s no doubt about this but the other dungeons contains skill books. He would plunder them later and get the Mage class. After a few minutes of walking, he arrived in the center of a wide room. Bang! The only exit behind him was closed and the walls slowly opened revealing a large number of ghouls inside. "Grrraaa!!" The ghouls looked at him with bloodshot eyes. They revealed their sharp nails and teeth. Shiiing!! Souta brandished his sword as he slowly turned around to face the ghouls. He smirked and said, "Don''t disappoint me! Just give me a lot of exp!" 8 Boss Battle Souta turned his body in the air while slashing his sword. Putchi! The heads of the ghouls fell on the ground with a loud ''thud'' sound. Souta landed and he he quickly moved his body around the wide room. He didn''t get to close to the walls as he know that there''s a trap there. If he get one meter close to the walls he will activate the trap. The walls, ceiling, and floors will sprout metallic spike that could kill him easily. Souta swiftly moved his body as he avoided the ghouls from all side. Swiish! He cut the arms the ghouls in front of him before he swept it with his staff. Bang! "Ten down..." With every wave of his hand, parts of ghouls flew in the air. He cleanly cut their bodies in to two before smashing it with his staff. He crushed the ghouls brutally without a hint of mercy. He slash, slash, and slashed his sword until he cut them down. In just ten minutes, he finished all the twenty eight ghouls. He sat down on the ground while panting heavily. Fighting almost thirty ghouls costed him large amount of stamina. He even took some scratches on his body. "I''ll rest for an hour..." Souta muttered as he lied down on his back. He looked at the ceiling with a blank expression. Grrrr!! The door slowly opened as the ground shook slightly. It revealed a path to go back to the entrance. "Huff... Just twenty more souls and I will be able to use the effect of [Soul Blood Earring]." Souta muttered while looking at the interface in front of him. Just a little bit more and he will be able to increase one of his attributes using the effect of his earring. The effect of [Soul Blood Earring] was permanent, so even if he unequip it his stats will stay the same. When you''re a goblin it doesn''t matter if you level up or not, what matters was the evolution. The attributes only increased by one and it didn''t even made a difference in powers. "Haa~" Souta wiped his sweat using the [Undead''s robe]. He doesn''t had an inventory so he couldn''t store the equipment he found in this dungeon. "I will be fighting the boss soon..." He recalled that the boss here was the Great Undead Summoner. A boss type ghoul that could summon tens of ghouls in an instant. He guess that this will be enough for his [Soul Blood Earring]. He will also level up to 8 if he could kill five or more ghouls. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. He dreamed that he was Blood fighting hundreds of enemies in the near Great War. ... He woke up after 3 hours of sleeping. He sat on the ground and rubbed his eyes. "I fell asleep..." He looked at his surroundings and found that he was still in the dungeon. How careless of him to sleep in a dungeon full of ghouls. He stood up while grabbing his weapons, the staff and sword. He then exited the room after he finished checking his condition. He arrived in the intersection and went to the path where the boss lies. He just checked his stats and this was enough for him. Soon, he met five ghouls. He didn''t hesitated as he directly charged ahead while brandishing his sword. "Finish the battle in an instant... Do not waste stamina." Putchi! The heads of the ghouls flew in the air as their body stopped moving. Souta turned his head and looked at the body of the ghouls. He then waved his sword and the blood on it splattered on the ground. "Just a little bit more and I will level up." He walked ahead and found a huge metal door. "A boss room, huh?" He placed his palm on the door, feeling the cold metallic surface of the door. He put more force in his hand and pushed the door open. Swooosh! Cold wind burst out of the room. It brushed his face and felt a chill on his body. "It''s cold here..." He muttered and looked at the robe that was hanging on his shoulder. Placing down the staff, he grabbed the robe and wrapped it on his body. "Okay, let''s do this!" Souta took a deep breath and said to himself. He unconsciously emitted a faint killing intent as he stepped inside the room. The room was so wide. It''s circular like the room of the Undead Skeleton Mage. There''s no torches on the walls as it was covered in ice. On the ceiling, there''s a crystal gives off light. Souta saw the figure of a two and a half meter ghoul in the center of the room. Below its feet, a large magic circle was drawn on the ground. The magic circle was emitting a faint white light. It was the boss of this dungeon, the Great Undead Summoner. "Another long range boss..." He muttered while looking on the gigantic ghoul. He could feel the dense mana in this room. After learning the [Mana Manipulation] skill, he became sensitive to the mana in his surrounding. The boss moved its head and looked at him deeply. It then roared loudly that shook the entire room. ROAR!! Souta smirked as he saw seven ordinary ghouls emerge from the ground. "An exp pot, huh?" He bent his knees and threw himself on the ghouls. Boom! In just a second, he arrived in front of the ghouls. He used [Stab] and pierced the body of the ghoul. He didn''t stopped as he headed to the next ghoul and smashed it using his staff. Bang! The boss took a deep breath and Souta noticed it. Souta quickly rolled sideways as the boss used its own skill. [Air Wave] Powerful gust of wind that could tear Souta''s flesh shot out from the mouth of the boss. The wind didn''t hit anything before it crashed in the walls causing it to shake a few times. "What a powerful skill..." Souta said in a low voice while looking at the damage it caused. He then turned his head and looked at the boss with a smile on his face. *Ding!* [Quest triggered!] [Boss fight]: defeat the dungeon boss and conquer the dungeon. Rewards: 400 exp, 1 attribute point, and 1 skill point. Souta read the quest with a smile on his face. He turned to the ordinary ghouls and used [Dash]. He quickly kill one of the ghouls before jumping in the air. He could see that there''s another seven ghouls emerging from the ground. He opened his palm and shoot [Fire ball]. Bang! "You''re not the only one who have skills..." Saying this, Souta aimed his sword downwards as he fell down while piercing the head of the ghoul. He quickly stood up as the rest of the ghouls were rushing at him. This was the strategy of this boss. While the boss was charging the [Air Wave], the ordinary ghouls were going to rush at its enemy. [Summoning], [Air Wave], and [Berserk Ice Shot] were the skills of this boss. Once a player grasped the boss fighting style, they could eliminate it easily. He run in circle while slashing the ghouls. He kept moving his arms as he just slashed and smashed everything in front of him. Then, he heard a familiar sound in his head. *Ding* [You''ve level up!] [All attributes increased by 1!] [You''ve received 1 skill points!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] ''Level 8, huh?'' He thought as he jumped in the air and barely avoided the [Air Wave]. He used the head of the ghouls to run before jumping towards the boss. He slashed his sword on the back of the boss. Swiiish! The boss grew angrier as it threw him rapid punches. Souta jumped side to side barely dodging the punches of the boss. He shot [Fire ball] once again and it hit the face of the boss. Souta turned around and leave the boss. He proceeded to kill the ordinary ghouls. *Ding* [You''ve collected 100 souls!] He heard a system prompts on his head. He looked and saw that he collected 100 souls. When he was about to use the souls he collected the boss used the most powerful skills in its arsenal. [Berserk Ice Shot] Ice blocks with the size of a human head, kept coming straight at him. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta got hit on his shoulder and stomach. "Argh!" He gritted his teeth as he used the 100 souls to increased his Agility attribute by ten. *Ding* [You''ve used the soul you''ve collected!] [Agility increased by 10!] Souta felt cold energy entered his body and it increased his ability. [Agility: 23] ''This will be enough...'' He took a deep breath while checking his attribute and... Swooosh! He disappeared from his position and appeared ten meters away. He moved so fast that the ghouls couldn''t even see him. He turned around him used [Stab] repeatedly, piercing all the bodies of the ghouls. The boss grew angrier at this. It once again casted [Air Wave] as [Berserk Ice Shot] was cooling down. Powerful gust of wind went straight forward on Souta. Souta turned his head and looked at the incoming powerful wind. When the powerful wind was about to hit him, he once again vanished. The boss was stunned at this. It then noticed that Souta was running. [Dash] Souta increased his speed with the skill [Dash]. When he was ten meters away from the boss, he jumped in the air and used [Stab] on the face of the boss. Roar! The boss roared and waved its hand. Souta maneuvered himself in the air and landed in the ghouls hand. [Fire ball] The fire ball exploded in the face of the boss. Souta followed up by stabbing his sword. [Stab] *Ding* [Proficiency reached!] [Your skill Stab level up to two!] Souta was surprised when he saw the system prompts. He didn''t think that he would be able to level up his skill in just two days. Normally, it would take a week or two to level up a level 1 skill to 2 without using skill points. ''Luck is on my side!'' He smirked as he used the strengthened [Stab]. Putchi! Dark red blood gushed out from the neck of the boss. "Die!" Souta roared as he used [Fire ball] until he run out of mana. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! All of the fire balls hit the head of the boss. The head of the boss was covered in thick gray smoke. Thud! Souta landed in front of the boss and waved his sword and staff. "AHHHH!!!" "JUST DIE!!" He waved the two weapons in his hands trying to kill the boss. In just a minute, he threw more than hundred blows. ''For the final phase!'' Souta pulled back his sword before stabbing it madly. [Stab] *Ding* [You''ve received 1,830 exp for defeating the Great Undead Summoner!] Souta breath a sighed of relief when he heard the system prompt. Then, he was filled with bewilderment. He haven''t finish the mission. He already killed the boss. Soon, he found the answer as he heard a low growl behind him. The ghouls were still here. He wouldn''t be able complete the mission until he kill all of them. He turned around with a tired expression as he faced the ghouls. "Ah~ I need to make it quick... I want to rest." 9 Kobold again [Congratulations for completing the Boss fight mission!] [You''ve received 400 exp!] [You''ve received 1 attribute point!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] Souta lied down after he heard the system prompts. Fighting the boss and ghouls at the same time took almost all of his stamina. Plus, he also drained his mana pool. He only had 1 mana reserved in his mana pool. Well, he also gain a lot this time. Unfortunately, the ghouls weren''t wearing any sort of armor so he couldn''t pick any decent items from their body. "Well played Souta..." He said to himself as he looked at his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Goblin Level: 8(2,725/3,500) Class: ?none? Health: 29/44 Stamina: 3/22 Mana: 1/38 Strength: 27(17+10)[+] Agility: 23[+] Dexterity: 10[+] Intelligence: 19(9+10)[+] Vitality: 22(12+10)[+] Free attribute point(s): 8 Skill(s): [Dash], [Stab], [Sword Mastery], [Mana Manipulation] Spell(s): [Fireball] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul. Soul collected: 18/200] Skill point(s): 6 He used the souls he collected to increase his agility attribute. Right now, all of his stats were balance except the dexterity. Dexterity and agility were somehow connected as he wouldn''t be able to control his speed properly without raising his dexterity. [Harvester of the Soul]. This skill was a cheat. It''s one of the reason that he got stronger in the past. The souls that he need to use the effect of the skill got higher. Currently, 200 souls was what he need. To get this amount, he need to atleast conquer one or two dungeons. There''s many opportunities to obtain souls in this world. There''s no shortage of war in this world. Just by standing in the middle of a battlefield he could get thousands of souls in just a few seconds. A small war was participated by two countries. And the battlefield of this war was enough for him to increase his stats by a few times. Hundreds of thousands of people participated in a war of this scale. Back then, the players gave him a nickname ''Wanderer of War''. It was because he always appeared in different battlefields around the world plundering the souls of the dead people. It was especially in the Great War where all countries join the battle. There''s atleast billions of souls there. He walked throughout the whole continents. Nothing could stop him at that time. Souta put those memories in the back of his head. He then looked at his stats once again. Just a little bit exp and he''s going to level up once again. He''s slowly reaching the level cap before evolution and his stats weren''t enough for the requirements. It seems that he need to use his free attribute points to raise his stats. Souta closed his eyes and pondered what he should do next. After getting out in this sanctuary, he will try to determine what version he''s currently. There''s a probability that the future he know was different. There''s a reason for that and that''s because of the existence of players. Everyday millions of players were doing an ordinary quest and some of them were doing hidden quest or main quest. Sometimes, it could determine the future of a kingdom. There was once a war between two countries and five of the top 10 guild join one side. The outcome was inevitable. The side that the player joined won the war. While thinking this, Souta fell asleep because of tiredness. ... Souta woke up after sleeping for almost eight hours. "Ah~" He yawned and stretched his body before he got up. He, the legendary player of Battle World Online, start his day in another world. "I want to wash my body..." He looked at himself full of dirt. He exited the dungeon and sneakily went to the river to wash himself. On his way, he met the corpses of both kobolds and goblins. He sat down and checked the body of the goblin. "It seems that they were killed recently..." Souta muttered as he stood up. The souls were still here so they didn''t die that long. The souls will leave the body after 3 hours so he could guess what happened here. It only means that the kobolds and goblins engaged in a battle based on their wounds and the surrounding. The battle were not small at all. At least it involves half of the force of a whole dungeon. He could see it because there''s fifteen dead bodies here not including the kobolds. If he added it, then there''s a total of twenty six dead bodies here. "I want to relax for a while but it seems that I don''t have the time." Souta said in a low voice as he turned his head to looked at his left side. This was the direction of the dungeons where goblin and kobold lives. He collected the souls of the kobolds and goblins before he left. ... Clang! Clang! The kobolds and goblins were fighting. It was a large scale battle involving twenty monsters. It looks like the battle already start half an hour ago because of the corpse scattered on the ground. Souta was looking down on the battle on top of the tree. He could predict the outcome of this battle. The kobolds were pushing the goblins. He waved his hand and collected the souls of the dead. He easily collected more than fifty souls this time. He guess that it''s time to increase his exp. He couldn''t just watched everything while collecting souls leisurely. He also need the exp to level up. He opened his stats and looked over. His health, stamina, and mana were full. He would use a little bit of his stamina to kill all the kobolds this time. He didn''t hesitated anymore as he directly jumped in the air towards the battle. He brandished his sword and stab it on one of the kobolds. The kobolds and goblins were startled at his sudden appearance. [You''ve received 46 exp for defeating a Kobold!] Souta smirked and threw himself towards the kobolds. He didn''t gave them the time to regain their composure as he sliced one of the kobolds in half. Putchi! The leading kobold roared angrily and shouted on its comrades. The rest of the kobolds came back to their senses. Souta slashed his sword on the leading kobold. The leading kobold held its spear tightly and blocked the sword aiming on its neck. The two exchanged blows causing sparks to flew around them. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta took a step back as he was quite surprised at the spear skill of the kobold in front of him. ''At least level 2 mastery, huh?'' He thought. The kobold in front of him had a higher mastery of weapon than him. He once again clashed against the leading kobold. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta waved his sword faster than before. He also out more strength. He would dominate the kobold in front of him with his high stats. Clang! Clang! Clang! In just a few seconds, the two exchanged dozens of blows. Cracked! Souta''s sword was shattered and the leading kobold smiled at this. Souta opened his palm and the handle of the sword slipped off. The kobold felt something was wrong but it couldn''t figure out what''s wrong. Souta slightly opened his mouth and said, "[Fire ball]" Flame burst out of his palm and exploded in the face of the kobold. Boom! The kobold couldn''t dodge it as their distance to each other was one feet. It was impossible to dodge with its stats. Souta already knew that the sword was on the verge of the collapse before the battle. He could see the details of his equipment he register in his system as ''equip'' so he could that the durability of the weapon he use. Souta clenched his fist tightly and threw a powerful punch on the stomach of the kobold. Bang! He threw another punch on the face and hurriedly picked a sword on the ground. [Stab] The sword pierced the neck of the kobold. It quickly drained its life and drew its last breath before falling on the ground. [You''ve received 118 exp for defeating a Kobold Warrior!] ''Eh!'' Souta was surprised when he saw the words ''Kobold Warrior''. So this kobold wasn''t ordinary kobold, that''s why it could exchange blows with him for a long time. The level 2 [Spear Mastery] was great. It could suppressed his skills like that. If not for his scheme he wouldn''t be able to kill it with just his level 1 [Sword Mastery]. Souta hurriedly shook his head. It''s not the time to think about that. There''s still kobolds left here and he need to kill them first. ... Souta killed the rest of the kobolds easily. He waved his hand and collected the souls of the dead. He then turned his head to the goblin in front of him. The goblin was saying something he couldn''t understand. ''What the hell? I don''t understand what this guy''s saying!'' Souta thought while looking on the goblin that kept blabbering something he don''t understand. Should he kill them? No, they''re important to reduced the numbers of the kobolds and the other inhabitants of the dungeon here. The numbers of the living creature here were greater than it was in the game. The kobolds that died this time were greater than fifty. He recalled that he collected only thirty souls back in the first dungeon, the dungeon of skeletons. If he was chased by huge numbers of monster with his current state then he could only flee in the surface. Souta frowned and looked at the goblin in front of him. He will let them fought the kobolds until the kobolds took heavy casualties. It was then that he will strike. He guess that it happened because he killed those ten kobolds yesterday. Since he couldn''t converse with them, Souta with leave now. There''s no point in staying here. He turned around and leave the place quickly with his skill [Dash]. He was going to checked the situation of the other dungeons, especially the orcs. They were the one with the most power here in the upper floor of sanctuary. 10 Evolve Kobolds In just a few minutes, Souta arrived in area near the Orc''s dungeon. The orcs were the most powerful monsters here in the upper floor of the sanctuary. Their stats were naturally higher than the other monsters of the same level. Pure strength. They only use their brute strength in a fight. They don''t have any skill at all. But it''s different to an evolve orc. The evolve orc have higher stats and could use skills. The combat power of the boss of this dungeon was higher than anything else in upper floor. Even he wouldn''t dare to enter that dungeon with his current stats. Souta was hiding on the top of a tree. He was observing the dungeon carefully. Three orcs came out of the cave. The orcs had huge bodies. They were three meters tall and have bodies full of fat. They were armed with a huge butcher knife. They were literally what people called pig head. Souta felt that they were oozing out power greater than kobolds and goblins. One orc could fight three goblins on the same level. ''Still, hunting in pack, huh?'' He thought as he saw the three orcs entered the woods. They were probably going to hunt foods here. The orcs weren''t moving suspiciously and it seemed that they only hunt the wolves from the other dungeon. There''s no war going on in this place and they didn''t try to invade the other dungeons. "Good boy..." Souta muttered and then continued observing for half an hour. When he confirmed that there''s nothing wrong, he turned around and left. He also checked the other dungeons this time. The hornet and slime''s dungeon were still silent. They didn''t even came out of their base. After that, he came back to the kobold''s dungeon. He waited in the tree and half an hour later five kobold came out of the dungeon. Souta silently moved his body and he followed behind the five kobolds. Ten minutes later, he saw an opportunity. He quickly jumped out of the bushes and sliced the neck of the kobold. [You''ve received 61 exp for defeating a Kobold!] "One down..." Souta smirked and turned his head to the remaining four kobolds. They kobolds clenched their weapon and charged straight. Tch! Souta faced them as he moved the sword in his hand faster than anyone present here. [Stab]! [Stab]! Putchi! Putchi! The four kobolds stopped charging. They stood silently and looked on their chest. They saw a small hole on their left chest. Spat! Blood flow down in their mouth and they fell on their ground without any signs of life. [You''ve received 48 exp for defeating a Kobold!] [You''ve received 55 exp for defeating a Kobold!] [You''ve received 66 exp for defeating a Kobold!] [You''ve received 53 exp for defeating a Kobold!] Souta made a hole in their chest using his skill. Now that [Stab] reached level 2, it was now more faster and stronger than before. A single [Stab] could kill two kobolds easily. The only problem was that it consumed two stamina per use. He checked his exp percentage and found that he was about to level up once again. If he could conquer the kobold''s dungeon then he would reach the level requirements of the first evolution. He would also gained enough souls to increase his stats. "Evolution, huh?" He quite interested in his evolution and he wasn''t going to deny it. After all, his character in the game was a demi. A demi doesn''t have any evolution like monsters. They were already born stronger than the monster like goblin, kobolds, slimes, etc. If his character was demi or human then he already cleaned up the upper floor in this sanctuary. He wanted to experience the effect of evolution. According to the players the effect of evolution was great. Their powers wouldn''t increase twice but thrice. It''s not simple increased in stats. With a wave of his hand, he collected the souls of the kobolds and left the scene. ... One day had passed quickly. The battle between kobolds and goblins were heating up. The casualties on two sides could amount to a hundred men. Souta collected all the souls and increased his strength attribute. He killed some of the kobolds that left the dungeon. This let him reached level 9 easier. Now, he need 5,600 exp to level up to 10. Kobolds were not enough, he also needs the goblin here or the other monsters. He needs the soul of the goblins and kobolds to reached the requirements in evolution. He was quite surprised at the numbers of the kobolds. He estimated that their total number were higher than two hundred. This number gave him a surprised. This surpassed the numbers of what a low level dungeon could hold. But what surprised him the most were the goblins. The number of goblins exceeded the amount of kobolds. As expected of a goblin, their fertility rate was higher than any normal monster. The only problem was they were not that of a great fighter. Right now, the forces of kobolds and goblins were fighting in front of him. More than hundred monsters participated in this battle. Clang! Clang! Clang! Sounds of swords clashing echoed in the whole area. The numbers of goblins were greater than the kobolds but the kobolds fighting abilities were higher. "What a great battle?" Souta observed the surrounding while fighting some kobolds. He''s taking it easy. He didn''t revealed his abilities here as he just want to plunder the souls here. Sometimes he would kill goblins and kobolds sneakily. He''s slowly increasing his exp and souls here. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta crossed swords in one of the kobolds. He then looked around before he slashed the neck of the kobold. Putchi! [You''ve received 67 exp for defeating a kobold!] He moved to another kobold and killed it. [You''ve received 52 exp for defeating a kobold!] "It''s enough..." Souta muttered as he silently left the battlefield without anyone knowing. "It''s time to visit the kobold''s dungeon..." ... Souta run passed in the woods and arrived in front of the kobold''s dungeon. He saw twenty kobolds leaving the dungeon. They were armed with sharp weapon. What caught his attention were the four kobolds in front of the group. The four kobolds were emitting a very extraordinary aura that no ordinary kobolds could emit. "An evolve kobolds...!" Souta muttered under his breath. The four were evolve kobolds. They were much difficult opponents than ordinary kobolds. "But they were still at early stage of first evolution..." Souta squinted his eyes. If he could see their levels, they were probably between 11 and 14. 15 and 20 were the levels of the low level dungeon. "Huff..." Souta took a deep breath and gripped his sword tightly. He also took out his staff and he slowly bent his knees. He was going to take out one or two in an instant to decrease his burden in fighting them all at the same time. Boom! Souta speed was so fast that he arrived in front of the group in an instant. He moved his hand and his sword flew slicing the neck of the evolve kobold. Putchi!! [You''ve received 174 exp for defeating a High Kobold!] The kobolds were surprised. They couldn''t react at all as Souta''s sword sliced one of their comrades. He then smashed his sword on the kobold on his left side. Before they could regain their composure, Souta killed another kobold. Roar! One of the evolve kobold roared angrily at him. It slashed its sword on him. Clang! Souta blocked it using the staff. He felt the force of the kobold behind the attack. He was surprised that they were equals in strength. "Damn!" He jumped backwards as he saw that the other two evolve kobolds rushed at him. Swiiish! He threw his staff in the mid air and opened his palm widely. He fired three fireballs consecutively. Bang! Bang! Bang! The fireballs exploded in front of the two evolve kobolds. Souta used this chance and kill two ordinary kobolds swiftly. He ignored the system prompts in his mind as he turned around and left. "Grrrr!!" The three evolve kobolds growled angrily and started to chase him. ... Souta entered the woods faster using [Dash]. He then hid his body on the top of the tree. It was hard to spot him in the tree because of the color of his skin. The exp he received from killing a high kobold was high. He would get more than five hundred exp if he killed the remaining three high kobolds. Swooosh! Swooosh! Souta turned his head when he heard the sound of moving fast like a wind. He saw the kobolds went straight to the direction of the battlefield. "Hey!" He raised his sword above his head and threw it towards the kobolds. Swiiish!! A kobold turned its head and it felt a strange sensation in its chest. A sword pierced its chest. The kobold looked up and saw Souta charging straight. "Good!" Souta grabbed the handle of the sword and kicked the body of the kobold, pulling out the sword from its chest. He then turned around and used [Dash]. The ordinary kobolds couldn''t followed him. Only the three evolve kobolds could react to his speed. Before they could stopped him, Souta already sliced the neck of the ordinary kobolds. He a series of sound in his head. "Graaaa!!" The three kobolds threw theirself at him and slashed their weapon. Souta slightly shifted his body as a spear passed beside him. He then waved his sword to the attacks of the two evolve kobolds. Clang! "Come!" Souta moved his faster and clashed against the evolve kobolds. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta didn''t back down at all even he took some deep cuts on his body. He fought all with all of his strength. He forced the two evolve kobolds away and grabbed the sword of the other evolve kobold which was aimed on his head. "Argh!" Blood flow out of his hand when he grabbed the blade of the sword. Souta smirked and said, "Gotcha!" He then used [Stab] two times and made a hole on the body of the evolve kobolds. [You''ve received 181 exp for defeating a High Kobold!] Before he could turned to looked at the other kobold, a spear pierced his left shoulder. "Argh!!" Souta groaned from the pain he felt. Lifting up his left hand, he forcefully grabbed the spear on his shoulder before he threw his sword on the other kobold. He then turned his head to the kobold who stabbed his shoulder. He grabbed tightly the spear and didn''t let it go even when the kobold pulled it away. Souta opened his palm widely and grabbed the face of the kobold. He casted [Fire ball] consecutively until he heard the system prompts. He then released his gripped on the face of the kobold. He pulled out the spear on his shoulder and jumped in the mid air. Swooosh! He looked down and saw the remaining kobold looking at him with fear. "Once you start to feel it you''re bound to lose..." Souta said before putting his strength on his arm before forcefully throwing the spear. The spear travelled in the air going straight towards the kobold. Swooosh!! The spear nailed the kobold on the ground. It drew its last brew looking at Souta. [You''ve received 192 exp from defeating a High Kobold!] Souta sat down on the grass. He lost one fourth of his health from this battle. He could actually end it faster if he use [Stab] but he want to reserve it because he was going to fight the boss today. He rested for a few minutes and left after collecting the souls. 11 High End Goblin Souta went back to the battlefield. The battle was still ongoing and the goblins gained the advantage. They were pushing back the kobolds. He know why they could push back the kobolds. He just killed the reinforcement of the kobolds. A powerful reinforcement at that. If that group of evolve kobolds arrived here then it''s going to be hell for the goblins. New souls went towards his earring. Just a little bit more and he would be able to increase his stats. His exp also was 90%, a few kobolds or goblins were enough to level up to 10. Today. He''s going to evolve today. Souta felt his blood boiling thinking about evolution. Feeling the excitement building up, he charged to the battle while brandishing his sword. He ignored his wounds as he used [Stab] three times. Bang! Bang! Bang! The force behind his skill was powerful the it killed several kobolds. Some of the goblins got caught up and died. The kobolds and goblins were startled when several of their comrades died easily. They took a look and saw a little goblin armed with a sword. The skin of this goblin was darker than normal goblin. The posture and aura was overwhelming to be called amateur in battles. They know one thing for sure. This goblin was a veteran fighter. And a very powerful one at that. Souta followed it up by raising his other hand. He fired [Fire ball] until he drained most of his mana. One fire ball wasn''t enough to kill a kobold or goblin. Boom! Boom! Boom! Several explosions appeared in the middle of the battlefield. It slightly shook the ground. The kobolds and goblins were shocked. They didn''t understand how a fire ball suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The fire balls were not that powerful but with several of fire balls it could threaten their life. ... Souta heard a notification in his mind saying that the soul he collected reached the limit. 300 souls was the maximum he could collect. It was impossible for him to exceed this limit until he use it. [Harvester of the Soul. Soul collected: 300/300] He didn''t hesitated and used the souls to increase his strength attribute. Cold soul flow in his body transforming into an energy and it increased his strength. He felt his muscle building up solidly. His muscle was densely pack and it was filled with strength. The strength he could exert was greater than before. He turned his head on the kobolds and goblins with a smile on his face. "Now, it''s time to grind some exp." He dashed forward killing any monster he met. The battle continued and he killed the kobolds and goblins without mercy. The goblin were shocked when they saw him killing their comrades. They thought that he''s gone insane killing everyone in the middle of a war. Slash! Slash! Slash! His killing continued for half an hour until the kobolds and goblins showed their fear. They were different from the undead who doesn''t fear death. They were a living creature that could feel the word death. It was different when they were fighting someone on their level. They could see that they had a chance of winning but Souta was different. They know that everyone who approached him died. The kobolds and goblins started to run. They tried to escape as Souta chased after them. ... The battlefield was turned into blood red color. It got dyed completely. The corpses of goblins and kobolds were scattered across the whole area. The whole area was devoid of any sound. The kobolds and goblins that managed to survive escape this place. So, right now, there''s no one here except for him. Well, they will come back later after they calm down. They will realized they he''s exhausted and easy to kill right now. "I thought that I will need to exp of the boss to level up." Souta was covered in blood looking on the crystal attached on ceiling. Actually, he was looking at the interface in his vision. [You''ve level up!] [You''ve reached level 10!] [Opening up evolution path!] [Processing information...] *Ding* [Three evolution path detected!] [High Goblin] [Hobgoblin] [High End Goblin] [Pick one of the evolution path!] Souta didn''t hesitated and picked the High End Goblin. *Ding* [Strength reached fifty!] [It will take one minute to finish the evolution!] A white light appeared and it covered his body like a cocoon. Souta felt a warm energy covered him. It felt comfortable contrary to his convulsing muscles. He didn''t felt pain at all. When he was about to fell asleep, he heard the system prompts. *Ding!* [Evolution completed!] [High End Goblin: A very rare species of goblin that lived since ancient times. They were powerful and extremely verse in all kind of fighting style.] *Ding!* [All stats increased by 15!] [Health increased by 50!] [Stamina increased by 50!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] *Ding* [From now on your Agility, Dexterity, Vitality, and Intelligence attributes will increase by 5 every level while your Strength attribute will increase by 8!] [You''ve learned the inherent Goblin''s Language!] [All skills level up!] *Ding!* [Traits detected!] [Extraordinary Body] [Night Vision] [Alloy Body] [You can pick one of the traits!] Souta read the notification one by one. The increased in his stats and powers were great. The increased in his stats every level were higher. Also, all of his skills level up to 2 and the [Stab] reached level 3 in advance. The benefits of the evolution of a monster type character was really great just like what they said in the forum. Then, he looked at the traits. He pondered while looking at the three traits. He could only choose one of the three. [Extraordinary Body] were focused on his strength and recovery rate. [Night Vision]. As the name it says, he could see clearly in the dark with this trait. It was important as most of the dungeon doesn''t have any light. [Alloy Body] were most focused on the defensive abilities of his body. All the three traits were great but sadly he could only choose one. In the end he choose the [Extraordinary Body] [Extraordinary Body]: Increase the recovery rate by two times. +10 strength. Once again, he felt his strength increased by a notch. He then quickly opened his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: High End Goblin Level: 10 (0/9,100) Class: ?none? Health: 126/126 Stamina: 88/88 Mana: 70/70 Strength: 75(65+10)[+] Agility: 39[+] Dexterity: 26[+] Intelligence: 35(25+10)[+] Vitality: 38(28+10)[+] Free attribute point(s): 9 Skill(s): [Dash], [Stab], [Sword Mastery], [Mana Manipulation] Spell(s): [Fireball] Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul. Soul collected: 0/400] Skill point(s): 7 He looked on his stats with a satisfied expression. This will do for now. He picked the strength attribute because he know when he got the class his other attributes will caught up to his strength attribute quickly. First, he will balance the dexterity attribute to agility attribute using the effect of [Harvester of the Soul]. It''s easy to level up with his current level but once he passed 20 it will become harder. Souta moved his eyes and looked on the left side of the interface. He could see his figure standing there. The figure of a little goblin before became taller and grew a short black hair. His build wasn''t huge, it''s perfectly balance. His pupils changed into gold color after he evolve. His skin also became darker. "My face..." His face was slightly similar to his face before. He looked like a goblin with a blood of an asian. "Argh!" Suddenly, he felt his head hurt slightly. When he recalled his passed face his head felt like it was about to split. "I still couldn''t remember anything." He said with frown on his face. He could only recalled the basic things but his family and his social stature he couldn''t remember those things at all. He couldn''t even remember if he have a friend back in earth. "Why? My intelligence is higher but why I can''t remember it at all..." He muttered in a low voice. His breathing became ragged as he clenched his fist tightly. His power was boiling up like it was about to explode. Pak! A loud sound echoed. Souta slapped himself on the face to calm himself. He then took a deep breath and he closed his eyes. Inhale! Exhale! After repeating this cycle for a few times, Souta opened his eyes. His eyes was clear and his heart rate became normal again. He was calm as water now. Let''s worry about something like that later. He wanted to do something after evolving. And that was conquering the dungeon like what he always did in the game. He''s going to try his newly gained abilities to the boss there. After evolution, his health, stamina, and mana recovered. Be prepared dungeon boss... As I was going to raid your precious home. But before that he collected the souls of the dead first. The evolution prevented him from taking the souls as it was blocked by the white light before. Now, he could see the souls increasing from the interface. He then walked to the direction of the kobold''s dungeon. 12 Strength of the High End Goblin Tak! Tak! Footsteps echoed inside the dark cave. The area was silent and the footsteps could be heard clearly. Souta was walking straight to the direction of the dungeon boss. He then stopped on his track and looked ahead with a smile on his face. Group of kobolds appeared came out of the shadow. They were holding sharp weapons such as sword and spear. Souta gripped his sword tightly. He fixed his posture and he raised his sword at the level of his eyes. His muscle bulge out as his stabbed his sword in front of him. [Stab] It was so fast that the kobolds only felt a gust of wind. They couldn''t follow his movements at all. Drip! The kobolds looked down and saw a hole in their chest. The kobolds on the back were also caught in the attack. The only one who were safe were the ones that in the left side. Blood flow out of the mouth of the kobolds as they fell on their knees and drew their last breath. One by one those kobolds who took lethal damage fell down. Dang! Dang! Dang! The other kobolds were frozen in fear. They didn''t know what happened just now. Fear was slowly spreading in their heart. All of them gulped at the same time. Souta lowered his sword and looked at the kobolds five meters away from him. A simple basic skill [Stab] grew this powerful. The skill could create a powerful force that travel in the air. It was powerful that it could even pierced a metal bar. He could attack anyone within ten meters from him. A level 3 skill was really different. It was the major realm of every skill. Once a skill reached the level 3, a great upgrade will occur and the effect and power of the skill will greatly enhance not just by two times but by five times. Crack! Souta noticed something in his interface. The durability of the sword decreased by one. The sword of this level couldn''t handle it when someone used a skill at the level of 3. If Souta want a weapon that wouldn''t break easily then he should find a Yellow or Blue grade equipments. Most of the weapons here in the low level dungeon were just a Colorless grade equipments. "Well, there''s so many sword scattered in this place," Souta said as he glanced on the swords scattered on the ground. These were the weapons of the dead kobolds. He turned his attention back on the remaining kobolds. He once again did the same posture and executed the skill [Stab]. Swooosh! Holes appeared on the bodies of the kobolds at the same time. The kobolds couldn''t even react on his skill. Crack! The sword in his hand cracked. The crack quickly spread and it crumbled down. "Hu~" Souta closed his eyes as he heard a series of sound in his head. Before his attributes were one digit at that time. His Intelligence attribute merely one at that time. But now his attributes reached thirty or more. His attributes increased by one every level up when he was a simply normal goblin. "Well then, let''s go to the boss room," he said and he picked one good sword on the ground. He then walked ahead and stopped in front of a metal door. The metal door was huge depicting the boss of this dungeon. "This is the boss room where the Kobold''s leader reside." Souta muttered as he raised his hand and slowly pushed open the metal door. Inside the wide room, a kobold wearing a full body equipment was sitting on a throne. A leather armor, pair of gauntlet, leather pants, and a black gloves. The kobold was holding a spear in its right hand. Beside the kobold, were another four kobold kneeling on the ground. It has the same pose when someone was kneeling or seeing a king. Well, that kobold was the king of this dungeon. Souta''s eyes twinkle when he saw this. A Yellow grade equipments. It has the same level of the robe and staff that he looted from the Undead Skeleton Mage. He directly walked inside the room while he''s stretching his body. He said with a smirk, "I''m getting excited over a set of Yellow equipment." Then, a notification ringed inside his head stopping him from moving. *Ding!* [You''ve entered the boss room!] [Quest triggered!] [Boss Battle]: Defeat the boss and conquer the dungeon. Rewards: 400 exp, 1 attribute point, and 1 skill point Souta accept the mission without hesitation. Actually, he could declined a quest like this. A quest of this type will only appear in a given situation. There''s also the other type of quest that came from the NPC. That type of quest has penalty. The penalty will be either somebody was dying or some will be put in jail. It depends on the quest a player pick. When a quest was about a medicine bringing in time it means that the player needs to deliver the medicine or else the NPC who had a sickness will die. The four kobold guardian stood up and pulled out their sword while the leader just watched them with interest. "You know, these four aren''t enough." Souta said as he slowly walked towards the four kobolds. One of the kobold charged with a sword in its hand. It swung its sword powerfully. Souta slightly shifted his body and he tightened his fist before he threw a punch on the stomach of the kobold. Bang! The punch was strong and fast that the kobold flew away and crashed in the wall behind the boss. The power behind 75 strength attribute was so strong that it could crush normal monster. Souta quickly turned around and faced the three kobolds. The three kobolds were rushing straight at him. They reacted fast when they saw their comrade crashed in the wall. Swooosh! Swooosh! Swooosh! Souta avoided the sharp weapons aiming to cut him. He stepped backwards while dodging the attacks and he slowly raised his sword. Bang! Bang! Bang! The three kobolds was pushed backwards as hole appeared in their bodies. Souta just used [Stab] consecutively and it easily killed the three kobolds. Thud! The kobolds fell with a loud sound. Blood slowly formed beneath their bodies. Several notification ringed in Souta''s head. Souta then looked towards the boss of the dungeon. This boss was a High Kobold, just like kobolds he killed before. But this kobold was stronger than those newly evolve kobolds. The boss monster was naturally stronger than the other monster even if they were in the same species. The boss was three to five times stronger and it''s health was higher than the rest. A boss wasn''t called a boss for nothing. "I''ve already killed two dungeon boss." Souta muttered while looking on the boss. He could already kill a dungeon boss when he was still an ordinary goblin. This boss was not much different from the other boss. He was much stronger now and he could handle a boss easier with his stats. The boss slowly stood up and grabbed the spear on its side. It exude an aura of a veteran warrior that undergo hundreds of battles. "Hais..." Souta sighed and dashed towards the boss. In just a second, he arrived in front of the boss. Gripping the handle tightly, he slashed his sword. The boss the spear and parried the sword. Then, it quickly stabbed its spear. [Fast Stab] Souta tightened his muscles and swiftly moved his hand blocking every attack of the boss. Clang! Clang! Clang! ''Level 2 [Spear Mastery], huh?'' Souta thought while blocking every stab of spear. He focused his eyes on the moving spear of the boss. Swooosh! He moved his hand and grabbed the spear. "Caught it!" He smirked and used his strength to raised the spear in the air. The boss didn''t let go the spear as it was pulled in the air. "Ahhh!" Souta shouted and he smashed the boss in the ground. Bang! Spider web like cracks appeared in the floor. Souta raised his sword and slashed it down. The boss learned from before so it let go the spear and rolled sideways avoiding the slash. Swooosh! The boss pulled himself up and jumped backwards. It saw Souta rushing with a fast speed. "This is the end!" Souta raised his sword and used [Stab] consecutively. Bang! Bang! Bang! He made a several holes on the body of the kobolds. Some of the attack was blocked by the leather armor. Some wear in the neck, shoulders, and arms. He always wanted to try this but he couldn''t before as it needs a lot of stamina. He would only used [Stab] three to five times in a battle. But now, he could freely try it with as he had a lot of stamina. Souta purposely attack the part that weren''t covered in armor, still some of his attack hit the armor. He still couldn''t control the level 3 [Stab] when using it consecutively with his Level 2 [Sword Mastery]. Souta only stopped his movements when he heard the notification in his head. [You''ve received 1,598 exp from defeating a High Kobold!] [Congratulations for completing the mission Boss Battle!] [You''ve received 400 exp!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] [You''ve received 1 attribute point!] The health of this boss was much higher than he expected. He consumed more than half of his stamina in using level 3 [Stab]. It was much sturdier than the two boss he fought before. At least he killed this boss faster than the rest. "Let''s stop thinking about." Souta shook his head and he squatted down in front of the corpse of the boss. He placed down his sword and started to loot the dead body. [Bear''s glove](Yellow): A gloves made from the hide of a giant bear. Effect: +5 dexterity, +20 health. Durability: 14/15 [Rock Gauntlet](Yellow): A gauntlet made from the pure rock and high mana. Effect: +5 vitality, +20 health, +10 mana. Durability: 12/15 [Kobold''s Armor](Yellow): An armor made from the hide of a High Kobold. Effect: +20 health, +20 stamina, +5% physical resistance. Durability: 8/15 [Kobold''s Pants](Yellow): A pants made from the hide of a High Kobold. Effect: +20 health, +5 agility, +5 damage resistance. Durability: 9/15 Souta wear the gloves, gauntlets, and pants. The armor was huge for him and it was uncomfortable to move. If he wasn''t feeling uncomfortable he would wear it even if it was loose on him. He was afraid the it would hinder his movements or bother him in a battle. The pants was also huge on him but after he made an adjustment it fitted him. "Hmm... What should I do now. I should finish all the dungeon here in the upper floor before leaving the sanctuary." 13 Leaving the Sanctuary One week had passed since Souta''s evolution to High End Goblin. He completed the [Survival] mission which he needs to survive for five days. Well, if he failed in completing the mission it means that he died. He already expected it to complete this mission easily. If he was in the middle floor then he would die would even killing a single monster. After becoming a High End Goblin, it became easy for him to complete the rest of the dungeons here in the upper floor. He spend his week in conquering all the remaining nine low level dungeons. Although, he level up quite a lot this time and increased his stats higher he still wouldn''t dare to go down in the middle floor. The monsters there were completely different from the monster in the upper floor. A person will truly know why this place was called Undead Sanctuary once he/she go down there. The Undead Lich, Death Knight, Greater Ghouls, Bone Tiger, etc. were a monster that can be found in the middle floor. Their levels were completely higher than the monster here in the upper floor. If he wasn''t wrong the highest level of monster here was 19. And that level was average in the middle floor. If all the undead here got out of the sanctuary, the undead would be able to destroy a few weak countries out there in the surface. He became level 16 after conquering the whole upper floor of the Undead Sanctuary. His status became quite pleasing in his eyes especially his strength attribute. His strength attribute was now over one hundred. He could now literally punch a hole through iron without taking any damage. He also collected enough souls to use the effect of the [Harvester of the Soul]. He used it twice and increased his dexterity and intelligence. He finally balanced his agility and dexterity. This made him more faster. He used the souls in his intelligence because he got himself another spells. He got himself two spell book from the dungeons that he raid. He learned [Ice shot] and [Light Heal] by using four skill points. In truth, he found three skill books but the other one was also [Light Heal]. Unfortunately, the [Light Heal] cannot be use in ones self. In total, he already learned three spells. He only need to learn two spells and he would reach the requirements to get a class. Currently, Souta was bathing in the river. He was cleaning the wounds on his body that received from invading the Orc''s dungeon. The power of orcs wasn''t something he couldn''t take lightly. "Ah~ I will go out of this place tomorrow." He muttered with a satisfied expression. He already cleared all the dungeon here so it''s normal for him to go out. He stats weren''t enough to go down in the middle floor so he will get himself a class first. A mid level dungeon were housing two hundred level 20+ monster. He would stood a chance if he have a class and some powerful skill but unfortunately for him he still don''t have any class even if he''s already level 16 and his skill were pretty much the basic ones. "It sucks here!" He said as he looked up on the ceiling. He then stood up and went to the shore. He picked his equipments and wore it. He hanged his sword on his waist while the staff was on his back. "Let''s exercise first." Souta said as he did some exercise. Based on his experience, he knew that training or practicing could increase his exp. He then practiced swordsmanship to increase his proficiency. He did not only trained sword skill he also trained his other skill to increase the proficiency. The system didn''t have a function to see the proficiency of skills. It was the same in the game. After training, he roasted a fish and then ate it. He was happy that he learned the [Fire ball] spell. Using this spell he could create a fire a cook his meal. He doesn''t want to eat any raw meat at all. It taste bad. "Hahaha! It taste great!" He said as he bit a mouthful of roasted fish. It didn''t have any seasonings but for him it was good compared to the raw meat of goblin and kobold. "This is the only time that I could truly relax my tense muscle." He could relax as he know that there''s no other monster here in the upper floor except himself. He doesn''t need to worry about monster attacking him when he was sleeping. For the past week, he was tense and couldn''t relax properly. He was serious in keeping himself alive. "If I could get some alcohol then it would be perfect! Ahhh~ thinking about alcohol really made me want to rush in the city!" After enjoying his meal, Souta fell asleep. He could finally sleep comfortably. ... Souta woke up exactly after eight hours. He do some maintenance on his equipment before he packed up his belongings. Well, he only have equipments as his belongings and the skill books. He would sell these skill books in the city. In the game, after a player learned a skill the skill book or spell book would vanished into the air. "Let''s go!" He went to the center of the upper level. It was in the middle of the woods. There, there''s no trees anymore as it was replaced by a huge flat rock. The surface of the rock was smooth and it contains a bit of magical power. He went around and found a stairs leading to the top. He walked to the top and found a huge magic circle on the ground. The magic circle were carved in the surface of the rock. It was a high level teleportation spell. "I wonder what will those people do once they knew that I''ve arrived in the real world of Battle Worlds Online." Souta smirked as he extended his feet and stepped inside the magic circle. He waited for a while but nothing happens. "Huh? Why didn''t a prompt appear asking if I want to exit this place?" Souta muttered with a dumbfounded expression. He thought that it would work once he stepped inside the magic circle. Well, that''s only in the game. It was completely different in real fantasy world. He then rubbed his chin, pondering what he should do. He lifted up his head and looked on the ceiling. He could burst out the ceiling if he was level 60+ but with his level he couldn''t do that. A level 60+ character could destroy landmass. An idea came into his mind. He recalled that he have the [Mana Manipulation] skill. He squatted down and placed his palm on the surface of the rock. He closed his eyes and felt the mana inside the rock. He control his mana and he flowed it to the magic circle. Shiiiing! The magic circle emitted a dim. The more mana he poured in the magic circle the more brightly it become. Then, he felt the ground shook slightly. It was then that he opened his eyes and saw the magic circle glowing in red light. Shiiiing! The light got stronger and it swallowed him. When the light disappeared he was also gone. ... Souta opened his eyes. He saw the magic circle beneath. It was glowing with red light. After a few moments the magic circle turned back into ordinary magic circle. It was covered in soil and grass so he couldn''t clearly see the magic circle anymore. He could only see the rough outline before because it was emitting a red light. It was the secret path to go down in the Undead Sanctuary. The player accidentally discovered it back then. But now there''s no player to discover the place anymore. It would become his farm site in the near future. He stood up and looked around him. This place was full of graveyards. He could even see some zombies around him. "Curse Cemetery, huh?" The place above the Undead Sanctuary was called Curse Cemetery. It was also a place full of undead and one of the forbidden zone. It was located near the edge of the Giza continent. It was daylight now so the zombies were quite weak. Powerful monster over level 50 would only appear at midnight. "Luckily, it''s morning!" Souta said as he turned his head. On the other side of this place, he saw a sea. A bodies of water, the Great East Sea. Over there was another huge continent, the God''s Continent. Players also called it Earth Continent. They called it Earth Continent because of the living being there. The mythology of earth were living there. The Norse Mythology, Greek Mythology, Gods of Egypt, Japanese shinto, Chinese mythology, etc. All of them were in the God''s continent. He recalled that he became a Hero of Athena back then. He became part of her Hero when he was trying to capture his mount. But Souta''s destination wasn''t there. It take a lot of time to go there without any preparation. He also doesn''t have any boats or ship. So he will go to the nearest city to acquire a class. He would also study the language of this world. "I wonder what version it is right now." Souta muttered in a low voice. -End of Volume 1- 14 Red Fur Bear concede Souta placed his left hand on his and felt the bag he made. Inside it were the precious stones that he looted in the sanctuary. Mana stone, gold, silver, platinum, etc. were all inside the bag. He will used this stone as currency to enter the city. Even though some of the countries in this continent were quite advance they still haven''t changed the currency system. The currency system were arranged base on the magical value. It was arranged like this; copper coin -? gold coin -? silver coin -? platinum coin. Copper and gold have low magic conductivity so their value were lower than silver and platinum. In this world, where magic reigns the value of gold dropped. "A piece of silver and gold is enough for the city guards to let me pass." Souta said with a smile on his face. Then, he saw four zombies ahead of him. "It seems that I need to exit this place first before I could relax!" Souta dashed towards the four zombies while brandishing his sword. "Graa!!" The four zombies noticed him as they growl with a coarse voice. Souta imbued his mana on his sword and slashed it. Putchi! [You''ve received 57 exp for defeating a Zombie!] [You''ve received 57 exp for defeating a Zombie!] [You''ve received 57 exp for defeating a Zombie!] [You''ve received 57 exp for defeating a Zombie!] Souta heard several sound in his head as the four zombies were cut in half. Their upper body slowly fell on the ground. "Still this is good." Souta said while looking at the sword in his hand. Since leveling up the [Mana Manipulation] skill, he could now used his mana to strengthen his sword. There''s no features like this in the game. It''s pretty convenient if he was to say it. Boom! The ground shook heavily. It felt like someone was approaching. The air became heavy and turned cold. Souta turned his head and saw a three meter tall undead. He frowned and muttered, "A gigantic zombie, huh?" A gigantic zombie was an evolve form of an ordinary zombie. It has a huge body and powerful strength. But it''s speed was still slow as the ordinary zombie. "If it''s midnight then I would meet an undead more powerful than this." Souta said as he poured his mana on his sword. The Curse Cemetery was more terrifying when the darkness covered the sky. Terrifying undead would start appearing one by one. Compared to those undead this undead here was too weak. It''s like comparing an ant to an elephant. Thud! Thud! The loud footsteps of the gigantic zombie shook the ground. Souta fixed his posture and he poured his mana in his sword. The sword glow dimly as it contained his mana. "I will finish this easily!" He said before he used [Dash] appearing in front of the gigantic zombie in just a few seconds. He then executed the [Stab] skill. The gigantic zombie lifted up its arm and tried to blocked Souta''s attack. Boom! The power behind [Stab] pierced the palm of the gigantic zombie. The force continued and made a huge hole on the chest of the zombie. The skill [Stab] added with mana was much stronger than before. It could even pierced the tough defense of the gigantic zombie. Souta stopped in front of the gigantic zombie before pulling back his sword. Pouring his mana, he thrust his sword forward. Swiiish! It was a normal stab without a usage of skill. He could stab his sword without a skill but if he use the skill its fire power and penetration was stronger than normal stab. Swiiiish! Swiiish! Swiiish! Stabbing his sword like a madman made the gigantic zombie fell backwards. Bang! "For the finishing touch!" Souta kicked the ground and once again executed the skill [Stab]. Bang! The force behind the skill burst the head of the gigantic zombie. It staggered backwards before it fell on the ground. [You''ve received 198 exp for defeating a Gigantic Zombie!] The soul inside the undead went straight to the [Soul Blood Earring]. He just need to activate the skill and all the souls of the undead that he defeated would come inside his earring. No, he''s already activating it ever since he wore the item. Souta looked around and saw a few zombies wandering aimlessly. "I need to get out of this place before it gets dark." Saying this, he dashed forward to the direction of the woods. He wouldn''t survive this place if it gets dark. It wasn''t a forbidden place for nothing. ... After a few hours of running, Souta finally stopped. He was exhausted and there''s only a few mana left in his mana pool. Even with [Dash] skill, he still haven''t left the Cursed Cemetery. The skill consumed almost all of his mana as he was using it nonstop. "I need to rest for a few minutes." He said while gasping. He was closed to the woods. Once he enter the woods, he wouldn''t met any undead there. The Curse Cemetery was a very large place. It was like a city of undead. This place was 600 kilometers in diameter. That''s why no person would dare to enter this place if they weren''t sure that they could get out before it gets dark. Thousands of undead will swarmed those people when the night falls. Back then, the top ten guilds formed an alliance and invade this place. It was a grand battle between the players and undead. Thousands of players fought the countless army of undead here in the night. That battle promoted thousands of players to a higher level. It was at that time that they discovered the Undead Sanctuary. There''s a lot of good item and skill book here. There''s also a curse weapon here. But Souta didn''t have a time to find those things. He had a limited stamina and couldn''t fight for a long time. He couldn''t afford to fight the undead here with his current stats and equipments. Souta looked at his stamina and said, "I think this is enough to get out of here." He then stood up and started running. Using [Dash] to increased his running speed. After a few dozens of minutes, he made a decision to use his free attribute points. He had thirty one free attribute points. These were enough to increase a few of his stats by ten. He added ten points to his vitality attribute. Vitality was connected to his health and stamina. So by increasing vitality he could increase his stamina. Vitality: 68(58+10)[+] He tapped the "+" in his mind to add ten points. Vitality: 78(68+10)[+] He felt a warm energy entered his body. It decreased his tiredness by a little amount. "Hu~" Souta took a long breath before he continued adding free attribute points in his stats. He added ten free attribute points in his agility attribute. His agility became... Agility: 79[+] Before it was sixty nine but now it became seventy nine. He only had eleven free attribute points and he doesn''t have any plan to use it for now. With a "boom" he dashed faster than before. Swooosh! He met some zombies that tried to blocked his way. He sliced those fools without hesitation but he avoided the evolve zombies as it would take him some time to kill those evolve zombies. Luckily, it was daylight and he could everything around him. So he could differentiate those zombies even if it was far. He already met ordinary zombie, gigantic zombie, slick, and toxic ghoul. He naturally avoided the gigantic zombie especially the slick and toxic ghoul. Those two undead were much more powerful than gigantic zombie. Their level was between 30 - 40. An instant death would await him if he went to their direction. He was already running for an hour now. Then he saw the woods ahead of him. "I can see it!" Souta smiled burst out from the ground. He controlled his mana and imbued it in his feet. This increased his speed once again but the consumption was high. He was using mana in [Dash] already. ... Souta stopped as soon as he entered the woods. He leaned his back on the tree and took a deep breath. "Hu... That was tiring..." He lifted up his head and looked at the trees around him. If there''s some fruit then he would take it. Unfortunately, he doesn''t found anything. Well, fruit was not the only edible things here in the woods. There''s also those wild animals and monsters. He lifted up his head and looked at the sky. The sun was setting down and in just an hour darkness will covered this entire place. "Let''s go!" He doesn''t have the time to rest. He need to find a place to stay for a night and some food. Suddenly, a snake thrust forward trying to bite him. It revealed its sharp poisonous fangs. Souta reacted by grabbing his sword on his waist and slashing it on the snake. The snake was sliced in half. The snake didn''t even feel the pain in its death. [You''ve received 39 exp for defeating a Toxic Snake!] "A toxic snake, huh?" Souta muttered while looking at the carcass of the snake. The poison of the snake could paralyzed a level 20 monster. He crouched down and picked it up. This was going to be his dinner for tonight. ... Souta was hiding in the bush thinking about what he should do. There''s a cave in front of him. He could stay inside there comfortably. But there''s one problem and that was the wild boss. There''s a Red Fur Bear that was living in that cave. It was one of the powerful monster in the forest. In the game its level was between 20 - 40. "Okay I will checked its level first," Souta muttered as he stood up and walked towards the cave. He brandished his sword and gripped it tightly. He looked in his stats and saw that he still have twenty mana and eighteen stamina left. ''This is enough as long as I do it swiftly.'' he thought. ROAR!!! A powerful and loud roar shook the entire cave. "A skill, huh?" Souta''s brows knitted tightly and he started to circulate his mana inside his body. He poured it in his sword as he prepared himself. Boom! A three meter tall figure came out of the cave. The red fur bear looks dominating. It deserves the title one of the powerful monster here. ''Swiftly without any sound,'' Souta dashed towards the red fur bear. In just a second he was beside the bear. He pulled back his sword and used [Stab]. Bang! The sword pierced the thick hide of the bear. Blood flow out and dyed the soil. This attack surprised the bear. It didn''t think that Souta would attack immediately. Souta turned around as he poured mana in his feet. Bang! He kicked the wound he gave to the bear. Roar! The bear roared in pain and it swept out its arms towards the perpetrator. Souta raised his arm and guard against the attack. Bang! Souta gritted his teeth as he felt the shock of the attack. Cracks formed in his gauntlet. His health decreased by twenty points in just a single attack. Its fire power was greater than anything he fought before. "Once again!" Souta jumped and poured his mana in his sword. He then noticed that the arm of the bear was heading towards him. He grind his teeth and executed [Stab]. Putchi! Bang! His sword pierced the eye of the bear. Blood drip on the ground while Souta was smashed on the ground creating a small crater. Roar! The red fur bear roared angrily as the sword was stuck in its eye. "Argh!" Souta spat a mouthful of blood before turning his head to looked at the red fur bear. It was shallow. If he put more force in his attack he would have reach the brain of the bear. Swooosh!! He ignored the pain and charged towards the bear. He could only use two spell with his remaining mana. [Ice Shot] A block of ice smashed the wound on the feet of the bear. He then jumped in the mid air and shoot [Fire ball] towards the roaring bear. Bang! "Just die!!" Souta roared and when he was about to pushed the sword deeper a system prompt ringed in his mind. *Ding!* [The Red Fur Bear conceded!] [Congratulations for acquiring your first pet!] "Eeehhhhhh!!!" 15 Yuko [Congratulations you''ve acquired your first pet!] "Eehhh!" Souta stopped his and twisted his body in the mid air before he landed on the ground. "This...?" He looked at the system prompts that he received. He didn''t expect that he would acquire a pet this time. Now that the bear was registered in the system he could see the details of the bear. Pet/Mount(1/1): =Red Fur Bear Level 21[¡â?]= A powerful bear with blood red fur that live deep in the forest. An evolve species of Mountain Bear. Like to eat fruits and honey. ''A level 21, huh?'' Souta thought while looking at the interface. It means that this bear just evolve recently. He actually got himself a pet on his way to the Hebrei Kingdom. He had a plan to level up first before getting his pet in the God''s Continent. He''s pet in the game was a powerful dragon that was sealed a long time ago. She''s Hydra, a Nine Head Hydra. He got that pet when he was doing a quest for Athena back then. Souta shook his head and turned around to face the bear. He looked at the bear who was groaning in pain. "Is this really my pet...?" He stepped forward and placed his palm on the head of the bear. He said, "Stay still, it will hurts for a few seconds." He then grabbed the handle of the sword that was stuck in the eye of the bear. He forcefully pulled it out as blood spurted out from the eye of the bear. [Light Heal] Souta immediately casted [Light Heal] to stop the bleeding. He once again casted it until the bear stopped groaning in pain. The bear looked at him with fearful eyes as she lowered her head. She carefully stuck her tongue out and lick his hand. "From now your name will be Yuko," Souta said as he caressed her red fur. While caressing her red fur his thoughts were flying. He recalled the pets he had in the game. Those were powerful monster that could destroy a city. All of them could put up a fight with top players. They could even kill those players in one on one battle. There''s one player who''s class was Divine Tamer. That player have a monster ranch of different powerful monster. That player contacted him and wanted to buy his pets. Unfortunately, he declined as he had a hard time getting those pets. He wouldn''t exchanged them for anything. Souta shook his head and looked at the dark cave. "Let''s go!" Saying this he walked forward and enter the cave. Yuko lifted up her head and looked at her master. She followed behind as both of them enter the cave. The cave was quite deep so he didn''t explore it anymore. He was tired the muscles on his legs was aching because of running nonstop. It was morning when he left the Undead Sanctuary but now it''s already dark. It took him more than nine hours before he managed to exit the Curse Cemetery. He leaned his back on the walls and closed his eyes. He quickly fell asleep as both tiredness and exhaustion hit him. Yuko quietly looked at him. She was still fearful of him because of what he did to her. She slowly moved her huge body and went beside Souta. She kept him warm with her thick fur as she also fell asleep. Pet/Mount(1/1): =Yuko Level 21(Red Fur Bear¡â?)= ... Battle Worlds Online, was the most popular game that millions of people played this game. It was a mix of fantasy and futuristic world. The game didn''t only moved around a single world but it moves around the whole cosmos. A world with different cultures were all around for the player to explore. Sword, Gun, Magic, Mecha, etc. were inside this game. The players could pick from a hundreds of race and job to start from. That''s the Battle Worlds Online. There''s a legendary player called Blood in the game. He was called the most powerful player in the Battle Worlds Online. He doesn''t have any guild or join any party. His skill combination, precise intuition, and his perfect control over his character skills were all above the other players. A man wearing a black sleeveless long coat with red linings. The front part of his collar was extended on his back fluttering in the wind. His left arm was covered in crimson colored armor while on his right arm was the same armor. He wore a black pants with the same design as his coat. On his hand, he was holding a huge scythe. The scythe looks ominous with its design as there''s eyes on the blade of the scythe. The man jumped down from the top of a tall building and waved the scythe to the huge army in front. Everytime he waved his scythe people would die. The souls of the dead went to his earring and the corpses would also disappeared. It was the caused of his powerful weapon, the [Flesh Eating Scythe]. He was called the most brutal person as he didn''t even let a corpse and soul leave easily. He was standing on the top ranking ever since the launched of the game. The only thing that limit him was the level cap of each version. ... Souta opened his eyes and it was already morning. "A dream..." He looked around and saw that Yuko was cuddling him. He stood up and patted her. "Hu~" He still haven''t fully recovered all the stamina and mana that he lost yesterday. The basic recovery rate of health, stamina, and mana was one per hour. When sleeping it would increased by five time. Sleeping for a few hours was enough if he was still a goblin with low health, stamina, and mana but now it wasn''t enough as he had more than a hundred. It seems that he will stay here in the woods this time. Souta turned his head as he felt Yuko moved. He looked at her as Yuko also looked at him. Yuko stood up and went deep inside the cave. Souta looked at her with a curious gaze. He doesn''t know what she intend to do. After a few moments, Yuko came back and she presented a bunch of fruits in front of him. "Hmm... Your giving this to me?" Souta looked at the fruits. This fruits could help him recover his stamina as it have that effect. But there''s something that caught his attention. He reached out his hand and picked up a green fruit with white dots. "This is Green Mana Fruit...?" Souta looked at the fruit on his hand. He didn''t think that Yuko have this kind of fruit. Oh? She loves fruit as it was written in the description. Green Mana Fruit was a fruit that could increase a person''s mana. Yes, increase, not recover. It means that it could increase his mana pool. Souta looked at Yuko and said, "Alright, I will take this." He then bit the Green Mana Fruit in his hand. *Ding* [You''re mana have increased by 20!] It was hard to find a fruit like this in this world. It was also hard to cultivate this kind of fruit and only a few people have this kind of skill. Even he only ate a few back in the game. Yuko looked at him with teary eye. She really doesn''t want to give him those fruits as it was her treasure. She felt pain as she saw Souta eating the fruits she collected for a long time. Souta looked at Yuko and said, "You can have the rest." Yuko tilted her head as she couldn''t understand what he was saying. "You can have the rest." Souta repeated and pushed the fruits to her. This time, Yuko vaguely understand his words thanks to the master and pet contract in the system. She moved her big hands and grabbed the fruits. She then stood up and went deep in the cave. Souta guess that she hide the fruits back. He stretched his body and exited the cave. The sun rays hit his body and he felt a warm energy coursing through his body. "At most, it will take me a month before I arrive in the Hebrei Kingdom." If he could fly or have that airship of Mechanic Country it would be easy for him. The distance between Hebrei Kingdom and Curse Cemetery was large. Without any sort of transportation, it would take him a long time to travel between kingdom. Actually, there''s a few villages nearby but he don''t know their language so it will be hard to communicate. Only large kingdom such as Hebrei Kingdom sell the technology of Mechanic Country. He would buy the communicator there first and find a way to learned the other spell. He wouldn''t be able to receive a quest if he couldn''t understand their language. He would also know what version if he go there and gathered some news about the powerful countries. 16 Special Ques Souta rest for a whole day. He just stay inside the cave and he let Yuko hunt the food for the two of them. Yuko was one of the powerful monster here so he don''t need to worry about her getting in trouble. "Let''s continue our journey." Souta said as he stood up and stretched his body. It was morning and the weather was nice. It''s perfect for travelling. He turned around and looked at Yuko. "Yuko, come on! Let''s go!" Yuko followed behind him quietly. Souta have a plan. He recalled that there''s valuable things in this forest. Every place of this world have something that''s valuable. Especially with his current strength he need those things as long as it could help him a little. Souta followed his memories and walked for about one hour before he stopped. Yuko also stopped and looked at him with a confused expression. She was wondering why did he stopped all of a sudden. Souta ignored her and carefully looked at his surrounding. Towering trees were around them and it still the same as before. ''Hmm...? Okay, I get it,'' he then ducked down and pressed his palm on the grass. He then felt a stone hiding beneath the grass. This stone was different from normal stone as characters that he couldn''t understand were carved in the surface of the stone. There''s a red dot protruding in the center of the carvings. Souta smiled and looked around him. He noticed a flickering light hiding in the tree fifteen meters away from him. He pressed the red dot and slowly raised his hand. He showed the stone to the flickering light. The flickering light vanished from his sight and he felt someone appeared behind him. Souta slowly turned his head and saw strange creature behind him. It has the same height as him when he was still an ordinary goblin. It was a humanoid creature that has a furry lower body and two goat horns on its head. It was a Great Lumb. A special type of monster that can only be found in forest. It didn''t have great combat skills but it have great magical powers. In the game, if a player encounter this creature they will received a special quest. Those special quests were easy to do and have high reward. The Great Lumb opened its palm. Souta understood what it meant so he placed the stone on top of its palm. It then turned around and started to walked. Souta followed the Great Lumb without hesitation. He gesture from behind and Yuko started to walked. She was confused and didn''t know what''s happening. Swooosh!! Suddenly the atmosphere changed. Souta looked around and found that they were in front of a beautiful lake. He then heard a system prompt in his head. *Ding!* [You''ve entered the Secret Ground of the Great Lumb!] [Quest triggered!] [Give Me]: the Great Lumb wants you to give him your treasure. Rewards: ??? Souta read the quest that he received. He just need to give the Great Lumb his treasure. Just like what the forum said. The quest was easy but the reward was still unknown. He picked up the bag that was hanging on his waist. He opened it and revealed the precious stones that he got from the Undead Sanctuary. These stones were valuable. It has a high price in the market. He gave all the stones to the Great Lumb. But he still haven''t heard that he completed the quest. It means that it wasn''t enough. He took out the three skill books and also gave it but it wasn''t enough. "I could get this anywhere. The most important is to complete the quest." Souta said in a low voice as he grabbed the staff on his back. He gave it to the Great Lumb. *Ding!* [Congratulations for completing the mission "Give Me"!] [You''ve received a skill "Blessing of the Great"!] Souta sighed in relief when he heard the notification. He doesn''t know what to give if it still wasn''t enough. No, he would gave his leather armor or his pants. Thinking about this, he read the notification. He was surprised as he received a skill from this quest. This simple quest gave him a skill? So that''s why it called a special quest. The only downside of this quest was he could only do it once. Well, he couldn''t learn the same skill twice. There''s no other player here. So he was thinking that he could monopolize all the special and hidden quest here. "7hgy#kw\u0026#5" Souta looked up as he heard the Great Lumb saying something he couldn''t understand. It felt like it was important. The Great Lumb stopped speaking and it quietly waved its hand. Suddenly, he was back in the middle of the forest with Yuko. He looked around and saw that everything was still the same. It felt like that meeting the Great Lamb was a dream. "Hu~" He shook his head and checked the details of the skill the he received. [Blessing of the Great]: The power of the Great Lumb. It enhance all the abilities of the user. Effect: +5 all stats, +20 mana It''s equal to one level up in High End Goblin. Well, this was enough for him a it could also help him. "Let''s go Yuko!" Souta said as he started to walked. Yuko quietly followed behind him. ... The Great Lumb looked in the sky and said quietly, "The great change will start just like in the prophecy. I don''t know whether it''s good or bad that they brought you here in this world. "The flames of destruction will slowly consumed the whole world. Even the Gods will not be able to escape it. So what will you do Ieshi''s savior?" ... The two travelled in a very slow pace as Souta get the other things that he could sell. They ate together and sleep together. They would also hunt together. Even though he couldn''t understand what she was saying it was enough for him. Travelling with someone was better than travelling alone. It''s not boring to begin with. In the game he prefer to travel alone as he knew that it was only a game. He could vaguely recall that he had friends outside the game. And he would help those friends of his sometimes in the quest in Battle Worlds Online. A week had passed before they managed to get out of the forest. They experienced many things together in this week. "Finally!" Souta exclaimed as he looked at the vast grassland in front of him. He was riding on the back of Yuko and he could see far away. "Good! Yuko, go ahead!" Souta said as he patted Yuko''s head. Roar! Yuko roared in response to Souta. She then charged ahead at full speed. Her speed was slowly than him but it was enough for him. She could only vaguely understand his words but this was enough for him. "Hmm?" Souta saw a small village. He squinted his eyes and patted Yuko. "Yuko, stop!" Yuko stopped and she lifted up her head and looked at him with a confused expression. Souta got down and caressed her fur. "It''s okay, it''s just a village." Souta said and observed the village. The distance between him and the village was far. If he walk it would take him a few minutes. Yuko looked at Souta and followed behind him. Everytime that Souta took a step forward she would also stepped forward quietly behind him. The village was quite lively. There''s a reason for that. A merchant arrived here and were selling things from large city and kingdom. The villagers always look forward to when a merchant caravan would arrived. The were looking forward to the things that the merchant brought. "A merchant, huh?" Souta turned around and face Yuko. He caressed her head and said, "No matter what happens, don''t attack anyone." Yuko tilted her head in confusion so he repeated his words. After he repeatedly said the same words, it was only then that Yuko understood what that means. "Good, good girl." Souta smiled and patted her head. He then turned around and walked towards the village with Yuko. ... "Ahhh!!" "Monster!!" "A monster is attacking us!!" The villagers shouted at the same time. Their voices echoed in the whole village. The villagers started panicking especially the women. The men quickly went to their house and armed themselves with sharp weapon. The merchant raised his eyebrows when he heard those words. He stood up and called his guards. "Hey! Can we check it?" The female guard nodded and called her comrades. Soon three more guards approached the merchant. A man wearing an armor stepped forward and said, "Sir, a Red Fur Bear was in the entrance of the village!" "A Red Fur Bear? Let''s check it, if we can kill it we could get some money by selling it." The merchant said. They arrived in the entrance and saw a huge bear with red fur. It looks dominating as it has a scar on its left eye. In front of the bear was man with dark green colored skin. He was wearing a pair of gauntlets and leather armor. On his low body was a pants made from High Kobold''s hide. "A Demi...?" The merchant said when he saw Souta. He turned his head and shouted on the villagers, "Shut up! Is this your first time seeing a Demi!" As a merchant that travelled from one place to another he have seen a lot of different races. It not his first time seeing other races. The merchant walked forward and took out something from his neck and put it in his ear. It looks like an earphone. Souta widened his eyes when he saw this. This was the communicator that would let him converse to other races even if he couldn''t understand their language. "Good!" 17 Getting to know the Merchan Souta smiled inwardly when he saw the communicator from the merchant. The merchant was a fat man wearing a luxurious clothes. Although the merchant was looking like that, Souta knew that he was as strong as him. With the merchant wearing the communicator, he would be able to converse with them. ''Okay, let''s ask if he''s selling a communicator.'' Souta thought as he walked forward to the merchant. Yuko followed behind him quietly. She glared at the people around them but she still followed Souta''s order so she could only glared at these people. The merchant looked at the female guard beside him and said, "Brianna, lend him your communicator." Brianna, the female guard, nodded and removed the communicator on her neck. She then threw it towards Souta. Souta caught it and placed it on his neck. The merchant saw Souta walking towards him. He checked if the communicator was running before he opened his mouth and asked, "I''m Jimmy of the Lanny Corp. and who are you, sir?" The merchant called himself Jimmy. Jimmy asked Souta with a polite tone. A demi who could tame a Red Fur Bear was hard to find. Souta was extraordinary in his opinion and worth befriending. "I''m Souta Ieshi and this is my partner Yuko." Souta introduced himself and Yuko to the merchant named Jimmy. He then goes straight to the point, "Do you have other communicator? I can pay it." "Oh?!" Jimmy was surprised but he didn''t show it on his face. The fact that Souta knew the existence of communicator means that Souta came from large city or kingdom. A rural village could hardly get news from those countries. It didn''t have any access to advance technology. Airship, communicator, automatic vehicle, etc. couldn''t be found in rural village like this. People of this village didn''t even know what''s airship. "I''m sorry, the only thing I brought were the items that were approved by the Mechanic Country." Jimmy shook his head in regret. "Is that so?" Souta could understand that. The Mechanic Country and the other powerful countries doesn''t want to sell their technology to rural villages and small countries. ''A weak country should stay a weak country'' was what they say. Those who violated this would be completely destroyed. There was once an ambitious merchant that sell their technology here and there. That merchant and the place he sell the technology vanished in one night. "Sir Ieshi, do you mind if I ask where do you came from?" Jimmy walked beside Souta and asked. He waved his hand to his guards and nodded. The guards help the crowd calm down. Souta turned his head and saw a beautiful female wearing a silver colored breastplate. He felt his blood rising from his body. He gulped unconsciously. "S-sir Ieshi?" Jimmy called him as he saw Souta was in daze. "Huh?" Souta turned to looked at Jimmy. The instinct of a goblin was something he couldn''t imagine. The instinct to engage in sexual intercourse to a beautiful female. This was something he didn''t expect. He haven''t met a single female ever since he came here. No, actually he met a female kobolds, goblins, and other monsters. He just couldn''t differentiate with their appearance. Also, Yuko was a female bear. Biting his tongue slightly to calm down his nerves, Souta asked Jimmy. "What is it?" "Where do you came from?" Jimmy repeated his question while looking at his female guard. It seemed that he guessed what Souta was thinking. "I just came out of the Deep Woods and luckily I managed to tame a Red Fur Bear." Souta came while looking around the village. This village was much worse than a newbie village. "Oh?" Jimmy turned to look at the Red Fur Bear behind Souta. He then turned back his gaze to Souta and asked, "Where do you plan to go now?" "Border city of Hebrei Kingdom, Ladros city. I plan to enroll in the Ladro Institute." Souta said. "Carriage?" "I''m sorry, since you know the communicator, you must have seen the automatic vehicles. I''m just an ordinary merchant so I don''t have the luxury to buy those things." Jimmy said with an apologetic tone. "It''s okay," Souta nodded in understanding. The three great countries were far away here so they have no influence here. Jimmy glanced at Souta. He was sure that this demi really know the things inside the huge kingdom and countries. To even know the Institute of Ladros city. The two talked for a while. Jimmy offered Souta to join them as they were also going to the Hebrei Kingdom. Souta agreed to him. This will slow down his journey but it''s worth befriending a merchant. He could get inside the city without much inspection with a merchant backing him up. ... At night... Souta, Jimmy, and the guards were around a bonfire. They were roasting some meet that they hunted this afternoon. "Good!" Souta exclaimed as bit a mouthful of meat in his hand. He reached his hand towards Yuko. Yuko looked at the meat and his hand before she opened her mouth and bit the meat. "Eat well." Souta smiled and patted Yuko''s head. "You really treat your pet well," Jimmy said while looking at their interaction. "It''s not that bad." Souta answered with a smile. He recalled the time he met Yuko. Both of them tried to kill each other at that time. "It''s really rare for someone to be a tamer." It''s rare for someone to become a tamer. The fact that finding some monster were dangerous so no one would take a tamer lightly. The tamer also need to provide his/her pet its meal. "What course do you plan to take in Institute?" "Mage." Souta replied without hesitation. He could learned a lot of basic spell in the Institute. He would become a full fledge mage once he learned two more spell. He wouldn''t changed his class no matter what. He was the most familiar with this class. He would become just like what he was in the game or maybe stronger. "Then, I would congratulate you in advance that you pass the entrance examination." Jimmy said. "Hahaha, thank you!" Souta laughed and asked while looking at the guards, "By the way, what rank are they?" Jimmy looked at his guards before he answered, "They were the Rank D adventurers that accepted my quest." "Rank D, huh?" Souta observed the guards or the hired guards. The Adventurers Guild was a very influential faction. In terms of influence, the guild had more influence than the three great countries. The main base was situated in the Nivari Kingdom. An Adventurers were divided into eight ranks. S rank was the strongest and F rank was a newbie. The power of a D rank Adventurer was much stronger than the current Souta. "So they are powerful, huh?" Souta said in a low voice while looking at the five of them. Two of them were female and three were men. The women that has a honey colored hair was the leader. She has a long silky hair that draped down to her back. Wearing a silver colored armor was the proof that they weren''t ordinary Adventurers. An Adventurers would be called a veteran once they became a rank D. "Hahaha, of course, I wouldn''t hired them if they weren''t powerful." Jimmy laughed at Souta''s words. He then turned at the female guard and said, "Brianna, this is Souta. He will join us in our journey so get to know each other." "Hello, I''m Brianna, leader of the Gale Group." The leader introduced herself as Brianna. "I''m Souta, an aspiring mage," Souta said while looking at her honey colored eyes. Then, the rest of the Gale Group introduced themselves. By the way, Gale Group was the name of their party. "I''m Tidor, oh? An aspiring mage, huh? You can ask our mage some questions if you like, right Tim?" Tidor was a huge man wearing full plate armor. He''s almost two meters in height. Black hair, black eyes, and his sharp feature makes him popular in women. "Ah! I don''t know." Tim said with a lazy tone. He was a short man wearing a red robe with blue linings. His black hair almost covered his brown eyes. "I''m John," A man with a cat ears introduced himself. He was wearing a leather armor and black pants. There''s a dagger hanging on his waist. It seemed that he was a rogue. "Hello, I''m Jane," She had a shoulder length black hair and was wearing a glasses. She had a beautiful face unfortunately the scar on her left cheek ruin it. "You were lucky that you found a young Red Fur Bear! The ones I know was five meters tall!" "Yeah, that must be a level 39 adult Red Fur Bear." "Level 39?" "Nothing forget about that." "Hahaha, you''re quite funny guy Souta!" They talk for a whole night and got to know each other. ... Souta woke up early in the morning before the sun rises. He stood up and did some morning exercise to warm himself. He found that the hired guards were awake. It seemed that they were used to this lifestyle. As expected of an Adventurers. He woke Yuko and went to hunt food. She wasn''t included to the food that Jimmy provided. After all, she was just a pet and her master should be the one taking care of her. If Souta became a tamer rather than a mage, then he would be able to open up the inner world to store his pet. But sadly, he doesn''t have any plan to become a tamer. "I might neglect you once we go to the city." Souta said as he caressed Yuko''s head. "Muu..." Yuko looked at Souta with her one eye. It seemed that she understood what he said. After they finished hunting food for Yuko, they went back to the village. "Come on, let''s go Souta!" Jimmy shouted. "Alright, alright," Souta sighed and smiled. Today was the day that they will leave this village and will go to the Hebrei Kingdom. It will took a two weeks to go there using carriage. And so two weeks had passed and they arrived at their destination. 18 Ladros City Battle Worlds Online was the most played game in world. There, there''s a legendary player called Blood. The players and NPC called him in many titles. The "Solo Player", "Mysterious Gamer", "One Man Guild", "Perfect Armory", "Commander of Mechanic Country", "Athena''s most love Hero", "Demon Annihilator", "Pioneer Player of the Mars Archipelago", and "Master of Nine Headed Hydra" were the nicknames that players and NPC gave him. "Solo Player" as he prefers to raid a dungeon alone. He doesn''t join a party nor join a guild, even the guilds of his friends. He even created his own guild with him the only member. "Mysterious Gamer" as no one knew his true identity except his friends. Even the various game clubs tried to recruit but to no avail they failed. "One Man Guild" because he''s the only member of the guild that he created. He even won a guild war with just him alone. "Perfect Armory" was because all of his equipments were Universal Treasure. All his equipments were skill holder. "Commander Mechanic Country" was because he became a commander of the most powerful country in the continent. No other player managed to raised in rank in this country. "Athena''s most love Hero" was because he''s the first one that maxed a goddess affection rate. He received the most gentle affection from a goddess of greek mythology that caused many players to hung their jaw. "Demon Annihilator" was because in the war against the demons, he once fought a single army on his own and annihilated the demons. "Pioneer Player of the Mars Archipelago" was because he''s the first player that stepped foot in the unknown lands. He explored the unknown lands as the Commander of Mechanic Country. The "Master of Nine Headed Hydra" was because he managed to make the famous hydra to become his pet. His deeds was something that no other players could do. He was the player that stood on the top of the rankings. He was recognized as the number one player in the Battle Worlds Online. And now the legendary player transmigrated into the real world of Battle Worlds Online. He somewhat became a goblin much to his dismay. Even then, the legendary player was like the other players. He suffered getting killed in high difficult quest. He even failed some of those. Now that he came to this world, he would his best to survive this brutal world full of danger. "We''re here!" Souta opened his eyes at Jimmy''s voice. He took a peek outside and saw the thirty meter walls of Ladros city. It was just a border city but the looks of it could be compare to the capital. "Don''t worry about it, I will handle the procedure." Jimmy said to him with a wink. "Thanks for the trouble." Souta smiled wryly. He was thankful to Jimmy for this. He then glanced at the line and sighed. The line was long and it will take a long time before they could enter the city. Many people enter and exit the city everyday. Different races coming from different places. After half an hour, Souta, Jimmy, and the rest managed to enter the city. "We will part ways here!" Jimmy said to him. "Yeah, I''m very thankful for your help!" Souta thanked Jimmy as he slightly bowed his head. "No need to mind it, I also received something good from you. Don''t forget to come to me if you''ve got something good, I''m always in the Lanny Group! Don''t forget that!" Jimmy said with a laughed. It''s true that he received goods from Souta. Souta gave him something that he found in the Deep Woods. It was pretty valuable. "I know, I''ll go now." Souta said to the Gale Group. He then give back the communicator to Brianna, which she lend him back then. "Thanks." "Yeah, good luck!" Brianna, the leader of the Gale Group, said. Tidor and the rest of the Gale Group also bid farewell to him. They got closer to each other in their two weeks of journey. Then, they parted ways just as planned. ... "Yuko, we will find a shop and buy a communicator first." Souta said to Yuko who was following behind him. Yuko as a Red Fur Bear gathered some attention to the folks here. It''s rare for someone to be a tamer so some people payed attention to him, the tamer of a Red Fur Bear. Souta ignored those eyes as he looked around the city. The Ladros city was the same back in the game. It was a bustling city that looks like it came out of medieval perios. Houses made of bricks were built side by side. People of different race were walking around the city. This city was divided in five district. The district 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. He was currently in the district 1 and this place were full of different kinds of shops. The weapon, armor, potion, clothes, foods, etc. were all around the place. Soon, Souta found a shop. He turned to looked at Yuko and patted her head. "Stay here for a while, I''ll just buy something inside." Souta turned around and entered the shop. He quickly go to the counter and asked, "Do you have a communicator here?" The salesman couldn''t understand him. He tapped his neck to activate the communicator. "I''m sorry sir, what is it again?" Souta pointed on the communicator that was attached on the neck of the salesman and asked, "Do you have communicator here?" "Ah, yes sir, we have a two types of communicator here. The non-magical and magical one." The salesman said with a smile. "Okay, give me one of magical." Souta nodded and took out a silver coin from his pocket. He sell some of his items to Jimmy before so his wallet was filled with coins. "Please wait for a moment sir!" Saying that, the salesman went to get the product. After a few moments, he came back with a palm sized box in his hand. "Here, sir!" Souta opened the box and saw a black palm size object with white button, attached to it was a black circular wire. It was different from Jimmy''s communicator that had an earphone. This communicator was using a magic to send the information in his head. He just need to insert his own mana and it will activate on its own. "Good, I will take it!" "Thanks for buying, sir!" ... "Sorry for the wait, Yuko!" Souta came out of the shop and looked at Yuko. "Muu." Yuko lowered her head and looked at him. Souta looked back at her with a questioning gaze. It took him a while to understand her. "Ah, you really like it when I pat your head." Souta patted her head and Yuko released a blissful sound. "Unn." "Well, let''s go. I''ll let you eat anything you want." The two continued their tour around the city. Souta went to the inn that have a ranch so Yuko could stay with him. He checked in for 200 copper coins for one night. He paid for a whole month of stay using the coins he got from Jimmy. Leaving Yuko in the ranch, Souta went to the Adventurers Guild to register as an adventurer. He needs to have a way to get an income for enrollment in the Ladro Institute. Arriving in front the the wooden door of a large building. This was the Ladros'' city Adventurers Guild branch. As a continental faction, Adventurers Guild had many branches in different city throughout the whole continent. From the door, Souta could here the noises inside the building. Stepping forward, he entered the building. The first thing he saw was a wide hall that were full of different people laughing and chatting in a round table, there were also in the corner who seemed to be waiting for their party members. Some people looked at him and some didn''t bother looking at him as they know that different kinds of people always enter the guild everyday. Souta looked around and didn''t saw the Gale Group. It seemed that they were not here in the guild. After confirming that, he went in front of the receptionist. The receptionist was a beautiful middle age woman. She have a porcelain skin, brown eyes, and her brown hair was tied in a bun. "Hello sir, what can I do for you?" The receptionist asked him in a polite tone. "Hmm... I want to register as an adventurer." Souta replied to her question. "...wait for a moment, sir." The receptionist said before she opened up the drawer below and took out a piece of paper. She placed it in front of him and said, "Please fill up this first." Souta glanced at the paper and frowned. He couldn''t understand what''s written on it. He looked at the receptionist and embarrassedly said, "Umm... I couldn''t understand it." With the help of the receptionist, Souta managed to fill the paper. He already planned before what he should write in his information. The receptionist patiently told him every rules of the adventurers. She explained every important part of being an adventurer to him. Souta listened to her as he know that it was her job to explain that to every newly joined adventurer. ... It was late at night when he came back to the inn. He was in the ranch feeding Yuko some meat that she likes. While doing that, he arranged the information that he gathered in his head. He was sure that it was the version 1. There''s nothing huge that happened in the world base on the information that he gathered. Version 1 was a version that every player would explore the continent. They would do anything they want and do some quest on their way. It was also called "Free to Explore". Nothing big happen in this version. The beginning of chaos was the opening of version 2. It will start with the "Demon Invasion", "Rise of the Mechanic Country", "Age of Exploration", "War of Titans and Giants", "The Death Plague" etc. All of these were big event that shook the entire continent. The power balance will shift many times and war will spread. Even the three great countries were forced to move. It will start with small scale war and then it will gradually spread and before anyone become aware of it, the whole continent were already in war. Souta was only familiar to the quest that he did. He didn''t know the full details of the other events as he was busy gathering his equipments at that time. "Hmm... After this, should I try to find the pair of [Soul Blood Earring] so that I could unlocked its other skill." 19 Registration Souta woke up and he slowly opened his eyes. He found himself being covered by red fluffy fur. It was none other than Yuko. "Hmm... Good morning, Yuko." Souta said and he stretched his body. Yuko lifted up her head and licked his cheek. Lately, she came to like licking him on his cheek. "Ah, stop that." Souta said as he patted her head to make her stop. Yuko stopped as soon as he patted her head. She closed her eyes and enjoy his patting. He looked around and found himself in the ranch. In one of the room of the supposedly pet. It seems that he fell asleep here yesterday while thinking about what will happened in the future. He didn''t even went to his room inside the inn. "I will feed you later just stay here for a while." Souta said to Yuko. He already had a plan for today. He need to go to library and get some books about the languages of this world. He need to learn to write so that he wouldn''t failed in the entrance exam of the academy. "Uu." Yuko looked at him with teary eyes. It seemed that she didn''t want to stay here where she couldn''t even move her huge body. After all, this place was too small for her. "Okay, okay, I won''t forget to bring you the meat that you like." Souta said as he force himself to smile. He then stood up and went inside the inn. The middle age woman wearing a simple clothes looked at him with weird eyes. She was the owner of the inn. Souta looked at her and smile wryly. He could guess what she was thinking. He, after all, slept in the ranch with his pet. He sat down and ordered a breakfast. While waiting for the breakfast to arrive, he took out a card from his pocket. This was his Adventurer''s ID. A simple identification card that confirmed him being an adventurer. A picture of him was in the upper left part of the card. Beside it was his information and his rank. He was a Rank F adventurer as he just joined the guild yesterday. He needs to complete various quest to accumulate merits and raised his rank. After a while the waitress brought his order, he placed his card back and focused his attention on the food. "Here''s your order, sir." The waitress said as she placed down the meals that he order on the table. "Thank you." Souta thanked the waitress and turned his attention to the meals before him. "It''s really good compared to those things that I''ve eaten in the Undead Sanctuary." Souta muttered as he recalled that he needed to eat the raw meat of a goblin before just to survive. The first few days were a nightmare for him. "Ah~ I''m really glad that I''ve survived." ... Souta left Yuko in the ranch and he went in the library. He paid the entrance fee and entered inside the library. In this place, a person needs money to get an access to information. Only in country like this have a library. Among all the countries in the continent only the three great countries and Mechanic Country were advance enough that they don''t need a library. All the information were digitalized. Souta looked around the countless books inside this huge library. All sort of information were in this place. The books were arranged neatly. It seems the owner always took care of the books in the library. He then found the book that he wanted. Raising his hand and picking up the book. He opened the book and read the first few pages of it. Suddenly, a familiar sound ringed in his mind. *Ding* [Do you want to learn Nurman Language for 1 skill point? Yes/No?] "....ehhh?!" Souta was surprised when he saw the words written in the interface. Learning a language for a skill point? This... This wasn''t in the function. In the game, all the languages were automatically translated by the system so the players could used their system points for something like this. It''s really different now. He doesn''t what other function the system hide. At first, he couldn''t see the level of other creatures and also the inventory. He couldn''t use the most convenient inventory. Then, he could earn exp by practicing or training. It''s really a wonder how the system changed after he came here. Souta calmed down and he rubbed his chin. He pondered the pros and cons of using skill points to learn the Nurman Language. Nurman Language was the universal language of this world. A lot of races knew how to speak Nurman Language. Learning this, he could quickly go to the Ladro Institute and take the entrance examination. The examination consist of two types of exam. The written exam and practical exam. He doesn''t need to worry about practical exam as he already knew how to cast a spell. The only problem was the written exam. He doesn''t know how any language of this world except the language of the goblin. He doubted that those people would understand him if he use the goblin''s language. The humans and demi only killed the monsters they wouldn''t try to communicate to them. Only those strong monsters have the right to do so. Otherwise, they would kill any monsters. Luckily, he looked like a demi so there''s nothing to worry. There''s hundreds of humanoid races here in the continent and there''s also those halfling so people guessed that he was a halfling of some unusual race. ''Yes.'' Souta mentally said and he used 1 skill point to learn the Nurman Language. Knowledge about the Nurman Language was poured in his mind. After a few seconds, Souta opened his eyes. He really wonder how can he learn something just by using a skill point. Souta smirked and said, "I''m out here." He will speed up his plan now that he learned the Nurman Language. Since he doesn''t have any business here, he left the library. The librarian looked at him with suspicious eyes. Well, he just entered the place and quickly leave. Who wouldn''t find it weird? ... Souta exited the library and went straight to the Adventurers Guild. He would take a quest now to earn some money before taking the entrance examination of the Ladro Institute. He walked to the quest board and looked at the quest that he could take. He was a Rank F adventurer so he could only take the Rank F quest. The guild wouldn''t permit it if he took a quest beyond his rank. Souta saw a lot of quest in the board. Monster Subjugation, Escort, Herb Picking, Finding the Missing Person, Investigation, etc. "For now, I''m still a Rank F adventurer so I couldn''t take some good quest." Souta took the Herb Gathering quest. He placed it in the counter and the receptionist registered the quest he took in an object that looks like a computer. "Okay, good luck in your first quest, sir." The receptionist said with a smile on her face. Souta nodded and heard a sound in his mind. *Ding* [Quest triggered!] [Herb Gathering]: Pick up 5 Green Silk Grass. Rewards: 100 exp "Hmm...?" Souta looked at the system with a surprise expression. To think that he would received a quest like this. It must be triggered because he accepted the quest from the guild. Other than that he couldn''t think of any reason. Getting the rewards from the guild and the system was a happy thing for him. He would earn money and exp at the same time. "What is it, sir?" The receptionist asked as she slightly tilted her head. Souta came back to his senses when he heard her voice. He shook his head and turned to looked at her. When he turned to looked at her, he saw the deep valley between her chest. He unconsciously gulped because of this. His instinct was once again rising. "Sir?" "Ah, nothing." Souta quickly turned around. This body of his were too eager. He quickly left as he doesn''t want to become a pervert. It seemed that he need to visit the red light district this night to calm himself. Souta walked back to the ranch and let Yuko out. "Come, we have a quest." Souta said while opening the gate. Yuko came out of the ranch and she quickly licked his cheek as soon as she saw him. "Stop that," Souta patted her head before he closed the gate and tell the owner that he will leave to do some quest. Souta and Yuko leave the city using the east gate of the city. The city have four gates. The north gate was located in district 2, the south gate was located in district 3, the west gate was located in district 4, and lastly the east gate was located in district 1. After falling in line for a few dozen minutes, Souta and Yuko walked out of the gate. He just show his Adventurers ID and the guards let him leave the city. "Let''s go, Yuko! I will let you play this time!" Souta said to her and he started to walked forward. Yuko looked at him for a while before she followed him. The quest was simple Herb Gathering. He doesn''t need to fight any monster. In the game, this type of quest was called repeated quest. It was because a player could complete this quest over and over again. He just need to find a Green Silk Grass. It was a basic ingredients needed in concocting health recovery potion. Souta and Yuko walked one kilometers away from the city. They were in a grassland. They scene here was very beautiful and the air was fresh. In this place, he could find the Green Silk Grass. "Okay Yuko! You can play around here! Just don''t wander too far!" Souta said as he crouched down and began looking for the grass. "Muu." Yuko looked at him as she tilted her head. She walked beside him and copy him. "Oi! What are you doing?" Souta turned his head and asked. Yuko looked back at him. The two of them looked into each other''s eyes. "Hais..." Souta sighed and he ignored her as he continued looking for the grass. 20 M-master? Souta received his reward in the guild for completing the quest. At the same time he heard the system in his mind. *Ding!* [Congratulations for completing the Herb Gathering quest!] [You''ve received 100 exp!] Right now, 100 exp was too little for him. Well, he couldn''t do much as he only accepted a Rank F quest. If he accepted a higher rank quest then the reward would be higher. "Thank you for your effort!" The receptionist said with a smile to him. "That''s nothing." Souta replied as he turned around and went to the quest board. He looked at the request there and pondered what he should do. In the end, he picked the Monster Subjugation quest before turning back to the receptionist. "You want this quest, sir?" The receptionist looked at him with doubtful eyes. "Yeah." Souta nodded. He just placed the quest in hunting the slime in the outskirt of the city. "You know sir, it''s hard to kill a slime without magic." The receptionist said worriedly. It''s her job to gave advised to the adventurers that took a quest here. "Yes, I know that." Souta nodded at her words. He knew that a slime was hard to kill without magic. But he... He could use three spells; the [Fire Ball], [Ice Shot], and [Light Heal]. His spells were enough to kill a slime. Also, he doesn''t need to use spells to slay a slime. He knew the weakness of the slimes. With his passive skill [Sword Mastery], he would be able to destroy the core of the slime. A slime would instantly died if its core was destroyed. It''s not a secret as many people know this already. It''s not his first time hunting a slime. Back in the Undead Sanctuary, he conquered a dungeon full of slime and even took down an evolve slime. "Okay sir, but be careful..." The receptionist said before she record the quest that he took. "I know that," Souta smiled wryly as this woman was too worried about him. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Monster Subjugation]: Kill ten slimes and retrieve its core. Rewards: 300 exp ''Oh?!'' The rewards was much higher than before. As expected of a Monster Subjugation quest. After that, he exited the Adventurers Guild and patted Yuko. "Let''s go, we have another quest!" "Muu..." "Hahaha!" Souta laughed at her voice. It lacks enthusiasm. It was like she force herself. "Well, you know that we will be able to rank up after we completed nine Rank F quest including this." Souta said while holding the Monster Subjugation quest paper. A Rank F adventurer needed to complete 10 Rank F quest before they rank up to Rank E. Then, the Rank E needed to complete 15 Rank E quest. Above that, the Rank D was much different than lower ranks. A Rank D adventurers was already a veteran adventurers. To increase their rank, people needed strength and merits. Completing various quest wasn''t enough to rose up in rank. "Muu." Yuko tilted her head at his words. "Well, I''ll tell you more while we walk." Souta said as he began to walked. He noticed that the people around were looking at him with weird gaze. It''s strange that he was talking to a monster that couldn''t understand him. ''How can they understand the connection between Yuko and Me?!'' Souta thought. Suddenly, an idea came into his mind. What if he let Yuko wear a communicator? Wouldn''t she able to talk that way. "Yuko, let''s go!" Souta laughed before he quickened his pace. Yuko dragged her huge body as she followed him behind. ... Souta removed the communicator on his neck. "Come here." He said to Yuko as he lifted up his hand and made a gesture to come. Yuko looked at him with confusion before she stretched her neck to him. "Damn, your neck is too thick! I couldn''t even put the communicator!" Souta cursed as he sighed. It seems that he need to add some wire to that it could fit her size. "Muu." Yuko looked at him sadly. She thought that Souta was angry at her. Souta ignored her and rubbed his chin. He muttered, "Anything is good as long as it could fit her neck." He looked around him and do something that Yuko couldn''t understand. She just watched him pick up as different kinds of grass. Souta looked at her and said, "Why don''t you hunt some slime while I''m finding a strong enough grass so we could complete the quest faster?" Yuko just looked back at him. Seeing this, Souta sighed and took out the quest paper. He pointed at the picture of a slime on the paper. "Here, defeat this and took out the core!" Yuko nodded her head. It seemed that she understood what he meant but Souta was really doubtful about that. ... "Finally! I''ve finished modifying it!" Souta exclaimed in a loud voice as he raised the communicator above his head. He looked around and saw Yuko running towards him. "What?!" He was surprised when he saw her. After all, she was holding a slime in both of her hand. One on the left and one on the right. She stopped in front of him and opened her arms showing the two slimes. She then lowered her head as if waiting to be praised. "This...?" Souta was speechless. He brandished his sword and stabbed the slime in the core. The slime disintegrated leaving only the core. "Muu!!" Yuko was shocked when she saw him killed the slime. She thought that he wanted to play with slime so she brought them here. She never thought that he would kill them. "I order you to hunt them. Well, it doesn''t matter." Souta sheathed his sword and picked up the core. "Well, let''s think about that later. Let''s see this first." Souta said and he showed the communicator to Yuko. Yuko looked at it before she sniffed it. "Come let me put it on you." Souta said and he carefully put the communicator on her neck. He picked a tough grass before so that it could support the communicator on her neck. It will not snap easily. "Here, and it''s done!" Souta looked at the communicator on her neck with a satisfied expression. His effort wasn''t in vain. It fitted her right. "Come on, try saying something..." He spoke eagerly. "Muu..." Yuko was confused. "What?! What''s wrong with this communicator? Ah, I forgot this is a magical one. I needs mana to activate." Souta put his hand on the communicator and controlled his mana. He poured a little amount in the communicator. Yuko couldn''t control her mana. She couldn''t even manipulate it. In the battle, she always used brute force to dominate her enemies. The communicator lit up as it started functioning. "Come... Say something!" Souta said with a smile. He waited for a while before he heard a small little voice coming out of her. "M-master...?" "Oh!! It works! It works!" Souta laughed loudly. Although he couldn''t understand it, it seemed that she pronounced some word. From now on, he would be able to communicate with her. It just that this communicator needs mana to work. If it didn''t receive a mana it will stopped functioning. It seems that he need to buy a non magical one. But it needs a battery. It would drained his wallet. Well, if he could communicate with her then it''s worth all the money. "Okay, let''s finish the quest and buy communicator as soon as possible." Souta said before he turned around leaving Yuko with a dumbfounded expression. After a few minutes of walking, Souta found a slime. "Let''s finish it quickly." He brandished his sword and rushed towards the slime. Swoosh!! He didn''t even let the slime react as he pierced its jelly body directly to its core. With the level of his [Sword Mastery], he could accurately pinpointed the core of the slime. Souta didn''t stopped and continued to hunt more slime. He only stopped when he collected ten slime cores. With this, the quest was complete. He just need to report it to the guild. ... Souta went back to the guild to report. "You''ve finished it?" The receptionist asked him. "Well, the slime was not that powerful. As long as you''ve found its core, you can kill it." Souta said as he placed the ten slime cores on the table. The receptionist counted the cores before she gave him the reward. She also record the quest that he did to his ID. *Ding!* [Congratulations for completing a Monster Subjugation quest!] [You''ve received 300 exp!] Souta ignored the system prompts and picked up his Adventurers ID. He then exited the Adventurers Guild. Souta went to the shop and bought a communicator for Yuko. He spent his money on this as it was important to him. He also bought a lot of meat for her as he knew that she was hungry right now. ... Another day had passed and nothing big happens. The city was still lively and there''s new people that''s coming in and out of the city everyday. 21 Registration in Ladro Institute "Souta, don''t forget what I taught you. This is what you will need in the near future." A faint image with a male voice spoke. "I understand, grandpa." Souta answered. Then, he noticed a large machine shaped circle. It''s white and has a transparent glass surface. "What is this?" Souta asked. "It''s called Virtual Capsule, you play and be number one in this game." "All right..." "You will understand everything someday." ... Souta woke up just before sunrise. He looked around and saw that he was in his rented room. He stood up and did some warm up exercise before going to the bathroom to wash his face. After he washed his face he went down for breakfast. "Good morning!" Souta greeted the owner when he saw her. He first orders food before sitting in the vacant chair. A few minutes later, the meal was served by the waitress at the top of his table. "Thanks for the food!" He didn''t even have a second thought before he ate it. The cooked food was very different from what he ate when he was in the Undead Sanctuary. What he ate there was kobold and goblin flesh. When he thought about it, he did cannibalism. He was a goblin and he ate goblin flesh. He had nothing to say about it as he had to eat anything to survive. He had finished his breakfast a few minutes later. He drank water and thanked the food. Then, he got up and paid for the food before he came out. He went to Yuko and fed her. "Just be here Yuko. I''ll be back later, too." Souta said before leaving. Yuko just stared at her back. ... Today is the day Souta will register with the Ladro Institute. He must register before getting the entrance examination. "It''s better than what it is in the game!" Souta said as he gazed in front of a large building. This building was the Ladro Institute. The best and most popular school in the city of Ladros. Many have completed their studies here which have become popular throughout the country. Some of them became the city lord and the leader of the royal guard. Souta is in front of a large gate with the inscription "Welcome to the Ladro Institute". He no longer hesitated and he quickly entered the Ladro Institute. There were many students inside the school. Different breeds of creatures can be found here. The beast, the human, and even the elves were here. He went around the place before finding the place where he would register. Souta walked over and stopped in front of a man. The man was wearing a dark blue colored coat and it has a white pattern on its end. He had blue hair at shoulder''s length. Souta approached the man before he said, "Sir, I will register here to get the entrance exam." "Just ask the lady over there at the counter." said the man. Souta nodded and said "thanks" before looking at the counter. He saw a beautiful woman with brown hair and brown eyes. He approached the woman and repeated what he had said to the man earlier. The woman understood what he was saying so she took a piece of paper and placed it in front of him. "Please, fill this up first." said the woman to Souta. Souta nodded before taking the pen and writing his information on the paper that the woman had given him. After he wrote his he handed over the paper to the woman. The woman glanced at the paper before looking at Souta. She opened his mouth and spoke. "Sir, you have to pay 100 gold coins for entrance examination." Souta put his hand inside his pocket and took out his purse. He counted the coins before he placed the coins on the desk. "Thank you for registration sir, you can come back in a week for entrance examination." The woman smiled after giving her the money. He gave Souta a role. "That''s the stab, don''t lose it because you need it in the examination." "Thank you!" Souta first toured the institute before leaving. He had one week to do what he needs. The test will cover the history of the city and the country. He wasn''t worried about it cause he know the history of this country. For other examiner, a week was a time given to them to prepare for the exam but for Souta it''s his chance to raise his rank as an adventurer. ... Souta went to the store first and bought the meat and fruit that Yuko likes. Yuko didn''t really eat the fruit. She just kept it like a treasure. Even he doesn''t know why she likes keeping fruits. "I''m back!" Yuko yanked Souta and the two of them fell to the floor. He patted Yuko''s head so she stopped. Sniff! Sniff! Yuko turned her attention to the bag that Souta was carrying. She quickly opened it and picked up the fruit inside the bag. She picked up the fruits and hid them before returning to Souta. "Hahaha, do you like it?" Souta laughed at what Yuko had done. He even thought that Yuko wouldn''t hesitate to exchange for some fruits. "M-master..." Souta heard Yuko''s gentle voice. It was a little girl''s voice. "Is ''master'' the only word that you know?" Souta said as he patted Yuko''s head. "Master ..." Yuko stuck out her tongue and licked his cheek. He had already given the food he had bought to Yuko. He sat down to the side and watched Yuko eat. He confirmed something since the first time he meet a person in this world. The people here in this world were not bound by any computers. They were not artificial intelligence that have limited actions. The talks and laughs between Jimmy and the Gale Group were the proof of it. An artificial intelligence wouldn''t be able to do that. Their conversation. It''s not scripted like in the game. They have their own thoughts and intentions that do not belong to artificial intelligence. If so, then this world will run into a future he does not know. Being a game, all moves of the NPC were limited. They just do what they were program to. It looks like he needs to be careful about his next step. He will understand and observe what will happen before he made a move. Well, it''s not that those powerful people will notice him as he was too weak right now. First, he will enter the Ladro Institute to become a Mage. His ability will be greatly enhance when he became a Mage. It''s not just the increase of stats. He will also have a specialty and the Mage''s skill tree will open up for him. That''s why it''s important to have a class. Also, now was the right time for the second evolution. He contemplated the next evolution of the High End Goblin. His first evolution was focused on strength attribute. After a few minutes, he thought of the path that he will take. "This will be good for my next evolution." Souta couldn''t help but smile. Level 20 was the level were the difficulty in leveling up was starting to increase. The exp required to level up were more than fifty thousand. There''s also a change after a player reached level 20. The next evolution wasn''t level 30 but level 40. Twenty levels are needed before he can evolve again. Level 40 was the level cap of version 2 in Battle Worlds Online. This was also the beginning of the players'' ability to change the game''s story started to appear. This level already has the potential to become a top rank adventurer. It''s was especially to the monster type player. The change in the level 40 was no small feat for the monster type player. This level was the start and they will slowly caught up with the other players. The increased in abilities was incredibly huge to those monster type players. Before all those things, Souta need raise his adventurer rank first. To make that happen, he need to complete ten Rank F quest. "Have you finished your meal? Let''s go out now, we will do some quest." Souta said to Yuko who was cleaning her red fur. Yuko stopped what she was doing and looked at Souta. Even though she have a communicator, Souta was still having difficulty communicating with Yuko. After all, the only words that she know was master. Souta stood up and patted his clothes before he approached Yuko. Hee grabbed Yuko''s soft fur and repeated his words. "Let''s go now, Yuko. I know you want to get out of this place, right?" Yuko stared at Souta''s face. After a few seconds she stuck out her tongue and licked Souta''s face. "Stop! Stop doing that! I will always tell you that I don''t like it!" ... Both of them went to the Adventurers Guild and took a quest. 22 Examination "Souta, don''t put your real name on it use your name if something real happens." A man with a faint image said. "Why?" The boy asked. "You will know when the time is right. Just remember that our family was one of the strongest in ancient times." The man calmly told the boy. "Ieshi? But I have never read Ieshi in Japanese history." The boy looked at the man in doubt. "I''m not from this country. I''m from a far distant place. Go ahead and play." The man looked at the cloud before he said. "All right, grandpa." "Blood? Is this your chosen name here in this game?" "Yes." "Next time when something similar happens then use your real name, Souta Ieshi. There will be people who will help you because you are an Ieshi." "I understand." "No matter what happens don''t forget what I had said today." ... Souta woke up early in the morning. He quickly got up and took a shower. Afterwards he came down and ordered breakfast. "The same as always." He said loudly for the waitress to hear. The waitress understood what he was saying so the waitress went inside the kitchen. After a few minutes, the waitress came out with Souta''s order. She put the food on the table. "Thanks for the food!" He quickly eat his breakfast. He''s in hurry because today was the exam day at the Ladro Institute. Right, today the test will be held. He cannot be late on this test because it depends on whether he enters or not. Since it''s the examination day, this only means one week had passed. A lot of things happened this week. One of these was Souta becoming a Rank E adventurer. During this time he completed ten quests that needed to rise in rank. He have an outstanding record. The completion rate and completion speed were high. He quickly finishes the quests he had taken. Within a week, he was already became a Rank E adventurer. He completed the quests he had taken with Yuko. The Rank F quests are easy to complete so it''s not surprising that he completes it within a week. After he finished his meal and paid the bill, Souta went to Yuko and he fed her delicious food that she likes. "Just stay here for now, I will quickly finish the test." Souta said to Yuko while patting her head. "Muu." Yuko stopped eating and she looked at Souta. "Okay, I will bring you back the fruits that you like so much." Souta smiled wryly at her. ... He changed his clothes and went to the Institute to take the exam. He arrived in the place twenty minutes before the exam. He opened the door and stepped inside. There, he saw a lot of people were already in their seat. The other examinees looked at him and he just ignored those gaze. He took out his stab and looked at his seat number. "Seat 52, huh?" He looked around and found his seat in the back. He sat there and observed his surroundings. The people here were too tense as he could see sweat forming in the forehead, even though the weather was quite cold today. The whole room was devoid of any sound as nobody dared to make a noise here. Turning his head to the left side, he saw a beautiful girl seating beside him. She has a beautiful silver hair that drape down to her shoulders onto her back. Her golden pupils that have a hint of red were like a piece of expensive gem. She was wearing a simple white blouse and black mini skirt with red linings. Souta could feel some sort of strange aura coming out of her. Yeah, it was really weird. It feels that was not her true appearance and she''s concealing her real identity. The girl noticed his gazed so she turned her head and looked at him in the eyes. "What is it?" She asked with a cold tone. "N-nothing..." Souta gulped and turned his head. He was captivated by those beautiful eyes of her. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. After thirty minutes, a man with short orange hair wearing a black coat entered the room. He walked straight to the table in front which was reserve for the examiner. He placed down the bunch of paper he was carrying on the table before looking around. "Cough... I''m John Myer your examiner in written exam." The man cleared his throat and introduced himself. "There are seventy examinees in this room so don''t cause any noise as you all could overwhelm me." Some of the examinees sighed in relief when they heard his words and tone. They were glad that he''s not a strict person like the other examiner. It feels like a huge burden has been lifted off their shoulders. "As you have know, the entrance exam have two types. The written and practical exam. You need to pass this two for you to enter the institute." Jhon, the examiner, said while looking at every people''s face inside the room. "Alright, we will start the written exam now." Jhon placed a stock of papers on the desk of the people in the front row. "Take one and pass the rest to your back." The examinees started to passed the test paper around. In just a minute, all the people here were holding a test paper. "The passing score is 70 and below that is fail so answer it carefully. You all have two hours to answer the test, that''s it and good luck." Jhon said before sitting down in the front. He was observing every examinees looking out for cheaters. Souta turned his attention on his test paper. He read it silently. ''I don''t know some of the questions but it will not hinder me.'' he thought when he finished reading all the questions. He will still pass the test even though there''s a question that he doesn''t know the answer. After all, the passing score was 70. Time passed by quickly and one by one the examinees finished answering their test papers. And he, Souta, was the first one who finished answering the test. Everyone looked at him but he knew that he had only answered all the questions that he know. Why would he answer a question he doesn''t know the answer? So some of the questions in his test were blank. "Since you''ve all finished before the time, you can go now to take the practical exam." Jhon said as he arranged all the test papers. The girl beside Souta stood up as soon as the examiner said those words. Souta looked at her as she leave the room. He then also stood up and leave the room. The others followed them and went to the place where practical exam will be held. The practical exam where the place were examinees going to showcase their skills and abilities. ... They were in a very wide place. Dummies for practicing close combat were neatly arranged at the corner. There''s also weights and shooting target here. This place was one of the training ground of the Ladro Institute. Those things that needed in training were all made from tough materials. It couldn''t easily break or shattered. Even using a yellow equipment wasn''t enough to break those things here in the training ground. The examinees were gathered in the center of the training ground. In front of them was a man wearing a black tank top. His muscles were bulging out of his clothes. "Yo! I''m the one that''s going to test you." The examiner said with a smile on his face. "I''m going to record your abilities here and check if you''re really eligible for the institute." Souta knew that as long as a person knew some skills or have enough firepower that person will pass the exam. It''s a simple test to check the potential of a person. Right now, he have three spells in his arsenal. [Ice Shot] and [Fire ball] were enough for this kind of test. "Who want to go first?" The examiner asked while looking at the examinees. "Me." Souta raised his hand while walking to the front. "Okay, as long as you''ve hit me that''s enough. I will give you one minute." The examiner said with a smirk. He then placed an alarm. Souta nodded and the other examinees took a distance away from the two. "I''m going." Souta smirked and he dashed towards the examiner. He doesn''t need to defeat the examiner, he just need to showcase his abilities. He knew that even if he use his full power he wouldn''t be able to defeat the examiner. Souta opened both of his palm and casted two spells simultaneously. [Fire ball] [Ice shot] The two spells went straight towards the examiner. He was surprised for a second but he quickly regained his composure. He lifted up his thick arm and waved it towards the two spells. Bang! Bang! The fire ball and ice exploded in his arm. But it didn''t leave any scratches at all. Souta expected so he once again dashed towards the examiner using the skill [Dash]. "Your going for close combat." The examiner looked at Souta who arrived in front of him. "Of course, after all this is my specialty." Souta said and he threw a powerful punch containing his mana. Swooosh!! The examiner tilted his head and avoided the punch. Then he noticed a light above him. He looked up and saw two fireballs going straight at him. "Good!" The examiner smiled and took a deep breath. Powerful mana burst out of him. Pouring his mana, he blew the two fireballs away. He then quickly waved his arm towards Souta. Souta bent his body barely avoiding the arm of the examiner. He kicked the ground and using his feet as a medium, he casted [Ice Shot] twice. He then opened his mouth and [Fire ball] came out. "This level of control...?" The examiner crossed his arm before him to blocked the spells. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta was about to attack again when a powerful aura swept out. He then saw a fist appeared in front of him. "You''re still smiling, huh?" The examiner said as his fist was going straight to Souta''s face. The shadow of his fist slowly covered Souta''s smirk. Suddenly... Ringgggg! A sound of alarm echoed in the whole training ground. 23 Three spells Ring!! The sound of alarm echoed in the whole area. The fist of the examiner stopped an inch away from Souta''s face. "That was close..." Souta whispered before he moved away from the examiner. He patted his clothes before looking back at the examiner. He asked, "Did I pass the exam?" He knew that he doesn''t necessarily need to defeat the examiner. He just needed to showcase his skills and if his performance was good he would automatically pass the exam. "You''re good but whether you pass or not you will know it later." The examiner said with a smile. He was impressed by Souta''s ability and he wouldn''t deny it. He then turned around and looked at the rest of the examinees. He opened his mouth and said, "Alright, who wants to go next?" "I''ll go!" A cold voice sounded. Souta turned his head to look. He saw the girl with long silver hair. She''s the one seating beside him in the written exam before. "Be prepared as I will give you one minute." The examiner said as he walked towards the center of the room. The girl distanced herself from the examiner. She just stood straight at her place while waiting for the signal of the examiner to start the examination. The examiner set the alarm before giving her a go. "Go!!" The girl lifted up her right hand and her magic power flared up. [Freeze] The floor beneath the girl''s feet quickly turned into ice. It spread out and the examiner observed the spell before he jumped backward. [Ice Spike] Sharp spike that was made of ice burst out of the ground. The examiner looked at the spike coming at him. He imbued his mana in his hand before waving it. Bang! His force shattered the spike and he looked at the girl that was continuously casting magic spells. ''The quality of this spell is much better than the boy before.'' He thought as he landed on the ground causing the ice to break into countless tiny particles. The boy before was a fighter that was an expert in managing his spell. He knew how to utilize it perfectly. And this girl was a textbook example of a magician. [Cold Wind] Cold and powerful wind swept out in the area. The examiner raised his mana to protect himself from the cold wind. "It''s time for me to attack." He took a deep breath and roared loudly that shook the entire ground. [Tiger''s Roar] Boom! The examinees who''re watching the fight covered their ears. They felt their strength leaving their body. [Ice Wall] A wall of ice appeared in front of the girl but it was shattered immediately when it made contact with the sound wave. Boom! The examiner burst forth towards the girl leaving a trail of smoke behind him. [Ice Blade] A blade made of ice formed in the mid-air and the girl grabbed it before launching towards the examiner. Bang! The blade and the fist collided creating a loud sound. "Oh? So you know close combat!" The examiner was slightly surprised at this development. He didn''t expect the girl to know close combat. Ring! The alarm sounded. It means that one minute had passed since the battle started. The ice blade disappeared in the hand of the girl and she turned around and left like nothing happened. The examiner looked at the girl''s retreating figure and shook his head. He then turned to the rest of the examinees and said, "Okay, next!" Souta peered at the girl. He didn''t expect that she was that strong. The magic spells that she cast were much more powerful than his magic spell, and it seemed that she was still hiding her real strength. He tried to recall if there''s someone that''s proficient in ice magic in the powerful influential figure in the game. He recalled a lot of people that we''re proficient in ice magic but nothing looks similar to her. ... It took one hour to finished the examination. Not all the examinees demonstrated skills like Souta and the silver-haired girl. But there were also others that show skills not losing to Souta. Some of the beast folk demonstrated strength surpassing Souta. John came inside the training ground. He went straight to the examiner and whispered something in his ears. "Sir Jhon, the one in the written exam, have finished checking your papers. Now, with me here, we will show you who passed the entrance examination." The examiner said in a loud voice. Jhon stepped forward and opened his arm, and a semi-transparent screen appeared in the mid-air. It was made of magic. Names of examinees were written on the screen. Souta and the other examinees checked the words that were written on the screen. In just a few moments, Souta found his name. As expected, he passed the entrance examination. The other examinees look dejected. They were the ones who didn''t pass the exam. "For those who pass the exam, come with me!" Jhon said before he turned around and left. Souta and the other examinees who passed the exam followed Jhon. Souta looked around and just as he expected the silver-haired girl also passed the exam. Thirty out of seventy examinees passed the exam. They were cut above the other and all have superb skills. The group entered a door and inside there was another wide area. It was as wide as the training ground. This was the stadium of the Ladro Institute. This place could host more than twenty thousand people at the same time. At the front, on the stage, there was a group of people who were standing on the stage. They were all wearing a black coat with black pants. "You can pick your major course," Jhon said to the examinees. The people on the stage said their class. "Swordsman!" "Brawler!" "Healer!" "Mage!" It was until that Souta heard his main class that he started to move. He looked up and saw a middle-aged man with short blonde hair. He was a professor of mage students at Ladro Institute. Souta was major in magic spells so it''s only natural that he''s taking the mage course. The silver-haired girl also took the mage course. He looked around and saw that the other people were already forming their own group. He then looked at his own group and found five people, including him and the silver-haired girl, took the mage course out of thirty examinees who passed the exam. "I''m Bargan, one of the professors in mage course." The middle-aged man introduced himself first. He added, "Follow me!" before he started walking. Bargan toured them around the Institute before they went to the mage building. He explained a lot of things about the Institute and history about how it was built. The group went inside a room. The room was huge and at the corner were spell books piled neatly. "This is the gifts of the Institute to all of you so pick three spell books there and learn it," Bagan said to them with a smile on his face. "The Institute is generous to its students so don''t worry about it. As long as you study earnestly it''s okay. And the Institute will not hesitate to provide you more resources." This was what Souta was waiting for. The free gifts of the Institute. This was what he wanted. The spell books to complete the requirements in getting a class. Thanking Bargan for the gifts, the other three went to check the spellbooks. Souta noticed that the silver-haired girl wasn''t checking the spellbooks. She was just standing there on her position looking at the spellbooks. He opened his mouth and asked, "Do you also want to check the books?" The silver-haired girl turned her head and looked at him. She slowly opened her mouth and replied, "No, I''m okay with leftover." "I see..." Souta nodded and turned his attention to the spellbooks. He didn''t hesitate anymore as he went there and checked the spell books one by one. Most of the spells we''re basic spell just like his [Fire Ball], [Ice Shot], and [Light Heal]. There were a few high-level spells. But, all of these were in the range of Tier 1 spell. Well, even if there''s a Tier 2 spell here he wouldn''t be able to learn it. It was because only those that promoted their class to level 2 class would be able to learn it. Mage was just a level 1 class. There were a lot of paths after the mage but he would choose the path he chose in the game. Mage becoming a Battle Mage then a Great Battle Mage. In the end, he picked the [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], and [Mud Slide] spells. The two spells that he picked were buff spells that he needed. Back in the game, he was proficient in buffing himself while adding debuffs to his opponent. He got stronger while his opponents got weaker. Even those abnormal status wouldn''t affect because of his different kinds of buffs he casted on himself. Well, he was experts in different styles as a Great Battle Mage. "These three are the ones I choose," Souta said while looking at Bargan. Bargan looked at Souta and then at the spellbooks that he choose. He was wondering if Souta was planning on taking a support type mage. He was wrong at that Souta was planning on supporting himself. 24 Mage Souta finished choosing the spellbooks. He picked the spell that''s suitable for the current him. The silver-haired girl picked random spellbooks after they finished picking their own spellbooks. She wasn''t that excited like the other people. More like, she doesn''t show her emotion. "Okay, now that you''ve chosen your own spellbooks it''s time to measure your body for the uniform," Bargan said. He turned his head and added, "Don''t worry you don''t have to pay anything." The group walked out of the room as they followed Bargan. "Hello, since we''re all in the mage course I hope I got along with everyone." A boy wearing a simple white shirt and black pants said. He has short spiky black hair and some strands of his hair fell on his forehead. He has pitch-black eyes and his build was average, not too thin and also not too bulky. "I will start with myself. I''m Bryan Dagruel, I hope we got along." The boy introduced himself as Bryan Dagruel. "I''m Joshua, I''ve been living here in Ladros city ever since I was born." "I''m George, it''s really my dream to enter the Institute." The other two introduced themselves. George was a beast folk specifically, a rabbit people. Joshua has dark brown skin and he was also not a human. He was a wood elf. There were many types of elves in the whole continent. The high elf, wood elf, sea elf, mountain elf, dark elf, etc. They were very proficient in controlling their mana and have a high mana pool. Souta then turned his head to the silver-haired girl. He saw that she was staying silent. He sighed and opened his mouth, "I''m Souta, I just arrived here in the city last week." Then, the silver-haired girl opened her mouth and said, "I''m Alice." "That''s good, I hope all get along," Bryan said with a smile. "We''re here!" Bargan''s voice sounded. The group arrived in front of the two rooms. One for the girls and one for the boys. "You can go inside the room and someone will assist you there. You will get your uniform next week and you will start attending in class." Bargan said to them. Souta, Bryan, and the rest nodded and went inside the room designated for boys. While Alice went to the room beside it. It was the room for the girls. In the room, they could choose whether the uniform could enhance their mana or a defensive uniform. Souta has chosen the one that could enhance his mana. After half an hour, all of them finished measuring their size. They come back in a week to get their uniform and start their class. "Okay, you can go now don''t forget to come back next week," Bargan said to them. "Yes, sir Bargan," Bryan said enthusiastically. Souta, Alice, and the other just nodded their head. "Good." Bargan nodded and left. Bryan looked at them and asked, "Do you want to eat something? We can use this chance for us to know each other." "I have another plan for today," Alice said before she turned around and left. "Sorry, I also have something to do." Souta smiled wryly at James. "I understand..." Bryan nodded and looked at the other two. "How about the two of you?" George and Joshua looked at each other before they nodded at Bryan. "That''s good." Bryan smiled widely. ... Before coming back to the inn, Souta didn''t forget to buy Yuko the food and fruits that she likes so much. He gave the fruit and meat to Yuko before he went to his room. He closed the door and took out the three spellbooks he got from the Institute. "Okay, I will start." Saying this, he opened the spellbooks and he heard system prompts inside his head. *Ding!* [Do you want to learn Agility Boost spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] [Do you want to learn Strength Boost spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] [Do you want to learn Mud Slide spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] ''Yes.'' He said mentally and used six skill points for learning the three spells. *Ding!* [You''ve learned Agility Boost!] [You''ve learned Strength Boost!] [You''ve learned Mud Slide!] The knowledge about the three spells was poured in his head. About the structure and composition of each spell. Other people would need to read and studies the content of the book before they could understand its spell structure. Understanding the spell structure didn''t mean that they could cast the spell. They still need to build it in their mind for them to cast it. But Souta was different, just using skill points he would understand all the content of the book and even cast it without a problem. But getting skill points was hard. Apart from leveling up, he could only get it from the quest he received. In the latest version of the game, the level cap there was level 80 and it means that a player only gets 80 skill points from leveling up. Soon, another system prompt pop in his head. [You''ve reached the requirements for Mage Class!] [Do you want to become a Mage? Yes/No?] ''Yes.'' Souta said without hesitation. *Ding!* [Processing information...] [Getting the class Mage...] *Ding!* [You''ve successfully become a Mage!] [Strength, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality attributes have increased by 10 points!] [Intelligence attributes have increased by 20 points!] [Mana pool increased by 50!] [Magical damage increased by 100%] [Magical resistance increased by 100%] Souta sighed when he read all the system prompts. His magical damage was much more stronger now. Before his spells couldn''t damage the examiner but now he was sure that he could damage him. But this wasn''t all the benefits he received in getting a class. There''s also the skill tree of Mage class. With him becoming a Mage, he would be able to unlock its skill tree. *Ding!* [Please choose your attribute!] [Darkness] [Light] [Fire] [Water] [Earth] [Wind] [Choose one of the elements and you would be able to use its skill tree!] Souta didn''t hesitate and select the [Darkness]. [You''ve unlocked Darkness Element Skill Tree!] A skill tree appeared in front of his vision. Various spells were still locked but he would be able to unlock it with enough skill points. Looking at this familiar skill tree, a smile appeared on his face. He could see a single spell from the lowest part of the screen. It was the [Shadow Bind] spell. Above it were three more spells that were still dark. The requirements to unlocked it was leveling the [Shadow Bind] to level 5 spell. [Shadow Bind] was a spell that could restraint and slow down his target. It uses the target''s shadow to bind them. He tapped the [Shadow Bind] spell and a prompt appeared. *Ding!* [Do you want to learn Shadow Bind spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] "Yes." *Ding!* [You''ve learned Shadow Bind spell!] He once again tapped the [Shadow Bind] spell. [Do you want to level up Shadow Bind spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] Leveling up a skill to level 2 needs 2 skill points and leveling it up to 3 needs 3 skill points. That was the pattern of leveling up a Tier 1 spell. He used all of his skill points to level up the [Shadow Bind] spell to level 5 and unlocked the three spells above it. Unfortunately, he doesn''t have any skill points to learn it. Ever since he came here in this world, he earned a total of 31 skill points. He used 8 for his first three spells and one skill. Last week he used 1 skill point for learning Nurman Language. Lastly, today he used the remaining skill points to learn four spells and leveling one spell to five. He earned most of his skill points in leveling up and the quest to conquer the dungeon. Rank F and E quest in the Adventurers Guild could give him more exp than the quest in conquering the dungeon but it doesn''t give him exp. Although the exp rewards in conquering a dungeon were 100, it still has a skill point as a reward so it''s better. It only if he was conquering low-level dungeon. If it''s about conquering a mid-level dungeon then the reward he would get was higher. 5,000 exp was the minimum reward plus the skill points and free attribute points. After all, the bosses in low-level dungeons were just ordinary monsters in mid-level dungeons. Souta shook his head once he became a Rank D adventure, this thing will not be a problem for him. The reward has at least one skill point. It''s better than nothing. He checked his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: High End Goblin Level: 17 Class: Rank 1 Mage - Darkness Health: 246/246 Stamina: 148/148 Mana: 260/260 Strength: 138 (128+10)[+] Agility: 104 (99+5)[+] Dexterity: 91 (86+5)[+] Intelligence: 105 (95+10)[+] Vitality: 103 (88+15)[+] Free attribute point(s): 13 Skill(s): [Dash], [Stab], [Sword Mastery], [Mana Manipulation], [Blessing of the Great] Spell(s): [Fireball], [Ice Shot], [Light Heal], [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Mud Slide], [Shadow Bind] Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul. Soul collected: 162/600] Skill point(s): 0 He was satisfied by the improvement of his status. He was a Rank 1 Mage. He would be able to rank up by learning 3 spells of his specialty and upgrading one spell to level 10. Once he rank up his stats would increase once again. Every class has 3 ranks and promoting to rank 3 was a requirement to upgrade a class to a higher class. Well, he doesn''t need to worry about this for now. The institute gave him another one week so he would use this time to complete some quest. 24 Rank 1 Mage Souta finished choosing the spellbooks. He picked the spell that''s suitable for the current him. The silver-haired girl picked random spellbooks after they finished picking their own spellbooks. She wasn''t that excited like the other people. More like, she doesn''t show her emotion. "Okay, now that you''ve chosen your own spellbooks it''s time to measure your body for the uniform," Bargan said. He turned his head and added, "Don''t worry you don''t have to pay anything." The group walked out of the room as they followed Bargan. "Hello, since we''re all in the mage course I hope I got along with everyone." A boy wearing a simple white shirt and black pants said. He has short spiky black hair and some strands of his hair fell on his forehead. He has pitch-black eyes and his build was average, not too thin and also not too bulky. "I will start with myself. I''m Bryan Dagruel, I hope we got along." The boy introduced himself as Bryan Dagruel. "I''m Joshua, I''ve been living here in Ladros city ever since I was born." "I''m George, it''s really my dream to enter the Institute." The other two introduced themselves. George was a beast folk specifically, a rabbit people. Joshua has dark brown skin and he was also not a human. He was a wood elf. There were many types of elves in the whole continent. The high elf, wood elf, sea elf, mountain elf, dark elf, etc. They were very proficient in controlling their mana and have a high mana pool. Souta then turned his head to the silver-haired girl. He saw that she was staying silent. He sighed and opened his mouth, "I''m Souta, I just arrived here in the city last week." Then, the silver-haired girl opened her mouth and said, "I''m Alice." "That''s good, I hope all get along," Bryan said with a smile. "We''re here!" Bargan''s voice sounded. The group arrived in front of the two rooms. One for the girls and one for the boys. "You can go inside the room and someone will assist you there. You will get your uniform next week and you will start attending in class." Bargan said to them. Souta, Bryan, and the rest nodded and went inside the room designated for boys. While Alice went to the room beside it. It was the room for the girls. In the room, they could choose whether the uniform could enhance their mana or a defensive uniform. Souta has chosen the one that could enhance his mana. After half an hour, all of them finished measuring their size. They come back in a week to get their uniform and start their class. "Okay, you can go now don''t forget to come back next week," Bargan said to them. "Yes, sir Bargan," Bryan said enthusiastically. Souta, Alice, and the other just nodded their head. "Good." Bargan nodded and left. Bryan looked at them and asked, "Do you want to eat something? We can use this chance for us to know each other." "I have another plan for today," Alice said before she turned around and left. "Sorry, I also have something to do." Souta smiled wryly at James. "I understand..." Bryan nodded and looked at the other two. "How about the two of you?" George and Joshua looked at each other before they nodded at Bryan. "That''s good." Bryan smiled widely. ... Before coming back to the inn, Souta didn''t forget to buy Yuko the food and fruits that she likes so much. He gave the fruit and meat to Yuko before he went to his room. He closed the door and took out the three spellbooks he got from the Institute. "Okay, I will start." Saying this, he opened the spellbooks and he heard system prompts inside his head. *Ding!* [Do you want to learn Agility Boost spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] [Do you want to learn Strength Boost spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] [Do you want to learn Mud Slide spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] ''Yes.'' He said mentally and used six skill points for learning the three spells. *Ding!* [You''ve learned Agility Boost!] [You''ve learned Strength Boost!] [You''ve learned Mud Slide!] The knowledge about the three spells was poured in his head. About the structure and composition of each spell. Other people would need to read and studies the content of the book before they could understand its spell structure. Understanding the spell structure didn''t mean that they could cast the spell. They still need to build it in their mind for them to cast it. But Souta was different, just using skill points he would understand all the content of the book and even cast it without a problem. But getting skill points was hard. Apart from leveling up, he could only get it from the quest he received. In the latest version of the game, the level cap there was level 80 and it means that a player only gets 80 skill points from leveling up. Soon, another system prompt pop in his head. [You''ve reached the requirements for Mage Class!] [Do you want to become a Mage? Yes/No?] ''Yes.'' Souta said without hesitation. *Ding!* [Processing information...] [Getting the class Mage...] *Ding!* [You''ve successfully become a Mage!] [Strength, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality attributes have increased by 10 points!] [Intelligence attributes have increased by 20 points!] [Mana pool increased by 50!] [Magical damage increased by 100%] [Magical resistance increased by 100%] Souta sighed when he read all the system prompts. His magical damage was much more stronger now. Before his spells couldn''t damage the examiner but now he was sure that he could damage him. But this wasn''t all the benefits he received in getting a class. There''s also the skill tree of Mage class. With him becoming a Mage, he would be able to unlock its skill tree. *Ding!* [Please choose your attribute!] [Darkness] [Light] [Fire] [Water] [Earth] [Wind] [Choose one of the elements and you would be able to use its skill tree!] Souta didn''t hesitate and select the [Darkness]. [You''ve unlocked Darkness Element Skill Tree!] A skill tree appeared in front of his vision. Various spells were still locked but he would be able to unlock it with enough skill points. Looking at this familiar skill tree, a smile appeared on his face. He could see a single spell from the lowest part of the screen. It was the [Shadow Bind] spell. Above it were three more spells that were still dark. The requirements to unlocked it was leveling the [Shadow Bind] to level 5 spell. [Shadow Bind] was a spell that could restraint and slow down his target. It uses the target''s shadow to bind them. He tapped the [Shadow Bind] spell and a prompt appeared. *Ding!* [Do you want to learn Shadow Bind spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] "Yes." *Ding!* [You''ve learned Shadow Bind spell!] He once again tapped the [Shadow Bind] spell. [Do you want to level up Shadow Bind spell for 2 skill points? Yes/No?] Leveling up a skill to level 2 needs 2 skill points and leveling it up to 3 needs 3 skill points. That was the pattern of leveling up a Tier 1 spell. He used all of his skill points to level up the [Shadow Bind] spell to level 5 and unlocked the three spells above it. Unfortunately, he doesn''t have any skill points to learn it. Ever since he came here in this world, he earned a total of 31 skill points. He used 8 for his first three spells and one skill. Last week he used 1 skill point for learning Nurman Language. Lastly, today he used the remaining skill points to learn four spells and leveling one spell to five. He earned most of his skill points in leveling up and the quest to conquer the dungeon. Rank F and E quest in the Adventurers Guild could give him more exp than the quest in conquering the dungeon but it doesn''t give him exp. Although the exp rewards in conquering a dungeon were 100, it still has a skill point as a reward so it''s better. It only if he was conquering low-level dungeon. If it''s about conquering a mid-level dungeon then the reward he would get was higher. 5,000 exp was the minimum reward plus the skill points and free attribute points. After all, the bosses in low-level dungeons were just ordinary monsters in mid-level dungeons. Souta shook his head once he became a Rank D adventure, this thing will not be a problem for him. The reward has at least one skill point. It''s better than nothing. He checked his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: High End Goblin Level: 17 Class: Rank 1 Mage - Darkness Health: 246/246 Stamina: 148/148 Mana: 260/260 Strength: 138 (128+10)[+] Agility: 104 (99+5)[+] Dexterity: 91 (86+5)[+] Intelligence: 105 (95+10)[+] Vitality: 103 (88+15)[+] Free attribute point(s): 13 Skill(s): [Dash], [Stab], [Sword Mastery], [Mana Manipulation], [Blessing of the Great] Spell(s): [Fireball], [Ice Shot], [Light Heal], [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Mud Slide], [Shadow Bind] Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul. Soul collected: 162/600] Skill point(s): 0 He was satisfied by the improvement of his status. He was a Rank 1 Mage. He would be able to rank up by learning 3 spells of his specialty and upgrading one spell to level 10. Once he rank up his stats would increase once again. Every class has 3 ranks and promoting to rank 3 was a requirement to upgrade a class to a higher class. Well, he doesn''t need to worry about this for now. The institute gave him another one week so he would use this time to complete some quest. 25 Escort Ques Souta stretched his body as he finished getting a class. He checked his equipments and nodded. He then went downstairs to Yuko. Yuko was in her room taking a good rest. "Come let''s go." Souta shook Yuko''s body. "...muu..." Yuko slowly opened her eye and looked at Souta. "Yuko, we''ll leave this city and do some quest," Souta said to her. Yuko stood up and licked his face. Souta planned to get some of his equipments this week. Getting a piece of Dark grade equipment was enough. Dark grade equipment was just lower than Universal grade equipment. Vajra Sword Saya. He had a lot of equipments in back in the game and Vajra Sword Saya was one of his weapons. Aside from Flesh-Eating Scythe and Hell Fiend Spear, the Vajra Sword Saya was his favorite to use. It was also the easiest to get among his other powerful weapons. It was within the vicinity of the Hebrei Kingdom so a week of time was enough for him to get it. For his current style, Vajra Sword Saya was suitable for him. "Come let''s go!" Souta patted Yuko and opened the gate. Yuko kept licking his cheek. She showed no sign of moving away from him. "Hahaha, I''ve gotten stronger once again. I could easily defeat you now." Souta said as he laughed. Since she was his pet, he would train her to become powerful. He doesn''t want her to stay at her level forever. ... Both of them left the inn. They went to some shops and bought the food they need. Then, they went straight to the Adventurers Guild. Like always, a lot of people gathered inside the guild. Some of them were drinking and some were laughing. Souta went straight to the quest board. He looked at the quest board looking for a suitable quest. "This is good." He lifted his hand and picked up an escort quest. He then went straight to the receptionist. "I want this quest." The receptionist nodded and she recorded the quest that he picked. She recorded it in a machine that looks like a computer. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Escort]: Escort a merchant to Bullmar village. You will fail if the merchant died. Rewards: 500 exp The reward was only exp for a Rank E quest. Skill points would only appear in Rank D quest or above Rank D. ... Souta was going to the Bullmar village that''s why he picked an escort quest. He just needs to protect the merchant and he wasn''t the only one who accepted this quest. There were also other adventurers going to the Bullmar village. Souta picked up his luggage. "Sadly, I don''t have inventory." He then turned toward Yuko and said, "Let''s go." Both of them went to the gate of the city. It took them a few dozen minutes before they arrived near the gate. "Is that it?" Souta saw carriages lining up near the gate. He walked towards the carriage with a red falcon symbol. It was the symbol of the merchant that he was going to escort. A huge man wearing a leather armor saw him walking. "Oh? So I''m going to work beside the tamer of Red Fur Bear." Souta smiled wryly at the man and asked, "Where is the owner?" "He''s inside." The man replied while pointing at the carriage behind him. "Thanks!" Souta thanked the man and knocked on the door of the carriage. Knock! Knock! After a few knocks, the door opened and a short man came out. He has curly hair, a long beard, and a thick mustache. He was a dwarf. The dwarf looked at Souta for a while before he nodded. He then looked at the adventurers gathering near the carriage and said, "Since all of you are here, we will leave now." The adventurers nodded at the dwarf before they packed their belongings. The man before walked towards Souta and extended his hand. "I''m Jack, a Rank D adventurer, I hope we get along during our quest." "Me too, " Souta shook hands with Jack. He added, "I''m Souta, a Rank E adventurer." Jack laughed and looked back at the other adventurers before shouting, "Guys, we''re doing a quest with the tamer!" "Hoo!!" The adventurers shouted. They were excited because they were doing a quest with the tamer. Souta was quite famous in the circle of adventurers. He always brings Yuko with him when he entered the guild. So a lot of people knew him and his pet. Souta smiled wryly while scratching the back of his head. He then called Yuko to come. Yuko walked forward with small steps. He introduced her to the adventurers. "This is Yuko, my partner. We''re counting on you." "Yeah. We''re also counting on you this time." One by one the adventurers introduced themselves. There''s a total of eight adventurers that was going to escort the dwarf. Three Rank D and the rest were Rank E including Souta. The dwarf peeked at the window and said, "I''m counting on you guys until we reach Bullmar." "Yeah, leave it to us!" They started packing and went inside the carriage. "Is everyone aboard? In that case... Let''s go!" ... The carriage was being pulled by a lion horse. It''s a horse that has a lion''s hair around its neck. It was stronger than a normal horse. So one lion horse was enough to pull a carriage. But the lion horse didn''t know how to fight like a real lion. So the people only used it to pull carriages. "So you went to Ladros city to enter the Ladro Institute." "Yeah, that''s the gist of it." Souta nodded at Jack. "Then, why did you become an adventurer?" Jack asked. The other adventurers just listen to their conversation. Sometimes butting in making everyone laughed. "Well, I need money in the institute so I became an adventurer," Souta replied to Jack''s question. "Life is really hard, huh?" Jack said as he looked outside through the window. "Yeah." Souta nodded and he also looked outside. He reached out his hand and patted Yuko. Yuko was walking outside the carriage. She couldn''t fit inside this place so she had to walk outside. "Sorry about this Yuko," Souta said to her. "M-master..." A small voice escaped from her mouth. She then turned her head and looked around. "Grrr!!" Souta knew that something was wrong when she was acting like this. "There''s an enemy!" He shouted. Jack knocked on the front wall of the carriage. He told the dwarf to stop moving because there''s an enemy. "You sure about this?" Jack asked while getting out of the carriage. "Yeah, Yuko is the one who sense them." Souta nodded and he also exited the carriage. The other adventurers followed suit. They pulled out their own weapons and looked around them. They were inside a small forest so trees were all over the place. A few silhouettes appeared in their vision. "As I thought." Jack frowned when he saw this. "Terror Wolf," Souta said in a low voice when a pack of wolves walked out of the shadows. He grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled it out. "Go! Yuko!" Yuko dashed forward as soon as he shouted. The huge bear charged straight to the pack of wolves. Terror wolf was just a low-level monster. In the game, their level was between 1 - 10. Some players wouldn''t even bother killing these wolves. They were no match against a level 21 Red Fur Bear. "Graa!!" Yuko roared as she waved her arms towards the wolves. Bang! Two wolves flew and crashed in the tree. A loud cracking sound could be heard from their bodies. She grabbed the wolf in front of her before smashing it on the ground. Bang! The impact caused the dust and smoke to shot up in the air. Swoosh!! Two wolves jumped on her back and bit her flesh. Souta just watched her fight while holding a sword. He wanted her to gain more battle experience. She was a level 21 Red Fur Bear. A pack of wolves was nothing to her. The other adventurers were fighting the other wolves. Looking around, Souta estimated that the number of wolves was more than thirty. But this number wasn''t a problem for a Rank D adventurer. Jack was killing wolves left and right. He didn''t even use his weapon. The blood of the wolves coated his fist. He then turned back his attention to Yuko. Just like before, she was still rampaging but there were some bite marks on her body. "Hmm..." His mana started to circulate around his body. He focused his attention on the wolves that fighting Yuko. [Shadow Bind] The shadows of the wolves moved upwards and strangled their bodies. All of a sudden, the five wolves in front of Yuko stopped moving. The level of his [Shadow Bind] was 5. The wolves had no way out of this even if they were an evolve wolves. A level 5 [Shadow Bind] could restrain a total of twenty-five targets. Every level, it increases by five. Hais... With a sighed, Souta walked towards Yuko. He placed his palm on her body and casted [Light Heal]. "That''s enough Yuko." Souta raised his sword and walked towards the wolves. The wolves couldn''t do anything as the [Shadow Bind] was restraining their movements. They watched Souta kill them one by one. "One... Two... Three... Four... And five! All of your soul will become a nutrition to make me stronger." 26 Triggering a quest two times in a row Souta turned around after he killed the wolves. He noticed that Jack and the others were looking at him. "What?" "As expected of a student of Ladro Institute." Jack praised him. The other adventurers nodded at his words. They saw how he bind those wolves using magic. They only thought that he was a swordsman but to think that he was also a mage. Nothing less from the one who passed the entrance examination of Ladro Institute. "Back then when I was young, I also took the entrance exam of Ladro Institute sadly I failed," Jack said. "You took an exam...?" Souta looked at Jack. "Yeah, it was ten years ago." Jack nodded at Souta. "Well, enough talking let''s go back now." They packed up and went back to the carriage to continue their journey. It was late at night when they arrived in Bullmar villager. They settled themselves in the plaza of the city. Bullmar village was a preposterous and huge village. More than five thousand people lived here in Bullmar village. But compare to Ladros city that have a population of fifty thousand people, this village was small. This village was close to the kingdom so it receives some of its benefits. The Adventurers Guild had a branch in this village so Souta and the rest of the adventurers could record their quest here. "Thank you, I''ll give you your rewards and I hope that I can work with all of you again. Bye!" The dwarf said to Souta and the other three adventurers. The remaining adventurers, such as Jack, would continue to escort the dwarf to the next village. They would stay here and sell some of the dwarf''s products before they leave this village. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the Escort quest!] [You''ve received 500 exp!] Souta heard the system prompt in his head telling him that he completed the quest. "I hope I can see you in Guild War," Jack said to them. "I hope too." Souta nodded and he patted Yuko. Both of them left and went to the nearest inn. The Guild War that Jack was talking about was the tournament of the Adventurers Guild. Countless adventurers would go to the Nivari Kingdom to participate in this tournament. Rank D to the highest rank were all going there to join the tournament. There''s no solo battle in this tournament. All the fights were group battles. It was a chance for the other adventurers to raise their rank. Also, the rewards in the tournament were huge. It held every year in Nivari kingdom. Souta was laying down on Yuko''s fluffy fur. He was trying to recall every quest in this village. The quest related to the Vajra Sword Saya. Actually, he could go down in the underground and get the Vajra Sword Saya but that wouldn''t do at all. He wanted to maximize his benefits and get some quest along the way. After a few minutes of thinking, he stood up. Yuko lifted up her head and looked at him with confusion in her eyes. It was like she''s asking him ''why did you get up?''. "Let''s go Yuko! We will go to the Adventurers Guild!" Souta said to her. "Muu." ... Souta went to Adventurers Guild and completed his quest. The receptionist recorded his quest in his card. "A few more quests and I''ll meet the requirements to promote to D rank," Souta said while looking at his adventurer''s card. He then looked at the quest board and picked up the herb gathering quest. He walked back to the receptionist and placed the quest on top of the desk. The receptionist picked the quest and read it. She then looked back at him and said, "The one who made this quest have a little request. He wants to meet the one who accepted this quest." "Okay, " Souta nodded his head. He knew this already and the quest was connected to the place where he found the Vajra Sword Saya in the game. "Please wait here for a moment, sir!" The receptionist said with a polite tone. Souta just stood there in the corner waiting for the man who made the quest. He crossed his arms in front of his and closed his eyes. The receptionist sighed in relief when she saw him waiting patiently. After a dozen minutes, the receptionist called him. "Sir, this way please..." Souta opened his eyes and saw the receptionist. She guided him in a closed room. There, he saw a man in his forties looking well. He has short white hair and a wrinkled face. "Good evening, sir. I''m Mark the one who made the quest." The man stood up and introduced himself. "I''m Souta, an adventurer!" Souta replied and sat down in the chair opposite of the man. The receptionist bowed down and left the room. The room was devoid of any sound as no one said anything. Souta was the one who broke the silence. "I need to find the Evening Grass, right?" Souta said to Mark. Mark nodded in response. "But Evening Grass is not something that can be found here," Souta said. Evening Grass can be found in a place rich in dark energy like Curse Cemetery. "But there is a place where Evening Grass grow in this village," Mark replied to him. ''There it is!'' Souta smirked inwardly. "I''ll tell you where it is if you really accept the quest," Mark said to him. He proposed a condition that Souta shouldn''t tell anyone about this. "I understand, I will not tell anyone about this," Souta said while closing his eyes. "Good. Go to my shop tomorrow morning, I''ll warn you don''t wander in the night. They only attack the outsiders." Mark nodded before he stood up. He didn''t forget to tell Souta the meeting place before he left. At the same time, Souta heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Herb Gathering]: Mark asked you to bring him the Evening Grass. Rewards: 5,000 exp, 5 free attribute points Souta smiled and he opened his eyes. There''s still one quest that he wanted to get before meeting Mark. "Sir, don''t wander in the night." The receptionist warned him before he left the guild. ... He went out of the guild and met with Yuko. She was always waiting for him when he goes inside the guild. It was the same in Ladros city. "Let''s go! There is a place that we need to go first!" Souta and Yuko went to the southern part of the village. It was a place where slum lives. He told Yuko to hide and he concealed himself behind a box. He looked at the dark sky while waiting for someone to appear. The players called this event encounters. An event where a player would accidentally encounter a special person. That person would give them a quest with high rewards. But what he was doing was not accidental encounter. He''s waiting for that person to appear and make it look like an accidental meeting. Back then, he''s the one who triggered this quest. This quest led him to the Vajra Sword Saya. After a few minutes of waiting, Souta heard a sound of crying. ''Here it is!'' Souta smirked before he stood up and patted his clothes. He waited for a few moments before he walked forward and turned in an alley. Pak! He bumped there into someone. The figure who bumped on him fell on the ground. "Sorry..." Souta apologized and saw a little boy. The boy has tears in his eyes. He has short black hair and big black round eyes. He was wearing ragged clothes full of dirt. "Boy, why are you crying?" Souta asked while helping the boy. "Mister, thank you!" The boy thanked Souta for helping him. "It''s okay, but why are you wondering this in this place? It''s already dark and children should stay in their home." Souta asked the boy with a hint of concern in his voice. He noticed that the boy have bruises all over his body. He lifted up his hand and casted [Light Heal]. The boy felt a warm energy entered his body. He looked and saw that the bruise on his body was gone. "Thanks, mister!" He looked at the man in front of him. He doesn''t know what happened but he knew that this must have done something to heal his bruise. Souta smiled and he patted the head of the boy. He asked, "Can you tell me why you''re wandering here at night?" The boy hesitated first before he explained. At first, he and his sister were living here in this village peacefully. His sister was the one who took care of him after their parents died. She did all kinds of jobs to raise him. But one day, everything changed. His sister started to act differently. She was always in daze and muttering some words. Last month, he personally witnessed his sister killed a man using a strange sword. A demon with horns appeared behind her. After that day, his sister didn''t show up. She didn''t leave any trace so he doesn''t have any idea where to find her. "A demon possessed my sister and took her. I don''t know where my sister is but I saw it with my own eyes. A demon possessed my sister. Do you believe me, mister?" "Yeah, I believe you. There''s really a demon in this world." Souta nodded with a smile. The boy looked at Souta and recalled that he was a mage. The people didn''t believe him when he told them that a demon took her sister. They just told him that his sister got tired of taking care of him. That''s why she left. "Um..." The boy looks like he wanted to tell him something. "What is it?" Souta asked. "Can you help me find my sister?" The boy asked him to help him find his sister. "Sure, the sword that your sister was holding at that time. I came here to retrieve it." Souta said to the boy. "Really, mister!" A bright smile appeared on the face of the boy. "Yeah." Souta nodded. *Ding!" [Quest Triggered!] [Rescue]: Find and rescue the sister of the boy. Rewards: 10,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, 2 skill point ''2 skill points, huh?'' Souta smiled and said, "You don''t have to call me mister, just brother will do." "Okay, thank you, brother!" The boy smiled at him. A pair of deep red eyes gleamed in the shadows. It looked at Souta with crazed eyes. 27 Abnormal People Souta finally noticed that the rewards were higher than before. It only means that the difficulty was higher. 2 skill points were one of the rewards of the quest to rescue the boy''s big sister. It means that this quest was harder than conquering a low-level dungeon. Conquering a low-level dungeon only gave him 1 skill point. "It seems that getting back that sword is not that easy, huh?" Souta said in a low voice. Tak! Tak! Tak! A sound of footsteps echoed in the dark alley. No other sound can be heard except the sounds of footsteps. Souta turned his head and saw a figure of a man approaching him and the boy. The man has deep red eyes that gleamed in the dark. He frowned and observed the man. The man was walking in unsteady steps. It feels like he would fall any second and white liquid was flowing down from his mouth. "What''s this? This is not an undead..." Blood vessels pop out in the forehead of the man. The man gritted his teeth before pouncing towards Souta. "Yuko!!" Souta shouted and a huge bear appeared in the corner. Yuko stood up and pinned down the man on the ground. "Argh!! It hurts!! It hurts!!" The man groaned in pain as a huge bear was pinning him down. "Don''t move," Souta said to the boy before he approached the man. He squatted down and observed him. He was sure that it was not undead. The man has berserk energy around his body. This energy drives him wild and insane. This led him to attack Souta. Souta suddenly recalled what Mark said before. "I''ll warn you don''t wander in the night. They only attack the outsiders." was what he said. There''s no scenario like this in the game. Also, the boy saw a demon behind his sister before she disappeared. Souta knocked the man unconscious using his fist. He looked at Yuko and said, "You can let him go now, you did a good job today." Yuko then turned around and growled angrily. Souta also turned his head and saw a dozen figures in the shadows. "This is bad, there is something wrong in this town." Souta raised his hand and the shadows beneath the figures burst out of the ground. It moved quickly and restrained everyone. [Shadow Bind] "Let''s go Yuko!" Souta turned around and he carried the little boy on his shoulder before he left. "W-what''s happening, brother?" The boy was flustered. "I don''t know." Souta shook his head and made a turn in the alley. There were people there waiting for him. Souta clenched his fist and restrained those people using [Shadow Bind]. Souta ran over those people while Yuko smashed them on the walls with her thick arms causing them to fell unconscious. ''If I''m alone I could just jump over the roofs but Yuko is here with me.'' Souta thought while glancing at his back. Yuko was following him. Every step that she made caused a loud sound attracting other people. Souta smiled wryly at this. He then ran at the direction of the carriage of the dwarf, the plaza. ... Just like what he expected, the carriage was also under attack by those abnormal people. The three adventurers who left with him were also here. Jack was knocking unconscious those people with the help of the other adventurers. "Damn! What is wrong with these people?" Jack cursed loudly as he delivered a blow to the stomach of a crazed man. Bang! The man was knocked back to the other people before falling unconscious. "They keep coming!" "There''s no way end!" Then, they saw a huge bear behind the crowds. They were familiar with this bear. Souta circulated his mana around his body. With a "boom" he rushed towards those abnormal people. "Smash them, Yuko!" Yuko roared and followed him. She smashed those people that tried to stop him. She kept waving her hands while following behind Souta. "Help them!" Jack shouted as he rushed towards the abnormal people to make a way for Souta and Yuko. "Hoo!!" The other adventurers followed Jack. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta waved his arm and smashed the abnormal people in front of him. Those people flew away knocking the other abnormal people. He speed up and broke through the group of abnormal people. "Hoo~" Glancing back at the abnormal people, Souta went directly to Jack. "I have a plan," Souta said to Jack. "Tell me," Jack replied. "I will stop all of them, I will need you and the others to knock as many as you can before they break free from the restraint." Souta explained his plan to Jack. "Can you really do that?" Jack asked with a doubtful expression. There were more than a hundred abnormal people here and Souta told him that he could stop all these abnormal people. "Why would I lie in this situation?" Souta replied as he shrugged his shoulder. "Hahaha, good, as long as you stop them! I can knock them out easily!" Jack laughed loudly. He then looked at the boy on Souta''s shoulder. "By the way, did you kidnap that child?" "No, I just met him and the abnormal people attack us all of a sudden." Souta shook his head. His expression turned serious and said, "I will start now..." He placed the boy on the ground telling him to wait. He then focused his attention on the abnormal people. Jack, Yuko, and the rest of the adventurers were defending the carriage. The abnormal people kept coming in all directions. His magical energy flared up and reached the peak. With a waved of his hand, he casted [Shadow Bind] consecutively. He felt that he consumed more than half of his mana. Casting [Shadow Bind] consumed 10 mana. Using it consecutively drained half of his mana. Swoosh!! Hundreds of shadows burst out of the ground. Seeing this, Jack and the rest stopped moving. They watched as the shadows bind every people in the whole area. "Go!" They regained their senses when they heard Souta''s voice. "Hahaha, let''s finish this!" Jack laughed and he charged at the group of abnormal people. Souta didn''t sit idly as he rushed towards those people. He looked at Jack who was knocking unconscious those people left and right. He asked, "I thought you would kill them. Why you let them live?" "Someone came and warn us before but we didn''t heed his warning," Jack said while punching the abnormal people. He added, "He came and request us not to kill them. We didn''t kill them as we also didn''t heed his warning before. We all treat his warning like a joke but... look now." "Who''s that man?" Souta asked. "The village chief came to us after you left," Jack said. "I''ll tell you more later after we finish this." Souta nodded at his words. He rushed towards the abnormal and chopped the back of their neck knocking them out. ... It took them half an hour before they knocked all those people out. It was tiring to hold back while fighting against many people at once. So Jack and the rest were gasping as beads of sweat formed in their forehead. "Thank you for your effort, everyone!" The dwarf came out of the carriage and thanked them for their effort. A green man was following the dwarf. This man gathered everyone''s attention. "Village chief!" One of the adventurers called out. ''So that''s village chief.'' Souta thought as he observed the man. The man has a green colored skin. Some part of his body has green scales and a green long tail was moving on his back. The village chief noticed Souta and exclaimed, "Oh! A brethren!" "Eh...!" Souta was surprised that the village chief called him his brethren. Well, it''s not that surprising as both of them have green color skin. "You''re a halfling, huh?" The village chief said after he observed Souta. He noticed that Souta doesn''t have a tail and scales so he thought that he was only a half-reptilian and half-human. "Uh... Yes..." Souta smiled wryly. It''s fine for them that they misunderstood his race. A High End Goblin was a rare species of a goblin and only a few people have seen it. They were almost extinct because of the constant killing that humans and demis did in the past. Those rare species can only be found in those forbidden areas. "Thank you for helping these people!" The village chief thanked him. "I''m also an adventurer also, can you please tell why is this happening?" Souta said. Even though he formed a speculation in his head, he still wanted to hear it from the village chief''s mouth. "Yeah, can you tell us what are them?" Jack asked while glancing at the unconscious people. The village chief looked at their face before he started to narrate them what happened. All of this started two months ago. Back then the residence of this village started to disappear. Day by day received many reports about the disappearance of their husband, child, neighbor, etc. Every day one or two people would vanish. It happens every night. It was strange that no one found them. About a month ago, he received a report about people going crazy attacking other people. It was like a disease that slowly spread out in the village. But they didn''t attack the people living here in this village they only attack the outsider. When he looked at those abnormal people it feels like those people wanted to attack them but they were holding back. It feels like someone was telling them to attack people but they resist it against the people here in this village. They let it all out when outsiders came here. Many people got infected by this strange disease. They attack and killed every outsider that came here. He sent a report to Hebrei Kingdom to help them fight this strange incident. But no one came, up until now the Hebrei Kingdom didn''t even bother to investigate this incident. Those people went wild during night and they would forget everything that happened the next morning. It was really weird. Right now, half of the village folk have that kind of disease. "Half? The population of this village is five thousand and half of that is..." Jack said with widely open eyes. If that''s really the case then they would have to fight more than a thousand people and what happened this time was just the first wave. "Come to me, to my house. They wouldn''t go there." The village chief said. He led the group to his house. They should not expect the help of Hebrei Kingdom. A village like this wasn''t even drawn in the map of the continent. For huge countries and kingdoms, this kind of village could disappear at any time. It was either by the monster tide or strange disease like this one. Souta looked back and saw that Yuko and the boy were following him quietly. He was sure of one thing. This incident happened because of the Vajra Sword Saya. The difficulty of the quest was many times harder than in the game. This world was going into the future that he doesn''t know. There were no players to investigate and complete the incidents like this one. There were no adventurous players that would discover weird things left and right. He even wondered what''s happening in the other village right now. It seemed that his sword, Vajra Sword Saya, was taking the route of "hard to get". 28 Underground Souta, Jack, and the rest arrived in the village chief''s house. The house was quite wide so it could hold all of them including Yuko. The group listened to the story of the village chief. The story about the mysterious possession or what they called disease spreading in this village. "Based on what you said it started two months ago... and from my analysis, it will take another month before all of you become like those people," Jack said to the village chief. "I also thought about that but what can we do about it... There is no point as we could only wait for the people of Hebrei Kingdom to arrive." The village chief said with a sad expression. "I don''t think I''ve heard this kind of disease at all nor I''ve seen something like this." Jack shook his head. He wouldn''t be able to help if he knew nothing about it. He was an adventurer expert in fighting, not a doctor. "It''s hard to dispatch a knight. The kingdom only uses them in war or other big situations. If this situation got worse to the point that it could harm the kingdom, only then they would dispatch a force to eliminate the threat. First of all, this village wasn''t a part of Hebrei Kingdom. That''s the reason why they wouldn''t send a force to help." The dwarf said. As a merchant, he knew a thing or two about the affairs of the kingdom. "Boy, tell them what you know!" Souta said as he patted the little boy''s back. His words gathered everyone''s attention. All of them turned their heads and looked at Souta. "What do you mean?" "Did this boy know something?" Souta shook his head and said, "It''s better if you hear it directly from him. Come on boy tell them what you told me before." The boy lifted up his head and looked at Souta. Souta nodded when he saw the look of the boy. The boy didn''t hesitate anymore and he began to tell them what he told Souta before. "There''s something like that?!" "A demon? A monster from legend!" "I''ve heard that there''s no demon right now. The ancient civilization destroyed them all." Various exclamation sounded after they heard the boy''s story. Even Souta, the owner of the Vajra Sword Saya, doesn''t know the origin of the sword. He only knew that it was a piece of Dark grade equipment. Suddenly, the village chief bowed before them and said, "Please help us solve this case. I''ll give you anything that you want." The village chief begged them to find the boy''s sister. After listening to the story of the boy, he was now sure that the sister of the boy and the demon the boy saw that day was the culprit in this incident. The culprit why all these people were going insane was because of the demon. "We didn''t know the strength of the demon so it''s better to check it first before we promise you," Jack said and the rest of the adventurers nodded. They wouldn''t accept a quest that easily. They couldn''t determine the difficulty of this quest so they couldn''t accept it easily. There''s a reason why the Adventurers Guild divided the quest into different ranks. The village chief looked at Souta with hopeful eyes. Souta was still the one who hasn''t decline him. But Souta wasn''t looking at him. He was looking at the prompt that received. [Quest Triggered!] [Elimination]: Find and eliminate the cause of this incident. Rewards: 15,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, 2 skill point [Savior]: Don''t kill anyone and help them regain their senses. Rewards: ??? Looking at the quest, Souta felt that he really was quite lucky today. He didn''t expect that he would receive more quests and the rewards for these quests were as high as the previous quest. But the difficulty was also high. He doubted that he could finish this quest with this current strength. He also had to hold back as once he killed one of those people he will fail the quest. Souta accepted these quests without hesitation. He then looked at the village chief and said. "I''ll do what I can to help..." "As expected of my brethren, a really good heart." The village chief felt like he was about to cry from Souta''s reply. "Oi oi! Souta, do you know what kind of danger lies in this quest?" Jack said to him. "I have a vague idea," Souta replied. "No, you don''t have any idea what a demon is..." Jack said. "If a demon is really here then they would be long dead," Souta said seriously. He received a lot of feats in the game and one of these was the "Demon Annihilator". He received this feat from annihilating an army of demons. So his knowledge about demons far surpasses the people present in this place. Also, he knew that there''s really no demon here. That was just the Vajra Sword Saya. "Don''t worry I know what I''m doing..." Souta said. Jack nodded when he saw how serious he was. "Anyway, let''s rest for now. Let''s continue this later." Souta shook his head and said. "Yeah, I will prepare your room for now." The village chief said. "No need, I will sleep with Yuko," Souta said before he walked towards Yuko. He preferred to sleep in her fluffy fur. Just like what the village chief said before, the abnormal people didn''t enter his house. The group fell asleep quickly as they were quite tired from what happened this night. ... Souta woke up before the sunrise. He felt a heavy feeling pressing on his chest. He looked down and saw that Yuko was hugging him tightly. He removed her hands and stood up. He looked outside and found that everything went back to normal. Only the traces of fight can be seen outside. The abnormal people were already gone. "Oh? You''re up..." A voice sounded behind him. Souta turned around and saw Jack. He nodded at him before turning back to look outside. "Are you really planning to help them? You don''t know what danger lies here." Jack said as he walked beside Souta. "I just want to eliminate the cause of this incident," Souta said. Then, he turned around and walked toward the bathroom. Jack looked at Souta''s back without saying anything. ... Souta washed his face and thanked the village chief for letting them in. He ate the breakfast that the village chief made before he left the house with Yuko. He went to the shop of Mark. Mark was a herbalist and he made some medicine using his knowledge. That''s why he needed the Evening Grass. He found that the shop was still closed. Nevertheless, he knocked on the door before he entered the shop. "Oh? You''re here. It seems that you''ve heeded my warning yesterday." A man with white hair greeted him. "Nn." Souta sat down in a chair and said, "Let''s talk about the quest. I want to complete it quickly." "How about some tea?" Mark said to him. "No, I want to go there right now," Souta shook his head as he declined the tea that Mark offer. "Okay, wait here for a few minutes," Mark said before he went inside the room. "Good." Souta closed his eyes while waiting for Mark. After a few moments, Mark came out with a small bag. He looked at Souta and said, "Let''s go!" Souta nodded and walked behind Mark. ... Mark led him to an abandoned church in the village. Souta looked around the church. Moss already covered the entire walls and ceiling of the church. It seems that no one was maintaining this church for almost ten years. At the back of the church, Mark opened a secret compartment that will lead someone under the ground. "There are other paths but this is the safest among all the paths," Mark explained to Souta. He then gave the small bag to Souta. "Just put the Evening Grass inside the bottle there in the bag," Mark said while Souta opened the bag and saw a transparent bottle. "I just need to put the grass here," Souta muttered as he closed the bag and hung it on his waist. "Be careful there, although it''s the safest this place there are still dangers lurking in the dark," Mark warned him. Of course, there''s a danger downstairs, if not Mark would go down personally and he wouldn''t place a quest in the Adventurers Guild. "Yeah, I know." Souta nodded at Mark. Just looking at the rewards, he could vaguely guess the difficulty of a quest. "I''ll go now," Souta said and he turned to Yuko. He asked her to stay here with Mark. She was too big to fit inside the narrow path. She wouldn''t be able to move comfortably and she would only become a burden if she followed him downstairs. ... The underground was an abandoned place and it became a dungeon. A place where Vajra Sword Saya stayed. He doesn''t know the lore of this village but he could guess that this was a prosperous city before it became the Bullmar village. He raised his hand and tapped the walls made of bricks. The bricks were still sturdy despite its looks. The floor was wet and sticky. "Graaa!!" A pair of deep red eyes appeared in the darkness. "Just like what I expected, some of them are here..." Souta said with a laugh. It seemed that there was a type of abnormal people that live here underground. They didn''t return back to normal even though it''s morning. "Come, It''s getting exciting this way, the power of Vajra Sword exceeds my expectations!" Back in the game, the only person that Vajra Sword Saya possessed was the sister of the little boy before. The existence of abnormal people wasn''t present in the game. 29 A Strong One Souta dashed forward and the figure also charged at him. Swoosh!! Souta ducked down to avoid the hands of the figure before he delivered a blow to the stomach of the figure. Bang! The figure flew away and Souta chased after it. He chopped the neck of the figure knocking it down. "It''s harder to hold back against this kind of people," Souta said in a low voice while looking at the unconscious man. He won''t kill anyone in this place. It''s not that he''s against killing someone. It''s just that he still retained a part of his humanity and want to avoid killing as much as possible. If it comes to the situation that he needed to kill someone then he won''t hesitate and he will do what he needed to do. Also, the quest this time was asking him to save them from the possession of the Vajra Sword Saya, not to kill them. Help them regain their senses and clarity. Release them from the grasp of the Vajra Sword Saya. "I wonder if the Vajra Sword can possess me," Souta muttered before turning to look at the dark path. There was some grass on the floor but this was not the Evening Grass. Evening grass looks like an ordinary grass but it has a different color. There''s a blue dotted around the leaves. The unusual energy here was getting thicker the more he got deeper in the underground. "Then, I will turn here and..." Souta stopped as he saw five figures with gleaming red eyes. "Here they come..." He clenched his fist and charged straight to the five figures. Bang! Bang! Bang! ... "Hu~ really, they attack anyone who enters this place," Souta said as he wiped the sweat forming on his forehead. There were locked rooms everywhere. This place was really an underground base built for sheltering people but who knows how long people abandoned this place. He walked to the end of the corridor, and he found that one of the rooms was not locked. The door had been left half-open, and the lock was broken. He noticed some scratch marks on the door. He reached out his palm and traced the scratch marks. "There''s no dust..." Souta muttered. Just from seeing the marks, he could guess that someone made this recently. Maybe a few days ago. He slightly pushed the door open, only to find rows of tables placed in the corner of the room. Transparent bottles with an unknown liquid were neatly arranged on top of the tables along with strange devices. Opposite of it was a cabinet full of books which were covered in dust. Picking up one of the transparent bottles, he shook it a few times. The orange liquid inside the bottle emitted a dim light. The light wasn''t that bright but in this dark room, it was extremely noticeable. "A monster potion, huh?" A monster potion was a potion that will let someone borrow the power of a monster. But it comes with a side effect due to harnessing the beast''s energy. Beast energy or also called Best feram by ancient people. Powerful and destructive energy that monster uses. A monster that could harness beast energy was a dangerous individual and countries would use forces to eliminate those monsters when it appeared in their territory. Only level 40 monsters have this kind of power. Once he reached level 40 he would be able to use beast energy or best feram. But that''s far in the future. "The side effect of this potion is something I don''t want to experience." Souta shook his head and then he went to the books. The books were covered in thick dust. He reached out his hand to pick one book. He used his other hand to wipe the dust off the cover of the book. He saw the characters that he couldn''t understand. "It''s not a nurman language, huh?" He said in a low voice and opened the book. He saw a humanoid creature. A man with a horn sticking out on the side of his head. He has red hair and a pair of deep red eyes. The sclera was black and the pupils were red. Black stigmata were on the forehead of the man. If he wasn''t wrong this was one of the ancient races, the Vajra race. But even when he spent more than ten years playing the Battle World Online, he still hasn''t met one Vajra race. Souta frowned and he closed the book. He placed it inside the small bag that Mark gave him. He will have a time to study it later after he finished the quests here. He exited the room and a thick stench hit Souta. "What''s this smell?" Souta said as he pinched his nose. He walked forward and saw two pathways. One on his left side and one on his right side. And behind him was a path going straight to the surface. Souta looked at his left side and said, "If I''m not wrong there''s an Evening Grass in this direction." He walked forward while looking around. When he looked at the walls, his gaze was attracted by something. The walls were filled with scratch marks. It looks scary like some beast was rampaging here recently. Soon, he reached the end of the path. There''s another path on the right side, and there''s a half-opened door on the left side. The wooden door was slightly twisted and it was also full of scratch marks. He approached the door and pushed it open without hesitation. Inside it, was a wide room filled with grass. At the center of the room, he could see a grass with blue dots. At the back, he could see a figure with crimson eyes. The man was exuding a very dangerous aura. This man was clearly different from those abnormal people. "Ho~ of course, I wouldn''t get the Evening Grass that easily. It wouldn''t give me such a reward if those weaklings are the one guarding it." Souta said with a smirked. He stepped forward and revealed himself to the man. Souta attracted the attention of the man as soon as he walked forward. Souta clenched his fist as his magical energy started rising at a fast rate. The man gritted his teeth and veins pop up on his arms. Souta didn''t stop as he continued to walk forward with a smirk on his face. Boom! A gust of wind swept out the whole room as both of them collided against each other in an instant. Souta smiled and he once again dashed towards the man. He coated both of his fists with mana. Bang! Bang! Bang! He launched a barrage of powerful punches containing great force behind it. But it only causes the man to staggered backward. The nails of the man grew longer and sharper. He swung it towards Souta. Swoosh! Souta slightly bent his body backward and the sharp nails passed in front of his face. He twisted his body and took a distance away from the man. But when he looked up, he already saw the man was rushing straight at him. [Shadow Bind] The shadow beneath the man moved. It emerges from the floor and strangled the man. Souta opened both of his palms and casted [Fire Ball] and [Ice Shot] simultaneously. Boom! He then placed his palm on the floor before looking at the man covered in smoke. He knew that he would not be able to defeat that man with just that. [Fire Ball] and [Ice Shot] were just a level 1 spell. "Graaa!!" The man roared loudly and it swept the smoke and dust around him. His aura was continuously rising. It also snapped the shadow that was binding him. "You''re finally getting serious, huh? Then allow me to show you a bit of my power." Souta said with a smile. He then used [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] to buff him up. [Agility Boost] was a spell that could raise the target agility by 10. It has a time limit of ten minutes. During this time his agility attribute would increase by ten points. It was still a level 1 spell so the increase in attribute was quite low. If he levels it up the added attribute and time limit would increase. [Strength Boost] spell was the same as [Agility Boost] spell. The only difference was that it increased the target strength instead of agility. He cannot stack up these spells. Even if he used it on himself once again the added stat wouldn''t increase. These two spells consumed ten mana points per use. "Good, this is enough." Souta looked at the man, and the man also looked at Souta. After a few seconds, the man rushed straight at Souta. But before he reaches Souta he stopped. He looked down and saw his foot was sinking in mud. He was confused. He knew that there''s no mud in this grassy room. [Mud Slide] "I''ve already prepared it before," Souta said before dashing towards the man. In just a second, he arrived in front of the man and pulled back his fist. Souta poured his mana on his fist and threw it on the stomach of the man. Bang! Pulling back his other fist, he threw another powerful punch. Bang! "Argh!" The man groaned and he raised both of his hands. "I won''t let you!" [Shadow Bind] Once again the shadow emerges and strangled the man. It restrained his movements. "Good, let me finish this," Souta smirked as he clenched both of his fists. 30 Evening Grass acquired! Boom! The man flew away and crashed in the wall of the room creating a spider web cracks on it. Debris of rocks fell on the ground and it caused the smoke to rise up. Souta looked at the man with a frown. After a few moments, he opened his mouth and said, "Still conscious, huh?" He bent his knees and launched himself towards the man like a rocket. Bang! The man suddenly lifted up his head and looked at Souta. He clenched both of his fists and collided with Souta. Boom! "You''re really good. Unfortunately, the quest said the I need to save everyone including you. If I only didn''t accept the quest then I would kill you right here because you''re giving me trouble right now." Souta said as he used more force and pushed his fist against the man. "Graaa!!!" The man roared in front of him and his aura burst out. He managed to resist Souta''s strength. "Good," Souta smirked and his mana flared up. Boom! A figure flew away and landed on the ground. It was Souta. Souta looked up and saw the man rushing at him. He hurriedly moved sideways avoiding the man. Bang! The first of the man missed Souta and it went straight to the ground. But before it reaches the ground, the ground suddenly turned into mud. His first sunk through the mud deeply. "And follow up by [Shadow Bind]," Souta casted his spell once again. He grabbed the face of the man and casted the [Fire Ball] spell. Boom! Boom! Boom! The flame exploded on the face of the man. Souta gritted his teeth and he smashed the man on the wall. Bang! Souta removed his hand and observed the man. The made was convulsing like he has some sort of sickness. The shadows moved and restrained the man. "This is enough, with his current strength he wouldn''t be able to escape easily," Souta said before he turned around. He looked at the Evening Grass in the center of the room. It was still standing there like nothing happened. Souta approached it and he squatted down. He opened his bag and took out the transparent bottle that Mark gave before. He carefully pulled the grass and placed it inside the transparent bottle. "Okay, I just need to get out of this place," Souta muttered as he placed back the bottle inside the bag. He then stood up and exited the room. "Oi! Oi! You people really wouldn''t let me leave this place peacefully." He saw a group of abnormal people waiting for him outside the room. They were crammed together on a narrow path. There were so many of them that he could not see a way out of this except fighting them. "I''m didn''t get a class before coming then I would truly be in trouble," Souta said before he casted [Shadow Bind] repeatedly. Luckily, he learned a spell that could restrict the movement of a target, or else he would be having a hard time this time. Swoosh!! Souta gathered his mana on his fist before throwing it towards the people in front. Bang! The abnormal people couldn''t do anything about it. They could only watch Souta knocked them out. Bang! Bang! Bang! Several bone-cracking sounds echoed in the whole area. It''s not that he couldn''t break their bones. As long as he doesn''t kill anyone he will not fail the quest. It will be fine if he beat them close to death. "Even if I break your limbs it''s fine as long as you''re still alive!" Souta smirked as he used his strength to smash the abnormal people. Bang! Bang! Bang! He threw powerful punches in all directions. He doesn''t need to aim at all as there were so many of them. ... On the surface... "Hey, do you think your master will be okay?" Mark looked at Yuko and asked. "Muu." Yuko looked at him and she tilted her head. "What am I doing, talking to a bear?" Mark shook his head. He should have put a quest for more than two people. He knew that some of the people with a strange disease were living underground. Although those people wouldn''t attack the residents of this village, there''s always an exception to rules. If they, the residents of the village, came down then the people with a strange disease wouldn''t hesitate to attack them. "Your master looks like a strong man so he should be fine, right?" Mark said in a low voice that only he could hear. Several footsteps sounded behind him. Mark turned around and saw the village chief with other adventurers. "Village chief!!" Mark was surprised to see the village chief here in this place. "Mark. Is Souta the one who accepted up your request?" The village chief asked. "...Yeah..." Mark nodded in response to the village chief''s question. "And he''s there right now?" The village chief pointed on the stairs leading to the underground base. "Yes, but why are you here village chief?" Mark nodded and asked the village chief while glancing at the adventurers behind the village chief. "They... They are the ones who will help us." The village chief said while looking at Jack and the rest of the adventurers. "Help us...?" Mark looked at the village chief with confusion in his eyes. He doesn''t know what the village chief was saying. "Yes, help us save the village." The village chief said. Mark turned his head and observed the adventurers behind the village chief. Jack and the other adventurers accepted the village chief''s request. They didn''t accept it to help the village but they accept it to help Souta. They will go there and see for themselves if there was really a demon here. If there''s really a demon then they would take back Souta with them and report it to the kingdom. The kingdom wouldn''t sit back if they knew that there''s a demon here close to their territory. Jack stepped forward and asked Mark how long Souta has been underground. "About 30 minutes," Mark replied to Jack''s question. Suddenly, Yuko moved forward and stopped in front of the stairs leading to the underground base. This gathered everyone''s attention. They focused on Yuko wondering what she''s up to. "What she''s doing?" The village chief asked. "I don''t know." Mark shook his head. "Maybe her master is coming now," Jack said with an unsure expression. After a few moments, Jack''s words came true. Souta really came out. Yuko greeted him first as she wrapped her huge body around him. He just finished putting those abnormal people in their place. They wouldn''t be able to bother him even if he went there a second time. Still, he knew that that''s not all the abnormal people. He knew that the strong one must be beside the host of the Vajra Sword Saya. After hugging Yuko, Souta noticed the village chief and Jack. He looked at Mark and asked, "What are they doing here?" "They are here to help you." Before Mark could answer him, the village opened his mouth first and answered his question. "We''re here to help you. Once we see if there''s really a demon then we would force you out with us." Jack said with a serious expression. "Oh..." Souta didn''t know what to say in this situation. He didn''t think that Jack was that close to him. "Well, suit yourself." Souta shrugged his shoulder before giving the small bag to Mark. Of course, he took the book he picked first before giving the small bag to Mark. Mark received the small bag and took out the transparent bottle inside it. He inspected the grass inside it. "Good, this is really the Evening Grass." *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the Herb Gathering quest!] [You''ve received 5,000 exp and 5 free attribute points!] [Experience points reached!] [You''ve level up!] [Strength attributes have increased by 8!] [Intelligence, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality attributes have increased by 5!] He level up from the exp he received from this quest. He was now a level 18 High End Goblin. Two more levels and he will reach the level requirements for the next evolution. But it will take him more time to reach that level. After all, he played the game for ten years and all he reached was level 80. His leveling speed was quite fast. He''s been here for a month and he almost reach the level cap of version 1. It''s easy to level up from 1 to 10 as the exp needed was quite low. But after that, especially level 20 and above was really hard to increase level even by one. He knew the pattern of the exp system. It was the Fibonacci system. That''s why after level 20 it will truly be hard to level up. Souta turned his head to the village chief and said, "Well, we''ll submit it first to the guild." The village chief nodded and Souta left with Mark. "So what should we do?" One of the adventurers asked. "Let''s wait for him," Jack said as he shrugged his shoulder. "That''s a good idea." ... Souta and Mark went to the guild to submit the completion of his quest. 31 As long as they are breathing its still passable Souta, Jack, and the rest were in front of the pathway that leads to the underground base. "Shall we go now?" Asked Jack. "Let''s go!" Souta nodded at him and the rest of the adventurers also nodded. "Good luck! I hope you return well." The village chief said with a nervous expression. He and Yuko would wait here outside. "Well, I wouldn''t return if I don''t finish it." Souta shrugged his shoulder and he walked downstairs. "Let''s go!" Jack said to the rest of the adventurers and they followed Souta. The village chief and Yuko looked at their back with a worried expression. ... They reached the underground and there was a split in the road. The corridor on the left was open, and the one on the right was close. A lock wooden door was blocking their way. Before, Souta went straight to the left road, but now that he came here to subdue the host of the Vajra Sword, he would take the road on the right. "Where should we go?" Jack asked Souta. He asked Souta because he knew that Souta came here before. "Here." Souta pointed at the locked wooden door. "Let me do it." One of the adventurers stepped forward. He was the one expert in this kind of situation. He was a scout and was an expert in opening a lock. With his skills, he could detect some traps. Souta made a way for the adventurer. He just watched the man opened the lock in just a few seconds. "Good job!" Jack said. "Don''t worry about it! That''s not a problem for me!" The scout said. "Good." Souta nodded and stepped inside. Perhaps it was their imagination, but once they entered the corridor, it felt like someone was observing them. The atmosphere here was clearly different from the other corridor. A chilly wind would sometimes caress their faces. ''This atmosphere? It felt like I enter a mid-level dungeon...'' Souta thought. But only he knew that the strength of the abnormal people was far enough to become a mid-level dungeon. They walked for a half minute before red letters started surfacing around them. "I''m warning you! Don''t here!" "I don''t want to kill you!" "We don''t want to kill someone!" "It''s not us! It''s a demon!" "You should go back now!" "I know, you also want to become like us, don''t you?" Some of the words appeared on the walls, some were on the ceiling, and some were on the floor. Souta stopped when the red words appeared. He looked around and read the words. ''The abnormal people are warning us.'' Souta thought. This scenario wasn''t in the game at all. Ever since he came here in Bullmar village, he discovered many things that can''t be found in the game. "What''s wrong with this?" "Are they warning us?" The adventurers started to discuss among themselves. The red words spook them but as an adventurer, they have their own fair of experience. They quickly regained their composure. "Let''s go!" Souta shook his head and he continued to walk straight not minding the red words around him. Then, words appeared in front of him saying "You''ll regret coming here in this place". ''You''re wrong, I''ll regret it if I don''t get that Vajra Sword Saya.'' Souta thought as he grin slowly appeared on his face. He felt funny that they were threatening him. Do they really think that they could easily kill him? They should at least know it from the abnormal people that he took down before. He wouldn''t go down without taking some of them with him. At least he would take the mastermind behind this, the Vajra Sword Saya, with him. He thought that he should threaten them too. If they don''t give the Vajra Sword then he would beat them half to death. ''Well, let''s leave it like that and see it for myself.'' Souta shook his head and continued to walk. ... At the end of the corridor was another split road. One was a stairs going deeper, and the other one was dark there''s some words painted on the walls. The words was different from those threat. Unlike the words before that was written in nurman language, these words were written in an ancient language. "So where should we go now?" Jack asked him. "Let''s go here first." Souta went to the left side where the ancient characters were written on the walls. Actually, the path downstairs was the one that will lead him to the Vajra Sword but there''s something here in this road that he needed to take. "Okay, let''s go." Jack nodded at him. They walked for half a minute before the found themselves in front of a metal door. The metal door was left half-opened and there was a key inside the keyhole. The scout walked forward attempting to push the door open but Souta stopped him before he could do so. "Don''t." Souta grabbed the wrist of the scout. The scout looked at Souta with confusion but he didn''t resist and let Souta opened the door. Souta walked forward and wrapped his fingers around the doorknob. He pulled it in, closing it tightly. He knew a trick about this door. If he opened the door just like that then it would lead them to a room full of traps that could kill all of them, but if he closed it and used the key to open the door then it would lead them to another room. He couldn''t forget those vicious traps that killed him in the game. He got careless in the game thinking that it was an ordinary door but who knew that it hides some sort of secret room. If not for him accidentally closing it and using the key then he wouldn''t discover the secret room. Souta sighed and he twisted the Jew before pushing the door open. Inside the door was a room with a single table in the center. A cabinet filled with books was on the left side of the room. Opposite of it was another cabinet but above there were transparent bottles with green liquid inside. And old papers were scattered across the floor. "This is it..." Souta muttered as he entered the room without hesitation. He directly walked towards the cabinet on the left side of the room. He tapped his chin and tried to recall where was that item that he wanted. After a few moments, he squatted down and pick up the red book without title in the cover. Actually, this was not a book. The book was just a cover to hide the item inside. Souta opened the book and saw a silver amulet with a silver string. ''Good, a blue equipment.'' Souta was satisfied with this. He picked the amulet and wore it around his neck. This amulet was higher than all of his equipments except the [Soul Blood Earring]. He registered it in the system as equip and saw its details. [Amulet of Psychic](Blue): An amulet that was made of dark stone and psychic serpent''s scale. Effect: +10% energy resistance, +50 health, +5 health recovery. Durability: 15/20 He checked his stats and nodded. The resistance and recovery rate was the most important things in the effect of the amulet. Energy resistance has more worth than magical resistance. It was because magical resistance could only resist those mana related skills and spells. But the energy resistance could resist all types of energy such as mana, best feram/beast energy, ki, etc. Souta stood up and went to the bottles with green liquid inside. Jack and the rest of the adventurers were already checking all the corners of the room if there were some sort of treasure here. Jack saw Souta and he asked if he knew what''s the green liquid inside the bottle. "You can divide it yourself, this one was an antitoxin potion. It can increase your resistance by one hundred percent for five minutes." Souta said before he picked up three bottles and placed it inside his pocket. Three was enough for him and he will share the rest to others. "After you''re done, we will continue deeper," Souta said as he leaned his back in the walls. Ever since they walked this path, they haven''t met a single abnormal people. They only warned them through the writings on the walls. Even Jack and the rest of the adventurers talked about why they haven''t met a single abnormal person here. It will get serious once they go deeper. That''s what Souta thought. It was strangely calm and peaceful here but he knew that it was just a calm before a storm. Although there''s no scenario like this in the game, he could still guess that the strong abnormal people were deeper, close to the Vajra Sword. It took them five minutes before they settled down. "Are you done?" Souta asked them. "Yeah..." The adventurers nodded at him. "Then, let''s go!" Souta turned around and left. ... The group went downstairs and the scenery here was different from the floor above. The ceiling was high and the area was wide compared to the floor above. The place looks like a mining area and carts specialized for moving pieces of rocks were around. Also, the density of the energy here was quite high even those people who were not sensitive in energy would feel it. "This place is really creepy..." "Yeah, I haven''t been to a place with a chilly atmosphere like this one." "Of course you haven''t because you''re only taking a quest near the kingdom." The adventurers talked to each other in a low voice. Suddenly, the scout shouted. "They are here!!" The adventurers stopped talking and quickly brandished their weapons. Their expression quickly changed into a serious one. "Oh?" Souta looked ahead and saw several pairs of red eyes in the dark. He opened his mouth and said, "Guys, we will not kill anyone so you shouldn''t use a weapon that could easily kill them." He paused for a moment before he added, "Well... if you''re having a hard time holding back then it''s okay if you break one or two of their limbs. As long as they are breathing then it''s still passable." 32 Its been a while! Jack rushed forward in the group of abnormal people. He clenched his fist and threw a very powerful punch. Bang! Three abnormal people flew because of the power behind his fist. A few of their bones broke as they crashed in the walls. "I will stop holding back!" Jack stretched out both of his hands and grabbed two abnormal people in the head. He smashed them together before kicking them away. Bang! He once again grabbed one abnormal person and used the person to ashed the other abnormal people. Bang! Bang! Bang! The scout moved swiftly as he appeared behind the abnormal people and chopped the back of their neck knocking the out. The other adventurers too were doing their best to knock those abnormal people down. The battles started in this wide place. The adventurers were facing more than a hundred of abnormal people. Bone cracking sounds echoed in the whole area. The abnormal people have simple movements so they were easy to predict by the experienced adventurers. Even though they were easy to predict if a veteran adventurer got surrounded by a hundred of them then the outcome would be the adventurer''s defeat. After a few dozen minutes, the adventurers knocked out hundred of abnormal people but the abnormal people kept appearing with more numbers than before. They started to show the signs of exhaustion as sweat flowed down from their bodies. Nevertheless, they didn''t stop moving and continue to beat those abnormal people. Boom! A loud sound crashed behind them as one of the adventurers crashed in the walls. It shook the ground a few times as smoke rises up and covered the area. Jack and the other adventurers stopped moving. They turned their head and looked at the adventurer that was embedded in the wall. "How...?" "What happened?!" Souta turned his head and saw a strange one in the middle of the abnormal people. That one was giving off a different aura and vibe compared to the other abnormal people. "It''s the same as that one," Souta muttered as he recalled the one he fought when he was trying to get the Evening Grass. The one that gave him trouble. A strong abnormal person. "We have a strong one here," Souta said to Jack and the rest of the adventurers. They all looked ahead and saw the man with a black veins popping out on its forehead. Just looking at it, they immediately knew that this one was a strong one. The man was panting heavily while looking at them with crazed eyes. "Jack follow me let''s finish this quickly," Souta said before he dashed towards the man. He lifted up his hand and casted [Shadow Bind]. The shadows strangled the other abnormal people so that they could not bother him while they finish the strong one. "Okay." Jack nodded and followed behind Souta. He saw Souta clashed against the strong one. They exchanged dozen of blows within a few seconds. When Souta ducked down, he jumped above Souta and punched the face of the strong man. Bang! The strong man didn''t fly away because the shadows were grabbing his limbs. He couldn''t escape even if he wanted. "Let''s finish this!" "Yeah!" Souta pulled back his hand and Jack too. Then both of them delivered a devastating blow on the stomach of the strong one. "Argh!" The strong man''s body bent backward as he received the first of Souta and Jack. The man fell down on the ground with a loud "thud" sound. "Now, let''s finish the others..." Souta said as he turned his head and looked at the rest of the abnormal people. "You''re right, let''s finish it quickly," Jack said with a smirk. Both of them rushed and best those abnormal people. ... After half an hour, they finish putting all the abnormal people down. They checked the other adventurers and found that they only received some bruised in their bodies. They still have the energy to continue deeper. "We are good!" "Yeah, we still have enough power to knock dozen of those people!" "Good!" The group continued to walk forward. Souta looked around as they walked deeper. Trolleys were everywhere and it was carrying huge boulders of rock. The railway was already covered in rust. It''s hard to determine how long it has been since someone left them here. ''I don''t think there''s precious stone here.'' Souta tried to recall if there were any good items here or any other things as long as it could give him some money. "What''s really this place?" Jack looked curiously around him. He knew what was the railway and it uses. It was common in the eastern part of the continent where the Mechanic country lies. But here in the southern continent, it was pretty rare. "The Mechanic Country is a newly founded country so why does this railway here," Jack muttered while looking at the rusty rails. He''s right. The Mechanic Country was founded twenty years ago after the brutal war of the calamity desert. The country rises too quickly and in just a mere twenty years it could be compared to the three great countries. It was so fast that it bothered the surrounding countries beside it. This will lead to the event that Souta knew. The Rise of the Mechanic Country. In this event, the Mechanic country will become unstoppable and will truly rise to the ranks of the three great countries. But this base has the technology of the Mechanic country. It seems that the ancient civilization was quite advance than he could imagine. Souta glanced at Jack. Even though he played the game for ten years he still knew nothing about the ancient civilization. The chaotic era before this fake peace era of the three great countries. He only knew that the ancient civilization fought the demons and pushed them out of the continents. ... The more they go deeper the wider the place becomes. There were many small paths on each side of the place but Souta knew that place was just like a maze. Soon, they reached the end of the path. The area was wide and it was filled with hundreds of abnormal people. There were fifteen noticeable auras in the group of abnormal people. They have the same aura as the one they fought before. These fifteen were the strongest among these abnormal people. There''s no doubt about it. Behind the abnormal people was a girl wearing a simple pink one piece dress. She was different as she looked at them calmly with those blood red eyes. In her hand was a simple plain looking sword. It was a one-handed sword and the color of its blade was different from a normal sword. The blade has a deep red color and there''s a black orb attached on the handle of the sword. Except for these two characteristics, the sword looked plain. Souta remembered this sword. It was one of the most familiar weapons to him, the [Vajra Sword Saya]. A dark grade weapon. "Hmm... I finally see it after a long time." Souta said with a smirk and he circulated his mana around his body. He turned to Jack and the other adventurers and said, "I''ll leave all of them to you and I''ll fight the mastermind in the back." "What?! Wait-wait... what are you saying?" Jack couldn''t understand what Souta meant in those words. "That girl in the back is the sister of the boy before. Do you remember the boy before right?" Souta said while pointing at the girl with a sword in her hand. "Yeah, I remember that boy." Jack nodded and he looked at the girl in the back. "So that''s his sister. Wait!! How did you know that is her sister?" "Easy, the boy asked me to save her sister so I let him describe her appearance..." Souta shrugged his shoulder before pointing at the girl. "And that girl matches the one that the boy described." Actually, Souta didn''t ask the boy about the appearance of his sister. He just knew it in the game. Because in the game the only enemy here in the underground base was the host of the Vajra Sword Saya and that was the girl. He just made the excuse so that Jack wouldn''t be suspicious of him. "I see..." Jack believed his words. He looked at his opponents the hundreds of abnormal people including those strong ones. He looked back at his comrades and asked, "Can all of you still fight one more time?" "Yeah!" "We don''t have any problem!" "As long as there''s a reward, we would do this!" "We''re all adventurers!" The adventurers replied to him with confidence in their voice. "Okay, then let''s do this!" Jack shouted as he raised his fist in the air. "I''m going first!" Souta smiled at this and he charged forward in the group of abnormal people. He looked at his stats and saw that he have a total of 18 free attribute points. He allocated 5 to his intelligence attribute, another 5 to strength attribute, and divided the 8 points to agility and dexterity attribute. Then, he casted [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] on himself. ''Good this is enough!'' Souta clenched his fist tightly and with a boom, he charged toward the girl leaving a trail of smoke behind. The girl looked at Souta and she slowly raised the sword in her hand. Swoosh! Souta pulled out his sword and collided against the girl. Clang! "Hehehe, it''s been a while, Vajra Sword Saya. The true owner of the sword is here." Souta grinned. 33 Is this the demon that the boy talked about? Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta and the girl fought at the high-speed battle. Both of them were fast and extremely well versed in using swords. In just a few seconds, both of their swords collided hundreds of times. It was unbelievable for a village girl to show a power rivaling Souta. In terms of stats, both of them reached over one hundred. Souta slashed his sword horizontally and the girl quickly parried his attack. Souta frowned and he jumped backward taking a distance away from the girl. It''s been five minutes since their battle started and in these five minutes, he hasn''t even managed to scratch the girl. Both of them were just attacking and defending, no one managed to hit each other. Souta took a deep breath and gripped the handle of his sword tightly. The durability of the sword he was holding fell by three points from that exchange blows. "Stronger than before, huh?" Souta muttered as he fixed his posture. He knew why an ordinary village girl could go toe to toe with him in a battle. The added stats of a dark grade equipment could even make a child beat an adult. Especially the dark grade [Vajra Sword Saya]. The added stats of the sword was even higher than his incomplete universal grade treasure. A universal grade treasure that could only increase his stats by ten points? Is that even a universal grade? There''s a reason why the [Soul Blood Earring] was a universal grade treasure, and it was because of its skill, the [Harvester of the Soul]. The added stats using the soul was permanent. Even if he tossed the earring away, the added stats would still be left to him. It was unlike that [Vajra Sword Saya] that once the girl let go of the sword, her stats would go back to the normal stats she has before equipping the sword. Also, there''s another skill the [Soul Blood Earring] holds. Once he got the other pair of the earring he will be able to use its other skill. "Here I go..." Souta charged at the girl and casted [Shadow Bind]. The shadows moved and were about to restrain her when she emitted a strange aura and disintegrated the shadows. She looked at him in the eyes and slowly raised the Vajra Sword. The blade of the sword emitted a bright crimson light. "A skill...?" Souta opened his eyes widely and he immediately turned his head and shouted, "Cover yourself!" He casted [Shadow Bind] and pulled those abnormal people down on the ground. He doesn''t want anyone to die as it would fail his quest. He then turned his head back to the girl. The crimson light got brighter and Souta pointed his sword at her. He casted [Fire Ball] and [Ice Shot] simultaneously. The girl just slowly slashed the sword in his direction. It was a simple move but the spells he casted disintegrated immediately. Swoosh!! The crimson light got closer to him. It illuminated the whole area in crimson color. "Damn!" Boom! A huge explosion occurred that shook the whole area. It caused some rocks in the ceiling to fall down. Thick smoke and dust swept out and covered the area of the explosion. "Souta!!" Jack and the other adventurers shouted as they covered their eyes with their hands. After a few moments, all of them put down their hands and all they saw was a huge crater with smoke coming out of it. The girl looked at the thick smoke before she waved her sword. The force from the sword blew away the smoke revealing the bloody figure of Souta. Souta smiled wryly at this. He luckily managed to get out of that attack with just a little damage. Still, that little damage took half of his health points. The power of that skill was something that he wouldn''t underestimate even if a village girl was the one firing it. The girl has low base stats so she couldn''t bring out the power of the Vajra sword. If she really could do that then he wouldn''t survive that attack just now. "I guess this will do for now..." Souta looked at his left arm. The skin of his arm was gone and he could see his bare flesh covered in blood. It was disgusting if he was to say it. He only took this amount of the damage because of the preparation he did before. He placed [Mud Slide] in front of the girl so as soon as she stepped forward and slashed her sword her foot sunk through the mud. He then used [Shadow Bind] to pull her down so the trajectory of the slash was slightly off. After that, he used the skill [Stab] on the ground four times before slashing it. He shot the boulder in front of him to block the attack of the girl. Even with all that it still took his left arm. He couldn''t leave because the other people will die if he avoided the attack. "Tsk! Not bad!" Souta threw the handle of the sword on the ground. His sword broke from the collision and he used his left arm to block the attack after the sword broke. "Jack! Give me your sword!" Souta shouted. Jack came back to his senses when he heard Souta''s loud voice. He gripped his sword and threw it towards Souta. Swoosh! Souta caught the sword and quickly used [Dash] to zoom in the distance between him and the girl. He then used [Stab] four times in a row. Swooosh! Swooosh! The girl lifted up her sword and parried his attacks. Clang! Clang! Clang! ... "Graaa!!" The abnormal people growled loudly as the shadows that were binding loosen. They grabbed the shadows and tear them apart. They all looked at Souta with crazed eyes. "Guys! Let''s stop them!" Jack shouted as he charged towards the group of abnormal people. "Don''t interfere in their fight!" "I won''t let you!" The scout and the other shouted as they rushed towards the abnormal people. "I will show you why I become a Rank D Adventurer!" Jack shouted as he released a very powerful mana. He grabbed the head of the abnormal person and smashed it on the other people. Bang! Jack looked up and saw two strong abnormal people going down straight at him. "Good! Come!" Jack pulled back both of his hands and clashed against the strong abnormal people. Boom!! They did everything they could to stop those abnormal people. Even those strong ones were stopped by them. ... While Jack and the others were fighting those abnormal people, Souta was fighting the host of the [Vajra Sword Saya]. Clang! Clang! Clang! "I just need to separate the sword from her." Souta closed the distance and slashed his sword. Clang! Clang! Clang! Metallic sound echoed in the whole area. Sparks flew each time their sword clashed. "Bind her!" Souta jumped and casted [Shadow Bind]. The girl simply cut the shadows in half. Swoosh! Then, her foot once again sunk down in the mud. She raised her sword and she was about to stab it on the ground when Souta once again casted [Shadow Bind]. "You''re quite lucky that it''s only a level 5 spell. If [Shadow Bind] is a level 10 spell then you wouldn''t be able to cut it with your current powers." Souta smirked and used [Stab] quickly so that she would not have a time to cut the shadows. The girl wanted to jump away but her right foot was deep inside the mud. She parried his sword attack but then the shadows bind her arms. Slash! A cut appeared on his right arm. It caused her to loosen her grip on the sword. Souta used this opportunity to smashed the Vajra Sword in her hand. But before he could smash the Vajra Sword, the girl opened her mouth widely and screamed. This was no ordinary scream as there was force behind it. Souta gritted his teeth and raised his injured left hand to block her attack. Blood burst out of his left hand as the veins inside it exploded. He didn''t stop and smashed the Vajra Sword out of the girl''s hand. Clang! The sword flew in the mid-air before it fell down piercing the ground halfway in. At the same time, the girl and the other abnormal people stopped moving. It was because Souta managed to separate the girl from the sword. The [Vajra Sword Saya] was the one who''s influencing the other people through the body of the girl, the host of the sword. So the link between them snapped the moment the sword got separated from the girl. "Ho~" Souta took a long breath as he lowered his hands. The girl fell down and Souta caught her before she reaches the ground. He looked around and saw the other people falling down like a domino. Thud! Thud! "Is it over?" Jack looked around. "Nice, it was hard to fight them without using a skill to kill." "At last..." "Yes!!" The adventurers started discussing among themselves. Their tone was different from before. It has a hint of happiness. At the same time, Souta heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the Rescue quest!] [You''ve received 10,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 2 skill points!] *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the Savior quest!] [You''ve received 15,000 exp and 3 skill points!] Souta checked the rewards that he received and felt quite satisfied with it. He then noticed something. "Hmmm...?" He only completed two quests and he received a total of four quests before. He finished the herb gathering before and now he completed the other two. It means that he still hasn''t fully completed the other quest. He checked the quest and was surprised. [Elimination]: Find and eliminate the cause of this incident. Rewards: 15,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, 2 skill points] "Eliminate the cause...?" Souta quickly turned around and saw the sword was emitting a crimson light. The aura was stronger than before. "Oi oi! This is not in the game!" A silhouette of a woman appeared before the [Vajra Sword Saya]. The figure of the woman was red and it has two horns sticking out on the side of its head. It has no face and doesn''t have genitals but its figure was like a woman. "Is this the demon that boy talked about? But this is clearly not a demon!" 34 Battling the Red Woman A figure of a woman appeared before the Vajra Sword. Her skin was red in color and there were two horns sticking out on the side of her head. She has no genitals and face. She was emitting a powerful energy to the point that people could see it with their own two eyes. It was red in color and looked like blood vessels that were pulsing in the air. "What the hell is this?!" Souta looked at the figure of the woman before the Vajra Sword. If he wasn''t wrong the Vajra Sword doesn''t have a skill like this one. It only has three skills and that was the [Crimson Moon], [Cross Moon], and [Possession]. The [Crimson Moon] was the skill that the girl used before, and [Cross Moon] was a combat arts just like the first skill, while the [Possession] was a skill that will increase the user''s stats. "Jack! Be careful this one is different from before! Be ready to wake up everyone and take them away from this place!" Souta said in a loud voice. His eyes didn''t leave the woman for a single second. He was wary at this unknown woman who appeared out of nowhere. The woman reached out her hand and grabbed the handle of the Vajra Sword. She slowly pulled it out and roared in a loud voice. "Raaaaahhh!!" The roar shook the entire ground as debris of rocks started to fall down. "Should I test her out?" Souta muttered and he looked at his stats. Health: 164/336 Stamina: 81/148 Mana: 120/280 He lost too much health from the attack before and he consumed his stamina because he was fighting none stop since morning. There''s only 120 mana left in his mana pool and for him, this was enough to finish some low-level boss. He could still fight with these stats. Souta lifted up his head and looked at the red woman. He slowly took a step backward and placed the girl in the corner. The girl was the host of the [Vajra Sword Saya]. He then bent his knees and threw himself towards the woman. He gripped the sword tightly in his hand and swung it toward the red woman. Swoosh!! The red woman slightly bent her body backward and avoided his sword by a hair''s breadth. She then waved the Vajra Sword in front of her. Clang! Souta pulled back his sword quickly and used it to block the Vajra Sword. He felt his hand getting numb when his sword and the Vajra Sword collided. Tap! Souta kicked the ground and jumped away gaining a distance. He observed the red woman with his eyes. From that little exchange, he knew that the red woman was a strong opponent. He received 10 free attribute points and 5 skill points from completing the two quests. He didn''t think that he would use these points as soon as he received it. He added 10 free attribute points to his intelligence attribute. Warm energy flow in his body as it made him a little bit stronger than before. His mana increased because of the increased in intelligence attributes. He then quickly checked his skill tree. There were three skills above the [Shadow Bind] spell. They were the [Shadow Spike], [Shadow Blend], and [Shadow Ball]. [Shadow Spike] spell was an attack spell that could pierce the target''s body. He could create a total of five shadow spikes with this spell and every level the spikes increases by five. Just like the other spells he had there''s no cooldown using this spell. [Shadow Blend] was a spell that will let him hide his body in the shadow. The darker the place the more he blend in the shadows. He could hide in the shadows for five minutes and once he attacked or took damage the camouflage will be gone. Every usage drained ten of his mana points. The time limit will be longer as the level increases. [Shadow Ball] was a spell that throws a ball of shadow and he could teleport to the position of the ball of shadow anytime. It cannot be casted repeatedly. Once the [Shadow Ball] was gone only then that he could cast another [Shadow Ball]. As long as the ball was in the field he could not cast it again. Every time it levels up the number of the ball of shadow that he could throw increases. All of these spells consumed ten mana points per usage. Above these three spells were four locked spells. He needed to level up one of these three spells to level 5 before he could unlock those spells above. He used 2 skill points to learn the [Shadow Spike] spell and another 2 skill points to learn the [Shadow Ball] spell. "This will be enough..." Souta nodded and said loudly, "Jack! Wake up the rest and take them out of here!" "But... are you sure you can fight her alone?" Jack asked him unsurely. He was sure that the red woman was strong just from seeing the red energy that was seeping out of her body. He still couldn''t believe what she was seeing only those strong people''s energy could be seen with naked eyes. Their energy was so thick and dense that people could see it in their own eyes. From his experience, only those Rank C and above could do this. "Don''t worry about it, I''m sure I can do this," Souta replied with a grin while looking at the red woman. "I''m going to start... Here I go!" Jack and the other adventurers looked at Souta who was battling the red woman. Jack actually wanted to help Souta fight but from his tone, it seems that Souta wanted to fight the red woman alone. They will have a chance to defeat it if they fought together but if they do that who''s going to protect these people. If he wanted to help Souta then he should wake up these people as quickly as possible. "Let''s wake them up!" Jack shouted at his comrades. The adventurers looked at each other and nodded. They went and started to wake up every people in this area. "Hello! Are you there?" Jack said while shaking the body of an unconscious man. The man slowly opened his eyes and looked at Jack. "Where am I?" He asked in a low voice. Just from the way he speaks, Jack could tell that the man was tired. "Hold it for a while! Help me wake up everyone and leave this place!" Jack knew that these people would become a burden to Souta if they stayed here in this place. It will be hard to fight that red woman if he still had to protect these people. ... Souta raised his injured left hand and opened his palm. He casted [Shadow Ball] towards the red woman. A palm-size black ball flew over and speed up straight to the red woman. The [Shadow Ball] still could damage an opponent tho it was close to nil. Swoosh! The red woman shifted up her body slightly and the black ball passed over her. "Good!" Souta suddenly vanished in his position and appeared in the position of the black ball behind the girl. Swoosh! He quickly swung his sword as soon as he appeared behind the red woman. The red woman noticed his arrival and she managed to react quickly by lifting up the Vajra Sword to block his attack. Clang! Souta then raised his feet and launched a powerful kick at the belly of the red woman. The red woman saw this as she moved her other hand and caught his feet. Bang! Souta then aimed his palm on her head and casted [Shadow Bind] on her. The shadows moved upwards attempting to strangle the red woman. The red woman pushed him away and slashed her sword towards the shadows around her. Souta looked at her as he landed on the ground and casted [Mud Slide]. Casting a spell like this was a very crucial thing as it could save him sometimes and it could also create an opportunity to attack his opponent. [Shadow Ball] Three seconds was what he needed before the black ball disappeared. The black ball needed to disappear first before he could cast this spell once again. "Raaah!!" The red woman screamed before she jumped in the mid-air dodging the black ball. She raised the Vajra Sword above her head and swung it down on him. Swoosh!! The sword only hit the air as Souta disappeared into thin air. The red woman turned around but a sharp object pierced her belly. Putchi! She looked down and saw five black spikes burst out of the ground and pierced her body. "[Shadow Spike]," Souta smirked and dashed towards the red woman. He gripped his sword tightly. "Graa!!" The red woman ignored the spike in her belly as she crossed swords with Souta. Clang! Clang! Clang! In terms of strength, Souta knew that he wasn''t the red woman''s match. Just from exchanging a few blows, he could already feel the numbling sensation in his hand. He jumped backward and the red woman chased after him. Suddenly, she stopped and Souta revealed a wide smile. "Oto... Do you know that I''ve already place [Mud Slide] across the whole place here?" Souta smiled widely as he rushed towards the red woman. "Well, it''s not that you understand what I''m saying." "Grr!!" The red woman swung her sword towards the approaching Souta. Since she couldn''t evade, she would just fight him head-on. Clang! Souta gritted his teeth as blocked her attack. He saw cracks forming on the blade of his sword. He waved his injured left hand. [Shadow Ball]! [Shadow Bind]! [Shadow Spike]! The shadows beneath the red woman burst out. It strangled her limbs and pierced her body. Putchi!! The red woman ignored her wounds as she looked at Souta with crazed eyes. "Good!" Souta pulled his sword and executed [Stab] repeatedly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Holes kept appearing in the body of the red woman. Despite that, there''s no blood that was pouring out of her wounds. There were many strange creatures in this world so Souta thought that everything would be possible with her. After a few moments, Souta stopped as the spells that he casted dissipated into thin air. "Huff... Huff..." He was extremely tired and he drained his mana to zero. In his current condition, he couldn''t even cast a single spell. Jack looked at Souta and saw the situation. Some of the people already leave this place but there were still people left here. It was because they have injuries that they couldn''t stand on their own. Jack sighed as he thought that Souta won the battle. Then he noticed something from the red woman. "Souta!! She''s still alive!!" He shouted as he stood up and rushed towards Souta. Swoosh!! Souta lifted up his head and saw the red woman slowly stood up. Even after all that she still stood up. "Haha, this is bad..." Souta smiled wryly at the red woman. "Graa!!" The red woman charged at him with great speed. She was still fast even though she has an injured body. Bang! Jack appeared in front of Souta and shot a punch at the red woman. He quickly followed it up by kicking. Bang! Bang! "Huff..." Souta took a deep breath and looked at the red woman that was battling Jack. After a few moments, he saw an opportunity and he immediately threw himself on the red woman. [Stab]! His sword pierced the shoulder of the woman. The red woman grabbed the sword and her body shook as Jack delivered a powerful blow on her belly. "Grr!!" She raised the Vajra Sword. She was about to slash it when an arrow pierced her wrist. Putchi! Jack and Souta turned their head. Both of them saw that the other adventurers were going to help them fight. "We already wake them up!" "They said that they will go up on their own!" "Yeah, they said that they will help each other and they don''t need us there as you need us more than them." A grin slowly formed on Souta''s face. "Okay, let''s finish this one." 35 Completing the ques Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta crossed sword with the red woman. Jack and Souta were the ones fighting in the front while the other adventurers provided support to them. Jack and Souta jumped backward and several arrows flew straight to the red woman. Swoosh! Swoosh! The red woman just blocked those arrows using her sword before charged towards Souta and Jack. Jack stepped forward while swinging a double-handed sword in his hands. He borrowed this sword from one of the adventurers so that he could fight in front. The red woman shifted her body as the sword passed beside her. She then slashed her sword towards Jack but Souta blocked it. Clang! Jack let go of the double-handed sword that was embedded in the ground and launched a punch at the red woman. He followed it up by kicking her away so that he could pull out his sword. Bang! Bang! The red woman retreated five minutes away and Souta chased after her. Souta was actually worried about the skills of the [Vajra Sword Saya]. Just one skill and he would be done for. But he guessed that she couldn''t use it in her current condition. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta launched a fierce sword attack on the red woman. He kept swinging his sword in all directions but the red woman still managed to block all those attacks. Clang! Souta was pushed back as the red woman parried his attack. The red woman then swung her sword horizontally. Swoosh! "Oto..." Souta ducked down and the Vajra Sword flew above him. Then, another arrow flew over and hit the chest of the woman. The timing was really good. As soon as he ducked down the archer shot an arrow precisely. The red woman was about to pull out the arrow in her chest when Souta kicked her knees causing her to stumble forward. It was at that time that Jack appeared and tackled the red woman. Bang! The red woman flew five meters away before she rolled on the ground. "Good follow up." Souta nodded at Jack and he gripped his sword tightly. He jumped in the mid-air attempting to stab the red woman in the ground. The red woman opened her mouth widely and an earring piercing sound came out of her mouth. "Raaaaaahhh!!" The scream was a sound attack that could damage him. Souta raised his left hand and the sound waved hit him. Bang! Blood burst out of his wounds and Souta just gritted his teeth. He was pushed back by the sound attack. He clenched his fingers around the handle of the sword and threw it toward the red woman. Swooosh!! The red woman rolled sideways avoiding the sword. She quickly stood up and raised the Vajra Sword in front of her. Souta landed on the ground as several arrows once again flew towards the red woman. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! The red woman looked at the arrows and she quickly moved the sword in her hands. She blocked all the arrows without letting a single one hit her. Souta picked up his sword and looked at the red woman with a frown. It was really hard to fight without using a magic spell. He only has [Dash] and [Stab] that he could use in this fight. The other spells were crossed out in his mind as he doesn''t have any mana left in his body. It seems that he needs to work out some of the combat arts that don''t use mana. He already planned to get it in the institute but he didn''t expect that he would fight an opponent like this when getting the [Vajra Sword Saya]. This quest greatly exceeding his expectation and the difficulty was higher. If he went to get it before becoming a Rank 1 Mage then he wouldn''t be able to finish this quest. It seems that he needed to prepare himself when getting his other equipments. The difficulty of getting those universal treasure was higher than this one. Also, he would postpone his plan to get the other pair of the [Soul Blood Earring]. Souta shook his head and focused his attention on the red woman. The red woman was walking while staggering. She clearly doesn''t have any strength left in her. It will not be long before she collapses on the ground. "She''s tired..." Souta turned his head and saw Jack walked beside him. He nodded his head in response to Jack''s words. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Another load of arrows fire through the air and went straight to the red woman. "Graa!!" The red woman roared loudly and quickly cut those arrows but unlike before some of the arrows managed to get passed her defense and hit her limbs. "Let''s go Souta, let''s finish it!" Jack said to Souta before he started running towards the red woman with a double-handed sword in her hands. Souta smiled while looking at Jack''s figure. He then also dashed towards the red woman. Clang! Clang! Clang! Jack swung his sword horizontally but the red woman stepped back avoiding the sword. She then quickly zoom in the distance between them and slashed Jack. A large cut appeared in the left part of Jack''s chest and blood spurted out of it. He ignored his wounds and let the sword in his hands fell on the ground. Clang! He gritted his teeth and grabbed the wrist of the woman. He opened his mouth and shouted, "Now, Souta finish her!!" The red woman was about to turn her head to look back when a sword pierced her chest. Putchi!! "Good, now you can die!!" Souta grinned and he swung his sword down cutting the red woman in half. The red woman looked at him even though she doesn''t have any eyes Souta knew that she was looking at him. Putchi! "Graaa!!" The red woman roared loudly as her body slowly dissipated into thin air leaving only the sword with a crimson blade. Souta, Jack, and the rest of the adventurers sighed in relief when they saw the red woman faded away. At the same time, Souta heard a prompt inside his head. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the Elimination quest!] [You''ve received 15,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 2 skill points!] Although the fight was hard the reward was great. It gave him another 2 skill points and with this, he could learn the [Shadow Blend] spell in his skill tree. But he wouldn''t do so. He already achieved the first requirements to become a Rank 2 Mage. Learning 3 skills of his specialty "Darkness" was the first requirement. The other one was leveling up one of the three spells to level 10 and once he completed that he would become a Rank 2 Mage. His [Shadow Bind] spell was already level 5 and he just needed to level it up to ten. Souta looked around and saw Jack sat down on the ground while grabbing the cut on his chest. In that last attack, Jack didn''t dodge the attack of the red woman even though he could do so. He chooses to receive it so that he could grab the red woman. Souta then noticed that he didn''t receive any prompt or exp from killing that red woman. He checked his system once again and confirmed his thought. He really didn''t receive anything from killing the red woman. If that''s really the case then she was still alive. Souta turned his head and looked at the [Vajra Sword Saya]. It looks like that red woman was the incarnation of the will of the Vajra Sword. The will of Vajra Sword was connected to the skill [Possession] of the sword. Back in the game, when he used the [Possession] skill the will of the sword was taking his body but that''s really not the case as he was still the one controlling his body. It was only written in the description that the Vajra Sword would possessed him. His stats would only increase in the game when using the skill but he doesn''t know what will happen right now that everything became real. He should avoid using the [Possession] skill of the sword for the time being. It will become troublesome if the Vajra Sword really possessed him. Souta walked forward and grabbed the handle of the Vajra Sword. "At last, my dark grade equipment..." Souta muttered as he traced the crimson blade of the sword. It was really a beautiful blade. He hung the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his waist before he turned to look at Jack. "We should go up now!" He said to Jack and Jack nodded in response. "We will go first to see if there are people here in this place." The scout said to the two. "Okay!" The scout turned around and said, "Let''s go, guys!" They went upstairs to see if there were other people here in this place. Souta walked at the girl and carry her on his back. She was still unconscious and it will take one or two days before she wakes up. She was the host of the Vajra Sword so she took more mental damage than the rest of the people. She was also the first one to become an abnormal person. "Let''s go up!" 36 Vajra Sword Saya Souta met with Yuko on the surface. This time she couldn''t help him in this quest as she couldn''t even enter the underground base. If she could join the fight she would be a great help to him as she was stronger than Jack in terms of strength but her skills were lower than him. Even with that, just her strength would be great in knocking down those abnormal people as she could knock those people with a single strike. Souta looked around and saw hundreds of people laying down on the ground. The villagers who did not become abnormal people were helping them. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the boy from before. He approached him and called him. "Hey, boy!" The boy turned around and saw Souta. Then, his eyes widened as he saw the person on his back. That person was his sister. "S-sister...!" The boy was shocked. After the people in the village came here he also went here to find his sister. He wandered around and couldn''t find her sister among those people. He thought that he would not meet his sister anymore. "Oi oi! Don''t cry in front of me. Tell me where are your house and I''ll help you?" Souta said to the boy when he saw his watery eyes. The boy wiped his eyes and nodded at Souta. "Good." Souta turned his head and saw the village chief was talking to Jack and the rest of the adventurers. "You already know that there are abnormal people down there, right?" "Yeah, but I didn''t think that the mastermind would there." "At least you should have told us everything you know before we get down there." Souta will leave the talking to Jack. He would leave this place for now as he doesn''t want someone to bother him. He looked in the sky and squinted his eyes. It was afternoon as the sun was up at the peak and it''s quite got right now. He stepped forward and said, "Yuko, let''s go!" ... The boy guided Souta in their house. The house was small and made of woods. Just from seeing this, he could guess that they were not doing well. Souta entered the house with the boy while Yuko waited outside. He placed the girl on his back on the wooden bed. "Don''t worry she''s fine, she will wake up after one or two days." Souta said as he sat down in the vacant chair and sighed. The battle before was really great that it drained his mana and stamina. Also, he injured his left arm. It would take a week before he could use it in a battle. "Thank you, brother!" He heard the voice of the boy. He lifted up his head to look at him. "Don''t worry about it, well do you have any bandage here?" Souta asked the boy. "Yes, we have some here!" The boy immediately went to the drawer and took out bandages. He handed it to Souta. "Thanks..." Souta received the bandages from the boy. He stood up and asked, "Where''s your bathroom?" The boy pointed at the bathroom. Even though Souta was acting like this he still did what Souta said. After all, he was their savior and without him, he wouldn''t be able to meet his sister. Souta washed his left arm and dried it before he wrapped the bandages around his left arm. Washing his wounds gave him unbearable pain and he could only grit his teeth. After that, he went outside of the house and sat beside Yuko. She licked his cheek and Souta let her be. He doesn''t have the strength to stop what she''s doing as all he wanted right now was to rest. He looked at the blue sky and said, "Do you know Yuko that I''m a powerful person in this world before? At that time, people called me the top ranker." Yuko just looked at him with a confused expression. "Actually, I''m quite scared when I first arrived here, no, even now I''m still scared about everything. I just hid it deeply in my heart and treat all this as a game to lessen it." Souta paused for a moment before he continued, "I don''t know what am I or why am I here. Even though I could clearly remember the ''me'' in the game I couldn''t remember the ''me'' on earth. I only remember my name and some basic things in the past." "Muu." Yuko tilted her head as she couldn''t understand what he was saying. Souta found it weird that he couldn''t clearly remember his past. It seemed that something important happened on the earth before he came here. Although he couldn''t remember he still felt that it was very important to him. "Let''s stop thinking about gloomy things!" Souta shook his head. He then grabbed the handle of the sword on his waist and pulled it out. Shiing!! This sword was the dark grade weapon, [Vajra Sword Saya]. It was a very powerful weapon among all the dark grade equipment. The blade of the sword was really beautiful with its crimson color. He registered it as "equip" in the system so that he could saw its details. Souta felt a huge increase in his stats by requiring the [Vajra Sword Saya]. It was especially great in his dexterity and agility stats. The increase was enormous to the point that he was a hundred percent faster than before, no, more like two hundred percent faster. [Vajra Sword Saya](Dark): A powerful sword from ancient times. It''s said that it was the sacred sword of the Vajra Race. But no one really knows its origin. Effect: +200 Agility and Dexterity attributes, +50 Intelligence and Strength attributes, +50% physical damage, +80% energy resistance Skill 1: [Crimson Moon]: It created a moon-like slash that could heavily damage the target. Plus 100% physical damage. Skill 2: [Cross Moon]: It could create a cross slashed in the mid-air and the user could control it in any direction. It deals true damage and corrupts the target energy pool. Cost: 50 mana Skill 3: [Possession]: The will of the sword will possess the host and it will greatly increase all the attributes. Effect: +50% to all stats when activated. As expected of one of the most powerful dark grade equipment. With these stats, it could make the user became stronger multiple times. Just like what happened to that girl. She''s just an ordinary village girl but when she used the sword it made her strong enough to go fight him toe to toe. Luckily, her movement was that of an amateur and it''s very predictable. She was just so fast and could react instantly to his every attack. She wouldn''t be able to injure his left arm if not for him protecting the other people. Even with the skills of the sword wasn''t enough to defeat him as long as Souta could predict its trajectory. The strange red woman too. Her strength was strong but it''s not to the point that it was overwhelming. He felt that the added attributes of the sword didn''t work on her. If that''s really the case then she would become stronger than the rest of them and will not have any chance to defeat her. He wouldn''t want to use the skill [Possession] because he doesn''t know whether it was the same in the game that it will only increase his stats or like the abnormal people here that the will of the sword controlled them. This was the only sword he could use right now as the yellow grade sword that he used before only have one durability points. Durability point. After red grade equipment, the dark and universal grade equipments doesn''t have any durability points. A person could only break this grade of equipment by fulfilling certain requirements. Back in the game, there was a certain guild that used all their resources to fulfill all the requirements needed to break the equipment of the guild master of their rival guild. Fulfilling the conditions was really hard as sometimes it can only be found on other continents. "It''s all worth it." Souta smiled and he hung the sword on his waist. He then stood up and patted his clothes. Suddenly, the door behind him opened and the boy came out. He looked at Souta before he bowed his head. "Thank you, for saving my sister. Although I couldn''t repay you now, but someday surely I will repay everything for what you did to us." The boy thanked him from the bottom of his heart. "Don''t worry about it." Souta smiled and waved his hand before he turned around. "Let''s go, Yuko." Yuko looked at the boy before she followed behind him. "Someday, huh?" Souta muttered and he looked in the sky. He doesn''t know if the boy could really do it or not. Well, it doesn''t matter to him as he didn''t do it for him or his sister. He only did it for the quest and the [Vajra Sword Saya]. Souta and Yuko went to the inn that he checked in yesterday. He hadn''t slept in this inn last night because of the appearance of the abnormal people. Now, he could finally relax his tense muscle. 37 Going back to Ladro City Souta woke up early in the morning. He groaned as he felt the pain on his left arm. He carefully stood up and went to wash his face. He didn''t forget to clean the wounds on his left arm before he left the room. He went downstairs and ordered a meal for his breakfast. He noticed that the waitress was acting weird as she kept looking at him. She didn''t even ask him to pay his bill. He guessed that the village chief told them that he was one of the saviors of the village. That''s why she''s acting like that. Well, he''s going to leave this village later so it doesn''t matter to him if they knew it or not. It''s not that he''s not used to it. Back in the game when he became the Commander of the Mechanic Country, a lot of people respect him and kneel to him. Even the nobles of those weak countries bowed down their head in front of him. After he finished his breakfast, he exited the inn and went to Yuko. He fed her some foods before they went to the plaza. He saw the carriage of the dwarf was still here and the adventurers we''re also here. They were preparing their things before they go to the next village. He looked around and didn''t saw any carriage except the carriage of the dwarf. It seems that there''s no other merchant that arrived here except for the dwarf. He actually wanted to take an escort quest going to the Ladro City. That way he will receive some exp even it''s too low. He walked forward and talked to the adventurers. Since they were going to leave, he talked to them. It''s not bad to get to know other adventurers as it will also benefit from it. From their conversation, he got to know that they drunk last night. They wanted to invite him but they found that he''s already resting. The dwarf then came out and talked to him. He thanked him for helping the adventurers in protecting the village last night from the abnormal. He let Souta picked one of his merchandise. Souta accepting it and picked a yellow grade sword. "It''s okay, I hope you accepted my quest sometimes." The dwarf said to him with a smile. "Yeah, I will do that." Souta nodded at the dwarf. "From your strength, it''s not that long before you become a Rank D adventurer." The dwarf said as he closed the door and locked it. Inside this door was his products that he was selling. "Rank D... Well, I''ll prepare myself for the promotion quest." Souta said as he rubbed his chin. It''s easy for him to complete the Rank D promotion quest with his current strength. Especially now that he has the [Vajra Sword Saya] in his arsenal. Thinking about the Vajra Sword, Souta couldn''t help but caressed the sword that was hanging on his waist. "Where''s Jack?" Souta looked around and asked. He hadn''t seen Jack this time. "He''s still sleeping inside the carriage. He got drunk last night and he kept asking if you''re going to join the party." The dwarf said as he rubbed his beard. "I will go now, just thank him for me," Souta said and he waved his hand. "Okay, I will tell him that." The dwarf nodded. ... Souta and Yuko went around the village. They bought everything they needed because they were just going to walk their way to Ladro City. There''s no other merchant here so he couldn''t do some escort quest. Also, there''s no public transportation here in this place. This place wasn''t advanced enough to have that kind of transportation. All the villagers that he met were looking at him with respect. They all treat him too well and some of the shops even let him took a thing that he wanted for free. He, saving the village spread out really fast and in just one day almost everyone in the village knew that he was one of the saviors. "It''s pretty convenient, right Yuko?" Souta smiled as he got free things from the shops. They even gave Yuko some foods and fruits that she likes. It made her happy when she received it. After that, they went back to the inn and packed his luggage. He organized his things in his room before he checked out. He found that the village chief was waiting for him outside the inn. "Oh? What''s up?" Souta said as he was quite surprised that the village chief was waiting for him outside. "I just want to thank you for saving this village." The village chief said in a polite tone. "Ah! About that? Don''t worry about it, I already got what I want." Souta said as he waved his hand. He already got the [Vajra Sword Saya] and that''s enough for him. That was the only reason why he came here in this village. If not for that, he wouldn''t even bother himself coming here when the class would start this week. Also, he received a lot of skill points this time and that let him learn the two spells from his skill tree. The benefits of this quest were higher than when it was a game. That alone was enough for him. "Wait!!" The village chief stopped Souta from leaving. Souta turned his head and asked, "What do you want?" "I hope you accept this little money from saving our village!" The village chief took out a small pouch and handed it to Souta. "Hmm..." Souta recalled that the village chief said that he would do anything as long as they save the village. He''s not going into details about that but he will gladly accept the many they gave him. "Okay." Souta reached out his hand and opened the pouch. He saw that it was full of gold and silver coins. He was satisfied with it as this was enough for the tuition fee in the Ladros Institute. "Thanks for this!" Souta thanked the village chief and placed the pouch inside his pocket. He then turned around and called Yuko. "You can visit this village anytime you want and we will treat you with hospitality." The village chief bowed his head towards Souta. Souta walked away and he raised his left hand. "Okay, I''ll remember that. If you really want that then build a house for the monster so that Yuko can sleep comfortably." "Thank you! May God bless our race!" The village chief once again bowed down his head. "Thanks!" Souta walked away with Yuko. ''Our race, huh?'' Souta thought as he looked on the horizon. If the village chief only knew that he''s not from the same race and knew that he was a monster then his attitude towards him would also change. He knew that it''s only a matter of time before they knew that he was a monster. The unique energy of the monster, the beast energy, or what they called best feram. At level 40 he would gain that energy and everyone would know that he''s a monster. It''s the inevitable truth that he already knew a long time ago. That''s why he''s going to take all the quests in the institute first. No, he''s going to learn without using the system. He will try if he could learn a skill without using the skill points. He''s going to use his time in the institute to learn all the things that he needed to know. The village chief straightened his back and looked at the figure of Souta. His eyes filled with respect and admiration. "Good luck! I hope you help a lot of people on your journey!" He muttered in a low voice. ... In the carriage, Jack woke up when Souta left. He stood up and felt dizzy. "Ah! Damn!" He cursed as he exited the carriage and saw that everyone was preparing to leave. "Where''s Souta?" He asked one of the adventurers. "Him? He already left a while ago." The adventurer answered his question. "Damn! That guy! Leaving without saying anything!" Jack cursed. "Actually, he bid farewell to us saying that he will go back to the city." The adventurer said while scratching the back of his head. "Ahhh!! Then, why didn''t you wake me up?" Jack opened his eyes widely at the adventurer''s words. "Well, you''re sleeping here with a satisfied expression so we thought that we shouldn''t bother you." The adventurer smiled wryly. "Damn!! Why would you do that?!" ... It took Souta and Yuko two days before they arrived in Ladro City. The city was the same as before. Well, it''s only been four days so it''s unlike that something will change the city. They went straight to the inn and left there his baggage before they go to the adventurers guild. He still has three days before the class start so he''s going to use this time to complete some quests. Just like that, three days have passed quickly. It was his first day at the Ladros Institute as a student. 37 Going back to Ladros City Souta woke up early in the morning. He groaned as he felt the pain on his left arm. He carefully stood up and went to wash his face. He didn''t forget to clean the wounds on his left arm before he left the room. He went downstairs and ordered a meal for his breakfast. He noticed that the waitress was acting weird as she kept looking at him. She didn''t even ask him to pay his bill. He guessed that the village chief told them that he was one of the saviors of the village. That''s why she''s acting like that. Well, he''s going to leave this village later so it doesn''t matter to him if they knew it or not. It''s not that he''s not used to it. Back in the game when he became the Commander of the Mechanic Country, a lot of people respect him and kneel to him. Even the nobles of those weak countries bowed down their head in front of him. After he finished his breakfast, he exited the inn and went to Yuko. He fed her some foods before they went to the plaza. He saw the carriage of the dwarf was still here and the adventurers we''re also here. They were preparing their things before they go to the next village. He looked around and didn''t saw any carriage except the carriage of the dwarf. It seems that there''s no other merchant that arrived here except for the dwarf. He actually wanted to take an escort quest going to the Ladros City. That way he will receive some exp even it''s too low. He walked forward and talked to the adventurers. Since they were going to leave, he talked to them. It''s not bad to get to know other adventurers as it will also benefit from it. From their conversation, he got to know that they drunk last night. They wanted to invite him but they found that he''s already resting. The dwarf then came out and talked to him. He thanked him for helping the adventurers in protecting the village last night from the abnormal. He let Souta picked one of his merchandise. Souta accepting it and picked a yellow grade sword. "It''s okay, I hope you accepted my quest sometimes." The dwarf said to him with a smile. "Yeah, I will do that." Souta nodded at the dwarf. "From your strength, it''s not that long before you become a Rank D adventurer." The dwarf said as he closed the door and locked it. Inside this door was his products that he was selling. "Rank D... Well, I''ll prepare myself for the promotion quest." Souta said as he rubbed his chin. It''s easy for him to complete the Rank D promotion quest with his current strength. Especially now that he has the [Vajra Sword Saya] in his arsenal. Thinking about the Vajra Sword, Souta couldn''t help but caressed the sword that was hanging on his waist. "Where''s Jack?" Souta looked around and asked. He hadn''t seen Jack this time. "He''s still sleeping inside the carriage. He got drunk last night and he kept asking if you''re going to join the party." The dwarf said as he rubbed his beard. "I will go now, just thank him for me," Souta said and he waved his hand. "Okay, I will tell him that." The dwarf nodded. ... Souta and Yuko went around the village. They bought everything they needed because they were just going to walk their way to Ladros City. There''s no other merchant here so he couldn''t do some escort quest. Also, there''s no public transportation here in this place. This place wasn''t advanced enough to have that kind of transportation. All the villagers that he met were looking at him with respect. They all treat him too well and some of the shops even let him took a thing that he wanted for free. He, saving the village spread out really fast and in just one day almost everyone in the village knew that he was one of the saviors. "It''s pretty convenient, right Yuko?" Souta smiled as he got free things from the shops. They even gave Yuko some foods and fruits that she likes. It made her happy when she received it. After that, they went back to the inn and packed his luggage. He organized his things in his room before he checked out. He found that the village chief was waiting for him outside the inn. "Oh? What''s up?" Souta said as he was quite surprised that the village chief was waiting for him outside. "I just want to thank you for saving this village." The village chief said in a polite tone. "Ah! About that? Don''t worry about it, I already got what I want." Souta said as he waved his hand. He already got the [Vajra Sword Saya] and that''s enough for him. That was the only reason why he came here in this village. If not for that, he wouldn''t even bother himself coming here when the class would start this week. Also, he received a lot of skill points this time and that let him learn the two spells from his skill tree. The benefits of this quest were higher than when it was a game. That alone was enough for him. "Wait!!" The village chief stopped Souta from leaving. Souta turned his head and asked, "What do you want?" "I hope you accept this little money from saving our village!" The village chief took out a small pouch and handed it to Souta. "Hmm..." Souta recalled that the village chief said that he would do anything as long as they save the village. He''s not going into details about that but he will gladly accept the many they gave him. "Okay." Souta reached out his hand and opened the pouch. He saw that it was full of gold and silver coins. He was satisfied with it as this was enough for the tuition fee in the Ladro Institute. "Thanks for this!" Souta thanked the village chief and placed the pouch inside his pocket. He then turned around and called Yuko. "You can visit this village anytime you want and we will treat you with hospitality." The village chief bowed his head towards Souta. Souta walked away and he raised his left hand. "Okay, I''ll remember that. If you really want that then build a house for the monster so that Yuko can sleep comfortably." "Thank you! May God bless our race!" The village chief once again bowed down his head. "Thanks!" Souta walked away with Yuko. ''Our race, huh?'' Souta thought as he looked on the horizon. If the village chief only knew that he''s not from the same race and knew that he was a monster then his attitude towards him would also change. He knew that it''s only a matter of time before they knew that he was a monster. The unique energy of the monster, the beast energy, or what they called best feram. At level 40 he would gain that energy and everyone would know that he''s a monster. It''s the inevitable truth that he already knew a long time ago. That''s why he''s going to take all the quests in the institute first. No, he''s going to learn without using the system. He will try if he could learn a skill without using the skill points. He''s going to use his time in the institute to learn all the things that he needed to know. The village chief straightened his back and looked at the figure of Souta. His eyes filled with respect and admiration. "Good luck! I hope you help a lot of people on your journey!" He muttered in a low voice. ... In the carriage, Jack woke up when Souta left. He stood up and felt dizzy. "Ah! Damn!" He cursed as he exited the carriage and saw that everyone was preparing to leave. "Where''s Souta?" He asked one of the adventurers. "Him? He already left a while ago." The adventurer answered his question. "Damn! That guy! Leaving without saying anything!" Jack cursed. "Actually, he bid farewell to us saying that he will go back to the city." The adventurer said while scratching the back of his head. "Ahhh!! Then, why didn''t you wake me up?" Jack opened his eyes widely at the adventurer''s words. "Well, you''re sleeping here with a satisfied expression so we thought that we shouldn''t bother you." The adventurer smiled wryly. "Damn!! Why would you do that?!" ... It took Souta and Yuko two days before they arrived in Ladros City. The city was the same as before. Well, it''s only been four days so it''s unlike that something will change the city. They went straight to the inn and left there his baggage before they go to the adventurers guild. He still has three days before the class start so he''s going to use this time to complete some quests. Just like that, three days have passed quickly. It was his first day at the Ladro Institute as a student. 38 Start of Class 1 Souta woke up early in the morning. He sat on the bed and looked outside the window. As expected a lot of people were already awake at this time. They already start another day of their life even before the sun rises. "What a good morning..." Souta stood up and stretched his body. This was the start of his class at Ladro Institute so he couldn''t afford to be late on his first day. He doesn''t want to leave a bad impression on his first day. After that, he went to wash his face in the bathroom. He also didn''t forget to change to bandages on his left arm. The wounds were already closed and Souta guess that it would take two days before it completely healed. He then wore a normal white shirt and black pants. He knew that he will get the uniform of the Ladro Institute so he couldn''t wear the normal leather armor that he always wore. The uniform of the Ladro Institute was a yellow grade equipment and it has the same grade as his armor. Even though they were of the same grade the attributes he added from the uniform was higher than his leather armor that was made of High Kobold''s hide. He looked around and found the Vajra Sword in the corner of the room. He picked it up and hung it on his waist. There''s no weapon ban in the Ladro Institute and every student could bring their own weapon in the Institute. The Institute didn''t forbid it as the Institute didn''t only teach knowledge but also skills on how to fight and defend themselves. Right now, he only used bandages to wrapped the crimson blade of the sword as it doesn''t have any scabbard. He planned to go to a weapon smith and asked a custom made a scabbard for the [Vajra Sword Saya]. After he checked his things thoroughly, he went downstairs to have his breakfast. "The same as always!" Souta said as he sat down in a vacant chair. He waited for a while before the waitress came out with his order. The waitress placed down his order on the top of his table. While placing down his order, she opened her mouth and asked him a question. "You''ve been out for four whole days, where have you been?" Souta shrugged his shoulder and replied, "Well, some escort quest to the village around the city." "Escort quest, huh? It''s really hard to become an adventurer." The waitress said. "At first it''s hard but once you get used to it you will find it enjoyable as you will see many things that you wouldn''t see in a city like this," Souta said as he picked up the fork and spoon. "Thanks for the food!" He said before he dug down the food that he ordered. "Enjoy your meal." The waitress said before she left. ... Souta exited the inn and went to the ranch. He found Yuko there and fed her breakfast. "Yuko, I''ll be going to institute so be a good girl and stay here for a while." Souta looked at Yuko who was munching her food. He reached out his hand and patted her head causing her to whimper comfortably. He smiled before he stood up. He turned around and departed. The city was already filled with different kinds of people early in the morning. They have different traits and skin color. Actually, only this part of the city was filled with people as this was close to the market and adventurers guild. It''s not like this in the residential area of the city where the folks live. The Ladros City was divided into five districts and each district has its own huge market and residential area. The population of the city surpassed fifty thousand excluding the adventurers who didn''t have permanent living quarters. Actually, Ladros City was one of the smallest city in the whole kingdom and have the lowest population. After all, this city was just a border city. The Hebrei Kingdom was a large kingdom and it was founded three hundred years ago. It was drawn in the continental map and only huge countries or kingdoms have the right to be drawn there. They were not like small countries or kingdom that can be easily destroyed by some large monster tide or terrorist group. The Hebrei kingdom has a total of one hundred twenty cities around its territory and border cities were the smallest cities in the whole kingdom, having a population of fifty thousand and only ten thousand of them were military force. The other cities have a population surpassing one hundred thousand comparing to border city it''s twice as huge as the border city. There''s a reason why Ladros City was famous throughout the whole kingdom. It was because of the Ladro Institute. Ladro Institute was one of the greatest institutes in the whole southern part of the kingdom. It produces many powerful people such as the Captain of the Royal Guards. The only reason why Souta knew the ins and outs of the Ladro City was because he did some quests here in the game. If he wasn''t wrong it was about the time when the demon invades the continent. ... Souta entered the weapon shop. He looked around and saw many colorless grade equipment and some of them were yellow grades. He approached the salesman and said, "I want to order a custom made scabbard for my sword." "A scabbard, sir?" The salesman was a man with purple color skin. He has a furry purple tail sticking out of his back and his ears were pointed just like an elf. He must be a half-moon elf and half-beast folk. It''s not pretty rare to see a hybrid in huge kingdoms. "Yes, a scabbard for this one." Souta nodded as he raised the [Vajra Sword Saya]. "Please wait a moment, sir." The salesman said before he went inside a room. After a while, he came back with a dwarf. The dwarf looked at the sword in Souta''s hand and said, "What a good sword." "Yeah." Souta nodded. If the dwarf knew that it was a dark grade weapon he would believe his eyes. It was pretty rare to see a dark grade weapon even in a huge kingdom such as this one. "Can you entrust your sword on me for a while? I will measure its size so that I can make a perfect scabbard for your sword." The dwarf said to him. Souta nodded and handed his sword to the dwarf. He''s actually reluctant to hand the Vajra Sword as he knew that there''s a chance that the dwarf would be possessed just like those abnormal people in the Bullmar village. But when he thought that he already defeated the red woman he gave up his thoughts. He just needed to raise his guard in case the same thing happened. He was sure that he would be able to handle it easily. He would be able to separate the sword from the dwarf in this distance without having much problem. "You can do it here," Souta said with a serious expression. "Hey, I''m not going to run away with your sword." The dwarf felt that Souta didn''t trust him. "I''m not worried about that, I''m worried about different things." Souta shook his head. "And what is it?" The dwarf asked. "Nothing," Souta replied and didn''t say anything more than this. The dwarf also didn''t say anything. He just went to get his measuring equipments and proceeded to do his thing. After a few minutes, the dwarf finished measuring the size of the scabbard. He gave back the sword to Souta and he talked to Souta about the quality of the scabbard. The highest grade of equipment that the dwarf could make was blue grade. A blue grade equipment was enough for now. They proceeded to talk about the prize of the scabbard. Souta accepted the prize for twenty gold coins. "Okay, it will take three days to make that scabbard so you can come back after that." The dwarf said and he waved his hand. "Okay." Souta nodded and exited the shop. He then heads straight to the direction of the Ladros Institute. It took him half an hour of walking before he arrived at the gate of the institute. He looked up at the huge gate before he directly entered the institute. He went to the building where he would receive his uniform. ... Knock! Knock! Souta knocked on the door. "Come in!" A voice sounded inside the room. Souta grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. He saw that there were other students lining up to get their uniforms. "Oi! Souta!" Souta turned his head when he heard someone called his name. He found that Bryan, the one he met in the entrance exam, was in the line with the other new students of Mage course. "You all came here pretty early, huh?" Souta said as he walked towards the group. Bryan noticed that Souta''s left arm was covered in bandages. "Oi! What happened to you this week that you receive that kind of injury." "It''s actually nothing, it''s just that something unexpected happened in the quest that I was completing." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "Ah! You''re an adventurer too!" Bryan raised his voice when he heard Souta''s words. "You too?" Souta looked at Bryan. "Yeah, I''m also an adventurer even though it''s Rank E," Bryan said as he took out his Adventurer''s ID. "Well, I''m also an E Rank," Souta said. "Okay, I''ve decided let''s do some quest together," Bryan said as he raised his right arm in the air. "Suit yourself." Souta shrugged and he looked around. Alice was also here. She was pretty noticeable because of her beautiful appearance but not everyone could approach her as she''s giving everyone a cold look. Only this guy, Bryan, have the guts to talk to her. Even though they only met two times Souta could guess that Bryan was a simple and straightforward person. He talked to Bryan and the other while waiting for their uniform. 39 Start of Class 2 After waiting for a few minutes, it''s time for Souta and the rest to receive their uniform. A faculty member assisted them and they received their uniform without any problem. Souta, Bryan, Alice, and the rest of the mage course students received their uniforms and quickly change into it. Souta changed into a white long sleeve and on top of it was a dark blue coat with linings partnered with a blue checkered tie. On his lower body was dark blue pants with black shoes. He was also wearing a dark blue small robe with a wand symbol on the left part of its chest signifying that he was a mage student. All of these were yellow grade equipment. Souta smiled and thought that this looks good on him. He exited the changing room and found that Alice already changed into her uniform. The girls'' uniform was the same as the boys except for the mini skirt. "Already, finish I thought that girls take more time in changing clothes than boys." Souta started a conversation with her. "Don''t put me together with other girls as I''m different from them." Alice glanced at him and said in a cold tone. "Well, suit yourself if you really think that way." Souta shrugged his shoulder and leaned his back on the wall. He saw that Alice started to walk away. He opened his mouth and asked, "Hey, where are you going?" "To the class." Alice gave him a simple reply. "We should go together with the rest," Souta said. He felt that this girl wasn''t a talkative type. It felt that she''s not comfortable talking with other people. Talking with other people? He''s a master in that and if he was to say it all players were master. Always taking to NPC and asking them if they need help just to get a quest. That''s what all players in Battle World Online did. One would be lucky if the one they ask was an NPC with a deep background. That way they would get a high difficulty quest with rich rewards. Ten thousand players were enough to take all the quest in a single city as big as this one. The players would wander around the city asking every people they met if they could help. Now that Souta thought about it, he felt that their attitude was extremely weird from the perspective of NPC. Helping others without even asking for a reward and completed those quests at the risk of their lives. It''s not that the players wouldn''t receive a reward. It was the system that rewarded them just like what happened in the Bullmar village. The village chief thought that he was only doing this to help them not for any rewards but he doesn''t know that Souta would receive an exp, skill points, and free attribute points for completing such quest. He couldn''t help but grin when thinking about this stuff. Alice frowned when she saw Souta grinned. ''He must be thinking about some weird things.'' She thought. Then, the door opened and Bryan and the rest of the mage student came out of the room. They saw that Alice and Souta were waiting for them outside the room. "Sorry for the wait." Bryan smiled wryly when he saw the two waiting for them. "Don''t worry about it," Souta smirked. "Hmph!" Alice snorted as she turned her head. "Yosh! Let''s go to the class!" Bryan said with a hint of excitement in his voice. He was eager to learn something new in this institute. He then took out a paper in his pocket. This was the map of the Ladros Institute that he drew. "Okay, I''ve found it just follow me guys!" Bryan said in a loud voice. He began to lead everyone to the direction of the class. "What a simple man..." Souta said with a laugh. He then followed Bryan while putting both of his hands inside his pocket. "Hmph! What an idiot!!" Although Alice said those words, she still followed behind them. Souta just laughed at her words. They left their clothes before in their locker room. Every student here has their own locker and inside it was the things that the school gave them. Notebooks, books, and pens. All of these were provided by the school and it was included in their tuition fee. Also, they didn''t just receive a single piece of uniform. They all received three pairs of it. ... After a few minutes, the group arrived in front of the classroom. They could see that there were students inside the class. Bryan stepped forward and knocked on the door without hesitation. Knock! Knock! After a few moments, a middle-aged man opened the door and looked at them. He has short blonde hair and yellow color pupils. His build was average but he was taller than Souta and the rest of the group. He was wearing a black shirt and black pants with six pockets. On top of his shirt was a dark blue robe with a wand symbol on the back. Souta remembered that this man was called Bargan and he''s also the one who assisted them after they passed the entrance examination. He felt that Bargan was quite familiar to him. "Although all you know me I would still introduce myself once again," Bargan said while looking at their face one by one. "I''m Bargan, a teacher of the Mage course and your teacher from now on." "Yes, thank you, teacher Bargan!" Bryan said in a loud voice. ''He didn''t tell us his surname.'' Souta thought. He really felt that Bargan was familiar to him. "Come, I will introduce all of you to the other students of class 1-B," Bargan said to them with a smile and he moved his body to the side so that everyone can enter the class. "Okay, thank you, teacher!" Bryan said and he directly entered the class without hesitation. He was quite excited right now. "Haha, what an enthusiastic guy we have here!" Bargan laughed. Souta, Alice, and the rest entered the class after Bryan. Starting with Bryan, they introduced themselves one by one in front of the class. "I''m Bryan Dagruel, a human and I hope I can learn new things here and get along with everyone!" "I''m Souta, a halfling..." "Alice..." The students inside the class weren''t surprised that there were new students coming into the class. Four entrance examinations would be held every month in the institute. The new students would be divided into class 1-A to class 1-I. And this was the time for the class 1-B to received new students. The next batch of the new students would go to the class 1-C. It''s a repeated cycle. Souta, Bryan, Alice, and the rest of the new students sat down in the vacant seat on the back. Bargan started talking after everyone settled down. He started talking about the introduction and all the lessons that he will teach this year. Also, what should they expect in the class. He also explained the grading system of the institute. Souta listened to every words that came out of Bargan. He was quite interested in learning the structure of the spells. He took down some important information on his notebook. "Oho, I''m quite excited to learn all that," Bryan said eagerly. Souta smirked at his words. Bryan was sitting on his right side while Alice on his left side. He was between the two and the rest of the new students were beside Bryan. It seems that they became close with Bryan easily. Well, with Bryan''s personality he wouldn''t doubt that Bryan could get along with everyone in the class in just a week. At the end of the discussion, Souta finally recalled who was Bargan. Bargan Hevifield, the Fire Master of the Melosa War. Twenty years ago, when the Melosa country was trying to expand their territory Bargan became famous as he singlehandedly pushed back the army of Melosa in the western part of Hebrei Kingdom. He was called Fire Master because of his incredibly powerful fire attribute magic. And in the version 2 of the game, he defended the Ladros city from the demon along with the chairman of the institute and the city lord. ''I would learn more with this kind of teacher.'' Souta grinned when he thought about this. It would be great if Bargan would personally teach him one on one. That way he would learn more about magic. Alice noticed that he was grinning once again. She really didn''t know why would he always smirk or grin. Who knows what kind of things he was thinking. ... The bell rung and Bargan dismissed the class. "Oh! Finally! It finished!" Some of the students came toward Souta and the rest and asked them different questions. Bryan and the two new students were the ones who answered most of the questions. Some of the students asked Alice but she ignored them. Souta stretched his body and slipped away from the crowd. "I should buy some fruits for Yuko." 40 Class 1 "Will you believe me if I told you that magic is real, Souta?" "I won''t... if I see it with my own eyes then I would believe it, grandpa!" "Earth is too brittle and feeble. The things here were too fragile and weak. It''s easy to break them. So using magic in this world could even destroy a whole city and that was just a tier 1 spell." "What are you saying, grandpa? Is magic really exist?" "Hmm... I won''t tell you, just remember everything that I said and you would understand it one day." "Okay, grandpa!" "If a two tier-2 spell user fought here in this world then they would destroy the whole continent of Asia. That''s how brittle this world is. You know a tier 2 spell user is not even that powerful. The energy here is too thin that''s why this world isn''t as strong as any other world. If you used an ordinary [Fire Ball] spell here it will burn all the surrounding house here. The energy and heat coming from it are too strong for this world. I think even a slime would do a massacre in this world as there is no weapon that could stop it except the nuclear bomb." "Then, grandpa what level is powerful to you?" "That''s a good question, I think it will be the level of Amaterasu and Susanoo. Their level would be considered god-like here as they could easily destroy this world." "But grandpa they are really a God. I''ve learned it in school." "Hoho it seems that you''re studying well." "Of course grandpa, I''m listening well to my teacher." ... Souta woke up with sweat forming on his forehead. He felt that he dreamed something important but he couldn''t recall it. Lately, he kept having a dream and that dream was important for him. He would understand why he was here in this world or how did he come in this world. Unfortunately, he couldn''t remember it as soon as he woke up. "It would answer all my questions once I remember my dream," Souta muttered to himself. He shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his head. He stood up and prepared himself for the class. He went to the bathroom and washed his face before he wore his uniform. He went downstairs and ordered a meal for his breakfast. "That uniform...?" The waitress was surprised to see him wearing the uniform of the Ladro Institute. "Looks good on me, right? I''ve passed the examination so I''m a student at Ladro Institute." Souta laughed at her reaction. "I''m surprised..." The waitress muttered. "The same as always," Souta said with a smile on his face. "Good luck on your studies." The waitress said to him. "I will." Souta nodded his head. After that, Souta left the inn and went to Yuko. He fed her some foods before he went straight to the institute. ... Souta was on his way to the institute when he met Bryan. "Oi! Souta!" Souta turned around and saw Bryan running towards him. "Good morning!" He greeted Bryan. He then said, "You''re up early, huh?" "Of course, I would always wake up before the sunrise." Bryan patted his chest feeling proud. "I see, I forgot that you''re an adventurer. An adventurer always woke up early and do various jobs so that they can earn more money." Souta said as he walked forward. "We can do quest together if you want," Bryan said as he walked beside Souta. "We''re of the same rank so I think it''s good that we party sometime. No, we must party as we''re also classmates!" "I don''t even know how strong are you and you''re saying that you want to party up with me," Souta said as he cast a glance at Bryan. "Huh? How can you be like that? You don''t even trust your classmates." Bryan complained at him. "Okay, let see... We don''t have a class on weekends, right?" Souta rubbed his chin. "Yeah, why?" Bryan tilted his head in confusion. "If you''re strong enough you can help me in doing something," Souta said to him. Since he was level 18 now and he would reach the level requirements soon, he needed to prepare for his next evolution and complete all the other requirements. He already has a suitable race for his next evolution. It''s still a goblin but it was much stronger than before. He planned to keep evolving as a goblin until he reached the level of the progenitor. That way he would be able to control all the goblins and he would build a kingdom of goblins. All the other species of goblin would worship him like a good and they would do everything he wants. If he wanted to build a kingdom of goblins then it would be suitable for him to establish it in the Dark Forest. Because if he created it in the eastern or western part of the continent the human and demi countries would stop him. But creating it inside the Dark Forest would lessen his influence because of the Monster Lord living there. There''s no shortage of Monster Lord in this world. It was especially in the Dark Forest, the largest forest in the whole continent, where a lot of powerful monsters live. Even the Three Great Country would hesitate to go through that forest. So he would be having a hard time if he wanted to dominate the other monsters. "Yosh! I can''t wait for it!" Bryan said excitedly. "I don''t even know how strong you are..." Souta said. "Hahaha, don''t worry about it. I''m quite strong and you will see it later." Bryan laughed as he patted his own chest. "Well, let''s talk about that later." Souta shrugged his shoulder. He was wondering if Bryan could really help him. That way he would be able to complete all the requirements of his next evolution. ... The two arrived in their class and Bryan quickly talked to their other classmates. Seeing this, Souta sighed and he sat down in his seat beside Alice. Alice was already sitting in her seating without saying anything. She''s just waiting for the teacher to come here and start the class. He just glanced at her before he took out his notes and waited for the teacher to come in. After a few minutes, Bargan entered the class. "Okay class, sit down," Bargan said as he placed down the book in his hand on top of the table. The students sat down in their own seat and the class became silent. All of their eyes were focused on Bargan. "Today, we will check your magical aptitude." Bargan took out a first size transparent orb from his pocket and placed it on the top of the table. "We will thoroughly check how large is your mana inside your body and your affinities to elements using this device. This device is called Magical Scanner and it was developed by the Red Crystal Empire, one of the Three Great Country." Everyone looked at the transparent orb on top of the table. Some of them knew what it is and some were not. Bargan looked at them before he continued, "Every creature in this world have affinity to at least one element. It doesn''t matter if you''re a human, demi, or even monster. As long as you''re a living creature you have affinity to one element." Everyone nodded at his words. They already knew this thing as this was the basic thing. "You''re affinity will decide your future path of becoming a mage. Of course, not all people followed their affinity. For example, the city lord of Ladros City, Jarvan Detrios. His affinity is dark element but he decided to take the path of the light element opposite of his affinity. It just you will need double effort if you want to master a spell that is not your affinity. Although City Lord Jarvan''s affinity isn''t light element, he still became a powerful City Lord of Ladros City." Bargan paused for a moment before he added, "One more thing, the effect of your skill will be fifty percent more powerful if you cast a spell of your affinity." Souta rubbed his chin. He wondered what his affinity and he was interested to know it. In the game, there''s no such thing like affinity at all. Every player could learn every skill and spell as long as they met the requirements. They could even pick their own specialty once they got a class. "About the energy capacity of each person. We will also check it today. We will know how large mana you can store up in your body. There are some races that are born with large energy capacity in their bodies. Such as Witches, Magical Humans, Elves, Mermen, etc. and there are some that aren''t born with large energy capacity like Barbarians, Dwarves, Giants, etc." Souta knew about it. Those races that weren''t born with large energy capacity have other traits. Some were born with super strength and some were born with super speed. "But don''t worry about it even if you have low energy capacity as it can be trained. With proper training, a person can expand their capacity and store more energy in their bodies." In Souta''s case, he will just add some free attribute points to his intelligence attribute and his mana capacity will increase. 40 Affinities 1 "Will you believe me if I told you that magic is real, Souta?" "I won''t... if I see it with my own eyes then I would believe it, grandpa!" "Earth is too brittle and feeble. The things here were too fragile and weak. It''s easy to break them. So using magic in this world could even destroy a whole city and that was just a tier 1 spell." "What are you saying, grandpa? Is magic really exist?" "Hmm... I won''t tell you, just remember everything that I said and you would understand it one day." "Okay, grandpa!" "If a two tier-2 spell user fought here in this world then they would destroy the whole continent of Asia. That''s how brittle this world is. You know a tier 2 spell user is not even that powerful. The energy here is too thin that''s why this world isn''t as strong as any other world. If you used an ordinary [Fire Ball] spell here it will burn all the surrounding house here. The energy and heat coming from it are too strong for this world. I think even a slime would do a massacre in this world as there is no weapon that could stop it except the nuclear bomb." "Then, grandpa what level is powerful to you?" "That''s a good question, I think it will be the level of Amaterasu and Susanoo. Their level would be considered god-like here as they could easily destroy this world." "But grandpa they are really a God. I''ve learned it in school." "Hoho it seems that you''re studying well." "Of course grandpa, I''m listening well to my teacher." ... Souta woke up with sweat forming on his forehead. He felt that he dreamed something important but he couldn''t recall it. Lately, he kept having a dream and that dream was important for him. He would understand why he was here in this world or how did he come in this world. Unfortunately, he couldn''t remember it as soon as he woke up. "It would answer all my questions once I remember my dream," Souta muttered to himself. He shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his head. He stood up and prepared himself for the class. He went to the bathroom and washed his face before he wore his uniform. He went downstairs and ordered a meal for his breakfast. "That uniform...?" The waitress was surprised to see him wearing the uniform of the Ladro Institute. "Looks good on me, right? I''ve passed the examination so I''m a student at Ladro Institute." Souta laughed at her reaction. "I''m surprised..." The waitress muttered. "The same as always," Souta said with a smile on his face. "Good luck on your studies." The waitress said to him. "I will." Souta nodded his head. After that, Souta left the inn and went to Yuko. He fed her some foods before he went straight to the institute. ... Souta was on his way to the institute when he met Bryan. "Oi! Souta!" Souta turned around and saw Bryan running towards him. "Good morning!" He greeted Bryan. He then said, "You''re up early, huh?" "Of course, I would always wake up before the sunrise." Bryan patted his chest feeling proud. "I see, I forgot that you''re an adventurer. An adventurer always woke up early and do various jobs so that they can earn more money." Souta said as he walked forward. "We can do quest together if you want," Bryan said as he walked beside Souta. "We''re of the same rank so I think it''s good that we party sometime. No, we must party as we''re also classmates!" "I don''t even know how strong are you and you''re saying that you want to party up with me," Souta said as he cast a glance at Bryan. "Huh? How can you be like that? You don''t even trust your classmates." Bryan complained at him. "Okay, let see... We don''t have a class on weekends, right?" Souta rubbed his chin. "Yeah, why?" Bryan tilted his head in confusion. "If you''re strong enough you can help me in doing something," Souta said to him. Since he was level 18 now and he would reach the level requirements soon, he needed to prepare for his next evolution and complete all the other requirements. He already has a suitable race for his next evolution. It''s still a goblin but it was much stronger than before. He planned to keep evolving as a goblin until he reached the level of the progenitor. That way he would be able to control all the goblins and he would build a kingdom of goblins. All the other species of goblin would worship him like a God and they would do everything that he wanted. If he wanted to build a kingdom of goblins then it would be suitable for him to establish it in the Dark Forest. Because if he created it in the eastern or western part of the continent the human and demi countries would stop him. But creating it inside the Dark Forest would lessen his influence because of the Monster Lord living there. There''s no shortage of Monster Lord in this world. It was especially in the Dark Forest, the largest forest in the whole continent, where a lot of powerful monsters live. Even the Three Great Country would hesitate to go through that forest. So he would be having a hard time if he wanted to dominate the other monsters. "Yosh! I can''t wait for it!" Bryan said excitedly. "I don''t even know how strong you are..." Souta said. "Hahaha, don''t worry about it. I''m quite strong and you will see it later." Bryan laughed as he patted his own chest. "Well, let''s talk about that later." Souta shrugged his shoulder. He was wondering if Bryan could really help him. That way he would be able to complete all the requirements of his next evolution. ... The two arrived in their class and Bryan quickly talked to their other classmates. Seeing this, Souta sighed and he sat down in his seat beside Alice. Alice was already sitting in her seating without saying anything. She''s just waiting for the teacher to come here and start the class. He just glanced at her before he took out his notes and waited for the teacher to come in. After a few minutes, Bargan entered the class. "Okay class, sit down," Bargan said as he placed down the book in his hand on top of the table. The students sat down in their own seat and the class became silent. All of their eyes were focused on Bargan. "Today, we will check your magical aptitude." Bargan took out a first size transparent orb from his pocket and placed it on the top of the table. "We will thoroughly check how large is your mana inside your body and your affinities to elements using this device. This device is called Magical Scanner and it was developed by the Red Crystal Empire, one of the Three Great Country." Everyone looked at the transparent orb on top of the table. Some of them knew what it is and some were not. Bargan looked at them before he continued, "Every creature in this world have affinity to at least one element. It doesn''t matter if you''re a human, demi, or even monster. As long as you''re a living creature you have affinity to one element." Everyone nodded at his words. They already knew this thing as this was the basic thing. "You''re affinity will decide your future path of becoming a mage. Of course, not all people followed their affinity. For example, the city lord of Ladros City, Jarvan Detrios. His affinity is dark element but he decided to take the path of the light element opposite of his affinity. It just you will need double effort if you want to master a spell that is not your affinity. Although City Lord Jarvan''s affinity isn''t light element, he still became a powerful City Lord of Ladros City." Bargan paused for a moment before he added, "One more thing, the effect of your skill will be fifty percent more powerful if you cast a spell of your affinity." Souta rubbed his chin. He wondered what his affinity and he was interested to know it. In the game, there''s no such thing like affinity at all. Every player could learn every skill and spell as long as they met the requirements. They could even pick their own specialty once they got a class. "About the energy capacity of each person. We will also check it today. We will know how large mana you can store up in your body. There are some races that are born with large energy capacity in their bodies. Such as Witches, Magical Humans, Elves, Mermen, etc. and there are some that aren''t born with large energy capacity like Barbarians, Dwarves, Giants, etc." Souta knew about it. Those races that weren''t born with large energy capacity have other traits. Some were born with super strength and some were born with super speed. "But don''t worry about it even if you have low energy capacity as it can be trained. With proper training, a person can expand their capacity and store more energy in their bodies." In Souta''s case, he will just add some free attribute points to his intelligence attribute and his mana capacity will increase. 41 Affinities "Alright, now that I''ve finished explaining the details, we will start measuring your energy capacity and affinity," Bargan said as he clapped. "We will start it in the first row. Do you understand?" ""Yes, teacher!!"" The students said at the same time. Their voice echoed in the whole classroom. They couldn''t hide their excitement. "I''m first." A petite girl stood up. She has shoulder-length blue hair. Her skin was white as snow and her blue eyes were like a crystal of ice. She wears a white big ribbon on the back of her head. She have a blue thick tail sticking out in her back. Her height was low as she was even shorter than Souta who was a goblin. For your information, Souta was the shortest among the boys in the class. She was the class representative of class 1-B, Lumilia Von Asvares. "Good, come here!" Bargan nodded at her. Lumilia walked forward and stopped in front of the transparent orb. "Just place your hand on top of it and gather your mana." Bargan''s voice sounded beside her. She nodded before she raised her right hand and placed it on top of the transparent orb. She closes her eyes and circulates her mana. The transparent orb emitted a white light as soon as it made contact with her mana. "It''s okay to remove your hand now," Bargan said to her. Lumilia slowly opened her eyes and removed her right hand. She saw some changes in the transparent orb. There were two things inside the transparent orb and both of them were color blue. One was like a whirlpool of water while the other one was a solid crystal. And on top of these two were the glittering stars. "These two things were your affinities," Bargan said while pointing at the two things inside the transparent orb. "You have two affinities and they are Water and Ice. And the small stars in the orb are your magical capacity." "So teacher what is my magical capacity?" Lumilia asked Bargan. She wouldn''t know what''s her magical capacity just by looking at these stars. "A big star like this one is equal to fifty mana and this medium-size star is equal to ten mana while the smallest one is equal to one mana," Bargan explained to Lumilia. "So counting these stars, we would know how large your magical capacity." There were six large stars, two medium-size stars, and seven small stars. It means that her magical capacity was three hundred twenty seven. She could store three hundred twenty seven mana inside her body. As expected of a demi. They really have a large magical capacity compared to a goblin like Souta. Well, they all have different starting points. Back in the game, a human character was stronger in the first version. It was because the stats added in every level. A human and demi''s added stats were fifteen per level while the ordinary goblin was one per level. The difference was so large that it was impossible to catch up to them without evolution. But not all goblin was weak. Out of all monsters in the whole world, the goblin was a monster that has a lot of subspecies. And most of them were very powerful and brutal. Back in the Great War, there was even a record that three Goblin Executioner, a higher species of goblin, killed an adult dragon and ate its flesh. It was recorded in the library of the Three Great Country. Humans and demis feared this higher species, no, they all feared all the monsters that''s why they hunted and killed them when the monsters were still in their first evolution. Even the simple slime was fearful enough as long as it reached the level of higher species. Consuming a whole country was a feat of the really powerful slime in ancient times. ... One by one the students measured their magical capacity and got to know their elemental affinities. The students'' magical capacity was between two hundred and three hundred. And most of their affinity was one and some of them were two like the class rep. Should Souta say as expected of humans and demis? Their starting point was clearly higher than monster. No, there were some exceptions about that like dragons. Dragons were born powerful compare to the other monsters but their evolution was complicated and they would evolve once every twenty years. Other talented monsters would keep evolving in those twenty years and gained the power to slay them. Not every monster evolve some of them stay in their lowest form and died of old age or in battle. Only a talented monster kept evolving and become a higher species of their kind. At this time, Alice stood up as it was her time to measure her magical capacity and affinity. She walked forward and stopped in front of the transparent orb. Without saying anything, she raised her right hand and placed it on top of the transparent orb. She poured her mana on her right hand and the transparent orb emitted a white light. After a few moments, Alice removed her hand and looked at the transparent orb. Souta looked curiously at her result. He was interested in her as he felt that she was different from the other students in his class. The result was Alice have darkness and ice affinities, and her magical capacity was four hundred forty eight. It was the highest recorded in their class. Her reserves were higher than all the students here in the class. "Oh!!" "What?!" Various exclamation sounded in the whole class. They were surprised that a new student has a higher magical capacity than the rest of them. Even Bargan was surprised when he saw this. He knew that she was talented but not to this extent. Alice was now the top in the class in terms of mana capacity. The second was Lumilia, the class representative. "Darkness, huh?" Souta muttered. In the entrance examination, Alice only used ice attribute spells. She didn''t even use any other type of spells. Alice turned around and went back to her seat beside Souta. All the students looked at her and Alice ignored them by closing her eyes. "That''s a good result you have there," Souta said and he stood up. "I guess it''s my turn." Actually, he didn''t need to measure his magical capacity as he could see it in his system. Even with the added effect of the Vajra Sword he only has three hundred eighty mana. If not for the Vajra sword his mana would be two hundred eighty. He would only do this because of the affinity. "Good luck, Souta!" Bryan said to him. Souta walked leisurely and placed his hand on top of the transparent orb. He controlled his mana using the skill [Mana Manipulation] and the orb emitted the same light as before. Alice who was sitting in the back slightly opened her eyes. She looked at the orb in front of Souta before she once again closed her eyes. "That''s good your the second highest here!" Bryan''s voice sounded. Just like in the system his magical capacity was the same in the transparent orb. Souta was quite surprised that this transparent orb could accurately measure a person''s magical capacity. It could even compare to the system in terms of measurement. With this Souta was the highest before Alice and the third was Lumilia as her magical capacity was only three hundred twenty seven. Everyone looked at him just like what they did to Alice. Souta saw that his elemental affinity was darkness. Yes, only darkness. The darkness almost turned the whole orb into black. ''Darkness? Is it because of my specialty?'' Souta wondered. He already guessed it before but to think that his specialty was really his affinity. "Well, that''s a good result." Souta shrugged and he turned around. "Not much..." Alice said. Souta looked at her and couldn''t believe that she talked to him. There must be something wrong in her head. He shrugged his shoulder and sat down. He said, "That''s already passable for me." Souta then turned to his right side and patted Bryan''s shoulder. He said, "If it''s lower than my result then I wouldn''t bring you in my quest this weekend." "Ah? What are you saying? This is not related to my combat prowess. It''s just a measurement." Bryan complained. "Hahaha! I know!" Souta laughed. He noticed that everyone was looking at him and then at Bryan. They were wondering if Bryan was like him and Alice that have a high magical capacity. Thinking about this Souta couldn''t help but smirk. He was wondering what would be their reaction if they knew that he only have a two mana capacity a few weeks ago. Bryan stood up and walked straight towards the transparent orb. He couldn''t hide the excitement in his face. The orb emitted a light as soon as he placed his hand on top of it. He then looked at Bargan asking if it was okay to remove his hand or not. "You can remove your hand," Bargan said. "Okay," Bryan said and he placed down his hand in his side. Everyone looked at his result. Both Souta and Alice have a high result so they couldn''t help but think that Bryan was like them. And the result didn''t disappoint everyone. His mana capacity was even higher than Souta. Four hundred eleven was his mana capacity. It wasn''t that shocking anymore as Alice was still higher than him but still... over four hundred mana capacity was surprising. And the result of his affinity even shocked Souta who was looking in the back. Everyone opened their eyes widely when they saw Bryan''s elemental affinities. Alice who was in the back also opened her eyes widely. She couldn''t believe what she was seeing. "Four... Four affinities...!" Souta didn''t think that Bryan has this kind of ability. 42 Inner Spell "Four affinities?!" Everyone was shocked when they saw the result. Bryan has four affinities and that were Fire, Lightning, Wind, and Wood. "This is...?" Bargan was stupefied. His eyes opened widely and his mouth hung open. He looked at Bryan and the orb back and forth. Only a few people have four affinities and Bargan knew it. All those people were extremely powerful individuals. A mage with four affinities was destined to become an influential figure in the future. As long as there''s a person that guided him then he would stand at the top someday. "Hehe, to think that I would meet a person like him here..." Souta laughed and tried to recall if there''s a person named Bryan Dagruel back in the game. But to no avail, he couldn''t remember a person that has a name Bryan Dagruel in the game. ''This is really something else... The future I know maybe not the same as the future here.'' Souta thought with a grin on his face. The present time was going in a direction that he doesn''t know. Even Alice who was always silent was showing a surprised expression on her face. Bryan turned around and went back to his seat under the gaze of all students in the class. "How is it? I have a good result, Souta!" Bryan said with a smile. "Yeah, I didn''t expect that." Souta smiled and he closes his eyes. The result was really surprising. Alice glanced at Bryan with a frown on her face. The students started murmuring to each other while looking at Bryan. They were talking about his four affinities. "Silent!" Bargan said in a loud voice causing the students to stop talking. He then continued, "Okay, next." The person beside Bryan stood up. "Good luck!" Bryan said to him. "Y-yeah!" The person smiled wryly. He didn''t think that he would get a good result. He''s okay as long as it''s not bad. ... After half an hour all of them finished measuring their mana capacity and affinities. All of them have more than two hundred mana reserves and that was a good news to Bargan. They would be able to cast various spells if they have more than two hundred mana reserves in their body. It was enough to last one battle. A tier 1 spell consumed five to fifty mana per usage. That''s why in their current level their mana reserves were enough. They would be able to increase it through training hard until they reached the level where they could cast a tier 2 spell. ... At lunch break, Bargan went to the principal''s office. He reported the students that have talent in his class to the principal. "Hmm... Is that true? A person with four affinities appeared here in our institute." A middle-aged man with white hair and beard said. He had white fox ears and tails. He''s the principal of the Ladro Institute, Azrim De Reigan. If Bargan was the most powerful mage in the institute then Azrim was the most powerful fighter in the Ladro Institute. "Yes, principal. Also, three among the new students have astonishing battle prowess and skills." Bargan said as he placed three files on the table of Azrim. "Good, as long as the students show willingness to learn then we will not hesitate to teach them and provide them with proper resources." Azrim said as he picked up the files and looked at it. It was the information about Bryan, Alice, and Souta. Only the basic things were written in the files as they have no information about the background of the three students. It means that they weren''t the people of this kingdom. "We don''t care about their background as long as they have a skill," Azrim said and he turned his head to the other man in the room. He asked, "Jess, what about you?" Jess was an elf with blue skin. To be precise he''s an ocean elf. Ocean elf was a species of elves that lived in the depths of the ocean. Some people called them mermen or elves of the ocean but only they knew that their origin was an elves not mermen. "Two of the new students of the swordsman course show great talents," Jess said as he also the files of the new students on top of the table. "Hmm..." Azrim picked it up and looked at it one by one. "Our shield course also have new talented students." A man with a huge build stepped forward. He was wearing full plate armor. "Train them well," Azrim said before he closed his eyes. ""Yes!!"" ... "What should I eat today?" Souta stood up and stretched his body. He felt tired from sitting for a few hours without doing anything. "Let''s go to the cafeteria, Souta!" Bryan stood up and said. "Okay..." Souta nodded then he looked at Alice. "Want to join us?" "I''m fine, I brought my own lunch," Alice said to him. "That''s unfortunate," Souta said and he shrugged his shoulder. He wouldn''t force her if she doesn''t want to join them. He exited the room with Bryan and the rest of the new students. They buy lunch in the cafeteria and ate it there. While eating, the group talked about the affinities that Bryan has. "See, then you wouldn''t have any problem if you bring me in your quest?" Bryan said as he nudged Souta''s side. "Well, I remember that was only a measurement and it didn''t show our combat skills," Souta said as he rubbed his chin. "Hahaha, you don''t have to be envious in my result. You can just praise me." Bryan laughed loudly. ''This guy probably doesn''t have any idea how great it is to have four affinities.'' Souta thought as he looked at Bryan who was laughing loudly. He rubbed his chin. This upcoming weekend, he was going on a journey to complete the requirements of his second evolution. His destination was the forest between Hebrei Kingdom and Mali Country. There he would find the Rotten Venomous Green Apple. Yes, the one he needed was a rotten one. It was one of the requirements of the evolution that he choose. The other one was the flesh of the undead higher than level 20. Souta shook his head and said, "Let''s go back now, the class is going to start." "Oh? That''s right, I forgot about that!" Bryan said. They went back to their classroom and after a few minutes, Bargan came and he started the class. ... "Once a person learn a magic spell, the spell would be imprinted in their inner consciousness. A person would build up the structure of the spell and imprint the magic circle in their inner consciousness. The inner consciousness is like a soul of a person but it is also different from the soul. It''s inside our mind and we would build the spell there so that we could cast it easily." Bargan explained about the spells to the students. One of the students raised her hand. She was the class representative, Lumilia. "What is it?" Bargan said to her. "Teacher, we could already cast a spell even without imprinting it in our inner consciousness." Lumilia asked. "Yeah, all of us could cast magic even without imprinting it in our inner consciousness." Bargan nodded at her. "Then, what''s the difference between the two spells," Lumilia asked with a confused expression. "The spells that people imprinted in their inner consciousness is called inner spell. It was two times more powerful than normal spells. Also, you can make it more powerful by modifying it and arranging the magic sequence in your inner consciousness. You will not need to build the structure of the magic circle when casting a spell. After all, you already have the structure of the magic circle in your inner consciousness." Bargan paused for a moment before he continued, "A normal person could only imprint four magic circle in their inner consciousness. But it is not the same for everyone. Like me, I have imprinted seven magic circles in my inner consciousness. The only problem is that the more you imprinted a magic circle in your inner consciousness the harder the process becomes." "Okay teacher, I understand." Lumilia nodded at Bargan as she sat down in her seat. Souta listened to Bargan''s words carefully. He doesn''t have any idea what''s an inner consciousness or imprinting the magic circle. A spell wasn''t like a combat skill that could be enhanced through training or repeated use. The thing was... he could enhance the spell by using skill points and he doesn''t need to build a magic circle when casting his spells. He just thinks about the spells and the magic circle would automatically pop up. Souta closed his eyes. The structure of every spells that he learned what in his mind. It was forcefully put inside his mind when he used the skill points to learn it. In Bargan''s description, the inner spell was like the same as the spells that he used. He doesn''t need to build up the structure of the magic circle to cast the spell. What if all of his spells were inner spell and it was already imprinted into his inner consciousness. That''s why he didn''t need to build up the magic circle when casting a spell. If it''s really like that then he already has nine inner spells. After all, he could cast all of his spells with just a thought. He just needed to enter his inner consciousness to confirm his guess. 43 Physical Strength Subjec Souta, Bryan, Alice, and the rest of the students were inside a fifty meters wide room. It was the meditation room of the Ladro Institute. All of them were sitting in a lotus position with their eyes closed. Today, Bargan thought them how to enter inside their inner consciousness. Getting inside the inner consciousness was the basis of being a mage. A lot of adventurers already knew how to enter their inner consciousness a long time ago. Souta confirmed his thoughts. All the spells that he learned using the skill points were already imprinted in his inner consciousness. He could see the structures of every spell that he have inside. So that''s the reason why he could cast a spell with just a thought. It was impossible to cast a spell with building up the magic circle except if a person already built it inside his/her inner consciousness. Bargan said that he only has seven magic circles inside his inner consciousness but Souta has nine magic circles, and it will increase more in the future as he still has many spells in his skill tree that he hasn''t learned yet. After a while, Souta opened his eyes. Not just him but also the other students. They saw Bargan standing in front of them. "Next time, I will teach you how to build a magic circle inside your inner consciousness. It is different than building it outside to cast a spell. It is also many times harder and it will consume a lot of your mental strength." Bargan paused for a moment before he continued, "Remember to choose your inner spell wisely because you can''t build an unlimited magic circle in your inner consciousness. It told you that normal people could only build four or five magic circles. The difficulty is not that high if it''s only your first and second magic circle but for the third and above it''s hard. Also, it''s better if you choose a spell related to your affinity that way it will become stronger." ''Would I be having a hard time if I build a magic circle manually without the help of the system?'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. Since he already has nine magic circles in his inner consciousness then building up another magic circle without the help of the system would give him difficulty higher than Bargan. He still would try it if he can. It''s not gonna harm him anyway so why not try it. He''s really grateful that he has a system in this world. Without it, he would still be an ordinary goblin trying his best to survive in the Undead Sanctuary. Speaking of Undead Sanctuary, Souta planned to came back there after he reached his third evolution and gained the best feram. There were still a lot of treasures there especially in the deep floors where the high-level dungeons reside. He was really lucky that he found the [Soul Blood Earring] easily. No one would notice that there was a secret door in that path as the door was made of the same materials of the walls. Many dungeons have dead-end so people wouldn''t become suspicious of that path. Also, no one would have thought that by extinguishing the light of the lantern they would be able to open a secret door. Of course, no one would extinguish a light in a very dark place like dungeon. ... "Dismiss, you can go to your other class," Bargan said to them before he exited the room. "Ah! I forgot that we have another class. I thought magic is our only subject!" Bryan exclaimed loudly. "Ah? Are you an idiot? You thought we only have a magic subject just because you enter the mage course." Souta smirked at Bryan. "It''s not that! I actually knew it before but I was too excited in learning magic that I forgot about it." Bryan complained at him. "That''s what you call dumb, right Alice?" Souta smiled at Alice. "Hmph! Don''t ask me something that you already know." Alice snorted but she still replied to him. "See... Even Alice knows that you''re a dumb one." Souta looked at Bryan and shrugged his shoulder helplessly. "Even you Alice... " Bryan looked at the two with a helpless expression. He doesn''t know how or when these two got close that they could pick up on him. "Well, let''s go to other class now," Souta said as he stood up and patted his uniform. He placed his hand on his chin and said, "If I''m not wrong out next class... is physical strength and other course will be joining us." "Physical Strength? I''m confident with my physical power. Did you see what I did in the entrance exam, Souta?" Bryan said while showing his muscles. "No, I forgot about everyone''s match except Alice," Souta said bluntly. He then heard Alice harrumphed at the side. They went to the changing room and changed their uniform. The boys wore fitted pants and a navy blue tank top while the girls wore a tight blue shirts and black leggings. ... The mage class 1-B students went to the training ground of the institute. They remembered this place. This place where the physical examination held. Here in the training ground, they met the students of the shield course. Souta rubbed his chin while looking at the students of the shield course. Most of them have huge build and males. There were only six females among the forty-seven students of shield course class 1-A. All of them were armed with different size shields. "Whoa! That''s hot!" Souta said in a low voice while looking at the girls of the shield course. He could that the girls of the shield course have abs. Alice tired her silver hair in a ponytail and she turned her head. She saw Souta casting a glance on the girls of the other class. "What are you looking, Souta?" Bryan suddenly said beside him. "Nothing. You wouldn''t understand it even if I tell you." Souta shook his head and turned to look at the man in the front. The man has cat ears and tails. He was wearing a white jersey. This man was their teacher in this subject. He was holding a thin notebook in his left hand. He was not as huge as the other students in the shield course. He was only a head taller than Souta but he was the most powerful person here. "I could guess that he was going to test our strength." Souta grinned and he stretched his body. "Test our strength?" Bryan looked at Souta. "Yeah, he''s going to test our strength." Souta nodded at Bryan. "Quiet! Don''t talk in front of the teacher!" Lumilia, the class rep, shouted when she saw her classmates talking to each other with a loud voice. "I don''t know what test it is but I''m sure it''s related to physical strength. Well, it doesn''t matter as I''m going all out anyways." Souta ignored the class rep and said while stretching his body. He was quite excited in doing some exercise. He hasn''t used his strength ever since he obtained the [Vajra Sword Saya]. Thinking about the Vajra Sword, Souta couldn''t help but caressed the sword on his waist. The [Vajra Sword Saya] was inside the custom made scabbard that ordered. He found a figure blocked his vision. He looked up and saw that it was the class rep, Lumilia. "What is it, class rep?" Souta asked her. "Can you talk without raising your voice?" Lumilia looked at him with a fierce expression. Then, she looked at Bryan and said, "You too!" "Huh?" Souta turned his head and looked at Bryan. "Did I talk that loud?" "...yeah." Bryan just nodded. The class rep always reprimanded him when he was talking out loud in the class. It was not the first time that class rep reprimanded him. Souta looked at Lumilia and said, "Okay, I get it, I''m just excited." Then, he found that Lumilia was still in front of him. "What?" "Nothing!" Lumilia shook her head and she walked away. Souta looked at her back and said, "What a weird girl..." "I know." Bryan agreed in his words. "Okay! Everyone look at me!" A voice sounded in the whole training ground. Souta turned his head and saw that it was the teacher. "I''m Alex Ventilorna, as you can see I''m a cat person and your teacher in physical strength subject!" The man introduced himself as Alex Ventilorna. "This is our first meeting so I don''t have any idea who''s strong among you so I will test you!" "Looks like I''m right," Souta smirked when he heard the words of Alex. Alex opened the thin notebook in his hand and said, "We have three hours so list down all your names here in this notebook. Separate the female and male." He handed the thin notebook in the student nearest to him. After a few minutes, all the students finished listing down their names in the thin notebook. Alex looked at it for a while before he closed it. He looked at the face of his students before he opened his mouth and said, "I will create a mini-tournament and the one who wins all the battle can do what they want in my subject. I will arrange your name and after this, we will start immediately so prepare yourself." His words shocked everyone. They didn''t expect such a thing to happen in physical strength class. They started to murmur among themselves. "What?" "A tournament?" "We''re going to fight?" No one anticipated this thing even Souta. Souta only guess that the teacher was going to test them but he didn''t know how would he do that. He didn''t expect that it was through a tournament. Souta stopped moving as he heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Tournament]: Fight and win in the tournament. Rewards: (Base on your ranking) "Oh? Then, I really shouldn''t hold back." Souta grinned. 44 Battle Start! "Just you know this is a physical strength subject so any usage of mana is forbidden," Alex said to the students with a serious expression. "But teacher we''re a mage..." A girl from the mage class said. If they didn''t use mana then they were bound to lose in this fight. A mage without mana was pretty much a trash. Alex raised his eyebrows at the words of the girl. He opened his mouth and said, "Huh? What are you saying? I just said that this is physical strength subject so it''s natural that all of you will use your physical strength, not magical strength." He paused and looked at everyone''s face before he continued, "This is not a magic subject. This is physical strength subject. Did you get it? Just from the name of the subject, one would understand what we''ll do so why ask such a question." Souta smirked inwardly. Physical strength was not a problem for him as his strength stats were even higher than his intelligence stats. "A mage should at least have some physical power. What will you do once you drained your mana? Wait for your opponent to kill you? or wait for someone to rescue you? You should''ve at least have the physical strength to run away so that you wouldn''t become a burden to your comrades... if you have some." Alex said in a loud voice. "Well, that''s true..." Souta said in a low voice. If the mage doesn''t know how to defend himself when he runs out of mana then he/she was going to become a burden to his/her comrades. Alex clasped both of his hands and said, "Okay, we will start the battle so be prepared." He then turned around and placed a blackboard in front of the class. He listed the matches of the tournament on the blackboard. Souta, Bryan, Alice, and the rest of the students looked at the list on the blackboard. "My battle..." Souta turned his head and looked at the class rep, Lumilia. "Is with a class rep and it is the first match." Bryan also looked at the class rep. He saw that Souta will fight Lumilia in the first match. "What about you, Bryan?" Souta asked Bryan who was looking at Lumilia. "Hmm... How to say this... It''s not from our class." Bryan said. He doesn''t know who''s the one he''s gonna fight. The name was unfamiliar to him so he could guess that it came from the shield class. Souta then turned his head to Alice and asked, "What about you Alice?" "Hmmph! The same as him." Alice closed her eyes. She seemed that she''s not going to answer if he asked another question. Souta smiled wryly at her response. He then shook his head and looked at the students of shield class. He knew that they have an advantage among the people of his class as he knew that shield class was tackling physical strength than magical. They were focused on strengthening their body. If a mage was going to fight without mana then he/she was bound to have a hard time. It was because they were not trained that way. Fighting close combat wasn''t easy for a mage who preferred to fight long range. While Souta was thinking about this thing, Lumilia was observing him. After all, she was going to fight him in the first match. She was the third daughter of the Asvares family. Asvares family was a noble family of the Gripin city, the neighboring city of Ladros City. She inherited some of the sword skills of her family so she knew how to fight in close range despite being a mage. ''Just what is that guy thinking? Looking at other class when he knows that he''s going to fight me.'' Lumilia thought. Most of the students in the mage class were nervous. It was especially to the students who were going to fight the student of the shield class. It was easy to understand why they were nervous. After all, they were going to fight the people who trained physically in a physical battle when they were a mage. ... "I will not meet you in battle," Bryan said to Souta. "Yeah, I''m from a different bracket." Souta nodded as he looked at the list of matches. "If we somehow meet then it''s going to be the final battle." "Yeah, I will fight you and show you my strength," Bryan said with an excited expression. "But before that, you have to defeat Alice first. You know that..." Souta smiled at Bryan. It''s true that Bryan will meet Alice if they both win their upcoming matches. They were in the same bracket after all. But Souta knew that it''s not easy to win as they were going to fight without using mana. It''s a big disadvantage for the mage. Souta looked at Alice. He saw her fight with the instructor in the entrance examination and he knew her fighting style. If that''s all, then she''s not going to win in this mini-tournament. ... The students went to the side as the match was going to start. This place was the training ground so there''s a wide space here than could be occupied by thousands of people. It''s natural that a training ground was huge. It was because they need a wide space, especially for the mage if they wanted a mock battle or spar. They also placed the equipments for training at the side, such as a dummy, shooting targets, and weights. Before they knew it, some of the teachers and students of other courses of the institute came here to watch the battles. "Oho~ it seems that Alex is doing it again." A man with fox ears and tail said while looking at the students. He was wearing a simple white shirt and black pants. His black coat was wrapped around his waist. He was the teacher of the sword class 2-C, Kanda Yulong. "It''s not that bad to check the skills of his students." A woman with long green hair nodded at his words. She was wearing a navy blue coat and skirt. On top of her coat was a robe with the same color as her coat. She was the teacher of the mage class 3-A. Both of them knew that Alex always does this in his class. It became famous in the whole institute and a lot of people came just to watch this mini-tournament. "Sadly, it''s the student shield and mage class." "Yeah, the mage is at a disadvantage in this kind of fight." "What was it before? A brawler and lancer?" "Yeah." The two talked while waiting for the battle to start. The other teachers came forward and joined their conversation. ... The battle between Souta and Lumilia was going to start. "It''s time..." Souta stretched his arms as he stepped forward. He removed the bandage wrap in his left arm and moved his arm, familiarising himself to the feeling that he could use his left arm in a battle. "I can use this but I shouldn''t overdo or else the wounds will open again," Souta muttered while looking at his left arm. "Good luck, Souta! Beat the crap out of that class rep!" Bryan shouted as he cheered for Souta. "Eh...?" Souta turned his head to looked at Bryan. Not just him but the other students also looked at Bryan. Even Lumilia looked at Bryan with a frown on her face. "...Did I say something wrong?" Bryan looked at everyone and was wondering why they were looking at him. Souta shook his head and walked to the center. He looked at the approaching Lumilia and he smiled at her. Alex looked at the two of them before he stepped forward and said, "You do anything to knock down your opponent as long as you do not use your mana. Any of you can surrender if you felt that you can''t fight anymore. I will be your judge and referee at the same time so I will give you five minutes to fight. Do you understand?" "Yes, teacher." Lumilia nodded her head with a serious expression. "Yeah." Souta grinned as he cracked his knuckles. Lumilia looked at the sword that was hanging on Souta''s waist and asked, "Teacher, can we use a weapon?" "Yeah, as I said before you can do anything as long as you don''t use your mana." Alex nodded his head. "Okay." Lumilia nodded and she walked to the side and picked up her sword. It was a beautiful sword with a blue gem on its handle. Souta thought that her sword wasn''t meant battle but instead it was meant for display. Though, it was more beautiful than his sword he knew that it was just a blue grade sword. "Let the battle start! You can fight to your heart''s content." Alex said as he started the battle. Lumilia readied herself and she exudes a fierce aura like a lion looking at its prey. "Good, let''s finish this quickly!" Souta grinned and he charged towards Lumilia while using the skill [Dash]. He opened his palm attempting to grab Lumilia''s face. ... Yuko was in the ranch. She was looking outside with a dazed expression. Lately, master didn''t bring me out to play. He seems very busy with something that I can''t understand. He only came here when he''s going to give me a meat or fruit. Ah~ master where are you? I want to play outside. 45 Mini-tournament 1 "He~" Souta charged towards Lumilia. He reached out his right hand and opened his palm attempting to grab her face. "So fast!" Lumilia was shocked when she saw him instantly appeared in front of her. She quickly reacted by shifting her head sideways barely avoiding his hand. Swoosh!! "Kuh! What a speed?!" Lumilia gritted her teeth. Suddenly, she felt a pain in her side. Bang! Souta kicked her side and Lumilia was flung away. Swoosh! Lumilia rolled on the ground a few times before she stopped. She held her side and looked at Souta with a frown. She couldn''t believe what''s happening right now. Her nameless classmate was overwhelming her with boundless strength. She felt that Souta wasn''t a student of mage class but instead a brawler. She was quite confident with her skills since she practiced sword skills when she was a child. ''I finally understand why he didn''t bother himself to look at me, his opponent.'' Lumilia finally understood why Souta was only looking at the student of shield class because for him she wasn''t his opponent. ... The students watching from the sidelines were surprised when they saw Souta''s speed. "Is he really a mage?" "Yeah, I really doubt if he''s mage!" Only the first year doubted if he''s really a mage. The other people were just shocked and surprised. They knew that in this institute the mage will have to train their bodies to the point that they could rival some of the strength base class. It was just surprising to see a first year to have this kind of speed when he''s just a new student. ... "Both of them are your students, right?" Kanda, the teacher of sword class 2-C, turned his head and asked the man beside him. "Yeah." Bargan nodded his head while looking at the battle between Souta and Lumilia. "That boy showed some impressive speed rivaling some of my students who excelled in speed," Kanda said as he turned his head and looked at Souta. "I don''t about that until now as he was one of the new students," Bargan said in response. From the information he gathered, Souta was an adventurer and that proves his close combat skills. "A strong new student, huh?" Kanda muttered and he casted a glance at Bargan. ... Souta walked towards Lumilia and said, "I''m not going easy on you just because you''re a girl. Remember on the battlefield there''s no girl or boy there only life and death. So do not expect your opponent to go easy on you because of your gender." Lumilia gritted her teeth and she slowly stood up. She pointed her sword at him. "Oh? Still fighting." Souta grinned and once again he dashed toward her. Swoosh!! In just a second, he arrived in front of her. Lumilia slashed her sword horizontally. Swoosh!! Souta quickly moved aside dodging the sword before he delivered a powerful blow on her belly. Bang! "Kuh!!" Lumilia felt the pain in her belly. She kicked the ground trying to distance away from Souta. Souta chased after her and lifted up his feet. He kicked her stomach and she flew ten meters away from him. "Guh!" Lumilia spat a mouthful of blood. She stood up and she looked at Souta with a fierce expression. "Oh?" Souta was surprised to see her face. Judging from her expression, she clearly doesn''t have a plan to surrender. "Hais..." Souta sighed and he scratched the back of his head. "After all the things that I''ve said before I''m still doing this. Well, it doesn''t matter as this is just a mock battle." Lumilia doesn''t have any idea what''s he''s saying. Souta looked at her and he stepped forward causing Lumilia to flinch. He increased his pace and Lumilia readied herself. She gripped her sword tightly. Swoosh! Souta stopped in front of her and threw a punch, and Lumilia slashed her sword in response to his punch, but Souta opened his palm midway and grabbed her sword. "Wha-" Lumilia was shocked when she saw him grabbed her sword. She could see blood come out of his hand. While she was busy looking at his hand, Souta pulled back his other hand and threw a punch on her stomach. Bang! He then released his grip on her sword and grabbed her wrist. He followed up by chopping the back of her neck knocking her out. "Wha-" Lumilia didn''t even manage to finish her words as she loses her consciousness. She fell down but before she reached the ground Souta caught her. Souta checked if she was really unconscious before he sighed and placed her on his shoulder. He walked to the corner ignoring the gazes around him. Everyone watched him placed Lumilia in the corner. ''I said that I won''t show her mercy but in the end, I still show her mercy.'' Souta thought as he stood up and patted his clothes. "The winner of the first match is Souta!!" Alex''s voice sounded in the whole training ground. "That''s it, huh?" Souta glanced at Alex before he went towards the direction of Bryan and Alice. "You didn''t show mercy, Souta!" Bryan said to him. "Ah? I show her mercy in my opinion. If not, then she would at least be put in the hospital with a few broken bones." Souta shrugged his shoulder. He caressed the sword on his waist. Actually, that was a cheat. With the added stats of the [Vajra Sword Saya], his stats were two times higher than his base stats. It''s not surprising that she couldn''t react in time. After all, his dexterity and agility were 295 and 308 respectively. Also, Souta guessed from the battle before that she wasn''t that proficient in close-quarter combat. Although she has high magical power her physique was too weak. A Rank F Adventurer was even stronger than her. ''Still, the first year students here in the institute are stronger than some Rank D Adventurer.'' Souta thought. This was what he concludes after comparing the strength of the two. It just that the student here don''t have much experience, unlike those adventurers. ... "That''s something from a mage class student," Kanda said while looking at Souta. "Yeah, his speed isn''t something that ordinary mage students could possess." Bargan nodded. "What about his mage skills? You''re his teacher, right?" Kanda asked. He was curious if Souta''s mage skills were higher than his close-quarter combat. If that''s the case then Souta would be able to put up a fight to those third year students. "I don''t know, I''m still discussing them the basics. I think it will be a month before we went to practical." Bargan shook his head. ... "Oh? A strong first year appeared." A man with shoulder length black hair said. He has pitch black eyes and his skin was pale. He''s Rein Ventogram, the top ranker of the Ladro Institute. "If I''m not wrong when you were still a first year you won this tournament, right Rein?" A man with rabbit ears and tail said. He has messy red hair and his build was average but one could see some scars on both of his hands. He''s called Zac Triton, one of the top ranker of the Ladro Institute. "Don''t talk to me, you trash!" Rein snorted. "As usual, your attitude is really bad." The man laughed at his words. ... Souta noticed that some people were watching the tournament. He looked around and noticed some powerful presence that didn''t bother to hide their aura. "It seems that this tournament is more famous than I could imagine," Souta said in a low voice. "Yeah, a lot of teachers and students came here just to watch the tournament." Bryan nodded at his words. ... The second match already started and it was between a girl from shield class and a boy from the mage class. It was a one-sided battle from the girl of the shield class. The boy from the mage class was beaten black and blue to the point that Alex sent him to the clinic. As time passed by the people in the training ground kept increasing. The words about the mini-tournament quickly spread around in the whole institute. Souta watched how powerful was the students of the shield class compared to him as most of the students who won the match came from the shield class. It was really a sight to see. It feels like they were bullying the students of the mage class just because magic was forbidden to use in this tournament. He was pairing himself to the people who won their match inside his mind. After the fourteenth matches, it was time for Alice to fight. "Good luck, Alice," Souta said to her. "Good luck, Alice! Beat them up just like what Souta did before! Show them what you''ve got! Beat them! Defeat them!" Bryan said in a loud voice as he raised both of his hands in the air. Alice turned her head and looked at them fiercely. "Oi! Stop doing that your ruining my concentration!" 46 Alices match It was Alice turn to fight. She was going to fight a male student of the shield class. Her opponent almost reached three meters in height. Alice walked forward with a calm expression. She observed her opponent''s movement. The man stopped in front of Alice and he raised his huge shield in front of him. ... Souta rubbed his chin as he doesn''t have any idea who''s going to win this match. He doesn''t know the abilities of both fighters so it was hard to predict what''s going to happen. "Go! Alice!" Bryan cheered for Alice using his loud voice. It''s not just him cheering for Alice but their other classmates also were cheering for her. Souta turned his head and said, "Bryan, keep quiet..." "Why?" Bryan looked at him. "Hais..." Souta sighed and shook his head. For now, he''s going to ignore Bryan and will only focus his attention to the match. ... The whole area became quiet as Alex stepped forward in front of the two fighters. He turned his head left and right to look at the two fighters and asked, "Are you two ready?" "''Yes!"" Alice and the man from the shield class nodded their head simultaneously. "Good, now let the match begin!!" Alex shouted as he officially started the battle between the two. Whoosh! Alice took out a small pipe in the pocket of her leggings. The length of the pipe was just five inches and its color was red. "Release!" Alice shouted and the red pipe started to transform. The pipe grew longer and a sharp blade appeared at its tip. Black metal dragon coiled around the pipe up to the blade and red gem appeared in the center of the triangular blade. In just a moment, the small pipe became a spear. Her opponent was surprised when he saw this scene. He subconsciously took a step back. ... ''Oi! Oi! That''s an orange grade weapon and it has compression ability!'' Souta was surprised to see that she have an orange grade weapon. His guessed was right. It seems that she''s not an ordinary person. Orange grade and red grade weapons were already a weapon of a commander or general in a small country. But that''s not the case here in a large country. Even ordinary nobles could possess two or three red grade weapons. The fact that she took out an orange grade weapon easily and show it to the public means that she has a higher grade weapon in her arsenal. Souta looked at the sword on his waist. The [Vajra Sword Saya] looked ordinary compared to other weapons. The handle and the scabbard of the Vajra sword were pretty lame. The crimson blade was the only thing that differentiates it from the rest. "Whoa! What''s that?!" Bryan exclaimed. "That''s a spear," Souta answered him. "No, that''s not it. How did that happen?" Bryan shook his head. "It was because of the compression ability of the weapon." Souta sighed and said. "Compression? what''s that?" Bryan asked him. He really doesn''t know how did that spear appear. "Damn! You''re really an idiot!" Souta cursed at Bryan''s ignorance. He looked around and saw that the students and teachers were not that surprised. They already knew that some weapons have that kind of ability. They were just surprised to see that she possessed that kind of weapon. "Hais..." Souta sighed and said, "I don''t know how it works but compression is an ability that compressed large objects into a small item. Some of the weapons possessed an ability and only a few have compression ability." In the game, the players didn''t care if the weapon has compression ability or not. It was because all the players have inventory and compression or not that didn''t matter as they would store all the items in their inventory. "I see..." Bryan nodded. ''Did he really get it?'' Souta thought. ... Whoosh! Alice waved the spear in her hand and looked at her opponent. She stepped forward and clenched her fingers tightly around the spear. Her opponent observed her every movement. He guarded tightly and prepare for her attacks. Alice didn''t hesitate and charged towards the man. She raised her spear and stabbed it three times. "Here she comes!" The man saw this and he raised his shield to blocked her attacks. Clang! Clang! Clang! Sparks flew out from the collision of the spear and the shield. "Kuh!" The man felt her power from those three attacks. He was pushed back one meter away from Alice. ''I could defeat him by continuing this!'' Alice thought and she stepped forward while stabbing her spear at the same time. Clang! Clang! Clang! The man moved his shield and blocked her spears. The spear caused a few cracks to emerge from the surface of the shield. After all, his shield was just a blue grade weapon. She quickly moved to his side and waved her spear. Swoosh! The man followed her movements with his eyes so he reacted quickly when she appeared beside him. He tightened his grip on his shield and moved it to his side. Bang! ''Not good! My shield wouldn''t be able to handle a few more strikes!'' The man thought and felt trouble with her higher grade weapon. Alice didn''t stop and she continued stabbing her spear. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! "Grr... I don''t have a choice." The man gritted his teeth and his aura flared up. He bent his knees and charged towards Alice. [Shield Charge]! "Combat arts!!" Alice was surprised when she saw this. She moved her body and jumped to the side dodging the man''s attack. Whoosh! Alice struck the man with her spear when he passed at her side. She wouldn''t let this chance to knock her opponent. [Shield Bash]! Clang! The man parried her spear using a skill. ... "Hmm... I forgot it the mages have spells the other class have combat arts." Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. The shield class really has a huge advantage in this tournament. They could use all their skill, as it only consumes their stamina just like his [Stab] and [Dash], while the mage class couldn''t use any of their spells in this tournament. It was pretty easy to win against a mage who couldn''t use their spell. But if the mage knew how to handle close-range weapons and have combat arts like him. Then, they could fight a melee class to a stand off. ... "Not good!" Alice hurriedly jumped away from the man while pointing his spear at him in case he chased after her. [Shield Charge]! The man didn''t hesitate to use his combat arts once again. Alice prepared herself for the clash. She took a deep breath and also charged towards the man. Whoosh!! The man was surprised when he saw Alice intending to clash at him when he''s using his combat arts. "Naive!" He smirked and continued his way towards her. Clang!! Both of them collided causing a loud metallic sound to echoed in the whole area. Alice was getting pushed back by the power of the man. ''Should I use it?'' She thought before she shook her head. She took a deep breath and pulled back her other hand. She then threw a powerful punch towards the shield. Bang! The man stopped for a moment and Alice used this opportunity to stabbed her spear on the ground. When the man continued to move forward he noticed that he wasn''t moving from his position. "What?!" The man was shocked when he saw this. Alice jumped in the air and twisted her body. She raised her feet and used her own combat arts. [Repulsion Kick]! Bang! The man was pushed back and Alice landed on the top of his shield. "This is the end..." Alice said before he punched the man on the forehead. She then used [Repulsion Kick] on his arm to loosen his grip on the shield. Bang! Once again she used [Repulsion Kick]. Bang! "Guh!" The man was pushed back three meters away and his shield wasn''t in his hand anymore. Whoosh! Alice quickly pulled out her spear and charged towards the man. She waved it towards him and struck his stomach. Bang! Bang! Bang! She continued to launch her attack until the man fainted. The man fell down on the ground with a loud "thud" sound. Alice looked at the man and the spear in her hands started to go back to its item form. She placed it back in her pocket before she turned around and left. "The winner of this match is Alice!!" Alex''s voice sounded in the whole area. ... "That was a good fight," Souta said to Alice. Alice nodded and sat down in the corner. Souta glanced at her before he began to think about her fight. The man before was stronger than Lumilia so it''s natural that she drained her stamina in the fight. Stronger than Lumilia doesn''t mean that he''s overall stronger than her. If mana wasn''t forbidden to use in this tournament then Lumilia would be able to knock him down easily. He started to think about what sort of combat arts does the other students of the shield class had. He only has two combat arts and that was the [Dash] and [Stab]. The next time the institute presented a skill, he will pick a combat arts for himself. He doesn''t need a spell as he already has a skill tree. 47 Alice vs. Bryan 1 Souta watched the tournament matches. He evaluated all the combat prowess of the participants based on what they showed in the matches. He also has a guess of Bryan''s strength. In Bryan''s match, he showed strength and speed that''s not normal for a mage student. The power of his punches was strong and his speed was fast that he overwhelmed his opponents in just two minutes. Should he say that Bryan gained this power as an adventurer? Just like him, Bryan was very proficient in close combat much stronger than Alice, and he entered here in the institute to learn magic. He also saw a stronger fighter in the shield course. Especially the one that was called Brando. Brando was a tough fighter and his defense was extremely hard to breakthrough. If he wasn''t wrong Brando was the strongest fighter here in the tournament. Of course, if the magic wasn''t forbidden here then Lumilia and Alice would be able to match him. Now that the first round of the tournament was finished, it''s time for the second round. They were going to fight those who won their first battle. Alex gave them five minutes to prepare before they start the first battle of the second round of the tournament. ... Zac, the sixth top ranker, turned his head to Rein, the second top ranker, and said, "Now that we have a bit of understanding in their strength, wanna bet to me? As a second rank in the institute you possess great amount of points, am I right?" "I said don''t talk to me! you trash!" Rein snorted and looked at the participants. "Haha, I still have a lot of points here! What should I do with this?" Zac laughed awkwardly as he looked at the object that was attached on his wrist. The object looked like a wristwatch and this item was a private property of the institute. Their points and information were recorded in this piece of technology. They could also use this item to challenge the other students here to raise their ranks and earn points. The points could be used to redeem spell books and combat arts. The students could also use this to get a teacher to teach them a skill or spell one on one, some of the students used these points to rent a living quarter here in the institute and some used it to use the training ground on their own. There were many uses of points here in this institute. All in all, these points were like the currency of the Ladro Institute. Souta and the others were still new here so Bargan hasn''t prepared the items for their use. "Ah~ what a wonderful display~" Zac heard a feminine voice at his left side so he turned his head to look. Turning his head, he saw a girl wearing the uniform of the institute. She has long lilac-colored hair that was tied in a ponytail. Her left eye was color blue while the other one was red. She''s Yanagi Shina, the rank number one across the whole institute. The strongest students here in Ladro Institute. "I didn''t think that she would come here..." Zac muttered in a low voice. He knew that this girl has some screw loose in her heads so he wouldn''t bother associating himself to her. He shuddered as he recalled those people that she destroyed. Across the whole institute, she dominated everyone ever since she enrolled here. Even Rein wasn''t her match at all. To think that this small tournament would attract her attention. He knew that she didn''t even watch the other tournaments that Teacher Alex made in the other class but now... she really come here. ''I wonder who''s the unfortunate person that attracted her attention.'' ... The second round of the tournament started. The battle was fierce and intense. It exhausted some of the students that don''t have huge stamina. Although some of them won the battle, they couldn''t participate in the next round because they don''t have much stamina. They don''t have enough time to recover their stamina as Alex only gave them five minutes. So some of them could only surrender. Every battle the crowd that was watching the tournament grew larger. While the second round was ongoing, Souta noticed that Lumilia woke up. He patted Bryan''s shoulder and said, "I''m going to check if she''s okay." Bryan looked at Lumilia and nodded his head. He then closed his eyes to recovered some of his stamina. "Hmm... Really good..." Souta looked at Bryan who was resting before he shook his head. He turned his attention to Lumilia and slowly approached her. Alice who was also recovering her stamina slightly opened her eyes and glanced at Souta''s back. After a few moments, she shook her head and opened her mouth, "I can''t, this form of mine is too weak. I can''t use my full strength." She looked up at the matches. If she won her next match then she would face Bryan. She glanced at Bryan wondering if she could win against him in her condition. From the matches before, she knew that Bryan''s physical strength was higher than her and his close combat skills were extremely good that he could rival Souta. ... Lumilia slowly opened her eyes. She saw her classmate''s worried look. She was wondering what happened and she was about to ask them when she recalled that she fought her male classmate in the tournament. "Are you okay, class rep?" "...I''m fine..." Lumilia held her head as she sat up and looked around her. It seems that the tournament was still ongoing. She clenched her first tightly when she recalled her fight. She was knocked down in round one and she couldn''t even fight back against that man. That''s a huge humiliation for her. She''s the third daughter of the Asvares family and she must show that she wasn''t weak. She wouldn''t forget why she enrolled in this institute. "Don''t force yourself." One of her female classmates said in a worried tone. Lumilia heard her classmate''s words. She shook her head and thanked them. She said that she''s fine now and the don''t have to worry about her. "Yo! You okay?" She heard a man''s voice beside her ears. She turned her head and saw the man who defeated her before. He was called Souta Ieshi, if she''s not wrong. "I-I''m fine... You don''t have to worry about me." Lumilia crossed her arms. "I''m glad, I just get a little excited earlier because I haven''t fought someone for a long time," Souta said to her. Actually, it''s only been a few days since he fought the red woman. He just got out of hand this time as he wanted to test his power against the students here in Ladro Institute. "I see..." Lumilia frowned as she looked at him. Little excited? She''s thinking if he''s a battle maniac or not. Yeah, the attitude he showed in the fight was different for his usual self. Normally, he''s just a quiet student that only talked to Bryan and Alice. He doesn''t have any friends either except for those two. How did she know this? Of course, she''s the class representative so she thought that she needed to observe her class. She at least needed to understand the attitude and personality of her classmates. After the measurement of their mana capacity and their affinities, she focused her attention on these three. Bryan, Alice, and Souta, those three friends have potential that surpassed her. She knew about the rules of the institute. The points were the most important things here. And she needed Bryan, Alice, and Souta if she wanted to compete with other classes. Next week, their teacher would introduce them the usage of points. She already asked some of the upperclassmen so she has an idea about it. If a student wants to get a powerful spell or combat arts they needed points. They could even learn those high-level spells that the principal and Bargan knew. The institute has thousands of spells and combat arts. It''s not the most famous institute in the whole kingdom for nothing. "What''s wrong?" Souta''s voice snapped her out of her daze. "N-Nothing..." She looked up at him and shook her head. "Really?" "Really!" Lumilia stood up as she patted her clothes. She turned her attention to her classmates and talked to them. Souta just watched her talked to their other classmates assuring them that she''s fine. "Hais..." He sighed and put his hands inside his pocket before he looked at the match. He looked at the board and saw that it was nearing the third round and his fight was next. He walked forward and looked at the name of his opponent. From what he remembered, this man wasn''t that strong. He could easily handle his opponent. "I wonder if I could get some skill points in this quest. It doesn''t matter even if I don''t get exp, as long as I get some skill points. Then, it worth it." 48 Alice vs. Bryan 2 Souta rubbed his chin as he pondered which one should he cheer. He looked at Bryan and Alice back and fort. "What?!" Alice noticed his gaze. She looked at him with a frown. Souta lifted up his hand and raised a thumb in front of her. He smiled and said, "Good luck!!" "...what?!" Alice took a step back as she pondered what he was doing. Souta didn''t answer her. He just closed his eyes and ignored her presence. He could see it all. The students of shield class and mage class. All the strong fighter and weak fighter in the stage. They couldn''t completely conceal their power to him. Among all the participants here, only a few people weren''t breathing heavily. One of them was him, the other one was the student from shield class, Brando. The other one was Bryan. And lastly, his classmate called Jin. Jin was suspicious as he was hiding his true strength. He finished his fight but surrendered in his second match. He didn''t even break a sweat from that. Right now, he was just leisurely watching all the battles in the sidelines. Souta didn''t know the reason why Jin''s hiding his real strength, but now that he got an idea about it he will not forget Jin''s name and face. Then about Bryan and Alice''s match. From his perspective, he could see that Alice''s breathing was already heavy clearly different from Bryan. Souta opened his mouth and said, "You''ll be having a hard time. It''s better to surrender if you can''t handle him." Alice looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. After a few moments, she opened her mouth and said, "What do you mean?" Souta shifted his eyes to her and replied, "Can''t you see it? You''re already tired from your previous battles but Bryan is different. Although you could put up a fight you will not win this battle." Alice''s eyebrows knitted together from his words. She turned her head to looked at Bryan. She understood what Souta meant. "Well, it''s only my opinion." Souta shrugged his shoulder. Bryan approached them and asked, "What you''re talking about?" "We''re discussing how to defeat you. Alice was just asking me for advice." Souta replied. "What?! Why are you discussing that!!" Bryan said in a loud voice as he looked at Alice and Souta. "Of course, we''ll discuss it after all your pretty strong," Souta said. "Hehe, well you can take your time." Bryan laughed as he scratched his cheek. ''Damn! This idiot! He thinks I''m praising him!'' Souta cursed inside his head. Souta shook his head and asked, "You will fight Alice in the next battle?" "Yeah." Bryan nodded and he looked at Alice. He clenched his fist in front of him and said, "Let''s both do our best!!" Alice looked at Bryan in the eyes before she turned around. "Yeah." Souta smiled looking at Alice''s back. He guessed Alice wouldn''t surrender easily from her reaction. ''Now they will consume some stamina in this fight. It will be easy for me to win this. The only problem is that Brando.'' Souta turned his head and looked at the students named Brando. Brandon was a two-meter tall man. He has short brown hair and reptilian eyes. Some part of his body has green scales. From the looks of it, he was probably a halfling of beast kin. He was armed with a one-meter silver-colored shield with black linings at its side. ... After a few minutes, Alex called Bryan and Alice''s name. It''s time for their battle. "Good luck, Alice! Do your best to tire him!" Souta said to Alice. "I know! I will knock him down and your next!" Alice replied as she turned her head. "Oi Souta! Why are you only cheering for her?" Bryan complained to him. "Ha!! It''s already clear that she''s more tired than you!" Souta said. "So I''m stronger than her..." Bryan mumbled. "I''m not saying that. I''m saying that her opponent was stronger than you fought in your matches!" Souta said as he patted Bryan''s shoulder. "Huh? What''s with that?" Bryan said in a loud voice. "Damn! Don''t talk just go!" Souta pushed Bryan''s back. "Ah!" Bryan stumbled forward as Souta pushed him. He looked at his side and saw Alice. ... Souta looked at the two who were facing each other. Alice was wearing a cold face and Bryan have a cheerful smile on his face. "Now, I could only hope that they put up a good fight..." Souta murmured as a grin appeared on his face. ... The crowd was excited to watch the battle between Alice and Bryan. They saw them defeat their opponents with their strength but now they will face each other. Even the teachers were eager to watch this battle. After all, they knew that unlike the other students these two were quite strong in their own ways. "Ever since the first battle, this one will be the fiercest," Kanda said while looking at the two. "Hmm... But Bryan has the advantage." Bargan said. "Yeah, but also Alice. Her weapon is an orange grade, after all. If she could properly utilize its strength then she have a chance to win this match." Kanda said. ... Bryan was standing five meters away from Alice with a smile on his face. He was excited to fight Alice as she was strong. "Prepare yourself, Alice. I will not hold back." Bryan said with a hint of excitement in his voice. "Me too, I will not hold back." Alice nodded. She then took out a small red pipe and it transformed into a spear. It was her orange grade weapon. Bryan''s was just a blue grade gloves. His gloves were black in color and it has five black gems in the back of his palm. Alex looked at the two of them and nodded his head. He opened his mouth and said, "1... 2... 3... Battle start!!" Bryan immediately rushed towards Alice as soon as Alex gave the signal. He pulled back both of his fists and when he arrived in front of her he threw a barrage of punch. Alice took a step back and waved her spear blocking all the punch of Bryan. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! "Huff..." Alice took a deep breath before she lifted up her feet and launched a kick at Bryan''s side. Bang! Bryan crossed his arm beside him and blocked her kick. He opened his palm attempting to grab her feet but Alice already pulled back her feet. ''Bryan is strong... Among all the students here he''s the one that could match up to Souta.'' Alice thought as she gained some distance. She gripped her spear tightly and executed a combat arts that she hasn''t used before. [Triple Stab]!! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Bryan opened his eyes widely. He gritted his teeth and waved his hands quickly to block her attacks. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bryan was surprised by the power of her attacks. He could feel a numbling sensation in his hands. He knew that he couldn''t afford to block her attack. If that''s the case then he would avoid her spear. "Strong... Just like what Souta said." Bryan muttered in a low voice. He smiled and once again dashed towards Alice. Alice calmly looked at Bryan and when he entered her strike zone she stabbed her spear. Swoosh!! Bryan ducked to avoid her spear. He then rolled to the side before he threw himself at her. Alice gripped her spear tightly and clashed against Bryan. Bang! Bang! Bang! Both of them traded blows against each other. From the looks of it, a person wouldn''t think that they were students from mage class. They fought like they were an expert in close-quarter combat. Bang! Bang! Bang! Blow after blow they continued to attack each other. "Ah!" Alice shouted as she executed [Repulsion Kick]. Bang! Bryan flew five meters away before he stabilized himself. He lifted up his head and looked at Alice. Alice also looked at Bryan and she moved her spear at her side while her other hand was in front of her. She then placed her pivot foot in front and her expression calmed down. She exuded a fierce aura as she maintained her position. She waited for Bryan to attack her. Bryan smirked when he saw her like that. He knew that she was preparing to launch a powerful attack. In that case, he will also attack her with his own combat arts. He made a grabbing motion in the air and a flame emerged from his palm. The flame coated his fist. ... ''Oi oi, that''s high-level combat arts!'' Souta was surprised that Bryan knew high-level combat arts. Souta only knew two combat arts and that''s only common arts. To produce flames without using mana. With just this, Souta already guessed that it was a high-level combat art. To create a natural phenomenon without using energy. It can only be achieved by using combat arts. ... "Let''s go!" Bryan said before he charged towards Alice. He clenched his fist which was covered in flames. He then threw it at Alice. "[Blazing Strike]!!" Alice clenched her teeth and executed her own combat arts. "[Berserk Spear]!!" Boom!! Both of their collided and it shook the ground. 49 Semi Finals Boom! The ground shook and a gust of wind swept out as Bryan''s and Alice''s attack collided against each other. Smoke and dust shot up and covered the two. Swoosh! The crowd was waiting for the dust to clear up so that they could see the outcome of the match. They patiently waited while looking at the thick smoke. "Well, that''s not bad." Souta sighed as he shrugged his shoulder. He already knew the outcome of the fight. To think that Alice would put up a fight like that with little words. She exceeded his expectations during this battle. After a few moments, the smoke dissipated and it revealed the two participants. Bryan was standing and his fist was covered in blood, and Alice was lying on the ground. Her breath was ragged as she stared at the ceiling of the training ground. "Huff... I... won..." Bryan said between his breath. He slowly turned his head and looked at Alex. Alex saw Bryan looked at him so he declared that Bryan won the battle. "Hmm... I lose..." Alice muttered in a low voice. She turned her head and looked at Bryan before looking at Souta. She wondered how Bryan going to fight Souta in his current condition. Bryan was exhausted while Souta was still full of energy. Ever since the first match, Souta hasn''t met anyone that could put up a decent fight to him. So it''s natural that he still has a lot of energy left. ... Souta looked at the time and saw that there were still ten minutes left before Bryan''s next match. With this time, Bryan would recover a bit of his strength. Souta delayed his match and he didn''t finish it quickly so that Bryan would recover. He needed Bryan''s strength to probe Brando so that he could widen his understanding of Brando''s power. He already concluded that he would fight Brando in the finals. If Brando was stronger than he expected then the fight would become trouble for him. If not, then he would win the tournament and received the rewards of the quest. If not for the quest then he wouldn''t even bother himself with this kind of tournament. He wouldn''t even receive benefits from winning. He smiled and approached Bryan. "You''re stronger than I expected." "See... I told you before that I''m strong." Bryan said as he showed his muscles. Souta shook his head and turned to Alice. He extended a hand and said, "That was a good fight." Alice looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. She then turned her gaze on his hand. "Don''t hesitate..." Souta said. "Yeah, yeah, you''re strong too Alice!" Bryan said at the side. "Hais..." Alice sighed and took Souta''s hand. "...thanks." Souta shook his head before he helped her stand up. The three chatted for a while as they went to the corner. Alex looked at the three before he said the next match. "It seems that there are quite strong first year in this batch." ... The tournament continued and it entered the semi-final. Bryan won his match and Brando too. These two were going to face each other in the finals. Unexpected things happened, Souta opponent in semis quickly surrendered as soon as the match started. This was outside of his expectations. He planned to delay the battle until the last seconds but his opponent surrendered without putting a fight. Souta glanced at his opponent as he walked towards Alice and Bryan. He will remember his face. Yujin Drune was the name of his opponent. He was also a student of Class 1-B. "Hmm..." Since both of them were classmates, there were a lot of opportunities to interact. He would know something about him in the future. He shook his head and he was greeted by Bryan. "Hoho, you enter the finals Souta! Wait for me and we will fight in the finals!" Bryan said enthusiastically. ''You''re going to lose in your next match and that''s without a doubt.'' Souta thought as he looked at Bryan. He knew that Bryan was exhausted but Bryan was still cheerful despite his condition. "Go..." Souta pushed Bryan''s back. "Right, I''m gonna win this and show you my power," Bryan said as he raised his fist before he went towards the center. "Do you think he will win?" Alice asked while looking at Bryan''s figure. Souta glanced at her. He was surprised for a moment that she took the initiative to talk. He shook his head and answered her question. "No." He looked at her and saw that she wasn''t asking why he thought that Bryan wouldn''t win so he added, "You can think of this. We''re Mage and we''re forbidden to use our mana in this tournament so we have a huge disadvantage. Bryan couldn''t use his mana and he''s clearly tired after your battle. If he''s going to fight without any of those disadvantages then he will probably win this fight." "Then, why?" Alice asked. "Why?" Souta repeated her. "Why are you encouraging him to win even though he won''t win this battle?" Alice elaborated her question. "Hmm... Why..." Souta rubbed his chin and decided to tell her his reason. "It''s because he will help me grasp the strength of his opponent. With his strength, he still could put up a decent fight. Well, it doesn''t matter as I''m going to win in the end." Alice looked at him and saw his carefree expression. She opened her mouth and said, "You''re pretty confident in your strength." "It''s not that I''m confident in my strength. It''s just that I know clearly how powerful am I. I know my weakness and strength so I know if I could defeat someone or not." Souta said as shrugged his shoulder. "Never mind that, the fight is going to start." "Hmm..." ... Bryan was looking at Brando with a serious expression. Even though he said that he was going to win this fight, he still knew that his opponent this time was strong, unlike his previous opponents. Brando was a tall man with a large build. He has short messy brown hair and blue eyes. Some parts of his body have green scales indicating that he was a half-beast. He was armed with a meter silver-colored shield. Just like Bryan''s gloves, his shield was also blue grade. Brandon smiled and said, "I saw your fight before. I will say that you''re strong and it''s making me eager to fight you." "Me too," Bryan said with a smirk. He then clenched his fists tightly. Both of them waited for Alex to start the match. "1... 2... 3... Go!!" Bryan disappeared from his position and instantly appeared in front of Brando. He pulled back his fist and threw it towards Brando. "Ah!!" Brandon was surprised but he quickly reacted by moving his shield. Clang!! When he blocked the punch of Bryan, Brando immediately used his skill [Shield Bash]. Bang!! "Argh!!" Bryan flew away and crashed on the ground. He wiped the blood on his mouth and a shadow covered him. He looked up and saw that Brando was going straight at him. "[Shield Smash]!!" Bryan quickly moved his body sideways to avoid the attack. Boom!! Brando smashed his shield and it hit the ground. Spider web cracks appeared on the ground. Brandon looked up and saw that Bryan was gone. Then, he felt something on his back. He tightened his grip on his shield and waved it behind him. Swoosh!! Unfortunately, Bryan reacted as fast as him so Bryan avoided the shield. "Argh!!" Bryan raised his fist and smashed the ground. Boom! Smoke and dust shot up in the air. "Not good!" Brando quickly waved his shield to disperse the smoke but Bryan was faster than him. "What?!" Brando felt a pair of hands grabbed his waist. He turned around saw that Bryan was grabbing him with a smirk on his face. "I finally got you!" Bryan said with a smile. Bang! Bang! Bang! ... "Hmm... Brando''s going to release his full power." Souta muttered while looking at the two. "What do you mean by that?" Alice asked him. "Do you really think that''s Brando''s full strength? No, that''s not his full strength! In his previous battle, he hasn''t released his full strength, you can see that by seeing how he breathe and how tired he is! In the battle, it''s okay if you overestimate your opponent but you must never underestimate them! It will cause your downfall!" Souta said. "Hmm..." Alice glanced at Souta''s face. After a few moments, she opened her mouth, "Is it coming from your experience or not?" Souta lowered his eyes and looked at her. "You can also say it like that." ... [Shielder''s Aura] Brando emitted a greenish aura. This skill was one of the important combat arts of a shield class. It raised the user''s defense by one hundred percent and damage reduction by twenty percent. Although it was a low-level skill, the effect was higher compared to other high-level skills. Brando turned his eyes to Bryan. He opened his mouth and slowly said, "It would be great if you could use your spell but unfortunately you can''t, so there''s no doubt that you will lose against me." "Hehe, then I can only use my combat arts." Bryan smiled. Even in this situation, he could still smile. "You will not be able to damage with my [Shielder''s Aura] on," Brando stated. 50 Finals "Hmm... I will try if I could learn that skill late." Souta muttered in a low voice while looking at Brando who was emitting a greenish aura. He knew the effect of [Shielder''s Aura], so it will help him in his quest. If he could learn that skill then there''s a possibility that he could learn the skill of other classes. Thinking about other classes, he couldn''t help but recalled Yuko. He would try to learn the skills of Tamer class later. If he learned it then he would be able to launch a combination attack with Yuko. He grinned thinking about Yuko. Alice looked at him and saw him grinning. She wondered why he''s always like that. Grinning without any reason. She shook her head and put those thoughts out of her mind. She focused her attention on the fight before her. ... Bang! Bang! Bang! Bryan fiercely attacked Brando using both of his hands. "Ah!!" He threw several punches and Brando received it without taking any damage. "Stop wasting your time!" Brandon said and he used [Shield Bash] to pushed Bryan away. Bang! "Argh!" Bryan rolled on the ground a few times before he stopped. He opened his eyes and looked at Brando. "I said before that you will not be able to damage me with that kind of attack." Brandon paused for a moment before he added, "I always want to become the greatest shield. I came from the Green Mythril Turtle Family. My family always boasted that they have the toughest body but I''m just a halfling. I don''t have their tough body. I just train nonstop ever since I was a child to become the greatest shield." "Why are you saying this to me?" Bryan asked as he slowly stood up. "I''m just saying this so that you understand that I''m different from your previous opponents. I''m not gifted like other people. I acquired this strength through hard work." Brandon said. "Well, I''m going to start now." As soon as he said those words, he dashed towards Bryan. "Argh!!" Bryan gritted his teeth and he clenched his fist tightly. Flames emerged and coated his fist. "[Blazing Strike]!!" Brandon raised his shield and it emitted a blueish light. "[Titanium Crash]!!" A shield and a first collided causing a shockwave to swept out in the whole area. The floor beneath them cracked and debris of rocks flew away. Boom!! The crowd covered their eyes as they were afraid that dust would go inside their eyes. The teachers and the rankers used their mana to protect them from shockwaves. Boom!! Souta waved his hand and he controlled his mana. His mana protected him and Alice, also the students behind them. "Really powerful..." Souta muttered while looking at this scene. The students here really have strong combat arts while he only had [Dash] and [Stab]. ... Alex looked around and saw that some students didn''t know how to control their mana so he took the initiative to protect them. "What a troublesome first year..." He waved his hand and he emitted a large amount of mana. The mana covered the entire area and protect everyone from the aftershocks of the battle. Souta and the rest who were using their mana stopped when they saw Alex covered the whole battleground with his mana. "What a dense and powerful mana..." Souta muttered. He could see Alex''s mana with his own two eyes. The mana was so dense that he could see it with his own eyes. The teachers here in the Ladro Institute were unfathomable. They were not the teacher of the most famous Institute for nothing. ... [Blazing Strike]!! [Titanium Crash]!! Boom!! The ground continued to shake as the two used their combat arts without minding their surroundings. Boom!! "Argh!!" Bryan was pushed away. Blood flew out of his mouth. ''It''s hard to fight without using mana.'' He thought while looking at Brando. Brando didn''t escape their clashed unscathed. He took a few burn marks in his body but it was not as bad as Bryan''s wounds. "I admire you. If you can only use your mana then you would have a chance to defeat me." Brando said as he slowly walked towards Bryan. Brando stopped in front of Bryan and he slowly raised his shield. "Let''s fight again..." He said as he brought down his shield towards Bryan. Bryan clenched his fist and used [Blazing Strike] once again. Boom!! Shockwave swept out like ripples in the air as both of their attacks collided. "Give up, now," Brando said as he used his strength to push down his shield. "Argh, I will not fall down easily!" Bryan gritted his teeth as he pushed the shield using his fist. ... ''That''s right Bryan, struggle until the end. Tire him out, so that I could defeat him without any efforts.'' Souta looked at the two with a smirk on his face. If he saved more stamina in this tournament, Souta would complete some quest after the class. He doesn''t want to drain his stamina. "Hmm... To think that Bryan would last for a long time is out of my expectations." Souta said. He still couldn''t accurately grasp the strength of Bryan. He looked at Alice and asked, "If you win your fight against Bryan, then how long do you think you can last against Brando?" "You''re not asking me if I could win..." Alice looked at Souta with cold eyes. She couldn''t believe that Souta already assumed that she would lose to Brando. "Yeah, if you could use your mana then I''m going to ask if you could win but unfortunately not," Souta said. "Hmph!" Alice snorted and turned her head away. ... "Fall down!!" Brando roared as he used every strength he has to bring down Bryan. Boom!! A large explosion occurred. It was larger than before as thick smoke blocked the vision of the crowd. The crowd couldn''t see what''s happening. They just waited for the smoke to disperse to see the outcome of the match. ... Bargan closed his eyes and said, "The fight was already finished." "Yeah, that was a good fight." Kanda nodded his head. ... "They showed us some spectacular fight. This shows that some first-year could already pull down those weak second year." Zac said. "You''re weak too." Rein commented at the side. "Oi, I''m the sixth rank so I''m not that weak." Zac smiled wryly as he scratched the back of his head. ... After a few seconds, the smoke slowly dissipated. Everyone saw Brando was still standing holding his shield while Bryan was knocked out. "Huff..." Brando breathed as he looked at Bryan then at Alex. "Brando win the match!!" Alex declared that Brando''s win. Brando smiled and he raised his fist in the air. The crowd clapped because of the great fight he showed. ... Looking at this Souta couldn''t help but smile. He closed his eyes and felt the surroundings. "Okay, I''m next. I''m not going to show any mercy as I''m gonna knock him out as fast as I can." Souta muttered as he crossed his arms. "Can you really do what you said?" Alice asked him. Souta looked at her and said, "If Brando is stronger than what he showed in this fight then I would only have a few problems but I already expect that, but if he''s three times stronger then that''s really a problem." "You really have a lot of confidence in yourself," Alice muttered. "Anyway, you became talkative today, huh?" Souta looked at her with a smile. "..." Alice looked at him with widened eyes before she turned her head. "Don''t mind me, let''s just help Bryan," Souta said as he approached the unconscious Bryan. The clerics also approached Bryan and they checked his condition. After learning that Bryan didn''t receive any grave injuries, Souta left. He let Bryan rest there to recover his strength. ... Souta checked the time and saw that there''s still time before the finals. He turned his head and saw that Brando was trying to recover his strength as fast as possible. "That''s not bad..." He stretched his body to ready himself before the match. Alice took a distance away from Souta as he was the center of everyone''s attention. After all, he was one of the fighters in the finals so a lot of people were eager to watch his fight with Brando. Souta looked at his stamina in the system and saw that he still have a lot left. He would try to reserve his fight in this battle. ... "Get ready, fighters!" Alex''s voice echoed in the whole area. Brando who was resting in the corner opened his eyes. He looked at Souta before he picked up his shield and stood up. Souta saw Brando''s look and he smiled. "He~ it''s already time, huh?" He then walked to the center and faced Brando. The distance between them was five meters. Brando has a serious expression while Souta was looking as if he was amused by what''s happening. "Try to struggle as much as you can," Souta said to Brando. "1... 2... 3... Go!!" 50 Semi finals 2 "Hmm... I will try if I could learn that skill late." Souta muttered in a low voice while looking at Brando who was emitting a greenish aura. He knew the effect of [Shielder''s Aura], so it will help him in his quest. If he could learn that skill then there''s a possibility that he could learn the skill of other classes. Thinking about other classes, he couldn''t help but recalled Yuko. He would try to learn the skills of Tamer class later. If he learned it then he would be able to launch a combination attack with Yuko. He grinned thinking about Yuko. Alice looked at him and saw him grinning. She wondered why he''s always like that. Grinning without any reason. She shook her head and put those thoughts out of her mind. She focused her attention on the fight before her. ... Bang! Bang! Bang! Bryan fiercely attacked Brando using both of his hands. "Ah!!" He threw several punches and Brando received it without taking any damage. "Stop wasting your time!" Brandon said and he used [Shield Bash] to pushed Bryan away. Bang! "Argh!" Bryan rolled on the ground a few times before he stopped. He opened his eyes and looked at Brando. "I said before that you will not be able to damage me with that kind of attack." Brandon paused for a moment before he added, "I always want to become the greatest shield. I came from the Green Mythril Turtle Family. My family always boasted that they have the toughest body but I''m just a halfling. I don''t have their tough body. I just train nonstop ever since I was a child to become the greatest shield." "Why are you saying this to me?" Bryan asked as he slowly stood up. "I''m just saying this so that you understand that I''m different from your previous opponents. I''m not gifted like other people. I acquired this strength through hard work." Brandon said. "Well, I''m going to start now." As soon as he said those words, he dashed towards Bryan. "Argh!!" Bryan gritted his teeth and he clenched his fist tightly. Flames emerged and coated his fist. "[Blazing Strike]!!" Brandon raised his shield and it emitted a blueish light. "[Titanium Crash]!!" A shield and a first collided causing a shockwave to swept out in the whole area. The floor beneath them cracked and debris of rocks flew away. Boom!! The crowd covered their eyes as they were afraid that dust would go inside their eyes. The teachers and the rankers used their mana to protect them from shockwaves. Boom!! Souta waved his hand and he controlled his mana. His mana protected him and Alice, also the students behind them. "Really powerful..." Souta muttered while looking at this scene. The students here really have strong combat arts while he only had [Dash] and [Stab]. ... Alex looked around and saw that some students didn''t know how to control their mana so he took the initiative to protect them. "What a troublesome first year..." He waved his hand and he emitted a large amount of mana. The mana covered the entire area and protect everyone from the aftershocks of the battle. Souta and the rest who were using their mana stopped when they saw Alex covered the whole battleground with his mana. "What a dense and powerful mana..." Souta muttered. He could see Alex''s mana with his own two eyes. The mana was so dense that he could see it with his own eyes. The teachers here in the Ladro Institute were unfathomable. They were not the teacher of the most famous Institute for nothing. ... [Blazing Strike]!! [Titanium Crash]!! Boom!! The ground continued to shake as the two used their combat arts without minding their surroundings. Boom!! "Argh!!" Bryan was pushed away. Blood flew out of his mouth. ''It''s hard to fight without using mana.'' He thought while looking at Brando. Brando didn''t escape their clashed unscathed. He took a few burn marks in his body but it was not as bad as Bryan''s wounds. "I admire you. If you can only use your mana then you would have a chance to defeat me." Brando said as he slowly walked towards Bryan. Brando stopped in front of Bryan and he slowly raised his shield. "Let''s fight again..." He said as he brought down his shield towards Bryan. Bryan clenched his fist and used [Blazing Strike] once again. Boom!! Shockwave swept out like ripples in the air as both of their attacks collided. "Give up, now," Brando said as he used his strength to push down his shield. "Argh, I will not fall down easily!" Bryan gritted his teeth as he pushed the shield using his fist. ... ''That''s right Bryan, struggle until the end. Tire him out, so that I could defeat him without any efforts.'' Souta looked at the two with a smirk on his face. If he saved more stamina in this tournament, Souta would complete some quest after the class. He doesn''t want to drain his stamina. "Hmm... To think that Bryan would last for a long time is out of my expectations." Souta said. He still couldn''t accurately grasp the strength of Bryan. He looked at Alice and asked, "If you win your fight against Bryan, then how long do you think you can last against Brando?" "You''re not asking me if I could win..." Alice looked at Souta with cold eyes. She couldn''t believe that Souta already assumed that she would lose to Brando. "Yeah, if you could use your mana then I''m going to ask if you could win but unfortunately not," Souta said. "Hmph!" Alice snorted and turned her head away. ... "Fall down!!" Brando roared as he used every strength he has to bring down Bryan. Boom!! A large explosion occurred. It was larger than before as thick smoke blocked the vision of the crowd. The crowd couldn''t see what''s happening. They just waited for the smoke to disperse to see the outcome of the match. ... Bargan closed his eyes and said, "The fight was already finished." "Yeah, that was a good fight." Kanda nodded his head. ... "They showed us some spectacular fight. This shows that some first-year could already pull down those weak second year." Zac said. "You''re weak too." Rein commented at the side. "Oi, I''m the sixth rank so I''m not that weak." Zac smiled wryly as he scratched the back of his head. ... After a few seconds, the smoke slowly dissipated. Everyone saw Brando was still standing holding his shield while Bryan was knocked out. "Huff..." Brando breathed as he looked at Bryan then at Alex. "Brando win the match!!" Alex declared that Brando''s win. Brando smiled and he raised his fist in the air. The crowd clapped because of the great fight he showed. ... Looking at this Souta couldn''t help but smile. He closed his eyes and felt the surroundings. "Okay, I''m next. I''m not going to show any mercy as I''m gonna knock him out as fast as I can." Souta muttered as he crossed his arms. "Can you really do what you said?" Alice asked him. Souta looked at her and said, "If Brando is stronger than what he showed in this fight then I would only have a few problems but I already expect that, but if he''s three times stronger then that''s really a problem." "You really have a lot of confidence in yourself," Alice muttered. "Anyway, you became talkative today, huh?" Souta looked at her with a smile. "..." Alice looked at him with widened eyes before she turned her head. "Don''t mind me, let''s just help Bryan," Souta said as he approached the unconscious Bryan. The clerics also approached Bryan and they checked his condition. After learning that Bryan didn''t receive any grave injuries, Souta left. He let Bryan rest there to recover his strength. ... Souta checked the time and saw that there''s still time before the finals. He turned his head and saw that Brando was trying to recover his strength as fast as possible. "That''s not bad..." He stretched his body to ready himself before the match. Alice took a distance away from Souta as he was the center of everyone''s attention. After all, he was one of the fighters in the finals so a lot of people were eager to watch his fight with Brando. Souta looked at his stamina in the system and saw that he still have a lot left. He would try to reserve his fight in this battle. ... "Get ready, fighters!" Alex''s voice echoed in the whole area. Brando who was resting in the corner opened his eyes. He looked at Souta before he picked up his shield and stood up. Souta saw Brando''s look and he smiled. "He~ it''s already time, huh?" He then walked to the center and faced Brando. The distance between them was five meters. Brando has a serious expression while Souta was looking as if he was amused by what''s happening. "Try to struggle as much as you can," Souta said to Brando. "1... 2... 3... Go!!" 51 Finals "Try to struggle as much as you can! Let me see your strength or else you will fall easily!" Souta said to Brando. Naturally, Brando wasn''t the only one who heard his words, the audience too heard his words. "Oi oi, that''s some cheeky first year," Zac said then he recalled a certain individual. He turned his head to Rein and said, "You remind me of him. You''re trash talker too, right?" "Don''t compare me to him! You scumbag!" Rein said with an annoyed tone. "Ah~ I can''t wait to see it~" Zac turned his head and saw that Yanagi, the number one, was still here. It seems that she''s much more excited than usual. "Don''t tell me..." He turned his head and looked at the two contestants of the finals. ... "Hahaha, so he''s like that!" Kanda laughed when he heard Souta''s words. "Hmm... I''m still not familiar with my students so I don''t know much about their personality." Bargan said as he closed his eyes. ... "Hais..." Souta sighed when he heard the audience started to murmur. He could hear some of them were saying some mean things to him. "I''m just saying the truth why won''t they believe it... Anyway..." Souta grinned at Brando. He slightly bent his knees and crouched on the ground. He looked at Brando and said, "Be prepared! You don''t know what will happen next!" Brando was looking at Souta with a frown on his face. He wanted to rush towards him but his intuition was telling him that''s not a good idea. Something was wrong about this Souta. He tightened his guard as he observed Souta''s every movement. Then... He widened his eyes as Souta instantly appeared in front of him. He tried to raise his shield but Souta was faster than him. ''My body''s to slow to follow his movements.'' He thought. The plus 200 agility and dexterity of the [Vajra Sword Saya] wasn''t for display. If he displayed the full speed of his stats then only a few first years would be able to follow his movements, but that''s only followed him with their eyes as their body and reflexes were to slow to follow him. "He~" Souta opened his palm and grabbed Brando''s face. "Fall down." He then smashed Brando on the ground. Boom!! "Go!" Souta tightened his grip on Brando''s face. He raised him once again before he smashed him on the ground. Boom!! "Ha!" Souta''s muscles bulge out and he threw Brando in the air. He then followed him in the air. "I told you to prepare!" Souta said as he raised his arm in the air before he brought it down smashing Brando. Swoosh!! Boom!! "Argh!" Brando crashed on the ground creating a small crater. He spat a mouthful of blood. Souta wouldn''t stop at all. He''s going straight to Brando intending to destroy him. Bang! As soon as his punch landed on Brando''s face, he quickly took a distance away. It was because he saw that Brando used the [Shielder''s Aura]. ... "He hasn''t used any combat arts at all. His abilities were surprising." Kanda was surprised when he saw this. He finally understood why Souta had the guts to say something like that before the match. "Not just his abilities. He does everything with absolute confidence and you can see it in his face." Bargan said as he looked at Souta''s smirk. ... "He''s more on the fighter side. He''s not using any flashy combat arts. He''s a textbook fighter." Zac said while looking at Souta. To be frank, if he didn''t know that Souta was a mage he would think that he''s from the fighter class. "Ah, beautiful." He heard Yanagi''s voice at his side. He rubbed his temple and thought that this would become a problem. Every person that she got interested in was destroyed to the point that they quit the institute and hole up in their room. The only one who persisted until the end was Rein, the rank number two. ''I wonder what will you do once Yanagi pursue you...'' Zac thought while looking at Souta. ... "That''s why I surrendered..." Yujin, the one who surrendered before fighting Souta, said. He had a feeling that Souta''s physical abilities exceeded those of the other class and it''s true. His decision wasn''t wrong at all, if he fought Souta then he would suffer great injuries. He wasn''t a fighter but a swordsman who''s using magic. It would be inconvenient for him if he would fight without using magic. He''s also not the type of person to fight even if they saw that they don''t have a chance to win. He will only fight someone if he saw that he have a fifty percent chance to win, lower than that he wouldn''t bother himself. ... Brando stood up as he wiped the blood on the mouth. He looked at Souta and said, "You will not be able to damage me without using combat arts." "Ah, is that so? Let me tell you something. You''re much slower than I am so you wouldn''t be able to avoid my attack." Souta said as he opened his palm looking at Brando with an amused expression. "I don''t need to avoid your attack," Brando said. He''s talking so much so that he could recover a little bit of his strength. He wanted to avoid direct confrontation with his current condition. "It''s true that with your [Shielder''s Aura] most of my will be ineffective, but it''s not that you''re not taking any damage at all. If my punches before were damaging you forty, then with your skill on you only took five damage. Do you know what it means?" Souta knew what Brando was doing. He''s just letting him do what he wants, for now. "I don''t..." Brando replied. "It means that if I punch you hundred times using that five damage then the damage you took would accumulate to the point that you couldn''t handle it. Also if I just targeted your head then do you think you can hold out a hundred punches only aiming at your head." Souta pointed at his head as he patiently explained what he was saying to Brando. "..." Brando didn''t know what to say anymore. He knew that Souta''s words were right. The difference in their speed was large. He could follow Souta with his eyes but his large body was too slow to react, so even if he could see Souta''s movements it was pointless if he couldn''t even defend. "Okay, let''s stop talking, I will start now." Souta shrugged his shoulder and he started to walk towards Brando. Brando tensed his muscle and expand his senses. He took a deep breath and braced himself. The whole training ground was devoid of any sounds as no one dared to talk. They just focused their attention on Souta. Tap! Tap! Tap! Souta''s footsteps echoed as he slowly walked towards Brando. Souta opened his mouth and slowly said, "Actually, I don''t want to use this at all but I don''t have a choice now, do I?" Brando subconsciously took a step back. He then saw that Souta was already gone. "Wha-" Swoosh!! "I''m here..." Souta appeared behind Brando. He grabbed the handle of the [Vajra Sword Saya] and pulled it out of its scabbard. Shiing!! He quickly slashed Brando''s back using the [Vajra Sword Saya]. Putchi!! "Argh!!" A large cut appeared on Brando''s back. His blood flew in the air and some splattered on the ground. Souta quickly sheathed his sword. He looked around him. It seems that some people with sharp eyes saw the abilities of his sword. He pulled out his sword and placed it as fast as he could but he couldn''t escape the eyes of those powerful teachers. Some of them would gain some idea about his sword. Souta turned around and walked away. Alex then declared the winner of the tournament. At the same time, Souta heard a familiar sound in his head. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the Tournament Quest!] [You''ve received 5,000 exp, 2 free attribute points, and 1 skill point!] ''Nice, a skill point!'' Souta was glad that he received skill point in this quest. Although it was only one, it was still better than none. It didn''t matter to him if he doesn''t receive exp or attribute points. There were many ways to earn exp. Just farm outside the city and you will earn a huge amount of exp. That''s also the case for attribute points. Just find some rare fruits or potions to increase your attributes. But skill points were different, it could only be earned by completing a quest. ... "To think that everyone forgot his sword," Kanda said. He was the teacher of the Sword Class 2-C, so he instantly guessed just from one slash how proficient Souta in using the sword. "Yeah, it''s the first time he used his sword, and you see it too, right?" Bargan said. "Yeah, that''s not an ordinary sword. It could pierce through the [Shielder''s Aura] like a thin paper." Kanda nodded. He looked down at the sword that was hanging on his waist. He felt that the quality of Souta''s sword was higher than his sword. "What about his sword skills?" Bargan asked. "It''s high... I couldn''t even believe that he enroll in the mage class. His sword skill is already at the level of my students." Kanda said in disbelief. In terms of proficiency in using sword skill, Souta was without a doubt higher than any first-year students. After all, Souta''s [Sword Mastery] was level two. 52 Another Day The audience slowly left the training ground as the tournament was finished. They remembered those students who showed great potential in this tournament. They won''t forget it. The ranking was going to start soon and the second and third year couldn''t wait to see who''s going to rise in the first year batch. Only the students of Shield Class and Mage Class were left in the training ground. Alex gave Souta the authority to do anything wanted in his subject. He could even skip the class and only participate in the exams. Right now, the students of Mage Class and Shield Class have a bit of understanding to each other after the tournament so they would grow closer in the future. ... Alex said something about their next class before he dismissed the class. Souta stood up and patted his clothes. He looked around and saw Bryan in the back. "Come on Alice, let''s check Bryan," Souta said to Alice before he walked towards Bryan. Alice reluctantly followed behind him. ... "Are you okay?" Souta asked Bryan who just woke up from his deep sleep. "Yeah, it''s just hard to move my body," Bryan replied as he tried to move his arms. "Remember to rest, you will join me in my quest this weekend, right?" Souta said to him so that Bryan wouldn''t do any reckless stuff. "Ah, I forgot about that! Don''t worry, I will be back into full force at that time!" Bryan said with a smile. Souta turned his head and looked at Alice. He asked her. "Do you want to join us, Alice?" "...I''m not an adventurer." Alice hesitated before she answered him. "It doesn''t matter," Souta said. "Well, I won''t force you if you really don''t want." "Hello!" A voice came behind them causing them to turn their head. They saw Brando standing beside them. "What do you want? Do you want another match?" Bryan said carefully. He was alerted by the sudden appearance of his opponent who defeated him. "Childish!" Alice commented at the side. "I''m Brando Hylott, I will train harder and defeat you the next time we fight, Souta," Brando said with a smile as he raised his fist and clenched it tightly. Souta looked at Brando before he smirked. "Good, I will wait for it." "Me too, I will beat the two of you next time." Bryan joined them. "Haha, you can come at me anytime you want." Souta laughed. "I will go now, see you later." Brando bid farewell to them before he left. Souta looked at Brando''s back and said, "He''s the same as you, Bryan." "Huh? Same?" Bryan didn''t understand what he was saying. "Forget about it, you wouldn''t understand even if I tell you." Souta shrugged. He turned his eyes to Alice and said, "He ignored you, you know?" "Huh?" It was Alice turn to be surprised. "Why would that matter?" "You don''t get it, he didn''t ignore me and Bryan so it means that he acknowledged our strength but you..." Souta said as he raised his finger and shook it in front of her. "So you''re telling that I''m weak." Alice''s tone turned colder. "Haha, I''m not, Brando is the one. So train and defeat him next time." Souta laughed. They talked for a while before they left the institute. ... Souta went to the market first to buy something for Yuko. There''s still some time left so he would try to finish some lower rank quest. He gave Yuko the food he bought in the market before the went towards the Adventurers Guild. He picked up some herb picking quest and finished it quickly. He went back to the inn when the sky was already dark. He placed the [Vajra Sword Saya] in the corner of the room before he lay down on the bed. "Ah~ I''m tired." Souta gazed at the ceiling as he stretched his body across the bed. It really feels good to lay down on a soft bed if you''re tired. "The next thing I will do is to fulfill the requirements for the second evolution." This weekend Bryan will join his party and help him complete the requirements under the guise of Adventurer''s Quest. Both of them will travel to the place between Melosa Country and Hebrei Kingdom. The journey will take one and a half-day before they arrived there. The place between Melosa Country and Hebrei Kingdom was a forest called Desolate Woods. It became a battlefield when Melosa Country waged a war against Hebrei Kingdom. On the outskirts of the Desolate Woods was dry land. It was in that place when Bargan singlehandedly pushed back the army of Melosa Country. That time Bargan''s name shook the whole kingdom. He was later called the Fire Master as his fire magic was too powerful that it could even destroy a city. He needed Bryan''s help to get the Rotten Venomous Green Apple. This apple was very lethal to those level 20 and below but since it''s in the requirements he doesn''t need to worry about the effect. The apple was inside the low-level dungeon there and it was guarded by a powerful undead. The dungeon wasn''t entirely a low-level dungeon, its difficultly hover between the low-level and mid-level dungeon. It was because of the boss of the dungeon. If he wasn''t wrong it was the level 30 Undead Cyclops. The other requirement for his next evolution was the flesh of level 20 and above undead. Since the boss of the dungeon was a level 30 undead, he doesn''t need to worry about the requirements. "It''s time for the second evolution." Souta couldn''t help but grin about his next evolution. It''s still version 1 but he could exceed level 20. He guessed that he could reach level 30 before version 1 end. The demon would start to appear in the early part of version 2 and some countries would fight among each other. It would start to get chaotic in version 2. But since he could exceed the level cap there''s nothing to worry about. Level 40 was enough to finish the quest in the upcoming version that''s why the level cap of version 2 was 40. If a player exceeded level 40 then they would easily finish the quest of version 2. But he joined the Mechanic Country in the game when it was still in version 1. He hasn''t left the Mechanic Country until the latest version that''s the reason why he became the commander of Mechanic Country. Almost half of the quest that he did in the game was related to the Mechanic Country. He became the commander because of his deeds when the Mechanic Country expand their territory in the three neighboring countries. ... The next morning, Souta went downstairs to have breakfast. After that, he fed Yuko her breakfast before he went straight to the institute. It''s still early so he went to the cafeteria and bought coffee. "Hu~" He went to the classroom and drink his coffee there. After a few minutes, Bryan and Alice arrived. "You''re early, Souta!" Bryan said. "Yeah, good morning!" Souta nodded and greeted the two. "Morning," Alice replied as she sat down in her seat beside Souta. Souta turned to Bryan and asked, "How''s your injury?" "Well, as you can see..." Bryan smiled as he flexed his muscle. "...I''m fine!" "Be prepared. We will meet at the Adventurers Guild tomorrow morning." Souta said. "Okay." Bryan nodded. "Ah, remember to go there 6 am. I will leave you behind if I found that you''re not there." Souta added. "What?! You will leave me behind! How can you do that to your friend!" Bryan exclaimed loudly causing their classmates to turned their heads to look at him. "Don''t mind him, he''s just hit his head." Souta smiled wryly and said to his classmates. "Hais..." Souta sighed and took a sip of his coffee. "At least, the coffee here is good, just the right taste for my taste bud." He closed his eyes and silently enjoy the taste of the coffee. He heard Bryan was talking to his seatmate. Bryan was a straightforward type of person. He then slowly opened his eyes and glanced at Alice who was beside him. Alice was silently looking outside the windows while supporting her head with her hand. "Silent type, huh?" He muttered before he took another sip of the coffee. "Good." After a few minutes, Bargan came and started the class. The students listened carefully to Bargan''s lectures. While Souta was looking at the words that Bargan wrote on the blackboard, he heard something. Souta looked over and saw that Bryan was sleeping in the middle of the class. It seems that he''s still tired because of the battle yesterday, so he didn''t bother Bryan and let him sleep there. Souta went back to listened to Bargan. Bargan also was ignoring Bryan as he continued his lectures. But... There''s one classmate that couldn''t tolerate this kind of behavior. "Excuse me, Teacher Bargan but Bryan is sleeping." Lumilia pointed at Bryan. "Haha." Souta laughed lightly as he guessed what type of person Lumilia is. 53 Hunters The next day, Souta woke up early in the morning. He quickly went to the bathroom to wash his face, then he went downstairs to have breakfast. After that, Souta went to the ranch to fed Yuko. "We''re going out, Yuko. I will introduce you to my classmate." Souta said while looking at Yuko who was eating her breakfast. "Mu." Yuko looked at him for a second before she went back to eat her food. Souta smiled looking at her. ... Souta and Yuko arrived in the Adventurers Guild and found that Bryan was already there waiting for him. "Yo! Bryan!" Souta called Bryan while he raised his hand. "Oh! Souta... W-What''s that?" Bryan said while pointing at the huge bear behind Souta. "This... She''s Yuko, my partner." Souta said. "Don''t tell me... Your the rumored Tamer!" Bryan said while looking at Yuko. "Ah! Hmm... Yeah." Souta could only nod his head. He tried to recall if there were any other tamer in this city and found none in his memory. Most of the tamer could be found in Ambrosie. Ambrosie was a powerful country that was situated in the north of the Forest of Light. It was a country were people didn''t discriminate monsters as most of them were tamers. This was also the reason why other countries, who suffered from the monster tide, were isolating the country. They tried to bring down the Ambrosie many times but unfortunately for them, Ambrosie''s army was extremely powerful. "Ooh! I didn''t think that you''re a tamer, at all." Bryan said in amazement as his mouth turned into an "O" shape. Souta noticed that the Adventurers Guild was strangely quiet this time. He asked Bryan about this. "Ah! I think someone said that the hunters are here!" Bryan replied. "Hunters..." Souta rubbed his chin. He looked at Bryan and asked, "Are you sure that it''s the hunters?" "I don''t. I only heard it while standing here." Bryan tilted his head. "Okay, wait for me here!" Souta said before he approached one adventurer. "Can you tell me what''s happening?" He asked the adventurer. "There''s a sighting of Basilisk with monster orb near the city so the hunters came here to subjugate that monster." The adventurer said. "Thank you!" Souta thanked the adventurer before he turned about but the adventurer called him. "Hey!" Souta turned around and looked at the adventurer. "Is there something wrong?" "You''re a tamer, right?" The adventurer asked Souta. "Yeah." Souta nodded in response to his question. "Be careful. Don''t offend them. The hunters have deep hatred on the monsters. One wrong move and they will kill your pet." The adventurer warned him. "Okay, thanks for the warning. If they come at Yuko then..." Souta''s voice turned colder. "... I will kill them all." ... Souta went back to Bryan. "Let''s go!" He said as he picked up his luggage. "Yosh!" Bryan raised his fist up in the air. Yuko just followed behind Souta without making any sound. ''Hmm... Should I try to hunt that Basilisk? But... with this force, I don''t think it''s possible.'' Souta thought as he turned his head to look at Bryan and Yuko. All the monster that gained monster orb was level 40 and above. The beast energy the monster orb produced was extremely potent to the point that it could kill an ordinary human or demi(level 1-5) just by making contact with the beast energy. It was poisonous to those lower life forms. It was one of the reasons why those countries tried to exterminate monsters. No ordinary human or demi could escape alive once they made a contact with level 40 monster. ''Even if we could hunt it. There''s no time left because the hunters could leave the Adventurers Guild anytime.'' Souta thought. He doesn''t have time to deal with level 40 monster as it will need a lot of time and preparation to hunt it. Also, the hunters will get angry at him if he stole their job. It will give them a reason to trouble him. The hunters were a specialist in dealing monster. They were the force of Adventurers Guild that only took the monster subjugation quest. To become a hunter a person needed to become a Rank B adventurer. In other words, each one of them was powerful in their own right. It''s not something that a monster who only undergo first evolution like him could handle. The hunters were also the problem of the monster character players in the game. The hunters chased those players until they die. It was also the reason why monster players banded together and attack the main guild of the Adventurers Guild in the Nivari Kingdom. It was chaotic in the Nivari Kingdom at that time as the players killed every NPC they saw. It only stopped when the S Rank Adventurer annihilated the players. Souta shook his head and removed those thoughts in his mind. Right now, his priority was to complete the requirements of his second evolution. "Say, Souta. Where would we go now?" Bryan asked him with an excited expression. "The Desolate Woods," Souta replied. "Eh!!" Bryan exclaimed then he asked, "What it is?" "Hais..." Souta sighed he then said, "The forest between Hebrei Kingdom and Melosa Country." "That''s it!" Bryan said as he understood where they would go. He then tilted his head and looked at Souta. "Isn''t that place pretty far?" "Yeah, that''s why we would miss the class if we took longer than what I expect," Souta said. "Ehhh! I don''t want to miss the class! Come let''s go finish it quickly!" ... Yesterday, Souta took the escort quest to the village near the Desolate Woods, so they don''t need to walk. They have a smooth journey as they didn''t encounter any bandits on the way. It took them one and a half-day before they arrived in the Dry Gulch Town. Dry Gulch Town was the largest town in this area. It has more than ten thousand population. Many humans and demi visited this place and some huge corporations even went their way here to sell their merchandise. Since this town wasn''t part of any country or kingdom, the merchants used this chance to expand their business here. The tax here was lower compared to those huge countries and kingdoms. They would export products from other countries to this town, so it''s not easy to guess why this town was more advanced than other towns. "Oh? So this is the Dry Gulch Town!" Bryan exclaimed when he saw the bustling town. There were people everywhere and shops. It looks like a city than a town. A lot of people turned their heads to looked at him. It was rare to see a tamer in this place. All of them focused their attention on the group of one human, one demi, and one monster. "It''s nice, right?" Souta said as he stepped forward and entered the town. He ignored the gazes of the people around him. "Let''s go!" Bryan was excited as he rushed forward. "Let''s check in an inn first," Souta said to Bryan. Bryan turned his head and said, "I know." Both of them checked in an inn and left their luggage there before they went inside the Adventurers Guild. The Adventurers Guild looks the same as the one in Ladros City. They have the same looks and materials, and even the interior part of the building was the same as the one in Ladros City. Souta opened the door and looked inside the guild. The saw many round tables that were full of different people laughing and chatting. Some of them were looking at the quest finding a quest suitable for them, and the others were talking to the receptionist. Souta and Bryan stepped inside the guild. Some of the people glanced at them while the others didn''t bother looking at them. They knew that a lot of different people came in and out of the Adventurers Guild. "First, we need to let the receptionist record our quest," Souta said as he fall in line. "Okay." Bryan nodded and followed him. They needed the receptionist to record the escort quest that they completed. It will help them have a good record in their Adventurers ID. It will increase their completion rate and some of the people will personally make a quest for them. Just like some of the nobles that have personal adventurers. Those nobles didn''t make a request to the guild but they instead personally request those adventurers that they trust. The rewards of their quest were much higher than normal, so a lot of adventurers wanted a noble to hire them. ... Souta and Bryan sat down in a vacant chair. Souta noticed that some of the adventurers were acting strangely. They were restless while talking about something. Bryan wasn''t that sensitive in his surrounding so he doesn''t have any idea about the strange atmosphere. "Wait here!" Souta said to Bryan before he stopped up and approached the table beside him. "Did something happen here?" Souta asked the three adventurers. The three adventurers looked at Souta before they looked at each other. "You know there''s a sighting of Mystical Light Cherry." "What?!" Souta exclaimed loudly when he heard the words "Mystical Light Cherry". 54 Mystical Light Cherry "What?!" Souta was surprised when he heard when the words "Mystical Light Fruit". He looked at the three adventurers and once again asked if it''s really the Mystical Light Fruit. The three adventurers looked at each other for a second before they replied. "Well, you see... It''s just a rumor but we think that it''s true." The one in the center looked around and carefully said, "You see... A lot of higher rank adventurers are gathering here so it''s probably true. Even some nobles from Melosa Country are here." "I see... " Souta nodded at them and once again asked them. "So, can you tell me where they saw the Mystical Light Cherry?" "Desolate Woods." They answered his question in a simple way. "Okay, thanks for telling me." Souta thanked them before he left. ... Souta rubbed his chin and pondered what he should do. It was probably true that the Mystical Light Cherry was in the Desolate Woods. If those nobles were involved here then they must have silenced the one who saw it and spread the words. Since the person who saw it was nowhere to be found, the other people thought that it was just a rumor with no clear evidence. It will be hard dealing with those nobles but since they came from the Melosa Country, Souta wouldn''t hold back at all if they bothered him. The nobles from Melosa Country were hard to deal if he was staying in the Melosa Country, but since he was staying in Hebrei Kingdom and the distance between them was huge, he doesn''t need to worry about them causing trouble for him. His priority right now was to get the Rotten Venomous Green Apple. If he had energy left after he acquired the fruit then he wouldn''t mind taking the Mystical Light Cherry for himself. Also, Bryan and Yuko were here with him so he could probably save more stamina in completing that low-level dungeon. He needed to save his strength if he wanted to compete for the Mystical Light Cherry. The battle for the cherry was going to get chaotic as nobles were involved. Mystical Light Cherry was a type of fruit called Mana Fruit. It could greatly enhance the consumer''s mana capacity and mana manipulation. The consumer''s senses over mana will increase greatly. If Souta wasn''t wrong, the Mystical Light Cherry could increase a person''s mana capacity by one hundred and also level up the mana manipulation skill by one. The only problem was that a person will only receive the full benefits of the fruit if they consumed it for the first time. If someone who ate the fruit before consumed the cherry then they will only receive half of the benefits. For subsequent use, the effect of the fruit will lessen until a person wouldn''t receive any benefits. ... Souta left the Adventurers Guild and saw Bryan and Yuko waiting for him. "What did you do?" Bryan asked him curiously. "I just talk to some adventurers there," Souta replied. "I know that. I see you talking to them for a while so I decided to wait outside. Say, what are you talking about?" Bryan asked him. "I''m just gathering information about our quest," Souta answered him. "Yosh! So how is it? I''m ready to depart any time to complete the quest." Bryan said with an excited expression. "We''re departing tomorrow morning. We just arrived here, so we need to rest first then we can go all out tomorrow." Souta said. "Aw! Why? I wanted to complete it soon. I don''t want to skip class you know." Bryan complained. "It''s important to rest," Souta said and he called Yuko. Souta and Yuko walked away. Bryan looked at them as he dropped his shoulders. He reluctantly followed behind them. He doesn''t know what quest it is so he couldn''t complete it alone. If he only knew the quest then he would go out to complete it this night. The three of them went back to the inn. Bryan and Souta sat in the vacant table before they ordered their food. "Enjoy yourself, sir!" The waitress said as she placed the food that they ordered on top of their table. ""Thanks!!"" Souta and Bryan thanked her at the same time. Souta looked at the food and placed his palm together. "Thanks for the meal!" "Oho! It looks delicious!" Bryan said while looking at the meal with stars in his eyes. He licked his lips before he began to eat his food. Souta looked at Bryan and said, "We will go to the Desolate Woods 6am, so wake up early. We will investigate the outskirt of the woods to see if there is something wrong." "Why?" Bryan looked at him with a question mark all over his head. He couldn''t understand why they need to investigate the woods first. "To see how many opponents we have and also to see the danger lies in the woods. We don''t even know how powerful our competitors." Souta explained to Bryan. Bryan could only nod his head. He couldn''t understand what Souta was saying. "Hais..." Souta sighed and he pinched his nose bridge. He knew that Bryan didn''t understand him. He just needed to keep Bryan and once the battle started that''s Bryan''s stage. Bryan could help him greatly in battles. He lifted up his head and looked at Bryan. "I will count on you when the battle started." "Yeah, you can count on me!" Bryan said as he patted his chest. Souta and Bryan finished their meal before they went to their own room to rest. Souta stretched his body and took off his clothes. He then lied down on the soft bed. He looked at the ceiling and took a deep breath. He relaxed his muscles and he slowly felt tired. "Ahhh~" Souta yawned as drowsiness hit him. He placed the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his side before he closed his eyes and fell asleep. ... Souta woke up before 5am. He sat up and looked around the room. It was still dark outside. "Ahh~" He stood up and he stretched his body. He crouched down and did some exercise. After that, Souta went to the bathroom and washed the sweat on his body. ... "Ho~ that was a good bath," Souta exclaimed. He picked up a towel and used it to dry his hair. He then went downstairs and ordered a meal for his breakfast. Souta heard someone coming down. He turned his head and found that it was Bryan. "Yo! Bryan!" Souta greeted him. "Good morning, Souta!" Bryan replied and he sat down in the seat opposite of Souta. "Your early, huh?" Souta said. "Yeah, I always woke up before six," Bryan said. He was used to waking up early. "What was it called again?" "Body clock," Souta said. "Yeah, that''s right! It''s body clock!" Bryan nodded at him. "Here''s your order sir!" The waitress came. She quietly placed his order on the table. "Okay, thank you!" Souta thanked her. Bryan looked at Souta''s meal and asked, "Where''s mine?" "Huh?" Souta looked at him with a confused expression. "Where''s mine?" Bryan repeated what he said. "Huh? You just came here! Why are you thinking that I would order a meal for you?" Souta asked him. "Eh? You didn''t?" Bryan looked surprised at Souta''s words. "Of course, why would I bother myself to order your meal if I don''t even know what time will you wake up?" Souta said as if it was expected. He picked up the spoon and began to eat his meal. "Ehhhh?!" Bryan had no choice but to accept his defeat. He ordered a meal for one person with his shoulder dropped. ... After they finished having breakfast, they went to Yuko to give her her breakfast. Souta was holding a cup of coffee while looking at Yuko who was eating her breakfast. He took a sip and looked in the sky. The sun was already shining brightly in the sky. "Hmm... I feel that something is going to happen." He muttered while looking at the blue sky. "Oho! Yuko''s quite a good eater!" Bryan said as he continued to give Yuko a slice of meat. He was clearly having fun as Yuko ate every meat he threw at her. "You''re having too much fun," Souta said to Bryan. "What''s wrong with that?" Bryan replied. His focus was still on Yuko. "Hais... You know that you need the owner''s permission if you want to play with his pet." Souta said as he took a sip and glanced at Bryan. "Ehhh?!! Is that so?!" Bryan exclaimed as he turned his head and looked at Souta with widened eyes. "Hmm... I guess so." Souta smiled and he didn''t further explain it to him. "Hurry up with that. We''ll go now." "O-Okay!!" Bryan replied. ... After 30 minutes... "Yosh! Let''s go!!" Bryan shouted with both of his hands above his head. "Hmm!" Souta smirked as he walked forward. "Mu." Yuko followed behind Souta. The three of them walked to the direction of the Desolate Woods. 55 Encounter in the Desolate Woods "So this is the Desolate Woods," Bryan muttered while looking at the vast forest in front of him. "Yeah. Be careful a lot of powerful monsters inhabited this forest." Souta said to Bryan. "Yeah, yeah." Bryan nodded. "First, we will scout the outer area of the forest," Souta said. "Come, follow me." He walked forward and entered the forest. "Okay." Bryan nodded and he followed Souta while looking at his surroundings. Yuko was also observing the surrounding around her. Her senses were higher than a human and a goblin. Her level was also higher than Souta and she was in her second evolution, so it''s not that surprising if her stats were higher than Souta. When Souta met her for the first time, he knew that this bear was much stronger than him. Her stats were clearly higher than him and he was exhausted at that time because he ran over 600 km that day. In fact, Yuko would be able to kill him that day if she only used her trait skill. He didn''t have much stamina to move his body that day. She just underestimated him and it caused her downfall. Souta''s group walked for a few minutes before Souta stopped. Souta looked at them and raised his hand signaling them to stop. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Bryan asked curiously. "Shh!!" Souta placed his finger on his mouth and he pointed at the bushes twenty meters away from them. Bryan looked ahead and saw a two meters tall spider. The giant spider had eight sharp-pointed limbs. It has a hard exoskeleton that looks like a metal plate and its color was glossy black. It shone brightly as the sun rays hit the exoskeleton. "What''s that?" Bryan asked in a low voice while looking at the giant spider. "Grr..." Yuko growled in a low voice. She felt danger coming out of that giant spider. "That''s a Black Tusk Spider," Souta said and he explained to them what it is. Black Tusk Spider was a powerful monster that inhabited the Desolate Woods. The spider hunted their prey using their sharp limbs. They rarely used their web in battle as they mostly used it in building their nest. Their level was between 20 and 39, just like Yuko, a Red Fur Bear, the Black Tusk Spider was a second evolve species. Souta explained to them that it was most likely a male Black Tusk Spider because of its size. The female Black Tusk Spider was larger than the male ones. It was also stronger and it possessed traits that males don''t have. "So what should we do?" Bryan asked. "Wait here for a while. I will scout the area first. If it''s the only monster here then were gonna hunt it." Souta said. "Okay." Bryan nodded his head. "Yuko, you also wait here." Souta looked at Yuko. He then turned at Bryan and added, "If I attack it then you can also start attacking." "Okay." Bryan nodded. "Good." Souta was satisfied that Bryan was following his command. He was worried that Bryan would suddenly attack the spider but fortunately, he was worried for nothing. Swoosh!! Souta jumped in the branch of the tree and looked around. He moved to the other tree to see the area around him clearly. He moved in a circle around the Black Tusk Spider. "Okay, good. There''s no other monster here." Souta muttered before he looked at the Black Tusk Spider. He opened his palm and silently casted [Shadow Bind]. Swoosh!! The spider was surprised when the shadow beneath move. The shadow strangled the limbs of the spider. Bryan who was hiding in the bushes jumped forward when he saw Souta casted a spell. "Ah!!" He gathered his mana on his fist and threw a punch on the abdomen of the spider. Bang! Souta followed Bryan as he threw a punch towards the spider. Bang! He then grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled it out. Since no one was here, he could freely use the Vajra Sword. Kiek! The spider broke free from the shadows. It quickly moved its limbs and it aimed at Souta''s head. Swoosh! Souta tilted his head and sharp limbs grazed his cheek. He tightened his grip on the handle of his sword and swung it. Putchi! His sword sliced the limbs of the spider like a hot knife cutting through a butter. Kiek! The spider screeched loudly as it felt the pain from its limbs. "Hmm?" Souta saw flames behind the spider and he jumped away. He saw Bryan used the [Blazing Strike]. Bang! The spider flew away and it crashed in the trees. Souta quickly chased after the spider. He raised his sword and threw it towards the spider. Swoosh!! The sword pierced through the body of the spider. Pak! In an instant, Souta arrived as he grabbed his sword and swung it upwards slicing the body of the spider in half. *Ding!* [You''ve received 478 exp from defeating a Black Tusk Spider!] Souta heard the system prompt in his mind while putting back his sword in the scabbard. "I hardly do anything from that," Bryan complained. "Yuko didn''t even move. It''s better if you save your strength for the upcoming battle." Souta said to him. "Okay. I hope we finish this quest soon." Bryan''s shoulder dropped. "Don''t be disappointed with this. There''s a lot of monsters here so don''t worry. You will fight later even if you don''t want it." Souta smiled. ... Souta''s group wander around the outer part of the Desolate Woods for about an hour. They hunted down every monster that they met. Souta was using the Vajra Sword without minding his surrounding. He did it because he wanted Bryan and Yuko to save their strength as much as possible. Also, he did it because of the exp he will receive from killing those monsters. The monsters were getting stronger the deeper they went in the Desolate Woods. But Souta wasn''t bothered by this because he saw traces of battle here. From the looks of it, they were using magic and sword. It seems that the people who were after the Mystical Light Cherry fought here. "We''re getting closer..." Souta muttered. "Closer?" Bryan looked at Souta asking what he meant by that. "Closer to the dungeon. We will get a rare fruit there in the dungeon to complete the quest." Souta explained to Bryan. "Ah, I see..." Bryan nodded. "Whew~" Souta wiped the sweat on his forehead. He looked up at the sky. "We should find some food for lunch." "Ah! You''re right, Souta! Now that you mention it. I notice that I''m hungry." Bryan looked at his stomach and he caressed it. Yuko''s ears twitched. She turned her head on her left side and growled angrily. "Graaa!!" Souta and Bryan stopped talking when they heard her. "What''s wrong?" Bryan asked. Souta ignored him and he looked at Yuko. He jumped in the tree beside her and followed her line of sight. He then saw a girl with long green hair. The girl was wearing a white outfit that looks like a robe. Behind the girl was a group of people wearing a black hooded robe. The group of people was chasing after the girl. "Is this some sort of encounter?" Souta muttered. He didn''t move and just observed the scene. He waited for a while to see if he would trigger a quest. After five seconds, Souta hasn''t heard any prompt inside his head. "Huh? Why? I don''t want to bother myself if this wouldn''t give me a quest." Souta sighed. "Huh? That''s a girl! Let''s go save him Souta!" Souta turned his head and saw Bryan beside him. ''Is Bryan some kind of hero of justice?'' He thought while looking at Bryan''s face which was filled with concern for the girl. "Hais... Suit yourself." Souta sighed and said. He looked at Yuko and said, "Yuko, go help her." Roar!! Yuko roared loudly and it shook the trees around her. She then rushed towards the group of people wearing a black robe. "Yosh! I couldn''t turn away when I see someone in need." Bryan said before he disappeared. "Hmm... I will just watch them." Souta said as he crossed his arms. He then leaned his back in the tree behind him and looked at them with an amused expression. ... Roar!! The group of people including the girl stopped moving when they heard the roar of some wild monsters. A huge figure emerged from the trees. It was the wild Red Fur Bear. The giant bear looked at them with fury in her eyes. The bear opened her mouth and once again roared loudly. Roar!! "Let''s kill this bear quickly before we capture the girl." "Okay." "Let''s go!" The group of people talked to each other. They agreed to rid the bear first before they capture the girl. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! They moved and surrounded the huge bear. "Grr!!!" Yuko rushed towards the person in front of her and waved her hand. "What''s happening?!" The girl was shaking. She subconsciously took a step back while looking at the huge bear that appeared. 56 Saving the damsel Roar! Yuko roared loudly as she charged towards the group of people wearing a black hooded robe. "Let''s kill this monster quickly!" "Yeah!" They quickly move around and surround Yuko. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! A dagger fell out of their sleeve and they grabbed it before attacking Yuko. Yuko grabbed a huge boulder on her side and threw them at her. "Dodge!" The hooded people quickly jumped sideways to avoid the boulder. Boom! Yuko saw them avoided the boulder. She turned around and faced the one behind her. She stepped forward and waved her hand towards the hooded man. Swoosh!! The hooded man bent his body barely avoiding her attack. "That''s close..." He muttered while looking at Yuko warily. He understood that this Red Fur Bear was strong and knew how to fight. "Bombard it using magic!" He shouted before he jumped backward. Roar! Yuko charged towards them but they just avoided her maintaining a distance away from her. "Stop the monster for a second!" Five hooded people then charged and clashed with Yuko. Bang! Bang! Bang! While the five hooded people we''re exchanging blows with Yuko the other five from the back casted their magic spell. But before they threw their spells at Yuko, Bryan appeared with flames coating his fist. "[Blazing Strike]!!" Bryan threw his punch towards them. Boom!! ... "Hmm... These people are quite strong." Souta muttered while looking at the people who were exchanging blows at Yuko. Even he wouldn''t dare to take Yuko''s blow head-on. Her strength wasn''t something he could ignore. "Don''t tell me they are nobles from Melosa Country," Souta said. He heard from the adventurers in the guild that nobles from Melosa Country came here for the Mystical Light Cherry. "These troublesome nobles..." Souta sighed. He too was killed by the army of those nobles back in the game when he was doing a quest concerning them. That''s why right now, he doesn''t have a plan to solo all the quest. He planned to build a team and train them to avoid getting killed. He knew clearly how dangerous the quest that he will take in the future. While taking those difficult quest he died at least once. ... Boom! "I will take you!" Bryan said and his mana flared up. He moved his hands and casted a magic spell. "[Lightning Edge]!!" Lightning crackled and it formed like a blade at the side of both of his wrist. "[Lightning Boots]!!" He casted another spell. Lightning crackled around his feet. "Okay, let''s do this!" Bryan smiled and charged towards the group of hooded people. Swoosh!! "Wha-" The group of hooded people was shocked. They found the Bryan was already gone. They slowly turned their head behind them and saw that Bryan was already standing there with his back towards them. Crackle!! Suddenly, they felt pain all over their body. "Ahh!!" They groaned as they found that they couldn''t move at all. Their consciousness was fading slowly as their vision began to blur. They gritted their teeth and was preparing to attack Bryan but he was already gone. Crackle!! "Ahh!!" They screamed as they fell down and lose consciousness. ... "[Lightning Boots]..." Souta muttered in a low voice. This spell was more effective in raising the agility and dexterity attribute than his [Agility Boost] spell. He could see it that those people could barely react to Bryan''s speed. This was the first time he saw Bryan used a magic spell. Bryan always used combat arts before so Souta don''t have any idea what type of mage Bryan is. [Lightnight Edge] also wasn''t an ordinary spell. It''s a powerful spell that have high damage and could paralyzed the target. It was perfect for subduing the target''s alive. "It seems that Bryan is going to the path of Battle Mage..." He patted his clothes and walked towards Bryan. ... Bryan looked at the green-haired girl that looks like 13 years old girl. He smiled and asked, "Are you okay?" "...um." The green-haired girl didn''t know what to say. Bryan turned his head and looked at Yuko. It seems that she was done in her business too. He turned back his head to the green-haired girl. Bryan smiled gently and said, "Don''t worry, I won''t harm you. I''m just here to help you." "...why?" A simple question escaped out of the green-haired girl''s mouth. "Um... I say do I need a reason to help other people." Bryan said gently. "Cough... Cough..." Souta coughed when he heard those cringy words. Those words made him shiver. ''What the hell?! Is he some kind of real-life hero?!'' He thought. Bryan turned his head and saw Souta. "What''s wrong, Souta? Did you caught a cold here?" He asked when he saw him coughing. "N-Nothing..." Souta shook his head. He then focused his attention on the green-haired girl. He narrowed his eyes while looking at her green color pupils. "...um." The green-haired girl subconsciously took a step back. "Oi Souta! Don''t scare her." Bryan said to Souta when he saw the green-haired girl getting scared. "You''re too kind." Souta sighed and he turned around. He saw that Yuko was already behind him. He reached out his hand and patted her head. "Good job, Yuko." Bryan squatted down and asked the girl. "How many people are chasing after you?" The green-haired girl shook her head. Souta joined them. "Then, why are they chasing after you?" The girl lowered her head as she didn''t dare to meet his eyes. "Hmm..." Souta narrowed his eyes. It seems that the girl knew why those people were after her. She just doesn''t want to answer him as there was a chance that he will get involve in her affairs. ''I smell a secret quest from this girl. Okay, there''s value in keeping her.'' Souta rubbed his chin and grin. "Stop Souta!" Bryan stopped Souta and he patted the girl''s head and said, "Don''t worry, if you don''t want to tell us then we will not force you." "Well..." Souta shrugged his shoulder. He then looked around and said, "Let''s go now." "Okay." Bryan nodded his head. He then asked the girl. "Do you want to come with us? Don''t worry we will protect you." "I promise I will not harm you," Souta said from the said. He decided that it''s worth keeping her beside him. "...O-Okay." The girl nodded meekly. "Yosh! Let''s go now!" Bryan said as he raised his fist above his head. "Yuko, Let''s go!" Souta said as he started to walk. Bryan, Yuko, and the green-haired girl followed him. ... Souta stopped after walking for a few minutes. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Bryan asked him. Souta glanced at him and said, "I forgot something. Wait for me here." "Huh?" Bryan looked at him with a confused expression. The green-haired girl also looked up at him. Souta ignored them and he patted Yuko''s soft and fluffy fur. "Yuko, stay here for while." "Mu..." Yuko looked at him meekly. "Okay, I will go now." Souta smiled and said. He then jumped in the tree. "Wait, Souta! Where are you going?" Bryan shouted. "Wait for me here!" Souta''s words echoed as he disappeared. "Jeez... That Souta." Bryan complained. He looked at the girl and Yuko. "I guess we will wait here for a while." ... The group of hooded people slowly regained their consciousness. "Ouch! My head hurts!" "What happened?!" "That girl managed to escape!" "Argh!" "We need to find her or else the boss will..." They complained as they felt the pain on their body. They couldn''t even moved properly with their condition. They recalled what happened before and cursed the one who help the girl. "That fucker tamer!" "Why did he helping that girl?!" They thought that Bryan was the tamer. He didn''t saw Souta before so they thought that Bryan was the master of the Red Fur Bear. Suddenly, their shadows shot upwards and bind their bodies. "Argh!!" "What the hell is this?!" "Fuck!!" "Darkness element spell, Shadow Bind?!" "What''s that?!" "A spell perfect for binding!!" "We''re done!" "Hahaha, we''re going to die!" Various exclamation sounded as they tried everything they''ve got to free themselves from the shadows. Tak! Tak! Tak! A sound of footsteps echoed causing them to stopped moving. They turned their heads but the shadows moved and prevent them from seeing the person''s face. They could only see the lower body of the approaching person. They don''t have any idea about who it is. "W-Who''s that?!" One person got a courage and asked while stuttering. "Hmm... That doesn''t matter. I want to ask you some questions so you better answer me honestly." The person said in a monotonous tone. From the tone of the voice, they guessed that this was a man. They kept their mouth shut. "Hmm... If you''re going to keep quite then let me do this..." The man grabbed his sword and swung it towards the person near him. Putchi!! A head of a person flew in the sky. The people beside him opened their eyes widely. They looked at the headless body of their comrades with wide eyes. Fear started to seep deep in their soul. Gulp! They subconsciously gulped and when they were about to turned their heads towards the man, the shadows that were binding them tightened around their body. "Okay, I will ask a question so think carefully before you answer." The person''s voice was cold that it made them shuddered in fear. "Why are you chasing that green-haired girl?" 57 Interrogation "Why are you after that green-haired girl?" Souta asked the hooded people in a cold tone. "N-No...!!" One of the hooded people shouted. Suddenly, a red line appeared in the center of his body. Slowly, his body split into two. He had a surprised expression as he drew his last breath. The whole place turned quiet once again. All the people looked at their comrades with a mixed expression. Souta looked at them with cold eyes. He could see none of them died when Bryan saved the girl. Bryan was an honest and straight forward man. Souta doesn''t think that Bryan would intentionally kill someone, so he has to clean up this mess as these people saw Bryan face and Yuko. "I''ll ask once again. Why are you chasing after the girl?" Souta repeated his question. The people only lowered their heads and looked on the ground. After a few moments, one of them opened his mouth and said, "Our boss will kill us if we tell you..." Souta frowned and he once again waved his sword. Putchi! This time he killed two people at the same time. Their heads shot up in the air and landed on the ground, spewing blood all over the place. "So am I..." Souta said and he turned his head to the remaining hooded people. He approached them as he tightened his grip on his sword. He then slowly raised it and swung it. Putchi! Putchi! Putchi! This time he didn''t kill them. He just sliced their limbs apart so that they wouldn''t think of escaping here. Also, the [Shadow Bind] spell was going to disappear soon. "Argh!!" "It hurts!!" "Help me!!" They groaned as they tried to move their body. They felt all kinds of pain but still, their lips were tightly shut. They didn''t tell Souta anything no matter how many times he asked. Souta looked in the sky and said, "Okay, we''re running out of time." He then smiled at them. "Do you know what that means?" Souta charged towards them with a cold grin on his face. Putchi! Putchi! Putchi! ... "Still not giving up?" Souta muttered while looking at the piled of corpses around him. He slowly turned his head and looked at the remaining two people. The two people wanted to run away when they saw him look at them. Their face contorted due to what they just saw. They don''t think that they will survive this time. Souta deliberately left the two of them alive. It was because he wanted to extract information by torturing them. He lifted up his feet and walked towards one of them. The hooded man struggled to move his body. "Ahh!! Don''t come here!" Souta lifted up his sword and stabbed the man''s body. It was an ordinary stab. He didn''t use the skill [Stab] as it could kill the man in front of him. He also deliberately missed the man''s vital parts. "Argh!!" The man screamed at the top of his lungs. The pain he felt was extreme to the point that he just wanted to die. Souta stabbed and twisted his sword in the man''s body causing a loud scream to escape out of the man''s mouth. After a few minutes, Souta stopped. He turned his head to the other one and asked, "Do you want to tell me? I can let you live if you tell me what you know." "I-I know that you will still kill me even if I tell you." The man replied while stuttering. "Hmm? I see, then how about this." Souta paused for a moment before he grinned and asked, "Do you want me to torture you or not? I will bring you to my house and will torture you every day until you collapse, then heal you before I repeated it." The man was terrified by what he heard. "Y-You''re a monster!!" Souta smiled and said, "Yeah, I''m a monster. I mean it, literally." "..." The man opened his mouth widely. He couldn''t process what just Souta said. In the end, the man submitted to Souta. He opened his mouth and said, "Okay, I will do what you want." "Good." Souta nodded and he swung his sword to kill the other man alive. He doesn''t need to keep the other man alive anymore. Souta then placed his sword back in the scabbard before he focused on the remaining hooded person. "Why are you after that girl?" "Um... I don''t know many things as the boss hid a lot of things from us." "I understand." Souta nodded. "That girl''s name is Cluster. She came from one of the Three Great Countries, the True God''s Holy Kingdom." The man paused when he saw Souta contemplated. ''True God''s Holy Kingdom...?'' Souta rubbed his chin. He didn''t think that he would make contact with one of the Three Great Countries this early. The Three Great Countries was one of the reasons why the Gods from the Gods Continent haven''t invade the Giza continent. The Pope of the True God''s Holy Kingdom, the Emperor of the Red Crystal Empire, and the Leader of the Purple Cloud Dynasty were powerful enough to match Zeus, Odin, Susanoo, Shiva, Lugh, Ra, etc. from the Gods Continent. The Three Great Countries were the pillar of the whole Giza Continent and in the future, the Mechanic Country would join their ranks. To think that girl came from one of the most powerful countries on the whole continent. She must be hiding some sort of secret of the True God''s Holy Kingdom. That must be why these people were after her. Souta nodded and said, "You can continue." "The boss said that he wants something from her. Cluster is hiding something the boss wants but I don''t know what it is." The man said while looking on the ground. "What''s your boss''s name?" Souta asked. He tried to recall the organization against the True God''s Holy Kingdom. There were many organizations that were trying to put down the Three Great Countries, but if he knew the leader then he would be able to know the power of the organization that was after the girl. "Curdova, that''s the name of our leader." The man replied. "Curdova? Are you sure that it''s Curdova?" Souta asked. "Yeah." The man nodded. Souta was surprised as he doesn''t recall any NPC that has the name Curdova back in the game. It means that it''s not that powerful organization. No, this was not a game anymore. There were many unknown factors that he didn''t know in this world. "What''s your aim?" Souta asked. "The boss wanted to bring down the True God''s Holy Kingdom." The man replied. Souta already guessed their motives so it''s not that surprising. Nonetheless, to bring down the True God''s Holy Kingdom was not something that could easily be achieved. Supposedly, they have a plan and the girl called Cluster was connected to that plan. Really... This must be a hidden quest and Souta must trigger it no matter what happens. "I will ask one last question," Souta said. "Tell me the formation and secret of your organization." "Our base is hidden in the mountain between the Melosa Country and the Barbarian Kingdom. We have our boss and our seven executives are the core of our group. Our boss and the seven executives are powerful individuals." The man explained the details of their organization to Souta. Souta listened to the man without saying anything. He finally understood the power of their organization. Their organization wasn''t that powerful as it was only a small size group. They only have a hundred people in their group but their ambition was so high. They think that they could bring down one of the Three Great Countries with only a hundred people. Souta guessed the reason why they have such confidence was because of the girl. Although, they were only a small size organization Souta guessed that the boss and the seven executives were powerful enough to go against the True God''s Holy Kingdom. "Okay, I understand you can rest now." Souta paused for a moment and asked, "Do you have any last words?" "Huh...? Last words..." The man looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. He then took out something from his robe and gave it to Souta. Souta received the item and saw that it was an ordinary necklace. The necklace has a pendant with a picture within it. The man, a woman, and a girl were smiling in the picture. "This...?" Souta looked at the man with a questioning gazed. "Find the girl in the picture and gave her the necklace. She''s my good daughter. Tell her that I love her." The man said. Souta stopped for a moment as he heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!!] [Finding]: Find the girl in the picture and gave her the necklace. Rewards: 20,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 3 skill points. ''Oi oi, 3 skill points for this quest!'' Souta was surprised. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He looked at the man and asked, "Okay, I''ve decided that I will not kill you. I''m in a good mood today." "No, I already told you the secret of our organization so the curse is already spreading in my body." The man shook his head. "I see..." Souta nodded in understanding. The man had a curse in his body. Once he told someone the secret of their organizations the curse will spread in his body and kill him. "Can you tell me where is your daughter?" Souta asked. The man shook his head and said, "I don''t know where she is. My family suffered from the suppression of the True God''s Holy Kingdom. My wife died and my daughter disappeared. I don''t know if she''s still alive but I have a feeling that she''s really alive." "I see... Don''t worry about it your daughter is alive. I will find her." Souta said as he placed the necklace inside his pocket. Since he received the quest to find his daughter, his daughter was still alive. "Kill me now." The man said. His face was already pale due to the curse. "I understand." Souta nodded and he raised his sword above him before he swung it down. "I hope you don''t forget your promise." The man said as the sword separated his head from his body. Putchi!! "Hais... This ending really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I shouldn''t have asked about that." Souta sighed and looked in the sky. 58 The Great War "Sorry, it took longer than it needed." Souta apologized to Bryan after he came back. He cleaned the bloodstain on his body. That''s the reason why he took a long time. "I''m curious... What did you do?" Bryan asked Souta with a curious expression. "It''s not that worth mentioning." Souta waved his hand and walked beside Yuko. He stretched out his hand and patted her head. "So where should we go, Souta?" Bryan asked. Souta was the only one who knew their exact goals, so he needed to depend on him. "We will go back to the village and come back this night," Souta said. "Huh?" Bryan exclaimed. "What''s wrong?" Souta asked him when he heard Bryan''s loud voice. "Why?" Bryan said one word. He was asking why they should go back to the village. "I said before that we will scout this area first," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulders. The girl called Cluster just looked at their interactions. She didn''t know why but she felt afraid of Bryan and Souta. She didn''t know why but she felt a powerful presence behind the two. It was especially towards Bryan. Souta noticed her looking at Bryan with slight fear in her eyes. Although it was just a second, it didn''t escape his eyes. "Oi, what''s your name?" Souta asked the girl. He asked her name to avoid suspicion in case he blurted out her name. "Um... Cluster." The girl replied in a low voice. "Oh! So your name''s Cluster, huh? You don''t need to worry now, I will protect you." Bryan said as he patted his chest. "...thank you for saving me!" Cluster hesitated for a while before she bowed her head and thanked Bryan and Souta. ''Cluster, huh? It felt familiar to me...'' Souta thought while looking at her. He smiled at her and said, "My name''s Souta Ieshi and this guy is Bryan Dagruel, a comrade of mine." Bryan smiled and patted his chest proudly. Something caught Cluster''s attention in Souta''s words. She tilted her head and said, "From Ieshi Clan?" "Ieshi Clan? What''s that?" Souta asked her when he heard her mentioned Ieshi Clan. It was the first time he heard a clan in the word that has the same surname as his. "Um... They are a family with the power to see the future." Cluster lowered her head and said in a tiny voice. "I see..." Souta nodded in understanding. It was the first time he heard that someone has the power to see the future in this world. Even in the game, he hasn''t heard it at all. Especially, the Ieshi Clan. He looked at her and asked, "So where are they?" Cluster shook her head and said, "They are an ancient family and some people said that they all died in the Great War." ''So that''s why I didn''t know about the Ieshi Clan.'' Souta thought. The happenings in the Great War was still a mystery even to him. He only knew little details about it. "Where did you know it?" Souta asked. "In the place where I lived. There''s a lot of books there and I don''t have anything to do, so I kept reading books." Cluster replied to him. "Hmm..." Souta guessed that it was the books from the True God''s Holy Kingdom. It''s within his expectations that the Three Great Countries have some records of the Great War. After all, they were founded for a few thousand years. Souta squatted down and asked, "Can you tell me more about the Great War later? I''m curious about what happened in that war." "...okay." Cluster nodded. ''This girl really have some value.'' Souta smiled contently. ... Souta''s group including Cluster went back to the village. They met some monsters on their way out but Souta and Bryan eliminated it. They successfully got out of the forest without having any problem. The group was walking in the market looking for something valuable. "What should we do now, Souta?" Bryan asked Souta with a bored expression. "Rest," Souta replied while checking the fruits that were on the stall. "Rest?!" Bryan couldn''t believe what he heard. "Yeah, rest." Souta nodded and he bought the fruits that he picked. "It''s important for an adventurer to be cautious. It''s also important if your energy is full." "Yeah, yeah." Bryan dropped his shoulders. He was clearly bored and was itching for some action. "Hais... You really don''t get it." Souta picked up the fruit he bought from the plastic bag and placed it close to Yuko''s mouth. Yuko looked at the fruit for a moment before she opened her mouth and bit the fruit. She ate the fruit in just a second, so she looked at Souta and opened her mouth as if she was asking him to feed her. "Here." Souta picked another fruit from the plastic bag and put it inside her mouth. "Mu." Yuko happily ate the fruit that he gave her. Bryan looked at him and Yuko back and forth. "...sucks to be you." Then, an idea came into his mind. "Ah! I know! Maybe I will tame a monster myself and raised it to become the strongest! Hahaha!" Souta looked at Bryan with a dumbfounded expression. "Oi, how did you come to that conclusion?" "I saw how Yuko fought, so I think I should tame some monster for myself. Then, I''ll become a tamer too." Bryan laughed. "Do what you want. I''ll tell you that it''s not easy to raise a pet." Souta said and he continued to feed Yuko the fruits that he bought. ... Souta''s group went back to the inn. They rent another room for Cluster. She''s a girl so Souta thought that it''s not a good idea to let her stay with him or Bryan. Bryan rested in his room while Souta called Cluster to come into his room. Cluster came in his room and Souta asked her about the Great War. Cluster told him everything she knew about the Great War. Her knowledge about the Great War was limited but this was enough for Souta. Twenty Thousand Years Ago, the demons tried to destroy the world. Various races joined hands to repel the demons. It was said that the technology of ancient civilization was more advanced than the current technology in the current era. They have different powerful weapons and the people from ancient times knew how to create the Universal Grade Equipment. They also have connections to many different worlds. They used that force to pushed back the demons from the edges of the world. That''s the normal story of the Great War which was passed down through generations. But... From Cluster, the story was quite different. The demons were searching for something that''s why they launched an invasion. They were looking for a door, an entrance to a different realm. It was because they said that the world, no, the whole cosmos was going to end soon. The Ieshi Clan also said that the world was going to end in the near future. Of course, the other races didn''t let the demons roamed in their territory, so they forced back the demons. Then... Something entirely appeared all of a sudden. It caused chaos in the whole cosmos. They taught that the end was coming, so the demons joined hands with other races. Cluster didn''t have much information about this part, so her description was vague. But Souta understood that all the forces of the whole cosmos suffered great casualties. The Ieshi Clan disappeared, the Founding Gods of the God''s Continent died, the Supreme Dragon God died, the Vajra race was annihilated, powerful leaders of Humans and Elves died, and also the progenitors of different monsters died. Souta was shocked when he heard this. All those powerful existence died from unknown existence that came out of nowhere. He was curious about what really happened that day. "Really... This world is getting interesting. There''s really a lot of things that I haven''t know in this world." Souta''s mouth cracked into a smile. He looked at Cluster and said, "You can rest now. Thanks for telling me this." "...no, you save me so it''s natural that I help you." Cluster shook her head. She then hurriedly left his room. Souta looked at her retreating back before he lay down on his bed. After fulfilling the requirements of his next evolution, he would try to acquire more combat arts so that he could level it up to two in his next evolution. He rested for a few hours before he got up and went to Bryan''s room. Knock! Knock! "Bryan we''re going to depart now. Prepare yourself we''re going deep in the Desolate Forest." Souta said. "Okay!!" Bryan replied in a loud voice. Souta then went to Cluster and said the same thing. In just a few minutes, Souta, Bryan, and Cluster went out of the inn to fetch Yuko. The group departed and went to the Desolate Woods. The sky was dark and the night breeze was cold. Soon, they were going to meet a lot of people after the Mystical Light Cherry. It seemed that it''s going to get chaotic in the Desolate Woods tonight. 59 Commandments Souta brought Cluster with him. He was afraid that she would run away once he left her in the village. He wouldn''t let a valuable person like her leave easily. He would squeeze some benefits out of her before he let her go. Souta''s group arrived in the inner part of the Desolate Woods. The trees around this part were ten to twenty meters tall, and all of the trees had brown and gray color leaves. It made them looked like withered trees, but this was its natural color. This was the reason why this forest was called Desolate Woods. "The atmosphere is different than the outer part of the woods," Souta muttered while looking around his surroundings. "Whoa! This is the first time I see this kind of tree!" Bryan exclaimed while looking around the trees in wonder. Cluster was also looking around quietly. It seemed that she was still holding back in front of Bryan and Souta. She didn''t want them to think badly of her. "What''s with this forest, Souta?" Bryan asked Souta. "Hmm... This forest is called Desolate Woods. A lot of powerful monsters inhabited this forest but the most dangerous was the Giant Nova Boa and the Mountain Back Crocodile." Souta paused as he turned his head and looked at Bryan. "These two monsters were the overlord of this forest. If we somehow met these two monster then we have to run as fast as we can. With our current strength, we would not be able to defeat it, because these two monsters are monsters that already created its monster orb. In other words, these two were powerful enough to crash the four of use with the use of best feram." "What is a monster orb?" Bryan asked with a curious expression. "Huh...?" Souta looked at Bryan with wide eyes. He couldn''t believe that Bryan didn''t know the monster orb at all. He couldn''t help but sigh at Bryan''s ignorance. "Monster orb is the core of a powerful monster. It is also the source of strength of the monster and the reason why the monsters are powerful. The monster orb can be fetched at a high price in the market. It can be sold by a hundred thousand platinum coins. The energy inside the monster orb is more potent than the energy inside the mana stone and essence." He patiently explained the monster orb to Bryan. "Do you know the light in Ladros City?" "Yeah." Bryan nodded. "The reason why those bulbs across the street light up are because of the monster orb. One monster orb is needed to light up all the lights in the whole city for one week. If a person would monopolize a single monster orb then it would take a few months even a year before that person consumed all the energy inside the monster orb." Souta explained to Bryan. The monster orb was also the reason why the human and demi hunted down the monsters. "I see." Bryan nodded. "I can''t believe you didn''t even know this." Souta sighed. ... Souta''s group walked for a few dozen minutes before they met some monster. The monster was a carnivorous plant. The plant was three meters tall. It was a powerful monster but with Souta and Bryan, it didn''t look like one. All the monsters that they met all died by the teamwork of Souta, Bryan, and Yuko. The trees became twisted like everything around them was changing. The area around them was completely covered in brush and branches. Souta asked Bryan to clean the area. "We will rest here for five minutes." Souta picked up a decent place to rest. Of course, he scouted the area within it before he settled with this place. Souta''s group sat down and they leaned their back on the trees. "This is such a weird forest," Bryan said in a low voice. Souta ignored Bryan and he looked at Cluster. He noticed that she wasn''t gasping or out of breath. It seems like she really holds some power inside her. There''s also a possibility that she didn''t know about this power and only those higher up of the True God''s Holy Kingdom knew. Souta shook his head and put his hand inside his bag. He took out fruit and bit it. "This is good," Souta said as he looked at the fruit that looks like an apple on his palm. "Gulu gulu!" He heard a sound beside him, so he turned his head and saw Yuko was looking at the fruit on his hand with drool on her face. "Really." Souta smiled wryly and he took out another fruit for her. Yuko swallowed the fruit with a happy expression. Looking at her expression, Souta smiled and patted her head. After a few minutes, they packed their things and began to move forward. They trek towards the eastern part of the inner woods. The surroundings were dark, so their pace was quite slow. While they were walking they heard a sound of metal clashing against each other. Yuko''s ears twitched as she looked at the direction where the sound came from. "That''s the sound of fighting," Souta muttered. Then, he turned his head and looked at Bryan and Cluster. "Don''t make any noise. We''re going to check it." "Okay," Bryan replied. Cluster just nodded her head. "Good. Follow me." Souta nodded in satisfaction at their reply. He walked slowly towards the sound. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta''s group saw thirty people battling each other. Those people were powerful especially the two people who were fighting in the center. Both of them were wearing a full plate of silver-colored armor. The only difference was the symbol that was engraved in their chest. The symbol in their chest indicated that they were the knights of the nobles. The symbol represented the family they supported. Souta turned his head and looked at his group. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "A lot of people were going to fight in this place, so we better avoid them. This time we only came to check the strength of each group, but we can see from their force that we wouldn''t stand a chance if we fought them head-on. Also, their numbers were greater than us." "Yeah, they are strong. I wanted to fight them." Bryan said while looking at the people who were fighting against each other. "Don''t worry about it, you will get a chance to fight later," Souta assured Bryan. It''s true that Bryan would have a chance to fight later in the dungeon they were heading. "Let''s go now," Souta said. The group turned around and quietly left the area, but they didn''t know that a figure was hiding in the trees was looking at them. ... Somewhere in the forest... Two people wearing a black robe were walking leisurely. Their black robe wasn''t an ordinary robe. The robe looks like the one that those priests from the church wear. The robe had red linings and a symbol of a hand holding the world was imprinted in the back. Behind them were the corpses of various monsters. "Ah~ poor little monsters. You sacrifice your lives for the greater goods of people. Oh, God! Please guide these monsters towards the paradise!" A man with long blonde hair said. The man has red pupils and part of his bangs covered his left eyes. He had a tattoo of red arrow pointing downwards below his left eye, and below that arrow was the "Love" word written in cursive form. The man was looking at the corpses of the monsters with intoxicated expression. The other figure was a woman. She has long black hair that was tied in a ponytail. Her skill was pale and her pupils were crimson in color. She looked at the man with annoyance and said, "Stop that! We just kill them because they attack us, that''s all. We wouldn''t even bother them if they didn''t attack us." "What are you saying, Carmilla? All the things here were created by the Supreme Creator, so it''s natural that we show them our love." The man said. "Hais... I shouldn''t have partnered with you in this mission." The woman called Carmilla sighed. She then stopped moving and turned her head on her left side. "Hmm...? What''s wrong, Carmilla?" The man asked when he saw her strange expression. "A group of people is coming," Carmilla said. The man also turned his head and saw more than twenty people came out of the bushes. The people were wearing a full plate armor indicating that they were knights of a noble household. Carmilla and the man looked at the knights with a curious expression. A young man in his twenties stepped forward and looked at the two with arrogance. He was wearing luxury clothes for nobles. He was the master of the knights. "I''m Ransen De Rougen, the third son of the Rougen Family!" The young man introduced himself. He looked down at the two and ordered them. "You two, tell me who you are and why you are here!" Carmilla and the man looked at each other. "I''m asking you! Don''t you know me! I''m the son of Jasvin De Rougen! I''m a noble lineage, so don''t you dare ignore me! Are you also here because of the Mystical Light Cherry?!" Ransen grew angrier when he saw the two people in front of him ignored him. Carmilla laughed at his words. She opened her mouth and said, "Mystical Light Cherry? We''re not here for something as low as that fruit. We have hundreds of that in our base." "You!! How dare you!! Draug!" He raised his voice and called his most powerful knight. "Young master. We should not-" Draug said but Ransen interrupted him. He wanted to tell what type of monsters were behind the two unknown people. The corpses of the monster behind the two weren''t ordinary at all. Every corpse of monsters was a powerful one that could even give him, a knight, some trouble. "I''m your master, so you should just follow my instruction without saying anything!" Ransen said. "Yes, young master!" Draug bowed and pulled out his sword. The rest of the knights also pulled out their swords. They pointed their sword at the two people. "Now tell me, who you are and what''s your goal here?" Hansen looked at the two people with a smirk. "Fine, I''m going to tell you. After all, I never tell a lie before." Carmilla stepped forward. Her mouth curved into a smile. "Commandments of the God''s Words. Representing the Truth commands, Carmilla Rybentatores." "And I''m Julius Reanhar, representing the Love of the Supreme God." The man opened his arms widely as he turned his head to look in the sky. "We''re here to retrieve the corpse of a God." Carmilla smiled at them with a gentle expression. "What?!" Everyone was shocked when they heard their introduction. They subconsciously took a step back. Fear started to appear in their hearts. Clang! Clang! Clang! Their grips on their weapon loosen and it fell on the ground. If Souta was here, he too would be shocked. It was because the God''s Will was currently in the Desolate Woods. If someone said the God''s Will cult then the priest of the True God''s Holy Kingdom would burn those people. The True God''s Holy Kingdom target among the three Bringer of Calamity Group was the God''s Will cult. The people from the True God''s Holy Kingdom despised the God''s Will cult. It was because of the inhumane things that God''s Will did saying that it was for the Supreme God. God''s Will was one of the three Bringer of Calamity. They were called like that because every time they appeared in public something bad happens. It was either annihilating a country or causing a strange phenomenon in the world. If the three Great Countries were the good camp, then the three Bring of Calamity was the evil camp. The Commandments, the Deadly Sins, and the Zodiacs were the most powerful terrorist group that could go toe to toe to the three Great Countries. The Commandments of the God''s Will were active in both Giza and God''s Continent, while the Deadly Sins were active in the God''s Continent. Lastly, the Zodiacs were active in the Giza Continent. Each of them was a powerhouse of their own that could even bring down a god. ... Souta stopped and looked in the starry sky, "I sense something terrible." "What''s wrong, Souta?" Bryan asked him when he saw Souta stop. "Nothing." Souta shook his head. 60 Meeting Lumilia "N-Nononono!" Ransen, the young noble, looked at Carmilla and Julius with fear in his eyes. He fell down on his back as he kept repeating the same word. There''s not a hint of arrogance in his presence enemy, it was instead replaced by fear. Beside him were the corpses of his proud knights. All the powerful-looking knights were now lying on the pool of blood without any signs of life. "Ah~ God! Please forgive these sinful people! The Supreme God loves all the creatures equally!" Julius said as he put his palm together and looked in the starry sky. "Tsk! Don''t mind that idiot!" Carmilla clicked her tongue while looking at Julius in annoyance. "Do you know that we wouldn''t even bother insects like you if you didn''t attack us? It''s all your fault that your knights died and also your fault that you will die. Anyone who goes against the Supreme God will die. And going against us is equivalent to that, so it means that no matter what you say today I will not let you live." "Nonononono, please forgive me! I will do anything that you want! Just don''t kill me!" Ransen pressed his forehead on the ground as he begged Carmilla to spare him. "Actually, I can see it in your eyes before that you have the intention to kill us. You can''t hide those things to us, the representatives of the God''s Will, as we are sensitive to any malicious things." Carmilla slowly walked towards Ransen. "If you didn''t show that intent to kill maybe your knights were still alive right now." "Please, I will not do it again!" Ransen begged for his life until the end. Tears and snots were flowing down on his face. There''s not a hint of noble demeanor in his presence. "Goodbye, and may God guide your poor soul," Carmilla said as she raised her hand and her nails grew sharper. She swung it down on Ransen''s neck. Putchi! ... Souta''s group was heading towards the dungeon in the eastern part of the inner woods. While they were walking, Souta noticed that Yuko''s ears kept twitching. He carefully glanced at his surroundings and noticed that someone was following them behind. That person was silently following them above the trees. Souta looked at Bryan and Cluster before he said, "Bryan, Cluster. Someone is following us." "Wh-" Bryan was about asked when Souta interrupted him. "Don''t shout or else that person will notice that we knew about its presence," Souta said as he narrowed his eyes at Bryan. "O-Okay." Bryan nodded at him. Swoosh!! Suddenly, the person that was following him disappeared. "Hmm...? It seems that he already left." Souta said while looking at the position of that person before he/she disappeared. "Eh! That person is already gone?" Bryan look surprised. "Yeah, maybe that individual noticed our strange behavior. No, it should be your strange behavior Bryan." Souta said. "Eh! Why?" "You shouldn''t look at that person''s location repeatedly as it will give that person our plan." Souta explained to Bryan. "Okay, I get it now." Bryan nodded. Souta then looked at Cluster and asked, "Do you know how to fight?" Cluster shook her head in denial. "I understand. Don''t worry if something happens Bryan will protect you." Souta said as he assured her. Cluster was physically fitted. Her stats were quite high but the only problem was that she doesn''t know how to defend herself, that''s why she could only run when those people chased her before. Cluster meekly nodded her head. It seems that she was ashamed that she couldn''t even protect herself. "Okay, let continue." Souta''s group continued to walk deeper through the Desolate Woods. Here in the inner parts of the Desolation Woods, battling was present everywhere. Souta''s group sometimes felt the ground shook and sometimes the could hear a loud explosion. ... Souta''s group arrived in the river. They walked towards it but Souta felt someone appeared behind them. Souta glanced at Bryan and Cluster. It looks like these two didn''t felt the presence of that person. He then looked at Yuko and saw that she was aware of that person. "Let''s go." Souta took a deep breath and grabbed the handle of his sword. He quickly pulled out his sword before he turned around and threw it towards the location of that person. At the same time, Souta saw the face of that person. It was a middle-aged man with short white hair and a white mustache. He was wearing the clothes of a butler. Swoosh!! The Vajra Sword quickly tore the air as it went flying straight to that middle-aged man. "Wha-" The middle-aged man revealed a surprised expression. He quickly pulled out the sword that was hanging on his waist and parried the Vajra Sword. Clang! Souta bent down his knees and charged straight while using [Agility Boost] and [Dash] at the same time. He then jumped in the air when he was close to his sword and grabbed it. [Stab]! [Stab]! [Stab]! In the mid-air, Souta threw the skill [Stab] towards the middle-aged man. He wouldn''t let this middle-aged man escaped. The middle-aged man was shocked as he couldn''t even move because Souta was blocking all his escape routes. Tugh! Souta landed in front of the middle-aged man and pierced his palm on the tree using the Vajra Sword. "Argh!" The middle-aged man groaned and his weapon fell on the ground. "I got careless." He said while looking at Souta''s face. "Fred!" A girl appeared behind them. She raised her sword and pointed it at Souta. "Release Fred and I will forget about this!" Souta turned his head and looked at her. If this middle-aged man was a butler then this girl was a maid. The maid has long blonde hair that was tied in a bun. "Souta!" Bryan, Cluster, and Yuko approached Souta. They were surprised when they saw him suddenly attack someone. "What happened?" Bryan asked while looking at Souta and the middle-aged man back and forth. "This man was the one following us," Souta said as he looked at the middle-aged man in the eyes. He gripped his sword tightly and twisted it. "Argh!" The middle-aged man screamed when Souta twisted the sword that pierced his palm. "You! Release him!" The girl shouted at Souta. "Release? Don''t make me laugh. You don''t have the right in your current situation." Souta sneered at her. "You should understand your current situation first. If you continue to show that kind of attitude in front of me then I will kill this man." "I-" The girl didn''t know what to say. "In the end, your just all talk," Souta said as he twisted his sword. "What happened here, Fred? Jusmin?" A feminine voice sounded behind them. "You!!" Bryan exclaimed when he saw the person who just arrived here. Souta grew curious so he turned his head and saw that person. That person was a petite girl with shoulder-length blue hair and blue color pupils. She has thick long blue tails sticking out in her back. She''s Souta''s classmate, Lumilia Von Asvares, also the class representative of Mage Class 1-B. "What are you doing here, class rep?" Bryan asked Lumilia with a curious expression. He didn''t even hesitate when he asked her. "Souta? Bryan? Why are the two of you here?" Lumilia asked the same question. "We''re adventurers so we both doing a quest here. What about you?" Bryan replied. Souta didn''t say anything and he just observed them. He could guess why Lumilia was here. It seems the rumor about the Mystical Light Cherry reached the Ladros City. She was a noble so it was natural that she would receive such information. Bryan and Lumilia talked about why they were here. Then, their conversation shifted to Cluster. Bryan explained to her how they met Cluster and saved her from those strange people. Lumilia observed Cluster''s appearance when she heard that Souta and Bryan saved her. "Um... Young miss." Fred said with slight hesitation. "What is it, Fred?" Lumilia turned to look at him. "Do you know them?" Fred asked. "Yes, they are my classmates." Lumilia nodded her head. "Um... Then, can you please tell then to let go of me?" Fred smiled wryly. After all, Souta''s sword was still embedded in his palm. Souta heard him, so he looked at Lumilia and nodded. He pulled out his sword causing blood to spurt out of Fred''s palm. "What really happened here?" Lumilia asked Souta. "Hmm... There''s someone following us but that person suddenly disappeared. Then, I sensed that someone was behind us so I quickly attack that person." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. He''s telling them that he couldn''t help it. He sat down and sheathed his sword. He supported his head with his palm and said, "Okay, in return to what I did to him. I will heal him." Lumilia looked at Souta and asked, "Do you know healing spell?" "Yeah, just a simple [Light Heal] spell." Souta nodded at her. "Okay, let me see your palm." Fred looked at Lumilia asking for confirmation. Lumilia nodded her head. "Thanks." Fred smiled wryly as he stretched out his palm in front of Souta. "It''s okay." Souta shook his head and used [Light Heal] on his palm. 61 Lumilias Ques Souta used [Light Heal] on the palm of Fred. He stopped the bleeding of the wounds before he took out something from his bag. This was a potion to completely heal the wounds. His skill was only a basic heal skill. It couldn''t completely heal any wounds, so to completely heal any wounds with leaving a scar a potion was needed. "No need." Fred shook his head as he declined the potion that Souta gave. "We also have some potion. No need to use a potion in such shallow wounds." "Okay." Souta nodded and he placed back the potion in his bag. "So your name is Cluster?" Lumilia looked at Cluster and asked while patting her head. "Yes." Cluster nodded meekly. "Where are your parents?" Lumilia asked her in a gentle tone. Cluster replied by shaking her head. "I see... I''m sorry for asking such question. It must be hard for you." Lumilia said as she gently caressed Cluster''s head. Souta looked at Lumilia with a surprised expression. Her tone was different from the usual. She was always putting up a cold front and a strict tone, so it was surprising to see this side of her. He guessed that she was like that because she was seriously taking the responsibility of a class representative in the Institute. Suddenly, a group of people appeared before them. Those people were wearing leather armor and pants. They were also armed with sharp weapons. They were bandits without a doubt. Souta just looked at these bandits without saying anything. In fact, he knew that a lot of people were coming in this direction but he got distracted when he listened to Lumilia and Cluster''s conversation. Bryan, Yuko, Lumilia, Fred, Jusmin, and Cluster stopped moving. They turned their heads to looked at the bandits. Lumilia glared at the bandits. "Who are you?" She opened her mouth and asked them in a cold tone completely different from the one she used on Cluster. The bandits looked at them with a grin on their face. They looked at them as if they were prey that fell in their traps. "Oh!" The leader of the bandit stepped forward and looked at Lumilia with lewd eyes. He didn''t even bother hiding his desire. "From the looks of it, you''re a noble, right?" "What if I am?" Lumilia replied in a cold tone. She placed her hand on the handle of her sword. "We''re finally going to enjoy some noble after a long time, boys!" The leader said as he looked at Lumilia up and down. "Yeah!" "Boss! At least let me enjoy the maid first!" "Boss! That little girl, can you give her to me? I have a thing for little girl!" The bandits said in a burst of laughter. They already think that the girls here were their property. ... Souta looked at the bandit leader and Lumilia. He doesn''t know what got the bandit leader''s interest in Lumilia. Is it a body? No, Lumilia''s boobs were close to none existence and she doesn''t have that great curves. If Souta was to say it, Lumilia looks like a child, a loli to be precise. Souta would prefer the maid over Lumilia. He could see the curves and those well-endowed chests of her through the maid outfit. He shook his head and removed those thoughts in his mind. He looked at Bryan and thought that he should teach reality to him. ''Okay, I will show him how to handle a situation like this, so he wouldn''t make any mistake again.'' Souta thought as he nodded to himself. Souta knew how Bryan think, so he guessed that Bryan would let these bandits go. Ah~ how shallow. ... "You started it!" Bryan said as his mana flared up. He clenched his fist gathering his mana around it. "Otto, don''t you see that you''re at disadvantage here. We have numbers here. You can''t hope to defeat us!" The bandit leader said with an amused expression. "We''re going to slowly enjoy those girls, right boys?" "Yeah!!" "This scum!" Jusmin gritted her teeth as she pulled out her sword. "Stand back, young miss! I will protect you!" Fred said as he stepped forward in front of Lumilia. "You don''t have to worry about me, Fred. I can protect myself." Lumilia said as she pulled out her sword. "Hmph!" A sneered sounded. All of them looked at Souta who stood up while patting his clothes. "I''m grateful... Just like what the maid said before, you''re just a lowlife scum." Souta looked at the bandits and slowly approached them. He stopped in front of the bandit leader. "So..." Bryan, Yuko, Cluster, Lumilia, Fred, and Jusmin just followed Souta with their eyes. "Huh?" The bandit leader placed his hand on his ear as if he couldn''t hear what Souta was saying. "...I will not have any seconds in killing you." The [Vajra Sword Saya] in Souta''s hand emitted a red aura. [Cross Moon]! Swoosh!! A red light flashed and everyone saw a red line in the body of the bandits. Thud! Thud! Thud! Slowly their upper body fell down on the ground. The face of the bandits showed an expression of shock. It seems that they couldn''t believe what happened to them. Spurt!! The lower body spurted out fountains of blood in the mid-air. The whole area was dyed in a blood-red color. Cluster was terrified when she saw the bloody scene. She quickly turned around and covered her ears. "Eik!" Justin felt a little dizzy witnessing such a gore scene. She''s just a made that have knowledge about fighting, so she hadn''t seen someone kill people like this. "He''s not an ordinary student. From his reaction, I could see that it''s not his first time killing people." Fred narrowed his eyes as he looked fiercely at Souta. Lumilia subconsciously took a step back while she covered her mouth with her hands. She didn''t dare to make any sound as she was afraid of Souta. Souta ignored them as sheathed the Vajra Sword. It was his first time using the skill of his sword. It feels different from using the skill he learned. Souta closed his eyes and heard a sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Experience points reached!] [You''ve level up!] [Strength attributes have increased by 8!] [Intelligence, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality attributes have increased by 5!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] Finally, Souta reached level 19. Just one more level and he will reach the level requirement for the second evolution. "Souta!!" Bryan walked towards Souta and grabbed his collar. "Hmm..." Souta looked at Bryan with plain eyes. He saw that Bryan was clearly angry at what he did to the bandits. "Why?" He asked in a plain tone. There''s not a hint of emotion in his voice. "Why did you kill them?" Bryan asked him in a loud voice. "You know the reason why," Souta replied as he shook his body and fell on the ground. "But... You don''t have to kill them." Bryan said as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. "Is that what you always do in your quest? When you met a bandit did you always let them live?" Souta said stood up while patting his clothes. He turned to look at Bryan''s eyes and continued, "You know that the bandits you let go before didn''t stop in what they are doing. Because of you they killed and **** more people, you know?" "But..." Bryan lowered his eyes. Souta narrowed his eyes when looking at Bryan. He then sighed and shrugged his shoulder. "Okay, let''s go now." Bryan''s attitudes didn''t really bother him. In fact, he actually liked it. This kind of attitude was the one that would lead him in getting more quest. Like before, if Bryan didn''t insist on helping Cluster then Souta wouldn''t know about the Great War. He''s just testing if he could influence Bryan easily... But it seems that''s not necessary for him. Souta decided that he will do things in the shadows secretly. Souta turned to Lumilia and asked, "You Class rep, what are you going to do?" "Um... Young miss, we should go now. This man is dangerous. I don''t like that feeling." Jusmin whispered to Lumilia. "Young miss, we should ask him for help. His strength would help us in a lot of ways." Fred whispered. Fred and Jusmin have different opinions. One was afraid of Souta because of what he did, while one thought of taking advantage of Souta''s strength. "Young miss... If we don''t get it, you know what will the lord say." Fred continued to persuade her. Lumilia frowned when she remembered her father, the family head of the Asvares Noble Family. She gritted her teeth and slowly opened her mouth, "Um... S-Souta..." "Hmm... What is it?" Souta titled his head with a confused expression. "Um... I want to ask you... If you can help us..." Lumilia stuttered. She wasn''t used in asking other people for help. "Hais... Speak clearly." Souta sighed. Fred was the one who stepped forward and bowed his head, "We request you if you can lend us your strength to get the Mystical Light Cherry!" "Hmm...?" *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!!] [Gathering]: Help Lumilia''s group in acquiring the Mystical Light Cherry. Rewards: 20,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, 5 skill points. 62 Into the Dungeon Souta was surprised when he received a quest. [Gathering]: Help Lumilia''s group in acquiring the Mystical Light Cherry. Rewards: 20,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, 4 skill points. ''Four skill points...!'' Souta was surprised to see 4 skill points as rewards. The difficulty of this quest was clearly higher than all the quest that he did before. He turned his head and looked at Lumilia''s group. He wondered if he should accept the quest or not. Accepting the quest means that he wouldn''t acquire the Mystical Light Cherry, but he would get four skill points. That''s a lot of skill points. "Okay, I''ll help you but first you have to help me first." Souta nodded at them and stated his condition. If he hadn''t asked them anything in return then they would grow suspicious of him. "Thanks for accepting our selfish request, but I have a question," Fred said politely. "Do tell me," Souta said in response to him. "How should we help you?" Fred asked carefully. "Hmm... We will enter the dungeon later and just protect Cluster." Souta said as he rubbed his chin. "Is that all?" Fred took a glance at Cluster and asked Souta. "Yeah, Bryan and I will become too busy in fighting so we need someone to protect Cluster." "Then, I''m curious about this Red Fur Bear." "Ah! Her? She''s Yuko, my partner! Yuko say hi to them!" "Mu." ... Souta turned his head and looked at Bryan. Bryan was looking on the ground while his fists clenched tightly. Souta approached him and patted his back. He said, "Don''t worry about it, I''m just testing you if you''re going to change your perspective in life. But don''t worry, that okay, just do what you think is right." Souta left after he said those words to Bryan. Yuko looked at Bryan before she followed Souta. Cluster lifted up her head and looked at Yuko and Souta''s back. Then, she turned her head and looked at Bryan. ... Souta talked about the detailed information of the Mystical Light Cherry to Lumilia. Souta, Lumilia, Fred, and Jusmin were around the Map of the Desolate Woods. They were looking at the map with a serious expression. "Where is the exact place of the fruit?" Souta asked. "We don''t know the exact place but the fruit was said to be seen in this part," Lumilia said as she drew circle a small part of the northern woods. Souta looked at the map with a scrutinizing gaze. After a few moments, he opened his mouth and said, "We should go around this part to avoid the nest Titan Hornets. We shouldn''t use our energy in fighting these monsters as we need to fight the other people that came here for the fruit." "Other people?" Lumilia looked at Souta. "Huh? Do you think that you''re the only one who came here for the fruit? There are people who came here with the same reason as you. They are competitors. We have to fight and defeat them if you want to get the Mystical Light Cherry." Souta said in a cold tone. "...yeah." Lumilia lowered her head and nodded. Souta guessed that Lumilia didn''t know anything at all. She just came here because she heard about the Mystical Light Cherry. She didn''t even bring knights in her quest like the other nobles that came here. "Hais..." Souta sighed helplessly. It seems that Lumilia was innocent in outside world affairs. To think that the strict class rep didn''t know this. It seems like he overestimated her. "Okay, let''s finished what we came here first," Souta said as he stood up. "Thanks." Fred also stood up and thanked Souta. "You can save your thanks after we get that fruit." Souta glanced at him and said before he left. Lumilia, Fred, and Jusmin looked at his back. "Is he really your classmate, young miss?" Justin asked Lumilia in a low voice. "Yeah, from what I see he''s the strongest in our class." Lumilia nodded. "Young miss, if I''m not wrong your class is Mage Class, am I right?" Fred asked. "Yes, we''re from Mage Class. He showed a power not befitting any mage in our class. He even defeated the students from Shield Class without using any spells." Lumilia explained to them. ... The group walked for an hour before they arrived near in front of the waterfalls. "Is this where the dungeon resides?" Bryan asked as he looked at the forty-meter tall falls. "Yeah, it''s behind that falls." Souta nodded as he observed Bryan. It seems that Bryan recovered now. His mental capacity was high and it looks like he experienced the same thing before. Souta doesn''t know what Bryan experienced before that made him like that. Bryan seems vent on saving everyone that needs help. Souta looked at Cluster and said, "Cluster, stay behind Lumilia. She will protect you." Cluster nodded her head and she stood beside Lumilia. Lumilia looked at Cluster and patter her head. "Don''t worry, I will protect you." "Thank you." Cluster nodded meekly. "Follow me," Souta said as he stepped forward and let the water fell on his body. The rest of the group followed Souta behind. Behind the waterfalls, they saw a wide cave. It was so wide that Yuko could move inside the cave freely. Everyone''s clothes were wet because of the waterfalls. Bryan looked around and saw Jusmin''s bra through her maid outfit. When he saw her bra, he quickly turned around and looked deep in the dungeon. Souta noticed it so he looked at the girls and said, "You should dry your clothes first. Bryan couldn''t even concentrate when you''re showing such things to him." Lumilia, Cluster, and Jusmin looked at their body and saw that their wet clothes were sticking close in their body. "Young miss!" Fred exclaimed as he removed his coat and placed it on Lumilia. "Thank you, Fred!" Lumilia said with a hint of redness in her cheeks as she glanced at Bryan and she saw him looking at the cave, then at Souta, and saw him looking at her. "You!!" "You, what? I couldn''t even see what''s there even if you don''t hide it." Souta said to her. "You!!" Lumilia blushed and she didn''t even know what to say anymore. "Young miss is still in her growing phase, so she would grow into a fine woman after a few years." Jusmin stepped forward and said while looking at him fiercely. "Then, complain to me after a few years or after she got the same body as yours," Souta said as he turned around and shrugged his shoulder. Jusmin covered her chest with her hands when she heard Souta''s words. Yuko stepped forward and stuck out her tongue. She licked Souta''s cheeks. "Stop that! I will give you some fruit." Souta said as he patted Yuko''s head. He placed his other hand on his bag and took out a fruit. He gave the fruit to her so that she would stop. He then walked beside Bryan and placed his hand on Bryan''s shoulder. He placed his mouth near Bryan''s ear and whispered, "After this quest, you should come with me to the Red Light District? I will pick the best woman for you." "I-" Bryan was about to decline when Souta interrupted him. "Don''t worry it''s my treat." Souta patted Bryan''s shoulder. ... The group went inside the dungeon. Souta lit up a torch and he let the none combatants hold the torch. The area inside the cave was wide so they were not cramped in a small narrow path like any other dungeons. The road was dark and they could barely see what''s inside the cave. After walking for a few minutes, they saw crystals on the ceiling that was emitting light. "Beautiful," Jusmin exclaimed when she saw the crystals on the ceiling. "Yeah, it''s pretty." Bryan nodded at her words. Souta didn''t have any reaction except that he thought that these crystals were convenient. These crystals were nothing compared to the crystals the lit up the Undead Sanctuary. Souta looked behind him and said, "You can throw the torches. We don''t need them anymore." Souta knew that at this point they didn''t need the torches. "Okay." Cluster nodded and she threw the torch that she was holding. She was a non-combatant so Souta gave her a task before to hold the torch. "Hmph!" Jusmin also threw the torch that she was holding. "Also, be careful," Souta warned them as he knew that they will meet monsters when they go deeper in the dungeon. Bryan, Lumilia, and Fred nodded at his words. They prepared themselves to fight the monsters. Soon, they met three giant snakes. The snakes were ten meters long and they have green scales. "Let''s kill it quickly," Souta said as he pulled out the Vajra Sword. "Okay." Fred nodded at him. Souta and Bryan charged towards the three giant snakes, and Fred followed behind the two. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! The snakes attacked Souta but he easily avoided it. Bang! He then slashed his sword at the snakes. His sword easily broke through the scales of the snake. Putchi! Red blood spurted out of the cut he gave to the snake. Souta then jumped in the air and he twisted his body. He followed it up by waving his sword towards the head of the snake. Putchi! The snake was cut into two cleanly. ... Bryan pulled back his fist and he gathered his mana. Boom! He jumped in threw a powerful punch on the head of the giant snake. Bang! He landed on the ground and flames coated both of his fist. He bent his knees and threw himself at the snake. [Blazing Strike]!! Boom! The snake was pushed back. It took damage from that punch. Suddenly, Bryan saw a sword flew in the air straight to the eye of the snake. Putchi! The sword pierced through the eye of the snake and Souta appeared. Souta grabbed the handle of the sword and he pushed it deeper. 63 Clusters change Souta turned around and saw that Lumilia and Fred already finished the other giant snake. "Let''s go now." Souta took a glance at the corpses of the giant snake before he started to walk. He could sell them but he doesn''t have enough hand to bring them back to the village. Even then, the giant snake was too large for him and it would take a lot of people to bring back a single giant snake. Also, he wouldn''t get much coins if he sells this type of snake. "Okay." The rest of the group followed Souta. They didn''t know what''s Souta''s goal here so they could only follow him. Fred even asked Bryan what''s Souta''s goal, but even he didn''t know what''s Souta''s objective here in this dungeon. ... The group continued going deeper into the dungeon. They only stopped when they saw two pathways in front of them. "What should we do now, Souta?" Bryan asked Souta. Lumilia, Fred, Jusmin, and Cluster also turned to look at him. Souta rubbed his chin and closed his eyes. He tried to recall the right way here. "Hmm... Where should I go?" After a few moments, Souta opened his eyes. He finally recalled what''s in these two pathways. These two pathways lead to the boss''s room. There''s not that much different except the type of monster. The monsters on the left side was an undead while on the right side was not undead. "Let''s go this way." Souta pointed at the left path. "Okay." Bryan nodded at him. Lumilia, Fred, and Jusmin don''t have that much opinion regarding this matter. They will all leave this to Souta. There''s a reason why he chooses the left path full of undead creatures. A spellbook was hidden in the secret room here in the left path and Souta wanted it. He could sell the spellbook for a huge amount of money after he learned the spell. It will give him an allowance for two months. ... The group entered a wide space and saw more than fifty undead blocking the way. The atmosphere turned into a cold one completely different from before. The smell of rotten meat spread in the air. Lumilia, Jusmin, and Cluster pinched the nose when they smelled it. Souta took a deep breath and clenched his sword tightly. The atmosphere here was the same when he entered one of the low-level dungeons in the Undead Sanctuary. The scent and cold air were the same. "Let''s go!" Souta shouted as he dashed towards the group of undead. Although they were low-level undead he would still get a decent amount of exp if he killed them. "Graa!!" The undead noticed him, so they turned their attention at him. All of them opened their mouth revealing sharp fangs. Swoosh!! Souta arrived in front of them and he used the skill [Stab] consecutively. Bang! Bang! Bang! Several small holes appeared in the bodies of the undead in front of him. Bryan jumped above Souta. Bryan''s fists were covered in flames. [Blazing Strike]!! Bryan threw a powerful punch causing a huge explosion to occur in the back. Fred looked at Souta and Bryan. He opened his mouth and said, "I''ll go, young miss." He then brandished his sword and charged towards the group of undead. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! He swiftly moved his body from side to side whole dodging every undead. He did this while waving his sword to cut the undead. Putchi! Putchi! Souta stopped attacking the undead when he saw Fred. He was surprised at Fred''s sword skill. Fred''s mastery over the sword was higher than him. "As expected of a butler of a noble family. He clearly possesses some skill to prove himself." Now that Souta thought about it, he recalled that when he threw his Vajra Sword before. Fred reacted quickly to parried his sword. Souta turned his head to looked at Lumilia and the rest. Lumilia was standing in front of Cluster and Jusmin while holding her sword in front of her. If some undead passes through Bryan and Fred, she was the one who''s going to fight it. Souta slightly bent his knees and launched himself towards the group of undead. "Let''s go, Saya!" He waved the Vajra Sword left and right cutting the bodies of the undead like a butter. He was getting impatient because the undead kept coming. "Get down!!" Souta shouted and Fred and Bryan looked at him. They quickly got crouched down in response to his words. [Cross Moon]!! Souta executed one of the skills of the [Vajra Sword Saya]. Swoosh!! A red light swept out in the whole area and it cut every undead in front of Souta. The system prompt kept ringing in his head. "Huff... There''s still more!" Souta inhaled deeply and shouted. He once again dashed towards the remaining undead in the back. Bryan and Fred also joined the fight. ... It took them a dozen minutes before they cleared all the undead in this area. The undead have numbers more than Souta estimated. At first, only fifty undead appeared but as the fight goes on the undead kept appearing until they reached more than a hundred in numbers. "That''s a lot of undead," Fred commented while looking at the dead bodies. Souta glanced at the girls and saw Jusmin was covering Cluster''s eyes. He opened his mouth and said, "Ignore it if you can''t stomach it." Lumilia nodded at his words. "Let''s get going, Jusmin." ... The group went deeper. They met undead in their way but its number was not the same as before. After half an hour of walking, Souta and the rest arrived in the middle part of the dungeon. The area here was wider and there''s a lot of undead here. Souta, Bryan, and Fred worked together to get rid of all the undead in the place. It took them ten minutes to completely finished all the undead. Souta looked at his group and saw that they were showing signs of exhaustion, so he let them rest here for a while. "Rest here," Souta said to them. He then walked around the area. Lumilia looked around the area and noticed a huge metal door at the side. "What''s with that door?" Lumilia asked. Souta walked towards it and placed his palm on the cold surface of the door. Behind this door was the spellbook that he wanted. On top of the huge metal door, was a line with a red light. It looks like a bar and the red light was the power that operated the mechanism inside the door. Bryan also walked towards the metal door. He pushed the door with all of his might but the door didn''t budge an inch. "I can''t open it." Bryan said and he tried to punch the door. Bang! His punch didn''t even leave a dent on the door. "You wouldn''t be able to open the door inside the dungeon easily," Souta said to Bryan. Cluster also walked towards the door and placed her palm on the surface of the door. "Cluster!" Jusmin called her but Cluster ignored her. Lumilia and Fred looked at Cluster with a curious expression. Souta noticed that Cluster''s eyes were lifeless. It was different from her usual expression. It feels like someone was taking over her body and controlling her. He took a step back and observed her. He wondered what she will do and he was also curious about the secret she''s hiding. A magic circle appeared in her palm. Then, the red bar above the door shone brightly before they heard the metallic sound inside the door indicating that she opened the door. Cluster suddenly loses her consciousness. She fell down and Bryan, who was beside her, caught her before she landed. Bang! The huge metal door slowly opened and revealed a dark room. "What?!" Souta was shocked when he saw this. The way she opened the door was different from what he knew. "How did she do that?" He tried to recall if there''s another way to open the door but unfortunately, he couldn''t think of anything. The only way to open this door was too filled the red bar using the bodies of the undead, but Cluster did it in her own way. How? Souta doesn''t have any ideas on how she did that. He stepped forward and looked at Cluster on Bryan''s arms. He checked her pulse and found that she was just unconscious. "What happened, Souta?" Bryan asked him while looking at Cluster with a hint of concern in his eyes. "She''s fine. You don''t have to worry about her." Souta said to him. He then entered the dark room behind the door. He used his [Fire Ball] spell to create light. The light from the fireball illuminated the whole room. Souta saw a bunch of equipment on the ground. The grade of the equipment ranges from Colorless to Blue grade. The one that caught his attention was the normal-looking chest at the back of the room. This thing was hiding the spellbook that he wanted. "Okay, let''s check it out," Souta said as he stepped forward. 64 Undead Cyclops Souta squatted down and placed his hands on the side of the chest before he opened it. Inside the chest, he saw a thick black book. The book looks ordinary and it doesn''t have any titles indicating what''s written inside this book. The [Undead Light] spell. A spell where he could shot a dark light. If the target was undead, they will only lose their energy. But if it''s not undead, the target will lose their life force and the life force will go to the user. And if the target died using the skill, then the target will become undead. The user will be able to use the life force he/she collected to increase the damage of his/her attack and defense. The spell can only target one person at a time. It will increase by leveling up the skill. It also can not be used while using another spell. Souta smiled looking at the spellbook on his hand. This spell was a Tier 2 spell. It means that he couldn''t use his skill points to learn this skill as he only had a low-level class. Tier 2 spell was for those who have mid-level class and Tier 3 spell was for those who have high-level class. But Souta didn''t have a plan to use skill points to learn this skill. He will try to learn it manually. After he learned the spell, he would also try if he could imprint it in his inner consciousness making it an inner spell just like the rest of his spell. "Souta, what''s that?" Lumilia asked him from behind. Souta glanced at her and said, "It''s a spellbook." "Hmm... Is that the reason why you came here?" Lumilia nodded and asked. "Nope, I don''t even know that this spell is here in the first place," Souta answered her. He said this because he wanted her to know that he doesn''t have any idea about what''s inside this room. It will be suspicious if he knew what''s inside the locked door. "I see... So what''s your reason?" Lumilia nodded and asked what''s his objective in this place. "The Rotten Venomous Green Apple," Souta replied. Since they were already here and they will know his goal when they arrived in the boss room, Souta decided to tell her. "Did real Venomous Green Apple grow here?" Lumilia asked him with wide eyes. She heard about the Venomous Green Apple, so she had an idea about it. Then, something came into her mind. "Rotten?" "Yeah, it decayed because of the negative energy of the undead that is guarding the Venomous Green Apple. That''s the reason why it became a Rotten Venomous Green Apple." Souta explained to her. "That''s unfortunate..." Lumilia said as she lowered her head. She knew that the value of the Venomous Green Apple was greater than the Mystical Light Cherry, but since it was a rotten one the value became less than the cherry. "Well, the client still wants it so what could I do?" Souta shrugged his shoulder. "I see..." Lumilia recalled that Bryan said that they came here because of the quest. Clap! Souta clapped his hand to gathered everyone''s attention and said, "You can pick anything that you wanted here. We could bring all of this equipment so pick the thing that you only want." Lumilia, Fred, and Jusmin just stayed in their place. They were not interested in some Blue grade equipment. But Bryan was different, he wasn''t a noble and he didn''t have money to buy his own set of equipment. All the money he earned was for paying the institute. Bryan was excited when he saw a lot of equipments on the ground. He went around to looked at the equipment with an excited expression. "You can pick anything you want Bryan. You can also sell it." Souta advised to Bryan. "Okay." Bryan nodded as he continued to check every equipment on the floor. Souta looked around and picked up some Blue grade equipment. He then called Yuko and hung those equipments in her back. "Good! We will earn a few hundred gold coins for these equipments." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. Souta looked at his stats and saw that [Harvester of the Soul] only need a few more souls before he could use its effect once again. The souls of the monsters, bandits, and the undead that he killed before almost filled the bar. Just a little bit more and his stats would increase once again. His base stats were mostly in balance right now. His strength attribute would increase than any of his attributes because he picked it when he evolved into High End Goblin. His agility and dexterity attributes were catching up because of the [Harvester of the Soul]. And his intelligence attributes were also increasing because of his class. The only thing he lacks was a skill to increase his vitality attributes. ... The group waited for Cluster to regained her consciousness. She woke up after thirty minutes since she opened the door. Souta didn''t ask her how she managed to open the door because he thought that Cluster doesn''t have any idea about that. Even if she knew that side of her, she will keep silent about it because she already hid why those people from before were after her. Naturally, she doesn''t want to talk about it. Lumilia also didn''t ask about it. Since she didn''t ask about, naturally Fred and Jusmin wouldn''t ask too. Bryan was different. He was just amazed and praised Cluster because she managed to open the door that he couldn''t open. "Okay, we will go now," Souta said to them while glancing at Cluster. Cluster was beside Jusmin still feeling weak. It seems that she exhausted her strength in opening the door. Souta then looked at Jusmin. "You stay beside Cluster." He planned to quickly kill the boss, the Undead Cyclops, with this group. He, Bryan, Yuko, Lumilia, and Fred will attack the boss. He knew how powerful the boss, so even with this group it would take some time. "Yeah. I will protect her." Jusmin nodded and she patted Cluster''s head. "Good." Souta nodded. ... Souta led them to the boss room. Their journey wasn''t smooth as they met some undead on their way to the boss room. Since all of them were fighting except for Cluster and Jusmin they easily eliminated those undead. Half an hour later they arrived in front of a wide space. The area of the boss room was wider than any other part of the dungeon here. The distance between the ceiling and the floor was twenty-five meters. Souta and the rest looked inside and saw a five-meter tall undead standing in the center of the room. This was the boss of this dungeon, the Undead Cyclops. Beside the Undead Cyclops was a tall rock and on top of it was a small tree without any leaf. They saw only saw one fruit which was hanging in one of its branches. "So that''s the Venomous Green Apple..." Jusmin said in wonder while looking at the green apple. "Yeah, and that''s my goal." Souta nodded and turned his attention to Yuko. He approached her and took the equipments that were hanging on her back. He then placed it on the ground. He did this so that Yuko could fight without restraint. "Jusmin, stay out of the fight," Lumilia said to Jusmin. "Yes, young miss." Jusmin nodded at her. "You can go now," Souta said as he patted Yuko''s back. Roar! Yuko roared and she charged towards the Undead Cyclops. The Undead Cyclops noticed her so it turned its body and faced Yuko. Boom! The two clashed causing a loud sound that echoed in the whole room. "Here I go!" Bryan clenched his fist as he bent his knees and charged towards the Undead Cyclops. Lumilia closed her eyes and she gathered her mana in her palm. She then casted a spell towards the Undead Cyclops. [Water Blade]!! A blade made of water shot towards the back of the Undead Cyclops. Bang! Bang! Bang! [Shadow Bind]!! Souta also used his spell to restrict the movements of the Undead Cyclops. Bang! Bang! Bang! Fred also charged as he joined Bryan and Yuko in battling the Undead Cyclops. While Lumilia and Souta provided them support using their spells. [Agility Boost]!! [Strength Boost]!! Souta casted his support spell on Bryan, Fred, and Yuko. He looked at them before he pulled out the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his waist. He looked at Lumilia and said, "I will join them, you can continue supporting us using your magic." Lumilia nodded and she casted [Water Bomb] spell. Bryan, Fred, and Yuko took a distance away from the Undead Cyclops and Lumilia''s spell exploded. Boom!! "Continue!!" Souta shouted. He knew that the Undead Cyclops wouldn''t die that easily. The boss was a powerful undead. It possessed the power to carry the level of this dungeon higher than the low-level dungeon, so it wouldn''t die easily. They nodded at him before they launched themselves at the boss of this dungeon. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 65 Fighting the Undead Cyclops [Quest Triggered!] [Boss Battle]: Defeat the boss and conquer the dungeon. Rewards: 5,000 exp, 2 free attribute points, and 1 skill point. The rewards of this quest were higher than the previous quest he did in the dungeon. It was because the level of this dungeon wasn''t entirely a low-level dungeon. It''s level hover between the low-level and mid-level dungeons. "Hmm... I will get another skill points that''s what matters." Souta smiled. ... Bang! Bang! Bang! A loud sound echoed in the whole room as Yuko exchanged blows with the Undead Cyclops. Yuko was getting pushed back by the power of the Undead Cyclops when Bryan appeared above her and shot a powerful punch at the enemy. [Blazing Strike]!! Bryan''s flaming fist hit the face of the Undead Cyclops. The undead was pushed back a little bit by his punch. Swoosh!! The undead waved its hand towards Bryan but Yuko blocked it for him. Bang! "Thanks, Yuko!" Bryan smiled and he casted [Lightning Boots] and [Lightning Edge] spell. Bang!! Bang!! Bang!! Fred moved behind the undead and executed his own combat arts. [Rippling Slash]!! White energy coated his sword before he swung it at the back of the Undead Cyclops. Putchi! A large cut appeared on the back of the undead. The undead felt the power of the slash, so it turned around and shot a kick towards Fred. Fred noticed it, so he quickly reacted by moving his body sideways. He avoided the kick and launched a counter-attack. [Rippling Slash]!! He slashed the feet of the Undead Cyclops. Putchi! Suddenly, the Undead Cyclops roared in a very loud voice. The roar shook the entire area. Roar!! Bryan and Fred covered their ears as both of them took a step back. "Damn, it''s crazy strong!" Bryan looked at the Undead Cyclops with eagerness in his eyes. "Let me try it for a second." Souta looked at Bryan when he heard those words. He nodded and called Yuko. "Stay back, let Bryan hold the undead for a while." "Are you sure?" Fred went beside Souta and asked. Souta just nodded his head while looking at the Undead Cyclops. The Undead Cyclops started to emitted strange black energy. It was color black and everyone could see the energy with their own eyes. It then gathered the energy in its eye. Ohm! It formed a ball of black energy and it was getting stronger every second. Boom! The black energy shot a beam towards them. ... "Get down!" Souta said as he pushed Fred to avoid the black beam at all costs. Bryan also jumped away to dodge the beam. Lumilia took Jusmin and Cluster with her. Boom!! A loud explosion that shook the entire room occurred. Thick smoke and dust covered the area of the explosion. Some of the crystals on the ceiling started to fall down. It looks like the entire place was going to crumble down. Souta knew that this place wasn''t going to crumble with just one attack of that level. This place was built to hold the boss here, so it could even take the strongest blow the boss could give. "What power!" Fred exclaimed looking at the explosion. [Water Barrier]!! Lumilia casted a barrier to protect Cluster and Jusmin from the falling debris. "Damn, what a strong one!" Bryan charged towards the Undead Cyclops without hesitation. He jumped in the air and aimed his palm on the undead. [Thunder Shock]!! [Lightning Ground]!! [Glowing Flame]!! Bryan casted his attacking spell at the Undead Cyclops. Flames and Lightning appeared one after another and it looks like it was going to devour the undead. The Undead Cyclops ignored the damage it took and attack Bryan. It launched a barrage of punches towards him. Bang!! Bang!! Bang!! Bryan swiftly avoided all the punches of the undead with his speed. He clenched his fist tightly and he jumped towards the face of the undead. Swoosh! Bryan smirked and casted a powerful spell [Burst Flame]. Boom!! ... "Whoa! That packs a lot of power!" Souta exclaimed looking at Bryan''s show of power. To think that Bryan holds this much power was something he didn''t expect. Souta would say that Bryan with mana and spell was five times stronger than the Bryan in the tournament. Souta shook his head and said, "But that''s enough now, let''s go!" He patted Yuko and let her join the fight. Suddenly, Lumilia shouted from behind. "Back down!!" Bryan heard her voice so he took a distance from the Undead Cyclops. Yuko who just joined the fight was forced to back down. [Water Serpent]!! A huge serpent made of water formed behind Lumilia. Lumilia pointed her fingers at the Undead Cyclops and she controlled the serpent to attack the undead. Swoosh!! The serpent speed was high as it quickly arrived before the undead. The serpent moved above before it got down and clashed on the face of the undead. Boom!! "Follow up! [Water Bomb]! [Water Blade]!" Lumilia showed her powerful spells. The power of her spell could be compared to Bryan''s spell. She then crouched down and placed both of her palms on the ground. [Greater Ice Spike]!! Spike made of ice burst out of the ground. The area of effect of this skill could cover the whole space of this room, but she didn''t do it because she had her comrades here. The spike pierced the huge body of the Undead Cyclops. "Whoa! Your crazy strong too, class rep!" Bryan exclaimed in a loud voice. Boom!! Suddenly, the spikes were shattered like a fragile glass. All of them focused their sight on the Undead Cyclops. The undead was releasing a very powerful aura right now. The aura caused ripples in the air. The Undead Cyclops'' body expanded and it became seven meters tall. Its eye turned red in color and red veins started to pop up around its body. "What''s that?" Jusmin looked at the Undead Cyclops. She was worried about the one who''s fighting such a monster. "It still have so much power!" Fred exclaimed as he covered his eyes with his hand. "Tch! A good one!" Bryan clicked his tongue when he saw that the Undead Cyclops still holds a power they couldn''t expect. Lumilia just looked at the undead as she bit her lower lips. Souta knew what''s that. It''s the [Berserk Mode] skill of the Undead Cyclops. It will activate when its health goes down to one fourth. "It''s our time, Yuko!" Souta shouted and he waved his sword. Roar! Yuko roared and charged towards the Undead Cyclops in response to his words. Souta followed behind Yuko and he used [Dash] to increase his speed. He also used [Agility Boost] and[Strength Boost] on himself. Swoosh!! He jumped above Yuko and looked at the Undead Cyclops. He aimed his sword at the undead and executed [Stab] consecutively. Bang! Bang! Bang! The Undead Cyclops felt the power of his attack, so it turned its attention on him. It swung its huge arm towards him. Souta smirked as he gripped his sword tightly. He then executed the skill of the [Vajra Sword Saya]. [Cross Moon]!! The red light of the Vajra Sword and the huge hand of the Undead Cyclops collided. Boom!! Blood burst out of the hand of the undead. The flesh of its hand slowly crumbled under the power of the Vajra Sword. Souta then twisted his body in the air and swung his sword. Putchi! The huge hand of the Undead Cyclops fell down on the ground with a loud "thud" sound. At this time, Yuko arrived in front of the undead. She increased her speed and tackled the huge undead in front of her. Bang! She then moved both of her hands and smashed the Undead Cyclops. Bang! Bang! Bang! Yuko saw that her attack wasn''t doing any damage to the undead, so she opened her mouth and a ball of fire formed. [Burning Shout]!! A flame swept out in the whole area and it almost hit Souta. Souta was shocked when he saw this. It was his first time seeing Yuko used her trait skill. He smiled and said, "Good girl, Yuko! Keep it up!" After a few moments, Yuko stopped her trait skill. Souta saw the area was burned and the Undead Cyclops was still moving. Although it was moving, Souta knew that it would fall anytime. He dashed towards it and waved his sword like a madman. Slice! Slash! He only stopped when he heard a sound in his mind. [You''ve received 1,891 exp from defeating the Undead Cyclops!] [Congratulations on completing the mission Boss Battle!] [You''ve received 5,000 exp!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] "It''s done," Souta said as the Undead Cyclops fell in the ground. He checked the system first before he went up to the tall rock. He picked up the Rotten Venomous Green Apple and placed it inside a container. "That''s mission complete," Bryan said as he walked towards Souta. "Yeah, thanks." Souta nodded and thanked him. He packed the container inside his bag. "I hope you don''t forget what you promise to young miss," Fred said at the side. "Don''t worry, I will help you." Souta grinned at him. He wouldn''t abandon a mission that will give him 5 skill points. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 66 Next Ques Souta packed the container inside his bag. He stood up and said, "You can rest here. After we rest, we will head to get the Mystical Light Cherry for class rep." Bryan and Fred nodded at him. They sat down and tried to recover their energy as fast as possible. "How about you?" Jusmin asked him. "Me, I''m going to see what''s this undead," Souta said as he walked towards the Undead Cyclops. Lumilia just looked at him before she closed her eyes. Souta sat down in front of the Undead Cyclops and sliced a piece of its meat. He placed it inside the other container that he bought. It''s one of the requirements for his next evolution, the meat of the level 20 and above undead. Now that he acquired all the materials needed for his next evolution, the only thing he needed was to level up to twenty. He doesn''t need to worry about that now as his priority was to complete Lumilia''s quest. The rewards of her quest were the highest all of the quest he received ever since he came here in this world. He will undergo evolution once he finished this quest. After that, he will focus on leveling up his class. Currently, he was just a Rank 1 Mage. To promote to Rank 2 Mage, he needed to level up once of his specialty to level 10. Leveling up a spell was completely different from leveling up a combat arts like his [Stab] skill. It was different from combat arts that could be trained to level up. The spell was made up of a magic circle. He needed to know how to build up a magic circle without relying on his system. This was the reason why he enrolled in the Ladro Institute. ... The group rested inside the boss room for almost an hour. They recovered some of their energy in this time, so Souta lead them out of the dungeon. "Ho~ that undead was crazy strong," Bryan said after they got out the dungeon. "Don''t worry about it, you have the potential to surpass it," Souta commented. Lumilia agreed at him. She knew that Bryan had four affinities and only powerful people possessed four affinities. In the future, Bryan would become one too with proper training. "Okay, prepare yourself. Our opponent this time isn''t some mindless undead." Souta clapped and said. "The battle this time will be hard, harder than conquering the dungeon, so be prepared. The nobles from both Hebrei Kingdom and Melosa Country will be our opponents. Also, some of the high-level adventurers will be there to get the Mystical Light Cherry." Lumilia, Fred, and Jusmin nodded with a gloomy expression. They knew that it will become a fierce battle if the nobles from other countries were involved in this fight. "Bring it on," Bryan said with a smile. He was excited to fight strong people from another country. "But something is strange here..." Souta said as he looked around. "Something is strange?" Bryan looked at Souta with a questioning gaze. Souta looked at them and asked, "Are any of you familiar with this forest?" "No, this is my first time here." Bryan shook his head. "We came here before but we didn''t enter this deep," Fred said. Souta nodded in understanding. He opened his mouth and said, "In the books, they said that we shouldn''t enter the inner part of the Desolate Woods if we don''t have enough strength." "Yeah, why?" Jusmin nodded and asked. "In this part of the forest, there''s a lot of powerful monsters. Two types of these monsters even possess a monster orb. So why we haven''t met those monsters?" Souta carefully said to them. "Do you mean..." Fred looks like he understood what Souta was saying. "Yeah, I think someone with enough power came here and killed those monsters," Souta said. "But, why? Mystical Light Cherry is nothing to someone that powerful." Fred asked. "I don''t know their reason but it seems that we need to be extra careful in getting the Mystical Light Cherry," Souta said. Fred looked at Lumilia and asked, "Young miss, what should we do?" Lumilia lowered her head. She was having a hard time deciding what to do. She couldn''t let Fred and Jusmin to be put in danger because of her decision. "Don''t worry, young miss. No matter what you do I will support you." Jusmin said. "M-Me too... Don''t worry about me. I don''t want you to worry about me. I can run anytime and I''m confident about this." Cluster slowly raised her hand and said meekly. Souta smiled looking at them. He opened his mouth and said, "Don''t worry about it. When the time comes, I will do anything to get that Mystical Light Cherry for you." Lumilia lifted up her head and looked at him in the eyes. "Hahaha, yeah we will help you." Bryan laughed and said. ... Somewhere in the forest... "Ah~ where''s the one that will become a sacrifice for our God," Julius said while looking around at his surroundings. "We will arrive there soon," Carmilla replied to him. These two people were the commandments of the God''s Will cult. They came here to retrieve the body of a certain god from ancient times. They didn''t know have much information about that god as a lot of information about the ancient era was gone. Only a few pieces of information were passed down and a lot of people treated that information as a sacred treasure. "For the love of our god. We must complete this mission as soon as possible." Julius said. "Naturally, we couldn''t afford to fail this mission," Carmilla said. She then stopped moving and looked in the sky. She opened her mouth and said, "Someone is coming here." "He~ more sacrifice," Julius said as he opened his arms widely. "They didn''t even bother hiding their aura." Carmilla smiled. With her power, she could sense people who didn''t bother to hide their aura a few kilometers away. Especially, those people clearly had hostility while coming in this direction. So it''s not that surprising that she felt those people. Carmilla shook her head and said, "They didn''t even realize that they will only become a sacrifice if they went here." ... A middle-aged man was heading towards the Desolate Woods at a fast speed. The middle-aged man had an angry expression on his face. He has blonde hair that was comb behind his head. His pupils were gleaming with an intent to kill. "How dare you kill my son?" He said with an angry expression. A few hours ago, he sensed that the life force of his son disappeared in the Desolate Woods so he quickly flew towards it. He had a special bloodline where he could sense the life force of his descendants and know their location. Those descendants of his could provide him their power through his connection with them. He was going to kill the one who killed his son. He couldn''t contain his rage anymore. ... Back in the Dry Gulch Town. "What the hell is this?!" "Head, a lot of nobles died in the inner part of the Desolate Woods according to some adventurer that went there." "The heck! This is bad!!" The Head of the town received a report that a lot of people with backgrounds died in the Desolate Woods. The Head was shocked when he received such reports. Since this town was closest to the Desolate Woods, the backer of those people would naturally question him about this. He needed to come up a with report and know the truth about their death in the Desolate Woods. "This is getting bad. Something is happening in the Desolate Woods." The Head gritted his teeth. He stood up and looked at his assistant and said, "Prepare my armor, I will go there myself to investigate it." The assistant nodded and bowed his head before he left. The Head looked at his assistant''s retreating figure before he walked towards the window and looked at the direction of the Desolate Woods. Suddenly, he sensed a powerful aura coming to his direction. "Hais... They are here. I need to come up with an excuse." He couldn''t help but sigh. He knew he was no match about those powerful nobles from large countries. He could only curse those idiot second generation that only relies on their parents. "Damn, who would have the guts to kill those idiots!" ... Souta and the rest stood in their place with wide eyes. In front of them were the bodies of dead monsters, demis, and humans. The whole area was dyed in red because of the blood of dead creatures. "This...?" Jusmin covered her mouth with her hand. She was shocked by what''s in front of her. "Young miss..." Fred muttered as he turned his head and looked at Lumilia. Lumilia swallowed her saliva. To think that what Souta said before was true. Souta observed the corpses around them and he even saw monsters with a monster orb. There''s even a people wearing a knight armor. "Hahaha, this is bad news." He could only smile wryly at this scene. He had an idea of how powerful the person that could do this violence. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 67 Battle for the Mystical Light Cherry: Star "What should we do, young miss?" Fred asked Lumilia with a concerned tone. "I-" Lumilia hesitated to answer him and when she was about to reply Souta interrupted her. "Don''t worry, the person who''s capable of doing this wouldn''t have an interest in a mere Mystical Light Cherry," Souta said. He clearly knew that those powerful people wouldn''t get an interest in a fruit that will not give them any benefits. For them, the benefits they will receive from Mystical Light Cherry was close to none. They wouldn''t even feel the increase in their strength even if they consumed a dozen of it. "What if we met those people?" Jusmin interjected. What she was worried the most was Lumilia''s safety. "If we somehow met them, then don''t do anything that will get in their nerves. We should just leave them and do nothing." Souta said. As long as they don''t offend those people then they would be safe. He could see from this scene that these people didn''t die without fighting. These people and monsters all died with one strike on their necks. Although they died with one strike, Souta could see that there''s proof of other skill that was launched. Trees were burned and shattered ice was on the ground. In other words, these people attacked first before they died with one strike. "As long as we don''t attack them then we''re good," Souta added. "O-Okay..." Lumilia nodded then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, a determination could be seen flashing in her eyes. Souta turned his attention to Bryan. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Don''t do anything. Just keep quiet for a while." "I know." Bryan nodded at him. "Ignore those bodies. We will go now." Souta said to them. ... The group walked for half an hour before they arrived in the part where the Mystical Light Cherry ripened. "We''re here in the rumored part of the forest where the Mystical Light Cherry ripened," Souta said to the group. "Here in this place, there''s a chance that people who are after the Mystical Light Cherry will only attack us once we got the cherry in our hands." "Okay, I''m itching to fight someone," Bryan said with a smirk on his face. "Bryan, don''t start attacking people. We will see first if they are enemies or not." Souta said to Bryan sternly. "Yeah, if you want to help young miss then do that." Jusmin backed up Souta. "I know." Bryan smiled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head. "Cluster, stay beside Jusmin. Don''t wander around." Souta said to Cluster. "Mn... Don''t worry about me..." Cluster said in a low voice. She gripped the hem of her clothes while looking at Souta straight in the eyes. "Good." Souta smiled when he saw her eyes. It seems that he doesn''t need to worry about her. Boom! A loud booming sound echoed in the whole area and it was followed by a huge explosion. Souta, Yuko, Lumilia, Bryan, Fred, and Jusmin looked up. They saw a huge mushroom of smoke rose up in the air. "As expected some people are already fighting for the cherry," Souta muttered. From the looks of it, the battle already started and it looks like its been a while since it started. There''s also a possibility that some people got the Mystical Light Cherry. "Let''s hurry!" Souta said before he started to run towards the direction of the explosion. Yuko followed him without hesitation. "Okay." Bryan nodded and he also ran towards Souta. Lumilia, Fred, and Jusmin looked at each other before they followed behind Souta. ... Bang! Bang! Bang! A man wearing a full plate armor was breathing heavily. His armor had a lot of dent and cracks in it. He slowly raised his arm and wiped the blood on his mouth. He took a deep breath and said, "They''re quite strong, master." "I know. I''m having a hard time too, so can you please shut up and focus on killing them." A young man with long black hair said with an annoyed expression. He was a young noble from Melosa Country and in front of him were his knights. The one they were fighting were the Wood Eater Apes. The Wood Eater Apes was one meter in height. Although, they weren''t that tall their power was something else. Their level was between 20 and 39. It means that these apes already evolved twice. The Wood Eater Apes live in a pack and they were rarely seen alone. Even when they were hunting, they were still forming a group. Even if their prey was weaker than them. These Wood Eater Apes were the ones that were guarding the Mystical Light Cherry. To get the cherry the humans and demis needed to defeat the apes and the leader of the pack. The leader of the pack was a powerful ape that already formed its own monster orb. It means that the leader was level 40 and above. "Young master, they are too strong." The man in full plate armor said. "Shut up! Just go and take the fruit!" The young man shouted. "I understand, young master." The man in full plate armor nodded and raised his sword in the air. He shouted, "Let''s go, guys!" ... Souta and the rest hid in the bushes. They observed the fight between these knights and apes. Souta was quite shocked when he found that the one who''s guarding the Mystical Light Cherry was a monster that formed its monster orb. The Earth Crawler Ape was the leader of the pack of the Wood Eater Ape. The Earth Crawler Ape was a three-meter tall ape with brown fur. Its arm was large and muscles were bulging. "What should we do, Souta?" Fred asked Souta. He knew that he could count on Souta in this kind of situation. He saw before that Souta had confidence in getting the Mystical Light Cherry, so he will bet on it. He knew that his young miss wouldn''t ask Souta for advice even when they were classmates. "We will wait here for a while. Let them fight each other." Souta said in a low voice. He then turned his head and looked at Bryan. "I know." Before Souta could even say anything, Bryan already answered him. "It''s good that you understand it." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. They watched how the knights fought the powerful Wood Eater Apes. The apes have an advantage in terms of physical abilities but the knights'' skill was better than apes. Also, their teamwork clearly surpasses the apes and it led the knights to defeat a lot of apes. But there''s a problem. The numbers of the ape were greater than the knights. Souta could guess that the knights would lose their strength and would die soon. Also, the Earth Crawler Ape wasn''t even moving. After a few minutes of fighting, another group of knights appeared in the scene. It seems that these two groups knew each other so both of them decided to cooperate and kill the apes first. While they were watching the knights fought the apes, Souta heard several footsteps behind him. "Hmm...?" He quickly stood up and looked behind. He saw a group of adventurers coming at this direction. Souta looked at Lumilia then back at the adventurers. The distance between them wasn''t that large, so it''s impossible to run. The clash between them was inevitable. "Fred, come here. The rest stay away." Souta picked the most rational one among the group to come with him. Fred didn''t answer him immediately. Instead, he looked at Lumilia first and when he saw her nod, he stood up. Souta looked at Bryan and said, "Bryan, don''t do anything." He then looked at Lumilia. "Class rep, I''ll leave them to you." "Okay." Lumilia nodded at him. ... The adventurers stopped five meters away from Souta and Fred. The adventurers looked at Souta and Fred up and down. They could see that Souta was an adventurer like them but Fred was different. Fred was a butler of a noble house and they could see it in his outfit. After they finished assessing Souta and Fred, they looked behind them. They saw three girls, one boy, and a bear. They determined that Cluster was a noble from the way the girls were protecting her. "Why are you here?" Fred opened his mouth and asked the adventurers. Before the adventurers arrive here, Souta said that he will be the one that will talk with the adventurers. "Hmm... I will ask you the same question why are you here." A man with a huge build stepped forward. While Fred and the adventurers were talking to each other, Souta was observing them from top to bottom. Their weapon, height, build, clothes, and feet. According to what he saw, these people weren''t the ones who killed the monsters and nobles back there. Their weapons wouldn''t leave the same mark like those people. "Really, I''m getting too worried about the people who killed those people and monsters," Souta muttered with a grin on his face. He then slowly raised a thumbs up in the air. He said, "It''s okay! We can go all out now!" Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 68 Battle for the Mystical Light Cherry: Monster Orb Release "Bryan, you can go now!" Souta shouted. The clash between his group and the other people that were after the Mystical Light Cherry was inevitable. He got worried because of the people who killed those monsters. But now, he thought that he doesn''t need to worry about it. He then turned his head to Jusmin and said, "Protect her. It''s going to get chaotic now." Justin nodded her head and she pulled Cluster to her chest. Souta jumped above the tree and saw that a lot of people were coming. The fight broke out in all areas. ... "Ah!" Bryan charged towards the adventurers as soon as Souta gave him the signal. Swoosh! He gathered his mana on his fist and shot a powerful punch. The adventurer saw it. He grabbed the axe on his back and swung it towards Bryan. Bang! Both of their attacks collided causing the earth to shook. Another two adventurers moved their body and appeared in both of Bryan''s side. Both of them quickly pulled out their weapons and waved it towards Bryan. Clang! Clang! Bryan saw a figure in front of him. It was Fred. He smiled and said, "Thanks!" After Fred blocked those attacks, Fred stepped forward and slashed his sword. Clang! Clang! Clang! Every time their weapon clashed, sparks flew out. Clang! Clang! Clang! Fred''s sword skill was overwhelming the two adventurers in front of him. He waved his sword with a speed surpassing the two adventurers. "Guh!" "Argh! This guy!" The two adventurers could only defend with their life on the line. ... Bryan looked at Fred who was fighting two adventurers at the same time. He lifted up his hand and casted several spells. [Lightning Edge]!! [Lightning Boots]!! [Scorching Hand]!! Lightning crackled and flames rose up covering his hand. "Okay, let''s do this." Bryan smiled. The adventurers pulled out their weapons and their mana flared up. Three of the quickly ran forward in the direction of Fred. These three wanted to help their comrades to defeat Fred. "I won''t let you," Bryan said as he disappeared from his place. Crackle! He appeared in front of the three adventurers. "Attack him!" One of them shouted and launched his sword skill. [Sword Slash]!! The other two followed suit and executed their own skills. [Glittering Slice]!! [Darting Stab]!! Bryan moved his body left and right dodging the attacks with a speed that they couldn''t comprehend. He then proceeded to punch the three adventurers in the face with his [Scorching Hand]. "That''s the high-level spell [Lightning Boots] and [Lightning Edge]!!" One of the adventurers recognized the spell that Bryan used. They subconsciously took a step back. The leader of the group of adventurers was a young man with long black hair that was tied in a ponytail. He has fox ears and tails. The leader took a step forward and brandished his sword. He controlled his mana and poured it in his sword. Swoosh!! He instantly appeared in front of Bryan and swung his sword. "So fast!" Bryan quickly reacted and he moved his body sideways. He then lifted up his feet and launched a powerful kick at the leader. Bang! The leader blocked it using his free hand and once again swung his sword towards Bryan. Swoosh! Bryan swiftly moved his hand in front of him and the sword and his [Lightning Edge] collided. Bang! Both of them took a distance to each other. "You''re strong. I can see that you''re an adventurer. What''s your rank?" The leader asked. "You''re crazy strong too. But I''m just an E Rank." Bryan replied with a smile on his face. "With your strength, you''re just an E Rank. Why don''t you join us and I will help you rank up to D Rank?" The leader opened his palm and he invited Bryan to join him. "Unfortunately, my answer is no," Bryan said. "That''s really unfortunate." The leader said and he dashed straight to Bryan. Bryan lifted up both of his hands and clashed against the leader. Clang! Clang! Clang! Lumilia who was in the back lifted up both of her hands above her head. Her magical power rose up to the peak. The leader stopped for a moment when he felt Lumilia''s mana. He looked around and saw her in the back. "Stop her!" He shouted while pointing his sword at Lumilia. Suddenly, a fist crashed into his face. Bang! He flew away and crashed in the tree. "You should focus on your opponent when your fighting someone," Bryan said. The other adventurers snapped out of their dazed and dashed towards her. "I will help you." Souta, who was observing the other battles in the area, looked down at Lumilia. He silently casted [Shadow Bind] to stop the movements of the adventurers. Swoosh!! "Argh!" "What''s this?!" The adventurers panicked when their shadows suddenly bind them. "[Freezing Point]!!" Lumilia finished casting the high-level spell that she was preparing. The temperature suddenly drops and the wind blew strongly. The ground started to turn into ice and all adventurers turned into an ice sculpture. Bryan stopped moving and looked at the scene with wide eyes. He was shocked that the area around him turned into ice. This was the power of a Tier 2 spell. Everything around Lumilia turned into ice except her comrades. Precisely it was one hundred meters around her. The spell even stopped the other fights in the area around them. Lumilia fell down on her knees. The Tier 2 Spell [Freezing Point] drained almost all of her mana in her mana pool. "As expected of class rep, she have Tier 2 Spell in her sleeves," Souta muttered. Even he doesn''t know any Tier 2 Spell. All the spell he had were only a Tier 1 Spell for his Low-level Class. He then casted the spell [Shadow Spike] to broke the ice. Bang! The spike pierced through the body of the people that were turned into ice. It painlessly killed all those people without even fighting back. Souta shook his head as he heard several system prompts inside his head. "Now, that the fight here concluded, let me see the Mystical Light Cherry." Souta stood up while patting his clothes. He looked at the Mystical Light Cherry from his position and saw that it was still there. The [Freezing Point] spell didn''t even leave a scratch to it. The Earth Crawler Ape protected the cherry from any harm. Souta called Bryan and let him see the Mystical Light Cherry. "I want you to steal the cherry when there''s an opportunity," Souta said to Bryan. He looked at Fred and said, "The butler and I will distract the Earth Crawler Ape later. Lumilia, you stay with the maid and Cluster. You will immediately take them once Bryan got the cherry." Souta explained his plan to them. He and Fred will distract the Earth Crawler Ape while Bryan will steal the cherry. The plan was to let the Ape fought the other people first. "Do you have a question?" Souta asked as he looked at their face one by one. Lumilia shook her head and went beside Jusmin and Cluster. She doesn''t have much mana left, so Souta left her with Jusmin and Cluster. "Yuko, you stay with them and don''t let anyone approach them," Souta said to Yuko. "Mu." Yuko lowered her head in front of Souta. Souta smiled and he patted her head. He knew that she wanted a pat when she lowered her head in front of him. "Good girl." ... Roar!! The Earth Crawler Ape roared loudly and it shook the whole area. The ape emitted a reddish aura and the orb on its chest glow brightly. The reddish aura swept out like ripples in the air. All the people who felt it stopped for a moment. This energy was different from mana. This energy was much more destructive and violent than mana. Yuko felt fear looking at the Earth Crawler Ape. The Ape was finally using its beast energy. "This is Best Feram." Fred shuddered when he felt the beast energy in the surrounding. "The legendary energy of a monster that''s more powerful than mana that we, humans and demis, use," Lumilia muttered while looking at the ape. Her instinct was telling her to run away. "This is really something else." Souta smiled wryly looking at this scene. This made him want the monster orb more. He was truly looking forward when he formed his own monster orb and use the beast energy. The Beast Energy was suppressing the mana in the whole area. It made the people, who had low control in their mana, hard to cast a spell. The Earth Crawler Ape roared once again and the orb in its chest emitted a black line. The black line stuck on the body of the ape and it became a black tattoo. The air of the ape was continuously rising without stopping. "Oi! It''s even know the [Monster Orb Release]." Souta said as he gripped the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his waist. [Monster Orb Release] was a skill of a monster that releases the full potential of the monster orb. The overall stats of the monster will drastically increase once they activate this skill. Roar!! The people who were near the ape felt the suppression in the air. They started to tremble as fear and despair seep in their hearts. The ape turned its head to the people who were fighting the Wood Eater Apes before. Thud! The ground shook slightly every time the ape took a step forward. "No way..." They could only watch the ape approached them slowly. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 69 Battle for the Mystical Light Cherry: Bestrou The Earth Crawler Ape used the [Monster Orb Release] skill. The appearance of the ape drastically changed. Its brown fur turned into blood-red color as jet black tattoo emerged in its body. Roar! The Ape roared loudly and it shook the entire area. It was followed up by ripples of beast energy in the air. The group of knights was trembling in fear. They couldn''t do anything but watched the Earth Crawler Ape approached them. They were the nearest group that was closed to the Mystical Light Cherry and they also killed most of the Wood Eater Ape. Actually, the Earth Crawler Ape wouldn''t even move. But Lumilia [Freezing Point] spell triggered the ape to move. It sensed the danger behind that spell and it caused the ape to move. The other groups who were fighting each other stop when they felt the Tier 2 Spell and it was followed up by the transformation of the Earth Crawler Ape. Including Souta''s group, there were more than five groups in the area around the Mystical Light Cherry. They were all closed to the Mystical Light Cherry. Some of them were adventurers from Hebrei Kingdom and the other were Nobles from Melosa Country. The Nobles from Melosa Country have great animosity to the people of Hebrei Kingdom because of what happened in the past. They became a laughing stock at that time. Their boasted powerful army was pushed back by one person. If the Nobles from Melosa Country were given a chance then they would take it just to get revenge on Hebrei Kingdom. Since the adventurers here were working for the people of Hebrei Kingdom, the Nobles from Melosa Country would try to get rid of them. They wouldn''t let any force of the Hebrei Kingdom get the Mystical Light Cherry. That''s the reason why the fight broke out in all areas. But now it stopped... It was because of the transformation of the Earth Crawler Ape. The transformation led them to realize that no matter how much they killed each other they wouldn''t be able to acquire the Mystical Light Cherry as long as the Earth Crawler Ape was still alive. ... Souta, Bryan, and Fred were hiding on the top of the tree. They were watching how the battle will unfold. Their number was less than all the groups in this place. Lumilia, Jusmin, Yuko, and Cluster were hiding far away from this place. They were preparing themselves to run away as soon as Bryan get the Mystical Light Cherry. "As I said before, we will wait. We''re not going to fight that monster head-on. We''re just going to distract it for you Bryan." Souta said while looking at the ape. He knew that their power wasn''t enough for the Earth Crawler Ape. No matter what they did they wouldn''t be able to defeat it. His plan was only to distract the ape and Bryan would do his job. "Okay, I know my role. I just need to steal that cherry, right?" Bryan nodded and glanced at the Mystical Light Cherry. "Yeah, but you need to run away as fast as you can after you stole the cherry," Souta said. "Okay." Bryan nodded as he rubbed his palm together. All the nobles and adventurers'' attention was going to turn to Bryan once he stole the cherry. Also, the Earth Crawler Ape would chase after him. That''s why Souta asked him if he knew another spell that could raise his speed other than [Lightning Boots]. He replied to Souta by saying that he still has more spells that he hasn''t show, so there''s no need to worry. ... The ape charged to the group of knights. The young noble from Melosa Country was scared and he fell down on his butt. "Ah!! Stop that monster!!" He shouted while pointing at the Earth Crawler Apes with fear painted on his face. The leader of the knights looked at his comrades. He raised his sword and stabbed it on the ground. Boom! He imbued his mana in his sword, so his mana exploded snapping up his comrades. "Don''t be afraid, we''re the proud knights of..." The leader of the knights shouted and he pulled out his sword before he charged towards the ape. "Ah!!" The rest of the knights also charged towards the apes. All of them gathered their mana in their weapons to make it more lethal. The Earth Crawler Ape opened its mouth and it gathered its beast energy before it roared loudly towards the group of knights. Boom! The roar dispersed all the mana that the knights gathered. The roar had beast energy in it so when the roar clashed with the mana they gathered, the mana got scattered. "Since, we''re weaker than that monster! Don''t use any mana or spell! Just use our combat arts!" The leader of the knights shouted. [Knight''s Will]!! All of them activated their skill. Their speed and strength increased greatly when they activated their skill. The ape arrived in front of them and shot a powerful punch. Bang! [Metallic Body]!! The leader of the knights went in front of his comrades and blocked the punch using his sword. He used his combat arts to increase the defense of his body. "Argh!" He was pushed back three meters away. The sword in his hand formed a cracked and he felt his hand going numb. "Strong..." He said before he spat a mouthful of blood. Just from one punch, he took so much damage. "Surround!" The rest of the knights formed a circle around the Earth Crawler Ape. All of them used their combat arts and attack the ape at the same time. [Sword Light]!! [Double Stab]!! [Piercing Wave]!! Several combat arts hit the body of the Earth Crawler Ape. The ape lifted up its hand and covered its face. It let the combat arts hit its body. Bang! Bang! Bang! Suddenly, the ape swung its free arm and grabbed one of the knights. It raised the knight up in the air before it smashed it on the other knights. Bang! This one move caused the other knights to stop moving. They all looked at their comrades. The ape lifted up both of its hands above its head before it smashed the ground. Boom! The ground shook heavily and it threw the balance of the knights. The knights fell down one by one before they got swept by the arm of the ape. Bang! Bang! Bang! ... The other groups, who were watching the fight from the sideline, decided to step forward and took the initiative to steal the Mystical Light Cherry. While the knights were fighting the Earth Crawler Ape, another group of knights stepped forward to help them. "I''m Gredi, a knight of Yuven family. What family do you serve?" The leader of the knights asked the other one. "I''m Vince, a knight of Giran family. Thank you for helping us." The leader of the knight of Giran family thanked the other leader for helping him. "Don''t worry we''re all came from Melosa Country. It''s okay if your the one who got the Mystical Light Cherry but no matter what happens, we wouldn''t let the people from Hebrei Kingdom get it." Gredi said and he dashed towards the Earth Crawler Ape. "You''re right! We wouldn''t let those people from Hebrei Kingdom acquire the cherry." Vince said and he also charged towards the ape. Both of them was the leader of the knights in the group, so they have some skills that could injure the Earth Crawler Ape. Bang! Bang! Bang! The two leaders, Gredi and Vince, led the group to combat the Earth Crawler Ape. The two took the frontline and fought the ape side by side. Their power and teamwork were great that they managed to injure the Earth Crawler Ape in just a few blows. While they were fighting the ape, a group of adventurers from Hebrei Kingdom went around to take the Mystical Light Cherry. "Hehe~ were quite lucky." One of the adventurers with a bow behind him said with a laughed. "Yes, boss. We would earn a lot of money from this cherry." His comrades nodded at his words. Their group silently went around and slowly approached the Mystical Light Cherry. All of them were quite excited as they got closer to the cherry. When they were twenty meters away from the cherry, the boss dashed with all of his strength and in just a few seconds he arrived in front of the cherry. He quickly stretched out his hand and plucked out the fruit from the tree. "I got it." He smiled while looking at the small fruit in his hand. Roar!! A powerful roar echoed behind him. The Earth Crawler Ape ignored the knights in front of it and just went to the adventurer with high speed. It caused him to quickly turned around and run as fast as possible. "Stop attacking the monster and focus on getting the Mystical Light Cherry." The two leaders of the knight shouted. Both of them saw that an adventurer stole the fruit from the tree. The knights followed the command of their leader and they quickly chased after the adventurers. While the adventurers were running, their shadows suddenly shot upwards and strangled their bodies. It''s not just the adventurers, the knights and the ape also were bound by their shadows. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! "What the hell?!" The boss of the adventurers shouted when his shadow bind him. "Wha-" He was about to use his force to break free when a figure appeared in front of him. The figure was clad in lightning and flame. It was none other than Bryan. Bryan arrived in front of the adventurer before he shot a punch towards the stomach of the adventurer. Bang! He then quickly took the Mystical Light Cherry from the hand of the adventurer. "Got it!" Bryan smiled before he turned around. Before he could run, a shadow covered him. He looked up and saw a huge boulder of rock flying toward him. Swoosh!! He rolled sideways barely avoiding the boulder of rock. He lifted up his head and saw the ape was running in his direction. The Earth Crawler Ape was extremely powerful that a simple spell like [Shadow Bind] wasn''t enough to stop it. "Not good." Bryan looked around and found that the adventurers already surround him. These adventurers also possessed some power as they could break free from level 5 [Shadow Bind] in just a few seconds. "There''s no other choice." Bryan said as he disappeared from his position and reappeared in front of the nearest adventurer. He reached out his hand and grabbed the adventurer and threw it at the other adventurer. Bang!! Bryan''s speed and power were greatly enhanced because of the various spells that were casted on him. Souta also casted his [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] on Bryan. ... The Earth Crawler Ape and the knights were going to stop Bryan when their shadows moved upwards once again. The ape simply shrugged the shadows and broke free from it. But the knights were different they weren''t as strong as the ape so it would take a few seconds before they could get themselves free from these shadows. "The heck!" Gredi said as he grabbed the shadows and tore it apart. "Who''s the caster?" Vince looked around trying to find the caster of the [Shadow Bind] spell. Both of them knew that Bryan wasn''t the caster of this spell. Since Bryan was fighting the adventurers, he couldn''t cast a spell to stop them. At first, they thought that it was Bryan, but now it was the second time. It was impossible for Bryan to be the caster. Suddenly, the area shook. Boom! They turned their heads and saw that the Earth Crawler Ape was charging reddish energy in front of its mouth. The ape opened its mouth widely and a red ball of energy formed in its mouth. It spun like a razor before it expanded. The atmosphere in the surrounding area dropped as the ape charged its energy. ... Souta who was about to kill the knights with Fred stopped when he saw the ape charged the beast energy. He immediately shouted at Bryan. "Get down Bryan!!" "Duck down!!" Fred also shouted at the top of his lungs. He knew what''s the Earth Crawler Ape was doing. The ape was charging the monster''s unique and powerful skill, the [Bestrou]. [Bestrou] was a powerful attack skill of a monster. Only monster that formed its monster orb can use this skill. The monster will gather their beast energy or best feram and shot it like a powerful beam. The power behind [Bestrou] was devastating and it could even destroy a large part of a huge city. The Earth Crawler Ape shot the beam towards Bryan. Swoosh! Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 70 Battle for the Mystical Light Cherry: The Appearance of the Commandments The red energy that was spinning like a razor expanded before it shot out. Swoosh!! The red beam flew straight towards Bryan. Bryan turned his head when he heard Souta''s and Fred''s voice. He saw a red beam flying towards his direction. He placed his hand in front of him and quickly casted a spell. "Protect me, [Lightning Barrier] and [Burning Wall]!!" A two-layer wall appeared in front of him. It was made of lightning and flame. These were just a Tier 1 Spells. He knew that this level of spell wasn''t enough to stop the incoming attack. Bryan raised both of his fists and launched a barrage of punches on the ground within a second. Bang! Bang! Bang! He created a crater and jumped inside before he casted another defensive spell. He didn''t stop by casting one spell, he casted several defensive spells at the same time to ensure his survival. All this happened within a few seconds. The adventurers around him were still looking at the beam. They didn''t notice what Bryan did at all as their mind was going blank from the pressure they felt. The red beam swallowed them before it exploded. The two spells that Bryan casted in the surface didn''t even last a second from the beam. Boom!! The ground shook heavily as a mushroom of smoke and dust rose up in the sky. The trees and the rocks in the area around the explosion disintegrated. Some of the rocks were thrown in the sky and fell down with a loud sound creating small craters in the area. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta used his hand to covered his eyes as a gust of wind was blowing strongly. He couldn''t control his mana to protect him because of the best team. His [Mana Manipulation] skill was just level 2, so he couldn''t do complicated things with his mana like creating a barrier. The least he could do was cast a low-level spell. He couldn''t properly control his mana when there''s a best feram suppressing the mana in the area around them. "Argh! What a powerful attack!" Fred gritted his teeth and he focused on protecting himself. He protected himself by using the defensive spell that he knew. A single low-level spell was enough to stop the powerful gust of wind. Vince and Gredi, the leaders of the knights, went to their young master and protected them. Their priority this time was to protect their young master or else their lord would punish them. In the worse case, their lord would kill them for not having the strength to protect their young master. ... Lumilia, Jusmin, Cluster, and Yuko was stared when they saw a huge explosion. "What''s happening?" Jusmin muttered as she hugged Cluster tightly to her chest. "I don''t know but even at this distance..." Lumilia said while looking at the explosion. Their distance from the battlefield was quite far. But still... They could feel the aftershock of the battle from this distance. The battle there must be quite intense. Lumilia looked at that direction with concern in her eyes. She doesn''t have any idea how Bryan and Souta could handle a fight like this. "Don''t worry, young miss. They will come back with the Mystical Light Cherry." Jusmin said to Lumilia when she saw her look. "No, I''m not worried about the Mystical Light Cherry anymore." Lumilia shook her head and said. "I''m more worried about their well being." "Fred is there and also they are your classmates." Jusmin while thinking about something. She added, "Young miss... Can I ask what they are usually in class?" "Hmm...?" Lumilia was a little bit surprised at her question. She looked at her and asked, "Curious about them?" "...yeah." Jusmin nodded at her. "Hmm... Since I''m the class rep I know a little bit about my classmates. Bryan is always in the limelight. He''s always active, lively, and friendly. If I''m to say it, I think most of our classmates are already his friend." Lumilia told her what she thinks about Bryan. She recalled something so she added, "He''s also doing what he wants and never care about what others say about him. He sometimes sleeps in class, so as a class rep I have to reprimand him." "Hmm... Then what about the other one." Jusmin nodded and asked about Souta. "...I''ve got to say that he''s always with Bryan and Alice. At first, I think that he''s not an impressive individual. He''s blank, always living in the shadows of Bryan. But..." Lumilia paused for a moment. She clearly had hesitation about what she''s going to tell. "But...?" Jusmin looked at Lumilia as she tilted her head. Cluster was listening to their conversation silently in Jusmin''s arms. Lumilia looked down and started to tell Jusmin what she thought about Souta. "Lately, in the mini-tournament in our class. Souta shown a terrifying side of him. He usually going along with Bryan but in the tournament... He defeated everyone with his overwhelming strength. Also, the way he killed those bandits before... "I think that he is the opposite of Bryan. He doesn''t show any remorse in taking lives. He''s doing everything with rational thought and he could plan everything calmly even when there''s an unknown powerful opponent waiting for him. He also wouldn''t hesitate to use this who are close to him as a tool." Lumilia recalled what happened in the tournament. She remembered what Souta said at Alice at that time. He instigated Alice to used strength to tire out Bryan so that in the upcoming fights he wouldn''t have any problems. That''s what also he did when Bryan fought Brando from Shield Class. "What I don''t understand is why is he helping us? I can understand it if it''s Bryan but Souta... I don''t think he''s the type to help people without any benefits." Jusmin looked at Lumilia and said, "Is it because we help him in clearing the dungeon?" "Clearing the dungeon? No, Bryan and Souta can do that with their own power. They don''t need our help to clear the dungeon." Lumilia said as she shook her head. "The only thing I could think of is that he wants the favor of a noble like you, young miss..." Jusmin said. "No, I don''t think that he will care about that." Lumilia shook her head. ... The whole area was covered in smoke and dust. This blocked everyone''s vision in their surrounding. At most, they could only see ten meters in front of them. Beyond that was nothing but dust and smoke. Cough! Cough! Souta coughed as he patted his clothes. He wrinkled his eyebrows and waved his hand. Swoosh!! The smoke around him was blown away. "Fred, are you there?" Souta said while looking around him with a wary expression. "Yeah, I''m here." A reply came behind Souta. Souta turned his head and looked at Fred. He opened his mouth and said, "Stay where you are. I''m just going to check something." Souta was about to leave when a thunderous roar echoed in the whole area once again. The roar blew the smoke and dust in the whole area. Souta and Fred saw a huge crater. It was thirty meters in diameter and ten meters in depth. "What happened to Bryan?" Fred asked while looking at the crater. "I don''t know," Souta replied. He really doesn''t know if Bryan survived that attack or not. Well, it all depends on Bryan. At the very least, he would get the Mystical Light Cherry along with his corpse if Bryan didn''t manage to survive the attack to complete his quest. Suddenly, Souta felt something behind his head. He quickly crouched down and a blade passes over his head. Swoosh!! Souta grabbed his sword and turned around while swinging his sword at the same time. Clang! He saw the one who attacked him was the leader of the knights. He frowned and silently casted [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost]. "You''re the comrade of the man who stole the cherry, right?" Gredi, the leader of the knights, asked him. Souta didn''t answer him but he took a glanced at Fred and found that the other knight also attacked Fred. Luckily, Fred had some skills and managed to put up with the knight. Souta kicked the ground and took a distance from the knight leader Gredi. Gredi chased after him but Souta used [Stab] four times in a row. Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Gredi swiftly parried all of Souta''s attack. His sword then emitted a blue light and he waved it towards Souta. A blue slash tore the air and it went straight to Souta. Souta gritted his teeth as his Vajra Sword emitted a red light. [Cross Moon]!! The red slashed tore the blue slash easily. It didn''t stop at all as it flew straight towards the knight leader Gredi. [Cross Moon] was an equipment skill of a dark grade weapon. It wouldn''t lose to a low-level skill like that. Gredi was shocked when he saw his attack disintegrated. He quickly regained himself, so he raised his sword and attempted to block the red slash. Boom!! ... Fred was at a disadvantage fighting a knight leader like Vince. Their fight was one-sided. Vince was the one who''s attacking while he was the one who''s defending. He was just a butler of the Asvares family that known some combat arts and spells. Clang! Clang! Clang! He could only focused on blocking all the attacks of Vince. He couldn''t see any opening and Vince surely wouldn''t let him do what he was thinking. He wanted Souta to help him but he saw that Souta was also fighting a knight. "I could only do this." He muttered when a voice sounded in the whole area. "Ah! That was close! I thought I''m gonna die!" The fight stopped when they heard a loud voice. They turned their heads only to found Bryan''s bloody figure. Vince and Gredi were shocked when they saw that Bryan was still alive. Both of them thought that he died from the [Bestrou] of the Earth Crawler Ape. Bryan''s body was full of wounds and he was covered in blood. At his hand, he was still holding the Mystical Light Cherry. "Oh! Souta and Butler!" Bryan exclaimed when he saw Souta and Fred. "Are you okay?" Fred asked. "Yeah, fine." Bryan nodded. "You should say no," Souta interjected. Then, the Earth Crawler Ape saw the Mystical Light Cherry in Bryan''s hand, so Bryan became the target once again. "Bryan, get out of this forest as fast as you can!" Souta said as he ignored the knight leader and dashed towards the Earth Crawler Ape. He wanted to ask how did Bryan survive that attack but he knew that it''s not a time for that. [Cross Moon]!! He used [Cross Moon] as he knew that this was one of the skills that could give the Earth Crawler Ape a damage. Bang!! The red slash hit the body of the Earth Crawler Ape. Gredi and Vince saw this, so they were going to stop Souta and let the Earth Crawler Ape kill Bryan. But when they were about to move a strange voice sounded in the whole area. Souta stopped moving and also the Earth Crawler Ape. "Ufufu! What a fascinating scene this is? A bunch of people are trying to kill each other for a mere Mystical Light Cherry! Oh God! What happened to the people nowadays? Have they lost your guidance?" "Ignore them. I don''t want to waste any more of my time." Souta opened his eyes widely and his jaw almost drops when he saw the two people that appeared. His mind was thinking of a plan to get out of this place as soon as possible. Why? Why are they here in this sort of place? The Commandments of the God''s Will. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 71 Battle for the Mystical Light Cherry: Julius Reinhar and Carmilla Rybentatores Souta''s mind went blank at the appearance of the two people. He couldn''t understand why would they appear at this place and at this time. The appearance of these people. The Commandments of the God''s Will. One of the three organizations that frightened the whole world. Back in the game, the Commandments of the God''s Will made a debut in version 3 of the game along with the other two evil organizations. It was at the time when Mechanic Country waged a war in its neighboring countries. In the past, he clashed many times with the Commandments of the God''s Will and the Seven Deadly Sins. He was familiar with their power and knew that even at his peak he would be able to slay one of the Commandments. He only managed to subdued the Commandment of Patience with the help of other commanders of Mechanic Country. Three commanders of the Mechanic Country were needed to subdue a single Commandment. That''s how terrifying the Commandments. Souta observed the two people. He remembered their face and he recalled their powers. One man and one woman. The man was Julius Reanhar, the Love Commandment of the God''s Will. He was a man with long blonde hair and part of his bangs covered his left eye. His red pupils were gleaming with power and there''s a tattoo of a red arrow in his left eye pointing downward. Below that arrow was the "Love" word written in cursive form. He was a human with power rivaling that of a God. He doesn''t have any special powers but his spells were all above Tier 3. It was enough to wipe out the whole Desolate Woods. The woman was Carmilla Rybentatores, the Truth Commandments of the God''s Will. She was a beautiful woman with long black hair that was tied in a ponytail at the back of her head. Her eyes were also crimson in color but hers was darker than Julius. Her skin was pale that it looks like she didn''t have any blood flowing in her body. She was a high vampire that has the power to control her blood and used it as her weapon. The thing that people need to watch out about her was her regenerative power. Also, she was extremely versatile in terms of combat. She could fight in long-range, mid-range, and close range. Souta was warier about her than Julius. But... The question was why are they here. What''s their goal in this forest? Is it Cluster? No. If that''s the case, then they wouldn''t bother coming here in this area and they will directly go to Cluster''s position. Also, the people from before didn''t have any connection to God''s Will at all. The people who were after Cluster was just a small organization, not a colossal group like God''s Will. But he couldn''t eliminate that possibility. There''s a chance that they were after Cluster. If they''re really after her, then he wouldn''t be able to do anything. He knew Carmilla. Since she was the Truth Commandments, the thing that''s coming out of her mouth we''re always the truth. She wouldn''t tell a lie. So, should he ask her or not? Nope, there''s a chance that it would make her displease and killed him instantly. Souta looked at Bryan and said, "Bryan, don''t move no matter what happens." "Why?" Bryan asked him as he couldn''t understand what''s happening. He doesn''t have any idea who''s those two people. "Just do it. Don''t ask me, I will explain everything later." Souta said with a grave expression. "O-Okay." Bryan nodded his bloody head. His face was full of blood. Souta doesn''t have any idea how he could move in such condition. Fred quietly listened to Souta. Since Souta thought that the people who appeared were dangerous, it must be so. The Earth Crawler Ape gazed at the two people. Its instinct was telling it to run away as fast as possible. These two people weren''t the prey. Instead, they were the hunter. Vince and Gredi, the knight leaders, slowly went back to their young masters while looking at the two people with a frown in their faces. "Gredi(Vince) why did you stop?!" The two young masters asked their knights. They also don''t have any idea about the strange atmosphere since the two people appeared. "Hmm...? Why are you looking at us?" Julius asked them as he tilted his head in confusion. "I said ignore them. We need to accomplish our goal." Carmilla said to Julius with annoyance in her voice. "Let''s go." She added before she walked towards the spot of the tree of the Mystical Light Cherry. Her actions made the ape displeased. The Earth Crawler Ape roared angrily and dashed towards Carmilla. Its best feram was focused on pressuring her. Roar!! "Hmph!" Carmilla snorted and she waved her slender arm towards the ape. Swoosh!! The head of the Earth Crawler Ape flew in the mid-air before it landed on the ground with a loud "thud" sound. Its face revealed a shock expression. It looks like the ape couldn''t understand how it died. The lower body of the ape spurted out a large amount of blood. The blood spurted like a fountain as it dyed the ground in blood-red color. "Don''t bother me." Carmilla frowned in displeasure. She then held her pale hand as she continued to walk towards the tree of Mystical Light Cherry. Fred, Bryan, and the two knight leaders were shocked when they witnessed how Carmilla killed the Earth Crawler Ape with a single wave of her hand. They finally understood how dangerous these two people. They couldn''t even defeat the Earth Crawler Ape but this woman just waved her hand and the ape died just like that. "Bryan, Fred, slowly get back. We already accomplished our goal so we need to go back now." Souta said while observing Carmilla and Julius. Fred and Bryan just nodded their head. They wouldn''t dare to say something in the presence of these two powerful people. They slowly move their feet not daring to make any sound. They followed what Souta said. Vince and Gredi, the knight leaders, noticed what Fred and Bryan doing. They wanted to stop them but they were extremely wary of the unknown people who had unfathomable strength. "How pitiful this little creature. Why did you attack us, the messenger of the Supreme God. You know that only death awaits for those people who got in the way of the Supreme God." Julius said with a pitiful expression while placed his palm together and looked in the sky. Carmilla and Julius stopped moving at the same time. Both of them looked in the sky. "It seems that we have a guess coming here. How wonderful it is. You people here are lucky that you will witness how we take the body of a God." Julius said to everyone with a smile on his face. Souta frowned when he heard Julius''s words. Body of a God? It seems that was their goal here in Desolate Woods. To think that such a secret was lying here in this forest. He also understood what the first part means. It seems that people were coming here to stop them. Nope, the information wasn''t enough to conclude that the people were coming here to stop the commandments. He only knew that someone was coming here. "Once I gave a signal, run as fast as you can, Bryan, Fred," Souta said in a low voice. Fred and Bryan nodded their head in understanding. "Julius, you deal with them. I will pick up the body of the God." Carmilla said before she turned around and walked towards the tree of the Mystical Light Cherry. "Okay, I know what should I do. All of this is for the love of our Supreme God, the creator of all things." Julius said with passionate expression. Suddenly, a booming sound echoed in the sky. A shadow fell down from the sky and crashed on the ground. It was followed up by three more figures. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Souta, Fred, Bryan, and the two knight leaders were startled. They raised their hand to cover their eyes from the gust of wind. Swoosh!! The wind blew strongly and it blew away the smoke and dust. Souta and the rest saw a man with blonde hair which was comb upwards. His orange pupils'' were gleaming with uncontrollable anger. "Are you the one who killed my son?" He asked with clear anger in his voice. He didn''t even bother hiding his dominating aura. Boom! His aura caused the earth to shook. The earth trembled like it was afraid of the man. He was the head of the Rougen Family, Jusvin De Rougen. A powerful noble hailed from the Melosa Country. Behind him were two middle-aged men and one man in his early twenties. They were the head of the Dry Gulch town, his assistant, and his best friend. They came here to investigate why a lot of nobles died in this place. "Your son? Hmm... I don''t know about that but... There''s a chance that he''s already in our Lord''s Kingdom. I''m sure that he''s happy there with the presence of our God." Julius said as he put a finger in his lips. "Lord''s Kingdom? What is that? Tell me or else I will kill you!" Justin said in an angry tone. "It means that he''s dead. Our God already took him because he''s such a good child. So, do you want to meet our God in his kingdom?" Julius said as he looked at the sky and opened his arms widely. Souta who was watching at the sideline didn''t know what to say. He knew that this was the chance to escape as these people were going to fight here in this place. If they were too close then the aftershocks of the battle were going to affect them. He silently glanced at Bryan at the corner of his eyes. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 72 Battle for the Mystical Light Cherry: Destruction Ground Volcano "It means that he''s dead but I think that he was happy in the presence of the Supreme God," Julius said with an assured expression. "You!!" Jusvin looked at Julius with an angry expression. His blueish aura flared up and the people could even see it with their bare eyes. ... ''Even I don''t know if their Supreme God truly exists or not.'' Souta thought when he heard Julius'' words. He knew that the people of God''s Will worshipped the Supreme God or the Creator of the Cosmos. They would do anything for the Supreme God. He looked at the corpse of the Earth Crawler Ape. The ape died because it wanted to protect the Mystical Light Cherry Tree from Carmilla. He wanted to get its monster orb but... it''s too dangerous. ... "Are you the one who killed all the people here?" A middle-aged man stepped forward and asked. He was the Head of the Dry Gulch Town. Although, he was only the Head of a town he possessed incredible power. The Dry Gulch Town wasn''t a simple town. A lot of people coveted this town but the Head managed to protect it from those greedy people. "No, I''m not. Carmilla is the one who did it." Julius adamantly shook his head. It seems that he really wasn''t the one who killed those people. "By Carmilla... Do you mean that girl?" The Head of the Town looked at Carmilla''s back. "Yeah, yeah, don''t bother her, or else you would die too." Julius nodded his head at the Head''s question. "Rommel, I have a bad feeling about this." The other middle-aged man said to the Head. He was Alfred, the friend of the Head. "Yeah, I have the same feeling too." Rommel, the Head of the Dry Gulch Town, nodded at Alfred''s words. "But..." He turned his head and looked at Jusvin who was filled with anger. He knew that Jusvin''s son died in this expedition and the one who killed his son was in front of him. If he was in Jusvin''s position, he too wouldn''t let this chance to kill the one who killed his son. Jusvin''s aura reached the peak and he charged towards Julius with a speed that no normal human could possess. Boom!! In just a second Jusvin arrived in front of Julius. He pushed back his fist and gathered a large amount of mana. He then threw it at Julius'' face. Bang!! Julius flew and crashed in the trees behind him. The powerful punch of Jusvin parted the trees in the whole area. "Ouch! That hurts!" Julius held his cheeks as he slowly stood up. He looked in the sky and saw thunder crackling above him. Boom!! The lightning fell down in his direction with a powerful momentum. "Ufufu, shall I fight back or not." Julius laughed and he moved both of his hand in circle. Then, a blue magic circle appeared in the air. It turned into a barrier and blocked the lightning in the sky. Boom!! Boom!! The lightning continued to descend in his direction but the barrier blocked all of it. It didn''t even leave a scratch to the barrier. "Die!!" Jusvin roared and he launched another powerful spell. Crackle!! A dragon made of lightning formed beside him. The dragon was one hundred feet in length and it possessed extremely destructive power. It was a Tier 3 Spell called [Call of the Lightning Dragon]. "Ufufu! What a fascinating spell you have!" Julius opened his arms widely in madness. Several barriers appeared around him in an instant. "The heck with this. We''re still here." Souta cursed when he saw that spell. He knew how powerful that spell and the range of that spell. He turned around and shouted, "Bryan, Fred! Run!!" Bryan and Fred snapped out when they heard his voice. They were stunned by the power of Jusvin. The level of this battle was entirely different than what they usually saw. "Damn!!" Fred shouted as he turned around and ran as fast as possible. Bryan also followed Fred. Souta used [Agility Boost] on the two to increase their running speed. The battle of this scale was going to wipe out this whole inner woods. He needed to get out of this place as soon as possible. The two knight leaders saw Souta, Bryan, and Fred fled away from the battlefield. They carried their young master and followed them. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! ... Boom!! Boom!! Several huge explosion that shook the entire forest occurred in the inner woods. Jusvin opened his palm and aimed it on Julius. Then, a beam of lightning shot out from his palm towards Julius. Swoosh!! Julius smirked and created a barrier to block the lightning. He dodges and blocked Jusvin''s attack. At this time, he didn''t even attack at all. All he did was block and dodge. Rommel, the Head of the Dry Gulch Town, and Alfred flashed. Both of them appeared beside Julius. The two decided to help Jusvin subdue this man. They knew that it was going to be a problem once the woman joined the battle, so they thought that they needed to defeat Julius as soon as possible. Rommel pulled out the giant sword on his back. It was a one and a half meter long sword. A red grade weapon. Blueish energy covered his sword. [Dominating Earth Slash]!! He used high-level combat art against Julius. Alfred pulled back both of his fists and activated his combat arts. [Fierce Hundred Punch]!! He shot a barrage of punches towards Julius. Both of their combat arts directly hit Julius'' body. Boom!! Julius'' body flew away and crashed in the trees one hundred meters away from Rommel and Fred. A huge shockwave swept out in the area and the trees were uprooted. Suddenly, the trees stopped in the mod air. It moved and aimed towards Rommel and Fred. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! One by one it flew towards them with a speed breaking the air around. Boom!! Rommel and Alfred prepared themselves for the upcoming clash when they heard a voice behind them. "Let me." Jusvin who was at the back controlled the [Call of the Lightning Dragon] spell. The spell swallowed the trees that were flying towards Rommel and Alfred. The trees disintegrated within the body of the lightning dragon. It didn''t even last a second when it turned into ashes. ... The assistant just simply watched the battle. He turned his head and looked at Carmilla who was ignoring the battle. He thought that it should be better to ignore her for a while as the priority right now was to defeat the man. He placed both of his hands together and prepared to cast a large scale spell. He gathered his mana around his palm and quietly build the magic circle. ... "Go!" Jusvin pointed at Julius'' direction as he commanded the dragon to attack it. Swoosh!! Suddenly, all of them heard Julius'' voice. "Hahaha, it''s my turn now. I let you meet our God. Come up and destroy everything [Destruction Ground Volcano]!!" Boom!! The ground beneath Jusvin, Alfred, and Rommel cracked like a spider web. The cracks spread quickly before the ground split into two. "This is bad!" Jusvin muttered as he casted protection spell on his body. Alfred went in front of Rommel and used powerful defensive combat art. The three of them saw a red light coming out of the pit. Boom!! Volcanic rocks burst out of the ground. The burning rocks covered the whole sky. ... Souta, Bryan, and Fred felt the shock waves of the battle. Even at their distance they still could felt the pressure coming out of the battlefield. They were running when the ground shook heavily. The shaking was extremely powerful that it uprooted the towering trees. Then, they heard a loud booming sound. The three of them looked up and saw huge boulders of rock covered the sky. The rocks were burning and it filled with powerful momentum that could destroy anything. This scene was the same when a volcano exploded. The same natural disaster and Julius, the Love Commandments of the God''s Will, was creating that scene. Fred''s face was painted with fear. It was his first time seeing something like this, so his emotion overwhelmed him. Bryan was looking at this scene with an amazed expression. To think that people were capable of this much destruction was beyond him. Souta looked at Bryan with a satisfied expression. Bryan was really something if this didn''t make him afraid. But... Fred was different. Fred was just an ordinary butler in the house of Asvares. "Don''t worry about it. We''re getting out of this place with class rep." Souta said to Fred. "..." Fred snapped out of his daze when he heard Souta''s voice. "That''s right, young miss need to get out of this place!" He muttered to himself. ... The people from the Dry Gulch Town woke up when the ground shook. This town was near the Desolate Woods, so even the people here felt the aftershocks. All of them went outside of their house in a panic. They thought that it was an earthquake but what they saw outside filled their hearts in fear. They saw huge boulders of rock covered the sky. The rocks reach the peak and it scattered in all directions like a fountain. This puts the people in the town in panic. "Wha-" "Are we going to die?" "Whaaaa!!" One by one the people of the town started to panic. They could see it with their own eyes that those huge burning rocks were going down straight in their direction. Those rocks were going to crush this city without a doubt. "What hell is happening there?" "The atmosphere there is really bad!" Some sane people looked at the sky with a frown. They don''t understand what''s happening. They only knew that something bad was going on in the Desolate Woods. They knew that there''s no volcano there, so it''s impossible to think that it was a natural disaster. Not just the people of Dry Gulch Town saw this scene, but also the people from different towns and villages near the Desolate Woods. All of them saw this scene. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 73 Battle for the Mystical Light Cherry: Souta versus Gredi and Vince Souta''s group was running towards the direction where Lumilia and the rest stay. Souta noticed that someone was following them. He stopped and looked behind him. He saw the two knight leaders were following him. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Bryan asked him when he saw Souta stopped all of a sudden. "The knights are following us," Souta said while looking at the approaching knights. The knights were carrying their young masters. "Bryan, Fred. You can go now. Leave this to me." Souta said with a serious expression. Bryan looked at Souta for a while before he nodded. "Okay, I understand." "Take care," Fred said. The two of them continued their way to Lumilia and the rest. Bryan was injured, so Souta didn''t let him fight anymore, and Fred was unstable. He was afraid and he wouldn''t be able to hide it in front of Souta. "Okay, let''s do this," Souta said as he stretched out his limbs. He then prepared himself for the arrival of the two knight leaders. Before that... Souta looked at the direction of the big battle. He knew that it''s only a matter of time before Julius killed those people. Julius'' level was entirely different from the family head of some noble family and the head of a town. It needed several generals of the Melosa Country to stop a single Commandment. ... Vince and Gredi, the knight leaders, stopped when they saw that Souta was waiting for them. They looked around and saw that it was only Souta. They thought that the other two already left with the Mystical Light Cherry. They placed down their young masters and looked at Souta with a wary expression. "You! What are you doing? Tell me where''s the Mystical Light Cherry!" One of the young masters pointed at Souta and asked him. "Yeah, tell us if you want to live." The other one said. "Hmm... What a spoiled young noble." Souta said with an amused expression. He slowly pulled out the [Vajra Sword Saya]. "Young master, stay back," Vince said as he stepped forward to shield his master. "We''re going to finish this quickly," Gredi said and he silently gathered his mana. "Hmm... Finish me quickly. That''s something else, you know." Souta casted [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] on himself. He only has half amount of his mana left in his mana pool. He then raised his hand and casted... [Shadow Bind]!! Their shadows burst out and tried to bind the two knight leaders, but the knight leaders weren''t ordinary people. Both of them swung their sword, which was filled with mana, at the shadows. Swoosh!! They continued to swing their sword until they cut all the shadows. "Ah! Gredi(Vince)!" They turned around and saw that the same shadows were strangling their young master. Another shadows burst out of the ground in the form of a spike. The shadows went straight to the two young masters but Vince sliced the shadow spikes with his sword. Vince looked at Gredi and said, "You deal with him. I''m going to protect them." "Okay." Gredi nodded and he charged towards Souta. "He~" Souta slashed his sword. Clang! Clang! Clang! Metallic sound echoed each time their weapons collided. Sparks flew out and Souta was slowly getting pushed back. Several small cuts appeared in his arms and chest. The knight leader Gredi was better than him in the sword fight. He couldn''t afford this to continue. "Ah!" Gredi shouted as he slashed his sword towards Souta. Swoosh!! "Argh!" A huge cut appeared on Souta''s chest. It spurted out blood but he ignored it and took a distance away from Gredi. Souta knew that fighting an injured knight leader wasn''t going to be easy with his current strength. The [Sword Mastery] of Gredi was higher than him by two levels. Gredi gripped his sword tightly and he chased after Souta. Suddenly, his foot sunk in the ground. Souta smirked at this and a red light covered the Vajra Sword in his hand. He swung it towards Gredi who couldn''t move in his position. He already prepared the [Mud Slide] spell all over the whole place. Only he knew where it is and no one else. This was his advantage against the opponent who was clearly above his level. If the two knight leaders weren''t exhausted from fighting the Earth Crawler Ape then it would be a different matter. [Crimson Moon]!! Vince was about to help Gredi when Souta casted another [Shadow Bind] and [Shadow Spike]. The spells casted by Souta caused Vince to stop. Spurt!! Gredi tried to block the attack but the attack was powerful and it broke his defense. It left a huge cut on his chest, the same as Souta. He gathered his mana and smashed the ground. Boom!! He kicked the ground hard enough so that he could get out of the [Mud Slide] spell. Souta opened his palm and aimed it at Vince. He shot the [Shadow Ball] spell. He then gripped his sword tightly before he slashed the air in front of him. [Cross Moon]!! Cross slash flew towards Gredi who was distancing himself from Souta. He raised his sword in front of him to block the slash. This was the other equipment skills of the [Vajra Sword Saya]. [Cross Moon] was a long-range skill and it could travel very fast. Souta could also control the direction where it''s headed. Bang!! "Argh!!" Gredi gritted his teeth as pain assaulted his body. "This guy is strong." He muttered. Souta prepared himself to cast the [Crimson Moon]. When he suddenly vanished from his position. He replaced the [Shadow Ball] that flew towards Vince. Swoosh!! "Wha-" Vince was surprised when he saw this. He didn''t expect that Souta would appear beside him. He didn''t prepare himself at all for this development. He was just going to avoid the [Shadow Ball] but Souta appeared in its place. "Surprise." Souta grinned as he swung his sword using the skill [Crimson Moon]. He aimed it at the neck of Vince, attempting to kill him with one strike. Swoosh!! Vince reacted quickly by moving his body sideways. Still, the sword sunk in his flesh drawing out a huge amount of blood. He was cut from his left shoulder down to his belly. It wasn''t a simple injury at all. If he couldn''t treat it in time then there''s a possibility that he would die even with his extraordinary physique. Vince gritted his teeth and shot a kick to retaliate. Swoosh!! Souta raised his hand and he blocked the attack. He flew out but he managed to stabilize himself in the mid-air before he landed on the ground. He held the cut on his chest and felt the blood flowing out nonstop. He looked at Vince and charged at him but Gredi appeared in front of Vince. Gredi faced Souta in a sword fight once again. Clang! Clang! Clang! [Shadow Bind]!! [Shadow Spike]!! [Shadow Ball]!! Souta casted his spells consecutively while exchanging blows with Gredi. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to beat Gredi in a sword fight. He needed tricks to defeat someone at Gredi''s level. Gredi have to protect the two young master while also protecting himself from Souta''s spells. Vince didn''t have enough to protect others with his condition. He got careless and that nearly took his life. [Cross Moon]!! [Cross Moon]!! Souta used the skill of his sword. Red slash flashed and it flew towards the two young masters. "Damn!" Gredi cursed as he knew that Souta was deliberately targeting his young master. He gripped his sword tightly and he collided at the red slash. Boom!! The other slash went on the ground and before it exploded. It caused the smoke and dust to shot up. The smoke covered Gredi and the two young masters. Souta bent his knees and threw himself while casting [Shadow Ball] towards Vince. Swoosh!! He used the skill [Dash] to increase his running speed. In just a second, he arrived in front of the thick smoke. He pulled back his hand and used [Stab] repeatedly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Several holes appeared as he kept stabbing his sword nonstop. He felt his sword sunk in the flesh of Gredi. It''s not just Gredi, the two young masters were also stabbed by his sword. Souta followed it up by using [Crimson Moon]. Swoosh!! He didn''t even need to see if they died as the system prompts sounded in his mind. He blinked towards the [Shadow Ball] that he casted before. Swoosh!! He saw that Vince was already waiting for him to appear. Souta expected this so he quickly slashed his sword. Clang!! "Hmm...?" Souta stopped moving and he looked up. He saw a four-meter rock flying towards their direction. He quickly jumped back to avoid the burning rock. Vince also jumped away. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! It''s not just one explosion that occurred but numerous explosions happened at the same time. The burning rocks from the sky were falling down and it was destroying the whole forest. Boom!! Boom!! Souta looked up in the sky. He then placed back his sword in its sheath. He looked at Vince once more before he left. "See you later. I''ve already completed my quest here." Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 74 Battle for the Mystical Light Cherry: Quest Complete!! Bryan and the rest were waiting for Souta outside the Desolate Woods. It''s dangerous inside the woods right now as the burning rocks were falling down all over the woods. It was destroying the woods. They had a concern looked in their face as they waited for Souta to appear. Lumilia asked what happened there but Bryan and Fred didn''t give her an explanation. They said that it''s better if Souta said it as he''s the one who really knew what''s happening there. Even Fred wanted to tell her what happened but he didn''t know the exact thing that occurred there. Lumilia didn''t have a choice but to wait for Souta even though she was extremely curious about what transpired there. She could see that Fred, her butler, was trembling and Bryan was covered in blood. This only made her curiosity reached its peak. ... Souta was dashing through the forest with all of his might. Every second the ground shook as the burning rocks crashed deep in the ground. He held his chest as he felt his blood flowing out of his wounds. While his other hand was holding his bag tightly. He wouldn''t let it go no matter what because the Rotten Venomous Green Apple and the flesh of a level 20 above undead was inside it. He run passed every tree as his speed increased with the help of his skill [Dash]. He could feel it, his stamina was running out at a very fast speed. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! "It''s not that bad. I''ve gained more this time." Souta muttered. ... He arrived outside of the Desolate Woods. He was greeted by a red fluffy fur. "Hmph!!" His face was buried in the red for as Yuko hugged him tightly. He tapped Yuko''s hand as he felt the pain in his wound from being pressed tightly by her. It took him a while before he managed to get out of Yuko''s embrace. "Huff... Huff..." Souta gasped and he turned his head to his side. He saw that Lumilia and the rest were looking at him. "Mission complete," Souta said as he smirked at them. Bryan laughed and Lumilia sighed in relief. Fred and Jusmin smiled at this. Bryan raised his hand which was holding the Mystical Light Cherry. The quest this time was hard and there were many unknown factors that appeared but they still managed to accomplish their objectives. Bryan gave the Mystical Light Cherry to Lumilia without hesitation. "Is it really okay for me to receive this?" Lumilia asked with slight hesitation. She knew that she didn''t even help in getting the cherry and without Bryan and Souta they wouldn''t be able to acquire the cherry. The Mystical Light Cherry should belong to Souta and Bryan, not her. Even without her help or Fred''s help Bryan and Souta would regardless acquire the cherry. This was the reason why she hesitated. "It''s okay, that''s part of our quest. You should help us sometimes in the future." Souta said to her. "O-Okay." Lumilia nodded at him. It was then that Souta heard the system prompt inside his head. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the quest Gathering!!] [You''ve received 20,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 5 skill points!!] Souta smiled when he saw this. He had 4 skill points left and added with 5 skill points, he now had a total of 9 skill points. He could use it to level up his [Shadow Bind] skill to six but he decided to postpone it until he went back to Ladros City. Lumilia saw his smile. She then bowed her head and said, "Thank you for helping me. I will not forget this debt." Souta snapped out of his daze when he heard her. He waved his hand and said, "Don''t mention it." Lumilia smiled at his actions. She didn''t know what''s his real objective this time but he helped her and that''s all she needed to know. She thought that Souta didn''t receive rewards for helping her, so she decided that she will pay him back in the future. "We''re grateful for what you did to our, young miss." Jusmin and Fred stepped forward and also thanked him. They also thanked Bryan causing him to smile awkwardly while scratching his cheeks. Cluster watched this scene silently. Souta felt two hands circled around his waist. He looked behind and saw that it was Yuko. Yuko stuck out her tongue and licked his cheeks. Souta patted her head and let her do what she wants. He then remembered something. He looked at Bryan and asked, "Bryan, I want to ask something." Bryan turned to Souta and said, "What is it?" He doesn''t have any idea what he''s going to ask. "How did you survive from the [Bestrou] of the Earth Crawler Ape?" Souta asked. He was curious about this. He wanted to know how did Bryan survive that powerful attack. If he was in Bryan''s position at that time, he knew that he wouldn''t be able to defend that attack from the Earth Crawler Ape. He would be forced to use the [Possession] skill of the Vajra Sword if he was in that position. "I don''t know too... At that time, I thought I was a goner but..." Bryan frowned as he tried to recall what happened at that time. "But?" Souta looked at Bryan while caressing Yuko''s head. "Some power flow inside my body. It gives me strength and I felt the world slow down, so I managed to cast some defensive spell but that wasn''t enough. That unknown power protected me." Bryan told Souta what he felt and did at that time. Souta frowned at his answer. He rubbed his chin and thought that Bryan wasn''t an ordinary person. It seems that Bryan holds some secrets within his body. Ah~ I smell the scent of a hidden quest. He remembered the time in the game when he always talked to his colleagues(NPC) in Mechanic Country just to get their quest. When he was low rank at that time, he helped his captain and commander. It''s okay if he parties with NPC because an NPC wouldn''t get a share of reward in the quest. Just like the time when they subjugated the Patience Commandment, he wasn''t solo at that time, he was with the other commander of the Mechanic Country. He''s a solo player in the game but that doesn''t mean that he wouldn''t interact with people. He just didn''t party with any other player as he wanted the rewards on the quest on himself. If he doesn''t interact with people(NPC) then how would he get a quest. He wouldn''t get a hidden quest if he only took quest from Adventurers Guild. He needed to interact with various NPC and raised their affection points to know their secrets. After he knew their secrets, the NPC would give them a quest but not all NPC would give a quest. Suddenly, a strange energy swept out in the whole area. Souta and the rest stopped. They turned their head and looked at the Desolate Woods. They saw a shocking scene that occurred in front of their eyes. The grass and trees withered one by one. The green leaves started to fall from the trees and it loses its life. The soil on the ground dried up and the birds that were flying away slowly fell down. The strange energy snatched all life within the Desolate Woods. All the life force of the whole forest gathered in a single point within the inner woods. "What''s that?" Fred muttered with a stunned expression. "Let''s get out of this place," Souta said with a grave expression. "Yeah, I feel uneasy about this." Bryan nodded. "Young miss." Jusmin looked at Lumilia. Lumilia looked at Jusmin and nodded. "Yes, we should go now." Yuko picked up Souta in her arms before she ran away. "Oi! You can put me down. I can run on my own." Souta said as he patted Yuko''s hand. Lumilia and the rest looked at each other before they followed Yuko. A loud neigh of a horse echoed in the whole area. It shook the hearts of everyone who heard it. Everyone felt their life was going away when they heard the neigh. Lumilia and the rest felt pain from hearing this neigh. The strange energy was sucking their soul away. Souta looked back and saw a pale color horse and a man with a pale color armor in the sky. The horse and the man were exuding a very powerful aura. The aura surpassed the limits of a mortal body. Carmilla and Julius were looking at the armored man from below. "Ufufu, I didn''t expect that this one would be alive after so many years of being sealed, so that''s the reason why the Authority hasn''t appear at all," Julius said with a passionate gaze. "As expected... He''s really a powerful man." Carmilla observed the horseman from top to bottom. "But his power deteriorated from being sealed for twenty thousand years." Julius smiled and he opened his arms widely. "Let''s take him with us." Souta couldn''t hear their conversation. He was outside of the Desolate Woods and those people were in the inner woods of the forest. Since Souta couldn''t see the noble head and the Head of the Dry Gulch Town. It means that they already died at Julius'' hands. Soon, the ground shook once again as the two commandments fought the armored man. Boom! Boom! Boom! The aftershocks of their fight were truly devastating. Souta and the rest could even feel it even when they were outside of the Desolate Woods. "So that''s why..." Souta muttered while looking at the fierce battle behind him. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 75 Back in the Ladros City Souta''s group arrived in the Dry Gulch Town. They saw that the town was in ruins. Boulders of rock crushed the plaza and the houses of the residents here. People were panicking all over the whole town. The Head of the town was nowhere to be found, so no person could guide them in this time of crisis. Souta knew that the Head of the Dry Gulch Town died at the hands of Julius Reinhar, the Love Commandment of the God''s Will. Souta looked at Lumilia and said, "We should go now. We wouldn''t be able to properly rest in this place." Lumilia looked back at Jusmin and Fred. The two nodded at her before she agreed at him. She then opened her mouth and said, "Actually, we brought a caravan here." "Really?" Souta looked back at her. If she really has a caravan then that good news. "But I don''t know if it''s still here," Lumilia said with a slight hesitation. "Okay, let''s check it first." Souta nodded at her. The group went inside the Dry Gulch Town. The effects of Julius spell was really devastating. It even destroyed most of the houses here in the Dry Gulch Town. The inside of the town was a sight to behold. Corpses were scattered everywhere. Blood dyed the ground. Some people were crushed into mincemeat. Some were burned because of the fire that came from the rock. The boulders of rock crushed the house and it includes the people that lived there. Some houses had smoke rising in it because of the burning rocks. Some of the people were plundering the merchandise of some shops. Chaos spread in the whole town as no one had the authority to command these people anymore. With the loss of their leader, the people of the town panicked. Even now, the people were still in a state of panic because of the vibrations from the battle of the two Commandments and the Pale Horsemen. Every minute the ground would tremble twice of thrice. Bryan had a blank expression on his face when he saw this scene. Souta noticed Bryan''s look, so he said, "Bryan, ignore them. We''re injured too, so don''t try to help them. Even if you really wanted to help, you would not be able to because of your condition right now. If you collapse you would become a burden." "...I know." Bryan opened his mouth and said. Souta looked at everyone''s face and sighed. If they were feeling nausea from something like this, then they wouldn''t be able to handle the future version where the whole continent was in the war. The first big event that will hit this continent was the Demon Invasion. This event was really brutal as the demon would mercilessly slaughter those people from small countries. Those small countries that weren''t included in the map will be annihilated. Those small countries and the towns or villages that weren''t under the protection of large countries were slaughtered by demons. It was truly brutal considering that hundreds of millions of people perished at the demon invasion. Souta''s group arrived at the place where Fred parked their caravan. They saw that the place was still up. The problem was that it looks like some people ransacked the place. They went inside the lot and found that the caravan was gone. As expected, some people already took it away. "With the state of the town, it''s only natural that people will take whatever caravan they saw," Souta said with a sighed. Fred and the rest couldn''t help but nod their head at his words. "Let''s find a place to say." Souta suggested to them. "Let''s do that," Lumilia said. She knew that Souta and Bryan were exhausted and they needed a lot of rest before they could regain their energy. Souta''s group went around the town and found an abandoned house. They decided to stay for a night inside the house. Jusmin stayed up as she guarded the house while everyone was resting. Even though she didn''t have enough power, she still could wake up everyone when some people enter the house. Souta and Bryan collapses when they relaxed their tense muscles. They were too tired and exhausted from all the things that happened today. They instantly fell asleep when they lied down. Also with their current condition, they wouldn''t be able to go to another town. They needed rest more than anything. Lumilia didn''t ask Souta about what happened in the forest as she knew that he needed rest right now. Her questions could wait until tomorrow. "What a tough day it is," Lumilia muttered while looking outside the window. She then opened her bag and took out the Mystical Light Cherry. She raised it in front of her face and looked at it with a dazed expression. After a few moments, she sat down in a lotus position and took a bite of the Mystical Light Cherry. She decided to eat the cherry right now and see its effect on her body. She slowly digested the nutrients of the fruit inside her body. "I hope I could gain my father''s recognition..." ... Souta and Bryan woke up at noon. They went downstairs and found that everyone was already awake. "It hurts... My whole body..." Bryan complained. The wounds that he received was far greater than Souta. He was lucky that he was still alive after taking the [Bestrou] head-on. Souta ignored Bryan and he walked outside. He jumped on the rooftop of the house and looked at the direction of the Desolate Woods. The Desolate Woods dried up. All the trees inside it withered and there''s no trace of life anymore in the woods. It truly fitted the name, Desolate Woods. "The battle was over," Souta muttered while looking at the forest. "Since a big event happened here in this place. One of the Three Great Countries will send and people to investigate this place." The True God''s Holy Kingdom was the one that''s closer to this place, so he thought that they were the ones who were going to investigate this place along with the countries near this place. "The Pale Horseman..." Souta muttered as he recalled what he saw yesterday. The Pale Horseman was sealed inside the Desolate Woods for twenty thousand years. Only the people from God''s Will knew this information. They wanted something from the Pale Horseman and that''s the Authority of the Creator. Later, they will turn the whole continent upside down just to find the other three Authorities. Souta rubbed his chin and remember that the Red Horseman was still alive, but the other two weren''t. The two Authorities were passed down to other people that suited its power. He doesn''t know much about the Authorities. He only knew that it was a special power and those people that wield it was extremely powerful. Souta shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. He went back inside the house and found that Jusmin already prepared the food. As expected of a maid, he could count on her with things like cooking. It seems that Fred woke up early in the morning to hunt some wild animals. It was hard to find food in this town now that people were packing up. He noticed that Lumilia''s aura changed. He guessed that she consumed the Mystical Light Cherry and this made her aura grew stronger. ... Souta''s group traveled from village to another village until they found a place where the place wasn''t affected by the battle in the Desolate Woods. It took them a whole day before they found a proper place. There they bought a carriage using Lumilia''s money. Well, she had a lot of money so it''s not a problem for her. They stayed in that village for a night before they continued their journey to the Ladros City. While on their way, Lumilia asked him what happened in the Desolate Woods. Souta explained to them that the two people that appeared were part of the God''s Will cult. They were shocked when they heard this. They heard the rumors about how terrifying the God''s Will cult. He explained how those two people killed the nobles inside the forest. This incurred the wrath of some noble family from Melosa Country. Also, the Head of the Dry Gulch Town came there with the noble head. They fought the two people from God''s Will cult. Souta said that he identified them because of the symbol in their clothes, the symbol of a hand holding the world. That''s the symbol of the God''s Will cult. Lumilia, Fred, and Jusmin gasped from his story. They finally knew what danger they were facing in that place. They would die easily if they made one wrong move. At the end of the day, Souta''s group arrived in Ladros City. It feels like they haven''t been here for a long time due to what happened in the Desolate Woods. "We''re back!!" Bryan exclaimed loudly. "The class already started this morning, so we missed one day of class," Souta said. He looked down at his bag with a satisfied expression. He gained a lot from this quest. -End of Volume 2- Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 76 Side Story: Yuko My name is Yuko Ieshi. I''m a Red Fur Bear. I pick "Ieshi" as my surname because that is master surname. I think it would be great if I have the same surname as my master. Actually, I''m afraid of my master. Master is scary when he is angry. The scar on my left eye. My master did that. Master stabbed me in the eye when we first met. Remembering that scene still gives me goosebumps. That day when master tried to kill me scared me to death. I saw master was tired that day so I thought I could bully him. But I didn''t expect my master was strong even though he was tired. I tried to defend with all my might but master was attacking me without stopping. He''s inflicting wounds in my soft body left and right. "Yah!! I don''t want it! I don''t like it! Stop! It hurts!!" I shouted at that time but master couldn''t understand me. Then, I remember a powerful move that my mother taught me before she left. It is... Acting cute... I looked at master with teary eyes as I lowered my head in front of him. Even though I was afraid of him, I still look at him in the eyes. I thought I was gonna die at that time. I silently curse my mother for teaching that move. I closed my eyes preparing myself. ...but after a long time, nothing happens. I opened my eyes and looked at my master''s face. Even though he still has that stoic face of his, he must have thought that I''m the cutest bear in the world. Hmph! Hmph! I''m the cutest bear in the world and it''s a loss if he would just kill me. So that day master abducted me. I''m sorry mother for cursing you. Your move helped me this time. He even gave me a name. Yuko. That''s me... What a wonderful name. It''s suitable to a cute bear like me. Hmph! You think I would forgive you in what you did to me just by giving me a name. I''m not an easy bear. Then, one day he gave me tons of fruits and meat. I couldn''t help but gulped when I saw this. Hmph! I shall forgive you for stabbing my eye this time. ... Although our first meeting was a disaster, I come to love my master. After that, my master always give me tons of fruits and meat. He always petted me and I love that feeling. I only don''t like is that he''s letting me stay in this cramped space. Ah~ it''s frustrating that I couldn''t move freely in this place. I waited for master to came back here every day. Even though he''s gone from morning to afternoon, I still wait in this cramped space. Lately, master and I went to a faraway land. That place is full of dangerous people. I don''t like this feeling. I don''t want this but master is here, so I should hold myself. Master came to fight a monkey. That monkey was dangerous and I got scared while looking at it. The energy it was releasing was suppressing me. I could hardly breathe under the suppression. I stayed with three girls at that time, so I couldn''t get to watch master''s figure when he was fighting. These three little girls what''s their relationship to master. Hmm? I want to know that and ask them but they couldn''t understand me and I couldn''t understand them in return. This language barrier I''m going to break it. I waited here for a long time and when master came back. Master had injury and since I love master I decided to carry him. "Yuko!!" Oh? Master is early. Master! I''m hungry hurry up and feed me! "Yuko! We''re rich now!" Hmm? I still couldn''t understand master''s words but I think it wouldn''t be that long before we could have a proper conversation. Still, I could understand master''s words vaguely. It must be because master loves me so much. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 77 Getting rich Souta woke up in an unfamiliar ceiling. "Ah~" He yawned and he stretched his body. He felt strangely refreshed. It feels that something heavy was gone. It''s been two days since the battle in the Desolate Woods. "Morning~" A sweet voice came beside him. Souta turned his head and saw a beautiful mature woman lying beside him. The woman has long white hair, white cat ears, and tail. ''Ah right, I stayed in a brothel.'' Souta thought. He stayed here to vent out his feelings. He wouldn''t be able to control his lust if he doesn''t let it out. "Good morning," Souta replied to the woman. He then stood up and wore his clothes. "You''re quite wild, despite your stature." The woman teased him. Souta could only smile wryly at her words. His height wasn''t something he''s proud of. For a goblin, he would consider himself a tall one but compare to humans and beastkin he was considered a short man. It''s true that once they entered the room, he became a different person. He let his lust consumed him yesterday night. He did everything to the woman just to satisfy his desire. "I haven''t done in a long time," Souta said and he placed five gold coins on the table. "Your tip." "Thanks, you can visit me again and I will give you a good time." The woman said seductively. "Okay, I will also bring my friend, so you can recommend me to some of your friends at that time," Souta said as he exited the room. He actually wanted to bring Bryan with him but once they entered the Ladros City Bryan disappeared like bubbles. "With that innocent looks, I bet he will faint when he saw a woman''s naked body," Souta muttered in a low voice. ... He went to the market to buy Yuko some fruits and meats that she likes. After that, he went to the ranch and fed Yuko. He was going to skipped class today. He had other things to do, so he will worry about the class later. He smiled as he imagined Lumilia''s face when he skipped class. After all, she reminded him and Bryan to not skip class before they parted yesterday. After he fed Yuko, he went inside the inn and took his bag with him. He opened his bag and saw the things inside. He took out two containers containing the Rotten Venomous Green Apple and the flesh of the level 20 above undead. "These two are for my evolution," Souta said then he took out a greenish orb. This was the monster orb of a level 40 monster. Back then, when he was trying to get out of the Desolate Woods, he found a corpse of a monster that possessed a monster orb. So he took his time to get the monster orb. "With this, I will get rich," Souta muttered as he held the monster orb in his hand. He could feel the best feram inside the orb. The powerful energy of the monsters. With this, he wouldn''t need to worry about money. He was really lucky that he found that monster. "I will also form my own monster orb once I''ve reached level 40," Souta said and he placed back the monster orb inside the bag. He picked up his sword and exited the room. ... He went outside with Yuko. He wondered where should he sell this monster orb. If he handled it wrong then a lot of people were going after his monster orb. So he should be careful and shouldn''t let any other people know the monster orb. There were two merchants that came in his mind. It was Jimmy and the dwarf. Jimmy was the merchants that he met when he was traveling towards Ladros City. He''s one of the first people that Souta met in this world. If he wasn''t wrong, Jimmy was a member of the Lanny Group, a huge business corporation. The other one was the dwarf from the Bullmar Village. He took the escort quest at that time to go to the Bullmar Village. It was when he goes underground with Jack and the other adventurers to save the village. He''s real objectives at that time was the dark grade weapon [Vajra Sword Saya]. After that, the dwarf gave him some of his merchandise as a few for helping him repel the abnormal people. These two merchants were the ones that came into his mind. He met a lot of merchants in Ladros City but these two were different. "Since I don''t know where is the dwarf, I should go to Jimmy," Souta muttered. He decided to go to Lanny Group as he doesn''t even know what''s the dwarf''s name. So how would he find him if he doesn''t know what''s his name. Souta turned around and face Yuko. He patted her head and said, "I''m going to buy a mansion for myself and farm for you with the money that I will receive. You don''t have to stay in that cramped place." "Mu." Yuko let out a comfortable sound. "Hehe~ good girl. I''m going to spoil you. Hahaha after all I''m rich now." Souta laughed. Yuko opened her eyes and looked at him with a confused expression. She was wondering why did he laugh all of a sudden. "Let''s go now." Souta turned around and said. Yuko followed behind him quietly. ... The two arrived in front of a huge building after walking for a dozen minutes. In front of the building was the name of the corporation written in bold letters. The building had six floors in total and it was filled with employees wearing a black coat as their uniform. "It''s huge..." Souta muttered as he walked towards the door and slowly opened it. Inside the building, he saw many stuff that were fetched in a high price. It looks like a modern reception. The receptionist was handling things with computers. The employees could even talk through with their earplugs. ''Damn, I should not call myself rich anymore.'' Souta thought as he walked towards the receptionist. "What can I do for you, sir?" The receptionist asked in a polite tone. She has long brown hair which was tied in a bun. Her height was quite tall for a woman and her uniform fitted her. "Where is Jimmy?" Souta asked directly. "Um... Can you wait here for a moment sir?" The receptionist asked him. Jimmy was one of the higher-ups of the Lanny Group and it''s not like every people could meet him. "Okay. Tell him that Souta is here." Souta nodded at her. The receptionist looked at him wondering if he really knew Jimmy. She held her earplug and said something. She seemed to be talking to Jimmy through her earplugs. After that, she faced Souta and said, "I will lead you inside, sir." Souta nodded at her. He saw another woman came in the counter and replaced the receptionist. The people inside who were dealing business with the corporation looked at Souta. They were wondering if he''s a VIP as he could go in the upper floors and met one of the executives of the corporation. Souta doesn''t have any idea that Jimmy was one of the executives of the Lanny Corporation. He only knew that Jimmy was a part of this group. Well, it doesn''t matter to him as long as he could earn benefits through his connection. The receptionist guided Souta in front of one of the rooms on the top floor. This was Jimmy''s office. The receptionist gently knocked on the door and said, "Sir, I brought him here." "Okay, thanks." A voice sounded behind the door. Souta knew who''s voice was that. He grabbed the handle of the door and directly opened it. He saw Jimmy sitting on the chair at the back of the room. "Good room," Souta commented as he looked around the room. "Right?" Jimmy laughed at his words. Souta knew that the things here came from the Mechanic Country. Jimmy wouldn''t sell those things that he got from the Mechanic Country or else he would be hunted down. Mechanic Country''s technology was advanced and it gave them an advantage in war. The power of those flying vehicles, mechanical armor, long-distance communication device, and powerful advanced weapons. All of these dominated the country around the Mechanic Country. It was overwhelming. The power of Mechanic Country''s army with their advanced weapon. "How long it had been since we first met?" Jimmy said. "Hmm... Two weeks since I enroll in the Institute." Souta said. "Hahaha, you''re quite famous nowadays. I''ve heard the rumors about the Tamer of the Red Fur Bear. That''s you and Yuko, right?" Jimmy laughed. "Well, no comment about that," Souta said then he took his bag from his back. "I have an offer to you." "Oh~ tell me what it is?" Jimmy''s expression turned into a serious one. When it comes to business Jimmy was always serious. "Here." Souta took out the monster orb in his bag and placed it on top of Jimmy''s table. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 78 Monster Tide 1 Souta took out a greenish orb from his bag and placed it on top of Jimmy''s table. The orb was emitting a greenish aura. "This..." Jimmy was stunned when he saw this. He looked at Souta asking for confirmation. "Yeah, it''s a monster orb." Souta nodded and asked, "How much can you give me for this?" "Five hundred platinum coins but it depends on the quality of the monster orb," Jimmy said with a serious expression. "Okay." Souta nodded at Jimmy. He knew that it would depend on the level of the monster. If the monster was powerful then the monster orb it possessed would fetch a high price. Actually, five hundred platinum coins were a large amount of money. He could buy a lot of things with this money. A hundred copper coins were equal to one gold coin. 100 copper coins -\u003e 1 gold coin 100 gold coins -\u003e 1 silver coin 100 silver coins -\u003e 1 platinum coin There were many things he could with this amount of money. It was enough to buy his own villa and even vacation house in the other country. "You really bought something nice. I''m not wrong to get your favor at that time." Jimmy laughed and broke the serious atmosphere. "Of course, I wouldn''t arrive here on time if you''re not here. Also, you did all the things for me to enter the city." Souta said as a matter of fact. If were not for Jimmy then it would take a lot of time before he could enter this city. Just from that fact, he could see that Jimmy was an influential person. "Anyway, do you really want to sell this to me?" Jimmy shook his hand and asked. "Yeah." Souta nodded his head. "Okay, I will give five hundred platinum coins right now as a downpayment. I still need to verify the quality of the monster orb." Jimmy said. "Okay." Souta nodded. He knew the market price of the monster orb. If Jimmy cheated him about the prize of the monster orb, then he wouldn''t do any business with Jimmy anymore. This was just the first transaction and he would bring more in the future. He would stop if he saw that Jimmy wasn''t trustworthy and he would find another merchant to handle things about his loot every time he did an expedition in a dangerous place. Jimmy opened the drawer in his table and took out a paper. He signed it with a pen before he gave it to Souta. "Here, give this to the receptionist and she will give you the amount written in that," Jimmy said. "Okay, thanks." Souta nodded and he took the paper. He bid goodbye to Jimmy and exit the room. "Don''t forget to come back here if you found some goods like this monster orb." Jimmy''s voice sounded as he closed the room. Souta went downstairs and gave the paper to the receptionist. The receptionist took the paper and looked at it. She was stunned when she saw the amount of money written in the paper. She knew that Souta went upstairs to talk to one of the executives. She processed the paper and give Souta the money. "Thanks," Souta said as he took the money before he exited the building. Inside the building, Jimmy was looking at Souta through the window. "Who''s that lad? To think that he would sell you a monster orb." A voice sounded behind him. "That''s Souta, a good lad," Jimmy replied. "Will he bring more benefits to our corporation or not?" "That depends on us. As long as we show that we''re trustworthy then he will continue providing us something good." Jimmy said. "Is he really that good?" "That sword on his waist... You see I''ve discerned that it is a red grade weapon or maybe higher than that." Jimmy said. "Hmm... If he have something like that on himself then he''s no ordinary man." "Currently, he''s an ordinary man but I wonder in the future. Let''s see how high he could reach with his potential." Jimmy said as he rubbed his chin. "You know the news about the Desolate Woods." "Yeah, it was frightening. What about that?" "Souta was there when that happened and he somehow survives that calamity," Jimmy said with a smile. "Let us help him this time. We will block all the information that he went there so that those countries wouldn''t bother him in his study." ... Souta met Yuko outside the building. Both of them went around the town. "Yuko, we''re rich now. Just pick anything you and I will buy it for you." "Mu." Souta bought a three-story house and lot for himself in the residential district of district 1. It cost him 20 platinum coins for this house. This house was for him and Yuko. He also would build a huge ranch so that Yuko could move freely. ... Just like that one week had passed and Yuko''s ranch was complete. He hired experts so that it would finish with less time being consumed. Yuko was happy with her new home. Souta even stock up a large number of fruits for her. In this time, he also received another 100 platinum coins from Jimmy. He was satisfied with this and Jimmy didn''t let him down. The ranking in the institute already started and Souta didn''t bother himself about this. Other people were excited about this but he was different. He didn''t care about that if it wouldn''t give him any quest. All he cared about was the quest. As long as there''s a quest he would be motivated to do some trivial things like that. Also, about Cluster. Souta, Lumilia, and Bryan talked about it. They decided to let her stay with Lumilia for a while. Actually, Souta wanted to recommend his house but he thought that it would be inappropriate for a girl of her age to stay with him. Also, Lumilia and Bryan would think about something if he said that. Cluster was hiding some secrets about the True God''s Holy Kingdom and Souta wanted to get that. He wouldn''t let Cluster go easily without knowing that secret. He will let her trust him to the point that she would be willing to diverge her secret when he inquired. He and Bryan visited her every day in Lumilia''s apartment. The news about what happened in the Desolate Woods spread out like wildfire this week. A lot of people talk about this piece of news. Souta said to Lumilia and Bryan to keep quiet about the incident in the Desolate Woods. He doesn''t want to gather attention right now. Although he prepared what he would say in case some people come and ask him, he still doesn''t want to bother himself about that. It''s too much trouble when those people were eyeing you. The higher-ups of every country around the Desolate Woods focused their attention on the forest. The battle of that scale wasn''t going to be ignored. A lot of nobles and adventurers died in this incident and some of the towns around the forest were destroyed. It gathered the attention of all countries. They naturally send out people to know the truth about the calamity in the Desolate Woods. And just as Souta expected, the True God''s Holy Kingdom also sends out an elite squad to investigate. ... Souta wore his uniform and went downstairs. He cooked breakfast for himself before he ate it. He then went out and bid farewell to Yuko. On his way, he met Alice. "What a coincidence," Souta said to her. "Nnn. Yeah." Alice nodded her head. "You really don''t talk too much," Souta said as he walked beside her. "I wonder about that," Alice replied to him. "But not anymore," Souta said with a grin. Both of them entered the institute and they went directly to their classroom. They found that Lumilia was already inside the classroom. As expected of class rep she always went to the class before anyone else. Lumilia looked at the two of them for a while before she averted her gaze. "Good morning, class rep." Souta greeted her as he walked towards his seat. "G-Good morning." Lumilia greeted him back. "Is there something wrong, class rep?" Souta asked him. "Nothing. I''m just wondering why you always go early in class." Lumilia shook her head. "Hmm... I came here so that I could have a coffee. The coffee here is good." Souta looked at her and said. He placed down his bag on his seat before he exited the classroom. Lumilia and Alice looked at his back. Souta went to the cafeteria and bought a cup of coffee. He then went back to the class and found that Bryan was already there. "Oi! Souta, good morning." Bryan greeted him. "Good morning," Souta replied as he sat down on his seat. Suddenly, they felt their Adventurer''s ID vibrated. The magic circle that was imprinted in the ID activated. Then, they heard a siren outside of the school. "Warning! A Monster Tide has appeared in the outskirt of the Gate 1 of the city!" "All available adventurers should gather to the Adventurers Guild and help fight the Monster Tide!" A warning issued throughout the whole city. "Oh? what perfect timing to level up to twenty." Souta mumbled. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 79 Monster Tide 2 "Warning! A Monster Tide has appeared in the outskirt of the Gate 1 of the city!" "All available adventurers should gather to the Adventurers Guild and help fight the Monster Tide!" A warning was issued all over the whole city. Souta stood up when he heard the warning. He looked at his side and saw that Bryan was looking at him. He understood what Bryan wanted to do by looking at his eyes. He smiled and nodded at Bryan. Bryan nodded in return. Souta then quickly turned around and exited the classroom. Bryan followed him behind. "W-Wait!! The class..." Lumilia stood up and wanted to stop them but she found that both of them were already gone. She could only sigh and went back to her seat. ... Since it was early, the gate of the institute was still open. The guard would let students enter and exit the institute as long it didn''t pass eight o''clock. On their way to Adventurers Guild, Souta and Bryan met a lot of adventurers going towards the Adventurers Guild. It''s natural that they heard the warning. There''s also a group of city guards heading towards the Gate 1. They were going to repel the monster tide with the help of the adventurers. The people around them didn''t care about that. It looks like they trust the city guards to defend the city. Souta and Bryan arrived in the Adventurers Guild. Both of them entered the guild and saw a lot of adventurers taking the monster tide quest. Souta and Bryan all took the quest. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Monster Tide]: Kill the monsters that are going to attack the city. Rewards: Depends on the number of monsters that you have slain. Souta nodded when he heard the system prompt inside his head. He received a lot of monster tide quest back in the game. A lot of players joined the monster tide quest because the rewards for this quest were something good especially to those who had high merits in the quest. The two went to Gate 1. They looked ahead and saw a large group of monsters. Their numbers surpassed one thousand and the scout estimated that its number reached five thousand. Souta looked at the monster tide and saw a lot of familiar monsters. "A disaster-level monster tide, huh?" Souta muttered in a low voice. A disaster-level monster tide was the lowest level of monster tide. It means that the monsters that formed the tide were just low-level monsters. The level of the monsters in this tide was between 10 and 40. The strongest one was the monster who just formed their monster orb. There were three levels of monster tide. The disaster-level, calamity-level, and the catastrophe-level. Then, the catastrophe-level monster tide was worse. Ladros City wouldn''t even be able to defend such level of monster tide. It needed the force of the whole Hebrei Kingdom to stop it because a monster lord was leading such monster tide. "What the hell!! There are so many monsters!" Bryan exclaimed at his side. Souta looked at Bryan and said, "I thought that you don''t want to skip class." "Yeah, I don''t." Bryan nodded his head. "But why?" Souta asked. "Hmm... I thought that should join this fight and help defend the city against the monsters." Bryan replied. "Nnn..." Souta focused his attention on the monster tide. ... In the classroom... Bargan was in front of the class and was doing a roll call. He found that Bryan and Souta were absent once again. He looked at Lumilia and asked, "Where are Bryan and Souta?" "Um... Sir... They are adventurers so they probably went out to fight the monster tide." Lumilia hesitated at first whether she should tell it or not. "...They didn''t even say to me that they are going to join the battle." Bargan said with a sigh. "Um... Teacher, what should we do?" Lumilia asked. "Don''t worry about it they are adventurers so they should be responsible," Bargan said as he waved his hand. "I''ll deduct their points later." "You too should experience a real battle as it would make you strong." He said to the whole class. Alice looked outside the window and wondered what they were doing right now. ... The guards already formed their formation. They were the vanguard of this group while the adventurers were going to cut down the number of the monster from the side. The guards were wearing full plate armor like a knight. They were exiting a fierce aura and intense killing intent. They were ready to clash at any time. The adventurers were different from the guards. They were lively and chatting with a happy expression. They were talking about the rewards of this battle and what they''re going to do with it. As an adventurer, it''s not the first time they join a fight in the monster tide. Only those Rank E adventurers had a nervous expression. They were trembling at the sight of more than a thousand monsters ahead of them. Their party members assured them that it''s gonna be okay. They just needed to be careful and watch out for monsters that were coming behind them. Souta turned his head and looked at the adventurers. At the back, he saw a group of five people wearing orange grade armor. They were the hunters of the Adventurers Guild. The hunters were the ones who were going to deal with the monster with a monster orb. ''Luckily, I didn''t bring Yuko here.'' Souta thought. He knew that these people hated monsters to the bones. "Well, let''s wait for the signal," Souta said. "Yeah, I can''t wait for it," Bryan said with an excited expression. "Is this your first time seeing a monster tide?" Souta asked. "Yeah, what about you?" Bryan nodded and asked him the same question. "Yeah, it''s my first time too," Souta said. He''s not lying. This was his first time seeing a monster tide since he transmigrated into this world. Souta recalled something. He opened his mouth and said, "If we performed great in this battle, there is a chance that the guild will promote us to Rank D." "Really?" Bryan asked. "Yeah." Souta nodded while looking at the monster tide. The monster tide was slowly getting closer to the city. It was now one kilometer away from the Gate 1. "Prepare yourself!!" The guard captain shouted. The guards tapped their chest in response. They slowly advanced forward and was going to class with the monster tide. Souta looked at Bryan and said, "Let''s go." "Okay." Bryan nodded at him. The adventurers followed the guard behind. They split up into two groups. The left wing and the right wing of the formation. They were responsible for cutting down the monster from the side. When they got closer to the monster tide, guards charged towards the monster tide without any hesitation. They raised their shield and sword. Roar!! The monsters roared angrily at the group of city guards. They dashed forward to kill those impudent city guards. Boom!! There were many types of monsters in this tide. Terror wolf, kobold, troll, orc, and ogre were among the tide. Even their evolve form joined the tide. The guards smashed their shield at the monsters that pounced on them before swung their sword. Putchi!! The number of guards was only five hundred but each one of them could fight three monsters at the same time. Even though they were outnumbered they could still put up a fight against the monsters. Plus, the adventurers were helping them from the side. Souta and Bryan rushed towards the monsters. [Agility Boost]!! [Strength Boost]!! Souta casted two buff spells on himself. He pulled out the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his waist and slashed it at the monster in front of him. Putchi!! The monster was sliced into two. Its body spurted out blood. "I need to kill a lot of monster in order to raise my rank," Souta mumbled as he kept slashing his sword in every monster that he saw. He moved his body swiftly. Jumping from side to side dodging every attack while waving his sword. Every time he waved his sword, a body of a monster flew in the mid-air. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Suddenly, a loud explosion occurred in the back and it shook the entire ground. Strange energy swept out like a ripple in the air. It brought down the mana in the air. Boom!! Souta stopped when he felt it. He looked in that direction and guessed that the hunters were fighting the monster with a monster orb. "I should hurry up before they could kill that monster," Souta muttered and he casted [Shadow Bind] spell. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Then, he swung his sword around him killing all the monsters in the vicinity. Putchi!! Souta smiled his filled the soul requirement. Back in the Desolate Woods, some of the corpses there already passed the time limit of three hours so he couldn''t collect all the souls there. He only managed to fill up the souls when he came back to the Dry Gulch Town. There, he collected the souls of the dead one and used the effects of the [Harvester of the Soul] two times. But here was different... All the souls of the monsters kept flowing in the [Soul Blood Earring]. If they managed to kill all the five thousand monsters here, then Souta would be able to collect five thousand souls. Ah~ that''s good... 80 Monster Tide 3 [Shadow Spike]!! The shadows burst out of the ground and it pierced the bodies of the monsters. Putchi! Putchi! Souta continuously heard the system prompts ringing inside his head. The souls and exp were being filled up quickly. He used the effect of the [Harvester of the Soul] two times back then in the Dry Gulch Town. He increased his intelligence by twenty using the souls that he collected. Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Souta charged towards the group of kobolds and used [Crimson Moon] skill. Swoosh!! A red light flashed and it crashed the group of kobolds. Boom!! He changed his target as he knew that those kobolds were already dead. He jumped in the mid-air and looked around him. In his position, there''s a lot of adventurers. He doesn''t want to accidentally kill one of them when he''s going wild. Souta landed down and bent his knees. And with a "boom" he charged through the army of monsters in front of him. [Dash]!! [Cross Moon]!! The adventurers around looked at Souta with a surprised expression on their faces. "Oi! Oi! Where is that man going?" "What he is planning?" "He''s breaking the formation!!" Bewildered voices sounded in the group of adventurers. They were stunned when they saw Souta charged in the middle of the monster tide alone. [Shadow Bind]!! Souta waved and slashed his sword against the monsters. Some of them died and some survived. He followed this by casting [Shadow Spike]. It took the lives of those who survive. [You''ve received 130 exp for defeating Kobold Warrior!!] [You''ve received 182 exp for defeating High Orc!!] [You''ve received 156 exp for defeating High Orc!!] [You''ve received 127 exp for defeating Terror Wolf!!] Souta ignored the sound he heard in his mind. A shadow covered his whole body. He looked up and saw a three-meter tall wolf heading towards him. He moved his body sideways to dodge the wolf. Boom!! The wolf crashed in his previous position. It even hit the other monsters in the area. "That''s an Ashen Wolf!" Souta exclaimed and he narrowed his brows. He gripped the sword in his hand tightly and circulated his mana around his body. Ashen Wolf was a three to five meters tall wolf. It has gray-colored thick fur. Its level was between 20 and 39. It was a powerful monster and its greatest weapon was its speed. The power and speed it showed just now weren''t at the level where Souta could fear it. Its level was probably between 20 and 25. Swoosh!! A figure shot out of the smoke. It was the Ashen Wolf. Souta shifted his body quickly to avoid the wolf and when it passed beside him he swung his sword. Swoosh!! Souta lifted up his left hand and casted [Shadow Ball] spell. He then used [Crimson Moon] skill around him. He killed the weak monster around him. He doesn''t want them to bother him when fighting this Ashen Wolf. Swoosh!! He instantly disappeared and appeared near the Ashen Wolf. He exchanged position with his [Shadow Ball]. The Ashen Wolf was caught on surprise. The sword in Souta''s hand emitted a red light. He then swung it towards the Ashen Wolf. [Cross Moon]!! The Ashen Wolf reflexes were fast. It even managed to move its body slightly to avoid fatal wounds. "Tsk!!" Souta clicked his tongue when he saw that. He then felt that the other monsters were coming. He waved his left hand and casted [Shadow Bind]. It was to stop them for a few seconds. This number of seconds was enough to finish the Ashen Wolf. He casted [Shadow Ball] at his side before he charged towards the Ashen Wolf while using [Dash] skill to increase his speed. Howl!! The Ashen Wolf didn''t back down and it charged forward to clash against him. Swoosh!! The Ashen Wolf opened its mouth widely and revealed a row of razor white sharp teeth. It attempted to bite Souta''s neck. Souta teleported back to the [Shadow Ball] spell that he casted before causing the Ashen Wolf to bit the air. Then, a shadow burst out of the ground and it caught the wolf off guarded. As soon as Souta exchange position with [Shadow Ball] he quickly dashed towards the Ashen Wolf once again. He pulled back his hand and he arrived in front of the wolf. He then used [Stab] skill. His sword pierced the mouth of the wolf. A hole appeared in its body. Blood spurted out of the hole like a fountain. *Ding!* [You''ve received 397 exp for defeating the Ashen Wolf!!] Suddenly, he felt pain in his left hand. His brows narrowed down as he turned his head to look. He saw another Ashen Wolf was biting his hand. "Argh! That hurts!" Souta cursed as he lifted up his feet and kick the wolf. Bang! The wolf flew and shadows chased after it. It strangled the body of the wolf before a spike burst out of the ground and pierced the wolf. Putchi!! ''A lot weaker than before.'' Souta thought then he felt several presences behind him. He then grinned as he felt the soul that he collected reached the limit. He quickly used the effect of the [Harvester of the Soul] to increase his vitality attribute by ten. His vitality attribute was the lowest of all attributes that he had. He only had the base stat of 93 and the added 10 attributes of the [Soul Blood Earring], he had 103 vitality in total. Right now, he used the effect of [Harvester of the Soul] to increase it by ten making it a total of 113 vitality. It was unlike any other of his stats that could be raised by his [Vajra Sword Saya]. The added stats of the Vajra Sword was focused on increasing his speed. "Hmm... Let''s do this!" Souta said with a smirk on his face. He casted several [Shadow Bind] to restrained those wolves. He used 6 skill points to level up the [Shadow Bind] skill to six. Shadows burst out and chased after the wolves. The wolves moved their bodies swiftly and avoided the shadows. But some of the wolves were caught. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Souta grinned and he poured his mana on his feet before he slightly bent his knees. Boom!! He launched himself in the pack of Ashen Wolves. ... Bryan was fighting the monsters in his own way. He casted buff spells on himself left and right making him extremely powerful. [Lightning Boots]!! [Lightning Edge]!! [Scorching Hand]!! Bryan charged in the group of evolved orcs. The orcs were five meters tall and it was two meters taller than ordinary orcs. They were armed with huge butcher knives. The orcs slashed their weapons at him. Bryan gathered his mana in his fist and used [Blazing Strike]. Boom!! Bryan was pushed back and he launched himself once again. He threw a punch in the nearest orc. Bang!! He then took a step back and found that some of the orcs were already behind him. He lifted up his feet and kicked the orc. Bang! "Oho! They are crazy strong..." Bryan said with a smile. He then raised both of his hands in the air. "Burn them, [Flare Burst]!!" A huge ball of flames formed above his hand. Bryan threw it towards the group of orcs in front of him. Boom!! A huge explosion appeared as the flames swallowed the orcs and it burned their body. Suddenly... Putchi!! A huge cut appeared on Bryan''s back. The orcs behind him cut his back and his blood splattered on the ground. "That hurts!!" Bryan then turned his attention on these orcs. Since he managed to deal with the others, he could now focused on these groups. He grinned as he gathered his mana in his fists. ... The guards were pushing the monsters in the front while the adventurers were cutting the monsters on the side. Despite the numbers of the monsters, the guards and adventurers managed to thin them down. Right now, they already killed more than a thousand monsters in just a few dozen minutes. The hunters were fighting the most powerful monster in the monster tide. Their fierce battle caused the monsters around them to die. Souta jumped in the air and saw this scene. The [Bestrou] of that monster even caused the weaker one to die in the explosion. Since the hunters were fighting in the back of the monster tide, it caused the monster tide a lot of casualties. The souls once again reached the limit of what he could gather. He once again used it on his vitality attribute. He doesn''t need to use it in his strength as his race would increase it as long as he levels up. His intelligence would increase with his class. So, right now he needed to increase his dexterity, agility, and vitality attributes with the effect of [Harvester of the Soul] to balance his stats. Currently, there''s no problem with agility and dexterity attributes as the [Vajra Sword Saya] managed to increase it to the point it surpassed all of his other attributes. It leaves him with the vitality attribute. His vitality was currently lacking. He experienced it before. He knew that if the [Bestrou] hit him at that time not Bryan then he would die without a doubt. After this, Souta would gather all the skills that he knew before he evolves to increase the benefits he will receive from evolution. 81 Finally *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the quest monster tide!] [Calculating rewards...] *Ding!* [You''ve received 50,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, 3 skill points!] *Ding!* [You''ve level up!] [Strength attributes have increased by 8!] [Intelligence, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality have increased by 5!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] *Ding!* [You''ve reached the level requirement for the next evolution!] Souta heard a series of sounds in his head. The rewards he received from this quest was plenty. He was satisfied with the result. He now fulfilled all the requirements that he needed to evolve. He could undergo evolution any time he wanted. Souta looked around the place. The corpse of monsters was all around the place. Almost five thousand monsters died in this battle. Their side also suffered some casualties. Some of the adventurers and guards died in this battle. A group of people was handling the carcass of the monsters. The hunters took the monster that they killed. They wouldn''t give the body of a monster with a monster orb to anyone. All the souls became a nutrient to increase Souta''s stats. With all the souls here, Souta managed to use the effect of the [Harvester of the Souls] five times. All of these went to his vitality attribute. Souta stretched his arms and felt pain all over his body. His arms, chest, and legs were covered in small cuts and bite marks. With all the monsters here, Souta wouldn''t be able to avoid their attack if all of them attack at the same time. Souta walked towards the gate. The healers built a tent beside it to treat the wounds of the adventurers and guards. There''s a long line of people waiting to be treated. "Souta!" A familiar voice sounded behind him. Souta turned around and was surprised by what he saw. "Wha-" Bryan was covered in blood. His body was full of wounds. His wounds were worse than Souta. It seems that he fought recklessly this time again. Souta could only sigh at Bryan''s look. He wondered how Bryan survived like this as an adventurer. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Bryan asked as he tilted his head in confusion. "Nothing." Souta shook his head. Both of them fall in line. A lot of people suffered injuries in this battle, so the line was quite long. "Ah! I remember something!" Bryan exclaimed. "What is it?" Souta asked with a bored expression. "What do you plan to do to the ranking?" Bryan asked him. "Hmm... Let''s see..." Souta recalled the ranking battles that were happening in the institute. A lot of students were participating in this battle. They were eager to raise their ranks. "Hmm... Influence of the Mechanic Country..." Souta muttered as he looked in a far distance place. The Mechanic Country was slowly revealing its technology. "Souta?" Bryan looked at Souta with a confused expression. "Ah! Sorry. About your question... I plan to participate this time to gather some points." Souta paused for a moment before he continued, "There''s a combat arts that I want." The points that the students could be exchanged for foods, skills, house, or anything in the institute except life. They could even use points to kick out other students or teachers. But the amount needed for that was tremendous. "Hmm! What is it? Tell me!" Bryan put his face closer to Souta. "You''re too close." Souta grabbed Bryan''s face and pushed him away. "You will know it later." "Eh!! Why?!" Bryan put up a long face at Souta''s answer. "Hahaha, I will not tell you. Just wait and you will know it in time." Souta laughed. Both of them chatted until their turn to be treated. Souta went inside the tent first. The cleric there applied medicines first in his wounds before casting a healing spell. His treatment only took a few minutes. After Souta, it was Bryan''s turn. Bryan''s treatment took half an hour before it finished because some of his wounds were deep. ... It was already afternoon when Souta and Bryan came back to the institute. It was lunch break, so both of them went straight to the canteen. "George! Joshua!" Bryan waved his hand when he saw their classmates. Souta glanced at the two before he bought lunch. He opened his mouth and said, "You can go and talk to them. Let''s talk later in class." "Okay." Bryan nodded. George and Joshua were the students that joined the class at the same time as him and Souta. He, George, Joshua, Souta, and Alice were from the same batch. Souta received his lunch. He looked around and saw class rep, Lumilia, with her friends. He wanted to talk to her but he was not close to their classmates. He wasn''t Bryan that always talk nonstop and almost made the whole class his friends. Lumilia lifted up her head and saw that Souta was looking at her. "Mila! Mila! Mila!" A voice called her nickname repeatedly. Souta smiled at her before he averted his gaze. Lumilia snapped out when the voice beside her grew louder. She looked at the girl with purple long hair beside her. Her hair was curly at the end. She was Lynn Yaoli, a student of Mage Class 1-B. "What is it, Lynn?" Lumilia asked her. "What are you looking at?" Lynn asked and she followed Lumilia''s line of sight and saw Souta. "Oh? That''s Souta!" "Souta!" Another classmate called Nayo said as she turned her head and looked at Souta. "Do you have a grudge at him, Mila?" Lynn asked Lumilia carefully. "Why?" Lumilia asked back. "Um... You know, what happened in the tournament..." Lynn said with some hesitation. "Ah! That... No, I don''t have any grudge regarding that matter." Lumilia shook her head. "I see... Don''t you think he''s kinda cool?" Lynn asked as she lowered her head. Lumilia and Nayo looked at Lynn with a surprised expression. ... Souta continued to look for a vacant place when he saw Alice figure from the corner of his eyes. As usual, she was eating alone. Hmm... There were no classmates of them that talk to her. Only Bryan and Souta had the guts to talk to her despite her cold appearance. He approached her and asked, "Is this free?" Alice looked at him before she nodded. "Thanks," Souta said as he placed down his lunch on the table before he took a sit. The two didn''t talk about anything. They just enjoyed their lunch without saying anything. ... Two months had passed quickly. Nothing big happens these two months. In the institute, Souta became active in the ranking battles. He joined the battle left and right increasing his ranking among the first year. A lot of people were watching this event and they wonder who is going to reign the top. The teachers, the second year, third year, and the fourth year were all watching how the battle will be concluded. It became chaotic when Souta joined the rank battles. He defeated students left and right without stopping. He only stopped when he reached the top 10 in the whole first year. It was because he gathered enough points. He earned a decent amount of points as he didn''t experience a single defeat. There were quite a few opponents that gave him trouble like Brando and Bryan. Bryan challenged him to a duel every week and Souta always defeated him. Brando challenged him once again to test his strength but he found that Souta was on an entirely different level when he''s using his mana. Souta rent the training ground using his points for a whole day. That day, Souta learned all the "mastery" skills of all weapons except the guns. There''no guns here. It was only available in the Mechanic Country. In the end, he acquired the skill [Weapon Mastery]. The weapons under this skill were Sword, Lance, Spear, Scythe, Bow, Dagger, Staff, Axe, and Mace. He acquired all the "mastery" skill of these weapons. It means that as long as he equipped any of these weapons there''s a plus 10% damage to his basic attack. For his remaining points, Souta exchanged it for some combat arts. He barely managed to learn three combat arts. These three combat arts were [Cat''s Speed], [Air walk], and [Triple Muscle Hardening]. Souta and Bryan visited Cluster in Lumilia''s apartment almost every day. Souta could feel it that he was getting closer to Cluster. Cluster wasn''t restraining herself with them anymore. She was a lively little girl. Just a little bit push and Souta would be able to know her secret. Souta didn''t just train in these two months. He also cleared the low-level dungeon around the Ladros City. He earned a decent amount of exp, free attribute points, and skill points in all of his expeditions so far. He also got some skill books in the dungeons and the most important thing that he found was the [Pet Bestowing Skill]. With this, he could give Yuko some of his skills. ... Souta took Yuko with him. Both of them went out of Ladros City and found a cave. "It''s finally time..." Souta muttered as he grinned. He opened his bag and took out the Rotten Venomous Green Apple and the flesh of an undead. The scent of these two things quickly struck his nose. "It stinks!!" Souta pinched his nose and he grabbed the apple. "Finally, the long-awaited moment." 82 Goblin Corruptor Souta ate the Rotten Venomous Green Apple and the flesh of a level 20 above undead. *Ding!* [You''ve opened up one evolution path!] [Processing information...] *Ding!* [Processing complete!] [Name: Goblin Corruptor] Souta didn''t hesitate and choose to evolve to Goblin Corruptor. [It will take five minutes to finish the evolution!] A white light emerged out of his body and covered him like a cocoon. Souta felt tired all of a sudden. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. ... Souta slowly opened his eyes. The cocoon started to have a crack. The crack spread out quickly and the cocoon turned into dust. He felt that a lot of time had passed but he knew that it was only five minutes. *Ding!* [Evolution Complete!] [Goblin Corruptor: A very rare species of Goblin that have the power to corrode living beings.] [All stats increased by 30!] [Health increased by 50!] [Stamina increased by 50!] [Mana increased by 50!] [Health recovery increased by 10!] *Ding!* [From now on your Agility, Dexterity, Vitality, and Intelligence attributes will increase by ten every level while Strength attribute will increase by fifteen every level!] [All of your skills have level up!] Souta heard multiple sounds in his head. The increase in his stats was great and from now on every time he leveled up the added stats weren''t five and eight. It was now ten and fifteen. He only had one health recovery rate but now it increased by ten. It means that had a base of eleven health recovery and it would be multiplied by two because of the effect of his trait [Extraordinary Body]. Then, his skills. All of his skills, no, precisely its combat arts, increased by one level. The weapons under the skill [Weapon Mastery] became level two while the sword became level three. He didn''t manage to level up his [Sword Mastery] to level three in these past two months. Leveling up skills through training was harder than he could imagine. Two months wasn''t enough to level up a level two skill to level three. Well, it all makes sense to him. His [Sword Mastery] skill was already on par with the second-year students of the Ladro Institute, and they achieved that level by training for more than a year. Souta could level it up using skill points, but he wouldn''t do that. He would save his skill points for his spells. Increasing the levels of spell would make him closer to Rank 2 Mage. His [Mana Manipulation] skill was now level three while his [Dash] skill was also level three. Lastly, his [Stab] was now level four. Also, his newly learned skills had an increase in level. The [Cat''s Speed], [Air Walk], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], and [Pet Bestowing Skill] became level two. [Cat''s Speed] was a combat arts that boost the user''s speed for ten minutes by thirty agility and dexterity. It consumed four stamina per use. Now that it increased in level, the time limit increased by five minutes while the added stats increased by ten. [Air Walk] was a combat arts that let him stepped on the air. This combat art took him more to learn than the rest. There''s a limit to this art and that limit was that he could only take five steps in the air per use. It has a cooldown of five minutes before he could use it again. [Triple Muscle Strengthening] was a combat arts that increased the power of his muscles. It greatly focused on his defense, damage reduction, and vitality. [Pet Bestowing Skill] was art that will allow him to pass his skills to Yuko at the cost of losing one of its levels. If he passed his [Stab] to Yuko then the [Stab] would lose one level. If he passed a level one skill then the skill would be gone. Souta was satisfied with this but he knew that there''s still more. *Ding!* [Traits detected!] [Mana Build] [Alloy Body] [Night Vision] The [Alloy Body] and [Night Vision] was on the choice once again. The only difference was the [Mana Build]. [Mana Build] was a trait of a monster that increase their magical resistance by fifty percent. Souta chooses the [Night Vision] this time. The [Night Vision] would be replaced by some random traits the next time he evolved just like what happened to [Extraordinary Body]. *Ding!* [You''ve learned the Goblin Corruptor''s trait skill!] [Corruption]: Every basic attack was added by one percent damage to every living creature. This was the trait skill of the Goblin Corruptor. As long as his opponent was a living being then his damage was one hundred percent stronger. Of course, it would not affect the undead or golems. In this world full of living creatures, this trait skill was valuable. Souta''s appearance didn''t change that much. Only his hair grew longer and his height didn''t change. "What the heck?!" Souta cursed when he found that he didn''t grow taller at all. He wanted to become a tall, dark, and handsome goblin but... It seems impossible now that he was still short. "Damn! If I could edit my appearance just like in the game then I would have done that since the beginning!" *Ding!* [You''ve level up!] [You''ve level up!] [You''ve level up!] [Strength attributes have increased by 15!] [Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality attributes have increased by 10!] [Strength attributes have increased by 15!] [Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality attributes have increased by 10!] [Strength attributes have increased by 15!] [Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality attributes have increased by 10!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] Souta level up three times from all the exp that he stocks up in these two months. He reached level twenty-three from all the exp he received. Souta grinned and looked at his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Goblin Corruptor Level: 23 Class: Rank 1 Mage - Darkness Health: 536/536 Stamina: 318/318 Mana: 630/630 Strength: 279(219+60)[+] Agility: 373(173+200)[+] Dexterity: 360(160+200)[+] Intelligence: 260(200+60)[+] Vitality: 218(208+10)[+] Free attribute point(s): 57 Skill(s): [Dash] Level 3, [Stab] Level 4, [Weapon Mastery], [Mana Manipulation] Level 3, [Cat''s Speed] Level 2, [Air Walk] Level 2, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 2, [Pet Bestowing Skill] Level 2 Spell(s): [Fireball] Level 1, [Ice Shot] Level 1, [Light Heal] Level 1, [Agility Boost] Level 1, [Strength Boost] Level 1, [Mud Slide] Level 1, [Shadow Bind] Level 6, [Shadow Spike] Level 1, [Shadow Ball] Level 1 Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body], [Night Vision] Blessing(s): [Blessing of the Great] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul], [Crimson Moon], [Cross Moon], [Possession] Skill point(s): 23 Souta was satisfied with the improvement of his stats. His base stats now were all over one hundred. Some of his stats even reached two hundred. It was a great improvement for him. He grinned widely since version 2 was going to start soon. He needed to level up his [Shadow Bind] spell to rank up his class. His preparation for the upcoming version 2 was ongoing. The battle there was fierce and a lot of powerful people were going to make a move. "The Demon Invasion, huh?" Souta murmured. There''s a lot of opportunities when the demon attack. Also, he was going to run around the battlefield to collect the souls of the dead. Souta noticed that there''s a change in his appearance. He thought that nothing change about him. He looked down at his hands and saw the color of his hand turned black. It turned into pure black. His nails grew sharper and it has a crimson color. The color of his hands faded when it almost reached his elbows. He could see his red veins through the color of his hand. It was throbbing and it looks terrifying. "These hands didn''t look normal..." Souta said while looking at his hands. So the [Corruption] trait skill was coming from these hands. Souta ripped apart his clothes and used it to cover both of his hands. He was going back to the city and he needed to hide the appearance of his hands to the public. Suddenly, a pain assaulted his head. He fell down on his knees and grabbed his head. "Argh!" Souta screamed loudly as he couldn''t handle the pain. "Hmm... So you''re a monster, huh? It''s quite intriguing..." A feminine voice sounded in his mind. Souta gritted his teeth and looked at the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his waist. He could see the [Possession] skill flickering in red light in the system. The [Vajra Sword Saya] took the chance when he was recovering his memories to take over his body. He gripped the sword with great effort before he threw it. The Vajra Sword crashed in the walls. "Argh!" Souta looked at the sword before he loses consciousness. Roar!! Yuko roared and approached Souta. She looked at him who was unconscious. She hugged his body tightly. 83 Special Tes Souta slowly opened his eyes. He found that he was still in the cave. He was lying in Yuko''s fluffy fur. He slowly stood up and held his head. He still felt a little bit of pain in his head. He looked at Yuko and saw that she was sleeping. "Thanks, Yuko!" Souta said as he caressed her head. "Mn." Yuko opened her eye when she felt his hand. Souta looked around and saw the [Vajra Sword Saya] on the ground. "This...?" Souta recalled what happened before. The [Vajra Sword Saya] tried to possess his body back then. The voice of a woman echoed in his mind back then. It means that the red woman that he fought before was still living inside the [Vajra Sword Saya]. This was what he feared before. The [Vajra Sword Saya] taking his body. There were no settings like this in the game. The difficulty of real-life was many times harder than in the game. There were many things he could do in this world and he wasn''t restricted anymore, but the danger was clearly higher. "I really shouldn''t lower my guard in front of the sword," Souta said in a low voice. He sighed and shook his head. He then approached the sword and hesitate whether he should grab it or not. In the end, he grabbed the sword and he heard a strange laugh in his head. "Ufufufu..." Souta could only smile wryly at this. He placed the sword on his waist and looked around. Yuko approached him and stuck out her tongue. She licked his cheeks. Souta smile at her and he walked towards the entrance of the cave. He saw that it was already dark outside. It seems that he was unconscious for a few hours. ... The two went back to Ladros City. Souta immediately went to the market and found a blue grade white gloves. He bought it for one hundred gold coins. He doesn''t want anything to see the appearance of his hands. People would start thinking that he had a relation to a monster especially since he was a Tamer. Souta and Yuko went straight to their house after Souta bought ingredients for dinner. ... Souta woke up early in the morning. He wore his clothes and picked up the [Vajra Sword Saya]. He went downstairs and a meal for his breakfast. Two days had already passed since he evolved into a Goblin Corruptor. He only cut his hair to match the length he had before evolving. It would be strange if his hair grew longer in just one day. "Hmm... Should I hire a maid? Cooking took a lot of my time." Souta muttered while cooking. He doesn''t want to waste his time in cooking. He should''ve in the institute right now enjoying the taste of the coffee. He really likes the taste of the coffee in the institute. It''s perfect to have that in the morning. He prepared fried rice and egg for his breakfast. After that, he called Yuko, and both of them ate their breakfast. He arrived at the Ladro Institute and went straight to the cafeteria. He bought a cup of coffee before he went to the class. In the class, Souta found that Alice was already in her seat. Bryan was not here and the class rep was also in her seat. "Morning class rep. Morning Alice." Souta greeted Lumilia and Alice before he sat down in his seat beside Alice. "G-Good morning." Lumilia was in a daze and he called her, so it surprised her a little. She looked at him and said, "Tell me first, if you''re going to visit Cluster." "Okay." Souta nodded at her as he placed his coffee on the top of his table. He grew closer to Lumilia in these two months. She could be considered his friend. "Morning." Alice glanced at him before she went back to look outside the window. Souta looked at her and smile. Alice too was slowly opening towards him and Bryan. He and Bryan were the only people that Alice talk in class. She wouldn''t even talk to other people except him and Bryan. He took a sip of his coffee and he turned his eyes on Lumilia. In the past two months, Lumilia joined the ranking battle and she managed to raise her rank up to rank 40 in the whole first-year division. She got stronger in these two months and the Mystical Light Cherry really help her in her mana control. Alice was different from her. She didn''t strive to become the top ranking. She just maintained her rank in the top 60. She clearly has power but she lacks motivation. Bryan was the most active in their class in the ranking battles. Almost every day Bryan would fight two or three people. Currently, Bryan''s rank was higher than Souta. Bryan was rank 12 among all the first year in the institute. While Souta was thinking about the rankings, the door was slammed open. It was Bryan''s doing. It caused the class rep to stood up and pointed her finger at him. "How many times do I have to tell you that don''t open a door like that?!" "Sorry, sorry about that, class rep." Bryan apologized as he scratched the back of his head with an awkward expression. "Hais... " Lumilia could only sigh helplessly. She knew how difficult to handle Bryan. The problem student of their class. Bryan walked towards his seat and greeted Souta and Alice. "Yo! Souta! Alice!" "Morning." Alice glanced at him before he once again looked outside the window. "Do you have a plan after the class?" Souta asked him. "Nope," Bryan replied quickly. "Then, we will visit Cluster later," Souta said to him. Since Bryan said that he doesn''t have any plan then he had no reason to refuse him. "Okay. I will buy a cake for her." Bryan nodded and said. He then held his head with both of his hands while saying, "Ah! I remember that I don''t have any money left! I haven''t taken a quest for a while now!" "Don''t worry about it. I will pay for it." Souta said with a sigh. George and Joshua entered the room. Bryan chatted with them giving time for Souta to enjoy his coffee alone. "It''s a lively class..." Souta said as he took a sip of his coffee. Soon, the sound died down as teacher Bargan entered the classroom. The first thing he said stunned the whole class. "We''re going to have a special test." was what he said. The class became loud as various voices sound left and right. "What?!" "You didn''t tell this to us before!" "Teacher, what''s the meaning of this?" No one could understand anything as they were all asking at the same time. Lumilia stood up and tried to stop the class but everyone ignored her. Souta looked at his left side and saw that Alice wasn''t commenting. He then turned to his right side and saw Bryan looks like a monkey. "Ohohoho!" Bryan raised both of his hands in the air. It seems that he''s having fun with this situation. "Pft! A monkey..." Souta managed to hold back his laughter. He shook his head and took a deep breath. The class was still giving their opinions. Bargan was in front of the class waiting for the students to calm down while Lumilia was trying to say something but her voice got overwhelmed by the class. "Okay, I''ll help you this time. It''s hurting my ears so I should stop them." Souta muttered as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of him. The atmosphere around him got colder as he released his mana. He''s trying to put pressure on everyone''s shoulder. His [Mana Manipulation] skill was level 3 so he could at least do this much. The classroom turned quiet as they felt the pressure that Souta was trying to put up. They turned their head and looked at Souta in the back. Souta slightly opened one of his eyes and looked at them. He opened his mouth and said, "Don''t talk at the same time. You can raise your hand if you want to ask a question." No one say anything. They just looked at Souta. Lumilia looked at Souta and slightly bowed her head. She''s thanking him for handling the class. Bargan smiled as he saw that everyone went silent. He forcefully coughed to gather everyone''s attention. "Cough! Cough!" The students looked at Bargan, and Bargan didn''t let them ask anything. He opened his mouth and said, "I will explain everything. This test is different from all the tests that you took before. The Mage Class 1-B will take the quest along with the other classes. This test will determine the points that you will receive per month." Souta smiled when he heard this. It''s a battle between classes this time, not the individual battles of the ranking. 84 Ill capture the red flag of other class The students of the Mage Class 1-B were in the middle of the mountain. They were in the place outside of Ladros City. A private place owned by the Ladro Institute. It''s not just that Mage Class 1-B was here, all the first-year students of the Ladro Institute were present in this place along with their homeroom teacher. The Mage, Shield, Brawler, Lance, Sword, and Healer Class were all here in this place. They were looking at each other with a wary expression. Everyone outside of their class was going to become their enemies in this special test. The higher years wanted to watch the special test of the first-year, but they have their own test too. They were curious who''s class is going to stand at the top after this special test. The first-year this time was quite strange. Each of them possessed their own quirk that made them stand out. Souta observed every class silently. It was a class battle and it''s the first time that the first-year students will take a special test. He noticed some strong people from the other classes. They were the top 10 in the ranking of the first-year students. It''s not that all the powerful students were in the top 10. Just like him... He''s confident that he could fight those students who were in the top 10 with his current strength. Also in his class, there were students that could put up a fight with him. He noticed it that a few of his classmates shrugged off the pressure that he did before. Bargan stood in front of the Mage Class 1-B and slowly explained the rules of the special test. Souta and the rest of the students listened to Bargan without making a sound. The special test revolves around capturing the flag of other classes. Every class will be given one red flag. They needed to protect it from the other classes. If a class loses their red flag then they will lose 100 class points. If a class manages to acquire the red flag of other class then they will receive 50 class points. Of course, this was not the only way to receive class points. The other way was to capture the leader of the class. Capturing the leader of the other classes wasn''t going to be easy. They needed to guess who was the leader first before proceeding to capture the leader. Each class was given twenty handcuffs and once they used one handcuff they could never use it again. It means that each class only has twenty chance to capture the leader of other classes. If they somehow capture the wrong person, then they will only lose 10 class points. But if they capture a correct person, then they will receive 20 class points. Since this was the first special test, all the classes have 500 class points. It means that they will receive 500 private points every month. They can use these points however they wanted. Souta thought that he should put more effort this time. He exchanged most of his private points in the three combat arts that he recently learned through rigorous training that he did in the past two months. After Bargan explained the details of the special test, the students of the Mage Class 1-B felt the device on their wrist vibrated. They looked over and saw that they receive a message. Before they could look at the content of the message, Bargan opened his mouth and said something. "You can talk to yourself and prepare for the test. You can check the position of your red flag in the device. The test will start in thirty minutes, so prepare yourself and devise a plan." Bargan turned around but he stopped moving. He remembered something so he turned his head and looked at them. "If you have any questions, you can ask me. I''m in the teacher''s tent." "Thanks, teacher Bargan," Lumilia said to Bargan. She then looked at her classmates and said, "Everyone may I have your attention." The students of Mage Class 1-B didn''t have a choice to refuse her. Lumilia was the class rep, so she''s responsible in keeping the class together. Also, everyone knew that they were going to devise a plan for this special test. Lumilia was satisfied when she gathered everyone''s attention. She opened her mouth and asked, "Can you please check the message you receive just now?" Everyone followed the class rep. They looked at the message that they received. Lumilia also checked the message that she received. She found that she wasn''t the leader this time. She somehow felt her burden lightened. She doesn''t know if she could protect herself from other classes if she''s the leader. But deep inside her heart, she still wanted to become the leader. She wanted to do everything for this class. Souta looked at the message that he received and found that he wasn''t the leader. He actually wanted to be a leader and let every class know it, so that he would become the target. He wanted to test his newly acquired strength this time. He was now a Goblin Corruptor, not a High End Goblin. A High End Goblin could increase one of his chosen stats, while the Goblin Corruptor was an enemy of all living creatures. A super-rare type of goblin that lived in ancient times. It has the power to deal more damage to any living creatures in the world. A Goblin doesn''t have any traits. It was ordinary and weak. It''s only redeeming quality was its ability to adapt. His first form was that of an ordinary goblin. Next, was the High End Goblin. He would be forced to evolve into a Hobgoblin if he doesn''t found the [Soul Blood Earring] at that time. A Hobgoblin was only a better version of an ordinary goblin. He desperately needed strength back then in the Undead Sanctuary. When he evolved he chooses the strength attribute, so he was a strength type goblin. He could choose one of the stats that he had at that time but he chooses the strength stats. It was because he wanted to balance his stats. He decided to leave the strength stats to his race. Choosing two stats as a High End Goblin? That''s impossible. A lot of monster type players did that in the game but nothing happens even if they all reach 50 in all stats. Also, if it''s possible, he still will not do that. He needed strength more than anything at that time, so delaying his evolution would make him easier to kill. One more thing, the soul of the monsters in the upper floor of the sanctuary wasn''t enough for him to reach 50 attributes in all stats. Reaching 50 in strength already made him conquered three dungeons. Also, the souls he needed every time he uses the effect was getting higher. To reach all 50 in his every stats, he needed to go down to the middle floor or exited the Undead Sanctuary. But that''s also impossible... He''s just a normal Goblin that doesn''t undergo any evolution. The monsters on the upper floor were nothing compared to the middle floor. He would be killed instantly the moment he stepped his foot there. Then, the Curse Cemetery outside the sanctuary. It was also a bad idea to go there with his current strength as a goblin. The same thing will happen to him. Next, is his current form, the Goblin Corruptor. Since he would mostly fight living creatures he decided to pick this as his second evolution. As for his third, he will think about that later in the future. There''s a lot of time before he reached the level requirements of his third evolution. "Souta!" "Souta!!" Souta was deeply thinking about something when Bryan called his name loudly. He snapped out of his thoughts at Bryan''s loud voice. He looked around and found that everyone was looking at him. Souta smiled awkwardly and asked, "What is it?" "The class rep is asking for your opinion," Bryan whispered to his ears. Souta looked at Lumilia and said, "I''m sorry class rep. I''m just thinking about something." "That''s okay. Then, what do you think should we do in this special test? Maintain our class points or capture the red flag of other classes to increase our class points?" Lumilia shook her head and then she asked him about the special test. She valued Souta''s strength, so she asked for his opinion. "Hmm... I think we should increase our class points by capturing the red flag of the other class." Souta rubbed his chin and said. "So do you have a plan?" Lumilia followed up with a question of her. "Nothing much. We should just let some people protect the red flag while the other people capture the flag of the other class." Souta said. Then, his mouth curved into a smile. "I''ll capture the flag for our class, so you can focus on protecting our red flag."11 85 What about I join your group? Souta said that he had a plan to collect the red flag of other classes. He knew that it was never going to be easy but he still wanted to try it. He''s itching to test his power right now. Lumilia stared at him before she nodded her head. She closed her eyes and seemed to think about something. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked at everyone. "It''s reassuring that Souta, one of the strongest in our class, is planning to contribute to our class," Lumilia paused for a moment before she continued, "Then, we will divide our class now. The first group will protect our red flag while the second group will focus on gathering the red flag of other classes." Bryan raised his hand and said, "Me too, I wanted to fight other classes, so I think I will help Souta in gathering the red flag." Lumilia looked at Bryan for a while before she opened her mouth and said, "Okay, for those who wanted to gather the red flag you can raise your hands." Souta turned his head and looked at Alice who was silent beside him. She didn''t even utter a single word ever since they arrived here in this place. "What do you plan to do? Do you want to stay here or join us?" Souta asked her. Alice looked at him for a second before she replied, "I will stay here. I think your planning to do something that will gather everyone''s attention. I don''t like it when everyone''s paying attention to me." "Okay, I understand." Souta nodded at her. He could see that she doesn''t like it when she''s in a limelight. She doesn''t want any attention. She preferred to be alone, or more like a silent place. But there''s a possibility that he was wrong. He really doesn''t know her but it seems that she''s a good person. That''s what he concluded from the past two months. Souta looked around and saw that eighteen people volunteer to collect the red flag with him. Lumilia was surprised to see her friend. "Lynn, you wanted to gather the red flag!" "Um... Mila, you know why I''m joining this group." Lynn lowered her head and said in a tiny voice that only she and Lumilia could hear. "Ah!" As if something struck Lumilia''s head, she turned to look at Souta. Coincidentally, she met his gaze but she quickly averted her eyes after a few seconds. She took a deep breath and looked at Lynn. "I understand it. I will support you, Lynn." "Thanks, Mila, you really are my friend!" Lynn jumped and hugged Lumilia. "Are you really sure about that, Lynn?" Nayo asked with a grin on her face. "You''ve said before that you''re interested in him but nothing happens in the past two months. You''re just watching his ranking battle every time he fought." "Don''t mention it." Lynn shook her head heavily and tinged of redness could be seen forming in her cheeks. "But I''m worried..." Nayo said as she looked down. "About...?" Lynn tilted her head in confusion. "Thanks." Lynn thanked her. "No, that''s not it. I''m worried about different things." Nayo shook her head. "And what''s that?" Lumilia, who was watching her friends, asked. "You know. I''ve also watched Souta''s fight and I''ve got one thing to say. He''s too brutal in his every battle. It doesn''t matter if you''re a girl or not. All of his opponents suffered the same thing." Nayo said with a worried expression. Lumilia recalled what Souta said when they fought in the mini-tournament. "I''m not going easy on you just because you''re a girl. Remember, on the battlefield, there''s no girl or boy there''s only life and death. So do not expect your opponent to go easy on you just because you''re a girl." Lumilia still remembered his words clearly at that time. She looked at Nayo and said, "That''s not it. I think that Souta is a good person." "See, what are you saying, Nayo? Even Mila thinks that Souta is a good person!" Lynn said to Nayo. "He doesn''t have any friends except Bryan and Alice. He also doesn''t talk to any of our classmates." Nayo said. "Still... I think that he''s so cool." Lynn said with a hint of redness in her cheeks. "Hais... You''re hopeless. If you really like him then I will support you." Nayo said as she placed her hand on Lynn''s shoulder. "Thank you, Nayo!" Lynn said with a smile. ... "George, Joshua, you''re going to join us?" Bryan said in a loud voice. "Yeah, yeah, I wanted to test my new spell against the other classes," George said as he clenched his fist tightly. "Me too," Joshua said as he smiled. Everyone started to talk about what they wanted to do in this special test. The whole class got noisy as everyone was talking to their friends. Lumilia then raised her voice to gather everyone''s attention. "Everyone!" Everyone stopped talking and they looked at Lumilia. When Lumilia gathered her classmate''s attention, she opened her mouth. "Then, what should we do about the class leader. Should we keep quiet about it or not?" "Class rep, I think we should let the class leader decide it." One of her classmates raised his hand and said. Lumilia knew that if the class leader kept silent about it then there''s a high chance the other classes would not know about it. If the whole class knew about the class leader then there''s a possibility that the information will be leaked to other classes. "Okay, I understand." Lumilia nodded her head. She then looked at everyone and said, "I will count one to ten. If the class leader wants to reveal himself/herself then you should just raise your hand. If you don''t want then you don''t have to respond. Just stay in your position." The whole class shut their mouth and they waited for someone. In the end, a man raised his left hand in the air. They looked over and saw that it was Yujin Drune. Yujin was a man with long black hair that was tied in the back of his head. He had sharp features and his build was average. His ears were pointed like an elf and there''s a long black tail sticking out behind him. A half-elf and half-beast kin. The one who surrendered when in the semi-finals before. He''s opponent at that time in semi-finals was Souta but he surrendered before even fighting Souta. He knew his limits so he thought that there''s no point in fighting a match that he couldn''t win. "So, you''re the class leader?" Lumilia looked at Yujin. "Yeah, I''m the class leader. I will stay here and protect the red flag." Yujin nodded and said. "Are you sure? It''s harder to capture you if you''re going to wander around this mountain." Lumilia asked and suggested something to him. "Nope, I''m going to stay here. I''m quite confident in my skills." Yujin said as he gripped the sword on his waist. "Oh~" Souta looked at Yujin with an amused expression. He looked at the sword on Yujin''s waist and thought that he was a magic swordsman. There''s no magic swordsman class in this institute, so Yujin joined the Mage Class. He must be pretty confident in his sword skill that''s why he decided to join the Mage Class. If he found that he''s lacking in terms of sword skills then he would have joined the Sword Class instead of the Mage Class. ''One of the rare class, Magic Swordsman.'' Souta thought. He guessed that''s the reason why Yujin surrendered before even fighting him. It must be because he saw the couldn''t saw himself against Souta without using the full potential of his class. "Okay, I understand." Lumilia nodded her head then looked at the students who volunteered to gather the red flag of other classes. She opened her mouth and said, "We will divide you into three groups since there are eighteen of you." Souta immediately raised his hand and said, "If possible I wanted to fight alone." "Eh...?" Lumilia was surprised when she heard his words. She didn''t think that Souta would fight alone. "What are you saying, Souta?" Bryan said from the side. "Okay, then I will change my condition. If possible I don''t want a lot of people in my group." Souta said as he opened his palm. "Um..." Lumilia then looked at Lynn before looking back at Souta. "Then, we will divide you into five groups. Each group consists of four people except for your group." "That''s okay four me." Souta nodded. "I''ll join you, Souta!" Bryan raised his hand and said in a loud voice. "Nope, that''s not possible." Souta shook his head. He doesn''t want Bryan to join him this time. He wanted to fight the enemy alone, so why would he bring someone who''s a battle maniac. "No." Lumilia also shook her head. Souta was strong and Bryan too. If the two join in one group then the strength of the gatherer group would be focused on Souta''s company. She wanted to distribute the strength of the group equally not focus it in one company. "Then, what about I join your group?" Lynn shyly raised her hand while looking at Souta. 86 What a coincidence Souta looked straight at Lynn''s purple eyes. Lynn averted her gaze quickly when she saw Souta looked at her. She fiddled her purple color hair. "Um..." She hesitated whether she should say something or not. In the end, before she could say something Souta interrupted her. "Wait!" Souta walked towards her and stopped in front of her. He put his face closer to her and narrowed his eyes. He opened his mouth and asked, "Why do you want to join my group?" "I..." Lynn lowered her head not daring to meet Souta''s gaze. She didn''t know what to say right now that Souta asked him. Lumilia stepped forward between them. She looked at Souta and said, "Souta, she just wanted to help you. I''m sure that Lynn will not burden you." "I''m not worried about that." Souta stepped back and replied to her. He glanced at Lynn before he sighed. "Okay, fine. It''s okay." "Really?" Lynn looked at him with bright eyes. "Yeah." Souta nodded his head. "Thanks, I will help you with everything I can," Lynn said with a happy expression. "I don''t need your help. I just wanted one thing from you. And that is don''t get in my way no matter what happens." Souta said to her. "Okay, I understand." Lynn nodded and flashed a bright smile at him. "Good." Souta nodded at her with a satisfied expression. "Thanks." Lynn once again thanked him. "Hais..." Nayo sighed while looking at this scene. She looked at Lumilia and said, "She''s hopeless. She couldn''t even see the reality anymore." "Eh...?" Lumilia was surprised at Nayo''s words. She couldn''t understand what Nayo meant by that. "You too..." Nayo turned her eyes at Lumilia. "Me? Why?" Lumilia pointed at her nose. ... The group that will gather the red flag of other classes was divided into five teams. The remaining people will stay in their position and protect the red flag. They couldn''t change the position of their red flag, so they didn''t have any other choice but to protect it. Souta''s team was the only team that has two people as its members. Souta and Lynn were the only members of this team. Their team target was the strongest class in the first-year. It means that all the Class 1-A were his target. He wanted to test his strength that''s why he will target the strongest. Bryan''s team was different Souta let them do what they wanted. Bryan could handle himself as Souta knew how powerful Bryan is. Souta advised the remaining three teams to hunt the Healer Class. It''s easier to hunt down support class other than the combat class like Mage and Swordsman. But it''s still not going to be that easy. Just like Mage Class, there''s a subject in Healer Class which was teaching self-defense skill. Also, there were still a few people that knew combat skills in Healer Class, just like the number 5 in the Institute Ranking. Bargan looked at them for a while before he opened his mouth and said, "The special test is going to start. Follow me, I will lead you to your red flag." He then turned around and left. Lumilia looked at Bargan''s back before she faced her classmates and said, "Everyone let''s go!" Bryan, George, and the rest of the students of Mage Class 1-B nodded their heads. Under the lead of Lumilia, they began to follow Bargan to the position of their red flag. Souta turned his head and looked at the other classes. He saw them following their homeroom teacher. The position of each class was unknown to him. He just remembered where they were heading as it will give him a bit of understanding of each position. Lynn, who was beside Souta, saw him looking at the other classes. "W-What are you looking at?" She stuttered while asking. Her courage comes from her wanting to talk to him. Souta heard Lynn''s voice, so he looked at his side and saw her. He was a little bit surprised that she was still here. He looked up and said, "You''re still here?" He was shorter than her, so he had to raise his head to look at her eyes. He was at her eye level. His height was short but on the same level as dwarves. He was still higher than them. "Um... Yeah... We''re in the same team, so I thought I should follow you..." Lynn said as she lowered her head and didn''t meet his eyes. "I see... Then, let''s go." Souta nodded before he started to walk and followed his classmates. Lynn looked at his back and quietly followed him. ''Damn, I''m really short.'' Souta cursed in his mind. He glanced at Lynn who was following him. Since Lynn was watching him, she saw Souta looked at her. She immediately lowered her eyes and asked, "Um... Is there something wrong?" "Nothing." Souta shook his head. "I just thought that you''re quite tall for a woman." She was a little bit surprised at his words. It''s true that Souta was shorted than her but she wasn''t bothered by it. She thought that it was cuter that way. "I''m just average in height." She said in a low voice. Although she said it that way, Souta still heard it. "Tsk." Souta clicked his tongue. "I''m sorry, that was rude of me." Lynn quickly apologized. "It''s okay." Souta shook his head. In terms of height, he was the smallest in his class. He was even smaller than some of the girls in his class like Alice and Lynn. But he was taller than Lumilia and the rest of the girls. Soon, the class arrived in front of the red flag. There were three tents beside the red flag. "Class..." Bargan said and everyone looked at him. He then added, "This is the Mage Class 1-B''s red flag. Protect it with all you''ve got. I have high expectations of you. I want you to score the highest." "Yes, teacher. We will do our best to win this special exam." Lumilia said. "Am I right, everyone?" "Yeah!!" Everyone shouted. At the same time, Souta heard a sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest triggered!] [Special Test]: Score the highest score in the special test of the Ladro Institute. Rewards: 10,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, 2 skill points "Really... What a great timing. Since I already plan to test my strength with the students here, I will go out now and bring our class to the 1st place." Souta grinned widely. There''s no reason to hold back now. Lynn looked at Souta. She heard him muttering something. She opened her mouth and asked, "Is there something wrong?" Souta remembered that Lynn was beside him. He replied, "Nothing. I''m in a good mood today. You better not hold me back. If you want you can also watch me from the sideline." "O-Okay, I will try my best," Lynn said as she clenched her fists and raised it in the air. "Good." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. Bargan raised his hand above him before he opened his palm. He looked at his students and said, "The special test will start now. You have 1 hour before the special test end." He gathered his mana in his palm and he shot it in the sky. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! It was followed by several explosions in the sky. These explosions were the signal that the special test has started. Souta looked in the sky. This was a hint. Those explosions revealed the position of the other class. Every homeroom teach shot those energy in the sky as a signal but this was also a hint. He then noticed that Bargan was gone. No one noticed him leave. As expected of a teacher of Ladro Institute and the Flame Master of Melosa War. Souta looked at Alice and said, "You''re going to stay here." "Yeah, I prefer it that way." Alice nodded at him. Lynn looked at Alice then at Souta. She knew that Alice was only talking to Bryan and Souta. She wondered what kind of relationship they have. "Okay, we will go now," Souta said as he stretched his arms. "Our team too will go now," Bryan said. The other teams also announced that they were going to leave. "Okay, everyone be careful." Lumilia nodded at them and said. Bryan and the rest of the group nodded before they turned around and went into different directions. Souta and Lynn were the only ones left in the camp. Lynn looked at Souta and asked, "W-What should I do now?" Souta looked at her and said, "Come here." Lynn looked at Souta when he said those words. She shyly went beside him. "Here?" "Good luck, Lynn!" Nayo said to Lynn. "Good." Souta hugged her waist and he bent his knees. He gathered his mana in his feet. "Eik!!" Lynn was stunned when Souta wrapped his arm around her waist. But then... Boom!! "Ahhh!!" She screamed as she found herself up in the air. Souta jumped in the air with Lynn in his arm. He looked around the whole place. He recalled where the other explosion came from. "There, I found it!" [Air Walk]!! Souta launched himself towards the north. ... In the camp of the Shield Class 1-A, they heard a booming sound in the sky. The sound was getting closer every second. Boom!! A figure crashed on the ground creating a small crater. Smoke and dust formed around the crater. Brando frowned and he gripped the shield in his hand tightly. He looked around him and said, "Everyone, prepare yourself." They saw a silhouette stood up in the smoke. The smoke slowly dissipated and it revealed a person. "What a coincidence. I didn''t think that this is your class''s campsite." "Really, what a coincidence, Souta," Brando said with a wry smile. 87 Ahh! This is Bad! Souta was stepping through the air using the combat art [Air Walk]. His speed was so fast that he could barely hear Lynn, who was screaming, from his arms. Lynn didn''t expect this development at all. She thought that they were just going to the other classes in a normal way, not this one. Swoosh!! Souta finally saw the campsite of a certain class. He saw the red flag of that class in the center area of the campsite. He bent his knees and stepped into the air. Boom! He launched himself towards the campsite with a speed greater than before. Before he crashed on the ground, he released Lynn from his arms and casted [Shadow Bind] to catch her. "Ahh!!" Lynn fell down fifteen meters above the ground but before she reached the ground, the shadows on the ground burst out and caught her. "Hu~ I''m safe." Lynn was about to complain when she heard a loud booming sound. She turned her head and saw that Souta crashed at the campsite of this class. The shadows that were around her slowly disappeared. Thud! "Ouch!" Lynn fell down on her butt. She doesn''t have time to worry about this as she stood up and patted the dust on her clothes. She looked around and saw a few familiar faces. She saw Brando the strongest shielder in the whole first year. It means that she was at the campsite of the Shield Class 1-A. ... Souta looked at everyone from the Shield Class 1-A and grinned widely. "I''m sorry Brando. I''m going to snatch your class red flag." He said. "It''s not going to be that easy, Souta," Brando replied as he activated his [Shielder''s Aura]. Brando''s classmates too prepared themselves for the worse outcome. There''s no one among their class who didn''t know Souta. Souta was the one who won in the mini-tournament before, trampling their whole class even with a handicap. "Let me see the power of your class." They subconsciously took a step back as Souta lifted his foot and gently stepped forward. Then, Souta''s mana flared up and at the same time, hundreds of shadows burst out of the ground. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The students of the Shield Class 1-A jumped as the shadows chased them. They waved their shields on the shadows. Bang! Bang! Bang! Some of the students managed to repel the shadows but some weren''t. Brando looked around and shouted, "Ashley, Crane, Freddy, come with me! We will stop Souta! I''ll leave the others to you, Jake!" He then rushed towards Souta with a serious expression on his face. He knew it. He knew that Souta was stronger than him. He knew it more than anyone else. But he still needed to Souta from capturing their red flag. "Souta!!" Brando charged forward and used [Shield Bash]. "Entertain me, Brando," Souta said with a smirk on his face. Brando''s shield zooms the distance between them in an instant. Brando quickly looked around and saw Souta ten meters away from him. Souta smiled and said, "The spell [Agility Boost] and the combat arts [Cat''s Speed] are both skills that can increase a person''s speed. If I combine these two with [Dash] then..." Swoosh!! Brando was stunned as he found Souta appeared in front of him. He wanted to raise his shield but he was too late. A fist crashed into his cheeks. Bang!! Brando flew five meters away. He twisted his body in the air and landed on the ground safely. He looked up and saw that Souta chased after him. Souta was about to punch Brando when he saw a small round shield flew in the air. It flew straight towards him. Souta moved his body sideways and the small round shield passed beside him. Swoosh!! "That was close," Souta said with a smile. He looked ahead and saw a man with a huge build. The man had messy green hair and green pupils. Souta knew that he was the one who threw that small round shield. He was Freddy, one of the strongest students of Shield Class 1-A. Souta aimed his palm at Freddy and casted [Shadow Ball]. Swoosh!! A shadow flashed above him. It was Ashley of the Shield Class 1-A. She was a tall woman with dark skin. She was holding a shield that was half of her size. Souta looked up and saw her shield emitted a green light. A giant green shield materializes in front of her. [Defensive Strike]!! Souta quickly bent his knees and jumped backward to avoid the giant energy shield. It was then that he noticed a strong beside him. He followed it and found that the string was attached to the small round shield before. "You can''t avoid this." Freddy smiled and he pulled the string. Swoosh!! The shield flew back to Souta with speed greater than before. "Really, what a teamwork." Souta smiled and when the two attacks were about to smash him he suddenly disappeared. Boom!! Ashley, Fred, and Brando were stunned when they saw this. They didn''t see Souta move at all. It was impossible that they didn''t even see his figure blur. It was like a bubble that vanished into thin air. Bang!! Fred felt a pain in his back. Someone just smashed his back. He turned his head and saw Souta behind him. "I see..." He muttered before he flew away and crashed in the tree. Bang!! "Fred!!" Brando and Ashley shouted at the same time. Souta smiled at the two. He then heard a sound behind him. He turned around and saw a man larger than Brando. He was Crane, the second most powerful man in the Shield Class 1-A. "Okay, let me test something on you." Souta said as he activated the [Triple Muscle Strengthening] skill. He could feel that his muscles grow tougher and stronger. Crane charged towards Souta with his shield. Souta stood on his position and he slowly pulled back his hand. He clenched his fist tightly and waited for Crane. Swoosh!! Crane swung his shield when he arrived in front of Souta. And Souta responded by throwing his fist. Boom!! A loud sound echoed in the whole area as a gust of wind swept out in the surroundings. Souta was pushed back five meters away. He felt a numbling sensation on his fist. Crane''s shield has formed a dent on its surface. "That hurts," Souta said as he opened and closed his palm. He then turned his head and saw that every student of the Shield Class 1-A was around him. "Hmm... This is getting good." Souta squatted down and placed his palm on the surface of the ground. He lifted up his head and said, "Don''t blame me." Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Countless spikes that were made of shadows burst out of the ground. It first appeared beside Souta then it spread quickly. The student of the Shield Class 1-A immediately jumped away when they saw the spikes. But... Something grabbed their foot. It was the [Shadow Bind] spell. "Ah!!" The students screamed as the spike pierced their bodies. Putchi! Putchi! Putchi! Souta then launched himself towards the students who managed to escape from his attack. His schoolmates were still alive. He wouldn''t kill them in Institute property or else he would face severe punishment for killing his schoolmates. If he was going to kill someone, he would do it outside of the institute or city. He didn''t pierce their vitals parts. Souta fought the remaining students with his bare hands. He didn''t even cast a spell this time to help him. He wanted to test how far he could do with only his physical ability. He moved his body swiftly and he threw powerful punches to the students of the Shield Class. He had great confidence in his physical ability, so he didn''t back down at all in close range combat against the Shield Class. The Shield Class, who boasted to have the toughest body in class, even took great damage from Souta''s punches. ... After a few minutes, Souta was the only one who was standing at the campsite of the Shield Class 1-A. The students of the Shield Class were all lying around the place. They were either couldn''t move or unconscious. "Argh!" Brando tried to move his body but unfortunately, he couldn''t. He felt great pain all over his body. "He''s so strong..." Ashley lifted up her head and saw Souta''s figure before she loses her consciousness. Souta was in the center of the campsite holding the red flag of the Shield Class 1-A. Blood flows down from his mouth. He lifted up his hand and wiped it out. He turned his head and looked at Lynn. "One red flag acquired." He said as he smiled at her. Lynn''s cheeks turned red when she saw his smile. She turned around and held her cheeks with both of her hands. ''Ahhh! This is bad! He is so cool!'' 88 The Top 3 Ranker, Yuriko Souta wiped the blood on his mouth while looking at the Shield Class 1-A. This class was the weakest class among the class 1-A of the first year. The rank of the strongest student of this class was over thirty. They didn''t even house a single person from the top 10 ranking. It was different from the other class 1-A that houses the top 10 rankers. The power of this top 10 rankers was on different levels. They could even defeat some of the second years with their own strength. Souta shook his head and walked towards the red flag of the Shield Class 1-A. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the red flag before he pulled it out. He turned his head and looked at Lynn who was watching him from the side. He smiled and said, "One red flag acquired." Lynn''s face turned red. She quickly turned around and held her cheeks. "Ah! This is bad! He is so cool!'' Lynn thought when she saw Souta fought the whole Shield Class 1-A. "What''s wrong, Lynn?" Souta asked her with a confused expression. "N-Nothing." Lynn faced him and said. She fixed her clothes and asked, "So, what should we do now?" Souta walked towards her and gave her the red flag of the Shield Class 1-A. "Here, hold this for a while." "O-Okay." Lynn nodded and she received the red flag from Souta. "Then, let''s go to the next location," Souta said as he looked up in the sky. He still could remember the position of other classes. "Eh! Right now?" Lynn said. She then remembered what happened before and her cheeks turned red. "Yeah, we only have one hour, so we need to gather the red flags as much as we can," Souta replied to her. "Alright, I''m ready now," Lynn said as she straightened her body. She prepared herself. Souta looked at her and nodded his head. He went beside her and wrapped his right arm around her waist. Lynn''s face was turning red because she could feel his arm around her waist. [Air Walk]!! Souta bent his knees and jumped in the air. He turned his head and saw Lynn''s eyes were tightly shut. He opened his mouth and said, "Grab tightly." "O-Okay," Lynn said while her eyes were close. She then hugged Souta tightly. Souta looked at her. He could her feel her soft body tightly close to his body. He then stepped in the air and charged towards the west. This time he was going to hunt the other Class A. The power of his attack was one hundred percent higher than his normal attack before. It was because of the effect of the [Corruption] trait skill that he gained from evolving to Goblin Corruptor. The [Corruption] trait skill was really good. It will help him a lot in his future battles. Souta hoped that the class they were heading was a Class A. ... In the teacher''s campsite... They were using a crystal orb that projects what''s happening in the special test. This device also came from the Mechanic Country. Everyone saw how Souta soloed the whole Shield Class 1-A. The Shield Class 1-A didn''t even manage to send a team to collect the red flag of other classes. Before they could do that, Souta appeared and defeated the whole class alone. There''s no hope for Shield Class 1-A anymore in this special test. Most of them were unconscious, while the remaining students couldn''t even move their bodies. Lando, the teacher of the Shield Class 1-A, looked at Bargan and said, "You''ve been blessed with a good student this time." "Yeah." Bargan nodded at his words. He was proud that the other teachers were praising his students. There''s no teacher who wouldn''t be proud when someone was praising their student. It''s the same for him. He just didn''t show it on his face. Lando was a man with short orange hair and strange legs. His legs were larger than normal people. It was also green in color. He was a demi-human. To be precise it was a grasshopper. Grasshopper folk has a powerful ability. Their jumping ability was so powerful that they could jump a hundred meters in the sky in an instant. Lando was one of the powerhouses of the Ladro Institute. Lando stepped forward and said, "I''ll withdraw my class. They couldn''t continue this special test with their current condition." The administrator of the special test nodded his head. He was a teacher of the second year. He opened his mouth and asked, "Are you sure? Quitting means that your class will not get any points in this special." "Yeah, I''m sure. My students will understand it." Lando replied. "Okay, I will respect your decision." The administrator nodded his head. He then declared that the Shield Class 1-A was out of the special test. Bargan smiled while watching Souta''s team, Bryan''s team, and the remaining three teams. He saw that the other classes also dispatched a group to gather the red flags of their opponents. The teachers watched the battles with their own eyes. They were evaluating each student that they saw potential. Right now, several battles were happening in the mountain. When a gathering team arrived at the campsite of the other classes, it will always lead to a battle. Bargan moved his eyes and looked at the other projection. He saw a man in the projection. A man with shoulder-length dark purple hair. He had average build and there were six orbs attached on his forehead. These orbs were also his eyes. He also had two sharp fangs. His nails were sharp and the hair on his hand was unusually long. It looks like a gray color fur. He was a demi-human. A redback spider. His name was Gyron Dwein. He was the top 1 ranker of the first year. They came from the Brawler Class 1-A. Behind Gyron was three people. There were his teammates and they were tasked to collect the red flag of the other classes. Gyron looked around and said, "Take the red flag. This Sword Class 1-C was done." His teammates nodded at him before they went to the red flag and pulled it out. They already collected two red flags. Their group defeated the whole Sword Class 1-C. Their battle was one-sided even though they have a clear disadvantage in terms of numbers. The power of the top 1 ranker was entirely different from the rest of the first year. ... At the campsite of the Mage Class 1-B... Lumilia, Alice, Yujin, and the rest of the class were defending the red flag of their class. A few minutes ago, a team from the Sword Class 1-A arrived in their camp. It leads to an all-out battle against the team from the Sword Class. The worse thing was that the one who was leading the Sword Class was the top 3 ranker of the first year. The Sword Class didn''t even try to hide. They just walked forward like in the park towards their campsite. "Yuriko... The top 3 ranker..." Lumilia muttered when she saw a woman with long pink hair that was tied in a ponytail. Yuriko was human. She had a voluptuous body like that of a mature woman. ''This is bad.'' She thought. She then looked at the four people behind Yuriko before she looked at her classmates. Their numbers were higher than the opponents but she wasn''t sure if they could defeat the top 3 ranker with the group she had. Yujin stepped forward and said, "Class rep, I will hold her for a while. You and the rest of our classmates deal with her comrades." "Are you sure?" Lumilia asked. "Yes, I can hold her for a while." Yujin nodded his head. "Five minutes is my limit." He added. "Okay, I understand." Lumilia nodded her head and told her classmates that they will fight the other three while Yujin was going to stop the top 3 ranker. They needed to knock out her comrades within five minutes. It will be bad if the other class arrived here while they were battling. ''In terms of sword skills, I know that I''m not a match for her. But... I''m not a pure swordsman. I''m what they called magic swordsman.'' Yujin took a deep breath and he slowly pulled out his sword from its sheath. Shiing!! Yuriko looked at him before she looked around. She found that Yujin was the only one that was going to fight her. She opened her mouth and asked, "Hey, are you the only one who''s going to fight me?" "Yeah, is there any problem with that?" Yujin said. "No." Yuriko shook her head and she pulled out the one edge sword that was hanging on her waist. "Then, let''s see how you''re going to fight me alone!" Randolf, a student of Mage Class 1-B, was sitting beside their red flag. He was watching the scene in front of him a smile on his face. He found this situation quite amusing. 89 Yujin vs Yuriko Yujin slowly raised his sword while observing his opponent''s movements. He knew that this fight wasn''t going to be that easy. But he didn''t have to defeat his opponent this time. He just needed to stall her for a few minutes. If that''s all he had to do then it''s not a problem to him. He narrowed his eyes as a fierce aura burst out of his body. His sword was clad in blueish energy called mana. Yuriko also pulled out the sword that was hanging on her waist. She looked at him and said, "You have a good form. There are really a lot of interesting people in this class. First, is that Souta, then that noisy Bryan. And lastly you... Are you going to show me a combat style that doesn''t suit your class?" "Yeah, those two are insanely strong but why would you include me in them?" Yujin asked. "Why you say?" Yuriko placed a finger on her lower lips. "It''s because your not a typical mage like the rest of your class. You can see it in the upper classes that the one who holds the power is the one who fought differently from their class." "I understand that. Then, what about you?" Yujin asked. He knew what he was doing he''s trying to stall time by talking to Yuriko. "You will know it once we exchange swords." Yuriko smiled widely at him. "Do you think that I didn''t know what you''re trying to do here?" Yujin smiled wryly at this. To think that Yuriko noticed what he''s trying to do. Then, there''s no other choice but to stop her through force. He gripped his sword tightly and prepared himself. "Here I come. Try to stop me as much as you can." Yuriko said before she dashed towards Yujin. Swoosh!! [Burning Blade]! [Power Boost]! [Speed Limit]! Yujin quickly casted his buff spell on himself. [Power Boost] increased his overall strength and [Speed Limit] increased his speed and flexibility. Flames emerged and it coated his sword. This was the [Burning Blade] spell. It was another buff spell that will add burning damage to his basic attack. Yuriko arrived in front of him. She smirked as she swung her sword. Yujin raised his sword and blocked her swing. Clang!! "What a good spell you have there." Yuriko smiled at him. She used her mana and poured it in her sword. Yujin frowned and he pushed his sword. Shiing!! He then slashed it at her. Clang!! Clang!! Clang!! The two exchanged swords and every time their sword collided sparks flew out. Clang!! Clang!! Clang!! They continued to swing their swords for a whole minute and Yujin felt that every second Yuriko was pushing him. He knew that he was at a disadvantage when it comes to pure sword skill. Clang! Clang! Clang! "Haha, how is it?" Yuriko laughed while slashing her sword at the same time. Swoosh!! Yujin ignored her attack as her sword cut his chest. He gritted his teeth and used this chance to forcefully swing his sword. "What?!" Yuriko was surprised at this. To think that Yujin would use this tactic on her. But she was different. She quickly took a distance away from him and avoided his slash. Yujin held the wound on his chest and he pointed his sword at Yuriko. His mana flared up as he casted a spell. [Fire Arrow]!! An arrow made of fire formed at the tip of his sword. It flew towards Yuriko at high speed. Swoosh!! Yuriko shifted her body and avoided the [Fire Arrow]. She then widened her eyes as she quickly turned her head behind her. "What?!" She saw the arrow turned around and it flew towards her once again. She jumped and found that the [Fire Arrow] was chasing her. "Hmm... A homing spell, huh?" "Eat this!" Yujin casted another spell. [Lightning Arrow]!! [Wind Arrow]!! [Ice Arrow]!! All of these spells were the same as the [Fire Arrow]. All of them were a homing spell. Yuriko swiftly moved her body as she dodges every arrow that comes after her. "I will stop these annoying arrows." She gripped her sword and it emitted a blueish light. She turned around and faced the arrows. [One Slash One Kill]!! She slashed towards the arrows and a blue energy wave flew out of her sword and it crashed the arrows. The blue energy wave instantly disintegrated the arrows the moment it collided. The blue energy wave didn''t stop and it flew straight to Yujin. Yujin reacted quickly by jumping at the side to avoid the blue energy wave. Swoosh!! Yujin frowned when he saw a deep gully on the ground which was caused by Yuriko''s combat arts. The destructiveness of her combat arts wasn''t what he expected. Yuriko''s purple eyes were focused on Yujin. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "I''m getting serious this time, so be prepared." ... Lumilia and the rest were fighting the three comrades of Yuriko when the students from Mage Class 1-C appeared at their campsite. Lumilia divided her classmates into two groups. One was going to stop the three comrades of Yuriko while the others were going to fight the students from the Mage Class 1-C. The situation was getting worse every second now that another group appeared that was after their red flag. Luckily, the Mage Class 1-C didn''t have any top rankers in their class. Lumilia sent out five people to hold the people from Mage Class 1-C. Lumilia casted the [Water Bomb] spell and it caused a huge explosion. She then turned her head and saw that Yujin will not be able to hold any longer. She was the one who was commanding the class and she didn''t have time to focus on one battle. Currently, Alice was fighting one of Yuriko''s comrades in one on one fight. Alice was in rank 60 and her opponent was in rank 47. Alice was holding her orange grade spear while facing a petite woman with a long sword. The petite woman was Rindo and she was the top 47 ranker in the whole first year. She was a small woman with shoulder-length pink hair. Her pair of pink eyes match the color of her hair and the fur in her hands and feet. Two sharp fangs could be seen in her mouth. She was clearly a halfling with these features of her. "A rank 60 ranker is going to stop me alone?" Rindo asked while looking at Alice. Alice didn''t reply to her. She just gripped her spear tightly and charged towards Rindo. Swoosh!! Alice arrived in front of her and she raised her spear. [Triple Stab]!! She used her combat skill immediately as soon as she got close to her opponent. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Rindo moved her petite body and she dodges the attacks that Alice used. She then lifted up her long sword and slashed it. Clang! Alice moved her spear and blocked the sword. She then raised her foot and launched a kick. [Blade Shock]!! Alice stopped her foot and she quickly took a distance away from Rindo. She saw everything that was five meters close to Rindo was slashed in half including the ground. ''I will fight her as a mage this time.'' Alice thought and she waved her hand. [Freeze]!! The ground beneath Alice quickly turned into ice. It spread quickly until was in front of Rindo. Rindo jumped in the air and shot a sword waved to destroy the ice on the ground. Bang! Bang! Bang! But before she landed on the floor she saw ice spikes burst out of the ground. [Ice Spike]!! Rindo placed back her sword in its sheath. She then grabbed the handle of her sword. When the spikes were about to pierce her body, she executed another of her combat arts. [Drawing Style: Whirlwind Slash]! Dozen of sharp wind flew out of her sword and it destroyed the ice spikes that Alice casted. Bang!! The sharp winds flew straight towards Alice. Swoosh!! Alice frowned and she once again waved her hand. [Cold Wind]!! A cold and powerful wind swept out in the whole area. It clashed the sharp winds that Rindo threw. Boom!! Lumilia saw that Alice could handle the top 47 ranker on her own. She was glad at this as she didn''t need to worry about her and send her classmates to help her. It would reduce their forces if she sent out more of her classmates to fight. Also, she didn''t have any force to send. If that''s really the case, then she would be forced to fight instead of commanding her classmates. She controlled her mana and casted a spell. [Water Serpent]!! She was supporting the battle of her classmates with her magic. That''s all she could do now. Then, she turned her head and saw that Yujin couldn''t handle Yuriko anymore. "The other students are stronger than I imagined. I miscalculated." Lumilia muttered and she decided to focus her strength in helping Yujin fight Yuriko. She hoped that Alice and the rest could defeat their opponents soon even without her help. Suddenly, a voice sounded... "It seems that our class is in trouble. Do you want me to help you Yujin? But... If you only use that then you would be able to fight longer and defeat her. You''re just like me hiding his strength when it''s unnecessary." 90 Fierce Battle: The Top 10 Ranker of the First Year Souta was standing in the middle of the campsite of the Mage Class 1-E while holding their red flag. He looked in the sky and wondered how the other classes were doing. He already collected four red flags in total. He doesn''t need to worry about his class red flag. As long as he kept gathering red flags at this pace his class will score the highest in this special test. Turning his head, he saw Lynn was holding the four red flags in her hands. Lynn approached him and said, "This is our fifth red flag." "Yeah, let''s increase our pace in gathering the red flag of the other classes." Souta nodded and said. He stretched out his hand towards her. Lynn grabbed the red flag that he was holding. She took it from him as Souta gave her the task to hold the red flags that they collected while he was fighting. "You''re incredible, Souta!" Lynn said while looking at all the red flags in her hands. "Hmm...?" Souta turned his head and looked at her with a questioning gaze. "I couldn''t do this alone. You''re strong and powerful. You can do a lot of things that I couldn''t do." Lynn said as she lowered her head. "Hmm... There''s a lot of things that I couldn''t do. If I could do anything then I wouldn''t bother myself to enroll in this institute." Souta paused for a moment. Then, he added, "Also, you''re helping me hold that flags. I couldn''t fight them if I have to hold that flags." "Really?" Lynn looked at him with bright eyes. "Yeah, yeah, so don''t think about anything else," Souta said. "Okay, I will follow you." Lynn nodded at him. "Let''s go now," Souta said as he looked in the sky. "Okay," Lynn said as she stood beside him. Souta wrapped his right arm around her waist before he jumped in the air and used [Air Walk]. ''This will be great if he''s carrying me in a princess carry.'' Lynn thought as she lifted up her head and looked at Souta''s face. Souta looked at her as he felt her gaze on him. He opened his mouth and asked, "What''s wrong?" "N-Nothing," Lynn said as she shook her head. She then smiled happily and thought that this was not bad at all. ... Bryan, George, Joshua, and Clyde were together in one group. Clyde was the one who''s commanding the group even though Bryan was stronger than him. Everyone knew that Bryan''s personality. He was reckless and always got in trouble. He''s not suited to command a team with his personality. Bryan also knew that he wasn''t suited to become a leader. He also found it boring to command other people. That''s why Clyde took charge of the group. He was stronger than George and Joshua. Also, he wasn''t a reckless person like Bryan. So he''s quite suitable for it. "We''ve already got two flags," George said with a smile. He was a man with white hair and rabbit ears. He''s one of the beast folk. He was an expert in using earth magic and crowd control spell. "Yeah." Joshua nodded at him. He was a man with dark skin tone and long pointed ears. He was a wood elf that lives in the northern part of the continent. He''s an expert in using wind magic and buff spell. He was holding the two red flags that they collected. "It all thanks to Bryan." Clyde gave the credits to Bryan. He''s a human just like Bryan. He''s an expert in using dark magic just like Souta. "Hehehe, don''t worry about it." Bryan laughed awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head. "You are really the top 12 ranker of the first year," Clyde said. "That''s nothing compared to Souta. I''m sure that Souta already gathered a lot of red flags." Bryan replied with a serious expression. George and Joshua looked at each other when they heard him mentioned Souta. They smiled wryly and sighed. They knew that Bryan wanted to defeat Souta out of all people. He admired Souta''s strength the most. In the ranking battles, he fought Souta a lot of times but he never experienced a single win. He was always training to surpassed Souta but Souta was getting stronger and stronger. "Yeah, Souta''s power is entirely on a different scale than us." Clyde could only agree at his words. Souta was their classmate, so they have a vague idea of how strong Souta is. But that''s only vague. They don''t know how powerful he is currently as Souta didn''t even use his full strength when he was fighting in the ranking battle. And he still managed to reach the top 20. "Maybe, he could fight the top 1 ranker," Joshua said. George and Clyde looked at Joshua when they heard his words. They could imagine what was going to happen if Souta fought the top 1 ranker. "No, your underestimating Souta. I think Souta is stronger than the top 1." Bryan said as he placed his finger on his chin. He recalled what happened back then in the Desolate Woods. He smiled and clenched his fist. "But... I''m going to train harder and defeat him! That''s my goal now! I want to fight and defeat Souta!" "That''s Bryan for you," Joshua said with a smile. "Hahaha, as expected of our rank 12." Clyde nodded. George suddenly grabbed Clyde''s wrist and said, "Wait!" His rabbit ears were twitching as he heard several footsteps coming towards their direction. Clyde looked at him and asked, "What''s wrong?" "They''re coming." George looked up and said with a serious expression. "They...?" Joshua said. "I don''t know but I know that it''s a group of four people like us," George said as he shook his head. "Then, it''s a battle," Bryan said with a smile on his face. "Of course, we couldn''t avoid that." Joshua nodded at his words. "Every class is our opponents in this special test so it''s unavoidable," Clyde said. They prepared themselves for the upcoming battle. After a few moments, four people appeared in front of them. It seemed that this group already detected them before, so it''s not going to work if they turned around. But one person in the group surprised them. A man with a small build and short brown hair. He had brown eyes matching his hair color and bear ears. He was Johnson McGill of the Brawler Class 1-B. The top 10 ranker of the first year. Johnson smiled when he saw Bryan. He opened his mouth and said, "It seems that we met again, Bryan." "Yeah, I''m quite lucky that you''re the one who''s going to fight me," Bryan said with a wide grin on his face. He clenched his fist tightly as he couldn''t wait to fight the man in front of him. Clyde looked at Bryan and asked, "Are you sure you can handle him, Bryan?" "Yeah, I can," Bryan said as the determination to win ignited in his eyes. He will do everything he could to defeat the top 10 ranker. Clyde knew that Bryan got defeated the last time he fought Johnson. There''s a reason why Bryan, who like to fight strong people, stayed in top 12 ranker. It was because he got defeated by those twelve people in a one on one battle. "Okay, I''ll leave him to you, Bryan." Clyde nodded and said before he faced Johnson''s comrades. He, Joshua, and George were going to fight Johnson''s comrades. "Give me those red flags first." Johnson smiled and dashed towards Joshua who was holding the two red flags. "No! I won''t!" Bryan quickly moved his body in front of Joshua. He pulled back his fist and threw it towards Johnson. Johnson also threw a powerful punch towards Bryan. Boom!! Both of their punch collided. It caused a strong gust of wind to be swept out in the area around them. ... Back in the Mage Class 1-B campsite. Lumilia, Yujin, and Yuriko heard someone said, "It seems that our class is in trouble. Do you want me to help you Yujin? But... If you only use that then you would be able to fight longer and defeat her. You''re just like me hiding his strength when it''s unnecessary." They turned their head and saw a man with shoulder-length dark purple hair that was styled on either side. He has sharp dark purple eyes that strike fear to anyone and he has slim and muscular body. He was Randolf Fein, a student of Mage Class 1-B. Randolf opened his palm and said, "Do you want me to help you, Yujin? If you want then let me see it." "What are you saying, Randolf? We''re in the same class, so it''s natural that you help us." Lumilia said. Randolf turned his eyes to Lumilia. After a few moments, he took back his eyes and looked at Yujin once again. Yujin kept his mouth shut. He didn''t have a plan to answer Randolf. "Hais... At least I know that you have that power in you." Randolf sighed and said. He then stood up and patted his clothes. "Well, let me handle this one. Top 3 ranker, right? Then, show me how powerful a top fighter of this institute." 91 Fierce Battle: Randolfs strength "Top 3 ranker, right? Then, show me how powerful a top fighter of this institute!" Randolf looked at Yuriko and said with a grin on his face. He took a stepped forwards. "Stand back, I''ll handle her." Yujin frowned while looking at him. He didn''t know how Randolf knew about that power of his. "Oi! Randolf, are you going to fight her alone?" Lumilia asked with a hint of concern in her voice. Randolf glanced at her and said, "There''s nothing to worry about me. You should be worried about my opponent." Yuriko frowned when she heard those words of his. She grunted in displeasure and clenched her fingers around the handle of her sword tightly. "Those are big words," Yuriko said in a serious tone. "That''s nothing," Randolf said as he shook his head. Suddenly, Yuriko swung her sword towards Randolf who was acting like he could defeat her. [One Slash One Kill]! A blue energy wave flew straight towards Randolf. This was the combat arts that Yuriko used before against Yujin. "Hehe~" Randolf grinned widely and he slowly lifted up his hand. He opened his palm and grabbed the blue energy wave. Bang!! "Wha-" Yuriko was stunned when she saw this scene. Randolf used his bare hand to block her skill. The worse thing was he didn''t really block it but he grabbed it. Lumilia was also shocked. She didn''t think that Randolf could block Yuriko''s skill like nothing. To think there''s still a classmate of her that could rival the top students of this institute. ''He knew something from me. And he possessed this power.'' Yujin frowned deeply while looking at this scene. He then heard a voice inside his head. "Let''s defeat that arrogant man together, Yuyu! Use me!" Yujin ignored the voice in his head. He focused his attention on Randolf. Randolf tightened his hand and crushed the blue energy wave into tiny particles. He smirked and looked at Yuriko with an amused expression. "You!!" Yuriko gritted her teeth and charged towards Randolf. Swoosh!! In just a second, she arrived in front of Randolf. She swung her sword in front of him but Randolf caught her sword between his thumb and index finger. She knew it. She knew that this man was stronger than the man she fought before. The very moment that Randolf crushed her attack before, she instantly knew that he was powerful. That''s why she wasn''t surprised when she saw Randolf caught her sword using his fingers. Yuriko lifted up her feet and kicked Randolf''s side. Bang!! Randolf flew away and crashed into a huge boulder of rock. Boom!! The dust and smoke shot up in the air. It covered the area around Randolf. "Huff... How about that?" Yuriko said as she looked at the smoke with a grin on her face. Randolf still has that smile on his face. He opened his mouth and said, "I guess, it''s my turn now." Yuriko subconsciously took a step back. She''s finally getting nervous and she understood that Randolf was the same as the two people that rank above her. Before, she only thought that he was a little bit stronger than her. Her mind subconsciously denied the fact that Randolf was entirely above her level. Randolf took a step forward and he slowly lifted his hand. He opened his palm and aimed it at Yuriko. "Prepare yourself." He said with a smile and his mana flared up. [Fierce Wind Wave]!! Boom!! A powerful and fierce wind shot towards Yuriko. Her body was pushed away like a paper and was smashed into the trees behind her. But it wasn''t enough to stop her momentum. She continued to crash in the trees until she was one hundred meters away from Randolf. All the trees in the direction of the attack were smashed. They were uprooted and turned into tiny pieces. Yuriko was at the end without consciousness. She passed out with just one attack of Randolf. "So, this is the top 3 ranker," Randolf muttered with a hint of disappointment in his voice. He then turned around and went back to where he was sitting before. Yujin and Lumilia widened their eyes. Their eyes were full of disbelief and amazement. They didn''t think that Randolf, who was just an ordinary classmate of them, would defeat the top 3 ranker of the first year, Yuriko. "How...?" Lumilia turned her wide eyes at Randolf. She looked at him from top to bottom. This man who looks ordinary was hiding this strength. The defeat of the top 3 ranker, Yuriko, stopped the battles around the campsite of the Mage Class 1-B. Yuriko''s three comrades were still stunned because of what happened to Yuriko. Rindo forgot that she was fighting Alice. Her mind went blank when she saw Yuriko was passed out. Alice frowned looking at this. She charged forward and swung her spear at Rindo''s side. "Argh!" Rindo snapped out as she felt the pain in her side. She then turned her eyes and saw a fist in front of her. Bang! Alice punched her using her full strength. She then lifted her feet and launched a powerful kick at her stomach. [Repulsion Kick]! Bang! Rindo flew a few meters away and rolled on the ground before she finally stopped. She looked at Alice and said, "Y-You coward." She then fell unconscious. "It''s your fault for looking away when you''re fighting me." Alice snorted before she turned around. Yuriko''s remaining comrades took the unconscious Yuriko and Rindo away. They decided to retreat because their main combatant, Yuriko, got defeated by an unknown student from the Mage Class 1-B. Lumilia sighed at this. They could now focus their strength on the other class that was attacking them. She glanced at Randolf as she wondered why he was concealing his strength. ... In the teacher''s campsite. All the teacher was stunned when they saw the fight between Randolf and Yuriko. The woman who was rank 3 in the whole first year versus the man who didn''t participate in the ranking battles of the first year. At the end of the battle, the man won. He defeated the rank 3 using his own power. All the teachers thought that Randolf was going to lose and he would only put up a slightly good fight. But they never thought that Yuriko would lose to a man who didn''t have a rank. It never occurred in their mind that some of the students were still hiding their real strength. They thought that everyone wanted to fight and gain points. It was because they could redeem any spells and combat arts in the library with a certain amount of points. Even Randolf''s own teacher was shocked by what he displayed. Bargan didn''t even know that Randolf was hiding his real strength. "You''re students are really something. They even defeated my best student." Jess, the teacher of the Sword Class 1-A, said to Bryan with a sighed. "Yeah, each one of them surprises me," Bargan said with a nod. He wondered why Randolf decided to fight Yuriko. If he was really hiding his power then there''s no need for him to interfere in the battle. He could just stay back and watched how the situation will unfold. The projection only transmitted the views from the battlefield. It could not transmit the sounds on the battlefield, so they could not hear what they''re talking about. "Really good." Jess murmured as he looked at Randolf''s protection. He hesitated for a second before he opened his mouth and said, "That spell..." "Yeah, that''s a tier 2 spell, and judging from his casting speed it''s an inner spell." Bargan said and he paused for a moment before he continued, "There''s also a possibility that he could cast a tier 2 spell with that speed and that''s not his inner spell." "It means that he''s a genius just like that Yanagi from the higher year," Jess said as he looked at Bargan. "There''s a possibility." Bargan nodded. ... Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Souta was carrying Lynn in his arm as he traveled in the mid-air using the combat arts [Air Walk]. "You''re amazing, Souta. We already gather seven flags. There''s no doubt that we will score the highest in this special test." Lynn said in an excited voice. "Yeah, yeah." Souta nodded at her. A few dozen minutes had passed since the test started and they already managed to collect seven flags in total. The test was going to end soon and if they continued it at this pace. There''s a chance that they will score the highest. He could only trust Bryan to collect two or three flags. That''s enough for him and his class to score the highest. Suddenly, Souta stepped on the air in front of him and he changed his direction. "Ahh!!" Lynn was surprised at this sudden development. She could only scream and tightened her arms around Souta. Swoosh!! A palm-sized rock flew towards him and Souta immediately descend down to avoid the rock. Bang! Souta descended with powerful momentum. It shook the ground and it caused a few trees to shake. He lifted up his head and saw a few figures walking towards them. 92 Fierce Battle: The Strongest Team Souta was in the mid-air with Lynn when he saw a palm-size rock flying towards him. The rock was so fast that it tore through the air. Souta stepped in the air and descended down on the ground with a speed greater than the rock. Boom!! Souta crashed on the ground creating a small crater. Thick smoke and dust covered the small crater. "Cough... Cough..." Lynn coughed from all the smoke and dust in the area around her. She gripped the flags in her hand tightly. Souta placed her on the ground and said, "Hold the flags tightly. Don''t let them go no matter what happens." "Okay, I will do my best." Lynn nodded at him. She lifted up her head and looked at his figure. "I''m going to beat them and get their flags." Souta stood up and he patted his clothes. He walked out of the smoke and saw a team of five people waiting for him. At the center of the team, he saw a man. He was familiar with this man. That man has shoulder-length dark purple hair and gleaming dark purple pupils. There were six looking orbs that were attached on his forehead. It was his eyes. His nails were as sharp as a sword and there''s fur that covered his hand up to his wrist. This man was the top 1 ranker of the first year, Gyron Dwein. The one who stood at the top in the ranking battles of the first year. He was called as the strongest first year. The four people behind him were the top 14, top 23, top 24, and top 32. A woman with long black hair and black pupils was the top 14. She has cat ears and tail sticking out behind her. She''s May, a demi-human, the top 14 ranker. Mark was a man with a huge build. He had sharp features and brown hair that was comb upwards. He was the top 23 ranker of the first year. A man with a short height and slender figure yet masculine at the same time was the top 24. He had gray color hair matching the color of his pupils. He was Bonny and he was a demi-human. To be precise, it''s a werewolf. Sena was a tall woman with long blonde hair. She had an hourglass figure and she looks more mature than her actual age. Her sharp eyes were looking straight at Souta. She was the top 32 ranker of the first year. This team was the strongest team of the whole first year. They were all top rankers and had a power that could fight anyone. The Brawler Class 1-A was called the strongest class in all first year. It was because almost all the higher rankers were in that class. Their class was consist of powerful fighters of the first year. Bonny looked at Souta and observed him from top to bottom. He opened his mouth and said, "Souta Ieshi, a student of the Mage Class 1-B. Also, he is the top 20 ranker." Gyron looked at Bonny and asked, "Is that really him?" "Yes, he''s that Souta," Bonny nodded while looking at Souta. "So that''s him." Gyron nodded and he also observed Souta with his eyes. His name was heard when he became the champion of the mini-tournament. Despite the odds that he couldn''t use his mana and spell, he still won and defeated the students from the Shield Class 1-A. "So he''s the friend of that noisy Bryan?" May asked as she narrowed her eyes. She was the top 14 ranker, so she naturally knew who''s Bryan. Bryan once challenged her to a duel in the ranking battles but she got defeated. "They are classmates after all," Bonny replied to her. "He''s stronger than him. Bryan challenged him again and again but he never won against Souta." Mark added. They naturally knew who''s Bryan and Souta. Bryan and Souta were higher than them in ranking, so they fought them. Mark, Bonny, and Sena fought Souta before and the result was... they suffered an utter defeat. Souta was the student who didn''t experience a single defeat in the ranking battles of the first year and he still managed to reach the top 20. When Souta was still active in the ranking battles, he challenged those who were higher than him left and right. He only stopped until he reached the top 20 for unknown reasons. Even the top 1 ranker suffered a defeat once from the top 2 ranker. Gyron, the top 1 ranker, fought the top 2 ranker five times and he won four out of five matches. It means that there''s a defeat in his record, unlike Souta who hasn''t suffered a defeat in the ranking battle. Souta didn''t say anything. He just observed the group and saw the top 23 ranker was holding a bunch of red flags in her arms. "Seven flags..." He muttered in a low voice. Since it comes to this, then he will fight and steal those flags. "Huff..." Souta took a deep breath and he slowly circulated his mana around his body. "What? Want to fight us?" Mark said in a loud voice when he felt Souta''s mana. He looked around him and felt confident. They outnumbered him. "Where is the other one? If I''m not wrong she''s still behind you." Gyron said as he looked at the smoke behind Souta. "Don''t worry about her. You should be worried about yourself." Souta said as he grinned widely. He felt his blood boiling. This is what he wanted. To test his power against strong people. He just wanted to test how could he fare against the top students of the first year with his current strength. "Mark give that flags to Sena. May, Bonny, fight him. After that, fight him too, Mark." Gyron gave orders to his comrades. "Okay." Mark nodded and gave the seven flags that he was holding to Sena. Sena received the red flags from Mark. She was the lowest rank in their group and they were about to fight Souta who once defeated her before. "[Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Cat''s Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening]." Souta casted his buff spells and combat arts. He knew that this battle wasn''t going to be an easy one like the previous battles. If he fought these people at the same time, then the chances that he could win this fight was less than fifty percent. He grinned widely as he felt the increase in his power. Souta lifted up his hand and casted [Shadow Bind] spell. Swoosh!! Gyron frowned before he looked down and saw his shadows moving. "Jump!" He quickly jumped away and the shadows tried to capture him. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Sena, May, Mark, and Bonny followed his command and they jumped in the air. They saw their shadows moved towards them at a fast speed. May and Mark managed to avoid the shadows but Sena and Bonny weren''t. They shadows bind their limbs tightly so that they couldn''t move it even an inch. "Hmph!" Gyron snorted as he waved his hand towards the shadows that were binding his comrades. [Power Chop]!! His combat arts was powerful that it sliced the shadows into tiny pieces. Sena and Boney fell on the ground and both of them thanked Gyron for helping them. ""Thank you, Gyron(Dwein)."" "Don''t mention it." Gyron shook his head and said, "You can help Mark and May if you want." Mark and May attacked Souta from either side. Souta moved his hands quickly as he parried their attacks. Bang! Bang! Bang! May and Mark were students of the Brawler Class and both of them were high ranking ranker. They were confident in their close combat arts but against Souta, they were acting cautiously like a different person. Of course, they will. After all, Souta defeated them one-sidedly in the ranking battles. Among the five of them, only Gyron and May were the people that Souta hadn''t fought before. Soon, Bonny joined the battle and they were able to match Souta well. "Really good." Souta once again casted [Shadow Bind] and he followed it up by casting [Shadow Ball] spell. May, Mark, and Bonny dispersed. They tried to surround Souta in all directions. But... "[Shadow Spike]!!" ... In the teacher''s campsite... Almost all the teachers were now watching the fight between Souta and the strongest team of the Brawler Class 1-A. But some of them were still closely watching their students. They were all waiting for the good intense battle to start and right now it happened. Souta versus the strongest team of the first year. Who''s going to win? The two groups managed to collect seven flags and the group who won this battle will get the other group''s red flags. 93 Fierce Battle: Bryan vs Johnson Bang! Bang! Bang! Bryan and Johnson were trading blows. In just a few seconds, they exchanged dozens of punches. "[Blazing Strike]!" Bryan shouted as his fist was covered in flames. He threw it towards Johnson''s face. Swoosh!! "[Blazing Strike]!" Johnson smiled and he threw his fist that was covered in flames. He used the same combat arts that Bryan used. Both of their punch, the same combat arts, collided against each other. It caused an explosion to appear and flames swept out in the small area around them. Boom!! "Bryan!!" Joshua shouted when he saw this. He wanted to come forward but his opponent didn''t let him. "Joshua, focus on your opponent! Don''t let anything distract you!" Clyde said to Joshua. "I understand." Joshua nodded with a grim expression. Joshua, Clyde, and George were fighting Johnson''s comrades. Their opponents weren''t an easy one and they were placed into a standstill. It was because their battle wasn''t going to decide the outcome of this match. They knew that it''s Bryan and Johnson''s battle. The one who won in this battle will get the flag of the other team. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Two figures shot out of the smoke in the two opposite directions. They were Bryan and Johnson. "For a Mage, you are too good in close combat," Johnson said to Bryan with a smile. He was a powerful fighter from Brawler Class 1-B. He once fought Bryan before in the ranking battle and he defeated Bryan at that time. So he knew that Bryan''s strength improved by a large margin since their battle. If it''s the Bryan before then he wouldn''t be able to fight him like this. Bryan couldn''t handle his power before, but now it seems that he could. "Your improvement. Your growth. It''s too fast." Johnson said as he clenched his fist tightly. He finally understood that Bryan has a chance to defeat him with his current strength. "I''ve trained every day until I pass out from exhaustion, after all," Bryan said with a grin on his face. "Then, let''s see who''s stronger. You or me!!" Johnson said as he dashed towards Bryan. "That''s what I wanted!" Bryan casted his [Lighting Boots] and [Lightning Edge] spell. "[Rock Body]!" Johnson activated his combat arts that could increase the toughness of his body. He then arrived in front of Bryan. Flames emerged and coated his fist. He threw it towards Bryan. "[Blazing Strike]!" Bryan grinned widely at this. He casted a spell called [Scorching Hand]. He then met Johnson''s attack with his own. Bang!! Bryan managed to grab and stop Johnson''s fist. He quickly lifted up his feet and kicked Johnson''s side. "Hmph!" Johnson used his free hand to blocked the kick. Bang!! He then stepped forward and grabbed Bryan''s collar. He lifted him and smashed him on the ground. Bang!! Bang! "Argh!!" Johnson flew away and crashed in the trees. Bryan quickly stood up and raised his hand above his head. [Lightning Strike]!! Lightning fell down on Johnson''s body. But Johnson threw a punch towards the lightning. [Ground Breaking Fist]!! His attack managed to disperse Bryan''s [Lightning Strike] spell. He then threw another punch. Boom!! Bryan rolled on his side to avoid the attack. The ground beside him exploded as the force of the punch crashed the ground into tiny pieces of rocks. [Ground Breaking Fist]!! Johnson threw another powerful punch at Bryan. Bryan kicked the ground and he arrived in the mid-air. He raised both of his hands and casted [Lightning Strike]. Bang!! Johnson''s body was struck by lightning. He could only grit his teeth as he watched Bryan threw another spell at him. "Another one, [Lightning Strike]!" Johnson pulled back his fist and used [Ground Breaking Fist] to scatter the lightning that was going to strike him. Boom! He pulled himself out of the ground and activated another combat arts. "[Great Steel Body], [Muscle Booster]!!" These two combat arts were skills that could increase a person''s overall stats. Johnson then jumped in the air. In an instant, he arrived in front of Bryan. He grabbed Bryan''s collar and delivered a blow in his stomach. Bang! "Argh!" Bryan spat a mouthful of blood. He then grabbed Johnson''s wrist. He was still using the spell [Scorching Hand] so he could burn Johnson just by grabbing him. He yanked his arm before he threw him on the ground. Boom! Johnson crashed on the ground and it created a small crater. Johnson quickly rolled his body on the side as Bryan punch landed on it. He quickly sprung on his feet before he charged towards Bryan with a grin on his face. He wiped the blood on his mouth with his hand. "You''re the best, Bryan!" Johnson said. "You''re crazy strong!" Bryan said as he charged towards Johnson. Boom! "One..." Bryan punched Johnson''s chest and he took a blow on his face. He was about to fall but he forced himself to throw another punch. Bang! "Two..." Bryan gritted his teeth as blood flow down from his mouth. He received another blow on his chest and face. Clenching his fist tightly, he threw another punch on Johnson''s chest. Bang! "Argh!!" Johnson spat a mouthful of blood. He was getting tired and he felt a numbling sensation in both of his fists. ''This guy! He''s forcing himself to fight back!'' Johnson thought when he saw that Bryan threw another punch aiming at his chest. "If you wanted to fight that much then I will give you the fight that you wanted so much!!" Johnson shouted as he threw another punch. Bang! Bang! Bang! The two people force themselves to fight as they continued to throw punch one after another. They didn''t try to avoid the punches of their opponents. They just focused their mind on attacking each other. "Twelve!! This is the final attack!!" Bryan shouted as he threw another blow towards Johnson''s chest. His fist flew straight to Johnson''s chest. Bang!! It caused a ripple on Johnson''s flesh as the fist landed on his chest. This punch was stronger than any other punches before. It was many times stronger than the eleven punches that Bryan threw before. This combat arts was called [Twelfth Down Punch]. This was the combat arts that Bryan redeemed using all the points that he collected. Just one combat arts and all his points that he collected when he rank up to top 12 were gone. This combat arts targeted one part of the opponent''s body. All twelve punches were aimed in one part that the user decided, and when the user threw the twelfth punch, the power of the previous eleven punches was added to this last punch making it more deadly. It took him a month before he could finally use this combat arts in a battle. Johnson flew and crashed into several trees before he rolled on the ground. "Huff... Huff..." Bryan was breathing heavily as he looked at Johnson. He was exhausted and he would fall any seconds. Johnson lifted up his head and looked at Bryan. His mouth broke into a smile and said, "Ah~ what an unfortunate day. Congratulations, you''ve won, Bryan..." He then fell unconscious. Johnson''s comrades were stunned when they saw that he lose against the top 12 Bryan. Their mouth was agape as they looked at the unconscious Johnson. Bryan turned his head to look at Clyde, George, and Joshua. He opened his mouth and said, "I''ll leave..." He couldn''t finish his sentence as he coughed a mouthful of blood. Clyde immediately knew what he meant. He bent his knees and charged towards Johnson''s three comrades. He caught them off guard and used this chance to snatched their flags. "Good job, Clyde!" George exclaimed when he saw this. Joshua also charged at the opponents to distract them. They exchanged a few blows before Clyde opened his mouth. "Are you sure you want to continue fighting us?" Clyde asked. He then pointed at Johnson and said, "Johnson is unconscious. You should bring him back to your camp and get treatment. It''s for his sake." With this, the opponents have no choice but to retreat. They carried Johnson before they left. Clyde, George, and Joshua breathe a sigh of relief when they saw this. They immediately checked if Bryan was alright. "I''m fine, I just need to rest," Bryan said to them with a wry smile. He doesn''t what to become a burden to his group that''s why he fought with all of his power. "I''m surprised that you won against the top 10 ranker," Clyde said. "That''s Bryan for you," Joshua said. "Is that mean that Bryan is the top 10 now?" George asked. "No, this is a special test, not the ranking battles. So, Bryan is still the top 12." Clyde shook his head and explained. "That''s unfortunate," George said with a sighed. "Well, thanks to Bryan we got ourselves three more flags," Clyde said with a smile. "We have five flags now and the test will end soon," Joshua said as he looked in the sky. "We should go now before other groups appeared," Clyde said. 94 Fierce Battle: You dont need to go that far! Souta grinned widely. If he fought these people alone then the chances that he could win were less than fifty percent. It was only his estimation based on what he saw in the ranking battles and his stats. There''s a chance that these people grew a lot stronger compared to when they were still fighting in the ranking battles. Souta jumped away while casting the [Shadow Bind] spell. He then followed up by casting the [Shadow Spike]. Gyron waved his hand and the shadows turned into tiny particles of energy. It faded in the air as the wind blew. He then looked down and saw spikes bursting out of the ground. He lifted up his feet and stomped it on the ground. [Titan''s Stomp]!! Cracks appeared beneath his feet and it spread quickly along with the force behind his stomp. It disintegrated the spikes as the cracks continued to spread on the ground. Gyron, the top 1 ranker, was canceling all the spells that he casted. He''s the one who protected May, Mark, and Bonny from his attacks. While these three were the ones who kept attacking Souta without care as they knew that Gyron was protecting them. Souta landed on the small crater and Lynn was looking at him there while holding the seven flags that he collected. He waved his hands towards the three as he casted [Shadow Bind] and [Shadow Spike]. The three jumped in the air and Gyron handled his two spells like it was nothing. Gyron looked at Souta and said, "What is he planning to do?" "Don''t tell me he wanted to run," Sena said at his side. She was getting bored as she was the one who was carrying the flags that they collected. "I couldn''t see it in his eyes. He doesn''t have that intention." Gyron shook his head and something came into his mind. "Ah! So that''s how it is... He wanted his partner to get away first." "Nnnn..." Sena looked at Souta with her eyes. "Then, what should we do?" "Don''t worry about it, as long as we capture Souta then that girl will be an easy prey," Gyron said. "Lynn, you''re too close on the battlefield. It will affect me." Souta said as he carried her in one hand and aimed his free hand towards his opponents. He casted [Shadow Ball] before he jumped away. "O-Okay." Lynn nodded as she understood what he meant. She tightened her grip in the flags that she was holding. She knew that this was the target of these students. Swoosh!! They were in the mid-air and Lynn finally got a clear view of who was chasing after them. She was surprised when she saw the team. "T-That''s the top 1 ranker...?" Lynn muttered in a nervous tone. "Yeah." Souta nodded at her. "Ugh!" She was familiar with them and especially Gyron. Gyron was famous in the whole institute for being the top 1 ranker. "Don''t worry about it. I will deal with them. Just hide for a while." Souta looked at her and assured her. Both of them landed on the ground thirty meters away from Gyron and his comrades. Souta released Lynn and said, "Just remember what I said." "I will do my best. I will not disappoint you." Lynn said with a serious expression. "Good," Souta smirked then he vanished from his position. Swoosh!! He reappeared behind Gyron and Sena. It shook the two people as they didn''t see this coming. Souta never used this spell when he was fighting in the ranking battles, so they didn''t know that he could teleport to the ball of shadow that he casted. "Wha-" Gyron turned his head and saw Souta behind him. "Hello." Souta gathered his mana on his fist before he threw it at Gyron. Gyron wasn''t the top 1 ranker for nothing. He quickly raised both of his hands and blocked Souta''s punch. Bang! "Argh!" Gyron gritted his teeth as he felt a powerful force pushing him away. He felt the taste of iron flowing into his mouth. He shouted, "Sena!!" He then flew ten meters away from Souta. The power behind Souta''s punch was greater than he expected. Of course, he was a living being and the trait skill [Corruption] could increase Souta''s basic attacks against any living creature, so it''s natural that he felt the power from this punch of Souta. Also, Souta''s [Triple Muscle Strengthening] and [Strength Boost] skills were still in effect. That''s what Souta wanted. To separate Gyron from Sena who was carrying their flags. While Gyron was away Souta could focus on Sena. Souta quickly turned his attention to Sena and waved his hand. He casted [Shadow Bind] and [Shadow Spike] spells to distracted Gyron and the other three for a few seconds. Even one second was enough for Souta. Sena turned around and waved the flags toward Souta. Souta crouched down to avoid it and placed his palm on the ground beneath Sena. [Mud Slide]!! The ground turned into a muddy pit and Sena''s feet slowly sunk down. "What the!!" Sena tried to move away but something strangled her feet. She looked down and saw the shadows. Souta opened his palm and casted [Shadow Ball] towards May, Mark, and Bonny. He then grabbed Sena''s neck. He then raised her up and smashed her in the ground. Bang!! Souta then shifted his head to the side and a fist passed beside his face. It grazed his cheeks and he felt the force behind her fist. He opened his mouth and said, "You''ve gotten stronger..." He then raised her up once again before he smashed her on the ground. Bang!! Her gripped on the flags loosen and it all scattered around the place. At this time, Gyron arrived beside Souta. He clenched both of his fists tightly and launched an attack on Souta. [Wind Smash Combo]!! Gyron threw a barrage of punches at Souta in every direction. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta moved his hands quickly as he tried to block all the punches. Unfortunately, he couldn''t. Some of the punch slipped in and landed on his stomach, chest, and face. Bang! Bang! Bang! ''As expected of top 1 ranker. He''s on a different level than the rest of the students here.'' Souta thought as he continued to move his hands to block the punches coming from Gyron. He then vanished from his position and reappeared in the [Shadow Ball] that he threw before. But... May, Mark, and Bonny were already waiting for him there. The instant that Souta appeared there, they quickly attacked him without hesitation. May coming in front of him, Mark coming on his side, and Bonny coming behind him. They attacked with all they''ve got as they used their powerful combat arts. Souta ignored Mark and Bonny. He focused himself on defending against May''s attack. She was the strongest among the three of them and her attack wasn''t something he could ignore like the other two. May threw a powerful punch towards his face. Swoosh!! Souta tilted his head to avoid the punch. He raised his right hand and grabbed her wrist. Then, pain assaulted him from his back as Bonny''s kick landed on his back. He pulled May towards him as he took another blow. Bang!! The blow was aimed on his liver. Souta felt the taste of blood inside his mouth. He gritted his teeth and tightly grabbed May''s wrist. Using his left hand, he grabbed her face and tightly gripped it. "Argh!!" May writhed in pain as she grabbed Souta''s wrist. She used her all of her strength in her grip on his wrist. She''s really strong as Souta felt his hand going numb from how tightly she gripped it. Bang! Bang! Once again Souta felt Mark and Bonny attacked him. He gritted his teeth and freed May''s left hand. He then used his right hand to lift her. "[Shadow Spike]..." Souta muttered as he lifted May''s body. "Don''t tell me...!!" Mark opened his eyes widely when he saw this. "Stop that!!" Bonny shouted as he gathered all of his mana to stop Souta. "Huff..." Souta took a deep breath and smashed May on the [Shadow Spike] on the ground. Putchi!! The spikes pierced through her limbs. It caused May to screamed painfully. "AHHH!! MY ARMS!!! IT HURTS!! HELP ME!!" May screamed with tears forming in her eyes. Every time she moved her body extreme pain assaulted her. Souta looked at her and gathered his mana on his hand. He knocked her out unconscious. It seems that she didn''t have that much experience in battle if that pain could make her lose her composure. "Souta Ieshi!!" Mark shouted at him. His face distorted from the anger he felt. Swoosh!! Bonny threw a punch but Souta grabbed his fist and delivered a blow on his stomach. Bang! "You!! She''s a girl and this is just a test!! You don''t need to go that far!!" Bonny shouted with clear anger in his voice while holding his stomach. "Huh? I don''t care about that." Souta looked at him and said. 95 Fierce Battle: Interruption He glanced at the unconscious May and added, "Well, it''s not that I killed her. She''s just unconscious and the spikes didn''t hit her vital parts. The healer of this institute could heal her in just a day. Well, I''ll stop the blood from flowing out." ''Well, it''s a quest and I will get my skill if we score the highest, so no bad feelings.'' Souta thought as he shrugged his shoulder and looked at Bonny and Mark. If he received the rewards of this quest then his total skill points would be enough to level up his [Shadow Bind] spell to level 10. And then, he would be able to raise the rank of his class. He tried a lot of things in the past two months to see if he could level up his spell but unfortunately, it was harder than he thought. There''s only one way to level up a spell and that''s to modify the structure of the spell. In these two months, this was the only way he found to level up his spell. Modifying a spell wasn''t an easy feat. He asked Bargan about it and Bargan answered that it was extremely hard that even he didn''t dare to modify a spell. He said that only those people who undergo deification could modify and create a spell. It was because even if the spell that a person modified malfunctioned and exploded in their inner consciousness, the said person wouldn''t take any injuries. If Souta modified a spell and it exploded in his inner consciousness then he would lose his mind and soul. It will destroy anything that was inside him including his soul. It will only leave his body intact. A mortal''s inner soul was too fragile and it will easily crumble if something happened inside. To cast a spell, a person needed to build the structure of it inside their inner consciousness. There''s no trial and error if a person only has one chance. If the spell wasn''t complete then they would die because of the effects of malfunctioning. That''s why only people who undergo deification could modify a spell. No matter how many spells exploded in their inner consciousness, they could just ignore it. Souta shook his head and circulated his mana on his body. These people didn''t even know what he did to the Shield Class 1-A and the other classes. They all suffered the same thing by him. [Shadow Bind], [Shadow Spike], and [Shadow Ball] were his favorite Tier 1 spells. He already planned it. To promote to Rank 2 Mage, he will level up his [Shadow Bind] spell to level 10, and to promote to Rank 3 Mage, he will level up his [Shadow Ball] spell. He spikes on May''s body disappeared and he used [Light Heal] on her to stop the blood. If her blood continued to flow out, then she would take serious damage. He doesn''t want that to happen as he would have to take responsibility for that and the institute would issue a punishment for him. Even if she woke up now, she wouldn''t be able to fight because of her condition. If she did, then her condition will worsen. "It''s done," Souta said as he patted his clothes. He stood up and looked at Mark and Bonny. The two didn''t attack him as they knew that he was healing May with his spell. "I''ve already stopped the blood and I didn''t hit her vitals. You can let the teachers check her later and finish the healing process." Souta then grinned at them and said, "I''ll let you experience what she experienced. Ah, don''t worry I will also heal you. You will not die. I don''t want the institute to punish me, after a-" Suddenly, he widened his eyes and bent his body forward. Swoosh!! A fist passed in front of his face. He heard the sound of it tearing the air. "That''s close..." Souta muttered and he looked over and saw that it was Gyron. Gyron didn''t even let him finish his sentence. Souta balled his fist before he threw an ordinary punch towards Gyron. Bang! Gyron simply blocked his punch and once again threw another powerful punch. Souta ducked down and glanced at Sena. He saw her picking the flags that were scattered on the ground. "I didn''t say that you could do that..." He placed both of his palms on the ground and casted [Shadow Bind] and [Shadow Spike]. These spells will distract Sena for a while. In this second, Gyron threw a punch. Bang!! "Argh!!" Souta received a blow on his stomach. He flew away and crashed on the trees. Boom!! "Ouch!" Souta said as he stood up and patted his clothes. If this was a life and death battle, he wouldn''t look away from his opponent. He would''ve died just now if this was a life and death battle. But this wasn''t and he knew it. That''s why he could look away and used it as his advantage. Gyron frowned while looking at his attitude. He clenched both of his fists tightly and said, "Follow me. This guy is strong." He then dashed towards Souta. [Wind Smash Combo]!! He launched a powerful barrage of punches at Souta. Every punch contained a hundred percent of his strength. ''This again...'' Souta thought as he tried to block all the punch. Some of the punches slipped in his guard. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta stomped his feet on the ground and casted [Shadow Spike]. Black spikes burst out of the ground. Gyron jumped in the mid-air to avoid the spikes and he gathered his mana on his hand. He waved it towards the spikes. [Power Chop]!! The spikes broke down like a fragile glass. It dissipated into thin air. Swoosh! Swoosh! Mark and Bonny charged on Souta''s both sides. "You really wouldn''t give me any chance." Souta smiled wryly at this. He looked at his stats and saw that he used half of his mana. He had 630 mana in his mana pool and he used half of this in this special test. Luckily for him, all of his spells only consumed 5 mana per use except for the [Shadow Bind] spell that needed 11 mana to use. He didn''t have any mana potion as his bag was left in his locker in the institute. Well, even if he brought a mana potion here, he wouldn''t use it for a mere special test. His life wasn''t at stake in this battle, so he could take it easy without using any potions. Gyron watched Mark and Bonny fight Souta. He looked at Sena and said, "Sena, check May first before that." Although Souta said that May wasn''t in mortal danger, he still couldn''t calm his nerves. "Understood." Sena nodded and she stood up. She approached the unconscious May with haste and checked her condition. After she finished checking May, she looked at Gyron and said, "Her breathing pattern is normal and her wounds aren''t bleeding. She''s safe for now." Gyron sighed when he heard this. He looked at Souta and gathered his mana. He could now focus his attention on fighting Souta. He bent his knees and charged towards Souta who was currently fighting Mark and Bonny. Boom!! Souta defended himself from Gyron''s attack. He crossed his arms in front of him and blocked Gyron''s attack while ignoring the other two. Bang!! Bang!! Souta spat a mouthful of blood as the two attack him from behind. He glanced behind him and casted [Mud Slide] on the ground. He then kicked the ground to distance himself but Gyron chased after him. Gyron wouldn''t let him run away. Souta looked at Gyron who was chasing him. He then used [Air Walk] to move his body away in the mid-air. Swoosh!! He stepped forward and in an instant, he arrived in front of Mark and Bonny. "I will deal with you first," Souta said as he threw a punch towards Mark. Mark reacted and raised his arms in front of him. Bang! He managed to block Souta''s punch but he felt his bone cracked from the punch that he received. "He''s too strong..." Mark muttered as he looked at Souta with a frown on his face. Bobby lifted up his feet and launched a powerful kick towards Souta''s stomach. Souta bent his body and he avoided the kick. He then grabbed Bonny''s legs and smashed him on the ground. Bang!! He then looked in the sky and saw countless arrows made of ice raining on him. "A Tier 2 spell...?" He frowned while looking at this scene. He knew that Gyron and the others were from Brawler Class and they currently fighting him. They don''t have the time to cast this spell. It only means that other classes interrupted him. Gyron also looked in the sky and saw the countless arrows. The arrows rained down on the whole battlefield. It covered the whole sky and it fell down with high speed. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Gyron went beside Sena and May. He used a defensive combat arts to protect them. "Let me borrow you for a while." Souta lifted up Bonny and used him as a shield. Bang!! Bang!! Bang!! The arrows made of ice landed on Bonny''s body. It caused him to cried out in pain. "Huff..." Souta took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He concentrated and heightened his senses. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and sighed. His [Mana Manipulation] skill was too low to detect where the caster of this spell is. Suddenly, Lynn shouted, "Souta, in the northeast part, thirty meters away from you..." Souta looked at her and smiled. He then grinned and said, "So, you''re hiding there... I''m going to finish you first since you wanted attention that much." 96 Fierce Battle: Gathering Countless arrows made of ice fell from the sky. This spell has a slow effect and every arrow was filled with mana that''s why this spell was dangerous. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta raised Bonny''s body and used him as a shield. He turned his head and looked at Lynn in the eyes. Lynn suppressed herself to not move her eyes. She met Souta''s gaze with her own even though she was embarrassed. She wanted him to believe in her. Lynn''s senses were unusually sharp the moment she was born. Especially, her awareness over energy like mana. She was very confident in this ability of hers. She wanted to make herself useful to Souta even once. ''Believe in me, Souta! Please!'' Lynn prayed in her mind. She saw Souta looked at the direction that she said. She was nervous, wondering if Souta would believe her. Souta released Bonny from his grasp as he decided that if Bonny took any more damage then his condition would worsen just like May. He turned his head and looked at Gyron who was protecting Sena and May. Then, at Mark who was defending against the arrows from the sky. "Thanks for protecting me!" He gripped Bonny and threw him towards Mark. "Here''s your friend! If he wakes up later tell me thanks for protecting me!" "You!!" Mark looked at him with clear anger painted on his face. Souta was treating everyone here like a disposable tool that he could get rid of any time he wanted. Souta then turned his head to the direction that Lynn pointed. He charged towards it without hesitation. He wouldn''t doubt her for something like this. Ever since he started to gather the flags of other classes, Lynn didn''t say anything. She just watched him quietly from the sidelines. But now, she said something to him. It only means that she wanted to make use of herself to him. He bent his knees and launched himself towards that direction. He moved his body from side to side to avoid the arrows, but there were too many arrows he couldn''t dodge them all. Some of them even pierced his body. Since this was the case, Souta used [Dash] and ran in a straight line. He ignored the arrows that were falling on his body. When he was closer to the caster of the tier 2 spell, Souta jumped in the air. He saw the caster was a slender man with long blonde hair. The man had pointed ears and soft skin. He was no doubt an elf. This man was none other than the top 2 ranker, Irlin Woodnyte. Souta was about to cast a spell towards Irlin when two figures appeared beside him. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Souta was caught off guard and the two figures threw a powerful punch on his stomach. Bang!! Souta was thrown on the ground and it slightly shook the ground. His body was deeply embedded in the hard rock. Gyron and the others looked over. They saw Souta crashed on the ground. The man in the center was the top 2 ranker who once defeated him, Irlin Woodnyte. The other two were the top 4 ranker and the top 5 ranker. The top 4 ranker was a man with a large build. Although his build was like those of a brawler class, this man was a full fledged mage. His short black hair and sharp black eyes were gleaming with intent to fight. He was Grunge Hyun, of the Hyun clan from the royal capital of the Hebrei Kingdom. The top 5 ranker was a woman with a voluptuous body. Her long black silky hair fluttered as the wind blew. Her brown eyes were staring at the place where Souta crashed. She was holding a long silver staff in her right hand. She was Ailene Carnain. These three people were from the Mage Class 1-A. The true force of the Mage Class. The people who attacked Souta''s class were just another group of the red flag collector just like Bryan''s group to his class. Ailene opened her mouth and said, "That man, he''s really something. Even though we surprised him he managed to counter us in that instant." "Yeah, I saw in the ranking battles how he beat some of our classmates." Grunge nodded at her words. His right hand and Ailene''s left hand were bleeding. When they appeared beside Souta, Souta quickly pulled the [Vajra Sword Saya] that was hanging on his waist. The moment they threw a punch towards him, Souta knew that he couldn''t avoid it as he just used [Air Walk] so he slashed his sword on their hand to reduce the force of their punch. Ailene tapped her staff on the ground and casted [Heal] on herself and Grunge. This spell was the advanced version of [Light Heal], so their wounds immediately stopped bleeding. Grunge looked at his right hand. He opened and closed his palm before he stretched it. He then said, "It''s good, I can use this hand in a fight." "His strength is stronger than his rank..." Ailene said in a low voice while gazing at the place which was covered in smoke and dust. Irlin stopped his spell as it was draining too much of his mana. He glanced at the place where Ailene was looking and shook his head. He looked at Gyron and said, "To think that man would trouble you this much, Gyron. I guess you haven''t improved since the last time that we fought." "Hmm... You wouldn''t understand it if you haven''t fought him. I already acknowledge his strength and you will experience it too since you are here." Gyron said to Irlin. He acknowledged how powerful and tricky Souta is. He wondered if he will lose all of his flags in this situation. May and Bonny were down. They couldn''t help him. He could only count on Sena and Mark. Gyron sighed and he closed his eyes. He then heard several footsteps. Opening his eyes, he saw a lot of people coming to this place. "It seems that we have other visitors." All the powerful fighters of the first year arrived in this place. They came from different class and they all have one goal in this place. And that was to gather all the red flags that other classes gathered. Irlin looked around and smirked. "It seems that it''s going to be a battle of the class. We will see who''s going to win in the end." He was also surprised to see the other classes arrived in this place. But this wouldn''t stop him from achieving his goals. Ailene removed her gaze from the place where Souta crashed and she looked at the newly arrived people. She opened her mouth and said, "It''s going to get a little chaotic." "Hehe, that''s fine for me. I wanted to fight them all." Grunge laughed lightly. "Mark, Sena, prepare for battle. No, just focus on protecting yourself. I will go all out." Gyron said to his two comrades. The top 1 up to top 30 was here in this place except for a few people. Most of the people that arrived here were powerful on their own. They could handle themselves in the upcoming fight. Since the people here were from different classes, they were also surprised to see everyone that arrived here in this place. Irlin looked at everyone and said, "Too bad, Yuriko is not here. If she''s here then it would be nice as the top 1 and top 2 are present in this place." He didn''t know that the top 3 ranker Yuriko got defeated by Randolf when she was attacking the Mage Class 1-B. He would be shocked if he heard this in the future. An unranked person defeated the only top 3 ranker of the first year. Lynn hid herself carefully. She didn''t dare to utter any kind of sound. She was afraid that these people would take the flags that she was holding. Nevertheless, she was stunned when she saw the powerful first years arrived in this place one by one. But she never focused her attention on them. She looked at the place where Souta crashed with a worried look. She wanted to go there herself but she managed to hold back. She knew it, that once she revealed herself those people would target her because of the amount of red flags that she was holding. She remembered what Souta said to her before. No matter what happens don''t let go of the flags and he will think about how to deal with the opponents. ''Souta left these flags in my protection and he trusted me. So I know that he will do something about them.'' Lynn thought. Souta was still lying down on the small crater while resting on his hand. He lifted up the [Vajra Sword Saya] and muttered, "Is it okay for me to use this?" He was hesitating whether he should use this sword or not. It''s true that if he used this sword he could handle most of the students in this place but there''s a risk. What if the sword tried to take over his mind once again? "Well, I hope you don''t attack me, Saya." 97 Fierce Battle: 5 minutes Souta was lying on the ground while looking at the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his hand. He opened his mouth and said, "Oi! Red lady, are you there?" After a few moments, he hasn''t heard anything at all. There''s no reply and it seems that this sword wasn''t going to bother him for a while. He then tried to call her once again but to no avail, she hasn''t responded at all to his call. He wanted to know what her stance. If she was his enemy or ally. In truth, he doesn''t want her to become his enemy as the sword was useful to him. It gave him a large boost to his stats and the equipment skill really help him in his expedition on the Desolate Forest. He wouldn''t be able to defeat the knight leaders if not for the equipment skill of the sword and the added stats. No matter how much he predicted his opponent''s movement if his stats were too low compared to his opponent then he wouldn''t be able to react fast enough. Before he could react he would receive a blow from his opponent. That''s what will happen if the gap in stats was too large. "Hmm...?" He then averted his attention and heard a lot of people in his surrounding. "Something is happening around me. Hmm... That''s favorable for me as well as I don''t need to go to their class to collect their red flags." Souta muttered and he slowly stood up. He patted the dirt and dust on his clothes. He then felt the ground shake. It only means that the battle already started and he could only hope that they didn''t discover Lynn. Swoosh!! The gust of wind blew the thick smoke that was covering this area. It revealed him to the rest of the people in this place. But most of them didn''t have time to look at him as they were busy fighting each other. "Hmm... What are you doing? Since you all are ignoring me, then let me collect your red flags..." Souta muttered and he placed his hand on his chin. He swept his eyes over the people that were present here. He counted the people that were holding the flags since they were his target. Gyron, Mark, and Sena glanced at him wondering what he would do in this situation. But they have no time to watch him as their opponent attacked them. Gyron jumped away to create a distance from his foe. He was fighting the top 2 ranker Irlin and some of the students from other classes. He got his hands full of these people just Irlin alone was giving him a hard time and now other people joined the battle to take him down. Some of the other students decided together that taking him down would be important if they wanted to collect the red flags, so they decided to work together. But some of the students didn''t want that as they knew that they were next once they managed to take down the top 1 ranker. That''s why Gyron was fighting a lot of people at the same time. "Tsk! This trash!" Irlin clicked his tongue while looking at the people who were attacking Gyron. Ailene was the one who noticed Souta, not Grunge. Grunge was enjoying himself while fighting other students at the same time. She tapped her staff on the ground and created a barrier around herself. She then waved her staff and the floor around her quickly turned into ice. And once again she casted another barrier around her. "This is enough..." Ailene muttered before she turned her head and looked at Souta. She saw Souta eyes were looking at every people here in this place. She wondered what he was planning to do. Souta looked around and muttered, "If Bryan is here, then he would join the battle without hesitation. Well, me too..." He started to circulate his mana around his body. He looked at his sword one more time. He was actually reluctant to use this sword after what happened last time when he evolved. "Huff..." He took a deep breath and slightly bent his knees. With a "boom" he charged towards the nearest person who was holding the red flags. Swoosh!! "I got you," Souta said as he grinned and slashed his sword towards the man. "Wha-" The man was surprised when he saw Souta appeared in front of him. He tried to move away but it was too late. The sword was already on its way towards him and he knew that he couldn''t avoid it. Putchi!! "Argh!!" A large cut appeared in the chest of the man. Blood spurted out of the wound on his chest. Souta moved his hand and grabbed the red flags on the man''s hand. He forcefully yanked out the flags out of his hand. He then lifted up his feet and kicked the man''s chest. Bang! The man flew away and crashed on the ground. This alerted the people around the place. They all stopped moving and looked at Souta who was holding the red flags that he snatched from the man. Souta looked at them and he slowly opened his mouth and said, "Let''s fight and see who will win." He slowly raised his palm and casted [Shadow Bind] spell along with [Shadow Spike] spell. "Hmm...?" Irlin looked on the ground and immediately jumped. "Jump!!" He shouted to his comrades. Ailene jumped in the air and pointed her staff on him. She gathered her mana and casted a spell. [Mana Bullet]!! Dozen small blueish balls appeared beside her. The blueish balls shot towards him quickly. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Souta threw the flags that he was holding in the sky. He then swiftly avoided the [Mana Bullet] spell that Ailene casted. "Oho, that''s dangerous you know..." Souta said as he then swept his eyes in the area around him. He found another student who was holding red flags. He charged towards that student while using [Dash] skill. In just a moment, he arrived in front of the student. Souta used [Shadow Bind] and slashed his sword. He then grabbed the flags and kicked the student away from him. Swoosh!! Suddenly, he ducked down as a fist passed above his head. Souta glanced and saw Grunge, the top 4 ranker of the first year. He slashed his sword horizontally but Grunge took a step back and avoided his sword easily. He gripped the red flags that he was holding tightly before he threw it towards Grunge. Grunge stepped aside to avoid the flags and he launched himself towards Souta. Swoosh!! Suddenly, he found his feet being stuck on the ground. Grunge looked down and saw that the ground turned into mud. [Mud Slide]!! "I will fight you later." Souta smiled at him before he turned around and charged towards the student who was holding the red flags. His target this time was the students who have red flags. Souta doesn''t want anyone in this place to collect the red flags. He will avoid any fight except for those who have red flags. His [Shadow Bind] and [Shadow Spike] spells knocked a few of students that gathered in this place. It removed the weaklings from the strong, so only people who possessed some power were standing in this place. All of them were top 1 to top 30 ranker and a few ones who were saved by their comrades just like those people who were holding the red flags. Irlin frowned at this and said, "After him!!" Ailene and Grunge looked at Irlin and nodded their heads. They chased Souta who was running around the battlefield. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Irlin casted a spell to stop Ailene and Grunge''s opponents. He will handle these people but he was worried that Gyron would attack him. He turned his head and glanced at Gyron. He found that Gyron was fighting the other students. "Haha, catch me if you can." Souta laughed as Ailene and Grunge chased him with all of they''ve got. He moved around and jumped on top of the tree before he jumped down again. The two people were having a hard time to follow his movements. While he was running around, he picked up the flags of the Brawler Class 1-A that we''re scattered on the ground. ''What is he planning to do? Did he run around just to get the red flags or did he have another motive? I couldn''t tell at all.'' Ailene thought as she was trying to guess what''s his motive behind his action. "You!! Come back here and fight me!!" Grunge shouted at the top of his lungs. He opened both of his palms and casted a spell towards Souta. Swoosh!! "I will fight you later," Souta replied with a laughed and moved his body to avoid the spell. "So, wait for it. I will fight you with my full power." Remaining time before the test ends: 5 minutes... 98 Fierce Battle: I didnt say you could touch her Swoosh!! Souta arrived in front of a man who was holding the red flags. He tightened his grip on his sword and waved the Vajra sword towards the man. Putchi!! Just like before, Souta took the red flags on the hand on the man. Souta grinned before he kicked the man away. Bang!! The man flew and crashed into the trees. It caused the trees to shake and the leaves to fell on the ground. "Just a little bit more," Souta muttered as he looked at the students who were holding the red flags. There''s only a few of them left. He would be able to knock them down with the remaining time that he has. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Souta felt the mana fluctuations in the air. It was too dense, so he looked up and found himself being cornered as different spells were casted towards his direction. He finally incurred the wrath of the students here in this place. "There''s too many of them..." Souta said in a low voice when he saw this scene. He looked at every corner where he could cast his [Shadow Ball]. In the end, he gave up on using [Shadow Ball] spell. At least one or two spells would hit the [Shadow Ball] if he casted it in any direction. The spell will explode and it will lose its effect to switch position with the user. Then, avoiding the spells... There were too many spells to avoid, so he knew that it''s futile if he tried to avoid the spells. The spells covered all the escape routes that he could think of. Since this was the case, he had no choice but to block this using his body. He had an object that could take these spells without getting a scratch. And that''s the dark grade weapon [Vajra Sword Saya]. ... Irlin glanced at his at the three unconscious people in front of him. He just defeated his opponents at this time. He turned his head and saw that Souta was being cornered by the students. He looked around and found something. He knew that Souta would be having a hard time with a lot of people targeting him, including Ailene and Grunge. "Hehe~ so that''s your plan, huh?" ... "Okay, let''s do this..." Souta said with a smirk on his face. He moved his left hand and threw the red flags that he was holding in the sky. Swoosh!! He tightened his grip on the sword and it emitted a red light. When a ball of fire was close to him, Souta quickly waved the sword in his hand. [Cross Moon]!! A red light flashed and it hit several spells in the mid-air. Boom! Boom! It caused the spells to explode in the mid-air even without hitting their target. "Ha!!" Souta waved the Vajra sword once again. It caused several explosion to occurred in the mid-air. Boom! Boom! Boom! Souta slashed the sword with intent to eradicate all the spells that were heading towards him. He continued waving it in every direction. Boom! Boom! Boom! After a few moments, Souta was still standing on his place with a few wounds on his body. Everyone was looking at him with widened eyes. They were surprised when they saw how he slashed those spells. "Really..." He smiled and looked down on his hand. He saw that his hand was trembling. It was because he used the equipment skill of the [Vajra Sword Saya] in a short amount of time. This is the side effect of using the equipment skill of the sword continuously. Souta looked at his stats and saw that he still have a lot of health points and stamina but his mana was less than half of his total mana. ''This is bad, without mana I would have a hard time fighting all the students here.'' Souta thought while looking at his stats. Well, it would only give him some trouble. It''s not enough to defeat him as he was confident in his physical ability. If he was a pure mage, then he would truly lose against these students as a pure mage was dependent on the amount of mana he had. Right now, Souta''s stats were balanced so even if he drained his mana he still could fight using his physical ability. He still has combat arts to use even if he couldn''t use his spell. This was important to him. Currently, Souta doesn''t know a lot of spells. He only knew a couple of it but the specialty spell he knew was only three. The [Shadow Bind], [Shadow Spike], and [Shadow Ball] spells were the spells that came from the skill tree of darkness specialty. It would only increase while raising the rank of his class. "Okay, I will use all of my mana without holding back," Souta said in a low voice as his gaze swept around the students in the area. Grunge and Ailene recovered from the shocked they felt. Grunge clenched his fist and he gathered his mana. He raised fist and aimed it at Souta. "Explode, [Burst Ground]!!" He shouted as he casted a spell towards Souta. Souta glanced on the ground before he quickly rolled to the side. The ground that which he was standing earlier exploded. Flames burst out like a fountain. Boom!! Souta looked at this spell with a frown on his face. That was dangerous. The grade of that spell was closed to tier 2 spell. He would lose a large amount of his health if that spell hit him. "Ah, let finish you right now." Souta looked at Grunge and said with a grin. He gripped the sword tightly and dashed towards Grunge. Swoosh!! [Dash]!! Souta used [Dash] skill to increase his speed. Suddenly, a wall of emerged from the ground in front of Grunge. [Wall of Stone]!! Ailene casted it as she knew that Souta targeted Grunge, her comrade. She wouldn''t let Grunge fight Souta alone. She knew that Souta wasn''t an easy opponent just from what he showed before. Souta continued to dash forward even when the wall appeared in front of Grunge. After a few moments, he arrived in front of the [Wall of Stone] spell. He waved the sword and the wall was sliced in half. Swoosh!! The upper part of the wall fell down on the ground with a loud "thud" sound. Behind the wall was Grunge. Souta saw Grunge smiling at him while opening both of his palms. Grunge''s mana was fluctuating highly. He was ready to cast a spell at any time. "That''s..." Souta frowned while looking at it. [Air Burst]!! The air gathered on Grunge''s palm. It turned into a ball of wind before it shot towards Souta with powerful momentum. "I already expected this, you know." Souta grinned and he raised his left hand. He watched the timing and speed of the spell before he waved his left hand. Boom!! The ball of wind crashed the ground behind him and it caused a deep pit. Souta managed to divert the spell using his left hand but it was not without consequences. The skin on his left hand was grazed. The people around him could see his bare flesh. Grunge was shocked when he saw this. He looked at Souta''s hand in a daze. Souta used this chance to slashed his sword. Swoosh!! A large cut appeared on Grunge''s chest but Souta wasn''t done yet. He slashed his sword once again and another cut appeared on Grunge''s body. "Argh!!" Grunge groaned as a large amount of blood spurted out of his chest. "This is what you want right?" Souta kicked Grunge in the air. He looked up at Grunge and chased after it. Swoosh!! With a jump, Souta appeared in front of Grunge. He pulled back his left hand and clenched his fist. "[Shadow Spike]..." Souta muttered as black spikes emerged from the ground and then he threw a powerful punch on Grunge''s body. Bang!! Grunge flew and crashed in the ground which was full of spikes. The ground trembled as his body crashed with powerful momentum. ''It hurts...'' Souta complained in his mind. He still could bear the pain he felt on his left hand. Well, it''s not the first time that he experienced this. Before, when he was fighting the red lady of the Vajra sword, he once sacrificed his left hand to save the people. That injury was more serious than this one. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. "Kyaa!!" "I know that something was wrong when he tossed those flags in the air. But luckily I noticed that it was heading in the same direction." Souta turned around and saw Irlin, the top 2 ranker, was approaching Lynn. Lynn was holding a bunch of flags in her arms. Irlin''s mana was fluctuating as he approached Lynn. ''This is bad! That guy, Irlin, is the top 2 while Lynn is just an ordinary student. She would be easily defeated if they fought.'' "Huff..." Souta took a deep breath and hold his breath. The grin on his face slowly vanished and it was replaced by a cold one. He slightly bent his knees and his muscles bulged out. "[Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Cat''s Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Dash]..." Souta used his combat arts and spell as he charged towards Irlin with all of his strength. He used all of his stats without holding back. Boom!! It was so fast that in just two seconds Souta arrived beside Irlin. He opened his palm and tried to grab Irlin''s face. "I didn''t say that you could touch her. I''ll kill you, you know?" 99 Fierce Battle: Level 9 Shadow Bind "So fast!!" Ailene was surprised when she saw his speed. To think that Souta didn''t even use his full speed when she was chasing him. She turned her head to where Souta was heading and saw her classmate, Irlin the top 2 ranker, and a girl with purple color hair. The girl was holding a bunch of red flags. "So that''s how it is..." Ailene muttered as she finally understood why Souta was throwing the red flags. Souta wasn''t just randomly throwing those flags. He was throwing it towards his partner and that partner was that girl with purple hair. This man surprised her again and again. Really incredible. ... Irlin''s mana flared up as he was going to attack Lynn. However, just as Irlin was about to cast a spell his expression changed slightly. He stopped moving as he felt someone at his side. He felt danger coming beside him. Souta arrived beside Irlin in just a few moments. He opened his palm and reached it out towards Irlin''s face. "I didn''t say that you could touch her. I''ll kill you, you know." Souta said in a cold tone. "S-Souta...!" Lynn looked at him with a surprised expression. Swoosh!! Souta grabbed Irlin''s face and smashed him on the ground. He continued to move forward while gripping Irlin''s face. Boom!! It created a one-meter deep and two-meter wide scar on the ground. The trees that were in their way were uprooted and crashed into tiny pieces. "R-Release me!!" Irlin tried to say something to Souta. He raised his hand and grabbed Souta''s wrist. He felt extreme pain as Souta was using his body to open up the ground. "Hmph!!" Souta snorted as he tightened his grip and gathered his mana on his palm. "Argh!!" Irlin felt extreme heat on Souta''s hand which was gripping his face. The burning sensation he felt was becoming unbearable. "[Fire Ball]..." Souta casted the very first spell that he learned in this world. Since he was gripping Irlin''s face and he used his palm to cast the spell. The spell immediately exploded as soon as it appeared. Boom!! He then threw Irlin away before casting another [Fire Ball] spell. Irlin crashed on the ground and his face was covered in smoke. Then, a ball of fire flew towards his body and exploded. Boom!! ... Ailene and other students looked at this with a stunned expression. They watched how Souta took care of the top 2 ranker of the whole first year just like that. "He''s strong..." Gyron muttered while looking at Souta''s figure. He already knocked two out of five people that were trying to pull him down. Right now, Sena and Mark help him handle the remaining three. It was because they wanted him to restore his energy. "I thought before that I''m the strongest first year in this institute but it seems that I was wrong." He said in a low voice. Souta swept his gaze at everyone and slowly opened his mouth. "I will beat everyone here." He provoked everyone. If he did this then some of them would step back and some were not. He wanted to decrease his opponent this time as he was exhausted and he was about to fall any second right now. The wounds that he received before were bleeding and it made him lose his strength faster than before. He was only trying to put up a strong front to intimidate some of them as he knew that he couldn''t intimidate everyone here, like that top 1 ranker who could go toe to toe to him if he didn''t use the Vajra sword. Suddenly, he felt a warm feeling on his back. "Hmm...?" Souta turned his head and saw Lynn using [Light Heal] on him. [Light Heal] was a spell that wasn''t effective to the caster. It could only heal the wounds of other people except for the caster. Above this spell was the advanced version called [Heal]. It could do the thing that [Light Heal] couldn''t. Lynn wasn''t a powerful fighter or mage but she at least knew several basic spells. She didn''t study seriously before and didn''t listen to Bargan''s lectures. She was regretting it right now. She regretted that she didn''t have enough strength to support Souta. All she could do was watch Souta fought and get injured. "Since they''ve found me, I don''t need to hide anymore. I''m sorry. I couldn''t help you." Lynn apologized to him. Actually, she was holding herself back when she saw Souta receiving wounds from his opponents. She really wanted to help him and treat his wounds but she knew that she has a role to fulfill. And that''s collecting the red flags that Souta gave her and protect it. Also, even if she rushed towards him at that time she knew that she didn''t have the strength to help him. She would just become a burden to him and that''s what she didn''t want to happen. Souta smiled at her and said, "You don''t have to apologize. I already said before that I will deal with this alone." He turned around and patted her head. "E-Ehh...." Lynn blushed from the sudden contact. Her face turned red as she lowered her head. "Thanks, this is enough for me." Souta thanked her and removed his hand. It''s really hard to pat someone who''s taller than you. It became awkward. Well, that doesn''t even matter now as most of his wounds stop bleeding. His wounds weren''t completely healed. [Light Heal] was just first aid. It couldn''t completely heal wounds like these as it could only use to stop the bleeding. At least he avoided her healing his left hand. His deep wounds and blood were covering the true form of his hand. Even though it hurts like hell, he still could injure it. The blue grade gloves that he was wearing were gone. The glove on his right hand was safe. The only problem was his left hand. "I know some spell and these will help you." Lynn shook her head and said. She then casted a buff spell towards Souta. [Lesser Strength]! [Reinforce Energy]! "This... This will help me a lot. You can go now bring those flags away," Souta said as he stretched his arm. He was feeling better now that Lynn casted low-level buff spells on him. Suddenly, everyone heard a loud whistling sound and it was followed by an explosion. Everyone looked up and heard a voice. "Remaining time on special test. One minute..." The voice wasn''t loud nor soft, strangely every student in the whole mountain heard it. The voice was imbued with mana and a special auxiliary spell. It lets a simple voice be heard throughout the whole mountain. "Really, what a good timing..." Souta smiled wryly when he heard the voice. He knew what will happen next. He turned to Lynn once again and said, "You can go now, you will become the target." He said these words with a serious expression on his face. "O-Okay." Lynn nodded her head as she tightly gripped the red flags in her arms. Since she was holding most of the red flags in this place, she will become the target of every class. It will become a battle to defend her within one minute. As long as she kept holding these flags then it would become the points of their class as soon as the special test ends. ''Protecting Lynn for one minute is not a problem for me.'' Souta grinned widely. His intimidation before wasn''t going to be effective in this situation. They were going to stake everything just to get the flags from Lynn. "Everyone let''s work together and take the red flag from her!" Ailene shouted and this what she wanted. Everyone needed their heads at her words. All of them have a gloomy expression in their face. It was because the girl behind Souta was holding more than ten red flags. Souta used his skill points to raise the level of [Shadow Bind] spell to level 9 leaving him four skill points left. He then quickly casted it before anyone could approach Lynn. [Shadow Bind]!! Several shadows burst out of the ground. Ailene and the other quickly jumped away but they noticed something different. The shadows were many times faster than before so it bound all of their feet. They didn''t manage to escape as this was out of their expectations. "What??" Ailene was surprised at this then she waved her staff to break the shadows but she noticed that it was tougher than before. She lifted up her head and looked at Souta. She saw him grinning while looking at them. "Not good!!" She guessed that Souta was about to do something about them. "All of you are staying here." Souta casted [Shadow Spike] spell. Putchi!! Putchi!! Several spikes burst out of the ground and it pierced their feet. All of them screamed in pain. "In this special test, we win." Souta looked at them and said. They wouldn''t be able to follow Lynn since he injured their feet. They wouldn''t be able to run properly with a hole in their feet. Gyron who was watching at the sideline sighed at this. He knew that Souta''s class was going to take the highest score in this special test. "It seems that I still need to train harder and catch up to his strength." He muttered in a low voice while looking at Souta''s figure. He just waited for the special test to end. After a few dozen seconds, a loud bell rang in the whole mountain. It only means that the special test ends. 100 End of Special Tes A loud bell rang in the whole mountain. The students stopped fighting as they looked up in the sky. Souta sighed and he fell down on his knees. He was exhausted and his body was covered in bruises. His left hand was covered in blood and his skin was gone. "Huff... that took most of my strength," Souta said in a low voice while gasping. He managed to test the limit of his strength in this special test and he knew that he could fight several first-year students at the same time with his current stats. He guessed that he could probably match those second-year rankers. But he wasn''t sure what rank he could fight. The students here in the Ladro Institute was powerful. They were even stronger than those Rank E to Rank D adventurers. It was especially to the third and fourth-year students. That''s why most of the students that graduated here become influential people in the country like the city of the Ladros city and the Captain of the Royal Guard. Ailene looked at Souta for a few seconds before she turned her head to her comrades. She went beside Irlin and Grunge who was heavily injured. She casted [Heal] on them to stopped the bleeding of their wounds. "Next time, we will win. We greatly underestimate him this time." She said in a low voice while healing her comrades. That last spell of Souta took her in surprise. The students went to help their injured comrades. Suddenly, a group of teachers appeared before them. They brought the healers of the institute with them. They help and treat the students who suffered injuries in this special test. One of the healers approached Souta. Souta looked at the man who was wearing white clothes and shook his head. "You can heal the other first. I can handle myself." "Are you sure?" The healer asked him then he looked at Souta''s bloody left hand. "Yeah, I''m sure. I could still use this hand and it''s not that deep." Souta nodded his head and looked at his left hand. "Okay, I will heal you later." The healer said to Souta before he turned around and left to heal the other students. Souta looked at the healer''s retreating figure. He then heard footsteps coming from behind, so he turned his head and looked at it. He saw Lynn walking towards him with flags in her arms. "Um... Souta, are you okay?" Lynn asked him with a concerned look. "Nope, I''m not okay as you can see," Souta replied to her and he slowly stood up. "I-I''m sorry for asking, t-then let me help you." Lynn walked beside him and held his hand. "It''s okay, I could still walk." Souta shook his head. He then smiled at her and said, "Let''s go to our campsite. I''m sure the others are waiting for us." Lynn looked at his face before she nodded. "Ah, yes. I think Mila is worried about us." "Mila?" Souta looked at her with a questioning gaze. The two talked to the teachers here saying that they will go back to their campsite. The teachers agreed to them and let them go back to the Mage Class 1-B campsite. Souta glanced at Lynn. He could see that she was excited to go back to the campsite. He opened his mouth and said, "You''re quite excited to go back." "Yeah, I want to show Mila the flags that you collected," Lynn said with an excited expression while looking at the flags in her arms. She wanted to tell Lumilia how cool Souta when he was fighting someone. The scene where Souta protected her from Irlin kept repeating in her mind. "It''s true that I collected those flags alone but without you, I wouldn''t be able to gather a lot of flags." Souta shook his head and said. If he fought alone then it would be a different story. He had to hold the flags while fighting the enemy that was after it. The difficulty was harder if Lynn didn''t join his group. "E-Eeeehhh!!!" Lynn was surprised when she heard his words. She lowered her head as her face turned red. "I-I didn''t... d-do anything..." She said in a tiny voice while stuttering. "You did something." Souta paused for a moment before he continued, "You hold the flags, that''s all. Haha!" He then laughed at her. "Mmm... You''re teasing me." Lynn puffed her cheeks. She then remembered something. "I did something, I help you stop the bleeding of your wounds." As soon as she mentioned this, she looked down at Souta''s left hand. She opened her mouth and asked, "Are you really okay?" "That, really I forgot about that..." Souta lifted up his left hand and said, "This? Yeah, I can handle this. I will treat it back at the campsite." "Do you want me to cast a healing spell on you?" Lynn offered. "It''s okay, don''t waste your mana for something like this." Souta declined her offer. He wouldn''t let anyone bothered his left hand. "It''s not a waste if I could heal your wounds," Lynn said. "Nope, I could handle this." Souta shook his head. He really wanted someone to treat his left hand but that would reveal its creepy form. So he could only grit his teeth and bear the pain he was feeling. "I see..." Lynn lowered her head in disappointment. She just wanted to help him and nothing else. Souta glanced at her and sighed. "Fine, you can heal the other wounds except for this left hand." "R-Really?" Lynn looked at her. "Yes." Souta nodded at her. The two of them walked for a dozen minutes before they arrived at the campsite of the Mage Class 1-B. There they saw their homeroom teacher, Bargan, was helping clean the campsite. All the campsite was a battlefield because that''s where the red flag of each class stood. It''s not just Bargan was here, the healers and cleric of the institute were here and they were healing the students of other class here. Souta looked around and saw the girl named Yuriko among the injured people. Yuriko was the top 3 ranker and it''s not easy to injure someone like her. He wondered who caused her to look like that. Lynn looked at him and saw him looking at the injured students. She looked there and didn''t saw Bryan and Alice. These two people were the ones that come to her mind when she thought that Souta was looking for somebody. Lynn knew that Souta was always with these two. If not Bryan, it was Alice. Souta turned his head and saw that the red flag of their class was still in its place. It means that no one managed to take their red flag. "Hmm...?" He frowned at this. The top 3 ranker was injured in their campsite. If she was here then it means that her target was the red flag of their class. The question is... who among his classmates was capable of stopping the top 3 ranker of the whole first year? Not just stopping her, it even inflicted heavy injuries on her body. Just who is capable of this feat among his classmates? Is it Bryan? No, Bryan wasn''t here so it''s literally impossible. Is it Alice? Hmm... There''s a possibility. Souta shook his head and placed those thoughts in the back of his head. He will learn the answer to his question later as he''s going to ask the class rep about what really happened here. He looked at Lynn and patted her back. "You can go now to teacher Bargan and let him count the flags that we collected," Souta said. "Yes, I will do that." Lynn nodded at him before she ran towards Bargan. Souta looked at her figure before he shook his head. He went inside one of the tents here and asked the cleric for some bandages. He will cover his left hand using the bandages. ... Lumilia noticed Lynn running towards Bargan with a bunch of red flags. She knew that her partner was Souta, so she looked around and didn''t find Souta. She didn''t know that Souta was just inside one of the tents bandaging his left hand. After a few minutes, she saw Lynn finished talking to Bargan and gave the red flags to him. Lynn then approached her with hurried steps. Before Lumilia could say anything, Nayo who was beside her said something first. "Lynn! Where''s Souta? What did you two do to get that many red flags?" Nayo said as she placed her hand above her eyes and looked around trying to find Souta. She quickly gave up when she didn''t see Souta. She turned her attention to Lynn and checked her body. "And looking at you, you still looked the same. You didn''t have a single scratch on your body." "Ehehe~ actually, Souta was the one who did most of the work. I''m just in the sideline watching his battle." Lynn said with a wry smile. 101 Quest Complete "That''s nice. I wish I''m in your position. I don''t want to fight." Nayo said as she looked down at her body. She showed her bruises on her that she received when she''s fighting the students from other classes that were after the red flag. Lynn didn''t have a single scratch on her body while she has bruises all over her body. "I wish I could do something," Lynn said as she lowered her head. This time, she couldn''t do anything. "...Lynn" Nayo looked at Lynn and she noticed the gloomy atmosphere forming in her. She smiled and patted Lynn. "You can do better next time. I''m sure that anyone will fall in love with you if you seriously chase your love." Lynn looked at Nayo and smiled. "Thanks, Nayo." Lumilia walked over and asked, "Where is Souta?" "Um... I think that he went inside the tent to clean his wounds." Lynn replied to Lumilia as she looked behind her and tried to find Souta. "Hmm..." Lumilia nodded her head and she looked at Lynn. She asked, "Then, how is it?" She was surprised when she asked this because Lynn suddenly grabbed her shoulders. "You know, Mila! Souta was super cool when he fought all the top rankers alone." Lynn said with an excited expression. She then lowered her head and said in a shy tone. "I-I think I''m in love with him." "Eh...!" Lumilia was stunned when she heard Lynn''s words. "Ehhhh!!" Nayo was shocked beyond words. She then immediately shook her head and said, "Isn''t that too fast! You''re only with him with just one hour! I bet you and Souta didn''t even talk to each other!" "That''s not it, Nayo! I really think that I love him! Also, we talk a lot before! He even saved me from the Irlin guy!" Lynn said to Nayo. She was really acting like a maiden in love, no, she already said that she was in love. So she''s really a maiden in love. "Really, I couldn''t do anything to you. I just don''t want you to get hurt." Nayo said with a sigh. This friend of hers was really helpless. She then recalled something that Lynn said. "W-Wait! Did you just say that Souta fought all the rankers alone?!" Lumilia also looked at Lynn. She wanted to ask this but she got distracted because Lynn said that she''s in love with Souta. "Yeah, isn''t that cool? He fought the top 1 alone and even beat them." Lynn said with a proud expression. "Eh! Why are you proud with the things that you did not do?" Nayo looked at Lynn with a tired look. "Ehehe" Lynn scratched her cheeks. "Still, that''s pretty impressive, no, that''s impressive," Lumilia said with a hint of amazement in her voice. She knew that Souta was strong and have the potential to be the top 1 ranker if he fought seriously, but not to the point where he could fight the rankers at the same time and still managed to beat them. She wondered who is stronger among the two of them. Souta or Randolf. ... After a few minutes, the other group that was tasked to collect the red flags came back to the campsite. Bryan''s group brought back three flags and it was pretty amazing. The other two groups brought one red flag each while the remaining group didn''t manage to collect a single flag. Souta and Lynn collected a total of twenty-one red flags. This shocked everyone and didn''t dare to believe when Lynn said this. They even asked Bargan for confirmation. It means that their class managed to collect a total of twenty-six flags. In other words, they already secured first place with just this number. Almost half of the total number of flags was in their possession. There''s a chance that one of the class managed to collect the remaining flags. But Souta thought that was impossible. It was because he recalled that he didn''t manage to get all the flags on the battlefield before, so if he added those flags then all the flags he has would have exceeded the half of the total amount of flags. There''s no one who could get those flags under the protection of those rankers easily. Even Souta took several wounds in that battle. ... Souta finished cleaning his wounds and bandaging his left hand. It took him a while because of the pain he felt went he cleaned his left hand. "Oh~ it''s complete." Souta wiped the sweat on his forehead. He then heard someone calling him. "Souta, are you there?" Souta turned his head and guessed that it was Bryan because of the voice. He stood up and said, "Yeah, why?" "Teacher Bargan is calling everyone," Bryan replied from the outside the tent. "Okay, I''m coming," Souta said as he exited the tent. Everyone gathered outside of the camp and they went towards the place where every class gathered before. The institute was going to announce who''s class has the highest in all classes. And just like what Souta expected their class was the highest among the other classes. They scored a total of one thousand four hundred points. It was overwhelming as the second place only got five hundred points in total. Everyone was happy as they score the highest in the special test but they knew that it was all thanks to Souta gathering more than twenty-one red flags. ''Naturally, it''s all worth it, my effort that is.'' Souta closed his eyes and smirked. At the same time, he heard a system prompt in his head. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the quest Special Test!] [You''ve received 10,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 3 skill points!] Souta smiled while looking at this. Just a little bit more and he would be able to promote his class to the second rank. His firepower would increase greatly at that time and his ability as a mage. Right now, he learned three spells from his specialty darkness. All of this was just the basic spell of a tier 1 darkness attribute spell. His class rank would increase as long as he kept using his skill points in his specialty. He doesn''t need to learn all the spells available in his skill tree. He just needed the most important ones which will help him greatly in the future. He used most of his skill points in leveling the [Shadow Bind] spell to nine. It leaves him 4 skill points and right now he received 3 skill points as a reward for the quest that he completed. It needed 10 skill points to level up the [Shadow Bind] spell to ten. It means that he still needed another 3 skill points before he could level up his spell. 3 skill points wasn''t a problem to him. One week was enough and he would get 3 to 5 skill points. Well, it depends on how busy he is this upcoming week. ''Hmm... I will free up my schedule this week, so I could focus myself on getting skill points.'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. "Hmm...?" Souta snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed that something was wrong. Looking around, he saw that most of the teachers and students were looking at him. "I didn''t break any rules in the special test." Souta tried to recall if he did something wrong. He tried to guess why they were looking at him like that. It''s true that he didn''t break any rules. It''s just that his combat style was too brutal and merciless. Some of the students were afraid to look in his eyes because of what happened in the test. "That''s not it, It''s not because of that." He then guessed that it was because of his performance in the special test. He fought the rankers that came after him alone using his overwhelming strength. Even the top 1 ranker didn''t manage to escape unscathed against him. Hmm? That''s wrong. It''s the opposite. They''re the ones who are after him. "You''re becoming more and more famous." A feminine voice sounded beside him. Souta turned his head and saw that it was Alice. Alice really grew closer to him as she''s initiating a conversation to him. Before he was the one who would talk first and she merely responded to him. But now, it''s different they could talk like a friend. "I wonder about that." Souta shrugged his shoulder as he looked around him. He saw that the people he fought before were looking at him. Gyron, Sena, Mark, Bonny, and the rest of the rankers. Souta raised his hand waved at them. May quickly looked away she saw this. She recalled what Souta did to her before and this made her trembled in fear. "What did you do to them?" Alice when she saw that some of the students showed fear at Souta. "I just beat them," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. Alice and Souta continued chatting. Lynn from the side just looked at Souta and Alice who are talking to each other. She wanted to join the conversation but she didn''t have the courage to do so. 102 In the near future The students went back to the Ladro Institute along with their homeroom teachers. The Mage Class 1-B received a large amount of points as they score the highest in the special test. With these points, Souta and the rest could redeem two or more combat arts or spell. Well, it all depends on the grade of the spell or combat arts that they will redeem. Souta was planning to exchange the points he received for some high-level combat arts. He also has a plan to let Bargan privately teach him about spells and combat arts. Hiring a teacher to become a student''s private tutor cost a lot of points. It was really a good decision that he enrolled in Ladro Institute. Surprisingly, he earned a lot in this place. Right now, Souta was a level 23 Goblin Corruptor. He''s slowly getting stronger through the equipments and the skills that he learned. Next time, he planned to acquire some passive skills that will increase his overall combat abilities. There were many ways to get skills. First, was to buy it from a merchant. Second, was to learn it in the institute. Third, was to learn it from the skill tree. And lastly, was to acquire it from the dungeons. But it was hard to get high-level skills from the dungeon as most of the skills that can be found in it were the most basic ones just like his [Fire Ball], [Light Heal], and [Ice Shot] spells. In the past two months, Souta acquired a lot of skills from raiding the dungeons. Unfortunately, most of it was basic skills. He placed these skill books inside his house. He could sell these skill books if he doesn''t have any money left in his pockets. The [Undead Light] spell that he acquired from his expedition in the Desolate Woods was in his house. He still hasn''t learned it. He was still having a hard time building the spell structure manually that''s why he focused on the combat arts that he redeemed in the past two months. There''s still time before version 2. He guessed that he would be able to reach level 30+ before the start of version 2. Maybe, midway of the thirties and if he focused on leveling up he could probably reach the peak of his second evolution. He will focus on his third evolution when version 2 starts. He also has a plan to go back to the Undead Sanctuary when he reached his third evolution. It''s true that he got the [Soul Blood Earring] there in the sanctuary, but that''s not all the treasure that can be found there. There were orange and red grade equipments in the middle-level and high-level dungeons in the sanctuary. Also, skill books and some high-level potion that could drastically increase his stats. What they found was nothing. Yeah, nothing. It was as if the door was stuck there. Souta shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his head. He will eventually know it when the time comes. In the future, he will go back there in the Undead Sanctuary. He looked at Bargan who was saying something in front of the class. "Okay, class. Dismiss." Bargan said as he picked up the book on the table and exited the classroom. "Eh...!" Souta exclaimed. He looked around with a surprised expression only to find that everyone was packing their things, reading to leave the classroom. He got absorbed in his own thoughts that he forgot about time. He didn''t think that the class would end just like that and the only thing that he heard from the teacher was "Okay, class. Dismiss". "Let''s go, Souta." Souta heard a voice from his side. He looked over and saw that Bryan was calling him. He forgot that he will go to Lumilia''s apartment to visit Cluster with Bryan. "O-Okay." Souta nodded at Bryan and then he stood up. He looked at Alice who was beside him and said, "Well, I''ll go now. See you, tomorrow." "Okay." Alice looked up at him and replied to his words. Souta nodded and he exited the classroom with Bryan. Alice looked at his figure and wondered what''s up with these human and demi. "Is this really the right decision?" She muttered in a low voice. She recalled the things that happened before she arrived on this continent. It was really tragic as a lot of people died because of her. ''Sebas, you said that I should live a happy life in this land but I wonder about that.'' Alice thought as she turned her head to look at the window. A lot of people died to make her happy, but the question is... Is she really happy in her current life? She tried to isolate herself and live a normal life here on this continent. She encountered different types of people in this land but she hasn''t made a single friend. It was because she was unconsciously distancing herself from the people. Sebas, her guardian, also said before that she should make a lot of friends. But she didn''t have a single friend here. No, two people came into her mind. These two were Souta Ieshi and Bryan Dagruel. These two people were the same yet different at the same time. Bryan Dagruel was a man with the potential to become a powerhouse in the future. Even in her place, a person with four affinities was pretty rare. He was noisy and stubborn man. He also treats everyone as his friend, including Alice. He''s an adventurer and he always sleeps in class when he did some difficulty quest. He rarely skips class. Souta Ieshi was a mysterious man in her opinion. He''s a demi but she couldn''t guess if he''s a beastkin, elves, dwarves, etc. She doesn''t have an idea about it. He was strange and have a vibe of a veteran warrior if he''s serious. He was also an adventurer like Bryan. Also, that sword of his was not an ordinary one. Alice could feel that it was higher than her orange grade weapon. There''s one more thing about him that she wanted to know. His last name Ieshi. She wanted to know who are his parents and what his connection to that ancient clan. The knowledge about the ancient clans in this continent was close to nothing. The institute didn''t have a single information about it. Fortunately, her family has a long history and it was included in the history of the Great War a long time ago, so it preserved some of the information of the Great War. When she thought about these two people, her mouth subconsciously curved into a smile. "It''s not that bad." She said in a low voice. ... Souta and Bryan were walking towards Lumilia''s apartment. Today, they were going to visit Cluster. Souta actually changed his mind. He doesn''t want to visit Cluster with his current condition. He just wanted to lie down on his bed and rest for a whole day. It was tiring to fight a lot of first-year students at the same time. "Um... How did you receive that injury?" Bryan asked while looking at his left hand which was covered in bandages. "There were strong people from other classes, so I fought them and naturally received an injury when I was fighting them alone." Souta lifted up his left hand and explained it to Bryan. He then looked at Bryan and said, "By the way, I heard from George that you fought the top 10 ranker and won." "Yeah, that guy was crazy strong. I wanted to fight him again." Bryan said with a smile as he clenched his fist tightly. He was eager to fight another strong opponent. ''Bryan''s improvement is faster than I could imagine.'' Souta thought. Bryan''s improvement was a big surprise to him. Although, he already guessed it before it still surprised him when he actually saw it. If he didn''t have a system maybe Bryan would surpass him easily. This man, Bryan Dagruel, has four affinities and if he utilized it perfectly. Then, in the near future, he would become one of the powerhouses. But there''s something bothering him. And that''s he couldn''t remember Bryan''s name in the game. There''s no doubt about this that Bryan wasn''t in the game. Or Bryan died before he became a powerhouse. Bryan''s backstory, Souta wanted to know it and so the quest about it. That''s the most important thing, the quest that he will give. 103 Visiting Cluster 1 A middle-aged man with short white hair and beard. He had white fox ears and tails. He was the principal of the Ladro Institute, Azrim. Standing in front of him was Bargan and the other teachers of the first year. Azrim looked at them and opened his mouth. "So how is it?" He asked. Bargan stepped forward and placed a stock of paper files on the table in front of Azrim. "Another unusual student showed unbelievable strength," Bargan said. Azrim looked at it the paper files and picked one file. He read it before he looked at Bargan. "Souta Ieshi? He''s from your class. What can you say about him?" "He''s like Yanagi Shina when she first showed here in our institute. He dominated the special test and fought several rankers at the same time." Bargan replied to Azrim. "He fought several rankers at the same time? If it''s true then he''s like her. Fighting several rankers of the first year and could still win." Azrim rubbed his beard. He smiled and added, "The next special test is not limited to year level. It will become a fight between the lower year and higher year. If he still dominated the second year then he''s really like her." Azrim then looked at the other teachers and asked, "What can you say about him?" Jess, the teacher of the Sword Class 1-A, stepped forward and said, "Just like what Bargan said that Souta is really like Yanagi. He is also brutal to his opponent and didn''t have any hesitation to do it." Yanagi Shina was the current top 1 ranker in the whole institute. It means that she was the strongest student here. She enrolled in the institute two years ago. Back then, she also didn''t show interest towards the ranking battles. Her rank back then was lower than Souta. But in the special test, she showed her power. She brutally beat the rankers alone. It was then that her name shook the entire institute. Since then, she showed an interest in the second year students. She challenged them and brutally beat those senior of hers. She even caused some of the students to drop out of the institute because of fear towards her. She continued to grow stronger and beat everyone until she becomes the top 1 ranker of the whole institute. A lot of students feared her and isolated her because of this. In the Grand Tournament, she showed her overwhelming power in front of the whole kingdom and beat the students from other schools, academy, and institute. After that, various nobles proposed marriage to her, even the 5th prince of the kingdom wanted to take her hand. But the thing that happened next was out of everyone''s expectations. It was then that she was called the strongest student of Ladro Institute in history. "I understand." Azrim nodded then he asked, "Do you have the orb of the battle?" "Yes, it''s here." Bargan nodded and placed a palm-size black orb on the table. Azrim took the black orb and looked at it for a while. After a few seconds, he placed it down and asked, "What about his background?" "Still unknown. We don''t know where he came from." Bargan replied. "Hmm... Just like Yanagi, huh?" Azrim said as he rubbed his beard. One of the teachers stepped forward and said, "Principal, Yanagi Shina, snuck in the special test area to watch the first year." "That happened?" Azrim looked at the teacher that said those words. "Yes, Principal. I saw it too. It seems that she''s interested in one of the first-year students." Jess also said. "That girl..." Azrim sighed and he rubbed his temples. "That girl is at it again and who''s the fortunate individual?" "Hmm... I can''t think of a person that fitted her." Jess said. "I think that it''s Souta," Bargan said. "Really?" Jess looked at Bargan with a surprised expression. "Yeah, I saw her in the mini-tournament watching Souta''s match." Bargan looked at Jess and said. "If that''s true then it will become a problem." Azrim turned around looked at the window. "His strength is currently not enough to defend against her, so I want you all to use anything that you have to stop Yanagi in case she take action." "Yes." Bargan and the rest of the teachers nodded their heads at his words. They wouldn''t let Yanagi approach Souta this soon. They don''t want him to meet the same ends as those people. He showed potential and they wouldn''t let her broke him. Azrim nodded and took another paper file. He looked at it and he opened his mouth. "Randolf Fein? Another one from your class? What about him?" "He defeated the top 3 ranker with one strike. His current strength is still unknown to us. But I could say that he''s as strong as Souta or maybe stronger than him." Bargan said. "Hmm... Another one." Azrim nodded and looked at the picture of Randolf in the paper file. ... Souta and Bryan arrived in front of Lumilia''s apartment. "Hello, Lumilia!" Bryan said while knocking on the door. Lumilia went home first. She didn''t go together with Souta and Bryan because she said that she wanted to clean her room first. Souta thought that it was natural so he agreed to her without hesitation. If he''s coming to her apartment it''s natural that she should clean it first before she let him inside. "I''m coming." A voice of a girl sounded beside the door. The girl sounded happy and excited at the same time. Souta and Bryan looked at each other. They were familiar to this voice, so they instantly guessed the owner of the voice. After a few moments, they heard the sound of unlocking the door and it slowly opened. From inside, a small girl peeked outside. When the girl saw Souta and Bryan, she flashed a bright smile. "Brother Souta and Brother Bryan!" She sounded happy at first but it changed when she saw their wounds. "W-What happened?" Bryan was about to say something when Cluster quickly rushed inside the room saying, "Sister Mila! Brother Bryan and Brother Souta are injured!!" "She''s just surprised..." Souta smiled at this and he opened the door. He removed his shoes and went inside the room. "O-Okay." Bryan nodded and he also removed his shoes before he entered the room. The two of them grew closer to Cluster because almost every day the two of them visited her in the past two months. Although they got closer, Souta could feel that she was still hiding something from him. And that was her background. ... Lumilia walked out of her room and saw that Souta and Bryan were already inside. She was wearing casual clothes and not her usual uniform. "Look, Sister Mila, Brother Bryan and Brother Souta are injured." Cluster said as she pointed her finger at Souta and Bryan''s injury. "You''re talking about this?" Souta smiled and he lifted up his left hand which was covered in bandages. "I fought a lot of strong people in the institute. We needed to defeat a lot of people in our special test, so I have to fight them." "That''s right, it was exciting!" Bryan said with a hint of excitement in his voice. "I wanted to fight them again." "Then, why isn''t Sister Mila injured?" Cluster tilted her head slightly and asked. Bryan looked at Lumilia and wondered why she wasn''t injured. Souta looked at Cluster and said, "It''s simple. Do you want to know?" "Yes, yes." Cluster nodded her head. "Yeah, yeah." Bryan also nodded his head. "It''s because she''s weak. I protected her in the special test. I defeated a lot of strong people so that those people wouldn''t come to her." Souta said with a smile on his face. He then looked at Lumilia. "Right?" Lumilia''s mouth twitched when she heard this. She wanted to rebut but she remembered that Souta was powerful and her strength was nothing to him, so she shut her mouth. "Is that right?" Bryan looked at Lumilia and asked with confusion. He thought that Lumilia was strong because she''s the leader of the class. "No, that''s not it. Don''t listen to what he says." Lumilia sighed and said. She then turned around and went into the kitchen. "What do you want? Tea or coffee?" "Tea!!" Cluster said as she lifted up her hand. "Tea!!" Bryan said as he raised his hand above his head. "Coffee..." Souta said as he stood up and patted his clothes. He followed Lumilia in the kitchen while thinking about something that happened in the special test. 104 Visiting Cluster 2 Souta stood up and looked at Bryan. "Play with Cluster for a while, I will ask class rep some things regarding the special test this morning." "What is it?" Bryan asked. "You''re in the collecting group before so you don''t know what happened at the campsite," Souta said. "Oh, right! I forgot about that." Bryan said then he looked at Cluster with a big smile on his face. "What do you want to play, Cluster? Today this brother of yours will accompany you." Souta nodded in satisfaction. He then went inside the kitchen. There, he saw Lumilia was preparing their tea and coffee. "Class rep," Souta called her as he approached her. Lumilia looked behind when she heard someone called her. She saw Souta walking towards her. "Is there something wrong? Do you want to change your drink to tea?" "Coffee is fine," Souta said as he looked at the coffee that she was preparing. He closed his eyes and smelled the aroma of the coffee. "That''s good." "Then, do you have something that you wanted to ask me?" Lumilia said while looking at Souta. This was the only reason she could think of why Souta followed her in the kitchen. "Hmm... Can you tell me what happened at the campsite on the special test?" Since she said so, Souta decided to ask her directly. "Ah, that. You''re the reason why our class'' score was the highest. I''m thankful for your effort on behalf of our class." Lumilia thanked him sincerely. She always wanted her class to defeat the other class and become the number one class, in that way she and her classmates would receive a lot of points. With this, they would be able to increase their combat power by redeeming various skills from the institute. She wanted to get into top rankers because she wanted the protection of the institute. "Don''t worry about it," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. "Then, can you tell me what happened at the campsite while I was away?" "There''s a lot of things that happened at the campsite. So what do you part do you want to know?" Lumilia said and asked him about the specific details. As a class rep and the one who''s commanding the class, she was aware that a lot of battles happened at their campsite. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin and said, "Then, what happened to the top 3 ranker Yuriko? Explain to me everything." "That..." Lumilia was surprised but she immediately regained her composure. She knew that it was strange that they managed to repeal the top 3 ranker along with her comrades. She thought that Souta saw Yuriko in their campsite and their red flag, so he must be wondering how did they manage to defend the red flag against her. "Yuriko, the top 3 ranker, appeared in our campsite along with her comrades after you left..." She began to narrate what really happened at the campsite. Randolf showed his overwhelming power and defeated Yuriko in one strike. "Randolf did that...?" Souta couldn''t believe what he heard from Lumilia''s mouth. Randolf defeated Yuriko in one strike? That sort of thing happened at the campsite? "Yeah, everyone was shocked too when they saw it," Lumilia said as if she still couldn''t believe that a seemingly delinquent classmate of her defeated the top 3 ranker. "That man...?" Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. It seems that there were still students who didn''t bother in showing their true power. He needed to be wary of Randolf as he doesn''t have any idea how powerful he is. He wondered if he would probe him or not in the future. Well, it all depends if he showed that he''s a dangerous individual. In the game, he couldn''t recall any person that resembles Randolf. "Okay." Souta nodded at her and he went back to Bryan and Cluster. Lumilia turned her head and looked at Souta''s figure. ... "I want to play with Yuko, Brother Souta." Cluster said to him as soon as he arrived. "Hmm...?" Souta looked at her then at Bryan. "She said that she wanted to play with Yuko," Bryan said with a wry smile. "Okay, let''s ask class rep." Souta smiled and said. There''s no harm if he let Cluster play with Yuko. Also, he forgot to buy some cake for Cluster. They could go to the market on their way to his house. Souta, Cluster, and Bryan talked for a while before Lumilia came. She brought the coffee and tea that she prepared. She gave the coffee to Souta and tea to Cluster and Bryan. Bryan and Cluster took their tea and took a sip at the same time. Souta smelled the aroma of his coffee before he took a sip of it. "It''s good as usual." He commented. Even though Lumilia was a noble she still knew how to brew good coffee and handle her daily necessities well. If it''s other nobles then they would only depend on their servant in things like this. He opened his eyes and looked at Lumilia. "Class rep, we''re going to bring Cluster in my house. She wanted to play with Yuko." Lumilia looked at the Cluster who has a bright smile on her face before she nodded her head. "Okay, I will come along too." "You sure?" Souta asked as he knew that Lumilia hasn''t been to his house. When he brought Cluster to his house to play with Yuko before Lumilia didn''t come along with him. Only Bryan and Cluster knew the location of his house. "Yeah." Lumilia nodded at him. "Hahaha, don''t be surprised if you see Souta''s house." Bryan laughed at the side. "Yeah, yeah, Brother Souta''s house is huge." Cluster said with a laugh. Souta just smiled and he didn''t deny it because it''s true. His house was big and it cost him a lot of his money that he got from selling the monster orb to Jimmy. Lumilia looked at Souta and she didn''t saw him deny it of agreeing to it, so she thought that it was true. After they finished their drinks, the group went out of Lumilia''s apartment. "Yay! We''re going to Yuko!" Cluster exclaimed while hopping in a happy manner. Souta glanced at her and thought that she was nowhere close to the Cluster that they first met. At that time, Cluster was silent and shy. She rarely talked to him and Bryan. But now, she could smile like that in front of him. "We''re going to the market first, Cluster," Bryan said with an excited expression. It looks like he was the child here other than Cluster. "Really?" Cluster looked at Bryan with sparkling eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Souta will buy anything that you like." Bryan assured her that Souta will buy anything for her. "Why me?" Souta heard his name being mention by Bryan so he asked. "It''s because you''re rich. A rich man." Bryan said with a confident expression. "The hell is that! Class rep is a noble, so why don''t you ask her." Souta said as he glanced at Lumilia who didn''t say anything. "Well, her house is small compare to yours," Bryan replied to him as a matter of fact. Lumilia''s mouth twitched when she heard Bryan''s words. "So that''s the reason why you think that I have more money than her," Souta said while nodding his head. "Yeah, is it wrong?" Bryan looked at him and asked. "Nope, your correct." Souta simply nodded his head. The corner of Lumilia''s mouth once again twitched when she heard Souta''s words. Souta looked at her and asked, "What''s wrong class rep?" "...I''m just wondering how rich you are." Lumilia smiled and said. She knew that Souta was just teasing him, so she decided to go along with him to avoid it. "You can''t fathom it with that mind of yours," Souta said with a smirk and he crossed his arms in front of him. "..." Lumilia wanted to say something but she decided to stay silent as her decision to go along with him was wrong. After walking for a few minutes, Souta, Lumilia, Cluster, and Bryan arrived in the market. "Whoa! I want this Souta!" Bryan exclaimed as he pointed at the shining green gem in the stall. "What are you a child?" Souta said to him. "Whoa! I want this Brother Souta!" Cluster exclaimed while pointing at the strawberry cake. "Okay, how much it is?" Souta nodded and he walked towards her. He took out her wallet and asked the salesman. "5 copper coins, sir." The salesman replied to him. "Okay, I''ll take three of it." Souta nodded and took out one silver coin. Suddenly, he heard a voice coming from his side. "Souta!" 105 Visitors Souta heard someone called his name. He looked over and saw a man with huge build. He has short brown hair and sky blue eyes. He was Brando Hylott from the Shield Class 1-A. "Oh? Brando! How are you?" Souta greeted Brando with a smile. "I''m fine. How about you?" Brando replied as he walked towards Souta. He noticed that Souta was with Bryan, Lumilia, and a little girl. "I''m fine," Souta said and he turned his attention to the salesman. He received the paper bag that contained the strawberry cakes. Brando had many bruises in his body. After all, Souta defeated him before in the special test. "Hello, Bryan and Asvares." Brando greeted Bryan and Lumilia then he looked at the little girl with long green hair. He wondered who''s this little girl. Cluster hid behind Lumilia and carefully looked at Brando. Since she didn''t know him, she was shy and wary at the same time. Bryan smiled at this and said, "She''s Cluster. We''re taking care of her." "I see..." Brando nodded his head in understanding. Souta who finished buying the strawberry cakes joined the conversation. "How''s your injury?" He asked Brando. Brando looked at the bruises on his body before he replied, "It''s okay, the healers from the Institute healed most of the heavy injuries in my body leaving only the bruises." "That''s great," Souta said. "Do you have something to do?" Bryan asked Brando. "Nothing, why?" Brando replied to him as he slightly tilted his head. "Then, do you want to join us? Actually, we''re going to Souta''s house." Bryan asked Brando even though it wasn''t his house. Brando looked at Souta and asked, "Is that okay?" Souta pondered and thought that there''s no harm if Brando was going to join them. He looked at Lumilia and asked, "Is that fine with you?" "It''s okay, it''s your house after all," Lumilia replied to him as she patted Cluster''s head. "You heard her," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. "Thanks, then I will take your offer." Brando thanked them with a smile. Lumilia looked at Brando and never thought that Souta and Bryan were his friends. He wasn''t surprised that Brando was Bryan''s friend because most of their classmates were Bryan''s friend, but what surprised him was Souta. In the class, Souta would only talk to a few individuals and it''s pretty rare if he would talk to someone else besides Alice and Bryan. It''s already rare that Souta would talk to someone in their class, then what about the other classes. Souta and Bryan knew Brando well. Back in the ranking battles, Bryan challenged Brando a lot as Brando defeated him in the mini-tournament before. While Brando challenged Souta in the battle for the same reason. Ever since then, the three of them became close and always talked when they met each other. "Honestly, I got scared when Souta appeared in my class'' campsite," Brando said with a sighed. He knew from the ranking battles that Souta was many times stronger than him, that''s why he trained harder for the past months. He wasn''t prepared to fight Souta in the special test, so he''s planning to avoid their class at all cost, but who would have thought that Souta was going to appear in front of their campsite. "Haha, that''s nothing." Souta laughed lightly. "It''s okay if it was only Bryan but you Souta... It was a different matter." Brando sighed helplessly as his shoulder dropped down. He wanted to get stronger not just for himself but for his class too. A lot of people were ridiculing his class saying that they were not fitted to become a class 1-A. Their class was the weakest among all of class A in the Institute. "Ha, so you''re telling me that you can handle me," Bryan said as he smiled deviously. "Of course, if it''s you I still have a chance." Brando didn''t back down. "Haha, then let''s fight and see if you can do it." Bryan laughed. "Stop it, you two. Both of you know that you can''t win against me." Souta said as he walked between them. Lumilia just simply listened to their conversation. Cluster was sticking close to her as there''s a new face in their group. Suddenly, Souta stopped walking as he felt the presence of someone following him. "Hmm...?" Souta quietly looked around his surroundings. He tried to guess who''s following him. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Lumilia asked him when he suddenly stopped walking. Bryan and Brando too looked at him with a questioning gaze. Souta looked at them and he took a deep breath. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Don''t be surprised about what I''m going to say." Lumilia, Bryan, and Brando nodded at him. They noticed his serious expression, so they thought that what''s his going to say next was important. "Follow me, I''ll tell you while walking," Souta said in a low voice and he started to walk. Lumilia held Cluster in her arms as she followed Souta closely. Bryan and Brando followed him closely so that they could hear what he''s going to say. After a few moments, Souta opened his mouth and said in a low voice. "Someone is following us." Lumilia frowned when she heard his words. She looked down at Cluster with a worried expression. She then asked, "How many?" "Five or more," Souta said to them. "Hmm... That many people are following us but I still couldn''t notice them. It means that they have some skills. I want to fight them." Bryan commented and grinned widely. "I felt that they are powerful. With skill like this, I think you wouldn''t stand a chance against them." Souta said. "Is this true, Souta?" Brando asked from the side. "Yeah, I think it would be good if you go now," Souta said to Brando. "I will stay here. I''ll gladly help a fellow schoolmate of mine." Brando replied to Souta. "Oh? Then, thanks." Souta was surprised at Brando''s words. To think that Brando would choose to stay here despite knowing that someone was following them. It seems that he needed to place Brando in the bracket of a good guy. "Let''s go here." Souta went inside the restaurant. He thought that if he went inside the place where a lot of people stay those people wouldn''t show themselves. Also, if someone went inside this place, Souta would be able to mark them and remember their face. Lumilia, Cluster, Bryan, and Brando just nodded their head and followed Souta with asking any questions. Souta was the strongest among them and he knew how to handle this kind of situation, so they followed him like a leader. Also, Lumilia and Bryan would follow him and know that he wouldn''t bring them any harm from their experience in the Desolate Forest. Souta''s group went to the second floor of the restaurant and there they sat in the vacant table. No one said anything and they sat silently sat in their seat. Souta rubbed his chin and he looked outside the window. He wondered why someone was following them and he wanted to know what''s their purpose. He couldn''t clearly determine their number as some of them were quite skilled in stealth. If not for his good intuition, he wouldn''t be able to notice that someone was following him. If these people were following them then they clearly have a target. Souta guessed that it was Cluster. He thought that the people who were after Cluster found her. It''s not that surprising as Souta didn''t bother himself in disguising her. It was only a possibility. He wasn''t sure if she''s really the target. There''s only one thing that he was sure and that''s these people were quite strong. Souta noticed that something was wrong. There''s no waiter that ask them about their order even when they were just sitting here for a while now. He turned around and saw two people wearing black cloaks in front of them. Bryan and Brando immediately stood up and put up their guard when they saw this. A commotion started, so the people in the other tables turned their heads to watched them. They all looked at the two people wearing black cloaks and Souta''s group who were facing them. Souta was still sitting in the chair while observing the two people. The person on the right side was grinning and his presence wasn''t that much, but the problem was the person on the left side. The person on the left side doesn''t have any presence at all. If Souta weren''t going to focus his senses then he would be able to sense the man''s mana. ''This man could hide his mana this well. Compare to the other one this one is more dangerous.'' Souta thought and he focused his eyes on that person. Then, the person on the right side lifted up his hands. He pulled down his hood and revealed his face to the rest. Souta saw the man''s face and was surprised. He smiled and said, "I should have killed you at that time. Well, I won''t let you go this time." He suddenly pulled out the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his waist and used [Crimson Moon] skill immediately. Swoosh!! 106 Assassins The man pulled down his hood and revealed his face to the rest. He smiled and said, "Long time no see brat." Bryan and Souta revealed a surprised expression as both of them knew this man. Souta smiled and said, "I should have killed you at that time. Well, I won''t let you go this time." He then quickly grabbed the handle of the Vajra sword and pulled it out. He used the [Crimson Moon] skill. Swoosh!! Bryan quickly reacted as he went beside Lumilia and Cluster. He took the two away as he knew that Souta was going to fight here in this place. Brando was stunned as he doesn''t know what''s happening. He didn''t even know who''s this man and had no idea what''s their relationship. The other man pulled out a dagger and quickly stepped forward in front of his comrade. He raised his dagger and blocked Souta''s attack. Boom!! The man managed to block his attack, so Souta quickly turned to Brando and shouted, "Brando, protect them you''re a shielder, right? Then, it''s your job to protect them!" Brando nodded and went beside Lumilia and Cluster. Lumilia took Cluster in her arms as she took a distance and casted defensive spell. Bryan knew what to do in this kind of situation. Since Souta asked Brando to protect the rest, he had to fight now. Souta once again used [Crimson Moon], but his attack was blocked by the man once again. "Damn!" Souta cursed as he gathered his mana and casted [Agility Boost], and [Strength Boost]. He narrowed his eyes as he observed the two figures in front of him. The man who blocked his attack was wearing a black cloak. His figure was muscular and his feature was sharp with a scar on his right eye. He was armed with a sharp dagger and Souta guessed that it was an orange grade weapon. Souta knew the other man. That man was Vince, the knight that he fought before in the Desolate Woods. And now this man came to kill them. He then heard a sound in his head. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Protect]: Protect Lumilia from the assassin that came to take her life. Time limit: 5:00 Rewards: 20,000 exp, 6 free attribute points, and 3 skill points ''Hmm...? So their target is class rep, not Cluster.'' Souta thought. He knew that Lumilia''s apartment was protected by Institute, so these assassins couldn''t enter there easily. They must have thought that this was a chance since only he, Bryan, and Brando was here. Also, they wouldn''t be able to fight well because of their injuries. "This is getting bad," Souta muttered in a low voice. He accepted the quest without hesitation. Well, it''s class rep he was talking about. One of the customers here stood and approached them. He was going to say something when his head flew in the air. Putchi!! His blood spurted out like a fountain. In the next moment, their face was painted with fear and they screamed loudly. Fear consumed their hearts as they started to panic. "Ahh!!" "Help!!" Brando and Bryan opened their eyes widely at this scene. Lumilia covered Cluster''s eyes with her hands. She doesn''t want her to see this scene. The man with a dagger looked at them with an annoyed expression. He opened his mouth and said, "So noisy!" He then waved the dagger and blue light swept out towards the other customers. Swoosh!! Suddenly, Bryan appeared in front of them and casted defensive spell. He wasn''t going to let other people die. Boom!! Souta glanced at Bryan then he used [Cat''s Speed] and [Triple Muscle Strengthening]. He then dashed towards the man with a dagger. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta slashed his sword several times but the man simply parried all of his attacks. "An assassin attacking his target openly, are you an amateur or not?" Souta mocked the man while slashing his sword. "Don''t worry, all of you will die here." The man said while blocking Souta''s attack. Souta frowned as he felt his wounds opening up. This was really not a good situation for him. He just fought this morning, so his stamina and mana haven''t recovered yet. The man blocked his sword and quickly launched a powerful punch. Swoosh!! Souta moved his body and he managed to avoid the punch. He then saw the man stomped his feet on the floor. Crack!! The floor cracked before it collapsed. Boom! "Damn!" Souta found himself falling on the first floor. He adjusted his body and used [Air Walk]. In just a second, he arrived on the second floor and clashed again with the man with a scar on his face. Clang! Clang! Clang! ... Vince was surprised and thought that they would be able to kill Souta quickly. He didn''t think that Souta would grow this powerful in just two months. He shook his head and looked at Lumilia, their target. After he survived in the calamity, he didn''t go back to Melosa Country immediately. He first rested in the Dry Gultch town and saw Souta''s group there. He observed them and found that Lumilia was a noble of an opposing country and Souta was her guard at that time. He then went back to his country. He reported what happened there and his lord was enraged. They lost a lot of people there and wanted to take revenge, so they hired an assassin to kill the opposing people and that''s Lumilia. Even though Lumilia wasn''t the culprit of the calamity, she was still there. Lumilia''s group prevented everyone from taking the Mystical Light Cherry. Vince''s group didn''t even manage to bring out some benefits in the Desolate Woods but instead, they suffered heavy casualties. His lord just wanted to vent his anger. All the other things were just an excuse. "It''s all their fault. Yeah, it''s all their fault." Vince muttered to himself while looking at Lumilia. ... Several figures broke the window and entered the second floor. They were all wearing black cloaks. They stood up and looked at everyone. One of the figures stepped forward and said, "Kill everyone here immediately. The city guard will arrive in this place soon." Brando activated all of his combat arts that could increase his strength. He knew that he wasn''t strong and if one of these people could match Souta then he was sure that he couldn''t handle them alone. Suddenly, a figure flew and crashed in the pillar of the room. Boom! It shook the whole area and cracks started to spread around. Brando looked at it and was surprised when he saw that it was Souta. "Brother Souta!" Cluster shouted worriedly. "Ouch!" Souta groaned in pain as he won''t a mouthful of blood. He stood up and patted his clothes. These people were too strong for his current condition. If he wasn''t injured in the first place, then he would be able to put up a decent fight. He looked at his mana and saw that he could only cast his spells seven more times. His stamina wasn''t going to last too. "The hell with this! There are five more assassins!" Souta cursed when he saw another five people wearing black cloaks. He glanced at Lumilia''s group and at his opponents. He assessed that they were at a disadvantage in number and also in strength. "There''s no choice but to do this," Souta muttered as he casted [Shadow Bind] spell. He then circulated his mana around his body. The black figures quickly move their body and dodged the shadows that were trying to bind them. He then used [Cross Moon] to destroy all the pillars of the room. Boom!! "Brando! Protect class rep and Cluster!" Souta shouted at them. "What about Bryan and the other people?" Brando replied to him. "We don''t have time to worry about them!" Souta said as the ceiling collapsed. Debris of rocks fell down and crashed the ground. Some of the rocks crushed the customers into meat paste. The black figures immediately jumped out of the window while Vince and the man with a scar on his right eye casted defensive spell as they were far from the window. "Damn! That brat!" Vince cursed as he looked at Souta. Souta looked down and he slashed the floor beneath him. He jumped down on the first floor. He doesn''t care about the other people in this restaurant. As long as they survive, it''s okay for him. Souta wasn''t worried about Bryan as he knew that guy has some sort of luck in this kind of situation. He guessed that he will found Bryan later who miraculously survived. He landed on the first floor and he also destroyed the pillars. He wanted this whole building to fell down and it will give him some time. But the black figures who went outside through the window saw him. Two of them immediately went inside the first floor and threw a powerful punch at Souta. Souta tried to block the punch but the enemies were faster than him even with all of his buffs. Bang! Bang! "Argh!" Souta flew and crashed in the wall. He was gasping as the bandage on his left hand was now blood-red in color. ''Damn! This is bad! The special test this morning drained my mana and stamina!'' He cursed in his mind. His hands were trembling and sweat kept pouring. His vision was getting blurred. ''Do you want me to kill them for you? Just let me borrow your body.'' A sweet voice sounded in his mind. Souta knew that it was the [Vajra Sword Saya]. The two figures slowly approached him. ''Okay, I''ll let you borrow my body.'' Souta lifted up his head with great effort. He looked at these people with a smile but the next second his smile turned stiff because of the [Vajra Sword Saya]. ''I''ve changed my mind, ufufu.'' The [Vajra Sword Saya] laughed in his mind. ''You kidding me, right?!'' Souta looked at the two figures who arrived in front of him. "Just die!!" The two figures took out daggers in both of their hands before they raised it above their heads. Souta closed his eyes and cursed the Vajra sword in his mind. But after a few seconds, he still hasn''t felt anything. He opened his eyes and saw the two figures didn''t have their heads anymore. Their heads fell down and rolled on the ground. Their eyes were widely opened as they couldn''t believe that they died. "Ah~ no one could kill him in my presence, only I could do that." A feminine voice sounded. Souta saw a woman approached him. The woman arrived in front of him and held his cheeks. "Ah~ You''re amazing, marvelous, wonderful, incredible- ah~ I love you. I like you. I want you to myself but you''re still not ripe. I''ll let you go for now. But after this, in the next test, I will crush you!" 107 The Appearance of the most powerful studen ''Who is this girl?'' Souta thought while looking at her. The girl has long lilac-colored hair that was tied in a ponytail at the back of her head. Her eyes have different colors. Her left eye was blue in color while the other one was crimson red. She''s wearing the uniform of the Ladro Institute. Her bust wasn''t big nor small, it''s a normal size. Her skin was smooth and as white as snow. She was beautiful, more than any woman that Souta saw. ''Whoa! It''s my first time seeing these eyes...'' Souta was amazed when he saw her eyes. He then recalled what she said before and shivered. He opened his mouth and said, "W-What did you say?" "Ah~ you didn''t hear it clearly. Okay, I will repeat it for you." The woman placed her mouth near his ear and said, "I love you. I want you to myself. Even now, I''m holding myself for taking you. I know, you''re still not ripe." "Hah? That''s not what you said before." Souta frowned as he looked at her. ''There''s something wrong in her head.'' He thought when he heard her words. "Ufufu, it seems that you are listening to me. I like it." The girl flashed a seductive smile at him. "Anyways, help me stand," Souta said as his body was embedded deep in the walls. He couldn''t move well because of his injuries and tiredness. Since this girl was wearing the uniform of Ladro Institute, he thought that she was here to help her fellow students. "I don''t want to." The girl said as she just looked at him without doing anything. Souta was stunned. He was about to say something when the ceiling above them collapsed. Boom!! "But don''t worry, I won''t let anyone get you. I will kill those people that dared to hurt you. Only... Only I could do that! Ah! I won''t let anyone! Those rights are mine!" At the end of her sentence, her tone changed, and her breathing speeds up. ''Damn! This girl is bad news!'' Souta cursed in his mind and wondered who this girl is. "Hmph!" The girl looked up and her magical power exploded. Boom!! Her aura swept the debris of rocks that were falling. Souta was shocked when he saw this. He started to think if this girl was really just a student. Her power wasn''t something a student could possess. Just who the hell is this crazy girl? ... The fall of the building naturally caused a commotion. The people in the vicinity looked at this curiously and wondered what happened that caused this building to fall. "What happened here?" "I don''t know. I just heard a loud explosion and when I looked the building was falling." "Let''s call the city guard." "They will handle this kind of thing." The people around started whispering to each other. Then, they saw three people wearing black cloaks walked towards the site. "So he''s still alive." He muttered in a low voice. He glanced at his surroundings and decided to finish this quickly before the city guard arrived here. Suddenly, a man burst out of the debris of rocks. The man has short spiky black hair and black eyes. He was Bryan Dagruel. "Oh~ I thought I would die," Bryan said as he wiped the blood on his forehead. He looked around him and saw Souta with a girl that he didn''t know. "Souta, what are you doing?" He opened his mouth and asked Souta. Souta lifted up his head and looked at Bryan. "Oh? Bryan, you''re still alive." "Of course, I wouldn''t die easily." Bryan smiled and said. He then looked at the girl in front of Souta and asked, "By the way, who''s that girl?" "She?" Souta glanced at the girl in front of him and shook his head. "I don''t have any idea who she is but I think she''s our ally this time." The girl glanced at Bryan before she turned to Souta. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "Ufufu, not ours but yours." ''Damn! This crazy girl! Where the hell did she pop out!'' Souta cursed inside his mind. He didn''t let it showed on his face. He just simply smiled while looking at her. "Hehehe." "Ufufu." The girl also smiled while looking at him. ''Okay, I''ll ignore her for now.'' Souta thought as he closed his eyes. He doesn''t want to look at her for now. At this time, Brando and Lumilia emerged from the debris of rocks with Cluster. Both of them were covered in bruises as they protected Cluster from harm. "Are you okay, Cluster?" Lumilia looked at Cluster and she gently asked. "Yes, I''m fine but you and brother..." Cluster said as she looked at Lumilia and Brando who protected her. "Don''t worry about us. We''re fine." Lumilia smiled and she patted Cluster''s head. "Yeah, don''t worry. We''re going to protect you." Brando said as he flashed a bright smile to Cluster. He then looked around with a frown on his face. They survived but the other customers in this place weren''t as lucky as them. ''Just who the hell are those people?'' He thought. Vince and the man with a scar on his face emerged from the ground. "That fucking brat!!" Vince cursed loudly while holding his head. He felt pain on his head as a huge rock fell on it before. "Where the fuck he is?!" The man with a scar on his face gritted his teeth in anger. The people wearing black cloaks were stunned when they saw that Souta''s group survived without a single casualty. The man that looked like the leader gritted his teeth. He opened his mouth and shouted, "Kill them all, we need to finish them! We can''t afford to fail this!" "Yes!!" All of them pulled out their sword. Swoosh!! Suddenly, the woman beside Souta appeared in front of him. "Wha-" The man was surprised when he saw this. He couldn''t understand how this girl appeared in front of him. She was so fast that he couldn''t even saw her moved. "I''ve heard it, you know. You wanted to kill my precious S-Sou... Ah~ I can''t handle it anymore. Just saying his name... makes me... Ah~" The girl said in a strange tone. Then, she stretched out her hand to grab the man but the man jumped backward. "What the hell is this girl?" The man said while looking at the girl. "You!! I''ll smash, crush, break, and destroy you, ugly bastard!!" The girl shouted and her mana burst out of her body. Boom!! Her release of power shook the entire ground and a powerful gust of wind swept out in the whole area. Her aura suppressed every people in the vicinity. It was so powerful that weak people couldn''t even breathe under her aura. "Argh!!" The man that looked like the leader gritted his teeth as he tried to endure the pressure. The air around him was tightening. The pressure were focused on him and his comrades. He opened his mouth and said, "Let''s abort the mission. Let''s find another opportunity." They thought that it would be an easy mission as Souta and the other were injured, but who would have thought that this girl would appear out of nowhere and help Souta''s group. "Hmph! You will not get away!" The girl snorted and waved her hand. It was followed by a dense mana that swept everything out. It was so dense that people could see it with their own eyes. Boom!! The dense mana swallowed the people who were wearing black cloaks. Not just them but the other people who were watching this got caught up in the aftermath. Boom!! It caused several explosions in the area around them. It destroyed a few building and the people started to run in panic. Obviously, they don''t want to die in this place. "So powerful..." Brando covered his eyes as he stood in front of Lumilia and Cluster. "Ahhh!!" Bryan shouted as the explosion swallowed him. He was closed to the man with the scar on his face and Vince, so he got caught up in the explosion. ... Smoke and dust-covered some parts of the destroyed buildings. The whole area was in ruins as more than ten buildings were destroyed. "Damn! The crazy girl is powerful!" Souta muttered while looking around him. He was safe and sound. Not even dust reach him despite the powerful explosions around him. The girl protected him well. Only him as Bryan''s condition right now was unknown. Brando placed down his hand and looked at the girl with long lilac-colored hair. "Just who is this girl?" Lumilia looked at the girl and gulp. "I remember those features. That hair color, that eyes, and that face. There''s no doubt about this." "Do you know her?" Brando asked. "Yeah, I think she''s the current Top 1 Ranker of the whole institute. The one who dominated the Grand Tournament and beat the Royal Prince. The most powerful student of Ladro Institute in history..." "Yanagi Shina." 108 What a tiring day *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the quest "Protect"!] [You''ve received 20,000 exp, 6 free attribute points, and 3 skill points!] [You''ve level up!] [Strength attributes have increased by 15!] [Agility, Dexterity, Vitality, and Intelligence attributes have increased by 10!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [You''ve received 1 free skill point!] Souta looked at the system prompts that he received. He already finished the quest since this unknown girl already killed all the assassins. But to think that not even five minutes have passed before the helper arrived. He also found that he levels up from the exp that he received from this quest. He was level 24 right now and it will take a long time before he level up once again. After a few more levels, his level will reach the middle level of the version 2. Well, right now Souta has 11 skill points in total. It was enough to level up his [Shadow Bind] spell to level 10. If he does that then he would be promoted to Rank 2 Mage. His strength would increase once again. Souta shook his head and put all these thoughts in the back of his mind. Right now, he wanted to go back to his house and rest. This day was pretty tiring even to him. "Argh!" He gritted his teeth and tried to move his body out of the walls. In the end, he didn''t manage to get out of the walls. His body was still embedded deep in the walls. "Damn! This is hard!" Souta cursed as he loosened his muscles and lay there comfortably. He closed his eyes and clear his mind. "This is not bad... I''m sure the city guard will come here later." He muttered. He then heard a sound that someone was talking to each other. Opening his eyes, he found Lumilia, Brando, and Cluster. They were talking something while observing the unknown girl. ''These people are now comfortably talking to each other while I''m here stuck in the walls. Damn! After all the things I did to protect them.'' Souta thought while looking at the three of them. He opened his mouth and said, "Oi! Can you guys help me get out of here?" Lumilia, Cluster, and Brando turned their heads when they heard his voice. They found him stuck in the walls. "Brother Souta!!" Cluster broke free from Lumilia''s arms and rushed towards Souta with a concerned look on her face. Brando also rushed towards Souta when he saw his condition. It was worse than he imagined. Cluster arrived in front of Souta and tried to pull him out. "Argh!! Brother!! I''ll pull you out!!" She tried her best but she couldn''t do it with her strength. "I''ll handle this," Brando said with a smile as he patted Cluster''s head. Suddenly, a voice sounded beside his ears. "What are you doing to m-my... S-Sou- him?" "Ehhh...!!" Brando subconsciously took a step backward. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "I-I''m just helping my friend." He was nervous as he was talking to the number one student of the Ladro Institute. He didn''t know why she was here but she helped them in this crisis. Cluster hid behind Brando when Yanagi appeared. She didn''t know this woman, so she was quite wary of him. Actually, she was wary of Brando too but he saved her this time. Yanagi knitted her brows and said, "Don''t worry about him, I will take care of him." Souta who heard this opened his mouth, "Oi! Brando, don''t listen to her. Just help me get out of here." "Eh?" Brando didn''t know what to do as Yanagi was emitting a fierce aura. He didn''t know what she would do if he didn''t follow her. He looked at Souta and said, "I''m sorry, Souta. I will let her take care of you." "Oi! I''m your friend, right? At least help me get out of here." Souta looked at Brando with wide eyes. "Good." Yanagi looked at Brando and she flashed a beautiful smile at Brando. "Um... M-Miss Shina, what will you do to Souta?" Brando carefully asked Yanagi. "Don''t call me that! Use "lady" when you''re talking to me!" Yanagi said with an annoyed tone. "Only Souta can say my name directly..." She said in a low voice that only she could hear. "Okay, Lady Shina..." Brando nodded at her. ''Shina... It feels familiar... Don''t tell me she''s Yanagi Shina.'' Souta thought and was stunned when he realized that this girl was Yanagi Shina of the Ladro Institute. Her appearance was different from what he knew in the game. In the game, Yanagi Shina was a famous NPC in this kingdom. She lost her left eye in the demon invasion and because of some unknown skill, her lilac-colored hair turned into silver color. Her appearance when he saw her in the game was really different when she was still in the Ladro Institute. The players of the Hebrei Kingdom called her Goddess of Hebrei. She created her own group that only consist of a powerful woman. The king of the kingdom permitted her, so she led her group to roam around the kingdom to help kill the demons. In the end, she fell in the event where the Zodiac, one of the Three Bringers of Calamity, attacked the whole continent. It was really tragic at that time when the Zodiac attack the continent. Several large countries and kingdoms fell in that event. Even the Three Great Countries suffered heavy casualties at that time. The Zodiac only have twelve members but each one of them possessed power rivaling that of a God. Souta stared at Yanagi Shina as he recalled what happened in the game. ... Souta and the rest heard several footsteps coming towards their direction. All of them turned their heads and saw people wearing silver plate armor and helmet. They were the city guards of Ladros City. The city guards looked at them before they approached them. They recognized Yanagi Shina as the most precious student of the Ladro Institute. "What happened here, Lady Shina?" The captain of this squad asked Yanagi in a polite tone. "Hmph! It''s just some insects that tried to kill my Souta." Yanagi snorted and replied to the captain. The captain smiled wryly and understood that he would not get any information from her. "Um..." The captain turned around and saw a petite girl with blue hair and blue eyes. The girl was Lumilia. "Sir, I''m Lumilia Von Asvares from Asvares Family. I will recount what happened here to you." Lumilia introduced herself first as she wanted the captain to know that she was a noble lineage so that he wouldn''t doubt her. There''s another reason why she did that. It was because she doesn''t want these city guards to bother Souta and the rest for information. Lumilia started to recount what happened here without missing a single detail. The captain listened to every word that came out of her mouth. While Lumilia was talking with the captain, Souta was having a hard time as Yanagi kept looking at him. Yanagi sat down in front of him and started on his face. This action made Souta uncomfortable. ''Damn! What''s wrong with this girl?!'' Souta cursed inside his mind. After a few minutes, Yanagi stood up and patted her clothes. She clasped his cheeks and said, "I''ll go now. If I stay here anymore, close to you. Then, I think I wouldn''t be able to hold myself back. I might devour you." "Right, just go now," Souta said as he ignored the second part of her words. It''s better to ignore the words coming out of this crazy girl. Yanagi turned around and disappeared like a bubble. Her presence also disappeared, so Souta was sure that she already left. He sighed in relief and called Brando to help him. This time, Brando help him quickly. The city guards asked them a few questions before they let them leave. But Souta, Brando, Lumilia, and Cluster didn''t leave immediately as they knew that Bryan was buried underground. They waited for the city guards to clear the place and they found the unconscious Bryan. They went to healers with Bryan to get some first aid. ... "Damn! Who''s that girl? She''s so powerful. I thought I would die this time." Bryan said in a loud voice. His body was covered in bandages as he was the one who received heavy injuries among them. "That''s the most powerful student of the Ladro Institute," Souta said with a tired expression. "Really." Bryan looked at him. "Yeah, yeah, she''s the one," Souta said. After walking for a few minutes, the group arrived in Souta''s house. They entered there and rest for a while. They didn''t have the energy to play because of what happened. Really... What a bad day, yet good at the same time. It was bad because Souta was tired enough because he drained his mana and stamina. It was good because he received a lot of skill points in just a single day. 109 Rank 2 Mage Souta prepared a room for Bryan and Brando in his house. They protected Lumilia and Cluster so they were quite tired. He let them rest so that they could recover a bit of their strength. Cluster went to Yuko and played with her while Lumilia was guarding her. Souta walked outside and sat beside Lumilia who was watching Yuko and Cluster. He didn''t say anything as he simply watched Yuko. After a few seconds, Lumilia opened her mouth and asked, "How are you?" "I''m fine. I''m just tired as I exhausted my mana and stamina." Souta replied to her. "Then, what about Brando and Bryan?" Lumilia asked. "They...? Bryan''s injury was grave so he needed the rest the most. I''m surprised that he could even talk with that kind of injury." Souta explained to her Bryan''s condition. He let Bryan drink some of his recovery potions to speed up his recovery. But he only used low-level potions, not the medium-level potions, so it would take a few days maybe a week before Bryan recovered. If it was a medium-level potion then Bryan would be jumping and laughing right now. Well, Souta wouldn''t use it for something like this. Those medium-level potions of his were reserved for emergency use for Yuko and him, not other people. "I see..." Lumilia nodded at him and she waited for him to explain about Brando. She will buy potions or pills later to help the two recovered. "Brando... Hmm... I''ve got to say that his condition is worse." Souta said as he looked up in the blue sky. "Worse?" Lumilia glanced at Souta as she couldn''t understand why Brando''s condition was worse than Bryan. How was Brando''s condition worse compare to Bryan who almost died? "I can see it. He''s trembling, he''s scared, and he''s afraid. I can see all of it in his movements." Souta said as he closed his eyes but he still continued explaining, "His face is pale and he''s holding himself back not to puke. He''s physically better than Bryan but mentally. It''s his first time seeing people brutally killed in front of him." With regard to this kind of thing, Souta thought that Bryan was used to seeing that scene. Even Cluster was better than Brando. Well, after they experience the calamity in the Desolate Woods who wouldn''t toughen their mind. This was the reason why Souta concluded that Bryan and Cluster''s background was deeper than Brando. Then, what about him? Souta doesn''t know what he''s like in the earth as he could only remember vague images up until now. Right now, if Souta was to say it he would admit that he''s cold-blooded. He felt nothing when he massacred those bandits and he even used their soul to strengthen himself. All the people he killed would lose the chance to be reborn again as their soul became a nutrition in his body. Souta opened his mouth and added, "If he couldn''t come up with himself then his mind will break." Souta shook his head in response to her question. "Nothing, he himself needed to do this." "Souta, how did you get so strong?" Suddenly, Lumilia asked this question out of nowhere. Souta looked at her and wondered why she asked that. He recalled before that she needed the Mystical Light Cherry to increase her strength. It seems that some internal fight was happening in their family. "I don''t know, I just didn''t give up to any challenges that I face," Souta replied to her questions. Actually, he didn''t know how he would reply to her question, luckily something came in his mind. Only he knew the real answer and the reason why he''s strong was because of the system. If he didn''t have the system then he was sure that he was still in the Undead Sanctuary. That''s why he''s trying his best to learn combat arts and spells without the help of the system so that there''s a skill that he could call his own hard work not the work of the system. Souta shook his head and he stood. "I''m going inside the house. If there''s anything you can ask me. I''m in the first room on the second floor." Without waiting for her reply, Souta went inside the house. "Okay." Lumilia nodded and she gazed at his retreating back. ... Souta went to the last room on the first floor. This room was the room where he placed the potions and pills that he collected throughout his journey. He also bought some of these potions and pills for emergency use. He approached the red potions that were stock in the cabinet. He got these potions from the money he got from selling the monster orb. He reached out his hand and picked one of the middle-level potions. He opened the lid and drunk it without hesitation. After a few seconds, he felt warm energy circulating inside his body. He noticed that his wounds were healing rapidly. The healers that the city guard brought only used [Light Heal] to him and the rest of the victim. If he wanted to completely heal his wounds it would cost money. That''s the same in the institute. They would only use healing spells until they were sure that they will survive from the injury the received. That''s why Souta, Bryan, Brando, and the rest of the students weren''t completely healed after the special test. Points were needed if they wanted to fully recover. "Hmm... It''s good. If someone attack us right now. I could probably repel them." Souta said and hope that someone attacks them. Well, it will trigger another quest and that''s what he wanted. That''s why he didn''t let Lumilia leave quickly. Since she was the target he wanted her to stay by his side in case someone attacks her. "Hahaha, what a lucky girl. She already gave me a lot of quests. I will squeeze out all the quest that I could trigger from her." Souta laughed before he stood up and locked the door. After he locked the door, Souta sat in the center of the room. He closed his eyes and looked at the system. "I guess it''s time to promote my class." He had 11 skill points in total and he only needed 10 skill points to level up the [Shadow Bind] spell to level 10. Without hesitation, he used 10 skill points to level up his spell. As soon as the [Shadow Bind] spell hit the level 10, a system prompt sounded in his mind. *Ding!* [You''ve fulfilled the requirements for promoting the Mage Class!] [Do you want to rank up you''re class to Rank 2? Yes/No?] ''Yes...'' Souta said in his mind without hesitation. [Processing information...] *Ding!* [You''ve successfully rank up to Rank 2 Mage!] [Intelligence attributes have increased by 30!] [Strength, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality attributes have increased by 20!] [Mana pool increased by 80!] [Magical resistance increased by 100%!] [Mana recovery increased by 15!] [Spell power have increased by 100¨G] Souta felt the increase in his stats and mana. It was a pleasant feeling knowing that he got stronger. He checked his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Goblin Corruptor(2nd Evolution) Level: 24 Class: Rank 2 Mage - Darkness Health: 596/596 Stamina: 348/348 Mana: 790/790 Strength: 314(254+60)[+] Agility: 403(203+200)[+] Dexterity: 390(190+200)[+] Intelligence: 300(240+60)[+] Vitality: 248(238+10)[+] Free attribute point(s): 74 Skill(s): [Dash] Level 3, [Stab] Level 4, [Sword Mastery] Level 4, [Mana Manipulation] Level 3, [Cat''s Speed] Level 2, [Air Walk] Level 2, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 2, [Pet Bestowing Skill] Level 2 Spell(s): [Fireball] Level 1, [Ice Shot] Level 1, [Light Heal] Level 1, [Agility Boost] Level 1, [Strength Boost] Level 1, [Mud Slide] Level 1, [Shadow Bind] Level 10, [Shadow Spike] Level 1, [Shadow Ball] Level 1 Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body], [Night Vision] Trait skill(s): [Corruption] Blessing(s): [Blessing of the Great] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul] Skill point(s): 1 Next, to promote to Rank 3 Mage he needed one of specialty to reached level 10. He decided that he will use the [Shadow Ball] spell to promote to Rank 3 Mage. He would be able to cast multiple shadow balls at the same time if he levels it up. It would help him a lot of he could teleport to many different shadows. It would also help him divert the attention of his enemies that knew the effect of this spell. Souta lifted up his hand and silently casted the [Shadow Bind] spell. The floor turned into pitch black color and several shadows that look like tentacles sprouted. The atmosphere of this spell was entirely different when it was level 9. Souta was sure that even the top 1 ranker of the first year Gyron wouldn''t be able to escape this binding spell. Before in the special test, Gyron was just wiping his [Shadow Bind] spell easily. The assassins too did that. But now Souta was sure that this spell would be able to bind Gyron for several seconds. Even though it''s a tier 1 spell, it''s still a level 10 spell. Plus, all of his spells were one hundred percent more powerful than before because he became a Rank 2 Mage. Its effect was closer to a tier 2 spell. 110 If you have any problem just ask me Souta could feel the difference of level 10 [Shadow Bind] spell. He could control these shadows like a part of his body. Really, what a strange setting. There''s no function like this in the game. He clenched his fist and canceled the spell. The floor turned back to normal and the shadows dissipated into thin air. Souta stood up and picked up the bag that he always brought in his adventurer''s quest. He reached out his hand towards the potions and pick the bottle with orange liquid. This was the monster potion that he acquired in the underground base when he was trying to get the [Vajra Sword Saya]. He lifted it up and observed it before he placed it inside his bag. He was already a Rank D Adventurer so he would start taking difficult quests, and perhaps there''s a situation that he couldn''t handle with his current strength like before when the assassin came to kill Lumilia. He needed to bring this to him all the time in case something bad happened. Souta also placed middle-level health potion and middle-level mana potion in his bag. With his current health and mana, it would require his this level of potion to recover a large amount of his mana and health. The only thing he needed right now was the potion that could recover his stamina. Unfortunately, that type of potion was pretty hard to acquire even at this large kingdom. Suddenly, an idea came into his mind. Souta recalled that Jimmy was an influential merchant. He had a lot of connections across the whole kingdom and the neighboring countries. If it''s Jimmy, Jimmy could acquire it for him. Souta just needed to invest a large amount of money in this. "Well, that''s not a problem for me," Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. ... Souta exited the room and went to his room on the second floor. He picked up a pair of gloves there and changed the gloves that he was wearing. He fought several battles this day and his gloves were in tottered. Also, the glove on his left hand was gone. The only thing that was covering his hand was the bandage that he wrapped. He went outside the room and bought drinks for Lumilia and Cluster. He saw that Cluster was sleeping on Yuko''s soft and fluffy fur. "When did Yuko let her sleep on her like that?" Souta wondered when he saw this scene. He only knew that when he brought Cluster here in his house, she was only playing with Yuko. He smiled and he approached Lumilia. He reached out his hand that was holding a glass of fruit juice to her. "Here." "Thanks." Lumilia received the glass of fruit juice. She looked at Cluster with gentle expression. "She fell asleep, huh?" Souta muttered in a low voice. "Yeah, she''s tired after what happened this day. She''s just a child yet so many things have happened to her." Lumilia said with a somewhat sad expression. "Um..." Lumilia didn''t know what choice to choose. She wanted to help Cluster find her family but it would gather the attention of the organization that was after her. She didn''t have enough information to know the name of that organization and their hideout. "You know it''s not easy to fight that organization. Even my strength right now isn''t enough. Also, even if you reported it to the city guards, we wouldn''t get their help because we don''t have any evidence or proof." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "That''s why you don''t need to worry about her right now. Just keep on training until you acquired enough strength. Well, if you''re in the top ranker you can go in that organization''s hideout anytime you wanted because the top ranker was protected by the institute. Unfortunately, we don''t know where their hideout." Lumilia lowered her head and gazed on the ground. She was digesting everything that he said. "Ah, I forgot to tell you one thing," Souta said as he looked up in the sky. The sky was slowly getting dark and the wind was getting chilly. Lumilia tilted her head as she looked at him while waiting for what he was about to say. She wondered what''s he''s going to say to her. "Those people before weren''t after Cluster. They were after you so be careful. I advise you to keep looking at your surroundings and report it if you found strange people." Souta said with a serious expression. "Why...?" Lumilia was stunned when she heard that those people were after her, not Cluster. "That man before was the knight I fought in the Desolate Woods. He also survived that calamity and came here for revenge." Souta paused for a moment then he glanced at Lumilia. "Well, since you''re noble, he thought that we are your subordinates. So be careful there may be more of them." Lumilia looked down as there''s a lot of things that in her mind. Her problem in her family and now this assassination. While she was thinking about things she heard Souta''s voice. "Don''t worry about it. If you have any problem just ask me and I will help you with everything I''ve got. Just ask me sincerely and I will do it for you." She lifted up her head and saw Souta''s retreating figure. She tightened her grip on the glass of fruit juice and muttered, "Thank you..." After two hours, Souta woke up Bryan and Brando who were sleeping in his house. "It''s already dark. You can go back to your house now." Souta said in a loud voice. Lumilia and Cluster were behind him watching him woke up the two. "Ah, five more minutes..." Bryan muttered as he used the blanket to covered his head. Souta sighed when he saw this he reached out his hand and grabbed Bryan''s wounds. He gripped it tightly so that Bryan would feel the intense pain. "Ouch!!" Bryan cried out in pain as he jumped off the bed. "Okay, next is Brando..." Souta said. Brandon was easy to wake up. He wasn''t Bryan that wanted to stay here to rest. Bryan and Brando went to their home, while Souta walked Lumilia and Cluster to Lumilia''s apartment. He was worried that some people would attack once again. "Thank you." Lumilia thanked him as she slightly bowed her head. "Don''t worry about it. Remember my words before. If you have any problem just ask me." Souta shook his head and said to her. He then looked at Cluster and patted her head. "Be a good girl, alright?" "Yes, I''ll listen to Sister Mila." Cluster nodded her head. "Good." Souta looked at Lumilia and said, "I''ll go now." "Yes, thank you," Lumilia said. ... Souta woke up early in the morning. He pushed himself into a seated position and looked outside through the window. He stood up and went to the bathroom to wash his face. After that, he went downstairs and prepared breakfast for him and Yuko. "Hmm... I will start accepting those difficult quests." He muttered while cooking fried egg and fried rice. He was already a Rank D Adventurer so he would start accepting those difficult Rank D Quest that will give him 1 skill point per quest. With his current rank, that''s the maximum skill point he could get from Rank D Quest. It will be a different matter if it was a Rank C and above quest. He had breakfast with Yuko before he departed and head straight to Ladro Institute. ... Inside the institute, Souta found that a lot of students were glancing at him from time to time. He went to the cafeteria and bought a coffee before he went to his classroom. He found that Alice and Bryan were already in their seat. Souta entered the classroom with coffee in his hand. "Good morning, class rep!" He greeted Lumilia and he walked towards his seat. "Ah, good morning Souta." Lumilia greeted back. Souta placed the coffee in his hand on top of his desk before he sat down. He looked at Bryan and saw that he was sleeping soundly. Then, he turned his head to Alice and asked, "What''s wrong with our class?" The class went silent ever since he arrived here. They were all looking at him, Bryan, and at Lumilia. "There are rumors about you fighting some assassin yesterday after class," Alice replied to him. It seems that she was listening to the class. "Yeah, that''s true. Those assassins are strong. I couldn''t even defeat them on my own." Souta said to her before he took a sip of his coffee. Lynn who was beside Lumilia looked at Souta with a concerned look on her face. "See? I already said that Souta is fine." Lumilia said to Lynn in a low voice. "I really was worried about him. Ah, Mila why are you together with him yesterday?" Lynn asked. She recalled that Souta and Lumilia were together from the rumors that she heard. Also, they were in a restaurant... "Eh... Um..." Lumilia was surprised at her question. 111 Is this what they called fate? The door opened and Bargan went inside. He placed the book that he was holding on top of the table. "Good morning class." He greeted everyone. Everyone stood up and said, "Good morning teacher Bargan!" "Cough!!" Bargan coughed and looked at the back. Precisely he was looking at Bryan who was sleeping on his desk. Everyone turned their head and saw Bryan who was sleeping without a care in his surroundings. Lumilia knew that she needed to handle this kind of thing as the class rep. She turned her head and saw that teacher Bargan was still looking at Bryan. She actually doesn''t want to disturb Bryan because of what happened to them yesterday. Bryan got injured because of her that''s why she felt guilty about it. Lumilia opened her mouth and said in a loud voice. "Bryan! Teacher Bargan is already here! Don''t sleep in class!" Souta who was beside Bryan nudged him but unfortunately, Bryan was in deep sleep. He wouldn''t wake up easily just by someone nudging him, so Souta opened his palm and grabbed Bryan''s wounds to wake up him forcefully. "Ouch!" Bryan screamed as he stood up. He held his side and felt intense pain coming from his wounds. "What the-" He found that everyone in the class was looking at him. He doesn''t have any idea as he was sleeping, so he looked at Souta and asked, "Souta, what''s happening?" "You know that it''s not good to sleep in class when there''s a teacher." Souta simply said. "Yeah. Then, why didn''t you woke me up before?!" Bryan asked Souta. If Souta woke him up before Bargan came then this situation wouldn''t happen. "I wouldn''t do that. I just wanted to see you get scolded." Souta said with a smirk on his face. "You!! Traitor..." Bryan took a step back and looked at Souta with wide eyes. He asked in a trembling tone, "Are we really friends?" ''These two... They really have to talk while everyone is looking at them!'' Lumilia thought as veins pop up on her forehead. She gritted her teeth and said, "Souta and Bryan be quiet! Teacher Bargan is already here!" "Oi! Bryan, you''re too noisy. You''re making class rep mad." Souta said as he sat down on his seat like nothing happened. "..." Bryan didn''t know what to reply to Souta''s words. In the end, he smiled wryly and said, "Good morning, teacher Bargan." He then sat down on his seat while scratching the back of his head. Bargan sighed helplessly. He knew that Bryan was always like this and he never expected him to change that easily. Bargan slowly opened his mouth and said, "If you''re not feeling well, you can rest in the infirmary." He at least knew that something happened to them yesterday after class. That news spread in the institute like a wildfire and right now almost everyone knew it. "Really?" Bryan asked with a hint of expectations. "Yes." Bargan nodded at his words. Bargan looked at Bryan''s back and shook his head. "Okay, let''s start the class." ... Lunch break... Souta stood up from his seat and said, "Let''s have lunch together Alice. Let''s also check Bryan." Alice lifted up her head and looked at Souta. "Okay." Souta walked out of the classroom and Alice followed him. At the front row of the class. Lynn grabbed Lumilia''s arm when she saw that Souta and Alice leave together. "Mila, what should I do?" Lynn said with a worried look. "I don''t know." Lumilia shook her head. She doesn''t have any idea what advice should she give to her friend. "But you said you know him..." Lynn looked at Lumilia with a teary expression. "Yeah, but what can I do?" Lumilia nodded and asked. Since there were rumors that she, Souta, Bryan, and Brando were together yesterday when the assassins attacked them, she just explained herself to Lynn that they were friends. Of course, she explained that it was because of the little girl named Cluster. ... "Where are we going?" Alice asked Souta. She found that the path that they were taking was not heading towards the canteen. "We''re going to the Shield Class 1-A," Souta replied to her question. "Hmm... Why?" Alice nodded and asked why they were going to that class. "I''m going to check if Brando is fine," Souta said. "I see..." Alice nodded her head and she didn''t ask another question. Souta glanced at her when he found that she didn''t ask why they were going to Brando''s class. It seems that she heard that Brando was together with them yesterday after class. "Oh...?" Souta found it interesting that she was listening to the rumors. It looks like she was listening to the class in her seat quietly. If that''s the case, then he didn''t have to explain it to her. She''s not Bryan that would still ask it even though he heard it before. After a few minutes of walking, Souta and Alice arrived in front of the Shield Class 1-A. Souta stepped inside the class while Alice just waited in the corridor. As soon as he stepped inside the class, the whole Shield Class 1-A gone silent. All the students were looking at him without saying anything. "Um... Do you want something here in our class?" A tall muscular girl stood up and asked Souta. She had long black hair that was tied on the back of her head. Her skin was tan and her black eyes were looking at him with uncertainty. Souta looked around the class and he didn''t saw Brando here, so he turned to the girl that asked him a question. He looked at her from top to bottom and asked, "Are you the class rep here?" "Y-Yes, I''m Chiffon, the class representative of the Shield Class 1-A." The girl gulped and she introduced herself. She wanted to turn around right now when Souta looked at her from head to toe. She was nervous talking to the man who destroyed their whole class alone in the special test. According to the rumors, Souta did not only obliterate their class in the special test. He also defeated various top rankers alone making him the strongest first year. According to the assessment of the special test, there''s currently no first year that could fight Souta in an equal match. It would take various top rankers to subdue him. His power level wasn''t only the level of first-year students. "So you''re the class rep. Where is Brando?" Souta nodded and asked her. "...He''s absent." Chiffon replied to his question. "I see... Thanks." Souta nodded and thanked her before he turned around. He was about to leave the classroom when Chiffon called him. "Ieshi!" Souta stopped and he turned his head to look at her. He saw her looking at him in the eyes. "What is it?" He asked. He wondered if she wanted something from him or not. "Um... Is it true that some people attack you and Brando yesterday?" Chiffon hesitated at first before she asked. She had no way to confirm this rumor as Brando was absent today. Their teacher also didn''t say anything about this incident. She wanted to know the truth about why Brando was absent today. "Yeah, it''s true. Some weird people attack us out of nowhere." Souta said before he exited the classroom without waiting for her response. ... "How is it?" Alice asked him as soon as he came out of the classroom. "Brando is absent," Souta said as he looked back in the Shield Class. Brando''s injury wasn''t that worse. In terms of injury, Bryan''s injury was worse among the rest of them. He was knock out yesterday as he got caught up in Yanagi''s attack. Still, Bryan managed to go to the institute despite his heavy injuries. Souta knew that physical injuries weren''t Brando''s problem. It''s about his mental health. It seems that what happened yesterday was still bothering him up until now. "Don''t think about it. Let''s just go now and have lunch." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. He started to walk towards the direction of the canteen. "Fine," Alice said and she followed him from behind. ... In the principal''s office... Yanagi Shina was standing in front of the principal, Azrim De Reigan. Azrim looked at Yanagi with a frown on his face. He placed the paper files in his hand on his table. Tugh! A loud sound echoed in the whole room as the stock of paper landed on the table. "Yanagi, can you tell me the reason why you are in that place yesterday?" Azrim asked Yanagi with a serious expression. "I''m just shopping yesterday and found that my schoolmates were being bullied by some unknown people, so I decided to help them." Yanagi smiled and replied to him. "Are you sure that''s what you''re doing? You''re not following Souta Ieshi, right?" Azrim said as he stared deeply at Yanagi''s eyes. "Um... It''s just a coincidence that I met Souta there." Yanagi smiled brightly and said. "Is this what they called fate?" "How did you know him? I''m sure that you don''t have any acquaintance in first-year students." Azrim asked her. "Also, I''ve heard a report from the teachers of the first year that you snuck in the special test yesterday. What will you say about that?" "Tch!! Those damn teachers. As I thought, they are going to be in my way from pursuing Souta..." Yanagi clicked her tongue and said in a low voice with an annoyed expression. "I can hear you, you know?" Azrim said with a sighed. 112 Meeting the Gale Group A week had passed since the assassination incident in the shopping district. The incident gathered a lot of attention across the whole city. Unfortunately, they didn''t have a way to know the culprit''s goal as Yanagi Shina killed all of them. Several people died in this incident. The city lord and the institute compensated the family of the victims. It was really a tragic event. The three people who were involved in this incident were outside of the Ladros City. The three of them were clearing the low-level dungeons in the vicinity of the city. Shing!! Souta pulled out his sword from the body of a five-meter tall spider and he placed it back inside its sheath. This huge spider was the boss of this low-level dungeon. In their current level, Souta and Bryan wouldn''t have a problem clearing this level of dungeon alone. "That''s too easy..." Souta muttered as he looked around him. There''s a lot of dead spiders in his surrounding. He then heard a familiar sound in his mind saying that he received a skill point for clearing this dungeon. "Yeah, there''s no challenge." Bryan nodded with a sighed. He really hope that he could fight some tough opponents in this dungeon. Unfortunately for him, all the monsters here were too weak. The only monster that could put up a fight here was the boss but even then, it was still too easy for Bryan and Souta. The boss only has the power of a top 20 ranker of the first year. Souta and Bryan only cleared low-level dungeons. Even though they could easily clear a low-level dungeon, they still haven''t touched a single middle-level dungeon at all. Why? It was because the middle-level dungeons were housing the monsters that formed their monster orb. That level of monster could easily obliterate them. The difference between low-level dungeons and middle-level dungeons was huge. Souta turned his head and looked at the person that came with them. He opened his mouth and asked, "How is it, Brando?" "Yeah, I''m starting to get used to it," Brando said as he nodded his head. He was absent the day after the assassination incident. On that day, he was thinking about a lot of things. And when he came back into his mind, he already decided to become an adventurer like Souta and Bryan. He thought that he would become stronger by following their footsteps. On that day, he saw it with his own two eyes that Bryan and Souta didn''t have any fear in their eyes when they faced those people. It''s like they were used to a life and death battle. Well, if you saw the power of the commandments would you still be afraid of some mobs? Nay! "Good." Souta nodded. He was shocked when Brando came to him and asked to join his party as Brando wanted to become an adventurer. At that time, Souta wondered what kind of things went inside Brando''s mind that he suddenly wanted to become an adventurer. In the monster tide two months ago, Souta and Bryan''s achievements were worth mentioning, so the guild promoted the two of them to Rank D Adventurers. "Let''s go out now," Souta said before he turned around. "Okay, we already did what we came here." Bryan nodded and said. He and Brando followed Souta behind. ... Bryan and Brando bid farewell to Souta after they finished reporting the quest that they did. "I''ll go now, Souta. Let''s party sometimes." Bryan said as he raised his hand above his head. He then turned around and left. "Yeah, let''s do that." Souta nodded at him. "Thanks for accepting me in your party," Brando said as he slightly bowed his head. "Don''t mention it." Souta shook his head. "Okay, I''ll go now," Brando said with a smile. "Be careful," Souta said before he turned around and went inside the Adventurers Guild. He walked towards the quest board and looked at it. He wondered what quest should he take right now for him and Yuko. He would start training Yuko so that she could form her own monster orb. If she managed that, then she would become a great asset to him in the future. "Hmm... A quest for Yuko..." Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. Suddenly, someone called his name from behind. "Souta!!" Souta turned his head and saw a group of five people. "Oh? Brianna?" He exclaimed when he saw them and recalled that they were the Gale Group. They were the party that was with Jimmy at that time when he came out of the Deep Forest. The Gale Group approached him. Brianna, the leader of the group, smiled and said, "We haven''t seen each other for a long time. How are you, Souta?" "I''m fine. How about you?" Souta smiled and asked while looking at the rest of the group. "We''re doing fine. We are now a Rank C Adventurers." The one who said those words was Tidor. A huge man wearing a full plate silver armor. He''s almost two meters in height. "I see... Well, I''m a Rank D right now." Souta smiled and said. "Hahaha, I know. You''ve become famous these days. A tamer of the Red Fur Bear. We heard a lot of rumors about you." Tidor said as he patted Souta''s shoulder. "You''ve grown a lot since the last time we saw you." "Grown?" Souta looked at Tidor with a confused expression. "You know, I haven''t gotten taller since the last time." He felt that Tidor was teasing him. "No, I''m not talking about that." Tidor shook his head and said, "I''m talking about how you''ve become stronger in just a few months." Everyone from the Gale Group nodded their head. When they first saw Souta they could easily guess his power level judging from the mana he''s emitting. But now it''s different, Souta wasn''t emitting mana out of his body. It means that he gained full control over his mana. At that time, Souta''s [Mana Manipulation] skill was only level 1. He could only do limited things with his mana at that level but now, he could even use it to protect himself or pressure those who are weaker than him. "Ah, that? Well, I''ve been training a lot from these past two months." Souta explained to them that he was training nonstop in the Ladro Institute. "So you''ve passed the entrance examination?" Tim asked. He was a short man wearing a red robe with blue linings. His black hair almost covered his brown eyes. He was the mage of the Gale Group. "Yeah, I''m currently a student of the Mage Class 1-B," Souta said to them. A woman with shoulder-length black hair and glasses on her eyes. She had a beautiful face and a scar below her left eye across her cheek ruin it. Her name was Jane. Jane looked around and asked Souta, "I''m wondering... Where''s Yuko?" Since Souta was here, she thought that Yuko was also here but she hasn''t seen Yuko outside the guild either. It seems that Souta didn''t bring Yuko with him. "Yuko? She''s in my house, guarding it." Souta replied to her. "Since you''re here in front of the quest board, you must be picking a quest. Am I right?" Jane smiled and asked him. "Yeah." Souta nodded his head. "Then, how about we party up and take the quest together." Jane proposed to him that they should party up just for once. "That''s a good idea. Right, captain?" Tidor laughed and looked at Brianna. "Mm, it''s really a good idea." Brianna gently smiled. Tidor looked at Souta and asked, "How about it, Souta? Are you in?" "Okay, but not now. How about a week later?" Souta nodded and said. If he''s going to take a quest with Rank C Adventurers then he''ll take those quest for Rank C with high rewards. Also, it''s already late and he had to go to the institute tomorrow. "Sure, we have a lot of free time." Brianna smiled and nodded at him. They knew that Souta was a student at Ladro Institute, so they understood that he didn''t have a lot of free time. Souta bid farewell to the Gale Group before he went back to his house. He planned to take a quest for Yuko but something came up, so he had to postpone it. Well, it doesn''t matter as he will bring Yuko with him in their quest. ... It was already dark when someone rang Lumilia''s doorbell. Lumilia was currently eating dinner with Cluster. Lumilia heard it and wondered who is it. She turned her head and looked at the clock. This whole apartment was Ladro Institute''s property. If the guard let this person in then it must be someone she knew. She stood up and walked towards the door. She grabbed the doorknob and opened it only to found Fred and Jusmin outside. "Fred, why are you here?" Lumilia asked as she opened the door and made a way for Fred to enter. It was then that she noticed that Fred had a gloomy atmosphere around him. "What''s wrong with Fred, Jusmin?" Lumilia looked at Jusmin and asked. "Young miss... We came here to pass you this letter from our lord." Jusmin lowered her head and she reached out her hands towards Lumilia. There was a white letter in her hands. 113 Lumilias problem "From father..." She muttered and she opened the letter. She spread the paper and read the words written in the paper. "This..." After she finished reading it, the letter fell down on the ground. She couldn''t believe what she had read just now. She opened her tremblings lips and said, "But I''m still trying my best here in the institute..." "Something came up in the family and lord asked us to bring you back..." Fred said as he lowered his head. He knew that there''s nothing he could do as he was just a mere butler of the Asvares Family. "I understand..." Lumilia said as she bit her lower lips and clenched her fists tightly. "I''m sorry, young miss. We couldn''t help you." Jusmin apologized to Lumilia. "It''s okay. It''s not your fault." Lumilia lifted up her head and forced out a smile at them. ... The next day... "The cultural festival will start next month, so you lot needed to prepare for your project," Bargan explained to his students the cultural festival. This month the students were going to enjoy being a normal student. There''s no battle that will happen and the institute forbid the duel this month. Still, they could learn spells or combat arts here. The institute only forbids battles, not learning or training. They could still rent the training ground to train their skills. Right now, the students were trying their best to increase their strength even a little, so this kind of announcement stunned them. Bargan smiled at them and said, "You''ve all worked hard, so let''s enjoy a normal life this month. No more fighting. I''ll let you talk to decide what you''ll do at the cultural festival." He picked up the book on the table and exited the classroom. He gave time to his students to talk about things and will let them decide what will they do at the festival. Everyone started to talk about the cultural festival. Everyone has different suggestions, so it was hard to decide what will they do. Souta noticed that Lumilia was silent. It seems that she wasn''t in the mood for this kind of thing. She''s not in her usual self. Usually, she will be in charge of this kind of situation and she will handle this professionally like she always did. "What''s wrong with her?" Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. Alice who was sitting beside him glanced at him. She saw him rubbing his chin and knew that when he rubbed his chin he was thinking deeply about something or planning wicked things. ... "Mila! Mila!" Lumilia snapped out of her daze when she heard someone called her name. She looked up and saw that Nayo and Lynn were looking at him with concern in their face. "Nothing." Lumilia shook her head and didn''t say anything more than that. "If you say so..." Nayo said while looking at Lumilia. She was still bothered by the fact that Lumilia wasn''t in her usual self. Since Lumilia didn''t want to talk about it, she naturally has to respect her decision as her friend. "If you have any problem you can always talk with us," Lynn said to Lumilia. ''It''s useless to talk about this. No one can help me.'' Lumilia thought as she bit her lower lips. If she''s only stronger and managed to secure the top 10 ranker then the institute would help her, but now... It seems impossible. Lynn looked at Nayo and saw her shaking her head. It means that she shouldn''t bother Lumilia or else it would make her angry. "Let''s leave her for now. We will take in charge of the class and when she''s back at it we could leave it in her hands." Nayo said to Lynn. "You''re right," Lynn said as she took a glanced at Lumilia once again. Lumilia recalled Souta''s words a week ago. At that time, Souta said that if she has any problem she could ask for his help and he will help him with everything he got. ... The class decided to continue the discussion tomorrow as they didn''t manage to come up with something today. They were still eliminating those things that were impossible to do. Bryan wanted to make a tournament where he''s the final boss. What kind of idea is that? So Lynn and Nayo eliminated this idea making Bryan throw a tantrum. Well, some of the students of Mage Class 1-B didn''t deny that idea. Some of them wanted to do what Bryan said like Randolf. That mysterious guy who defeated Yuriko in one strike. Since this guy likes Bryan''s idea, it almost made Souta manipulate Bryan to probe this guy''s strength but he holds himself back as there''s no point in doing that. Bryan could hardly defeat the top 10 ranker Johnson, so he wouldn''t be able to draw out Randolf''s true strength. It''s possible if he would fight Randolf in person but would that guy agree to him. So at the end of the discussion, they didn''t manage to come up with anything possible so they will continue it tomorrow. While packing his things, Souta saw a figure approached him. He lifted up his head and saw Lumilia. Alice and Bryan who was sitting beside Souta also looked at Lumilia. "Do you want something, class rep?" Souta asked her. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Souta?" Lumilia asked back as she lowered her head. "Okay." Souta nodded his head. "Thank you." Lumilia thanked him before she turned around and exited the classroom. Souta looked at her back and wondered what she''s going to say. Bryan looked at Souta and asked, "What''s wrong with class rep today?" "I don''t know," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder and followed Lumilia outside the classroom. ... Outside the classroom... "So what is it?" Souta asked as he looked around and saw the no one followed him and Lumilia here. "Um... Can I leave Cluster in your care?" Lumilia hesitated at first before she managed to ask him. "Okay. I''ll take care of her." Souta nodded at her. Lumilia looked up at him with a surprised expression. She was surprised that Souta agreed to her without hesitation even though he didn''t know the reason why she''s leaving Cluster. She slowly opened her mouth and asked, "You will not ask the reason?" "Hmm... Do you want me? Okay, why are you leaving her to me?" Souta nodded and asked her like she wanted. "Actually, I''ll go back the Gripin City this weekend, to my family. I couldn''t bring Cluster with me because of some private matters, so I wanted you to take care of her while I''m gone." Lumilia said in a sad tone and she lowered her head. "Weekend? Actually, I''m taking a quest this weekend so I''m not free at all." Souta said to her that he didn''t have free time. "Wha-" Lumilia was stunned. She didn''t know what to do right now. "Did you forget about Bryan? You can leave Cluster to her. Don''t worry about it Bryan could handle himself. Also, once I''m finished with the quest I''ll quickly go and fetch her from Bryan." Souta said as he assured her. "Right? I forgot about him." Lumilia said in a low voice. She was actually reluctant to leave Cluster with Bryan. She wasn''t sure if Bryan knew how to take care of a child. "Don''t compare Cluster to other children. It''s true that Cluster is a child but she''s different from other children. Remember when we first met her. Up until now, she hasn''t told us why those people were after her or how she managed to escape in the Desolate Woods where thousands of monsters live." Souta said to Lumilia. He looked at Lumilia and saw that she didn''t say anything. He sighed and patted her shoulder. "Don''t worry about it, I''ll talk to Bryan." Souta then walked away from her. Lumilia lifted up her head and looked at Souta''s back. "You said..." 114 Wanting to grow "Bryan!!" He turned to Bryan and called him. Bryan looked around when he heard someone called his name. He found that it was Souta. "What''s wrong, Souta? Do you want something from me? I''ll tell you I don''t have any money." "No, I don''t care about money. I have a lot of money." Souta shook his head. "Then, what is it?" Bryan asked as he tilted his head. "About Cluster. You see, class rep is going back to her home so she needed someone to take care of Cluster. I''m busy so can I leave her to you?" Souta explained to him Lumilia''s situation. "Cluster? Okay, leave her to me and I''ll protect her." Bryan said as he patted his chest. It seems that Bryan understood what he''s saying. Souta nodded in satisfaction. He smiled and said, "Thanks, that''s all." "Okay, I''ll go now! I still have something to do after class!" Bryan said as he bid farewell to Souta while waving his hand. He then ran towards a certain direction of the institute. "Sure, be careful on your way," Souta said as he placed his hand inside his pocket. He then saw a person blocked his way. "Hmm...?" It was Nayo. She was Lumilia and Lynn''s friend. She was standing straight in front of him while her hands were resting on her waist. She had a serious look on her face. Souta instantly guessed why she''s blocking his way. She wanted to know where''s Lumilia or what did they talk about. Maybe both of them. Before she could say anything, Souta opened his mouth first. "Where''s Lynn? I thought that you two are always together." Souta asked as he looked around and he didn''t saw Lynn. "...She have some business." Nayo said, then she shook her head. "That''s not it..." She looked at Souta and asked, "Where''s Mila, and what did you two talk about?" "If she didn''t leave she''s still there..." Souta said as he pointed his finger on the left side where he just came from. He knew that Nayo was worried about Lumilia as Lumilia was really out of character today. "For your second question... I will not answer it. If you wanted to know it, you can ask her directly." He said seriously. "That..." Nayo didn''t know what to say now that Souta said it like that. "You''re her friend, right? Just ask her directly." Souta said to her before he left since there''s nothing to do in this place. He guessed that the internal battle of Lumilia''s family was getting worse. It raised up to the point where she needed to go back. Well, that''s only his guess and there''s a possibility that he was wrong. But that''s how the plot always moved, right? ... Bryan was standing in front of Bargan. Both of them were in the training ground of the institute. "Yes, I''m ready." Bryan nodded with a serious expression. "I will train you harder than you can imagine," Bargan said seriously. "Yes, I want to grow stronger and protect my friends," Bryan replied to him. Bryan used his points so that Bargan would teach him privately. Here in the Ladro Institute, every student could use their points on anything in the institute except for a few things like buying the life of students or teachers. In this case, he used his points so that he could get a teacher to teach him privately. Bryan wanted to get stronger because he saw how weak he is when the assassins attacked them. He couldn''t do anything at that time to protect the people. If not for Yanagi, all of them would die. "Come, show me your full power," Bargan said as he lifted up his hand and taunted Bryan. "Okay," Bryan shouted as his mana flared up to the peak. Boom! He then went straight to Bargan while pulling back his fist. "Too weak." Bargan smiled and he grabbed Bryan''s fist easily. He tightened his fist and smashed Bryan on the ground. Boom!! "Argh!" Bryan spat a mouthful of blood as the floor cracked like a spider web. "Use every spell that you know or else I will knock you out," Bargan said before he kicked Bryan. Bang! Bryan flew and rolled on the ground a few times before he stopped. He looked up at Bargan and used the spells that he knew. [Lightning Boots]!! [Lightning Edge]!! [Scorching Hand]!! ... "Teacher!!" A woman with long green hair and pupils turned around when she heard someone called him. The dark blue robe she''s wearing couldn''t conceal her voluptuous figure. She was Sabrina, the teacher of the Mage Class 3-A. Sabrina saw a student wearing a small dark blue robe. The student has long purple hair and purple eyes. The robe indicated that this girl was a Mage major. She observed the girl in front of her and asked, "What do you want from me?" "I want to use my points and help me get stronger!" Lynn said in a loud voice. "You want to use your points." Sabrina looked at Lynn from head to toe. "Yes, I wanted to catch up to someone I admire," Lynn said with determination in her eyes. "You know, that getting stronger wouldn''t let you become closer to the man you admire," Sabrina said to her. "I know... but I still want to fight beside him... I want him to acknowledge me..." Lynn said as she clenched her fists tightly. She wasn''t the type of girl who pursued strength but this time... It took a lot of time before she managed to decide that she wanted to grow stronger. Not just for him but for herself too. "Okay, I''ve seen your determination." Sabrina smiled at her. "Really?" Lynn looked at her with bright eyes. "Yes, what''s your name, girl?" Sabrina asked her. "Lynn Yaoli, a student from Mage Class 1-B!" Lynn replied in a loud voice. "Mage Class 1-B...?" She recalled that this class was the talk of the institute in the past few days because of what happened in the special test. A single student of Mage Class 1-B dominated the whole special test. Souta Ieshi, yes that''s the student''s name. The student who showed overwhelming might in the special test that shook the whole institute. Right now, almost every person in the institute knew his name. And this girl in front of her was a classmate of that person. Hmm? It looks interesting. "A lot of points are needed to hire me, you know?" Sabrina squinted her eyes and said. "Yeah, I will use everything I''ve earned," Lynn replied to her with a serious expression. Actually, she has a lot of points because all this time she only used it to buy food in the canteen. She didn''t even redeem a single skill all because she thought that it''s not that important to her. But everything changed ever since she saw his fight. She thought that it would be awesome to fight beside him. So she decided to use all the points she has to get stronger. "Then, it''s good. Follow me." Sabrina nodded before she turned around and started to walk away. "W-We''re going to train now?" Lynn asked. "Yes, I thought you wanted to get stronger." Sabrina glanced at her from behind and said. "Yes." Lynn nodded at her. "Then, follow me. Don''t complain because I will train you harshly." Sabrina said. "Yes!" Lynn nodded and followed behind Sabrina. ''Just wait and I will be able to stand by your side.'' She thought. ... Bryan and Lynn were not the only ones who asked a teacher to teach them privately. The other students also were beginning to use all kinds of tricks they knew to train. Some of them asked the people outside the institute to teach them while the other used points like what Bryan and Lynn did. Yujin, Brando, and many other students asked some of the teachers to train them. Everyone was training hard despite the upcoming cultural festival. Well, everyone knew that after this festival it would start another special test that wasn''t limited to year level. It means that they will have to fight their seniors if necessary. The next special test was going to be a huge battle between the first year and their senior. It was going to be an all-out battle. ... Souta looked in the blue sky and muttered, "It seems that a lot of people are busy today." He shrugged his shoulder and went to the market to buy something for Yuko. Of course, he wouldn''t forget Yuko''s favorite fruit and honey. It was an important part every day he went back to his home. "After this, I''ll take some herb gathering test or monster subjugation," Souta muttered as he walked towards the direction of the market. 115 Departure Lord Asvares, Lumilia''s father, was the famous Earl of the Gripin City. He had a large influence that could rival the city lord in the Gripin City. ... Souta woke up early in the morning. It was 5 am in the morning so the sun wasn''t up yet. It was still dark outside the house. He reached out his hand and opened the window. Swoosh!! The cold breeze of the morning gently blew on his face. "Hu... It''s cold." He commented as he wrapped the blanket around his body tightly. Souta has a lot of things to do today, so he pushed himself out of the bed and went straight to the bathroom. After he finished brushing his teeth and washing his face, Souta went downstairs and prepared his and Yuko''s breakfast. "This is enough..." Souta looked at the food he prepared for Yuko with a satisfied look. He then went to Yuko''s room and woke her up. "Yuko, we have a quest today so you need to get up now and have breakfast," Souta said while shaking her huge body. Yuko slowly opened her eyes and looked at Souta. She stuck out her tongue and licked his cheeks when she saw that it was him. "Okay, stop that. I''ve already prepared your breakfast." Souta said as he patted her head. After he gave Yuko her breakfast, Souta also ate his own breakfast. He then prepared a coffee for himself as he wouldn''t forget this. He never misses a single coffee every single day. Souta likes drinking coffee especially when it''s morning and the surrounding was chilly. It felt good to warm up his body by drinking warm coffee. ... Souta was washing the dishes when he heard someone rang his doorbell. Ding dong! "Wait! I''m coming!" Souta shouted as he washed his hands and head out. When he opened the door he saw, Lumilia with Cluster. Souta smiled and said, "Come here." Lumilia shook her head and said, "I needed to go now, so I''ll leave Cluster to you." Souta started at Lumilia before he nodded. "I understand, I''ll bring her to Bryan." Well, Lumilia didn''t know where is Bryan''s house so she could only leave Cluster to Souta. "Thank you." Lumilia slightly bowed her head and thanked him. Souta knitted his brows while looking at her. "W-What is it?" Lumilia asked when she saw Souta frowned. He had a cold expression on his face and that''s surprised her. He was looking at her with those cold eyes. Souta raised his hand and opened his palm. He then slowly opened his mouth and said, "I''ll say this one more time. If you have any problem you can ask for my help sincerely and I will help you to the extent of my strength." "Too bad. You lost your chance to get my help." Souta said while looking at her. Lumilia flashed a bright smile and said, "I appreciate your will. Thanks for that, I''ll go now." "Okay. Come here, Cluster." Souta nodded before he turned his attention to Cluster. Cluster nodded at him and she stood beside him while facing Lumilia. Lumilia squatted down and patted Cluster''s head. He gently smiled and said, "Don''t give brother Souta and Bryan some trouble. Behave like a proper girl." "I understand sister Mila." Cluster nodded her head as she grabbed Lumilia''s hand. Her eyes were getting wet and her cheeks were turning red. ''Don''t give trouble? Actually, I wanted trouble as there''s a possibility that I could trigger a quest.'' Souta thought when he heard Lumilia''s words. "Okay, I''ll go now." Lumilia stood up before she bid farewell to Cluster and Souta. She then turned around left. Souta and Cluster looked at her back until they couldn''t see her. They entered his house and gave Cluster some hot drinks that could warm her up. It''s pretty cold outside, after all. Souta went into his room and wore his adventurer''s clothes. Leather armor, leather boots, body bag, and pants. All of his equipments were blue grade except for his earring and sword. These two were different as they were universal and dark grade respectively. Going downstairs, he saw Cluster was still drinking the tea that he gave her. He sat in the opposite direction of her and said, "I have a quest right now, so I''ll leave you to Bryan. You got it?" "Mn." Cluster nodded at him and said, "Will sister Mila come back?" "I don''t know. You see I offered her my help before but she declined." Souta shook his head before he stood up. For him, Lumilia lost her only chance to get help from him as he was about to depart for his quest right now. Speaking of quest, he didn''t know what quest the Gale Group took. He let them picked the quest that will bring them the best rewards, so he doesn''t have any idea at what type of quest they will do. Only the Gale Group knew. Well, it doesn''t matter as he will know it once he arrived in the Adventurers Guild. He could only hope that the quest they picked will really bring him skill points. He shook his head and placed those thoughts in the back of his head. He looked at Cluster and he noticed that the cup of tea was empty. Souta stood up and said, "Let''s go Cluster. Let''s meet Bryan." "Okay, Brother Souta." Cluster nodded at him and she stood up. Souta glanced at her and he went towards Yuko while Cluster followed him. "Yuko!" Cluster ran towards Yuko and she hugged her soft body. "We''re going now, Yuko," Souta said and he picked up Cluster in his arms. He raised her and placed her above Yuko so that she was riding her. "Yah! Go Yuko!" Cluster exclaimed happily as she raised both of her hands in the air. Souta looked at her and said, "Grab tightly, or else you will fall." "O-Okay." Cluster nodded and she grabbed Yuko''s fur. "Good, follow me Yuko," Souta said and he walked away. Yuko followed him quietly. ... After walking for a few minutes, the group arrived in front of Bryan''s house. Bryan''s house was just a normal looking house made of wood. Souta approached the door and knocked on it. "Bryan! It''s me, Souta!" Souta said in a loud voice so that Bryan could hear him. Cluster went down from Yuko and stood beside Souta. After a few seconds, Souta didn''t hear Bryan''s reply. He grabbed the handle of the door and tried to open it. He found that it was locked inside and guessed that Bryan was still asleep. Souta sighed and he looked at Cluster. "It seems that Bryan is still sleeping." He said. "What should we do, brother Souta?" Cluster asked as she slightly tilted her head. "Of course, I''ll wake him up. Stand back and cover your ears, Cluster." Souta smiled and said to Cluster. Cluster nodded at him and she went beside Yuko and covered her ears using her hands. She looked at Souta with a worried expression on her face. "Huff..." Souta took a deep breath and slowly gathered his mana. He controlled it towards his throat before he shouted. "BRYANNNN!!!" His shout shook Bryan''s entire house. His voice was filled with mana and it became powerful and louder than his usual voice. With the level of his [Mana Manipulation] skill, Souta could do this much. [Mana Manipulation] skill was really a great skill. Back in the game, it was a useless skill as they couldn''t feel the mana there. This skill was only for design and a requirement for the Mage Class. Souta finally understood why the game was unbalanced and there''s a lot of useless skill. It was because the game was created base on the true magic world. The players were complaining back then about why there''s no loot in some dungeons. It was because those dungeons were just the breeding place of some monsters. It''s natural that it doesn''t have any skill books or weapons when the monsters were just wolves, slime, etc. who don''t use it. Despite all the complaints, the developer didn''t change it at all. It was because the game made it look like this world. Souta wanted to know who developed the game. Creating that game means the developer knew what will happen here and know the existence of this world. While Souta was thinking, the door opened and it revealed Bryan with a worn-out look. "Oh? Souta and..." Bryan looked at Souta with a tired expression then at Cluster. He then recalled what they talk about a few days ago. "I forgot that Cluster is going to stay here in my house." "Don''t forget it," Souta said as he rubbed his temple. 116 Miss Asvares After walking for a few minutes, Souta saw Tidor and Jane of the Gale Group waiting for him in front of the Adventurers Guild. If he could only use message here just like in the game then he already sent a message to these two. Ah, no, even if he could use the message it was pretty useless as he couldn''t use message on NPC. They were not NPC now, still, they don''t have a system so they wouldn''t be able to receive his message. He recalled they use different things from message. If he wasn''t wrong it was Talisman and Rune. Tidor and Jane were looking around trying to find him. Then, Tidor saw his face and he revealed a smile. He raised his hand and waved it as he called Souta''s name. "Souta!!" Souta approached the two with Yuko behind him. "Sorry, I made the two of you wait." He apologized to them. "It''s okay, you don''t need to worry about it, " Tidor said to him. "Yeah, you don''t need to apologize," Jane said and she shifted her gaze to Yuko who was standing behind Souta. She stepped forward and approached Yuko. "Still, you brought Yuko with you. You''ve gotten taller Yuko, unlike your master." Souta''s mouth twitched when he heard those words. He took a deep breath and calm himself down. There''s no point in getting angry about it as she was just stating the truth. If she''s not telling the truth then he had a reason to get angry at her. Is this what they called "the truth hurts"? Yuko lowered her head and Jane caressed her head. She could still smile brightly despite the scar on her face. Souta looked at her for a while before he turned his attention to Tidor. He asked, "So what type of quest did you take?" "Hm... A bodyguard quest." Tidor replied to his question. "A bodyguard quest?" Souta looked at Tidor. "Yes, it''s a type of escort quest. We will guard a noble this time and escort her to the Gripin City." Tidor explained to him. Souta nodded at him. So it''s an escort quest. The only difference was that they need to stay beside their employer all the time. In an ordinary escort quest, the adventurers will only protect the employer until they reached the designated place that was in the contract. "I understand. Shall we head now?" Souta nodded and asked as he glanced at Jane who was still patting Yuko''s head. "Okay." Tidor nodded at him and he shouted at Jane. "Jane, we''ll go now." "Okay, okay," Jane replied to a smile on her face. The three of them along with Yuko walked towards the meeting place, the west gate of the city. It took them a dozen minutes before they managed to arrive at the west gate. "We''re here," Tidor said to them. "So which caravan we''ll escort?" Souta asked as he looked at all the caravan here. "There, the blue one! Brianna and the others are already there. I can see them already!" Jane exclaimed as she pointed at the blue caravan. Souta looked and saw the blue caravan that Jane pointed. He stopped on his feet as soon as he saw the blue caravan. Tidor looked at him and asked, "What''s wrong, Souta?" "Nothing." Souta shook his head and sighed. Really, this coincidence really happened sometimes. He looked up and walked towards the blue caravan. He saw Brianna, Tim, and John waiting for them beside the blue caravan. "Souta. You even brought Yuko with you." Brianna said to him. "Of course, Yuko is my partner after all," Souta replied to her. "Okay, I''ll introduce you to our employer," Brianna said to Souta. Brian walked towards the blue caravan and knocked on the door. She opened her mouth and said, "Miss Asvares we''re all here. Also, the other one is here." The other one she mentioned was Souta. Of course, Souta wasn''t a member of their group. He just partied them this time as they wanted to do a quest together with him. Also, to deepen their relationship. Adventurers tend to party up together to build up mutual trust through the quest. The employer this time haven''t seen Souta at all. It was because Souta wasn''t with the Gale Group when they took the quest. Also, Souta had to meet the employer to formally sign up the contract of this quest. After a few seconds, the door of the caravan opened, and a short petite girl with shoulder-length blue hair and blue eyes came out of the caravan. The girl has a thick blue tail indicating that she was a demi. Her skin was white as snow and she has a beautiful face. She was wearing a blue dress that matched the color of her hair. Though her figure was that of a child, she exuded a mature charm and cold demeanor. The girl looked at Brianna then at Souta. Her eyes opened widely and her mouth was slightly agape when she saw Souta''s appearance. She was beyond shocked and didn''t think that they would meet this soon. "S-Souta!!" A feminine voice escaped from the girl''s mouth with a hint of surprise. "Eh...!" Brianna, Tidor, Jane, and the rest turned their head and looked at Souta with a questioning gaze. The people inside the carriage too cried out. It seems that they also knew Souta. Souta saw everyone looked at him. He lifted up his hand and scratched his head. "Ah, you see. The Noble Miss Asvares actually is my fiancee." "Eh!!" Everyone exclaimed when they heard his words. "W-What are you saying, Souta?" The girl lost her composure for a moment there, but she immediately regained it. "It was a joke," Souta said to them. "Eh! You''re joking?" Tidor looked at him with wide eyes. "That''s a joke. I really thought that she''s your fiance when you said it with that kind of face." Jane said with a sighed. "Ho~ I nearly have a heart attack just now," Tidor said as he patted his chest in relief. "That joke just now and couple it with that look on your face made me thought that you''re not joking. That''s bad, Souta." Tim said to him. "Fine, fine, I won''t do it again," Souta said as he scratched his head in annoyance. He then explained, "This girl, Lumilia, is my classmate in the Ladro Institute. We''re from the Mage Class 1-B." This noble girl in front of Souta was none other than Lumilia Von Asvares. "Oh? So she''s you''re classmate." Tidor said from the sideline. Souta then reached out his hand in front of Lumilia and said, "Let''s just get to it. Class rep, give me the contract and I will sign it." "O-Okay." Lumilia nodded her head before she glanced inside the caravan. "Jusmin, give me the contract." She said. "Oh? So you''re with Jusmin and Fred?" Souta said as he peeked inside the caravan. Since he knew these people, there''s no need to act reserved. "Young miss this is the contract." Jusmin gave a piece of paper to Lumilia. She then looked at Souta and said, "You! Souta! That joke just now wasn''t a good one saying that you''re young miss fiance. What if the lord hear us? You will not say anything when we arrive there." "Okay, fine, young Jusmin," Souta said as he raised both of his hands in the air. "You!!" Jusmin glared at Souta. Souta ignored her and he looked at Lumilia. This was the first time he saw her like this. She looked like a proper noble this time with her beautiful blue dress. Also, the atmosphere around her was different from her usual one. Is this was they called the Aura of Nobility? So she''s full on noble mode this time around. "Is there something on my face?" Lumilia asked him when she saw him starting on her face. "You''re different from ''you'' who visited me this morning," Souta said to her. "Ah, that..." Lumilia looked down at the paper in her hands and she gave it to Souta. "Here, please sign this up." Souta picked up the paper and read it with his eyes. He then glanced at Lumilia, "Is there a bonus gold? After all, I''m your classmate." "No, we''re fair here. Actually, it''s the opposite. Since young miss is your classmate we should have a discount for hiring you as our bodyguard." Jusmin said to him in a loud voice. "Bla-bla-bla, what a noisy maid?" Souta said as he picked up a pen and signed the paper since he didn''t saw anything wrong with it. As soon as he sign it, he heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Bodyguard]: Protect Lumilia from any harm that will befall her until she finished her objectives in the Gripin City. Rewards: 10,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 3 skill points ''Hmm? Objectives... I need to protect her until she finished her goals in coming back to Gripin City.'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. ''First, I need to know what her objectives. Maybe, I could help her so that I could speed up the quest.'' Souta then looked up in the direction of the Gripin City. He placed his hand on the handle of the sword on his waist. ''I need information. I feel that something big is going to happen today in this quest.'' 117 Gripin City He rested his hand on the handle of the [Vajra Sword Saya] that was hanging on his waist. Since the reward for this quest will give him 3 skill points, it wouldn''t bring him that much trouble. With his current strength, he could handle the quest that will give him 3-5 skill points. He wasn''t worried about this at all, he''s worried at what''s waiting for them in the Gripin City. He rubbed his chin and wondered why the reward for this quest was 3 skill points. Considering what happened before, if that person from Melosa Country sent another batch of assassin then it was surely stronger than before, so the difficulty increases. Souta shook his head and decided to think about these things later when he encountered it. "It looks like your quite close to them, Souta? You even know the name of the maid and butler." Tidor said. "Yeah, they employed me before so this was not the first time," Souta replied to Tidor as he gave the paper back to Lumilia. "You should go back inside now," Souta said to Lumilia. "Souta, do you want-" Lumilia didn''t even manage to finish her sentence as Souta interrupted her. "Don''t worry about me. I''ll do my job, you''ll do yours." Souta said as he turned around and walked towards the carriage behind the blue exquisite caravan. He knew what Lumilia was about to say. Although he wanted information, he still declined because of the Gale Group. He doesn''t want to ignore the group as they were in a party right now. It''s important to improve his relationship with other adventurers. Especially to those higher rank than him. In Lumilia''s case, she was his classmate so there''s a lot of opportunities to improve their relationship, but the Gale Group was different. Adventurers tend to travel from another place to another because of their job. Lumilia looked at Souta''s back before she shook her head. Brianna stepped forward and said, "I''m sorry for his action. I''ll talk to him later." "No, it''s okay. That''s not a problem for me. Shall we go now?" Lumilia gently smiled and asked Brianna. "Understood." Brianna nodded her head and she called her group. They went inside the carriage and their carriage started moving as they followed the blue caravan in front of them. Yuko was on her four limbs. She''s walking beside the carriage Souta was. With her body, she couldn''t fit inside any carriage so she had to walk. Traveling to Gripin City from Ladros City will take ten hours using this kind of carriage and caravan. ... Souta picked up one of the fruits that he brought here. He stretched out his hand and Yuko ate the fruit in his hand. He used several platinum coins to acquire these potions and medicine. He managed to get the potion that could temporarily increase his stamina regen through Jimmy''s help. "Are you Miss Asvares friend?" Tidor suddenly asked him. "Hm..." Souta pondered what''s his answer in Tidor''s question while rubbing his chin. He asked himself if she was his friend. When he found an answer he looked at Tidor and replied, "Yeah, I''m her friend." He remembered the time when he and Bryan visited Cluster. Yeah, she''s his friend. ''Hmm... Since I could say that she is friend maybe I could help her even without a quest. But, well, quest is important to me so she should ask me to help her since she''s my friend... or not? Should I force her? Argh! What should I do?'' Souta rubbed his head with both of his hands. He''s having a hard time deciding whether he should help Lumilia or not. Quest was important to him since he could earn skill points with it. ''Well, let''s decide it later when we arrived in the Gripin City.'' Brianna, Tidor, Jane, and the rest of the Gale Group just looked at Souta with a dumbfounded expression. They were wondering what he''s thinking. ... Just like that they smoothly arrived in the Gripin City. Since the route from Ladros City to Gripin City was inside the kingdom, the people who were traveling in this route didn''t need to worry. The adventurers were constantly receiving a quest to clean up this route, so there''s no need to worry about bandits and monsters. The group safely arrived in the huge gate of the Gripin City. The gate was almost forty-meter tall. The whole Gripin City was larger than a border city just like Ladros City. The population of this city was larger than any of the border cities in the whole kingdom of Hebrei. "We''re finally here," Tidor exclaimed while looking at the huge gate of the city. "Yeah." Souta nodded as he lifted up his head and looked in the sky. It was past dusk and the surroundings were getting dark as the lights in the city started to light up one by one. Souta then looked at Brianna and asked, "So, what should we do now?" "Our task is to guard Miss Asvares until she finished what she had to do here. In other words, we''ll become her personal bodyguards." Brianna replied to his question. ''Hmm... There''s really something wrong with Lumilia''s family. If there''s not then why would she hired adventurers to become her bodyguards. Can''t the knights in her family do that?'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. He shook his head and looked at Brianna. "What is it?" Brianna asked him when she saw him stared at him. Souta opened his mouth and asked, "Are we going straight to Lumilia''s mansion or not?" "That...? Souta, I advise you that don''t say Miss Asvares name that lightly here in this city." Brianna said solemnly. "What if I don''t follow your advice? What will happen to me?" Souta asked back. "Nothing." Brianna smiled and replied to him. It seems that she''s copying him. Making a joke like that. "You got me there." Souta laughed and said, "Then, what about my previous question?" "That? Of course, we''re going to Miss Asvares mansion." Brianna replied to him. She then looked at Tidor and Jane. "Tidor, Jane, have you explain the plan to Souta or not?" She asked the two. "Ah...?! I forgot about it when I saw Yuko." Jane smiled awkwardly. "Ehehe! Me too." Tidor laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "Sigh..." Brianna sighed when she heard their reply. She then looked at Souta and briefly explained what they have to do in this quest. They will escort Lumilia to her quarters and guard her room. From there, Brianna tasked two people to guard the door of Lumilia''s room. The next morning, they will go with Lumilia when she visited her father. Of course, they don''t know what will the two talked about. Well, a lot of people will visit the Asvares Family starting today. And their job was to protect Lumilia from any harm that will befall her. But all of that doesn''t answer Souta''s question about why don''t the knights of Asvares family guard Lumilia instead of them? ''Really, I hate politics the most. I should just do my job and help Lumilia if she somehow needed my help.'' Souta sighed and thought that things were getting complicated. After a few minutes of waiting, Souta and the others managed to enter inside the Gripin City. Lumilia''s caravan quickly went towards the direction of the Asvares mansion. In the carriage, Souta looked around the city. It was his first time coming here in the Gripin City. He didn''t even go here in Gripin City when this was still a game, so he doesn''t know the ins and outs of this city. Just from this, he already has a disadvantage when a battle broke out. This world was too big, so it was impossible for him to explore it alone. There''s even those unknown continent that only the people from ancient times knows. Also, the Hebrei Kingdom wasn''t a small country. It was a large country that has more than one hundred huge cities. Souta tried to memorize everything that he saw here in this place. The path that they have taken and he also took note of the huge mansion he saw in their way. "We''re here in the Asvares mansion." After a few minutes, they arrived at their destination. Souta and the Gale Group got down from the carriage as Lumilia, Jusmin, and Fred too. Souta stood beside Yuko and looked around his surroundings. The yard of this place was too wide and there''s a huge white mansion in the center of the field. Around the mansion were four exquisite three-story houses that were connected to the white mansion. In front of the mansion was a huge fountain along with the beautiful trees beside the road. ''So this is where Lumilia lives?'' 118 Who the hell have the guts to disturb my Yuko? Brianna gave a task to Tidor and John to guard Lumilia''s room. They changed places every three hours so that the other people could rest. While staring outside through the window, Souta heard a knock on the door of his room. He turned his head and asked, "Who is it?" "It''s me, Tidor. Souta, it''s time." Tidor said behind the door. Souta immediately understood it when Tidor said those words. It means that Tidor and Jane''s shift has finished and now it''s Souta''s time to be on guard duty. He will guard Lumilia''s room and protect it from any possible intruder. "Okay, just wait for a minute," Souta replied to Tidor before he pushed himself out of the bed. He fixed his clothes and he picked up the Vajra sword. He hung it on his waist before he opened the door. He saw Tidor waiting for him outside the room. Yuko was sitting beside the door as her huge body couldn''t fit inside the room, so she just stayed here outside the room. Souta felt pity when he saw her sleeping on the cold floor. "So, how is it?" Souta asked Tidor as he patted Yuko''s head to wake her up. "Nothing strange. But it''s too weird this way." Tidor replied to him with uncertainty. He doesn''t have any idea what''s going to happen in this place. Souta looked around first before he said, "Yeah, we don''t even know what''s going to come here. Well, let''s not worry about it. Let''s just do our job." "You''re right, we will just smash everything that is in our way." Tidor nodded at him. "I''ll go now," Souta said to him. "Okay, be careful." Tidor nodded his head. Souta walked away and Yuko followed from behind. They were heading towards Lumilia''s room. On their way, Souta spotted a lot of knights patrolling around the area. ''The security was tight and the knights have decent power level so what are they worried about.'' Souta thought while looking at the knights. He could sense that these knights were stronger than the knights he fought in the Desolate Woods. Even he would be able to take them out on his own. Is it because of the assassin? Did they manage to know who''s behind that assassination? But even if they knew that that doesn''t answer all the questions. Souta has tons of questions that he wanted to know the answer for him to do better in this quest. Suddenly, an idea came into his mind. ''Maybe, it''s about the other nobles. After all, Brianna said that a lot of people will visit the Asvares Family this week.'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. If the other nobles were really involved in this, then this made this situation more complicated. Thinking about this, Souta''s mouth curved into a smile. "Politics? I''ll crush it with brute strength." ... After a few seconds, Souta and Yuko arrived in front of Lumilia''s room. Souta stood in front of the door and he slowly raised his hand before he knocked on the door. "Class rep, it''s my shift this time. I just wanted to let you know that I''m here." Souta said before he stood on the side. Souta and Yuko were on duty at this time. The Gale Group treated Yuko as another person that''s why Souta and Yuko were alone here. A two-man group of monsters. Souta and Yuko stayed outside of Lumilia''s room for three hours before Jane and Brianna exchanged places with him and Yuko. Nothing happened this time except for the patrolling knights that wandered in this area. Souta wondered if the security here was really this tight. He went back to his room with Yuko. ... Souta woke up early in the morning. After washing his face, Souta went out and met the Gale Group. "Did something happen when I was asleep?" Souta asked Brianna. "Nothing unusual happened," Brianna replied to him. Souta nodded at her and said, "I''ll go out to check somethings." "Okay, we''ll guard Miss Asvares in your place." Brianna nodded at him. Souta and Yuko went to Lumilia. He said the same thing to her and Lumilia agreed. She didn''t have any problem with him going out to the market. ... In one of the rooms of the Asvares mansion... A middle-aged man with long blue hair was standing in front of the window. He was a tall man and he had blue eyes that were staring at Lumilia''s room through the window. He was none other than the lord of this mansion, Ursus Von Asvares. Also, he''s Lumilia''s father. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, "How''re my children?" Suddenly, a voice of a man replied to his question. "They''re fine my lord. The Vidrato, Burnfieth, and the Fryedim family will arrive soon." "I really didn''t think that Lumilia would incur the wrath of the nobles from Melosa Country," Ursus said and he paused for a moment before he continued, "It''s been twenty years since we managed to repel Melosa''s army. Really, what a timing Lumilia. Now that of all times." "Then, what should we do my lord?" Someone asked Ursus in a polite tone. "Right now, there''s nothing we could do. The nobles here are pressuring us so that they could get a piece of that thing. They wanted us to sell it to them and they will help us in dealing with those nobles from the Melosa Country." Ursus massaged his temple as things were getting complicated this time. "Tighten our security and defend our treasury. Also, put some people to know what my children are doing." "Understood my lord!" The person in the shadow said before it vanished. Ursus sighed and said, "What a troublesome children I have? They only brought trouble to this family." ... Souta and Yuko arrived in the market after walking for a few minutes. The shopping district in this city was larger than the one in Ladros City. Souta observed the shopping district and thought that there''s nothing wrong in this place. He also tried to find if someone was following him but he didn''t discover any people that were following him. ''Ah~ class rep, why this complicated quest only has 3 skill points as a reward?'' He sighed and thought that he''s putting thinking too much about Lumilia''s problem. It''s not his problem, to begin with. But well she''s his friend so he will help her solve her problem with his power. A lot of people in this place were giving Souta a glance. It was because of the Red Fur Bear behind him. It''s like it was their first time seeing a tamer walking around like this. "Yuko, ignore them," Souta said as he continued walking while looking around him. Then, Souta saw a coffee shop from the corner of his eyes. "Oh? Lucky. Let''s go Yuko." "Mu." Yuko followed him closely from behind. Souta went inside the coffee shop and ordered one cup of coffee while Yuko waited outside the shop. He felt pity about Yuko because of her size she couldn''t enter inside this place. "If I''m the king of this kingdom. I will not let these people who build small doors. Yuko couldn''t even go inside a coffee shop." Souta muttered to himself. If he somehow became a king, then he will create a law that forbids people from building a small door. He doesn''t want Yuko to always wait outside. He then wondered if Yuko evolved maybe she will grow smaller. If she''s smaller then it''s good but if she grew larger than she is currently it would become a problem. Souta rubbed his chin and muttered, "Maybe, it''s time for me to create a summoning circle. After this quest, I will start finding the recipe to create it. Since I could learn all skills regardless of class, maybe it will work out." If that really works, then Souta would be able to summon Yuko anytime he wanted like a proper tamer. ''Okay, I''ve decided that after this I will prioritize it more than anything for Yuko.'' Souta laughed while rubbing his chin. The other customer here in the cafe looked at him as if they were looking at an idiot. After all, they could hear that Souta was murmuring something. After a few seconds, the waitress arrived in front of Souta and said, "Um... Sir..." Souta snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone talk to him. He looked up and saw the waitress with his order. "Here''s your order, sir." The waitress said with a professional smile and she placed his order on top of his table. "Thanks." Souta thanked her before he took a sip of it. "Hmm... It''s good but it couldn''t match the one at Ladro Institute." Suddenly, he heard a commotion outside the cafe. He quickly stood up when he heard a familiar roar. "Yuko! That''s Yuko''s voice. Who the hell have the guts to disturb my Yuko?!" Souta''s face contorted in anger. He accidentally crushed the cup of coffee that was in his hand due to his anger. 119 Punishmen Did this mean that Ladro City was better than Gripin City? Souta knitted his brows. The roar he heard was definitely from Yuko. The people from here were really testing him. He stood up from his seat and walked towards the exit with a frown on his face. Outside the cafe... Souta saw a group of knights surrounding Yuko. He looked at the emblem on their chest and saw that it came from a different noble family. Five knights were all pointing their sword at Yuko. Yuko was roaring at them trying to intimidate them. A lot of people were looking at this scene as if they were watching a movie. None of them tried to stop the knights. These nobles... were really making him angry. They didn''t know their limit and thought that everything was for them to take. Souta exhaled and muttered, "[Shadow Bind]..." Suddenly, the whole ground turned into black. Everyone was stunned when they saw this scene but the spell wasn''t finished yet. In the next moment, several shadows burst out of the ground and strangled the limbs of the knights. "What''s this?" "Is this the bear skill?" The knights tried to break out from the shadows but it only made themselves worse because the more they struggle the tighter the shadows become. "Ugh!!" "Argh!! H-Help me!!" All of them groaned in pain as they felt their limbs were going to snap at any moment. The people who were watching this quickly move away afraid of going the same experience just like those knights. The pitch-black ground gave an eerie feeling that something was about to come out of it. "Yuko..." A voice sounded in the whole place. All of them turned over to look and saw a short man with dark green skin. The man had short black hair with golden color pupils. This man was Souta Ieshi. Souta walked beside Yuko and patted her head. "Don''t worry about it Yuko. I will handle the-" He didn''t even manage to finish his sentence when he saw a bloodstain on Yuko''s fur at the corner of his eyes. "What is this?!" He checked it and found that Yuko had a small cut on her waist. A man with blonde hair stepped forward with a frown on his face. He was wearing exquisite clothes. There''s no doubt about it that he''s the young lord of these knights. The man opened his mouth and said, "Are you the owner of this bear? How much-" Boom!! Suddenly, Souta aura exploded. A gust of wind swept out in the whole area. He slowly turned around and looked at them with wide eyes. "What''s the meaning of this... Hmpf..." The young noble said before a shadow covered his mouth so that he wouldn''t be able to say anything again. This was the power of the level 10 [Shadow Bind] spell. This spell was clearly different when it was still a level 9 spell. It evolved after it became level 10, so its power was close to a tier 2 spell, no, its power was already in the realm of a tier 2 spell because of the plus 100% increase in spell power when he became a Rank 2 Mage. "Yeah, what''s the meaning of this?" Souta walked towards the young noble and asked with a smile on his face. He was boiling in anger right now. Yuko was just waiting for him and they did that to her. They cut her! It''s a different matter if Souta and Yuko did it first. He will not get mad over it but judging from the scene he saw before and the condition of the knights it seems that Yuko didn''t fight back. If she fought back then there''s a high chance that Yuko would be able to defeat these five knights. Souta frowned as he felt several eyes on his. He looked around and clenched his fist. "Settle down." Boom!! Several shadows burst out of the ground. It stood straight forming a circle around him so that the other people couldn''t see what''s happening here. This [Shadow Bind] spell of his was different from the other. He could control these shadows like a part of his body. "My attitude depends on how you treat me and the people close to me," Souta said to the young noble. Even Souta knew that he wasn''t a good person like Bryan who pursued justice more than anything. Souta knew that his hands were dirty as he already killed hundreds of living creatures in this world. He''s not going to make an excuse as he knew that no matter what''s your excuse he still killed a living creature even if it''s only an accident. No matter what excuse a person have, killing is killing. A person still took a life and that will not change anything. The young noble opened his eyes widely when he saw Souta''s face. He finally realized what he was about to face. He wanted to scream but he couldn''t because of the shadow covering his mouth. Souta took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "Okay, I''m calm now. I will not kill you but I''ll punish you." The first part of his words made the young noble sighed in relief but the second part made his face turned pale. He struggled with all of his got but he didn''t have sufficient strength to break free from the shadows. "Break..." Souta said in a cold tone and the shadows that were binding the young noble and knights tightened. He wouldn''t kill them as it would give him a lot of trouble if he killed them. There''s a lot of witnesses in this place, so even if the city guard arrested him. The people here knew that the young noble started this whole mess, not Souta. If it comes to worse then Souta would just use his money to bail himself out after all he didn''t kill anyone in this place. Even if the one he beaten was a noble, Souta knew that he wouldn''t stay in jail for a long period. They would just get his information and asked him a question about the incident. It tightened to the point that it crushed their bones. "Argh!!" The knights screamed as several bone-cracking sounds echoed in the whole area. "You people shouldn''t have disturbed me when I''m having a coffee," Souta muttered as he turned around and canceled the spell. The young noble and the knights fell down on the ground with a loud "thud" sound. All the bones in their hands and legs were broken. All the people in the area were looking at him with fear in their eyes. They heard the scream of the knights when Souta broke their bones. Souta ignored those gazes and he went inside the cafe. He paid the bill of the coffee that he ordered before and the cup that he accidentally crushed. Souta glanced at the young noble and the knights one more time before he turned around and started to walk. "Let''s go, Yuko." Yuko ran after him. ... The young noble that Souta beat was a spoiled brat. There''s no doubt about it. It''s pretty rare to encounter this type of person. Souta encountered a lot of young nobles in Ladros City but they never mention Yuko to him. This city was really testing him. After a few minutes, the city guard arrived in the scene. They found the injured noble and knights. All of them have broken bones. They asked some of the people around the area and understood that a tamer was the one who did this. Souta was already gone from the scene so they couldn''t found him. ... Souta went back to Lumilia''s mansion. There, he saw that the Gale Group was doing their job in guarding Lumilia. "Souta, you''re back." Tidor waved his hand when he saw Souta. "Yeah. I''m here." Souta nodded with a smile. "Oh? What happened to Yuko?" Jane saw the small cut on Yuko''s waist so he asked Souta. "It''s just that someone didn''t know their place so I teach them some lesson." Souta shook his head and said. He didn''t say anything more than this. "I see..." The Gale Group nodded their head. They didn''t ask anymore since Souta look like he didn''t want to explain it to them. Souta saw their worried look, so he smiled at them and said, "Don''t worry about it, it''s merely a brat. Even if they went back to me, I will beat all of them including his father." 120 Its because he is Souta Ieshi While he was cleaning Yuko''s wounds, Souta heard footsteps coming from behind. He didn''t need to turn around to know who is it. Souta opened his mouth and asked, "What is it?" "The one you beat is the son of an influential man in other city," Lumilia said. "The news already spread out and everyone knew that a man with a Red Fur Bear was the one who did it." "I don''t care about who''s that man. Even if he''s a king, I still beat the shit out of them. All of them are the same to me." Souta replied to her. "They''ll come back you know," Lumilia said to him. "Tell them I''m looking forward to it. Yeah, I can''t wait for it." Souta grinned as there was a chance that it could trigger a quest. He''s truly looking forward to them coming back to him. "That man is my fiance..." Lumilia revealed some information to him. "I see..." Souta replied without turning around to look at her. On the surface, he looks calm but deep inside Souta was shocked by what he heard. That man was her fiance? Too much coincidence was happening recently. Lumilia just looked at Souta''s back. She couldn''t guess what was on his mind. Suddenly, a knight approach them and said, "Young miss, the lord wanted you to come and meet him." Lumilia looked at the knight and said, "Understood, go tell my father that I will go there." "Yes, young miss." The knight bowed before her before he left to tell Lumilia''s father what she said. Lumilia looked at the knight before she shifted her attention to Souta. She opened her mouth and said, "I''ll go now. I still have something I need to do." Souta turned his head and looked at her. He asked, "Do you want me to escort you?" "No, just continue cleaning Yuko''s wound. I''ll just ask Brianna and the rest." Lumilia shook her head and said to him. "Are you sure? You know, I''m currently one of your guards." Souta asked her just to be sure. Lumilia hired him, so he thought that he should do something for her. "Hm. I''m sure." Lumilia smiled before she turned around and walked away. Souta stood up and looked at her back. The corner of his mouth curved into a grin. This pattern... The fiance, the father, and the nobles. Souta was starting to understand what''s happening in this mansion. All of them were connected to each other but there''s still some unknown piece to complete the puzzle. In other words, Lumilia came back here to meet her fiance. But why? This timing... Is it about the incident in the Ladros City? Have they already finished the investigation and identified the corpses of those assassins. If that''s the case then Lumilia''s father already knew that she was the target of a certain noble from the country of Melosa. But... Why is the fiance coming here at this time? Is it a coincidence? No, at the very least Souta didn''t think that it was a coincidence. Then, there''s a possibility that the other nobles were moving as well. From the information Souta had, he knew that a lot of noble was going to visit Asvares Mansion because of some unknown reason, and that reason was Souta wanted to know. Nevertheless, they were going to stripped Lumilia''s freedom out of her. That''s what Souta could guess and she will not be able to go back to Ladro Institute. ''If I could trigger a quest then I will surely...'' Souta thought and another idea comes into his mind. From Lumilia''s action before, Souta guessed that she doesn''t want to get married to that noble. If she loves him then she would be concerned about his well being. "Okay, I will talk to her later," Souta said with a smile. "Hahaha, there will be a lot of drama in this quest of mine. Well, that doesn''t matter as I will get skill points." ... Lumilia was wearing a blue dress while walking in a huge hall inside the mansion. In front of her was Jusmin who was guiding her and behind her was Brianna and Jane who was guarding her. Soon, they arrived in front of a huge door. The door wasn''t an ordinary one. It was made from rare materials and the design was carved by famous sculptors. A mere tier 1 spell wouldn''t leave a scratch to this door. Jusmin stepped forward and gently knocked on the side of the door. "My lord, young miss has arrived," Jusmin said in a polite tone through the door. No one said anything. Everything was silent at this time. After a few moments, a metallic sound echoed in the door as it slowly opened. Lumilia turned her head and looked at Brianna and Jane. She said, "Wait for me, I''ll talk to my father." "Understood." Brianna and Jane said at the same time. Jusmin took a glance at Lumilia with a worried expression. Lumilia smiled at her in response before Lumilia went inside the room. Inside the room, Lumilia saw two people sitting in the chair from the opposite side of the table. The man on the left side was a middle-aged man with long blue hair and blue eyes. He was Lumilia''s father, Ursus Von Asvares. While the man on the right side was a chubby middle-aged man with short blonde hair and yellow color eyes. He was exuding a fearful aura around him. He was none other than the head of the Vidrato Family, one of the influential families in the neighboring city of Gripin. The two men turned their heads when Lumilia entered the room. The two of them observed her for a while before Ursus, Lumilia''s father, opened his mouth and said, "This is Gregory Vidrato, the head of the Vidrato Family. Also, he''s the father of your fiance, Lumilia." "Good day, father and lord Vidrato." Lumilia greeted them in a polite tone. "Nn." Gregory nodded his head while looking at Lumilia. "Currently, your fiance couldn''t come here because of some accident," Ursus said. "Yeah, some pretentious adventurer dared to harm the next heir of the Vidrato family," Gregory said in annoyance as he tapped his finger on top of the table. "Really, those adventurers are like that of the barbarian race. All of them are bold enough not knowing who they are offending." Lumilia just looked at them and didn''t say anything. She knew the one who did that to the heir of Vidrato family. Just then... Ursus looked at Lumilia and said, "Lumilia, I''ve heard that one of the adventurers that you hired fit the description of the man who assaulted your fiance." Lumilia subconsciously gulped when she heard her father mention it. "Really?!" Gregory stood up when heard it. He looked at Lumilia as if he was eager to know if it was true or not. Lumilia tried to think of a way to hide the truth but then she understood that she couldn''t hide it anymore. The knights were patrolling around the mansion from time to time and it''s natural that they will saw Souta and the Gale Group. ''If he pushed me to the corner, then I have no choice but to reveal it.'' She took a deep breath and nodded her head. "That''s right. He''s a tamer of the Red Fur Bear but I know that the one who started it was Ostar." Lumilia said to them. Ostar was the name of Lumilia''s fiance, the heir of the Vidrato family. "Bring him to me immediately, I''ve got to teach that pretentious adventurer some lesson!" Gregory''s aura exploded when he heard Lumilia confirmed it. His aura shook the entire room. Lumilia felt being pressured just by standing in front of the lord of Vidrato family. Although Gregory looked like a fat merchant he was still a powerful man that was currently leading the whole Vidrato family. "You can''t..." Lumilia said while gritting her teeth. "Why?!" Gregory shouted and it shook the whole room once again. The mana that he was releasing was reaching its limit. "Calm down, that''s my daughter you''re talking to." Ursus looked at Gregory and said. He slightly released his own mana to counter the mana Gregory was releasing. Gregory looked at Ursus before he sat down. He said, "I''m sorry for the sudden outburst. It''s just that man harm my son." "Yeah, I understand it." Ursus nodded his head in understanding. He then looked at his daughter and asked, "So can you tell us the reason why you said that words?" Lumilia took a deep breath while she closed her eyes. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and look at them with a serious expression. Lumilia slowly opened her mouth and said, "It''s because he is Souta Ieshi from Mage Class 1-B." 121 You dont have strength but you have me here "Lumilia, explain what''s that Souta Ieshi man that you said," Ursus said. "You may not know it but I know him too well," Lumilia said and she paused for a moment before she continued, "He''s my classmate. He''s the top student in Ladro Institute and currently the famous strongest first-year student who rivaled Yanagi Shina''s deed when she was still a first-year student." "He''s your classmate?" Ursus looked at Lumilia in the eyes and asked. He was stunned when he heard that man also was a student of Ladro Institute but what shocked him the most was that Souta was the top student. "Yes." Lumilia nodded her head and added, "Did you know that the Ladro Institute is very protective of its top students. You shouldn''t lay your hands on him if you don''t want to face the Ladro Institute''s wrath." Ladro Institute was well-known for supporting its top students. The incident where Yanagi Shina beat the royal prince was still fresh in everyone''s mind. No one dared to take revenge on her because they know she had Ladro Institute''s full support in her back. As long as she wasn''t at fault she could use Ladro Institute name. That support was really Lumilia''s goal in enrolling in the Ladro Institute. She wanted Ladro Institute''s support no matter what so that she could attain her freedom. Unfortunately, she didn''t even manage to enter the top 10 with her current strength. She tried her best to increase her strength in the past few months, but then she realized that there were tons of stronger people in the whole kingdom and the gap between them was too large. If she could only enter the top 10 ranker then she would receive the Ladro Institute''s attention and protection. And if Souta could really rival Yanagi Shina''s deeds, then there''s no doubt about it. The Ladro Institute was going to back Souta in case Gregory laid his hands on him. A single noble family like Vidrato Family was like an ant to the power of the Ladro Institute. Four to five teachers were enough to bring down his whole family. No, if those all-powerful people came on his door then he would be gone. Bargan Hevifield, the Flame Master of the Melosa War. The man who singlehandedly pushed back the Melosa Army in the outskirt of the Desolate Woods twenty years ago. Sabrina Lon Divan, the Magic Caster of Destruction. A woman who graduated from Ladro Institute. She once fought the legendary S-Rank Adventurer on her own to a standstill. She was famous for her AOE spell that could take thousands of monsters in an instant. Lastly... Azrim, the principal of the Ladro Institute. The demi who was called to matched a God from the God''s Continent fifty years ago. This demi was well-known in the whole continent of Giza as the Raging White Fox. Ladro Institute was like a factory that nurtured high-quality products in the whole kingdom. "That..." Gregory opened his eyes widely when he heard her words. Top student of Ladro Institute? Could rival Yanagi Shina''s deeds? If all of these were true then it''s impossible to touch Souta without getting himself burned. The scariest part about Ladro Institute wasn''t it overall power but its various connection over the whole kingdom. The Ladro Institute nurtured a lot of students and some of these students become an influential figure in the whole Hebrei Kingdom. Just like the captain of the royal guard. That man was extremely powerful and he doted the students of Ladro Institute. If Gregory touched the Ladro Institute''s top students, then he would gather the attention of all those scary people. It''s not worth getting on the bad side of those people. "Are you saying the truth?" Ursus asked. He couldn''t believe what he heard just now. The top student of the Ladro Institute was an adventurer. He thought that it was impossible for that guy to become a top student if he couldn''t focus on his study. "If you don''t believe me, then you can ask him and check his device," Lumilia said while pointing the device on her wrist that record their information. This device could also track the student''s whereabouts so that the Ladro Institute could send force if something bad happened. With this, they would understand that they couldn''t touch Souta. In fact, they should curry his favor in case he became a big shot in the future. "..." Ursus and Gregory couldn''t say anything. They have no other choice but to believe Lumilia''s words. "If there''s nothing else, I''ll go now father, " Lumilia said before she bowed and left the room. Actually, Souta wasn''t even in the top 10 ranker of the first year. Bryan''s rank was even higher than him but he was recognized as the most powerful first-year student. It was because in the special test he alone dominated the whole test. He fought several rankers alone and still managed to beat them. Even if it wasn''t a ranking battle that feat alone made him acknowledged as the most powerful first-year student that rivaling Yanagi Shina''s deeds. Some of the people in the Ladro Institute were already comparing Souta Ieshi to Yanagi Shina when she was still a first-year student. "Wait, stay here. I''ve something important to tell you." Ursus stopped Lumilia from leaving. "I''ll leave now." Gregory glanced at Ursus and said before he stood up. "Take care, Lord Gregory," Lumilia said to Gregory in a polite tone. ... Outside the room, Jusmin, Brianna, and Jane looked at Lumilia with a worried expression. They heard lord Gregory''s loud voice and aura from the outside. They could feel that he was angry at something. After a few seconds, the door opened and Gregory left the room. They all looked at Gregory and saw his face with a frown. They wondered what really happened inside. ... Souta turned his head and looked in the direction where he felt the outburst of mana. It mana outburst didn''t last long as it immediately disappeared. He recalled that''s the direction where Lumilia was heading before. It seems that something happened for a moment there. He shook his head and looked at Yuko. He smiled and said, "It''s fine now, it will fully recover tomorrow." "Mu." Yuko stuck out her tongue and licked his cheeks. "Good girl, good girl." Souta smiled as he patted her head. He then heard footsteps behind him. He turned his head and saw a chubby middle-aged man with blonde hair. The middle-aged man stopped walking and looked at Souta. Souta also looked at the man and felt a hint of killing intent but it immediately vanished. After a few seconds, the middle-aged man averted his head and started walking once again. "That man... I''m looking forward to it." Souta smiled while looking at the back of the man. There''s no doubt about it. That was killing intent. With that look and aura, Souta could guess that man will make a move tonight. "I guess I will trigger another quest tonight... probably... I''m not sure..." Souta rubbed his chin as he muttered. Once again, he heard footsteps behind him. He guessed that it was Lumilia and the other because of the number of footsteps. He turned his head and saw that it was Lumilia and the others. He was right so he patted Yuko and said, "Let''s go Yuko, let''s continue our job." The two followed Lumilia. ... It was late at night when it''s Souta''s time to guard Lumilia. Souta was fully armed tonight because he guessed that man he saw this afternoon will make a move. "Souta, are you there?" Lumilia said from inside the room. "Yes, I''m here," Souta replied to her. "Once you go back to the institute, can you keep this a secret from Lynn and Nayo?" Lumilia said. "I understand but..." Souta said as he looked at the door. He then leaned his back on the door and continued, "Are you sure about this? You''re not going back." "I... I don''t know what I should do... Recently my father managed to acquire a bottle of Crystal Flame Bee honey and the other nobles wanted to get a piece of it. They also knew that I''m the target of the nobles from Melosa Country. They used this chance to pressure our family to hand the honey. In exchange, they will help us from the problem of the nobles from Melosa Country." Lumilia decided to tell him the problem she was facing. Souta lent her his ears as he listened to everything she said. The two of them were leaning back on the door. They were separated by a single piece of metal. Souta looked up at the starry night as the cold breeze of night gently blew on his face. After a while, Souta opened his mouth and said, "You''ve been hit by reality, huh? If you don''t want it then reject it." "But I don''t..." Lumilia didn''t manage to finish her sentence as Souta interrupted her. "You don''t have power but you have me here." Souta grinned as he said. "Yuko is also here. Just ask me and I will help you with all of my power. That''s the problem with nobles, you''re too dependent on your parents. You can''t make a choice on your own. You have to at least think about yourself before you follow others." ''Did I say everything right? I could vaguely remember those words from my old world.'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. 122 Ive decided A drop of that honey could increase a person''s stats by fifty and mana pool by two hundred. The added stats will decrease by five every subsequent use of the Crystal Flame Honey and the mana added will decrease by ten. It means that it could increase a person''s every stats by two hundred seventy-five in total. Even Bryan would be able to match him if Bryan consumed those honey. It could even make a normal person match those lower ranking in the institute. "If you really don''t want to get married then I suggest you start living on your own. Don''t let those things tied you up like a slave." Souta said. "Of course I''ll help you if you ask me." "Can I really live on my own?" Lumilia asked. "If you have the will, you can do it," Souta replied to her before he stood up and grabbed the handle of the [Vajra Sword Saya]. He said, "Well, we have some visitors now so we can continue our chat later after I take care of this." Lumilia was confused when she heard his words. Souta patted his clothes and he slowly pulled his sword out of its sheath. He then looked at the ten figures in front of him. All of them were wearing black cloaks and mask. They were also armed with sharp weapons. "These people..." Souta looked at the people who were wearing black cloaks. He couldn''t feel any intention to kill from these people. Maybe they were an expert that could completely hide their bloodlust or not. If they were an expert then they don''t need that much people. Ten people appearing at the same time in front of the door and they deliberately let Souta saw them. Maybe, their target wasn''t Lumilia at all. ''That fat man in the afternoon...'' Souta guessed that it was the fat man that he saw this morning. But why? He tried to recall anything that he did ever since he arrived in this city. "So that''s how it is..." Souta smirked as he rubbed his chin. He guessed that the young noble he beat before was a relative of that fat man. It all make sense if its this way. That fat man came here to discuss the marriage but fiance didn''t manage to come because Souta broke all the bones from his four limbs. Then, Lumilia''s father knew that one of the adventurers that his daughter hired fitted the description of the man who assaulted the fiance. While Souta was thinking through things, one of the figures dashed towards him. The figure threw several daggers towards him. Souta looked at it and he simply moved his body sideways to avoid the daggers. "Crush them, Yuko." He said in a low voice. Roar!! Yuko roared loudly when she heard Souta. She dashed towards the group of people wearing black cloaks. The man pulled out two swords underneath his cloaks and charged towards Souta. Clang!! Clang!! Clang!! Souta exchanged blows with the man and realized that this man was weaker than the assassin that attacked them before. He was sure now that these people were the fat man''s subordinates. First, if the fat man was the person who sent the assassins to kill Lumilia before, then he would understand that these people were weaker than those assassins. So he wouldn''t send a people of this level which was weaker than the previous assassin. But there''s something that''s bothering him. These people didn''t have a tiny bit of bloodlust in their aura. It feels like they were not here to kill him. If so... Then why did they come here? Just to beat him? No, there''s a missing piece that he couldn''t get to complete this puzzle. [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Cat''s Speed], and [Triple Muscle Strengthening]. Souta used all of his buff spells and combat arts that could temporarily increase his stats for a short amount of time. ''I will subdue them.'' Souta decided to not kill them so that he could get more information out of them. They were not a professional assassin so they wouldn''t be able to endure his interrogation. The figure in front of him quickly waved his swords in left and right. Swoosh!! Souta quickly took a step back and found that the wall was just behind him. Since there''s no time to dodge, Souta used his sword to block the attack on his right side. He then gathered his mana on his left hand and caught the sword with his bare hand. The man stopped for a moment when he saw what Souta did. Souta grinned before he lifted up his feet and kicked the stomach of the man. Bang! The man flew a few meters away before he crashed on the ground. Souta could coat a part of his body with his mana to strengthen it. He could do this with his level 3 [Mana Manipulation]. He was about to dash towards the man once again when he noticed that something''s wrong. There were ten people in total that appeared here but only one person attacked him. Souta moved his eyes and found that the remaining nine people were fighting Yuko alone. He frowned and when saw it but he decided to watch it. It will be a good chance to give Yuko some battle experience in fighting humans and demis. Souta turned his head towards the man that he knocked out only to found that man was gone. "Hmm...?" Suddenly, a black figure flashed behind him with two sharp swords in his hands. The figure was about to slash his sword when shadows burst out of the ground. It was so fast that it bound the figure in an instant. Souta turned his head and looked at the figure. "Stay here for a while." He said as the shadows covered the figure''s mouth. Souta shifted his attention to Yuko and the remaining nine people. ... Lumilia heard a sound of fighting coming from outside. She was worried about Souta, so she opened the door and saw that Souta was sitting on the ground while watching Yuko fought nine unknown people. "W-What are you doing, Souta!" Lumilia opened her mouth and asked. She then noticed the man beside Souta. The man was tightly bound by several shadows. There were several blood holes on his body and it looks like some of his bones were broken. The man''s nails were plucked out and scattered on the ground. The skin on the leg of the man was taken off as blood was flowing out of it. Lumilia opened her mouth widely when she saw such a gore scene. "Shh!" Souta looked at her and placed his finger in front of his lips. "Come here, I''ll tell you what happened." Lumilia nodded her head and she walked beside Souta. She was disturbed by the scene beside Souta. Souta glanced at her and he noticed that she was bothered by the sights beside him, so he waved his hand and several shadows emerged from the ground. The shadows covered the man''s whole body so the Lumilia couldn''t see this sight anymore. Souta looked around and guessed that the patrolling knights will arrive in this area after a few minutes. He already memorized the time were the knights were patrolling, so these people too. "W-Why don''t you help Yuko?" Lumilia asked as she lifted up her head and looked at Yuko who was fighting nine people at the same time. "Hm. That''s a good question. The answer to that is I wanted her to gain some experience in fighting humans. I will let it be and only finish it when the knights are going to arrive." Souta said as he watched the battle. Yuko already took several cuts on her body. The people that attacked them weren''t as powerful as the assassins before, so it''s not a problem to her. This morning he overreacted when some random noble guy cut Yuko''s side, but now Yuko has several cuts on her Body Souta didn''t even do anything. He just continued watching her fight. Well, for him the incident this morning was different from here. They were relaxing this morning and those guys disturbed them, so it''s natural to punish them. Right now, it''s training time. It''s natural to receive wounds and injuries when you''re in a battle. "I''ll tell you something before the patrolling knights arrived." Souta paused for a moment before he continued, "These people are from the Vidrato Family. Gregory that fat man sent these people to kill Yuko. They knew that they couldn''t kill me because of the Ladro Institute behind me that''s why they shifted their attention to Yuko." "What?" Lumilia was stunned when she heard Souta''s words. To think that all the warning she said was in vain. Gregory still dared to trouble Souta despite knowing that he had Ladro Institute in his back. "You know, I''m hypocrite. I''m not a Saint." Souta''s tone turned colder. The atmosphere around him started to change. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "I''ve decided, I will kill them all." 123 Chain Quest: Preparing ''I will get you back for this. I will collect your soul and you will become my nutrition.'' Souta thought as he grinned. He then stood up and patted his clothes. The patrolling knights will arrive here soon, so Souta decided to finish this immediately. "That''s enough Yuko!" Souta said in a loud voice and it gathered the attention of the people who were wearing black cloaks. The ground beneath Souta''s feet immediately turned into shadows. The shadows spread quickly and it emerged from the ground. Swoosh!! The people who were wearing black cloaks were caught off guard. Souta followed it up by casting [Shadow Spike]. It pierced their bodies like a piece of paper. He knew that they were still alive so he used [Crimson Moon] skill to completely kill them. It was at this moment when he heard the system prompts in his head. "Come here..." He grabbed one of the people on the neck. This person was the only one he left alive. Souta didn''t need to know the truth from this man as he already interrogated the individual that he killed before. He only needed the knowledge of this man, he''s the witness that Gregory sent these people after him. So when he attacked someone from the Vidrato family he had a good reason for it. "Just fall asleep," Souta said as he knocked out the man. He will protect this person and used him to pressure the Vidrato family. He then heard a voice behind him. "I didn''t think that he will send out his people to attack despite all the things that I''ve said to him," Lumilia said as she looked at the man that was in Souta''s arms. "Hmm...? Can you tell me more about that?" Souta looked at her and asked. It seems that she''s the reason why the Vidrato family knew about him being a student of the Ladro Institute. "Okay..." Lumilia nodded at him and she began to narrate what happened in the meeting room. Souta just listened to her story until the patrolling knights arrived in the scene. "I see... I appreciate your help." Souta said as he thanked her. He and Lumilia turned their heads when they heard several footsteps. They found that some of the knights approached them. The knights asked Souta various questions and Souta cooperated with them. While these knights were asking Souta some questions, some of the knights were cleaning the scene. The knights took the man from him. Souta didn''t say anything as he let them took the man. He already has a plan to take back that man before he departed. Souta shook his head and looked at Yuko. "Come here, Yuko!" Yuko run towards him when he mentioned her name. She stuck out her tongue and licked his cheeks. "Um..." Lumilia looks like she wanted to say something. Souta turned his head to the side to look at Lumilia. He smiled and asked, "What is it? Have you made your deci-" Souta didn''t manage to complete his sentence as Yuko moved her huge body and blocked his vision. "Oi! Yuko! We''re talking here. Just sit here for a while." Souta looked at Yuko and said while pointing at his side. "Mu." Yuko dropped her shoulders when Souta raised his voice. She quietly sat at the spot that Souta pointed. "Don''t worry, I will buy you a bunch of fruits that you want later." Souta gently smiled as he patted her head. "Um... Souta..." Lumilia looked at Souta with a serious expression. It seems that she finally decided what she should do. Souta looked at her. He just simply looked at her and didn''t say anything. He just waited for what she was about to say. "I''ve finally realized it! I don''t want to be bound by my family but I can''t do anything on my own! Please, Souta! Lend me your strength!" Lumilia said as she raised her voice. Souta waved his hand and used his mana so that her voice couldn''t travel far in the knights'' area. "Very well, I''ll help you to the best of my ability," Souta said as his mouth curved into a grin. At the same time, he heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Chain Quest Triggered!] [Lumilia] Quest 1: Leave the Asvares Territory within an hour. Reward: 1,000 exp, 2 free attribute points, and 1 skill point Souta smiled inwardly when he found that the quest he triggered this time was a chain quest. To think that this was Lumilia''s chain quest. If he completed all the quest in chain quest then he would earn a high amount of skill points and free attribute points. The only problem was the final quest of the chain quest. It was harder than all the quest that he took since he arrived here in this world. The chain quest usually consisted of three quests but some of the chain quests have more than ten quests in it. Souta looked at Lumilia and said, "Prepare yourself immediately. We will leave this place right now." Since the quest said that they should leave this place within one hour, something will happen in this place if they don''t leave. "R-Right now?!" Lumilia was shocked when she heard that Souta already planned to leave this place right now. "Yeah, I thought you''ve resolved yourself?" Souta said while looking at her eyes. "..." Lumilia took a deep breath and she nodded her head at Souta. Her eyes were burning in determination. "Go back to your room and change your clothes," Souta said as he pointed at her room. Lumilia looked down at her clothes and found that she was in her pajamas. She hurriedly went back to her room to change her room. Souta looked at her back and shook his head. He then turned his head sideways and found that the Gale Group was walking towards his direction in haste. "What happened here, Souta?" Brianna asked him as she looked around the place. "I''ve heard that some people attack you," Tidor said as he looked in a direction where the knights were cleaning a pool of blood on the ground. They were in their room when they heard the knights were talking about this incident, so they immediately came here to check if everything''s all right. "Yeah, some people attack us but they were too weak to kill me." Souta nodded at Brianna and said. He looked at them with a serious expression and said, "We''ll leave this place." "Can you tell us the reason why?" Brianna asked him. "It''s not a problem for me," Souta said as he looked around and tried to sense if there''s someone eavesdropping on them. When he found none he began to talk in a low voice. "Lumilia came here to annul her engagement but she couldn''t do so because of the current situation of the family. A lot of nobles are eyeing the Asvares family, including those from the Melosa Country..." Lumilia decided to flee from her engagement from the young master of the Vidrato family. Since she was really the target of the nobles from Melosa Country, if she left her family then those nobles will focus on her. It took her all of her wills before she managed to resolve herself. She decided to trust her classmate, Souta Ieshi, the only one who was willing to help her in this whole city. Souta told them everything that he knew. "Then, all we have to do is to safely escort her back to Ladros City to complete her quest?" Tidor asked. "Yeah, that''s the gist of it." Souta nodded at him. He then recalled something. "Also, don''t worry about the payment. If Lumilia doesn''t have any money in her pocket, then I will be the one that will pay all of you." "You''re a good classmate, Souta," Tidor said as he patted Souta''s back. "Not everyone will do anything for their classmates." Brianna smiled and said. "I wonder about that... At least I know one person that will help anyone in need without hesitation." Souta replied to them. ... The news traveled fast and Gregory immediately knew that his plan failed. "Damn! I''ve greatly underestimate that brat." Gregory said angrily as he smashed his table into pieces. Since he knew that Souta was the strongest first-year student, he thought that his power level was just slightly stronger than the people he sent. That''s also the reason why he sent ten people just to get rid of that bear. He never thought that Souta''s strength was higher than he could imagine. "Lord, one of the people we sent is still alive. What should we do?" Gregory''s assistant asked him. "Kill him! We don''t want to let anyone know about our involvement in this or else we would see the power of Ladro Institute." Gregory said. Then he added, "That Institute is full of monsters that we can''t afford to fight." ... Souta looked in the sky and said, "This will be a long night." 124 Chain Quest: Getting the man back Brianna, Jane, John, and Tim turned their head and looked at Souta as if they wanted to know if it''s true. Souta sighed and said, "I wonder about that... But who knows what will happen in the future." He then patted Yuko''s head and said, "I currently don''t have someone like except for Yuko." "That''s too bad... I really thought that you have..." Tidor dropped his shoulders. "Really, if you''re already like this to a girl who''s just your classmate, I wonder what can you do if you found someone that you like," Jane said to him. "I don''t know about that... But if I''ll use Yuko as a reference then I''m prepared to annihilate the Adventurers Guild, so that those hunters wouldn''t give Yuko some trouble." Souta said to them. "You''re really something. Not everyone can say the same words as you do." Brianna smiled wryly and said. "It''s easy to say, hard to do. I could even say that I could even kill those gods for Yuko." Souta said and he shook his head. "Well, let''s prepare now. I''ve still got something to so wait Lumilia here." He didn''t even let the Gale Group question him as he already started running. "Yuko! Stay here for a while!" Souta left those words before he vanished into thin air. Brianna, Tidor, Jane, and the rest of the Gale Group could only stare at the place where Souta disappeared. ... Souta was hiding in the bushes. He tracked the footprint of the knights and it led him in the underground base of the Asvares mansion. "Underground? I guess that all the noble''s mansion has an underground base." Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. All the intruders that they caught were placed in the basement. They didn''t hand it in the hands of the city guards at all. "I only have one hour to leave this place, so I will take back that man quickly," Souta said. He then looked around and only saw two knights guarding the basement. He took a deep breath and silently clenched his fists. The two knights were talking to each other. They don''t have any idea that Souta was going to attack them. Suddenly, shadows burst out of the ground and strangled their bodies. "What the-" The knights were about to shout when the shadows covered their mouths and eyes. Souta did this so that they wouldn''t know that he attacked them. Swoosh!! Souta jumped out of the bushes and he charged straight to the two knights. He gathered his mana in both of his fists and he swiftly knocked out the two knights. Bang! Bang! The shadows disappeared and the two knights fell down on the ground. "Sleep well." Souta looked down at the two unconscious knights and said before he went down in the basement. Souta walked downstairs until he found a corridor that has jails on each side. At the end of the corridor, he saw the knights were locking up the man inside a jail. Souta bent his knees and charged towards the knights while casting [Shadow Bind] at the same time. Swoosh!! "Who the hell are you?!" One of the knights asked with an angry expression as Souta arrived in front of him. Souta delivered a powerful blow on his stomach, directly knocking him on the wall. Bang! Souta then lifted up his feet and kicked the jaw of the other knight. Bang! The knight directly lost his consciousness when Souta kicked his jaw. He fell on the ground as his armor made a loud metallic sound. "It''s done..." Souta said and he looked at the unconscious man who was wearing a black cloak. He was about to carry him when he heard an ear-piercing sound coming from behind. Shiiing!! He quickly coated his body using his mana and went inside the jail. A powerful gust of wind passed by in the corridor and crashed in the wall. Boom! It caused a small explosion as the wall got destroyed and the debris of rocks shot up. "Ah~ this skill is really too loud." Souta heard a voice echoed in the corridor. He checked the unconscious man and carried the man in one hand. He then grabbed the handle of the [Vajra Sword Saya] before he pulled it out. Tak! As soon as he stepped out, the ground turned black and it spread immediately in the whole area. Several shadows that look like tentacles emerged from the ground. "Go..." Souta muttered as he looked at the man who was wearing silver armor. This man was also a knight of the Asvares family but he was stronger than the level of the normal knights. "This is cheating right. I don''t have enough space to avoid those things." The knights smiled wryly while looking at the countless shadows around Souta. He then looked at Souta''s face and said, "But still to think that you''re the one behind this is out of my expectations." "You know, I''m the one who caught this guy but why you knights are acting like you''re the one who caught him," Souta said as he lifted the man in his hand. He showed it to the man and added, "Well, let''s finish this." The shadows around Souta stretched out and went straight towards the knight. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! The knight knew that he was at a disadvantage if he''s going to fight Souta in the basement. So he decided to retreat towards the surface. Swoosh!! "Hmm? He..." Souta noticed that the knight went on the surface. That knight knew that there''s nothing good that will happen if he fought Souta here in the basement. Souta placed back the Vajra sword in its sheath. He then looked up in the ceiling before he lifted up his hand. He made a grabbing motion in the air as his mana flared up. ... On the surface... The knight noticed that something was wrong. He bent his knees and quickly jumped in the air. After a few seconds, several shadow spikes burst out of the ground. "If I didn''t notice it, then that spikes are currently drilling inside my body." The knight said with a sigh while looking at the shadow spikes. "If I''m not wrong, he''s just a D-rank Adventurer but the power he''s showed could be compared to those who are at C-rank." He landed on the ground and he tightened his grip on his sword. He looked at the path towards the basement and heard loud footsteps. "He''s here." The knight smiled wryly as he used several combat arts that could temporarily increase his strength. Suddenly, he opened his eyes widely and once again jumped in the air as several shadow spikes burst out of the ground. He then saw tentacles like shadows stretched out towards him with high speed. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! The knight waved the sword in his hand while using combat arts. [Three Fold Slash]! "What?!" The knight was shocked when he saw that he didn''t manage to cut the shadows in half. He only managed to push it away from him. ''This guy really has the power of a C-rank Adventurer despite having his rank lower than that.'' He thought. D-rank Adventurers were already called veterans. Their powers were already decent enough to do some difficult quest. C-rank was quite sought in the Adventurers Guild because of their power level. They could handle those monsters that were going to form their monster orb. In other words, they could fight the monsters that undergo first and second evolution. B-rank was a powerful adventurer. Some of the B-rank Adventurers joined the elite group of Adventurers Guild called Hunters. They were powerful enough to match the monster that has a monster orb. The knight carefully landed on the spikes while tightly gripping his sword, and then he saw a ball of shadow heading towards him. Swoosh!! He shifted his body to the side and the ball of shadow passed beside him. Suddenly, a sword pierced through his body. "Ugh!" He spat a mouthful of blood as he looked down at the sword on his chest. He then turned his head and saw Souta grinning behind him. "H-How?" "Ah~ it''s really good if your opponent didn''t know the effect of your spell." Souta beamed a bright smile as he slowly pulled out the Vajra sword on the knight''s chest. "Hmm... Don''t worry, I won''t kill you. I don''t want Lumilia to hate me after all." He then proceeded to smash the nape of the knight using the handle of the sword. It knocked down the man and Souta used [Light Heal] to stop the bleeding. "Okay, let''s go now," Souta said before he disappeared. 125 Chain Quest: Knocking out the guards "Who''s that man, Souta?" Brianna asked him while looking at the unconscious man that he was carrying. "This?" Souta lifted up the man and said, "This man is one of the people who attack us. The one behind that attack is probably going to send some people to silent this man, so I''m going to protect him as I wanted him alive." "So that''s how it is." Brianna nodded at his explanation. She knew that if Souta wanted to open the assassination to the public he needed at least some evidence, and this man was the proof of it. As long as this man was still alive there''s some value to him. Souta turned his head to John and said, "Can you hold him until we leave this city?" "Okay, leave him to me." John nodded at him and took the man from Souta. He took out a rope from his bag and tied the man so that even if the man woke up he wouldn''t be able to give them some troubles. Probably the man too would realize that his lord was going to dispose him when he woke up. The man knew his lord well more than the rest of them. "Good, let''s go now." Souta nodded and said to them. The Gale Group nodded at him. They were already prepared to leave this city with him. "But what about Jusmin and Fred?" Lumilia asked him. She was concerned about her maid and butler the most in this kind of situation. "It''s better if they don''t know our plan. If your father knew that those two cooperate in our plan then there''s no doubt that your father would punish them." Souta explained to her what''s better for her maid and butler. "You don''t want to lose their job, right?" "..." With him saying all of this, Lumilia couldn''t help but agree to him. She understood that Souta was right and she doesn''t want to implicate those two in what she was going to do. "Follow me, we''re leaving through the main gate," Souta said as he started to walk. They couldn''t jump through the wall because of Yuko, so Souta decided to leave through the main gate. The Gale Group and Lumilia nodded at him. They followed behind him. ... After walking for a few minutes, the group arrived in front of the main gate. They haven''t met any patrolling knights in their way because Souta already memorized the path they were taking and their duty, so the group arrived smoothly in front of the main gate. Currently, the group was hiding in the bushes looking at the six knights which were guarding the gate. Normally, only four knights were guarding this gate but due to the attack they slightly tightened their defense. "Let''s go. We''ll talk to them first if we can''t then we''ll take them down." Souta looked at them and said. He carefully explained his plan to them. Even if the level of these knights was higher Souta trusted them to take care of it. After all, they were not going to become a C-rank Adventurers if they were weak. "Okay, John will stay with Lumilia and the man," Souta said to them. "I understand." John nodded at him. "Good, let''s go now," Souta said as he stood up and approached the main gate. Lumilia and the rest of the Gale Group simply followed him. The knights blocked their way. One of the knights of opened his mouth and said, "Young miss, we couldn''t let you leave the mansion because there''s a possibility that some people will attack you once again." "I have my guards with me, there''s no need to worry about me," Lumilia said to the knights. "We will not let you pass here, young miss. We can''t afford to trust them to protect you with their life." One of the knights said. "Why? Is that my father''s order?" Lumilia asked the knight. "Yes, young miss. Please forgive us." The knights bowed their heads and said. When they looked down they saw that the whole ground was black even if the light shone on it it was still black. "Hmm? What''s this?" The knights were confused and then they saw something moving on the black ground. Several shadows burst out of the ground and bound their limbs immediately. Bang! As soon as the shadows bound them, Souta swiftly chopped the nape of the knight. He instantly knocked out a knight within a second. Brianna and the rest of the Gale Group quickly moved their bodies and knocked out the knights one by one. Bang! Bang! Bang! One by one, the knights fell down on the ground without consciousness. Souta controlled the shadows so that their armor wouldn''t cause a loud sound when it hit the ground. "This was easier than I thought," Tidor said as he wiped the sweat on his forehead. "Yeah, it''s because they lowered their guard that''s why they couldn''t react when I casted my spell," Souta said to Tidor. He then turned around and waved his hand. Swoosh! Swoosh! Several shadows burst out of the ground and it headed towards the direction of the tree on the side of the road. Swoosh! Swoosh! Three daggers flew towards Souta''s direction at high speed. Souta controlled some of the shadows and it blocked the daggers. He squinted his eyes and saw a figure flew in the sky and vanished. "He managed to escape," Souta muttered and he looked at the shadow-like tentacles that went towards that unknown person. He noticed that the shadow was sliced into tiny particles. "Who the hell is that?" Tidor commented while looking at the direction where the unknown person disappeared. "That one is powerful," Tim said. In that exchange, he managed to see a bit of that unknown person''s strength. He detected that person''s magic power was two times stronger than his magic power. "Yeah, but he understood that he couldn''t fight us on his own. That''s why he decided to retreat." Souta nodded at Tim''s words and said. He then looked at the three daggers that pierced his shadows. ''Blue grade weapon? That person could throw away a weapon of this caliber easily.'' Souta thought as he pulled out the daggers. He checked these daggers and didn''t find anything wrong so he decided to keep it for himself. The shadows around him started to dissipate into the thin air as Souta canceled his spell. A level 10 spell was really useful. A spell for binding could use for protecting himself. At level 10, he could control all the shadow-like tentacles that he made like his own body. It was easy to use it more than the other spells that he had in his arsenal. Souta shook his head and said, "Let''s not worry about that. We should go now." "You''re right, Souta." Tidor nodded at him. "Tim and Tidor, you should go now. Hurry up fetch some carriage." Brianna said as she looked at her two teammates. "Okay, we got it." Tidor and Tim nodded at her before they started to run. Tidor and Tim were going to fetch a carriage for them while Souta and the rest were going to check if someone was following them. Souta was sure that right now Lumilia''s father was going to receive the news about her running away from the mansion. Of course, he knew that Lumilia''s father wouldn''t let her leave this place easily. After all, that fiance of hers and father-in-law was also here in this city. He wouldn''t want to lose face. That thing was what those nobles value the most. Souta was planning to use Lumilia as bait while those two prepared what they need to leave the city. "Let''s go now." Souta looked at Lumilia and the rest before he said. "Let''s do this." Brianna, Jane, and John nodded strongly. They were determined to help Lumilia in her problems. Also, Souta promised them a huge amount of rewards if they help her. Lumilia was oblivious to these things. She didn''t know that Souta already promised to reward the Gale Group if she somehow couldn''t give them money. Souta glanced at her and noticed that she was nervous. Her hands were trembling nonstop and it was pretty noticeable. "Worried about it?" Souta looked at her in the eyes and said. "Y-Yes," Lumilia replied to him. "Is this your first time going against your family''s decision?" Souta asked her in a serious tone. "Nn." Lumilia simply nodded her head. Souta smiled and said, "Don''t worry about it, everything will be alright." He then patted her shoulder and added, "The class rep I knew is always composed and strict, not this nervous and girly type." Lumilia started at his back as his words resonated in her head. She then took a deep breath to calm herself. "Okay, let''s do this." 126 Chain Quest: Let the festival begin "Hmm... Someone really dared to sent an assassin in my territory." He muttered as he tapped his finger on the table in front of him. "I needed to know who is it as soon as possible." "My lord!!" Suddenly, his assistant called him in a hurried tone. Ursus frowned as he turned his head and looked at his assistant. "What is it?" He asked. "Young miss left the mansion forcefully. They even brought the captured man with them." The assistant carefully explained to Ursus what really happened. "That... That child left the mansion at this time of crisis." Ursus couldn''t believe what he heard this time. Lumilia just left the mansion when there were people that were trying to kill her. "Wait... Something is wrong here." Ursus stopped and realized something. He looked at his assistant and asked, "You said that they brought the captured man with them, right?" "Yes, my lord!" The assistant replied to him. "Then, why would they bring that man with them?" Ursus tried to think of a reason why they brought that man with them. He thought that maybe they already knew who sent those people. There''s a large possibility of that but it still didn''t answer the question of why would they leave the mansion. While Ursus was thinking through things, someone knocked on the door. Knock! Knock! Ursus looked at the door and his assistant walked towards it. After checking the identity of the person, the assistant turned towards Ursus and said, "My lord, Lord Gregory''s subordinate is here and he''s requesting an audience." ''Gregory?'' Ursus shook his head and replied, "I''ll allow it. Let him in." "I understand, my lord." The assistant bowed his head and grabbed the handle of the door. He slowly opened it and a man wearing a silver plate armor under the dark brown hooded robe entered the room. "Why are you here, Jesly?" Ursus asked the man named Jesly. He knew that Jesly was Gregory''s direct subordinate. "Lord Ursus, here." Jesly bowed and he took out a piece of yellow paper from his robe and place it on top of the table. "Talisman... Long-distance sound transmission..." Ursus recognized that the piece of yellow paper was a talisman for long-distance communication. He waved his hand and poured his mana in the talisman. The talisman emitted a yellow light indicating that Ursus activated it. Ursus opened his mouth and said, "Gregory, what are you planning to do?" "I''ve heard that your daughter left your mansion. I only wanted to say that I can help you in finding your daughter." Gregory''s voice sounded through the talisman. His voice seems that he found this situation amusing. "How about it? If you agree to it I will help you, since your daughter is the fiancee of my son." Gregory said through the talisman. "Okay, I''ll allow you." Ursus nodded his head as he agreed to Gregory. "Thanks... I''ll quickly immobilize my troops and search for them in the whole city. Also, you can keep the talisman so that I can easily report to you if I found something." Gregory said before the light in the talisman vanished. It indicates the connection between the two talismans vanished. "Good day, Lord Ursus. I''ll go now." Jesly bowed his head and left the room. After Jesly left, the assistant looked at Ursus and asked, "My lord, why did you agree to him?" "I''ll go with him for now. We will send people to track my daughter but also Gregory''s subordinate. I wanted to know what he''s planning." Ursus said as he tapped his finger in the table and looked at the talisman. He knew that Gregory wanted to marry his son to Lumilia because Gregory wanted to get a piece of that Crystal Flame Honey. That honey was too valuable and he wanted to get on Ursus''s good book. "I will see it later if he''s planning something," Ursus muttered in a low voice. "My lord, I could only think of one reason why lord Gregory is going to help us." The assistant opened his mouth and said. Ursus looked at him and asked, "And what is it?" "I think it''s because of that adventurer that beat his son." The assistant replied to him. "What the- that man... He''s planning to do that to a top student of the Ladro Institute." Ursus realized it as well. He knew that Gregory was not a man to let bygones be bygones. "Gregory, if you''re really planning to take him out, then I wonder where did you get the guts to do so." That institute wasn''t the most famous institute in the whole Hebrei Kingdom for nothing. All the teachers have at least have a record of killing more than one monster that has a monster orb. That''s the prerequisite requirement for becoming a teacher of Ladro Institute. The weakest teacher there was as strong as a B-rank adventurer. There''s no point in getting in the bad terms with that institute. ... While Tidor and Tim were fetching a carriage, Souta and the rest managed to leave the Asvares mansion smoothly. Souta asked Brianna and John to rent a room in a random inn. After that, Souta bought a huge black robe and used it to cover Yuko''s huge body. He let Yuko hide in the bushes at the side of the road while Souta, Jane, and Lumilia went inside the room that Brianna and John rented through the window. They didn''t let anyone see Lumilia. Also, Souta didn''t let anyone saw Yuko hide in the bushes because it would reveal their identity. He knew that the knights would just need to ask someone if they saw a huge bear and they would instantly locate their place. Why would Souta bother himself in going inside the room through the window? It was because even if the knights asked the owner of the inn, the owner only knew that two people were inside that room. Also, the owner wouldn''t forget that John and Brianna was a man and woman, so they would misunderstand what they were doing inside the room. But Souta knew that all of this wasn''t enough. This plan could only buy him a few minutes as he knew that his plan was full of holes. But this was the only thing that he could think right now in this situation. ... "We''ll leave this place soon." Souta looked at them and said. "Yeah, we''ll wait until Tidor and Tim get a carriage." Brianna nodded at him. "I just hope they complete their task as soon as possible," Souta said he then stood up from his seat and looked at the window. Lumilia looked at him and she opened her mouth. "What about Yuko?" She asked. "Her? She''s okay for now." Souta replied to her. He lifted up his hand and opened the window. "I''ll check the things outside for a while so wait for me here." He said before he jumped outside through the window. Swoosh!! Souta went on the rooftop of the inn and looked around the vicinity. He saw the Adventurers Guild building. Souta''s figure vanished and reappeared in the next house before he once again disappeared. After a few seconds, he was on the top of the Adventurers Guild building. This building was the tallest in the area so he could clearly saw the whole place. He frowned and saw a group of knights were asking the people around this place if they saw them. He then heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest 1 completed!] [You''ve received 1,000 exp, 2 free attribute points, and 1 skill point!] [Quest 2 unlocked!] [Lumilia] Quest 2: Defend against the Elite Knights of the Asvares family and Vidrato family. Rewards: 20,000 exp, 7 free attribute points, and 5 skill points Souta''s brows knitted together while reading the quest 2 of Lumilia''s chain quest. Elite knight? "This is going to be a problem," Souta said in a low voice. He knew that an elite knight was a powerful knight at the level of a C-rank adventurer. If it''s one elite knight then it''s not a problem for him but to think that a group of elite from the two noble families were going to hunt them down. "So that''s why this quest have the reward of 5 skill points..." Souta nodded to himself and understand that fighting elite knights from the two noble families was worth 5 skill points. "And this is just the quest 2, then I wonder if those family head will make a move in person in quest 3." Souta squinted his eyes and he looked up in the sky. The sky was clear and he could clearly saw the shape of the moon. Defend? Then, they were going to attack Souta''s group. If that''s the case... Souta will initiate the attack first. After a few moments, he smirked and he stood up. "Okay, let this city become the battlefield. You people wanted to fight... me too I wanted to fight stronger people that could give me high rewards." Boom His magic power flared up to the peak and it shook the entire building. Every people in the area noticed the outburst of his mana. They looked up and saw him. ''Come, brave knights of the Asvares and Vidrato family. Show me what you''ve got and let me complete my quest so that I could get that 5 skill points.'' He thought as his hands trembled in excitement. Souta opened his arms widely and grinned while looking down at the masses below him. "Let the festival begin!" Swoosh! Swoosh! The roof beneath Souta''s feet turned into black and it spread quickly. Several tentacle-like shadows burst out of the ground. 127 Chain Quest: Killing the knights from Vidrato Family Souta grinned and several tentacle-like shadows emerged from the ground. All the people in the area noticed the spike of his mana including Lumilia, Brianna, John, and Jane. They opened the window and looked outside. They saw Souta on top of the Adventurers Guild with a grin on his face while looking down on the masses. Around him were several shadows that were moving slowly. "What the hell is he doing?!" Brianna shouted and she looked around only to find that the knights were focused on Souta. She frowned and turned to Lumilia. "Miss Asvares, we''re going to help Souta so stay here for a while." She then looked at John and Jane. "Let''s go, you two." Brianna then jumped through the window and the two followed her. Lumilia sighed and looked at around the room. The unconscious man that Souta took was still here. She decided that she''ll guard this man until Souta and the rest finished what they were doing. ... Yuko who was hiding in the bushes lifted up her head when she felt her owner''s magic power. She wouldn''t forget this magical signature. It was from the one and only master of hers. "Mu...?" She thought that it was the signal to come to where her owner is. She slowly moved her limbs and went out of the bushes. She then looked at the direction where she felt Souta''s magic power before she ran towards it at full speed. ... Souta gathered the attention of every people in the area including those knights from the two noble families. Of course, they recognized Souta''s face and looks. He was one of the adventurers that Lumilia hired. "What the hell is that boy doing up there?" "Is there some show here?" "I don''t know, but I heard he mention festival starting today." "I don''t know but he looks suspicious." "Yeah, and the thing is he''s standing on top of the Adventurers Guild." The people started murmuring to each other about Souta. They talked about all kinds of things they could think of regarding Souta. ... Souta slowly opened his mouth and said, "Go, we''ll create a party right now." Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The shadows around him flew straight towards every knight in the area. Everyone was shocked when they saw Souta launched an attack against several people. Bang! Bang! Bang! The knights managed to repelled his shadows using their sword but some of the knights got caught up. "Break!" Souta said as he closed his palm and the shadows around the knights tightened. It crushed the bones in their arms and legs. Crack! A bone-cracking sound echoed in the whole area. The whole area was silent as the people were shocked when they saw what did Souta do to those knights that he caught. "Ah! Help!" Her scream became the trigger that snapped everyone out of their daze. They started to panic as everyone ran in all directions with hurried footsteps. "These are just ordinary knights. Where are the elite knights?" Souta muttered while looking at the knights below him. The thing was that these knights were from the Asvares family. That''s why he couldn''t kill them. He didn''t have any plan to kill a knight from Lumilia''s family. He would only knock them out or injured them to the point that they wouldn''t be able to fight him again. Well, either way, the wounds that he gave them could be healed using a tier 2 healing spell. Souta bent his knees and flew towards the west using [Air Walk]. He was absolutely calm right now as he got carried away and started a fight before the Adventurers Guild. He didn''t want to bother those folks in case the branch Guild Master appeared. As long as he didn''t bother the Adventurers Guild, it would be fine even if he rampaged throughout the city. He didn''t want to be demoted to E-rank. Also, he was sure that the Gripin City''s Adventurers already knew him because he was quite a famous adventurer right at the moment. A demi with red fur bear. So he thought that they would give him some space while doing a quest here in this city. By giving him space means that they wouldn''t bother him. "He''s trying to escape!" One of the knights shouted while looking at Souta. "Follow him! Don''t let him escape!" The knights followed Souta but some of them stay in this place to help their fallen comrades. Souta glanced at them and he didn''t increase his speed so that they could catch up to him. He continued ran until he was five hundred meters away from the inn that he rented. On his way, the knights that were following him increased in numbers. Right now, more than thirty knights were following him. Twelve of these knights were from Asvares family while the rest came from Vidrato family. He could differentiate them because of the difference in armor design and the crest. Suddenly, Souta stopped moving and he just stood straight in one of the rooftops of the houses in this area. There were still those ignorant people that were watching the knights and Souta from the sideline. Souta looked down at the knights and said, "Let''s stop playing tags. From now on let''s fight seriously." Several shadows emerged from the ground and it flew towards the direction of the knights at high speed. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! The knights knew this spell so they easily repelled the shadows but none of them managed to cut it in half. Souta then stomped his feet on the roof and casted [Shadow Spike]. The spike burst out of the roof and it continued to spread until it reached the position of the knights. "Jump!" One of the knights shouted while looking at the spikes that were rising up from the ground. The knights didn''t have a choice but to jump in the air to avoid the spikes on the ground. Suddenly, they saw Souta in front of them in the mid-air. "W-What?" They were surprised to see him appeared in front of them in an instant. "Vidrato family? I will annihilate you..." The corner of Souta''s mouth stretched out into a smirk. He grabbed his sword and used the [Crimson Moon] skill. Swoosh!! The three knights from Vidrato family were sliced in half. They were the ones closest to Souta so they couldn''t react in time when Souta activated his skill. The knights on the back barely blocked his attack. They received wounds on their bodies as they couldn''t completely block that attack. These knights were just normal knights. They didn''t have enough power to compete to the C-rank adventurers. Souta and the knights landed on the ground. He canceled his spell as he didn''t want to waste any more mana. Although he has mana potions in his pocket, he still wanted to save it for the upcoming battles with the elite knights. Souta looked at the knights and said, "Come, I will take all of you." The knights looked at Souta and they raised their sharp swords. They were wary of him as they saw him killed three knights easily. "If you''re not going to come then I will..." Souta said as he charged towards the nearest knight on his left side. Swoosh!! In just a second, he appeared in front of the Vidrato family knight. The knight was slightly surprised at this but he quickly regained his composure and slashed his sword towards Souta. Souta shifted his body sideways and the sword passed beside him before he grabbed the wrist of the knight. He then stabbed the Vajra sword in the knight''s chest. "I''m sorry if you want to blame someone then blame that lord of yours for trying to kill Yuko," Souta said before he waved his sword and the knight was sliced into two. "Ah!" Souta heard a shouted behind him. He quickly turned his head and saw three knights charged at him in unison. He looked at the crest in the chest part of their armor and saw that they were from the Asvares family. "[Cat''s Speed] and [Triple Muscle Strengthening]" Souta activated the combat arts that could temporarily increase his power and speed. The three knights arrived in front of him and immediately slashed their swords. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta simply blocked all of their attacks with his sword. He moved swiftly as he appeared behind the three knights and threw a powerful punch in the face of one of the knights. He then lifted up his feet and swept them all using his feet. Bang! Bang! Bang! The threw knights flew and crashed on the ground. Souta chased after them as he wouldn''t give them a chance to recover. He knocked them out one by one using his fist. He wouldn''t kill the people from Lumilia''s family, only have one target this time. It was to decrease the force of the Vidrato family by killing all the knights that they sent after him. "Let''s see, if you''re going to make a move after I kill all of your subordinates," Souta muttered with a smirk on his face while looking at the rest of the knights around him. 128 Chain Quest: Elite Knights The civilian already left this area when the battle between Souta and the knights started a few minutes ago, so right now they were the only people in this place except for the few ones that choose to stay. Souta guessed that the one that stayed here have some power to protect themselves. They have the confidence to do that that''s why they choose to stay in this place. He clenched his fingers around the handle of his sword and he slightly bent his knees. Souta was about to charge towards the knights of the Vidrato Family when an oppressive aura hit him. Boom!! "They finally arrived..." Souta muttered as he turned his head and saw two groups of knights. They were the elite knights of Vidrato and Asvares Family. They were emitting a powerful aura that could rival his own. "It''s legit... They really are powerful to the point that each one of them could rival my own." Souta smiled while looking at these newly arrived knights. The elite knights of Asvares Family had five people in their group while the Vidrato family have seven members. ''This number is sufficient to take me down but the Gale Group will arrive here soon. I just have to hold on for a few minutes.'' Souta thought while observing the elite knights. It''s quite lucky that they didn''t send out more of them. The two families only sent out one squad. ''But we''ll they wouldn''t be able to take me down easily.'' Souta smirked as he circulated his mana around his body and he tightly gripped the Vajra sword in his hand. "There''s no need to hold back." Souta casted [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] on himself. He then stomped his feet on the ground and several tentacle-like shadows emerged. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! The knights quickly pulled their sword and tried to cut down the shadows. But they didn''t manage to. The shadows were tougher than they imagined, they didn''t think that they couldn''t cut those shadows. After finding out that they couldn''t cut the shadows, the knights quickly moved their bodies and jumped away. "Quickly restrain him!" One of the elite knights of the Asvares family shouted. Two of his comrades used their combat arts that could increase their power and speed. Swoosh! In an instant, the two of them appeared in front of Souta. Both of them slashed their swords at him. Souta stepped back and raised his sword to block their attacks. Clang! Clang! Souta was pushed back as he felt the power from that attacks. Then, the Vajra sword emitted a red aura. Without wasting any second Souta used the [Crimson Moon] skill. Swoosh!! Suddenly, black spikes emerged from the ground. It was about to pierce the body of the two knights when the spike broke into tiny particles. "What?!" Souta was surprised when he saw this. He jumped backward to gain some distance and he looked around. He saw one of the knights in the was casted a spell. "[Light Barrier]..." The knight muttered while looking at Souta. The shadow attribute spell was weak to light and holy attribute spells. So a level 1 [Shadow Spike] broke immediately when it made contact with the [Light Barrier]. ''Really, the difficulty increased when a knight that could use light attribute spell appeared.'' Souta thought while glancing at the knight that could use light attribute spell. It seems that he needed to prioritize eliminating this knight. But the problem was that this knight came from the Asvares family so he couldn''t kill him. Souta squinted his eyes and glanced at the elite knights of the Vidrato family. These knights were just watching him and the knights from Asvares family. He wondered why they didn''t attack him up until now. ''Just what are they planning?'' Souta thought. ... The group of elite knights that Asvares family sent has five members. The two knights were ten meters away from Souta while the remaining three were in the back. One of the knights in the back stepped forward and asked, "Where''s young miss Lumilia? Where did you hide her?" The knight frowned when he saw that Souta just glanced at him and remained silent. "Do you know that it''s a crime to kidnap a daughter of a noble?" The knight said in a loud voice. Souta smiled when he heard the words of the knight. He said, "So you''re saying that it''s fine if it''s not a noble." "I didn''t say it..." The knight gritted his teeth. "Fine, but you know that I''m just following the order of your young miss," Souta said and he opened his arms. "You know, I''m an adventurer and I will always follow what the quest that I''ve taken, and right now your young miss wanted to leave this city." Souta recalled something so he added, "But I''m not an assassin that will do everything for money." ''Money couldn''t make me move but it''s a different matter when we''re talking about skill points.'' Souta thought. "So you''re saying..." The knight seemed to know what Souta what about to say. "Yeah, she doesn''t want to be tied by her family. She has her own life why must you people force her to marry someone she doesn''t like." Souta slowly said to the knight. He then shrugged his shoulder and added, "So my job right now is to let her escape from this city." "Even if it means going against the whole Asvares family?" The knight did while looking straight into Souta''s eyes. "Who cares about that? I''m just doing my job, that''s all." Souta answered back as he opened his palm as if feeling helpless. "Then, how about we pay you triple than the money that young miss paid?" The knights gave him an offer. "I''m sorry but I''m still in the middle of my job. We will talk later after I completed this job." Souta said as he smiled. "There''s no point in talking to him. My squad will handle this so stay out of it." Suddenly, an elite knight from the Vidrato family said. The elite knight of the Asvares family looked at the one from Vidrato family and nodded. "I''ll leave it in your group." He then looked at one of his comrades and said, "Ray, go back to our lord and report what this adventurer said." "Understood." The knight nodded and he quickly left the area. The elite knights of the Asvares family stepped back and currently, they didn''t have a plan to attack him. Souta glanced at them and knew that they were going to wait for the order of Lumilia''s father. Since they knew that Lumilia left on her own, they knew that they should report it to their lord. They don''t have any idea that Lumilia''s father already knew what''s happening here. He just wanted to know why her daughter chose to leave the mansion. ''Right now, I don''t need to worry about them. I need to take care of these knights from Vidrato family.'' Souta thought as he shifted his gaze to the elite knights of the Vidrato family. One of the elite knights of the Vidrato family stepped forward and pulled out his sword. He said, "You know Our Lord forbids us from killing you but Our Lord also said that we have to make sure to break the bones from your limbs." "Why don''t you try it and see if you can really do it?" Souta smirked and he casted [Shadow Bind] without hesitation. Several shadows emerged from the ground and it quickly chased after the elite knights from the Vidrato Family. The sword of the knight before emitted a blue light. The knight slashed it towards the tentacles-like shadows. [Six Fold Slash]!! He used a combat arts and managed to repel all the shadows that were coming towards him and his comrades. The knights from the Asvares Family were shocked when they saw this. They focused on the knight''s face and recognized him. "That''s Madan...!" Madan was one of Gregory''s direct subordinate. He was stronger than elite knights as his power was just a bit weaker than B-rank Adventurers. "To think that Lord Gregory would even send out one of his direct subordinates..." The knights from the Asvares Family were stunned and didn''t know why Gregory sent Madan out here. "The difficulty once again became harder. Well, that doesn''t matter to me as your power is still in the realm of C-rank." Souta said with a smirk and he continued to cast spells. [Shadow Bind]! Even though Madan was powerful, he still couldn''t cut the shadows of the level 10 [Shadow Bind] spell. Only those who entered the realm of B-rank or monster that formed monster orb could break this spell. The best he could do was to fend it off using brute force or counter it using light attribute spells. 129 Chain Quest: Vs. Madan Really, he couldn''t use a tier 1 level 1 spell against this kind of opponent. Also, it could hardly damage the elite knights. The two knights arrived in front of Souta and slashed their swords at him. Souta quickly moved his body and barely avoided their attacks before he waved his sword at them. [Crimson Moon]! The two knights stopped to blocked Souta''s skill and Souta took this chance to gain some distance away from them while casting the [Shadow Bind] spell. The tentacles-like shadows flashed as it went towards the other five knights of the Vidrato Family. Of course, Souta didn''t forget to send some of the shadows to the two knights that blocked his attack. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! The knights scattered in the area as the shadows chased after them. They knew that they couldn''t cut these shadows with their own strength. But Souta found one knight heading toward him at high speed. This knight was Madan, one of the direct subordinates of Gregory. He had short blonde hair and blue eyes. He had sharp features that could be considered handsome in the human race. Souta gripped his sword tightly and he slashed it in front of him when Madan appeared. Clang! Madan reacted quickly by raising his sword to blocked Souta''s sword. He already anticipated that Souta will slash in front when he appeared. But what happened next was something he didn''t expect. "What?!" His feet suddenly sunk into the ground. He glanced down and found that the concrete floor before turned into a pool of mud. "[Mud Slide]... Didn''t expect it, right?" Souta grinned as he used his free hand to deliver a powerful blow on Madan''s stomach. He then grabbed Madan''s arm, which was holding a sword, before Souta slashed his Vajra sword. Swoosh!! A large cut appeared on Madan''s chest and a huge amount of blood spurted out of it. His purple grade armor couldn''t do anything against the dark grade sword of Souta. Actually, Souta was going to cut his neck off but he changed the trajectory of his sword because he saw a three-layered barrier that appeared on it. A small barrier like that was hard to break. The caster made it smaller because they wanted to clearly avoid being cut in that place because if they made the barrier covered Madan''s whole body, then the Vajra sword would simply shatter it like a piece of fragile glass. They sacrificed the other place so that Souta couldn''t kill Madan in an instant. What a smart move if Souta was to say it. The barrier must be the work of the other elite knights. Souta was about to stab Madan in the chest when Madan headbutted him. Bang! "Shit!" Souta cursed as he used [Cross Moon]. The red light flashed from the sword and the barrier expanded to blocked it but it didn''t last a second before it broke into tiny particles. But a second was enough for Madan to get out of the pool of mud. Madam distanced himself and looked at his broken left hand. Even though he jumped away Souta still managed to get his left arm. He took a deep breath as he felt intense pain in his body. He looked at Souta and asked, "How?" He wasn''t expecting to get an answer from his question. It''s just that he wanted to shift his attention out of the pain he was feeling right now. His purple grade armor was of no use when it comes to defense against Souta''s sword. There''s only one explanation to this, and that was Souta''s sword was higher grade. There''s no way that Souta''s strength was higher than him because, from the earlier clashed, it gave him a bit of understanding of Souta''s strength. With various buffs, Souta''s strength was only a bit lower than him. He circulated his mana and found that it became hard to control. He opened his eyes widely and looked at Souta. "That skill before can corrupt the target''s mana pool..." Madan muttered as he recalled how that skill got his arm. If he knew about this earlier then he could have dispersed that red light when it seeped into his arm using his mana. Souta took a deep breath and casted [Shadow Bind]. He held his forehead and felt that it was bleeding. After all, Madan poured his mana on his forehead when he headbutted Souta before. "Hoo~" Souta exhaled and he observed the knights of the Vidrato Family. He didn''t manage to kill Madan, the strongest one among them, so he knew that they would be wary about the [Mud Slide] spell. ''That was careless on my part.'' Souta thought. Luckily, they still didn''t know about the [Shadow Ball] spell so he would only use it when he got another opportunity to kill Madan. Madan looked at his comrades and said, "Be careful when you got close to him. He had a spell that could turn the concrete floor into a mud." "Yes, sir!" The knights answered him in a loud voice. "It''s really a problem when you don''t know your opponent skill. Be wary, maybe he still have a skill that he haven''t use." Madan said to his comrades. He thought that Souta was just an ordinary C-rank Adventurer that''s why he got careless and thought that they would be able to take him down easily but he was wrong. "[Knight''s Will]," Madan muttered as his body exerted a white aura around him. This skill could increase his attack damage and speed. "[Sword Aura]," The sword in Madan''s hand was coated by blueish energy. This sword skill could increase the sharpness of his sword. Also, his attack damage. "Lastly, [Strength Reinforcement]," Madan said as he activated all the combat arts that could increase his strength. His power right now was a little bit lower than those B-rank. The skill that Souta used before was problematic to a mage who used their mana in the battle as it could disrupt the flow of mana inside a person''s body. Luckily, he was a knight, not a mage. Among the fifty direct subordinates of Gregory, he was one of the weakest. Because his strength was below B-rank. He only became a direct subordinate of Gregory because he had the potential to reach that level of strength. "Let''s do this!" Madan shouted as he dashed towards Souta. Souta knitted his brows and controlled the tentacles-like shadows to distract the other knights. He doesn''t want them to bother him in battling Madan because it would become a trouble if they ganged him up. He then charged towards Madan. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta and Madan exchanged blows at high speed. Every time their swords collided, a spark flew out between their swords as a loud metallic sound rung in the whole area. Clang! Clang! Clang! Every second, small cuts started to appear around Souta''s body. He knew that in terms of overall abilities the knight in front of him was higher than him. He couldn''t do anything but defend against Madan''s barrage of attacks. Even defending was hard for him as some slipped in his guard and cut his body. Souta even tried to use the same tactic once again but Madan already knew it so it didn''t work. Madan avoided all the mud that he created on the ground. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta opened his eyes widely as another two knights appeared on his left and right side. Since he focused on trying to fight Madan, he could hardly have a time to control the tentacles-like shadows to distract the other knights. So it''s not surprising that they managed to get passed from his shadows. ... Ursus frowned when he heard the report of his subordinates. "I know that my daughter left the mansion on her own but I didn''t think that it''s because of the engagement, " Ursus muttered as he tapped his finger on top of the table. "If we annul the engagement then Gregory would face us. I know his temperament as he wouldn''t tolerate it if my daughter is the one who broke the engagement. He valued their family face after all. But... what if Gregory''s son is the one who annulled the engagement..." Ursus shook his head and thought that was impossible. Gregory wanted to take some of the Crystal Flame Honey, so he wouldn''t let his son cancel the engagement. "I don''t want to make another enemy, so I''m going to personally visit my daughter and have a talk with her," Ursus said as he stood up from his seat. Suddenly, the door opened and his assistant came in. "My Lord, the captain of the city guard is here. He wanted to talk to you about the happenings in the city." 130 Chain Quest: I dont have any plans or agendas A loud roar echoed in the whole area that shook the ground. It startled every knight including those knights that were about to attack Souta. Madan looked at his two comrades that stopped and he shouted, "Don''t be distracted in front of an enemy!!" The two knights regained their composure. They bent their knees and took a distance away. But they were already too late. Two large cuts appeared on their chest. It spurted out a large amount of blood before the tentacles-like shadows emerged on their feet and strangled their bodies. Souta smiled as he knew that Yuko arrived to help him in this situation. With Yuko''s help, he would be able to last longer and killed some of the knights of the Vidrato Family. Also, the Gale Group would arrive soon so he doesn''t need to worry unless there''s an unexpected thing that will appear to help the knights. "Die!" Souta looked at the two knights and closed his palm. The tentacles-like shadows that were restraining them tightened. "Argh!!" The two knights groaned in pain as the shadows around them tightened threatening to crush their bodies. "Free them!!" Madan immediately moved his body and rushed towards Souta to save his two comrades. He jumped in the air and slashed his sword. "[Six Fold Slash]!!" Six flashes of light when towards Souta at high speed. Souta looked at it and squinted his eyes. He raised his palm and several tentacles-like shadows appeared. He controlled these shadows and it blocked Madan''s skill. Boom!! Madan continued to push forward the shadows that were blocking his way. His power was really great and it almost reached the realm of B-rank. Souta frowned and his shadows tightened up around the two knights. He gripped his sword as he prepared himself to clash against Madan once he passed through the shadows. It was hard to kill the elite knights than the ordinary knights that he killed before. Their body was tougher and their strength was higher, so it was hard to crush them using [Shadow Bind] spell, which was a spell for binding opponents. If he was a Rank 3 Mage then his [Shadow Bind] spell would have enough to easily crushed these elite knights. Souta saw the other four knights of the Vidrato Family dashed forward to help their two comrades. "Yuko!" Souta shouted and Yuko charged towards the four elite knights. He knew that Yuko couldn''t match that four elite knights on her own. At the very least, she would last two minutes from the four elite knights and that''s if she used every strength she had. Roar! Yuko roared loudly and she used her trait skill. She opened her mouth widely and a ball of flames formed. It spun like a razor before it expanded. [Burning Shout]!! The flames spread wide enough to the point that the four elite knights have no choice but to face her skill. They couldn''t avoid the flames because of its wide range. Two of the four elite knights turned around. They used combat arts to increase their defense before placing a barrier in front of them. They used combat arts because even if the barrier collapsed they still have protection around them. They were going to defend against Yuko''s trait skill while the other two knights will rescue their comrades. The flames hit the barrier they erected and they endured it for their comrades. ... Souta opened his left palm and a black ball formed on top of it. He then canceled the [Shadow Bind] that was holding Madan. "Wha-" Madan was surprised when the tentacles-like shadows suddenly vanished into thin air but he quickly regained his composure as he saw Souta threw a black ball of energy in front of him. He reacted quickly by shifting his head to the side and the black ball of energy passed beside his head. Swoosh!! ''As expected of him. He still managed to avoid it in that range.'' Souta thought and he waved his sword towards Madan. Madan also swung his sword and both of their swords collided causing sparks to flew between their swords. Clang! Souta and Madan pulled back their swords before they clashed once again. Clang! Clang! Clang! They were so fast that every time they swung their swords it was followed by a gust of wind. Just like last time, Madan suppressed Souta in sword fights. Souta''s [Sword Mastery] was level 3 and Madan was suppressing him. It means that he was higher than Souta in terms of pure sword skills. It just that Souta has an advantage in basic attacks like this. The added damage of his [Sword Mastery] skill stacked up with his [Corruption] traits. That''s why he could damage Madan even with normal attacks. Plus, the sharpness of the [Vajra Sword Saya] was higher than any sword. If not for all of this, Souta wouldn''t be able to hurt someone at Madan''s level, who was clearly above him, with his normal attacks. Every second, small cut appeared on Souta''s body. The blue grade leather armor that he was wearing was in tottered. "Sir Madan, we''ve managed to rescue them!" The two knights shouted as they managed to rescue the knights from the tentacles-like shadows. "Good," Madan muttered as he smiled and slashed his sword at Souta. "Good." Souta also smiled at Madan as the sword an inch closer to his face. But something unexpected happened... His sword slashed the thin air as Souta vanished in front of him. "What the..." Madan was stunned he recalled Souta''s smile. ''Teleportation spell, but he was looking at him when he vanished.'' Madan thought as he tried to figure out how did Souta vanished. A tier 1 teleportation spell called [Blink] was a spell that could teleport the user to a dozen meters away from his position. Also, he could only teleport to the place that he was looking at. But Souta was looking straight at Madan''s eye, so it was impossible to use [Blink]. It only means that Souta used different teleportation spells. Madan recalled the black ball of energy that Souta threw before. ''Damn! Then, he''s targeting my subordinates.'' Madan thought as he gritted his teeth and he turned around. "Ugh!" He felt a warm feeling forming in his mouth. He looked down and saw Souta''s sword on his chest. "Argh!" Madan groaned and spat a mouthful of blood. He looked up and saw Souta was grabbing two of his comrades in their neck. Slowly, the tentacles-like shadows rose up from the ground. It slowly strangled the bodies of the two knights. "Let them go!" Madan said as blood flow down from his mouth. He then raised his hand and grabbed the sword that was on his chest. He was about to pull it out when he felt something. Thud! Thud! He fell on his knees as he felt his heart thump wildly. The world he was seeing was slowly turning around and his whole body was slowly going numb. "W-What''s happening to me?" Madan said with great effort. The temperature of his body was rising and then it will go down. He gritted his teeth and lifted up his head. He looked at Souta with clear anger in his eyes. Suddenly, his vision turned completely red like a blood. He felt intense pain coming from his eyes and it followed up by blood flowing out of it. "Argh!!" Madan screamed as he held his head using both of his hands. He then heard a female voice whispering beside him. "Give your body to me and you will not feel any of this pain. I assure you in my name that you will no longer feel pain once you entrust your body to me." "Get the hell out of my head!!" Madan screamed as he continued to hear the voice of a woman in his head. Souta turned around when he heard Madan''s loud voice. "Hmm...? So that how it is..." A smile appeared on Souta''s face while looking at Madan. He then closed his palm and the shadows tightened around the bodies of the two knights behind him. Crack! A loud cracking sound echoed behind him. The shadows crushed all the bones of the two knights and killed them. Souta ignored it as he walked towards Madan. "You know, there''s a crazy will inside that sword so you shouldn''t have hold it," Souta said before he grabbed the handle of the [Vajra Sword Saya] and pulled it out. He looked at the sword and said, "You''ve unconsciously activated the possession skill when you hold it, or maybe the will inside the sword help you. Just what are you planning, Saya." Suddenly, a voice rung inside Souta''s mind. "Ufufu, I''m just helping you defeat him. I don''t have any plans or agendas." Souta didn''t expect that the [Vajra Sword Saya] would reply to his words. It was truly unexpected that it caught him off guard. ''I''ll worry about you later.'' He shook his head and looked at Madan who was breathing heavily. 131 Chain Quest: Quest 3 He noticed that veins were popping out of Madan and blood was flowing out of his eyes. ''You don''t have a system like me that could use the equipment skill of weapon as soon as I wield it. You don''t have any idea that you activate the [Possession] skill of the Vajra sword.'' Souta thought while looking at Madan''s pitiful appearance. "I won''t let you suffer anymore," Souta said in a cold tone as he slowly raised his sword. "I don''t want to die..." Madan muttered as he gripped something from his chest. It was a pendant that has a picture of his family. He recalled the face of his wife, daughter, and his two-year-old son. He didn''t think that this would become his last mission. "Claire, Cyndi, Romi, I''m sor-" He didn''t even manage to finish his sentence as Souta swung his sword. Putchi! Madan''s head flew in the mid-air and it splattered blood on the ground. *Ding!* [You''ve received 4,613 exp for defeating Elite Knight "Madan"!] Souta sighed when he heard the system prompt in his head. When Madan said the name of his family members, Souta hesitated for a moment there. "I just hope that you don''t confront me in your next life," Souta muttered to himself. He was going to take down everyone that blocked his path and there''s no exception to it even if you have families or not. Souta wasn''t an entirely evil person, even he still has humanity in his heart. Even if it''s just a little amount of kindness, Souta treated a few selected individuals with affection. Well, that individuals can be counted in both hands. ''Yuko, Yuko... Yuko... Hmm... Who else? I think I will include class rep next to Yuko.'' Souta thought as he looked at his hands. He then shook his head and put those unnecessary thoughts in the back of his mind. He crouched down and grabbed the pendant on Madan''s neck before he yanked it off. "If I met your family then I will give then a special service of mine. If they''re lacking money then I''ll give it to them." Souta said to Madan''s corpse before he turned around. He recalled the quest that he received in the Desolate Woods. He still has to complete but he doesn''t have any idea where he would start in this huge continent. He saw that Yuko managed to defeat the two elite knights because of shock when they saw how Souta killed Madan. She received a few injuries on her body while she was fighting the two elite knights. The remaining two elite knights were looking at Madan''s headless body with widened eyes. They couldn''t believe what happened before their very own eyes. After a few moments, both of their mana burst out of their bodies as they recklessly charged towards Souta. "Too predictable... You think that you would be able to kill me when you''re just charging at me without any sort of plan." Souta said to the two elite knights while closely avoiding all of their attacks. The two knights let their emotion overcome them and they recklessly waved their sword at him. They didn''t have any proper form so how would they caught Souta in that situation. Souta sighed when he saw them didn''t listen to his words. The Vajra sword in his hand emitted a red light. Ohm! Souta moved his body forward while dodging the attacks of the two elite knights before he waved his sword. [Crimson Moon]! The heads of the two elite knights flew in the mid-air before it landed on the ground with a loud sound. Normally, two elite knights would be hard to kill at his current level but they lost their composure, so Souta managed to kill them easily. *Ding!* [You''ve received 3,507 exp for defeating an Elite Knight!] [You''ve received 3,289 exp for defeating an Elite Knight!] Souta looked down and examined his body. He didn''t receive any grave injuries, so he could fight another big battle. Yuko approached Souta and lowered her head in front of him. Souta looked at her and he lifted up his palm. He then placed it on her forehead and used [Light Heal] to close the cuts that she received. He thought that he should try to get the spell that would let him heal himself. An advanced version of [Light Heal], if he wasn''t wrong he remembered that the top 5 ranker Ailene Carnain used this spell. "I will try to get it in the institute," Souta muttered then he shifted his attention and looked at the elite knights of the Asvares Family. These knights back down when he said that Lumilia left the mansion on her own. They also simply watched him killed the elite knights of the Vidrato Family. He doesn''t know if they have any plans but at this time, he heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest 2 Complete!] [You''ve received 20,000 exp, 7 free attribute points, and 5 skill points!] [You''ve level up!] [Strength attributes have increased by 15!] [Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality attributes have increased by 10!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] Souta nodded in satisfaction when he saw that he level up when he received the rewards from the quest. He finished this quest without receiving heavy injuries and he was glad at that. Before when he triggered a quest with 5 skill points as a reward, it was a quest to snatch the Mystical Light Cherry. That quest was hard because of the monster that was guarding the cherry but it was killed by the Commandments. To think, that the appearance of a Commandments would raise the rewards of the quest. If it was a quest to escape from the Commandments then the rewards would be more than 20 skill points. But it was a different matter if it was a quest to defeat the Commandments. [Quest 3 unlocked!] [Lumilia] Quest 3: Don''t let the knights capture Lumilia. Protect her at all costs until you leave the city. Time Limit: 30 minutes, Rewards: 25,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 7 skill points. [Note: If Lumilia didn''t manage to leave the city within the time limit, you will fail the quest as the city guards will intervene.] Souta carefully read the quest that he received this time. ''7 skill points?'' He thought this quest would become the hardest quest that he triggered. There''s also a note and time limit so it means that either the Asvares Family or Vidrato Family will make a large scale move to stop Lumilia from leaving this city. Also, it means that Tidor and Tim finished their task in getting a carriage. "I need to go to Lumilia as soon as possible..." Souta muttered as he looked up and saw the knights of the Asvares Family looking at him. But he felt something wrong around him. He heard Yuko growled beside him, so he looked around and saw dozens of knights arrived at the scene. The group of knights consists of elite knights and ordinary knights. Their number exceeded fifty people. Thirty of it were just ordinary knights while the rest were elite knights. "To think that man would send out this force," Souta said as he smiled wryly. He saw that the crest on the chest part of the armor was the crest of the Vidrato Family. It seems that Gregory really hated him to send this much force. "Get ready, Yuko. We''re going to break through and go to class rep." Souta said as he took out a blue bottle from his pocket. He removed the bottle cap and drank the mana potion to restore some of his mana, he then took out a red bottle. He also drunk it like the mana potion. This red potion was a health potion that could recover his health points. "Ho~" Souta exhaled as he felt a warm feeling inside his body. The cuts on his body were closing rapidly until he felt that all the small cuts on his body were gone. "Okay, I''m ready to fight another battle." Souta smirked and tightly gripped the Vajra sword in his hand. He observed the knights and his mana flared up. The knights were looking at Souta and then they made a way as a middle-aged man with long blue hair stepped forward. He was exuding a fierce aura of a veteran fighter that experienced countless battles. The knights of the Asvares Family bowed their heads when they saw the middle-aged man. "My Lord!!" All of them said at the same time. ''My Lord...?'' Souta thought then he realized who this man. "Don''t tell me..." He didn''t think at all that this man would appear before him. 132 Chain Quest: I dont have any choice "Grr!!" Yuko growled at Ursus as her instinct was telling her that Ursus was a very dangerous person. She walked in front of Souta and looked at Ursus with an angry expression. Souta patted Yuko''s head and told her that it was fine. She didn''t have to protect him. Souta then looked at Ursus and said, "I''m sorry to tell you that class rep is not here." Ursus simply looked at him and didn''t say anything to him. Souta felt like he was a prey standing in front of a top predator and that said predator was looking at him. He felt being oppressed just by standing in front of Ursus Von Asvares. The man who managed to get a Crystal Flame Honey from the powerful monster. Souta knew the locations were the honey can be found. The closest to this kingdom was the mountain between Hebrei Kingdom and Zomus country. The monsters that could produce the Crystal Flame Honey were the Colossus Burning Bees. These monsters were already at third evolution which means that their level was above level 40. To think that Ursus managed to snatch a bottle of honey from more than a hundred bees means that he was above level 60. He was a man that could go toe to toe with a monster that undergoes fourth evolution such as the Queen Bee of the Colossus Burning Bees. But it''s only Souta''s speculation as there''s a possibility that Ursus was stronger. ''The difference in power is too large. Buff spell and combat arts are no use.'' Souta thought. It was at this time that Ursus opened his mouth and said, "I already know where my daughter is and my knights are already on their way to surround the inn." Souta was stunned when he heard those words. If that''s really the case, then he should hurry up and go to Lumilia to prevent the knights from capturing her. "Then, why are you here? Do you want to fight me, a junior?" Souta asked and thought that Ursus would personally capture him. "No, you''re ten years early to fight me. You''re not at my level." Ursus shook his head. ''Oh? Ten years... I''ve played the Battle Worlds Online for ten years and become one of the commanders of the Mechanic Country. I could easily defeat a single noble head like you when I''m Blood.'' Souta thought and he felt amused at what Ursus said. Right now, he doesn''t have a level cap so he was sure that he would get stronger than Blood within just a few years of time. He doesn''t need ten years at all. Ursus once again opened his mouth and said, "I won''t fight you as I don''t want that enormous institute to chase me. I came here because I wanted to see the power of the strongest first-year student of that institute. After all, my daughter praised you a lot." He then looked at the dead bodies of the elite knights around Souta and added, "I''ve visited that Institute a few times ago, and from what I saw that you''re really the strongest first-year students as your clearly stronger than your the previous batch but not the current top 1." "Hm... It seems that you''re just here to watch me defeat these knights." Souta smirked and said as he looked at the knights of the Vidrato Family. He was only joking as he knew that with his current power it was impossible to defeat all these knights and elite knights. "That''s impossible just let yourself be captured so that you wouldn''t experience hardship," Ursus said as he looked at Souta. "Oi! Did you know that defeating them and escaping from them is a different matter? So did you really think that they will manage to capture me." Souta said with a smile. He knew the truth that even escaping from the elite knights of Vidrato Family was hard for him. Against this much number, it was hard to escape much more defeating them. Then, a man with a terrifying aura stepped forward. He was holding a sword and looked at Souta with rage. "You, how dare you kill my junior?" He said as his face contorted in anger. He was also a direct subordinate of Gregory. The five of Gregory''s subordinates came here in this city with Gregory and one of them died while chasing one adventurer. His name was Aldine Gropus. A powerful knight of the Vidrato Family. He was a tall man with short brown hair and black eyes. He had a scar on his left cheek that made his appearance looked fierce. He couldn''t take it all. He wanted to rip Souta apart. Right now, he was with Foud, one of the direct subordinates, to capture Souta. Foud was a man with average height. He had a lazy look on his face. He had black cat ears and tails. He stepped forward and stood beside Aldine. He looked at Souta with those lazy eyes. ''Are they the leader of this squad?'' Souta wondered while looking at these two knights. Aldine and Foud then released their energy with a powerful momentum that shook the ground beneath them. Boom! A huge gust of wind swept out and it blew the dust in the area around them. "This...?!" Souta opened his eyes widely when the two direct subordinates released their aura. These two auras were clearly stronger than Madan. This made the escape more difficult. "That''s why I said that you wouldn''t be able to escape," Ursus said as he turned around and started to walk away. He was going to where his daughter. "I don''t have any choice but to use this," Souta said as he took out a bottle with orange liquid from his pocket. The smile on his face vanished and it was replaced by a cold expression. "Yuko, I will handle them. You can watch me on the sideline." Souta said as he patted Yuko on top of her head. Yuko looked at him with a worried expression before she followed his order. She stood behind him as watched her owner took the cap of the bottle. Tak! Souta threw the bottle cap on the side and he took a deep breath. Aldine wanted to rush towards Souta but Foud grabbed his wrist. He looked at Foud and asked, "Why?" Foud shook his head and said, "My instinct as a cat person is telling not to approach that man. You will be in trouble if you approached him carelessly." "You''re right. He''s the one who killed Madan after all." Aldine nodded his head. He took a deep breath to calm himself and he started to activate all the combat arts that could increase his power. "[Power Strike], [Piercing Reduction], [Reinforce Recovery], [Knight''s Will], [Body Power Times Three]..." Foud looked at Aldine who was preparing himself and shook his head. He looked at Ursus and asked, "Lord Ursus, can I ask something before you leave?" Ursus turned around and looked at Foud. "Tell me." Foud glanced at Souta and asked, "Lord Ursus, do you have any idea what that potion is?" Ursus squinted his eyes and looked at the potion in Souta''s hand. "Orange liquid? I can''t think of any potion that possessed that color, but I have a bad feeling about this." Ursus said then something came into his mind. "In this era, there''s no current orange potion but in the last... Don''t tell me..." "It seems that you''ve guessed it correctly. This is a monster potion that I''ve found in an underground base." Souta said as he drunk the orange liquid from the small bottle. This was the monster potion that Souta found in the underground base when he was completing the quest to acquire the dark grade weapon [Vajra Sword Saya]. Boom! The ground shook as Aldine charged towards Souta at a very fast speed. He opened his palm and tried to grab Souta''s face. Aldine''s speed was so fast that he covered a distance of fifty meters in an instant. Souta lifted up his head and looked at Aldine in the eyes who was just an inch closer to him. Suddenly, something exploded from inside Souta''s body. A huge powerful energy came inside his body and it swept out the whole area. Boom! It was a powerful burst of energy and it pushed Aldine away from Souta. The energy became so dense that everyone could see it with their own eyes. The mana that Souta was emitting was really terrifying. Its blueish color slowly turned into a blood-red color. The atmosphere became heavy as everyone felt the pressure in the air. "A legendary potion from one thousand years ago that could let the user borrowed the monsters special energy. The monster potion from the legend." Ursus said while looking at Souta. "But do you really think that there''s no side effect in using that kind of potion?" 133 Chain Quest: Monster Potion "A potion from legends..." Foud muttered when he heard Ursus words. "ARGH!!" Souta screamed as he started to emit the beast energy around his body. The beast or best feram was contradicting the mana inside his body and it was extremely painful for Souta. *Ding!* [Converting mana into beast energy!] [Processing...] "DAMN!! IT HURTS!!" Souta screamed at the top of his lungs. His veins were popping on his forehead and neck. He didn''t hear the system prompts that rung in his head. It felt like someone was eating him from the inside. Blood started to flow down from his mouth. Souta then felt a burning sensation inside his body. It became too hot that he felt that he was inside a huge oven. The excruciating pain that he felt from converting his mana was unbearable. In the end, the mana inside his body disappeared and it was replaced by a berserk beast energy. With a powerful wave, Souta''s body exerted an energy wave in the surrounding area as it successfully converted all the mana inside his body. [Processing complete!] [All abilities have increased drastically...] [Attack power has increased by three times...] [Every spell will use best feram and it will multiply the spell power by three!] Souta heard several system prompts inside his head. He ignored it and looked at the knights who were looking at him with a nervous expression. He looked down at his hand and saw a reddish energy around it. He opened and closed his palm to get himself familiarize with the beast energy. The beast energy was hard to control, unlike mana that originates from nature. Ursus looked at Souta and said, "If you think that this enough, then you''re underestimating Gregory." Souta looked at Ursus when he heard him say something. Souta responded by saying, "You shouldn''t worry about that. I will handle him when the time comes." "Hmm..." Ursus hummed before he turned around and said, "Let''s go!" "Yes, My Lord!" The knights of the Asvares Family nodded their heads. They followed Ursus from behind. Ursus and his knights left leaving the group of knights of the Vidrato Family on the site. "Shit! Why the hell did he have that kind of potion?!" Aldine grunted as he wiped the sweat forming on his forehead. "Hmm..." Foud, the most logical one, took out a piece of yellow paper from his pocket. It was the talisman for long-distance communication, the transmission talisman. He poured his mana in it and the talisman emitted a dim yellow light. "What is it?" Gregory''s voice sounded. "My Lord, the target Souta Ieshi showed a legendary potion that gives him the strength of the monster," Foud reported what happened here to his lord. "Yes, My Lord. Lord Ursus appeared here and he left the target alone. Right now, we''re going to engage the target in combat." Foud said while observing Souta''s movements. "Right now, just how powerful is that brat.?" Gregory asked. "Hmm... Just by the aura alone, he''s as strong as a monster that has a monster orb." Foud reported Souta''s power level based on his observation. "Level of evolution?" Gregory asked a simple question. "Third evolution..." Foud replied after comparing Souta''s aura to the monsters that he saw before. "If that''s the case then you and Aldine are not enough to defeat him," Gregory paused for a moment then added, "Call the other knights that I tasked to capture the other adventurers. I''ll prevent Lumilia from leaving the city." "I understand, I don''t think we''ll be able to hold him that long with our current strength," Foud replied to Gregory. "That''s enough, the effect of that potion wouldn''t last that long. If you can''t handle him then I''ll personally take care of him after I secure Lumilia." Gregory assured Foud. "I understand, My Lord. I''m going to cut the transmission now." Foud said as he saw that Souta was looking at him. Precisely, the talisman that he was holding. Souta looked at Foud and said, "Hmm... That''s a transmission talisman." This type of talisman was useless to players as the system have a message and call function, so the players didn''t need the talisman to communicate with each other. "I''ll take that..." Souta said as he disappeared from his position. Swoosh!! Foud was surprised when he couldn''t follow Souta''s movements with his eyes. "Brace yourself, we''re going to hold this man." He shouted and he felt something behind him. He followed his instinct and he crouched down. Swoosh!! A sword passed above him and it produced a powerful shockwave. Boom!! Foud looked back and he rolled his body to the side. ''This guy... He''s planning to kill me with that strike.'' He said in his mind and he took out his sword. "Oh? That''s good..." Souta praised Foud for dodging his attack. A powerful and dense beast energy covered the whole area around the knights. Boom! It suppressed the weaker energy like mana, so the knights who have low control over their mana would be able to use it properly. "Argh! The heck with this, you''re stronger than a monster that formed a monster orb recently. Is that really the power of the legendary potion?" Foud cursed while looking at Souta. He gripped his sword and a white light covered his sword. "[Wind Slash]!" He slashed his sword and a wind blade flew out. Swoosh!! The blade went straight to Souta but a tentacle-like shadow sprouted on the ground. It blocked the skill easily. "Attack him!" Aldine shouted and he dashed towards Souta. He used every power that he had to launch a powerful punch. The other knights didn''t stay idle as all of them launched their skills at Souta. Several shadows rose up from the ground and it covered Souta''s body like a cocoon. It protected him from the skills of the knights. Souta heard several loud sounds as the skills of the knights landed on the shadows around him. He opened his palm and casted [Shadow Bind] spell. Ohm! The whole ground turned black and it spread one hundred meters diameter with Souta as the center. The knights stop firing their skills as they saw more than a hundred tentacles-like shadows slowly rose up from the ground. "What the hell...?" Foud muttered while looking at this scene. The ordinary knights lost their will to fight when they saw this. They subconsciously loosen their grip on their swords. One by one it fell on the black ground causing a metallic sound to echoed in the whole area. Clang! Clang! Clang! Fear slowly seeped in their hearts and it consumed their will to fight. "This is many times stronger than before." "We''re all going to die..." They muttered to themselves while looking at the towering shadows around them. The shadows extended up to twenty meters in height and its thickness was three meters to the root, and it gradually thinned down to the tips of the shadows. Within the one hundred meters diameter black ground, more than a hundred huge shadows rose up. Each one of these shadows possessed terrifying strength that could easily crush the knights. "This is the power of the [Shadow Bind] spell when you use beast energy instead of mana. The only problem is that it''s harder to control." Souta muttered to himself. The beast energy was a dominant and berserk energy. That''s why it could suppress the calm and peaceful mana. But not anyone could control this powerful energy, only the monsters have the strength to control this. In the past, a lot of humans and demis attempted to use the beast energy and a lot of them failed to do so. But not all of them failed... The result of their attempts was the monster potions and the use of some technology using beast energy. The energy that the whole city used was coming from monster orbs. It was also the fruits of countless experiments of humans and demis in the past. They succeeded in transferring the beast energy in the body of humans and demis using the potions, but there were a lot of problems. The bodies of humans and demis weren''t compatible to the power of beast energy. The beast energy was trying to destroy the mana pool of the person that consumed the monster potion. That''s why the side effect of this potion was that the consumer of the potion will permanently lose a portion of his mana pool. But that''s okay for Souta as he was a monster in the first place. It''s just that his current form couldn''t handle the power of the beast energy. Second evolution monster didn''t have enough strength to fully control it. The shadows opened and he peeked outside. Souta grinned and controlled the shadows. All the shadows stopped moving and it went straight to the knights. The screams of the knights echoed in the whole area as the shadows strangle their bodies. 134 Chain Quest: What are you doing here? The sounds of sword clashing echoed in the whole area. The one who''s fighting here were Brianna, John, and Jane of the Gale Group. Brianna, John, and Jane were fighting the knights of the Vidrato Family. When they felt Souta''s outburst of energy before they immediately went to help him but on their way, a group of knights from Vidrato Family blocked their way. It led to a battle between the three of them and the elite knights of the Vidrato Family. They were Rank C Adventurers so ordinary knights were no match to them. "[Banshee''s Cry]!!" Jane shouted loudly and it echoed throughout the whole area. Her voice contained some mysterious voice that slows down the movements of the knights. [Banshee''s Cry] was a tier 1 spell that could slow down the target''s movement speed by 20%. "Damn! Be careful! This spell decreased our speed!" The leader of the squad of these elite knights said to his comrades. Brianna charged forward and she waved her sword at the leader of the elite knights. Clang! Despite his movements being slowed down, the leader still managed to block her attack. "Another one!" Brianna didn''t stop at one strike. She continued to attack the leader of the elite knights without hesitation. Clang! Clang! Clang! The leader of the elite knights passively blocked her attacks. He couldn''t do anything because of the debuffs that were cast on him and the other knights. Suddenly, Brianna''s sword and John''s dagger emitted a white glow. Both of them weren''t surprised at this. They knew who''s the one behind this and that''s their comrade Jane. "[Increase Sharpness] and [Bleeding Attack]!" Jane casted a spell that helped Brianna and John. She was a support-type mage so most of her spells were buffs and debuffs which could increase her comrade''s fighting ability or decrease their enemy''s fighting ability. "[Burst Slash]!" John disappeared and he reappeared on the back of the elite knight. A large cut appeared on the chest of the elite knight and it spurted out a large amount of blood. [Stealth]! John slowly blended in the surroundings as he used his combat arts. He was the scout of the Gale Group. An expert scout that knew the essence of it and understood the meaning of his class. He knew his weakness and understood that he wasn''t fit for close combat battles. He was better of finishing enemies with a sneak attack on their blind spot. Brianna was the main damage dealer of the Gale Group. The combination of her sword and speed were fearsome. She was holding every elite knight here with Jane''s support. That alone was enough to say that her power was slightly stronger than elite knights. While she was holding all the elite knights, John would sneak attack the knights that leave their guards open. Tidor was the tanker of the group. The shielder class that always took the frontline in every battle. He experienced a lot of life and death situations that toughened up his body. While Tim was the burst-type mage of the Gale Group. Unlike Jane who only knew support spells, Tim knew different types of damage spells. AOE or burst spell that could kill any opponents at his level with just a single combination of it. They were the true Rank-C Adventurers and if they were in a party. The strength they would show was stronger because of their combination, so they could defeat opponents that were higher level than them. Boom!! Suddenly, the ground shook heavily like an earthquake hit the whole city. It stopped the Gale Group and the elite knights from fighting because of the heavy tremor of the ground. They don''t have any choice but to grab on something near them to balance their footing. The Gale Group and the elite knights looked up and saw towering black tentacles from far away. Then a powerful wave of energy swept out coming from that direction and it hit all of them. Swoosh!! "This...? Best feram?!" Jane recognized the energy that swept out in all directions. She felt the disturbance in her mana pool. Although it became weak because of the distance, she still felt it. "Best feram? Monster..." Brianna glanced at Jane when she heard her mentioned the word "Best Feram". She then looked at the direction of the huge tentacles and muttered, " Just what is happening there?" "Souta is in that direction..." John whispered while looking at the towering tentacles. Not just them who felt and saw it but also Tidor and Tim. Up to the gate of the city, they could clearly saw the emergence of the black tentacles that wiped out a part of that city. They saw how those tentacles smashed the huge buildings in that direction. Even at this distance, they felt a slight trembling of the ground. "Really... What''s that?" Tidor muttered in disbelief while looking at the scene. "That''s Souta''s spell..." Tim said as he recognized the black tentacles. "But it somehow feels different..." "Well, yeah it''s different. You can also see it, right? The size! It is larger than what he showed before." Tidor said to Tim as he emphasized the word "size". "I know that... but I''m talking that it''s not mana that he is using to cast that spell," Tim said with an annoyed expression. ... The city lord of the Gripin City was also watching this chaotic scene with his own eyes. "Report. What''s happening there?" The city lord opened his mouth and asked? "Lord, an adventurer used monster potion according to our agent who saw it." A voice answered him from behind. This voice came from the city lord''s assistant. "Monster potion? The recipe of that potion is gone but sometimes a bunch of adventurers managed to acquired it in some dungeons or ruins." The city lord muttered in a low voice. "I''ve given Ursus 30 minutes to wrap this up. I will not intervene and the damage that they created will be paid by Ursus. That''s what he promised to me." "Evacuate all the civilians and don''t let any of them die. I don''t want someone innocent to die in this incident." The city lord said. "Yes, My Lord. The city guards are now evacuating the civilians from all the battlefields in the city." The assistant reported. "If this doesn''t end in 30 minutes then I''ll personally stop this chaos." The city lord said. ... Souta was standing alone on the battlefield. He canceled the [Shadow Bind] spell and all the huge tentacles-like shadows dissipated into thin air. He managed to kill all the knights of the Vidrato easily. They didn''t expect this to happen at all as they thought that they would be able to hold him but the reality wasn''t that fair to them. It''s true that Souta received the best feram from the potion that he drunk and everyone thought that he was as strong as a monster that formed their monster orb recently. But he was clearly stronger than them because of his spell. All the monster that they fought were just using their trait skills and once they knew the monster''s trait skills, they could create a plan to counter it but Souta was using a spell. If a person used best feram to cast a spell then the power of the spell would multiply by three because of the usage of the stronger energy. It means that all of Souta''s spells were currently three times stronger. And the knights didn''t expect this at all. Before they could think it through, Souta crushed them. "Ugh!" Blood flowed down from his mouth. Souta lifted up his hand and wiped the blood. ''Even though I''m a monster my body still couldn''t handle the best feram.'' Souta thought as he felt a stinging pain all over his body. "Ufufu, I wonder what will happen if everyone knew that you will gain this power once you evolve to a higher lifeform." A playful voice sounded in Souta''s mind. "You don''t need to think about me. I will handle it when that time comes." Souta snorted then he looked at Yuko, "Plus, I think that Yuko will evolve first before me." "Ufufu, That''s what scary about you... You''re not afraid of those stronger than you and you don''t care about them. It feels like you are sure that you will reach their level or even surpassed them someday." The playful voice replied in his head. "Well, thanks for the compliment," Souta said in his mind and he shook his head. "Ufufu, what a scary monster you are..." The voice in his mind giggled. "It seems that you have a visitor." "Souta!" A voice sounded behind Souta. Souta turned his head and looked behind him. He saw a person that he didn''t expect that would appear here. "What are you doing here?" Souta asked. 135 Chain Quest: Arrival The knights surround the whole inn and blocked the door. "Young miss, don''t resist anymore. You will not gain anything from leaving the city." A young knight of the Asvares Family said to Lumilia. "So you''re asking me to marry someone I didn''t even know!" Lumilia replied in a loud voice. "I will not go back to the mansion no matter what happens." "Then, we will use force to bring you back." The young knight said to Lumilia. "Did my father order you that?" Lumilia asked as she narrowed her eyes. She glanced at the window and thought about what she should do to escape from these knights. The door was blocked by the knights and there were knights surrounding the inn from all directions. They basically cornered her. Also, the man that Souta kidnapped before was also in this room. He was still unconscious. "Yes, we have no choice but to obey your father''s order." The young knight said to Lumilia in an apologetic tone. "I''m sorry too..." Lumilia said before she casted a spell. [Water Serpent]!! A serpent made of water materialized and it blew the ceiling of the room. Boom!! Lumilia jumped to the hole that she created on the ceiling of the room. "Quick, catch young miss!" The young knight shouted. They rushed inside the room and saw that it was covered in smoke. The young knight then saw the hole in the ceiling. "Damn! The young miss escape from the roof! Look out for her!" "Don''t worry the lord is there that''s why I didn''t position any of the knights there." The knight of the Vidrato Family. "By Lord, you mean..." The young knight turned his head with widened eyes. "Yes..." The knight of the Vidrato Family nodded. ... Tap! Lumilia landed on the roof and saw someone waiting for her on the roof. She saw a chubby man with short yellow hair and yellow color eyes. This man was none other than the head of the Vidrato Family, Gregory Vidrato. "Nice try, Lumilia," Gregory said with a smile. "W-Why are you..." Lumilia muttered in disbelief while looking at Gregory. She subconsciously took a step backward. "Why I''m here? Hmm... Of course, it''s to prevent you from leaving this city. You''re the fiancee of my son, after all." Gregory said as he placed his finger on his chin. "Of course, there''s that... I also want to see the face of that young man when his plan goes awry because of my appearance here." Gregory then shrugged his shoulder and said, "He should be honored as a family head like me personally make a move just to stop his plan. He should be content about that." "Wait!" Gregory said and he placed his hand inside his pocket. He took out a piece of yellow paper. This paper was emitting a dim yellow light. "Hmm... What''s wrong, Foud?" Gregory asked. He talked to the person from the other side of the talisman while looking at Lumilia. After a while, they finished talking and Gregory placed back the talisman in his pocket. "Tsk! I miscalculated! To think that brat have something like that! Foud and Aldine aren''t enough to capture him. I should''ve brought Grino instead of these trashes. Grino could even kill a monster with a monster orb alone." Gregory said in an annoyed tone. He then took a deep breath and added, "Well, it doesn''t even matter. Even if he have that power boost, he still couldn''t match me with that strength." Lumilia listened to their conversation the whole time. Well, she couldn''t avoid it as their voice was loud as if they were telling her to listen to them. So she clearly understood that Souta used some potion to boost his power to the next level. She also heard that her father has appeared before Souta. Really, this was getting more complicated and difficult. There was also the city guard. She was wondering what happened to the city guard, why they didn''t appear until now. She didn''t know that her father already talked to the city lord about this. While they were thinking some things, a burst of powerful energy interrupted them. It gathered everyone''s attention. Boom! Suddenly, they heard a loud booming sound and it was followed by a small earthquake. "What the hell?" Gregory said in an annoyed tone as. His brows tightened together as he turned his head and looked behind him. Lumilia looked at the distance where she heard the booming sound and saw the gigantic black tentacles that were larger than normal houses. She was on the rooftop so she could clearly see it and also thanks to the moonlight she could see the black tentacles at night. "That''s Souta''s spell...?" Lumilia murmured and she glanced at Gregory. She slowly took a step backward but she found that her feet were frozen. ''In an instant, I didn''t even saw him casted a spell.'' Lumilia thought as she tried to break free but a sudden chill hit her body. Swoosh!! The ice on her feet started to spread across her legs. She couldn''t even move her body. ''So this is the power of the head of the Vidrato Family.'' Lumilia thought as she gritted her teeth. "I''m going to let you sleep for a while," Gregory said while still looking at the dissipating huge tentacles. He didn''t even bother looking at Lumilia. "Come here, take Lumilia and I''ll take care of that brat. How dare he killed my subordinates!" The knights of the Vidrato Family one by one appeared on the rooftop of the inn. "Handle her with care. She''s my son''s fiancee." Gregory said. "Yes, My Lord!!" The knights nodded their heads. Gregory felt the talisman in his pocket vibrated. He took it out and asked, "What''s wrong, Foud? What happened there?" But the one who replied to him wasn''t Foud at all. It was a completely different person. "Hello, hello, by Foud, you mean the knight. He already left and give this to me." A voice of an unfamiliar man sounded in the talisman. "Who the hell are you?" Gregory asked in an angry tone. His aura was leaking out of his body. He then recalled the only person that could steal the talisman from Foud in that place. "Don''t tell me you are..." "Ding-Dong! Correct! I''m Souta Ieshi, Rank-D Adventurer at your service! Well... Prepare yourself... I''m coming over there." Souta''s voice sounded happy but it slowly turned cold over the end. "Hahaha! You''re so funny!" Gregory laughed when he heard Souta''s words. "Do you really think that you could defeat me with your power boost? I''ve already kill dozen of monsters that have monster orb on my own and your weaker compare to them, so how are you going to defeat?" "I can''t answer your question but well it will work out in the end," Souta said. While Gregory was talking to Souta, the knights approached Lumilia. They were going to capture her. ''Damnit! I couldn''t move my body in this ice!'' Lumilia cursed inside her head as she couldn''t even move her fingers in her current situation. Suddenly, a voice sounded in the whole area. "Mila!!" "Class rep!!" Lumilia heard those familiar voices and thought that she was hallucinating. The knights looked up and they saw a group of people in the air heading straight at them. "Stop them!" The knight shouted as he pointed at the group of people. But they were too late... Boom!! The rooftop exploded as debris of rocks shot up in the air. Smoke and dust covered the whole area. "Class rep, bear with it for a while!" Lumilia heard a voice before a large amount of flames swallowed the rooftop including her. When the ice around her melted the flames immediately disappeared like nothing happened. "Is this the only reason why you brought me here?" "No, we have to secure class rep first." "Ah~ that''s too much trouble. You see the fat man before. That man is strong, I couldn''t defeat him with my current strength." Lumilia heard the voice that felt like they were quarreling against each other. She couldn''t see clearly because of the smoke but she remembered those voices. "Bryan, Randolf, stop talking and do your job properly. We need to get Mila first." A loud voice feminine voice stopped the two. And Lumilia was familiar with this voice. This voice was coming from her friend, Nayo. "Guys-" Lumilia was about to say something when a powerful gust of wind swept out the smoke and dust. Gregory looked at the newly arrived people and said, "I don''t care who you are but I''ll take care of you after I finished talking to the brat here." He was still talking to Souta through the talisman. "Let''s stop talking as we need to prevent this man." Randolf chuckled as he looked at Gregory who was looking down at them. 136 Chain Quest: Ice Dome "Hoho~ someone''s talking highly." Randolf laughed as he looked at Gregory. "My Knights!!" Gregory said in a loud voice. "My Lord!!" All the knights replied in unison. "Capture all of them!" Gregory commanded his knights. "Yes, My Lord!!" The knights replied when they heard the order of their lord. They bent their knees and jumped on the roofs of the houses around them. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! All of them pulled out their swords and looked at Lumilia and the rest. They were ready to attack them at any time. "Why are you here, guys?" Lumilia asked as she turned her head and saw Nayo, Bryan, Randolf, Lynn, George, and Cluster. "We''re here to take you back, class rep? You know we couldn''t properly plan the cultural festival without you." Bryan replied to her with a smile on his face. "That''s right, Mila. We''re here to help you." Nayo and Lynn said to Lumilia with concern in their voice. "How did you-" Lumilia didn''t manage to finish her sentence as Bryan interrupted her. "Cluster told me that you will never come back. So I asked why and she showed me a letter from your father." Bryan said with a proud expression. "Oi! Why are you proud of that?" Nayo said as she looked at Bryan on the corner of her eyes. "I see..." Lumilia nodded as she glanced at Cluster. It seems that Cluster picked up the letter that she threw in the trash can. Still, she''s glad that they came here because they were worried about her. "But... Why did you bring Cluster?" "She said she wanted to come so I let her," Bryan said as he shrugged his shoulder. Lynn and Nayo didn''t think that they would found their friend being cornered by the knights. They didn''t know what happened but they knew that they have to save Mila from the knights. They came here to talk to Lumilia. They didn''t expect any fight at all. Only Bryan expected that to happen. In the end, Bryan was right, battles were everywhere in the city when they arrived here. All the students of the Mage Class 1-B were here. When they arrived in the city, battles were already happening. They asked some people and found that Lumilia got kidnapped and the knights were trying to find her. But what they found here was the opposite. The knights were the real enemies and the rumors going around the city were all fakes. The students of the Mage Class 1-B split up. The other students went to the other battlefields while Bryan and the rest went here luckily they found Lumilia. "Yes, my lord!" The knights replied to Gregory before five knights stepped forward and charged towards Bryan''s group. "Hmph! Quit talking big!" Randolf snorted and he waved his hand towards the five knights. [White Flash]!! A white light flashed brightly and it caused everyone in the vicinity to cover their eyes including Gregory. It was so bright that they couldn''t see what''s happening around them. Randolf then appeared in front of the defenseless five knights. These knights were covering their eyes from the white light. He opened his palm and a blueish energy blade appeared. [Mana Blade]! Randolf grabbed the blade and swung it towards the five knights but something happened. A wall of rock rose up from the ground and blocked his blade. Bang! "Tsk! As expected of that fat man. This skill isn''t enough to stop him." Randolf clicked his tongue when he saw that his attack failed. "Hais... Why did I come here?" Randolf sighed and said to himself. He recalled that Bryan asked him to come with him because they needed manpower. He came along because he was curious and he also has nothing to do. The wall cracked and it turned into tiny pieces of rocks. It then shot towards Randolf with high speed. ''Why didn''t that Bryan ask Souta? I thought they are friends.'' Randolf thought as he moved his body swiftly and avoided all the rocks that were thrown at him. Suddenly, spikes burst out of the ground. It went straight at Randolf. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! ''I thought that something interesting would happen here but it just these dumb knights and noble. Well, it''s true that this fat man is strong but I wouldn''t enjoy fighting him if he''s this weak at his age.'' Randolf thought as he sliced all the spikes with his blade. He then jumped and saw two fireballs on his left and right side. [Water Blade]!! Randolf simply shot two blades made of water to his left and right side. Boom! Boom! The water and fire collided and mist spread in the whole area. Swoosh!! ''I can''t be helped. I''ll let them owe this time around.'' Randolf thought as two knights appeared from both of his sides and one in the front. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Actually, I''m not a full-fledged mage. I''m an all-rounder." Randolf clenched his fist and shot a punch to the knight in front of him. [Hundred Impact Punch]! His fist looks slow and it didn''t even reach the knight. It hit the air but it caused ripples in the air and it distorted the space. Boom! A loud booming sound echoed in the whole area and it shook the ground heavily. The three knights that were about to attack Randolf flew towards Gregory along with the force of the punch. Their bones were all broken and it would need a high-level healing spell to completely heal them. "This..." Gregory was surprised when he saw this. But he quickly regained his composure and casted a defensive spell. [Ground Barrier]! [Armor Reinforcement]! A barrier made of rocks formed around Gregory and it protected him from Randolf''s attack. It covered him like a cocoon to protect him in all directions. Boom! The earth shook heavily as the attack landed on the barrier. The barrier crashed on the roof and the floors below it until it landed on the ground. Boom! The inn started to crack and it slowly fell burying the Gregory on the ground floor of the inn. ... Inside the barrier, Gregory had a deep frown on his face. The barrier was too hard as Randolf''s attack only made a dent on it. Even that powerful skill couldn''t shatter Gregory''s barrier. ''That man is stronger than I expected. The skill that he used is a high-level combat arts called [Hundred Impact Punch]. To think I would see this kind of arts from a mere nobody like him.'' Gregory thought as he gritted his teeth. "What''s wrong? Did you have some problems there? Don''t worry I will come there and your problem will increase." A voice sounded through his talisman. The talisman was still connected to the other so he still could hear Souta''s voice from the other side. "Problem? There''s no problem here." Gregory snorted and he cut the connection of the talisman so that he couldn''t hear Souta''s annoying voice. ... Randolf observed it and he opened his mouth. He said, "Get ready, he''s coming." Lynn and Nayo took Lumilia while George and Bryan were going to protect them from any knights that attack them. "Continue moving forward. We''re going to stall them." George said. "What stall? We''re going to defeat them." Bryan corrected George''s words. "Quit talking like that, you can''t defeat him anyway," Randolf said with a smirk while looking at the two. Boom! A powerful magical energy burst out beneath the debris of rocks. The rocks were thrown away and shot off in a distance. Randolf waved his hand and a barrier around him that protected him from the rocks. He squinted his eyes and saw Gregory was releasing a very large amount of mana which was visible to naked eyes. "Ho~ it looks like he''s finally taking this seriously. Well, if it''s me you can''t fight me without getting serious, or else you would suffer the consequences." Randolf looked at Gregory with an amused expression. ''I don''t want to fight this man. I only fight those geniuses. I''m an artificial genius, after all.'' He thought. ... Lynn, Nayo, Cluster, and Lumilia were moving forward but something appeared before them. Boom! A wall of ice rose up from the ground blocking their way. The wall continued to rise until it became a dome that covered the whole area. The place that it covered wasn''t a small area but a large one that has five hundred meters diameter. It covered the whole battlefield and it means that everyone wouldn''t be able to leave this place as long as the barrier was still there. Randolf, Bryan, and George looked up at the ice that was covering the sky. Gregory and the knights also looked up at the dome. "This spell... Father..." Lumilia muttered while looking at the barrier. 137 Chain Quest: Randolf vs. Gregory Lumilia was familiar with this spell and the mana around it. "Father..." She muttered in a low voice and knew that they wouldn''t be able to shatter this barrier that her father made. No one at their level has the power to break this high-level spell. Even if they work together they would only be able to put a dent on it. Even if they used the highest fire element spell that they knew, it was all futile. "[Scorching Hands]..." Bryan muttered and flames covered both of his hands. He then jumped in the air and threw a powerful punch on the barrier. [Blazing Punch]! Boom! His punch was powerful but Bryan only managed to put a scratch on this enormous barrier. "It''s so hard..." Bryan said and he saw his fists were bleeding. Lynn and Nayo were shocked when they saw that Bryan''s punch couldn''t do anything on the enormous barrier. "This... The mana flowing in this barrier is immense and tremendous." Lynn said as she placed her palm on the barrier. She was always sensitive to energy, so she felt the vast magical power that formed this barrier. It was two times the amount of mana she has. She measured her mana pool before and the result was that she has three hundred fifty-two mana in her mana pool. So three hundred fifty-two times two was equal to seven hundred four. That amount of mana was stored in this single spell. Actually, Ursus used less mana in casting this spell. It just because this spell was Ursus inner spell that Lumilia felt that it was stronger than normal. "How can we shatter this spell?" Nayo said. "We can''t this is father''s inner spell. An inner spell consumed less mana than a normal spell, so my father could cast this spell several times." Lumilia replied and she shook her head. This was also the reason why all of Souta''s tier 1 spell only need an amount that''s less ten mana except for the [Shadow Bind] spell. Of course, the players were included in it. "Haha, feel despair. You wouldn''t be able to escape." Gregory laughed while looking at them as if he was mocking them. "We''ll leave this place. Don''t worry class rep, all of Mage Class 1-B are here to get you back." Bryan said as he assured Lumilia. "Yes, we''re all leaving here." Lynn nodded at Bryan''s words. "Sister Lumilia..." Cluster looked at Lumilia with a worried expression. Randolf looked at them and said, "Are you sure about that? From what I can see we have no chance to defeat this guy." "Are you our comrades right? So why are you saying that." Nayo looked at Randolf and said. "Well, I''m just stating the truth. It would be better if that Yujin guy joined us. Our chances would increase if he used that power." Randolf said as shrugged his shoulder. "Yeah, that Yujin will be a great asset if he actively used his power." Randolf nodded at Lumilia then he turned his head to Gregory. "That guy...? How strong he is?" Bryan became curious when he heard that Yujin have some sort of secret power. "If he used his power then he could defeat you instantly with your current power," Randolf replied to him. "Really? I wanted to fight him. I will surely fight him next time." Bryan said with an excited expression. Suddenly, a red light flashed in front of them and it followed by intense heat. Soon, they saw a sea of flames heading towards them. "So he couldn''t hold it anymore," Randolf muttered as he patted his shirt. "Let me handle this." He took a step forward and all of his mana burst out of his body. Randolf slowly opened his mouth and said, "If we''re talking about the inner spell then, I too have an inner spell." Randolf lifted his right hand and a large amount of mana gathered on his palm. [Decaying Earth Wave]! Transparent ripples appeared in Randolf''s hand. It spread out and when it made contact with the flames, the flames disappeared. Even the ground started to have cracks and it eventually dried up. The buildings in front of Randolf fell down because all the things that made contact with the ripples will experience the strong corrosive power of the spell. "That... A tier 3 spell..." Gregory muttered when he saw the power of this spell. He was surprised when he found that this brat knew a tier 3 spell. "Really... I didn''t think that I would be forced to use tier 3 spell against these children." Gregory gritted his teeth and he casted his own tier 3 spell. [Flame Cyclone]! Flames appeared and it whirled around until it became a cyclone. Flames covered the entire sky and it shot towards the transparent ripples that Randolf casted. Boom! A huge explosion happened in the middle of the area that destroyed hundreds of houses inside the dome. The shockwaves swept out and it ruins hundreds of houses until it hit the ice dome. Bryan, George, Nayo, Lynn, and Lumilia casted a defensive spell to protect themselves from the explosion. "Class rep!" Bryan shouted as he stood in front of Cluster. "I know..." Lumilia gritted her teeth and casted several defensive spells. "Argh! That guy is too reckless. He said to leave it to him but he caused this huge explosion." Nayo endured the pain as the shockwaves destroyed the barrier that she created. "We can''t blame him. Randolf is the only one who could fight that man." Lynn said with a helpless expression. It''s really lucky that Randolf joined them in going to this city. She didn''t expect this at all. All the students of Mage Class 1-B were here except for Souta. She heard from Bryan that Souta was working as an adventurer so he should be doing some quest right now. Boom! Smoke and dust covered the whole place and it leaves nothing. It blocked everyone''s sight so they couldn''t properly see what''s in front of them. The place inside the dome was in ruins. All the houses were gone and the debris was scattered all over the place. Luckily, there''s no civilian in this place. Ursus wouldn''t cast the [Ice Dome] spell if there were some civilians left in this area. There''s no safe place in kind of explosion, in fact, the ice dome helped contain the explosion, or else the shockwave would do more damage in the city. "Cough... Cough..." Lumilia coughed as she found herself lying on the ground. She covered her nose and looked around her. "Ugh! She coughed a mouthful of blood. The red blood splattered on the ground. She then noticed that someone moved from the corner of her eyes. "Who''s that?" She squinted her eyes as she couldn''t clearly see because of the thick smoke but she saw a silhouette of a little girl. "Cluster!" Lumilia immediately pushed her body out of the ground. She went towards the silhouette and found that it was really Cluster. Cluster was unconscious but her body was twitching nonstop. Lumilia didn''t know what to do so she casted some healing spell but it didn''t work at all. "Let me..." A voice of a man sounded behind her. Lumilia didn''t even need to turn her head to know who''s this person. Randolf walked towards with injuries all over his body. "You''re injured..." Lumilia said while looking at his figure. "Don''t worry about this. This is nothing to me." Randolf said and he placed his palm on Cluster''s forehead. "[Calm Heart]..." Slowly, Cluster''s body stopped twitching. Lumilia sighed in relief when she saw this. She recalled that the one who saved all of them was Cluster. ... When all of the barriers that they casted shattered and they were thrown on the ground along with the houses, Cluster showed strange movements. "Damn! It''s too strong!" Bryan shouted and he was swept out. His body flew away and crashed on the dome. "I''m sorry, Mila." Lynn gritted her teeth and her barrier broke before she was smashed on the dome. It was followed by Lumilia, George, and Nayo. All of them couldn''t do anything against this. They were the nearest to the collision so they really felt the powerful impact of the two tier 3 spells. Bang! Bang! Bang! At that time, Cluster was left standing alone. The shockwaves, flames, and the powerful winds couldn''t reach her body at all. Cluster''s eyes were lifeless. She opened her mouth and said in a monotonic voice, "Calculating. The. Magic. And. Power." After a few seconds, she waved her hands and said, "Protect." A blueish barrier formed around them and it protected them from any harm. ... Lumilia has a lot of questions in her mind but since Cluster was unconscious she could only swallow it. "Thank you..." Lumilia muttered in a low voice. She then lifted up her head and looked at Randolf. "Is everyone okay?" "For the meantime," Randolf replied with a smile on his face. 138 Chain Quest: Please help me! "Yeah..." Lumilia knew that it wasn''t luck. That powerful impact would kill them if not they would receive heavy injuries that could be healed by a tier 3 healing spell. If not for Cluster they wouldn''t survive with little injuries. So this was the reason why Souta was interested in Cluster''s origin. She has a mysterious power that was hard to explain. "I''ll tell you that I couldn''t cast another spell. I used all of my mana." Randolf said to Lumilia while looking around. That tier 3 spell consumed most of his mana. Although that spell was his inner spell he still consumed most of his mana in his mana pool. His mana pool wasn''t as vast as those veterans. He was just a first-year student and have a lot of room for development. "Really, this feeling is irritating," Randolf commented as he felt a little dizzy. This was the side effect of draining all of his mana in his mana pool. With this, he would be at a disadvantage if he fought the fat man. Well, he was at a disadvantage from the very beginning. That fat man was clearly a higher level than them. Swoosh! The wind blew strongly and the thick smoke that was blocking everyone''s vision slowly disappeared. They finally get to see what happened around them and how badly the impact damages the whole area in the [Ice Dome]. Lumilia looked around and she saw Bryan, Lynn, Nayo, and George lying on the ground. "It hurts so much..." Bryan said in a loud voice as he grabbed his broken right arm. His arm broke when he crashed on the dome before. "It''s hard to move," George said as he used every fiber of his muscles to sat on the ground. "I''m sorry George, you''re injured because of us." Nayo apologized to George. She sat on the ground and looked at George who has injuries all over his body. "It''s okay." George shook his head. He protected Lynn and Nayo when the flames swallowed everything. "Everyone, do you really think that we would be able to escape from this barrier?" Randolf looked at them and asked. "I''m sorry everyone, it''s all my fault." Lumilia apologized to everyone and she lowered her head in front of them. ''I''m an all-rounder and I could protect myself even without using mana but I don''t think I could handle it if I have to protect all of them.'' Randolf thought and he glanced at Bryan. "Really, I didn''t expect that we''re fighting a veteran." "You shouldn''t do that. As the one who bears the name Asvares shouldn''t easily bow her head in front of everyone." Suddenly, a voice sounded and it gathered everyone''s attention. Lumilia and the rest turned their heads and saw Gregory was looking down on them. In the collision of the two tier 3 spells, Gregory didn''t protect his knights so most of his knights died in the impact of the powerful spells. Those who survived were in critical condition that they would die if someone didn''t help them. The knights of the Vidrato Family didn''t have Cluster to protect them, so their fate was sealed when the two powerful spells clashed. They were also close to the collision, so there''s no doubt about it that most of them died. Randolf looked at Gregory with a frown on his face. He was observing Gregory''s facial expression. "You, do you really think I couldn''t counter a tier 3 spell? I''m not the head of the Vidrato Family for nothing." Gregory mocked Randolf. He then smiled and added, "But well, you''re pretty impressive for someone at your age. Unfortunately, you fought against me." "Of course, I''m outstanding and you don''t have to tell me that," Randolf smirked as he shrugged his shoulder. He then planed his hand on his left ear. ''Can you kill this man?'' He said in his mind. ''Yes, master... but you don''t have to worry about it you''re classmates are heading in that direction.'' A small voice replied to Randolf''s question. ''Hmm? My classmates...? I don''t think they have the power to stop this man.'' Randolf said in his mind with a confused expression. ''Yuin Drune, the one who held the lost power, and Souta Ieshi who currently have best feram in his body.'' The voice answered Randolf. ''Oh? That Souta Ieshi is here?'' Randolf was surprised when he heard Souta''s name. ''Yes.'' ''Hmm... Then, you don''t need to move. With the combination of those two, they could handle this man.'' Randolf couldn''t help but grin when he thought the combined power of Souta and Yujin. "Oi! Did I say anything funny?" Gregory frowned when he saw Randolf smirked. "Nothing." Randolf shook his head. ''How did that Souta have the best feram?'' He asked in his mind. The voice explained how Souta get the power of the monster and Randolf understood it. "You all are pissing me off!" Gregory said in a loud voice and his magical power exploded. Boom! His magical power pressured everyone in the vicinity. The atmosphere felt suffocating for the people who don''t have much strength left in their bodies. "I''m going to take you and you will marry my son," Gregory said while looking at Lumilia. He took a step forward and slowly approached Lumilia. According to his plan, his family would be tied together to the Asvares Family and he would get a piece of that Crytal Flame Honey. Then, he would help the Asvares Family fend of the other family and the nobles from the Melosa Country. Maybe, he will receive another Crystal Flame Honey from Ursus if he did great. "Why can''t you understand that it''s all for your family and your own good? I will help you fend off those nobles from Melosa Country. It''s all for your own good." Gregory said while looking at Lumilia. "You! You''re saying that it''s for her own good. If you really want to help her then you can do that without having her marry your son. I bet you just want something from her." Bryan said as he tried his best to stand up and looked at Gregory. "Yeah, Bryan is right, why can''t Mila decide things on her own? It''s her life so you don''t have the right to force her." Lynn said as she looked at Gregory. "Let''s just face the reality that all of you couldn''t do anything to me." Gregory frowned and he waved his hand. Bryan and Lynn were pushed back heavily and both of them once again crashed on the dome. Bang! Bang! "Ah! We''re taking Mila back!" Nayo rushed towards Gregory. Swoosh! "It''s futile." Gregory simply waved his hand and Nayo crashed on the dome just like Lynn and Bryan. He then looked at Randolf and asked, "Are you going to attack me like them?" "Nope." Randolf shook his head and smirk. He waiting to watch the show that''s going to unfold. He knew who''s going to arrive, so he was quite excited to see this. ''Really, I''m really glad that I come here.'' He thought as his grin widened. The amusing things will happen in just a minute. ''I wonder what face will you make when you experience defeat from someone several years younger than you.'' He thought while looking at Gregory. Gregory started to advanced towards Lumilia. Every step that he made rung inside Lumilia''s head. Lumilia tightened her grip on the unconscious Cluster. She then recalled what Souta said before. "You don''t have power but you have me. If you have any problems just ask me and I will do everything." His voice sounded in her mind. "I-I''m not going to marry your son!" Lumilia stuttered at first but her voice became louder at the end. "Huh? What are you saying?" Gregory stopped on his track and looked at Lumilia. "I don''t want to marry your son! I don''t want to be bound by my family!" Lumilia stopped for a moment and she added, "I''m going to make a decision for myself for the very first time! I''m going back to Ladros City! I''m going to join the cultural festival with everyone! I want to continue studying and get stronger! So..." She took a deep breath and shouted, "PLEASE HELP ME! SOUTAAA!!!" "You''re still-" Gregory was saying something when he heard a familiar voice. "Good job." A voice of a man sounded. Gregory looked up as he heard the voice came from above. "At last, they are here." Randolf grinned widely. Boom! Boom! Boom! Several figures crashed on the ground creating small craters and causing the dust and smoke to form around. Lumilia lifted her hand to covered her eyes. She used her free hand to embraced Cluster in her chest. Swoosh!! The wind blew strongly and the smoke started to disappear. "S-Souta..." Lumilia looked up and saw Souta. In front of her were her classmates. Not only Souta, but everyone from the Mage Class 1-B was here. 139 Chain Quest: Souta vs. Gregory 1 He was standing on the rooftop of a tall building while looking at the dome of ice that he created and opposite of him was a man. The legendary man and the one who was entitled hero was standing in front of him. "You know that it''s my family''s affair. So why are you here of all people?" Ursus asked the man in front of him. The man in front of Ursus was a tall man with an average build. He has short messy blonde hair and yellow eyes. He was wearing a navy blue coat on top of a white shirt and wearing pants with the same color of his shirt. He was the one who was called the Flame Master, Bargan Hevifield. One of the most powerful people in the Ladro Institute and a man who was acknowledged as the Hero of the Melosa War. "I''m not here to fight. I''m just here to protect my students in case something happened to them." Bargan said as he sat down and looked at the dome. "Yah, you''ve made quite a scene, casting a tier 3 spell in the middle of the city. Did you talk to the city lord about this? You wouldn''t cast this spell in the middle of the city without the city lord''s permission at all." "By students, do you mean the top students?" Ursus asked while looking at Bargan. "I wonder about that..." Bargan replied to him leisurely. "My daughter is not a top student so I know that. Her power isn''t that great, so the institute would send a person like you just to protect her. The institute also wouldn''t gain anything from her." Ursus said to Bargan. It didn''t really matter if Bargan was showing that relaxed attitude in front of him. He knew that even if there were dozen of him, he still wouldn''t be able to defeat Bargan. He guessed that he needed thirty of his power level before he could fight Bargan and that''s only fighting him on equal ground, not defeating Bargan. To defeat him, he needed fifty of his power level but only two would survive at that battle. That''s how powerful the Flame Master. "Whoa, you''re saying bad things to your daughter..." Bargan looked at Ursus with a smile on his face. He then added, "The institute is not protecting her for you. The institute decided to protect her because it wanted to get a good impression on the students with the potential to reach the top." "By that... You mean that Souta." Ursus understood what Bargan mean. "Yes, since Souta is serious about taking Lumilia back to the institute. The institute responded by helping him so that he would get a good impression of the institute. You could say that we''re investing." Bargan explained to him. "Also, Souta is not the only student that have potential here. Actually, four of them are present here that have the potential to surpass me, including Souta." "You''re correct. I''m here to protect them. By protect, I''m mean it as protecting them from dying not babysitting them." Bargan paused for a moment before he continued, "I will only prevent them from dying. Even if they lost their battles it''s okay. They needed it to grow stronger." Suddenly, both of them stopped as they felt something inside the dome. Bargan squinted his eyes and his senses passed through the [Ice Dome]. He muttered, "Tier 3 spell..." Not just him, Ursus felt it too. The power of the tier 3 spells inside the dome. Both of them felt the collision of the two tier 3 spells. Bargan lifted up his hand and he gathered his magical power on it. He then made a grabbing motion but he stopped midway. "Hmm...? Interesting," Bargan smirked when he felt what happened inside the dome. He knew that something protected the students in his place. "Really, the students of Ladro Institute are incomparable. To think that he even knew a tier 3 spell." Ursus said. "That''s not really the case, they are special and I''m sure you will understand it someday," Bargan replied to him. ... "S-Souta..." Lumilia looked up and saw Souta in front of her. Her other classmates were here but she focused her attention on Souta. "Good job. You''ve followed my advice, so you don''t need to worry about it. Leave everything to me and I will handle this." Souta turned his head at Lumilia and said. He then looked at Yujin, Alice, and his other classmates including the Gale Group, and said, "I''ll handle this. Go help Lumilia and the others." "Are you sure?" Alice looked at him and asked. "Yeah, I''m sure. I will defeat this guy." Souta nodded and he looked at Gregory. "I understand." Alice nodded at him then she walked towards Lumilia. Yujin also nodded at him and didn''t say anything. Their other classmates went to help Bryan, Lynn, Nayo, and George. The Brianna, Tim, and Jane too help the injured ones. Before coming here, Souta helped them first but they saw the huge explosion, so Souta used the beast feram in protecting all of them. "S-Souta..." Lynn muttered when she saw Souta''s back in front of Lumilia. She then looked at Lumilia who was looking at Souta''s back. She recalled what Lumilia said when before Souta and the rest appeared here. "I see..." She said in a low voice and looked at her hands. ''I wonder if Souta will save me if something happened to me.'' She thought. ''Oh? So he wanted to fight him alone?'' Randolf was amused at Souta''s decision. He didn''t think that Souta would win at Gregory even with the power of best feram. Best feram wasn''t enough to defeat Gregory but if that Yujin joined the battle and used the lost power, then there''s no doubt that they would win. But if Souta has something in his sleeve that could replace Yujin, then he would be fine in fighting Gregory alone. ''I can''t wait to see what you will show.'' Randolf thought with a smirk on his face. He could see the best feram flowing out of Souta''s body nonstop. Of course, it would flow out as Souta didn''t have the monster orb to contain the best feram. It will continue to flow out until he runs out of energy and drained himself. ... Souta looked at the system while taking out two bottles of mana potion. He drunk it and felt a burning sensation inside his body as the mana was turning into best feram. [Lumilia''s special quest triggered!] [Boss]: Fight and defeat Gregory who is preventing Lumilia from leaving the city. Rewards: 50,000 exp, 15 free attribute points, and 10 skill points. He triggered this special quest when Lumilia asked him to help her. In this special quest, Souta just needed to defeat Gregory. The rewards were amazing. To think that he would received so much quest from Lumilia. Ever since the incident at Desolate Woods, he was always triggering quest from her. "You''re really my lucky star, class rep." Souta grinned and said. "E-eh!!" Lumilia was surprised when she heard Souta''s words. Alice too was surprised when she heard Souta''s words. She took a glance at his back. "I can''t believe this! You choose them instead of my lustrous family!" Gregory said with a hint of anger in his voice. He looked at Lumilia and didn''t understand why she chose these people over his family. Souta stepped forward and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes, and a smile formed on his face. "Sure, that''s not a bad deal." He said in a low voice and he focused his attention on Gregory. Since Souta was going to fight, everyone brought the injured people away because they don''t want to get caught in the aftershock of the battles. "Rejoice, Gregory." Souta pulled out the [Vajra Sword Saya] and stabbed it on the ground. He looked at his system and saw that he had 85 free attribute points. He added fifty of this to increase his intelligence attribute. Increasing his intelligence attribute means that his mana would increase. He then allocated the remaining thirty-five to his vitality, so that his body would be able to handle the best feram. With his current condition, he would collapse after a few minutes. "Now, I can finally take you on," Souta said to Gregory with a serious expression. Boom! His aura increased drastically to the point that it matches Gregory''s aura. The Vajra sword emitted a dark red color aura and it coated the entire sword. The dark red aura spread out and Souta absorbed it in his body. "Saya, let me borrow your power?" 140 Chain Quest: Souta vs. Gregory 2 Boom! Souta''s aura skyrocketed and it reached the level of Gregory. He was using the [Vajra Sword Saya]''s ultimate skill. The [Possession] that he hadn''t tried before. This was the first time he was using this skill ever since he acquired the Vajra Sword. Souta''s pupils turned into red color and his body slowly absorbed the energy that the sword was emitting. "W-What''s this?" Gregory subconsciously took a step backward when he felt Souta''s energy reach his level. "Have you forgotten who am I?" Souta said and he slowly lifted up his hand. The sword trembled and it slowly changed form. The simple one edge blade became a blade that has an exquisite design. The handle didn''t change as it still looks the one that came from katana but it only has a black orb on the pommel of the handle. There''s a white long cloth that was attached to the black orb. Then, a huge upper body of a woman materialized behind Souta. The body was red in color and it has one pair of horns sticking out on the side of her head. The woman didn''t have eyes but she has a nose and mouth. Her mouth seemed to be laughing at everyone and her whole body was semi-transparent. It was the corporeal body of the red woman inside the Vajra Sword. Everyone took a step backward when they saw this scene. This scene of the red woman behind Souta was giving them some creepy feelings. They couldn''t help but felt goosebumps from seeing this. Alice and Lynn looked at this in daze. They were the closest to Souta so they felt the rise of his aura and this strange phenomenon that was happening right now. Alice then regained her composure and she quickly took Lynn away. She knew that this place was going to become the battlefield for Souta and Gregory. "Let''s get out of here," Alice said as she carried Lynn in her arms. "What''s that?" Lynn asked while looking at Souta. "I don''t know." Alice shook her head. Swoosh! Swoosh! After the next moment, the red woman shrunk down to normal body size. She opened her arms and hugged Souta from behind. Then, her figure fused with Souta''s body. "I thought class rep said it to you." Souta grabbed the handle of the sword and slowly pulled it out. He lifted up his other hand and bit his thumb. Then, he placed his thumb on the red blade of the sword and rubbed his blood on the blade by drawing a line on it. ''Ufufu, contract complete.'' A playful voice sounded in Souta''s mind Shiing! "I''m going to show you what it means to take me, Souta Ieshi, with his dark grade weapon." Souta then raised the sword above his head and the sword exerted a powerful force. Ohm! The [Ice Dome] reached its limit after it contained the power of the two tier 3 spells. It collapsed as soon as some powerful energy made contact with it. "Impossible! A mere student, wielding a national level weapon?" Gregory was alarmed. He was now losing his composure as he felt that Souta''s power really reached his level. No, Souta was even stronger than him right now. "I''ve never heard such a thing!" He tried to denied what Souta said just now. He was in a state where he would lose his sanity at any moment. "Of course, up until now, I didn''t meet a worthy opponent to use the full power of this sword," Souta said and he pointed his sword at Gregory. "The Vajra Sword, Saya..." Souta paused for a moment before he continued, "The sacred sword of the ancient Vajra race that annihilated countless demons in the war twenty thousand years ago." ''Ufufu, your lying... Do you want me to tell you about my origin?'' Saya laughed in his mind. "You! Why must you get in my way?!" Gregory shouted as he charged towards Souta. "I don''t know, it''s just that you''re in the way of my quest," Souta said and he charged towards Gregory. Swoosh!! In an instant, he appeared in front of Gregory. He then swung his sword but Gregory saw this and managed to avoid getting slash. Gregory then took a distance away from Souta before picking up any random sword on the ground. He coated his sword using his mana to strengthen it so that he could exchange blows with Souta. Souta chased Gregory and he didn''t let him escape this place. He thrust his sword forward. Swoosh! Gregory reacted quickly and blocked his thrust using his sword. His sword cracked from that collision. There''s no way that an ordinary blue grade sword would last long against the dark grade sword that released its power. At best, a normal blue grade sword wouldn''t last longer than five strikes. Since Gregory was strengthening it using his mana it would last longer than five strikes. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta continued to slash his sword at Gregory, while Gregory could only passively defend himself from Souta. Souta didn''t even give him a chance to attack as he would shatter Gregory''s sword. Once Souta shattered Gregory''s sword, Gregory would back down and picked another sword. Gregory jumped back and lifted up his hand above his head. He opened his palm and casted a powerful tier 3 spell. [Downfall Flaming Rocks]! A huge magic circle appeared in the sky. It emitted a dense magical aura and after a few seconds, hundreds of flaming rocks emerged from the magic circle. The rocks fell down with powerful momentum. Souta ignored those flaming rocks on the sky as he charged towards Gregory. He then used [Crimson Moon] skill. A dark red light flew out of his sword and it went directly towards Gregory. Swoosh! Gregory knew that he couldn''t avoid it in time, so he chose to block the skill with his sword. Bang! "Argh!" Gregory couldn''t completely block the skill using a blue grade weapon. His sword broke and the red light flashed on his right arm. He then felt something wrong with that skill. The red energy was seeping inside his body. "What the hell!" He realized that this energy was corrupting his mana pool. He quickly circulated his mana and expelled the red energy out of his body. With the level of his control over his mana, he could expel the red energy, unlike Madan who didn''t notice it until the last minute. But he still lost a little bit of control over his mana even though he managed to expel the red energy out of his body. "Damn, that brat!" Gregory cursed angrily. He looked at Souta with intense rage. The flaming rocks were just above the two. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Souta casted [Shadow Bind] and hundreds of towering tentacles-like shadows rose up from the ground. Although the [Shadow Bind] spell was powerful, it''s still a tier 1 spell so it wasn''t a match of a tier 3 spell of Gregory. ''If you want to make [Crimson Moon] and [Cross Moon] stronger, just used best feram and my energy along with it. Don''t just randomly use the skill as you fit. There''s a proper way to use every skill in the world.'' A feminine voice sounded in Souta''s mind. Souta nodded his head and he looked up above him. The tentacles-like shadows were getting destroyed by the falling flaming rocks above him. He gripped his sword tightly and dashed towards Gregory. Swoosh! "You still want to fight?!" Gregory gritted his teeth when he saw Souta rushed at him. "If I only brought my armor and powerful knights here, you people wouldn''t have a chance to win." Souta swung his sword which was coated with dark red aura. Swoosh! Gregory jumped away quickly and managed to avoid getting slash by Souta but Souta chased after him without hesitation. Souta charged toward Gregory and thrust his sword forward. He used [Stab] skill along with it. Swoosh!! Gregory once again jumped backward to avoid Souta''s sword but he was wrong to do that. The [Stab] combat arts was already at level 4 so it has a range of five meters. Also, the piercing effect of this skill was quite high. Added with Souta''s boosted strength, it pierced Gregory''s shoulder. Blood spurted out of his wounds. Gregory could avoid getting hit if he moved his body sideways. "Argh!" Gregory groaned in pain as he looked at Souta with rage in his eyes. Souta took a deep breath and he continued to clash against Gregory. His body couldn''t handle the best feram and the [Vajra Sword Saya]''s power at the same time. Plus, he found that the percentage added of the [Possession] could be increased. A normal [Possession] skill could increase his overall abilities by fifty percent. He knew that the fifty percent increase of his abilities wasn''t enough to defeat Gregory, so Saya offered him a deal to greatly increased his powers more than the added fifty percent. 141 Chain Quest: Souta vs. Gregory 3 Powerful shockwaves were sweeping out the area every second. Gregory and Souta''s battle was many times higher than their level. They were taking damage just by standing near the battlefield of the two. "That''s right." Jane nodded and looked at everyone from Mage Class 1-B. She opened her mouth and said, "Let''s get out of this city. All of you are Miss Lumilia''s classmates, right? In that case, help the injured ones and leave this place immediately." By injured people, Jane was talking about Bryan, Lynn, Nayo, Cluster, George, and Lumilia. Everyone looked at her and nodded their head in agreement. Gregory was using a powerful tier 3 spell while Souta was using best feram and dark grade sword so their battle was fierce. It''s only a matter of time before they get caught up in Souta''s battle. Since all the students of Mage Class 1-B were here, they could easily carry six injured people with their numbers. "Souta..." Lumilia muttered as he looked at Souta''s figure who was fighting Gregory alone. She was in the back of Alice. She couldn''t move her body well, so Alice has to carry Lumilia in her back. "You don''t need to worry about Souta. He will not fight an individual like that man if he knew that he didn''t have a chance to win." Alice said when she heard Lumilia''s voice. "Also, Souta is only fighting him so that you could leave the city, am I right? If that''s the case, then we better leave as soon as possible." "Your right..." Lumilia nodded at Alice''s words as she knew that Alice was right. Brianna and Jane lead the way while the students followed them from behind. John stayed in the rear so that he could protect them if someone attacked them. John looked at Randolf and Yujin who stayed. He opened his mouth and asked, "You two, are you planning to stay here?" "Nope, I just wanted to watch the show in front of me," Randolf said with a smirk on his face. He then turned to John and added, "You can go now. I don''t need you to protect me. I can protect myself." "Okay." John nodded then he looked at Yujin. When he saw that Yujin wasn''t saying anything, John turned around and followed the group. Randolf looked at John before he turned his gaze at Yujin. "So what are you planning to do here? Do you also want to watch the fight like me or not?" Yujin looked ignored Randolf and he instead focused his attention at Souta who was fighting Gregory. "Ignoring me, huh? I also didn''t expect that Souta''s sword is a dark grade weapon. If he didn''t have that sword to stop that noble head, then are you going to use your power." Randolf said as he looked at the battle. Every second the ground will tremble and a powerful gust of wind will follow after that. Sometimes the wind possessed heat that could melt down ordinary folks. "If you''re not going to use it then you will not be able to fight me or Souta. Even Bryan could defeat you with your current normal power." Randolf slightly turned his head and looked at Yujim from the corner of his eyes. "Am I right, spirit user?" "As expected you know it." Yujin finally opened his mouth. "But how did you know it?" "How? It''s simple I can see the spirit particles around you." Randolf said as he pointed at his own eyes. "You should use it because you will not be able to master that power without using it. That''s why you couldn''t completely hide the spirit particles from my eyes." "Even the teachers didn''t know about it. Don''t tell me you have..." Yujin said as he realized something from Randolf''s words. "Yes, I have special eyes." Randolf nodded with a grin on his face. If Souta was here, Souta would be shocked if he heard this information. Spirit User or Spirit Contractor was one of the super rare classes in the Battle World Online. A Spirit Contractor uses the spirit that they contracted as a source of power. Most of their strength came from the spirit. The contractor will grow stronger along with the spirit and will learn a unique skill suitable for their class. Souta knew some powerful players that have the Spirit Contractor class. They were in the top 100 global rankings of the game. Boom! The ground shook heavily as a huge explosion occurred. [Exploding Earth]! Gregory casted another powerful spell and the ground beneath Souta exploded. Souta jumped in the air and he controlled his best feram to block the explosion. He then tightly gripped the Vajra sword and charged his energy on the sword. The sword emitted a bright red light and Souta thrust it towards the explosion beneath him. He only created a barrier using best feram to stall Gregory''s spell. He knew that it wasn''t enough to stop a tier 3 spell so he had to create an attack that could match the spell. Souta poured a huge amount of best feram and the [Vajra Sword Saya] energy in the sword before he used the [Crimson Moon] skill. A huge red crescent energy clashed against the tier 3 spell that Gregory casted and it caused another huge explosion. Boom!! Everyone in the city right now could feel the burst of power and the trembling of the ground. The aftershocks of the battles woke up every citizen of the Gripin city. "This is bad... He''s too strong." Gregory said between his ragged breath. His body was full of wounds as he couldn''t completely avoid Souta''s attack. Although, he knew how to fight using a sword. Gregory would say that he wasn''t an expert to it as his expertise was casting powerful spells. But to think that a mere student was suppressing him with swords skill was out of his expectations. He still practiced the way of the sword longer than Souta, so how? It''s because of that dark grade sword. Even he, the head of the Vidrato family, didn''t possess a dark grade weapon at all. He couldn''t handle Souta''s aggressive fighting style. Swoosh! Gregory felt Souta appeared behind him. Souta couldn''t completely hide his presence because of the powerful energy leaking out in his body. Souta didn''t have a monster orb so he couldn''t contain the best feram in his body. That''s the reason why Gregory could sense his position easily. Swoosh! Gregory bent his body forward and a red blade passed above him. He controlled his mana and coated his body. He quickly turned around and launched a powerful kick at Souta. Swoosh! Souta anticipated his attack so he managed to avoid it easily without any problem. "I got you." He opened his left hand and quickly grabbed Gregory''s leg. "Damn!" Gregory cursed as Souta pulled him while thrusting the Vajra sword at the same time. Swoosh!! Gregory looked at the sword and he swiftly moved his hand. He changed the direction of the sword, which was heading towards his chest, by hitting it on the side. The sword pierced his left shoulder and he avoided fatal injury. He then clenched his fist and shot a powerful punch at Souta. Bang! Souta received the blow on his face. He felt a taste of iron inside his mouth. His gripped on Gregory''s leg loosen, so Gregory forcefully pulled his leg and used the momentum to launch a kick using his other feet. Bang! Souta flew and crashed on the ground creating a crater filled with smoke and dust. "Argh! That hurts!" Souta cursed under his breath. He looked at his exhausted body and found that his blood was oozing out in some of his pores. Really, his body couldn''t take the pressure of the best feram and the Vajra sword. The deal that he made with his sword was to increase the added percentage to his abilities by one hundred percent. A normal [Possession] skill of the Vajra sword could increase his overall abilities by fifty percent and this fifty percent wasn''t enough to defeat Gregory so Souta made a deal with his sword. And that was to increase the added percentage by one hundred percent in exchange for his lifespan. A normal goblin has twenty years lifespan. So, Souta has twenty years lifespan but it grew larger when he evolved into High End Goblin and Goblin Corruptor. Both of his evolution increased his lifespan by ten years. It means that evolving into High End Goblin increased Souta''s lifespan by five years and the Goblin Corruptor too. Saya, the Vajra sword, took these ten years in exchange for power and Souta agreed to her condition. He doesn''t need to worry about it because once he evolved into a higher life form, his lifespan will increase great. It was especially the case in his next evolution because, in this evolution, Souta will gain his own monster orb. "Saya..." Souta muttered as he looked up. 142 Chain Quest: Souta vs. Gregory 4 "This is a dark grade sword... A weapon of national level." He muttered while looking at the sword. Slowly lifting up his hand, he grabbed the blade of the sword. He was about to pull out the sword when he felt something invading his mind. "Argh! Damn! This sword!" Gregory cursed and endured it before he finally pulled out the sword on his shoulder. "A dark grade weapon is really different from other weapons." He knew that he wouldn''t be able to use this sword. The energy of this sword was damaging his mana pool. If he wasn''t fighting Souta, he would try to control this sword but now, he doesn''t want to do it because he would only exhaust himself. Also, since the owner was Souta, Souta could control this energy at will so if he continued to hold this sword, Souta could manipulate the energy to utterly destroy him. And that''s what he was avoiding to happen. ... Souta pushed himself out of the ground. He waved his hand and his energy dispersed the smoke around him. He looked at the system and saw that he only has ten minutes to finish the quest. He knew that Lumilia already left with his other classmates, so he doesn''t need to worry about her. He only needed to defeat Gregory and follow her. But there''s one thing that in his mind. And that''s Lumilia''s father, Ursus Von Asvares. After casting a tier 3 spell [Ice Dome], Ursus didn''t show his presence nor move to stop Souta and Lumilia. "I need to wrap this up quickly," Souta muttered in a low voice and he wiped the blood on his mouth. He looked around and saw Gregory was standing thirty meters away from him. And the [Vajra Sword Saya] was embedded on the ground beside Gregory. "The Vajra sword..." Souta muttered as he squinted his eyes and looked at Gregory. He knew the reason why Gregory wasn''t using the Vajra sword. It was because whoever held it would feel the sword controlling their body. It was also the reason why Souta didn''t care if someone took his sword. ''You can control the sword by using the energy that I provided in your body.'' A feminine voice sounded in his mind. "Control?!" Souta was surprised when he heard her words. It''s the first time he heard that this sword has this function. The [Vajra Sword Saya] was stronger than it was in the game and also more dangerous. Because the will inside the sword was sentient and could do other things than what it was in the game. "Okay." Souta nodded his head and he opened his palm. He controlled his energy inside his body. He felt the presence of the Vajra sword. Even if he closed his eyes, he could sense the location of the sword with the energy that was connected to him. Swoosh! Souta grabbed the sword and without hesitation, he dashed towards Gregory. Gregory braced himself and he casted another spell. [Blazing Earth Wall]! A ten-meter tall flaming wall rose up from the ground in front of Souta. Its width was thirty meters. Souta bent knees and jumped over the wall but the wall showed some movements. Ohm! The ten-meter tall flaming walls grew taller and it became a thirty-meter tall flaming wall. "What?" Souta was surprised. He was going to crash in the flaming wall, so he swung his sword in the wall. [Crimson Moon]!! [Crimson Moon]!! He used the equipment skill [Crimson Moon] repeatedly and the flaming wall showed cracks on it. "For the finishing touch." Souta pulled back his hand and thrust his sword forward. [Stab]! He used [Stab] skill and his sword pierced through the flaming wall. The piercing effect of this skill was high, so once the flaming wall showed cracks on it he could easily shatter it with [Stab] skill. Swoosh! Souta passed over the walls and he found that Gregory was already gone. "Hmm...?" Souta frowned and he quickly turned around while casting [Shadow Bind] and [Shadow Ball] at the same time. Towering tentacles-like shadows rose from the ground. The shadows were like Souta''s body at all so he could sense when it made contact with an unknown object. He would be able to immediately knew Gregory''s position if one of the shadows touched Gregory. "Gone...?" Souta squinted his eyes and he looked in the sky above him. He tried to find if Gregory was in the air but Gregory also wasn''t in the air. He then felt a slight tremble on the ground beneath his feet. Souta opened his eyes widely and he immediately switched position with the ball of shadow that he threw before. Swoosh! Just one second after he vanished, the ground exploded and a pillar of flame stood on it. Boom! "That was close..." Souta muttered in a low voice while looking at the pillar of flame. That was a high-level combat arts called [Ground Bursting Strike]. He would suffer heavy injury in his body if that skill hit him. After a few moments, the pillar of flames dissipated and Souta saw Gregory. He knew that Gregory was also tired like him and both of them wouldn''t be able to last any longer. Souta glanced at his system and saw that he only have seven minutes left to complete the quest. "I''ll defeat you," Gregory muttered while looking at Souta with a serious expression. He wasn''t fighting to capture Lumilia anymore, he was fighting to defeat Souta. He doesn''t want to suffer a loss from a mere student. He would lose his face that way and he wanted to avoid that. ... In the distance, Randolf and Yujin were watching the battle. "This will decide the battle. Even if that fat man won the battle, he still wouldn''t be able to stop Lumilia from leaving the city." Randolf commented while watching the battle. He could say that there''s no point in continuing this battle. Even if Souta lost or won, Lumilia would still be able to leave this city. It''s already decided that it''s Souta''s overall victory. Yujin glanced at Randolf when he heard Randolf''s words. He nodded and said, "...yeah, he did have any knights with him so who''s going to stop class rep. Even if there are some knights they wouldn''t be able to prevent class rep from leaving this city." After all, the students of the Mage Class 1-B were with Lumilia and the C-rank adventurers. Randolf looked at Yujin and asked, "Are you not going to leave? I guess that the city guards would be coming here soon." The reason why he knew that the city guards were going to come here was because of his mysterious guard. That guard of his reported that the city guards of his were preparing themselves to come here anytime. Randolf also heard from his guard that the city guard didn''t dare to come here. He guessed that the city lord has some deal with the nobles that''s why the city lord didn''t interfere with this chaos. That deal was only not to interfere with the noble''s work. The city lord wouldn''t do anything within a time. Of course, by doing nothing it also means that the city lord wouldn''t help the noble capture Lumilia. The city lord was only watching this scene like a passerby. "What about you?" Yujin asked back as he looked at Randolf in the eyes. "Hehe, I will watch this fight until the end. It''s interesting that way." Randolf laughed. ... "We''re going to move after five minutes. Tell the guards to prepare themselves." The city lord said as he placed both of his hands on the back. He was looking at the battle from the city lord mansion at the center of the city. He could clearly see the battle in his position so he knew that the battle was going to end soon. "Yes, My lord." The assistant bowed his head before he left. The city lord glanced at his assistant before he looked at the battle. He opened his mouth and muttered, "I didn''t expect that a student has full control over a dark grade weapon. This piece of news soon would shake the whole kingdom and everyone will know that students have a dark grade weapon." ... "I''m going to finish this," Gregory said and he took a deep breath. He then raised both of his hands and opened his palms. His magic power spiked up and he gathered it on his palm. A huge orange magic circle formed on his palms. [Red Striking Shot]! A red beam shot out from the magic circle and it flew straight to Souta. The force behind this attack was devastating and if Souta took it head-on, Souta would be half dead. Souta looked at this tier 3 spell with a serious expression on his face. He lifted up his hand and pointed his finger at it. A red ball of energy formed on the tip of Souta''s finger. The red ball spun like a razor and it expanded before it shrunk. [Bestrou]! After charging, it shot a powerful beam towards Gregory. 143 Chain Quest: Souta vs. Gregory 5 The colossal amount of energy engulfed the air around Souta and began to whip around uncontrollably, the force behind it rivaled that of Gregory''s tier 3 spell. The [Red Striking Shot] spell was a powerful inner spell of Gregory. He always used this to sure kill a monster with a monster orb in the past. It''s a fire attribute spell that has a temperature that was close to a planet''s core. The debris of rocks around Gregory began to melt and the air was producing a powerful heatwave that could turn ordinary people into dust in just a second. Even if the rocks were strengthened by the mana in the air, it nonetheless melts because of how close it was to Gregory. "Just go down!!" Gregory shouted and he launched a powerful flame beam towards Souta. Swoosh!! Souta stood on the ground as he prepared himself. He never took his eyes off the flame beam that was heading at his direction. The massive gathering of best feram on the tip of his finger reached its critical point. A moment later, it shot towards Gregory''s spell without any delay. The blast was so powerful that the rocks disintegrated in its path and the wind whipped outwards at high speed. Souta poured all of the best feram in his body and shot the condense energy. This attack was called [Bestrou], a unique powerful attack of the monsters that brought terror to humans and demis. BOOM!!! The two beams collided and it resulted in a powerful explosion that shook the entire city. The ground and the air produced ripples and it distorted everything that made contact with it. ... ''Master, you in danger!'' Randolf heard a voice inside his head. He replied by saying "I know" before he took a distance away with Yujin. He and Yujin stood side by side and created a barrier around them. Randolf created a powerful barrier but he knew that it still wasn''t enough to protect them from the shockwaves. "Alophy..." Yujin muttered in a low voice and a palm-size girl materialized on his shoulder. The girl was wearing a simple knee-length green dress. She has shoulder-length blonde hair and around her were sparks of white lights. She was Alophy, the spirit of Yujin. ''There it is... The spirit...'' Randolf glanced at the spirit on Yujin''s shoulder with an amused expression. "Alophy, let''s do this..." Yujin said and he raised both of his hands. "Yes, Yujin!" Alophy replied to him and her powers spiked up. [Spirit Aerial Three Layered Barrier]! They created a powerful three-layered wind barrier to protect them from any harm. A three-layered barrier formed around Yujin and Randolf. "Still..." Randolf then looked at Souta. "I didn''t think that Souta could use [Bestrou] even though it''s only a borrowed power from the potion." ... Ursus and Bargan who was watching the fight from the distance were startled when they saw this scene. Bargan stood up and he patted his clothes. He opened his mouth and said, "These two are going to destroy the city. They didn''t care about their surrounding at all, they just wanted to defeat the opponent in front of them." "The city lord will be forced to make a move if this continued." Ursus nodded and said. "I will minimize the aftershock of their attacks. I need to clean the mess that my students made." Bargan said before he vanished into thin air. "One of the most powerful people of the Hebrei Kingdom..." Ursus muttered as he turned his head and looked at the huge explosion. "Still... How did that Souta use [Bestrou]? Even though he has the best feram in his body, it still hard to use it. There''s no record of that in the past era." ... The whole city turned bright and the darkness disappeared. Even the dark sky lit up because of the explosion. Alice and the rest stopped when the ground shook heavily. It was followed by a very loud booming sound. Then, the whole area turned bright as if a sun shone on the sky. Even though it''s night, the whole city was as bright as noon. Boom!! Alice and the rest turned their head and saw the unbelievable scene in front of them. "How could Souta fought on that scale?!" Joshua muttered in disbelief. The scale of the battle was several times higher than theirs. "Souta..." Lumilia whispered Souta''s name with a concerned look on her face. She wasn''t stunned at the scale of battles because she witnessed the power of the commandments. She saw how a single spell destroyed the Desolate Woods and the villages near it. Even that unknown power that took the life force of every living creature in the Desolate Woods was terrifying. There''s a saying that if a person saw the power of the Bringer of Calamity, their point of view in power scale will greatly change. They would understand that there were people that reached the level where they could obliterate a country on their own. Alice glanced at Lumilia before she turned her head at the huge explosion. "I see..." ... Bargan appeared close to the explosion. He looked at the bright explosion and he squinted his eyes. The heat waves were of high temperature and the ground continued to tremble nonstop. Everything was being obliterated by the powerful explosion. "Really, to think that Souta would manage to match a noble head using the power he couldn''t properly control..." Bargan smiled wryly before he opened his arms widely. "Well, let''s stop this." He circulated his magical power inside his body. Swoosh!! He made a grabbing motion and the explosion was blocked by something. It didn''t pass through Bargan as it was contained by his energy. It didn''t damage anything outside of the battlefield. "This level of heat is nothing to me. I''m not called Flame Master for nothing." Bargan muttered as he easily contained this level of explosion. Back in the war against the Melosa Country, he was the man who burned down everything in the outskirts of the Desolate Woods. He literally brought down a small sun at city size and obliterated most of the Melosa Army. His power was close to God. "Hmm...?" Bargan then noticed something. He turned his head and smiled. "I see... How loyal..." He said then he aimed his hand at it. ... After a few moments, the explosion stopped and the whole area was filled with smoke and dust. The entire ground was wiped out as it became a desolate place. There''s no building left after the explosion as all the buildings here were obliterated. Even the rocks and concrete roads turned into a piled of ash. Cough! Cough! "Are you okay, Yujin?" Randolf coughed and asked. He couldn''t clearly see because of the thick smoke and dust in the surrounding. "Somehow..." Yujin replied and he created a wind around him to blow the smoke and dust. "I''m sorry, Yujin." Alophy flew around and apologized to him. The barrier that they erected before was destroyed. It was shattered by the powerful explosion. The explosion was stronger than they imagined. It was because Bargan contained all of the explosion in this place. Randolf was forced to asked his guard to assist him. His guard casted a secret barrier around them that lessen the force of the impact when their barrier shattered. They still haven''t escaped unscathed from the impact. They received a few bruises on their bodies. ''Thanks, you save me there.'' Randolf said in his head. ''It''s nothing, master.'' A voice replied to him in his head. "Who won?" Randolf looked up and asked. Yujin heard Randolf''s words so he looked up to see who won the battle. He was also curious about who won the battle. They waited for a few moments before the wind dispersed the smoke and dust. The saw Souta who was standing alone on the battlefield. His figure was covered in wounds and both of his arms were burned. He was breathing heavily and there''s no bloodstain on his body. He wasn''t even sweating. His sweat and the blood on his body evaporated because of the high temperature. It''s also thanks to the high temperature that all of his injuries closed. "Huff... Huff... Huff..." Souta was gasping and he slowly placed the Vajra sword on its sheath. He reached his limit and he depleted his stamina. The best feram inside his body was gone. There''s nothing left inside him even mana. He drained all the energy he has in this fight. "I won... Until I leave this city, I will not go down." Souta muttered as gritted his teeth. He gulped and he felt thirsty. His throat was dry. ''You don''t have to worry about your body. If you leave it to me, I''ll follow your classmates.'' A feminine voice sounded inside his mind. 144 Chain Quest: Declaration With a loud "thud" sound his body hit the ground causing him to groan in pain. "Ah... Damn!" Souta cursed and he heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing Lumilia''s special quest!] [You''ve received 50,000 exp, 15 free attribute points, and 10 skill points!] ''It''s worth it.'' Souta said inwardly when he saw the rewards that he received from fighting Gregory. The battle was so hard that he had to use all of his trump cards. He only had one monster potion so the next time he fought someone he couldn''t handle, he wouldn''t be able to use it once again. He would only depend on his dark grade weapon. Since he didn''t hear a notification indicating that he killed Gregory only means one thing. And that''s Gregory was still alive. But Souta was sure that Gregory was like him- exhausted, tired, and full of injuries. ''My level is quite lacking to take the other [Soul Blood Earring]. But I benefited a lot in this quest, so my power will increase after this. I will provide a time to take it next time.'' Souta thought that he had to get the other earring to increase his power. Right now, he could only use the [Harvester of the Soul] skill of the earring. He couldn''t use its second skill because he needed the other pair to use it. To reach the level of universal equipment, he needed the complete pair of earrings. ''Okay, I have received fifteen free attribute points.'' Souta thought to use this to increase his vitality attribute. If he increased his vitality attribute, his health will grow, and also he would gain stamina. These two were connected to the vitality attribute after all. He would gain strength to leave this city. That''s it, he was going to allocate his fifteen free attribute points to vitality. When he was about to use his free attribute points, Souta heard something. ... "I miscalculated the power of the explosion..." Yujin said as he checked his body and found some wounds. "I''ll heal you, Yujin," Alophy said as she flew around him and casted a healing spell on Yujin. Randolf looked at it and asked, "What about me? I need healing too." "Hmph! I only heal Yujin. I can see that you''re not gravely injured, so you can move without healing." Alophy snorted as she glanced at Randolf on the corner of her eyes. She then went back to healing Yujin''s small wounds. "What a bratty spirit..." Randolf commented when he saw her attitude towards him. "I can hear you, you know?!" Alophy said in a loud voice. "Haha, tell how old are you?" Randolf laughed and asked. He was curious about the age of this spirit. "You know, it''s rude to ask that question to a lady?" Alophy said as she looked at Randolf. "Lady? From what I can see you''re just a brat." Randolf said to her as a matter of fact. Alophy was about to say something when Yujin stopped her. Yujin sighed and said, "She''s ten years old now. I''ve found her when she''s still a newborn spirit." "I see..." Randolf nodded his head and understood why she wasn''t that powerful compare to the spirit that he read from the books. If this spirit grew from the Dark Forest alongside the other spirit, then she knew the special power of spirit and she would be able to use it better. Because the other spirit there will teach her how to use spirit power. Right now, she couldn''t properly use it. Alophy hasn''t met a single of her brethren ever since she was young. "Yujin! Why are you telling him my age?!" Alophy complained to Yujin. "Let''s forget about it." Yujin shook his head and he looked at Souta who was lying on the ground. "You should go and help him," Randolf said from the side. Yujin glanced at Randolf and when he was about to walk towards Souta, Randolf grabbed his wrist. He turned to Randolf and asked, "What?" "Shh!" Randolf placed his finger in front of his mouth. Then, he pointed at something and said, "Look over there." "Hmm...?" Yujin followed Randolf''s finger and saw a huge bear with red fur. The bear was approaching Souta with unsteady steps. There were burned marks in some part of the body of the bear as its fur was also burned. It seems that this bear took some heavy damage. "What''s that bear?" Yujin asked when he saw the bear. "A red fur bear," Randolf answered Yujin''s question. "I know that. I mean what is that bear doing here in this place, in the middle of a city." Yujin said as he rephrased his words. "Look... The bear is in front of Souta. I wonder what it''s going to do?" Randolf said. "Maybe it''s going to eat him," Alophy said while watching the scene on Yujin''s shoulder. "Isn''t that bad?" Randolf looked at them and asked. "Yeah, let''s help him." Yujin nodded and said. The red fur bear arrived in front of Souta. The bear sniffed Souta before she opened her mouth and gently bit his tottered clothes. Of course, this red fur bear was Yuko, Souta''s beast companion, but they were oblivious to it. They don''t even know that Souta have a beast companion. "The bear bit him! Yujin, the bear bit him!" Alophy shouted when she saw it. "I know, I saw it, " Yujin said to his spirit. "Wait, take a closer look. It''s not biting him." Randolf said to the two. Yujin and Alophy stopped talking as both of them focused their attention on the bear. They saw the bear raised up its head and placed Souta on it back. Alophy was shocked when she saw this scene. Her eyes and mouth turned into an "O" shape. Then, she looked at Yujin and shouted, "Yujin! The bear is taking your classmate as food reserve!" She said those words while throwing her small fists on Yujin''s face. Randolf looked at Alophy and said, "Is that kind of thing always comes in your mind or not?" "You! Are you mocking me or not?!" Alophy said in an angry tone as she pointed her finger at Randolf. "I''m just asking you..." Randolf replied to her with a plain expression. ''"Stop! The bear is leaving with Souta in its back!" Yujin stopped the two from arguing as he pointed at the bear who was walking away with Souta. Randolf and Alophy turned their heads and found that the bear was leaving with Souta. Swoosh! Alophy flew up in the air and looked at Yujin. She opened her mouth and said, "Come! Let''s follow the bear Yujin! If we follow it there''s a chance that we find its other victims!" After saying that, she flew to follow the bear. Yujin sighed while looking at her figure. He had no other choice but to follow her. "Haha, let''s go." Randolf laughed and said. ... Souta sighed when he saw that Yuko was fine. He didn''t have to worry about her and himself. Since she was here, Souta was sure that Yuko would protect him from any harm. ''You''re lucky that you have a loyal pet.'' Saya''s voice sounded in Souta''s head. "Yeah, I am." Souta nodded at her words. He then closed his eyes and waited for Yuko to bring him out of the city. ''I''m wondering where did learn my name?'' Saya''s question sounded in his head. "Where did you become so talkative?" Souta avoided her question by asking something. ''Ufufu, your so good at changing the topic. Actually, I have a lot of questions for you and I makes me interested in you. That''s why I let you use my power.'' Saya laughed in his mind. "You will eventually know it in the future if you continue to follow me," Souta replied to her. Suddenly, a loud voice of a man sounded in the whole city. "I''m Ursus Von Asvares..." ... Souta heard the loud voice so he perked up his ears and waited for Ursus'' next words. ''What the hell is this man trying to do right now?'' Souta thought as he tried to think if Ursus has some backup plan if Gregory lose. "I apologized for what happened here in the city. It''s all because my daughter did something unfavorable..." Ursus announced. ... The students of the Mage Class 1-B stopped in their tracks when they heard the loud voice. "Father..." Lumilia muttered as she looked up in the sky. "Asvares?" "That''s class rep''s father!" "The most influential man of the Gripin city!" Alice, Nayo, and the rest knew that the voice came from Lumilia''s father because of his name. They weren''t familiar with Lumilia''s father but they knew his name because her father was somewhat famous. Ursus''s voice sounded in the whole city as he declared, "From now on, I''m expelling my daughter, Lumilia Von Asvares, from the household of Asvares Family. From now on, she has nothing to do with this family. I''m cutting all of her ties in this family." Everyone heard Ursus''s announcement. This announcement shocked everyone in the city. ... ''Ufufu, He knew that if his daughter left the city, she will be targeted by people that are after the Crystal Flame Honey, so he cut all her ties with him.'' Says chuckled. "I know," Souta said to her. "But there''s something more to it." 145 Movements in the dark It''s not surprising for Souta that Ursus did this. Ursus called Lumilia to come back to the mansion because some of his competitors might target her. "If he really is concern for her daughter then why would he let her marry a man that she didn''t even like," Souta muttered as he couldn''t understand Ursus''s reason. ''Ufufu, that''s just how nobles are from the present and the past. They aren''t really concern about liking or not, all they thought is that feeling can be cultivated in time. Pretty annoying, right?'' Saya''s voice sounded in Souta''s head. "Yeah, it''s annoying. I really couldn''t understand what''s coming in the head of those nobles." Souta nodded at her words. Then, Souta heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest 3 completed!] [You''ve received 25,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 7 skill points!] *Ding!* [Lumilia''s Chain Quest completed!] [You''ve received Grade A- score!] [Calculating the bonus rewards...] *Ding!* [Calculating completed!] [You''ve received 20,000 exp, 6 free attribute points, and 4 skill points!] ''Damn, it''s all worth it. All my efforts in helping class rep didn''t go in vain.'' Souta breath a sighed of relief when he saw the notification in his mind. Completing the quest 3 means that Lumilia managed to leave the city on time. The rewards for this chain quest were enormous that he could level up one of his skills to a high level. The class promotion was just in Souta''s sight. ''Someone is following us.'' Souta heard Saya''s voice in his mind. Souta immediately stopped thinking about points as he was surprised by what he heard from Saya. "Really?" Souta asked to make sure of it because he hasn''t noticed anything wrong around him. ''Ufufu, if you want to believe me then believe it, if not then it''s not a problem for me.'' Saya chuckled while saying those words. ''What is it? Was what she''s saying a true or not?'' Souta thought as he closed his eyes. He tried to guess if Saya was saying the truth or not. ''Okay, I''ll believe her. But if someone is following me who would follow me. Is it someone from Gregory''s knights, Asvares knights, or maybe the city guards are finally making a move?'' Souta closed his eyes and tried to think of an answer to his question. Vidrato''s knights were annihilated by the clashed of the two tier 3 spells before. But what if there''s someone that was still alive and right now that knight was following him. Souta eliminated the knights of the Vidrato Family in the choices. The answer was one of the two, the knights of the Asvares Family or the city guards. But Souta didn''t know that three people were following him, two humans and one spirit. ... Somewhere inside the Gripin city. Gregory was walking in a dark alley with unsteady steps. His blood was dripping on the ground nonstop. He was only supporting himself as he could barely walk with his current condition. His battle with Souta took a toll on his body and the [Bestrou] that Souta used gravely injured him. If he didn''t escape in time, he would be lying on the ground now. "Huff... Huff... Damn!" Gregory was gasping and he held the wound on his chest. He doesn''t have any mana left in his energy pool to cast a spell. After all, he casted several tier 3 spells in the battle against Souta. After walking for a few steps, Gregory fell on his knees and he coughed a mouthful of blood. Cough! Cough! His blood splattered on the ground dyeing it in crimson color. "Why? Why didn''t Ursus help me? I didn''t sense his presence after he casted the tier 3 [Ice Some Spell]." Gregory muttered as he found this strange. Why Ursus disappeared after casting a single tier 3 spell? It was the question in Gregory''s mind. He felt something was off now that he realized it. Something... That something prevented Ursus from making a move personally. ''Is it the city lord?'' Gregory immediately put this thought out of his mind. He knew that Ursus was a powerful man that could go against a monster that undergo fourth evolution. The city lord of the Gripin city wasn''t Ursus match in one on one battle. In the circle of nobles, Ursus was a powerful one among them. If Gregory''s power was at the middle tier, then Ursus was at the top tier. Then, he remembered Souta''s identity. "The Ladro Institute?!" Gregory exclaimed. He recalled that Souta was the top 1 first year of the Ladro Institute. "They secretly send someone to protect him. T-They knew that Souta could me alone so they didn''t bother stopping but they knew that it was too early for him to fight someone at Ursus level so they prevented Ursus from interfering in his fight." Gregory muttered as he understood what was happening. "Damn! That Ladro Institute! They used me to sharpen their top student! I will remember this! Souta Ieshi! I will take my revenge soon and no one will be able to stop me!" Gregory cursed under his breath. He lost a lot this time. A lot of his knights died including his direct subordinates, also his face. He would become a laughing stock in the circle of nobles of they knew that a first-year student beat him in a battle. Suddenly, he felt extreme pain burst on his chest. "Argh! W-What?!" He looked down and saw a blade passed through his chest from his behind. "Ugh!" He spat a mouthful of blood and he tried to turned his head to look at the culprit behind him. The culprit pulled back the blade and he fell on the ground with a loud "thud" sound. "Argh!" Gregory groaned in pain and he turned over. He saw the appearance of the one who stabbed him. He saw a beautiful girl with long lilac-colored hair that was tied in a ponytail. She''s heterochromia, a person with different eye colors. Her left eye was blue while her right eye was color red. "You!!" Gregory was surprised when he saw the appearance of the girl in front of him. "Ufufu, I was about to let you go but I heard you mention my dearest Souta''s name." The girl chuckled as she lifted her hand and covered her mouth. She then waved the blade in her hand and the blood on the blade splattered on the ground. "Y-You''re-" Gregory looked at the girl with wide-open eyes. He knew the girl in front of him. Who didn''t know her in this kingdom? She was the only person who dared to beat the prince of this kingdom. The most famous student of the Ladro Institute, Yanagi Shina. "Shh! Please be quiet..." Yanagi placed her finger in front of her lips and gesture him to keep quiet. "No! I will not..." Gregory shouted and was backing down but Yanagi stopped her. Yanagi moved her body forward and swiftly stabbed her blade on Gregory''s throat. "Argh!" Gregory felt intense pain as Yanagi twisted the blade. His vision was blurring and his consciousness was seeping out of his body. If he wasn''t gravely injured then he would be able to fight Yanagi Shina. Unfortunately for him, he experienced a fierce battle before. He was full of regret as he didn''t expect that this would happen. Dying like wasn''t in his plan. He only came to this city to strengthen the engagement of his son and Lumilia. "I... don''t want... to die like... this..." Gregory forced out these words out of his mouth. He lifted up both of his hands and grabbed the blade. "You deserve to die like this after doing that to my Souta~ Ah, I''ll kill you, no, I''ll torture you first~," Yanagi said as she breathed frantically. Her chest heaved up and down. Suddenly, her expression turned serious. She was looking at Gregory as if she was looking at trash. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "Well, I''ll kill you now." Followed by those words, she swung the blade in her hand. Putchi! Gregory''s head flew in the mid-air before it landed on the ground while splashing blood on it. "Ah~ I wanted to torture you but I need to move now, so count yourself lucky," Yanagi said to him before she placed her palm on Gregory''s body. Her magic power slight rose and flames appeared on Gregory''s body. "Goodbye to you~" Yanagi leave these words as she vanished into thin air. 146 Returning "Don''t worry about Souta, he''s strong," Bryan assured them that Souta will come back. Lumilia and Lynn knew that Souta was strong and if not for him they were now in Gregory''s hands, but they still couldn''t help but be worried about him. Especially after they felt the powerful aftershocks of the battle. "Yeah, Bryan is right. Souta is strong and you already saw it, right? You would only get in his way if you go there." Alice glanced at them and said. She agreed in Bryan''s words. Lumilia, Lynn, Bryan, Nayo, and George could now move their bodies. While waiting for Souta and the other two, the student that knew healing magic healed them. The only problem was that Cluster was still unconscious. No matter what healing magic casted on her she wouldn''t wake up. Naoy stared at Lumilia and felt that her friend somehow change but she couldn''t tell what change. She slowly opened her mouth and asked, "Mila, what happened to you and Souta here in this city?" Naoy question gathered everyone''s attention, especially Lynn. All of them perk up their ears waiting for her answer. "I-" Lumilia was about to answer Naoy''s question when a huge bear walked out of the city gate. All of them looked over to looked at the huge red bear. They saw a person lying on the back of the bear. They were wondering why a bear came out of the city gate. "Yuko!!" Lumilia and Bryan exclaimed at the same time. They knew the name of this red fur bear without a doubt. And this bear was Souta''s beast companion. George, Nayo, and the other looked at the two who know the bear. "Mila, you know that bear?" Nayo asked as she pointed her finger at the bear that was slowly walking towards them. "Oi! Is that bear coming in our direction?" "Eh...! That''s Souta!!" Lynn said with a surprised expression as she recognized the person lying on the back of the bear. Souta who was on Yuko''s back looked up at his classmates. He smiled and said, "I finally made it. I''m out... I leave everything to you, Yuko..." He then closed his eyes and fell unconscious. "Souta!" Lynn shouted as she ran towards him with a concerned look on her face. "Grr!!" Yuko growled at Lynn with an angry expression stopping Lynn in her tracks. She looks like she was going to attack Lynn if she took a step forward. "Stop!" Bryan stepped forward as he grabbed Lynn''s wrist. He looked at Lynn and shook his head. Lynn looked at Bryan with a confused expression. "She is Yuko, Souta''s beast companion," Lumilia explained as she slowly walked towards Yuko. "She must be wary about you, Lynn, since this is her first time seeing you," Lumilia said to Lynn as she stretched out her hand and patted Yuko''s head. Lynn glanced at Alice and then she looked at Lumilia. "Mila, you mean this is not the first time that she saw you?" She asked. "Of course, Yuko already know class rep two months ago," Bryan was the one who answered Lynn''s question. Lynn, Nayo, and the other looked at Bryan as if they were asking him to continue. Bryan looked at them and he was wondering why they were looking at him. He opened his mouth and asked, "Is there something wrong?" "Bryan, they wanted you to continue," Alice said from the side. "Ah! So that''s how it is. I understand now." Bryan exclaimed as he understood why they were looking at him. "Well, Souta and I were doing a quest when we met class rep. That''s how she got to know Yuko." Bryan made a simple explanation for them to understand. "I get it now. In that quest, all of you met this girl called Cluster. Since Cluster didn''t have a place to stay, class rep let her stay in her apartment. That''s the reason why this girl, Cluster, knew class rep went back in her home." George said to them. "Yeah, that''s the gist of it." Bryan nodded at George''s words. "I''ve recovered enough mana to cast a healing spell so I will heal Souta first," Lumilia said to them. "No, you need a rest so I will be the one that will take care of him," Jane said as she walked forward with the other member of the Gale Group. "Rest assured, Jane knew some healing spells," Tidor said. The only people that could approach Souta were the ones who knew Yuko. If not, Yuko will show aggressiveness to anyone that she didn''t know within a certain distance. "So that''s Souta''s beast companion." A voice sounded causing the group to turned their heads. They saw Randolf and Yujin came out of the city gate. Randolph and Yujin were looking at the unconscious Souta while approaching the group. "We thought that bear is taking him to its nest," Randolf said with a mischievous smile on his face. "Since we''re all here, we should leave this place." Yujin looked at everyone and suggested. "Yeah, you are right. Let''s go inside the carriage." Brianna nodded at his words. Everyone packed their things and went inside the carriage. They have three carriages. The Mage Class 1-B brought two carriages here in the city while the other one came from Tim and Tidor. They immediately left the area after they got inside the carriages. Yuko had to walk on her own because her body was too huge to fit inside the carriage. Jane healed Yuko''s wounds so that she wouldn''t have any problem in walking by herself. Also, Souta was on her back as she refused to separate from him. Since Yuko was Souta''s beast companion, they didn''t take Souta from her as they knew that Yuko wouldn''t harm Souta. ... A lot of people saw them leave the city but no one dared to stop them because they don''t want to get caught in the trouble that was happening in the city. They know the scale of this chaos wasn''t something that they could easily stop. Two noble families were involved in the trouble that was happening in the city. The guard of the city gate didn''t stop Lumilia and the rest from leaving the city because of the city lord''s order. They wouldn''t interfere in any person that was involved in the trouble. If any of them interacted with the people that were causing trouble will be met with punishment. Just like that, the battle in the Gripin city concluded. Ursus lifted his head and looked on the horizon. He wondered what will happen now. He felt that an event that will shake the entire country will be coming soon. "This feeling of mine... I hope it''s not true." Ursus muttered as he shook his head. He turned around and faced his subordinates. "Help the city guards in cleaning the damage in the city!" He ordered his knights to help the city guard. "Yes, my lord!" The knights said in unison before they turned around and left to complete the task that Ursus gave them. Ursus then looked at his assistant and said, "Come with me, we''re going to the city lord mansion to discuss some important things." "Yes, my lord." The assistant bowed his head. ... Bargan sitting on top of the walls of the Gripin city. He was hiding his presence so that no one could notice him. He smirked and looked at his students who were heading towards the Ladros city. "Hahaha, this batch of students is exceptional. They are prone to trouble. Well, it''s my duty as their teacher to protect them from any harm." Bargan laughed as he looked at their carriages. The power and talent of his students were high that some of them could already match the second-year students of the Ladro Institute. He then turned his head to look at the space beside him. A man wearing black cloak was lying down beside him. This man was the man that Souta was protecting before. He kidnapped the man from the basement of the Asvares mansion. Souta forgot the existence of this man when things escalated to something he couldn''t control. "You''re lucky that you are useful for my student''s next step," Bargan said while looking at the man. He didn''t know that Gregory was already dead. He didn''t have any idea that Yanagi snuck here in Gripin city and Gregory died in her hands. Bargan then stood up and patted his clothes. "I need to catch up to my students." He smiled and he picked up the unconscious man. Swoosh!! In a blink of an eye, Bargan was gone. He already left the city and followed his students to the Ladro Institute. 147 Healing He pushed himself into a seated position and saw Yuko sleeping on the floor beside his bed. "How did-" Souta was about to say how did she manage to get inside his room when he saw the door was gone and the walls on each side were also gone. "Damn! She forced herself to get inside my room." He was stunned at this sight but he immediately calmed himself down. "Really... Yuko, you worry yourself too much." Souta muttered as he gently smiled at her. He then looked at his body and saw that he was covered in bandages. Souta stretched out his hands and felt his muscles aching. "This is enough..." Souta said and knew that he could still move his body properly. He grabbed the bandages on his left arm and tore it apart. Souta saw that his wounds weren''t completely healed. He knew the reason why. To completely heal his wounds he needed a tier 3 healing spell. He received his injuries from a tier 3 spell, so the energy from this spell was preventing the lower-tier spell from healing the injuries that he received. Also, the injuries that he received didn''t only come from Gregory''s tier 3 spell. The best feram and the [Vajra Sword Saya]''s energy contributed in damaging his internal organs and mana pool. It''s already lucky that he could properly move his body. He looked at his system and found that he only had a total of seven hundred ten points of total mana. Before using the monster orb, he had a total of nine hundred ten mana in his mana pool. It seems that his mana pool took damage from channeling best feram. "What a waste... But I''ve gained a lot of skill points from that quest and it is enough for me." Souta said as he forced himself to stand up. "Hmm?" He paused and he looked up as he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. After a few moments, a little girl with long green hair appeared in his vision. The girl revealed a surprised expression when she saw him. It then changed into a smile and without hesitation, she ran towards him. "Brother Souta! You''re awake!" The girl said with a happy expression on her face. She ran around to avoid Yuko''s huge body before she arrived in front of Souta. "Cluster, where are they?" Souta smiled at her and asked her. By ''they'', he meant Bryan and Lumilia. Those two were the only one who''s taking care of Cluster. One of the two was here with Cluster. "Ahmmm!" Cluster opened her arms and she hugged Souta''s body tightly causing him to groaned in pain. She buried her face in his chest. "Ouch!" Souta exclaimed as he raised both of his hands above his head. He just tore the bandage on his left arm so he avoided direct contact with Cluster. He was worried that she would hug his bare wounded arm. Yuko woke up from the commotion. She stood up and hugged Souta. Crack! The bed made a loud cracking sound as it couldn''t handle their weight at the same time. "Argh! It hurts!" Souta felt his wounds opening up. Cluster skillfully slipped out of them. She stood on the side as she jumped with a smile on her face. "Yay! Yuko and Brother Souta are playing! I wanted to play too!" Cluster said while hopping. "Yuko! Stop! Someone help me!" Souta shouted for help as he couldn''t get Yuko off him with his current strength. ... Souta took spent a lot of his stamina before he managed to escape from Yuko''s killer hug. "Huff... Huff..." Souta was on his knees. He was breathing heavily as his sweat kept dripping on the ground. "Damn! Yuko, I know you''re happy that you saw me woke up but I hope you control yourself more... You''re killing me." Souta said with a haggard look while glancing at Yuko. "Mu." Yuko looked at him with teary eyes. It seems that she wanted to play with Souta. "Later, let''s play later after I''ve recovered," Souta said. "Cluster?" He then turned his attention to Cluster. "What is it, Brother Souta?" Cluster looked at him as she tilted her head to the side. "Where are Bryan and class rep?" Souta asked her. Neither Lumilia and Bryan were here in his house. "Brother Bryan and Sister Mila? Hmm..." Cluster made a pondering expression as she placed her index finger in her lips. She then flashed a bright smile and said, "They leave me here to take care of you." "What?!" Souta was surprised when he heard her answer. "Those two left you here in a place where there''s an injured person... Damn! It seems that I need to teach them some lessons." He muttered as he rubbed his chin. He then recalled that Cluster was used to being alone because Lumilia always left her alone in the apartment. "Okay, I understand they are in the institute." Souta nodded and he recalled something. "Oh? The cultural festival is near so the class rep have a lot of things that she needed to do. I completely forgot about it because of what happened in the Gripin city." "Brother Souta?" Cluster called him. "Hmm?" Souta looked at her and wondered what she''s going to say. "Sister Mila said that I could go to the institute on the day of the cultural festival." Cluster said with a hopeful expression. "Oh, right? The institute will let an outsider come inside." Souta exclaimed. Just like the other schools, the institute didn''t let an outsider inside the gate. They would only let people that will enroll in the institute. "Really? Can I really go?" Cluster looked at him with a star in her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you can go at that time." Souta nodded his head. Souta, Bryan, and Lumilia were like Cluster''s guardian so Cluster felt that she have to ask the three of them if she wanted to go to the cultural festival. "Stay here and behave nicely," Souta said as he looked at Cluster and Yuko. After seeing Cluster nodded her head, he went downstairs. ... Souta went inside to the room where he stocked all the potions that he collected ever since he came in this world. He picked a mid-grade healing potion and removed its cap. Without hesitation, Souta drunk it. Souta felt a warm energy coursing through his body. "Hu~" He exhaled and he felt that his body was getting lighter. But his injuries still didn''t show any evidence of closing. "A mid-grade potion isn''t enough but I could feel the changes in my body. Its effect is better than any tier 1 healing spell." Souta commented as he looked at the other mid-grade healing potion in this room. He took a bunch of mid-grade healing potions before he left the room. Souta went to the bathroom and poured the mid-grade healing potions on the bathtub. After pouring the mid-grade healing potions on the tub, Souta removed his clothes and the bandages on his body. He then soaked himself on the tub full of mid-grade healing potion. "Ah~ it feels good soaking in healing potions," Souta muttered with a look of satisfaction on his face. "The only problem is that it''s too expensive." Souta looked at his side and he picked up one mid-grade healing potion. He removed the cup and drunk it. Right now, he was soaking himself in a bathtub full of healing potions while drinking healing potion himself. "Potions are really too bland. They should make it sweeter." Souta commented. He felt that his injuries were slowly closing. Souta has nothing to do so he looked at his system and saw some notification. "Ah, this...?" [Congratulations on completing the Bodyguard quest!] [You''ve received 10,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 3 skill points!] "So the Gale Group already passed the completion in the Adventurers Guild..." Souta nodded in understanding. It seems that Lumilia used her savings to reward the Gale Group. "But where is my reward? I''ve contributed a lot in that quest so I should have received some coins from her" Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. ''Ufufu, I thought that you help her out of your own without thinking about money.'' A voice sounded in Souta''s head. "How?" Souta asked as he looked around and didn''t saw the [Vajra Sword Saya] in the bathroom. If he wasn''t wrong, the sword was still in his room. ''You know that after I ate your life force, we are connected to each other. I can feel you and you can feel me.'' Saya''s playful voice rung in his head. "The heck is that!!" ... He soaked himself for about two hours before he got up and dried himself with a towel. Some of his wounds closed but some were not. ... Souta found that Lumilia and Bryan were already here in his house. Two other people came along with Bryan and Lumilia. They were Lynn and Nayo. 148 Visi "Souta, are you alright?" Lynn rushed towards him and asked him with a concerned look on her face. "Yeah, I''ve pretty much recovered thanks to all the potion that I''ve collected." Souta nodded at her. "Are you sure?" Lynn asked him as if she wasn''t convinced at his answer. "Lynn, you can see that Souta is fine. If he''s not then he still lying on the bed. You worry too much." Nayo patted Lynn''s shoulder and said. "Yeah, Nayo is right. You don''t have to worry about it." Souta assured her. "But..." Lynn was about to say something when Nayo patted her shoulder once again. "Souta knew his body better than you," Nayo said and she revealed a playful smile while looking at Lynn. "Don''t tell me... You already saw everything in-" Nayo didn''t manage to finish her sentence as Lynn covered her mouth. "Stop! Nayo! I know, I know!" Lynn said as her face was turning red. Souta smiled looking at them. He then turned to Bryan and asked how many days have passed since the battle in the Gripin city. He knew that traveling from Gripin city to Ladros city will take half a day of time. And when Souta woke up he already found himself in his house in the Ladros city. It seems that days already passed since he passed out. "Two days?" Bryan said before he looked at Lumilia and asked the same thing. He wasn''t sure if his answer was correct so he looked at the person who probably knew the right answer. Lumilia sighed when she saw Bryan look at her. She really didn''t know if fighting was all the things that Bryan know. She then nodded her head at him indicating that Bryan was right. "Two days, Souta." Bryan smiled and said to Souta with a somewhat proud expression. ''Two days...'' Souta rubbed his chin and thought that a lot of things already happened in the institute. Suddenly, Saya''s voice sounded in his head. ''Why didn''t you ask me that question? I know the answer too so why? Can you tell me the reason?'' Souta ignored the voice in his head and he wondered what happened in the institute. He still couldn''t understand why Ursus didn''t make an appearance at that time. Ursus just cut his ties with her daughter, Lumilia, and nothing else. After causing such commotion, why wouldn''t he finish it himself? ''Ah, I couldn''t think of any reason...'' Souta thought and he shook his head. He then felt his stomach growling. "I''m hungry..." Souta muttered as he caressed his stomach. "It''s natural as you haven''t eaten a single piece of meat for the past two days," Nayo said as a matter of fact. "I-I''ll cook something for you, Souta," Lynn said while stuttering. "N-No, that''s not it... I-I''ll cook for everyone." Lynn''s cheeks flushed as Nayo continued to tease her. "Oho~ are you a great cook?" Bryan asked them as he gained an interest in their conversation. "Yeah, Lynn is a great cook. Lynn''s lunchbox is always prepared by Lynn herself. And her lunch is always good." Nayo said to Bryan with a proud expression. "I''m feeling hungry just by imagining it." "S-Stop that, Nayo. You''re embarrassing me in front of Souta." Lynn whispered to Nayo''s ear. "Embarrass? You should be proud of it, Lynn." Nayo said to her. "Okay, I''ll leave it to you, Lynn. I''m hungry, anything will do." Souta suddenly said as he walked and sat down on a vacant chair. Lynn was in dazed for a moment. She placed her hand on her chest and said, "Y-Yes, leave it to me. I''ll use all of my cooking knowledge to prepare a food that you will like." Her tone got louder through her sentence. "Oh? Someone''s fired up." Nayo laughed lightly. "Okay, I''ll wait too. I''m going to judge if you the food you cook is better than Souta." Bryan said as he sat down on a sofa. Nayo her head and ignored Bryan. She lifted her head and looked around her. "Still, to think that you, Souta is living in a huge house like this one on your own." "I''m an adventurer and I''m earning a lot through accepting quest. I''ve worked hard to earn all the money I have." Souta said as he looked around at his house. He let out a gentle soft sound as if he exhaled all the trouble that he experienced in his life in this world. "What?! I''m an adventurer too but why your house is different from mine?!" Bryan was shocked when he heard Souta''s words. "That? I''m taking higher level of quest so it''s not surprising that I''ve earned a lot of money more than you." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. Actually, the money that he used to build this house came from the monster orb that he sold to Jimmy. "Damn! The receptionist didn''t let me take high-level quests at all. Why?" Bryan cursed and he looked like he was grieving over something. "Well, you should continue to take quest after quest. If you think you''ve experienced enough, you should talk to the receptionist and ask her about the promotion quest." Souta explained to Bryan about the adventurer''s ranking. Nayo listened to their conversation and she looked at Bryan with a surprised look. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "Don''t tell me you didn''t even know that even though you''re an adventurer..." "Yeah, what''s wrong with that?" Bryan looked at her and asked with a plain expression. "I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have asked a question. It''s me. It''s my fault." Nayo decided to give up as she couldn''t fathom Bryan. "Huh? Why?" Bryan was confused when he saw her reaction. He looked at Souta asking for an explanation but Souta shook his head. "I can''t help it. it''s Bryan after all..." Souta said with a sigh and he turned his head sideways. He saw that Lumilia was looking at Cluster and Yuko. Nayo followed his sight and she saw Yuko. She recalled how aggressive Yuko on the people that approach Souta that day. "I can''t believe that you''re capable of taming a monster..." Souta glanced at her when he heard her words. "Well, I also don''t believe it." He replied to her. "I''ll tell you a secret." Bryan suddenly said. Nayo looked at her with a curious expression. "And what is that secret?" "Actually... Yuko is richer than any of us here." Bryan said with a smug look on his face. "Huh? Even more than Mila." Nayo said to him. She couldn''t understand what he meant. "Class rep is broke. She didn''t have any money left in her pocket anymore and used it to pay the adventurers from helping her. Also, she didn''t have any connection with her families that why she''s a poor person right now." Bryan said. His words caused everyone to look at him, including Lumilia. They just look at Bryan without saying anything. After a few moments, Souta opened his mouth and said, "I see... So, that''s the reason why class rep didn''t reward me for completing her quest." Souta nodded as if he finally understood a big mystery. "I''m sorry about that. I will pay you back next time." Lumilia said as she lowered her head. She didn''t dare to meet Souta''s eyes because she was ashamed. Souta helped her and she couldn''t even pay him back for everything that he did for her. "No worries about. I''m just joking." Souta looked at her and said. "WHAT?!!" Bryan''s loud voice shook the entire house. He looked Lumilia and said, "You didn''t pay Souta in the quest. How is that possible? It seems that I need to be wary about the quest since there''s a chance that class rep''s quest is including in that." "You idiot! I help class rep on my own will. I didn''t say anything her rewarding me." Souta looked at Bryan and said. Nayo looked at Bryan with a deadpan expression and said, "So what''s the secret you''re going to tell me?" "Ah, I forgot about that." Bryan smiled wryly as he scratched the back of his head. "Tell me now. Don''t delay it anymore." Nayo grew impatient. "Okay, okay. Actually, the house beside Souta''s house is Yuko''s home." Bryan said. "W-what did you say?!" Nayo was shocked when she heard it. "I said that Yuko have her own big house," Bryan said to her once again. "That big house there is Yuko''s..." Nayo said as she pointed her finger at the huge house outside. "Yes, it''s Yuko''s house but I think that it''s a storage house," Bryan said. Well, Yuko didn''t have things that she wanted so Souta stored most of her meat and fruits inside her house. 149 Meal "Please wait, I''ll prepare the meal," Lynn said as she placed plates in front of their seat. She then went back to the kitchen to fetch the other things they needed. Nayo stood up and looked at them. She said, "I''ll help Lynn in preparing." "Okay, thanks." Souta nodded at her and thanked her. "Oh~ I can''t wait. It smells delicious." Bryan said with an excited expression on his face. Souta looked at Cluster and noticed that she was quiet. It seems that she was wary at Lynn and Nayo. Well, she was always like that in the presence of a stranger. Cluster already trust Lynn and Nayo because of what happened in the Gripin city. The two got injured while trying to help Lumilia, so Cluster has a good impression of them. It''s just that she was close to them that''s why she could act like how she usually was. For Souta, it''s just a matter of time before Cluster opened up to Lynn and Nayo. Souta smiled before he shook his head putting those thoughts at the back of his head. He looked at Lumilia and asked, "Class rep, may I ask a question?" "Hmm?" Lumilia lifted up her head and looked at Souta. She tilted her head as she didn''t know what Souta was going to ask. "I just wanted to ask if the news about the Gripin city spread out in this place." Souta calmly explained to her what he wanted to know. "Yeah, I know about it. All the people are talking about you Souta." Bryan suddenly said in a loud voice. "It''s natural..." Souta said to him in a calm tone. He knew that the people involved in that incident were going to be the talk of the town so he wasn''t surprised when he heard it. He looked at Lumilia as if telling her to say what she knows. "Um... The news about the battle spread quickly in just a day and right now. Almost all people of the Hebrei kingdom knew about the incident in the Gripin city." Lumilia patiently explained everything she knew to Souta. Souta listened to her calmly while assessing all the information that he received. He heard from her that after that incident the city guards found Gregory''s lifeless body in the dark alley of the city. This news shocked him it seems that someone killed Gregory after he escaped from that last exchange of skills. Just who? Who would dare to kill a noble head? This piece of news shocked everyone not only him. The city guards tried to investigate it and they found nothing. The members of the Vidrato Family blamed Souta for it but luckily s lot of witnesses saw him leaving the battlefield after the powerful explosion. The city lord and Ursus denied the news that Souta killed Gregory. Both of them provided an explanation and evidence to support their testimony. They posted the autopsy report on Gregory''s body. A lot of people saw Souta left the city so they knew what kind of clothes he was wearing. Also, his clothes were in tottered. It''s really impossible for him to conceal it. That''s not the only thing. Souta was also injured at that time to the point that his beast companion needed to carry him just to leave the city. Then what about the thing that he used best feram in a fight against Gregory. The city lord and Ursus also said the truth about this. About the monster potion from the past era. They also said that some of the students fought Gregory before Souta and forced him to use a powerful tier 3 spell. Once this news spread, the name of the people that fought Gregory became famous. Especially Randolf who held Gregory on his own. Hearing the news from Lumilia''s mouth, Souta felt that something was off. What about the fact that he used the dark grade weapon against Gregory? Why hasn''t he heard it at all? Souta looked at Lumilia and Bryan''s face. He looked at them with a serious expression and asked, "What about my sword? Is there a news about it?" "Hmm...? I think there''s none." Lumilia pondered for a moment before she replied to him. "Yeah, that sword of yours is truly marvelous. I saw it release a powerful energy when you fight that fat man." Bryan said as he recalled the battle that day. "Now that you mention it, I''ve seen it too," Lumilia said to him as she looked at Souta''s waist trying to look at the sword that he always brought with him. But she found that his sword wasn''t on his waist. ''Hmm...? Bryan and Lumilia didn''t know that [Vajra Sword Saya] is a dark grade weapon. It must be because they haven''t seen the activation of dark grade weapon in their entire life. But those people...'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. Ursus and the city lord weren''t going to make a mistake by thinking that it was just an ordinary sword. They must have watched the battle from a certain distance. They must have recognized the power of the dark grade weapon that even Gregory recognized as a national grade weapon. So why would those two... ''Someone is manipulating it from behind the scenes.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''I guess it too, but who would manipulate it. Is it the person who secretly killed Gregory?'' Souta has many questions in his mind but he knew that he couldn''t found an answer to it by thinking it through. By the time that he snapped out of his thoughts, he found that the meal was already ready in front of him. He looked around and saw that Lynn, Lumilia, and the rest were looking at him. "Okay, thanks for the food." Souta smiled and said. He then picked up the spoon and fork. "Let''s dig in." Everyone smiled at this and they also began to eat their food. They eat their meal happily while chatting. The atmosphere was bright and sunny that it made everyone put a smile on their face. Nayi noticed that Lynn kept glancing at Souta. She smiled and looked at Souta. "Hey, Souta?" "Hmm...?" Souta turned to look at her and he slightly tilted his head. "How is the food that Lynn cook? Is it delicious?" Nayo asked him a question about food. "N-Nayo!" Lynn was surprised. She grabbed Nayo''s hand trying to stop her but Nayo didn''t let Lynn stop her. "Tell me your thoughts about it?" Nayo asked. "Hmm... It''s delicious. Better than what Souta made." Bryan was the one who answered her question. "I''m not asking you! I''m asking Souta!" Nayo looked at Bryan and said in a loud voice. "Why did it have to be Souta?!" Bryan asked with a confused expression. "You have to think it for yourself. Sometimes it''s not bad to exercise your brain." Nayo said as she pointed at Bryan''s head. "What are you saying? I''m always using my brain in class so why should I use it when I''m relaxing!" Bryan said in a loud voice. "What the hell?!! You''re really an..." Nayo was speechless when she heard his words. It''s not just her, everyone was dumbfounded when they heard Bryan. "Hehe, Brother Bryan is an idiot." Cluster giggled lightly in a cute way. "What?! Why?" Bryan looked at everyone. Souta glanced at them and sighed. He slowly opened his mouth. "Well, it''s good just like what Bryan said." "I-I''m glad that you like it." Lynn sighed in relief as she placed her hand on her chest. "See, I told you." Nayo looked at her and said with a smile. "Thank you, Nayo." Lynn thanked her friend. "If it''s for my friend. I''ll do it." Nayo said as a matter of fact. Souta looked at them and smiled. "Stop chatting, let''s finish our food first." "Souta is right." Bryan nodded and he dug his meal. After a few minutes, all of them finished eating their food. "Ho~ that was good." Souta exhaled as he patted his stomach. "Yeah, it was good." Bryan nodded in agreement while patting his stomach. Lynn stood up and said, "I''ll do the chores." Souta looked at her and shook his head. "You don''t need to. I can do that later." "N-No, I''ll do it," Lynn said to him as she gripped the hem of her skirt. Souta looked at her and sighed. He shrugged his shoulder and said, "You''re stubborn... Well, if that''s what you want I''m not going to stop you." "T-Thank you." Lynn bowed her head and she picked up the plates. "I''ll help you." Lumilia stood up and said. Souta glanced at Lynn and he heard a voice in his head. ''You''re not that dense to not notice it. I''m sure that you know that girl have feelings for you.'' "I know," Souta said as he looked at the ceiling. 150 Jimmys visi "If you''re that tired you should''ve returned to your house." He smiled gently while looking at her. Suddenly, he heard a voice coming from behind. "I wonder when will I get my own pet." Souta looked over and saw that it was Bryan. He smiled and said, "You could tame a slime anytime, you know?" "Slime, I don''t want that. I want something cool like a dragon." Bryan said as he imagined himself riding on a huge dragon. "Dragon? Do you know that dragon is one of the strongest monsters in the world? It''s difficult to tame a dragon." Souta said and he paused for a moment. "Anyway, you''re too weak to tame a dragon. Even if all of us combine our strength it still isn''t enough to injure a dragon." "That''s what I want! A strong and cool pet!" Bryan smiled proudly. "Slime is not that bad. In ancient times, there were giant slimes that could swallow a whole city as big as Ladros city." Souta said to him. "Really, is that true?" Bryan looked at him with a hopeful expression. "Yes, all the monsters have the potential to grow stronger," Souta said with a sigh. ''Yeah, you are correct. Monsters are the creature that has strong battle prowess than any race in the world. That''s why humans and demis always formed a party just by subjugating a single powerful monster. Also, monsters have contributed a lot in the war twenty thousand years ago.'' Souta opened his eyes widely when he heard Saya''s voice in his head. ''Do you know the history of the war twenty thousand years ago?'' He asked her. ''Yeah, I''m not stuck in this sword at that time. The progenitors and the monster lords showed their fearsome fight ability in that war. They defeated a lot of those unknown creatures who came out of nowhere. ''They were always on the frontline showing off the power of the best feram. They were fearsome, fearless, and overwhelming that even scared the demis and humans at that time even though all of them were fighting the same unknown creatures. ''No other race dared to take the role of the vanguards in the alliance of the cosmos except the monsters. Even those gods and deities felt fear of the power of the monster lords even though they were on the same side. Even a monster lord of the goblin race, slime, trolls, and orc contributed a lot in that war. ''You know that as long as a monster reached the evolution of the monster lord they will gain an overwhelming power that will put other races into shame. Unfortunately, most of the monster lord perished in that war along with the founding gods of God''s continent and the deities of the Giza continent. Even the demon race suffered great casualties as several of their demon king and emperors died.'' ''I see... then do you know about the Ieshi clan?'' Souta asked as he was curious about this. ''Can you tell me more about it?'' Souta asked her. ''Ah~ I''m getting sleepy. I need to charge my energy so that when you fight someone above your level you can borrow my power.'' Saya said with a yawn. ''Hey! Wait, I''m still not finished asking a question.'' Souta said in his head. He found that Bryan''s face was close to his face. Bryan was staring at him in the eyes without blinking. "Oi! What are you doing?" Souta subconsciously took a step back when he saw Bryan''s face. "I''m looking at you because you were in deep thoughts. I''m guessing what''s in your mind." Bryan said to him. "So did you guess what''s in my mind?" Souta asked and he sighed. "Hmmm? I think you''re lying to me about the powerful slimes." Bryan answered him. "Oi! I''m not lying to you. That''s the truth." Souta said. "Yeah, Bryan you''re really an idiot. If you''re listening to class you would know that Souta is right." Souta and Bryan turned their heads at the same time and saw Nayo. Nayo opened her mouth and continued, "Souta is not lying. There are slime that could swallow a whole city. But I''m not sure if those slimes are still alive." Souta shook his head. It''s not that there were no slimes that could swallow a city in this era. It''s just that the humans and demis were killing them before they could evolve and grow stronger. That''s the role of the adventurers. The government was placing a quest to hunt down slimes and other monsters saying that they were getting close to the city and it going to be harmful if they let them alive. That''s why there''s no shortage of monster subjugation quest. "Oh! So it''s only in the book." Bryan said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Souta and Nayo looked at Bryan without saying anything. They knew that whatever they say right now wouldn''t enter Bryan''s head. "Souta!" All three of them turned their head and saw Lumilia with Lynn. "What is it?" Souta asked them. "Cluster is tired and she wanted to rest so we''re going back," Lumilia said to him. "I see..." Souta nodded at her and then he looked at Bryan, Nayo, and Lynn. "What about the three of you?" "We''re going with Mila," Nayo replied. Lynn nodded at Nayo''s words. "Okay, I''ll go home too," Bryan said the same thing. All of them bid farewell to Souta before they left his house. He even said that he''ll go to class tomorrow and he will help them in preparing the class for the upcoming cultural festival. "I couldn''t fight using my full power this time," Souta muttered as he couldn''t channel his mana in his current condition. This was also the side effect from using the monster potion. He wouldn''t be able to use his mana for a week. As long as he didn''t have a monster orb in his body to contain the best feram, then his body would suffer if he used best feram. An ordinary energy pool of a person wasn''t enough to contain powerful energy called best feram. That''s why the monster formed a monster orb to get a better control of it. "Well, it''s a good chance to relax and loosen up from all the fighting that I''ve done." Souta sighed as he walked back to his room and lie down on his bed. He closed his eyes and after a few minutes, he fell asleep. ''Ieshi clan... Most of the people forgot them. And now I''ve found someone who bears the surname Ieshi. A monster named himself after that clan''s name. I will eventually find the truth if I stick with him.'' Saya''s voice sounded. ... Ding-Dong! "Ahn~" Souta slowly opened his eyes when he heard his doorbell rung. He yawned and pushed himself into a seated position. "Hmm? It''s already late so who''s ringing the doorbell." Souta muttered as he rubbed his eyes. He wanted to lie down but he forced himself to stand up. He walked downstairs to open the door. "Wait! I''m coming!" He shouted to let the person know that he was coming to open the door. He arrived in front of the door and peek to see who''s behind it. He saw a familiar chubby man. Jimmy from the Lanny corp. Behind Jimmy were two people that look like his bodyguard. Souta grabbed the handle of the door and he opened it when he saw that it was Jimmy. "Good evening, Souta Ieshi." Jimmy quickly greeted him when Souta opened the door. "What brought you here, Jimmy?" Souta asked while rubbing his eyes. He was sleepy and he wanted to lie down on his bed. Jimmy was about to say his goals in coming here when Souta stopped him from saying. Souta raised his hand and gesture him to stop. "Nevermind that, we''ll talk inside." He shook his head and said while opening the door. "Thanks for the invitation." Jimmy smiled and thanked him. "Don''t worry about it," Souta said as Jimmy and his bodyguards stepped inside Souta''s house. He then closed the door and guide Jimmy to the living room. "You can sit comfortably there. I''ll prepare some coffee." Souta said as he pointed at the sofa. "Okay." Jimmy nodded and he sat down on the sofa while his two bodyguards stood behind him without saying anything. Souta glanced at Jimmy before he went to the kitchen to prepare the coffee. He wondered what''s Jimmy''s goal in coming here. This was the first time that Jimmy visited him in his house. It must be about the incident in the Gripin city. 151 Agreemen "I couldn''t feel anything from him." One of the bodyguards replied to Jimmy while the other one nodded at his words. "Right, he''s currently vulnerable. I''ve got to say that it''s the effect from drinking the monster potion." Jimmy nodded and explained to them. He knew the power of his two bodyguards could rival those C-rank adventurers. "Still, I couldn''t believe that the boy I met three months ago would become this strong," Jimmy said as he looked at Souta with a serious expression. The simple boy he met in that small village was now one of the precious students of the Ladro Institute. His guess wasn''t wrong when he made a decision to block all the information about Souta and the rest of his companion regarding that incident in the Desolate Woods. When he met Souta at that time, Souta was weaker than average D-rank adventurers but right now, he could go toe to toe to a C-rank adventurers. And when using a monster potion, Souta could even defeat Gregory of the Vidrato family. "But... Did he really defeat Gregory Vidrato with just a monster potion?" One of the bodyguards asked while looking at Souta with a doubtful expression. "That''s what the intel says," Jimmy answered his bodyguard''s question. "You will understand that he is different from others when you fight him. The pressure he is emitting feels like he fought countless battles." Countless battles? Of course, Souta fought inside the game for ten years. He fought countless powerful creatures and defeated them. Souta suffered several losses and he died a lot of times. But he used this to get stronger and stronger until he became the top 1 ranking in the game. The two bodyguards didn''t say anything as they just started at Souta. ... "Here''s the coffee." Souta said as he placed a cup of coffee in front of Jimmy. He then sat down on the sofa and looked at Jimmy. "Thanks," Jimmy said as he took a sip. "How is it?" Souta asked as he leaned his back on the sofa. "It''s good." Jimmy smiled and said. "Yeah, so can you tell your reason for coming here?" Souta nodded and asked with a serious expression. Jimmy looked at Souta for a few seconds before he answered. "I''m thinking if you have any monster potion left." "Monster potion?" Souta raised his eyebrows. He understood now why Jimmy came here. Jimmy was a merchant and a monster potion would earn him a lot of money. "Yeah, I wanted to buy it if you have some." Jimmy nodded at him. "I''m sorry Jimmy, I don''t have any monster potion left. Also, if I have some of it I wouldn''t sell it to you. I''m sure you already guess the reason why." Souta said before he took a sip of coffee. Just like what happened in the Gripin city. Souta fought Gregory who was above his level so he used the monster potions. "Actually, I''m planning to go to your place after I''ve recovered from the side effect of the potion. I''m thinking if you could provide me some monster potion with your connection." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "With your connection, it''s not a problem to you, right? I''m sure you will find some monster potion in the underground market. So why bother asking me?" "I see..." Jimmy nodded his head. He smiled and said, "About your question... I''m thinking that if you have some monster potion we could turn it into money. If you want some monster potion, I could provide you some but don''t get your hopes high. The monster potion is a rare potion, after all. Up until now, we couldn''t find the recipe to produce it." "Okay, I''m willing to pay the price for it as long as you can provide it to me," Souta said in a calm tone. "Good. That''s not a problem to me but I have one condition." Jimmy said as he raised one of his fingers. "What is it?" Souta asked and felt that it was natural. If Jimmy didn''t ask anything, he would become suspicious about Jimmy''s motive in coming here. "You know, you''ve become famous these days. A lot of people heard your feat in defeating Gregory." Jimmy said to him. "So..." Souta raised his eyebrows while looking at Jimmy. He somehow guessed what Jimmy was trying to say. "I wanted to use your name. You will become the adventurers of the Lanny corporation in papers only. Everytime you will go on an expedition, you will bring the name of the Lanny corporation." Jimmy explained to him what he wanted. "I see... So it''s your true goal for coming here. The monster potion is just a diversion." Souta understood what Jimmy really wanted in the first place. "Haha, you''re really perceptive." Jimmy laughed lightly. "But your condition... I would lose a lot from this. I''m sure that you know it." Souta pointed out one thing that he couldn''t understand. "That''s why if I somehow find a monster potion I give it to you for free. Also, if our group found dungeons or ruins, we wouldn''t hire any adventurers to explore it. We would instead hire you to explore it." Jimmy explained the benefits that Souta will receive. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin and started to think if agreeing to Jimmy''s condition was truly beneficial to him. "You can answer me later," Jimmy said to him. "No, I agree to your condition." Souta shook his head and said. Actually, he liked the way Jimmy treated him. So if he didn''t agree to Jimmy''s condition there''s a possibility that their relationship would become stagnant. He would lose his value to Jimmy and Jimmy would lose his value to him. That''s how it is. "Are you sure? You can think about it for a day." Jimmy said while opening his palms. "Yeah, I''m sure about it." Souta nodded at him with a serious expression. He just needed to carry the name of Lanny Corporation in his expedition and that''s not a problem for him. He was sure that Jimmy would bring him a lot of benefits in the future. "Good. I''m glad that you agree to it." Jimmy smiled and he reached out his hand. "I''m glad too." Souta smiled and he shook hands with Jimmy. The two of them finally reached an agreement where it would benefit the two of them. Jimmy smiled and looked at Souta before he took a sip of his coffee. "Still, I''m surprised that you could already walk after drinking the monster potion." The people who drunk the monster potion suffered extreme pain in their bodies. The wounds that they received wouldn''t completely heal unless the healer casted a tier 3 healing speak to treat it. The mana in their energy pool would decrease permanently and they would train again if they wanted to reach their previous level. Lastly, they wouldn''t be able to use mana for one week after drinking the monster potion. "Well, I''ve bath myself in a pool of middle-grade healing potion while drinking healing potion," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. "That''s expensive... I''m sure that Ladro Institute would permit it if you skip class for one week. You''re injured, after all." Jimmy said when he heard Souta''s words. "Yeah, I could do that but I wanted to help everyone in the cultural festival. This is my first time attending such festival." Souta explained to him. "Cultural festival? Oh, that''s right I forgot about it." Jimmy recalled one of the festivals of the Ladro Institute. "If I have time I will come and visit your class at that time." "I look forward to it," Souta said with a smiled on his face. "Well then, I''m going now," Jimmy said before he stood up. "Okay, I''ll walk you to the door." Souta also stood up. He walked ahead and Jimmy followed him from behind. The two bodyguards didn''t say anything as they just followed Jimmy. After a few seconds of walking, they arrived in front of the door and Souta opened it. Jimmy fixed his clothes and he looked at Souta. He said, "I''m going now." "Yeah, don''t forget the monster potion." Souta nodded and said. "Don''t worry. I won''t forget it." Jimmy smiled before he stepped outside and his two bodyguards followed him. Souta looked at Jimmy''s figure and he walked toward his mailbox. He opened it and found a newspaper inside it. "Who ordered it? Maybe class rep..." Souta muttered as he picked the newspaper and saw the news on the back of the newspaper. He saw his face and name on the news. It was the news about him defeating Gregory Vidrato in the Gripen city. "My face..." Souta couldn''t help but sigh when he saw his face in the newspaper. He then looked on the next page and saw a news that caught his attention. "The Mechanic Country..." He muttered while reading the news. The news was about the Mechanic Country destroying a few small countries that used the communicator without Mechanic Country''s permission. Finally, the Mechanic Country was going to show its fangs to the whole world. The overwhelming technology that will shake the entire continent will bare its fangs to the large countries in the Giza Continent. Those audacious countries that underestimate the Mechanic Country will suffer first from the first ripple of change. Those countries have the guts to use Mechanic Country''s technology without permission, so the Mechanic Country will destroy their countries without mercy. "Hehe, the world is going to change soon and I needed to prepare myself." Souta laughed as he knew how dangerous the version 2 of the game. In this version, he died countless of times because it was really chaotic in version as it was the start of the Demon Invasion. So he needed to prepare himself so that he wouldn''t die. He wouldn''t let repeat what happened to himself in the game as he couldn''t afford to die in his current condition. 152 Me too The Mechanic Country will soon become a powerhouse in the Giza Continent and it will contribute a lot in the war against the demon. But first... Before the Rise of the Mechanic Country event, the Demon Invasion will come first before everything. This was also the start of the chaotic era and the version 2 of the game. Before the version 2 started, the demon will start to appear in the southern part of the continent. The Listen Wastes will experience it first before any country in this world. And when the version 2 started, the demon will surge the countries in the southern part of the continent and it will spread up until the Hebrei Kingdom. Souta frowned since he knew that he only had four months left before the start of version 2. "Four months is enough for me to rank up my class but evolution... " Souta muttered as he closed the newspaper. He smiled and went inside his house. "Well, let''s see if there''s some unexpected factor that will happen in these four months." All the points he earned in the Gripin city could be used to level up one of his spells, but to reach level 10 and promote to Rank 3 Mage? It still wasn''t enough. If he triggered another quest like that once again, Souta wouldn''t hesitate to use his lifespan. Although, it was a pity if his lifespan decrease. It was still worth it if he survived the version 2. What would he do to his lifespan if he was weak and he could die at any moment in the version? It''s better to increase his power right now than to save his lifespan as he knew that once he reached his third evolution or battle mage class, his chances of surviving the Demon Invasion event will increase. He also knew that his lifespan would greatly increase once he evolved because a monster with a monster orb was completely different than those lower-level monsters. Their overall stats were higher than ordinary and their lifespan was many times higher than normal monsters. These monsters brought fear and anxiety to the whole city of humans and demis. Their existence alone was capable of that. Souta closed the door and he went back to sleep so that he could go to class tomorrow. ... Souta woke up early in the morning when he felt a wet feeling on his face. Then, a soft wet thing passed on top of his face. "Ah, what''s that?" Souta opened his eyes and quickly pushed himself into a seated position. He looked around and found that it was only Yuko. Yuko looked at him and she opened her mouth widely. Then, she gently bit his clothes and pulled him. "You''re hungry..." Souta muttered as he stood up and followed Yuko. He recalled that Yuko was sleeping when he, Bryan, and the rest ate the food that Lynn cooked. "Okay, I''ll open it." Souta sighed and he walked towards the door. But he found that the key that was hanging on top of the door was gone. "Where is it?" He looked around and found the key beside his feet. "This...?" Souta squatted down and picked up the key. He turned his head and glanced at Yuko. "Did you try to open the door with this key?" "Nn." Yuko whimpered in a very small voice. It seems that she understood Souta''s words. "Don''t worry, I won''t hurt you. I''m just surprised that you managed to learn it." Souta smiled gently at her. He then shrugged his shoulder and said, "Well, with your limbs. It looks like you can''t put it inside the keyhole." "Mu." Yuko tilted her head while looking at him. Souta laughed and he turned around. He then opened the door. "Stay here for a while. Let me prepare it for you." ... After he finished preparing Yuko''s meal, Souta went inside his room and wore his uniform. He then hung the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his waist like he always does. "Okay, I''m ready to go." He guessed that it will take more than a week before the monster potion that Jimmy promised to him will arrive. After all, the monster potion was a very rare potion that can only be found in unexplored ruins and dungeons. It''s not surprising that Jimmy will have a hard time finding it even with the help of his connections. Souta shook his head and put those things in the back of his mind. It''s not his problem how Jimmy acquired the monster potion for him. The only thing he cared about was that Jimmy kept his promise to him. ''You really integrated yourself in the city of humans and demis without getting yourself found out that you''re a monster.'' Saya chuckled while Souta was looking at his reflection in the mirror. "It''s not that hard as long as you know their culture but..." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "Once I''ve formed my monster orb, the difficulty in hiding my identity as a monster will increase." ''I know. I''m sure you realize it that those people from the Ladro Institute will be able to sense the best feram.'' Saya said in his head before she laughed like she always does. ''Ufufu, I''m waiting for it.'' Even if Souta evolved to his next evolution he wouldn''t be able to hide his best feram from those powerful teachers in the Ladros Institute. At the very least, he needed to reach their level before he could hide it from them. "Well, it doesn''t matter to me. I will leave this place and head to the God''s Continent after I''ve evolved." Souta muttered while looking at his face in the mirror. ''Ufufu, that''s a good decision as there are monsters there that are treated as gods by the people living there. Just like the four sacred beasts; the Azure Dragon, the Vermillion Bird, the White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise. Those four are like gods in that continent.'' Saya praised him for his decision to go there in the God''s Continent. Souta already had a plan to go there, after he settled all the things here in the Giza continent. Because he had to free the Nine-headed Hydra, which was his pet back in the game. It will be a huge help to him as the Nine-headed Hydra was a monster that undergo the fifth evolution. In other words, its level was above level 80. ''Ufufu, listening to you. It feels like you''re sure that you will evolve into a higher species of a goblin.'' Saya laughed in his head. ''You are truly a confident goblin.'' Goblin? Right now, Souta didn''t understand what he is or why did he have a system in the real world. Souta shooked his head and went downstairs. He bid farewell to Yuko before he went to the Ladro Institute. ... Souta arrived inside the Ladro Institute and found that every class was busy preparing for the upcoming cultural festival. After walking for a few minutes, Souta arrived in the cafeteria. He bought a cup of coffee and found that a lot of students were glancing at him from time to time. "That''s Souta..." "Really?" "The one who fought Lord Gregory and defeated him." "Damn! How could a student be that powerful?!" "If I''m not wrong there are only ten students in the Institute that could fight those at the level of Lord Gregory?" "Yeah, you''re right about that. They are the top 10 students in the power ranking of the Ladro Institute." "So you''re telling me that Souta, a first-year student is at that level!" "No, haven''t you heard the news at all. Souta used the monster potion to fight Lord Gregory." The students started to murmur to each other while glancing at Souta. They didn''t dare to look at his eyes as they were afraid that they will tick him off. "I truly become a famous person just from that incident," Souta muttered as he smiled to himself. He ignored those students and left the cafeteria. ... He arrived inside his classroom and his classmates greeted him. "Good morning, Souta!" "We heard from Bryan that you''re fine now!" Souta smiled at them and greeted them back. The Mage class 1-B was preparing for the upcoming cultural festival. He sat on his seat after he placed down his bag. He turned his head to his side and looked at Alice. He opened his mouth and said, "What you did there was out of my expectation." Alice looked at him and smiled beautifully before she replied, "Me too." Souta was stunned when he saw her face. "What the-" Before he could finish what he was going to say, Saya interrupted him. ''Stop, I know what you are thinking. I bet you are thinking about visiting the red light district before. ''Ufufu, what a naughty goblin you are. No, I think that all goblins are naughty.'' 153 Fan club? Souta took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He had to admit that Alice''s beauty was out of this world, especially when she smiled. ''Her beauty could even rival Athena.'' Souta thought as he recalled the goddess that he swore to serve back in the game. Back in the game, he joined Athena''s faction when he came to the God''s Continent. Joining a faction of a God or Goddess has its own benefits. Those chosen ones were called by different names. Hero, Apostle, etc. Each god has different names for their chosen people. In Athena''s case, she called her chosen people Hero. So he was called Athena''s hero and throughout the years he became Athena''s most loved hero because of his deeds. The chosen people would be able to use the power of their God and Goddess that they serve. It became popular among the player of the Battle World Online as countless players joined the faction of different gods and goddesses. Almost all the player have their own Gods, be it from the God''s Continent or the Giza continent. Becoming one of the chosen people of the gods could boost the stats greatly. Receiving the grace of the gods or blessings of the gods. It was the same as his current blessing, the [Blessing of the Great]. This was one of the most basic blessings that players could acquire. The only problem was that the stats it gave weren''t that much. ''Athena? As in that child that became the Goddess of Wisdom and War in Olympus?'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Child? It seems that you know her.'' Souta wasn''t surprised that Saya knew Athena. He already knew that Saya was still alive at that time when the war broke out twenty thousand years ago. ''Nope, I only know those gods and goddesses from that continent. I''m familiar with them but from your words... It seems that you know her appearance. Have you seen her before? A goblin like you?'' ''No, I''ve only saw her statue before.'' Souta replied to her. ''Ufufu, just from that statue... How suspicious.'' Saya laughed. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Souta snapped out when he heard a question directed at him. He looked up and saw that it was Alice. "Nothing." Souta shook his head and said. ''I hope you understand it Yuko.'' He said in his mind. It seems that he''s going to be late this time as he was planning to visit the red light district after class. Souta looked at Alice and asked, "How''s the class doing about the cultural festival?" "That? Well, the class rep is giving it her all." Alice said as she looked at the front of the class. "Hmm..." Souta also looked at her and saw that Lumilia was writing down important things that they needed to do to complete their preparation. Lumilia was placing a task on some of their classmates. She was giving orders while writing down at the same time. "Okay." Alice nodded at him and she rested her head on her hand while looking at Souta''s figure. ''I''ll try to do better from now on. I''ll try to live up from Sebas''s expectation.'' Alice said inwardly as she slowly closed her eyes. ... "Class rep, I only managed to get this much," Joshua said as he showed the blacks curtains in his arms. Lumilia looked at the curtains in his arms and counted it. "One, two, three, four." She then wrote it down and tapped her pen on the table while thinking about what she should do. "It would have been nice to have five or six black curtains." She muttered in a low voice. She then looked at Joshua and said, "You can place it there. We still have one week so try to find another curtain." She recalled something and she added, "We still have enough funds. Ask Nayo about it?" "I understand but..." Joshua nodded and he looked around trying to find Nayo. "Where''s Nayo?" "She''s in the second year building," Lumilia answered his question. Souta just looked at her managing things. He only opened his mouth when he saw everyone left to do their task. "Class rep, is there anything I can do?" Lumilia looked over and saw that it was Souta who called her. She then went back to look at the notebook on top of the table. She opened her mouth and asked, "How are you?" "I''m fine. You already saw it yesterday, right? So why bother asking?" Souta smiled and said. "Ugh... I-I''m just trying to make sure of it." Lumilia said as she lowered her head. She didn''t even try to look at his face. "Well, do you need some help?" Souta asked her while trying to look at her notebook. Although he knew what their class was going to do, he still didn''t know the full details of it. Their class was setting up a theatre play. To do this, they needed a lot of materials to set up the stage. They also need to sew the clothes of the actors and actresses. The story they were going to play was about a certain man who saved a princess from the hands of an evil dragon. ''What an overused story... They should have used the story of a certain man that transmigrated into another world and became a monster.'' Souta thought inwardly. What he didn''t know was that this story was also overused on earth. Well, it didn''t seem bad at all to do things like this sometimes. "We need some plywood," Lumilia said and she explained the size that they needed. "Okay, you can leave it to me," Souta said and he left the classroom. Lumilia turned her head and looked at his back before she sighed deeply. ... "So where should I find a plywood?" Souta muttered while looking around him. He pondered if he should ask the higher year about it or not. "Okay, I''ll ask them." Souta made a decision. He continued to walk until he saw a female student blocked his way. Looking at this girl, Souta knitted his eyebrows and said, "What are you doing?" The girl in front of him has green hair that was tied in twintails. She had green eyes and snow-white skin. Her height was the same as his, No, she was taller than him by a few millimeters. She had two dark cherry color antenna sticking out on her head. Just looking at this, Souta knew that she wasn''t a human. She''s a demi and it looks like she was an animal type. Maybe, an insect demi. "Um... Can I borrow a bit of your time?" The girl asked while she kept fiddling her fingers. Souta raised his eyebrows and tried to guess what she was thinking. He observed her movements and didn''t found anything wrong. "Before I agree with you, can you tell the reason?" He asked her while staring at her eyes. "I''ll talk while walking." The girl said as she lowered her head. "Okay, lead the way." Souta nodded his head and looked at her with a serious expression. The girl bowed her head before she started to walk and Souta followed her from the side. "Lord Souta, first of all, I''m going to introduce myself first." The girl said in a polite tone. Souta nodded at her as he ignored the word "lord" before his name. He decided to let her finish first before he says something. "I''m Jeanne Livenest, the Vice President of the Souta''s Union Fan Club." The girl introduced herself as Jeanne. Her words caused Souta to stopped on his track. He turned his head and stared at Jeanne''s face with a dumbfounded look on his face. "W-What did you say?!" Souta asked her while stuttering. He feels that he misheard something. "I''m Jeanne Livenest, the Vice President of the Souta''s Union Fan Club. It''s nice to meet you, Lord Souta." Jeanne lowered her head and said in a polite tone. ''Damn! I didn''t hear it wrong! I really had a fan club!'' Souta said inwardly before he went deep into his thoughts, ''Hmm...? I''ll need to visit them to see if they are valuable or not. I know there are some fan clubs that brought harm to their idol and I don''t want that to happen.'' Souta looked at Jeanne and asked, "What class and year are you?" "I''m from the Brawler Class 3-C," Jeanne answered him in a polite tone. "3-C? You''re my senior? Then, you don''t need to be that polite when talking to me." Souta said to her. Brawler? From her looks, she didn''t seem to be the type who preferred to fight with bare knuckles. Looking at him, it seems that Jeanne guessed what Souta was thinking. "I''m a demi, a bullet ant to be precise, Lord Souta," Jeanne opened her mouth and said. ''Paraponera? One of the strongest demis who are famous for their unrivaled strength among the other demis.'' Souta thought. 154 Fan Union Club Most of the paraponera were using their powerful strength in fighting that''s why a lot of them choose to become a brawler or any other class that was proficient in fighting bare-handed. A one-year-old paraponera could already lift ten times of its own weight. Their strength would grow stronger with their age. Even a noncombatant of their race was powerful. Souta glanced at Jeanne and asked, "Then, where are we going right now?" Jeanne smiled and said, "We''re going to our headquarters. The room of the Souta''s fan union club." "Okay, I''m also curious about this fan club. I wanted to see it with my own eyes." Souta nodded and said. "Thank you, Lord Souta. I won''t disappoint you." Jeanne thanked him while bowing her head. "No need for that. You''re my senior so you can call me Souta." Souta said and he waved his hand. "T-Then, I''ll call you S-Souta," Jeanne said with a slight hesitation. "I''ll also call you Jeanne," Souta said to her. He then noticed that Jeanne stopped walking. He looked at her and asked, "What''s wrong?" "N-Nothing..." Jeanne''s face was turning red. She shook her head and hurriedly walked forward. ''You! You did it on purpose, right? You tease her for your amusement. You''re evil.'' Souta smiled as he ignored the voice in his head. He then stepped forward and followed Jeanne. ... The two arrived in front of a classroom. There''s nothing worth mentioning about the appearance of the classroom. It looks normal like any other classroom in this institute. "We''re here," Jeanne said to him. Souta simply nodded his head. He sensed several presences inside the classroom and guessed that they were the members of the fan club. ''Nothing is wrong.'' He said to himself in his head. Jeanne stepped forward and she slowly opened the door. She then stepped inside followed by Souta. Souta looked around the classroom and found that all the members of his fan club were girls. They noticed someone opened the door so they turned their head to look at it. But they were stunned when they saw the person beside Jeanne, the Vice President of Souta''s fan union club. Souta looked at them and they looked at him with wide eyes. Their mouths were hanging and they forgot what they were doing. "Yo!" Souta smirked and he greeted them with a simple "Yo" word. After a few moments, they snapped out of their daze. "Ah! S-Sir Souta is here!" "I-Is this for real?! Am I not seeing things?!" "W-What should I do?!" "V-Vice President! Is that really S-Sir Souta?!" "Yes, I brought Souta here to show him our fan club." Jeanne nodded and said with a proud expression. "But!!" They then grabbed Jeanne''s collar and pulled her. "Hey! Hey! What are you doing to me? I''m your Vice President!" Jeanne said as she began to panic. One of the girls looked at Souta and said, "You can sit anywhere you want S-Sir Souta but... let us borrow Vice President for a talk!" Souta nodded his head as they watched them with an amused expression. "Vice President! We already talk about this!" "Yeah! Why are you call Sir Souta by his name? And with a casual tone?!" "Why did you get ahead of us? We decided that we''re all in this! So why?!" ... "I-I''m sorry Sou- eh!" Jeanne was about to say his name when she felt an ominous aura behind her. "I''m sorry Sir Souta for showing you such shameful sight." "No, it''s okay. I did enjoy it a lot." Souta said to her. He looked around and said, "What did I say before? You can call me Souta. No need to be polite." "But..." Jeanne hesitated as she glanced at her comrades who were emitting an ominous aura. ''You are really an evil goblin. You''re actually enjoying this.'' Souta ignored the voice in his head and said, "I''m going to get angry if you kept refusing it." "Thank you, then I''ll call you Souta." Jeanne bowed her head and she looked at her comrades with a mocking expression as if she was saying "See that! I already got his permission to call his name". The members of the fan club gritted their teeth in frustration while looking at their Vice President. "Haha!" Souta laughed while looking at them. It caused everyone to look at him. All of them look at him with a confused expression on their face. They were wondering why he''s laughing. "I''m not mocking you. I just found that all of you are close to each other." Souta explained to them. He then asked, "So who''s the president of this fan club?" The girls, including Jeanne, looked at each other before they answered him. "Sir Souta, we don''t have a president in our club. The Vice President is the one who''s doing everything for this fan club, without her we wouldn''t be able to create this club at all." They answered him in chorus as if they practice this speech. "Hmm...?" Souta raised his eyebrows when he heard their words. He opened his mouth and asked, "What do you mean by that?" "Sir Souta, the position of the president is vacant." They answered him. "Vacant? How is that possible?" Souta at them with a questioning gaze. "Sir, it became possible with Vice President here." They replied to him. "Then, why did she not become the president of this club?" Souta asked him the most important question for him. He was also curious about why did they leave the position vacant when there was a suitable person for this position. But their answer left him dumbfounded. "We all think that only your fiancee have the right to become the president of the fan club." They said to him in chorus. "Eh...?" Souta subconsciously took a step back. He took a deep breath to calm himself and asked, "Fiancee? I don''t have something like that. More like, I don''t have the luxury to enjoy such things." "Yes!!" They said simultaneously while cheering silently when they heard him that he doesn''t have any relationship. Souta smiled and talked to them for a while. He checked their logs and found that the club currently has twelve members including Jeanne. They said that this club was open to the student, like them, that admired him. Ever since he showed here, they started to admire him. They collected any news and information about him. The latest news about Souta drove them mad to the point that they created this club. The news about him fighting Gregory gave them a shock. A student managed to fight and defeat the head of a noble family. This piece of news greatly increased their admiration for him. ... When everyone knew that Souta was looking for a plywood, they immediately went out and provide him what he needed. "Thanks for helping me." Souta as he looked at the plywood that he was carrying. With the help of everyone, he easily managed to get a plywood. "No, Sir. It''s our pleasure to help you. Feel free to ask us when you need something." The girls said to him in a polite tone. "Thanks, I''ll visit you if I have time," Souta said as he waved his hand at them. He then turned around and left. ''They were pretty good, huh? They managed to get plywood within five minutes.'' Souta thought with a smile on his face. He arrived in the class and gave the plywood to Lumilia. Lumilia tasked some of the people to cut down the plywood. The Mage Class 1-B was starting to build the stage they will use in the play. They had one week to finish all of this. ... "Boys! do your part!" "Who do I ask for a clothing material?" "We''re making a good progress, huh?" "Can I get some clips?" "Sure." "Perfect! We''re finished with this one!" Every class was busy preparing for the cultural festival. Each one has different things, some will have a theatre play while the others were going to sell their food specialty. The cultural festival of the Ladro Institute was one of the famous events in the Ladros City. This day the institute will open its gate to every citizen of the city. Since the day the cultural festival was announced, fighting was forbidden on school grounds. No more challenging other students. This was the only festival that they will experience the life of normal students devoid of any fighting or battles. After this festival, everything will go back to before. Fighting, training, special test, and outdoor training. All of it will come once this festival was over. That''s why the institute didn''t remove this from their program. They wanted their students to relax and stopped thinking about battles, even if it was only a few weeks. Days had passed quickly. In just a blink of an eye, six days had passed and tomorrow was the opening of the cultural festival. "One, two, three..." Lumilia counted the curtain on the corner. "It would''ve been nice to have five." "Well, it''s the last day so getting materials is an all-out war." Souta looked at her and said. He was lucky that he had the assistance of his fan club or else it would take him a lot of time to get those materials. "We''re here." A loud voice sounded. Souta and Lumilia turned their heads and saw Nayo and the rest. Nayo was one of the actresses in their play. Her role was the main female lead in the story. She was with Bryan, Lynn, and George. All of them were actors and actresses of the play. "Let''s wait for the others," Lumilia said. 155 Cultural Festival Souta yawned as he stretched his arms before he stood up and went to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and washed his face. ''You''re an evil goblin. A very evil one.'' He heard Saya''s voice in his head and he ignored it. He doesn''t want to bother himself at this time. Well, he knew why she was complaining at him. He brought the sword in the red light district and let her hear do the deeds with the woman there. She watched him having sex with the woman there. Souta shook his head and he exited the bathroom. He wore his uniform and checked his appearance. Today was the start of the cultural festival and it will last for three days. After the festival, they will go back to training to improve their fighting abilities. Also, the start of the outdoor training. He didn''t know the full details of this outdoor training as Bargan only announce it to them. Bargan didn''t give them enough details to know what will happen in this training. After this festival, he would fight ranking battles to earn some points and exchanged it for skills. He knew his strength and was sure that he could dominate the ranking and become the top 1 ranker. He fought the top 1 and above ranker in the special test so he was sure about that. There''s only something that he was wary about. And it''s the people who choose to hide their strength like Randolf who fought Gregory before. Souta wasn''t even sure if he could defeat Randolf in a one on one battle. He heard from Lumilia and the others how Randolf fought Gregory. And he had one thing to say about it. Randolf''s power level was high to the point that it exceeds first-year students. Using a tier 3 spell? Damn! Just by this feat, he could say that Randolf was really a powerful person. He tried to recall if Randolf resembled some of the powerful people in the game, but he didn''t remember anyone that has similarities to him. Another secret character that has an unknown background. Souta was itching to know this but he was sure that no one would give important information about one''s self easily. He too was like that. He wouldn''t tell anyone that he was a monster unless time calls for it. Souta hung the [Vajra Sword Saya] on his waist before he went downstairs. He gave Yuko her breakfast before he left and went to the Ladro Institute. ... On his way to the institute, Souta saw a lot of people going inside the institute too. Even some adventurers visited the famous institute for fun. They were going to visit one of the most famous institutions in Hebrei Kingdom. Each guard have the power of C-rank adventurers while the teachers have the power that could rival those monsters that have a monster orb. Not only that, because of the existence of the Principal and other high-level teachers no one would dare to cause a commotion here. The institute will naturally tighten their security on this kind of occasion. Souta went to the cafeteria first to buy a coffee before he went to his class. Holding a cup of coffee, Souta entered his class and saw that everyone was ready. The preparation was already complete. Most of the tables and chairs had been moved to the back of the classroom and stacked up to make space. The remaining table had been put together with white tablecloths on top to make it seem like lunch tables. Posters about their theatre play were plastered on the walls, and accessories about it were placed around. They also placed a booth outside so that if they wanted to buy a souvenir, they could buy it in the booth. The blackboard and the area in the front of the classroom were cut off. They were going to use this place as a temporary kitchen where they would prepare the food. While this wasn''t perfect by any means, Souta didn''t find any significant problem. "Brother Souta!!" He looked over and found that Cluster was here. Oh right? He forgot that he had to tour Cluster around the institute. "I''ll tour you around so wait for a while," Souta said as he patted Cluster''s head. "Yes, yes, Brother Bryan will also come with us." Cluster said with a happy expression. "Bryan?" Souta looked at her and he rubbed his chin. "If I''m not wrong Bryan is one of the actors so I think it is impossible." "Nope, nothing is impossible with me!" A loud voice interrupted him. It was Bryan. Souta looked at Bryan with a questioning gaze. "You see, Souta. I can do anything I want as we will only perform twice this day. So I have a lot of spare time to do anything I wanted. Hahaha!" Bryan laughed loudly as both of his hands were resting on his waist. "I see... So how many hours do you have before you the start of your play?" Souta nodded and asked him. "Two hours from now, the class rep said it to me. But I have to go back early because we have a rehearsal." Bryan said to him. "Okay, then let''s go now," Souta said and he went to Lumilia saying that he will tour Cluster with Bryan. "Um..." Souta heard a small voice coming from his back. He turned his head and saw a girl with long purple hair. It was Lynn. "C-Can I join your group?" Lynn asked him as she kept fiddling her fingers. "Hoho~ it seems that someone wanted to join the strongest group. Do you have what it takes to join us?" Bryan looked at Lynn and said. "Eh...! Um..." Lynn didn''t know how to answer Bryan''s question. ''What the hell is this guy saying?'' Souta thought as he shook his head and looked at Lynn. He wasn''t the only one who was embarrassed by Bryan''s action, everyone from the Mage Class 1-B too. It''s not a secret from everyone that Lynn has feelings for Souta. They didn''t need to hear it from her mouth as they could clearly see it with their own eyes. Lynn''s action and movement indicated that she has some sort of romantic feelings for Souta. But this guy... Bryan was an idiot one. He didn''t even realize why Lynn wanted to accompany their group. Everyone could only sigh and thought that it was Bryan so they could expect it from him. Souta opened his mouth and said to Lynn, "You can ignore that idiot. But I already promised Cluster that I''m going to accompany her today so if it''s okay for her, you can come too." He then looked at Cluster and patted her head. Cluster looked up at Souta and nodded her head. Souta smiled and said, "It seems that Cluster is fine with you joining us." "Really?" Lynn beamed a bright smile as she looked at Souta''s face. "Yeah." Souta nodded his head at her. Lynn sighed in relief and she flashed a beautiful smile at him. "Okay, you''ve passed, you can join us," Bryan said from the side. ... Souta, Lynn, Cluster, and Bryan excited the classroom and they began to walk around. They visited every class to see if they did some interesting. They walked around for an hour before they stop for a break. Cluster was sweating and panting so Souta decided to stop first. "You''re weak! Too weak, Cluster! But don''t worry about it because Brother Bryan is here! I''ll train you until you become a strong girl!" Bryan said in a loud voice while looking at Cluster. "Stop it, Cluster is still too young!" Souta said to Bryan then he looked at Cluster. "Ignore this idiot. I''ll bring you some water." Cluster nodded his head at him. She sat on a chair and tried to catch her breath. Souta then looked at Lynn and asked her, "How about you?" "W-Water is fine," Lynn replied to him as she was surprised that Souta asked her. "Apple juice for me," Bryan said even without Souta asking him. Souta ignored him and he went towards the nearest store. He fall in line and waited until it was his turn. He looked at the store and found that it was built by Mage Class 1-A. He recalled those students that he met in the special test. After a few minutes, it was Souta''s turn. "Good morning, sir. What''s your orde-" The girl in front greeted him with a smile but it quickly turned into a shock when she saw that her customer was Souta. She was Ailene Carnain, the top 5 ranker of first-year students. "Hello, I want four bottles of water." Souta waved his hand and said to her with a smile. "Hurry up mom, they only have 5 pieces of spicy special barbeque." A voice of a little boy came from behind him. Souta glanced at them before he looked at Ailene and said, "Also, I wanted all the spicy special barbeque you have here." ... Souta received his order and turned around. He looked at the little boy with a smug expression. ''The vilest creature in the universe! You''re the epitome of evil!'' He smirked as he heard a voice inside his head. The little boy and his mom looked at Souta with a stunned expression. 156 Youre afraid Just to get stronger, Souta killed and used people for his own benefits. He even devoured their souls to get stronger. He placed his hand inside his pocket and grabbed the circular pendant. Souta glanced at the mother and child before he went back to Bryan, Lynn, and Cluster. While walking, Souta opened the pendant and stared at the picture in it. A man, a mature woman, and a little girl were smiling in the picture. The little girl in the picture has black hair that was tied in twintails. She had pitched black eyes but the center part of it was color brown. He still had a quest that he hasn''t finish. In this quest, he needed to find the little girl in the picture and gave her this pendant. He also had to tell her her father''s last words. What about the father of the girl? Souta already killed him back in the Desolate Woods. The father was one of the people who were chasing after Cluster. ''Are you really planning to find the little girl in the picture?'' Saya asked him. "Yeah, there''s nothing wrong about it. Her father gave me a quest so I will finish it." Souta nodded and said to her. ''Quest? Even if you will not get any benefits from it! You already know what will happen if that girl in the picture know that you''re the one who killed her father.'' Saya said to him. "Yeah, I know it. It''s the truth. I will not run away from it. If she asked me how her father died, I will tell her that I killed him." Souta muttered in a low voice that only he and Saya could hear. ''There''s no doubt that little girl will try to kill you if she knew it.'' Saya said. "Yeah, that''s for sure. She have the right to know how her father died so I will tell her if she asked me. But it''s her entire decision if she wanted revenge." Souta said and his tone slowly turned into a cold one. "If she comes at me full of killing intent, then I will not hesitate to do what I need to do." ''You''re strangely out of character today. Is there something in your mind that''s bothering you?'' Saya asked him after she heard his words. "Nothing." Souta shook his head and he placed back the pendant inside his pocket. ''Also, you''re acting strange this week. I''ve been observing you for a long time so I know if you''re thinking about something.'' Saya said to him. ''What do you mean?'' Souta asked him. ''This week. You''ve been coming to the red light district every day. I know that you only visited the red light district after you''ve experienced a life and death situation to vent your stress.'' Saya explained to him what she found strange in him. She pointed at something. ''Look at you. Your hands are shaking.'' Souta looked at his hands and saw that Saya was right. His hands were trembling and sweating. Souta took a deep breath to calm himself. He was afraid of the upcoming events as he knew that there was no safe place in this world once chaos broke out. ''Use this festival to relax yourself and forget your problem. In the first place, that''s the purpose of this festival. To let the students experience the life of normal students.'' "Right, I''ll do that." Souta nodded his head with a solemn look. ... Souta gave the bottles of water to his company. Cluster, Lynn, and Bryan, the three of them also received the spicy special barbeque that Souta bought. He opened the cap of the bottle and drunk the water inside before he looked up at the blue sky. He then suddenly felt something coursing through his body. "Hmm...?" Souta closed his eyes and found that his mana began circulating inside his body. It seems that he could finally use his mana once again. "What''s wrong, Brother Souta?" Cluster asked him with a worried expression as she saw his look. Lynn and Bryan also looked at Souta and found him with his eyes closed. After a few moments, Souta opened his eyes. He looked at them with a smile on his face and said, "I''ve just recovered. The side effect of the monster potion is gone. I can finally use my mana once again." "Oh! That''s a good news! We can finally spar against each other!" Bryan said with an excited expression. "You can leave it at that. Let''s spar later." Souta said to Bryan. Bryan, Cluster, and Lynn was happy for Souta. They were glad that he recovered his strength. "Let''s continue," Souta said to them and everyone agreed to him. The group continued to walk around the institute visiting the other class. They experience and saw various things that other classes made. In the later part, Bryan left because the theatre play was going to start soon and he needed to prepare. Cluster grew closer to Lynn and Souta was happy for her that she made another friends. He smiled and thought that this was not bad. Enjoying time like this was not bad at all. ... In the harbor near the Maria country, the country in the eastern area of the Melosa country. A group of five people arrived. Three of them were women and two were men. All of them were wearing the same black hooded robe with red linings. It had a symbol of a red-eye on the back of the robe. There were words written in unknown language above the red-eye. One of the women stepped forward and pulled out her hood. It revealed her flawless face without a hint of any scratch. She had pure white hair and red pupils. Her black lips curved into a smile. "We''re finally here in the Giza Continent! Disperse and accomplish the task of the Sin!" She said and the four people behind her vanished. If Souta was here he would instantly know that these people were the subordinates of the Seven Deadly Sins, one of the Three Bringer of Calamity. They were the high ranking officers of the Seven Deadly Sins. ... Somewhere in the God''s Continent. A group of ten people was inside a dark and wide place. The atmosphere in this place was heavy and chilly. Each one of them possessed unrivaled strength. They were the ten commandments of the God''s Will. In front of them was a terrifying creature that existed twenty thousand years ago. The pale armor man that appeared in the Desolate Woods. Beside the pale armor man, was a horse with pale color flames over its body. The armored man and the horse was tied using a very special chain. Carmilla, the Commandment of Truth, stepped forwards. She opened her mouth and said, "We''ve already acquired one of the four Authority. We only need three and we''ll be able to make our wish a reality." "This man is powerful. I wouldn''t be able to capture him if I was alone." Julius, the Commandment of Love, said from the side. Capturing this man alive was a hard task even for commandments like him. He knew that the power of the user of an Authority was no joke at all. If he made one wrong move, he knew that he would suffer great consequences. "Finding the other three Authority is going to be a hard task. But we have to accomplish it if we want to make our wish come true. We must have patience." The Commandment of Patience said. "The two original hosts of the Authorities died in the war twenty thousand years ago. Since the hosts were dead, the Authorities found another compatible hosts. And we have to find those hosts." The Commandment of Faith said. Finding the hosts of the Authorities in this universe was an extremely difficult task even for them. They were only lucky that this armored man was still alive when they checked his burial site. Up until now, they only managed to locate the three original hosts of the Authority. Two were dead, the other one was in their possession, and the last one was unknown. "We have to find the Authorities even if we have to turn this world upside down." The Commandment of Repose said. Carmilla looked at them before she opened her mouth and said, "All of us need to make a move, or else we won''t be able to find the Authorities." "Hahaha, Carmilla is right. We''re going to show the world how God loved them." Julius said as he laughed. They had to find it. Because time was running out until the next judgement day. The era was changing and the powerful organization in the dark was starting to move. The Seven Deadly Sins, the Commandments of the God''s Will, and lastly, the Twelve Zodiacs. All of them will bring calamity and chaos in this world. The gods will once again experience the changing era. ~End of Volume 3~ A/N: Thank you guys for following my work despite the bad grammar. I thanked everyone who encouraged me and gave me some tips. I will try to improve my work in the next volume. I hope you keep following this work. Next is the volume 4 of this novel. A lot of things will happen here and the Version 2 of the game will start in this volume. Some people were asking if there''s a romance. Of course, mark my word you will see it in the next volume. Also, some people ask me if I''m going to dump all the characters when Souta go to God''s Continent. I''m only going to say that all of them will have an important role in the future events of the story. So keep reading as we''re going to slowly uncover the background of these characters and their role in the future. 157 Courage Metallic loud sounds echoed in the whole area as two figures were clashing against each other. Sparks flew everywhere every time their weapons collided. Both of the fighters were armed with metallic gauntlet and gloves. Bargan, Bryan, Lumilia, and Alice were on the corner of the training ground watching both fighters clashed against each other. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta swiftly moved his body from side to side. He was one of the two fighters in the center. He stepped forward and threw a powerful punch. Swoosh! His opponent was a very agile woman. She had a flexible body and good reflexes that put Souta down several times. She was the Vice President of the Souta''s fan Union club, Jeanne Livenest. Jeanne clenched her first and she also threw her punch towards Souta. She wasn''t at Souta''s body, she was just using her punch to block all of Souta''s attack. Using her attack as a defense and it was very effective. Both of their fists collided and it caused a powerful gust of wind. Souta knitted his eyebrows as he was pushed back. He felt that both of his arms were going to snap if he continued doing this. A huge shadow covered Jeanne''s body. Jeanne looked up and saw Yuko above her. She quickly moved her body to the side and Yuko slammed the ground with her huge body. Bang! Jeanne pulled back both of her fists as she appeared in front of Yuko. She launched powerful punches causing Yuko to flew and crashed on the ground leaving a trail of smoke from behind. Looking at this, Souta raised both of his hands in the air and said, "I''ve lost. Your strength is more than I could handle." Jeanne was a paraponera, a demi famous for their powerful raw strength. He was no way to match her brute strength with his current stats. Although he knew that he wasn''t Jeanne''s match, he still couldn''t believe that she was stronger than he imagined. She could overwhelm him just by using her raw strength. He and Yuko wouldn''t stand a chance against Jeanne. "No, it''s my pleasure to accompany you in your training," Jeanne said. She then smiled and praised him. "Still, I think that your strength is very impressive. I wouldn''t be that long before you catch up to me." "That''s right, your strength is enough to defeat most of the second-year students in this institute. I personally think that you would be able to rank in the top 20 of the second year." Bargan stepped forward and said. It wasn''t that long since Souta enrolled in the institute. He personally saw the tremendous improvement of Souta''s strength with his own eyes. "I see..." Souta nodded his head and he looked at his palm. Without using the [Vajra Sword Saya], it was hard to match the higher students of the Ladro Institute. Souta lifted up his head and looked at Bargan when he heard Bargan''s words. "Taming ability?" Souta asked. "Yes, I''ll impart you some of my skills." Bargan nodded at him. "Damn! I want to have a pet too." Bryan said with a hint of jealousy. He didn''t have a pet so this skill was useless to him. Souta asked the institute to let Yuko enter the school ground and the institute agreed to it. Well, they wouldn''t decline Souta''s request because they knew that Souta''s pet, the Red Fur Bear, was part of his strength. It would be a waste if he didn''t train his taming ability. "Ever since the special test, Souta''s strength showed huge improvement. His growth is terrifying." Alice commented from the side. She saw a lot of geniuses in her homeland but she never once saw someone who was like Souta. Lumilia glanced at Alice and she placed her hand in front of her chest. She felt her heart beating wildly. She knew that if she didn''t train for herself. These people around her were going to left her. ''I need to do my best. I''ll catch up to them.'' Lumilia said to herself as she gave herself a bit of courage to chase after her friends. ... Jeanne looked at Bargan and Souta before she said, "I''m going to rest for now." Bargan nodded at her while Souta thanked her for accompanying him in his training. Jeanne bowed her head before she walked to the side and picked up a bottle of water. She opened the cap and drunk that water inside the bottle. She looked at Souta with an admiring gaze. She was sure that Souta was going to be a powerhouse in the future. She wasn''t wrong at all, Souta was a man of focus who only looked at the goal in front of him. She admired those traits of him. He even fought Gregory, a noble head, just to save his classmates. "Next year, I''m sure of it that he would be able to dominate the whole institute," Jeanne muttered with an excited expression on her face. She was sure of it as she knew the power of the top ranker of the third-year students. She was Jeanne Livenest, the top 23 ranker of the third-year students. The daughter of the tribe leader of the Paraponera race in the Hebrei Kingdom. She looked at Souta''s friends and asked, "I''m in a good mood today, do you want me to train you?" "Sure." Bryan agreed to her without hesitation. Lumilia and Alice looked at each other before they nodded. ... Two weeks had passed since the cultural festival of the Ladro Institute. Souta managed to dominate the first-year ranker in these two weeks. He was now officially the top 1 ranker of the first-year students of the Ladro Institute. He earned a lot of points from becoming the top 1 ranker. He used his points to Bargan and he used his remaining points to buy some skills suitable for his fighting style. Actually, he could manually learn the skill in his skill tree if he had the spellbook of it. The only problem was that even if he learned this skill he wouldn''t be able to lit up the skill in his skill tree. He still needed to used his skill points to lit it up and upgrade it so that he could promote his class rank. ... Souta woke up early in the morning. It''s weekends so he didn''t have any classes. "I''ll visit Jimmy to check if everything is ready," Souta muttered as he pushed himself out of the bed. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. After that, he went downstairs and prepared himself a cup of coffee. "The outdoor training is going to start next week." Next week, the whole first-year will train around the vicinity of the Hebrei Kingdom. They will experience various things and encounter a lot of things in this training. They would also learn a lot of things. The institute hoped that the first-year students could handle themselves in this training. "Outdoor training. The adventurers are like that. The institute wanted the students to have a real battle experience, not just a mock battle. They wanted to know how the students would fare against this." Souta said in a low voice before he took a sip of his coffee. ''A lot of students will experience hardship in this outdoor training. People who didn''t experience life and death battle will have a hard time adjusting. They aren''t used to living in the wild so you know what will happen in this outdoor training.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. "Yeah, I don''t think that our class will have a problem with it," Souta said and he stood up. He went to Yuko''s house and prepared her breakfast. ''Yeah, a goblin like you originally lived in the wild so you wouldn''t have a problem with it. Also, after what you experience in the Desolate Woods and Gripin City it''s hard to think that you will experience hardship in this outdoor training.'' "Okay, let''s go to Lanny corporation," Souta said before he bid farewell to Yuko. ... Souta arrived in the Lanny corporation and he asked the receptionist about Jimmy. "Please wait for a moment, Sir." The receptionist said to him in a polite tone. "Okay." Souta nodded at her and he just stood on his position waiting for Jimmy. Its been two weeks and he haven''t heard anything from Jimmy. It seems that finding the monster potion was hard. After a while, the receptionist told him to follow her. Souta followed her and she brought him in front of Jimmy''s office. "Sir, I''ve brought him here." The receptionist said in a polite tone through the door. "Good job, you can come in Souta." Jimmy''s voice sounded behind the door. Souta looked at the receptionist and thanked her before he went inside Jimmy''s office. 158 New party member "I going to visit you tomorrow but I didn''t think that you would come here on your own accord. It seems that you really need the monster potion now." Jimmy said to him with a smile on his face. He opened the drawer on his desk and placed the bottles with orange liquid inside it. "Three bottles of monster potion. It seems that you''ve used your power just to get ahold of these three bottles of monster potions." Souta said as he picked up one bottle and looked at it. After verifying that it was really a monster potion, Souta placed it back on the desk. "Here, I''ve done to so you can enter inside the Lanny Corp and go to my office without bothering yourself. Just show this to receptionist." Jimmy said and he placed an ID on top of his desk. "You''ve bother yourself," Souta said as he took the ID and looked at it. This ID showed that he was a member of the Lanny Corp and he was the captain of the explorer group at that. Captain? It means that he was the leader of the people who went to an expedition for the Lanny Group. He also have an access to some ruins and dungeons that Lanny Corp owned. "You can pick your own subordinate that you will lead among my subordinates. You can call me if you want to go to an expedition or not. Well, I will not force you as you just have to bring the name in any of your expedition." Jimmy said as he leaned back on his chair. "This is pretty good." Souta nodded and he looked at Jimmy in the eyes. "Give me the details of the ruins and dungeons that Lanny Corp owned. I will decide to clear some of the dungeons if something got my interest in your possession." "Okay, I''ll prepare it for you. I will deliver it in your house." Jimmy agreed to him. He''s favoring Souta too much even though Souta''s power level wasn''t on the top. He saw something different on Souta. Different from the other people. A lot of people still didn''t realize Souta''s tremendous potential that placed him above other people. He''s betting on that potential that he saw in Souta. While those people didn''t realize his potential, Jimmy was going to find Souta so that when Souta grew into a powerhouse he will get a lot of benefits from it. Surely, based on Souta''s attitude he wouldn''t forget Jimmy. "Okay, thanks for this," Souta said as he knew what Jimmy was thinking. He wasn''t against it as he knew that he would also receive a lot of benefits from partnering with Jimmy. "It''s nothing. I''m doing this for my future." Jimmy said with a smile. ''Future? I don''t think that you will continue to invest in my once you know that I''m a monster. I''ll squeeze out all the benefits I could take from you before I leave this continent.'' Souta said inwardly while looking at Jimmy. ''I don''t need them to stay by my side. I also don''t need their protection. I will handle it on my own with my own powers, that''s all.'' Souta said to Saya in his mind. He took a deep breath and pulled out something from his pocket. He placed a thin yellow piece of paper on top of Jimmy''s desk. "A talisman?" Jimmy said when he saw the piece of yellow paper. "Yeah, a transmission talisman to be precise. I wanted your help to get me a pair of this so that this piece of paper will become useful to me." Souta said. "Okay, that''s easy but where did you find this talisman?" Jimmy nodded and asked him. "I got this talisman from one of Gregory''s subordinates. It lost its connection to its other pair. It only means one thing, the other pair of this talisman was destroyed." Souta explained to Jimmy. "I see..." Jimmy looked at Souta with a serious expression and asked, "I just wanted to ask one thing from you. Do you have any idea who killed Gregory?" "I can''t think of anyone right now. I also doubt that its the Ladro Institute." Souta said as he rubbed his chin. "Yeah, I also think too. Ladro Institute wouldn''t kill anyone that easily with investigating what happened there. You should probably be wary of your surrounding. A lot of nobles still think that you''re the one who killed Gregory." Jimmy warned him to be careful of his surrounding. He knew that those nobles were still pushing the blame on Souta despite the evidence in front of them that Souta really didn''t kill Gregory. "Nobles? it will be hard to make a move with a lot of eyes watching me." Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. He then looked at Gregory and asked, "What about you? Do you think that I''m the one who killed Gregory?" "No." Jimmy simply said to him. "You didn''t even hesitate, why is that?" Souta asked with a curious expression. "Based on my understanding of you, I think you understand the consequences you will experience if you killed the head of a noble family in public. You''re a smart man, I know you wouldn''t do it. At the very least, you will only kill Gregory if no one is watching." Jimmy said as he smiled while looking at Souta in the eyes. "You''re right at all. I wouldn''t kill Gregory inside a city while everyone was watching. After all, I don''t want to make an enemy of those nobles." Souta nodded and said to Jimmy. He wouldn''t do such a dumb thing while his power level was too low. Souta would only do it if he has enough to confront those hungry nobles. Those nobles would gather together if someone threatened them. "Is there anything that you want?" Jimmy asked him one last time. "Nothing. I''ll contact you if I have something on my mind that need your help." Souta shook his head and said. "Well, if you say so..." Jimmy looked at Souta before he closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I''ll go now," Souta said before he stood up. He picked up the three bottles of monster potion on the table. "I will contact you again," Jimmy said. "I''m looking forward to it," Souta said before he left Jimmy''s office. ... One day later... "Okay, I have someone I need to introduce to you," Souta said as he looked at Bryan and Brando. Ever since Brando become an adventurer, he''s always doing a quest with Bryan and sometimes with Souta. Right now, Brando was an E-rank adventurer. "Who is it?" Bryan asked him with his face full of question marks. "Both of you know her. From now on, she will join us in some of our quests." Souta said to Bryan and Brando. Bryan tilted as he didn''t have any idea about the new member of their party. Brando just simply wait for the new member to come. After a few minutes, the new member if their party arrived. "Class rep?!" Bryan exclaimed when he saw the person who arrived. "Yeah, she''s going to join us. Class rep didn''t have any source of income after her father cut all ties with her so she decided to become an adventurer like us." Souta explained to them. "I see... So that''s why..." Bryan nodded as if he understood it. "Our party consisted of one C-rank, one D-rank, one E-rank, and one F-rank. I''m the highest rank and class rep is the lowest. Still, we could take some difficulty quest with the level of our party. I think that the Adventurers Guild will let us." Souta said to them. "Oh? It''s for another quest." Bryan said with an excited expression. "I''m going to ask the two of you if your fine with class rep joining our party?" Souta looked at them and asked. "Yeah, I''m actually excited that class rep will join us in our adventure," Bryan said. "I don''t have any problem with it," Brando said to him. "Thank you guys for accepting me. I''ll do my best to help all of you." Lumilia stepped forward and said to the two. "Good." Souta nodded in satisfaction when he saw this. Their party was pretty good. Two tanks, two damage dealer, and one long range attacker. The tanks were Yuko and Brando. The two damage dealer were Souta and Bryan, while Lumilia was the long-range attacker with her spells. 159 First Ques "Boost?" Bryan tilted his head as he couldn''t understand what Souta meant. Souta looked at Bryan and he explained it in simple words that even Bryan could understand, "It means that we will help them in their quest. With their power level, it''s not a problem for the Adventurers Guild to promote them to D-rank as long as they finish the prerequisite number of quest." "Okay, I understand it." Lumilia nodded as she understood what he meant. She looked at her party and was quite surprised when she saw Brando with them. She didn''t expect that Brando was already joining Bryan and Souta in their adventurers. She wondered when they get so close to the point that they formed a party. Yeah, Souta always dominated Brando''s class in tests and special test. If it was those spoiled brats, they would harbor hate towards Souta who always beat their class alone. There''s still one week before the outdoor training so Souta was planning to finish some quest in Adventurers Guild. He would try to earn some skill points and later level up one of his spells. Just a little bit skill points and he would be able to upgrade one of his spells to level ten. If that happens, Souta would be able to rank up his class to Rank 3 Mage. ''I should prepare for my evolution next.'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt that Bryan, Brando, and Lumilia were staring at him. "What''s wrong?" Souta opened his mouth and asked them. "You''re the leader of our party so I''m going to ask what should we do right now," Bryan asked him with stars in his eyes. He wanted to go on an adventurer right now with his friends. Brandon and Lumilia nodded at Bryan''s words. Souta sighed as he knew what''s in Bryan''s mind. Well, it''s not a problem for him as Souta was already planning to finish some quest today. "Okay, let''s go to the Adventurers Guild and picked up some quest there," Souta said. "Yosh!" Bryan exclaimed with an excited face. He can''t wait to finish some quest. Souta and his co. went towards the Adventurers Guild and they arrived there after walking for a few minutes. ... Adventurers Guild was still the same. A lot of people came in and out of the guild''s door, people were laughing and chatting inside, and some were on the corner waiting for their party to show up. Since Souta was somewhat famous in the circle of adventurers, a lot of people greeted him when they saw him entered the guild. Almost every adventurer that stayed here in Ladro City knew Souta. "Oh, Souta! You''re here again! How about we drink sometimes?" "We should take a quest together sometimes! I wanted to see your partner in action!" "Haha, next time. I still have to teach my party the essence of adventurers." Souta smiled and said to them with a wry smile. "Party? You''ve added one person to your party!" "You said before that Yuko is enough for you and you didn''t need a party! So why change your mind?" "I sometimes thought that you Souta, only enroll in the Ladros Institute to take some of the students there to create your own party!" "Haha, a lot of things happened," Souta said to them. "Souta, do you still have a plan increase your party member? Me and my brother decided to join a suitable party for the two of us." "I don''t have any plan right now, my hands are full taking care of these three. I''ll notify you when I decide to expand my party." Souta replied. "Okay, you here that brother!" "Yeah, yeah, I hear that brother!" Bryan, Brando, and Lumilia just listened to him talked to every adventurer. They simply followed him from behind while some of the adventurers were looking at them. ''I never thought that Souta who only talked to Bryan and Alice in class could talk to every adventurers here at the same time.'' Lumilia thought as she looked at Souta''s back. Souta arrived in front of the quest board. "We''re here. Let''s take a look at all the quests here." Brandon, Bryan, and Lumilia stood beside Souta. They looked at every quest that was on the board. "Souta, let''s do this quest!" Bryan said as he pointed his finger at one of the quests on the board. "Let me take a look." Souta read the description on the quest and he felt that he lost some of his energy today. The quest that Bryan wanted to do was a monster subjugation quest. And the monster that they needed to subjugate was the Lava Slime that appeared in the mountain near Ladro City. It seems that the Lava Slime picked Bryan''s interest. After all, Souta and Nayo forced the knowledge about powerful slime inside Bryan''s head before. "You, you just wanted to tame it and make it your own pet," Souta said as he looked at Bryan with a tired expression. "What''s wrong with that?!" Bryan complained to him. "Everything is wrong. I really couldn''t argue with you." Souta massaged his temples and said, "My decision is we''re not taking that quest." "Why?!" Bryan pushed his face closer to Souta. He looks like he was about to cry. "Do you know how strong is a Lava Slime, huh? The core of the Lava Slime is a monster orb so you should understand how strong it is." Souta explained to Bryan. "Isn''t that great? The stronger the slime the better it is for becoming my pet." Bryan said. "No matter what you say I''m not changing my decision. In the first place, I''m only a C-rank adventurer so the Adventurers Guild wouldn''t permit us in taking that quest. A monster of the level is for B-rank adventurers." Souta explained to Bryan. Bryan slumped down his shoulders in disappointment. He understood that he was only a D-rank adventurer, not B-rank. Brando patted Bryan''s shoulder and said, "It''s okay, wait till you reach B-rank and I''m sure that Souta will permit you." "Brando! You''re really my friend! As my thanks, I will fight you later!" Bryan said as he hugged Brando. Souta ignored them and he focused his attention in finding a suitable quest for them. If it was in the game, Souta would prefer to go alone. This time was different, he could die anytime. Souta wouldn''t want to die so he will bring anyone that could help him in his quest. Bryan, Brando, and Lumilia possessed decent powers. They could help him in his quest with their strength. "Hmm...?" Something caught Souta''s attention. He reached out his hand and picked a quest. He read the quest description and found that this quest was strange. The description was not detailed enough for him to understand the danger of the quest. There''s also no rank requirements in this quest. It seems that the quest giver was desperate for it. Souta looked back at the adventurers in the guild and asked, "Do you know about this quest?" The adventurers looked at the quest in his hands before they replied to him. "Yeah, the quest giver is pretty desperate." "With little rewards, they are asking us to investigate their lord so we naturally left this quest there." "No one will bother themselves with a quest with such low rewards even though the difficulty is high." That''s right, the quest was about the lord of a certain land near the Hebrei Kingdom. The quest giver was asking to investigate the lord of their land as he was the most suspicious suspect from the recent killings in their land. Souta closed his eyes and he rubbed his chin. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and said, "Okay, I''ll take this quest." "You okay, Souta? The reward is too low for that quest!" "I think you should pick another quest!" "It''s enough for me." Souta shook his head and said. He then walked towards the receptionist and placed the quest in front of her. "I''d like to take this quest," Souta said to her with a serious expression. Lumilia and Brando looked at each other and sighed. They have no choice but to follow Souta. "Oho~ we''re going to visit a lord. I hope that lord is strong enough to entertain me." Bryan smirked and said with a somewhat arrogant expression. "Hey, we''re going to investigate the lord, not fight the lord." Souta glanced at Bryan and said. "Sir, the one who posted this quest has one condition." The receptionist said to Souta. "And what it is?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "He wanted to meet the one who accepted his quest." The receptionist answered his question in a polite tone. "Meet the one who accepted his quest?" Souta was a little bit surprised when he heard it. This also confirmed one thing. And that this quest was really special. 160 Jareds Story Material rewards weren''t that important to him. He still had a lot of money and he had a high-grade sword and artifacts. The dark grade [Vajra Sword Saya] and the incomplete universal artifact, the [Soul Blood Earring], were enough for his current level. Yeah, it''s enough to dominate those people who were at the same level as him but those people who were higher level than him. It''s still not enough. That''s why he needed to train his fighting abilities and skills. He also needed to learn more combat arts to maximize the benefits that he will receive in his evolution. "I understand, Sir Souta. I''ll immediately notify the person in charge to let the quest giver know that you accepted the quest." The receptionist said to him in a polite tone. "Okay, we''ll wait here." Souta nodded at her before he turned around and looked at his party. "Let''s wait here for a while." Brando, Lumilia, and Bryan nodded their head at him. But Brando has some doubts about his decision. "Are you sure we should take this quest?" Brando asked Souta with slight hesitation. "Yeah, it''s a good opportunity for us to show our skills," Souta said and he sat down on a vacant chair. If this quest was really as good as he imagined then they would not be able to avoid a battle. "Fighting? I thought that we only need to investigate the lord of the land." Lumilia asked him. "Do you really think that we could avoid fighting?" Souta asked as he looked at Bryan, Lumilia, and Brando. "Um..." Lumilia didn''t know what to say after he asked that question. "No, that''s what I wanted," Bryan answered him with an eager look. This battle maniac seems like he really wanted to fight the said "lord". Souta sighed and he looked at Lumilia and Brando with a serious expression. "We are adventurers. We can''t avoid fighting all the time. There are bandits and monsters everywhere in this land, so do you really think that we can avoid them?" "No, that''s why we should fight them and teach them a lesson," Bryan answered him once again. "Bryan is right. The wilderness is not as peaceful as inside the city. There''s no law in the wilderness so anyone can do what they wanted." Souta''s tone suddenly changed as it turned chilly. "Be prepared to fight all the time or else it would cost your life. Remember this, this world isn''t as nice as you thought." Lumilia opened her eyes wildly when she heard those cold words coming out of Souta''s mouth. She suddenly recalled what happened in the Desolate Woods two months ago. Back then, Souta was like a cold-blooded murderer when he mercilessly killed those bandits. Souta was thrown into this world without his memories. He didn''t have anything in him except the memories of when he was playing the Battle Worlds Online. He had nothing at that time, really nothing. Everything was blank. Everything began in that cold and dark place. He subconsciously treated this world like a game even though deep inside him he knew that this world was different from the world that he knew. And he could die anytime if he didn''t strengthen his will. No one could save him but himself. That''s why Souta killed everyone in that dungeon and even ate the bodies of the goblins like him just to survive. He did everything he could to survive in that brutal place full of undead and monster. That''s also the reason why Souta was extremely fond of Yuko. She was the first creature that Souta treat as his family as he knew that he had no real family in this world. His family was gone and he couldn''t even remember their face. At that time, he was happy when he found someone that he could share his burden. He was not alone anymore as Yuko was there for him. He always talked to her even though he knew that Yuko could barely understand his words. But that''s enough for him to keep himself from getting insane. Souta experienced something that these people who grow up in a city wouldn''t understand. ''I hope I could help you like what you did for me.'' Lumilia thought as she gently bit her lower lips. ... "Sir Souta. He''s here." The receptionist notified him that the quest giver had arrived. Souta stood up and said, "Okay, guide me to where he is." He knew that this place wasn''t a good place to talk about confidential things. He took a lot of confidential quests in the game, so he knew that right procedure about it. "Please, follow me, sir." The receptionist nodded before she turned around. Souta turned his head and looked at his party. "Let''s go. We''ll know more about this quest after we talk to the quest giver." Lumilia, Brando, and Bryan nodded before they stood up. The receptionist guided him in one of the rooms inside the guild. ... "We''re here, sir." The receptionist bowed her head before she left. Souta thanked her before he opened the door and went inside with his party. Inside the room, he saw an old man with short white hair and white mustache sitting in a chair. He was wearing a normal black shirt and black pants. Nothing outstanding and worth mentioning in his appearance. He was just an ordinary old man. "Good morning." The old man stood up and greeted them in a polite tone. Souta smiled in return before he sat down opposite of the old man. Lumilia and co also sat beside Souta after they exchanged greetings with the old man. "First of all, I''m going to introduce myself." The old man said with a smile before he introduced himself. "I''m Jared, a residence of the Fersch Dukedom." "I''m Souta Ieshi and this is my party." Souta introduced himself and his party members to the old man in front of him. Then, his expression turned serious. He looked at the old man straight in the eyes and asked, "So can you tell me more about the quest? I wanted to know everything that you knew." Jared gulped as he felt something pressing down on his shoulders while looking at Souta. ''This young man isn''t an ordinary person.'' He thought and he was glad that this person was the one who accepted his quest. "Okay, I''ll tell you about it. That''s why I wanted to talk to you." Jared said before he took a deep breath and began to explain everything he knew to Souta. The Fersch Dukedom was thirty kilometers away from the Ladro City. Jared traveled from his hometown to a huge country just like Hebrei Kingdom. He did it because he wanted to stop the madness that was happening in his hometown. And the most suspicious person was the current lord, Duke Ransen. He didn''t want to place a quest in the Adventurers Guild in his hometown because the lord could easily know that he was the one who gave that quest. If that happens, he knew that he would also die. No one could go against their lord in his hometown. So the lord easily shut down all the quest about the recent killings in their dukedom saying that he will be the one to investigate it. But after two months the killings in the land didn''t stop. In fact, it grew worse. The Guild Master of the Adventurers Guild in the Fersch Dukedom couldn''t take it anymore. He personally issued a quest to investigate it but what transpired on that day was something that everyone couldn''t imagine. The thirty adventurers that took the quest died on that night. Every citizen of the Fersch Dukedom experience fear and anxiety. At the same time, they began to suspect their lord but they don''t have any evidence in their suspicion. So they couldn''t do anything about it. An idea came inside Jared''s head at that time. That was to travel to the nearest large countries and issued a quest about it. He didn''t tell anyone about his plan because if the lord knew his plan he would die too just like what happened to his son. "Okay, I''ve heard it all," Souta said as he rubbed his chin. He pondered the things that he should do after hearing the story from the old man''s mouth. He shook his head and decided to think about it once they arrived in the Fersch Dukedom. He had to hear the story about the other people there to verify the words of the old man. "Old man, we''re going back right now to your hometown so I need to sign the quest to it," Souta said as he ended the conversation. He then stood up and turned around. 161 Departure The outdoor training will be held next week so Souta had to finish this quest as soon as possible. Just by looking at the quest he received in his system, he could already tell the difficulty of this mission. [Quest Triggered!] [Investigation]: Investigate the truth of the recent killing in the Fersch Dukedom and stop the perpetrator. Rewards: 20,000 exp, 8 free attribute points, and 5 skill points 5 skill points... Souta always based the difficulty of a quest on the rewards. So the difficulty of this quest was between the level of the Gripin City and the Assassination at the Ladro City. He probably doesn''t need to use the monster potion that he received from Jimmy. After walking for a few seconds, Souta stopped on his track, and he looked back at his party members. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Bryan asked him when he saw that Souta looked at them. "Be prepared as this quest is harder than you think," Souta warned them with a serious expression. Yeah, this quest was difficult for their current level. It''s not that they don''t have a chance to complete it, they still have a chance but that chance was lower than fifty percent. But that''s only if the three of them were going to do this quest alone. If Souta included himself, then the chances would go up to fifty percent. Souta also have a lot of ace in his sleeve in case that he really fight that Duke. He was sure that he could win any battle in that Dukedom as long as there were no unexpected factors that appeared in this quest. The Duke of the Fersch Dukedom wasn''t as strong as Gregory. In fact, this type of land doesn''t have a chance to prevent any of the huge countries in their surrounding. They were weak. This type of land was only the beginner town if this was still a game. In the past, when the Melosa Country tried to expand its territory, it burned down all the small kingdoms, dukedoms, cities, and countries in its surrounding area. Even if they bonded together, their forces were still insufficient to push back the army of the Melosa Country. They were just fodders in front of a powerhouse country like Melosa. Even at the time when the demon invaded this continent, these small countries were the first to go down as they didn''t have a chance to fight back at all. "Pack up your things. Weapons, equipments, and potion that could help you survive in case of an emergency. It''s one of the most important things that you must never forget if you''re going to take a quest." Souta said to them. Lumilia, Brando, and Bryan listened to every word that''s coming out of his mouth. One must not forget the basic things all the time as it will help you survive. ... Souta and co. went to the Ladro Institute, and there they contact their homeroom teacher, Bargan. They asked for a permission to leave in case they didn''t manage to complete their quest on time. Bargan gave them his permission to leave. He knew that he couldn''t stop them as they were adventurers and that''s also one of their sources of income. He asked them to promised one thing. And that''s they were going to abandon their quest if they didn''t manage to complete it before the outdoor training. Souta and the rest didn''t have a problem with it so he promised Bargan. Bargan didn''t worry about them as he knew the extent of their strength. Also, he was assured that they would come back safely. Why? Because Souta was with them. Souta has a lot of ace in his sleeve that even Bargan couldn''t. He just simply show it off when something unexpected happens. Monster potion? Dark Grade Sword? Even Bargan couldn''t guess if Souta was still hiding something. He''s not going to be surprised anymore if Souta brought out another dark grade equipment. Bryan, Lumilia, and Brando got stronger in the past few weeks. Their strength showed great improvement and was slowly catching up to the top rankers of the first-year students, especially Bryan. Bryan was currently the top 5 ranker in the first-year students and Souta thought that if Bryan was given another month, he would likely become the top 2 ranker, second only to Souta who was currently the top 1 ranker. Bryan''s fighting style was very similar to Souta''s. Even though both of them were mages, they charged in the frontline and fought in close-range combat. An all-rounder like him. Bryan was already proficient in using fire and lightning attribute spell due to Bargan''s teaching. These two attributes, the fire and lightning, were one of the most destructive attributes compared to the rest of the elements. Bryan''s potential was extremely high, possessing four elemental affinities. That''s why Souta valued Bryan. Brando and Lumilia also showed great improvement. They were now the current top 28 and top 35 ranker respectively. They were focusing on mastering their own fighting style. And once they got a hold of their own fighting style, their strength would vastly increase to the point that they could reach the level of Bryan''s current strength. And Souta, despite he didn''t focus on his level this time. His strength right now was higher than the time in the Gripin City. His taming ability grew exponentially high in these past two weeks. Souta could call himself right now a full-fledge Tamer. He also confirmed one thing. And that he couldn''t gain another class in the system. It was really unfortunate that he couldn''t receive the benefits of the class in the system just like the Mage Class where he received a lot of benefits every time he increased its ranks. Well, he doesn''t any restrictions just like in the game where he could only learn skills that were designated to his class, so he didn''t have any problem with it. It was all due to Bargan''s teaching. Despite being a powerful fire attribute mage, Bargan still knew a lot of things. After all, in the game, Bargan''s level was 90. A typical boss-type character. "Really... This batch of student this time is full of surprises." Bargan smiled as he looked at the back of Souta''s group. "I wanted to see how far can all of you reach." ... After one hour, everyone finished packing their things. They only brought the basic things that they needed in every quest. Their weapon, set of equipment, and potions. All of them arrived in front of the Adventurers Guild and waited for the old man Jared to arrive. Souta was wearing a simple blue grade leather armor and pants. On his arms was a pair of white gloves with the same grade as his armor. Hanging on his waist was the dark grade [Vajra Sword Saya]. Bryan was wearing a chain mail and dark blue color pants. He didn''t have any weapon except for the fighting gloves that he was wearing. Hanging on his neck was a golden necklace that could enhance his defense power. Brando looked like a proper shielder with his full plate dark silver colored armor. On his right hand was a huge and heavy shield. This shield was his only weapon and its grade was purple grade. A grade above blue grade. And lastly, Lumilia''s blue hair was tied on the back of her hair with a blue ribbon. She wore a long high collared black top. And on her lower body was a simple fitted pants of the same color. On top of her clothes was a small dark blue robbed. She was armed with a sword on her waist and a wand in her hand. She was not an expert in sword fighting but she knew some moves so she could defend herself if her opponent got close to her. Everyone was ready to depart anytime. Souta looked at Lumilia and saw that her hands were shaking. It seems that she was nervous as this was the first quest and her debut as an adventurer. "Class rep..." Lumilia lifted up her head and she looked at him. "You''re nervous, right?" He opened his mouth and asked Lumilia. Lumilia was stunned when she heard him. She was nervous and Souta was right. She wanted to deny it but she thought that she didn''t need to act tough in front of him. She timidly nodded her head at Souta. "I see..." Souta nodded and he gently smiled while looking at her. "That''s natural as this is your first quest but if you''re going to compare it to what we experience in Desolate Woods. This quest is nothing. You probably haven''t realized that the people we met there were an existence that you never wanted to meet again." Souta was right and Lumilia knew it. She knew about the Three Bringer of Calamities. The three most powerful evil organizations in this world. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. They waited for a few dozen minutes before the old man Jared arrived. "I''m ready. I also prepared the caravan we''re going to use to go to the Fersch Dukedom." Old man Jared said to the group. "Then... What are we waiting for? Let''s go now." Souta said with a smirk on his face. 162 Planning Souta looked at the old man Jared who was driving this caravan. He had a lot of questions about the Fersch Dukedom and right now was the perfect time to question the old man Jared. "Old man, can you tell me more about the Fersch Dukedom?" Souta asked the old man Jared. Jared looked back at Souta. He slowly opened his mouth and asked Souta, "What do you want to know?" "Hmm... Let''s see." Souta rubbed his chin as he pondered what he should ask, "How about you tell me about your Duke?" Old man Jared sighed before he began to tell everything he knew about his lord to Souta. Caedmon Freindinjer II was the name of the Duke of the Fersch Dukedom. He was a benevolent and kind lord to his subjects. He treated everyone with a smile on his face and he was the one who personally trained his soldiers. He was also the most powerful person in their whole Dukedom. Even with the killings started in their Dukedom, Caedmon was still the same. Old man Jared started to become suspicious of his lord when Caedmon didn''t let the adventurers from the guild take any quest regarding the incident. He shut down any information regarding the incident and he personally took action to investigate the killings in their Dukedom. The result was the Duke couldn''t find the perpetrator of the incident. It''s very suspicious. Why would the Duke shut down all the quest related to the incident? Anyone would find it strange why the Duke stopped all the quest related to the killings that were happening in their land. There''s nothing strange when Souta couldn''t remember this quest. After all, millions of players were doing quest every day in the game so it was impossible for him to know every quest that they do. There were a lot of things that he didn''t know in this world. "Is it possible that the Duke is handling things because he doesn''t want his subject to be involved in his situation?" Lumilia opened her mouth and asked. Her questions gathered everyone''s attention. "What made you think so?" Souta asked her. He then added, "It''s okay to tell your opinion. Maybe, we could guess the reason behind it if we all think together." "I''ll pass. It''s making my head hurts." Bryan shook his head while waving his hands at the same time. Lumilia nodded at Souta before she said, "If the Duke is really kind just like what Sir Jared said then there''s a possibility that he''s facing some kind of trouble. If he told anyone about it maybe the one who knew the truth will be forcefully involved in his problem. Let''s just take a look at the adventurers that died. If I''m not wrong, I recall that Sir Jared said that thirty of them died?" Lumilia then looked at old man Jared and asked, "Sir, can you tell us what the Guildmaster did after he issued that quest?" "The Guildmaster?" Old man Jared glanced at Lumilia before he answered her question. "I think that he left the Dukedom saying that he will try to contact the main guild to send some high-level adventurers." "I see... I understand what you are trying to say, class rep." Souta nodded and said to Lumilia. He realized that something was happening in the dark and the Guildmaster also realized it after the adventurers that he sent died. Normally, if the Adventurers Guild was facing some kind of trouble, the Guildmaster wouldn''t leave the guild at all. He will stay there and sent out a messenger to the neighboring guild to ask for help. It seems that the Guildmaster already sent out the messenger but all of them died so the Guildmaster decided to depart and asked assistance from the other Adventurers Guild from the neighboring nations or cities. "There are also other possibilities that could happen," Lumilia said to him. "And what''s that?" Souta looked at her and asked. "The Guildmaster got involved and got to know the perpetrator behind the killings. After knowing that, he realized that the problem was something he couldn''t handle so he departed." Lumilia paused for a few moments before he added, "Also, there is a possibility that he perished after discovering the truth. The news about him departing is false and maybe the Duke is the one who spread this news so that people wouldn''t start panicking by the sudden death of one of the most powerful people in their land." Souta smiled and was glad that he brought her in his party. She was a noble lineage so she undergo intense training when she was still a child. There were some things that she could do that he couldn''t. ''From all the information that we have, let''s see the extent of her knowledge.'' Souta said inwardly. He looked at Brando and Bryan and gestured them to listen. Brando nodded his head while Bryan just looked outside the caravan. He was thinking about how strong the Duke. Souta then looked at Lumilia and asked her, "Then, where do you think we should start our investigation?" "First, before we reach the Fersch Dukedom we should split up with Sir Jared," Lumilia said, and before Souta could ask why she said her reason for suggesting this action. "The Duke probably knew that his subjects are suspicious of him so anyone that entered the Fersch Dukedom with adventurers could easily guess the reason why. The Duke have many subordinates and he must have asked them to monitor all the people that will enter his territory, especially to those unknown people like us. "So we''ll enter from the different gate to avoid such suspicion. We''ll also spread the words from our fellow adventurers in that land our goals. We will tell them that we''re only passing by in that place as we plan to head to the other country. That way, we could give everyone an impression that we''ll immediately leave that place. "After that, one of us will fake a sickness so we could stay there for a few more days. We also couldn''t do that and say that we''re going to rest in that place for a few days. There are lot of things that we could do but that''s the most effective way that I could think of right now. "Then, we''ll start gathering information from our fellow adventurers that stayed there. About the people that died, we have to get their information as we could discover one or two things about the perpetrator. "About the Guildmaster, we have to act quickly and contact the people who are close to him, especially his assistant. And lastly, we''ll have to investigate the Duke''s mansion." Souta raised up his hand and signaled her to stop. He rubbed his chin as he processed all the information that he received from her. After a few seconds, Souta looked at her and said, "Okay, we''ll follow your suggestion. If you have something in your mind you can tell me." Lumilia sighed in relief when she saw that Souta was listening to her. She took a deep breath before she said, "I think that we should investigate it and you, Souta, should be the one to do it. You''re the most capable person among us so I think that you could do it. It would begin once we found what the Duke is hiding. We wouldn''t need to gather information from other people once we learn the Duke''s secret." "Yeah, that''s what I was thinking from the beginning." Souta looked at her and smirked. It''s true that the shortcut to all of this was investigating the Duke''s mansion and finding his secret. They wouldn''t need to trouble themselves from gathering information. But that''s the hardest part of this quest. "Then, what should we do?" Brando suddenly asked. "Be prepared as a fight could break out anytime," Souta answered him without hesitation. He wouldn''t forget to tell them those words. "Um... Souta..." Lumilia called him while looking at him with hesitation in her eyes. "What''s wrong, class rep?" Souta asked her and thought that she have something in her mind that could help their quest. "Can you please stop calling me ''class rep'' when we''re not in the institute?" Lumilia asked him as she lowered her head. "Huh? What''s wrong with that class rep? You''re our class rep so it''s natural that we called you class rep." Bryan looked at her and said. "This... It''s different. I''m not technically your class rep when in our party, plus Souta is the leader of our party." Lumilia said as she looked down at her feet. "Okay, I''ll call you Lumilia outside the institute." Souta smiled and said. He then glanced at Bryan wondering why this guy was an airhead. 163 Fersch Dukedom Old man Jared went inside the dukedom with caravan while Souta and co went to the inside from the other gate of the dukedom. "We''re here," Souta said to his comrades as he looked up at the fifteen-meter tall gate of the dukedom. The people that were going in and out of the dukedom could be counted in two hands. It wasn''t a famous place so this sight was natural for this dukedom. Souta and co. went forward before the guards stopped them on their track. "Who are you? And where''s your identification ID?" The guards asked them. They looked at their face and found that they were not from here. Souta looked at his comrades and said, "Show them your adventurer''s ID." He then took out his ID and showed it to the guard. Lumilia, Bryan, and Brando followed his instruction and showed their ID to the guards. The guards took a look at their ID. They found that Souta and co were just adventurers. "I''m a C-rank adventurer from the Hebrei Kingdom and this is my party," Souta said to guards as he introduced himself and his party members. "C-rank?" The guards were surprised when they found that Souta was a C-rank adventurer. There were only a few C-rank adventurers in their dukedom so it was surprising to see a C-rank adventurer coming in their land. "Sorry to bother you, Sir. And welcome to Fersch Dukedom. I hope you enjoy your time here." The guards bowed their heads and said politely. They gave back the IDs in their hands to Souta and co. The guards finished checking their identity so it''s not a problem for them let to them inside the dukedom. "Okay, thanks," Souta said and thanked them before he started to walk. He stepped inside the dukedom along with his comrades. Brando turned his head and glanced at the guards. He then looked at Souta and asked, "Why are they polite to us? Their attitude towards us turned completely one hundred eighty degrees." "It''s not that surprising. I''m a C-rank adventurer and we''re from the Hebrei Kingdom. The power level in a land like this is actually low as most of the people that reach the level of C-rank went to the huge countries like Hebrei Kingdom." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "Small territory like this one is very weak. They were all afraid of the power of the large countries and the people there. C-rank in Hebrei Kingdom isn''t a very big deal but here in this place, they became someone powerful." "There are countless C-rank in Hebrei Kingdom and even the elite guards of the noble households have the power of a C-rank," Lumilia added. The C-rank was just the minimum power to become an elite guard in noble households. She knew this because she was the daughter of a noble head. "I see..." Brando nodded his head in understanding. "Those large countries are silently pressuring every small country near them. Silently taking every valuable treasure in front of them. That''s why no countries right now rose to the level of large countries. No, there''s one country..." Lumilia didn''t even manage to finish her sentence as Souta said the answer before her. "The Mechanic Country. Twenty years ago since the Mechanic Country was founded and in that time they managed to reach the level of the large countries. And right now it is one of the most prominent countries in the entire Giza Continent." Souta said. "Let''s talk about that later. We should find an inn first before we worry about something else." Souta shook his head and said to them. "Okay, let''s go!" Bryan said. Souta looked up in the dark sky. It took almost twelve hours of their time before they arrived in this place. Traveling using caravan or carriage was really too slow. If he was in the Mechanic Country, he could use those advanced technologies like on earth. It would only consume one or two hours of their time before they in this place if he used that technology. ''I''m not in the Mechanic Country right now so there''s no point in thinking that things.'' Souta shook his head and decided to focus on upgrading his Mage Class so that he could learn a high-level spell from the skill tree. If he had the teleportation spell then this wouldn''t become a problem. Regarding this, Souta had two choices. One was to learn it manually while the other one was to learn it by using skill points. Lumilia stopped walking and she turned her head. She glanced at the guards of the gate. She heard the guards talking about them. "Those people came from Hebrei Kingdom!" "Yeah, we should report this to our lord!" "Why they are here to our land?!" "I don''t know. They are adventurers so I think it''s related to their quest." ... The group checked in inside the inn nearest to the city gate. After checking in, Souta and the rest head towards the Adventurers Guild of this dukedom. The vibe of the Adventurers Guild here in Fersch Dukedom was the same as in the Ladro Institute. As expected of the Adventurers Guild, no matter what place it is they were still the same rowdy bunch. Souta smiled as he could hear the loud voices of the adventurers outside of the guild. "The adventurers never change." He said in a low voice before he opened the door and stepped inside the guildhall. The group entered the guild and the adventurers inside glanced at them for a second before they went back to chatting to each other. Well, Souta and co were new faces here so they were a little bit curious about them. From time to time, they would glance at Souta and co. They saw that these four people were wearing adventurers'' clothes and were young at the same time. But they immediately got bored when they found that Souta and co didn''t even greet them. ''Well, they were just brat.'' All of them thought and they didn''t bother themselves anymore. Souta looked at his party and said, "Find a vacant chair and sit there." Lumilia and Brando nodded at him before they looked around. Bryan simply followed the two without asking any questions. Well, Souta asked him to keep quiet and don''t say any unnecessary things while they were here in his place. He''s just following Souta''s instruction. Souta went to the quest board and looked at all the quests that were posted on the board. He saw one quest that he could do inside this land. He picked it up and looked at the details of the quest. The quest was about materials gathering quest. The quest said that he could find the materials in the sewer of this land. Souta closed his eyes and decided that he will do this to avert the things that they will do inside this land. They were going to investigate the lord so this quest was suitable for the fake front. They already took the Duke''s attention the moment that they entered this place. They wouldn''t be able to avoid it if someone monitor their movements. This quest was the perfect excuse when they started to investigate the Duke''s mansion. Souta smiled and he went towards his party who were sitting around at a round table. He placed the quest on top of the round table. "What''s this?" Bryan asked. "A quest," Souta replied to him. "I see... We''re going to make this our front. I guess coming from the Hebrei Kingdom really gathered the attention of the Duke." Lumilia said as she looked at the quest on the table. "I want the three of you to complete it while I''ll go to the Duke''s mansion and investigate him," Souta said in a low voice that only his party could hear. He also used his mana to distort the sound that coming out of their table. He could use his mana to amplify his voice so it''s natural that he could distort the sound using his mana. Mana has a lot of uses as long as a person could properly control it. "Okay, we''ll do it. I don''t want to get bore so I want to do something and this quest is perfect to quench my boredom." Bryan said as he looked at the quest with an excited expression. Souta looked at Bryan and Brando before he said, "Bryan, Brando, you''ll follow Lumilia''s instructions while I infiltrate the Duke''s mansion. Did you two get it?" "I understand Souta. I''ll follow Lumilia." Brando nodded at his words. "Me too. I don''t have anything against it." Bryan said. 164 Gathering Ques "Yeah, I''ll pretend and will sneak inside the Duke''s mansion at night." Souta nodded at Brando. Souta then stood up and went on the receptionist. He submitted the quest said that they will finish it tomorrow. It''s just a simple material-gathering quest so Souta could leave it at his party. Taking this quest, Souta received the quest in his system. *Ding!* [Your party triggered a quest!] [Gathering]: Gather three blue lamp herb and two night chili grass. Rewards: 5,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 3 skill points "Oh?" Souta was surprised when he saw the notification in his mind. So that''s how it is... Souta, Bryan, Brando, and Lumilia was officially in a party right now. To create a party, they needed four people and they meet the requirements. Their party was recorded in the Adventurers Guild just like the Gale Group. In any case, this was a good news to Souta. Because he will receive the quest in the system as long as any of his party members take any quest. Also, he would receive rewards from the system if they completed it even without his help. Bryan, Brando, and Lumilia just needed to complete this materials gathering quest and he would receive the rewards of his system. ''If I expanded my party and all of them take different quests at the same time then I would receive all the quest and rewards from my system.'' Souta said inwardly as he rubbed his chin. Thinking about this, Souta couldn''t help but smirk. This gave him another reason to expand his party. Before, only three of them were in a party so Souta wouldn''t receive the quest that Bryan and Brando took. But it was different now. Give him one month and Souta would be able to promote his class to a higher tier class. And that class was the Battle Mage. The skills points that he will receive this month will experience a change and Souta was looking forward to it. "What''s wrong, Sir?" The receptionist asked Souta with a confused expression when she saw him grinning to himself. "Ah, nothing." Souta snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her voice. He shook his head before he turned around. He went back to his seat and talked with his party about his plan while listening to the conversation of the adventurers around them. After listening for a while, Souta and his party heard a shocking news. "Did you take the quest to investigate about the murders?" "No, I wouldn''t take a quest like that. Remember what happened before? Thirty adventurers and five of them are C-rank but all of them still died." "That quest is not something that we D-rank could handle." "Yeah, it''s not something we could handle but a lot of our fellow adventurers still took the quest." Souta and Lumilia looked at each other when they heard the adventurers'' conversation. There''s no doubt about it. This was about the recent killings that were happening in this dukedom. But how... Taking that quest means that the Duke took back his words and let the adventures investigate the killings in their dukedom. "Let''s talk to them," Souta said before he stood up and approached the table of the adventurers that were talking about the murders. Bryan and Brando were about to stand and follow Souta but Lumilia stopped them before they could do so. She looked at them and shook her head. "Souta can handle it on his own. You don''t have to be present when he talked to them." Lumilia said to the two. Brando nodded before he went back on his seat. Bryan also sat down when he saw Brando sat back. "I heard your conversation. Can you tell me more about it?" Souta said to the adventurers and he showed his adventurers'' ID. The three adventurers looked at him from head to toe before they took a look at his ID. They were surprised when they saw that he was a C-rank adventurer and was stationed in the Hebrei Kingdom. "What do you want to know?" The adventurers asked Souta. Souta sat down before he opened his mouth and said, "I want to know more about the killings. I just arrived here in this place and your conversation took my attention." "I see... You''re a C-rank and you must be confident in your strength but I advise you to don''t let yourself be involved in this situation." One of the adventurers said with a solemn expression to Souta. "Don''t worry, I''ll leave this place in a few days. I''m just interested in the story about it." Souta said as he assured them. He didn''t forget to mention that he will leave this place. It''s important because if someone asked these adventurers they would know that Souta didn''t have a time to be involved in this case as he would leave this dukedom in a few days. "A lot of people already died in this case. Even C-rank adventurers aren''t an exception from this. All of it started a few months ago." The adventurers began to narrate what happened to Souta. Lumilia, Brando, and Bryan''s table were near them so they could hear what they were talking about. Souta listened to their story and found that their story was the same as old man Jared. It seems that old man Jared wasn''t lying to them as all the things that he said were exactly the same as these adventurers. "From your words, the Duke shut down all the quest related to the case but he took it back this morning, am I right?" Souta asked the adventurers in front of him. "Yes, that''s right. The Duke took it back this morning. Dozens of quest related to it were posted on the quest board this morning but now... you can see it. There''s nothing left anymore." The adventurer shrugged his shoulders. He then cursed the adventurers who took the quest. "They are all idiots!" "Why?" Souta asked the adventurers with a simple look. "You can see it right! There''s something wrong here, something wrong in this place! Why would they accept such a strange quest? Did they want to die?!" The adventurers cursed loudly. "Yeah, it''s really a strange case." Souta couldn''t help but nod at the adventurer''s words. "See... Even you find it strange. So don''t ever think about investigating it. I advise you to leave this place as soon as possible. This place is different from before." The adventurer said to Souta. "Thanks. I''ll pay for your drinks." Souta said and he placed a few silver coins on top of the table before he stood up. "Hoho~ you''re a good man. Thanks for this and I hope you heed my words." The adventurers laughed and thanked him. Souta waved his hand at them before he went to his party. He looked at them and said, "Let''s go. We''re going to rest so that we have enough strength for tomorrow." Lumilia and the others nodded at him. They went back to the inn. ... Souta was looking at the Duke''s mansion through the window in his room. The cold breeze of the night gently blew his face. After a few moments, Souta grinned and muttered, "Just what are you hiding there. I can''t wait to discover it. No matter what I will discover your secret." This quest was very crucial to him because once he received the reward of this quest he will have enough points to level up his spells. No, just the quest he just received was already enough for him. ''What do you think about this place?'' Saya asked him in his mind. "What''s the point in asking me that question?" Souta shook his head and he closed the window. ... Souta woke up early in the morning. He washed his face and stayed inside his room. He waited for a while until Lumilia, Brando, and Bryan knocked on his door. "Come in," Souta said as he glanced at the door. Lumilia, Brando, and Bryan went inside his room. They were wearing their adventurers'' outfit. He looked at them and asked, "Do you know what you''re going to do?" "I know," Lumilia and Brando answered him at the same time. "Yeah, we just need to finish this quest," Bryan said with an excited expression. He couldn''t wait to do the quest. "You two will follow Lumilia''s instruction," Souta said to the two with a serious expression. "Y-Yes!" Bryan replied as he straightened his body. "I''ll do my best to help Lumilia," Brando said as he glanced at Lumilia before he looked at Souta. After talking to Bryan and Brando, Souta turned his attention to Lumilia. The corner of his mouth curved into a smile. "I will leave everything to you, Lumilia. Don''t disappoint me. I will wait for your return." "I... I''ll do my best and bring you a good result!" Lumilia hesitated at first but she managed to gather her courage and said these words to Souta. "I''ll wait for it. I''ll go to the Duke''s mansion after you left." Souta said before he turned around. "Be careful, Souta. Don''t let them get you." Bryan said and he exited the room with Brando. "Be careful." Lumilia looked at Souta''s back and said. She then followed the two. ... "Everything is ready... I just hope that they can handle it on their own." Souta muttered as he looked at his party members from the window of his room. 165 Leave it to me, class rep! ''Do you even trust them? They are your party members, right? It''s just a simple material-gathering quest so they will complete it in no time.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his head. Simple material-gathering quest? If this was really a simple material-gathering quest, Souta wouldn''t be this concern for them. The rewards for this quest were 3 skill points and it could threaten them based on their power level. Well, it''s not that Souta didn''t trust them. Bryan was strong, Brando was tough, and Lumilia was smart. They could probably handle this level of difficulty on their own. It''s just that he didn''t know what''s inside in the sewer that increased the difficulty of this quest. "It''s a test for them. If they couldn''t handle this level of difficulty then they are not worth it, no matter how high their potential." Souta said to Saya. ''Ufufu, what a good leader you are...'' Saya laughed. ... "Let''s go to the Adventurers Guild first," Lumilia said to Bryan and Brando. "What are we going to do there? I want to do finish the quest as soon as possible." Bryan said with a sighed. He thought that they would go to the sewer and finish the quest but it seems that Lumilia had different plans for them. "We lack information right now so we''re going to gather it first," Lumilia answered Bryan''s question. "Lumilia is right Bryan. We didn''t even know how to get in the sewers in this dukedom. Information is valuable to every quest." Brando nodded at Lumilia''s words. "Okay." Bryan nodded with a tired expression. The three went to the Adventurers Guild. Lumilia asked the receptionist about the quest and the receptionist explained to her the entrance to the sewer in this place. After she finished gathering information about the quest, Lumilia decided that it was time for them to head into the sewer. "Based on the information that the receptionist told me. There are ten entrances towards the sewer and we just need to enter the nearest one in our location." Lumilia explained to Bryan and Brando. They didn''t know the exact location of the materials and all they know was that it was in the sewer. Even the receptionist didn''t know the exact location of the materials so Lumilia had no choice but to roam around the sewers until they find the materials. She also asked the receptionist if there were dangers in the sewer. The receptionist told her that the danger of the sewer wasn''t that high. The monsters that inhabited the sewer were just the toxic rats and grim toxic rats. The Toxic Rats weren''t that powerful as they were just a non-evolve monster. It means that they were just a lower life form of a monster. The weakest form as it didn''t even undergo an evolution. And Grim Toxic Rats was the evolved form of the Toxic Rats. "Okay, I wanted to fight those monsters right now. I hope they will entertain me." Bryan said with an eager look on his face. "I''ll leave all the monsters to you Bryan." Lumilia looked at Bryan and said. "Leave it to me!" Bryan said as he patted his chest. Lumilia then looked at Brando and showed him the illustration of the materials that they needed to complete the quest. "Memorize the appearance of the herb. The two of us will focus on finding these herbs." Lumilia said to Brando. "I understand. We can''t count on Bryan for something like this." Brando said as he looked at the illustration of the herbs that Lumilia was holding. "Yeah. Fighting is the only thing that we can leave to Bryan." Lumilia nodded at his words. "And he''s a genius at that to the point that he could defeat the two of us together," Brando said with a wry smile. "Hehe~ you two are flattering me." Bryan laughed while scratching the back of his head. Brando looked at Bryan and sighed. He knew the reason why Bryan have a lot of failed quest in his record in the Adventurers Guild. "Let''s stop talking and head towards the sewer," Lumilia said to the two. Bryan and Brando nodded at her. Souta said to them that they needed to follow her instruction and Lumilia will be their leader in this quest. ... After walking for a few minutes, Lumilia and the rest arrived in front of the entrance of the sewer. The entrance was just a small hole that could fit one person. The inside of the sewer was pure black as it didn''t have any light inside. "Lit up the torches," Lumilia said to Brando. Brando nodded and he followed her instruction. He lit up two torches. One for him and one for Lumilia. Bryan didn''t need this one as he was the one who''s going to fight the monsters. "Here." Brando then give the other torch in his hand to Lumilia before he jumped down on the hole. "Here I come." Bryan also jumped down without hesitation. Lumilia sighed as she looked at the torch in her hand. She felt something was wrong in this quest but she couldn''t figure out the reason why. In the end, without any other choice, she jumped down on the same hole. ... The three of them were inside the sewer. Darkness covered the entire area and they could barely discern their surroundings even though they have torches. The sewer was wider than they expected. Rotten stench suddenly hit their nose as soon as they got those. "What''s that smell?" Bryan complained as he pinched his nose. Lumilia took out of towels in her small bag and she slightly poured some water on it. "Here, use this to cover your nose," Lumilia said as she gave Brando and Bryan the towels. "As expected of class rep. You''re reliable." Bryan smiled as he took the towel in her hand and used it to cover his nose. "Stop talking. Focus on your surrounding." Lumilia said as she placed the torch near the walls. She found that the walls were covered in thick moss. It seems that no one cleaned this place for a long time. "Why they aren''t cleaning this place? They shouldn''t let it be covered in moss." Brando commented as he placed his hand on the moss and felt it. He discovered that this was just an ordinary moss. Nothing''s wrong with it. "According to Sir Jared, the current Duke is a humble and kind man. He is also a great leader of this dukedom. But it seems the duke couldn''t focus on any other things such as this as his entire attention is on the murders that are happening in the dukedom." Lumilia said her thought on this matter. She moved her head and looked at the path in front of her. She took a deep breath and said, "Let''s go now." Brando and Bryan nodded at her. Bryan was walking in the front while Brando was in the back of the group. Lumilia and Brando were carefully looking at their surroundings. They don''t want to miss the materials that they needed. After walking for a few dozen steps, Bryan, Lumilia, and Brando stopped moving. They heard a loud screeching sounds. It was very loud and it echoed in the whole place. It sounds like the rats were wailing and dying. Brando gripped his shield. He then moved his feet and stepped on a sticky substance. "What''s this?" Brando squatted down and he moved the torch in his other hand. He saw a red substance on the ground. "Blood?" He placed down his shield and touched the red substance. He was wearing a glove so he didn''t have a problem if this was a poison. With a closer look, Brando confirmed that this was really a blood. "What is it, Brando?" Lumilia asked Brando when she saw him found something. "Blood..." Brando replied to her with a serious expression. "Don''t tell me... they are killings each other. That''s why they managed to survive in this place that lacks food." Lumilia said in a low voice. She then turned her head and looked in the direction where she heard the loud screeching sound. "Did you hear it? The sound is getting louder." Bryan said as he looked at Lumilia and Brando. "Now that you mention it..." Lumilia and Brando looked at each other after they heard Bryan''s words. Then, the two of them turned their heads. The grounds started to shake and the stench of blood flooded the entire area. The screeching sounds grew louder and louder to the point that it could hurt their ears. "Bryan!" Lumilia shouted at Bryan. "I know. Leave it to me class rep." Bryan smirked as he started to emit a very powerful aura. Flames emerged and it coated both of his hands. He then lifted up both of his hands and aimed it in front of him. "This darkness is in the way. I will light up the area first so please bear it for a while." 166 Dark Vine Eater He looked ahead of him with an excited expression and waited for a while. After a few moments, dozen toxic rats appeared and it''s rushing towards them at a fast speed. A ball of fire formed on top of his palms and Bryan threw it towards the toxic rats that appeared. [Flame Blast]!! The toxic rats didn''t stop at all, they just kept rushing forward until the ball of fire that Bryan threw exploded. Boom! The entire area shook heavily and the flames swallowed the toxic rats and burned them into ashes. But it didn''t stop at all. The flames swept out and since they were in an enclosed space, the flames rushed towards them. Brando reacted quickly and he immediately stood in front of Bryan. He raised his shield in front of him and his aura spiked up. [Protector''s Shield]! A giant green shield materialized in front of him and it protected them from the flames. The power of the flames grew stronger because they were inside the sewer. The moss on the walls and the ceiling amplify the power of Bryan''s spell. It continued to burn and was spreading quickly. "Let me..." Lumilia said as she casted a water-based spell to stop the flames from spreading. She was about to say something to Bryan when the entire area shook once again. Boom! "What the hell?!" Bryan exclaimed as he looked ahead. He only saw darkness but he could feel something was moving towards them. "This...?" Lumilia looked at Bryan then at Brando. She opened her mouth and said, "Let''s turn around. The monsters are coming and they are not our goal." "Good." Brando nodded before he turned around and started to run. He readied his shield in front of him in case some monster appeared. "I thought that I''m going to fight the monsters," Bryan said as he looked at Lumilia. "Yeah, you''re going to fight the monsters but not in this way. We need to complete our goal first before you can do what you want." Lumilia said to Bryan before she started to run to catch up to Brando who ran first. "O-Okay." Bryan didn''t have a choice but to follow her words. Brando looked behind and saw that Lumilia and Bryan were following him. He continued to move forward and he only stopped when he saw three paths in front of him. One on the front and the other two were on the left and right side of him. He looked at the left side and heard a sound of water in it. He then shook his head and thought that he''s not the one who should decide this. Lumilia and Bryan arrived behind Brando. They saw the three paths in front of them and understood why Brando stopped. The night chili grass and blue lamp herb wouldn''t grow in the place without water. So there''s a high possibility that they would find it there. That''s not all, the toxic rats mostly build their nest near the watery place. "Hurry up!" Lumilia said in a loud voice as she glanced at her back. The monster that was chasing them was getting near. Brando rushed forward without hesitation. He ignored everything and he simply just followed Lumilia, the acting leader of their party. "If you see any rats just smash them, Brando!" Lumilia said to him as she followed Brando from behind. "What about me? I want to smash those rats too." Bryan said while running beside Lumilia. "You. You''re going to fight the monster behind us once it catches up to us." Lumilia said to Bryan. "Yes! But... Why do we have to wait when I could fight it right now?" Bryan said happily then he asked a question at Lumilia. "No, I always say that fighting is not our goal in coming here. We are here to gather the materials for our quest." Lumilia said with a serious expression. Fighting was the only thing in Bryan''s mind right now and she couldn''t help but prevent him from disrupting the plan. "Okay, I understand." Bryan nodded as he shut his mouth. He quietly followed Brando and Lumilia. After a few minutes of running, Brando shouted. "Lumilia, we''re here! The toxic rats here have enormous numbers! Also, look at the side! You will see the night chili grass and the blue lamp herb!" Lumilia looked ahead and saw more than a hundred toxic rats in front of them. She glanced at the side and confirmed that Brando was right. The night chili grass and blue lamp herb were here. The toxic rats made a loud screeching sound when they saw Lumilia, Bryan, and Brando. The sounds echoed in the whole area and it nearly caused Lumilia and the rest to lose their focus. "Sound attack!" Brando muttered and he rushed forward. He circulated his mana around his body. His shield emitted a blue light. "Brace yourselves!" [Ground Shield]! He smashed his shield on the ground and several spikes burst out of it and pierced the body of the toxic rats. "I''ll handle this!" Brando said as he charged towards the toxic rats. Lumilia nodded at him and she turned her head to Bryan. "I''ll leave the monster in the back to you, Bryan." "Yes, you can count on me." Bryan smiled as he simply stood on his position while waiting for the monster that was chasing them to show up. "Good." Lumilia then went towards the night chili grass and blue lamp herb on the side. She began to gather it and placed it inside a transparent bottle. Bryan couldn''t hide his excitement in fighting this unknown monster. He looked at his surroundings and saw that it was quite wide so he could rampage here all he wanted. The space between the ceiling and the floor was fifteen meters, and its width was ten meters. This place was enough for him. He just needed to be careful since Lumilia was gathering the materials behind him. He decided to move forward so that even if he fought here, Lumilia wouldn''t get caught up in the aftershock of his battle. He just hoped that this unknown monster was powerful enough to fight him. After a few moments, the unknown monsters didn''t disappoint Bryan as it revealed itself. The monster had a five-meter tall black furry body. Its red eyes were gleaming in the dark. It has a pair of sharp fangs that could easily tear apart an iron. It has three pointed vines sticking out in its back. Its two-meter long tail was covered in black spikes. "Whoa! What the hell is this monster?!" Bryan exclaimed while looking at the ominous appearance of the monster in front of him. Lumilia turned around and saw the figure of the monster in front of Bryan. She was stunned when she saw this. Because the receptionist told her that toxic rats were the only type of monsters that inhabited the sewer. The receptionist didn''t even mention the existence of this monster to her group. All the time, she thought that the monster that was chasing them was the grim toxic rat, the evolved form of the toxic rats. But it looks like her assumption was wrong. She failed to think that another type of monster would appear here aside from the toxic rats. Her mind started to think of all the possibilities why this monster appeared here. "Why is a dark vine eater here in this place?!" Lumilia muttered with a stunned expression. She didn''t expect the appearance of this monster here in the sewer. The dark vine eater was a second evolution monster. It means that it was stronger than the grim toxic rats who were the evolved form of toxic rats. "Not good... I need to finish this as soon as possible." Lumilia thought and she focused her attention on the materials that she needed to complete the quest. One of these monsters wasn''t a problem. But what if dozen of them appeared? Lumilia thought that she should increase her pace. "Here I come!" Bryan smirked while looking at the dark vine eater. He slightly bent his knees and launched himself towards it. Boom! ... Souta was sitting comfortably in his room. He stretched out of his hand and picked up the cup of coffee on the table. He took a sip of it before he looked outside. "I wonder what''s happening down there?" He muttered. ''If you''re that curious, then why don''t you check them out?'' Saya''s voice sounded in his head. "Nope, I don''t want to waste my time babysitting them," Souta replied to her. He was just curious about why the quest has a reward of 3 skill points. He emptied his cup before he stood up and wore a dark red robe. A grin appeared on his face. "It''s time to infiltrate the Duke''s mansion... I''m looking forward to seeing that secret of his." 167 This is weird Swoosh! It was fast but Bryan managed to react quickly and dodged all three vines. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bryan looked at it and saw that the vines managed to pierce the thick floor. These vines were bad news. "I need to avoid it at all cost or else..." Bryan muttered as he looked at the dark vine eater with a serious expression. The dark vine eater also looked at Bryan. It then roared before charging at him. Swoosh! In just a second, the dark vine eater arrived in front of Bryan. It swung its sharp claws at him, attempting to decapitate him. Bryan jumped in the air to avoid the sharp claws. He then gathered his mana in both of his fists. Two balls made of fire formed above his palms. [Flame Blast]!! The two fireballs landed on the body of the dark vine eater before it exploded. Boom! The flames swallowed the whole body of the monsters but Bryan knew that it wasn''t enough to defeat it. Lightweight crackled around Bryan''s body. [Light Edge]! [Lightnight Boots]! Bryan charged towards the monster but he stopped midway and jumped to the side. Swoosh!! Sharp vines burst out of the floor. These vines didn''t stop at all as it chased Bryan. "This..." Bryan moved his body swiftly as he avoided the vines. When he turned his head he saw the face of the dark vine eater closer to him. Bryan could feel the rage in the eyes of the monster. Bryan smirked and his mana spiked up. He opened his mouth and shouted, "Class rep! Brando! Brace yourselves! I will use a powerful spell!" Lumilia looked at Bryan before she casted a water barrier around her. Brando casted a spell that could raise his defensive abilities. They prepared themselves as they knew that Bryan was going all out in fighting that monster. The dark vine eater opened its huge mouth and tried to bit Bryan. Bang! "That''s close!" Bryan muttered as he jumped backward and the vines began to chase him once again. While avoiding all the vines, Bryan started to build the spell structure. He hadn''t mastered this spell so he couldn''t cast it easily like the other spell that he had. Swoosh! Swoosh! Luckily, Bryan wasn''t a typical mage. An ordinary mage would cast a barrier spell first before they cast an offensive spell. Unlike any other mage, Bryan was agile and an expert in close range combat. As for barrier spell? Bryan didn''t even know a single barrier spell. Also, he doesn''t need it at all. His buff spells were enough for him. He was a genius in terms of fighting so he could build a spell while avoiding the vines of the dark vine eater at the same time. What she didn''t know that all of Souta''s spells were an inner spell. Souta didn''t have to build the structure of his spell just like what Bryan was going. That''s also the reason why Souta could easily casted any spell. If Souta was here, he would also say that he couldn''t do what Bryan was doing right now. He could only do it because the spell that he was casting was all inner spells. Lumilia was just a normal mage and nothing outstanding to it. She was just a bit stronger than some of her peers. She wasn''t like Bryan, Souta, and Randolf that could dominate the entire first-year students if they wanted it. That''s why she will push herself to catch up to the people around her. She doesn''t want to get left behind. Brando looked at Bryan and he ignored all the toxic rats in front of him. He used [Shielder''s Aura] to increase his defensive abilities and used the [Rock Body] to toughened his flesh. After a few seconds, a magic circle appeared in front of Bryan. He finished building the magic circle of the spell he was going to cast. "Settle down!" Bryan smirked as he pulled back his fist. He then punched the magic circle in front of him. [Thunderous Flaming Roar]!! A huge pillar of flames with lightning in it shot towards the dark vine eater. This spell was one of the most powerful tier 2 spells that were in the Ladro Institute. He managed to learn this spell in a short amount of time thanks to teacher Bargan. The entire area shook heavily and everything was swallowed by flames and lightning. The water on the floor quickly evaporated. Even the toxic rats in the back weren''t an exception to this. The people on the surface even felt the ground trembling. They thought that it was an earthquake. Lumilia casted another barrier spell when she saw that the barrier she casted before couldn''t handle the intensity of the [Thunderous Flaming Roar] spell. She held her bag tightly to avoid it getting burnt. They came here for nothing if she loses the materials that they needed to complete the quest. Smoke covered the whole place and it blocked everyone''s vision. They could hardly see anything with the thick smoke in the whole area. Cough! Cough! "Did it go down?" Bryan muttered as he looked around at his surroundings. He cautiously took a step forward to check if he managed to take down the dark vine eater. The temperature of this place was high because of the spell he just used. It was also hard to breathe because of the thick smoke around him. "Cover your ears!" Bryan shouted before he took a deep breath. Lumilia and Brando heard his words so they covered their ears with their hands. Even without seeing Bryan, they could guess what''s in his mind. Bryan imbued his mana in his vocal cords before he shouted. "GO AWAY!!" The sound waved pushed out all of the smoke in the area and it revealed the body of a dead dark vine eater. Bryan learned this thing from Souta. After Souta woke him using this, he asked Souta to teach him how to use mana. Lumilia and Brando looked over. They sighed in relief when they found that the dark vine eater was dead. "I''ve gathered all the materials that we need. We can leave this place." Lumilia said to Brando and Bryan. Bryan and Brando nodded at her. This fight was already enough to for Bryan. He could properly hold himself now that he fought some monster in this place. "This is good. If you''re a little bit stronger then I''ll praise you more." Bryan smiled as he looked at the body of the dark vine eater. If he compared the power of this dark vine eater to Yuko, then Yuko was stronger than the dark vine eater. Even if both of them were second evolution monsters, Bryan wouldn''t hesitate to say that Yuko was stronger. He knew how stronger Yuko. He was always there when Bargan was training Souta to improved his taming ability. "Ah~ I wanted to have a pet too. Then, I can also do that summon thing! Tch! That''s so cool!" While thinking about Yuko, Bryan remembered that he doesn''t have a pet. He was desperate to have a pet. "Forget it. Forget it." Bryan repeatedly said to himself while holding his head. Lumilia and Brando looked at each other before they sighed. As expected of Bryan. Suddenly, the ground shook once again. It interrupted Bryan''s thought. "What the hell?!" Bryan exclaimed as he looked around and felt that something was coming in the front. Lumilia''s expression turned serious. She tightly held her bag in her chest while Brando stepped in front of her and raised his shield. "Just what is it right now?" Brando said as he prepared himself. After a few moments, a monster appeared in their sight. It was the dark vine eater. But it wasn''t alone. Behind it were several dark vine eaters. It was hard to count how many monster have appeared because of the darkness. But one thing was sure... And they were in trouble. Bryan, Lumilia, and Brando opened their eyes widely when they saw this scene. Just how did all of these monsters appear here in this place? ... Souta was hiding in the bushes inside the duke''s mansion. He was wearing a dark red robe and a mask to conceal his appearance in case someone saw him. "Strange... This is weird." He muttered to himself while looking around. ''Yeah, this is really weird.'' Even Saya agreed to his statement that the duke''s mansion was weird. The security here wasn''t that tight. In fact, the people that were guarding this huge mansion could be counted in two hands. This was the duke mansion so the security here should be tight. But it seems that it was the opposite here. "Let''s go further." 168 Diary That was the people that were guarding the duke''s mansion were the most loyal subordinate of the duke or else the duke wouldn''t let them guard here. As there''s a possibility that the guard will discover his secret. That''s why the duke didn''t let anyone guard this mansion. "If it''s like this... It''s easier to sneak inside." Souta said in a low voice. It''s not that he''s complaining. That''s to this, it made his work easy than he thought. He suddenly stopped as he saw that the soul he got in his earring increased. It increased by two souls. It seems that someone died right now. If he turned back now and roam around the dukedom. There''s a possibility that he will find the culprit. ''Should I go back or not?'' He pondered what he should. It was then that Saya''s voice sounded in his head. ''You''re here so you should finish what you have to do first. Also, the chances of you finding the culprit in this huge place is less than fifty percent.'' Souta looked over and saw the guards were gone. It''s time to proceed forward. Souta stood up and swiftly went beside the duke''s mansion. He looked up and saw the window on the second floor of the mansion was open. He climbed up and when he saw that there''s no person inside, he entered the room through the window. "What''s with this room?" Souta muttered as he looked around the room. The room looks normal. It has a simple bed and a table on the side but the interior design of the room was exquisite. As expected of the duke''s mansion. Different books were neatly arranged in the corner of the room. Souta walked towards the table and placed his finger on top of his. The dust was already formed on top of the table. "Did they forget to clean this room?" Souta muttered a question. He didn''t think that anyone would forget to clean this room. He stretched out his hand and picked up a notebook on the side of the table. Souta patted the dust on it before he opened it. "I''m Soraya, a maid inside the duke''s mansion. The maid here has different roles and my role is to take care of the duke''s children. I like this job of mine as the children are kind and understanding." Souta found that this was the diary of a maid that took care of the duke''s children. He continued to read the rest. "Today, I felt that something changed in this place. The duke got a sickness and the rest of his family. Of course, they didn''t let the people know this. Only the maids and some of the guards knew the condition of the duke and his family. "And the result was stunning... The doctor said that he didn''t know the disease of the duke and his family. The doctor hasn''t encountered this type of disease for the rest of his life. Even the healing spell didn''t show any effect. "Some of the maids like me showed an expression that they will leave the duke''s mansion. They are afraid that they will catch the same disease. They don''t have money so it''s natural to feel that way. Me too, I wanted to leave this place but I''m concerned about the well-being of the children." Disease? Souta read it once again and didn''t say anything about the symptoms of the disease. In the end, she was just an ordinary maid and didn''t have much knowledge of the duke''s disease. That''s the reason why she didn''t bother herself taking it down in her diary. ''Next page... I think I have an idea about it.'' Souta heard Saya''s voice in his mind. He turned to the next page and continued to read the diary along with Saya. "Today, a miracle happened. The duke and his family recovered from their illness. It was so sudden that they could already walk and talked like a normal person. Everyone was happy for them including me. "Today, I''ve received a news that some of the people in the dukedom were killed. All of their internal organs were gone. I got scared when I received this piece of news but then I remembered that I''m in the safest place in this dukedom so I don''t have to worry about myself. I''m sure that all the guards were going to capture the perpetrator in no time." Souta frowned when he read this passage. It seems that the killings in this dukedom weren''t ordinary. The internal organs of the people that died were gone. No sane person will do this. Even Souta will not do this to the person that he killed. He will not hesitate to kill his enemy but taking their internal organs and using them for some kind of ritual. That''s insane. ''You''re disgusting you know. What you did to the people that you kill was even worse than this. You''re taking all of their soul and preventing to live another life. That''s the worse for me. You''re sending them into oblivion.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. Souta ignored her and he continued to read the diary. "Today, some of the maids that stayed here left the mansion. I don''t know why. They just suddenly leave without telling anyone. At the same time, the killings in the dukedom appeared in my mind. "Today is the duke''s first wife''s birthday. The maids were preparing for a banquet. Everyone should be happy on this occasion but I found that they all have the same plain face. They don''t show any emotion including the duke''s children. It''s weird. "It''s weird... Everything is weird. I don''t want to stay here anymore. Right now, only five maids were working here in the duke''s mansion. The rest of the maids were gone and I didn''t even hear anything about them. It''s impossible for them, including my roommate, to leave without saying anything. "I''m going to leave this place... Actually, I found the duke''s wife eating my roommate in the basement of the mansion. It scared me. Even now while writing this I couldn''t get that thing out of my mind... I''m packing up my things and will leave this place tonight." The diary ends in that passage. Souta closed the notebook and placed it back on top of the table. "Soraya, thanks for the information." He muttered in a low voice and thought that the maid was dead. If she knew that, there''s no way that the duke will let her leave this place. The same must be said from the rest of the maids here. They were all dead. But Souta gained a lot of information from this diary. The guards hid the thing that all people that died in the killings didn''t have any internal organ at all. They were brutally killed. "So why are they taking put all the internal organs? Also, why the made vanished in this mansion." Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. He then recalled something that he read in the diary. The basement. The place where the maid saw the duke''s wife eating her roommate. Souta walked towards the door and he decided to know everything now that he''s here in the duke mansion. Everything will come into light as long as he discovered the key information in these killings. He placed his ear on the door and tried to sense if there were people in the hallway. After making sure that no one was in the hallway, Souta opened the door and exited the maid''s room. This mansion looked deserted. It feels different inside than outside the mansion. The atmosphere here was chilly. Souta stopped on his track as he felt the ground slightly shake. If he wasn''t focusing on his surroundings, Souta wouldn''t be able to sense it at all. He frowned and looked outside the window. He guessed that the tremors came in the underground and the cause of it was his party members. "It seems that something is hiding there in the ground," Souta muttered and he shook his head. He ignored the tremor in the ground and focused on the task in front of him. ... Souta checked all the rooms on the second floor. He discovered that all the rooms here were abandoned for a long time now. No one was living here on the second floor of the duke''s mansion. He went downstairs and checked the first floor of the mansion. This place was the same as the second floor. There''s no sign of people living here except for the two rooms. The duke''s room and the wife''s room. Also, the children that were mentioned in the diary. Souta couldn''t find them at all. 169 Youre under arrest! The wife and the children were all gone. "So, the question is where are they?" Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. He turned his head and looked outside through the window. "Did the guards knew that the duke''s family were gone?" Souta looked down at his sword and asked, "What is it? Did you guess the reason behind this?" ''Um... I''m not sure but...'' Saya said. "But, what?" Souta looked at the sword with a questioning gaze. ''You have to see it for yourself. There''s one place that you haven''t check yet. And that is the basement where the maid saw the duke''s wife eating her roommate.'' Saya said to him. "Okay, I''ll go there. Also just spit out what you have in your mind." Souta nodded and sighed as he walked towards the door. ''If I''m right, then this case is worse than you thought. Only if I''m right.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. Souta raised his hand and fixed the position of his mask. He carefully hid his mana inside his body so that no one could detect him. The guards here weren''t strong enough to sense him. Only people with special abilities like Lynn could detect his presence. "That girl, Lynn. Maybe I could bring her to my party. If she could enhance her ability then she would be able to help me in my future quest." Souta muttered as he walked towards the basement. Lynn''s sense was unusually high. Back in the special test, she pinpointed the one who casted the tier 2 spell. If she knew some sensory spell and combat arts, she would become a great sensory type mage. She would become a great asset to him if she managed to improve her abilities. A radar that could detect anyone could bring huge benefits when the war comes. If Souta wasn''t wrong the pope of the True God''s Holy Kingdom was a sensory type mage. He could sense anyone within the radius of ten thousand kilometers around him. If Cluster was really a part of the True God''s Holy Kingdom, it''s hard to imagine how she managed to escape from the pope''s surveillance. Cluster possessed a power that was unknown to him, Souta thought that she used it to escape from the pope. ''If it''s that girl. I''m sure that she wouldn''t decline you. I think that she will be happy if you invited her to your party.'' Saya said to him. "I''ll try it later." ... Souta arrived in front of the stairs. The stairs were heading to the underground basement of the mansion. Darkness covered everything in the basement. Just by standing in front of it, Souta could already feel the ominous aura in this place. The pressure that this place was giving to him was unreal. ''Cast your buff spell... It''s useless to use mana inside. You wouldn''t be able to cast it once you step inside the place.'' Saya said to him. "That''s a good idea." Souta nodded and he started to cast all the buff spells and combat arts that he knew. [Agility Boost]! [Strength Boost]! [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! [Cat''s Speed]! The guards outside the mansion wouldn''t be able to detect him even though he used mana. The reason for that was the energy coming out of the basement. It''s harder to detect his mana if he''s near the stronger energy. Souta thought that this room was a special one. He couldn''t sense this energy when he was outside the room. He looked around trying to find the switch to open the light but unfortunately, he couldn''t. There''s no light in the basement. It''s all up to the night vision traits that he has. Souta took a deep breath and he pulled out the [Vajra Sword Saya] from its scabbard. He then went downstairs. The stench of blood attacked Souta''s nose as soon as he stepped inside the basement. It feels that a lot of people died in this place. Souta looked around and saw that the basement was surprisingly wide. He could even fight someone in this place. The floor and the walls of the basement were covered in red moss. With a closer look, Souta found that it was blood. "Let''s see what''s hiding here." Souta muttered as he ignored the other room and head towards the direction where the energy was coming. After a few seconds, Souta saw a wide room. The atmosphere in this place was heavy and suffocating. At the center of it was an ominous existence. "That''s..." Souta opened his eyes widely when he saw the creature in the center of the wide room. Suddenly, the entire basement began to tremble. The ceiling, floor, and the walls were shaking nonstop. ''It''s not the time yet so leave quickly!'' Saya said to him. "I know." Souta quickly turned around and left the room. He ran as fast as he could. In just a few seconds, he arrived outside the basement. He checked his mask if it was still intact. He then packed all the things that he needed such as the maid''s diary before leaving the duke''s mansion. This was the evidence that he needed to prove that the duke was not the same person anymore. The trembling only stopped when Souta exited the duke''s mansion. It put all the guards around the mansion in panic. They roam around the mansion but no one dared to enter it. Souta knew the reason why. It seems that the duke forbids anyone from entering the mansion without his permission. He ignored them and he went to the town. With all the things that he got from the mansion, Souta was sure that he would be able to complete the quest once he gave all the evidence to old man Jared. Just a little bit more and he''s going to complete it. Souta turned into the alley and found two people lying down on their stomachs. They were covered in fresh blood. From the looks of it, they just died. Souta approached the corpses and he turned them around. "Haha, damn! They really took the organs of the victims." Souta laughed when he found that these two corpses don''t have any organs at all. The culprit took all the organs of the victims for that existence in the basement of the duke''s mansion. ''Someone is coming!'' Saya warned him in his head. Souta quickly stood up and was about to leave but it was too late. The woman who saw him screamed loudly and pointed at him. "Kyaa! Someone killed a person!" "What?!" Souta was stunned when the woman thought that he''s the one who killed these two people. Well, it''s not that surprising considering his outfit. He was wearing a mask and robe. He''s trying to conceal his identity. In just a few seconds, a lot of people arrived on the scene. All of them have the same thoughts in their mind. They thought that Souta was the culprit behind the killing in their dukedom. The guards also arrived and pointed their weapons at Souta. So fast? Their response was too fast. Did someone set this up? ''Leave Souta! With your strength, it''s not a problem! You''re wearing a mask! They still haven''t know your identity!'' Saya shouted in his head. Souta looked at the people around him with a calm expression. He didn''t show any signs that he will leave this place. ''What are you doing?'' Saya asked him in bewilderment. She couldn''t understand why Souta was doing this. "Nothing, I just wanted to see who have the guts to turn all the people here into a sacrificial lamb," Souta answered her with a smile on his face. "You''re under arrest! Don''t resist or else we''ll use force to subdue you!" The guards shouted at him. "Don''t worry, I won''t resist," Souta said to the guard. He then looked at the corpse and said, "I''ll tell you, I didn''t kill them. All of them didn''t have internal organs. If I''m the one who killed them then where''s the internal organs of these dead people." "Still, we''re taking you with us. You''re the most suspicious person here." The guards said to him. ... Boom! Boom! "Go down!" Bryan shouted as he shot powerful flames towards the dark vine eaters. Since Bryan wanted to fight someone that badly, Lumilia gave him a task to fight this monster while she and Brando were leaving the place. Bryan agreed to her without hesitation. It was finally his turn to move and fight the monsters. Brando was running in front of Lumilia. If someone appeared before them, Brando would be able to protect Lumilia. The two were going up to the surface while Bryan was fighting the monster. "Is it really okay to leave Bryan there?" Brando asked Lumilia. "It''s fine, Bryan is not that weak that he would go down in fighting some second evolution monsters," Lumilia replied to Brando. She was leaving some trail behind so that Bryan could follow her once he finished fighting all the monsters. She also didn''t forget to tell him that he should go back as soon as possible. He should not drain his stamina in this place. This was only a side quest in this dukedom. They still have to finish their real quest so draining one''s stamina wasn''t advisable. She knew that Bryan wouldn''t understand it that way. She understood how''s Bryan''s mind work. That''s why she told him that they would fight a stronger culprit in the killings once Souta finished his investigation. And it works, Bryan said that he would come back as soon as possible to not let Souta hog all the battle on the surface. 170 I will smoke out the mastermind "Well..." Souta''s expression turned cold in an instant. The atmosphere turned chilly. Even though he was wearing a mask and the guards couldn''t see his face. They still could feel the heavy pressure he was releasing. It feels that some heavy risks were placed on their shoulders. That kind of feeling. The guards subconsciously took a step backward. They gulped their saliva as they felt that Souta could easily kill them right here. "Y-You, don''t try it!" The chilly atmosphere disappeared in an instant. Souta sighed and removed the mask on his face. He then said, "Relax, I''m not planning to escape. I just wanted to tell you that I''m not the one who killed these two people. They don''t have their internal organs anymore. The killer must have taken them so if I''m the killer why don''t I have their internal organs." "You have a point there but we still need to investigate you. I hope that you cooperate with us." The guards said to him. They still haven''t lowered their weapons as they knew that Souta was a very dangerous man. "Well, I''ll cooperate with you. I already show you my face so there''s no point in escaping right now." Souta nodded his head at the guards. He then squinted his eyes and said, "but I have one condition." "Do tell us." The guards said. "I don''t want you to touch me a part of my body. You don''t have that rights. If you can abide from that then I''ll follow you." Souta said to them with a cold look. "Y-You''re just a-" one of the guards was about to say something bad to Souta but the captain of the guards stopped him. "Shut up!" The captain of the guards looked at his subordinates. He then looked at Souta and agreed to him. He knew that Souta''s power was above from any of them. Even if they work together to subdue him, it still wouldn''t be enough to stop Souta. That''s the feeling he got from Souta ''Just who is this young man? It seems that he''s not the culprit but I get the feeling that he knew this case better than us.'' The captain if the guards have a lot of questions in his mind. He shook his head and thought that he would ask Souta later. He didn''t know what''s happening in their land right now. The captain of the guards shook his head and asked his subordinates to clean the crime scene. ''What are you thinking?'' Saya asked him in his head. ''I''m trying to smoke out the mastermind behind this. I''m sure that he will make a move soon. You saw that creature in the basement right?'' Souta said to Saya in his head. ''Yeah, what about it?'' Saya asked but she immediately took back her question as she realized something. ''If the owner of that monster in the basement knew that you''re investigating the scene then he will surely put you down.'' ''I don''t think so. At most the owner will send some lower life forms, like dark vine eater to silence you. They only know that your power level is C-rank but they didn''t know the specifics of your skillset.'' Saya replied to his words. ''I know that. The owner is hiding carefully in the dark while controlling every pawn that he had so I doubt that the owner will personally show.'' Souta said in his head as he shrugged his shoulder. ''If you know that, why do this?'' Saya asked him. What she couldn''t understand was why Souta was letting these people capture him. ''Well, I''m sure that Lumilia will figure it out. I will leave the rest to them while I''m going to find the mastermind. It''s a win-win for me and them. They will receive a lot of benefits when solving this case.'' Souta grinned maliciously. In Souta''s case, he doesn''t need to solve it anymore. He already knew what''s happening in this dukedom and he just needed to find the mastermind behind the killings. "Let''s go now." The captain of the guards looked at Souta and said. "Okay." Souta nodded and followed the guards leisurely. Since there''s nothing to watch anymore, the folks slowly disappeared when Souta and the guards left the scene. ''Although, there''s a low chance. I still hope that the mastermind will visit me. I will know it instantly if I saw the mastermind''s appearance.'' Souta thought. ... [Thunderous Flaming Roar]! A sea of flames and lighting swallowed several huge monsters. It toasted several dark vine eaters in front of Bryan. "I''m not done!" Bryan shouted as he raised both of his hands in the air. A lightning ball formed on top of his left palm and a fireball formed on top of his right palm. "Fuse!" Bryan put them together and a powerful energy swept out the entire area. It shook the ground heavily. The ball of lightning and fire was emitting powerful mana fluctuations. "This is it! Go down all of you!" He then threw it towards the dark vine eaters. [Lightning Flame Sweeper]! A powerful explosion occurred and it made the entire ground tremble. The entire area was wiped out. A huge gully appeared in front of Bryan after the huge explosion. After a few moments, rocks started to fall. The entire place was crumbling and if Bryan doesn''t leave he would be buried alive here. The aftershocks of the explosion were felt on the surface. The people there were shocked when the ground tremble and huge cracks appeared. Smoke appeared between the cracks and the temperature started to get high. They felt heat coming out of the floor. The people quickly run in panic. "Huff... Huff... Huff..." Bryan was breathing heavily as he drained almost half of his mana in this battle. He took out a blue potion from his pocket and drunk it. "Really, this taste never changed," Bryan complained as he threw the bottle on the side. He looked up and saw that the ceiling was collapsing. "I need to leave this place!" He shouted before he turned around and run. ... Lumilia and Brando were on the surface. Both of them managed to safely leave the sewer. Lumilia looked down with a worried expression on her face. "Don''t worry about him. You said to me before that Bryan is strong so believe in him. Plus, he''s still holding back his power." Brando said to her when he saw her worried look. "You''re right. If he used his full strength then I''m afraid..." Lumilia nodded and she took a deep breath to calm her breathing. Suddenly the ground shook and they heard a loud booming sound coming from the underground. Both of them were caught off guard so they fell on their butt. "What the-" Brando cried out when he saw huge cracks started to appear on the ground. "Bryan is serious right now," Lumilia muttered as she stood up and patted her clothes. Then, the two of them saw smoke coming out of the cracks on the floor and the heatwave coming out of it. "What''s wrong with Bryan? We''re just talking about him holding back his power and now this..." Brando was speechless. If they created more damage anymore then they would have to pay for it. The floor beneath their feet was five feet thick and Bryan just blow it up with the aftershock of his attack. Plus, the concrete floor wasn''t just an ordinary road. It was made from high-quality stone that huge kingdom used to create their roads. This was the only thing that makes the Fersch dukedom the same as the huge countries. In history, before the Fersch dukedom was founded here this place was once a huge country. However, after it fell the Fersch dukedom replaced it and it didn''t manage to catch up to the level of the previous country. Their improvements became stagnant throughout the time because of the suppression they received from their neighboring countries. "Let''s go. Now that Bryan is serious this place is turning bad." Lumilia said to Brando. "Turning bad?" Brando looked at her with a questioning gaze. "Yeah, the Adventurers Guild don''t know about the dark vine eater in the sewers. In their records, the monsters in the sewers are only toxic rats and grim toxic rats. But now..." Lumilia said to him. "I understand. It means that someone purposely hid those monsters there, right?" Brando realized what she was trying to say. "Also, did those monsters have any relation to the killings in this place?" "I don''t know. It is impossible for the dark vine eater to kill those people. If the dark vine eater is going to kill someone then it would eat it. It will not leave the body in the alley." Lumilia said to him. Still, she was wondering why there was dark vine eater in the sewers of this dukedom. 171 Were going to rampage Lumilia and Brando entered the Adventurers Guild. They saw the adventurers here were having a commotion. The adventurers turned their heads and looked at the two. "Speaking of the devil. You two there, do you know that you''re leader was captured by the guards?" The adventurers said to them. "What?!" Lumilia and Brando were shocked when they heard it. They couldn''t believe it at all so they approached the adventurers. "What happened?" Lumilia asked them. The adventurers looked at each other. It seems that Lumilia and Brando didn''t know about this news. One of the adventurers opened his mouth and said, "You see. The guards captured your leader. If I''m not wrong his name is Souta." Lumilia and Brando confirmed it when they heard Souta''s name. They asked why the guards captured Souta. "Your leader became the suspect of the killings that happening here. They saw him looking at the body of the dead people. The guards are currently investigating him. I''m going to warn you... The people here are getting restless and wanted to know who is the culprit." The adventurers said to them with a serious expression. "You mean..." Lumilia looked at the adventurers as she realized what they were trying to say. "Just one word from the duke and he could pin all the blame to your leader. The people here would have no choice to believe it. Only a few people like us, adventurers, knew what''s really happening in this land." The adventurers said to her. "Can the duke really do that?" Lumilia asked them with an uncertain look on her face. "The folks here are afraid because they haven''t caught the culprit for a long time and every other day some people will die. If they haven''t found the killer, it will cause a panic in this whole land. Also, the duke is showing suspicious action and if he wanted to clean his name he will forge evidence and pinned all of it to your leader." The adventurers said to Lumilia and Brando with a gloomy expression. "I understand..." Lumilia nodded and thanked the adventurers for informing them. "This dukedom is done. The kind and humble duke became suspicious and the guild master isn''t showing himself." The adventurers said with a sigh. They didn''t even know what to do anymore. ''This became a problem but...'' Lumilia thought as she massaged her temple. She has a question in her mind and that''s why would Souta let the guards capture him. If she wasn''t wrong about him, Souta would certainly not let himself be captured by the guards. Maybe she was wrong, Souta has a plan that she didn''t know. ''What should I do?'' Lumilia kept repeating this question to herself. She didn''t know what she should do in this situation. "What is it? Do you have something in your mind?" Lumilia asked Brando when she felt his hand on her shoulder. "You should not think deeply about it. We should accomplish the task in front of us. I''m sure that Souta is fine giving his current strength. I think he formed a plan after seeing what''s inside the duke''s mansion." Brandon said in a low voice that only he and Lumilia could hear. Lumilia took a deep breath and sighed. Brando was right. She''s thinking too much about this matter. Souta gave her the task to lead this party. She thought that she had to do this flawlessly but the opposite happened to them. A lot of unexpected things appeared that were outside of her plan. She thought that she should take this calmly and she shouldn''t rush things like she did before. She recalled Souta''s advice before. ''Always prepare for the worse outcome.'' "Fine, let''s submit the quest to the receptionist first. Then, we will wait for Bryan before we discuss what should we do." Lumilia said to Brando. "Okay, let''s do that." Brando nodded at her. The two went to the adventurers guild and submitted their quest. Lumilia gave the herbs that she gathered in the sewers. "Also, the sewers have a problem. There are dark vine eaters there and it would become a problem to other adventurers if you didn''t update your information." Lumilia said to the receptionist. The receptionist was stunned when she heard Lumilia''s report. She couldn''t believe what she heard right now. She asked Lumilia, "Can you please tell me in detail?" "Okay." Lumilia nodded at her. The receptionist took Lumilia and Brando inside one of the rooms in the Adventurers Guild. No one will bother them in this place. "Miss, you can start now." The receptionist said to Lumilia as she prepared a notebook and pen. She will record Lumilia''s report regarding this discovery. "My team went to the sewers and we immediately found the toxic rats that you mentioned before. We fought and took down those toxic rats but we sense a powerful presence approaching us. We all thought that it was only the evolved form of the toxic rats, the grim toxic rats. But we''re all wrong." Lumilia paused for a moment before she continued, "What we found there was entirely another monster, the dark vine eater. Right now, my teammate is still fighting the dark vine eaters in the sewers." "Are you sure that it''s fine to leave your teammate there?" The receptionist asked with a doubtful expression. "Don''t get me wrong. My teammate is strong. Although he is a D-rank adventurer, he still have a power of a C-rank adventurer." Lumilia said to the receptionist. "Then, the report about the earthquake..." The receptionist said as she recalled the recent earthquake in some part of the dukedom. "Yes, it''s probably my teammate." Lumilia nodded at the receptionist. "Then, how many dark vine eaters do you think are there in the sewers?" The receptionist asked a question. "Hmm... I don''t know but from what I saw... Their number surpassed ten. It seems that it''s been a while since they took the sewers as their nest." Lumilia answered the receptionist''s question. "I see..." The receptionist nodded her head and she took down all the information that Lumilia said. "I have a question," Lumilia asked her. "What is it?" The receptionist placed down her pen and looked at Lumilia. "How did the dark vine eater manage to get inside the sewer? Is there some secret passage that leads to the sewer outside the city?" Lumilia asked the receptionist. "There''s none." The receptionist simply answered her question. "The guild will form a group that will investigate it. Thanks for your information. Also, we''ll compensate you for the wrong information that we have. You can wait in the reception while I submit this report." "Good. Then, what about the damage to the city?" Lumilia nodded and asked. "We''ll also cover it for your party." The receptionist answered her. "Thanks. That helps a lot." Lumilia said before she stood up. She bid farewell to the receptionist before she left with Brando. She and Brando waited for a while until the receptionist came and gave their compensation. A thirty gold coins was all they received from the compensation and they received one gold coins for the quest that they just finished. "So where should we wait for Bryan?" Brando asked Lumilia. "Let''s wait for him here. I''m sure that Bryan will go here if he didn''t found us in the inn." Lumilia answered Brando. "I see." Brando nodded and he looked in the sky. He felt something bad was going to happen. His instinct as a demi was telling him that a storm will occur here. Not just him, Lumilia too was feeling restless. ... Souta was sitting alone in the jail. The guards didn''t have any plan to placed him in jail at all but something unexpected happened. One of the higher-ups said that they should place him inside the jail in case Souta decided to escape. Souta wasn''t against this and he simply cooperated with them. Right now, he was sure that the mastermind behind the killings noticed him. That''s why they put him in jail. "Really, what a good choice..." Souta grinned to himself. He finally understood that it wasn''t only the duke. It seems that the other people besides the duke was being controlled too by the mastermind. This whole dukedom was being controlled by one person. ''The preparation is already complete. So I think the mastermind will make a move soon. If not this day, it should be tomorrow.'' Saya said to him. ''Yes, at that time, I''m going to disrupt the process.'' Souta replied to Saya. Suddenly, Souta heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the Material-gathering quest!] [You''ve received 5,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 3 skill points!] It seems that Lumilia and the rest managed to complete the quest. It''s within his expectations. Souta knew that they could handle this level of difficulty. If it was in the past, then they wouldn''t be able to complete it. "This is enough..." Souta smirked and he closed his eyes. He focused his mind on the contract between him and Yuko. ''Yuko, stop eating and prepare yourself. We''re going to rampage.'' 172 Rank 3 Mage He earned most of this from the fight in the Gripen City. On that day, he received more than ten skill points. All the fight and the quest that he did was worth it. Souta didn''t even care about reducing his life spans. He knew that if he wouldn''t risk it then there''s a possibility that he would die in the next version. Well, if he was going to say it ten years of his life span couldn''t be compared to the skill points that he received. He needed skill points the most so he couldn''t help it. After the cultural festival, Souta grind the quest in the Adventurers Guild every day. He will complete two or three quests that have the reward of one skill point each. Sometimes, he couldn''t find any quest in the Adventurers Guild that have the rewards of skill points. He understood it as he was still a C-rank adventurer. The highest reward that he could earn in this rank per quest was three skill points. Sometimes, if he was lucky enough he would be able to get a quest that has the rewards of four skill points. Unfortunately, he wasn''t lucky. All the quests that have high rewards came from Lumilia. If not for her, Souta wouldn''t be able to get those skill points. If it was in the game, Souta would call Lumilia the quest giver. A type of NPC that gave a lot of quest to the players. ''What are you going to do? I felt that you contacted Yuko... Is it too early to escape from this jail?'' Saya''s voice made Souta snapped out of his daze. ''I know that... If I know the identity of the mastermind then I wouldn''t stay here.'' Souta said to Saya. He was after one thing... And that was the quest to fight the mastermind. His quest here was only to investigate the duke and nothing else. Since he finished investigating the duke, he only needed to find old man Jared to finish this quest. Souta rubbed his chin and wondered if Lumilia would give him that quest. If he could trigger it then it''s great. He would fight that mastermind to free this dukedom from the mastermind''s hands. But first, Souta had to level up his spell. He looked at his surroundings and saw that it was quiet. The prisoner on the other jails was unusually quiet. ''Don''t bother me for a while.'' Souta said to Saya before he closed his eyes. He looked at his system and saw that he had 55 skill points. It was enough for him. He pondered for a while what spell he should level up. He had only two choices. The [Shadow Spike] and the [Shadow Ball] spell. These two spells came from the system so he could only use these two to upgrade his class rank. If he used his other spells like [Mud Slide] or [Light Heal] then he wouldn''t be able to promote his class rank. Currently, Souta''s crowd control ability was high. The level 10 [Shadow Bind] spell could hold down all the C-rank. It could even hold a monster with a monster orb for two seconds. It would increase as he was going to promote his class today. Picking from these two spells was hard. In the end, Souta picked the [Shadow Ball] spell. This spell has a lot of use than the [Shadow Spike] spell. Plus, he would unlock more skill in his skill tree once he was promoted to Rank 3 Mage. Without hesitation, Souta used 54 skill points to level up his [Shadow Ball] spell to level 10. A system prompt sounded in his head. *Ding!* [You''ve fulfilled the requirements to promote the Mage class!] [Do you want to promote your class to Rank 3? Yes/No?] ''Yes...'' Souta answered simply and several system prompts sounded in his head. *Ding!* [You''ve successfully ranked up to Rank 3 Mage!] [Intelligence attribute has increased by 40!] [Strength, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality attributes have increased by 30!] [Mana pool has increased by 100!] [Magic resistance has increased by 100%!] [Mana recovery has increased by 20!] [Spell power has increased by 100%!] *Ding!* [Magic resistance has reached the first threshold!] [You''ve gained the blessing 1st Tier Spell Immunity!] [You''re now immune to all 1st tier spell!] *Ding!* [You''re Mana Pool has reached the first threshold!] [Mana recovery has increased by 20!] Souta felt his a warm energy coursing through his body. It was seeping to every fiber of his muscle. The increase in his strength was tremendous. His magic resistance right now was so high that he was immune to all tier 1 spells. No matter what kind of spell it is as long as it was a tier 1 spell, Souta wouldn''t received any damage to it. The only downside of it was even if his ally casted a tier 1 buff spell to him, he wouldn''t receive it because of his resistance. Luckily, he could turn off the blessing [1st Tier Spell Immunity] that he received. If not, then it would be a disaster for him. All the buff spell that he knew would be ineffective to him. His mana pool was over one thousand so he gained something from it. The increase in his mana recovery. Currently, his recovery was 66 per hour. Back then, his mana recovery was only 1 mana per hour. So comparing it to his mana recovery right now, he could say that he improved a lot. The mana recovery would increase by five times when he was resting so he could recover all of his mana in just a few hours of sleep. Souta smiled and he looked at his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Goblin Corruptor(2nd Evolution) Level: 27 Class: Rank 3 Mage - Darkness Health: 766/766 Stamina: 433/433 Mana: 1110/1110 Strength: 374(314+60)[+] Agility: 453(253+200)[+] Dexterity: 440(240+200)[+] Intelligence: 410(350+60)[+] Vitality: 333(323+10)[+] Free attribute point(s): 86 Skill(s): [Dash] Level 3, [Stab] Level 4, [Weapon Mastery], [Mana Manipulation] Level 3, [Cat''s Speed] Level 2, [Air Walk] Level 2, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 2, [Pet Bestowing Skill] Level 2, [Summoning] Level 1, [Transfer Boost] Level 1, [Pet Resonance] level 1 Spell(s): [Fireball] Level 1, [Ice Shot] Level 1, [Light Heal] Level 1, [Agility Boost] Level 1, [Strength Boost] Level 1, [Mud Slide] Level 1, [Shadow Bind] Level 10, [Shadow Spike] Level 1, [Shadow Ball] Level 10 Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body], [Night Vision] Trait skill(s): [Corruption] Blessing(s): [Blessing of the Great], [1st Tier Spell Immunity] Equipment skill(s): [Cross Moon], [Crimson Moon], [Possession], [Harvester of the Soul: 673/1,300] Skill point(s): 1 Souta looked at his stats with a satisfied expression. To think that he would come this far in just a few months since arriving in this world. He was sure that he could dominate anyone at his level. He was strong to the people at C-rank level but comparing his strength to B-rank, he was still weak. His other attributes were far from the first threshold so he doesn''t need to think about it right now. His next goal was to promote to Battle Mage class. Promoting to Battle Mage Class would change everything to Souta. It was the starting point to dominate those higher-level creatures so couldn''t wait for it. After a while, Souta opened his eyes and grinned. He looked down at his hand before he raised it. A ball of shadow formed on top of his palm and it flew outside the jail. He was right, he could control this ball of shadow like an extension of his body, just like the [Shadow Bind] spell. Souta smiled and he closed his eyes. He focused on controlling the ball of shadow. It was his first time using it, so he couldn''t control it properly. Suddenly, the ground shook heavily and everyone in the Fersch Dukedom felt an oppressing aura pushing them on their knees. "It comes at the right time. I could hardly hold myself back right now." Souta said as he stood up and looked at the small window on the top of the jail. ... The powerful best feram swallowed the whole Fersch Dukedom. It suppressed all the mana inside it. The ordinary people fell on the ground and lose their consciousness. It agitated all the dark vine monster in the sewers. One by one, they emerged from the ground and they caused chaos in the Fersch Dukedom. Everything in the Fersch Dukedom changed in an instant. 173 Come, Yuko The ordinary people didn''t have the strength to fight back against this strong and berserk energy. They fell on their knees as they were having a hard time breathing. Everyone began to panic at this point. They don''t know what''s happening right now. "W-What happened?!" "H-Help me!!" "My son!!" Several screams asking for help rang around the whole Fersch dukedom. The adventurers who have a certain resistance tried to help the ordinary people but their numbers were too low to help all the people in the dukedom. The guards too were helping the people but even then... It still wasn''t enough. The Adventurers Guild immediately mobilized a party that will help the people in the dukedom. Their response was fast but what happened next was outside of everyone''s expectation. Boom! Boom! The ground trembled and countless dark vine eaters emerged from it. They made a hole on the ground and came out of it. It caused destruction in any part of the dukedom. Everyone was stunned when they saw this. Without waiting for them to regain their senses, several dark vine eaters killed the guards and adventurers. At this point, the other guards and adventurers snapped. They pulled out their weapons at the same time and tried to fight the dark vine eaters. Lumilia and Brando looked around at their surroundings with a gloomy expression. In just a few minutes, the whole Fersch dukedom changed. Everything inside the dukedom was chaotic. The adventurers and the guards were trying to fight back against the dark vine eater. But they were at a disadvantage because of the best feram that was covering the whole dukedom. Plus, the numbers of dark vine eater was more than they could handle. "Best feram? And this level of energy... It was stronger than Souta when he used monster potion back in the Gripen city." Lumilia muttered as she felt the suppressing energy of the monster in the atmosphere. "Are you sure?" Brando asked Lumilia. He wasn''t present in the battle in the Gripen city so he didn''t know how fierce the battle that happened there. He didn''t even know how powerful Souta when he was using the best feram. "Yes... This best feram is entirely on a different level." Lumilia nodded at him. This was the terror of the monster. She wouldn''t be able to properly use her mana if the monster was powerful. Boom! A dark vine eater emerged from the ground and appeared before them. Brando immediately raised his shield and used a combat arts that he knew. [Shield Bash]! He smashed his shield on the huge body of the dark vine eater. Bang! Swoosh! She arrived at the side of the dark vine eater and slashed her sword. Her sword managed to cut the body of the monster. Roar! The dark vine eater roared in anger. The three vines on its back stretched out. It flew towards Lumilia as it wanted to stab her to death. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Brando appeared in front of her and blocked those vines using his shield. Bang! Bang! Bang! "Thanks. I''ll leave the defense to you." Lumilia said before she jumped over Brando. She then aimed her sword at the dark vine eater before she stabbed it in the eye. [Lightning Stab]! Blood spurted out as her sword pierced the eye of the monster. The monster roared in anger and it swept out its tail but Brando was here blocked any attack of the dark vine eater. Brando reacted quickly and blocked all the incoming attacks that came from the dark vine eater. The combination of the two was exceptional as they managed to kill a single dark vine eater in just a minute. "Luckily, I knew some sword arts of my family," Lumilia said with a sigh. She was thankful that she learned this skill when she was a child. She knew that without her mana she wouldn''t be able to defeat a single dark vine eater. But Brando was here. She knew that Brand would be able to protect her against the attack of the monster. "Huff..." Brando exhaled and said, "The power of the dark vine eater is stronger than I imagined. I could only use combat arts but without buff spells, I wouldn''t be able to fight against many dark vine eaters." Lumilia glanced at Brando before she looked around at her surroundings. She still could see a lot of dark vine eaters rampaging across the whole Fersch dukedom. Boom! The ground suddenly shook and a dark vine eater burst out. Swoosh! The monster flew in the air without any signs of life. A figure flew in the air and grabbed the body of the monster. The figure then threw the monster on the ground. Boom! The impact created a small crater on the ground. "That''s..." Brando was surprised when he saw the figure. "Bryan!" Lumilia exclaimed as she recognized that this person was none other than Bryan. "Oh, you two are here!" Bryan turned his head and looked at them with a surprised expression. Lumilia and Brando approached Bryan. Lumilia glanced at the dead body of the dark vine eater and asked, "You''re still fighting." "Yeah, they kept coming at me," Bryan explained to them that even though he took down a lot of dark vine eaters a lot of them were still alive. Bryan fought and defeated more than twenty dark vine eater on his own in the sewers. But he found that their numbers wasn''t decreasing at all. No, in fact, their numbers kept increasing. He was retreating when the best feram suppressed all the mana in the whole land. Countless monsters appeared before Bryan and he didn''t have a choice but to fight with his bare hand. "I see..." Lumilia nodded and she noticed that Bryan was covered in bruises all over his body. Blood was flowing out in some of his wounds. "Where is Souta? I thought that he is going to investigate to duke''s mansion." Bryan asked as he didn''t saw Souta with them. Brando and Lumilia looked at each other when they heard his question. Lumilia smiled wryly and explained to him what happened to Souta. ... "What?! Souta was captured!!" Bryan exclaimed in a loud voice. "What are you waiting for?! Let''s rescue him right away!!" "Bryan, do you think that Souta needs our help?" Lumilia asked Bryan a simple question. "Yes, why?" Bryan simply answered her question. Brando and Lumilia sighed when they heard his answer. Brando said, "You see, Souta could have escaped from the guards with his strength but why he didn''t try to escape?" "Brando is right. From our information, Souta was wearing a mask at that time. He even removed his mask to let the guards know his identity. That way, even if Souta escape from them they could easily post a wanted poster about him." Lumilia added. "Oh, you are right. But why Souta let the guards capture him?" Bryan asked as he tilted his head in confusion. "I don''t know but Souta formed a plan in his mind after discovering the secret of the duke." Lumilia paused for a moment as she looked at the dark vine eaters. She then said, "So right now, we only need to focus on the problem in front of us. I think defeating these dark vine eaters would help Souta." "Oh! I see..." Bryan nodded and he looked around. He smiled and said, "Then, let''s quickly finish all these monsters at once." ... Every prisoner inside the jail was causing a commotion. They don''t have any idea what''s happening in the dukedom. Some of the weak prisoners lose consciousness due to the pressure of the best feram. "Hey, you!!" One of the prisoners shouted at Souta. Souta lifted up his head and pointed at his nose. "Me?" "Yes, you. You have a sword there and it seems that most of your belongings are with you. Why the heck the guards didn''t confiscate those things?" The prisoner said to Souta in a loud voice. "Hmm..." Souta smiled as he rubbed his chin. "Maybe, they are afraid that I''m going to kill. After all, I threatened them not to touch me." "What are you saying? Use that and help us escape from these cells!" The prisoner said to Souta while pointing at the sword on Souta''s waist. "Why should I do that?" Souta smiled as he stood up and looked at the prisoners. He then patted his clothes while saying, "Well, I won''t help you as all of you don''t have the qualification." Suddenly, a crimson red light glowed on the upper part of Souta''s shoulder. The crimson light passes through his clothes. And with a simple looked everyone could see that the crimson light was the face of a fierce bear. "Come, Yuko," Souta said in a low voice and the crimson light glow brightly. After a few moments, a loud roar echoed in the whole jail. Roar!! 174 Guildmaster Bang! Yuko simply swung her claws and the cell broke like a fragile glass. Souta grinned as he stepped out of his cell. He patted Yuko''s back and said, "Good job." Every prisoner was stunned when they saw this scene. Their jaws were hung open as they couldn''t believe what they saw. A huge bear materialized out of thin air. Then, one of the prisoners recognized Souta''s profession. "A-A tamer?!" "You mean the class that could control a monster?!" "Yeah, that''s a tamer!!" All of them looked at Yuko and Souta with a shocked expression. The prisoner in front of Souta''s cell couldn''t say anything. He could only look at Souta with wide eyes. "Mu..." Yuko looked at her surroundings with a tense expression. She felt pressure from the dense best feram in the air. "Don''t worry..." Souta said to Yuko. The skill he used just now was called [Summoning]. It was a skill where he could summon his pet to his location. If the pet didn''t want to be summoned then he wouldn''t be able to summon his pet. That''s the only condition of this skill. As long as the pet was willing then the owner could summon the pet anytime. He learned this skill from teacher Bargan. Even though fire attribute spell was Bargan''s specialty he still knew a lot of things outside his specialty. Souta had a tattoo on his shoulder. The tattoo looks like Yuko''s face but it was more fierce and violent. He could summon Yuko through this tattoo without any problem. This tattoo linked Yuko and Souta through the contract they possessed. Bargan explained to Souta the importance of this tattoo. Souta could do a lot of things with this just like the [Summoning] skill he used. If it got stronger, he could communicate with Yuko without any problems. "Well, well, well, can I kill all the prisoners here?" Souta said with a smile while looking at the prisoners'' faces. The prisoners gulped their saliva when they heard his words. All of them looked at Souta with a nervous expression. They don''t want to die. Once again, the ground shook heavily and three monsters emerged from the ground. Two of these emerged from the prison cells of the prisoners and the remaining one emerged in front of Souta and Yuko. The monsters had a five-meter tall furry body. It has a pair of red gleaming eyes and a pair of sharp fangs that could tear apart any iron. It has three pointed vines on its back. These vines were stretchable and the monsters used these vines for offensive attacks. Lastly, the monsters have a two-meter long tail that was covered in black spikes. These monsters were called dark vine eaters. "I don''t want to die!! Help me! Help!!" He shouted as the dark vine eater opened its mouth. Then, it bit his waist into half. Blood splattered on the ground the dark vine eaters eat the prisoner. Panic spread through the whole prison in an instant. The appearance of the dark vine eaters brought terror to the prisoners here. They shouted and called the guards but it seems that the guard wasn''t here. No matter how loud they shouted, the guards wouldn''t be able to hear them. "Hmm..." Souta lifted his head and looked closely at the dark vine eater in front of his face. "Graaaah~" The dark vine eater slowly opened its mouth revealing sharp teeth and fangs. Its red eyes were looking at Souta. Souta smirked and said, "Yuko..." Suddenly, the head of the dark vine eater crashed on the ground. Bang! Blood splattered and it created a small crater. A loud sound rang in the whole area as the head of the dark vine eater crashed on the ground. Roar! Yuko roared as she smashed the head of the dark vine eater repeatedly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Every hit that landed on the head of the dark vine eater shook the ground. The dark vine eater struggled but tentacles like shadows hold the body of the monsters. It prevented the dark vine eater from moving. Bang! Bang! Bang! Yuko continued to smash the head of the dark vine eater until it died. Just like that, they managed to kill the monster of this level. "You''ve grown stronger." Souta smiled as he patted Yuko''s back. Yuko looked at him. She then stuck out her tongue and licked his cheeks. Souta stopped her and he looked at the scared prisoners. One of the prisoners took his attention. He frowned and looked at the prisoner. The prisoner was a middle-aged man with messy hair. The man had a pair of furry ears on the side of his head. The color of his skin was dark purple. He was a half-moon elf and half-beast kin. His clothes were in totter. His body was covered in wounds and blood. Souta felt a fierce power inside this man. The power of this prisoner was stronger than him. He didn''t think that he would meet a man this powerful in this dukedom. He approached the cell of the man and asked, "Hey, who are you?" The middle-aged man lifted his head and looked at Souta in the eyes. "Who are you?" He asked back. Souta frowned deeper when he heard the middle-aged man. He then smiled and said, "Oh, I forgot that I should introduce myself first. Forgive for my rudeness. I''m Souta Ieshi, a Rank C Adventurer from Hebrei Kingdom." "C-rank? Hebrei kingdom? That''s a powerful country." The middle-aged man muttered. "What are you doing here in this small dukedom?" "I''m here to complete a quest that I took. The quest is about to investigate the duke of this dukedom." Souta answered with a smile on his face. "You? Do you have any idea what''s happening in this place?" The middle-aged man asked with a serious expression. "Yes, I know but I currently don''t have any idea who''s the mastermind," Souta replied to the middle-aged man. "Me? I''m Djalvin Grumiyn, the current Guild master of the Adventurers Guild." The middle-aged man introduced himself. Souta was surprised to find the Guild master of the Fersch dukedom''s Adventurers Guild in prison. From his information, the Guild master left the Dukedom and hasn''t shown himself until now. To think that the Guild master was a prisoner. "Are you lying?" He asked. "Do I look like I''m lying?" Djalvin asked while looking at Souta in the eyes. "No." Souta shook his head. He then rubbed his chin and pondered what should he do with this man. In the end, Souta decided to free the guild master. Shiing! Souta used the vajra sword to cut down the cell and the chains binding the guild master. "I freed you, so answer one of my questions." He said to the grandmaster. "And what do you want to know?" The guild master asked back as he stood up and stretched his body. "I wanted to know why you got caught," Souta said as he placed the vajra sword in its sheath. The guild master stepped out of his cell before he explained to Souta how he got caught. A month ago, when the guild master was going to leave the Fersch dukedom to send a request for help to the neighboring Adventurers Guilds someone ambushed him outside the dukedom. Before this, the guild master sent a messenger to ask for help but those people never came back. Since he didn''t have a communication talisman to report to the other guilds, he had no other choice but to personally ask for help. Outside of the Fersch dukedom, a monster with a monster orb appeared before him. With his power, the guild master wouldn''t have any problem fighting it but there were dozens of dark vine eaters. Those monsters attacked him at the same time without caring for their lives. In the end, he loses and got captured by a man wearing a mask. It must be the master of those dark vine eaters. The man said that it was not the right time to kill him and he''s a reserve in case something unexpected happened. This was one of the problems in the Adventurers Guild in a small land. The main guild didn''t have them as their priorities so they don''t have any sort of communication. If this was the Adventurers Guild of the Ladros City, it will have a talisman that could easily contact other branches of the guild and the main guild. "So you''re one of the important ingredients..." Souta exclaimed when he heard the guild master''s story. "Ingredients...?" The guild master looked at Souta with a questioning gaze. "Yeah, haven''t you realize it. That man is a tamer like me and he knew some dark evolutionary path." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "He will use the organs of humans and demis to evolved his monsters and you, you''re a B-rank Adventurer. An organ of a B-rank must be precious to him." "Important? Then, why would that man put me here with other prisoners if I''m that important to him?" The guild master said. "Well, I guess that he doesn''t need you right now as you''re just a reserve." Souta grinned then he opened his arms widely, "Can you feel this best feram? This is the energy of a monster evolving to fourth evolution. The monster is undergoing evolution right now and this is the right moment to disrupt him." "You mean..." The guild master opened his eyes widely as he realized what Souta was trying to say. "Yes, I''m going there to stop the evolution and I wanted you to help me," Souta said to the guild master. 175 Going Outside He knew that the guild master was a B-rank adventurer. The prerequisite requirement to become a branch guild master was to have the power of a B-rank. That''s the minimum power level if one wanted to become a guild master. "Can I trust you?" The guild master asked Souta with a serious expression. He still didn''t know if he could trust Souta or not. "You don''t have a choice but to trust me or else this dukedom will fall," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. The power of the B-rank adventurer was important for this mission. If Souta wanted to take down the tamer then he needed to have at least one B-rank beside him to hold that monsters. Souta knew that the guild master wasn''t a match to a monster that undergo fourth evolution. That''s why he planned to disrupt the evolution. No, even at the current power of that monster the guild master still didn''t have a chance to defeat it. A single B-rank wasn''t enough to defeat a monster at the peak of the third evolution. In the game, the third evolution monster was between level 40 - 60. So defeating it was impossible for a mere B-rank. They needed at least a party of B-rank to defeat a monster at the middle level of third evolution, and three parties consisted of B-rank to defeat a monster at the peak of third evolution. A single A-rank was needed to fight this level of monsters. But it still wasn''t enough to defeat it. Well, it all depends on the skills of the adventurers and the type of monster. But from the guild master''s story, it seems that he already fought this monster before when he got captured. The power of the guild master must be between B-rank and A-rank. Looking back at that monster in the basement, Souta thought that the monster didn''t show its true prowess to the guild master. Well, the guild master was clearly at a disadvantage at that time and the tamer must have launched a surprised attack to injured the guild master. "I understand. I''ll fight that monster." The guild master nodded his head. "You''ll fight that monster while I''m going to fight the tamer. I wanted to see his taming skills and compared it to mine." Souta said. Judging from the guild master''s current condition, Souta thought that the guild master could only fight that monster for ten minutes. He also considered that the monsters in the basement weren''t at its peak because they would disrupt its evolution. These ten minutes were enough for Souta to handle the tamer. Suddenly, Souta heard footsteps that disrupted his thoughts. The guild master and Yuko also heard it. "I''m wondering where are the guys that will silence us but now they are here," Souta said as he smiled as he looked at the hallway. "Kill them. And I''ll handle these people." Souta said before he stepped forward and pulled out his sword. His shadows spread out and it covered the entire floor. After a few moments, a group of guards appeared in Souta''s vision. At the same time, the shadows on the floor burst out and bound the guards with high speed. The guards didn''t expect this at all. They thought that the prisoners were inside their cells. "Is that it? The tamer really asked these weak people to silence me and the guild master." Souta muttered as he slowly approached the guards. He was doubtful if these people were really in cahoots with the tamer. He looked at them from top to bottom before he asked, "Who asked you to come here? If you answered my question truthfully then I''ll let you live. If not I''ll kill you painfully." The cold expression of Souta scared the shit out of the guards. They began to tremble and sweat heavily. They said everything they know to Souta. ... Souta fixed his clothes and looked down at the lifeless body of the guards with a cold expression. He was right. These people were here to kill him and the guild master. "They thought that I''m going to spare them. If I''m Bryan, I will spare them but I''m not him." He muttered and he looked back. He saw the guild master looking at him. "You''re quite merciless." The guild master said. "Yeah, I agree with that." Souta nodded and he asked, "Do you prefer the other way?" "Nope, who knows how many people they killed?" The guild master said as he shook his head. He wasn''t going to spare those people too. The guild master was an adventurer so he must have killed a bunch of people before. The work of an adventurer revolved around killing. The bandits and monsters were the usual targets of the adventurers. Souta smiled and he looked behind the guild master. He saw the carcass of the two dark vine eaters. It seems that the guild master already killed the two dark vine eaters. As expected of a branch guild master, he could effortlessly kill someone at this level. "Let''s go towards the duke mansion. The monster is inside there." Souta said to the guild master. The guild master nodded his head. Both of them went outside of the prison and the chaos in the dukedom. Countless dark vine eaters were rampaging around the whole land. It feels like this was a monster tide. But Souta and the guild master knew that the tamer was the caused of this chaos. Souta glanced at the guild master and said, "Wait for me here. I''ll leave Yuko here with you." The guild master looked at the red fur bear before he nodded his head to Souta. He actually wanted to ask what Souta''s going to do but he held himself back. [Shadow Ball]! Souta opened his palm and a black ball of shadows formed on top of his palm. He then vanished leaving the ball of shadows with them. ... Souta appeared in the middle of the city. He was on top of a small house. Earlier when he promoted his class, Souta casted the [Shadow Ball] spell and the ball went outside of the prison. He controlled the ball of shadow to go here in this place. He looked around and ignored those monsters that were causing destruction. "That''s old man Jared''s house if I''m not wrong." Souta muttered as he looked at the small house in front of him. Before he separated with old man Jared, Souta asked the old man Jared''s house so that they could contact him after he finished his quest. Thud! Souta jumped down and landed in front of the house. He raised his hand and opened the door. "Old man! I''m here, Souta!" Souta shouted so that the old man would know that he arrived. He still didn''t even know if old man Jared was still here in his house as there''s a possibility that old man Jared would evacuate because of the chaos in the whole dukedom. After a few seconds, Souta didn''t heard old man Jared''s reply. He didn''t have a choice but to stepped inside the house. Inside the house, Souta found old man Jared lying on the ground. It seems that he loses his consciousness because of the dense best feram in the atmosphere. His frail body couldn''t take the berserk power of the best feram. Souta squatted down and placed his palm on top of old man Jared''s forehead. "Wake up..." He muttered as he poured his mana inside the old man Jared''s body to protect him from best feram. "It''s harder than I thought..." Souta muttered as he felt that his mana was dispersing because of the best feram. He took a blue potion in his pocket and drunk it without hesitation. He then poured a huge amount of mana to counter squeeze out all the best feram inside old man Jared''s body. A huge amount of mana was needed to counter small amount of best feram. This place was quite far from the duke''s mansion so the best feram here wasn''t as dense as in the mansion. Souta could still counter it with his level of mana control. After a few moments, old man Jared slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Souta''s face. "You''re quite lucky old man. You would die if not for me." Souta grinned and said to old man Jared. Old man Jared pushed himself in a seated position and asked, "What happened to me?" "You lose your consciousness after the best feram swallowed the whole dukedom. Your body couldn''t take it and you would die if you let yourself expose to best feram." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "One hour. If you let yourself frail body expose to best feram you would die within one hour." "Wha-" Old man Jared was surprised when he heard Souta mentioned that he was going to die. 176 Evolution "Yes, if I didn''t help then you would surely die after one hour," Souta said to old man Jared with a serious expression. "Thanks for your help. But what happened to the city?" Old man Jared looked at Souta with a grateful expression. "Hmm... That''s a good question. I want you to prepare yourself." Souta said as he walked towards the window and opened it. He added, "A group of dark vine eaters attacked the whole Fersch dukedom. The other people experience what you experienced just now. They were unconscious and the monsters were free to attack the defenseless people of this dukedom." He explained everything to old man Jared, including what he found in the duke''s mansion. Old man Jared opened his eyes widely while listening to his explanation. He still couldn''t believe what''s happening in the dukedom. "That..." Old man Jared muttered with a dazed expression. Souta told him that the duke was gone and someone was controlling him. The city became a sacrificial den for the monsters of the tamer. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the Investigation quest!] [You''ve received 20,000 exp, 8 free attribute points, and 5 skill points!] This was Souta''s purpose in coming here. He wanted to finish his report and get the rewards before fighting the mastermind. Souta looked at old man Jared and said, "I already completed my quest to investigate the duke and I''ve given you my report. After this, I''ll wait for my rewards as you promised." "Okay." Old man Jared looked down at his feet and was feeling hopeless. Souta looked down at the old man and said, "What will you do? You''re homeland is getting destroyed by some unknown person. Everything in this city will be gone after this incident." Old man Jared slowly lifted up his head and asked, "Is there a way to avoid this?" Souta grinned inwardly when he heard old man Jared''s words. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "No, there''s no way to stop this." Old man Jared felt something when he heard Souta''s words. He felt hope contradictory to Souta''s words. Souta said that there''s no way to stop this but he felt the opposite. He grabbed Souta''s foot and said, "C-Can you do it? P-Please, h-help us..." He said those words with the hope that Souta will help him. Souta looked down at old man Jared and said with a cold look, "What will you give me in return?" "I..." Old man Jared was lost in thoughts. "Everything... Give me everything that you have." Souta said with a cold expression. ''You''re like a demon.'' Saya commented. ... Ohm! In an instant, the dense best feram in the atmosphere was sucked by the creature inside the duke''s mansion. He turned his head and looked at the red fur bear beside him. He saw that the red fur bear was also looking at him. "Do you understand me?" The guild master asked. Yuko just tilted her head in confusion. She didn''t know what this guy was planning to do. "Ah, There''s no use... I should probably go there alone." The guild master sighed as he massaged his temples. He looked at the ball of shadows that Souta left. Swoosh! Suddenly, the ball of shadows was replaced by Souta''s figure. "You are here!" The guild master exclaimed when he saw Souta appeared. "Yeah, yeah. We should move now." Souta said as he turned his head to look at the duke''s mansion. He also felt it too. The best feram in the atmosphere was sucked by the creature in the basement of the duke''s mansion. The monster must be starting the evolution. It would take a whole five minutes to complete the evolution so Souta and the guild master had to disrupt it right now before the monster finished its evolution. "Yeah, this is getting worse." The guild master said with a frown on his face. "Yuko, follow me," Souta said as he dashed towards the duke''s mansion. Yuko followed behind him without hesitation. The guild master looked at Souta''s back. He actually wanted to ask what Souta did but he knew that he had no time to ask a question as the monster was undergoing evolution right now. ... Souta and the rest arrived in the duke''s mansion. The guards around here were lying down on the ground. They were closed to the monster so they probably lose their consciousness when the best feram burst out. Souta looked at the guild master and asked, "Are you a close combat type or long-range type fighter?" "Me? I''d prefer fighting in melee." The guild master replied to him. "Okay, then can you create a hole on the ground towards the monster there," Souta said as he pointed at the ground. "I understand. That''s the fastest way to go there." The guild master nodded and looked down. He took a deep breath and his muscle budge out. Swoosh! He jumped in the air and focused his attention on the ground. [Air Walk]! The guild master used the combat arts [Air Walk]. He stepped in the air and used this to throw his body towards the ground. Boom! The guild master tore through the hard rocks. His fist easily made a hole on the ground as his body continued to move forward, destroying everything in his way. Looking at this, Souta grinned and he jumped down on the hole that the guild master made. Yuko followed her master without hesitation. Thud! Thud! Souta and Yuko arrived in the basement with a loud sound. He found the guild master in front of him while looking at the thing in the center of the room. That thing was a huge white cocoon with roots scattered around the room. The roots were thumping with dense energy inside it. It was overflowing with a powerful aura. Souta recalled this white cocoon. When he evolved before, a white cocoon covered his body too and it also took five minutes to complete his evolution. The only difference was that this evolution was pumping a large amount of best feram inside the white cocoon. He thought that this was the same for all monsters and he was right. The only difference was the energy output. This monster was undergoing its fourth evolution so the power it possessed was tremendous. The monster that was evolving right now was the Dark Vine Stinger and it was going to evolve to Terror Vine Devourer. The Terror Vine Devourer was a very powerful and ominous monster that devoured humans and demis internal organs. Souta knitted his bows tightly before he said, "Guild master, I''ll leave it to you. Just focus on stopping the evolution. I''ll handle the rest." The guild master nodded before he charged towards the white cocoon. But a huge figure appeared blocking his way. This figure was none other than the dark vine eater. Souta quickly moved his body after he casted his buff spells and combat arts. Swoosh! In just a second, he appeared beside the dark vine eater. He opened his palm and grabbed the vines on the back of the monster. Souta threw it towards the mid-air and Yuko chased towards the dark vine eater. Yuko smashed the dark vine eater on the ground causing a spider web crack to formed on the ground. Boom! She landed on top of the dark vine eater. Yuko held it down before she opened her mouth and a ball of fire formed. It spun quickly and gathered more energy before she launched it towards the dark vine eater at point-blank range. [Burning Shout]! Yuko used her trait skill to kill one dark vine eater that Souta threw at her. ... "Stop them!!" Souta and the guild master heard the desperate voice of a man. They ignored it as more than ten dark vine eaters appeared in front of the guild master blocking his way towards the white cocoon. "Haha, I will not let any of you interfere with my plan." ''Do you think that this number will be enough to stop me?'' Souta thought as he wrapped his fingers around the handle of the vajra sword. He quickly pulled it out and used [Crimson Moon] skill. Swoosh!! A red clean line appeared on the body of the dark vine eaters. After a few seconds, their upper body fell and the blood splattered on the ground, creating a small pool of blood. "What?!!" Souta stopped on his track as he knew that no one would block the guild master''s way anymore. He turned around and looked in the direction where the voice coming from. He saw a man wearing a full plate silver armor. The man has a long sword hanging on his waist. The symbol on the right chest of the armor indicated that he was a knight of the duke''s family. Souta smirked and said, "I see. So that''s why you managed to kill the duke and control his body using the power of Dark Vine Stinger." 177 Dark Vine Stinger The man looked at Souta with rage in his eyes. His eyes didn''t stay longer on Souta as he was focused on the guild master. "Damn! If I only knew that you two will block my way... I would''ve killed you before." The man cursed as he gritted his teeth. He was feeling restless as he prepared this evolution for a very long time. He couldn''t afford to fail this time. Once he has a pet of fourth evolution monster, he would become unrivaled in the small kingdoms and countries. A fourth evolution was a realm closer to the monster lord. "You wouldn''t be able to stop the guild master with me blocking your way." Souta looked at the man in the eyes and asked, "Tell me what you feel right now? Do you feel nervous, scared, or... rage?" "You! I''ll kill you and everyone in this place! For disrupting my plan, I''ll take all of your life! I''ll leave my pets to eat your body!!" The man opened his arms widely and dozens of dark vine eaters appeared behind him. Yuko and Souta looked at all the monsters behind the man with a serious expression. No matter how powerful they are, they still couldn''t handle it several dozens of dark vine eaters attack them at the same time. Souta gripped the vajra sword tightly and channeled his energy inside it. He was going to charge towards the man with Yuko when a powerful roar shook the entire place. Boom!! Even without looking, Souta guessed that the guild master did a good job in disrupting the evolution of the dark vine stinger into terror vine devourer. The face of the man contorted in anger as he watched the scene in front of him. He didn''t think that all the man that he prepared would crumble like this. Even though he was writhing in rage, he still didn''t charge to stop the guild master. He knew that Souta and the red fur bear would block his way. He could only watch as the white cocoon formed a crack on its surface. The cracks spread quickly before it broke into tiny pieces. It then faded into thin air. What revealed was a huge furry body of a monster, the dark vine stinger. It has the same appearance as the dark vine eater and the only difference was the vines on its back. The vines were rooted in the golden color orb on the back of the monster. The vines had the same color of the orb and it was covered in thick dense best feram. Somehow, the best feram around the dark vine eater was highly unstable. It must be because it didn''t finish its evolution and it took severe internal injury. Despite that, the power of best feram was still a problem to Souta and the guild master. The dark vine eater stretched out its hands and smashed the ground. Boom! He shook his head and looked back at the dark vine eater. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Ranny... The duke trust you as his right hand to protect the whole dukedom but who would have thought that you''re the one who would kill him and bring destruction to the Fersch dukedom" That''s right. Ranny was the name of the mastermind. He was the commander of the knights of the duke''s family. He was also the one who was tasked to protect this place from invaders and other disasters. "Damn! I don''t care about that! Do you know what that duke did to me?!" Ranny shouted at the top of his lungs. The guild master shook his head and he focused his attention on the powerful monster in front of him. His muscles bulge out as he opened his palm and charged towards the dark vine stinger. Swoosh! He grabbed the neck of the monster and launched himself in the air. Boom! They hit the ceiling of the basement but the guild master used [Air Walk] to step on the air. This increased his power and they broke the ceiling of the basement. The guild master used his pure brute strength to shattered the thick ceiling. It was impossible for normal adventurers but the guild master was veteran B-rank for a long time. His power was close to those A-rank adventurers. They rose one hundred meters above the ground. The dark vine stinger opened its mouth and a condensed best feram formed in it. ''[Bestrou]? No good?!'' The guild master released his grip on the neck of the monster and he quickly shifted his body to the side. The dark vine stinger shot a powerful beam and the guild master saw it coming so he managed to avoid it easily. Swoosh! The beam shot on the town and it caused a powerful explosion that destroyed dozen of houses around the Fersch dukedom. Boom! Everyone in the dukedom was shocked when the explosion appeared. The ground heavily shook and a powerful shockwave swept everything around the explosion. Lumilia, Bryan, and Brando who were helping the adventurers fight the dark vine eaters around the dukedom stop moving as the huge explosion stunned them. "This..." Lumilia muttered with a surprised expression. The destructive power of that explosion rivaled the things that happened in the Gripin city. The shockwave swept out and Brando stood in front of them. He blocked the shockwave that destroyed several houses in the vicinity. "Damn! This is bad!" Brando gritted his teeth as his blood flow down from his mouth. Boom! Boom! Several shockwaves once again swept out but it came from different direction. The one from before came from the huge explosion but these shockwaves came from other direction. Lumilia turned her head and looked at the duke''s mansion. She saw a monster and a person clashing at high speed that caused all these shockwaves. She wondered who''s the one fighting that powerful monster. If it was Souta, she would be able to recognize him immediately. She immediately looked at Bryan and Brando and shouted, "We need to get out of here as soon as possible! The danger of staying inside the dukedom increased several times!" The scale of this battle was the same as the one in the Gripin city. No, there''s a possibility that this one was higher. The dark vine eaters rampaging around the dukedom didn''t matter anymore. It would also die if it stayed in this place and received those shockwaves. This dukedom was small compared to the Gripin city so if the battle continued this dukedom was likely to get destroyed along with its citizens. "What about the people?!" Bryan asked Lumilia. "We''ll rescue them. We''ll carry one person each and leave this place. We also need to notify the other adventurers about the danger." Lumilia replied to him. "Okay." Brando nodded at her. Lumilia knew that they couldn''t rescue everyone in this dukedom. It wasn''t the same as the Gripin city where the city guards were protecting the civilian from any harm. This time, they lacked the manpower to help the people in need as the guards and the adventurers could barely kill those dark vine eaters. Also, the power level of the people here was low compared to the people in the Gripin city. Such difference made the casualties higher. She bit her lower lips until blood flows down. ''Souta, I''m sorry I could not help you this time.'' ... Boom! Boom! The guild master threw several powerful punches on the furry body of the dark vine stinger. The vines on the back of the dark vine stinger stretched out and it shot towards the guild master. [Compact Muscle]! [Flesh Boosting]! The guild master used combat arts to increased his overall stats and swiftly avoided all the vines. A simple barrier spell wouldn''t work against this type of attack. The power of best feram could shatter the spell made of mana easily. The guild master rushed to the side of the monster and he pulled back his fist. [Wind Grinding Blow]! Winds spun around his fist and he threw it towards the side of the dark vine stinger. Bang! Suddenly, the guild master felt pain at his side as the dark vine stinger swung its tail at him. He flew at high speed and crashed inside the duke''s mansion. "Argh!" He spat a mouthful of blood. All the powerful shot that he launched could barely damage the dark vine stinger. He knew that he was no match against a monster that was on the verge of evolving into fourth evolution. The dark vine stinger was already injured because of the failed evolution. Despite this, the guild master was still not a match for this powerful monster. "Really, a party of A-rank is needed to subdue this monster. I''ll hold this monster for as long as I can." The guild master muttered as he patted his clothes and stood up. "I''ll leave Ranny to you, Souta." 178 Souta vs. Ranny Souta ignored him as he stared in the hole. Every second, the whole area would shake. He guessed that it would only take a few minutes before this whole place crumble. The pressure of the battle above the ground brought heavyweight on Souta and Yuko''s shoulders. Not just the two of them, Ranny and the dark vine eaters beside him felt it too. ''This man is a powerful tamer that could control a monster on third evolution and he was also powerful enough to become the commander of the duke''s knight.'' Souta thought as he looked at Ranny. He was assessing Ranny''s power level in his mind. His strongest monster, the dark vine stinger, was busy fighting the guild master. Souta didn''t have to worry about it. He only needed to be wary of Ranny''s other abilities. Actually, Souta wanted to move the battlefield to the other place but he didn''t so because he knew that a tamer at his level could instantly summon his pet at his side. If Ranny did that, Souta would be alone to fight the dark vine stinger as the guild master wouldn''t be able to come at his side easily. That''s why Souta could only endure the pressure of the battle above them while fighting this man named Ranny. He looked at Ranny''s arms, legs, and neck. He didn''t saw any tattoo or crest that could summon his pets beside him. This was a good news to Souta. It seems that Ranny didn''t use his body as a medium to summon all of his pets. He must have placed all those crests in an object. That way, Ranny could still summon his pet using that object. There''s a con in placing the crest of a pet in an object and that''s once you lose it you wouldn''t be able to use it anymore. Before a person could create a crest of the same pet the object must be destroyed first. A pet could only produce one crest at a time. But Souta was sure that does not apply to the dark vine stinger. The dark vine stinger was his powerful monster so Ranny must have placed its crest somewhere in his body. Souta opened his mouth and said, "Yuko, I''ll leave all the monster to you." "Mu." Yuko looked at him and she nodded her head. She couldn''t understand his language but she understood his intent through their connection. "Damn! I''ll make you pay the price for stopping me!!" Ranny shouted at the top of his lungs as his face was filled with madness. He opened his arms widely and more than a dozen dark vine eaters charged towards Souta and Yuko at the same time. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta jumped backward while Yuko jumped forward. She rushed forward and bit one of the dark vine eaters on the neck. She then grabbed it and smashed it towards the other dark vine eaters. Bang! The vines stretched out above and it shot down towards Yuko. [Pet Resonance]! The sense of touch, smell, hearing, sight, and taste. Not only this, the [Pet Resonance] skill could also share their energy with each other. It means that Souta could borrow Yuko''s mana and Yuko could borrow his mana. Souta was in the back and saw the vines that were heading towards Yuko''s back at high speed. Since he activated the [Pet Resonance] skill, Yuko saw the vines through their shared senses. She moved to the side and avoided the vines. The vines pierced the ground and Yuko grabbed it. She used her brute strength to pull it towards her. The dark vine eater wasn''t a monster that has powerful brute strength like a red fur bear. They couldn''t do anything as Yuko pulled them towards her. Yuko was a red fur bear that has over 30 levels. Her strength couldn''t be compared back then when she just met Souta. She was just a low-grade second evolution monster back then. It means that her level was between 20-26, but right now she was a powerful mid-grade second evolution monster. Her level was between 28-34. Swoosh! Swoosh! The dark vine eaters flew towards Yuko and she smashed them on the ground. Bang! She then opened her mouth and a ball of fire formed in it. It spun around before she shot it towards the dark vine eaters. [Burning Shout]! A wave of flames swallowed the dark vine eaters. The monsters roared in pain as their furs were getting burned. Souta smiled and he dashed forward. He jumped over Yuko and head straight towards Ranny. "I''ll take you." He said before he used [Crimson Moon] skill. Swoosh! Swoosh! Ranny shifted his body sideways and he avoided Souta''s skill easily. He then pulled out the sword that was hanging on his waist before he charged towards Souta. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta and Ranny exchanged blows with high speed. Souta wasn''t surprised at Ranny''s sword skills. Ranny was the commander of the knights of the duke''s family so he naturally has skills. Clang! Souta took a distance away from Ranny. From their exchange sword, he understood that Ranny had the power of a C-rank adventurer and was stronger than the elite knight from the Vidrato family. He frowned and he poured his mana inside his sword before he charged towards Ranny. Swoosh! "I''ll kill you! I''ll feed you to my pet!" Ranny shouted as he swung his sword at Souta. Clang! Souta used everything that he had in that swing and it caused Ranny''s sword to formed a crack on its surface. "What?!" Ranny was surprised when he saw this. His sword was a blue grade sword and to think that it would form a crack just from that exchange. He glanced at Souta''s sword and saw that nothing happened to Souta''s sword. It only means that the grade of Souta''s sword was higher than his. [Knight''s Aura]! [Hunting Down]! Ranny used his combat arts to strengthen his body. Just like Souta, he already guessed Souta''s strength. His muscles bulged out as he charged at him with a powerful momentum. Boom! Souta braced himself and he received Ranny''s charged attack. Bang! He gritted his teeth as he felt Ranny''s powerful strength. Souta looked at his remaining free attribute points. He still had 94 free attribute points. In terms of overall strength, Ranny was higher than Souta. But the gap in their strength was not that high. Souta could still close it if he used his free attribute points. Strength was the only thing that Ranny could defeat Souta. In terms of agility, Souta was slightly higher than Ranny. If Souta didn''t have the [Vajra Sword Saya] then Ranny would be able to defeat him easily. It''s a didn''t question if Souta could properly use his spells. Under the pressure of the best feram, Souta could hardly cast any spell at all. Once his mana left his body, the best feram would disperse it. If he wasn''t under the pressure of best feram, Souta could easily finish this fight now that he was a Rank 3 Mage. Swoosh! Souta crouched down as a sword passed above his head. He then moved his feet and launched a kick towards Ranny''s knees. Ranny saw it and he easily moved out to avoid Souta''s kick. Then, he swung his sword aiming at Souta''s neck. Swoosh! Souta then raised his sword and blocked his opponent''s sword. Clang! He then used 40 free attribute points to increase his strength. While he used the remaining 54 free attribute points in his agility and dexterity. Souta felt a warm energy coursing through his body and strengthening every fiber of his muscles. He gained the strength to match Ranny so he used it to pushed Ranny''s sword. "Wha-" Ranny revealed a surprised expression as he felt Souta''s strength increased to the point that it could match his own. Souta pushed Ranny''s sword and a red aura coated the blade of his sword. He slashed his sword in the air. [Cross Moon]! The cross slash in the air flew towards Ranny. Ranny took a step back but the cross slash chased him. Swoosh! "Damn!" He cursed as he looked at the cross slash that was chasing him. He tightly gripped his sword and slashed it towards the cross slash. [Raging Thunder Slash]! He used a powerful combat arts to counter Souta''s [Cross Moon]. Boom! Both of the attacks collided causing a huge gust of wind to sweep out. Smoke and dust shot up in the air covering the area ten meters around the explosion. Ranny looked around him and saw that Souta was gone. He was about to turn around when he felt pain on his back. Spurt! A huge amount of blood spurted out of his back as Souta cut through his armor. He was focused on the cross slash that was chasing him that''s why Souta managed to get behind him. "Argh!" He groaned in pain and he slashed his sword while turning back at the same time. He didn''t think that Souta would use that skill to distract him. Swoosh! 179 Rannys tears Ranny screamed in pain as his hand flew in the air. His hand landed on the ground and it dyed the ground in red color. "This is the end," Souta said as he looked at Ranny with a cold expression. He aimed the tip of his sword at Ranny''s chest and stabbed it. Putchi! The vajra sword pierced Ranny''s heart. "Hahaha!" Ranny looked at Souta and laughed. Madness filled his face and Souta thought that he snapped out. But he was wrong. Putchi! Vines burst out of the ground and it pierced his legs. Souta quickly pulled out his sword from Ranny''s chest but Ranny grabbed him preventing him from pulling out. "I got careless..." Souta muttered before he headbutted Ranny. Bang! Ranny loosened his grip on Souta and Souta used this chance to pulled out the vajra sword. He then swiftly slashed the vines on his legs. Swoosh! But before he could leave, several dark vine eaters launched their vines at Souta. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta moved his hands swiftly as he cut the vines that were attacking him. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to avoid all these vines with his injured legs. He gritted his teeth as forced himself to cut all the vines but unfortunately for him, he couldn''t do so. The vines were attacking him in all directions. Putchi! Some of the vines managed to pierce his arms and legs. Then, Souta felt a powerful energy behind him. He looked back and saw Ranny grinning at him while aiming his palm at him. "[Grand Piercing Ray]!" Ranny shouted as a powerful beam shot out of his palm. The beam flew towards Souta. Souta was shocked when he saw this. To think that Ranny would risk his energy pool just to kill him. Casting a spell under the pressure of the best feram could damage a person''s energy pool. Only people who were close to dark vine stinger''s level could use their mana to cast a spell. That''s why Gregory could still use his mana when he was fighting Souta in the Gripen city. Well, it doesn''t matter to Ranny at all. Cause Ranny was going to die as Souta stabbed his heart a moment ago. Souta gritted his teeth as he forced himself to move his body. Swoosh! "Argh!" He tried his best but the beam still hit his stomach and made a hole in it. Then, the vines bound his arms and legs. Souta spat a mouthful of blood as he didn''t have the strength to get away from the vines. This was what he got for getting careless. He looked up as he felt a powerful energy above him. The energy he felt was overwhelming and just by sensing it, Souta felt chills all over his body. He then looked back at Ranny. "Y-You''re trying to die with me," Souta said and Ranny laughed loudly. The dark vine stinger was charging a powerful [Bestrou] and it was going to shot it towards the ground, the basement where Souta and Ranny were fighting. With the power of [Bestrou], there''s no way that Souta and Ranny would survive. Not just them, every living creature that was close to duke''s mansion will die. "What the heck?!" The guild master looked at the dark vine eater with a tired expression. He was exhausted and could barely move his limbs. He stood up and took a deep breath. He prepared himself to clashed against this monster once again. "How did Ranny managed to raise a monster this powerful?" He muttered while looking at the dark vine stinger who''s charging a powerful [Bestrou] in its mouth. It took him a few seconds before he realized that the dark vine stinger wasn''t aiming at him. The monster was aiming towards the ground, no, the basement. "That''s...? What the hell are you thinking Ranny?!" The guild master shouted as he charged towards the dark vine stinger. ... Swoosh! Suddenly, a wave of flames swallowed Souta''s body and it burned down the vines that were binding him. He gritted his teeth and endured the flames as he knew where the flames came from. After a few seconds, a furry arm wrapped around his chest and pulled him. "Argh!" Blood came out of Souta''s mouth and glanced at Yuko who was trying to escape with him. The chances of them surviving this attack was too low. Even if they survive, Souta and Yuko would take a very long time before they could recover. "I can''t die here!" Souta shouted while looking at Ranny. He refused to die like this. Everything that he did was for his survival. It was for him to survive in future events. Because of one mistake, everything will fall apart. That''s the same for Ranny. Ranny got careless at the cross slash and forgot Souta. It led him to be stabbed in the chest by Souta. "Vanessa... I''m coming now..." Randy muttered in a low voice. He ignored everything as he simply looked up in the sky. He closed his eyes as tears drip down from his eyes. He recalled the beautiful face of his wife, Vanessa. Ranny was an ordinary teenager at that time when he met Caedmon. Caedmon wasn''t the duke at the time. Ranny was an aspiring knight and he had a talent for it. His family recruited Ranny. One morning, the Caedmon saw Ranny training his swordsmanship early in the morning. He was amazed at Ranny''s skill and decided to join his training. After that, both of them became friends. As time passed by, Ranny grew stronger and his rank rose up quickly. He became a captain of a small squad of knights at a young age. One day, when he was patrolling in the gate he met a girl named Vanessa, the girl who''s going to become his wife in the future. At first, he only admired her but after a few years, he fell in love with Vanessa. He confessed his feelings to her and fortunately, Vanessa accepted his feelings for her. It took five years before the two of them got married to each other. The previous duke died at that time and Caedmon became the next duke of the Fersch dukedom. Caedmon also married his fiancee at that time. They were living a happy life and no problem occur in the Fersch dukedom. Ranny continued to protect the dukedom with his strength. Their land continued to prosper until some of the large countries around them pressured their dukedom. Caedmon did his best to make their dukedom a large country but they got bullied. A lot of merchants stopped coming to their lands. They got isolated and no country was on their side. Their allied countries broke the alliance as they don''t want to get offend the large countries. Caedmon did everything he could and the people in their land supported him including Ranny. And one day, the folks in their land discovered an unknown ruin. Ranny led a group of trained soldiers to the unknown ruins. There, he discovered the inheritance of a powerful tamer from ancient times. He hid all the documents containing the tamer''s research in his group and no one knew that he got it. He trained his ability and became a full-fledged tamer to the point that his improvements in his sword skills become stagnant. He thought at that time that this power was to protect his wife Vanessa and the whole Fersch dukedom. He got an ambition where their dukedom would become a large country. He wanted to use his power to protect this dukedom from those large countries. Ranny was ready to tell Caedmon about his tamer ability. He wanted to get back to those countries who bullied them using his powers, but something horrible happened to him. When he got back to the duke mansion after his training he saw Caedmon and his wife having an affair. At that time rage filled his heart. He wanted to kill both of them but he managed to calm himself down. He thought why should he help Caedmon if he''s doing that to his wife behind his back. After a few days, his wife, Vanessa, hung herself leaving a letter to Ranny. Ranny read her letter and understood everything. He cried like a baby for the first time in his life. His wife doesn''t have to die. If she personally said it to him, Ranny would forgive her. They will leave this land and live a life far away from this dukedom. But it was impossible now. It was the start of his change. Ranny decided to take down the duke along this dukedom that he worked hard to protect. He wanted to destroy everything that Caedmon owned just like how he threatened his wife. From the letter, Caedmon threatened Vanessa that he would fire Ranny if they didn''t do it. To think that the duke that everyone admired could do horrible things like this one. It was unforgivable. He would destroy everything with his power. ... Souta looked at Ranny''s sad face and saw tears drip down from his eyes. Suddenly, the ceiling exploded and a powerful beam shot down like a pillar. And Souta heard a voice in his mind. ''Ufufu, you''re always telling your party to not underestimate their opponents but you''re the one who underestimated your opponent.'' Saya laughed in his head. ''Let me take over and I''ll handle the rest.'' Souta''s pupils turned red as he emitted a powerful red aura. 180 Thanks for giving me a lesson Souta''s pupils turned red and his body emitted a fearsome crimson aura. Then, a figure of a woman with a pair of horn materialized behind him. The woman behind him wasn''t a physical body. It was made of pure and dense energy. Ohm! The woman seemed to be laughing at the state of Ranny. She then opened her arms and hugged Souta from behind. Her body fused with Souta and it increased his power greatly. Boom! A powerful beam broke the ceiling easily. The whole ground was shaking nonstop and everything seemed to slow down. "Vanessa... I''m sorry..." Ranny muttered as he looked at the powerful beam that going down towards the whole place. He already accepted his death and he would embrace it without hesitation. [Quicksilver]! Souta waved his hands and a silver orb appeared in his hand. The silver orb expanded and it swallowed everything. All the things inside the silver orb have their speed slow down by half, no, it feels like the time slow down inside the silver orb. The debris of rocks and the beam slowed down including Ranny. But there''s an exception to this and that''s Souta. Souta released the vajra sword in his hand and he looked at both of his palms with a surprised expression. The vajra sword simply floated beside him. "This...? What the hell is this body?" Souta''s voice was different from his normal one. Right now, the voice of a woman resonated every time he spoke. Saya, the will inside the [Vajra Sword Saya], was the one who''s controlling Souta''s body. She felt that all the spells that Souta knew were imprinted in his inner soul. It means that all of Souta''s spells were an inner spell. Not that she mentioned it, she recalled how Souta spammed the [Shadow Bind] and [Shadow Spike] spells in the Gripen city. "How did Souta imprinted all these spells in his inner consciousness?" Souta muttered with a surprised expression on his face. Saya couldn''t believe what she discovered inside Souta''s body. A normal person wouldn''t choose any spell as their inner spell. They would only choose a powerful spell that was compatible with their fighting style as their inner spell. Imprinting three magic circles in a person''s inner consciousness was already hard but Souta''s inner consciousness had a total of nine magic circles. Nine magic circles in one''s inner consciousness weren''t that surprising. In ancient times, there were people capable of imprinting nine magic circles in their inner consciousness. What shocked Saya was Souta didn''t care about it. It feels as if... as if Souta could imprint all the spells that he knew in his inner consciousness. "Well, let''s not think about it for now." Souta shook his head and placed all this thought in the back of his mind. He then looked at Ranny. He opened his palm and grabbed the handle of the vajra sword beside him. Thud! [Power Absorption Shield]! Swoosh! A three-layered barrier formed around Yuko. It will protect her from any harm. This barrier was a tier 3 spell and Saya was sure that this spell was enough for Yuko to not die from the power of [Bestrou]. "5 seconds left..." Souta mumbled as he looked at the [Bestrou] that was shooting down towards them. More than this, Saya would lose control over Souta''s body like what happened in the Bullmar village. That''s why most of the people that she possessed in the Bullmar village were attacking other people like a zombie. The energy that she stored inside the sword was quickly disappearing because of her constant use of powerful spells like [Quicksilver] and [Power Absorption Shield]. He simply swung his sword and blood spurted out of Ranny''s neck. Putchi! Souta looked up and took an orange potion in his pocket. This orange potion was a monster potion. He threw it in the air and slashed it. The potion was cut in half and the orange liquid was absorbed by the vajra sword. "This is enough..." He muttered and pointed his sword above him and charged powerful energy. Ohm! A red energy spun on the tip of the sword like a razor. This was no ordinary energy as there was a huge amount of best feram spinning inside it. It expanded and it shrunk before Souta shot it towards the [Bestrou] above. [Heavenly Crimson Ray]! A soon as Souta shot this powerful spell, the [Quicksilver] spell disappeared. Everything went back to normal speed. Boom! The [Bestrou] and the [Heavenly Crimson Ray] spell collided causing a distortion in the air. Powerful waves of energy sent ripples in the surrounding area before it caused a huge and powerful explosion. Boom! The explosion swallowed a huge part of the Fersch dukedom. Everyone around the land saw this huge explosion. Even the village near the dukedom saw it from far away. A huge mushroom of smoke and dust rose up. Everything in the diameter of five kilometers was annihilated. The explosion corrupted the mana in the air and every that inhaled it will experience intense pain in their mana pool. ... Lumilia, Brando, and Bryan saw a blinding light in the duke''s mansion before they heard a deafening sound. It was followed by an enormous explosion that could swallow up the whole Fersch dukedom. The ground shook heavily and it didn''t stop at all. Cracks formed on the floor before it collapsed. "Whoa!" Bryan looked up at the explosion with an amazed expression. Brando and Lumilia felt the explosion was sucking all the mana and air in the vicinity around the explosion. "What''s happening...?" Lumilia muttered as she felt a huge amount of mana was being sucked by the explosion. "Souta, just what did you do?" Brando muttered while looking at the explosion. ... Swoosh! "Huff... Huff..." Souta was standing alone in the pile of rocks. His chest was heaving up and down. He was exhausted and tired. His body was full of wounds. He waved his hands and casted a powerful healing spell. [Revitalize]! The wounds in his body started to close at a rapid pace. After a few seconds, all grave wounds in his body was gone. Despite being a powerful healing spell, there were still a few wounds and bruises over his body. It couldn''t completely heal the wounds caused by [Bestrou] of the peak third evolution monster. "I''m done, I''ll leave it to you. I already minimize the damage of the explosion so the Fersch dukedom is still standing up..." He paused for a moment before he added, "I''m going to sleep for one month to recover my strength. I hope you''re still alive after I woke up. Don''t become overconfident in your skills as there''s a lot of powerful creatures in this world. I know that you understand it." Souta closed his eyes and he fell to the ground. After a few moments, he opened his eyes. Souta stood up and patted the dust on his body. Saya was not controlling his body anymore. "Damn!" Souta cursed out loudly. Because of his one mistake, this happened to him, Yuko, and Saya. He should have decapitated Ranny at that time when he have the chance. He was mad at himself as he became overconfident in his skills and abilities that led things to become like this. "Argh! Fuck!" Souta heavily stomped his foot on the rocks beneath his feet. Bang! Souta then took a deep breath to calm himself. He lost his composure there. "I still need to do something..." He said as he turned his head and looked at the thick smoke around him. The smoke was poisonous to ordinary people but it seems that Saya did something to his body so that it would not affect him. The smoke slowly disappeared as the wind blew strongly. What appeared was the huge body of the dark vine stinger. "Thanks for saving me, Saya. And thanks for giving me a lesson today." Souta said as he stretched his arm and he grabbed the handle of the vajra sword. He looked at the dark vine stinger with a cold expression on his face. He knew that this monster was severely injured. Because of that explosion, the monster received grave injuries in its body. Also, when Ranny died its inner consciousness took some damage as the contract was forcefully destroyed by killing Ranny. The monster orb on its back has a crack on its surface. The dark vine stinger was too weak right now but for Souta''s current strength it was still a strong opponent. The chances of him defeating this opponent were fifty percent. The best feram in the air was thin and Souta could cast his spell with this condition. "Okay, let me handle you," Souta said while looking at the dark vine stinger and he took out a red potion in his pocket. It took the cap and drunk it without hesitation. After drinking one potion, Souta took another and drunk it again. He kept doing it until he runs out of health potion. 181 Vs. Dark Vine Stinger About Saya, Souta will forget it for now as his priority was to kill this monster. [Pet Resonance]! Souta activated the skill and he immediately knew that Yuko was fine because of their shared senses. "Let me borrow your mana for a bit, Yuko," Souta muttered and a huge amount of mana gushed fort in his body. [Transfer Boost]! He then activated his skill [Transfer Boost] that will increase the energy he took from Yuko by twenty percent. [Summoning], [Pet Resonance], and [Transfer Boost] were all skills that Souta learned from his teacher, Bargan. These three skills could help him and Yuko a lot when they were fighting an opponent stronger than them. Souta''s body was overflowing with energy. He tightly gripped the vajra sword and channeled the remaining energy of the sword into his body. Ohm! The color of his aura turned crimson. The killing intent in his eyes didn''t trouble his reasoning at all. "Graaa..." The dark vine eater lifted up its bloody head as it felt Souta''s bloodlust. It looked at Souta and rage-filled its whole body. This man in front of him was the one who killed its master. The ground crumbled as it took a step forward. "Huff..." Souta inhaled deeply and he slightly bent his knees. He imbued a large amount of his energy in his legs as he ignored the defense in his upper body. His upper body right now wasn''t protected by his energy, so one hit from the dark vine stinger and Souta was gone. "Stay here for a while, Yuko." Souta launched himself towards the dark vine stinger leaving these words to Yuko. Yuko could observe him through their resonance skill so she didn''t have to worry about him. Boom! Souta arrived in front of the dark vine stinger in just a second. It was not surprising because he put all of his strength and energy into his legs. "Ah!" He shouted as he shifted his strength and energy into his left arm. The air in his legs disappeared as it went in his left arm. At the same time, he heard a system prompt in his mind. *Ding!* [Proficiency reached]! [You''ve leveled up the skill Mana Manipulation to level 4!] He used the momentum of his speed to launched a powerful blow on the stomach of the dark vine stinger. Boom! Ripples appeared on the body of the monster as Souta''s punch landed on it. It flew in the air at high speed. Tentacles like shadows formed in front of him and Souta used it to launched himself towards the dark vine stinger. Swoosh! Souta was thrown in the air and he used [Air Walk] to increased his speed. Swoosh! After a few seconds, he catches up to the dark vine stinger. Roar! The dark vine stinger roared angrily as the vines on its back stretched out and shot towards Souta. Souta casted the [Ice Shot] spell and he stepped on it. He jumped and avoided the vines. He then used [Air Walk] to launched himself towards the dark vine stinger. Bang! He couldn''t continuously use [Air Walk]. He could only use five steps in the air and he needed to wait for five minutes cooldown time. Souta changed their trajectory and he launched both of them towards the ground. Swoosh! "Bryan! Lumilia! Brando! Come here!!" He shouted as he stepped in the air and to increased their speed. They were so fast that they tore the wind in their wind. [Shadow Bind]! Tentacles like shadows formed around Souta''s body. The tentacles bounded the limbs and vines of the dark vine stinger. He couldn''t cast a spell inside a creature''s body because it was protected by their inner consciousness. The only creatures who could do this were the gods, deities, or any other creatures at their level. They continued to go down at a very fast speed. They were like a meteor that''s falling on earth. Swoosh! Souta frowned and he waved his other hand. He casted the [Shadow Spike] spell. Several black spikes formed on the ground. With their speed and height, Souta was sure that the dark vine stinger would at least take some damage from it. No, with its condition the dark vine stinger would suffer heavy damage from this fall. Swoosh! Souta stopped in the mid-air as he used [Air Walk]. The dark vine stinger continued to fall until it reached the ground. Boom! The impact it caused was massive enough to shake the dukedom. It sent ripples on the ground that caused the debris of rocks to shot up in the air. Some part of the land collapsed as it buried everything in the sewers. Thud! Souta landed on the ground safely as he looked at the dark vine stinger in the middle of a huge crater with a diameter of fifty meters. "As expected of a peak third evolution monster," Souta commented as he saw that the dark vine stinger slowly stood up on its feet. He couldn''t afford to get careless against this kind of opponent. He wondered what happened to the guild master who fought this monster. He didn''t know if the guild master was still alive or not. A powerful rank B adventurer wasn''t enough to defeat a peak third evolution monster despite it being injured because of its failed evolution. His [Spike Spike] spell could barely pierce its tough body. A level 1 tier 1 spell wouldn''t be able to pierce the powerful body of a monster like dark vine stinger. It has limited capabilities and it couldn''t do much. If [Shadow Spike] spell was the one that Souta chooses to level up to ten, then it would have the power to pierce the tough body of the dark vine stinger. "Really... This monster is stronger than Gregory." Souta smiled and he poured his energy inside the vajra sword. He then raised his left hand and his shadows expanded. The whole ground turned black. Swoosh!! Several tentacles like shadows rose up from the black ground. "Go!" The tentacles shot towards the dark vine stinger. The monster roared in response and used the vines on its back to deflect the tentacles. Bang! Bang! Bang! The vines were so fast as it blocked all the tentacles like shadows that Souta casted. "As expected, it still not enough," Souta muttered as he channeled his energy in the vajra sword. The sword was exuding a powerful crimson energy. He charged towards the dark vine stinger without hesitation. He had only one target and that''s shattering the monster orb on the back of the dark vine stinger. The monster orb already had a crack on its surface. It would easy for Souta to shatter it using a powerful dark grade weapon like [Vajra Sword Saya]. The dark vine stinger couldn''t use best feram at this moment, that''s why Souta was sure that he could break the monster orb if he got close to the dark vine stinger. Roar! The dark vine stinger roared powerfully as it destroyed the tentacles in the whole area. Then, several tiny wasps came out of its body. The wasps flew towards Souta at high speed. "Parasitic wasps..." Souta muttered when he saw dozens of tiny wasps heading in his direction. This didn''t surprise him as he already guessed that Ranny has these wasps. Ranny used these wasps to control the duke and his family. [Cross Moon]! Souta slashed in the air in front of him and the crimson slash flew towards the wasps. Swoosh! It killed the wasps but not all of them. Some of the wasps continued to fly towards Souta. Souta swiftly moved his body and dodged the wasps while slicing them apart. If one of these wasps managed to enter Souta''s body, it would try to control his brain. "Fuck off!" He shouted as he stomped his foot on the ground and several spikes burst out piercing the body of the wasps. Souta then heard a familiar loud voice. "SOUTAAAA!!" He immediately back off and a figure covered in flames crashed into the ground in front of him. Boom! The flames spread out and swallowed the wasps. It burned them into ashes. "You''re late." Souta sighed and said. Two figures appeared behind him. They were Brando and Lumilia. "That''s our target, right?" Brando asked as he looked at the ominous dark vine stinger. He subconsciously gulped as he felt the bloodlust it was emitting. "That''s a dark vine stinger. A powerful monster at third evolution level." Lumilia muttered while looking at the huge body of the monster in the center of the crater. "Yeah, we will kill it." Souta nodded at them. "Oh~ that is a powerful monster. Can I tame it?" Bryan stood up as flames were around him. He looked at the dark vine stinger with an excited expression. 182 Team fight against the Dark Vine Stinger "Ah, that''s a shame." Bryan sighed in disappointment. His expression immediately changed as he stood up and stretched his arms. "Well, let''s fight it." "Brando, I''ll leave the defense to you. You just have to focus on blocking that monster''s attack." Souta stepped forward and said. "Okay, leave it to me. I''ll properly do my job as a shielder." Brando said as he gripped his shield tightly in his hand. The dark vine stinger roared before it charged towards their direction. Boom! "Let''s get it on." Bryan grinned and he also charged forward to meet the dark vine stinger head-on. Souta didn''t stop Bryan from attacking the dark vine stinger. He was confident that Bryan could go toe to toe at the dark vine stinger''s current condition. He glanced at Lumilia and said, "Lumilia, I''ll leave the supporting role to you. Support us with your spells. Don''t be afraid to cast a spell. If you see a hole in its defense, do not hesitate to attack it." "I understand. I''ll do my best." Lumilia nodded at him with a serious expression. Swoosh! A figure passed above their head and crashed into the rocks behind them. Boom! They looked back and saw that it was Bryan. "Ouch! That hurts..." Bryan said as he slowly stood up. He patted his clothes and looked at the dark vine stinger with a smile on his face. "As expected of this monster. It''s a powerful one." Souta sighed and he shook his head. He opened his mouth and said, "I and Bryan will attack it from both sides." He then bent his knees and launched himself towards the dark vine stinger. Swoosh! [Cross Moon]! Souta shot his equipment skill while he charged towards the dark vine stinger. He saw the vines deflected his attack easily. Bang! He then jumped from the side as Brando rushed forward with his tough body. [Shielder''s Aura]! Brando emitted a blueish aura that strengthened his flesh and muscles. [Triple Frame Shield On]! Three transparent shields materialize beside Brando. These shields flew towards the dark vine stinger and pounded its body. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bryan flashed on the life side of the monster with flames and lightning around his body. He placed his hand in front of him and charged a powerful attack. The vines on the back of the dark vine stinger stretched out and attempted to stab Bryan. Brando controlled the three transparent shields and it went in front of Bryan, blocking the vines of the dark vine stinger. Bang! Bang! Bang! Cracks appeared on the surface of the three transparent shields of Brando. The strength of the dark vine stinger was unbelievable as it managed to cracked Brando''s shields just like that. The dark vine stinger roared angrily as it opened its mouth and bit the water serpents. It then grabbed the other serpent on its body before it shredded it into tiny pieces. It looked at Bryan but Bryan already finished his preparation. "[Grinding Flame Spear]!" Bryan shouted as he smashed both of his hands on the body of the dark vine stinger. Ten-meter long flaming spear formed beside Bryan''s hands and it shot towards the dark vine stinger. Boom! The flaming spear managed to pierce the tough body of the monster. It then exploded causing a powerful explosion that shook the entire area. Boom! The dark vine stinger was thrown away by Bryan''s skill. It was thrown towards Souta''s position. Looking at this, Souta smiled. He was already waiting in his position. Crimson energy burst out of the vajra sword as he readied himself. He then used [Crimson Moon] and slashed the body of the dark vine stinger. A red line appeared on the body of the dark vine stinger and it spurted out a huge amount of blood. Souta turned around and he once again slashed his sword at the body of the dark vine stinger. Swoosh! He moved his hand swiftly as he continued to slash the vajra sword repeatedly. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! "Just die!" Souta roared as he used everything he''s got to slash his sword. In just a few seconds, he swung his sword a hundred times. He felt his arm getting numb from the constant used of his force to swing his sword hardly. But this didn''t stop him at all. Souta continued to slash his sword madly. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The dark vine stinger groaned in pain as it received everything that Souta threw. It raised its bloody hand and swung it towards Souta but three transparent shields blocked its hand. Bang! "Okay, I''ve finished casting it," Bryan said as he jumped in the air and casted a powerful spell. [Stunning Lightning Piercer]! He raised both of his hands above his head and four huge lightning arrows formed above him. He then swung his hands downwards and the four lightning arrows shot down. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! It pierced the four limbs of the dark vine stinger before it released a bolt of powerful lightning that stunned the dark vine stinger. Then, waves of water hover above it. The waves of water turned into a ball of water and it shrunk. "Compress!" Lumilia closed her palm and the ball of water shrunk down into a palm-size ball. She then brought down her hand. [Great Hydro Bomb]! Souta jumped backward as the ball of water fell on the dark vine stinger before it exploded. Boom! A huge pillar of water cropped up as the ball of water exploded. The ground shook heavily as it collapsed creating a twenty-meter deep gully. The dark vine stinger was still moving despite taking all those powerful spell combinations. Brando and Lumilia gritted in frustration as the monster was still alive. While Bryan was looking at it with an amazed expression. Souta inhaled deeply before he jumped down. He landed on the head of the dark vine stinger. "I''ll finish this..." Tentacles like shadows rose and bound the body of the dark vine stinger. He knew that this monster wouldn''t last long as it suffered a serious injury. But he will not let it die on itself. He wanted to kill it quickly because he didn''t know what would happen if this monster fought back, after all this monster was still a peak third evolution monster. Brando, Lumilia, and Bryan watched as Souta slashed the vajra sword at the dark vine stinger''s body. They wondered what happened to Souta as they felt that he was somewhat... desperate. Putchi! Souta stabbed, slashed, and swung the vajra sword at different angles. Blood kept spurting out of the deep cut on the dark vine stinger''s body. "Damn!" He roared and stabbed the vajra sword on the monster orb in the monster''s back. The monster orb cracked and it spread out before the vajra sword pierced it. "GRAAAA!!!" The dark vine stinger roared painfully as its monster orb got shattered. For a monster with a monster orb, this was the most painful thing. Their level would regress and it would take a few months before it restored its monster orb. "Just lie down and let me kill you." Souta then stomped its head and stabbed the vajra sword in its eye. He then heard a familiar sound in his head. *Ding!* [Congratulations for completing the quest Savior!] [Calculating the rewards...] [You''ve gained 30,000 exp, 15 free attribute points, and 9 skill points!] *Ding!* [You''ve gained 77,560 exp for defeating the Dark Vine Stinger!] *Ding!* [You''ve level up!] [Your Agility, Dexterity, Vitality, and Intelligence attribute had increased by 10!] [Your Strength attribute had increased by 15!] [You''ve gained 3 free attribute points!] [You''ve gained 1 skill point!] "Tsk! Too low!" Souta clicked his tongue when he saw the exp that he received from killing the dark vine eater. Today was not his lucky day. The exp he could receive from killing a third evolution monster was between twenty thousand and one hundred thousand. But this dark vine eater was a peak third evolution monster. He should''ve received more exp than this. Well, he didn''t have a choice but to accept. This was out of his expectation. Killing a peak evolution monster and a powerful tamer in this dukedom. The combined exp from killing Ranny and his monster made Souta broke through level 28. It was really hard to level up at his current level and it will continue to get harder. He needed more than a half-million exp just to increase his level by one. Souta placed back the vajra sword in its sheath. He then looked at Lumilia and asked, "Do you have health and mana potion?" "Yes." Lumilia nodded and she took one red and blue potion in her pocket. She jumped down and gave the potions to Souta. "Thanks..." Souta thanked her as he removed the cap of the bottles and drunk it without hesitation. He then sat down on the corner and said, "Let''s rest here for a while. The body of this monster is valuable." 183 Harvesting the souls This was a bad yet good day for him. Bad, because he underestimated his opponent and almost died. Lucky, because he got a lot of exp, free attribute points, and skill points. It was really good that he took this quest back in the Ladros city. Lumilia walked to his side and casted a healing spell towards him to heal the bruises in his body. [Heal]! Souta glanced at her and thanked her. Lumilia just smiled and shook her head in response. This was the only thing she could do for her. She didn''t know how Souta fought that monster on his own. Souta closed his eyes as he let Lumilia heal the bruises in his body. He recalled the fight today and started to reflect on the mistake that he did. He started to simulate in his mind how he fought Ranny and the dark vine stinger. He also recalled how Saya controlled his body and injured the dark vine stinger. Those powerful spells that she used were still in his mind. The only problem was that he couldn''t cast it. The magic circle of the spell [Quicksilver] and [Damage Absorption Shield] was too complicated for Souta. His spell was only a tier 1 and he was trying to jump to tier 3 without learning the tier 2. He still needed to master the structure of tier 1 and tier 2 spells before he went to tier 3 spells. That''s the reason why Souta enrolled in the Ladro Institute, to learn the basic and advanced way of casting spells. Right now, Souta was too dependent on his system. He wanted to cast a spell without the help of his system. He wanted to manually learn it as he was currently casting a spell without knowing its structure. Bryan looked at the corpse of the dark vine stinger and asked, "What should we do with its corpse?" "I don''t know. Let''s wait for Souta''s instruction." Brando said as he glanced at Souta who was resting in the corner. "Damn! Souta is really awesome, right? How could he fight this monster on his own?" Bryan said with a grin on his face. He could imagine in his mind how fierce Souta and this monster''s battle based on the shockwaves from before. "Yeah, even though it was severely injured and was close to death. We still have difficulty in killing it." Brando couldn''t help but nod at Bryan''s words. If the dark vine stinger was in its peak condition then Brando wouldn''t be able to block a single attack from it. Maybe, the pressure was all it needed to suppressed Brando. ''I still need to toughen my defense so that I could block an attack from this level of monster.'' Brando thought as he clenched his fists. After a while, Souta opened his eyes and used the [Summoning] skill to summon Yuko. Yuko appeared beside him with a tired expression. Souta borrowed all of her energy before so it was natural that she felt exhausted. "I understand." Lumilia nodded at him and she looked at the corpse of the dark vine stinger. She then asked, "Do we have to bring its whole body or not?" "Yes, we''ll bring its whole body. I''m sure that some of the people in this dukedom will let us borrow some caravan." Souta said as he stood up. He looked at Yuko and patted her head. "You did a good job today. Just rest for a while." He said to her. He then walked towards the corpse of the dark vine stinger and looked at it. The monster orb of this monster was shattered but it was still valuable. The fragments of it contained a little bit of best feram. "Brando, Lumilia. Help me gathered the fragments of its monster orb." Souta looked at the two and instructed them to gather what he needed before he called Bryan. "What is it?" Bryan asked him. Souta looked at Bryan''s face and changed his mind. He looked at Lumilia and said, "Lumilia, come here." Lumilia walked towards Bryan and Souta and wondered why Souta called him. "Change with Bryan. Bryan, you go there and help Brando gather the fragments of the monster orb." Souta said to Bryan. "O-Okay." Bryan just nodded his head and walked towards Brando. He took a look at the fragments that Brando gathered. Lumilia just looked at Bryan before she turned her head and looked at Souta. She opened her mouth and asked, "So what is it?" "I want you to help me find the tamer''s body. I think that we can found valuable things in his body. Also, it''s important to have his body with us so that we could show it to the citizen of this kingdom." Souta said to her. "Okay, so where are we going to start?" Lumilia nodded and asked him an important question. "We''ll go there in the destroy duke''s mansion," Souta replied to her and he recalled something. "Also, we need to check if the guild master is still alive. After all, he''s the one who helped me hold the dark vine stinger." "Guild master is there?" Lumilia was surprised when she heard Souta''s words. "Yes, he did a good job in fighting the dark vine stinger." Souta explained to her how he met the guild master in the prison. He also explained to her what really happened in this dukedom and who''s the mastermind behind the killings and this incident. "So everything is going according to that Ranny''s plan. What he didn''t expect is your stronger than ordinary rank C adventurer." Lumilia said to him as she understood his explanation. "Yeah, he didn''t think that I could easily escape from prison and freed the guild master." Souta nodded at her. Ranny greatly underestimated him at that time and he also underestimated Ranny which almost killed him. Luckily for him, Saya saved him. He was really glad that he took the [Vajra Sword Saya] in all of his equipment in the game. He wanted to take the other [Soul Blood Earring] but he was glad that he took Saya first than the universal grade equipment. Souta felt that the [Vajra Sword Saya] was a universal grade weapon with Saya in it. In the game, Saya couldn''t do this so it felt that it was an ordinary dark grade weapon. But right now, his view of his sword slowly changed. Saya became an important part of his survival in this world. He greatly appreciated her help. ''I should ask what she wanted later. Maybe, I could do something for her.'' Souta thought as he glanced at the sword that was hanging on his waist. "Is there something wrong, Souta?" Lumilia asked him when she saw him looking at his sword in daze. "Nothing." Souta shook his head and he walked towards the battle site. There''s no hint of mana in this place anymore. The atmosphere in this place was chilly and terrifying. This was the result of the best feram of a powerful third evolution monster. He glanced at Lumilia and asked, "Are you okay?" "Yeah, the atmosphere here is weird and It slightly felt difficult to breathe." Lumilia shook her head and explained to him what she''s feeling but she didn''t have a problem with it. Souta nodded his head as he could understand her. She''s having a hard time because of the lingering best feram in the air. A lot of time had passed so the corrupted air wasn''t thick anymore but it could still corrupt their mana pool if they stayed here for a long time. While they were walking Souta describe the appearance of the guild master and Ranny to Lumilia. He then saw something in his system. The [Soul Blood Earring] kept flickering in his system. He opened it and saw that the soul requirement was already complete. [Harvester of the Soul: 1,300/1,300] He couldn''t take any soul because it reached its limitation. He needed to use it first before he could gather souls. He understood why he only received that rewards from fighting Ranny and the dark vine stinger. It was because a lot of people died in this dukedom. When he was in the dukedom, Souta only has 673 souls in his earring. He didn''t hesitate and used this to increase his intelligence attribute by ten. His based Int attribute was now 360. If he added the attribute that he received from his equipment, he had a total of 420 Int points. It was not that bad. If his based attribute reached five hundred points, then he would unlock the threshold rewards just like what happened to his magic resistance and mana. As soon as he used the stored souls to increase his attributes, the souls in the surroundings were sucked by his earring. [Harvester of the Soul: 884/1,400] He was shocked when he found this. It means that the number of people who died in this place exceeded one thousand. And he still hasn''t gone to the place where his earrings couldn''t reach. It implies that Souta could gather more souls if he roamed around the dukedom. Souta shook his head and placed those thoughts in the back of his mind. He and Lumilia had important things to do and that''s finding the body of Ranny and the guild master. 184 Going back to Ladros City They did everything they could just to kept the guild master alive. Luckily, the guild master was a strong person and he managed to survive despite his grave injuries all over his body. His right arm was gone and he had a large hole in his stomach. Some of his organs took damaged in the process. His mana pool was severely damaged because of the dense best feram and corrupted air. It was one of the most problematic wounds in his body. If they delayed the treatment further, there''s a high chance that the guild master will lose all of his mana. He would go back to zero and he needed to train once again to increase his mana capacity. But that''s not Souta''s problem anymore. Souta just wanted to save him as thanks for his help in fighting the dark vine stinger. But if he could somehow help him later then Souta would do it. He wouldn''t forget anyone who helped him even if it''s not intentional. As for Ranny, he was already dead as he received the exp from him even though Saya was the one who killed him. ... He came back with Lumilia and found that Yuko was sleeping in the corner. Souta smiled as he looked at her sleeping face. "Souta! We''ve already finished gathering the fragments!" Bryan shouted when he saw Souta. "Good job, give the fragments to Lumilia." Souta nodded and said. "You and Brando will help me move the corpse on the surface." "Okay." Bryan and Brando nodded at him and they give the fragments that they gathered to Souta. They proceeded to carry the corpse of the dark vine stinger to the surface. They also didn''t forget about the guild master and Ranny''s corpse. They called the adventurers from the guild and told them that the guild master with them. They got to know that everything''s done. ... After one day... "Thank you for saving this dukedom... Just like what I promise, everything that I owned will be yours." Old man Jared said while kneeling in front of Souta. He was thankful for Souta''s help. "Good. Name it in my name and I''ll let you borrow it." Souta said while looking down at the old man Jared. When he saved old man Jared, Souta received another quest from him. And that quest was to save this whole dukedom from the mastermind. That''s what he wanted as he really didn''t care about the old man Jared''s property. "R-Really?" Old man Jared lifted his head and looked at Souta. "Yeah. Just don''t forget that everything that you owned is mine. I''ll visit this place one day and take everything that''s mine." Souta said before he turned around and left the old man Jared''s house. The folks were ignorant of Ranny''s backstory. They thought that Ranny was evil from the beginning and didn''t know why he killed the duke and his family. No one knew about this thing including Souta. Ranny buried all the reasons he had with him. He didn''t tell anyone about this as he didn''t need their sympathy. The guild master explained this to every citizen of this land. He was still weak but he could walk properly with his condition. He just couldn''t fight anymore as he was as weak as ordinary people. It would take a few months, maybe a year, before he could recover his strength. Souta stopped walking as he turned his head and looked at the sky. He wondered how they were going to restore this dukedom to its peak. The damage it took was tremendous and the casualties were massive. More than half of the dukedom was destroyed and only a few houses stood still after the incident. The guard''s force was reduced to half and it''s the same for the Adventurers Guild. The worse thing was that the duke and his family were dead all along without them noticing it. The Fersch dukedom lost their leader and the citizen doesn''t have a leader to lead them anymore. Luckily, some of the nobles in the dukedom bonded together and help the folks. The Adventurers Guild also helped the people. "Well, the outcome is not that bad. They are quite lucky that they are still alive." Souta shook his head and said. He continued to walk around the dukedom while looking at his system. He managed to fill the soul requirements yesterday. He managed to fill it two times as the casualties were tremendous as the incident yesterday greatly reduced the population of the Fersch dukedom. Souta used the effect to increase his Intelligence attribute making to 380 points in base form, and if he added the stats of his equipment to this then he would have a total of 440 points of Int. The souls that he needed right now before he could use the effect was 1,500 souls. After a long time, the effect of this would become hard to use that''s why he needed the other part of the [Soul Blood Earring]. He then went to the city gate and there he found Lumilia, Yuko, Brando, and Bryan waiting for him with a carriage. Souta smiled as he walked towards them and asked, "Did you wait that long?" "Not at all." Lumilia shook her head. "Yes, I got bored waiting for you," Bryan said with a bored look on his face. "..." Brando didn''t know what to say as Bryan and Lumilia have different answers. He didn''t know whose side he will take. Yuko simply stuck out her tongue and lick Souta''s cheeks. Souta patted her head in response as he looked at Bryan and Lumilia. He decided to ignore their answer as he went to the carriage and checked the corpse of the dark vine stinger. "Did you finish what you need to do?" Lumilia walked beside him and asked. "Yeah, they wanted us to stay here for a day and treat us for saving their dukedom but I decline. We still have outdoor training so we can''t delay anymore." Souta explained to her. "I see..." Lumilia nodded her head and she turned her head to looked at the city behind her. Souta earned something from Ranny''s body. Ranny had some skill books and orange grade equipment that could enhance the fighting capability of his pets. But he didn''t know where Ranny got it. He will come back here in the future to investigate it. He wanted to know how an ordinary knight got a powerful tamer''s ability to the point that he could cultivate a peak third evolution monster. ... The group went back to the Ladros city. It was already dark when they arrived in the city. They immediately went to Lanny corp and sell the corpse of the dark vine stinger. Jimmy was quite surprised when Souta called him late at night. He immediately went down from his office when he heard that Souta brought a corpse of a dark vine stinger. They talk for a while and Jimmy decided to buy the corpse for 5,000 platinum coins which everyone agreed. Souta gave one thousand platinum coins to each member of his party. Brando and Lumilia said to him that they didn''t do that much help to receive such rewards but Souta said that he wouldn''t be able to kill the dark vine stinger on his own. If not for their help, Souta alone would die fighting it. With Souta saying those words, they reluctantly received the platinum coins. They said that they would train harder to increase their strength so that they could help him in their quest. Bryan didn''t have a problem with it. He was happy that he received a huge amount of money for the first time in his life. He couldn''t help but think about the things that he could do with this much money. Before going home, Souta gathered everyone in a restaurant. "First of all, I''d like to thank everyone for doing a good job in our quest," Souta said to them with a smile on his face. "Oh!!" Bryan shouted before he started to eat the food on the table. "Oi! Bryan! Souta is still saying something!" Brando nudged Bryan''s shoulder. "Don''t worry about him. It doesn''t matter if he listened or not, I think that he will forget it later." Souta said to Brando as he shook his head. "Oh! Your right." Brando nodded. Lumilia smiled while looking at this scene. She thought that this life wasn''t that bad. "Brando, Lumilia, listen well," Souta said with a serious expression. Brando and Lumilia looked at him as their expression turned into a serious one. They understood that Souta was going to say something important. "All of you know that we''re going to have outdoor training in the next day," Souta said to them and the two nodded their head in agreement. Souta took a deep breath before he took out a map in his bag. He opened it and show it to the two. "Two weeks from now after our outdoor training we''re going to this place, the Forest of Eternal Light. We''re going to enter and clear a dungeon there and that dungeon is called the Dark Light of Eternal." This dungeon where the other part of the [Soul Blood Earring] resides. A lot of monsters inhabited that forest and a huge elf country also reside in that forest. 185 New Captain of the explorer group The Forest of Eternal Light was one of the largest forests in the whole Giza continent. A lot of powerful monsters and tribes inhabited this large forest. The country of the wood elves resides there. They were the most dominant race that lives in the forest except for the few fifth evolution monsters. The Forest of the Eternal Light was in the north of the Melosa country and Septiz country, two large countries in the Giza continent. "We''re going there...?" Lumilia still couldn''t believe that they were going to that famous forest. She heard a lot of tales regarding that forest. The Goblin Executioner of the legend, the Troll Overlord, the Mad Glutton Orc, and the Mountain Back Spider. These four monsters were a monster at the level of fifth evolution monster. Currently, no adventurers managed to subdue them as even a party consist of A-rank Adventurers was wiped out by one of these monsters. In the end, the council of the Eternal Empire, the country of the elves, forbids people to come into the monster''s territory as there were rumors that a monster lord was supervising the four fifth evolution monsters. Also, there were tales that some people saw other fifth evolution monsters in the forest other than the four mentioned monsters. "Yes, we''re going to that place," Souta said to them with a serious expression. Based on what he knew in the game, Souta knew that these rumors were true. In fact, ten monster lords were supervising the forest of Eternal Light, and their army was composed of powerful monsters. The Eternal Empire knew the truth that''s why they forbid anyone from hunting those powerful monsters as it would incur the wrath of the monster lords. The Eternal Empire was the first one to be attacked once the humans and demis incurred the wrath of the monster lords. The Eternal Empire would fall immediately when those monster lords attack. On the surface, everyone thought that the Eternal Empire was the most dominant race in the Forest of Eternal Light but everyone was wrong. Only those higher-ups of the Eternal Empire knew this information. There were dozens of hidden dungeons in that forest and Souta wanted one of them. He wanted to acquire the other [Soul Blood Earring] there. "That place is extremely dangerous, right?" Brando asked Souta. "Yeah, that place is dangerous for us but we just need to be careful and follow me," Souta said to them with a serious expression. "That''s why... All of you needed to increase your strength in the upcoming outdoor training." "Oh, is there a lot of powerful people there?" Bryan commented when he heard their words. "Okay, I''ll keep training to increase my strength and defeat you!" Bryan said as he patted his chest. "That''s a good goal you have there." Souta smiled. They went back to eating their food before they returned to their home. ... Souta and Yuko went back and immediately rest. Souta lied down in his bed and just stared at the ceiling. With his leveling speed, Souta thought that it would take 6-8 years before he managed to get the strength he had in the game. A year hadn''t even passed since Souta arrived in this world. He would experience a lot of things before he got back to his peak. The Giza continent, the God''s continent, the Mars archipelago, the Demon''s land, the Ruin''s Desolate Land, Vulcan''s ring continent, and the Frozen Continent. These seven continents of this world have a lot of godlike creatures that no other world could match. This world was massive that it could fit these seven large continents. There were a lot of things that were waiting to be discovered and the sub-worlds, also called small worlds. These small worlds were literal small worlds. They were called like that because the energy in those worlds was too thin that''s when people in this world went there, they could easily dominate those small worlds. Just the energy release from a God-level creature could easily destroy those worlds. Souta thought that Earth was one of the small worlds out there. If that was the case then Souta could find a way back home but he wasn''t entirely sure if he wanted to go back there. He only had a few memories of his self back on the earth. "I''ll just do the way I always do things... I''m going to start it by getting my equipment back." Souta muttered as he closed his eyes and thought that in his next expedition he will gather the materials that he and Yuko needed for their evolution. The strength of their party wasn''t enough and Souta knew it well. They were just weak creatures that were living in this world. He recalled that Jimmy would give him a team that he could do in his expedition. He thought that it was the time to form it. The Dark Light of Eternal dungeon was extremely dangerous. It was a huge labyrinth full of traps and monsters. He needed manpower to clear that dungeon so that he could get the other [Soul Blood Earring]. He thought that even if they increased their strength in the outdoor training, it will be insufficient to clear it that''s why he would bring some force of the Lanny corp. Well, it all depends on the improvement of everyone''s strength. Maybe, they could surprise Souta after the outdoor training. It seems that he needed to visit Jimmy before their outdoor training. He wanted to know if some capable people were available in Lanny corp. He also needed to see the owned dungeon of the Lanny corp. After a while, Souta stood up from his bed. He couldn''t sleep at all as a lot of things were coming into his mind once he closed his eyes. He left his house and walked straight to the red light district. He stayed there this night. ... Souta woke up early in the morning. The sun hasn''t risen yet. He pushed himself into a seated position and found himself in the red light district. Souta turned his head and looked at his side. He saw a tanned-skin woman with cat ears and tails sleeping beside him. He stretched his body before he stood up and wore his clothes. Souta opened his wallet and took out two gold coins. He placed the two gold coins on top of the desk at the corner of the room. "My tip..." Souta muttered as he looked at the sleeping woman on the bed. He then shook his head and exited the room. He was planning to go to the Lanny corp first before he headed to the institute. While he was walking, Souta felt that Yuko was trying to communicate with him through their contact. He forgot that he went out in the middle of the night without notifying her. She must be worried about him. Maybe, she was just hungry and couldn''t open the storage room. ''Wait for me and I''ll bring some delicious food to you.'' Souta said to her in his mind through their contract. It''s some sort of telepathy through their master and pet contract. After walking for a few minutes, Souta arrived in front of the Lanny corp. He looked up at the huge building thought that the name of the Lanny corp was spreading quickly in the whole city. After all, he brought a peak third evolution monster and it was under their name. Well, it was in their agreement. He entered the door and he strode towards the receptionist. The receptionist knew Souta so she immediately called Jimmy. Jimmy already introduced Souta to the workers of the Lanny corp so they naturally knew Souta was one of the hired adventurers of the Lanny corp. And Souta was one of the captains of the explorer group. After a while, Jimmy arrived and asked Souta. "Hey, what made you come here?" Souta looked around and thought that he should beat the point. "The ID you gave to me said that I''m a captain of an explorer group of the Lanny corp." "Your saying..." Jimmy realized what he was trying to say. "Yeah, I wanted to form my group and pick some of your people as my subordinates." Souta nodded and said. "I see... So you wanted to form your group... I will immediately call some of my people and you can pick anyone that you like." Jimmy rubbed his chin and said to Souta. "Can you make it faster? I still need to go to the institute." Souta suggested to him. He couldn''t afford to be late as the outdoor training was going to start today. Jimmy nodded and he walked towards the receptionist. He said, "Call every explorer that is available. I wanted them to come here as soon as possible... Oh? Don''t call anyone who are in a team." "I understood, sir." The receptionist nodded at Jimmy. 186 Ill take the six of you Souta nodded at him and Jimmy led him to the back of the building. There''s a wide space at the back of the building. "Let''s wait for them here," Jimmy said and he walked to the vacant chair. He sat there and Souta also sat beside Jimmy. Jimmy glanced at Souta and asked, "Why did you want to create your group?" Souta looked at the wide space before he answered, "I wanted to go to the Forest of Eternal Light." "Forest of Eternal Light...?" Jimmy was shocked when he heard Souta''s words. He took a deep breath to calm himself before he asked another question. "Why do you want to go there?" "Hmm... That''s a good question." Souta smiled and said, "I wanted to go there because I wanted to get an item there." "Do you know how dangerous that forest is?" We don''t even have a branch in the Eternal empire there." Jimmy said. "Yes, I know how dangerous that place that''s why I wanted to borrow some of your people to help me," Souta replied to him with a serious expression. "What item?" Jimmy asked then he shook his head and said, "No, don''t tell me the answer. I just wanted you to bring something that will benefit the Lanny group." "That''s simple... I could easily do that." Souta said with a confident expression. He just needed to bring the Lanny corp in his expedition. "Haha, that''s what I like about you." Jimmy laughed when he heard Souta''s answer. He didn''t doubt Souta at all. Souta was the man who best the head of the Vidrato family and the one who brought the body of a third evolution monster. He leaned on the chair and said, "I''m really glad that you brought a peak third evolution monster to Lanny corp. Say where did you get it?" "In a place called Fersch dukedom. That monster almost destroyed the whole dukedom. Luckily, we''re there to stop it and with the help of everyone including the guild master their Adventurer''s Guild, we''ve managed to kill it at the cost of thousands of innocent lives." Souta said to Jimmy as he looked up at the sky and recalled the battles that he experienced there. "A small dukedom that is not affiliated with any large country... They certainly didn''t have the manpower to stop a monster of that level. Every year dozens of them fell because of the monster tide. Some of them fell because of some disease." Jimmy said in a low voice. He understood well that a lot of people were dying every day because of a monster''s attack. He slightly turned his head and glanced at Souta in the corner of his eyes. "Do you know why monsters attack humans and demi''s nation?" He asked. "Why? Is it because humans and demis are attacking them and reducing their numbers without any reason." Souta said as he looked at Jimmy in the eyes. "...That''s the reason of the people of Ambrosei," Jimmy muttered when he heard Souta''s words. Just like what the Lanny corp could do with the corpse of the dark vine stinger. They could create various potions using the organs of the monster. They could also create armors and weapons using the wide and sharp vines of the dark vine stinger. It will be enough to craft a high-grade purple grade weapon. "No, they have a reason and that''s they are afraid of the monster growing stronger to the point that they couldn''t deal with it... Just like the Dark Forest." Souta said to Jimmy. "That''s..." Jimmy was surprised when he heard Souta''s answer. Souta was not entirely wrong at all. The Dark Forest was the largest forest in the whole Giza continent and it was a forbidden land. It was a land that the three great countries agreed to not let any humans and demis wondered around it. All vicious and powerful monsters reside there. The monsters inside the Dark Forest grew to the point that the three great countries have to fear them. The monster lords were the ones who managed that huge land. The human and demi countries don''t want any other place to become like the Dark Forest. That''s why they were slicing down some of the strong monsters across the whole continent. "Humans and demis are a bunch of greedy creatures. They invade a monster territory just to steal their possession like precious fruits. It''s humans and demis fault why monsters are attacking them." Souta said with a serious expression. He was included in those greedy creatures and he wouldn''t deny it as it was the truth. Jimmy looked at Souta before he asked, "Is that your perspective as a tamer?" "No, I''m just saying the truth but you couldn''t deny it. Also, for some monsters humans and demis are a delicious meal." Souta said to him. ... After a while, more than thirty people arrived in a wide space. They stood in front of Souta and Jimmy. Jimmy stood up and looked at the people. He opened his mouth and said in a loud voice. "I''m sure that all of you know me so I don''t need to introduce myself but the man beside me..." Souta then stood up as he knew that Jimmy was going to introduce him to these people. "He is Souta Ieshi, a new captain of the explorer group under Lanny corp''s name. He is also a first-year student of the famous Ladro Institute. As you know, his name shook the entire kingdom when he fought the head of the Vidrato family." Jimmy introduced him to the people. The people were surprised to find that man here. They heard rumors about him having a Red Fur Bear and his one hundred percent completion in his quest in the Adventurers Guild. Now that they saw him in person, they realized that he''s the same man as the one who was illustrated in the newspaper. "You were called here because he wanted to form his group. He will pick some of you but I''m not entirely sure how many he needed in his group." Jimmy said. The people were slightly surprised when they heard his words. They looked at each other and realized that all of the people present here were the people that didn''t have a group. Souta looked at them and said, "I don''t want a lot of people in my group so I will pick a few people among you." He then looked at Jimmy and asked, "Can I test them?" "You can whatever you wanted. Their rank is at least C-rank." Jimmy nodded at him. Souta nodded in response and he looked at the rest of the people. "Okay, I''ll start by eliminating some of you." Boom! The mana in his body burst out and Souta focused it on the people. The atmosphere suddenly changed and it became suffocating. He used his mana to pressure the people that were here. His [Mana Manipulation] skill was level 4 so he could control it to some degree to press the people on the ground. Jimmy looked at Souta with a stunned expression. ''You''ve reached this level in just a few months? How frightening!'' He thought while looking at Souta who was releasing his mana and directing it to the people. Thud! Thud! Six people fell on their knees as they were caught off guard by Souta''s energy release. "Out..." Souta looked at the people who fell before he looked at the remaining people. "We still have a lot of people." He already expected this outcome when Jimmy said that they have the power of C-rank. He stopped releasing his mana and said, "Try to resist it as much as you can." He then took a step forward and the floor turned black. It was swallowed by shadow and several tentacles-like shadows wrapped around their body. It tightened around their body as they tried to use their strength to free themselves from the [Shadow Bind] spell of Souta. Everyone tried to resist with all of their might but no one managed to break free from Souta''s [Shadow Bind]. In the end, Souta waved his hand and the shadows disappeared like a bubble. He looked at them and pointed at six people. "I''ll take the six of you in my team." He said with a smile while looking at them. He knew that these people were quite capable as he noticed that his pressure didn''t manage to make them sweat for a little bit. 187 Team Now that Souta was a Rank 3 Mage, his level 10 [Shadow Bind] spell could hold down the third evolution monster for a few seconds. It''s not worth mentioning to the peak third evolution monster that he fought in the Fersch dukedom. Also, if given more time Souta was sure that they could break the [Shadow Bind] spell. It seems that the power of these people was close to B-rank. He guessed that if they trained hard for a few months they would become a full-fledged B-rank. Souta looked at Jimmy and said, "Dismissed everyone except for the ones I choose." Jimmy nodded at him before he looked at the people and said, "Everyone, you can go now except for those six people. You don''t need to wait for me." Souta and Jimmy waited until all the unnecessary people left. Only Souta, Jimmy, and the six people were present in this place. Jimmy looked at the six people with a serious expression and said, "From today onwards, all of you will be under Souta''s wings. He''s your captain so treat him with respect." Souta smiled and he waved his hands. "Don''t worry about it. I just wanted you to follow my instruction in our expedition. You can start introducing yourself." The six people exchanged glances and a man wearing a gray tank top stepped forward. His physique was large and his height was almost two meters. He had brown skin and two antennae on the top of his head. ''Some sort of insect demi?'' Souta wondered while looking at the man. The man looked at Souta and said in a polite tone, "I''m Jagret, an adventurer working under the Lanny corp''s banner. Mostly, my position is fighter other than tank. It''s my pleasure to meet you, captain." Souta smiled and said, "Nice to meet you too, Jagret." He then looked at the remaining five people. A matured woman with shoulder-length chestnut-colored hair stepped forward. She was wearing black tight clothes and knee-length black boots. Her clothes showcase her curves and sexiness. She had two daggers hanging on her waist. A tail with black fur was sticking out of her back. "I''m Charise, a new worker here in the Lanny corp. My position is a scout and a ranger. I''m looking forward to the expedition of our team." The matured woman introduced herself to Souta with a seductive smile on her face. "I''m also looking forward to our expedition," Souta said to her and he looked at the remaining four people. Three of them looked at each other and nodded. The three of them stepped forward as they decided to introduce themselves at the same time. One of them was female while two were male. "I''m Donna, a samurai." She simply said with a serious expression. After she introduced herself she stepped back. Then, one of the men looked at Souta with a smile. He was holding a long staff. He had long green hair and pointed ears. There''s no doubt that he was an elf. "I''m Evren, I''m well versed in nature attribute spell. Mostly supporting spell and healing spell, but I know some offensive spell. It''s nice to meet you, captain." The elf introduced himself in a polite tone. "It''s nice to meet you, Evren," Souta replied to him. Four people already introduced themselves so there''s two more left. "I''m Finsi, a wanderer, and I applied here in the Lanny corp. My position is a shielder." A man stepped forward and said in a loud voice. He was short but his physique was large. His muscles were bulging out of his clothes. His features were sharp and he had a thick beard. Souta smiled and nodded at him. He then looked at the remaining man. "Ah, let''s do this..." A man stepped forward with a bored look on his face. He was tall but his body was not large. One could say that he was thin if they didn''t look at him properly. One of his ears was pointed and one was a normal ear. His pointed ear was full of earrings. His greenish eyes were slanted and look fierce. His hair was mohawk and its color was green. He looked like an ordinary punk of a modern world but Souta couldn''t deny his strength. This man was a strong person. "I''m Ginvi and I''m a Mage. To be precise, an earth attribute Mage." The man introduced himself to Souta. He narrowed his brows while looking at Souta and said, "I say that your strong but I think that it''s not enough to get above me." "Oh...?" Souta looked at Ginvi with an amused expression. He grinned and said, "You are not convinced..." "Yeah, I''m doubting your strength..." Ginvi looked at Souta and grinned. His fighting intent was leaking all over the place. It seems that he really wanted to fight Souta right here in this place. "Everyone stand back!" Souta shouted and he looked at Ginvi with a smile. "Let''s make it fast!" He took a step forward and the ground turned black. Ten black balls materialized beside him and it scattered around the whole field. "What''s that?!" Ginvi looked around the black balls before he looked at Souta. He didn''t know what''s the purpose of those black balls if it''s not going to attack him. He better avoided those black balls as he didn''t know what it could do. He saw Souta looking at him with a grin on his face. He gritted his teeth as his mana flared up. He then stomped his foot on the ground and spikes made of rocks burst out of the ground. [Ground Spike]! Swoosh! Souta suddenly vanished and Ginvi didn''t saw him move. "Teleportation?!" Ginvi turned around and saw Souta five meters away from him. Souta smiled and thought that he had great advantages over most of the people here in this world. He knew a lot of different spells and knew what it could do and its effect. From the lowest tier to highest tier spells, Souta knew a lot of it. That''s why he could guess some of his opponent''s spells. While his opponent didn''t have any idea what''s his spell at all. "Let me show you something..." Souta said with a smile and he quickly looked at his skill tree. Above the [Shadow Ball] spell there were two spells and it was the same for the [Shadow Spike] spell. But he wasn''t looking at those four spells. Souta was looking at one spell at the corner of his interface. He unlocked it when he was promoted to the Rank 3 Mage. This spell was called [Gravitational Ball]. It was a high-grade tier 2 spell. He had 11 skill points left and he used 2 skill points to learn this spell. *Ding!* [Do you want to use 2 skill points to learn this spell? Yes/No?] ''Yes...'' Souta said in his mind without hesitation. *Ding!* [You''ve successfully learned Gravitational Ball spell!] The skill points that he needed to learn this spell was the same as the tier 1 spell. That''s why Souta wouldn''t waste any of his skill points to level up his tier 1 skill. He will use this spell to promote his mage class to a battle mage class. Before he couldn''t learn any of the tier 2 spells in his skill tree because it was locked as his rank class was too low. But right now, he managed to unlock one tier 2 spell when he promoted his rank class. The magic circle of the [Gravitational Ball] spell was imprinted in his inner soul. Souta could easily use this spell right now. Ginvi just looked at Souta as he didn''t know what Souta was planning to do. He didn''t know any of Souta''s spells or how he managed to use teleportation to avoid his attack. "Damn! This is irritating!" Ginvi cursed and he rushed towards Souta without any care. He was annoyed at the fact that Souta was still looking at him with a smile on his face. Souta opened his palm and a palm-sized black ball formed on top of it. The black ball floated around Souta. Pieces of rocks floated around Ginvi and it turned into sharp spears. He pointed at Souta and said, "Go, [Piercing Earth Spear]!" He then crouched down and placed both of his palms on the ground. "[Ground Quake]!!" The ground beneath Souta''s feet split up and the sharp spears flew towards him at high speed. Swoosh! Under everyone''s gazes, Souta flew in the air and he stopped in the mid-air. He looked down at Ginvi from above. There were many uses of the [Gravitaional Ball] spell and one of them was to fly. This spell used 5 mana points per second and it will decrease as long as he level up this spell. Souta opened his mouth and said, "Do you still want to continue or not?" "Yeah, I wanted to continue our battle. Do you think that you can defeat me easily just because you can fly?" Ginvi said to Souta with a grin. "Yeah, I could defeat you but I think it will not be that easy," Souta replied. Both of them looked at each other with fierce looked. Their aura was rising and it was enveloping the whole area. "Stop! If you want to fight do it somewhere else. Don''t fight here in the Lanny corp''s land." Jimmy said to the two with a serious expression. 188 Start of Outdoor Training Jimmy was right. This place was not the right place to fight. He didn''t want to destroy some of the things here because he knew that his fight with this man Ginvi wasn''t going to be easy. He dispelled his spell as the color of the ground turned back to normal but the ground was still opened because of Ginvi''s spell before. Ginvi also stepped back. He looked at Souta and said, "Let''s fight, later. If you want me to acknowledge you then defeat me." "Haha, I''ll fight you later as long as you want." Souta laughed as he said. He then looked at the people that he picked one by one. "I wanted all of you to train your skill and keep improving. Our first expedition is at the Forest of Eternal Light so prepare yourself. If you''re afraid of going there then you can quit right now." Souta said to them in a loud voice. The six people didn''t say anything. They just looked at him silently. "Good, no one wanted to quit. I''m impressed. Then, we''ll meet here two weeks later at the same time. Also, I''ll bring my Adventurer''s party at that time so prepare yourself." Souta said to them with a satisfied expression. These people were strong. He thought that Bryan would be happy to meet them especially the one named Ginvi. He will arrange a spar between them after the outdoor training. ... Souta dismissed them and he walked inside the building with Jimmy. Jimmy called some people to fix the ground that Ginvi destroyed. Souta looked at Jimmy and said, "I''ll go now." "Wait..." Jimmy stopped Souta and he took out a piece of yellow paper in his pocket. Souta received it and found that it was a transmission talisman. "I already imprinted my talisman there so you can contact me anytime," Jimmy said to him. "Good, thanks for this. I''ll contact you if I need anything." Souta thanked Jimmy before he turned around and left the Lanny corp building. He looked at the transmission talisman. He still has two transmission talisman in his pocket. Jimmy gave it to him before when he asked him to look for a talisman to pair the one that he got from Gregory''s subordinate. In other words, he had a total of three transmission talismans. Souta bought some food for Yuko before he went back to his house. He gave her her breakfast and changed his clothes to his uniform. ... He arrived in his classroom and found that Bargan was already there. It seems that he was already late for a few minutes. The business that he did in the Lanny corp took a lot of his time. "You''re here, Souta. I thought that you will skip class at this important event." Bargan said when he saw Souta entered the classroom. "Okay, class now that everyone''s here please prepare yourself. Go to the gymnasium and you will learn something about the outdoor training." Bargan said to his students. ... The students gathered at the huge gymnasium of the institute. All the first-year students were present here in this place. They were divided by their class and their homeroom teachers were at the corner watching them. Souta looked at the stage and saw a middle-aged man with short white hair and a beard. He had fox ears and a furry tail. He was the principal of the Ladro Institute, Azrim De Reigan. He smiled as he knew that this man was a powerful person. He was a top fighter in the whole Hebrei kingdom. He looked at his side and saw that Alice was looking at Azrim with a serious expression. "Do you know Principal Azrim?" Souta asked her. Alice glanced at him when she heard his question. She then shook her head indicating that she didn''t know that man. "I see..." Souta nodded and he looked back at the principal. All the students were looking at the principal waiting for his words. After a while, Azrim looked at the first-year students as he slowly opened his mouth and said, "First-year students... I''m Azrim De Reigan, the principal of the Ladro Institute." All the students could hear his powerful voice as he imbued his mana in it. His voice resounded throughout the whole gymnasium. He paused for a moment as he looked at each class. Azrim then added, "Today is the day of your outdoor training. All of you will stay outside the kingdom and no one will be permitted to return to the kingdom. Anyone who gave up on the training will be expelled. We don''t need weak-willed person here in Ladro Institute." Everyone was surprised to found that the students who gave up will be expelled instantly. No matter the reason as long as no accident happened they will be expelled. "That''s all, I hope no one gave up. Your advisory teacher will explain the rules of the outdoor training to you." Azrim said before he turned around and left. ... Bargan was standing in front of the Mage class 1-B. He looked at his students and saw some were tense. "Everyone listen to me! Our class will head towards the eastern part of the Hebrei kingdom. We will start our outdoor training at that place along with other classes." Bargan said and he explained the rules to his students. The students will not receive any help from their students. Each class will choose two sites to train in the area. They could choose a forest, mountain, village, etc. as long as they were not inside the Hebrei kingdom or near the other huge countries they could choose any place. If they wanted something they have to earn it. If they wanted to sleep in an inn they have to earn their own money. They have to do this for one week and three days. They have to do some tasks so that they could earn some points. They could also ignore the task but for those students who wanted points, they could do it. In this one week and three days, they have to finish a challenge every day. That challenge was their training to improve their strength. They had to complete it or else they will face some punishment. "We, teachers, are just an observer so we will not help any of you but if have any question you can ask them," Bargan said to them and he paused as he recalled something in his mind. "By the way, the teacher is also the one who''s going to give you the points. We, teachers, are tasked to observe a class that''s not our own. In other words, I''m not going to observe your class." He then smiled and said, "Don''t disappoint me, everyone. I''ve got high expectations for the rest of you." ''My new spell [Gravitational Ball] will be useful in times like this.'' Souta thought as he grinned. Alice glanced at Souta and saw him grinning while looking at teacher Bargan. She turned her head and looked at teacher Bargan. She found nothing and she was wondering why Souta was grinning. A teacher walked in front and stood beside Bargan. A man with short black hair and black cat ears looked at the Mage class 1-B with his cat pupils. He was Alex Ventilorna, their teacher at physical strength subject. "I''m the one who was tasked to observe you and I''m also the one who will grade each of you, so give everything you''ve got in the outdoor training. I hope you''re strength increase well." Alex said to them in a fierce tone. "Teacher Alex is the one who''s going to grade us... Then what about teacher Bargan?" Alice muttered in a low voice. Souta glanced at her as he heard her words. He smiled and said, "You don''t need to worry about it. Just focus on completing the challenge and everything will be okay." "If you say so..." Alice said as she tried to guess what''s the challenges that they will face in this outdoor training. Just like everyone, she will try her best to improve her skill and ability. The first-year students went to their designated site outside of the Hebrei Kingdom. They don''t have money, potions, weapons, and high-grade equipment. They have to earn their own money if they wanted to sleep in an inn. They have to hunt their own food and cook it themselves if they wanted to it something. They have to survive and endure the challenges for one week and three days. ... Somewhere in the Giza continent... A woman wearing a black robe and red linings was looking down at the piles of corpses on the ground. Her robe had a symbol of a red eyes at back part of it. She crouched down and picked up a crimson gem. She raised it and observed the crimson gem. "We already acquired three of it. Two more and we will complete the task that the Sin gave to us." She muttered as she looked behind her. A man with long silver-haired appeared. The man had a flawless face and pale skin. His pair of crimson eyes were gleaming with anger. "Oh? You''re still alive. I thought that you''re dead." The woman exclaimed as she looked at the man with an amused expression. "Give back that stone to me!" The man shouted as he charged towards the woman. 189 Team up "You know, that you''re too weak to fight me." The woman said with a sighed and she waved her hand. Boom! A powerful energy flew out and smashed the man. The man crashed into several houses. Smoke and dust covered the area around the houses. The woman looked at it with an amused expression. She opened her mouth and said, "You''re weak and you''re no match for me. You know it too, right? So I''m wondering why are you bent on taking back this stone?" The man walked out of the smoke and dust with rage in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, "It took me twenty years to create that stone and a bitch like you will take it from me! Do you except me to just give it to you?!" The woman smiled and said, "You''re a vampire so twenty years of time isn''t that much to you. You should''ve handed this stone to me from the beginning." "You!! I''ll kill you!! Don''t you know that stone is important to a vampire like me!!" The man shouted at the top of his lungs. "Yeah, I know it but... Everything is for the Sin." The woman''s expression turned cold. "Under the name of the Seven Deadly Sins, I will take your life." Her body emitted a fearsome red aura. The ground began to shake under her presence. Swoosh! The woman disappeared in her position. She then appeared behind the vampire. "What?! Blink?!" The vampire was shocked and he turned around. But his head flew in the mid-air, splattering blood on the ground. The woman looked at the head of the vampire. She raised her hands and shot a ball of energy towards the head. Boom! The head exploded as the woman burned the body of the vampire. She made sure to kill the vampire. "This vampire was too arrogant for his own good. If he only let go of this precious stone then I would have let him live." The woman muttered in a low voice. "The vampires right now were still living in past. They thought that they were the same noble creature back a thousand years ago. They should''ve faced the reality that they were on the brink of extinction because of those three great countries that were leading the entire continent." Suddenly a voice sounded behind her. "Don''t say anything to vampires... Remember that Lord Cryus, the right hand of Gluttony, is a vampire." The woman turned her head and saw four figures appeared. The four figures were wearing the same robe as hers. She opened her mouth and said, "I know that... but Lord Cryus isn''t arrogant like this weak vampire. Even though he possessed great strength, he still acts politely." "Well, we all know that there are far more terrifying beings in this world." One of the figures said. The woman smiled and said, "There''s two more left. We need to accomplish it quickly so that we could return." "What about the last one?" "It''s near that village." "Oh? So we don''t need to travel that far after we took the next stone." ... The first-year students traveled for a whole day along with their teachers before they arrived on the outskirts of the Hebrei Kingdom. They passed the border of the kingdom. Currently, they were in the wilderness between the Hebrei kingdom and Mali country. There''s a huge forest called Night Light Forest in this part of land. It was separating the Hebrei kingdom and Mali country. Souta thought that some of their challenges involved in that forest. He looked at the front and saw that teacher Alex, their teacher at physical strength subject, was standing in front of them. He then saw the other classes were moving in other directions. ''Just what is the institute planning in this outdoor training?'' Souta thought while looking around. It feels like they were starting from nothing except their equipment. And the institute also forbids them from selling their equipment, clothes, and weapons. That''s why Souta only brought his basic equipment. The [Vajra Sword Saya] was hanging on his waist like always. All of his equipments were recorded and they need a valid reason if it disappeared. It''s too strict. The Institute was making sure that everyone wouldn''t break the rules. He then heard teacher Alex coughed to gathered their attention. Souta and the rest of the students of Mage class 1-B looked at teacher Alex. "Look at this..." Alex said as he placed a transparent orb on the ground. The orb emitted mana and it shown brightly. Swoosh! A huge map of this land materialized in front of them. This was the map of the area between Hebrei kingdom and the Mali country. There was a huge circle on the map. "This is the site. Every student is forbidden to leave this circle. Everyone who left will be disqualified and disqualification means... Being expelled." Alex explained to them with a serious expression. Everyone subconsciously gulped when they heard Alex''s words except for a few students. "I have an idea of what they wanted to do here in this outdoor training..." Randolf muttered with a smirk on his face. He still looked carefree despite the tense atmosphere. Yujin just looked at the map without saying anything. His sharp eyes were focused on the things on the map. Bryan had an excited expression on his face. He couldn''t wait to start the outdoor training and increase his strength. His priority here was to increase his strength and nothing else. Lumilia and Souta force him to remember these words. Well, Lumilia had the same goal as Bryan. She wanted to increase her strength. She understood that this was a good opportunity to increase her strength and ability before their expedition in the Forest of Eternal Light. Compared to the Forest of Eternal Light, this place was child''s play. Alice looked at her classmates and she guessed who was going to have a problem or not in this outdoor training. Randolf, Souta, Bryan, and the others were not bothered by the fact that they don''t have anything except for their equipment. In fact, they were actually looking forward to this outdoor training. ''Well, I''ll try harder this time.'' Alice said to herself. She looked at the map and saw teacher Alex pointing something inside the huge circle. "In this circle, there are thirty-seven villages, twenty-two dukedoms, and four small kingdoms." Alex swept his eyes across the Mage class before he said, "You can go anywhere and you can also pick one of these places to become your base of operation." "Hmm...? Teacher Alex didn''t give us any information about those places. It seems that we needed to gather the information ourselves." Lumilia said. Alex heard her words. He turned his head and looked at her. He said, "That''s right, everything will be up to you. You can only count on yourself in this training. Also, I''ll divide your class into ten groups." ''It''s hard. I can''t talk to other people.'' Alice couldn''t help but sigh. She hoped that she was grouped with her classmates that could talk to strangers. If she didn''t then she could only try her best. ''I will try my best to talk to other people now.'' She said to herself. Alex prepared something in front of them. The students of the Mage class 1-B will pick a piece of paper inside a jar. Inside the piece of paper, a number was written on it. This will decide their groupings. ''It''s random now. I just hope that enter Bryan or Souta''s group.'' Alice thought. Bryan and Souta were the only people that she could talk to among her classmates. Lumilia was talking to her sometimes but she wasn''t that close to her just like how she talked with Souta and Bryan. ... One by one, the students of the class pick a piece of paper. Randolf looked at the paper in his hand with a smirk on his face. He then crumbled it and said, "I''m number four so those people who took the same number come here." Alice looked at Randolf then at the piece of paper in her hands. Her number was three so she wasn''t in Randolf''s group. She felt that Randolf was going to show his power in this training. "Number one, come here! All the number one! We''re going to crash everyone!" Bryan shouted with a laugh. ''As always, he''s so noisy.'' Alice thought as she glanced at Bryan. She then heard a voice behind her. "Number three. Please come here." She turned her head and saw that it was Lumilia. It wasn''t that bad as she was a number three. She shook her head and strode towards Lumilia. "Mila, I''m in your group," Lynn said with a bright smile as she approached Lumilia. "I''m glad that you''re in my group." Lumilia smiled and she looked around, "What about Nayo?" "Nayo? She''s in Bryan''s group." Lynn replied to her. "I see..." Lumilia nodded her head. Alice approached her and said, "I''m also number three." Lumilia and Nayo turned their heads and saw Alice. They were surprised that Alice was in their group. "I see..." Lumilia smiled at her and she looked around. Their class had forty-eight people in their class and it was divided into ten groups. It means that each group has at least four people. Two groups with four people while the rest have five people in their team. She was going to ask about it but stopped when she heard a voice. "I''m in your group." Alice turned around and saw that it was Yujin. 190 Ignorant people Lumilia, Lynn, and Alice turned their head and saw Yujin walking towards their direction with a serious expression. "You''re here. It''s reassuring that you''re in my group." Lumilia said to Yujin. "It''s nothing," Yujin said as he shook his head. ''This team is quite good.'' Alice thought and she looked at the other team of her class. Her classmates already formed their group. She then saw Souta raising his hand while looking at teacher Alex. She looked around him and saw that he still hasn''t formed a team. She wondered why. "What is it, Souta?" Alex asked as he saw Souta wanted to ask a question. "Teacher, I''m just wondering how will you grade us. Whole class, team, or individually?" Souta asked teacher Alex. "Hmm...? That''s a good question but don''t worry about it. The institute already thought about it. I will grade you individually, your team, and your contribution to your class." Alex answered his question. "In other words, we don''t need to compete against each other," Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. "That''s the point of it. You don''t have to compete against each other as this event is focused on improving the strength of students like you." Alex said to him. "But the institute still gave the task to complete and it''s not a mandatory one. If you want to get points then you could complete the task given by the institute." "Thanks for answering my question teacher." Souta thanked him and he rubbed his chin. Although teacher Alex said that it was not a competition, the other classes were already treating this outdoor training like one. Since Bryan and Lumilia were in his class he could advise them to focus on improving their strength but this wasn''t the same for Brando, who was in the Shield class 1-A. He just hoped that Brando wouldn''t forget their goal in this outdoor training. "One more thing... I''m a tamer so I want to ask if I can summon my pet." Souta looked up at teacher Alex. Alex nodded at him and said, "The institute already approve of it so you can use your pet anytime you want. It''s a part of your strength after all." "I see... That''s good." Souta grinned as he rubbed his chin. He wouldn''t summon Yuko right away. He would only summon her if he needed her. Alice simply listened to Souta and Alex''s question and answer. Since this was training, she will also try to improve her strength just like everyone. Improving one''s strength wasn''t a bad thing. She then saw Souta walking towards them. Alice looked at her team and thought that Souta was really heading towards their team. Souta smiled and he showed his number to them. "I''m also number three." "S-Souta, you''re in number three," Lynn said while stuttering. "As you can see, I''m in team 3." Souta smiled and he looked at every member of this team. He was surprised when he saw the members of this team. Lumilia, Lynn, Alice, and Yujin. This was a pretty solid team if he was to say it. "All of you formed your team so I''ll leave now. You can handle the rest and I hope you did well in this training." Alex said to them before he turned around and left. He left without saying another word. ... "What do we do now?" Souta looked at Lumilia and asked. Alice, Lynn, and Yujin also looked at Lumilia when they heard his question. "For now, let''s talk to other teams in our class. Since it''s not a competition, maybe we could help each other." Lumilia said to her team members. Souta smiled when he heard her answer. He will leave things like this to her as he knew that she will do better. She knew the purpose of this outdoor training. She naturally became the leader of this team. As expected of the class representative of the Mage class 1-B. "Let''s do what class rep said. We''re here to improve our abilities not to fight against each other." Souta said to her. He then looked at Yujin, Alice, and Lynn. They didn''t have a problem with it so they agreed to Lumilia''s decision. ... They gathered their classmates and proposed to travel together. Lumilia also explained to them that it will not be a problem if they traveled together. Everyone agreed with her. "That''s good. I''m glad that everyone understood me." Lumilia said as she was glad that everyone agreed to her. "Now that everyone agreed to travel together, can you tell us your plan?" Randolf suddenly said from the side. "Why do you need to know it? Even if you know it I think you will not understand it like me!" Bryan said to Randolf. "Ah." Randolf looked at Bryan and he shook his head. "I''m not an idiot like you. I need to know her plan so that I could act accordingly to it." "Me? Idiot?" Bryan pointed at himself as he asked Randolf. "You don''t realize it?" Randolf looked at Bryan with a surprised expression. He then looked at everyone and said, "Everyone in our class knew it so I''m wondering why you didn''t realize." Bryan looked at his classmates and said, "Hmm... I recall Alice, Souta, Nayo, and class rep said that I''m an idiot. I thought that they were joking at that time." "I only said the truth..." Alice commented from the side. "I''m sad to say that Alice is right. I know it hurts but that''s the truth and you should accept it." Nayo said. "Okay, stop. Class rep has something to say." Souta said as he stopped the topic about Bryan being an idiot. "Thanks." Lumilia thanked Souta before she looked at her classmates. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "I don''t have a concrete plan for now but I think we should go to the nearest town first to see how the other classes approach this outdoor training. The problem is we don''t have any money right now so I think that we should hunt some monster first to sell it to the town we will find." Some of their classmates were shocked when they heard that they will hunt a monster. They didn''t have any real battle experience like Souta, Randolf, Bryan, Lumilia, Yujin, and Alice so they were surprised when they heard it. "That''s a good plan. We should find a place to stay for tonight before making a concrete plan." Randolf paused for a moment before he added, "I''m also quite curious about what other classes think about this outdoor training." "Hunting monster? it''s easy!" Bryan said with a proud expression and he was excited at the same time. "Haha." Randolf laughed and he looked at his classmates. He saw some of them have a calm expression and the rest have a tense expression on their face. He smirked and said, "You lot think that you haven''t experienced a life and death situation. Think about it carefully living is hard as you can die any time without you knowing about it. Also..." "Also..." Everyone waited to finish his sentence. "Even though you''re not part of a big battle in the Gripin city, your presence was still there. If Souta didn''t manage to defeat that fat nobleman, do you think that all of you would be here in this place?" Randolf paused for a moment before he added, "The answer is NO. Do you think that the institute would defend a mere student like you? Of course not, they will only protect those top students who deserve their protection." Everyone understood what Randolf was trying to say. Everyday life was like fighting a life and death battle. They just didn''t think about it too deeply just like what happened to the Gripin city. They thought that Gregory wouldn''t kill them because of their status as a student of the famous Ladro Institute. But when they thought deeply about it. Gregory was bent on taking about Lumilia at all cost. He already loses his face and he would kill anyone that blocked his way just like how he tried to kill Souta at that time. "Do you understand it? Well, this training isn''t for those spoiled children. You have to understand how life works and should know how to provide your own necessity because if you''re too dependent on your parents or backer you will regret it one day once they couldn''t provide what you need... Or once they die." Randolf said to them with an amused expression. It''s pretty interesting to slap the reality in the face of these ignorant people. "Adapt and become versatile," Alice commented from the side in a low voice. She understood what Randolf said because this happened to her before coming here on this continent. 191 Hunting Well, Souta could understand them. When he just arrived here in this world, Souta afraid at that time. He was afraid to fight and was afraid of this terrifying world. But Souta didn''t want to die, that''s why he fought and tried everything that he''s got in every quest that he got. He''s always trying his best. That''s really simple. If his classmates didn''t want to die, then they have to fight for it. They have to earn it in their own power. Randolf just smiled as he took a glance at Souta and Lumilia. He never thought that Souta would take Lumilia under his wings after that battle in the Gripin city. Souta became her caretaker, that''s what Randolf feel about them. But never did he except that Lumilia would show this much improvement. What he didn''t know that Lumilia was doing everything she''s got to get her father''s approval. She went to Desolate Woods with her butler and maid to get the Mystical Light Cherry. She personally experienced the calamity that happened in that place. The place that became a forbidden place after that calamity, the Desolate Woods. The True God''s Holy Kingdom forbids any people from visiting that place. ... They went traveled through that wilderness and found a village after three hours of walking. The village was quite large as it has a population of five thousand people. They didn''t immediately go to the village. They did a scout first and found that some class beat them to it. The group decided to leave since they don''t have any plan to compete with each other. Randolf looked back at the village and saw that the other classes took the same tactics like them. They were also moving in class not team. The other class was talking to the village chief. He then looked at Lumilia and asked, "Class rep, why don''t we stop and wait for them to leave?" "It''s better if we leave cause I don''t want to get involved with other classes in this outdoor training. We''ll train ourselves and for people who want to increase their points they could just do the task that the institute gives." Lumilia shook her head and said. "I see... You really wanted to train and not to show off like other students." Randolf said as he smirked and looked at the village one more time. "But... The institute didn''t give us any task at all. I wanted to do it soon." Bryan said with a disappointed expression. Everyone was surprised when they heard his words. Not that Bryan mentioned it, they don''t have any idea about the task. Teacher Alex didn''t tell them about it. This device was given to them by the institute for free. They could check their points and initiated a ranking battle with other students. They could also check the top rankers in this device. "Right, teacher Alex said that the institute will give a challenge every day throughout the whole outdoor training," Randolf said. "So let''s wait before doing some big move." "We should find a place to stay for tonight. If the institute gave the challenge later at night then we would suffer." Lumilia said to them. "Well, we should find another village and hunt monsters as well," Souta said and he looked at the rest of the classmates, "I''m going to hunt monsters for my team, not for all of you. We''re moving as a class but that doesn''t mean that we would provide you everything. We''ll only give you information and that''s all, you can do the labor work on your own." ... Lumilia memorized some part of the map that teacher Alex showed. She couldn''t memorize all of it so she only memorized a part that she decided as their base. After walking for another hour, they arrived on the outskirts of the Night Light Forest. They decided to hunt monsters first before they went to the nearest village. She said to her classmates that they will meet at this place after they hunted monsters. This was going to become the money to pay for the inn. Lumilia, Souta, Lynn, Alice, and Yujin strode inside the Night Light Forest cautiously. "We shouldn''t go deep in this forest. It''s too dangerous." Souta said to his group. Everyone knew it and he explained the danger of it to his classmates before departing. Night Light Forest was a huge forest between the Hebrei Kingdom and Mali country. The monsters that inhabited this place were powerful and dangerous. The third evolution and fourth evolution monsters can be found here in this place. In the Adventurers Guild records, there were five fourth evolution monsters in sight. Two black dotted spiders and three flood poisonous serpents. ''This place is too dangerous for students. Their power level is too low to fight the high-level monsters here.'' Alice thought as she looked around but then she recalled that teacher Alex was observing them. She thought that not only Alex was watching them. The other staff of the institute must be here to prevent the death of the students. They will only show themselves if the student was on the brink of death. After all, they were not babysitters. ... They walked for a few minutes and they immediately five orcs. Four of these orcs were high earth orcs, the second evolution of orcs. While the remaining one was a black orc, another second evolution of orc, but this evolution path was different from the high orcs. It was much stronger as it was a rare evolution of orcs. Lumilia''s group hid in the bushes as they observed the five orcs. Souta frowned as he saw that these orcs were organized. The black orcs were issuing orders to the other orcs. ''I couldn''t understand them. After all, I only knew the Goblin''s language among the other languages of monster.'' Souta thought as he heard the orcs saying something. He would learn their language in the future after his evolution. He looked at his team and asked in a low voice, "Let''s hunt them." "T-They look strong..." Lynn said. "Don''t worry, with our team we could handle it," Souta assured her. He then looked at Lumilia, Alice, and Yujin, "You ready to go?" "Anytime. Leave the black one to me." Yujin said to him as he took a swift glance at the black orc. "I''ll handle the normal one," Alice said to them. "Okay, I''ll help you with it." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "Lumilia, Lynn, stay here and look out to see if there are monster heading here." "I understand." Lumilia and Lynn nodded at him. Lynn had high sensory ability so he could leave it to her. ... Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Alice, Souta, and Yujin jumped out of the bushes and they immediately rushed towards the orcs. Souta dashed towards one of the orcs and he imbued his mana in his fist. He then threw it towards the stomach of the orc. Bang! The orc flew but several tentacles like shadows burst out of the ground and grabbed the orc. The tentacles pinned down the orc on the ground. He could pin down everything every orc here as his [Shadow Bind] skill could even hold a third evolution monster for a few seconds. But he didn''t do it because he wanted to see Yujin and Alice''s strength. Souta walked towards the orc and he stepped on its head. He then looked at Alice and Yujin''s fight. Swoosh! Alice took out a pipe in her pocket and it transformed into a spear. This was her orange grade weapon. The three orcs looked at her with an angry expression. The orcs were armed with a huge butcher knife. Two of these orcs dashed towards her and it swung the huge knives in their hands. Swoosh! Alice lifted her feet and kicked the two huge knives. [Repulsion Kick]! [Repulsion Kick]! Her feet deflected the knives easily. She then moved her body forward as she gripped her spear tightly. [Swift Strike]! Her spear pierced through the arms of the two orcs. It skewered their arms as their weapons fell on the ground causing a loud metallic sound to rung out. Then, a shadow covered her body. She looked up and saw the huge body of the orc heading towards her. She quickly pulled out her spear and jumped away. Bang! The orc crashed on the ground and it resulted in a small crater on the ground. ''I''m going to fight three orcs? Then, Souta is fighting one orc. I thought that he would divide these four orcs to the two of us.'' Alice thought while looking at the three orcs. ''That man scammed me...'' 192 Black Orc ''If he helped me finish these orcs, then we would be able to save a lot of time and stamina.'' Alice puffed up her cheeks. She then shook her head and put those thoughts in the back of her mind. She tightened her fingers around the spear before she looked at the three orcs in front of her. She saw the hole in the arms of the two orcs was closing rapidly. It''s healing speed was visible to naked eyes and it''s quite incredible to see it like this. "Really...? Their healing speed is incredible." Alice muttered and she circulated her mana around her body. She guessed that she''s going to take this a little bit seriously. The orcs roared angrily and it charged towards her at high speed. Swoosh! Alice looked at the three orcs calmly and she tapped her spear on the ground. [Freezing Ground]! The ground beneath her feet turned into ice and it spread quickly, freezing the soil. The three orcs were surprised when Alice froze the ground. They couldn''t stop anymore as they went straight towards Alice. The ground was slippery and they were having a hard time controlling their footing. Alice squinted her eyes and she once again tapped her spear on the ground. [Chilly Wind]! A cold and powerful gust of wind burst out of Alice''s body. The chilly wind hit the bodies of the orcs directly lowering their body temperatures. "Last one..." Alice muttered as she looked at the three orcs with cold eyes. She pointed her spear at them and casted a water-based spell. [High Water]! Tiny balls of water appeared on the tip of her spear. It then shot towards the three orcs. It wet the bodies of the orcs and in just a second they turned into an ice sculpture. The [High Water] spell had a component that could speed up the freezing process of an object. That''s why the orcs quickly turned into ice after it got wet by the [High Water] spell. Alice walked towards the orcs and looked at it closely. She then looked at Souta and said, "These orcs are still alive but I think that they will die in five minutes. No, three minutes, and they are gone." Souta smiled as he lifted his feet and brought it down heavily on the nape of the orc under him. Bang! The orc instantly loses its consciousness. Capturing a second evolution monster at this level wasn''t a problem for him. Souta thought that this monster had just evolved. Maybe that''s the reason why it was too weak. He looked at it and shook his head. With a wave of his hand, he canceled the [Shadow Bind] spell. "Don''t destroy the body, we still need to sell them," Souta said to Alice as he slightly knocked his fingers on the ice sculptures. It was hard so he knew that it''s not going to break as long as no one smashed it. "Let me try this..." He then gathered his mana on his fingers and flicked the ice sculpture. Bang! Souta looked at the ice sculptures and nodded with a satisfied expression. These ice sculptures could handle the shockwave from Yujin''s battle. He then turned his head and watched Yujin''s fight against the rare species of an orc. Alice looked at Souta before she opened her mouth and asked, "Why don''t you help him? It will save us a lot of time." "You''re smart so I think you will realize it why I didn''t want to help Yujin and why I left three orcs in your care." Souta looked at her in the eyes and grinned widely. "...you want to test us?" Alice replied to him. "That''s correct. I want to see a little bit of your strength." Souta said to her before he went back to watch Yujin''s fight. Bang! Bang! Yujin moved his body from side to side as the huge butcher knife passed beside him. He grabbed the handle of his sword that was hanging on his waist. [Blue Slash]! A blue line appeared on the chest of the black orc. It then spurted out a huge amount of blood. Yujin stepped forward and pointed his sword at the neck of the black orc. But he saw the black orc waved the huge butcher knife. He didn''t have a choice but to back down. Swoosh! A blade wave shot out of the butcher knife after the black orc waved it. The blueish energy wave flew towards Yujin. "What?!" Yujin was surprised when he saw this. He knew that he couldn''t avoid it so he raised his sword and prepared himself to receive the attack. Boom! "That''s..." Alice was a little bit surprised when she saw this. She didn''t expect an orc to use a skill. Souta glanced at her and said, "That''s not surprising at all. Some of the monsters developed intelligence depending on their evolution. A monster lord could build their kingdom so it''s possible for monsters to try to learn a skill." Before they attacked the group of orcs, the black orc was ordering the other orcs. From this, they could see that the black orc possessed intelligence. A smart monster was much more terrifying than those monsters who only fought on instinct. "Now that you mention it... You''re right." Alice could only accept his explanation. Souta was probably right as he was a tamer. She recalled the stories about the monster lords, the most dangerous monster in the whole universe. A monster lord could unite all the monster in its territory. In the Giza continent, all the countries here didn''t dare to offend a monster lord. The monster lords here were leaving peacefully and didn''t show themselves in the humans and demis. While in the God''s continent, some of the monster lords were treated as gods and deities. Sun wukong, Fenrir, Jormungandr, Yamata no Orochi, etc... were all monster lords that possessed great strength. Swoosh! The black orc jumped as it created distance to Yujin. The cut in its chest healed and it left no scars. "Huff..." Yujin exhaled as he barely blocked that attack. He greatly underestimated this black orc. He frowned and said, "I''ll take this seriously." His aura skyrocketed all of sudden as his sword emitted a blueish aura. Yujin took a deep breath and charged towards the black orc. The black orc roared and it also charged towards Yujin. Bang! Both of their weapons collided causing a huge gust of wind to swept out in the surrounding. Clang! Clang! Clang! Their weapons collided at high speed. The black orc had impressive skills to be able to match Yujin''s sword skills. Yujin stepped back as the butcher knife passed in front of him. He then swung his swords upwards. [Three Fold Lightning Strike]! Lightning crackled on his blade and it strikes the body of the black orc. He then stabbed its hand and casted a spell using his free hand. [Wind Cutter]! Sharp winds shoot out from his hand and it sliced down the black orc''s armor. "This is it!" Yujin muttered as he grabbed his sword using both of his hands. He then pierced the chest of the black orc. [Point Black Explosive Stab]! Yujin''s sword pierced the heart of the black orc. He then twisted it and it exploded. Boom! The black orc roared loudly as he drew its last breath. It died as its heart exploded under Yujin''s skill. "With this, you will not be able to regenerate." He muttered as he slowly pulled out his sword. The black orc fell on the ground without any sign of life. Zzzzz! Suddenly, the device on the students'' wrist vibrated. Lumilia, Lynn, Yujin, Alice, and Souta looked at their wrist at the same time. They saw that the institute send the challenges and their task. Souta looked around and said, "Don''t think about the quest. Hurry up and bring out the orcs out of this forest. There''s a chance that the last roar of the black orc was calling for reinforcement." Lumilia, Lynn, Yujin, and Alice looked at him when they heard his words. "All of you are strong so bring back the corpses of the orc!" Souta instructed them. Yujin hurriedly brought the black orc''s corpse to Alice''s side. Lumilia and Lynn also went beside Souta. Alice then waved her hands and the ground turned into ice. She also froze the black orc and the orc that Souta took down. She moved forward as she created a path of ice. "Let''s go!" Souta shouted and he pushed the orcs. It easily moved because of the frozen ground. They didn''t have to carry the corpses with this. Yujin, Lumilia, and Lynn followed Souta. 193 Challenges and Tasks "What are you going to do?" Yujin asked Souta as he glanced at the frozen corpse. "Me? I''m going to check if there are monsters in the vicinity." Souta replied to him as a black ball materialized around him. "Okay, I hope you come back in one piece." Yujin nodded at him. Souta just smirked at him as he didn''t say anything. He floated on the ground and looked down at his team members. Alice, Lumilia, and Lynn paused for a moment when they saw him floated but Yujin told them what he''s going to do. He shook his head and he opened his palm. A ball of shadows appeared on top of it. It then flew towards the direction of the meeting place. "Okay, I could escape anytime with this," Souta muttered as he turned his head towards the opposite direction, in the deep place of the Night Light Forest. Boom! He then felt a heavy pressure pressing him on the ground. Souta descended as he knew that it was dangerous to fly above this forest. "That''s dangerous but I managed to see a glimpse of the monsters," Souta muttered. He saw dozens of orcs coming in this direction. It seems that his guess was right. That black orc really called reinforcement. He then looked above and thought that the monster who pressured him was a monster at the third evolution as there''s no way that a second evolution monster could pressure him. The pressure only disappeared when he descended so he guessed that it was an aerial type monster. "I''ll hold these group of orcs for a while," Souta muttered and the ground beneath his feet turned into black. Several tentacles like shadows emerged from it. Holding these monsters was not a problem for him as he could escape anytime in case something dangerous occurred. After a few seconds, more than twenty high earth orcs and four black orcs appeared before Souta. Their face was filled with rage. "Go..." Souta said and the tentacles flew straight towards the group of orcs. Swoosh! Swoosh! Some of the orcs got caught but most of them managed to avoid the tentacles. Their movements were fast for their huge body. Especially, the black orcs'' movements were swift and their bodies were agile. It''s hard to imagine a five-meter huge body could move like that. The four black orcs jumped in the mid-air and they swung their weapons. Then, a blue wave shot out from their weapons. It went towards Souta at high speed. Boom! Boom! Boom! The tentacles went in front of Souta and it protected him from the attack of the black orcs. "Their level is high... Maybe higher than me." Souta muttered while looking at the four black orcs. One was a normal evolution path while the other one was a rare evolution path. Bang! Bang! The four black orcs landed on the ground and they charged at Souta in different directions. The four black orcs arrived in front of him and red aura coated their butcher knives. "Hmm...?" Souta frowned when he saw this. The black orc that Yujin fought didn''t use this skill. He then quickly moved the tentacles like shadows in front of him. Bang! Bang! Bang! The four black orcs swung their weapons heavily and it landed on the tentacles like shadows causing a powerful gust of wind to swept out. Cracks started to form on the ground. "Get down..." Souta muttered as several tentacles like shadows formed behind him and to shot towards the four black orcs. The four black orcs immediately jumped away when they saw this. "See... You''ve possessed intelligence. I wonder who''s the one commanding you. I want to meet that monster. Maybe, I could negotiate with your leader." Souta smirked and said even though he knew that the black orcs couldn''t understand him. That''s the same for him, he couldn''t understand the language of the orcs. Souta turned around and raised his right hand. He said, "See you." Souta disappeared in front of the black orcs. His presence and aura were gone and the black orcs didn''t know how he did that. After a few seconds, the tentacles dissipated into thin air. The black orcs frowned before they turned their heads and looked at their subordinates. They saw that the tentacles that were binding their subordinates also disappeared. ... Souta teleported back to the meeting place. He already did his job in delaying the group of orcs. He actually wanted to meet who''s the one commanding those orcs but he thought that they would not be able to understand each other so he denied it. By the time he arrived in the meeting place, some of their classmates were already here. Bryan and Randolf''s group also finished hunting some monsters. Lynn and Lumilia walked towards him when they saw him appeared. "A-Are you alright, Souta?" Lynn asked him with a worried expression. "As you can see I''m fine. I don''t have any injuries." Souta replied to her and he looked at the five frozen corpses of the orcs. "I''m glad," Lynn said with a sigh of relief. "There''s nothing to worry about me facing those orcs. I wouldn''t have a problem even if there''s a dozen of them." Souta shook his head and he walked towards the frozen corpse. "Souta, have you read the challenge and task?" Lumilia asked him as she walked beside him. "Oh, right! I completely forgot about it." Souta exclaimed and he looked at the device on his wrist. He read the content of the message of the Ladro Institute. Task: 1. Defeat one team from a different class in a fight. (50 points) 2. Defeat one class in a fight. (500 points) 3. Defeat three teams from different classes in a fight. (300 points) They say that it was not a competition but looking at the task, Souta thought that it was inevitable. Competing with other classes couldn''t be stopped. The reward points could drool other students. They could buy some skill books and spellbooks by getting these points. But it wasn''t mandatory... Everyone could finish this outdoor training without completing the task but the challenge was a different story. Souta looked at Alice and asked, "You already complete the solo challenge, right?" "Yeah, thanks to you leaving those three orcs to me," Alice replied to him. "Ah, I should''ve at least hunt two orcs when I stopped the group of orcs," Souta said with a sigh. Well, the challenge today was easy and their team could complete it later. "Haha, in the end, this training is still a competition!" Randolf laughed loudly. He looked around and saw that some of his classmates have wounds on their bodies. Souta glanced at him and said, "Stop Randolf, don''t worry about them. Let''s wait for the others before we go to the village." "Haha, fine..." Randolf laughed and he looked at his teammates. "Don''t expect help from me in the solo challenge. I don''t need to carry all of you in this outdoor training." The staffs of the Ladro Institute were watching their movements. They even knew that the students already hunt some monsters and knew how many they have hunted. ... After half an hour, some of the students that went out to hunt monsters have arrived at their meeting place. They were out of breath and tired at the same time. They clearly experience hardship inside the Night Light Forest. Fighting low-level monsters should be easy for these students who haven''t experienced such battles, it was too hard. They could barely move under the killing intent of these ferocious monsters. "It''s really good that no one dropped out in our class." Lumilia stepped forward and said to everyone. She looked at the sky and said, "It''s getting dark so we should probably go to the nearby village." Everyone agreed to her as some of them were already tired and wanted to rest. "If you want to finish this outdoor training then you have to complete the challenge that the institute gave to us," Souta said to them before he turned around and left. Alice, Lynn, Yujin, and Lumilia looked at each other before they followed him. The rest of the class started to move as well. ... The group arrived in a village called Ibish village. The Ibish village was a large size village. It has ten thousand population. The Mage class 1-B entered the village. Souta told them to sell the corpses of the monster in some merchants or the Adventurers Guild. But he didn''t prefer to sell the carcasses on the Adventurers Guild because of the lower price. Souta''s team went around the village and they sold the five corpses of the orcs to a merchant. It''s good as they earned some money to rent rooms in an inn for three days. As for food, Souta didn''t want to expend their money to buy it. There''s a lot of low-level monsters that they could hunt outside the village. After selling the orcs'' bodies, they rent two rooms. One for the boys and one for the girls. He then gathered everyone in his room. "Do you want to earn points in this outdoor training or not?" He asked his team members with a serious expression. 194 Lets take a look at the Adventurers Guild "I don''t care about it. I''ll just go with the majority." Alice replied to him as she crossed her arms. "I got it." Souta nodded at her and he looked at Yujin, Lynn, and Lumilia. He didn''t need to ask Lumilia at all. He already knew her answer so that leave it to Lynn and Yujin. "It''s fine for me. I wanted to test my skills and fighting other students is a part of training too." Lumilia answered. "M-Mila..." Lynn looked at her friend. She actually doesn''t want to fight but it seems that all of her teammates wanted to fight other classes. Lumilia looked at her and placed her mouth closer to Lynn''s ear. She whispered, "I thought that you wanted to fight beside Souta. That''s the reason why you started to train, right?" "B-But... I''m still weak." Lynn said with a downcast expression. Souta heard her words. He looked at her and said, "You''re not weak. It''s just your fighting style isn''t compatible with your talent. You''ll get stronger if you change it." Lynn wasn''t compatible with burst type mage. She was too kind and probably couldn''t kill a person. She was suited more at support type mage or sensory type. If she trained her skills, she will become great in both types. "R-Really?" Lynn asked with a doubtful expression. She thought that Souta was just putting good words so that she wouldn''t felt down. "I''m not joking. I''m going to explain it to you later." Souta said to her with a smile. He then looked at Yujin with a serious look. Lumilia stood up and said, "I''m going to get water." She walked towards the door and stopped. She turned her head and glanced at Lynn and Souta. She then opened the door and exited the room. Alice was looking at Lumilia from the corner of her eyes. She followed Lumilia''s line of sight. "Hmm..." The corner of her mouth curved upward. "Fine, we''ll gather points," Yujin said with a sigh. He leaned his back on the wall and looked at the ceiling. "We have to get stronger so we have to do it." "Good... That''s a good decision." Souta said as he couldn''t help but grin. There''s another reason why he wanted to complete the task. And that''s because several quests pop up in his system when he received the challenges and tasks of this outdoor training. This was the reason why Souta like the special events in the institute. He could earn a lot of points by defeating other students. In this quest, he didn''t need to place his life on the line. Alice then opened her mouth and asked, "What should we do now? I already finish the solo challenge." He looked at Alice and added, "If you don''t want to go, you can stay here. After all, you already complete your solo challenge." "I''ll go. I have nothing to do here." Alice shook her head and said. "Okay." Souta nodded at her. "We have to do the challenges every day so tomorrow please woke up early in the morning. We''ll complete our challenge then defeat the other class." "You make it sound easy," Alice said to him. "Um... Souta is strong. He fought several classes on his own in the special test before." Lynn said to Lumilia. "Haha, don''t be like that Lynn. The other classes are training hard so we don''t know if their improvements are high or not." Souta laughed and said to Lynn. Lumilia then entered the room. She gave everyone a glass of water. Everyone thanked her for the water. "Hu~" Souta exhaled after he drunk a glass full of water. He looked at Lumilia and said, "I''ll tell you our plan. After I explain it, tell us your opinion." "Okay." Lumilia nodded at him. She then took out a towel and gave it to Souta. "Thanks..." Souta took the towel in her hands and wiped his face. He then proceeded to explain his plan to her which she agreed. ... Late at night... Souta, Lumilia, Yujin, and Lynn already finished their solo challenge. They didn''t have a problem with it except for Lynn. Lynn was quite nervous when she fought a single ferocious wolf. Lumilia, Yujin, and Alice were watching her fights while Souta was coaching her. He was teaching her as she loses her composure. Because of this the ferocious wolf almost injured her. Luckily, everyone was watching her so they managed to decapitate the ferocious wolf before it catches Lynn. It took them almost three hours before they managed to complete their solo challenge. Well, they got delayed because of Lynn. Souta didn''t blame her because he knew that she was timid. He patiently coached her on how to hunt monsters. "I-I''m sorry everyone you got delayed because of me." Lynn bowed her head in front of her teammates. "It''s okay Lynn..." Lumilia said to her friend with a concerned look. Alice and Yujin didn''t say anything. They just glanced at Souta who was looking at Lynn. "I''m going to say the truth..." Souta said as he massaged his temples. "Your performance was bad. Too bad. Your trembling in front of an opponent that you could defeat. You are not thinking of defeating it. You don''t have any guards. You''re full of holes." Lynn lowered her head as she looked down on her feet. She felt her heart tightening every time she heard the words that came out of Souta''s mouth. "You''re a mage, am I right? So you should know the basic fundamentals of being a mage." Souta looked at Lumilia and asked, "Teacher Bargan thought it to us, right class rep?" "...Yes," Lumilia replied to him in a low voice. "You''re a trained mage so you could handle that level of monster," Souta said to her. He then sighed when he saw Lynn''s eyes getting wet. "Okay, this is outdoor training. I don''t want to hear any complaints coming from you. I''m going to train you." Souta said and he turned around. Lynn opened her eyes widely when she heard Souta''s words. She lifted her head and saw Souta''s back. She then smiled and said, "Yes, I''ll do my best." When Souta was reprimanding her, she felt pain. Her heart was tightening. When she thought that Souta was disappointed in her, she felt like crying. She''s supposed to show her good side to Souta. "Okay, let''s go back to rest," Souta said as he started to walk. He rubbed his chin and thought what class was compatible with Lynn. Support type or sensory type. Maybe, hybrid but it will become harder and it will depend on her talent. He should ask her if she still has points. That way she could redeem some spells and skills that would compliment her talent. ''Well, self-defense comes first. She will not be able to complete this training if she didn''t know some fighting skills.'' Souta thought as he took a swift glance at Lynn''s direction. Yujin looked back at the corpse of the monster that they hunted. He pulled it towards the village. ... They entered the Ibish village and met Randolf''s group. Randolf looked at Souta and said, "I know you. You''re planning to take those points, am I right?" Souta just glanced at him and didn''t say anything. He walked away without saying anything to Randolf. Lumilia, Alice, Yujin, and Lynn followed Souta from behind. "Haha, battles... In every big battle, you''re always involved. You can''t hide it." Randolf laughed as he walked outside the village. He then added, "Be careful of this village..." ... After one day... Souta''s group has already finished their challenges for today. Their challenge was the same as yesterday, the only difference was that they had to hunt five monsters today. It was already noon when they finished their challenges. "Let''s rest here for a while," Souta said to his teammates. Everyone agreed with him. Well, they knew that Lynn was tired and she needed to rest to recover some of her energy. "Are you fine, Lynn?" Lumilia asked her friend with a concerned look. "Thanks for worrying, Mila. I''m fine. I could handle it." Lynn said to Lumilia with a wry smile. Souta looked around. He noticed something so he asked Lumilia, "This is a large village, am I right class rep?" "Yeah, why?" Lumilia nodded at him and asked. At this time, Yujin opened his mouth and said, "So you noticed it too..." "Yes, you could barely saw any people wandering around this village," Souta said. "You''re right. I''m wondering too why..." Yujin said as he looked around. "Now that you mention it... We''re too busy yesterday to notice it." Alice nodded at them. "Do you want me to go to the Adventurers Guild and gather some information?" Lumilia suggested to Souta. "Nope, we''ll all go there. The institute didn''t forbid us from taking any quest. We could earn some money from taking quests there." Souta stood up and said, "Let''s take a look. Don''t worry about the task. We can complete it anytime since there''s no time limit." 195 Dont disappoint me, my students The silence was present in the atmosphere. No one was uttering any words. When Souta''s group entered the guild, they just glanced at them. "Even here... This is much worse than the Fersch dukedom." Souta commented as he felt the cold atmosphere in the air. "Yeah, terrible things happened there but the adventurers there were lively unlike here." Lumilia nodded at his words. "Mila, Fersch dukedom? Where''s that place?" Lynn asked Lumilia in a low voice. Lumilia didn''t know how to explain it to Lynn. Lynn still didn''t know that she was a member of Souta''s party. "Oh, right? Since all of you were here. Do you want to become an adventurer?" Souta looked back at them and asked with a smile. "You can enter any town or city easily using Adventurer''s ID. It''s not that bad to have it." "If it will help us then why not," Yujin replied to him. Souta smiled then he looked at Alice and Lynn. "How about the two of you?" "I''ll register too..." Lynn said. "Fine, if it will not cost me anything," Alice said. "Good. Follow me." Souta said and he turned around. He walked towards the receptionist and asked, "I want to register these three as an adventurer." He then showed his Adventurer''s ID to the receptionist. The receptionist looked at it and saw that Souta was a C-rank adventurer. She was surprised at first but she immediately regained her senses. "Please wait a moment sir." The receptionist said in a polite tone and she took out three pieces of paper from the drawer beneath her desk. She placed it in front of them and told them to fill up the information. "S-She''s acting politely in front of Souta," Lynn whispered in Lumilia''s ear. "Nothing is surprising about that. Souta is a C-rank adventurer and C-rank adventurers are respected in this field of work. They are just below B-rank who could hunt third evolution monster." Lumilia explained to Lynn. "You know a lot about Souta, Mila," Lynn said. "Well, I''ll tell you that I''m a member of his party. I got expelled by my father so I don''t have any income so I decided to become an adventurer." Lumilia patiently explained to Lynn with a wry smile. She felt guilty about hiding it from her friend. "Really? That''s good, Mila! I wanted to join Souta''s party too." Lynn said with a bright smile. She already imagining herself joining Souta''s party. What she didn''t know that ever since Souta discovered her sensory ability, he was already planning to train and recruit her into his team. If she knew that Souta valued her then maybe she wouldn''t be able to sleep at night because of excitement. "Lynn! Lynn!" "Come here, you need to write your information here," Souta said to her. "O-Okay." Lynn nodded and she went beside Yujin and Alice. Souta looked at them who were writing down their information on the piece of paper. He then turned to the receptionist and asked, "Do you know what''s going on in this village? We just came here yesterday so we don''t have any information. I just felt weird about not seeing other people." "That...? This village is like this, to begin with. Every month some of the people vanished. No one knew the reason why but there''s a rumor that some powerful monster was guarding this village in exchange for people." The receptionist explained it to him. The people that were staying here rarely go out of their house. They were afraid that they were going to become the next sacrifice. But why they didn''t leave this village. The receptionist also explained it to Souta. She told him that because a lot of monsters came out of the Night Light Forest. Those monsters destroyed the other neighboring village but this village was under the protection of some unknown entity. The guild master personally investigated this but he came out nothing. He didn''t found anything useful in his investigation. "I see... So that''s the case..." Souta nodded and thanked her for giving information to him. Lynn, Alice, and Yujin finished what they were doing. They gave their papers to the receptionist and the receptionist started to process their information. "Please, wait a moment. It will take a while before the machine generates your ID." The receptionist said to them in a polite tone. "Okay, we''ll wait here." Souta nodded at her. He then rubbed his chin and processed the information he just received in his mind. Suddenly, the door was slammed opened and Bryan came inside full of bruises. "Souta!!" Bryan shouted at the top of his lungs. Souta turned his head and looked at Bryan from top to bottom. "Why are you like that?" "Me? Ah, this..." Bryan looked down and saw that there''s some bloodstain on his clothes. "My group went out to complete the task. We fought several teams and managed to defeat them. But then, George noticed that we''re the target of all teams." "Wait..." Souta raised his hand and stopped Bryan from saying anything. "Bryan, can tell us what happened? Explain to us what you experience..." Lynn, Lumilia, Yujin, and Alice looked at Bryan with a serious expression. They didn''t think that Bryan would attack the other classes first. Well, if they think about his personality, they could only say that it was within their expectations. Bryan loves fighting, a battle maniac. So when they received the task about defeating other teams, Bryan must have thought to go there immediately and fight other teams. Luckily, George was in his group and stopped Bryan from going there. "Well, this morning... We head out to find other classes. We found them and fought them. I defeated them but George noticed that our team are the targets of all teams. He asked one of the people that we defeated and found that their task was to defeat us Mage class 1-B..." Bryan paused and he knitted his brows. He tried to recall what George said to him before coming here. "Hmm....." "What is it?" Souta asked him. "Wait, I forgot what George said to me..." Bryan said. Then, he exclaimed, "I remember now! George didn''t say anything about it. It was Nayo! Ah~ how could I forgot about it." Everyone sighed at Bryan. They already expected it. "Bryan, what did Nayo say?" Souta asked as he massaged his temples. "She told me to tell you that our class became the target of the whole first year. The reward points are high." Bryan said to them. Everyone was shocked when they heard his words. Their class was the target of every class in this outdoor training. "Bryan, is that real?" Lumilia asked him with a surprised expression. "That''s what she told me," Bryan said to her with an innocent expression. "Ah, If that''s true then hundreds of students will attack us relentlessly," Souta said as he rubbed his chin. He then looked at Bryan and asked, "Where are your teammates?" "They are resting in their room," Bryan replied to him. "Can you tell her that I''m going to talk to her later? I want to hear the story from your teammates." Souta said to him. "Okay." Bryan nodded and he left the guild. Souta looked at his teammates and saw that they were contemplating what they heard just now. He looked at Lumilia and asked, "What''s your opinion about this Lumilia?" "I think that the institute will not issue a task to defeat a single class but when I think about what happened in the special test... It''s possible." Lumilia said to them. In the special test, their class dominated everyone. No, it was right to say that Souta was the one who dominated them. Their gap from the second place was too wide. "I also think that we shouldn''t need to worry about that," Lumilia said to them. "And why is it?" Souta asked him with a smile. "Well, the other class needed to adopt in this life just like Lynn. It will take her a few days before she got used to living like this. Hunting monsters isn''t that easy after all." Lumilia glanced at her friend. "But... We received training from the institute. We possessed the power to hunt them but were not used to fighting monsters. So we have three or four days before they attack us." "Good." Souta nodded at her. He was satisfied with her explanation. Every student just needed to get used to hunting monsters. After they adapted, hunting some second evolution monster was not a problem for them. ... Bargan who was watching the other class smiled. He opened his mouth and muttered, "I wonder what will you do... My students... I even used my authority to change the task so don''t disappoint me." 196 Meeting Information? He already memorized all the information about his students. Their attitude in the class, exam, or special exam. He took note of that. He even recorded what skill or spell that his students redeemed. Not just that, he also knew who used points to hire a personal teacher, like Yujin who hired Alex, and Lynn who hired Sabrina. That''s why he knew well that his students could handle this pressure. This wasn''t even a pressure to begin with. The students of the Mage class 1-B could even handle the pressure of Gregory''s full-blown aura while fighting Souta at that time. At that time, the shockwave of that fight could even injure them but they still came and help Lumilia. They even fought some of the knights. Their classmate was Souta Ieshi, the one who carried everyone in the special test. After the special test, their class was called the strongest class in the whole first year. Right now, they have to prove it. They didn''t become the strongest class because Souta was their classmate. They have to prove that they become the strongest class because they have the power, the strength, and the courage to face anyone. "If you manage to pass this trail then you''re truly the strongest class in all first year," Bargan muttered. ... "Then, how about we attack them right now?" Yujin suggested to them. "We could do that but I want Lynn to familiarize herself with her role," Souta said to him. "I''m sorry for the inconvenience." Lynn bowed her head as she apologized. "No worries... We''ll take it slowly. We know that they are going to come at us so we don''t need to worry about the task. We''ll focus on improving ourselves these days." Souta said to them. "I think that Souta is right. We could finish the quest and defeat the other teams when they come at us." Lumilia agreed at his words. "I don''t have a problem with it," Alice said from the side. "Yeah, for now, we should focus on the challenges. I think that the difficulty of the challenges will increase tomorrow." Souta said to them. This will not become a training if the challenges will stay the same. "Sir, the IDs are complete." The receptionist called Souta. Souta turned and looked at the receptionist. He looked at the three IDs on top of the desk. He took it and gave it to Lynn, Alice, and Yujin. The three of them were F-rank adventurers, the lowest rank. The receptionist was about to tell them about the adventurers but Souta stopped her. He said that he will explain it to them in her place. "So I''m an adventurer now," Alice muttered while looking at her adventurer''s ID. "Yeah, what do you feel about it?" Souta glanced at her and asked. "Well, your rank is low so it''s not worth celebrating," Souta said as he shook his head. The players in the game were boasting when they become adventurers. ... Randolf''s group was outside the village. They just finished their challenges. Randolf frowned while looking at the village. He opened his mouth and said, "This village is dangerous. Some powerful entity is observing every people that went inside the village." Someone was watching them inside the village and that couldn''t escape his sharp senses. He knew well if someone was watching his movements. "Tch!" He clicked his tongue and said, "Just what the hell is the institute doing right now. Did they investigate every village here before or not?" He thought that the Ladro Institute was arrogant that they placed the outdoor training in this place without investigating it. Even though this was just villages, dukedoms, and kingdoms, some of these forces could potentially harm them. ... Souta and his group went outside the village. He looked at everyone and said, "Since this is outdoor training, why don''t we train?" "What do you mean by it?" Alice looked at him and asked. "I mean it like that. All of you come at me and attack me at the same time." Souta said as the corner of his mouth curved upwards. Everyone was surprised when they heard his words. They didn''t think that Souta would ask them to fight him at the same time. Souta fought them on his own. He trained them while training himself. He fought them without using his spells. He was overwhelmed by their power. After that, he let them fight each other but he didn''t include Lynn with their training. He was going to train her personally. He asked her what training she did. Lynn explained to her that Sabrina was the one who''s teaching her. She also explained how Sabrina trained her. Souta understood that Lynn knew some powerful spells but it seems that she couldn''t cast it easily. She''s having a problem building the structures of a spell. Lynn told all the spell that she knew to Souta without hesitation. She was happy that Souta was personally teaching her. From her words, Souta understood that Sabrina was slowly building her into a hybrid mage. Different from him, a mage who could fight close combat. Sabrina was going to build her into a sensory type and support type mage. He told her to keep training her sensory ability as it was important for her. After saying all the things to Lynn, Souta fought Yujin in sword fights. He got overwhelmed by Yujin''s pure skill in just a few seconds. He just realized that Yujin was a master swordsman. In-game terms, he would say that Yujin had level 5 [Sword Mastery] skill. Souta couldn''t win at all. He had to use his high stats to fight Yujin on equal ground. But he guessed that Yujin was still hiding his strength. He heard from Lumilia that Randolf said that if Yujin worked with Souta at that time, they could defeat Gregory. ... In terms of pure strength, Souta was higher than his teammates. His mana capacity and control was higher than any of them. If it was sword skills, then Yujin would win without any doubt. If it was their senses, then Lynn was higher than any of them. Alice had high strength but Souta was still stronger than her. Her stats were well balanced. He had a good grasp of everyone''s strength. Lumilia could probably command them and used their strength well. ... Later at night, after confirming Bryan''s report from his teammates, Lumilia gathered everyone from her class. She explained to her classmates that they were the target of all classes. Everyone was stunned by what they heard. They couldn''t believe it at all but Bryan''s team gave the evidence so they could only accept it. "We should work together at this time. We''re the target so stay in this village and complete the challenges. Don''t wander far away from the village because there''s a chance that you will be attacked." Lumilia paused for a moment as she looked at her classmates. "Don''t worry we have a few days before they attack us. Prepare yourself for the worse. This is nothing compared to what we experience. Trust everyone and we will complete the challenge and get a huge amount of points." "I can''t wait for it. I wanted to fight them as soon as possible." Bryan said from the side with an excited expression. "Hehe, so we''re going to fight all of them," Randolf said with a laughed and he glanced at Souta. "I''m sure that Souta likes it too." "I wonder about that..." Souta replied with a smile on his face. "I will ask one more thing. Does anyone have a problem with me commanding the whole class?" Lumilia asked everyone in a loud voice as her eyes swept around. "No, I don''t have a problem," Bryan said without hesitation. The leader of the other teams also agreed with her. "I don''t have a problem but I want to ask a question," Randolf said as he looked at Lumilia with a smirk. "What is it?" Lumilia asked. "If I''m not wrong, Souta is the top 1 ranker of the first-year students. So why don''t you leave the commanding position to him?" Randolf asked Lumilia as he took a swift glance at Souta. "Class rep is the leader because she is the class rep, am I right?" Bryan asked Nayo as he tilted his head in confusion. "...Just listen to them." Nayo sighed and said to Bryan. "If I leave the commanding position to Souta, then Souta wouldn''t be able to monitor the whole battle and command us at the same time." Lumilia looked at Souta and said, "I''m planning to use Souta''s power and defeat the other top rankers. Nope, I''m planning to use all of you to defeat all the other first-year that are going to attack us. I''m going to make use of everyone''s strength including you, Randolf, to win. That''s all." At the end of her sentence, Lumilia turned her head to Randolf. She was serious as there''s not a hint of bluff in her words. "Use me... What a good choice of words..." Souta muttered and his mouth curved upwards. "Haha, fine... I like it. You''re going to use someone who is stronger than you. Okay, I''ll leave it to you." Randolf laughed. ... Three days had passed quickly... 197 Clearing Dungeon Part 1 Lumilia and Souta stocked foods and water for her. They couldn''t bring her to the outdoor training and it was the only thing they could do for her. "I wonder when they will come back... I''m getting bored here." Cluster muttered with a sad expression. She laid down on the bed and tightly hold her pillow. "Ah~ I want to play with Yuko." Cluster puffed her cheeks. She was extremely bored inside this room. "Even brother Bryan aren''t here. What am I suppose to do?" She wanted to go out but Souta and Lumilia said that she shouldn''t go out alone because it was dangerous for her. She knew it. That''s why she didn''t dare to leave this room. "Hurry up and come back here!" ... Three days had passed... Early in the morning... There''s a change in the event. The challenges that they receive grew harder. The challenge today was that they needed to clear one monster nest. In other words, they had to clear one dungeon. Clearing a dungeon was different from hunting three to five monsters. They didn''t know what''s inside a dungeon or what will happen there. "They probably will not right now. It could be this night or tomorrow." Lumilia said to them. "Yeah, the challenge today is entirely different from yesterday." Souta nodded at her words. "We should ask for a detailed map of the dungeons here in the Adventurers Guild," Lumilia suggested to them. "Let''s do that. We''re not familiar with the area around the village that much." Souta said to her. Even in the game, he wasn''t familiar with this part of the land. His main focus in the game was the part around the Mechanic city. He knew that place very well like the back of his hand. "So we''re not going to train today?" Yujin suddenly asked Souta. "If we still have a time later," Souta replied to him. He felt that his [Sword Mastery] was going to reach a new height with him practicing with Yujin. He learned a lot from Yujin in these past few days. "Okay, I actually wanted to try some skills that I just comprehended," Yujin said as he looked at the sword on his waist. Souta turned his head and looked at Yujin when he heard his words. Judging from his words, it seems that Yujin learned some sword skills. "You will have a lot of time to try it later." He said to Yujin before he started to walk towards the Adventurers Guild. Alice and Lynn who was sitting stood up. They followed behind Souta as they looked around the village. The village was still the same as before. The people that were living here rarely came out of their house. They only came out when they were going to buy something. They were the only people who were going in and out of the village. Even the merchant that came here didn''t stay too long. This village was really a mysterious one. There''s no shortage of mysterious things in this world and right now he''s the only player that would actively complete all these quests. If this was still in the game, thousands of players would wander around the continent and triggering a quest like this one. During these three days, Souta earned some skill points by completing the challenges. He also earned some of it through completing the quest in the Adventurers Guild. Not only that, but he also received the rewards when Lumilia took and completed a different quest with Lynn. He also received some from Bryan and Brando. The party system was really good and beneficial to Souta. But the problem was that he couldn''t get anything from Alice, Lynn, and Yujin as they were not a part of his party. He couldn''t rashly ask them to join his party as it could backfire him if they didn''t like it. ... The group arrived in the Adventurers Guild and Lumilia requested for a map in the dungeons around the Ibish village. The receptionist complied and gave them the map of the dungeons around the village. After that, Souta asked the receptionist if there''s an available quest related to clearing the dungeon. In this way, he could get two birds with one stone. Completing the challenge will give him some rewards and that''s the same for completing the quest. After taking the quest, the group immediately exited the Adventurers Guild. They shared their map with their classmates. In times like this, they have to help each other. Souta pointed at the dungeon that they were going to clear. It was to avoid two teams going to the same dungeon. Everyone was adapting to this kind of life. They were getting used to it. By the end of this outdoor training, they could probably support themselves. But living like this was hard. ... Souta''s group arrived in front of a dark tunnel. This was the dungeon that they were going to clear. According to the records of the Adventurers Guild, the monster that inhabited this place were the armored ants. The armored ants were just a first evolution monster. They were weak but their numbers were overwhelming. Even the Adventurers Guild couldn''t accurately detect their numbers. "Ready to get in?" Souta glanced at his teammates and asked. Lumilia, Lynn, Yujin, and Alice nodded their head at him. They all have a serious looked on their face. This was the first time they were going to enter a dungeon so it''s natural to feel that way. Souta entered the dungeon and the rest of his teammates followed him. It was dark but it wasn''t a problem for Souta who had night vision trait. He could clearly see the whole tunnel. The tunnel was quite wide and large caused the armored ants were huge. The atmosphere inside the dungeon was different. The moment they entered it, they felt thousand eyes looking at them. "S-Souta... They are looking at us." Lynn said as she hugged her body while looking around. "Can you tell me which direction?" Souta asked her. Lynn shook her head and said, "They are all over the place. I felt them looking at us from every direction." "I see... Given their numbers I think that''s normal." Souta nodded and said to them. "We''re going ahead." The group walked for a few minutes and they arrived in front of a double path. "Lynn, what do you think about these paths?" Souta asked Lynn about the two ways in front of them. "Um... I think this one is the dangerous way... I felt ominous presence deep inside it." Lynn said as she pointed at the left path. "Okay, we''re going there." Souta said as he walked towards the left path. He then stopped as he noticed that his teammates were looking at him with a surprised expression. He sighed and explained, "The presence that Lynn sense must be the queen. If we want to clear this dungeon then we had to kill the queen of the armored ants." They understood what Souta was trying to say. "It''s coming..." Yujin said in a low voice as he pulled out his sword. He turned his head and looked at the back with a fierce expression. Suddenly, a loud screeching sound echoed in the whole tunnel. Everyone opened their eyes widely as they felt killing intent in all direction. Lynn shivered as she felt the killing intent in the air. She subconsciously took a step back but someone grabbed her shoulder. She looked back and saw that it was Souta. "Don''t lose focus! The moment you lose focus you already lose! Just do you role and everything will be alright." Souta said to her. "T-Thanks..." Lynn said as she lowered her head. Her cheeks was slowly turning red. "No! No!" She then recalled that they were in a dungeon. She shook her head and took a deep breath to calm herself. Her expression turned serious as she looked around. She was ready to support her teammates. After a few seconds, no ants were still coming at them. "Why?" Alice looked around and wondered why those armored ants weren''t attacking them. "They were just trying to scare us. I think that Souta is right. That way must be where the queen is. They become aggressive the moment Souta stepped there." Lumilia explained to them. "You have a point... So what should we do right now? I''m fine with fighting them as I wanted to test my skills." Yujin turned to Lumilia and asked her. Lumilia looked at Souta and she looked like she wanted to ask for his opinion. Souta smiled and he glanced at Yujin. He said, "If you want to stay here then stay here. I''m sure that you can handle it yourself." "Okay, I''ll do what you say." Yujin nodded his head. Souta looked at Alice and Lynn and said, "Let''s go." The group went deeper in the tunnel and after a few minutes they heard a sound of fighting behind them. 198 Clearing Dungeon part 2 He then put back his sword in its sheath. He held the handle with a calm expression while looking at the armored ants in front of him. He couldn''t see their appearance clearly because of the darkness but he could grasp their movement through the sound they were making. Dozen armored ants then rushed towards him. "[Drawing Sword Techniques]..." Yujin slowly pulled out his sword and when the armored ants arrived in front of him, he pulled it at high speed. The air vibrated because of his sheer speed. Swoosh! The thick armor of the ants was sliced like a piece of paper. It easily broke apart and dozen armored ants fell at the same time. "[First Strike: Speeding Slash]..." Yujin fixed his posture and waved his sword. A small figure materialized on his sword. It was his spirit, Alophy. "Jin, you''re strong... I think you could defeat that arrogant Randolf if you use my power." Alophy said to Yujin with an excited expression. "Why do you want me to defeat him?" Yujin sighed and asked Alophy. "That man is a pervert. He looked at me as if I''m a valuable possession." Alophy said in an annoyed tone. "Pervert?" Yujin glanced at Alophy as he couldn''t understand the meaning of her words. "Yeah, yeah, defeat that man for me. I wanted to see his despair look." Alophy nodded her head like a chicken. "Let''s talk later... They are already here." Yujin said as he turned his head and tightly gripped his sword. The armored ants were going to come at him once again. Just like what Souta said, they have an enormous advantage in terms of numbers. ... Souta and the rest met a large number of armored ants on their way to the queen''s room. It''s already been twenty minutes since they entered this dungeon. They found that this dungeon had a lot of paths like a maze. Luckily for them, Lynn could sense the presence of the ant''s queen. It was a huge advantage to them. When the ants realized that Souta''s group was going towards the queen, an enormous amount of armored ants kept coming at them without stopping. Alice and Souta were killing those armored ants left and right while Lumilia and Lynn kept heading towards the queen''s room. The two didn''t need to fight at all as their role was to guide them towards the queen''s room. They could leave all the battle to Alice, and Souta. After a few minutes, Lumilia suggested to change their formation. She placed Souta in front to protect Lynn while she and Alice were in the back as the number of ants that appeared in front of them grew larger. Much larger than the ones in the back. "They are weak but their number is unbelievable!" Lumilia said as she kept slashing the armored ants with her sword that were charging towards them. Their coordination was great as they managed to build up some trust in each other in the past few days. The two of them were stopping the armored ants on the back. While Souta was in the front slicing every ant. He was moving forwards with Lynn''s instruction. The system prompts kept ringing in his head as he killed every ant in his way. The exp he received from one armored ant wasn''t that high but it was better than nothing as their number wasn''t low. The souls of these armored ants kept surging into his earring. Their souls were filling up the earring and Souta would be able to use the effect of [Harvester of the Souls] if they killed a little more armored ants. "Souta, we''re close," Lynn shouted at Souta so that he could hear her words. Souta paused and asked her, "Can you sense the distance?" "I couldn''t accurately sense it but I estimate that we''re fifty meters away from the queen," Lynn said to him. "Good job." Souta smiled as his mana started to cover his body. He then bent his knees and charged forward. Boom! He rushed ahead while sweeping out all the armored ants in front of him. The bodies of the armored ants were torn apart as Souta effortlessly swung his sword. "Hmm...?" Souta squinted his eyes as he saw a wall in front of him. There two paths on both of his sides but Lynn sensed that the queen was fifty meters straight. He looked back and saw that he already run twenty meters and a little bit more he would get that ant queen. He imbued his mana in the vajra sword and slashed the thick walls. Boom! The walls crumbled down under his sheer power. Souta didn''t want to go around just to meet the queen. He would create his own path towards the ant queen. "Class rep, I''ll leave the rest to you!" Souta shouted before he went forward. "I understand!" Lumilia replied as she dashed in front of Lynn and protected her from the armored ants. She could leave the back to Alice as she knew that Alice wouldn''t have any problem with a bunch of armored ants. "I wanted to help too, Mila," Lynn said to her friend. "It''s okay. You already help us by finding the ant queen." Lumilia replied to her friend as she casted a spell that killed the ants in front of her. ... Swoosh! Souta arrived in a wide and dark space. At the center of the place, a five-meter tall ant stood while looking at Souta. This was the ant queen of the armored ants. A second evolution monster at the moment. "Okay, bring out all the ants here." Souta grinned and said. A second evolution monster was nothing to him. Although he could easily kill a second evolution monster, he still couldn''t kill a third evolution monster with his strength. The disparity between the second and third evolution was so large. That''s why some of the players called the third evolution monster the "true monster". The ant queen screeched loudly and numerous ants poured out of every path. [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], and [Cat''s Speed] Souta used his spells and skills that could increase his stats. Without waiting for them, he rushed towards the ants and started his massacre. As time passed by the armored ants gradually decrease in numbers. After half an hour, the ant queen was the only one left in front of Souta. All the armored ants have been killed by him. Piles of monster carcasses blocked all the escape path of the ant queen. "Just die..." Souta muttered as shadows emerged from the ground and bound the body of the ant queen. He walked towards the ant queen and used [Crimson Moon] skill to kill it. He then heard several notifications in his mind indicating that he completed the quest. For completing the challenge, the Adventurers Guild''s quest, and clearing the dungeon. He received one skill point for each quest. "That was tiring..." Souta muttered with a sigh. He drained a quarter of his stamina by swinging his sword nonstop. He could still fight the other students with his remaining stamina. He was sure about it. He looked at his system and saw the rewards that he received. A bunch of skill points, free attribute points, and experience points. With his total skill points, Souta could level up the [Gravitational Ball] to level 4. It was good for him. He knew that he would become a Battle Mage first before he reached the level requirements of his next evolution. He also should gather the materials he needed for his next evolution. He will leave it in his expedition in the Forest of Eternal Light. That way he would be able to prepare his and Yuko''s third evolution. Speaking of leveling up, in the past few days of hunting monsters and completing the quest, Souta found himself close to leveling up once again. He guessed that his level would increase by the time before they finished the outdoor training. The expedition in the Forest of Eternal Light was important for him. He would get the other part of the [Soul Blood Earring] and the evolution requirements for him and Yuko. ... Souta''s group went back to the Ibish village after they completed their challenge. It was a whole lot of experience for the students as this was their first time clearing a dungeon, though it was a low-level dungeon. Lumilia, Lynn, and Yujin waited for their classmates as they prepared themselves for the attack of the other class. While Souta didn''t stay with them as he wandered around the dungeons that his classmates cleared to collect the souls of the dead monsters. He managed to fill up the soul requirement. Without hesitation, he used it to increase his Intelligence attribute making his base Int 390 points. His earring was filled halfway because of the enormous amount of souls. If the challenges were to clear a dungeon every day then Souta would collect all the souls of the monsters that his classmates killed. ... Several figures were flying through the sky at high speed. They were tearing the air with their sheer speed. The direction they were heading was the Night Light Forest. In just a few hours, they would reach their destination. 199 Arrival Everyone gathered under Lumilia''s order. "We didn''t know when they would attack so we could only prepare ourselves. I''ll select some people to patrol around the village so that we would know if the other classes approached us." Lumilia explained to everyone. Everyone didn''t have a problem with her idea as they trusted her as their class rep. They knew Lumilia wouldn''t let their class to suffer a defeat. She would do everything in her power for their class to become victorious. That''s not all as they also trusted their powerful classmates like Souta, Bryan, Yujin, and Randolf. Yujin was listening to her words with his eyes closed. He recalled the battle he had with Yuriko, the top ranker he fought in the special test. If her skill didn''t improve then he could easily defeat her with his current strength. Well, he knew that it was impossible for her to not improve. Most of the students here entered the Ladro institute to learn and increase their strength. That''s only normal for students. Souta was looking at Lumilia who was explaining everything to their classmates. She improved greatly ever since he met her. Not just strength but also her mentality and spirituality. ''It''s not that bad that I entered this institute. I experienced a lot of things in that place. I should value those things...'' He thought as he smiled. He was looking forward to what he would experience in the future in that place which was called Ladro institute. It was past three o''clock and they still haven''t seen any signs of other classes coming to the Ibish village. The team that was patrolling around the village changed with Bryan''s team. It was around five o''clock when they saw several teams from other classes coming towards the Ibish village. The patrolling team immediately went out to report to Lumilia and the other students. Lumilia and the rest weren''t surprised when they heard the report of their classmates. They already expected this outcome. "Finally, I hope that they provide me some challenge," Randolf said as he stood up from his seat. He gathered his teammates and walked outside the village. Lumilia took a deep breath before she looked at her teammates and said, "Let''s go." Lynn, Souta, Alice, and Yujin nodded and followed her from behind. They arrived on the outskirts of the Ibish village. Lumilia swept her eyes and counted the enemy teams that appeared. "Fifteen teams. They have fifteen teams." She muttered. That was higher than what she expected. She expected that only a few teams would dare to attack them at first. At most some of them would wait for other classes to attack the Mage Class 1-B before they also attack. Also, some of them would wait until the Mage Class 1-B exhausted their energy. Lumilia looked at Randolf''s team and said, "Team Randolf can I leave those three teams in the front to your team? No, I''ll leave it to you." "It''s time... Guys, don''t be hard on yourself. Just fight someone you can handle." Randolf walked forward and said to his teammates. After walking for some time, he turned his head and glanced at Lumilia. She really didn''t give him a chance to refuse. Lumilia then looked at her classmates, "Joshua, fetch Bryan''s team from the west part of the village. Change position with them and monitor if there are teams that are going to attack us from that direction." Joshua nodded at her and left with hurried steps. Souta looked at Lumilia and asked, "What should I do? I want to hurry up and complete the task." Lumilia looked at him and pondered what she should do. In the end, she said, "Okay, I''ll let you go there. After you complete the first and third tasks you can go back. It''s better if you reserve your energy for big fights." "What about us?" Lynn suddenly asked Lumilia. Lumilia glanced at her and said, "Lynn stay here with Yujin and Alice. Fifteen teams aren''t a problem for them. You should wait here until the other teams come forward." "I could wait," Yujin said as he sat down as he watched Randolf''s team fought. Alice just glanced at them without saying anything. Her instinct was telling her that something bad will happen but she couldn''t find how the other class would give them a problem. ''Maybe, the rumors about the monster protecting the Ibish village.'' She turned her head and looked at the village behind. Lumilia and Lynn looked at Souta who was dashing towards the other groups from the left side. Lumilia then looked at her other classmates and command three teams to handle the people on the right side. She just hoped that no one attacked them from the back. ... Randolf looked at the three teams that were rushing towards them. He smiled and said, "Don''t hold back if you don''t have enough power. You are not like me." Dense and heavy mana started to come out of his body. The atmosphere changed as Randolf grinned devilishly. "Suffer and accept your defeat." Randolf slowly raised his hand and opened his palm. He then closed it and several balls of flame formed behind him. "[Twelve Circle of Flame Sphere]... Have a taste of tier 2 fire attribute spell." He waved his hand and the balls of flames shot out towards the three teams in front of him. The three teams immediately scattered to avoid the balls of flame. Swoosh! Swoosh! Randolf''s teammates knew what they were going to do. They quickly rushed to the side and casted their own spell to disrupt their enemy. Boom! ... On the other side of the battlefield, the ground was color black as several tentacles sprouted out of the ground. Souta was standing alone in front of several teams with his hand in his pocket. He didn''t show any sign that he would pull out his sword. He doesn''t have to against this level of opponent. [Shadow Bind] spell was enough to handle them. His mouth curved upwards as the tentacles behind him stretched out and shot towards his opponents. His opponents jumped backward and used their skill to deflect the tentacles. Bang! Bang! Bang! They distanced themselves thirty meters away from Souta. From that exchange, they could guess that Souta was a strong person. Then, suddenly something came into their mind. This spell was familiar. There''s only one person in their batch who used this type of spell. And that is... "That''s Souta Ieshi, the strongest first-year!" One of his opponents identified his looks. "What?! The current top 1 ranker?" His comrade screamed. "Yeah, I''ve seen his fight in the ranking battles before. There''s no doubt that it''s him." He nodded at his comrades with a gloomy expression. Their plan was to avoid Souta at all cost and defeat the other teams from the Mage class 1-B. This way they could complete the task without fighting Souta but who would have thought that the one who would come would be Souta himself. Souta smiled widely as he guessed what they were thinking. They were planning to retreat and avoid fighting him. He stepped forward and black spikes burst out of the ground. It was followed by the black tentacles. When they saw Souta launched an attack, they didn''t hesitate anymore to turn around. But they saw Souta behind them when they turned around. "I know that all of you are wondering why I suddenly appeared here, right? Well, I''m not going to tell you." Souta said to them as he slowly walked toward them. He casted [Shadow Ball] spell at the same time he casted the [Shadow Bind] spell. He just concealed it using the black tentacles. That''s why they didn''t find the black ball at all. "You can attack the next so let me complete my task first," Souta said and several tentacles flew towards his opponents in all directions. He knocked out all the students using his spell. At the same time, he heard the system prompts inside his head. But something transpired. The device didn''t change the status of his task even though he completed it except for task number two. "What the hell happened?" Souta wondered and suddenly he heard a deafening sound. Boom! The ground shook and it caused the dust to shot up in the air. Smoke covered a certain part of the battlefield. Lumilia, Lynn, Alice, and Yujin who were watching the battle looked at this with wide eyes. They only saw something fell from the sky and that''s all. "W-What happened, Mila?" Lynn asked Mila with a concerned look. But before Lumilia could answer her question Lynn fell on her knees. "Gwaaaak!!" She vomited all the things that she ate this morning. Lumilia, Yujin, and Alice turned their head to look at her. They didn''t understand why Lynn suddenly vomited. They asked her if she was fine but Lynn couldn''t answer their question. Lynn was shivering as tears poured out of her eyes. She was scared and she slowly turned her head to looked at the smoke. She pointed at it with her trembling hand. "M-Mila, s-something is there... I-It''s terrifying... We have to escape. S-Souta..." Lynn said with great effort before she once again puked. 200 The Deadly Sins Six figures crashed in the vicinity around the Ibish village. All of them possessed enormous power that could wipe out the entire village easily. "Ufufu, what a lively place..." A soft laugh echoed in the whole area and everyone heard it. "This power..." Randolf widely opened his eyes before he grabbed the two students who were close to him. He took them with him as he jumped fifteen meters away. He sensed the terrifying power of the person that arrived. "Stay here and don''t move..." Randolf said to his teammates. He knew that he could never defeat this woman with his current strength. This woman was many times stronger than Gregory. A woman walked out of the thick smoke. She was wearing a black hooded robe with red linings. It had a red-eye symbol on the back of the robe and there were words written in unknown language on top of it. She pulled down her good and revealed her flawless white face. She had long pure white hair and gleaming red pupils. Her black lips curved into a smile. Yujin, Alice, and Lumilia looked at the woman with widely opened eyes. They didn''t know where and who''s this woman. They doubt that she was a staff of the institute based on her clothes. The woman turned her head and looked at Lynn who was kneeling on the ground. She narrowed her brows before she slowly opened her mouth, "You can sense my power even though I''m not releasing it." Lynn shivered the moment she heard the woman''s voice. She didn''t dare to look at the eyes of the woman. "I see..." The woman said as she smiled. Lynn then felt that the power that she sensed from the woman disappeared. She lifted her head and slowly looked at the woman while trembling. "Can you still feel it?" The woman said with a seductive smile. ... Souta was watching the woman from the back. He was thirty meters away from the woman. He glanced at the students that he just fought and told them to not make any movements that could provoke the woman. The students agreed with him as Souta added that the woman wasn''t the staff of the institute. Well, Souta was sure about it because he could see that red-eye symbol on the black robe of the woman. He knew that symbol. He would never mistake it for someone else. That symbol signifies one of the bringers of calamity in this world and that organization was called... The Deadly Sins. The top leaders of this organization were called the Sins who symbolized the Seven Deadly Sins. Each leader symbolized one sin and they possessed god-like powers that commoners couldn''t imagine. Each leader has their own force. They were divided by different ranks based on their power levels. From eight-circle to the first-circle. The eight-circle was the right hand of the Sins. They were the strongest second to the Sins while the first-circle were the weakest. Souta didn''t know what rank this woman but he could guess that she was five-circle or six-circle. He wasn''t sure as the woman didn''t show her full powers. The problem was that five-circle or six-circle officers of the Sins were already powerful for them. No one in the entire first year could defeat this woman. No, he should rephrase it as no students could fight this woman in front of him. Only a few teachers in the Ladro Institute could defeat this woman. He didn''t think that this woman was alone because five-circle or six-circle wouldn''t move alone. She must have at least five or seven teammates. Souta glanced at Randolf and saw that Randolf was also looking at him. Both of them knew that even if they worked together they wouldn''t be able to defeat this woman. ''What should I do?'' Souta asked himself. He glanced at his system and found that he didn''t trigger any quest. ''I''ll wait for a moment...'' ... The woman looked at them with an amused expression. She then released her power that made the ground tremble. Boom! Yujin, Lumilia, and the rest turned pale when they felt the woman''s power. Souta, Randolf, and Alice frowned deeper when they felt it. They were the only students who could retain their calmness in front of this powerful woman. ''This... Six-circle...'' Souta was sure that the woman was a six-circle officer of the Sins. ''As powerful as knights...'' Alice thought as she looked at the woman with a deep frown on her face. ''Damn! She''s as powerful as those old monsters!'' Randolf cursed inwardly. He could only grit his teeth in front of the woman''s power. ''Master... Do you want me to help you?'' A voice rang in his mind. Randolf shook his head and replied, ''No, the staffs are close. I don''t think that the institute couldn''t handle this problem. Also, I don''t think that you can solve this problem. One more thing... Can you tell if this woman had comrades?'' ''Five people crashed in the vicinity of the village.'' Randolf immediately received a reply in his head. Five people as stronger as this woman was really a huge problem. He didn''t know how the institute would solve this problem. If something goes wrong, he would let his subordinates take him away. "As will clean this place quickly as I need to accomplish my task here." The woman opened her mouth and said in a cold tone. She then looked up and saw five figures appeared around her. The five people were wearing white clothes. They were all armed with sharp weapons. She frowned and asked, "Who are you?" The rest of the students just watched them without moving. They were stunned by the power of this woman. "We''re the corps guardian of the Ladro Institute. Why are you interfering with the institute?" One of the five people introduced themselves and asked the woman. "Ladro Institute? What''s that? I don''t know it. Well, it doesn''t matter as I''ll wipe out this village." The woman paused for a moment before she added, "By the way, I''m Frels, a six-circle officer of the Gluttony. Remember the name of the woman who''ll kill everyone here." As soon as she said those words, she arrived in front of one of the corps guardians of the institute. Dense and powerful mana coated her hand as she swung it towards the neck of the guardian in front of her. Swoosh! Before her hand touch the neck of the guardian, the other four guardians moved and blocked her hand using their weapons. "Too weak... Everyone''s going to die. We won''t leave any witnesses." Frels smiled as she added more power in her hand and pushed back the guardians. Bang! One of the guardians looked back at the students and said, "Evacuate! We''re stopping the outdoor training!" Frels smiled at his words before she raised her left hand and said, "[Curtain of the Dark]..." A black dome slowly covered the whole area around the Ibish village. Right now, no one would be able to communicate outside of this place. Also, the people from the outside wouldn''t felt the mana fluctuations inside this place. They would only saw that it was a normal village. It was a camouflage barrier that could isolate everything that will happen here from the outside. "Lumilia! Alice! Yujin! Lynn! Leave this place!" Souta shouted as he looked at the black dome in the sky. The other students run away in panic as soon as they heard his words, including the students that Souta fought. But something happened... Frels stomped her feet and tentacles like shadows burst out of the ground. The tentacles shoot towards the students that were running away at high speed. "F*ck! A dark attribute mage!" Souta cursed as he knew the spell that the woman casted. He gritted his teeth and casted his own [Shadow Bind] spell. The ground turned black and black tentacles rose from the ground. These tentacles were darker in color than the [Shadow Bind] of Frels. The black tentacles moved as it strangled the tentacles that were going to attack the students. "Leave this place!" Souta shouted at the top of his lungs. Lumilia carried Lynn and started to follow Souta''s words. Alice and Yujin followed Lumilia. Swoosh! Suddenly, Souta felt something on his side. "Watch out! Souta!" Randolf warned Souta. Souta turned his head and Frels grabbed his neck. She crashed him on the ground as she continued to move forward with a serious look on her beautiful face. Bang! Souta felt extreme pain as Frels as dragged him on the ground to create a deep pit. After a few seconds, Frels stopped as she looked at Souta in the eyes. Black spikes burst out of the ground and it tried to pierce Frels'' body. But her body was covered in her mana. A level 1 [Shadow Spike] spell couldn''t scratch her. "The spell you casted before is a [Shadow Bind] spell, am I right?" Frels opened her mouth and asked him. She then looked around the black ground and black tentacles before adding, "But yours is different from mine. Yours could rival mine even though you''re weak. Can you tell me how did you modify such tier 1 spell?" 201 Six-Circle She raised her other hand and pinched one of the black spikes. The black spike broke into tiny pieces as soon as she pinched it. "This one is not a modified spell. So I think that you only found a book containing a modified [Shadow Bind] spell as you are too young to modified a spell on your own." She commented and glanced at Souta. "Grrr..." Souta grabbed her hand and tried to push Frels away but she was too strong for him. He silently casted [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] spells. He also activated the [Cat''s speed] and [Triple Muscle Strengthening] combat arts. He then kneed the stomach of Frels and pushed her away. He managed to break away from her because the woman named Frels was clearly underestimating him. She was caught off guard by the sudden increase of his strength. Souta quickly stood up and jumped away but when he looked up he saw Frels was already in front of him. "You will not get away from me," Frels said as she stretched out her hand trying to grab Souta''s neck once again. Swoosh! Swoosh! The five guardians appeared and stopped her from grabbing Souta''s neck. Two of them appeared beside Souta and pushed him away while the other two appeared beside Frels. The remaining one guardian was behind her. "Tsk!" Frels clicked her tongue in annoyance as powerful blueish mana burst out of her body. It pushed everyone out of her. Boom! The corps guardians were too weak in front of her. They didn''t have a chance to fight her. She was a dark attribute mage but she was fighting them in close range. That''s how confident she was in front of these weaklings. If she was fighting as someone as strong as her then she would stick to the classic fighting style of a mage but unfortunately, these people couldn''t make her do that. "I''ll crash everyone here..." Frels said in a cold tone. She raised her hand and opened her palm above her. [Dark Dominance]! A huge black ball containing enormous energy formed on top of her palm. Frels looked at them with a grin before she closed her palm. Then, the huge black ball shoots powerful rays towards the students. The five corps guardians turned pale at this sight. They quickly moved their bodies to block those rays. Boom! Frels smirked as the huge black ball above her continued to shoot powerful beams one after another. The five corps guardian blocked her attack with every bit of their powers. They used all of they''ve got just to protect the students from those beams. It''s their job and they will do it at the cost of their lives. That''s just how the institute trained them. Dare-to-die warriors. "They are busy fighting..." Frels muttered and she looked at the five corps guardians before asking, "You have other comrades?" Currently, the five corps guardians were full of wounds. They could barely move their bodies as they blocked all the attacks of Frels. They didn''t let any beams harm a single hair of the students but all of it was in vain if they were going to die. Because if they die, Frels would also kill the students. One of them looked back and saw that the students were quite far away. But they knew that''s not enough. They had to hold on for a while to secure the safety of the students. They also received a report that Alex was going to arrive soon. Alex was one of the first-year teachers of the Ladro Institute. He possessed a power stronger than them, the corps guardian. He was their hope. Three minutes and Alex was going to arrive. ... Souta looked at the village. It seems that the comrades of Frels were fighting something there. It should be the Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild. He could also guess that the other corps guardians were blocking Frels'' comrades. He shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. This wasn''t the time to think about those things. The most important thing here was that he could leave this place alive. He didn''t get any quest so he should leave this place as fast as possible. Earlier, when the five corps guardians were blocking those powerful beams, Souta started to run away. He could only hope that Lumilia and the rest could survive. He did everything but that woman was too powerful for him. What he didn''t know was that Frels'' interest was focused on him. Suddenly, he felt a magical fluctuation behind him. He quickly jumped as a black beam flashed and caused an explosion in his position before. Boom! "That''s close..." Souta muttered while looking at the explosion. He then saw a small black ball flew out of the smoke. He widely opened his eyes and quickly turned around. That small black ball was the [Shadow Ball] spell. It seems that the woman named Frels wanted to know the secret of his modified spell. But then... The speed of this woman was too fast for his eyes to follow. The moment that Frels appeared in the black ball''s position she disappeared. He felt someone grabbed the side of his face. Souta could only guess that it was Frels. No, he was sure that it was Frels. ''Too fast... She already settled those corps guardians!'' Souta was surprised when he thought this. Then, his body was smashed on the ground. Bang! A black ray shoots forward and hits the position of Souta causing a loud explosion. Boom! Frels just stood in her position and waited for the smoke to disappeared. Her beautiful smile never left her face the entire time she was fighting Souta. She was amused by the fact that Souta was like an ant in front of her. No matter how he boosted his power, he still wouldn''t be able to match her. After a few moments, the smoke disappeared along with the dust and Frels saw Souta lying on the ground. His body was full of wounds as blood stained his clothes. Souta was breathing heavily as he felt pain all over his body. ''Ah, damn! This woman is too strong for me!'' He cursed inwardly. He sat down with great effort and saw Frels looking down at him. Souta swiftly glanced at his surrounding. He was trying to find a way to escape from this woman''s hand. He wouldn''t die here no matter what happened. He would do everything to survive. ''Should I call Yuko...'' He immediately shook his head and put those thoughts away. Even Yuko couldn''t do anything in this situation. Souta decided to struggle till the end. If he''s going to die then he wouldn''t let himself to die easily. At least he would give some trouble to this woman named Frels. "Ah, I''m sorry Yuko..." He stood up and wiped the blood on his mouth. "If you tell me how did you modify your spell then I''ll going to give you a swift death," Frels said to him with an amused expression. It seems that she liked torturing people. "F*ck you! I did it on my own!" Souta cursed at Frels before he revealed a wide grin. Frels'' eyes turned cold. Her smile disappeared as it was replaced by her icy looked. Her aura was boiling and it''s on the verge of an explosion. ''Come on, let me see the true power of a six-circle officer of the Deadly Sins.'' He taunted the woman with a smirk on his face. He was ready to face everything. Frels slowly lifted her hand and she pointed her finger at Souta. "Kill him." She said in a very cold tone that made Souta shivered. Her killing intent was thick that made everyone in the village shivered. The huge black ball or [Dark Dominance] spell in the mid-air shoots a black beam towards Souta. Swoosh! The black beam was so fast and Souta barely avoided it. He was still hit by the explosion it caused behind him. Boom! Souta used the power of the explosion to increase the distance between him and Frels. He was tapping the ground and casting [Mud Slide]. He knew that it wouldn''t do anything but he still had to try. Once again, the huge black ball shoots a black beam. Souta saw it and he quickly moved his body sideways. He jumped and casted [Shadow Bind] to protect him and blocked the explosions. "That''s close." He said with a sigh of relief. If that beam directly hit his body then he wouldn''t be able to stand up. This was the first time he faced this kind of situation ever since he arrived in this world. He smirked while looking at Frels. He knew that Frels wouldn''t easily kill him. She must''ve wanted to know how he could modify the [Shadow Bind] spell. ''You wouldn''t kill me...'' Souta couldn''t help but revealed his white teeth to Frels. He already finished his preparations. He would show everything to this woman so that she would hesitate to kill him. ''It''s time to show you the level 10 [Shadow Ball] spell.'' 202 Bloodstone Frels just looked at the small black ball on top of his palm. She opened her mouth and said, "[Shadow Ball]?" ''This woman really knew the tier 1 dark attribute spell. [Shadow Ball] spell is already a rare spell across the continent but she still guessed it with a single glance.'' Souta thought while looking at the expression of Frels. If she knew the [Shadow Ball] spell, then she must''ve been aware of its effect. The teleportation effect of the [Shadow Ball]. "You thought you would be able to escape with that spell..." Frels said while looking at him. She lifted her hand and the huge black ball in the mid-air once again shoots another beam. Swoosh! Souta quickly threw the black ball away and teleported to avoid the beam. As soon as he teleported he looked up and saw another black beam flying in his direction. "Damn!" He swiftly moved his body from side to side as the black beam chased after him at high speed. Everything exploded when the black beam passed. It destroyed the ground and trees. Frels suddenly stopped launching an attack. She squinted her eyes as her vision was blocked by thick smoke and dust. She imbued her mana in his hand and waved it. Swoosh! Her power blew away the thick smoke and dust and it revealed the devastated land. Her attacks caused this much destruction. Her frown grew deeper when she saw the scene in front of her. She saw seven small black balls floating around the devastated land. "That''s too much [Shadow Ball]..." Frels cursed loudly as she didn''t expect that Souta''s [Shadow Ball] spell was also a modified one. She gritted her teeth as he mana burst out of her body. Blueish mana swept out in the surrounding area. It detected any object that was moving. "You really wanted me to kill you!!" She shouted as she turned her head. She sensed that Souta was heading towards the village. Without "boom", she quickly flew towards Souta''s position at high speed leaving a trail of smoke behind. The huge black ball shoots all the seven small black balls in case Souta teleported here. After making sure that everything''s done, the huge black ball followed Frels. Randolf looked at them with a serious expression. He watched them leave before he turned his head and looked at corps guardians. He opened his palm and casted a healing spell. "This is the only thing that I could do." He muttered before he looked in the sky. He recalled what that woman said to Souta. "So he''s using a modified spell... That''s why his spell is powerful for a tier 1 spell." ... The Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild was helping the corps guardians in fighting one of the six-circle officers of the sin. Their battle attracted some attention of the other adventurers and folks here. They don''t know what''s happening as powerful people were battling across the Ibish village. They destroyed several houses and killed some people because of the aftershocks of the battle. "What''s their goals?" Souta muttered while looking at the huge explosions in the Ibish village. No matter how much he thinks he couldn''t guess the goals of these six-circle officers. He looked up and saw that cracks appeared in the sky. Someone was trying to break the barrier that covered around the Ibish village. He guessed that it was the teachers of the institute. If he''s talking about the teachers, the first one that comes in his mind was Alex. Alex was the one who''s grading their class and he''s the closest to their class. The corps guardian quickly arrived here the moment that these six-circle officers appeared here. He guessed that they were the ones who were giving information to the teachers. That''s why they could easily record the monster that they hunted. Souta arrived in front of the village but he felt someone rushing at him at high speed. He turned around and saw Frels flying towards him. Her mana was bursting out of her body. It was terrifying and he felt his hair stand on its end. Swoosh! In a split second, Frels arrived in front of him and grabbed his neck. Souta didn''t have a time to avoid her. She was too fast and too strong for him. All he could do was to trick her but it also didn''t work. Frels dragged him and crashed into several houses in the Ibish village. Boom! Suddenly, Frels stopped as she looked in the sky and the barrier that she casted broke into tiny pieces. She felt someone powerful arrived here but that still couldn''t stop them from completing their goal. A figure was going straight towards the village in the sky. It was like a meteor that was falling towards the earth. Then, a figure flew out of the village and collided with the figure in the sky. Boom! The two figures collided several times in a few seconds. Every time they collided it caused a ripple in the sky. Souta moved his eyes and looked in the sky. He guessed that it was teacher Alex. One teacher wasn''t enough to stop all these six-circle officers. Frels moved her eyes away from the fight in the sky and she looked at Souta in the sky. She opened her mouth and said, "I told you that you wouldn''t be able to escape. That man who''s fighting Vanji will suffer a defeat soon. Although he''s powerful he still wouldn''t be able to defeat Vanji with his current strength." Vanji was the name of the man who''s fighting Alex in the sky. Vanji was also a six-circle officer of the Deadly Sins. "Hahaha, f*ck you! I wouldn''t tell you anything!" Souta laughed as he grabbed the hand of Frels. He tried to yank it off but her hand was firm on his neck. The ground slowly turned into color black. Several black tentacles rose and strangled Frels'' body. Frels just looked at it before she focused her attention on Souta. "You wouldn''t be able to do anything to me. No matter how many spells you have, accept the truth that you''re too weak compare to me." She then tightened her grip on his neck. Suddenly, a red pillar rose from the middle of the Ibish village. A ground-shaking energy swept out in the whole area. Souta was shocked when he saw it. He finally understood the goal of these people. He slightly trembled while looking at this scene. The Bloodstone... was the thing that comes to his mind. All the pieces come together in his mind. The mysterious monster that protected this village from the beast tide. That mysterious monster was a vampire and it possessed bloodstone. That''s what their goal here. They wanted to take the bloodstone. Souta took a deep breath and his expression turned calm. Frels frowned when she saw his calm looked. She was about to say something when she felt something on her side. She quickly moved her other hand and swung it towards Souta. Swoosh! Black tentacles covered Souta''s arms like a piece of armor. He then raised his arm and it used to block Frels'' hand. Then, black beams shoots around and it caused a powerful explosion. Boom! Frels then loosened her grip on his neck and she covered her arms in front of her chest. Then, a red ray shoots out of the smoke and went straight to her. Boom! A huge mushroom of smoke rose in the sky. Souta gritted his teeth and the black tentacles covered his whole body like a cocoon. Everything happened so fast. He could barely saw what happened. The tentacles that were protecting him broke into tiny pieces. Souta was pushed back as the explosion hit his body. Swoosh! Frels flew in the sky and she waved both of her hands. It dispersed the thick smoke in the area. She looked around and saw that the corps guardians that she defeat were here. She frowned and the huge black ball suspended beside her. It shoots several beams towards the corps guardians. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The corps guardians used their buff spells and combat arts to increased their overall stats. ... Souta stood up with great efforts. His body was full of wounds and blood was flowing out of it. He suddenly felt someone casted a healing spell on him. "Souta!!" He turned his head and saw that Lumilia, Yujin, Lynn, and Alice were here. Souta opened his mouth and asked, "Why are you here? I already told you to leave..." "How can we leave you when you''re facing such a dangerous situation? I''m here to help you." Lumilia said to him. Souta was about to say something but he stopped when he saw her serious looked. 203 Too weak Lumilia stopped for a few seconds after she heard his words. She then opened her mouth and said in a low voice, "I don''t know but I wanted to help you..." "Fine, but we''re not going to fight. We''re going to leave this place as soon as possible. I came here to distract that woman but she could easily pinpoint my position." Souta couldn''t help but nod when he saw Lumilia''s serious look. He wanted to decline her help but he couldn''t do so. "We''re going to leave?" Alice who was watching from the side suddenly said. "Yeah, we''re no match for them. We''re just a student and couldn''t match them in terms of power." Souta answered her. He then looked at Yujin and Alice and said, "Still... I didn''t think that the two of you would come here even though it''s dangerous." "Well, I just wanted to help my friend," Alice said in a low voice as she turned her head to the side not daring to look at Souta''s eyes. "Never thought that the word friend would come out of your mouth," Souta commented as he looked at Yujin. Yujin shrugged his shoulder and opened his palm. If these girls wanted to help Souta and he left then what would become of him. He would become a laughing stock. He unwillingly followed them in this place. "Let''s not talk anymore. We should use the chaos to escape from this place." Souta said to them. "Souta, someone is here..." Lynn suddenly said with a terrified expression while pointing above. Souta, Yujin, Alice, and Lumilia opened their eyes widely and they looked up at the same time. The four of them knew that Lynn''s senses were incredible. They wouldn''t doubt her for something like this. They saw a black figure of a woman. The figure looked like Frels but it had no eyes and mouth. It looks like a mannequin. It had a pitch-black color. "That''s a [Doppelganger] spell..." Souta muttered in a low voice while looking at the black figure. "[Doppelganger]...?" Lumilia muttered. "[Doppelganger]. A powerful tier 2 spell. It possessed fifty percent power of the user''s full strength." Alice explained to them who doesn''t know [Doppelganger] spell. Souta nodded at her words. Alice was right. That figure above was a doppelganger without a doubt. He was a little bit surprised when Alice explained this spell. He didn''t think that she knew this rare dark attribute spell. Compare to the [Dark Dominance] spell, this [Doppelganger] was weak. If Frels got serious and used the true power of the tier 3 spell [Dark Dominance] then she would be able to raze this village to the ground easily. She was holding back because they haven''t got the bloodstone. Souta was sure that every living creature here would die once the six-circle officers got ahold of that bloodstone. "Run!" He shouted and everyone followed his words without hesitation. Swoosh! ... In the other part of the village... One of the six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins was fighting a powerful vampire. The battle was fierce and the six-circle officer couldn''t easily finish the battle because the vampire was using the bloodstone to boost its strength. Hundreds of civilians already died because of the battles that were happening around the village. The Guildmaster tried his best to protect them but a single six-circle officer blocked him. That''s what all it takes to stop a branch Guildmaster. No one expected that this will happen. In this world, only the Deadly Sins know the movement of their organization. No person in the world knew this other than them. "Haha! Die! Die! Die!" Frels laughed madly as she rained down black beams towards the corps guardians that blocked her way. Before Randolf left, he healed the wounds of the corps guardians. He knew that he couldn''t handle Frels with his own power. Plus, he knew that Yujin and the others went to Souta''s location. There''s a lot of unexpected factors in this event. The appearance of this powerful group and the bloodstone of the vampire that was hiding here in this Ibish village. Randolf actually was interested in the bloodstone of the vampire but with this group wanting to get ahold of it he knew that he had to step back. It was still not the time to show what he could do. ... Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta collided with the black figure several times. Since the doppelganger only has fifty percent strength of the user then Souta and the other could handle it. A huge serpent made of water flew in the sky before it descended down at a higher speed. It widely opened its mouth. Souta looked up before he elbowed the face of the black figure then he kneed it on the stomach. After that, he felt pain in his side and found that the black figure kicked him. He just gritted his teeth and grabbed the leg of the black figure. "Here we go!" He roared as he threw the black figure away from him. Then, the huge water serpent went down and crashed the black figure. Boom! Souta was holding on the thought that Frels wouldn''t kill him even though she always said that she''s going to kill him. At least he''s not going to die until she extracted how he modified his spell. He frowned and said, "Alice! Yujin! Your turn!" Alice and Yujin flashed from both sides. Both of them went to the side of the black figure and attacked it at the same time using their weapons. Bang! Bang! Bang! While they were fighting Souta and the rest were bringing the black figure slowly away from Frels. It was a good tactic considering Frels'' attitude towards him. If they destroyed the doppelganger easily then Frels would ignore the corps guardians to hunt him down. Their coordination was good as they could handle the doppelganger of Frels. Lynn was tracking the movement of the black figure while Lumilia was casting spells to support Yujin and Alice who were fighting the black figure in close combat. Frels was a dark attribute mage just like Souta but if her strength was reduced to half. They could handle her to some extent if they fought her in close-range combat. While they were fighting the doppelganger, Lynn sensed something terrifying. She quickly turned around and shouted, "SOUTA!! BEHIND!!" Souta was surprised when he heard her words. He didn''t doubt her so he quickly jumped away without looking behind him but it was too late. Putchi! A hand pierced his stomach from behind. "Argh!" Souta spat a mouthful of blood as he looked down at the hand on his stomach. The hand was covered in his blood. He then heard a voice behind him. "I came here to check the one who''s fighting Frels'' doppelganger but I didn''t expect that it was just a group of kids. Well, it''s surprising to see a girl who could sense me." Souta''s vision was getting blurred. He opened his mouth and a huge amount of blood flow out. His body was getting numb. He saw an exquisite red stone on the hand on his chest. With a single look, Souta guessed that it was the bloodstone. He slightly moved his eyes and saw that the red pillar in the center of the village broke down. They already killed the vampire. "SOUTAAA!!!" Lynn shouted with a terrified expression when she saw a person pierced Souta''s stomach. Alice and Lumilia stopped from moving as they turned their head and saw a shocking scene. Lumilia turned pale when she saw Souta. Her mana burst out of her body as she quickly rushed towards him. "Wait! Don''t act recklessly!" Alice tried to stop Lumilia but Lumilia already dashed towards Souta. It was too late to stop her. Yujin, who still maintained his calmness, looked at Alice and said, "Go! I''ll handle this doppelganger!" Alice nodded at him with a gloomy expression. "Be careful." She said before she dashed towards Lumilia. ... The man behind Souta was Gilven, one of the six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins. He slowly pulled out his hand on Souta''s stomach. Souta fell to the ground with a "thud" sound. He closed his eyes and contacted Yuko through their connection. ''Let me borrow your strength Yuko. Also, don''t worry about me. I will get out of this situation alive.'' Gilven looked at the battle in the sky and sighed, "This certainly become a troublesome situation. I''m afraid that after this the huge countries will investigate who''s the culprit behind this event. I should start cleaning up all the witnesses here." His battle with the vampire brought him some trouble because of the bloodstone but he still handled it and killed the vampire. He was different from Frels and his other comrades. He just wanted to finish this mission as soon as possible. Gilven felt some movements and saw a blue-haired girl and purple-haired girl rushing towards him. It was Lumilia and Lynn. Lynn was the closest to Souta so she''s the first one who arrived. Lynn quickly kneeled down in front of Souta. Tears were pouring out of her eyes. She ignored Gilven who was standing in front of them. ''This girl managed to sense me. She has a great sense and if she trained it she would become a famous sensory type mage in the future. I should kill her quickly to prevent her from becoming a famous person.'' Gilven thought while looking at Lynn. He then removed his eyes from Lynn and saw Lumilia in front of him. "You will pay for what you did to Souta!!" Lumilia brandished her sword and swung it towards Gilven. Gilven in return simply blocked her sword with his hand. He then saw Lumilia lifted up her hand and a huge water serpent formed above her. The huge water serpent opened its mouth and rushed towards him. Gilven squinted his eyes and he said, "Disperse..." Soon after he said those words, powerful dense mana erupted out of his body. It destroyed the huge water serpent easily. He then grabbed Lumilia''s sword and pinched it. The sword broke into tiny pieces like a fragile glass. "Hmm...?" Gilven sensed some movements behind Lumilia. He moved his other hand and pushed Lumilia. Lumilia flew like a rocket and crashed into Alice who was behind her. Bang! "You''re letting your emotions control your body. That''s not a good sign if you wanted to become a great mage in the future." Gilven said before he stepped forward. Swoosh! In a split second, he arrived in front of Lumilia and Alice. Alice quickly threw her spear in the air and used a combat arts that she knew. [Ground Burrowing Spear]!! The spear rotated in the air and it aimed towards Gilven''s head. After one second it flew towards him generating powerful momentum. "Too weak..." Gilven snorted as he raised his hand and simply grabbed the spear in the air. He then used it to stab Lumilia who was in front of him. "Ugh!" Lumilia groaned in pain as blood flows out of her mouth. Her eyes still didn''t leave Gilven''s face. She opened her mouth and shouted, "LYNN!! TAKE SOUTA AND LEAVE THIS PLACE!!" "Oh~ so you think you can hold me back?" Gilven looked at Lumilia and asked. He then slowly pulled out the spear out of her stomach but Lumilia grabbed it before he could do so. "You''re in the way of a good show." He moved his free hand and grabbed Alice''s hair who was behind Lumilia. He yanked her out and smashed her on the ground. Bang! He then stepped on Alice''s back so that she couldn''t move. After taking care of some nuisance, he finally focused his attention on Lumilia. "Is that boy worth it?" Gilven asked Lumilia. He then slightly glanced at the sky and saw the battle was still ongoing. He just checked if he could delay the cleanups. When he found that Lumilia wasn''t replying to him, he once again asked her, "You''re sacrificing yourself so that he could live. Is he worth it?" Lumilia smiled and said, "He saved me before so I owe him my life. If he''s going to survive at the exchange of my life then why not. I will gladly offer my life." "Fine... I''ll kill you." Gilven yanked the spear using his great strength. But when he was about to stab Lumilia, someone grabbed his hand. "You!!" Gilven turned his head and saw that it was Souta. [Possession]! [Pet Resonance]! [Transfer Boost]! Souta was looking at Gilven with extreme bloodlust. His killing intent was all over the whole area. Gilven was stunned. He felt that he was standing in front of a monster that killed countless creatures. 204 Vs. Six-circle officer He felt like he was a small prey standing in front of a very ferocious monster. To think that a kid could make him feel like this. Everyone in the village felt the dense killing intent that Souta was emitting. It caused everyone to stopped and looked in their direction. They felt that a tough individual appeared in the scene. Even the other six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins felt it. Silence surface on the whole battlefield. The dense killing intent was like a heavy boulder that pressed on everyone''s shoulder. ... Randolf who was outside of the Ibish village felt the killing intent. He turned his head and looked at the village. He was startled by the fact that someone could produce this bloodlust. He then saw the birds in the Night Light Forest flew away. It even disturbed the animals and monsters that were living in the Night Light Forest. "Just what is happening there?" Randolf muttered in a low voice. ... "What''s happening?" Bryan said and he saw Nayo fell. He quickly moved and caught her body before she landed on the ground. He was exhausted and his body was full of wounds. Even now he could felt a stinging pain in his wounds. Bryan fought the powerful person that appeared along with the corps guardians. Luckily, the captain of the corps guardians was here and stopped everyone from getting killed by that powerful person. Then, while they were fighting that powerful person another person appeared and injured the captain of the corps guardians. They were at a disadvantage as two six-circle officers were in front of them. But the Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild appeared and helped them in fighting the six-circle officers. The Guildmaster was a powerful B-rank adventurer so he could fight the six-circle officer to some extent. But there''s still no hope on winning. Even the Guildmaster and the captain of the corps guardians knew that their opponents weren''t serious in fighting them. That''s just how powerful a six-circle officer of the Deadly Sins. If a seven-circle officer was here then, everything would end in an instant benefitting the name of the bringers of calamity. At this moment, everyone stopped from fighting as they felt the intense bloodlust in the air. The two six-circle officers frowned when they felt it. They thought that their battle disturbed the powerful monster that was living in the Night Light Forest. This was also the reason why they don''t dare to use their full strength as it could gather the attention of the powerful monsters that were living in the Night Light Forest. ... Alice, Lynn, and Yujin were looking at Souta was a dazed expression. This was the first time they saw him like this. Even when Souta fought Gregory, he wasn''t this mad. They felt suffocated just by looking at his figure. This was the first time ever since he came into this world that he got this angry. He didn''t know why but he felt that he had to at least punch the face of this guy. "S-Souta... I-Is that you?" Lumilia asked him with a stunned expression. "Yeah, leave everything to me. I''ll guarantee that will not die in this place. None of these trashes will kill you." Souta replied to her with breaking eye contact with Gilven. "You should remove your foot from her body." Gilven subconsciously took a step back as he yanked his hand out of Souta''s grip. In his sight, Souta was emitting a very dark aura that could frighten anyone. He also saw a materialization of a black monster with a pair of horns in Souta''s aura. Souta then turned his head and he stretched out his hand. He patted Lumilia''s head and said, "Don''t worry, just help Alice. Leave this to me." Without waiting for her reply, Souta opened his palm. In a split second, he disappeared and he reappeared in front of Gilven. He quickly grabbed Gilven''s face and threw him away. He knew that even with his power boost he still wasn''t a match to a six-circle officer of the Deadly Sins. The difference in their overall power was still large. Both of them crashed on the ground leaving a trail of smoke from behind. It was at this moment that Yujin snapped out of his daze. He quickly turned around and found that the doppelganger disappeared into thin air. No, it was more like dispersing into tiny particles. "It left..." Boom! Boom! Gilven woke up and realized that his strength was still higher than Souta. He regained his composure and shot a powerful punch towards Souta''s stomach. Bang! Souta didn''t know what comes to his mind when he decided to fight this man. He should''ve left and he could do it with his power. He wouldn''t receive any benefits from doing this. He had no quest to fight or save these people. He''s only putting himself in danger by doing this. Despite all that, Souta was fighting this six-circle officer of the Deadly Sins. If Saya was awake, she would say that it''s not his character. Souta crashed in several houses before he stopped. The crimson tattoo on his shoulder glowed brightly. After a few moments, Yuko appeared before him. Yuko was carrying three bottles with orange liquid inside them. "Ah, I''m frustrated... I''m going wreck this guy..." He stood up before he took the three bottles and placed it in his pocket. He then said to her, "Yuko, help Lumilia and the rest. I''ll leave them to you." "Mu." Yuko nodded at her before she left. "Damn! This will become a valuable experience for me!" Souta shouted as he took an orange bottle in his pocket. He swiftly removed its cap and drunk the orange liquid. This monster potion should be his ace when he suffered an accident in the Forest in Eternal Light. But he drunk it today just to fight this guy. Before the best feram exploded out of his body. Gilven launched a series of powerful punches at him. Bang! Bang! Bang! Gilven grabbed Souta''s face and threw him in the air. He then opened both of his palms and lightning crackled on them. [Sparkling Shock]! Powerful lightning flew towards the sky and when it was about to hit Souta, Souta raised his hand and best feram erupted out of his body like a volcano eruption. The process of converting his mana into best feram was still the same. It was very painful but since he experienced it before, Souta could grit his teeth and it wouldn''t bother him anymore. Even though Souta created a dense best feram in front of him, Gilven''s [Sparkling Shock] spell still managed to break through it. Boom! The lightning hit Souta''s body causing a powerful explosion in the sky. Gilven slightly bent his knees and with a "boom" he arrived in front of Souta. He grabbed Souta''s legs and threw him on the ground. Bang! "Argh!" Souta spat a mouthful of blood as he crashed into the ground creating a small crater. He felt weak even with the best feram in his body. The small hole in his stomach was draining his stamina at a high rate. "Monster potion is useless... Even with that you still wouldn''t be able to defeat me much less kill me." Gilven said while looking down at Souta. He slowly descended and watched Souta stood up. His mana coated his mana and he was emitting fighting intent. "Huff... Huff..." Souta stood up with great effort. Even with the power of best dream couldn''t do anything against this man. He could already fight Gregory with this much power. Plus, his base stats this time was higher than in the past. He lifted his hand and wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. He glanced at his system and directly level up his [Gravitational Ball] spell to level 4. Luckily, he completed all the quest that he received from the past few days, or else he wouldn''t have any skill points to upgrade any of his spells. Gilven looked at Souta as he clenched both of his fists. The mana in his body went in both of his hands. He wanted to end Souta in his next attack. Souta checked the souls that he collected and found that it was full. Without hesitation, he used it to increase his Int attribute by 10. After he used it, more souls surged up in his earring and completed the soul requirement. Once again he used it to increase his Int attribute. The Ibish village was a large-size village as it had a population of more than ten thousand. But right now, Souta was sure that the population was decreased by half because of the battle that happened across the village. Souta didn''t forget to use his free attribute points to increase his vitality by 40 points. He did this so that he could last a little longer while fighting this six-circle officer. "This is the end..." Gilven said as he slightly bent his knees. The floor beneath his feet cracked. After a few seconds, he charged at Souta at a very high speed. "I''ll show you the unorthodox fighting style of a true dark attribute mage..." Souta muttered as the ground turned black and several huge tentacles rose. Furthermore, he scattered ten [Shadow Ball] spell across the battlefield. After that, four black balls appeared on his back. These black balls were the [Gravitational Ball] spell. 205 Spirit Power In a split second, Gilven arrived in front of Souta. He pulled back his hand and threw it towards Souta''s chest. He easily pierced Souta''s body before so he thought that he could do it again. Plus, this blow was many times stronger than before. Souta jumped back as he controlled the black tentacles to block Gilven''s fist. Gilven''s fist destroyed the tentacles that were blocking it easily. Two of the four black balls in Souta''s back moved. It went in front of him and the gravity tried to push Gilven away. It decreased the power of his punch to a great extent. While the other two black balls pulled Souta away from Gilven. Everything happened in an instant. It caused Gilven to missed his target. Boom! His punch destroyed the ground in front of him. The ground shook heavily as the floor collapsed. "I miss?" Gilven looked up and he saw that Souta was already gone. He then felt someone behind him. He quickly moved his body away while turning around. But when he looked behind, he found nothing but black tentacles flying towards him. Gilven waved his hand and dispersed the black tentacles. Once again, he felt someone approaching him from behind but when he turned around he found that Souta was already gone. He gritted his teeth as he raised both of his arms and smashed the ground causing the ground to collapse. Boom! The ground shook heavily as it exploded and everything around Gilven was destroyed. He then looked up and saw Souta pointing his finger at him in the mid-air. "Just go down!" Souta shouted as he slightly moved his body away and the sun rays hit Gilven''s body causing him to closed his eyes. He was using his [Shadow Bind] spell and [Shadow Ball] spell to the full extent. The tentacles were hiding all the black balls that he scattered before. Using this, he teleported to each black balls to confused Gilven''s strength. A large collection of red berserk energy formed on the tip of his finger. It spun like a razor and it created spark sharp energy around it. [Bestrou]!! The red ball of energy expanded before it shrunk. Then, it shoots towards Gilven. The four gravitational balls behind Souta rotated at high speed and increased the gravity around Gilven by eight times. The power of the four gravitational balls stocked up causing it to increase the gravity by eight times. This was all it could do considering that it was level 4. It will grow stronger in the future once he level it up. Along with the increase of gravity, the [Bestrou] arrived in front of Gilven at a speed faster than before. The [Bestrou] smashed Gilven to the ground. "AAAH!!!" Gilven shouted as he used a powerful combat arts to meet the [Bestrou] above his head. [Dominating Dozen Killing Fist]!! A lot of people died without them knowing what happened to them. The casualties were so high as ordinary people couldn''t hope to survive this explosion. Alice, Lumilia, Lynn, and Yuko were already outside of the village. All of them were injured especially Lumilia. Lumilia already passed out because of her injury. Lynn was trying to heal her while giving her some healing potions that they bought in the Adventurers Guild. Alice looked at the sight of the destruction with a blank expression. She looked at Lynn who was trying to heal Lumilia before she glanced at Yuko, Souta''s beast companion. Even though Yuko didn''t fight, Alice felt that Yuko was exhausted. She then turned her head and realized that Souta was borrowing her energy so that he could fight those people. "Really... You people are so..." Various things were coming into her mind at once. She felt complicated as she remembered what happened to her before arriving here on this continent. The tragedy of her past. ... Alex who was fighting one of the six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins looked at the explosion. He knitted his eyebrows and muttered, "Is that Souta?" He wasn''t if he was just imagining things but when he recalled the incident in the Gripen city, he finally realized that the person that was fighting the other six-circle officer was Souta. "He''s using another monster potion?!" He was shocked when he felt the huge concentration of best feram in that place. To think that Souta would use that potion once again. Based on the mana signature that he felt, Alex guessed that Souta''s opponent was still stronger than Souta. The mana density of Souta''s opponent was higher than the chaotic best feram in the atmosphere. He wanted to go there and helped Souta but his hands were already full because of the powerful enemy that he was facing. Alex looked at his opponent with a serious expression. ... Frels was looking in the direction of the huge explosion. The houses around her disappeared because of the shockwave of the explosion. She squinted her eyes and recalled that Gilven was in that direction fighting the kids. She even dispelled led her [Doppelganger] spell and left everything to him. But it never occurred in her mind that those kids could fight Gilven. So what really happened in that direction. "Hmm... Interesting, I felt the power of a monster there so the question is who appeared and fought Gilven? Is it related to that intense bloodlust before?" Frels chuckled as she slightly turned her head and looked behind her. The five corps guardians were lying on the pool of blood. No one knows if they were still alive or not except for Frels. "I should go there..." ... Gilven was still standing in the deep crater. His look was fierce and still the same. He only took some damage from that [Bestrou] and it was not life-threatening. Still, the best feram managed to seep into his bones and slowly disrupted the mana in his body. "That brat... His control over his spell is exceptional... Much higher than me... Even I couldn''t do it the way he did it." He muttered while looking around. The ground was still color black and several black tentacles rose up from it every second. Suddenly, Souta appeared beside him. He tightly gripped the vajra sword in his hand. If Saya was awake he would make another contract with her to increase the power that he will receive from the [Possession] skill. Unfortunately, she wasn''t awake. He poured a huge amount of best feram in the sword and used the [Crimson Slash] skill of the sword. The crimson color slash flashed but Gilven still managed to react. He raised his left arm and used it to block the [Crimson Slash]. Bang! The power of the [Crimson Slash] spell tore apart the sleeves and gloves of Gilven. Gilven''s equipments were all orange grade equipment. It was already an achievement that Souta managed to destroy it. "Hmph!" Gilven snorted as he moved his right hand and grabbed Souta''s face. He then smashed him on the ground. Boom! Yujin was left in the village. He didn''t leave even though Lumilia, Alice, and Lynn left. He stayed here and watched the battle between Souta and Gilven. Currently, the Souta and Gilven''s figure was colliding several times in the mid-air. They were trading blows at high speed. Souta was very tricky as he fully utilized the effect of the [Shadow Bind], [Shadow Ball], and [Gravitational Ball] spell. Not just those spells, Souta was even using the [Mud Slide] spell and other basic spells. In terms of overall power, Gilven was stronger than Souta but the problem was that he couldn''t land a clean hit at Souta. At this moment, Souta was really glad that he chose [Shadow Ball] to level up to ten instead of [Shadow Spike] spell. Yujin didn''t know what training Souta did to have that kind of mastery over his spells. He''s using several spells simultaneously and controlled them to do different things. Without Alophy''s power, Yujin wouldn''t be able to follow them with his naked eyes. They were too fast for him. "Alophy, you know what to do," Yujin said while looking at the earth-shaking battle. "I know... You''ll reveal your power for that guy. I''m not sure if he''s worth it." Alophy grumbled annoyingly. Despite that, she still followed Yujin''s words. A white shiny magic circle appeared beneath Yujin''s feet. The magic circle produced a very calm and stable mana. Yujin took a deep breath and raised both of his arms. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Great spirit of the world. Come and heed my words." [Spirit Essence: Heart of Lion] [Spirit Vitality: Resonating Pulse] The magic circle shone brightly as Yujin casted spirit spells that he knew. The bright light gathered Souta and Gilven''s attention. "S-Spirit Magic!?" Gilven was shocked when he saw this. He shortly recognized the peaceful energy that it was producing. On the other hand, Souta was stunned as he felt the stinging pain on his body caused by the monster potion slowly disappeared. He also found that the hole in his stomach was slowly closing. Not just that, the strength he possessed was increasing to a higher level. ''Spirit buffs... So this is the power that Randolf said when he talked to Yujin.'' Souta thought as he checked his body. 206 Using everything A spirit contractor was called to the people who used the power of the spirits. They were powerful and famous in ancient times but some countries become greedy and wanted to gain their powers for themselves. They launched an attack in various places and hunted those spirits. Everyone thought that the spirits were gone extinct after that incident. Nobody thought that they were living in the forbidden Dark Forest all along under the wings of a monster lord. Souta knew this information because when the player managed to access the Dark Forest. Many of the players, including him, across the world venture into the famous Dark Forest. There they found the spirits deep inside the Dark Forest. At that time, some of the players changed their class into a rare class called Spirit Contractor. He also acquired a spirit there but he sold it as he didn''t want to change his class at that time. "Hehe~ to think that I would find such a rare person here. A spirit contractor. I wanted to see the rumored power of spirits." Gilven laughed as he looked at Yujin. It seems that he forgot that he was fighting Souta at the moment. Souta quickly gathered the best feram in his body. He charged towards Gilven and used the [Crimson Moon] skill. It caught Gilven off guard as he was focused on Yujin who showed his spirit power. A small cut appeared on his back as Souta''s skill landed on it. Without waiting for Gilven''s response, Souta grabbed the back of Gilven''s head and smashed it on the ground. Bang! "It''s tough..." Souta muttered as he dragged Gilven away from Yujin while slashing his sword at the same time. He only managed to cut Gilven with the buff given to him by Yujin. This was a great achievement for him. It''s good to know that he could wound his opponent. He finally had a chance to defeat Gilven. He frowned and thought about the buff that Yujin used. From his memories, the effect of the buff would only last for three minutes. This power wasn''t permanent so he had to quickly finish it. "Argh!" Gilven roared in anger as he felt his back receiving small cuts. One small cut was nothing to him but if it accumulated to thousands then even he, a six-circle officer, would fall. He used his overwhelming strength to pushed himself out of the ground. Once they got in the mid-air he turned around and launched a powerful punch towards Souta. Boom! Souta flew away and crashed into the debris of rocks. Gilven was about to chase after Souta when a small cut appeared on his arm. "What!?" He moved his eyes and saw Souta beside him. He stretched out his hand to grab Souta but the same thing happened again. Souta vanished into thin air. At the same time, hundreds of black tentacles rose from the ground. "SOUTAAA!!" "Souta! You''re the only one who could fight among the students so... Please, protect them! Protect your classmates! I know that it''s bad for a teacher to put his student in danger! But please protect them... I can''t protect everyone..." Alex shouted with a coarse voice. He felt desperate at this moment. He didn''t know what he could do to help his students. "This..." Souta was unsure whether to agree to him. He could barely one of the six-circle officers with his power boost not to mention protect all of his classmates. There were six-circle officers in the village. Two were fighting the Guildmaster and the captain of the corps guardians. The other one was fighting teacher Alex. Gilven and Frels were the other two. The remaining one was unknown. The unknown one must be killing the member of the corps guardians. "I couldn''t protect everyone... I could barely protect my teammates right now so how could I..." Souta said in a low voice. At this moment, Gilven stood up from the ground and he was watching Souta with a serious expression. He knew that he couldn''t easily kill Souta as Souta was very tricky. "Then, protect those you can protect with your strength. I''m not going to say that you have to protect everyone as it is my responsibility but protect at least a few of them..." Alex said and he received a powerful blow on his stomach. He crashed on the ground creating a huge crater. Suddenly, Souta heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [You''ve triggered a quest!] [Protect]: Fight the six-circle officers and protect the students from dying. Delay the six-circle officers until the reinforcement arrived. Time Limit: 1 minute. Failure: Death Rewards: ??? Souta read the system and was shocked. The reinforcement of the Institute will arrive here in one minute. It means that he had to protect students and fight the six-circle officer within one minute. Boom! He quickly closed the interface and looked down at Gilven. Gilven was activating every combat arts that could increase his fighting prowess. It means that he finally turned serious in fighting Souta. No, he was going to kill Souta. With his current strength, Souta was sure that if he wanted to leave he could leave. These people wouldn''t be able to do anything to him... But that''s leaving everyone here to die. Souta took a deep breath to calm himself. He started to circulate the best feram in his body. Suddenly, he heard Yuko in his mind, asking for help. The best feram erupted out of his body as he dashed outside the village. "Fine... I''ll accept the quest..." "Hmm...?" Gilven frowned as he looked at Souta who was leaving out of the village. He was about to follow him when Souta appeared beside him. "F*ck!" He cursed as Souta grabbed his neck and dragged him out of the village. He was tricked once again. He thought that he was prepared for Souta''s trick. Yujin looked at them and sighed. He once again casted his spirit spell and buffed Alex and the other who was fighting the six-circle officers. ... Outside the village, Souta saw Frels in front of Alice and the rest. He released Gilven in his hand and casted [Shadow Bind] spell along with [Shadow Ball] spell. He used [Dash] to increase his speed. Frels turned her head and she felt someone approaching at high speed. She was surprised when she saw that it was Souta. She was about to cast her spell but Souta arrived in front of her. Souta used [Crimson Moon] before he grabbed Frels clothes and threw her away. Then, Gilven appeared beside him and smashed him on the ground. Bang! Alice and Lynn were shocked as they couldn''t follow what''s happening in front of them. They just felt a strong power bursting out causing the ground to shake heavily. "You people really are challenging me!" Souta shouted as Gilven was dragging him on the ground. He kneed Gilven on the stomach and slashed his sword. Bang! Bang! ''Damn! A six-circle officer was nothing to me in the past! I could easily kill them in one hit but now they are giving me a problem!'' He took out a bottle from his pocket. He drunk it without hesitation. "Another monster potion!?" Gilven was shocked when he saw Souta drunk it. He thought that Souta turned insane from fighting him. Frels knitted her eyebrows when she saw this. To think that man would try to drink two monster potions in one day. Does he understand what he''s doing? Does he think that he would survive drinking two monster potion? "ARGHHHH!!! I''LL KILL YOU!!" Souta screamed as he felt intense pain all over his body. He was about to pass out because of the pain but he just gritted his teeth. He could only endure it for the power that he will receive. Blood started pouring out of his pores as the atmosphere became heavier and suffocating. The best feram was present and it was dominating the mana in the air. No, it was dispersing all the mana. Right now, no low-level magician could cast a spell under this best feram. It was negating all the weak energy in the air. "We have to go now..." Alice said to Lynn. Lynn didn''t hear Alice''s words as she was looking at Souta with a worried expression. Alice stretched out her hands and grabbed Lynn''s shoulder. "We have to go now! We would only get in Souta''s way!" Lynn snapped out as she gazed at Alice in the eyes. After a while, she nodded her head. Under the pressure of the best feram, they left the area so that they wouldn''t get in Souta''s way. ... "We have to finish him..." Gilven said with a gloomy expression. "Well, if we just waited for the effect of the potion to disappear we could easily kill him. I don''t think that we would be able to fight after taking two monster potion." Frels replied to Gilven as she shrugged her shoulder. "Suit yourself... I''ll kill him," Gilven said to Frels in a cold tone before he dashed towards Souta. Boom! "RAAAAHHH!!!" Souta roared and he slightly bent his knees. With a "boom" he launched himself to meet Gilven. Boom! Two figures collided causing a powerful explosion. 207 Reinforcemen Bang! Bang! The two figures continued to crash into each other producing powerful shockwaves to swept out in the whole area. The aftershocks of their collision stirred the atmosphere and it produced extreme winds like a wave of water. Almost everything in the area around them was destroyed. Even the ground collapsed because of their sheer strength. Right now, total destruction swallowed the whole Ibish village. The Ibish village was annihilated. Almost ninety percent of the people that were living here died. In the mid-air, the two figures collided once again. After collided for a dozen times, the crimson and blue figure retreated five meters away from each other. Souta tightly gripped the vajra sword in his hand. He looked at Gilven with a serious expression. Even now, he still felt intense pain all over his body. It was like someone was drilling his internal organs and pouring boiling water in it. Then, the heat would disappear, and extreme cold would appear. It was hard to describe the pain that he was feeling. "I have to hold on for one minute..." Souta said to himself. He knew that his body couldn''t handle this much pressure at once. If Yujin didn''t use spirit power, Souta was sure that he was dead right now. The effect of drinking two monster potions at once was extreme. Gilven didn''t know that the reinforcement of the Institute was coming. He had no idea at all. He moved his eyes and glanced at Frels. He saw Frels nodding at him with a serious expression. Frels was going to join the fight to kill Souta. The two of them moved at the same time. When Souta saw this he also moved his body. He charged towards Frels, who was a mage, but Gilven intercepted him. Bang! Bang! Once again the two of them collided. The collision between Souta and Gilven were as loud as thunders roaring in the sky. The duel between the two became fierce as they started the most dangerous close combat... Bang! Bang! Gilven was determined to kill Souta. Therefore, he exerted his utmost effort since the beginning of their collision. And Souta responded by using everything he got... Souta became dejected as most of his strike got offset by Gilven. The powerful best feram was disrupting the air flows and corruption started to appear. Even so, Gilven didn''t care about it. Gilven fought countless third evolution monster. He even fought some fourth evolution monster. It was not going to work against him as long as Souta didn''t penetrate his mana protective shield. The monster would gain this trait once they reached the fourth evolution. That''s why no matter how strong a third evolution, they don''t have any hope in defeating fourth evolution monsters. That''s the same for humans and demis. Still, the best feram that Souta possessed right now was as dense as the fourth evolution monster even though he doesn''t have the traits and stats of that level of monster. Only the best feram reached the level of fourth evolution not him. Well, it was still enough to pierce Gilven''s mana protective shield along with the added power of Yujin. The spirit power was a strong type of energy higher than mana. Gilven and Souta exchanged blows at high speed causing sparks to fly out between them. Suddenly, Souta looked up in the sky and saw a huge black ball whirling around. The ball flew towards him creating a disturbance in the air. "...[Shadow Desolation Ball]!?" Souta recognized the spell in the sky. He checked his surrounding and found that the [Shadow Ball] spells that he scattered before was gone. It must be the work of Frels. That six-circle officer really calculated his escape route and blocked all of it. No, not all of it as Gilven was still in front of him. "Damn! That woman!" He guessed that as long as he got closed to Gilven, Frels wouldn''t launch that powerful spell. So he flew towards Gilven and wrestled with him in the air. He didn''t dare to retreat as he knew that Frels would attack him once he did that. This was the only choice that he had. Gilven was pretty confident in fighting Souta in close combat. Both of them threw their most powerful to each other but Souta was very agile. He moved his body from side to side to avoid getting hit critically. ... Outside of the village, Randolf was standing while watching the fierce battle. He felt the aftershocks of the battle and the pressure of the best feram. He didn''t care about it as he knew that he wasn''t going to fight. "So that''s Souta. He''s really a reckless person. To think that he would try to fight these people." He muttered while shaking his head. He didn''t think that Souta was this kind of person but what could he say right now. Souta was fighting those people for the lives of his friends. "Bloodstone... A vampire was cultivating that dreadful stone in this village. No one would ever imagine it." ... "Hmmm...? Where am I?" Lumilia slowly opened her eyes. She looked around and saw that she was in a grass plain with Alice, Lynn, and Yuko. Yuko? She gazed at Yuko and recalled what happened before. "Where is Souta?!" Lumilia quickly asked Lynn and Alice with a concern look on her face. Lynn just lowered her head and didn''t answer Lumilia''s question. Lumilia turned to Alice asking the same thing. Alice pointed at the direction of the village and said, "Souta is still fighting those people." "What?!" Lumilia turned pale as she recalled how powerful those people. She supported her body as she tried to stand but she was still weak. Lynn moved and she supported Lumilia. Alice turned silent when she saw Lumilia''s expression. She looked down at her feet and asked herself. Have I changed? The gap in their strength wasn''t that large. The only difference was that Souta wasn''t afraid of taking a risk in fighting a higher level opponent. To fight a higher level opponent, Souta was taking the risk of drinking the monster potion. The drawback of this potion was something that other people wouldn''t want to experience yet Souta drunk it without hesitation. He even took two monster potions. Alice raised her head and saw Lumilia watching the battle. "I will not hesitate anymore..." She muttered in a low voice as she also watched the battle. "W-We have to help him... I-I can''t let him..." Lumilia said while trembling she felt her eyes getting wet. She felt the weakness she experienced from Gripen city. Souta was always helping her. She thought that she grew stronger but reality slapped her. She doesn''t want it. She doesn''t want to become a person who always received help from others. At least she wanted to try to help others... "If I only had monster potions... What can I do?" Lumilia gritted her teeth in anger. She doesn''t want to experience this feeling anymore. She recalled that she still had a lot of money left. Using that money, she would buy something that could help her in an emergency situation like this one. Skills and spells. She would try to acquire those to increase her powers. She would not limit herself anymore. Determination burned in her heart. She didn''t know that at this moment she finally unlocked her potential that opened up her path to the peak. Later on, she would realize that this was the turning point of her fate. That day when he pulled me out of the grasp of my family and changed my fate - Azure God of the East. ... Blood splattered as Souta managed to penetrate Gilven''s mana protective shield. In return, he took a deep wound on his chest and back. Comparing his injuries to Gilven, he would say that he would die because of his injuries if he didn''t treat it. No matter how many monster potion he drunk, he still wouldn''t be able to defeat Gilven. A true higher-level opponent. His current power was just a temporary one. It''s not permanent. The four gravitational balls behind Souta disappeared. Without these black balls, Souta wouldn''t be able to float in the mid-air. He fell down and crashed on the debris of rocks on the ground. Souta sighed as he looked at the huge black ball in the sky. The black ball slowly descended down towards his direction. "It''s a pity... I wanted to know how you modified the [Shadow Bind] and [Shadow Ball] spell." Frels said as she shook her head. Gilven just looked at Souta on the ground. "Am I going to die without knowing my past and my real identity...?" Souta muttered to himself as his vision was getting blurred. He then saw a figure descended in front of him. "It''s okay. Listen to my words." The figure said with a grin on his face. The figure in front of him had short messy blonde hair. He was tall and had an average physique. He was wearing a black pants and a long sleeve shirt of the same color. On top of it was a small dark blue color cloak. This person didn''t have a presence at all. Gilven and Frels couldn''t sense him at all. They couldn''t understand how this man appeared before them without them noticing him. When Souta saw this figure he couldn''t help but laughed. At the same time, he heard a notification in his mind indicating that he completed the quest. But that''s not important... The reinforcement of the Institute was one person only. But this person was more than enough. Why? Because he''s the strongest. The Flame Master, Bargan Hevifield. 208 The Overwhelming Power of the Flame Master Souta''s body was bathed in a warm white glow. This glow was rejuvenating his body. The extreme pain in his body slowly disappeared. He wanted to close his eyes and rest but he heard Bargan say something. "Don''t sleep. I''ll teach you something." Souta forced himself to stay awake. He was wondering what Bargan was planning to teach. Gilven and Frels just looked at Bargan with a serious expression. They couldn''t imagine how this person managed to slip in their senses. Even at this moment, they don''t feel anything about Bargan. They felt that he was just an ordinary person. That feeling made it worse for them. No matter how much they think about it, a normal person wouldn''t arrived in this place. They could only think of two things about this unknown man. The first one was he was wearing equipment that could hide his presence. The other one was that this man was stronger than them and have high control over his mana to the point that he could hide under the eyes of six-circle officers. Bargan lifted his head and looked at the huge black ball with a faint smile. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "This one is a bother. Disappear." He then pointed his finger at the huge black ball in the sky. After a few moments, crimson-colored flames started to appear on the surface of the huge black balls. In just a few seconds, the flames swallowed the huge black balls before it dissipated in the thin air. "...!?" Frels watched this scene in horror. [Shadow Desolation Ball] was a rare and powerful dark attribute spell. It could even annihilate a city larger than Gripin city. "How!?" Gilven opened his eyes widely in shock. His brain started sending him danger signals. He realized that this man was much stronger than them. Seven-circle, no, even seven-circle officer couldn''t easily offset Frels'' powerful spell. Eight-circle officer? No, he didn''t even know how powerful an eight-circle officer so he couldn''t compare it. Souta knew that Bargan was powerful but seeing it like this still shocked him. He guessed that teacher Bargan could fight him when he was still Blood. ''His title is no joke at all. The Flame Master, one of the most powerful figures in the whole Hebrei Kingdom, Bargan Hevifield.'' Bargan ignored the two six-circle officers. He turned his head to the left and right before he closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth and said, "The corps guardians really did their jobs. They are really the guardians. They protected every student unfortunately all of them died except for the captain." Souta heard his words and was shocked to found that all corps guardians that arrived here sacrifice their lives just to protect the students. He could see three figures in the sky. The figures were flying towards this direction at high speed. After a few minutes, the three figures crashed in the ground creating four small craters. Bang! Bang! Bang! Thick smoke and dust covered the entire area but Bargan snapped his fingers and it dispersed the smoke and dust in the surrounding. It also revitalized the energy of every student that was affected in the battle. Bargan then moved his eyes to the people in front of him. One of them was carrying Alex like a piece of trash. He looked at Alex and said in an apologetic tone, "I''m sorry I''m late." His expression quickly changed as he revealed a faint smile before clapping his hands. Clap! The sound echoed in the whole area and Bargan opened his mouth before saying, "Okay, students I''ll show you something that you never saw before. Please watch carefully because I''ll show you the power of a strong one." His voice wasn''t that loud but it reverberated across the whole area. Frels and the rest of the six-circle officers frowned when they heard Bargan''s words. They felt that Bargan was underestimating them. One of the six-circle officers stepped forward. He''s a tall man and had a fierce look. He lifted Alex in his hand and said, "I''ll kill him if you make a single move." The smile on Bargan''s face grew wider. He opened his mouth and said, "Do you feel displeased because you felt I''m underestimating all of you? Don''t get the wrong idea here, I''m not underestimating you, I''m simply stating the fact that all of you are weak. Too weak to touch a single part of my body." The six-circle officer was furious at his words. He coated his hands with his mana and he brought it down towards Alex''s neck. "Watch this..." Bargan said as he opened his palm and waves of flames burst out of his hand. The other six-circle officers quickly jumped to avoid getting hit by the flames. The other one just stood in his position and lifted Alex. He was going to use Alex as a shield. But Bargan didn''t stop. The waves of flames continue to move forward. It then swallowed Alex and the six-circle officer. Frels, Gilven, and the rest of the six-circle officer looked at this scene with a gloomy expression. They felt the energy of their comrades disappeared. "ARGH!!" A roar sounded from the waves of flames. Frels and the rest were familiar with this voice. This was the voice of their comrades. They turned their heads and looked at Bargan. They saw that Bargan still have that smile on his face. After a few seconds, Bargan closed his palm and the flames disappeared. Swoosh! Everyone was stunned by what they saw including Souta. The scene revealed the figure of the six-circle officer. His body was burned and was slowly turning into ashes while Alex was lying on the ground as if nothing happened. "If you continue to practice to control your mana, one day you will reach my level. My flames only burned those who I wanted to burn." Bargan paused for a moment as he pointed at the land beneath Alex. "Look at that piece of land. My flames didn''t leave a single trace of it and it didn''t even burn it." ''F*ck! That''s insane! It feels like turning off the friendly fire in the game!'' Souta was stunned as he marveled at the scene in front of him. The game didn''t have a function where the players controlled their mana. That''s why everyone thought that this skill was useless. "O-One hit and that level of control over mana..." Frels was trembling when she saw the shocking scene. Her comrades felt the same. All of them realized that this man was a powerful one that stood at the top. The body of the six-circle officer was twitching beside Alex. Alex couldn''t move his body but he knew that this man was still alive but he will die within a few seconds as all of his internal organs were burned. It''s hard to heal this kind of wound even for a tier 3 healing spell. It would need a tier 4 healing spell to aid this man. "For the next lesson, I''ll show you the power of those who stood at the top," Bargan said as he moved his eyes towards the remaining six-circle officer. "Damn!" Frels quickly turned to Gilven and said, "Give me the bloodstone! I''ll use it!" Gilven quickly threw the bloodstone towards Frels. Frels stretched out her hand and took the bloodstone. She then poured her mana in it. Boom! Powerful and dense bloody color energy erupted out of her body. A gust of wind swept out in the whole area. It blew the dust and small rocks around. Frels squinted her eyes and said, "This person is so strong. We don''t have a chance to defeat him. How the hell such a powerful person appeared in a place like this one!? Hold him and I''ll leave this place." Gilven and the rest nodded their head with a serious expression. Bargan simply opened both of his palms and said, "All of you will fall here. Don''t even dare to leave this place." Frels quickly flew in the sky like a meteor while the remaining six-circle officers dashed towards Bargan. They didn''t need to take a hostage as they knew that it was useless. Considering Bargan''s control over his mana, it was useless to take baggage with them. Flames started to appear around Bargan''s body. He ignored the other six-circle officer as he focused his attention on Frels who was trying to leave. "You won''t get away." Bargan made a grabbing motion in the air. It caused Frels to stopped in the mid-air. "How?! HOW?!" Frels was stunned. She couldn''t believe that this man could easily stop her. She''s using the bloodstone so she thought that she would be able to leave but she still underestimated the power of the Flame Master. "Burn," Bargan said one word and everything exploded like fireworks. 209 Im now stopping the outdoor training "H-How...? I-I... have... the... b-bloodstone..." Frels muttered as she looked at the crimson-colored stone in her hands. Her body was slowly crumbling away. She couldn''t feel anything from her body. The same thing was happening to the rest of the six-circle officers. Two of them died on the spot as soon as the flames landed on their bodies. She the only one who could speak among the six-circle officers, thanks to the power of bloodstone. To think that they would fail this mission. It was unforgivable to the Deadly Sins. "Huff... We... will... c-come back... you... shouldn''t stop... our... mission..." She muttered with great effort. The crimson-colored stone fell on the ground along with her hand. The black robe she was wearing was slowly dissipating into thin air. The six-circle officers didn''t have a chance to fight at all. They suffered an overwhelming defeat today. Bargan Hevifield, the Flame Master, showed his power to the students this day. As one of the most powerful figures in the whole Hebrei Kingdom, the students could rarely see such a figure showed his power. "It will take an army of your level to stop me..." Bargan said before he walked towards Alex. "Grr..." Souta who was watching this scene gritted his teeth. The extreme pain once again assaulted his body. His muscles were twitching uncontrollably. It was painful. The best feram were seeping into his mana pool. Cracks started to appear in his mana pool as the best feram suppressed all the mana in his body. The cells on his body were dying one by one as it couldn''t take the power of the best feram. ''It hurts... I''m suffering more pain than those people! Damn!'' Souta lifted his head and he looked at the six-circle officers with madness in his eyes. Suddenly, the energy in his body exploded. Boom! Countless black spikes burst out of the ground. Not just black spikes, black tentacles also rose from the ground. All of Souta''s spell started to appear around him. "Argh!" Souta screamed but his eyes were still on the six-circle officers. He raised his hand with great effort and some of the black spikes pierced the bodies of the six-circle officer. Bargan appeared in front of Souta. The black spikes couldn''t do anything to his body. He lifted his hand and tapped Souta''s forehead with his fingers. "Sleep..." Bargan muttered and Souta lost his consciousness. The spells around Souta also disappeared. He shook his head and said, "You''re too reckless for your own good. I don''t know how will this affect your body." Before he fell Bargan caught his body. He then placed Souta on the ground and started to heal his wounds. "Bargan, you''re here." Someone called Bargan from behind. "No, don''t be sorry. I''m sure that they were grateful that you save the students. Their sacrifice wasn''t in vain." The captain of the corps guardians shook his head and said. He then looked at the unconscious Souta. "Is that Souta? The one who used the monster potion." "Yes, and it''s bad this time as he drunk two potions," Bargan replied to him. "Two potions? That''s insane..." The captain if the corps guardian couldn''t believe what he heard. "Well, it was thanks to that that he could delay the enemies from killing everyone," Bargan said with a calm expression. "We don''t know the effect of drinking two monster potion. Some people don''t even drink monster potion because they were afraid to face the backlash of the potion. Even I wouldn''t want to experience that feeling again." The captain of the corps guardians said with a gloomy look in his eyes. From his tone and his words, it was like he was saying that he drunk a monster potion before. "Well, what could I say this student is very special. I could see in his eyes that he was afraid but he''s fighting it." Bargan said as he shrugged his shoulder. He then added, "We can just hope that he will recover from his injuries. From what I could see, his mana pool and cells were severely damaged." "Mana pool? That''s right, every person who drunk monster potion suffered the same consequences." The captain of the corps guardians said while watching Souta''s face. "We owe this time. If not for him the casualties will be great." His expression turned into rage and said, "But who are these people? Their strength isn''t ordinary. They killed the vampire that was hiding beneath the village." "I saw the symbol on their robes..." Bargan glanced at the captain before he said, "If I''m not wrong, that''s the symbol of one of the bringer of calamity, the Deadly Sins. A famous organization that brought fear in the whole continent." "The Deadly Sins...!?" The captain of the corps guardians was shocked. "What are they doing here!? Every movement of that organization some kingdom and countries will disappear!" "Yes, it seems that the stone there is a bloodstone. Never in my entire life, I saw a bloodstone. This is the first time I saw it but there''s no reason to doubt the words of these people. We need to handle it carefully." Bargan explained to the captain with a serious expression. The captain turned his head and looked at the corpses of the six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins. He saw a hand on the ground holding a crimson-colored stone. He strode forwards and carefully looked at the crimson stone. He narrowed his eyes and felt an enormous amount of energy inside it. Bloodstone was a super rare stone that vampires created using the blood of countless creatures. According to the rumors, anyone who possessed it would gain immense power. But from the looks of it, Bargan easily subdued these people even with the possession of bloodstone. So the captain didn''t think much about it. "If a powerful person used that then it would become a problem. That woman before used the bloodstone and I felt that her strength increase by two-fold." Bargan said as he shook his head. "Also, I think that woman didn''t know how to fully utilize the power of the bloodstone as she wasn''t a vampire." "You''re right... Our knowledge about this stone is close to none. We have to do further research about it." The captain said. He then sat down and sighed. He was exhausted and he wanted to rest right now but the situation didn''t let him rest. After a while, he stood up and said, "I''m going to check the students and give them first aid." "You should have done that from the beginning," Bargan said as he smirked. He then turned around and looked at Yujin who was approaching. "Do you have any injuries that need healing?" "I''m fine, my wounds already closed. It''s not grave so you don''t have to worry about me." Yujin said as he shook his head. He looked around and found the five corpses of the six-circle officers and Alex resting on the ground. He found a corner and sat there without saying anything. He then closed his eyes and rest for a while. He was sure that the outdoor training would be stopped today as most of the students need treatments. ... Lumilia, Lynn, Alice, and Yuko arrived after Bargan finished healing Souta''s external injuries. They quickly went towards Souta with a worried expression. "T-Teacher? How is Souta?" Lumilia asked Bargan without taking off her eyes at Souta''s face. Lynn and Alice looked at Bargan waiting for his answer. "I''ve done everything that I could. I''m not proficient in healing spells but I managed to close most of his wounds. Later, I''ll let an expert take a look at his condition." Bargan slowly explained to them Souta''s condition. Souta''s condition was very sensitive right now. He''s vulnerable. Bargan couldn''t even find a single speck of mana inside Souta''s body. It''s not his expertise Souts he didn''t dare to do anything inside his body. One wrong move and it would worsen Souta''s condition. He then smiled and assured them, "Don''t worry, I will not let him die on my watch. I will call someone to check his condition later." Lynn and Alice sighed in relief when they heard his words but Lumilia still have that worried expression on her face. She was blaming herself. If she was stronger then Souta wouldn''t have to consume two monster potions. Yuko just sat beside Souta while looking at his face. Sometimes she would open her mouth and lick his face. It seems that she was trying to wake him up. "Then..." Bargan stood up and picked up the bloodstone on the ground. He observed it as he squinted his eyes. He was wondering what makes this stone very special. After a while, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth, "I''m Bargan Hevifield. Under the authority that was given to me by the principal, I''m now stopping the outdoor training." His voice wasn''t that loud but every first-year student across the whole region heard his announcement. He had a worried expression on his face. Despite defeating the henchman of the Deadly Sins, Bargan didn''t know how would they react at this situation. If the bloodstone was really important in their organization, then they will come and retrieve it back. Even he wasn''t fully confident in fighting the Deadly Sins head-on. Their Hebrei Kingdom would probably fall if the Deadly Sins launched an all-out attack towards the kingdom. If Souta knew what he was thinking then he would say his opinion without hesitation, the percentage of Hebrei Kingdom collapsing against an all-out attack of Deadly Sins was one hundred percent. There''s no doubt about it. The Deadly Sins could plummet the whole kingdom. One huge country like Hebrei Kingdom wasn''t enough to handle the calamity brought by the Deadly Sins. It needed the help of the great countries if they wanted to fend off an all-out attack of the Deadly Sins. Souta wasn''t joking at all. He personally experienced the power of Deadly Sins when various countries tried to attack their base in the Giza continent. At that time, Souta was the representative of the Mechanic country. As a commander of Mechanic country''s army, he naturally had thousands of subordinates so he brought them. 210 Side effec Souta slowly opened his eyes as he heard someone calling his. He rubbed his eyes before he looked over and saw an old man with white hair, mustache, and beard. Beside the old man was a woman wearing a maid uniform. "Grandpa...? What''s wrong?" Souta asked as he pushed himself into a seated position. The old man in front of him was his grandpa, Kryvon Ieshi. His grandpa was the only member of his family. His dad and mom were gone. Souta heard from his grandpa that they died in an accident before. About this incident, Souta heard that grandpa took him as he doesn''t have any family left. It means that Kryvon Ieshi and Souta Ieshi weren''t blood-related at all. Kryvon looked at Souta with a deep gaze before he said, "Let''s have breakfast..." "You should''ve just ask sister Mai, instead of coming here," Souta said as he glanced at the woman in maid uniform. This woman was called Mai. She was the head maid inside this huge mansion. Souta was the sole inheritor of Kryvon''s riches. He was living a normal life here despite having so much wealth. He could do anything with his money and Kryvon wouldn''t stop him. Kryvon only has one request for him. And that was to train his fighting ability and learn all kinds of martial arts in the world, including those weapon-based martial arts. He didn''t have much ambition unlike other people in the world. Souta only wanted to live a carefree life and enjoy it to the best of his ability. That''s why he enrolled in a public school as he felt bored socializing with those arrogant young masters. Those people were always flattering him trying to get in his good shoes. He never likes that kind of atmosphere. Just staying near them, he felt that he was going to puke. He hid the fact that he came from a rich family when he enrolled in a public school. At that time, he already had an idea of how much wealth his grandpa possessed. His grandpa, Kryvon Ieshi, was one of the richest men in the world. He''s the father of virtual technology on earth. He''s also the sole developer of the famous VRMMORPG Battle Worlds Online. "I just wanted to see you before you go to the Ieshi clan," Kryvon said to him. "Oh? So this is the day..." Souta muttered as he turned his head and looked outside the window. He knew the existence of the supernatural in this world. All the myths were true and his grandpa explained it to him when he was still a child. Ever since he was a child, Kryvon gave everything to Souta except the love of a family. Kryvon was giving him wealth and extreme training, both physical and mental. "Yeah, I lose another ten years of my life as I send them your appearance so that they would know you once you arrive in that place." Kryvon paused for a moment before he added, "Oh, right! I need to place my mana signature in you for insurance." Bzzzz!! "AHHH!!" Souta screamed as he found himself in a familiar room. The ceiling looks exactly the same as his house in Ladro City. No, this was his house. There''s no doubt about it. Suddenly, he saw a petite figure of a girl flashed and stretched out her arms. The girl hugged him while Souta was dumbfounded. He was about to push the girl away when he felt his shirt getting wet. Souta moved his eyes and saw the familiar blue-haired girl. This girl was none other than Lumilia. He could only smile wryly and raised his arms before wrapping it around her. He rubbed her back while thinking about the things that happened to him. The appearance of the six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins. It brought chaos to the whole Ibish village. Him drinking two monster potion on that day. Closing his eyes for a moment, he found that his mana pool was empty. It''s dangerous but Souta was glad that his teammates were fine. After a while, he felt Lumilia stopped moving in his chest. He looked down and asked, "What''s wrong Mila?" "...nothing." Lumilia slowly separated from him while rubbing her eyes. She looked at Souta''s body before asking, "Do you feel anything?" "Yeah, I don''t have any mana," Souta answered her as he placed his palm in front of his chest. There''s not a single speck of mana in his body. "I see... The experts said that you''re fine and your life isn''t in danger. It''s just that they don''t know how to fix your mana pool." Lumilia said with a downcasted expression. "So that''s how is it..." Souta nodded as he rubbed his chin. He glanced at his system and saw the situation he was facing. Mana: -1,050/1,110 (Severely damage mana pool) These numbers were written in red color. The negative indicated his bad condition. But something bothered him while looking at this. If he removed the negative, the number didn''t have the same value. Why is that? He looked at Lumilia and asked, "Do you have a mana potion?" "Yes, but it didn''t work on your condition. The expert tried to let you drink and bathe in mana potions but the mana that entered your body disappear like a bubble without leaving a trace." Lumilia said as she handed him a blue potion. "Let''s me see it..." Souta removed the cap and drank it without hesitation. Closing his eyes, he found that Lumilia''s words were right. The mana vanished in his body. He then looked at his system and saw something changed. Mana: -1,049/1,110 (Severely damage mana pool) His conjecture was right. Mana potion would help him recover but it needed tons of potion before he could use mana again. But something wasn''t right, he felt that he wouldn''t be able to completely recovered just by using mana potions. "How is it?" Lumilia asked him as she tilted her head. "You''re right but mana potions could help me to a certain degree." Souta nodded at her. "Really?" Lumilia looked at him with wide eyes as if she couldn''t believe his words. The experts already said that mana potions wouldn''t help him recover his mana. "Yeah, do you think I''m joking?" Souta smiled and asked her. "But the experts said..." Lumilia didn''t manage to finish her sentence as Souta interrupted her. "Who would you believe me or those people?" Souta asked her. He didn''t wait for her answer as he patted her head and added, "Don''t worry about me. So tell me-" Suddenly, the door burst open as a huge body of a bear entered the room. The bear had red fur all over its body. It had a scar on its left eye. This bear was none other than Souta''s beast companion, Yuko. Boom! Yuko strode forwards and she pushed Lumilia away from Souta. Ignoring Lumilia, she quickly wrapped her arms around Souta. She then opened her mouth and licked his face. "Mu." Yuko was clearly happy now that Souta was fine. Lumilia just looked at Yuko with a dumbfounded expression. She didn''t know whether to laugh or not. Souta patted her back and asked Lumilia, "How long did I sleep? Also, can you tell me the details of what happened after I passed out?" "Two and a half weeks..." Lumilia answered him seriously and she slowly recounted the things that happened when he passed out. Souta listened to her while Yuko was sticking her body to him like a glue. He couldn''t do anything about it so he let her hug him while listening to Lumilia''s words. He learned from her that Bargan stopped the outdoor training after what happened in the Ibish village. Well, Souta expected it considering the death of all the corps guardians in that area. After that, they brought him to the institute and let the experts checked his condition. They healed all of his wounds but they couldn''t repair his damaged mana pool. Also, the institute hid the fact about what happened in the Ibish village to avoid panic in the kingdom. They didn''t tell anyone about the Deadly Sins as it could terrify the citizen in the kingdom. The name Deadly Sins wasn''t a joke at all. After listening to Lumilia, Souta has more questions in his mind. What happened to the bloodstone? Did the institute take it or not? The problem was that the group that appeared there was none other than the Deadly Sins. Souta was sure that this was not the end. The Deadly Sins will come back to take the bloodstone and the group that will come here was much stronger than last time. Probably a group of seven-circle officers. Maybe, they would send an eight-circle officer if they knew about the true strength of Bargan. He already changed the future. If Souta wasn''t in the outdoor event, he was sure that everyone would die. Lumilia, Lynn, Bryan, Nayo, and the rest would die. Maybe, that''s the reason why Souta haven''t heard Yujin, Alice, and Bryan in the game. They would probably die in that event. The future is slowly turning to the path that he doesn''t know. He should prepare himself and complete his equipment set. 211 Bountiful Rewards Souta separated himself from Yuko and took out the transmission talisman. He recalled that he didn''t have any mana in his current condition so he looked at Lumilia and asked, "Can I borrow your mana for a while?" "For what?" Lumilia slightly tilted her head. "I couldn''t activate this talisman as I don''t have any mana so I need yours." Souta explained to her what he''s going to do and Lumilia agreed to him after hearing his words. He quickly held her hand and saw her looking at their hands with a dazed expression. He shook his hand and asked, "What''s wrong?" "N-Nothing!" Lumilia hurriedly shook her head. She then took a deep breath to calm herself. After a few seconds, Souta felt her mana entering his body. He hurriedly poured the mana into the transmission talisman before it disappeared in his body. The talisman emitted a dim yellow light indicating that he activated it. "Jimmy... It''s me, Souta." Souta said to the transmission talisman. "S-Souta...? Souta! Are you really Souta!? When did you wake up?" Jimmy''s loud voice echoed throughout the room. Souta knitted his eyebrows and he said, "Lower your voice... I''ll tell you that I just woke up but I have a question for you." Jimmy inhaled deeply on the other side of the talisman. After he calmed down he said, "Okay, tell me your question." "What happened to the team that I formed in your corporation? Also, can you tell them that I''ll meet them in two days? I need to settle some things first." Souta spoke normally while looking at Lumilia. He didn''t know if he already told her about this or not. "Hmm...? About that... I already told them what happened to you so they were waiting for you to come here and start the expedition." Jimmy spoke to him through the talisman. "I''m fine now so you don''t have to worry, I will continue the expedition as I don''t want to delay it anymore," Souta said to him. The expedition in Forest of Eternal Light was very important to him. He would be able to complete the Universal Item called [Soul Blood Earring]. It will become his ace in the near future. Plus, he will start retrieving the requirements for his evolution and Yuko''s evolution. The third evolution was a turning point for every monster. Once they reach this level, they will become a true monster. Also, the demons will start to appear here in the next few months. Souta explained to Jimmy what happened to him. He didn''t include the things that the institute hid in the public but with Jimmy''s connection, he was sure that Jimmy knew about the appearance of the Deadly Sins. After he finished talking to Jimmy, Souta saw Lumilia''s confused expression. It seems that she didn''t know that their expedition included those adventurers from the Lanny corps. "I see... So, in other words, we''ll go to the Forest of Eternal Light with them." Lumilia nodded at him. "Yes, that''s the gist of it." Souta looked at the window and asked, "Where are Bryan, Lynn, and Alice? Also, Brando?" "They? They were at the institute. I skip class today to take care of you." Lumilia responded to him. "Hmm... Do we have food here?" Souta inquired her as he felt hungry. His whole body was covered in bandages. His smell was quite bad. He guessed that no one dared to wash his body. "No, but don''t worry, I''ll cook something for you," Lumilia said hurriedly before she stood up and left the room. Souta just watched her back before he looked down at her swinging blue tail. He subconsciously stretched out his hand to grab it but he quickly regained his composure so he stopped himself. "Well, it''s time to check the rewards that I received from that incident," Souta muttered as he focused his attention on the interface in his vision. He saw various notifications in his system. [You''ve completed the quest!] [Do you want to receive the rewards? Yes/No?] ''Yes.'' Souta said in his mind without hesitation. *Ding!* [Processing the grade...] [Processing completed!] [You''ve received Grade S score!] [Calculating the rewards...] *Ding!* [Calculating completed!] [You''ve received 2 level up cards, 2 skill level up cards, 300,000 exp, 40 free attribute points, 15 skill points, and one-time use best feram skill card!] *Ding!* [You''ve received 10 skill points for defeating an enemy 20 levels higher than you!] [You''ve received 10 skill points and 2 random cards for defeating an enemy 40 levels higher than you!] Souta was shocked when he saw the rewards that he received. He wasn''t surprised by the fact that he received tons of exp, free attribute points, and skill points. He was surprised by the fact that he received the cards as his rewards. The cards were implemented in version 2 of the game. It shouldn''t have appeared here in version 1. He knitted his eyebrows and rubbed his chin. He pondered how did this happen. He couldn''t think of any reason except for his S-grade score in the quest. The quest was to fight the six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins and save the students from dying. He guessed that no one managed to trigger this quest in the game. Even if they trigger it, the fact that the level cap of version 1 was level 20 restricted the power of the players. Maybe, that''s the reason why no one managed to get an S-grade score in a quest as hard as this one. Maybe, all the functions of the game from version 1 to the latest were already in the system. He only needed to explore it. If that''s the case, then he would be able to receive those ''rewards'' if he completed some ''condition'' just like in the game. The ''rewards'' that he mentioned were the cards. The cards have different types. The level-up card. A type of card that increases the player''s level by one. The skill level-up card. Just like the name of this card, it increases the level of any skill of the user. The one-time skill card. It let the user borrow the skill that was written in the card for a certain period without any backlash. The skill card. It was different from the one-time skill card. It was also different from the physical skill book in the world. It could use to learn the skill that was written in it without using any skill points. And those achievement cards which have different purposes. These cards can be acquired by completing high difficult quest, secret quest, chain quest, some by conquering high-level dungeons, etc. There were tons of ways to acquire these cards but all of them were difficult and needed great effort to accomplish one quest. He received 2 random cards by defeating an opponent 40 levels higher than him. It was an achievement that''s why Souta received cards and skill points. He also would be able to receive rewards once he managed to clear his first high-level dungeons. There were tons of ways and Souta will slowly acquire it one by one. Killing 40 levels higher than him wouldn''t be possible at higher levels. Souta could only do it because of the power of the monster potion. In truth, the monster potion would become ineffective to him once he reached the third evolution where he could acquire the power of best feram. The side effects of drinking two monster potions were violent and extreme. He felt that he doesn''t want to experience it anymore. He was just lucky that he was a monster and the side effects weren''t as harsh as those from humans and demis. Souta received a total of 35 skill points and it was a huge harvest for him. He still has 7 skill points so he had a total of 42 skill points including the one he received today. It seems that Bryan, Brando, and Lumilia completed some quest while he was out. His [Gravitational Ball] spell was level 4. He upgraded it when he fought those six-circle officers. The skill points that he needed to level it up to ten were 45. He only needed to complete some C-rank quest in Adventurers Guild to earn 3 skill points. This way, his way towards the mid-tier class was close. He would become a Battle Mage soon. A Battle Mage was a higher class of a Mage. A class was just like a monster. It had different evolution paths but in class case, it was called higher class. Mage has different higher class paths. One was Battle Mage, which Souta was familiar with the most. It was a class which expertise in using spells at close-range combat. Sorcerer class was a higher class of mage who didn''t use a magic circle to cast a spell. Instead, they were using the power of words to create a spell. In short, they were chanting. There''s also an Elite Mage class. A higher class of mage with the same pattern as a normal mage. The only difference was that the spell power was many times higher than a normal mage. This path also leads to the path of the Archmage class. But Souta didn''t want another class as he wasn''t familiar with those. He still wanted to become a battlemage as he knew this path like the back of his hand. Based on his current progress, he will become a battlemage in the Forest of Eternal Light and it will become the place where he could test his power. Souta couldn''t help but grin while thinking about this. 212 Mutated Goblin Corruptor He would be able to upgrade his class anytime. Souta rubbed his chin as he thought about the reason why he would postpone the promotion of his class. He could do it right now and his strength would greatly increase even though he couldn''t use mana at the moment. The Battlemage class was entirely different from the Mage class. A mage class couldn''t hope to defeat a battlemage class. The firepower and overall stats were higher than the mage class. Also, Souta would be able to gain the skill of the battlemage in his skill tree. Skill, as in combat arts that was related to the battlemage of his specialty. These combat arts would help Souta greatly now that he couldn''t use mana. ''I''ll think about it later...'' Souta shook his head and placed those thoughts in the back of his mind. After clearing his mind, he looked down at his body. He grabbed the bandages, which were wrapped around his body, and tore it apart. The pieces of the bandages scattered around him as it slowly fell on the bed. The wounds that he received in his fight were almost gone. His recovery abilities shocked everyone including Bargan and those powerful teachers from the Institute. His injuries were grave and he was about to die at that time if Bargan didn''t treat him in time. Dozens of his bones broke into several tiny pieces, his skins were churned, his muscles were ripped apart, his cells were dying one by one, and his mana pool almost broke. All of these were because of him taking two monster potion. Truthfully, some of the teachers lose their hope in him because of his internal damage. Even though his external wounds were closed the injuries he received inside were too severe. But none of them expected that his recovery ability was exceptional. Day by day his wounds were healing on its own. They didn''t know that Souta''s recovery ability increased by five times when he''s resting. That''s one of the reasons why he woke up in just two weeks while other people would take a month or two before they woke up. Sometimes they would just die like that. Souta wasn''t shocked by it. Instead, he was shocked when he saw his hands. The color of his hands was the same as the color of his skin, dark green. How? The color of his hands was supposed to be black with red veins. But right now, it turned back to his normal skin tone. Souta hurriedly looked in the system and found that he didn''t have [Corruption] trait skill anymore. What appeared in the trait was the [High Energy Resistance Body] trait skill. Souta glanced at his race and saw that it changed. Race: Mutated Goblin Corruptor He mutated during his battle with the six-circle officers or because of drinking two monster potions. Drinking two monster potions was the answer he was looking for. Because of the strong best feram that seeped in his body at that time, his cells, bones, and muscles got destroyed. A normal goblin corruptor couldn''t handle the power of the best feram even though its a monster. There was a reason why the second evolution monsters didn''t have a monster orb. But Souta regenerative ability exceeded everyone''s expectations. His muscles and the cells in his body mutated to adapt to the high energy like best feram. It builts the [High Energy Resistance Body] which could protect him from the suppression of best feram and mana of higher-level creatures. Not only that, it somehow increased his overall stats by a large margin. "It''s not bad..." Souta muttered while looking at his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Mutated Goblin Corruptor Level: 30 Class: Rank 3 Mage - Darkness Health: 926/926 Stamina: 483/483 Mana: -1,049/1,110 (severely damage) Strength: 589(429+60)[+] Agility: 540(340+200)[+] Dexterity: 527(327+200)[+] Intelligence: 480(420+60)[+] Vitality: 473(463+10)[+] Free attribute point(s): 44 Skill(s): [Dash] Level 4, [Stab] Level 4, [Weapon Mastery], [Mana Manipulation] Level 4, [Cat''s Speed] Level 3, [Air Walk] Level 2, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 3, [Pet Bestowing Skill] Level 2, [Pet Resonance] level 2, [Transfer Boost] level 2 Spell(s): [Fireball] Level 1, [Ice Shot] Level 1, [Light Heal] Level 1, [Agility Boost] Level 1, [Strength Boost] Level 1, [Mud Slide] Level 1, [Shadow Bind] Level 10, [Shadow Spike] Level 1, [Shadow Ball] Level 10, [Gravitational Ball] level 4 Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body], [Night Vision] Trait skill(s): [High Energy Resistance Body] Blessing(s): [Blessing of the Great] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul], [1st Tier Spell Immunity] Skill point(s): 42 Souta was delighted when he saw the huge increase of his stats. The fact that he became a mutated goblin corruptor was out of his expectations. It never comes to his mind that he will become a mutated species. Some of his skills also level up. His [Dash] became level 4, his [Cat''s Speed] became level 3, his [Triple Muscle Strengthening] also became level 3, his [Pet Resonance] became level 2, and lastly, his [Transfer Boost] became level 2. All of the skills above unexpectedly level up after his battle with the six-circle officers. With these, his combat prowess increased once again. Souta didn''t have any problem except that he couldn''t use his mana for the time being. His level also increased from the huge amount of exp that he received. He was halfway through the third evolution. He rubbed his chin and thought about his expedition. If everything went well in the Forest of Eternal Light, Souta guessed that he will level up two or three times in that place. If he had enough time and stay there for two months then he was sure that he would be able to reach level 40, the turning point of every monster. But Souta didn''t have a plan to farm for one month. He was a greedy person. Just exp wasn''t enough for him. He wanted to earn skill points and free attribute points at the same time. Well, it''s true, that he would be able to level up faster if he stayed in the Forest of Eternal Light and grind exp there but his skill points would become stagnant. If he was going to do that, Souta shouldn''t have left the Curse Cemetery. He should''ve stayed there and hunted the countless undead there. Skill points were important as it could level up the skill and promote his class. If he stayed in the Curse Cemetery, he wouldn''t be able to promote his class to Rank 3 Mage as the only thing he would earn there was exp. He wouldn''t be able to contend against the people who''s level was higher than him. He would be having trouble fighting someone close to his level. A quest was very important in the game called Battle Worlds Online. People who were only killing monsters to level up wouldn''t be able to fight the players who were exploring the different functions of the game. The only thing that they could boast was their high level. Their overall stats were low as the other players of their level have high class and high-level skills. Souta closed his eyes for a moment before he opened it once again. He stood up and threw a punch in the air. He followed it by throwing another punch. Swoosh! Swoosh! "Not bad..." He could feel that he was fine and could fight someone at his level. Knowing this was enough for him. He then stretched his body as he looked at the interface in his vision. He used the two [Random cards] without hesitation. A [Random card] would transform into any other card randomly. It depends on a person''s luck if they would receive a good card or a bad card. "Level up cards..." Souta muttered and two different cards appeared in his vision. [One-time Dark Dominance skill card] x1 [200k exp card] x1 These two cards appeared. Souta was disappointed by what he got. He quickly used the [200k exp card] and he heard a sound in his mind. *Ding!* [You''ve level up!] [You''ve gained 2 free attribute points!] [You''ve gained 1 skill point!] [Strength attribute increased by 15!] [Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality attribute increased by 10!] "Oh! I level up again..." Souta was slightly surprised at this. He glanced at the exp bar in the corner of his eyes. He saw that he wasn''t imagining things. He really levels up to 31. He had 2 level up cards in his system so he needed to level up to 38 before using those level up cards. There were different types of [Exp card] but Souta still preferred the [Level up card] over the [Exp card]. If he was still someone stuck at level 10 then this [Exp card] would help him much better than [Level up card]. There were [200k exp card], [300k exp card], [500k exp card], [1m exp card], and lastly the [5m exp card]. If he could pull the [5m exp card] then why not. Souta would gladly receive but for the rest... But it was extremely difficult in getting that [5m exp card]. In the game, not even once he managed to acquire such a card. 213 Visi This will help him when he''s in danger. Despite the fact that he couldn''t use his mana, Souta was satisfied with the increase in his overall abilities. Most of his skills level up after fighting the six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins. Souta decided that he wouldn''t use the [Skill-level up card]s for the time being. He will use it after he became a Battlemage. He only needed 2 skill points and he will promote his class to Battlemage. Now, it''s time to prepare himself for the expedition in the Forest of Eternal Light, one of the largest forest on the whole continent. The forest that housed several powerful monster lord. He knew that those monster lords wouldn''t make a move unless he openly provokes them. He knew the limits of his strength so even if he rampaged there. The monster lords wouldn''t even care about him. The power he possessed wouldn''t even bother those powerful creatures. In front of them, Souta was just a weak goblin. He closed his eyes and felt the [Vajra Sword Saya] at the corner of his room. He was connected to this sword so he could feel it even if it was far away. He also could control it using his energy but right now, he doesn''t have a shred of energy in his body. It seems that Saya was still sleeping. It hasn''t been a month since the incident in the Fersch dukedom. But it feels that a lot of time had passed because of the things that happened in the past weeks. Souta stretched his body and he opened his wardrobe. He wore a normal black shirt and Lumilia enter the room with food in her arms. "Here, I prepare this. I hope it suits your taste." Lumilia said as she placed the food on the small table at the corner. "Thanks..." Souta said as he sat down and began to eat the food that she prepared. Lumilia just watched him eat the food with a gentle expression on her face. Then, something flashed in her mind. "Oh...?" Souta turned his head and asked, "What''s wrong, Lumilia?" "I forgot that Cluster is sleeping downstairs." Lumilia stood up and hurriedly went down. "I''ll wake her up. It''s time for lunch so she should eat too." "Cluster is here...? Hmm... She must be bored in Lumilia''s apartment." Souta muttered before he shook his head and went back to eating his food. It''s been a few months since he met Cluster in the Desolate Woods. He still had no idea why those people were pursuing her and what''s her connection with the future event of this world. There were many unknown variables in this world that he didn''t know yet. After a few moments, he heard Cluster''s loud voice. "BROTHER SOUTAAA!!" Cluster shouted as she ran towards Souta''s room. Cluster arrived in Souta''s room and she looked around. When she saw Souta at the corner, she quickly jumped towards him saying, "BROTHER SOUTAAA!!" Souta quickly moved his body to the side and he caught her. His meal would fell if Souta didn''t move his body. "Mnnnn..." Cluster rubbed her cheeks in his chest. Souta looked at her with a smile on his face while rubbing her back. It''s hard to imagine that Cluster would hug him when he met her at that time. At that time, she was wary about him and doesn''t want to talk to him but now... The difference was wide. She grew closer to him to the point that she thought of him as her real brother. "Cluster, Souta isn''t fully healed so don''t do that..." Lumilia said as soon as she saw Cluster tightly hugging Souta. "It''s okay," Souta said while looking at Lumilia with a wry smile on his face. Cluster turned her head and looked at Lumilia. "See! Even brother Souta said that it is okay so why are you stopping me, sister Mila?" "..." Lumilia was speechless when she heard Cluster''s words. ... Bryan, Lynn, Alice, Yujin, and Brando arrived at Souta''s house after class. They were surprised when they found that Souta was awake. The experts said that Souta would wake up after a month or two but he still woke up. No one knew that Souta''s recovery ability would increase by five times when he was resting or sleeping. "I''m glad that you''re fine, Souta," Lynn said with a sigh of relief. She was worried about him when she heard from teacher Bargan that Souta was in grave condition. She couldn''t even sleep well when she thought about his condition. That''s why she always came to his house to take care of him. Lynn and Lumilia were the ones who took care of him while he was out. Bryan, Alice, Yujin, and Brando would only visit him every day to check his condition. Bryan even wanted to help the two but he didn''t know what to do. That''s why Lumilia and Lynn rejected him when he offered to help Souta. "Oh? You''re awake Souta! Do you feel anything in your body?" Bryan asked Souta without minding the people around him. "Yeah, I''m fine now." Souta nodded at Bryan as he sat down in his bed. Yuko who was at his side placed her head on his lap. She looked up at Souta asking him to pet her head. Souta gently smiled as he caressed her head. "Mu~" A satisfied tiny voice escaped from Yuko''s mouth as Souta pet her head. She closed her eyes and enjoyed him petting her. She didn''t care about the other people in this room. All she knew was that Souta would only pet her. She alone has this rights, no other creatures except her could do this. Lynn looked at Yuko''s comfortable looked before turning to Souta''s hand. She wanted Souta to do that to her too but she didn''t have the courage to say it. "Me too, I want brother Souta to pet me too!" Cluster opened her mouth as she raised her left hand. Without waiting for Souta''s reply, she jumped towards him but Bryan stretched out his hand and caught her in the air. "Don''t bother Souta, I have something to say to him. I''ll pet you if you want." Bryan said to Cluster before he focused his attention on Souta. Lumilia, Alice, and Brando turned to Bryan wondering what he wanted to say. From Bryan''s looked, they could guess that it was something important. But they were talking about Bryan. His thinking was different from them. Souta also looked at Bryan with question marks in his head. "You said you''re fine so let''s fight. I wanted to test my improvement against yours." Bryan said in a loud voice. Everyone didn''t expect him to say something useless but this... what could they expect from Bryan. They have nothing to say about this as they looked at him with a blank expression. "Not at the moment... I have a lot of things to do so we''ll postpone it." Souta shook his head and declined Bryan''s request. "Why?!" Bryan looked at him with a grieved expression. "I said that I have something to do," Souta said. He actually wanted to test his current combat prowess without using mana but he needed to manage his things and the people in Lanny corp. "Bryan! Stop it! Souta just woke up so he''s not in a condition to fight!" Lumilia said to Bryan with anger in her voice. "Lumilia is right, Bryan? You shouldn''t try to fight him at his weakest. I''m sure you want to fight him in his full strength but now is not the time." Brando followed up Lumilia''s words as he placed his hand on Bryan''s shoulder. "Oh...? I don''t want to fight Souta when he''s weak. Okay! I will wait till you recover Souta!" Bryan exclaimed with a big smile on his face. Yujin who was watching from the side finally opened his mouth. "Bryan become the top 2 ranker of the first year four days ago so it''s understandable that he wanted to fight you. He already solidified his position as he defeated the other top rankers several times." "Hmm?!" Souta was surprised when he heard Yujin''s words. He looked at Bryan with widely opened eyes. "Hehe! It''s not bad. Souta, you''re the only opponent I have." Bryan said with a laugh. He didn''t expect that Bryan''s strength would already surpass the top ranker before him. The improvement of Bryan''s strength was terrifying. This was pure talent, completely different from Souta who depends on the system. "Good. Good." Souta laughed lightly and he looked at Lynn, Alice, and Yujin. "You register as adventurers in the Ibish village right? If you want to continue being adventurers why don''t you join my party?" 214 Bringers of Calamity A man wearing a black robe with red fur on its collar. On the back of the robe was a symbol of red-eye. This was the symbol of the Deadly Sins, one of the bringers of calamity. The man had an average height and his built was average too in terms of humans scale. His hair was messy and it had the color of a chestnut. His brown eyes were looking outside the land, observing the movements of every creature that was living in this place. He had thin facial hairs. It seems that he didn''t even care about it. It was dark and the room didn''t have any light but the moon shone as if to give him vision in the land that he was observing. The cold breeze of the night blew on his face making him frown. He stretched out his hand and pick a piece of meat from the table beside him. He quickly placed it inside his mouth and started to chew on it. He was one of the upper echelons, nine-circle, and the seven deadly sins. He was called Esquin Georagnisus, the Gluttony sin of the seven deadly sins. The word gluttony brought terror in the whole world. Not just this world but thousands of sub-worlds knew what gluttony meant. Esquin was one of the seven most powerful people in their organization. The man that brought fear to gods and deities. Suddenly someone knocked on the door of his room. Knock! Knock! "Enter..." Esquin said in a deep tone. Even without looking around he already knew that the person on the door was his subordinates. His power and senses were above the norm. A man wearing the same black robe entered the room. He bowed towards Esquin as a sign of respect towards the high deadly sin. Even though he was a powerful seven-circle officer, he still didn''t dare to stand in front of the deadly sin. Their status and power were different. The deadly sin was like a god. He lifted up his head and saw that his lord was looking outside the window. He still didn''t receive the permission to speak so he didn''t dare to utter a single word or else he would die. "Hmm..." Esquin slightly turned his head and looked back. "Speak." He gave his permission to his subordinate. "Lord, the group of six-circle officers that were task to get the bloodstone failed their mission." The seven-circle officer said with a careful expression. "Hmm...? They failed?" Esquin turned around and looked into his subordinate''s eyes. "Yes, my lord." The seven-circle officer nodded and he gulped with a nervous expression. "I see... I guess that some large countries discovered them and annihilated them, am I right?" Esquin picked another piece of meat on the table and ate it. "Yes, my lord." The seven-circle officer nodded his head. He knew that even if their organization could fight one of the great countries, those people would gather people from other countries to fight them. It means that any large countries would unite together just to bring the Deadly Sin down. "It''s not the time to fight them in an all-out war. We still need to observe the happenings in the other continent especially the Demon''s land. The demons are gathering their armies at the moment. It seems that they will make a move this time." Esquin muttered in a low voice before he turned around. "The demons...?" The seven-circle officer shivered when he heard his lord mention the demons. The demons were undoubtedly the greatest force in this world. They were the only race that dominated a whole continent. "Then... What should we do, my lord?" The seven-circle officer asked carefully while taking a peek at his lord''s face. "We don''t need to do anything. We will watch as demons bring chaos upon this world. I don''t know their goals but it seems that they will invade the Giza continent. I will give you a task to bring back those bloodstones." Esquin said with a calm expression. Even the Deadly Sins couldn''t predict what will happen in this world. "Yes, my lord. I will retrieve the bloodstones at any cost." The seven-circle officer nodded with a respectful expression. He then left after Esquin gave permission. After a few moments, Esquin squinted his eyes as he looked in the horizon. "It seems that those people from God''s Will made a ruckus in the Giza continent. But we need those bloodstones so I don''t have a choice but to take it back. Well, the demons will divert the attention so I think that it''s fine." The demons and the God''s Will were making a move. But something was bothering him... and that was the organization called Zodiac, one of the bringers of calamity like them. The Zodiac was keeping their heads low and didn''t bother showing themselves in the public. The Zodiac only has twelve members but the power of this small group made them became one of the bringers of calamity. The Zodiac made an appearance nineteen years ago. That day, they brought chaos to the whole Giza continent to the point that they offended the three great countries. The Zodiac fought the three great countries and they got defeated with the combined effort of the great countries. The problem was that the great countries didn''t manage to kill or capture any member of the Zodiac. Some rumors said that the Zodiac was amassing the manpower that they lacked. They said that the Zodiac was creating an army to handle the three great countries. Their small numbers was one of the Zodiac''s disadvantages. That''s one of the reasons why the three great countries managed to defeat them. ... Lynn, Alice, and Yujin looked at him with a serious expression after they heard Souta''s words. This was Souta''s plan from the beginning. Their capabilities were too high for him to let them go. He would grab them and integrate them in his party like what he did with Bryan and the rest. Lynn''s sensing ability, Alice''s combat ability, and lastly Yujin''s spirit power. He was slowly going to change their mind about monsters and that''s Yuko''s role. But from the looks of it, it seems that they didn''t have any hatred in monsters like other people. Souta just needed time before they could accept a monster. Of course, if some of their friends and family members died because of the monsters then they wouldn''t be able to stand beside Yuko. Well, it all depends on their personality. "I''ll gladly accept it and join your party. In fact, I''m happy that you invite me to join." Lynn accepted his invitation without hesitation. She wanted to join Souta''s party ever since she became an adventurer. She wanted to stay by his side in his adventure. But the only problem was that she didn''t know if Souta would accept a weak person like her. "Good." Souta nodded at her with a smile on his face. He already knew her answer even before asking such question but he still had to ask her to avoid misunderstanding. He didn''t hate Lynn but he also didn''t like her. He didn''t have any romantic feelings for her like what she feels towards him. He also didn''t want to hurt her feelings by rejecting her immediately. That''s the reason why Souta acted like he didn''t notice her feelings for him even though she was expressing it to the point that everyone in their class knew that she like him romantically. Some of their female classmates even called him a dense person. If Souta was going to have a relationship, then she was one of the candidates. That''s why he still hasn''t laid his hands on her. He also didn''t want to treat her like a prostitute in the red light district. If really wanted that, Souta was sure that he could sleep with her with a little coaxing. If she changed her mind on him? Then, that''s fine for him. Souta didn''t want someone that could easily change her feelings. Especially if he revealed the fact that he was a monster. He doesn''t want someone who only accepted the good side of him. He wouldn''t deny it that he was cold-blooded against his enemies. He wouldn''t hesitate to kill his opponents even though it was a child or a woman. Souta turned his head to Alice and Yujin. He didn''t say anything as he just waited for their answer. After a few moments, Alice sighed and said, "Fine, fine, I''ll join your party. Of course, I have a condition." "State it," Souta said with a cool expression. He already expected it so he wasn''t surprised when she had a condition. Alice crossed her arms in front of her chest and slowly opened her mouth. "I want you to give me free will. I will join your party but you can not force me to do something that I don''t want to do." "Okay, that''s easy." Souta nodded with a smile while rubbing his chin. He then asked, "But what are the things that you don''t want you to do? Tell me in advance, so that I can avoid it." 215 Dark Oculus Yujin looked around and found that everyone was gazing at him. Oh right? Every person here was a member of Souta''s party except the child. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed deeply. "Fine, I''ll join your party with the same condition as Alice. I''m a busy person after all and I couldn''t always join you in your quest." "Good. I have no problem with it." Souta smiled and nodded with a satisfied expression on his face. Taking Alice and Yujin to his party was a good choice and he knew that he won''t regret it. Their power was no joke at all. "Me too! I wanted to join your party, Brother Souta!" Cluster raised her hand while jumping. "Okay, but not now." Souta nodded at her before he stretched out his hand and patted Cluster''s head. "Ehhh!? Why!?" Cluster cried out. She doesn''t want to be left out by her brother and sister. She doesn''t want to stay in Lumilia''s room alone for a whole week. It feels as if she was in jail or a hostage. Yuko slightly opened her eyes as she felt that Souta''s hand left her head. She looked up and saw Souta was patting Cluster. "Mu." She raised her hand and wrapped it around Souta''s hand. "Oh...?" Souta looked at Yuko and he smiled gently. He used his other hand to pet her. "Souta, I''ve been wondering this for a while..." Bryan said as he placed his finger on his lower lips while glancing at the ceiling. Souta raised his eyebrows as he focused his attention on Bryan. He didn''t expect much since this was Bryan. He naturally lowered his expectation to prepare himself. "What''s the name of our party? The other parties in the Adventurers Guild have their own names like Gale Group or Twisting Sand Group, so I''ve been wondering why don''t we have the same cool name." Bryan said with an innocent smile. Now that Bryan mentioned it, everyone stopped and gazed at him. All of them realized that they didn''t have a name for their party. They only called it Souta''s party. Even those people from the guild also called them Souta''s party. "Nice, Bryan!" Brando raised a thumbs up towards Bryan. He also wanted to have a name for their party other than Souta''s party. "Bryan is right. I think that we should name our party." Lumilia said while looking at Souta. She wanted to know his opinion about this. Lynn, Alice, and Yujin didn''t join their discussion. They were new members of the party so they thought that they shouldn''t join a meeting as important as this one. They didn''t know that Souta didn''t care about whether they just join the group or not. He used this word as his IGN because of the time when he fought in the game and saw the realistic scene of blood figures of people. That''s the same when he first arrived here in this world. If he wanted a cool name, he wouldn''t use his name when naming himself in the system. "So what should we name our party? Do you have something in your mind?" Lumilia asked him. She was acting as if she was his assistant or secretary. "Nothing, I''ll leave it to you." Souta shook his head as he didn''t want to bother himself from naming his party. "Okay, I have something in my mind," Bryan said and everyone looked at him. He then smiled and said, "What about The Greatest Fighting Group?" "Oi! That''s not good Bryan, Lumilia is a mage, and almost everyone here!" Brando said to Bryan. "Oh, you''re right! Then, what about you?" Bryan nodded as he looked at Brando. "Hmm... Then... Dark Oculus. Well, I based it on Souta''s element. As he is our leader I think it fits the name of our party." Brando said as he turned to Souta. "Don''t ask me. Ask class rep, I''m fine with anything." Souta simply shrugged his shoulders before he went back to parting Yuko''s head. "Oh? I like it. It sounds cool. It feels like we''re a group of villains." Bryan said with a satisfied look on his face. "I''m fine with it but how about you three. Are you fine with that name?" Lumilia nodded and asked Lynn, Alice, and Yujin who were staying silent on the side. "I don''t have a problem with it so why not," Yujin replied to her. Alice and Lynn also agreed with the name of the party. Clap! Souta clapped and gathered everyone''s attention. He swept his eyes across the member of his party before he opened his mouth and said, "From now on, our party will be called Dark Oculus. Thanks to Brando''s insight, we all agreed to the name that he bestowed on our party." "It''s nothing... I''m just thinking about the reputation of our party if Bryan named our party." Brando said with a smile. "I guess it''s time to tell you our next quest." Souta nodded before he looked at Lumilia and said, "Class rep, no, I will call you Lumilia from now on. It''s unbefitting for me, the leader, to call you class rep." "I understand." Lumilia agreed to him. Also, she always wanted him to change what he called her. Souta calling her name directly wasn''t a problem. "Good. Lumilia, fill them up about our next quest." Souta said to her. He already explained to her his plan after Jimmy''s call so he will leave the explanation to her. Before Lumilia could say anything, Cluster complained. "Brother Souta! You''re going to leave me again here!? I don''t want that! I want to join your party!" Cluster complained at him. Souta looked at her and assured her, "Don''t worry, we''ll bring you." "Really?" Cluster looked at him with stars in her eyes. "Yes, I promise that we''ll bring you." Souta nodded at her. "Yay!" Cluster jumped around in happiness. She doesn''t want to stay here alone so she was happy that she could join their group. "Is that really okay?" Lumilia asked Souta with concern looked on her face. "Yes, don''t worry about it," Souta spoke with a serious tone. After saying those words, Lumilia didn''t ask anything when she heard his tone. She thought that Souta had a plan to keep Cluster safe in their journey. Souta could understand Cluster. He knew that she was bored staying here alone while they were out completing a quest. If he let it be then there will be a time when she was going to leave them without saying anything. Also, he doesn''t plan to bring her to the dungeon. He was only going to bring her to the Eternal Empire while his party was completing the dungeon in the Forest of Eternal Light. Well, he didn''t say anything about bringing her into the dungeon. Lumilia explained about the expedition to the Forest of Eternal Light to Bryan, Brando, Alice, Lynn, and Yujin. She didn''t forget to tell them about Souta''s contract with the Lanny corp. ... Lumilia and the rest left Souta''s house after staying for a few hours. Souta told Lumilia to submit the report in the Adventurers Guild about their party so that the guild could update the information of their party. With that, Alice and the rest were officially a member of his party. And his party''s official name was Dark Oculus that Brando came up. After they left, Souta went to the storage room, the room where he stocked all the potions that he bought outside. This room was full of different kinds of potions. He went to the row where he placed all the blue potions also called mana potions. One by one, he removed the cap of the mana potions. He drunk it until there''s no mana potion in this room. He even consumed his reserved mid-grade mana potions. Since there''s nothing to do, Souta exited the room and locked the door. He always locked because he doesn''t want Yuko to enter this room and shattered the bottles of potion. He then called Jimmy and asked him to deliver boxes of mana potions to his house. Souta included the mid-grade mana potions in his order. He had a lot of money in his pocket so he doesn''t need to worry about his bill. ... Two days had passed quickly while Souta was trying to recover his mana but he found that two days weren''t enough to completely recover his mana. "Hu~ it''s time to meet those people from Lanny corp. The expedition into the Forest of Eternal Light will start... I can''t wait to complete my universal grade earring." Souta said with a smirk while stretching his body. 216 Frontpage What surprised him was that Randolf visited him. Randolf just looked at his condition and said some mysterious words before leaving. He couldn''t understand what Randolf was trying to say. He tried his best to recall if he heard Randolf''s name in the game but unfortunately, nothing comes to his mind. That attitude and personality of Randolf were familiar to him, and that smug look was familiar to him. He just couldn''t remember anything person that has the same name and looks as Randolf in the game. After that, a middle-aged man visited him yesterday noon. He didn''t know the middle-aged man but when the man introduced himself he easily understood it. The middle-aged man was none other than the Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild branch in the Ibish village. Since the Ibish village was destroyed, the Guildmaster couldn''t stay there anymore and remained as Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild. Ninety percent of the citizen of Ibish village died in that incident so there''s no point in staying there. He visited Souta to thanked him for holding back two six-circle officers alone. He was thankful at Souta. ... He didn''t have any news in the institute but when he heard what happened there while he was gone he was surprised. His party members, no, his classmates'' power was skyrocketing as they dominated the ranking battles. The fact that their class took the first and second rank was satisfactory but the other students of the Mage class 1-B were catching up to the top rankers. Their class was becoming the strongest class in the whole first year without a doubt. After experiencing the life and death situation in the Ibish village, somehow the students of the Mage class 1-B changed. Their skills were refined to a higher level and it caused their battle power to rose to the next level. Their worldview widened as they understood what it means to stand beside death. They matured at different angles, except for Bryan who was used to trouble. In these past two days, Souta tried to recover his mana by drinking mana potions but unfortunately, he couldn''t. Two days weren''t enough for him but Souta wasn''t bothered by this fact. Because he could promote his class anytime he wanted using the skill points and skill-level up a card that he got from the quest. At the very least he wanted to save his skill-level up card. He just didn''t use his skill points now as it wouldn''t make a difference in his fighting power because he couldn''t use his mana. Just one escort quest was enough for him to complete it. The escort quest towards the Forest of Eternal Light. ... Souta was having a coffee when Lumilia came to his house with Cluster. "I''ve finished what you ask me to do," Lumilia replied and she placed a piece of paper on Souta''s table. Souta placed down his coffee and looked at the paper. This paper was the escort quest that he needed. He doesn''t want to travel towards the Eternal Empire without having a quest. It''s better if he got a quest to maximize the benefits that he will receive. "Lumilia take Bryan and the rest with you. You will complete this quest while I''ll take another escort quest with the members of the Lanny corp." Souta said to her after he finished reading the contents of the quest. He then added, "Well, it''s to maximize the benefits that we will receive." He knew what''s in her mind so before she could ask him, Souta answered the question in her mind. Lumilia didn''t have a choice but to agree to him after she heard his words. Souta emptied his cup of coffee before he stood up and said, "Let''s go, I have to meet the people of the Lanny corp." "I understand." Lumilia nodded at him while looking at his face. She was trying to guess what''s in his mind. ... Souta and Lumilia parted ways. Souta brought Yuko with him towards the Lanny corp while Lumilia brought Cluster to meet with Bryan and the rest. Souta arrived in the Lanny corp with Yuko. The receptionist quickly guided him to the space behind the building. Jimmy and the six people that he chose were already waiting for him. "You''re here. I already explained what you''re going to do to them." Jimmy said when he saw Souta. He greeted him and looked at the six people. "Good." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. He turned his head to the six and observed them with his eyes. It seems that he wasn''t wrong in picking them. The aura they gave off this time was different than the first time that he met them. They grew stronger. There''s no doubt about it. They were going to become a B-rank soon if they keep improving their strength. "Good morning, captain." A man with a huge physique greeted Souta. His skin was brown and he had two antennas sticking out of his forehead. His name was Jagret. "Good." Souta nodded and he swept his eyes across the six people in front of him. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, "Jimmy said to me that he already informed you about our quest this time. Am I right?" "Yes, captain!" The five people replied to him at the same time. "I know, I know." A man with a bored look said. He was tall and he didn''t have a huge body like Jared. One of his ears was pointed and one wasn''t. His pointed ear was full of earrings. His greenish eyes were slanted and looked fierce. His hair was mohawk and its color was green. He was called Ginvi. This man was the one who fought Souta before. These six people were shocked when they first heard from Jimmy that they were going to the Forest of Eternal Light. That forest was extremely dangerous for their current power level. They thought that Souta was out of his mind for picking that place as their first quest but when they heard from Jimmy that Souta was serious, they could only accept this fact. In fact, until now they were against in going to that place but it was Jimmy''s decision. Jimmy told them to follow Souta''s order and he was their first priority. "You know what to do. Have you prepared your things? We''re leaving today." Souta said to them with a serious tone. Despite lacking mana, he was emitting heavy pressure in the surrounding area. "Yes, captain!" They said at the same time. "Hmm... The members of my party will join our expedition." Souta said to them before he turned around. "Captain, the members of your party are students am I right?" Ginvi opened his mouth and asked Souta. Souta paused and he slightly turned his head. He looked at Ginvi in the eyes. "Yeah, they are students like me. Why?" "I''m not sure if they are as strong as you or not. I want to know if they were going to become a burden or not." Ginvi raised a question with a grin on his face. "You don''t have to worry about them. Besides, I trust my party members than you. I don''t even know if you''re going to use your mouth in battle or not." Souta responded with a cold look on his face. He then waved his hand and turned around. "You!!" Ginvi hissed as veins pop up on his forehead. He was about to leap towards Souta but Jagret and a dwarf named Finsi stopped him. Souta ignored those people. He doesn''t have a problem with his subordinates except for that Ginvi. No, that''s not a problem to begin with. He could control that type of person through force but Souta decided to take it easy. Jimmy walked beside Souta and asked, "Did you read the news?" "News?" Souta looked at Jimmy with question marks in his head. He had no idea what''s in the news because of what happened to him. "Here. Read this." Jimmy pushed the newspaper on his side. Souta looked at it as he took a bottle of potion in his pocket. He removed the cap and drunk it in one go. After that, he swept his eyes on the front page of the newspaper. "The student who used two monster potions to stop the member of the Deadly Sins...!?" His mind went blank when he read the front page of the news. His picture was also printed at the corner of the newspaper. ''Who the hell would release this information?'' Souta knitted his eyebrows before he looked at Jimmy. "I''ve sent some people to investigate who release this information but we couldn''t find anything. All the leads disappeared from a certain noble family. That noble family is a powerful family across the whole kingdom. They have a lot of connections and the Lanny corp is like a small mouse in front of them. But I personally think that family don''t know about this. Someone just used their name." Jimmy said with a serious expression. "What''s the family name?" Souta asked. "The Freis Family," Jimmy said. "If it''s that family then they wouldn''t do it," Souta said as he looked at the newspaper. If the public learned about the incident in the Ibish village, then a lot of problems will occur. Especially for him... The fact that he woke up in just two weeks from drinking monster potions was a huge topic. "Ehe~ some people are targeting me behind my back. I wonder who did I offend this time." A grin formed on Souta face. 217 Departure The citizens of the kingdom will feel restless at the thought of Deadly Sins attacking their kingdom. The Deadly Sins attacking a huge kingdom wasn''t new. There were cases when the bringers of calamity causing destruction in the huge kingdoms or countries. This was the reason why the citizens felt nervous and scared at the same time. No one could guarantee their lives with such people attacking their kingdom. "Just who would release such news to the public...?" Souta continued to read the news and he didn''t found anything related to the bloodstone. It seems that the people who release this news were afraid to publicize the bloodstone. Of course, they were anxious to release such news. It would cause the citizens to panic if they knew that the Deadly Sins'' goal was in this kingdom. Then, the story about the incident in the Ibish village. It told that Souta fought two people from Deadly Sins on his own after consuming two monster potions. The news also included the casualties and damage towards the whole area. The death of the corps guardians and the destroyed Ibish village. The news was written like it didn''t care about what Souta did. But Souta was having a problem with such details of him released to the public. The fact that he woke up after two weeks was released to the public bothered him. He wasn''t even going to be surprised if the King of the Hebrei kingdom asked him to come to the Royal Capital. His body became a valuable research material. He was sure right now that the attention of the people who were researching about the best feram was on him. They must be dying to know how he could survive and recover easily from drinking two monster potions. Souta looked at the next page and saw a small article about his fight with Gregory. There''s also about what happened in the Fersch dukedom. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "The person who wrote this is trying to gather the attention of the whole kingdom to me. Of course, it will not work immediately but in the future..." He knitted his eyebrows in displeasure. "Do you think it''s better if you lay low for a while?" Jimmy suggested to him. "Nope, I will continue without caring about them." Souta shook his head. He wouldn''t change his plan just because of some news. "But that''s..." Jimmy didn''t manage to finish his sentence as Souta interrupted him. He doesn''t know what''s the goal of that person but he was sure that it will be revealed once he gathered the attention of the whole kingdom. If that person wants to play, then Souta will play with that person without hesitation. In fact, he will make it easy for that person. He will sweep out all the low-level dungeons in the Forest of Eternal Light. He knew the position of the dungeons with his knowledge from the game. It''s possible for him to sweep it with his current strength. Souta wanted to know what plan they have for him if he somehow gathered the attention of the whole kingdom. But that''s not the problem right now. Souta was curious about how the Ladro Institute will handle this problem for him. Will they help him or stayed silent about this incident? Will they block those people that were interested in Souta or not? Or the Institute itself will launch a research about how he managed to recover from taking two monster potions?0 "This is bad," Jimmy said with a sigh. "Yeah, but don''t think about it." Souta nodded and said to Jimmy. He then read the rest of the news in the paper. The other news was about the Mechanic Country. The Mechanic country just wiped out the surrounding small countries and kingdoms around it. It was the most dominant country in the western part of the continent. The news was about how the three large countries around it joined forces to pushed back the overwhelming army of the Mechanic country. The Sy, Rhine, Distrok, and Mechanic countries were separated by a forest called Boundary Woods. Souta knew that this was the beginning of the rise of the Mechanic country. No one would be able to stop its rise. It would reach the level of the three great countries in the future. He then looked at the other news in the paper. The other news was about how the prime minister of the Zomus country died. The Zomus country was situated in the south of the Hebrei kingdom. It was one of the large countries in the eastern part of the continent. The rest of the news was about the situation of the other large countries. There was chaos in some cities. It was the starting point of how the destruction engulfed the whole continent. If there were players in this world, then they would be able to somehow stop it or decreased the casualties. Just like what happened in the Fersch dukedom. If Souta and the rest didn''t kill the peak third evolution monster then the monster would wipe out the entire dukedom. Souta closed his eyes and only opened it after a while. He took a deep breath and returned the newspaper to Jimmy. He was anxious about the future and he couldn''t help it. Other people were looking forward to the future but him... Souta was afraid about the destruction that will swallow the entire world. He needed to do everything he could to survive. Souta looked at the six people behind him and said, "I''ll give you five minutes to prepare your things. Meet me at the north gate of the city." After that, Souta bid farewell and went to the Adventurers Guild. He wanted to take a quest towards the Eternal Empire but there''s none on the quest board. Well, it''s understandable as it was far away from Hebrei kingdom. Luckily, he found an escort quest towards the Septiz country. This quest was enough for him as they were going to pass Septiz country first before they arrived at the Forest of Eternal Light. ... Souta met with the members of his party in the north gate of the city. "Yuko!" Cluster jumped around and hugged Yuko''s body. She rubbed her cheeks on Yuko''s fluffy fur. Souta looked at them with a smile before he turned his head to Lumilia. Bryan, Yujin, Alice, Lynn, and Brando were packing their things in the carriage. "How is it?" He asked before he took a glance at the carriage behind Lumilia. "It''s fine, we can handle this quest," Lumilia said in response and she also looked at the carriage behind her. "I''ll leave them to you. Don''t let Bryan do some stupid things." Souta said to her. "I understand. I''ll keep an eye on him." Lumilia nodded her head. "Also, protect Cluster." Souta moved his eyes on the side to look at Cluster who was hugging Yuko. "I know." Lumilia nodded. Even if Souta didn''t say it, she will protect Cluster from any harm that could befall her. "If you have any problem just shoot a spell in the sky. I''m just behind you so I could help you somehow." Souta spoke with a serious expression. "If we ever encounter things that we couldn''t handle I''ll immediately ask for your help," Lumilia replied to him with a bitter expression. She looked down at her feet and hoped that will not happen. She doesn''t want Souta to use another monster potion. She doesn''t want to see him lying on the bed with a painful look. That''s why she tried to improve her strength in the past two weeks that Souta was out. She also bought herself a set of purple grade equipment from the money she got from selling the peak third evolution monster. She wanted an orange grade weapon or equipments but it''s hard to find it without proper connection. After a while, Lynn and the rest approached Souta and Lumilia. "I heard from Lumilia that you''re not joining us in this quest," Brando said as he wanted to confirm it from Souta himself. "Yeah, I have another quest with the members of the Lanny corp but that doesn''t mean that I''m not going to Eternal Empire. You''re just going there first." Souta explained to them and everyone understood his words. He then looked at them and added, "Follow Lumilia''s words. She will command you and don''t do things without informing her. Especially you Bryan, don''t run around fighting monster left and right." "I know. I know." Bryan replied to him. Alice and Yujin looked at Lumilia. They felt that Souta was favoring her more than the other members of the Dark Oculus. Souta bid farewell to them and they left. He waited for a few minutes before his subordinates arrived. They quickly settled the things with their contractor and left. Lumilia also asked for leave in the institute. Three weeks leave. This was enough to settle the things in the Forest of Eternal Light. Souta already calculated the time they will consume in their travel. Even though Souta carefully planned it, there''s a lot of unexpected factors that will get in their way in their expedition. 218 Meeting "Who would release such sensitive information to the public!?" His tone contains a little bit of rage. The people in front of him were the strongest of the teachers of the Ladro Institute. Any person here could overwhelm the group of six-circle officers that Bargan fought in the Ibish village. "The lead stop to the Freis family." Jess an ocean elf and the friend of Bargan replied to Azrim. "I don''t care about those noble families. Let them be. But if they got carried away then I''ll be the first one to crash their respectable families." Bargan said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. He looked at the people in this room before he added, "It''s easy to crash those noble families. But if I do so it will decrease the good reputation of the Ladro Institute. Well, I just hope that they don''t force me to make a move or else some of the city will be erased in our map." Although he said those words casually, the people in this room could feel the seriousness in his tone. They didn''t doubt Bargan at all. Bargan was capable of erasing a whole city in a few seconds. Azrim looked at Bargan and nodded his head. He then forcefully cough to gather everyone''s attention. Cough! "Then, onto the next topic. What should we do with the bloodstones that we found?" He asked as he swept his eyes. They didn''t found one bloodstone on the site instead they found five bloodstones. It was a huge loss for the Deadly Sins as they lost five bloodstones. Jess opened his mouth and said, "The royal family wanted to take custody of the bloodstones. No, they are requesting us to transfer the bloodstones to them." "I agree with that. Those bloodstones could bring us unwanted problems but I suggest transferring three bloodstones first." Sabrina, a woman with long green hair and green pupils, said. She was wearing a dark blue robe with gold linings. Her clothes couldn''t completely hide her seductive body. Before anyone could ask, Sabrina opened her mouth and said, "The bloodstones are rare materials that even the royal family couldn''t get ahold of it. So I want to take this once in a lifetime opportunity to study the bloodstones." "Sabrina is right, we should let some expert in our institute study these bloodstones. There are many mysteries surrounding these stones and I personally wanted to know it too. Besides the temporary increase in power, I wanted to know its other uses." Bargan agreed with Sabrina''s words. This was a rare opportunity. If they one have one bloodstone, there''s a chance that the Deadly Sins will ignore it. They were sure that the Deadly Sins will not let five bloodstones go out of their hands. "It''s better for us don''t you think. If three bloodstones are in the royal capital and the other two are here, then they will divide their forces if they come to take the bloodstones." Azrim said as he swept his eyes in the people in the room. Their meeting lasted for thirty minutes. They had various topics but the most important thing was the bloodstones and the Grand Tournament. The Grand Tournament. In this tournament various institute, school, and academy will send their representative to fight. It was one of the largest festivals in the whole kingdom that will be held in the royal capital. The winner of this tournament will receive glory, honor, money, skills, resources, etc. If a person wanted to rise in ranks then they have to win this tournament. The royal family will do a favor to fulfill the winner''s wish to the extent of their powers. Of course, the winner couldn''t make excessive wishes such as killing some people or becoming the next king of the kingdom. In the last Grand Tournament, the Ladro Institute won due to the outstanding performance of Yanagi Shina. Without her, the Ladro Institute wouldn''t be able to take the first place. They will start choosing the representative in the next few weeks. This will become a fierce battle among the students of the Ladro Institute. All of the students have the right to join this tournament. Many students dreamed of representing their institute in this huge tournament. It''s time for them to showcase their powers in the whole kingdom. If some nobles got interested in one of the students sometimes they betrothed their child to the students that they choose. Azrim and the rest of the people in the room didn''t doubt that Yanagi Shina will once again represent the Ladro Institute. She was the strongest student that could even defeat some of the teachers so they didn''t need to doubt her prowess. Azrim sighed and tapped his finger on the table in front of him. After a few moments, he opened his mouth, "The higher-ups of various institutes, schools, and academies will talk about the Grand Tournament in the Royal Capital so we needed to go there. When we got there, we will also present the three bloodstones to the royal family. Bargan and Jess, you two will stay here to protect the bloodstones and the students if something bad happened." "I got it. I don''t have a plan to travel so I''ll just stay here." Bargan said with a bored expression as he leaned his back on his chair. "They aren''t going to leave immediately, Bargan. They still have to prepare the things that they needed. Also, the date of the meeting isn''t decided so they will stay here for a while." Jess said to Bargan. "I don''t care," Bargan said as he closed his eyes. Something came to his mind, so he opened one of his eyes and looked at Azrim. "Oh, right! Yanagi wanted to follow Souta in his quest so I stop her and locked her up in the basement." "That girl..." Azrim sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Yanagi didn''t change at all. Her target this time was the most prominent first-year student Souta Ieshi. He was afraid that Yanagi would break Souta. That''s why he was keeping her away from Souta. He lifted up his head and asked Bargan, "Does she know Souta''s destination?" "I don''t think so," Bargan said as he shrugged his shoulder. In the basement of this building, Yanagi was locked up in a sealed room. She couldn''t escape from this place no matter what she does. Bargan casted a powerful barrier and sealed this room so that even if she used her powers she wouldn''t be able to escape. Yanagi was sitting at the corner of the room with a grim expression. She couldn''t find any fault in this barrier around the room. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and closed her eyes. "That old man is dead... He''s stopping me from seeing S-Souta... What''s wrong with that!? I should beat him to death!" ... Souta and the Lanny corp members arrived at the Septiz country. It took them three days before they arrived in this huge country that could rival Hebrei Kingdom. Their travel wasn''t as smooth as they imagined. They faced countless monsters and bandits on their way towards this country. The six people from Lanny corp showed their combat prowess to Souta by annihilating a group of monsters. Souta wasn''t the type of person that will leave everything to his subordinates so he cleaned up some of the bandit''s nest on their way. He also let Yuko fought those bandits so that she grows stronger. Not only Souta fought monsters and bandits but he also took some of the rare herbs that he found on his way. If sold it, then he would earn a fair amount of coins. Maybe, there''s a herb gathering quest that needed this type of herb. He also consumed a large number of mana potions in these past three days. He already emptied the box that he brought. It''s a hassle to bring things like this on their travel. It made him recall the time when he still had inventory in the game where he could store hundreds of potions. The Dark Oculus group arrived in the Septiz country first. Just like Souta, they also faced monsters and bandits but the number they faced was higher. It''s not going to be a problem to them considering their combat prowess. Only those B-rank and third evolution monster could handle them. Souta''s physical power was considerably good. He was really glad that he took strength when he evolved into High End Goblin. When he fought the bandits, Souta found that he could defeat an ordinary C-rank with just his physical power. 219 How did she appear here with them!? When Souta arrived in that country, he quickly went to the Adventurers Guild to find a quest. His escort quest was only up to this country so he completed it the moment he arrived in the Septiz country. After he finished picking a quest, he went out to restocked the mana potion in the carriage. In the next morning, they departed out at six o''clock. The people from Lanny corp didn''t have a problem with this. After two days of traveling, the group finally arrived in the Forest of Eternal Light. The same thing happened in these two days. They fought monsters and bandits on their way. Souta already earned enough skill points to promote his class to battlemage class but he stopped himself from doing so. He didn''t have a lot of free time in the Septic country so he decided to postpone his promotion until they reached their destination. ''This is still the same as the game.'' Souta thought while looking at his surroundings. Towering forty to fifty meters trees were all over the whole place. The sun rays couldn''t even reach the ground as it was blocked by the thick and dense leaves of the trees. Different types of plants were growing on moist soil. Some were harmful and some weren''t. Various sounds were echoing in the whole area and the reason for this was the small monsters. Sometimes, a roar could be heard from the area. "This is my first time coming to this place," Jagret muttered while looking around in wonder. "So pretty..." Charise exclaimed with stars in her eyes. She had shoulder-length chestnut-colored hair. She was wearing a black tight shirt and on top of it was a glossy black leather armor. In her lower body, she was wearing simple black shorts and knee-length boots. Two daggers were hanging on the side of her waist and she had a black tail sticking out from behind. This was still a beautiful place if one was to ignore the danger of this place. ''I just hope that we don''t encounter trouble.'' Souta thought as he squinted his eyes. He took out a map of this place from his bag. He opened it and swept his eyes across the map. He commanded the one who''s driving this carriage. He told the shortcuts towards the Eternal Empire. Of course, he picked the safest route. "Captain, did you come in this place before?" Jagret asked Souta when he saw him telling the driver the paths towards the Eternal Empire. Just from listening to Souta''s words, he felt that Souta lived in this place for a year or two to know this place that well. "Nope, I just did some research about this place for a while," Souta replied to him. He turned his head and looked at his comrades. All of them have the same thoughts about Souta. They didn''t understand how Souta knew this place like the back of his hands if this was his first time in this place. They didn''t know that Souta came to this place many times in the game to finish his quest. At that time in the game, this place was very chaotic. The monster lords were active and they helped in fighting back the demons army. That''s the same when the bringers of calamity were rampaging throughout the continent. They continued their journey as they followed Souta''s instructions. Even though it was the safest route that Souta knew, the group still faced monsters. Yes, they only faced monsters. They didn''t encounter any bandits in the Forest of Eternal Light. Well, it''s understandable as this place was full of powerful monsters. First, second, third, and fourth evolution monsters were walking around this place. If the bandits encountered third or fourth evolution monster then there''s no doubt that they will die, except if they have the strength of a B-rank or A-rank. Fifth evolution monsters were very rare. If the bandits were lucky enough they would encounter this level of monster. Even A-rank wasn''t enough to fight a fifth evolution monster. An A-rank would only be served as cannon fodder against it. ''Ah, I should''ve given Lumilia a transmission talisman so that I could communicate with her easily.'' Souta thought as he recalled that Lumilia and the rest didn''t know the shortcut towards the Eternal Empire. He decided to give her the transmission talisman in the Eternal Empire. After traveling for two days, the group finally arrived at the famed Eternal Empire, the country of elves. The Eternal Empire was smaller than Hebrei Kingdom but unlike Hebrei Kingdom who''s cities were far from each other, the Eternal Empire was one huge city that houses more than five million people. Souta''s group entered the huge gate after they waited for a while. All the guards were elves. The Eternal Empire didn''t employ other races. They wouldn''t leave the task to protect their country from other races. That''s why all the guards and army were elves, unlike the Hebrei Kingdom that will welcome anyone as long as they have talent. Normally, it would take seven to eight days to travel to the Eternal Empire from the Hebrei Kingdom. That''s if they used a normal Lion Horse but the carriage Souta was in was different. It was using a different and faster monster than a normal carriage. The monster that they were using was the Hyper Silver Jaguar. It could easily run at the speed of 600-800 mph. Its top speed could reach 900 mph and the fastest recorded Hyper Silver Jaguar run 957 mph. Of course, the Hyper Silver Jaguar wouldn''t reach that speed while pulling a heavy carriage. That''s why it could only run for 500 mph while carrying a heavy carriage. Also counting the bumpy road, they wouldn''t be able to drove that fast even though the Hyper Silver Jaguar could pull the carriage at the speed of 500 mph. It also needed to rest for thirty minutes every three hours of nonstop run. Then, it needed to sleep for seven hours at night. "We''re finally here! I''m tired and I wanted to rest! Captain, what''s your plan?" Ginvi said with a tired expression as he glanced at Souta. "This place is amazing..." Charise muttered while looking at her surrounding. Treehouses were all over the place. She could see many beautiful structures that she couldn''t find in the Hebrei Kingdom. At the center of the empire was a huge two hundred meters tall tree. It was an ancient tree and the elves treated it as a sacred object. It''s branches covered a part of the empire. Below the ancient tree was a castle where the royal family lives. "Yeah, you couldn''t find this many people at once in Hebrei Kingdom," Evren said to Charise. He''s an elf so he was proud that his comrades find this place amazing. Despite being an elf, it was still his first time coming to Eternal Empire. Some people said that this place was a haven for an elf like him so he was looking forward to seeing this place with his own eyes. "We''ll find an inn first. I''ll introduce all of you later to my party members after they arrived here." Souta replied to him while looking around. This place was full of different people. "What about the quest?" Jagret asked. "I''ll submit it to the Adventurers Guild later," Souta answered his question. The group went out and find an inn. They rented four rooms. One for the three girls and one for the three boys. The two remaining rooms were reserved for the members of the Dark Oculus. After that, Souta went to the nearest Adventurers Guild. He didn''t bring the members of the Lanny corp with him. He was here to submit the quest and meet his party members. This place has dozens of Adventurers Guild branch. One branch couldn''t handle all the adventurers in the Eternal Empire. That''s the reason why there''s a lot of guild building in this place. The Eternal Empire was divided into five districts. The east, west, north, south, and central district. Each district has someone to manage it with the exception of the central district. These people were called district leaders. They were the ones that the emperor assigned to handle the affairs of their respective district. Souta arrived in the nearest Adventurers Guild. He knew that Lumilia and the rest will come here after they finished their quest. Based on the path that they were taking, they will enter the Eternal Empire at the same gate that Souta used. He submitted the quest to the receptionist and he received the rewards from the guild and the system for completing the quest. After that, he exited the guild and waited for his party members outside the guild with Yuko. Souta was sitting outside the guild with Yuko''s head resting on his lap with his eyes closed. He was checking the system while waiting for the members of Dark Oculus. His skill points were enough for him to promote his class. He advanced it later at night after he finished the things that he needed to do. ''Another power boost.'' This maybe the reason why Souta could wait for Lumilia and the rest without getting bored at all. Some of the people looked at Souta and Yuko. They just looked at him and didn''t bother him. A tamer wasn''t unusual in the Eternal Empire after all Ambrosie country was just in the north of the Forest of Eternal Light. Ambrosie was a country of tamers. After waiting for a few dozen minutes, Souta heard someone called his name. "Brother Souta! Yuko!" Souta slowly opened his eyes and looked over. He saw Cluster running towards him while waving her small hands. Behind her were the members of Dark Oculus. "Eh!?" He saw someone familiar with him beside Bryan and Lumilia. That person was an elf and she was a girl. Her height was the same as Souta. The elf girl has long blonde hair and bangs that covered a part of her forehead. She was wearing a tight green outfit that featured the curves of her body. On her back was a bow with an ordinary appearance. Following the elf girl was another elf that looked like a middle-aged man. His presence was weak and he was wearing a butler outfit. ''How did she appear her with them!?'' Souta wanted to shout this question. He could only look at them with a blank expression while trying to hide his shock. He was familiar with this elf girl when he was still playing the Battle Worlds Online. 220 This will be a tough week Did they know the elf girl''s identity? Souta looked at Lumilia''s face and understood that she didn''t know the elf girl''s identity. If Lumilia knew it then she wouldn''t be able to smile like that. It''s possible if it was Bryan as he was an idiot but for Lumilia... She would mind it. The elf girl was the daughter of the emperor of the Eternal Empire, princess Aleaphine Zarkanan. Aleaphine, in short Alea, was the famed fake boob princess back in the game. The players called her fake boob princess for one reason. That big boobs that Souta was seeing at this moment were certainly fake ones. Alea roamed around the continent searching for a way to make her boobs bigger. She doesn''t want to wear that fake boobs anymore. She was frustrated and desperate. One time, she arrived in the Mechanic Country. She found Souta a commander at that time. She asked him if there''s a technology that could enhance the size of her breast. Souta furrowed his brows and pinched the bridge of his nose. He doesn''t want to remember that part of his life. This elf girl was also speaking strangely that made the other people left her. He could even remember the time when she gave him a quest to find a technology to enhance her breast. Of course, Souta failed it as he didn''t find a way. Well, if she let someone experiment with her body then he was sure that some genius would be able to accomplish what she wants. Although this elf girl was weird, Souta couldn''t deny her strength. Princess Alea will become a huge force of the Eternal Empire in the future when war broke out in the whole continent. How did this happen? was the question in Souta''s mind. He patted Yuko before he stood up. "Brother Souta!" Cluster jumped and she opened her arms. Souta hugged her before he placed her on the ground to play with Yuko. All this time, he was observing the movements of his party members and this fake boob princess. He opened his mouth after a while. "Lumilia... Who''s that?" He asked while glancing at Alea. He asked this question to avoid suspicion. This was the first time he met her so he shouldn''t know her identity. Even the citizen of the Eternal Empire didn''t know the appearance of princess Alea so how could he, a person from another country, knew the appearance of the princess. Every time princess Alea showed herself in the public, she always wore a veil. She also didn''t use the paddings in her breast. So anyone would be having a hard time to guess that she was princess Alea. Before Lumilia could answer Souta''s question, Alea strode forward and looked at Souta from head to toe. ''Damn, I don''t want to talk to this person.'' Souta grumbled inwardly. He still asked her, "Who are you?" "I, Alea, the Princess of the Twilight Blood Moon, descend upon this land from the castle of the Blood Moon. As you are the leader of the Dark Oculus, I shall permit you to call me Princess Alea." Alea said while striking a strange pose. Souta looked at her with a blank expression on his face. After a while, he sighed and said, "Fine, I''ll call you Alea." "Ehhh! You... Ahem! Fine, I, Princess of the Twilight Blood Moon, permit you to call me by my name. Now, tell me your name and I will remember it." At first, she was shocked when Souta directly called her name but she quickly regained her posture. As expected of the Princess Aleaphine of the Eternal Empire. "Hmm... I''m Souta Ieshi the leader of the Dark Oculus. Also, a student of the Ladro Institute from the Hebrei Kingdom." Souta decided to tell her his name as it wouldn''t harm him. In fact, it would be good for him if he could establish a connection with the famed princess. "Hmph! Be grateful. I shall remember your name leader of the dark army of the Oculus." Alea said to him. "Thanks." Souta knew her personality so he thanked her to avoid any problem even though there''s a lot of problem in her words. Dark army? Oculus? His group should be Dark Oculus so why did it change when she mentioned it. "Oho~ it seems that you understand the greatness of I, the Princess of the Twilight Blood Moon." Alea laughed lightly as she was satisfied at Souta''s reply. "Oh, merciful and great Alea. This humble one is thankful that he met the Princess of the Twilight Blood Moon." Souta said. "Oho~" Lumilia, Yujin, Brando, and Alice were shocked when they saw this scene. Even the elf butler that was following Alea was shocked that Souta could humor the princess. Souta just ignored the "Twilight Blood Moon Princess" and "Castle of Twilight Blood Moon" words. They racked their brains but no matter how much they think about it, no Castle of Twilight Blood Moon that could be found on this continent. At first, they thought that it was just a small country but the butler said that they don''t need to mind Alea''s words. They don''t know that Alea was a real princess just like what she says. The Castle of Twilight Blood Moon that Alea mentioned was the Imperial Palace of the Eternal Empire. But there''s one person who believed everything that Alea says. His name was Bryan Dagruel. He was the one who''s listening to Alea''s words and believe everything like an innocent young boy. Well, everyone expected it so they didn''t care about explaining it to him. Souta learned from Alea that they met Lumilia and the rest outside the Eternal Empire. Lumilia and co. were heading towards the Eternal Empire when they met a bunch of second evolution monster. They could easily handle the strength of a second evolution monster but the monsters have an enormous advantage in terms of numbers. Luckily, Alea and the butler were closed to them. They help Lumilia''s group in pushing back the group of monsters. Thanks to them, they safely arrived in this place. Knowing that they help Lumilia''s group, Souta once again thanked Alea. Then, they went to the Adventurers Guild and submit the completion form of their quest. Souta received the rewards from the system. He was satisfied with the result of their journey towards the Eternal Empire. They also got to establish a foundation in their relationship with the princess of this empire. "We will meet again if fate permitted it," Alea said to them before she turned around and left. The butler bowed towards them before he followed Alea. Souta just looked at their back without saying anything. He knew that this princess always wandered around the empire under that name. She was always composed when she showed herself to the public as a princess but as an adventurer she was different. That''s her real personality. The princess that everyone knew was just a facade that she created to pleased every citizen of this empire. In truth, she was a willful princess. And she loved adventures the most. "Let''s go..." Souta shook his head and he turned around. They went back to the inn and he introduced everyone to the people of Lanny corp. Lumilia, the acting leader of Souta''s group, slowly introduced every to the Lanny group. Jagret too introduced themselves. They carefully held Ginvi to avoid confronting Souta''s party members while Souta''s group was trying to shut Bryan''s mouth for the same reason. All of them didn''t want trouble to occur. It''s also a sign of respect for their leader, Souta. No problem occurred so Souta proceeds to take out a huge map of the Eternal Empire. He placed the map on top of the table. "Everyone, I''ll tell you my plan," Souta said as he swept his eyes across the people in the room. They nodded at him and gathered around the table to look at the huge map. Souta draw small circles in some part of the map. He slowly opened his mouth and explained to them what did this mean, "These small circles are the low-level dungeons. As you can see, there''s a lot of dungeons around the Eternal Empire. We will clean them first. The Dark Oculus will move without me and that''s the same for the Lanny group. We''ll divide ourselves into three groups so we could clear the dungeon faster. I''ll move alone so don''t be lazy. If I know that I clear more dungeons than you guys, then I''ll show you something that you don''t want to see." This was Souta''s plan. He wanted to clear all the low-level dungeons as fast as possible so that he could get those skill points from the system. He wanted to take the available skill points first before he went to the dungeon where the [Soul Blood Earring] resides. That dungeon, the Dark Light of Eternal, was a high-level dungeon where a third evolution monster lived. He at least wanted to raise their chances in defeating the third evolution monster. "This will be a tough week," Souta said as he looked at the map with a frown on his face. 221 Planning "So, our group are going to clear low-level dungeons?" Ginvi stated as he glanced at Souta with a frown on his face. "Yes, after we clear all low-level dungeons we will clear the mid-level dungeons." Souta nodded and explained. "Sou-captain, based on your words... after we clear the mid-level dungeons, we will clear high-level dungeons next," Lumilia said as she understood what Souta was trying to do. "Yes, we still need to go back to the Ladro Institute so we will clear the dungeons as fast as possible." Souta nodded and didn''t deny the fact that they had to clear the high-level dungeon. Everyone was stunned when Souta acknowledge the fact that they had to clear a high-level dungeon. They knew the danger of the high-level dungeons. A third evolution monster was living in a high-level dungeon. A high-level dungeon had different danger levels. Yellow danger level was a high-level dungeon that houses at least 1 third evolution monster. This was the least dangerous out of all high-level dungeons in the world. Next was the orange danger level. This dungeon houses 3 to 5 third evolution monsters. To clear this dungeon, people need at least five parties consisting of B-rank adventurers. The third danger level of high-level dungeons was the red danger level. It was one of the most dangerous dungeons that low-rank adventurers knew. This level of dungeons houses at least 10 third evolution dungeons. There were some cases that this level of dungeons houses 15 third evolution monster. In this case, people need 2-3 A-rank adventurers to clear this dungeon. If they don''t want any casualties then they had to form a group of A-rank adventurers. The information above the level of red danger dungeon wasn''t accessible to C-rank adventurers. The information about the fourth evolution monster would terrify the masses so the countries hid this information. The dungeon of Eternal Light was just an orange danger level dungeon. Souta knew that even with the combined power of Dark Oculus and Lanny corp, they wouldn''t be able to clear it. He was just going to the secret room and get the other [Soul Blood Earring]. Once he got the [Soul Blood Earring], then this expedition would be completed. He would gain the power to go toe to toe with a third evolution monster if he combined the power of a universal grade equipment [Soul Blood Earring] and the class Battle Mage. With this, he doesn''t need to rely on the monster potion. "You''re insane captain, do you think we have the power to clear a high-level dungeon?" Ginvi said while sweeping his eyes to everyone in the room. He didn''t think that they could clear a high-level dungeon with a group of C-rank adventurers. Souta wasn''t exaggerating it. All of these were a matter of fact. None of these were lies. Even the battle in the Gripen city was much more dangerous than a high-level dungeon. Gregory, the head of the Vidrato family, could easily kill a normal third evolution monster with just his base strength. If Gregory equipped his high-grade armor and weapons, then Souta wouldn''t be able to win that battle. The latest incident was in the Ibish village. The danger of that incident was extremely high. "Just follow my orders and don''t ask anything," Souta said to them confidently. He was sure that if nothing goes wrong then they would be able to complete it without any problems. He then proceeded to explain the rest of his plan to the people in this room. Souta asked them if they were confident in their strength and they answered him that they were good. So he divided the Dark Oculus into two and that''s the same for the Lanny group. It was to increase the efficiency in clearing low-level dungeons. All of them have the power of C-rank so Souta was confident that they could clear low-level dungeons. In fact, he even want them to soloed low-level dungeons alone but he stopped himself from doing so. It was to avoid accidents. They would only group together when they were clearing mid-level dungeons. And once they were going to the high-level dungeon, they would move as one. Ginvi looked at the members of Dark Oculus with doubt on his face. Some of the members of Dark Oculus were low-rank so it''s only natural that he doubted their strength. He raised his hand and brushed his green mohawk hair. He was about to say something when Jagret patted him on his shoulder. "Don''t, we don''t need to trouble ourselves. Also, they will become our comrades when we go to the high-level dungeon." Jagret said while shaking his head. Ginvi looked at the rest of Lanny group and saw that they agreed to Jagret. He turned around and clicked his tongue. "Tsk!" "Wait, I need you to do something," Souta said to the Lanny group. Jagret turned to Souta with a confused expression. He thought that their meeting was complete and they could go back to their room. "Register yourselves in the Adventurers Guild as part of Dark Oculus group. I needed you to do that first." Souta said to Jagret. He then saw everyone''s confused expression. It seems that they couldn''t understand why they needed to join his party when all of them were a member of Lanny corp. "It''s better that way. You''re my subordinate so you have to join the Dark Oculus." Souta simply said these words to them. He wanted them to join the Dark Oculus so that he could earn skill points and free attribute points when they completed a quest and cleared dungeons. All of this arrangement was to maximize the benefit that he will receive from his party, the Dark Oculus. He will receive the rewards from the system each time his subordinates completed a quest. He already had a plan to expand the Dark Oculus group. He wanted to get as many skill points as possible before he evolved into a third evolution monster. If he was a human or demi, Souta could continue like this but he was a monster. Is there a country here in Giza continent that could tolerate a monster forming a large group in their territory? The answer was obviously no. If it''s on the other continent then it''s possible. The other continents have different cultures. Some powerful monsters were treated as gods and some were treated as demons. Well, it all depends on the culture and history. With Souta saying those words, the Lanny corp couldn''t reject his proposal. They don''t have a choice but to join Dark Oculus. He dismissed everyone and they went back to their rooms except for Lumilia and Cluster. Souta had something to give to Lumilia. Lumilia casted a long side glance at Souta before she asked, "Will it work?" "Hmm... You mean my plan?" Souta turned his head to her. Lumilia nodded at him and she looked at Cluster who was looking outside through the window. "Cluster will stay here. She doesn''t need to go with us in clearing dungeons." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "If everything works out then we would reap a lot of benefits in this expedition. We could increase our strength vastly through the things that we will get in the dungeons." Lumilia nodded her head when she heard that it could increase her strength. She wanted to increase her strength badly as she wanted to fight beside Souta. It was her goal in getting stronger. She wanted to help the one who helped her. They would get a lot of things in dungeons be it skill books, money, or equipment. Sometimes they could get rare materials or mana fruits. Souta put his hand in his pocket and took out a piece of yellow paper. "Here, take it." He said while stretching out his hand towards Lumilia. Lumilia received the yellow paper and looked at it. "Transmission talisman?" "Yes, it''s a transmission talisman. It would be troublesome if I couldn''t contact you." Souta said as he lay down on the bed. Just like what happened before, he couldn''t tell them the shortcut towards the Eternal Empire. Luckily, they met princess Alea or else they would fail the quest. He just looked at the ceiling. After a few minutes, he turned his head as he didn''t hear any words from Lumilia. He saw that she was looking at the talisman in daze. "Oi! What''s wrong, Lumilia?" His voice snapped out Lumilia in her thoughts. "Huh?" She looked around and saw Souta and Cluster. "Is there something wrong?" Souta asked her as he slightly tilted his head. He doesn''t know what''s in her mind. Lumilia lowered her head a tinge of redness appeared in her cheeks. She grabbed Cluster''s wrist and hurriedly left the room. "Let''s go, Cluster!" "W-Wait!" Souta just looked at their backs with a dumbfounded expression. He didn''t understand what happened for her to leave like that. He smiled after a while and shook his head. He checked his system and thought that it was the right time to promote his class. 222 Rank 1 Battle Mage He still had 2 skill-level up cards in his system. He will use it to promote his next class to rank 2. Souta looked at his spells with a serious expression. He will use the [Gravitational Ball] spell to promote his class. Without further ado, Souta used his skill points to level up the spell. [Gravitational Ball] level 4 \u003e 10 He then heard a familiar sound in his mind. He looked over and saw several messages in the interface. *Ding!* [You''ve fulfilled the requirement to promote to a higher tier class!] [You''ve opened up four classes!] [Battle Mage] [Elite Mage] [Sorcerer] [Wizard Knight] Souta saw four different class above the mage in the interface. He didn''t need to think twice as he chooses the Battle Mage class without hesitation. He was familiar with this class the most so he chose this without a second thought. He didn''t need to risk himself in choosing another class that was unknown to him. It was not entirely unknown to him but their fighting style was incompatible with him. He didn''t think that he would do well if he chose a class other than the Battle Mage. He doesn''t want to train himself just to grasp the fighting style of the other class. It would waste his time. [Do you want to promote your class to a higher class Battle Mage? Yes/No?] ''Yes.'' Souta quickly answered in his mind. After he answered the question, he heard several system prompts in his head. At the same time, warm energy from an unknown source rejuvenates his entire body. The energy seeped into every fiber of his muscles. *Ding!* [You''ve successfully promoted your class to Battle Mage!] [Intelligence attribute has increased by 100!] [Strength, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality attributes have increased by 50!] [Mana pool has increased by 300!] [Health has increased by 100!] [Stamina has increased by 50!] [Energy resistance has increased by 100%!] [Physical resistance has increased by 100%] [Mana recovery has increased by 40!] [Health recovery has increased by 10!] [Stamina recovery has increased by 10!] [Spell power has increased by 100%] *Ding!* [All level 10 tier 1 spells have the power of a level 1 tier 2 spell!] [All level 10 tier 2 spells have the power of a level 1 tier 3 spell!] [All Weapon Mastery levels have increased by 1!] *Ding!* [Your health has reached the first threshold!] [Your health recovery has increased by 20!] [You can regenerate a missing limb in the future if you reach a certain threshold!] *Ding!* [You''ve gained the skill Weapon Caster!] [Your spell power will increase by 10% if you''re holding a weapon while casting a spell!] Souta read the messages in the interface one by one. This was the reason why Souta wanted to promote his class to Battle Mage. The increase in level to his [Weapon Mastery] skill was great. This alone boosted battle power to a higher level. This class wouldn''t be called a Battle Mage if one didn''t know how to handle a certain weapon. The other classes that focused on the spell power didn''t have this kind of benefit. But the increase in their mana, intelligence attribute, and spell power was larger than Battle Mage. Wizard Knight class was the same as Battle Mage but it was focused on close combat. The stats increased in other stats other than intelligence were than Battle Mage but the increase in mana was lower than Battle Mage. One could say that the Battle Mage was a balanced class. Moving to energy resistance, this is much better than magic resistance that he received when he raised his rank as a mage. The magic resistance could only resist spells made of mana so it couldn''t resist other types of energy but energy resistance was different, it could resist mana and other types of energy just like the best feram of the monsters. In other words, Souta could probably endure the pressure of the best feram of a third evolution monster. Promoting his class to Battle Mage also increased his physical resistance. This is one of the things that he didn''t receive when he was promoting his rank as a Mage. A Battle Mage was required to fight close-quarter combats in some cases so they have at least physical resistance in their bodies. Moving to the large increase in his spell power. Looking at this point, Souta could call himself a tier 3 magician as his level 10 [Gravitational Ball] could rival those tier 3 spells. This was a good start for him. The power of this spell was undoubtedly powerful. He could control the gravity around him to a certain degree using this spell. It can be used as a support or offense. It could do a lot of things. That''s why Souta used it to promote his class to Battle Mage. Then, the [Weapon Caster] skill that he received. Every mid-level class has unique skills like this one. In the case of Battle Mage, [Weapon Caster] was its unique skill. Souta wouldn''t be able to level up this skill using skill points. This skill was entirely different from other skills that he had. [Weapon Caster] would grow powerful as long as he promoted his class to a higher rank. That''s the only way to level up this skill. Souta checked his stats and used his free attribute points to make the end of his attributes into 5 and 0. The next is... *Ding!* [Please choose your specialty!] [Darkness] [Water] [Wind] [Fire] [Earth] [Light] [Lightning] [Ice] "Huff..." Souta chose [Darkness] without hesitation. He didn''t need to think twice to pick [Darkness] once again. He was sure that if he picked another specialty then his affinity would increase. He would become a double affinity like some of his classmates. The problem was Souta didn''t have any idea what will happen if he chose another element so just like in the game he chose the [Darkness]. Plus, there''s an advantage if he chose [Darkness]. He would receive benefits as he chose two [Darkness] as his specialty. *Ding!* [You''ve gained innate physique - Shadow Body!] [You can now easily learn shadow type combat arts!] Just like in the game, he received [Shadow Body] after he chose [Darkness] as his second affinity. This innate physique was highly compatible with his current class. Szzz! Souta knitted his brows as he felt something changing in his body. He couldn''t explain the feeling but it was unpleasant. It took a few minutes before the unpleasant feeling disappeared. After that, a system prompt once again rang in his head. *Ding!* [The Skill Tree of the Battle Mage and Mage have fused into one skill tree!] "Oh!" This is what Souta was waiting for. The new skill tree of the Battle Mage class. New spells and skills will be available for him to learn. His battle prowess would soar into new heights once he learned the right spell or skill for him. He opened the interface of the skill tree with an excited expression. Every gamer would be excited to see new skills that they could learn and he wasn''t an exception. Above the [Gravitational Ball] spell were three other spells. [Doppelganger] [Dark Cloud Hunting] [Shadow Dispersion] All these spells were tier 2 spells. His class was Battle Mage, a mid-level class, so it''s natural that the spells that available in the skill tree were tier 2 spells. He smiled looking at these three tier 2 spells. Above these spells were another bunch of spells but he needed to learn the spells below before he could unlock the spells above. At the side of the spells were combat arts for Battle Mage class. [Shadow Cloak] [Shadow Step] These combat arts were the same. To unlock the combat arts above, Souta needed to learn these first. Well, he used most of his skill points in leveling up [Gravitational Ball] spell so he didn''t need to think about these for a moment. It was enough for him to see the familiar skill tree. Souta took a deep breath and looked at his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Mutated Goblin Corruptor(2nd Evolution) Level: 31 Class: Rank 1 Battle Mage - Darkness Health: 1,190/1,190 Stamina: 616/615 Mana: -430/1,610 (severely damage mana pool) Strength: 555(495+60)[+] Agility: 600(400+200)[+] Dexterity: 590(390+200)[+] Intelligence: 590(530+60)[+] Vitality: 535(525+10)[+] Free attribute point(s): 75 Skill(s): Active: [Dash] Level 4, [Stab] Level 4, [Cat''s Speed] Level 3, [Air Walk] Level 2, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 3, [Pet Bestowing Skill] Level 2, [Pet Resonance] level 2, [Transfer Boost] level 2 Passive: [Weapon Mastery], [Mana Manipulation] level 4, Spell(s): Tier 1: [Fireball] Level 1, [Ice Shot] Level 1, [Light Heal] Level 1, [Agility Boost] Level 1, [Strength Boost] Level 1, [Mud Slide] Level 1, [Shadow Bind] Level 10, [Shadow Spike] Level 1, [Shadow Ball] Level 10, Tier 2: [Gravitational Ball] level 10 Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body], [Night Vision] Trait skill(s): [High Energy Resistance Body] Blessing(s): [Blessing of the Great], [1st Tier Spell Immunity] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul], [Crimson Moon], [Cross Moon], [Possession] Skill point(s): 4 Souta nodded in satisfaction while looking at his stats. He couldn''t help but recall what he experienced ever since he came into this world. "Hays..." He stood up and stretched his body. At first, he doesn''t have any feelings in this world. He just wanted to survive even if it means destroying everything but now... he felt that his feelings were changing. "Well, it''s not that bad." Souta smiled and he opened the door. He contacted Yuko through his connection and said that he''ll be back tomorrow morning. "Let''s see the elves in the red light district. I want to test the stamina recovery if it really increased." 223 Meeting Princess Alea He looked over and saw two busty blonde elves sleeping at his side. One wasn''t enough for him as he went wild yesterday night. He still recalled how did it without care about the elves. "...I got carried away." He muttered before he stood up and wore his clothes. He picked up his things and hung the vajra sword at his waist. If Saya was awake he was sure that she would complain about why he brought her in this place with him. Souta couldn''t help but revealed a smile while recalling that scene in his mind. He then placed a few coins on the table and left. He contacted Yuko and said that he was on his way towards the inn. ... Souta was stretching his body while walking towards the inn. He got stronger after he promotes his class yesterday but he couldn''t bring out the full power of the Battle Mage class as he couldn''t use any mana. This lowered his battle prowess to a certain degree. He couldn''t even coat his fist or body with mana to strengthen himself. "I wonder if I could get my hands on the spring of life there," Souta muttered as he turned his head in the direction of the huge castle at the center of the empire. If he could get his hands on that famed spring of life then he was sure that it would regenerate his damaged mana pool. Souta knitted his brows and rubbed his chin. He was pondering if he should contact princess Alea or not. Maybe, he should trigger those large-scale quests and completed it to raised his favorability towards the Eternal Empire. The problem was that he couldn''t easily complete those quests. Even if he triggered it, it would take a month or two before he could raise the favorability of the royal family to the point that they could reward him a drop of spring of life. No, no, his strength wasn''t enough to complete those quests. He would easily die at the hand of those high-rank criminals in the Eternal Empire. He should be content with the mana potions. Suddenly, a voice sounded behind him. "I see... So you want to get the famed spring of life in your grasp, great leader of the dark force." Souta turned his head and saw princess Alea with her butler. He nodded his head at her as he didn''t deny that he wanted the spring of life. "Even though you''re the great leader of the dark force, I, Princess Alea of the Twilight Blood Moon, didn''t think that you could acquire such precious things. At the very least, you needed great achievements or impressed me before you could get the precious spring of life." Princess Alea said to him in a strange tone. Souta listened to Alea''s words but he felt the butler''s gazed on his body. He felt a chill run down on his spine. He suppressed himself to look at the butler. The Spring of life was the spring at the roots of the ancient tree at the center of the Eternal Empire. It was very potent and natural healing water. It could even regenerate missing limbs and enhanced their fighting strength. It could also cure poison and curses. In terms of effectiveness, it could rival the high-grade holy water of the True God''s Holy Kingdom in curing poison and curse. So it was natural to feel wary of Souta when he knew that Souta wanted to get the spring of life. "It''s just a whim. I don''t think I could get the spring of life with my condition." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Hehe, just like the saying know your limits... The spring of life is too much for a person of your status." Princess Alea said. It sounded arrogant but Souta knew that she was right. He doesn''t have status and power so he couldn''t get the spring of life. If he had the power then there''s a chance that the royal emperor would give it to him just to curry his favor. There''s another method to get the spring of life but the risk was much higher than sneaking inside the royal palace of the Eternal Empire. "I know." Souta opened his arms with a helpless expression. If he was strong then he wouldn''t care about the spring of life. For weak creatures spring of life was valuable but for the strong creatures, it was the same as normal water. They wouldn''t feel anything upon drinking it. "Oh, great leader of the dark force may this princess ask a question?" Princess Alea looked at Souta. "Tell me." Souta slightly knitted his eyebrows as he looked at Alea in the eyes. "Tell me, why do you want the spring of life?" Princess Alea said to him with her princess facade. She emitted the aura of nobility, a true princess. ''It seems that she''s also wary of me after I mention the spring of life.'' Souta thought while looking at Alea. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why do you want to know?" "You don''t need to know the reason. So will you answer my question or not Souta?" Princess Alea replied to him. Her usual tone changed and she directly called him in his name. The aura of a princess was overflowing. It feels like she was a different person. ''This is the princess that everyone knew.'' Souta looked around as he felt the space around him closed. He glanced at the butler and saw him isolated this place using his mana. This butler had the power of an A-rank adventurer. He was powerful considering that he was just a mere butler but what could he expect from the Eternal Empire. The Eternal Empire was a powerful country that could rival Hebrei Kingdom. Even the butler and maid from the royal palace of Hebrei Kingdom had the power of a B-rank and A-rank adventurer. It''s not surprising at all. The butler closed the space so that they could avoid eavesdropping. It was to prevent information leaks. Souta sighed after a while. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said, "I want the spring of life to recover my mana pool. You can check my condition if don''t believe me." There''s no point in lying so Souta said the truth to the two. Princess Alea glanced at her butler and the butler stepped forward in response. "Please forgive my rudeness." The butler said before he placed his palm on Souta''s stomach. He poured his mana while closing his eyes only opening it after a few seconds. "Princess, it''s true. His mana pool is severely damage. There''s not a single speck of mana inside his body. The least he could do is to control the mana in the air." The butler said before he stepped back. He wondered what Souta did to caused his mana pool to become like that. Before they could ask what happened Souta already opened his mouth, "I drank the monster potion and it damaged my mana pool in return." Princess Alea and the butler were stunned when they heard his words. In this era, only a few people would dare to drink the monster potion. They believe his words as they knew that drinking a monster potion could damage a person''s mana pool. It was the effect of borrowing the energy of the monster. "How about you come with me? I''m sure that Lumilia and the rest will be glad to meet you." Souta said as he changed the topic. "Hmhm... Great leader, I, Princess of the Twilight Blood Moon, will gladly accept your proposal." Princess Alea turned back to normal. The oppressive feeling around her also disappeared. Princess Alea could rival those B-rank adventurers while her butler rivaled the famed A-rank adventurers. These two alone could defeat the group that he brought into this empire including him. Souta could fight Princess Alea if he could use his mana sadly his mana pool was damage. He had the power of a weak B-rank after he advanced his class to Battle Mage. He still could fight veteran B-rank like the Guildmaster that helped them in fighting Deadly Sins or the Guildmaster of the Fersch Dukedom branch. Souta and Princess Alea arrived and they saw that Bryan and the rest were outside the inn. They already wore their equipments. "Oh? Souta and the princess!" Bryan exclaimed when they saw him and Alea walking side by side. Lumilia and Lynn looked at Alea who was walking at Souta''s side. Yujin looked at Souta and sighed, "I think another trouble will come. I shouldn''t join this party." Alice who was at the side saw the look of the two. Her mouth unconsciously curve upward. She didn''t know that she slowly lowering her guard against her comrades. She was getting closer to them without her noticing it. 224 At least, S-rank Princess Alea was surprised when she heard that Souta''s comrades didn''t know that his mana pool was damage. She nodded her head at him and replied that she wouldn''t tell anyone about it. "I sense another trouble. If this help increased my strength then why not." Yujin sighed as his shoulders drop. He felt that this group was prone to trouble. It was fine if they were not the ones to start it or they didn''t do any bad things. As long as they were right he wouldn''t mind fighting other people. He would even use his spirit power to defeat such person. Alice glanced at Lumilia and Lynn and she saw their look. ''They got jealous.'' She thought as her mouth curved upward. "Where''s Jagret and others?" Souta approached them and asked. "They are still in their room preparing to head out," Lumilia answered him while glancing at Alea. "Okay, I''ll go and say something to them before they leave," Souta said as he patted her shoulder and went inside the inn. Since they knew Alea, Souta didn''t have a problem leaving her in his comrades. They could strengthen their bonds with just a simple talk. Souta went upstairs and enter the room that Jagret rented. He saw Jagret, Ginvi, Charise, Donna, Evren, and Finsi preparing themselves. They were packing up mana potions and healing potions. They turned their heads when they heard someone entered the room without knocking. They went back to their things after they saw that it was Souta. "Do you require something in your expedition?" Souta asked them. If they need something, Souta would get it for them. They would satisfy their needs just for them to clear dungeons as many as they could. "No, captain, we have everything we need in clearing the dungeons." Jagret stepped forward and replied to him with a smile on his face. "So, how will you divide this group into two?" Souta asked as he looked at everyone in the room. "I''m with Ginvi and Finsi," Jagret replied while looking at his two comrades. Ginvi was the half-elf guy with mohawk style hair. Finsi was a short guy with a thick beard. He was a dwarf. "Good composition." Souta nodded. Jagret was the damage dealer of the group while Ginvi and Finsi were the mage and tank of the group. They could fill up their weaknesses. The other group was Charise, Donna, and Evren. They didn''t have a tank in their group but they have powerful attacks. Charise was a ranger, Donna was a samurai, and Evren was a mage. They could easily kill a second evolution monster with their combination attack. "Good. I''ll go now, I hope you bring me good news." Souta said as he looked at Jagret in the eyes. "We won''t disappoint you, captain," Jagret replied to him with a serious expression. Lumilia didn''t have a time to ask Souta where he went as he already entered the inn. She puffed up her cheeks as she looked at the inn in displease. "Princess Alea, what are you doing with Souta?" Bryan asked Alea. He was the only one among them who believe that Alea was a real princess. "I''m just talking to him about the..." Alea was about to say the spring of life but she stopped as she recalled that Souta asked her to keep it a secret from his party members. "Hmph! You don''t need to know the affairs of your leader! If he wanted to tell you about it then he would speak on his own." Lumilia and Lynn narrowed their eyes when they heard her words. They grew curious about what Souta did with her. This only amplifies their curiosity. They wanted to ask but from Alea''s looks, she wouldn''t tell them about it. Lynn didn''t know that she already knew Souta''s secret. Her senses told her that Souta didn''t have a mana in his body. She thought that everyone knew this so she didn''t say anything about it. Alice sighed while looking at these two girls in their group. She glanced at Yujin and saw that Yujin was also looking at her. Yujin opened his arms with a helpless expression as if saying that they should let them be. While they were talking they heard someone called Bryan. "Bryan! Is that you!?" Lumilia and the rest turned around and saw three people approaching them. They looked at Bryan and wondered why he knew these three people. The three people walked forward and stopped in front of Bryan. They looked at him with widely opened eyes and asked, "Bryan, is that really you? This is me, Hexan, number six!" Bryan tilted his head to the side. He lifted his hand and scratched his cheeks before smiling wryly. "I''m sorry, I don''t know any of you." The man who introduced himself as Hexan was wearing a simple leather armor and pants that every adventurer wear. The other two were wearing the same thing as Hexan. Hexan was a tall man with light blue skin. He had two furry ears and a tail. His eyes were sharp and his eyebrows were thick. They were shocked when they heard that Bryan didn''t know them. "I''m Yvrin, number ten, do you remember me. You''re the one who named us." A short man with grey spiky hair stepped forward and introduced himself in front of Bryan. His arms and neck were covered in green scales. "I really don''t remember any of you," Bryan replied to them. He looks like he really didn''t know the three people in front of him. Lumilia, Brando, Lynn, Alice, and Yujin just looked at them without saying anything. The words of these three people shocked them but they managed to hold their curiosity. The three people looked at each other and they dropped their shoulders. "He didn''t remember us Hex." "Yeah, it seems that he forgot about what happened in that place, Yv." Bryan just looked at them as he didn''t know what to say to these three people. They knew him but he didn''t know them. He tried to remember their face but nothing comes to his mind. At this moment, Lumilia stepped forward and asked the three people, "Excuse me, may I know who are you to Bryan?" She decided to intervene as she saw that Bryan wasn''t lying when he said that he didn''t know these three. "Who are you?" They asked Lumilia as they didn''t answer her question. The three of them looked at her from head to toe. They just realized that Bryan was with these people. After a while, they looked at Bryan and smiled. "You''ve found your comrades Bryan. I remember when you always said that you want friends when were still a child." Hex said as he rubbed his eyes. "You don''t need to worry about us." The man who called himself number six nodded. "If you didn''t remember what happened seven years ago then it''s fine. We''re glad that you''re living a happy life." Bryan was speechless. Lumilia and the rest too were stunned. These three were acting as if Bryan knew them. The remaining one patted Bryan''s shoulder and said, "I''m number seven, you always called me brother seven in the past. I''m glad to see that you''re fine. Treasure your new found comrades." Bryan nodded at him with a dumbfounded expression. He wanted to talk to these people but he couldn''t say anything. He couldn''t open his mouth. Number seven added, "But I''ll warn you. They are still looking for you, number one. Be careful and watch out if you don''t want them to destroy your peaceful life. Once they found you, they will hunt you down and bring you back to that place. After all, you''re the greatest creation, the masterpiece. They want you." Hex smiled at everyone and bowed, "Thank you for becoming Bryan''s comrades. We will not bother you anymore." They then left after bidding farewell. Lumilia, Alice, Brando, Yujin, Alea, and the butler looked at their back. The things that they heard were hard to process. "Who are those people?" A familiar voice sounded behind them. Lumilia looked over and saw Souta. She regained her posture and replied, "They said that they knew Bryan in their childhood but Bryan didn''t remember them." "Hmm...?" Souta squinted when he heard her. He then felt someone tugged his shirt. He slightly turned his head and saw Lynn full of sweat on her forehead. She was trembling as if she saw some terrifying creature. "What''s wrong Lynn? Are you okay?" Souta quickly placed his palm on her forehead and asked her. "I-I''m fine, S-Souta..." Lynn shook her head and she slowly said while trembling, "But those people are strong... It feels I''m standing in front of three powerful monsters. It''s different. The energy in their body is different. It''s mana but there is something is else..." "Did you feel their power?" Princess Alea joined the conversation. Lynn slowly nodded her head. "Those three. This Princess and her butler could only feel the power of that man who called himself number ten. He''s at least as strong as my butler but the other two... We couldn''t feel anything out of them. There are two reasons. One is that they are normal people while the other one is that they are stronger than us. At least, S-rank level." Princess Alea said seriously while looking in the direction where the three went. 225 Thoughts "Yeah, but that doesn''t matter, he''s living a peaceful life right now. If he couldn''t remember what happened seven years ago then he also forgot his powers." Hex said with a serious expression. "That''s the reason of the accident seven years ago. Bryan''s power is enormous that could rival the gods and deities. Below gods, no one can kill him. S-rank, SS-rank, SSS-rank, and Hero-rank are nothing to his powers." Yv said in a low voice that only the three of them could hear. The two agreed at Yv''s words. They could clearly remember what happened seven years ago. The incident where Bryan lost control of his powers. Bryan was like the leader of that place. Hex, Yv, and Seven admired Bryan more than anything. At that time, Bryan gathered the force of everyone. He slowly became the leader of the people there, the numbers. He was silent and rarely talk to them except for important things. He was different from Bryan at present. Hex, Yv, Seven, and the people there grew closer as time passed by. They treated each other as family. No, they became a family and Bryan gave them a name. They trusted each one of them unconditionally. Bryan planned to break free but the people in white clothes anticipated it. That''s the start of tragedy. "God-rank...?" Hex muttered in a small voice. The power levels of the Adventurers Guild became the power levels of the Giza continent. It was widely known around the whole continent as almost every country has Adventurers Guild in them. "Let''s change the topic." Yv smiled as he felt the gloomy atmosphere. "What do you think about Bryan''s friends?" "Too weak. Just like the current state of Bryan but... that doesn''t matter as Bryan chose them as his friends. Power and status don''t matter if they really treat him as their friend." Number seven replied. "But do you really need to warn him? What if other people heard it?" Yv asked number seven. "I don''t care about that. We''re strong. My senses are not wrong. You know what I''ve gone through. I could detect if there''s a god nearby or someone is listening to us." Number seven said seriously. "What about his friends?" Yv asked while glancing at number seven. "They don''t have any idea about it. Even if they are curious about Bryan''s past they wouldn''t find anything related to him. After all, we even manage to hide under the watchful eyes of the three great countries." Number seven replied. "Seven is right. You don''t need to worry about them learning Bryan''s past. Bryan didn''t remember his past. Even if he somehow regain it, it''s up to him if he''s going to involve his friends in the tragedy that happened seven years ago." Hex said with a gloomy expression. "Don''t report Bryan to the higher-ups. Let him live in peace." "Bryan is an adventurer right now. There''s a chance that he only came here because of his quest. If he''s staying here in Eternal Empire, we would know it a long time ago." "Hays... I still can''t believe that we would meet Bryan today." "Yes, I''m shocked too. I thought that Bryan died at that incident." "No, do you think someone of his caliber going to die that easily? His power would help him in any kind of situation. Even if he looked like a C-rank adventurer, nothing could kill him under the level of God." Meaning, even if they tried to kill Bryan at this moment, they wouldn''t succeed because of Bryan''s dormant powers. "The Project Godslaying... The artificial... lord..." Hex muttered as his eyes narrowed and the aura around him turned cold. ... "What?!" Souta was surprised when he heard Alea''s words. Those three people were powerful enough to rival those of A-rank and above. S-rank was at least level 60 in the game. They were powerful enough to before a commander of a large army and Souta was level 50 at that time when he became a commander in the Mechanic country. "Are you sure?" Souta asked Princess Alea with a stern look. "Yes, my butler and I couldn''t sense their energy." Princess Alea glanced at her butler before she nodded at Souta. If Alea says so, then Souta could only believe her. She had a power of B-rank and her butler was A-rank if they couldn''t sense the power of those people then they would be only stronger than Alea or normal people. They were not normal people and Souta was sure about that. One of them was an A-rank while the other two must be stronger. They were wearing like an adventurer. They can''t become an adventurer if they were normal people without powers. Hmm...? Souta was having a hard time believing it. If he was here when those three talk to Bryan, he would be able to guess their status based on how they act. Also, Lynn said that they were strong. He trusted her senses so he was sure about it. But the problem was how powerful was the other two. S-rank? SS-rank? SSS-rank? Or maybe a Hero-rank? Souta turned to Lynn and asked, "Are you okay?" "Y-Yes..." Lynn nodded with a pale expression. "Can you tell me who''s stronger the one we fought in the Ibish village or those three?" Souta asked her while looking at her eyes with a serious expression. "I don''t know... The people in the Ibish village were releasing their power but these people are different... Their whole body was shrouded in dense magical energy and behind it... It feels like someone was looking back at me." Lynn said with trembling. It feels like she was looking at Bargan but Bargan''s energy was like a calm water. "I see... Thank you, you can rest for now." Souta nodded at her and looked at Lumilia. Lumilia quickly understood what his look meant. She went beside Lynn and help her sit down. She gave her a bottle of water. Souta rubbed his chin. Lynn couldn''t accurately sense a person''s power level if they were trying to hide it. But it was enough to estimate a person''s power level. Souta guessed that those people were stronger than the six-circle officers that they fought in the Ibish village. As expected, Bryan was hiding some huge secret. He was involved in powerful people so it must be a huge secret. If Bryan was to give him a quest, then Souta would help him without hesitation but looking at Bryan, he felt that he wouldn''t receive a quest. Hmm...? What should Souta do? "Captain!!" Jagret and his group called Souta. Souta shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. He moved his feet and approached them. They said that they were going to clear the dungeons now. They bid farewell to Souta and the rest of the Dark Oculus before they left. "I''ll go now." Princess Alea suddenly said. "Yes, thanks for accompanying me," Souta replied to her. Princess Alea then bid farewell to the rest of the Dark Oculus. She just went with Souta as she heard him that he wanted the spring of life. After confirming that he wouldn''t try anything wrong, she left with her butler. She left after leaving words such as "They will meet again if fate permits it" or "They should raise the reputation of the Dark Oculus and they would be able to stand on equal grounds". ... Souta glanced at Bryan. He was going to ask what happened later. He wanted to hear the story from his mouth, not another person. Maybe, he could get a hint if his story was related to any big event in the future. He looked at Alice, Yujin, and Brando who were silently watching the things unfold in their eyes. He decided to ask their opinions later. It''s important to know the opinions of different people so that Souta could guess what they were thinking. He also would be able to visualize what happened. Souta walked beside them and said, "Be careful when you''re clearing dungeons. The Forest of Eternal Light is different than the forest in the Ibish village." "Yeah, we''ll follow your words." Alice nodded. "Also, bring the things that you will find in the dungeons. Some of them are precious and we could sell it." Souta said to them. His words piqued Yujin''s interest. Yujin glanced at Souta and asked, "How will we divide the spoils?" "We''ll gather everything first and divide it after we finished clearing the dungeons. Also, you could hire porters in the Adventurers Guild to help you." Souta explained to him. Something came to his mind so he added, "The spoils of Lanny group is different from ours. It''s written in the contract that the things that they will find are them. Well, it''s realistic that they should own what they found so I don''t have any problem with it." "Porters?" Alice and Yujin nodded at him. 226 Mid-level Dungeon "I see... I''ll keep that in mind." Yujin nodded and went into deep thought. After a while, he looked at Souta and asked, "What if I found something that I like inside the dungeon?" "Bring it back and we''ll talk about it later," Souta said. They were part of the same group called Dark Oculus and he was the leader of this group. His words carried meaning in their group. Their policy was different even though they were moving separately. Before dividing the spoils, they will gather it first and let everyone take a look at it. If someone took an interest in some of the spoils, they could pick it but Souta will deduct what they will get after they sell all the spoils. It all depends on how precious the object. Also, the group decided that they will not sell any potions that they will find in the dungeons. Potions were important so they will not sell it just like how he stock up potions in one of the rooms in his house. They talked for a while until Lynn recovered. They checked their things and found that everything''s fine. They didn''t forget anything. They have all the basic needs in clearing the dungeons. "Alright! I guess it''s time to show how powerful I am!" Bryan said enthusiastically. He was excited to raid a dungeon and fight the monster there. "Don''t be that excited. We''re just clearing low-level dungeons today. If you want to fight a strong monster then wait until we go to mid-level dungeons." Brando said to Bryan. He too was excited to see what they will find in the dungeons. "Yujin, Alice, I''ll leave Lynn to you." Souta looked at the two and said. "Yeah, you can leave it to us," Yujin said while Alice just nodded her head. The three of them were in the second group while Lumilia, Bryan, and Brando were in the first group. They were the ones who decided on these pairings. Lumilia, Bryan, and Brando were part of Souta''s party''s first members. They already knew the fighting style of each other well so they could create a combination of attacks and defense without planning. Lynn, Alice, and Yujin were in the second group. Their cooperation was not as good as the first group but they have decent power and skills that could fill up what they lack. Besides, Souta trusted Yujin''s spirit power. He was sure that Yujin could defeat him easily with spirit power when his class was just a simple mage. It was undoubtedly that Yujin had the power of a B-rank adventurer if he utilized the power of his spirit. "Okay, I''ll go now. Don''t forget to prioritize your safety. I don''t want to bring back a corpse in the Ladros City." Souta said with a laugh. "Don''t worry Souta, we won''t die in low-level dungeons," Bryan said confidently. Alice, Lumilia, Yujin, and Lynn smiled from the side. They were assuring Souta to leave the low-level dungeons to them. "Fine..." Souta sighed and he looked at Lumilia. "About Cluster..." "I understand." Lumilia quickly said as she knew what he was going to say to her. "Good luck," Souta said as he turned around and left. Lumilia and the rest looked at his back until they couldn''t see him. ... Souta gave his ID to the guards of the gate as he wanted to leave the empire. The guards were listing everyone that enter and exit the Eternal Empire. This was one of their duty as the guards of the empire. While waiting, Souta was listening to the conversation of the elves near him. "The Founding Festival is coming soon! I can''t wait for it!" "Yeah, yeah, I''m excited!" "We would see the royal family at that time! I can''t wait to see the princess!" "Me too!" ''Founding Festival? Oh, the day that the Eternal Empire was founded. I should let Cluster celebrate the festival here. This is a rare occasion so I should let her have some fun.'' Souta thought as he smiled. Cluster was always staying in Lumilia''s house and Souta felt bad about it. She doesn''t have that much freedom luckily Bryan and Brando always visited her to play. They sometimes brought her to Souta''s house for her to play with Yuko. After waiting for a few minutes, Souta managed to exit the empire. He walked into the forest before he summoned Yuko at his side. "Mu." Yuko hugged and licked his cheeks as soon as she appeared. "Stop!" Souta patted her head to stop her from hugging him. A huge bear was hugging an evolved goblin that wasn''t even a five feet tall. "In this week, we''ll gather the needs for your evolution and mine," Souta said while looking at Yuko. He already decided what path Yuko would take in the future. He recalled the fearsome bear monster in his memory. For Souta''s evolution... He would take the path of the strongest goblin that he knew. His first evolution was the High End Goblin. His second evolution was Goblin Corruptor but he mutated. He lost the [Corruption] trait skill but he gained another trait skill. His stats also increased greatly because of his mutation. As for his third evolution... What traits would be suitable for his combat style? He preferred evolution that could increase his mage power but the shaman powers of goblin required him to chant. He doesn''t want to chant while fighting so that leaves him to close combat prowess. Goblin Executioner. A goblin who could rival the dragons. Of course, if the dragon were at monster lord level then it could easily kill the goblin executioner. Dragons were monster too so it undergoes evolution just like any other monster. The only difference was that a dragon already have a monster orb the moment it was born. Adult dragons were at the level of fifth evolution. That''s why dragons were one of the powerful monsters in the whole world. What evolution would lead him to Goblin Executioner? Hmm... Souta closed his eyes and only to open it after a while. "Okay, I''ve decided..." Souta''s mouth curved into a smile. He patted Yuko''s head and started to walk. "Let''s go, Yuko." ... Five hours had passed since Souta and Yuko departed to clear the dungeons. The two of them clear several dungeons easily. Low-level dungeons weren''t a problem to Souta and Yuko. Even Yuko could solo low-level dungeons easily. They hunted all the monsters that were living inside the dungeons and traps of the low-level dungeons couldn''t even damage Souta and Yuko. A simple arrow made of wood wouldn''t be able to pierce Souta''s defense and Yuko''s thick hide. Even the spikes on the ground didn''t have an effect on their bodies. Yuko and Souta could easily crush the rolling boulder of rock. In short, nothing could stop them in low-level dungeons. Even the monster here couldn''t do anything to them as the strongest monster here was just a first evolution monster. He could already clear the low-level dungeons when he was just a High End Goblin back in the Undead Sanctuary. Souta burrowed all the loots that he gained in the dungeons. He will take it back later. The reason why he didn''t hire a porter was that a porter could slow him down. Their speed in clearing dungeons was fast. Souta was standing in front of a dungeon with Yuko. Both of them were looking at the dungeon with a serious expression. The dungeon in front of them was a mid-level dungeon. "Huff..." Souta took a breath and said, "Yuko, let''s go." "Mu." Yuko nodded and she followed Souta. Both of them entered the mid-level dungeon. Ever since he came into this world, this was the first time that Souta entered a mid-level dungeon. He never dared to go inside the mid-level dungeons in the Undead Sanctuary as he knew that a single monster there could kill him at that time. But it was different now, his class was already a Battle Mage and he was at his second evolution. In addition, he had the cards in his arsenal. He could use it in an emergency situation. He was sure that he had the power to clear a mid-level dungeon on his own. Swoosh!! The cold wind of the dungeons blew softly and Souta felt a chilly sensation all over the place. "I only know that this is a mid-level dungeon but I don''t have any idea what type of monster inhabited this place," Souta muttered as he strode forward and Yuko followed him from behind. The path was dark but Souta didn''t have a problem with it as he had night vision. He could clearly see what''s in front of him. "Well, well, well, I''m excited to see what will I find here." 227 Shadow Cloak He strode forward while looking at his surrounding. The chilly atmosphere here was nothing compared to the atmosphere when he fought the six-circle officer of the Deadly Sins. The ferocious aura of the six-circle officers that made Lynn puke was terrifying. That kind of aura couldn''t be compared to a mere mid-level dungeon. After walking for a few minutes, Souta and Yuko saw two wide paths in front of them. He could remember the position of the dungeons and some precious things inside it but he couldn''t remember the monster that inhabited it. He didn''t have a photographic memory so he could only prepare himself to counter any kind of monster. He wondered if there were skills that could help him remember the things that he saw. "Let''s go to the left." Souta as he moved his feet and strode towards the path that he chose. The path became wider and some sort of rock formation was in the ceiling. It feels that they were inside a cave. The brick walls were gone and the floor too. Souta narrowed his eyes as he crouched down. He placed his palm on the floor and found the soil was wet. "Hmm...? Maybe some kind of monster that uses water or the monster brought water here... I still couldn''t guess it." Souta muttered in a low voice. They haven''t met a single monster ever since they enter inside this dungeon. Souta raised his palm and looked at it. His brows knitted together as he saw what''s in his palm. "Red water... No, this is blood." Souta guessed as he brought his palm close to his nose and took a sniff. He was right... The soil was full of blood. The blood wasn''t dry... Suddenly, he heard Yuko growled. "Hmm?" Souta lifted his head and saw a huge shadow ten meters away from them. The shadow was a figure of tall and bulky green creatures. It was holding a huge hammer in both of its hands. It looks fierce and it has two huge fangs. "A troll..." Souta said as he stood up and patted his clothes. He looked at the blood-red eyes of the troll and said, "Yuko, I''ll let you handle it." As soon as he said those words, Yuko who was at his side quickly rushed towards the huge troll. Roar! The troll roared and rushed forward to intercept Yuko. Swoosh! The troll raised his hand and brought down the axe in his hand towards Yuko''s neck. Clang! The axe broke into several tiny pieces as it made contact with Yuko''s neck. Yuko ignored it and opened her mouth widely. She then bit the neck of the troll while taking it down using her entire weight. Bang! Yuko easily overpowered such opponents using brute strength. The troll roared angrily as it punched Yuko and swung the other axe in his hand. Yuko pinned it down and flames started to appear in her mouth. She then opened her mouth towards the face of the troll. [Burning Shout]! Flames swallowed the body of the troll along Yuko''s body. She had high resistance to flame as her evolution was related to it. After a while, the troll stopped struggling as it drew its last breath. It died easily at Yuko''s hands. Souta nodded in satisfaction as he watched her battle. A colorless grade weapon wouldn''t be able to scratch Yuko''s body at all. It was a different matter if the troll knew how to control its mana and imbued it in the axe. "Good job." Souta walked forward and patted Yuko''s head. "Mu." Yuko closed her eyes and enjoyed his patting. "Let''s go," Souta said and both of them continued to move forward. He couldn''t use his spells. It will be hard to fight someone as strong as him if he couldn''t use it. [Shadow Ball], [Shadow Bind], and [Gravitational Ball] were useful in any kind of situation. The fact that he couldn''t use these spells was troubling him. That''s the reason why he''s hesitating to enter this dungeon. Souta stopped and looked at his skill tree. He ignored the spell branch as he couldn''t use it in his condition. He focused his attention on the two shadow type combat arts on the side of the interface. [Shadow Cloak] and [Shadow Steps] were the two combat arts that were available to him. He could unlock other combat arts if he learned these two. He saw the [Shadow Steps] combat arts in the list of arts in the Ladro Institute but he couldn''t find the [Shadow Cloak] in their list. It was not an offensive combat arts but rather it was a defensive and buff combat arts. The [Shadow Cloak] was a type of armor that could absorb 500 damage points at level 1. It could also strengthen the attributes of the user to some extent. While using this art, the power darkness attribute spell and combat arts would increase by ten percent. Souta used two skill points without hesitation to learn this combat arts. *Ding!* [Do you want to learn Shadow Cloak using 2 skill points? Yes/No?] Yes. *Ding!* [You''ve learned Shadow Cloak!] Knowledge about the [Shadow Cloak] poured into Souta''s mind. After a while, Souta felt like he could easily use this art. The system was amazing. It could pour the knowledge of a certain skill in his mind to the point that he could easily use it. It felt like he was using the [Shadow Cloak] for a long time. It was really a strange sensation. Souta shook his head and used the [Shadow Cloak]. The shadows in his surrounding swirl around his body and formed a black cloak. Black particles were falling from the cloak every second. Before it touches the ground the particles disappeared into thin air. He looked at his hands as he closed and open his palms. He felt his stats slightly increased. Well, looking at his system all of his stats have increased by 10 points. It wasn''t that large compared to his 500+ total attributes but it wasn''t that bad. The main point of this skill was its defensive properties and increased in power of darkness spell and combat arts. The black cloak disappeared as Souta canceled it. It consumed 1 stamina per 2 seconds so Souta wouldn''t activate it easily. He had 600+ stamina so he could only use it for twenty minutes. And that''s if he just stood up without doing anything. His stamina recovery wasn''t that great compared to his health and mana recovery. So he couldn''t use it without fighting strong opponents. ... Souta and Yuko continued to move forward. They met ten trolls including the one the Yuko killed before. Both of them hunted all the trolls that they met. Nothing could stop them. The trolls were getting stronger and stronger as they continue to move deep in the dungeon. At some point, Souta and Yuko stopped moving as they saw twenty armed second evolution trolls in front of them. Walls appeared behind them and it made sure that they wouldn''t escape. The killing intent of the trolls flooded the entire room. They looked at Souta and Yuko with bloodshot eyes. "It''s not a problem for us," Souta muttered as he turned his head and looked at the figure behind the huge trolls that were blocking their path. Behind the twenty trolls, a small troll holding a staff was looking at them with a grin on his fierce face. It was a troll shaman. It used its power to create a wall behind them. "Yuko, let''s finish this as soon as possible." Souta grinned as he brandished the vajra sword and dashed towards the group of trolls. Roar! Yuko followed him with a deafening roar. ... Outside of the mid-level dungeon where Souta and Yuko entered. Thud! Thud! A huge green creature stood in front of the entrance of the dungeon. The green humanoid creature was seven-meter tall. It has huge bulky and ripped muscles. Ragged cloth covered its lower body. The green humanoid creature had a dark green fist-size gem on the center of its chest. Its golden-colored pupils were looking straight in the dungeons. It feels as if it could see through what''s happening deep inside the dungeon. Its teeth were as sharp as a blade and it had pointed ears. Its long glossy black hair was braided from roots to its ends. Black tribal tattoo covered its body. This creature was a Goblin Executioner. A fifth evolution monster. A monster that could terrify countless humans and demis with one look was standing outside the mid-level dungeon. Behind the Goblin Executioner were various types of green-skinned monsters. 228 Four Arm Troll "Boss, why are we here?" One of the green-skinned creatures behind the goblin executioner asked. "I''m here to bring back a mere goblin to the lord." The Goblin Executioner said as he glanced at his subordinates behind him. He didn''t want to come here to meet a mere goblin that doesn''t even possess a monster orb but it was his lord''s order so he could quietly follow it. He wondered what his lord saw to that goblin. "Boss, do you want us to go inside and bring that goblin here?" His subordinate asked him in a polite tone. His subordinates were already at the level of fourth evolution. "No, let''s just wait here. That goblin will eventually exit this nest of trolls." The goblin executioner shook his head. He sat on the ground as he started deep in the dungeons. A third, fourth, and fifth evolution monsters were intelligent enough to converse with another monster. No, that''s the wrong words. At their level, they learned the monster language to converse with any type of monster be it orc and dark vine eater. As long as it was a monster they would be able to understand it. A monster language was different from humans and demis. The monster have their own unique language just like their best feram. It was entirely different from the language of humans and demis. Every monster naturally learned the monster language when they reached their third evolution. This was one of the reasons why third evolution monsters were called true monsters. "Boss, a group of trolls is approaching us. They asked why are we in their territory." His subordinates said to him. "Hmm...? Right? This place is Jarkal''s territory, the troll overlord." The goblin executioner muttered as he removed his eyes from the dungeon and looked in the sky. Normally, a fifth evolution monster wouldn''t leave their designated territory. But this was a special occasion. Someone ordered him to take a certain goblin. The Troll Overlord naturally noticed the existence of a fifth evolution monster in its territory. If this was low-level monsters, humans, or demis the troll overlord would ignore it. A monster at their level didn''t need to eat as their body was self-sufficient. That''s why they rarely got out of their nest and bothered other creatures. Thick and dense best feram started to leak out of the goblin executioner''s body. Veins bulge out of his arms, legs, and forehead. His whole being was full of fighting intent. "Come, Jarkal!!" ... He checked the corpse of the trolls and didn''t find any valuable things. "There''s nothing here," Souta said as he stood up and went towards the troll shaman. He crouched down and checked its body. "The staff..." He found that the staff was a blue grade weapon. It could raise the spell power of the holder by five percent. Not bad for a blue grade weapon. He could sell it later. "Oh? Two mana potions..." He also found two mid-grade mana potions in the pocket of the troll shaman''s robe. Souta drunk the two mana potions without hesitation and he saw the changes in his system. He would be able to use his mana soon and he was looking forward to that day. Souta and Yuko continued to move after Souta check the corpses of the trolls. There''s no trap in this dungeon. The second evolution trolls weren''t intelligent enough to place traps in the nest. All they knew were hunting and fighting. If there''s an intelligent troll, then Souta would know it immediately. The left path was the nest of the troll. There''s no trap here so they could live here in this place. While the other path, the right path, was a place full of traps. And that''s if Souta wasn''t wrong. There''s a chance that his conjecture wasn''t correct. Souta shrugged his shoulder and muttered, "I''ll just clear this place first before I go there." He walked forward and guessed that they were closed to the leader of the trolls. They met powerful trolls on their way and both of them annihilated all the trolls without sparing a single troll. From colorless grade equipment, the troll''s weapon was getting stronger as they continue to move forward. Yellow grade and blue grade weapons were the ones that the trolls used in the deep dungeons. Also, every troll here was at the second evolution stage. They were powerful enough to annihilate a normal party of C-rank adventurers, unfortunately, Souta and Yuko were powerful. All of them died after they faced the two-man group of a goblin and a bear. They also found some health potions and mana potions while hunting the trolls in the dungeon. Souta drunk all the mana potion that they found in this dungeon. He was eager to recover his mana pool as soon as possible for him to show the true power of a Battle Mage class. Souta and Yuko arrived in a very wide place. This was the widest space that they saw in this dungeon. The place approximately had thirty meters in diameter. At the center of the place, five trolls were standing while looking at them with bloodshot eyes. Their killing intent flooded the entire area. All of them were armed with sharp weapons. Souta ignored the four trolls as he focused his attention at the troll in the middle of the group. He narrowed his eyes while looking at that troll. The troll at the center of the group was different from the other troll. It was larger and bigger than the four trolls. It also has four arms and its sharp fangs were sticking out of its mouth. Veins were bulging out of its thick muscles. Each of its hands was holding sharp weapons like sword, axe, or spear. The Four Arm Troll. One of the rare species of trolls. "So a four-arm troll is the boss of this dungeon...?" Souta muttered as a grin formed on his face. This troll should be closer to third evolution. A level 35-39 monster was the boss of this ordinary mid-level dungeon. This species of trolls was boasted their powerful strength. "Yuko, let''s go! I''ll leave the other trolls to you!" Souta said as he bent his knees and launched himself towards the four arm troll. Swoosh! Souta arrived in front of the four arm troll and he slashed his sword horizontally. The four arm troll growled before he lifted up the sword in his hand to blocked Souta''s slash. Clang! A loud metallic sound echoed as the vajra sword and the four arm troll''s weapon collided. ''A purple grade sword...?'' Souta thought as he took a looked at the four arm troll''s sword. It seems that the four weapons in this troll''s hand were purple grade weapon. A sword in the upper left arm, a saber in the upper right arm, a spear in the lower left arm, and an axe in the lower right arm. And on that of these, all the weapons were purple grade. Swoosh!! The four arm troll pushed Souta away before thrusting the spear in his hand. [Cat''s Speed]! Souta quickly activated one of his skills before tilting his head to the side, avoiding the tip of the spear. That was close. This four arm troll was an experienced fighter. Souta twisted his body in the air and landed on the ground. He looked up and saw that the four arm troll was already in front of him. The four arm troll swung the axe in his hand towards Souta at high speed. [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! He tightly gripped the handle of the vajra sword before he swung it towards the axe of the four arm troll. Clang! He managed to parry the attack of the four arm troll. The four arm troll shifted his body weight as he moved his body. He then thrust the spear in his hand, aiming at Souta''s head. Souta already anticipated this move of the troll. After he parried the troll''s attack, he stepped out of the four arm troll''s spear range. The tip of the spear stopped closed to Souta''s nose. "Heh~" Souta grabbed it using his free hand and pulled the four arm troll towards him. He then used [Dash] to close the gap between them before he used the [Stab] skill. No matter how tough the body of the four arm troll the [Stab] will still pierce its defense. The [Stab] was already a level 4 skill and its piercing effect was high so it could easily penetrate the body of a second evolution monster. 229 Killing the Four Arm Troll Bryan jumped in the air as he raised both of his hands above his head. He gathered his mana above and a huge ball of flames formed. "Eat this!!" He roared and threw the huge ball of flames towards the group of monsters. Swoosh!! The ball of flames landed on the ground and it caused a huge explosion that burned everything within thirty feet diameters. Brando and Lumilia covered their eyes using their hands as the hot wind swept out in the surrounding area. "There''s a lot of monsters!" Brando complained as he brought down his huge shield in front of him. This shield was a purple grade weapon that he bought using the money he got from selling the carcass of the third evolution monster. "We need to hide... We couldn''t exterminate all these monsters with just the three of us." Lumilia said while looking at the countless monsters in front of them. They were clearing the low-level dungeons one by one and after they clear the last dungeon, they saw a huge group of monsters outside the dungeons. It felt like those monsters were running away from something more terrifying deep in the Forest of Eternal Light. Ordinary monsters, first evolution monsters, and second evolution monsters were present all over the place. They had enormous numbers and Lumilia thought that this was a monster tide. That''s right a monster tide but there were three levels of monster tide. The disaster level, the calamity level, and lastly the catastrophe level monster tide. The disaster level monster tide consisted of monster of level 1 - 40. The strongest monster was level 40 a monster that has just reached the third evolution stage. A monster that has a monster orb and could use the best feram. It was a disaster. That''s why they called this disaster level monster tide. But there''s no third evolution monster in this group. It means that this monster tide wasn''t a threat to any city out in the world. They could easily repel this monster tide. Lumilia felt lucky that there''s no third evolution monster or else they wouldn''t be able to last this long. "Let''s go back to the dungeon and close the entrance," Brando said as he slowly stepped back while repelling the monsters that pounced at them. "Bryan! I''m counting on your firepower! Shoot a powerful spell!" Lumilia shouted towards Bryan. A magic circle appeared on her feet and two giant serpents made of water formed above her. The serpents attack the nearest monsters. Boom! Boom! The monsters keep coming at them nonstop. There''s no use in fighting all of then. That''s what Lumilia decided. "Got it." Bryan nodded as he threw a punch at the monster in front of him. After that, he lifted his feet and kicked another monster. Bang! Bang! Lightning crackled in Bryan''s left hand while flames coated his right hand. On the other side... Alice, Yujin, and Lynn were experiencing the same thing. They were fighting countless monsters that appeared out of nowhere. They didn''t know what happened to cause such disturbance in the Forest of Eternal Light. Alice was killing monsters left and right. She couldn''t count how many monsters she slay this time. And that''s the same for Yujin. Both of them were slaying monsters like a madman to protect Lynn. Lynn was also casting all the spells that she knew. Her role wasn''t to fight the monsters but to support Alice and Yujin. "Damn! There''s no end if we keep fighting like this!" Alice said as she glanced at Yujin. "Yeah, we need to fall back and find a safe place!" Yujin nodded at her words as he slashed the monster in front of her using his sword. It was useless even if he used his spirit power. He would only waste his stamina if he did that. Even with his full power, he wouldn''t be able to annihilate all these monsters that kept coming at them. "...but where do we find a safe place here?" Lynn asked with a tired look. Her mana was decreasing at a very fast speed. She could also sense that the number of monsters here was more than one thousand. "...dungeon," Alice muttered as she thrust her spear in front of her and pierced the body of two monsters. "Yes, we should go back inside the dungeon and sealed the entrance." Yujin nodded and he used a powerful combat arts to kill the group of monsters in front of him. Their idea was the same as Lumilia''s idea. The only safe place here was inside the dungeons. Even if that dungeon has monsters inside it they didn''t have a problem with it. As long as it was a low-level dungeon then it would be a safe place for them. They could just exterminate all the monsters inside the low-level dungeons. ... Putchi! A small hole appeared at the chest of the four arm troll as the vajra sword pierced it. Souta quickly jumped backward as the axe of the four arm troll smashed right at the place where he had been. Bang! ''For the finishing touch...'' Souta said in his mind as he slashed his sword. [Crimson Moon]! A red slash flew out of his sword and hit the body of the four arm troll. Ever since he fought the troll he hasn''t used any skill so this took the troll off guard. [Crimson Moon] was an equipment skill that didn''t require mana to use it. It only required a specific amount of stats and he would consume some of his stamina. It''s the same as combat arts. While the other equipment skill of the vajra sword [Cross Moon] required mana to use it. Bang! Souta didn''t let the four arm troll regained his posture. He used [Dash] to zoom the distance between him and the four arm troll. He then slashed the vajra sword and slice the arm of the four arm troll which was holding the axe. Blood spurted out like a fountain and the arm of the four arm troll fell on the ground dying it in red color. Argh!! The four arm troll screamed in pain. It waved all the weapons in his hand but Souta anticipated it so he deflected the weapons of the troll before he slashed the neck of the four arm troll. "This is the end..." Souta muttered as he slashed his sword horizontally. A red line appeared on the body of the four arm troll. After a few moments, it spurted out a fountain of blood. A familiar sound rang in his head. He was sure that the four arm troll died and the soul in his earring also increased. "Huff..." Souta exhaled as he turned his head and saw that Yuko already finished fighting the other four trolls. It seems that Yuko could fight four second evolution monsters at the same time. She fought and eliminated four monsters alone at her level. But she took some wounds on her body. "Good job." Souta praised her as he patted her head. He could see that Yuko was exhausted from fighting monsters. It was understandable as they were clearing dungeons for five hours. [Shadow Bind] spell would be enough to handle all of these monsters. Unfortunately, he couldn''t use his mana. Souta looked around and saw a room on the other side of the area. He entered it and found troll babies. The babies were crying silently as they knew that all the adult trolls that protected them died. "Hays..." He sighed and closed the room. He would let them survive and increased the number of trolls here. It doesn''t matter to him as long as they increase their number and after they reach a certain number Souta will decrease them by killing all the adults. Oh? That''s a good idea... Well, it all depends on them if they could survive without getting killed by any monster here in this world. At least, Souta gave them his mercy by sparing them. Yuko looked at Souta with a tired expression. She wanted to rest for a whole before they continued clearing dungeons. She didn''t know that Souta planned to go back to the Eternal Empire after this. Boom! Suddenly, the whole area shook heavily. Then a heavy pressure of best feram flooded the entire dungeon. Souta and Yuko shuddered as they felt the intense pressure of best feram. Even though Souta has energy resistance, he still felt pressure by the best feram in the atmosphere. This best feram was the strongest energy he felt ever since he came into this world. He couldn''t compare it to Bargan as Bargan''s mana didn''t even fluctuate when he defeated the six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins. It means that Bargan didn''t even need to use half of his powers to defeat those people. He was simply swatting ants with his palm. The best feram in the atmosphere was thick and dense. Souta and Yuko could hardly move their body under the pressure. "Stronger than third evolution..." Souta grumbled in frustration. He was sure that the best feram was coming from a monster higher than a third evolution monster. He saw the ape in the Desolate Woods and saw the power of the dark vine stinger in the Fersch dukedom. Both of them were at the third evolution stage. Also, the dark vine stinger was a monster at the peak of third evolution. But the best feram of that monster wasn''t as strong as this one. The troll babies in the other room were already lying on the ground without a hint of consciousness. Even though they were monsters, they still wouldn''t be able to handle the pressure of the best feram that was coming from a higher existence. Just like how Souta suffered from drinking the monster potion and took the best feram when he wasn''t supposed to have it at his current level. "Damn! Just what is happening right now!? I don''t know anything about this event!" Souta gritted his teeth in anger. 230 Exiting the dungeon "Damn! Why are we so unlucky!?" Ginvi screamed as he moved his feet as fast as possible. "We need to get close to the gate," Donna said while gripping the katana on her waist. "I can see it! The gate! We''re safe!" Jagret yelled as he saw the gate of the empire ahead of them. All of them increased their pace as they dashed towards the gate of the Eternal Empire. The city guards of the empire were looking down at the numerous monsters behind them on top of the walls of the empire. Adventurers were lining up below the walls as they prepared themselves to clash with the monsters along with the city guard of the empire. When numerous monsters approached the city, the guards would send a warning to the entire city and will quickly prepare themselves to handle the monsters. The Adventurers Guild will send out a quest to help defeat the monsters to protect the city. They will receive rewards based on their contribution in fighting the monsters. Jagret, Ginvi, and the rest were just fifty meters away from the gate. The monsters behind them were fifty meters away from them. The distance was enough so the city guards casted various spells and rained it down on the monsters. Flames, water, lightning, light, etc were raining down on the place behind the Lanny group. Boom! Boom! Boom! "Damn!" Ginvi cursed as he used everything he got to run while ignoring the explosions behind him. When they were twenty meters away from the gate, the Lanny group stopped and turned around. "It''s time to get back to those monsters! We''re not at disadvantage anymore!" Ginvi laughed as he faced the monsters behind him. He gathered around mana in his hand and casted a powerful spell. Jagret, Donna, Charise, Evren, and Finsi also faced the monsters along with the adventurers from the guild. "Ah! Let''s show these monsters to never approach the empire!!" "Yeah! Let''s hunt them down!!" "Let''s see who''s going to hunt the most monster?" ... "Princess... Look at this..." Princess Alea''s butler stretched out his hand towards the princess. Princess and butler came back to the palace after they departed with Souta and the Dark Oculus. Alea who was wearing a long blue dress looked at her butler''s hand. In the butler''s hand was a newspaper. She took it and asked, "What''s in the news?" If this was not important then she would ignore it. The Eternal Empire was trying to defend its walls from the monster so she didn''t have time for useless things. "Look in the news at the back." The butler said in a polite tone. "Souta... The leader of the dark force...?" She silently read the article and found that Souta was a man who drank two monster potions to save his classmates from an evil organization. "What do you think, princess? Is the Souta on the news the same Souta that we met?" The butler asked with uncertainty in his eyes. There''s no picture of Souta in the news so he wasn''t sure if that Souta was the same. All they knew was a man named Souta drunk two monster potions and recovered faster than any people who drunk the same potion. "I think it''s the same Souta as in the news. When I was with him, I couldn''t sense a hint of mana in his body. It''s possible to completely hide it if he had great mana control but I think that isn''t the case with him." Princess Alea spoke slowly. "Do you mean..." The butler lifted his head and looked at Alea. "Yeah, he couldn''t use his mana, and I think that''s the effect of drinking two monster potions." Princess Alea said and a beautiful smile broke on her face. "If he''s really the same Souta then he''s quite lucky that losing mana is the only side effect that occurred in his body. Some people were left crippled after drinking a monster potion." Tap! Tap! A beautiful elf approached Alea hurriedly. "Princess, The emperor is calling you." "Father?" Princess Alea was a little bit surprised. She nodded her head and wondered why her father was calling her. "Lead the way." The elf guided her to the throne room and Alea entered the room after announcing her arrival to the emperor. The elf and the butler didn''t enter with Alea as they don''t have the right to do so. They were just attendants of the palace so they couldn''t do anything they want. Inside the throne room, Alea saw the upper echelons of the empire were also present in the room. Her face turned serious as she knew that the matter this time was a serious one as her father called her and the upper echelons of the empire. Her siblings were also present in the room. Alea took a deep breath as she glanced at the grim expression of the upper echelons. She then turned her eyes towards her father, the emperor of the Eternal Empire. A handsome man with long blonde hair was sitting on the throne. He looked like a young man but he was more than a hundred years old. He was wearing a white cape with golden embroidery. A greenish formal clothes that have the same design and on her body was a greyish pants. He was Eidnas Zarkanan, the current emperor of the Eternal Empire. He was a powerful man that reign the entire empire. "Listen... I will only say it once so listen carefully." The emperor opened his mouth and said in a dignified tone. The emperor slowly narrated what happened. While listening to the emperor''s words, Alea''s face grew worse. She was stunned by what she heard. She understood was countless monsters were flooding the walls of the empire. The reason was that the goblin executioner and the troll overlord were fighting in the deeper parts of the forest. All of the monsters below the third evolution flew away in fear. They couldn''t handle the extreme aftershocks of the battle. But why was those two powerful monster fighting to begin with? Those two monsters were living peacefully inside the forest and no one bothered them but who would have thought that they would fight today. "We wouldn''t bother ourselves with their affair. We will just protect the empire and eliminate all the monsters that tried to attack the empire." The emperor said in a loud voice. Everyone here knew that the fifth evolution monsters here were under the wings of monster lords. They wouldn''t do anything that would provoke those powerful monsters so they would just let them fight and protect the empire. Of course, if they approached the empire, the emperor wouldn''t hesitate to give an order to fight them. ... Souta gritted his teeth in anger and he smashed his fist on the wall of the room. Bang! A lot of things already transpired even though it wasn''t even a year since he came into this world. It seems that trouble was approaching him intentionally. "Shit! What is happening outside!?" Souta cursed loudly as he stomped his foot on the ground. Why is everything not going according to his plan? Boom! A loud booming sound echoed in the entire dungeon. The whole dungeon was shaking as if it was afraid of the deafening sound outside. "Shit!" Souta looked at the ceiling and he tightly knitted his brows as he saw the cracks on it. The cracks spread out like a spider web across the walls and ground. "Let''s go, Yuko!" Souta shouted and he ran towards the exit of the dungeon. In truth, he was planning to stay here until the commotion outside stop before he exited this dungeon with Yuko. He knew that it was extremely dangerous outside as he didn''t know what monsters were fighting. Souta and Yuko had to exit the dungeon because the dungeon would collapse at any moment. He doesn''t want to be buried alive and that''s why he was going to leave despite the risk outside the dungeon. Various scenarios were appearing in Souta''s mind. He was trying to guess what''s the cause of this event. He was also racking his brain on how to get out of this situation alive. The exit of the dungeon was already in Souta and Yuko''s sight. They didn''t notice that the pressure disappeared and the loud booming sound vanished. Souta was focused on leaving this dungeon that''s why he neglected the changes in his surrounding. Bang! "Daaaaamn! Let me!!" Cracks continued to spread out as Souta and Yuko jumped towards the exit of the dungeon. The two landed on the ground leaving a trail of smoke. Souta quickly turned his head and saw the dungeon collapsed. He felt pain as this was a mid-level dungeon. He didn''t even manage to bring out the loots of the dungeon. It was at this moment that he noticed that something was wrong. It was too silent. He slowly turned his head and saw the scene behind him. Chapter 231 - Welcome...! Souta opened his eyes widely when he saw the group of monsters behind him. He was horrified at the scene where everyone was above the second evolution stage. He subconsciously gulped while looking at the various monsters in front of him. But the two monsters in front made him feel hopeless upon seeing it. The two monsters were the goblin executioner and the troll overlord. Both of them were fifth evolution monster. In the game, a fifth evolution monster was level 80+. It was an extremely powerful enemy and ally. A nightmare in the eyes of humans and demis. They could easily raze a city on their own. Back in the game when Souta was still Blood, he could fight and defeat a fifth evolution monster in a one on one fight without any problem. He could finish the fight in just a few minutes. Of course, that''s if his opponent was a new evolved monster. If it was a veteran fifth evolution monster at level 90+ then Souta would have a problem dealing with it. He wouldn''t be able to escape unscathed fighting that kind of opponent. And that''s if Souta didn''t use all of his power. All of Souta''s equipment was universal grade, the highest grade of equipment in the whole universe. Some people also called it indestructible artifacts. Every universal grade item, equipment, or weapon in the world came from the primordial era, the era before the war twenty thousand years ago. Since then, there''s no record that universal grade artifacts being broken or shattered. In fact, even if low-level creatures fought the universal artifacts would suffer damage but it would miraculously recover after one day. No one knew the reason why. They only said that it must be some lost secret method of the ancient powerhouse back in that era. They even said that universal item grade wasn''t the highest but until now they didn''t find any artifacts that were higher than universal grade artifacts. Speaking of Souta''s universal artifacts, all of it has equipment skill and if Souta simultaneously used it then he would be able to kill a fifth evolution monster in an instant. The strength of the [Soul Blood Earring], the power of souls. The power of the [Flesh Eating Scythe], the gluttony. Every universal artifact possessed great power. That''s why Souta was bent on collecting his equipment set in the game. He would gain unrivaled power once he got ahold of his equipment set. No, one below gods would be able to fight him at that moment even though he had a low level. Back at the moment, sweat formed on his forehead as he saw the two fifth evolution monster. The goblin executioner and the troll overlord. ''Don''t tell me... They are the cause of that earthquake.'' Souta said inwardly. He didn''t dare to utter a single sound or move an inch from his position. He knew very well that he was in a very dangerous situation. The two fifth evolution monsters have some wounds in their bodies. Their blood was dripping on the ground from their wounds. With this, Souta was sure that they were the ones who caused that earthquake. They were injured. Yes, they were injured, and despite knowing that Souta still didn''t dare to lower his guard. That f.u.c.kers, fifth evolution monster, was extremely powerful to the point that it could kill Souta in just a single slap. No, he would die before the slap landed on his body. This level of monster could effortlessly kill a six-circle officer so didn''t have a chance to defeat it. Even if these two monsters were on death''s door, Souta still wouldn''t be able to do anything to them. The fifth evolution monster was entirely different from the third evolution monster where he could somehow wound them. "Mmnnn..." Yuko whimpered beside Souta while looking at the monster. She was afraid of the aura of these creatures and Souta could understand it. Souta patted her head and said, "Don''t worry. We won''t die in this place." Behind the goblin executioner and the troll warlord was a group of monsters above second evolution. Souta wouldn''t be able to defeat the weakest monster in this group. The goblin executioner stepped forward and looked down at Souta. It''s huge body completely blocked Souta''s vision. Its seven meters body stood in front of Souta like a strong pillar. This goblin couldn''t be called tall anymore, he''s a giant. Seven meters for a goblin executioner. Yuko couldn''t even reach his chest if she stood up. This goblin became huge because of his past evolution. It was related to body strengthening and maybe he mutated like him in some way. A normal goblin executioner wasn''t a large as this one. A normal executioner was just a two-meter tall goblin. This one was just exceptional. Back in the game, this goblin executioner was a famous goblin that rampages throughout the battlefield when the demons reached this place. The shadow of the goblin executioner covered Souta''s entire body. Thud! The troll overlord stepped forward and said something to the goblin executioner. The goblin executioner replied by saying, "I don''t know, It is lord''s order." When Souta heard it, he understood that the goblin executioner didn''t care about him and Yuko. It seems that the monster above him was ordering him to bring Souta and Yuko. Souta didn''t need to think twice about it. He quickly understood that he somehow piqued a monster lord''s attention. It means that he was the cause of this incident. He didn''t need to blame anyone. A butterfly effect... Something like that. ''The chances of getting out of this place is close to none.'' Souta thought while looking at the goblin executioner. The troll overlord glanced at Souta before he said, "I''m going now. Don''t you dare cause any more problem in my territory?" When he found that the goblin executioner came here because of a lord''s order, he stopped preventing the goblin from doing something on his territory. Well, all the monsters in this world respected and followed the monster lords. Even if the troll had another lord, he still wouldn''t stop the goblin as it was under a lord''s direct order. That''s how powerful and respected a monster lord in the circle of monsters. The troll overlord left without saying any nonsense. Souta and Yuko could only watch him leave. The goblin executioner pointed his finger at Souta and said, "You, come with me." He then turned around without waiting for Souta''s reply. Souta sighed in relief when he heard those words. He learned the basic goblin language when he evolved into High End Goblin back then so he understood the goblin executioner''s words who spoke such language. The third and fourth evolution monsters around were all glancing at him as if he was a rare animal. They were wondering how he caught their lord''s attention. A weakling like this one piqued their lord''s attention. Souta and Yuko just walked forward without minding those looks. The two of them followed the goblin executioner. Just one wrong move and Souta knew that they were going to die. Just one third evolution monster was enough to destroy him and Yuko in his current condition. And right now, dozen of monsters encircle him. Souta was sweating heavily as he was too nervous. ... The group walked for almost thirty minutes deep in the forest. Souta couldn''t follow the time as he was too busy looking at the powerful monsters around him. He couldn''t rest easy while being surrounded by these monsters. He was paranoid... He was in his weakest condition and this happened of all time. The goblin executioner stood in front of a thirty-meter tall tree. He released some of his aura. Ohm! Souta and Yuko felt overwhelming pressure in the atmosphere just by looking at the aura of the goblin executioner. They were not the target but they could still felt the heavy weight that was pressing their shoulders. A fifth evolution monster was really on a different league. After a few moments, the roots of the tree moved. It opened a path leading underground. The path was so wide that it could fit the seven-meter tall goblin executioner. This path led to the place where a monster lord resides. Souta subconsciously gulped while looking at this. From his memory, he recalled that there were ten monster lords in this forest. Each one of them secretly managed a part of the forest. He just couldn''t recall who''s monster lord manages the goblin executioner.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #...!_51312389924119255 for visiting. "Let''s go!" The goblin executioner glanced at Souta and said. He then went down with heavy steps. Souta and Yuko followed him. The underground place was so deep and it took them twenty minutes of walking before they arrived in a very wide place. "Welcome to the monster world...!" Souta squinted his eyes as the light shone brightly. The whole place was like the one in the Undead Sanctuary. The crystals on the ceiling were shining brightly and it gives off ''the sun'' vibe of this place. This whole place was a another huge ecosystem that looks like another world. Different types of monsters were all over the place. Chapter 232 - Monster Lord of Destruction [You''ve entered a Great Labyrinth, the House of a Monster Lord!] A familiar sound rang inside Souta''s head. Countless different monster could be seen around the place. Some of the monsters here were rare species that could hardly found on the surface. Souta and Yuko didn''t stop moving as both of them continued to follow the goblin executioner. Rare plants and trees also stood around the place. If humans and demis got to know a place like this then they would try to get their hands on these resources. Special fruits and herbs that could sell for dozen platinum coins were here just like a normal plant. These fruits or herbs could increase a person''s energy capacity, strength, or agility. Every plant has its own use. Some plants could help a person''s healing ability while some were poison. This place was rich in energy. That''s why some of the rare plants sprouted here. If Souta wasn''t used to seeing a treasure stove like this then his greed would consume him and create a trouble in this place. Other people wouldn''t be able to control their l.u.s.t and desire but Souta was different. This level of treasure was nothing to him. His equipment set was still unrivaled. The treasure of the number one player of the game wasn''t a joke at all. His total possession surpassed those from large kingdoms and countries. Well, Souta would be lying if he said that he''s not tempted at the things that he saw here in this place. Those things could increase his strength so he wanted to get his hands on those fruits and plants. He and Yuko would benefit greatly if they could freely eat those things just like other monsters in this place. The monsters around stopped what they were doing as they glanced in Souta''s direction. They were talking to each other but Souta couldn''t understand them. [Goblin Language] was the only language that he knew. He didn''t grow up in this place so he was ignorant of the world of monsters. Souta shook his head and remove those unnecessary thoughts in his mind. He was going to meet a monster lord so he should prepare himself. If he angered the monster lord then he should bid goodbye to his life. This place was so huge that it took them another twenty minutes of walking before they arrived in a huge castle-like place. "We''re here! You''re going to meet our Lord!" The goblin executioner said in a warning tone. Gulp! Souta gulped as he nodded his head. He stretched out his hand and patted Yuko telling her not to worry. ''I won''t let you die here in this place...'' Souta and Yuko entered the castle-like structure. They were standing in front of a huge exquisite golden-colored door. The door opened on its own and the two entered the room after they heard someone said, "come in". Those two words were flawless. It contained some sort of power that calm him down. Souta and Yuko naturally move their feet and stepped inside the room as if they were used to entering this room. No, some strange power was pushing them inside the room. Souta opened his eyes and faced everything. The ceiling that came into his view was very high and very broad. The walls were predominantly white with golden decorations and highlights. The red carpet ran down the center of the room. Around it was powerful monsters above third evolution. At the throne at the center of the room was a figure. It was a figure of a small girl with long chestnut color hair that was tied in twintails. Her two reptilian eyes were observing Souta''s movements. There''s a faint smile on her face that showed her sharp fangs. A blue-colored gem was embedded on the center of her forehead. At the side of the blue-colored gem was a pair of black small horns. The ears of the small girl were like the ears of a fox. One could see scales below her eyes. The small girl wasn''t an ordinary person. Her figures showed that she was a demi but her features showed otherwise. Especially, the gem on her forehead and at the center of her chest. The gem was none other than the famed monster orb of monsters. The small girl was wearing revealing armor that covered her private parts. Black with silver decoration armor that looks like a dragon covered her body parts. Souta opened his eyes widely when he saw the appearance of the small girl that was sitting on the throne. Memories of the game flooded his entire mind. He recalled the events that happened in the game that was related to the character in front of him. One of the most famous monster lords. The most active and distinguished monster lord in the game was this small girl. Raeshka, the monster lord of destruction, the destruction queen. One of the most powerful monster lords in the entire forest of eternal light. There were ten monster lords in the forest of eternal light and Raeshka was in the top 3 in terms of fighting ability of all the monster lords in this place. A monster lord rarely involved themselves in the affairs of humans and demis. But Raeshka was different from other monster lords. At chaotic times, she brought out her force and fought the demons to a standstill. She even fought one of the ten commandments of the God''s Will. Souta could clearly remember when she fought a commandment in a one on one battle. That battle shook the entire continent as the humans and demis once again understood the power of the fearsome monster lord. But even then, she still couldn''t defeat the commandments of the God''s Will. The monster lords were gods and deities of monsters. They were at the same level. They were the counterpart of gods and deities in this world. And the commandments were at the level of gods and deities. The battle between one of the commandments and Raeshka was so fierce that it burned down several countries on this continent. It was one of the memorable fights in the entire game history. Souta wouldn''t be able to forget that scene. Even his full power back then wasn''t sure if he could fight her on equal ground. "You really looked like a demi-human!" Raeshka exclaimed as soon as she saw his face. "Your facial structure didn''t resemble any goblin corruptor like you." Of course, Souta''s face looked like the one he got in the past when he was still a human. It was different from the goblin in this place. The only difference was that the color of his skin was dark green. If he changed his skin tone, then Souta would even doubt that he was a goblin. Raeshka stood up and she floated towards him. She stopped in front of him as she looked straight at his eyes. "You may be able to fool the humans and demis but you will never be able to fool higher level of a monster like me. I could sense the bloodline that''s flowing in your veins. The bloodline of a goblin. You will never be able to hide it." A higher level of monster was sensitive to other monsters. They could easily guess the level of evolution of other monsters and types of species with just a single look. "..." Souta didn''t say anything as he let the other party do whatever she wanted. It''s still not the time to negotiate with her. "Ever since you enter this forest you already piqued my interest. I saw a monster living with humans and demis as if he was one of them. I have a lot of time so I busied myself observing that certain monster." Raeshka said as she went back to her throne. "You know what I found...? That monster is really living with humans and demis as one of them. The people around him didn''t have an idea that he''s a monster. What a freak!?" Souta knew that she was talking about him. There''s no monster that was living in the humans and demis as one of them except for him. He even knew the language of humans and demis. "I''m curious why would a goblin like you live with humans and demis? I want to know what''s in your mind. Can you satisfy my curiosity?" Raeshka smiled as she asked Souta in a tone that she wouldn''t let him leave this place if she wasn''t satisfied by his answer. "...I don''t know... I just live with them. The other goblins in my tribe died so I went with humans and demis. I tried to learn their language so that I could converse with them. Everything is for me to survive." Souta replied to her with a serious expression. Of course, he was lying to her. He wouldn''t say that he was a human in his past life that''s why he tried to live with them. He wouldn''t say that he learned the language of humans and demis with the help of the system. Chapter 233 - Impress me! Show me what you learned in human and demi country! "...You don''t know...?" Raeshka frowned while looking at him. After a while, a smile appeared on her face and she said, "Tell me what you experience in human and demi country? I want to hear stories about them." Souta breathed a sigh of relief after he found that Raeshka''s attitude was still the same just like in the game. He knew what he should do to leave this place. He just needed to be careful of his next move. After all, he doesn''t want to die in this place. He slowly narrated what he experienced to Raeshka. From the part where he met Jimmy up to the time when he arrived in the Eternal Empire. Souta patiently told her what he experienced. He only left a few things such as his system from his story. "Oh..." Raeshka listened to his story with interest in her eyes. The story about a monster living in human kingdoms was pretty interesting. Souta was the first monster that she knew who was living among humans and demis without being found out as monsters. Well, Souta''s appearance was a big factor in why the humans and demis didn''t think of him as monsters. His facial structures resembled a human more than a goblin. His appearance will not matter once he evolved into the third evolution. He wouldn''t be able to hide his best feram forever. Powerful and sensitive humans would be able to detect it once he had best feram in his body. It took more than two hours before Souta finished his storytelling. He even told the details of his adventure to Raeshka. He told her everything in his journey. "Oh? So you''re saying you are strong but I don''t see it." Raeshka asked while looking at Souta. She slightly tilted her head as she was confused. She couldn''t understand why Souta said that he was strong even though she couldn''t feel anything from him. "Of course, for you I''m weak," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulders with a helpless expression. No matter how powerful a second evolution, it was still weak compared to a monster lord. Even if Souta was at the fourth evolution stage, he was still an insect in front of Raeshka. There''s not much difference between the second evolution and the fourth evolution for her. She could easily squash all of them. "But... Among the second evolution monster in this place, I think no one would be able to defeat me." Souta said confidently as he glanced at her reaction. "Oh? You''re that confident. If what you told me is true then you really possessed some skills. You have the body of a monster that could evolve and you also have the skills and abilities of humans and demis." Raeshka said as a faint smile appeared on her face. She rested her chin on her hand before she added, "Let me see how strong is a monster that is living with humans and demis. From what I could see those monsters are all weaklings." She was talking about the monsters that submit to tamers. No tamer got to own a monster lord in history so for her, those monsters were all weak. Everything was weak below monster lord. Even the divine tamer in the game didn''t own any monster lord. The divine tamer only possessed several fifth evolution monsters. Well, the nine-headed hydra that Souta had in the game was also a fifth evolution monster. It was just a fourth evolution monster at first but hydra evolved throughout their journey. ''What if I tamed a monster lord this time?'' A question entered Souta''s mind while looking at Raeshka. Maybe, he could let Yuko evolve into a monster lord but the problem was that he doesn''t have much knowledge about tamer. At least, he had experience in evolving his pet into the fifth evolution stage in the game. He shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. There''s no point in thinking about things that he wouldn''t be able to achieve with his current strength. "I''m extremely confident in my fighting skills and experience," Souta said to her. He was confident that he could easily defeat a normal second evolution monster but for those rare and powerful second evolution monsters, Souta wasn''t sure if he could win without taking injuries. There''s a huge risk in fighting the monster of this place. Their body was enhanced to the limit using the resources of this place so they were far stronger than the monsters on the surface. "I see that you''re confident in your strength. Humans and demis are confident and arrogant. They influenced you for you to have the same kind of attitude." Raeshka spoke slowly as she removed her eyes from Souta and glanced at the monsters behind him. "Call all the strongest second evolution stage monster. I will create some fighting feast to liven up our boring lives." A fourth evolution monster bowed and nodded at her words. Souta took a deep breath as he knew that he had to satisfy Raeshka''s curiosity. He looked around and said, "Okay, I''ll fight anyone but I don''t think I''ll be able to show you my true strength with my current condition."Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #!-show-me-what-you-learned-in-human-and-demi-country!_51417945456301173 for visiting. "Oh, right? From your story, you damaged your mana pool by taking a monster potion." Raeshka exclaimed as she recalled his story. "That''s what you get from borrowing the power of best feram when your body shouldn''t have that kind of power. You know that it''s too early for a second evolution monster to have the best feram so why take it when you already know its effect?" "Well, due to certain circ.u.mstances I was forced to take it. I told you before that I don''t want to die. So this is just a small price for me to survive that calamity." Souta replied to her with a serious expression. He wasn''t lying to her every time he told her his experience. "Hahaha, what a funny guy we have here!!" Raeshka suddenly laughed loudly while holding her stomach. "Don''t lie to me. You got attached to those humans and demis. You fought to protect them not to protect yourself. From your story, I could feel that you are close to them. You can easily escape but you didn''t. You know deep inside yourself why you fought those people." Souta tilted his head in confusion when he heard her words. He could indeed avoid those fights but he didn''t do so. He fought and took the risk because of the quest rewards. That''s what he thought all along but it seems that he was growing attached to his life in Ladros city. He didn''t understand it at first but he felt glad when he found that his classmates were fine after that fierce battle. Souta looked down at his palm and thought, ''Did I really fought to protect them? Protect? I''m not suited for this kind of thing. I still prefer to demolish the people that got in my way.'' "Accept it already, a monster like you wanted to live together with humans and demis. Deep inside yourself, you must want to become a human or demi like them so that no problem will occur regarding your true identity." Raeshka said with a faint smile on her face while looking at Souta''s expression. "Nope, I just felt it was quite inconvenient living as a monster in human and demi''s country. You know, I needed to mind my movements every time so that no one would be able to discover that I''m a monster." Souta nodded as he shrugged his shoulder and opened his palm. He still rejected the thoughts that he fought for the sake of other people. "I see that you couldn''t accept it..." Raeshka said in a deep tone as she looked straight at his eyes. She then shook her head and said, "Well, it doesn''t matter as you will understand what I''m saying someday in the future." "I will understand it someday...?" Souta muttered in a low voice as he slightly turned his head and glanced at Yuko who was staying silent behind him. It seems that she''s following his words. The door behind him opened and a fourth evolution monster entered the room. The monster bowed its head and said, "My Lord, I already called all the second evolution stage monster. They are the strongest monster in this place." "I see... Good job." Raeshka smiled and she stood up after she heard the report of her subject. She looked at Souta and said, "They are here! I''ll give you a chance to showcase yourself in front of a monster lord! Impress me! Show me what you learned in human and demi country!" Her voice couldn''t hide the excitement in her tone. She really wanted to see some action coming from an unknown variable like Souta. "Let''s go! It''s time to watch some interesting things after a long time!" Raeshka then walked past Souta and left the room leaving those words. Souta looked at her back and sighed. He then took a deep breath and muttered, "I guess I have no choice but to demolish the monster in this place. I''ll let them see the power of a battle mage. I''m counting on you, Yuko." Chapter 234 - Restore Souta followed Raeshka with Yuko behind him. He didn''t have a mana so he will count on Yuko''s mana. He had [Pet Resonance] skill so he could borrow Yuko''s mana and her senses. It was a skill of a tamer that could let him combine his and her strength. If Souta level up this skill then he would be able to borrow her stats and add it to his own after a certain point. Even though Yuko''s mana pool wasn''t large as his it was still enough to cast a few dozen spells. Souta and Yuko went outside and saw Raeshka standing in front of countless different monsters. ''There are more than a million monsters under Raeshka''s rule.'' Souta thought as he recalled how her force fought back the demons that invade this place. This force was enough to invade a huge country like Hebrei kingdom. Every army of a monster lord could rival those of a huge country and this was one of the reasons why no one dared to provoke a monster lord. But the problem was that the most powerful monster didn''t live in the Forest of Eternal and instead, they could be found in the infamous Dark Forest, the largest forest on the entire continent. Also one of the forbidden areas on the continent. Powerful and vicious monsters live in Dark Forest. According to the founder of the Adventurers Guild, the number of the monster lord in that place exceeded the number of the monster lord in the Forest of Eternal Light. Third and fourth evolution stage monster could be found anywhere in that place. If one didn''t possess the power of an S-rank, then they wouldn''t be able to last that long in that place full of monsters. Of course, this information wasn''t made to the public. In the past, countless human and demi countries tried to force their way to that forest but no one managed to own it. Those countries were annihilated in a single night by an unknown monster. "I''ll set up an arena where you will fight the goblin corruptor here!" Raeshka said to her subjects as she pointed at Souta who just got out of the castle. "I''ll reward anyone who managed to defeat him so try your best to show him your powers! Try your best to impress me and I''ll fulfill one of your wishes to the limit of my powers!" All the monsters in the view looked at Souta. They observed this unknown goblin corruptor. This was the first time they saw him in this place so they were unfamiliar with him. Also, this unknown goblin corruptor went out of the castle of their lord. It seems that their lord was close to this goblin. "Am I included in that?" Souta asked as he pointed at his nose. Raeshka turned her gaze at him and nodded, "Yes, you are included. If you successfully defeat all the challengers then I''ll fulfill one of your wishes." "Then, do you have a plan to let me go?" Souta asked her. "No," Raeshka said without hesitation. "I see..." Souta nodded and he turned his head to the monsters before he said, "Then, my wish is to leave this place. I want you to let me go and safely leave this place after I defeated all the challenges." "Are you sure you want to leave this place? This is a paradise for monsters. No humans or demis would be able to hunt monsters in this place. All the monsters under my protection are safe in this place." Raeshka said to him in a deep tone. "You must know that your human and demi friends will someday found your true identity. You will be hunted by their country. You can forget them and stay in this place." "Hays... I think you wouldn''t be able to understand it even if I tell you. I told you before that I''m doing it for my survival but that''s not all. I''m doing it to strengthen myself. I don''t want to stay in this place where my safety is guaranteed. I wouldn''t grow stronger and I want to experience the true nature of this world in my own two hands. That''s all and one day I''ll become a monster lord like you." Souta said as he looked at his own two hands. It''s true that this place was safe but that''s only until version 1 ends. The demons will attack this place in the future and if he didn''t grow stronger at that time he will become a cannon fodder. There''s an event where Raeshka will be forced to fight a commandment. He got to say that this place will become a battlefield in the future. He also wouldn''t be able to take a quest in this place or hunt monsters if he was under Raeshka''s rule. His growth rate would slow down if that happens. Even if he could hunt monsters in this place, he would still have a hard time triggering a quest in a place like this one. If he didn''t get a quest Souta wouldn''t be able to get a skill point so his rank promotion would stop at his current stage, Rank 1 Battle Mage. He wouldn''t replace a short time of peace for this. He would prefer to undergo a dangerous quest so that he could get stronger. He doesn''t want to let his life be in others'' hands. "If that''s what you want then I''ll fulfill it. That''s if you successfully defeat them." Raeshka said as she glanced at Souta''s face. She felt overflowing confidence coming from Souta. She couldn''t even understand where his confidence coming from. She didn''t mock him for saying that he''ll become a monster lord one day. Countless monsters wanted to become a monster lord but only a few monsters managed to do it. She knew how hard and how long it takes for her to become a monster lord. She didn''t have an idea at that time in the past that she will become a monster lord. "Okay, I''ll believe in you." Souta nodded and said in a low voice. He didn''t need to doubt the words of a monster lord. She also didn''t have a reason to lie to him. Monsters were different from humans and demis who would lie all the time. Monsters were simple-minded creatures. For them, strength was everything. If a monster was strong then other monsters would worship that strong monster. If a monster was weak then the strong monster would consume it. That''s all. It wasn''t as complicated in human and demi countries where people were scheming to each other. Rumble! The ground trembled and an arena slowly rose up from the ground. The rows of monsters split up as they surrounded the huge arena. Souta felt the best feram in the atmosphere moving nonstop. He moved his eyes and saw Raeshka waving her right hand. It seems that she was the one who created the arena in front of them. ''A monster lord is really unfathomable. I couldn''t see the depth of her strength.'' He thought while looking at her. A chair made of rare stone emerged from the ground and Raeshka sat on it. She then glanced at Souta and said, "You can go now." Souta nodded and he moved his feet. He strode forward and entered the arena. Tap! He lightly tapped the ground with his feet and found that the stage was made of pure solid mana stone. It was hard as it contained an enormous amount of energy that strengthened it to the limit. ''So it''s fine if I go all out.'' Souta thought as he swept his eyes across the second evolution monsters. He knew that they were his opponents as he was also a second evolution monster. Raeshka wouldn''t let a third evolution monster fight him. She wasn''t that kind of individual. "They are your opponents," Raeshka said as she pointed at the group of second evolution monster. ''I''m right.'' Souta''s mouth curved upwards. He could feel and sense that all of these second evolution monsters were at the peak. They reached their limit and were about to evolve. He moved his eyes and met the eyes of these monsters. Black Orc, Freezing Monkey, Two-tailed Salamander, Berserk Kobold, Flame Wings Pigeon, White Stripe Wolf, and Three eyes Crocodile. Souta could even see a goblin corruptor like him. All these monsters were at the second evolution stage. They were at the peak and were powerful among the other second evolution monster. "Oh right? I forgot that you''re going to show me the power of a monster that learned human and demi''s skills!" Raeshka exclaimed and she vanished from her position. She then reappeared in front of Souta. "Eh...!" Souta subconsciously took a step back when Raeshka appeared in front of him. "Here... I''ll repair your mana pool so that you could show me your full potential and let me watch an entertaining show." Raeshka stretched out her hand and she tapped Souta''s forehead with her finger. Ohm! Souta felt her energy entered his body. Despite being best feram, his body didn''t reject this powerful energy. It means that Raeksha has fully controlled her best feram to the point that it wouldn''t harm anyone if she didn''t will it. Just like how Bargan controlled his flames. Swoosh! Souta felt his mana pool being repaired at high speed. Energy started to form and took a shape inside his body. After one minute, Raeshka removed her finger on his forehead. She smiled and went back to her chair. "Okay, I''m expecting a good show. If you don''t impress me then you''ll face the consequences." Chapter 235 - How about letting me fight all of them? Alea was looking at the monster tide with a frown on her face. She was thinking if the monster before was connected to this monster tide. She met Bryan and the rest when dozens of second evolution stage monsters were attacking them. She didn''t hesitate and help them fend off those monsters. That''s how they met. At that time, she didn''t think much about it but now that a monster tide appeared she couldn''t help but connect the two incidents. Their empire detected a clash of two fifth evolution stage monsters. A clash of two powerful monsters shook a part of the forest. That''s why the weaker monsters fled away in hurry. ''I still think that there''s more to it.'' Alea thought as she turned around and entered the palace. Her butler followed her without saying anything. She will try to investigate what really happened. ... Souta felt mana flow through his body from his mana pool. It feels good knowing that he had mana flowing in his body. "Ah~ this feeling... It feels nostalgic." He groaned as he opened and closed his palms enjoying the feeling of mana. More than two weeks had passed ever since he damaged his mana pool. It was frustrating when he couldn''t even use his spells. He already expected this to happen. For Raeshka, fixing his mana pool was a simple thing and it''s not worth mentioning. She only fixed his mana pool so that she could watch an entertaining show. There''s no need to get work out and be dramatic in fixing his mana. It was a simple thing to her. She didn''t even need his thanks. A goblin corruptor that could use mana was still nothing to the level of the monster lord. If she didn''t fix his mana pool then how could she watch the full power of a monster that knew human and demi skills? ''A simple thing for her but a great thing for me. She didn''t even care that she fixed my mana pool.'' Souta couldn''t help but sigh. "Hays~ what a great disparity..." There''s no need to be dramatic or big fight just for him to restore his mana pool. Raeshka''s whim fixed his mana pool. As simple as that. He then shook his head and focused his attention on the task in front of him. He was about to say something when he heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Battle of the Second Evolution]: Defeat all the second evolution monsters and become victorious. Show the world that you''re the strongest second evolution monster. Unrivaled at your level. Rewards: 10,000 exp, 6 skill points, and 10 free attribute points ''What a good timing...?'' A smile formed on Souta''s face. It was already in his plan to show off but to think that he would receive a quest at this moment. This gives him more reason to trash all of his opponents. Plus, this was the first time he''s going to use his newly gained strength. He''s going to lie by saying that he wasn''t excited to test his strength. In fact, he was eager to test his strength at this moment more than anything. ''These monsters only worth 6 skill points...? Too bad, that''s quite disappointing considering that they are the strongest second evolution stage monsters in this place.'' Souta thought as the grin on his face grew wider. "Who wants to go first and fight this goblin?" Raeshka asked as she glanced at her subordinates. The higher rank monsters were also present. They were curious about the second evolution stage goblin that piqued the attention of their lord. All of them have the same question in their mind. How did this lower rank creature gain the interest of their lord? They wanted to find the answer to this question. "I will go first." A three-meter tall black orc stepped forward. The black orc was holding a massive butcher knife. He was one of the strongest second evolution orcs in this place. "Fine. If you defeat him I''ll fulfill one of your wishes." Raeshka nodded and said to the black orc in a plain tone. She then turned her head and looked at one of her higher rank subordinates. "Don''t let anyone die in my watch." A fourth evolution monster called Elder Treant bowed at her. Elder Treant was a powerful monster that has the characteristics of a tree. The only difference was that a treant could bleed with crimson color blood like any other monster. The treant of this world shook the knowledge of the players of the treant. They bashed the developer for not staying true to their knowledge of treant and created their own treant. What they didn''t know was that the treant they knew was just fake. Souta just glanced at the Elder Treant. With this level of monster guarding the battle, he knew that even if he tried to kill his opponents he would still fail because of this Elder Treant. The Black Orc entered the stage and stood in front of Souta. He tightly gripped the massive butcher knife in his hand. Pressure started the leak out of his body. ''This one is a strong monster... If I didn''t have a mana I would have a problem dealing with this one using my physical strength.'' Souta thought while observing the black orc ten meters away from him. "You can start fighting... I''m getting bored here." Raeshka said with a bored expression. Boom! A fierce aura suddenly burst out of the black orc''s body. He dashed towards Souta at high speed. He was excited to defeat Souta and get the favor of his lord. Swoosh! He arrived in front of Souta and swung the butcher knife in front of Souta. The Elder Treant who was watching the battle heightened his senses. If Souta couldn''t block the attack then he would save Souta. For him, a fourth evolution monster, the movement of a lower existence was too slow in his eyes. Souta shifted his body to the side as the butcher knife passed beside him. He avoided it at hair''s length before clenching his fist and he gathered his mana in his fist. Bang! He threw a punch on the side of the black orc and it disrupted the form of the orc. This punch was stronger than his normal punch as he added his mana in his fist. "Ah~ I missed this feeling. Punching someone with mana coating my fist." Souta muttered with a grin on his face. Roar! The black orc roared and his muscles bulge out of his body. He used his trait skill [Dominant Body] that strengthened his muscles by three-fold. "It will not work against me," Souta muttered as the ground turned black and tentacles rose from the ground. Swoosh! The tentacles moved quickly and it strangled the body of the black orc. The black orc didn''t expect this at all. He tried to break free from the tentacles around his body but no matter how much he tried he couldn''t break away. Souta''s [Shadow Bind] spell could even bind a third evolution monster for a few seconds so how could a second evolution monster break free from this spell easily. "You lose," Souta said as the tentacles around the black orc tightened. He then walked forward and stopped in front of the black orc on the ground. He raised one of his feet and stomped the head of the black orc. He knocked out the black orc and looked at every second evolution stage monster. "Oh!? That''s not a trait skill or trait of a goblin corruptor. That''s a spell of the humans and demis." Raeshka said after she saw the black tentacles around the body of the black orc. Monsters fought using their traits and trait skills but Souta was different from them. He was a monster that was using the spells and skills of the humans and demi-humans. ''If Souta continued to evolve and become a higher existence while practicing the spells and skills of humans... Then... In the future, he would become a terrifying existence much worse than a monster lord.'' Raeshka thought while looking at Souta with a deep gaze. There were humans and demi who become powerful with the use of spells and skills. If Souta managed to reach their level while evolving then in the future he would become a powerful existence. There''s a possibility that he would become stronger than her. Souta turned his head to Raeshka and asked, "You want me to show my full potential, right? Then, how about letting me fight all of them at the same time? I think that you''ll like my performance." "Oh? Are you sure about it?" A smile appeared on Raeshka''s face as she asked Souta. She didn''t expect that Souta would request to fight all the second evolution monster at the same time. Well, she wouldn''t decline him as she found his suggestion an interesting one. It would make this battle more entertaining. "Of course, I also wanted to test my strength against them," Souta said to the second evolution monsters as he rested his feet on the body of the black orc. He glanced at Raeshka and added, "One more thing. I''ll add Yuko into my group. I want her to experience fighting the monsters in this place." "Sure, fight them to your heart''s content. As long as it would entertain me then it''s good." Raeshka said as she leaned her back on her chair. Things were getting interesting. Chapter 236 - Battle of the Second Evolution Monsters 1 Raeshka looked at her subordinates and said, "This goblin is underestimating all of you! You can go and fight him at the same time! Just defeat this goblin with everything you''ve got!" Roar! The group of second evolution monsters roared loudly that shook the entire area. Their immense aura was bursting out of their bodies and it made the ground tremble. They were going to show Souta the defeat. He underestimated them so it''s natural that they show him his powers. Morals? There were no morals between monsters. They were going to fight him at the same time just like what their lord said. Just follow the words of their lord. That''s it. Nothing more and nothing less. "Pretty interesting..." Souta commented with a smile on his face. He then added, "Yuko, come here with me. You''ll also fight them and show them your powers." Roar! Yuko roared as she smashed the ground while looking at the group of second evolution monsters. If her master wanted her to fight them then she will follow his order and fight them without any fear. All of this was for her master to praise her and pat her. "Come." Souta taunted them without showing any fear. He was excited to use his power after a long time. Roar! The whole area was flooded with the monster''s battle intent. Normal human and demis wouldn''t be able to handle this level of pressure. A one-meter tall monkey with light blue color fur pounced at him. Not just the monkey but the other second evolution stage monsters also pounced at him. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta smirked as the ground turned black and dozens of black tentacles rose from the black ground. [Shadow Bind]! The monster already expected this spell as they saw it before so they quickly moved their bodies away and surround him and Yuko. Souta controlled the black tentacles as all of it stretched out and shoot towards the monsters around him. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! "You can go, Yuko. Just be careful and don''t let anyone of them defeat you." Souta said to Yuko. He was confident that Yuko could match one or two of these monsters. He just needed to watch her so that these monsters couldn''t overwhelm her with numbers. Honestly, he thought that only a few monsters would fight her as Raeshka said that they only needed to defeat him not Yuko. Roar! Yuko roared in response to his words before she charged towards the group of second evolution stage monsters. The black tentacles supported her by separating her opponents from other monsters. It was distracting the monsters that she wasn''t going to fight. That''s the only thing Souta would do for her. It''s up to her to defeat her opponents. Bang! Bang! Yuko pounced on the giant crocodile in front of her. She wrestled with the crocodile using her full strength but the crocodile possessed a strength that could match her. Roar! She turned her head as she felt extreme pain in her shoulder. What she saw was a wolf with white stripes biting her right shoulder. While she was distracted the crocodile bit her arm that caused her to groan in pain. She opened her mouth widely and flames shoot out towards the crocodile. [Burning Shout]! The giant crocodile was forced to release the arm that it bit. Yuko''s trait skill didn''t do that much damage to the crocodile because of its thick skin. Yuko grabbed the wolf on her back and she smashed it on the ground. She then raised both of her arms and heavily smashed it on the wolf. Boom! The rest of the second evolution monsters were softly avoiding the black tentacles left and right. Only a few slow monsters got caught by the black tentacles. A two-tailed salamander opened its mouth widely and waves of flames shoot out of its mouth. The waves of flames flew towards Souta at high speed. Swoosh! Souta felt the heat behind him so he turned around. He also felt the flames that passed through some of his tentacles. Before seeing what was behind him, he already had an idea about what it is. After he turned his head towards the sea of flames, he felt cold on his side. The Freezing monkey just used its trait skill called [Cold Wind]. A cold wind that could freeze people shoot at Souta''s side. The Flame wings pigeon ten meters above the surface also used its trait skill called [Flame Slash]. The pigeon strongly flapped its wings and flame blades flew out of its wings. Three different monsters used their trait skill to finish Souta. Their attacks were in different directions so Souta would be having a hard time protecting himself. Also, he couldn''t avoid these attacks as he would enter the attacking range of the other monsters if he moved from his position. If he didn''t move from his position then these attacks would hit his body. So what''s he''s going to do? Move the black tentacles and used it to protect him. "...I don''t have a choice, do I?" Souta exhaled and said while looking at the monsters that were attacking him. Swoosh!! The sea of flames arrived in front of him and swallowed his whole body. The [Cold Wind] of the freezing monkey landed on his body and it caused a reaction with the sea of flames. The [Cold Wind] trait skill has moisture in it so when flames collided with it, it created a mist that covered the entire area around him. Then, the flame blade caused an explosion as soon as it landed on Souta''s body. Boom! The explosion slightly shook the ground and it blew the mist away. The smoke caused by the explosion replaced the mist that was covering the area. "Oh? That''s good! It seems that he was stronger than what he told me in the story!" Raeshka said with an amused expression when she saw what happened. She heard Souta''s story before from his mouth so she had an idea about his strength but to think that he was stronger than what he told her amused her. Moments like this one entertain her. She thought that it would be a boring match if Souta''s capabilities were what he told her. "It''s really fun to watch it personally than just listened to the story." She said with a smile on her face. What she didn''t know that a few days ago Souta was as strong as the Souta in his story. He just undergoes a class advancement recently so his overall strength grew stronger. He didn''t include the time in the Eternal Empire in the story as nothing worth mentioning happened there. He also couldn''t say that he advanced his class to Raeshka. It was a secret to this world that he had a system. He doesn''t want to be hunted by large countries. Many countries would be interested in him if they knew that he had a system power. He would become a specimen or lab rat to investigate what''s the system in his mind. They would try anything to understand what is the system and Souta didn''t want that to happen. If the large country, especially the three great countries, saw something they couldn''t understand they would try to grab ahold of it. If that thing could bring them power then they would try everything to acquire it. That''s just how human and demi''s mind works. Souta too was like that... And he knew it. He''s a hypocrite. Everything for his benefits. ... The other high-rank monsters were also surprised when they saw what happened to Souta. They finally had an idea why their lord was interested in this goblin. Swoosh!! The smoke slowly dissipated and everyone saw that Souta was standing in his position before without a hint of scratch in his body. He was unscathed after taking those three trait skills. The only difference was that there were ten fist-size black balls floating behind him in a circle. Souta slowly swept his eyes across the monsters around him. The aura around him was calm but everyone could feel the invisible pressure around him. Just by standing in his position, he was pressuring everyone. It was because he was unscathed after those three attacks. They didn''t even understand what happened except for the higher ranking monsters. They also didn''t know the purpose of the ten fist-size black balls behind Souta. "Let me increase its power first," Souta muttered as he pulled the vajra sword out of its sheath. He had a [Weapon Caster] skill that he received when he advanced his class to Battle Mage before. The effect of this skill was that the power of his spells would increase by 10% if he was holding a weapon. The catalysts that mage always used were excluded in this. "Argh! I''ll defeat you!!" The Freezing monkey yelled as it pounced at Souta. Of course, Souta couldn''t understand him. His language was different from Souta. Swoosh! The Freezing monkey pulled back its fist before throwing it at Souta''s face. Souta didn''t even try to avoid the punch of the monkey. He just looked at it with a grin on his face. Bang! The fist of the Freezing monkey stopped before it could even reach Souta''s face. The monkey was confused as it couldn''t understand how Souta stopped its fist without doing anything. Souta slowly opened his mouth and said, "Well, I could guess that you''re confused. But the answer to the question in your mind is the [Gravitational Ball] in my back. "With this, no one of your level would be able to reach me. Do you finally realize why I''m confident in calling myself the strongest second evolution monster? No one could defeat me at the same level as me. Only those higher existence could defeat me but I doubt that they could even defeat me when they were still at my current level." Chapter 238 - Blessings "Mwahaha!" Souta laughed as the ten black balls on his back flew in the sky. Raeshka and the rest of her higher rank subordinates watch this scene with interest. They haven''t seen a monster using the skills of humans and demis in their entire life. To think that it would make a monster this strong just by learning those skills. Ten black balls flying in the sky only means one thing. Souta lost his gravity field around his body. The black balls were the ones that maintained the gravity field around him so if he used the black balls for other things he had to cancel the gravity field around him. He doesn''t have a powerful defense that could reflect anything. It was a chance to damage Souta. The black tentacles moved swiftly as it bound several monsters. The monsters didn''t have a chance to rest at all as they moved their bodies as fast as possible to avoid the black tentacles. They understood one thing ever since the battle started. Once the black tentacles got them, they wouldn''t be able to escape from its grasp. After a few moments, black spikes burst out of the ground one by one. It wasn''t as powerful as the black tentacles but it was enough to wound some of the monsters. The monsters with thick hide and skin such as the three-horned crocodile ignored the black spikes. A simple level 1 [Shadow Spike] spell wouldn''t be able to pierce its tough skin. It''s if Souta level up this spell to 10 but Souta didn''t have a plan to do that for now. Swoosh! Swoosh! Blood was spurting everywhere as the black spikes managed to wound some of the monsters. Surely, it was those monsters that got caught by the black tentacles. They wouldn''t be able to avoid the black spikes in the grasp of the black tentacles. "Everything will end." Souta laughed as the ten black balls in the sky controlled the gravity. Bang! The flame wings pigeon crashed on the ground as the gravity increase by several times. The pigeon moved its head and looked at Souta from the ground. Its eyes contained resentment and fear. Souta walked towards the pigeon and raised his feet. "Sleep." He said before stomping the head of the flame wings pigeon. The ten black balls increased the gravity in the whole area. It decreased the movement speed of the monsters that let the tentacles captured them. Roar! The monsters roared in agony as the black tentacles chased after them. They finally realized that they couldn''t defeat Souta with their strength. They felt that they weren''t fighting a second evolution monster like them. Souta''s power was entirely different from theirs. They could only admire the strength he possessed as no one managed to touch him in this battle. Swoosh! Swoosh! One by one the black tentacles captured all the second evolution monsters in the whole area. ''This battle drained a quarter of my mana.'' Souta thought while looking at the monsters on the ground. He was the winner of this battle. He overwhelmed all the second evolution monsters. Using the power of the gravity nonstop drained quite a bit of his mana. He wouldn''t be able to use this in a long battle, for now... In the future, if he increased his mana capacity he would be able to use this in a long time battle. In version 2, he must go to the frontline to fight countless demons and gathered their souls. At that time, his [Soul Blood Earring] would shine the most among his equipment. The souls that he could gather in that battle would exceed one million. His stats would experience a great increase at that time. ''Still, these monsters lack intelligence... They just attack me without planning anything.'' For him, this was one of the reasons why they lose to him. If they have overwhelming power then fighting like that was fine but they were weak. Fighting a stronger opponent without any plan was like asking the stronger opponent to slaughter them. "You won the battle. I''m not going back on my words. You have my permission to leave this place anytime. It''s up to you to decide when you will leave." Raeshka smiled as she looked at Souta with an amused expression. She was satisfied with his performance. In fact, he greatly exceeded her expectations. To think that a mere goblin would become the strongest second evolution monster. She admitted that she wasn''t as strong as him when she was at his level. She was just a normal monster at that time. Souta was the strongest second evolution monster that she saw in her entire life. Even the subordinates of the other monster lords would be no match to him. From what she saw, Souta could literally overwhelm any second evolution monsters in this world. She also saw that Souta wasn''t even using everything. It means that he still have hidden a part of his power. He could even fight a weak third evolution monster but he wouldn''t be able to defeat it. Souta and the rest of the Dark Oculus fought a peak third evolution monster before, the Dark Vine Stinger. They only managed to defeat it because the guild master stopped it from evolving and it caused the dark vine stinger to receive a heavy wound. Saya also destroyed the monster orb of the dark vine stinger.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16923111105764205)/blessings_%!d(string=51533154447575149) for visiting. If Saya didn''t injure it then it could still kill Souta easily even if he promoted his class to Battle Mage. Souta knew it too that his current strength wasn''t enough to defeat a third evolution monster. A third evolution monster has a monster orb. Plus, a third evolution monster have a skill called [Monster Orb Release] which amplified the power of the monster by several times. He couldn''t even match Gregory with his current strength so how could he defeat a third evolution monster. He could defeat a third evolution monster if he promoted his class to a higher tier. But that''s impossible, he would need a great amount of skill points to promote his class. From his calculation, he would evolve first before he earned the right amount of skill points that he needed to promote his class. A combat arts and spells were needed to promote his class. He was a Battle Mage after all not a pure mage class. "Thanks for keeping your words," Souta said as he bowed his head in front of Raeshka. It''s natural to respect the monster lord. He did it because he doesn''t want her subordinates to turn their hostility to him. "I will leave this place later. I will rest for a while." He said before he looked at Yuko and called her. He healed the wounds that she received from fighting the other monsters. Raeshka smiled while watching the two. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "I have a proposal to you." Souta raised his brows as he looked at Raeshka. ''It seems that she wouldn''t let me leave this place easily.'' He thought as he carefully watched her expression. He was trying to guess what she was thinking. "Hmm... I want you to fight another battle. Of course, I will reward you if you win the battle." Raeshka said while looking straight into his eyes. "Are you not satisfied with my performance?" Souta asked her in a polite tone. "I''m satisfied. You even exceeded my expectations. It''s my first time seeing a monster like you so I want to watch you more." Raeshka replied to him. She still had that faint smile on her face. "So what is it?" Souta asked her without changing his expression. He still didn''t know her motive for her proposal. "I want you to fight one of the second evolution monsters again," Raeshka said to him. "But I already defeat them so what''s the point in fighting one of them if they couldn''t even defeat me when they were working together?" Souta asked her as he was confused. He couldn''t understand why she wanted him to fight another second evolution. "I''ll give one of them my blessings and you will have to fight that chosen one," Raeshka said these words that shocked the other monsters around them. Souta opened his eyes widely when he heard her words. He was shocked beyond words. All the god-level creature in the universe could bless any creature below them. But there''s a limit to it as they couldn''t bless anyone. Souta didn''t know the limit of the blessing as no player managed to reach the level of the god. Even those monster character users didn''t reach the level of the monster lord. The reason was that the level limit at the latest version was 80. It means a fifth evolution stage to monster character users and SSS-rank to humans and demis. Any creature that was blessed by a god-level existence could use the power of blessings at will. If activated it will amplify the power of the blessed creature by several folds. The increase in power depends on the creature that gives the blessing. There were other factors to it but the blessed creature would possess a power that was above its level. In the game, he received the blessings of the goddess Athena. He received her most powerful blessings and Souta used it to dominate his opponents along with the rest of his universal grade equipment. Chapter 239 - Another hint In the game, the blessing that he received from the goddess Athena was one of his aces. It was a great help to every big battle that Souta faced in the game. Without it, he wouldn''t be able to win most of his battles. When he was fighting the demons, the commandments, the deadly sins, and the zodiacs the blessings greatly helped him. Even though he wasn''t at their level the blessings helped him shortened the gap in their powers. He wouldn''t be able to fight them in a one on one battle. Several huge countries would work together just to subdue a single person from the bringer of calamity. A blessing differs from each god-level creatures. It all depends on the power and abilities of the creature. Raeshka was the monster lord of destruction. Destruction wasn''t just a title for her. Instead, it was her specialty as her powers were related to destruction. Also, she was in the top 3 strongest monster lord in the Forest of Eternal Light. Her destructive powers were higher than most of the monster lord in this place befitting the name monster lord of destruction. So the monster that received her blessings will gain some of her characteristics. The overwhelming destructive powers of the destruction queen. A god-level creature wouldn''t give its blessings to any creatures because of some limitations. That''s why Souta was shocked when he heard that Raeshka would give her blessing to a second evolution monster. Normally, a god-level creature would only give their blessings to their trusted subordinates or the strongest subordinates. In the game, Souta completed a lot of Athena''s quests before he became one of her heroes. If a person becomes the hero of the goddess Athena, they will receive her blessings. He worked hard just to become one of her heroes to receive the blessing of a god but a second evolution monster would receive a blessing just like that. On Raeshka''s whim, a second evolution monster would gain the power to fight the higher rank existence. He only knew basic things about the blessings so he didn''t know what Raeshka was thinking for her to give her blessings just like that. ''I will fight the chosen monster and it will be a tough fight. At most, that chosen monster would gain the power of a third evolution monster that didn''t have the power of monster orb.'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. He was calculating the rewards in fighting such a monster. When he said that the chosen monster didn''t have the power of the monster orb, he meant it as fighting a weak third evolution monster that wouldn''t use the [Monster Orb Release] skill. A third evolution monster''s level was between 40 and 59. A weak third evolution monster was between 40 and 45. It was a newly evolved monster that didn''t fully grasp the power of the monster orb. "What is it? Do you agree in my proposal or not?" Raeshka asked Souta when she saw him didn''t answer her proposal immediately. "Wait... Can I ask what rewards will I received?" Souta asked in turn. "Anything. You can ask anything to me." Raeshka said without hesitation. "I see..." Souta nodded as he rubbed his chin. Then, what if he said that he wanted to receive her blessings? Will she give it to him or not? Nevertheless, he didn''t want to receive her blessing. It would cause a commotion in the county of humans and demis if they knew that he had the blessings of a monster lord. The government would easily identify that it was a blessing from a monster lord because he would gain the power of best feram. Yeah, even though he was a second evolution monster he would be able to freely control best feram using the blessing of the monster lord. He couldn''t think of an explanation to say to the government if they discover that. It wouldn''t work even if he said that he saved their subordinates or not. It was a fact that no monster lord would willingly give their blessings to a demi who would use it to slaughter the monsters. If it was a god or deity then Souta would receive the blessing without hesitation but from a monster lord. It was like digging his own grave as he currently didn''t have a plan to leave this continent. ''Then...'' Souta unconsciously grin as he lifted his head and looked at Raeshka. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Yeah, I agreed to your proposal. Now I will state what I want if I won the battle." "Good. State what you want..." Raeshka said as the smile on her face grew wider. She just wanted to watch a fight that would entertain her. ... "Fine... I agree to your condition." Raeshka nodded after she heard the rewards that Souta wanted. "My lord! That''s!" The fifth evolution subordinates of Raeshka exclaimed. They didn''t agree to the reward that Souta said. No, they didn''t even agree that their lord would give her blessing to the second evolution monster. The blessing of their lord wasn''t for a mere second evolution. "I don''t care about what you are thinking. I just want to watch something I haven''t seen before." Raeshka said in a cold tone as she glanced at her subordinates. Her subordinates shut their mouth seeing her getting angry. They bowed their heads and asked forgiveness. They would respect the wish of the lord of the monsters. Raeshka raised her hand and healed all the second evolution monsters. She also helped Souta recover the mana that he drained in the battle. Souta sighed in relief when Raeshka healed Yuko''s wounds and recovered his mana. It seems that she only wanted to see him fight using his full strength. The battle among the subordinates of Raeshka started. The winner of this battle will receive her blessing and everyone fight for it. They were just a second evolution monster but they were given a chance to receive a blessing so they were excited about it. Souta was watching the battle on the side. The winner of this battle will fight him. "Hmm...? Oh, I forgot something." He recalled something in his mind. He turned to Raeshka and said, "Can I call someone? Don''t worry I won''t tell anyone about this. I promise it in my name, Souta Ieshi." "...what!? You''re an Ieshi?" Raeshka looked at Souta with wide eyes. She then shook her head. "No, that''s not possible... The Ieshis are all humans. There''s no demi in their family much less a monster." ''Ieshi? I''ve been hearing this clan name more recently. Just what the hell is this Ieshi clan? I didn''t hear anything about them when I was playing the game.'' Souta frowned when he heard her words. He should try to gather information out of her mouth in the meantime. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, "What do you mean by that?" "Forget it. I don''t want to talk about it. Also, you can do what you wanted to do just now." Raeshka said as she went back to watch the battle. ''It seems that I won''t get any information from her. If she said that she doesn''t want to talk about that topic then I couldn''t do anything regarding it. I can''t be helped I don''t have the same status as her.'' Souta secretly thought as he glanced at Raeshka. He first heard the Ieshi clan from Cl.u.s.ter when he met her. He didn''t think that he would hear it again from Raeshka, a monster lord. Just like Cl.u.s.ter, Raeshka thought that he was a member of this clan when she heard his surname. He clearly heard that Raeshka mentioned the Ieshi clan. There''s a lot of mystery surrounding this clan and Souta grew curious about it. First, it was only Cl.u.s.ter. Cl.u.s.ter said that she read some records of it in her country. Then, Raeshka knew some information about this clan. Souta wanted to know it but he couldn''t force it out of her. He was too weak to do that. Truthfully, he was lucky that Raeshka didn''t kill him. If it was the other monster lords, they would kill Souta. ''Ieshi clan. A clan that have the power to predict the future. A long time ago, they predicted that the world will fall.'' This was the only thing that Souta knew about the mysterious Ieshi clan. This world was the strongest world out there in the universe. The mana density in this place was one hundred times higher than the second higher world. The people of this world called this world the central world. They called this world like that because of simple things... This world was like the center of all the world in the universe. This world is at the top. But the real name of this world was Imperium. Speaking of sub-worlds, some of the sub-world have a mana density one thousand times lower than the Imperium world. A single piece of rock from Imperium world would become a priceless treasure in those kinds of worlds. If this world fell, the other world would follow suit.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16923111105764205)/another-hint_%!d(string=51556452782892121) for visiting. Chapter 240 - vs. Yuko 1 What if he claimed that he was a member of the Ieshi clan? No, that won''t be plausible. He didn''t know anything about them except that they could predict the future. He also didn''t know the extent of Raeshka''s talent about the Ieshi clan. She said that it was a clan of humans not demis so it was impossible that a monster like Souta was a member of the Ieshi clan. Plus, he already told her before that his tribe died and he was the sole survivor of that goblin tribe. Huff... Souta took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself. He shouldn''t rush it. He would eventually find the truth in the future as long as he continued to increase his strength. At least, he knew that Raeshka knew something about the Ieshi clan. If he gained the power to rival hers then he would ask it to her again in the future. But what if he was related to the Ieshi clan? He have a strange feeling that he couldn''t explain every time he heard it. If he was a member of the Ieshi clan, he would try to uncover its mystery. He wanted to know his identity more than anything. His identity that he forgot, the Souta of earth. ''I know that Raeshka have information about what happened twenty thousand years ago... She''s a monster lord and she must have lived through different eras.'' Souta glanced at the battle while rubbing his chin. ''There''s also the other monster lords... I could also ask the spirit race in the Dark Forest. The most important thing is the three great countries. I didn''t doubt that they held information regarding the war twenty thousand years ago and why did the Ieshi clan disappear?'' He had tons of questions in his mind that he wanted to know the answer but he knew the truth that he wouldn''t be able to get it at this moment. Souta had a lot of things that he needed to watch. After version 1, several big events at the continent level will occur at the start of version 2. At the start of version 2, the Demon Invasion event will occur. The demon invasion wasn''t limited to the Giza continent. The demon launched an attack on the two continents, the Giza and the God''s continent. At the end of version 2, will be the start of the event called Rise of the Mechanic Country. The forces of the two continents were still trying to push back the relentless attacks of the demons. On the other side of the Giza continent, the Mechanic country was wager war to all of its neighboring countries. The huge countries around it started to make a move and joined forces to take down the Mechanic country. In version 3, the War of Titans and Giants, the Commandment of Patience, and the Gluttony of the Gods were the big events that will happen in this world. The demons were still on the continent and were fighting some of the huge countries. The War of Titans and Giants and the event Gluttony of the Gods will occur in God''s continent while the Commandment of Patience event will happen in the Giza continent in the later part of version 3. In this version, Souta went to God''s continent and become the hero of Athena. He fought the titans and giants in the war. He became one of the strongest heroes of Athena. And then, the Gluttony of the Deadly Sins appeared and brought chaos along with the rest of his force. The Gluttony killed numerous gods in the battle before leaving the continent. In the Giza continent, the Commandment of Patience demonstrated power in several countries. Souta came back and joined the subjugation force of the three great countries. Only then they managed to stop the Patience. The flames of war swallowed the whole continent. The Giza continent was divided into two parts by the Dark Forest in the center of the land. The western part of the continent was fighting the commandment while the southern part was fighting the demons. About the version 4 and version 5 of the game... He didn''t need to think about it. Version 3 was just the introduction of the power of the Deadly Sin and the Commandment. Souta wanted to tell this to other people but would they believe him? No, they won''t it would only invite himself trouble. They would ask how did he know about it? If he said that he had the power to predict the future then they wouldn''t believe it. In fact, if someone believes it they would connect him to Ieshi clan. He knew well how the mind of those government officials works. They would try to own him or he would become a lab rat. Without any power, he couldn''t reveal this to any people. He shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. He decided that he won''t tell anyone about it. What if he was really a member of the Ieshi clan? He didn''t even know if they were still alive in this world or not so how could he ask for their help. It wouldn''t be wise to risk his life to things that he wasn''t certain. "Hmm...?" Souta forgot that he had something he needed to do. Raeshka already agreed to it so he placed his hand in his pocket and took out a piece of yellow paper. This piece of yellow paper was the transmission talisman. He was sure that Lumilia and the rest were already looking for him and Yuki. It was dark and he hasn''t come back so they were worried about his condition. He had to tell them that he was alive. ROAR!! Suddenly, the monsters around him roared and it shook the ground beneath his feet. It seems that someone won the battle and receive the blessings of Raeshka. Souta looked over and smiled. As expected she won the battle of the second evolution monsters. The winner of the battle is the Red Fur Bear, Yuko. He asked Raeshka to let Yuko participate in the battle to receive her blessings. He said that he will ask Raeshka to blessed Yuko if he won the battle so why not let Yuko participate in the match. If Yuko won then Souta would have to fight her. And if Souta won, Raeshka didn''t need to blessed Yuko as she already received her blessings. That way, Raeshka didn''t need to waste another slot of her blessing for entertainment. Also, this was the reason why some of her subordinates were against in letting Yuko participate in the battle. They thought that only Raeshka''s subordinate has the right to receive her blessings. "Child, come over here and I''ll heal you," Raeshka said to Yuko as she gestured her to come over. Yuko went in front of Raeshka. Her body was full of open wounds with blood leaking out of it. Raeshka pressed her palm on Yuko''s head and the best feram in her body flow in Yuko''s body. Yuko''s wounds slowly closed under Raeshka''s power. "You have to fight Souta after this. You don''t need to hold back and I''m sure that Souta also wanted you to fight him using the power of blessings." Raehska said to Yuko while healing her wounds. Souta knew that Yuko received the lowest blessing of Raeshka but it was enough for her to match his fighting power. He was excited to fight her as he wanted to know the extent of her power using the blessing of Raeshka. Yuko receiving a blessing from the monster lord was more reasonable than him receiving the blessing. The humans and demis would be able to accept it but if he received it then he was sure that he would also gain a lot of enemies in the Hebrei country or any country on this continent. After a while, Raeshka finished healing Yuko''s wounds. She also recovered her stamina so she was ready to fight at any moment. "It''s your turn to fight, Souta..." Raeshka said as she glanced at Souta. "Give it your best shot. Fight each other as if you want to kill your opponent. Don''t worry no one will die here so you can go all out." Souta nodded and strode on the stage where he would fight Yuko. He looked at Yuko with serious eyes. She was emitting a powerful aura that could rival those of higher rank than hers. Raeshka already activated the blessing that she gave to Yuko. It was Yuko''s first time using it so Raeshka had to help her. This was Souta''s advantage in this battle. Yuko didn''t have a grasp of the power of blessing.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16923111105764205)/vs.-yuko-1_%!d(string=51579713520460768) for visiting. "You can start the battle..." Souta heard Raeshka''s voice and at the same time, he heard a sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Blessing]: Yuko received a blessing from a monster lord and you had to fight her. Defeat Yuko and show the monster lord that your power is unrivaled in the second evolution stage. Rewards: 40,000 exp, 13 free attribute points, 9 skill points Chapter 241 - vs. Yuko 2 ''Damn! Just a little bit more and the rewards could match the rewards when I fight Gregory!'' Souta said inwardly after he saw the rewards from the fight. This will become a tough fight for him. His battle power still couldn''t match that of Gregory. He took a deep breath and slowly circulated his mana around his body. He casted [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] without hesitation. He also activated [Cat''s Speed] and [Triple Muscle Strengthening] combat arts. Souta used all these skills because he felt that Yuko''s power was beyond his. He needed to prepare himself and carefully planned out how he will defeat Yuko. The rewards he will receive from this quest wasn''t small. "Don''t hold back, Yuko! Show me your power!" Souta said to Yuko as bent his knees and charged towards her. ROARRR! Yuko roared and it made the ground trembled. Her aura was overflowing out of her body. It was as if she couldn''t control it. Boom!! Thick and dense best feram exploded out of her body. It flooded the entire area and it somehow shook Souta who was charging towards Yuko. She raised her body and prepared to intercept Souta but Souta stopped and brandished the vajra sword. [Cross Moon]! A red slash flew out and went straight to Yuko. Yuko just opened her mouth and used her trait skill [Burning Shout]. A sea of flames came out of her mouth and it covered the entire arena. This was several times stronger and heavier than her normal trait skill. The sea flames swallowed the red slash and it disappeared. Swoosh!! "Damn! Yuko..." Souta couldn''t help but cursed when he saw that the flames swallowed his skill. He knew that the best feram in her body amplified her trait skill to the point that it could kill him if he didn''t do anything. He waved his hand and ten fist-size black balls appeared behind him. It was the level 10 [Gravitational Ball] spells. Ohm! The gravitational field immediately formed around him and it tried to deflect Yuko''s powerful trait skill. The Elder Treant who was watching the battle quickly created a barrier around the stage. The firepower of Yuko''s skill was very destructive as it took the characteristics of their lord, the destruction queen. Swoosh! The lower rank monsters would get caught up in the aftershocks of their battle if the Elder Treant didn''t create a barrier. The flames dissipated and Souta was still standing in his position without a hint of a scratch. Somehow the [Gravitational Ball] managed to protect him from Yuko''s attack. "Shit! I don''t know if the gravitational field can last against her attacks!" Souta said as the ground turned black and several black tentacles rose. He also scattered [Shadow Ball] spell around the field for insurance. He could instantly escape from danger using this spell. The black tentacles moved and it stretched out towards Yuko. Swoosh!! Yuko growled and a large concentration of best feram gathered in her arms. She waved it towards the black tentacles. Boom! Her powerful attack destroyed the tentacles but she couldn''t destroy all of them. She jumped in the air to avoid the tentacles and once again used the [Burning Shout] trait skill. Bam! "Yuko''s trait skill became a super AOE skill after using the blessing of a monster lord," Souta muttered as he saw that the flames swallowed everything inside the barrier. He couldn''t escape so he could only defend himself. Once again, the gravity field protected him from being burned by Yuko''s skill. ''Five, no, three more burning skill and it would break the gravity field around me.'' Souta thought as he dashed towards Yuko without hesitation. He couldn''t win in a long-range battle. Although he was a mage he didn''t have spells to end someone quickly. Most of his spells were crowd control to help him in his battle. Yuko raised her left arm when Souta arrived in front of her. She brought it down along with the large concentration of best feram. Swoosh! Souta saw it and he quickly moved his body to the side. Boom! The ground collapses as her attack destroyed it. "The f.u.c.k!! Her strength stat also increased to the point that she could destroy me in five hits!" Souta cursed as he glanced at the destroyed arena. He clenched his finger around the vajra sword and swung it towards Yuko. Bang! "What the!?" Souta opened his eyes widely as he saw that the blade of his sword didn''t cut her body. The best feram around her body was protecting her like his gravity field. Swoosh! Yuko swung her other arm at Souta but Souta disappeared from his position and reappeared behind her. Swoosh! He just needed to avoid her attack if her attack was so powerful. The [Shadow Ball] spell was great for escaping and avoiding. "Close combat it is..." Souta said as a black cloak formed around his body. The [Shadow Cloak] would increase the power of darkness attribute spell and combat arts by ten percent. With this, his [Gravitational Ball] and [Shadow Bind] spells would last longer. With the help of [Gravitational Ball] spell, he engaged in a close-quarter combat with Yuko. Bang! Bang! Bang! He slashed Yuko with the intent to defeat her. A large concentration of mana was coating the vajra sword while using the [Crimson Moon] and [Cross Moon] skills. He slashed his sword at Yuko like a madman and every time Yuko launched an attack he would teleport to her blind spot using the [Shadow Ball].Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16923111105764205)/vs.-yuko-2_%!d(string=51598013033936766) for visiting. As expected, Yuko''s fighting skill wasn''t that great. She always dominated her opponents using brute strength. Her movements were predictable. Swoosh! Yuko swung her arm once again and Souta ducked down to avoid it. He then slashed his sword at her belly before teleporting on her back. ''Good, I already broke her best feram armor.'' Souta nodded inwardly as he gathered his mana in his sword before slashing it at her back. Swoosh! Yuko turned around to face him while Souta stepped back in case she attacked him. She moved her feet and chased after him but she felt her feet sink on the ground. "Mu?" She looked down and saw the ground turned into a pool of mud. Souta saw an opportunity. He slashed his sword and used [Cross Moon] skill. Bang! The red slash landed on Yuko''s huge body before it exploded. He then teleported behind her and repeatedly swung his sword. Souta had [High Energy Resistance] so he could somehow cast a spell under the pressure of Yuko''s best feram. If she was a true third evolution monster that used the [Monster Orb Release] then Souta would have a hard time casting a spell. Yuko looked at the pool of mud and opened her mouth. A large amount of flames burst from her mouth. "Not good," Souta said as he immediately stopped slashing his sword. He quickly jumped away but the flames still swallowed his whole body. Boom! Raeshka was watching the battle with a smile on her face. She could see that Yuko was stronger than Souta but not that much. She couldn''t overwhelm Souta with pure strength. Souta''s strength, speed, and attack were weaker than Yuko but his spells were tricky. Yuko couldn''t even touch him. "If she could hold him then she could easily defeat Souta but Souta had that teleportation spell which is interesting," Raeshka commented while watching the battle. By watching the battle, she could deduct that Yuko lacks battle experience. Her movements and attacks were predictable. She mostly handled everything using brute strength. She was clearly stronger than Souta but too bad for her Souta was an expert in fighting monsters. He knew how to position himself and attack in the blind spot. He was utilizing Yuko''s weakness to his advantage and that''s commendable. "She won''t win this battle. The blessing has a time limit as it couldn''t be used infinitely." Raeshka said as she looked at Souta. Boom! The gravity field around Souta broke but the [Shadow Cloak] absorbed some of the damage that he received from Yuko''s trait skill. He consumed a large amount of his mana by using the gravity field nonstop. He was also using [Shadow Ball] and [Shadow Bind] spells repeatedly. Swoosh! Yuko emerged from the flames in front of him and it caught Souta off guard. Before he could switch with his [Shadow Ball], Yuko''s paw was already at his side. Bang! The [Shadow Cloak] around him broke into tiny pieces and he spat a mouthful of blood. He flew away and disappeared before crashed on the barrier. Yuko quickly turned around when she saw him disappeared. But she found that Souta wasn''t behind her. Souta always teleported behind her but now it was different. A red slash landed on her body from above. Bang! Souta landed in front of her and he used [Stab]. He pierced the best feram around her body. After that, he used [Crimson Moon], [Cross Moon], and [Stab] respectively. He didn''t stop and continued to launch an attack like a storm until Yuko went down. Boom! Boom! Boom! After some time, the vajra sword fell on the ground. Souta didn''t have the strength to move his body nor grip the dark grade sword. His ribs were fractured in that one attack and he loses more than half of his health points. Yuko''s attack was much more lethal than he expected. If he didn''t have the [Shadow Cloak] then he would go down in one attack. Cough! Cough! Souta fell on his knees as he coughed a mouthful of blood. "Damn, Yuko... She''s far stronger than me using the blessing and... she hasn''t fully grasp its power... If she fully controlled the power of blessing... I alone wouldn''t be enough... to fight her..." He was just lucky this time that Yuko was still familiarizing herself with her strength. It was still his first time using the power of blessing, after all. Chapter 242 - Quest Complete! Huff... Huff... Souta was breathing heavily. He raised his arm and wiped the blood on his mouth. He looked at Yuko who fell down on the ground. "I''m sorry, Yuko." He mumbled while looking at her figure. At the same time, he heard a familiar sound in his head. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the quest Blessing!] [You''ve received 40,000 exp, 13 free attribute points, and 9 skill points!] Souta ignored the notification in his mind as he focused his attention on Yuko. He was concerned about her condition as he knew what he did to her. At the same time, he was glad that she gained a power that surpassed his own. She just needed to master it and she would be able to wreck him easily. He lay down on his back and looked at the ceiling which was full of shining crystals. He gained a total of 15 skill points in this unexpected event. It was not that bad as Yuko gained a blessing. Raeshka wouldn''t be able to take back her blessing from Yuko. If she wanted another take back her blessing then Yuko would have to die. That''s the only way for Raeshka to take back her blessing. That''s why most of the god-level creatures only gave their blessing to their most trusted aides. But Souta didn''t need to worry about Raeshka killing Yuko. She wouldn''t go back on her words. He knew her personality so he didn''t doubt her. He could say that he earned a lot this time. From system points to material things as he was the one who won the fight. Just like what they have agreed on, Souta would receive all the things that he requested. Resources, materials, and one artifact. He didn''t make an excessive request this time as he knew that the blessing that Yuko received was far more amazing than these material things. He also knew that Raeshka''s subordinates would get angry at him if he tried to take advantage of this situation. He didn''t want to gather the hostility of various third, fourth, and fifth evolution stage monsters. He would die the moment he stepped out of this place if they become angry at him. Suddenly, a warm energy covered both of their body. Raeshka was healing both of them. She looked at Souta and said, "You know you''re lucky that you won the fight but... I''m still amazed that you managed to keep up with her even though the difference in power is large." Raeshka was right. The difference in their power was too large. To defeat Yuko, Souta used everything in his arsenal. He launched countless powerful attacks before he took down Yuko. But Yuko only used one attack to heavily injured him. The difference could be seen from that. For him, Yuko was a wild boss. Her power was already a boss power of version 2 of the game. He just knew Yuko''s attack pattern and that''s one of his advantages in this fight. "Also, that weapon of yours and the equipment you''re wearing at this moment. Those equipments of yours became the reason why you won the battle. Yuko didn''t have equipment while you have. I should have given her some equipment before the battle to make it fair but that''s not important right now." Raeshka said as she one by one listed down his advantage in the battle. "The important thing is that I''m satisfied by what I saw. Both of you managed to fascinate me. It''s been a while since I felt this feeling." She was right. Yuko didn''t have the equipment to increase her stats and power while he had various useful equipments. It seems that Souta needed to find some armor for her. The dark grade [Vajra Sword Saya] was already a huge advantage for Souta. Souta closed his eyes and recalled the battle in his mind. He was taking down Yuko''s weaknesses and was planning to help her eliminate her weaknesses. Battle experience, skills, and some equipment. She couldn''t rely on her brute strength forever. After a few minutes, Souta looked at the system and saw that his health points were full. He sat down and took out a piece of yellow paper. Before he could call Lumilia, Yuko won the battle and he forgot that he would call Lumilia as Raeshka suddenly mentioned the Ieshi clan. ... Lumilia, Lynn, Bryan, and the rest of the Dark Oculus were worried about Souta and Yuko. It was already dark and Souta still didn''t come back. One more thing, the monster tide occurred and this was one of the reasons why they were worried about Souta. If this was an ordinary day, they would only think that Souta was still clearing low-level dungeons but the monster tide appeared. No matter how powerful Souta and Yuko are they wouldn''t be able to eliminate all those monsters. The group was in Souta''s room. They thought that Souta was in his room before so they checked inside the room and found that he was not inside the room. At that time, they found that Souta hasn''t come back since he left to clear the low-level dungeons. In the end, they decided to stay in his room to wait for his return. "Souta and Yuko... I hope they are fine." Lynn said with concern in her tone. "You don''t need to worry about me. Souta is strong and smart. I''m sure that he''s fine." Bryan looked at Lumilia and said. Lumilia was pacing back and forth in Souta''s room. A lot of things were coming into her mind and she didn''t know what she should do. She wanted to call Souta using the transmission talisman but she was afraid to bother him. What if he was fighting someone and her call distracted him? She wouldn''t be able to forgive herself if that happens.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16923111105764205)/quest-complete!_%!d(string=51620749231838323) for visiting. That''s the reason why she didn''t dare to call Souta using the transmission talisman. She knew that Souta was clearing the dungeons so she couldn''t call him. "Bryan is right. Worrying like that wouldn''t make a difference." Yujin said to Lynn and Lumilia. "Even if you say so..." Lynn muttered as she looked down. "We could only believe in Souta," Alice said from the side as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Souta said this before if he was gone you''re the one who would command us so calm down, Lumilia," Brando said to Lumilia. "Though it''s not official, Souta already treats you as his right hand. If he had a plan he would always tell you that plan before us." Yujin added. Lumilia looked at them and she was about to say something when she felt a magical signature in the transmission talisman inside her pocket. She knew that Souta was trying to connect to her talisman. "Wait... Souta is contacting us." She said to the rest of the Dark Oculus. She then took out the transmission talisman and poured her mana in it. Yujin, Alice, Brando, and the rest were confused but when Lumilia took out the talisman they quickly understand that the two have a way of contacting each other. Bryan was the only one who didn''t know the talisman. "See... He even gave you a talisman to contact him." Brando said as he shrugged his shoulders. Lumilia glanced at him and Brando shut his mouth. After a while, she heard Souta''s voice coming from the talisman. "Lumilia, tell the others that I''m fine. I will return with Yuko in the morning. I don''t think we would be able to return at this time." "Okay, they are here and they heard your words," Lumilia replied to Souta. "We''re waiting for your return." They talked for a while and Bryan joined the conversation. They didn''t ask what happened to Souta or if he needed help. They knew that Souta wouldn''t hesitate to call them if he needed their help. He was a man who knew his shortcomings very well. If Souta didn''t ask for their help means that he could handle all the problems on his own without their help. After they talked for a few minutes, Souta closed the connection as he stopped running his mana in the talisman. He knew that they cleared several dungeons including the Lanny group. He also heard from them that a monster tide occurred while they were clearing dungeons and it disrupted their pace. He stood up along with Yuko and saw that his rewards were already beside Raeshka. Raeshka smiled and said, "Actually, I don''t want to let you go. I wanted you to join my ranks but a promise is a promise. If you want to leave this place you can leave but if you want to stay in this place I''ll give you a force of your own. I''ll also let you lead the bear tribe in this place. Both of you will become a leader of a tribe." "Thanks for your generosity but I still wanted to leave this place and enhance my strength on the outside world. Only then I would be able to grow stronger." Souta said in a polite tone as he bowed his head in front of Raeshka. Yuko followed Souta''s lead and bowed her head. "I hope you visit this place in the future and told me interesting things that you found in the human and demi country," Raeshka said with a smile. "Don''t worry, I will come back here in the future," Souta replied to her. "Bid farewell later. It''s not like you''re going to leave at this time, right?" Raeshka asked him as she slightly tilted his head. "Yeah, it''s dangerous on the surface when it was dark. Plus, I need to check the things that you prepared for me." Chapter 243 - Rewards Souta was checking the things that Raeshka prepared for him. The fruits that could increase his strength, materials for evolution, and one artifact were the things that he requested if he won the battle. The artifact has an effect that could hide the energy in his body. So if he had the best feram this thing would help him hid the best feram in his body but it couldn''t hide the best feram under the watchful eyes of powerful humans. The SSS-rank and Hero rank would be able to detect his best feram. It means that he wouldn''t be able to hide his energy in front of Bargan who was at the Hero rank. There were some exceptions to this rule. If an S-rank or SS-rank sensory type appeared they would be able to sense the best feram in his body. He also wouldn''t be able to use best feram if he was wearing this artifact. The artifact effect would disappear if he uses best feram. Souta looked at the artifact in his hand. This artifact was only a piece of orange grade equipment and that''s why it could hide his energy from powerful people. The artifact was a jade color bracelet that has small blue gems around it. He equipped it and checked its stats in the system. [Bracelet of Silencing](Orange): A bracelet of an ancient witch who wandered around the continent while hiding her powers. She secretly kidnapped children from different countries and used them for her experiment. Effect: +60 Intelligence, +30 Vitality, +100 health, +200 mana, and +5 mana regen Passive skill: It could hide the wearer''s energy from the senses of the people. This has a limit as it couldn''t hide the wearer''s energy from level 80 creatures and above. ''Good. I''m satisfied with this artifact.'' Souta nodded inwardly while looking at the bracelet on his wrist. The added stats were great. As expected of an orange grade weapon. Once Souta evolved, he planned to leave towards the God''s continent. He wouldn''t let the powerful people in the Hebrei kingdom sensed his best feram. But he still has a plan to visit small kingdoms, dukedoms, or cities on his way to the other continent and that''s why he needed this bracelet which could hide his best feram from their senses. He didn''t need to worry about small kingdoms, dukedoms, or cities. The strongest people in that kind of place were only B-rank. Sometimes, they would produce an A-rank or S-rank powerhouse but that''s very rare. Just like in the Fersch dukedom. The strongest person there was the guild master of the Adventurers Guild and the guild master was only a B-rank adventurer. Souta could call himself a B-rank at this moment. He had the power of a B-rank as he was a tamer. Yuko''s power was also his power. He had a [Pet Resonance] skill that could create a bridge between them at which they could share their senses and energy. By energy, he meant that if Yuko used the power of blessing he could borrow the best feram in her body through their shared senses. Actually, Souta could use this skill before in his battle with Yuko. He could borrow her energy through this skill and Yuko could also borrow his energy. It was a risky move but he was sure that Yuko would let him borrow her power but that beats the point of him wanting to test the true extent of his power. Plus, it was unfair for Yuko if he borrowed her power in a fight between them. He didn''t want to take advantage of her kindness in a battle between the two of them. Let''s move to the other rewards, the materials for evolution. He didn''t need to worry about the materials for his and Yuko''s evolution. All the materials were in front of him. Exploding chili cherry, grand blue ash, and the fur of a flaming head ape were the materials for Yuko''s third evolution while the blood of a thirty different third evolution monsters, blood dry ginseng, and the thousand vein leaves was for Souta''s third evolution. He was halfway through the third evolution and it was still version 1. It was a great start for the upcoming version 2 events. ''I''ve accomplished one of the reasons why I''ve come in Forest of Eternal Light.'' Souta thought and he moved his eyes to the remaining rewards. A variety of fruits were in his vision. All of these fruits could enhance any creature''s body. He stretched out his hand and picked a red apple fruit. He felt heat coming out of it and thought that ordinary people wouldn''t be able to eat this fruit. This fruit was called flame resistance fruit. It could increase a person''s flame resistance to a high level. Any person who ate this fruit would be able to handle two thousand degrees celsius without using any energy to protect their body. Nothing will happen if the same person ate this fruit. It wouldn''t increase a person''s flame resistance for a second time. It means that a person would only receive benefits if they are this fruit for the first time. "Good..." Souta smiled and he bit the red apple fruit in his hand. If a person wanted to go to the Vulcan''s Ring Continent then they needed this fruit. The average temperature in that place was one thousand five hundred degrees celsius. *Ding!* [Flame Resistance has increased!] After he ate the red apple fruit, Souta picked another fruit. He ate it without care for his surroundings. *Ding!* [Your Mana has increased by 20!] [Your Strength Attribute has increased by 10!] [Your Mana has increased by 18!] [Your Agility and Dexterity had increased by 10!] [Your Defense has increased!] [Your Water Resistance has increased!] [Your Lightning Damage has increased!] [Your Fire Damage has increased!] [Your Stamina has increased by 50!] Souta stopped eating the fruits as he turned his head to Yuko. He opened his mouth and said, "You can eat these fruits. It would enhance your body." Yuko tilted her head while looking at his face. After a while, she understood what he was saying. She opened her mouth and ate one of the fruits on the ground. Souta smirked as he looked at Yuko. He then shook his head and went back to eating the fruits. There hundreds of fruits on the ground. Souta and Yuko would only waste the other fruits if they ate all of this. Souta planned to bring this back for the members of the Dark Oculus. He didn''t forget them when he told Raeshka the rewards that he wanted. The system prompts kept ringing in his head as he continued to eat various types of fruits. *Ding!* [Your Vitality has increased by 20!] [Your Defense has increased!] [Your Energy Resistance has increased!] [Your Health has increased by 50!] [Your Mana has increased by 30!] [Your Darkness has increased!] [Your Physical Damage Resistance has increased!] [Your Strength has increased by 40!] [Your Magical Resistance has increased!] [Your Poison Resistance has increased!] [Your Cold Resistance has increased!] [Your Physical Damage Resistance has increased!] [Your Dexterity has increased by 30!] [Your Agility has increased by 25!] Various fruits with different effects kept entering Souta''s mouth. He only stopped eating the fruits after he felt that he was full. "Damn! Yuko..." Souta glanced at his side and saw that Yuko was still eating the fruits. He wouldn''t stop her as he knew that she would grow stronger by eating these fruits. He smiled gently and shook his head. He looked at the changes in his stats in the semi-transparent screen in his vision. Health: 1,170 ? 1,740 Stamina: 605 ? 675 Mana: 1,490 ? 1,782 Strength: 495 ? 570 Agility: 400 ? 548 Dexterity: 390 ? 495 Intelligence: 530 Vitality: 525 ? 610 This was Souta''s base stats without the added stats of his equipment and weapon. Credit to these fruits, he managed to increase all of his attributes except for Intelligence. He couldn''t find any fruits that could increase his Int attribute in the fruits that Raeshka prepared for him. Well, that doesn''t matter to him as he was satisfied by the huge increase in his stats. His stats weren''t the only things that improved, his defense, resistance to various elements, and elemental damage also improved.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16923111105764205)/rewards_%!d(string=51638646914215994) for visiting. "Don''t eat everything. You will not receive any benefits if you eat the same fruit again and again." Souta stood up and said to Yuko. He patted his clothes and looked around. Raeshka was gone as she already went back to her castle. The other monsters were gone too. "It''s time to say goodbye," Souta muttered as he looked at the huge castle in front of him. Thinking about the things that happened this time, Souta couldn''t help but smile. An unexpected event like this wasn''t that bad as he thought. He walked forwards and entered the castle. Inside the castle, he requested an audience to the monster lord. Souta talked to Raeshka and he bid farewell to her. He was sure that it was already morning on the surface so he had to leave this place. Chapter 244 - Returning to Eternal Empire Souta and Yuko left the dungeon where Raeshka lives. The treasures inside that dungeon were something that normal people couldn''t imagine. It greatly exceeded the treasury of huge countries like Hebrei Kingdom and the Eternal Empire. However, if someone wanted to take all those treasures they would have to face countless first, second, and third evolution monsters. Also, a battalion of fourth evolution monsters with dozens of fifth evolution stage monsters. After that, they would have to face the monster lord, the destruction queen. If they wanted to clear this dungeon and take all the treasure inside it, they would need a god-level powerhouse in their party. A powerhouse that could match the destruction queen who was famous for her destructive power. An ordinary god-level powerhouse wouldn''t stand a chance against Raeshka. Back when a monster lord rampage in the continent, humans and demis sent a party consist of god-level powerhouses to stop the monster lord. The difference in power between monster lord and god of humans and demis was large. A newly evolved monster lord could easily destroy a newly born god. That''s why to conquer this dungeon several gods were needed to fight Raeshka as she wasn''t an ordinary monster lord. She was a creature who could contend with the fearsome commandments of the God''s Will cult. In ancient times, a monster lord who was called Monkey King wreaked havoc in God''s Continent. The Monkey King defeated several gods but was stopped by the joined forces of gods from the Heavenly Palace. Souta looked back at Raeshka''s dungeon. After a few moments, he turned his head and started to walk away. Yuko followed him quietly with a bag on her back. This bag was full of fruits that Raeshka prepared as Souta''s rewards. He stretched his arms and said, "I''ll go towards the Eternal Empire at full speed. Yuko, just hold those fruits and wait for me to summon you." "Mu." Yuko nodded her head as if she understood his words. "Good..." Souta smirked as he activated [Cat''s Speed] and [Agility Boost] spell. He slightly bent his knees and with a "boom" he charged towards the direction of Eternal Empire. Swoosh! He then used [Dash] to increased his speed as he was running in a straight line. His speed was greater than yesterday. The difference was huge and it was all thanks to the fruits that he ate before. Souta could also use his mana to increase but he didn''t do so. He didn''t want to attract the attention of some monsters in this forest. In fact, some of the monsters already sensed him but they ignored him as Souta quickly leave their territory. ... "Lord, is it really alright to let that goblin leave?" The goblin executioner asked Raeshka in a polite tone. Raeshka was sitting on her throne with her eyes closed. She slowly opened her eyes when she heard her subordinate''s question. She smiled and replied, "It''s fine, he''ll come back. I can see it in his eyes. And I''m looking forward to that day." After she answered her subordinate''s question, she rested her chin on her palm and she once again closed her eyes. She had a feeling that his return wasn''t that far. ... Souta arrived in front of the gate of the Eternal Empire. Sweat was forming on his forehead and he wiped it with his hand. He tried to arrive at this place as fast as possible so it drained some of his stamina. "I''m going to summon, Yuko." He muttered as the crimson tattoo on his shoulder glow. After a while, Yuko appeared before him. Souta then contacted Lumilia using the transmission talisman to let everyone know that he was in the empire and was going to arrive at the inn. Lumilia said to him that the Lanny group was looking for him. She said to them that he hasn''t returned and informed them that they could continue clearing the dungeons while Souta was away. She explained to the Lanny group why he hasn''t returned and the Lanny group could only accept her explanation. "You did a good job. I''m going to cancel the connection so wait for me in my room. Call the others too." Souta said as he stopped pouring his mana in the talisman. He walked towards the gate with Yuko beside him. He showed his adventurer''s ID to the guards and entered the empire with Yuko. He didn''t summon Yuko at the inn because he didn''t want trouble. The guards always recorded who enter and exit the empire so if the guards got a word the there''s a monster in the city that didn''t have a permit to enter, he would face punishment. He had to follow the rules of the Eternal Empire if he wanted to stay here peacefully. Both of them entered the empire without any problem. Souta and Yuko didn''t go to another place as they headed straight towards the inn. He was quite excited to meet them as he brought them souvenirs from Raeshka''s dungeon. Well, they wouldn''t know that these fruits came from a dungeon of a monster lord. After a few minutes, both of them arrived at the inn. Souta let Yuko rest as they haven''t got a sleep since yesterday. They were quite tired even though their stamina and mana were full. Souta entered his room and found that everyone was there. It seems that Lumilia followed his words and called everyone in his room. What a good girl... "S-Souta... You...!!" Lynn opened her eyes widely when she saw Souta. Souta glanced at her and said with a smile on his face. "I have a fruitful encounter so I''m back to my full strength." He knew that Lynn managed to sense his mana in his body. Yesterday, she couldn''t sense anything from him as his mana pool was severely damaged at that time. He didn''t have a single speck of mana in his body yesterday but it was different now. His mana was clearly stronger and much denser than the last time he showed it. ''I will equip the [Bracelet of Silencing] later. I have to explain to her so that she wouldn''t be surprised if she couldn''t sense my mana.'' Souta thought as he remembered the artifact that he requested. He moved his head and swept his eyes at the members of the Dark Oculus. Lumilia, Lynn, Bryan, Brando, Alice, Yujin, and Cl.u.s.ter were all looking at him. They were waiting for him to say something as the leader of the party. "First, look at this. I have a bunch of mana fruits. You can have these fruits to enhance your body." Souta said as he placed a bag of fruits in front of them. "I see... So my senses are not wrong. These are real mana fruits." Yujin said as he picked one fruit and looked at it. Alophy, his contracted spirit, appeared on his shoulder. She appeared because she sensed the mana fruits. She was a spirit so she was quite sensitive to these things. Everyone knew that he was a spirit contractor so they were not surprised when Alophy appeared. They only looked at her with a curious gaze. They haven''t seen Alophy before and only heard it. "Jin, this one is a Freezing Heart Fruit. It could greatly enhance your cold resistance." Alophy said as she recognized the fruit in Yujin''s palm.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16923111105764205)/returning-to-eternal-empire_%!d(string=51650871464870542) for visiting. "Woah! I''ve only read some of the fruits here in the books! I didn''t think that brother Souta would found these fruits!" Cl.u.s.ter exclaimed as she looked at the fruits. Clap!! Souta clapped his hands as he gathered everyone''s attention. When everyone looked at him, Souta opened his mouth and said, "All the fruits inside the huge bag are precious fruits. They are hard to find." Lumilia looked at Souta with a worried expression. If those greedy nobles knew that Souta had these precious resources then they would trouble him, just like what those nobles did to her dad when he got that honey. She didn''t want the same thing to happen to Souta. Souta felt her gaze so he glanced at her and said, "I know what you are thinking but I think that no one among us would tell someone that we have these mana fruits." He knew the personality of the members of Dark Oculus so he didn''t need to worry about information leaks unless someone was pretending. He''ll probably grow mad when his comrades betray him. If that happens he could only blame himself for trusting them and he will kill the one who betrayed him without mercy. But the idea of him killing his teammates leaves a bad taste in his mouth. He could only hope that no one would betray him. "I''ll give ten fruits to each of you and we''ll place the rest in our treasury," Souta said to them. He didn''t plan to give everything to them as he had other plans for the fruits. "Treasury? Do we have treasury?" Brando asked Souta with a confused expression. He was one of the founding members of the party but he didn''t recall them having a treasury. "No, we don''t but we will build it after we return to Ladros city," Souta answered Brando''s question. Influence and power were all the things that he needed. He will expand the Dark Oculus group into a legion. Chapter 245 - Legion Souta explained to them the real value of the precious fruits that he brought. "I have a plan in my mind... You see these fruits...." Lynn was speechless as she covered her mouth with her hand. She couldn''t believe what she heard from Souta''s mouth. Souta said that he could buy half of a city if he changed these fruits to coins. The infrastructures around the city were included in it. Souta calculated the true value of a single city from the huge countries. The soldiers, buildings, and houses were all included in his calculation. After he finished his calculation, he estimated that he could buy half of a city from huge countries using these fruits. Lumilia was still shocked even though she had an idea about the true value of these fruits. She looked at the bunch of fruits with a frown on her face. She couldn''t hide her concern regarding these things. If Souta had a plan then she wanted to hear it to ease her worries. She knew that the value of these fruits surpassed the assets of the Asvares family. "Damn!! Just what did you encounter in the forest, Souta!?" Brando blurted out as he took his hands away from the fruits. Now that he knew the true value of the fruits, he became afraid to touch the fruits. "What!? If you have that amount of money you can do anything that you want!!" Bryan exclaimed when he heard Souta''s words. He started to imagine what he could do if he had that amount of money. "No, money isn''t enough for a person to do anything in this world. You need power. If you have power money would naturally come to you." Souta replied to Bryan in a serious tone. Power was everything in this world. The three great countries became great countries because they have the power that could dominate the huge countries on this continent. Yujin knew that these were mana fruits so he wasn''t shocked at Souta''s words. He already guessed it when he saw a bunch of mana fruits. He and Alophy knew a lot of things about mana fruits. That''s why they easily recognized the mana fruits. Alice was looking at the mana fruits with a plain expression. It wasn''t her first time seeing a bunch of rare mana fruits. She was curious about how Souta managed to acquire these mana fruits. If her knowledge wasn''t wrong it was hard to acquire these fruits. Just like that Dark Light Mango. Based on her knowledge that fruit was heavily guarded by a fourth evolution stage monster called Yin Yang Elephant. The question was how Souta managed to acquire these fruits? She could see that he was exhausted but didn''t have any injuries or wounds in his body. "Okay, each of you can have ten mana fruits. Just like what I''ve said before we''ll put the rest in our treasury." Souta said as he looked at everyone. "C-Can we really have ten of these fruits?" Brando asked as he looked at Souta with doubt in his eyes. He couldn''t believe that Souta would give out things that have a high value. "Yeah, I''m not lying when I said that you can have ten mana fruits. But there''s a condition... And that''s I want all the things that we will get in the dungeons in this place." Souta replied to Brando. "The value of the treasures in low and mid-level dungeons couldn''t be compared to the value of these mana fruits. Do tell us what''s your plan? I''m sure that you have a plan in your head." Yujin spoke as he glanced at Souta at the corner of his eyes. ''Yujin is right. Souta wouldn''t earn anything by exchanging the fruits to the treasures in low-level dungeons.'' Lumilia thought as she silently agreed to Yujin''s words. "Don''t underestimate the treasures in low-level dungeons. Sometimes an adventurer would find orange and red grade equipment inside those low-level dungeons." Souta replied to Yujin. "But that''s not the point here... I want all of you to eat ten mana fruits and enhance your strength. Because I want to expand the Dark Oculus party into a legion." "Expand out party into a legion? What does that mean?" Bryan asked as he slightly tilted his head. He couldn''t understand what Souta mean by expanding their party into a legion. "That''s... I see... So that is your plan?" Yujin slightly raised his eyebrows. He finally understood what Souta was trying to do. Souta looked at Lumilia and said, "Lumilia, explain to them what is a legion." "Understood." Lumilia nodded before she faced everyone. She started to explain the difference between a normal party and a legion. A legion was a bigger size of a party. For a party to become a legion, they needed at least one B-rank adventurer in their party. The said party would request an expansion in the Adventurers Guild. The Adventurers would approve of it after they check that they completed all the requirements to become a legion. A base of operation was needed in Legion. As the Adventurers Guild would send people to install the quest board in their base and handle the reception. The reception of a legion was handled by the people from the guild. It was to avoid cheating by saying they completed the quest even though they haven''t done it. The advantage of a legion was the quest. Adventurers without affiliation to the legion couldn''t accept that quest. Legion has a rank. At rank one, a legion could have a maximum of fifty quests a week in their quest board. Five of these quests were B-rank quest involving powerful people and monsters. A bounty quest would be posted to it. A bounty quest involves killing or hunting people that have a bounty in their heads. One more thing, a legion could select their hunting ground in the guild. The guild would forbid any adventurers from hunting inside the selected area. Most of the nobles would prefer to ask the legion than a normal party of adventurers. For those who didn''t know it, the quest from nobles has high rewards. The thing that Souta wanted in the legion was the quest. Owning fifty quests a week was a huge benefit for his system. It means that he would earn exp, free attribute points, and skill points even though he wasn''t the one who completed it. As long as it was completed by his legion members he would receive the rewards from his system. But first, they needed one B-rank adventurer in their party... After Lumilia''s explanation, everything understood what is a legion. But something was bothering them. They don''t have a B-rank adventurer in their party at this moment. Then, they realized something as they all turned their heads and looked at Souta.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16923111105764205)/legion_%!d(string=51672841296337061) for visiting. Souta knew what they were thinking. He nodded his head and said, "That''s right, I''m planning on taking the test to become a B-rank adventurer once we return to the Ladros city. I think I have the strength to become a B-rank adventurer." "You mean... You''re as strong as a guild master." Brando said in shock. Bryan looked at Brando then at Souta when he heard Brando''s words. "What?! You have that kind of power!!" Bryan was shocked as he recalled from his memory in the Fersch dukedom that the guild master there fought a peak third evolution monster. "Not quite. All the guild masters of Adventurers Guild are veterans. The guild master in Fersch dukedom is a veteran B-rank adventurer. It means that he''s powerful among the B-rank adventurers. A top contender of B-rank, that''s what a guild master is." Souta shook his head while replying to Bryan and Brando. "I understand everything. As the main party of the leader, we need to grow stronger to match the power of the leader. It would solidify our status to the new member of the legion." Lumilia paused for a moment before she added, "That''s why we don''t need to hesitate to receive the mana fruits from Souta. All of this is for the Dark Oculus." "That''s right! Jin, take those fruits! I want it!" Alophy said in a happy tone to Yujin while pointing at the mana fruits. "Souta gave it to me not yours," Yujin said to his spirit, Alophy. "Jin!! Why are you like that!? We already said in the contract that what''s your is mine and what''s mine is yours!!" Alophy complained to Yujin as she squirmed on his shoulder. "Um... What about me, brother Souta?" Cl.u.s.ter raised her hand and asked Souta. She felt that she wasn''t included in their group. "You''ll also get ten mana fruits," Souta said with a smile. He stretched out his hand and patted her head. "Yay!!" Cl.u.s.ter hopped around the room in excitement. ''I''ll let her join the legion later.'' Souta thought while looking at Cl.u.s.ter. "But I needed to pass the exam first. If I failed the promotion exam then all the plan is for nothing. I needed to prepare myself first." He said to everyone with a serious expression. That''s why he will get the other [Soul Blood Earring] to increase his strength. Chapter 246 - Resting "The question is how confident are you in passing the promotion exam?" Yujin asked as he turned his head to Souta. He wanted to know if Souta could really pass the promotion exam. Because if he failed the promotion exam, he wouldn''t be able to take the promotion exam in six months. That''s the rule of the Adventurers Guild. "I''m one hundred percent confident in passing the promotion exam," Souta replied to him. He didn''t wait for Yujin to ask another question. "Don''t forget that I''m a tamer. Yuko''s strength is also my strength. We enhance our strength by eating those mana fruits. If we combine our strength at this moment, we could even defeat an ordinary B-rank adventurer and that is enough. It means that the combined power of ours is enough to rank us to B-rank." That''s if Yuko didn''t use her blessings. Souta didn''t want Yuko to reveal her ace. He wanted to hide it so that if he fought his enemies, they would be surprised by the power of Yuko. He knew that someone was targeting him in the Hebrei kingdom after his information was pasted in the newspaper. That''s why some of the researchers in the kingdom wanted him to become a test subject in their research. They wanted to know how he recovered quickly from taking two monster potions. ''Right, if those people knew that I''m trying to set up a legion, I''m sure that they will hinder me. Those nobles are a pain in the ass.'' Souta thought as he forgot that he was talking to Yujin. "Souta!" He snapped out of his deep thought after he heard Yujin''s loud voice. "I''m sorry, something just came to my mind." Souta apologized to Yujin and he asked what he was talking about. Yujin sighed and asked, "I''m asking why are you sure that the combined power of Yuko and you are enough to pass the promotion exam?" "As you can see... I brought back those mana fruits. It only means that Yuko and I finished filling ourselves with those mana fruits." Souta said as he opened his arms widely. ''He''s still hiding something. There are many holes in his story. If he doesn''t want to say it then I will not pry anymore.'' Yujin thought as he turned his attention to the mana fruits in his palm. "Okay, let''s talk about it later. I wanted to know what''s the dungeon that you have cleared yesterday." Souta said to them as he changed the topic of their conversation. The plan to expand his party wasn''t complete. He will talk about it with Lumilia later. "Here." He threw a pen to Lumilia and Yujin. Souta then went to the drawer and took out a huge map. He placed the map on the table and looked at the place of the dungeons that he drew before. "I''ve cleared all these dungeons yesterday." He said as he crossed out five low-level dungeons and one mid-level dungeon on the map. Lumilia and Yujin stepped forward. They crossed out the dungeons that they have cleared yesterday. It seems that it would take them five days before they managed to clear all low and mid-level dungeons. "You''ll clear dungeons today, right?" Souta asked as he looked at the two. Lumilia and Yujin nodded at his question. That''s what their plan, to begin with. The Lanny group already left the empire to clear the dungeons si they had to clear some dungeons too. "We will have a meeting later with the Lanny group about the dungeons. I think we need to speed up our pace in clearing dungeons." He said as he looked at everyone in the eyes. "That''s it for today, you can pick up ten mana fruits." Everyone took ten mana fruits each including Cl.u.s.ter. They talk for a while before they went back to their room to prepare themselves for clearing the low-level dungeons. Souta lay on the bed and closed his eyes. He was mentally exhausted as a lot of things happened yesterday. He needed to rest as he was quite tired. ... Souta woke up after sleeping for five hours. It was enough for him. He stood up from his bed and hung the vajra sword on his waist. "I wonder if Lumilia and the other are back." He muttered as he exited his room and went to Lumilia''s room. His guess was right, they were already here. "Oh? Souta..." Lumilia turned her head to Souta. She was arranging the loots that they''ve got from clearing low-level dungeons while Cl.u.s.ter was sleeping on the bed. Lynn was also in the room. Souta entered the room and he sat in front of the loots. "Low-grade potions, low-grade weapons, and armors. There are also spellbooks and skillbooks." He muttered as he checked the loots. He then looked at Lumilia and asked, "How many dungeons did you clear today?" "We cleared six dungeons while Yujin''s group cleared seven dungeons," Lumilia replied to him. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin and he glanced at his system. She was right, they cleared a total of thirteen low-level dungeons today. One low-level dungeon was equal to one skill point. "We could clear more but some of the dungeons are already cleared," Lumilia said to him. "It''s natural. We''re not the only adventurers in this world. Some of the adventurers are taking the material-gathering quest while some are taking the monster subjugation quest and some of them are clearing the dungeons like us to gather the loots inside it." Souta replied to her as he stood up and sat in a vacant chair. "S-Souta... Can I have a spellbook there?" Lynn asked with hesitation in her eyes. She heard what Souta said this morning. All the treasures that they got from clearing the dungeons were his property. "Hmm...? What spellbook?" Souta asked back as he slightly raised his eyebrow. "Here. It seems that Lynn wanted to learn this spell." Lumilia said as she gave the spellbook to Souta. Souta looked at the spellbook in his hand. "[Raise Shock]..." He muttered. This spell was a support type spell that could raise the magical attack of a target by five percent. The target''s magical attack would increase for five minutes. The user couldn''t cast the same spell on the target as the effect wouldn''t stock up. The user could only cast the spell on that target after the effect of the spell disappeared. It consumed twenty mana points per cast. "It''s good... You can have it. You''re planning on becoming a full support mage, right?" Souta asked Lynn after he read the details of the spell. "N-No..." Lynn said in response as she lowered her head not daring to look at his eyes. "Eh...? Why?" Souta was surprised when he heard her answer. "Actually, Lynn knew some attack spell. In the institute, she hired teacher Sabrina to teach her." Lumilia said to him. "I see... Well, it''s good. Sabrina could rival an SS-rank adventurer. Her magic is powerful enough for people to call her Magic Caster of Destruction. You would learn a lot from her." Souta nodded and said to Lynn. He knew Sabrina as she was quite famous among the players as a beautiful and seductive mage. In the past, Sabrina fought an S-rank adventurer on her own to a standstill. But that was in the past, her current strength right now was SS-rank. She hasn''t reached her limit yet. In the future, she was one of the people who would stand beside Yanagi Shina, a future god of the Hebrei Kingdom. She would become a Hero-rank just like Bargan in the fight against the Zodiacs. Unfortunately, Yanagi Shina and her force would fall under the hands of the Zodiacs including her. "But don''t forget that you have a talent for supporting," Souta added. "Y-Yes... Teacher also said the same thing. She said that I would shine if I become a support mage than an attack mage." Lynn replied to him. "Just do what you feel suitable for you. But if you want to ask me, I still want you to become a support mage." Souta said to her as he stood up. He looked at them and said, "We''ll call the Lanny group. I wanted to record the dungeons that they''ve clear." "Understood." Lumilia nodded and she stood up. Lynn did the same thing. The three of them exited the room leaving Cl.u.s.ter who was sleeping on the bed. Souta called everyone to his room including the Lanny group. He said to Lumilia and the rest to hide the information about him getting the mana fruits. He doesn''t want anyone to know about this. It was too soon for the Lanny group to know about the mana fruits. He was sure that the Lanny group would report it to Jimmy. He had a plan in his mind regarding this so he will leave it for later events. Lumilia crossed out the dungeons that they''ve clear today. The Lanny group did the same thing. They also crossed out the dungeons that were already cleared from the beginning. Chapter 247 - Ill tell you my plan Five days had passed and the group managed to clear out the low and mid-level dungeons. His guess was correct. They already cleared out the dungeons in five days. He knew that there were still dungeons around the Eternal Empire. They only cleared all the dungeons that Souta knew. Souta couldn''t remember every dungeon in this place as he didn''t have an eidetic memory. If he could only remember everything then it would be great. Just like the other universal or dark grade equipment of other top players like him. He could remember the ability and name of those equipments but he couldn''t recall where they found those high-grade equipments. If he could only remember where they got it then it would be great. He could give those equipments to his comrades. He also brought the things that he burrowed five days ago. He didn''t manage to bring it back because the Goblin Executioner got in his way. It wasn''t that he was displeased at that encounter. In fact, Souta was grateful as he earned a lot in Raeshka''s home. The most promising thing was that Yuko received a monster lord''s blessing. Lumilia and the rest ate the mana fruits and absorbed its effect. Their body grew stronger as Alophy helped them picked the mana fruits that were suitable for them. For Brando, Alophy helped him find fruits that could enhance his defense and vitality. She had a lot of knowledge about mana fruits so they trusted her. But Souta still didn''t know how much their strength has improved. He was asleep for two weeks and he heard from Lumilia that they were training to become stronger while he was out. He was alone in clearing dungeons so he didn''t have a time to check the progress of their strength. Souta didn''t know that Bryan''s strength already surpassed the top 1 ranker of the first-year students. The others were catching up to him but if they wanted to ask Souta about who''s the strongest person in the Dark Oculus. He would answer everyone that Yujin was the strongest. He clearly remembered that Yujin utilized Alophy''s power quite well in the battle in Ibish village. Based on his aura and energy at that time, he could rival a B-rank adventurer. The only problem was that Yujin wouldn''t necessarily reveal his power to the public unless it was an emergency situation just like what happened in the Ibish village. About the loots that they''ve got in clearing low and mid-level dungeons? It was enormous. The amount of things that they''ve gathered couldn''t store in one room. So Souta decided to sell some of it to the merchants around the Eternal Empire. It was then that he recalled that Jimmy was planning to set up a branch here in this empire so he called him using the transmission talisman. They''ve got an agreement that they will give it to the Lanny group and Souta would get the money from Jimmy after he returned to the Ladros city. The Lanny group will stay here in the empire and will not return with Souta. They will wait for the people of Lanny corp to arrived here so that they could help out in setting up a branch. They also have to guard the loots that they''ve gathered and the one that Souta gave to them.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''ll-tell-you-my-plan_51736873353142465 for visiting. Souta didn''t talk about his plan in expanding his party into a legion to Jimmy. He will only talk about it after he promoted his adventurer rank to B-rank. He was sure that the Lanny corp would become his sponsor as he was their employee in papers. He had that to make sure that the Lanny corp would become his sponsor not only Jimmy but the entire Lanny corp. In these five days, Souta earned managed to fill the soul in the [Soul Blood Earring]. He used it to increase his Intelligence attribute. He also earned a lot of skill points, free attribute points, and exp. From their constant grinding, Souta managed to level up to level 33. Clearing dungeons, completing the quest from the Adventurers Guild, and hunting monsters. By repeating this for five days Souta leveled up to 33. He was getting closer to his third evolution. He only needed five levels as he had two level-up cards in his arsenal. He didn''t have any problem as he and Yuko already have the requirements for their third evolution. He did another to strengthen Yuko in the past few days. He used his skill points to level up the [Pet Bestowing Skill] to level 10. Tamer class was one of the classes in the game that needed a lot of skill points. A lot of players hate this class because of they didn''t grind skill points they wouldn''t be able to grow stronger. One of the reasons why the tamer needed a lot of skill points was the [Pet Bestowing Skill]. [Pet Bestowing Skill] was a skill that could give the pet the skill of the owner. As they know, the pet couldn''t use the system so they couldn''t buy skills from the skill tree. There''s also no command that the pet will learn skills from skill books. The only things they had were the traits and trait skills they got from their evolution. But using this [Pet Bestowing Skill], Souta could give his skill to Yuko. At low level, Souta''s skill would disappear if he gave it to Yuko but if the skill was at level 10 Souta wouldn''t lose anything but skill points. His skill set was like a shop for Yuko. He could have his skill at the cost of skill points just like how he bought his skills from the skill tree in the system. If he gave his level 4 [Dash] to Yuko, it would cost him 4 skill points. He could also give her 1 or 2 levels of [Dash] but it couldn''t exceed level 4 as this was the maximum level he attained in this skill. Yuko received [Dash], [Cat''s Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], and [Shadow Cloak] from Souta. He only gave her two levels of each skill. If he raised those skills that he gave her then he wouldn''t have a skill point for his spell and skill. By receiving four combat arts from Souta, Yuko''s strength rose to a higher level. He was sure that he wouldn''t be able to keep up with her if she used her blessing with these skills. She was slowly becoming a monster that was stronger than him and Souta would make it sure that she would become one of the strongest monsters in the future. Back to him, using skill points Souta level up the [Shadow Cloak] skill to level 3. He finally realized that he was lacking in terms of defense when he fought Yuko. She easily shattered his [Shadow Cloak] and injured him in one hit. What if he fought someone as strong as her and have more experienced in combat? There''s no doubt that he would fell instantly. That''s why he level up his [Shadow Cloak] skill. He also bought [Shadow Step] a movement skill and [Dark Cloud Hunting] spell. He also level up these two skills to level 3. [Dark Cloud Hunting] was a high-grade tier 2 crowd control and buff spell. This spell created a black mist with fifty meters diameter around the caster. The black mist lowered the opponent''s senses, magical damage, physical attack, and movement speed by ten percent at level 1. It also enhances the caster''s darkness attribute spell by ten percent. If he level it up the debuff that the enemy received will increase, the buff that the caster received will increase, and also the range of the black mist will increase. It was a spell good for his [Shadow Bind] spell. The tentacles would be able to bind his opponents easier with the debuff coming from this tier 2 spell. After doing all these things, Souta stopped using his skill points. He would use the remaining skill points later in the Ladros city. He still didn''t know what''s the test for becoming a B-rank in that branch. The promotion exams of Adventurers Guild were different for each branch. Each guild has its own exam but the essence of it was still the same. For B-rank, Souta just needed to prove to them that he had the power of a B-rank. If he wanted to become an A-rank, he just needed to prove to the guild that he had the power of an A-rank. ... Souta, the Dark Oculus members, and the Lanny group were all in a single room. They were having a meeting about the dungeon that they were going to clear. They completed their goals by clearing low and mid-level dungeons for five days straight. Right now, their target was the high-level dungeon where the [Soul Blood Earring] resides. The Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon was an orange danger level dungeon. It means that 3 to 5 third evolution monsters reside in that dungeon. Their chances of clearing this level of dungeon was too low. "Everyone, listen up. I''ll tell you my plan." Souta said as he grinned widely. Chapter 248 - Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon: Entrance Souta told the layout of the Dark Light of Eternal to everyone first. He explained to them that this was the only thing that he knew in this dungeon. This was enough for everyone to know some of the dangers hidden inside this high-level dungeon. In case they ask how did he know the layout of the dungeon, Souta said that he scouted this dungeon yesterday after he cleared the mid-level dungeons with Yuko. He only scouted it which means that he didn''t know the ins and outs of the dungeon. Even though Souta knew this dungeon in the game, there''s still a possibility that it was different in this world. He encountered a lot of things different from the game so he was prepared if something happened. "So I''m going to ask you, captain. What are our chances in clearing this high-level dungeon?" A man with mohawk style hair asked him. He was Ginvi, the earth attribute mage of the Lanny group. "Less than fifty percent..." Souta replied to him without a second thought. He already knew that their chances in clearing this dungeon were low. Their power level was low to complete this dungeon. They were only at the peak of C-rank. But... The players in the game could clear this dungeon. Before everyone could say something to him, Souta opened his mouth and said, "If any of you don''t want to participate then you can go now and leave this place. I will not do anything to you. But once we entered the dungeon and someone broke the formation and didn''t follow the orders then you will face the consequences." With that, Souta managed to shut up the mouth of those who wanted to oppose to this mission. Well, it only came from the Lanny group. The Dark Oculus will follow Souta as they trusted him. "Tsk!" Ginvi clicked his tongue. Jagret patted his shoulder and looked at Souta. "We''ll follow you, captain. After all, you''re the one who chose us in your group." When Souta and the rest arrived in the empire, Souta said that he didn''t have a plan to clear the high-level dungeon but now, it changed. Their chances of clearing this orange danger level dungeon grew higher as the Dark Oculus members enhanced their strength with the help of the mana fruits that Souta gave to them. To think that he was planning on completing an orange danger level dungeon on version 1. It couldn''t help it as they have the power of version 2 players. "I know my limits so I wouldn''t enter an orange danger level dungeon if we didn''t have a chance to clear it," Souta said to them. He then took a deep breath and said, "Lumilia will be the one who will command us in this dungeon raid. We will launch a full raid in this high-level dungeon and plunder everything." He turned to the Lanny group and said, "Before you complain let me say something. I wouldn''t be able to command you because I''ll join the battlefield." Slowly the corner of his mouth curved upward. He grinned widely while looking at them before he said, "I''ll plan to annihilate everything that got in our way of conquering that dungeon." His excitement was overflowing. He couldn''t help it because he would be able to complete his universal grade equipment. The stats of the earring will undergo a huge change once he managed to get the other part. Right now, the earring only gave him +10 of his three attributes. It was nothing compared to his sword that raised his stats by 200. No one would be able to stop him from getting that earring. "Okay, I''ll take no for an answer. You can go back now and pack the things that you need in raiding dungeons." Souta dismissed them but he remembered something. "One more thing, please remember that a high-level dungeon is twenty times larger than the mid-level dungeon. We will stay in that dungeon for one or two days." It''s only natural that an orange danger level dungeon was larger than mid-level dungeons. That dungeon houses more than 3 third evolution monsters. The third evolution monsters were the raid boss of this level of dungeon. In the game, the dungeons have level restrictions. If a player''s level was too high, then he wouldn''t be able to enter a low-level dungeon. But for low-level players, there were no level restrictions for them. They could enter high-level dungeons. There''s also a player capacity for each dungeon. For a low-level dungeon, the maximum player that could enter it was six. For mid, it was sixteen. And for the high-level dungeon, it was twenty-four. But in this world, there were no restrictions. He could do anything in this world. He even visited a brothel and have intercourse with the people of this world. In the game, no one would be able to do it. They left Souta''s room but Lumilia was stopped by Souta. He was planning to expand her knowledge about this high-level dungeon. She was their strategist so it was important for her to know it. The Lanny group was displeased with her. They didn''t complain because of Souta''s words. They weren''t familiar with Lumilia so how could they trust their life to a mere student. The Dark Oculus didn''t have a problem with it. They knew that Souta always left the commanding position to Lumilia and head into the battlefield. For them, Souta prefers to fight than commanding his comrades. Souta told everything he knew about the monsters that inhabited the Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon. It was important so that she wouldn''t waste her time trying to know the traits and characteristics of each monster. He also didn''t forget to tell her each member of Lanny group. He explained their class, skills, and abilities to Lumilia so that she would be able to command them. At least, she knew what they could do. He also told her the strategy of players in clearing dungeons. The players had various strategies in clearing dungeons. He was sure that it would open up her world. After telling her everything, Lumilia left Souta''s room. "I always raid dungeons before but now..." Souta muttered as he looked at the door. If this was a game, Souta would rush inside the dungeon without care. Even if he died many times, he will continue to enter the dungeon until he cleared it and gathered all the treasure inside it. But now, he understood that his power alone wasn''t enough. That''s why he was slowly gathering trusted comrades to fill his weaknesses. Souta lay on the bed and closed his eyes. ''Yuko, stay here for a while. I will summon you when we arrive in the dungeon.'' He said through his connection with Yuko. ... They finished preparing their things and they gathered in the Adventurers Guild. They took monster subjugation and herb gathering quest. They would complete it in the Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon. After that, the group went to the Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon. On their way, they faced some monsters and they killed them. Two hours later, they arrived in front of the dungeon. Souta looked at the Dark Oculus and Lanny group before he said, "Check the things that you need. Placed the potion where you could easily take it out. We don''t know what will happen inside so it''s better that we prepare ourselves than rushing inside without a plan. I''ll just summon Yuko." The group followed his words while Souta summoned Yuko beside him. Her power would be a great help in clearing this dungeon. This dungeon was in the depths of the Black Belly Gully. A huge gully between the territory of two monster lords. It has a length of one kilometer and a width of one hundred meters. Its depth was greater than five hundred meters. Before arriving here, they faced more than fifty second evolution monsters and one hundred first evolution monsters. They also saw some third evolution but they turned around so that they wouldn''t face such monster. It was a tough journey... After a while, they finished checking their equipments. They stood in front of the dungeon with a gloomy expression. The air coming from the dungeon was giving them an ominous vibe. Souta gripped the sword on his waist before he said, "Let''s go." He stepped inside and the rest followed him. This dungeon was entirely different from the dungeons that they have cleared before. The ceiling was high and the walls on each side were wide. The seven-meter Goblin Executioner could freely walk inside this dungeon. It also gives them a hint on what''s monster inside the dungeon. The walls and ceiling have blue veins that were emitting light so they don''t have to light their torches in this dungeon. Yujin placed his palm on the walls and said, "This is a crystallization of mana. A phenomenon in which the mana in the air solidified. It could fetch a high price in the market. Just how the hell the Eternal Empire didn''t discover this dungeon." Souta just glanced at Yujin. The Eternal Empire wouldn''t bother this place as it was between the territory of two monster lord. Only the higher-ups of the empire knew that there were monster lords in this forest. "Souta! In front!" Lynn shouted as she sensed a presence in front of them. "Oh? They are already here... We just enter the dungeon so why not let me look at it for a while." Souta said as a grin formed on his face while looking at the four-meter tall monsters in front of their group. "Lumilia, I''ll leave the commanding position to you. Now, everyone let''s murder these creeps." Chapter 249 - Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon: Into the Boss room "That''s it. They are not even enough for my warm-up." Souta said as he looked at the body of the dead monsters on his feet. He was the only one who fought these monsters. All it took was a single strike from his sword to take down one monster. In just a few seconds, he massacred a group of second evolution monsters. The Lanny group just looked at Souta with a blank expression. They felt that Souta was too excited to clear this dungeon. They knew that he was strong as they traveled with him for one week and saw his strength but this time he was different. The members of the Dark Oculus could feel it too. Lumilia didn''t have a time to give a command to the others as Souta annihilated all monsters in just a few seconds. "Tsk! Weaklings." Souta clicked his tongue as he walked forward and said, "Come on, let''s go!" "Souta! Why didn''t you leave some for me!? I want to fight too!! Don''t hug all the fun, Souta!!" Bryan complained as he followed Souta. ... They went deeper inside the dungeons and fought more than a hundred second evolution monsters. They continued to move forward until they arrived at the intersection path. They stopped here and rested for a while. One hour had passed since they entered the dungeons so they consumed some of their stamina. Plus, they had to decide which path they will take. Lumilia placed the map of this dungeon on the ground. She received this from Souta when they talked before. "We''re here in this part of the dungeon," Lumilia said as she drew a small circle on the entrance of the dungeon. She then pointed at the four huge rooms of the dungeons and said, "These places where the third evolution monsters reside. I suggest that we clear the other monsters before confronting them." "What''s this blank space?" Ginvi asked as he pointed at the blank space on the map. "I said that I scouted this dungeon before. I didn''t have the power to explore this dungeon so I only drew what I saw." Souta explained to them. The map that he drew wasn''t complete. It was to avoid suspicion. "Okay, we''re going to discuss which path we will take," Lumilia said as she slowly looked at the face of the people around her. "According to captain''s report, the path on the left has countless spider monsters." She said as she pointed at the map and they followed the path. This path leads to one of the four big rooms where a third evolution monster resides. No, in fact, all three paths lead to the four big rooms. They were all interconnected to each other. This whole dungeon was like a huge maze. Also, there was a huge amount of room in this dungeon. And inside one of the rooms was a secret room where Souta could get the other [Soul Blood Earring]. "I think that we should clear all the spiders first and check the rooms before we subjugate the third evolution monster." Lumilia slowly explained to them why they have to clear all the monsters in the area around the third evolution monster''s room. They were going to clear it because there''s a chance that these monsters will bother them once they started to fight the third evolution monster. Actually, the path that Souta drew on the map was the safest path in this dungeon. He didn''t include those paths that require solving puzzles. "Captain said that he planned to clear this dungeon, am I right?" Jagret asked Lumilia as he took a glance at Souta. Lumilia nodded in response to his question. "Don''t tell me, that we''re going to fight all four third evolution monsters," Jagret said with a serious expression. "Yes, that''s the only way to clear a dungeon, right? If you have a way to clear this dungeon without fighting those monsters then tell me." Lumilia said as she slightly tilted her head while looking at her. She couldn''t understand why this man asked such an obvious question. "That''s the reason why captain said that we''re going to stay here for a few days. We wouldn''t be able to kill four third evolution monsters in a single day. We don''t have that kind of strength." Ginvi said as he lay down on the ground and looked at the ceiling. The blue veins on the ceiling were thumping just like blood vessels. Souta looked at everyone before he stood up. He stretched his body and said, "Let''s go. I wanted to take down one of the 4 third evolution monsters." "Me too. I wanted to fight those strong monsters that could let me enjoy the thrill of battle." Bryan said with an excited expression. He and Yuko hurriedly followed Souta. "Those battle maniac..." Brando said with a deep sigh. He and the others were worried about the battle but those two were looking forward to it. Damn! The difference was large. Brando looked at Lynn, Alice, Yujin, and Lumilia before he said, "Let''s follow those two. We''re lucky that we have someone like them in our party. Their attitude and personality could easily dissipate the nervousness in our body." "Y-You''re right... They''re amazing." Lynn said. ... Putchi! Blood spurted out from the body of a huge spider as Souta sliced its body into two. "Lynn, cast healing spell to Brando! Bryan, leave that position to captain and Yuko! They can handle that on their own!" Lumilia commanded them and they followed her words. She then turned to Lanny group and said, "Jagret and Charise, back off! Give Ginvi a space to cast a spell! It will help you annihilate the spiders!" "Tsk! I guess I''m really needed in this group." Ginvi said with a grin and he circulated his mana around his body. He then raised the staff he was holding and cast a spell. [Ground Solid Shot]! The debris of rocks in the area flew towards the group of spiders. Bang! Bang! Bang! After that, Jagret and Charise quickly attack the remaining spiders with the help of the other members of the Lanny group. Swoosh! Swoosh! Alice was thrusting her orange grade spear nonstop. Her sharp spear pierced the body of dozen spiders. "The monster is getting stronger." She muttered as she continued her killing spree. Swoosh! Souta jumped backward and Yuko opened her mouth widely. Then, a sea of flames burst out of her mouth heading toward the group of spiders. Boom! The flames disappeared and it left churned corpses and ground. Smoke was coming out of the burned body of spiders. The [Burning Shout] trait skill of Yuko finished the battle on Souta''s part. After eating mana fruits, her strength grew to a higher level. Her trait skill was as strong as a high-level tier 2 spell. Souta waved his sword and the blood on it splattered on the ground. He then turned towards the others. "Everyone is trying to preserve their strength in the upcoming fight against the third evolution monster." He muttered and the ground turned black. Swoosh! Swoosh! Several black tentacles rose and bind the spiders. Everyone took this opportunity to annihilate the spider as they used their powerful skills and spells. "All of you don''t need to hold back, just do what Bryan is doing. We have a lot of time so we could rest anytime if you want so don''t you dare to hold back or else it will backfire on us." Souta said to them. "You too Lumilia, don''t be considerate to them. You can order them to use their most powerful skill or spell." "I''m sorry... I''m quite nervous because this is the first time we''re going to fight a third evolution monster at its peak." Lumilia apologized to him. She still couldn''t forget the scene in the Desolate Woods and Fersch Dukedom. Souta looked at her for a while before he swept his eyes across the people here in this area. He then sighed and said, "After all the things we''ve gone through I thought you would get used to it. Well, it''s natural to be nervous when you''re going to fight a strong opponent but don''t let the nervousness distract you." Clap! "We''ll rest here for one hour. After that, we''ll enter the boss room and fight the third evolution monster. Prepare yourself, everyone." He clapped and said in a loud voice. Lumilia sat down as she leaned her back on the wall and lowered her head. Lynn sat beside her and said nothing. The Lanny group was silent as they checked their weapons and armors. All of them were serious as they knew their next opponent. Brando looked around before he opened a bottle of water. After he drunk it he looked at Souta and asked, "Captain, can I use those potions that we got in the last room?" "Ah, those defense enhancing potions? Yeah, you can use it." Souta nodded at his question. "Thank you, captain." Brando smiled as Souta gave him his permission to use those potions. Chapter 250 - Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon: White Jade Spider Brando was glad that Souta would let him used the defense enhancing potion that they''ve got from the last room. He wasn''t sure if he could tank the attacks of a third evolution monster. He wasn''t the only tank of the group. The Lanny group also had a tank named Finsi. Finsi was a powerful shielder and had a lot of experience in fighting monsters. The two of them would take the frontline and protect everyone from the third evolution monster''s attack. It was their job as shielder of the party. ''If only I''m a pure-blood demi-human then...'' Brando thought as he glanced at his greenish palm. His mother was a human and his father was a pure-blood turtle man. Because of that, he didn''t inherit the natural talent of the turtle man. The ability to deploy a powerful shield, the [Hardmode Shell Protection]. The innate ability of the turtle demi. If the Paraponera demi(ant demi) boasted their natural brute prowess, the turtle demi like Brando boasted their ability to block powerful attacks. ''Well, I just need to work as hard as I can to improve myself and one day I will show that everyone that I can protect someone too.'' Brando smiled as he lifted his head and looked at the ceiling. He was fortunate that he got to know Souta and others in the institute. ... After one hour, Souta stood and patted his clothes. He looked at everyone and said, "We''ll raid the boss room so prepare yourself. We''ll follow Lumilia''s command and there''s no exception to that. Do you understand me, Bryan?" "Ah, eh... Yeah." Bryan was surprised when Souta mentioned him. He scratched his cheek as he nodded at Souta with a wry smile on his face. Well, it''s natural if they consider her personality to rush at the monster on sight. Souta could tolerate it if they were fighting second evolution monster as Bryan could fight ten or dozens of those monsters at the same time but this time was different... They were going to fight a third evolution monster. The mages checked their pocket to see if they have mana potions while the shielders checked if they have health potions. After finding that everything was ready, the group stood in front of the huge metallic door with blue veins on its surface. Blue veins were thumping like blood vessels. Souta and others wouldn''t be able to destroy this metallic door with their current strength. This door was strengthened by the dense mana and best feram of the third evolution monsters that were living in this dungeon. After a hundred years or more, the stones and rocks in this place would become rare materials that needed to forge orange and red grade equipments due to its exposure to the dense energy in the atmosphere. "Let''s do it." Everyone placed their palm on the surface of the door and pushed it. The door made a metallic sound and it slowly opened. It revealed a huge and wide room. The room was covered in thick webs. Five meters above the ground was a six-meter white spider with a black color gem on its back. Its eight long legs were as sharp as a sword and its eight red eyes were gleaming in the dark. It was a third evolution monster called White Jade Spider. Souta was familiar with this monster. He saw this type of monster in Raeshka''s third evolution force and he subjugated hundreds of these monsters when this world was still a game. Powerful pressure was gushing out of the spider''s body. The pressure made everyone gulped in nervous except for Bryan who was looking at it with excitement in his eyes. When Souta saw the eagerness in his eyes, he called Bryan. "Bryan, listen to Lumilia''s words." "Ah, I know..." Bryan snapped out his thoughts as he nodded at Souta. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Damn! That monster is a bad news!" Ginvi said as he looked at the huge white spider inside the dark room. Huff... Lumilia closed her eyes before she took a deep breath. After a while, she opened her eyes and gazed at the body of the huge white spider. "Shielders, use the defense enhancing potion and attack the monster. Souta and the rest of the damage dealer will attack the monster from both sides while the shielders are distracting the monster. Mages and support will stand by." Lumilia issued a command as she saw the huge white spider turned its head in their direction. She knew that Souta gave them his permission to use the potion so she will not hold back and used everything they have to defeat the terrifying monster in front of their eyes. "Understood." Brando and Finsi drunk a bottle of defense enhancing potion. Both of them raised their shields and charged towards the six-meter tall spider. The white spider revealed its big and sharp fangs. An ear-piercing screech escaped from its mouth. Shiiiiiiiirk!! At the same time, the best feram in its body exploded. Dense and thick energy flooded the entire room in just a few seconds. "Brando, Finsi, don''t stop! Gather its attention!" Lumilia shouted as she saw that the two stopped from charging towards the spider. "Souta, attack the left side! Bryan, Donna, Charise, I''ll leave the right side to the three of you!" Brando and Finsi snapped out when they heard Lumilia''s loud voice. "Damn! This is scary!" Brando shouted as he jumped in the mid-air and used his combat arts. [Shielder''s Aura]! [Knight''s Will]! "And..." Brando took a deep breath. "[Taunting Shout]!!" He shoots a sound wave towards the white spider. The white spider shook when the sound wave landed on its body. It turned its head and looked at Brando. "I''ve gathered its attention!" He shouted as he braced himself from the possible attack of the spider. A three-layered transparent shield formed in front of him. It was his [Triple Frame Shield On] combat arts. The huge white spider moved its sickle-like legs and swung it at Brando. Finsi, the other shielder of the group, smashed his shield on the ground. [Towering Earth Formation]! Layers of rocks rose from the ground. It created a tower-like rock formation around the battlefield. It was a good choice of skill. They were small while their opponent was huge. They have a geographical advantage with this. The only problem was the webs of the spiders around the room. While Brando and Finsi were taking the attacks of the spider, Souta and the rest of the attackers went to their position. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! "Souta, Bryan, use flames to burn the webs!!" Lumilia shouted while looking at them. She was observing the battle along with the support and mage. "Yuko, burn it," Souta said as he dashed towards the side of the spider at high speed. The reason why Lumilia left that part to Souta was that because of Yuko. Souta was a tamer so Yuko was part of his strength. Yuko opened her mouth widely and used her [Burning Shout] trait skill. Flames burst out of her mouth and it swallowed the webs in the area around them. Swoosh! [Agility Boost]! [Strength Boost]! Souta dashed towards the spider before pulling out the vajra sword on its sheath. Looking at the performance of the spider, he could guess that this spider wasn''t at the peak of its evolution stage. In game terms, he could estimate that the spider had the power of a level 45 to 50 monster of its type. Pretty weak compared to the third evolution monsters of Raeshka. ''They won''t have any problem in casting spell unless this monster used its release state.'' Souta thought as he gathered his mana on the blade of his sword and shoots crimson slash towards the spider. Boom!! "[Grinding Flame Spear: Fire Dance]!!" Bryan roared as he used a powerful tier 2 spell. Ten-meter long flame spears formed around him. The spears flew in any direction burning everything into ashes. It even destroyed the rock formation that Finsi created for them. Boom! Boom! Sounds of explosions reverberated in the Dark Light of Eternal dungeon. "Lynn, Evren, cast healing magic and buff spell at our two shielders," Lumilia said as she squinted her eyes and observed the movements of the monster. "O-Okay." Lynn nodded as she gathered her mana and lifting the staff in her hand before casting the healing spell. [Radiant Heal]! This spell was a healing and buff spell. It could recover the lost 300 health points and increase the recovery speed of the target by fifty percent for three minutes. It could also increase the defense of the target by five percent for three minutes. "Thanks." Finsi grinned as he felt the effect of the spell on his body before he pounced towards the spider. "Let''s go!" Brando shouted as he raised his shield and gathered his mana to strengthen it. Finsi and Brando were taunting the spider to avoid it from targeting the damage dealer on the side. Chapter 251 - Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon: Release Charise, Donna, and Bryan were attacking the spider from the opposite side of Souta. They were doing everything they could to damage the spider. Bang! Bang! Bang! [Cripling Slash]! Donna used her powerful combat arts and it cut the body of the spider. Blood spurted out from the wounds like a fountain. "Haha, burn [Grinding Flame Spear]!" Bryan laughed as he jumped in the mid-air and shoots powerful flame spears towards the wound of the spider. Dozens of flame spears landed on the body of the spider causing a small explosion. Boom! Boom! Boom! The spider screeched and it turned its attention on the three people that were attacking it from the side. "Bryan, Donna, Charise, look out! Lynn, I''ll leave it to you!" Lumilia warned the three people who were attacking the spider nonstop. She tapped her staff on the ground casted a barrier spell on the three people. "[Speed Up]!" Lynn casted a spell that could increase their speed so that the three people could avoid getting hit by the sickle legs of that spider. The white spider swiped its front legs in Bryan''s direction. Bryan, Charise, and Donna quickly jumped away while a barrier appeared in front of them. Swoosh! "Hmm...?" Souta waved his hand and used [Agility Boost] on the three people. It was to help them escape the attack of the spider. "Brando, Finsi, it''s your turn!" Lumilia shouted as she circulated her mana in her body. "Yeah! [Triple Frame Shield On]!!" Brando and Finsi used the same skill and six transparent shields appeared around them. "Go!!" The six shields in the mid-air flew in front of Bryan, Donna, and Charise. These six shields were here to delay the impact of the attack of the giant spider. Swoosh! The leg of the spider crashed on the protective shields in front of the three. It didn''t last long before it broke into tiny pieces. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bryan, Donna, and Charise flew away before they crashed into the walls. A large cut appeared in their chest as blood spurted out of it. "Argh!" "[Heal]!!" Lynn and Evren quickly casted healing spell on the two. It was their job to heal those who were injured. If they didn''t cast a barrier to reduce the power of the attack then the three would suffer heavy wounds. Lumilia gritted her teeth in frustration. She opened her mouth and said, "Souta, hold down the spider! We''re going to bombard it! Brando and Finsi prepare to retreat! Yujin, Alice, Ginvi, bombard it with powerful spell after Souta back down!" "It''s finally my time..." Ginvi grinned as he gathered his mana in his staff. "Understood." Yujin and Alice did the same thing. They prepared themselves to attack the spider. "Go down," Souta said in a cold tone as he raised his hand and dozens of black tentacles rose from the black ground. The tentacles stretched out as it bound the eight legs of the spider. It would only last for a few seconds but for him, it was enough to inflict some damage to the spider. Shieeek! The giant spider screeched as it tried to break the black tentacles around its eight legs. [Shadow Ball]! Souta opened his palm and a black ball flew out above the giant spider. In just a second, he appeared in the position of the black. Then, ten black balls formed on his back. Boom! The ten black balls were the [Gravitational Ball] spell. It increased the gravity around the spider to the limit. It caused the spider to crashed on the ground creating a huge crater. Souta looked down at the spider as he activated his skills. [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Shadow Cloak], and [Cat''s Speed]. Since the gravity in this area was several times higher than normal, his speed of fall became faster and he increased it by using [Air Walk] to stepped in the air. Swoosh!! He gathered his mana on his sword and charged a powerful attack. When he arrived on top of the spider, he slashed his sword downwards. Boom! A loud sound echoed in the whole room as Souta''s attack landed on the head of the giant spider. The ground shook heavily and the debris of rocks shot up in the mid-air. "Again!" He roared as he once again slashed his sword at the head of the spider. He continued to use [Crimson Moon] skill. Bang! Bang! Bang! "Attack!!" Lumilia shouted as she casted [Water Bomb] spell. Yujin and Alice followed her as they casted their own spell towards the spider. "Oi! Captain is still on the head of that monster!" Ginvi said as he glanced at Lumilia. He couldn''t understand why they would launch their spell when Souta was still there. "Don''t worry about it, just use your powerful spell to bombard the spider!" Lynn said to him as she continued to cast her spell. "Argh! I''ll do it." Ginvi gritted his teeth before he used his spell. [Hundred Earth Bullet]! [Earth Spike]! Yuko opened her mouth and flames burst out of it. It headed towards the body of the spider. When the spells were about to hit the spider, Souta disappeared from his position and reappeared beside Yuko. Before he attacked the spider, he left a [Shadow Ball] beside Yuko so that he could retreat immediately. Lumilia knew Souta''s spell so she didn''t have a problem attacking the monster as she knew that he would teleport away in time. Furthermore, she was the commander of this group so she was observing the movements of her comrades, not just the action of the giant spider. It was natural for her to see that Souta left a shadow ball beside Yuko. BOOOOOM!! A loud explosion erupted as the spells landed on the giant spider. Powerful gust of winds swept out and the ground shook heavily. The difference in the element of the spell caused a chain reaction that resulted in multiple explosions swallowing the whole battlefield. Boom! Boom! Boom! Souta waved his hand and his mana formed a barrier around him and Yuko to protect them from the shockwaves of the explosion. He glanced at Lumilia''s position and saw them doing the same thing. "As expected, she''s a good strategist compared to me." He muttered as he turned his head in the direction of the giant spider. "Use health potions for those who took damage and use mana potions for those drained their mana!!" Lumilia commanded as she took out a bottle with blue liquid inside it. She drunk it without hesitation to recover her mana. "Roger!" Ginvi, Yujin, Alice, Lynn, and Evren took out their mana potion and drunk it at the same time. This was one of their advantages in this battle. They could recover their mana and health through potions. They could also increase their stats temporarily using different potions. Boom! Suddenly, a powerful wave of energy erupted from the direction of the giant spider. "This is the hard part in fighting monsters..." Souta muttered as he squinted his eyes. He already told this part of the battle to Lumilia before coming here so she knew what they need to do. Dense best feram flooded the entire room restricting the mana in the air. In other words, they wouldn''t be able to use their mana outside their body. Bang! The barrier that Souta created using his mana crumbled into tiny pieces under the pressure of best feram. He could only cast his spell and couldn''t do anything using his mana. The same thing happened to Lumilia and the rest. Their shields broke into tiny pieces. If they didn''t consume the mana fruits to enhance their strength then Souta wouldn''t dare to subjugate a full power third evolution monster. Just this pressure alone would be enough to decrease their fighting strength to ordinary people. Swoosh! A powerful gust of wind swept out in the area and it blew the smoke away. It revealed a giant white spider with dark red energy seeping out of its body. Ohm! The body of the giant white spider expanded. It became an eight-meter tall spider instead of a six-meter tall. Black spikes appeared on its black and dark red tattoos were appearing on its body at the same time. "What the f.u.c.k!? It''s several times stronger than before!!" Ginvi exclaimed while looking at the monster. "So this is the reason why humans and demis are afraid of monsters..." Lumilia muttered and before she looked at her comrades. "Go to your position and prepare yourself! We''re going to take this monster down!" "Understood but... I don''t know if I could block an attack from that monster." Brando nodded as he went in front of the giant spider with Finsi. He was the shielder of the group so his defense was higher than the rest of his teammates but he didn''t know if his defense was enough to block the spider''s attack. "Don''t worry, you''ll protect us and we''ll protect you," Lumilia said as she narrowed her eyes. "Here it is, the [Monster Orb Release]... One of the greatest strengths of a monster." Souta said while looking at the spider with a small grin on his face. Chapter 252 - Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon: The Two Shielders The [Monster Orb Release] was a skill of a monster where they release the full potential of their monster orb. This skill amplifies the strength of the monster several times and it doesn''t have a side-effect on their body. The difference between the third evolution monster and the second evolution was so wide. It was because of the [Monster Orb Release] skill. Souta''s power was overwhelming for any second evolution monster but he always says that he couldn''t subdue a third evolution alone. Why? Because of this skill... A cheat skill of the monster race that terrified the human and demi world. Even though Souta''s power reaches the realm of the B-rank, he still didn''t have the confidence to go against the third evolution monster alone. This was one of the reasons why humans and demis formed a party to subdue a single third evolution monster. The overwhelming power of the third evolution monster couldn''t be compared to one or two B-rank adventurers. Shiieeek!! The giant spider shrieked as the energy in the air grew denser. A normal person would die in this atmosphere. It then turned its attention towards the puny people who dared to invade its home. The spider was just living here without hurting anyone but this group of people attacked it suddenly. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Brando and Finsi appeared in front of the spider and smashed their shields at its head. Bang! Bang! "I''ll join too!!" Jagret roared as he jumped in the air and his sword shoots a white beam towards the head of the spider. Boom! Evren, Ginvi, Lynn, and Lumilia casted their buff spells to support the three people who were in front of the giant spider. They focused their supporting spells on them as they needed it the most. Barrier spells, defense boosting, attack boosting, recovery, and heal. Not just that, the three also drunk various potions that they''ve got in this dungeon. All of it was for them to take the front in fighting the third evolution monster. Lumilia glanced at Alice and Yujin before she said, "I''ll leave them to you." "Okay." Yujin and Alice nodded at her words before they brandished their weapons. Both of them dashed towards the giant spider. Five people clashed with the giant spider in the center of the room. The two shielders were blocking the attack of the spider with the help of the spell from the mages. They exchanged blows at high speed causing the ground to shake every time they collided. Boom! Boom! Boom! Brando and Finsi were doing their jobs as tanks with everything they could. They were heavily injured every time they clashed with the spider''s attack but the mages healed them at the same time they took damage. Becoming a meat shield was a painful job. They were the ones who received the attacks for their comrades in arms. Receiving injuries and healing then receiving once again. This cycle repeated for more than half an hour. Their mental health was on the verge of breaking down. They felt that someone was torturing them. Boom! The giant spider fell down as Bryan and Donna managed to land a heavy hit at the joint of the spider''s leg. "Attack!!" Yujin, Alice, Jagret, and Charise jumped towards the head of the spider to crashed it. All of their attacks were focused on this spot so it became the weak point of the spider after taking hundred of attacks. The giant spider looked at them and opened its mouth widely. A large concentration of best feram was gathered on it. "It''s [Bestrou]! Prepare yourself!!" Lumilia shouted as she casted a spell to protect everyone. Lynn and the other mages also did the same thing. "LEAVE IT TO US!!!" Brando and Finsi jumped in front of them with their shields. Both of them took out a potion in their pocket and drunk it. "Damn! This is the last potion that I have!" Brando cursed. "Yeah, met too!" Finsi nodded at his words. The ball of energy on the mouth of the spider expanded and shrunk before it fires towards them. A beam of best feram shoots towards the two shielders at high speed. "Here it comes!!" Various barrier spell appeared in front of the two shielders. Black tentacles stretched out from the ground and it covered the two shielders. The beam collided with the barriers and it collapsed after a few seconds. The barriers were crashed like fragile glass. After that, the beam disintegrated the black tentacles that were protecting the two shielders. "ARGHHH!!" Brando and Finsi screamed as they took the [Bestrou] with their shields. They tightly gripped their shields as if their life depends on it. Ohm! Suddenly, ten black balls appeared behind them. The black balls created a gravitational field around them to push the [Bestrou] away but it also didn''t last long. While they were trying to block the [Bestrou], Souta and the other who have healing spells were using it on the two shielders. "Forget blocking! Focus on changing the direction of the beam!!" "Argh!!" Brando and Finsi used every strength in their body to deflect the beam. Swoosh!! They managed to change its direction as the beam flew towards the walls and exploded while Brando and Finsi flew in the opposite direction. Before they crashed into the walls, black tentacles caught them. Still... The explosion that was caused by the [Bestrou] devastated the entire room. This room was too small for the explosion caused by [Bestrou]. The entire room trembled and countless debris of rocks shoots in all directions. Souta quickly cast [Shadow Bind] around the explosion to decrease its power but it easily disintegrated the black tentacles around it. ''Alophy, I''ll use some of your power.'' Yujin said in his mind. He gathered the spirit power in his hand and shoots it towards the explosion. Just like Souta, he wanted to decrease the power of the explosion. It was to avoid some casualties in their group. "Everyone!!" Lumilia commanded the mages to cast a barrier around the explosion. They drunk another mana potion and used their spells. BOOOOM!! Smoke and dust covered the entire room but it didn''t matter to Bryan and the rest of the attackers. They weren''t bothered by the blast as Lumilia and the other managed to contain it to some degree. No one was heavily wounded except for the two shielders. "Let me hunt you down!!" Bryan shouted as he cast a powerful tier 2 spell. Donna and Charise used their combat arts to injured the giant spider while Alice and Jagret executed their skills perfectly. Bang! Bang! Bang! The fierce battle continues... "Yuko, join the battle," Souta said as he patted Yuko''s head who was standing beside him. He used [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] on her. ROAR! Yuko roared as she charged towards the giant spider without fear. She used the skill that Souta gave to her. The [Triple Muscle Strengthening] and [Cat''s Speed]. "Now, let''s see what should I do..." Souta muttered as he tightly gripped the vajra sword in his hand. He looked at his system and saw that he didn''t have that much mana and stamina. This battle was draining everyone''s mana and stamina. If their potions last longer then they were going to win the battle but if they used all of their potions before they could kill the spider, then there''s no doubt that they were going to lose. No, they weren''t going to lose. Yujin would be forced to use his spirit power before that happened and the same could be said for Yuko. "Ah~ it''s troublesome. The earring is in the path beyond this boss..." Souta sighed as he took out a mana potion and drunk it. He turned his head and saw Lynn giving some health potions to Brando and Finsi. It was a matter of time before the two joined the battle once again. "I really pity those who take tank as their role. I should make an effort in this fight too. Everyone is lively today." He muttered with a sigh before he bent his knees. With a "boom" he launched himself towards the giant spider. ... One hour had passed before they managed to take down the boss of this room, the White Jade Spider. A powerful third evolution monster but certainly was not the strongest among them. In fact, compared to the third evolution monster subordinates of Raeshka, this one was weak. Everyone was laying on the ground as they were tired from fighting for more than an hour. This was their first time participating in a raid like this. Fighting a single monster for more than an hour was a brand new experience to these people. "We won!" Brando said as he laughed lightly. "Yeah, we won!" Finsi said as he glanced at Brando. He raised his fist towards Brando. Brando looked at it before he smiled and bumped it with his own fist. He then laughed with Finsi. "Hahaha! We won!! We hunt down a third evolution monster!! That damn monster!!" In this battle, the two of them grew closer and felt that they became friends. They understand each other as they knew that they overcame a painful experience from taking all the damage of their comrades. Chapter 253 - Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon: Decision "That was hard! I thought I was going to die." Brando said with a sigh. His body was full of wounds and his armor was tattered. "I never thought that fighting a third evolution monster would be this hard. They are one stage higher than the second evolution monster but why are they so strong?" Finsi said while looking at the ceiling of the room. His condition was the same as Brando. "Hahaha, that monster is so strong! I want to fight someone at this level in the future!" Bryan said with an eager expression. He enjoyed the battle against the giant spider even though he suffered heavy injuries. The thrill of fighting someone he didn''t know he could win was fun for him. "Well, Souta is right. With our power, we could take down a third evolution monster after a fierce battle." Yujin said as he drunk a health potion. He then took out another potion before giving it to the two shielders who did their best. "Thanks!" Brando and Finsi received the health potion from Yujin. They drunk it without hesitation after thanking him. "Lynn, are you okay?" Lumilia asked Lynn with a concerned look on her face. Lynn looks tired and exhausted. Her face was pale and it seems that she drained her mana. She recalled how Lynn kept casting her spells to help everyone in the battle. She was also the one who healed Brando and Finsi when they got injured. Lynn who was leaning on the walls turned her head and looked at Lumilia. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "I-I''m fine, M-Mila. It just that I didn''t have mana left in my mana pool." "I still have mana potion," Lumilia said as she took out a mana potion in her pocket. "Here, take this." "Thanks, Mila. W-What about Souta and Yuko?" Lynn asked while stuttering as her eyes wandered around trying to find Souta and Yuko. Lumilia smiled and said in a gentle tone, "Don''t worry about him. Souta is strong and smart. His condition is better than any of us." ''Lynn is really a kind girl. Even at her condition she still has a time to worry about others.'' Lumilia thought as she helped Lynn drink the mana potion. "Damn! That monster is the strongest monster I''ve ever faced in my life!" Ginvi spoke as he leaned his back on the walls. He took out his health potions and give it to his comrades. Charise, Donna, and Jagret needed it the most. He was a mage so he was fighting on the back. He was far from danger so he didn''t need that much health potions. "Still... You''re captain''s classmates, am I right?" Ginvi asked as he looked at Lumilia''s direction. Lumilia raised her eyebrows when Ginvi asked her a question. She nodded her head in response to the question. "You''re all from mage class, right? But I can''t see them being a mage." Ginvi said as he glanced at Brando, Bryan, Yujin, Alice, and Souta. "Ah... T-They are special. If I''m not their classmates I will not believe that the course that took in the institute was mage." Lumilia replied as she slightly scratched her cheeks. Her classmates were weird. They were mage but they fought like they were not a mage. "Oi! I''m from the shield class. I''m not their classmates, just schoolmates." Brando said as he heard their conversation. "So, your normal, I thought you''re a mage acting like a shielder," Ginvi said. Souta was listening to their conversation silently. He was looking at their condition with a grave expression. This battle was worse than he thought. He underestimated the bosses of this orange danger level dungeon. He thought that they could clear this dungeon with their strength but after seeing the battle he realized that it was not enough. They were not strong enough to clear the Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon. There were four raid bosses in this dungeon and they defeated one of the bosses. If his memory was right, the remaining three bosses were stronger than the White Jade Spider. They used a lot of potions in fighting the third evolution monster so they don''t have that much left. All the preparation that they did was only enough for the White Jade Spider. Even if Yujin used his spirit power or Yuko used her blessing it would only be enough for the second boss. Currently, they don''t have any means of fighting a third evolution monster repeatedly. At their current strength, they needed a large amount of potions. "Ah~ we''re not going to make." Souta sighed as he looked at the ceiling of the room. He decided to abandon his goal in clearing this dungeon. He only needed to take the [Soul Blood Earring]. He stood up and patted his clothes. He turned his head and looked at the corpse of the White Jade Spider. This spider would fetch a higher than the Dark Vine Stinger that he sell to Lanny corp. Well, the monster orb of this spider was still intact while the monster orb of the Dark Vine Stinger was shattered because of Saya. ''Should I try to learn how to process the corpse of a monster?'' Souta thought while looking at the dead giant spider. After a while, he shook his head and walked in front of the group. Lumilia, Ginvi, Lynn, Bryan, and the others turned their head at him. "Everyone did a great job in fighting the White Jade Spider. You all did your best but... I think we shouldn''t clear this dungeon." Souta said to them with a serious expression. "What do you mean, captain?" Jagret asked him. "I said that we''re not strong enough to clear this dungeon. We''re just a bunch of C-rank adventurers trying to clear a dungeon above our level." Souta said as he looked at Jagret in the eyes. He then looked at the faces of his comrades and added, "Our potion isn''t enough. We wouldn''t be able to handle a second third evolution monster. Plus, the remaining bosses are stronger than the White Jade Spider. "We almost died at the hands of the White Jade Spider so how are we going to handle a monster which is stronger than that dead spider." He said as he pointed his finger at the dead spider. "Captain is right. I suggest that we retreat first. We can''t handle that monster as Brando and Finsi almost died when they took the [Bestrou] before." Lumilia agreed to Souta''s words. "Then, we came here for nothing," Donna said. "Nope, have you forget the market price of a fully intact body of a third evolution monster," Ginvi said as he glanced at Donna. "Ginvi is right. We''ll get hundreds, no, thousands of platinum coins if we sell this White Jade Spider. We''ll talk about the distribution later." Souta said as he waved his hand. "Then, are we going back now?" Lumilia asked. "No, we''ll get a lot of things in the path beyond this room. We''ll only stop when we reach another boss room." Souta said to them. This way he will get the other [Soul Blood Earring]. "But for now, let''s rest." "Hu~ I thought we''re going to venture out at our current condition." Brando sighed in relief as he relaxed his tense muscles. Souta sat on the corner and closed his eyes. He wasn''t going to rest as he was observing the movements of the Lanny group. Up until now, he still doesn''t trust the Lanny group. If they got swayed by the corpse of the White Jade Spider, then this was the right moment to attack. Cliche things like this happened all the time because some of the people couldn''t control their greed for money. The corpse of the White Jade Spider was a bait. A bait that was large enough for people to drool while looking at it. Lumilia, Bryan, and the rest of the Dark Oculus were sleeping. The moment was right. They could just tell that the Dark Oculus died while fighting the third evolution monster and no one will suspect them. The moment they tried to betray him, he would not hesitate to cut their bodies in half. He would even plunder their souls to become a nutrition for his growth. If he had his [Flesh Eating Scythe] then he wouldn''t even leave their bodies alone. ... Five hours had passed and everyone woke up. Souta was glad that they didn''t betray him. Well, there''s no loss for him if they betray him. In fact, he would gain a lot as he would take their share from this expedition and the previous expeditions. Everyone recovered some of their strength from sleeping five hours. They opened their bags and took out the foods that they brought. But Souta stopped them... "Did you know that the meat of a third evolution monster is beneficial to us?" Souta paused for a moment before he added, "If it''s your first time eating a meat of a third evolution monster then the benefits that you''ll receive will be higher." "I know. I saw my dad eating a slice of meat from the third evolution monster. I couldn''t eat it as I was too weak at that time. The meat will become a poison to the people who didn''t have enough strength. Their body wouldn''t be able to handle the intense energy in the meat but some chefs in the capital knew a process where they could decrease the energy inside the meat." Lumilia explained what she know to everyone. Clap! Clap! Clap! "As expected of a noble''s daughter. She knew high-class meat. I''m impressed." Souta praised Lumilia while clapping. Lumilia lowered her head as a ting of redness formed on her cheeks. Chapter 254 - Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon: Treasures "Ah, don''t worry about the price of the corpse. A small amount of meat is nothing to this giant body. They wouldn''t be able to notice it. We could also say that they got damaged in the battle." Souta said to them as he opened his arms. He then turned around and looked at the giant spider, "Well, let''s get to work." He approached the corpse of the spider under the eyes of everyone and slice a piece of meat using the vajra sword. Everyone helped him and cooked the meat of the spider. After they cooked it, they ate it. This was everyone''s first time eating the meat of the third evolution monster except for Alice. But Alice didn''t tell them that she ate the meat of the third evolution monster in her hometown. She acted like she never has eaten it before. "Hu~" Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. The savory meat of this giant spider was amazing in its own way. Not just the taste, his stats also increased by eating this meat. All of his stats increased by twenty-five points. It was a great improvement for him. But in the future, if he ate another meat of the third evolution monster then the benefits that he would receive were not as great as this one. "Here!" Souta said as he gave some meat to Yuko. "It''s so good!!" Bryan said as he put a piece of meat in his mouth. After they finished eating, Souta went on top of the giant spider. He was looking down at the black-colored gem on its back. It''s the monster orb of the White Jade Spider. Its size was as huge as the ball of basketball. "This thing is the strength of the monster and also the weakness of the monster." He muttered as he squatted down and touch the monster orb. Just by touching the monster orb, Souta felt that the best feram inside it was preventing him from using his mana. It was disrupting the flow of mana inside his body. The energy inside this orb was enormous. No wonder a lot of people wanted to get their hands on a monster orb. "Really bad," Souta commented as he squinted his eyes while looking at the monster orb. He slowly removed his palm on the orb and was feeling excited knowing that he would gain this power in the future. Simply looking in the future, he would have the strength of a player from version 3 while it was still version 2. That way, he would be able to wreak havoc in the demon army. "Let''s forget it." He shook his head and placed those thoughts in the back of his mind. Souta looked at his comrades and asked, "Everyone, are you ready?!" "Yes!!" Brando, Bryan, and the rest replied to him in a loud voice. Yuko also stood up and walked beside Souta. She knew that they were going to leave this room right now. "We''re going to check our reward from taking down this White Jade Monster," Souta said with a wide grin on his face. Behind the ground was an opened metallic door. They came inside this room through that metallic door. In the opposite direction of this room was another huge metallic door. If the group wanted to explore the rest of the dungeon then they needed to go through it. Besides the two huge metallic doors, there was another small door at the side of the room. In the game, the players would rally towards it to check their rewards quickly after killing the raid boss. But this time, Souta and the rest could actually check the treasures inside the room. There were no restrictions in this "real world" unlike in the game. But he didn''t do so as it would distract his comrades who were fighting the giant spider. "This is what I''m waiting for," Ginvi said with an excited look. Charise and Donna looked at each other and smile. Souta turned around and walked towards the small metal door. Everyone followed him from behind. He pushed the door and it revealed a room full of thick white webs. He was surprised as he saw the egg of the spider at the ceiling of the room. At the center of the room was a small tree with fruits hanging on it. Below the tree was the spoils from defeating the giant spider. "This...? So the spider is protecting this egg." Lumilia exclaimed when she saw the egg. "The egg is a consolation prize..." Souta muttered while gazing at it. In the game, there''s no egg inside this treasure room. But... How the hell did that huge spider placed this egg inside this small room? "Step back." He said to his comrades and black tentacles emerged from the ground. It covered the tree and the treasures inside the room. Yuko used the [Burning Shout] trait skill to burn the egg along with the webs inside the room. Boom! Now that the room was clean, they could enter the room without being bothered by those sticky webs. "Shit! You''re a merciless person you know that." Ginvi commented while glancing inside the room. "You too," Souta replied with a smile before he entered the room. The temperature inside the room was quite high, maybe because of Yuko''s trait skill. He canceled the [Shadow Bind] spell and the black tentacles that were covering the tree and the treasures dissipated in thin air. "Oh? It''s really what you call treasures!" Souta commented as he checked the treasures on the ground. There were tier 1 and tier 2 spell books and some powerful combat arts. "Let me see. Let me see." Bryan sat down beside him. Lumilia and the rest followed and started to check the treasures. Twelve tier 1 spells Five tier 2 spells Fifteen combat arts Thirteen mid-grade mana potions and five low-grade of the same potion Thirty mid-grade health potions and twenty-one low-grade of the same potion Five defense enhancing potion Three strength enhancing potion Fifteen permanent strength enhancing potion Three kilograms of silver ore Five and a half kilograms of gold ore Twenty blue grade weapons and thirteen armors of the same grade Seventeen purple grade weapons and five armors of the same grade One orange grade weapon Three health spirit apple Lumilia wrote down the treasures in her note one by one. They would divide it fairly according to everyone''s contribution in the battle. As the leader of the group, Souta has the right to choose one treasure that he wanted from their spoils. He rubbed his chin as he looked at the treasures in his eyes. He didn''t care about tier 1 and tier 2 spellbooks. He had skill tree and points in the Ladro Institute. He could redeem one or two tier 2 spells with his remaining points. Of course, he checked the spell first before deciding that he didn''t want it. If there were rare and useful spells for him then he would take it. The silver ore and gold ore didn''t pique his interest. He had a lot of platinum coins in his wallet so a bunch of silver ore and gold ore didn''t matter to him. The equipments grade was too low for him. Blue and purple grade? He could buy dozens of this with his money. The orange-grade weapon was no use to him. His current weapon was a dark grade and he was about to complete his universal grade artifacts. Plus, the weapon was a bow. His bow mastery in his [Weapon Mastery] skill was one level 2. It would decrease his fighting strength if he switched his weapon to bow. In fact, no one among his comrades uses this type of weapon. Brando was using shield, Yujin was sword just like him, and Alice was spear. Also, Lumilia, Lynn, Ginvi, and Evren were all using staff or book as catalysts to strengthen their spells. The rest was using swords and daggers. In the end, Souta chooses the health spirit apple. These fruits would permanently increase his health points so he chooses it. He could get the permanent strength enhancing potions if he had a lot of money in the market. He could buy it in any large countries so it doesn''t interest him that much compare to this fruit. After that, they divided the spoils fairly. The ones who got the permanent enhancing potions were Bryan, Charise, Donna, Brando, and Finsi. Of course, they also got some of the combat arts and equipment. Lynn and the rest of the mages took the spell books and some weapons. There were high-grade staff and book catalysts and it''s important for their class. After some thought, Souta decided to buy the orange-grade weapon since they were going to sell why not buy it using his own money. He would give them some money later after they returned to the Eternal Empire. Everyone was satisfied with what they got in the treasure room. "Next is the path beyond this door." Chapter 255 - Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon: Complete Universal Grade Artifact "Okay, let''s split up," Souta said as he looked at their face. He then explained, "There''s no dangerous monster in this dungeon at our current power so I suggest splitting up and clear the path ahead before plundering all the treasures." "I see... You really out down the mission in clearing this dungeon, captain." Lumilia nodded while looking at the map on the ground. "I agree with the captain''s suggestion so we''ll form a group of three just like the time when we''re clearing low-level dungeons." "True, despite being low-level monsters their numbers are high so it would pose a problem if we''re going to move alone." Jagret nodded and said his opinion. "Our goal right now is to clear the path towards the boss''s room. We wouldn''t stand a chance against a monster that''s stronger than the White Jade Spider so forget about clearing this dungeon. Our target right now is to plunder the treasures before the boss''s room." Souta said. His real target was the [Soul Blood Earring]. Even if they got the dozens of potions from the treasure room, he thought that it was still not enough. If they have two B-rank adventurers aside from Yujin and Yuko, then Souta would give it a chance. The groups were the same when they were clearing low-level dungeons. After that, they split up and went to different paths inside the dungeon. "They''re gone..." Souta looked back and said in a low voice. Yuko who was beside him looked behind as she slightly tilted her head. "Mu." "Let''s take universal grade treasure," Souta said as the corner of his mouth curved upward. He then turned around and strode forward. Yuko quietly followed him while gazing at his back. On their way, Souta and Yuko fought more than fifty second evolution monsters. They were also spiders but this one was different than the spider before the first boss. They were spiders that had sharp poisonous fangs so Souta and Yuko had a hard time. After all, the nearest boss was also a spider-type monster but it was poisonous and smaller. This was the reason why Souta didn''t want to fight another boss. The second boss was something that they couldn''t defeat. The poison it possessed was so strong that it could kill a B-rank adventurer within an hour. Their healing spell wouldn''t be able to cure poison. After all, healing magic could only cure wounds and injuries not detoxify poison. A C-rank adventurer wouldn''t last more than half an hour under the poison of the boss. To defeat it, they needed someone who knows high-level detoxification spells. It was difficult to fight it without any detoxification spells as the boss has an AOE poisonous skill. Its web also has fire resistance characteristics so it was pretty hopeless if they were going to fight it. After half an hour, Souta arrived in the secret room of the secret room. Of course, he knew the puzzles surrounding the secret room. He was the one who completed and obtained the treasure in the game after all. He also levels up from killing all the monsters in this area. He was now a level 34 Battle Mage. Good. Just a little bit more and he would be able to reach level 40 but before that, he had to maximize the benefits that he will get from forming his legion. A lot of skill points were waving at him. "Finally, we''re here." Souta and Yuko were standing in the corridor of the room. The room was small and dark but Souta had night vision so the darkness didn''t bother him. On the center of the room was a golden treasure chest. "Pretty big chest for an earring," Souta said with a hint of excitement in his voice. He couldn''t hide his own excitement as the other [Soul Blood Earring] was just in front of him. "Yuko, guard this room and wait for me." After saying that to Yuko, Souta strode forward and stood in front of the golden treasure chest. He lifted his hand and caressed the earring on his left ear. Huff! He took a deep breath to calm himself before he raised both of his hands and opened the golden treasure chest. Inside the chest, he saw a small silver-colored earring with a black orb as its design. Ohm! The earring inside the chest glows dimly as if it was greeting the earring that Souta had. Thud! Thud! Souta felt the [Soul Blood Earring] in his ear throbbed. Then, he heard small voices that he couldn''t recognize. "This...?" He was slightly surprised but he already expected it. Just like the [Vajra Sword Saya], this pair of earrings were slightly different in the game. Stretching out his hand, he picked the earring and pierced his earlobe. He registered the earring as "equip" in his system. Then, he heard the same throbbing sounds. Thud! Thud! [You''ve completed the Universal Grade Artifact "Soul Blood Earring"] [You''ve unlocked all the skills of the Universal Grade Artifact "Soul Blood Earring"] [You''ve gained Soul Eye!] [You''ve gained Soul Ear!] [The radius of the skill Harvester of the Soul has increased by two kilometers!] Souta frowned as he covered his ears with his hands. He was wearing different voices in his head. The voice was full of hatred and malice. "Damn! These are the voices of the souls inside the earring!!" He gritted his teeth and raised his hand in the air. He smashed the ground repeatedly as the voices inside his head grew louder. "Damn! These puny souls are bothering me!!" He screamed loudly as he found that covering his ears was useless. All the souls inside the earring were breaming in anger, rage, fury, desperation, and various mixed emotions. The emotions were focused on Souta, the one who bound them. The one who didn''t let them die in peace. They were suffering inside this small earring. They felt they were in hell. For them, Souta was the evilest being in the whole world. Souta was about to snap when he heard a familiar feminine voice inside his head. ''Ufufu, that look on your face is quite interesting...'' He opened his eyes widely as he knew the owner of this voice. At the same time that the familiar voice appeared, the voices of the souls disappeared inside his mind like a bubble. "Hu~ you save me there, Saya." Souta with a sigh of relief. The owner of the voice was none other than the being inside his dark grade sword. ''I warned you before that what you''re doing is something extreme. Taking the souls is something that even gods didn''t want to do. If a word of this got out then you will face the wrath of countless gods.'' Saya''s exasperated voice sounded in his mind. "I don''t care. Who are they to me anyway? All of it was to prepare myself for the worse." Souta replied to her as he stood up and patted his clothes. ''That''s what I''m saying. Still, to think that you would have a complete universal artifact is outside my expectations. Do you know how many universal grade artifacts are in this world?'' "Fifty, no, maybe a hundred," Souta replied as he took a bottle of water and drunk it. In the game, his equipment set was all universal grade. The top 20 players in the game had one or two universal grade. The three great countries also possessed powerful universal grade. He just didn''t know how many artifacts they have. The three bringers of calamity and some of the gods in the other continent have their own set of universal grade. He knew a lot of universal grade equipment and its uses, the only problem was that he didn''t know how to get it except for his own set. If he only knew it then he would get it no matter what to increase the strength of his forces in the future. ''Plundering the souls is a sin.'' "And who decided that damn thing? I''ll kill that person so no one could say that it''s a sin anymore! Rules? I created my own rules!" ''Well, we''re always the ones who decided those things to limit ourselves. So I couldn''t complain about you.'' "Still, I had to thank you. I didn''t know what to do with the voices inside my head. It felt like their emotions are seeping in the fibers of my body." Souta said as he glanced at the system to check the changes in the artifact. ''I have my own circ.u.mstances and one of that is I can''t afford to let you die at this moment. I want to confirm something if you are really the one.'' Souta ignored her voice as he focused his attention on the system. [Soul Blood Earring](Universal): A powerful universal treasure created from the soul and body of the True Ancestor to collect the souls of every living creature in the universe. Skill: [Harvester of the Soul]. It could collect the wandering soul of in the surrounding area. Soul collected(Left Piece): 892/1,700 Soul collected(Right Piece): 0/100 Skill: [Soul Blood Mode]. Infused the souls inside the earring to the wearer''s blood to generate a power surpassing the limit of the user. The blood of the user will become a medium of the souls in exchange for the usage of soul power. Consumed 200 souls every one minute if activated. [Soul Eye]: Let the user have an eye that could see the wandering souls in the area. [Soul Ear]: Let the user have an ear that could hear the voices of the wandering souls. Stats effect: +100 all stats, +100% resistance to all abnormalities "With this, I could go toe to toe with a full power White Jade Spider..." Chapter 256 - Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon: Exiting Souta was sure that he could go toe to toe to the White Jade Spider while using everything that he had. [Possession] and [Soul Blood Mode] could boost his power to match that of a monster that used the [Monster Orb Release]. The added stats of the [Soul Blood Earring] wasn''t that great if he compared it to the [Vajra Sword Saya]. The thing that made this a universal grade was the skill to harvest the souls. In the long run, he would surpass the added stats of the vajra sword as long as he gathered souls. Plus, the stats increased through souls was permanent compared to the vajra sword the once he unequipped it the added stats will disappear. If he had the [Soul Blood Mode] from the beginning then he could utterly destroy Gregory without using his ten years of his lifespan. He accomplished his goal in coming into this forest full of powerful monsters. Nothing much interested him in this dungeon now that he had a complete universal grade. "Next is to gather enough souls to fill the right piece of earring," Souta muttered as he walked out of the room. Yuko looked at him with a concerned look. She wanted to go inside the room when she heard his scream but she recalled how Souta said to guard the door. He smiled and ruffled her head before saying, "It''s okay, everything''s all right. You have your own ace and I just gained my own." He needed to go back to Ladros city and establish the Dark Oculus Legion. They will become the third legion in the Ladros city. He was looking forward to it. ''Just what did you do while I''m sleeping? You''ve grown stronger also your pet is many times stronger compared to the last time I saw her.'' Saya asked Souta after watching him and Yuko defeating a group of second evolution monsters easily. "I did everything in the last month! Do you even know that I''ve fought someone from Deadly Sins? Those damn six-circle officers are getting c.o.c.ky! I''ve got to destroy them someday!" Souta said to her with a hint of anger in his tone. ''Explain everything to me. We have a lot of time.'' Saya said to him in a calm tone. Souta slowly told her what happened to him. He even included the things about Raeshka. He told her everything that he knew and didn''t hide anything. He began to trust after she saved him from the Dark Vine Stinger in the Fersch Dukedom. Also, he would go insane if she didn''t help him when he was feeling the souls inside the [Soul Blood Earring]. ''Eh... What?! You!! Yuko gained a blessing of a monster lord!!'' Even Saya was shocked when he told her the details of his adventures. She was flabbergasted and dumbfounded by what she heard. Souta''s journey while she was sleeping was extraordinary. Fighting people from the famous criminal organization and drinking two monster potions to hold back those people. Going to the home of a monster lord and gaining her approval. Convincing the monster lord to say that he was the most powerful monster at his level. Letting the monster lord give blessing to his companion. Taking down a third evolution monster with a party C-rank adventurers. Lastly, completing the universal grade artifacts. All of these feats were remarkable for the people at his current level. She never knew someone at his current power level did the same thing in her entire life. Even the last owner couldn''t do it when he was as strong as Souta. ''You really are the...'' "What?!" Souta stopped walking as he asked Saya. ''Nothing. Did you feel that you''re slowly changing? I know that you''re a selfish and brutal person but now... Can you tell me, why did you fight the criminal organization? I want to know your reason. You didn''t get anything from that battle. You were coma for two weeks and a lot of people are eyeing you right now. ''I know a little bit of you. So I want to know your reason. From my understanding of your personality, you wouldn''t do anything that wouldn''t benefit you.'' Saya asked him intensely. "Tsk! That question again. I''m tired of hearing the same question again and again." Souta clicked his tongue in annoyance. Raeshka asked him the same question before but he vaguely answered her. In truth, he didn''t know how to answer that question. All he felt was rage at that time when those six-circle officers cornered him and his friends. He walked beside Yuko and noticed the notification in the system. The souls in his earring kept increasing every seconds. After a while, he reached the limit of the right piece so he unhesitatingly used it on his intelligence attribute. The souls only stopped coming after he increased his intelligence attribute by three times. "This is good. The range expanded greatly. I could now gather souls easily with this." Souta muttered while looking at his stats in the system. ''Of course, it would increase.'' "Hey, Saya. Do you know true ancestor?" Souta asked Saya after reading the details of the [Soul Blood Earring]. Just by getting the other piece of earring a lot of changes happened to it. "[Soul Eye], huh?" He lifted his head and muttered. He saw the souls around flying towards him at high speed. The souls of the monsters were screaming as the earring sucked them. "Soul. Soul. Soul. Soul." Souta rubbed his chin as he recalled some lore that he read in the game. In the other continent, there was a tribe that didn''t use mana. Instead, they were utilizing the power of their souls. Is that tribe connected to the true ancestor? ''Where did you hear that words?'' Saya''s tone turned serious. It seems that true ancestor was a big shot in the past. "Hmm...? What do you mean?" Souta asked Saya. He was in his own thoughts so he forgot that he was talking to her. ''I said where did you hear that words?'' Saya asked seriously. "From Raeshka..." Souta replied without a second thought. He did it so that he could bluff Saya by saying that he heard it from the monster lord. ''Ufufu... That child knows something... It''s getting interesting.'' Saya laughed and her tone turned back to her usual one. Listening to her, it seems that he wouldn''t receive an answer to his question. He didn''t have any expectations so he continued to walk forward with Yuko but then... He heard Saya said something to him. ''Ancestors are noble vampires that reached the realm of gods but True Ancestor is a title given to the noble vampire that has the strength to protect and destroy the whole vampire race. True Ancestor is the lord of all vampires, the one above the vampire gods.'' Souta stopped walking when he heard her words. He asked once again but Saya didn''t reply to him. She just stays silent all the way to the entrance of the dungeon. True Ancestor? He heard these words in the past but he didn''t even know if who''s the current true ancestor of the vampires. No, even the ancestor vampires that he fought in the game didn''t mention their true leader. It was as if the true ancestor didn''t exist anymore. Just how strong was that being? The being who ruled the ancestor vampires. Is it as strong as a commandment? Or a deadly sin? Maybe a king of gods like Zeus or Odin? ''So the [Soul Blood Earring] are made of true ancestor''s body... Maybe, the ingredients to create universal grade equipment are not material things but the body of powerful god-level creatures.'' Souta thought as he exited the dungeons with Yuko. The Lanny group and Dark Oculus were already at the entrance waiting for him. "C-Captain is here!" Lynn exclaimed as she felt Souta and Yuko''s energy. She was still not accustomed to calling him ''Captain''. "Captain, you''re here! We''re getting bored while waiting for you!" Ginvi complained when he saw Souta exited the dungeon. "Yeah, yeah," Bryan nodded with a bored look. "Then, let''s return to the empire. Our spoils that we got here are good enough." Souta said with a sigh while waving his hand. This was enough for him. He didn''t need to clear this dungeon anymore. He could acquire tier 3 spell books, orange grade weapons, and some high-grade resources but that doesn''t matter to him anymore. He just wanted to rest and go back to the empire to prepare for the founding of his legion. "We already prepared everything so we''re ready to leave anytime," Lumilia said to him. Their spoils were neatly arranged to the corner with the corpse of the White Jade Spider. "Good." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. The group departed and they arrived in the empire before dawn. Their group became the center of attention as soon as they entered the gate of the empire. After all, they brought back a corpse of a powerful third evolution monster. Chapter 257 - Sayas Decision With the increase of 100 points to all of his attributes, Souta''s strength rose to the next level. This time he was sure that he would pass the advancement exam of the Adventurers Guild. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Souta was slashing his sword in a refined manner just like Yujin. He was training his sword skill so that when he evolved the level of his mastery would reach a higher level. After half an hour of practicing, Souta stopped as he sat down on the ground. "It''s not enough... I felt that my sword skill become stagnant these days." He muttered while looking at his hand. It seems that he really needed to look for a teacher to teach him sword mastery. He rubbed his chin as he tried to recall how many points he had in the institute. He used his points for Bargan before and Bargan teaches him about tamer. "Should I use my points to hire some private tutor?" Souta whispered as he glanced in the sky while rubbing his chin. There were dozens of sword teachers in the institute and Souta had someone in his mind. Jess Blueleaf, Bargan''s good friend and the teacher of the sword class. ''Do you want me to teach you?'' Saya''s voice suddenly sounded in his head. "Huh? You, teaching me?" Souta looked at the sword with a confused expression. ''Yes, I will teach you.'' Saya replied to him. "Souta!" Souta turned his head as someone called him. He saw Lumilia walking towards him with a towel and bottle of water in her hands. "Oh, thanks." He thanked Lumilia as he used the towel to wipe the sweat on his face. "No problem, practicing sword skill again?" Lumilia shook her head and asked. "Yeah, I need to grow stronger," Souta replied to her as he looked down at his hands. He then looked at her and changed the topic. "What''s the situation?" "Ahem..." Lumilia forcefully coughed and her tone changed into a serious one. "We managed to sell some of the weapons and armors that we got in clearing dungeons. We earned five hundred forty five silver coins by selling the blue grade equipment and below." "Hmm... That''s good." Souta nodded as he rubbed his chin. He then turned at her and said, "The Lanny corp promise me to buy the White Jade Spider for one thousand and two hundred platinum coins. So I want you to divide the rewards to the people who participated in the raid. After that, you can give the lanny group''s part to them. They are your priorities. The matter of Dark Oculus we could handle it later." "Understood." Lumilia nodded and she gazed at Souta in the eyes before asking. "Do you have a plan to break your contract with the Lanny corp?" "Nope," Souta simply answered her question without saying his reason. They could probably earn more if they put the White Jade Spider in an auction house but Souta didn''t do so because he had a contract with Lanny corp. Most of their spoils were sold to the Lanny corp because of their contract. From the outsider''s standpoint, they could only guess that Lanny corp deployed Souta here to hunt this monster. They didn''t have any idea that Souta and Lanny corp didn''t have a master and subordinate relationship. They were just using each other. The Lanny corp was using his name and fame while Souta was using their people and properties for his own use. If the Lanny corp wanted Souta to do something for them, they couldn''t force him if he declined their request. Souta was free to move according to his will. The contract didn''t bound him to work for Lanny corp. "I see." Lumilia nodded and she didn''t ask any more questions about the Lanny corp.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''s-decision_52015290296355257 for visiting. "I was thinking that I should take the advancement exam in this country so that when we returned we could focus ourselves on establishing the legion," Souta suggested as he glanced at her. He opened the bottle and drunk the water inside it before giving it back to Lumilia. "That''s a good idea but..." Lumilia sat down beside him before she continued, "the exam is different to each branch of the guild. We didn''t have any idea what''s the advancement exam in this country." "Don''t worry about it. I''m confident that I have a power of B-rank so I will pass the advancement exam." Souta answered her confidently. All it matters was his strength. If he didn''t have the strength of a B-rank Souta wouldn''t pass the exam even if he took the exam from different countries. "I see, our party is getting larger." Lumilia nodded and said. If Souta said that then she could only believe in him. "Yeah, so I think you should try to upgrade your power too. Build up your magic capacity so that you can cast dozens of tier 2 spells. It''s important, you know?" Souta looked at her face. "Yeah, I''m working on it but I think that it will take a few months, unlike Bryan who is about to reach B-rank," Lumilia said with a sigh. "Don''t compare yourself to him. Bryan is a freak with four elemental affinities. His tier 1 spell could even rival some of the weak tier 2 spells." Souta said as he closed his eyes. "The same thing could be said to you. You said it yourself that you''re a B-rank." Lumilia said with a sneer. "Tsk!" Souta clicked his tongue as the wind blew past his face making his hair flutter. "We''ve come a long way." "Yeah, I didn''t even imagine that we would form a party when first saw you in the class. I thought that this year would become a normal school for me but thanks to you I''ve experienced a lot of things that I haven''t experienced before." Lumilia said as a beautiful smile flashed on her face. "I''m bound by my family. I thought that I would never be able to escape from it but I''ve gained my freedom. In truth, I was hopeless at that time when my father called me." "Haha, I can see it in your face. You''re quite hopeless." Souta said with a laughed. "Don''t laugh at me. Mmmm, I''m being serious here." Lumilia puffed her cheeks in embarrassment. "Okay, okay, I won''t laugh at you. When I first saw you, I thought that you''re just a cheeky noble brat." Souta said to her. "Huh? I''m not a cheeky brat!" Lumilia looked at him with wide eyes. "I mean, you''re always stopping Bryan from sleeping. Calling teacher as if you''re a leech." Souta said as he opened his arms while shaking his head. Lumilia''s face turned red and she lowered her head. She slowly opened her mouth and said in a tiny voice, "So that''s what you''re impression of me, huh? I''m just trying to fulfill my role as a class rep so you can''t blame me for that. I''ve been learning to follow the rules and be a disciplined person since I was a child." "Hahaha, what can I say? I''m only saying the truth." Souta said as he stood up and patted his clothes. "I''ll continue my training so I won''t go back with you." "Okay, I''ll tell them that you''re training. I will be back to bring your lunch." Lumilia said as she stood up. "Thanks." Souta thanked her as he held the vajra sword in his hand tightly. "No problem. Don''t push yourself too hard." Lumilia shook her head and left after leaving these words. Souta gazed at her back while thinking about the things that happened before. All of them grew stronger. At their current strength, they would be able to defeat him if he had the same strength when he first arrived in the Ladros city. At that time, their power was just D-rank. But now, in just a few months, they grew up close to B-rank. Well, it was also thanks to them that he was able to earn a lot of skill points. If he stayed in the Undead Sanctuary he wouldn''t be able to become a battle mage in just a short amount of time. ''You''re worried about her.'' Saya said suddenly. "Nope, I trust them. I don''t need to worry about them. Oh, right? You said that you''re going to teach me, right?" Souta recalled what Saya said before. ''Yeah, I confirmed that you''re worthy of becoming my partner. Do you know the past wielder of the vajra sword?'' Saya asked him. "Nope," Souta shook his head. ''Then, do you know the Zomus country?'' "Yeah, it''s the large country below the Hebrei kingdom. Why you ask?" Souta nodded. ''The founder of that country is one of my past wielders, the Black Edge Zomus.'' "What?!" Souta was shocked when he heard her words. ''All the people that wield the vajra sword are great people that either become a king of a country or become a hero. And I''m the one who taught them their skills. So I''ve decided that your worthy of becoming my partner. I will impart you some skills that will help you in your journey.'' Chapter 258 - Sayas past "You! Are you serious?!" Souta was shocked. He didn''t even know that Saya could teach him skills. If he knew this from the beginning then he would ask her. ''Yes, I''m serious. I want to teach you some skills that will help you in your adventurer. I''m sure that you will become a great person in the future just like my past wielder, no, even without me you will still become an influential figure. You''re a future powerhouse.'' Saya said in a serious tone. ''So the past wielder of vajra sword are all big shot. It seems that I have to look into it later so I could gain more information about Saya.'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. ''Well, I''m sure that you won''t let go of me.'' Saya suddenly said in a tired tone. "Of course, you''re the best weapon I currently have so even if you don''t want it I will use you to slay my enemies," Souta said as a matter of fact. ''You''re the first monster who wielded me and the first person I saw that will not succ.u.mb to my power. All of my past wielders are great people but they couldn''t handle the effects of using my powers. They lost themselves and become mindless people that will slaughter everyone in their sight.'' "Hmm...? So the people that you possessed in the ruin when I first saw you are..." ''Yeah, they couldn''t handle my powers. They lost their ability to think after taking in the energy of vajra. The same thing happened to my past wielders.'' Saya answered him. "I see... So why are you in that ruins?" Souta asked a simple question. ''Me? Oh, the people from the Zomus country sealed me in that place but the seal weakened with the passage of time. That ruins was a research lab seven hundred years ago but they abandoned it because the energy of the vajra is corrupting their mind.'' "I get it. So that''s the reason why you are in that place. Still, three hundred years ago, huh? My parents aren''t even born at that time." Souta understood everything why she was there in the ruin. Saya''s energy was pure of malice and hatred. This was the reason why most of the people that held her lost their mind. Overused of her energy could decrease a person''s lifeforce. "So that''s the reason why you told me that you will take ten years of my lifespans when you let me borrowed your power. You calculated my power and the energy that I will borrow, and you came to a decision that I will lose ten years of my lifespan. You said that it was a contract and you will take my lifespan in return for borrowing your energy." ''Yes, I didn''t even take your lifespan. The energy that you borrow caused you to lose your lifespan. It wasn''t because I took it.'' Souta contemplated for a while before he opened his mouth, "Hmm... Your energy is like poison. Just like an undead''s energy. Don''t tell me you''re undead." ''I don''t think it''s the right word to use but I also can''t deny that I have properties of an undead. Hays... It''s a long story...'' "Tell me. I have a lot of time." Souta said. ''I will make it short as I don''t want to talk about but since I''ve decided to support you I will tell you some of my past.'' Saya said in a tired tone. ''A long long time ago, I''m the sole survivor of the noble vajra clan. Everyone died except for me so I''m the only person left in my race. I thought that I would be able to revive our clan but the other races treated me badly. Yeah, they killed me. I don''t even know why or how but I was filled with anger and hatred at that time. ''The next thing I found was that my consciousness was inside the sword. I saw a man wearing a black robe in front of me. That man was looking at me with disappointment in his eyes. He then left without saying another word. ''Later on, people called me [Vajra Sword Saya]. I became a dark-grade weapon. My corrupted energy turned everyone into a mindless killer. That time, I found that the first man that I saw ever since I woke up was a famous blacksmith and he was also an evil necromancer that brought terror to the continent.'' Souta could feel her emotion in her words. He never heard her like this. Her tone was different from normal. "Thanks for telling me your past." In the end, Souta could only thank her for trusting him to the point that she told him her past. ''Ufufu, do you pity me now that you''ve heard my past? What if I''m bluffing and just trying to get your pity? What would you do?'' Saya laughed as she asked Souta in a seductive tone. "I believe in what you said," Souta said strongly. According to the information that he gathered from Cl.u.s.ter before, Ieshi clan vanished and the vajra race was annihilated along with the other dominant race at that time. ''...Anyway, let''s stop talking about my past. I will start teaching you right now.'' "...Fine, tell me everything that I need to do." Souta smiled as he gripped the sword in his hand. He wondered how Saya would teach him sword skill. ''Sit down comfortably and close your eyes.'' Saya said in a strict tone. Souta followed her words as he sat down in a lotus position before closing his eyes. This was the best position for him when meditating. Ohm! Suddenly, he felt that he was sucked by something unknown. His whole body felt weightless and he couldn''t sense everything that was happening around him. He felt that he was in a completely different place. Nevertheless, Souta didn''t open his eyes without Saya''s permission. She was going to become his teacher from now on so he had to follow her instruction. After a while, he heard Saya''s words saying that he could open his eyes. Souta slowly opened his eyes and found that he was in a place. He was standing in the middle of an endless black space with small stars around it. "What is this place?" He muttered as he looked down. He saw endless black space below him but for some reason, he didn''t fall towards it. Raising his feet, he tapped the ground using his shoes. He felt that there was an invisible floor that made it possible for him to stand in this place.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''s-past_52031942958308540 for visiting. "This is my inner consciousness." Saya''s voice sounded. "Hmm...?" Souta looked up and saw the same red figure that he fought in that underground place. This figure was none other than Saya herself. "This is my inner consciousness," Saya said once again. "Why are we here?" Souta asked while looking around. "Of course, I''m going to train you. I can''t materialize in the real world so I had to pull you into my inner consciousness. Before you ask a question why are we here let me tell you something..." Saya said as she stopped Souta from asking questions. Souta was feeling weird looking at the red figure with no face except for the mouth. ''Is this really the appearance of vajra race? No, no, that''s not happening. She just looked like that because of negative energy.'' He heavily shook his head. "People who reach a certain level of strength wouldn''t train their skills in an open ground. It was because there''s a chance that they altered the map. Destroying mountains, creating oceans or islands are all possible with people who reach higher levels. Imagine a powerful water user will train beside the empire." Saya said to him. "Yeah, a flood will swallow the empire if something wrong happened." Souta nodded at her as he understood her point. Yeah, if he was a powerful swordsman then his simple slash could generate a powerful shockwave. So he couldn''t practice like he usually does. "That''s the reason why most of them will train their skills in their inner consciousness. Do you get it?" "Yeah, still... This is your inner consciousness...? It''s different from mine." Souta said while looking at the glittering stars around the space. "Of course it''s different. I died in the past so my inner consciousness got destroyed. All the stars that you see in this place are all fragments of the spells that I imprinted in this place." Saya explained to him. "I see... So that''s why I''ve been feeling some energy towards those glittering stars." Souta nodded and he looked at Saya. "So what should we do?" "Of course, I''m going to fight you in this place. Don''t worry I will not kill you because if I kill you here it will affect your real body." Saya said as she raised her finger. "One more thing, one hour here is equal to five hours in the real world." "Hmm...? 1:5 ratio. It''s not bad." Souta said and tightened his grip on his sword. "Ufufu, come and attack me." Saya chuckled and a sword formed in her hand. Chapter 259 - Advancement Exam Souta was standing in front of the Adventurers Guild. Behind him were the members of the Dark Oculus and Lanny group. They were here to watch him and support him in his advancement exam. "I didn''t think that you would try to become a B-rank at this moment, captain," Ginvi said from the side as he combs his mohawk style green hair. "Yeah, but I think you''ll pass the exam without any problem, captain," Jagret said. "Yohoo! I wanna take the exam too!" Bryan said with an excited expression. "It''s too early for you Bryan. Come back if you have the same power as captain." Brando said to Bryan while shaking his head. "Brother Souta! Good luck! I''m cheering for you!" Cl.u.s.ter said as she raised both of her hands in the air. Souta smiled and said, "Let''s go." before he entered inside the guild building with the rest of his comrades. During the past two days, his skill had grown. He could feel that his sword skill was improving with Saya''s tutelage. He still hasn''t learned any powerful skill as Saya was training his sword mastery but it was enough for him. Her inner consciousness was different from him, no, it was different from all weak people. The time in Souta''s inner world was the same as the time in the real world. There''s no difference but the time in Saya''s inner consciousness was five times faster in the real world. She said that creature that reached god-level has this kind of inner consciousness. In other words, Saya was a god being she died. This was the reason why the wielders of the vajra sword were all skilled fighters. The adventurers inside the guild turned silent when Souta and the rest entered inside. All of them looked at Souta''s group and started to murmur. "Hey, is that the group who subdue a third evolution White Jade Spider?" "Yeah, yeah, I heard that they are all C-rank!" "What?! Is that possible?! A group of C-rank subduing a level of that monster!!" "Maybe, they saw that White Jade Spider was injured when they found it!" "But they said that they killed it inside the dungeon!" "They only got lucky!" "Nah, I don''t think so. If you''re here the other day then you will find that they had a record of saving a small dukedom from a third evolution monster. So it''s their second time killing that level of monster." "Really?!" "Yeah, I couldn''t believe it too." "Ignore those people," Souta said to his comrades as he strode towards the reception. His comrades simply followed him. "Um... I want to take an advancement exam for B-rank?" Souta said to the receptionist as he placed his adventurer''s ID in front of her. The beautiful elf receptionist was surprised when she heard Souta''s words. She snapped out of her thoughts when Souta called her once again. "Um... C-Can you please wait for me? I need to talk to the management about this." The receptionist said to him. "Okay." Souta nodded as he understood her job. She needed to report this to the one who handled the advancement exam so that they could record it. The receptionist left after taking Souta''s ID. If Souta passed the exam then they needed to change his rank in his ID so it''s natural that Souta has to give it to her. Souta didn''t have a problem with it. He was sure that he passed the condition to take the exam. He had a clean record of one hundred percent rate in completing all the quest that he took. He talked to Lumilia and the rest while waiting for the receptionist. The adventurers around were quietly talking about him. After a few minutes, the receptionist returned with a man with wolf ears and tail. "So you''re the one who''s going to take the exam?" The man asked Souta. "Yes, I''m the one," Souta said as he observed the man. His senses told him that this man was either at the peak of C-rank or B-rank. As expected of the branch in Eternal Empire. "We have a simple test in this branch to see if you''re qualified to become a B-rank or not." The man turned and said, "Come follow me at the back of the guild." Souta nodded and followed him. Lumilia and the rest also went with them. "Oi! A B-rank test!! This is interesting!! It''s rare to see a B-rank test!" "Yeah! Let''s watch too. It''s been four months since I''ve seen someone take the advancement exam in this branch!!" "Time to see if that brat is a B-rank or not!!" The rowdy adventurers started to talk to each other. They were breaming with excitement as they followed Souta''s group. ... Souta and the rest arrived in the huge arena behind the guild''s building. Powerful barriers were erected all over the place. It was to protect the structure of this place and prevent the exam from causing casualties. The one who created these powerful barriers was the guild master of this branch. The guild master was a powerful peak A-rank mage. ''An A-rank was just a butler of princess Alea. It''s not that much.'' Souta thought but he knew that he had no way to defeat an A-rank with his current power. He didn''t even have a way to crack these barriers. "So what''s the test?" Souta turned to the man. "Simple. You need to defeat this monster." The man said before he clapped. "Hmm...?" Souta looked at the arena and the gate at the side slowly opened. Then, powerful a third evolution monster called Gleaming Stripe Lion appeared on the stage. Thick chains were restricting the movements of the three-meter tall lion. Lumilia and the rest of the Dark Oculus were shocked. They didn''t expect that the test was to defeat a third evolution monster. "Relax, that''s not a real third evolution monster," Souta said to his comrades. "What do you mean?" Bryan, Brando, and Lynn were confused at his words. "It''s simple. Look at the forehead of the lion. You can see that the monster orb is gone. The guild probably took it out so the lion couldn''t muster the power of best feram at that condition." Alice said. "Yeah, Alice is right. You have keen eyes. I''m sure that you notice it too Lynn." Souta spoke mildly. "I see. So that''s why I felt that it was different from White Jade Spider." Lynn breath a sigh of relief. "Also, the eyes of the lion are lifeless. It''s the eye of a dead creature. Must be an undead." Lumilia added. "Yes, nevertheless, this would pose a problem to people below B-rank." Souta nodded before he looked at the man. The man said, "You can go inside the stage. After that, I will release the chains that are bindings the movement of that lion." "Okay." Souta nodded as he followed the man''s instruction. ... Hundreds of adventurers gathered in the arena to watch Souta''s advancement exam. They were excited as they watched Souta entered the stage. Souta looked at the giant lion in front of him before pulling out the [Vajra Sword Saya] on its sheath. ''You can handle it, right?'' Saya''s voice sounded. "Yeah, it''s not a problem for me," Souta said in a low voice as he circulated his mana inside his body. He could handle this monster without using [Possession] and [Soul Blood Mode]. It would be overkill if he used those two. "I heard that you''re a tamer. You can summon your pet if you want." The man said to Souta. "It''s okay. I''m fine on my own." Souta shook his head and said. "Well, I''ll release the bindings." The man nodded and the chains around the giant lion started to break. After a few seconds, the lion was free. "It''s not bad." Souta grinned widely as ten blacks balls appeared behind him. Then, a black cloak formed on top of his leather armor. [Gravitational Ball] and [Shadow Cloak] The lion quickly charged towards Souta at high speed. Despite its huge body, it could run this fast. Swoosh! The lion raised its huge paw and swung it towards Souta. Souta jumped backward and the paw crashed on the ground creating a small fissure. Bang! [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Cat''s Speed], and [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Using these skills at the same time, Souta zoomed the distance between him and the lion in just a second. Swoosh! "Eat this." Souta gathered his mana in the sword and swung it. A red slash appeared on the cut the body of the giant lion. The lion was undead so it could feel any pain. It opened its mouth and tried to bite Souta. But Souta already expected it so he used [Air Walk] to move his body in the mid-air. Swoosh! "Let me finish this." He landed on the ground fifteen meters away from the giant lion. The lion was about to charge toward Souta but it stopped. It felt its body became heavy for some reason. It didn''t know that the ten gravitational balls were above, increasing the gravity several times. Then, the ground turned black and several black tentacles rose. ''Ufufu, is this your favorite spell? Do you like tentacles?'' Souta ignored her and used the spell that he didn''t use before. [Dark Cloud Hunting]! A Black mist spread out and covered the entire stage. This spell reduced the opponent''s senses, magical attack, physical damage, and movement speed while it increases the caster''s darkness attribute spell by thirteen percent. Chapter 260 - Fireworks [Dark Cloud Hunting] was a spell Souta didn''t use when he was fighting the White Jade Spider because Lumilia and the rest were going to experience the debuff of this spell as well. He didn''t want to decrease their fighting power by using this so he chose to not use this spell. The caster was the only one immune to this spell. Well, Yuko was immune to it as the spell recognize her as a caster because of her connection with Souta. The black mist spread around and blocked the audience''s vision. They didn''t have any idea what''s happening on the stage. Souta squinted his eyes as he looked at the giant lion. "I should finish this as soon as possible. Let me use it for a moment, Saya." He said as the black tentacles shoot towards the lion. The lion moved its body left and right as it avoided the black tentacles. It was fast but after one minute, the black tentacles managed to grab the lion''s feet. The lion was about to smash the tentacles with its paw but it found the dozens of black tentacles were already around him. All the escape paths were blocked so it didn''t have a choice but to fight. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The black tentacles wrapped the body of the black tentacles. It couldn''t do anything against it. Souta looked at the giant lion with a cold look while pointing his sword at it. He slightly bent his knees and gathered a large amount of his mana in his sword. ''How about training your sword skills here?'' Saya suggested. "No, I don''t need to train here. It will only waste my time." Souta said before he charged towards the giant lion. Boom! The lion only saw a red flash before several lines appeared on its body. Swoosh! Souta was already behind the giant lion placing back the vajra sword in its sheath. He glanced back and saw the giant lion crumbled down. The black mist and the rest of Souta''s spell disappeared. The audience saw Souta standing at the center of the stage behind him was the chopped body of the giant lion. Everyone turned silent seeing this scene. They didn''t think that Souta would decapitate the giant lion in that short amount of time. ''Do you think that they sense it?'' Saya asked him. "Nope, I tried my best to contain my power so only A-rank and above would be able to sense it," Souta replied to her while looking around the arena. When Souta arrived in front of the giant, he activated [Possession] and [Soul Blood Mode] skill to maximize his damage before canceling it once again after destroying the giant lion. Without the help of his equipment, he wouldn''t be able to finish this lion so fast. Souta smiled and strode towards the man. The man smiled and congratulates him. "Congratulations, from now on you''re a B-rank adventurer. That''s an amazing performance." "Yeah, thanks." Souta thanked the man. The man was stunned at his performance. He didn''t think that Souta would fain this exam. He just thought that it would take a while before Souta defeat the giant lion but no one thought that it would become a one-sided fight. "Right? Your adventurer''s ID is in the reception. You can take it as we already changed the information in it." The man said to him. "Oh? Thanks." Souta said. He bid farewell to the man before he left. At the corner of the arena hiding among the adventurers, Alea was standing while looking at Souta''s back. After Souta left, she opened her mouth and said, "What do you think?" "Hmm... Powerful, my lady. I couldn''t clearly see it because of the black mist but I speculate that he had the power of veteran B-rank." The butler at her side said in a low voice that only Alea could hear. "...That Dark Lord sure is something. He said before that he was looking for a way to restore his mana pool so he was this powerful when he had his mana." Alea muttered before she turned around and silently left. "I had a bad feeling about it. Come, I wanted to greet them." The butler turned his head and glanced at Souta''s comrades. "You''re going to let them meet her." ... Souta and the rest exited the guild. They congratulate him for passing the exam without any problem. All of them were happy for him. "In truth, it''s a hard fight. If that last attack didn''t work then I would face a battle which I wasn''t sure if I''m going to win." Souta explained to them. He consumed some of his mana in that battle. Well, it''s natural as he activated all of his spells at the same time. "We couldn''t see anything because of that black mist," Brando said as he opened his arms. "That''s right, Souta! What was that black mist?!" Bryan asked. "Black mist? Ah, that''s my spell." Souta replied to Bryan. "So you put everything in that strike?" Yujin suddenly asked. Souta glanced at Yujin with a surprised expression and asked, "Did you see what''s happening inside?" "Yeah, Alophy helped me." Yujin nodded. "I see... I used everything in my last strike so if it didn''t work it would become a problem for me. Luckily, that monster isn''t a real third evolution monster." Souta said. He used [Possession] and [Soul Blood Mode] in that last strike. If that didn''t work, then he would have to fight that giant lion using these two skills and he doesn''t want that to happen. It wasn''t the time to let the masses know that he had those skills. How could he surprise his opponent if they already know his skills? Using these skills at the right time would bring him a great advantage in a battle. Plus, it was fun to reveal his skills if his opponent thought that he was going to lose. Looking at their stunned expression as he overturned the battle using these skills was great. "Oh, right? There''s a festival today." Souta said as he looked around. "Yeah." Lumilia nodded at his words. Souta smiled and he patted Cl.u.s.ter''s head. "You can play. Let''s enjoy this festival as we''re going to leave tomorrow." "Yay! Yay! Let''s play!" Cl.u.s.ter hopped around while raising her hands in the air with a smile on her face. She couldn''t hide her joy when she learned that she could play at the festival. "Captain, we''re going back," Jagret called Souta. "Sure." Souta nodded and the Lanny group went back to the inn. They still have a lot of things that they needed to finish. "Let''s go!!" Bryan shouted. The Dark Oculus went around and tried everything that this festival offered. They play and taste the foods that they could only find in this empire. It was fun for everyone. Time had passed quickly and night came. The Dark Oculus group was standing in front of the inn while watching the fireworks. The fireworks shoot in the sky and exploded creating a vibrant light in the dark sky. The different colors and sizes of the fireworks reflected in everyone''s eye. It scattered into the tiny glittering sparks illuminating the sky with different colors. The loud sound in the sky and the cheer of the people around were all they could hear. It was beautiful. Cl.u.s.ter was jumping around clearly excited about this. ''It''s beautiful and sad at the same time.'' Alice thought while gazing at the colorful sparks in the sky. For the first time, she was glad that she came to this continent. "So pretty," Brando whispered while looking at the sky. "Is that a spell or not?" Bryan muttered as he sat down and lean his back on the walls. He was wondering if the fireworks in the sky were caused by a spell or not. Souta looked at the sky in dazed. It was his first time seeing fireworks or attending festival in this world. It was a foreign feeling for him. Lynn turned her head and looked at Souta who was gazing at the sky. She pressed her hand on her chest and smile. ''I''m getting closer. I want to stay like this. I hope I would be able to get closer to you.'' She thought while looking at Souta with adoration in her eyes. Lumilia saw Lynn''s expression and sighed. "I''m sorry..." She mumbled to herself. "Tsk! It''s not that bad. I''m glad that I join this group." Yujin clicked his tongue before he closed his eyes. He heightened his sense of hearing as he enjoyed the cheer of the people around him and the sound of the fireworks in the sky. He thought that this group didn''t have a goal at first but he was wrong. Everyone in this group was growing stronger day by day and they were going to catch up to him. He thought that they were playing adventurers but not. They were all serious about it. "Good, it''s time for me to work hard too." Chapter 264 - Inner Consciousness "What''s that?" Bryan looked at the sword. "That''s a sword, you know?" Brando said as he nudged Bryan''s shoulder. "I know that you know!!" Bryan said in a loud voice. "What do you mean, Souta?" Lumilia asked as she looked at the sword before turning her eyes to Souta. She didn''t know how his sword connected to their topics. Souta hesitated for a bit before he opened his eyes. He decided to tell them one of his secrets. Everyone opened their eyes widely as they listened to Souta''s explanation about the sword. They couldn''t believe what they were hearing. He explained to them the time difference inside the sword and the real world. "What?! So this sword has that ability!!" Yujin was shocked as he gazed at the sword intently. "Yeah, that''s why I said that we could pull it off. My plan to raise your strength in just one week." Souta nodded at him. Yujin took a deep breath to calm himself. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, "I guess that''s the reason why your growth is so fast." He recalled that Souta already has that sword the moment he entered the institute. ''Eh...! That''s not it... Well, I''ll leave it to his imagination.'' Souta thought as he smiled at Yujin. "Hooo!! I want a sword like this too!!" Bryan shouted as he stretched out his hands towards the sword but Souta quickly placed the vajra sword back in his waist. "That''s..." Souta turned his head and saw Alice was still looking at the sword with wide eyes. It seems that this ability surprises her. It''s not bad to look at her surprised expression. Alice was stunned as she knew what it meant to have that kind of ability. She looked around and understood that everyone didn''t have an idea what it means to have that ability. That ability was only from a god-level powerhouse. She knew it too well. From Souta''s explanation, she could guess that world was inner consciousness but Souta was not at that level where he could alter the time in his inner consciousness. She guessed that there was a god inside that sword. Also, the time ratio was 1:5. It means that the god inside the sword was a powerful being among the gods. The newly formed god could only alter the time in their inner consciousness to the ratio 1:2. She remembered that her teacher before have a ratio of 1:3 in her inner consciousness. Still, it couldn''t match her father. The time ratio in her father''s inner consciousness was 1:15. He was the most powerful being that she knew in this world. Her father could realize his inner consciousness in the real world. If an ordinary person received his blessing then that person could match the B-rank of this continent. "So we''re going to try to reach B-rank using this ability... I hope you try your best." Souta said to them and they nodded at him in response to his words. Their eyes were filled with determination to support him. If they grow stronger then it would greatly help Souta in fighting those damn nobles. "I will go to the guild with Yujin, Lynn, and Alice. They have to pass the C-rank adventurer first." Lumilia said to Souta. "I''ll leave it to you. Just make it quick and we''ll start training right away." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "Tomorrow, we''ll use our points in institute to redeem spells or combat arts. Everything that could increase our strength is good." "Understood." Lumilia stood and looked at the three, "Let''s go and finish it quickly." "It can''t be helped." Yujin sighed as he stood up. "O-Okay! I''ll do my best today." Lynn said. Alice followed them without saying anything. She was glancing at the sword from time to time. She was curious about the sword. After they left, Souta stood up and looked at Bryan and Brando. They were the only ones that were left in this room. "This room is too small. Let''s go down in the yard." Souta said to them as he exited the room. "Oho! It''s training time!" Bryan shouted as he followed Souta downstairs. Brando simply followed them. ... Souta, Bryan, and Brando arrived in the yard of Souta''s house. The two didn''t know what they should do so they looked at Souta intently. "Sit down." Souta instructed them as he also sat down on the ground before waving his hand. Ohm! Ten black balls appeared above him and it flew on top of the three people. Brando and Bryan looked at it. They were about to ask him about this but... Boom! The gravity increased several times. The black balls created a gravity field around them. It will try to push down any objects or creatures that entered inside this field. "This gravity field will strengthen our body while we learn combat arts or spells in the sword," Souta said to the two. He felt as if one huge boulder of rock was pressed on his shoulder. The weight was equal to one ton. Every fiber of his muscles was being pushed down on the ground. The grass around them was being crushed on the ground because of the intense gravity around them. The strong gravity was damaging the soil and grass but Souta didn''t care about it. "Oh, Yuko come here. You''ll train with us." Souta said as he saw Yuko walking on the corner. Yuko tilted her head and she entered the gravity field. Her steps created a small crater on the ground because of her weight and the heavy gravity. It took her a few dozen seconds before she arrived beside Souta. It was hard to move under the heavy gravity field. Then, Souta pulled out the vajra and said, "Place your hands on the sword. I''ll bring you to the other place." Bryan and Brando followed his instruction. Yuko did the same thing as them. She placed her paws on the tip of the sword. Ohm! Suddenly, they found themselves in the middle of black space with countless stars glittering around it. Bryan and Brando looked around in amazement. This was their first time coming to a place like this. The inner unconscious of a former god powerhouse was different from mortals. "Stop dawdling around. We''re here to train not to play." Souta said as he clapped his hand to gather everyone''s attention. Saya didn''t want to show herself to the other people except for Souta. She was simply observing them in the dark while communicating with Souta if he needed something. After all, this place was her inner consciousness so Souta couldn''t do anything. ''Can you give us a little bit of energy?'' Souta said to Saya. Their consciousness was only in this place but it somehow connected to their real body that''s why if they died here their real body would take damage. Since their consciousness was only here, they don''t have energy. So Souta had to ask Saya to let them accest the energy in this place. There''s still a lot of things Souta didn''t know about god-level powerhouse. ''Yeah, I''ve placed a little bit amount of energy in your body. You will not be able to feel it but if you concentrate you will be able to sense that tiny amount if energy. Train yourself to control that energy it will help all of you control your mana well.'' Saya said to him. ''Okay, thanks.'' Souta replied as he closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes. It''s true. The amount of energy inside his body was too little. He explained to Brando and Bryan about the energy and told them to practice controlling it. "Are you sure, Souta? I couldn''t sense anything." Brando asked him as he couldn''t sense the energy inside his body after concentrating for a few minutes. "Yeah, I already sense it. Also, you''re not a mage so your not sensitive to mana as you hardly practice it. So it''s understandable that you can''t sense it." Souta said to Brando. He then said, "I''m going out for a but to wait for others." "Okay," Brando nodded and he looked at Bryan who didn''t respond. Bryan''s concentration was on another level. Even if Souta shouted Bryan wouldn''t even hear it. Souta smiled and he contacted Saya saying that he wanted to leave her inner consciousness. ... In the real world, Souta opened his eyes. "Hu~ this will be a tough week." He muttered as he stood up with great effort. The gravity field was still around the area. After an hour, Lumilia and the rest return and the three successfully became a C-rank adventurers. If they reached B-rank in the training then Souta would let them take the B-rank exam. Their ranks should be closed to him. After all, they were going to be an executives in the legion so their adventurer''s rank should be higher than the newcomer. "Brando and Bryan are already there." Souta guided them and they went inside Saya''s inner consciousness. Chapter 265 - Legion Building One week had passed since the group trained in the inner consciousness of Souta. They were confident in their newly gained strength. This training couldn''t be done without the help of a god-level powerhouse. This was their huge advantage compared to the other people in this world. They could access an inner consciousness of a god. It was a privilege that only a few people in this world could receive. Even those great nobles didn''t have something like this. The group completed their preparations and right now they were going to move to the next part of the plan. They had to pass the request for forming a legion. The headquarters of the Dark Legion was completed. Souta hired some experts to renovate his house to a five-story building. "Today, this will be our home," Souta said while looking at the building in front of him. He used most of his money in creating this building. He also bought barrier stones to set up a protective shield around this building. "Oho! I don''t have to stay in my small house!!" Bryan said with excitement in his voice. He was thrilled to live in a big building like this one. "Yay! I''ll live with everyone! I will not be left alone in Sister Mila''s room!" Cl.u.s.ter was excited for a different reason. "You know Cl.u.s.ter, we''re students so we have to go to institute and you will be left alone here," Brando said to Cl.u.s.ter. "At least, Yuko is here." Cl.u.s.ter replied as she stuck out her tongue. "Let''s enter and pick our room," Souta said as he stepped forward and entered the building. Lumilia and the rest looked at each other before they entered the building. As soon as they stepped inside the building, they saw a huge and wide hall. Quest boards were placed on the corner of the hall but it didn''t have a quest in it yet. Round tables were placed around the hall and there''s the reception at the side of the hall. It looks like the hall of the Adventurer''s Guild. Stalls were placed around and Souta planned to sell potions and other necessities using these stalls. They went up to the second floor. The second floor was the floor for the newcomers who want to stay in this building. It was reserved for them. There were fifteen rooms on this floor in total. The third floor was the same as second floor. It has the same purpose too. The group went to the fourth floor. This floor looks like the same as the first floor but it was different. The floor was divided into three parts. The first parts were the rooms while the second part or the middle part was the hall and lastly, the third part was the reception and treasury. This floor was for the high-ranking members of the legion. B-rank and above. Of course, there was an exception to it and they were the original members of the Dark Oculus, the founding members. Souta told Lumilia how he wants to establish a point system in his legion and she did everything on her own. Actually, the plan of this entire building was her idea. She thoroughly planned this building. The point system was the same as the institute. The adventurers would complete a quest and every time they completed a quest they will gain points. They could exchange it for various potions or anything inside the treasury be it mana fruits, weapons, spell books, combat arts, or armors. Anything as long as it exists inside the treasury, they could exchange it for points. At first, she rejected his idea of creating a point system as they wouldn''t gain anything from it but Souta insisted that he wanted it so she could only follow him. She wouldn''t understand him if he said that he wanted to receive points from his system. This point system was to encourage the newcomer to complete a quest so that Souta would receive points from his system every time they finished a quest. It''s a win-win situation for him. Material things exchange for points in his system. The fifth floor was the same as second and third floor. This floor was also for high-ranking officers and the rooms of the founding members were here. Souta''s room was also here. Everyone picked their room on the fifth floor. After that, they brought their things and start arranging it inside their private room. "Okay, everything''s complete now. We just need to pass the request." Souta clapped as he gathered everyone''s attention. "Let''s head to Adventurers Guild," Lumilia suggested. Today was the day that they will request to change their party to a legion so they had to make it quick. "Right," Yujin nodded. "Y-Yeah, I hope everything will work out," Lynn said in a concerned tone. "Don''t worry, nothing can stop us," Souta smiled at her as he assured her that everything''s according to plan. "I''m ready. We can go there any time." Alice said to them. Her attire was that of purple-grade leather armor and white tight jeans of the same grade. Brown-colored boots and silver color armguards. "Sure, let''s go." Souta nodded as he turned his head and looked at the object that was wrapped in bandages. He needed this thing to make sure that nothing stops him. Also, his contract with Jimmy was approved. The other executives of the Lanny corp. decided to support him. He didn''t know what Jimmy did but it was a great work making everyone support him. Well, it doesn''t matter if the Lanny corp. supported him or not. He still has a lot of backup plans and one of these was this object. ... The group went to the Adventurers Guild. Everyone from the Dark Oculus was here. As soon as they entered the guild, they gathered the attention of everyone''s eyes. "Oh, it''s Souta!" "I haven''t seen you for a few weeks!" "Oi! Oi! Souta, I heard that you''re a B-rank now." "Where did you go?" "Oi! Didn''t you know that he went to Eternal Empire?" "For real?" "Yeah..." Souta ignored those voices as he walked towards the reception. He opened his mouth and asked the receptionist, "Can you call the Guildmaster? I wanted to talk to him." "Please, wait for a moment, sir." The receptionist said in a polite tone before she left. "Hmm...? I thought that you''re going to pass the request." Yujin asked Souta. "Yes, I''m going to give it to the Guildmaster. Don''t worry about me, just focus on your exam." Souta replied to Yujin. After a few minutes, the receptionist came back and called Souta. She guided him to a room on the second floor of the building. Yujin, Brando, Bryan, Alice, Lumilia, and Lynn were left at the reception. They still have other things to accomplish to complete their goals. Souta could leave them alone without worrying about them. They''ve grown stronger in the past week. They were much stronger compared to the time when they subdued the White Jade Spider. They were different from before. "Don''t worry, we''ll finish it with a bang!" Bryan said confidently. ... Souta was in a room alone with a middle-aged man with short silver-colored hair. The man had sharp features and he was exuding the pressure of a veteran warrior that fought countless fights. This man was none other than the Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild of Ladros city, Francis Graevu. He was a B-rank when he was an active adventurer ten years ago but he stopped exploring dungeons when he reached A-rank. After that, he took the role of Guildmaster of this branch. "I want to congratulate you for becoming a B-rank," Francis said to him. He was observing the young man in front of him. He heard various rumors about him but it was his first time seeing the famed Souta personally. The young man who fought and defeated Lord Gregory, the head of the Vidrato family. The man who saved the Fersch dukedom from destruction. The man who held the six-circle officers of the Deadly Sins before the Flame Master arrived. The man who subdued a third evolution White Jade Spider using a party full of C-rank. His achievement in battle was so high that the Ladro Institute valued him to the same level as Yanagi Shiina. Right at this moment, that young man was officially a B-rank adventurer. Reaching the realm of the strong fighter. A fighter who was strong enough to join a party of B-rank to subdued a third evolution monster. Normally, that was the case. A party of B-rank adventurer would be the one to subjugate a third evolution monster but Souta defied the impossible. This was the first time that this ever happened in the history of Adventurers Guild. A fifteen C-rank adventurer taking down a full-grown third evolution monster called White Jade Spider was impossible if he was to say it. "Thanks, that was nothing," Souta replied in a polite tone. "So can I know the reason why do you want to meet me, the Guildmaster?" Francis asked Souta as his tone changed into a serious one. His expression too became fierce while looking at Souta. "Hmm... How should I say it? I have come here to make a deal with you." Souta grinned widely. Chapter 268 - Commotion Souta looked at Bryan intensely. He was wondering why Bryan was always the one who encountered this kind of thing. The same thing happened to Cl.u.s.ter. He thought that he only met Cl.u.s.ter because he was with Bryan. This person who always triggered this kind of event... "W-What?!" Bryan subconsciously took a step back when he saw the look on Souta''s face. Souta sighed and patted Bryan''s shoulder. He said, "The next time you took a quest you must always inform me. I can''t leave good things in your hand alone." "E-Ehhhh! S-Souta, do you like princesses?" Lynn asked as she misunderstood what Souta meant. "Yeah, I love meeting them..." Souta nodded with a serious expression then he noticed that everyone was looking at him with a dumbfounded expression. "Ehhhhhh!!" Everyone opened their eyes widely as their jaw almost reach the floor because of Souta''s answer. "You have a princess fetish? Damn, now I understand... That''s some high settings you''ve got there." Brando nodded in understanding. Lumilia and Lynn simply couldn''t believe what they heard from Souta''s mouth. H-He actually said that he likes princesses. Isn''t that mean that he was jealous that two princesses have taken an interest in Bryan? "I didn''t think that you''re the type of person that likes princesses? I thought that you only want to get strong like Bryan..." Yujin muttered while looking at Souta. "I see... Sometimes, I saw Souta grinning without any reason and I found it weird. But I guess he must be thinking about a princess." Even Alice join the conversation. ''You''ve said something that you shouldn''t have said.'' Saya said to him. "Hmm...?" Souta rubbed his chin and thought about what he said. He placed himself in his their position and understood why were they looking at him with that face. "I see... I understand your concern everyone but I think that it''s different from what you''re thinking." Souta said to them calmly. "You already admit it, Souta. It''s okay, I sometimes hope that I meet some beautiful princess and rescue them like a knight in shining armor." Brando said while nodding his head. "Brando, don''t place me together with you? I''m just thinking that it would be great if I could get close to a princess and used her influence." Souta replied to him. "Oi! That''s worse, Souta!" Brando pointed his finger at Souta. He then heard a small voice behind him. "Ah, it must be great to become a princess..." He saw that it was Lynn imagining about her being a princess and Souta rescuing her from bandits. "Snap out of it, Lynn! Oi! Lynn! Didn''t you hear it?! Souta just wants to use the influence of the princess! He''s the worse!" ... After a few minutes of hard work, Brando managed to calm everyone. He sighed and said, "Bryan, have you read the letter?" "No." Bryan shook his head. "Okay, give it to me Bryan. I''ll read it for you. I doubt you can understand the letter from a princess." Souta said as he stretched out his hand. "Souta! That letter is for Bryan! I see so you''re still want to get closer to the princess, huh?" Brando said to Souta and he saw Bryan give the letter to Souta. "Oi! Why are you giving it to him?" "Good." Souta nodded at Bryan as he ignored the noisy Brando from the side. He opened the letter and read it. Everyone looked at Souta as if waiting for him to tell them what''s written inside the letter. They were all curious about the letter from the princess. After a while, Souta looked at them and said, "We''re invited. The princess invited us to her birthday party and wanted to thank us for saving her." "When?" "In five days at her mansion," Souta replied and he added, "Of course, we couldn''t reject the invitation from the princess so I''ll go there with Bryan." "Oi! I think that Bryan is the only one invited to the party." "Nope, the princess said that Bryan could bring his friends. And I''m Bryan''s best friend so I think I should accompany him." Souta said with a serious expression as he rubbed his chin. ''This is the perfect timing...'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Yeah, the timing is so great that I''m feeling my blood boiling at this moment. But before that, I should complete my plan.'' Souta couldn''t help as a grin formed on his face. ''You should consult Lumilia about your plan.'' Saya suggested. ''I''m planning on doing that. I should talk to Jimmy after this. After all, we''re all on the same boat.'' Souta replied to him and found that everyone was looking at him with a blank look. "That''s what I''m saying. His grin, he''s scheming again." Alice said. "Can you tell us what you''re thinking about the princess, Souta?" Brando asked. "Lumilia, I''ll tell you my plan later so let''s visit the Adventurers Guild," Souta ignored them as he turned to Lumilia. He then stood up and patted his clothes. "Understood." Lumilia nodded when she saw that Souta was planning something. It''s probably related to the party of the princess. "Just wait here, everyone. I''m going to the Adventurers Guild with Lumilia." Souta said as he left the room and took out a piece of yellow paper. He poured his mana in it and it connected to the talisman that Jimmy had. "Souta, what''s wrong?" Jimmy''s voice sounded in the talisman. "I want you to gather information about the birthday party of the daughter of Venreita family." Souta paused for a moment. "Gather information and tell me about it later. I''ll head to the Adventurers Guild so I''ll disconnect it." After he said those words, Souta disconnected his connection to Jimmy''s talisman. ''Hmm...? Venreita family is a duke household and Souta''s enemies are from nobles household too. I can see what''s he''s planning to do.'' Lumilia thought as he followed Souta. She came from a noble household too so she knew the influence of the duke family, one of the strongest families in this kingdom. ... Souta and Lumilia arrived in the Adventurers Guild. The people inside simply looked at them as they knew why they were here. Souta strode to the reception and asked and his legion. The receptionist gave him a stock of paper piles and a letter on top of his it. He smiled while looking at it, as expected the Guildmaster and Lanny corp. really did a great job. Lumilia went to his side and took the stock of paper. She gave the letter to Souta. "Here." Souta opened the letter and read it in a loud voice, "Congratulations, Souta Ieshi. The Guild formally acknowledged the creation of your legion, the Dark Oculus legion. Good luck, we have high expectations for you!" At the same time after he read the letter, the adventurers inside the guild roared loudly. They started to congratulate him for officially forming his own legion. They even asked him the requirement but Souta simply said that they will know it later. "You can drink in Drunker Pub, freely. I''ll handle the bill." Souta said before he left. "Ohhhhhh!!" The adventurers inside the guild shouted excitedly because of Souta''s words. Everything was moving according to his plan. ... The next day, Lumilia and the rest of the Dark Oculus woke up early in the morning. Today will be a busy day for them because they were going to accept the new recruits. The people from the guild arrived at the headquarters of their legion. They were the one who was tasked to handle the quest here so that no one could cheat. Lumilia posted the rules of the legion and the requirement to join the legion. The whole circle of adventurers was in an uproar when read the requirements to join the Dark Oculus legion. "Anyone can join as long as you are an adventurer. From F-rank and above are can freely join the Dark Oculus." was what it says in the requirements. There''s no problem with the requirements but the rules were... They have to complete a quest every day. It was bad if they were low rank as they had to clear more quest. A lot of people hesitate as they don''t have a plan to overwork themselves. Taking a quest every day was simply too much for low-rank adventurers like then. But... When they saw the points system of the Dark Legion, their hesitation vanished. Lumilia also posted everything that was inside the treasury of the Legion including those mana fruits. They simply take the bait and apply to join the legion. Everything that Lumilia and the rest did was according to the plan. At this moment, Souta was still sleeping in his room. He was tired and exhausted last night. He had to give the promise mana fruits to Guildmaster and also talked to Jimmy personally about the birthday party of the duke''s daughter. Francis was satisfied that Souta kept his words. He got three mana fruits and an orange-grade weapon. It was hard to get this weapon. It took him most of his money to buy it from the hands of his Lanny group. Don''t underestimate the amount of mana fruits that he received from Raeshka, the monster lord of destruction. Comparing an orange-grade weapon to her was nothing. She even had a universal-grade weapon in her treasury. After that, he went to the red light district before he went home. Boom! He heard a loud explosion coming from the yard. He knitted his brows as he stood up. "Damn! So noisy!" He said with an annoyed expression while scratching his head. He looked outside and saw a group of people there wearing the uniform of the Ladro Institute. His eyes opened widely as he hurriedly went downstairs. ''Why are Jeanne and the rest are here?'' Souta thought as he increased his pace. From his understanding of her, Jeanne wasn''t the type of person that will not initiate a fight. Especially, if it was in his territory. Chapter 269 - Yanagi Shina Souta arrived on the scene and saw a heterochromia girl with lilac-colored hair. This girl was familiar to him as he still recalled the assassination incident. The most powerful students of the Ladro Institute, Yanagi Shina. Yanagi was standing in front of Brando who was full of bruises over his body. Bryan was lying on a small crater on the side. Behind her, was several unconscious adventurers of various ranks. Just by looking at it, Souta immediately guessed that Yanagi beat these people including Brando and Bryan. They were no match for the strongest student. Even though, Bryan and Brando grew stronger their power was still not a match to a person who will reach god-level in the future. She turned her head and saw Souta looking at her. A wide smile formed on her beautiful face as soon as she caught Souta''s figure in her field of vision. Souta shivered as he subconsciously took a step back. He didn''t know what this girl wants from his legion. Is she here to join the group? "Oh, you''re here my dear Souta~," Yanagi said in an alluring tone as she strode towards him. Gulp! Souta was nervous as he watched Yanagi in front of him. Yanagi placed her face close to Souta as she looked at his eyes. "You''re the most beautiful person that I''ve ever seen in my whole life. All the people in this world are no match for your beauty." Suddenly, she threw a punch at Souta''s face. Souta evaded her fist easily thanks to his quick reflexes that he honed every day. "What should I do? I want to destroy you but I can''t waste such a person like you. The other people broke easily before I could even have a chance to enjoy myself." Yanagi said in a charming tone as her mana spiked up. Boom! She launched several kicks and threw powerful punches but Souta evaded all of it as he quickly used [Agility Boost] and [Cat''s Speed]. He then began to counterattack her as his mana covered his entire body. It enhances his physical abilities by several-fold. This was one of the things that he learned in the past week. The two exchanged blows and everyone simply watched them with their mouth agape. They don''t know how it started but they started to enjoy the battle in front of them. At some point, they were cheering at Yanagi and some were cheering at Souta. Lumilia, Lynn, Yujin, and Alice simply watched the battle with a dumbfounded expression. They were here before it started so they knew everything. Yanagi arrived here and she didn''t fall in line. She simply heads straight to Brando and asked about Souta. Brando said that she had to follow the rules so Yanagi beat him. The other adventurers and Bryan join the battle but they were utterly defeated. After some time, Yanagi managed to pin Souta''s hands. She looked at him with a faint smile on her face. "W-What do you want?" Souta asked as he couldn''t remove his hands from her grip. He was using every strength in his body but he just couldn''t break free out of her grasp. She''s strong. Much stronger than he imagined. He was clearly no match even though he was using everything. If he used [Possession] or [Soul Blood Mode] he could break free but he didn''t want to reveal his ace against her at this moment. Peak B-rank, no, A-rank. Souta estimated her strength based on what he experienced today and the assassination incident before. "What I want? I want you so can you give yourself to me~" Yanagi Shina said as she moved her face forward and placed her red lips on top of Souta''s lips. Hmph! Everyone was shocked at this sudden development. Lumilia and Lynn quickly moved their bodies as they charged at Yanagi. They wanted to stop Yanagi from defiling their precious legion commander. "Stop, Yanagi!!" A loud voice echoed and everyone froze. A heavy pressure pressed on everyone''s body that prevented them from moving. A hand grabbed Yanagi''s collar and removed her on top of Souta''s body. "T-Teacher Bargan...!" Souta was surprised to find Bargan here. "I''m sorry for the trouble, Souta. This girl disturbed the opening day of your legion." Bargan apologized to him. At the same time, the pressure on everyone''s body disappeared. "Teacher Bargan is here. We are safe for now." Lumilia sighed in relief. She doubts that they could stop Yanagi if she was to rampage in this place. "S-Souta''s kiss..." Lynn muttered while looking at Souta. She was jealous. "Ah, put me down, you dumb old man! You''ll pay for this! I''m just playing with my dear Souta! There''s nothing wrong with it!" Yanagi wagged her arms and legs in the air as if she was trying to break free from Bargan''s hand. "Playing? You call that playing? Okay, I will lock you once again in the bas.e.m.e.nt!" Bargan said as he looked at Yanagi. He then threw her in mid-air and flames covered her entire body. "NOOO!!! Old man, I''ll kill one day!" Yanagi''s voice echoed as Bargan sealed her movements using his flames. "Once again, I offer my apology as Yanagi always goes out of control," Bargan said to Souta. "No need for that..." Souta said as he stood up and wiped the saliva on his mouth. "I did enjoy it quite a bit. Testing my strength against the strongest students is pretty enjoyable. Still, the disparity is large." Lumilia and Lynn sighed. They were shaken when they heard the first part of his words. "I doubt that you enjoy that small exchange. You could literally demolish this whole place if you use your skills." Bargan said while looking around at the damage in the surrounding area. Souta glanced at Lumilia and Lumilia nodded her head even without listening to his words. She already knows what he wanted. She stepped forwards in front of the adventurers that wanted to join the legion and said, "Due to some problems we will resume the recruitment three hours from now. We will fix the damages and pay the people who got caught in the battle." The adventurers understood that some problems occurred so they don''t have a choice but to turn back and return later after they settled everything. "Ouch! I feel that some of my ribs have cracks in it!" Bryan said as he groaned in pain. "That chick is the strongest in our institute after all. She''s famous for unbridled action." Brando said as he stood up and patted his armor. The two of them didn''t have a chance to show their power as Yanagi knocked them out easily. "Teacher Bargan, why are you here?" Souta asked Bargan. "I''m here to pick this girl," Bargan said as he pointed at the girl inside the ball of flames above his head. "She said that she will not cause trouble and will simply join your legion but I didn''t think that this would have happened. I shouldn''t trust her words." "Wait!" Souta raised his hand in front of Bargan. He checked his ears before asking, "Can you please repeat what you said before?" "I''m here to pick this girl," Bargan said as he looked at Souta with a confused expression. "No, not that. What''s her reason for coming here?" Souta shook his head and asked. "She said that she will join your legion," Bargan replied to him. "Okay, we''ll talk about it. Lynn, please escort Teacher Bargan to guest room also prepare some coffee for us." Souta said to Lynn. "O-Okay." Lynn nodded her head. Souta smiled and he turned to the group of people that were wearing the uniform of Ladro Institute. He was familiar with this group. The girl in front of the group has green-colored hair that was tied in two tails. She had green eyes and snow-white skin. Her height was higher than him by a few millimeters. She had two dark cherry-colored antennas sticking out of her forehead. Her name was Jeanne Livenest, the Vice-President of the Souta''s Union Fans Club. She was his senior in Institute. She had dark circles in her eyes and she looked haggard. She slightly opened her mouth and said, "U-Um... I-I''m sorry, Souta." Souta tilted his head in confusion. He couldn''t understand why she was apologizing to him. "Can you explain to me what happened?" He asked her in a calm tone. She told him everything without hiding a single thing from him. Basically, when Yanagi discovered their fan club she went straight to their club room, and when she found out that there''s no president in the club and its rule. She said that she will become the president. Of course, the other girl rejected it so Yanagi used force to submit them. When they knew that Yanagi wanted to come here, they tried to stop her but she was too strong for them as they knew that she would just bring trouble. No one could stop her among the entire group. Souta sighed as he massaged his temples using his fingers. He the raised his hand and said, "It''s okay, I''m not angry or anything." Brando was looking at Souta with a deadpan expression. "Oi! Souta, don''t tell me you want to create your harem here in legion?" Chapter 270 - Agreement Souta, Lumilia, Bargan, and Yanagi were sitting around the table. Yanagi couldn''t do anything because Bargan was restraining her. Although she was the strongest student, she still couldn''t match the strongest teacher. Lynn entered the room with cups of coffee in her hands. She placed the cups on the table and gave them one coffee each. "Hm... Miss Shina, Teacher Bargan said that you came here to join the legion. Is that right? I''ll let you join the legion but I have a condition." Souta looked at Yanagi and asked while tapping his finger on top of the table. If he could get Yanagi to his legion then it would be a great way to strengthen their legion. But she was a double edge sword. At this moment, no one in the entire legion could handle her so she would do anything that she wanted. Souta doubt that he could order her. If someone tried to order her then that person would face her wrath. It would even lead to the destruction of their legion. "Call me Yanagi!" Yanagi said to Souta as if she was giving him an order. Souta sighed when he heard her words. This girl was crazy and there''s no doubt about it. ''Ufufu, I thought that you like a beautiful girl like her.'' Saya chuckled. ''There''s a limit to it, you know? And this girl''s personality is out of bounds. I don''t care how beautiful she is.'' Souta replied to her. "Yanagi, can you talk politely to Souta?" Bargan said to Yanagi. "Shut up, Old man! I''m talking with my dearest here so don''t butt in!! You''re an annoyance! Can you please go out!" Yanagi said in an angry tone, then she turned to Lumilia who was sitting beside Souta. "Also, why are you sitting there beside my dearest?! I''m the one who''s supposed to seat beside him!" Lumilia was scared but she remembered that Bargan was here. She took a deep breath and said, "It''s my position as I''m the vice-commander of the legion and Souta is the commander of the Dark Oculus." "Huh?! Then, I''m gonna be the vice-commander so get out of that seat..." Yanagi said to Lumilia in a cold tone. Pressures were seeping out of her body. "Ufufu, If this old man isn''t here then I''ll shred you into tiny pieces... You too, my dearest, I''ll tear you in the same way..." ''Damn, this so scary!'' Souta thought while looking at Yanagi who had a faint scary smile on her face. She was still beautiful even when she''s angry. "Yanagi, I''ll lock you in the bas.e.m.e.nt," Bargan said and Yanagi closed her mouth but she was gazing at Souta and Lumilia with a scary looked. "Okay, we''re done here. I don''t want to talk anymore." Souta said as he closed his eyes. "Fine, we''ll leave." Bargan nodded as he stood up and looked at Yanagi. "Ufufu, that''s what I like, you''re not brave enough to fight me even though you know that you''re weak. Keep struggling, Souta." Yanagi chuckled as she covered her mouth with one of her hands. "Let''s go, Yanagi. We''ll leave." Bargan said. "No, you can leave on your own old man." Yanagi shook her head as she smiled while looking at Souta. "I can force you to leave. Souta already said that he doesn''t want to talk to you." Bargan said to Yanagi. "No, I''ll stay here," Yanagi said strongly. Suddenly, Souta opened his mouth and said, "I''ll let you stay here if you agree to my condition." "No, I''ll do what I want and that''s the way of my life," Yanagi said. "Hays... Negotiation failed. You can go now, Teacher Bargan." Souta said with a deep sigh. "Fine." Bargan nodded as he realized what Souta was trying to do here. "Let''s go, Yanagi." He grabbed Yanagi''s collar and flames appeared on his hand. It slowly swallowed Yanagi''s entire body. "No, leave me alone old man," Yanagi said but Bargan ignored her words as he controlled the flames to surround her body. In the end... Yanagi gave in. "Okay, fine, I''ll agree to my dearest condition so let go of me old man!" Bargan looked at Yanagi with a serious expression. "You agree, right? You can''t take it back." He then took out a piece of brown paper in his pocket and threw it in the air. The piece of paper glows brightly as it gives off powerful concentrated energy. "T-That''s the God''s Contract! You deceive me old man!" Yanagi roared angrily as she knew the meaning of that piece of paper. "You are right. That is certainly the God''s Contract. I got it after meeting the Gods that oversees our Hebrei Kingdom." Bargan nodded while looking at the shining piece of paper on the ceiling of the room. Then, Souta laughed loudly. "Hahaha, I''ll tell you my condition. You will listen to my orders as I''m the commander of the Dark Oculus legion. Also, you better not call me my dearest. Just listening to it makes my ear tinged. That''s all." The God''s Contract was a contract that gods gave to their subordinates. It was a symbol of authority and if a person uses it the god that owned the said contract will hear their agreement. There''s no backlash if they broke the contract but the god will know that someone broke a contract under his/her rule. It was up to that God to bring punishment to the one who didn''t follow the agreement. It was also a sign of disrespect towards the god of heard the agreement if they broke the contract. If Yanagi or Souta wasn''t afraid to displease the god in this kingdom then they could break the contract anytime. But Yanagi was a citizen of this kingdom. She will not be able to escape if the people in this kingdom heard that she disrespected their god. It was entirely different than beating up the prince of the kingdom. But who knows what this crazy girl will do? "Teacher Bargan, I hope you keep Yanagi in check. With her personality, I know that she will break the contract if I just said a simple word that she didn''t like." Souta looked at Bargan and said. He wasn''t assured even with the contract so he had to do things this way. "Then, why bother taking her in your legion if you didn''t like her?" Bargan asked. "She''s strong so she had her own worth," Souta replied with a serious expression. This was the thing that he wouldn''t deny. He will take this gamble. He just hopes that Yanagi will follow his orders. He wouldn''t use her if he could handle the problem as he doesn''t want to owe her even though she''s part of his legion. He would only order her if he was in a situation that he couldn''t handle. With that plan in mind, Souta planned to let her free under the condition that she wouldn''t harm anyone in the legion. "Don''t underestimate her. She''s much worse than you imagine. If you didn''t prepare yourself you''ll regret it." Bargan said. "I know it very well. I''ll prepare myself." Souta nodded at him. Bargan shook his head and said, "I''ll take her first. With her current condition, she''ll not listen to anyone." Souta turned his head to Yanagi and saw her chest heaving up and down. She was breathing heavily and he could hear her gasp. "...ah~ I''ll call you, S-Souta... S-Souta..." Yanagi kept muttering his name. "Is she always like that?" Souta asked. "Nope, she only became like that when she''s near the person she has taken an interest in," Bargan said in response to his question. He grabbed Yanagi''s collar and said, "See you later, Souta. I''ll go now." "Thanks for visiting, Teacher," Souta said as he slightly bowed his head. After Bargan and Yanagi left, Souta and Lumilia sighed at the same time. Is this the right choice? Souta asked himself as he looked at his reflection on the coffee. Yanagi could bring benefits to his legion and she could also destroy his legion. It''s only a matter of time before he realized the things that he did this time. He turned his head to Lumilia and asked, "What are your opinion on letting Yanagi join the legion?" "It''s risky. We don''t know what she will do in our legion." Lumilia replied to him. "Yeah, it''s bad. What do you think about my decision?" Souta nodded and asked her. "It''s bad. Letting someone like her is bad for the legion. We could let her join us but currently, we don''t have the means to stop her in case she goes out of control." Lumilia said to him. "But I couldn''t deny her strength. She had a power greater than all of us." "Well, for now, teacher Bargan is handling her so we should do everything to strengthen ourselves. Yes, that''s right. If you don''t want Yanagi to oppress you then you have to work hard to increase your strength." A wide grin formed on his face. "Here we go again. A training maniac." Lumilia sighed while looking at him. Chapter 271 - Baits After that, Souta talked with Jeanne alone. She expressed herself by saying that she also wanted to join the Dark Oculus legion. The other members of the fan club followed their vice-president and said the same thing. "Please, let us join your legion, Lord Souta!!" Souta rubbed his chin while looking at them. There''s no doubt that these girls will follow his orders. All of them admire him so he could use them. They were better than those adventurers. ''You can train them slowly and they will become loyal to you...'' Saya said to him. ''Yeah, that''s what I''m thinking. I could train them so they are better than those adventurers.'' Souta nodded while rubbing his chin. "Okay, I''ll reserve some seat in the legion for you so all of you had to register in the Adventurers Guild." They were surprised to see that Souta agreed to them. They were happy from the bottom of their hearts. Souta coughed forcefully to gathered their attention. "Sorry, we''re being rude." The girls quickly apologize to him. They were just happy to the point that they couldn''t hold their emotions. They were thinking about living in the headquarters. Living in this building means living under the same roof as Souta. Just thinking about it made them shivered in excitement. "All of you, read the rules of this legion. Also, don''t forget to register. For those who have an adventurer''s ID should help those who don''t have one. I will wait this afternoon so you better make it quick." Souta said before he bid farewell and entered the building. ... One day later, Souta filled the maximum members for a rank 1 legion. They couldn''t accept any more members because they reach their limits. The point system of the legion shocked every adventurer in the whole city. They don''t have any idea why Souta created a system where he wouldn''t receive any benefits. Jimmy and Francis even question his decision but Souta simply shrugged his shoulders at them. They didn''t know that the point system was for Souta''s own benefits. No one knows about it except for himself. Souta consulted Bargan about Yanagi after their class. He asked to guard her in the next five days because he had a plan and there''s a chance that she will shatter his plan. Bargan agreed to him and said that he will let her free after five days so he should prepare himself to face Yanagi at that time. After that, Souta begins his domination plan in the institute. He began to challenge the second-year students. After a few weeks of silence, he finally bares his fangs on the higher year. All the teachers and some of the students expected it. Well, Souta didn''t have someone who could match him in his year level so they thought that he would move up to challenge higher year students but he stopped. He stayed low-profile for a few weeks but now he finally showed himself to the public. Today, a lot of students and teachers gathered in the stadium. They gathered here to watched the infamous Souta. Souta was a notorious first-year student. He was infamous for his brutal way of fighting as he maimed most of his opponents. They know that he was an experienced fighter who wouldn''t hesitate to decapitate his enemies. Normal students who didn''t experience life and death battles would hesitate if they were going to maimed people or not. It''s hard to get past the willingness to brutalize without batting an eye. Most of the teachers knew this fact. Well, he''s a legendary person in the institute because of his deeds in the Ibish village. The one who helped Alex and the corps guardians in fighting the Seven Deadly Sins officers was him. On the center of the stage, Souta was standing there while he held the neck of a second-year student. The second-year student was the top 82 ranker in the whole second year. "Tsk!" He clicked his tongue as he threw the girl outside the stage. He then patted his clothes and looked at the referee. The referee gulped and announce the winner of the battle. The winner of this ranking battle is... "SOUTA IESHI!!" The crowd was silent. They were speechless as they saw the rising of the first-year student called Souta Ieshi. In just one day, Souta defeated dozens of second-year students. He was the most dominant student in the first year batch. Some of the second-year students were afraid when they thought that Souta was going to challenge them next. Of course, no one wanted to fight a brutal fighter like him. Souta looked down at the device on his wrist and checked the points that he received from defeating second-year rankers. He was going to use these points for Teacher Bargan. Bargan couldn''t keep Yanagi all the time that''s why he planning to use points to Teacher Bargan. Just a little bit more time and he will create a place for her to rampage, the noble''s territory was a good place. The plan was perfect. Souta left the stage while thinking about his vicious plan that will make the nobles trembled in fear. "That first year is really good. He''s going to dominate the second year batch in no time." A man with pair of rabbit ears and tail said while watching Souta walked away. He has messy red hair and his build was average but everyone could see the scars on his arms. His name is Zac Triton, the top 6 ranker in the whole Ladro Institute. It means that he was the sixth strongest student in the entire institute. "The Grand Tournament is close. Maybe he''s after the seat in the tournament." A girl with long black hair which was tied in a ponytail said from the side. She had pointed ears and chestnut color pupils. Her eyes were sharp and she had white skins. Her loose uniform couldn''t completely hide her curves. She was Laciet Syxn, the top 5 ranker in the whole Ladro Institute. "Grand Tournament? I think there''s no point if we join the tournament or not. Yanagi Shina is enough to conquer the tournament." Zac said with a deep sigh. With Yanagi in the tournament, he didn''t have a chance to become the champion. "That''s why you couldn''t increase your rank. You give up too easily. Also, isn''t this a great chance to test our skills to each other?" Laciet said to Zac. "That''s why you are trash! Trash should just go and rot in hell! You will lose your position in no time!" A man with shoulder-length black hair commented from the side. He has pitch black eyes and pale skin. He''s Rein Ventogram, the top 2 ranker in the whole institute. He was also called Shina''s rival but never once did he won against her. Zac and Laciet turned their heads and saw that it was Rein. "You''re here too, Rein. Are you interested in him?" Zac ignored Rein''s words and asked him. "Yeah, he''s better than you trash! He would surpass trash like you if had more time before the tournament!" Rein answered his question. "As foul-mouthed as always," Laciet said with a sigh. Although he was foul-mouthed they couldn''t deny his powers. He was the man who was just below Yanagi in the top ranking. There''s no doubt that he was strong. He always proved it when he fought someone. "Heh~ I wonder about that. Even if I''m like this, I''m still the top 6 ranker." Zac smiled. "Top 6 is trash. You''re content at top 6, damn! You''re a hopeless person!" Rein said in a loud voice. "It''s too early for him to compete against us... He''s not Yanagi who could do the impossible." Zac said to him in a calm tone. "Hahaha, you''re underestimating him! That''s laughable! Underestimating someone showed how arrogant you are as a person! I''m warning you that if he joins the tournament he will destroy trash like you!" Rein laughed as he turned around. He then glanced at Zac and said, "You shouldn''t underestimate anyone number six. I''m telling you this as the top 2, the person who is four ranks higher than you." Zac squinted his eyes as he looked at Rein''s back. "Ignore him," Laciet said. ... Souta went back to the HQ of the Dark Oculus. He noticed that his skill points rose. It seems that the newly recruited members of the Dark Oculus began to complete the daily quest of the legion. He turned his head as Lumilia entered the room with a pile of paper in her hands. She placed it in front of him and said, "I called everyone." "Good." Souta nodded as he looked outside the window. After a while, everyone arrived. The original members of the Dark Oculus were inside the meeting room. The one who started the meeting was Lumilia. "A lot of people are eyeing our legion." "It''s within our expectations. After all, we posted the mana fruits that we have in the public eyes. Mana fruits are valuable resources and everyone wants to get a hold of it." Yujin said. "We should tighten our guard in the treasury as we gathered the eyes of those criminal organizations," Alice said while looking at Souta. Souta simply took a sip of his coffee. He didn''t say anything as he enjoyed the taste of this delicious coffee that Lumilia brew. Everyone looked at him as they waited for him to say something. After a few moments, Souta placed down the cup in his hands. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Those twenty mana fruits that I placed in the treasury are bait. Criminal organizations and nobles will come after us and it will bring us countless quests and... in the end, we''re going to bring all of them down." Chapter 272 - Noble Party "As you know, Yanagi Shina joined the legion. We will prepare a suitable battlefield for her. I will use her overwhelming strength to help us defeat the incoming enemies." Souta said to them. "Yanagi Shina... What a troublesome person? She''s strong but how should we handle her." Yujin sighed when he thought how unbridled that girl. "You can leave her to me. I''m currently thinking about how could I handle her. After all, we couldn''t always rely on Teacher Bargan to handle a member of our legion." Souta said as he tapped his finger on the table. "Just by thinking about our plans, I felt that we would create chaos in this city," Brando said. "You just felt it. The moment Souta decided to publicize the twenty mana fruits, it''s been determined that chaos would chase our legion." Alice said as she looked at Brando. "I-Isn''t that bad?" Lynn said with a worried expression. "Yes, it''s bad. But it will bring us a lot of opportunities." Souta said. "The twenty mana fruits that I publicize are rare among the other mana fruits. I received information from Jimmy that some of the criminal organizations are already moving in the dark. They are planning to invade this place and take the twenty mana fruits." "Oh? Then, we will fight them, right? I wonder if they are strong." Bryan said with an excited expression when he heard that someone would invade this building. "Of course, they are strong. That''s why we should tightened our guard in the next few days. But I doubt that they will attack us immediately. At least they will thoroughly prepare themselves if they are going to attack us." Souta said as he glanced at Lumilia. Lumilia nodded and added, "I already spread the rumors about Yanagi Shina joining our legion. This piece of news will lessen the chances of the attack in the next few days." "I see... So that''s your plan." Yujin nodded in understanding. He then glanced at Souta and asked, "When we are going to attack the nobles? That''s your goal, right?" Something bad will going to happen in this city and every faction sensed those movements in the dark. The twenty mana fruits were the highest grade mana fruits that Souta had so countless forces in the dark were eyeing the fruits. Ursus, Lumilia''s father, faced the pressures of the other nobles when he got the honey. It reached the point that he had to marry off her daughter to some nobles to have an ally. But the fruits that Souta have in his legion were much valuable than that honey. They could easily predict what will happen to the Dark Oculus legion. They will become the prey of the hidden predators in this kingdom. ''Prey, me? A prey? That''s ridiculous.'' Souta laughed inwardly. ''Ufufu, the other forces would be surprised if they knew that you wanted them to attack your legion. I can''t wait to see their despair as you show them who''s the real predator.'' Saya chuckled. Souta was quite excited as he knew that it will bring him a lot of high-level quests. What they don''t know was that the real predator was coming to the Hebrei Kingdom. ... Four days had passed quickly in the blink of an eye. In these days, Souta and the rest trained in Saya''s inner consciousness. They learned new spells and skills making them grow stronger. Also, their proficiency in their skills increased by a whole level to the system terms. In the institute, Souta raised his points and defeated the top rankers of the second year. The only things that were left untouched were the top 10 and above rankers of the second year. Absolute dominance occurred every time Souta stepped inside the stage. At this moment, no one thought that there''s a second-year student that could fight Souta on equal ground. Three days ago, Bryan, Yujin, Alice, and Brando showed their fangs on the higher year. They began to challenge the second year just like Souta. This shocked everyone. The power of those four people exceeded everyone''s expectations. The entire second-year students grew restless because of the constant challenge from the first-year students. Just like that, Souta''s group stunned everyone in the institute. Their fame spread throughout the entire institute and everyone knew their names. Move to the preparation of the plan... The plan was complete and they were preparing to execute it. Souta, Lynn, and Bryan arrived at the birthday party of the duke''s daughter. "Hmm...? This is good." Souta said as he looked at the glass of wine in his hand. "You shouldn''t drink, Souta," Lynn said to him. "Don''t worry, with our strength this wine wouldn''t be able to damage my liver even if I drink alcohol every day for fifty years," Souta assured Lynn. "T-That''s not it," Lynn said as she lowered her head and looked on the floor. "Ah, I''m bored." Bryan suddenly said from the side. The three of them were wearing formal clothes. They were currently inside the guest room of the Venreita family. "This is part of our plan. You would be able to fight soon so don''t worry." Souta said to Bryan. "Really? Yes, I can''t wait for it." Bryan said with a wide smile on his face. "Haha, you''re too simple." Souta laughed. Then, the door opened and a girl wearing an exquisite dress entered the room. She had long yellow hair that was tied in a bun behind her head. Her ears resemble that of a boar''s, partnered with her brown-colored pupils in contrast to the color of her hair. This girl was the daughter of the Venreita family, Silvia Venreita. Behind her was a beautiful girl at the same age. The girl was wearing blue dress, the opposite of her red color hair which dr.a.p.ed down to her shoulder and back. Her sapphire-colored pupils focused on Bryan, Souta, and Lynn who were inside the room. She was Leila Suvblivan, a daughter of a duke just like Silvia. "I''m glad that you came here. How are you, Sir Bryan?" Silvia asked Bryan in a gentle tone. "I''m bored," Bryan replied to her. ''This idiot! How can he reply like that to her?'' Veins pop up in Souta''s forehead when he heard Bryan''s reply. He then glanced at Silvia''s expression. ''Luckily, it seems that the girl is not bothered by his reply. It seems that she''s interested in Bryan. Hoho~ I could use this to my advantage.'' Then... "If you''re bored you can leave this place right away!" Leila said with a frown on her face. "Leila, you can''t say those things to our savior," Silvia said to Leila. She then turned to Bryan and said, "I''m sorry for Leila''s rudeness. She''s just mad because her fiance is liking another woman." "Don''t bring that man in our conversation!" Leila said in a loud voice. "It''s okay. Ah, I''m hungry." Bryan waved his hands and felt his stomach growled. "Don''t worry, there''s a lot of food at my party. You can eat anything that you want there." Silvia said in a gentle tone. "Really? I''m looking forward to it." Bryan smiled. "Oh? I forgot to introduce myself to your friends." Silvia said as she turned to Souta and Lynn. "I''m Silvia Venreita of the Venreita household," Silvia said in a polite tone as she lifted up the side of her dress to show her etiquette. "And this is my friend, Leila Suvblivan of the Suvblivan household." Souta stood up and he slightly bowed. "Greetings to you Lady Silvia and Lady Leila. I''m Souta Ieshi, a student of the Ladro Institute, also the commander of the Dark Oculus legion." "I-I''m Lynn Yaoli, a student of the Ladro Institute and a member of Dark Oculus legion." Lynn copied Souta''s manner with a stiff move. She was fl.u.s.tered as she wasn''t used to greeting someone like this. "Hmph!" Leila harrumphed as she turned her head. "Nice to meet you," Silvia said with a beautiful smile. "No, it''s our pleasure to meet you." Souta shook his head and said in a polite tone. He lifted his head and looked at them with a faint smile on his face. "Then, let me guide the three of you to the hall," Silvia said to them. "Sure," Bryan simply nodded his head. "It''s our pleasure, Lady Silvia," Souta replied to her. Silvia guided them to the huge hall. The ceiling was high and exquisite chandeliers were hanging on it. People wearing formal clothes were already present. Souta could easily recognize that they were nobles with just a glance. The elegance and etiquette that they showed weren''t something that commoners have. The people inside the hall turned their heads and looked at Souta''s group. The main character of this party was escorting three unknown people so it piqued the attention of every noble in this place. "We''re here," Silvia said to them. "Thanks for escorting us, Lady Silvia," Souta said to her in a polite tone. Lynn also thanked her. "Oh, this place is huge!" Bryan exclaimed as he looked around. Chapter 273 - Preparation The members of the Dark Oculus legion were shocked when the vice-commander gathered them. The members already formed their own party in the legion to help each other in completing the required test for their ranks. They got close to each other easily as they cleared every quest that they took. Everyone was wondering why the vice-commander gathered them in the hall. They were murmuring to each other until Lumilia and the rest arrived. Lumilia walked forward with Alice, Yujin, and Brando behind her. She then faced the group of adventurers in front of her and said, "Silence!" Everyone stopped talking as they felt the power within the vice-commander''s voice. "I''ll tell one thing. We will have a war against the noble families." Lumilia said with a serious expression. Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard her words. They just joined this legion and a legion war was going to erupt quickly. It''s not even a month had passed and things quickly escalated to legion war. "What?!?" "The hell is happening?!" "Also, we''re fighting nobles!!" "Isn''t that a bad idea!!" Everyone murmured and the entire hall grew were filled with their voices. "Noisy! You should''ve known this from the start! We publicized the mana fruits so do you think those greedy nobles wouldn''t do anything to us!" Lumilia poured her mana in her throat so that everyone could hear her voice. "For those who will not participate will be expelled in the legion and for those who will participate in the legion war will receive potion depends on your contribution in the war." "WE WILL PARTICIPATE!!" Jeanne and the rest of the members of the fan club said at the same time using strong tone. This was their time to shine. They were going to show Souta that they were useful. The fan club divided itself into three groups consisted of five to six people. They help each other in completing their comrade''s quest and it''s quite easy for them. Their power level was at the level of D-rank and C-rank while their leader, Jeanne Livenest, was a full-fledge B-rank in terms of firepower. "Also, we will stop the required quest for two weeks. In these two weeks, you forget about the required quest and focus on the legion war. If the legion war got concluded in one week then all of you will have a free one week." Lumilia added as she looked at the ceiling. She didn''t have to worry about this building. This building was made of metals that were needed to forge purple-grade armor or weapons. Of course, those metals were just the basic materials for a purple grade. It''s easy to find these metals and Souta found a mine of these metals the other day. Still, to perfect the purple grade they still to find materials like Wyvern teeth or claw, Frenzied Troll''s spinal, etc. Those items were the main materials for creating a purple grade. If they used lower grade items then they would only be able to create a high-quality blue grade weapon even with the usage of those metals. "W-We will join, too!!" "Yeah, we will not lose anything!!" "If the legion got destroyed then we can just go back to being an ordinary adventurer!" One by one the adventurers agreed to join the legion war. "Good. Prepare yourself." Lumilia nodded as she furrowed her brows. According to Souta''s words, they have the support of Adventurer''s Guild in this legion war. They will be able to prevent outside forces from interfering in the upcoming war. She knew why the Adventurer''s Guild was helping them. The Guildmaster received the orange grade bow from Souta along with three mana fruits. Originally, the profits that they will get from selling the orange grade bow will be divided into thirteen parts. Lumilia and the rest of the Dark Oculus agreed to give their parts to Souta. After all, they received ten mana fruits from him, and those fruits were much more valuable than their small part in orange grade weapon. To fully owned the bow, Souta made a deal with the Jagret and his five comrades. He decided to give them valuable mana fruits and they accepted it without hesitation. Why? Because mana fruits were so rare that they wouldn''t be able to find it in the market or underground market. Plus, the orange grade bow was divided into thirteen parts so the money they will receive wouldn''t be enough to match a single mana fruit that could permanently increase a person''s strength. "I will stay here and protect this place along with Yuko," Brando said to Lumilia in a low voice. "Yes, I''m counting on you. You are the greatest shield of our legion so I''ll leave the role of guarding our home to you." Lumilia nodded and said. "You can rest assured that I''ll do my best." ... The nobles quickly guessed that they were commoners when they saw how Bryan act. They wondered why Silvia invited a bunch of commoners to her birthday party. ''Hmm...? They are looking at us as if we are trash.'' Souta thought while observing the movements of the nobles. He couldn''t help but grin when he thought about what will happen today. "I''ll leave them to you, Leila." Silvia turned to her friend and said. "Huh? Where are you going?" Leila asked as she widened her eyes. "I''m going to call father," Silvia replied to her. "I see. You can go and call your father." Leila nodded. Silvia then turned to Bryan and bid farewell saying that she will call her father. Souta went to the corner and called Bryan and Lynn. "Don''t wander around. The party haven''t begun so don''t make unnecessary movements." "Okay." Bryan nodded at him while scratching the back of his head. He wanted to eat some food at this moment but he had to follow Souta''s words. Lynn nodded and she silently stood beside Souta. "Hmph! At least you know what to do!" Leila snorted as she glanced at them. Souta ignored her as he doesn''t want to make an enemy out of her family. Also, he knew that she wasn''t that bad. If she really didn''t care about them then she will leave this place and let the other nobles mocked them. He glanced at the nobles and he heightened his senses. He could hear that they were talking about him. "Why did Miss Silvia invite those commoners?" "I don''t know!" "Do you want me to trash those commoners?" "Shh! You will not be able to do that with Miss Leila beside them!" Souta crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes. He doesn''t need to worry about these fools. They were weaklings that only knew how to depends on their parent''s power. After a few minutes, Silvia arrived with a middle-aged man. The middle-aged man possessed a fierce aura around him. This man was Silvia''s father, Duke Franz Venreita. Duke Franz opened his mouth and started the party with his speech. While watching the Duke, Souta asked Bryan how did he save Silvia and Leila. There should be powerful bodyguards beside the two girls so how the heck a C-rank adventurer could help them at that time. Lynn was the one who answered his question. She told him that the two girls run away so they don''t have any bodyguards with them. "Haha, spoiled brats! They still didn''t know how cruel the outside world is." Souta lightly laughed. Suddenly... "Also, I''d like to thanks these people for saving my daughter. I, Franz Venreita, thanked you from the bottom of my heart for saving my daughter. May I know who you are?" He still didn''t know who''s Souta and Lynn. He only knew Bryan because her daughter was talking about him all the time. Souta, Lynn, and Bryan looked at Franz when they suddenly received the gratitude of a duke. They looked at each other and Souta motioned Bryan to introduce himself first. "Um, I''m Bryan Dagruel, an adventurer and a student at Ladro Institute." Bryan introduced himself in simple words while scratching his cheeks. Just a simple introduction for commoners as he didn''t know the noble''s etiquette. He couldn''t express himself elegantly like the nobles. Everyone wanted to laugh because of his lame introduction but they held it because the duke was talking to them. They don''t want to displease him. "I-I''m Lynn Yaoli, a C-rank adventurer and a student of Mage class 1-B of Ladro Institute," Lynn said while she lowering her head. She was shy that everyone was looking at them. Souta sighed when he heard his comrade''s introduction. He shook his head and stepped forward. "I am Souta Ieshi, the commander of the Dark Oculus legion, a full-fledged B-rank adventurer. I''m a first-year student at Ladro Institute and currently, the top 1 ranker of the whole year." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "You may not know me but I''m the one who fought Gregory Vidrato in the Gripin city." His etiquette was perfect like a nobleman. He was different from Bryan and Lynn who didn''t know noble''s etiquette. "Oh? So you''re that famed student of Ladro Institute. I didn''t think that I would meet you here." Franz said as he squinted his eyes and observed Souta. "Haha, I''m just here to accompany my people to the party of Lady Silvia." Souta laughed lightly. Chapter 274 - Let the war begin Everyone was surprised after they heard Souta''s introduction. They ignored his etiquette. His words drown anything to the point that they ignored anyone except his words. Who didn''t know the one who fought Gregory Vidrato and defeated him? This topic spread around the circle of nobles. Everyone talked about the person who defeated a noble head a few weeks ago. It was a hot topic and a lot of arrogant nobles were mad at that person who opposed Gregory. They didn''t think that person himself would come to a party full of nobles. Souta Ieshi was a big name among the younger generation. Some of the people were comparing him to Yanagi Shina saying that he would become as powerful as her. What they didn''t know that Yanagi was strong even without proper equipment while Souta has dark grade sword and a universal-grade artifact with him. That''s the difference between the two. Even Silvia and Leila were shocked when they heard Souta''s introduction. Now that he mentioned it, his name was familiar to them. But it was out of their expectation that Souta was the one who defeated Gregory. "Good. I hope the three of you enjoy my daughter''s birthday party." Franz smiled as he raised the glass of wine in his hand. "Thanks, we''ll have fun." A smile formed on Souta''s face. With that, the party officially started. Bryan was hungry so Silvia guided him to a table full of expensive foods and meals. "Oh? It''s my first time seeing these foods. Is it delicious?" Bryan exclaimed as he wiped the drool on the corner of his mouth. "Yes, please enjoy yourself." Silvia smiled. "Thanks for the food." Bryan smiled happily as he began to place the foods that he chooses on his plate. Souta wanted to laugh seeing Bryan like that. The nobles were disgusted with the way he ate his food. "How about you, Lynn? Do you want to eat?" He turned to Lynn who was beside him and asked. "N-No." Lynn shook her head. "I''m fine like this." Souta nodded and he stayed beside her watching the nobles talked to each other. No one approached them because of his reputation. A few minutes had passed and the music in the hall changed. The nobles started to dance elegantly. "This atmosphere is not to my liking," Souta muttered to himself. He preferred a normal party more than a formal one like this. This kind of party was boring for him. Well, might as well do something. He turned to Lynn and asked, "Do you want to dance, Lynn?" "Eh! Um..." Lynn was stunned and her face flushed instantly. She lowered her head and said, "B-But I don''t know how to dance..." "Don''t worry, I also don''t know how to dance. Since we''re here might as well try it." Souta said as he smiled. "O-Okay." Lynn nodded as she slowly lifted her hand. "Good." Souta nodded and grabbed her hand. "Just follow my lead. I thinking dancing is easier than practicing combat arts." "..." Lynn didn''t know what to say. She just followed Souta as she felt her heart thumping wildly. Souta and Lynn danced while holding each other. Lynn was simply following Souta''s instructions while Souta was copying the movements of the nobles around him. Movements like this weren''t complicated for him. He could easily learn it just by watching the nobles around him. "How about it? Are you nervous?" Souta asked Lynn with a smile. "Um... Yes..." Lynn slightly nodded her head. She didn''t dare to look at his eyes. This was the first time she got this close to Souta. She was happy and anxious at the same time. "Forget anyone. Take a deep breath and look into my eyes. Perceive the movement of my feet." Souta calmly said to her. Lynn followed his instruction as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She then lifted her face and looked straight into his eyes. Suddenly, a commotion occurred. Souta and Lynn stopped as they turned their heads. "Why are you doing this to me?!" Leila shouted with an angry expression. "Why? There''s no reason, I''m just doing what I wanted to do!" A handsome man said to Leila in a cold tone. "You are engaged to me so don''t bring any woman in this party of nobles! Also, you''re tarnishing your family name and my family name by doing this kind of this!" Leilia shouted with a mad look. She was furious at her fiance who brought a commoner girl to a party even though he had her as his fiancee. "Oh? I didn''t see that I would see a drama at this party. It''s out of my expectations." Souta exclaimed while watching the two argued. Leila''s fiance was a son of a duke. They had a name to preserved but this man brought a commoner woman to Silvia''s birthday party. The other nobles were simply watching them an interest in their eyes. Souta looked at the time and smirked. The time has come and he was sure that the preparation was complete. He guessed that it''s time to create a ruckus. He strode beside Leila and asked, "Oho? What''s happening here?" "Shut up! It''s not your business!" Leila shouted at Souta. "I see... So that''s why you''re angry at commoners. Your fiance has another woman and it''s a commoner. Hahaha, ridiculous." Souta laughed at her. He then looked at her seriously and said, "You shouldn''t blame all commoners if you''re angry at one commoner. Ah~ what should I do?" "You!!" Leila glared at Souta and veins pop up on her forehead. "You know who am I right? I''m an adventurer. You can hire me if you want." Souta raised his finger and said to her. Tap! Tap! Tap! A group of nobles stepped out and said to Souta, "The business of nobles is beyond your capabilities commoner! You should''ve stayed at your pitiful house!" "Haha, I see that you finally stepped forward. I thought that you''re a coward because you haven''t come to me even though I''m waiting for you!" Souta said with a wide smile on his face. This group of nobles was the one who was scheming at him. The one who publicize his name as the one who held the Seven Deadly Sins officers. He received information from Jimmy that these nobles were also invited to Silvia''s birthday party. That''s why he insisted on attending this party because he wanted to meet these people personally before he crashed them. "You dare to call us cowards!! You bastard!!" The nobles shouted angrily at him. ''Easily swayed by emotion... Too weak.'' Souta thought while looking at these nobles with cold eyes. The center of attention shifted to Souta and the opposite nobles. It was an unexpected development for the other people in this party. "Yeah, you greedy cowards wanted to take the mana fruits in my legion, right? Do you want it? Then, fight me declare a legion war against me, Souta Ieshi." Souta taunted the nobles in front of him. "I''m the heir of the Boleyn and you dare to mock me!" A man said to Souta. His voice was full of rage. "Do you have an authority to declare war against me? If not then shut your mouth!" Souta continued to taunt these nobles. "Fine, then I, Jagron Boleyn, declared a legion war against this vile man in front of me!" Jagron said to Souta. His retainers were trying to stop him but Jagron didn''t listen to them. Then, another noble stepped up and asked, "What''s your stake in this war?" This man was Souta''s enemy too. "Me? I''ll give you everything inside the treasury of my legion including those twenty mana fruits if you win against me," Souta replied to that man. This man was much more calmer than Jagron. "Then, I will also declare a war against the Dark Oculus Legion." The man said with a serious expression. "Everyone here is a witness so you have to keep the agreement." "Souta Ieshi will accept all of your war challenges against my Dark Oculus Legion. If I win I will take everything from you. Everything that you have will be mine." Souta declared to everyone in this place. All the people in this place heard their agreement. They were looking forward to watching the war between their forces. Some of the people were already talking about how Souta will lose this war. Of course, from their point of view, Souta was a foolish person who accepted the war challenges of different noble families. Isn''t that insane? They could understand it if Souta only accepted one challenge at a time but out of their expectations, he accepted everything. Even the duke couldn''t believe what he heard. He was simply watching them with his eyes. He wanted to know why a lot of people praised this young man so much. He looked down at the transmission talisman on his hand and said, "Do you hear that? Your sons declared a war against that infamous Souta." Suddenly, they heard Souta laughed. Everyone paused as they wondered why he was laughing like that. "HAHAHA!!" Souta opened his arms widely and threw a transmission talisman in the mid-air. "You hear that my cute subordinates. They declared a war against us so we better fight back. So I, the commander of the Dark Oculus Legion, gives his permission to destroy our enemies." Everyone opened their eyes widely when they heard his words. The meaning of his words. Chapter 275 - Im happy Yujin was holding swords in both of his hands. He was standing alone in the middle of the ruined building. Smoke and flames were coming out of the debris of rocks and woods. "Too easy." He muttered as he looked in the sky. He then heard someone called him from behind. "Deputy Yujin, we finished our job here." Yujin nodded and said, "Let''s go back now. Gather everyone and retreat." Yujin, Bryan, Lynn, Brando, and Alice were all deputies of the Dark Oculus Legion. Their ranks were below Lumilia who was the vice-commander of the legion. All the members of the legion had to follow the orders of higher-ranking officers. "The timing is right, we''ve crippled most of our enemies. In just two or three days we could win this fight." He muttered before he left with his subordinates. The Dark Oculus Legion divided themselves and launched an attack on the nobles that declared war on Souta. Actually, they were already waiting at their enemy''s headquarters. They just waited for Souta''s signal to attack. And the moment that Souta accepted all the war challenges, they quickly launched an attack on several bases of the nobles. Yujin''s group, Alice''s group, and the fan club simultaneously stormed the enemy''s HQ according to Lumilia''s instruction. It was so sudden that the enemy didn''t have a time to defend themselves. They could only watch as the group destroyed their building. Lumilia was watching everything from the sideline. She was listening to the reports of her subordinates. "Vice-commander, Deputy Yujin and the fan-club retreated." "What about Alice?" Lumilia asked. "Deputy Alice is facing the enemies B-rank." Her subordinates said with a gloomy look. "I see... Send one party to help Alice. No, tell Yujin and his group to help Alice eliminate the enemies B-rank." Lumilia instructed her subordinates. She then turned her head to the horizon with a concerned look. Currently, the double-edged sword of the Dark Oculus Legion was rampaging in that direction. ...Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''m-happy_52322056204767616 for visiting. "Ufufu, it''s been a while since I''ve managed to release my power." A heterochromia girl laughed while looking down at the group of adventurers. She was floating in the mid-air above the building. Her powerful aura was leaking out of her body. Boom! The group of adventurers on the ground gritted their teeth. The power of this girl was beyond their imagination. She was too strong for them. "Let me enjoy this moment of destruction," Yanagi said with a faint smile on her face. She shoots a powerful beam towards the huge building below her. The beam flew towards the building at high speed and the adventurers quickly jumped away to avoid getting caught in the explosion. BOOM!! The ground trembled as a giant mushroom of smoke rose in the sky. Everyone in the vicinity of the city felt the shockwaves of the explosion. ... Clang! Clang! Clang! Two figures collided repeatedly causing a gust of winds in the surrounding area. Sparks flew every time their weapon collided. Clang! Clang! After colliding several times, the two figures took a distance from each other. "Huff... Huff..." Alice was breathing heavily as she tightened her grip on her spear. Her opponent this time was a strong B-rank adventurer. But... She was different now. She was much several times stronger than she was in the past weeks. "It''s time to get serious," Alice said as she gathered her mana on the tip of her spear. At the same time, the atmosphere around her changed. Her opponent could feel the changes in Alice. [Sonic Thrust]! Her opponent opened his eyes widely as Alice instantly appeared in front of him. Swoosh! Alice was so fast that an ordinary B-rank couldn''t follow her speed when she used this combat art. In just a second, she created a hole in the body of a B-rank adventurer. This combat arts was a powerful combat arts from her homeland. She was trying to learn it a long time ago but she only succeeded a few days ago in Saya''s inner consciousness. It increases her attack power by tenfold and her speed by twelvefold. The only downside was that she couldn''t change the trajectory of her attack. "I''m as strong as a veteran soldier in my homeland," Alice muttered as she smiled. The spear in her hands turned into a small pole before she placed it in her pocket. This was the [Compression] ability of her spear. "Deputy Alice, we received a message from Vice-Commander." "Continue," Alice said as she turned to her subordinate. "The message said that Deputy Yujin was heading in our direction ten minutes ago. Meet up with him and continue the plan." ... In the Venreita''s mansion... Everyone was looking at Souta with a surprised looked. They understood the meaning of his words. To think that his forces were ready to attack. He planned everything. He expected that Jagron and the others would challenge him in this party so he set up his army in advance and when the war started they quickly launched an attack. Souta was terrifying. He was taunting everyone and used his mana fruits as baits so that they would challenge him. He already calculated what will happen to this party and their reaction to his mana fruits. The rumors about Yanagi joining the group and this party prevented the nobles from acting. They prepared themselves for the party. At the same time, they hesitated when they heard Yanagi''s name. They couldn''t easily attack without preparation if Yanagi really joined the Dark Oculus Legion. So, Souta set up everything in advance so that the war would start today and he will have a great advantage. About the innocent citizens? There''s no need to worry about them. The Guildmaster was the one who will handle it and Souta was prepared to pay for everything that they demolished. Of course, the property of his enemies was excluded in this. "It''s not my fault, you know? You''re the one who challenges me to a legion war. Also, you should blame yourself and your family. You picked a fight with me and underestimate me." Souta''s expression turned serious as he looked at the mad nobles in front of him with chilly eyes. "You should face the consequences. Tell your subordinates to tightened their guards in the next few days. I will personally launch an attack." Jagron and the other nobles'' complexion were pale. After hearing Souta words, they realized that Souta set them up. They could imagine what was happening to the legion under their family. If Souta won the legion war then he will take everything they have including their mansion and money. His parents would get angry at him and will punish him. The worst-case scenario was that he will lose his position as heir of their family. They looked around and saw that the other nobles were watching Souta humiliated them. They gritted their teeth in anger and their mana spiked up. Swoosh!! The audience took a step back as they saw that Jagron and the rest would resort to violence. "You!! I''ll defeat you right here and take back my honor!" "Eh...?" Souta tilted his head. From their words, it felt that Souta was the villain here when he was supposed to be the victim. He then raised his finger and warned the nobles. "You should know that this place is the mansion of the duke and yet you''re flaunting your weak mana like that. That''s a sign of disrespect towards the duke." Jagron and the others paused. They quickly hid their mana inside their body. They almost lose themself in front of the duke. "But if you really want to fight me, you can ask Lord Franz to give his permission." Souta smiled as he spoke to Jagron and the rest. "Let me warn you. I''m strong and from my estimation, you wouldn''t last a minute against me." "Tsk! You''ll pay for this!!" Jagron clicked his tongue before he turned around and left. The other nobles followed him. Souta looked at their back with a cold tone. If he wasn''t inside the duke''s mansion, he would have already sliced the head of those brats. "Let''s go, Lynn." He looked at Lynn and said. They went to the side and he picked a glass of wine. Bryan and Silvia approached them. Leila also walked towards them. She managed to calm down thanks to Souta''s show. "I thought that a fight would break out." Bryan looked disappointed as he said those words. It seems that he wanted those people to attack so that he would be able to fight back. "They will not do that. They are afraid of Lady Silvia''s family." Souta said as he glanced at Silvia. "You! Is this the reason why you come to this party?" Leila asked Souta in a loud voice. "Hmm... I will leave it to your imagination. You see, I''m quite happy that everything went according to my plan." Souta smiled as he raised the glass of wine in his hand before he drunk it. Chapter 276 - Improvement The atmosphere at the party changed even though the commotion was gone. The reason why this turned out like this was Souta. His presence became a huge boulder to the hearts of the nobles in this place. He was not afraid to fight any nobles that tried to harm him. He will even fight back brutally and schemed devilishly. From time to time, the nobles would glance in Souta''s direction. They were wary at him. Their guards against him were the highest. Only Silvia and Leila were the nobles around Souta''s group. "I''m sorry Lady Silvia for doing this to your party." Souta apologized to Silvia. Her impression of him would become low if he didn''t apologize after making a scene like that. "No, it''s okay. I don''t care about trivial things like that." Silvia said as she slightly shook her head. "Then, I''ll go to the balcony to enjoy my drink," Souta said to Bryan, Silvia, and Leila. Since his presence was a bother here, he will go outside so that they could enjoy this party. He''s doing this for those three people. Bryan, Silvia, and Leila wouldn''t be able to enjoy this party if everyone was watching Souta''s movements. "I''ll go too," Lynn said. "Okay." Souta smiled at her and he walked towards the direction of the balcony. Lynn followed him without making a noise. "Sir Bryan, are they in a relationship?" Silvia asked Bryan while looking at Souta and Lynn''s back. "No." Bryan shook his head without hesitation. "From the looks of it, I think everyone could guess that they are in a relationship," Silvia said. "No, if you see our vice-commander you would understand it," Bryan replied to her. He picked a piece of meat and placed it inside his mouth. Suddenly, someone asked him... "What kind of person is your commander?" "Father!" "Lord Franz!" Silvia and Leila were surprised. The duke was standing behind Bryan. "Oh? I didn''t sense your presence at all. You''re a strong one dude. I want to fight you someday." Bryan exclaimed when he found that there was a person behind him. "That''s the duke, you know?" Leila turned pale when she heard Bryan''s rude remarks. Silvia held Bryan''s head and said, "Please forgive us, father!" "Haha, don''t mind it. I just want to know what kind of person your commander?" Franz laughed and asked Bryan again. "Strong. Limitless. Vicious. Smart." Bryan said these words one by one as he described Souta. "I understand. Then, what do you mean by strong?" Franz nodded and asked. "Souta is strong. He''s the only person who always defeated me. I never saw anyone defeat him. In the institute, no one could defeat Souta. He defeated everyone in the institute." Bryan replied to him. "I want to catch up to him someday." Silvia and Leila simply listened to his words. "What about limitless?" Franz asked as he raised his eyebrows. "Souta''s strength is improving every day. There''s not a time when his strength stopped increasing. I think that Souta is twenty times stronger when I first met him." Bryan explained to Franz. "If your words are correct then that Souta is too weak a few months ago before the enrollment in the institute," Franz said. "Then, why do you think that he''s a vicious person?" "You don''t want to see Souta''s angry. It''s terrifying. I don''t like this side of him. He will kill anyone who got in his way. When we''re doing an escort quest, Souta would always massacre everyone in the bandit''s base." Bryan said with a serious expression. "In the institute, all the second-year students are afraid of him. He will brutally beat anyone knowing that the institute will heal them." "I see... For people who don''t experience life and death battle would have a hard time to get past the willingness to maimed people with hesitation." Franz then thanked Bryan. "Thank you, I understand a little bit of his personality based on your words." Franz turned around and left under the gazes of the three people. ''So he''s different than Yanagi. He''s much more dangerous.'' He thought. From his information, Yanagi was a carefree person. She will do what she wanted. If she wanted to beat a person then she will beat a person. But Souta was different. He had ambition and Franz could see it just by Souta establishing a legion which Yanagi didn''t do. Souta was a schemer which makes him more dangerous than Yanagi. ... "How is it?" Souta asked while holding the transmission talisman. "We managed to destroy four legions of the nobles. Alice, Yujin, and Jeanne defeated the enemies B-rank. I think that they wouldn''t be able to join the battle anymore." Lumilia''s voice sounded through that talisman. "I see... Then, what about Yanagi? I''m worried about her action." Souta asked. He still couldn''t control Yanagi. He didn''t even know if she would follow his instruction. "For now, she''s fine. She''s fighting the B-rank party from the count''s family." Lumilia replied to him. "Then, it''s good. The count''s family is the strongest force among the seven noble families so it will greatly decrease our burden if she defeated those people." Souta said to him as his brows knitted together. Without Yanagi Shina, the Dark Oculus Legion wouldn''t stand a chance in a head-on battle against the count''s subordinates. A party of B-rank adventurers who had a record of subduing twelve third evolution monsters was dangerous for them. If Yanagi would handle them then he didn''t need to worry. Legion War is a war among the adventurers at the stake of something they''ve agreed on. The Adventurers Guild was the one who handles this war among adventurers. They were also the ones who decided the winner of the war. The winner will be decided by the legion who destroyed all of the opponent''s base. The destruction must be one hundred percent. Or if the other legion annihilated all the members of the opponent''s members. In this case, Souta''s opponents were under the wings of the noble families. They were a troublesome legion that has B-rank in each headquarters. Souta bid farewell and he canceled the connection on his talisman. "Do you think we could win?" Lynn asked him. "Yeah, there''s no doubt about it. But we will face some trouble before we could win." Souta replied to her. Now, that he cornered those nobles. It will get tricky this time. There will be a time when he had to fight. He will use everything to destroy those nobles. "Hmm..." Lynn stayed silent as she started at Souta''s face. Souta looked at the system. His level was 35 at this moment. He was getting close to level 40 so he should prepare himself when that happens. He should raid those dungeons and ruins that will help him in the future. He also planned to get the skills that will truly help him in future battles. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Mutated Goblin Corruptor(2nd Evolution) Level: 35 Class: Rank 1 Battle Mage Health: 2,040/2,040 Stamina: 825/825 Mana: 2,262/2,262 Strength: 805(630+160)[+] Agility: 888(588+300)[+] Dexterity: 835(535+300)[+] Intelligence: 720(620+160)[+] Vitality: 760(650+110)[+] Free attribute point(s): 179 Skill(s): Active: [Dash] Level 5, [Stab] Level 5, [Cat''s Speed] Level 4, [Air Walk] Level 3, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 4, [Pet Bestowing Skill] Level 10, [Pet Resonance] level 2, [Transfer Boost] level 2, [Shadow Cloak] level 3, [Shadow Step] level 3, [Crimson Moon] level 3, [Cross Moon] level 2 Passive: [Weapon Mastery], [Mana Manipulation] level 4, Spell(s): Tier 1: [Fireball] Level 1, [Ice Shot] Level 1, [Light Heal] Level 1, [Agility Boost] Level 1, [Strength Boost] Level 1, [Mud Slide] Level 1, [Shadow Bind] Level 10, [Shadow Spike] Level 1, [Shadow Ball] Level 10, Tier 2: [Gravitational Ball] level 10, [Dark Cloud Hunting] level 3 Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body], [Night Vision] Trait skill(s): [High Energy Resistance Body] Blessing(s): [Blessing of the Great], [1st Tier Spell Immunity] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul], [Crimson Moon], [Cross Moon], [Possession] Skill point(s): 42 This was his first time looking at his system ever since he met Raeshka in the Forest of Eternal Light. The changes surprised him a bit but he expected it. His skills mostly grew by one level because of all the training that he did in Saya''s inner consciousness. He had the [Blessing of the Great]. The effect of this blessing wasn''t that great but Souta planned to stock it. It will become a great help to him if he increases its level by meeting those Great Lumb who gives this blessing. ''Then, let me check the quest.'' Souta checked the quest interface. [Legion War]: Seven Noble Families declared a war against your legion. Defeat them and show how powerful your legion is. Rewards: ??? (Depends on your contribution in the war) [Material Gathering]: Pick up the Blue Stripe Grass on the Dorgun Hill. Rewards: 500 exp and 2 free attribute points [Monster Subjugation]: Defeat ten slimes in the Ladro plains. Rewards: 1 skill point, 200 exp, and 2 free attribute points There were a lot of quests. It''s the quest that his legion members took. They couldn''t finish it because of the Legion War today. He was looking forward to the day they completed all these quests for him. Chapter 277 - Everyone is paying attention The party ends and Souta''s group left after thanking Silvia and her father. A lot of people witness the agreement between the two parties so Souta had to win this legion war no matter what. ... In the next morning... The legion war grew intense. A lot of B-rank adventurers emerged from the opponent''s team. It brought pressure to the deputies of the legion. They also tried to launch an attack at the headquarters luckily, Lumilia saw their plan and managed to counter them. The Dark Oculus Legion wasn''t as strong as the opponent''s legion. Lumilia avoided direct contact with the opponent''s main force as she used tactics to eliminate the fodder of the enemy. They were slowly cutting down the forces of the enemy. The Dark Oculus only has eight people that have the power of the B-rank. Two of these were Jeanne and a girl named Wako. Wako was also a member of the fan club and Souta''s senior in the institute. She was rank number 78 in the ranking of the third year. While their enemy has more than twenty B-rank adventurers at their disposal. Also, their numbers were ten times higher than the Dark Oculus Legion who''s rank was 1. They have many disadvantages but the first attack lessened the burdens of the members in this war. It greatly reduced the forces of the enemy leaving only a few capable ones. Souta, Lynn, and Bryan were standing on the city walls watching the battles around the city. The adventurer''s staff were all over the city to protect the civilians. Souta took out the transmission talisman and poured his mana inside it. "What''s the situation, Lumilia?" "Jeanne''s team is doing good. They are pushing back the enemies. Yanagi too, she''s fighting the entire count''s forces alone. The problem is with Yujin and Alice. Six B-rank cornered them and they couldn''t retreat at this moment." Lumilia said. "I see... We''re here so you don''t need to worry. Tell me, the locations so that I could send Bryan there." Souta said to her. Lumilia gives him the detailed location of the battles. "Good." Souta nodded and he turned to Bryan. "Bryan it''s your time to fight. Just go in the east. If you run in that direction for five minutes you will see Alice and Yujin. Help them defeat the opponent." "Haha, finally!! I''m looking forward to it!" Bryan laughed excitedly as he charged towards the direction that Souta pointed. Souta looked at Bryan''s figure and smiled. He could leave those B-ranks to Bryan. If he joined forces with Alice and Yujin, then they would be able to take down those six B-ranks. Yanagi was the greatest spear of the legion. She was handling the most difficult opponents for the legion. If she wasn''t here then their chances id winning this legion war was fifty percent. What concerned him is that she''s too obedient. He had a bad feeling about this. He should prepare himself when he met her later. "So, what should we do, Lynn?" Souta smiled as he glanced at Lynn who was staying beside him. ... A lot of people were interested in the Legion War so they were watching through the projection of an orb. They were watching and observing if the Dark Oculus Legion truly deserved its reputation. For them, this battle was going to be the turning point of the Dark Oculus Legion. If they won then their reputation and status would skyrocket instantly in the whole kingdom. And if they lose then they wouldn''t be able to rise. They would lose their credibility and the people who trust them. Some of the teachers of the Institute were observing the battle. They were secretly cheering for them to win. Not just them, some of the big names in the kingdom were also paying attention to this battle. In the future, this battle will be called the Start of the Legend. Inside a huge mansion in the Gripin city, a man was watching the projection in front of him. The man looks like he was in his thirties. He had long blue hair and blue eyes. "What are you watching, father?" A voice came from his side. "I''m watching the battle of your sister. She''d grown stronger." The man replied without turning his head. "Hmm...? So, my little sister can finally stand on her own." The newly arrived man said with a faint smile on his face while glancing at the projection. "To think that their small party at that time would grow this much in just a few months to the point that they possessed twenty mana fruits. Just what did they do in these months?" "They could even rival the noble families at this moment." The father said before he asked, "How is it?" "I''m finally done. We could fight back this time." The man said. ... In the Ladro Institute, the principal, Bargan, and other high-level teachers were watching the projection inside the principal''s office. "Bargan, you''re students are at disadvantage. They wouldn''t last long." The principal said while he glancing at Bargan. "Yeah, they are too weak to fight several B-rank at the same time. They are doing great by holding six B-ranks. That alone earned my praise." Bargan replied as he focused his eyes on the projection. "I didn''t think that the first year this time would be this extraordinary." The principal said. "Let''s see how well they handle it." ... Clang! Clang! Clang! Yujin and Alice were fighting a party of B-rank adventurers. The coordination of their opponents was great and they could hardly fight back. The only thing they could do was defend with all of their strength. "It''s hard," Alice said as she wiped the blood on her mouth. "They are blocking all our escape routes," Yujin said. He tightened his grip on the two swords in both of his hands. The party composition of their enemies was incredible. They have a shielder, mage, two swordsmen, a rogue, and an archer. "Tsk! They are too stubborn." Alice clicked her tongue and she charged towards them. Boom! The shielder went in front of her to intercept her attack but Alice kicked the ground to move sideways. She then thrust her spear at the blind spot of the shielder. Clang! She saw that one of the swordmen blocked her spear. She gathered her mana in her spear and used a combat arts. [Dozen Piercing Strike]!! She thrust her spear repeatedly at incredibly high speed. Clang! Clang! Clang! The swordman tried to parry her skill but it was so fast for him. Some of her strikes landed on his body. "Hmm...?" Alice was about to pierce the chest of the swordsman when she noticed something. She quickly stopped moving forward and jumped backward. Swoosh! An arrow covered in flames crashed on the ground causing a small explosion on it. Alice looked up and saw ten giant ice spikes above her. She then raised her hand and casted a barrier spell to protect herself. Boom! "Alice!!" Yujin glanced at Alice. "Don''t look away from your opponent!" The swordsman slashed his sword horizontally. Yujin moved his feet and slightly adjusted his position. The spirit on his body was watching his opponent and telling him where''s the attack so he could avoid it based on her instruction. ''Good job, Alophy.'' He praised Alophy before he slashed his sword towards his opponents. While exchanging blows with the swordsman, Yujin heard Alophy''s voice inside his head. ''Jin, behind!!'' He shifted his body and avoided the sword in front of him but a dagger pierced his right shoulder. Yujin gritted his teeth and kicked the woman who stabbed his shoulder. After that, he took a distance away from the swordsman and rogue woman. But as soon as he was five meters say from the two, dozens of flame arrows rained down in his direction. "This is bad," Yujin said as his hands flashed and blocked all the arrows that were going to hit his vital spot. He knew that he couldn''t block all the arrows so he only deflected those who were going to land on his vital points. BOOM!! A loud thunderclap echoed in the whole area. "What''s that?" Yujin looked up and saw a ball of flames with lightning on it heading towards their direction like a falling meteor. Alophy answered his question. "Alice, we have a reinforcement!!" Yujin shouted with a smile. This reinforcement was enough to change the tide of this battle. He was actually going to use his spirit power if there''s no reinforcement. Luckily, it seems that those people finished their tasks and arrived here. "Dodge!!" The six B-ranks quickly jumped away as the meteor-like figure crashed on the ground causing a powerful explosion that destroyed several structures around them. BOOM!!! The ground shook heavily as if there was an earthquake. A figure was standing in the middle of the twenty-meter diameter crater. The figure has short spiky black hair and pitch-black pupils. He was wearing gray-colored leather armor. His weapon was a pair of purple-grade gauntlets that raised his physical attack greatly. "I''M HERE!! So, where''s my opponent?" Bryan said as he looked around. Chapter 278 - Do you wanna see a nuke? "Oh? Alice, Yujin!" Bryan saw Alice and Yujin who have bruises on their bodies. "Don''t worry about us. It''s hard to fight six B-ranks with only two of us." Yujin waved his hand as he stood up and grabbed his sword. "Yeah, they are disrupting our skills so we couldn''t land a direct blow at them." Alice agreed to Yujin''s words. It was hard for the two of them to fight a whole party without the help of support. Their subordinates were fighting the low-rank of the opposite side so they couldn''t rely on their support. Plus, their opponent was B-rank. A D-rank and C-rank adventurers wouldn''t be able to match B-rank. The difference in their skills and experience was high. "Okay. Then, I''m going to start." Bryan nodded and he turned to the six B-ranks who were looking at him with a wary look. His mana spread out and it covered his entire body greatly enhancing his overall abilities. "Just go and we''ll adjust according to your movements," Yujin said as he knitted his brows and looked at their opponents. "I''ll take the mage and the archer," Alice said in a cold tone as she focused her attention on the two people behind the group. She slightly bent her knees and held the spear using both of her hands. "Good." Bryan grinned widely as he charged towards their opponents. Boom! Flames covered his right fist and lightning crackled around his left fist. Swoosh! "You will not get past me!!" The shielder quickly moved in front of Bryan. He held his shield tightly in front of him. "Hahaha, it''s fine. Just let me enjoy this battle!!" Bryan laughed before he launched a series of powerful punch on the shield of the tank. Bang! Bang! Bang! "What a power?!" The shielder gritted his teeth as he felt the power of Bryan''s attack through his shield. He was getting pushed back. Swoosh! Suddenly, a figure flashed at his side. He turned his head to look but Bryan''s fist landed on his face. Bang! He crashed on the ground causing a small fissure on it. "Stop her!!" The two swordsmen shouted and went towards Alice who was dashing towards the mage at incredibly high speed. The two arrived at her side but Yujin shoots a long-range sword slash at them. "Damn!" The two swordsmen cursed as they blocked Yujin''s attack. They could only watch Alice advanced forward. The mage turned pale when he saw Alice moving in his direction. He hurried cast barrier spells around him. [Sonic Thrust]! The tip of the spear crashed on the barrier and cracks quickly appeared on the barrier. "You''re going down," Alice said in a cold tone before she pulled out her spear and thrust it repeatedly. Bang! Bang! Bang! The rogue dashed towards Alice to help the mage. She knew that her comrades wouldn''t be able to handle Alice in a close-range combat. [Silent Step]! The rogue appeared behind Alice and she stabbed her dagger aiming at Alice''s back. But Alice already expected it so she easily avoided her attack. The dagger hit the barrier and it was the final decisive blow so the barrier broke into tiny pieces of particles. Bang! "Go down," Alice said as she swept her spear. Swoosh! The rogue barely avoided her attack by shifting her body to the side but Alice wasn''t done yet. Her feet landed on the side of the rogue causing her to fly away and crashed on the ground. "Argh!!" The rogue spat a mouthful of blood. Within this time, the mage tried to create a distance away from Alice. "You will not get away!" Alice tightened her grip on her spear. She then threw it towards the mage. [Ground Zero Spike]!! The mage widened his eyes as the spear pierced his stomach. Boom! He was nailed on the ground. "Times ten!! [Grinding Flame Spear]!!" A loud voice echoed in the whole area as dozens of flaming spears formed in the sky above the battlefield. BOOOMM!!! The huge flaming spears shot down causing a powerful explosion that shook the entire city. It was so heavy and chilly. The entire area was filled with a tremendous amount of heavy mana. Smoke and dust were blocking the vision of the people in this place. They could hardly see anything because of it. It placed everyone who was depending on their eyesight at a disadvantage. "One down," Alice muttered as she pulled out her spear on the body of the mage. "Let''s clean this up." Yujin''s voice echoed. It seems that he already finished his opponents. ... "Sweet..." Souta looked in the direction of the explosion with a smile on his face. "Bryan is not holding at all." He was walking leisurely with Lynn at his side. The entire place was like a ghost town as they couldn''t see any people in the street. The Adventurers Guild really did a good job at this. After a few minutes of walking, the two arrived in front of a five-story building. This building was another headquarters of their opponent. Two people were guarding the gate of the building. From their looks and aura, Souta could guess that they were just a C-rank adventurer. They were nothing. Even Lynn who was a support could probably defeat them in a one on one battle. Also, the building was protected by a huge barrier around it just like their building. Souta observed the building as he called Lumilia. "Hello, Lumilia. I''m here in front of the base in the northeast with Lynn. We''re going to increase our contribution by destroying it." "W-Wait!!" Lumilia was startled when she heard Souta''s words. "Is there a problem with it...?" Souta asked as he looked at the talisman in his hand. "No, it''s just that there is a group of B-rank party heading in that direction," Lumilia replied to him. "Okay, there''s no problem with it." Souta nodded as he cut the connection and placed back the talisman inside his pocket. He then turned to Lynn and said, "You''ve heard her Lynn. Can you sense them using your ability?" "I-I''ll try." Lynn nodded at him. She closed her eyes and tried to sense everyone around her. The energy of the B-rank was higher than ordinary people so she could easily differentiate if one was a B-rank or not. After a few moments, Lynn opened her eyes and shook her head. "I see... They are not in your range so it means that it will take a while before they arrive here, right?" Souta asked as a wide grin formed on his face. "R-Right. They''ve noticed us, Souta." Lynn said as she saw the two guards pointing at them. "Do you wanna see a nuke?" Souta asked her. "Nuke?" Lynn tilted her head in confusion as she couldn''t understand what he meant by nuke. "Fine, I''ll show it to you," Souta said as he looked at the guards. The number of the people at the gate increases. The two guards must have notified the people inside the building. "I haven''t say anything..." Lynn said in a low voice. Suddenly, she turned her head and looked at the fifth floor of the building. "S-Someone strong is on the fifth floor." "I see... Thanks for giving this vital information." Souta nodded as he raised his hand. ... The projection changed to Souta cause it seems that this will become an interesting scene since the leader of the Dark Oculus Legion finally makes his move. For the people who were watching the projection, this will be the most exciting part for them. The leader of the Dark Oculus Legion was quite famous but only a few people understand his battle style. Some people said that he was a powerful mage, some said that he was a great fighter, while the others said that he was a competent leader who could lead anyone to subjugate a third evolution monster. "A group of B-rank will arrive in his position so he better retreat while he had a chance." A man commented while watching the projection. "I wonder about that. When he fought Gregory he only had the power of C-rank but now he''s clearly a B-rank fighter. I wanna see him fight someone so that we could have a better understanding of his power." A middle-aged man with blue hair and eyes said. Everyone was watching his movements. They saw him slowly raised his hand and ten black balls appeared behind him. Then, the crimson tattoo on his shoulder glows brightly. "What is he doing?" "Hmm... It''s hard to guess. We couldn''t feel his energy through the projection after all." ... Souta grinned and said, "Come down and destroy everything, Yuko!!" ROAAAARRR!!! Yuko appeared in the sky with a deafening roar that shook the entire sky. [Pet Resonance]!! He activated his skills and transferred a large amount of his mana to Yuko who was falling down towards the five-story building in front of him. The mana concentrated around Yuko was like a powerful barrier. It was so dense that everyone could see the crimson color mana around her. "Brace for impact, Lynn." The ten black balls rotated in the sky and it increased the gravity by several times so Yuko gained a speed greater than he could imagine. Swoosh!! "Hahaha, this is great!" Souta laughed. Yuko flashed towards the five-story building like a rocket. Then... BOOM!! Chapter 279 - Journey of Despair: Start of Show "Hello, what''s wrong, Lumilia?" Souta took out the transmission talisman as he felt that Lumilia was trying to call him. "Souta, what''s your chance if you''re going to fight those B-ranks?" Lumilia asked him. "Hmm...? Fifty, no, forty percent," Souta replied to her while looking at the thick smoke and flames in front of him. The five-story building was gone. It became a ruin in just a few seconds. The explosion was so powerful that it instantly shattered the barrier around the building. It was simply devastating. Even the B-rank inside the building couldn''t predict that the power of this explosion was so high. As expected of Nuke Yuko. "Then, you have to leave that place and rendezvous with Jeanne and her group," Lumilia said. "Why?" Souta asked her as a strong wind blew and it cleared the smoke and dust in the surrounding area. He could see the adventurers lying on the ground full of blood. "I''m the strategist so you should follow my instruction. If you''re not fifty percent sure if you could defeat those B-ranks then it''s better that you pull back. I''m not going to send you to fight a battle where''s your chances of losing are high." Lumilia said in a loud voice. "I''m saying if I''m fighting alone. You see, Lynn is here and also my partner Yuko just arrived here and brought terror. What an amazing scene!" Souta said to her as he glanced at Lynn then at the direction of the building. A figure of a bear was slowly standing in the middle of the ruined building. Its eyes flashed before it looked in the sky and roared powerfully. ROAAAAAR!! The roar shook the entire area and it swept the flames and dust like a gust of wind. The mana of the bear spread out before it shrunk back coating Yuko''s body. "I''ve got to say that our chances in winning this battle are higher than you imagine," Souta said in a low voice as he squinted his eyes while staring at Yuko''s figure. The structures behind him trembled strongly and crack formed in the glasses inside any structures. Some of the glasses were shattered because of Yuko''s powerful roar. "Fine... I''ll leave it to you. Report to me once you''re done." Lumilia sighed. "Thanks," Souta said before he cut the connection. He placed the talisman inside his pocket and said, "Lynn, heightened your senses. We''re going to finish this one before the others arrived." "O-Oooh!" Lynn nodded at him before she took a deep breath. She was going to do her best to support Souta and Yuko. Grrr!! Yuko felt her body was numbing. The impact of that fall was so hard for her. She was lucky that she had a tough body so she endured that powerful impact. She noticed some movements in the rubble in front of her. A figure of a woman with bob-cut brown hair rose from the fragments of rocks. Cough! The woman coughed heavily as blood flow out of her mouth. She then noticed something. She moved her eyes and saw a huge bear standing in front of her. "What!?" The woman quickly took a distance away from the bear while aiming her palm at it. "[Water Bullet]!!" Several small concentrations of water shot through the air. The bullets landed on Yuko''s body creating a loud sound but it didn''t do much damage to her. Her natural defense simply deflected most of the bullets. A tier 1 spell isn''t that strong for Yuko''s current defense. ''This is bad. I need to get away from this. I couldn''t fight because of my injuries.'' The woman thought while holding the wounds on the side of her stomach. She would be able to give Yuko a trouble if she wasn''t injured. Yuko looked at her with her gleaming eye. She then took a step forward. [Agile Burst]! [Swift Feet]! ''I need to leave this place as soon as possible.'' The woman quickly casted spells that could increase her speed when she saw the bear stepped forward. She then... Thud! She bumped into a person and she fell down on her butt. "Ouch!" She looked ahead and saw a man with dark green skin. He had short black hair and his pair of golden-colored pupils were glowing. The man was holding a sword with a crimson blade while looking at her with a wide grin. The woman''s complexion changed when she saw the man. Behind her was a powerful bear and in front of her was a man. Judging from his aura, he wasn''t weak. She realized who''s the man in front of her. There''s one man who''s known for being a tamer and powerful combatant at the same time. Most of the adventurers in the Ladro City know that Souta was a tamer and his pet was a Red Fur Bear. He was none other than Souta Ieshi, the commander of the Dark Oculus Legion. "You can struggle all you want but I think it''s futile," Souta said before he slashed his swords towards the woman. Blood spurted out. ... The group of B-ranks arrived at the scene and what they saw was a total annihilation. Their comrades were lying on the pool of blood. Everything was ruined. "Ramie!!" A B-rank swordsman hurriedly went in front of a woman. This woman was the one who was assigned to guard their base. "Ramie!!" The swordsman looked at the woman named Ramie with a worried expression. He turned his head and looked at his comrades. A woman with a priestess''s clothes stepped forward. She was the healer of their party. "Let me heal her." She said in a serious tone. "I''ll leave her to you." The swordsman said and the healer went beside them. The shielder of the group looked at them and said, "We''re all in a bad situation." "Yeah, the forces of our enemy are already in the city. Everyone didn''t expect that a legion war would occur and the enemy is already waiting for it." The mage of the group nodded at the words of shielder. "This city became the battlefield. It never occurred to us that a legion war could be this bad." The shielder said while looking around. Most of the time in the legion war, each participant would try to feel the movements of their enemies first. They would send some people to the base of their enemies but what''s happening right now was different. The only thing they could do was gather their forces and defend against the possible attack of the enemies. They didn''t even have a time to investigate or gather information about their enemies. "Uhm..." Ramie slowly opened her eyes. She looked around and saw her comrades around her. "Everyone, you''re here." "Don''t worry, we''ll protect you." The swordsman said to her with a gentle expression. "I''ll heal the others too." The healer said to them. The C-rank members of their legion were still alive. She could save them if she healed them at this moment. "Here." The mage took out a mana potion and gave it to the healer. He knew that healing all these people would consume a large amount of her mana. After half an hour, everyone woke up because the healer gave them first aid. They gave them healing potions so that they could walk alone without the help of others. "The enemies must be gone after they attack the base." The shielder said to them. "I will fight them." The swordsman said with rage in his eyes. He couldn''t forgive those people who hurt his precious comrades. Suddenly, they stopped talking and looked at the ground. The floor turned black in an instant before several black tentacles rose. [Shadow Bind]! "Enemy attack!!" The shielder shouted as he tightly gripped the shield on his hand. "Damn! You will pay for it!" The swordsman roared angrily before he pulled out his sword and began to attack the black tentacles. "We need to get out of here!!" The mage shouted at his comrades. "Why?" The shielder asked. "Look above us." The mage said as he looked in the sky. "No, it''s already too late. So that''s why..." Everyone followed his line of sight. They saw several layers of barrier forming around them. The shielder and mage understood why no one was attacking them. They thought that the enemies already left but they were preparing to imprison them using barrier spells. Then, a black mist filled the space inside the barrier. It was the worse scenario for them. The enemies wanted to eliminate them at this moment. "Stay close to each other!! Don''t leave anyone''s line of sight!" The shielder shouted as he instructed his comrades. "We don''t know how our opponents will attack us but prepare yourself for the worse!" The mage opened his mouth. Creepy silence enveloped everyone as no one dared to utter a single sound. After a few moments, they heard faint howling sounds. It feels that someone was whispering in their ears. "Welcome to the journey of despair!" Chapter 280 - Journey of Despair: [Shadow Bind] Lynn slumped on the ground after casting several barrier spells. She drained her mana by casting these powerful barriers that could hold a few B-ranks for half an hour. This was by far the best barrier spell that she casted in her entire life. This was the result of her training. "Thanks for the hard work." Souta smiled as he gave her some mana potions. "No, I''m glad that I could help you." Lynn shook her head. "Stay here and continue to pour your mana in barrier spells. Yuko and I will handle the rest." Souta said to her. "I''ll do my best," Lynn said to him with determination in her eyes. ''It''s too early for you to see what will happen next.'' Souta thought as he walked beside Yuko. ''You''re being considerate to her feelings. It''s a good improvement.'' Saya said to him. He doesn''t want to show Lynn what will he do to the people inside the barrier. She had to take it step by step if she wanted to get used to brutal scene. Her mind wouldn''t be able to handle it if she skips a step. He knew how kind Lynn is so if she suddenly saw a brutal scene much less if he was the one who did it. Then... She will be traumatized and Souta doesn''t want that to happen. That''s why he''s keeping her away from the meantime. His opponents have several B-rank in their forces so he didn''t want to fight them in a head-on battle. They will undoubtedly lose unless Yuko used her blessings. That''s why Souta had to get tricky to defeat those B-ranks. Well, he already had a plan in his mind. Souta and Yuko entered the barrier and Lynn closed it after they''ve gone inside. ... The shielder and his comrades were looking around with a wary expression. The thick black mist was blocking their vision so it was hard for them to make a move in this situation. They didn''t even know the abilities and skills of their opponents. "This mist decreases our strength and senses..." The mage opened his eyes widely as he realized the effect of the mist. He waved the wand in his hand and casted wind magic to blow the black mist. Swoosh!! The wind blew the black mist but it was futile. The black mist still covered them after a few seconds. No matter how much he used wind magic, the black mist will appear again and again as long as they were inside the range of the spell. [Dark Cloud Hunting] was a spell that could enhance the caster''s ability and decrease the opponent''s ability at the same time. It was a powerful spell of Souta that he unlocked after promoting his class to Battle Mage. "It''s useless to blow the black mist." The mage said while gritting his teeth. He then waved his hands and casted buff spells to his comrades. "Leader, the one who attacked me is the commander of the Dark Oculus Legion." The woman named Ramie said to the shielder. Her expression was bad but she could now handle herself compared to when they found her. "That man! So he decided to move..." The shielder was surprised at first but he understood that no one could easily defeat a B-rank except for the founder of the Dark Oculus Legion.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%5Bshadow-bind%5D_52388679183821617 for visiting. He understood it himself that the newly established legion didn''t have that much manpower so Souta needed to make a move himself to decrease the burdens of his subordinate. "I will never forgive that man." The swordsman said with anger in his eyes. "Shh! I hear something..." The rogue in their party said. Everyone shut their mouth and perked up their ears. They heard faint howling sounds like someone was whispering in their ears. It coming in every direction so it was hard to pinpoint it. Every second the voices grew louder. Voices of people grieving and crying were all over the place. It shook the heart of the people that heard it. "We wouldn''t get anything if we stayed in this place. I think we should send some people to look around to see if the enemies are here." The rogue suggested to them. "Fine, but who will lead the force?" The shielder asked. "I will lead the other rogues." The rogue replied to his leader. The shielder and the rest agreed to him. Then, the rogue departed to check the area around them. He brought five people in case something happened to them. "What do you think will happen to us?" The shielder asked the mage. "I don''t know but I have a bad feeling about the voices. The voices are real, they are not illusions." The mage shook his head. "I''ll try firing some spells." The mage stepped forward and casted a series of powerful spells. [Wind Cutter]! [Gust Blade]! [Gale Bomb]! The spells landed on the barrier and caused a loud explosion. The explosion shook the entire area but nothing happened to the barrier. His spells didn''t even manage to scratch it. "Just like what I thought. We wouldn''t be able to shatter this barrier." The mage said. They healed and woke everyone for half an hour so the enemies prepared this barrier in that time so there''s no doubt that this barrier was tough. He could create a barrier as strong as this one if he prepared it for half an hour but it was hard to use it to imprison his enemies. "I understand so reserve your mana. We need your strength." The shielder said to him. After a few minutes, the rogue and the rest came back. "There are no people but I could feel that someone is watching us within this thick black mist." The rogue said while shaking his head. "Also, I''ve found that this barrier is one hundred-meter in radius with us the center of it." The area inside the barrier was huge. They could instantly guess that this place was like a maze of death. Creepy things were lurking around in the shadows watching their movements. They could break this barrier by combining their strength but what if the enemies were waiting for them to exhaust their strength by breaking the barrier. Just one wrong move and it will lead to their doom. While they were talking several black tentacles emerged from the ground. They quickly moved away as the tentacles stretched out towards them. "Everyone retreat! Move away from these vile things!" The shielder and mage shouted at the same time. The black tentacles moved and targeted the weakest members of their group. Swoosh! Swoosh! The swordsman and the rogue swiftly moved from side to side as they tried to cut the black tentacles. But the problem for them was that the number of black tentacles. No matter how much they cut it another one would just emerged from the ground. "There''s no end to it, Frankie," Ramie said to the swordsman. "It doesn''t matter. Just move back to away from these tentacles!" The swordsman named Frankie said as he slashed his sword left and right. Swoosh! Swoosh! One of the tentacles managed to grab one of their C-rank members. The tentacles pulled the man away. "Argh!!" "Help me!!" "Frankie, help!!" "No!!!" The voices of their comrades echoed as the tentacles broke their defense and took the weakest members of their group. The black tentacles weren''t a problem for B-ranks as they could easily avoid it but for C-ranks... It was a nightmare for them. Frankie widely opened his eyes as he watched the black tentacles took his comrades one by one. The scream and cry of his comrades rung in his head. "AHHH!!" He roared as he tried to help his remaining comrades. Before everyone realized it they got separated into two groups. The shielder''s group and Frankie''s group. "We''ve got separated from, leader. This is bad. Splitting us is the true motive of our opponent." The mage said with a pale expression. He gritted his teeth and said, "We should''ve gone all out from the start. This wouldn''t happen if we weren''t too cautious." He looked at them and took a deep breath. Their force was still great as they have four B-rank in their group. Ramie, Frankie, the healer, and he were all B-ranks. They were a force to reckon in the circle of adventurers. Plus, there were seven C-rank adventurers with them. If they anticipated the opponent''s movement then they could win this fight. In this battle, he realized one thing. By splitting their group means that their opponents wanted to avoid a direct battle against them. It means that they have a chance to win if they could find their opponents and force them to fight. "We need to find our leader as soon as possible." The healer said with a pale expression. It seems that she too understood the plan of their opponents. "Yeah, they will attack one of our groups." The mage nodded with a gloomy look. In the mid-air close to the barrier, Souta was looking at them with a wide grin on his face. He drunk a bottle of mana potion and said, "It seems that they treasure their comrades, right?" ''Ufufu, what an evil goblin you are...'' Saya chuckled at his words. "I admit it. They are strong but... hehe~ what about if I break their mind... Can they still show those skills of theirs? This is just the beginning of this show." Chapter 281 - Journey of Despair: Dont give up your hope The people who were watching the projection couldn''t see anything inside the barrier because of the black mist that was blocking their vision. It was a disappointment because they were looking forward to it but they couldn''t do anything. They were just watching through the projection so their senses couldn''t detect what''s happening inside the barrier. Well, if they were personally watching it maybe they could see what''s inside using their powerful senses. Unfortunately, the projection didn''t have powerful senses like them. It couldn''t even copy the sounds of the battle. All they could watch was the live video. "What do you think will happen, Bargan?" Azrim, the Principal of the Ladro Institute, asked Bargan. "Souta will defeat them," Bargan replied to him. "All those B-ranks? You''re telling me that he could defeat them." Azrim raised his eyebrows at Bargan''s words. "Souta has always been like this. He''s fighting opponents and his chances of winning are low but you know what happened in the end? He always prevails in the end." Bargan paused for a moment before he added, "He will not win by fighting them head-on so he had to create a situation where he could defeat them and that''s what''s happening inside that barrier." "You really know your student." Azrim smiled as he looked at the projection.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''t-give-up-your-hope_52407705637285312 for visiting. "Yeah, I''m always observing them so that I could know what style fitted them the most. Just because they are in a mage class doesn''t mean they have to become a textbook mage. They have to master a style that fitted them to increase their combat prowess to a higher level." Bargan said to him. What he wanted the most was to help his students increase their power and unlock their hidden potential so that they could become great figures in the future. "You''re serious about your job. Is it because of that?" Azrim said as he glanced at Bargan''s expression. Bargan didn''t say anything as he simply watched the projection. ... "Hmm...? That swordsman and shielder are pretty strong." Souta muttered as he saw them handled that [Shadow Bind] that could hold a third evolution monster for a few seconds. ''They are stronger than you physically. But in terms of spells, you are still stronger than them. That''s what makes you special. You''re B-rank in physical strength and you''re also B-rank at magical strength.'' Saya said to him. "So let''s slowly break them," Souta said as he drunk another mana potion. Casting [Dark Cloud Hunting] and [Shadow Bind] repeatedly drained a quarter of his mana. ''And how will you do that?'' Saya asked. "I will break their mind first before I break them physically," Souta replied to her as the corner of his mouth curved upwards while looking at his prey. ... "We need to move and meet the others." The shielder said to his comrades. The situation they were facing was bad and it will only get worse if they couldn''t meet with Frankie and the rest. "Don''t worry about them, leader. Frankie is the strongest person in our group so we should be concerned for our well-being." The rogue said to shielder. "Yeah, you are right. If our enemies are going to attack then it will be our group. I''m sure this is the reason why our enemies separated us from them." The shielder nodded. Suddenly, several black tentacles emerged from the ground once again. "Don''t panic! We can handle it! We got caught off guard before but now we''re ready to face it!" The shielder shouted as he smashed his shield on the black tentacles. The rogue swiftly moved his body as he slashed the tentacles using the sharp dagger in his hand. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! After one minute, the relentless attack of the black tentacles stopped. They were prepared so no one got caught in their group. The same attack won''t work on them again. Although they managed to protect the C-ranks, they still haven''t solved the problem. What could they do in this kind of environment? They couldn''t see anything with black mist around them. If the rogue was two meters away from the shielder then he wouldn''t be able to see him because of how thick the black mist around them. Not just them, Frankie''s group was also attacked by black tentacles that emerged from the group. Just like the shielder''s group, there are no casualties to them this time. "Everyone''s fine," Ramie said to them. "I''m glad." Frankie sighed in relief when he heard it. He doesn''t want to repeat what happened before. That''s why he will do his best to protect his comrades. "It''s here again. The voices." The mage said while glancing around with a wary expression. The crying and grieving voices in the surrounding area give them chills. It feels cold and ominous at the same time. Their instinct that they honed in their adventures was telling them that something dreadful will happen. Suddenly, the voices changed. Malice and hatred were overflowing and everyone could feel it. They could feel the extreme pain in the voices around them. It feels like countless pairs of eyes were looking at them. The weak-willed person wouldn''t be able to handle it. "Damn! Get out of my mind!" The mage turned his head and saw his comrades holding his head. It seems that they couldn''t take what''s happening at this moment. "Hey, take a hold of yourself. I''ll get you out of this place." Frankie said as he grabbed the shoulder of his comrades. Their morale plummeted without them noticing it. Looking into the darkness around them, they felt like they were slowly sinking into the endless abyss which they couldn''t escape no matter what happens. They felt that it was seeping into their pores. Lalala~ Lala~ Lalala~ Everyone was shaken as the voice of a girl sounded in the area around them. "Who''s there?! Show yourself you coward!!" Frankie shouted angrily when he heard a voice of a girl. "This is... A strong person is watching us in the darkness..." The mage muttered with wide eyes. Fluctuations of high energy appeared in front of them. It was followed by a huge red slash heading in their direction. "DODGE!!" Frankie and the rest of the B-rank jumped away to avoid the powerful crimson color slash. "Argh!!" Frankie and the rest looked behind and saw some of the C-rank members didn''t manage to avoid it. They saw the arms and legs of their comrades on the ground, spurting blood. "My arms!!" "H-Help me! My legs are gone!!" The C-ranks members screamed as they looked at their body parts on the ground. "Damn! If it''s not for this black mist then I would be able to detect the attack!" The mage cursed as he punched the ground in frustration. He never felt useless as a mage before. The others were about to help their comrades when several black tentacles emerged from the ground once again. "Damn!!" Frankie shouted as he charged towards the black tentacles to cut it down. He wanted to destroy it as soon as possible and helped his injured comrades. "Wait! Frankie! Don''t go!" The mage tried to stop him. He gritted his teeth and lifted the wand in his hand. [Lightning Blast]!! A ball of lightning formed above him and it began to strike everything around them. Boom! Boom! Boom! Several small explosions occurred around them. Since he couldn''t sense their opponents, he could only strike everything so that their opponents wouldn''t have a chance to get close to them. "Hurry up and use heal potions to injured people." He said to his comrades in a loud voice. Then, he realized something. "So that''s how it is..." He looked around him with wide eyes. The sounds of the explosion weren''t that loud. It was as if something was interfering with the sound in the air. "The mana... How could I forget it..." So this was the reason why their leader hasn''t heard them even though they were creating a commotion here. "Tsk! I finally understand the trick behind this. I know how to counter it." The mage said as a smile formed on his face. "You really are our great mage!" Ramie smiled while giving potions to their injured comrades. The healer glanced at the mage and saw something terrifying. "I''ll counter..." The mage said as he gathered a large amount of mana in his wand. Suddenly, he heard someone''s voice in his left ear. "Please... Be... Quiet... Don''t... Give... Them... Hope..." Swoosh! The mage felt chills as he turned around but his hand which was holding the wand flew in the mid-air. He was caught off guard. He was basking in pride as he understood the trick of his opponent but he didn''t expect this to happen. "Huh?" He looked at his hand in the mid-air with a confused expression. His brain hasn''t registered that his arms were gone. When he comes to his senses, he screamed loudly as he felt the extreme pain. The lightning above him disappeared as he fell on his knees. "ARGGGHHH!!" The healer and Ramie stared blankly at the mage. They only saw a figure clad in black energy disappeared into thin air. The energy of that figure was so dark. At the same time, they heard some singing. "Oh, don''t give up your hope~ you will lose yourself~" The creepy voice made them sunk towards the abyss. Chapter 282 - Journey of Despair: Hope "Argh!! My arm!" The mage groaned in pain on the ground. His blood kept flowing out of his wounds. Ramie and the healer were about to stand up and help him when they saw countless black spikes burst out of the ground. The two of them carried two people in each other''s hands before they jumped away. They closed their eyes as the spikes spread out and pierced the body of some of their comrades. This was the only thing they could do. They only have two hands so they couldn''t help everyone. "Argh!!" The mage groaned as some of the spikes hit his body but then he realized that it couldn''t pierce deeply. This was only a level 1 tier 1 spell [Shadow Spike] so it could hardly damage a powerful B-rank. "I need to do this..." Flames appeared in the mage''s hand and he grabbed his arm to stop the blood flow by burning it. He could attack his hand later as long as one hasn''t passed. ARGGGHHHH!! He gritted his teeth as he burned his wounds. Then, he saw a black ball floating in front of him. "W-What''s this...?" Swoosh! Souta appeared in front of the mage while using [Shadow Cloak]. He grabbed the neck of the mage before he pulled out his tongue. "You don''t need this." After saying those words, Souta threw the tongue on the ground and stomped on it. The mage looked at Souta with fear and hatred. He didn''t think that this man would cut his tongue. He then saw Souta moved his left hand and placed it on his left eye. "You also don''t need this one," Souta said in a cold voice as he plucked the left eye of the mage. The mage realized one thing. And that''s Souta wouldn''t kill him. He will torture him like this. He wanted to beg but there were no words that were coming out of his mouth. Slowly his hatred disappeared and despair replaced it. It was slowly seeking into the depths of his body. Without him realizing it, tears flow out of his eye. He was crying. The man in front of him showed his brutal side to their party and everyone will experience it. Souta''s hand moved towards his right eye. At this point, his mind was already blank. He loses himself to despair. Putchi! Souta threw the mage on the ground after gouging both of his eyes. He then placed his eyes closed to him. "Infinite shadows dancing in the darkness." He muttered before he disappeared and black tentacles once again rose from the ground. ... Hays! Lumilia sighed as she turned in the direction where Souta was fighting with a concerned look. She didn''t know what will happen but she could only place her trust in him. Everything was moving smoothly according to their plan. They already destroyed sixty percent of their enemy''s bases. It was only a matter of time before the Adventurers Guild stepped forward and stopped this war. "Just like what Souta said, this battle will show everyone in the kingdom the power of our Dark Oculus Legion," Lumilia muttered while looking at the map in front of her. This was the result of everyone''s training. They could defeat and match some of the B-ranks in this kingdom. This placed the power of their Dark Oculus in mid-tier. With this much power, they could even invade small dukedoms without any affiliation to a large country like Fersch Dukedom. "After this war, our legion will gain fame. I think that Souta will expand the legion into rank 2 after this. That way, we could accept members once again." Lumilia said before she sighed. "Tons of paperwork will come to me after this... I should hire an assistant." She thought that this was not bad compared to her situation before. "I just have to work harder so that Souta will not be bothered by the legion''s affair." ... Frankie, Ramie, the healer, the rest were shocked when they saw the mage. They held their breath as the mage laughed to himself like a crazy person. His eyes were gouged out and his arms were gone. He was lying in the pool of blood. "What happened to you?!" Frankie shouted as he shook the body of the mage. The mage ignored him as he smiled tirelessly. Blood kept pouring out of his mouth. "...horrible," The healer said as she covered her mouth. Ramie placed her hand on Frankie''s shoulder. "Let''s go, Frankie. We couldn''t do anything." "I''ll close his wounds." The healer said as she sat beside the mage. She had a painful look as she watched the state of their respectable mage. "Just what did you experience..." They couldn''t imagine what the mage experience that caused him to become like this. She could heal his wounds but she couldn''t do anything about his mental state. "Damn it!!" Frankie roared loudly. He was frustrated. If he only followed the mage''s words then this wouldn''t happen. "Shhh! Don''t shout. It''s your hope." Frankie, Ramie, and the healer heard an unfamiliar voice. They quickly raised their guards and saw a crimson-colored slash heading towards the direction of the mage. "Arghh!" Frankie tightly grabbed his sword and stood in front of the mage. After charging his mana in his sword he swung it towards the slash. [Counter Wind Slash]! Both skills collided causing a shockwaves to be swept out in the surrounding area. "Damn you!!" Frankie managed to destroy the red slash with his skills. But before he could turn to his friends, several black tentacles once again emerged from the ground. While he was busy with [Shadow Bind], Souta appeared beside the healer. "Your hands... I don''t need it." He grabbed the collar of the healer and swiftly sliced her hands using the vajra sword. "You!" Ramie quickly pulled out her dagger and pounced at Souta. Swoosh! Souta threw the healer away and clashed with Ramie. Clang! Clang! Clang! They exchanged high-speed blows. It''s no wonder that they could handle [Shadow Bind] spell. They were skilled fighters. After a few seconds of exchanging blows, Ramie managed to cause small cuts around his body. ''You should retreat now. If that swordsman come here then you would suffer heavy injuries.'' Saya said to him. ''I know.'' Souta replied to her. That''s why he was doing this because he knew that he wouldn''t last in a head-on battle against them. Knowing that he couldn''t finish Ramie, Souta disappeared using the [Shadow Ball] that he scattered around the field. "Fall and accept your fate... Mwahaha!" His voice echoed as he vanished into thin air. She quickly turned to her remaining comrades only to find that all of them were gone including the healer. Their painful scream reverberated in her ears like a curse. She slumped on the ground with a blank expression. She was losing her hope. "Ramie!" Frankie went beside her and asked if she was fine. He was holding the mage in his arms. "No... What should we do, Frankie?" Ramie looked at him. "Don''t give up. We can do this." Frankie said to her with a firm expression. His eyes were brimming with determination to defeat Souta. "I hope so..." Ramie said in a low voice. ... The shielder and his group didn''t know what happened to Frankie''s group. They have no idea that their whole group was on the verge of breaking down. In the past few minutes, black tentacles kept appeared and they have managed to defend themselves from it. A spell like this wasn''t enough for B-ranks like them. It would take more to defeat them. The shielder and his comrades were slowly advancing forward while paying attention to their surroundings. They don''t know when the black tentacles will appear so they could only look around. Suddenly, their body felt heavy as the gravity increased by twenty times. It was trying to push them on the ground. Boom! "What now?!" The shielder shouted as he looked left and right. Swoosh! A huge figure crashed on the center of their formation from above. It caused an explosion that blows everyone away. "Argh! What happened?" The rogue and other B-rank pushed themselves out of the ground. The impact of the explosion scattered their group. They don''t even know where the C-rank members. "Shit!" The shielder stood up and saw a huge figure of a bear in the middle of a crater. The bear was emitting a fierce aura that rivaled the third evolution monster they faced in the past. The aura was so dense and thick that it looks like it was distorting the space when in fact it was only pushing away the weaker energy. "The hell!!" "Where did this monster comes from?!" The shielder and his comrades looked at the bear with fear in their eyes. With their current situation, they don''t have a chance to win against a third evolution monster. The energy in her body gathered in both of her hands. "Oi! Oi! This is no ordinary monster! This monster knows how to control its energy!" The shielder said when he saw the pure energy formed on the bear''s arms. ROAR!! Yuko roared as she activated [Cat''s Speed] and [Triple Muscle Strengthening] before she pounced towards the shielder. She was going to show them the despair of fighting absolute strength. Souta who was observing everything in the mid-air grinned. "Crush their hope and smile. Leave only despair, Yuko." Chapter 283 - Journey of Despair: How do you feel? Boom! Boom! Boom! Several powerful shockwaves swept out the entire area inside the barrier. It was followed by heavy earthquakes that changed the land formation. If Souta was to describe it, he was going to say that it was violent. Yuko was using her blessing to destroy everything inside the barrier. To think that she was capable of this much destruction was beyond his comprehension. He didn''t expect that she would be able to fully control her blessing without him noticing it. "Hm?" Souta noticed that cracks started to appear on the barrier around them. Even Souta would have a hard time breaking this barrier that Lynn prepared for half an hour with every bit of her mana. Boom! Boom! After several shockwaves, the cracks spread out in the whole barrier. It was going to break at any moment. The only reason why it could hold was that Lynn was pouring her mana into this barrier. "That girl..." Souta smiled wryly as he imagined Lynn''s face while trying to fix this barrier. ''You''re not going to stop, Yuko?'' Saya asked him. "Nope, this is a good chance to settle this problem. I''m pretty confident that I could handle the leftover." Souta shook his head before he forced his attention at Yuko. ''Ufufu, you''re fighting them now that you''ve broken their will and mind. What an evil goblin you are...'' Saya said with a laugh. Boom! The barrier was shattered into tiny pieces as it couldn''t hold the extreme power inside it. The particles dissipated into thin air. ''Yuko, stop using your blessing.'' Souta said to her through their contract. Yuko couldn''t understand his words but the contract transmitted his intent to her. Yuko quickly stopped using the power of blessing as soon as Souta''s intent was transmitted to her mind. This was to avoid the prying eyes of other people. The people inside were beaten to a pulp by Yuko. They will not be able to fight anymore. They were physically and mentally exhausted. "Let me finish what I started..." Souta muttered as he slowly descended on the ground using the power of gravity. ... "Ah." Lynn fell on her knees as the barrier that she worked hard to build collapses in front of her eyes. "I''m sorry, Souta." She said to herself as she closed her eyes and imagined his disappointed expression. She turned pale just by thinking about it. Although the barrier collapsed, Souta''s spell, the [Dark Cloud Hunting] spell, was still in effect. She wanted to go inside but she held back herself because she remembered Souta said to wait for him in this place. "Still... I''m very curious about what''s happening there. I could feel tremendous energy but that''s all." Lynn said to herself. She will try to increase her mana capacity next time so that the barrier that she''ll create would grow stronger. Hays... Lynn sighed as she tied her long purple hair into a ponytail. "I will watch this place in case someone appeared and disturbed Souta''s battle." She said to herself as she stood up and patted her clothes. She then drunk mana potions to recover some of her mana. ... "I''ll protect you..." Frankie tightly hugged the mage''s body to protect him from getting injured. Ramie covered her eyes as she crouched down to balance herself. The shockwaves were causing powerful earthquakes that changed the land formation. "What''s happening...?" She couldn''t believe what she was seeing. The loud cracking sound in the area made her look up into the sky. The shockwaves were sweeping the black mist so before it formed again she caught a glimpse of the state of the barrier. The barrier was going to collapse at any moment. "The barrier... We can leave this place, Frankie." Ramie said to Frankie who was carrying the mage in his arms. "Why?" Frankie looked back at Ramie and asked. "There''s crack on the barrier," Ramie replied to him and the barrier broke creating a loud sound. Bang! The barrier around them was shattered into tiny particles like a fragile glass. As soon as the barrier collapsed, the shockwaves in the surrounding disappeared too. The area turned silent after a few moments and the black mist got thicker once again. "The barrier is gone..." Frankie muttered while looking around. "Yeah, but the black mist is still here," Ramie said in response to his words. Swoosh!! A huge figure was heading towards them from above. Frankie and Ramie looked up as they felt it. It was different from the one that they''ve faced before. "Move!!" The two of them jumped away to avoid getting hit by the huge figure. Boom! The figure crashed on their position before causing the ground to tremble. While they were in the mid-air, black tentacles appeared once again. The tentacles aimed at them before it stretched out trying to bind them. Swoosh! Swoosh! "Frankie!" Ramie looked at Frankie while pulling out the daggers on her waist. "Yeah, I know." Frankie nodded as he held the mage in one arm before pulling out his sword with his free hand. Suddenly, Frankie and the mage were pushed towards the ground as the gravity increased by twenty times. Bang! The two of them crashed on the ground as the black tentacles flew towards them. "Frankie!!" Ramie shouted with a worried expression. She then saw the figure who crashed on the ground move towards her. After a closer look, she found that this was the bear from before. It means that Souta Ieshi, the commander of the Dark Oculus Legion, was here in this place. She stepped on the black tentacles to jumped away but the tentacles dissipated into thin air. "Wha-" She was surprised at this. She didn''t think that the opponent could instantly dispel the spell that they casted. Swoosh! Yuko appeared in front of her and gathered her mana in her arms. Ramie simply crossed her daggers in front of her to block Yuko''s attack. She knew that she couldn''t dodge it in this distance. She was wrong... Everything that will happen was out of her expectations. Souta appeared behind her and pushed her towards Yuko. Yuko then threw a powerful punch aiming at her stomach. Bang! Ramie spat a mouthful of blood as she flew and crashed on the ground creating a fissure in her path. As soon as her body stopped moving, black tentacles rose around her and bound her limbs. Finally, the [Shadow Bind] managed to get Ramie. She wouldn''t be able to break it easily with just her strength. "Switch." Souta vanished from his position and he appeared in the space above Ramie. "Hehe~" He fell down and stabbed the stomach of the girl with his sword. After that, he twisted it so that the girl would feel intense pain. Just like what he expected, Ramie screamed at the top of her lungs. "ARRGGGHH!! IT HURTS!!" Frankie turned his head and saw Souta stabbing his sword at Ramie. He placed down the mage and said, "Stay here for a while. I''ll rescue Ramie." He then charged towards Souta''s direction at high speed. Swoosh! Souta looked at him as he knitted his brows. He opened his mouth and said, "Yuko." Roar! Yuko roared and she intercepted Frankie by throwing a powerful blow and Frankie swung his sword in response. Boom! Both of their attacks collided causing a huge gust of winds. The energy spiked up creating sparks the flew around them. Both of them took a distance from each other. Frankie realized that he couldn''t easily get past and rescue Ramie. "You! What happened to our leader?" Frankie asked as he tightly grabbed his sword using both of his hands. "Leader? Ah, they give up. They felt despair when they saw Yuko''s true strength. It''s thrilling to watch them fought someone they couldn''t win." Souta replied to him with a smile. He then twisted his sword causing Ramie to scream in pain. "RAMIE!!" Frankie shouted but he didn''t charge forward. He knew that the bear would simply stop him just like before. "Are you sure that you need to pay attention to me?" Souta said as he pulled his sword and pointed at the person behind Frankie. "What?" Frankie turned around and saw black tentacles wriggling around the mage''s body. "Crush it." As soon as Souta said those words the black tentacles around the mage tightened. It shattered the bones inside the mage''s body. "ARGH! IT HURTS!" The mage screamed painfully. Suddenly, Yuko charged forward and swung her paw at him. Bang! She caught him off guard as her full power swing landed on his face. Frankie flew into a distance before he rolled on the ground. Yuko chased after him as she jumped towards him attempting to smash his head into smithereens. Frankie saw it and he rolled to the side barely avoiding Yuko''s feet. Boom! "Just give up," Souta muttered in a cold tone as he watched Frankie fight Yuko. The black tentacles around Ramie tightened and it slowly squashed her bones one by one. Her painful scream reverberated in the whole area. It greatly distracted Frankie who was busy fighting Yuko. The screams of his friends echoed in his ears like a curse. Bang! Bang! Bang! Due to him being distracted Yuko beat him one-sidedly. "No, my friends... Let them go..." Frankie said while lying on the ground. His body was full of wounds. "Today''s show is complete so please give me a big applause," Souta said as he clapped. Yuko looked at Souta and thought that he was praising her so she copied him and clapped too. Clap! Clap! Souta strode towards Frankie who was reaching his hands towards Ramie. He slowly raised his sword and stabbed his hand. "Argh!" Frankie groaned in pain as the sword nailed his hand. Souta squatted down and looked at Frankie''s eyes with a grin on his face. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, "How do you feel? What do you think? Fun? Joy? Despair?" Chapter 284 - End of Battle Souta stood up and patted his clothes. He also wiped the blood that got on his body. ''Ufufu, that''s quite a show.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. "Yeah, it was a masterpiece," Souta replied to her as he placed back the vajra sword in its sheath before drinking mana potion. ''I really like it you know. This show somehow satiated my boredom.'' Saya chuckled. "What can I do? I''m going to lose if I fought them head-on so I defeated them one by one and show them despair to break their mind." Souta said as a smile formed on his face. He then rubbed a part of his neck and recalled what he did before. He let Saya possessed his body and used her voice to instilled fear in those people. At first, he wasn''t sure if his plan would work but in the end, they succ.u.mbed to their fear. He let them lose their composure so that he could chip them away easily. ''Let''s do it again.'' Saya said to him. "Yeah, next time I will show you a show without a shred of salvation." Souta agreed to her words. ''Ufufu, I like it.'' Saya laughed faintly at his words. ... Lynn was looking at the black mist intently as she waited for Souta and Yuko to come out. While waiting for them, she was looking out at her surrounding in case some people appear and disturb Souta. After a few minutes, Souta and Yuko came out of the black mist. "Souta! Yuko!" Lynn smiled as she went towards the two. She then lowered her head and said, "I''m sorry, Souta. I couldn''t keep the barrier." Souta glanced at her and said, "You don''t have to apologize. It was unavoidable as Yuko used her full power that broke the barrier. Our opponents this time are strong so Yuko had no choice but to use her power." "I-Is that so?" Lynn glanced at Souta. "Yup, so don''t think about it. Everything works fine in the end. As long as it produced good then it''s fine." Souta smiled as he patted her shoulders. Lynn just lowered her head as a tinge of redness formed on her cheeks. "I need to report this battle to Lumilia," Souta said as he took out transmission talisman. "Hello, Lumilia. We''ve finished those B-ranks. You don''t have to worry about them." "O-Oh, that''s good. We could win this war." Lumilia''s voice sounded in the talisman. "I''m going there with Yuko and Lynn so prepare a cup of coffee for me. I wanna relax this time." Souta said as he yawned and stretched his arms. "Understood. I will prepare it immediately." Lumilia replied to him. "Let''s get going. I''m sure you wanted to rest too Lynn. We''ve traveled from the party to this city after all." Souta said. ... Souta''s group left so the black mist slowly dissipated as Souta canceled his spell. It was draining his mana by using this for a few minutes. As soon as the black mist disappeared the people who were watching in the projection saw the state of the land. They were stunned, surprised, and shocked at the same time. Horrifying scene was what revealed in their eyes. Everything was destroyed and part of the land was dyed in red. The blood of Souta''s opponent flooded the land. Severed hands and legs of his opponents were everywhere. Eyeballs were rolling on the bloody ground. The smell of blood filled the entire area. The Adventurer Guild''s staff who were handling the legion war was horrified by this bloody scene. They quickly went towards it and to handled this scene. Even though Souta was gone, they still could feel the chilly atmosphere in the air. Some of the staff puked after seeing the scene. This was their first time in their life seeing such a scene which makes their stomach turned upside down. It was different from the past legion war where they would only saw people got beaten up. The scene in front of them was entirely different from that, it feels like Souta brutally tortured his enemies until they lose their minds. They turned their heads in the direction where Souta left. "He''s crazy..." It was a warning. A warning to the people who didn''t know their place. Souta left them a warning that he could be brutal when he needed it. "That Souta is no joke! He''s as crazy as Yanagi Shina!" "He''s the real deal!" "Yanagi and Souta in the same faction! Everything will turn crazy!" Someone of the people who were watching the legion war in projection said. "Eh, father... Are you we could leave sister in that man?" A man in his early twenties asked. "...Yeah, probably." A man with long blue hair said as he glanced at his son. This man was Ursus Von Asvares. In short, Lumilia''s father. While the other person was the heir of the Asvares family, Milan Von Asvares. He is Lumilia''s older brother. "Let''s visit her sometimes," Milan said to his father. Ursus stayed silent as he ignored Milan''s words. In the Ladro Institute... "Just what did he do inside that barrier?" Azrim said with a sigh as he massaged his temple. He heard a lot of rumors that Souta was brutal in the ranking battle. Now that he saw this bloody scene in the projection, he finally understood why the second-year students were afraid of Souta. "I don''t know," Bargan replied to him while shaking his head. He didn''t have an idea what Souta did inside the barrier that caused such a scene. "Damn! Another crazy student is making a name outside the institute!" Jess said. He was Bargan''s friend and also a teacher at Ladro Institute. ... One day had passed and the Adventurers Guild declared that the Dark Oculus Legion won the legion war. They demolished and defeated every member of the opponent''s group. They didn''t have a chance to fight back and group themselves in this war. It was a one-sided battle. The name of Dark Oculus Legion spread throughout the whole kingdom. Some of the adventurers in the other country even received the news about the rising legion in the Hebrei Kingdom. This battle silence all the opposition nobles. They couldn''t do anything to stop the rise of Dark Oculus Legion. Souta and his deputies name also got famous in the whole kingdom. The group of students of Ladro Institute defeated the powerful legions of the nobles. The Dark Oculus Legion only have a few B-ranks in their legion but they managed to overwhelm their opponents who possessed more than forty B-ranks. Well, Yanagi Shina beat half of these B-ranks on her own. Even the A-rank of the count''s family got beaten by her. This battle placed their legion in the top Rank 1 Legion. At the same time, the Ladro Institute increased its fame once again. Even the other large countries noticed this institute. After all, Souta and the rest were all from this institute so it piqued the interest of other people. Now that the Grand Tournament will begin, a lot of people was placing their bet on the Ladro Institute more than the Royal Academy. Aside from Yanagi Shina, the other students of Ladro Institute got famous like Souta. They even said that Souta would beat those people from other schools and academies easily just like how he beat those B-ranks in the legion war. Souta was having a coffee in his office. He had a carefree smile on his face. In front of him was the Guildmaster of the branch guild in this city. Francis looked at Souta and said, "Congratulations Commander Souta for winning the legion war." "Thank you, guildmaster. I really appreciate your help." Souta smiled back at Francis. "We''re currently in the process of collecting your rewards. We will deliver it to you in the next two days." Francis said as he placed a piece of paper in front of Souta. Souta looked at Lumilia who was standing at his side. She nodded and picked the paper. After a while, she opened her mouth and said, "Commander, everything is prepared. According to this contract, we will receive everything." "Okay." Souta nodded at her. If she said that the contract was fine then it was fine. "Then, give the guild master the files to promote our legion." "Understood." Lumilia nodded before she took out paper files and placed it in front of the guild master. "I will quickly process your request. I''m sure that the main guild will approve of your request." Francis said to Souta with a smile. He didn''t even check the paper files in front of him. "Thanks. I will wait for the good news." Souta said before he took a sip of his coffee. They talked for a few minutes before the guild master left the room. Everything went smoothly and there''s no problem with the legion. "We''re rich. From the seven noble families... We shut their mouth with our strength. Now, our legion is even richer than your family, right Lumilia?" Souta said as he walked towards the window and looked outside. "Yes, our current wealth surpassed the wealth of a normal noble family." Lumilia nodded at his words. Chapter 285 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Prologue "About our legion members..." Souta asked as he glanced at Lumilia who was standing behind him. "I''ve already calculated the reward and give them points according to their contributions in the legion war," Lumilia replied to his question. The legion members were happy and excited because they won the war. At first, they weren''t sure whether they could win or not but in the middle of the battle they found that their group has a huge advantage and was on the lead of the war. They received points and it made them go wild. They could use it to redeem various things in the treasury of the legion. They were delighted that they didn''t need to use their money to buy potions, weapons, and armors. They could just stock up their points and redeem high-grade weapons in the treasury. The points system of the legion did a good job in encouraging the members to take several quests. "I see. Good job. If you want something. Just tell me." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. "Then, how about we hired some blacksmith, Souta?" Lumilia suggested to him. "Blacksmith?" Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. "Yes, we don''t have someone who could repair the member''s weapon in our legion. The members of our legion are going out to the weaponsmith in the market to repair their weapons." Lumilia explained to him. "I understand the problem." Souta nodded and he looked at her before he added casually, "I''ll leave it to you. I''m sure that some of the blacksmiths out there wouldn''t decline our legion. Also, include the repair to the points system." "Leave it to me," Lumilia replied with a serious expression. He smiled and he left his office. He went straight to his room before he lay down on the bed. "Let''s see.." Souta looked at his system and saw the system notification that he received before. He took down a group of B-rank after all so he was expecting good rewards for him. [Congratulations for completing the "Legion War" quest!] [Processing the rewards...] [Processing complete...] [You''ve received 100,000 exp, 10 skill points, and 15 free attribute points!] This was a pretty decent reward for him. After all, he defeated a group of B-ranks with Yuko and Lynn. He wondered what would be his rewards if he soloed those B-ranks. [Experience points reached!] [You''ve level up!] [You''ve received 1 skill point!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points!] [Strength attribute increased by 15!] [Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality attributes increased by 10!] ''Oh? Level up...'' Souta looked at his stats with a satisfied smile on his face. He was level 36 and was close to level 40. Just a little bit more and he would be able to reach the level limit of his second evolution. He will try to participate in the Grand Tournament and trigger the quest. That''s one of a big quest with lots of rewards. He recalled that some of the players in the past join the big tournament in some large countries and reap huge rewards. If everything goes well and he became the champion Souta would be able to level up once again according to his estimation. He also thinks that he would get skill points sufficient for him to promote his class and level up some of his skills. The problem was Yanagi Shina. She was the strongest participant in this tournament in the whole kingdom. Not just him, the top 5 rankers of the Ladro Institute were undoubtedly powerful to keep him in bay. Their powers were either at the peak of B-rank and A-rank. Also, the top students of other schools and academies were strong too. There were only a few days left before the elimination of the Grand Tournament starts. Souta decided that he will try to level up his skills in this short amount of time. He couldn''t depend on his level alone. A high level wasn''t enough. If he met someone who possessed a number of skills which was higher than the level of his skills then he would lose. Just like Bargan. He was the strongest Hero-rank that Souta knew in the entire game without the power of blessing as his skills were on an entirely different realm than other Hero-rank. "About the nobles..." Souta didn''t need to worry about them. He gave them a warning. Also, if they got out of hands the institute will not stay still watching them face their demise. ... The next day, the Adventurers Guild approve of their request. They announced that the Dark Oculus Legion was now a Rank 2 Legion. It was an official announcement that everyone expected. The legion could now accept more members and the quest that they will post on their quest board will increase by three-fold. Souta left the affairs of the legion to Lumilia, his vice-commander. He felt bad about leaving all of this to her but she said that it was fine. Lynn, Yujin, Bryan, Brando, and Alice formed their own party with Lumilia''s help. Their party was an independent one which could take quests even without their help. Jeanne and Wako of the fan club group will be promoted to deputy rank once they become B-rank adventurers. Souta and Lumilia recognized their strength in the Legion War as they defeated some of the B-ranks so they decided to promote them once they reach the appropriate rank. Yanagi Shina has her own special rank in the legion. She was the Ace of the legion. She was an independent faction on her own and will not listen to the instructions of anyone except for the commander. Jagret, Ginvi, and the rest of the Lanny corp came back and joined Souta''s legion. After all, Souta promised Jimmy to reserved ten seats in his legion for the Lanny corporation. An additional four people came with them as the original Lanny corp in his party were only six. Souta went to Adventurers Guild to find the Gale group but he heard from the other adventurers that they were in another country doing some quest. The Gale group was the party that Souta met along with Jimmy. They also helped him in the incidents of the Gripen city which shook the entire kingdom. He wanted to invite them to his legion. How unfortunate. Too bad they were in another country. He will try to invite them later if they come back to this city so he decided to reserve some seats for them in his legion. B-rank? According to Souta''s evaluation, he still wasn''t a match to Gregory. Gregory was entirely different than B-rank as he exclaimed that he defeat third evolution monster on his own before. That''s what Souta wanted to avoid. The noble head personally making a move was simply bad for him. Luckily, he had Yanagi Shina and the Ladro Institute on his back as a deterrent force to keep them in check. Souta shook his head and he stood up. He walked toward the window and looked on the ground. He saw that the legion was busy. A lot of people were applying to join the legion as it became a Rank 2 Legion today. They also didn''t need to go to class today. The institute was going to focus itself on the upcoming Grand Tournament that will be held in the Royal Capital City of the Hebrei Kingdom. A lot of students were busy preparing themselves for the elimination round in the next few days. Precisely, the elimination round will begin after four days. It will last for seven days. "The formation is too quick..." He muttered before he turned around and wore his clothes. He then hung the vajra sword on his waist and exited the room. ... A man with light green color hair and pupils was standing on top of a huge boulder of rock. He was wearing a black robe on top of a maroon long-sleeve shirt. His skin was pale and he had dark circles around his eyes. His name was Yuvn, a seven-circle officer of the Seven Deadly Sins. In front of him were the members of the Seven Deadly Sins like him. He slowly opened his mouth and said in a deep tone, "We''re to invade the Hebrei Kingdom so prepare yourself. No matter what happens we will take back the bloodstones. That''s our priority." "So what''s our plan?" A feminine voice sounded. "We will divide this group into two. One will attack the airship that will go towards the capital while the other will retrieve the bloodstones from that Ladros City." Yuvn said as he explained his plan to his comrades. "We''ve also done our investigation regarding this kingdom. I''ve estimated the current force of this kingdom and I''ve got to say that the military prowess it possessed is high." "So?" Pavoni asked with an irritated look. "Well, that wouldn''t be able to stop us. The group that will attack the airship will need to be wary of Azrim, he''s a powerful existence. And the group that will attack the city will need to be wary of Bargan, that man is troublesome." Yuvn said with a serious expression. Pavoni grinned and said, "We''re going all out." "Yeah, we''re going to crush everyone and retrieve the bloodstones! We will sacrifice the people in that city!" Chapter 286 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Dawn of Chaos Today was the day of the elimination round of the Grand Tournament. A lot of students were preparing themselves for this tournament. "Souta, we''re going out. We will come to institute later." Brando said to Souta. He was going out to market with Bryan and Cl.u.s.ter to buy something. Also, Cl.u.s.ter wanted to play outside so they came with her. "Okay, I''ll wait for you there so protect her." Souta nodded at him. He agreed to them to bring her out. He was sure that she was getting bored playing in this building. Well, she will come to the institute later so that they could watch the elimination round. "Don''t worry, Bryan and I are pretty strong. We will not let anything happen to her." Brando said as he smiled. "Yeah, yeah, I will protect Cl.u.s.ter." Bryan nodded. Souta glanced at her who was beside the two and said, "Cl.u.s.ter, don''t leave their sight." "Okay, I''ll behave." Cl.u.s.ter said as she raised both of her hands in the air. "We''ll go now. See you later, Souta, Lumilia, and Lynn." Brando said to them as he turned around. "Bye-bye Brother Souta, Sister Lynn, Sister Mila!" Cl.u.s.ter waved her hands before she followed Brando. "Bye!" Lumilia waved her hand with a smile on her face. "See you later, Cl.u.s.ter!" Lynn said to her. The three left the room leaving Lumilia, Lynn, and Souta in the office room. Alice and Yujin were downstairs looking at the new members in their legion. They were counting the quest that the members completed to see if they fill the quota. While Jeanne and Wako were already in the institute. Souta looked at Lumilia and asked, "Are you going to stay here?" "Yes, I will not participate in the elimination round as I have a lot of things to do here," Lumilia replied to him in a gentle tone. "I''ll go there later and watch the elimination round." "I see..." Souta nodded and he turned to Lynn. "Um... I''m going to help Mila here." Lynn said with a fl.u.s.tered look. Souta smiled before he shook his head. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Lumilia asked him as she slightly tilted her head. "Nothing..." Souta replied to her and he closed his eyes. In the past few days, he trained with everyone so he was quite confident in the Grand Tournament. "I''ll prepare some coffee for you," Lumilia said as she looked at his table and saw that he didn''t have a coffee. She, no, everyone in their group knew that Souta liked drinking coffee when he was relaxing. "I-I''ll help too..." Lynn said while stuttering. Souta opened one of his eyes and said, "I''ll look forward to it." Lumilia and Lynn left the room to brew some coffee for him. ''I think your overall power is enough to place you in the top 10 of the Ladro Institute.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his head. "Yeah, I think too. My skills have grown stronger because of our training. Not just me, the others also grow stronger. Their speed of growth surpassed my expectations." Souta replied to her as he stared at the ceiling. ''Ufufu... Don''t worry about it. I still haven''t taught you my powerful skill set. You should focus on your current skills and when I saw that your strength is enough I will pass it to you.'' Saya replied to him. "That''s reassuring..." Souta smiled lightly. ... "Brother Brando! I want to eat that!" Cl.u.s.ter said as she tugged Brando''s sleeve while pointing at one of the stalls on the street that was selling street food. "...Fine, I''ll buy one for you," Brando said as he walked towards the stall with her. "I want one too..." Bryan said as he walked beside them. Brando looked at Bryan with a blank expression and said, "Oi! You have a lot of money, right? Use your money!" "Ah...? But I will use it to repair my purple-grade armor. I will also use it to buy some purple-grade artifacts." Bryan said. "Damn! YOU HAVE A LOT OF MONEY! Five copper coins wouldn''t do that much as you have more than a thousand platinum coins!" Brando said loudly with an angry looked. "O-Okay..." Bryan could only agree to him. The three tour around the city and they did everything that Cl.u.s.ter wants. They tried all kinds of foods and snacks in the city. They also went to the playground and some tourist spots in this city. Cl.u.s.ter rarely experienced it so they spoiled her today. "What''s that place?" Cl.u.s.ter said as she pointed at the street with different colors of light. "That''s..." Brando was hesitating if he should answer her or not. "Ah, that''s Red Light District. Souta always go there." Bryan simply answered her question. "Ah, Souta always go there!! What the- even though he had those girls in the legion?!" Brando couldn''t believe what he heard from Bryan. "Um... Brother Souta always goes there? Then, let''s go. I want to see what kind of place Brother Souta always goes to." Cl.u.s.ter said to them with a smile on her face. "NO! WE WILL NOT GO THERE!" Brando shouted and he looked at Bryan, "It''s your fault, Bryan! Souta will kill us if he knew this! Damn! I don''t want to die!" ... Souta went to the Adventurers Guild after he drinks the coffee that Lumilia and Lynn prepared for him. A lot of students were registering to the elimination round of the Grand Tournament to test their skills. They were not expecting to win the tournament at all. They just wanted to see how far they could go with their current skills and spells. Souta went to the faculty and found Teacher Bargan. "Teacher, where''s Yanagi?" He asked Bargan. "Yanagi? She''s in the bas.e.m.e.nt. Why are you looking for her?" Bargan answered and asked him? "Well, I just want her to complete some quest in the legion," Souta replied to him. "Okay, I''ll notify her once I go there," Bargan assured him. "Thanks." Souta thanked him before he turned around and left the faculty room. The bas.e.m.e.nt of the Institute. The Institute forbid anyone to go in that place except for Yanagi. That place was her home and confinement area after all. She was confined there every time she does something that could bring trouble to the institute. Because of her personality, the principal didn''t let her live in the dorm along with other students. There was a case in the past where she beat everyone that was living in the dorm. Yanagi Shina was the principal''s adopted daughter. The principal found her hears ago in living in the dungeon full of monsters alone. She didn''t even know the common language of humans and demis as she lived her life inside the dungeon. When she first met the principal, she tried to kill him just like how she killed the monsters that were living in the dungeon. But the principal was stronger than her so she couldn''t kill him. That way, the principal discovered her potential and talent so he took her. He taught different things to her including the common language of humans and demis. He was also the one that gave her the name Yanagi Shina. He named her after his unborn daughter that died along with her wife. Souta went to the arena and he heard a loud sound of the bell. The sound of bell rung across the entire Ladros City. "Hmm...?" Souta frowned as he was familiar with this sound. This signal was the signal when monster tide appeared in the outskirts of the city. "A monster tide appearing at this time is quite bad...!" Suddenly, several powerful explosions shook the entire Ladro City. The eruptions of flame pillars broke the joyful atmosphere of the city. It was so sudden that it made everyone stunned. BOOM! A monster tide appeared and now several powerful explosions occurred across the city. Just what did it mean? In the future when people looked back at the history of the world, they will find that this day was the last day of peaceful life before the flames of war swallowed everything. The 12th of May, 2038th year of the Three Sun Calendar, marked this day as the beginning of the war in the whole world between the Three Great Countries and the forces of the Three Bringers of Calamity. It was known throughout the world as the Dawn of Chaos. The day was filled with joy and happiness but no one knew about the calamity that will hit the entire kingdom and surely, the entire world. On this fateful day, countless people will die without knowing how they died. The tallest structures in the city that once stood tall will be reduced to rubbles. The proud buildings of Ladro Institute will be razed to the ground along with the body of the students which all over the place. This was also the day when the countless powerful factions noticed the extreme potential of the Dark Oculus Legion. The Dawn of Chaos... Chapter 287 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Flame Power Ding!! The signal of the Adventurers Guild echoed throughout the whole city. Every adventurer heard this sound so they couldn''t help but look in the direction of the guild. Bryan, Brando, and Cl.u.s.ter stopped moving as they heard the loud ringing sound. "What''s happening, Brother?" Cl.u.s.ter asked with a worried expression. "Monster tide...!" Brando muttered with a frown on his face. "Oh, monster tide. I will be able to fight again." A wide smile formed on Bryan''s face. Brando looked at Bryan and said, "Bryan we can''t go there with Cl.u.s.ter so we need to leave her in the legion first." "Oh, right! I forgot about that! Don''t worry, Cl.u.s.ter!" Bryan said as he patted his chest. ... "A monster tide... And from the sound of it, it seems that more than a thousand monsters appeared." Souta muttered as he silently circulates his mana around his body. The Adventurers Guild was summoning all the adventurers in the city to help in clearing the monster tide in the South Gate. Ding!! Ding!! Ding!! Another alarm signal rang in another direction of the city. "What?!" Souta opened his eyes widely when he heard the alarm signal. ''Three alarm signal plus the signal before... This city is surrounded...'' Saya''s voice sounded in his head. "This is bad... There''s four monster tide. The North, South, East, and West Gate needed protection." Souta muttered and he looked around him. The students were confused at the alarm sound. Some of them didn''t know the alarm of the Adventurers Guild while the others knew it. Slowly the words about the monster tides spread in the whole campus. In just a short amount of time, almost everyone knew that countless monsters surrounded the entire city. But then something worse happened... Boom! Boom! Boom! Several explosions arose in the city. Everyone felt the ground beneath their feet vibrated and it made the buildings trembled heavily. "What...?" Souta was stunned when he heard the deafening sound of explosions. He then felt hundreds of souls went to his earring. It means that hundreds of people perished in those explosions. "Just what the hell is happening right now!" ... Several people wearing black robes landed on the roof of the tall building in the city. "We''re here..." Yuvn said in a low voice as he surveys the whole city with his own two eyes. "Hehe~ let''s kill everyone." A crazed smile formed on Pavoni''s face. "Disperse!" Yuvn said as he flashed towards the direction of the Ladro Institute. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Five people followed him and four people went towards the sky. The remaining people went around the city before they used their skills and spells to cause destruction. Huge fireball, hundreds of sharp ice, powerful winds, and lightning spears crashed around the city causing powerful explosions that killed hundreds of innocent people in an instant. Boom! Boom! This shook everyone in the city. The adventurers and the city guards gathered in the four gates of the city to clear the monster tide. So only a few city guards could check the explosions. But before they could do that another batch of explosions occurred in different places in the city. Boom! Boom! All of them were seven-circle officers of the Seven Deadly Sins, one of the Bringer of Calamity. They were powerful people that reached SSS-rank and above. The four seven-circle officers arrived one thousand meters above the Ladros City. Their powerful energy burst out of their body and every people in the city felt it. They felt the cold and chilly energy of the four officers in the sky. All the B-rank and above instantly guessed the power of the invaders. They knew that a fierce battle will occur in this huge city. Bargan, who was in the faculty room of the Ladro Institute, tightly knitted his brows as he felt the powerful energy above the city. He exchanged glances with the other teachers before he burst out of the room and head straight into the sky. The other teachers also went out to check what''s happening in the city. They couldn''t ignore those powerful explosions. Swoosh! Bargan opened his eyes widely as he saw a huge magic circle in the sky. "That''s... A teleportation spell..." He recognized the magic circle in the sky. He needed to stop it as he knew that these people were going to summon their comrades. Suddenly, a ten-meter tall fireball appeared in front of him. This surprised him but he quickly regained his posture. Using fire spells against him was no use. He was not called flame master if he couldn''t control this level of fire spell. "Hmph!" Bargan snorted and the giant fireball split into two. He didn''t have a time for this play as he had to stop those people from completing the teleportation circle. He went past it but the two fireballs exploded. Boom! The four people ignored the explosion as they continued to cast the teleportation circle. Their mana was flowing towards the huge magic circle above them. Ohm! The smoke disappeared and Bargan was standing in the mid-air without a scratch on his body. ''My guess is right. Those people that are casting the teleportation spell could cast that fireball.'' Bargan thought as he looked around him and saw six people wearing black robes around him. "That robe... I recognize it." He said as he pointed at the person who looks like the leader of these people. Yuvn, the leader of the seven-circle officer, opened his mouth and said, "Yes, we''re from the Seven Deadly Sins." Boom! Boom! Another batch of explosions occurred from the city. At the same time, powerful energies erupted in all directions. Bargan glanced at the city and saw that the city became a battlefield. The subordinates of the person in front of him were fighting the teachers of the institute and the forces of the city lord. ''I need to finish this as soon as possible.'' Bargan said inwardly as the powerful energy he hides in his body erupted like a volcano. Boom! Yuvn and the other seven-circle officer squinted their eyes as they saw the enormous amount of energy that Bargan was emitting. "I can''t believe it. This guy is too powerful." Yuvn said as he felt like he was standing in front of a fierce predator. He and the other seven-circle officers prepared themselves. "Go." Suddenly, the energy around Bargan turned into a sea of flames as he dashed towards the four mages in the sky. Swoosh! Two seven-circle officers appeared in front of Bargan. They shoot powerful beams at him. "Tsk!" Bargan clicked his tongue and he controlled the flames around him. The flames collided with beams and it caused a huge explosion. Then, another two people appeared beside him. They were armed with sharp swords. "Oh?" Bargan glanced at them and he waved his hands. The flames at his side flew towards the two people that shoot beams at him. The two officers quickly created a barrier to protect themselves from Bargan''s flames. Swoosh! The two people beside Bargan slashed their swords at him. Bang! Bang! Their sword collided with the flame barrier around Bargan. Then, Yuvn threw a powerful punch behind Bargan. But it was also blocked by flame barrier. "Damn!" Yuvn gritted his teeth. Even his punch couldn''t pierce Bargan''s barrier. "I will burn all of you," Bargan muttered in a cold tone. "One hundred percent flame power..." The heat around him rose. Yuvn opened his eyes widely as he shouted, "Retreat and protect yourself!" Boom! The swords of the officers melted before it turned into ashes. Not just their weapons, their clothes too started to turn into ashes. Yuvn and the other seven-circle officers retreated as they covered their bodies with their mana. At the same time, the two officers above them casted buff spells to increase their defense and attack. The flame barrier around Bargan expanded. Yuvn and the others drunk fire resistance potions before creating a barrier around them to protect themselves from the expansion of Bargan''s flame barrier. "Shit!!" Their skins were slowly being burned even though they have barriers around them. With their powerful bodies, they could even leisurely swim in a pool of magma but Bargan''s flame was on a different level. "Five thousand degrees celsius..." [Scorching Day Sun]! A cold voice sounded in the whole area as the seven-circle officers saw Bargan standing in a fifty-meter ball of flame. This guy just turned an orange-grade weapon into ashes... ... Souta was looking at the fight above the city with a serious expression. The people that were attacking the city were the Seven Deadly Sins. From their energy, Souta could guess that they were seven-circle officers. This level of officer was extremely bad. Four people one thousand meters above and six people were fighting Bargan. That''s already ten. Also, the people were fighting the teachers around the city. Souta''s expression was getting worse as he realized what''s happening. The only officers that could command this number of seven-circle officers were those that possessed the blessing of their lord, the Deadly Sins. But he didn''t care about that because he knew how powerful Bargan. He was worried about how many seven-circle officers that have blessings were here. ... The city lord was looking at the battle in the sky with a gloomy look. He could clearly see what''s happening in the battle. "Bargan is holding back. This entire city is holding him back. He is controlling the heat so that no civilian would turn into ashes." That was the reason why the people below couldn''t feel the heat of Bargan''s flame. He was fighting those seven-circle officers and at the same time, he was controlling his powers so that no innocent people would die. Ordinary people would turn into ashes if Bargan fought without minding his surrounding. Chapter 288 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Great Teleportation Spell A man with short gray hair was observing the battle in the sky above the Ladros City with sharp eyes. He had a thick beard and mustache with the same color as his hair. He was the City Lord of the Ladros City, John Mos Rinsy. Even though that battle in the sky was fierce he still couldn''t feel Bargan''s energy. He could only feel the dense energy of his opponents. Well, he knew the reason why. Normally, the mini sun that Bargan created would be enough to turn any ordinary people in the city into ashes, no, even D-rank and C-rank would die. But none of it happens. Why? Because Bargan was controlling his energy not to cause distraction on the city. "Activate the city barrier. Bargan wouldn''t be able to defeat those people if we got in his way." The city lord instructed his assistant. He then looked at the city which suffered a heavy blow from these people. The city became a battlefield. The teachers of the Ladro Institute were working together to fight those people who were wearing black robes. Each one of the people wearing black robes possessed a strength greater than S-rank. "Protecting citizens is our top priority. Squad One to Four go and help the citizens to evacuate in a safe place. Squad Five to Ten go and help the teachers in fighting those people that are wearing black robes." The city lord paused for a moment before he added, "I''ll go too and commander of the city guards will come with me. The citizens need our strength at this moment." Their opponents were strong so the forces of the Ladros City needed to work together. They also needed to contact the neighboring city to send reinforcement. He knew it very well. The forces of the Ladro Institute weren''t enough as some of the strong teachers followed Azrim to the Royal Capital. They were short on people. ... The ground continued to vibrate as the teachers of the Ladro Institute worked together to fight the seven-circle officer of the Seven Deadly Sins. Every moment a few citizens will get caught up in the battle and died just like that. Boom! Boom! Boom! Even in the Ladro Institute Souta could feel the shockwaves of the battle around the city. Then, a familiar sound rang in his head. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Battle in the Ladros City]: A group of officers of an organization called Seven Deadly Sins launched an attack on the Ladros City, a city under the rules of Hebrei Kingdom. Help the forces of the kingdom in pushing the officers of the Seven Deadly Sins. Rewards: One-circle officer = 1,000 exp Two-circle officer = 2,000 exp Three-circle officer = 3,000 exp and 1 free attribute point Four-circle officer = 5,000 exp and 2 free attribute points Five-circle officer = 10,000 exp, 1 skill point, and 5 free attribute points Six-circle officer = 20,000 exp, 3 skill point, and 8 free attribute points Seven-circle officer = 50,000 exp, 5 skill point, and 15 free attribute points Seven-circle officer(with blessing) = 80,000 exp, 8 skill points, and 30 free attribute points Oi! Oi! This means that the Seven Deadly Sins sent out a large force to attack the Ladros City. Luckily, there''s no eight-circle officer, or else it would become a disaster. An eight-circle officer was the people of Seven Deadly Sins that could literally bring disaster in any land. They were dispatched if the Seven Deadly Sins were going to take down gods. Other than that, they were not going to show themselves in other missions. "I just finished dealing with the nobles... These people really didn''t want to give me a time to rest." Souta said as he gritted his teeth. With his current strength, Souta wouldn''t be able to fight five-circle officers and above. He could only fight the six-circle officers before because he drunk two monster potions. Even with that, he almost died at their hands. ''What are you going to do?'' Saya asked him. ''Me? I''m going back to legion to organize our group.'' Souta replied to her as he placed his hand on the handle of the vajra sword. Suddenly, he saw a barrier slowly covered the entire city leaving Bargan and the other seven-circle officers on the outside. The defensive capabilities of this barrier were so high that it could last thirty minutes under the mad attack of a god-level powerhouse. More than thirty monster orbs of a fourth-evolution monster were activated. The energy inside these monster orbs was used to create the barrier around the city. This barrier wouldn''t last that long. One day was the maximum time before the barrier drained all the energy in the monster orbs. This was for emergency use and the time has come to use it. "This way Teacher Bargan would be able to fight those people without minding his surroundings," Souta muttered and he saw another barrier formed around the Ladro Institute. "What the-" He widened his eyes as he looked at the barrier covering the institute. Black balls formed behind him and Souta launched himself in the sky. Swoosh! He thought that he would be able to get out of the barrier but he was wrong. He was too late. The Ladro Institute isolated itself and he was stocked inside the institute along with other students and teachers. Or so he thought... *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Barrier]: A group of people hijacked the barrier device of the Ladro Institute. They have some intention in the Ladro Institute. Break the barrier device and free the students and teachers from the Institute. Rewards: 20,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 8 skill points Another quest high-level quest! Souta stopped moving as he looked at the quest that he just received. This quest was different than the quest before as this one had fixed rewards. As long as he breaks the barrier device he would be able to receive the rewards. Still... He would fight an enemy higher than his current level. This maybe the first time that he will fight someone seriously since he gained the [Soul Blood Earring]. ''You''re shaking, Souta.'' Saya''s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Souta took a deep breath to calm his tense muscles. He was nervous and he couldn''t help it. The five-circle and above could kill him. ''Don''t worry, Souta. I''m your partner. If you can''t handle it then leave your body to me. I will fight them in your stead.'' Saya calmly said to him. "Thanks. I''m fine." Souta said as he looked down at the institute as he slowly descended on the highest building. He then took out the transmission talisman and called Lumilia. "Hello! Souta! Where are you?!" Lumilia''s voice was full of concern as she asked him his position. Souta smiled before he replied, "I''m fine. Can you tell me where are you and what''s the situation there?" Lumilia and the rest of the Dark Oculus Legion were in the South Gate of the city. They entered the city before the barrier was erected leaving the monsters outside the city. Right now, they were helping the citizens along with other adventurers. Bryan, Brando, Cl.u.s.ter, Yanagi, and Souta weren''t with them. Some of the core members of the legion weren''t with them. "I get the gist of your situation." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "Listen Lumilia, I''ll leave the commanding position to you. I''m inside the Ladro Institute and as you can see I''m stuck here." "Yeah, I can see the barrier around the institute." Lumilia nodded her head. "I''m going to find the barrier device and break the barrier here." "Why would you do something like that?" "Some organizations took the barrier device and isolated the institute. I don''t know their objectives but I guess that the Deadly Sins are here to retrieve the bloodstone." ''Even in ancient times, this level of organization is powerful enough to dominate a whole country.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. "So prepare yourself Lumilia. This is not the whole force that the city is going to face. They will come down to us without doubt." Souta said sternly. "I understand. Be careful, Souta." Lumilia said with her voice full of concern. "You too. I''ll go there once I''ve finished my objective here." Souta said to her as he canceled the connection. He placed back the talisman in his pocket before he stood up. "I''ll finish this as soon as possible." He dashed towards the direction of the control room. ... "It''s complete!" The four seven-circle officers that were casting a large teleportation spell grinned. The enormous magic circle above them glowed brightly. Ohm! Bargan looked at it with a gloomy expression. "I''m too late." He muttered as he turned to the six people around him. They were full of injuries and blood. Their clothes were in tottered. Their looks were in contrast to him who didn''t have an injury in his body. Three of them were releasing energy that surpassed their level of energy. Their power increased by several times and they managed to hold Bargan for a few minutes. "I didn''t expect that three of you have the power of blessing. You''ve managed to catch me off guard. Well, I''m mad right now." Chapter 289 - Collapse of the Ladros City: The Flame Master The giant magic circle above the Ladros City glowed brightly. It emitted dense energy as the four seven-circle officers that build it activated its effect. Ohm! All the seven-circle officers on the ground looked up. They knew that their comrades succeeded in casting the [Great Teleportation] Spell. Now, they only needed to take care of Bargan, the most powerful person in this city, and everything will be done according to their plan. A girl with long black hair was looking at the sky with a faint smile on her face. She wore a light makeup and black color lipstick. Her black robe couldn''t hide her seductive body. She was Frammie, a high-level seven-circle officer of the Seven Deadly Sins. Currently, she was standing on top of a small building. When they''ve arrived here, she was the one who didn''t cause destruction in the city. Her role wasn''t to gather the attention of the strong people here. Gathering attention? That''s the role of her comrades of who were currently fighting the teachers of the Ladro Institute. Her role in this operation was to create a gateway to this city inside the barrier. "It''s time..." Frammie muttered as she widely opened her arms and her mana burst out of her body. [Connecting Transportation Gate]!! A magic circle that was emitting crimson color light formed beneath her feet. Then, a huge portal formed just below the barrier of the city. This portal was connected to the [Great Teleportation] Spell that the seven-circle officers outside the barrier casted. Everything was going smoothly for them. Using the teleportation spell as a lure so that Bargan would try to stop it. Then, six officers would stop him and connecting the teleportation spell in case the city lord activated the city barrier. It''s within their calculations. After a few moments, countless people wearing the black robe of the Seven Deadly Sins. Three thousand one-circle, one thousand two-circle, eight hundred three-circle, five hundred four-circle, three hundred five-circle, and fifty six-circle officers came out of the giant portal. The forces of the Seven Deadly Sins descended on the city with overwhelming momentum. The city lord, the adventurers, the nobles, and the other small factions in the city looked at this scene with a pale expression. The Seven Deadly Sins was serious in wiping out this city. "This... Souta is right." Lumilia muttered while looking at the people of the Seven Deadly Sins. "What should we do, Mila?" Lynn asked Lumilia with a concerned look on her face. Lumilia took a deep breath and said, "We''ll have no choice but to fight them..." She needed to command the Dark Oculus Legion and helped the city fight those people. She only has Lynn, Alice, and Yujin with her. So the strength of their legion wasn''t that high. She didn''t know what she could do but she will try her best. The Lanny corporation also mobilized its forces they prepared themselves to fight those people along with the other forces of the city. Even the organizations behind the black market were planning to help everyone in fighting the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins. They had no choice but to help as the Seven Deadly Sins were going to kill everyone in this city including the criminal organizations that were lurking in the shadows. ... Boom! Boom! Bargan moved his body nimbly as he chased the six seven-circle officers while shooting powerful flame beams. Yuvn and the two seven-circle officers who possessed blessings were trying to fight Bargan while protecting their comrades who didn''t have the power of blessings. Powerful explosions and shockwaves continued to rush out in the surrounding every time they shoot their attacks. The battle in this place was on an entirely different level than the battle in the city. Everyone that was below SS-rank would perish because of the high temperature and the shockwaves in this battle. Boom! Boom! The mini sun behind Bargan shoots an enormous ray of flames. Yuvn and the other moved their body quickly and they barely avoided the Bargan''s attack. The ray of flames went into the distance and it disintegrated a whole mountain ten kilometers away from the city. The flames turned everything into ashes including the monsters that were living in that mountain. No one managed to survive including those third evolution monsters. The monsters which were left outside the city and couldn''t enter the city because of the city barrier were long gone. The moment Bargan used the [Scorching Day Sun], the monsters quickly died and turned into ashes. The only reason why the people inside the city didn''t die was because of the city barrier that could hold its own against the attack of a god-level powerhouse. "This guy is too strong. He could fight us who possessed the power of blessings." Yuvn said with a grave expression while looking at Bargan. Bargan was fighting them alone with just his own strength. It''s unbelievable. He wouldn''t believe it if someone told him about it but reality proves him wrong. Bargan was fighting three people who were using the power of blessing. "You''re too naive if you thought you could defeat me using the blessings of your god," Bargan said sternly. His mana was fluctuating heavily around him. "Tsk! We never thought that we could defeat you." Yuvn replied to him. Yeah, his words were right. Ever since he gathered information about Bargan, he realized that he couldn''t defeat him. That''s why he brought to other people that have the power of blessing and the other three seven-circle officers to help him hold Bargan back. "Hmph!" Bargan snorted as he flashed towards Yuvn and the rest. An intense concentration of flames formed around his fist and he threw it towards Yuvn. Swoosh! The two people who had blessings went in front of Yuvn and blocked Bargan''s powerful attack by combining their energy together. Their blessing was much more powerful than normal blessings. It was because the Seven Deadly Sins were more powerful than ordinary god. Their god was at the peak in terms of strength in the god-level. Still, it wasn''t enough to push back Bargan who was said to be the strongest man below god. Without the blessing, they would die at Bargan''s hand long ago. Yuvn lifted up his feet and kicked Bargan. Bargan stepped backward and the two people at his side threw a punch in his direction. Bang! Bang! Bargan grabbed both of their fists and saw Yuvn closed the distance in an instant. He quickly released the fists of the two people before flying above them. As soon as he flew above the three people the other three seven-circle officers who didn''t have blessings cast several powerful spells in his direction. Bargan waved his hand and the mini sun created a heatwave that forced everyone to create a barrier. The heatwave caused the spells to exploded in the mid-air even before reaching him. Boom!! "Go," Yuvn said as he charged towards Bargan. The other two flew to the side and they were going to corner Bargan. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bargan exchanged high speed blows at them before he noticed a high mana fluctuation above him. He glanced upward and saw that the four people who casted the [Great Teleportation] spell were casting another spell. Yuvn didn''t let this chance slipped away as he launched a series of powerful attacks along with his comrades. Bargan was caught off guard as the flame barrier around him crack under their mad attacks. After a few moments, the barrier was shattered as it turned into tiny particles. Bang! Bang! Bang! Yuvn and the other two''s attack fiercely landed on his body causing a series of small explosions around him. [Weakening Exploding Fatal Punch]! Bargan spat a mouthful of blood before gritting his teeth and waving his hands. The particles of the flame barrier moved and gathered into a small ball of flames above them. "Not good. An inner spell." Yuvn knitted his brows when he saw this he tried to move away along with his two comrades but they were too late. [Heavenly Flame Core Bomb]! In an instant, Bargan casted a high-level spell even without forming its magic circle. Boom! The spell exploded above them as the sea of flames rushed out in every direction. It formed a circle that swallowed everything at the diameter of three kilometers. A large crimson ball formed in the sky above the Ladros City. A three-kilometer flaming ball emitted a blinding light like a sun that could burn anything. Although the size of the explosion was only three kilometers, all the creatures within ten kilometers died instantly, and the heat could be felt within eighty kilometers diameter with the crimson flaming ball as the center. The neighboring cities of the Ladros City felt the vibration on the ground and the intense heat in the atmosphere. In the Gripin City, everyone looked up and saw a crimson ball of flames far away from their city. Everyone realized that something big was happening in the direction. "That''s... the direction of the Ladros City..." Ursus muttered in shocked as he looked at the crimson ball of flames in the sky. Chapter 290 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Control Room All the people inside the city felt heavy vibration as a blinding lightly erupted above the city. The aftershocks of the explosion were dangerous. Luckily, they were inside the city barrier, or else they would die with the exception of a few powerful individuals in the city. After a few moments, the giant ball of flames disappeared and it revealed Bargan''s figure along with the rest of the seven-circle officer. Huff! Bargan lifted his hand and wiped the blood on his mouth. He was breathing heavily and he had burn marks on his body. ''This is the reason why I don''t want to use my inner spell close to me.'' He thought as he glanced at the figures of the seven-circle officers. Bargan''s inner spell was so powerful to the point that it became a double-edged sword to him. In normal circ.u.mstances, he could cast this spell and control it so that he wouldn''t receive any damage but this situation was an emergency. If he didn''t use his inner spell then he would be put at disadvantage. Still, it''s been a long time since he fought someone that could make him used his max power. These people from Seven Deadly Sins were really strong. He couldn''t imagine how powerful the Sins. Yuvn and the rest of the seven-circle officers were full of burn marks all over their bodies. Yuvn''s left hand was slowly turning into ashes. His comrades were suffering the same condition as him. In fact, their condition was worse than him. The temperature of the area around them was so high. It was higher than the temperature of the magma. The extreme atmosphere dissolved any creatures around them. No one could survive this harsh environment unless they were above A-rank. "Too strong... Even with blessing..." There was a hint of fear in his eyes but it quickly disappeared when he recalled their objectives. The four people who casted the [Great Teleportation] spell were lying on the surface of the city barrier. Half of their body was burned into crisp. Their power wasn''t enough to completely block Bargan''s attack so they suffered. Bargan didn''t care about them. He knew that they were going to die and their injuries wouldn''t heal easily unless there was an S-rank healer in their group. But from what he saw, he could guess that there''s no healer in the seven-circle group. He slightly opened his palm and flames burst out of his body. These flames have healing properties so it could heal some of his wounds to a certain degree. Still, it''s not enough to completely heal all of his injuries caused by his inner spell. Yuvn opened his eyes widely when he saw this. "This guy has healing ability! Hurry up and disrupt him!" He shouted before charging towards Bargan at extremely high speed. "Hmph!" Bargan snorted as also charged towards them. He was afraid of fighting them. He knew that he had the upper hand in this battle. Boom! Boom! They wrestled in the sky at extremely high speed. ... Souta arrived at the control room of the Institute. He saw that some of the remaining teachers were already here. They were talking to each other. "Teacher, what happens here?" He asked as he approached the group of seven teachers. The teachers turned their heads when they heard a voice behind them. They find Souta, the top 1 ranker in the first year, walking towards them. "Oh? Souta, what are you doing here?" One of the teachers asked. "I came here to check why did the institute activate the protection barrier around it. I want to leave this place and check my legion. So what happened here?" Souta replied to them. Even though he had a general idea about what occurred here he still had to ask to avoid suspicion. They didn''t immediately answer his question. After a while, they decided to answer him. He was a student of this institute, after all. So he had the right to know what happened here and maybe Souta could help them. "We don''t know what happened nor we know who activated the barrier." The teacher paused for a moment before he added, "This door to the control room is locked. Our ID didn''t work so we couldn''t open this door." "Hmm..." Souta walked in front of the metallic door and looked at the rectangular object beside the doorknob. He then turned to the teachers and asked, "Teacher, can I borrow your ID?" "Here..." One of the teachers passed his Teacher''s ID to Souta. They were the weakest teachers in this institute but their strength was still at the peak of B-rank. Clearly higher than the group of B-rank that Souta fought in the legion war. Receiving the ID, Souta recalled that group of B-rank. In one on one battle, he wouldn''t be able to win against them. Ramie and him exchange blows at that time and he was the one who received injuries. Well, Souta didn''t kill them. They were not bad people. If they didn''t treasure their comrades, Souta wouldn''t be able to use that trick against them. If they didn''t care about their comrades then he would kill them even if he had to use [Soul Blood Mode] and [Possession] at the same time. Either of these two choices the result will be the same. That fight became a warning to the people that have some ideas against his legion. Souta shook his head and placed those thoughts in the back of his mind. It''s not the time to think about those things. "Let me see..." He placed the ID that he received in front of the rectangular object. The rectangular object was a device used to verify the ID of the teachers. It will check the magical runes that were imprinted in the ID if they have the authority to enter the control room. After a few moments, the verifying device emitted a red light indicating that they didn''t have the authority to enter the control room. "See... We couldn''t enter the control room. Every student didn''t have the authority to enter the control room, so only teachers could enter it. There''s no exception to it." One of the teachers explained to Souta. "Someone changed the verifying method. I don''t think that we could enter the control room using the normal method." Souta said while shaking his head. His knowledge about this was close to none. He could hardly build a magic circle without the system''s help so how could he write the runes inside the verifying device. He stood up and said, "We should find someone who is experts in runes." He then glanced at the control room. He knew that it was impossible for them to forcibly enter this room. This room was filled with layers of barriers. A B-rank like him couldn''t break it. The teachers too wouldn''t be able to break it as they were only a peak B-rank. Oh? He recalled one person who have the power above B-rank. If he wasn''t wrong that person was in the bas.e.m.e.nt according to Teacher Bargan. It''s time to find Yanagi Shina. He wondered what she was doing at this moment. Chapter 291 - Collapse of the Ladros City: [Descent of the Binding Apostle] Souta looked at the barrier as he tightly knitted his brows. He wondered if there were teachers who could forcibly shatter the barrier in the control room as most of the teachers left to fight the Seven Deadly Sins. From his quest, he knew that someone stole the barrier device inside the control room. Surely, the people who stole the device already left but he still wanted to find some clue inside the room. The Seven Deadly Sins wouldn''t do things like this. If they were going to snatch the bloodstone they would simply snatch it while killing everyone who got in their way. They wouldn''t activate the barrier device. Also, from the information of the quest, he could guess that there''s another organization here besides the Seven Deadly Sins. ''Jeanne, Wako, and Yanagi are here.'' Souta thought as he rubbed his chin. He could get Yanagi here to shatter the barrier but she was uncontrollable. "Most of the powerful teachers left the institute to deal with the invaders." One of the teachers said with a helpless expression. "We should split up and find suspicious people in this place," Souta suggested to them. "The elimination round started today so a lot of people are here." One of the teachers said to Souta. Souta understood them. The Institute was opened to outsiders to watch the elimination round today so people could easily sneak inside this place. "We should check every people but it''s hard." Someone said. "Well, I''ll leave it to you so do everything silently," Souta said before he turned around. He will leave this thing to them as he will try to settle this problem using his own method. "Okay, leave this to us. We''ll protect the students here." The teachers said to him. Souta didn''t say anything as he left the area around the control room. He hid his aura using the artifacts that he got from Raeshka. BOOM! The ground shook as an explosion occurred in the school ground. Souta stopped as he turned his head. "They appeared... I don''t know if it''s the Seven Deadly Sins but I think that it''s just a diversion." He whispered before he moved his body. ''I think that this is a diversion too. Those people wouldn''t easily show themselves. They must have guessed that the teachers are planning to investigate the people here.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. Boom! Boom! Several explosions erupted across the school grounds. The ground vibrated heavily and it caused a panic among the civilians. The student council helped the teachers and calming down the civilians. They gathered everyone in the training ground while some of the teachers and student council members investigated what''s happening in the school. In the bas.e.m.e.nt of the institute, a girl with long lilac-colored hair was sleeping on the soft bed. She was Yanagi Shina. Her defenseless body while sleeping was alluring. Her pajama acquainted her bewitching body. "Hmm...?" She slowly opened her eyes. She pushed herself into a seated position as she looked around her room. The vibrations woke her up. "What''s wrong with this place...?" She mumbled as she felt powerful energy on the surface. Judging from this, she could guess that some powerful people were fighting above. "Who dared to disturb my sleep?!" She frowned as she said in an angry tone. She then took a deep breath to calm herself. After that, she stood up and looked at her reflection in the mirror. "Ufufu, It seems that I''ll be able to enjoy myself once again." She removed her pajama and wore her school uniform. "Let''s see, what''s happening..." She left the room and walked towards the stairs. As soon as she opened the door she saw a man from her dreams. Souta Ieshi was standing in front of the door while looking at her with a surprised expression. "Oh? S-Souta, are you here to sneak in my bed?" Yanagi raised her eyebrows and said in a seductive tone. She then turned around and added, "Fine, I''ll go back to sleep so that you can sneak in my bed." It took Souta a few seconds before he came back to his senses. "Damn! I''m not here to do that! Why would you think like that?!" Yanagi stopped walking as she slowly turned around and looked at Souta with wide eyes. "Eh...? That''s the only reason I could think... Is there any reason?" Souta took a deep breath to calm his anger. He really couldn''t reason with this girl. After a while, he opened his mouth and asked, "What do you want from me?" "I want you." Yanagi stepped forward and said with a faint smile on her beautiful face. "Why?" Souta asked with an exasperated expression. He decided to confront her today so that he would know what she really wanted. "Hmm...?" Yanagi pressed her finger on her lips and said, "I couldn''t describe it... My instinct is telling me that you''re different from other men. I''m recalling my childhood when I''m looking at you. You''re fierce but weak... I don''t why but I felt that you''re a powerful predator and it''s driving me crazy." Souta was shaken but he didn''t show it on his face. He recalled that she lived in a dungeon full of monsters when she was a child. It''s possible that her instinct felt that he was a monster but there''s no definitive proof so she couldn''t tell that he was a monster. ''This is bad. Should I kill her?'' Souta looked at her with sharp eyes. He then shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. A grin appeared on Yanagi while looking at Souta. "That''s it... You want to kill me? Why? Ah~ it''s beautiful you''re like a monster." She clearly felt that faint killing intent from Souta. It didn''t make her angry. In fact, she grew more excited. She wanted to grab him and destroy him at this moment. ''This girl is sharp.'' Saya said with a serious tone. Souta sighed as he ignored Yanagi and said, "Help me this time and I''ll do one thing for you." "Anything?" Yanagi put her face closer to Souta. She had stars in her eyes as she was imagining what she would do to him. "Eh...? If it''s within my power..." Souta could only agree to her. Yanagi licked her lips and said, "Fine, you can order me around and I''ll follow you. Just don''t forget our deal or else I''ll punish you." "Okay." Souta nodded and he took out a transmission talisman in his pocket. "Here." "A transmission talisman...? Yey! I can easily contact you with this!" Yanagi smiled as she held the transmission talisman in her hand. ''This girl... What could I say? She''s like a child that got her toy right now.'' Souta was dumbfounded when he saw her expression. "Okay, I''ll tell you what''s happening..." He patiently explained what''s happening to Yanagi without missing anything. "So, I want you to go to the control room and check the things there. I''ll contact you using the talisman." Souta said to her. "Fine, that''s easy," Yanagi replied to him as she brushed her hair to the side. "Then, let''s go." Souta turned around and left. He hurriedly went to the tallest building in the institute. Swoosh! Yanagi looked at his back with a seductive smile. She strode forward and turned her head in the direction of the control room.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%5Bdescent-of-the-binding-apostle%5D_52692716177376233 for visiting. "I''m looking forward to it." On top of the building, Souta could see the situation of the Ladro Institute. The Institute became a battlefield but the people who were attacking the institute weren''t a member of the Seven Deadly Sins. What''s going on? The people who were attacking the institute were a group of teachers and students. Boom! Boom! Three figures were colliding at one figure covered in flames. Every time they collided it would produce powerful shockwaves. The deafening sound of explosions spread everywhere. The impact waves blew everything around them creating several fissures on the churned ground. Bang! Bang! After a few minutes, the figure covered in flames turned around and attack the other three people who were shooting powerful spells. [Heavy Artillery Flaming Bullet]! Bargan shoots a powerful spell to counter the three people who didn''t have the power of blessing. He decided to deal with these three if he wanted to finish this battle as soon as possible. Swoosh! He then turned around to look behind him. He didn''t even check if his spell hit the three people because the people who had blessings were already behind him. "Tsk! You''re persistent!" Bargan clicked his tongue as he collided with the three people once again. His opponents were full of grave injuries while he took light injuries. It was not life threatening. Bang! Bang! Bang! After colliding for a hundred times, Bargan''s flaming hand pierced the body of a seven-circle officer. Cough! The seven-circle officer coughed a mouthful of blood as he looked at Bargan with madness in his eyes. Danger! Bargan quickly pulled his hand as he felt danger coming from the man in front of him. No, it''s coming in all directions. Yuvn looked at this scene before he scattered his blood. He then created a magic circle in front of him. "Come and offer your blood to the Sins. Apostle of dusk shall borrow the power of the venerate Sins. We shall use this dark grade artifact as a vessel for your power." "Come down!" [Descent of the Binding Apostle]! Chapter 292 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Sealing Spell Yuvn threw an exquisite necklace in the mid-air. The necklace emitted a blinding red light. Ohm! Bargan frowned as he tried to move away but the seven-circle officer in front of him emitted the same red light along with the rest of the seven-circle officers. "What''s this?!" A red arc of lightning burst out and it flew towards Bargan. Bargan quickly created a flame barrier but the lightning flew around the barrier as if it was trying to restrain him. "Sealing spell...?!" He was shocked as he realized what these people were trying to do. His power erupted out of his body but he found out that no matter what he did he couldn''t moved out of the red lightning arc. "Hahaha!" Yuvn laughed madly as red lightning burst out of his body. He looked at Bargan and said, "This our plan! We will seal you!" At this moment, the red lightning erupted and grew thicker. It swallowed everything within three kilometers. The dark-grade necklace disintegrated into tiny particles, releasing boundless energy to seal Bargan. This artifact was a one-time use dark grade artifact. It could seal anyone under the god-level for one month at the cost of all the energy of seven-circle officers. Normally, only god-level could use this artifact but the Seven Deadly Sins used several seven-circle officers to activate this item. It has a drawback and that''s the seven-circle power level will decrease by two levels. Well, it all depends on the power of the person who was being sealed. If he was at god-level then this seal would only last for a few hours at most but if he was a demigod then it would last for a few days under the condition that he resisted inside the seal all the time. Demigod was a person who undergo deification but eventually failed making them reach the place between mortals and gods. That''s the demigod. Half-god and half-mortal. The seven-circle officers didn''t care about the loss of power. They just have to seal the thorn in their plan, Bargan Hevifield. Yuvn and the rest breath a sighed of relief when they saw that they successfully sealed Bargan. With this, no one would be able to prevent them from completing their objectives. They moved their eyes and looked down at the city which was covered in barrier. They could leave everything to their comrades as they don''t have the strength to fight. Their body was full of injuries and their mana was drained. Also, their power levels which were at the Hero-rank and SSS-rank decreased by two levels. To recover their lost strength, they would have to train again to reach their original power level before they used the dark grade sealing artifact. But it will take them a large amount of time before they could reach their original strength. It could take them more than ten years and maybe they will not be able to regain it in their lifetime. Well, it all depends on their talents. "We''ve used to one-time dark grade artifacts in this mission." They used the other dark grade artifact to link the teleportation spell inside the barrier. The barrier isolated the city so the space attribute spell wouldn''t be able to do anything. Unless they have formed a connection in the barrier any space type spell will be rejected so they have to use a dark grade artifact to forcefully established a connection inside the barrier. ... Lumilia was standing on top of the legion building along with Lynn, Alice, and Yujin. They were surveying the battlefield which was the entire city. "The battle in the district one is the fiercest in all battlefield. The city lord, the guild master, and the high-level teachers are currently fighting the high-level members of Seven Deadly Sins in that area." Lumilia said as she squinted her eyes. She then opened a map of the entire city. She drew a circle around the district one with red pen before she added, "From the fluctuations of energy, we could guess that the casualties in that area are high. I''ve estimated that eighty percent of people in that area are already dead." "That''s horrible..." Lynn muttered as she imagined the scene in that place. "We''re at district three and the battle here isn''t the largest among the rest of the district," Yujin said as he glanced at the map. "The forces of the Seven Deadly Sins are slowly advancing. They are killing everyone and we must help the civilians evacuate in this place." Lumilia paused for a moment before she added, "We will gather every and cooperate with the city guards in protecting the citizen." "At this rate, we will lose. Everyone in this city will die. We don''t have enough manpower." Alice said seriously. "Yeah, I''m sure that the city lord already requested reinforcement in our neighboring city. We just need to hold on." Lumilia said with a gloomy look on her face. "So what are your orders? Souta was inside the barrier of the institute so you''re the only one who can give us orders." Yujin said as he turned his head and glanced in the direction of the Ladro Institute. "I''ll divide the legion into three groups. You will lead the first group, Yujin. And you will lead the second group, Alice." Lumilia said as she pointed at district four and two on the map. "Alice I''ll leave the district two to you and Yujin district three. You two know what you should do." "Okay." Alice nodded at her. "Sure, leave it to me. If there''s any problem I''ll contact you using the transmission talisman." Yujin said as he turned around and left. Alice glanced at Lumilia and Lynn before she left without saying anything. She could leave this district to them. After the two left, Lynn looked at Lumilia and said, "How about me, Mila?" "You and I will stay here. We''ll contact the various forces in this district and help them clear the Seven Deadly Sins'' members in this area." Lumilia said. She planned to gather the adventurers that weren''t part of their legion and also the forces of the nobles in this district. This was the only thing they could do in this situation. If they didn''t cooperate then everyone will die. ... "Hehe~ I didn''t expect that you''re a traitor, Teacher Franco." A man wearing the uniform of the institute said with a laugh. He strode forward as both of his hands were in the pockets of his pants. He had shoulder-length black hair. His eye color was pure black and his skin was pale as if he didn''t have blood in his body. He was Rein Ventogram, the Top 2 Ranker of the Ladro Institute. The most powerful student next to Yanagi Shina. Rein stopped in front of a man wearing a lab coat. He squinted his eyes and he glanced at the bloodstain on the man''s white coat. "You''re a teacher, right? So why did you kill those second years behind you? If you don''t answer my question I''ll personally kill you on behalf of those students that you killed." Rein said in a chilly tone as his killing intent burst out like a raging tide. Franco grinned as he held his face before he combed his hair with his fingers. "Hahaha! I never betray anyone! From the beginning, seven years ago I applied here with a plan in my mind!" He laughed before he glanced at the students who were lying on the pool of blood behind him. "Also, I didn''t kill them. I just fatally injured them and if they don''t receive medication within two hours they will die. I never want to kill a student from Ladro Institute. After all, I''ve grew fond of this school after teaching for seven years." "Tsk! You''re a sc.u.m! You will tell me your plan after I''ve beat you!" Rein grinned as several magic circles appeared behind him. Franco quickly jumped away as a pair of orange grade gauntlets covered his fist. ''He wouldn''t cast those spells. There are students behind me.'' He thought before he glanced behind him. He then opened his eyes widely as he saw several layers of barrier were covering the students on the pool of blood. "Shit! He already created a shield to protect them! So fast!" Franco cursed as he crossed his arms in front of him and several spells landed on his body causing several explosions that destroy the place around them. Boom! Boom! Smoke and dust shot up and clouded the area. It blocked Rein''s vision to a certain degree. "Not a problem to me." He muttered as he tapped his feet on the ground and used [Ground Sensing Vibration] spell. "Oh? He''s here!" After he casted the spell, Rein took a step back as layers of barriers formed around him and Franco came out of the smoke. Swoosh! Franco quickly zoomed the distance between them and threw a powerful punch at Rein. ''Master Randolf waited for this opportunity for a long time so I''ll stop everyone who got in his way!'' Chapter 293 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Franco vs. Rein Boom! Franco and Rein took a distance to each other. Franco knew that if he wanted to win against Rein he had to fight him in a close combat but Rein had a powerful barrier around him. Rein was a powerful mage and he was taking the path to become an Archmage. That''s why Rein wasn''t strong in close combat. In the institute, Rein was called Magic Artillery because of his expertise in spell which was higher than some of the teachers in this school. Multi-tasking. Rein was famous for casting ten spells at the same time. It was a powerful ability that only a few people gained. "If you let me be I will promise that I will not kill any students here. Oh, right... We haven''t killed a single student since the start so I hope you turn a blind eye to this." Franco said to Rein as he fixed his orange grade gauntlet on his fist. "Ah, what are you saying, trash? You already hurt the students here and that''s enough for me to beat you! You don''t want to kill?! F*ck that shit!" Rein said as he raised his middle finger. "You''re really a foul-mouthed person..." Franco sighed and grinned. "Well, it''s my job to prevent people so don''t blame me for raising my hand against you." "Haha, don''t make me laugh!" Rein laughed as several magic circles appeared behind him. Different elements of spell shoot towards Franco like a missile. Swoosh! Swoosh! Franco nimbly moved his body from side to side. Boom! Boom! He launched himself towards Rein and gathered his mana in his fist. [Thunderous Sky Punch]! Rein sneered as he cast several spells. [Agility Boost]! [Strength Boost]! [Acceleration]! [Quick Step]! These spells increased his speed and strength. After casting it, Rein moved away and Franco''s attack landed on his previous position causing a small crater on the ground. Bang! Then, several thorn vines emerged from the ground. The vines moved towards Franco as it tried to strangle him but he was faster than these vines. He charged his mana in his fist and threw dozens of sharp punch that disintegrate the vines. Swoosh! Swoosh! ''This guy is really good. He''s using buff, attack, and defense spells at the same time.'' Franco thought as he glanced at Rein who was twenty meters away from him. Rein felt something as he turned his head to the side. He saw a white beam heading towards him. "That''s..." Although he was surprised, he still managed to avoid the white beam. The beam landed on his previous position causing a powerful explosion. "Tsk! They even have the control of the defensive mechanism." Rein clicked his tongue as he glanced at Franco who was smiling at him. "Damn! If it''s like this then there are dozens of traitors in the institute..." The defensive mechanism was an array of spells around the Ladro Institute. The Institute only activated this array if there''s an intruder. This was the first time that the defensive mechanism was used as there''s no opportunity to use this in the past. No one would dare to sneak inside the Ladro Institute. "This whole place is at my side, Rein. You will not be able to defeat me." Franco said with a vicious smile. "Hmph! A trash is still a trash no matter what you do!" Rein snorted as he removed his left hand from his pocket. On his palm was a thumb-size silver orb. The defensive mechanism shoots several beams at him. Swoosh! Swoosh! Rein simply vanished from his position and reappeared in the mid-air. "[Quick Flash]... [Float]..." He looked at Franco with cold eyes as he closed his palm and the silver orb emitted blinding light. After a few seconds, he opened his palm and the silver orb grew into a fist-size orb with golden linings. This is an orange-grade weapon. A catalyst for magicians.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #.-rein_52740133958505333 for visiting. His clothes changed to a golden-colored light armor with a black cape on his back. He was a mage but his attire was for knights. "Rejoice, Franco! I will defeat you with my full strength! Prepare yourself!" "That''s a set of orange grade equipment...!" Franco said with wide eyes. ... Souta frowned as he watched the battles around the institute. The student council was trying their best to fight those traitors. The student council president was fighting a teacher. The rank 2 was facing a teacher. While the other rankers were facing students and teachers. The student council called the teachers and students who caused this chaos a traitor. Judging from the position of the battles he could guess that the traitors were preventing the other people from coming into building C3. ''That place... What they are hiding?'' Souta thought as he squinted his eyes. He was wondering what''s the objective of these traitors. It seems that they''ve planned this for a long time. "Ufufu, I like this scenery." Yanagi laughed while watching the battles. Souta glanced at her and said, "Let''s check the control room first." "Okay." Yanagi nodded her head. The two left quickly as they run towards the control room. After one minute of running, they''ve arrived in front of the control room. Some of the teachers didn''t leave and were guarding the control room. "Oh? Souta, you''re here!" Souta glanced at Yanagi and she nodded at him. He then said, "Please step aside, Yanagi will open the room." The teachers stepped back as they watched Yanagi stood in front of the door. She slowly raised his hand and threw a simple jab at the door. Bang! A loud sound echoed as her jab landed on the door but they found that her attack didn''t leave a scratch on the door. "Oh? It''s not enough." Yanagi raised her brows as she looked at the door with interest in her eyes. "It''s tough but old man''s barrier is tougher than this." She pulled back her hand and gathered a large amount of mana in her fist. Ohm! Sparks flew out as the mana in her hand flow around her fist like a water. ''Surely, A-rank.'' Souta sighed in his mind when he saw this. Mastering this ability was the proof that she reached A-rank. To reach B-rank a person needed to prove their strength or mana. There''s no definite realm in this rank. As long as one person could fight B-rank then they were B-rank. But A-rank was entirely different than lower rank. If lower rank was just physical strength or magical strength then A-rank was about the transformation of a person''s mana. Liquefied mana was the realm of A-rank. Condensing the mana into liquid form was the requirement to reach A-rank. This liquid mana could amplify the user strength greater than the gaseous form of lower rank. In the game, Souta didn''t care about this as he couldn''t control mana but now he paid attention to these details as it could potentially increase his strength. The trash [Mana Manipulation] spell in the game became one of the most important skills in this world. The mana barrier created by liquefied mana was tougher than the one from gaseous mana. Not just the barrier, if this used as an offensive skill it would deal great damage to the opponents. In their year level, Bargan didn''t teach them about this. It was too early for them but Saya was already teaching this to him when he was training in her inner consciousness. That''s why the first thing that she taught him when he brought Bryan and the rest was mana sensing. She was already preparing him to condense his mana. He was slightly familiar with this. When he drunk two monster potions, the mana in his best feram turned into liquefied form. Actually, his energy will naturally be formed as long as he evolved but he still decided to train this so that he could fight people higher level than him. There''s no demerit in training his mana control. Seeing this, he confirmed that Yanagi was really an A-rank but he didn''t have an idea about her accurate power level. Is she at the peak? Or not? Maybe, she already solidified her mana making her an S-rank. "He~" Yanagi grinned as she threw her fist at the door. Boom! Sparks flew out and spider web cracks formed on the surface of the door. A huge gust of wind swept out the dust around her. Crack! After a few moments, the door broke down like a fragile glass but they saw that the door was still intact. Yanagi didn''t destroy the door. She only shattered the barrier around the control room. The teachers were about to approach the door when Yanagi threw another punch. Boom! This time the punch destroyed the door and everything in front of the control room. Ohm! A powerful mana swept out coming from the control room. Souta couldn''t help but gulped when he felt this heavy mana. "Ehe~ I like this development! Hey, is it okay for me to destroy that person?" Yanagi looked at Souta and asked while pointing at the control room. Chapter 294 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Traitors Souta immediately understood that the person inside the control wasn''t someone to be trifled with. He gulped and glanced at Yanagi who was looking at him with an excited expression. "Can I?" Yanagi had stars in her eyes. If she didn''t have a deal with Souta, she would have gone and fight the person inside the control room. Before he could answer her the person inside the room said something. "It''s hard to use the defensive mechanism without an assistant. If there''s someone who could help then you wouldn''t be able to come here." A silhouette could be seen in the smoke. After a few moments, the person came out and revealed her appearance. She was a tall and s.e.xy woman. Her waist was thin but her bust was small. "Teacher Sun!" "Why are you...?!" The surrounding teachers were stunned when they saw the woman. They couldn''t believe what they saw. The teacher named Sun glanced at the teachers and apologized, "I''m sorry everyone. I actually like this place but we had other plans. Don''t worry, we won''t kill anyone." ''She''s controlling the defensive mechanism alone...? So that''s the reason... I thought that the mechanism didn''t work properly...'' Souta thought while looking at the woman. He silently placed his hand on the handle of the vajra sword. "We''re lucky that the other teachers are either with the principal or fighting the people in the city," Sun said as she looked at the barrier in the sky. "Do it, Yanagi. I''ll leave her to you." Souta said as he knew that this teacher will stand in his way if he wanted to complete the quest in his system. He was sure that Teacher Sun was with the group of people who got the barrier device. "Ehe~" Yanagi chuckled as her mana started to seep out of her body. In just a few seconds, the entire place was filled with her mana. "Well, it can''t be helped." Sun sighed as she glanced at Yanagi and Souta. Boom! Yanagi suddenly charged forwards and dragged Sun''s face on the ground with powerful force. They crashed into the building at the side causing vast destruction on their path. The battle between two A-rank started. Souta glanced at the battle one more time before he strode inside the control room. "This...?" He found that the defensive mechanism was already destroyed. It seems that Teacher Sun didn''t want them to use the defensive mechanism against her group. "There''s no use. We couldn''t use this to help fight back those traitors." He sighed as he massaged his temples. He knew that if the people who weren''t familiar with the institute invade this place then it wouldn''t cause this much damage. The group of people who attacked the institute knew the ins and outs of this place like the back of their hands. It was really a troublesome group. Souta turned around and found that the teachers were in a daze. They still couldn''t get over that there were traitors among them. "Fulfil your responsibility as a teacher..." He then left before they could react to his words. He just wanted them to help the other people who were fighting the traitor. If they helped then it would make his quest easier. ... Swoosh! Souta arrived at the battlefield in the area of the third-year students. At this moment, more than ten battles were happening in this place. "They are really preventing people from going deeper in the third-year area." A grin appeared on Souta''s face. He was about to charge forward when he heard Saya''s voice in his head. ''Behind you, Souta!'' He trusted her so he jumped to the side as soon as he heard her voice. He turned his head and saw a figure crashed on his previous position. Boom! A person walked out of the smoke. He was a tall man with a large physique. He has short spiky orange-colored hair and orange eyes. This man was Wesler, the top 11 ranker in the whole institute. Souta looked up and saw a woman above Wesler. The woman was wearing a katana. Her long black hair was tied in a ponytail. She was wearing a mini skirt with black stockings and a blouse of the institute. The shoulder part of her blouse had an eagle symbol. He knew it. Those students who had an eagle symbol on their uniform was a member of the student council and this woman was the current student council president, Mai Reviry. Mai slashed her katana but two people appeared beside Wesler and blocked her attack. Clang! Mai took a distance from them and glanced at Souta. "Are you okay, junior?" She asked him. "I''m fine," Souta replied to her as he waved his hand. He then saw another two figures appeared beside Wesler. This group of people was in the top rankers of the institute. The top 11, Wesler. The top 14, Yaosi. The top 17, Cyndi. The top 20, Clandis. The top 21, Duan Kun. They were all big shots of the institute and it seems that their strength was stronger than what they''ve shown before. If their strength wasn''t stronger than their rank then Mai, who was at the top 4 could destroy them easily. "Even you, Cyndi! Why are you doing this?!" Mai shouted at the woman named Cyndi. Cyndi was also a member of the student council. She was her secretary. "I''m sorry, president." Cyndi apologized to her. "Enough talk!" Yoasi said as he charged towards Mai. He shot a punch full of mana at her. Boom! Mai easily dodged his punch by shifting her body to the side. The power within the punch created a crater on the ground. Boom! The five people surrounded Mai and begin to launch fierce attacks. ''You''re not going to help her?'' Saya asked Souta. ''Nope, it''s better for me if she hold these people.'' Souta replied as he turned around. He thought that he could easily leave this place but he was wrong. Wesler who was fighting Mai turned around and dashed in his direction. "Junior, behind you!" Mai shouted as she warned Souta about Wesler. She then received a lightning arc from her opponents. Boom! "Hmm...?" Souta slightly turned his head. He saw the top 11 rushing at him like a madman. He then heard a sound in his mind and a semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Help]: Mia, the student council president, urgently need help. She''s fighting five strong foes. Lend her a hand and defeat at least one of her opponents. Rewards: 10,000 exp, 4 skill points, and 8 free attribute points Souta ignored it as he quickly pulled out the vajra sword and poured his mana in it. Bang! Wesler''s fist collided with his sword that created small shockwaves around them. Wesler frowned when he saw this so he took a distance away from Souta to observe him. "Oh...? You''re really strong, first year." Wesler said as he looked at Souta from head to toe. Everyone in the institute knew the infamous first year who made a name for himself in various incidents. The most recent incident was the Legion War. He couldn''t let his guard down against this man. Souta looked over at Mia and saw that she was doing good in fighting four people. "Hey, Miss President I''ll handle this man." He then turned to Wesler and asked, "You''re rank 11, right? If I defeat you then I could probably dominate the third year..." "Hey, Wesler! Do you need help?" Cyndi asked. "No, you just focus your attacks to defeat the President. As long as you defeat her..." Wesler shook his head. Suddenly, Souta launched himself at Wesler with a wide grin on his face. "What are you babbling about?! You''ll die if you don''t focus on your opponent!" He opened his palm and tried to grab Wesler''s face. Wesler was surprised at Souta''s aggressive nature but it didn''t prevent him from avoiding his opponent''s attack. Swoosh! "That''s close..." Wesler said while looking at Souta''s palm beside his face. Using his other hand, Souta pulled out the vajra sword and slashed it at Wesler. Swoosh! Wesler saw it so he quickly crossed his arms in front of him. He gathered his mana to cover his upper body. Boom! The slash blasted him on the nearby building. [Agility Boost]! [Strength Boost]! [Cat''s Speed]! [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! [Shadow Cloak]! [Gravitational Ball]! Souta activated his combat arts and spell as he chased after Wesler who crashed in the building. He planned to finish this battle as soon as possible. He wouldn''t give his opponent a chance to fight back. "Ehe~ just lie down so that you won''t suffer." "Wesler!" Clandis shouted as she ran towards the two but Mia blocked her path by sending powerful sword waves. Boom! Boom! Boom! Mia landed in front of her and said, "You won''t be able to help him. I don''t know what''s your goal but my duty is to protect this institute and capture the traitors." Chapter 295 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Battling Wesler Mai raised her mana to the limit. She placed back her sword to its sheath and hold the handle while looking at her opponents with sharp eyes. She was going to strike anyone that comes forward. Yoasi, Cyndi, and the rest just looked at her warily. They couldn''t be careless when fighting someone as strong as the student council president. They silently poured their mana into their weapons. Since no one wants to come, then Mai would be the one to chase them. She tightened her grip on the handle of her sword and slowly pulled it out. [Drawing Sword Technique: Lion''s Slash]! She slashed her sword horizontally and an image of a giant lion materialized behind her creating a powerful slash. "Shit!" Yoasi cursed as he quickly jumped away to avoid the attack. "High proficiency combat arts?!" The other three too tried to dodge the slash. Shiing! An ear-piercing sound echoed in the surrounding area as the slash drew closer to Yoasi''s group. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta moved his body as fast as he could. He was slashing his sword at high speed but Wesler was trying to overpower him. "Hehe, you''re quite strong yourself, first year." Wesler laughed as he launched a barrage of punches at Souta. [Cripling Combo]! The situation turned upside down. Souta was forced into a defensive position. He had no choice but to defend himself from his opponent''s fierce attack. ''So this is the power of the top ranker...'' He thought while trying his best to block the punches of his foe. Wesler''s strength was indeed powerful. It was much stronger than Jeanne and Wako who were quite powerful among B-ranks. These were the kind of people he was going to face in the Grand Tournament. If it''s like that then he felt that he was underestimating the tournament. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta couldn''t block all the punches so some slipped inside and landed on his body. Luckily, he had [Shadow Cloak] to absorb the damage made by his opponent. [Shadow Bind]! The ground turned black and dozens of black tentacles rose. The tentacles quickly stretched out towards Wesler who was overpowering Souta. "Not bad," Wesler said with a smile before he raised both of his hands and smashed the ground. [Earth Shock]! Spider web cracks formed on the ground and after a few seconds, boulders of rocks burst out of it. Boom! Souta jumped away as he used [Crimson Moon] and [Cross Moon] to destroy the boulder of rocks that were flying in his direction. Bang! Bang! Wesler disabled his [Shadow Bind] using this. The boulders crashed the black tentacles one by one like a piece of paper. "Increase..." Souta muttered as he controlled the [Gravitational Ball] behind him to increase the gravity around him. This was to decrease the power behind the boulders that were shooting from the ground. Bang! Bang! Bang! Yoasi, Cyndi, and Clandis were clashing with Mai. The speed of their attacks was so high that it generated gust of wind every time they slash or swing their weapons. Duan Kun suddenly turned around and dashed towards Souta but Mai appeared in front of him. He was surprised but he still swung his dagger at her. "Don''t think that you could get away from me," Mai said coldly as she slashed her sword. Clang! Clang! Clang! Mai was fighting four top-ranked alone but this was enough for her compared to the last time. Wesler was the highest rank among them so with him gone, she could fight these four people on equal grounds. Still, she didn''t think that these people were hiding their true strength. She slashed down her sword at Cyndi but Yoasi appeared and blocked her sword. Clang! The other two also appeared beside her and attack her with their weapons. She twisted her body and kicked Duan Kun who was at her left side. Then, she crouched down and avoided Clandis'' spear. "Hmph!" She placed back her sword in its sheath and used her combat arts. [Drawing Sword Technique: Gale Cutter]! She spun around while slashing her sword at the same time producing sharp winds that could cut metal objects. Swoosh! Swoosh! The four quickly moved away to avoid her attack but the sharp winds still managed to cause a few cuts on their bodies. Mia glanced at Souta and saw that he became passive at his battle. He could only defend himself against Wesler''s relentless attacks. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta felt his arms getting numb from blocking Wesler''s fierce attack. He suddenly lifted his feet and launched a powerful kick but it was easily blocked by Wesler. "That pack some power but I''m different from those B-ranks that you fought before," Wesler commented before he increased the speed of his punches. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta couldn''t block it at all. He received everything before he flew away and crashed into the building. Boom! Dust and smoke shot up in the mid-air as some of the pillars fell down. "Damn! This third year is strong..." Souta muttered. He didn''t stand up immediately as he observed his surroundings first. ''You don''t stand a chance against him. His strength and speed are stronger than you.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his head. ''You should borrow my power.'' "In terms of stats. He''s higher than me but I still haven''t use the full strength of my skills and spells." Souta said as he stood up and patted his clothes. He then opened his palm and casted [Shadow Ball]. The black balls slowly moved around and went to the other rooms. "He''s a brawler so he will rush here on his own if I didn''t come at him. Plus, he''s preventing people from going in the third year area." He said and used [Mud Slide] to turn the floor into a pool of mud. This spell would at least prevent Wesler for 0.1 seconds. It was just a level 1 tier 1 spell so he didn''t have a great expectation for this spell. If it was him this spell wouldn''t work at all as he had [Tier 1 Spell Immunity]. Well, even if he didn''t have that immunity, a tier 1 spell could hardly have an effect on his body just like the other B-rank powerhouse. "This is to keep him busy for a few seconds..." He said as the ground turned into black and dozens of black tentacles rose up. He then drunk mana potion before casting another spell. "For the final touch..." The ten gravitational balls above the building spun around and created a chaotic gravity field. The gravity was messed up because of this. Each area has different gravity levels and directions. Some were going up and down and some were going left and right. "It''s time..." Souta muttered as he looked at his system. He found that he had 197 free attribute points. He divided the 150 points to Strength, Agility, and Dexterity Attributes. And the remaining 47 points to Intelligence Attribute. Strength: 645?695 Agility: 598?648 Dexterity: 545?595 Intelligence: 630?677 Vitality: 660 This was enough to fight the Wesler but he doubted that this was sufficient to fight those high-rank officers of the Seven Deadly Sins. Well, he didn''t have to worry as he still had [Vajra Sword Saya] and [Soul Blood Earring] at his ace. ''What are you doing?'' Saya asked him. "I''m just preparing myself to destroy that man," Souta replied to her. Even though she could possess him, she couldn''t see the interface in his mind. He concluded that he was the only one who could see this interface even if other people possessed his body. Well, they could only possess his body, not his soul. That''s why he guessed that his system was bind to his soul and he could still see it even if he transferred his soul to another body. There''s a lot of mystery behind his system. He will try to investigate it in the future if he had enough power to dominate strong people. Outside the building... Wesler was looking at the place where Souta crashed with a serious expression. Suddenly, he saw black tentacles came out of the smoke and the area around him got heavier. "What are you trying to do? Don''t tell me..." He quickly gathered his mana and charged forward. He endured the chaotic gravity field as he moved forward while the black tentacles were trying to stop him. If Souta wanted to move towards the third-year building, he had to stop him. That was his job given to him. ''What can you do aside from using my powers and that universal grade equipment?'' Saya asked. "Hm... Let''s see..." Souta smiled as he looked at his system. He had 76 skill points. It''s time to use these skill points that he and his teammates earned in the past few battles. [Dark Cloud Hunting] Level 7 [Shadow Cloak] Level 4 He level up these two skills to level ten. His skill points decreased by 72 points just to level up these two skills, leaving him a total of 4 skill points in his system. *Ding!* [You''ve fulfilled the requirements to promote your class into the next rank!] [Do you want to promote your class into Rank 2 Battle Mage? Yes/No?] "Yes, promote my class..." *Ding!* [Congratulations!] [You''ve successfully promoted your class into Rank 2 Battle Mage!] Chapter 296 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Rank 2 Battle Mage [You''ve successfully promoted your class to Rank 2 Battle Mage!] [Intelligence Attribute has increased by 100!] [Strength, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality Attributes have increased by 50!] [Mana Pool has increased by 300!] [Health has increased by 100!] [Stamina has increased by 50!] [Energy resistance has increased by 100%!] [Physical resistance has increased by 100%!] [Mana Recovery has increased by 40!] [Health Recovery has increased by 10!] [Stamina Recovery has increased by 10!] [Spell Power has increased by 100%!] [Attack power has increased by 50%!] *Ding!* [Weapon Caster''s level has increased by 1!] [Your spell power will increase by 15% if you''re holding a weapon while casting!] [You''ve unlocked the Rank 2 Battle Mage''s class skill: Combat Mage!] [Increased attack power by 15% when fighting an opponent within twenty meters!] After a long time, Souta finally promoted his class to Rank 2 Battle Mage. It''s all thanks to his legion and all the quest that he did in the Eternal Empire. All the rewards acc.u.mulated and when he looked at it he found that it was enough to promote his class rank. His class skill [Weapon Caster] level up from advancing his class. He also gained another class skill called [Combat Mage]. It was important to him who always fight in close range combat befitting of the class Battle Mage. His battle strength was boosted to another level. Just by promoting his class, he could defeat some of his opponents that he couldn''t defeat before. Not just his stats that have increased, everything about him increase including his spell power. Since he level up two of his skill into level ten, he managed to unlock a few skills in his skill tree. Souta looked at all the skills that he unlocked in the skill tree. [Doppelganger] [Shadow Dispersion] [Dark Shooting Ray] [Dark Light Shield] [Night Overlord''s Aura] [Transforming Shadow Barrage] The two below were high-level combat arts. He had to choose one combat arts and one spell in his situation. The skills that he will choose will become his foundation to promote to Rank 3 just like the [Dark Cloud Hunting] and [Shadow Cloak] in Rank 2. Well, Souta already had a plan in his mind to buy all the combat arts in the skill tree. The combat arts will get stronger if he evolves so it would only bring him benefits. He used his remaining points to learn the [Night Overlord''s Aura] and [Transforming Shadow Barrage]. *Ding!* [You''ve successfully learned "Night Overlord''s Aura" skill!] [You''ve successfully learned "Transforming Shadow Barrage" skill!] "Damn! It feels so good. I feel overflowing energy inside me." Souta let out a soft voice as he looked at the ceiling. ''Just what are you...!?'' Saya was dumbfounded as she felt that his body was changing rapidly. His mana pool was expanding and his strength was growing. "You see. I don''t need to borrow your powers... against this level of opponent." Souta smirked as he placed back the vajra sword in its sheath. He wasn''t going to wait for his opponent to come here. He''s going to finish it quickly as fast as possible. He raised his hand and made a grabbing motion. The gravity around the whole area tightened. It was suffocating. Wesler who was outside the building stopped moving. He felt the air was trying to crush him into meat paste. "What the-" He was shocked as he found that he couldn''t move his body. He gritted his teeth and roared angrily as his mana burst out of his body trying to break free from the gravity field. Boom! "Souta!!" Wesler roared as he managed to move but his body was stressed because of the harsh gravity. Swoosh! He charged forward in the direction of the building. He didn''t know how this spell grew stronger but he wouldn''t be able to last long if this keeps up. The power behind this spell was already at tier 3 but now it grew stronger. "Two minutes... If I couldn''t defeat him in two minutes I will lose." He muttered but he found that he couldn''t move his feet. He didn''t know what happen or how this spell grew stronger. Maybe, Souta wasn''t using his full strength from the beginning and he was just playing with him, a top 11 ranker. "Huh?" He looked down and found a black tentacle circling his left leg. He gathered his mana on his fist and he was about to rip the black tentacles on his leg when he heard footsteps coming from the building. He moved his head and saw Souta walked out of the thick smoke while patting the dust on his clothes. "You!!" Souta looked at Wesler in the eyes and grinned before he said, "Let me test my strength with you... I''m curious how long you can last against me." "Don''t underestimate me, Souta!" Wesler shouted as he ripped the black tentacle before he pounced at Souta. "Good." A wide smile formed on Souta''s face as he gathered his mana on his fists. Bang! Bang! Bang! The two exchanged high-speed blows to each other. Every time they threw a punch a huge gust of wind would follow. "This...!" Wesler opened his eyes widely as he found that Souta was overpowering him. "This can''t be...!" He continued to throw punches while ignoring Souta''s punches which were landing on his body. Bang! Bang! Bang! After one minute, he was slowing down as his body couldn''t handle the gravity field. He knew it. There''s no doubt that he was going to lose against this first year. But he wouldn''t let himself go down without doing anything. So he quickly transferred all of his remaining mana in his right fist. [Dominating Draconic Punch]! Boundless might was within his fist. The air and the gravity field were shattered the moment he threw his fist in Souta''s direction. He was sure that if Souta took this punch he would receive heavy damage. A full-power attack from a top 11 ranker could gravely injure Souta. Swoosh! Suddenly, he saw Souta vanished in front of him like a bubble. His punch miss and the force behind it destroyed the building. Boom! The building exploded as the debris of rocks flew in the sky. "Too bad. It didn''t hit me." A voice sounded beside Wesler''s ear. He knew this voice was from Souta. He was just shocked to find that his last attack didn''t even land on his opponent. "This can''t be..." Wesler was shocked but he immediately regained his senses as he found that the gravity field was gone. He shattered it in his last attack. He had a chance. That''s what he thought... Souta pulled back both of his hands as black smoke covered his fists. The gravity field worked again and constricted "Let me try it on you..." [Transforming Shadow Barrage]! Several punches landed on Wesler''s body. Bang! Bang! Bang! The [Strength Boost], [Shadow Cloak], and [Triple Muscle Strengthening] were still active so the power of this combat arts grew several times. Wesler couldn''t do anything as the powerful punches of Souta were hitting his body nonstop. The ground collapsed and shockwaves were sweeping out in the whole area. "This is the end..." Souta said as he threw another punch on Wesler''s stomach. "Argh!" He flew away and crashed into the building that he destroyed. Boom! Souta canceled all the skills that he was using to preserve his mana and his stamina. This battle was just the beginning. He couldn''t afford to drain his mana and stamina this time. "With my current strength, I could fight a high-level B-rank powerhouse. If I used my hidden cards, I could probably fight someone at rank A." He muttered as he glanced at his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Mutated Goblin Corruptor(2nd Evolution) Level: 36 Class: Rank 2 Battle Mage Health: 2,340/2,340 Stamina: 925/925 Mana: 2,856/2,856 Strength: 905(745+160)[+] Agility: 998(698+300)[+] Dexterity: 945(645+300)[+] Intelligence: 937(777+160)[+] Vitality: 820(710+110)[+] Free attribute point(s): 0 Skill(s): Active: [Dash] Level 5, [Stab] Level 5, [Cat''s Speed] Level 5, [Air Walk] Level 4, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 5, [Pet Bestowing Skill] Level 10, [Pet Resonance] level 2, [Transfer Boost] level 2, [Shadow Cloak] level 10, [Shadow Step] level 4, [Crimson Moon] level 4, [Cross Moon] level 3, [Night Overlord''s Aura] level 1, [Transforming Shadow Barrage] level 1 Passive: [Weapon Mastery], [Mana Manipulation] level 5, Spell(s): Tier 1: [Fireball] Level 1, [Ice Shot] Level 1, [Light Heal] Level 1, [Agility Boost] Level 1, [Strength Boost] Level 1, [Mud Slide] Level 1, [Shadow Bind] Level 10, [Shadow Spike] Level 1, [Shadow Ball] Level 10, Tier 2: [Gravitational Ball] level 10, [Dark Cloud Hunting] level 10 Class Skill(s): [Weapon Caster II], [Combat Mage] Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body], [Night Vision] Trait skill(s): [High Energy Resistance Body] Blessing(s): [Blessing of the Great], [1st Tier Spell Immunity] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul], [Crimson Moon], [Cross Moon], [Possession] Skill point(s): 0 ... In the red light district... A group of ten people wearing a red robe and silver mask was standing on top of the building while looking down at the three people on the ground. "We found her..." One of the people said in a plain tone. Their attention was focused on the little girl behind the two men. "Stay back, Cl.u.s.ter," Brando said with a serious expression. He was looking warily at this group of people who appeared out of nowhere. "Who are you?" Bryan opened his mouth and asked. His instinct was telling him that these people were dangerous. "You don''t need to know. You just have to give that little girl to us." Chapter 297 - Collapse of the Ladros City: The Master of Traitors "Ehe~" Yanagi laughed lightly as she shoots a powerful beam. Sun easily avoided her attack and she quickly zoomed the distance between her and Yanagi. She then gathered her mana in her hand and waved it at her opponent. Swoosh! Yanagi grabbed her hand before it reached her. "Die!" She said as she opened her palm and a magic circle appeared on top of it. [Desolate Wind]! Winds gathered and formed a spinning ball on the of her palm. The winds were producing sharp winds. These winds were disintegrating any objects around it. "Not on my watch." Teacher Sun smiled as a light blue aura appeared around her. [Grace of Nature]! She then pulled out her hand and used her other hand to cast a spell. [Glorified Thunder Sparks]! Thunder clashed against powerful winds and it caused huge explosions that shook the entire area. The ground collapse and rocks buried the bas.e.m.e.nt under the teacher''s building. The control room was gone, no, the entire building was long gone. It got destroyed the moment they started fighting. They were fighting in the teacher''s district between the first year''s area and the main building. The Ladro Institute was vast to the point that it could house several tens of thousands of people. The arena in the middle of the institute alone was enough of that praise. It has a maximum seating capacity of seventy thousand people. The Institute was divided into four parts. The main building or what they called the principal''s area and then there''s first, second, and third-year area. The arena was situated in the middle of these four areas. Each area has its own representative building, training ground, and other necessities. Also, the first, second, and third-year area was divided into different districts. Mage, Brawler, Shielder, Swordsman, Archer, etc. The battle between Teacher Sun and Yanagi Shina could be felt in the entire first and third-year areas. The vibrations in these two places were high. Everyone in these two places could feel the heavy energy that the two were releasing. Boom! Boom! Boom! "This girl is really strong... As expected of the top 1 ranker of Ladro Institute." Teacher Sun said with a faint smile on her face while fiercely attacking Yanagi. This girl was the only problem in her group. All the teachers that A-rank and above left the institute to protect the city. So the remaining teachers here have a battle power of B-rank at which couldn''t post a problem to their group. Except for this girl, Yanagi Shina. "Is this everything that you''ve got? Let me enjoy this battle!" A wide grin formed on Yanagi''s face as she tried to block Teacher Sun''s attack. But Teacher Sun''s fist stopped in the mid-air. She then felt pain on her side. She found that Teacher Sun kicked her. Bang! She flew away and crashed into the debris of rocks. Boom! Teacher Sun opened her palm and aimed at the debris of rocks before casting a spell. [Lightning Ray]! Boom! Several powerful spells were falling like rain as it destroyed everything in the surrounding. "Die, trash!" Rein roared as he lifted up the orb on his palm and it emitting a blinding light. [Trinity Shock]! [Call of Wood Lives]! "Two tier 3...?" Franco looked at this with a serious expression. He hurriedly took out a pendant in his pocket and drip his blood on it. Several blueish barriers formed around him. This was the artifact given to him by his master. He had no choice but to use it as he knows that he wouldn''t be able to escape unscathed against two tier 3 spells. Ohm! Countless thick woods emerged from the ground and it flooded the entire around within a two hundred meters in radius. It destroyed several buildings that stood straight on the second-year area. Flame, Wind, and Earth spun around at high speed above Rein. After a few moments, the three elements fused together creating distorted white ball energy. The white ball of energy was fluctuating wildly before it shoots an arc of white energy beam on the woods. Boom! "I don''t know what will happen to this place after this battle," Souta muttered while the ground kept vibrating due to the battles across the entire institute ground. The battles kept growing and destroying the institute. The defensive mechanism was gone so he couldn''t use it to erect a barrier to protect each area of the institute. "President Mia is holding those four on her own. Defeating one of them is enough for her." Souta said as he turned around. He didn''t want to help her anymore as he didn''t want to deplete his reserved mana and stamina. Fighting someone at Wesler''s level would drain a quarter of his mana. He would at least used his powers to complete his quest. Speaking of a quest, Souta looked at his system and checked the rewards that he received. *Ding!* [Congratulations for completing the quest "Help"!] [You''ve received 10,000 exp, 4 skill points, and 8 free attribute points!] Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. He had another 4 skill points that he could use. This will help him a lot. He smiled and went deeper into the third-year area. There''s no battle in this area. Although this place was quite far from the battles, he still could feel the vibration on the ground. The quest that he was going to clear was [Barrier]. He needed to find the barrier device that erected the barrier around the institute. Since the traitors were preventing anyone from entering the third year area, he guessed that the device was here. ''You''re hopeless. If you train properly your [Mana Manipulation] then you would be able to easily find the device that''s providing mana in the barrier.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. "Hmm...? You can find it?" Souta asked as he glanced at the sword on his waist. ''Yes.'' Saya nodded. "Good. Then, can you tell me where it is?" Souta smiled. He doesn''t have to search every place just to find that barrier device. ''Listen well. If you''ve trained your [Mana Manipulation] to the higher levels, you''re sensitivity to mana will increase along with it. In this case, you would be able to sense the bridge of mana that''s connected to the barrier. If you follow this bridge you would find the device or the one who created the barrier at the end of it.'' Souta listened to her explanation without interrupting her. Saya continued, ''If you sever this bridge then the barrier wouldn''t be able to receive a mana from the device or the people that erected it. But severing this bridge is a taxing thing to do. You need a great amount of mana to do it. Your mana should be three times higher than the mana in the bridge.'' "I see." He nodded as he understood her words. "Well, severing this bridge didn''t mean that I could shatter the barrier, right?" ''Yes. The barrier would only lose its mana supply but it still have the same defense. The only problem is that it wouldn''t last long as it didn''t have mana to keep its existence.'' "Fine. I will focus on training it next time." Souta paused for a moment and asked, "So where''s the end of that bridge?" ''Just keep moving forward. It''s in that direction and you will eventually find it as long as you walked forward.'' Saya replied. "Thanks." He grinned before he slightly bent his knees. With a "boom" he charged forward at high speed. Swoosh! After a few minutes, he stopped as he heard Saya''s voice in his head. ''It''s here.'' Souta saw a man with his back facing him. He landed twenty meters away from the man. At the same time, he heard Saya''s voice once again. ''That man, no, that classmate of yours have the barrier device.'' He furrowed his brows as he looked at the man''s hand and saw the barrier device. Saya was right. This man really has the barrier device. If he could break it, then he would be able to complete his quest but he doubted that this man would let him do that. The man slowly turned around and faced him. This man had shoulder-length dark purple hair. He had sharp eyes of the same color that strike fear to anyone and he has a slim yet muscular body. "So you came, Souta." The man said with a smile on his face. "What are doing here, Randolf?" Souta asked in a deep tone while looking at his classmate. "Good day, Souta. I have the feeling that you will be the one who will come here." Randolf said lightly as he glanced at the barrier around the institute. He then raised the barrier device in his hand and said, "You came here for this, right? Come and get this from me." Really... Unbelievable. Snatching that device was worth 8 skill points. Two times than fighting Wesler. It only means that Randolf was stronger than the top 11 ranker of the institute. Chapter 298 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Target! "The enemies are slowly breaching the defense line in districts two and four." Lumilia frowned while listening to the reports of her subordinate. She looked at the map with a serious expression. District one became a fierce battlefield of people above A-rank. Sending lower rank people there was simply asking them to massacre the reinforcement. So Lumilia wouldn''t focus her attention on that district. Their group should focus on fighting those low-level enemies instead of thinking about high-level enemies. The district two and four became the battlefield for them. The enemies were trying to massacre everyone in that city but Lumilia sent Yujin and Alice along with other adventurers to help the people out there. Dark Oculus Legion was too weak compared to the group of enemies. Their numbers were too small. That''s why Lumilia and Lynn contacted the powers of this city to help them, the nobles. Not just them, she also contacted Jimmy and the big company in this city. With their combined forces, she was sure that they could hold for another one hour. "So... what would you do?" Jimmy was silently staring at the map asked with a gloomy look. Beside him were the other owners of big companies like Lanny Corp. Lumilia didn''t have the power to call them here. She was just the vice-commander of the legion. Although, they were quite famous she still didn''t have enough influence to move these big companies. That''s why she asked the Lanny Corp, the partner of their legion, to call these big groups. The nobles were a different story. Jimmy called them but they didn''t come here. It means that they have no plan to cooperate in their group. Those prideful nobles really were giving them a problem even at a time like this. They only said that they will help the city in their own ways. They will not get in their way. "We''ll clean district three first," Lumilia said as she looked at the people beside Jimmy. "What about our forces in district two and four? Are you saying that we''ll leave them there?" Yaso, the owner of the biggest weapon company in this city, said with an angry tone. "I''m not saying that we should abandon them. I''m saying that we should prioritize clearing district three over the other district. We should establish a base of operations and this district filled all the requirements." Lumilia paused for a while as she pointed at the map before she continued, "There''s a few enemies inside this city and that''s the most important thing. If we don''t have a base of operations then we would have a hard time against them. No, our doom would come earlier." "Yeah, she''s right. It''s easier to clean this district more than the other districts. Also, we need to set up defenses so that we could last until the reinforcement arrives." Jimmy said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "But..." Yaso tightly clenched his fist. His company was in district two so he wanted to retake that district more than anyone. "Don''t think about anything else. We''re going to fight for our survival. Your wealth is nothing to our enemies." Lumilia said in a grave tone. She wanted them to understand the severity of their situation. It''s not that she didn''t want to help district two and four. In fact, she really wanted to send people there to help Yujin and Alice but that would make clearing district three harder. "Group yourself and start helping the city guards who were fighting the enemies in this district. Every five minutes send a report. If we don''t receive a report we will consider your group as gone." Lumilia said to them. She was acting as the strategist of their alliance. Well, Jimmy was the one who nominated her for this position. "Mila, the ones who are fighting strong opponents are Teacher Jess and Teacher Sabrina," Lynn said as she looked up. "I know. We would avoid getting caught up in their battle." Lumilia said with a serious expression. Teacher Jess and Sabrina along with the high-rank officer of city forces were fighting the seven-circle officers of the Seven Deadly Sins in this district. They could only rely on them to push back the strongest enemies. ... In the bas.e.m.e.nt of the arena... A man with short smooth blonde hair was walking down the stairs. He was wearing a black jacket and pants. His jacket had a Seven Deadly Sins symbol. "This is the right place...? I''m sure that the sensing talisman was pointing at this place." He muttered as he continued to walk leisurely. He then looked up and said, "Still, they were going all out... and here I am finding the bloodstones." Hmm...? He felt something covered the entire bas.e.m.e.nt. What? He raised his hand and placed his palm on the wall. "A barrier...? Really, they are too late for that. Maybe, they want to imprison me in this bas.e.m.e.nt." He felt a high-level barrier in this bas.e.m.e.nt. He had no way out of this place. "Well... should I go all out." A smile formed on his face and his energy started to spread out in his surroundings. ... "Go away, Bryan. Take Cl.u.s.ter away and go to the legion!" Brando shouted at Bryan while raising his shield in front of him. "But..." Bryan looked at Brando. "Leave this to me. We need help." Brando said while looking at the two people in front of him. They took down the other people but these two were different from the rest. They were strong. "Okay. I''ll be back to help you." Bryan said before he turned around and carried Cl.u.s.ter in his arms. He then left after glancing at Brando one more time. "Be careful, Brando! Don''t push yourself too hard!" The two people have large physiques. They were two meters tall and their bodies were oozing dense energy. "I think I could buy them a time until they reach the legion," Brando muttered to himself as he controlled his mana and covered his shield. "I need to protect them... cause I''m a shielder!" The two people wearing red robes looked at each other. "Who wants to go first?" "I''ll pass, Kan. I wouldn''t be able to contain myself once I start fighting. I''m a berserker, after all." "Fine. Leave this to me. You just go there and capture that little girl, Kin." One of the two stepped forward and looked at Brando with mocking eyes. "I''m your opponent this time. Well, that''s from your perspective but from my perspective, I don''t consider your power level as my opponent." "You won''t know it until you try," Brando said sharply. These people were different from the people that were attacking the city. He didn''t know why they wanted to capture Cl.u.s.ter. The other one turned around and said, "I''ll go now and capture that little girl, Kan." "No, you don''t!" Brando roared as he charged towards the man named Kin. Swoosh! "Keke, I''m your opponent." Kan moved in front of Brando to intercept him. He then threw a punch aiming at Brando''s head. Brando quickly raised his shield and blocked the punch. Bang! ... "I really want to fight a genius like you, Souta," Randolf said as he raised the barrier device and added, "If I give this to you, will you fight me?" "No, I will not fight you. Also, I will not call myself a genius." Souta replied to him. "I see... It''s unfortunate. So, come and get it to me if you have the power!" Randolf smiled as his energy burst out of his body. It quickly spread around the entire area. Boom! Souta''s expression changed as he felt his aura. The strength of this aura was five times higher than Wesler who he fought before. Randolf was filled with an intent to fight. He was sure that even if he got that barrier device, Randolf wouldn''t let him go easily. Suddenly, the energy around Randolf compressed before it exploded. Like a water, it flooded Souta and everything around him. ''This... A liquefied mana...?'' Souta opened his eyes widely as he felt the mana around him trying to crush him into a meat paste. It was suffocating. If he didn''t have [High Energy Resistance] then he would be having a hard time moving under this pressure. This man deeply hid his power. To think that he was much stronger than the top students of this institute. Just what did he want in this institute? He wouldn''t learn anything in this place to begin with. It seems that there''s more story behind this quest. Randolf looked at Souta and said in a cold tone. "Heightened your senses. Don''t get distracted for a single moment." Swoosh! ''Souta!'' Saya''s voice echoed in his head. Souta''s eyes constricted as Randolf appeared in front of him in an instant. A large concentration of mana formed around Randolf''s hand. The mana moved and it turned into a blade. BOOM!! Chapter 299 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Brando vs. Kan Clang! Clang! Kan fiercely launched an attack at Brando. Every time his fist collided on Brando''s shield, a loud metallic sound would echo in the whole area. It gust of wind would follow after that. Clang! Clang! ''This guy is too strong...'' Brando gritted his teeth as he tightly held the large shield. He couldn''t stop that man called Kin. It was useless. He thought that he would be able to stop them on his own but he was just arrogant. He got conceited that he reached B-rank quickly. He let it get on his head. [Shielder''s Aura]! [Knight''s Will]! He activated to skills of his that boosted his power and defensive. Kan raised his eyebrows when he saw Brando''s skill activation. He smirked and increased his pace in punching the shield. Bang! Bang! Bang! Blueish light covered the shield before Brando charged forward. [Shield Bash]! Kan punches it one more time but the shield reflected the power causing him to flew five meters away from Brando. He twisted his body in the mid-air and landed on his two feet. He lifted his head and looked at Brando but he found him already in front of him. "Oh...?" [Triple Frame Shield On]!! Three semi-transparent shields formed beside Brando. These shields could attack and defend at the same time. Two shields moved on Kan''s side and it smashed him. It was trying to crush him into a pile of meat. "Kiki." Kan laughed as his mana burst out of his body. It gathered on both of his arms and he pushed the shields away from him. "Tsk!" Brando clicked his tongue when he saw this so he controlled the remaining shield to smash Kan from above. Swoosh! The shield flew at high speed and it was about to crash on Kan''s head. Kan looked at it with a smile on his face. He lifted his feet and transfer some of his mana in it. He then launched a kick the moment that the shield arrived above him. Bang! Cracks appeared on the shield and it quickly spread around it. After a few moments, the shield crumbled down like a fragile glass. Its tiny particles faded into thin air. [Charge]! [Shield Spike]! [Swift Tackle]! Brando tackled Kan with his shield. The surface of his shield had spikes on it. These spikes pierced his opponent''s skin causing blood to splash. "You''re getting ahead of yourself," Kan said plainly and flames covered his left arm. He launched a powerful punch while ignoring his wounds. [Burning Earth Crushing Fist]! Brando squinted his eyes as a blinding light erupted from Kan''s fist. It was followed by the intense heat that almost burned his skins. He could feel a large concentration of mana in front of him. He understood that Kan''s was going to launch a powerful and stronger skill. But what could he do? He knew that he wouldn''t be able to avoid it. With his speed and Kan''s speed, there''s no doubt that Kan was faster than him by a mile. So he could only block this attack. He could only trust his partner in this situation. Boom! Brando gritted his teeth as he felt the powerful energy collided with his shield. He poured his mana in the shield to make it stronger. He felt that his bones were being crushed. Blood flows out of his pores as the impact threw him into the building. Swoosh! His body flew as it destroyed the walls before he finally stopped deep inside the building. He was embedded on the ground with the walls and pillars cracking down. "Argh!" He groaned in pain as he spat a mouthful of blood. He felt his body aching as he tried to stand up. Sob! Sob! Brando heard a faint sound of crying. He turned his head to the side and saw a woman. The woman was trembling while curling up on the corner of the room. Tears kept pouring out of her eyes while trying to hold back her voice. She was afraid. The things that were happening in this city were out of her imagination. He remembered that he was in the red light district. Of course, some people haven''t managed to evacuate on time. They could just wait here for their death. ''She''s just a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e. She didn''t have the power to protect herself.'' He thought. Right, he was a shielder. He would protect her even if she was a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e. He gritted his teeth as he stood up with great effort. "Don''t worry, I''ll protect you so you should go out and leave this place." He said as he narrowed his eyes. The woman raised her head and looked at Brando. Brando smiled wryly and said, "I''ll buy some time. You should leave this place as soon as possible." The woman watched Brando left with a dazed expression. After a while, she wiped her tears and nodded, "T-Thank you..." ... Kan felt the ground vibrated and a wave of mana in the outer area of the red light district. He looked in that direction and smiled, "It seems that Kin already found them." He was sure that Kin wouldn''t have any problem in capturing that little girl. Kin was the strongest in their group as he was one of the executives of their organization. They wouldn''t have this chance if the Seven Deadly Sins didn''t attack this city. Their group wasn''t enough to capture that little girl in this city full of powerful people. "Still those people are really powerful..." He muttered while looking at the barrier in the sky. After capturing that little girl, they have to leave this place in case the member of the Seven Deadly Sins arrived. The Seven Deadly Sins wouldn''t care even if they were a criminal organization. As long as they weren''t part of the Seven Deadly Sins, then they would kill them. Thud! Thud! He turned his head as he heard footsteps on his side. He saw Brando walked out of the building with unsteady steps. "Oh, you still want to go," Kan said as he walked towards Brando. He suddenly stopped when he saw the look in Brando''s eyes. "You''re a shielder, right? You want to protect those people using that puny shield! Then, I''ll crush your hope! You wouldn''t be able to protect everyone with that kind of shield!" He roared as he gathered all of his mana in his fist. He then pounced at Brando with a mad expression on his face. Swoosh! Huff! Brando took a deep breath as he tightened his muscles. ''I''ll be in your care partner.'' He thought while looking at Kan with determined eyes. A shielder''s partner was his shield. He shouldn''t hesitate to use his shield. Kan arrived in front of him before he threw a powerful punch. Brando gritted his teeth as he moved his shield to block Kan''s fist. BANG!! "Argh!!" Cracks formed on the shield as Kan kept smashing it with his fist. High density energy was splashing out in the area and it destroyed anything that it hit. The impact of the punches was causing injuries inside Brando''s body. Blood poured out in his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. "Just die!" Kan shouted as he threw one more punch. This punch was the strongest. He used everything that he had in this last punch. BANG!! His fist pierced the shield and it landed on Brando''s stomach. Brando spat a mouthful of blood as he was blasted towards the building once again. Cracks spread out on the shield before it crumbled down. Fragments of it fell on the ground causing a metallic sound. Cough! Cough! Brando coughed heavily as he spat a large amount of blood. He felt could hardly move his body and his eyes were getting heavy every second. "Argh!" His shield was gone. What he could do if he didn''t have his shield? He couldn''t protect anyone. What Greatest Shielder?! The shielder was nothing if he didn''t have his shield. How could he protect his friends? "I''m sorry everyone..." He muttered before he loses his consciousness. He suffered a devastating defeat this time. He didn''t have a will to fight anymore. "Tsk! What a weakling..." Kan clicked his tongue as he glanced at Brando. He opened his palm and shot a ball of mana towards Brando. Boom! The building exploded as Kan turned around and started to walk towards the battle of Kin. Chapter 300 - Collapse of the Ladros City: District Three The forces of Ladros City were on the losing side. The casualties kept growing every minute. More than ten thousand people have already died and it will continue to increase. They were protecting the civilians while fighting powerful foes and that put them in a very disadvantaged position. So they created barriers on their battlefield to protect civilians. Maintaining these barriers while fighting the Seven Deadly Sins was a very hard thing to do. But what could they do? They couldn''t just let those innocent people died in front of them. If they didn''t create a barrier on their battlefield. They could destroy this entire city in just one or two more hours. The aftershocks of their battle will wipe out this city on the map of the Hebrei Kingdom. Currently, the state of the battle was much worse than before. The district one was gone. This was the worse district out of all districts at the moment. Only people above A-rank were alive and they were fighting the higher-rank officer of the Seven Deadly Sins. Except for those people, no one managed to survive. The casualties in this district already surpassed twenty thousand. That''s only the estimated number of ordinary people that died. It didn''t include the adventurers, city guards, and illegal people from the underground world. Districts two and four were different but more than half of it was destroyed. The combined forces of the Dark Oculus Legion and the merchant''s forces were slowly getting pushed back. Lumia, the commanding officer of the alliance, knew that they couldn''t defeat the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins. She just wanted them to delay the opponent''s forces while they were creating a defense line in district three. They were also gathering the loose forces of the adventurers and city guards in two districts. Also, help the civilians from both districts in evacuating towards district three. In the meantime, district three was the safest place in all districts. Lumilia and the rest already cleaned the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins. They wouldn''t win in a one-on-one battle but they could win if they used their numbers. The only problem was the barrier in the middle of the district. Inside this barrier, the teachers were fighting the seven-circle officer of the Seven Deadly Sins. If the teachers lose then they would also die because no one among them could be a match to a powerhouse that reached SSS-rank or Hero-rank. Even if that powerhouse was injured they still wouldn''t be able to kill that person because of the large disparity in their power levels. District five wasn''t better than district three. The nobles could barely withstand the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins. The family heads of the noble households were the one who was fighting the seven-circle officer. The family heads couldn''t be underestimated. Some of them were weaker than Gregory and some were stronger. They were enough to fight a single seven-circle officer at SSS-rank. "We had to hold for another thirty minutes," Lumilia said with a grave expression. "Thirty minutes... I wonder how many of our subordinates will die at that time." Jimmy said as he looked at the barrier in the middle of district three. If the teachers lose before the reinforcement arrived then they will die. He could only hope that the teachers who were fighting the seven-circle officer could hold for a while. "We lost contact with some of our forces. We couldn''t verify if they died or not." Lumilia said as she took out the transmission talisman. She didn''t even know if Yujin and Alice that she sent in districts two and four were still alive. "We have no way to observed the battlefield. If we fly in the sky, those people would shoots countless spells at us." One of the leaders of a merchant group said. He tried sending people to observed the battle in three districts but the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins shut them down immediately. Lumilia took a deep breath and looked at them before she asked, "Do you really want to survive?" The leaders of the merchant group looked at each other before they nodded at her. "Of course, we want to survive. Do you have a plan in your mind?" "Even if it means using valuable treasure," Lumilia added. The leaders paused for a moment. They weren''t sure how to answer her. After contemplating the pros and cons they agreed with her. They couldn''t ignore the civilians in the city so they will not create a barrier to protect them. If they created a barrier in district three they were sure that they could last for thirty minutes. Even if they survive they would have to face the wrath of the Hebrei Kingdom. They will be condemned for not protecting the civilians even if they don''t have the responsibility to do so. Their reputations would plummet down and it will spread in the whole continent, no, whole world. They wouldn''t be able to do business and some of the large countries will not let them enter their territory. The worse scenario was that some of the people will hire an assassin to hunt them down. They were merchants so it''s important if they have a good reputation. A lot of people would trust their product and will buy it without hesitation. They could instantly imagine how the Hebrei Kingdom will ban them in their territory. If that happens, they could only do business in small towns and villages that were not protected by any large country. "High-grade weapons and armors are needed. We will let our forces equip those to increase their survival rate in the battle. Also, we will set up a defense mechanism around the district using valuable materials like mana stones and monster orbs." Lumilia slowly explained her plan to the leaders of the merchant group. The leaders agreed to her plan and they plan to bring out their resources. Don''t underestimate the wealth that these merchants acc.u.mulated for a long time. "Do it in ten minutes, send two forces to back up our forces in district two and four! Give each one of them a high-grade weapon and armor! Don''t forget the potions! Each one must have ten mana potions and health potions!" Lumilia ordered them. The leaders nodded and instructed their subordinates. They don''t have a time to think at this moment. They just have to follow the order if they wanted to increase their survival rate. One hundred people were sent to district two and another one hundred people to district four. They were all armed with purple-grade weapons and armors. While the leaders while organizing those people, Lumilia gathered the mages to set up the defensive mechanism around the district three. They also didn''t forget to set up traps like [Mana Mine] or [Ground Split]. In setting up this mechanism, hundreds of mages worked together and consumed a large amount of mana potions so that they would finish it in just a few minutes. Even if this was not a perfect mechanism, it''s fine. As long as it could delay the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins it was enough for them. Lumilia also opened the treasury of the Dark Oculus Legion and gave the weapon to the members. She knew that Souta would get mad at her for opening the treasury without his permission but she prepared herself to face him after this. That''s if she would survive this upcoming large battle. After a few minutes, Yujin and Alice returned along with their forces. They were injured but the healers and clerics worked together to heal the injured people. Of course, they prioritize those people who have high battle prowess so that they could help in defending the district three. District two and four didn''t were almost gone. The forces of the Seven Deadly Sins will arrive in district three in just a few minutes. Everyone finished preparing and they were ready to fight. The warriors, brawlers, shielders, and other close-combat classes were waiting while hiding in the houses near the boundary of the district. While the archers and support were watching from the back. The mages who know how to fly were in the mid-air. The Seven Deadly Sins wouldn''t be able to shoot them down when they were far away from them. They activated the defense mechanism and prepared themselves to cast various spells. Everyone knows it. This will be a brutal battle. Lumilia, Lynn, Jimmy, and the other leaders were on the rooftop of the Dark Oculus Legion watching this scene with a serious expression. "We still couldn''t observe everything even though we brought the battle here in this place. And there''s a delay to the information that we will receive." Jimmy said sharply. "We could only put our trust in our subordinates. We did everything that we could." One of the leaders said with a deep sigh. ''So this is a true battlefield. The Legion War is too small compared to this battle.'' Lumilia thought as he glanced in the direction of district four. Ladro Institute was situated in that district. That place was full of enemies so if Souta managed to break the barrier, the people from the Seven Deadly Sins would swarm inside. ''Be careful, Souta. Bryan, Brando, and Cl.u.s.ter I hope you''re safe too.'' Lumilia thought as she raised her hand. The whole place was dead silent. No one dared to utter a single sound. The tension was getting high as the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins were getting closer. A person approached Lumilia and said, "The people in the front said that the enemies were three hundred meters away from them." "Good." Lumilia nodded. She then took a deep breath and circulated her mana. She issued an order, "Blow the horn and let the mages and archers attack the enemies first." Chapter 301 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Bryan vs. Kin 1 Hummmmmm! The sound of the horn echoed throughout the whole district three. This signal means that the enemies were coming. The archers poured their mana in their arrows before shooting it towards the area outside district three. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The officers of the Seven Deadly Sins saw this and created a barrier around them to block the arrows. Countless arrows rained down on the field and the fighters watched this with a grave expression. They knew that they were going to fight these people after they passed through the arrows and spells. Yujin and Alice were observing this while preparing themselves for the fight. The other fighters were hiding in the houses waiting for the enemies to come. "Two hundred meters..." Yujin muttered as he silently channeled his mana in his sword. B-rank powerhouse like him and Alice were on the frontline. Their strength was needed to hold back this powerful organization. Alice glanced at him and asked, "Yuko is going to help us, right?" "Yes, Lumilia said that she will let Yuko help us under Souta''s order." Yukon nodded. After that, the mages charged their mana and launched countless spells. Various spells rained down towards the Seven Deadly Sins and it caused several explosions that shook the entire area. Boom! Boom! Smoke covered the field but the mages and archers didn''t stop at all. They continued to launch their arrows and spells. They were bombarding everyone. After a few moments, several people came out of the smokes. They were emitting a heavy aura around them as they charged towards the district three. They were the four-circle and five-circle officers of the Seven Deadly Sins. One hundred meters... It was then that the defensive mechanism activated. An array of spells appeared above the outskirts of district three. Lightning crackled around and it tried to kill the officers of the Seven Deadly Sins. It was followed by a sea of flames and hail storms. Boom! Several figures flashed towards the defensive mechanism and pierced it. It was so fast that the mechanism didn''t have a chance to launch an attack on these people. "They are here..." Lumilia said while watching the seven people entered district three with a gloomy looked. These seven were six-circle officers of the Seven Deadly Sins. They were at the level of people that attack the Ibish village. The real challenge starts here... Everything will start at this moment. If they could hold down these people then they could win if not then all of them will die. The six-circle officers were releasing an aura that scared low-rank fighters on the frontline. They were trembling as they know that those people in the sky could easily end them. They pushed themselves and drunk potions that could temporarily increase their overall stats. After a few moments, all the B-rank fighters burst out of the houses and charged towards the six-circle officers. Boom! Boom! "Use our number to fight these people," Lumilia said to her subordinate at the side. "Ten people at one enemy and use wheel formation so that we could last longer. Also, tell the support to buff our ally and healers should cast healing spells to the B-rank fighter without stopping." The subordinate bowed before she left to pass her orders. The fierce battle started in the sky. Shockwaves were sweeping out every second. Boom! Boom! Boom! Five-circle and below officers arrived at district three after a few minutes. All the fighters below B-rank charged and clashed with the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins. ... "If you didn''t use that form then you would be dead by now," Randolf said while looking down at Souta. Huff... Huff... Souta has a large cut on his chest. Blood was flowing out of his nonstop. He realized that Randolf was much stronger than he showed in the past. No wonder he could keep Gregory all by himself for a few minutes. ''Thanks, Saya...'' He said inwardly. If Saya didn''t possess his body at that time he wouldn''t be standing at this place. ''Don''t underestimate this man. He''s several times stronger than you.'' Saya said to him in a serious tone. [Possession] was activated as Saya forcefully used it to save him. So his current stats were stronger than before. He wouldn''t be able to fight Randolf at his base form so he didn''t need to cancel the [Possession] skill. He had to use everything that he got to defeat this man in front of him. Starting with his basic skills. [Cat''s Speed]! [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! [Agility Boost]! [Strength Boost]! Souta felt his power getting stronger every second. He pulled out his sword and poured his mana in it. ''I''ll try my best to support you. Just leave your body open to me so that I could control you in dangerous situations.'' Saya said to him. ''I understand.'' He replied to her while looking at Randolf. "Are you finish preparing? I wanted to fight you in your strongest form so used all your skills." Randolf said as a faint smile appeared on his face. Souta frowned before he stepped forward and the ground turned black. Several black tentacles rose and it pointed at Randolf. Then, a black cloak formed around Souta along with the ten gravitational balls. [Shadow Bind]! [Shadow Cloak]! [Gravitational Ball]! He took another step and a black aura oozed out of his body. It mixed with the red aura of Saya forming a stronger aura. [Night Overlord''s Aura]! All his darkness attribute spells and combat arts effectiveness will increase by fifteen percent. Also, his stats will increase by twenty percent if it was nighttime. Unfortunately, it was noon so he couldn''t use the full strength of this skill. Then, the black mist started to spread out in the surrounding area. [Dark Cloud Hunting]! He knew that blocking Randolf''s vision wouldn''t work but the effect that he wanted in this spell was decreasing Randolf''s speed and power. Also, the added stats to him. He was at his maximum form at this level. "Hahaha, let''s start the battle." Randolf laughed and pounced at Souta. He slashed the blade of mana in his hands towards Souta. Swoosh! Souta''s eyes constricted as he found that Randolf was already in front of him. He quickly moved his hand and parried the blade using the vajra sword. Clang! ... Bryan was standing in front of Cl.u.s.ter while looking at the huge man wearing a red robe. The man was Kin and the comrade of Kan who fought Brando in the red light district. Kin smiled and removed his mask. He revealed his face to Bryan and Cl.u.s.ter while saying, "Give that little girl to me and I wouldn''t harm you." "No, I will not give her to you. I will protect Cl.u.s.ter." Bryan replied as he stepped back blocking Kan''s vision of Cl.u.s.ter. "I really don''t want to fight because of my class but I guess that I have no choice." Kin sighed and he walked forward. His pace was increasing every second. Bryan gritted his teeth and he gathered his mana in his fist. He wanted to enjoy fighting this guy but his priority right now was Cl.u.s.ter. Protecting her comes first before his enjoyment. Swoosh! Kin arrived in front of him and threw his left fist at his face. Bryan pushed Cl.u.s.ter away from him before shifting his body to the side to avoid his opponent''s punch. Swoosh! Kin''s punch was sharp that it cut his cheeks even though it only grazed him. "Hehe~ your quite something, brat!" Kin laughed lightly before he threw several punches. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bryan quickly moved his hand to block the punches but some of it still managed to slip in and landed on his body and face. Flames appeared around his fist and he threw it at Kin''s stomach. [Blazing Strike]! Kin flew and crashed into the building. Bang! He glanced at Cl.u.s.ter and said, "Run away, go to the building and tell everyone what happened here. I''m sure that Souta and the rest will protect you." He knew that his attack didn''t have that much effect on his opponent''s tough body. "Brother Bryan..." Cl.u.s.ter looked at Bryan with a pale expression. She understood what''s happening. These people finally found her in this city. She had to go and leave but she couldn''t move her body. No, her body wouldn''t listen to her. It wanted to stay and help Bryan even knowing that it was futile. Boom! The front of the building exploded and Kan walked out of the smoke. He still had that smile on his face. In fact, his smile only grew wider. "Go, Cl.u.s.ter!" Bryan shouted as he focused his eyes on the opponent''s movements. He was worried that Cl.u.s.ter might get caught up in the aftershocks of their battle. "What about you, Brother Bryan?" Cl.u.s.ter asked while trembling. She was holding the stuffed toy that Brando bought for her. "It''s no use. You wouldn''t be able to escape against me." Kin said as he stepped forward. "After all. I''m an A-rank Berserker and you are only B-rank. There''s no way that you could fight against me." At the same time, liquefied mana burst out of his body and it flooded the entire area. Chapter 302 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Bryan vs. Kin 2 "Prepare yourself." Kin said as he went around and dashed towards Cl.u.s.ter. Swoosh! ''He''s going after Cl.u.s.ter?'' Bryan looked behind him with wide eyes. It seems that Kin really didn''t want to fight him so he''s going after Cl.u.s.ter. Berserker. It was a class that could influence the mind of a person. A person who chooses this class will become a battle maniac. They could also easily lose their sense of reason when fighting. The more the berserker fight the more it became stronger. Kin grabbed Cl.u.s.ter''s neck and he took out something from his pocket. It was a small pipe at thumb-size before it created a blueish rope that bound her limbs. Swoosh! Swoosh! "Argh!" Cl.u.s.ter groaned painfully as Kin tightened his grip around her neck. She subconsciously tried to remove his hands but she was too weak to do so. "I... can''t breath..." She muttered painfully. "I''ve completed my job. I need to get out of this place." Kin said but a figure flashed at his side. "Wha-" A fist containing enormous power landed on his face. It caught him off guard and it broke his tough defense. "Remove your hands from her!!" Bryan roared as he punched Kin''s face with his full power. Flames and lightning twisted around his fist and it blasted Kin away. [Lightning Flame Dominion Smash]!! A wave of lightning and flame burst forth. The ground trembled heavily and the buildings were blown away before it disintegrated. Boom! Bryan inhaled deeply as he looked at the destruction that he caused. A huge fissure was left in front of him. It was two hundred meters long, twenty-five meters wide, and five meters deep. He turned his head to Cl.u.s.ter and asked, "Are you okay, Cl.u.s.ter?" "I''m fine. Don''t worry about me, Brother Bryan." Cl.u.s.ter shook her head. She felt that she was about to cry at any moment. This happened because of her. "I''ll help you remove it." Bryan said as he grabbed the blueish rope and tried to remove it but it was tough. This rope that was binding Cl.u.s.ter couldn''t be removed by normal means. Suddenly, a voice sounded behind him. "You can''t remove that rope." Bryan and Cl.u.s.ter stiffened when they heard this voice. Both of them turned their heads and saw Kin walking towards them. The power of his punch was so strong and he didn''t think that this man could take it without suffering a single injury. That''s how absurd the strength of A-rank compare to B-rank. "How? Is that what you want to ask?" Kin smiled while stretching his body. "It''s true that the power of that attack exceeded that of a B-rank but well as you can see... I''m not an ordinary A-rank." ''I need Cl.u.s.ter to get out of this place... but she wouldn''t be able to move with these bindings.'' He thought while looking at the blueish rope. He wrapped his left hand around her waist. Kin''s eyes turned red and he released his energy creating a ripple in the air. Then, a black figure materialized behind him. It has the same appearance as him but the one behind him looked like a demon. [Rage Manifestation]! It was a high-level skill of a berserker. It raised the overall stats of the user by several folds but it lowered the user''s sense of reasoning. He will choose a target and will not stop. It will only stop until he defeated his target or he got defeated by his target. He roared and charged towards the two at extremely high speed. Boom! Bryan''s eyes constricted when he saw this. He quickly pushed Cl.u.s.ter away from him and a huge fist landed on his stomach at the same time. Bang! Kin continued to move forward and both of them crashed in the buildings creating a huge hole in it. Boom! They didn''t stop until they destroyed ten huge buildings. Bryan was slammed on the ground causing a huge crater. "Argh!" He spat a mouthful of blood as he felt his ribs getting crushed by a heavy object. The power of that punch was stronger than he imagined. So this is a Rank A Berserker. ''At least, Cl.u.s.ter is safe...'' He thought but he realized that until he defeated that person Cl.u.s.ter wouldn''t be safe. She couldn''t move so he had to defeat this person at all cost. Thud! The ground shook every time Kin took a step. Ghh! Bryan opened his eyes and he stood up. He looked at his opponent with a serious expression. ''Squeeze more power!'' ''Use everything that you learn in training!'' ''Gather more mana and compress it!'' Thick and dense mana covered his body. The mana around his body became stable and steady. It wasn''t fluctuating. It felt as if it became armor that will protect his body at all cost. "That''s it. Grow stronger and let me crush you!" Kin laughed and he dashed at Bryan. "Ahhh!!" Bryan roared as his mana formed around his fist. He then threw it towards Kin. Boom!! Both of their attacks collided and Bryan was blasted away once again. He crashed on the ground causing a deep pit. When he came back into his senses he found that Kin was already above him. Swoosh! Kin tried to stomp his face but Bryan rolled on the side barely avoiding the stomp. Bang! The ground collapsed and he fell on the sewer. It was dark but it wasn''t a problem with it. He bent his knees and charged straight on the surface. Boom! He didn''t know that Bryan was waiting for him. He received Bryan''s fist on his face. "Ugh!" ''He''s damaging me...?'' Kin smiled and he pulled back both of his fists before he launched a barrage of powerful punches. Bang! Bang! Bang! But his fists landed on nothing. Bryan was already behind him throwing punches at him. "Hehe~" His grin grew wider as he turned around to face Bryan. His fist collided with Bryan''s fist causing a huge gust of wind to swept out in the surrounding area. Boom! Both of them were thrown away by the shockwaves. It didn''t stop them from fighting as they dashed to each other once again. Bam! Bam! Bam! Each time they threw a punch shockwave would follow and destroy the buildings around them. Bryan leaped in the air and widened his eyes. A huge fist was already in front of him. It was followed by a blow on his stomach. Kin then grabbed his head and threw him away. He then opened his palm and shoot a ball of energy towards Bryan. Boom! Bryan crashed on the building and the ball of energy landed on his body before it exploded. "Argh!" The building collapsed and fell on his small body. Boom! Smoke and dust spread out and covered the whole area. Bryan felt that his body was getting heavy every second. His bones were crumbling as extreme pain hit his body. "I... need to... defeat him..." Blood was flowing out of his mouth and wounds in his body. He also felt that he had internal wounds. I... I want to win! He gritted his teeth and his mana seeped inside his body. It went in the cracks of his bones and strengthened it. His blood increased its circulation speed. His body was undergoing great change following his determined will. Acceleration! Kin sensed a dangerous feeling coming from that debris of rocks. He dashed forward and Bryan burst out of it. ''This guy... He''s getting stronger!'' "AHHH!!" Bryan roared loudly as he flew towards Kin. Swoosh! ''He could fly... That''s the realm of...'' Kin found it ridiculous that this guy could keep up with him. His eyes turned bloodshot and he loses his sense of reasoning. He will fight Bryan with of all his strength. Boom! Boom! Two figures collided repeatedly in the sky. One of the figures was blue whereas the other one was red with white linings around it. Bang! Bang! A loud explosion could be heard as the two figures continued to crash into each other. The aftershocks of their collision stirred the surrounding and the wind swept out like waves of water. The blue figure was Kin and the red figure was Bryan who was covered in his own blood. Don''t stop, keep going! Keep moving forward, Bryan! A strand of Bryan''s hair turned red as his power broke its limit. One of his eyes changed its color into color red. He only had one thing in his mind and that was to protect Cl.u.s.ter. He tightened his muscles as a few punches landed on his stomach and face. But he ignored it, he just kept moving forward while throwing his fist at Kin. Bam! Bam! Bam! "Argh!" Blood splashed around the area as Kin suffered heavy injuries. Bryan''s attack was inflicting him this much damage? This puny B-rank? He continued to receive the punches with his body. This guy was transforming to A-rank, no, that was not the case. His brute strength was reaching the height that he couldn''t achieve even though he was a berserker. "A barbarian...!!" Kin roared as his power gathered in his fist. I want to have the power to protect everyone! I will... get stronger! "AHHH!!" Bryan''s fist collided with Kin''s fist. BOOOM!! Chapter 303 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Bryan vs. Kin 3 "AHHHH!!!" Bryan roared as his fist landed on Kin''s body and Kin''s punch landed on his face. More... More power!! Flames and lightning burst out of his fist and it slammed Kin''s body. It was followed by sharp winds. The three elements twisted around and fused together creating an intense reaction that distorted the space around them. Ohm! The fluctuation of the fused elements caused ripples in the whole district. It twisted the entire red light district and the whole place turned upside down. The buildings were thrown in the sky. Boom! Flames, lightning, and wind spread out like a spider web. The energy reached the peak as could be seen by n.a.k.e.d eyes. Three different colors of mana bombarded the red light district. It expanded before it compressed around Bryan''s fist. Ohm! Once again, Bryan smashed his fist and the three elements exploded the moment it touch Kin''s body. Kin tried to block it with his hands but his hands quickly turned into ashes. He was stunned when he saw Bryan''s power. Boom! The compressed energy slammed his body and he was blasted towards the district three. A powerful outburst of energy occurred in district four and it eradicated half of it. But the aftershocks of the explosion broke the entire district. ... The people who were fighting the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins in district five stopped moving as they felt the fluctuations of energy. The red light district was part of the district five so they clearly felt the huge wave of energy that erupted in that area. Boom! They saw the buildings were thrown in the air and the three elements spread out like roots in that place. They were shocked and stunned at the same time. The phenomenon that was happening in that place was extraordinary. After a few moments, an explosion occurred above it and it went to district four destroying everything in its path. The seven-circle officer frowned and said, "That''s... the [Trinity Elemental Ray]... Only people who had three and above affinities could use that skill." Although it was a powerful skill, it''s still not enough to change the tide of the battle. That skill was weaker than the [Trinity Elemental Ray] that he saw in the past. The user must be an S-rank or an A-rank powerhouse. That level wasn''t a problem for him who reached SSS-rank. Suddenly, he felt that the family heads around him attack him at the same time. While he was distracted they launched an attack on him. It was a good tactic but he wouldn''t fall down easily. ... Lumilia was casting spells to support everyone when the outburst of the three elements occurred. She couldn''t help but turned her around and looked at district five. It was eye-catching. The battle didn''t have a barrier around them and it almost destroyed an entire district. Most of the people whose rank was high created a barrier around them to isolate their surge of power. Also, it was to avoid destroying this city. But the battle in that district wasn''t protected by any barrier. She wondered who''s the one fighting an enemy in that direction that forgot to create a barrier. Maybe, that person was alone so he didn''t have comrades to protect the surroundings. She then shook her head and focused her attention on the enemies in front. The enemies were pushing the defense line. Every minute, the enemies would breach their line and enter the field. The entire battlefield was chaotic. She could observe the field with her eyes and the information that she received was insufficient. It wasn''t enough to tell the true state of the battlefield. "What should I do?" Lumilia became anxious and the things in her surrounding. She was glancing at the time every second. Seven minutes... and the reinforcement will arrive. She glanced at the barrier in the sky and took a deep breath. "It''s time to dispel this barrier... It''s do or die now. I hope I made the right choice." ... Huff... Huff... Bryan was on his knees while breathing heavily. A large amount of blood came out of his mouth and splattered on the ground. He didn''t know what happened to him but he managed to defeat that man. The man who wanted to take Cl.u.s.ter away. "Kuh!" His hands could not handle it anymore. He fell down with a loud "thud" sound. He didn''t have the strength to move his body. He also drained his mana inside his body and couldn''t produce it at the moment. He felt intense pain all over his body. It was like someone was drilling every part of his body. It was so painful but he could ignore it before because his attention was focused on defeating Kin. But now, he could hardly handle this pain. "Cl.u.s.ter..." Bryan muttered as he recalled that he had to see if Cl.u.s.ter was fine. The intensity of the battle was greater than he imagined so he didn''t know if Cl.u.s.ter was safe. He tried to stand up but more blood flows out of his pores. "Damn... Move... I need to... find..." Suddenly, he felt a presence at his side. He slowly moved his eyes and looked over only to find Kan carrying the unconscious Cl.u.s.ter in his arm. "I came here to see what happened but I didn''t expect that you have the power to defeat one of our executives," Kan said with a serious expression. His body was injured and it seems that he didn''t manage to escape the aftershocks unscathed. After he defeated Brando, he went towards them but found that the battle was intense. The shockwaves from the two were affecting him and the buildings in the area. He had no choice but to defend himself but Bryan''s last attack caught him off guard. "You have a blood of barbarian in your veins." He muttered in a low voice as he glanced at the red strands of Bryan''s hair. Red hair and red eyes were an indication of a barbarian. It was a type of human that possessed overwhelming brute strength and vitality the moment they were born. It was the opposite of magical humans which had incredible mana in their body just like the high elves. The powerful barbarians built a kingdom called the Barbarian Kingdom hundred years ago. Most of the barbarians lives in that place. It was a holy place for the barbarians on this continent. But from what he could see, Bryan was not a pure-blood barbarian. He must be a child of an ordinary human and a barbarian. "Cl.u.s.ter..." Bryan said as he tried to stretch out his hand. In his condition, he wouldn''t be able to save Cl.u.s.ter and he knew it. His vision was turning dark and after a few moments, he lost his consciousness. "He fainted..." Kan muttered and he glanced at the unconscious Cl.u.s.ter in his arm. "It''s unfortunate but I have to leave this place as soon as possible. The scale of this battle already attracted the attention of those powerhouses. I need to hurry up." He quickly left the area and went to district three. He needed to check if Kin managed to survive but the possibility it was too low. Even an A-rank like Kin wouldn''t able to defend against an attack of that scale. Although the explosion was large, the [Trinity Elemental Ray] still wasn''t an AOE skill. It was a skill that focused on pure damage, unlike AOE skills which were focused on wide area damage. He could conclude that all the people in that place below A-rank were annihilated. ... Yujin, Alice, and other five B-ranks were fighting a six-circle officer. This was their tactic to hold the enemies in bay. For each six-circle officer, ten high-level B-ranks were dispatched to fight them. While one five-circle officer would be handled by ten low-level promoted B-rank. And all of them were equipped with high-grade weapons and armors that further increased their chances of holding the enemies. They fully utilized their numbers as they used wheel formation to grind their enemies. It was a good strategy for holding their opponent. In Yujin''s group, they only have seven B-ranks including him but it was enough for them. He used his spirit power to fill the lack of their numbers and buffed his allies making them stronger. He didn''t need to hide his power in a situation where he could die at any moment. "Tsk! Although we B-ranks could hold the stronger ones our overall strength is still below our opponents. Our comrades are dying every second." Yujin clicked his tongue as he glanced at the battles around him. The four-circle and below officers were killing their comrades below C-rank. At this rate, only them would survive before the reinforcement arrived. "The three of you should go out and help our comrades," Yujin said to the three B-ranks. "But with less number, you wouldn''t be able to handle this level of opponent." "Don''t worry, we could handle it." Yujin said with a serious expression. Chapter 304 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Spirit Synchronization Yujin inhaled deeply and nodded at his comrades. The three B-ranks nodded with a grave expression and said, "Fine, we''ll leave this to you. I hope you can last longer." After saying those words, they quickly left and went to help their other comrades who needed their help. Bang! Bang! Bang! Alice and the other two B-ranks were pushed back. Now that they don''t have the support of the three B-ranks they couldn''t handle the power of the six-circle officer. "Are you seeking death? Or maybe you''re underestimating me?" The six-circle officer asked in a cold tone. ''I never thought that I would be able to fight an opponent at this level this time.'' Yujin thought as he recalled the incident in the Ibish village. At that time, Souta drunk two monster potions to hold the six-circle opponents. He was too weak and he could only support Souta by casting buff spells and heal some of his injuries. He didn''t expect that he would fight those people once again in just a few months. It''s all thanks to Souta that his strength grew to the point that he could damage this level of opponent. "I''m really glad that I joined the Dark Oculus Legion..." Yujin said as a smile formed on his face. "Hmm...? What are you talking about? Well, I''ll kill you..." The six-circle officer coldly said before he charged towards Yujin. Swoosh! Alice and the two B-ranks quickly moved their body to intercept him. "There''s no need to hold back! Alophy! Let''s do this!" Yujin shouted and a small girl appeared on top of his shoulder. "Yeah, let''s do this! Jin!" Alophy emitted a bright light as her energy burst out of her body. [Secret Technique: Spirit Synchronization Mode] Alophy flew in the air and entered Yujin''s body. Both of their energy fused together. A warm yet gentle energy swept out in the whole district and it healed the injuries of their comrades. "What?!" The six-circle officer was stunned when he saw this transformation. "This is the purest form of energy... The spirit power...!" The injuries of Alice and the two B-ranks quickly closed as the gentle light covered their body. It enhances their overall strength and refilled their mana pool. Yujin tightly gripped the swords in both of his hands. The spirit power continued to flow in his body and it went towards the two swords creating a bridge behind him. "I''ll surpass myself at this moment!!" All the spirit power inside Alophy''s body was flowing through his body. She was in his mana pool and fused with it. The two of them were one. The spirit power that she acc.u.mulated was being used and this mode wouldn''t last that long. Five minutes... But this was enough for him as the reinforcement would arrive soon. "Let''s go, everyone!" Yujin said as he charged towards the six-circle officer and slashed his swords. Bang! Alice and the other two B-ranks followed him. Boom! Boom! Boom! He exchanged blows with the six-circle officers while his comrades were supporting him. After ten seconds, he switched to Alice and he became a support. Alice just focused on attacking their opponent as she knew that her comrades would support her. Another ten seconds had passed and she switches with the other B-rank. The B-rank brawler quickly moved in front of her and launched a barrage of punches. Alice backed away and quickly drink a mana potion and a health potion. It was to replenish her fighting power because she became the attacker once again. Bang! Bang! Bang! Shockwaves were sweeping out as the six-circle officer became furious. He couldn''t believe that four B-ranks could push him to his limit. It''s irritating. It''s annoying. This happened because of this spirit user. He didn''t expect that the spirit power was potent that could heal and buff almost everyone on the battlefield. It was his first time seeing a spirit user in his life so it was surprising for him. This was out of his expectations. Four B-ranks were fighting a powerful six-circle officer of the infamous Seven Deadly Sins? It was hard to believe but Yujin made it possible with his spirit power. The ancient power of the fairies. Everything should be gone by now but the outburst of the three elements in district five to district four decreased their numbers to a certain degree. No one expected that a person with three elemental affinities aside from the city lord was in this city. Lumilia and the other leaders noticed the changes on the battlefield. Their focus unexpectedly became stronger and the cause of this was the strange energy in the air. ''This power... Is it Yujin?'' She thought as she felt the gentle energy. She knew that Yujin was a spirit contractor but he hid it as a spirit couldn''t be found any place anymore. She turned to her subordinate and said, "Tell me the state of the battlefield." "I''m sorry, vice-commander! We can''t determine the state of the battlefield! We lose contact with our subordinates that have the tasks to send a report to us every minute!" The subordinate bowed her head as she reported what''s happening to them. "You don''t need to apologize. It seems that they deliberately target our people so that we would lose our grasp in the current situation of the battlefield." Lumilia said as she squinted her eyes. She wasn''t sure what''s happening in the frontline in this chaotic situation but it seems that Yujin and Alice were giving their best. It only means that the situation was worse which forced Yujin to reveal his trump card. Lynn who was at her side took a mana potion and drunk it. While Lumilia was planning their next move, she was helping the other people by casting healing spells or buff spells until she drained her mana. ''Everyone was trying their best. I need to try my best and break my limit.'' Lynn said to herself as she clenched her first tightly. She closed her eyes and recalled everything that happened to her in the institute. "Break the barrier!" Lumilia said to her subordinate while looking at the thick layer of barrier in the sky. She could also see the huge crimson ball above it. She didn''t have an idea what''s that crimson ball but she thinks that it was harmless. Also, it''s been a while since the explosion above the barrier stopped. It means that the battle there has concluded. She didn''t know who won but she could guess that even if the enemy managed to defeat Teacher Bargan, they wouldn''t be able to do anything in this battle. Why? Because Teacher Bargan was their opponent. They wouldn''t be able to escape that man without receiving heavy injuries. Judging from the intensity of the battle before, she could estimate that those seven-circle officers weren''t in a condition that could fight. Her subordinate passed her order until it arrived to the people in the city walls. In the operation room of the wall where the guard could monitor the walls, the city guards there heard the order from Lumilia. "Is it really okay to trust that woman?" One of the city guards asked. "What should we do? The city lord and other high-ranking officers are fighting on district one. They don''t have a time to command us with them fighting those powerful people." Another city guard replied to him. "The reinforcement our coming so we should follow her orders for a while." "Yeah, we have no choice." "At least she''s helping everyone." They turned off the device for the barrier. The energy source of the barrier stopped producing energy and several cracks appeared on its surface. Everyone inside the city noticed the changes on the barrier. They couldn''t help but turned their head to look at it. Cracks spread out quickly in just a few seconds and it covered the entire barrier. After a few moments, the barrier was shattered and its fragments fell before it faded into thin air. "Evacuate the civilians! Lead them out of the city!" Lumilia ordered her subordinates. The Seven Deadly Sins were slowly coming towards them and their forces weren''t enough to completely stop them. If they arrived here, then countless civilians would die. "Tell our forces to slowly move back. We''ll initiate the self-destruct mode of the defensive mechanism." She said in a cold tone. Chapter 305 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Artificial Living Creature Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta and Randolf exchanged blows at high speed. The ground and the buildings around them were demolished as the shockwaves sweep everything. The entire third-year area became a battlefield for the two. Almost every buildings were reduced to rubble and ashes. Even the ground beneath their feet collapsed as ripples of energy were distorting the air around them. The two collided once more causing shockwaves in the area. Then, they retreated tens of meters away from each other. Souta looked at Randolf with a serious expression. He was using [Possession] and every skill that he had but this Randolf was keeping up with him. Randolf smiled and charged at him once again. The black mist around him couldn''t block his vision. His figure flashed like a ray of light and arrived before Souta. He then swung the energy blade in his hand. Souta quickly reacted and blocked the blade using his sword. Then, he lifted his feet and launched a kick at his opponent''s stomach but Randolf saw it so he managed to step aside and avoided the kick. Swoosh! "You''re good, Souta. I really wanted to fight you for a long time." Randolf said as he slashed his blade horizontally. Swoosh! Souta shifted his body to the side and thrust his sword forward. "Well, it''s not that I don''t want to fight you. It''s just that I will not get anything from fighting you." [Stab]! Randolf changed the direction of the sword by hitting it from below. He felt that even if he tried to block the sword, the force inside it would injure him. The armor penetration of [Stab] skill was high so he couldn''t risk himself by taking it head-on. Clang! After he managed to deflect the sword attack, Randolf raised his other hand and shoot a beam. [Light Penetrating Beam]! Souta knitted his brows tightly and slashed his sword. [Crimson Moon]! The two attacks collided and it caused an explosion in front of them. A figure quickly jumped in the mid-air and rushed at Souta. "You''re a genius. Your growth rate is so fast. If I fight you a few months ago there''s no doubt that I could easily destroy you at that time but it''s different now..." Randolf said as his blade collided with Souta''s sword. Clang! "Your improvement is so fast. You actually gained the power to fight me in just a few months." He said as he continued to swing the energy blade in his hands. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta passively defends himself from Randolf''s relentless attack on him. Black tentacles emerged from the ground but the energy blade quickly cut it down in just a few seconds. Swoosh! Randolf looked ahead and found that Souta was gone. Hmm...? He stood straight and looked behind him. He found that Souta was standing twenty meters away from him. "[Shadow Ball] is it?" Souta took a deep breath and asked, "What are your objectives?" "My objectives? It''s not my objectives, it''s OUR objectives." Randolf turned serious as he looked in the sky. "We want to break the shackles binding us. Simply, we just want to be free..." Boom! He dashed towards Souta leaving a trail of smoke behind him. Swoosh! Souta tightened his muscles as he gathered his mana in his sword. Boom! Both of them clashed against each other generating powerful winds around them. Bam! Bam! Bam! In just a few seconds, both of them threw a hundred blows. Randolf''s speed and strength vastly increased and Souta felt it. His arms were getting numb and a few cuts started to appear on his body. ''This...? He''s getting stronger.'' He couldn''t block all of Randolf''s powerful attack. The attack of a real Rank-A was beyond him. "It''s really hard to be free in this world... I''ll tell you one thing. I''m not a genius like you. I''m an artificial one." Randolf said as he vanished and reappeared behind Souta. ''So fast?!'' Souta sensed his presence behind him so he turned around only to face a powerful kick. Boom! "Argh!!" He flew a few dozen meters away before he rolled on the ground. Randolf leaped in the air as he chased Souta and arrived beside him before launching a kick at his stomach. Bang! "Ugh!" Souta coughed a mouthful of blood and it splattered on the floor. He wiped the blood on his mouth as he stood up and looked at Randolf. "What do you mean by artificial?" He asked. "I literally mean it. I''m not a human nor a demi. I''m a homunculus." Randolf replied to him. Souta widened his eyes when he heard Randolf''s words. He couldn''t believe it but Randolf didn''t have a reason to lie. A homunculus... An artificial living creature made from magic and science. It was hard to create a single homunculus as it needs a vast amount of resources and sacrifices. But the topic about homunculus was long gone from this world. ''Don''t tell me someone continued this research...'' The players in the game couldn''t even find a quest about the forbidden homunculus. Everyone thought that they were gone but to think that Souta would find someone connected to it in this world. Thirty years ago... The three great countries launched a great inspection in this continent just to find the researchers of the homunculus. They found and destroyed countless facilities throughout the whole continent which was conducting research about artificial creatures. Great cleansing occurred at that time and countless people who were involved in research died. The three great countries were fierce and anyone who tried to hide the research died. They deployed several god-level powerhouses to utterly destroyed the higher-ups of some countries involved in this issue. Well, it was understandable as some leaders of large countries or small kingdoms were involved in this case so the three great countries didn''t have a choice but to send their god-level powerhouses to kill those people. For every homunculus, countless people will be used as an experimental subject. The three great countries wouldn''t deem this research as forbidden if it didn''t require human and demi sacrifices. Unfortunately, this experiment required to study the different types of human and demi''s anatomy. At that time, countless countries kept silent as they were afraid of the overwhelming power of the three great countries. They simply allowed the agents of the great countries to investigate their territory. Deploying several god-level powerhouses was indeed a scary thing. Even if it was him in the game, he wouldn''t be able to survive an attack from two or more god-level. ''So the three great countries didn''t manage to completely eradicate this issue and some of the people that survive in cleansing continued the research in hopes to complete the homunculus.'' Souta thought while looking at Randolf. ''Homunculus? What''s that, Souta?'' Saya asked him with a confused expression as she didn''t have an idea about Homunculus. Souta calmly explained to her what he knew about homunculus. "I''m saying this to you because I know that you''re not the type of person who will walk around the city saying that I''m a homunculus," Randolf said as he turned to Souta, and a smile formed on his face. Suddenly, the ground shook heavily and a bright light flashed on the sky above them. It was so bright that it illuminated the entire Ladro Institute. Souta and Randolf couldn''t help but covered their eyes. "That''s... a [Trinity Elemental Ray]..." Randolf immediately recognized the bright light outside the barrier. Souta recognized it too. They didn''t know what happened outside the institute but judging from this it seems that it getting worse. They wouldn''t be surprised if the entire city was demolished the moment they got out of the institute. Randolf shook his head and turned to Souta. "Teacher Bargan''s battle reached its conclusion and the battle in the city are close to climax. Teacher and the people he was fighting wouldn''t be able to do anything. Teacher Bargan was sealed inside that giant red ball in the sky and his opponents were heavily injured to the point that they couldn''t cast a single spell." He said while pointing at the sky. Souta knew what he was saying. Since the explosions above the city stopped it only means that the battle has finished. "So we need to hurry up and finish out battle too. The second part of my plan will start soon." Randolf said. ''Second plan? He had another plan...'' Souta tightly knitted his brows. This was not his problem but he had to get that barrier device to complete his quest. Hmm...? Randolf noticed that Souta was glancing at the barrier device in his hand. He raised it and said, "It seems that you really want to get this item. Is it really important for you to shattered the barrier that was protecting the institute from the fierce battle outside?" "I don''t care. I just want to shatter that thing in your hand." Souta replied to him. "Then... Get it!" Randolf said before he threw the barrier device in the mid-air. Souta quickly moved his body as he dashed towards the barrier device. At the same time, the gravitational ball behind him spun around and black tentacles rose from the ground. Chapter 306 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Homunculus From what he could remember, Randolf found himself inside a huge cylinder tube full of water. He was floating inside it. He didn''t know anything but a large data of information filled his mind at that time. Information about battle tactics, basic combat style, weapon master, history of the world, humans, demis, monsters, etc... Various knowledge was implanted in his head. It was a strange feeling. He wasn''t supposed to know a single thing but he somehow knew countless things. He didn''t need to study and learn about language as different languages were implanted in his head. People wearing white robes were doing various experiments on his body. He didn''t need to think about what they were doing to him. He didn''t need it at all. From all the knowledge inside his head, he knew that he wasn''t a human, demi, demon, or monster. He was forbidden to do anything. He could only stay in his bed before those people arrived and conducted an experiment once again. He was also forbidden to go outside of his room. From his knowledge, he naturally knew about the cleansing that the three great countries did in the past. He doesn''t belong to any of the people outside. Those people would kill him if they knew that he was a homunculus but staying here was also bad for him. Experiencing countless painful experiments was too much for the mind of a child like him. But he wasn''t an ordinary child. He was a homunculus so he could endure. One day, he found that he wasn''t alone. Yeah, there were other people like him. Other people that don''t belong to any category in this world. A homunculus. A humanoid artificial living creature. It doesn''t necessarily need to be a humanoid creature as some of them have strange body shapes but... For the researchers... They thought that humanoid was the perfect shape. He met the other homunculus saying that he would survive. A defective homunculus wouldn''t last one year but a normal one would have the same life span as humans. "He would survive" that''s what they said. It only means that he''s not a defective homunculus. That''s the reason why the researchers let him met the other homunculus. The other homunculus'' were older than him. They treated him as their young brother. They were kind to him unlike the researchers in the facility. Randolf came out of the experiment room. He saw children waiting for him outside the room. They were homunculus like him. "Are you okay?" A child that looked like him said. "Nn... I''m fine but the experiments are getting painful." Randolf nodded at him. They were his brothers and sisters. "I''m glad that you''re fine." One of the children said. "I''m sure that the experiments will finish someday." Another one said. "At that time, we would live together and everyone will not suffer from these experiments." "It would be bad if we go outside, right?" "That''s why we will find a place that we will call our home." The experiments continued every day. Randolf and his siblings experienced the same thing every day. "How are you today?" "The same as usual. It hurts though." "It''d be great if the experiments end soon." "What should we play today?" "Let''s play hide and seek today!" "Sure, I''ve mastered a secret technique to hide myself. Hahaha!" "There''s no secret technique!" One day, the experiment became worse. One by one the people that he treated as his family died. Their body couldn''t handle the extreme experiments of the researchers. It was hard for him but one day he found that he was alone once again. All the homunculus except for him died. Really... There were just dispensable tools for the researchers. Randolf stood in the hall alone with a blank expression. His siblings died because of the experiments. "We have a dream. Our home. But now... It''s gone." He muttered in a low voice as he lowered his head and looked at his hands. "I know that we''re expendable goods... But we should at least be allowed to dream." For the other homunculus like him... He will free everyone and build a place where they could live freely. "Everything... Is it wrong for us to wish for a place we could call our home?!" Randolf appeared in front of Souta and launched a kick. He then caught the barrier device using his hand. Bang! Souta flew away and crashed on the ground. Ugh! Even with all of his skills, he couldn''t match this self-proclaimed homunculus. [Possession] could only give him the strength to keep up with him but it wasn''t enough to defeat Randolf. He needed more power. Should he summon Yuko and help him fight Randolf? But Yuko was helping Lumilia... She was helping some of the B-ranks fight the six-circle officer. If he summoned her, their information would break and the enemy would breach the formation of the B-ranks. Then, his last choice would be the equipment skill of the universal artifact, [Soul Blood Earring]. Randolf appeared in front of him and Souta quickly slashed his sword. [Crimson Moon]! Randolf shifted his body and avoided the slash. He then grabbed Souta''s wrist and threw him on the ground. Swoosh! Before Souta crash on the ground, he vanished and reappeared twenty meters away from his opponent. Randolf was about to chase after Souta when the gravity around him tightened. "This is not enough to stop me!" His mana burst out of his body countering the harsh gravity around him. He then saw that Souta was gone. Hmm...? He quickly turned around as he sensed a presence behind him. But then a sharp blade was heading towards his neck at high speed. Swoosh! He raised his hand and caught the sword. Souta''s eyes constricted when he saw this. He then felt a pain on his stomach as Randolf delivered a fierce blow. Bang! Rank-A was really different from the rank below it. It was hard to close the gap, unlike Rank-C and Rank-B. The liquefied mana was many times stronger and tougher than his vast energy even with the usage of [Possession]. Also, Randolf wasn''t using any powerful equipment like him. If Randolf used equipment or artifacts at orange grade, then we would suffer a defeat before they could even fight. "Tell me, Souta!!" Randolf shouted as he slashed the energy blade in his hand diagonally. Clang! Souta parried his attack and quickly launched at a kick. He activated the [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Cat''s Speed], and [Triple Muscle Strengthening] once again as he felt that the effects of these skills disappeared. "I don''t care about that. I just want to break that barrier device in your hand." He spoke while blocking Randolf''s fierce attacks. The [Night Overlord''s Aura], [Shadow Cloak], and [Shadow Step] didn''t have a time limit. It will continue to consume his stamina and mana as long as it was activated. "Hahaha, you''re really good! That''s why-" Randolf didn''t manage to finish his sentence as cracks spread around the barrier of the city. "The barrier...?" Souta stopped moving too as he looked at the sky along with Randolf. After a few moments, the barrier broke down into tiny pieces. ''The barrier... It''s time. I need to finish this as soon as possible.'' Randolf thought as he turned to Souta. He threw the barrier device above him and shot an energy ball towards it. Swoosh! "That''s bad..." Souta muttered as he quickly moved his body and blocked the energy ball. Boom! "Argh!" He received the energy ball and it exploded in front of him. ''Do you want to destroy that barrier device, right? So why are you protecting it.'' Saya asked him. "I want to be the one to destroy it," Souta responded to her question. The Saya in his mind tilted her head with a confused expression. What''s the difference with that? After all, he wanted to break the barrier device to free the institute. She couldn''t understand him. His quest required ''HIM'' to break the barrier device so it will be considered a failure if someone broke it other than him. That''s why he will not let anyone destroy it. Souta stretched out his hands and caught the barrier device. "I finally got it. This is a lot harder than I thought and I discovered a lot of things especially from Randolf." He muttered as he gathered his mana in his hand and crushed the barrier device. Crack! The barrier around the institute was shattered. Everyone looked at it and felt something wrong. ''Oi! What''s the point of blocking that attack? I thought that will do something but you just crush it.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his head. Souta ignored her words as he looked at the system notification that pop up in his vision. *Ding!* [Congratulations for completing the quest "Barrier"!] [You''ve received 20,000 exp, 10 attribute points, and 8 skill points as your rewards!] Suddenly, a light shone on the ground of the third-year area. The light looks like a giant magic circle from above. Ohm! Soon, the ground shook heavily and Souta felt tremendous energy was coming out of the ground. Boom! The entire third-year area was separated from the room as it started to float towards the sky. ''This is bad, Souta. This is a great sealing spell with the enchantment of a powerful sorcerer...'' "So...?" ''A great being was sealed here and it will woke up.'' Chapter 307 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Dark Emperor The ground shook heavily as cracks spread out and it separated the third-year area. Boom! Slowly, the entire ground started to float while the magic circle was shining brightly. Waves of mana were sweeping out of the whole city like a heartbeat. Thud! Thud! Yanagi, Mia, Rein, and the other people in the institute stopped fighting as they turned their heads and saw a shocking scene. An entire place moving upwards was absolutely stunning. It was like a floating fortress of the angel race. Thick and gigantic chains could be seen beneath the fortress and it was connected to something deep underground. Dense energy was coating the gigantic chains. This energy could be seen by the n.a.k.e.d eye. The power within it was so drastic that sparks made of mana flew out of it every second. The forces of Ladros City and the Seven Deadly Sins were shocked. None of them didn''t plan this kind of development. "Ufufu, what''s happening to my Souta?" Yanagi chuckled as she looked at the third-year area with interest in her eyes. The entire third-year area flew five hundred meters above the surface as the barrier turned into tiny particles. "What is happening there...?" Lumilia muttered in a low voice. She immediately regained her senses as she glanced at the expression of the Seven Deadly Sins. She saw that they were also shocked. It only means that they were not the reason of the floating land above the city. She recalled what Souta said to her before. "Someone other than the Seven Deadly Sins is here." She forcefully shook her head and shouted, "Everyone attack. This is our chance to attack while our enemies are distracted." She wanted to know what''s going on but her priority was pushing back the enemies. She could only hope that Souta was safe. ... A person wearing a normal white shirt and black pants was looking at the floating land with an amused expression. He had short black messy hair and a pair of thick glasses. "I came here to here when I heard that the Seven Deadly Sins were going to attack this city but I didn''t expect this development." He muttered as he adjusted his glasses and observed the gigantic chains which were connected to the floating land and the place beneath the pit. "Even I didn''t know such thing was sleeping beneath this place. It seems that it came from the era before this current one. One thousand years ago... maybe much more distant than that one." He combed his hair behind his head and grinned. One could see a lion tattoo on the back of his palm. It was the symbol of Leo, one of the zodiac signs. "I''ll look closer to it. The Zodiacs will appear once again and everyone will know our name. "Everything is for my dream... I will make it true no matter what." ... A man with blonde hair came out of the underground of arena. He looked at the floating land with a serious expression on his face. He a six-circle officer of the Seven Deadly Sins didn''t know what''s happening. Their plan was just to destroy this city but this floating land was giving him a dangerous feeling. "Someone is moving behind our backs." He muttered as a smile formed on his face. If he didn''t have an important mission, he would go there and try to find who dared to disrupt their plan. He shook his head and looked at the red gems on his hand. These were the bloodstones that this city was protecting. His mission was to retrieve these stones and delivered it back to their lord. This was their real goal in attacking this city. Destroying everyone who disrupted them in Ibish village was just the secondary plan. "Still, it''s been a while since we have a large-scale operation like this one, and to think that our target was a city under the rule of a large country. It''s pretty exciting." He strode forward and started to walk away from the arena. The people who were guarding the bloodstones were all dead. ... "Great Being...? Tell me how powerful it is..." Souta asked as he stood on top of the rubble while looking around with a wary expression. He was on the floating land and this situation was unknown to him so he could only rely on Saya''s knowledge. ''The sealing spell that was used was called [Tactical God Sealing] spell. From its name, you could understand that this spell was designed to seal a god-level powerhouse. That''s not all, that chains were called gleipnir.'' Saya said to him. "Gleipnir? As in that heavenly chain from Asgard..." Souta frowned when he heard it. ''You know the history from the God''s Continent... I didn''t need to explain that much. I''ve got to say that chains weren''t the real gleipnir. It was only a prototype as the real one was binding the World Wolf Fenrir.'' Saya spoke calmly. "Yeah..." Souta nodded his head. He knew the World Wolf from his past life. It was one of the most powerful and fiercest monster lords in the god''s continent. In the war on the god''s continent, the World Wolf wreaked havoc in every corner of the land. ''But that chains didn''t lack a powerful sealing ability. In fact, the [Tactical God Sealing] spell made it more powerful than the original gleipnir. So the being that was sealed using these powerful seals wasn''t an ordinary god.'' Saya explained to him. "In other words, a powerful god-level powerhouse was going to wake up at any moment," Souta said as he saw a silhouette from the thick smoke twenty meters away from him. ''Yes, but you should settle your business with that person first.'' Saya said. Randolf walked out of the smoke and he looked at Souta with an amused expression. Hmm...? Something was wrong with Randolf. Souta couldn''t feel anything from him as if he was just an ordinary person. ''Souta, this is bad. Prepare yourself. This person is out of your league.'' Saya said in an alarmed tone. After a few moments, a powerful and dense black aura burst out of Randolf''s body. It was overwhelming and Souta couldn''t help but took a step back. Boom! The energy level was rising rapidly without stopping. He was already strong from the beginning but now... It was something clearly above Souta''s level. The liquefied mana flowed out before it spun around and turned black visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. Crack! Suddenly, Souta felt that he couldn''t move his body. This mana around him was solid and it was restricting his movements. ''This... A solidified mana.... A mana capable of crushing people into dust...'' He gritted his teeth as he circulates his own mana but he found that he still couldn''t move under this pressure. ''If you can''t hold it anymore just tell me. I''ll fight in your stead.'' Saya told him in a serious tone. An S-rank was too strong for the current Souta and she knew it too well. That''s why she prepared herself to control Souta''s body and expends her energy. But... doing this means that she would fell asleep once again just like what happened on the Fersch Dukedom when she controlled his body. That''s not a bad choice for her. It''s better than letting Souta died. Randolf''s purple hair turned black and black marking spread on his body as a small black bead formed on the center of his forehead. His eyes also turned into pitch black. Souta''s eyes constricted when he saw this scene. He shivered as he recalled a certain memory from the game. That appearance, form, aura, and demeanor were all familiar to him. Also, that black crystal on the center of his forehead. In the whole universe, there were three crystals that have the same power as that crystal on his forehead. The first one was from the emperor of the Red Crystal Empire. The second one was from the Jade Emperor of the Heavenly Palace. The third one was a rogue god from the Ruin Desolate Continent. But to think that he would find the last holder of that crystal. ''So you''re that person all along...'' Souta thought while suppressing the shock in his heart. The fourth holder of the Luminary Crystal, the Dark Emperor ''Zargon''. One of the most powerful NPC in the game that will make an appearance in the later version at the Mars Archipelago. Chapter 308 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Underground King Everyone managed to hold the enemies. It was truly amazing as the floating land unknowingly helped them distract their opponents. Thud! Lynn fell on her knees as she exhausted her mana by casting healing spells nonstop. This was the only thing that she could do so she decided to try her best by healing everyone. "Lynn!!" Lumilia hurriedly went beside Lynn with a concerned look. "Don''t push yourself too much. Souta wouldn''t like it if you collapse here." She said to Lynn in a gentle tone. "But... I want to help everyone." Lynn lowered her head while clenching her fists. "You already tried your best and it''s enough for us. You''re healing spells helped a lot of people." Lumilia said then her subordinate approached them. She looked at the subordinate and asked, "What is it?" "The reinforcement from the neighboring cities have arrived!" The subordinate said to Lumilia in a polite tone. At the same time, the other leaders breath a sigh of relief when they heard the news. "You''ve heard that Lynn. You can leave everything to us." Lumilia said as she smiled. She knew that once the reinforcement arrived, they would be able to push back the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins. She turned her head and saw a wave of people helping them. It was the combined forces of three cities. Each city sent five thousand armed people to help Ladros City. So they have a total of fifteen thousand troops and five hundred of this were B-rank and above. It''s the start of their counter-attack. But not every troop was here. Half of it went to district five to help the nobles there. A middle-aged man with blue hair and blue eyes landed near the group. Three people with powerful aura landed beside the man. The man with blue hair walked towards them and asked, "Who''s the person in charge here?" "Father...!" Lumilia blurted out when she saw the man. Jimmy and the other leaders of the merchant group glanced at her before they looked at the people that arrived. They knew that these people were the leaders of the reinforcement. "We all have the authority but this person is our strategist." They said as they turned their heads to Lumilia. At the same time, the people that arrived including her father looked at her. Lumilia took a deep breath as she stood up and approached the leaders of the reinforcement. "I''m Lumilia the vice-commander of the Dark Oculus Legion and the strategist of the merchant alliance army." She introduced herself in a tone that wasn''t too polite or rude to these people. She was one of the leaders so she didn''t need to bow her head to them. It was as if she was telling them that they were equals. "Good job on holding back the enemies," Ursus said to her as he observed him. He was quite surprised to find her being a strategist of a large army like this. "No, we just did everything to survive against this powerful enemy." Lumilia shook her head. She then explained what''s the current situation to them. About what happened to the city and Bargan getting sealed in the sky. Boom! Suddenly, the ground shook heavily. Huge cracks appeared on the ground and several people fell on it. Lumilia, Ursus, and the other leaders stopped talking as they turned their heads to look at their surroundings. "What''s happening?" Then, powerful waves of energy swept out and it froze everyone on the spot. Ugh! Lynn who was at the corner puked. She shivered as she felt the great energy in the atmosphere that made everyone trembled in fear. This was the first time she experienced this kind of energy. Even without trying her best, she could easily feel the immense energy below the floating land. It was terrifying and unnerving. It felt as if a giant predator was standing in front of her. The energy it possessed was like a sun as it surpassed the amount of energy of all the people in this city possessed. It''s like she was comparing a small pond to a vast ocean. ... Randolf''s current transformation was familiar to him. It made him remember a bitter incident in his past life when he encountered this man in the Mars Archipelago. When he went on an expedition in that newly opened continent, he met Randolf a few times and he always got killed at that time. ''So he changed his name or Zargon is his real name.'' Souta thought while looking at Randolf from top to bottom. Zargon, one of the four crystal emperors and will be called the Dark Emperor because of the dark crystal on his forehead. The four crystal emperors were pinnacle existence in the game. Their power was unfathomable. The four crystal emperors were known throughout the whole world and countless people feared them because of their overwhelming power. Souta didn''t think that one of his classmates was the Dark Emperor. It seems that taking the bead was Randolf''s true motive. Randolf was looking at his body, trying to feel his new powers. He felt an overwhelming power in his body and his mana undergo a solidification. Not just that, his physical strength too increased greatly as it broke the limit. Energy and physical strength. This was a true Rank-S. A realm of the strong people. "Ah~ this power..." Randolf murmured while clenching his fist. A tremendous amount of mana was gushing out of his body and he wasn''t familiar with his new strength so he couldn''t properly control it. ''The last piece... A few more minutes and I''ll be able to complete this.'' He thought as he glanced at Souta. "That was your goal all along," Souta said as he squinted his eyes. He was still trying to force his body to move under the solid mana in the surrounding. "I needed this to complete my goal. To free my brethren." Randolf responded as he took a step forward. He smiled as he glanced at the huge pit on the surface. "Let me tell you something." Souta moved his eyes and looked down at the city. He could see the battle from way up here clearly than anybody. "Exactly one thousand two hundred forty-five years ago three terrifying existence came out of the infamous Dark Forest. It wreaked havoc in the continent." Randolf said while looking at the huge pit with a serious expression. "You''re telling me that one of the existence that came out of the Dark Forest was sealed here," Souta said as he recalled the same lore of the game. "This kingdom hasn''t been founded at that time so no one knew about it. I just happened to find this history while searching for this crystal." Randolf said as he touched the black crystal on his forehead. ''Three creatures that came out of Dark Forest...?'' Souta frowned deeply as he realized what''s going to come. "Here it comes..." Randolf said deeply. BOOM!! A surge of best feram burst out of the huge pit. Everyone stopped moving as the energy spread out in the whole city. Ohm! The worse scenario has come. The threat of this creature was greater than than the forces of the Seven Deadly Sins that were in this city. Bang! A gigantic hand came out of the pit. It grabbed the edge of the pit and a huge figure emerged from it. Thick and dense energy was flowing out of the body of the figure. ROARRRR!!! A loud roar resounded throughout the whole sky as the figure revealed itself. Everyone saw a seven hundred feet tall humanoid furry creature came out of the pit. It has three ashen-colored horns on top of its head. Its pair of sharp fangs were glistening as it opened its mouth. The color of its fur was brown with black in its abdomen and dozens of spikes protruded on its broad back. Its hands were covered in white exoskeleton like armor and its long tail extended from its back to the ground. It has a length of fifty feet. The humongous chains were around its neck, arms, and legs. The fake gleipnir was still hard and it wouldn''t break easily. Everyone turned pale when they saw this giant creature. Their mind went blank for a second as the creature emitted a powerful wave of energy that wiped the surrounding buildings. "I have no choice but to release it. My objective is to get the crystal but taking it means that the power source of the seal will be gone." Randolf said in a low voice. A creature from the ancient era. This creature was a monster at the peak, a Monster Lord. One of the three kings of the monster along with Sea King and Sky King, the infamous Underground King. These three creatures fought the alliance army of the Giza Continent and walked between the war of demons. A monster which was hunted by humans, demis, and demons. Even the other monster lords were hunting them yet no one managed to take them down. Chapter 309 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Deal A monster lord appeared all of a sudden. The worst was that it wasn''t an ordinary monster lord. It was at the top tier in terms of fighting ability. The Underground King was at the level of the Destruction Queen. ''That guy... I remember him causing a combination in this continent thousand years ago. I didn''t know that he was sealed here. If he was sealed maybe the other two were also sealed but we have no idea where it is.'' Saya said to him. She was also familiar with the Underground King and the other two kings as well. ''We don''t need to worry about it for a while. That monster lord will take some time before it broke the chains. Our problem right now is Randolf.'' Souta replied to her with a gloomy expression. Although Randolf wasn''t at the Red Crystal Empire''s Emperor level, he was still out of his league. The difference between his current strength and S-rank was too large. Should he use his cards? He glanced at his system and checked the reward cards that he received in the Ibish village''s quest. Level up card(s): 2 Skill-level up card(s): 2 One-time best feram skill card(s): 1 One-time Dark Dominance skill card(s): 1 300,000 experience card(s): 1 He could use the One-time best ferum skill card to increase his strength. With this, he would be able to use best feram with a limited amount of time. Also, there''s no side effect in using cards. He turned to Randolf and asked, "Are you still going to fight me even though you completed your goal?" There''s no point in fighting Randolf as he wouldn''t receive anything. It was better to go down and hunt those members of the Seven Deadly Sins. He would receive a lot of rewards that way. "I wanted to leave this place too but the extraction isn''t complete so I have no choice but to stay here. So I''m going to fight you to pass time." Randolf paused for a moment and said, "Still, you haven''t lost your will to fight. It seems that you''ve still got some ace in your sleeve. Oh? Now that we talked about it, I recalled that every time you fought someone above your level you always drunk monster potion. Don''t tell me, you''ve still got a monster potion." Souta didn''t reply to him. He closed his eyes and heard the cry of the souls. ''There''s no need to hold back... Let me use the souls of people that died.'' He thought. ''You!! There''s a monster lord below you! That level of monster would sense you if you absorb the soul of the dead people here!'' Saya said hurriedly. She didn''t recommend this choice. It was risky to show this ability in front of a creature that reached that level. ''But that monster lord would focus on breaking the chains...'' Souta replied as he opened his eyes and thousands of souls went towards him. In just a few seconds, he reached the limit of the souls that he could gather. [Harvester of the Soul] Soul Collected (Left Piece): 1,800/1,800 He used it to increase his intelligence attribute by 10. Then, he saw the souls filling up his earring once again. [Harvester of the Soul] Soul Collected (Left Piece): 1,900/1,900 Once again, he used it in his intelligence attribute. He only stopped after increasing his Intelligence by 50. He checked his stats and nodded silently. Intelligence: 777 ? 827 This was just his base stats. The added stats of his equipment wasn''t included in this. If he reached 1,000 base intelligence, his spell power and damage would increase by 1% for every 100 base stat of intelligence. Just a little bit more and he will reach this threshold. Suddenly, he heard Randolf''s voice. "Are you done contemplating whether to run or use your ace?" Randolf asked. He just wanted to fight Souta not kill him. He doesn''t want to kill anyone in this school. His order was the reason why the traitors didn''t kill any students of the Ladro Institute. Although he sounded hypocrite he still didn''t want to do it. He could accept it even if everyone blamed him for releasing the Underground King. No, he decided to become hypocrite. Even if he died in the end he would accept it as long as he made a place the other homunculus could call home. "Yeah..." Souta replied as he checked the souls that he gathered. [Harvester of the Soul] Soul Collected (Left Piece): 2,300/2,300 This was enough for his left piece. It was the right piece''s time to collect the souls. [Harvester of the Soul] Soul Collected (Right Piece): 251/400 He continued to gather souls until the soul requirements became 1,300. This was equal to 100 attribute points making his intelligence 927 points. Also, he couldn''t gather all the souls in this place. The range of this skill was limited so he couldn''t collect everything in this huge city. Plus, he was in the sky. He was lucky that there were souls here. ''You''ve done it now, Souta. There''s no turning back. I could only hope that monster lord wouldn''t notice it or there''s no other god-level in this place.'' Saya said to him. ''It''s better than you controlling my body and falling asleep for a few months.'' Souta replied to her as he a smile formed on his face. ''I needed your knowledge and skills. You said that you''re going to train me right? So why do you want to fall asleep eagerly?'' "Are you done? I''m going to attack you if you wouldn''t drink a monster potion." Randolf said as his mana compressed on his body. He was about to attack Souta when he sensed a presence around them. "Hmm...?" He frowned as he looked around with a wary expression. Souta was confused when he saw Randolf stopped. He already felt that Randolf was going to attack him but something change. ''Is there other people here aside from the two of us?'' He thought as he squinted his eyes. "Heh~ You people really did a good job hiding from my perception but... my perception was upgraded the moment I''ve become an S-rank!!" Randolf''s chuckled as he waved his hand and a flash of mana flew towards the rocky area fifty meters away from him. Boom! The place exploded and several figures revealed themselves. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The figures landed on the ground as they surrounded Randolf and Souta. ''These people... The seven-circle officers that Teacher Bargan fought.'' Souta recognized the figures when he observed them. It was hard as some of their limbs were missing and their body was full of burn marks. It was clearly the price they had to pay if they wanted to seal Teacher Bargan. Although they succeeded their situation was so bad as they could die at any moment. "Tsk! I didn''t expect that a mere S-rank like you to detect us. I wouldn''t want to fight in my current condition but it can''t be helped..." Yuvn said as he glanced at Randolf. "Oi! Don''t expect for me to let you go just because of your condition! You dare to sneak on me so I will kill you!" Randolf said in a cold tone. "You''re the one who''s sneaking behind us. To think that some nobody would plan to release a sealed monster lord also... that crystal in your forehead." Yuvn said as he narrowed his eyes. "Didn''t expect to see a Luminary Crystal here." Randolf glanced at Souta and said, "Let''s postpone our fight. I''ll just kill these people before we continue our fight." ''Eh... We''re going to continue.'' Souta looked at Randolf with a blank expression. "You''re going to kill us? You alone. Despite my condition, I''m still a Hero-rank, you know?" Yuvn laughed as if he heard the funniest joke. Randolf didn''t say anything as he simply charged at them. They were Hero-rank but the damage that Teacher Bargan deal to them was so high that they couldn''t even cast a spell or skill. Also, using a sealing ability like that. He knew that they must''ve paid the price for using that powerful sealing ability. Despite all that, they still have the power to contend against an S-rank like Randolf. Bang! Bang! Bang! Randolf didn''t hold back as he launched powerful spells and skills at the seven-circle officers. Souta observed the battle and noticed that one of the seven-circle officers was guarding him. ''One... and Randolf are fighting five heavily injured seven-circle officers so the total is six... Six seven-circle officers are equal to 30 skill points and 90 free attribute points.'' A wide grin formed on his face as he looked at the seven-circle officer. This was once in a lifetime opportunity. He wouldn''t find another chance like this to kill them. "Randolf let''s make a deal. Let me deal the finishing blow to them. I wanted to kill them for attacking this city. In exchange, I will fight you later as long as you want." Chapter 310 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Vs. Seven Circle Officers "You''re saying that we''ll fight together." Randolf turned to Souta. "Yes, that''s the gist of it but let me handle the finishing blow. I wanted to kill them with my own hands." Souta nodded with a smile. "Sure. It''s more interesting that way." Randolf smirked as he agreed to Souta''s condition. "You''re going to help your enemy," Yuvn said as he glanced at Souta. "If you stay out of this, I''ll let you leave this place." Although Souta was a B-rank that doesn''t even liquefy his mana, he could feel that the aura around him was many times stronger than an ordinary B-rank. He didn''t know that it was thanks to [Possession] skill that Souta could have this powerful energy. ''It will be bad if he joined forces with this man. If I''m at my peak, I could easily handle a mere B-rank but with my current situation, it will be hard.'' Yuvn thought. He hasn''t recovered from his fight with Bargan. He couldn''t use his burned right arm and he didn''t have any mana left in his body. The only thing he could count on was his physical strength. He was more worried about his comrades who were a pure mage. Eighty percent of their power comes from their spells so if they couldn''t use it, even a low-rank opponent could handle them. Also, their orange grade was gone. Bargan turned it into ashes. If an SS-rank appeared here, then they wouldn''t be able to fight back but luckily their opponents were just a B-rank and S-rank. They could handle it to some degree despite their condition. "Nope, I will not leave this place. How could I leave an injured seven-circle officer here?" Souta said with a wide grin on his face. Yuvn looked at his comrades and asked one person to handle Souta while he and the remaining five will fight Randolf. "Souta, are you about this? Despite their condition, they were still a Hero-rank powerhouse." Randolf asked one more time. "You don''t need to worry about me. You''re clearly underestimating me." Souta said as he charged towards his opponent. His opponent this time was a mage. A man with average built and black hair but most of his lower body was burned. Swoosh! Souta arrived in front of the mage before he slashed his sword horizontally. His sword was dark grade weapon while his opponent didn''t have a single weapon and couldn''t use mana. Plus, he didn''t have a mana to protect his body so he didn''t have a way to block a dark-grade weapon unless his class was a shielder or other class that was based on toughening ones flesh. The mage raised his hand to block Souta''s sword. ''Don''t underestimate my sword.'' Souta thought as he slashed his sword. Swoosh! A large cut appeared on the mage''s hand. The sword almost cut his hand. He didn''t expect that the sword was so sharp that it could cut the flesh of a Hero-rank. "Argh!" He groaned in pain as he tried to move away but Souta chased after him and kept slashing his sword. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The mage didn''t dare to use his body to block the sword. Souta was weak but the sword was unusually sharp. Much sharper than the orange-grade sword that he knew. "Oh? They started fighting. Let me start it too!" Randolf said as he turned to Yuvn. He gathered his mana and launched himself at their group. Swoosh! Yuvn clenched his fist and threw a punch. Bang! Both of their fists collided causing a powerful shockwave in the surrounding. Then, three people appeared beside Randolf. "Hmm...? Only three, it means that Souta was fighting two opponents right now." Randolf raised his eyebrows when he saw that there were only three people beside him but when he thought about how Souta handle his opponent it felt natural to send one more. The three people attacked him at the same time. Randolf moved his body side by side as he avoided all the punches of his opponents. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The only thing that his opponent could do was fight him using their brute strength. Close combat battle was what they want. It''s impossible for them to fight a long-range battle. They didn''t have a weapon for long-range or mana to shoot beams. Still, he couldn''t underestimate the power of Hero-rank even if they were gravely injured and couldn''t fight properly. Randolf shifted his body to the side as a fist passed in front of his face. He stretched out his hand and grabbed it. Then, he used his other hand to shoot condensed mana on the body of his opponent. Bang! The seven-circle officer flew and crashed on the piles of rocks. He wanted to chase his opponent but Yuvn and the other two seven-circle officers blocked his way. Bang! Bang! Bang! Randolf exchanged his speed blows to his opponents. He was shocked that a gravely injured person could still keep up with him. The Hero-rank was really a powerful realm. ''This person has experience in close combat.'' Yuvn thought as he was surprised that Randolf''s bare-handed combat skill could rival his. Without using spells and combat art, just pure combat skill. This person wasn''t below him. ''Just how did this brat trained before to acc.u.mulate this much pure skill.'' Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Randolf jumped away and gathered his mana. [Decaying Earth Wave]! Yuvn''s eyes constricted when he saw this. "Move away!!" He shouted as he jumped away. He knew that spell very well. That spell was a powerful tier 3 spell that corrodes anything that it touched. ''I couldn''t kill them. Souta will deliver the finishing blow. Still, I don''t think I''ll be able to kill these four people on my own.'' Randolf thought as he narrowed his eyes. If there were only one gravely injured person, then he could somehow handle it but four of them... it was impossible for him. At the best, he could tie them down using his full strength. ... Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta was passively defending himself against the attack of his two opponents. Suddenly, he vanished and the two seven-circle officers missed their attacks. Swoosh! They quickly turned around and saw Souta twenty meters away from them. They didn''t need to think about what to do as they rush towards him. They didn''t want to give him a time to counterattack. Swoosh! Souta gritted his teeth as his two opponents arrived in front of him. A Hero-rank at peak could easily traverse five hundred meters in just a second. Twenty meters was nothing for them. The fists of the two seven-circle officers landed on his body. He didn''t try to avoid it because he knew that he wouldn''t be able to create a chance if he avoided it. He gritted his teeth as he felt his ribs being crushed even though most of the damage was received by [Shadow Cloak] skill. He silently cast his spells. [Shadow Bind]! [Gravitational Ball]! [Shadow Ball]! Fist-size black balls formed on his back and another set of black balls scattered around as the black tentacles rose from the ground. Boom! The gravity in the whole area was warped and it twisted the place. The two seven-circle officers frowned as they felt the gravity trying to crush their bodies. Souta jumped away as dozens of tentacles rushed towards the two people. He then raised his hand and used his skill card. [One-time Dark Dominance Skill card activated!!] A gigantic black ball that has a diameter of three meters formed above Souta. This was the spell that Fels used to him when they fought in the Ibish village. A high-level tier 3 spell. He received 10 free attribute points and 8 skill points from breaking the barrier device. He also received 8 free attribute points and 4 skill points for helping President Mia by defeating Wesler. He used the 18 free attribute points in his intelligence attribute making it 945. He then used his 12 remaining points to level up his [Night Overlord''s Aura] to level 6. Boom! The black aura around him grew stronger. It will strengthen his dark attribute spells and combat arts every time he used this aura to use his skill. Souta narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the fight between Randolf and the seven-circle officers. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to catch his opponents off guard but Randolf''s opponents were possible. Boom! The two seven-circle officers broke through the gravity field and tentacles as they quickly rushed towards him. ''I know what to do... I''ll quickly kill one of Randolf''s opponents.'' He thought as he continued to move away while the two were chasing him. After he gained some distance away from Randolf''s fight, he quickly turned around and faced his opponents. "Let me do this..." Souta said as his eyes turned red. [Soul Blood Mode]! Chapter 311 - Collapse of the Ladros City: [Soul Blood Mode] The two seven-circle officers suddenly stopped rushing at Souta. They felt the atmosphere turned heavy and chilly so they couldn''t help but observe the situation first. They were wary about the unknown and it''s natural to be cautious about your opponent. [Soul Blood Mode]! Souta''s eyes turned red as his earring emitted a dark light. Ohm! Hundreds of humanoid figures rose from the ground. Their bodies were ethereal and they were full of malice and hatred against living things. Sometimes they would disappear and sometimes they would appear in the place. Their semi-transparent bodies were like swimming in the air like a fish on the pond. Their ghastly voice was echoing in the surrounding area. "What is this?!" The two seven-circle officers were shocked when they saw this scene. They couldn''t believe what they were seeing at this moment. "What the hell is this technique?!" "Don''t tell me this is a soul?!" Their eyes narrowed when they reached the conjecture that these ethereal figures full of resentment were souls. "Is this guy know dark arts?!" "A forbidden technique that is widely banned in the whole world!!" Obstructing the natural law of the universe was forbidden. Most of the god-level powerhouses from ancient times banned such practice. Souls heading to the soul realm to be reincarnated was a natural law. No one should prevent it. If someone tried to prevent it they will face the wrath of every powerhouse in this world, no, even people from other worlds would try to hunt down that person. In the past, there''s a tribe that was proficient in souls. Everyone was afraid of their powers as they took the souls of their enemies and put them in the place which they called hell. Those souls would suffer for eternity and they wouldn''t be able to reincarnate. Everyone was afraid of going to hell and suffer for eternity so they banded together and exterminate that tribe. What everyone knew that that tribe has some survivors and they were laying low on another continent. Souta knew this as that tribe would appear in the expansion pack in the later version. It was one of the parts that he enjoyed when it was still a game but now... It will become a disaster if that tribe appeared. "Do you want to become the enemies of the whole universe?" The seven-circle officer asked him. They were cautious. They weren''t afraid to die but this person was different. If they died at the hands of this person, then they were done. They were going to lose their chance to be reborn. They will become nonexistent. They will simply disappear or serve as a subject for experiment for this vile person. Also, he wasn''t a part of any criminal organization yet he dared to practice such arts. Doesn''t he fear what those righteous countries would do to him once they know that he was practicing soul technique? "Of course not, but you leave me no choice but to use this skill," Souta replied as the souls around him twitched before they flew towards him. Swoosh! He gritted his teeth as the souls entered his body. Creepy voices that were filled with resentment echoed in the whole area and the two seven-circle officers couldn''t help but shivered when they heard it. "Argh!!" Souta felt extreme pain as if countless needles were drilling inside his body. The souls roared as they turned into a power source as they flow through Souta''s blood. Veins emitting red light appeared around his body. It was thumping as if transferring power through his body. Shhhhhh!! The two seven-circle officers didn''t dare to make a move. They didn''t want to fight this kind of enemy. It''s okay if they died at the hands of other people but this man... Damn! They can''t lose their souls to this man. "Ah~" Souta exhaled as he turned his head to the two seven-circle officers. He opened his mouth and said, "Let''s continue the battle." The two seven-circle officers subconsciously took a step back. Various images of humans and monsters overlapped Souta''s figure. The same could be said to his voice. Different voices of humans and demis echoed. It was terrifying to see and hear it. This was the first time they encounter something like this in their entire life. They could fear it. Their souls were trembling in fear. Their souls were afraid. ''Saya, I''ll leave my mana to you. Use it to create a barrier around this floating land. I''ll focus myself on killing these guys.'' Souta said to her as he tightened his muscles. The feelings of souls flowing in his blood were painful. He could feel their pain and hatred for him. ''Fine, I''ll handle it. Also, make it quick. You wouldn''t be able to use [Possession] again if you keep using it.'' Saya replied to him. As the barrier covered the entire land Souta heard a familiar faint voice calling his name. Hmm...? He turned around and looked in the direction of the battle below. He frowned as he felt something wrong happening on the ground. ''SOUTA!!!'' He came back to his senses when he heard Saya''s loud voice. He didn''t need to think about anything else. He should focus his attention on killing these people. Swoosh! Souta quickly zoomed the distance between him and the two seven-circle officers. The aura around him was ominous and vicious. His two opponents couldn''t help but tremble when they saw it. "We have no choice but to fight back!" "If we don''t want to die we have to fight!" They said as they began to fight Souta. They launched a barrage of powerful punches at him. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta swiftly moved his body from side to side as he avoided their attacks before he gathered his energy in his sword and slashed it. The souls flickered on the blade of his sword, glaring at the faces of his opponents. This [Crimson Moon] was much stronger than his usual [Crimson Moon]. This one had the power of souls in it that increased its firepower by two hundred percent. Boom! A huge energy blade flew out and the two seven-circle officers jumped to the side as they avoided the powerful lethal attack that could end their lives. But they weren''t Souta''s true target. They saw Souta''s figure flashed in front of them. Swoosh! Randolf, Yuvn, and the other three seven-circle officers stopped moving as they turned their heads and saw a gigantic energy blade flying in their direction. Yuvn frowned as his instincts were sending him signals that this energy blade was very dangerous. "Dodge!" He gave an order as he jumped backward to avoid the energy. The other seven-circle officers jumped as they followed Yuvn''s order. They also felt that this attack was dangerous and they couldn''t afford to block it in their current condition. Swoosh! Swoosh! Randolf looked at the energy blade and then at his opponents. He decided to take this chance to incapacitate one of them. "It''s better than nothing." He slightly bent his knees and jumped towards his opponent. The blade of energy exploded and he stretched out his hand. "I got you!" He smiled as he grabbed the leg of his opponent but the spike energy from the explosion hit his side. He ignored it as he tightened his grip on the leg of his opponent and threw him on the ground. Boom! But then... He saw Souta''s figure appeared flashed towards the seven-circle officer that he threw on the ground. "What?!!" Yuvn and the other seven-circle officers were stunned when they saw Souta appeared out of nowhere. "First blood!" Souta grinned as he arrived in front of the seven-circle officer on the ground and quickly slashed his sword. Putchi! The head of the officer flew into the sky with widely opened eyes. He couldn''t believe that''s it for him. A powerful person like him would die at the hands of a B-rank. Swoosh! Souta quickly turned around and stabbed the heart of the seven-circle officer using his sword. *Ding!* [You''ve gained 506,706 exp for defeating a Seven-circle officer!] A system prompt sounded in his mind as he pulled out his sword. One kill. Five more left and this battle will reach its conclusion. "You!!" Yuvn and the other seven-circle officers were shocked. Everything happened so fast and they couldn''t even react. When they came back to their senses, they realized that something was wrong with Souta''s aura. He hadn''t felt this power in his entire life. It was something that put pressure on his body... No, he couldn''t point it but then it hit him. His soul was trembling at the sight of such power. It was as if he was starting at the embodiment of death. "You-You know the forbidden soul art!!" Souta turned around and looked at Yuvn. A semi-transparent figure was coming out of his body and it will quickly enter his body. Every second it will appear and it seems it was overlapping with his figure. "You''ll garner the wrath of every gods if a word of this got out," Yuvn said as he subconsciously took a step back. "Well, there''s no if for you as I''ll kill all of you. You wouldn''t be able to tell the tale about this power." Souta replied. Yuvn glanced at Randolf and saw that he was shocked too. It seems that this guy didn''t know about the soul arts. He then recalled that these two were enemies from the beginning. "Hahaha!" Randolf laughed and said, "I know what you want to say but I don''t care if Souta knew Soul arts or whatever it is called. This only makes it more interesting so don''t think that I''ll work with you to kill him. I''ll fight him on my own and I don''t need your help. But that''s after all of you died." Chapter 312 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Hunting the Seven-circle officers "Hey, if you want me to help you fight that person who knew soul arts then your not getting any." Randolf paused for a moment before he added. "I wanted to fight Souta in a one-on-one battle so I don''t need any of you." "You!! Do you know soul arts? If someone knew this..." Yuvn didn''t manage to complete his sentence as Randolf interrupted him once again. "I don''t care about that! What''s important is that I enjoy my battle with him! Also, I''m curious about soul arts. Is the soul the reason why you people couldn''t accept us? Humans, demis, demons, monsters, and even undead have souls in their body but I don''t have any soul. Maybe, if we had a soul you people would stop hunting us." Randolf said. Yuvn frowned when he heard his words. "...what are you?" "Me? I''m a homunculus!" Randolf replied before he charged towards Yuvn. Swoosh! Yuvn was caught off guard. His brain didn''t even manage to process Randold''s revelation when he was knocked back by massive energy. Bang! "Now that you''ve learned my secret, you''ve certainly won''t ask me to help kill Souta, right?" Randolf smiled as he opened his palm and casted a spell. Lightning crackled around wildly before it shoots toward Yuvn. Swoosh! At the same time, the giant black ball above Souta strikes the other seven-circle officers. [Dark Dominance]! Souta imbued soul power in this spell to make it stronger and more lethal to any living creatures that possessed a soul in their body. The seven-circle officers had a grim looked on their faces. They quickly moved their bodies and tried to avoid the beams that were coming out of the gigantic black ball of energy above Souta. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta opened his palm as he saw the two seven-circle officers that he fought before arrived on the field. Swoosh! Ten black balls appeared on top of his palm and he smashed it on the ground. "Zero gravity!" The debris of rocks started to float in the air. Souta then casted [Shadow Bind] as dozens of black tentacles emerged from the debris of rocks in the air. "Hold this guy! I''ll quickly kill that soul arts user!" Yuvn shouted as two of his comrades pounced at Randolf who was in front of him. Randolf knitted his brows as he glanced at Yuvn. He then threw a punch at the officer in front of him but he only hit the air. He then saw a foot coming from below. He moved his other hand and grabbed the foot before he spun around and kicked his opponent at the chest. Bang! "Hmm...?" Randolf turned his head and saw the remaining two flying in his direction at high speed. ''Four of them will handle me while the other one will try to kill Souta...'' He realized their plan. Yuvn was the strongest one among them so he had a high chance to kill Souta. ''Do they really think that they could easily kill Souta with their condition? They must be dreaming!'' Randolf couldn''t help but laugh at their naive thinking. They were clearly underestimating Souta. All the people that underestimate Souta before were already dead. He witnessed how those people underestimate Souta and died in the end. In a fight against Souta, one must expect that Souta was as strong as him or stronger than him cause he didn''t know what tricks he will use in a battle. Just like what happened today, Souta used soul arts which were forbidden in the whole universe. ... Yuvn crushed the black tentacles and rocks that were flying on his way. Bang! Bang! Bang! Tearing apart a tier 1 spell was easy for him even if it was a modified one. "Soul arts user? I''ll kill you and free the souls of my comrades that you''ve captured!!" His figure flashed as it collided with Souta''s body. Boom! Their figure repeatedly crashed against each other. Bang! Bang! Bang! The shockwaves that they generate blew the rocks that were floating in the air. ''This guy has stronger physical ability than the people before. He is as strong as an A-rank even though he''s on death''s door.'' Souta thought as he shifted his body and a fist passed beside him. The force behind the punch was tearing the air and Souta could hear a loud sound snapping the air. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! "Soul arts user! You will die today!" Yuvn roared as he threw a barrage of punches at Souta. Each punch contained brute strength that could annihilate ordinary B-rank. It was so fast that Souta didn''t have a choice but to passively defend himself against the punches. "No, you''re the one who will die today. I will take your soul and use it to strengthen myself." Souta replied while trying to block all the punch that was coming at him. ''Saya, I''ll leave it you'' ''Ufufu, you really want to use me even though I''m already helping you.'' "You!!" Yuvn grew angrier as he punched Souta. Bang! Souta raised his left hand and Yuvn''s fist landed on his wrist. His bones cracked under the pressure of the punch and he was blasted on the ground. "Argh!!" His grip on his sword loosened and it was thrown upward. Blood came out of his mouth and it splattered in every direction, dyeing the rocks in crimson color. The vajra sword spun in the mid-air before it flew towards Yuvn. Swoosh! Yuvn raised his hand and grabbed the sword without looking at it. "You thought that I don''t know your plan. Too bad for you, I realized it when you deliberately loosen your grip on your sword." A mocking smile formed on his face. "Now, die!!" Suddenly, he felt cold spread on his body as he stopped moving. "What the-" He couldn''t move his body as he heard a voice of a girl in his mind. It was chilly and horrific at the same time. Putchi! Blood splattered on the ground as a hand pierced his chest. "Y-You got... me..." Yuvn looked at Souta with anger in his eyes. Defeat means that his soul would suffer for eternity. "This trick never gets old. You should always help me like this." He muttered as he removed his hands from Yuvn''s chest along with his heart. Pwooosh! Blood spurted out from Yuvn''s chest. His heart was still beating wildly on Souta''s hand. Souta looked at it with an amazed expression. The heart was full of vital energy but it doesn''t have mana in it. It seems that the battle with Bargan destroyed Yuvn''s mana pool. If the mana pool was still intact then the heart of the powerful Hero-rank would be a good source to replenish his mana. The mana pool was situated inside a person''s heart. And the heart was helping the mana pool circulate the mana of a person inside its body like blood. So if a person masters the way to control mana, then that person would be able to circulate his mana inside his body as simple as breathing. In this way, the muscles, bones, organs, and skin would change because of the exposure to mana. It would get healthier and stronger just like the monsters. "Too bad, you fell for my trick." Souta said as he closed his fist, crushing the heart on his palm. He then took the vajra sword and heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [You''ve gained 799,999 exp for defeating a Seven-circle officer!] *Ding!* [You''ve received a random reward card and a One-time Gluttonous Blessing card for defeating an opponent equipped with blessings!] A card? Oh, good. He received this card because he managed to kill a Hero-rank with blessings. If he was above level 39, then he wouldn''t be able to receive these rewards. These rewards were only given to the people with exceptional feats. No matter how he did it, as long as he killed it he would receive the rewards. There was even a player in the game who stalked the battle of two god-level powerhouses and luckily landed a killing blow to a god who was going to die. After that, he died from getting too close to a battle of the two gods. That player was so lucky that it made everyone jealous. What happened there was pure luck. The other god launched a killing blow but the god survive from it leaving only 1 hp and the player used everything he has got and deal 1 damage to a god. If the god had 2 hp left then god wouldn''t die at that player''s hand. It was humiliating for them to die at mortals'' hand. This card... Souta will be useful for him. A card that will let him temporarily have the blessing of Gluttony from the Seven Deadly Sins. Souta picked the body of Yuvn. He will use it to disrupt the formation of the officers that were fighting Randolf. "Four left..." Chapter 313 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Killing Another Seven-Circle Officer ROAR!! The roar of the seven hundred feet tall creature shook the entire sky. The Underground King was tightly grabbing the chains around his body. He was tearing these chains apart. The fluctuations of his energy caused several explosions around the city and enormous cracks formed on the ground. The cracks spread around the city. It separated each district. Energy waves will burst out of the cracks from time to time. It was a terrifying scene. It was like the world will end as the mana in the atmosphere was slowly disappearing because of the best feram of a monster lord. The whole city was being distorted. It was twisting as the Underground King was pulling the massive chains. Everyone who witnessed this scene felt their scalp go numb. The chilly sensation of the air was hard to describe. They were like an insect in front of a giant predator. People who got caught up in the energy waves that were bursting out of the cracks died instantly. The same could be said for those people who fell on the cracks. The ordinary people that were in the range of best feram died from suffocation. They were too weak to withstand the power of the best feram of a monster lord. People below rank-F could only accept their fate. In just a few minutes, the casualties increased by two fold. No one expected this kind of thing. The forces of the Ladros City and the Seven Deadly Sins were oblivious to the plan of a third party. The seven-circle officers who were fighting the teachers and nobles stopped attacking each other as they looked at the monster lord with a gloomy expression. Everyone could only rely on the mana inside their body, their mana pool. The mana in the atmosphere was hopeless. It was pushed back by tremendous energy. "Why the hell is a monster lord here in this city?!" Pavoni, a seven-circle officer said with annoyance in his tone. "Ufufu, let''s return... We already complete our purpose. We don''t need to destroy this city ourselves as that monster lord will destroy this city even without us saying anything to that monster lord." Frammie, also a seven-circle officer, said. If they stay here any longer, they will only put themselves in danger. Suddenly, she felt the piece of paper in her pocket vibrated. Hmm...? She took it out and saw that it was emitting a dim light. This was a transmission talisman. This sign means that someone was trying to connect to her talisman. She channeled her mana and opened her connection. As soon as she opened it, a voice came out of the talisman. "We take down the airship and retrieve the bloodstone. We lose some of our men but we still achieved our goal. How is your side?" "Hmmmmm..." Frammie placed a finger on her lips as she examined her surrounding before she replied, "Well, we also complete our goal but some unexpected things occurred. A monster lord appeared here." "What?!" The voice from the other side grew louder. "Ufufu, don''t worry... We''ll fall back but casting a teleportation spell under this pressure will take a lot of time." Frammie said and she cut the connection before the other side could say something. ... Everything was out of order. Even the reinforcement from other cities couldn''t do a thing about this problem. Lumilia had a grave expression on her face. She couldn''t contact Bryan, Brando, and Cl.u.s.ter. And now, Alice and Yujin were gone after the monster lord appeared. She didn''t know if they were fine or not. She was scared and trembling. She couldn''t help it as this was the first time she felt the power of a monster lord. The horrific power brought fear to her heart. She was helpless. No matter how she tried to think, she couldn''t find a way to save the people of this city. "I have to save the people I could save with my power..." If she was worried about others, Lynn was worried too. She couldn''t do anything but stay on the sidelines. She was weak. She wanted to help. She wanted Souta to recognize her. She wanted to grow stronger. That''s why she will try her best to one thing she''s good at. Souta said that she had a talent in becoming a sensory mage. Her master said the same to her. "I will try it..." Lynn closed her eyes and focused her attention on her surrounding. She could hear several explosions and powerful fluctuations of energy. The voices of the people entered her eyes. Cries of the children. Breathing of the people on death''s door. Despair and fear. She could felt it from their voices. She was trying to find Yujin, Alice, Bryan, and all of her friends. She wanted to see if they were fine or not. She wanted to confirm it. Slowly, her senses expanded and it spread throughout the whole city. Lumilia who was at her side turned to look at her. "What is this?" She felt something was off with Lynn. She couldn''t point it but she could feel an ethereal feeling coming out of her friend. An otherworldly feeling. "Don''t disturb her." Lumilia looked over and saw her father examining Lynn with a surprised expression. "Her concentration is so deep. She wouldn''t be able to hear you in her condition. I don''t know what she''s trying to do but it wouldn''t do her good if you disturb her." Ursus said to her daughter. Ohm! Lumilia opened her eyes widely as she felt the mana inside Lynn''s body was forming a whirlpool below her abdomen. "What-" A large torrent of energy exploded and shot upward. The explosion of her energy wasn''t large as the best feram in the surrounding suppressed it. Lumilia, Ursus, and the other people around them looked up. They saw cracks in the sky and after a few moments, a giant eye opened looking down at the whole city. "That''s..." ... Souta dragged the body of Yuvn to the place where Randolf was fighting the four seven-circle officers. "Your leader is dead." He said as he threw the body on the ground before he added, "I took his soul and the same thing will happen to all of you." The seven-circle officers were shaken when they saw the body of Yuvn and heard his words. The words ''I took his soul'' seeped into their hearts. They could accept it if they were just going to die but taking their souls was a different matter. Randolf grabbed the feet of one of the officers and he smashed the officer on the ground. "Don''t get distracted in the battle!!" He was about to chase after that officer when the other three officers regained their senses and attack him at the same time. Bang! Bang! Bang! "Haha, are you really going to ignore Souta?" Randolf laughed as he blocked all their punches. His opponents couldn''t help but glance at Souta when they heard Randolf''s words. Randolf was right, they couldn''t ignore the person who uses soul arts. But looking away while fighting Randolf was a grave mistake. "Ehe~ I got you!" Randolf spun his body in the mid-air and kicked the other two while grabbing the neck of the remaining one. Bang! Bang! The officer on the ground stood up. He ignored the battle above as he focused his attention on Souta. This brat just killed the leader of this operation, Yuvn. So he couldn''t afford to underestimate this brat. He saw Souta smiled and disappeared in front of him. He quickly turned his head but a hand emerged from the ground and grabbed his leg. "What?!" The hand pulled him underground and a sword pierced flashed straight at him. He shifted his body but he avoided a lethal hit on his vital part. "Tsk! He reacted quickly." Souta clicked his tongue as he raised his feet and kicked the officer''s chest. Bang! The officer was blasted away. Since they were under the ground, the place collapsed and was thrown in the air. When Souta smashed the [Gravitational Ball] on the ground and used zero gravity, he secretly added the [Shadow Ball] spell so that he could surprise these people. "Argh!" The officer spat a mouthful of blood and he saw black tentacles shooting at him. "This f.u.c.kers!!" He roared as he grabbed the tentacles and tore them apart like a piece of paper. He then found that he became the center of gravity. Countless rocks were flying towards him. Bang! Bang! Bang! Boulder of rocks landed on hit body. No matter how much he smashed the rocks the fragments of these rocks struck his body. "Damn!" If he had mana, he could easily disintegrate these rocks with just his aura. He then saw Souta flying towards him at high speed. "You''re coming!! Let''s -" He couldn''t finish his sentence as he huge boulder of rocks smashed his face. Swoosh! Souta arrived and swiftly slashed his sword. The head of the officer flew and his neck spurted a fountain of blood. *Ding!* [You''ve gained 578,099 exp for defeating a Seven-circle officer!] Chapter 314 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Finishing all the officers on the floating land The rocks fell causing a loud sound. It made the ground trembled a little bit. The headless body of the officer too fell on the ground. It sprayed blood, dyeing the ground with crimson color. The stench of the blood filled the whole area. *Ding!* [You''ve received a random reward card and a blank skill card for defeating an opponent equipped with blessings!] Hmm...? Souta raided his eyebrows when he saw the system prompt. This guy had a blessing? Just how many people that have the power of blessings they brought in this mission? He knew that Bargan was the strongest Hero-rank but how the hell he could keep up with a group of seven-circle officers and two of them had the power of blessings. No, he wasn''t sure if these two were the only people who had blessings. There''s a possibility that all of them had blessings. He just one thing. And that''s they couldn''t use their blessings in their current condition. They must''ve exhausted its power while fighting Bargan. Then, moved to the rewards... The blank skill card. He could use it to any character and randomly copy one of their skills. But learning the skill that he copied in the card cost him skill points. It was a good card. He would use it to the Underground King and test his luck if he could copy a powerful skill. Souta lifted his head and looked at the battle of Randolf and the three seven-circle officers. Randolf was really a strong person. Cough! He suddenly coughed as blood poured out of his mouth. ''Souta! You should stop using the souls! Your body isn''t strong enough to handle thousands of mad souls at the same time!'' Saya said to him. "I''m fine. Just a little bit more and I will be able to finish all of them." Souta replied to her as he wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. He then released his aura so that the people who were fighting would notice him here. Ohm! Randolf smirked as he knew what Souta was trying to do. Souta''s presence could give pressure to the three guys that he was fighting. Knowing that a person who knew soul arts was watching their movements waiting for them to lower their guards, the seven-circle officers wouldn''t be able to focus their attention on Randolf. They would have to divide it as they were wary at Souta who already killed Yuvn and the other two of their comrades. If they ignore Souta then who knows when might he attack them. "I''ll use it..." Souta muttered as he raised his hand and the gigantic black ball moved above him. [Dark Dominance]! Dozens of beams shoot towards the seven-circle officers. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The officers stopped attacking Randolf as they flew around trying to avoid the beams from the gigantic black. Bang! Bang! Bang! Several explosions occurred and the ground trembled heavily as if the gigantic black was trying to destroy the whole floating land. No, it could literally destroy this floating land. Souta was just avoiding shooting a destructive beam using the [Dark Dominance] because if this floating land got destroyed he will fell on that monster lord on the surface. He had to avoid confrontation against the monster lord. The black ball continued to shoot beams towards the three seven-circle officers while Randolf was chasing after them. The officers were trying to avoid getting hit by black beams. Souta imbued soul power within this spell so it was very lethal to living creatures. Of course, it would do less damage to creatures that didn''t have souls in their body like homunculus and golem. That''s why Randolf wasn''t scared of Souta''s soul arts. Boom! Boom! Boom! After a few moments, Randolf managed to grab one of them. "Ehe~" He laughed as he gripped the shoulders of the officer and smashed his knee on the stomach of his opponent. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! He smashed his knee dozens of times before took something behind him. A fist-sized black ball landed on the same spot where he smashed his knee. "Argh!" The officer was thrown away as he spat a large amount of blood. "Bye-bye!" Randolf waved his hand with a smile before he turned around and chased after the other officers. The officer was confused. He wasn''t dead but that guy treated him as one. Don''t tell me... The soul arts user. But he was far away so he wouldn''t be able to get here easily. Suddenly... Souta vanished from his position. Swoosh! He found that Souta was already in front of him pointing the sharp sword at his neck. F.u.c.k!! How did he get here? Putchi! The vajra sword pierced the neck of the officer. "Argh!" The officer''s face contorted as he couldn''t believe what happened to him. He couldn''t accept it. His vision was getting blurred and his voice wasn''t coming out of his mouth. He heard a female voice in his head. ''Ufufu, let me fill it to you before you die. It''s the [Shadow Ball]. You thought that the black ball that the man before shoot towards you was an attack spell. You''re wrong with that. That black ball is our spell and it''s not an attack spell. It''s a teleportation spell. Did you get it?'' Saya''s voice sounded like she was having fun. Souta twisted his sword and sliced the neck of the officer. *Ding!* [You''ve received 489,000 exp for defeating a Seven-circle officer!] "Four down... Only two left." He muttered as he waved his sword and the blood on it splattered on the ground. Souta took a deep breath as he focused his attention on the remaining two seven-circle officers. He didn''t need to use a trick as there were only two of them left. Randolf too wouldn''t have a problem with this. He could fight four of them at the same time so fighting one wouldn''t give him that much pressure. "Let''s make it quick!" Souta smiled as he launched himself towards the battle. Swoosh! His figure crashed one of the two officers left. Bang! Randolf smiled as he tilted his head and a fist grazed his cheeks. "You could just leave it to me. Don''t worry I''ll let you kill them so don''t forget our deal." He said as he grabbed the wrist of his opponent and elbowed the officer''s face. Then, lightning crackled around his body. "Argh!" The officer groaned in pain as lightning continued to land on his body through Randolf. "Souta, here you go!" Randolf chuckled and a white sphere of light coated his fist. He then launched a barrage of punches at the officer. Bang! Bang! Bang! The officer was thrown towards Souta and Souta towards the officer. His sword pierced the neck of the officer. Souta then slashed his sword downwards while using [Crimson Moon]. *Ding!* [You''ve received 431,000 exp for defeating a Seven-circle officer!] Souta and Randolf turned their head and looked at the remaining seven-circle officer. There''s one more left. The officer couldn''t believe what happened to their group. They fought Bargan and somehow survived but they didn''t expect that these two weak people were the ones who will kill them. It''s better that they died while fighting Bargan. "Ehe~" "You wouldn''t be able to escape!" Souta and Randolf pounced at the seven-circle officer with a wide grin on their face. *Ding!* [You''ve received 547,777 exp for defeating a Seven-circle officer!] *Ding!* [You''ve received a random reward card and a blank skill card for defeating an opponent equipped with blessings!] The seven-circle officer couldn''t do anything as the two killed him and took his soul. Huff... Souta exhaled as he deactivated the [Soul Blood Mode]. This skill consumed most of the souls that collected. It provided him a huge boost in his strength but its cost was high. A hundred souls per minute were its cost. "Don''t forget our deal." Randolf suddenly said from the side. Souta glanced at him and said, "Do you want to fight now?" He looked straight at Randolf''s eyes. After a few moments, Randolf shook his head and replied, "No, I don''t want to fight you at your current condition. There''s no point in doing that. Also, it''s time for me to leave this place." "Okay, thanks for helping me," Souta said as he sat down and looked at the Underground King below. He was tired and didn''t have the strength to continue fighting. "You know soul arts, huh? I wonder if you could place a soul in a homunculus'' body. Maybe that way, we would be able to live without hiding." Randolf said in a low voice. "I''m not well verse at souls so I couldn''t do it. Also, it''s not my skill." Souta replied to him. "Okay, I''ll leave now. I certainly enjoy the normal life of a student here. I won''t forget it in my entire life. The life of a normal student... I want to give it to my siblings." Randolf said as he turned around and started to walk away. Souta glanced at his back and smirked. "We''ll meet again in the future." "Hahaha, I hope so," Randolf replied without looking back. He then disappeared. After Randolf left, Souta''s expression turned serious. Yeah, they''ll meet in the future. There''s no doubt about it. They will not be able to avoid it as both of them will participate in the war. At that time, Randolf will become the Dark Emperor ''Zargon''. One of the four crystal emperors that have the same level as the emperor of the Red Crystal Empire. Later on in the future, these two people will become famous throughout the countless worlds in the universe. Their legends will be passed down from generation to generation. Bards will sing their deeds and accomplishments in the war. The Dark Emperor and the Frost Abyssal Lord. Chapter 315 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Name Randolf left so Souta didn''t have to worry about Randolf attacking him. He could rest assured that he won''t get attack from behind. Randolf must have left to take his comrades out of his of this chaotic city. He was pretty sure that Randolf wouldn''t leave his comrades in this city. Well, that''s if Randolf was saying the truth about him being a homunculus. ''What should we do now?'' Saya asked him. Souta stood up and patted his clothes before he replied, "We''re going down. This land would crumble at any second." Now that the crystal was gone. This land loses its property to float in the air. It will collapse and fell to the ground. It''s not good to stay in this place as the seals that were binding the Underground King were going down the moment this floating land collapsed. Bang! The ground shook heavily and huge cracks appeared on the floating land. What Souta said before was right. This floating land was going to fall. After a few moments, the land started to collapse. The edge of the land was crumbling before it fell down towards the surface. Souta was on top of one of the falling rocks. He had a clear view of the Underground King from this position. He could see the cracks on the chains and estimated that it will only last for another two minutes. Falling on the surface means getting close to the monster lord. The atmosphere changed as he continued to descend. The best feram was so thick in this area to the point that it made Souta feel helpless. "Damn! This guy is like a god." Souta muttered as he observed the seven hundred feet tall humanoid furry creature. ''Yeah, your god. A monster lord is equivalent to a god for monsters. Mostly, the monster lords are stronger than gods. Newbie god and a newbie monster lord which do you think possessed more power?'' Saya said. "Of course, the monster lord," Souta answered without hesitation. Humans and demis will have to evolve if they want to become a god but they insist that was not an evolution. Evolution is what makes a monster so if they evolved, then doesn''t that mean that they''re a monster too? They called the process of changing one''s body and transforming it to break the shackles of mortal''s limit was Deification or Divinization. ''Correct. The monster lord''s physical strength and ability were all above god. That''s why the gods fear them since ancient times. If a monster lord was to go out of control the gods will bond together to subdue that monster lord.'' Saya said. "There is an exception to every rule. Some people could already fight a monster lord the moment they become a god." Souta said and he recalled the names of those gods that could fight a monster lord when they just became a god. Some of the gods in the three great countries, Mount Olympus, Asgard, Heavenly Palace, Takamagahara, etc... Also, the Seven Deadly Sins, Ten Commandments, and the Twelve Zodiacs. Their powers were above ordinary gods and they were like God of the gods. Randolf was just like that too. If Randold became a god just like in the game, then his power would skyrocket while defeating powerful opponents on his way until he stood at the peak. ''Watch out!'' Saya warned him. Boom! Souta quickly jumped away and went to the other falling rocks. A wave of best feram just burst out and destroyed his previous position. He needed to use it right now. The blank skill card that he got from killing the seven-circle officers that have blessings. This blank skill card let him randomly copy any character''s skill. What a great card but the process to obtain this was too hard for him. Killing a seven-circle officer was extreme. He wouldn''t be able to do it without Randolf''s help and if the officers didn''t fight Bargan before. He was just lucky. Yeah, that''s right. He was lucky. He wouldn''t be able to do it again. ''What are you doing, Souta?'' Saya asked him. "Nothing," Souta replied before he focused his attention on the Underground King. *Ding!* [Do you want to use the blank skill card? Yes/No?] Yes. [Please select a target!] He waited for a few seconds until a notification pop up in his vision. *Ding!* [You''ve successfully copied a skill of the Underground King!] [Burrow]: Increased burrowing speed by 100%. Could easily change the formation of the soil. [Do you want to use 2 skill points to learn this skill? Yes/No?] The Underground King has hundreds of powerful skills but to think that he will get this one. Not a great skill but it will become useful for him in the future. But it''s not the skill that he was looking for. Nevertheless, Souta used 2 skill points to learn this skill. He only had 6 skill points left to him and he had one blank skill card left. *Ding!* [Do you want to use the blank skill card? Yes/No?] Yes. [Please select a target!] Souta chooses the Underground King as his target once again. He wanted to get some useful skills that will boost his strength. If possible he wanted the most powerful skill of the Underground King. *Ding!* [You''ve successfully copied a skill of the Underground King!] [Monster''s Force]: The strength of the king from ancient times. +100 strength, +80 agility and dexterity, and +50 vitality. [Do you want to use 2 skill points to learn this skill? Yes/No?] This was not what Souta want but this skill was pretty good in its own way. This will do for now. This was a trait of a monster that they will receive once they evolved to their third evolution. Yes. Souta replied as he used 2 skill points to learn this skill. It was good as he felt a pleasant feeling coursing through his body strengthening his muscles and fibers. After that, Souta quickly jumped as he looked at the state of the Ladro Institute. The Institute was gone and it seems that the students already left after the Underground King appeared. The entire place was deserted. No forces of the city and seven deadly sins could be seen around. The deterrent force of a monster lord was really high. It even scared the forces of the seven deadly sins. ''Hmm...?'' "What''s wrong Saya? Have you notice something?" Souta asked as he landed on the ground. He could see corpses in every direction. ''Mnn... A person is standing in front of the Underground King.'' Saya said to him. Souta gulped as he turned his head to looked over. If Saya was right then there were only a few people that could stand in front of the Underground King without being affected by the best feram. The gods. They were the only ones who could stand in front of the Underground King. He narrowed his eyes as he saw a silhouette of a person. He couldn''t clearly see the person''s appearance but it seems to be a male based on the figure. ''Just who the hell is that man?'' He thought while looking at the figure of a man. It seems that he had to observe what''s happening in this place. ''It''s too dangerous, Souta.'' Saya warned him. "Don''t worry they will not care about a weakling like me. With their powers, they must have already known that we''re but they didn''t care at all. For them, I''m just an insect that they could easily kill." Souta replied to her. ''You''re underestimating yourself too much.'' Saya said. "Well, that''s the truth. For other B-rank, I''m a powerful person but for them, I''m just an insect. It doesn''t matter if I''m an A-rank or a Hero-rank." Souta smiled as he quietly moved away while observing the movements of the unknown man. He remembered that he still had 3 random reward cards. He had to roll this to know what cards he will get. *Ding!* [You''ve received a 300k exp card!] [You''ve received a blank skill card!] [You''ve received a skill-level up card!] It''s good except for the 300k exp card. A 300k exp was nothing at his current level. Well, it''s still better than nothing. He already had two skill-level up cards so added this one makes it three. He will use it later to level up some of his skill to try to promote himself to Rank 3 Battle Mage. Another blank skill card. He was quite lucky today. So should he use it to Underground King or that unknown man? He was sure the unknown man was at least a god. Okay, he decided to use it to that man. Souta narrowed his eyes as he set the man as his target and used the blank skill card. *Ding!* [You''ve successfully copied a skill of the Zodiac ''Leo''!] [Sword Mastery]: Acc.u.mulation of one''s sword strength. The understanding of the way of the sword. Souta didn''t care about the skill that he got. He was simply stunned by the name of that person in his system. Zodiac Leo. Isn''t that the leader of the Twelve Zodiacs? Why is that man here in Ladros City? Chapter 316 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Suppression So the leader of the Twelve Zodiacs was here in this place... If he went close he was sure that he would recognize that that man was the Zodiac Leo but he was too far... So he was sure that no one recognized Leo in this place in the game. "Damn! Just what the hell is wrong with this city? I''ve met a lot of big shots here." Souta cursed as he glanced at the man before he turned around and left. He had to get out of this place. Every member of Zodiacs was no ordinary god. This man Leo fought 30 god-level powerhouses from the three great countries alone. That was terrifying and horrible. The moment he appeared in the territory of the three great countries, the whole place became hell. The Zodiacs was not a big organization like God''s Will and Deadly Sins as they only have twelve members but... The problem lies in those twelve members. The God''s Will have ten powerful gods while the Deadly Sins have seven powerful gods but the Zodiacs have twelve. And those twelve members were enough to place the Zodiacs at God''s Will and Deadly Sins'' level. Each member possessed terrifying power to shake the foundation of every country in this world. When the Zodiacs launched an all-out attack on this continent, countless countries fell and billions of people died at their hands. Gods weren''t enough to hold them. ''Do you know that man, Souta?'' Saya asked as she didn''t know that man. "Yeah, but I can''t say his name to you," Souta said in a low voice before he added, "The moment I uttered that man''s name, he would be able to know about me." ''[Curse Name]!!'' Saya said in shock. "Yeah, it''s pretty bad," Souta nodded his head. [Curse Name]. As the name suggested, this skill put a curse on one name which can''t be uttered by anyone. If a person said that name that has this skill, the owner of the name will know the information of the person that said his name. In this case, if Souta said the word "Leo". Then, the Zodiac Leo would know his location, his skills, his race, and what he did in the past two years. It means that Zodiac Leo would know Souta''s experience in the past few months. He looked at his system and used 2 skill points to learn the skill that he copied from Leo. What was it again? Oh? The [Sword Mastery] skill. He already had it but if he learned this one, its level would increase. The level of his current [Sword Mastery] was 4. The effect of level 4 was that his damage would increase by 30% as long as he was using a sword. *Ding!* [You''ve learned the Sword Mastery Skill!] [You already have this skill so the system would fuse this skill!] *Ding!* [Your Sword Mastery skill has leveled up to level 6!] Damn! He only used to skill points and his [Sword Mastery] level up twice. To level up to level 5 he needed 5 skill points. So it was a good deal for him to use 2 skill points in exchange for two levels of this skill. The added damage of this skill became 40%. His current main weapon was a sword so it will give him a huge boost in strength. Souta suddenly stopped moving as he felt that the space around him tightened. He couldn''t move his limbs at all. He moved his eyes and looked back, only to find that the Zodiac Leo was looking in his direction. He couldn''t see it but his senses were telling him that Leo was looking at him. ''Damn, why? What did he want to a mere B-rank like me? Isn''t he going to fight the Underground King?'' Souta thought as he gritted his teeth. He was racking his brain trying to find a way to escape this situation. Suddenly, a strange occurrence appeared. Boom! The space in the sky distorted and a gigantic eye opened. The eye was looking down at the whole city. It was giving off a strange and weird vibe. It feels that everything in the city couldn''t hide against the vision of the giant eye. Leo combed his black hair using his finger as he moved his gaze from Souta to the eye on the sky. He raised his eyebrow when he saw it and a smile formed on his face. "That''s the [Eye of Perception]...?" He muttered as he recognized the giant eye on the sky that was starting at the city. "But it is different to the [Eye of Perception] that I''ve seen before... It means that he''s not the one who''s using this skill." The size, range, and aura were much smaller than the [Eye of Perception] that he knew. The smile on his face grew wider before he said, "Really, this place gives me a lot of surprises. I didn''t think that my whim on wanting to see the action of Deadly Sins would bring this much information." He paused for a moment as he turned his gaze to the Underground King. "First, this ancient monster lord. Second, this luminary crystal. Third, the soul arts. And lastly, the [Eye of Perception]." This ancient monster lord was unknown. He didn''t have any idea that there was a sealed monster lord under this city. Oho, what a funny thing? But this monster lord wasn''t to be underestimated. Even after being sealed for a long time, he could feel that this monster was stronger than the monster lords that he met before. Then, there''s this luminary crystal. It was written in the ancient text that there were four luminary crystals in the whole universe. This crystal was a power reactor or an energy plant. Mostly the same as the monster orb of a monster. But if a person placed the monster orb of a monster lord and the luminary crystal together, anyone would pick the luminary crystal. It''s twenty times more effective than the monster orb of a monster lord. It could also hold much more energy and the output it could release was much higher. That''s why the people who were chosen by luminary crystal were powerful. Leo wanted to get it for himself but it seems that the crystal already chooses Randolf as its owner. The crystal wouldn''t change an owner unless it was passed down. If the owner died the crystal would enter a dormant state for one thousand years. Well, he know that he would met that boy in the future. All the owner of the luminary crystal was a talented individual so even without the crystal they will still become god. In the history of the luminary crystal, no user was weak. They were all powerful in their realm. Then, the boy who knew soul arts. It''s one of the most terrifying skills in this whole world. He couldn''t get the luminary crystal because of its strict condition but the soul arts. He could get it from that boy. And then, there''s the [Eye of Perception]. So there were other people other than the pope that have the [Eye of Perception]. "I don''t need to rush. I will take it slowly." Souta was shocked when he saw the giant eye in the sky. The [Eye of Perception] was the pope of the True God''s Holy Kingdom''s unique ability. He thought that the pope was the only one who had that ability. Is the pope also here in this city? No, the giant eye in the sky wasn''t the pope''s ability. It was like a downgraded version of the pope''s [Eye of Perception]. Just who the hell has that kind of ability other than the pope? Boom! The chains around the limbs of the Underground King were shattered. The best feram on the atmosphere grew thicker. Roar!! The Underground King looked at the sky and roared loudly. His voice resounded throughout the sky and everyone in the city heard it. It was a declaration. A declaration that he was free. His energy shot upward and broke the giant eye that was looking at the city. Boom! Souta turned pale from watching this. The suppression from higher-level species to low-level species was hard to endure. "What the-" His body was telling him to kneel down and greet the monster lord. This was the instinct of a monster when facing a higher existence. They couldn''t help but prostrate themselves. Damn! Damn! Damn! ''You''re not under the protection of another monster lord so the pressure of a monster lord is higher than normal. If you''re a human or demi, you wouldn''t face such pressure but you''re a monster.'' Saya explained to him. There''s a reason why this level was called monster lord instead of just a simple sixth evolution monster. The fifth evolution and below monster didn''t have this kind of power. They don''t have the suppression of the monster lord, that''s why Souta could fight a third evolution monster. Even if Souta was a fifth evolution monster and could kill gods, he still wouldn''t be able to do anything to a monster lord even though if they have the same power. No matter how strong he is, as long as he was just a fifth evolution monster he wouldn''t be able to fight a monster lord even if he was stronger than the said monster lord. Unless he was under the banner of another monster lord, then he would be free from the suppression powers of a monster lord. Chapter 317 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Clash Yuko had the blessing of Raeshka so she wasn''t feeling the power of suppression from the Underground King but Souta wasn''t exempted from this. It wasn''t that she couldn''t feel the suppression. It''s just that she could reject the will of this monster lord as she was under Raeshka''s banner. But Souta... Souta couldn''t move his body at all. He was forced to his knees. He couldn''t decline or reject the Underground King. If the Underground King ordered him to kill himself, Souta''s body would move and kill himself. A monster lord''s order was absolute. No stray monster could reject it. That''s what it means to be a monster lord. They have absolute dominance over lower monsters. This was the reason why Souta didn''t want to meet a monster lord. He will have no choice but to grovel on the ground and followed the lord of the monster. He was just lucky that Raeshka didn''t use her suppression on him or else he wouldn''t be able to come back here. ''Souta, do you want me to control your body?'' Saya asked him. ''No, there''s a chance that they will discover your existence if you possessed my body.'' Souta replied to her. He didn''t know what they would do once they learned about Saya''s existence. ... Leo looked at the Underground King with a plain expression. ''Did this guy sense the soul arts? No, that''s not possible. His entire attention was on the chains so he couldn''t have sensed the soul arts. Also, he didn''t even sense when I arrived in front of him.'' He thought while looking at the monster lord. Then, about the others... ''I will erase everything around the perimeter so that no one would know about soul arts.'' Leo said as his overwhelming energy started to came out of his body. He raised his right hand and black energy with green linings coated his hand. [Rotting Earth]! Black mist seeped out of the ground and it corroded anything around Leo. Everything within three hundred meters around him started to decay. ''No one should covet the soul arts. For safety, I will erase anything.'' ... Souta noticed the wave of energy. The corpses around him started to disintegrate. Even the boulders of rocks were slowly crumbling. He was shaken. This skill was damaging everyone except for him. This made him realized that Leo was deliberately keeping him alive. It''s too early for him to meet this level of opponents. ''Souta, there''s no doubt about it.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''That man knows about you using the souls to fight.'' Souta''s expression turned grave. He didn''t know any soul arts at all. This was the ability of the universal artifacts that he had. Then, the ashes moved and turned into a body. After that, the body started to twitched before they stood up. After the body disintegrated it formed another body and turned into an undead. Souta could clearly see it using his [Soul Eye]. Different souls came from another realm appeared and entered the body of the undead. This was the ability of the leader of the Zodiacs, the Zodiac Leo. He was a peak necromancer that could control millions of undead at the same time. This man is an army of his own. ... The Underground King turned silent as he glanced at Leo who was leisurely standing in front of him. "Are you the one who freed me?" A voice came out of his mouth. Leo couldn''t understand his words but the intent in the words came to his mind. This was like talking to the undead. "No, I''m not the one who freed you. I''m just here to see what kind of creature was sealed here." Leo replied to the Underground King. "How many years since I''ve been sealed? This place greatly changed." The Underground King said as he looked around. "I''m in a good mood today. I''ll let you off for not kneeling in front of me so you should leave this place as soon as possible." "What an arrogant attitude you have here. If you keep that kind of attitude the three great countries would deem you as a nuisance and they will eliminate you." Leo said as he opened his hands. "Me? A nuisance? What three great countries! I''m the Underground King! Ruler of the subterranean army!" The Underground King said strongly. "Sure, let me check if you really have the power to confront the three great countries." A smile formed on Leo''s face as his energy burst out of his body and tried to push the Underground King. Boom! The Underground King pulled back his giant hand and clenched his fist. A large concentration of best feram coated his fist before he threw it towards Leo. Leo met his punch with his own punch. Both of their fists collided causing a powerful shockwave in the surrounding. Boom! Souta was blown away along with the undead in the surrounding area. He spun in the air before he crashed on the ground leaving a trail of smoke behind. Before he could regain his balance, another shockwave swept out and he was blown away once again. The shockwaves alone crushed a few of his bones. He was sure that he would die he if got closer to them. Ugh! Souta spat a mouthful of blood before he lifted his head only to find that the two were already fighting. ... Leo who was fighting the Underground King glanced in Souta''s direction. He couldn''t afford it if Souta was to die because of his battle. If Souta was to die, then he wouldn''t be able to know the soul arts. Even if he created an undead using Souta''s body, there''s no guarantee that Souta''s soul will be the one to occupy it. That''s the problem with necromancy. He wasn''t sure if Souta will remain Souta if he became undead. Necromancy was just like that. They could take out the souls in the soul realm but they couldn''t pick which soul will come out. ''I need to move the battlefield to another place.'' Leo thought as he threw an energy beam at the Underground King. His thoughts will indirectly save all the people in this place. Him wanting to Souta alive will save everyone from impending doom. This level of battle will surely wipe this entire city from the map. Leo flew around while shooting energy beams at the gigantic monster. Despite being a gigantic monster, the Underground King could move so fast to the point that he avoided all the energy beams. Bang! Bang! Bang! Leo flew below the Underground King before he opened both of his hands. A huge magic circle formed in front of him. [Decapitation Twisting Ray]! A black and white energy shoot upward and it swallowed the whole body of the Underground King. The force was so huge that it covered the entire sky. The ground shook heavily even though the energy didn''t touch the ground. And everything around it was blown away by powerful shockwaves. If one was looking outside the city, they would say that the black and white energy was ten times larger than the whole Ladros City. In the capital of the Hebrei Kingdom, everyone lifted their and saw a bright light in the direction of Ladros City. The bright light was like a huge pillar that connected the earth and heaven. After a few moments, a wave of energy swept out and it covered the whole kingdom. Everyone felt it. This was the first time they saw something like this but the senior officer of the kingdom have a grave expression on their face. They knew it. That level of energy wasn''t something a mortal could possess. In short, a god-level powerhouse was fighting in that direction and it was inside the territory of their kingdom. They already received a report that the airship that was coming towards here to the capital was attacked and the same for the Ladros City. The attackers were identified as the Deadly Sins, one of the most dangerous organizations in the world. But they didn''t think that a god would appear. Is it an eight-circle officer? Everyone thought that it was an eight-circle officer but the truth was much worse than that. A living disaster was in their territory and there''s two of them. One by one all the senior officers received an emergency summons from their king. They needed to talk about the things that were happening in their territory. The scale of this incident was too large for them to ignore it. The commander of the royal guard was in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the palace. The place was dark and cold at the same time. The mana density in this place was higher than the mana on the surface. He wouldn''t attend the meeting above that the king started. He had his own will and the king could understand it. The king couldn''t force him even though his status was higher than the commander. He was the commander of the royal guard, at the same time he was also a god-level powerhouse that was protecting this kingdom from the threat that mortal couldn''t handle. The king could only order his subject but if his subject became a god then he wouldn''t have the right to give an order to that subject. A god was always above the mortal even if that mortal was a king or an emperor. The commander was here in the bas.e.m.e.nt to meet the other god-level powerhouse of the kingdom. Chapter 318 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Luck The commander of the royal guard saw an old man meditating in a lotus position. This old man was one of the two deities that were protecting this kingdom for a long time. They were present at the founding day of the Hebrei Kingdom. He was his senior. The commander was just a newly promoted god and there''s a lot of things that he didn''t know in the circle of gods. After a few moments, the old man opened his eyes and his gaze landed on the commander. "You''re here because of that energy wave, right?" The old man said in a deep tone. "Yes." The commander nodded his head. "One is a monster lord and the other one is a god. Their powers are beyond ours. Even if we worked together we wouldn''t be able to fight one of them." The old man said to the commander. "That strong...!!" The commander was shocked when he heard the words of the old man. "Yes, you can feel it right? That''s not a normal god and monster lord." The old man paused for a moment before he added, "We can''t hope to fight them. I suggested that we request help from one of the three great countries." "How can that be...? Just who are they?!" The commander exclaimed. "As you can see being a god is not the end... There are many levels of god and we''re both at the bottom while the two that are fighting there are at the top. You can consult Rensman if you want to know more about it." The old man said before he closed his eyes and started to meditate. For him, there''s no point in interfering against that scale of battle. He could just sacrifice that city and protect the other. The commander of the royal guard clenched his fist and gritted his teeth in frustration. Ladros City was his home town and he grew up in the Ladro Institute. When he felt the energy wave from a god, he quickly went here to ask for help because he knew that he wasn''t a match for that god''s power. ... The Underground King was thrown sixteen thousand feet above the surface. He suffered injuries from Leo''s powerful spell. "This guy is the strongest that I''ve faced in my entire life." He was shocked to find that one god could handle him alone. Even the god who sealed him thousand years ago couldn''t be compared to this one. ''Is this the level of god at this age?'' He didn''t think that Leo was exceptional among the gods in this world. Leo was one of the most powerful gods and he thought that this god was pretty average in this era. What can he do? This was the first god he met after he became free. Leo smirked as he looked at the Underground King who was thrown in the sky. "This guy is a tough one." He muttered before he flew in the sky as he chased the monster lord. ''I''ll take this monster lord out of this kingdom. I will come back later to see the forbidden soul arts from legends.'' He arrived in front of the monster lord and throw a barrage of powerful punches which blasted the Underground King away once again. Boom! Boom! Boom! ... Souta looked up in the sky. He could only see a small dot in the sky and that was the Underground King. The battle continued to move upwards but the shockwaves could still be felt in this place. He didn''t know why but it felt as if Leo was taking the Underground King away from this place. He just realized that he was lucky that was still alive. Even though he was a player in the game, he still didn''t know a lot of things that happened before. He didn''t even know that the Underground King was sealed in Ladros City. He just knew that the Underground King was a powerful monster lord. Now that this happened, he also realized that he didn''t know where the other two kings came from. The Sky King and Sea King. He just knew that they would appear but he couldn''t prevent this event. He could only prepare himself for the upcoming big event in the future. This event was the start of it. It will continue to grow until it became a world-level event. Argh!! Souta turned around as he heard a low growl behind him. He saw hundreds of low-level undead were looking at him with bloodshot eyes. "Oh? I completely forgot these guys..." A smile formed on his face as he pulled out the vajra sword from its sheath. These were free souls and exp for him. It''s better for him to take care of all these undead as soon as possible so that he could slay some of the Deadly Sins forces before they could retreat. He was sure that the Deadly Sins was going to retreat as a monster lord and a god appeared. These two variables weren''t within their plan so they must be pissed at this moment. Plus, the six seven-circle officers were slain by him. They wouldn''t expect it. A mere B-rank to kill their seven-circle officers. Souta charged his energy in the sword before he slashed the nearest group of undead. Dozens of undead were sliced into two by his attack. They were weak and slow. Souta estimated that their level was between five to twenty. He was currently level 36 and possessed a universal grade artifact and dark grade weapon so the gap in their strength was too large. He continued to move forward while swinging his sword left and right. Every time he swung his sword, dozens of heads will fly in the mid-air. ... After ten minutes, Souta finished slaying all the undead in this place. He gained a huge amount of souls and exp from slaying them. Huff... Huff... His breath was ragged and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He was exhausted after fighting nonstop ever since the Deadly Sins appeared in this city. He only had one-eighth of his mana and stamina. He felt that he would collapse at any moment. "Damn, I''ve used all my health and mana potion." Souta cursed as he felt that his pocket was empty. [Harvester of the Soul]: Soul Collected (Right Piece): 1,500/1,500 Once again, he filled the soul requirements of his right earring. He used this to increase his intelligence making it 957 points. Just a little bit more and he would reach 1,000 points. Souta looked in the sky and narrowed his eyes. The energy of the two was getting faint. It seems that they were getting further from this city. This city narrowly escaped destruction from the Underground King''s hands. ''I have a feeling that that man will come back for you, Souta. Be careful.'' Saya said to him. "Yeah, me too. It felt that he was protecting this city from the Underground King." Souta replied as he shook his head. He was about to leave when he heard a sound in his head. *Ding!* [The Quest Battle in the Ladros City has been completed!] [Calculating the rewards...] [Calculation completed!] [You''ve received 390,000 exp, 39 skill points, and 135 free attribute points!] *Ding!* [You''ve level up!] [You''ve received 2 free attribute points and 1 skill point!] [Your Strength attribute has increased by 15!] [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 10!] Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. His hard work was paid by getting all of this reward. The exp that he received wasn''t that large but he received a lot from killing the seven-circle officers. But the exp he received from this quest was enough for him to reach the next level. He was a level 37 mutated goblin corruptor. If not for this event, he wouldn''t be able to earn millions of exp in just a single day. It was getting hard to increase his level. At his current level, he needed millions of exp just to increase his level by one. That''s why it took ten years before the players reached level 80. For level 80 players, the level wasn''t important anymore. What''s important was the grade of equipment, the amount of skill, and the level of skills. These will decide the outcome of the battle for the same level. Souta was already satisfied that he reached level 37 and a year hasn''t even passed ever since he arrived in this world. Level 38 was next and then he will use the two level-up cards that he received from the quest in Ibish Village. But leveling to 38 will take a long time. He needed millions of exp and he needed a lot of time to earn it. He was just lucky today that Randolf carried him and let him deal the finishing blow to those seven-circle officers. Souta shook his head and looked at his surrounding. The destruction that occurred in this city was familiar to him. He saw countless cities in the game that suffered the same destruction. "I should go and check if Lumilia is fine." Chapter 319 - Collapse of the Ladros City: Epilogue Now that the quest was complete, Souta was sure that the forces of the Deadly Sins left this city. He turned around and went towards district three. He was sure that Lumilia and the rest fought in that place. He didn''t know the outcome of the battle. On his way, he saw the devastation that the Deadly Sins brought in this border city. It was horrible. A lot of corpses and body parts of people were scattered everywhere. No matter where he looked, he could see dead people. The bustling city was reduced into rubble. Everything within his sight was demolished. After a few minutes, Souta arrived in district three. He could see some of the adventurers and city guards that were alive. They were exhausted and full of injuries. He saw Alice standing in front of a pile of dead bodies with a spear in her hand. She had a gloomy expression on her face and blood dyed her clothes. "Alice." He approached her and Alice looked at him. "Oh, your back, Souta!" Her spear turned back into a small metal pole and she placed it in her pocket. "Where''s the rest?" He asked as he checked her condition. Alice has a lot of injuries in her body but it''s not life-threatening so she should be fine after a simple rest. "I''m fine. You don''t have to worry about me. Brando, Bryan, and Cl.u.s.ter are missing. We couldn''t contact them ever since the attack started." She said as she waved her hand. "That..." Souta frowned when he heard her words. That''s a big problem. Oh? There''s a festival today so they let Cl.u.s.ter play outside but no one expected that the Deadly Sins would attack today. "Okay, I understand the situation. For now, let''s go to Lumilia." Souta said to her after contemplating what he should do. "Okay, I''ll follow you." Alice nodded at him. "But first, let''s check Yujin." Souta agreed to her. While they were walking Alice explained to him what happened in this place. After listening to her, Souta learned everything about the attack of the Deadly Sins. He understood why Lumilia opened their treasury for the people. Lumilia was the vice-commander so she had the authority to open it. Also, Souta left everything to her after their talk. He was satisfied by her actions. She did great as the vice-commander of the Dark Oculus Legion. He didn''t expect that she would command the scattered forces of the merchants, adventurers, and city guards. About Yujin, it seems that Yujin pushed himself by fighting a six-circle officer. That level of opponent was currently out of their league so they had to check if he was fine. Souta was sure that Yujin was fine. His spirit wouldn''t let him die easily and he also knew the true power of spirit contractor. Fighting while supporting his allies. Yujin didn''t even try to hide his power in this battle. Soon, everyone will know that he was a spirit contractor from legends. The two arrived and found Yujin on the ground. Yujin slightly moved his head when he heard footsteps approaching his direction. He didn''t have the strength to stand and fight after using that much spirit power. "Where the hell did you go, Souta? Do you know how much I suffered because of you?" Yujin said jokingly. He knew that Souta was fighting inside the institute. "Haha, look at you. You know how to joke now." Souta laughed as he helped Yujin stand up. "I can''t help it. I''m fighting those powerful people from the Deadly Sins. I don''t even know if I will survive or not after seeing that giant monster lord." Yujin said in a low voice. He loses his hope when he saw the Underground King appeared. It was indeed terrifying and he''s not the only one who felt that way. The other people too felt it including Souta. Souta was about to reply when the ground shook heavily and a loud sound of an explosion echoed in the sky. Boom! Souta, Alice, and Yujin quickly looked at the sky. They only saw a blinding light flashed in the sky. They couldn''t help but squinted their eyes because they couldn''t look at it directly. Ohm! After a few moments, a wave of mana and best feram swept out in the whole city. The two energy came from the blinding light in the sky. It seems that the fight between Leo and the Underground King was getting on a larger scale. ''Even in ancient times, there are only a few people that could match those two.'' Saya whispered. The power of the Underground King and the Zodiac Leo was greater than she imagined. These two were stronger than most of the gods in her time. She could imagine how the present will surpassed the past. Souta clenched his fist as he looked at the sky. He swore to himself that he will surpass those two powerful creatures that were fighting in the sky. The scale of this battle made him remember all the big battles that he partakes in the game. ''They are too far. Soon, you will not be able to feel the aftershocks.'' Saya said to him. After hearing this, Souta confirmed that Leo was really taking the Underground King away from this city. ''Damn! It seems that a lot of powerful people are after me.'' Souta said inwardly. He then shook his head and looked at Alice and Yujin. "Let''s go now, I think they are moving away from this city. If not then we wouldn''t be standing at this moment." The three went to the headquarters of their operation. There... he saw Lumilia, Lynn, merchants, and Lumilia''s father. Ursus was writhing in pain as his left arm was gone. There was a huge hole in his stomach. Blood was flowing out of his wounds and Lumilia was helping him. Lumilia looked tired and her face was pale. While Lynn had the same complexion and she was coughing blood. The other people were assisting them but all of them looked tired. It was easy to guess just by looking at their face. ''These two... They really pushed themselves too far.'' Souta sighed as he massaged his temples. Alice and Yujin approached them and called them out. "Vice-commander, we''re back. The commander is also here." Lynn and Lumilia quickly turned their head when they heard the word ''commander''. There''s only one commander of their legion and that man was the founder who built this legion. "S-Souta!" Lynn muttered before she fell down. Before she reached the ground, Alice caught her in her arms. Ursus opened his eyes and looked at Souta. "You''re here... boy..." He still had a painful looked on his face. Lumilia opened her eyes widely and her lips trembled when she saw his figure. She tightly clenched her fists and ashamed at the result of her command. Before she could say anything, Souta stepped forward and patted her head. "You did great. You''ve accomplished something great this time so don''t worry about everything." Lumilia''s eyes started to moist as she bit her lower lips. She then wrapped her arms around Souta and buried her face in his chest. "B-But... C-Cl.u.s.ter... W-We couldn''t... Protect her..." She said in a muffled voice. Souta sighed as he let her hugged him. He lifted his hands and caressed her back. He didn''t say anything as he wanted her to vent out her frustration so that she could calm down. "P-Please... Souta... Help... Cl.u.s.ter..." She mumbled while sobbing. She blamed herself for what happened to Cl.u.s.ter. If she only focused on finding Cl.u.s.ter then maybe she could save her. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Finding]: Lumilia is blaming herself. Help her find the people that kidnapped Cl.u.s.ter. Rewards: 10,000 exp, 3 skill points, and 8 free attribute points Souta didn''t know what happened to Cl.u.s.ter but he had an idea about it after looking at the details of the quest. Simply looking for Cl.u.s.ter was worth 3 skill points? It seems that this quest will lead them to something big. Souta narrowed his eyes and he subconsciously emitted killing intent. "You don''t need to ask me. Even without your quest, I will still find her. I will slaughter those people that dared to do this to my people..." After a few dozen minutes, Lumilia managed to calm down. She was sitting at the corner while looking at the ground. "Alice said to me that you don''t have contact with Bryan and the rest," Souta said as he glanced at her. "Yes, but Lynn awakened an ability that let her observe what''s happening in this city," Lumilia replied to him. "Ability...?" Souta tilted his head with a confused expression and recalled a phenomenon that occurred before. "Don''t tell me... the [Eye of Perception]..." "Yes, Lynn awakened a legendary ability. She used it to find Bryan, Brando, and Cl.u.s.ter who went missing after the Deadly Sins attacked." Lumilia said as she turned her head and looked at Souta. "I see... I understand what happened and the reason why Lynn was injured is because the monster lord dispelled the [Eye of Perception]." Souta nodded his head as he rubbed his chin. He recalled how the monster lord shot energy at the giant eye in the sky. Still... He didn''t expect that Lynn was the one who activated the [Eye of Perception]. She really had a talent for being a sensory type. Chapter 320 - Condition Lynn awakening the [Eye of Perception] ability was out of his expectation. If she trained this ability of hers, her senses would become as strong as the pope of the True God''s Holy Kingdom. The pope''s senses could cover the entire kingdom and he was the one who''s monitoring everything that happened in the Holy Kingdom. That''s why the crime rate of the Holy Kingdom was the lowest in the whole continent. There''s no privacy within the True God''s Holy Kingdom. If the pope was the one who''s using the [Eye of Perception] then he was omnipresent in the whole kingdom. So if someone said a wrong word to their religion then the pope would execute that person immediately. What a terrifying ability... Souta sighed and said, "With this, those people would pay attention to us. It''s not a bad thing but we won''t be able to move freely with their eyes on us." Lumilia lowered her head and said, "Using that ability, Lynn saw Bryan and Brando. We don''t know if they are dead but I hope that they are fine. I''ve already sent people to pick them up but Cl.u.s.ter was taken away. She saw those people went to the northwest." "Northwest... You can leave it to me. I will track their trail. I can guess that they quickly leave this place because of the attack. With that, they will not erase their trail." Souta said to her. Even he would hurriedly leave the area if he sensed the presence of a monster lord. He then looked at Ursus and asked, "So what happened to your father?" "Father... He protected us. When Lynn activated the [Eye of Perception], the Deadly Sins launched an all-out attack against us, and father protected us. If not for him, I think Lynn and I would be gone now." Lumilia replied to him in a sad tone. Souta nodded his head. Ursus injury wasn''t life-threatening but he lost his arm. For a fighter like him, losing one arm would greatly decrease his fighting strength. "Well, no matter what happened in the past he is still your father." "Yeah, you''re right." "You should talk to him and settle everything." "Yeah..." "If you have any problem, you can consult me." "Yeah..." Souta turned his head and saw Yuko heading towards his direction. Yuko went beside him and placed her head on his lap. She was asking him to pet her. He smiled and patted her head like he always did. He knew that Yuko worked hard to support Lumilia per his order so he had to at least reward her. "Lumilia, just focus on one goal. Don''t let this one bother you." Souta said while patting Yuko''s head. "Yeah, I will do that," Lumilia said as she stood up. She then walked away after saying, "I will talk to father." Souta looked at her back and wondered if he should follow the group that took Cl.u.s.ter away at this moment or maybe later. "You''ll help me, Yuko." "Mu..." A soft voice escaped from Yuko''s mouth. She agreed to him and will follow him wherever he went. After half an hour, the rescue from other cities arrived. They help the city guards in finding the survivor from the rubble. They could only hope that some of the victims survived but almost ninety percent of the people in districts one, two, and four were dead. It was a disaster. The bustling city was gone. The teachers of the Ladro Institute that survived went to help. Regret, despair, hate, and all kinds of emotion filled the surrounding. Souta could clearly see it in their faces. He was sure that this news will shake the whole continent. After a long time, one of the Three Bringers of Calamity appeared and attacked a large country called Hebrei Kingdom. This was the biggest event that happened ever since Souta arrived in this world. Souta and Yuko went around the city. Since he could see the souls using [Soul Eye], he could pick which soul he would collect. All the souls of the Deadly Sins and the monsters outside the city went to his earring. If the soul of a civilian will get sucked in his earring, Souta will quickly turn off his [Harvester of the Soul] skill. He didn''t let those familiar faces get suck by his earring. The teachers that he always met in the institute, the shopkeeper that he goes to, and the children that he always saw in the playground. All of them have a smile on their face but now... Souta could see their pain so he didn''t collect the souls of the people that were familiar to him. Just a little bit... There''s part of him that''s still human in his heart. ''And if that vanished... I wonder what will happen to him.'' Saya said in a low voice. She couldn''t imagine what will happen if Souta loses that tiny bit of humanity in his heart. Perhaps, he would openly kill everyone and collected their souls. Or will he become the enemy of the world? After Souta finished strolling around the city with Yuko, he managed to reach the threshold of his intelligence attribute. His base intelligence right now was 1007 points. The effect of raising his base intelligence to 1,000 was that his spell power would increase by 1% percent for every 100 points of intelligence. It means that his spell power will increase by 10% as his intelligence was already at 1,000 points. It would only continue to grow larger along with his spell power. Intelligence attribute wasn''t the only one that increased. Since he reached 1,000 points in base intelligence, he thought that he should let the other attributes improved as well. For now, he will focus on improving his strength attribute. He had 860 points as his base attribute for strength and it increased by 60 points for gathering the souls around the city. If his strength reached 1,000 points, his physical damage would increase by 1% for every 100 points in his strength attribute. Souta and Yuko went back to the legion and found that the people that Lumilia sent were already back. Legion...? Half of the members of the legion died in this battle. Also, the building was gone. To built their home, they used a large amount of wealth that they earned from their expedition. But no one expected that it wouldn''t last one year. The building. He could rebuild it later but if one of the core members dies then it would be hard to replace that person. The core members were the foundation of the legion. If they died then the legion would crumble. That''s why Souta wouldn''t let anyone of them died. Plus, he was already attached to them. "You can go back now, Yuko. I still have something to do." He said as he sent her to the side to rest. After all, he needed her strength in his next quest so it was better for him if Yuko recovered her strength. He then went straight to the room where Bryan and Brando are after inquiring about their room. Outside the room, Yujin was standing beside the door with his arms crossed. He opened one of his eyes when he sensed a presence only to find that it was Souta. "How is it?" Souta asked Yujin. "Worse. You should check it yourself." Yujin replied to him. He was injured when he fought the six-circle officer and he could already walk but Brando and Bryan''s condition was much worse than him. ".....Okay" Souta knitted his brows before he opened the door and entered the room. Inside the room, there were two beds. Bryan and Brando were lying on the bed as their bodies were full of grave injuries. Aside from them, there were three people inside the room. They were the healers of the legion. One of the healers went beside Souta and reported the two''s condition. Bryan was unconscious but his wounds miraculously stopped bleeding and it saved him from dying. His mana pool was damaged but mana was still pouring out of his body. The healers also found that Bryan''s muscles have so much vigor. It was a strange state as they found that Bryan''s life-threatening wounds would only last for one week and he will be back to normal. But they don''t know when will Bryan woke up. ''What the heck!!?'' Souta was shocked when he heard the report of the healer. He was right at all. Bryan had some kind of power inside him that was unknown to him. Only if Souta knew that Bryan fought a powerful A-rank alone and defeated that A-rank. When Souta fought Randolf before, he had to use all of his aces except for the [Soul Blood Mode]. That made him go toe to toe to an A-rank like Randolf. But Bryan''s feat was amazing... Next was Brando... Brandon was conscious. He turned his head to Souta, the moment Souta entered the room. Souta raised his hand to the healer and stopped him from reporting Brando''s condition. "No need. I can see that he''s fine now." Brando''s condition was lighter than Bryan but Bryan''s weird ability made him recover easily from life-threatening injuries. From their observation, it will take a few days before Brando recovered his strength. Luckily the managed to rescue him on time or else he would be gone now. "I-I''m... s-sorry... S-Souta..." Chapter 321 - Trail "I-I couldn''t... protect Cl.u.s.ter... I lose my shield..." Brando said in a shaky tone while covering his eyes with his hand. "I lose my faith... How can a protect someone if he loses his shield?" He was down and he didn''t have the same determination that he had before. His opponent just played with him while he was taking the fight seriously. The will that he had was gone after suffering a humiliating defeat. He was ashamed to show his face in front of his leader. "You should rest and recover your strength. As your leader, I will take Cl.u.s.ter back with us." Souta said solemnly. He then turned around and started to walk away. ... Outside the room, he saw Alice, Lynn, and Yujin waiting for him. "Lynn, are you fine?" Souta asked when he saw Lynn. She fainted when he arrived so she shouldn''t walk here in this place. She should just lie down and take proper rest. He didn''t want to push herself that much. She awakened a powerful ability and that was enough for him. She could just leave everything to him. "Yes, I''m already fine." Lynn nodded as she lowered her head not daring to look into his eyes. Souta was about to say something when Alice interrupted him. "She decided to follow you. You can''t change her decision." Alice said while looking at him. "And you''ll follow me too," Souta said to her. "Yeah, we''ve decided that we can''t leave you alone to take back Cl.u.s.ter." Alice nodded at his words. "Do you think that I can''t rescue Cl.u.s.ter from those people?" Souta asked. "Nope, we trust our leader''s strength but we decided to help you. If you have our strength, it would lessen your burden." This time, it was Yujin who said those things. "I will help you to the utmost of my ability," Lynn added. ".....you people are really" Souta sighed and he massaged the bridge of his nose. He raised his head and looked at them before he said, "Fine, I understand. I''ll command the three of you to lend me your strength." Lynn, Alice, and Yujin smiled when they heard his words. "We''ll obey the leader''s order!!" ... The group first took the mana fruits that were buried in the legion building. The fruits were emitting mana so Lynn could easily sense its position. They quickly finished taking all the mana fruits in just a few minutes. There''s no problem that arose. It was easy and they even brought back some of the potions. Souta didn''t have a plan to wake Yuko. He wanted her to rest and recover her energy. He will only summon her after he found the hideout of the people that took Cl.u.s.ter away. So when Yujin asked if he was going to bring Yuko, he replied by saying that he will just summon her. "Another nuke...?" Lynn asked carefully as she recalled the scene when Souta summoned Yuko in the sky to destroy the building of their opponent in the legion war. Souta smiled at her and said, "Well, yeah." Alice and Yujin looked at them with a confused expression. They didn''t understand what Souta and Lynn were talking about. "Nothing." Souta shrugged his shoulder and glanced at Lynn saying, "Don''t tell anybody about it. It''s our secret." Lynn averted her eyes when Souta said those words to her. "Okay... Let''s get back to a serious topic." Souta said as he clapped his hand. He turned to Lynn and asked, "Northwest, right?" Lynn quickly understood what he wanted to confirm. She nodded her head to say that he was correct. Northwest was the direction where those people that kidnapped Cl.u.s.ter went. "The three of you will ask some merchants if they have some spare carriage. Money is not a problem so you better find a carriage as soon as possible." Souta said as he looked at them one by one. "I''ll go to the northwest part of the city and wait for you there. I''ll be tracking the trail of those people." Lynn, Yujin, and Alice nodded at him. They understood his orders and know that they could catch up to those people if they were fast but that was close to impossible. Even Souta knew that catching up to those people was impossible. That''s why his goal was to find the hideout of those people by following their trail. "Go. Go. Go." Souta said as he dismissed them. The three quickly left the area to complete his order. He only removed his gaze after the three disappeared. Then, he narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the enormous ball of red energy in the sky above the city. Teacher Bargan was sealed in this energy. Even though Leo and the Underground King fought fiercely, the sealing technique was still there. It took some damage from their attacks, still... no mortal could break that sealing spell. Bargan fought several seven-circle officers that have the power of blessing on his own. It was hard to believe but that really happened. Nothing could be said to the man who was called "The Strongest NPC before Gods" by players. It was hard to fight someone at the same level that has a blessing. But Bargan did it. He didn''t fight one person that has the blessing but multiple people that have the blessing. The Ladro Institute suffered heavy damage from this battle. A lot of teachers and students perished. It also means that the protection that the institute provided to its top students will decrease. Souta arrived at the northwest part of the city. Everything outside the city was burnt by Teacher Bargan''s attack. The corpses of the monsters from monster tide were gone. Ashes and churned land were all left. Bargan''s attack surpassed those demigods that failed the ascension to godhood. As long as they were not at god-level, Bargan would win. The temperature of this area was high. He could still feel the heat from Bargan''s attack. The lingering mana was so hot that it could melt ordinary people. Souta looked around and easily found a trail in this area. It was easy to find footprints from the ashes on the ground. ''No one left the city after Bargan burned everything around the city. The forces of the Deadly Sins used teleportation spells so these footprints weren''t from them. It''s easy to guess since Lynn said that those people retreated here.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. A grin formed on Souta''s face as he looked at the footprints on the ground. "Judging from the footprints, we can see that there''s one person only and that person was running so fast but the footprints that were left behind were disorder." He muttered as he tapped the trail with his finger. ''So that person was injured...'' Saya said. "Surely. If that person had a time to intentionally change the trail to make us think that he was injured then why didn''t that person just erase the trail so that no one could follow him? That person didn''t care about anything and simply left this city as a monster lord appeared. Everyone knew what will happen if a monster lord attacked a city." Souta mumbled in a low voice as he stood up. ''Total destruction. That person thought that erasing the trail wasn''t needed.'' Saya said. ''Hmm...? It seems that she wanted to come along too.'' Souta sensed a presence behind him. At first, he thought that it was Yujin, Alice, or Lynn but after hearing Saya''s voice he knew that none of the three have arrived. The person behind him must be Lumilia. He slowly turned around and found that he was right. Lumilia was the person standing behind him. "What are-" He didn''t finish his question as he guessed the reason why she''s here so he changed his question. "Do you settle everything with your father?" Lumilia was a little bit surprised at his question. She expected him to ask why she''s here but he directly asked if she finished talking with her father. "I''ve finished talking to my father. Even though he''s like that. He is still my father after all." "Good. Then, we''ll wait for them here. I know where those people went." Souta spoke in a low voice while glancing at the footprints. "Yes!" She flashed a bright smile and nodded her head. ... Up above the clouds... A man with messy black hair was suspended in the mid-air. He was sixty-five thousand feet above the ground. He raised his hand and combed his hair backward using his fingers. Then, a smile formed on his face as he released his energy and the chaotic atmosphere calmed down. He was the leader of one of the most vicious organizations in the world, the Zodiacs. "That monster lord fled away to recover his strength. That wasn''t his full strength but to think that he was this strong." Leo muttered as he glanced at the bruises on his arm. It''s no wonder that people from the ancient era couldn''t kill that monster. That monster lord was several times stronger than a normal monster lord in the current era. He turned his gaze below him. The Hebrei Kingdom was really large. Even at this height, he could see the difference between the territory of a large country and a small country. Chapter 322 - Stay After looking at the Hebrei Kingdom, Leo turned his head to the corner of the continent. This world was full of mystery. Every people knew that there were two continents of this world, which was called Sylphen. But the truth was that there were seven continents. A lot of people knew about the sub-world but only a handful of people knew about the seven continents of Sylphen. At the moment, the public only knew about the Giza Continent and God''s Continent. They didn''t know about the Mars Archipelago, Demon''s Land, Vulcan''s Ring Continent, Ruin Desolate Land, and the Frozen Continent. These five remaining continents of Sylphen were unknown. The creatures inside could bring destruction or not. It''s unknown whether these continents could coexist with the two continents. Even he, one of the most powerful people in the whole universe, didn''t know the truth of this world. The five continents were protected by a super barrier that covered the whole continent. Even a god-level powerhouse couldn''t break or scratch this huge barrier. Who would place such a barrier on the five continents? Why would they divide this world? Such questions always pop up in Leo''s head. The records from ancient times spoke about the seven continents but they didn''t tell anything about the barrier. Is the barrier related to the Great War twenty thousand years ago? If the barrier were to be shattered, different civilizations will meet. Those dominant civilizations will collide and war will be the effect of it. He was sure that like the Giza and God''s continent, the other five have their own system. Maybe, they possessed military might that could match these two continents or maybe above. He was sure about this... They were living in the Great World Sylphen, so it was natural for them to produce some god-level powerhouses. Oh, right? The barrier around the Demon''s Land was weakening. He learned about this information when he visited the barrier last year. When he visited it, the barrier wasn''t as tough as before. Weak people could already enter the Demon''s Land and weak demons could leave the continent. The barrier would only continue to grow weaker and weaker until it completely broke. The power balance of this world will become unstable due to these unknown variables. The demons. It''s a powerful and dominant race. There''s a record in the books that the various races in the world fought the demon race in a large-scale war. Most of the people didn''t know about the weakened barrier. Even the three great countries didn''t have an idea about it. It will take a month even for a god-level powerhouse to arrived at the edge of the ocean where the barrier lies. Teleportation wouldn''t work thirty kilometers away from the barrier so people don''t have a choice but to fly or swim. The problem was the chaotic environment thirty kilometers away from the barrier. People below god wouldn''t be having a hard time advancing in the chaotic atmosphere. Extreme heat and cold, sharp winds, heavy water, and crackling lightning were all over the place. Also, gravity would crush anyone in that place. Leo narrowed his brows as he guessed that there were only a few more months left before the demon discovered the small hole in the barrier. If that happened, there''s no doubt that a war will occur between the Demon''s Land and Giza Continent. "They will come to our land but before that, I need to know why that goblin knew the soul art," Leo muttered as he turned his gaze on the ground. At first, he thought that the goblin was the monster lord''s underling but he saw that goblin was resisting the suppression of the monster lord. It was then that he realized that the goblin was the only monster inside the city, aside from the monster lord. The goblin was armed with a high-grade weapon and was wearing clothes like a normal demi. The question was how could that goblin knew soul arts. Soul arts wasn''t a spell, combat arts, nor ability. It was a bloodline technique that only people from the soul tribe could use. Also, according to the records, the soul tribe wasn''t living in the Giza continent. Instead, they were living in the other continents before they got wiped out by hundreds of god-level powerhouses. That''s why he wanted to know why? Soul arts were somewhat related to necromancy but it has a huge difference. Necromancy could call the soul from the soul realm and placed it in a dead body but soul arts could strengthen one''s soul and control souls. It could also be used to attack the soul directly. "This is getting interesting..." Leo grinned as he vanished from his position. ... Souta, Lumilia, Lynn, Alice, and Yujin were inside the carriage. They were following the trail that the people who kidnapped Cl.u.s.ter left. They just couldn''t leave Cl.u.s.ter alone even though the Ladros City just suffered a disaster. Souta looked at them and said, "It will take a few days before we find the headquarters of those people." "I thought so. It''s impossible for their base to be close to the Hebrei Kingdom. It''s been a few months since we met Cl.u.s.ter so it took them a lot of time before they found Cl.u.s.ter in Ladros City." Lumilia said. "Yeah, if they were close then they could''ve found Cl.u.s.ter in just a month or a week." Yujin nodded. Alice who was driving the carriage just glance at them. All she has to do was to follow the trail. The appearance of the monster lord brought a shock to her. She didn''t think that there was such a powerful creature in this land. Also, the one who fought the monster lord was stunningly powerful too. ''That monster and that person could probably fight my father to a standstill.'' She thought. Her father was at the top of the food chain in her land. She didn''t think that there were people that could match her father aside from his peers. Really... they were isolated for a long time but to think that there were so many powerful people in this vast world. "Alice! Alice!" Alice snapped out of her thoughts after someone called her name in a loud voice. She turned her head and saw that it was Yujin. "It''s my shift. You can rest inside." Yujin said to her. "Oh? You''re right. I forgot about it." Alice said as she stopped the carriage and changed with Yujin. Lumilia was next after Yujin''s shift. After her, was Lynn and then Souta. Souta looked at Alice and said, "Let''s train." He paused and swept his eyes at his comrades before he added, "We need to increase our strength even by a small amount before we arrived there. We don''t know how powerful our enemies so we just have to improve our strength." "Yes, I could agree with that. After the incident in Ladros City, we learned that strength is one of the most important things in this world." Lumilia nodded. "We don''t know when the disaster will attack again..." Lynn said in a low voice. "Good. Let''s start the training." Souta smiled as he pulled out the vajra sword. Saya brought them into her inner consciousness and they started their new training. Saya was the one who was giving Souta the training regime while he passed what he learned from Saya to his comrades. It''s better for them to not know about Saya''s existence. They just know that the inner consciousness was the sword''s ability. ... Three days had passed since they left Ladros City. The trail led them to a village called Rensmaw. Rensmaw was a small village that has a population of over one thousand people. It wasn''t under the jurisdiction of any large country around this area. This village was situated between the Freid Woods and Sky High Mountain Peaks at the northwest part of the Hebrei Kingdom. Or southwest part of the Melosa country. The group decided to stay in this village for a night. Also, they had to ask for some information about the people that took Cl.u.s.ter. The group entered the village and quickly find an inn to leave their things. After checking in the inn, the group quickly went out to gather information around the town while Souta head to the adventurers guild. Souta glanced around the adventurers guild. The adventurers inside the guild could be counted by his two hands. Too few, but considering that this was a small village he could understand it. He shook his head as the adventurers looked at him. They saw his face new to this village so they guessed that he came from another village to complete a quest here. Souta walked towards the receptionist as he ignored the gazes of the adventurers that were sizing him. "What can I do for you, Sir?" The receptionist asked in a respectful tone. Souta took out his Adventurer''s ID and pushed it towards the receptionist. He then said, "I want to talk to the guild master. Tell him that I want to talk to him." "Oh my..." The receptionist looked at his ID and was stunned when she saw his adventurer''s rank. Rank-B? That''s the same level as the guildmaster of this guild. What? Or why is a high-rank adventurer doing in such a small village? Chapter 323 - Battle in the Guild "Rank-B...?" The receptionist was stunned when she saw Souta''s rank in his ID. Souta''s ID almost slipped out of her hands but she managed to grab ahold of herself as Souta tapped his finger in front of her. "Can tell the guild master about it?" Souta asked as he looked into her eyes. "Y-Yes..." The receptionist was fl.u.s.tered but he didn''t care about it. Rensmaw was just a small village. The guild master was the only B-rank in this village. The others were just C-rank and below. The C-rank here wouldn''t even reach thirty in numbers. That''s just how the powers of this village. Even the village chief of this village was just a C-rank. After all, no matter how small this village is, the requirement to become a guild master was B-rank. In other words, the weakest guild master was B-rank while the guild master in the capital of some large country was A-rank, S-rank, SS-rank, and some were already at SSS-rank. So she was surprised when a B-rank visited this place. The receptionist quickly turned around and left to inform the guild master about Souta. Souta sighed as he waited for the receptionist to return with guild master. He knew that his rank would shocked everyone here but he had no choice but to inform this guild. The adventurers around didn''t know why the receptionist was fl.u.s.tered. They didn''t hear her say about his rank. They just saw her looked shocked after she saw his adventurer''s ID. Souta ignored those gazes as he picked his ID and placed it back in his pocket. He could only hope that Lumilia and the rest could gather information. The trail led them here so if they investigate everything they will gather some information. After a while, the receptionist came back. She hurriedly opened her mouth and said, "I''ll lead you to the guild master''s room." "Fine." Souta nodded and he followed her. The surrounding adventurers started at Souta''s back. After Souta left, they started to talk to each other. "Who''s that person?" "The guild master actually permitted such person to meet him." "I can guess that man is a high-rank adventurer." "High-rank...? Do you mean B-rank?" "Yes. Yes. A B-rank." "That man is too young to become a B-rank." "Who knows... Maybe that man came from the large country." "If that''s the case then it''s possible but why would a B-rank adventurer come here in this backward village?" "I don''t know and we will not know about it." ... Souta was sitting inside a luxurious room. Opposite of him was a man in his forties. This man was the guild master of the adventurers guild of Rensmaw village. Souta stretched out his hand and picked a cup of coffee. He smelled the fragrance before he took a sip. "Good." He nodded in satisfaction. He liked this coffee. "I''m going to introduce myself first. I''m Juds, the guild master of the Rensmaw branch guild." Juds said properly without disrespecting the man in front of him. Although the man in front of him looked like a teenage brat, he was still a full-fledged B-rank adventurer. "You don''t need to be formal. We''re both B-rank here." Souta said as he waved his hand. "I''m Souta, a B-rank adventurer from Hebrei Kingdom." ''Hebrei Kingdom...? As expected, he''s from a large country.'' Juds thought while looking at Souta. The news about the attack of the Deadly Sins hasn''t reached this small village yet. So Juds didn''t have any idea about it. Souta placed down the cup of coffee and glanced at Juds. He stared intently at Juds'' face before he said, "I want to know if there''s a person wearing a black cloak carrying a child with long green hair that arrived here in the past few days." Juds flinched when he heard Souta''s words but he quickly returned to his normal posture as if nothing happened. He coughed forcefully before he answered, "Is that all you need? I can let everyone assist you in your search." ''Hmm...? This guy...'' Souta glanced at Juds suspiciously but he didn''t let it show on his face. He smiled and said, "That''s what I want. I hope to borrow the power of this branch guild to find what I want." ''This guy knows something...'' Saya said to Souta. ''Yeah, I saw him flinched for a second when I describe Cl.u.s.ter and the person who took her.'' Souta nodded at Saya''s words. He deliberately said those words so that he could see if this man knew about the kidnapping. Luckily for him, the guild master showed a reaction to his words. He clearly saw the change in the guild master''s expression. He was sure that this man in front of him knew what he wanted to know. If the guild master didn''t know about it, he wouldn''t show a reaction to his words. ''Who would think that a guild master of a branch guild is involved in this matters?'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''It seems that they''re deeply rooted in this village if the guild master is part of their organization.'' Souta said to her. ''Yeah, if that''s the case then you will not be able to gather information with this method. The only thing you could do is interrogate this man.'' Saya spoke slowly. ''Well, let''s do that.'' Souta replied to her as he stood up. He was ready to take this guild master at any moment. "So what''s in for me?" Juds asked him as he fixed his clothes. He saw Souta lean forward and placed his mouth close to his ear. After a few moments, Souta whispered some words into his ear. "What''s for you...? Fine, I''ll tell you. If you help me then you wouldn''t die. I wouldn''t kill you so..." Souta stood straight and smiled, "What''s your answer?" Juds opened his eyes widely as he looked at Souta with a shocked expression. "W-What do you mean...?! You would kill me! Do you want me to report you to headquarters?!" Juds said in a loud voice as he started to emit his energy. "Oi! You won''t help your fellow adventurer and instead, you will side with a terrorist group. I should be the one to report you." Souta said as he opened his arms with a helpless expression. "I don''t know what you''re talking about. You''re accusing me of something that I didn''t do." Juds said strongly as his aura continued to rise. "That green-haired girl is one of my people so I''m going to take her back. If you''re going to get in my way then I''ll forcefully extract information from you." Souta said. "I DON''T KNOW ANYTHING!!" Juds roared as his aura exploded and the ground vibrated heavily. "It seems to me that you''re more afraid of that organization than I. Okay, fine, I''ll let you know that I''m more terrifying than that organization so if you don''t want to tell me then be it." Souta''s expression turned cold and the atmosphere grew heavy. "Damn!!" Juds gathered his mana in his fist before he launched himself at Souta. "You''re not prepared at all. I''m fully equipped and you think you can fight me with yellow-grade clothes." Souta said as Juds'' fist arrived in front of him. Souta simply shifted his body to the side as the [Night Overlord''s Aura] burst out of his body. He then activated the [Cat''s Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening] and casted [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] on himself. Swoosh! A fist passed in front of him. He opened his palm and several black balls appeared on top of it. "Turn everything..." Souta muttered as the black balls spun around and the entire gravity turned upside down. "What?!" Juds exclaimed. Boom! A loud explosion occurred in the adventurers guild. The loud sound echoed throughout the entire place as the ground vibrated heavily. It gathered the attention of every people in the village. Smoke and dust filled the area about the guild. The adventurers coughed heavily as they tried to regain their balance. The explosion caught them off guard so some of them received injuries. Bang! Bang! Bang! Several loud sounds exploded above. The atmosphere was stirred and the heavy energy in the atmosphere put pressure on the adventurers. "Argh! My hand...! Shit!" "What''s happening?!" "I don''t know...!!" They looked up and saw an incredible scene that they haven''t seen in their entire life. Two figures were colliding repeatedly in the sky. The two figures were so fast that they couldn''t recognize their appearance. They could barely follow their movements with their eyes. Still, it was an amazing scene. It was their first time seeing someone fought at this level. Then, they recalled one person who had incredible power in this village. The guild master was the one who entered their mind. "Don''t tell me that''s the guild master!!" "If that''s the guild master then who''s the other guy?!" "...Oi! Oi! I don''t want to think about it but the young man before!" "What?! That young man is a B-rank like the guild master!!" Chapter 324 - Torment [Hyper Domination Punch]! Juds threw a powerful punch at him. The air spun around and it produced sharp winds. Swoosh! Souta quickly moved to the side to avoid the punch and a black cloak formed on his body. [Shadow Cloak]! He tightly clenched his fist and delivered a powerful blow at Juds'' stomach. Bang! "Argh!" Juds groaned in pain but he still launched several punches at Souta. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta swiftly moved his body from side to side as he evaded all the punches that were thrown at him. "I already said it before. You''re not prepared to fight me." He lifted his feet and kicked Juds'' side. Bang! After that, Souta grabbed Juds'' wrist and shot a punch at his face before he threw him on the ground. Swoosh! Juds fell towards the ground at high speed before he crashed causing the ground to vibrate once again. Boom! Souta looked down as he squinted his eyes. He then flew down at high speed as several black balls appeared behind him. Just like what he expected, Juds came out of the smoke to intercept him. Swoosh! Juds launched his fist forward and Souta threw a punch. Their fist contained boundless energy that low-level adventurers couldn''t imagine. For them, their attacks were the most powerful and beautiful that they''ve ever seen in their entire life. Both of their fists collided causing a ripple in the air. It distorted the whole area and shockwaves followed it. BOOM! The surrounding adventurers retreated as they saw a figure crashed on the ground once again. A powerful explosion that devastated several houses occurred. "This is bad...!" "Some of the civilians are going to die at this rate." The adventurers talked to each other. Cracks formed on the ground like a spider crack and they quickly moved away. Boom! "Look!!" "It seems that the young man from before is really a B-rank!!" "And from the looks of it, it seems that young man is stronger than the guild master!!" The smoke dispersed and it revealed Souta''s figure who was stepping on the guild master''s chest. The guild master was coughing a huge amount of blood while glaring at Souta. Souta raised his feet and stomped Juds'' chest. Bang! "Argh!!" Juds groaned in pain as his body went deeper into the ground. "You''re weak than the B-rank that I''ve fought before. Comparing to B-rank, you''re powers are pretty average." Souta said as he looked down at Juds who was the guild master of the Rensmaw branch guild. "I guess this is expected from a guild master of a backward village." Even Wesler that he fought in the Ladros Institute was stronger than this B-rank. "You!!" Juds grew angrier at Souta''s provocation. "You said you will report me, right? In fact, I should be the one to report you as you are siding with a criminal organization." Souta said to Juds. "I''m not siding with a criminal organization!!" Juds shouted at Souta. He didn''t want to admit that he was with the criminal organization. If he admitted it, then he would lose. Souta would have a reason to kill him. He then grew silent as he heard several footsteps coming in this direction. "Souta!!" Souta turned his head and saw Lumilia, Lynn, Alice, and Yujin walking towards him. They were looking at him and the guild master with a confused expression. "This one is the guild master of this branch guild. He''s with the people that kidnapped Cl.u.s.ter but he doesn''t want to admit it." Souta said as he introduced the man beneath his feet. "I''m not with them!" Juds spoke as he turned his head to Lumilia and the rest before he added, "Believe me, this man is just accusing me! He doesn''t have the evidence!" "You''re still saying that..." Souta sighed as he turned to Juds and said, "Allow me to reintroduce myself today. I''m Souta Ieshi, the commander of the Dark Oculus Legion. These are the members of my legion so you can''t hope them to side with you." "You''re a legion leader...?!" Juds opened his eyes widely and his mouth hung. "You would know about it if that receptionist properly read my information in my ID," Souta sighed and said, "I''m quite famous among the circle of adventurers in the Hebrei Kingdom so I think a lot of people would go to my side to curry my favor than go to your side to oppose me." "Damn!" Juds gritted his teeth in frustration. "Lumilia, Lynn, Alice, and Yujin. Close your eyes if you don''t want to see what I''m going to do. Right, if you don''t want to see you can just prevent any people from coming here." Souta said as he glanced at them. Lynn lowered her head. She wanted to watch but she doubted herself that she could take it. A hand pressed on her shoulder. She looked over and saw that it was Lumilia. "I''ll go with you," Lumilia said to her. "Thank you, Mila." Lynn left the area with Lumilia. Souta looked at their back. After they disappeared he turned his head to Yujin and Alice. "What about the two of you?" "It''s not a problem to me," Yujin said as he shrugged his shoulder. "Me too," Alice said. "Okay. Then..." Souta turned his head to Juds with a wide smile on his face. Juds had a bad feeling about this when he saw Souta''s creepy smile. The ground turned into black as black tentacles rose. It slowly bound his four limbs until he couldn''t move his body. "I will not let you die until you tell us what you know. The girl that was kidnapped is one of my people so I''m not going to let it slide easily. If you''re going to slow me down then I will have no choice but cut all of your limbs and feed it to the monster out there." Souta said in a cold tone. His murderous intent was slowly seeping out of his body. He was ready to kill any suspicious person that has the probability of being involved with that organization. "I don''t know what you''re saying!!" Juds was stubborn as he kept denying everything that Souta said. "You''re making me stupid. I saw your reaction in that instant. You wouldn''t react if you don''t have any idea about it." Souta raised his right feet and gathered his mana. He then heavily brought down on Juds'' arm. Bang! Once again he stomped on Juds'' arm. Loud cracking sound and Juds'' scream echoed in the whole area. "ARGHHHH!!" "I''M NO-AAHHHH!!" "NOOO!!" After a few minutes, Juds'' right arm was turned into a pulp. His bones were crushed into powder. He wouldn''t be able to use his right arm in his entire life if he didn''t receive treatment at this moment. "Are you going to tell me where they went or not?" Souta said in a cold tone. "I-I don''t... Arghhh!!" Juds didn''t even finish his sentence as Souta started to smashed his left arm. "NOOOO!!!" Bang! Bang! Bang! Sounds of bones cracking echoed in the whole area along with Juds'' scream. Souta wouldn''t show mercy to the people who don''t cooperate with him. It was especially to those people involved in harming his people. He hasn''t managed to discover Cl.u.s.ter''s true identity and those people were going to take her away from him. "You''re too stubborn. If you just tell us what you know then you wouldn''t experience this pain." Souta said to him. He already crushed his two arms but he was still holding on. Souta glanced at Alice and said, "Use healing potion to heal his arms and I''ll use [Light Heal]. We''ll repeat this process until he gave us what we wanted." Alice nodded and she took out a bottle with red liquid inside. She opened it and poured the liquid on Juds'' wounds. At the same time, Souta was using [Light Heal] to speed up the healing process. After a few seconds, Juds'' hands returned but it wasn''t completely healed. The potion they use was just a low grade and [Light Heal] was a tier 1 spell. It couldn''t heal broken bones. Souta repeated the process of crushing Juds'' arms and healing it for an hour. Juds couldn''t even speak properly after screaming for an hour. He fainted dozens of times but Souta quickly woke him up. He realized that this man who was called Souta didn''t care about him being a guild master of a branch guild. For him who had a legion, a small guild master was nothing. ''This guy is too stubborn. I could only admire his will...'' Souta looked at Juds in amazement. He was a little bit surprised that Juds could hold for a long time. ''His determination and will are outstanding.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. Souta sighed and said, "I''m amazed. If you''re not involved in that criminal organization I would want to recruit you in my legion." "DADDY!!" "LET GO OF ME!! I NEED TO GO WHERE DADDY IS!!" A voice of a child echoed and it gathered everyone''s attention. "Hmm...?" Souta, Yujin, and Alice turned their head and saw Lumilia carrying a little girl. The girl was struggling but she was too weak to free herself from Lumilia''s arms so she could only just shout to her father. Still, Lumilia was being careful so that she wouldn''t harm the little girl. With her strength, a little bit of force could injure the girl. "That child..." Souta turned his head to Juds and smiled, "...is yours, right?" "W-What... a-are... you p-planning...?" Juds showed a different emotion when Souta said those words. ''Are you planning to harm that child?'' Saya asked. ''Nope, she''s innocent so I will not harm her but I will use her to scare the guild master.'' Souta replied to her. Chapter 325 - Confession "Argh!" Brando groaned in pain as he pushed himself into a seating position. The doctor and cleric weren''t in the room. They just finished checking his condition along with Bryan who was still unconscious on the bed beside him. The healing spell and potion worked on him. He could properly move his body but there were still wounds that weren''t healed as the healing spell that was used on him was just tier 1. "I''m useless. Even after all of that, they still managed to take Cl.u.s.ter." Brando tightly clenched his fists. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He glanced at Bryan who was still sleeping beside him. He didn''t know when will Bryan wake up so he decided to leave him alone. He will go after Souta and the rest. It wasn''t for Souta nor Cl.u.s.ter. It was for himself. He wanted something to prove to himself that he was a great shielder. "I need to do something." Brando narrowed his eyes as he resolved himself to fix his mistakes. He then turned to Bryan and said, "I''m sorry, Bryan. I will leave you alone here." He stood up and quietly left the room. He didn''t let any other people saw him leave this place. He was sure that someone would recognize him outside so he had to go away from this place as fast as possible. "Hmm... This should be fine for now." Brando left the district three and decided to rest in the district four. Just a little bit of running and he was already out of breath. He already expected it as he wasn''t fully recovered. He looked around him and was quite shocked. The devastation brought by the attackers was worse than he imagined. The whole city was destroyed and almost no buildings were left standing. "Um..." Brando turned around as he heard a voice behind him. He found two elderly people looking at him. A man and a woman. "Hello, do you need some help?" He smiled and greeted them politely. "Are you a student of Ladros Institute?" The old man asked him. "Yes. I''m a student of Ladros Institute." Brando replied to the old man. "What happened to the student there?" The old woman slowly asked him in a trembling tone. He could feel her emotion. The fear was passed to him through her voice. Brando looked at them for a few moments before he decided to answer the old woman''s question. "Prepare yourself, ma''am and sir. It''s sad to say this but... most of the students died and a lot of teachers died too. Not just the teachers and students, even the people that are living here have mostly died. From your question, I can guess that you''re from another city and your child is studying in the institute." Brando felt his heart tightened as he looked at the appearance of the two elders. They came here to find their child despite the disaster that hit this city. The old woman started to sob and the old man comforted her. "Sob... My daughter... She is a cheerful yet shy girl... So how could she..." The old woman said in a muffled sound. "It''s okay. Our daughter is strong. Also, we haven''t found her body so there''s a chance that she''s still alive." The old man said in a gentle tone while patting her. "That''s right, ma''am. Just wait until you''ve seen her." Brando said to the old woman. "But... I can''t help but be worried about her..." The old woman said while sobbing. "Ma''am. Your daughter is a student of Ladros Institute, right? Can I know her name? Maybe I''ve seen her before and I can help you." Brando asked her. The one who answered the question was the old man. "Our daughter''s name is Lynn, Lynn Yaoli." "...eh!!" Brando opened his eyes widely in surprise as he didn''t expect to hear that name from their mouth. He was familiar with that name. Of course, both of them were members of the Dark Oculus Legion. "Your daughter''s name is Lynn Yaoli?" "Hmm...? Do you know her?" The old man asked Brando as he guessed that Brando knew her daughter based on his reaction. "Yes, I''m one of her friends. I''m Brando Hylott. I''m on the same team as your daughter... Don''t worry about Lynn the others are with her. She''s not currently in this city when the attack happened so she''s safe." Brando lied to them but he wasn''t lying when he said that Lynn was safe. The old woman grabbed his should and looked up at him. She asked, "Is she really fine?" "Yes, I''m sure that she''s fine." Brando nodded seriously. "I''m glad..." The old woman breath a sigh of relief. Brando smiled and he talked with Lynn''s parents for a while before he bid farewell. "Ma''am and Sir. See you later. When I meet Lynn, I''ll tell her that you''re worried about her." "Thank you. Thank you." Lynn''s mother was thanking him with tears in her eyes. "Thanks for telling us all of this." Lynn''s father said with a smile. "Don''t worry about it. Oh, if you go in that direction you will find a place for Dark Oculus Legion. Tell them that you''re Lynn''s parents and they will take care of you." Brando said to them before he left. He didn''t think that he would meet Lynn''s parents. "Oh? I forgot to ask their names." ... The little girl was innocent and Souta guessed that she wasn''t involved in the organization that kidnapped Cl.u.s.ter. If she was part of it then Souta would simply kill her but he wanted to avoid killing her if he wasn''t sure that she''s part of it. What if he killed Juds? Souta will let her be. As long as she didn''t do anything to him, he will let her live even if her father was part of that organization. What if that girl wanted revenge? Souta wouldn''t care about it but if she comes at him with the intent to kill then Souta will respond. But at this moment, the little girl couldn''t harm him so if she wanted to kill him Souta preferred if she will come at him once she got stronger. That way the exp that he will receive would grow larger. "DADDY!!" "LET ME SEE DADDY!!" The little struggled as she tried to break free from Lumilia''s arms. "She''s your child, right?" Souta asked Juds with a wide grin on his face. "W-What do you want?!!" Juds was showing fear for the first time. "I always tell you that I want the information," Souta said as he turned to Lumilia. "You can release her." Lumilia nodded and she released the little girl in her arms. The little girl quickly ran in the guild master''s direction. "N-NOO!! Don''t come here, Chelsy!!" Juds shouted as he tried to move his body but several black tentacles rose from the ground and bound his limbs. Before the little girl could reach Juds, Souta grabbed her arm and raised her above the ground. "W-What are you going to do?!" Juds shouted at the top of his lungs. He was furious and agitated at this scene. "Hey, stop struggling." Souta glanced at the little girl and knocked her out by chopping the back of her neck using his hand. Bang! The little girl fainted as soon as Souta hit her. She was just an ordinary person so Souta didn''t put force in his hand. He was afraid to kill her accidentally. "F.u.c.k!! I''ll kill you if you harm my daughter!!" Juds shouted furiously. "You''re too stubborn you know. If you don''t want me to touch your daughter then tell me what you know. It''s simple, right? So why don''t you tell me? Maybe, there''s something that''s preventing you." Souta said as he looked closely at the little girl. He gathered his mana in his other hand and placed it close to the little girl''s neck. Juds grew silent as he glanced at Souta and her daughter. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, ".....fine, I''ll tell you what I know" "Good. If you already told us what you know from the beginning then this wouldn''t happen." Souta smiled as he placed down the little girl and called Lumilia to take care of her. Lumilia carried the little girl and left the place leaving Souta and the rest to deal with the guild master. "Don''t worry about her. My friend will not harm her." Souta said while looking at Lumilia''s back. He then turned to Juds and grinned, "So... can you tell us what you know? I want to know the truth. If I found that the information you''ve given to us was wrong, I will torture your daughter in front of you before I kill her and feed her to monster." Juds bit his lower lips before he told him what happened to him. It all started a few days ago when a man wearing a black cloak suddenly barged into his house. The said man was carrying a little girl with long green hair. Chapter 326 - Blue Lawless City A few days ago, an unknown man arrived in this small village. That man was extremely powerful as his strength was at the peak of B-rank. Clearly, stronger than Juds who was an ordinary B-rank. No one in the entire village knows that man except for him. That man was an executive of the Moon Tower of the Blue Lawless City. At first, Juds was shocked to find a powerful B-rank at his door but was even more shocked to see the executive of Moon Tower have an injured body. Who could injure an executive of Moon Tower in this place? There were only a few people that he knew that could injure such person. The executive asked him to bring out his best health potion and he complied. He had no choice as the executive will kill him and his family. No, he would survive as the executive was injured but what about his family. If a fight between two B-rank occurred in his house then there''s no doubt this his daughter who was an ordinary child would die. That''s why he followed the executive. He did everything that he could. The executive stayed in his house for one night and he threatened him not to divulge any information about this or else Juds and his family would die. The information about the little girl with green hair was top secret. If anyone knew about it, Juds would die. The next morning, the executive left his house with the little girl. They consumed all of his health potions that Juds'' reserved for his family. ''Blue Lawless City... It feels familiar but...'' Souta rubbed his chin and he turned to Juds. He asked about the Moon Tower and the Blue Lawless City. The Blue Lawless City was a large city in the middle of the Sky High Mountain Peaks. It wasn''t under the wing of any other country. In fact, the top management of this city wanted to make the Blue Lawless City a country of its own but it required five approval of small countries or one large country. What''s scary in this city was the people that were living there? Most of the people in that city were bandits or criminals from other countries. This was the reason why no small countries acknowledge this city. There were three powers that governed the entire Blue Lawless City. The Moon Tower, Cloud Tower, and the Sea Tower. These three towers were the dictator of the city and everyone feared the strength they possessed. In this city where strength matters the most, the overlord could be changed easily if a powerful person arrived. That''s what always happened in the past but these three towers were ruling the city for almost five years and not once they haven''t lost to a challenger who wished to rule the city. "The leader of the Moon Tower is a man called Curdova. He''s a brutal man that killed anyone who disobeyed him. Just a simple mistake, he will kill his subordinates." Juds slowly explained to him the Moon Tower. Souta knew about this one. He learned it from interrogating the man who chasing Cl.u.s.ter in the Deeps Woods. Now that he thinks about it, he recalled that man saying that their base was in the mountain peaks between the Melosa Country and the Barbarian Kingdom. A few months had passed so what happened there was already in the back of his mind. If not for this, he wouldn''t recall that information. Curdova was the leader of the Moon Tower and he had seven executives that were helping him in ruling the tower. Bryan defeated one of them so there were six executives left. Judging from the information, the minimum level of an executive was a high-level B-rank. So... with their current group, it will be hard to fight the Moon Tower head-on. They should expect that half of the executives were at the level of A-rank. Lumilia, Lynn, Alice, Yujin, and Yuko would be enough to fight the Moon Tower? Well, his goal was to rescue Cl.u.s.ter first before he deals with those people. If the Deadly Sins didn''t attack today, Souta brought bring his entire legion to destroy the Moon Tower. There was another reason why Juds was afraid of the Moon Tower. The Moon Tower has a total of twenty-one villages under its wing and Rensmaw was one of it. The villages knew nothing about it. They were even oblivious to the existence of Blue Lawless City. Only the higher-ups knew that they were under the rule of Moon Tower. So if the guild master objected the Moon Tower, they would have a reason to attack them and loot everything in the town. Juds slowly told him everything that he knew about the seven executives and the leader of the Moon Tower. Souta, Alice, and Yujin just listened to him without interrupting him. "Are you sure that everything that you''ve said is true?" Souta asked Juds one more time. "Yes, I''ve already told you everything. If you couldn''t defeat the Moon Tower, then our town is next as I''m the one who gives you their information." Juds said in a low tone. "Don''t worry about the Moon Tower. As long as no one reached S-rank among them, then we had a chance to destroy them." Souta said as he placed his hand in his pocket and took out a platinum coin. "Here, use it to rebuild the things that I''ve destroyed." ... On the next morning, Souta and the rest left the Rensmaw village. This time, they had a huge lead. A city in the middle of the Sky High Mountain Peaks, the Blue Lawless City. The Rensmaw village was two days away from the Sky High Mountain Peaks so they had no choice but to camp. If they went to the other villages, then it will take them three to four days. Souta''s group did nothing but training while they were traveling. In a short amount of time, they managed to increase their strength by five percent. The group arrived one kilometer away from the city. The city was surrounded by dozens of huge mountains. They were on the top of one of the mountains looking down at the city. They could see that this city was larger than Ladros City and the population of the city surpassed fifty thousand. The city was divided into three districts and each district had a huge eye-catching tower. These three towers must be the Moon Tower, Cloud Tower, and the Sea Tower. The three ruling forces of the Blue Lawless City. "So that''s the Blue Lawless City...?" Souta muttered as he looked at the huge city in front of him. "It''s quite huge... No wonder they wanted the other country to approve their proposal to become a country." Lumilia muttered while looking at the city. "Their target is one of them. There''s a chance that we will fight the three of them as they are all residents of this city while we are just outsiders." Yujin said. "Isn''t that bad?" Lynn asked in a worried tone. "Yeah, it''s bad. That''s why we''ll not rush ourselves. We''ll gather information first before we proceed to rescue Cl.u.s.ter." Souta replied to her. "If that happens, we''ll have to fight the forces of the whole city with a few people," Alice said. "Well, let''s go and enter the city." Souta''s group went down the mountain. Entering the city wasn''t hard as there''s no need for an identification card as most of the people here were bandits, thieves, or fugitives. In other words, anyone could enter the city. The only problem was that killing wasn''t prohibited in the city. People were fighting across the streets and there were even dead bodies in the corner of the city. They entered the city without any problem. They were wearing a simple brown color cloak. It wasn''t suspicious as some of the people were wearing the same cloak. "Let''s find an inn first." Souta suggested to his comrades and they agreed to him. They walked around and saw a lot of people fighting in the streets. After a few minutes, they found a decent inn. The rent wasn''t high as it could only cost him ten bronze coins for one night. "We don''t know where''s the Moon Tower so we had to gather information first. The structure of the tower and the staff inside are all the things that we needed to know." Inside the room, Souta explained his plan. This city doesn''t have adventurers guild so they couldn''t gather information there. They had to find some people who sell information or ask some drunkard in the pub. Souta divided his group into two teams. The team one was Souta and Lynn while the team two was Yujin and Lumilia. Alice decided to stay in the inn to observe the things that were happening here. "Okay, we''ll go now. You have to be careful. Don''t engage in a battle if you''ve found Cl.u.s.ter''s whereabout." Souta said to them before he left the room with Lynn. "I understand. We''ll go in the east tower to see which force ruled there." Yujin said. Chapter 327 - Moon Tower Souta and Lynn went inside a pub. Some of the people glanced at them while the rest didn''t care about them. Souta sat in the front and said, "Give me something light." He didn''t like to drink alcohol so he doesn''t have any idea what''s good or bad. Lynn sat beside him. She wasn''t focused on the person in front of Souta. Her role was to sense if there were dangerous people in the club. She could detect B-rank and A-rank even if they tried to conceal their mana. As long as they were below S-rank, nothing could escape her senses. She was reliable and dangerous at the same time. She was dangerous because Souta was hiding a lot of secrets. "Okay..." The man turned to Lynn and asked, "What about you?" "Don''t bother her," Souta said as he squinted his eyes. "Fine..." The man nodded as he continued to prepare Souta''s order. While he was preparing he glanced at Souta and asked, "Are you new here?" "Yeah..." Souta nodded and he moved forward to asked, "How did you know?" "How? It''s simple. No one would dare to attack the store owner or worker in this city. That''s the rule of this city." The man smiled at him. "I felt the intent in your gaze so I guess that you''re new here." "Oh...? There''s such rule..." Souta sighed and decided to ask the man while placing several silver coins on the table. "I just arrived so I''m ignorant to most of the things in this city. Can you explain to me everything starting from the ruling factions?" "It can''t be helped..." The man sighed and he began to explain the things that Souta needed to know in this city. "The rules aren''t that hard to follow. First, is that no one should provoke the members of the three ruling factions. If someone dared to do it, then it would mean a challenge to the throne of this city. The ruling faction who got provoked would retaliate at full force." The second rule was that no one should harm the store owner or staff in this city. It was hard to do business in this chaotic city so the three ruling factions decided to create a law to protect these people. They knew that if there''s no business in this city, then the city would collapse easily. That''s why they established a law to protect the people who want to create a business here in this city. Aside from those two... There''s nothing else. They could even fight here but they had to pay for the properties that they destroyed in their fight. They could even kill someone as long as that person didn''t belong to the three ruling factions. "But I suggest you to leave this place..." The man said with a serious expression as he placed Souta''s order on the table. Souta took a sip of the wine before he asked, "Why...?" "There''s a crack between the three factions. A day ago, the Moon Tower grew rampant. They must be planning something large as they didn''t care even if they offend the Cloud Tower and Sea Tower." The man paused for a moment before he added in a low voice, "I think a battle will break out at any moment right now. If that time comes, we don''t know what will happen to this city." "Oh...? I didn''t know about it. Thanks for warning me." Souta said she drunk a glass of wine in one go before he stood up. "Can you tell me, where''s the territory of the Moon Tower?" "The Dark Purple Tower in the northeast is the Moon Tower." The man answered his question. "Thanks..." Souta said as he waved his hand and left the pub with Lynn following him from behind. Outside the pub, he stopped moving as he felt a wave of faint mana in his pocket. Hmm...? He checked it out and found that the mana was coming from the transmission talisman. Someone was trying to connect to him. He poured his mana and established a connection. "Where are you?! You have a promise to me!! Where are you, Souta?!!" Souta frowned as he heard a familiar voice. The person on the other side of the transmission talisman was Yanagi Shina. Now that she mentioned it, he recalled promising her to do one thing for her. He glanced at Lynn and saw her confused expression. "Yanagi Shina. She''s on the other side." He said in a low voice while pointing at the talisman. "Oh?" Lynn understood him. Yanagi was part of their legion and she was special in their group. "I didn''t forget your favor. I''m doing something for now. I will be back there next week." Souta replied to her. "Next week?! That''s too long! You said that you will do anything!" "I''m doing something important. I will not return until I''ve finished what I''m going to do here." Souta said to her with a helpless expression. "Then, tell me your location! I''ll go there by myself!" Yanagi said. "Just stay there and wait for me," Souta said as he cut the connection. He placed back the talisman in his pocket and felt Yanagi calling him once again. He decided to ignore her for the rest of this mission. He will talk to her later after he rescued Cl.u.s.ter from the hands of the Moon Tower. The Moon Tower was in the northeast part of the city. He knew that Yujin and Lumilia went in that direction. Souta placed his hand in his pocket and connect his talisman to Lumilia''s talisman. "Hello, Souta..." "Yes, I''m Souta. I''ve just learned the tower in your direction is the Moon Tower. I''m going to leave that tower to you." Souta said to her. "Yes, we''ll do everything that we can to know everything about the Moon Tower," Lumilia replied to him. "Good. I''ll be counting on you." Souta smiled as he cut off the connection and placed back the talisman in his pocket. Souta and Lynn decided to eat first so they went to the nearest cheap restaurant. He ordered a simple meal for two people. "Is that Mila?" Lynn asked from the side. "Yes, I just told her to investigate the Moon Tower. According to the information that we''ve got, the Moon Tower is going to fight the other ruling factions of this city. So before that happened we need to rescue Cl.u.s.ter." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "There''s a possibility that Cl.u.s.ter is the reason why the Moon Tower became unbridled." "Yeah, that man said that the Moon Tower grew rampant a day ago so it''s possible that the man who kidnapped Cl.u.s.ter just arrived here," Lynn said in a low voice. ''Do you want to rescue that child? It''s easy... just use my power and your earring. That way you can wipe out everyone below S-rank. But that will expose the power of your earrings.'' Saya suddenly said to him. Saya was right. He could wipe out everyone in this city as long as they were below S-rank but that''s the case if the leader of this organization didn''t possess a high-grade weapon. Most of the people that he fought in the past didn''t have high-grade weapons. Gregory didn''t have any weapons. Randolf too was just using his fists at him. Also, the seven-circle officers didn''t have any weapons as Bargan turned their orange-grade weapons into ashes. He always had a great advantage because of his weapons and equipment. This time was different. He was in the territory of his enemies. He could expect that the leader of this organization possessed at least an orange-grade weapon. Even if his opponent was just a B-rank, it would be different as long as his opponent has high-grade weapons. His equipment advantage would become less in the future. "We can leave the Moon Tower to Yujin and Lumilia. Our plan right now is to know more about the other two towers." Souta said to Lynn. "I understand." Lynn nodded her head. After they finished eating the two head out and went straight to the nearest tower. ... Lumilia and Yujin were sitting in a chair. In front of them were the drinks that they ordered. Lumilia placed the talisman in her pocket. Souta just call them and gave them the information that he gathered. "Hmm... So this one is the Moon Tower? Cl.u.s.ter is somewhere inside it." Yujin muttered as he raised his head and looked at the giant tower close to them. The Moon Tower was just right beside them. They were observing the people who were going inside and outside of the tower when Souta called them. The Moon Tower''s height was five hundred meters and it was full of barriers that could block any spell under tier 3. It was made of high-grade materials so it wouldn''t break easily even if the barrier was shattered. Yujin and Lumilia couldn''t imagine how rich the person who built this tower. Even the nobles from the Hebrei Kingdom couldn''t be able to afford this tower. "The question is... How are we going to know the structure of this tower?" Yujin mumbled. Chapter 328 - Intervention On the top floor of the Moon Tower. A man with shoulder-length green color hair was sitting in a chair. There''s a table with tea in front of him. His face was calm and his eyes were closed as the aroma of the tea went to his nose. He was wearing light blueish color armor underneath his black shirt. His armor was orange-grade equipment while his shirt was blue-grade equipment. His fingers were filled with rings that enhanced his strength. His ears were the same. A pair of blue-grade earrings was in his ears. His was black in color with chains around it. It has the same grade as his armor. A piece of orange-grade equipment. After a few moments, the man slowly opened his eyes and revealed his dark green-colored eyes with blue hue around it. This man was one of the leaders of the Blue Lawless City. The one who ruled over thousands of people across the city. His name was Curdova, the leader of the Moon Tower who governed the moon district. A man was standing in front of Curdova. This man was Kan. The man that Brando fought before in the Ladros City. The one who defeated Brando was him. Kan opened his mouth and said, "Master, I''ve complete my mission. I''ve brought the child here." His eyes were filled with respect for the man in front of him. Suddenly, his expression turned gloomy as he hesitated whether he should continue. ".....but Kan... died at the battle....." "Hmm... I see... we lost one of the executives in exchange for my child. Not a bad deal." Curdova said as he drunk his tea in one go before he stood up and added, "Prepare everything. We''ll start the ceremony on the rooftop." "I understand." Kan bowed his head before he left the room. After Kan left, Curdova walked towards the window and looked down at the city. He squinted his eyes and mumbled, "Everything will start today. I will gain a weapon to destroy the True God''s Holy Kingdom. That vile country... I will not forget what happened to me that day." ... Souta stood up and said, "Let''s go." "Where are we going?" Lynn asked as she followed Souta. "We''re going to find someone who needs our help," Souta replied to her. "Need our help...?" Lynn looked around as she doubted that the people in the surrounding needed their help. "Even if this is a city of criminals. There''s at least one person who needs our help. For hunting or anything." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. He too wasn''t sure what help they would need from him but he had to try it. It was impossible for this city to not have a quest available for him. Yeah, it was impossible for tens of thousands of people to not have a problem as most people in the world have at least one of two problems in their life. Just like the problem that he was facing right now regarding the Moon Tower. If he could at least have some people to ask him for help then he was sure that he would trigger at least one question from them. Quest. This was important for him. He wouldn''t be able to earn exp, skill points, free attribute points, and other rewards without this. The question is how could he let those people rely on him to the point that he would trigger a quest. Sometimes a player would just receive a quest easily and sometimes it would take a long time before a person could give him a quest. If he was lucky, the people would come to him first even without doing anything. After walking around for an hour, Souta and Lynn didn''t find anyone that they could lend their strength. Well, there''s a lot of people as fighting was present everywhere but they doubted whether to help those people or not. "It''s hard to find someone we could lend our strength..." Souta said with a deep sigh. "Yeah, but it''s better if we don''t judge them base on their outside appearance." Lynn nodded and said. "Oh...? You''re right." Souta was a little bit surprised at her words but he regained his composure as he realized that it was like her to say those words. She''s really a kind person. Well, she was right. Those people looked like ruffians so he didn''t even try to help them nor he bothered looking in their direction. "Okay, we''ll try to help some people," Souta said Lynn. "Okay..." Lynn nodded at him. The two once again walked around the area to find someone who needs help. They quickly find someone who was fighting in the streets. Two groups of people were fighting. The first group consisted of six people. Their power level was D-rank. While the other group consisted of only two people but the two of them were C-rank. Sounds of metal colliding against each other echoed in the area. A lot of people were watching the battle on the sideline. They were even cheering and betting about who''s going to win the battle. It was a normal scene in this city. "What should we do, Souta?" Lynn said as she glanced at him. She didn''t know who they should help. "Hmm... Let''s watch first and help the losing side." Souta replied to him. He watched the battle on the sideline with Lynn. He readied himself to intervene at any time. The battle continued and both sides suffered injuries. The battle was intense and they destroyed several structures. "Lynn, I''ll go now. Wait for me to finish it." Souta said to Lynn as he disappeared from his position. Swoosh! Lynn didn''t even manage to reply as he vanished beside her. She just turned her head to the battle. Souta appeared at the corner and slowly walked towards the battle. A lot of people noticed him walking leisurely in the middle of the fight. "Is that person an idiot?!!" "What is he doing in the middle?!!!" "Can''t he see a group of people fighting?!!" The people on the sideline murmured to each other as they mocked Souta who was walking in the middle of the battle. Souta''s hands were inside his pocket. He was looking around but his attention was focused on the battle close to him. The two C-rank couldn''t handle the six D-rank at all. In terms of power level among C-ranks, they were at the bottom. It''s no wonder that six D-ranks could handle them. Swoosh! Swoosh! Five D-ranks appeared one meter away from Souta. They were going to attack the C-rank but Souta took a step forward. This not only shocked the people around but also the C-ranks and the D-ranks who were going to attack the C-rank. "Oh...? You''re in my way." Souta said as he gathered his mana in his hand and waved it towards the swords of the five D-ranks. Bang! The swords of the D-ranks were shattered the moment Souta''s hand collided with it. It was only a low-grade weapon so it couldn''t harm Souta''s hand which was coated by a mana of a B-rank like him. "Wha- Our sword...!!" The D-ranks were stunned when their weapons were shattered easily by this weapon. They haven''t realized that the person in front of them was above their league. Anger and shame disrupted their logical mind. "You dare to fight us! The Great Swift Bandits!!" They roared as they pointed their fingers at him. "It''s not bad to follow your emotion just like what I''m doing but don''t let it control your mind," Souta said as he pointed his finger at them and concentrate his mana on the tip of his finger. Bang! Bang! Bang! Several concentrated mana shoots out from his finger and it knocked out the six D-rank. He could easily dispose of several D-rank without having a problem. If it was a few months ago, it would take him a lot of time before he could defeat six D-rank. "Great Swift Bandit...? I haven''t heard it." Souta shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. He turned towards the two C-ranks, only to find them looking at him with wide eyes. "Is there something wrong...?" Souta said after a while as the two kept looking at him. ".....ah! N-nothing... Thanks for saving us..." One of the C-rank who looked in his early twenties said. He was wearing simple leather armor and pants. His black hair was messy and he had a huge scar on his left arm. "Thank you, young one." The other one said. This man was an old man. His hair was white and long. His beard has the same color as his hair and it was long too. His attire was the same as his comrades. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin as he examined the two from top to bottom. He wondered if he could get something from these two C-ranks. Chapter 329 - Great Swift Bandits Souta looked around and said, "Let''s get out of here. A lot of people are watching us." The two looked around and saw that a lot of people were watching them. They could only nod at Souta as they knew that they''ve gathered a lot of attention. "I understand. Let''s get out of here." Lynn who was in the crowd slowly move and followed them. ... Inside a pub quite far from their place where they fought the six D-ranks, Souta''s group and the two C-ranks occupied a table. "Once again. I''m going to thank you for saving us, young man." The old man stood up and bowed his head in front of Souta. "Thank you for saving us." The other man followed his elder and bowed his head in front of Souta. "It''s nothing..." Souta waved his hand and asked, "Still, I wanted to know why are you fighting those people. Did you not know that this city is a city of criminals? Almost all the people that are living here are bandits or thieves." The two looked at each other. After a while, the old man nodded and began to speak. "We''re going to introduce ourselves first. I''m Jocklen, I''m an experienced swordsman. The young man here is Tans, a swordsman like me." "Well, I''m going to introduce myself too. I''m Ieshi Souta. Ieshi is my last name and Souta is my first name. You can call me Souta. I prefer it if you call me that." Souta said to them. "Hello, I''m Lynn Yaoli. You can call me Lynn." Lynn said shyly as she waved her hand. "I and Tans were part of a mercenary group called Jaden Wind," Jocklen said in a gloomy tone. "Were?" Lynn looked at them. Tans nodded at her and added, "Yes, but that group is gone. Out of fourteen members of the group, Jocklen and I are the only ones alive." Lynn covered her mouth and was surprised by what he revealed. Before she could ask what happened to his comrades, Jocklen opened his mouth and said, "One day while we''re in the middle of a mission, that group appeared before us. They were injured and we gave them some of our potions but we didn''t think that some of them were hiding in the bushes. They caught us off guard and quickly killed our leader, Jaden." "You can guess what happened after that... Everyone was killed and we''re the only ones who managed to escape." Tans added while looking at them with a serious tone. He tightly clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. His eyes were filled with hatred. "How could they do that?" Lynn said quietly as she felt pity towards the two who lost their comrades. A hand stretched out and patted her head. She turned over and saw that it was Souta. Souta shook his head and said, "That''s why don''t be kind to anyone. Don''t easily trust people you met in the wilderness. Observe and examine your surrounding." Lynn lowered her head. "I know." She said with a faint smile. She knew that Souta was warning her so that she wouldn''t end up like them. "I understand your situation now... but I don''t think you can defeat that group of bandits with your current strength. If I''m not there, the two of you would be dead at this moment." Souta said to them. "That...? I''m at fault. Jocklen didn''t do anything wrong. When I saw those people, I couldn''t control my anger." Tans said while clenching his fist. "So what you will do now? You know that the two of you can''t take care of that bandits..." Souta said as he leaned back while observing the reactions of the two. "I..." Tans lowered his head. ''It seems that I will not get any quest from this person... Too bad.'' Souta sighed inwardly. He accepted the fact that he wouldn''t be able to trigger any quest in this city. "We can''t fight them on our own, Tans. You have to decide what we should do." Jocklen said to his comrade. Suddenly, the door of the pub was slammed open. A group of people with intimidating aura walked inside the pub. "That''s them, brother!" "They are the ones who offend the Great Swift Bandits!" The group was armed with sharp weapons as they focused their attention on Souta''s table. The other people in the pub stood up and give way to the Great Swift Bandits. They were going to watch this show from the sideline. Souta glanced at them and thought that he shouldn''t involve himself in this problem if he wouldn''t trigger a quest. He could easily finish this group of third-rates but he doesn''t want to waste his time if he wasn''t going to receive anything. Jocklen and Tans stood up as they looked at the Great Swift Bandits. They quickly pulled out their weapons and prepared themselves for the incoming battle. "Tans, think about what can you do?" Jocklen said to Tans without looking away at the bandits. "Jocklen, we could only fight right now." Tans replied to him. He tightly clenched his fingers around the handle of his sword. He was ready to pounce at his enemies at any moment. "Oho, these guys wanted to fight back..." One of the bandits said with a laugh. "There''s nothing you can do against us. We''re the Great Swift Bandits and we''re quite famous in this city." Another bandit said. They laughed and mocked Jocklen and Tans. They didn''t think that these two could pose a problem to them. Just two C-rank couldn''t give them danger. Suddenly, they noticed Souta and Lynn were still sitting behind the two. It seems that these two were with Jocklen and Tans. If that''s the case then they wouldn''t let these two go. "Brother, that woman is quite a beauty." One of them said while pointing at Lynn. "Ehe~" They approached the table but Jocklen and Tans blocked their way. "Hey, move away if you don''t want to die." One of the bandits said to Tans'' face. "Leave them alone..." Tans slowly said. The two groups were only one foot away to each other. The atmosphere was getting intense and wilder. The audience was anticipating a good battle. "How can I leave that chick alone?" The bandits asked with a faint smile on his face. "She''s not alone." Tans didn''t back down. He was glaring at the bandits with sharp eyes. "You except that small boy to satisfy her in bed. I''m experienced and I think I would be able to make her feel good than that small bo... Argh!" Before the bandit could finish his words he was blown away and crashed on the walls. Bang! The bandit spat a mouthful of blood as his body was embedded on the walls. His bones were crushed and he was suffering internal injuries. "Don''t mock Souta in front of me!! I''ll never forgive anyone who mocked my leader!!" Souta slowly turned his head at his side and looked at Lynn with wide eyes. He was shocked by her outburst as he didn''t expect it at all. Lynn was glaring at the group of bandits as her energy was seeping out of her body. She was red in anger. She could tolerate it if those people mock her but if they mocked her love ones, then she wouldn''t be able to control her emotions. The bandits stepped back as they felt the energy that was oozing out of her body. They were shocked and scared at the same time. The aura that she was releasing surpassed that of the C-rank expert. Jocklen and Tans were shocked too. It was Souta''s first time seeing her like this. Usually, she was kind and shy but right now, she was brimming in anger. Seeing this side of her wasn''t that bad. Souta smiled and he stood up. He drunk a glass of wine before he stretched out his hands and patted Lynn''s head. "Control your emotion. Don''t let it show on your face as your enemy can take advantage of it." Souta said to her before he turned around and looked at the group of bandits. "But they are..." Lynn said as she lowered her head. "It''s fine to get angry. Just don''t let it control your actions. You know... I''m angry too as they are making light of you but I didn''t show it in my face. They thought that I''m calm but I want to kill them at this moment." Souta said while looking at the bandits one by one. He took a step forward as his mana burst out of his body. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Lynn, close your eyes. I''m going to finish this in an instant." "O-Okay..." Lynn closed her eyes as she realized what Souta was going to do. Souta placed his hand on the handle of the vajra sword. "Jocklen, Tans, can you step back for a while. I''m going to finish these guys who dared to provoke me." Tans and Jocklen subconsciously took a step back. They didn''t know why but Souta''s words carried weight. Chapter 330 - Invading the Great Swift Bandits Hideout Dense mana coated the blade of the vajra sword. It glows dimly as Souta slowly pulled it out of its sheath. The bandits tried to move their body but Souta''s mana pressed down on their body. It brought heavy pressure on them and it scared them. "W-What is this...?!" "N-No!!" The people who were watching this scene also felt pressure from Souta''s enormous amount of mana. "I already planned to sit down and do nothing but you people still decided to provoke me," Souta said in a cold tone. He then swung his sword. It looked like it was slow but the bandits couldn''t avoid this slash. Swoosh! In an instant, the head of the bandits flew in the air spewing blood all over the place. Tans and Jocklen opened their mouth widely at the scene. Some of the blood splattered on their cheeks. The audience was stunned. They couldn''t believe what they just saw. A single slash of sword killed a group of D-rank bandits. After a few moments, the bodies of the bandits fell down on the floor with a loud "thud" sound. Souta placed back the vajra sword in its sheath. These third-rates D-rank couldn''t challenge him. The D-rank in Ladros City was still stronger than these people who didn''t receive proper training. He glanced at Tans and Jocklen before he asked, "I''m sure that you did some research. So I''m going to ask where''s the base of the Great Swift Bandit in this city?" "Block 22, Building A, Street 12 of Cloud District." Tans answered him absentmindedly. He still couldn''t get over by what Souta did. "I see..." Souta nodded and he walked out of the pub after tossing a platinum coin at the owner. Lynn quietly followed him as she didn''t dare to look at the corpses of the bandits. Everyone returned to their senses after Souta and Lynn left the pub. A commotion exploded as they talked about Souta and the Great Swift Bandits. "That man is too strong!!" "He easily killed all the bandits!!" "I''m sure that man will go to the base of the Great Swift Bandits!!" "It will be a great scene to watch!! A lone man will fight a first-grade group of the Cloud City!!" "That man will certainly die! The leader of the Great Swift Bandits isn''t someone to be underestimated!" A first-grade group in this city means that they have more than a hundred people. The name of the group was quite famous in this city as the leader of the group was a powerful individual that possessed the power of a B-rank. Tans glanced at Jocklen with a shocked expression. "That man, Jocklen..." "There''s no doubt about it. That man is a B-rank powerhouse. Even a high-level C-rank couldn''t bring that much pressure. Also, the girl is surprisingly powerful too. Much stronger than the two of us." Jocklen said in a serious tone. ... Souta and Lynn were standing in front of the address that Tans gave to him. He was sure that this was the base of the famed Great Swift Bandits. Jocklen and Tans came here to get their revenge on the Great Swift Bandits so they must''ve done their investigation. He also didn''t need to know where''s the Cloud District. The bandits quickly came to the pub so their base must be close. In other words, this place was the Cloud District. With further investigation, all the answers led him to this place. "We''re really going to do it, Souta?" Lumilia asked him with a worried expression. "Yes, I thought that you''re angry at them." Souta then realized that''s just how Lynn is. She was kind so he should''ve expected this reaction. He shrugged his shoulder and said, "Don''t worry. Just don''t think about it. Leave everything to me." "O-Okay." Lynn nodded at him. Souta stepped forward as he lifted his feet and kicked the metal gate of the building. Bang! The metal gate was blown away as it flew inside the building. It gathered the attention of all the people in the surrounding. Souta and Lynn stepped forward and entered the building. Inside it, a lot of people were looking at them with widely opened eyes. After a few moments, the bandits shouted at them. "Who are you, people?!" "You dare to barge in the base of the Great Swift Bandits!!" "Do you know what it means to make us your enemies?!" The bandits stood up and pulled out their weapons. "Tsk! So noisy..." Souta frowned as he said while lifting his left hand. His tattoo shone in crimson light as an image of a fierce and angry bear materialized above his tattoo. "Come and let them have a taste fear, Yuko!" His tattoo glows brightly as it illuminated the entire floor. The bandits couldn''t help but covered their eyes with their hands. "What''s happening?!" "I don''t know!!" "Is he going to attack us?!" After a few seconds, the light disappeared and a bear with red color fur was beside Souta. "Yuko, I''ll leave them to you..." Souta said while patting Yuko''s body. He then glanced at Lynn and said, "I''ll go upstairs. I''m sure that you''ve already sensed that a strong person is residing on the top floor of the building." "Y-Yes... I''m going to stay here." Lynn remembered something and added, "I''m going to support Yuko here." "Hahaha, it''s overkill if you support her. She can already handle all these people. Well, if you want to make the fight faster then do it your way." Souta smiled at her. He looked up as his expression turned serious. He slightly bent his knees and launched himself on the top floor. The floor of each floor couldn''t stop Souta at all. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Lynn sighed as she glanced upward. She then shook her head and focused her attention on Yuko. She didn''t have to worry about Souta. She could sense that Souta''s mana was several times larger than the person on the top floor. Roar!! Yuko roared as she charged at the bandits. She activated the [Cat''s Speed] and [Triple Muscle Strengthening]. She could use Souta''s skill since he bestowed her some of his skills. ... Souta was on the top floor of the building. This building was ten storey so it was quite high. In front of him was a huge man with a thick beard and mustache. The man was sitting on a chair with his back facing Souta. ''I thought that your plan is to stay low-profile.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Yeah but I changed my mind. I will not get anything by staying at the sideline. I need to gather the attention of the upper echelons of this city. That way I can meet the people who had information.'' Souta replied to her. The man turned around and looked at Souta with a serious expression. After a while, he slowly opened his mouth and asked, "Why are you intruding the base of the Great Swift Bandits?" "Well, I found it unpleasant every time I hear the name of your group. Nothing more, nothing less." Souta replied nonchalantly as he walked towards the window. "That''s your reason for barging inside my base...?" The man frowned as he found Souta''s reason for barging inside ridiculous. He didn''t believe it at all so he asked, "Tell me, who ordered you to disturb me? If you tell me their names then I will not do anything to you." Souta looked down and saw a lot of people gathering at the entrance of the building. "This is not a show..." He muttered as he activated the [Pet Resonance] skill. ''Yuko, go all out and destroy everything.'' He told her through their connection. After a few seconds, a loud explosion occurred on the first floor. The whole building trembled and it slowly tilts over. Boom! The leader of the Great Swift Bandits was shocked at this. "Y-You!! You have comrades below and your destroying my building!! I will not forgive you!!" His energy exploded out of his body as he bent his knees. The floor cracked as he launched himself at Souta. Swoosh! He opened his palm as he wanted to grab Souta''s face. "Ehe~" Souta smirked as the leader''s palm was just an inch away from his face. [Shadow Step]! [Cat''s Speed]! [Agility Boost]! His speed increased by several times in an instant. Souta moved his head to the side and avoided the hand of the leader. He examined the equipment of the leader. He looked closely and was disappointed by what he found. The leader''s equipment was just a high-quality blue-grade equipment. Boom! The window and the floor in Souta''s previous position exploded because of the leader''s attack. "Your group is going to become a sacrifice for my plan. Those people will hear my name after I annihilated your group..." Souta said as he clenched his fist. After concentrating his mana on his fist, he delivered a blow to the leader''s side. Bang! Chapter 331 - Cloud Tower The leader widely swung his fist at Souta. Swoosh! Souta crouched down to avoid the leader''s attack. He then stood up and delivered a blow at the leader''s stomach. Bang! "Damn!" The leader roared angrily before he launched a series of powerful punches. [Dozens Explosive Fist]! Souta swiftly moved his body from side to side as he avoided all the punches that his opponent thrown at him. He could clearly see everything. The punches were fast but it was slow in his eyes. ''This one is an ordinary B-rank... Stronger than guild master from before but weaker than Wesler.'' He thought as he estimated the power level of his opponent. While dodging the leader''s fist, Souta lifted his feet and kicked the leader on the stomach. Bang! "Argh!!" The leader g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as his body flew outside and crashed on the building in the front. Boom! Smoke and dust covered the building where the leader crashed. Cracks filled its wall as his mana was growing stronger. Souta was looking at the building in front. He knew that the leader could still fight as he didn''t launch a lethal blow. Boom! "It''s falling... This building is..." Souta muttered as he found this building heading toward the front. "Tsk! I need to finish this quickly..." He clicked his tongue as a black cloak formed around his body. He then flew towards the leader of the Great Swift Bandits. Swoosh! The leader wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. "That man is strong..." He had to admit that Souta was a powerful B-rank. Much stronger than the B-rank that he has faced before. But he was still the leader of the Great Swift Bandits, a first-grade organization in this city. He wouldn''t go down easily without fighting back. "Ahhh!!" He shouted as his mana spiked up and it blew the smoke and dust away. He looked ahead and saw that Souta was already flying towards him. "What?!" He wanted to jump away but several black tentacles appeared and restricted his movements. "Shit! This is bad!!" He cursed as he tried to break free from the black tentacles around his limbs. "[Gravitational Ball]..." Souta opened his palm and ten black balls formed on top of it. The black balls were floating around before it flew up in the sky. Swoosh! After a few seconds, everything turned heavy. The gravity increased by several folds and it shook the entire building. Boom! Every person in the whole area felt the sudden change in atmosphere. The heavy gravity brought weak people on their knees. "You!!" The leader roared as all of his mana erupted out of his body. He shook his body and he managed to break free from the black tentacles using his full strength. But Souta was already in front of him. [Destroying Hound Strike]! The leader widely swung his fist at Souta and Souta crouched down to avoid it. He knew that the power of this attack was high so he couldn''t risk himself by blocking this attack. Bang! The air exploded behind Souta as the leader''s fist landed on nothing but it still destroyed the walls behind. He glanced at the destruction behind him. ''This guy has great power but he lacks speed.'' He thought as he returned his attention to the leader. Hmm...? Souta narrowed his brows as he noticed the leader''s other fist was heading towards his face. Swoosh! He moved to the side to avoid it. He then elbowed the leader''s side and stretched out his hand grabbing his collar. Souta tightened his grip on the collar and raised the leader before smashing him on the ground. Bang! Bang! Bang! The two continued to go down until they reach the ground floor. Cracks spread out on the entire building and with the help of heavy gravity, the building collapsed instantly burying Souta and the leader on the first floor. Boom! The people around stepped back when they realized that the scale of the battle was getting higher. They can''t just watch the battle of a two B-rank closely. If they don''t have enough power, the two B-rank could accidentally kill them. High energy fluctuated and it shoots upward. The debris of rocks was blown away and it destroyed the nearby houses. Boom! Smoke and dust filled the entire area. The commotion gathered the attention of the people in this district. Tans and Jocklen just arrived and were shocked by what they''ve seen. The headquarters of the Great Swift Bandits was reduced to rubble. "He really destroyed the Great Swift Bandits!!" Tans muttered with a shocked expression. Jocklen wanted to see what''s happening inside but the dust and smoke blocked his vision. "The headquarters is the only thing that got demolished. We need to see if Souta won against the leader of the Great Swift Bandits." He said to Tans. It''s natural that this building got destroyed as two B-ranks fought here. The question was who won the battle. "....you''re right, Jocklen. We need to know the conclusion of the battle." Tans agreed at Jocklen. ... The wind blew strongly and it dispersed the smoke that was covering the area. Souta was standing in the middle of the rubble while grabbing the neck of the leader of the Great Swift Bandits. The leader of the Great Swift Bandits didn''t have any sign of life. He was dead as there was a huge hole in his c.h.e.s.t. His heart was gone and it was in Souta''s left hand. He glanced at the heart in his hand before he put more force and crushed it turning it into a bloody mist. Souta turned his head in the direction of the Cloud Tower. ''They are coming...'' He thought as he felt several high mana fluctuations coming at him from the Cloud Tower. ''That''s your plan from the beginning, right? Do you want them to notice you so that you would have a chance to interact with the top power of this city?'' Saya said to him. ''That''s right? Since they are the top power of this city, they must know something that ordinary folks didn''t know about Moon Tower.'' Souta replied to her. ''First, you should probe them if they are in a good relation with Moon Tower or not.'' Saya said. ''Okay.'' Souta nodded. "Souta!" He turned his head and saw Lynn approaching him with Yuko behind her. It seems that they''ve finished dealing with the members of the Great Swift Bandits. "Two, no, three people are coming here," Lynn said to him. "Yes, I can feel it. They didn''t even bother hiding their energy so they must be from the Cloud Tower." Souta replied to her. "C-Cloud Tower...?" Lynn was surprised. "Yes, they are the ones that are managing this district so they will appear as the incident this time is quite large. After all, the incidents involved two B-rank powerhouses." Souta explained to her. Yuko went to his side and she leaned her body on him. "Behave, behave," Souta smiled as he c.a.r.e.s.sed her head. Yuko''s weight was nothing to B-rank who could lift more than five tons. So he didn''t mind if she leaned her body on him. The only problem was that she was too huge for him. Her body could cover him entirely. "Mu." Yuko stuck her tongue and licked his cheeks. After a few moments, three silhouettes crashed on the ground five meters away from them. Judging from the fluctuations of their mana, Souta and Lynn guessed that they were all B-rank powerhouses. A woman with long black hair wearing a black suit that didn''t hide the curve of her body stepped forward and looked around. Her gazed paused at Souta, Lynn, and Yuko. The other two were an old man and a man in his twenties. They were wearing black suits and cloak. The man in his twenties had the weakest fluctuation of mana out of the three of them. The second was the old man. The strongest was the woman in the center of them. The man gathered his mana and opened his mouth, "The Cloud Tower is here! Those who are not involved in this incident should get out of this place! The Cloud Tower will handle this! We could not guarantee your safety if you still stay here!" He imbued his mana in his voice so his words resounded in every direction and everyone heard it. The woman observed the three before she opened her mouth and asked, "Who''s the one that killed Orman there?" Souta glanced at the corpse beside him and thought, ''So this man''s name is Orman. Well, there''s no need to remember his name.'' Lynn didn''t answer the woman''s question. She just shut her mouth. She will not say anything to these strangers unless Souta asked her to do so. "I guess that you''re the one who killed Orman. You have some power if you''ve managed to kill him without receiving heavy injuries." The woman said while looking at Souta. She guessed that it was him as he was the one who glanced at the corpse of Orman. Chapter 332 - Awakening Souta and Lynn were sitting on exquisite chairs. Yuko was sitting on the floor behind them. In the opposite direction was a girl who looked like seventeen to nineteen years old. This girl had long pink color hair and it was tied in a bun behind her head. She was none other than the ruler of the Cloud Tower, Sulin. She had a nickname called the Huntress of the Sky High which she earned before she became the ruler of the Cloud Tower. Despite her looks, she was a powerful powerhouse in this city and was probably at the top 3. "I see... The Moon Tower is getting uncontrollable these days..." Sulin rubbed her chin as she glanced in the direction of the Moon Tower. After a while, she turned back her attention to Souta and asked, "But... I want to know the reason why you want to take down the Moon Tower. From my view, I don''t have a reason to help you." "Yeah, you don''t have a reason to help us but I can only say that the Moon Tower is planning something big," Souta said as her as he took a sip of coffee. "Big, you say..." Sulin muttered. "Yeah, the incident could involve the whole city. The Moon Tower is not an ordinary organization. The worst-case scenario is that a great country will be involved in this incident." Souta said seriously as he recalled what the person that he interrogated in the Deep Woods said to him. "A great country...?" Sulin was shocked by what she heard. A great country was different from a large country. In this continent, there were only three great countries among the hundreds of countries in this land. The three great countries were no joke. They couldn''t afford to offend that humongous country. "Yes, it seems that they have a plan to fight a great country." Souta nodded his head. "Are they an idiot? Even a single SS-rank is enough to wipe out this city so how could they..." Sulin gritted her teeth. She glanced at him and asked, "By the way, do you know which great country are they planning to fight?" "The True God''s Holy Kingdom... Also, the child that they kidnapped is from that kingdom and it seems that she''s important to them." Souta said to her. He knew that Cl.u.s.ter was from the True God''s Holy Kingdom but he couldn''t confirm if she was important to them. He could only lie in front of Sulin. "It''s hard to believe what you''ve said to me..." Sulin muttered. "Fine, I''ll tell you who we are..." Souta sighed and decided to reveal who he is to Sulin. He looked at Lynn and saw her nodding at him. He then turned his attention back to Sulin. "We''re from a large country called Hebrei Kingdom. It''s in the southeast of the Sky High Mountain..." "I know the Hebrei Kingdom... Tell me how it is connected to the problem concerning the Moon Tower." Sulin said. "Do you know that the Hebrei Kingdom is quite far from this place, right?" Souta narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I know that so what are you trying to say," Sulina asked impatiently. "I''m saying that they''ve head come to the Hebrei Kingdom just to kidnapped a single girl from the True God''s Holy Kingdom. If she''s not important why would they go into our country just to kidnap a little girl?" Souta explained to her why he thought that Cl.u.s.ter was important to the Moon Tower''s plan. He also told her what happened to Deep Woods where he first met Cl.u.s.ter and the people of the Moon Tower. The Deep Woods was farther than the Hebrei Kingdom and they traveled that far just to take her. "Are you sure that really happened?" Sulin asked him. "Yeah, I''m sure. Cl.u.s.ter was with me for a few months and I don''t even know what they wanted from her. What makes them feel that they can handle the True God''s Holy Kingdom with her." Souta said as he leaned his back on his chair and looked at the ceiling. "Even god wouldn''t have the guts to say that they could fight the True God''s Holy Kingdom." Sulin agreed with him. "Yeah, the Deadly Sins, God''s Will, and Zodiacs have powerful god-level powerhouses but even them couldn''t take down the strongest force in this continent," Souta paused for a moment before he added, "So what are you going to do with the Moon Tower?" "Hmm...? I need to think about it..." Sulin rubbed her chin as she went deeply into her thoughts. "Now that the Moon Tower has Cl.u.s.ter. I''m sure that they are going to make a move. They''ve been planning this for a long time." Souta didn''t say anymore after that. He knew that once Sulin realized the graveness of this situation she will help him with her forces. The three towers weren''t in an alliance at all. They were watching each other''s back warily. Souta closed his eyes as he finally recalled that there''s no Blue Lawless City in the game. This city was destroyed in the early version of the game. In the game, this city will become a city owned by players. Its name will become the Yuan Dai City. Yuan Dai was one of the top guilds in the game and they were also the wealthiest guild so they bought everything and owned this city for players. But in this world, there''s no player aside from him. So it was impossible for this city to become Yuan Dai city. There''s no Yuan Dai Guild that will buy this land from the Mechanic Country. In the game, Mechanic Country was the owner of this city but the wealthiest guild in the world bought it at a high price in their hands. Normally, the Mechanic Country wouldn''t let this city go but this city was too far from their territory so they had no choice but to sell it. Also, if they owned it their enemies would naturally attack this place. ''So it seems that the Moon Tower is related to the fall of the Blue Lawless City...'' Souta thought. Not just the Moon Tower, the True God''s Holy Kingdom and the Mechanic Country too. Something big happened here in the game that he didn''t know. Even if Souta came from the game, it was impossible for him to know everything that happened in every place in this huge world. "Okay, if the Moon Tower tried to do anything against this city I will lend you my strength," Sulin spoke after contemplating for a while. Souta grinned inwardly and said, "That time will come. There''s no doubt about it. If I''m the leader of the Moon Tower I will immediately start my plan after I got what I want. You just have to change your perspective and you will understand some things that you couldn''t understand before." "I just hope that his plan wouldn''t disturb this city," Sulin said. "Well, that''s impossible. You should contact the Sea Tower in case something happened." Souta suggested to her. "I will do that..." Sulin nodded her head. She knew that it was important to talk to the other ruling force of this city if a disaster was to come. Souta sighed in relief after he heard her words. The first time he came here, he was worried that they were not going to listen to him. Luckily, these people were already wary about the Moon Tower from the beginning. The conversation was smooth and everything went well. The only problem was when the Moon Tower going to start their plan. "Lynn, we''re going to the Moon Tower," Souta said to Lynn. "Right now...?" Lynn asked. "Yes, we''ve already finished what we need to do here," Souta replied to her. ... Curdova, the leader of the Moon Tower, was standing on the top floor of the tower. There was an altar in front of him and a body of an unconscious girl was lying in front of it. On the floor, there was a magic circle with different colors on it. It represents the lowest to the highest tier of spell. There were four silver-colored shafts around the altar. The tip of the shaft has a dragon head sculpture embedded on it. It was giving off an ominous vibe. Behind Curdova were the six executives of the Moon Tower. Originally there were seven executives but only six remained as the other one died in the Ladros City. Curdova looked back at his executives and said, "Guard each floor. Tighten the security of the tower. I will start the ritual and everything will change in this city. We will gain a power to defeat a good and fight our enemy, the True God''s Holy Kingdom." "We understand!!" The six executives said at the same time. They turned around and left to guard the tower. Their dream will come true. After they left, Curdova turned his attention back to the altar. He approached Cl.u.s.ter and bit his thumb. He then dropped his blood on the magic circle on the floor. "Oh great cosmos, I hereby open the treasure lying in front of thyself. Take a blood and offer thy strength." "Awaken thy treasure." He opened his eyes as his mana burst out of his body. His mana gathered above before the magic circle on the floor absorbed it. Swoosh! After a while, the magic circle emitted different colors of light. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The four shafts released white light and it quickly changed into red light. The dragon heads on top of it opened its mouth and released an enormous amount of mana. Boom! Strangely, Cl.u.s.ter who was unconscious in the center of the magic circle opened her eyes. Her body floated in the mid-air as her eyes flashed brightly. White tattoos appeared all over her body. "It''s here... The awakening of the Thousand Spell, the Grimoire of Spell!" Curdova muttered in amazement. Chapter 333 - [Rising of the Earth Domain] The conversation with Sulin of the Cloud Tower went well. If he didn''t take down the Great Swift Bandits, she wouldn''t believe in anything that he said. After all, in this city as long as a person has power that person could simply kill anyone and even take down the three ruling forces of this Blue Lawless City. That''s just how the other three ruling forces take over this city. All of them killed the previous rulers without mercy. He was correct that he annihilated the Great Swift Bandits. If not then Sulin would think of him as some person that just wanted attention. A person that wanted them to fight each other. In any case, he was glad that Sulin believed him and even said that she would use her forces if the Moon Tower really did something to this city. It''s better that she was prepared than not. Her forces weren''t to be underestimated. She probably has dozen B-rank powerhouses as her subordinates. It was enough to offset the other subordinates of the Moon Tower and if Sulin managed to convince the Sea Tower to help them then they would have a higher chance to take down the Moon Tower. Souta didn''t care if all of them were killed in the battle. The most important thing was to rescue Cl.u.s.ter. As long as he could rescue her he doesn''t care what happened to this city. His priority this time was Cl.u.s.ter. Boom! Souta, Lynn, and Yuko who were walking towards the Moon Tower suddenly stopped moving. The ground shook heavily and the whole city felt it. "W-What''s going on?!" Lynn asked with a worried expression. Souta was about to reply to her when an enormous amount of mana swept out in the whole city. "What the-" He was stunned as he felt the dense mana in the atmosphere. The whole city continued to tremble and a pillar of mana burst upward in one of the towers in the city. Souta looked at it and narrowed his eyes, "That''s the Moon Tower... so they are going to start their plan..." He didn''t know what their plan that they require this large amount of mana. The mana wasn''t liquefied nor solidified. It was still in the gaseous state but the amount was unimaginable for him. Just how could the Moon Tower gather this unbelievable amount of mana... Boom! The earthquake was getting stronger every second. It doesn''t show any sign that it will stop quickly. It seems that this earthquake would continue until it destroyed a huge part of the city. Huge cracks spread on the ground and dozens of towering rocks rose from it. It was shocking as it destroyed the structures in its way. "Sure, this is getting bad," Souta muttered as he glanced at those tower-like rocks that have a height of almost fifty meters. Some of the rocks even reach seventy meters in height. It was shocking as he felt that the appearance of these rocks came from a spell that he didn''t know. Lynn tugged the hem of his shirt as she stopped him from moving forward. Souta turned to look at Lynn and saw her trembling lips and pale face. "Is there something wrong, Lynn?" He asked her. "S-Souta..." Lynn muttered in a low voice. "Yes, what is it?" He asked her patiently as he ordered Yuko to protect them from the falling debris of rocks. "T-This mana signature... It''s familiar to me..." Lynn slowly said. Souta opened his eyes widely as he guessed what she was about to say. "I felt this mana signature from... Cl.u.s.ter..." She added in a low voice. ... Alice who was inside the inn quickly escaped as a gigantic rock with a sharp end rose from the ground. The rock pierced the whole inn and it eventually destroyed it. "This is a high-level tier 3 spell called [Rising of the Earth Domain]..." She muttered as she recognized the spell by looking around what''s happening in this city. The magic circle of this spell was so complicated that everyone could hardly learn it. This spell was a series spell that if someone learned it they would be able to cast several spells just from one magic circle. Only an expert magician that has huge experience could learn it. She once saw a magician that learned this spell in her homeland. That magician was respected and honored. Boom! Chaos erupted in the whole city as every citizen panicked from the unexpected disaster. Those people didn''t have any idea that the cause of this earthquake was a spell. Alice turned her head and looked in the direction where the enormous mana in the atmosphere coming from. She saw a huge tower. That tower was shaking heavily as if it was going to fell at any moment but she knew the truth of this spell. That tower was the center of the spell it will become an invulnerable giant magician tower. A tactical magician tower. This was the reason why the magician that knew this spell was respected. The power of this spell wasn''t ordinary. In war, the magician who knew this spell will be useful in each outpost. It could defend and attack at the same time. Plus, the owner''s magic attack was amplified by 100% percent. [Rising of the Earth Domain] was one of the strongest tier 3 spells out there. If it was cast in a sub-world, this type of spell could even destroy the whole sub-world. "It seems that I need to head over there. I''m sure that Souta and the rest will also go there." Alice said as she vanished from her position and reappeared on the roof of the house. Her figure kept flickering towards the direction of the tower. ... The Moon Tower shook heavily as rocks formed around it. It then grew taller until it reaches a thousand meters. Above it, dark clouds swirled around like some sort of typhoon. Lightning was flashing around it every second. It felt as if the world was going to end. The form and appearance of the tower felt familiar to Souta. Yes, it was familiar to him. He saw this spell once when he fought the demon army in the game. He could still remember when he fought the army of demons that have five of this tower. It was still fresh in his mind. The destruction it caused and the advantage that it could provide towards the caster of this spell. It was horrific. He died many times in the game just to get rid of five towers and its casters. But now... He only had one life. It was hard to complete this task without dying but he guessed that the difficulty was lower than when he fought the demons. Cl.u.s.ter. Lynn said that the mana signature was the same as Cl.u.s.ter. It means that all these mana in the air came from her. It was hard to believe that a girl that didn''t even reach B-rank have this amount of mana. Since it came from Cl.u.s.ter, Souta had just to get her and the spell will stop working. He was sure that Curdova couldn''t properly control this spell as the mana that was used to cast it came from Cl.u.s.ter. Yeah, that''s it. Everything centered around her. It will be over once he rescued her. He doesn''t know the name of the spell but he knew that it was a high-grade tier 3 spell. "The spell isn''t done. It will continue..." Souta said as he motioned Lynn and Yuko to follow him. "Let''s go!" After a few seconds, Lynn found that Souta was right. Boulders of rock fell off from the gigantic spikes and it transformed into a three-meter tall humanoid figure. A golem. They were golem. They were going to follow the caster''s instruction. So Souta expected already for golems to appear. That''s why he wanted to go to the tower as fast as possible and rendezvous with the rest of his group. There''s one way to go inside the tower. He couldn''t fly and tore the wall on the top floor. The amount of mana that was protecting the tower was out of his league. In fact, he wouldn''t even put a dent on the walls with his current strength. The only way was to go through the main entrance. Why? Because this was the only place that wasn''t protected by dense mana. But going there will be hard. He was sure that countless golems were guarding the entrance and the first floor. Boom! Souta''s mana burst forth as three golems blocked their way. The other golems were wreaking havoc in the city and the large group of bandits tried to fight back as no one wanted to die in this situation. A fight breaks out in the whole city in just a few seconds. "Just..." Souta wrapped his fingers around the handle of the vajra sword. He clad his mana on the blade making it more sharper and stronger before he pulled it out. "...get out of my way!" Swoosh! The three golems were sliced apart as he used [Crimson Moon] skill. Chapter 334 - Tower The three golems exploded after Souta cut them in half. Boom! Boom! He didn''t look back as he continued to move forward while Yuko and Lynn were following him from behind. Lynn was looking around with a worried expression. The chaos around the city felt similar to what happened to Ladros City except that the scale was lower. The scale of the turmoil of Ladros City involved monster lord and god-level powerhouse. Even without those two, the forces of the deadly sins easily surpassed it. It was the same. The only difference was the power scale. She had a bad feeling about this. "I guess that the Moon Tower and Sea Tower will be busy defeating the golems around the city," Souta said to her. ".....then we''re the only one who''s going to the Moon Tower?" Lumilia asked after some hesitation. "Yes, but I expected help from Sulin. These golems wouldn''t pose a problem to B-rank powerhouse so she will let some of her B-rank subordinates to stop Moon Tower." Souta replied to her. ".....okay" Lynn nodded in understanding. Souta remembered something and he asked her, "Can you use the [Eye of Perception]?" "Um.... I''m sorry, Souta. I still haven''t mastered the [Eye of Perception]." Lynn answered him with a downcast expression. "It''s okay. It''s a great power so it will not be easy to master it." Souta shook his head. No one knew how to use [Eye of Perception] around her so she couldn''t find someone to teach her how to use it. She had to depend on her own to master that incredible ability. Souta and the rest could only provide assistance to her regarding her training. ''The [Eye of Perception]...? If she became a student of that pope then she would easily master that ability unlike us who''s blindly searching about that ability.'' Saya commented. The group moved forward and after a few minutes, they''ve arrived near the Moon Tower. Corpses were scattered everywhere as hundreds of golems were guarding the entrance of the tower. Lynn covered her mouth as she held herself back from uttering a single sound. The low-level bandits couldn''t stand a chance against hundreds of golems that were around the tower. They haven''t recovered themselves from the chaos brought by the earthquake and the giant rocks that emerged from the ground when the golems appeared and killed them. Souta glanced at her and said, "Lynn, try to sense if there are people around here aside from us." "O-Okay..." Lynn nodded before she closed her eyes. Souta placed his finger at his mouth as he motioned Yuko to stay silent. If Lynn didn''t found the presence of people aside from them then he was sure that Lumilia and Yujin were already inside the tower. After a while, Lynn opened her eyes and she looked at Souta. "How is it?" He asked her. "Someone is approaching the tower from the east. From the mana signature, I think that it''s Alice." Lynn replied to him. "I see..." Souta nodded as he rubbed his chin. He then said, "Since Alice is heading in our direction, we should dispose the golems that are guarding the tower." "But first... Strengthened Yuko..." He muttered before he glanced at his system. He copied a skill called [Monster Force] from the Underground King that unexpectedly appeared in the Ladros City. At their level, their attributes were all three digits. This skill will increase their strength greatly compared to his other buff skills that could only enhance one specific attribute. The [Monster Force] was a passive skill that increased the user''s strength by 100, agility and dexterity by 80, and vitality by 50. Souta used 2 skill points to bestow this skill to Yuko. Since she was his companion, it''s important for her to grow stronger alongside him. ''Just what did you do?'' Saya asked him. ''I just used [Pet Bestowing] skill to Yuko.'' Souta replied to her. He took a deep breath and circulate his mana. He brandished his sword and clad his mana around it. After finishing his preparation, Souta jumped out of their hiding spot and launched himself at the golems. "Lynn, just support Yuko. You don''t need to worry about me." He said as he slashed his sword horizontally. Boom! Several golems were sliced in half in an instant. The golems were alerted. They quickly moved their huge bodies to intercept Souta. But Souta was stronger and faster than them. He moved his body swiftly from side to side while slashing his sword. Swoosh! Swoosh! Yuko also charged forward while smashing the golem in her way. The golems crumbled the moment she swung her paw clad in her mana. It was powerful that Lynn thought that she didn''t need her support. ''Since Yuko could handle these golems, I''ll just conserve my mana for stronger enemies.'' She thought as she followed Yuko. ''Still... Souta is amazing as ever.'' She moved her gaze to Souta who was destroying dozens of golems every second. A few minutes later, Souta, Lynn, and Yuko cleared the golems in the surrounding. He turned his head to the side and saw Alice walking in their direction. Lynn and Yuko followed his gaze and saw Alice. "Alice, you''re here." Lynn smiled. "Yeah," Alice replied as she looked around and asked, "Where''s Lumilia and Yujin?" "I think that they are already inside the tower," Souta answered her question while shrugging his shoulders. He could contact them using the transmission talisman but what if they were in the middle of a battle and his call distracted them. That''s what he was trying to avoid. "We should go now. The golems will recover in the next minutes." Alice said as she saw the rocks moving in one direction. "The golems will continue to appear endlessly as long as the mana supply is still here," Souta said while glancing at the top of the tower. He wondered what''s happening on the top or what kind of person Curdova was for him to fight a battle that he will not win. He then turned his attention to the entrance of the tower. "Let''s go." The entrance of the tower was five meters in height and three meters in width. It''s built like this so that the golems could enter and exit the tower freely. There''s no door as the cold wind blew strongly on their face as soon as they stepped their foot inside the tower. "What a strong sensation..." Souta muttered with a serious expression. The first floor was just an open wide space. There''s nothing inside it except for them. At the side of the wide room, there were four stairs that could lead them to the floor above. "How come there''s no one here?" Lynn spoke after looking around. "That''s just how this place is built... If the caster wanted to modify this place then the caster could do it but it''s not even an hour since this tower was erected here using the foundation of the Moon Tower." Alice explained to ger. She then glanced upward and added, "But it''s different on the floor above. I''m sure that the caster wouldn''t leave those floors without any guard." "Yep, so let''s go," Souta said as he walked towards the stairs. Alice, Lynn, and Yuko followed him after they confirmed that they were the only people on this floor. They arrived on the second floor and what was revealed before their eyes was a huge maze. They had to find a way to go to the floor above. "There''s mana barrier above so we can''t jump or fly. We can''t also shatter the barrier. If we had an amount of mana that could rival it then it''s possible. Unfortunately, we don''t have." Souta explained to Lynn. From Alice''s words before, it seems that she knew this spell so he only explained what he knows to Lynn. "Hmm...?" Alice crouched down as she noticed something on the floor. She stretched out her hand and touch a black mark. "Burn mark...? And it''s heading there...?" She narrowed her eyes before she realized what these marks. She turned to Souta and Lynn before she said, "Look here, Souta. I think that Lumilia left these marks so that we could follow them easily. She knows that we will enter the tower after the earthquake so she left these marks so that we could catch up with them." "Hmm..." Souta squatted down and saw the burn marks heading in one of the paths. The other paths didn''t have burn marks. "....but there''s a possibility that it''s placed here to confuse us." "Yeah, so what do you think?" Alice asked. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin as he thought about what he should do in this situation. He then glanced at Lynn and said, "Since it''s Lumilia, she knows about Lynn''s strong perception. Lynn try to sense the lingering mana if it''s similar to Lumilia." "I understand..." Lynn closed her eyes as she concentrated. There was an enormous amount of mana above them so it was quite hard to detect faint mana under this. Chapter 335 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Its important for them to gain experience Lynn opened her eyes after a while and said, "Yes, I''m familiar with this mana. I''m sure that the lingering mana came from Lumilia." "I see... Then, these marks were left by her. We should follow them quickly." Souta said to his group. Lynn and Alice didn''t have any objection to him so all of them followed the marks. ... The group easily went to the third floor and the third floor was a maze too just like the second floor. The only difference was that there were golems roaming around the floor trying to ambush the people that invaded the tower. The golems this time were stronger than the golems outside the tower but they still couldn''t stop Souta''s group from advancing towards the top floor. They easily passed this floor too. The fourth floor was different. It was a wide space filled with hundreds of gigantic golems. The golems this time were as strong as a C-rank powerhouse. They were growing stronger each floor. Still... C-rank powerhouses wouldn''t stand a chance against a group of B-rank. Even among B-ranks Souta and Alice were exceptional. They could easily defeat a normal B-rank in a one-on-one battle. On the fifth floor, Souta''s group finally found Lumilia and Yujin. The two were hiding at the corner while watching a fifteen-meter tall golem in the center of the room. "Mila! Yujin!" Lynn called the two. The two turned around when they heard someone calling them. They sighed in relief when they saw that it was Lynn, Alice, Souta, and Yuko. "You''re finally here," Lumilia said to them. "So... Did you find anything?" Souta asked the two. Yujin shook his head in response indicating that they didn''t find anything. Their investigation was futile. The Moon Tower was guarded tightly, and they only managed to enter because of the chaos brought by the earthquake and changes of the tower. "We''re on the fifth floor and the golem here is just one but its strength is definitely above than the golems on the floor below," Lumilia said as she glanced at the fifteen-meter tall golem. "We should finish this as soon as-" Souta didn''t even manage to finish his sentence as the whole tower trembled heavily. It was followed by a huge outburst of concentrated mana. Boom! Lynn, Alice, Lumilia, and Yujin were alarmed. They didn''t know what''s happening above. The more they thought about it the more they worry about Cl.u.s.ter''s condition. Hmm...? "Above!" Lynn shouted as she felt a foreign presence above them. Since she could sense the mana signature, she knew that it was a different person. A silhouette on the ceiling flashed towards their direction at high speed. Swoosh! Souta quickly reacted as he pushed Lumilia and Lynn away. Alice also jumped away leaving Yuko and Yujin at the center. Yuko just turned her head upward and looked at the figure heading down in their direction. Yujin brandished his twin swords and clad it with his own mana. He raised his swords above his head and swung it downwards. [Thousand Slicing Blade]! Energy blades shot out from his swords. Boom! The figure didn''t stop and collided with the energy blade causing a loud explosion. This explosion gathered the attention of the fifteen-meter tall golem at the center. The golem slowly turned its head and lifted its hand. Suddenly, its hand blurred as it threw a punch towards Souta''s direction. Souta didn''t expect that the giant golem possessed incredible speed that could rival his own. The fist of the golem was one foot away from him and he knew that he could dodge it. He could only block it at this distance. Souta quickly gripped the handle of the vajra sword and pulled it out of its sheath. Bang! Sparks flew out as the gigantic fist of the golem landed on the sword. ''So strong!'' Souta said inwardly as the floor beneath his feet formed a spider-web crack. Then, a crimson color aura seeped out of the blade of the sword. [Crimson Moon]! Boom! The ground shook heavily as smoke and dust filled the area. The cracks on the ground spread out. Souta''s figure jumped out of the smoke and he examined the golem. He was surprised to find that his [Crimson Moon] skill couldn''t put a scratch on the fist of the golem. Lumilia gathered her mana and casted the [Water Bomb] spell. Boom! After that, Alice appeared on the head of the golem and thrust her spear forward. Bang! The following attacked that they launched was powerful that it could easily take down B-rank powerhouse but the result was different... The giant golem was still standing before their eyes. "It''s tough... It will take a lot of time before we could destroy this golem with tough defense." Souta said as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "This golem... I have a feeling that a person is inside of it..." Lynn muttered. "What?!" Souta, Lumilia, and Alice were shocked when they heard Lynn''s words. "Um... I''m not sure as my senses couldn''t penetrate the golem''s body so I''m having a hard time sensing its core. I could only say that every part of the golem is filled with mana." Lynn said to them. "I see... If what you said is right then... someone is controlling this golem from inside." Souta nodded. "That''s must be the reason why this golem''s movement is different from the golem on the floor below," Lumilia said. "Souta!" Souta turned his head and saw that it was Yujin. "You can leave this to me. You should go upstairs and rescue Cl.u.s.ter as soon as possible." Yujin said without looking at him. His attention was entirely focused on the person before him. The person before him was exuding an aura that''s greater than his own. That person was five feet tall and was wearing a black pants and silver-colored light armor. There''s a black mask on his face and his long black hair was tied in a ponytail behind his head. On his hand, there were two long swords. Hmm...? Souta observed Yujin''s opponent and felt the energy level of a B-rank coming from him. He guessed that this one must be one of the executives of the Moon Tower. "You can leave this one to me! Just go and rescue Cl.u.s.ter!" Yujin said to them. "...but it''s better if we fight together," Lynn said. Souta patted Lynn''s shoulder and said, "Let him do it. He wanted to fight so let him fight." "Why...? It''s less risky if we fight together." Lynn replied to him with a confused expression. "Well... Leave him be... I''ll answer your question later." Souta said as he turned to Yujin and added, "I''ll leave Yuko here to handle the golem. I''m sure that you wouldn''t complain about her fighting the other one." "Sure, I''m not against it," Yujin replied to him. "Good." Souta nodded and he said, "Let''s go!" He dashed towards the stairs along with Alice, Lumilia, and Lynn. The golem turned to them but Yuko opened her mouth and a flame burst out of it. Boom! Yuko received an order from her master to defeat this giant pile of rocks so she will destroy it without holding back. ... ''Is it really okay to leave the two to those two enemies? I agree with Lynn. The risk will be less if all of you fight those two at the same time.'' Saya asked him. ''Yup, we could defeat them easily if we fought together but... it will take us five minutes or more to defeat them. It''s better to leave those two to Yujin and Yuko while we move upstairs. Plus, they will gain experience from fighting an opponent that''s as strong as them.'' Souta paused for a moment before he added, ''A life and death battle is needed to make them stronger. Yuko hasn''t fought someone as strong as her for a long time.'' ''Well, if you say so. Yuko continued to grow stronger but her experience in fighting is less than yours.'' Saya paused before she asked seriously, ''but what if she got defeated and died in the battle?'' ''Did you forget that I have a [Pet Resonance] skill that Teacher Bargan taught to me? I could instantly know what she''s doing.'' Souta replied to her. Also, the system registered Yuko as his pet so he could see her health points. Lynn was still worried about leaving Yujin and Yuko to those to powerful enemies. Alice noticed her and said, "Don''t worry about them. Yujin is not an ordinary person. If he used the full potential of his spirit then his strength would surpass even Souta." Souta heard her evaluation of the spirit power and smiled. "Well, that''s true." That''s true if he didn''t have a dark grade and universal grade artifacts. Unfortunately, he had [Vajra Sword Saya] and [Soul Blood Earring]. "For now, we should worry about Cl.u.s.ter. We don''t know what those people are doing to Cl.u.s.ter." Lumilia said to her. Chapter 336 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Seventh Floor The structure of the Moon Tower has changed the moment the [Rising of the Earth Domain] was casted. The tower grew taller and some of the floors have changed into a labyrinth. The floor grew larger as the gap between the ceiling and the ground was thirty meters. That''s why a fifteen-tall golem could move freely on any floor. Souta and the rest arrived on the sixth floor. The sixth floor was like a jungle as it was full of trees. They couldn''t see anything aside from the trees around the floor. "This..." Lumilia was quite surprised when saw this scene. "Tsk! It''s not easy to find the stair with these trees in the way." Souta clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Should we split up or not?" Alice asked while looking around. She then remembered something and turned to Lynn, "Can you sense if there''s someone here aside from us?" "I''ll try..." Lynn replied as she closed her eyes. Her senses spread out and she didn''t detect anyone aside from them. "I couldn''t sense anyone..." "If that''s the case then we should split up to search for the stairs," Souta said while rubbing his chin. "But if you''ve found an enemy just raised your mana and we will go to your position as fast as possible." The group split up and search the whole jungle to find the path to the upper floor. Souta was deep in his thoughts. He was thinking about the executives of the Moon Tower. He was sure that the person inside the golem and the person that Yujin was fighting were both executives. So there were only four executives left. His current team has him, Lynn, Lumilia, and Alice. Four people. One of them must fight two executives at the same time because he will be fighting the leader of the Moon Tower. If he wasn''t wrong they called him Curdova. Also, maybe he should fight two executives and leave Curdova to Alice since she was stronger than Lynn and Lumilia. Lynn was hard support and Lumilia was a hybrid of support and mage. Both of them weren''t as good as Alice in combat so if someone was to fight the boss it should be Alice or him. ... On the top floor... Curdova was looking down at the state of the city. Behind him, a girl with long green hair was suspended in the mid-air. The girl was emitting an enormous amount of mana as her eyes were flashing brightly. Different magic circles were floating around her. This girl was none other than Cl.u.s.ter. "Let''s increase the output..." Curdova muttered as he turned around and looked at Cl.u.s.ter. "To think that my precious daughter became a powerful weapon... No, this one isn''t my daughter. She''s just using my daughter''s body." Cl.u.s.ter raised her tiny hand and a large magic circle formed above it. At the same time, the tower once again shook heavily. The golems that were causing chaos in the city grew larger and stronger. "I don''t care about anything. As long as I can see the fall of the True God''s Holy Kingdom, I will do anything." He muttered as he narrowed his eyes. He recalled how the knights of the holy kingdom killed his family. How they killed and r.a.p.ed his wife. They even killed his mother and father. They killed everything that was connected to him. All of his family members were dead and the same for his wife. He couldn''t forget those scenes. It kept repeating to his head and he was always dreaming of it when he was sleeping. No, it was not a dream... It''s a nightmare. "Hahahaha..." Curdova laughed loudly like a mad person. He raised both of his hands and his mana spiked up. Boom! "The ritual... The fusion is going to happen soon..." On the magic circle on the ground, in front of the altar, sparks flew out as a gigantic metallic head slowly emerged from it. The metallic head was color dark blue and its eyes were lifeless. "Unbinding the seal... With this, I will be able to control this great weapon..." Curdova said while looking at the floating Cl.u.s.ter above him. An ancient armor that will let him control Cl.u.s.ter''s power. After this ritual, he will wage war against the True God''s Holy Kingdom. Hmm...? "Some people are invading the tower...? I''m leaving these people to my executives. I want to see if they can arrive here at the top of the tower." ... It took five minutes for Souta and the rest to find the path to the upper floor. There''s really no opponent on the sixth floor, unlike the fifth floor where there were two executives of the tower. Souta, Lynn, Lumilia, and Alice went upstairs. They arrived on the seventh floor which looked like a desert. The whole area was full of sands and the temperature was high. It really feels like they were on a real desert. No, in fact, if not for the walls and ceiling they would think that this was a real desert. But this level of heat was nothing to them. A 50-degree celsius temperature was trivial to B-rank powerhouses. The only problem was that there were two people at the center of the desert room. Souta, Alice, Lynn, and Lumilia observed the two people that were looking at him. The people were oozing energy that was greater than normal B-rank. These two must be an executive of the Moon Tower. ''If I brought all the members of the Dark Oculus Legion then this Moon Tower would be easy... Unfortunately, we''ve suffered heavy casualties in the incident in the city. Bryan and Brando are out on this mission.'' Souta said as he analyzed the strength of the Moon Tower. ''I want to fight and kill these people but the time...'' He said to Saya while glancing at the ceiling. He was worried about Cl.u.s.ter. "I''ll go!" Alice said as she bent her knees and charged forward. She took out a metal pole and it transformed into a spear. Swoosh! She arrived in front of the two people and swung her spear sideways. One of the executives jumped backward while the other one threw a punch at Alice. Boom! The fist of the executives and Alice''s spear collided causing a small shockwave to swept out in the surrounding area. The sands beneath their feet were blown away. Lumilia took a deep breath and said, "Souta, can you leave these people to me?" "You and Alice are the strongest among us so I think that your power will be needed to rescue Cl.u.s.ter," Lumilia explained to him. "I understand your concern but are you sure that you can handle them?" Souta asked. "I-I''ll also stay here to help Mila!" Lynn said while stuttering. Souta turned to her and asked, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I will support Mila here," Lynn said seriously. Souta sighed and smiled, "What am I doing? You''re here to rescue Cl.u.s.ter, to help her so why am I preventing you to fight. Okay, I''ll leave these to you." "Leave them to us." Lumilia and Lynn said at the same time. "Good." Souta launched himself to the battle and he quickly used [Crimson Moon]. Boom! The two executives quickly jumped away as they avoided his attack. "Alice, let''s go. We''ll leave these two to Lynn and Lumilia." Souta said to Alice. "What? Are you sure that they can handle these enemies? From what I could see these two are strong." Alice was surprised at his words. "Yeah, they are strong but Lumilia and Lynn are training hard in the past few weeks," Souta said to her. "Well, if you say so." Alice glanced at the two and decided to follow Souta''s decision. One of the executives raised her arm and a magic circle formed above her palm. Ohm! Ten giant ice spears appeared and it immediately flew towards Souta and Alice. Swoosh! Swoosh! Lumilia gathered her mana and created a barrier to protect them from the ice spear. Boom! Souta ignored it as he knew that Lumilia and Lynn will handle it. He roamed around the area with Alice. They didn''t care about the enemies at all. After they find the path to the upper floor. Souta went next to Lumilia and said, "I have casted [Mud Slide] around the place. You can use it to your advantage. Also..." He then casted [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] to Lumilia and Lynn. "Okay, we''ll go to the next floor." ... In the northern part of the Sky High Mountain Peaks... Two women wearing nun outfits were walking towards the mountain peaks. One of the nuns was short but she had a giant axe on her back while the other one was simply equipped with a rapier. Suddenly, they stopped walking as they sensed a wave of mana. "This...?" The shorter nun muttered with a stunned expression. "The magical fluctuations of the Thousand Spell Cl.u.s.ter...!" The taller nun said as she turned her head to the direction where she felt the fluctuations. Chapter 337 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Top floor Souta and Alice arrived on the eighth floor. The eighth floor was a maze. It took them a few minutes before they found the path to the upper floor. Then, they''ve arrived on the ninth floor. The ninth floor was a jungle but there were two enemies that were waiting for them here on this floor. The last two of the six executives of the Moon Tower. The final hurdle before the boss of the Moon Tower which was on the tenth floor, the highest floor. Just like what he expected, Alice said to him that she will handle these two on her own. Considering the patterns, he already expected her to say that she will fight the enemies that will appear in their way. For him, it feels like this tower became a trial ground to his comrades. They have their own enemies to defeat and they will gain experience by fighting someone as strong as them. It''s not a bad decision but if he only knew Cl.u.s.ter''s condition he will not resort to this tactic. He will work together with his team to defeat their enemies one by one. "In the end, all of you are leaving the boss to me." Souta sighed. "Well, you''re our boss too so it''s your duty to fight the enemy''s boss," Alice said as she smiled faintly. "If you say so... I don''t have much problem with it. I''m just concerned with you people whether you could handle your opponents or not." Souta said while shrugging his shoulder. "Don''t worry about us. We''re not fighting the boss here. You''re the one who''s fighting the leader of the enemies." Alice spoke. "Okay, I''ll go up to rescue Cl.u.s.ter," Souta said as he placed back his sword in its sheath. Alice turned serious as she launched herself at her opponents. One of her opponents was similar to Brawler. He wasn''t using any weapon. Instead, gloves were covering both of his fists. While the other one was armed with a giant round shield. There''s no doubt that this man was a shielder. The shielder intercepted her and blocked all of her attacks. "Do you want to leave? Not in my watch!" The other man dashed towards Souta to stop him from going to the next floor. Swoosh! Souta felt someone was chasing him. Since Alice said that she could handle it, then he would entirely leave this man to her. If Alice couldn''t stop this man on her own there''s a high possibility that she would be defeated after Souta left. That way, Souta wouldn''t go to the upper floor immediately. He would stay here and help her defeat one of them before he moved to the next floor. Alice frowned when she saw this. She lifted her feet and kicked the shield of the man in front of her. [Repulsion Kick]! She imbued her mana in her feet to make her skill more stronger. She used the rebound from attacking the shield to throw her spear towards the man who was chasing Souta. [Ground Zero Spike]! The moment Alice released the spear in her hand, the spear drew a white line in the air as it flew towards the man, who was chasing Souta, at a very high speed. Swoosh! "Kan! Watch out!!" The shielder warned his comrade about the attack. Kan turned his head and saw the spear flying in his direction. The spear possessed momentum that could heavily injure him. All of it was a single glance for him to know that the spear contained power that could cripple him. Luckily, his comrade warned him just in time. He could avoid a fatal blow so he suddenly stopped chasing Souta and the spear quickly passed in front of him. The spear crashed on the sands close to him and it created a loud explosion. Even then, the shockwaves caused by the spear blasted him away. Boom! "So powerful..." Kan muttered with a smile on his face before he crashed on the sands and rolled a few times. Alice opened her palm and her spear flew towards her. Since her mana was inside the spear, she could control its movement. The shielder just glanced at Kan and didn''t say anything. "Just call this guy Lim. Also an executive like me." Kan said as he introduced the shielder. "I don''t see the point of introducing yourself to me," Alice said as she gathered her mana in her spear. Kan looked like he was the leader here but he was just a fourth executive. She didn''t know the ranking of executive here but she guessed that Kan wasn''t that strong among the executives. The guy who was called Lim was giving off a vibe much more dangerous than Kan. So she thought that Lim was higher than Kan. "I only pity you. You should at least know the name of the people that will kill you." Kan said as he sighed. "It''s not even decided who will die today," Alice said as she launched herself at the enemies. ... Souta arrived at the top floor. The top floor was eerie and the amount of mana in the atmosphere was massive. He saw the back of a tall man with short green hair. The man slowly turned his head and he felt Souta''s presence. "So you''ve arrived here... You''ve left your comrades to fight my executives just to come here." Souta observed the man with a wary expression. The man was wearing a black shirt and underneath it, he could see light armor with blueish color. His pants was black and it has chains around it. He has earrings and rings, and his weapon was a high-grade halberd. This man was fully equipped with high-grade artifacts. As expected of the leader of the Moon Tower, he was ready to fight the moment he started this plan. This man was Curdova, the leader of the Moon Tower. But what caught his attention was the things behind Curdova. In a wide space behind Curdova was a huge magic circle. The magic circle was emitting a strange light and there was a metallic head on the center of it. Outside of the magic circle was an alter with various weird things. Above it was his goal, Cl.u.s.ter. Cl.u.s.ter was floating fifteen meters above the magic circle. All the mana in the surrounding area was coming from her. It was hard to believe it as a girl that didn''t even reach B-rank possessed this amount of mana. She even beat magical humans who possessed massive mana the moment they were born. "Did the Cloud Tower send you here? Maybe, it''s the Sea Tower?" Curdova asked. "Neither... I came here to take that girl. You see my comrades are attached to her so they wanted her back." Souta replied while pointing at Cl.u.s.ter. "I don''t know what you want to do but I will bring her with me." ''So this man is unknown variables. I thought that the two towers are quick to send their people here but it seems that I was wrong.'' He thought while looking at Souta. "Well, I will take her back with me. Even if I used force." Souta said as his mana burst out of his body. He quickly casted [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] on himself. Then, he activated the [Cat''s Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Shadow Cloak], and [Night Overlord''s Aura]. Boom! His strength rose to its upper limit by using all of these skills at the same time. Souta slightly bent his knees as black mist started to come out of his body. [Dark Cloud Hunting]! Boom! He then launched himself at Curdova while gathering his mana at his sword. [Crimson Moon]!! Curdova tightened his muscle as he was quite surprised to see Souta''s outburst of energy. He raised his halberd and thrust it forward. [Night Piercing Fury]!! Both of their attacks collided and it caused a powerful shockwave that shook the entire area. Boom!! Strangely the shockwaves immediately disappeared the moment it got close to Cl.u.s.ter. Curdova already prepared protection for the ritual so that no one could disturb it. At the same time, Souta heard a familiar sound in his mind... [Quest Triggered!] [Boss Battle]: You''ve confronted the Boss of the Moon Tower, Curdova. Protect yourself and defeat Curdova who is after your life. Rewards: ??? Chapter 338 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Thousand Spell Cl.u.s.ter Souta didn''t have a time to read the quest that he received as Curdova thrust his halberd repeatedly trying to pierce his body. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta moved his sword quickly trying to block all of Curdova''s attack. It was so fast that he almost missed some of the attacks but luckily Saya was helping him by saying where the attack was coming from. ''This guy is an A-rank without a doubt...'' He thought as he jumped away and Curdova chased after him. [Gravitational Ball]!! Ten black balls appeared behind him. The black balls spun around as it changed the gravity on the area. Boom! Curdova stopped moving as spider web cracks formed on the floor beneath his feet. The gravity field was concentrated on him trying to push him on the ground. Souta then slashed his sword, sending a red blade of aura. [Cross Moon]! "Argh!" Curdova gritted his teeth and activated one of his powerful skills. [Greater Dominant Strength]! Then, he gripped his halberd tightly before he thrust it forward meeting the red aura blade. Boom! ''This guy is different from normal B-rank... He''s definitely a B-rank expert but he possessed various skills that enhanced his strength and lessened the power of opponents.'' Curdova thought as he moved his body towards Souta under the pressure of heavy gravity. Souta continued to move away while his opponent was chasing him. He opened his other palm and another ten black balls appeared. He scattered the ten black balls in the area and the ground turned black as several black tentacles emerged. Swoosh! Swoosh! The black tentacles moved towards Curdova trying to bind Curdova. He tore apart the tentacles using his halberd and then he found that Souta was gone. Hmm...? He quickly leaped in the air while slashing his weapon behind as he felt Souta''s presence behind him. But then... He found that Souta was gone. Instead, he faced a series of red energy blades flying in his direction. "So tricky..." Curdova imbued his mana on his weapon and used a skill. [Dozen Earth Piercing Strike]!! Boom! Boom! Boom! Souta appeared above Curdova and once again used [Cross Moon]. But Curdova was widening his perception using the [Wild Senses] skill so he detected Souta''s presence above him. [Night Light Flash]!! A black flashed forward and it landed on Souta''s right shoulder. It made a hole in his shoulder, disrupting his attack. Souta landed on the ground and he grabbed his shoulder. ''Damn, I made a mistake... I didn''t think that he could sense me.'' He thought while breathing heavily. "You will not be able to defeat me. You haven''t liquefied your mana and you''re hoping that you can defeat me." Curdova said as he waved his halberd and Souta''s blood on it splattered on the ground. "You will die here and the same thing will happen on your comrades that you left to my executives." "Haa... You''re mistaking something here... None of my comrades will die here and neither I will die in this kind of place." Souta said while breathing heavily. "Is there an A-rank among your comrades? If there is then they would have a chance to defeat my executives." Curdova paused for a moment before he added, "On the fifth floor, Gyun and Ryo are there. Ryo is a legitimate A-rank as he already liquefied the mana in his body. He''s also the second executive. And Gyun, although he''s not an A-rank, he''s still powerful among B-rank. He is the fifth executive. Without an A-rank, your comrades that you''ve left there will only die. "On the seventh floor, there are Lina and Almer. Both of them are powerful B-rank. They are the fifth and sixth executives respectively. "On the ninth floor, even you would die at that floor if you fought my executives there. Kan and Lim are there. Lim is the most powerful executive as he is the first. He is even stronger than me who is the leader of the Moon Tower. And Kan is the fourth executive." "My people faced something more dangerous than your executives and do you think that your executives could match the Deadly Sins." He said with a smirk. ''Saya, let''s go!'' He said in his mind. Suddenly, he stopped moving as he noticed that the metallic head on the center of the magic circle has its hands out on the circle. That thing...? "Oh, so you''ve noticed it." Curdova smiled as he slightly turned his head and glanced at the metallic head. Right now, half of its body was out. "This one is an ancient weapon that I''ve found while wandering in this mountain peak. I will use it to control the power of the girl. This will let me have the power to confront the True God''s Holy Kingdom." He said before he laughed loudly. Souta narrowed his brows. The metallic figure looks like a tank-type armored suit from the Mechanic Country. But this one was felt different from the armored suits that he knew in the game. No... If his memory was correct then he saw this one from the True God''s Holy Kingdom. That''s right... He remembered it now. This metallic figure was like a golem but it was one of the True God''s Holy Kingdom''s powerful weapon, the Thousand Spell Cl.u.s.ter. Every piece comes together in his mind. Everything made sense. So that''s why the name Cl.u.s.ter was familiar to him. It was also the reason why she was important to the True God''s Holy Kingdom. She was, after all, an ancient weapon that was made for war. She possessed countless spells in her body and with the help of these spells, she managed to run away from the holy kingdom. Souta had an idea of what happened in the game. In the game, Curdova''s plan succeeded as Cl.u.s.ter fused with the metallic figure. That''s why in the game, the weapon called Cl.u.s.ter was that metallic figure. Despite succeeding in his plan, Curdova still suffered a defeat against the hands of the holy kingdom and took Cl.u.s.ter from his hands. But the holy kingdom didn''t have a way to separate Cl.u.s.ter from the metallic figure so they just use her as a weapon of destruction. This was only his guessed but the chances of it being true were high. "What did you know about it?! This is my dream!! I will take down the holy kingdom using the power that they''ve given to my daughter!!" Curdova shouted. "Daughter...?" Souta opened his eyes widely. "Yes, this girl was once my daughter! And I''m going to use her to defeat those bastards!" Curdova said as his mana burst out of his body. "So you''re Cl.u.s.ter''s family, huh?" Souta muttered as he clenched his fist. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta and Curdova vanished in their position and reappeared near to each other while throwing their heavy attacks. Boom! "Then, why are you doing this to her?!" Souta poured his mana in his sword and used [Cross Moon] and [Crimson Moon]. Boom! Boom! Curdova simply used his skill to offset his attack. None of his attacks managed to hit his opponents at all. The power of an A-rank was really good. [Possession]! He didn''t hesitate at all and used one of his ace, the [Possession] skill of the vajra sword. Crimson color energy burst out of his body. He will try his best to prevent the fusion of Cl.u.s.ter and that metallic thing. Boom! Boom! Boom! Curdova and Souta''s figures kept flickering as both of them collided dozens of times in just a second. With the usage of the [Possession] skill, Souta could keep up with his opponent. He could also land a hit unlike before. The two exchanged blows at high speed as they used all sorts of skills just to kill each other. Swoosh! Curdova appeared at Souta''s side and swept his feet, blasting the guy on the walls. He then thrust his halberd forward creating a hole on Souta''s left t.h.i.g.h. Boom! "Argh!!" Souta g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as his body crashed on the walls. Blood flows out of the corner of his mouth. "No matter how many tricks you have, you wouldn''t be able to defeat me," Curdova said to Souta. He received a few cuts on his body from clashing with Souta. Souta wiped the blood on his mouth and said, "The same could be said to you. You couldn''t kill me." "Killing you isn''t a problem once I''ve completed my plan." Curdova smiled and laughed. Suddenly, the ground shook as they felt an intense energy wave. "This... Best feram...?" Curdova and Souta instantly recognized the energy. Chapter 339 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Yujin vs. Ryo Clang! Clang! Clang! Sounds of metal clashing against each other sounded in the whole room. Waves of energy were erupting every second. [Thousand Slicing Blade]! Yujin used his skills before he jumped away creating a distance away from his opponent. His hands were trembling as he couldn''t handle the strength of his opponent. He was breathing heavily and he had a few cuts on his body. His opponent was strong. A legitimate A-rank powerhouse who managed to liquefied his mana. ''This is bad... I didn''t think that this man is an A-rank.'' He thought as he took a glance at Yuko who was fighting the fifteen-meter tall golem. He could see that none of Yuko''s attacks were effective against the sturdy golem. Suddenly, he felt a wave of mana in front of him. He saw a large energy blade flying in his direction. He quickly moved his body to the side to avoid the energy blade before he launched his own attack. [Gale Swift Slash]! His opponent simply shifted his body and avoided his attack. ''Jin, do you need my power?'' Alophy asked him. ''Not yet, I''m going to test my sword skill first.'' Yujin replied to her. His opponent was a five-meter tall man with a long black hair that was tied in a ponytail. His black pants and silver-colored light armor were blue grade equipment. His twin swords were of the same grade. Both were blue grade weapons. "I''m Ryo, the second executive of the Moon Tower." Ryo raised his sword as he introduced himself to Yujin. "You people shouldn''t meddle with the affairs of the Moon Tower. We will complete our goal, our goal to destroy the True God''s Holy Kingdom." Ohm! His swords emitted a dim light as he concentrated his mana on it. The liquefied mana was powerful so the power of his sword grew stronger. At this moment, it could even rival a low-quality orange grade weapon. ''Damn! This guy is getting serious.'' Yujin said inwardly. He smiled and said, "Well, if you''re going to fight me seriously then I will also not hold back." ''Jin!'' Alophy shouted. ''Yeah, let''s use it.'' Yujin nodded and he emitted a bright light. The light illuminated the whole room as his energy slowly spread through the atmosphere. The energy was pure and it has a calming effect that relaxes the body of any creatures. If a person purifies their mana five hundred times then they will achieve in getting the purest energy in the whole universe, the Spirit Power. This energy was the opposite of the most berserk and wild energy in the universe, the Best Feram. These three energies were connected to each other with mana at the center of it and best feram and spirit power at both sides. Researchers did countless research on these three different energies. Up until now, they only managed to turn best feram to mana. They still haven''t found a way to control the best feram like how monsters used it. That''s why they invented a machine or device that could dilute and weakened its power, turning it into mana. Ever since they''ve invented that machine, the market price of the monster orb skyrocketed and the same could be said to the demand. The barrier that was used to cover the entire Ladros City was powered by several monster orbs. ... The spirit power gathered around Yujin''s twin swords. There''s a line behind him that connected both swords and it was giving off an energy wave that amplified his overall attributes. "What is that power...?" Ryo narrowed his eyes as he felt weird about the energy coming out of Yujin''s body. He didn''t felt danger because of the nature of the spirit power but he felt that Yujin''s overall strength has increased by several times. "You don''t need to know about it. Just remember that this power is enough for me to fight an A-rank powerhouse." Yujin replied before his figure disappeared. Swoosh! Ryo''s eyes constricted as he lost his vision to his opponent. He tightly gripped the swords in both of his hands and raised his senses. He then felt Yujin''s behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Yujin slashing his sword at his neck. Swoosh! He bent his body and barely avoided Yujin''s sword. He lifted his feet and kicked his opponent. Bang! Yujin received the kick on his stomach but he simply gritted his teeth and slashed both of his swords. [Cross Wind Slash]! Ryo crossed his swords in front of him and blocked the sword attack of his opponent. Suddenly, the ground beneath him emitted a light as a magic circle appeared on it. "What?" Ryo was surprised as he tried to jumped away but he was too late. [Greater Twin Lightning Arrow]!! Lightning burst out of the ground and it zapped his whole body. This spell was the tier 2 version of the tier 1 spell called [Twin Lightning Arrow]. This spell didn''t have high damage output but it has a great paralyzing effect. "You wouldn''t expect that I''m a mage." Yujin said as he dashed forward. He was a sword expert but he sure knows one or two spells as he was from the mage class. He picked the mage class because he wanted to use a spell along with his sword. "Argh! F.u.c.k!!" Ryo cursed as he felt that he couldn''t move his body. In front of him, he saw Yujin swinging both of his swords. If he didn''t do anything, this guy would severely injure him for sure. "DAMNNN!!" He roared as the liquefied mana of his body exploded creating a sphere of chaotic energy. [Energy Burst]! Yujin was blown away and crashed on the walls. He spat a mouthful of blood and he felt several bones of him were broken. The combat arts [Energy Burst] has a powerful damage output but the problem of this was the user would also suffer injuries because of the explosion of energy inside the user''s body. "Huff... Huff..." Ryo was breathing heavily as blood was flowing out of the corner of his mouth. He slowly raised his hand and wiped the blood. ''This guy... Just what the hell is that power...?'' He thought as he looked at Yujin. Suddenly, he opened his eyes widely as he heard his opponent uttering a chant. "O Thy Spirit, Lend me your power to close to thy wounds." [Spirit Healing Wave]! A wave of white glow formed around Yujin. It was coming from the spirit inside his body. Ohm! Ryo saw the wounds on Yujin''s body were slowly closing. "You!!" He roared as he charged towards his opponent who was healing his wounds. Yujin looked at Ryu as he gathered his spirit power in his swords. When Ryu arrived in front of him he swung both of his swords. Ryu also swung his swords and their weapons collided creating a powerful shockwaves in the surrounding area. Boom!! Both of them were blasted away. The aftershocks of their power created a large crater on the ground. Without enough power, they wouldn''t be able to scratch the floor that was filled with Cl.u.s.ter''s mana. Yujin exhaled as he silently used his spirit power to buff Yuko. [Spirit Essence: Heart of Lion]! [Spirit Vitality: Resonating Pulse]! He also used these two skills on himself. This mode let him fight a six-circle officer with a few B-ranks powerhouses. He will not fall down easily without fighting back. ... Yuko felt her strength increased as the spirit power seeped into her body. Her stats multiply because of this, and she would be able to damage the annoying golem. She dashed towards the giant golem and swung her paw on its leg. Bang! She was already strong but her opponent this time was a powerful B-rank powerhouse. A B-rank that was close to A-rank. She was using the [Cat''s Speed] and [Triple Muscle Strengthening] that she received from Souta. Cracks appeared on the golem''s leg. Her attack was effective this time as she gained enough power to damage her opponent. She was thinking that if she couldn''t damage her opponent she would use her last resort, the blessing of the destruction queen. The golem raised its hand and swung it downward at Yuko. ROAR!! Yuko roared loudly as she didn''t back down and threw her own attack. Boom! Both of their attacks collided and it shook the entire ground. Compared to Yujin and Ryo, the battle between Yuko and the golem was too direct. None of them were backing down and they just kept throwing their attacks against each other. A frontal battle. Boasting their powerful strength. Boom! Boom! The ground continued to tremble as both of their attacks collided. Powerful energy was sweeping out in the opposite direction but both of them ignore it. They only need to focus their attention on their opponents. They will not divide their attention to bother what''s happening in Yujin and Ryo''s battle. The most important thing for Yuko was to destroy this giant golem. That''s the order of her master. She will accomplish it no matter what. Chapter 340 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Yuko vs. Gyun Roar! Yuko charged forward and she smashed the leg of the golem. The impact of her attack caused a crack to form on the surface of her opponent''s leg. Bang! The golem raised its hand and swung it down towards Yuko. Yuko saw it and she opened her mouth and used her trait skill [Burning Shout]. Sea of flames burst out of her mouth and it swallowed the giant golem. Still, it didn''t have enough power to melt a sturdy golem like this one. Swoosh! The fist of the golem landed on her body. The ground shook heavily and a large crater formed on it. Bang! Yuko gritted her teeth and she pushed the fist away from her. It didn''t mean that she didn''t suffer injury from that attack, she received a few broken bones but she just ignored it thanks to the spirit power that was flowing in her body. Boom! "So stubborn!" Gyun, the person who was controlling the golem, have an unpleasant look on his face. This golem wasn''t made from his power alone. It was made with the help of a powerful tier 3 spell called [Rising of the Earth Domain]. It means that Cl.u.s.ter''s enormous mana was strengthening it. Even with that, he still couldn''t kill the monster who was fighting him. This bear was stronger than he imagined and possessed some great skills. He didn''t think that a second evolution monster could bring him some trouble even with his upgraded golem. "You''re just a second evolution monster!!" He roared as he controlled the golem to raised its arms. [Dozens Earth Spike]!! The golem raised both of its arms and smashed it on the ground. Several huge spikes emerged from the ground with the golem at its center. Boom! One of the spikes pierced her abdomen. She g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as blood spurted out of it. She lifted her paw and smashed the spike on her abdomen. Bang! She then dashed forward and smashed the same leg of the golem. The cracks on it spread slowly and it grew larger. After that, she opened her mouth and used [Burning Shout]. Flames burst out of her mouth and seeped into the cracks on the leg of the golem. ''This monster...!! It kept attacking me on leg...?'' Gyun realized that Yuko was targeting the leg of his golem. He just noticed it when the cracks grew larger. The other part of the golem only have a few scratches but the leg was the problem. If Yuko kept attacking it, then it will eventually collapse. He will lose his mobility if that happened. He will become a free target for this monster. ''I had to protect the leg...'' Gyun thought as the golem took a step back and changed its form. For now, he will use the left leg as the pivot foot instead of the right leg. Roar! He swung his hands downwards as he saw Yuko charging at him. "Damn you!! Monster!!" Yuko suddenly stopped as the fist of the golem landed in front of her. It was close but she managed to stop her body on time. She then opened her mouth and aimed her skill on the ground. The flames spread out on the area. It blocked Gyun''s vision. "This...?! She''s using the flames as smokescreen!" Gyun opened his eyes widely. This bear was different than the monster that he had fought in the past. This bear knows how to fight like humans and demis. He felt like he wasn''t fighting a monster but instead a human or demi. Then, he felt the golem shook as Yuko smashed his right leg once again. [Scorching Form]! He had no choice but to use everything that he had got to kill this bear. This skill will amplify the power of his golem by two times but it only has a time limit of three minutes. After that, his strength will decrease by three times. The golem emitted a red light and it punched Yuko''s body. Bang! Yuko was caught off guard by the sudden increase of her opponent''s power and speed. She flew away and crashed on the walls. ... Clang! Clang! Clang! Yujin and Ryo were swinging their sword at each other. Their hands were blurring and sparks flew out between them every time their weapons collided. Yujin slashed his sword horizontally and Ryo crouched down to avoid it. Ryo then thrust his sword forward but Yujin used his other sword to parried his attack. ''This guy is strong... Just what is this unknown energy that makes him stronger.'' Ryo thought as blueish aura covered the blade of his sword before he slashed it towards Yujin. [Incapacitating Direct Slash]! Yujin crossed his sword in front of him and he changed the direction of his opponent''s skill. Boom! The skill exploded behind him. He jumped away and felt a powerful wave of energy on the other side of the room. He glanced at it and saw that the golem was overpowering Yuko. ''Jin, Yuko is in trouble.'' Alophy said to him. ''Yeah, yeah, I can see it.'' Yujin replied as he channeled his spirit power on his sword before launching it at Ryo. Swoosh! Swoosh! He then slashed the ground causing the dust to shot up in the mid-air. Since he knew the direction where Yuko was fighting, he charged towards it without hesitation while heightening his senses in case Ryo sneak on him. Swoosh! Yuko swung her paw and the golem swung its fist. Both of their attacks collided and Yuko was blasted away. She flew and rolled on the ground a few times before she stopped. She was heavily injured and her body felt heavy. The golem moved its giant body as it rushed at her. The ground trembled every time it took a step forward. Bang! Bang! Bang! Yuko opened her mouth and flames burst out of it. The flames swallowed the golem but it wasn''t enough to stop it. The flames didn''t have enough power to push a heavy object like the golem. The golem quickly threw a punch at her the moment that it arrived in attack range. Bang! Yuko pushed her body and jumped sideways to avoid the punch. The fist of the golem landed on her previous position creating a crater on it. It seems that she had no choice but to use her ace. She recalled her master''s warning that she couldn''t easily show the power of blessing. She could only use it if she really had no way out of her situation. "This is the end, monster!!" Gyun shouted as he controlled the golem to throw another punch at Yuko. "Not on my watch!!" Yujin appeared in front of Yuko and he placed back his swords on its sheath as he bent his knees. [Sword Drawing Technique: Form Three]!! The fist was one meter away from him when he shot himself forward. He pulled out his sword and spun like a snake around the arm of the golem. [Sharp Slithering Slash]!! "What?!" Gyun was stunned as he saw a layer of the golem''s arm was gone. Yuko was in front of the head of the golem so he wanted to use this chance to damage it but Ryo flew towards him at high speed. Swoosh! He tightly gripped his swords and he clashed with Ryo. Boom! Yuko stopped moving as she was in daze. She was about to use the blessing of the destruction queen but she felt a warm feeling inside her body. Because of this she entirely forgot about her opponent and the battle around her. She closed her eyes and found herself in her inner consciousness. There''s a small ball of energy in front of her. It was all the energy in her body. She subconsciously raised both of her paws on the side and the energy stabilized. She didn''t know what this energy ball but she somehow knew what to do as her instinct was telling her what to do. A few moments later, the ball of energy felt like it came to life. It started thumping like a heart of the living creature. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! The energy started to go berserk as some part of it became solid. Veins-like things approached the energy with enthusiasm. The veins pierced the energy ball and after a few seconds, a large amount of energy was flowing through the veins. At the same time, a large amount of information flowed into her mind. Information about monsters, the language of the monster, her bloodline, the monster lord of her kind, and the path that she was taking. All of these went to her mind. Chapter 341 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Yujin vs. Ryo and Gyun The ball of energy expanded and it only stopped until it has the same size as her. It was thumping like a heart of a living creature. Afterward, the energy changed its form. It compressed and undergo a huge change. Information about her species poured into her mind. Her bloodline awakened and it gives her information. The universal language of the monster that used the unique power of monsters was pouring into her mind. With this, she will be able to converse properly with her master. It was now that she realized that she was evolving as various evolution paths came into her mind. Her body instinctively chooses the greatest and rarest among the paths that were available to her. She already consumed all the ingredients for this path that she received from the destruction queen. Her body just needed to reach its limit, the highest of the second evolution, and she will be able to evolve. Aside from the changes in her inner consciousness, her body too was undergoing a huge change. Her fur was turning redder and her forehead was emitting a light and an orb slowly formed on it. She was oozing out a huge wave of energy. The energy was mana but it slowly turned heavier and wilder. Boom! Yujin, Gyun, and Ryo stopped moving as they felt it. "This...?" Yujin turned his head and looked behind him with wide eyes. He was shocked and Alophy who was inside his body has the same expression as him. Both of them were amazed by the energy Yuko was releasing. ''Jin... She''s...'' Alophy muttered. ''I know... There''s no doubt about it. She''s in the middle of it...'' Yujin replied to her. "This monster...!! The monster is evolving...!!" Gyun too realized what was happening. He regained his senses and shouted, "Ryo!! We need to stop its evolution!!" "I know!!" Ryo nodded as he dashed forward while Gyun threw a punch at Yujin. "I will not let you!" Yujin jumped away as he waved his sword and casted [Lightning Bolt] spell at Ryo. Ryo stopped and shifted his body to avoid the spell. He expected that Yujin would stop him at all cost. "I will try to stop this guy. Gyun disrupt the evolution." He shouted at Gyun. As soon as he said that, he quickly launched himself at Yujin. Yujin gritted his teeth as he swung his swords. Clang! Clang! He glanced at the giant golem and saw it walking towards Yuko. Ryo used this chance to strike him. Swoosh! A huge cut appeared on his c.h.e.s.t and blood spurted out of it. "Don''t get distracted if you don''t want to die!" Ryo shouted as he once again slashed his sword. "Tsk!" Yujin clicked his tongue in annoyance as he lifted his sword and blocked the attack. At this rate, the golem would disrupt Yuko''s evolution. ''Alophy, let''s use [Spirit Breaker]...'' Yujin said to Alophy. ''But you haven''t mastered this technique yet! There''s a huge drawback in using this technique without mastering it.'' Alophy said to him. ''It doesn''t matter. At this rate, the golem would stop Yuko''s evolution. If that happened she will forever stock at second evolution without a chance to reach third evolution.'' Yujin replied to her while defending against Ryo reckless attacks. He couldn''t break free from Ryo. It was hard as his opponent was a legitimate A-rank powerhouse. ''But...'' Alophy wanted to say something but Yujin cut her words. ''I said it doesn''t matter... The drawback of that technique couldn''t be compared to the drawback of stopping the evolution.'' Yujin said. ''Okay, okay, you don''t need to get angry at me, Jin.'' Alophy nodded her head. ''Good, let''s use it.'' Yujin said as he jumped in the air and activated his technique. [Secret Spirit Technique: Spirit Breaker]!! "What the hell is this?!" Ryo cursed as he squinted his eyes. Yujin''s body emitted a bright white light. The light contained an enormous spirit power and finally, Ryo felt danger coming from the gentle nature of spirit power. The reversal of the spirit power. The technique that the spirit contractor invented to fight high-level opponents in the ancient war in the past, the [Spirit Breaker]. After a few moments, the light disappeared and it revealed Yujin floating in the mid-air. "Damn!! Just what the hell is this power!!" Ryo cursed as his instinct was telling him to avoid fighting this guy. Yujin''s appearance has changed. Half of his hair has turned into white color and one of his eyes too turned into green color. His left ear turned into that of an elf. A pointed ear. His long hair was fluttering as he had one wing of spirit on his back. His left arm was clad in greenish spirit power. It was so dense that it looked like armor. There was a reason why people hunted down the spirit in the past. Most of the powerhouses in the past vying for the power of the spirits that drove them deep inside the Dark Forest. ''Three minutes, Jin! You can only maintain this form for three minutes!'' Alophy said to him. ''It''s enough for me.'' He said as he flew towards the golem. "Gyun, he''s coming at you!!" Ryo shouted as he warned his comrade. Gyun slowly turned around the head of the golem but he found that Yujin was already in front of him. "F.u.c.k!!" The golem raised its fist and threw it at Yujin. Yujin snorted as he swung his sword vertically. A huge energy blade shot out and landed on the fist of the golem. Boom! It caused a huge explosion and the golem was pushed away. Debris of rocks fell from the hand of the golem. "This power..." Gyun was shocked to find that Yujin possessed this much power. "From here, no one would be able to touch Yuko." Yujin slowly said as he looked at Ryo and the golem. Gyun and Ryo had a grave expression as they observed the man in front of them. The one who was protecting the monster who was in the middle of evolution. Ryo tightened his grip on his swords as he slightly bent his knees and charged his mana on it. He was preparing to launch a powerful attack. "I''ll destroy you!!" Gyun roared as spikes formed around the fist of the golem. He raised it in the air and swung it downward at Yujin. He couldn''t take it anymore. Ryo was charging an attack so he had to attack first. It was to distract this man and to divert his attention to him. Since Yuko was just behind, Yujin didn''t have a choice but to block every attack of the two executives. His sword looked like it grew longer but in fact, it''s just an extension. The spirit power became a blade and his swords were its foundation. He swung it and his attack collided with the golem''s attack. It caused a powerful gust of wind to swept out in the surrounding area. Boom! Ryo launched him towards Yujin at a very high speed. It was so fast that he arrived two-meter away from his target in an instant. [Silencing Strike]!! Yujin reacted quickly by raising his sword on his side and creating a shield-like spirit power. Boom! He used it to block Ryo''s powerful attack but the golem didn''t let this chance pass by. The golem instantly threw a punch at him while he was busy blocking Ryo''s attack. Boom!! A huge explosion occurred as smoke and dust spread in the area. The ground formed a spider web crack and it slowly spread throughout the entire floor. Despite the smoke blocking their vision, Yujin didn''t stop at all. He charged towards the two executives with an intent to defeat them. Ryo and Gyun didn''t back down. They didn''t feel ashamed fighting one on two. Instead, they felt that it was the best way to defeat Yujin. They could feel that they were going down if they fought Yujin alone in this form that''s why they had to work together. Bang! Bang! Bang! The two executives clashed with Yujin. The body of the golem was slowly crumbling as cracks were all over its body. While Ryo was full of cuts all over his body. His figure was bloody and blood kept pouring out of his wounds nonstop. Although they were injured, they also felt that their opponent was getting weak every second. He wasn''t as strong as the first time he showed this form. ''Jin!!'' Alophy shouted with a worried expression. Her eyes were getting wet and her lips were trembling. ''Don''t worry about me, I still have a few more seconds.'' Yujin replied to her as he spat a mouthful of blood. He continued to exchange blows with the two executives. Boom! Boom! Boom! "Huff... Huff..." Yujin was breathing heavily as the spirit power on his body dispersed. He looked exhausted and tired. "Ugh!" He fell on his knees as blood poured out of his mouth. He overworked his body and his spirit power so he wouldn''t be able to use it for a long time. "Damn! I don''t think that I will use this technique here! I don''t think that I can fight again today!" His mouth curved upward as he looked at the two executives in front of him. He didn''t manage to defeat one of them even after using the [Spirit Breaker] technique. But he succeeded in wearing them out. Well, he already finished his role. He did his best. It''s time for his comrade to stepped in and finish this battle. ROARRRRR!!! A loud roar echoed behind him and it shook the entire floor. Flames appeared on the ground and it spread out. The atmosphere changed as heavy energy flooded the whole room. It turned chilly and suffocating. Chapter 342 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Scorching Red Bear A huge wave of intense energy swept out coming from the floor below. "This... Best feram...?" Souta easily recognized the energy in the atmosphere. "What the...?!" Curdova was shocked too. He didn''t know why there''s a best feram. ''Is there a monster in the tower?'' A question quickly popped in his mind. This would become a problem if there''s a monster at that level inside the tower. Only monsters above the second evolution stage could use the best feram. This was a knowledge spread in the whole world and everyone knew it. ''Is there a tamer from his comrades?'' He thought as he quickly glanced at Souta''s face but he saw that Souta was shocked too. "Best feram..." Souta narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the system. He opened his eyes widely when he saw Yuko''s status. The words "Red Fur Bear" were gone. Instead, it was replaced by something. =Scorching Red Bear (Yuko) [¡â?]= A powerful bear at third evolution stage who wields the power of flames. This bear possessed powerful destructive power. Evolution: 3rd Stage Skill(s): [Dash] Level 4, [Cat''s Speed] Level 5, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 5, [Shadow Cloak] Level 6, [Energy Manipulation] Level 2, [Flaming Charge] Level 1 Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body II], [Light Regeneration II], [Greater Flame Resistance], [Monster''s Force II], [Monster''s Body], Trait Skill(s): [Burning Shout II], [Flame Expansion], Monster Orb: [Monster Orb Release], [Bestrou] Blessing(s): [Destruction Queen] "Yuko just... Evolved?!" He muttered with an amazed tone. He didn''t think that Yuko would evolve at this time. From his estimation, she will evolve after two or three months. With this, she was a true monster that could command the fearsome best feram. Not just that, she gained various skills from her evolution so her strength increased by several times. One B-rank powerhouse will not be enough to subdue her. It will take a party of B-rank but that''s for ordinary third evolution stage monsters. The Scorching Red Bear was a powerful and rare monster among the bear-type monsters in the world. Damn! He was too busy fighting Curdova that he forgot to monitor Yuko with [Pet Resonance] skill. It''s not that he was complaining, he was actually glad that Yuko evolved successfully. Yujin must have protected her while she was evolving. ''Good job, Yuji.'' A smile formed on his face as he turned his attention to Curdova. ... A loud and powerful roar shook the entire fifth floor. The ground trembled heavily as if it was afraid of the power of the monster that just awakened. Cracks formed on the ground and flames burst out of it like a fountain. This was the [Flame Expansion] trait skill that Yuko learned by evolving into a Scorching Red Bear. The giant golem and Ryo stepped back to avoid getting hit by the flames that were bursting out of the ground. This was no ordinary flame. They knew that it was powered by high energy called best feram. It was extremely lethal because of its nature. "I''ve finished my role here... I couldn''t help anymore, Yuko." Yujin said as he fell on his knees. He coughed a mouthful of blood while Alophy''s voice kept ringing in his head. ''Jin! Are you okay, Jin?!'' Alophy said with a worried look. She was about to cry just by seeing his weak appearance. His appearance went back to normal and the spirit wing on his back dissipated into thin air. The ground shook as Yuko took a step forward. Gyun and Ryo gulped as they observed Yuko. They were injured by fighting Yujin in an all-out battle so they didn''t have any confidence to defeat this newly evolved monster even though one of them was an A-rank powerhouse. Yuko didn''t have a change in her height. She didn''t grow taller nor smaller. It was still the same. The only thing that changed was her appearance. Her fur turned dark red and there''s a red color gem on her forehead. This was her monster orb. Her monster orb was emitting flames and her paws up to her wrist were clad in flames. Some parts of her back were emitting flames that looked like blades. This was her form when she used the [Flame Expansion] trait skill. It upgraded her firepower to higher level. "Gyun, the other one can''t fight. We only need to deal with this monster but that''s where the problems come from. I''m exhausted and I don''t think that I could handle it." Ryo paused for a moment before he added, "That''s why you''re going to tank it while I deal damage to it from the side. We''ll use chipping tactic." "Fine, I don''t think that I could hold much longer than you. The golem is full of cracks as if it''s going to collapse at any moment but I''ll try to strengthen it using my full mana." Gyun said to Ryo. "For now, let''s watch how it will attack us," Ryo added as he examined Yuko''s movements. Yuko slowly moved her limbs as she approached the two. Every second she increased her pace and after ten seconds she was charging at the two with high speed. Swoosh! Ryo moved back outside of Yuko''s range as he tightened his grip on his swords. He circulated his remaining mana inside his body while waiting for his chance to attack. The golem moved its feet backward and used its left hand to block the attack. Gyun knew that he couldn''t avoid this attack like Ryo so he had no choice but to receive the attack from a third evolution stage monster. Boom! Yuko''s attack landed on the arm of the golem and after a few seconds, it broke into tiny blocks of rock. "What a power?!" Gyun was stunned. He didn''t expect that he couldn''t block a single attack from this monster. Originally, Yuko should''ve just learned the [Monster''s Force] trait at her third evolution. But Souta bestowed this skill to her so her skill became a [Monster''s Force II]. [Monster''s Force II] was at the level of fourth evolution. This skill couldn''t be strengthened by any other means except for evolution. Even skill points wouldn''t work on it. [Monster''s Force]: +100 strength, +80 agility and dexterity, +50 vitality [Monster''s Force II]: +300 strength, +240 agility and dexterity, +150 vitality The difference was so large. The added stats of this skill could even compare to a dark grade equipment. The [Vajra Sword Saya] could increase the user''s agility and dexterity by 200, intelligence and strength by 50, physical damage by 50%, and energy resistance by 50%. This kind of skill what makes it difficult for humans and demis to fight monster in a one-on-one battle. Even without equipment, monsters could dominate them. Yuko pulled back her other paw and she prepared to strike once again. Gyun saw it so he controlled the golem to move away. "It''s too powerful for a newly evolve third evolution..." He gritted his teeth as he couldn''t believe what''s happening. Ryo dashed forward and appeared beside Yuko. Swoosh! He slashed his sword but flames appeared on Yuko''s fur and it acted like an armor. "Damn! It could even do that!!" He said as he jumped away but he noticed that the bear was looking at him. Yuko opened her mouth and flames burst out of it. [Burning Shout II]!! "RYOOOO!!" The golem dashed towards Ryo and faced the sea of flames to protect its comrades from it. Gyun knew that Ryo couldn''t avoid this attack as it was an AOE attack. Boom! The wave of flames landed on the body of the golem. Everything in front of Yuko was bathed in flames that were coming out of her mouth. It was slowly melting the floor and the golem. "Guh!" Even though Ryo was protected by Gyun, he still could feel the heat of the wave of flames. "Damn! It seems that we underestimated this monster...!" After a few seconds, the flames dissipated and it revealed the body of the golem melting like an ice cream. Its feet were glued on the ground because of this. Gyun who was inside the golem felt like he was about to die. Half of his body was churned black. Most of his blood evaporated and his skins were burned. "Ugh!" Blood flowed out of his mouth as he looked at the fearsome monster. "Ryo, run... There''s no way we can defeat this one..." He tried his best to say these words to his comrade. ''Gyun is right. We can''t defeat this monster. It''s too strong for a newly evolve third stage monster.'' Ryo thought as he realized their situation. He could run but that would mean leaving his comrade here to die alone. No, he couldn''t do that. He couldn''t leave another comrade to die while he ran. He won''t be able to forgive himself if he did that. Ohm! The bear opened her mouth widely once again. A large concentration of best feram spun around it like a whirlwind. [Bestrou]!! It shot towards the two like a powerful laser beam. "I''m sorry, Ryo... You''ll die because of me..." Gyun said as tears drop from his eyes. "No worries, it''s my choice." Ryo smiled wryly. He didn''t think that he will die the moment they start their plan, their plan to fight the True God''s Holy Kingdom. He was just a normal adventurer years ago. He and his comrades were living a dangerous life of adventurers. At that time, he was only a C-rank powerhouse. Compared to his power level at this moment, C-rank was too low. But everything changed when they accidentally offend someone from the Church of True God. Everything went dark as his comrades died except for him. Gyun turned his head to Ryo and said in a hoarse voice, "Hahaha, I don''t want to die, Ryo..." The [Bestrou] swallowed Gyun before Ryo could even reply. After that, the [Bestrou] swallowed him as it destroyed everything in its path. Boom!! Chapter 343 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Alice vs. Kan and Lim The flames around Yuko''s body slowly disappeared as she canceled the [Flame Expansion] skill. She was overwhelmingly powerful for a newly evolved third stage monster. From now on, she will be the strongest in the entire group until Souta reached her evolution level. A fearsome monster was born today. She was like a wild boss of version 2 of the game. She was already this strong even without using the [Monster Orb Release] skill. Judging by her performance, she could defeat the White Jade Spider that they''ve fought in the Dark Light of Eternal Dungeon alone. Even if that monster used the [Monster Orb Release], Yuko will offset it by releasing her own. No early rank third stage monster could defeat her, it would take her an intermediate rank third stage monster. Yuko sat down as she glanced at the things that she destroyed. She was quite tired from all the fighting that she did before she evolved. She wanted to rest but she knew that her master was fighting on the floor above. She then noticed her master''s friend lying on the floor. A tiny humanoid creature flew out of his body and hover above him. The creature was Alophy, Yujin''s contracted spirit. Alophy could heal her master if she has spirit power left. Unfortunately, she drained all of her reserves when Yujin used the [Spirit Breaker] technique. Yuko approached the two with a curious expression. Alophy was always inside Yujin''s body so Yuko could rarely see her. She raised her paw and tried to touch Alophy but Alophy avoided her paw. "Wha-what are you doing?! Can''t you see I''m trying to find a way to help, Jin?" Alophy shouted at Yuko as she distances herself away from the large bear. She didn''t know what this bear will do to her. "Mu...?" Yuko tilted her head with a confused expression. She couldn''t understand this flying little creature. "Sigh. It''s no use talking to you." Alophy dropped her shoulder with a downcast expression. She didn''t know what she should do to help Yujin. Yuko saw her expression and she somehow understood Alophy''s concern. She then looked at the injured Yujin and confirmed her guess. This flying little creature must be worried about this man. She raised her paw and scratched her head trying to think of a way to help them. Maybe that way, this flying little creature would let her touch her small body. "W-What are you doing, Yuko?" Alophy muttered as she noticed Yuko''s weird gesture. Yuko raised her paw and placed it on Yujin''s back. "Mu!!" A soft sound escaped from her mouth. She then tilted her head as nothing happened to Yujin. She looked at her paw as she thought that she had a healing power as she recalled Lynn was doing this to heal her master''s wounds. Oh... Lynn... If she didn''t have healing power then all she has to do is to bring this guy to the person who knew how to use heal. "Hue... Hmm..." She guessed that she was a really smart bear. That''s why she was her master''s favorite. She was proud of herself. Alophy tilted her head as she watched Yuko who looked like she was laughing. She didn''t understand anything but she felt that Yuko was proud of something. "I couldn''t see the fierce bear before who handle those two guys alone..." Yuko picked Yujin and placed him on her back while thinking how her master will praise her for this deed. Her movements shook Alophy who immediately flew towards her. "L-Let... Jin... go! What are you trying to do to him?" Alophy said as she tried to pull Yujin away but she didn''t have enough strength. Yuko turned to Alophy with a confused expression. The looked on her face was saying ''I''m trying to help you and yet, you''re stopping me.'' Oh, well... This little creature must be tired so Yuko ignored her. She walked around to find the path towards the upper floor. Alophy let go of her once she realized that Yuko was trying to bring Yujin on the floor above. ... A fierce battle was currently happening on the ninth floor of the Moon Tower... Clang! Clang! Clang! Metallic sounds echoed in the room as a huge man called Lim used his shield to block all of Alice''s attacks with her spear. Kan jumped over Lim and threw a punch towards Alice. Swoosh! Alice reacted by raising her spear above her and she managed to block the punch of Kan. But then, Lim charged forward and smashed his shield at her. Bang! She was blown away and landed on the ground twenty meters away from the two. ''These two are strong... I could fight them all day long but I could see that the shielder isn''t showing his true power. He''s clearly holding back against me.'' Alice thought as she observed the two. Kan was a powerful B-rank, a peak B-rank powerhouse. He was extremely close to the power of an A-rank powerhouse. While the shielder was a mystery, up until now she couldn''t see him sweating over her attack. From her point of view, the shielder was leisurely blocking everything that she threw at them. ''I''ll force them to use their real powers...'' She thought as she bent her knees and charged forward. She will try to eliminate the weak one first. It was easy to say but hard to do as the weak one was a peak B-rank. Even Souta couldn''t eliminate a person of this level easily. Lim ran forward to intercept and stopped her movements while Kan was going to attack her. Their simple tactic brought Alice a huge headache. [Repulsion Kick]!! Alice threw a powerful kick and Lim simply blocked it. She bounced back and used this momentum to thrust her spear at the side where Kan was coming from. "Whoa!!" Kan was a little bit surprised but he still managed to react by quickly shifting his body to the side. He then bent his knees like a spring and launched himself at Alice. Swoosh! Alice swung her spear and Kan crouched down to avoid it. She then saw Lim charging at her once again. She had no choice but to kick the ground and gained some distance away from her opponents. Kan wouldn''t simply let her get away. He dashed forward as he chased after her. Swoosh! Clang! A shield came from above and blocked her attack. "He could even block a surprise attack..." She muttered as she clicked her tongue in annoyance. It''s difficult to get passed Lim''s defense. Up until now, she still hasn''t managed to land a clean hit to her opponents. "It''s my turn!" Kan jumped over the shield as his fist glow brightly. He smiled as he threw a punch towards Alice. [Crushing Earth Fist]!! Alice opened her eyes widely as she shifted her body to the side. Kan''s fist passed beside her head and the force behind it caused an explosion. She stepped forward and gathered her mana on the tip of her spear. Suddenly, the ground turned into ice as Alice used her spell. Ohm! Lim was stuck as his feet and shield were frozen with the ground. Kan was in the mid-air so he wasn''t frozen but Alice was aiming for him. It was then that she thrust her spear forward. "Argh!!" Kan g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as his blood spurted in the air. It splashed on the ground dyeing it in red color. A huge hole appeared on his left shoulder. He was lucky that he managed to avoid getting hit in his heart. He would die if that happened. Still, this was a huge decrease in his battle strength. He could hardly move his left hand. He left all the defense to Lim and he only focused on attacking. He didn''t expect that this girl would prevent Lim from defending. Ever since the battle started, Alice didn''t show anything to her opponents that she could use spells. She only showed them her capabilities as a spear-user warrior. After they believed that she was a warrior, the two relaxed their guards against spells. She was going to use it to finish one of them. Ultimately, she failed in doing so. From now on, they will be wary about her spells and she couldn''t surprise them by using them. Alice thrust her spear once again wanting to finish Kan. Boom! A sound of an explosion echoed in the direction of Lim. A powerful mana spiked and it filled the entire room. The atmosphere suddenly changed as the liquefied mana swept out. Alice opened her eyes widely as she turned her head to the side. A huge figure instantly appeared beside her. "Damn! Just like I thought... This guy is an A-rank...!!" She gritted her teeth. She didn''t stop her spear which was heading toward Kan. Suddenly, she felt pain in her stomach, and in the second moment, she found herself crashing on the ceiling of the room. Boom! Chapter 344 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Removal of Limiter Blood flowed out of Alice''s mouth. She raised her hand and wiped the blood. She failed to eliminate the weakest person and this will give her some trouble in this battle. From now on, they will be wary about her spells. "That''s was close. I thought I was a goner." Kan said as he glanced at the hole in his shoulder. He got caught off guard before thinking that the two of them could easily handle this girl. "Yeah, you got lucky..." Alice smiled wryly. As she silently circulated her mana inside her body. "But not anymore... You''ve forced Lim to use his strength so you wouldn''t be able to fight us." Kan paused for a moment before he added, "This guy, Lim, is the first executive. In other words, he''s the strongest among all the executives of the Moon Tower. It''s your mistake to think that you can handle the two of us alone." "It''s not a mistake. I can really deal with the two of you at the same time." Alice spoke as she readied herself to cast spells at any moment. "We will not hold back. I don''t want any of my comrades to die. I don''t want to repeat the same mistake." Kan said seriously. He didn''t show it outside but he was blaming himself when Kin died. He was Kin''s older brother. Both of them lived in the True God''s Holy Kingdom. Their parents were devout believers of the True God. Their family wasn''t rich nor poor. They were pretty average and they were living a normal happy life in the kingdom. But one day, they found that their parents were dead. They were found in the alley of the street without any signs of life. This changed the sibling''s life upside down. They''ve experienced hardship at a young age. They work tirelessly and trained hard to become a holy knight of the kingdom. After many years of working hard, the two became apprentice knights of their city. Their power level at that time was C-rank and the minimum power level of a holy knight was B-rank. They only needed to promote their power level before they become a true holy knight of the kingdom. The first one to become a holy knight was his little brother, Kin. They gained some authority and they started to investigate what happened to their parents. How and why did they die? Or who killed them? After investigating, they''ve found that the head priest of their city was the one who killed their parents. The reason why their parents died was simple. It was because she didn''t heed the words of the head priest. The head priest tried to r.a.p.e his mother but she resisted and in the end, both of them died. Their parents died simply because of it. The f.u.c.k!! They were filled with anger. They trusted the head priest like their own parents but they didn''t think that the head priest was that kind of man. They''ve also found that the head priest was the reason why some of the women in their city died. Kin lost himself in rage and killed the head priest. It was nothing but the other holy knights captured him. He was going to be executed by killing the priest. Kan placed all the evidence that the head priest was the one who''s wrong but they''ve said that the evidence was fake and forge. Since no one believed them, Kan decided to freed his brother. He broke through and become a B-rank powerhouse. He killed his way in the jail and rescued his brother. He could understand that his brother was wrong to kill the head priest but why would they cover up the crime of the head priest. Ever since then they tried to confront the True God''s Holy Kingdom. "We will have our revenge on that kingdom and I will not let anyone stop us," Kan said with a serious expression. Alice didn''t reply as she just observed them. She was waiting for them to attack her and adopted her approach to them. "Then, I will start it," Kan said as he charged towards Alice and Lim went around her. Alice tapped her toe on the ground and it turned into ice. Then, ice spikes burst out of the ground. Kan and Lim moved their bodies side to side as they avoided all the spikes. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Alice dashed towards Kan as she slashed her spear vertically. Kan gathered her mana on his fist and he threw a punch. Bang!! Alice turned around and saw Lim heading in her direction. She tightened her muscles as she braced herself for the impact. The liquefied mana gathered around Lim''s fist like a whirlwind. He then threw it towards Alice. [Dominating Earth Fist]!! Alice tried to block the attack but she was blown away and crashed on the walls. Boom! "Argh!!" She spat a mouthful of blood and it splattered on the ground. She didn''t have a time to adjust herself as she felt that her opponents were coming at her. [Hail Storm]! She waved her hand and powerful cold wind with large block ice covered the entire field. This spell wasn''t enough to stop the two especially Lim but it was enough to slow their movements. Alice shook her body as she jumped in the mid-air and pointed her spear at her opponents. [Dozens Frozen Spear]!! Several spears made of ice formed behind her. The spears were suspended in the mid-air and it was aiming at the two. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Some of the spears flew towards Lim and Kan at a very high speed. Kan decided to avoid it as he knew that he couldn''t block it without receiving injury. Lim simply waved the shield in his hand and shattered the ice spears. Thud! Alice landed on the ground as more and more ice spears formed behind her. She then charged towards the two while the spears behind her were flying at her opponents. Kan stomped his feet on the ground and crushed the ice. He didn''t want to be bothered by it when he clashed with Alice. Alice arrived in front of him and quickly thrust her spear. Kan avoided it by shifting his body to the side and Alice reacted by swinging it in his direction. At the same time, the ice spears behind her flew towards Kan blocking all of his escape routes. Lim saw this and he raised his shield. He threw it ahead and it shattered the ice spears creating a way for Kan to escape. Bang! Bang! Kan jumped away and Lim flashed forward. Boom! Alice and Lim exchanged high-speed blows. ''This girl can keep up with Lim...'' Kan was a little bit surprised as he saw Alice clashing with Lim. But Alice was the one who''s receiving heavy injuries. After all, her opponent was a powerful A-rank powerhouse and it was hard to keep up. Normal B-rank couldn''t fight an A-rank just like her but she managed to hold on. Bang! Bang! An enormous amount of mana smashed her body and once again she was blown away. Among the executives of the Moon Tower, Lim was the weird one. He rarely talked and he was always in dazed. Still, he was following the words of every executive without fail. With the creation of their group, Lim was the last one who joined them. Their leader, Curdova, found him in the middle of a town that the church destroyed. Lim was the sole survivor of that town. Every member of their group hated the True God''s Holy Kingdom. They bonded together to fight that kingdom and get their revenge even if they knew that it was close to impossible. Boom! Smoke and dust shot up as Alice crashed on the ceiling of the room. Her figure was full of blood and she felt her body getting numb. Her body fell on the ground with a loud "thud" sound. "You can''t fight us. No matter what happened we will show those people that we could fight them." Kan said as he looked at Alice. Alice stood up with great effort. She patted the dust on her clothes and wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth. "You haven''t defeated me yet why are you acting like you''ve already won the battle," Alice said as she put a smile on her face. "Just look at your figure anyone could see that you could hardly fight," Kan said to her. "Besides, there''s no point in continuing this. In just a few minutes, the ritual will be completed." "I don''t care about what you experience and what''s your goal. I just want to help my friends, that''s all." Alice stood straight as she turned up her sleeve. "Also, I haven''t shown you my true form yet. When our class checked everyone''s affinity, they saw that I have an affinity for ice and darkness and up until now I only use ice." Kan narrowed his eyes and didn''t say anything. He felt that Alice still have the confidence to fight them. "There''s a reason why I didn''t use darkness... I didn''t want to show it to anyone but I have no choice now as I want to decrease the burden of my friends." Alice said as she removed the bracelet on her wrist. As soon as she removed her bracelet, a large amount of mana gushed out of her body. Boom! The ground turned black as the cold wind turned colder. It blocked the path towards the floor below and above. No, she sealed this entire floor with her power as she didn''t want other people to see her appearance. Chapter 345 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Alicia Remeri Lucifer The entire floor was sealed. No one would be able to enter and leave this floor without her permission. The whole area turned dark as a large amount of mana gushed out of Alice''s body. It enveloped the entire room to the point that it offset Cl.u.s.ter''s mana in the atmosphere of this room. "What the-" Kan''s eyes constricted as he saw this scene. He and Lim were stunned as they didn''t expect this outburst of energy. Although it wasn''t liquefied, the amount of mana was simply unbelievable. It couldn''t compare to Cl.u.s.ter but the mana she possessed surpassed those A-rank powerhouses. It was so dense that Kan and Lim imagined that it was liquefied, they only found that it was gaseous after taking a clear look at it. After a few seconds, Alice stepped forward and revealed her appearance. Kan and Lim subconsciously took a step back as their instinct was telling them to run away. They felt that they were in front of an apex predator. Alice''s hair color changed into silver and its end turned into light blue. Her skin tone was so pale that everyone who looked at her would think that she didn''t have blood in her body, with the exception of her upper arms and legs which gradually turned into black. There were black fur-like things around her wrist that were fluttering like a dancing flame. Her nails grew longer and it resembled claws, and its color became black. Her irises turned into a slit with a red crimson ring around it. There was a pair of black horns on the side of her head and blue flames on the center of her forehead. A pair of black wings was sticking out of her back and a black tail that has a sharp tip that could pierce any metals. "What the hell are you...?!" Kan muttered in shock while looking at her appearance. Lim stepped in front of Kan and looked at Alice with a wary expression. Even he felt danger leaking out of Alice. "Be prepared as I''m going to use everything I could to defeat you..." Alice took a step forward and she added, "Rejoice, you''re the first person to see this form of mine in this land." Her demeanor changed greatly as they could feel confidence in her words. Black aura was oozing out of her body like a mist. "Lim... Be careful." Kan said to Lim who was standing in front of him. He took a deep breath to calm his tense nerves. He was actually feeling nervous as it was his first time seeing someone like Alice. Human? She''s not clearly a human. Demi? Her characteristics were not included in the archive of demis. Suddenly, Alice vanished from her position. "What?!" Kan''s eyes constricted as he looked around. Lim suddenly turned around and threw a punch behind him. At the same time, Alice appeared in that position and slashed her spear. Boom! Both of their attacks collided causing a powerful shockwave in the surrounding area. Then, both of their figures flashed and collided in the mid-air repeatedly. Bang! Bang! Bang! They were so fast that Kan could hardly follow them with his eyes. "The hell is this fight...?" He muttered in shock. He realized that Alice didn''t get that strong but her current strength was enough to fight a powerful A-rank like Lim. Lim wasn''t an ordinary A-rank. Among A-rank powerhouses, he could be considered as one of the top powerhouses. He was extremely fast and strong and he had a record of defeating three A-rank at the same time. Even their leader, Curdova, admitted that Lim was stronger than him. ''I need to support Lim as this is all I could do.'' He thought to himself. A figure flashed in front of him and it was Alice. Alice opened her palm and was about to grab Kan''s head when Lim grabbed her wrist and punched her abdomen. Bang! Alice endured Lim''s punch as her sharp tail flew towards Kan. Swoosh! Kan tried to move away but he realized that his left arm was rolling in the mid-air. Blood was spurting out of it and it dyed the ground in red. "AHHH!!" Lim roared angrily when he saw Kan''s hand was gone. He grabbed Alice''s shoulder and punched her in the face. Alice wrestled with Lim. Their figures crashed in every direction causing the whole room to trembled. [Dark Sweeper]!! "I said I''m going to use everything!!" [Heavenly Demon''s Aura]!! Black aura gushed out of her body and it circled around her. It strengthened her overall abilities to a higher level greatly maximizing her potential. A large concentration of energy formed around her claw-like nails. [Secret Technique: Heavenly Demon''s Dark Claw]!! She swung her claws downward and a large black energy blade followed it. "Shit!!" Kan cursed when he saw this technique that covered the entire room. Lim appeared in front of him and crossed his arm to block the skill. "Lim!!" A large explosion occurred and the whole room trembled as if it was about to collapse. [Secret Technique: Heavenly Demon''s Dark Spiral]!! A huge black ball formed in front of Alice and she threw it towards the direction of the two. The giant black ball spun as it flew towards the two. The moment it hit a large explosion occurred greater than the one before. BOOOOM!! The part of the tower was shattered because of the sheer power of her skill. Even though Cl.u.s.ter''s mana was strengthening it, her skill shattered the wall of the tower creating a large hole in it. Smoke and dust covered the entire room. The wind blew from the hole and it dispersed the smoke and dust. Swoosh! Two figures were lying down on the center of a large crater. They were covered in blood and full of injuries. Alice''s wings flapped and she arrived in front of the two. She could see that Lim was already dead. There''s no sign of life in his body anymore while Kan was barely alive. "Ugh!!" Blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth. Kan struggled as he approached the Lim. "L-Lim... It happened... One of my comrades died in front of me again..." He said with great effort. His voice was coarse and trembling. He raised his hand and closed Lim''s eyes. "I''m sorry... You had to protect me..." Kan then turned his eyes and looked at Alice. "What are you?" He asked without care. He didn''t expect that Alice would answer his question. "A member of the noble heavenly demon race. The daughter of Great Demon Emperor Lucifer, one of the Three Demon Emperors of the Demon''s Land. I am Alicia Remeri Lucifer, the third princess of the Heavenly Demon Palace." Alice paused for a moment. "And now, you will die at my hands." "Hahaha, damn! A demon from legends is real... That''s why I couldn''t recognize your characteristics..." Kan laughed lightly. "F.u.c.k! Everything that happened to me is so f.u.c.k.e.d up! Hahaha! Still, I''m glad that I joined this group!" He looked at Alice and said seriously, "Since I''m going to die anyway I won''t mind answering your question." "Why did you kidnapped Cl.u.s.ter? What do you want from her?" Alice didn''t hold back and asked. "Oh? That girl... So you''re here for her. That girl possessed power that you couldn''t imagine. She''s a weapon of war, the Grimoire of Spell, the Thousand Spell." Kan paused for a moment before he added, "I''m going to warn you. That girl is a possession of the True God''s Holy Kingdom. They won''t let her go after this incident. So if you want to stay with her be prepared to confront that giant kingdom." "I see... Thank you for answering my question even though I''m your enemy." Alice said. "Hahaha! It''s nothing! You''re here for your friends and I''m here for my friends too. We''re the same but with different circ.u.mstances. Cl.u.s.ter, that girl, is the leader''s daughter so if you managed to take her back I just hope that you will not treat her badly. She already experienced a lot of hardship at that age." Kan paused for a moment and said, "Okay, now kill me. I don''t have anything just swiftly kill me." Alice raised her hand and her energy gathered on her claws. She then swung it downwards. "Dying at the hands of legends from folklore isn''t bad compare to dying at the hands of those spiteful bastards." It''s his last words before he lost his life at Alice''s hands. Alice placed the bracelet on her wrist and her appearance turned back to normal. She sighed and muttered, "Life is really unfair..." Once again she recalled the words of her butler, Sebas. She should find trustworthy people here that she could call a friend. People who wouldn''t mind about her race. People who would support her. People who trusted her. "Sebas, I think I''ve found those people..." Chapter 346 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Lynn and Lumilia vs. Almer and Lina Alice sat down and turned her head on the huge hole in the walls. She could see what''s happening below. The people were still fighting an endless number of golems on the ground. These golems wouldn''t stop respawning until they stopped the caster of the spell. Now that she released her true form for the first time in this land, she felt refreshed and pleasant at the same time. Hiding her form was actually uncomfortable for her. She wanted to walk under the sky with her real appearance but doing so would bring her great trouble. She sighed and muttered, "I will tell everyone about myself. I just need to find an opportunity to do so." Alice turned her head to the bracelet on her wrist. Her butler, Sebas, gave her three bracelets that have the same ability like this one. In case she broke one bracelet she still had some spares so that she wouldn''t be in trouble. She owed everything to her butler. Without him, she wouldn''t be able to arrive at this place safely. And without this bracelet, she wouldn''t be able to blend easily in this land. She would hide in some place fearing that people would discover him but thanks to the bracelet she could live in this land. Her butler told her to find some people that she could trust. People that wouldn''t mind about her race. And she found them. Alice was really glad that she decided to settle in the Ladros City and enrolled in Ladro Institute. In that place, she met Souta, Bryan, Yujin, Lumilia, Lynn, and Brando. People that she could trust. "I just hope that they will accept me." ... Lynn and Lumilia were fighting two of the Moon Tower''s seven executives on the seventh floor of the tower. The two executives were Lina and Almer. They were mage and fighter respectively. Among the executives, their power level was at the bottom but for Lynn and Lumilia they were strong. Lumilia was on the front fighting the fighter, Almer, while Lynn was supporting her from behind. Almer thrust the dagger in his hand forward and Alice jumped backward to avoid it but it still grazed her shoulder. A cut appeared on her shoulder but the next instant it closed as Lynn casted a healing spell on her. Then, a giant fireball appeared above Lumilia falling down on her. "Ah!!" Lynn gathered her mana and created a barrier to protect Lumilia. Boom! The giant fireball crashed on the barrier and it caused a powerful explosion. It destroyed the barrier but it didn''t have enough power anymore to injure Lumilia. Almer bent his knees and charged at Lumilia. He tightened his grip on his dagger and channeled his mana on it. Lumilia then swung her sword and both of their attacks collided. Clang! Clang! Clang! Everytime their weapons collided sparks flew out between them. Lumilia''s main class was a mage but she still knew how to fight in close range. If she compared it to Souta, Alice, Yujin, and Bryan her fighting ability in close range was pretty much average. That''s why she was at a disadvantage in this battle. That''s why she had to depend on Lynn. A cut appeared on her body every second as she couldn''t block and avoid all of Almer''s attack. Although both of them were B-rank powerhouses, Almer mainly fights in a close-quarter combat. His skills and techniques were much sharper and trained than Lumilia. Lina once again casted an attack spell but Lynn offset it by creating a barrier to block it. This battle depends on the two who were fighting closely. The balance was going to crumble once one of them was defeated and Lumilia felt that she was going down. Even though she trained hardly in Saya''s inner consciousness she still couldn''t match those people who main in close combat. She was already good as she could last longer against an expert like Almer. Clang! Clang! Clang! After a few minutes of clashing, Lumilia felt tired even though she didn''t have any wounds in her body. After all, Lynn could only heal her wounds not recover her stamina. Also, Lynn consumed a lot of mana while Lina still has a lot in her body. Lina didn''t have to cast healing spell nor buff spell on Almer. All she had to do was to cast an offensive spell and Lynn would cast a defensive spell. That way, she could drain Lynn''s mana faster. "Mila..." Lynn looked at her friend with concern in her eyes. "Don''t worry about me. Just focus on your task and we will somehow hold out." Lumilia said as she shook her head. Almer was going to charged at Lumilia once again when the ground shook heavily and a powerful wave of energy flooded the entire room. Boom! "What?!" Almer and Lina were surprised when they felt it. Lina turned her attention to Lumilia and Lynn. She saw that they were shocked too. It means that they didn''t plan this one. The energy that they felt was dangerous. It was different from mana. It was best feram unique to monsters. "The energy is coming from the floor below..." Lynn quickly sensed where the energy was coming from but she didn''t know that it was from Yuko. Before evolution, Yuko was using mana but now her mana transformed into best feram. Her energy signature greatly changed that''s why Lynn couldn''t recognize that it was from Yuko. Lumilia had a grave expression on her face. The first thing that comes into her mind was that it was an enemy. She wasn''t too optimistic to think that it was their ally and lower her guard. Souta taught her to think about the worse case scenario in every situation and think of a way to deal with it or how could they avoid it. It''s better to prepare themselves for the worse than not preparing at all. If it was an ally then it''s good but if it was an enemy then she had to prepare. Everything depends on how she looked at things and prepared for every scenario that could possibly happen. "Almer, it seems that this is not from them... Best Feram...? Only a monster could use it but how could a monster entered this city without causing a commotion." Lina narrowed her eyes and said to her comrade in a low voice. "I don''t know too but it''s better if we prepare ourselves. Gyun and Ryo are fighting on the fifth floor. The monster will pass on that floor first." Almer said as he shook his head. "I don''t want to think about it but two of them wouldn''t have a chance against a third evolution monster. We already lost Kin and I don''t want some of us to die before we achieved our goal." Lina said as she tightly clenched her fist. "You should''ve expected that some of us will die when you decided to take this path." Almer glanced at her. "I know... But they are our comrades..." Lina replied. Almer took a deep breath and said, "Let''s go and finish this as soon as possible. Then, let''s check what''s happening on the fifth floor." "Okay." Lina nodded and she turned serious. "Lynn... Prepare yourself! They are coming!" Lumilia said to her friend as she tightened her muscles. She silently circulated her mana and prepare herself to cast a spell. Swoosh! Almer quickly launched himself forward. When Lumilia saw it, she finished her preparation and casted a spell. [Water Bomb]!! [Twin Aqua Serpent]!! Two giant serpents made of water materialized beside Lumilia. The serpents moved forward to intercept Almer who was coming at her at a very high speed. Lina, who was watching it, looked up and saw a water sphere fifteen meters above her. She quickly recognized this spell with one glance. She gathered her mana and created a barrier to protect herself. She also prepared herself to cast it towards her comrade. Bang! Bang! Bang! Almer ran around as two water serpents were chasing after him. They were fast and it''s not easy to destroy them because Lumilia was obstructing him. He and Lina let her prepared this as both of them turned their attention to the best feram before and their opponents didn''t this opportunity passed by. They prepared spells that could trouble them. "Go!" Lumilia shouted as she slashed her sword. Normally, she wouldn''t shout but this time she wanted to gather her opponent''s attention so that the water serpents could strike from behind. "It''s not that easy..." Almer said as he parried Lumilia''s sword and quickly jumped away to avoid the water serpent. Lumilia and the water serpents stopped chasing after him. "Shit!!" Almer realized what was wrong as he looked in the sky and saw the water sphere falling in his direction. Lina narrowed her eyes as she created a barrier to protect Almer. She already prepared herself for this kind of situation the moment she saw the [Water Bomb] spell. Boom! Chapter 347 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Arrival on the Seventh Floor The water sphere fell on Almer and it caused a loud explosion. But the barrier that Lina created protected him from any harm. Boom! Almer was standing without any injuries on his body. He was looking at Lynn and Lumilia with a serious expression. Huff... Huff... Lumilia was breathing heavily and there were beads of sweat forming on her forehead. There''s no use at all. In terms of overall strength, Lina and Almer we''re stronger than them. Lynn had [Eye of Perception] ability and it was useful but it was not suitable for fighting. She could develop her own fighting style if she trained it but currently, she hasn''t even mastered it yet. "We''ll defeat you... So why don''t you two just die? That way you won''t suffer anymore." Almer said to Lumilia and Lynn. "Die...? No, I still have a lot of things to do. I have a goal right now that I want to accomplish." Lumilia replied as she wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth. That''s right, Lumilia''s goal before was just to get her father to acknowledge her and not use her for political means but now her goal was much grander than that. She didn''t tell anyone about it but she grew attached to their legion, to their friendship. The Dark Oculus Legion. She wanted to make it into a powerful organization that was well-known throughout the whole world. The chances of it becoming true were slim but she still wanted to accomplish it. She wanted to show her father that even with his backing she could become something influential. Most of all, she wanted to accompany her friends in her goal. What she didn''t know was that in the next few years, the name Dark Oculus would be one of the pilot organizations that contributed a lot in the next Great Cosmos War. Of course, that is a story for another time. "Then, stopping us is one of that...?" Almer asked as he narrowed his eyes. "No, we just wanted to rescue Cl.u.s.ter. We won''t let you use our friend." Lumilia said as she smirked. "That girl...? You know that girl is our leader''s daughter. You don''t know their story or what they''ve been through so don''t get in our way." Almer spoke slowly as he realized that his opponent''s goal was Cl.u.s.ter but rescuing Cl.u.s.ter was the same as stopping their plan. That girl was the core of their plan to fight the True God''s Holy Kingdom. Without her, their plan would fail. "That''s why we will go there and asked Cl.u.s.ter if she wanted to help you. If she doesn''t want to help you then we will use everything we''ve got to rescue her." Lumilia said in a loud voice. Forcing Cl.u.s.ter to do things against her will, she will not tolerate that kind of thing even if that person is Cl.u.s.ter''s father. "Okay... I will not ask anymore. It''s useless as it will not stop you from getting in our way." Almer said as he took a deep breath. He circulated his mana in his body as he prepared himself to fight once again. "Yeah, nothing will stop us," Lumilia said as she raised her hand and pointed her sword at Almer. [Submerging Water Pound]!! A huge wave of water appeared behind her like a tsunami. It was an AOE skill that black Almer and Lina''s escape route. They had no choice but to block this attack at all. Almer saw this and jumped away. He landed beside Lina and Lina casted a barrier to protect the two of them from the impact of the attack. Ohm! Several layers of semi-transparent formed around them in a sphere. When the force of the water crashed on the barrier the whole area shook heavily. One by one the barrier was being shattered. "Just go down!!" Lumilia roared as tons of heavy water swallowed everything in front of her. Although it looked like it wasn''t powerful, the impact of this spell was several times stronger than a tsunami. ... After a few minutes, the water slowly disappeared. Lumilia and Lynn saw the figures standing with a few injuries in their body. They were the two executives of the Moon Tower, Almer and Lina. Currently, this spell was Lumilia''s most powerful spell in her arsenal. She didn''t manage to take out these two so the fight will become harder for her. With her amount of mana, she could only cast this spell three times a day. She wasn''t like Alice and Souta who had a large amount of mana in their mana pool. "Is that all you''ve got?" Almer asked in a grave tone as he patted his wet clothes. That spell gave them some trouble and that''s all. It takes more before they could defeat them, an executive of the Moon Tower will not go down easily. Suddenly, the best feram in the atmosphere got thicker. "What...?!" They felt that they were in the presence of a third evolution monster. Well, they weren''t wrong as a third evolution monster was coming to their floor. And Lynn was the one who''s going to prove this to them. "Mila... A monster is coming..." Lynn said in a low voice to her friend. Lumilia braced herself as she gritted her teeth in frustration. She only knew that the chances of this monster were their ally was close to zero. The whole room was dead silent. Naturally, Almer and Lina heard Lynn''s words. ''So none of them is a tamer and it seems that the monster is really a wild monster, not a tamed one.'' Lina thought as she slowly moved her body to the side. She knew the only way to go to this floor so she wouldn''t get in the way of that monster. Almer knew what his comrade was thinking so he slowly followed her movements. Every second, the best feram in the air got thicker. At this moment, it was hard to cast a spell without proper mana manipulation technique because of the obstruction of different energy. These few seconds were the longest seconds they''ve felt in their entire life. All of them were just B-rank powerhouses, so if they''ve worked together they would have a chance to defeat them but that will only work if they were facing a weak third evolution monster. Plus, they don''t have a shielder in their group that will go in front of the monster. As time passed by, their expression changed and they became nervous. Their nerves tenses up, and their body began to pump out energy like they were facing their mortal enemy. All of them faced a third evolution monster before but the situation before and now was different. They exhausted half of their energy from fighting each other and Lumilia''s group was the one who almost drained all the energy in their mana pool. They weren''t at their peak so they couldn''t hope to defeat a monster at this level. "It''s coming from behind..." Lynn said to Lumilia while her lips were trembling. With her senses, she felt where the energy was coming from. She couldn''t pinpoint it but she could estimate its location. Lumilia nodded. She trusted Lynn so she believed her. They heard a loud sound every time the monster took a step forward. Then, a figure appeared from the path ten meters away from Lumilia and Lynn. Almer and Lina were on the other side so they saw the appearance of the monster. They saw a huge bear and the color of its fur was dark red. It has a bright red gem on its forehead that was giving off a dangerous vibe to the atmosphere. Just by seeing this red gem, the two instantly knew that this was the third evolution monster that was emitting the best feram in the air. But the strange thing was that there''s a person on the back of the bear. And there''s a small palm-sized figure flying around it. "Lumilia!! Lynn!! Help me!!" A little figure was flying towards them at high speed and arrived in front of them. Swoosh! "Is that Yuko...?" Lumilia muttered in shock while looking at the appearance of the bear. Lynn was the same as her. She was shocked too. "Yes, yes, I will explain it later but I need you to heal Jin first! Jin is in critical condition!" Alophy said in a haste. "Yujin...?" Lynn muttered. "Yes! Yes! Heal Jin first and I will tell you everything that happened!!" Alophy said loudly. Chapter 348 - Battle at the Moon Tower: You cant stop the ritual Lynn and Lumilia couldn''t believe it when they found that Yuko evolved into a third evolution monster. The power level of the monster was entirely different to humans and demis. Every evolution would increase their strength by several folds. Since the dawn of the world, the monster''s power level was fixed to their evolution level while the humans and demis just based their power levels on the monsters. Twenty thousand years ago, they called the F-rank and E-rank powerhouses a Warrior Level. D-rank and C-rank powerhouses a Battle Warrior while B-rank and A-rank a Knight Level which could somehow fight a third evolution monster. Knight Level was the basic level of powerhouses in ancient times. A level of a normal soldier at that time. Battle Knight was the people who could fight a fourth evolution monster. Their level was equivalent to S-rank and SS-rank powerhouses at the current time. At this level, one could become a captain of a squad in ancient times. The SSS-rank and Hero-rank were called Ascension Knight. One could become a commander of an army in ancient times. They were the one who was close to gods. That''s why they were called Ascension Knights. They were also the ones who could fight a fifth evolution monster. And then there were false gods. The people who failed the ascension to godhood were called as such. They were stronger than mortal but they weren''t stronger than real gods and deities. Lastly, the gods... There''s nothing much to stay except that they were at the apex of individual strength in the whole cosmos. Some people said that there was a power level higher than gods but no one managed to prove it. They said that level of strength wasn''t going to meddle in the affairs of the whole cosmos. They were just overseeing outside the space and time. A god could oversee one or two sub-world while the level beyond god oversees everything, an omnipresent powerhouse. Since no one could prove it, it became a myth as time passed by. ... Aside from being shocked Lumilia and Lynn were also glad that the monster was Yuko. Why they didn''t think that it would be Yuko? "Hurry up and heal Jin!!" Alophy shouted as she tried to pull Lynn towards Yujin. Lynn approached Yuko and looked at Yujin on her back. Yujin''s figure was full of injuries and the blood didn''t stop pouring out of it. "I''ll apply first aid first." She said as she raised her hand and placed it on Yujin''s largest wound. She will stop the blood from coming out of the wounds first. If she didn''t stop it, Yujin could die from blood loss. Lynn circulated her mana and used a healing spell but it was disrupted making her feel like a thousand ants were crawling in her body. "I can''t cast a spell..." She muttered as she looked at her hands. "How come...?" Alophy was stunned when she heard Lynn''s words. At that time, Lumilia approached them and said, "I''m sorry, I didn''t stop you quickly. I was too shocked and couldn''t react properly. We''re in the presence of Yuko, a third evolution monster, she just evolved so she couldn''t properly contain her best feram. Under this pressure, we couldn''t cast a spell except for our inner spell." She was right, Yuko just evolved a few minutes ago and her energy kept leaking out of her body. She needed to familiarize herself first before she could properly control her energy. "Mu...?" Yuko tilted her head as she couldn''t understand what they were saying. Lumilia had no choice but to communicate with Yuko using gestures. She tried her best to let Yuko understand what she wanted. She kept pointing at Almer and Lina which makes the two sweat heavily. They were nervous and they couldn''t help it. After all, a third evolution monster was in front of them. Alophy and Lynn helped too. After a few minutes of hard work, Yuko finally understood what they meant. "This...?" Almer subconsciously took a step backward when Yuko''s attention turned to them. "We''re in a very bad situation." Lina forced a smile. "If this monster came from the floor below then Gyun and Ryo..." "F.u.c.k!!" Almer cursed as he realized what Lina was trying to say. He tightly clenched his fist in anger. "A third evolution monster... This is something we didn''t expect." Lina said wryly. At first, they thought that they were going to win the battle but now... Their chances were slim. "What should we do, Lina?" Almer glanced at Lina as he forced a smile on his face. "We should buy time for our leader as much as possible," Lina replied to him with a smile. "You''re right... Even if we die." Almer nodded his head as his expression turned serious. Both of them owed their leader, Curdova, their life. Before they joined this group, they were both duke and duchess of their dukedom. They were peacefully living in that piece of land and their subjects were satisfied with their rule. But the forces of the Church of True God destroyed their dukedom. They''ve massacred everyone inside it. Their children and parents were included in it. They''ve only survived because Curdova managed to save the two of them. Thinking about that time, they recalled how Curdova kept apologizing to them because he didn''t manage to save their family. He blamed himself for that tragedy. They owed their lives to their leader. All the executives and members of the Moon Tower owed Curdova. He somehow saved them and give them a reason to live. A reason to fight against the one who oppressed them. Even though it''s not a great reason, they still grabbed it and helped him formed this organization. For them, Curdova was the greatest person that couldn''t be compared with the kings of those large countries. When they don''t have anyone to support them, he was there to comfort them. He alone saved a lot of people even if he doesn''t acknowledge it himself. Even if he treated himself as a villain, for the members of the Moon Tower he was a hero that they will not forget in their life. Actually, they didn''t think that they could fight a great country but still... They supported Curdova in everything that he did. Since he saved their lives, they could give up their lives for him without hesitation. For their leader''s goal... They were willing to give up everything. "Lina, let''s do this...!" Almer said as a smile appeared on his face. The fear in his heart disappeared. "Yeah, I''ll support you so let''s do this for our leader!" Lina smiled too. Almer bent his knees and he charged forward while Lina followed him from behind, ready to give support at any moment. This will be their final struggle before they perished. ... Sounds of metal clashing against each other echoed in the room full of heavy mana. Souta slashed his sword in different directions but Curdova simply blocked his attacks. Even though he was using [Possession], he still couldn''t match the leader of the Moon Tower. A powerful man that commanded a lot of powerhouses in this city. Red aura enveloped his sword and he swung it towards Curdova. Curdova clad his halberd with his mana before he thrust it forward. Boom! Both of their attacks collided causing a powerful shockwave that blew the black mist in the surrounding area. After that, the black mist went back and enveloped everything. Souta could see through this black mist and it couldn''t block his vision. He was the caster of this spell after all. In fact, it strengthened his stats and decreased the stats of his opponents. Curdova didn''t have a problem seeing through this black mist. He was an A-rank powerhouse and he could use his mana to strengthened his vision and pierce through this spell. Souta took a distance away from his opponents. He quickly glanced at the giant metallic figure at the center of the magic circle. At this moment, half of metallic figure''s body was out of the magic circle. It won''t be long before it finally came out and showed its power to the world. The power of this metallic figure wasn''t enough to scare those large countries but if it fused with Cl.u.s.ter it will become one of the greatest weapons of war. One of the bosses in the game that he couldn''t defeat even if he worked with other players. "You can''t stop the ritual... Even if you have the power to defeat, you can''t defeat me in just a short amount of time." Curdova said to him in a deep tone. Souta took a deep breath and he raised his sword. He was preparing to attack once again. "Well, since you in the way of my plan! I will kill you right here right now!" Curdova said as he charged towards Souta with his halberd in his hand. Chapter 349 - Battle at the Moon Tower: [Earth Elemental Golem Summoning] Curdova charged towards Souta but he suddenly felt the change in gravity. It was trying to crush his body into meat paste. His energy burst out of his body and it protected him from the extreme gravity that was trying to crush him. "You need more than this if you want to stop me!!" He shouted as he moved his body forward. Swoosh! Souta wanted to pour more mana in his [Gravitational Ball] spell but he reserved his mana for his other spell. He will just use the versatility of his style to counter this man and wait for Yuko to come here. Since she evolved and became a third evolution monster, he knew that the people below didn''t have a chance to win against her power. He could actually summon Yuko here but he wanted Yuko to help the other first so that they would arrive here safely. Curdova arrived in front of him and swiftly slashed his halberd diagonally. Clang! Souta raised his sword and blocked it before he lifted his feet. He then kicked his opponent to the side. Swoosh! Curdova simply took a step backward and avoided his kick. He then comes forward while thrusting his halberd at the same time. "Damn!!" Souta tried to parry it but he couldn''t completely do it. The tip of the halberd caused a large cut at the part above his elbow. Blood spurted out of it and he tightened his muscles, ignoring the blood, as he took a step back to distance himself away from Curdova. At the same time, black tentacles rose from the ground trying to block Curdova. Curdova''s strength has decreased because of the effect of the [Dark Cloud Hunting] spell. Also, the gravity field was slowing him down but even with all of that debuff, he still could dominate Souta in a battle. That''s why he was fearless. He fearlessly chased after Souta even without knowing his tricks. ''Your opponent this time is an expert at close combat fighting. He already adapted to your fighting style and could keep up with the [Shadow Ball] combo.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Yeah, I can''t believe that his battle instinct is this great and no one knew him except for the people in this city.'' Souta replied to her. In terms of pure combat skills, this one the strongest among all the enemies that he had fought so far. He could only guess that Curdova''s mastery over his weapon was level 9 or level 10. To think that there''s a person with this much battle sense in this city. Souta used various of his spells and tried to fight back. His figure kept flickering and the same for Curdova. They were colliding at high speed as shockwaves swept out every time they clashed. Bang! Bang! Bang! Wounds started to appear on Souta''s body. He really couldn''t match this guy even with all of his high-grade equipment. Still, he managed to avoid getting hit in his vital parts. That''s the one thing he doesn''t want to happen. ''Do you still can keep up?'' Saya asked him. ''Yeah, I had various skills and spells that I could use...'' Souta replied to her as he wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. Swoosh! He moved back as Curdova chased after him with an intent to kill. Bloodl.u.s.t was seeping out of his body. Curdova was also feeling troubled. He was frustrated that he couldn''t deal the finishing blow to his opponent. No matter what he did, his opponent would always slipped in his grasp when he was about to kill. Every second, he was growing impatient. He wanted to kill this man as soon as possible and witness the glorious awakening of their weapon that would rival the True God''s Holy Kingdom. His attacks were hitting his opponent but it was not too deep. It''s fine with this as long as he kept doing it he would win this battle. If one cut wasn''t enough then how about a thousand cuts. "Why don''t you just go down?!" Curdova roared as he slashed his weapon horizontally. Clang! Souta blocked it while gritting his teeth. Blocking his enemy''s attack would be out of his choice next. He already blocked hundreds of Curdova''s attacks so he could feel his muscles getting sore and numb. ''The effect of [Possession] would disappear soon...'' Saya reminded him. If the power boost disappeared then Souta wouldn''t be able to keep up with Curdova. The difference in their strength was so large. ''Okay...'' Souta nodded while parrying and dodging his opponent''s relentless attack. Lightning appeared around Curdova''s halberd as he thrust it forward aiming at his opponent''s c.h.e.s.t. [Shadow Ball]!! Ten black balls appeared on his palm and it flew around the room but the halberd in Curdova''s hand flashed brightly. All ten black balls exploded as Curdova''s halberd strike it accurately. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta opened his eyes widely when he saw this. He didn''t think that Curdova would strike his [Shadow Ball] spell. "Ahhh!!" Curdova roared as he thrust his spear forward. [Swirling Wind Thrust]!! Swoosh! Souta realized that he couldn''t avoid this attack when it was this close. It''s possible if he was a dozen meters away from Curdova but at a short distance... He couldn''t avoid it as the powerful wind was preventing him from jumping away. It was s.u.c.k.i.n.g him towards the tip of the halberd. He had no choice but to block it. He tightened his grip on his sword and channeled a huge amount of mana. The tip of the halberd arrived in front of his c.h.e.s.t. Souta quickly used his sword to deflect it. "Argh!!" He felt the powerful force behind it as blood flow out of his mouth. The sharp winds of this attack caused a few dozen cuts on his body. "Damn! Just go away!!" He shouted as he used every ounce of his strength to deflect the halberd. Swoosh! Boom! Souta was blown away and he rolled on the ground a few times before he stopped. He stood up and put his hand on a hole just below his c.h.e.s.t. Blood kept pouring out of this wound. He could guess that in just a few minutes he would go down. ''This is really bad...'' He thought as he narrowed his eyes. If the worse scenario was to come then Souta would use the [Soul Blood Mode] to stop this guy. ''Just do what you want to do, Souta. I''m here to back you up. If you were to pass out I will not let that guy kill you under my presence.'' Saya said to him. ''Thanks for that...'' Souta replied to her as he smiled wryly. "Destroying the True God''s Holy Kingdom is my lifelong wish... Just because that country is a great country doesn''t mean that they could just destroy the small countries around them." Curdova said as he walked towards Souta. "I was a Saint Knight of that kingdom." "Was?" Souta frowned when he heard Curdova''s words. He knew the meaning of the Saint Knight of the Holy Kingdom. Saint Knights was an elite group of knights that was tasked to guard the holy maiden of the church. Each one possessed great power above an A-rank powerhouse. "Yes, but not now. In the past, I''m the captain of the Saint Knights. I have absolute power just below the gods of that kingdom. It means that I''ve attained Hero-rank before." Curdova said as he glanced at Cl.u.s.ter who was suspended in the mid-air. The hands of the metallic figure were closed to her as if it was grabbing her body. He then turned his head to Souta and said, "That''s why you can''t defeat me. I have vast experience when I was still a Hero-rank." "Hehe... Hero-rank?" Souta smiled as he grabbed his sword. "This is the end! I will use the power of this girl to end your life!!" Curdova said as he tapped his halberd on the ground. After a few seconds, the whole room shook heavily as Cl.u.s.ter''s enormous mana spun around it. Boom! "Come forth!!" Rocks stacked together and it turned into humanoid golems. The golem was human size but Souta could discern that this group was stronger than the golems below. ''This is the [Earth Elemental Golem Summoning]...'' Saya recognized this spell. Not just her, Souta too recognized these humanoid golems. ''This is really really bad...'' Souta forced a smile on his face. The group of humanoid golems was releasing mana that could rival any B-rank powerhouse. Chapter 350 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Brandos Resolve Souta''s expression was grave as he observed the group of golems that possessed an energy level of a B-rank powerhouse. It seems that he needed to use the rewards that he received from the quest in Ladros City. He also hasn''t completed the [Finding] quest. To complete it, he just needed to point Cl.u.s.ter to Lumilia. Since Cl.u.s.ter was here, Lumilia just needed to arrive in this place and he will complete this quest that will give him extra 3 skill points. Also, he had the [Boss Battle] quest. To complete it, he just needed to defeat the boss of this tower, Curdova. Currently, he had 43 skill points and 143 free attribute points. He could use this to strengthen himself but doing so would distract him from battle. Souta took a deep breath and tried to think of a way how could buy some time to allocate his points. ''If this guy start talking again then I would have enough time.'' He thought as he took a glance at Curdova who was behind the group of the golem. One, two, three, four, five, six, and seven... The total number of golems was seven. Seven B-rank powerhouses. Even if he wasn''t injured, he couldn''t get rid of seven B-ranks easily. Two of the seven golems quickly dashed at Souta. Swoosh! Souta kicked the ground as he jumped away while slashing his sword. [Crimson Moon]!! The two golems blocked his attack and another two golems jumped over, heading in his direction. [Shadow Bind]!! Several tentacles rose from the ground and it stretched out towards the two humanoid golems. Also, Souta stopped the gravitational field on Curdova''s body. For now, he will use the power of his [Gravitational Ball] to help him fight this group of humanoid golems. Still, he didn''t completely ignore Curdova. There''s a possibility that Curdova was just waiting for an opportunity to strike him so had to be wary about it. It''s a psychological attack. Just by standing there and looking at Souta could give him pressure and distract him from fighting the humanoid golems. ''Damn! This is getting harder!'' Souta cursed inwardly as he swung his sword repeatedly trying to blast away the two golems. Bang! Bang! Bang! The two golems coordinated perfectly as both of them deflected all of Souta''s attack precisely. It was good. As expected of the [Earth Elemental Golem Summoning] spell. The golems had good battle sense unlike the golems on the ground which he could easily predict the movements. These humanoid golems had complicated battle patterns just like an expert warrior. Souta could keep up with two golems even though he was injured and exhausted. His attribute and skills which were higher than normal B-ranks make up for this. Bang! Bang! Bang! ''Can you still handle it Souta?'' Saya asked him. ''Somehow...'' Souta replied to him and then he saw another two humanoid golems charged at his side. Swoosh! Swoosh! Right now, he was fighting four out of seven humanoid golems. Four B-ranks in short. After a few seconds, the remaining three also charged at Souta. It seems that they were going to use their number to eliminate him. They realized that they couldn''t defeat him without working together so they will work together. If Souta wasn''t using [Possession] then the difficulty of fighting all of seven golems was really high. But since he was using this skill, he could keep up with them somehow but he didn''t know how long he will last. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta was dodging the punches of the golems while moving backward. He had to avoid getting cornered by all seven golems at all costs. He would be instantly defeated if that happened. Bang! Bang! Bang! All he could do was to passively defend against the golems barrage punches. He was helpless against them. He was too busy fighting the golems that he didn''t notice that he was only fighting six golems. At this time, he was still trying to think of a way to escape this situation while glancing at Curdova in case he made a move. The pressure he was feeling at this moment was heavy. ''Don''t tell Souta... you''re planning to use the soul once again...'' Saya said. ''Yes, can you think of a reason to tell my comrades while I''m fighting with these guys?'' Souta nodded and asked her. ''As long as no one knows that you could consume the souls of living creatures then you would be safe. It''s better to tell them that you''ve found a way to cultivate your soul... As long as there''s no god-level powerhouse in this place then no one could sense the souls.'' Saya paused for a moment before she added, ''I forgot that the moment you use that power, the souls in the earring would materialize and fuse with your body. The moment it materialized people would see it. That''s why the seven-circle officers knew that you''re using a forbidden technique.'' ''Well said...'' Souta replied to her and the missing golems burst out of the ground just beneath his feet. The golem grabbed ahold of his feet and pulled him. Swoosh! "Shit!! I didn''t notice that there''s a missing golem!!" Souta cursed as he fell down and saw the other six golems flying at him, ready to kill him. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! "What?!" He opened his eyes widely as he saw the person in front of him. "Why are you here...?" The man in front of him was a tall man with short brown hair. Some part of his skin was green and the color of his eyes was blue. He was none other than Brando Hylott, a core member of the Dark Oculus Legion. He didn''t even bring Brando with him so why he was here in this place? Bryan and Brando should''ve rested in the Ladros City. Don''t tell him Bryan was also here? But Bryan''s condition was much worse than Brando so it''s impossible for him to recover in just a short amount of time. "You still haven''t recover...!" Souta said as he narrowed his eyes when he saw that Brando''s wounds were bleeding. "You have a plan, right? I''m going to buy you some time..." Brando paused for a moment and he added, "Also, don''t worry about the others they won their battles and they are currently healing Yujin." He arrived in this city a few dozen minutes ago. He fought a bunch of golems outside the tower before he went here. After he arrived here, he found that his comrades also finished their battles. Since they were busy healing Yujin, Brando went straight to the top floor of the tower to provide Souta some help. He wasn''t going to stay on the sideline while his comrades while trying to rescue Cl.u.s.ter which he couldn''t protect at all. If he only had enough strength and protected Cl.u.s.ter at that time, then this wouldn''t happen at all. "I appreciate your help. Your presence here would greatly benefit me." Souta said to Brando seriously. ''What are you planning to do? You''re planning to use the souls, right?'' Saya asked him. ''Nope, I don''t need to use it anymore.'' Souta said as he looked at the system. He didn''t need to explain anything to Saya as she wouldn''t understand it. ... Brando could only buy a short amount of time to Souta with his current condition. But he had a feeling that these few seconds would be enough to change the tide of battle for Souta. Before when he fought Kan, he lost the will to fight when his shield got destroyed. He was a shielder so what would happen to him if his shield got destroyed. Should he accept his defeat? No! He wouldn''t accept it. He regretted what happened in that place. He regretted that he didn''t do his best. When he saw Bryan''s grave condition after the battle, he felt shame. Bryan did everything that he could to protect Cl.u.s.ter so why he couldn''t do it. He could still move his body at that time so why he didn''t help Bryan who was fighting at the cost of his life. Why didn''t he get up and fight? Why? It''s because he was afraid. Yeah, it''s natural to be afraid of someone who was after your life. "Argh!!" Brando gritted his teeth as he used his body to block all the attacks of the seven humanoid golems. Bang! Bang! Bang! Some of the golems went around trying to attack Souta but he blocked their way. He would protect Souta at all costs. ''I won''t regret anything!'' Blood flows out of the corner of his mouth. ''I... I will become... a great shielder who can protect his close ones!'' He absorbed all the attacks of the seven humanoid golems. Even with his tough body, he could hardly endure the assault of seven B-rank powerhouses. ''If I don''t have a shield, then I''ll use my body!'' Wounds were opening up in Brando''s body. His muscles were bursting out and the rock fists of the golems were peeling his skin. ''Bear it! Endure it! Protect it!'' "Argh!!" Brando roared as he saw Curdova charging at him. Chapter 351 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Final Struggle 1 "Hmm...?" Yujin slowly opened his eyes. "Jin!!" Alophy quickly flew at his c.h.e.s.t and cried as she was worried about his condition. "Ugh!" He g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as he sat up before he looked around. He just remembered that he fell unconscious after fighting the two executives of the Moon Tower, trying to buy some time for Yuko to evolve. He looked around and found that Lumilia and Lynn were around him. "What happened to the battle?" He asked while patting Alophy''s tiny body. He already guessed that outcome of the battle but he had to confirm it for not to think about it. Alophy wiped the tears in her eyes and answered his question, "Yuko successfully evolve and defeated those two... She also defeated Lumilia and Lynn''s opponent." "Well, thanks to you that Yuko evolved without any problem," Lumilia said with a smile. "What about the rest?" Yujin asked. "We have no idea what''s happening up there." Lumilia shook her head. She was worried about Alice and Souta who were fighting on the floor above. She could use the transmission talisman to contact them but that would distract them if they were in the middle of a battle. That''s why she''s holding back herself from using it. "Brando went to the upper floors to provide some help. The two of us stayed here to stop the bleeding of your wounds." Lynn said in a low voice. "What...? Brando is here?!" Yujin was surprised when he heard her words. He knew that they left Brando in the Ladros City to rest. "Yes, he is here. I don''t know how he found this place but it seems that he really wanted to help us in rescuing Cl.u.s.ter." Lumilia said as she recalled Brando''s expression when she saw him a few minutes ago. "I''m sure that he hadn''t recovered enough from his last battle..." Yujin said as he looked down. "Yes, that''s why we heal some of his wounds and casted buff spells on him before he went up," Lumilia said. "I see..." Yujin nodded and he tried to stand up but his body was assaulted by intense pain. "Argh!" Before he fell down Lumilia and Lynn supported him. "I don''t think I could fight in my current condition. You could leave me here and follow Brando up there." Yujin said as he checked his body. The mana in his mana pool was completely drained and he also couldn''t use spirit power in his condition. This was the side effect of using the [Spirit Breaker] without mastering it. This technique heavily burdened his body to the point that he almost shattered his mana pool from the enormous amount of spirit power. Normally, spirit power wouldn''t break his mana pool instead it would receive great benefits from it but the [Spirit Breaker] technique changed the gentle nature of the spirit power. It was like a best feram with different properties. "You could hardly move your body and you wanted us to leave you here?" Lumilia frowned when she heard his words. "Yes, Souta needs your help better than I. Also, there''s no opponent on this floor so there''s no danger for me if I stay here." Yujin explained patiently so that the two could understand him. "Okay, I understand but don''t do anything for now and just focus on resting," Lumilia said to him. "Okay," Yujin nodded and he turned his head to Yuko who was on the opposite side of the room. "Thanks for helping me." Yuko was far away because Lumilia and Lynn wouldn''t be able to use their spells under the pressure of her best feram. For best feram not to affect people''s mana they had to practice controlling their mana and strengthening it. Liquefying and solidifying one''s mana was the way aside from controlling mana. ... On the top floor... *Ding!* [You''re intelligence reached a threshold!] [Your mana recovery had increased by 200 mana per hour!] [Your mana pool had increased by 500 points!] [Your spell power had increased by 5%!] [You''ve gained the skill "Lower Mana Breathing Technique"!!] His mana recovery had increased by 200 mana per hour making his mana recovery a total of 386 mana per hour. The speed of his mana recovery was already great but in battles, he still needed to consume mana potion to keep up with this as no one would wait for one hour for him to recover a little bit of his mana. At this moment, his total mana already reached 3,742 points. He didn''t need a long sleep for his mana to completely recover. The skill [Lower Mana Breathing Technique] was a great skill to recover mana. As long as he practiced it, it would increase his mana recovery by 50 at every level. Also, this skill was pretty special like his [Monster Force I]. This skill can''t be level up using skill points. He could only level it up by promoting his class or by adding 100 free attribute points to this skill. Souta decided to allocate the remaining 110 free attribute points to his agility and dexterity attributes. His agility was 788 and his dexterity was 735, so he divided his points into these two making his agility 843 points and dexterity 790 points. Lastly, he had 43 skill points and he used 35 points to level up his [Night Overlord''s Aura] to level 8. [Night Overlord''s Aura]: A skill that was created by the Evernight God in ancient times. It was one of his signatures skill that made people tremble in fear of his presence. Effect: +26% power to all darkness attribute spells and combat arts if activate. +140 points to all attributes and 50% resistance to darkness attribute spells and combat arts if activated. This was enough for him. Swoosh! His figure suddenly vanished and appeared in front of Brando who was receiving the attack of the seven humanoid golems. "You did great, Brando. You can leave everything to me." Souta said as he swung his sword and blasted the golems away from him. Bang! The black aura was like a smoke coming out of his body and it gives off dangerous vibe. [Night Overlord''s Aura]! The increase in his overall abilities wasn''t that great but the [Night Overlord''s Aura] filled up what he lacks. This skill was a great combat arts but for god-level, it wasn''t enough. He didn''t know how could the Evernight God use this skill at his peak but he had a feeling that something will happen if he reached god-level. The territory of god was unknown to him as he didn''t reach this level in the game. And he reached was level 80 and he was half of that level. ''I will not hold back in using my mana.'' Souta poured a large amount of mana in the vajra sword. Since Curdova''s mana was liquefied, he had to use double amount of what Curdova was using to match his strength. Curdova thrust his halberd forwards and Souta swung his sword to parry it. Boom! Both of their weapons collided causing a powerful shockwave. Curdova opened his eyes widely in shock. He couldn''t believe what he felt just now. Just from that exchange of blows, he found that Souta grew stronger than before. Souta was stronger, faster, and his mana was enormous than before. He wouldn''t believe it if this didn''t happen at all. ''Is he holding back before?'' A question popped up in his mind but he quickly pushed it out as Souta has no reason to hold back against him. ''Still, this wouldn''t be enough to defeat me... A little bit of power-up isn''t enough to match my power.'' He said to himself as he slashed his weapon repeatedly. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta parried all of his opponent''s attacks. He was using all of his active skills along with the [Night Overlord''s Aura]. Both of their figures disappeared and appeared in another place creating a powerful shockwave as their weapons collided. The seven humanoid golems were helping Curdova putting Souta at disadvantage. Every second blood was spurting out of his wounds dyeing the ground in red. Brando who was watching the battle couldn''t follow their movements with his eyes. He could only feel the aftershocks of their attacks every time their attacks collided. The battle in front of him was entirely on a different level. He stood up and wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. Even though his body felt heavy, he still had to do something about those seven humanoid golems. "Huf..." He took a deep breath and estimated how long he could still fight in his condition. He could feel that the buff spells that Lynn had casted on him were wearing off. If the spell completely wore off then he was going to collapse. Souta just said to leave this battle to him but how could he let Souta fought these on his own. He had to help him somehow. As long as he could move he would provide help. "Okay... Let''s do this..." Chapter 352 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Final Struggle 2 ''It still wasn''t enough...'' Souta thought while gritting his teeth. The wounds that he received in this battle were aching. Two golems charged at him from left and right while Curdova was in front of him. ''I''ll change it first...'' Souta moved back and the golems followed him. He then removed the gravitational field around Curdova and focused it on the golems. Swoosh! Now that the gravitational field was gone in Curdova''s body, he could now move five times faster than before. It was his true speed without the pressure of the intense gravity field. His figure instantly appeared in front of Souta. He was a little bit surprised as he didn''t think that Souta would remove the pressure and it led him to instantly arrived before Souta. Swoosh! Souta was already waiting for him with his sword clad in red and black energy. He quickly swung the vajra sword at his opponent but Curdova had good reflexes. He reacted by raising his halberd to block the attack and kicked the ground to distance himself away from Souta. Clang! Clang! Curdova opened his eyes as the gravity field returned on his body slowing down his movements once again. ''Damn! This is bothersome!'' He said inwardly as he controlled the seven humanoid golems to attack Souta. The ground turned black and several black tentacles rose from it. The tentacles quickly attacked the seven humanoid golems without care just to prevent them from attacking Souta. One by one the golem ripped apart the tentacles with their rock hands. Without waiting for them to destroy all the tentacles, Souta launched himself at Curdova. Boom! Brando who was looking at this scene gathered his last bit of energy in his body. "I''m going to stop at least one of these golems to reduce the burdens to Souta." He muttered to himself before he charged towards the nearest golem at him. He pulled his fist and throw it on the face of the golem but the golem reacted quickly as it shifted its body and turned its attention on him. The golem tilted its head as if it was trying to size up Brando who was standing in front of him. "This guy is really good!" He smirked as he charged forward while crossing his arm in front of him. He was going to crash himself and used his brute strength to fight this golem. In terms of speed, this golem was faster than him so he can''t compete with it. ... Curdova glanced at Brando who was fighting one of the seven golems. ''This one still hasn''t given up. He still wants to fight. Well, if that''s what he wants then I''ll give him a fight that he wants.'' He thought as he controlled two golems to help the one golem that Brando was fighting. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta noticed this too. He knew that Brando was trying to help him by fighting the golems. He greatly appreciated this kind of help, especially in his current condition. He didn''t even know how long he could last with all the blood that flows out of his body. His health recovery couldn''t keep up with this kind of wound. While he was exchanging blows with Curdova, Souta noticed something. Yuko''s presence was close to him. It means that they were arriving on this floor and once they''ve arrived they will win this battle. To make sure of it, Souta used [Pet Resonance] for a brief moment. Ohm! A smile formed on his face after he used this skill. He already confirmed the Yuko and others were on the floor below. In just a few minutes they will arrive here. "What are you smirking for? Your friend would die if this keeps up!" Curdova asked in a loud voice as he repeatedly thrust his halberd forward. Small cuts appeared on Souta''s body as the halberd grazed him. "You can''t wait...?" Souta said with a smirk while ignoring the cuts that were appearing on his body. "What are you?" Curdova muttered as he saw a crimson red tattoo glowing on Souta''s shoulder. "Come forth, Yuko!!" Souta said as he raised his hand above his head. A whirlpool of energy formed above his palm. After a few seconds, heavy energy oozed out of it and it flooded the entire room. Since they finished their battle and were on the way here, Souta could summon her as there''s no opponent left for Yuko on the floor below. Curdova looked at the whirlpool of energy cautiously. He was shocked as he recognized the energy it was emitting. "Best feram...?!" He muttered under his deep breath. He looked down at Souta and said, "You''re a tamer...?" Of course, he was an experienced fighter so he recognized this phenomenon. A phenomenon where a tamer summoned their tamed monsters. "Yeah, you didn''t expect it, right?" Souta smiled as a huge red bear emerged from the whirlpool. "Master, I''m here!!" "Hmm...?" Souta raised his eyebrows as he heard a soft tiny voice. He glanced at Yuko and asked, "Is that you, Yuko?!" "Mnn. It''s me, I''ve learned it when I evolved." Yuko replied to him in monster language that only he could understand. Her voice carried thoughts that were passed in his head so if other people heard it they wouldn''t be able to understand her words. The monster language wasn''t really a language. It was different from humans and demis as monster placed their thoughts in their voices. So even if the words were choppy as long as they passed their thoughts someone could understand it. Humans and demis research this language for a long time but they couldn''t understand how could the monster placed their thoughts in their words. Up until now, no one managed to decipher how it works. "I understand. Just help me here for a while." Souta said as he charged towards the surprised Curdova. Swoosh! "Shit! You f.u.c.kers!!" Curdova roared as he swung his halberd and controlled the golems to attack Souta at the same time. The golems were about to attack Souta when Yuko blocked their way by using an enormous amount of best feram. Boom! Souta frowned as he felt that Yuko''s energy was disrupting his spells. But this didn''t stop him from attacking Curdova. It''s was better than fighting Curdova with those B-rank humanoid golems. He could just leave those golems to Yuko. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta and Curdova''s figure kept flickering as they collided several times in just a few seconds. The battle was so intense and the whole room was shaking heavily as if it was going to collapse at any moment. ... While they were fighting, Lynn, Lumilia, and Alice arrived on the top floor of the tower. The three of them saw Souta, Yuko, and Brando fighting a person and a group of humanoid golems. They instantly guessed that the person that Souta was fighting was the leader of the Moon Tower, Curdova. "Lumilia, Lynn, support us. I''m going to help them." Alice said to the two as she quickly pulled out her spear and dashed forward. Lumilia and Lynn nodded their head and gathered their tiny bit of mana left in their mana pool. Lumilia looked around and noticed Cl.u.s.ter on the mid-air emitting a large amount of mana. A huge metallic figure was behind her as if it was grabbing her. "Cl.u.s.ter... Just endure it for a while and we''re going to rescue you!!" She shouted as she used a buff spell that she knew to strengthen her comrades. ... Cracks formed on the ground and the walls of the rooms after it absorbed hundreds of powerful shockwaves from Souta and Curdova''s battle. Souta was dodging his opponent''s attack when he felt his body get lighter. He was about to look around when he heard Lumilia''s voice. "Cl.u.s.ter... Just endure it for a while and we''re going to rescue you!!" ''Oh? So they are here... This will make it easier.'' Souta grinned as he felt the buff spell that his comrades casted on him. He swung his sword and began to fight back against an A-rank opponent. For him, Curdova was the strongest A-rank powerhouse that he had fought so far. With his strength alone, he couldn''t hope to defeat someone as strong as this person. ... While they were fighting, two people wearing nun outfits were floating above the chaotic state of the Blue Lawless City. "This is the [Rising of the Earth Domain] spell... A very powerful tactical spell." The shorter nun with a huge axe on her back muttered while looking on the ground. "Yeah, Cl.u.s.ter is the cause of this..." The taller nun paused for a moment as she turned her head to the Moon Tower before she continued, "...and it seems that battles are ongoing in the center of the spell..." The shorter nun followed her line of sight and knitted her eyebrows, "Oh! You''re right? It''s very faint but judging from the fluctuations it''s an A-rank and a few B-ranks along with a monster at third evolution stage." Chapter 353 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Final Struggle 3 "A third evolution monster..." The taller nun muttered as she looked around and added, "It seems that it''s not a wild monster. So a tamer it is... Only talented people could tame a monster at that level." "Well, let''s check if Cl.u.s.ter is fine... She''s the most important thing after all." The shorted nun said before she flew towards the Moon Tower. The taller nun sighed before she followed the smaller nun. "She''s our priority after all. That child wanders around a few places letting us chased after her. Well, I''m sure she learned her lesson not to go out of the kingdom." ... Curdova saw that his humanoid golems were getting destroyed one by one. He saw how these people cooperated so well while defeating his golems. Bang! Bang! Bang! In just a minute, all seven humanoid golems were destroyed leaving him alone fighting this group of people. If all of them were here then it means that they''ve defeated his executives. His powerful and trusted executives were gone. Even the most powerful executive, Lim, was also defeated. He was close to his dream to destroy the holy kingdom but this group of unknown people was trying to prevent him... How could this happen to him? Where did he go wrong? "Tell me!! Where did I go wrong?!" Curdova roared in anger as he rushed forward while gathering a large amount of his mana in his halberd. "You will not find the vengeance you want in this world... This world is cruel for everyone..." Alice said as she appeared in front of Souta and blocked Curdova''s attack. Boom! She was blown fifteen meters away as she couldn''t handle the force of his attack. "Cruel for everyone, you say? Then why those people that destroyed my life living a luxurious life in that place? Tell me why?!" Curdova shouted and he thrust his halberd forward aiming at Souta''s c.h.e.s.t. Clang! Souta raised his sword and blocked his attack. Curdova continued to push his weapon against Souta and both of their figures flew towards the wall. "There''s nothing as easy life in this world! Everyone will experience challenges in their life more or less!" "I know that but... Why? Why did they have to destroy my life? They just didn''t destroy my life... They also destroyed the life of countless innocent people..." Curdova said as he kicked Souta on the stomach and slashed the water serpent causing it to explode. Boom! "I know that they did something wrong to you... But that''s just how humans and demis in this world. There''s no person that didn''t do something wrong." Souta said as he wiped the blood on his mouth. He once again launched himself at Curdova as he felt Lynn''s healing spell on his body. Clang! Clang! Clang! The two exchanged blows at high speed. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta moved his body sideways as he avoided the halberd of his opponents. He then stepped forward and slashed his sword. [Crimson Moon]!! "Damn! Everything... Is so f.u.c.k.e.d up!" He cursed as the flames engulfed his body. Boom! A powerful explosion occurred and Curdova''s figure crashed on the wall. His body was full of burn marks after receiving Yuko''s attack. "Ugh!" Blood flows out of his mouth. He recalled his life before he walked this path of no return. At that time, he was the captain of the saint knights of the church. It means that he was the leader of the guards of the holy maiden of the church. He had great authority in the kingdom and a lot of people looked up to him but something changed his life. His wife birth to his child and that child was something special. The treasure of the church, the Grimoire of Spell, wasn''t rejecting the child''s body. It means that his child could become a vessel of the treasure. Although he was powerful, he couldn''t disobey the order of the upper echelons of the church. The holy kingdom houses a lot of god-level powerhouses and a hero-rank was nothing to them. They took his child. They experimented on her and the upper echelons weren''t content about it. They even took his wife away from him. They tested countless experiments on her and after a few months, they took him. They were trying to produce and created people like his child. His child and wife died from these experiments as their body couldn''t handle it. While the side effect of the experiment on his body was that his power levels had decreased by several times making him go back to being an A-rank powerhouse. It was horrible... The fruit of this experiment was Cl.u.s.ter. The girl has the same name as his child. Curdova perfectly made a plan and he managed to escape. He found that the upper echelons told the public that he betrayed the church. He got consumed by his greed and tried to steal the church''s treasure. Even the most trusted friends of his believe these lies. No one sided him so he went out of the kingdom silently watching their movements. Souta looked at Curdova as he looked at his system. He saw that he finished his quest. *Ding!* [The quest "Finding" has been completed!] [You''ve received 10,000 exp, 3 skill points, and 8 free attribute points!] *Ding!* [The quest "Boss Battle" has been completed!] [You''ve received 10,000 exp, 3 skill points, 10 free attribute points, and a skill called "Dominator of City"!] Effect: +5% to all attributes when fighting inside a city. +5% exp gained inside the city. The rewards were quite good. Even though the skill points were few, it was still passable for him. The skill wasn''t great but it provided him a boost of strength when fighting inside a city. Swoosh! Swoosh! "Hmm... So the previous Captain of the Saint Knights is reduced to this state?" A voice sounded in the room. Souta, Lumilia, Lynn, Brando, and Alice turned their heads in the direction where the voice came from. They saw two women wearing nun outfits. Above the walls of the tower, observing them from a distance. Curdova looked over and rage filled his eyes when he saw the two nuns. "Puppet of the church...!!" He muttered under his deep breath. Souta opened his eyes widely when he heard Curdova''s words. Church? This guy was always talking about one thing. He instantly guessed what the church means or what church it is. The Church of True God. The True God''s Holy Kingdom. So these two nuns were from the great country... Hmm...? Souta narrowed his eyes as he felt the taller girl familiar to him. The shorter nun looked at their group and waved her hand, "Hello, thanks for your work..." "What are they planning...?" Alice asked in a low voice while looking at the two warily. "I don''t know..." Lumilia shook her head. "Don''t worry, we will not do anything to you. We''re just watching and observing the scene." The taller nun smiled and said. She then turned her head to Cl.u.s.ter and added, "Cl.u.s.ter''s current condition is very delicate right now. We will report it to the higher-ups and we''ll wait for their response before we take action." "Also, the mana barrier is blocking our way inside so we can''t go in. It will take a lot of time before we could break through this barrier that was made of Cl.u.s.ter''s mana." The shorter nun explained as she placed her hands on her h.i.p.s. The taller nun noticed that Souta kept looking at him. "Is there something wrong?" She gently asked. Hmm...? Souta remembered something just by looking at her appearance. He placed his hand in his pocket and took out a necklace. The necklace had a pendant and inside the pendant, there''s a picture. A picture of the man, a woman, and a girl. "I''ve finally found you..." A smile formed on his face as he looked at the pendant. "Oh? If I''m not wrong this is the first time that you''ve met me and from your reaction, it seems that you need something from me..." The taller nun said curiously. "Yes... I''ll tell you later after I''ve settled everything here." Souta nodded as he turned his attention to Curdova. After a long time, he finally found the girl in the picture. He didn''t even think that the girl was a member of the church. Curdova said the everyone that joined him got suppressed by the True God''s Holy Kingdom. And a member of this group become a nun of the church? "Church... Hehe... It''s too late now... The ritual is complete..." Curdova suddenly laughed as blood kept flowing out of his mouth. "Everything... I don''t have any more strength so this creature will rampage here without my control... This is the worse... I just wanted to live with my wife and child." Chapter 354 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Final Struggle 4 "Everyone praised me at that time but I didn''t know everything is a lie..." Curdova said as the ground started to shake heavily. Boom! Huge cracks spread out in the entire tower. "What''s happening?!" Alice said as she looked around. "I think that thing is going to awaken..." Souta said in a grave tone while looking at the huge metallic figure that was familiar to him in the game. "How could we stop it?!" Lumilia asked while looking concerned about Cl.u.s.ter. "I don''t know..." He shook his head. From his memories of the game, this metallic figure was so powerful that it could wipe out a single city in an instant. None of them was its match. Cl.u.s.ter who was in the hands of the metallic figure disappeared. At the same time, the eyes of the figure gleamed brightly as if life comes to it. Its huge body shook and a wave of energy swept out. Boom! The wall of the tower was blown away and the barrier expanded pushing the two nuns away. The amount of mana in the atmosphere was unbelievable. It was even pushing the best feram that Yuko was emitting. "The tower is going to collapse... We need to get out of this place as soon as possible..." Alice said to her comrades. "But what about Cl.u.s.ter...?" Lynn asked worriedly. Lumilia looked at her and Brando before she said, "Brando, Lynn, go down and help Yujin. Yujin couldn''t walk so if this tower collapsed he will be buried alive in this place." "What about you guys?" Brando asked in return while looking at them. "Don''t worry about us. Our condition is better than Yujin plus we''ll think of a way to stop that thing and save Cl.u.s.ter." Lumilia said unsurely. She had a feeling that they couldn''t rescue Cl.u.s.ter. That thing was unbelievably powerful. "Okay, I understand. I''ll leave it to you." Brando nodded and he said to Lynn, "Let''s go and help Yujin first." "Okay," Lynn said. The two quickly go down to the floor below to help one of their comrades. ... "Just what the hell is that thing, Yuni?" The smaller nun muttered while looking at the huge metallic figure. "I don''t have any idea too, Safi. That thing fused with Cl.u.s.ter and it possessed the power of the Thousand Spell. How could the church not know of this thing?" The taller nun, whose name was Yuni, said in amazement. "I''ll report this to the higher-ups first." The smaller nun, Safi, said as she took out a transmission talisman in her pocket. "If they could control this thing the higher-ups will not separate Cl.u.s.ter from this thing," Yuni muttered while looking down. "I have a feeling that will be the case... They didn''t see Cl.u.s.ter as a child instead a weapon for their own benefits." Safi said as she poured her mana in the talisman. ... Boom! Curdova simply looked at this thing before he muttered, "It''s still didn''t fully control the Thousand Spell. Once it controlled it then everything will end." The barrier around the tower once again grew larger. It blew everything inside the city and the same could be said for the two nuns. The two nuns were outside of the city while contacting their higher-ups about what happening here. The entire city was wiped out except for the Moon Tower. It was an unbelievable scene and countless people died on the ground except for a few strong people. Boom! "Souta, what should we do?" Alice asked Souta while squinting her eyes. They couldn''t get close to the metallic figure as a large amount of mana was pushing them away from it. "Let''s observe it for the time being and see if there''s something we could do about it," Souta said as he took a step back. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed... The mana in the air got thinner as it was getting suck by the metallic figure. After a few seconds, all of Cl.u.s.ter''s mana disappeared as if nothing happened. The barrier that devastated the city also vanished into thin air. "What''s happening...?" Souta muttered as he looked at the metallic figure. The atmosphere just went back to normal before the chaos in this city. The magic circle on the ground emitted a light and mana burst out of it. The metallic figure stood above the magic circle. The feet of the figure slowly sunk down on the magic circle. "This is..." Lumilia narrowed her eyes when she saw this. Alice recognized it and she said, "Cl.u.s.ter still have awareness... She''s now trying to seal the object along with her." "What?!" Lumilia was shocked as she opened her eyes widely. She couldn''t believe what she just heard. "She must be doing this because she wanted to protect us..." Souta said while looking at it. Then... They heard Cl.u.s.ter''s voice from the figure. "I''m sorry everyone... I hide a lot of things from you..." "That''s nothing from us... There are no people that didn''t have a secret..." Lumilia said in a loud voice. Souta and Alice nodded at her words. She was right. Everyone has a secret that they don''t want others to know. Ohm! Lumilia tilted her head in confusion as she slowly grabbed the sphere that was floating in front of her. She didn''t understand what''s this sphere for. Before she could ask Cl.u.s.ter about it, she saw the figure completely sunk on the magic circle. "CL.U.S.TER!!!" Lumilia shouted at the top of her lungs. She knew that Cl.u.s.ter couldn''t hear her anymore but she still has some hope that Cl.u.s.ter will reply. "She''s gone..." Souta said as he looked down. Now that the caster disappeared, the whole place that was caused by the [Rising of the Earth Domain] spell will disappear too. Boom!! The whole tower started to shake heavy and it slowly crumbled down. Debris of rocks fell on the ground causing the dust to shot up in the mid-air. "Let''s go..." Alice said as she grabbed Lumilia before she jumped away. Souta floated in the mid-air and he slowly descended using the power of gravity of his [Gravitational Ball] spell. Boom! ... Brando, Lynn, and Yujin weren''t in the tower when it collapsed. They already escaped the place and were looking at it hoping that everything will go well. "The enormous mana in the atmosphere disappeared..." Brando said while observing the destroyed tower. "Yes, but I couldn''t sense Cl.u.s.ter''s presence anymore. It vanished along with the mana." Lynn said worriedly. "Just trust our leader and the rest there... I''m sure that they will not let Cl.u.s.ter disappear just like that." Yujin said to them. ... Yuni and Safi who were outside of the city raised their eyebrows. They saw that Cl.u.s.ter sealed herself with the figure to prevent it from rampaging around. "Did she really have to do it? That figure wouldn''t be able to kill everyone with us here." Safi, the smaller nun, said as she slightly tilted her head. "That certainly the case but that figure hasn''t fully integrated with Cl.u.s.ter so it''s weak. If it gained control of the Thousand Spell, then even with our powers we couldn''t stop it." Yuni paused for a moment before she continued, "Also, Cl.u.s.ter found some friends this time and she wanted to protect them." "Oh, I see... We should go back now." Safi said. "Let''s wait here for a while. Also, that man said that he wanted to talk to me." Yuni said to her with a smile. ... Smoke and dust filled the surrounding... "Cl.u.s.ter..." Lumilia muttered as she clutched the blueish sphere in her c.h.e.s.t. Alice patted her shoulder and said, "She left it to you. If that thing got broken it will free Cl.u.s.ter along with that giant figure." She could understand why Cl.u.s.ter sacrificed herself. She simply didn''t want to create havoc and caused destruction in this world. That figure was going to use her power to rampage around so she decided it for herself. "This thing..." Lumilia looked closely at the blueish sphere. "Yes, that''s Cl.u.s.ter''s momento..." Alice said to her as she glanced at Souta. Souta''s eyes were closed. Beside him was Yuko who was looking around with a curious expression. After a while, Souta slowly opened his eyes and looked at his hands. "What you want to do..." He already finished every quest here and had nothing to do with it. But was he really satisfied with this ending? The ending that Cl.u.s.ter is gone? He felt something in his c.h.e.s.t. Like a hole. They came here because they wanted to rescue Cl.u.s.ter. He slowly moved his body and turned to Lumilia. Lumilia felt his gaze on her body so she turned around and saw him looking at her with a serious expression. "Souta?" She called him but he didn''t answer and kept looking at her. She was surprised for a moment but she realized what Souta wanted to do. She took a deep breath and she nodded her head. The vajra sword emitted a red energy and Souta swung it. Swoosh! The blueish sphere was split into two. It then crumbled down. Chapter 355 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Final Struggle 5 Alice opened her eyes widely when she saw the blueish sphere crumbled down. "The seal..." "is breaking..." Bang! The ground shook heavily as if there''s an earthquake and a magic circle appeared after it. Ohm! A large amount of mana oozed out of the magic circle. Red smoke seeped out of it along with lightning strikes every second. Then, the huge metallic figure came out of the magic circle possessing an enormous amount of mana that once again flooded the entire city. "What are you trying to do? She already sealed that weapon so why did you break the seal?" Curdova said as he looked at the metallic figure. Swoosh! The metallic figure slowly flew in the sky leaving a trail of thick smoke behind. "Go after it, Souta!!" Lumilia shouted. "AAAHHHHH!!!" Souta roared as his mana burst out of his body. ''What are you trying to do by breaking the seal?'' Saya asked him. ''Of course, I''m going to rescue Cl.u.s.ter out of that damn thing.'' He replied to her. Gravitational balls appeared behind him and he chased the metallic figure in the sky. Boom! ''You''re injured and you''re trying to fight that thing. Are you out of your mind?'' Saya said. ''Don''t worry, just give me your powers and I''m going to destroy this thing!!'' Souta replied to her. His feeling was right. Compared to the first time this appeared in the game, the power of this thing was too weak. It means that if he wanted to separate Cl.u.s.ter out of that thing then now is the only chance that he''d got. That thing or weapon hasn''t completed integrated Cl.u.s.ter''s power so there''s a high chance that he could separate the two. In the game, Cl.u.s.ter was gone. Instead, this weapon appeared as Thousand Spell Cl.u.s.ter. Judging from this, he could guess that the church didn''t separate Cl.u.s.ter out of that weapon. This is the first time that Souta moved without quest. Without thinking about his skill points and his other benefits. He simply moved this time because he wanted to rescue Cl.u.s.ter. He didn''t want the system to dictate his move. ''Let''s go, Saya!!'' Souta said inwardly. ''Leave it to me, Souta!!'' Saya replied to him. Since she chooses as her wielder, she will give him her full support. Even though she didn''t have an idea how he would fight this thing, she wouldn''t back down as long as Souta still have the will to fight. The metallic body stopped and turned to Souta. The mana in its body smashed Soura. Boom! "Argh!!" Souta gritted his teeth as his mana was flashing out of his body like an electric spark. He deflected the mana of the metallic figure and looked at it seriously. After a few seconds, a violent crimson energy exploded out of his body like a torrent trying to destroy everything. It formed a spherical energy wave around him and another wave of energy burst forth. The energies were twisting together, dancing like lightning wh.i.p.s. [One-time Best Feram card activated!] [One-time Gluttonous blessing card activated!] Facing the famed Thousand Spell Cl.u.s.ter in the game, Souta didn''t dare to hold back. He wanted to use these cards for a higher difficult quest but since he wanted to help Cl.u.s.ter, he didn''t hesitate to use these cards even though he wouldn''t get anything from this battle. Souta still hasn''t finished his preparation. Boom! The energy he was releasing grew larger like a web connected to each other. His outburst of energy shocked Lumilia, Lynn, and Curdova who were watching the scene. The energy fluctuation that Souta was emitting was hard to determine at the current moment. They couldn''t even recognize if this was mana or best feram because of different magical signatures. Yuni and Safi opened their eyes widely when they saw this horrific scene. "Just what are these energy fluctuations...?" Safi muttered under her breath. "Even I could feel danger coming from him..." Yuni said as the smile on her face disappeared. She squinted her eyes and looked at Souta closely. Souta tightened his grip on the vajra sword and charged at the metallic figure at an astonishing speed. Boom! The metallic figure reacted quickly and its body transformed. Cannon-like objects emerged from it and it pointed at Souta. Swoosh! A large concentration of mana gathered around it and it shot towards Souta. Boom! The two attacks collided causing an explosion in the sky. Souta''s figure came out of the smoke and he didn''t stop going after the metallic figure. The metallic weapon pulled out its hand and threw it at Souta. It was so fast that its giant hand instantly arrived in front of him. Souta could only raise his sword to block the punch of his opponent. Bang! His figure was blown away as the powerful punch of the metallic figure landed on his body. The stacked-up energy placed a huge burden on his injured body. Still, it reached a height that he''d never attained before. The power of blessing. The power of vajra sword. The power of soul. And the power of best feram. Plus, his own mana. All of these energies were twisting together creating a powerful vortex of energy around him that rivaled that of the incomplete Thousand Spell Cl.u.s.ter. "Ugh!" Souta wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. He then saw the metallic figure''s hand was heading towards trying to grab ahold of him. He shook his body and flew out to avoid it. ... Lumilia was watching the battle from the ground with Alice standing beside him. She was clutching the hem of her shirt while hoping that everything would conclude soon. ''Souta, I was surprised for a moment there. I didn''t expect it but doing this sort of thing is just like you. You couldn''t just let Souta do that. Remember back what you did for me Gripin City. You also did the same for me. ''I''m sure that Cl.u.s.ter is feeling overwhelmed because of you. But that''s how I felt at that time when you fight Gregory and surprised everyone with your power. I couldn''t forget that moment. It''s something that changed my life so I will not forget it easily. Sometimes, I would look back at that time and couldn''t help but a smile form on my face. ''From the first time I saw you, I didn''t expect that there would be a time where all of us will build a legion together. I didn''t expect this future at all but this is the best outcome that I couldn''t dream of. I''m really glad that I''ve gathered up the courage to talk to you in the Deep Woods and hired you to help me get the Mystical Light Cherry. ''Time flies really fast. That day in the Deep Woods feels like just yesterday.'' Boom! Boom! The aftershocks of the battle were so powerful that everyone could clearly feel the tremendous energy in the sky. The giant metallic figure reaches out its two hands to Souta. Swoosh! Souta flew around as fast as possible. He avoided the right hand but the left hand managed to grab him. "Ugh!" He felt intense pressure as the hand was trying to crush him into meat paste. He circulated his energy wildly trying to counter this. Boom! A loud explosion occurred as the hand of the metallic figure exploded. Red energy blades flew out of the smoke and landed on the body of the metallic figure causing several explosions. Boom! Boom! Souta was doing this of his own volition. He didn''t do it because he had a quest. He was doing this simply because he doesn''t want to let Cl.u.s.ter sacrifice herself. If he didn''t rescue her right now, the metallic figure would completely fuse with her. They will permanently become one and the True God''s Holy Kingdom would use it as a powerful weapon of war. He knows it. The church won''t let Cl.u.s.ter go anymore and their meager power couldn''t do anything about it so he had to separate her from the metallic figure. Even if she goes back to her country, she''s still Cl.u.s.ter that he knew not some kind of giant weapon that he knew in the game. This will change the history of this world but he didn''t care about it. It was scary and dreadful but that''s fine for him. Ever since he arrived in this world, he was afraid. He was scared that he would die in future events. Even though he knew that this was real, he subconsciously treated this as a game for him not to feel afraid of it. But now... ''Saya, forget about defense just focus all your energy on the sword.'' Souta said to Saya. ''But that would make you vulnerable to-'' Saya said but Souta cut her words. ''It''s fine... Don''t worry and we''ll make it.'' Souta assured her. The energy cannon of the metallic figure pointed at Souta and charged a large amount of energy. Souta raised the vajra sword in his hand and different energies gathered around it. It looked like it was distorting the space as lightning wh.i.p.s were dancing around it. This time... I will not let you become what you are in the game. "I will change your future." Chapter 356 - Battle at the Moon Tower: Final Struggle 6 A girl with long pink hair that was tied in a bun was looking at the battle with a mixed expression. She was scared but also amazed at the battle in the sky that shook the entire city ground. She was Sulin, the ruler of the Cloud Tower. "How could that man have that kind of energy? Just what on earth is happening in this city?" She was powerful but she knew that the battle between Souta and that giant figure was something above her level. The immense energy fluctuations in the atmosphere of the battle were enough to burn people into ashes if they got close to it. "Why? Why did the Cloud Tower possess such things and what''s their goal?" She muttered as she continued to watch the battle for the ground. ... ''Saya, can you handle all of these energies?'' He asked Saya. ''Yes, I''m not a dark-grade sword for nothing.'' Saya replied to him with great confidence. ''Good.'' Souta nodded and he poured a large amount of violent energy on the vajra sword. Ohm! The sword glows brightly and emitted powerful energy that was dancing like a lightning whip. The energy looks like an extension of the blade but it was unstable and the form was changing every second. All the energies gathered and focused on the sword greatly increasing its destructive power. Right now, Souta''s attack damage reached a new height but the defense he had was pretty normal. He was vulnerable to any attack as the energy wasn''t protecting his body. He focused himself on attack instead of defense. The metallic figure shot hundreds of energy beams at Souta. Swoosh! Swoosh! The energy beams approached Souta at a very high speed that greatly surpassed the A-rank powerhouses. Souta moved his body very quickly as he flew above and the energy beams chased after him. Since he focused all his energy on attack, his defense was so weak that he couldn''t afford to get hit by these energy beams. He moved his body side to side dodging every beam that comes at him. He then spun around and shot a blade energy at the beams causing a huge explosion. Boom! Souta came out of the smoke and he continued to fly upward as the rest of the beams chased after him. He glanced at his sword and guessed that it was time. All the energy consolidated around the sword creating a powerful attack that will tear the huge metal in front of him. ''You shouldn''t waste this attack!'' Saya warned him. ''I know. That''s why I''m being careful and didn''t dare to approach it carelessly.'' Souta replied to her as he increased his speed. Also, he knew that he had to finish this as soon as possible. Although the energies consolidated around the sword, it still wasn''t perfect. It could explode anytime and it will take him out because he could hardly control these energies with Saya''s help. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta avoided some of the energy beams but the rest flew straight to his body. He raised his other hand and when the beams arrived in front of him he swung it. A loud explosion once again occurred and his figure came out of it flying towards the direction of the metallic figure. Bloody mist was spreading in the explosion as Souta''s hand got destroyed. ''Souta!!'' Saya shouted in his head. Souta ignored her as he gritted his teeth and flew towards the metallic figure. His other hand was gone and blood was pouring out of it. He sacrificed his hand to get an opportunity to get close to his enemy. "ARGH!!!!" He arrived in front of his opponent and pulled back his sword. He then threw it out like a cannon. A shockwave swept out as the energy in the sword tore the air creating a vacuum that s.u.c.k.e.d the surrounding energy. Swoosh! The vajra sword flew out and pierced the head of the metallic figure. Then, all the energy inside it burst out swallowing the upper body of the metallic figure. Souta didn''t stop and he concentrated all the remaining energy in his body on his arm. He pierced the body of the metallic figure and landed on its interior. Bang! He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. He saw dozens of small metallic figures inside it. It has the size of a human body but Souta didn''t have a time to play with it. "It''s futile... I''m taking back Cl.u.s.ter with me." Souta said as he waved his hand and a bright light flashed in front of him destroying all the small metallic figures. Boom! It was the vajra sword. It pierced the body of the giant metallic figure and arrived in front of Souta. Boom! Alice and Lumilia who were watching the battle covered their eyes as a very powerful explosion occurred in the sky. Even though Lumilia and Alice were covering their eyes with their arms. The light pierced through them and they saw every veins in their arms. All the fragile things inside the city turned into ashes and countless people died because of it. After a while, the light disappeared and the two moved down their hands. They looked over and saw a tremendous smoke that was covering the entire sky. "This is..." It was so far but the size of it made it looked like it was close to them. "That..." Alice narrowed her eyes as she saw a figure came out of the smoke. The figure was carrying someone in his arm. "Souta! Cl.u.s.ter!" Lumilia shouted as she recognized the two. Souta flew towards them and landed in front of the two. Lumilia quickly carried took Cl.u.s.ter in his arm and said, "Thank goodness, you are alright!" Alice glanced at his missing left hand and said, "But your hand..." In the future, if he increased his health recovery he will gain an ability to regenerate his limbs. So he wouldn''t need to worry about his missing hand though it would decrease his battle strength. Yuko approached him and licked his cheeks. She was worried about her master too. He patted her head and said, "Calm down. I''m fine." "Cl.u.s.ter!" Lumilia wiped the dust and dirt on Cl.u.s.ter''s face. Cl.u.s.ter felt it so she slowly opened her eyes and looked around, "Sister Mila...? I..." Lumilia cut her words as she hugged Cl.u.s.ter. "You don''t have to say anything. We''re glad that you''re fine. Don''t ever do that again. You''re making all of us worry about you." Suddenly, all of them stopped moving as they heard footsteps. They turned their head and saw Curdova walking at them with a halberd in his hand. ''He still hasn''t given up.'' Souta thought as he observed Souta''s unsteady steps. He thought that Curdova has given up since he already completed the quest to defeat this guy. He stepped forward and said, "It looks like your plan didn''t work out." What they didn''t notice was that a magic circle that was buried on the ground started to emit a faint light. It was so faint that they didn''t notice that faint mana fluctuations. Curdova looked at Souta who lost his left hand and was full of injuries in his body. He opened his mouth and said in a loud voice, "Why? Why didn''t you go down?" He moved his feet and approached Souta with unsteady steps while dragging his halberd. "Why? What drives you this far?" He suddenly stops moving and gasped. He opened his eyes widely and recalled everything that happened to him. The death of his wife. The death of his children. The betrayal of his trusted friends and his subordinates. The betrayal of his country. Everything flashed before his eyes. Curdova narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He saw Souta kept looking at him. "Damn... Don''t look at me with those eyes?" He shouted as he charged towards Souta and swung his halberd. Clang! Souta simply parried Curdova''s attack. In this clash, Curdova didn''t have strength behind his attack. It seems that he was venting out his feelings, his frustration... That nothing works fine in his life. "You have everything in you, don''t you?!" Curdova shouted as he swung his halberd once again. "I don''t have anything with me! No! I lost everything that I have!!" Clang! Clang! Souta passively deflected all of Curdova''s attack. "You have friends with you! To help you!" Curdova was pushed away and he stared in the sky. ''Why? I have nothing yet... I''m alone. Only weak need help from others yet this guy...'' He narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his weapon. He then thrust it forward. "Why did you fight for your comrades?!!" Ohm! Red energy coated Souta''s sword and he smashed it towards Curdova''s halberd. Boom! His orange grade weapon was shattered and turned into fragments. Tears poured out of his eyes and Curdova stretched out his hand. He grabbed a fragment of his weapon and charged at Souta once again. "Argh!!" Souta roared and he slashed his opponent''s c.h.e.s.t upward. Spurt! Tons of blood spurted out of it like a fountain. "Why did this happened to me?" He muttered as tears poured out of his eyes while he was staring at the sky. Chapter 357 - The End and The Beginning Souta ended Curdova''s life. Curdova''s heart was filled with anger and hatred against the people that oppressed him. He was actually a good person but life suddenly turned against him. They blessed him with a child that could hold the church treasure. It was a blessing but cursed at the same time. With that, his life turned upside down. From being loved by the people of his country, to being a notorious criminal. It wasn''t a rare case. Every day people suffered in this world and there''s no answer to that. He sighed and felt his body getting heavy. He was too exhausted and already reached his limit. He did his best and he couldn''t muster any energy in his body. He was lucky that the cards of his system didn''t have a backlash to his body. If it wasn''t provided by the system then his condition would be much worse. Just by using the best feram could already bring him grave condition... Lucky he had, One-time Best Feram Card and One-time Gluttonous Blessing Card. Other people didn''t recognize these energies but Saya who was closed to him could name all the energy that he used in this body. After all, Souta concentrated all the energy in the vajra sword on his last attack. Except for her energy, she could sense the best feram, power of blessing, and soul power. All of these boosted his strength to a higher level making him able to fight the incomplete metallic figure. Well, Saya didn''t ask him about it. There''s a time for asking about it and she will eventually learn it in the future as she was always with him. At this time, the two nuns of the church arrived at the scene. They observed Souta with a curious expression wanting to know what he did in the battle to gain such fearsome energies. Safi wanted to ask Souta quickly but Yuni held her back while shaking her head. "Let them talk for a while. It''s their victory." Yuni said to Safi. "Okay." Safi nodded her head. She then continued to watch them from a distance. ... Alice, Lumilia, and Cl.u.s.ter approached Souta. "How are you, Souta?!" They quickly asked him with a concerned look on their face. "I''m fine." Souta waved his right hand and looked at Cl.u.s.ter. He said, "I''m sorry, I killed your family member." Cl.u.s.ter shook her head and wiped the tear forming in her eyes before she replied, "No, you don''t have to be sorry Brother Souta. Everything that happened here is my fault." "It''s not your fault. Still, that man could be considered as your father. You came from him and the same blood flows in your vein." Souta explained to her. "No, you''re my family. I only met that man twice and he didn''t treat me as his child." Cl.u.s.ter said. Souta stayed silent as he patted her head. He didn''t know what to say anymore. He was glad that he managed to rescue her. "Sorry, Souta. I don''t have enough mana to heal you." Lumilia said. "It''s okay. I can handle it." Souta smiled as he looked at her. He then noticed that the two nuns were watching them. Hmm...? Yuni smiled and said, "Hello," she then approached the group with Safi following her from behind. Lumilia and Alice turned and they observed the two nuns. "Sister Yuni... Sister Safi..." Cl.u.s.ter said when she saw the two. She naturally recognized these two since she was from the church. "Have you had your fun roaming around in the world?" Yuni asked Cl.u.s.ter with a smile on her face. Cl.u.s.ter just lowered her head and didn''t say anything. "It''s fine. I''ll talk to-" Yuni didn''t finish her words as she opened her eyes widely and jumped away. "Dodge!!" Safi said as she also jumped away and the mana fluctuation rose suddenly. "What?!" Alice reacted too as she pushed Lumilia and Cl.u.s.ter away from her. A large energy spiked up and a black sphere appeared on the center of the field. The black sphere expanded quickly and it caught them off guard. Souta tried to move away but he just didn''t have enough strength. He was too slow at his current condition and have of his body got caught up in the expanding black sphere. "Damn!" He cursed and he tried to break out of it but he found that he couldn''t pull half of his body away inside the black sphere. "Souta!! Alice!!" When he heard Lumilia''s voice, he quickly looked around and saw that the black sphere also caught Alice. Her right arm and foot were inside it. "Don''t come!! Just stay there!!" Souta shouted at them. Problem just kept popping up left and right and it won''t let him rest. "That''s a [Dimensional Hole] spell..." Yuni muttered as she narrowed her eyes. She recognized the black sphere of energy with her vast knowledge from the great country. Lumilia turned to Yuni who seemed to know what''s the black sphere. "A [Dimensional Hole] spell is a type of teleportation spell but only a few people used it because of its nature." Yuni paused for a moment before she added, "It''s too unconventional, unlike the common long-distance teleportation spell that people used nowadays." "How is it different from the common long-distance teleportation spell...?" Lumilia asked while looking at Souta and Alice with concern in her eyes. "It''s a one-way ticket to the other side of the spell. It has a long casting time and a huge amount of mana needed. Aside from that, if there''s no designated place then it''s going to teleport the people inside it to any place randomly." Yuni slowly explained. She then added, "Don''t approach it if you don''t wanna get end up the same." "Lumilia. Cl.u.s.ter. Just stay there and don''t approach us. We''re gonna be fine." Souta said to the two. "Yes, we''ll do something about it," Alice assured them. The black sphere didn''t stop expanding at all. It was still expanding but at a much slower pace. Yuko then rushed towards her master as the black sphere swallowed them. It expanded and her body went inside it before the black sphere shrunk down. And it disappeared completely without leaving any trace. "Brother Souta! Sister Alice! Yuko!" Cl.u.s.ter shouted as she reached out her hand. Lumilia simply closed her eyes and hugged Cl.u.s.ter. ... In the south edge of the Giza Continent, the capital of the Listen Wastes, the Gromatoli City. Not just the Gromatoli City, in fact, every city was experiencing something in common. Every citizen of the entire country was looking up in the sky with their mouth agape and widely opened eyes. They couldn''t believe what they were seeing. "What...?" "What is that?!" "Oh my god!!" Countless huge whirlpool of energy was forming above the sky. Each whirlpool has a diameter of 500 to 700 hundred meters. These whirlpools of energy literally covered the energy sky above the Listen Wastes. At the capital... The three god-level powerhouses of the country were looking at the largest whirlpool of energy in the entire country. The three of them had a grave looked on their face as they felt enormous and ominous mana coming out of it. "It''s a [Greater Dimensional Teleportation] spell..." They were gods and have knowledge that surpassed mortals so they knew what these whirlpools of energy. The whirlpools of energy were in fact a gate, a portal, or a door. At that time, everything and everyone in the city came to a sudden halt. In the mid of the silence, what appeared before their eyes was... What came out was something that will bring chaos to this continent... It will disrupt the lives of countless people living in this land. Ohm! Countless humanoid creatures clad in thick and powerful mana came out of the portal. They have different characteristics and appearances. Some had black wings and tails. Some had various skin colors and eyes. And some just looked dangerous the moment they saw it. A man wearing black armor with golden linings came out of the largest whirlpool. This man had two pairs of grey color horn sticking out at the side of his head and a pair of black wings on his back. He was standing on the head of a hundred-meter large black dragon. "Leader of the 23rd army of Great Demon Emperor Lucifer''s army. I am the Demon Pillar, Thoral De Vaguan." This is the end of peaceful life and the beginning of the chaos. ~End of Volume 4~ A/N: This is the end of the volume 4 of the book(Dawn of Chaos) and now we''re at the second version of the game. This volume revealed a lot of things of our main characters. We''ve answered some question and new questions appeared. A lot of things will happen in the next volume and be sure to follow it. Thanks everyone for your continued support and I hope I improved in the next volume to give you guys a great experience in reading my work. Next volume is volume 5(Sub-world). Chapter 358 - Side Story: Alice Fambell I''m Alice Fambell, a student of Mage Class 1-B at Ladro Institute. People call me Alice. I''m pretty much average in school. I didn''t plan to get attention and simply live a normal here in this country, the Hebrei Kingdom. The Hebrei Kingdom is a large country that houses at least one god-level powerhouse. The level of country in this land is divided into three ranks. The small country, large country, and the great country. Small country is the weakest of all. There are countless small countries in this land and their population built up more than fifty percent of all the people here. But then, they aren''t included in the map of the Giza Continent. Why? Because a small country could be destroyed at any time so they didn''t bother putting them on the map. Only a detailed map of that part of land included them. Large country is one what they called a country that stood for more than a century that raised a god-level powerhouse. A god-level powerhouse is an indication that one country becomes a large country. There are instances that the said "god" didn''t stay in their country. They would roam around and only stay in the place that they wanted. One could say the basis of these ranks is all about how many god-level powerhouses a country has. No matter a strong a military power of a country, as long as a god appeared it could wipe it out. That''s the reason why I decided to stay in a large country. A small country is prone to danger while a great country has dozens of gods which could sense me. And I don''t want that to happen so the only choice is a large country. Well, I''m really glad that I''ve chosen the Hebrei Kingdom among the other large countries in the world. In this place, I''ve met Souta, Bryan, Lumilia, Lynn, Yujin, Cl.u.s.ter, Yuko, and Brando which I could call my friends. Friends? That''s a pleasant thing to hear. At first, I give them a cold look but then I realized that they are quite nice to get along with. I started to talk to them and slightly work with them. What surprises me is that everyone in class went to the Gripin City when they heard that class rep, Lumilia, have a problem. I found that the rigid class rep is worried. She''s not worried about herself but her classmate. So the class rep who always lectured her classmate can have that look. I thought that she is just a spoiled aristocrat but my impression of her changed. She''s desperately fighting to change her fate and everyone is helping her. Aside from her, I also noticed Souta. This one demi, who should be weaker than me but kept improving himself. At that time, I can''t believe that he risked and fought a powerful nobleman for his classmates. He drunk a monster potion that placed him in a coma for a few weeks. The outcome of that battle is that everyone managed to take class rep back with the cost of her father expelling her from the household. After that, I kept watching the small group that they''ve formed. They always look happy and having fun every time I see them in class. I never got bored of it. Well, I''m slightly jealous of them. I want to that and this too... Because I never got to have fun like that when I''m in my homeland. I wanted to join them but I''m different from them. I''m hiding a huge secret. Then, another special test had come... This time it''s a practical fighting in the wilderness. We''re going to live in a land without any money and we''re going to hunt for our food. I''m quite experienced with this but what about the other people... Well, they did great and everyone worked under class rep''s command. Should I say, Souta? Everyone knows that class rep is the leader but Souta is the one who''s commanding her. Oho? What is he? A shadow leader of the class? It fits his element perfectly. But then, a problem occurred. A bunch of people appeared and tried to kill everyone. Souta and the rest tried everything but the opponents this time were simply too powerful. Everyone almost died and Souta got angry at that time. He released intense bloodl.u.s.t. It felt like he killed millions of people with his own hands. That''s the feeling I''ve got when I saw it. It was fearsome. I felt I was standing in front of a war army leader of our homeland. In the end, Teacher Bargan arrived and saved everyone''s life. A lot of people are grateful to Souta for buying time. It was at that time that I joined their little group. Later on, we named our group the Dark Oculus Legion. Well, I''m quite happy that they invited me. The rise of the Dark Oculus Legion is simply amazing but it brought us some trouble. The nobles. We wage a legion war to the opposing nobles and guess what? Of course, we won. It''s simply amazing to see a small group growing into an organization that could rival those nobles. Not just the legion, everyone in the legion is simply amazing. Their growth is unbelievable. Their power level reached B-ranks and it kept growing stronger. I need to train harder and keep up with everyone. Most of this could be credited to our leader, Souta. He''s a man with a good battle sense and had a lot of experience. His movements in battle are unpredictable. He had a lot of weird combinations of spells and combat arts that put a lot of people in shame. Also, he knows a lot of things. Spells and combat arts. I''ve got to say that he knew hundreds of this. I''ve got to say that he''s the most talented person that I''ve ever seen. Even those genius in my homeland isn''t Souta''s match at all in terms of growth speed. Speaking of my true form. Yeah, I''m actually a demon from the Demon''s Land. My true name is Alicia Remeri Lucifer. I''m the third daughter of the Great Demon Emperor Lucifer. Feel shocked? Well, yeah. I''m a princess of one of the most powerful countries of the Demon''s Land. I''ve got to say that my country can rival one of the great countries in this land. While I''m proud of it, I''m feeling concerned at the same time. My father is a very ambitious person. So when the barrier opened up, I''m sure that he will not sit idly. Let me explain the state of the Demon Land''s first. The Demon''s Land is a land that is so large that it houses more than three billion demons. There are three Demon Emperors and six Demon Kings on this land. My father is one of the Demon Emperors. My father resides in the place called Heavenly Demon Palace. His forces are so large that it could easily wipe out one of the large countries in this land. Under his rule, there are a total of seventy armies. Each army is commanded by a Demon Pillar. Demon Pillar? I''ve got to say that a demon who ascended is called a demon pillar. In the words of humans and demis, it means that they reached godhood. A total of seventy god-level powerhouses. That''s why I said that a large country couldn''t rival my country at all. I''m a demon and I''m hiding it pretty well. I know that I''ve got to tell my friends about it before it became too late. The demon is only a legend in Giza Continent. But the problem is that all the books about a demon are telling that they are pure evil. They are wrong about that. Just like humans and demis, there are good demons and bad demons. Well, it all depends on how people see it. It''s impossible for a single race to be entirely bad. Each one is unique and they possessed different personalities. Some want money and some aren''t. Some are criminals and some aren''t. Some want a normal life and some want a luxurious life. Everyone is different and have their own preference. But then they are all loyal to the one they decided to serve. A swear or an oath power that they''ve had. A people from ancient times called this a Demon''s Contract. I still haven''t had my oath, swear, demon''s contract, or whatever they called it. I just hope that my friends accept me for what I am. I will find an opportunity to tell them about it. Chapter 359 - Awakening in sub-world Hmm...? Souta slowly opened his eyes. He held his head as he felt dizzy. "You''re awake." He turned his head and saw that it was Alice. He then moved his eyes and saw that Yuko was sleeping beside her. It seems that the three of them lose their consciousness after that teleportation spell goes awry. He didn''t have an idea where''s this place in the map. "Yeah, how long I was out?" He pushed himself into a seated position and asked her. "I just woke up five minutes ago." Alice woke up while looking at her surrounding. Souta frowned as he stopped moving. He felt the mana density in the atmosphere was too thin. There was no friction in the air as he could freely move his body. Even though he was injured, he still felt light. "You notice it, right? The mana density here is twenty times lower than the Giza continent." Alice replied as a ball of energy formed on top of her palm. ''Most likely, we''re in a sub-world.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. There''s no place in a great world that has this level of mana density. The density of mana in a sub-world was really low. That''s the reason why most of the people in this kind of world were weak. It would require talented individuals to liquefied their mana in this kind of environment. "Yeah, it''s too low," Souta said as he picked a small stone on the ground. He pinched it and it crumbled right away. Mana was like water in the air. The higher density it has the fewer people could move. But high-density mana could bring a lot of benefits to the world. It could strengthen the body of people and the environment. Just like the stone that Souta pinched just now. He didn''t even put force in his finger but the stone simply turned into tiny fragments. A normal stone in a great world like Imperium would become a precious stone in this world. "I think we''re in a sub-world," Souta said to Alice as he stood up and slowly spread his mana in the surrounding area. His mana was like a radar. Those who made contact with it, Souta would know it immediately. He could do this simply because of the low mana in the air. He could easily scatter his mana. "I felt the same but I couldn''t believe that teleportation spell would transport us to another world." Alice nodded at him. She has gone to the sub-world before so she knows what it feels like in a sub-world. Her territory owned thousands of sub-world after all. "Yeah, we''re unlucky. It will be hard to return to Imperium." Souta said as he opened his eyes. It seems that those second evolution monsters were overlord of this huge forest. Damn! Quite huge for a mere second evolution. If it was in the Imperium, a forest this huge was housing at least a single third evolution monster. After confirming that there were no threats to them, he sat down and sighed. "Let''s stay here until Yuko woke up." "Okay, let''s do that." Alice nodded at him. Souta glanced at Yuko as he recalled the battle before. Yuko evolved and became a third evolution monster. She was now a true monster and could communicate to him using the monster language that she learned in her evolution. Scorching Red Bear was her evolution. It was a bear that could command flames in her body. She was a two-meter giant bear and her monster orb was external. It was situated on the center of her forehead and her red fur was like a flame. In her combat mode, her fur would emit flames that could burn her enemies into ashes. These flames were powered by her best feram so it was stronger than normal flames made of mana. Her base form was stronger than him. He would only be able to match her if he used all of his aces. If Yuko used her blessing while she was in her [Monster Orb Release] form then she would surely defeat him. He was currently level 37 and was close to 38. Once he level up to level 38, he planned to use his two level-up cards. "Let''s leave Yuko here in this place. There''s nothing that could threaten her in this place so it''s better to leave her here. Also, you could summon her anytime with your tamer skill." Alice said to him after contemplating their next move. Souta rubbed his chin before he nodded at her. "Yeah, you''re right. We don''t know if tamer is known in this world or people would hunt monsters on sight. We wouldn''t be able to gather information if the people are against us." They could interrogate the people here but that''s his last resort. He wouldn''t do it unless the situation calls for it. "I''ve decided that we''ll recover our strength first before we move out of this forest." He said as he glanced at Alice. His mana was closed to zero after the battle and it will take some time before it recovered. It''s better that they don''t underestimate this world. Even if there''s no god-level powerhouse, there''s a chance that there will be a Rank-S that could wipe them out. Alice agreed to him before she closed her eyes. Souta smiled before he stood up and patted his clothes. He''ll try to familiarize himself in this atmosphere. Everything in this world was weaker compare to Sylphen so he had to control his strength so that he wouldn''t destroy anything once he got into the city. Also, his missing left hand was a problem. He was used to fighting using both of his hands so this will greatly decrease his fighting strength. He will try to adapt to a situation where he could only use one hand. It was hard but he will try it anyway. After a few minutes, Souta stopped what he was doing as he turned his head to Yuko. "Master...?" Yuko slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Souta, her master. Souta smiled as he approached her and patter her head. "How are your body?" He asked her. "Hmm... I''m fine. I felt that I''ve grown stronger, master." Yuko replied to him. Alice just looked at them as she couldn''t understand them. The intent in Yuko''s words was only directed at Souta so she couldn''t understand it. Monster language was really different from the language that humans and demis used. Yuko closed her eyes as she enjoyed him petting her. After a while, she opened her eyes widely and she focused her attention on Souta. "Master, I''ve sensed some people. I could smell blood on them." She said to him. "People...?" Souta slowly scattered his mana and found that Yuko was right. There were people here but he couldn''t smell blood on them like Yuko. Are bears really have a good sense of smell? Maybe, Yuko was just special among them. He stood up and looked at Alice. "Yuko sensed some people and I''m going there to check if we could gather information to them. Do you want to go too?" "Yeah," Alice said as she stood up. Souta turned to Yuko and said, "Stay here Yuko. We''re just going to meet the people that you''ve sensed. You can do anything you want in this forest. You can harvest all the fruits here." "Really?" Yuko''s eyes lit up when she heard his words. "Yes," Souta nodded. After that, he along with Alice left the area and headed towards the direction of the people. Since he could sense him with his mana sense, they were pretty close to him. Souta moving freely. With just a light tap on the ground, he could dash fifty meters in an instant. His body was too light. In the game, he traveled to hundreds of sub-worlds but it was the first time he felt the difference with his real senses. The two suddenly stopped as they felt mana fluctuations. It seems a battle started in that direction. Souta and Alice looked at each other and nodded. "Let''s increase our pace." "Yeah," Their mana coated their body as their speed increased by several times. In just a few seconds, they arrived at the sight and saw a giant snake rampaging. The two didn''t quickly rush to save the people. They noticed something wrong in the surrounding the moment they arrived here. Bodies of n.a.k.e.d women were scattered on the ground. Some part of the body was gone as it was eaten by the snake. The ground was dyed by red color because of the blood of all the people. The corpses of the women have collars on their necks. The giant snake was killing the men who were trembling in fear in front of this enormous monster. Souta and Alice looked at this scene with cold eyes. They could guess that these people were bandits judging from their attire and the looks of their camp. The women were slaves and they didn''t even bother hiding them. It seems that slavery was legal in this world. The giant snake was rampaging around killing bandits in its way. The camp was on the verge of destruction. Chapter 360 - Information Slavery was long gone in Imperium but some of the people still took slaves albeit secretly. They couldn''t afford to openly show the slaves in public as everyone knew what will happen to them. Still, only a few people like those degenerate nobles secretly hide slaves. No one has the guts as once the public found out, they will face the three great countries. The three great countries were the ones that illegalized slavery in the Giza continent. No, they were forced to do it. The incident regarding the slaves at that time was continental so they couldn''t afford to ignore it. "It seems that this sub-world isn''t under the Giza continent''s jurisdiction," Souta said while looking at the bandits. "There are billions of sub-world so it was impossible to observe everything," Alice replied to him. "But this world has a connection with Imperium. Those bandits were saying something in Norman language." Souta said as he pointed at the bandit who was shouting ''Charge''. "You are right. If this sub-world didn''t have a connection with Imperium then it would have a different language." Alice nodded at his words and she looked at the bandits. Souta glanced at her and smiled, "I''ll leave it to you." "Is that an order?" Alice asked as she raised her eyebrows. "You can interpret it any way you want," Souta said as he opened his arm and he sat on the branch of a tree. "Okay, I''ll obey the commander''s order," Alice said as she turned to the giant snake and her expression turned serious. ... "Argh!!" "Help!!" The bandits were screaming in fear as the giant snake devoured them one by one. The power level of bandits was too low compared to the giant snake. Their attacks and weapons didn''t even work against the snake''s armored-like scales. They couldn''t fight back at all. This place was their base for a long time and this was the first time that a powerful monster attacked them. It would take an army before they could take down a monster of this level. They could just sacrifice the slaves that they kidnapped to buy them some time but it was futile. The slaves just died in a flash before they could even escape. "F.u.c.k! F.u.c.k! F.u.c.k! Why did this happen to me?!" The bandit leader cursed as he looked at the giant snake who was killing his subordinates one by one. He was living a life of a king up until now so he didn''t expect this to happen to him, to his territory. "Hmm...?" The bandit leader blinked his eyes as he felt that something changed. The savage atmosphere turned upside down and the giant snake stopped moving as it stared at him, no, it wasn''t staring at him. It was staring behind him. The giant snake was ignoring his subordinates. Just what... A sound of footsteps could be heard behind him. The bandit leader flinched when he heard it. His heart was beating wildly from tension and he slowly turned around to see what''s behind him. He was thunderstruck the moment he saw the person behind him. His eyes opened widely and his jaw hung open from shock. He saw a woman with an angelic yet seductive aura at the same time. The woman had long silver hair that dr.a.p.ed down on her shoulders to her back. Her golden color eyes with red hue were like an exquisite gem. The color of her skin was white as snow and her body was perfectly proportionate. The woman was emitting an aura that could be seen by n.a.k.e.d eyes. This only makes her appearance more ethereal. Even the subordinates of the bandit leader were stunned at her appearance. This was the first time they saw a woman of this beauty. All the women that they''ve tasted before were nothing compared to this woman. Even those noblewomen were trash. They forgot about the existence of the giant snake that brought terror to them. All of their attention was focused on this woman. This woman was none other than Alice. Alice frowned as she saw the looks that they were giving to her. They didn''t even bother to hide this kind of look. She couldn''t help but sigh and think that these people were sc.u.m. "Sc.u.m..." She muttered as the air around her tightened and a spear appeared in her hands. Her mana swirled around her spear before she thrust it forward. [Dozen Piercing Stab]!! Several sharp energy flashed from the spear and it pierced the body of the bandits one by one. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Most of them died instantly at Alice''s simple attack. These bandits were too weak. They were as powerful as F-rank in Imperium. Slightly stronger than an ordinary person. "And then..." Alice squinted her eyes as she glanced at the giant snake. She tightened her grip on her spear and her mana burst out of her body. Boom! "What?!" This energy fluctuation... was so high that it made everyone he knew felt like ants in front of this woman. The aura of this woman was even higher than the military general of this country. Swoosh! Suddenly, Alice disappeared from his vision. She was so fast that his eyes couldn''t follow her movements. Ha? After a few seconds, he heard a loud "thud" sound behind as if something heavy fell on the ground. When the bandit leader turned around something sharp pierced his shoulder and nailed him on the ground. He looked over and saw that it was the spear of the beautiful woman. Argh!! He couldn''t help but groan in pain as the woman twisted the spear. He lifted his head to looked at Alice but what he saw horrified him. All of his subordinates have a huge gaping hole in their c.h.e.s.t or stomach. Blood was pouring out of their wounds. Most of them were dead but the people who were still alive were going to die at any moment. They''ve lost too much blood. He didn''t even see how the woman killed the snake. Everything was so fast that left him speechless. His mind couldn''t process all the things that were happening. The one who took him back to his senses was the voice of the woman. "Hey, I have a question for you..." Alice said as she stepped on the c.h.e.s.t of the bandit leader. "W-What... is it...?" The bandit leader asked while stuttering. "Where is this place and tell me everything that you know in this world?" Alice asked in a cold tone. "O-Okay..." The bandit leader found that her question was weird. Nevertheless, he still answered her question. He slowly told her everything that he knew about this country and this world. While he was telling her everything that he knew, Souta was already beside him listening to his words. After an hour of question and answers, they extracted all the information from the bandit leader. "You have no use to me so I''ll kill you painlessly," Souta said as he grabbed the head of the bandit leader. He glanced at Alice and smiled. Alice turned around and her spear turned into a small metal pole. She then placed it inside her pocket. Souta tightened his grip on the head of the bandit leader and channeled his mana. Boom! The body of the bandit leader exploded and turned into a bloody mist. After that, he stood up and patted his hands. He saw Alice was checking to see if the other women were still alive. "Don''t bother it. You can feel it, right? You can feel that they are not breathing." He said to her. The women were the slaves of the bandits. They used them as a shield from the giant snake so it was impossible for them to be alive after taking an attack from that monster. "Yeah, but..." Alice wanted to say something but decided to shut her mouth. "The problem is that races of this world aren''t that many. There''s too few." Souta said to her. "Yeah. Human and demi." Alice nodded at him. According to the information that they''ve gathered from the bandit leader. The human in this world was only an ordinary human. There were no sub-races such as barbarian, magical human, witch, or high humans. And for demi, there''s only elf, dwarf, and beast folk. The only race of elf in this world was high-elf. There''s no wood elf, ocean elf, or moon elf. That''s just how it is. So Souta would have a problem as there''s no demi with green skin in this world. Alice sighed and she removed one of her bracelets. She then threw it at Souta. "Here!" Souta caught the bracelet and observed it. "What''s this?" He asked while looking at her with a confused expression. "An artifact for disguising," Alice replied. Chapter 361 - Planning "An artifact for disguising...?" Souta said as he looked at the artifact. "Yes, you can alter your appearance to that of a human but it will decrease your abilities to some extent," Alice explained to him the function of the artifact. The limit and the things that he could do with it. "I see. Then, it will help a lot." Souta said as he wore the artifact and registered it in his system as "equip" so that he could see its effect. Looking at the details of the artifact, it seems that Alice was right. He could alter his appearance with this but it couldn''t hide his real appearance from the eyes of a god-level powerhouse or a person with high perception. He activated the effect of the bracelet and his body emitted a dim white light. After a few moments, the light disappeared and it revealed Souta''s appearance. Souta looked at Alice and asked, "How is it?" "Nothing change aside from your skin tone. You look like a real human." Alice answered him. "Is that so...?" Souta said as he looked at his system and saw his current appearance. He was quite shocked by it. He looked exactly the same person when he was still living on earth. The only difference was that his hair was longer than "him" on the earth and he was shorter right now. "Good. Let''s go back now." Souta was quite satisfied with this artifact. He didn''t think that Alice has this kind of artifact that was perfect for disguising. "Okay." Alice nodded and she glanced at the dead bodies in the surrounding. "What about these corpses?" "We''ll burn them," Souta replied as he casted his [Fire Ball] spell on the corpses. After burning the bodies, the two went back to the place where they left Yuko. They didn''t forget to bring the corpse of the giant snake. The two set up a camp and roasted the meat of the snake. They eat the meat along with Yuko. The meat tasted good even without condiments. From the information that they''ve gathered, this forest was vast. The place they were in was a small part of the Great Tunbra Forest. Surrounding this vast forest was three countries. This forest became the border of the three dominant countries and because of this, war didn''t occur between these countries. It wasn''t easy to cross this forest as countless powerful monsters were living in this forest and the most ferocious one was a dragon. Dragons were at the top of the food chain in this world. Everyone feared the overwhelming power of the dragons. Even the three dominant countries feared the existence of dragons that''s why they couldn''t organize a large army to go through the forest. The dragon of this world must be a third evolution or fourth evolution. The power of the second evolution monster was already powerful for them. Plus, the giant snake before was only an ordinary second evolution. It wasn''t a rare species in Imperium at all. It wasn''t even mutated but the bandit leader said that it will take an army to defeat that snake. It means that the power level of this world was too low. Hero-rank, SSS-rank, and fifth evolution couldn''t be seen in this world. Souta wasn''t even sure if there were people that reached SS-rank or S-rank. Souta drew a large circle on the ground and said, "This is the Great Tunbra Forest and we''re here in this part." He then drew a small circle at the southwest part of the circle. The three strongest countries were called Condifan Empire, Gyunar Republic, and Linca Empire. The Gyunar Republic was a country of humans. It was founded by extremely powerful humans fifty years ago. In just a few decades, a newly built country reached the height that others could only dream about. Lastly, the Linca Empire. That last of the three dominant countries. It was a country that was always doing a military exercise to strengthen their army. Magic research and technology where their confidence were coming from. Aside from these three, there''s hundreds of other countries but these three were the strongest. There was the kingdom alliance in the south of the Gyunar Republic. The kingdom alliance was an alliance of more than ten kingdoms to prevent the invasion of the three most powerful countries on the continent. The closest country to them was the Gyunar Republic. So they will go there to gather more detailed information. There''s no way the bandit leader could know everything in this world. But before they could arrive in the Gyunar Republic, they have to go through a lot of things. They will pass through several villages before they arrived at the border of the empire. If they have horses, it will take them three weeks of travel but if they walk it will take them longer. But it was the opposite for Souta, Alice, and Yuko. Their speed was many times faster than a horse. Yeah, it was a good choice to not use a horse but Souta didn''t want to walk at all. He wanted to enter Saya''s inner consciousness while they were traveling so if they were walking on their feet Souta wouldn''t be able to enter Saya''s inner consciousness. Souta glanced at Yuko and asked, "Do you want to come with us or not?" "I want to follow master wherever he goes..." Yuko replied to him. Her child-like voice sounded in his head like a lullaby. "Okay, I already have a plan to leave you here but since you want to come along with me, I''ll let you." Souta smiled as he knew that there were tamers in this world. If he left Yuko here, he will ask her to dominate this part of the forest. Since there were dragons in this forest, she will stay in this part and conquer this part of the forest since there''s no other third evolution here. Even if she met a dragon, Yuko would survive even if the dragon was at the fourth level of evolution. She was stronger than normal third level and she also had the blessing of the Destruction Queen, Raeshka. Alice looked at the two of them back and forth. She could hear them as they were talking but she couldn''t understand them. It seems that Yuko became an intellectual monster after she evolved into her third level. "What did you say?" Alice asked Souta. "Well, I asked Yuko if she wanted to come with us and she said that she''ll follow us," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Hmm... It''s reassuring to have her with us. She''s a third evolution monster so it will need a party of five to ten B-rank to subdue her. Also, she''s pretty strong for someone who just evolved." Alice said while glancing at Yuko. Souta couldn''t deny it. Yuko was strong and she had the blessing of Raeshka. If she used it then she could somehow hold herself against a fourth evolution monster. The third evolution was divided into four ranks. The early, intermediate, high, and peak rank. The early third evolution''s level was between level 40 and 44. The intermediate level was between 45 to 49. The high level was between 50 to 54. Lastly, the peak level was between 55 and 59. Yuko just evolved so she was level 40 and was an early rank but she had the power of intermediate rank third evolution monster. A normal party of B-rank without sufficient skills couldn''t hope to defeat her. If she wore high-grade equipment then B-rank couldn''t hope to defeat her. A party of A-rank would need to defeat her. Souta looked at the sky and said, "It''s getting dark." "Yeah, I could feel the presence of some monster nearby us," Alice said as she closed her eyes. "Those monsters wouldn''t dare to attack us. Their instinct would tell them that we''re something they couldn''t handle." Souta simply waved his hand as he stood up. He suddenly stopped moving as he felt something was trying to connect in his transmission talisman. He went to the corner and leaned his back on a tree before he took out the talisman in his pocket. "Hello..." Souta said as guessed who was calling him. "Souta! Is that you, Souta?!" He heard Lumilia''s loud voice from the talisman. His guess was right. It was really Lumilia. Considering what happened to him, Yuko, and Alice, she must be worried about them. "Yeah, I''m Souta. Alice is fine too." Souta replied to her as he took a glance at Alice who was in the opposite direction. "I''m glad... Yujin, Brando, and Lynn are here. They are listening to your voice." Lumilia sighed in relief after she confirmed that Souta, Yuko, and Alice were fine. "Don''t worry about us but I don''t think that we could return easily," Souta said to them. Chapter 362 - Granmr "What do you mean, Souta?" Lumilia sounded confuse at his words. "I mean we''re teleported far away from that place..." Souta said to her. "Far away...?" "Yes, we''re too far... I mean we''re in a sub-world and we don''t know [Dimensional Hole] spell so I don''t think that we''ll return quickly." Souta explained to her and the rest his circ.u.mstances. Lumilia, Lynn, Brando, and Yujin were shocked when they heard that Souta and Alice were in a sub-world. Lumilia shook her head and asked, "Do you know the coordinates of that sub-world?" "No, we don''t. I''m sure that you understand it. The teleportation spell malfunction and it teleported us to a random world." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "We''re already lucky that we''ve got teleported in a sub-world. If Alice and I got teleported into outer space then the two of us will undoubtedly die since only people who could harden their mana survive in the chaotic space." "Souta, I will find someone who knows [Dimensional Hole] spells so try to gather information about the coordinates of that sub-world," Lumilia said to him. "Sure, that''s my plan from the beginning. To gather information about this world." Souta smiled as he turned to Alice and asked, "Do you want to talk to them?" Alice shook her head and said, "I''m going to rest for now." "S-Souta... Can you tell me about that world...?" Lynn''s voice sounded. Lumilia, Brando, and Yujin were interested in this topic. They haven''t gone to a sub-world in their entire life. They only heard stories about it from other people. "We''ve just arrived here so the things that I know are limited but sure..." Souta smiled as he lied down. He slowly told them about his experience today with Alice while looking at the starry sky. "I''ve finished talking about my situation. It''s your turn to tell what''s happening there." Souta said to them as he wanted to know what''s happening to them. "Nothing much. It''s noon here and we''re in the middle of the road." Yujin''s voice sounded. "So you''re going back to Hebrei Kingdom...?" Souta asked. He thought that they were helping the people there stabilized the Blue Lawless City. "The city will rebuild itself even without our help. The Sea Tower and Cloud Tower will manage it well. The incident about the Moon Tower greatly changed the structures of the city so everything will not stay the same. With the new law that the two towers have established, the Blue Lawless City will become a proper city in the future. It will continue to prosper and it will eventually become a country if the improvement continues." Lumilia explained to him what happened to the city after the incident where Curdova unsealed Cl.u.s.ter''s power. "I see... If the situation is fine. You can establish a branch of the Dark Oculus Legion in that city." Souta said to her. "I understand. As the vice-commander of the legion, I will do my best to raise the Dark Oculus Legion in commander''s place." Lumilia said to him. "Yujin, Brando, and Lynn. Be sure to follow Lumilia''s instructions. She will be the acting commander while I''m stuck here in the sub-world." Souta said. "Okay." "Yes." "I understand." "Good. About Cl.u.s.ter... Did she come with the sisters?" Souta asked in a low voice. "..." Lynn, Lumilia, Brando, and Yujin grew silent at his question. They became dejected when they heard the name Cl.u.s.ter. After a few moments, Lumilia opened her mouth and said, "The sisters took her. We couldn''t do anything as the True God''s Holy Kingdom is her home. Cl.u.s.ter gave us a talisman before she left. With this, she could sense us the moment we enter the True God''s Holy Kingdom''s territory." "It''s not in vain. At least, Cl.u.s.ter is safe in that place. Also, we managed to take down the organization who was hunting her." Souta said in a low voice. He knew that Cl.u.s.ter was the Thousand Spell Cl.u.s.ter. One of the most powerful weapons of the True God''s Holy Kingdom in the game. Just like its name, the Thousand Spell Cl.u.s.ter has tens of thousands of spells in her mind. It was the effect of the universal artifact called [Grimoire of Spell]. This artifact wasn''t an ordinary universal grade artifact. The people from ancient times recorded all the spells that they created in this book. From the lowest tier to the highest tier was all recorded in the [Grimoire of Spell]. But not anyone can open this book. Only the person chosen by the book could open this. The chosen one was called the Librarian by ancient people. The book couldn''t be opened physically. Instead, it could only be opened mentally. So no people could peek inside the book aside from the Librarian. As the Librarian, she could let some borrow the pages. Of course, by ''borrow'' it didn''t mean that she will pass the book to someone else. It only means that she will give that person the authority to access the book in her mind. Lumilia and the rest didn''t have an idea that Cl.u.s.ter has the [Grimoire of Spell] in her body. They only knew that she had some strange powers. "We''ll visit her after I returned there," Souta reassured them. After talking for half an hour, Souta hung up the talisman. When Lumilia and the rest found that it was night in Souta''s place, they decided to finish the conversation so that he could rest. "It''s not bad talking to them like this..." He said to himself before he closed his eyes. ... In a pub, two people were occupying the table at the corner. There were drinks in front of them but none of it were alcohol. Souta and Alice weren''t alcoholic people to begin with. Three days had passed since they''ve arrived in this world. The group''s goal was to go to the Gyunar Republic. After they arrived there, they will try to find someone who knew [Dimensional Hole] spell. Even if no one knew it, at least there were some records of this world''s coordinates. He wasn''t sure if the [Dimensional Hole] really malfunctioned or not. Also, there''s no sign of that spell when they''ve arrived in that place so he could only guessed that it malfunctioned. A lot of people knew about this spell but the details of weren''t know by many people. There''s also a possibility that the metallic figure was from this place. ... The Gyunar Republic was one of the most powerful countries in this world so there should have some information there. If they couldn''t find what they wanted in that country, then they will head to the Condifan Empire. One of the oldest countries in this world. A lot of historical things were preserved in that country but this country was too far from them. It will take them three months before they arrived in that place. Souta closed his eyes as he listened to the conversation of the people around him. "Should we go out and hunt some wolves?" "I want to buy a new sword." "Damn! I thought I was going to die yesterday!" "We''ll head towards the Granmr tomorrow." Souta opened his eyes as he heard some information that will help him and Alice in this unknown sub-world. He slightly turned his head and looked over the pub. Five tables away from them was a group of six people. Two of them were women and four were men. All of them were human and they looked like they were experienced fighters. Granmr was the capital of the Gyunar Republic and it was his destination. If he was to get there, he had to find someone who knows the way and familiar with the whole place. He stood up and Alice quickly followed him. She also heard the group talked about Granmr, the capital of the Gyunar Republic. The two approached the group and said, "Excuse me. I heard your heading towards Granmr." A man with short spiky dark green hair looked at Souta and Alice. "Yes. How can I help you?" "I''m Souta and this one is Alice. She''s a comrade of mine. We''re also heading towards Granmr. You see, this is our first time going there, so... I wanted to ask you if we could accompany you on your journey." Souta said politely. He knew all the capital of the three strongest countries in this continent. He learned this from the bandit leader that he killed before. Aside from the capital, he didn''t know about the other city of the three strongest countries. "Hmm..." The man grabbed his chin and he examined the two people in front of him. After a while, he said, "The journey towards Granmr isn''t easy. If you have money, you can go to the mercenary guild to form a quest." "No, don''t worry about us. Despite our looks, we can protect ourselves. We will just follow you and we''ll provide everything for ourselves." Souta said to him. "I see..." The man looked at his comrades and asked, "What do you think?" "I don''t know. I''m not sure if we could let some stranger follow us on our journey." An attractive woman with yellow color hair that was tied in a ponytail said. She was a tall woman and her physique was different from Alice who was slim. "Then, don''t let your guard against us. We''re strangers so I can understand that you don''t trust us but we''re not going to do anything against you. We just want to go to Granmr like you." Souta said to the woman. Chapter 363 - Mercenaries "I can''t believe that you''re a tamer..." A man with short spiky hair said to Souta with a laugh. He was Gyun, the leader of this mercenary group. Gyun was a tall and huge man. He was an experienced fighter but his power level was low. His overall strength didn''t even reach C-rank. Souta could understand why the power level of this world was too low. A normal second evolution monster was already a monster beyond human capabilities in this world. It means that mercenaries like them could only fight a non-evolved monster. Ordinary wolves, goblins, slimes, orcs, etc. These non-evolved monsters were already quite fearsome in this world. Back in Imperium, any fighter could easily handle twenty to thirty non-evolved monsters. But it''s not that there''s no strong creature in this world. It''s just that powerful creatures were very rare just like a dragon. A dragon''s level can''t be lower than a third evolution. The moment they were born, they already have a monster orb in their bodies. People who can fight a first evolution monster were already strong in this world. "Well, it just happens..." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "Still, it''s my first time seeing this type of bear." A man with shoulder-length blonde hair said while looking at Yuko. He''s Johnie, the second in command of the team. "Of course, Yuko is a unique species from Great Tunbra forest. If you''ve gone deep from that famous forest, then you would see some bear like Yuko." Souta said nonchalantly. He already prepared this excuse in case these people ask him something about Yuko. "I see... I''m amazed that you could live in that forest full of dangerous monsters." Gyun said. "At first, you would be afraid and scared but after living there for a few years you would treat that forest as your home," Souta replied to him. "Then... Alice is living with you in that forest?" A woman with yellow-colored hair that was tied in a ponytail asked while glancing at him and Alice back and forth. Her name was Mae. Alice didn''t join their conversation as she just rode her horse beside Souta. She was a beautiful woman and her demeanor was noble and cold. She looks like she wasn''t a person living in the countryside. "Yes, Alice is living with me in that forest," Souta answered her question. He looked ahead of him and asked, "Can you tell more about Granmr?" "Granmr...? Granmr is a huge city and it is the capital of the Gyunar Republic. Its population is over five hundred thousand people of different races." Gyun told him. The whole city of Granmr was heavily guarded by armored knights. The walls were armed with weapons of destruction that could easily kill powerful monsters. There was a time in the past that some countries tried to invade Granmr but ultimately failed in the end. They didn''t even manage to get inside the city as all of them were crushed outside the city. At that time, the Gyunar Republic was still not at the top countries of the continent. They also boasted their skilled warrior and magicians. Aside from the security, there''s a lot of things that people could be found in this city. Magic scrolls, weapons, armors, and all sorts of potions could be found in the market of Granmr. ... The group decided to camp in the middle of the forest. One person will become a lookout of the group and they will shift with someone every one hour. Souta was sitting at the corner while letting the heat coming from the fire warm his body. Yuko was resting her head on his l.a.p while he was c.a.r.e.s.sing her. Alice was sleeping close to him. With their power level, this cold wouldn''t bother them but it''s still good to have some heat to warm their bodies. The group that they were following was mercenaries. They have six members and their party composition was great. Gyun, the leader of the group, was a warrior who uses a double-handed sword. He was the center of the group and it''s because of him that the group was functioning well in combat. He had the potential to become a commander or general in the future. Mae, another warrior like Gyun who uses a double-handed sword. She was important in the party as she was the one who''s responsible for covering the magician and archer of their party. Their magician was called Limber. Limber was a man with normal height and physique. He wasn''t large nor small. He was proficient in casting tier 1 spells. Souta asked him about the spells and it seems that people of this world didn''t know about the inner spell. When he asked further, he also found that they didn''t even know the inner consciousness. They didn''t know how to enter their own consciousness. Also, most of the tier 1 spells that Limber knew were low levels. It was the weakest among the tier 1 spells. The archer of their group was called Rini. She was an attractive and slim woman with long black hair that was tied in a ponytail at the back of her head. Rimi was small and have the same height as Souta. She was very agile and could control her body very well. Aside from being an archer, she''s also the scout of the party. The last member of the party was called Ginji. He was a mid-range fighter who uses halberd as his main weapon. They were a great party. They trust each other without hesitation. The group will arrive in a huge city called Buckshawn State. It has a population of over three hundred fifty thousand people and it was larger than the Ladros City. This city was already part of the Gyunar Republic. Souta was looking forward to what he will see in this world. This world was a new one. He didn''t even know this world even when it was a game. There''s no player that owned this world. This world also wasn''t part of the sub-worlds that he owned when he was still Blood. It only means that it was an unexplored sub-world. ''Souta, I think that this world is far away from Imperium.'' Saya said to him. ''We will know it after we gather intel about this world.'' Souta replied to her as he looked up at the sky. ''Well, it''s true.'' Saya said. Souta felt a faint wave of energy coming from the transmission talisman. It means that someone was trying to connect to his talisman. He didn''t need to guess who is it. Lumilia Von Asvares. For the past few days, she was always calling him at this time. Before he rest was the time that she will call him. ''It''s time.'' Saya said. Since she was with Souta all the time, she also knew that Lumilia was calling him every night. Souta took out the transmission talisman and poured his mana in it. As soon as he connected his talisman, he heard Lumilia''s voice. "...Hello! Are you busy, Souta?" Lumilia asked him. "Nope, I''m not doing anything. I was just waiting for your call..." He said in a low voice while looking at Alice who was sleeping beside him. He was afraid that she will wake up because of his loud voice. "Eeeeehh!!" A loud scream sounded from the other side as Souta put away the talisman from his ear. "What happened there? Did something occur?" He asked her as he was curious about what''s happening to her on the other side. "N-Nothing... I just accidentally stepped on soap and stumbled down." Lumilia replied to him in a fl.u.s.tered tone. On the other side, Lumilia quickly took the soap and placed it on the corner. She took a deep breath to calm down as she pressed her hand on her c.h.e.s.t. "So your bathing right now..." Souta''s voice sounded. Her face flushed as she various things come into her mind. She wanted to deny it but she''s indeed bathing at this moment. "Y-Yes..." She spoke in a tiny voice that only she could hear. "What? I didn''t hear it." Souta said. "Yes! Yes! I''m bathing right now!" She said loudly as her face grew redder. "Then, you can finish your bath before we talk." "No, no. Don''t hung up!" Lumilia said loudly. "Why?" "I have something to do later so we can only talk at this time." She answered him as she dipped her body in the water. "Huh~" She couldn''t help but let out a satisfied voice. "You sound like an old man." "W-What are you saying?! I''m not an old man!" Lumilia said. "Hahaha!" Souta''s laugh sounded in the whole room. "Hmph! You''re making fun of me!" Lumilia pouted. "So what do you want to talk about?" Souta asked her as he leaned his back on a tree. "You see... I go out and met with Nayo..." Their conversation wasn''t meaningful as they just talk about various things. Lumilia talked a lot of things and Souta just listened to her. Sometimes he will reply to her. Usually, their topic was about the legion or something bad but this time was different. It was refreshing to talk about everyday life. Chapter 364 - Buckshawn State The group arrived in the city called Buckshawn State. It was a huge city under the territory of the Gyunar Republic. This city couldn''t be less than the Granmr City. Why? Because of the hundreds of Mercenary Guilds in this city. Most of the Mercenaries'' headquarters were situated in this city. It earned its nickname as "The Base of the Mercenaries". Almost half of the people that were living in this place were mercenaries. That''s why this city could match the capital of the Gyunar Republic, the Granmr. The mercenary guilds in this place were extraordinary. They were at the top powerhouses in the world. In short, Souta and Alice could find all sorts of things in this place. Since it could rival the capital, maybe they could find an intel in this place that they could only find in the capital. "Why are mercenaries staying in this city?" Souta asked Gyun who was standing beside him. They were in a line to enter the city. Since they''ve explained their circ.u.mstances to Gyun''s group, they could understand the two of them why they don''t have an Identification Card. An identification Card was needed if someone wanted to enter a big city. It will be hard to enter a city if a person doesn''t have one. So Gyun recommended that they should register in the Mercenary Agency as mercenary. That way they would have a card to prove their identities. It was easy to register so they don''t have a problem with it. "Well, mercenaries could easily find work in this place," Gyun answered his question. "What do you mean by that?" Souta was confused as he could understand why mercenaries could easily find a job in this place. From his understanding, the mercenaries of this world were the same as the adventurers back in Imperium. "Have you heard the terms living labyrinth?" Gyun asked him. "...what...?!" Souta opened his eyes widely when he heard Gyun''s question. ''Living labyrinth...? It can''t be...'' Even Saya couldn''t hide her shock as she perhaps realized what Gyun was talking about. "Can you explain it to me?" Souta asked Gyun. Gyun nodded and he slowly explained the living labyrinth to Souta. At the end of the explanation, the living labyrinth was the same as the one that Souta knew. It has the same description as the Great Labyrinth. The Great Labyrinth was situated in the southeast of True God''s Holy Kingdom and northeast of Rhent Country. There were hundreds of living labyrinth in Imperium but the greatest of all was the Great Labyrinth near the True God''s Holy Kingdom as no one managed to conquer it. Living Labyrinth as the name it suggested, this labyrinth was like a living being. This type of labyrinth was created by a god-level powerhouse to leave their legacy for future generations. It depends on the god if they will leave a living labyrinth behind or not but most of the gods leave a labyrinth before they died. Anyone can enter this type of labyrinth but anyone who died inside it will be consumed by the labyrinth. The more people died, the stronger the labyrinth gets. The one who cleared it will receive the god''s legacy. Souta didn''t know any more than this. He wasn''t a god and this knowledge wasn''t circulated publicly. He only learned about this when he became the commander of the mechanic army in the game. The other players were oblivious to this information. But the minimum requirement to cleared the weakest living labyrinth was S-rank. People wouldn''t be able to clear the last floor of the labyrinth without the power of an S-rank. If they weren''t S-rank, then they were only seeking death by trying to clear the living labyrinth. Souta rubbed his chin as he recalled the living labyrinth that he cleared in the game. The one reason why he didn''t try to clear those labyrinths was that he was too weak. Even his current strength wasn''t enough to clear the labyrinth that he cleared in the game. Souta glanced at Gyun and asked, "This living labyrinth... when did the people of this place found it?" "Hmm...? Around a thousand years ago... From what I''ve heard the Buckshawn State was still gone at that time so there''s a possibility that the living labyrinth dated back longer than what was written in the books." Gyun answered him. "I see..." Souta nodded. If that''s the case, then this living labyrinth wasn''t ordinary. Countless creatures must''ve died inside it and the creatures that the labyrinth produced become powerful. ... The group finally entered the Buckshawn State. This city was the only city with a living labyrinth below it. It was famous throughout the entire continent so a lot of people were visiting this place. Gyun''s group visited this place in the past so they experience a lot of things this city could offer. They found that there was a festival the next day so Souta asked Gyun if they have something to do. Gyun and his comrades replied by saying that they weren''t busy and they weren''t rushing towards the Granmr so they could stay here for a few days. Souta wanted to experience the festival of this city. He wanted to tell about it to Lumilia and the rest who was in the other world. If there''s not a problem he wanted to explore this universe with them. First, they went out to find an inn. After that, Souta and Alice left the group to see what this city could offer to travelers like them. ''You should mark this place. After you''ve grown stronger you can come back and cleared the living labyrinth so that you could gain the legacy of the god.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Well, that''s true. With my strength, I wouldn''t be able to clear this labyrinth. Even if I work together with Yuko and Alive.'' Souta replied to her. A god''s legacy. Other gods would want to get a hold of this treasure. Anyone could enter this place and god would have a high possibility of clearing the labyrinth. Especially, if the god was stronger than the one who created the labyrinth. Anyone could enter the labyrinth. This was the reason why most of the living labyrinth in the Imperium was cleared. Souta, Alice, and Yuko arrived in front of the living labyrinth. In front of them was a huge hole with a diameter of thirty meters. There were stairs at the side that lead underground. Various stalls stood at the side of the floor and a three-storey building was built beside each stair of the huge hole. These buildings were from the mercenary agency. They were the ones who handled the people who entered and exited the labyrinth. They were also the ones who prevented people from recklessly entering the labyrinth. Souta could see a lot of people going down the labyrinth. All of them were mercenaries. They were one of the people that were permitted to enter so Souta, Alice, and Yuko wouldn''t have any problem entering this place as they were mercenaries. "This labyrinth has a lot of strong monsters..." Alice commented from the side. "Yes, the mana from it gives off a dangerous vibe." Souta glanced at her before he replied. The cold aura was enveloping the whole place. Judging from the people''s expressions, it seems that they couldn''t feel it. They were oblivious to the powerful creatures underground. The people here were still discovering the depths of the labyrinth. Currently, they''ve only gone to the thirty-fifth floor of the labyrinth. The top guilds were the ones responsible for exploring the labyrinth. The other mercenaries only go down to hunt some monster and earn money. Hunting monster only the living labyrinth was different. The monster down was from the labyrinth. If they died they only turned into dust leaving only a stone filled with mana. The living labyrinth could create various creatures. They could even create humans and demis but all the creatures that came from the labyrinth could leave the place. Throughout the time, some of them gained intelligence and protected the labyrinth as they know that if someone cleared it all of them would die. After observing the labyrinth for a while, Souta decided to go back. "Let''s go, we have a few days here so we will not miss entering that labyrinth," Souta said as he turned around. "Yeah, there''s the festival too." Alice gave the labyrinth one more glance before she followed Souta. She saw several living labyrinths in her homeland but this one different. Since no one cleared it for a very long time, this labyrinth must have birthed countless powerful creatures. "Yeah, I wanted to taste the delicacy in this world..." Souta said as he placed his hand in his pocket. ''Well, I should look around if there are brothels in this place. It''s been a long time since I did it.'' He thought. Chapter 365 - Living Labyrinth Souta woke up early in the morning in the brothel. He managed to vent some of the frustration that he had in the girls in this brothel. It was a refreshing feeling. ''Why must you always bring me when you''re going to do it?'' Saya sounds like she was complaining. Well, she was his weapon so she could understand it but hearing and seeing it was a different thing. He ignored her as quickly wore his clothes and met with others. The festival will start today at night. Alice was already with the mercenaries when Souta and Yuko arrived at their meeting place. "So what do you want to do today?" Gyun, the leader of the mercenary group, asked Souta. "Hmm... We''ll go inside the labyrinth later but first, we''ll check the market to see if there''s something we could buy here." Souta replied to him after pondering for a while. "Oh? We''ll also go in the labyrinth to see if we could earn something. You should go with us." Gyun said with a smile on his face. Souta looked at Alice and saw her nodding at him. He then turned to Gyun and said, "Okay." "Good. Then, we''ll tour you in the market." Gyun said and the rest of his comrades nodded their head. They didn''t have a problem with their leader''s decision. ... The group went around the market and they see a lot of expensive things. High-grade weapons, armors, and potions were all over the place. For Gyun and others, it''s high-grade equipment but for Souta and Alice. They could only shake their head in disappointment. They shouldn''t expect something in this world. All the equipment that they''ve found were just colorless and yellow grade equipment. It seems that blue grade was already rare in this world. Even Souta''s normal clothes in Ladros City were already blue grade, so he wasn''t satisfied by what he saw in the market. He could guess that all the things in the treasury of the Dark Oculus Legion surpassed the wealth of this entire city. Well, that''s just his guess based on the things that he saw here. Gyun and the rest bought something while Souta and Alice didn''t buy a single thing in the market. They asked the two why they didn''t buy and Souta answered them that nothing picked his interest with all the things here. After that, they went to a pub and ordered meals to fill up their empty stomach. They wouldn''t go to the labyrinth while they were hungry. Then, they head to the site of the living labyrinth. The famed dungeon of this world. The unclearable dungeon. Souta, Alice, and the six mercenaries were on the first floor of the labyrinth. The monster on this floor was just wolves and slimes. Both were non-evolve and pretty ordinary in their race. They easily handled these types of monsters without any problem. The second floor was the same. There''s not much difference so they took it easily. It''s the same for the third, fourth, and fifth floors. The only difference was that the increase in number of the monsters that were appearing or respawning. Then, there''s the sixth floor. The environment changed on this floor. Even though Souta went to different living labyrinths in the game, he was still amazed when he saw this. The whole place got wider and taller. Trees flooded the entire floor as if it was a jungle or some kind of forest. The mana here was denser than it was on the upper floors. "Souta, Alice, be careful. this floor is dangerous." Gyun warned the two as he warily looked at his surrounding while moving forward. Johnie, Mae, Limber, Rini, and Ginji turned serious. They know the danger of this floor so they had to be cautious. "The monsters that reside on this floor are wolves, slime, dry vine, white monkey, and meat-eater trap." Limber explained to Souta and Alice in a low voice. Dry vine and meat-eater trap were both plant-type monsters. While the white monkey wasn''t a plant-type. Although these three were much dangerous than slime and wolves, it still a non-evolve monsters. They didn''t possess a problem to Souta and Alice even if there were hundreds of these monsters. It took them one hour before the group reached the eleventh floor. This time, the whole area grew larger. The gap between the ceiling and the floor was thirty-five meters. The setting here was still a forest but much more realistic. There were rivers and ponds. Also, there were some ordinary animals that couldn''t pose a problem to them. Also, the monsters here were quite different. Strong and rare non-evolve monsters were present. There''s also some first evolution monster here. The group arrived on the thirteenth floor after half an hour. Their pace slowed down a lot because of the stronger monster on the eleventh and twelfth floors. Also, the mercenaries that they''ve met grew fewer. It was at this moment that Yuko noticed that some people were following them. She growled lowly and Souta patted her head telling her that it''s not a problem. Souta looked at Alice and found that she was also looking at him. It seems that she also sensed the people. "Is there any problem, Souta?" Gyun, the leader of the group, asked him. "Hmm... I think that some people are following us ever since we''ve arrived on the twelfth floor." Souta replied while looking around. Gyun rubbed his chin and he looked at his comrades. His comrades shook their heads as if telling him that they sensed nothing. "If you are right, then it''s a problem." Gyun paused for a moment before he continued, "Some mercenaries are killing other people inside the labyrinth so that they could loot their bodies. It''s easy to dispose the body that they''ve killed in this place so a lot of people with an evil intention is doing this kind of thing." He looked at his comrades and suggested, "How about we go back now? We''ve earned a lot here so we could call it a day." "Well, why not?" Mae shrugged her broad shoulder. Johnie, Limber, Rini, and Ginji also nodded their heads telling their leader that they don''t have a problem with his decision. "Well, we''ll also go with you," Souta spoke as he glanced at Alice. The group turned around and suddenly dozens of arrows rained down at the group. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Gyun and the rest reacted quickly as they tried to deflect the arrows with their weapons. Clang! Clang! Metallic sounds echoed in the surrounding area as their heavy swords shut down the arrows. After a few seconds, Limber finished casting his spell and he created a barrier to defend them from the arrows. The arrows stopped and Gyun turned around while asking, "Is everyone okay?" He then glanced at Souta and Alice. He saw that they were fine. The two didn''t even pull out their weapons. Souta and Alice didn''t even sweat at this level. Also, Yuko didn''t try to dodge the arrows but her fur was so tough that ordinary arrows without mana couldn''t pierce it. Then, a voice sounded in all directions... "Don''t move!!" Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! A group of people came out of the bushes. They were armed with leather armor and sharp weapons. Their numbers reached more than twenty and it put a gloomy expression on Gyun and the rest''s faces. "This is bad... We''re outnumbered." Gyun said as he tightly gripped the sword in his hand. Mae and Johnie stepped forward as both of them were warriors and the vanguard of the group. Limber prepared himself to cast a spell at any moment and Rini placed an arrow in her bow while Ginji lowered his halberd, he was ready to pounce at his enemy like a predator. ''Twenty-two and there are seven archers at the back. What a large group of people that come after us?'' Souta said inwardly while looking at the people facing them. A tall man stepped out of the crowd and said, "If you don''t want to die just placed down all your belongings!!" Souta glanced at Gyun wondering what he was going to do in this situation. If he made the right decision then Souta wouldn''t mind giving him a helping hand. He wouldn''t mind devouring the souls of these people. The tall man looked at their face one by one and his eyes stopped at the girls of the group. Then, a wide grin formed on his face. "I changed my decision. I changed my decision. The girls here are quite good, especially that one in the back." He said as he looked at Alice with an intense gaze. He couldn''t help but imagine what he''s going to do with this beautiful girl. "Don''t move, Alice. I want to see what they are going to do." Souta said to Alice in a low voice as she was ready to kill the man who was looking at her with a perverted grin. "I''m going to start counting... 1... 2... 3..." The tall man said with a grin. He was so eager to kill these people. "Are you really a mercenary group? How could you do this kind of thing?" Gyun asked. "We''re all mercenaries here but our work is different. It''s easy to loot people than kill all the monsters here." The tall man said as he opened his eyes with a helpless expression. Chapter 366 - Knight Level "Even if we leave our belongings here, you will still kill us because you won''t let the mercenary agency know about it, right?" Gyun said as he pointed his sword at him. "So I don''t think we could let go of our weapons..." "Gyun, Johnie, Mae, be careful!" Limber, the mage of the group, said in a low voice. He silently gathered his mana and prepared himself some spell that he could cast once the battle starts. "Tsk! It seems that all of you want to die painfully!!" The tall man said with an annoyed expression as he raised his hand. He then said, "Go! Kill them! Just leave the girls alive!!" Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The twenty plus mercenaries rushed the Gyun and Souta''s group. They were going to use their number to defeat them. Gyun and Johnie stepped forward and slashed their swords. They were going to fight their way in this group of mercenaries. Mae didn''t join them as she was the one who''s going to protect their long-range fighter with Ginji. Rini quickly shot several arrows nonstop trying to decrease Gyun and Johnie''s burden while Limber was casting a spell to take out the enemy''s archers. Their formation and coordination were great. Souta was amazed at their skills and he could guess that they had a lot of experience in fighting this kind of battle. He was also sure that they were doing this for a long time for them to have a great coordination. Hmm...? Souta raised his eyebrows as he saw four enemies charging at him and Alice. He and Alice looked at each other. After a while, Alice sighed and said, "Okay, I''ll take them out." "Good. Be careful, don''t let them have it hard." Souta smiled as he said. "I know," Alice said as she gathered her mana in her left hand. The four enemies arrived one meter away from her. She then waved her hand and thick mana shot out of her hand. Bang! Bang! Bang! Her mana smashed the body of the four enemies, blasting them away before they crashed on the trees. "Argh!!" The four enemies g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as blood poured out of their mouths. They felt several bones in their body got broken. "I don''t need to take my orange grade spear against these guys," Alice muttered to herself as she looked at the enemies with cold eyes. The whole battle got silent as they slowly turned their head and looked at the back. They just saw four people flew out and crashed on the trees at high speed. "Alice..." Gyun and the others muttered as they looked at Alice with widely opened eyes. The tall man subconsciously took a step back while looking at Alice. He didn''t know why but he felt danger leaking out of her body. His instinct was telling him to run away as fast as possible. "How... could this be? A K-Knight?!!" He muttered in shock. Slowly he realized that he met the wrong opponent this time. He shut his mouth as Alice turned to look at him. Alice then disappeared from his vision. The next thing he found was that his comrades were flying away as if someone hit them hard. Bang! Bang! Bang! Sounds of bones cracking and screamed of the people echoed in the whole area. After a while, Alice finished all the enemies except for the tall man that seemed to be the leader. "No...! I''m sorry! I didn''t mean to fight you!! Please, spare my life!" "I''m sure that you''ve killed dozens of people before so I''m going to ask something..." Alice said in a cold tone. "W-What is it?" The tall man said while stuttering as he looked up at Alice''s face. "Did you spare any of your victims?" Alice asked. She didn''t wait for the tall man to answer and said, "I''m sure that you didn''t spare any of them so what can you expect." "No!!! I don''t want to die!!" The tall man screamed as he grabbed his weapon and rushed at Alice. He didn''t have a choice but to fight as he understood that Alice wouldn''t spare him. Alice''s hand blurred for a moment. It seems that she didn''t move her hand but the tall man spat a mouthful of blood before he flew away and crashed on several trees. Boom! Gyun and the others were speechless. They were stunned and didn''t know what to feel. This girl who was with Souta was powerful. Alice wasn''t just beautiful but also unbelievably strong. Souta smiled as he knew that all the enemies were barely alive. He glanced at Gyun''s party and said, "Let''s go now, I think that the festival is going to start." Gyun''s party still hasn''t regained their senses as they followed Souta and Alice. They were still shocked by what they saw. Souta glanced back as he snapped his fingers and black tentacles rose from the ground. It silently killed all the people while Gyun''s party was still digesting what they just saw. After that, he took the souls of those people. ... "Alice, you''re a Knight...?" Mae asked Alice. The group arrived at the surface and the festival was going to start soon. They also regained their senses but they still didn''t dare to ask Alice about it. Only Mae build up her courage and asked her. "Knight?" Souta raised his eyebrows when he heard Mae''s question. Alice too was confused at her question. She glanced at Souta and saw him shaking his head. It means that he didn''t have an idea about it. "What''s a Knight?" She asked back. Gyun, Mae, and the others looked at each other. They found it ridiculous that these two didn''t know about it but considering what they told about them they could accept it. Souta told them that they lived in the Great Tunbra Forest for a long time so they were ignorant about a lot of things in this world. "Knight is a person who could control their mana like yours. They could empower their body with their own energy." Limber slowly explained so that the two could understand it. Souta nodded while rubbing his chin. So this world had its own power levels. ''It seems that I need to see the power of these Knights to know how strong it is.'' He thought. He wouldn''t get an accurate answer if he based it on Alice. Alice was strong and he couldn''t deny it. She was a powerful B-rank powerhouse so if a Knight level of this world was as strong as her then it could fight the two of them. But he was doubtful about it. Alice didn''t even show her real power to Gyun''s party so he could only guess that she was stronger than Knights. Souta looked around and asked, "Is there a Knight level in this city?" "Buckshawn State is a large city. A lot of strong people stayed here because of the living labyrinth so we could meet dozens of Knights here. It''s impossible for a large mercenary guild to not have Knights in their ranks. They wouldn''t be able to go to the lower floors of the labyrinth without Knights." Gyun was the one who answered his question. He patiently explained all of this to Alice and Souta so that they could understand it. "I see..." Souta nodded while rubbing his chin. So he will eventually meet those called Knight of this sub-world in this place. He already guessed that there were some strong people here as they''ve gone through the thirty-fifth floor of the labyrinth. Without enough battle power, they wouldn''t be able to explore that floor. He can''t wait to test the skills of those so called Knights. ... In the Great World Imperium, the Giza Continent. All the upper echelons of the various countries around the land received an ominous message. The large country at the edge of the continent called Listen Wastes was wiped out. A large country was wiped out? They couldn''t believe it at first but the one who sent the message was the god of that country. That god wasn''t outstanding among the god but a god is still a god. That god said that countless demons appeared above the whole country and launched an all-out attack against them. Two out of three gods of the country stayed back and decided to contain the demons. The two gods created a barrier to hold all the demons for the meantime while the remaining god left the country to warned the entire continent about the demon invasion. This message shook the heart of the leader of every country. They couldn''t believe it but a god wouldn''t have a reason to lie to them. Demons from folklore finally appeared at the Land of Giza. The three great countries already expected this to happen but they just didn''t know when. Two different civilizations from the same world but were separated by a great barrier will collide. A great war is about to happen... Chapter 367 - Isabella Dynaie The festival started and the whole street was filled with people of different races but most of the people here were humans. Lights and lanterns illuminated the city and various people wearing strange outfits were dancing on the plaza. Different stalls were placed in each corner of the street and games were played by children. It was lively and full of people that were laughing all over the place. Some of the drunkards were arguing while some were watching it. "Oh? This is amazing..." Souta muttered as he looked around with a smile on his face. "Yeah, it''s really good." Alice couldn''t help but nod her head. She was going to say something when fireworks flew into the sky and created a bright flash of light consisting of various colors. Souta and Alice looked up and watched the fireworks displayed its beauty to the people inside the city. "It''s beautiful, right?" Gyun asked as he looked at the two. "Yeah, it''s amazing." Souta nodded at him. "Actually, this is the first time that we joined the dungeon festival in this city," Mae said to him. "Yeah, we''re all over the place so we didn''t stay in a city for a long time," Limber said while watching the fireworks. "Every time we got a quest, we''ve always moved to another city to complete it," Ginji said. "It''s not that bad," Rini added. "How long have you guys know each other?" Souta asked them. "We''ve known each other for a long time. But I met them seven years ago." Mae said. "For me, I''ve known Gyun for nine years..." Johnie said. "I''m the newest in our party so I''ve only known you guys for three years," Rini said as she looked at her comrades. Gyun glanced at Souta and said, "Well, it''s different for everyone but we''ve known each other for a long time." "I see..." Souta nodded as the fireworks slowly disappeared. The fireworks just ended and the sky became dark once again. ... The group was outside the pub drinking some beer while watching the show. After the festival dance, there will be a fighting competition. A lot of people were watching the dance show and they were also here for the fighting competition that will be held after this dance show. "Oh? It''s going to start!" Gyun said as he wiped the beer on the corner of his mouth. "Hu!!! Let''s bet!!" Johnie said as he drunk a whole glass of beer. "You guys are so loud! Just watch the show silently!" Mae said as she crossed her arms in front of her c.h.e.s.t. The dance show was completed and the festival moved to the next event, the fighting competition. All large guilds sent some of their members to join this competition. The only problem that most of the people that join weren''t that strong. This competition was for entertainment so they didn''t send their powerful members. Souta leaned on his chair as he observed the fighting competition. He then moved his eyes to the people near the stage. Hmm...? He saw some of the people have collars on their necks. Slaves were really legal in this sub-world. Those rich-looking people were accompanied by at least one or two slaves. Slavery was common in this world. It was a sight to see it in person. People who had collars on their necks and wearing ragged clothes. This wasn''t a common sight in Imperium. Hmm...? Is that... He then heard a loud cheer from the audience. The cheer shook the entire place and some of the strong-looking people opened their eyes widely. On the stage, a woman with long brown hair wearing a silver plate armor with a cape behind her was standing while she was placing her sword back in its sheath. Souta glanced at Alice and asked, "What happened?" "That woman just defeat her opponent in one shot. She''s quite strong and she didn''t even use her mana yet." Alice explained to him. "Oh?" Souta raised his eyebrows as he observed the woman. For Alice to say something like that, then this woman must be quite good. The fighting competition continued and Souta focused his attention on the woman. It''s final and she ended all her battle with one hit. It was quite a spectacle to see something like this. She must be a Knight Level of this world but for her to join in this kind of competition... Souta glanced around and saw that the guilds were looking at the woman. It seems that the woman wasn''t a member of the guild. They were talking about how would they get to recruit this woman in their guild. ''People at this level would come to your doorstep if you post a recruitment in your legion and some of them are even stronger than that woman.'' Saya commented. ''Well, that''s true...'' Souta nodded as he shrugged his shoulder. But that was in the Great World Imperium. No one knew the Dark Oculus Legion in this sub-world. The final battle has begun. Well, it was easy to say that the woman won the battle. Just like her other fights, she also ended her opponent in just one hit. All it took was a single slash of her sword to defeat her opponent. "That woman is strong..." Gyun said. "Yeah, she''s really strong." Mae nodded at his words. ''Should I test her skill...'' Souta pondered as he rubbed his chin. On the stage, the crowd cheered loudly as they presented the winner the rewards of this competition. Money, potions, and a high quality blue grade weapon. "Only blue grade... That has no use to her as her weapon is an orange grade." Alice said from the side. "Hmm... Let me check something first." Souta said as he stood up and patted his clothes. "Where are you going, Souta?" Gyun and the rest asked after they saw Souta stood up from his chair. "Well, just confirming something if what I saw is right," Souta replied to them as he waved his hand. He then walked away and Yuko followed him from behind. Mae turned to Alice and asked, "Aren''t you gonna follow him?" "Nope." Alice shook her head as she looked at Souta who went to the crowd. Gyun''s party looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders with a helpless look. They couldn''t do anything about it. ... Souta went through the crowd and arrived in front of a small stall. The crowd separated as he walked through it with Yuko behind him. Yuko''s appearance shook them so they subconsciously moved away and created a path for Souta to freely walked. ''I thought you''re going to meet the woman who won the competition.'' Saya said in his head. ''Nope, I don''t have interest in her. I just want to see what''s so great about Knight and that''s all.'' He replied to him as he looked at the sales lady of the stall. This lady was wearing a normal outfit. She had long green hair that was tied in a bun. Her skin was white and her appearance was average with her green color eyes and sharp eyebrows. She was wearing a round eyeglass. Her height was slightly taller than Souta. The eye-catching part thing on her was the object on her neck. A collar was wrapped around her neck. It means that she was a slave. The lady looked at the man in front of her. She noticed that he only had one arm but what scared her was the huge bear following him. "What do you need, Sir?" She asked in a polite tone. She was just a slave and her job here was to sell the potions that she created. She wouldn''t show any rude remarks or expressions to any of her potential customers or else her master would get angry at her. Souta pointed at her eyeglass and asked, "Who''s the one who created this thing?" "...I''m the one, sir?" The lady replied to him in a low voice. "I see... Then, may I know what''s your name?" Souta asked as he leaned forward and looked at the lady''s eyes. "Um... My name is Isabella Dynaie..." The lady hesitated at first but she eventually told him her name. This was the first time that someone asked her name and it seems that this guy didn''t care about the things that she was selling. "I see..." Souta nodded but he was shocked inside. He came here because he felt that this girl resembled someone that he knew in the game but after asking her he confirmed that he was right. She is Isabella Dynaie also called as the Master of Potions. This girl will become the greatest potion master in the future. She will revive countless lost potions from different eras and build an organization that provided potions to the alliance army in the war against the three bringers of calamity. He didn''t think that he will meet her in this sub-world. Chapter 368 - I want to buy her This lady was a famed NPC back in the game. He could still remember her background setting but he didn''t think that she came from this world. According to what he read before, Isabella was an orphan that was picked up by a potion master. She learned how to brew potions from that man but an accident occurred and her master died. She took all books and strived for perfection to reach her master''s level. Then, a slave trader took her and that''s how she became a slave. She was just a small child at that time so she couldn''t fight back. That''s just how slave traders worked. They always took homeless people. "Isabella Dynaie...? Is that right?" Souta tilted his head. "Yes, sir..." Isabella replied to him in a timid voice. He couldn''t believe that this timid lady will become a Great Potion Master that countless people were vying just to create a potion for them. This lady will establish the Heavenly Potion Pavilion that will be known throughout the entire world of Imperium. If there''s a possibility, he wanted her for his own team. He could imagine how great benefits she could bring to him in the future. Just by imagining it, Souta couldn''t help his mouth curved upward. ''Oi! Don''t grin! You''re freaking the girl!'' Saya said to him. Souta hurriedly raised his hand and covered his mouth. He then forcefully coughed and said, "I''m sorry, then can you tell me who''s your master?" He asked as he changed the topic to Isabella''s master. "My master...?" Isabella slightly tilted her head. "Yes, your master. You''re a slave, right? So can you tell me who''s your owner?" Souta said as he pointed at the collar around her neck. Isabella lowered her head and nodded, "Yes, I''m a slave and my owner is..." Before she could complete her sentence a man stepped forward and interrupted her. "I''m Orlando, the owner of the one you''re talking to." The man introduced himself as Orlando. "You''re disrupting my business here. So can you hurry up and tell us what you want?" Souta examined Orlando from head to toe. This guy was probably rich as he could see that he was wearing exquisite clothes. After a few moments, he said what he wanted, "She''s a slave, right? So how much do you want for you to give her to me?" "You wanted to buy her...?" Orlando raised his eyebrow as he looked at Souta. "Yes, I want to buy her." Souta nodded his head with a serious expression. "Hmm... From what I could see you don''t have the money to buy her. Are you aware that she had a talent for brewing potions? That talent raised her value to a higher degree." Orlando said after examining Souta. "Just tell me how much you want and I will buy her," Souta said to Orlando. "Hmm..." Orlando pondered as he looked at Yuko and said, "This the first time I saw a bear like this one. So how about it? I will take the bear and you will take the slave." "Anything aside from Yuko. I will not give her to you." Souta said as he shook his head. "Oh? You already named the bear. It seems that you''re quite attached to it. Well, I''m also attached to my slave so I will not sell her to you if you wouldn''t give the bear to me." Orlando said with a disappointed look. "Just realized the difference. This slave can bring you profits by brewing potions. If you want she could also accompany you at night as you will become her owner. There are no cons with that." Isabella lowered her head in shame. Her owner didn''t even call her by her name, while the man in front of him was treating his pet better than how her owner treats her. "I see... What a disappointment..." Souta glanced at Isabella and saw her didn''t dare to lift her head in front of her owner. He said, "Do you want to be free?" "Oi! What are you saying to my slave?" Orlando sounds like he was angry. Souta turned to him and said, "I''m just asking a question." "Just get away from here. If you don''t have any more business." Orlando shouted. Souta ignored Orlando and looked at Isabella. "You want to be free, right? Just tell me and I will grant it to you. I just have one condition and that you will work for me for five years. After that, you can leave if you want. I will not stop you." "You!!" Orlando was enraged. He called the security and it quickly arrived at the scene. "Decide for yourself. Don''t let other people influence you. Just tell me what you want? I will grant it to you. I will let lend you my forces. I come back later for your answer." Souta said as he turned around and waved his hand. ''Just what did you see in that girl?'' Saya asked him. "Potential..." Souta replied to him as he walked towards the direction where he left Alice and the rest. The winner of the competition looked at Souta''s back with scrutinizing gaze. The combination in that stall gathered the attention of the crowd so she noticed it too. "That man is a tamer and I felt danger just by looking at the bear." ... "Just what did you do?" Gyun asked Souta after he came back. "Just saw something worth coming here," Souta replied to him as he motioned Alice to follow him. "Let''s go!" "Oi! Where are you going?" Mae asked them. She was confused why they would suddenly leave. "I''m going to form a plan..." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "If you wanted to join then you can follow us but I''m going to warn you about it. You can''t turn back once you decide to follow us." After saying those words, Souta left with Yuko and Alice. Gyun, Mae, Ginji, Rini, Limber, and Johnie looked at each other. "So what are we going to do?" Gyun asked his comrades. "Should we follow them?" Limber asked. "I''m worried about them. Even though Alice is strong, they are still ignorant in the outside world." Mae said. "What about you guys?" Gyun nodded at Mae and asked his remaining comrades who didn''t say anything. "Well, Alice saves us from the mercenaries in the labyrinth so we should help them in return," Rini said her opinion. The other nodded at her. "Okay, then let''s go," Gyun said. ... "So what are we going to do?" Alice asked him as she took a glance at his face. She knew that Souta was going to do something big based on his action. It''s always like this when he was going to create a big event. Sometimes she was worried about what kind of things going through his mind as all the events that happened in the past were big. No, the scale was getting bigger and bigger alongside his growth. The most recent one was in the Blue Lawless City. The fight shook the entire city. She was worried that his next plan it would scope a whole country. "I met someone who had a potential," Souta replied to her. "Potential..." Alice replied to him with a confused expression. "Yes, that girl had a talent in potion brewing. I think that we could bring her with us." Souta explained to her. "Hmm...? A potion master... That''s fine. In our legion, we always ordered batches of potions from another store so if we had someone who could brew it then why not." Alice nodded in understanding. "Yeah, the problem is that girl is a slave. I tried to buy her from her owner but the owner rejected anything from me." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "So I''m planning to freed her. I will lend my powers to her if she wanted to be freed. If she didn''t want to join us then we couldn''t do anything about it." "I see... Then, when are we going to start our plan?" Alice asked. "Tonight but first we''re going to gather information about her owner. I will also tell Isabella that I will provide her rare ingredients that she wanted if she will join our group. She didn''t need to worry about other things." Souta explained to her his plan. "Okay, I''m in." Alice nodded. At this time, the two arrived at the inn. They went into their room and they heard a knocked on their door. Alice stood up and opened the door. She saw that Gyun''s party was standing in front of their room. "Can we come inside?" Gyun asked. Alice simply moved her body out of their way as she made a way for them to come inside the room. "Thanks!" Gyun and the rest said as they entered the room. Inside the room, they saw Souta sitting on the bed with his eyes closed. "I''m already sure that you guys already decided on what you''re going to do," Souta said as he slowly opened his eyes. Chapter 369 - Slave Souta narrowed his eyes as he looked at their face one by one. Gyun, Johnie, Mae, Rini, Limber, and Ginji subconsciously gulped and they said, "We''ve decided that we''re going to help you." Souta opened his mouth and said, "Whatever, just remember that you can''t turn back. The things that we will do could put you in danger." "It''s fine. We''ve made our resolve." Gyun and the rest said. "Oh?" Souta raised his eyebrows as he looked at them before he sighed and said, "Okay, good. You''re better than I expected." "Then, can I ask what you''re planning to do?" Gyun asked him. "Me? I''m planning to free a slave, as simple as that." Souta replied to him nonchalantly. "You''re planning... what?" "I''m planning to free a slave," Souta repeated what he said. It seems that these guys didn''t hear it clearly. "You''re going to free a slave?!" Gyun''s party was surprised. Before they could say anything Souta said something. "I don''t care about the rules and regulations of this land. I''ll just do what I want to do." Souta said to them. Well, once the Great World Imperium discovered this sub-world, this world will change. Its rules and laws will crumble down, everything will fit to the Imperium''s d.e.s.i.r.e. That''s why he didn''t care about the rules of this sub-world. Since Isabella will come to Imperium, he was sure that this world will be discovered by one of the forces in the Great World. So slavery would be gone. ... Souta asked them to gather information about that guy called Orlando. Orlando was a member of a large mercenary guild called Dopheos. Dopheos had hundreds of members and dozens of them were Knight Level. They were one of the most powerful guilds in this city. Orlando was a normal member of the guild yet he was also special as he was one of the sponsors of the Guild. The leader of Dopheos was a powerful individual named Synny. Some people said that she was a Knight Level but other people said that she was above Knight Level. Their headquarters was in the eastern part of the city. It was pretty noticeable as their base there was large with a four hundred meter diameter. They would instantly know it as there was a large word "Dopheos" at the entrance of the headquarters. There were hundreds of members of the Dopheos Guild and there were only a few of them. The disparity was large but Souta didn''t worry about the difference in their number. The only problem was the Knights of the guild. He didn''t know to what extent Knights could release in their powers. But that wasn''t a big problem for him. Knight was powerful but he estimated that their power level was just C-rank maybe B-rank. He didn''t have a problem with it as he had Yuko, a third evolution monster. Also, they were inside a city. His attributes would increase by 5% as it was the effect of the [Dominator of the City] skill that he gained from defeating Curdova in the Moon Tower. "Are we really going to fight Dopheos Guild just to save one slave?" Gyun asked with hesitation. "As I said before, if you don''t want to follow us then you can go elsewhere. I will do what I want." Souta replied to him. He then turned to Alice and said, "Let''s go!" The two left and Gyun''s party followed them. ... Souta and Alice sneak inside the Dopheos Guild. They memorized the structures of the base and the buildings. While the two were inside the building, the Gyun''s party was standing by close to it with Yuko. Souta said that they should just wait for them with Yuko. They don''t have to do anything except waiting. Souta knew that their power levels were low. Against a large mercenary guild, Gyun''s party was like an ant standing in front of a giant predator. They could die with a mere stomp from the predator. While they were waiting a woman approached them. Gyun and the rest recognized this woman. This woman was the one who won the fighting competition by defeating all of her enemies by one hit. "Is this your pet?" The woman asked while glancing at Yuko. "No," Gyun replied to her. "Where''s the owner of this bear?" The woman asked. "He left saying that he had something to do. So we''re waiting here." Gyun replied to her. "I see..." The woman nodded and she turned her head to the direction of the Dopheos Guild. Gyun and the rest narrowed their eyes as they observed this woman. They didn''t know what she wanted but it seems that she knew that Souta was the owner of the bear. If she did something wrong or say something wrong, then they wouldn''t hesitate to attack her. They knew that she was strong so they had to attack as fast as possible and quickly end the battle. ... It took them half an hour for Souta and Alice to memorized everything that they needed to know in the headquarters of the Dopheos Guild. Now it''s time to met Isabella to know what''s her answer. Isabella was currently inside the lab. She was brewing potions but she couldn''t focus that much because of what happened today. Her master said that man wouldn''t come and even if that man came back the Dopheos Guild would punish him for daring to touch the property of the guild. So she should focus on brewing potions and give them profits for the food that they''ve given to her. Dopheos Guild was a large mercenary group and that man couldn''t do anything about it. She wanted to follow the man who taught her potioneering. She wanted to become a great potion master but life was hard. She couldn''t become like that with her status as a slave. She shouldn''t dream about becoming free and removing this collar on her neck. "I should focus on brewing potions..." She shook her head and said to herself but still, she couldn''t remove those thoughts in her mind. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind him. "You have a talent. If you want I can provide rare ingredients to you so that you can brew different potions much to your liking." She was shook as she jumped and turned around to see who just talked to her. But what she saw was outside of her expectations. Souta was leisurely sitting on a vacant chair with his chin resting on his palm while looking at her. "Yo! You didn''t expect that it was me, right?" "...sir?" Isabella didn''t know what to say. Souta sighed as he couldn''t believe that this timid girl was the Great Potion Master in the game. He recalled that in the game, she had a cold and noble demeanor befitting her position as one of the greatest potion masters in the Great World. He opened his mouth and said, "As I said before, I will come back here to know your answer. Do you want to work for me for just five years or stay in this place for your whole life? I will provide everything that you wanted so that you could advance your knowledge in piotioneering." "I..." Before Isabella could finish her sentence, a group of people burst into the room and interrupted her. One of the people was Orlando, Isabella''s owner. "I didn''t think that you will come back," Orlando said while pointing at Souta. Souta turned his head to Orlando and said, "Do you really think that I''m joking when I said that I would come back?" "Yeah, but let''s stop here. I will praise you for your courage to step inside the territory of Dopheos Guild." Orlando said as he pointed at Souta and the rest of the guards charged at Souta. "Capture him!" Swoosh! Swoosh! One of the guards slashed his sword at Souta. Souta simply shifted his body to the side and avoided the sword. He then saw several swords slashing at him. Oh? He kicked the ground and gained some distance away from the enemies. But behind him were already the walls of the room so he couldn''t back away anymore. He glanced at Isabella and asked, "Isabella, tell me what you want? Forget about the Dopheos Guild for a moment and think about what you want. Then, you can tell me about it." "You!!" Orlando was enraged so he pulled out a sword and joined the group that was fighting Souta. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta simply avoided all the enemies that were attacking him. It was easy as they were too slow for his power level. "Why are you doing this, sir?" Isabella asked. "Why? I simply didn''t want a talent like you to rot in this place. If that talent is going to rot why not take it so that it wouldn''t rot?" He replied while dodging the swords left and right. "Do I really have a talent in potioneering?" Isabella asked in a loud voice. "Can you please shut up for a moment, you f.u.c.k.i.n.g slave?!!" Orlando turned to Isabella and threw a punch at her face. Souta appeared between them and he blocked the punch with his hand. He then turned to Isabella and said, "Yes, you have a talent. Just be confident with your skills and show the world that you can become something great." "I..." Tears formed at the corner of Isabella''s eyes as her vision turned blurry but she could clearly saw Souta confident face, believing that she would become a great person in the future. "I want to be free! I want to remove this collar and become a great potion master in the future!!" *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!!] [Slave]: Isabella wants to be free. She wants to remove her status as a slave. Help her in her goals. Rewards: 10,000 exp, 3 skill points, and 5 free attribute points Souta smirked and said, "Good. I heard you. Just leave everything to me." Chapter 370 - Attacking the Dopheos Guild The corner of Souta''s mouth slowly curves upward as he received a quest. It was unexpected and it wasn''t that bad. 3 skill points were better than nothing. "You can leave the rest to me or should I say to Alice," Souta said as high mana fluctuations erupted above the building. Then, a heavy mana poured down on the building. Boom! The whole building shook heavily as cracks formed around it. After a few seconds, it started to crumble down. "What''s happening?!" Orlando muttered in shock. The guards were also confused. They didn''t why there''s an earthquake and the mana got denser all of a sudden. "Hehe~ good luck..." Souta said to Orlando as he wrapped his hand around Isabella''s waist and jumped away through the window. Bang! After they got out the building exploded startling all the people in the surrounding area. In this territory, all the people here were members of the Dopheos Guild so they don''t have to worry about others. Orlando and the other guards emerged from the debris of rocks. They have a few bruises on their body. "Where is he?!" "Shit! I didn''t expect this to happen!!" "Lockdown the entire territory and quickly look for that man and that slave!!" "I will not let them get away easily!!" They looked around their surroundings and they called for more backup. Then, they dispersed to find the two. Souta and Isabella were on top of one of the buildings looking down at the people on the ground. He smiled and said inwardly, ''The stage is already set. Everything should go according to my plan. Now let me see how great the Knights really are.'' ... A muscular girl was sitting on a chair with piles of paper files. She had a long brown hair and was wearing a formal clothes. She was the leader of the Dopheos Guild, Synny Dopheos. While she was reading the words written on the paper, a man burst through the door of her room. "Madam!!" The man called her while breathing heavily. Synny looked at him and asked in annoyance, "What is it?" She was busy dealing with her work and this man interrupted her. "Madam! A man invaded our territory and it causes one of our buildings to be destroyed! Right now, he took one of the slaves and is currently hiding inside our territory! Orlando said that we should lockdown the territory to corner that man!" The man reported to his leader. "Oh? So that''s why I felt something while I''m reading..." Synny said as she raised her eyebrows. "Orlando is trying to cause a trouble once again. If he''s not one of our sponsors then I would already kick him out of the guild." "What should we do, Madam?" The man asked him. "Hmm... You can just ask Hunts about it. Tell him that I''m leaving this problem to him." Synny replied to him after pondering for a while. "Yes, Madam!" The man bowed before he left the room. ... "What are we going to do now, Sir?" Isabella asked him as she looked down at the people who were trying to find the two of them. "Don''t worry about it, let''s just watch the show in front of us." Souta paused for a moment as he turned to her and said, "Also, don''t call me sir. I''m Souta Ieshi, first name Souta and last name Ieshi. You can call me Souta to make it easy." "Yes, S-Sir Souta..." Isabella slowly said as she lowered her head. "Forget about formality. Just call me Souta." Souta waved his hand to her. He then focused his attention on the ground. Boom! A figure came down crashing on the ground from the sky. It was so powerful that it shook the ground heavily and caused a large crater on it. Smoke and dust filled the large crater and it hid the figure that just crashed on it. "Who''s that, S-Souta?" Isabella asked after some hesitation. "That''s my comrade Alice. You can count on her as she''s pretty strong." Souta explained to her. After a few moments, the wind blew strongly and it dispersed the smoke. They saw a beautiful girl with long silver hair standing in the center of the crater. Orlando arrived at the scene and asked with an enraged tone. "Who are you? What are you doing in this place?" He didn''t have a time to think about the beauty of this woman as his rage was slowly consuming his heart. "Tsk!" Alice slowly swept her eyes at them and clicked her tongue in annoyance. From what she could see, there''s no Knight Level among the people here. She opened her mouth and asked, "Is this everything you''ve got? If you want to find him then bring stronger people." Orlando opened his eyes widely as he understood what she was talking about. "What?! You''re with that man!!" "Yes, so bring everyone here so that I could finish my job," Alice said to him in a cold tone. "You!! Attack! Let''s capture this woman too!" Orlando said as he pointed his finger at Alice. The members of the Dopheos Guild charged forward with his signal. They brandished their weapons preparing to attack the lone girl. "My leader said that I should test the power of Knights so bring me those Knights. I don''t have any business with you." Alice muttered as she looked at the people that were charging at her. She slowly lifted her hand and everything was so fast for people. They could only see her hand turned blur. Bang! Bang! Bang! In an instant, she blew dozens of people that were charging at her. She didn''t even put her strength in her hand yet these people were blown away easily. "Argh!!" The members of Dopheos Guild screamed as they crashed on the nearby building. Bang! Bang! Alice wreaked havoc on her leader''s order so that she could force those Knight Levels to come out and fight her. It''s not only Souta that wanted to test the might of the Knight Level of this world, she also wanted it. She wanted to know how strong was the inhabitants of this sub-world. Every time she attacked people would fly away and several buildings would crumble down. It was fragile. Everything around her was like a glass that she could shatter easily. She didn''t even use twenty percent of her strength yet no one could stop her. Souta who was watching the battle raised his eyebrows as he turned his head. He felt the presence of several people heading towards Alice''s position. The presence of these people was stronger than the people that Alice was blasting away. "Oh? They are finally here." He guessed that they were Knight Levels but their presence was too weak compared to the people that he had fought before. Even Curdova or one of the executives of the Moon Tower could massacre this entire city population if they were that weak. ... Alice looked at the group of people who just arrived. She looked at them from head to toe and asked, "Are you people at Knight Level?" The one who was leading the group of people with a strong presence frowned at her question. He was wearing a full plate silver-colored armor with black linings and at the c.h.e.s.t part of the armor, a crest of their guild was carved into it. He was the vice-leader of the Dopheos Guild, Hunts. "Vice-leader!!" "This one is strong!! She''s probably at Knight Level!!" "We can''t do anything about her!!" Hunts simply glanced at his comrades who were covered in wounds before he said, "Step back. She''s indeed a Knight Level so those people who below Knight should stand back." Alice tilted her head as she slowly circulated her mana around her body. ''So these people really are Knight Levels.'' She thought. "Why are you attacking us?" Hunts asked as he didn''t immediately attack Alice. Both of them were Knights, after all, so they have the same status. "Why don''t you ask your member?" Alice replied to him as she dashed forward. She didn''t even bring out her orange-grade weapon. Swoosh! Hunts quickly pulled out his silver sword and slashed it forward. Alice shifted her body to avoid the slash and the next thing she found was that there''s a fist closed to her face. She threw a punch and both of their fists collided causing a loud sound to echo in the surrounding area. Bang! Hunts brought a total of seven Knight Level with him so he was confident that their group would subdue this girl. "Is that it?" Alice said as she put more force in her fist. She pushed her fist forward and the Knight was thrown away. Boom! "Ugh!" The Knight didn''t even manage to resist as he flew and crashed on the building twenty meters away. Chapter 371 - One-sided Battle Six Knight Levels plus the vice-leader who was clearly stronger than them. It''s not that bad but their power level was equal to C-rank in the Great World Imperium. ''Also, their fighting style is refined, unlike those C-ranks... They are much more stronger.'' Alice thought as she appeared behind the two Knight Levels. One was a woman and one was a man. She opened her arms and grabbed both of their heads before they could react. She then smashed their heads into each other before she lifted up her feet and kicked them away. Boom! Both of them crashed into several trees before they stopped. Swoosh! Hunts, the vice-leader, appeared behind Alice. "Hmm?" Alice looked at the figure that appeared behind her at the corner of her eyes. "Why are you attacking us?" Hunts asked as he slashed down the sword in his hand at Alice. "I already said why don''t you ask your member..." Alice swiftly turned around while using her elbow to hit her opponent on the stomach. Bang! She then faced him and pulled back both of her arms. She punched him in the stomach and the face causing a dent in his armor before she kicked him away. Hunts flew like a meteor and crashed on the building. Boom! Alice looked at Hunts and she titled her head as a knife passed beside her cheeks. She turned around to look at the remaining Knight Levels. As soon as she turned around, Alice saw a wave of knives flying at incredible speed. She raised her hand and coated it with her mana. Swoosh! She tightened her muscles and swung her hand at the knives that were flying at her. Clang! Clang! Clang! She deflected all the knives easily but she noticed something. She saw a man below heading at her with a sharp dagger. The man launched himself at Alice while thrusting the dagger in his hand. At the same time, she felt another Knight Level behind her. Alice raised her hand and shattered the dagger of the man in front of him. She then clad her side with her mana as she noticed that the sword of the Knight Level behind her was already at her side. Boom! Alice flew away and crashed into the closest building. Dust and smoke shot up filling up a certain part of the field. "Damn! She''s strong..." The Knight Level said while breathing heavily. The other two nodded at his words. Judging from that exchange, they knew that this girl was stronger than them. The only one who could fight them at the same time was their leader, Synny. "She... She''s strong!!" Isabella was amazed by what she saw. Souta said that girl was his comrade. To think that she could fight several Knight Levels alone was unbelievable. "Yeah, Alice is strong... Her current strength is at the top of B-rank fighters." Souta said to her with a smile on his face. It will take more than fifty C-rank powerhouses if they wanted to take down Alice and ninety percent of those C-ranks would die if she got serious. "Are you that strong, Sir, no, S-Souta?" Isabella asked him as she looked at him with bright eyes. "Who knows..." Souta replied to her as he shrugged his shoulder. He didn''t say yes nor deny it. It''s up to her to decide it. If she will going to join the group then she will see his strength sooner or later. ... Hunts and the other Knights stood up. They went beside the three Knights and looked at the smoke. They saw a silhouette standing in the smoke while walking slowly. Thud! Thud! Another seven Knights arrived at the scene and stood beside Hunts and the rest. Fourteen Knights including Hunts were present and this was all the Knights that Dopheos Guild could provide. "Is that all the Knights have got in this guild? Aren''t you one of the strongest guilds, right? So why don''t you show me your strength?" Alice''s voice resounded as she slowly walked out of the smoke. There''s not even a scratch on her body even though the sword of one of the Knights landed a direct hit on her. "Empowering your weapons with mana, that''s all you could do. Really, a C-rank at best." She said as a large amount of mana burst out of her body. Boom! Her mana swept out in the surrounding area and it placed a pressure on the body of all the Knights that was present. "Fourteen C-ranks isn''t that bad..." The Knights of the Dopheos Guild felt like someone placed a boulder of rock on their shoulder. They could only grit their teeth as they looked at Alice who was releasing the pressure. Beads of sweat started to form on their forehead. They couldn''t believe it at all. They felt like they were standing in front of a powerful monster. They haven''t met someone who could release this much mana. This was the first time that they''ve felt it. Their hearts started to waver and their knees trembled subconsciously. After a few seconds, Alice stopped pressuring them using her magic power. She looked at them and said, "What''s wrong? I thought that you''re a great Knight..." Maybe there were hundreds of C-ranks in the whole city. Still, it wasn''t that bad considering it rivaled the might of those small village like Ibish Village. Without the guild master of the Adventurers Guild, only C-ranks possessed the greatest might. "What do you want in Dopheos Guild?" Hunts said while gritting his teeth. He asked his normal subordinates to find the reason why this girl was attacking them. Up until now, that subordinate hasn''t reported back to him yet. "Just a few moments..." Alice said and in an instant, she appeared beside Hunts. She then threw a punch at his face. Swoosh! Hunts quickly raised his sword to block her punch. Bang! Alice''s fist smashed the sword and even though Hunts blocked it, he still flew away because of the immense force of her punch. He felt his hands getting numb and cracks formed on the blade of his sword. He couldn''t believe it. This girl was stronger than his leader, Synny. In fact, he could see that the girl was simply playing with them. If she wanted to end this battle, then she could easily end it. "Fine... I''m done testing your strength... I will end this quickly..." Alice muttered before she dashed at them. Everything that happened next was so fast. She fought all fourteen Knights of the Dopheos Guild and defeated them easily. The fight was one-sided and it was hard to call it a battle anymore. It was simply bullying. After a few minutes, all the Knights were lying on the ground. They were full of injuries and broken bones. They could hardly fight back at all. Alice was standing at the center of the field. Her presence was fearsome and it was terrifying to see how she beat the Knights alone. She looked at them with cold eyes. She fulfilled her role. She finally has an idea about how strong was a Knight Level of this world. It''s impossible for Knights to be the strongest here. If there were hundreds of C-ranks in a city like this then there''s a possibility that a country has one or two B-rank powerhouses which was above C-rank. ''Yeah, it''s really possible... Maybe there''s even an A-rank.'' She thought as she turned around. "Just how strong she is... She easily defeated those Knights." Isabella muttered with an amazed expression. "We''ve completed one of our goals here..." Souta suddenly said. "Goals...?" Isabella looked at him with a confused expression. "Yes, one is to know how powerful a Knight is. The second is the freed you." Souta replied to her. He could forcefully remove the collar on her neck but he decided that he will just let the Dopheos Guild do it. Taking a slave of a large guild and make them turned a blind eye on it while wrecking everything was something only strong people could do. There''s a possibility that they will become the enemy of the whole city but since the Dopheos Guild lockdown the territory no one knew what''s happening inside it. Only the member of the guild knew that something terrible was happening in this place. If there''s really someone above Knights then the leader of the guild must know about it. Well, he was sure about it but the ordinary folks didn''t know what it was called. There''s a rumor that the guild leader Synny was stronger than Knight. "I see..." Isabella nodded with a dazed expression. "Don''t worry about it. Nothing bad will happen to you." Souta said to her. He then turned his head as he noticed someone heading towards Alice. Alice turned around and was about to walk away when she heard a voice behind her. "Excuse me, young miss." She turned her head and saw a tall and muscular woman wearing formal clothes. She tilted her head and simply observed this woman. The mana emanating from this woman was stronger than the Knights that she had just fought. The muscular woman placed her hand on her c.h.e.s.t and kneeled down while saying, "I, Synny Dopheos, Leader of the Dopheos Guild, am honored to a Master-Class Knight." Chapter 372 - Master-class Knight Souta stood up and patted his clothes. He glanced at Isabella and said, "We''ll go down." "Eh...?!" Isabella was quite surprised. He didn''t wait for her answer as he wrapped his arm around her waist and jumped down. Swoosh! The battle has concluded and that''s the limit of the Knights of this sub-world. Now that the leader of the Knights has appeared, it''s time to talk with her. ... ''Master-class Knight...?'' Alice tilted her head in confusion. Maybe it was a level above Knight, if that was true then there''s really no way that she was at ordinary Knight''s level. She didn''t say anything as she just looked at this woman who called herself the leader of the Dopheos Guild. Synny didn''t dare to stand up as she continued to kneel in front of Alice. This girl was in fact a Master-class Knight. She was at her office when she felt a burst out mana. Knights couldn''t do that. Even if they could do it, it wouldn''t have that kind of heavy pressure. Only Master-class who was above them could exert such strength. After a while, Synny lifted her head and looked at Alice''s face. She then asked, "May I know why are you here in the territory of Dopheos Guild?" Alice just destroyed several buildings and beaten all of the Knights in their guild. Even if Synny was angry, she had to swallow it because she knew that this beautiful lady was on a different level. Plus, it was rare to meet a Master-class even in a country like this one. This girl must have a high position in this country but why she is in a place like this one? "We''re here to take Isabella with us... Your subordinates didn''t heed our words and tried to fight so what can we do." The one who answered her question wasn''t Alice, it was Souta. He looked at her with a smile and continued, "What was his name again? Orlando, right? We''ve tried to negotiate with him but he disrespected us. We''re trying to buy Isabella formally and that guy didn''t compromise. Of course, you know what happened next. We came here and took Isabella." Synny looked at Souta with a serious expression while listening to his words. Yeah, he was right. They didn''t have a reason to go into this territory. They were simply going to buy a slave but Orlando was the problem. She knew his personality. He was bossing the ordinary members of the guild even though he''s an ordinary member too. If he wasn''t one of the sponsors then she would''ve kicked him out long ago. She slowly stood up and turned head to her subordinates who were watching the battle from a distance. She ordered, "Bring Orlando here! Find him!" After a few minutes, her subordinates came back while dragging Orlando. "Oi! Peasant! Don''t grab me with your filthy hands!! Don''t you know me!" Orlando tried to resist but it was futile. The people that were dragging him were clearly stronger. Also, their numbers made it easy to subdue him. "Leader! Tell them to stop grabbing me!" Orlando said when he saw Synny. Synny looked at him and grabbed him on the head. She then threw Orlando in front of Souta and said, "Can you please tell me what do you want from him?" "Hmm... I simply want to free Isabella. If slaves have doc.u.ments then bring them to me and the key of the collar in her neck. I want to remove it as fast as possible." Souta said with a mocking smile on his face while looking at Orlando. "You!! What are you doing here?! Why are you following this man?!" Orlando shouted as he pointed his finger at Souta. Synny stomped on his head and said, "Be quiet, you''re in front of a Master-class so don''t show any rude attitude." "M-Master-class...?!" Orlando opened his eyes widely in shock. Synny was talking about Alice, not Souta. She didn''t even know if Souta was powerful or not but if he was with a Master-class then it''s better to show him a respectful attitude too. "You''re always bringing trouble to our guild with your rude attitude. Now, how can you explain this to me? You offend a Master-class which are a great treasure of a country." Synny looked down at Orlando who started this problem. "I-I don''t know..." Orlando replied while stuttering. He couldn''t believe it. A Master-class which was higher than a Knight Level was with that man. If he knows it, he would even gift Isabella to him for free just to curry the favor of a Master-class. "Sigh..." Synny sighed while pressing her temples. She then turned to her subordinates and ordered them to bring the things that Souta asked for. "Bring the doc.u.ments regarding Isabella! All of it! bring it to me! including the key!" Souta, Alice, and Isabella didn''t say anything as they watch the things unfold before their eyes. A few minutes had passed and the subordinates of Synny brought the doc.u.ments and key. "Here..." Synny passed the doc.u.ments and key to Souta. Souta received it as he threw the key to Isabella and read the doc.u.ments. The words written on it contained that Isabella was a slave. He read that she almost didn''t have a right. Being a slave strips all of her right as humans and demis. She will be treated as some kind of animal. There''s even a sign of the company that sold her. Slavery was really legal in this world. Flames emitted from his hand and it turned the doc.u.ments into ashes. He then said, "From now on, I remove Isabella''s status as a slave. She will be treated as one of humans and demis." Clang! A metallic sound echoed as the collar fell on the ground. Isabella removed the collar on her neck and her lips trembled. Her vision was getting blurred as tears formed in her eyes. She raised her hand and wiped her eyes. "Thank you..." *Ding!* [The quest "Slave" has been completed!] [You''ve received 10,000 exp, 3 skill points, and 5 free attribute points!] Souta looked at his system and nodded with a satisfied expression. He cleared another quest and earned a few skill points easily. It''s not that bad. He was satisfied with the outcome of this fight. ... Three days had passed since the battle in the territory of Dopheos Guild. The incident inside the territory of the Dopheos Guild spread in the whole city. A Master-class Knight appeared and defeated all the Knights of the powerful guild. It shook the whole city. A Master-class was a legendary figure and it has the highest position. Every country would welcome such powerhouse with open arms. The cause of this problem was Orlando who was expelled out of that guild that night. Even though he was one of the sponsors of the guild, the guild still kicked him out. No one wanted him after he offended a Master-class Knight, they only got lucky that the Master-class Knight didn''t kill any of them. A lot of big figures in the city tried to find the Master-class Knight but they didn''t find anything. They wanted to meet and know such legendary figure. Synny didn''t even try to hide this thing even though they were utterly defeated. After all, they weren''t defeated by an ordinary Knight but instead a Master-class. They could accept it and the other powerful guilds could understand why. At least, they have an idea about how strong was a legendary level beyond Knight. While everyone was talking about the Master-class Knight, Souta and the rest were outside of the Buckshawn State. They were going to continue their journey towards Granmr, the capital of the Gyunar Republic. Gyun''s party didn''t do anything in the battle. They just stood outside of the Dopheos Guild beside Yuko while waiting for Souta and Alice. They were also shocked when they''ve found that Alice was a Master-class Knight. That''s a whole different level compared to Knight Level. They had mixed emotions regarding it. They didn''t even know how they would treat Alice now that they learned that she was a powerful person. ''They already treated Alice as legendary figure... How would they react if someone like Teacher Bargan arrived in this world?'' Souta thought while rubbing his chin. "Is there something wrong, S-Souta?" Isabella asked as she saw him thinking deeply. "Nothing... I just found something funny." Souta replied to her as he shrugged his shoulder. "If he''s like that you can ignore him... He''s thinking about some weird things or planning some vile things." Alice said to Isabella. "Oi! That''s mean, Alice. You know that I''m always thinking about our safety first." Souta said to her with a smile. Gyun, Mae, and the rest just followed them behind. ''As I thought they are amazing...'' ''Incredible...'' ''A Master-class Knight... I didn''t think that I would meet one in my entire life...'' Chapter 373 - Arrival at Granmr State In the oldest empire in the world, Condifan Empire. A pillar of light shot down the palace at the capital. The light came from the sky as countless people witness this scene. It was shocking as the whole ground was trembling heavily and heavy mana slowly spread in the surrounding area. "Oh my god! What is that thing?!" "W-What''s happening?!" "Shit! What''s happening to this place?!" "N-No!!" "Help!!" "The hell is that thing!!" Voices of the citizens of the country echoed in the whole area. The earthquake was so powerful that it destroyed several tall structures in the capital. After a few moments, the pillar of light disappeared. What appeared before them was a man with a two and a half meter height. The man was wearing light red armor. His skin tone was gray and the texture of his skin was rough. It felt like there were tiny bumps. Above him was a gigantic metal object that has a length of 500 meters and a width of 200 meters. It was a ship. A technology that this world hasn''t seen before. "The energy level in the atmosphere is higher than an ordinary world... This is an amazing world..." The man said while looking at his surrounding with an amazed expression. He couldn''t believe that the energy level of this world was higher than his homeworld. It was stunning to see a treasure like this one. Ohm! Flesh like things seeped out his armor and it wriggled around the surface of the armor. After a few seconds, the armor entirely changed its appearance. The armor in his face closed as spikes slowly protruded from the helmet upto his back. "I''m detecting several powerful people..." He muttered as the armor in his hand turned into a sharp blade. The Knights and Master-class Knights of the Condifan Empire surrounded the unknown man who just appeared with the strange floating object in the sky. "Just what is this man...?!" "The aura he possessed is something I haven''t seen in my entire life..." "Yeah, we should work together..." The man looked at them and smiled, "Okay, let''s go and destroy this place." As soon as he said those words, the ship in the sky opened its doors or gates. Various humanoid figures poured out of it and landed on the ground. It was his subordinates. "It''s a good present to our master..." He said as he charged towards his opponent. Five Master-class Knights quickly moved their body as fast as possible. They have different roles in the battle, just like a party some were tankers and some were damage dealers while the others were supports. The ordinary Knights turned around and faced the subordinates of the man. They knew that they couldn''t help the Master-class Knights in their battle. Just like that, one of the oldest nations, the Condifan Empire faced the crisis of invasion from another realm. Once again this world would experience war after a long time of bathing in peace. Souta and the rest arrived at the capital of the Gyunar Republic, Granmr State, after a few days of traveling. Of course, Souta and Alice didn''t stop training in these few days. Wherever they will get a chance, the two would train to increase their strength in Saya''s inner consciousness. They left the living labyrinth there as Souta decided to clear it when he had enough power. He knew that his power level wasn''t enough to clear a thousand years old living labyrinth which produced countless monsters. He will remember this world, Isabella''s homeworld. Granmr State was a huge city like Buckshawn State. The only difference was that a lot of nobles and the country''s upper echelons were living here. While most of the people that were living in Buckshawn State were mercenaries. This city was guarded by countless people wearing full plate armors. They were the soldiers and the military force of this city. The group entered the city and they were quite surprised when they saw a group of people wearing luxurious clothes welcoming them. The Knight Level powerhouses bowed respectfully to Alice along with the people who looked like some high-ranking officials of this country. ''Oh? The news about Alice traveled in this city easily...'' Souta was quite surprised as he observed the group. He guessed that they have some sort of communication device. If not how could these people know about Alice being a Master-class Knight? Isabella and Gyun''s party were speechless at this sight. They didn''t think that high-ranking officials of the Gyunar Republic would welcome them. But considering Alice''s status they could understand it. Souta smiled as he decided to act. He stepped forward and replied to them in Alice''s stead. "Yes, we will go with you." Alice tilted her head when she heard him. She thought that they wouldn''t follow these annoying people. "Oh? Thanks... Then, please follow us. We''ve already prepared a luxury room for the rest of you." One of the officials said with a smile. Souta glanced at Alice and smiled. The group then followed the officials and headed towards the palace at the center of the city. Of course, this little event gathered the attention of the people. They didn''t know why those officials of the country were out here talking to someone politely. "I think the person who''s following us wouldn''t dare to go to the palace," Souta said to Alice in a low voice that only the two of them could hear. "Hmm... I see... But I think that person would still follow us." Alice replied to him. After the group left the Buckshawn State, they noticed that someone was following them and watching their movements. They didn''t bother themselves as that power didn''t have any hostility against any of them. They thought that the person who was following them would give up soon but that person was consistent. "Also, it''s better if we make contact with the officials of this country. That way, we could gather information easily with their help." Souta said to her. "If you say so..." Alice nodded at him. The group arrived at the palace and the officials led them to one of the largest rooms in this place. It was a guest room but it was also beautiful. The design of the room was exquisite. After that, the officials left them and Souta guessed that they were going to report back to the leader of this country. "Wow, it''s beautiful! It''s my first time entering a room like this one!" Mae said while looking around. "Me too..." Rini nodded at her words. "A room in the palace is really something else," Gyun said with a laugh. The rest of the Gyun''s party looked around with Isabella. "Sooner or later, a lot of people will visit us to see the great Master-class Knight..." Souta said as he glanced at Alice. He then added, "Just do your best to interact with them." "Oh? I thought you''re the one who''s going to talk. If I know this I wouldn''t even come here." Alice said with a sigh. She really didn''t like talking to people that she didn''t know. "It''s fine. It''s fine. I will back you up." Souta said to her as he closed his eyes and activated the [Pet Resonance] skill. He saw that Yuko was inside a place where the guards kept the monster guard of the palace. It seems that there''s a tamer here for them to have a place like this one which was full of tamed monsters. The tamed monster felt that Yuko was stronger than them so they became docile. They were just non-evolve monsters and they will place a third evolution beside them. If only they knew the difference they wouldn''t do it. "Isabella... Do you want to brew some potions? We can ask the people here. I''m sure that the palace has a place where you can brew potions. Also, we can ask them for some ingredients." Souta opened his eyes and said as he looked at Isabella who was looking around with bright eyes. "Ah... Um... I..." Isabella was surprised when he called her. She didn''t know what to say. She wanted to brew some potions but asking it from the people in the palace... "Okay, I will tell them about it." Souta didn''t wait for her response as he said. Chapter 374 - Confronting While Souta and the rest were talking they heard a knock on the door. "Hmm...?" Souta raised his eyebrows as he turned his head. He guessed that they were here. It''s impossible for the officials of this country to leave them alone while giving them a luxurious place to rest. Of course, they must have some goal. Well, he could guess their goal as it was quite obvious. They must''ve wanted a Master-class Knight to stay in their country. Mae stood up and said, "I''ll go and check it." She then left to see who''s coming to see them. After a while, she came back with a group of five people. The five people consist of two women and three men. The one who''s leading the group was a handsome man with long blonde hair with white skin. Souta ignored the rest as he focused his attention on the tall man wearing full plate armor with a blue cape. The tall man had sharp blue eyes and short brown hair. What caught his attention was the aura he was releasing. ''Oh? Finally met an expert of this world.'' He said inwardly as he guessed that this man must be the Master-class Knight of this country. The tall man''s demeanor was cold and fearless. He was the strongest in the group while the seductive woman beside him wearing a dark blue robe with gold trimming was only second to him. This woman was trying to hide her mana but it seems that her control wasn''t that great. Maybe, a level 3 [Mana Manipulation] skill. The other three including the handsome man were just weak individuals. Maybe they have some sort of artifacts that could hide their energy like him. He looked down at his wrist and saw two bracelets around it. One was the artifact that Alice gave to him to hide his appearance and the second one was the [Bracelet of Silencing] that he got from Raeshka, the Destruction Queen. [Bracelet of Silencing](Orange): A bracelet of who wandered around the continent while hiding her powers. She secretly kidnapped children from different countries and used them in her experiment. Effect: +60 Intelligence, +30 Vitality, +100 Health Points, +200 Mana, +5 Mana Regen Passive Skill: [Energy Stealth] This skill can hide the wearer''s energy from the senses of the people in the surrounding area. It has a limit as this skill can''t hide the energy fluctuations from level 80 creatures and above. The five people looked around the room and focused their attention on Alice after they saw her. The other officials already said that the Master-class Knight was a beautiful woman like a fairy but they didn''t expect that she was really that beautiful. ''Why are people in this world getting shocked by Alice''s beauty every time they saw her?'' Souta said inwardly. At first, he was like them. When he saw Alice at that time, he was surprised at how beautiful she is but he''s now used to it. Well, Great World Imperium wasn''t lacking in beautiful women like her so people got used to it. Also, there were hundreds of races in the Great World, and some of the races have their own definition of beauty. So for some races, Alice''s appearance was just normal. "Forgive me for entering this room without any notice. I''m Janford Raymaine, A secretary governor of the Department State. It''s my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet a Master-class Knight." The handsome man said in a polite tone. "I''m Cirus Oxcram, the Head of the Military Department. It''s nice to meet another Master-class Knight." The tall man introduced himself. After him, the woman wearing a dark blue robe introduced herself, "I''m Alyssa Sydmond, the vice-head of the Military Department." Then, the other two people introduced themselves. They were also officials but their ranks were lower than the first three people. Souta glanced at Alice and saw that she was simply observing the group without saying anything. It seems that she didn''t plan to introduce herself. Alice glanced at Souta as if she was asking him for help. She didn''t want to talk to these people. He laughed inwardly and turned his head away from her gaze. He was planning to leave it to her for the time being. Even if she offends these people then it''s fine for him. After all, it was his decision to leave it to her and he will accept the consequences. Alice narrowed her eyes when she saw him turned away. She sighed and opened her mouth. She started the conversation by introducing herself. Their conversation was long and Alice was answering them in simple words. The officials talked about their country and the benefits that she will receive if she stayed here. The one who ruled the Gyunar Republic wasn''t a king nor an emperor but instead a president that the citizens choose. Well, that''s what the public knew but the vote was altered by the nobles of the country who secretly ruled this place. The nobles ruled this country. Well, it''s also because of them that this country became one of the three dominant countries in the world. Nothing much to say about it. While they were talking Souta excused himself and left the room. He sensed that the person who was following them even followed them inside the palace. Oho? What a bravery? Is that person not afraid of the power of this country? ''That person possessed some ability. Entering the palace without getting detected by the guards is hard.'' Saya said to him. ''Yeah, it''s good that''s why I''m done ignoring that person.'' Souta replied to him as he vanished in his position and head towards the direction where he sensed the person that was following them. Swoosh! As soon as he moved he sensed the person moved too. That person was trying to escape the palace now. In just a few minutes, both of them were out of the palace and were chasing in the middle of the city. Of course, some of the guards with s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e senses detected their movements. But they were too slow to follow the two who were moving at astonishing speed. Their movements were so fast that the ordinary people couldn''t saw him. They only felt a gust of wind passed beside them. Some of them saw blurred figures and that''s all. They didn''t even know that Souta and the unknown person run on their side. Another minute had passed and Souta saw the person turned into alley. He kicked the ground and followed that person. He then suddenly stopped moving after he turned into the alley. It was because he saw the person didn''t run anymore. The person that was following them was on the opposite side while looking at Souta. It was none other than the woman who won the fighting competition in the Buckshawn State. Both of her hands were in the air indicating that she didn''t have a plan to run anymore. She must have guessed that there''s no point in running away. Souta was fast and she couldn''t outrun him. "Fine, I wouldn''t run." The woman said to him. Souta narrowed his brows and slowly asked, "Who are you, and why are you following us?" "Okay, since you caught me I''m going to answer your question." The woman replied to him. She paused for a moment while looking around before she added, "But first we should leave this place. The guards are going to find us soon." "Fine, let''s find some quiet place. If you run away then I will not show any kindness." He said as he turned around. He finally understood why this woman dared to follow him in the palace. She possessed speed that could rival any B-rank powerhouses in the Great World Imperium. "I know." The woman nodded at him nonchalantly. She then followed him as both of them disappeared before the guards arrived at the place. The guards arrived at the alley and they''ve found nothing. They were sure that they''ve detected the slight mana fluctuations come here in this place. "Where is it?" "We detected that it run here?" "But why did the fluctuations suddenly disappeared like nothing happened?" "I don''t know." "We''ll investigate it further and try to find the answer to it." The guards called for more people to investigate the place. This was the capital and they wouldn''t let something that they couldn''t understand occurred in this place. They would do everything to know the reason behind it. Unfortunately for them, the reason for this incident was both powerful people. They wouldn''t find these two people no matter what they did. ... Souta and the woman were on top of the large building. They were looking at the palace. "How about you start introducing yourself?" He looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "I''m Lydia De Capell." The woman simply said her name to Souta. After a while, she added, "I''ll tell you why I''m following your group." "Go on," Souta said to her. Chapter 375 - I felt embarrassed Souta came back to the palace without anyone noticing about it. He was a little bit surprised by the information that woman gave to him. That woman, Lydia, wasn''t local of this world. She was from another world that was much more advance than this one. It was a civilization that ruled over five hundred thirty-two worlds. It was called the Great Astley Empire. In truth, the Great Asltey Empire found more than a hundred thousand worlds but most of it didn''t any creatures that were living in it. The environment was too extreme for people to live in it. Only people with enough strength could handle those extreme environments. The empire didn''t stop expanding its territory. They continued to plunder and invade any world that they''ve discovered. They were trying to find resources and worlds with high energy density. He was quite familiar with this civilization. In the game, there''s a small event where another civilization tried to invade the Great World Imperium. The only problem was that when they opened the [Dimensional Gate], it appeared above the vicinity of the northern God''s Continent. A monster lord named Jormungandr, the World Serpent, was resting in that place. It woke up the moment the [Dimensional Gate] appeared. The next thing that happened was a one-sided massacre by a monster lord. Of course, the players that were in that place joined the event to fight the Great Astley Empire with Jormungandr. Hundreds of sub-world got destroyed by the overwhelming power of the World Serpent. That''s the first time that the Great Astley Empire learned the true power of a creature who could rival gods. After that event, the gods placed the remaining sub-world under their rule after the World Serpent calmed down. Well, Souta couldn''t join that small event as he was in the Giza Continent at that time, fighting demons in the front line. He only knows it because a lot of players posted that event in the forum. It gathered its famed because it''s the first time that the famed World Serpent showed its power as a monster lord. It definitely lived up to its name. Destroying hundreds of worlds easily and the entire army of the Great Astley Empire couldn''t do anything about it. They could only watch the World Serpent destroyed everything in its path while advancing to their homeworld. ''So it''s connected to that event why Isabella got to the Great World Imperium.'' Back to Lydia... Lydia was a captain of a battalion in that empire. She was a strong woman that reached B-rank in Imperium''s power level. The captain of the 36th battalion of the Great Astley Empire. She had three hundred thousand soldiers under her command. But she rebelled against them. It was because she realized how corrupted and greedy the higher-ups of the empire. They won''t get satisfied even after plundering dozens of worlds out there. Killing millions of people of different worlds and enslaving them was something she couldn''t handle anymore. She''s s now a wanted person in the Great Astley Empire. The reason was she cut the resources of the army that was trying to invade other worlds. It was simple yet she bought time for those worlds to prepare themselves for the upcoming invasion. The reason why she''s following them was because she''s trying to find some ally to help her in her goal. She''s gathering strong people that could fight those commanders of the army. Right now, he left her in the inn as he didn''t believe her words even though he knew what will happen. Lydia will grow suspicious if he instantly believed her without any proof. He will act that he didn''t believe her until he got a proof or a quest that will make him move. Souta went back to the room. Only Isabella was left inside the room. The rest were gone. "Where did they go?" He asked Isabella. "They followed the officials to the training ground..." Isabella replied to him. "Training ground...?" Souta raised his eyebrows at her words. "Y-Yes, that''s what I heard in their conversation. I stayed here because I want to wait for you before we go there." Isabella said as she lowered her head. "Okay, then let''s go and follow them." Souta nodded and he turned around. The two left the room. They went around and asked some people in the palace about the training ground. Where they could find it? They were new to this place so they wouldn''t know its structure. After a few minutes, the two arrived at the training ground. The training ground was located at the back of the palace. It''s a really wide place and huge place. Most of the guards of the palace were staying here and they were training here. Although it wasn''t the main training ground of the soldiers, it was still a huge place. He saw Alice and the rest talking to the officials. They turned around when they heard someone came inside the training ground. Souta smiled and said, "Don''t bother me. I''m just here to watch." He waved his hand as he continued to walk while Isabella was following him. The officials turned back to Alice and discussed something. Souta and Isabella went to Gyun side and asked, "What are they talking about?" "They are talking about giving Alice a noble title if she stayed here in the country," Gyun said. "What noble title?" Souta asked with a curious look as he glanced at the officials. "One of the highest title, the Duke. If Alice accepted it, she will become a duchess of this country. They are also talking about giving her military position." Gyun slowly explained to him about the things that he understood in the conversation. It was shocking to see the officials of this country offered someone a high position. "I see..." Souta nodded. He guessed that these people already did their investigation for them to offer Alice a high position. He was right. The moment they received information about a Master-class Knight in the Buckshawn State. The officials used everything they''ve got to investigate this matter. They found that Alice and Souta came from the Tunbra Forest, the largest forest in the whole world. Up until now, they only managed to explore forty percent of the whole forest. They didn''t dare to explore the rest of it as they''ve found the territory of the fearsome dragons from legend. The two also didn''t have any information about Alice and Souta prior to the event in Buckshawn State. Not just them that were investigating about Alice and Souta, the other countries were also investigating the two. A Master-class Knight was a big matter as it will increase the overall strength of an army. "Just wait for a moment... Alice will spar with Cirus." Mae suddenly said. Her words gathered Souta''s attention. He turned to her and asked to confirm it, "She will fight Cirus?" "Yes, Cirus wanted to test her strength and Alice agreed to it," Mae said with a hint of excitement. "Oh?" Souta looked at Alice. Both of them were disappointed by the Knight Level. Ever since they learned about the Master-class Knight, they wanted to learn its strength. How could it fare against them? They weren''t sure about it but since the Knight Level was C-rank then a Master-class Knight must be at B-rank level. "It''s going to start..." Souta waited for a while. The spar was going to start as Cirus went to the center while slowly pulling out his weapon. Cirus looked at Alice and said, "I''m ready. Just you know even among the Master-class there are individual skill differences. No one could defeat a Master-class Knight except another Master-class Knight." "Oh? He seems confident in his skills." Souta muttered as he patted his clothes and walked towards Alice. "Oi! Souta where are you going?" Gyun and the rest shouted at Souta when they saw him walking towards the field. Souta ignored them as he went beside Alice and patted her shoulder. He then said, "Let me try it in the meantime. You''ve already tried it in Buckshawn State so let me..." Alice nodded as she stepped back. "Oh! Where are you going?" Cirus asked Alice. "This man is going to fight you," Alice said as she waved her hand without care. "This one?" Cirus looked at Souta who only had one arm. "This one is a tamer, right? A tamer is going to fight me with his per. Are you kidding me?" Gyun''s party, Isabella, and the officials that were watching were stunned at this scene. They couldn''t believe that Alice was leaving the fight to Souta. "Yeah, yeah. I''m going to fight you. Also, I wouldn''t use Yuko. If Yuko is the strongest in our group so I wouldn''t use her." Souta said with a smile. "Of course, your a tamer so your per must be stronger than you." Cirus paused for a moment and said, "You''re not even Master-class Knight yet you''re trying to fight me." "Yes, you''re not a Master-class. I couldn''t feel any mana from you." Alyssa, the vice-head of the Military Department, said. "Oh? So your that type of person. You had some good senses there." Souta said as he looked at Alyssa. He looked down at his bracelet and said, "Sorry about that. I felt embarrassed about it." He then removed the bracelet of silencing. As soon as he removed the bracelet, Alyssa opened her eyes widely. "This is..." She felt a huge amount of mana seeping out of his body all of a sudden. She never saw anything like this in her entire life. Chapter 376 - Battling Cirus "Oh? So you''re hiding your real strength. I thought that you''re not as strong as that girl. Well, this makes it easy. Come and let me test you." Cirus said with a smile as his anger subsided when he felt Souta''s mana. "Sir, his energy level is ridiculously high. It''s the first time I saw something like this." Alyssa said to Cirus. She was stunned at the energy oozing out of Souta''s body. She met dozens of Master-class Knight before but Souta had the highest energy level among them. And she knew that Souta wasn''t releasing all of it. "It''s fine. Don''t worry about it. It''s just a spar." Cirus said to Alyssa. He then turned to Souta and said, "I didn''t think that you''re a Master-class Knight too. Forgive me for my rudeness before. In return, I will use all of my strength as a show of my respect." The officials that were watching from the sideline were shocked too. They couldn''t believe it. The man that they thought was weak was actually a Master-class Knight. A person that was standing at the top of this world in terms of individual strength. Janford, the secretary governor, narrowed his eyes while looking at Souta. ''This man will be hard to control...'' He thought. Then, he turned to Alice and finally understood why she was listening to him. Before he met them, he already heard that the Master-class Knight was a beautiful woman. Some of the people suggested to him that he should seduce the Master-class Knight woman. Since she came from Tunbra forest, she must have never seen someone as handsome as him. He didn''t immediately agree with their decision but when he saw the Master-class Knight, he decided to follow them. It wouldn''t be bad if he makes her his own considering how beautiful she is. He thought that it would be easy but when they talked, Alice didn''t even show emotion when talking with them. She was only showing emotion when talking to the man with one arm. That man was just a tamer and his face was average. But Janford didn''t think that Souta was a Master-class Knight all along. "I see... So that''s why..." He muttered as he turned his attention back to Souta. "Is that the new Master-class Knight...?!" "I heard that they said that it''s a beautiful woman!" "I don''t know but that man is going to fight Sir Cirus!" "If he is really a Master-class then it''s going to be interesting!" "A fight between Master-class. I haven''t seen something like this before." The guards said while looking at Souta and Cirus who were at the center of the field. Souta grinned as he slowly pulled the vajra sword from its sheath. He opened his mouth and said, "If you don''t want to go first then I''ll go." As soon as he said those words he disappeared from his position. Swoosh! Souta quickly shifted his body. After that, he thrust his sword forward. Clang! Just like that the battle between the two Master-class Knights started. "Who do you think is going to win?" Janford asked Alyssa, the vice-head of the Military Department. "Among the four Master-class Knight of our country Cirus is ranked third but he had the most destructive brute strength among the four Master-class Knight." Alyssa paused for a moment before she added, "We don''t know the capability of that man so we can''t be sure who''s going to win this battle." "I see..." Janford nodded at her explanation. While the fight was ongoing the other three Master-class Knight of the Gyunar Republic appeared. They weren''t going to miss something like this. A battle between the two Master-class Knights was rare. A short man with long black hair that was tied in a ponytail said, "Is that the new Master-class Knight? I thought that it''s a girl." The short man was wearing black tight clothes. He had two daggers hanging on his waist. He was Paul, the second rank Master-class Knight of the Gyunar Republic. He was the head of the secret ops of the country. "Yes, but it seems that the girl''s comrade is also a Master-class..." A woman wearing a silver-colored armor was the one who answered Paul''s question. Her name was Frederica, the fourth rank Master-class Knight of the Gyunar Republic. She was also the one who handled training the soldiers of the country. "A pair of Master-class. They are a walking disaster that could destroy a country." A tall man wearing exquisite armor said. His name was Andrew, the first rank Master-class Knight and the head guard of the president of the country. All four Master-class Knights were nobles. They were duke and duchess, standing at the top of the country. Naturally, their appearance gathered Souta''s attention. He senses the energy coming out of these three people that suddenly appeared in the training ground. The whole area was silent as all the people that were watching the battle opened their eyes widely. They couldn''t believe what they were seeing right now. "Sir! Be careful!" Alyssa shouted with a concerned look on her face. All the Master-class that were watching the battle frowned at the sight on the field. The battle was something that they didn''t expect at all. "This is..." At the field, Cirus was standing while his sword was in front of him. ''Just what...'' Sweat was forming in his forehead and his breathing was heavy. Cirus couldn''t move from his position. ''Is going on?'' He felt his arm going numb. He couldn''t find an opportunity to attack as all he could do was defend himself against Souta''s attack. ''Just what kind of person am I fighting with?!'' Souta slashed the vajra sword and mana blade shot from his sword. He kept shooting mana towards Cirus who couldn''t do anything. Bang! Bang! Bang! Blueish mana with a hint of blackness pounded Cirus repeatedly in all directions. After Souta upgraded his [Sword Mastery] skill, he could do this easily without having a problem. He felt that his sword was like a part of his body and it was moving according to his thoughts. ''Shit! I didn''t think that he would be this strong!'' He gathered his mana in his sword. He roared loudly as he slashed it forward. "Ahhhh!!!" A wave of mana flew out of his sword and it hit nothing. He was surprised to see that Souta wasn''t there but how could he move so fast. Thud! He heard a sound behind him and he quickly turned around. He saw Souta with his eyes closed with a smile on his face. "I didn''t think that I would meet someone as strong as you. I thoroughly enjoy it..." Souta said as he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Cirus. "But it seems your reaching your limit." "Damn!" Cirus roared as he charged towards Souta. He gathered all of his mana in his sword and swung it downwards. Boom! The ground shook heavily and a large cut appeared on it. It was powerful that the shockwaves swept out in the surrounding area forcing the Master-class Knights to create a barrier to protect the people that were watching the battle. Huff... Huff... Cirus was breathing heavily. The guy he was facing was stronger than all the people that he''d fought before in his entire life. His power was only weaker to a dragon. "I must admit it. This place is very sturdy yet you managed to cut it. You possessed incredible strength." His muscles tensed up when he heard Souta''s voice. He looked ahead and saw Souta standing beside his sword. "As strong as a guild master of Adventurers Guild. However," Souta slowly raised the vajra sword and gathered his mana on its blade. "I now find this boring..." Red energy formed around the blade of his sword and Souta dashed towards Cirus while swinging it. [Crimson Moon!] A bright red light flashed out on the field as the entire training ground shook heavily. The red energy swallowed Cirus body and a loud explosion occurred. Boom! "Sir!!" Alyssa shouted with a worried expression on her face. The rest of the officials couldn''t believe it at all. They felt like they were watching an a.d.u.l.t bullying a child. It was so easy on Souta''s side. He made it looked fighting Cirus so easy. Swoosh! Souta was standing in the middle of a large crater with smoke and dust beside him. He slowly placed the vajra sword in its sheath. The higher-ups of the Gyunar Country saw something above them in terms of individual strength. They finally saw something that they haven''t seen in their entire life. Chapter 377 - Domination Cirus was lying down on the ground without any consciousness. He had a large cut on his c.h.e.s.t and blood kept pouring out of it. His armor didn''t even manage to protect him at all. Souta turned his head to the three Master-class Knights that were watching the battle. He smiled and said, "Do you want to try it too? I don''t mind fighting all of you at the same time." If he said these words before he showed his strength, all the people here would think that he was arrogant but now, after seeing him defeat Cirus they could only watch him with a stunned look. They weren''t going to think that he was arrogant at all. He was just simply saying the truth with utmost confidence in his strength. "What do you think about my proposal? I think it''s fair if you guys work together to fight me." Souta said with a smile. The three Master-class Knights looked at each other. "This guy is underestimating us..." Frederica said to the two. She was the fourth rank Master-class Knight. "Yes, but he had the strength to back it up. Cirus is stronger than you so that man could trash you around easily." Andrew, the strongest among them, said to her. "Tsk!" Frederica clicked her tongue. She couldn''t refute as she realized that she couldn''t win against that man. "But fighting one Master-class is different than fighting the three of us. We had a chance if we work together. We can''t possibly let him mock us." Paul, the second rank, said to Andrew. "Mock us? No, him saying that we work together to fight him isn''t mocking us. He is just saying those words so that we could probably match his strength. Why haven''t you guys realized that he''s on an entirely different level?" Andrew said while shaking his head. "Just because you reached Master-class doesn''t mean you won''t meet stronger people." In the end, Andrew gave up trying to explain the situation to his comrades. He sighed and said, "Fine, let''s fight together. Just you know, our chances of winning isn''t that high." "Well, it''s better than running away. We''re a Master-class so we should show our courage." Paul said with a smile. "Oh? You guys are really going to do it." Souta said as the smile on his face widened. An ordinary B-rank powerhouse wouldn''t pose a problem to him anymore. Before Souta had to use everything in his sleeve to just fight a normal B-rank but now he could handle it just by using his skills. It won''t be long enough before he could match an A-rank powerhouse without using [Possession] or [Soul Blood Mode]. "Yes, we''ve decided to test our skills against you. We want to know that limit of your strength." Andrew said with a serious expression. He brought out a shield and a large sword. Boom! All of their mana burst out of their body. The ground trembled as the mana coated their body, greatly enhancing their abilities. "Hmm... Two initial and one mid-level. Good, I''ll use my entire skill set." Souta said while rubbing his chin. He was estimating their power level based on the aura they were releasing. "Okay, come at me like your trying to kill me. Show me everything you''ve got." The three didn''t attack Souta. They just stood in their position as they watch him standing leisurely in the middle of the field. "Why aren''t you pulling your sword?" Andrew asked cautiously. He didn''t dare to attack considering Souta''s strength. "This... I''m changing my fighting style." Souta replied to him as he raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?" Frederica asked with a confused expression. "Do you want to know? Fine, I''ll show you." Souta grinned as he raised his palm and the ground suddenly turned black. The blackness spread out until it covered the floor of the entire training ground. Andrew, Paul, and Frederica jumped away as they didn''t have an idea what''s going to happen. "You! You''re a mage!!" Andrew realized something as he looked at Souta with a shock in his eyes. Learning close combat techniques while also learning spells wasn''t simple. Only talented people could do it. There were people like that but none of them reached Master-class Knight. He didn''t think that he would meet one at all. "Are you surprised?" Souta said as black tentacles rose from the ground. The black tentacles brought fear to the people that were watching it. They especially feared the one who was at the center of it. The man who was standing with a grin on his face. Swoosh! Swoosh! "Dodge!" Andrew said as he jumped in the air. He stepped on top of the black tentacle and hopped on the other without getting caught by it. He had great control over his body and strength. Paul and Frederica also jumped away to avoid the black tentacles. The black tentacles didn''t stop as they chased after the three people. It''s fast but the three Master-class Knights were faster. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! "They aren''t that fast. We could avoid them but don''t let down your guard easily." Andrew said to the two while dodging the black tentacles that were attacking him. "Yeah, we can''t let down our guard." The two nodded at his words. They''ve calmed down when they realized that they could avoid the tentacles. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The three moved in every direction as fast as possible while slowly approaching Souta who was watching them with a faint smile on his face. Andrew tried to cut down some of the tentacles and he found that he could cut it down with great force. He tried everything he could chop these tentacles but if he simply swung his sword then he wouldn''t cut it down. Having found that they could destroy the black tentacles, the three changed their tactics. They didn''t move to avoid the tentacles but instead, they moved forward while slashing down the tentacles that got in their way. "Just go down!" The three Master-class Knights arrived in front of Souta. They quickly used their skills to attack him not giving him a time to evade. Boom! A loud explosion occurred and large cracks formed on the ground. It felt like the whole training ground was going to collapse. This place was built using the strongest ores that they could find in this world but the power of Master-class Knight was too strong. "Shit!!" Andrew cursed as he looked in front of him. Frederica and Paul widened their eyes with shock painted on their faces. Not just them, all the audience was stunned at the scene on the field. What appeared before their eyes were something weird. Their weapons were just an inch closer to his face and they couldn''t push it anymore. It was as if there''s a strange power that was pushing their weapons away from Souta. Souta still had that faint smile on his face. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "[Gravitational Ball] spell... With this, I can control the gravity to a certain degree." He pointed at the ten black balls that were floating behind him. The field around him was pushing everything that was trying to get close to his body including the air. So if Souta didn''t cancel it for a long time, he will lose all the air inside the field and he wouldn''t be able to breathe. He wasn''t a god or a monster lord who could survive for a thousand years without breathing or eating foods. His body still wasn''t self-sufficient. He would go to that point as long as he kept evolving. "It''s good but it''s not enough..." Souta''s face turned serious. "Prepare yourself because I will end this in an instant." Andrew, Paul, and Frederica quickly jumped away as they felt danger. It was a danger that they haven''t felt before. They were Master-class Knight so they rarely felt it except facing the legendary dragons. "How could this be...?!" "What the hell is this?!" They watched Souta with a cautious expression. Their face slowly turned pale as they felt that Souta was growing stronger. [Shadow Cloak]! [Night Overlord''s Aura]! [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! [Cat''s Speed]! [Agility Boost]! [Strength Boost]! Souta''s body was emitting black energy as his clothes turned raven-black. The energy was so high that the people couldn''t believe what they were seeing right now. He raised his hand and slowly pulled out the vajra sword from its sheath. The black energy flowed into the blade and clad it with dark energy. "I got tired so I''m going to end this facade." He said as he disappeared from his position. What happened next was so fast for the audience to describe it. They couldn''t even follow Souta''s movements with their eyes. He was too fast for them. The three Master-class Knight could follow his movements but they were too slow to react. It was a one-sided battle. A single man dominated the entire Master-class Knights of the strongest country in this world. Chapter 378 - Crisis Souta could easily overpower B-rank powerhouse on his own. It wasn''t a problem to him with his current strength. All his training paid off. Also, it was thanks to the skill [Monster Force] that he got from the Underground King that his stats rose highly. The entire training ground was silent while watching Souta placed back his sword in its sheath. He defeated all the Master-class Knight of the Gyunar Republic just like that. For them, he was like a walking disaster that could destroy kingdoms. If words of this got out, different countries would watch his movements. They will try to bring him on their side and if they can''t they will be forced to eliminate him. Countries will work together just to bring him down so that they could sleep peacefully. "This is..." Janford didn''t know what to say anymore. The things that happened today was outside of his expectation. No, the scale of this grew larger. Souta was an unknown variable which was extremely dangerous. They had to think about their next move. A meeting about how would they handle people with this much power. Souta smiled as he walked towards Alice and the rest. Gyun''s party was still in daze. They just couldn''t believe what they saw at all. Even Isabella was shocked as her mouth was agape. "I thought that you''re going to make it easy for them," Alice said to him. "Nope, against three B-rank powerhouses I need to be cautious. If I lowered my guard they would be able to injure me." Souta replied to her as he shrugged his shoulder. He was right, any B-rank powerhouse had the power to kill him if he lowered his guard. His flesh wasn''t that tough to endure a direct hit from a B-rank. Janford called the other officials. They talked with Alice and Souta before they left the area. They were going to have an emergency meeting and Souta could guess it. It''s wasn''t that much, since he defeated the strongest fighters of this country they had to talked about him. What will they do? Or how will they treat him? There''s a chance that they will offer him some high position or benefits. Also, they could assassinate him but that''s the least that they would do. They saw his strength so assassins wouldn''t be able to do any against him. Souta, Alice, Isabella, and the Gyun''s party went back to their room leaving the four Master-class Knights having a treatment in the training ground. The medicals of the palace were checking their condition. In their room, Souta looked at Alice and said, "Accept their proposal. You''ll become a duchess of this country." Alice turned to him and asked, "Why?" "You already know about it. If you become a duchess you''ll slowly form connections here and find the things that we wanted." He said to her. "I see..." Alice nodded at his words. The information about this world and if there''s a chance that they could go back to Imperium. She then asked, "Then, what are you going to do? I''m sure that you''re not going to leave everything to me, right?" "Me? I''m going to bring Isabella and Yuko with me. I found something interesting that could entertain me. Also, if you failed to find the information I could probably find it." Souta replied to her as he glanced at Isabella. "I-I''m going with you...?" Isabella looked at Souta with a confused expression. "Yes, you''re going with me. Then," He nodded and glanced at the Gyun''s party before he said, "You guys decided to follow us, right? I need you to stay here and become Alice''s retainer. She could also teach you some skills to boost your strength. At the moment, you guys can''t do anything." "Eh??" Gyun, Mae, Rini, and the rest were surprised. They understood that they couldn''t do anything to help these two who had a Master-class Knight strength. Souta will leave this place after Alice became a duchess. He will follow that woman named Lydia. Since the Great Astley Empire managed to arrive at the Imperium, he will just use that chance to go back to the Great World. They will know the coordination of the Great World sooner or later. That''s why he had to make contact with the Great Astley Empire. ... In the meeting room, all the higher-ups of the Gyunar Republic were present. They were sitting around a large table and everyone had a grave look on their face. "Do you think this is connected to the two Master-class Knights that appeared in our country?" The president of the country asked in a grave tone. They were just talking about the Souta and Alice when they received a piece of news that the Condifan Empire, the oldest country in the world, collapsed. One of the three strongest countries collapsed in just a day. Just who could destroy that country with overwhelming military power. "There''s a possibility that they are related to each other. According to some survivors, the one that destroyed the Condifan Empire is an army. A powerful army with powerful troops. It caught the empire off guard as it suddenly appeared in the middle of the capital." One of the officials slowly explained. "They fought the empire''s army and in the end, they managed to defeat them. All the Master-class Knights of the empire were killed in the battle." "Strange occurrence is happening in different parts of the world. The two people that appeared in our country are said to come from the Great Tunbra Forest. As we know we haven''t explored the entirety of the forest. Maybe, there''s an unknown country inside there that grew in power without us knowing about it." Another official said. "Yes, the possibility of that is high. We can''t deal with this alone. We had to work together with other countries. Dragons are rampaging in some countries while people with overwhelming strength are appearing too." Janford said with a gloomy expression. "I see... We will contact the Linca Empire first to know what they think about it." The president nodded his head while tapping his finger on the table. "Also, try to ask the two Master-class Knight if they know something about the people who attack the Condifan Empire." "Yes, we will try everything to gather information about that army." What they didn''t know was that the army that attacked the Condifan Empire was many times stronger than the combined army of all countries of this world. The Great Astley Empire ruled hundreds of worlds and this world was just one of their current target. ... A few days later, Souta set out to go to the other country with Isabella and Yuko. Lydia followed him with his consent. Of course, she was trying to gather powerful people that could help her in her goals in stopping the invasion of the Great Astley Empire. "You still didn''t believe my story. Words of the collapse of the Condifan Empire spread out in the entire world like a wildfire." Lydia said to him. "Yeah, yeah, I know but why are you sure that they are the ones who destroyed the Condifan Empire?" Souta said nonchalantly. "The other countries didn''t have enough strength to do that in one day. Only the Great Astley Empire has the power to do it." Lydia said to him in a loud voice. She wanted to convince him that her words were true. "A few B-ranks are strongest in that country... If I have my entire legion here, I could also do that. No, Yuko is already enough to destroy that country." Souta replied to her as he kept walking. "B-ranks? Yuko? No, stop joking. I''m serious here. I''m talking about serious things here." Lydia said as she shook her head. "I''m serious," Souta said as he smiled and shrugged his shoulder. That''s true, Yuko was enough to wipe out a country as strong as the Gyunar Republic. A few B-ranks weren''t enough to defeat her. Also, all the combat arts and spells in this world were low grades. Low-ranks combat arts and low-tier spells. That''s why most of the B-rank powerhouses in this world couldn''t bring out their true power as they were just using combat arts for D-rank and C-rank fighters. "Fine. We''ll go towards the Condifan Empire to see if what you''re saying is true or not." Souta said as he looked at her. Lydia opened her eyes widely and said, "Are you out of your mind? That place is dangerous. The army of the Great Astley Empire is there." Isabella who was listening to the two suddenly asked, "Um... You''re from another world, r-right? Then, how did you get into this world?" Souta and Lydia stopped as they turned to Isabella. Souta smiled and said, "That''s a good question, Isabella. Okay, Lydia, tell me how did you arrive in this world? I will believe you if you tell me how?" "I..." Lydia was speechless. She didn''t know what to say to the two. Chapter 379 - Duchess Right now, a lot of people were gathering in front of the palace of the Gyunar Republic. They had an important announcement today. A Master-class Knight will join the ranks of the upper-echelons and she will be promoted to the rank of duchess today. A Master-class Knight was worth celebrating as it entirely increased the military might of a country. Countless people were talking about the new Master-class. They wanted to see her appearance and they couldn''t wait for her to appear. "I heard that she''s beautiful like a goddess." "Yes, I heard that too." "She''s strong too. She''s the fifth Master-class Knight of our country. I wanted to know what will happen next." "Yes, the Condifan Empire got destroyed the other day so we''re lucky to have another Master-class Knight at our side." The entire plaza was filled with their voices and people with ranks were situated in front of it. Common people and nobles were separated by a group of guards that were guarding the place. After a while, the president of the republic stepped forward. He said a lot of things about the country and its forces. He also talked about the fall of the Condifan Empire. It took half an hour before he finished his speech. ''I got bored listening to him.'' Alice said inwardly while looking at the president from the palace. "Now, let''s call the person who will be promoted today. Let''s welcome Lady Alice Fambell with a round of applause." The president said with a smile as he looked inside the palace. ''Now, he''s acting like a host.'' Alice thought as she stepped forward. She pulled the curtain to the side with her hands before she stepped out and revealed herself to the public. She saw countless people were looking at her. She didn''t think much about it as she was used to it. The people saw a beautiful girl with long silky silver color hair that dr.a.p.es down on her back. She had white skin and golden color eyes with red hue around it. She wasn''t wearing a dress. Instead, she was wearing a simple black tight pants and a black coat with a white shirt inside. There''s a small blue cloak on her upper body. This was the cloak from the Ladro Institute. There''s a pair of swords hanging on her waist. This wasn''t her weapon but just a spare one. Various accessories were on her wrists, fingers, neck, and ears. Everyone didn''t have an idea that all of these were artifacts that could increase her strength to a certain degree. "Is that the new Master-class Knight?" "She''s so beautiful...!" "I can''t believe someone like her existed." Even the other nobles were shocked at her beauty. A female fatale would only work in this kind of world but in Imperium where strength matters the most, it wouldn''t work. Although there were people who like beauty over strength, still most of the people in Imperium prefers a strong one or someone of the same status. The president smiled and said, "This will be your crest from now on. I will not give you another name. Instead, I will have your name Fambell as the name of your household." He then opened a box and took a small badge inside it. The badge was the crest of Alice''s household as a duchess. Alice received the badge in two hands and she slightly bowed towards the president as a sign of respect. After all, he was the leader of this country. After that, Gyun''s party entered the stage and the president recognized them as Alice''s retainer. They will be part of her household. Looking at this, a lot of knights and aspiring knights wanted to join her household. They wanted to know her requirements but this was not the right time to ask about it. Alice slowly opened her mouth and said in a cold voice, "This is my household. If you want to enter, just prove yourself that you''re worthy enough. I don''t care if you came from a rich family or a common family as long as your worthy enough I will accept you." The Knight Levels were watching and listening to her words. Also, the four Master-class Knights were simply watching from the side. Up until now, they haven''t tested Alice''s strength but considering Souta''s strength, they guessed that she was strong too. Compared to Alice, Souta was much approachable than her. She had that kind of vibe that she didn''t like talking to people that she didn''t know. "Just why did she stay here and the other left the country?" Frederica wondered. "I don''t know what they are planning but we need to watch her movements," Paul said as he shrugged his shoulder. The incident in the training ground only circulated to the upper echelons of the country. They didn''t dare to tell anyone that a lone man singlehandedly defeated all the Master-class Knights of the Gyunar Republic. ... Souta, Lydia, Isabella, and Yuko were closed to the territory of the fallen Condifan Empire. They arrived in a huge city called Riverpool City. The people here looked like they were preparing for war. The women, children, and elderly were leaving the city with their things. While the men were sharpening different weapons as if they were going to fight some powerful monster. "I already said to you that it''s dangerous in this place. The army of the Great Astley Empire will slowly invade the nearby places around the Condifan Empire so this place had no choice but to fight or flee." Lydia said to Souta in a low voice. "Yet you still want to see if what I said is true." Souta stopped walking as he glanced at her and said, "You haven''t even told us how you arrived in this world so how do you expect me to believe you." "I already told you before, right? After a cut the resources of the army I came here to hide." Lydia replied to him. "Sigh... I want to know the details. What sort of techniques did you use to travel from another world to another world?" Souta sighed as he turned around and started walking. "I will tell you about it later," Lydia said. "Why?" Souta turned to her. "I still didn''t know if you''re going to join me," Lydia replied to him while looking into his eyes. "I see... Then, you''ll it to me sooner or later." Souta turned back as he shrugged his shoulder. If he triggered a quest then he wouldn''t mind helping her but if not then he''s going to let the Great Astley Empire discovered the Great World Imperium. The group continued to walk to find a place where they could stay until one of the men stopped them. The man said, "All of you should leave this place as soon as possible." "Why should we leave?" Souta asked. "Haven''t you heard the news! The Condifan Empire got destroyed and the army that destroyed it is slowly spreading invading every village and city that they''ve found. Soon they will arrive in this place." The man explained to Souta. "I see... Then, do you have the confidence to repel it?" Souta nodded and asked another question. "No, do you think someone like us could repel the army of the one that destroyed a thousand years old empire that no one could destroy before?" The man shook his head and added, "Practically we''re fighting a losing battle but we had to do it. It''s the only way to buy time for those people that left the city." "I understand about your concern. Then, good luck I hope you protect this place and your love ones." Souta said as he waved his hand. He then left with Isabella, Lydia, and Yuko. The next day, a lot of people were panicking. Well, the army has finally arrived and it will arrive the next day. People who managed to escape from its onslaught arrived at the city. Most of them were elves who came from the Condifan Empire. After all, the Condifan Empire was a country of elves and a haven for magicians of this world. Souta found an elf who had full of injuries in his body. The elf was a handsome man with a thin body. It feels like he hadn''t eaten for a few days and used all of his energy to escape. "What are you going to do?" Lydia asked as he looked at Souta. "I''m going to heal him. Then, ask him some questions." Souta replied to her as he stretched out his hand and place his palm on top of the wounds of the elf. [Light Heal]! This healing spell could heal small wounds of every creature but the only problem with this spell was that he couldn''t use it on his own body. His palm emitted a light and the wounds on the elf''s body slowly closed. The elf opened his eyes and looked at his body. "Healing spell...?" He muttered as he saw that some of his wounds were gone leaving only a scar. Chapter 380 - Not a bad deal, right? "Um... Thanks for healing me." The elf thanked Souta as tears formed on the corner of his eyes. While the elf was crying, Souta stood up and saw a lot of people who were full of injuries around the place. They were starving because they didn''t have a time to eat as their focus was to run away from the army. Isabella felt pity for these people. She knew that they''ve experienced something worse when the army invaded their country. War is really unfair for everyone. "The Great Astley Empire is never kind to other people except for its own citizen," Lydia said in a low voice. Souta turned back to the elf and asked, "Have you calmed down?" The elf nodded his head in response to his question. "Okay, I''m going to ask you some questions. I know it''s a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e question but please answer it." Souta said in a calm tone. He then asked, "What happened to the people that are left there?" "The enemies captured them... T-They only killed the soldiers... Everything is looted..." The elf said while trembling as he recalled the things that happened. "I already said it to you. They are enslaving everyone and only killed people who could fight." Lydia said to him. "Then, do you still want to go even if you know what they will do to you?" "Why not? That place has a lot of information and things that I wanted. Potion recipes for Isabella and probably information from ancient times." Souta said while shrugging his shoulder. "That..." Isabella was surprised when she heard it. Going to that dangerous place just for a... She couldn''t put anyone in danger. "I know you''re strong that''s why I''m recruiting you but going there without preparation is the same for asking death," Lydia said to him. "Yeah, but you didn''t know how strong I am," Souta said to her nonchalantly. Most of his confidence came from Yuko who was at the third evolution stage. He squatted down and looked at the elf in his eyes. He asked, "Can you estimate how many enemies are there?" "A-Around three hundred thousand..." The elf replied unsurely. "But they are all strong... I take three to five soldiers to fight one enemy." An older elf heard their conversation. He stood up and went to Souta with unsteady steps. He said, "Hello..." Souta, Isabella, and Lydia turned around when they heard the voice coming from behind. They saw an elder elf wearing luxurious clothes but his clothes were ragged and full of holes. Also, blood was painted around it. "What can I do for you?" Souta asked the elder elf. "I heard your conversation. You''re going to the Condifan Empire, right? I also sense that you have a large amount of mana in your body. You''re probably at Master-class Knight." The elder elf said. He then turned to Lydia and added, "The same could be said to your female companion. A Master-class Knight too." Souta raised his eyebrows in interest when he heard the elder elf''s words. This elf possessed some good senses. Oh, right? He was wearing the [Bracelet of Silencing] so how can this elf sense his mana. "I don''t know why it disappeared but I sensed a huge amount of mana coming from you when you used a healing spell on that young one." The elder elf said and Souta realized that the bracelet couldn''t hide his mana when he used his spell or mana. "By telling me that. What do you want from us?" Souta asked. "Simple. I want you to forget going to that place. All the Master-class Knights of the empire have been killed so another two wouldn''t do any good. I don''t know which country are you from but I advise you to cooperate with other Master-class Knights if you want to go to the Condifan Empire." The elder elf slowly said in a hoarse voice. "I understand what your trying to say but I''m not going to change my decision," Souta said to the elder elf in a polite tone. Lydia just sighed as she gave up. She didn''t want to waste her voice telling Souta that the army of the Great Astley Empire was strong. "I see... But remember what I tell you. Don''t fight them head-on." The elder elf said as he closed his eyes. He could only pray for them to complete their goal. The word that Souta and Lydia were both Master-class Knights quickly spread out in the entire city like a wildfire. Everyone didn''t think that there was Master-class Knight with them. A Master-class Knight was the ace of every country so, what were they doing in this kind of place? ''Damn that old elf. Did he really need to say that we''re Master-class Knight loud?'' Souta said inwardly. Soon, the city lord appeared before Souta''s group. They couldn''t ask Souta to come from their place as they know the status of a Master-class Knight was higher. If they had something to say to Souta, they were the ones who will come to him. Souta, Lydia, and Isabella looked at the group of people that was approaching them. They heard that the one in front was the city lord of this city. A city lord didn''t retreat. He had to protect this place and buy some time for his citizen to escape with his soldiers. The city lord and his subordinates bowed in front of Souta''s group as a sign of respect and introduced themselves. "I''m Dino Fedora, the lord of the Riverpool City. It''s my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet the Master-class Knight." The city lord who looked like he was in his thirties said politely. "Good. So why are you here?" Souta nodded and asked the man. Lydia and Isabella didn''t say anything as they simply watch the city lord. Lydia could already guess what they want from them considering what''s going to happen tomorrow. "I''m here to humbly ask you to help us protect this city. I don''t have anything left to give you. I just wanted to buy some time for my citizen to escape from their fate." Dino kneeled in front of Souta and said sincerely. He placed his forehead on the ground and when he didn''t hear any reply from Souta he opened his mouth, "You just defeat some of the enemies and escape. It will help us a lot. I''m sure that with your strength you can escape from them." Dino''s subordinates who were beside him also kneeled on the ground. "Sir, please lend us a little bit of your strength!" "Please!! For our people!" They begged Souta with a sincere expression. They were afraid of their enemies but they were much more afraid to imagine what will happen to their family if the enemy arrived here. "What are you going to do?" Lydia went closer to Souta and asked him in a low voice. Souta stayed silent for a moment before he opened his mouth and asked, "How many enemies are approaching?" Dino lifted his head and looked at Souta before he answered him, "From the information that we''ve gathered. There are ten thousand enemies that are heading in this city. Our forces only consisted of five thousand trained soldiers and one thousand volunteers who didn''t know how to fight." "So you''re basically outnumbered," Souta said and Dino nodded at him. "Yes, not just that. I''m not gonna lie to you. Aside from the number the enemy''s strength is stronger than us. Each one of them possessed the might of five soldiers." Dino said to Souta in a grave tone. He didn''t dare to lie in front of Master-class Knight. Also, Souta would find it sooner or later that the enemy possessed great might. "Okay. I''m going to help you. Since we''re going to Condifan Empire, I don''t mind cleaning some of those dregs to test how they would fare." Souta said to Dino as he patted his shoulder. "...eh... really?!" Dino and his subordinates were stunned. They didn''t think that Souta would agree to them. After they come to their senses, all of them thanked Souta. The people who were watching the scene also bowed down and thanked him. "Thank you!!" "We appreciate your help!!" "Thank you very much, sir!!" All the people bowed their heads towards Souta, Lydia, and Isabella. They were grateful that Souta accepted to help them. Souta ignored them as he looked at the notification that he received. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered]! [Defend]: The Riverpool City is facing a crisis. An unknown army is heading towards it with the intent of destroying it. Help them fought the invaders. Rewards: 15,000 exp, 4 skill points, and 5 free attribute points Not a bad quest. It''s such a waste if he will let 4 skill points passed by. ''I know what you''re thinking.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Hehe, ten thousand enemies is equal to ten thousand souls. Not a bad deal, right?'' A grin formed on Souta''s face as he turned around. ''It''s time to devour the souls of those people.'' Chapter 381 - Vs. Ten Thousand "Here they are." Souta, Lydia, Isabella, and Yuko were on the top of the walls looking at the figures coming out of the woods. Figures that were wearing black armor that covered their entire body came out of the woods. Their numbers reached ten thousand and for the Riverpool City, this army was their doom. The strength and numbers surpassed everything that they could offer. The figures looked the same with their black armor. It felt like they were an army from hell. "This is just a part of the entire army that arrived in this world," Lydia said to Souta while looking at the enemies with a grave expression. "It''s fine," Souta said as he was quite excited to harvest the soul of these people. He hasn''t harvested a large amount of souls for a long time ever since he came to this world. "They are nervous..." Isabella said while looking at the city. Right now, all the civilians left the city. Only the soldiers and volunteers were left here to buy some time for them. The city gate was closed. Yes, it''s closed. They entirely shut down the whole city like a turtle hiding in its shell. They placed traps outside the walls to defeat some of the enemies but they doubted that their traps could even eliminate some of the invaders. The soldiers were all quiet staying inside the city while holding their weapons. Comparing the soldiers of the enemy and the soldiers of the Riverpool City, Souta could see that the enemy really had an advantage. Simply by looking at their equipment one could see that the enemy already has the upper hands. Souta glanced at the city lord and said, "We''re going to attack now. Just prepare yourself for the worse." "Thank you..." Dino didn''t have anything to say except for thanking him. He was really glad and grateful for Souta that he help the city. He wouldn''t forget this in his entire life. Souta then glanced at Lydia and asked, "Are you going to fight, too?" "Nope, I won''t show myself this time. It''s not the time for them to know that I''m in this world." Lydia shook her head. She then added, "I''m a wanted person so if they knew that I''m here, the forces that appeared in this world will increase." "Okay, it means more enemies," Souta said as a smile appeared on his face as he grabbed Lydia''s armor and jumped in the air. ''More enemies means more souls. A harvest of souls without worrying about god-level finding about it.'' He pulled his hand and threw Lydia near the army of the Great Astley Empire. "W-Wait! W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Lydia shouted as she flew towards the army. She didn''t know what Souta was thinking throwing her at the enemies. Bang! She crashed on the ground near the enemies causing the smoke and dust to shot up in the air. Thud! Souta landed on the ground as he looked at the enemies with a wide grin on his face. He slowly pulled out the vajra sword and coated it with his mana. The captain of the army narrowed his brows as he saw two figures. One crashed on the ground and was covered in smoke while the other one was looking at them with a wide grin. "Is this person had a death wish? Confronting us alone with our numbers. Really, people from this world are ignorant about how things work." The captain mumbled to himself. He then glanced at his subordinates and said, "Quickly kill that man and invade the city." The soldiers of the Great Astley Empire rushed towards the Lydia and Souta''s direction. Their battle cry sounded in the whole field. "Let''s kill them all!!" "Let''s plunder everything!!" ... "Are they going to be fine?" Isabella looked at Lydia and Souta with a worried face. She knew that Souta was strong and she saw how he defeated the Master-class Knights of the Gyunar Republic. But fighting this many enemies at the same time will be hard. Dino and his right-hand men got on the walls. They were watching the fight to know what''s going to happen. Their role was to defeat the enemies that Souta missed. "The fight is going to start." One of his subordinates said in a gloomy voice. "I hope that we survive to see tomorrow." Dino mumbled to himself. ... "Now for the first attack..." Souta said as he stepped forward and the ground turned black. His mana seeped out of his body slowly creating a black mist. [Shadow Bind]! Hundreds of tentacles rose from the ground surprising the enemies. No one of them has reached the Master-class Knight Level or B-rank so they wouldn''t be able to easily handle his [Shadow Bind] spell. "W-What''s that?!" The captain of the army was confused when he saw rows of black tentacles blocked his army. The tentacles stretched out towards his army with astonishing speed. The black tentacles strangled the enemies in the front and tried to crash their bodies. It was fast but the numbers of the black tentacles weren''t enough to stop ten thousand people at the same time. "It''s not enough. Then, how about this..." Souta muttered and he activated the [Night Overlord''s Aura] and [Shadow Cloak] to increase the spell power of his dark attribute spell. The increase in dark attribute spell power easily crushed the bones of the people on the black tentacles. The black tentacles quickly went to the nearest people as its target. "Argh!!" "Ugh!" "Shit! Help!" "What''s this?!!" The screams of the enemies echoed in the field as the black tentacles crushed them one by one. "I think I''ve killed about two hundred people. There are still nine thousand eight hundred people left." Souta mumbled as the army continued to advance without caring about the casualties that they''ve suffered. Behind him were the traps that the soldiers of the Riverpool City made and in front of him were thousands of enemies that were trying to kill him. The army was only a hundred meters away from him. They were going to arrive at any moment so he should prepare himself. Ten black balls appeared and floated around Souta''s back. [Gravitational Ball]! "I guess I will turn serious this time." The smile on his face grew wider and black mist spread out and covered everything within 1,500 meters in diameter with him as the center. The black mist swallowed the people that were advancing towards Souta. They were shocked to find themselves inside the black mist. It lowered their senses, speed, and power while it increases the user''s ability. What a great skill the [Dark Cloud Hunting] is... The range of this spell was many times larger than it was in the Great World Imperium. It was because the mana density in the air was lower so the spell could freely move without being bothered by the natural energy in the atmosphere. Inside the black mist, Souta was the hunter and all the enemies were his preys. Dark energy covered the vajra sword as he activated several skills to boost his abilities. [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! [Cat''s Speed]! [Agility Boost]! [Strength Boost]! "Now then, let''s go!" Souta said as he disappeared from his position and arrived in front of the army. Red energy seeped out of his sword and it mixed with the dark energy. He then swung it towards the army. Swoosh! A large crescent energy shot from his sword. The size was enormous as it has a length of fifty meters. The red and dark energy blade cut everything in front of Souta into two. In just a few seconds the ground was turned into blood-red color. The blood of the enemies created a crimson color pool. "What the hell is happening?!" The captain of the army couldn''t believe it. The black mist was blocking his vision but he could hear the loud scream of his subordinates. Their screams rang inside the head of all people. Slowly, fear seeped inside their hearts. How could they fight an enemy that they couldn''t see and possessed so much power? "Damn! I was close to conquering that city yet that man appeared out of nowhere! Just what sorcery did he use to create this large black mist!" He cursed as he gritted his teeth in anger. "If that''s the case then I will take him personally..." He tightly gripped the sword in his hand and gathered his mana around his body. But then, he heard a voice beside his ear. "Oh? So you''re going to fight me... Is this the real strength of your army?" The captain widened his eyes as he quickly turned around while slashing his sword. But the ones that he slashed were his subordinates, not the enemy. "What the hell?! Show yourself! You coward!!" He taunted Souta to come out. He wanted to smash that man''s face but this block mist prevented him from finding the Souta. "Thousand D-ranks and hundred C-rank aren''t going to protect. None of you reach B-rank yet you think that you could fight me." He once again heard Souta''s voice and he quickly turned around only to find several giant energy blades flying at him. "Just go down and let me devour your souls along with the souls of your subordinate." Chapter 382 - Crimson Demon Isabella, Dino, and his right-hand men were watching the battle from the walls. They couldn''t see anything as the black mist covered everything. They could see that it was moving. It was slowly swallowing the forces of the enemy. The ground would shake every second and they will saw a flash of light inside the black mist. They could also hear the loud screams of the enemy soldiers. They could see blood pouring out and slowly dying the ground in red. The scent of blood was filling the air and for people who had weak stomachs. This scent was enough to make them puke. "Is this the real strength of a Master-class Knight?" Dino muttered in shock. Even though he couldn''t see what''s happening but judging from the sound that he could hear, Souta was killing the enemy soldiers every second. But the enemy''s number was really high. Souta couldn''t focus his attention on them at the same time. He must have eliminated more than a thousand enemy soldiers alone but there were still nine thousand left that was still advancing towards the city. Soon... The enemy soldiers passed Souta and they fell in the traps that the soldiers of Riverpool City created. The traps managed to eliminate one hundred enemies. It was large but compared to the original number, one hundred was just too small. Dino looked back at the soldiers of the Riverpool City and said, "Prepare yourself, everyone. They are coming." ... Giant energy blades flew towards the captain of the enemy at high speed. He was shocked but he fought countless battles so his reaction was honed to the limit. He moved his body to the side and two giant energy blades passed beside him. It''s so close but he managed to avoid it. "Just what the hell is this guy? It felt like I''m facing a commander of the army." He muttered in shock as he tightly gripped his sword. The battle power of his opponent could be compared to a commander of the Great Astley Empire. He didn''t think that he would meet anyone at this level in this world. But considering the density of the energy of this world, it''s not surprising to find someone this powerful. "I need to report this..." He said to himself but then another wave of energy blades flew at him once again. He tightened his muscles and swiftly move his body. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Thud! Souta landed on the ground with a smirk and said, "You don''t stand a chance. Quit struggling and you will felt nothing when I kill you." He then dashed towards the captain. In just an instant, he arrived in front of his enemy. Souta quickly slashed his sword and the captain blocked it. Clang! "Damn! You will die! You don''t know the extent of our army!" The captain roared as he deflected Souta''s sword and swung his sword. Swoosh! But then, his sword stopped an inch closer to Souta''s neck. He was shocked when he saw this. No matter how much he tried to move his sword, it can''t get closer to Souta''s neck. "What the hell is this?!" He cursed in a loud voice. Souta looked at the captain in the eyes and said, "I will come for your army. It''s such a waste to leave you alone, right?" He then raised his sword and slashed it. The head of the captain flew in the air while spinning. Blood was gushing out of it nonstop. Just like that, the captain of ten thousand soldiers died at Souta''s hand. "Now, let''s clear this place..." Souta said as he turned his head and looked at the body of the remaining soldiers. There were still thousands of them but they were too weak to pose a problem to him. His body flashed as he massacred the invaders. It was gruesome as the blood of ten thousand people dyed the ground. The smell of blood filled the entire area. ... After an hour, the entire place was silent. The black mist slowly disappeared into thin air and it revealed Souta who was covered in blood. He was standing on top of the corpses that he killed. Strong bloodl.u.s.t was oozing out of his body. Souta looked at the sky and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. This was the first time he killed this many people ever since he arrived in this world. ''Kill! Kill! Kill!'' The same words kept ringing inside his head. He felt that his instinct would consume him if he didn''t calm himself. He was a goblin which was famous for killing and plundering people. Killing thousands of people awakened the hidden instinct to kill in his body. His senses heightened because of it. It was great but then he was also craving to kill. This was the reason of monster tide. Monsters who got consumed by their killer instinct would march towards the city built by humans and demis. They lost all their reasoning. They will kill repeatedly and will only stop after they died. There''s another way to stop this. The way was to let a monster lord used its suppression against lower life forms to control it. He slowly opened his eyes and mumbled, "Why am I...? I..." His eyes opened widely as he came back to himself. ''Souta, what happened to you? You''re out for a second there.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his head. ''Nothing.'' He shook his head and activated the [Harvester of the Soul] skill of his earring. Ohm! Right now, the souls that he needed were enormous. [Harvester of the Soul] Soul Collected(Left Piece): 545/2,400 [Harvester of the Soul] Soul Collected(Right Piece): 206/1,000 Since the lowest requirement was his right piece, he used the souls to fill it first. He used all the souls to increase his strength attribute by 70 points making a base attribute of 930 points. Just a little bit more and it will reach 1,000 points. [Harvester of the Soul] Soul Collected(Right Piece): 1,106/1,700 All ten thousand souls disappeared just like that and it only increased one of his attributes by 70 points. The soul requirement was getting higher and higher. Soon, it will reach hundreds of thousands of souls just to increase his attribute by 10 points. His current stats were already higher when he was at this level in the game. This was just a part of the Great Astley Empire''s army that arrived in this world. From the information that got from those elves, they estimated that the enemy had over three hundred thousand strong soldiers. So he had to slaughter those three hundred thousand people... ''You should visit a brothel soon.'' Saya suggested to him. Souta raised his eyebrows in surprise. ''Oh? I thought you''re against it but why are you...?'' He asked her and Saya immediately answered him. ''I can feel it. Your bloodl.u.s.t is getting stronger. You can see the other people looking at it with a hint of fear.'' Saya said. Souta turned his head on the walls and saw the soldiers of the Riverpool City were looking at him with fear in their eyes. ''They can''t help it. The bloodl.u.s.t you''re letting out is too strong for them. Kids who didn''t experience anything would faint at the sight of you. Their instinct is telling them to run away even though they knew that you save their lives. That''s just how it is.'' Saya explained to him. ''I see... So I need to calm down. I didn''t even know that I''m releasing such bloodl.u.s.t.'' Souta said to her with a sigh. ''Yeah, killing ten thousand people will definitely change your aura.'' Saya said. It can''t be helped. He was simply thinking about the souls forgetting something like this was out of his expectations. Well, he doesn''t care about it even if those people feared him. He should prepare himself to go towards his next goal, the Condifan Empire. The oldest empire in the world. In that place, he will plunder everything that was useful to him and his comrades. Spell books, combat arts, recipes, potions, and equipment. As long as it was useful to him. ... Ever since the fall of the Condifan Empire, no one managed to defeat the army of the invaders. While every country was preparing themselves to fight the invaders, a word got out that shook the heart of countless people. The Riverpool City managed to annihilate the ten thousand strong soldiers of the invaders. Their casualties were below ten percent. Words got out that a strong Master-class Knight helped them. No, it was fine to say that he alone defeated ninety percent of the army. A one-man army. From this day, they called that man the "Crimson Demon" due to the gruesome massacre that he did to the invaders. He was like a demon that was covered in blood with every swing of his sword blood would spurt out from his enemy''s body. Chapter 383 - [Dark Shooting Ray] The battle in the Riverpool City quickly spread out in the entire world. Various countries learned about the battle that happened in that place. The nickname "Crimson Demon" also spread out. People said that he was a man with one hand but he was extremely powerful. He easily defeated the countless soldiers using magic and combat arts. He was proficient in both arts as it helped him defeat his enemies. Rumors about the Crimson Demon spread out. Some people said that he came from hell while the others said that he was an incarnation of the demon. Of course, none of them knew about Souta. Various countries investigated it. The gruesome massacred that he left behind was still there. Thousands of corpses were piled up in that place and the color of the ground turned red. In the future, people would talk about it. The Riverpool City will become a place where various tourists will visit and tales about the Crimson Demon will be passed down from generation to generation. When everyone while panicking about the unstoppable force of the invaders, the Crimson Demon taught them that the invaders were still vulnerable. They could fight them. With the defeat of one force of the Great Astley Empire, the invasion stopped. Yes, they stopped spreading out their forces as they realized this world wasn''t like any other world that they''ve invaded. It houses creatures that could fight their army and possibly defeat them. In truth, they didn''t only lose ten thousand soldiers in the Riverpool City. They also lost another ten thousand soldiers in the Great Tunbra Forest. What appeared before them in the forest was the legendary dragon. The people of this world didn''t know about it. They only knew about the Riverpool City. None of the countries have an access to the Great Tunbra Forest. The army of the Great Astley Empire had to think about a plan. Dragons were powerful creatures and it wasn''t unique to this world. They''ve encountered dragons in other worlds too. It wasn''t that it was unbeatable but they suffered heavy casualties and lost countless men when facing a single dragon. Right now, their forces were stationed seventy kilometers outside the territory of the Condifan Empire. They''ve stopped advancing and were preparing something big. ... The news about the Riverpool City naturally reached the Gyunar Republic. Alice was sitting in a chair with a table in front of her. In the opposite direction, there were two long chairs at each side and the Gyun''s party was occupying it. "Crimson Demon...?" Alice was amused when she heard the news. She knew that it was Souta when she heard the description of that man. It fitted him all and besides only him had a bear companion which was Yuko. ''Fighting ten thousand soldiers... He always does crazy things...'' She thought as the corner of her mouth slightly curve upward. It''s not easy fighting ten thousand people even if those people were mostly D-rank. Even she would get exhausted and tired after fighting that many opponents at the same time. Well, she was right. Souta consumed almost half of his mana and stamina from the constant spamming of skills that he did in the battle. "This is Souta, right?" Gyun asked while looking at his comrades. "I think it''s him. It fitted his description." Mae answered him. "Defeating an entire army of ten thousand soldiers on his own... What a fearsome person he is." Johnie said as he recalled the battle between Souta and the Master-class Knights of this country. "I didn''t think that he is this strong," Rini said. "Yes, I don''t even think that a Master-class Knight could do that. Defeating ten thousand soldiers using one soldier is simply a dream of all the countries in this world." Ginji said. "Yes, in history, no person has done that. Even in the war involving Master-class Knights, they only defeat a few hundred soldiers not mentioning ten thousand." Limber said. All of them were amazed. It only means that Souta did something that nobody has done before. It was simply amazing to know such a man. They weren''t exaggerating him when they called him Crimson Demon. They could already imagine how gruesome the place where there were ten thousand dead people lying everywhere with a lone man standing on top of it. ... The person that everyone was talking about has no clue about it. He didn''t know that every country in this world was talking about it. Souta, Isabella, Lydia, and Yuko were heading towards their next stop. Another camp of the army of the Great Astley Empire which was closer to the Condifan Empire. "Why didn''t I let some people leave?" Souta asked himself while walking. "Tsk! You''re just a wild freak. Why did you even throw me at the enemies?" Lydia asked as she clicked her tongue. She still remembered how Souta threw her towards the ten thousand soldiers. Yes, she was strong and could handle it but still throwing her... That''s just mad. "Damn! I lose the purpose of throwing Lydia" Souta cursed. ''Well, you were too excited at killing at that time.'' Saya said to him. ''Yeah, I couldn''t think straight at that time. I forgot about Lydia and the army that will appear if I show her to them.'' Souta replied to her while shrugging his shoulder. At the very least, he completed the quest earning him four skill points. It looks like that it was an easy fight but it wasn''t. It was time consuming and energy consuming fight. If he only had a super AOE skill that could wipe out an entire army then he would do that. Right? Since he needed this kind of skill, Souta quickly checked the system and went to the skill tree to see which skills were available for him. The available spells for him in his skill tree were [Doppelganger], [Dark Shooting Ray], and [Shadow Dispersion]. While the available combat arts in his skill tree was only [Dark Light Shield]. Well, he already bought the [Transforming Shadow Barrage] and [Night Overlord''s Aura] so only one combat art was left. He would be able to unlock more if he upgraded one of it to level 10. Souta pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. A powerful and destructive attack that has a wide range. He could get it if he bought the [Dark Shooting Ray] but he will get something similar to this once he evolved into the third evolution. In fact, [Bestrou] was much more destructive than this spell. But he only bought combat arts before so he needed one spell as his foundation to the next rank. He didn''t want to upgrade any of his tier 1 spells anymore. If he was going to upgrade a spell, then he should stick to the highest tier that was available to him. [Dark Shooting Ray] was an offensive spell. It has a large AOE and was perfect for wiping out an army. [Doppelganger] was a spell that could create a shadow that had fighting abilities. It could defend and attack. [Shadow Dispersion] this spell was an attack spell but it wasn''t an AOE attack like the [Dark Shooting Ray]. The damage it could deal wasn''t as high but the main purpose of this spell was to weaker any dark attribute spells. He had a total of 12 skill points and he used 2 of it to learn the spell [Dark Shooting Ray]. [You''ve learned Dark Shooting Ray!] Knowledge about this skill went to his head. He knew everything about it so he could use it immediately. The spell was even imprinted in his inner consciousness making it an inner spell. Souta looked down at his palm while moving his fingers. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Lydia asked when she noticed that Souta stopped walking. Isabella looked at Souta with a confused expression. He ignored them and he aimed his palm in front of him. His mana gathered around his palm and a magic circle appeared beneath his feet. When his mana was at its peak, it suddenly disappeared. He stopped himself from casting the spell. He just wanted to try how it works based on the knowledge that he received. Everything works well so it''s fine. It didn''t have any problem at all. "Just what are you doing?" Lydia asked once again as she felt his mana suddenly fluctuated. "Nothing. I''m just testing something." Souta replied as he shook his head. He then recalled something as he glanced at Isabella. "Isabella, you should learn some self-defense techniques. You know that I can''t protect you all the time." "Me...? I''m going to fight...?" Isabella said while stuttering. She couldn''t imagine herself fighting some people. "Yes, I''m sure that you would do well so don''t worry," Souta said with a reassuring smile. In the game, Isabella was one of the NPC that appeared in the version 2 and grow stronger up to the latest version. Aside from being a potion master, she was called the Faceless Woman by her enemies. She wasn''t just an expert in brewing potions, she was also a strong powerhouse. That''s why no one dared to fight the organization that she built, the Heavenly Potion Pavilion. In the latest version of the game, Isabella reached godhood and successfully become a god-level powerhouse. She also had two god-level powerhouses under her tutelage in the pavilion making her organization a force to reckon. Chapter 384 - Two months Two months had passed quickly... All the countries in the world joined forces. The Gyunar Republic and Linca Empire at the center of the group. They established a force consisting army of every nation in the world. They built it to fight the invaders that destroyed the Condifan Empire. In the past month, the Great Astley Empire sent out another batch of forces to this world when they''ve received that this world houses creatures like dragons. The Great Astley Empire advances its forces in the Great Tunbra Forces and eventually clashed with the dragon that was living there. It was shocking as they managed to slay the dragon. In fact, they eliminate two dragons that were living there. Of course, the Great Astley Empire loses more than a hundred thousand of its men in the battle. It put everyone on edge. After the death of two dragons, twelve dragons made an appearance in the world. They wreaked havoc in every corner of the world. Everything turned chaotic ever since. At this moment, the army of the Great Astley empire surpassed five hundred thousand in total. Their army was shockingly enormous as if they had endless numbers. The joined army was eliminating and ambushing the enemies. It was a war. The Great Astley Empire was sending out ten thousand men in each direction but their main focus was to get through the Great Tunbra Forest where they send two hundred thousand men. The three dominant countries were around the great forest so if the enemies breakthrough it then an all-out war would occur. With the vanguard of the two powerful countries, the other countries sent their forces to help. They knew that if the Gyunar Republic and Linca Empire got defeated they were next. So the alliance made a move by eliminating those ten thousand men in every direction while they were preparing a trap in the Great Tunbra Forest. They were focused on the side of the Linca Empire as someone was handling the enemies on the other side. The famous Crimson Demon was everyone''s talk. With a few people, they defeated the armies of the Great Astley Empire. The nickname "Crimson Demon" spread out in the entire world and every people knew about it. The man who had the power of an army and was called the strongest Master-class Knight. The enemies that died in his hand already surpassed thirty thousand. At this moment, Souta was standing on the field of thousands of corpses. His body was covered in blood and he had a cold look on his eyes. A thick stench of blood filled the whole area but it didn''t bother him. He was already used to this smell. He glanced at his system and checked the souls that he gathered today. He was satisfied with all the souls that he got in the past months. His stats were growing stronger and stronger. [Harvester of the soul] Soul Collected(Right Piece): 1,321/3,000 He already reached 1,000 points in strength attribute and he used the souls to increase his dexterity to 795 points. He gained ten percent plus in his physical damage after he reached 1,000 points. Even without weapons, his damage was already high. "You''re really strong. I think you should work with me. Your strength will be a great help in taking down the Great Astley Empire." Lydia said as she approached him. Souta yawned as he covered his mouth with his hand. He was quite tired fighting that many opponents at the same time. "I''m tired..." He said as he walked towards Isabella and Yuko while ignoring Lydia. He wouldn''t accept it until Lydia decided to tell him everything that she knew. She didn''t even show him her full strength. Lydia had a power of a B-rank but something was off about her. Every time he was examining her, he felt something within her. It was looking at him and had a dangerous vibe. He didn''t know what it was and she didn''t want to tell him about it. In the past months, Souta set out to destroy the army of the Great Astley Empire that was scattered around with the intention to devour their souls. He didn''t quickly head to the Condifan Empire as the army strengthened their forces there. Even though he had Yuko with him, against that many opponents he was sure that they would meet their ends once they tried it. That''s why Souta was chipping down their army slowly. Once he was sure that he could handle it, he would go there. "What are we going to do next, Souta?" Isabella asked him. Souta looked at her and said, "According to the map that we''ve found in the last city, there''s a city close to us. It will take two days of walk if we go there." "Okay." Isabella simply nodded her head without asking any more questions. Isabella followed him and Souta even forgot to bring the things that she wanted. He will provide her some ingredients and recipes that''s what he said to her but until now he hasn''t given anything to her. "Just endure it for a while. Once we find the city, you can tell me anything that you wanted and I will do it for you." Souta said to her as he patted her head. "O-Okay, actually, I don''t need anything..." Isabella said as she lowered her head. "It''s fine." Souta smiled and he saw Yuko lowered her head beside Isabella. "Me too... I did great, right?" Yuko''s voice sounded in his ears. He couldn''t help but smile and patted her head too. The group traveled towards the north where the nearest city. Isabella was having a hard time traveling like this as she wasn''t used to it. Before coming with Souta, she was just staying in the guild selling potions that she brewed. So she wasn''t experienced in traveling. But well, she''ll get used to it soon. Souta just simply went with the flow. They were like a celebrity right now. The guards around the city halted as they looked at Souta''s group who was walking with the city lord. There were lots of soldiers that were stationed in the city because of war. Every citizen stopped what they were doing and came out of their house just to catch a glimpse of the famous Crimson Demon who was called the strongest Master-class Knight, a one-man army. "Is that him?!" "Yes, that''s the famed Crimson Demon!!" "Just like the rumors said, he only had one hand!" "But who could fight a powerful person like him that costs him a hand!" "Yeah, I want to know the reason how he loses his hand!" "Three people and one bear! Yes, it''s them! For real!" "They came from the south and we just received a piece of news that they''ve annihilated an army of invaders a day ago!" Voices of the citizens sounded as they talked about the group while looking at them with their eyes. Some of the people even went to the roof of their houses just to see Souta''s group. ''You''re a celebrity,'' Saya''s voice sounded in his head. ''Nothing much.'' Souta replied to her. He was used to this. When he was a commander of the Mechanic Country in the game, he always joined the parade after they won a battle. His path today was different from his path in the game. The only thing that didn''t change was his class and his fighting style. Well, his fighting style was slowly changing due to being a monster. He was changing it to suit his race more so that he could do well in a combat by utilizing his monster traits. Also, one of the factors that his style was changing was Saya. She was teaching him a great fighting style. A technique that up until now he hasn''t learn. There''s no book of it so he couldn''t use his skill point to learn it. He had to manually learn it with Saya''s help. But he''d slowly getting the hang of it. In the past two months, he tried his best but he still couldn''t learn it. He was still lacking but Saya said that he was close to learning. The technique that she was teaching him was called [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]. It was a technique that he hadn''t heard in the ten years he was playing the Battle Worlds Online. Within this technique, it has a skill set that could use for defending and attacking. It was good and he can''t wait to learn it. It was really great that Saya was on his side. He asked her before if she had some skills that she could teach him. She said that she had taught the founder of the Zomus Nation a different skill and added that skill wasn''t suitable for him. That''s why she decided to teach him one of the greatest techniques that she had. Chapter 385 - Relaxing Souta, Isabella, and Lydia were inside the room that the city lord prepared. Souta asked Isabella if she wanted something but she said that she was fine. She doesn''t need anything. She was just like that so Souta asked the city lord if they had some books about potioneering. He also said to bring some food to them. Asking a city lord like that? Other people wouldn''t get around it but Souta was different. He was like a hero for them the defeated the army of the invaders. If he asked for some money to the city lord, the city lord wouldn''t hesitate to give him a huge amount of money just to get his favor. A favor of the strongest Master-class Knight was worth it. "Hu~" Souta took a sip from a cup of coffee with a satisfied expression. It''s been a long time since he tasted some good coffee. "You''re enjoying yourself..." Lydia said from the side. "Why not? They''re letting us stay here for free so why not enjoy it before we departed to our next destination." Souta replied to her and he glanced at Isabella. "You too Isabella. Just be truthful to your d.e.s.i.r.e and you will find yourself feel refresh." "O-Okay. In that case, I want to tour around the city." Isabella said while glancing at Souta. "That''s all. You can just ask Lydia there to accompany you. Also, you can tour around if you want. You learn the basics in the past months and you''re extremely talented." Souta said to her as he raised his eyebrows. He taught her some fighting skills in the past months and she was talented. She easily grasped the essence of the skills that he was teaching her. Also from the constant training, her power level right now already reached the peak of E-rank. Just a little bit more training and she will reach the D-rank. After that, the C-rank or Knight Level of this world and then the B-rank, the Master-class Knight of this world. More or less, she was stronger than the ordinary people in this world. Even normal soldiers would have a hard time defeating her. "Yeah, you''re so talented. I wouldn''t believe it if I didn''t see it with my own eyes. I think that you will reach my level someday." Lydia said with a hint of shock. What she didn''t know was that in the game Isabella became a god-level powerhouse who was called Faceless Woman. The reason was her appearance was greatly different when she was in her battle form. Isabella in the game had some sort of flesh armor that could easily change her appearance. In that form, she looked like a monster with rows of razor teeth. Souta didn''t even know if that was a result of combat arts, spell, or some sort of equipment. The only thing that he knew was that she''s the only one who had that flesh thing. He wanted to know it too. Just what did she experience in this war for her to become what she was in the game. But one thing is for sure, she will not become what she is in the game. "Do you want someone to accompany you?" Souta asked Isabella. "Y-Yes." Isabella nodded her head. "You''ll be bored if you''re going alone so..." Souta said as he glanced at Lydia. Lydia sighed and said, "I''ll go with Isabella. I know that she''s strong but it''s better that I go with her." "Good. Also, bring Yuko with you." Souta said he stood up. The group left the room and they went to Yuko''s room. Yuko had her own room and inside it, she was resting on a carpet with her mouth opened. Beside her, there were two women who were placing fruits in Yuko''s mouth. What a lifestyle? It seems that Yuko was enjoying herself in this place. Yuko opened her eyes when she felt that her master entered the room. "Yuko, I have something to ask you. Can you please accompany Isabella and protect her?" Souta said to Yuko. She immediately stood on her four legs when she heard Souta''s words. She stuck her tongue and licked his cheeks. "Okay, I''ll reward you later," Souta said as he patted her head. After they settled things here, Isabella along with Yuko and Lydia left to tour around the city. It seems that she wanted to see different places as all she''d gone in her life was the Buckshawn State. Souta was glad that Isabella was slowly opening up to him. If it was before, she will simply close her mouth and wouldn''t say anything. She wouldn''t even eat her meal until he tells her to eat it. She was used to the life of a slave and it was hard to change it. Her mannerisms and attitude have to change. Her acting like she was still a slave was something that he didn''t like. Well, he was sure that she will gain her confidence in the future. Souta went back to the room to rest for a while. He wasn''t physically exhausted anymore as he already rested before arriving in this city but he was mentally tired. In the past two months, aside from training all he did was kill. He killed tens of thousands of people already. He needed to calm his mind even for just a day. For today, he forgot everything and just enjoy what this city could offer to him. He already told to city lord that he wanted to relax himself that''s why the city lord didn''t even bother him. While Isabella, Lydia, and Yuko were gone, Souta talked with Lumilia and the rest using the transmission talisman. He listened to their stories about what''s happening there. They said that the Ladros City was slowly rising from the disaster it just suffered. It was great but the institution wouldn''t start right away so the principal decided to divide the students from now and let them joined the other schools. "Oh? Then, what school did you choose?" Souta asked with interest. "Alea invited us to the Eternal Empire. We''re going to be exchange students there." Lumilia replied to him. He then heard Brando''s voice over the transmission. "That girl is a princess! I didn''t expect it at all!" "Oh? Alea is a princess...?" Souta smiled as he said. He already knew it but he had to act like he didn''t know about it. "Yeah, she''s a princess..." Lumilia said. Then, Bryan''s voice sounded as he was talking to Brando. "What? You didn''t know that she''s a princess, Brando? She''s always like- I, Alea, Princess of the Twilight Blood Moon, descend upon this land from the castle of Blood Moon." Souta laughed lightly as he could imagine Bryan mimicking Alea''s posture while saying those words. No one among them believed those words except for Bryan but it seems that Alea was really a princess. A princess of a large country, the Eternal Empire. "In truth, it''s only me, Lynn, and Bryan are heading to the Eternal Empire. Yujin and Brando are going to the military academy in the royal capital of the Hebrei Kingdom." Lumilia said to him. "Oh? So you''re going to separate." Souta said. "Yes, we''re going to separate for a while. It will take a while before the Ladro Institute goes back to normal." Lumilia replied to him. He talked with them for an hour before he hung up. They talked about a lot of things regarding what''s happening in that place. He didn''t need to worry about them. Bryan, Lumilia, Lynn, Brando, and Yujin were quite strong. It was late at night when Isabella, Lydia, and Yuko came back. They brought a lot of things with them. The weird thing about it was that they don''t have any money so how could they bring any souvenirs with them? Well, it''s easy to guess it. When they arrived at this place a lot of people watched them so they probably recognize the three. Looking at their face, it seems that they enjoy themselves touring around the city. The city was huge and one day wasn''t enough to tour it but it was already night so they had to return. Souta gathered them in his room and he created a barrier so that no one could eavesdrop on their conversation. "What did you do?" Lydia asked while looking around. She naturally felt the air tightened in the room. "I just place a barrier around the room to prevent someone spying on us," Souta replied to her. "You have something to tell us." Lydia guessed. "Yeah," Souta nodded as he sat down on the sofa. He then looked at Isabella, "Isabella, to tell you the truth. I''m not from this world. I mean that Yuko, Alice, and I didn''t come from this world." Isabella and Lydia were stunned when he suddenly said those words. "You aren''t from here..." Isabella was shocked. Lydia couldn''t believe it too. "You''re the same as me... But where? And how?" She muttered. "Well, this is my true appearance..." Souta said as he removed the bracelet on his hand and his skin slowly turned into dark green color. Chapter 386 - Truth "You''re not a human...?" Isabella slowly asked in shock. She then recalled something and said, "If I''m not wrong, Alice is also wearing that kind of bracelet so she''s also not a human." "I''m not sure about it. She indeed had this artifact but I don''t even know if that''s her true appearance or not. That''s not important to me though. What''s important to me is that she''s trustworthy and I trusted her." Souta said to her. "Everyone had a secret so if she doesn''t want to reveal it to me then I will not pry her but she already prepared herself then I will lend her an ear to listen to her. If she had a problem then I will help her to the best of my abilities." "I understand..." Isabella nodded her head. "That''s why don''t ask her about it. Since she decided to give this bracelet to me, she must have known that I will think that she''s disguising her appearance. So it''s a matter of time before she tells me the truth. Once she''s ready she is going to tell me about it." Souta added with a faint smile. That''s how it is. The power that he showed in the Blue Lawless City when he rescued Cl.u.s.ter was enormous. It was mixed with Saya''s power, the Gluttonous Blessing, the Best Feram, and the Soul Power. Yet, she didn''t even ask him about what that''s power ever since they''ve arrived in this world. "So the two of you aren''t even human?" Lydia asked. "Yeah, I''m not a human but I don''t know about Alice," Souta replied as he turned to her. "Then, where did you come from? Or how did you arrive in this world?" Lydia asked another question. "We came from the world called Imperium, a great world. It''s a powerful world and I think that it''s at the top. You see, the reason I''m not afraid of your so called Great Astley Empire is because I came from Imperium." Souta said to her in a serious tone. "Great World? Can you explain it to me in detail? How could it be stronger than the Great Astley Empire?" Lydia asked as she was curious about it. She was having a hard time believing his words. Souta took a deep breath and he slowly explained it so that Lydia and Isabella could understand it. "Here in this world, they already called me the strongest Master-class Knight when in fact I''m just a stronger B-rank. The power level of Imperium was tremendous that you people from other world treat it as heaven. "The power level of the people from my world starts with E-rank. In this world, E-rank is already quite strong for a soldier. But in Imperium it''s just the start. Actually, F-rank is the lowest but that''s for ordinary people there. If they trained for a while, they will easily reach E-rank. "Then, there''s D-rank and C-rank. People in this world already treated these two ranks as powerful but when in fact in Imperium they were just above average. Also, C-rank is equivalent to Knight Level in this world." Souta paused for a moment as Lydia said something. "Then, you''re a B-rank? You must be quite powerful among B-rank, right?" Lydia asked. "Well, I couldn''t deny it. With the help of some aces, I could fight people at A-rank. But you must not think that I''m one of the powerful people in Imperium. Even my strength is pretty average there. "A-rank is the one above B-rank. Some of the weaker noble heads in my world have reach A-rank. Also, most of the teachers in my school have this power while some are B-rank. "Next, is the S-rank, SS-rank, and SSS-rank. You couldn''t imagine how powerful it is. I''m just a B-rank so I couldn''t even handle this level. They are so powerful that they could defeat me in one attack. "Above them is Hero-rank. This is the limit of a mortal body. They were at the top of mortal and possessed unimaginable strength. They could even wipe out this entire world. "Lastly, the one above the mortals, a god. They are the ones who broke through the shackles of a mortal body." Souta ended his explanation with that. It left Lydia and Isabella''s mouth hanging. "You''re saying a god is real?" Lydia couldn''t believe it at all. If that''s true then how could the Great Astley Empire compare about this world? "You must have a lot of questions so I''ll say this to you. You''re Great Astley Empire will be done in a minute if they tried to conquer that world too." Souta smiled before he added, "You must be wondering why they haven''t conquer other worlds? Some of the countries in Imperium have other worlds under their rule but they didn''t care about it. Why? The reason is that the mana density in sub-world couldn''t be compared to Imperium. Just like this world, you thought that it has great mana density that''s why the Great Astley Empire is trying to conquer it, right?" Lydia nodded her head. "The normal density of mana in Imperium is thirty times denser than in this world. Also, the resources from the sub-world couldn''t be compared to the resources that were bathed in that level of mana density. That''s why they didn''t care about sub-world." Souta explained to her. "How could this be...?" Lydia was still in shock. Souta didn''t say anything to her as he let her digest the information that he gave to her. He then turned to Isabella and said, "Do you get it? So you''re coming with us to Imperium. You will find ingredients that couldn''t be found in this world. Also, the potioneering in my world is much more advance. It will help you a lot." Isabella lowered her head as she had thought about things that he just said to her. Still, for his power level, the Great Astley Empire could give him trouble but it wasn''t that much comparing to the things that he experienced in Imperium. If he didn''t think that Great Astley Empire would give him trouble then he would have directly go to the Condifan Empire and fight them. "So we''re just like a frog in the well..." Lydia muttered. "Well, yeah. There''s always above you. I don''t even know if the Imperium is the strongest world out there." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. Yes, he really thinks that there''s a force that could rival the forces of the Great World Imperium. What happened twenty thousand years was still a mystery. The Great War that happened divided the forces of the world and it forced them to create a barrier that divided the seven continents. They said that the demons were their opponents but according to Cl.u.s.ter who read the books from the True God''s Holy Kingdom, the demons were just part of the alliance. Demons, monsters, humans, and demis worked together. But the question is who are their enemies? It even led some of the races such as Vajra race and Asura race to extinction. The only thing that Souta could think was that they''ve found another Great World that could rival Imperium. Souta also told Isabella and Lydia about the battle in the Blue Lawless City. How he got here in this world? He explained it to them. After explaining those things, he asked Lydia how she could travel to another world. His goal was to return to Imperium. He also said that he would help her in her goal if she said everything to her. With that, Lydia had no choice but to tell the truth that she currently couldn''t travel to another world. She was stranded here with no way of leaving this world. But she said that the army of the Great Astley Empire had that kind of technology. It''s what they called a Transportational Gate. It was a machine that was created by a researcher using magecraft and science. "I already tell you everything. So will you please lend me your strength? I know that the Great Astley Empire will not pose any problem to your world but the lives of countless people are at stake. I can''t let them invade and kill millions of people in other worlds." Lydia said sincerely as she bowed her head to Souta. It was her first time asking him like this. Souta waited for a while and he didn''t hear the system notification in his mind. He sighed before he eventually nodded his head, "Okay, I will lend you my strength." It''s fine even if he didn''t get a quest this time. Yeah, it was fine. No, it wasn''t fine but still, it wasn''t bad doing something on his own will. *Ding!* [Chain Quest Triggered!] "Ehhh!!" Souta was surprised when he heard the notification in his mind. He was about to read the details of the quest when the ground suddenly shook heavily. Boom! Chapter 387 - Fighting the army of Great Astley Empire Seven kilometers away from the barrier around the Listen Wastes... A group of three people was looking at the gigantic barrier that enclosed the whole country. The man at the center has a short black messy hair. He was wearing a white shirt and black pants. Also, there was a grey colored fur coat hanging on his shoulder. Even though the wind was strong the coat didn''t fell off on his shoulder. Well, it was because his mana wasn''t letting it fell easily. At the back of his fur cloak, a lion symbol was carved into it. It was a symbol of the Zodiac Leo. This man was one of the most wanted criminals in the whole world. The Zodiac Leo. "So the demons have finally arrived..." He muttered as he grabbed the mask above his head and put it on his face. The two beside him were an old man and a beautiful woman who looked like she''s in her mid-twenties. The old man was wearing a butler suit. He had white hair, beard, and mustache which was trimmed perfectly. He had a collar on his neck. "A war already started. The demons already sent out a god-level powerhouse. But why did they suddenly launch an attack without even talking to the people of this continent." The old man said as he c.a.r.e.s.sed his beard. "Not just here, they''ve also arrived on the God''s Continent. The powerful forces there such as Olympus, Heavenly Palace, and Asgard started to move." The woman said to the old man. She was wearing a tight brown pants with chains around it. On her upper body was a white long sleeve partnered with a leather jacket. Black and red linings were present on the surface of her jacket and it seems like it was pulsing. "Just what is the goal of these demons. They surprisingly launched a very violent attack the moment the great barrier weakened." Leo said as he closed his eyes. The woman looked at him and asked, "What are you going to do?" "I''m going to gather the rest of the Zodiacs and start my plan but before that, I want to see the little goblin that I''ve found in the Hebrei Kingdom," Leo replied to her. "The one you''re talking about. The goblin who knew soul arts?" The woman raised her eyebrows. "Yes, I want to know the details of soul arts. It will greatly help me in realizing my dream." Leo said as he lifted his head and looked at the sky. ... Boom! The entire Blackrock City experienced a powerful earthquake. Everything shook heavily as if it were going to collapse. "What''s happening?!" Souta narrowed his eyes as he balanced himself. Isabella and Lydia were surprised too. They didn''t think that this would happen and it interrupted their conversation. ''Several mana fluctuations suddenly appeared in the city. Be careful, I can sense hostility from them.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. "Enemies?! They are here." Souta said as his mana burst out of his body. He then crashed through the ceiling of the room and went to the sky. Boom! Lydia followed him too as she released her mana and jumped into the sky. Isabella just simply turned her head to Yuko. She couldn''t follow the two because she knew that her strength was still lacking. She couldn''t do that. Souta and Lydia were on top of the mansion. They were looking at the south part of the city where there''s a huge pillar of light that pierced the sky. "Just what is that thing?" Souta muttered while narrowing his eyes. He felt ominous just by looking at the pillar of light. "That''s a transportational gate that I''m talking about. That will help you go to another world." "If that''s here then I''m sure that an army will come out of it." Souta said as he glanced at her. "Yes, it''s the reinforcement. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers will come out of it. Just how unlucky am I? To think that this would appear here out of all the places in the world." Lydia said while gritting her teeth in frustration. "Oh? That''s really a problem. Hundreds of thousands of enemies can pose a problem to me. It''s the reason why I haven''t gone straight to Condifan Empire." Souta was amused while looking at the pillar of light. "They had a huge advantage in terms of numbers but we had a huge advantage in terms of individual strength so why do you think will win, Lydia?" "Stopped playing, Souta. Can you see the people in this city are panicking? We have to do something." Lydia said as she looked around. "We couldn''t protect all of them at this time. We had to deal hundreds of thousands of enemies at the same time." After a few moments, three huge sh.i.p.s came out of the pillar of light. Gigantic metals objects were floating in the sky above the city. It was made using magecraft combined with science. It was floating because it had a flying spell or floating spell. It was a combination of different spells that made it like this. Using a battery that was filled with mana as a fuel to all the spells inside it makes it easier to sense and detect. Souta narrowed his eyes as he felt the large amount of mana coming from the three giant sh.i.p.s. "It''s time to fight..." He muttered in a serious tone as he slowly pulled out the vajra sword from its sheath. Fighting hundreds of thousands of soldiers wasn''t easy and he understood it. That''s why he will seriously fight this time without holding back. Shiing!! The sh.i.p.s in the sky opened its door and a large number of people wearing black armor with red linings came out of it. They landed on the ground with a loud "thud" sound. Souta gathered his mana on the blade of his sword and he swung it. [Crimson Moon]!! A red slash flew out of his sword. It shoots straight towards the ship in the center but before it could hit the ship, a force field appeared and blocked the red slash. Boom! "Oh? It blocked my attack..." Souta raised his eyebrows when he saw this. He should''ve expected this to happen. The ship was huge and was an easy target so they have placed a barrier to protect it from any attack. Cannons appeared on the lower part of the three sh.i.p.s. It seems that it noticed Souta and Alice who were standing on the top of the mansion so it aimed those cannons at them. The cannons fired huge white beams at them. A loud sound erupted as it tore the winds and flew towards the mansion at a very high speed. "Yuko, protect Isabella," Souta said in a loud voice as he jumped in the air. Lydia jumped to the side to avoid the white beams. Boom! The whole mansion exploded. Even the structures around it were caught in the explosion. [Air Walk]! Souta jumped in the mid-air and gathered his mana on his sword. He looked down at the three sh.i.p.s before he flew towards it. Swoosh! Swoosh! People wearing black armors still kept jumping off the three sh.i.p.s. Their numbers were so enormous that it surpassed the total population of this Blackrock City. An overwhelming number would destroy this city and Souta knew that he couldn''t protect all of them. So he should focus himself on killing the enemy as much as he could. He landed on top of one of the tallest buildings in the city. It was one hundred meters away from the three sh.i.p.s and the enemies already spread in this area. He tightened his grip on his sword and slashed it. [Crimson Moon]! [Cross Moon]! The buildings around him were cut into pieces along with the enemies. In that two attacks, he instantly killed more than a hundred enemies. They were too stacked up so it was easy to kill them using wide-range attack. "Let''s go down." Souta muttered as he saw the three sh.i.p.s aimed their cannons at him once again. He jumped on the ground and faced the enormous numbers of enemies that were rushing forward. "Ahhh!!" The soldiers of the Great Astley Empire were rushing at him with a fearless expression. Their battle cry resounded in the whole area. Souta pointed his sword at them and his mana fluctuated. A magic circle formed underneath his feet and a black ball of energy formed on the tip of his sword. The black energy spun widely like a whirlpool and sparks were appearing around it. "Accept it." [Dark Shooting Ray]! The black energy contracted and when the enemies were closed to him, it expanded quickly and shoots a huge beam. Boom! Chapter 388 - Three Commanders The black beam was wide. It covered fifty meters in length and height. It continued to expand as Souta charged his mana in it. Boom! Boom! Sounds of explosions occurred at the black beam destroyed everything in its path. Everything was disintegrated as it turned the people and structures into dust. BOOOM!!! At the end of the beam, it exploded causing a gigantic mushroom of smoke. It was three kilometers away from Souta but they could clearly see the mushroom of smoke as if it was right before them. It killed everyone in its way not just the soldiers of the Great Astley Empire. Even some of the citizens that didn''t run away got caught up in the explosion. Swoosh! Souta looked at it with an amazed expression. He didn''t even charge it with his mana to the limit but the destructive force of this spell was already large. If he charged it to the extent of what a tier 2 spell could take then the power of this spell would grow several times. Also, this spell was still a level 1 tier 2 spell. As expected of an offensive spell. His other tier 2 spell like [Gravitational Ball] and [Dark Cloud Hunting] were just support spells. It''s really different if he had an offensive tier 2 spell. "No matter how much I see it, that one really contains so much power," Lydia said while looking at the mushroom of smoke with amazement in her eyes. The citizens and the side of the Great Astley Empire were stunned at this sight. The power of that attack was simply unimaginable to them. They were lucky that the explosion occurred three kilometers away. If it exploded here then they couldn''t imagine what will happen to them. Souta smiled and he looked at the system. He found that the quest that he received was a chain quest. It was really good. This was the second time he triggered a chain quest ever since he came to this world. He looked at the details of the quest while the enemies were trying to regain their senses. [Great Astley Empire] Quest 1: Defeat the three commanders of the Great Astley Empire that arrived in the Blackrock City. Rewards: 15,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 8 skill points Souta looked back and shouted, "Lydia, come here. We are going to fight the three commanders." Since she was from the side of the enemy before, she should be able to recognize the commanders of the Great Astley Empire. "What?! Are you for real?" Lydia replied to him as she dashed towards Souta and landed on the roof of the house twenty meters away from him. "I said before that I''ll help you, right? So we''re going to fight them head-on. Don''t try to go back." Souta said to her. "...okay, fine." Lydia gulped before she answered him. "Don''t hold back and tell me the appearance of the three commanders of these sh.i.p.s," Souta said while looking at the three sh.i.p.s in the dark sky. "I don''t need to tell you..." Lydia said seriously. Before Souta could say something she added, "They are here." Souta turned to the sh.i.p.s and saw one person came out of each ship. The three people landed on the ground and it caused it to shake. Cracks formed on the ground beneath their feet as they turned their attention to Souta. Boom! All three of them were wearing black armor but it was different. Their armor felt like it was alive as dark blue veins were throbbing around it. "Be careful, Souta. They are powerful. The center is called Vagua, the strongest among the three. On the left is called Jayce while on the right is called Denver. All of them are commanders of the Great Astley Empire." Lydia introduced them to him while watching the movements of the three people. "I see..." Souta nodded and silently activated the [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Cat''s Speed], [Shadow Cloak], and [Night Overlord''s Aura]. Since they were inside the city, the effect of the [Dominator of City] skill was activated. He didn''t dare to underestimate a quest that was worth 8 skill points. "Commander of the 56th, 57th, and 58th battalion are here. I didn''t think that they would send this much force on this world. It seems that they are serious in taking over this world." Lydia said with a serious expression. Her aura was slowly surging and her muscles were tightening. "Well, I''m a commander of the 36th battalion before so we''re pretty much in the same position." "Oh? I see..." Souta glanced at her and saw her armor was slowly changing. It was surprising to see it. ''This is...'' He was stunned. Lydia had changed. Yes, her armor felt like it was alive. It was better to call it a second skin. It was like a suit that was tightly wrapped around her body. The suit was dark and has dark green-colored design. Her nails were sharp and she had dark-colored exoskeleton armor on her elbows and h.i.p.s. On her back were two triangular-shaped objects that were connected to her upper shoulder. She glanced at Souta and said, "Oh, right? I forgot to mention this to you. This is one is called parasitic essence eater. This could boost a person fighting ability to a higher degree." ''F.u.c.k!!'' Souta cursed inwardly while looking at Lydia''s appearance. He was about to say something when he felt that the three commanders moved their bodies quickly. Swoosh! Swoosh! The three commanders also had the parasitic essence eater that Lydia had. So that''s why it felt like their armor had life. The armor of the three commanders covered their faces with a mask that was part of their armor. Vagua pulled out a long sword and part of his armor wrapped around it. The sword became bigger and stronger because of it. Jayce and Denver did the same as they launched themselves at Souta and Lydia. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Jayce arrived in front of Lydia and slashed his blade at her while saying, "So you''re hiding here, Lydia. I didn''t think that you would betray the empire." A blade appeared on Lydia''s hand and she used it to block Jayce''s attack. Bang! Boom! The two objects on her back glowed and it shoots mana beams at Jayce but Jayce already saw it so he jumped in the air and avoided the two beams. Then, a pair of wings appeared on his back. It flapped and he once again flew towards Lydia. The two collided once again. Boom! Souta narrowed his eyes while looking at the two. They have the power of a peak B-rank and it seems that they could exert more power than what they''ve shown. He suddenly turned around while slashing the vajra sword as Denver appeared. Denver was surprised but he managed to block Souta''s sword using a blade that appeared on his c.h.e.s.t. Clang! "Tsk!" Souta clicked his tongue as he moved backward when he saw Vagua was going to help Denver. But the two wouldn''t let him get away easily. Vagua and Denver chased after him with their speed that surpassed all the B-rank that he had fought before. [Shadow Bind]! The ground turned black and black tentacles emerged from it. The tentacles quickly moved as it tried to restrain the two commanders that were chasing Souta. "Petty tricks!" Denver said as his two hands turned into blades and he slashed the black tentacles. He slashed the tentacles while Vagua was moving forward. Vagua ignored the tentacles as he knew that Denver would handle it. Swoosh! Vagua arrived in front of Souta and he slashed his sword. Souta raised the vajra sword and clad his mana in it. Clang! Sparks flew out as their swords collided. "I didn''t think that there would be someone as strong as you in this world. But it''s all too late. We''ve received information from the people that you''ve slaughtered before that''s why we are dispatched to handle you." Vagua said as he slashed his sword once again. Souta swung his sword too and both of their weapons collided causing a powerful shockwave. The army that he slaughtered before sent out his information before he slay them. Using ten thousand soldiers just to get his information was really good. Only empire that has an enormous amount of soldiers could do that. "Really, good for you to come here." He said with a smile as he moved his body to the side and used [Crimson Moon] towards Denver. Swoosh! He then went on the ground as black mist started seeping out of his body. [Dark Cloud Hunting]!! Souta raised his head and looked at the to with a wide grin and said, "Let''s fight for real this time." Chapter 389 - Fighting the Commanders Souta poured his mana on the [Dark Cloud Hunting] spell to reached its limit. Ohm! The range of the spell grew exponentially and it enclosed everything within five kilometers diameter with Souta as the center. It was unbelievably large as everyone''s vision was blocked by it. It lowered everyone''s stats except for Souta. Even Lydia, Yuko, and Isabella suffered from the effect of this spell. His mana control wasn''t as great as Bargan so he currently couldn''t exclude them from his spell. Inside the black mist, Souta was the dominant creature. He was the hunter and everyone was just his prey. Still, Denver and Vagua were strong. They could go toe to toe to him while suffering from the effect of the spell. They were really strong and Souta couldn''t deny it. It felt like he was fighting two A-rank at the same time. The only difference was that their mana wasn''t liquefied so their attacks were lacking in some ways. But their physical strength was as strong as an A-rank powerhouse. Luckily, they didn''t have high-level combat arts or spells. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta exchanged high-speed blows with Vagua causing a loud sound to echo in the whole area. The aftershocks from their attacks would blow the black mist but the black mist would easily shroud everything. "I admit it. You''re strong but it''s not enough to stop us. The Great Astley Empire is going to take this world no matter what happened." Vagua said while attacking Souta repeatedly. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta was blocking all of Vagua''s attack and several black tentacles appeared behind him. It quickly attacked Vagua as soon as it appeared. Vagua changed his target and he started slashing the black tentacles while Denver jumped above him and attacked Souta. Swoosh! Clang! Souta opened his eyes widely as he barely blocked the extended blade using the vajra sword. Still, it managed to graze his c.h.e.s.t. ''So fast. I almost got stab in the c.h.e.s.t.'' He said inwardly. He didn''t expect that attack at all. He should be more careful about their attack from now. "Tsk! You even dodge that!" Denver clicked his attack as he pulled back his blade. He then stabbed Souta repeatedly. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta opened his eyes widely as he heightened his senses. He moved his body from side to side while following Saya''s instruction. Yes, Saya was helping him find a way to easily avoid and counterattack his opponents. Imagine if his opponents knew high-level combat arts just like the people in Imperium. Souta would have been defeated right now. That''s what will happen if he didn''t use his equipment skills. Boom! Lydia and Jayce''s figures collided several times in just a few seconds. Each time they collided, they would generate a powerful shockwave that destroyed the structures around them. An all-out battle of a B-rank powerhouse in this world was like a battle between A-rank in Imperium. Also, they weren''t ordinary B-rank powerhouses. They had the specs of an A-rank. The whole city was shaking because of the two big battles that were happening in the middle of the city. The three sh.i.p.s of the Great Astley Empire flew several kilometers above the city after dispatching the three commanders. The other soldiers of the empire were killing the citizens but most of them got done by the aftershocks of the battle. In just a few minutes, more than half of the population of the city was gone. It was night so everyone didn''t expect that this would happen at all. Thirty thousand civilians died in a few minutes after the invasion and the casualties were getting higher every minute. That''s just at the side of the Blackrock City. The forces of the Great Astley Empire suffered heavy damage. From Souta''s several attacks and the aftershocks of the battle more than twenty thousand soldiers have died because of it. Bang! Jayce grabbed Lydia''s head and they crashed on the ground. The ground shook as he continued to move forward while grabbing Lydia on the head. Swoosh! The ground split open as Jayce threw her away. The people felt like it was the end of the world. The battle between Master-class Knight was just like this. Lydia''s body crashed on the walls of the city. The force turned the walls into tiny fragments. "It was too late Lydia! The Great Astley Empire wanted this world! You think that we''re the only ones who are dispatched here, right?!" Jayce said as he slowly approached Lydia. His masked opened up revealing his face as he walked towards her. Lydia slowly opened her eyes and shook her body. She felt blood inside her mouth. She looked around and found that she was already at the corner of the city. "Damn! This guy threw me so far!" She cursed as she stood up and cracked her knuckles and neck. She currently was several kilometers away from Souta. Despite being so far, she could still feel the aftershocks of the battle inside the dome of black mist. "Right now, the Great Astley Empire sent nine commanders with their army in this world. We''re going to seriously take over everything and another batch of commanders are going to arrive in this world along with the fourth general." Jayce said to her. "What?! The fourth general is coming..." Lydia opened her eyes widely when she heard Jayce''s words. ... Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta''s body flashed as he appeared in front of Denver and slashed his sword. [Crimson Moon]! Vagua went straight to it and collided with his attack while Denver went to the side and thrust his blade forward. Swoosh! Souta shifted his body as ten black balls appeared behind him. [Shadow Ball]! The shadow balls flew around and scattered in the whole field. In case of another unexpected attack, Souta could just teleport to the black ball to avoid it. It was his insurance as he was going full aggressive right now. [Possession]!! Souta''s energy burst out of his body. A crimson color aura was mixing with his dark aura. The pressure that he was emitting was heavy. "I''m going to kill you guys right here right now." A heavy energy was rushing in Denver and Vagua''s direction. They could feel it. They could feel a large concentration of powerful energy coming at them. "He''s here." Vagua and Denver braced themselves. The energy that Souta was releasing right now was beyond their imagination. They didn''t expect it at all. This wasn''t recorded in the information that they have. To think that he was still hiding his strength. Boom! While they were fighting, the soldiers of the Great Astley Empire surrounded the entire city. Hundred thousands of soldiers were standing outside at the command of the vice-commanders of the three sh.i.p.s. They''ve already finished their preparation. If the battle got concluded easily then they would rush in and fight Souta and Lydia using their numbers. There''s no way that they weren''t exhausted after fighting the three powerful commanders of the Great Astley Empire. "Prepare the device! Let''s start the summoning!" The vice-commanders said at the same time. ... Swoosh! "Ugh!" Denver g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as his hand flew in the air. Souta just sliced his hand and he was about to slash his sword once again when he saw the suit of Denver moved rapidly and created a hand. ''What the-'' He was stunned when he saw this but then crouched down as Denver''s hand turned into a blade and swung it at him. He was about to fall back when Vagua appeared behind him. He had no choice but to fight the two at the same time as he didn''t manage to take Denver out. Bang! Bang! Bang! In a one-on-one battle, he could overpower one of them using the [Possession] skill but in a two-on-one battle, it was a standstill. That''s why... A flaming figure flashed behind him and it flew towards the sky. Denver and Vagua paused as they lifted their head to look at the flaming figure. Even with the black mist shrouding everything, the flaming figure was noticeable. It was eye-catching. Swoosh! "Bring it down, Yuko." Souta smiled as his aura rapidly changed. Malice seeped out of his body and his eyes turned red. [Soul Blood Mode]! In just a moment before Denver and Vagua could react, Souta already activated his other ace. The souls seeped into his blood and it boosted his power to a higher level. Yuko arrived on the ship and she brought it down while Souta was slashing his sword. Swoosh! Before the sh.i.p.s could crash on the ground Yuko jumped out of it as Souta finally waved his sword. A large sharp energy shoots out of his sword and it cut down Denver''s body into two. Vagua managed to crouched and avoid the slash but his left arm was cut into two. He looked behind and saw the ship was also cut into two. Boom! The ship exploded and all the people inside it died in the explosion. What happened just now shook the people that were watching the battle. They didn''t expect a bear to take down the ship. "Yuko! Bring down the other sh.i.p.s!!" Souta said but the atmosphere suddenly changed. A light emerged from every corner of the city and it rose in the sky. "Damn! What the hell is that?! Oh well, it''s already too late... Let''s head up towards the main stage..." Vagua said as blood kept pouring out of his chopped hand. Souta, Lydia, Yuko, and Isabella looked up in the sky. The dark and starry sky was filled with light. *Ding!* [Experience reached!] [You''ve level up!] Chapter 390 - Prison World Isabella looked at the sky with a concerned face. She didn''t know what''s going to happen. Yuko went to her side when the light erupted forth in the sky. She too doesn''t have any idea about what going to happen next. That''s why she went to Isabella''s side to protect her. Taking down a ship was a simple thing for her. Her power level was above normal. Lydia opened her eyes widely when the light surged upward. It was impossible for her not to know about this when she was a former commander of the 36th battalion of the Great Astley Empire. "How could this be?" She muttered in shock as she glanced at Jayce. "I already said it to you. We''re prepared in this battle and we''re going to bring you towards the motherland." Jayce replied to her. "Motherland is too far from this world so it will take a few trips before we''ve arrived there," Lydia said as she narrowed her eyes. "That''s why we''re taking you to the world prison first. Several commanders and two generals are already waiting for us there." Jayce said as the smile on his face grew wider. "What?!" Lydia was stunned. What he said was something she couldn''t believe. The empire prepared several of its commanders and generals just to capture them. Also, she knew that they wouldn''t be able to escape right now. The transportation already started and once they leave the boundary light, they will arrive into a random place suffering injuries from the distortion of space. Most people who got out of it were trapped in chaotic space. ... Souta looked in the sky. The black mist didn''t have any effect on him so he could clearly see what''s happening. Blood kept pouring out of Denver''s mouth. His eyes were already lifeless. He was dead but his armor was still moving. Flesh-like things were wriggling around like tentacles. It wanted to leave his body but the limbs were turning dry quickly. The parasitic essence eater also died just like that. Vagua turned to look at Denver''s body. Part of his armor turned into his hand and his armor enveloped his face. He was exhausted and tired but he still could fight for a few more rounds. The only problem was that Souta still hadn''t revealed everything. Well, that''s not really important as once they''ve arrived in the prison world Souta would undoubtedly be captured. A whole army was waiting for them in that place. Souta glanced at the system and saw that he leveled up. Well, he already expected it as he killed tens of thousands of people in the past two months. Also, Lumilia said to him that the Dark Oculus Legion has resumed its work. It means that he received points from his subordinates that completed the quest in Imperium. [You''ve level up!] [You''ve gained 1 skill point!] [You''ve gained 2 free attribute points!] [Strength attribute has increased by 15!] [Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality attribute has increased by 10!] Right now, he was level 38 Mutated Goblin Corruptor and he had two level-up cards in his sleeve. It''s already time for his evolution. Souta didn''t wait for a while and used his two level-up cards. *Ding!* [You''ve level up!] [You''ve gained 1 skill point!] [You''ve gained 2 free attribute points!] [Strength attribute has increased by 15!] [Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality attribute has increased by 10!] *Ding!* [You''ve level up!] [You''ve gained 1 skill point!] [You''ve gained 2 free attribute points!] [Strength attribute has increased by 15!] [Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality attribute has increased by 10!] In an instant, Souta reached level 40. The limit of the second evolution. Then, several notifications pop up in front of his eyes. *Ding!* [You''ve reached the maximum level of the second evolution stage!] [To proceed to the next level one must evolve first!] "Yes, but before that let me finish all the problems." Souta grinned widely as he launched himself towards Vagua. He didn''t care about what''s going to happen. He just wanted one thing and that''s to finish everything so that he could evolve peacefully. "Yuko, go towards Lydia and defeat her opponent. You can use your power to finish it quickly." He said to Yuko as he slashed his sword horizontally. Clang! Vagua blocked it but the power behind Souta''s attack was great. He was pushed several meters away. Souta was using [Possession] and [Soul Blood Mode] at the same time so his firepower definitely reached the realm of A-rank. He was going to overpower this commander with all of his strength. Bang! Bang! Bang! Their figures collided several times before Vagua flew and crashed on the ground. Boom! Just one commander wasn''t enough to stop Souta at this mode. It will take seven to ten B-ranks before they could handle him. "Damn! Just what is this power?!" Vagua cursed as he tried to stand but Souta already arrived in front of him. He widened his eyes as he saw Souta''s sword heading towards his neck. "No!" Swoosh! The next he found was that his head was spinning in the mid-air. His blood splattered on the ground dyeing it in red. ... Lydia was facing her opponent, Jayce. She still trying to process the information that she received when she saw a huge figure appeared behind Jayce. Shadow enveloped him so he noticed it. Hmm...? Jayce turned around and saw a huge flaming bear standing on her hindlimbs. He was about to say something when the bear releasing a heavy pressure that pressed down on his whole body. Boom! "Wha-" Jayce opened his mouth widely as the pressure continued to grow stronger. Even Lydia was shocked when she saw this. Her mana was being suppressed by high energy. She opened her mouth and muttered, "How? That''s... the dragon''s energy?!" Both of them recognized the energy that Yuko was releasing. It was an energy that they''ve found in dragons. For them, they called this energy a dragon''s energy because they haven''t seen any other creature that reached the third evolution aside from dragons. Dragons had monster orb the moment they were born so they thought that it was unique to dragons. They haven''t thought that they would felt it in other creatures aside from dragons. "Just what is this bear?!" Jayce was stunned as he couldn''t believe what he was seeing. The next thing that he found was that he was already flying with blood flowing out of his mouth. Ugh! It was so fast that he couldn''t even see how the bear attacked him. He was already fifty meters above the ground with a few broken bones in his body. Part of his armor went to his body and it started fixing his broken bones. No, it was right to say that it was replacing his broken bones. "The hell is that?!" He flapped his wings to stabilize himself in the mid-air but he felt a large concentration of energy on the ground. [Flaming Shout II]!! Yuko opened her mouth and a large amount of flames burst out. The sea of flames shoot directly at Jayce and it swallowed his whole body. "Argh!!" Jayce screamed as the flames burned his body. His skins and armor were evaporating because of the intense heat. His whole body was getting dry. But then his body fell to the ground. He was still alive but the wounds that he suffered weren''t ordinary. Yuko approached Jayce and was about to kill him when she heard Souta''s voice. "Yuko, stop. Let me do it." She turned her head and saw Souta walking in their direction. Lydia also turned her head and looked at Souta. If Souta was here, it means that he defeated the two commanders. Souta ignored their gazes as he approached Jayce. He already canceled the [Soul Blood Mode]. Using this mode consumed souls that he gathered so he couldn''t afford to use it without fighting someone that he couldn''t handle. He raised the vajra sword and swung it down without saying anything. He chopped Jayce''s head into two directly killing him. "...How could Yuko use dragon''s energy?" Lydia asked him. Souta glanced at her and said, "I''ll explain it to you later but first I want to know what''s happening." "It''s a large transportational gate that is used in traveling into another world," Lydia said to him. "We can''t escape now and according to Jayce, the place we''re heading right now is the prison world of the Great Astley Empire." "I see... So we''re really going to another world." Souta nodded and he looked at the sky. In the next moment, he found that everything around him changed. Isabella, Yuko, and Lydia quickly looked around with a warily. They were in the middle of a large magic circle on the ground. The magic circle spans several kilometers and at its end, pillars of metal stood proudly. "We''re here." They were here. They''ve finally arrived in the prison world of the Great Astley Empire. Chapter 391 - Battle in the Prison World The Prison World. It''s a world that the Great Astley Empire used to place all the creatures that they''ve captured. They were torturing people in this world who confronted the empire. They were punishing people until the prisoners lose their life. It was a brutal place full of wanted criminals in the Great Astley Empire. Souta, Isabella, Lydia, and Yuko were inside a magic circle. Outside the magic circle was a huge army. Countless people have surrounded them. All of them were soldiers of the Great Astley Empire. Aside from the soldiers, dozens of sh.i.p.s were floating above as if it was ready to fight in a war. "There are so many of them..." Lydia said in a grave tone. The numbers of the enemy were fearsome. "How could this be...?" Isabella was stunned as her face was slowly turning pale. She couldn''t help but become nervous looking at the countless soldiers around them. ''Fighting so many of them is going to be a problem.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Yeah, it''s a big problem plus I could feel the fluctuations of more than twenty B-rank powerhouses.'' Souta replied to her as he glanced at his system. *Ding!* [Quest 1 completed!] [You''ve gained 15,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 8 skill points!] [Quest 2 unlocked!] [Great Astley Empire] Quest 2: Assist Lydia in escaping the army of the Great Astley Empire. Rewards: 20,000 exp, 15 free attribute points, and 8 skill points The rewards were almost the same as the quest 1. Well, Souta could understand it as the quest this time wasn''t to kill the enemy commanders. They had to escape from this place as soon as possible. But the question was how could they escape from these countless soldiers? It''s going to be hard. Just fighting two commanders already forced Souta to use the [Soul Blood Mode] just to kill them. Luckily, he had Yuko with him to decrease his burden. "Hu~ I should''ve brought Alice with me." He exhaled and said as he looked around trying to find the easiest path to get out of here. "Don''t worry Master. I will protect you." Yuko''s small voice sounded like she was confident. The numbers of the enemy didn''t even make her nervous. "It''s okay. Just focus on protecting Isabella and I will do everything for us to get out of this place." Souta said to her with a smile. He looked down and saw that the people that died in the Blackrock City were still around. Denver, Vagua, and Jayce''s bodies were lying on the ground along with the soldiers of the enemy and citizens of the city. He could feel that some of them were still alive. Yeah, even the city lord who welcomed him was barely alive but he has a huge injury in his body. It was just a matter of time before he lost his life. ''Well, I will not let you felt anymore pain.'' Souta said inwardly as he tapped his toe on the ground and several black spikes emerged from it. The black spikes pierced the bodies around them. One of the soldiers stepped out and looked at Souta''s group several hundred meters away. He opened his mouth and said in a loud voice, "Traitor Lydia and the folks from another world. This is where you will meet your end. I admire your strength for killing three commanders but this is where it ends." His voice had mana within so it resounded in the whole area. "That''s General Asimon, one of the greatest fighters in the Great Astley Empire. The two behind him are General Albert and Warden Mackenzie. They are also powerful." Lydia said with a gloomy expression. Souta ignored them as he activated the [Harvester of the Soul] and gathered the lingering souls in this place. [Harvester of the Soul] Soul Collected(Left Piece): 2,400/2,400 [Harvester of the Soul] Soul Collected(Left Piece): 2,500/2,500 ... [Harvester of the Soul] Soul Collected(Left Piece): 1,320/4,000 He placed all the 160 points that he got in his agility attribute making his base agility a total of 978 points. If he added the plus stats of his equipment then his agility already surpassed 1,000 points. With the great increase in his agility, Souta felt that his body was getting lighter when in fact his weight didn''t change. "If you surrender I will make it easy for you!" General Asimon said in a loud voice. "I will give you one minute to think about it. I just hope that you don''t disappoint me, Lydia. You''re one of the most trusted commanders so no one expected your betrayal." Souta cracked his neck as he already finished his preparation. Why don''t these guys just disappeared so that he could finish his evolution? Well, he wasn''t that rushing it as there were still so many souls in front of him. He slowly opened his mouth and said to his comrades, "Prepare yourself, we''re going to fight our way out of this place. Lydia, bring Isabella with you. Yuko and I will be on the front. Just follow the two of us and kept running." Swoosh! The two generals and warden looked at them with amus.e.m.e.nt. "So they refused to surrender?" "Well, start firing the cannons." The floating sh.i.p.s in the sky charged its cannon one by one. The cannons charged a large amount of mana before firing it at the group. Boom! A loud sound erupted as dozens of sh.i.p.s discharged a powerful beam at Souta''s group. Souta jumped in the air and he poured his mana on his sword. [Crimson Moon]!! Blades of energy flew out of his sword and it collided with the beams from the cannon causing a powerful explosion. Boom! At the same time, black mist oozed out of Souta''s body and it quickly spread out in the whole area. It enveloped everything within four kilometers of diameter in black mist. Explosions occurred strongly inside the black mist. It shook the entire ground as the sh.i.p.s didn''t stop firing at all. Dozens of light beams were flying out of the sh.i.p.s every second. The soldiers of the empire felt the shockwaves and some of them got caught up with the explosions. They were just several hundred meters away from Souta and the black mist shrouded everything within four kilometers so the people in the front got caught up. What''s terrifying was inside the black mist? Ordinary soldiers couldn''t see through it so they could only hear the screams of the soldiers along with the sound of explosions. Black tentacles filled everything inside the black mist. Souta wasn''t reserving his mana anymore. He was going all out at this moment to take out as many as he could. The two generals, the warden, and dozens of commanders were inside the black mist. They narrowed their eyes as they felt the energy of Souta kept moving forward. They haven''t taken out any of them and instead, their soldiers were the ones getting killed every second. "Prepare yourself..." Suddenly, they felt intense pressure burst out. All of them opened their eyes widely as they understood what it meant. "Dragon''s energy...?" "They had a dragon in their group... but how could we not see it before...?" "How...?" The two generals knitted their brows tightly. They know how dangerous a dragon is. Yes, they could handle a dragon but the casualties that they will receive for taking down a dragon weren''t small. It will take an entire military of a country just to defeat a single dragon. But in the case of the army that they''ve brought, they had the power of several countries combines but they still couldn''t imagine how many would die and sh.i.p.s that will be destroyed if they confronted a dragon. But then it was out of their expectations that something aside dragon appeared before them. Roar!! A huge flaming bear charged at them with a fierce look on its face. The dragon''s energy was coming out of this bear. What?! How could this bear use the dragon''s energy?! The bear opened its mouth and flames gushed out of it. Swoosh! The attack was a wide range so it blocked all of their escape routes except for moving backward. But they weren''t going to do that. They worked together to block the flames that were coming in front of them. Boom! While Yuko was keeping them busy, Souta and the rest moved to the other side. They were going to focus themselves on escaping this place. Swoosh! "Just go ahead." Souta said to Lydia who was carrying Isabella. He then charged towards the group of soldiers and used his skills to annihilate them. Boom! Chapter 392 - Escaping Souta pointed his sword forward and black energy spun around the tip of his sword. He charged it until it reached its limit before he fired it. [Dark Shooting Ray]!! A large gigantic beam erupted as it swallowed everything in front of Souta. It then caused a huge explosion several kilometers away from them. The size of the explosion was several times stronger than what occurred in the Blackrock City. BOOOOMM!!! It annihilated more than ten thousand soldiers of the Great Astley Empire in an instant. The aftershocks of the explosion blasted everything around it and the ground collapsed like a fragile glass. Lydia stopped running as she covered Isabella from the aftershocks of the explosion. Her heart was thumping wildly. The power of Souta''s spell was several times stronger than before. It was already at city scale. It could wipe out an entire city on the map using that spell that he just used. It was truly frightening... "Continue! Don''t stop running!" She came back to her senses when she heard Souta''s voice. She shook her head and focused her attention on running. Souta glanced at them before he resumed firing his spell in every direction. Several explosions occurred that shook the entire place. Everything within fifty kilometers got disturbed by the battle that was happening in this place. Aside from countless prisons in this world, a lot of monsters were roaming around the world but they started running away. Why? Well, the aftershocks of the battle felt like the world was going to end. The [Dark Shooting Ray] was stronger because Souta didn''t hold back charging it with his mana. Also, the mana density in this world was lower than before so the things here were fragile. The power of an offensive tier 2 spell in this world was terrifying. Souta narrowed his eyes as he moved his body side to side while killing every soldier that tried to stop Lydia and Isabella. "Argh!!" "Ugh!!" "No!!" "Help!!" The soldiers of the empire screamed as he killed them swiftly. He was killing everyone in just one swing of his sword. After killing a few hundreds of people using his sword, the blood of his enemies already covered his body. It looks like he bathed in their blood. ... The group was so far from Yuko who was fighting the warden, generals, and the commanders alone. She was keeping them busy while Souta, Lydia, and Isabella were escaping. Still, fighting more than twenty B-rank powerhouses was too much for her. They were specialized in different fighting styles so it was really hard. There were tankers, close-range attackers, long-range attackers, and supports. They filled up what each member lacked. Also, their combination was extraordinary. Yuko couldn''t even take out one of them. Her opponents'' experience was vast and they honed their fighting style by fighting dragons. Also, her opponents weren''t ordinary B-rank. All of them had parasitic essence eater in their body which boosted their physical ability to A-rank. [Burning Shout II]!! She jumped away and avoided the attacks but then the sh.i.p.s in the sky fired light beams at her. Boom!! Boom!! General Albert opened his mouth and said, "We should take this monster first. Lydia and the other two wouldn''t be able to escape this planet. They didn''t have the transportational gate after all." "Yeah, if they planned to steal one then they have to go through the other wardens first." Warden Mackenzie said. The Prison World was huge so one warden could handle everything that''s happening here. One warden could supervise the whole world so the Great Astley Empire stationed thirteen powerful people as wardens in this world. The wardens were like kings and emperors of this world. They were the ones who are deciding everything. It wasn''t exaggerated to say that they were like kings and emperors. Their region was even larger than the whole Condifan Empire in another world. "If this monster really is like a dragon then it also has the boosted mode. Once it uses it, it''s going to get harder." General Asimon said. "If this one didn''t have that mode." General Albert said as he glanced at General Asimon. General Asimon smiled and replied, "Then, we''ll be able to kill it without suffering that much casualties." They were talking about the [Monster Orb Release]. Since Yuko had dragon''s energy, they had guessed that she also had the boosted mode or rage mode. It was a powerful and terrific skill but they were prepared. There were more than twenty B-ranks so they could handle Yuko. It''s like a raid party of adventurers in Imperium hunting down a third evolution monster that could bring danger to the city. Yuko felt overwhelmed. This group of people that she was fighting wasn''t that strong. She was sure that she could defeat them in a one-on-one battle but somehow she couldn''t even land a direct and fatal hit at one of them. She was about to attack the nearest person to her when beams of light flew at her and landed on her body. Boom! ... Lydia and Isabella managed to break through the army. Isabella closed her eyes. The things that were happening around her were something she hadn''t experience before. It was horrible and frightening as thousands of people were dying around her. "This is it." The two heard Souta''s words. Lydia turned to look at them and asked, "What are you going to do?" "Just escape from this place. You''re from the Great Astley Empire, right? So you have some idea about this world. Just go and I''ll follow you soon." Souta replied while wiping the sweat on his forehead. He was already breathing heavily and consumed a lot of his energy. He then gave her his spare transmission talisman. He could contact her using this but Lydia didn''t know its function so he explained it to her first. "Okay, we''ll wait for you." Lydia nodded with a serious expression before she turned around and left with Isabella. Souta glanced at their backs before he looked at his system. Health: 2,197/2,420 Stamina: 572/995 Mana: 2,276/3,802 Just by fighting these countless soldiers, he already consumed more than a thousand of his mana. Well, they were safe for now so... Souta charged at the enemies in front of him. He used everything that he had got to eliminate his enemies as many as he could. It was a very exhausting battle. He didn''t even know if he would run out of stamina and mana first before he could kill everyone here. He opened his [Harvester of the Soul] once again and plundered all the souls of the people that died. Reaching 1,000 points in agility greatly increased his speed. It was also the effect of his agility attribute that his speed rose exponentially. Then, Souta heard a familiar sound in his mind. He was waiting for it. The system prompt. *Ding!* [Quest 2 Completed!] [You''ve received 20,000 exp, 15 free attribute points, 8 skill points!] *Ding!* [Quest 3 Unlocked!] [Great Astley Empire] Quest 3: The Prison World is one of the worlds under the Great Astley Empire. Freed the prisoners to create chaos in this world. Rewards: 10,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 3 skill points The third quest wasn''t that hard. Also, its reward was less than the first two quests. Well, it''s not that bad. As long as he had benefits to it then he was fine with it. Forget about it. He should finish this as soon as possible. No, he should leave this place since Lydia and Isabella weren''t here anymore and proceed to finish the third quest. [Air Walk]! Souta jumped in the mid-air as he looked towards the direction where Lydia and Isabella went. When he confirmed that they were really not here, he landed on the ground. The soldiers around kept rushing but Souta simply avoided them by jumping in the mid-air while slashing his sword at them. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta flew away in a different direction where Lydia and Isabella went. Ten black balls appeared behind him as he shot towards the sky. Since the ones who were trying to stop him were just ordinary soldiers, they wouldn''t be able to catch him. None of them had parasitic essence eater so no one could fly. "Bye-bye..." He muttered as a smile formed on his face. His acceleration was so fast that he easily reached 3,500 kph in just a second. Swoosh! He continued to fly until he found a huge mountain. He shoots down without decreasing his speed and the moment he landed on the ground he quickly used the [Burrow] skill that he got from the Underground King. This is a perfect place... Chapter 393 - Im going to evolve Souta used his [Burrow] skill to go deep under the mountain. He created a place where he could evolve peacefully. After creating a wide space under the mountain, he then summoned Yuko who was currently fighting the top fighters of the Great Astley Empire alone. Ohm! Yuko appeared beside him and she immediately looked around. Souta notified her before he summoned her in this place. He took out the transmission talisman and called Lydia. "Souta! is that you?!" Lydia''s voice sounded in the talisman in his hand. "Yeah, I''m going to tell you something important that will help us. You will free the prisoners of this world. You''ll free them from their jails and that will create chaos in this world. It will also help us diverting the attention of the people that were chasing us." He said to her in a low voice. "Is that so... Then, where are you?!" Lydia asked. "I''m currently hiding in the mountain. You don''t have to wait for me. Also, don''t forget to do what I tell you." Souta said to her seriously. This quest was important for him as it was part of the chain quest. "Okay, I''ll do it. But I''m going to rest for an hour or two before I do it." Lydia said to him. The prisoners of this world were inside the territory of the wardens. They were bind and control there. Also, the security of each place was tight so she couldn''t sneak inside while she was tired. Tens of thousands of creatures were being detained in each prison. Each warden had twelve prisons under their territory. It was divided into three ranks. The disaster, calamity, and catastrophe rank. The people that were detained in disaster prison weren''t that strong. Mostly they were just ordinary people. While the strongest vile creatures were being detained in the catastrophe prison. So for them to create chaos in this world, they had to release the creatures in the catastrophe rank prison. "That''s fine. It''s better to do it when you''re in your peak." Souta nodded his head. All the core members of the Dark Oculus Legion had transmission talismans. He provided it to them so that they could report quickly if something happened. "Where are you, Souta? There''s news that you died in the battle in the Blackrock City... Tell me what really happened." Alice''s voice sounded in the talisman. "It''s a long story but I''m going to tell you that I''m in a world called Prison World, another sub-world. It''s under the rule of the people that are attacking that world, the Great Astley Empire." Souta paused for a moment before he continued, "You can go all out and enter the battle. The army of the Great Astley Empire had a machine that could transport you into other worlds so you know what to do?" "Yeah, I know so where do we meet?" Alice nodded and asked. She understood what he wanted her to do. "To the homeworld of the Great Astley Empire... I''ll see you there," Souta said to her, and then he ended the call. ... The warden, two generals, and the commanders were shocked when they found that Yuko suddenly disappeared in front of them. They were battling that strange bear who had the power of dragon''s energy but somehow she just disappeared like a bubble. "What the?!" "The monster disappeared!!" There''s not even a trace of the bear on the battlefield aside from the lingering dragon''s energy in the atmosphere. "Tsk! We let the traitor escape and we couldn''t even kill that bear! Damn!" General Asimon gritted his teeth in anger. They couldn''t even capture one of them yet the casualties that they''ve suffered were high. "They are in this world so we will find them soon." General Albert said as he looked at his subordinates and ordered, "Find those people. Use everything to find them as soon as possible. We can''t let the others know that we failed to capture them." Warden Mackenzie looked at them and said, "I''ll lock down the entire down. I''ll tell the other wardens about it so they could help us in locating those people." After that, the whole army of the Great Astley Empire spread out to find Souta''s group. All possible locations were being observed and examined thoroughly. Dozens of sh.i.p.s flew in the sky and wandered in every direction hoping to find their targets. Despite mobilizing more than five hundred thousand soldiers, they still couldn''t find their target. Well, the Prison World was a large world that has three gigantic continents. Five hundred thousand people weren''t enough. That''s why they had to ask the other wardens that ruled this world. Souta turned to Yuko and said, "Yuko, go outside and protect this place no matter what happens. Don''t let anybody approach this place." Yuko understood him so she went above to guard this place. After she left the place, Souta closed the whole space and created a barrier to make sure of it. ''What are you going to do?'' Saya asked him. ''I''m preparing myself. I felt that I reached the limit of second evolution so I will try it today.'' Souta replied to her. ''What?!'' Saya was surprised when she heard his words. ''You''re going to evolve...?'' ''Yes, it''s not that surprising since Yuko already evolved and become a Scorching Red Bear.'' Souta said while shrugging his shoulder. ''But... Yuko is already a second evolution but you... you just become a second evolution monster. A year hasn''t even passed since your last evolution.'' Saya was feeling shocked. She wasn''t a monster so she didn''t know how it feels when a monster felt that they could evolve. But if Souta said so then it must be right. A third evolution monster also called as true monster. She didn''t know how strong Souta would get after the evolution. He was currently a peak B-rank so maybe an S-rank. ''Please be quiet and I will start now. Let''s continue our talk after this.'' Souta said to her as he sat down and closed his eyes. The system interface flashed before him. Race: Mutated Goblin Corruptor Level: 40 He was currently level 40 and reached the level required for his next evolution. He then looked at the system prompt that he received. [You''ve reached the level requirement for the next evolution!] [If you want to continue leveling up please proceed to evolution!] [Do you want to evolve? Yes/No?] Yes. Souta didn''t hesitate to answer. [Race Detected: Mutated Goblin Corruptor!] [The system detected six evolution paths available!] [Please choose one of the six following evolutions. Warning! The evolution is irreversible. Please choose wisely.] [Hobgoblin General] [Goblin Shadow Shaman] [Mutated Dark Goblin] [Mutated Goblin Reaper] [Shadow Sweeper] [Blood Goblin] There were six available options for him. The first option [Hobgoblin General] was more on a fighter and brawl type. It boasted great strength among the other goblins. The [Goblin Shadow Shaman] and [Mutated Dark Goblin] were suitable for pure mage type. While the [Mutated Goblin Reaper] and [Shadow Sweeper] were much more inclined on speed. Lastly, the [Blood Goblin] has versatile abilities. Well, Souta guessed that he opened the two mutated evolution paths when he mutated. The other two shadow types must be because of his darkness abilities rising to another level when he acquired [Shadow Body] when he became a Battle Mage. The [Blood Goblin]. He unlocked it by consuming the ingredients that he received from Raeshka. While the other one was the normal evolution path for him. [Blood Goblin] was his target and he wouldn''t change his mind. He needed to consume the blood of thirty different third evolution monsters just to get it so it was pretty strong. If he was alone he would be having a hard time getting those blood that he consumed. [Selection complete.] [Undergoing race evolution.] Boom! A powerful surge of energy exploded within Souta''s body. Electric like energy violently strikes everything around him. After a few moments, the sparks stopped as it became a white light that enveloped his body like a coccoon. Souta was looking at his system and he didn''t even realize that he was already inside his inner consciousness. ''What?!'' He looked around and found all the spells imprinted in this place. He then saw a glow of light thumping a huge amount of energy. Veins spread out and it poured knowledge into his mind. [Monster Orb has been created!] [Converting all the mana inside the body into best feram!] [Converting completed!] [The attribute Mana has been changed to Best Feram!] [You''ve learned Monster Language!] [All skills have been upgraded!] [Drawing ten abilities from the blood!] [Drawing completed!] [Please choose five abilities from the ten options below!] This is it. This is what he wanted from this evolution path. The abilities of another monster were in his sight. This was the reason why he wanted to become a [Blood Goblin] which was pretty average in terms of stats. Well, he didn''t need to worry about stats as his [Soul Blood Earring] will increase it. Also, there were millions of souls out there that could increase his stats by 200 each. Chapter 394 - Third Evolution: Blood Goblin [Armored Scale Formation] [Black Orc''s Solid Body] [Treant''s Wood Absorption] [Enhance Strength] [Pump Up] [Poisonous Bite] [Thermal Eyes] [Rapid Recovery] [Thread Forming] [Draw Blood] Souta looked at each skill. After a few moments, he chooses five skills that he wanted. [Draw Blood], [Thread Forming], [Black Orc''s Solid Body], [Armored Scale Formation], and [Rapid Recovery] has been selected. [Draw Blood] was a skill where his stats would increase every time he took damage. [Thread Forming] just like its name, he could create thread just like those spiders. Since he was a third evolution, the thread wasn''t ordinary as it will be powered up by his best feram. [Black Orc''s Solid Body] was great for increasing his strength and defense. The added stats were 125 strength, 70 vitality, and 30% physical and energy resistance. Then, the [Armored Scale Formation]. Using this skill he could create a scale to protect his body from any attacks. Lastly, the [Rapid Recovery] this skill wasn''t all about his health. It increased the recovery of his mana, stamina, and energy by 100. [Draw Blood]. Every time he loses 1% of his health his stats would increase by 5%. This trait was pretty much overpower. If he loses 50% of his health then his stats would increase by 250%. [Thread Forming]. A trait of a spider-type monster. It was a skill that let him create a web and it was equivalent to him having a second weapon. Sometimes humans would hunt down third stage spider just to get their webs to create an purple grade or orange grade clothes. [Black Orc''s Solid Body]. Just like its name, this trait came from a black orc that boasted from its strong body. [Armored Scale Formation]. This was a trait that lets him create armor in his body. It was equivalent to him having another health bar that has 1,000 hp. Once the scale was completely shattered, he wouldn''t be able to use it for two days. [Rapid Recovery]. Was one of the traits that he needed as his health, stamina, and energy recovery were too low for his current level. These five abilities weren''t that great but once he evolved to his fourth stage, these abilities would grow stronger too. It was enough for him but he wondered why he didn''t get those powerful abilities that he knew. *Ding!* [You''ve learned Monster''s Force!] [Detected! You''ve already had Monster''s Force so it has been upgraded!] [You''ve learned Monster''s Force II!] [Monster''s Force II]: +300 strength, +240 agility and dexterity, +150 vitality [You''ve learned Monster''s Body] [Monster''s Body]: +500 health, +200 vitality, +25 health regeneration, +20 stamina and energy recovery *Ding!* [Your Mana Manipulation skill has changed to Energy Manipulation skill!] [You''ve learned Energy Manipulation skill!] *Ding!* [Traits detected!] [Please select one of the following options below!] [Reinforced Strength] [Greater Energy Recovery] Souta used the [Greater Energy Recovery]. It''s a skill that could increase his energy recovery by 20. *Ding!* [You''ve learned the Blood Goblin''s trait skill!] [Blood Field]: Create a hundred meters spherical space. Absorbs every blood on the field to recover health, energy, and stamina. Can only be used for thirty minutes every single day. *Ding!* [Evolution Completed!] [Race: Blood Goblin!] [Health has increased by 300 points!] [Stamina has increased by 100 points!] [Energy has increased by 300 points!] [Health, stamina, and energy recovery has increased by 30!] Ohm! Souta slowly opened his eyes as he successfully completed his evolution. The white light around his body dissipated into thin air. He then quickly looked at his stats to see the changes. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Blood Goblin (3rd Evolution) Level: 40 Health: 2,420 -> 3,520 Stamina: 995 -> 1,245 Energy (Best Feram): 710 Strength: 1,045 -> 1,540 Agility: 1,078 -> 1,408 Dexterity: 825 -> 1,155 Intelligence: 1,030 -> 1,200 Vitality: 800 -> 1,340 This was just his base stats. The stats of his equipment wasn''t even included with it. All of his attributes surpassed 1,000 points. The great increase in his attributes was pretty obvious. "So this is the third evolution stage...?" Souta looked at the rest of his status with interest in his eyes. Skill(s): Active: [Dash] Level 6, [Stab] Level 6, [Cat''s Speed] Level 6, [Air Walk] Level 5, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 6, [Pet Bestowing Skill] Level 10, [Pet Resonance] level 3, [Transfer Boost] level 3, [Shadow Cloak] level 10, [Shadow Step] level 5, [Crimson Moon] level 6, [Cross Moon] level 5, [Transforming Shadow Barrage] level 2, [Burrow] level 2 Passive: [Weapon Mastery], [Energy Manipulation] level 2, [Night Overlord''s Aura] level 9, [Dominator of City] level 2, [Rapid Recovery] Level 1 Spell(s): Tier 1: [Fireball] Level 1, [Ice Shot] Level 1, [Light Heal] Level 1, [Agility Boost] Level 1, [Strength Boost] Level 1, [Mud Slide] Level 1, [Shadow Bind] Level 10, [Shadow Spike] Level 1, [Shadow Ball] Level 10, Tier 2: [Gravitational Ball] level 10, [Dark Cloud Hunting] level 10, [Dark Shooting Ray] Level 1 Class Skill(s): [Weapon Caster II], [Combat Mage] Trait(s): [Extraordinary Body II], [Night Vision II], [Greater Energy Recovery], [Black Orc''s Solid Body], [Draw Blood], [Thread Forming], [Monster''s Force II], [Monster''s Body] Trait skill(s): [High Energy Resistance Body II], [Blood Field], [Armored Scale Formation] Monster Orb: [Monster Orb Release], [Bestrou] Blessing(s): [Blessing of the Great], [1st Tier Spell Immunity] Equipment skill(s): [Harvester of the Soul], [Crimson Moon], [Cross Moon], [Possession] Aside from his stats, the increase in his skill levels would greatly boost his fighting ability. Also, his spell would become stronger and much more powerful since a high energy was powering it. He gained another ace. The [Monster Orb Release]. The cheat skill of every monster that raised their destructive power to another level. Their group took down a peak third evolution monster without a monster orb. If that monster still had a monster orb then they wouldn''t be able to fight it. It will defeat them quickly. [Monster Orb Release]: Releasing the true power of the monster. Condensing enormous best feram to power up every cells in your body. Effect: +500 to all stats, +600% damage, elemental resistance, defense, and energy damage, +100 recovery to health, energy, and stamina Note: Every second will consume 1 energy and stamina to maintain the form. Damn! There''s no doubt about it. This skill was a cheat and he couldn''t dent it. This was the reason why people gathered together when they were going to fight a third evolution and above monster. They trained their skills and wore high-grade equipment to fill up their lacking stats while the monster only has their monster orb. Then, what if a person who has the skill of humans and demi also has a monster orb appeared? It''s going to be a disaster. It felt like that person was defying the unwritten rules. ''Souta will now be unstoppable... Only S-rank and above could handle the current him...'' Saya said while watching Souta who just finished his evolution. Souta smiled while looking at this skill. He wanted to try it but he doesn''t have an opponent right now. The effect of +500 on all stats was enormous. Just imagine a dark grade sword like Saya could only add 200 points to his dexterity and agility yet this skill doubled what a dark grade sword could provide. Also, the +600% damage, elemental resistance, defense, and energy damage make it more powerful. This was just the [Monster Orb Release] of a third evolution stage monster. The [Monster Orb Release] of a fourth evolution monster could increase all their stats by 800 points. While the fifth evolution could increase 1,300 points. He doesn''t know about monster lord as no player managed to reach it. Also, according to the information that he had about monster lord. Monster lord was already in their release state. It means that their ordinary form was using [Monster Orb Release] but they instead had another skill, the [Monster Lord Transformation]. It was another state of a monster lord that could fight several gods at the same time. He didn''t know if it was true but this information circulated in the forum for a long time. Souta looked down further to his status. Health recovery (246 per hour) Energy recovery (181 per hour) Stamina recovery (171 per hour) If sleeping or resting the recovery rate would increase by five times. This was great. Just by resting for a few hours, he could recover his health, energy, and stamina to its limit. His overall abilities rose highly just by reaching the third stage and he was satisfied with it. Souta was about to examine his body when an intense pain assaulted his head. "Argh!" He fell on his knees as he grabbed his head. The pain was intense as information flooded his mind. It was a different feeling when he evolved and information about his race went to his mind. This one feels like someone was crushing his brain from the inside. ''Souta! Souta!'' Saya tried to call him but he couldn''t hear her anymore as the excruciating pain kept getting stronger. ''Souta... Souta...'' ''You must not... forget it... your name and our family name...'' ''I''m... who am I...'' ''You''ll forget about it soon...'' "You''re not a part of the clan... So your body couldn''t handle it...'' ''It''s failing...'' ''No...'' ''Souta... Hold on...'' ''The chosen person of Kryvon... The patriarch of the Ieshi Clan... Your grandfather... We have chosen you...'' ''You! Who are you!?'' ''Consciousness...? Yeah, we''re gone...'' ''I know it... The True God has perished... The progenitor of all things and creatures are gone...'' Different voices sounded in his head and images were flashing before his eyes. ''It''s opening... The Door...'' ''What have you done to my grandson?'' ''There''s nothing special about him... Yet we simply find it hard...'' ''That''s outside my plan... He''s going to die...'' ''Fear not we''ve already prepared it... His soul couldn''t handle it... so we''ve erased information about him leaving only the information about what you called "game"...'' ''How are we going to find him...?!'' ''Fear not. Just remember Blood... His legend in what you created... It will lead you to that path...'' ''Everyone felt it... The incoming... Experiments to create another True God have been ongoing in Imperium... They are trying to prevent the Door from opening...'' ''I know it. I couldn''t see the future past that point so it''s pointless...'' ''The Four Authorities... It''s going to awaken soon... It will help... The Aspect of the Sins... The Star Zodiacs... They are needed...'' ''Because they are coming... She will arrive in our universe... Her existence is a threat... Just by existing she will bring down our universe...'' ''Our universe will crumble down as it couldn''t handle her power... She merely use her avatar to come last time but now... She will personally come with her true body...'' Lynn who was with Lumilia and Bryan suddenly looked in the sky. She suddenly remembered Souta and had a bad feeling about it. "What''s wrong, Lynn?" Lumilia asked. Lynn shook her head and said, "I just remembered Souta. I want to see him soon." Chapter 395 - Sneaking inside the prison Souta slowly opened his eyes. He sat up and held his head. ''Souta, are you fine?'' Saya quickly asked him. "Yeah. I''m fine..." Souta answered her before he inhaled deeply. He could clearly remember the voices that he heard before. The images were blurred but he was sure that it was connected to his past. They were talking about the Door. What''s coming here and what''s on the other side of the Door? Also, about the Four Authorities. The Ten Commandments were trying to find those authorities. How much it is connected to the Door? The Aspect of Sins? And the Star Zodiacs? Is everything connected to the Three Bringers of Calamities? There''s so much question in his mind but he didn''t know the answer about it. Also, it seems that someone deliberately erased his memories. Is he being controlled by some people? Are those people connected to his system? "F.u.c.k!!" Souta gritted his teeth as he smashed his fist on the ground. He hated the idea of someone controlling or manipulating him. It was especially if he doesn''t have any idea about what they were planning. They were just leaving him in the dark. Damn! Those people... Am I just a pawn? I will not let it go the way they planned it. I will do what I want. Anger was filling his heart. He didn''t even know if he was dancing in the palm of an unknown person. He didn''t like this feeling. It was unpleasant. ''Souta! Why are you so angry?!'' Saya was confused. She didn''t even know why Souta fell unconscious before and know he suddenly became angry. Souta closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After a while, he opened his eyes once again and said, "I''m fine now." It seems that he had to know everything. He wanted to know what they were planning to him. He doesn''t like being kept in the dark. But for now, he should focus on his goal. He would know the truth in the future. No, he will try to know it. He will use everything that he gained. He thought that his monster orb would be internal but it seems that it was the same as Yuko, an external monster orb. On his monster orb, a light red tribal tattoo spread out on his c.h.e.s.t. It looks like it was a pair of eyes. His sharp nails also turned red color. He also grew taller by one inch. Well, it''s not that bad. At least he grew taller. But the problem was that he only had one arm. He thought that he would regenerate it when he evolved but it seems that''s not the case for him. His health regeneration was 196 per hour. He would receive an ability to regenerate his limbs if it reached 300 per hour. Well, he was already halfway to it so it''s not that bad. "For now..." Souta muttered as he activated the bracelet that Alice gave to him. He changed his appearance back to normal human but he couldn''t hide the monster orb. The effect of the bracelet wasn''t affecting the part where his monster orb was situated. "I''m always wearing clothes so it''s not that much. But at this rate..." Souta rubbed his chin. At this rate, he couldn''t go to a brothel. It was a big problem. Those girls would recognize the monster orb the moment they saw it. Wait! Oh? In sub-world people rarely saw monster orb. They didn''t even know that all monsters could form it not just a dragon. If that''s the case, he could make some excuses. But in Imperium, the monster orb was widely known. Everyone would recognize it in a single glance. But he wasn''t in the Imperium. He was currently staying in a sub-world. "Good." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. After settling his mind, he looked at the last piece of message in his system. He hasn''t read it because he felt that intense pain before. [You''ve reached the third evolution stage!] [You''ve finally become a true monster!] [Every time you''ve leveled up you will gain 100 health, 20 energy, 20 stamina, 50 strength, 30 agility, 30 dexterity, 30 intelligence, 30 vitality, +5% physical and energy damage, +5% to all resistance, and +10 to health, energy, and stamina recovery!] This is what he was talking about. The benefits from leveling up after reaching the third stage were something that couldn''t be compared to the second stage. In the second stage, he only received 15 points to strength and 10 points to agility, dexterity, intelligence, and vitality every time he leveled up. The difference was too large. ... "Master...?" Yuko turned to look at Souta. She naturally felt the difference in Souta''s vibe. Yeah, even though Souta was hiding his aura Yuko could still feel it with her instinct. "Yeah, I''ve reached your level. I''m also a third evolution monster now." Souta smiled as he patted her head. Yuko simply closed her eyes as she enjoyed him c.a.r.e.s.sing her head. "I''m going to contact Lydia first." He said as he took out the transmission talisman in his pocket. He then contacted her. "Lydia..." He said but the one who answered him wasn''t Lydia but Isabella. "S-Souta. Lydia is sleeping right now." "Oh? Can you wake her up? I want to ask her some questions." He said to Isabella. "Okay. Please wait for a moment." Isabella said. After a few moments, Souta heard Lydia''s voice. "What do you want to know, Souta?" She quickly asked. "I want to know about the situation of the Prison World. About the rulers of this world." Souta asked her and Lydia slowly explained to him about the wardens, the ruler of this world. From her explanation, Souta understood the state of this world. He also learned from her the territory of wardens and the prisons that they were controlling. Catastrophe rank prisons... This was his target for now as most of the powerful creatures were being detained in that place. He was sure that if he freed the creatures in that place, they will cause chaos in this world. But a single catastrophe rank prison wasn''t enough. That''s why he had Lydia on the other side to freed the creatures on the other catastrophe rank prison. "I understand now. I''ll leave the other side to you. I''m going to the prisons of the Third Warden." Souta said to Lydia before he hung up the talisman. Now that he reached the third evolution stage, he wouldn''t back down from the commanders of the Great Astley Empire. They couldn''t pose a threat to him with their current strength. Unless they had more than fifty B-ranks at their disposal then he wouldn''t be in trouble while fighting them. It will take a party of an A-rank who specialized in different classes before they could subdue him. At his current strength, he was even stronger than Yuko. "Let''s go out now." ... The entire forces of the Great Astley Empire were trying to find Souta''s group. They were looking everywhere trying to look for their trails. Souta and Yuko arrived at one of the catastrophe rank prisons in this world. It was under the rule of the Third Warden, a powerful Warden who specializes in wielding spears. This prison was large and it felt like Souta was looking at a city. Fifty meters walls surrounded the entire place and there were more than dozens of security posts who were looking around, guarding the place. Also, cannons were installed on the walls with a gap of twenty meters. And at the center of the place, there was a huge five hundred meters tall building. This building has no window and it only has one door. "Yuko, just stay here for a while. I''m going to sneak inside there." Souta said to Yuko before he left. He used his [Burrow] skill and went underground. He was sure that this type of base didn''t have any sensory device or spherical barrier that protected it in the air and under the ground. After a few dozen minutes, he managed to sneak inside the place. Inside the prison was different than what he expected. Screams and cries of people could be heard. They guards were torturing the prisoners in this place. ''I will observe this place first before I started freeing the prisoners.'' Souta said inwardly. He then glanced at the tallest building and silently approached it. Sneaking in this kind of place was nothing for him. The guards were just E-rank and none of them were sensory-type. ''Let''s see...'' Chapter 396 - Freeing the prisoners There''s only one way to go inside the huge building. He couldn''t go underground as he found that the building was embedded hundred meters under the ground and it was protected with thick metals to prevent the people that were imprisoned inside from escaping. Two guards were standing beside the door and some of the guards were patrolling around the building. It was tightly guarded. "I need to make this real quick..." Souta muttered while hiding in the shadows observing the guards. He turned his head and looked at the other small prisons. He silently casted the [Shadow Bind] spell and created black tentacles. He waited for a while. When the guards looked away he controlled the tentacles to destroys the cells and quickly canceled the spell. Bang! The guards quickly noticed it and they immediately locked the entire cell in just a few minutes. While they were busy, Souta knocked down the guards who were guarding the huge building. Before he entered the building, Souta used his [Shadow Bind] once again to destroy some of the cells. The guards didn''t even realize what happened when the prisoners escaped their cells. Everything was too fast and they didn''t have a time to investigate how the prisoners escaped. "How did this happen?!" "How could they escaped!?" "Damn! Capture them!!" "Well, punish them for trying to escape!!" Souta went to the door of the huge building. He tried to push the door but it didn''t budge at all. He knocked his knuckle on it and heard a metallic sound. Judging from the sound, the door was one foot thick of pure strong metal so people at D-rank level wouldn''t be able to escape this place. Even C-rank would have a hard time breaking this door. But not him... Souta raised his hand and his hand pierced the one-foot thick door. He simply crushed the door with brute strength. He stepped inside the door and saw a group of seven guards was looking at him while brandishing their weapons. The seven guards were trembling. They just saw him crushed a thick metal door easily. How did he do that? Just what sort of strength does he have? "Well..." Souta looked at them as he raised his palm and five strings of thread flew out of his fingers. Swoosh! Bang! "They are C-rank but not that much... Also, their equipment is just colorless grade." He said as he glanced at their body. He then continued to walk. C-ranks were pretty rare back in that sub-world. They were already regarded as powerful people and were called Knight Level. At the end of the hallway, Souta found a two paths. One on the left and one on the right. The left path was leading upstairs and the right path was leading underground. If there were hiding something or detaining strong people, then they would imprison those people underground. So Souta went to the right path. As soon as he got down, a bell rung throughout the whole building. It was a warning. A warning to prepare the guards of the building about the intruder. ... The Third Warden already received the notice about what''s happening in his catastrophe rank prison. The normal prisoners were breaking free one by one. It wasn''t a problem as the guards could handle those prisoners. There were more than twenty thousand guards that were stationed in that prison so he didn''t worry about it. Even if all thirty thousand prisoners got freed on the normal jails, the guards could handle them. "Hmm...? No one could easily break through that building... It seems that General Asimon and Albert are right." The Third Warden looked at his subordinates and said, "Go notify the generals about this. I''ll go there just in case something happened. If the prisoners in that place got out then it''s definitely going to be a problem." ... On the underground of the main building, Souta just finished dealing with countless guards that kept rushing at him. All of them have the power level of C-rank. ''This forces could already overwhelm the Gyunar Republic.'' Saya said in his head. Souta couldn''t help but agree with her. He looked around him and found that each cell of this prison was covered in thick metals. He couldn''t even see any of the prisoners because of it. There''s not even a window. Only words were posted at the door of the cells. He leaned forward and tried to read the words written on it but he couldn''t because it was written in a different language. "So it''s not Norman language..." He muttered as he rubbed his chin. The people of the Great Astley Empire were talking using Norman language that''s why he could understand them but it seems that they also used other languages. Souta simply crushed the metal door and looked at the creature inside. Inside the cell, there was a man wearing a white shirt and pants. He had long white hair, a thick beard, and a mustache. He also had an eye on the center of his forehead. ''This guy is a member of a Three-eye Tribe...'' The man looked at him with a fierce expression. He tried to stand up but his limbs were bound with chains. "Can you understand me?" Souta asked as he approached the man. The man simply looked at Souta. He was observing Souta as this was the first time he saw him. Also, from his clothes, he could understand that this man wasn''t from the Great Astley Empire. There''s one more thing why he guessed that Souta wasn''t from the Great Astley Empire. The way Souta opened the door. He clearly doesn''t have a key with him to open it. "Well, doesn''t matter..." Souta sighed and he broke the chains that were restraining the man. He was a little bit surprised when he saw the chains. The chains were yellow grade equipment. "Just create chaos outside..." He said before he left the man and started checking the cells one by one. The man simply looked at Souta before he turned around and left. He could understand Souta''s words but he didn''t know how to speak using that language. ... Souta freed all the prisoners on this floor so he went downstairs. All the prisoners here were C-rank and some people were exuding thick bloodl.u.s.t. He said that they should free the other people if they want to escape as their numbers weren''t enough to handle all the guards outside. They were from different worlds. Some people knew the Norman language while the others didn''t know but they all understand what he meant. The prisoners'' target was the floors above. It will help them if they freed everyone on those floors. After half an hour, Souta arrived on the lowest floor. There''s a single guard here, the leader of all the guards in this building. That guard possessed the power of a normal B-rank but a single B-rank wouldn''t pose a problem to Souta. He immediately took out the leader of the guards. The leader didn''t even have a parasitic essence eater that could boost his stats and some high-quality equipment. Even before he evolved, Souta could defeat this level of opponent. Just by using his brute strength, Souta defeated the leader of the guards. ''You''re so strong now... Even Curdova wouldn''t stand a chance against you...'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. "Not that much. It''s natural for a third evolution monster to be this strong." Souta replied to her while shrugging his shoulder. He then looked around. There were only three giant cells on this floor. Everything was sealed tightly as if they were scared of the people inside these three cells. The door was tougher than anything that he found in this world. He could even feel mana flowing in the doors as if to make it stronger and tougher. It was enchanted. "So someone knew how to enchant objects from the Great Astley Empire..." He muttered as he stood in front of a gigantic door. He was curious about the people that were sealed in this place, the lowest floor. The floor above this already houses B-rank powerhouses so... the three people inside the cells must be stronger than those B-rank. "Let''s take a look." Souta pulled out the vajra sword from its sheath and he clad it with his energy. Swoosh! He slashed his sword and a thin line appeared on its surface. After a few moments, the upper part of the door slid down and fell on the ground causing a loud sound. Chapter 397 - Lowest Level For years to come, people would still consider the things that happened in the Listen Wastes on the 7th day of the 3rd month of the Double Land Calendar year 12,691 as a symbolic event of the upcoming war. Today, the Three Great countries announced that they changed the calendar. After more than ten thousand years, the powerful countries in the world decided to change it. 1st day of 1st month of the New Era Calendar Year 1. They called it New Era. There''s just one reason. The opening of the seven continents of the Great World Imperium was getting near. Right now, the great barrier in the Demon''s Land was turning weak to the point that they could pass through it. They also announced to everyone the invasion of the Demon''s Land. They knew that they couldn''t hide it forever. The demons that were sealed in the Listen Wastes were going to be free. The barrier wouldn''t be able to hold it for a long time. Everyone was shaken when they heard the news about the demons. A large country already fell at the hands of those demons and they were going to continue their conquest soon. That''s why the countries that were close to Listen Wastes formed a meeting to talk about the demons. Even god-level powerhouses would be forced to join the battle as two god-level already died in the Listen Wastes. They knew that they had to work together to avoid great casualties. Year 1, 22nd day of the 1st month of the New Era Calendar... The Mechanic Country managed to defeat the Sy and Distrok. Both nations were large countries and housed god-level powerhouses. This win solidified the Mechanic Country''s position in one of the top large countries. This piece of news also gathered the attention of the people across the whole continent of Giza. The military power of Mechanic Country was overwhelming. Aside from that, the Mechanic Country announced that they were going to send their forces to fight the demons. The demons were too far from them so they wouldn''t felt the war for the time being. Only people in the eastern part of the continent would feel the war against demons. Also, the Three Great Countries wouldn''t let the demons go to the western part cause they don''t want to bring the war to their side. They will fight the demons in the eastern part. It means that the eastern part of the continent will become a battlefield. ... In the Prison World... Souta stepped forward inside the huge cell. He saw a man with messy black hair and had huge physique. The man was full of scars across his body and he didn''t have any clothes to cover his body parts. Thick and heavy chains were binding his four limbs. The chains were 1 meter thick and has enchantment all over it. Violet-colored veins were thumping in this skin as if it''s going to burst at any moment. The man lifted his head and looked at Souta. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Who are you?" This one was speaking Norman language so Souta could understand him. Souta didn''t answer the man as he kept observing this man. Even though this man was tightly bound and looked exhausted, Souta could feel thick bloodl.u.s.t coming out of his body. ''This man was poisoned...'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Yeah...'' Souta nodded at her. He approached the man and swung his sword. Swoosh! The chains fell and it caused a loud sound in the whole room. The man shook his body and every chain fell down. He was freed and he didn''t know why. He looked at Souta and asked, "Why?" "I don''t need anything from you except from one thing... I freed you because I want you to wrecked havoc in this world." Souta said to the man. "I''ve been in this world for more than thirty years and this is the first time that I got freed from those chains..." The man said while looking at the thick chains on the ground. He then explained, "But I don''t think I could do it. I''ve been poisoned and it seeped into my mana pool so I couldn''t use my peak strength to do what you want." "I know that you''ve been poisoned but it''s fine. Just do what I tell you... I''ve already freed all the prisoners above so follow them..." Souta said to the man before he turned around and left the room. He went to the other cell and slashed the door once again. Bang! The man simply followed Souta and watched him went to the other cell. The way Souta cut the door made it looks like it wasn''t tough at all. Aside from the sharp sword, he also realized that Souta possessed great strength. The person inside the second cell was a thin old man. The old man was a demi. A grasshopper demi. Some parts of his body were like grasshoppers. This type of demi looks like a monster than him. The only difference was that they couldn''t evolve nor form a monster orb. There were other demis that looks like a monster. The only basis of being a monster wasn''t from the appearance but the characteristics to evolve and create a monster orb. That''s what makes a creature called a monster. "Hehe~ I''m finally free... After 46 years..." The old man laughed as he stretched his body. His condition was the same as the man before but the bloodl.u.s.t that he possessed was thicker. "Be careful. That man is Franklin. A mass murderer that killed all the people in an entire nation before... He enjoyed killing and fighting more than anything else." The man said while looking at the old man warily. The old man raised his eyebrows as he looked at the n.a.k.e.d man behind Souta. "You know me?" "Who wouldn''t know a dangerous man like you?" The man replied. "Oh, I see now... I remember you too." The old man smiled and said, "You''re one of the rebels that fought the Great Astley Empire decades ago, right? Torkez, one of the people that give the empire so much trouble. So you got defeated too..." "Yeah, my homeworld became a subsidiary world of the Great Astley Empire. Our population is being controlled and men of our world are being forced to work just like the other subsidiary world." Torkez nodded with a gloomy expression. The old man who was named Franklin glanced at Souta and asked, "And who might be our savior. No ordinary man could enter this place easily." Souta glanced at him and said, "Just go away and kill all the guards up there. Your appearance makes me disgusted." Franklin and Torkez were both n.a.k.e.d. The guards stripped out their clothes so that they couldn''t hide anything. "Oh! I''m getting curious..." The smile on Franklin''s face grew wider. Souta turned around and went to the last cell but then he stopped and looked at the two. "Just do what I tell you... I will find an antidote to the poison in your body later." "Oh...? If I don''t do it then what will happen to me." Franklin said with a smile on his face. "I''ll kill you," Souta said before he turned to the last cell. He slashed his sword on the door just like before. Franklin and Torkez were curious about the person inside it so they looked over. Everything was isolated inside the prison. They couldn''t even hear anything aside from their breath and heart. It was too quiet so they didn''t know everything that''s happening outside. But then... What they saw inside the last cell shocked them. It wasn''t a person but a thirty-meter giant creature. A creature with greenish scales and sharp claws. It had a pair of wings on its back and a pair of horns on top of its head. It was a dragon... ''To think that there''s a dragon in this kind of place...'' Saya''s voice sounded in his head. ''It''s not surprising. According to Lydia, the Great Astley Empire had a record of slaying dragons.'' Souta replied to her as he approached the dragon. Just like the two prisoners before, the dragon''s limbs were bound by thick and heavy chains. Franklin and Torkez were shocked when they saw the dragon inside the cell. They didn''t expect it at all. A legendary creature was before their eyes. The dragon opened its eyes as Souta approached it. It slowly opened its mouth and said, "Are you one of them...?" "No, how can you not feel it? I''m a monster just like you... A monster." Souta said using the monster language and it shook the dragon. "How can you use the- no, don''t tell me you had?" The dragon said in shock as it raised its head and looked at Souta. "Oh? A third evolution..." Souta guessed as he couldn''t feel anything from the dragon aside from a little bit of best feram. He also realized that he was wearing the [Bracelet of Silencing] that could hide his energy. Yuko only felt it because of their connections. "I''ll free you..." Chapter 398 - Third Warden "Is this your first time seeing another monster at your level aside from dragons?" Souta asked with a smile. He then shook his head and said, "Worry not, I''ll free you." After he said those words, Souta cut down the chains that were binding the dragon.?? "What do you mean by that?" The dragon asked as he narrowed his eyes. He moved his four limbs and felt that his body grew lighter. Even though he was tired, the feeling of removing those chains was pleasant. "Dragons from sub-world really think that the monster orb is unique to them? Really, an ignorant creature." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder before he turned around. "You..." The dragon wanted to say something for calling a great one like him ignorant but then he shut his mouth. This man just freed him so he wouldn''t cause trouble to him. He wasn''t a petty dragon who would easily forget the person who saved him. "I''m grateful for what you did but you shouldn''t call him ignorant... Also, I want to know how you learned the dragon language." The dragon asked. "See... That''s what I call ignorant. Dragon language? That''s what I''m talking about. What makes you think that this is a dragon language?" Souta turned his head to the dragon and asked. "Simply because we''re born with it." The dragon replied to him. "So that''s what you''re talking about. You dragons have a great starting point. The moment you are born, you already reached the third stage monster. You know the monster language and had monster orb in your body but... Don''t think that you''re the only one who had those things. All monsters in the universe could have those as long as they reached the third evolution stage." Souta said to the dragon with a serious expression. Dragons from sub-world really think highly of themselves. Well, they haven''t experienced the cruel path of monsters in Imperium. Dragons in that world wouldn''t survive without enough strength. Humans and demis were hunting them because of their blood, scales, meat, and other parts of their bodies. Also, for fame. If a lone dragon appeared near the city, various high-rank adventurers would try to hunt it. They will experience how humans and demis hunt them even though they didn''t do anything wrong. That''s just how they looked at monsters. That''s just how it is. "What do you mean by that?" The dragon asked. "You''ll know it soon..." Souta smiled as he turned around. Franklin and Torkez simply watched Souta talked with the dragon. They couldn''t understand them but they knew that he was talking to the dragon. Everyone knew that a dragon was an intelligent creature and some of the people could talk to the dragon but that''s if the dragon were talking to them. No one has ever talked to a dragon using the dragon language. ... The Third Warden arrived close to the Catastrophe rank prison that he ruled. He was on top of an airship looking down at the things that were happening on the ground. He saw his subordinates were subduing the prisoners one by one. No, they were killing them. Capturing an enemy alive was harder than killing the enemy. "They are just prisoners and they dared to escape. Kill every prisoner that escaped. Leave nothing alive and this will become an example to other prisoners." The Third Warden said in a cold tone. He then focused his attention on the top of the main building of the prison. He saw three men and one dragon above it. "Tsk! As I thought... Out of all prisons in the world. Those intruders choose my territory. Did he think that I''m easy to deal with?" He felt uncomfortable as he didn''t immediately went down to fight. He wasn''t that a reckless person. According to the report, the intruders possessed great power that could rival the general rank of the Great Astley Empire. Also, they had a bear that could use dragon energy. He knew his limitation. If the two generals couldn''t capture them then he also wouldn''t be able to capture these people. He had to work together with his allies. "I need to wait for a while..." He muttered as he continued observing. ... "Oh? He''s just watching us..." Souta raised his eyebrows when he saw the Third Warden just watched them. "He''s wary..." Torkez said as he glanced at Souta. He understood that the Third Warden pay attention to them but instead to Souta. Also, the warden knew that he, Franklin, and the dragon were poisoned so they couldn''t use their strength. "Just what did you do to make that warden so cautious?" Franklin asked while looking at the sh.i.p.s in the sky. He and Torkez weren''t n.a.k.e.d anymore. They just took the clothes of the guards that Souta killed on his way to free the prisoners. "Those people killed my brethren... I want to kill them all." Souta sighed and looked around, "Just how come those people going to find the antidote." The antidote to the poison inside the three must be in this place. Also, even the recipe of the antidote was fine for him. He had Isabella with him and he was sure that Isabella could recreate the antidote as long as she had the recipe. "I don''t know... I''m itching to remove the poison that is locking my mana pool. I want to be able to use my mana once again." Franklin said with an annoyed tone. He wanted to fight and started killing the guards. Fighting and killing were his enjoyment. "I want to ask something..." Torkez said to Souta. Souta raised his eyebrows as he glanced at Torkez. "What is it?" He asked. "I just wanted to know what did you do for them to place you in this world? What crime did you commit and how did you escape from the prison?" Torkez asked as he looked at Souta with a serious expression. Franklin also looked at Souta with interest in his eyes. Even the dragon glance at Souta. The dragon could understand their language so he knew what they were talking about. He had live for a long time so he learned to understand some of the humans and demis language. "No, they didn''t imprison me. They couldn''t capture me at all so they had to use a transportational gate in the whole city to transport everyone in this world." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "They wanted to take me down so bad because I''ve killed more than a hundred thousand of their soldiers and a couple of their commanders." "Oh? I know you''re strong but I didn''t think that your accomplishments are too amazing. So that''s the reason why the Third Warden is only watching us from that ship." Franklin said as his smile grew wider. "What are you planning to do next?" Torkez asked. Souta didn''t answer him. He stood up and patted his clothes. "I''m tired of waiting." He said as he looked at the sh.i.p.s in the sky. "Yuko take down the sh.i.p.s and all the people inside it." As soon as he said those words, a huge red beam burst out on the nearest mountain. Dense best feram spread out as the red beam flew towards the sh.i.p.s in the sky. Boom! All the sh.i.p.s in the sky exploded as the red beam landed on it. The explosion was huge and it filled the sky with smoke and flames. It instantly killed thousands of people that were inside the sh.i.p.s. "Damn! What is it now?!" Third Warden cursed as he flew out of the sh.i.p.s while covered in blood. His parasitic essence eater covered his whole body and a pair of wings spread out on his back. Swoosh! Bang! His figure flew and crashed on the ground creating a huge explosion that shook the entire area. Cough! Cough! "Why is that bear? I didn''t expect it at all." The Third Warden said as he looked up in the sky. Ohm! His armor changed its appearance as it covered his whole body. Its color turned into silver with purple veins all over it. The Third Warden grew into a two-meter tall man with silver skin. He was muscular and purple veins were thumping across his body. His nails were sharp as it resembles claws of a predator and he had rows of razor sharp teeth. "AHHHH!!!" He roared loudly as his aura burst out of his body. Boom! [Maximun Flesh: Parasitic Fuse!] Souta looked at this transformation with interest in his eyes. Really, this was what he was talking about. Isabella really used this parasitic essence eater in the game. There''s not even a hint of Third Warden''s previous appearance. It was like he was looking at a different person. If he didn''t saw the transportation, he would doubt that the Third Warden was inside that creature. "Well, it''s not that bad." Chapter 399: Were going to fight "What is that thing...?!" Franklin and Torkez were shocked to see Yuko destroyed all those ships in the sky. It was too powerful. The strength that she possessed was beyond their imagination. She even forced the Third Warden to use the secret technique of the parasitic essence eater. Only those people at general rank have mastered the parasitic essence eater at such level. But what shocked them the most was the huge bear. The aura that she was releasing was no doubt a dragon energy. Her aura was overwhelming the Third Warden''s aura. It was clear that even at this form, the Third Warden was still weaker than Yuko. Not just them, the dragon was too shocked compared to the two. How could that bear use the dragon energy? He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. He thought that this energy was unique to dragons but what he was seeing shattered his belief. He then heard Souta''s voice. "I already said it to you. Dragons only have a great starting point in the path of monster evolution. You haven''t seen what''s truly strong in the vast universe. That energy you called dragon energy is actually best feram. It''s a product of monster orb that formed in the body of all monsters. Oh? Monster orb is what you called dragon heart." The dragon couldn''t help but glance at Souta and asked in disbelief, "Just what are you?" "I already said it to you before. Just like you, I''m a monster. To be specific, a race called goblin." Souta said as he glanced at the dragon. "That weak puny creature... You are a goblin...?" The dragon muttered in shock. Souta didn''t feel his words offensive. At the lowest level of evolution, a goblin was one of the weakest power among the other monsters. It was true. "You couldn''t believe it, right? You haven''t seen a powerful goblin in your entire life. Even a slime could reach your level. Don''t ever think that you''re already at the top." Souta smirked as he explained to the dragon. He stood up and patted his clothes before he added, "They are coming..." Boom! Boom! Yuko and the Third Warden collided repeatedly. The Third Warden was powerful after he transformed. Unfortunately, he met the wrong opponent this time. A man who only had the power of an A-rank wasn''t enough to fight Yuko. He was overwhelmed. No matter what he did Yuko could always counter his moves. "So this is what they are talking about... A bear who could use the dragon energy." The Third Warden muttered while breathing heavily. He was trying to think of a way to survive this but the only thing thing that comes into his mind was reinforcement. He had to hold on before the Generals arrived here. Yuko flashed in front of him and she swung her left arm. Swoosh! The Third Warden moved his body away but he still felt the power in that swing. It was terrific. If that landed on him, he was sure that he would take heavy injury. He couldn''t let that happen. He wasn''t a shielder but a spearman. The only problem was that he lost his weapon in the first attack. He didn''t know where he could find it. Swoosh! Yuko chased after him and swung her arm. She then opened her mouth and used the [Burning Shout II] trait skill of her. Flames gushed out of her mouth and it entirely covered everything in front of the Third Warden. It was a super wide-range attack that enclosed everything except the back of the opponent. "Damn!!" The Third Warden cursed as he didn''t have a choice but to receive this attack. The flames swallowed his body and it burned the flesh of his armor. Some part of his armor turned into ashes leaving his bare skin. Boom! "Argh!" The Third Warden roared as he felt intense heat. After a while, the flame dissipated and he was about to look around when Yuko appeared in front of him. Bang! Yuko smashed him on the ground causing several large cracks to form on it. She then stepped on his chest and opened her mouth. "Ack! D-Damn...!!" The Third Warden gritted his teeth as he looked at the energy forming in Yuko''s mouth. Ohm! Red energy spun around as it expanded before it shrunk down to a palm-size ball. Then, it shoots down towards the Third Warden. [Bestrou]!! A loud explosion occurred that shook the entire prison. It wiped out everything around it. The walls of the prison collapsed as it turned into dust. The people near the walls died and the buildings that were close to it were destroyed too. The wind blew strongly and it blew the smoke and dust. It revealed Yuko who was top of the dead warden of the Prison World. Everybody couldn''t recognize the Third Warden anymore. It was grotesque. Yuko lifted her head and roared loudly at the sky. She was asserting dominance over all the people here. ROARRRRR!!! ... Isabella and Lydia went to the nearest prison in their location. While they were hiding, the two saw dozens of ships leave the place. "They are leaving..." Isabella muttered in a low voice. "Yeah, I think that Souta already started freeing the prisoners in another territory. Maybe that''s the reason why the Seventh Warden is mobilizing a large army." Lydia said while looking at the ship in front of the thirteen ships in the sky. That ship was the main ship of the Seventh Warden. It seems that her guess was right. If that''s the case, then there''s currently no opponent that could match her in the territory of the Seventh Warden except for the head guard of the Catastrophe rank prison. But that''s not a problem for her. Although the head guard had the same power level as her, the head guard still didn''t have a parasitic essence eater in his body making him below her level. Souta was the only freak that she knew that could fight a person with a parasitic essence eater and could kill that person. "What are we going to do now, Lydia?" Isabella asked Lydia in a nervous tone. "Of course, we would free the prisoners. Our plan didn''t change at all, in fact, them leaving this place would only make it easy for us to execute our plan." Lydia said to Isabella. "O-Oh... I see..." Isabella nodded her head. "Good. We''ll slowly go inside the prison after we make sure that the Seventh Warden isn''t in his territory." Lydia said as she turned her head to look at the ships. After a few moments, Isabella and Lydia slowly approached the territory of the Seventh Warden of the Prison World. ... More than twenty ships were slowly approaching the Catastrophe rank prison in the territory of the Third Warden. The generals and the commanders of the Great Astley Empire were inside the front ship. One of the subordinates looked at them and reported, "Sir, we''ve detected high energy fluctuations in the Catastrophe rank prison. Judging from the characteristics of the energy it seems that it''s dragon energy." General Asimon nodded his head with a gloomy expression. "It seems to be the bear from last time." General Albert said as he glanced at General Asimon. "Yeah, we also lost contact with Third Warden." General Asimon nodded his head and said. They expected themselves to hear the news that the Third Warden was dead even though he was their ally. All of them knew how powerful that bear and in a one-on-one battle no one among them could fight it. They had to treat it like dragons. Those powerful creatures that could only be defeated by working together. Right now, they''ve gathered all their forces including the forces of all wardens in this world. They need it as their opponent wasn''t the bear alone but also those intruders including the prisoners of this Catastrophe rank prison. "We''ve arrived, general." The subordinate said and the two generals looked down. Just like what they''ve expected the Third Warden was already dead. Also, the prisoners were rampaging inside the prison. What gathered their attention was the bear outside the prison and the three people on top of the tallest building in the prison with a dragon behind them. "We need to prepare ourselves. Those criminals aren''t normal." General Asimon said as he narrowed his eyes. Souta smiled when he saw the incoming ships. He patted his clothes and focused his attention on the ships. "What a large army...?!" Torkez widened his eyes when he saw the army of the Great Astley Empire. "It feels like they are going to invade a world. They bring that enormous army just to kill you. It seems that they really wanted your head." Franklin smiled. Souta ignored them as he looked at the chaos on the ground. He gathered his energy and shouted, "Listen up everyone! The army of the Great Astley Empire is here! Do you want to stay in this world?! Of course not! I''m Souta Ieshi, the person who freed every prisoner in this place! If you don''t want to stay here in this world then fight! Fight them and I''ll lend you my strength!" I''m going to conquer this Prison World. Chapter 400 - True Power Thirty-seven sh.i.p.s were floating in the sky near the Catastrophe rank prison in the Third Warden''s territory. Aside from the army in the sky, the two generals also brought countless soldiers on the ground. The sh.i.p.s were larger than usual as one ship has a diameter of 700 meters. It was huge and was armed with hundreds of heavy cannons. The sh.i.p.s were connected to each other so they could talk to the people on the other sh.i.p.s.?? It could house more than 50,000 troops at the same time. It was equipped with a dimensional gate device that could travel to any world as long as they had coordinates. It could also fly through space and manually go to another world but that would take a lot of time as this ship couldn''t move at light speed. It was an all-around ship. It could go 10,000 meters below the water surface and swim through lava. These were the sh.i.p.s that they used to plunder the resources from another world that wasn''t habitable. They once used these types of sh.i.p.s to descend on a world which was full of helium and methane. The Great Astley Empire called these sh.i.p.s the Mega Type B1-O ship. Also called as Mother. It was made using science and magecraft. Thirty-seven Mother sh.i.p.s were approaching the prison. This wasn''t their full force. The forces of each warden haven''t arrived yet. Looking at the approaching army, Souta felt like it was the mechanic army. The only difference was that these sh.i.p.s weren''t powered by a monster orb or an artificial monster orb that they created. Also, the soldiers of the Great Astley Empire weren''t wearing power suits, unlike the mechanic army. "I''m going to take over this world." A grin appeared on Souta''s face as he slowly raised his hand. Best feram slowly seeped out of his body as he used the [Shadow Bind] spell. Since his energy changed into best feram his spell grew stronger just like when he used a monster potion. The whole building beneath Souta''s feet turned into black. It spread out into the whole prison as hundreds of large tentacles rose. The black tentacles quickly crushed the guards everywhere. Bang! Bang! They couldn''t fight back at all as their power levels were just D-rank. The strongest among them, the B-rank was personally killed by Souta. "Argh!!" "What is this?!" "Help!!" "Damn! Damn! No!!!" Screams of the guards sounded in every direction as the tentacles crushed their bodies. Blood splattered and their organs burst out of their bodies. The exp he got from killing D-rank was too little for him. Even if he killed tens of thousands of D-rank it wouldn''t be enough for him to level up. It''s a different matter if they were C-rank especially B-rank. The exp that he would receive from killing B-rank was several times higher than C-rank. He already killed more than fifty thousand D-ranks of the Great Astley Empire and that only filled up half of his exp bar when he was level 37, and now that he was level 40 D-rank wouldn''t be enough for him. He needed C-rank or B-rank. If it''s not enough, a high-level quest. "This is..." Although the dragon already heard from Souta that he could use it, it was still shocking to see it in person. "We''re going to destroy the army of the Great Astley Empire! It''s a war!" Souta''s smile grew wider as he looked at the incoming sh.i.p.s. He turned to Franklin, Torkez, and the dragon before he said, "Let me show you something you haven''t seen in your entire life." Before the three could say something, Souta already left towards the flying sh.i.p.s. Swoosh! Torkez and Franklin looked at each other. "What are we going to do now?" "Let''s watch Souta while waiting for the antidote. I wanted to fight too but this poison is bothering me. I couldn''t use mana at all." "Yeah, at our current condition. A single commander would be enough to wipe us." ... Souta stopped two hundred meters away from the thirty-seven sh.i.p.s of the Great Astley Empire. The two generals looked at the commanders and said, "Prepare yourself. This guy can use dragon energy too. I didn''t expect it but we''ll use everything from the start to fight him." "Understood!!" The commanders said at the same time with a serious expression. The threat of their opponent grew larger the moment they realized that he could use dragon energy. They were stunned at this realization. A tsunami was roaring in their mind. How could they defeat this person and the bear on the ground who could use dragon energy? "That''s why we have to capture one of them alive to know the reason why they could use the dragon energy. Maybe, we could also use it after the experiments." General Asimon said while looking at Souta with tightly knitted brows. General Albert glanced at him and said, "The forces of the wardens will arrive in just a few minutes. Each one of them brought fifteen sh.i.p.s. So a total of one hundred and eighty Mother Sh.i.p.s are arriving." One hundred eighty plus thirty-seven was equal to two hundred seventeen Mother Sh.i.p.s. Each ship had more than fifty thousand troops so our forces are enough to slay two dragons at the same time. Well, they were talking about the third stage dragon, not a fourth stage dragon. If a fourth-stage dragon appeared here then their forces wouldn''t be enough to bring it down. No, they don''t have enough firepower to pierced its defenses so even if a fourth stage dragon was sleeping they wouldn''t be able to kill it. Of course, the wardens didn''t bring their forces. They left half of their forces in their territory to guard it. Souta looked at them and said, "If you''re not going to come at me then I will..." He moved his hand and nine of out ten black balls behind him followed his hand. Swoosh! The nine black balls flew a hundred fifty meters above Souta. His evolution not just upgraded his stats but he also gained several abilities, his traits. Aside from that, his spells grew stronger because of the higher energy source that he had. Just like the [Shadow Bind] spell, the [Gravitational Spell] grew stronger too even though its level didn''t rose. This spell now had the power of a true tier 3 spell. A forbidden spell that was banned in many sub-worlds under the forces of the Great World Imperium. "Rejoice, all of you will experience the true power of the forbidden spell..." Souta said as he slowly raised his hand. His energy was slowly seeping out of his body and it was followed by the shaking of the ground. Boom! The ground shook heavily and cracks appeared everywhere. It was as if they were experiencing a huge earthquake that could destroy a city. "What is he trying to do?" Torkez narrowed his eyes as he looked at Souta. "I don''t know." Franklin shrugged his shoulder while looking around. The earthquake continued and the cracks grew larger and larger. Then, everyone could believe their eyes by what they saw. "Just what the hell is that?!" Clang! Clang! The ground troops of the Great Astley Empire turned pale as their weapons fell on the ground causing a loud metallic sound. Even the troops on the sh.i.p.s lost their calmness. Fear started to seep into their hearts when they saw it. "How could this be?!" "Is this a god...?" The generals and the commanders looked over with wide eyes and their mouth was opened widely. The thing in front of them was simply shocking. A whole catastrophe rank prison was now floating above Souta. It was enormous that they felt that thing enclosed the whole sun. Shadows covered the entire fleet of the empire. The catastrophe rank prison was gigantic, huge, enormous, and humongous. Even the main building alone was already 500 meters tall. Yet, the whole prison was floating in the sky. "This is not enough..." Souta said as he closed his palm tightly. The black balls spread out and a huge wave of best feram exploded out of his body. Boom! Gigantic boulders of rocks half of the prison''s size rose from the ground. It was still large even though it only has half of the prison''s size. The number of boulders surpassed the number of sh.i.p.s. "Settle down..." The boulders stopped moving along with the prison. It felt like he had stopped the time but in fact, he was just controlling those enormous things. This is the true power of the [Gravitational Ball] spell in sub-world. It could really wipe out an entire country. Also, Souta hasn''t even poured his energy to the limit of the magic circle so this spell could grow stronger. "Now, let''s start the massacre..." Chapter 401 - War in the Prison World "What the hell is this?!" "Is this something that a human could do?!" Everybody was in disbelief at this scene. Floating gigantic rocks that could destroy a city was in front of them. This was one of the reasons why people banned a tier 3 spell in a sub-world as it could potentially destroy everything. Also, the [Gravitational Ball] spell wasn''t an offensive spell. A [Bestrou] of a third evolution monster was still stronger if they compared its firepower. The only difference was that [Bestrou] wasn''t a wide-range attack nor it has other uses except for attacking. The scale of [Bestrou] was small but everything inside it was disintegrated. Well, [Bestrou] could easily destroy these rocks that weren''t enhanced by high-density mana. Souta''s control over his energy wasn''t that great. Controlling best feram was harder than controlling mana because of its wild nature. That''s why... [Thread Forming]! Strings of red threads came out of his hand and it stuck on the lower part of a 300-meter huge boulder. "Let''s try this..." Swoosh! "F.u.c.k! Fire! Quickly fire the cannons and destroy those boulders!" The generals said hurriedly when they saw Souta threw one of the boulders at them. Everyone snapped out when they heard the voices of their generals. They quickly followed the commands and started firing the cannons. Boom! Boom! Before the boulder could reach the sh.i.p.s, the sh.i.p.s fired countless white beams at it. Several explosions occurred on the boulder as it received the attacks of the sh.i.p.s. Cracks filled its surface as it started to collapse. It couldn''t handle the attacks of the sh.i.p.s at all. The fleet of the empire started to attack the other boulders of rocks too as they feared that Souta would throw it at them. Boom! Boom! Boom! But Souta wouldn''t let them destroy the prison easily. He opened his palm as he released his control over ten boulders and created a gravity field around the whole prison. Ohm! Then, several red threads flew out of his hands and he threw the rest of the boulders one by one. Swoosh! Swoosh! "Destroy it! That''s huge so you can easily hit it! Aim properly! Don''t waste energy!" General Asimon said in a loud voice while gritting his teeth. The ground troops of the empire could only watch what''s happening in horror. They couldn''t do anything at all except for firing low-level spells that they knew. Also, only a few of them knew spells, and not all people that knew spells learned offensive spells. Some of them only learned buff spells or healing spells. The person-in-command of the ground troops looked at his subordinates and said, "Prepare the cannon. This is not a melee battle. It''s a long-range battle. We''ll do everything to provide help to the sh.i.p.s. Just imagine that we''re only fighting dragons." Bang! But the problem was the boulder. It collapsed and ten-meter huge rocks fell down on the ground troops. Bang! Bang! It directly killed some of the soldiers on the ground who didn''t manage to escape on time. "I''m still not done." Souta said as the boulders of rocks flew above the sh.i.p.s and he dismissed his control over the rocks. Swoosh! Swoosh! The boulders of rocks started to fall as the sh.i.p.s move back to avoid it while firing their cannons. Their assault was non-stop as they kept firing every time they finished charging their cannons with energy. Souta retrieving the power of gravity that was controlling the boulders of rocks, he focused it on the Catastrophe rank prison. Swoosh! "You will not get away from me." He flew towards the retreating sh.i.p.s and red threads spread out and stuck on the barrier of the sh.i.p.s. While he was flying, the prison was following him from behind with intention of colliding with the fleet of the empire. General Asimov and General Albert narrowed their eyes when they saw spider webs slowly enveloped their barrier. It was blocking their vision and it was a problem. "We need to stop him personally..." General Albert said as he turned around and his parasitic armor covered his body. The rest of the commanders followed him leaving only General Albert in the strategic room. "Fighting someone at this level is really problematic." He said and he assigned one of his capable subordinates to command the fleet before he left the room. He was going to fight too as he knew that every strength was needed in fighting an opponent at this level. ... Souta tried to pull the sh.i.p.s but he didn''t have enough strength to do it. Although he was strong, the weight of one ship already surpassed one hundred thousand tons. And there were more than thirty sh.i.p.s here. ''I overestimate myself for a second.'' He thought as he smiled wryly. If he had the help of the [Gravitational Ball] spell, then he could probably do it. His physical strength wasn''t that high for him to be able to carry several hundred thousand tons. Even if he powered up his body using his energy, he would only be able to pull out three to five sh.i.p.s. It was a different matter if he used [Gravitational Ball] spell. But his spell was focused on the Catastrophe rank prison. Swoosh! ''Yuko, destroy some sh.i.p.s...'' Souta said to Yuko. They were connected to each other so Souta could talk to her telepathy. At this time, he saw the higher-ups of the army came out of the ship to stop him. Of course, the sh.i.p.s didn''t stop firing their cannons and Souta didn''t stop the prison too. Swoosh! A red ray of energy flew out of the prison and it destroyed a whole Mother Ship in an instant. Boom! The barrier of the ship was like a fragile glass. Everyone who was inside it died just like that. This was Yuko''s [Bestrou]. A powerful attack of monsters using a large concentration of best feram. Souta smiled as he looked at the generals and commanders of the empire. The prison passed beside him and crashed on the sh.i.p.s that couldn''t escape on time. Boom! Boom! Several explosions sounded across the sky as the prison collided with the group of sh.i.p.s. A powerful shockwave swept out in the whole area and even the ground troops felt the aftershocks of the explosion. General Asimon and General Albert charged at Souta. The commanders followed the two from behind. "Let''s go! We''ll kill him this time no matter what happened!" Blades sprouted out of their hands and it turned into weapons. No, the parasitic armor fused with their weapons to make it stronger and sharper. "You''re going to fight me..." Souta smirked as he pulled out the vajra sword. BOOOMMM!!! Shockwaves burst out of the field and it pushed everything around them. Exactly thirty-nine B-rank powerhouses were currently fighting Souta. Also, these weren''t ordinary B-rank as they had parasitic essence eaters that could boost their strength to a higher level. The only downside was that their skills and spells were low-grade. One kilometer away from the battlefield... The army of the wardens finally arrived at the scene. They could see the battle has already started and judging from the energy fluctuations, it wasn''t an ordinary battle. They were staking their lives in this battle. They were surprised for a moment when they saw the flying prison but then they immediately regain their senses. They quickly increased their flying speed to provide help to their allies. It seems that the opponent this time wasn''t ordinary. All twelve wardens had a grave looked on their faces. Just how powerful was their opponent for them to fight the army of the Great Astley Empire. The arrival of the wardens was noticed by the fleet of the empire and Souta. "Hmm...? Reinforcement... The difficulty is getting higher." Souta muttered as he moved his body upward to avoid the sword attack of the commanders. "But it''s not a problem for me..." Thick and dense energy burst out of his body and it pushed the generals and commanders away from him. Boom! [Night Overlord''s Aura], [Shadow Cloak], [Cat''s Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Agility Boost], and [Strength Boost] were activated at the same time. The added stats of these skills were higher compared to last time before he evolved. His power exploded and everyone felt the intense energy around him. "I will not hold back anymore. At this moment, everything is simply a massacre." Chapter 402 - Killing The Enemies General Asimon and General Albert were using the technique that the Third Warden used to fight Yuko. They were using the full potential of the parasitic essence eater in their body. But the problem was that their opponent was too strong. The commanders were nervous as they could see the energy that was seeping out of Souta''s body. Because of this, they could clearly see his face as the intense fluctuations of best feram were distorting the space. All they could see was a hazy black figure with crimson energy oozing out. Souta waved his sword and turned his head sideways. He saw that the prison collided with the fleets of the empire. The prisoners were jumping towards the ships to invade it and kill everyone. This was also one of the reasons why he couldn''t entirely focus his attention on the battle. His [Gravitational Ball] spell was still controlling the Catastrophe rank prison. He then turned his head to the nervous commanders and generals. He smirked before he charged at them. Swoosh! "He''s coming!" General Asimon and General Albert said as they went to the front of block Souta. They prepared themselves and when Souta arrived in front of them, they quickly slashed their blades. Swoosh! Souta stopped and the blades slashed down in front of him barely avoiding it. He loosened his grip on his sword before he swung it towards the two. "Avoid it!" General Albert shouted as he raised his blade but then the vajra sword flew and sliced both of his arms. He gritted his teeth as he titled his head and the vajra sword grazed his cheeks. ''He threw his sword...?!'' It was close if he didn''t manage to tilt his head. But then he noticed a red string beside his head. Swoosh! Souta attached a thread on the hilt of the vajra sword when he threw it at the two generals. He pulled the thread towards him and the vajra sword flew back. "Albert!!" General Asimon saw this so he swung his blade on the vajra sword before he kicked General Albert away. Bang! General Albert flew and he managed to evade the sword thanks to his comrade. Swoosh! Souta saw the incoming spell of the commanders. He tightened his grip on the thread and swung it around. The vajra sword flew around while colliding with the spells that the commanders shoot at him. Bang! Bang! Bang! General Albert''s hand already regenerated thanks to the parasitic essence eater. He quickly dashed forward with the intention to corner his opponent. Swoosh! "Don''t be afraid! We have the parasitic essence eater in our bodies! Just avoid fatal hit and we could regenerate easily!" General Asimon shouted as he charged towards Souta. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta exchanged high-speed blows with more than twenty enemies. The coordination of his opponent was better than he expected. It was as if they were used to fighting together. Every time he tried to chop the head of a commander, one of them would appear and block his attack at the cost of their body parts. He was impressed. It feels like he was fighting a top guild from the game. Still, the difference in strength was still huge. The only thing that they had was great coordination. They didn''t have enough firepower nor an attack to heavily injured him. Their spells and combat arts were low-grade. Also, he was sure that there was a limit to their regeneration. He was a third evolution monster that had high-grade skills and combat arts. Aside from that, he also had high-grade equipment that widened the gap between them. He couldn''t compare to the dragon that they''ve fought before who only had pure power. Souta''s strength didn''t only come from his high status as a third-stage monster. Souta grinned as he slashed his sword diagonally and a gigantic crimson energy blade flew out of it. [Crimson Moon]!! Boom! The generals and commanders avoided it but the ship several hundred meters behind them was sliced into two. ''Before evolving two commanders already forced me to use [Possession] and [Soul Blood Mode]...'' Souta said inwardly while looking at them. He was amused and he found it interesting to see how much he grow stronger. Ohm! Ten black balls formed behind Souta. It wasn''t the [Gravitational Ball] spell instead, it was the [Shadow Ball] spell. "Well..." Souta smiled as the black balls scattered around and he charged towards the commanders and generals. The two generals looked at the black balls several meters away from them warily but then they focused their attention on Souta. It was hard to divide their attention. How they are going to focus on Souta if there are mysterious black balls floating around them? They commanded five commanders to watch out for the strange occurrence of the black balls. After that, they went in front along with another five commanders to stop Souta. Souta gathered his energy in his sword and once again used [Crimson Moon]. Swoosh! The generals and commanders moved their bodies away from it. They couldn''t afford to get hit by that powerful attack. "How about this?" Souta swung his sword repeatedly and energy blades flew out. Dozens of energy blades flew towards the generals and commanders. Although it wasn''t as powerful as the crimson energy blade, it still contained a huge amount of energy that could damage their bodies. They tightened their muscles and circulated their mana around to strengthen their bodies. Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of energy blades flew and they tried to avoid it while they were slashing some of the energy blades but after stopping a few blades they felt their muscles going numb. It''s too strong... "Argh!!" A loud scream echoed behind them. They were avoiding and blocking the energy blades so they didn''t have a time to look back. But what they didn''t know was that Souta was already behind. "The enemy is here!!" One of the commanders shouted. The two generals were surprised but they didn''t dare to look behind. They were too busy with these energy blades. Bang! Bang! Bang! Suddenly, a black mist covered everything. It spread out and enveloped a huge part of the sky. The ground troops looked at the sky that was being covered by black mist. They thought that it was a simple black cloud at first but after sensing the best feram within, they guessed that it wasn''t normal. The black mist range was three times larger than before. More than five kilometers of space in the sky was enveloped by it. Even the approaching fleet of the wardens was swallowed. Darkness. It was all they could see in this black mist. Everyone below B-rank got their sight stolen away from them. It was blinding them and it was taking their power away from them. As such, this was the effect of the [Dark Cloud Hunting], a level 10 tier 2 spell. The same as his [Gravitational Ball] spell. Blood spurted out as the head of one of the commanders flew in the mid-air. Souta waved his sword and blood splashed everywhere. "Hehe~ this spell decreases the strength of everyone and increases my strength." He said with a laughed before he charged towards the commanders and generals. General Asimon and General Albert widened their eyes. They thought that they were prepared to fight but then they found that their preparation wasn''t enough. They couldn''t move their bodies as Souta advanced while slashing the bodies of the commanders. [Crimson Moon]! [Cross Moon]! The next moment that they''ve found was that every commander was dead. Their body parts were falling towards the ground. Nothing could save them, even the regeneration power of the parasitic essence eater was useless once they were dead. "Bye-bye..." These were the words that they heard before Souta slice their bodies apart into tiny pieces. A monster who had the skill and spell of a human and demi was beyond their imagination. This was the first time they''ve fought someone like him. That''s why a tragedy like this happened. Souta stretched his body and looked at the prison. He saw Yuko was shooting down the ships of the empire one by one. Some of the prisoners took over the ships of the empire but they couldn''t do anything at this moment. His [Dark Cloud Hunting] was affecting everyone so he canceled this spell and watched everything from the sideline. Currently, they were fighting the fleets of the wardens but they were at a disadvantage. The combined fleets of the wardens were stronger than the generals and commanders. It''s not surprising because this world was their territory. Oh? While Yuko was shooting down the ships using [Bestrou], Franklin, Torkez, and the dragon were fighting the wardens on their own. They already got the antidote and joined the battle to defeat the empire. He was amused and surprised at the same time while watching their battle. When he freed them, the ordinary B-rank prisoners were separated from them. The three were imprisoned on the lowest floor and he could understand why. The dragon was a third-stage monster so it was understandable. What surprised him was Franklin and Torkez. Torkez was a rebel before he got captured. In fact, he was the leader of the rebel and he was the first one who discovered the creature called Parasitic Essence Eater. Right now, he was using the power of a parasitic essence eater to fight a warden alone. He was powerful as the general that Souta just killed. Franklin was different. He was a criminal that killed an entire nation before. That nation was under the banner of the Great Astley Empire so it possessed great military might. So how did he do it? It was simple. Franklin''s mana was already liquefied making him a real A-rank powerhouse. They were nameless in the game. They probably died by the attack of the World Serpent but their future has changed. In the future, their names will spread out and they will shake the Great World Imperium in fear. Everyone will know them as one of the Thirteen Apostle Generals of the Blood Army. Chapter 403 - Quest 4 The battle that decided the fate of the Prison World has ended in an overwhelming manner of the prisoners. Several ships were falling with smoke coming out of it. It took heavy damage and its flight function couldn''t handle it anymore. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers perished without even knowing who''s the one who killed them. Right now, the soldiers of the empire were fleeing as every higher-up of their army has died at the enemy''s hand. The commanders, generals, and wardens were all dead. No one could command them anymore so they started to panic and run in every direction to survive. Their morale has plummeted down after they witnessed how their leaders died. The prisoners'' side also suffered heavy casualties as half of the prisoners in the Catastrophe rank prison had died leaving only seventeen thousand prisoners. It was understandable as their opponent''s number was several times higher than theirs. Roar!! Yuko and the dragon roared loudly that shook the entire sky. Their energy spread out in every direction. They were asserting their superiority over these lowly creatures. Franklin and Torkez were standing on top of the ships that the prisoners stole. Out of more than fifty ships of the empire, they only managed to take three ships. It''s understandable as Yuko focused her attention on destroying all the ships in her field of vision. These two also showed their powers and everyone recognized them as the most powerful prisoners. One was a real A-rank powerhouse while the other one was a peak B-rank with the power of a parasitic essence eater. Although they couldn''t release their full strength because they just got out of prison and remove the poison from their bodies, they still showed everyone how it means to be a powerhouse. If they rested and recover their strength, Souta was sure that they could exert more power than what they''ve shown today. They were strong and dangerous. That''s the reason why they were locked down on the lowest floor of the prison. But the one that people revered and feared the most was Souta. The power that he showed this time was simply beyond their imagination. They couldn''t comprehend it. It feels like it was the work of a god. Making the whole catastrophe rank prison float that weights several million tons was something they''ve never seen in their entire life before. They also haven''t heard someone who could do it in their homeworld nor someone from the Great Astley Empire. Souta''s eyes were closed while floating around the field. He was gathering the souls of the dead soldiers. He wouldn''t let this opportunity slip by to gather a huge amount of souls. Ohm! Voices of the souls rung in his head as the earrings sucked them. The number of souls in this place was enormous as some of souls were outside of his skill''s range. The souls that he devoured have surpassed millions. Even Saya was shocked and tried to warn him. ''Souta... It''s dangerous. You should keep it for a while. Millions of souls are gone in an instant. It will notice you.'' Saya said to him seriously. The thing that Souta was doing was worse than killing millions of people. ''Notice me...? Who?!'' Souta narrowed his brows tightly. He didn''t have an idea what she was talking about. ''The laws of the universe...'' Saya said in a grave tone. The laws of the universe were the rule of the whole cosmos that everyone followed including the gods. Reincarnation was one of these rules that''s why no one could escape the cycle of reincarnation after they died. Souls were included in this cycle and if millions of souls suddenly disappeared, of course, the laws will notice it. Souta asked her about it but Saya said that she also didn''t have much information about it. She only knew that the soul world was part of the rule. It wasn''t a physical world, no living beings could go in that world where the souls were being purified for reincarnation. Also, reviving someone was against the law of the universe. ''Just remember that breaking the laws of the universe can bring disaster to you...'' Saya said to him. ''Laws...?'' Souta didn''t think much about it as he checked the attributes that he gained from using the souls of the dead soldiers. He added 160 points to his vitality, 300 points to intelligence, 345 points to dexterity, and 92 points to his agility. Once he used this all his attributes reached 1,500 points. He still had a remaining 733 points so he used it all in his intelligence attribute. Strength: 1,540 Agility: 1,408 -> 1,500 Dexterity: 1,155 -> 1,500 Intelligence: 1,200 -> 2,233 Vitality: 1,340 -> 1,500 His base intelligence has reached 2,000 points so he gained plus 30 energy recovery the ratio of his intelligence to energy became 1:1. So after 2,000 points if he added 1 point to INT he will gain 1 energy. Before he reached 2,000 points, 3 points of INT was equal to 1 energy. Also, he gained plus 5% energy resistance and 5% energy damage. The increase in his stats after millions of souls was simply amazing. The [Soul Blood Earring] really deserved its rank as a universal artifact. Although it didn''t have powerful attack or defense, the stats that it could provide to its wearer was overwhelming. He would rank this artifact as one of the top universal items. What an overpower item... [Soul Blood Earring](Left Piece) Soul Collected: 2,743/10,700 [Soul Blood Earring](Right Piece) Soul Collected: 6,870/13,600 At this moment, his stats already surpassed those initial third evolution monsters. His stats could rival those intermediate third evolution. If he used all of his skills, then he probably could rival a high-level third evolution monster. No one among B-rank and A-rank could fight him. It will take a group of veteran twenty plus A-rank powerhouses before they could defeat him. Souta took a deep breath and he looked at the prisoners. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "We''ve won! The wardens, commanders, and generals of the empire are dead! This world is ours from now on! Kill! Kill the remaining dogs of the empire!" His words sounded in every direction and the prisoners heard it clearly. Some of them didn''t understand it because of the language barrier but they vaguely understood what he meant. "OHHHH!!!" "KILL THE DOGS OF THE EMPIRE!!" "KILL THE DOGS OF THE EMPIRE!!" "KILL THE DOGS OF THE EMPIRE!!" The prisoners roared as their morale rose to the peak. They were finally free from all the tortures that they''ve suffered in the prison. It''s time to get their revenge and kill those empire dogs. ... A week had passed quickly after the battle that killed the rulers of this world... The cleaning was almost done. They conquered ninety percent of the territory of the thirteen wardens and were killing the remaining forces of the empire that were hiding in this world. In short, the empire''s forces were done. They couldn''t fight back at all and asked for reinforcement as the prisoners took over all the facilities in this world. Souta was sitting in a room while resting his head on his hand. He was looking at his system and pondering what he should do next. Quest 3 was already completed and quest 4 flashed before his eyes. He narrowed his eyes while reading the content of the quest. *Ding!* [Quest 3 Completed!] [You''ve received 10,000 exp, 5 free attribute points, and 3 skill points!] *Ding!* [Quest 4 unlocked!] [Great Astley Empire] Quest 4: The empire rules hundreds of sub-worlds for a long time. Free five sub-worlds from the grasp of the empire. Rewards: 80,000 exp, 15 free attribute points, and 10 skill points Souta could see the ending of this chain quest. The last quest must be about destroying the Great Astley Empire. It will take a lot of time if he was still a second evolution monster but now that he was a third evolution monster, he wasn''t afraid of them anymore. Freeing five sub-worlds was easy but it will take a lot of time. Well, he has a lot of free time in his hand so it didn''t bother him. Also, he could use all the prisoners that he freed to make his work easier. All he had to do was kill the strong officers of the empire and the prisoners will deal with the normal soldiers. That''s it... Souta stood up and he walked forward in a huge hallway. Franklin, Torkez, the dragon, Isabella, and Lydia who were at his side also stood up and followed him. Sounds of their footsteps echoed in the hallway. No one uttered a single word as they simply followed Souta. Souta reached the end of the hallway and he saw thousands of people waiting outside of the huge building. The sun rays landed on his body as he observed the people of various races. "I will get straight to the point. I want all of you to follow me and we''ll conquer the worlds under the rule of the empire. Are you going to follow me or not?" Chapter 404 - DESTROY THE EMPIRE!! "HOOOOO!!!" "WE''LL TAKE DOWN THE EMPIRE!!" The tens of thousands of people roared at the same time that it shook the whole place. Their voices echoed in every direction as they wanted to go back to their homeworld and defeat the forces of the empire that humiliated them. But everyone knew that it wasn''t an easy task. The only one that brings them confidence in fighting the empire was Souta. His god-like strength was the source of everyone''s confidence. Without him, they wouldn''t think that they had a chance to defeat the empire. The overwhelming power of the empire was something that they couldn''t imagine being on the losing side. Those commanders and generals were nothing with Souta at their side. "Good. We''re going to take over the worlds that are close to this world." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression as he smiled faintly and added, "Prepare yourself. Tomorrow, we''ll launch an attack." He quickly turned around and left. ... "I can''t believe that we took over an entire planet," Lydia said while looking at Souta. After she freed the prisoners in the territory of the Seventh Warden, she quickly went to the other territory with Isabella. After completing their task, the two went back to meet with Souta and found that all the higher-ups of the Prison World were dead. "We''ll take over everything and kill everyone. That''s it." Franklin said with a faint smile as he glanced at Lydia. Lydia narrowed her eyes. She knew Franklin was a mass murderer and a powerful person. She knew that she would be defeated if she fought this crazy person. Torkez looked at the two of them before he turned to Souta and asked, "I have a question. Do you have a specific world that we''re going to attack?" "Souta, already said that we''re going to attack the nearest worlds so there''s nothing much to talk about it," Franklin said to Torkez. All he wanted to do was to fight those people. Souta looked at everyone and said, "I don''t know which world to attack so give me all the information. I will decide after looking at it." Lydia and Torkez looked at each other. They didn''t care about Franklin''s opinion at all as they knew that fighting was what he wanted. One was a former commander of the empire while the other one was a famous leader of the rebel army that discovered the parasitic essence eater. So the two of them knew a lot of information about the worlds near the Prison World. The two told him about the fifteen worlds that were close to this world. They explained the details of this world to him. Of course, Torkez details were outdated as he was imprisoned for a long time but his information still helped in clarifying a lot of things regarding these fifteen worlds. "I see..." Souta nodded his head and choose the five strongest worlds. The five worlds where most of the empire''s armies were stationed. He chooses to deal with them as fast as possible and head towards the homeworld of the empire. He couldn''t go directly to that world as the transportational device has limitations. It couldn''t transport people or things to the planet that was too far away from it. That''s why they had to go from another world to another world until the planet of the empire was within the range of the transportational device. "Franklin, lead the prisoners from the fifth catastrophe rank prison..." Souta tasked Franklin to invade one of the five worlds that he has chosen with the prisoners from the other catastrophe rank prison. Franklin, Torkez, and the dragon weren''t the strongest prisoners in this world. There were people on the other catastrophe rank prison that has the same power level as them but only Torkez has a parasitic essence eater. Also, the number of dragons that were imprisoned in this world was five. These dragons rose the overall might of their forces. At first, the dragons except for the dragon that Souta knew refused to work together. They said that they didn''t need anyone''s help and could handle things on their own. Well... Souta showed them his power and made a deal with them. Even though he was strong, he still couldn''t handle 4 third evolution monsters. He could only fight one of them and that''s his limit. Their deal was simple. The dragons wanted to go back to their homeworld and have revenge on the empire so Souta would help them in their goals. It''s easy but he still had to defeat one of them in a battle for him to be worthy of it. They wouldn''t simply follow any person that was weaker than them. Souta narrowed his eyes and said, "Bring one of the dragons with you. Dragon is our ace as it will need a couple of generals and commanders to defeat a single dragon." "Okay, I will immediately prepare myself. I can''t wait to fight and kill those people." Franklin said as his smile grew wider. He stood up and patted his clothes before he left the room. The dragon, Isabella, Lydia, and Torkez looked at Franklin''s retreating back. Yuko was sleeping beside Souta as she left everything to Souta. If he has some problem, she was always free and he could ask her. As long as she would get a delicious meal and her patting then it''s enough. Souta looked at the remaining people and said, "All of you should know where this would lead." "Yes, I know. Sooner or later words about Prison World will spread out and they will know what really happened here." Lydia nodded her head with a serious expression. Right now, the Great Astley Empire didn''t know anything about the Prison World. They just thought that they''ve successfully capture Souta and his comrades but that''s where they were wrong. Souta and his comrades took over the entire Prison World and became its ruler. The empire has no way of contacting this world and they will notice it soon. Once they''ve noticed it, they will send people to this world to investigate what happened. After that... "A war will occur..." Torkez said plainly. Before he got captured, he spends most of his time fighting the army of the empire so he was used to fighting them. As long as he had sufficient troops, he could build a strategy to fight the empire. "Yes, a war. It''s inevitable. That''s why we had to strike them first. We will capture those five worlds and gathered more allies. Yes, allies, we need it. The troops of the empire are several times larger than our current troops." Souta paused for a moment before he continued, "No matter how strong I am, I still couldn''t fight endlessly. I will be defeated by their sheer numbers." "And that''s how they always defeated a dragon... Using sheer numbers to overwhelm a single foe." Lydia added. "Lydia you should go with Yuko, Franklin will go with dragon, and the rest of the forces will work together. I will bring Isabella with me to one of these five worlds." Souta divided all the forces in this prison world. They had to make sure that their plan will go well. Souta will only bring a few thousand troops with him. It was enough for him as he needed the other forces to make sure that they could conquer those worlds. "I understand... I want to free my homeworld soon but since it''s pretty far we''ll free other worlds first." Torkez said as he closed his eyes. He recalled his homeworld. He wondered what happened to the people of his world. "Our goal is destroying the empire so if we completed our goal your homeworld will be freed too," Souta said to him. "That''s true..." Torkez nodded seriously. Souta simply looked at them. He knew that these people were only following him because they have the same goal, the goal to destroy the Great Astley Empire. "Tomorrow... Be sure to prepare yourself. After we conquered those worlds, we will directly fight the empire." Souta said as he leaned on his chair. Conquering five worlds and gaining allies was great but since the empire was in the middle of conquering other worlds, they had to cut off their resources. They had to thin out the army of the empire. It will greatly decrease the burdens of the people while fighting them. After they finished their meeting, Lydia, Torkez, and the dragon left the room. Souta looked at Isabella and asked, "How are you, Isabella?" "I-I''m fine. It''s just that... I''m not used to traveling like this that''s why I''m not feeling great." Isabella replied to him. "Don''t worry, after we finished settling the things here. We''ll rest for a while before we start traveling once again. Also, we''re going to travel slowly and we have to go back to your homeworld." Souta said to her. "My homeworld...?" Isabella tilted her head in confusion. "Yes, I will try the living labyrinth to see if I could get the god''s legacy there." Souta smiled. Chapter 405 - Greia Souta and Isabella were the only ones left in the room. Franklin and the others already left to conquer the other worlds. They brought ships that they''ve plundered from the warden''s territory. Also, they don''t have to worry about resources for a while. Each warden had a huge amount of resources on their bases. About the maintenance of the ships, there were more than hundreds of thousands of prisoners in this world. Some of them knew how to maintain a ship. They were experts in different fields like mechanic, engineering, magecraft, bladesmith, poitioneering, etc. Souta stood up and looked at Isabella. He said, "Prepare your things. We''re leaving after half an hour." He then went out of the room to survey the prison. ... Souta was on top of the main building observing the prison. This prison, the catastrophe rank, didn''t look like a prison at all. It was a city and everything that people needed could be found here. Various facilities were erected in every corner and it provided food and water to the guards. But if he looked closely, he will find those jails all over the city. He recalled that the number of the guards, also called citizens of this place, surpassed ten thousand. Their security was tight. It was tight for people below B-rank. The only thing that''s worth mentioning here was their numbers. ''So much for a prison...'' Saya''s voice sounded. "Yeah, only the guards could roam around. They married here and lived their life in this place." Souta said with a blank expression. The guards here lived their entire life in this world. The male guards married the female guards and have children. Their children will be trained and become a guard after they grow up. They have livestock and planted fruits and vegetables. Some of them even created accessories to sell. There''s even a park and playground in this place. If one didn''t look closely they will find that this was a normal city but in fact, it was entirely different on the other side. Souta turned his head and looked at the ships in a huge space. There were a total of four ships in the huge parking lot. The others ships already left this world and went to conquer the other worlds. "Well, I understand why they call this world a Prison World." He muttered as he looked down at the huge building beneath his feet. This was the main building where most of the vile and notorious criminals were imprisoned. This place was like a hell for them. They experience torture that they haven''t seen in their entire life in this very building. ''You''re a third evolution monster now... It''s been a few months since you''ve been out of Imperium. Do you still have a plan to meet with them? If you use your energy in their presence they will instantly know that you''re a monster.'' Saya said. "I don''t know but I''m surely going back to Imperium. I can hide in this place for the rest of my life but I don''t want that. I still want to know the truth of the world. So I will meet them in Imperium. It''s inevitable." Souta said as he looked at the blue sky. ''You are going to tell them the truth?'' Saya asked. "Yeah, it''s one of the things that I couldn''t avoid." Souta nodded and he closed his eyes. Events about the games flashed before his eyes. If he wanted to avoid it, he could simply hide in the sub-world but he also wasn''t about it. Sub-worlds weren''t safe too as various battles will occur in the future and hundreds of sub-worlds got destroyed. If he wanted a safe place then he could first build up his strength. If he had enough strength, he could create a safe place for him. Peaceful times had passed. Chaos will spread out and engulfed everything. Saya didn''t say anything as she watched Souta from the sword. The truth that he wanted. She had an idea about it but she didn''t have enough evidence to prove that she was right. "Let''s depart..." Souta said as he turned around and left. ... "Are you prepared?" Souta asked Isabella. Isabella was carrying a large bag on her back and there were two bags in her hand. Judging from her appearance, he could guess that she was prepared. "Y-Yeah..." Isabella nodded nervously. She knew what they''re going to do and she could imagine what will happen. Bloodbath and battle will occur. She already prepared herself for what''s to come. ''Come on... You can do it, Isabella.'' She said inwardly. "Good." Souta nodded his head. He will dispatch her later to experience a life and death battle but he will secretly guard her. She will reach godhood in the future and it''s better for her to experience a battle like this. If he didn''t arrive in this world, the two strongest counties of her world will have an all-out war against the empire''s forces. He guessed that she will experience hardship in that war and will become a fierce woman that he knew in the game. And then, when the World Serpent appeared she will become one of the survivors and arrived in the Great World Imperium. "Then, let''s go..." The two went to the ship. Souta will bring two ships in his conquest leaving the remaining two ships in this place. He couldn''t bring everything with him as who will protect this place once the empire discovered it. After everyone was on board, the people who were controlling the ships activated the transportational device. The world that they were going to conquer was called Greia. The coordinates of Greia were already saved in the files of the ship so they could easily travel in that world. "Activate it..." Light flashed out on the surface of the surface and it surged through the sky, creating a pillar of white light. [Please hold tightly, the ship will fly through the gate!] [The ships will depart in 10... 9... 8... 7... 6...] Warning sounded in the whole ship and every people inside it heard it. [5... 4... 3... 2... 1...] The light shone brightly and it illuminated everything around. The surge of energy was high as it needed to support the gate for them to cross to another world. Ohm! After a few minutes, the light disappeared along with the two ships. ... In the Greia World, two gigantic pillars descended down and it caused gusts of winds in the surrounding area. The monsters in the vicinity were shaken as they looked at the pillars of light. They felt the energy coming out of it so they quickly left the area. Ohm! The pillars of light disappeared after a few seconds and two flying ships revealed themselves to the world. Souta who was inside the ship narrowed his eyes as he looked around. He asked, "Where are we?" "Sir, we are on the edge of the desolate land." One of the people who were managing the ships answered his question after they confirmed their location. "I see..." Souta nodded his head. The Greia World has one huge continent and this continent was divided into two parts. The desolate land and the living land. Desolate land was a land where normal creatures wouldn''t survive. The atmosphere in this place was full of toxins and various chemicals that were harmful to humans and demis. The air in this place could even kill a C-rank in just a few minutes. B-ranks could somehow handle these toxins and chemicals but their body could only last for several hours. The monsters in this place were weak but they were immune to the toxins and chemicals that''s why they were troublesome to deal with. Then, the living land. The place where humans and demis live. The atmosphere in this land was different from desolate land as there''s no toxins or any other chemicals in the air. Souta knew all of this as he learned this information from Lydia and Torkez. Also, from the other prisoners who lived in this world in the past before they got captured. "Start charging the energy core of the ships. We should have ready it in case of emergency." Souta commanded and the former prisoners followed his command. The transportational device needed a huge amount of mana before they could use it. That''s why they had to charge it first before they could use it once again. According to the information that he got, the energy core of the ships will be completely charged after one day. Although the ships had spare energy core, it was still important to charge it. "Fly slowly around. I want to observe this world first. Also, prepare the protective mask and suits." Souta ordered. They had protective equipment in their ships that were prepared for the troops in case they had to fight in the desolate land. The protective equipment will protect them from the toxins and chemicals in the atmosphere. Chapter 406 - Mysterious Cave The Greia''s mana density was ten times lower than the Eidin. Eidin was the world where Souta, Alice, and Yuko arrived. The density of mana was too low compared to that world. The same could be said to the Prison World. He could understand why the Great Astley Empire wanted that world for themselves. Yet, the mana density of Imperium was thirty times higher than Eidin. Three hours had passed since they''ve arrived in this world. Souta discovered monsters that he hasn''t seen Imperium. He was a little bit surprised about it but considering the parasitic essence eater he quickly calmed down. Ever since he left the Imperium, the only foreign thing that caught his attention was the parasitic essence eater. If he had a time, he would secure one for himself and his team. The ability to boost the host''s physical powers was great. He recalled how those commanders have a power of B-rank yet when they used the parasitic essence eater they will gain the physical power that could rival an A-rank powerhouse which was strengthened by their liquefied mana. Aside from the boost in strength, the almost unlimited regeneration power was terrifying. "I want to get a sample of their blood..." Isabella muttered while looking at the screen which projected the monster''s appearance. Souta heard her words so he looked at her and asked, "For potioneering, right?" Isabella was surprised as she didn''t think that Souta would hear her. She looked down as she covered her mouth with her hands but Souta kept looking at her. Accepting her defeat, she meekly nodded her head. "Y-Yes... I want to know the properties of their blood. Since they are monsters that are immune to the toxins in the air, there''s a possibility that their blood had immunity properties which makes them immune to toxins. If that''s possible, then I could somehow create a potion that will let us inhale the toxins without suffering for a short amount of time..." Isabella explained to him. "I see... If it''s not in their blood. Then, it must some sort of organ that could filter the toxins but if it''s an ability then it''s going to be a problem." Souta nodded as he said to the people. "Capture one of those monsters and bring it inside the ship." "Monster is not the only way... You could also send the properties of the toxins in the air and with enough study. I could just combine some ingredients to create a potion that could nullify it." Isabella said to him. "Why didn''t you said so sooner? Every ship had a record of the properties of the toxins. They knew it, that''s why the toxins couldn''t get inside the ships. Well, it is also a part of enchantment that the empire did in their ships." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "Well, just take the monster too. I already said this before to you. You don''t have to hold back. Just simply ask me if you want something." The ships of the empire especially the Mother Ships were built to endure every kind of harsh environment of different worlds. Cannons appeared on the surface of the ships. It fired dozens of white beams at the monsters in the vicinity. When they were sure that they killed one monster, five people wearing protective equipment came out of the ship and took the monster with them. Souta nodded with a satisfied look. Isabella should continue studying until she developed her talent to create those lost potions from ancient times. Anything that she wanted, he will provide it to her even his own blood. Oh? That''s a great idea. Souta was a Blood Goblin which was a super rare variant of a goblin. He wanted to know what she will discover if she studied his blood. The researchers in Imperium studied countless species of monsters just to know how could they copied the high energy called best feram. The only fruitful research that came out was the monster potions. The recipe of monster potion was lost and no one knew how to recreate this. Countless researchers wanted to know the data that the inventor of monster potions gathered from studying monsters. Souta turned to his side and found that Isabella was already gone. She must have gone to check the monster that they''ve capture. He shrugged his shoulder and focused his attention on the screen. He couldn''t help Isabella in her study so he will leave her alone. After one hour, Souta raised his hand as he signaled the people to stop the ships. "Wait! I saw something. Zoom the projection in that part." He said as he pointed to the corner of the screen. They zoomed the projection on the screen and saw a huge cave in the middle of nowhere. The cave was too far from them so it was too small on the screen that''s why they didn''t immediately notice it. The two ships traveled several kilometers and finally arrived on top of the cave. The cave was huge as its mouth has a radius of fifteen meters. Foreign monsters were going in and out of the cave but after they arrived the monster stopped showing themselves. The two flying ships have scared them. Souta observed the ships for a while before he said, "We''re going down." He then turned around and left. ... A loud sound echoed as a group of seven people landed on the ground. All of them were wearing protective equipment except for Souta. Souta was using his energy to filter all the toxins that he inhaled. Only people who had great control over the energy in their bodies could do it. It''s not something that everyone could do. He wasn''t afraid of these toxins in the air as his body was that of a third evolution. It has a natural resistance against poisons, venom, or toxins but he still thought that it was better to be safe. Although, he thought it he still didn''t wear the protective equipment. Well, what he was doing was some sort of training too. Training to control his energy. After evolving, his mana transformed into best feram and his control over this new energy wasn''t as great as his control on his mana. That''s why he needed some training for him to return to his previous energy control level. "D-Do I really need to come?" Isabella asked. She was busy observing the corpse of the monster when Souta called her. "Yeah, maybe we found something that suits your interest. I personally think that this place isn''t just a simple monster den. I felt slight fluctuations of energy below it." Souta said to her. "But what if it''s just a powerful monster? I will not be able to help you..." Isabella said. "Don''t worry about that. If you''re going to discover some unknown things it''s better to bring someone who knows a lot of things..." Souta smiled. "But I don''t know a lot of things..." Isabella tilted her head. "Yes, but what I''m talking about is the knowledge of potioneering in your head." Souta pointed at his head. "What this got to do with potioneering?" Isabella asked with a confused looked on her face. "To create a potion you had to know a lot of herbs and monsters. Not just that, sometimes a rare potion needed natural chemicals and high-grade ores as ingredients. A potion master knew about the characteristics of each ingredient and the potion master also knew how it will affect a person''s body. Is it harmful or beneficial? They also knew what will happen when they combined one ingredient to another..." Souta explained to her how great a potion master. In fact, he was only describing the feats of Isabella in the game. In the end, Isabella nodded at him. She couldn''t even understand why he was telling her all of this. Is this really related to potioneering or not? Well, she decided to believe Souta as he had no reason to lie to her or deceive her. But... At the very least... She wanted to understand what he was saying. Souta looked at Isabella and the five people that he brought. "Let''s begin our search. Just follow me quietly." He said with a serious expression. Two of the five people were experts in other fields. They knew a lot of things about this world and could understand the languages of different worlds. Souta brought them with him as he knew that their knowledge was important. The remaining three people were combat experts. They were experienced fighters that had the power of a D-rank adventurer in Imperium. The group advances forward as they stepped inside the dark cave. All of them were cautiously looking around their surroundings and watching everything in their field of vision afraid of missing some important details. They pressed a button on their protective equipment and some part of their equipment emitted lights that solved their problem. Souta didn''t care about their lights. He had a [Night Vision] trait so he could see clearly in any dark place. "Let''s see what''s hidden here..." Chapter 407 - Strange Creature Bang! Bang! Souta moved swiftly as he knocked out seven monsters inside the cave. They haven''t gone too deeply yet they already encountered seven of them. He guessed that after the ships scared them the monsters placed some of their comrades near the entrance as guards. If he was correct, then this monster possessed a little bit of intelligence despite being a non-evolved monster. Isabella squatted in front of the corpses and observed them for a while before she stood up while shaking her head. "What''s wrong?" Souta asked her. "Nothing... I''m just trying to observe if this one is different than the one on the ship." Isabella replied to him. "Okay..." Souta said as he continued to walk deeper while the rest followed him. They found that the cave was bigger than they''ve imagined. This was like a maze or labyrinth that has so many paths. Also, they''ve found other monsters deep inside the place. It means that three different species of monsters were living in this maze-like cave. It''s been an hour since they''ve entered the cave and the people on the ships were getting restless. Noon was slowly approaching as the temperature in the area was rising rapidly. This was one of the most dangerous things in the desolate land of the Greia. The temperature of desolate land would hit 150 degrees celsius at noon. Ordinary people wouldn''t be able to handle this heat but for C-rank and above powerhouses, they could handle this level of heat even if they stayed here for several hours. One of the five people that Souta brought notify him about this. They explained to him about the heat level of this land at noon. Their power level was only D-rank and below so 150 degrees celsius would definitely burn their bodies. Hmm...? Souta rubbed his chin as he glanced at Isabella. Her power level was only D-rank and this level of heat was something she couldn''t handle. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, "Okay, the five of you can go back now. The heat level didn''t include underground. I''m sure that the heat in this place wouldn''t rise to that level because we''re more than a hundred meters below the ground. "Haven''t you notice it yet. The toxins and chemicals couldn''t reach this place. There''s nothing in the air other than oxygen." Souta noticed it when they were walking. The air in this place was clean compared to the surface. There''s no chemicals or toxins that can harm humans and demis. The five people tested it and found that Souta was correct. They could remove their protective equipment or gears in this place. "It''s true but why there''s no record of this in the files?" "Yeah, it''s pretty strange..." "If that''s the case then the heat level will not increase in this place..." The five people talked to each other. They were amazed to find a place where the toxins and chemicals couldn''t reach in the desolate land of Greia. "Then... What''s your decision? You''re going back to the ship or staying here with us?" Souta asked the five people. "We''re not going back, sir, but... We''re also not going to follow you." One of them said to him. "So you''re going to wait for us near the entrance..." Souta raised his eyebrows as he looked at them. "Yes, sir. We''re going to examine and find the boundary of the toxins and chemicals. We wanted to know how far the toxins could reach." One of the five people said. "Okay. Then, I''ll leave you now." Souta nodded his head and he turned around. "Let''s go, Isabella." Isabella nodded as she quickly followed Souta. She turned her head and glanced at the five people behind. She then asked, "Are they going to be fine, Souta?" "Well, it depends but I think that they could handle themselves. We''ve eliminated most of the monsters so there''s no need to worry about them." Souta replied without turning back. He could guess why they wanted to know how far the toxins could reach. It must be because they wanted to occupy the desolate land. Until now, humans and demis couldn''t occupy this place because of toxins and chemicals so if they build an underground place they could live in this place too. The desolate land was enormous and it''s the other half of this continent. They could simply cultivate the grass that could grow in this kind of place, no, in this underground place. It will be a huge help to them if they want to live underground like the monsters here. Souta and Isabella went deeply... This underground place was like a dungeon. After fifteen minutes... The two stopped walking as they found a monster standing in front of them. A short humanoid monster that was armed with a rusty sword. The monster had green skin and pointed ears. It has sharp fangs and nails. It looks like a goblin. The only difference was that it has a pair of sharp purple spikes on its back. Its elbows also had a sharp spike. The sclera of its eyes was dark purple. Souta narrowed his eyes as he looked at the humanoid monster in front of him. He was a little bit shock when he saw this monster. He glanced behind him and saw Isabella looking at the humanoid monster with a nervous expression. ''Should I test it?'' He turned his gaze back to the humanoid monster. Souta slowly opened his mouth and said, "Who are you?" The language that he used was the goblin language. The language that he learned when he became a first evolution monster. Goblin was one of the few monsters like orcs and trolls that had their own language aside from the monster language that everyone could learn in their third evolution. There was a reason why he used the goblin language. If he used the monster language, every living being would understand him but if he used goblin language then only goblins would understand him or any creatures that learned it. The humanoid monster tilted its head when it heard Souta''s words. After a few moments, it opened its mouth... "Invader, where did you learn our language?" Although, he already expected it but... when he really heard words coming out of the creature''s mouth shocked filled his entire body. This... This one is a goblin? Just what type of goblin is this one? This was his first time seeing a goblin like this. He saw dozens of different goblins when he was playing the Battle Worlds Online but he never saw this type. ''Can you understand this monster?'' Saya asked him. ''Yes, I think that it''s a different path of goblin''s evolution.'' Souta replied to her with a serious expression. ''How can that be? Yeah, this one resembles a goblin but I haven''t seen any goblin like this... Is this a path of goblin unique to this sub-world?'' Just like Souta, Saya was shocked too when she heard that this humanoid monster was a goblin. ''I''m also thinking that it opened up a unique evolution path because of the unique environment in this sub-world. The toxins and chemicals are the cause of this evolution.'' Souta said as he slowly approached the humanoid monster. He knitted his eyebrows and asked, "Are you alone or not?" His question caused the humanoid monster to narrowed its eyes. "S-Souta... It looks like it was angry. Are you really sure that you can communicate with it?" Isabella grabbed his shirt and said nervously. "Yes, don''t worry about it. I can communicate using a dragon language so this one is nothing." Souta said so that she could understand it easily. Isabella would be confused if he said it was a monster language as the people from her world knew it as dragon language. He would just explain it to her if he had a time. ''I wanted to see if there are others like this one. This one should be a first evolution stage as the non-evolved goblin is just a normal goblin without outstanding characteristics.'' He thought as he glanced beyond the humanoid monster. He wondered if he could find the others if he goes in this direction. The humanoid monster simply looked at Souta. This guy felt familiar and know their language but his appearance was different from theirs. Is this guy a member of the tribe? Or is he from the other tribe? Maybe he came from the other tribe as he was asking if there are others like me... "I want you to bring me to your comrades... I''m a blood goblin, a third evolution of the goblin''s path." Souta said to the humanoid monster as he let out a little bit of his best feram to intimidate this one. He had to show a little bit of his power so that a fellow monster would submit to him. Ohm! The humanoid monster fell down on its butt as it felt Souta''s energy. It couldn''t handle the intense fluctuations so its knees collapsed causing the monster to fall. Thud! Chapter 408 - Toxic Path Souta and Isabella followed the humanoid monster. A type of goblin that he hasn''t seen before. While they were walking the goblin was glancing at Souta from time to time. It couldn''t help it as Souta''s energy before shook its entire body. Its limbs turned limp and it felt its blood leaving its body but the unknown goblin still moved forward. It doesn''t want to die after all. The energy that Souta used was beyond its imagination. Also, Souta already introduced himself as a blood goblin. If Souta was a human, then the unknown goblin would attack them. The three walked for a few minutes before they arrived in a wide and huge room. Unknown goblins were guarding the entrance of this room and Souta could feel dozens of creatures inside the room. ''There''s a tribe of unknown goblin here. I wonder what''s their specialties...'' Souta thought as he examined the two guards. The two guards were wearing ragged clothes and they were holding rusty spears. The two guards looked at Isabella and Souta before they turned their heads to the goblin that led them in this place. "What are they doing here?!" "Why did you bring someone that didn''t belong to our tribe in this place?" "Why?! Tell us!!" The two guards asked a barrage of questions at the unknown goblin. The goblin couldn''t do anything but looked at them and wait for the two guards to calm down. "That one said that he''s a blood goblin..." The unknown goblin said to the two guards after they calmed down. The two guards were confused. "Blood goblin? What kind of goblin is that? I don''t know anything like that but he looked like a human..." They said as they examined Souta with a frown on their face. From their view, Souta was no different than a human that couldn''t live in this place. It''s understandable as Souta was using the bracelet that he received from Alice to disguise himself. They were just a first evolution monster so there''s no way that they could see through Souta''s disguise. Souta could hear their conversation but he didn''t care about them. It''s up to them if they wanted to believe that he was a blood goblin. He wouldn''t even bother them if he wasn''t curious about their unique evolution path. Just because of his curiosity, these unknown goblins escaped death. "Hmm...?" Souta narrowed his eyes as the ground shook slightly and the mana fluctuations spiked up for a moment. He looked around and saw that the unknown goblins were still talking and Isabella was looking at the goblin nervously. It seems that they haven''t noticed the fluctuations and shaking. ''Did you notice it, Saya?'' Since no one noticed the strange phenomenon, Souta asked Saya who has higher senses than him. ''Yes, it''s one hundred meters below us. It''s only my estimation it could be further deep in the ground.'' Saya said to him. ''I see...'' Souta nodded and he noticed that the three unknown goblins approached him. The two guards looked at him from top to bottom and said, "This guy said that you know our language. He also said that you''re a goblin but no matter how I look at you you are a human." "Oh? I''m a goblin, a blood goblin to be precise so it''s natural for me to know the goblin language. I think you should bring me to your leader." Souta raised his eyebrows in amusement. "You!! We''ll not let a human enter this place! You are just a human who learned our language!" The two guards said as they pointed their weapons at him. "We''ll fight you if tried to move from that position. Humans aren''t welcome in this place! No other creatures are welcome in this place aside from goblin tribes!" Souta sighed. He didn''t know what''s going on in their minds but he understood that they wouldn''t let him enter their base. He controlled himself and asked, "What should I do for you to let me enter inside your den?" The two guards looked at each other and then they glanced at Isabella who was hiding behind Souta. "That girl. How about you leave her to us? Then, we will ask the leader if he could talk to you." "I''m done... I''m done..." Souta sighed and said. He moved his feet and took a step forward. At the same time, the ground turned black and several black tentacles rose. Bang! Bang! The tentacles strangled the two guards and smashed them on the walls. It wasn''t enough to kill them but it was enough to knock them out. The unknown goblin that brought Souta here was trembling on the corner while watching this scene unfold in front of her. Slowly a black tentacle wrapped around the goblin''s body and it knocked the goblin out. Boom! The gate exploded and smoke filled the area. The commotion gathered the attention of the goblins in this place. They turned their head and looked at the smoke coming from the gate. "It''s too much... Why do I have to follow these weaklings when I''m so much stronger than them. Monsters really are..." The whole ground turned black and black tentacles emerged from it. The tentacles created a path and it looks like it was bowing as Souta walked out of the smoke. Since he used his [Shadow Bind] spell, the [Bracelet of Silencing] couldn''t hide his energy anymore. The goblins were trembling and nervous as the best feram slowly spread out in their entire territory. Souta looked around and asked, "Who is the leader of this tribe?" He used the monster language. He didn''t want these goblins to think that they were on the same level when he was clearly above them. No one dared to answer... Everyone just looked at Souta with fear in their eyes. They silently bring out their weapons. ''Hmm...? I can see that they are afraid but they still have the guts to pull out their weapons.'' Souta thought when he saw this scene. The goblins were prepared to fight him even if they died. That''s just how it is. Once they were cornered, they were prepared to fight their opponents to death even if their opponents were several levels higher than them. "Who is the leader of this tribe?" Souta asked again in a cold tone while using the best feram to pressure these first evolution goblins. A third evolution versus a group of first evolution. The gap in their power level was too large so they couldn''t fight back at all. The black tentacles rose wildly as it aimed at the goblins. It was prepared to attack the goblins once they made a wrong move. The unknown goblin that brought Souta here was panicking. It finally understood what kind of monster Souta is. A monster that could wipe out their tribe easily. "Me! I''m the leader of this tribe so please don''t kill my brethren!" A short goblin that looks like an old man stepped forward. Hmm...? Souta stopped releasing pressure as he observed the old goblin. This goblin didn''t look like the strongest here but his eyes contained intelligence greater than the remaining goblin. "Oh, you are...?" He said as he stepped forward and found that he was taller than this old goblin. "I''m Jarkal, the leader of the goblin tribe in this underground place." The old goblin introduced himself in a deep tone. Souta looked around while saying, "I don''t want to kill any of you but it seems that you people couldn''t differentiate ally from foe so I had no choice but to do this. Well, tell me about your tribe and what kind of evolution your tribe took. It''s my first time seeing this kind of path so I''m curious." "Please forgive this children for being rush." The old goblin bowed his head before he continued, "Our tribe is composed of goblins that took the toxin path. After we evolved, we will gain the power and characteristics of the toxins in the air. It let us walked on the surface without being bothered by the harsh environment above." "What kind of goblin are you?" Souta asked while looking around. He could see that there were ordinary goblins in this place. All of them were trembling. "Toxinum Goblin. Our special characteristics are that we had a lot of toxins in our bodies that could harm other creatures. We could also use it to kill the other creature who had high resistance to toxins and chemicals in the air. I know that you''re wondering why but I''m going to say to you that the moment that we evolve the toxins in our bodies are different from the toxins and chemicals in the air. It''s our unique trait called [Desolate Toxicity]." The old goblin named Jarkal explained. "Toxinum Goblin and this type of goblin has toxins stronger than the one in this land... Oho~ what an amusing evolution..." Souta laughed as he rubbed his chin. Suddenly, something came into his mind. He looked at the old goblin and asked, "Is there a goblin who reached the second evolution in this place?" "...according to the records, there is." The old Jarkal replied to him. Chapter 409 - Legend "Is that true?" The second evolution piqued Souta''s attention. He wondered what kind of path does a toxinum goblin had. Did they go back to the normal path? Or did they create their own path? Just like how they opened up the toxinum goblin. "I don''t know. I only receive this information from the previous leader, my ancestor. This information was passed down from generation to generation, leader to leader, hoping that the legends are real." The old goblin, Jarkal, explained. Hmm... Souta understood that they haven''t seen someone at second evolution for a long time. They didn''t even believe that there were second evolution monsters. The previous leader thought that this level of goblin was just a legend but Jarkal believes it. He just believes that there wouldn''t be a legend like this if this event didn''t happen in the past. "Can you explain to me this legend?" Souta asked with curiosity in his eyes. This unknown path was new to him. He wanted to know their characteristics and traits for him to have a better understanding of their race. "According to the information that was passed to me... The second evolution is real. One toxinum goblin managed to evolve to a higher life form in the past. They called it Lethal Toxic Gob. It has an ability greater than the toxinum goblin as its toxin could transform into gas and liquid. The toxin is too strong that it could knock an adult toxinum goblin which was resistant to toxins and chemicals. Its overall strength also is several higher than the strongest toxinum goblin." The old goblin, Jarkal, patiently explained everything to Souta without hiding anything. Souta was immersed while listening to Jarkal. In other words, this type of goblin was a toxin path. It was much stronger than venomous and poisonous path. The toxin path possessed the characteristics of those two paths. A lot of people think that these two were the same but they were not. If a person bites the goblin and that person died, then it''s poison. If the goblin bites a person and the person died, then it''s venom. Well, these two characteristics were combined to lethal toxin gob. It was said that no other creature could touch the lethal goblin gob as the toxins in its body were too strong. ''This evolution path is powerful. I didn''t have destructive power but the toxins could kill countless creatures. The only ones who could stop it are those puppeteers and golem creators.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Yeah... But this didn''t suit my style.'' Souta said to her. Most of the goblins here didn''t believe in second evolution, the legends that were passed down in their tribe. But Souta was different, he believed those legends as he knew that the second evolution monster and above were true. Of course it was true, he and Yuko were the proof of it. It''s just that the goblins in this world didn''t saw someone could evolve into second evolution. There''s an occurrence of it but it was pretty rare that they treated it as legend. "I see... What an extreme evolution path." Souta muttered and he glanced at Old Jarkal. "I''m going to tell you that I''m not a human. I''m a blood goblin, a third evolution stage monster. I already formed my monster orb and I''m asking you because I''m curious about the path that your tribe took. It''s my first time seeing your kind, after all." He smiled as he saw Old Jarkal looking at him with a blank expression. He knew that this old goblin was having a hard time believing his words. A second evolution monster was already a legend for them, then what about a third evolution. It sounds unbelievable. Well, if Souta was in Old Jarkal''s position he wouldn''t believe it too. But then, Old Jarkal knew that Souta didn''t have a reason to lie to him. "I-Is that true...?" "I don''t have a reason to lie to you." Souta shrugged his shoulder and added, "I''m from another world. In that world, there are creatures that you can''t imagine. They are like a god if they appeared in this world. Right, let me ask you a question. How old are you?" "Nineteen years old. I only have a few years in my lifespan." Old Jarkal replied to him. A lifespan of a first evolution goblin was short. They were already lucky if they lived for twenty years. "I see..." Souta nodded and then he looked at the goblins around. "How about them?" "The oldest one is ten years old." Old Jarkal said. Souta didn''t say anything. The lifespan of a non-evolve and first evolution monster was too short. Compare to the lifespan of a human and demi, these goblins were just children. It was hard to imagine that he gave up ten years of his lifespan just to fight a noble head before. Well, it doesn''t matter any to his current stage. A lifespan of a third evolution monster could rival those humans and demis. Sometimes he wondered how old is this body. It was already a grown-up goblin when he took over this body. "Who''s the one that evolved faster than anyone in this tribe?" He asked the Old Jarkal. "The fastest one..." Jarkal pondered for a while before he answered, "is... Yenxa. She''s seven months old when she evolved into toxinum goblin." "Yenxa. Call her." Souta said. "Yenxa! Come here!" Jarkal shouted as he looked around. No one answered him so he asked some of the goblins to find Yenxa but then they realized that Yenxa was the one who brought Souta here. She was currently unconscious and was lying outside the gate. A bunch of goblins woke her up and brought her to Jarkal, their leader. "Oh?" Souta raised his eyebrows when he saw the goblin. He didn''t think that the one who brought him to this place was the Yenxa. Also, she was a girl. This bald goblin that had sharp fangs and a pair of spikes on its back and elbows was a female goblin. ''Is this a trend here?'' Souta was living with humans and demis. He never once lived with other goblins so he didn''t know their cultures and their preferences. ''What do you plan to do with her?'' Saya asked. ''I wanted to cultivate this type of goblin to see if their power is effective in higher level.'' Souta replied to her. This was what he wanted. To see if their toxins could evolve to the level that it could knock down those powerful creatures in Imperium. Also, how it was compared to those poisonous and venomous creatures. Yenxa looked at Souta with a nervous expression. She didn''t know why this powerful man wanted to talk to her. It makes her tremble and scared. She didn''t know what will happen to her. "She''s Yenxa. The one who reached the evolution fastest in this generation." Old Jarkal said. Souta looked at Yenxa in the eyes and asked, "Do you want to stay here in this place for the rest of your life? If you don''t want then I can bring you out of this place. I will support you and help you grow stronger until you reach your limit." Old Jarkal and Yenxa were shocked when they heard his words. They couldn''t believe what they were hearing. Isabella who was behind Souta was confused. She couldn''t understand what they were saying. ''Souta could talk to a monster? Hmm... Oh, right... I thought that he could only talk to Yuko.'' She said inwardly while observing the three. The dragons were a creature who could understand human and demi''s language. Their intelligence was higher than normal monsters and it let them learned different languages of different creatures. This was the reason why she didn''t think about Souta conversing with a dragon. She thought that it was normal for a dragon to understand their language. "I''ll give you a time. I will return later to know your answer." Souta said to Yenxa who had a blank expression on her face. ''Are you sure that you want to take her?'' Saya asked. ''Yes, I''m going to cultivate here and gather some materials in this world to prevent her from leaving her current evolution path.'' Souta replied to Saya as he turned around. He left the territory of this goblin tribe as if nothing happened. The other goblins were confused. They couldn''t follow what''s happening or why Souta wanted to take Yenxa with him. ... When they left the goblin''s territory, Isabella asked him why did he talk to those monsters. He said that it was his first time seeing that kind of monster. There''s no toxinum goblin in the Great World Imperium so he wondered that if one of them reached high level then would their powers work against those creatures in Imperium or not. "Well, let''s focus on our goal first... We need to investigate the strange energy fluctuations in this place. I will return later in that tribe." Souta said to Isabella. "...energy fluctuations? I didn''t know about it." Isabella stopped as she looked at Souta''s back blankly. Now that she thought about it, he said that he felt energy fluctuations when they arrived at the entrance of this cave. Chapter 410 - Altar And Stone Tablet Souta and Isabella were standing in front of a wall. They finally reached the end of this cave but Souta doubted it. "What should we do, Souta?" Isabella asked as she glanced at Souta. "Let me ponder it for a while," Souta said as he rubbed his chin and observed the dead end. He was sure that what he felt was right. There''s mana fluctuation in this place but how come they don''t find anything. So where was it coming from? ''Did you feel it too, right? Saya.'' Souta asked Saya to confirm that it wasn''t his imagination. ''Yes.'' Saya replied to him. Souta placed his palm on the wall and said, "Is there a place beyond this?" He wanted to check out what''s beyond this to see if there''s really a space beyond this wall. He needed to be careful. He was hundreds of meters below the surface and if he exerted too much force then this whole cave would crumble down. This cave was fragile and it wasn''t as tough as those dungeons in Imperium. The high-level dungeons in Imperium could even contain the aftershocks of a battle of two third evolution monsters. Souta was about to crush the walls when he suddenly stopped moving. A faint fluctuation of mana swept out. It was too low and if he wasn''t minding his surroundings then he would miss it. ''Souta, from below.'' Saya said as she felt it too. ''Here?'' Souta looked down at the ground beneath his feet and placed his palm on it. ''Yes.'' Saya said. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Isabella asked. "I felt it. It''s deeper than I had imagined." Souta replied to Isabella. He turned to her and said, "Prepare yourself. We''ll go down." "Eh...? Down?" Isabella was confused as she looked at the ground. "Yeah. So grabbed tightly on me." Souta said as he slowly explained to her what she needed to do. ... "Are you ready?" Souta asked. "Y-Yeah..." Isabella replied meekly as her face was slowly turning red. Her arms were around Souta''s neck and her body was stuck on his back. Souta piggybacked Isabella so that she wouldn''t fall continuously when he used his skill. He actually wanted to carry her with his arms but he realized that he only had one arm. He wouldn''t be able to use his [Burrow] skill if he was using his one hand to carry her so he just gave her a piggyback. ''Your mind, Souta. You''re going astray.'' Saya''s voice rang in his head. ''I know.'' Souta shook his head to calm his nerves. Isabella''s body was stuck on his back and he could clearly feel it. Her ample bosom was being pushed on his back so his instinct was flaring up. It''s been a while since he did it so he couldn''t control his reaction. ''Still, Isabella has some huge assets. I couldn''t see it because of her clothes but well she''s pretty amazing.'' Souta said inwardly. He then opened his mouth and took a deep breath. He crouched down and he slowly circulated his energy in his body. [Burrow]! He used [Burrow] as he pushed his hand forward. This skill was perfect for digging underground like this. He could even create a mine for himself using this skill. To think that he would have a place to use the skill that he got from Underground King. After a few minutes of digging, the two reached a wide space. They were shocked as they saw a huge and wide place. Swoosh! They were falling now as they were in the mid-air. There''s no ground that Souta could use his [Burrow] skill. Isabella was about to scream when Souta covered her mouth with his hand. Then, a black ball appeared above them and they slowly descended on the floor. "Be quiet," Souta said to Isabella. When she nodded her head, Souta removed his hand from her mouth. Isabella looked around and asked in a low voice, "Just what is this place?" "It looks like a laboratory," Souta replied to her while looking at his surrounding. He was right. The fluctuations of mana were coming from this place as this room was filled with mana. He didn''t expect to find something like this in this land. Large cylindrical transparent objects were erected. It looks like a giant tube. Inside it was filled with greenish liquid and various wires were connected to the transparent objects that contained the greenish liquid. "Souta, there a person inside." Isabella''s voice sounded in his ears. Souta quickly turned around and saw that Isabella was already looking around the whole place. It seems that she forget that they were in an unknown place as her curiosity overwhelmed. He sighed and said as he approached her, "Isabella, we don''t know if there''s danger in this place so don''t go too far from me." "Ah, s-sorry! I-I was just..." Isabella lowered her head. Before she could even finish her sentence, Souta said something. "It''s fine. Just be careful of your surrounding." Souta said as he looked at the transparent container. Inside it, there''s a man with cat ears and tail. The man wasn''t wearing any clothes and he was unconscious. "I wonder what kind of experiment are they doing here." Souta and Isabella continued to walk forward. Of course, Souta didn''t forget to be wary about their surroundings. He didn''t know what kind of danger this laboratory possessed. After walking for a few minutes, Souta and Isabella arrived in a strange place. Yes, concrete ceilings, floors, and walls weren''t present at this place. It was like a normal cave. Souta turned to look at the laboratory behind him. He wondered why the people who managed this laboratory didn''t fix this place. ''Souta, this is a barrier...'' Saya said to him. ''What?! Barrier...?'' ''Yes, an illusion barrier.'' Saya slowly explained to him what''s an illusion barrier. After a few moments, Souta understood it. To think that he would found something like this in this world was beyond his expectations. "Let''s go, Isabella." Souta said as he stepped forward. The moment he walked forward, Isabella saw him vanished in front of her eyes. What the hell? She couldn''t understand what''s happening. She stretched out her hand and her hand seemed to pass through some sort of barrier. "What a magical thing...?" She muttered as she stepped forward to follow Souta. She was amazed as this was her first time seeing something like this. Just by following Souta for a short amount of time, she already discovered a lot of things that she couldn''t imagine in her hometown. The only problem was that their journey was full of bloodshed. It was brutal. She couldn''t even count how many people died in front of her eyes. Her thoughts suddenly vanished as she saw the scene in front of her eyes. Not just her eyes, even her senses felt something. An altar and a huge plate of rock were in her sight. The plate of rock had many carvings on it. Words that she couldn''t understand were carved and it was emitting an eerie vibe. The altar had a figure of two men on both of its sides. "This is..." Souta glanced around as he moved his hand. Mana fluctuations were coming from this very place. The altar and the stone tablet were the sources of it. The air was heavier and the mana was denser but compared to the atmosphere in the Imperium this was nothing. "What is this place..." He approached the altar and examined it. The statue on the center of the altar was a man. To be precise, an old man. Nothing comes to his mind when looking at this statue so he turned his attention on the stone tablet. "An ancient language..." He muttered as he found the writings familiar to him. He realized that it was an ancient language from the era before the establishment of the three great countries. The era twenty thousand years ago, before the great war occurred. ''Saya, do you know the ancient language?'' Souta asked Saya while observing the text. ''Yes, I''m quite familiar with it.'' Saya replied to him. ''Then, can you translate this text for me?'' Souta said as he moved his face closer to the stone tablet. Saya''s voice rang in his head as she explained what was written on it and Souta listened to her attentively without interrupting her. I''m Travksy, a god from the Great World Imperium. I''m also the one who''s managing this sub-world, supplying it using my abundance energy. In the Great World, they called me the God of Hunt. I came from the land called Mars Archipelago. Currently, the Great World Imperium is in peril. No, not just the Great World, in fact the entire universe is in peril. The Great World Imperium is the forefront of this universe so if this world fell the whole universe will fell too. We have discovered and awakened something that we shouldn''t. That thing should be left untouched but because we are greedy we''ve opened it. What''s the cause of our greed? The danger. The calamity. The disaster. The Pandora''s Box. We''ve opened it. The doors. Chapter 411 - The God Of Hunt Saya finished translating the text written on the stone tablet. This door again. Souta already had an idea about what happened twenty thousand years ago. He concluded that the era twenty thousand years ago was powerful and there were many gods and monster lords. But a great war occurred. According to the legends, the forces of the Imperium fought the demon army. It was true but that''s before the great war occurred. In truth, the opponents of Imperium were several times greater than the demon army. Cluster knew about the great war. She told him that the combined forces of gods, monster lords, spirit gods, and demon god were fighting something beyond this universe. The invaders. He already guessed that these invaders came from beyond the door. The door must be some sort of transportational gate, dimensional hole, or teleportation gate that leads to another universe. The great war must be the reason why the seven continents of Imperium were divided by great barriers. "I need to investigate more about it," Souta muttered while rubbing his chin. ''Souta, looked at the back of the stone tablet.'' Saya said to him. "Why?" Souta asked as he moved around and followed Saya''s instruction. ''Here... As I thought...'' There were no words written on the back of the stone tablet but there were circles all over it and a palm print on it. "This is... A legacy..." Souta muttered in shock. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing right now. A god''s legacy was out here without even forming a living labyrinth. ''Yes, that''s a god''s legacy. This god must be pretty desperate. He just left this legacy here without trying to test any people who come after it.'' Saya paused for a moment before she added, ''But no one could get the god''s legacy. It''s understandable as people from this world didn''t even know what''s a god''s legacy so how could they acquire it.'' "Should I try it?" ''Yes, why wouldn''t you want a god''s legacy? A legacy of a god depends on the god. It depends on them what they were going to leave for the next generation. It could be an ability, knowledge, or resources. Everything depends on the god.'' "I see... Well, let''s try it." Souta nodded his head and he couldn''t help but feel excited. This was a god''s legacy that he didn''t know in the game so what sort of this he would acquire in this legacy. ''On the top of the stone tablet, there''s a phrase. Try saying it while placing your palm on the palm print and pour your energy in it.'' Saya instructed him. Souta followed her instruction as he placed his palm on the handprint and said the phrase, "Hunt under the moon, hunt under the sun, all creatures are prey." Nothing happened after a few moments. He wondered what''s wrong as he followed his instruction. He even poured his best feram on it. "Let me try it again..." Souta did the ritual several times but nothing happened. What the hell is wrong with this legacy? Maybe, someone got it before him but that''s impossible. Saya said that she could still feel the energy inside the stone tablet. ''A restriction...'' Saya said. "Fuck! How come there''s a restriction?! That god didn''t even create a living labyrinth as he didn''t want to test anyone but he still placed restrictions in his legacy!!" Souta cursed loudly. He couldn''t fill the requirements to get the god''s legacy. He lacks something but what''s he''s lacking? Isabella tilted her head and thought, ''Souta is talking to himself again.'' She didn''t understand what he was doing but she knew that he was angry. Souta tried it again several times before he gave up. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to get the god''s legacy this time. He was wondering how he could fill the requirements to get this legacy. This god''s legacy was tricky. Other god''s legacy would just require to clear the living labyrinth and yet this one didn''t have a living labyrinth. He just needed to follow the instruction yet why it doesn''t work. There must be something wrong with this god''s head. ''Let Isabella try it...'' Saya suggested to him. He glanced at Isabella and nodded. There''s no harm if he would let Isabella try it. There''s no way that he could leave a precious god''s legacy in this place. He should try all possible solutions. "Isabella, come here. I want you to do something for me." Souta said as he motioned Isabella to stand beside him. "O-Okay." Isabella walked beside Souta with a curious expression. She was why he was agitated. "I will tell you that this is a god''s legacy..." Souta explained to her what''s a god''s legacy and how she could acquire it. Isabella was shocked when she heard his explanation. She heard before from Souta that god was real but she didn''t expect that a legacy of a real god was in front of her eyes. Travksy, a real god from Souta''s homeworld. He was the god of this world, the god of hunt. To think that she would get to see the legacy of the god of Greia. It took her a few minutes before she calmed down. The information that she received was too much for people who didn''t know that god is real. Isabella took a deep breath and nodded her head. She placed her palm on the palmprint and slowly poured her mana. Then, she said the phrase, "Hunt under the moon, hunt under the sun, all creatures are prey." Souta gulped as he nervously stared at the stone tablet. ''Is it going to work?'' was in his mind. After a few moments, a white light erupted and it shrouded everything. Souta couldn''t help but close his eyes as the light was blinding. It works!! Souta opened his eyes and found that he was in black space. He narrowed his eyes and he examined his surrounding. He saw Isabella standing on his right side and there''s another figure on his left side. The figure was humanoid and it has a pair of sharp horns on its head but it didn''t have any eyes, nose, or mouth. Everything about the figure was pure red. This was Saya. He already saw this form in her inner consciousness so he wasn''t surprised. But Isabella hasn''t seen her before so she was shaken. Souta looked at her and said, "Isabella, I''ll explain it to you later. For now, don''t ask questions. I''ll answer everything later." Isabella nodded her head. She understood him and knew that Souta would explain to her everything later. "Still, if you''re here Saya then we must be inside the god''s inner consciousness," Souta muttered while looking around. "Yeah, you''re right. An inner consciousness." Saya nodded her head. Ohm! A figure appeared in front of them. The was none other than the god of hunt, Travksy. His gaze landed on Isabella and said, "So you''re the one who will receive my legacy. The legacy of the god of hunt. There are several god of hunt in Imperium but I''m one of the top gods out there." "Um..." Isabella didn''t know what to say. A god was talking to her so she didn''t know to reply. She was also afraid of offending a god. Travksy continued, "I left my consciousness here to wait for my successor. I will disappear soon since you''ve activated it." "Wait a moment... I''m going to ask why didn''t I managed to activate it." Souta said from the side. He didn''t care if this one was a god or not. He just wanted to know the answer. "Hmm... A blood goblin and a member of vajra race. What a unique pair..." Travksy paused for a moment before he continued, "Well, the answer to your question is the tablet didn''t recognize your energy. A blood goblin is a third evolution monster so your energy is best feram. You don''t have mana and that''s the reason why you couldn''t activate the stone tablet." He was a god so he instantly recognized Souta and Saya''s race with one glance. "Isn''t best feram a higher form of energy so why it didn''t activate?" Souta narrowed his eyes. "You''re right but I placed mana, not energy. If I placed energy then the stone tablet will activate using any form of energy be it spirit energy, best feram, or mana but I placed mana so only mana could activate it." Travksy said. "If you diluted your energy then you would be able to use mana and activate it but I guess that it''s too much for a third evolution monster like you. Even monster lord could hardly do it." Souta was stunned. He could dilute his best feram and turned it into mana. But now that he thought about it it''s not that surprising. Mana, best feram, and spirit energy were connected to each other. Mana was like a base form and best feram and spirit energy were both the evolution of mana. "Do you know that humans and demis training method are all based on monsters and spirits? Condensing mana to match best feram and spirit energy. Liquefying and solidifying the mana. According to some gods, best feram and spirit energy is the densest energy that''s why by simply releasing it, it could bring pressure to every people in the area. They said that if a person managed to compress and condense their mana a thousand times, that person would get either best feram and spirit energy..." Travksy paused as he seemed to remember something. "No, it''s not a theory anymore. Someone proved that it''s true in the past, the strongest god in the whole universe." Chapter 412 - Legacy Of The God Of Hunt "I don''t have a time to explain it to you..." Travksy then glanced at Isabella. "You''re my successor. You will inherit my skills and knowledge. I hope that it will help you in your journey to the top." Isabella nodded meekly. "Still, your group is pretty strange. A blood goblin, a dead vajra deity, and a human." Travksy said with a smile and then his expression turned serious. "I''m going to warn you. Prepare yourself. Gather powerful allies and prevent gods from dying. I know that it''s hard to do it as your power level is too low but the calamity is coming." He already saw that Saya was dead. She was just a consciousness like him that was stuck in an object. Nothing escape from the senses of a powerful god of hunt. "Is that about the Great War that happened twenty thousand years ago?" Souta asked. Travsky raised his eyebrows as he glanced at Souta. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "So you know about it?" "Yes, somehow. I''ve discovered some things about what happened in the past. Can you tell us what''s the status of the opponents that you''ve fought?" Souta asked. "I couldn''t tell you even though I want to say it to everyone. A powerful curse is currently active that let everyone from that era shut their mouth about the great war. Luckily, I already inscribed some words in the stone tablet before that curse was activated." Travksy said in a deep tone. "So you''re saying that you couldn''t tell anyone about it as the curse is preventing you? I understand." Souta nodded as he narrowed his eyes. Just how powerful is their opponent to cast a curse that stopped everyone in that era to say anything about that event? "That curse prevented us from telling everyone about it. It also prevented us from writing down words about it. If you''re wondering about the words on the stone tablet then worry not. I''ve already written it before the curse was activated so nothing happened to me. I''m not the only one who left hints about the event. Just roam around the Imperium and you will find it. If you pieced it together then you will understand what really happened back then..." Travksy said to them. Souta didn''t say anything as he just kept looking at the god of hunt. He already had an idea and he still wanted to ask some questions but he knew that Travksy couldn''t answer him because of that powerful curse. Travksy recalled something and he asked, "You said that twenty thousand years had passed?" "Yeah," Souta answered him. He waited for a while but the god of hunt just kept looking at him. He frowned and asked, "Are they coming?" The god of hunt just kept looking at him seriously and Souta understood that he was right. The invaders were coming to the Imperium. After a few moments, Travksy opened his mouth and said, "This is it. I''m going to disappear now. You have an idea about the event so don''t forget my words. Prepare yourself and gather powerful allies..." His body slowly turned transparent and he disappeared into thin air. Swoosh! The next moment, Souta and Isabella found themselves in front of the stone tablet with a blank expression. "Accept this gift of mine. It will help you in your journey before you reached godhood..." Travksy''s faint voice lingered in their ears and Souta heard a notification in his head. *Ding!* [You''ve received the blessing of the God of Hunt!] [God of Hunt Blessing] A blessing from a powerful God of Hunt. It will provide the user''s great boost in his overall abilities. Upon activation, the user will gain the following boost... ->The user''s perception will increase by 200% percent. ->The strength, intelligence, and vitality attribute will increase by 40%, and the agility and dexterity attribute will increase by 80%. ->It will also give the user an ability called [Watching Prey]. --->[Watching Prey] it will increase the damage to a lock prey by 100%. Can only be used at one target. The blessing can only be used for 1 hour per week. Note: The God of Hunt is dead so the blessing isn''t as powerful as the blessing of a living god. "I received a blessing...?" Souta muttered when he saw the system notification. So the god of hunt wasn''t stingy at all. He turned to Isabella and saw her blank expression. It seems that she already received the legacy of the god of hunt and her mind was processing it. Coming to this world was the right choice after all. He didn''t expect that he would find a god''s legacy in this place. Although he didn''t get it, at least Isabella managed to get it. If it was other people then, Souta would feel that it was a waste. A blessing from a god was worth it. The only problem was that the god of hunt was dead and its blessing wasn''t as strong as the other blessings. He also could only use it once a week, unlike Yuko''s blessing which she could use once a day. "I''ve gained another ace..." Souta couldn''t help smile when he thought about the blessing. But thinking about the great war, he couldn''t help but narrow his brows. The war against the invaders wasn''t included in the game events. He wouldn''t have an advantage against those invaders. He didn''t know anything about them so he would be cautious if he were to meet them in the future. Travksy, the god of hunt, said that we should prevent other gods from dying as it will weaken the overall strength of the Great World Imperium. The problem was how could he prevent it. The demon invasion and the attack of the bringers of calamity. Hundreds of god-level powerhouses will perish in these two events. It was hard to stop it as he didn''t have enough power. Also, the three great countries will not compromise with the three bringers of calamity. Even the forces of God''s Continent will not accept it as in the attack of the Gluttony, dozens of gods will perish in their forces. For now, the only thing that he could do was to increase his strength as fast as possible and solidify his foundation. ... Isabella finished organizing her thoughts. She turned to Souta and asked, "What is really happening, Souta?" Souta shook his head and said, "Actually, I really didn''t know about it. I just know that a great war occurred twenty thousand years ago. The scale of a great war isn''t limited to one world. It shrouded everything in this universe." He explained to her what he knows about the great war. He also introduced Saya to her. Since Isabella saw Saya, he couldn''t hide Saya anymore. Even Lumilia, Alice, and the rest didn''t even know Saya. Isabella was the only one who knew her aside from Souta. "So in other words, the whole universe is in danger..." Isabella said and Souta nodded his head. "That''s the gist of it but don''t think much about it. With our current strength, we wouldn''t be able to do anything. We should just keep our focus on increasing our strength." Souta said and asked, "Did you also received the blessing of the god of hunt?" "Yes, knowledge about it was directly poured inside my head. It''s a strange feeling." Isabella said while looking down at her body. "Mmm..." Souta nodded and he didn''t ask about the legacy of the god of hunt. He was sure that Isabella still hasn''t understood the essence of it. She just got it so she will have a time to familiarize herself about the benefits of the legacy. Still, he couldn''t help but become curious about the god of hunt''s legacy. What sort of ability or skill that she received? "Don''t tell anyone about this, Isabella," Souta said to her with a grave expression. "Yes." Isabella nodded her head. "God''s legacy isn''t something that everyone should know. People would bother you if they learned about it. The worse scenario is that they will kidnap you just to know what sort of things you received from a god." Souta said to her. "Isabella...?" He then noticed that something was wrong with Isabella. Her body was swaying left and right. It seems that she was going to fall at any moment. He immediately supported her body and asked, "Isabella, is there something wrong?" "Souta... I feel dizzy... I don''t..." Isabella hadn''t even managed to complete her sentence before she fainted. "Isabella! Isabella!" Souta placed his palm on her forehead and felt heat coming from her body. Her temperature was higher than normal. He didn''t know what''s happening to her. ''It must be the side effect of the blessing and legacy... Her power level is too low and it couldn''t perfectly handle the power of a god so this happened. It''s normal and not everyone could receive the blessing of a god. I''m surprised that you took it like it''s nothing.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. Chapter 413 - In Eternal Empire "We''ve arrived." Lumilia said as she looked at the huge gate in front of her eyes. People were lining up to enter the country called Eternal Empire. "It''s been a while since we''ve left this place." Bryan said and Lynn nodded her head. The three of them came here to Eternal Empire to become a student of one of its most famous academy, the Liven Academy. In this academy, most of the students here have great potential. There were dozens of departments in this academy. Potioneering, blacksmith, mage, etc. but the three of them will enter different departments. They decided to focus on their specialties. Lynn will enter the support department, Lumilia will enter the mage department, and Bryan will enter the brawler department. "I can''t wait to fight those strong students that they boasted!" Bryan said with an excited expression. The wounds that he received when he fought Kin at the Ladros City have healed. "Bryan, don''t get excited too much..." A voice sounded behind the three. It was coming from their teacher, Bargan Hevifield. The one who was recognized as the strongest hero-rank in the world. The one who fought several officers who had the power of blessings yet he still managed to defeat most of them. Bargan came here with them. Since the Institute was under construction and a lot of teachers have been killed, it stopped functioning for now. The principal of the Ladros Institute decided to recover their strength first before they start their operation. Well, a lot of forces were vying at Ladros Institute. The faculty members and corps guards were being recruited and the principal was doing his best to prevent it. "I can''t help it. Just thinking about how many powerful students could fight me already gives me chills." Bryan said with a wide smile on his face. Bargan sighed and looked at Lumilia. He asked, "What about you, Lumilia? Have you finished settling your problem regarding your legion?" "Yes, teacher. I left the management to Jeanne in the headquarters. She''s currently the second strongest member of the legion in headquarters so she''s suitable for it. We can''t leave it to Senior Yanagi as I don''t know what will happen to the legion if I left the management to her." Lumilia said. She wouldn''t leave if she hasn''t settled everything in the legion. She promised Souta that he could leave it to her so she will fulfill it. Also, she ordered a batch of transmission talismans and gave it to Jeanne so that Jeanne could contact her if a problem occurred. Jeanne was a B-rank powerhouse. She was also their senior in the institute. Aside from that, she was the vice-president of Souta''s fan club so she has experienced in handling organization. Although a fan club couldn''t be compared to a legion, it''s still better than nothing. If she encountered a problem that she didn''t know how to solve then she would contact Lumilia for advice. "Yanagi''s personality isn''t suitable for managing an organization. She''s too impulsive and will jump to anyone that provoked her." Bargan nodded his head. "You still have a month before you start your classes so I will train the three of you this month." Bargan paused for a moment before he added, "After that, I will finish some business that the principal gave to me in this country." "As I thought, teacher wouldn''t come with us simply because he wanted to train us. You had important business here regarding the recovery of the Ladros Institute, right teacher?" Lumilia said as she glanced at Bargan. Bargan simply smiled and didn''t say anything about his matters in this country. If their organization grew stronger then perhaps he would tell them about it. The group entered the country after the guards finished checking their identities. They simply showed their identity card and the guards let them in. "Where''s Alea?" Bryan asked as he turned his head left and right. "I thought that she would welcome us." "She''s a princess so she wouldn''t openly welcome us. It will cause a commotion so she will disguise herself first like what she did before. " Lumilia said to Bryan. The first thing that they needed to do was to let the academy know that they''ve safely arrived so that the management could arrange their classes. Bargan looked at the three of them. ''They are really becoming more independent. Especially, Lumilia. She changed ever since that event in the Gripin City.'' He thought. He then opened his mouth and said, "I''m going to check our things in the inn that we''ve reserved. So you three can go to the academy and finish your business there. I will start training the three of you tomorrow so don''t forget it." As soon as he finished saying those words, Bargan turned around and left while waving his hand. "Thank you, teacher!" Lumilia and Lynn said to Bargan as they slightly bowed their heads. Lumilia and Lynn looked at each other. "Should we go now?" Lumilia asked and Lynn nodded her head in agreement. The three went in the direction of the Liven Academy, one of the most powerful schools in this country. ... Bargan was inside an exquisite room. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he had a calm expression while facing the group of people in front of him. The group in front of him was the high-ranking officials of the Eternal Empire. All of them looked young and handsome even though most of them were seventy years old. They were elves and their lifespan was three times longer than ordinary humans. Bargan opened his mouth and asked, "You''ve heard the news, right?" "About the Listen Wastes?" The officials in the middle raised his eyebrows. "Yes, the demons from folklore have finally appeared. They''ve destroyed a large country in the blink of an eye. They had powerful god-level powerhouses and force three god-level of Listen Wastes to retreat. In the end, two of died sacrifice themselves to create a barrier to isolate the demons in Listen Wastes." Bargan said to the officials of the Eternal Empire. "Yeah, we all know about it so what do you want from us?" One of the officials nodded and asked. "The Listen Wastes is quite far from us but I suggested that we formed an army that specializes in dealing with the demons." Bargan paused for a moment before he added, "We will not bring the battle in our country. Instead, we will fight them in Hunted Woods, Heritic''s Dynasty, Fort Anvi, Lion''s Kingdom, or Alea Republic. As long as it isn''t in our territory we will make it." "Yeah, you are right. After all, no one wanted to make their own territory a battlefield." One of the officials nodded his head. "Actually, this alliance was proposed by Zomus country. We decided to accept it as it is beneficial to us so we sent out some people to negotiate with other large countries." Bargan paused and he added in a grave tone, "If we don''t work together we will not be able to defeat the demon army." "The demon army that could defeat a large country easily is hard to deal with. Everyone knew it but the large country didn''t want to initiate to form an alliance with other large countries because of their past grudges." The officials on the left side said seriously. He was one of the top commanders of the Eternal Empire''s army. "That''s why we''re willing to put down grudge and cooperate with other large countries," Bargan said. The Hebrei Kingdom had enemies in the past and the country survived. That''s why it became a large country. ... A man with a messy black hair was walking in the street of the ruined Ladros City. He was wearing a long dark blue cloak and his hands were inside his pockets. Those who knew him would instantly flee. Unfortunately, a few people knew the appearance of the Zodiac Leo. He looked at the sky and wondered where''s that little goblin that he saw before. According to his investigation, that goblin was living in a city and everyone didn''t know that he was a little monster. What an interesting story... Leo was amused when he found out about this. Also, that little monster was dealing with different problems left and right. Nobles and criminals. He settled everything using that small power of his. No one managed to discover that little goblin''s identity. If there''s a god here then they would instantly felt that Souta was a monster, not a human or demi. They had the power to recognize every creature''s race with just a single glance. "Sub-world...? Let''s see what kind of world it is..." While he was deep in his thoughts, a woman bumped into his shoulder. Thud! Leo reacted by grabbing the woman''s wrist. He looked at the woman and saw her haggard appearance. She was breathing heavily and had wounds on her arms. "L-Let me go... They are coming for me..." The woman said in a coarse voice. Leo raised his eyebrows as he turned his head into alley. He loosened his grip on the woman''s wrist and the woman quickly run away. Watching the back of the woman, Leo slowly walked towards the alley and there were two demis out here. The two demis had an imposing aura as they had a pair of white horns on their head. "Why didn''t you hold that woman, huh?!" One of them said as they walked towards Leo with heavy feet. They saw that Leo didn''t stop and just kept walking towards them so they pulled back their hands and threw a punch. Swoosh! Leo looked at the two men. Suddenly, the two men''s bodies expanded before they exploded turning their bodies into a bloody mist. "Really, this is the reason why I don''t recruit ordinary criminals in Zodiacs. They are too arrogant." Chapter 414 - Parasitic Essence Eater Souta and Isabella went out of the illusion barrier. As soon as they left it, the illusion barrier along with the things inside it crumbled down. It disappeared without leaving a trace. Isabella was staring blankly at her hands. She still couldn''t believe what she heard just now. The level of information that she received was something that a person from a backward world couldn''t handle. He glanced at her and he didn''t disturb her. He could understand her feeling. He felt it too when he first arrived in Imperium. His mind couldn''t handle everything that''s why he subconsciously treated everyone as NPC and everything as a game. Souta went around the laboratory as he left Isabella organized her thoughts. Right now, the problem about the Imperium was too large for him so he wouldn''t bother himself with it for the time being. The greatest problem that he could solve with his strength at this moment was the problem with Great Astley Empire. The problem with Great Astley Empire was within his power level while the problem with Imperium was for powerful gods. "They are using humans and demis for experiments... They even used monsters." This laboratory was bigger than he imagined. He already saw more than fifty containers and seventeen of these containers have humans and demis inside it. All of them were unconscious. The worse case was that some of them were already dead. Souta couldn''t even feel a life force within their bodies. No mana or any other energy could be sensed in their bodies. That''s why he concluded that they were dead. "Hmm...?" He saw a table with books in his sight. He approached it and slowly picked up one of the books on the table. "This is a record..." The book contained a record of one of the people that they''ve experimented with. The state of the person''s body, basic information like age or blood type, and any other sickness were all recorded in it. There''s no dust so people must be cleaning this place from time to time. It makes sense since a few of the experiment subjects were still alive at this moment. "I need to find the people who are managing this place. There should be someone like that here." Souta muttered as he placed back the books on the table. He then examined the other books and found it the same. It''s a record of the other experiment subjects. He turned his head and he moved forward, exploring the unknown part of the laboratory. Moving forward, there were another fifty containers and all of it has humans and demis inside. The experiment subjects didn''t have any clothes and all of them were unconscious. Some parts of their bodies weren''t proportioned. It must be because of the experiment that''s why some of their arms were too small or too large. Some of them didn''t look like an arm of a human or demi. At the edge, a single table was situated and a container was in front of it. The container has a human body within. The only difference was that there were words written on the container. "Zero eight..." Souta muttered as he approached the table while looking at the human inside the container. He then looked down at the table and read the notes on it. "Experimental subject number 08..." The notes were about the girl inside the container. The result of the experiments and what experiments she''d gone. And this was a piece of shocking information. Why? Because it''s about the famed parasitic essence eater of the Great Astley Empire. They were researching about the parasitic essence eater. It''s good. Souta wanted to know the detailed information of this parasite. At the same time, he heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Special Quest triggered!] [Subjects]: The emperor of the Great Astley Empire isn''t the true ruler. He is nothing but a puppet. Find the true ruler of the empire and rescue the people from different facilities. Rewards: ??? A special quest...? It was a good thing that he chose this world. The special quest was important to him. Still, the content of the quest was something that he didn''t imagine. The emperor was just a puppet? Does anyone know that someone was manipulating the emperor? His task was to find the shadow ruler of the empire and rescue people like this woman inside the container. Different facilities... It also means that there were others like this laboratory. A faint smile formed on Souta''s face. He then shook his head and read the content of the notes. The content of the notes was about the parasitic essence eater. The parasitic essence eater came from a world called Xyvn. Torkez and his group were the first ones to discover this world decades ago. But then the empire discovered it too so the two fought and in the end, the empire won and they acquired most of the parasitic essence eater. Without a host, the parasitic essence eater was just like an egg. Their appearance varied from each other but all of them were spherical. They couldn''t move without a host and they could easily devour any creature without sufficient life force. "So according to research that they''ve made, ordinary people couldn''t handle the parasitic essence eater as it would consume them. Only people with sufficient strength would be able to handle it." Souta muttered while rubbing his chin. Sufficient strength, huh? Most of the people that had parasitic essence eaters in their bodies were B-rank so maybe a B-rank was the minimum required strength to handle a parasitic essence eater. Once the parasite has a host, it wouldn''t be able to separate itself from the host. The parasite would die once it removed itself from its host. It would also die once the host died and it didn''t have the power to change its host. "What a sensitive parasite..." This was just the basic information of the parasitic essence eater but Souta learned a lot of things about those unknown creatures. "According to their decades of research, the parasite could only post a problem to weak people. Maybe, C-rank and below... But for those B-ranks, the parasite would boost their strength greatly. It would also help them recovered any kind of wounds that they''ve suffered. As long as they are not dead, the parasite could heal them." Souta said as he turned his gaze to the girl inside the container. The empire was still researching about the parasite. How could it reproduce was still unknown as the notes didn''t mention anything about it. Now it''s time to free these experiment subjects... It was his quest, after all. He gathered his energy on the tip of his finger and flicked it. Bang! Bang! Bang! Several explosions occurred in the laboratory as Souta shattered all the containers. Isabella was startled. She hurriedly ran forward and went to Souta''s side. "What happened, Souta?" She asked. Souta glanced at her and said, "Some of them are still alive so there''s a chance that we could save them. Help me in waking up these people." "O-Oh," Isabella nodded her head. Suddenly, Souta grabbed Isabella''s wrist. "Wait!" "Why?" Isabella asked. "I heard some footsteps..." Souta said to her in a low voice as he looked at his surrounding with a cautious expression. "Who''s there?" A person appeared before their eyes. The person was a man that looked like in his early twenties. The man was wearing a plain brown jacket and a white coat. He had a curly brown hair and brown eyes. "I''m the one who should ask you that question. This is my laboratory so what are you doing here?" The man said with a faint smile on his face. "Are you from the empire? I came here because I''m curious about this facility. Thanks to this facility I''ve learned something about the parasitic essence eater." Souta said while examining the man in front of him. He secretly glanced at the experimental subjects on the ground. "If you''re thankful then why are you breaking the container. My precious subjects are lying on the ground, you see." The man said to Souta. As Souta was observing him, he was also observing Souta. He wanted to know what''s the capabilities of this man. Souta silently circulated his energy inside his body and ten black balls appeared behind him. Swoosh! "I''m sorry but I''m going to take these people with me." He said as a gravity field enveloped the people on the ground. "Hmph! As I thought you''re up to no good." The man snorted and his body expanded. His clothes were torn apart as his body turned into a three-meter giant. Purple color veins were popping out of his arms and face. His nails turned into sharp blades and the same could be said to his teeth. "I will not let you leave this place!" Souta smirked as he gathered his energy in his fist and shot a punch on the ceiling of the laboratory. Boom! "If you don''t want me to leave then I will simply destroy this place." Chapter 415 - Battle Boom! The two ships that were waiting outside the cave felt the fluctuations of energy. Alarms quickly sounded inside the ships and the people moved the ships away. The next thing that they saw was the whole cave collapsed. Huge cracks spread out before the whole place crumbled down. Boom! After a few moments, something exploded from the inside as the boulders of rocks were blown away. The boulders flew in every direction and lightning shot upward in the sky. The people inside the ships were shocked when they saw this scene. They couldn''t understand what''s happening but then they couldn''t retreat as the leader of their operation was inside the cave. They knew that Souta''s power was godlike and something like this wasn''t enough to kill him. After a few seconds, another explosion burst out of the ruined cave. Souta emerged out of it along with Isabella, the experimental subjects, and the toxinum goblins. All of them were being protected by a gravitational field that Souta created using the [Gravitational Ball] spell. Of course, he didn''t forget the people with them. As for the rest of the creatures inside the cave, all of them were buried alive. They would simply die down there. Souta had a serious expression on his face. He realized that the man in front of him was no joke. This was a powerful man maybe at a general level. He waved his hands and the gravity field moved away. He didn''t want the people that he rescued to die because of his battle. These creatures were weak and the aftershocks from the upcoming battle could greatly injure them. "Souta!" Isabella said as she glanced at Souta. Then, she turned her head on the two ships. The sun was still at its peak and once she moved away from the barrier that Souta created she will felt the intense heat. It''s dangerous to go outside in this extreme environment. That''s the reason why she couldn''t go back to the ships. Isabella glanced at the experimental subjects and the goblin tribe. The experimental subjects were unconscious. They didn''t even know that a battle was going to erupt at any moment. The battle that will decide their fate. While the goblin tribe was stunned, shocked, and surprised. Their mind couldn''t follow what''s happening. The ground collapsed and in the next moment, they found a barrier protecting their lives. It was too much for them. The unknown man was looking at Souta with a serious expression. "That''s a dragon''s energy... How can you use it?" He was inwardly shocked when he felt it. "Why people from this world are always asking me how can I use a dragon''s energy? Damn! This energy isn''t unique to a dragon." Souta said with an annoyed tone. He didn''t immediately attack as he was curious about his opponent. "Oh? Are you a researcher too?" The man raised his eyebrows when he heard Souta''s words. "No, but this is just basic information and a lot of people knew about it. Dragon''s energy is called beast energy or best feram. All monsters had to ability to utilize this energy once they''ve reached the third evolution stage." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. "Third evolution, you say? Until now we haven''t found any monster that reached the third evolution stage in thousands of worlds that we conquered." The man was amused so he explained. "Of course, all the world that your empire had conquered are just low-level world. People also called it particle world. The particle world has the lowest level of mana density in the whole universe and the resources in this world are scarce. So it''s natural that the monster couldn''t reach the third evolution stage. They don''t have enough materials for their evolution." Souta smiled as he explained what he knew to this man. The knowledge of a person who came from Imperium far surpassed the knowledge of a man from a particle world. Well, that''s just the basic knowledge in Imperium so it''s understandable. Still, he felt good showing a researcher that he knew a lot of things. "I''m going to introduce myself to you." Souta chuckled before he continued, "I''m Souta Ieshi, I will be taking over this world and I will end your life." "Hmph! Big words, try it if you can!" The man snorted. He was still thinking about the particle world. If what Souta said was right then there were countless worlds that were more powerful than them. Swoosh! Souta launched himself forward and threw a punch at the man. "Don''t think about what I say to you? Your level is too low before you think that you could conquer those worlds..." He said as shockwaves flew out of his fist. Bang! Bang! The man controlled lightning. The lightning spread out and it collided with the shockwaves that flew out of Souta''s first. Boom! Souta smirked as he chased after the man who had the power of lightning. Boom! Boom! Boom! Two figures collided in the sky repeatedly causing powerful shockwaves. The man was getting pushed back and he already suffered injuries in his body. The overall strength of his opponents was higher than him. Souta''s speed, strength, toughness, and energy level were higher. "Haha! I will take your body! I want to know how can you use the dragon''s energy!" The man laughed while looking at Souta. Blood dripping out of his mouth. "It''s impossible. I''m not a human or a demi." Souta said to the man. The man gritted his teeth and lightning burst out of his body. He rushed towards Souta with astonishing speed. Swoosh! "You''ve intrigued me. I will chase you and I will not stop until I take your body to my laboratory." The man said while throwing lightning whips at Souta. Souta swiftly moved his body as he avoided all the lightning whips. He simply looked at his opponent and said, "You don''t believe other people''s words. Instead, you only believe your own research." "Hahaha, I will use everything just to take you back..." The man laughed madly as he opened his arms widely and the lightning sphere exploded. Boom! The lightning sphere expanded and Souta simply pushed his arm forward to create a hole in it. The lightning danced wildly in every direction and it destroyed everything in their way. Souta flew towards the man while ignoring the lightning around him. This level of lightning couldn''t injure him. Still, he was taking damage but it''s not that high because of his various resistance at a third evolution monster. He slowly pulled out his sword and he gently thrust it forward. [Stab]! His movements were slow but his attack contained heavy power that dispersed the lightning field. Bang! "What?!" The man was shocked as he couldn''t believe that his lightning field was defeated just like that. Souta''s attack was simple yet the power behind it was overwhelming. "Told you. You can''t do anything to me." Souta said in a cold tone as he once again thrust his sword forward. Swoosh! "Nooo!!!!" The man shouted as his body was being torn apart. The force behind Souta''s attack was tearing his flesh and he couldn''t do anything about it. He wanted to move his body to avoid it but he realized that the gravity was crushing him. "This is not the end!! I will remember your face!! I will discover the secret in dragon''s energy! The empire will hunt you down!" These were his last words before his body disintegrated. "Hunt me down? I''m already the empire''s greatest enemy..." Souta muttered as he turned around. He didn''t care about the empire hunting him down. He already conquered the Prison World and destroyed their bases there so he was their enemy. ... Souta gathered the experimental subjects in the ship. He asked some of the people there to take care of them. Isabella helped in taking care of the experimental subjects. These people suffered in their life. The empire was researching about the parasite and he learned a lot of things regarding the famed parasitic essence eater. His quest wasn''t complete. He just destroyed one facility and he needed to destroy as many as he could before he could complete this chain quest. The special quest will end once he completed the chain quest. Also, the special quest wasn''t about destroying the facilities. He needed to rescue the people that were being experimented with too. He was really glad that he triggered the special quest in this chain quest. He thought that he wouldn''t trigger it anymore. In Lumilia''s chain quest, the special quest that he triggered in that quest was to fight and defeat Gregory in a battle. Still, there''s something special about that researcher that he killed. Souta looked at the sky as he narrowed his eyes. He was sure that he killed that man but his instinct was telling him that man was still alive. He looked at the number of souls in his earring but he couldn''t recall if it increases or not. Most of the time, the skill of the earring was activated so the earring would automatically sucked a soul in the surrounding. It would only notify him if he filled the soul requirement. He only deactivated it if he was inside a city in case there''s a god-level powerhouse monitoring the city. Chapter 416 - Alive? After settling everything, Souta turned his attention to the goblin tribe. He wanted to know if Yenxa would come with him or not. If Yenxa joined his group, then he will cultivate her. He will provide her materials for her advancement and gave her training so that she would reach a height that she wouldn''t reach in this small world. In the end, it all comes to her. She will be the one to decide it. Souta would respect her decision and he will not bother her tribe. Souta turned to Yenxa and asked, "Have you decided what you''re going to do?" Yenxa, the little goblin, was beside their leader. Jarkal, the leader of the goblin tribe, simply stood beside her. It seems that he already told her the pros and cons of coming with Souta. Souta observed the two and from their looks, it seems that Yenxa already has an answer. "So what is it? Are you going to follow me or not?" He asked. He didn''t need to say anymore about his identity as a third evolution. He already told Jarkal about it and they saw his strength when he killed the researcher. After a few moments, Yenxa nodded and said in a goblin language, "Yes, I will come with you." Souta raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I''ve already made up my mind." Yenxa nodded her head with a serious expression. "Have bid farewell to your tribe?" Souta asked her. Yenxa tilted her bald head in response. "Farewell, there''s no need to say goodbye." She said with a confused expression. She was a real goblin unlike Souta who only had the body of the goblin but his mind was still on the human side. So she couldn''t understand the meaning of bidding farewell to comrades or loving a family. There''s no love in goblin''s culture. They just follow their lord or leader without hesitation and right now her leader was Souta. She would do anything that he asked her. "Okay." Souta calmly nodded his head. He knew that her wisdom and intelligence will increase in the future once she experienced a lot of things. Also, her evolution would increase her wisdom and intelligence too. At that time, he could leave her some important task. "Then, let''s go inside the ship. Now that we''ve finished everything here it''s time to conquer this world." ... The ships exited the desolate land and Souta''s army entered the living land. This time, all of them were filled with fighting intent. They were ready to fight the army of the Great Astley Empire in this world. What they didn''t know was that the empire''s army was already waiting for them. It seems that they knew that they were in this world. Why, no, how... How did they know about them? Souta narrowed his eyes as he looked at the row of ships and soldiers several kilometers away from them. No one leaked their information to the enemy so how? He took out the transmission talisman and called Lydia. "Lydia, did the empire''s army knew that you are going to attack that world?" He quickly asked a question. He had to know this as Lydia''s answer will confirm if his guess was true or not. "No, they don''t know about us and we successfully launched a surprise attack at some of their bases in this world. Currently, our army is fighting the empire''s forces. I think that it will take over a month before we captured this world." Lydia reported to him. "I see... The empire''s army in Greia knew that I''m going to attack them." Souta said to her. He understood that capturing a world will take longer because every world was huge. It will take them a few days before they could circle it using the ships from the empire. And they weren''t simply going around the world, they were going to conquer a whole world and battles will occur. A fight will break out before they could advance. A planet, world, realm, no matter what they called this place it still didn''t matter to Souta. He will complete his quest and conquer this place. Souta hung up the call and placed back the talisman in his pocket. The Great World Imperium. They said that it was the strongest world in the universe, cosmos, or whatever they called it. Gods were living in this place as a particle world or planet couldn''t handle their energy level. They were too strong. People could travel manually to another world by going to outer space but that will take a long time. So they just had to create a teleportation gate and set up any coordinates to go to a world that they''ve wanted. And in this particle world, Souta was one of the strongest creatures. No ordinary creature could stop the power of a third evolution monster. "What should we do, sir?" One of the people controlling the ship asked Souta politely. "Our plan wouldn''t change. We''ll still conquer this world." Souta said as he turned around. He went towards the door of the ship and asked them to open it. Swoosh! He flew out of the ships. His body was oozing out powerful energy that slightly distorted the space around him. "Another batch of souls offering themselves at me..." A smile formed on his face. He removed the [Bracelet of Silencing] and the bracelet that Alice gave to him. With this bracelet around his wrist, he wouldn''t be able to fight at his strongest. Souta raised his hand and used the [Gravitational Ball] spell to lift boulders of rocks. Then, the boulders of rocks flew towards the enemy fleet at high speed. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! When the enemy fleet saw this, their ships quickly fired their cannons. Hundreds of light beams flew towards Souta''s ships at the same time. The boulders of rocks exploded before it could even land on the enemy fleet. Boom! Souta charged forward with a faint smile on his face. His aura was getting stronger and denser as he activated several of his skills and spells. He then slowly pulled out the vajra sword on its sheath. The enemy fleet detected the fluctuations of Souta''s energy. Their alarm kept ringing as Souta was moving closer to their position. It was frightening to see a creature possessed so much energy move closer to them. "Fire everything!! Shoot him down!!" They desperately tried to shoot Souta down but a simple cannon like that wouldn''t work. It''s a different matter if they were using a cannon from the Mechanic Country that was powered by a monster orb. Bang! Bang! Bang! The people from the two ships couldn''t do anything as they simply watched Souta handle the entire fleet. He was unbelievably strong and they couldn''t even imagine that someone would possess this kind of strength. "Sir Souta is too strong...!" "We can''t do anything except watch..." "If we want to defeat the empire then Sir Souta is the key..." They muttered to themselves with a stunned look on their face. No matter how much they saw it, Souta''s strength was still unbelievable. Bang! Bang! "Just surrender yourself to me..." Souta raised his hand and the ten black balls spun on top of it. A shockwave swept out in the whole place. After a few moments, every object and creature was being pulled towards the ten black balls. Ohm! The gravitational strength was too strong that it even pulled the ships that were flying in the mid-air. After all, the gravity that he created was a thousand times stronger than this world''s gravity. Everything was being pulled towards the ten black balls. Nothing would escape it. Screams sounded as soldiers of the empire were being crushed into meat paste. Their ships exploded and were colliding repeatedly. The intense gravity was tearing them apart. No one could survive this except if they had a tough B-rank shielder. "It doesn''t matter even if you knew that I''m going to attack this world. Everything is the same as it will fall under my command." Souta muttered as he looked up where the gravity was grinding the fleet of the empire. The [Gravitational Ball] spell was a really really good spell. In the game, all it could do was push, pull, up, and down. But here as long as he will it, he could control the gravity. His only limitation was his power level. That''s just how powerful this tier 2 spell is. This spell should be a tier 3 spell. Ohm! Blood rained down as countless soldiers from the empire died just like that. A bunch of E-rank and D-rank could hope to fight a third evolution monster. Their number was too small they should''ve brought more people to exhaust him if they wanted to kill Souta. "Hehe~ My guess is true..." Souta laughed lightly. The world that Lydia was conquering wasn''t aware of them yet this world was aware of Souta''s presence. He was sure that no one leaked their information. There''s only one explanation for this. That man, the researcher, was still alive. He didn''t know how or why but his hunch was telling him that he was right. Chapter 417 - Former Princess After an hour of battle, Souta finished the army of the empire. This was the first wave of the enemy''s army and he knew that there were still dozens of enemy''s fleet in this world. "The empire''s army in this world is finished..." Souta said as he sat down and leaned his back on the chair. He commanded some of his people to persuade the forces of this world to join them. He knew that some of the people that wanted to rebel against the empire were just lurking in the dark, waiting for an opportunity strike. "In a week, we''ll be able to take over half of this land..." These were his calculations based on their speed of clearing the empire''s army. If his forces didn''t require sleep then their time in conquering this world will shorten. He brought two Mega Type B1-O ships also called Mother into this world. Right now, the mother ships have increased by seven as they''ve plundered it from the empire''s bases. Those seven Mother ships had twenty-five assault airships inside. The assault airships weren''t huge like mother ships. It only has a size of twenty-five meters and its speed was several times faster than the mother ships. Ten people were needed to pilot this kind of ship to completely fill up all of its functions starting from controls to cannons. If they were going to start an all-out attack against the empire, then Souta needed more airships. "I needed a talent in modifying airships..." Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. He was a commander of the Mechanic Country in the game so he knew a lot of things about the Mechanic Country''s battle airships. He just needed someone to realize his thoughts to modify these airships so that they could rival those airships from Mechanic Country. At this time, Isabella walked towards Souta and said, "Souta, the girl is awake." Souta raised his eyebrows and he stood up. "Lead me to her." He said to Isabella. This was a good thing for him. If the people that he rescued were still alive then it wouldn''t bother his quest. As long as they were alive, then Souta would do everything for them to survive. ... Souta and Isabella arrived in the room where the people that he rescued were receiving treatment. As soon as he entered the room, he saw the girl with long blonde hair sitting on a bed. This girl was the one who was inside the container with a number "08" carved in it. The girl was looking around with a confused expression. It seems that she still didn''t know what''s happening but considering that she was in that laboratory Souta could understand it. He took a chair and placed it closed to the girl''s bed before he sat on it. His action gathered the girl''s attention so she glanced at him as if she was asking where she is or what she''s doing in this place. "I know you had a lot of questions but I''m going to introduce myself first. I''m Souta Ieshi, you could say that I''m the leader of the rebel army against the Great Astley Empire." Souta said with a smile and he was patient so that he wouldn''t scare the girl. The girl didn''t say anything and she just kept looking at Souta. But he could see that her brows knitted tightly as if she was wondering if what he said was true or not. "Don''t worry. I will not harm you and I don''t have a reason to lie to you. Also, I''m the one who rescued you in that laboratory." Souta explained to her how he saved her life so that she could trust him even by a small amount. "It''s true. The laboratory was destroyed now. We''ve also rescued the other people there." Isabella said. The girl didn''t have a choice but to believe them. She slowly nodded her head and asked, "You said that you''re the leader of the rebel army, is that right?" "Yes, I''m sort of their leader. Most of the people in this ship are prisoners in Prison World and I''m the one who gave them freedom. Currently, the Prison World is within our control. We''ve destroyed the empire''s army in that world." Souta explained to her. "Impossible...!! Taking back a world from the Great Astley Empire''s rule..." The girl couldn''t believe what she just heard. It seems that she knew the forces that were controlling the Prison World, the wardens. "Why is that impossible? We''ve done it so it''s not impossible anymore. Also, as long as you have enough strength there''s nothing that you can''t do." Souta smiled exuding great confidence in his words. "Do you even know how powerful the forces in the Prison World are?" The girl still didn''t believe him. "Powerful? There''s no such thing as powerful in their army. They only had one advantage against me and that''s their overwhelming numbers. All thirteen wardens are dead. Believe it or not all of them are dead and the Prison World is under my control." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "And we''re currently on a conquest to conquer five worlds that are under the rules of empire. This world is just one of it and my forces are in the other four worlds." The girl stared blankly at Souta for a few seconds. She could just believe Souta''s words but she subconsciously denied it. After all, no one has managed to take over the Prison World. Countless people tried to free the prisoners in that world yet no one completed it. The girl sighed and said, "Fine, I''ll believe in you..." "Good. I have a question for you. I want to know who are you and what experiments they did on you?" Souta nodded and immediately asked a question. Although he read those notes in the laboratory, he still needed to make sure if that was right. Maybe, there was something that he missed before and this girl knew it. "I have questions too." The girl raised her head and looked at Souta in the eyes. "As long as you truthfully answer my question then I''ll answer your question too. I''ll even help you get back to your family or your homeworld." Souta nodded at her. He could ask the other victims but he chose this girl. Why? Because she looks important. Her container was separated from the rest of the subjects in that laboratory and she''s the only one who had words carved in her container. "I understand. Then, I''ll start by introducing myself. I''m Jamine Fleu Rendxynuz, the first princess of the Hurjudin Kingdom." The girl introduced herself. She looked like she was in her teens but she was already in her late twenties. She was the oldest of her siblings. Her country was the overlord of the world called Xinus. They had powerful technology and magic yet when the empire appeared they were defeated. They weren''t defeated easily because they had a powerful army. The Hurjudin Kingdom resisted the forces of the Great Astley Empire for more than a decade. The only reason they got defeated was because... three out of their twelve vassal states betrayed them. It leaves an opening in their defenses so the empire managed to enter and it became their nightmare. One by one their soldiers were killed. The empire''s forces advances towards the Imperial Capital and took over their world. After their defeat, the Hurjudin Kingdom became a vassal region of the Great Astley Empire. Jamine''s parents were killed and the empire used the children of the royalty to control the whole Xinus, to pacify its people. Then, the empire sent a high-ranking officer to the Hurjudin Region and that officer was Lydia. "Lydia? As in Lydia De Capell..." Souta was surprised to hear Lydia''s name in her story. "Y-Yes that''s her full name, do you know Lydia...?" Jamine, the former princess, was a little bit surprised when Souta asked her about Lydia. After the empire took her homeland, she didn''t have anything to rely on. Luckily, the empire sent Lydia and the two became friends. Lydia didn''t force her to do anything against her will and they continued to provide resources to the empire every month. Until one day, she was captured by a soldier of the empire. No one knew about it even Lydia didn''t have any idea about her disappearance. It was strange but then she realized that she was inside a laboratory. In the laboratory, there were hundreds of people with her and all of them were guinea pigs. Souta sighed and explained, "Lydia, you could say that she''s one of my subordinates. She betrayed the empire and become one of its most wanted criminals. She is currently with the other prisoner attack another world under my order." "Is that real? Lydia betrayed the empire..." Jamine opened her eyes widely. "Is that hard to believe? Well, the other commanders couldn''t believe it too. For their understanding of Lydia, she''s the type of person that wouldn''t betray the empire." Souta smiled as he shrugged his shoulder. Chapter 418 - How Can It Be? "If I knew Lydia, I would''ve let her talked to you instead," Souta said with a sigh as he took out a transmission talisman. He poured his energy into it and connected to Lydia''s talisman. "Souta, what''s wrong?" Lydia''s voice sounded through the talisman. "You see... There''s a girl before me she said that she knows you. Her name is Jamine Flue Rendxynuz, a former princess." Souta said while looking at Jamine''s face. "What?! Jamine is there?! How can it be?! Where did you find her? Is she okay?" Lydia''s voice was full of concern. It seems that Jamine was really saying the truth that she knows Lydia. Jamine looked at the piece of yellow paper in Souta''s hand with a surprised look on her face. "What is that?!" She asked. "This is a transmission talisman. Here, talk to Lydia and she will explain everything." Souta said as he threw the talisman at Jamine. He then stood up and left the room. He will ask her some questions after Lydia explained everything to Jamine. ... "Sir, the transportational gate has finished charging. We can use it again anytime." One of the former prisoners reported to Souta. "Good. Then, what''s the status of the people in this land?" Souta asked as he sat down. "They''ve agreed to our condition, sir. They are willing to join us and fight the empire''s forces." "Okay. Immediately use them and fight the south. I want to see their capabilities if they have the power to destroy one of the empire''s bases in this world." Souta ordered as he closed his eyes. "Yes, sir." The former prisoner nodded before he left. After a while, Souta opened his eyes. He wondered what''s currently happening in the Imperium. It''s been a few months since he was away from that world and he was sure that a lot of things has already happened. The demons. It''s version 2 so that demons must have begun their conquest. The war was going to erupt in the Giza Continent and the same thing could be said to the God''s Continent. The demons will attack that continent too. The only difference was that the major forces of the God''s Continent will move to fend off the demons while the major forces of the Giza Continent will not make a move. The three great countries will stay still watching the movements of the uprising Mechanic Country. In the end, the Mechanic Country was the one who lends forces to the alliance of the large countries to fight the demons. In the game, the Mechanic Country sent Souta along with the other four commanders to help in the battle. The main event in the God''s Continent was the attack of the Gluttony. That man, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, will cause chaos in the whole continent and freed the titans. It will become an all out war against the forces of Gluttony. It was an event that will upset the balance of the God''s Continent. "I will quickly finish my mission..." He muttered while looking at the projection. Once he goes back to the Great World Imperium, he will start retrieving his equipment in the game. Up until now, he already got the [Vajra Sword Saya] and the [Soul Blood Earring]. A dark-grade sword and a universal-grade artifact. He still had the... [Hell Fiend Spear](Dark), [Flesh Eating Scythe](Universal), [Beowulf](Universal), [Everdark Cloak](Universal), [Thunder Cry Boots](Universal), [Solid Hunter State Boots](Dark), [Necklace of Avarice](Universal), [Vulcanic Giant''s Belt](Universal), [Wood''s Heart Bracer](Dark), [Yin and Yang Bracelet](Universal), [Ring of Madness](Universal), [Ring of Heavenly Prime](Universal), [Burning Ring Seal](Dark), [Frost Swallowing Cape](Dark), [Nightmare Mask](Dark), and lastly the [Orb of Arcane Seal](Universal). These were all the equipments that he always used in the game. He still had more but he rarely used those and some of those pieces of equipment were already sold to other players. These were the equipment that he didn''t sell to anyone. He didn''t even let other players borrowed it no matter how much they were willing to pay the price. While the other players were busy preparing for the world championships(pro scene), Souta was exploring the vastness of the world completing various quests that the NPC offered to him. While he was contemplating what he should get first when he goes back to Imperium, a person approached Souta. "Sir, I have a report." The person said politely. Souta snapped out of his thoughts as he glanced at the person beside him. "What is it?" He asked. "Our signal detected twenty-two ships twelve kilometers away. It''s in the north and judging from the signatures, all of it is Mother Ships that carried hundreds of assault-type ships." The person reported to Souta. Souta raised his eyebrows when he heard the report. "From my knowledge, our ship could detect any ships within fifty kilometers in diameter, right?" "Yes, sir." The person nodded at him. "So how did those ships managed to get that close to us?" Souta asked. "It''s simple, sir. They''ve jumped in this world using the transportational gate. We''ve only detected them once they''ve successfully landed." The person explained to Souta. "I see..." Souta nodded. The radar of their ships was only useful if their opponent was using ships too as it couldn''t detect other creatures. Also, people who mastered barriers would easily fool the ship''s radar. It''s pretty easy as long as a person knew how to properly control energy. "What should we do, sir?" The person asked him. "Hmm... If that''s a reinforcement then the empire surely knows about our operation. Then, they wouldn''t easily give this world to us. They will fight us and continue to send reinforcement until they''ve overwhelmed us." Souta paused as he glanced at the person before he continued, "Let''s see if those twenty two ships are from the empire. We''ll destroy them if they are from the empire." Another battle, huh~ this is war and everyone should get used to this lifestyle when they are in the war. Complaining wouldn''t do any good. Just continue to fight until the enemies are dead. Peace talk? Fuck those peace talks... That''s just a temporary solution. Everything will fall out in the end. History is full of war. Just accept it. It''s part of everyone''s nature. A smile formed on Souta''s face as the ships flew towards the north where they detected the twenty two unknown ships. Swoosh! The ship arrived two kilometers away from the twenty two ships. They''ve confirmed that these ships were from the Great Astley Empire. Their greatest enemy so Souta quickly commanded to fire the cannons without hesitation. He didn''t need to talk to those enemies. Just fire the cannons and killed them as soon as possible. The enemies had twenty two ships so Souta''s group was at a disadvantage if they fought them. The seven Mother Ships that they''ve plundered were out trying to conquer the empire''s bases. So Souta only had one Mother Ship with him. Bang! Bang! Bang! Dozens of white beams shoot forward and caused an explosion in the empire''s fleet. Souta knew that if he didn''t make a move they will be defeated. After all, he only had one ship with him and the empire had twenty two ships. "Open the door, I will go out..." ... Souta flew in front as his gaze landed on the twenty two mother ships of the empire. Hundreds of assault-type ships were coming out of the mother ships. After a while, he raised his hand and the ship behind him stopped firing the cannons. The enemy ships already stopped responding to them. The two sides were silent as they observed each other''s movement. Hmm...? Souta narrowed his eyes as he noticed a person standing on top of the leading mother ship. The person on top of the ship was a man with long blonde hair. He had green eyes, white skin, and pointy ears. There''s no doubt that this man was an elf. But something was troubling Souta. The elf had a faint smile on his face was looking at him. It feels that this elf knew him yet Souta was sure that this was his first time seeing this elf in his entire life. The elf opened his mouth and said, "I already said before that I will not let you go easily. I will study you and discover how you could use the dragon''s energy." Souta opened his eyes widely when he heard the elf''s words. This elf... was the researcher from the laboratory that he killed before? How can it be? "Relax. I don''t have a problem with your little army. The empire can handle all of them. The only problem is you. You possessed strength greater than anyone that I''ve seen before. Only dragons can rival your strength." The elf said with a wide smile. Souta''s expression turned serious. This man wasn''t ordinary. Just what sort of techniques or skills does he have to transfer his soul. He wasn''t even sure if it was soul transferring or not. Chapter 419 - Big Problem "How is this possible?" Souta poured his energy in his voice as he asked. The elf was two kilometers away from him so if he didn''t pour energy in his voice then it wouldn''t reach the elf. "Tell me how you acquire that power and I''ll let you know about this..." The elf grinned widely. "Tsk! I already told you that it''s innate. You just don''t want to believe it, you ignorant shit..." Souta clicked his tongue with an annoyed expression. "Then, how about this... I''ll tell you about it if you let me study your body." The elf said as he opened his arms widely. "I''m tired of talking to an unreasonable person like you... I''ll just kill you once again." Souta said with a sigh and then his best feram burst out of his body. Boom! A large torrent of energy exploded within Souta''s body. It created a wave of energy that swept out in the whole field and everyone felt it. The energy that he was releasing was too intense to the point that no ordinary people could approach him. "Unreasonable? You''re the one who''s unreasonable here. I said I want to take you with me and you don''t follow me at all." The elf said as his expression turned serious. Souta was done talking to this elf so he charged towards the empire''s fleet and said, "Fire the cannons! Don''t stop just kept firing it!" Swoosh! Ten black balls appeared behind Souta. It rotated quickly as it emitted best feram and after a few moments, enormous boulders of rocks floated towards the sky. These boulders of rocks flew in the direction of the empire''s fleet. Souta was intending to destroy his opponent''s ships as soon as possible. He wouldn''t hold back at all. Just destroy every problem that he encountered. That''s it. The elf released his mana when he saw Souta coming at him with great momentum. He tightened both of his fists and wind blades gathered around it. "This time..." He knew that he couldn''t easily fight Souta with his current strength. But this body was different than the body before. This one was several times stronger than before. Swoosh! Souta flashed forward as he threw a punch and the elf tried to blocked it but his figure crashed on the ship below him. Boom! Souta stopped chasing after the elf as he pulled out his sword from its sheath. Crimson energy coated the blade of the sword and he slashed it towards his enemy. [Crimson Moon]!! The whole mother ship was sliced into two parts before it exploded. The explosion was huge and the parts of the ships were scattered across the whole field. Boom! Smoke and flames filled the area in front of the empire''s fleet. Souta landed on top of one of the empire''s ships. He was sure that the elf was still alive. His power this time was stronger than last time so it wouldn''t be as easy as before. ''Saya, do you have any idea how did he do it?'' He asked Saya. ''No, unless he''s a god he couldn''t transfer his soul to other people.'' Saya replied to him. ''This is one is problematic. Even if you killed him now I''m sure that he will come back with a new body.'' ''Yeah, that''s what I''m thinking too.'' Souta nodded at her words. Boom! A loud sound echoed as a figure flew out of the smoke and landed on the ship where Souta stood. It was the elf. His body was full of blood. There''s a large cut on his chest and blood kept pouring out of his. Cough! He coughed a mouthful of blood as he looked up at Souta who was looking at him. The more power Souta had the more he wanted to study Souta. His body was trembling as he really wanted to capture this man before him. "Oh? You made it out." Souta''s voice sounded. The elf narrowed his eyes as he tightened his fist. This man really wanted him to go all-out. "Ahhh!!!" Intense energy erupted out of his body as he charged towards Souta. He didn''t need to think anymore. He could just fight Souta until he exhausted him and let the army captured him. Swoosh! He arrived in front of Souta and wind gathered around his fist like a hurricane. He then threw a barrage of powerful punches at Souta. [Swift Gale Striking Fist!] Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The elf moved in every direction as he used his skill at Souta. Every second a powerful shockwave would burst in any direction. The mother ship was shaking as cracks appeared on its surface. Bang! Bang! Explosions would occur as various parts of the ship would blow up because of the intense pressure in the air. The elf continued throwing his heavy and powerful fist. The aftershocks from his punch would cause a large crack on the ship. "You will not be able to escape my grasp!" Souta raised his head as he looked at the elf. His guard was up and he didn''t do anything but blocked the punches from the elf. Bang! He moved his hand and punched forward. His knuckle landed on the stomach of the elf causing him to spit a mouthful of blood. Swoosh! The elf was blown away and he had to hold the ground to stabilize himself. He looked ahead with a smile on his face and said, "That''s it, show my your-" He didn''t even manage to finish his sentence as Souta was already in front of him. Black energy formed around Souta''s hand. [Transforming Shadow Barrage]! The elf was blown away once again. His body flew at high speed before he crashed on the closet ship causing a huge explosion on its surface. Souta jumped in the air as he pulled out the vajra sword. He gathered his best feram on the blade of the sword before he launched his attack. [Cross Moon]! Red blades of energy flew out and head straight towards the ship where the elf crashed. The mother ship was sliced apart before it exploded. Boom! Souta didn''t stop at all. He used another [Cross Moon] in the direction where the ship exploded. With a wave of his sword, red energy blades flew out at high speed. "Hahaha, you win this time. I''m not so sure about the third time, fourth time, and so on. I will find you." The elf laughed as a red blade of energy swallowed his whole body. Boom! An explosion that shook the whole area occurred. Souta jumped in the sky as he raised his sword above his head. The boulders of rocks continued to fly towards the empire''s fleet once again. It was their nightmare. Ten out of twenty two ships have been destroyed. Souta didn''t destroy anymore ships after this. He just protected his ship with a gravitational barrier and let it get close to the empire''s ships. He then let his people enter the enemy''s ship and plundered it for themselves. Doing this consumed a lot of time but it was worth it. Taking those ships for themselves was a good thing. All this time, Souta used his gravity powers so that none of the empire ships could escape him. It was exhausting as this power was activated for more than an hour. Locking the gravity of an entire field was energy consuming. "It''s done..." Souta captured the remaining twelve ships of the empire. After that, he went inside the ship to rest for a while but then something unexpected happened. Their ship detected several fluctuations of energy all over the place. Alarm sounded on every ship and people were terrified. Various people reported this phenomenon to Souta. "I know! So stop talking at the same time!" Souta said in a loud voice. He did this so that his people would stop panicking for no reason. He let one of his people explained it to him. "Sir, we''ve detected thousands of mana fluctuations in every direction. Judging from the signature, it''s a transportational gate. More than one thousand ships are coming to this world." One of the people explained in a polite tone. "This..." Souta was speechless. Thousand ships? Damn, that''s no joke. He hasn''t even rest so his best feram and stamina were depleted. There was a question in his head. Who was that man? How could he control this amount of soldiers from the empire? Even the commanders and generals didn''t have that amount of soldiers under their rule. A commander only has three hundred thousand soldiers and a general has seven commanders. "This is indeed a big problem..." Souta muttered with a grave expression. He then ordered, "Retreat as far as we can before they''ve arrived. Also, call our remaining forces in this world to meet with us. We need their help. We''ll fight this battle with everything that we''ve got." The people bowed their heads and they quickly execute his orders. Everyone understood what''s their situation so no one dared to stay idle. Chapter 420 - Weapon Of Destruction "Souta!!" Souta turned his head when he heard someone called his name. He saw that it was Jamine and Isabella. "What''s wrong, Isabella?" He asked. "Souta!! Lydia had something to tell you!!" Isabella said with a hurried expression. It seems that she was panicking. Jamine walked to his side and gave him the transmission talisman. "Here," she said while looking around. She saw that the people were nervous as sweat formed on their foreheads. "What''s wrong, Lydia?" Souta asked the same question. "Souta, they are coming. From the information that we''ve got, the empire is going to launch an all-out attack at Greia." Lydia''s voice sounded through the transmission talisman. "Well, I''ve already noticed it. Our radar detected thousands of ships landing in this world using the transportational gate." Souta said to her in a grave tone. "How can that be? They are already there!" Lydia sounded like she was shocked. She didn''t expect that the empire was already in Greia. "We''re going to retreat. Our forces here aren''t enough to fight thousands of ships at the same time. It''s better for me to go back to Prison World." Souta said as he focused his eyes on the projection. At this moment, they saw thousands of mother ships emerged from the sky. The small assault-type ships surpassed ten thousand in numbers. They were serious about fighting Souta''s rebel army. Jamine, Isabella, and the rest were shocked when they saw this scene on the projection. They shivered as they finally saw the might of the empire when they got serious. "Lydia, just do complete our plan. Leave this to me." Souta said as he hung up the call and placed the transmission talisman in his pocket. He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. He greatly underestimated the might of the Great Astley Empire. Although they didn''t have extremely powerful individuals their numbers were overwhelming. He already knew it but this number was outside of his expectations. He''s just a third evolution monster. He couldn''t fight endlessly and without him, the rebel army wouldn''t be able to fight the empire. He''s the heart of the army and everyone depends on him. Souta opened his mouth and said, "Retreat and then use the transportational gate to go back to Prison World. We''re going to abandon our mission in conquering this world." The rebels quickly followed his instruction. For them, going back to Prison World was the right choice. Just by thinking about the army of the empire, they couldn''t help but shiver in fear. "Also, tell the forces of this world that want to join us to go the Prison World. Abandoned everything in this world, we''ll fight them after we gathered our forces. At this rate, we''re going to die if we fight them head-on." Souta ordered as he sat down on the commander''s seat. Souta''s ship and the twelve ships that they''ve plundered flew as fast as it could. At this moment, the empire''s army successfully landed on this world. They quickly fired their cannons at Souta''s army. "The enemy is firing at us!!" "The enemy is firing their cannons!!" The rebels hurriedly reported everything that was happening. They also deployed the barrier of the ships that could deplete their energy. They were in a pinch at this rate they were going to lose their energy before they could use the transportational gate. Souta sighed and said, "Forget about the barrier. Just reserve the ship''s energy for transportational gate. I''ll block all those attacks." "Eh! Are you serious?!" Jamine was shocked at his orders. "Y-You... You''re going to block those beams!" Souta glanced at her and said, "Yes, is there a problem with it?" "N-No..." Jamine replied with a blank expression. She couldn''t believe that this man just said that he will block the beams from the cannons. "Don''t worry. Souta is strong." Isabella said to her. Jamine turned her head to Isabella and saw that Isabella trusted Souta. She looked around and realized that the rebels heave a sigh of relief when they heard that Souta will block those cannons. ''Is he really that strong? It seems that everyone trusted him... He just said some simple words and it erased everyone''s worry.'' This made her curious about Souta. The man that everyone here trusted. Even her friend, Lydia, seems to trust this man wholeheartedly. ... Souta jumped out of the door and ten black balls appeared on his back. [Gravitational Ball]! He flew on top of the ship and faced the empire''s army. He waved his hand and nine out of ten black balls scattered around. As he poured his best feram in his spell, a gravity field formed around the thirteen ships and it protected them from any attack. He narrowed his eyes as the empire continued firing at them. Most of the beams didn''t land on them as it only landed on the ground causing several explosions that destroyed the landscape. Boom! Boom! This scene looks terrifying. The living land was the only place where people could live in this world yet the empire didn''t care about it. They were destroying rivers, mountains, and forests by launching those people beams. Ohm! Souta noticed a certain ship. That ship was the mother ship but something was strange about it. The front of the ship cracked and it opened up, revealing a small cannon. Suddenly, a human-size spherical object shoots out of it. It was so fast that it rapidly chased after the rebel army. As it was getting close, Souta opened his eyes widely. That object contained an enormous amount of mana and it feels like it was going to explode at any moment. "What''s that thing?!" Souta muttered while looking at it. When the spherical object was five hundred meters away from them, it exploded. The first thing that happened was a loud ear-piercing sound and it was followed by a powerful gust of wind that blew everything away. Then, a powerful force sucked every object towards the center of the explosion. After that intense heat swept out along with the eruption of blinding light. "Damn!" The moment Souta felt it, he quickly tightened his guard and poured his mana in his spell. He strengthened the gravity field while gritting his teeth. The explosion was so powerful that it could shatter his gravity field if he let down his guard. Souta had no choice but to close his eyes. Even though he closed his eyes, the light still pierced him. He saw every vein in his eyelids. Also, the intense heat broke through his barrier. The heatwave landed on his body and he felt that he was being scorched in the sun. Even with his resistance, the heat still managed to hurt him. He already ate the fruit that he received from Raeshka. A fruit that could let him handle two thousand degrees celsius yet this heatwave managed to pierce his gravity field and hurt him. It was too powerful. Is this a secret weapon of the empire? Now, aside from their numbers, he finally understood how the empire conquered every sub-world that they''ve discovered. This weapon was a cheat. After a few moments, Souta opened his eyes and saw that everything within his sight was devastated. Six out of thirteen ships that he has have fallen. A large part of the surface was disintegrated leaving the lower part of the earth being scorched, turning it into a pool of melted rocks. Souta couldn''t even see a single mountain, tree, or river in his sight. "What the hell...?!" He muttered in shock. Some of the empire''s ship was even caught up in the explosion of the bomb that they launched. Even though they were eighty thousand feet above the surface, the explosion still managed to destroy some of their ships. Today, the Great Astley Empire has finally shown its weapon of destruction. The destruction that it brought was something that Souta didn''t expect. It was pure destruction. He was glad that he came out of the ship to protect everyone or else he alone would be left alive if that bomb caught him off guard. Isabella, Yenxa, Jamine, and the rest would die if he wasn''t prepared. Souta used his best feram to repair the broken gravity field. He still needed to set it up as the temperature in the atmosphere could even melt down metals. After setting up the gravity field, he went back inside the ship. Inside the ship, he saw that most of the rebels had a pale faces. Even though they were used in a life-and-death situation, that explosion still made them shivered. If not for Souta personally setting up a barrier then they were already dead. "Calm down everyone. I''m still here. We will go back in the Prison World for now so quickly activate the transportational gate." Souta said as he sat down in the commander''s seat. He narrowed his eyes and asked someone to report the scale of the explosion to him. When he heard the report, he was shocked inwardly. The explosion destroyed everything within a 30-kilometer radius. Damn! It was as large as a country. The power of the Mana Convergent Bomb was terrifying. Chapter 421 - Bringing The Battle To Prison World They tried to contact their allies in this world but they''ve found that the empire didn''t only launch the mana convergent bomb in this place instead, they''ve also dropped it down in eight different places. It means that a quarter part of the living land was destroyed. The empire was really intending to destroy this land. At this rate, this living land will become dead like the desolate land. No ordinary people would be able to live on this planet anymore. "Sir, the transportational gate is ready." Someone reported to Souta. "Good. Then, activate it right away. Let the people from other ships come here. Those ships have just used the transportational gate so they couldn''t use it anymore. Only this ship could go back." Souta commanded as he narrowed his eyes. The transportational gate would take a few minutes before it could transfer them to Prison World so they had to be on guard in case the empire chased after them. He had no problem protecting this ship for that small amount of time. He still had energy in his body and he could use it but it wouldn''t last for a long battle. This was harder than he thought. Luckily, he still had Yuko and the other dragons on different worlds to lessened his burdens. He was sure that they would complete their mission as the empire was strangely focused on him. That man or that elf must be related to the higher-ups of the Great Astley Empire. Souta leaned on his chair and looked at the ceiling. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Isabella, the health potion and mana potion that you''re brewing isn''t enough. Its quality is too low." Now that he reached the third evolution, a low-grade healing potion could hardly do anything to him. What he needed were higher-grade potions. "Then, what should I do Souta? If I want to increase the potency of the potion then it will take a lot of trial and error before I succeeded." Isabella said as she lowered her head. She thought that the potion that she brewed was enough but Souta just said that its quality wasn''t passable. "Don''t worry about it, I''ll just ask Lumilia about it. Mid-grade isn''t a problem in Imperium. Most of the potioneer knew about the recipe." Souta said as he closed his eyes. He felt the gravity field that he set up was being attacked. It seems that the empire has begun its attack once again. He was correct as someone approached him and reported that the ship was being attacked. Souta just waved his hand like nothing saying that it wasn''t a problem as long as they don''t launch that bomb again. After a few minutes, the transportational gate was activated and they''ve returned to the Prison World. They''ve abandoned everything in Greia as no one among them had the power to stop the empire''s onslaught. Souta stood up and said, "Don''t bother me for a while. I''m going to rest. Just remind me if the empire attacked us once again." He then left and went to his room. He wanted to rest to recover his health, energy, and stamina. He needed to be at his peak once the empire launched an all-out attack in this world. He didn''t doubt that the empire would stop. The empire would surely attack them once again. This world will become a battlefield and once it happened Souta needed his full strength. Souta closed his door and lied down on his bed. He closed his eyes while thinking about his next move. ... While Souta was asleep, the rebels informed everyone that the empire would attack them so they had to prepare. They set up various weapons and charged their cannons with energy. The rebel army gathered in one place as they needed their power to be concentrated. Some of the rebels that stayed in this world asked about what happened in Greia. The answer that they''ve got shocked them to the core. Everything was annihilated and nothing was left behind when that bomb exploded. It was pure destruction. Isabella decided to help too. She gathered everyone who had knowledge in potioneering. She was going to need everyone''s help in producing health potions that could recover the wounds of their injured comrades. Producing it in a large batch was her target. While everyone was busy, Jamine stood in her position and simply observed them. She sighed and muttered, "Souta is strong and he''s the heart of the rebel army. Without him, the rebel army is simply a shell without any capabilities. Still, I don''t know how large the forces that they''ve sent in other four worlds." She didn''t believe that this army could fight the Great Astley Empire nor could defeat them. This army didn''t have any power except for Souta. From her point of view, Souta was the one who did everything. She was right. Everything was mostly Souta''s work. Nothing could be credited to these people. "The strength of the empire is much deeper than we thought." She said as she looked at the blue sky. If they''ve survived and successfully gathered allies from those four worlds then they would have a chance to fight the empire. "Just focus on gathering allies. There are countless forces in other worlds that are lurking in the dark. Most of them wanted to fight the empire but none of them didn''t have the power so they could only swallow their thoughts and hide themselves." If she could make Souta a symbol of power and spread it among the worlds that were under the rule of the empire then those secret forces would surely hear his name. It was just a matter of will if they wanted to follow their cause in eradicating the empire. That''s it... They should send five to ten people to every world to spread out their cause. It''s a good plan. "I''ll tell him about it, later." ... An alarm sounded in the whole base and it woke Souta. "Hmm...?" Souta slowly opened his eyes as he stared at the ceiling of the room. "Saya, how long did I sleep?" He asked. ''Almost three hours...'' Saya replied to him. Souta sighed as he pushed himself out of the bed. Soon, he heard a knocked on his door. He could guess what they were going to report. It''s not that surprising if it was about the attack of the empire since everyone expected it but, isn''t it too soon? "Come in." He said as he turned his attention to the door. A person went inside the room and it confirmed Souta''s thought. The alarm was about the empire''s forces. They''ve already arrived in the Prison World. He shook his head as he stood up and exited his room. He would go all out and kill as many as he could then he would rest and repeat the same thing. Souta arrived in the control room and dozens of people were waiting for him. He sat on his seat and asked, "Numbers of the empire?" "Six thousand seven hundred mother ships and fifty thousand one hundred seventy assault-type ships. Also, they had three million ground troops." One of the people reported to Souta. Everyone turned gloomy when they heard the number of the enemies. The pressure it brought mentally was greater than they''ve imagined. Fighting millions of soldiers while their numbers were only five digits was something that they couldn''t imagine. It was practically a suicide. Everyone turned to Souta and waiting for his orders. He was the leader of the rebel army and he was also the strongest person here so everyone will wait for his answer. He was the one who will decide if they had a chance or not. Souta rubbed his chin as he looked at the fifteen people in the room one by one. Isabella and Jamine were staying quiet at the corner. Yenxa, the little goblin, was standing beside him with a plain expression. He forgot about Yenxa after he took her with him. He was too busy with empire''s matter that he didn''t have a time to train her. Well, this war will be a good experience for her to improve her combat ability. She was just a first evolution monster and the soldiers of the empire could pose a problem to her. "Their location?" Souta asked after contemplating. One of the rebels explained to him the location of the empire''s forces. The army of the empire was scattered around the world. Souta''s rebel army was situated in the territory of the Thirteen Warden and the empire was scattered in different territory. The closest to them was the batch of one hundred mother ships along with three hundred thousand foot soldiers. The number was still huge compared to them but they could somehow handle it. "Good. Then, we''ll attack that army. I don''t want to wait for them to attack us." Souta paused as he looked at them before he added, "I''ll personally make an appearance and annihilate them." Chapter 422 - War In Prison World 1 After Souta gave his order, he closed his eyes and looked at the system. His order was for everyone to prepare as they will initiate an attack against the empire. But before Souta could focus his attention on the system, he heard Jamine''s voice. "What if that''s a trap of the empire?" Jamine asked him. "It doesn''t matter if it''s a trap. We will quickly annihilate all of them. Even if it''s a trap, it''s impossible for them to quickly gathered in one spot when they were scattered across the whole world. At least from my calculations, it will take them one day before they could gather their whole forces." Souta opened one of his eyes and said while looking at Jamine''s face. "Then, do you have a plan that could take out the army that you will attack?" Jamine asked once again. "Plan? I''m planning to use my powers to annihilate them. It''s faster that way. If I''m going to sit down then it would take a lot of time and we''ll receive high casualties." Souta replied to her as he closed his eye. "This...?" Jamine''s was speechless when she heard Souta''s answer. It was an indication that Souta had great confidence in his strength. She hasn''t personally seen it but according to the rumors that she heard among the rebels, Souta''s power was godlike. She thought that it was an exaggeration but thinking about how he blocked the Mana Convergent Bomb she couldn''t help but doubt herself. Souta was strong and she had to admit it. ''Fine... I''ll admit it. I''ll try to help him in my own way.'' She said inwardly while glancing at Souta. Souta looked at the system and found that he had 35 skill points and 78 free attribute points left. Since the legion started functioning again, he earned points and exp when they completed a quest. He wanted them to complete high-level as it would guarantee him skill points. [Doppelganger], [Shadow Dispersion], and [Dark Shooting Ray] were available to him. He already bought the [Dark Shooting Ray] and for him to open the two skills above it, he needed to level it up to level 10. The available combat arts for him were the [Dark Light Shield], [Transforming Shadow Barrage], and [Night Overlord''s Aura]. He already bought the [Transforming Shadow Barrage] and [Night Overlord''s Aura] so he only had one combat arts to learn. He had 35 skill points so he used 2 skill points to learn the [Doppelganger] spell. *Ding!* [You''ve learned Doppelganger Spell!] He then leveled up this spell to level 7 leaving him a total of 6 skill points left. If he wanted to promote his class then he needed level 10 spell and combat arts that came from his system. [Doppelganger] was a spell that could create a shadow of him with a little bit of his strength. At level 7, he could create seven shadows and those seven shadows had seventy percent of his stats. The only problem was that these shadows couldn''t use any of his combat arts, spells, traits, and trait skills. Still, a shadow with seventy percent of his stats was pretty strong. No normal soldiers from the Great Astley Empire could defeat it. This spell could help him greatly in this war. If he had an endless amount of energy, he could use these seven shadows infinitely. Well, each shadow consumed 10 energy every minute. It also used energy to regenerate if it got damaged in a war. He only had 6 skill points left and this wasn''t enough for him. He planned to level up the [Doppelganger] and [Night Overlord''s Aura] to level 10. These two skills were the ones he was going to use to promote his class. After using his points, Souta slowly opened his eyes and said, "We''re going to attack. Have you finish preparing yourself?" "Yes, sir!!" The high-ranking rebels said at the same time. They''ve already prepared everything and were ready to launch an attack at any moment. The only thing that they needed was Souta''s signal, the signal of their leader. "Yenxa, come here," Souta spoke using the monster language while turning his head to the little goblin. The little goblin that didn''t fit in the rebel army. That''s right, she didn''t this place which was full of humans and demis that she couldn''t understand. Ever since she followed Souta, she was feeling uncomfortable. She stayed quiet all the time and watch the humans and demis around her cautiously. The little goblin stepped forward and kneeled in front of him. Her small figure, green skin, sharp fangs, spikes on her body, and bald head were too eye-catching. Everyone already knew that she was a monster that Souta found in the cave. "Are you comfortable here?" He asked as her. "A little bit... I''m not used with humans and demis beside me." Yenxa replied to him as she slightly glanced at Souta afraid of angering him. "I could understand it but I''m sure that you would get used to it soon. Also, you will join the war this time. I want you to gain battle experience this time." Souta said to her. "I-I''ll do what you want, my lord." Yenxa hesitated at first but she decided to accept it as she knew that she didn''t have any choice aside from joining the war. "You''re too weak and that''s why you will gain a lot of things if you managed to survive in this war. If you want to be strong then I will give you an opportunity." Souta said to her while squinting his eyes. Yenxa was a first evolution monster so she wasn''t overpowered in this war. The scale of the war was perfect for her power level. He stretched out his hand and patted her bald head. He then said, "I''m expecting a lot from you." "Y-Yes, my lord. I won''t disappoint you." Yenxa trembled slightly when Souta placed his palm on her head. She was scared of Souta as she knew how powerful and great he is. ... Souta dispatched his forces to attack the nearest army of the empire. Most of the forces of the rebel army were with him. He didn''t worry about someone attacking their bases. Two of his shadows were left there and no ordinary people would be able to stop the two shadows. He was serious in fighting the empire and even if it was a trap none of it matters to him. He would simply show his true strength to annihilate everything that comes in his way. He had a lot of aces in his sleeve that he still hasn''t used ever since he became a third evolution stage monster. The [Possession], [Soul Blood Mode], and the [Monster Orb Release] were still hidden. His overall strength would greatly increase once he used all these three skills. He couldn''t even imagine his power if he used everything that he had. A third evolution monster was already strong from the beginning and now he had a universal grade artifact and dark grade weapon with him. The rebel army launched an attack on the empire''s army. The battle immediately started as soon as the rebel army arrived but the empire was already prepared. They already detected the rebel army''s ships on their radar so they managed to organize themselves in a short amount of time. Souta didn''t stay on the ship to observe the battle. He came out and summoned his five remaining shadows. His goal was to eliminate these forces so he wouldn''t hold back. He personally helped the rebel army and eliminating the empire''s forces. Beams of light were shooting in every direction. Powerful explosions resounded on the battlefield every second. Ships were being clogged together. And gigantic boulders of rocks were raining down on the entire battlefield. It was a frightening scene. Jamine who was inside the ship observed all of this with her own eyes. The terrifying power that Souta demonstrated was the thing that the rebel army depend on. It was their source of motivation. As long as Souta was standing on the battlefield with them their morale wouldn''t go down. Souta made a grabbing motion and a ship from the empire shrunk. The gravity field was crushing the ship until it exploded killing everyone within it. Notifications were ringing in his head as he killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the empire. But he didn''t care about it at all. At his level, the amount of exp that he could get from killing these weak soldiers was too low. If all of these soldiers were B-rank then he would be able to get exp hundred times higher than killing millions of ordinary soldiers. Despite that, his exp bar was slowly being filled up. Ever since he evolved and cleaned up the Prison World, he already filled a quarter of his exp bar. Right now, half of his exp bar was filled. "Good." Souta smirked as the five shadows scattered around and flew in different directions. The five shadows were going to fight the other forces of the empire that arrived on this planet. They were going to harvest everything for him. Chapter 423 - War In Prison World 2 Souta ordered the rebel army to retreat when he found that the empire''s forces were heading in their direction. His shadows collided with them and the shadows managed to eliminate some of the forces but there were too many of them and the shadows were crushed. Even though they could regenerate by using Souta''s best feram, they were still crushed so Souta decided to disperse them. It was consuming his energy after all and energy was important to release his full strength in a battle. At the very least, they''ve managed to eliminate a large amount of the empire''s army that was on this planet. It was enough for them. The rebel army retreated to their base and fortified their defenses. They knew that they infuriated the empire and the empire would attack them. Souta divided the rebel army. He didn''t dare to gather everyone in a single base. He changed his plan because of the Mana Convergent Bomb. If that bomb was dropped in their base then everyone would die if he wasn''t here. That''s the cause of his worry, the powerful bomb that the empire invented. That bomb could destroy everything within 30 kilometers radius. That''s not all, this bomb was invented by the empire decades ago so he wouldn''t be surprised if they took out a bomb much more powerful than this one. That''s why he had to prepare himself mentally. Regarding Souta''s improvement. His stats have increased exponentially from all the souls that he gathered but he decided to heed Saya''s warning and deactivated the [Harvester of the Soul] for the time being. Such as the rules of the universe. He couldn''t let anyone find out about this or he will receive repercussions from his deeds. Breaking the rules of the universe. Saya said that he shouldn''t use this skill for a while. He asked why and she said that he will face great calamity if he continued to break the rules. The balance will crumble because of all the souls that he took with him. The soul realm will certainly notice if millions of souls vanished. Nothing happened to him in the game when he devoured countless souls in the war but that''s in the game, who knows what will happen here if he did that again. This was not a game anymore. At the very least, he was satisfied that he increase his stats to a certain degree. His base form right now was stronger than when he just evolved a few days ago. Souta talked to Jamine to learn more about her encounter with the empire. He learned things about the empire from the dragon''s perspective, Torkez''s perspective, and Lydia''s perspective. Maybe this girl knew something about the empire that they didn''t know. After all, she became a captive and a lab rat at the same time. Also, a former princess that fought against the empire. The empire was a huge civilization that ruled hundreds of planets. They were famous for their domineering attitude that fought every civilization that they''ve discovered. The empire was a solid civilization and there''s no dividend organization within it. All of them were loyal to the emperor of the Great Astley Empire. But something was bothering Souta. According to his special quest, he needed to find the secret leader of the empire. The only problem was that every people who were familiar to the empire didn''t have an idea about it. Even Lydia who was once a commander under the empire didn''t know about it. Also, no one knew about that researcher that he fought. He called Torkez, Lydia, and some people but nothing came out of it. That man was a mystery. He needs to do some digging to discover the truth about this civilization. "This is getting interesting..." ... The war against the empire continued for two weeks. The rebel army tried everything that they''ve could to repel the enemy that kept coming nonstop. Souta even built an elite team to fight the enemy behind. The elite team''s mission was to chip the enemy numbers slowly. They were using guerilla tactics to fight the enemy but then the mountain that they''ve been hiding was wiped out by a Mana Convergent Bomb. In these two weeks of tag of war battle, the empire launched a total of thirteen Mana Convergent Bomb destroying a huge part of the land. Even the ecosystem of the whole land was damage because of these bombs. They were getting destroyed and half of the rebel army has died in the battle. Souta was too busy as he always participated in every battle. He tried everything and eliminated most of the empire''s forces but they kept coming. Jamine volunteered herself to command the army in Souta''s place. She said that she was experienced in war and knew how to command an army as she was one of the people that were in charge when her country was fighting the empire. Souta''s tested her and when he learned that she had a talent for this, he let her command the rebel army in his place. He couldn''t command them because he was on the battlefield fighting the empire so someone needed to replace his place as a commander. And Jamine was suitable for it. Even with that, they couldn''t break the empire''s formation. No matter how powerful Souta is, he couldn''t fight endlessly. The whole land was being destroyed and the rebel army was losing its resources. Luckily, in the second week, the dragon and Franklin''s forces arrived on the planet to help them. They''ve brought a large batch of reinforcement with them and surprised the empire. So they''ve somehow managed to survive this week with the help of the reinforcement. Everything was at a stalemate when Lydia and the rest arrived. They had enough manpower to fight back so they''ve begun their counterattack to annihilate the empire''s army on this planet. But before they could do it, the empire launched ten Mana Convergent Bomb at the same time. The power of the ten Mana Convergent Bomb shook the whole world. The land, the sea, everything was destroyed. The explosion from the bomb drew a huge line between the rebel army and the empire''s army in the whole land. The whole continent was slowly crumbling. The power of the bomb killed every living being and turned the whole area into a desolate place. The temperature and the atmosphere of the whole planet were slowly changing because of the consecutive use of the bomb. Just a few more bombs and the whole land will die. In the meeting room, all the high-ranking members of the rebel army were in a huge and wide room. "This planet is done for. The land can''t be used for agricultural purposes and no trees will grow anymore. It will take a century before the planet could recover from the damage that it received from the Mana Convergent Bomb." Torkez said with a gloomy tone. "Yeah, the empire has some sort of method to revive a planet but that method takes a lot of resources." Lydia paused for a moment before she continued, "The method is too pour mana on a planet. Let it recover using the mana in the surrounding." "Tsk! That''s impossible. Where do you think we could get a large amount of mana enough to supply this planet?" Franklin clicked his tongue and said with annoyance. "When I was in the army, a device called Energy Draining System is used to suck a person''s mana," Lydia said as she slowly explained it to everyone. It was also a type of training of the soldiers. The Energy Draining System would suck the soldiers'' mana and it will not stop until a quarter was left. The mana inside a person''s body will naturally recover so no one has a problem with it. And the mana that was sucked from the soldiers is released into the air to increase the density of mana in the atmosphere. The density of mana in every planet was divided into different levels. Hundred of years ago, the mana density in the Astley World, the home planet of the Great Astley Empire, was level 1. The lowest level and the thinnest mana that they''ve could find. At that time, the empire wasn''t that large. It hasn''t begun its conquest to invade different worlds. Yet, they''ve invented this method. They''ve used everything and after fifty years, the empire managed to raise the mana density of their planet by one level. Then, they''ve begun their conquest. They used every living being to collect mana and poured it into their world. Yet, something occurred that was outside their expectations. The Astley World showed signs of stopping. Its rotation has slowed down and they said that it was because that their planet hasn''t adapted to the increase in mana density. At this time, the mana density of the planet was already level 7. Yes, hundreds of years had passed and they''ve succeeded in increasing the level of their planet''s mana density. "For those who didn''t know, the Prison World''s mana density is level 5. It''s two levels lower than the Astley World. Yet, Isabella''s homeworld, Eidin Planet, has level 24 mana density." Lydia said as she looked at them. "So this is the reason why they aren''t killing the prisoner in this world. That''s why they are sucking the mana inside my body. I thought that they are just preventing me from getting to my peak strength." Franklin laughed as he understood why the empire wasn''t killing the prisoners. Chapter 424 - Liberation White Army The mana density in Eidin Planet, Isabella''s homeworld, was level 24. It was pretty high and it''s the reason why the empire was so bent on taking this planet after they''ve discovered it. Even now, war was still ongoing in Eidin according to Alice. Level 24 mana density. It was a treasure for the Great Astley Empire. Actually, with their technology, the empire could relocate its population to another planet but they didn''t do so. Why? Well, it was because they valued their homeworld. They weren''t comfortable to stay in another world. Yet, all this time they''ve only managed to increase the mana density level to level 7. Hundreds of years already had passed and their level didn''t increase no matter what they do. According to their calculation, it will take a few centuries before the mana density on their planet could reach level 10. ''Level 24... Yet, the density in Great World is thirty times higher than Eidin.'' Souta chuckled inwardly. Still, the plan to increase a planet''s mana density was absurd. Nobody would think about it except for the people of the empire. Just how much did they love their homeworld? "It''s time-consuming. We should just abandon this world and went towards the empire." Franklin said as he leaned his back on his chair. Souta was interested in Franklin''s suggestion. This was the reason why he liked this type of person, they were straightforward. Head towards the empire to finish the problem was the most simple thing that he''d heard in this meeting. Such a normal answer and it fitted Souta''s style. Still, going towards the empire was easier to say. "We should plan this first... Our strength isn''t enough." Lydia said as she glanced at Franklin. Torkez sighed and said, "I think that Franklin is right. We should focus our attention on the empire, not the subsidiary planet under their control. Lydia is right too we don''t have enough forces to make it happen." "I have something to say." Jamine slowly said as she looked at everyone. She was new so she was hesitating if she should join this important meeting or not. Franklin, Torkez, Lydia, the dragon, and Souta turned their attention to her. Souta nodded his head at her as a sign that he gave her permission. "Speak, little girl." The dragon said in monster language and his thoughts were passed through everyone in this room. Jamine coughed and slowly said, "Everyone has a point but personally I think that we should head towards the empire. The Astley Planet is too far and it will take a few jumps before we arrived there so we could simply gather allies at every stop. "We will abandon this planet and head towards the empire. While doing that, we''ll dispatch small elite teams that will go to other planets. The only plan is to spread our name or our leader''s name. It will make a big impact as our leader already had horrifying feats under his name. We just need to spread it and let the people willingly join our cause. "Of course, we''ll contact those organizations on different planets that could help us. We will persuade them and have them realized that our army has the largest chance that could defeat the Great Astley Empire." This was in her mind ever since she saw Souta''s power. She wanted him or this army to become the symbol of hope that will take down the empire. Souta gazed at her before he opened his mouth, "Hmm... Are you sure that this will work? If no one helped us then we''re done as our current power couldn''t handle the might of the empire." "This could work," Torkez said as he turned to Souta. "We should simply spread our names and people will flock towards us if they''ve discovered that we had the power to fight against the empire. Naturally, if my people aren''t gone then they will help us. We have you and several dragons in our army. Just by looking at our formation, those people would feel that we have a chance. And it''s the truth." "Fine, then we have to spread the information about the thirteen wardens, several generals, and commanders that died in our hands." Souta nodded and decided to do their plans. There''s nothing wrong with their plan so why not give these people a peace of mind. He closed his eyes and after a few moments he opened it, then he said, "Let''s show our might to the empire one more time before we abandoned this world. Also, I want to get my hands in those Mana Convergent Bombs." The meeting was concluded and they set their plan in motion. Everyone was prepared and their transportational gate was waiting to be used once they''ve annihilated some of the forces of the empire on this planet. Just like that, the rebel army launched an all-out attack against the empire. The battle lasted for three days before they used the transportational gate and left the Prison World. Souta didn''t manage to get his hand on a single Mana Convergent Bomb as the empire launched all of it causing a huge explosion that almost destroyed the whole continent. It was devastating. Luckily, the rebel army used the transportational gate in time. A few ships of the rebel army separated because of the mission to spread their name and gather more allies. The rebel army called themselves the Liberation White Army. Souta didn''t even join them in picking a name for their army. He just let everyone decide the name of the army. He was only doing this for his quest. And after he completed his quest, he will return to Imperium with his people and leave this matter to some capable people. The army arrived on a planet called Lie. It was a planet under the rule of the empire. The moment that they''ve arrived in Lie Planet, the Liberation White Army quickly launched an attack on several bases of the empire''s forces. The empire sent reinforcement but they''ve found that the army was already gone. The name of the Liberation White Army spread and many planets heard of their achievements in fighting the empire. Especially the one who was called Souta. Souta became famous as he was the leader and the founder of the Liberation White Army. People called him The Strongest as no one could defeat him. Dozens of generals and commanders have already died at his hands. No one could stop the Liberation White Army. They even declared that they will hear towards the Astley Planet to settle this problem in one go. Souta built a team that will research the parasitic essence eater. He was curious about this lifeform. He wondered if this lifeform was within the bracket of a monster but he doubted it. In the game, Isabella had a parasitic essence eater in her body and she couldn''t use best feram. If she could use best feram, then the parasite in her body must be a third evolution. Torkez knew a lot of things about the parasitic essence eater as his group was the one to discovered it. He explained everything that he knew to Souta. The battle shook the entire Planet Lie. It was shocking and devastating to see the empire launched several Mana Convergent Bomb like its nothing. This battle showed everyone that the Liberation White Army could handle the empire. In their next stop, the Planet Green River, hundreds of thousands of people joined their banner and help them fought the empire. The Liberation White Army grew larger and the empire didn''t have a way to stop them anymore. The power that they possessed was something that the empire couldn''t ignore anymore. It could threaten them. That''s why the empire grew serious in taking down the Liberation White Army. In the third stop, the Planet Red Pump, the empire send millions of troops to stop them. It became an all-out battle that shook every force that was watching in the dark. The scale of the battle was too large as it encompasses the whole land of the Planet Red Pump. The empire didn''t even try to preserve their Mana Convergent Bomb. They kept launching it without care as they wanted to annihilate the people that dared to fight them. Millions of people died in the battle on the Planet Red Pump. The Liberation White Army became a huge organization that handled several planets that they took over from the grasp of the Great Astley Empire. Their famed spread out in different worlds and almost everyone knew them. The Liberation Army was getting closer to their last stop, the Astley Planet. The homeworld of the Great Astley Empire. Souta was sitting in his seat with his head resting on his palm. He glanced at Torkez and asked, "So what you do think about it?" "I don''t know. I''ve fought the empire for several decades and I haven''t encountered a man who could switch bodies." Torkez shook his head. Souta just told him about the man that he encountered in a research lab where he rescued Jamine. "I don''t know it too. Even though I''m in the army and personally knew the higher-ups, I don''t have any idea about a man who had the power to switch bodies." Lydia gave her opinion. "Okay..." Souta nodded as he understood that no one knew about that man. It seems that he really needed to go to the empire to find out the truth. He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Then, what about the group that I formed to find a research lab on every planet?" Chapter 425 - Into The Planet Astley "They''ve been doing well. They''ve found several research labs and freed a lot of test subjects. After we gathered the data from the research lab, we destroyed it." Torkez said to Souta. "Good." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. This was what he wanted. To bother the power of the army to complete his special quest. If he was alone, who knows how long it would take before he could find those research labs. "Also..." Torkez said as he glanced at everyone in the room. "What is it? Just tell me everything..." Souta said while raising his eyebrows. "We''ve found one parasitic essence eater in one of the research labs. The other parasitic essence eaters are implanted in the research subjects so we couldn''t take it. Luckily, we''ve found one parasite without a host." Torkez said with a serious expression. "Oh? A parasitic essence eater without a host." Souta was interested in this topic. He didn''t expect that they would find a parasite that didn''t have a host. It was pretty rare as most of the parasites have a host at this age. After a parasite took a host, then it wouldn''t leave the host body anymore. It will bound its life with its host so when the parasite was extracted from the host body then the parasite will die. It couldn''t change its host once it found its host. That''s why finding a parasite without a host was hard. "Yes, it''s in our research room. Isabella is currently observing the parasite." Torkez said to Souta. "I see... I want you to bring me there after our meeting." Souta said as a faint smile formed on his face. Just who will become the test subject this time. "Yes, sir." Torkez nodded. He was a host so he didn''t care about the parasitic essence eater anymore. If there were two parasites in his body then the parasites will fight until one of them was dead. In short, the parasitic essence eater couldn''t share the same host. Souta rubbed his chin as he had something in his mind. He then heard Franklin''s voice at his side. Franklin licked his lips and said, "The final battle is coming. I can''t wait for it." Souta fixed his posture and said, "I''ll leave the commanding position to Jamine. All of us will enter the battle so it''s better if she''s the one that will command the army in our place." "I have no problem with it. I will do my best to meet up your expectations." Jamine said. "It''s nothing," Souta said as he closed his eyes. Jamine was better at him than commanding. He admitted it to himself. Also, it was better if he was on the battlefield than become a person that was sitting in the back while watching the battle unfold in front of his eyes. He wasn''t smart. He just knew a lot of things that put him in an advantageous position. It''s nothing worth mentioning. After a while, he opened his eyes and asked several questions at the same time, "How''s our army? How long would it take for us to travel towards the Astley Planet?" Torkez, Jamine, and Lydia looked at each other. Lydia then turned to Souta and slowly explained to him. "Our army grew several times. It increased by a few million, also dozens of large forces that are hiding in the dark appeared. They''ve joined us and let us command them. The ships that are following us already surpassed a hundred thousand. And they are all mother ships. "Then, about your second question. It will take us one and a half months before we arrived in the vicinity of Planet Astley." The Planet Astley was covered by an anti-space gate field. It was a type of barrier that prevented any teleportation spell or skill inside the Planet Astley. It means that they couldn''t directly jump into the homeworld of the empire. Well, that''s expected as the empire would build a counter for their own technology. So they had to flew manually to go to Planet Astley. They''ve arrived on the nearest planet and there... they flew, no, in fact, they used the short-dimensional jump machine. This machine used a huge amount of energy but when they got close to the empire they stop using it and began charging their power. "One and a half months...?" Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. "We still haven''t taken any Mana Convergent Bomb." What can he do about it? every time he tried to approach them, the empire would detonate the bomb like a suicide bomber. He even sneaks inside one of the ships yet when he touches the bomb, the bomb quickly exploded. That one caught him off guard and he suffered heavy wounds that up until now haven''t completely healed. In the past few weeks, he tried various ways yet he didn''t even manage to take a single bomb with him. He then dismissed everyone and said that they shouldn''t bother him this time as he will train inside his room. Everyone understood his words and Souta reminded them to train so that their power level would increase in this one and a half months of traveling in the space. He brought Yenxa, Yuko, and Isabella into his room. He planned to bring them into Saya''s inner consciousness and train them there. Yuko has already trained inside the inner consciousness before and Isabella knew Saya''s existence so Souta didn''t have a problem bringing her inside the inner consciousness. But Yenxa... She was ignorant and she had a lot of things to learn. She''s just a first evolution stage monster and Souta will thoroughly train her to become a powerful monster. Before that happened, Souta had to establish a fact... The four were inside Souta''s room. Souta was standing and Yenxa was kneeling in front of him. She was slightly anxious as she didn''t even know why she was brought here. Yuko and Isabella were on the side watching this scene unfold before their eyes. Souta said that it was important so they didn''t dare to disturb him. "Do you truly see me as your lord?" Souta asked in a deep tone. "Yes, my lord," Yenxa replied to him without hesitation. Ever since she followed Souta, she already treated him as her leader. She''s treating him like how she treated the chief of her tribe. For her, the leader of her tribe wasn''t Jarkal. Souta was her new leader. It was like she was changing her tribe and the chief of her new tribe was the man standing in front of her. "Then, leave your body to me. Don''t resist and submit yourself to me." Souta said as he placed his palm on Yenxa''s bald head. Yenxa was startled as she felt something inside her body. "This..." She didn''t what it is but she had an idea because of the information that popped in her head. "A contract. This will bind you to me and you will become my property." Souta said in goblin language. Oh... Yenxa closed her eyes. After a few moments, Souta heard a notification in his head. It was the same notification when Yuko submits herself to him. From now on, Yenxa will truly become his. A new bracket appeared in the system and it was about her details. Her traits, trait skills, etc. Everything was present before Souta''s eyes. "Good." Souta didn''t have any skill points so he couldn''t pass any skill to her at this moment. He just bought the [Doppelganger] and upgraded it so the amount that he had was for him. Even though he earned something in the past weeks, it was still not enough for him. He was preparing to promote his class before he passed down his skills to his companions. He glanced at the system and saw the system prompts. *Ding!* [The Toxinum Goblin conceded!] [Congratulations on acquiring your second pet!] Pet/Mount: =Scorching Red Bear (Yuko) [¡â]= A powerful bear at third evolution stage who wields the power of flames. This bear possessed powerful destructive flames. =Toxinum Goblin (Yenxa) [¡â]= A goblin that lived in a poisonous environment that could potentially kill any creature. This type of goblin had very potent toxins in its body. ''It finally increases...'' Souta looked at the interface with a faint smile on his face. His pet has increased so maybe this was the time for him to seriously find those items and skills for tamers. Right now, his taming skill was [Pet Bestowing], [Pet Resonance], and [Transfer Boost]. He was entirely focused on training his fighting skill before so he neglected his taming ability. It doesn''t matter to him before but now... His pet has increased and it would continue to increase in the future. He already planned to get the Nine-headed Hydra that he had in the game. That hydra was sealed somewhere in the God''s Continent. Now that Yenxa was registered to his system, he could start training her. Souta called the two who were watching from the side and asked Saya to take them into her inner consciousness. Chapter 426 - Great Astley Empire: Approaching One month had passed in the blink of an eye, Souta and the other three came out of their seclusion. Their battle power had increased by several times and their fighting style has been hone to suit their ability. Isabella has reached peak C-rank. Her combat power has greatly increased as Souta taught her a perfect style for her. He didn''t invent it, he just taught her the fighting style of Isabella in the game. This way, he could see her path towards godhood. He couldn''t help but smile when he thought about her becoming a god. If she had enough time then she would perfectly reach B-rank. She had the talent to become a god and she had the legacy of the god of hunt in her body. Just by integrating it, her power level would increase by several times. One or two more weeks Isabella will step inside the realm of B-rank experts. From a normal girl without any power to a girl that was close to B-rank. It was hard to imagine that in just a few months, she would have this level of power. Yenxa. Yenxa got close to becoming a second evolution monster. They devise a style that suited her toxins. To make her use the full potential of the toxins in her body. One hour in real world was equal to five hours in Saya''s inner consciousness. That''s why everyone grew stronger especially for low-level. It was easy to increase their power level when they were at the bottom but for Souta who was a third evolution monster, five months in inner consciousness only increase his strength by a little margin. It was understandable. In these five months inside the inner consciousness, Souta was focused on learning Saya''s skill set not on improving his stats. Improving his stats, he could leave those things to his universal grade earring. Also, his base stats were already much higher than a monster who just reached third evolution. It was thanks to the millions of souls that he gathered. He also leveled up by one this month. He gained the exp from the members of the legion that completed a quest. The battle in the Planet Lie, Planet Green River, and Planet Red Pump earned him enough exp so when the legion members completed a few dozens of quests he leveled up. Yuko''s development was different from Souta who was focused on skill. She was focused on her physical abilities. Making her body strong was the path that she wanted. Weapon? She didn''t want it. She will make her body the strongest weapon. It was understandable as most of the items in creating artifacts, weapons, potions, and armors came from monsters. In short, the four of them grew stronger. They were ready for the final battle that will happen on the Planet Astley, the homeworld of the empire. If not for this battle, Souta wouldn''t stop himself from mastering Saya''s skill set. He was closed to master it unfortunately he didn''t have enough time. The [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] was a powerful skill. It came from the ancient era and it was one of the powerful skills that Souta knew. Five months in inner consciousness wasn''t enough for him. Also, he was trying to learn this skill set when he was still in Imperium. Just a little bit more time and he would be able to learn this skill set. The four came out of their seclusion and saw that everyone was preparing themselves. Souta sat on his seat as he looked at the projection. He saw that they were getting close to the homeworld of the empire. So that''s the reason why everyone was tense. "What''s the status?" He asked as he rested his chin on his palm. Torkez glanced at Souta, Yuko, Yenxa, and Isabella. Even Franklin was looking at four of them with interest in his eyes. They could feel that they grew stronger in this one month that they''ve gone. Lydia was especially surprised at this. Isabella was just an ordinary person before but now... her strength was getting closer to their realm, the realm of B-rank fighters. Just how? With her strength, she could make a name for herself back in her homeworld. Torkez shook his head and answered Souta''s question. "Another hundred thousand mother ships have been added to our rank while you were gone. Our chances in defeating the empire are increasing but there''s a problem." "Tsk! It''s not a problem. Anyone would have done that if they were in the empire''s position." Franklin clicked his tongue in annoyance. "What is it?" Souta glanced at Franklin then at Torkez. "The empire set up a barricade outside their planet. Millions of ships are waiting for our army in outer space. It seems that they really don''t want their homeworld to become a battlefield." Torkez paused for a moment before he continued, "At this moment we could see the true might of the Great Astley Empire, the overlord of hundreds of planets. Their army is thirty times larger than our current army. Even though we destroyed most of their forces on other planets they still have that much in their arsenal. At this rate, landing on the Planet Astley alone would be hard." The empire wouldn''t let them get inside their world easily and everyone understood it. "Then, is this everything?" Souta asked. He found something was missing in their army. A month had already passed yet their army only increase by several hundred thousand ships. "No, sir. Some people are on their way but even with that. It will be hard to defeat the empire''s army." Torkez said as he glanced at the projection. "I see..." Souta nodded as he rubbed his chin. At this time, Jamine opened her mouth and asked, "Do you have confidence in your strength, Leader? Do you have the confidence that no one can defeat you in the ranks of the empire?" "Yes, I think that no one can defeat me in their ranks." Souta nodded at her. He stabilized his power and his base form could even fight those A-rank experts. Also, the combat arts and spells that the empire was all low-grade so even if there was a party of A-rank within their ranks he could handle it. It means that the A-rank in the Great Astley Empire was weaker than the A-rank in Great World Imperium. He was just an early stage third evolution monster yet a party of B-rank experts couldn''t handle him. It was thanks to his various skills and spells that boosted his powers to the next level. Also, from the added ability of his class system. Well, if the empire managed to tame several dragons and those dragons fought him then he wouldn''t stand a chance. But it seems that no dragon submitted to their rule so most of the dragons were either killed or capture for experiments. "Then, I have a suggestion," Jamine said as she swept her eyes in the room glancing at every people that were present. "Okay, what is it?" Souta asked while raising his eyebrows. "We''ll form an elite team with you as the center. The elite team will break through the empire''s formation and will land on their planet. Of course, everyone in the army will help focus on helping you break through their formation. And once the team landed on the Planet Astley, you will head to their capital to capture their emperor. I think that the army on the planet isn''t as huge as the army outside the planet. The empire focused its military power outside their planet to annihilate us. "Their plan is easy to tell as they set up a barricade outside of their planet. But that doesn''t mean the army left to protect their capital is small. It''s still large and has a few capable officers beside the royal family to protect them. "I could already see that we have no way in defeating the empire''s full might in a head-on battle. That''s why I could only think of this plan, the plan to capture the leader of the empire to prevent further casualties on our side. I hate to admit it but the empire is really strong and no matter how many allies we''ve gathered we didn''t have a hope in defeating them in an all-out war." Jamine slowly explained to them with a bitter expression. She planned to use the royal family to stop the whole war. If necessary, she will execute one of them to show everyone that she was serious. This kind of strategy wasn''t her style but after considering how the empire bribes her generals that lead to the destruction of her country, she couldn''t help but become decisive and ruthless when facing the empire. "You''re right but then how will we find the royal capital on a huge planet in just a short amount of time," Souta said to her. "This is Lydia''s homeworld and she knows it well better than any of us," Jamine said as she glanced at her friend. Chapter 427 - Great Astley Empire: Start "Yeah, I know where''s the capital as I''m living there before," Lydia said as she shrugged her shoulder. She then drew a map in front of everyone''s eyes. The map was the map of the land of the Astley. She circled the important landscape of the empire and pointed at the capital. Everyone just listened to her explanation. She was the only one among them who knew the land of the empire so no one interrupted her. The elite team who was going to land on the planet was Souta, Torkez, Franklin, Dragon, and dozens of powerful C-rank. Their number was small but Souta thought that it was enough. Invading the planet and capturing the royal family was the core of their plan. But Souta was contemplating about his special quest. The true leader of the empire wasn''t the emperor. He guessed that once he captured the royal family, the shadow leader of the empire would appear. They had to make it quick and capture the royal family before the Liberation White Army got defeated. Everyone understood that their total forces didn''t stand a chance to the empire that''s why they devise this plan. "Lydia, Jamine, I''ll leave the army to you," Souta said and the two nodded at him with a serious expression. He then glanced at Isabella and Yenxa. "Join the battle. This battle will give you experience and you better use the skills that you learned in our training." "Yes, my lord." Yenxa nodded at him. "Y-Yes..." Isabella nodded nervously. Even though her strength increased greatly, she was still nervous when she thought about going into a war. "Okay, you can go now and prepare," Souta said as he dismissed everyone. He then went back to his room and took out the transmission talisman. He poured his energy and called Alice. Alice immediately answered his call once she received it. "Alice, where are you? We''re already near the Planet Astley, the homeworld of the Great Astley Empire." Souta said through the talisman. "Oh? Souta, I''m on my way. I think that it will take one week before I arrived there. I also brought some forces that could help you in the battle." Alice said in response to his question. She knew what''s happening as Souta''s name already spread on different planets. The name Souta Ieshi, the leader of the Liberation White Army, was known throughout hundreds of planets. So she naturally heard his feat on her journey. "Your army is powerful but even I think that it''s still not enough to fight the empire," Alice said. "You think so. Well, I know that my army is too weak compare to the empire but I have a plan. I will go directly to their planet with some capable people and capture the royal family. With my current strength, I don''t think that there''s a person among the empire that could defeat in a one-on-one battle. The same could be said to you." Souta paused before he continued, "I want you to come here as soon as possible. I want you to help my people in defending against the onslaught of the empire. With your strength, I don''t think that it will be a problem." "I understand but what will you do if you failed?" Alice asked him. She just stayed silent and waited for his reply. After a while, she heard Souta''s voice. "I guess you''ll never know." Souta smiled as he stared at the talisman in his hand. "Lose? I will not let myself lose easily as I have a lot of aces in my sleeve." He then hung up the call and glanced at his system. The increase in his power in this training was little but he was satisfied with it. He still had a few cards that he hasn''t use so he wouldn''t go down easily. ... The Liberation White Army and finally arrived near Planet Astley. Everyone saw tens of millions of mother ships orbiting around the planet. Following the mother ships, there were also assault-type ships and their numbers were twice as many as the mother ships. It was an overwhelming army and everyone who saw it couldn''t up but become nervous. This battle will decide their fate and future. They will fight the unstoppable army of the Great Astley Empire. No one could imagine that they will have this chance at all. A chance to defeat the empire was in their hands. The only problem was that their chances were too low. It''s up to the elite team to declare the outcome of the war whether they will win or lose. The elite team was the focal point of their army. Souta and the rest of the team that will go to the planet were inside the ship in the front of the army. Lydia, Jamine, Yuko, and the rest who will fight the empire were in the other ships. "Everyone stay in formation!" Jamine''s voice sounded in every ship of the Liberation White Army as they were going to start the battle any time. "I want to join the battle too but it seems that joining this team could give me more fun." Franklin said as he licked his lips. He couldn''t hide his excitement as it was paste all over his face. Torkez ignored him as he turned to Souta and said, "We had forty assault-type ships inside this mother ship. We could use it anytime once we enter the atmosphere of the Planet Astley." "I don''t have a problem. I have a skill that will let me survive the pressure of outer space." Souta said to him without taking his eyes off the empire''s enormous army. "Me too. I have a parasitic essence eater and it let me handle the pressure of outer space." Torkez said as he glanced at the other people in this ship, "But they needed it. Dragon''s body is tough so I don''t think that he will have a problem when we burst through the formation." He was talking about the dragon in their group. The dragon that was with him in the lowest level of the catastrophe rank prison back in Prison World. "Just don''t hold back. We''re gonna fight our way towards the planet." Souta said as he slightly narrowed his eyes. He had confidence in his strength and his comrades'' strength. He glanced at them and said, "Stay inside the ship. I''m going out to clean some enemy." Souta went out of the ship. A gravity field was around him protecting him from the extreme pressure of outer space. He was observing the countless ships of the enemy before his eyes. Then, his eyes landed on the huge planet behind the enormous army. His instinct was telling him that there''s something important in this world. He shook his head and turned to look behind him. He saw a huge figure behind. The figure was a three-meter tall man with sharp claws and teeth. It was muscular and armor-like spikes were protruding on its back, elbow, and knees. Also, its head feels like it was covered by some sort of exoskeleton. This figure was Torkez when he used the full-body transformation of the parasitic essence eater. "I came here to help," Torkez said before Souta could even ask a question. Souta turned back to the empire and said, "Suit yourself." "Our army is going to attack now. We can''t wait for the empire to attack as it will put us in a disadvantageous position." Torkez said as he glanced at the empire. After a few moments, the Liberation White Army fired their cannons at the same time while moving forward to intercept the empire''s army. Souta''s ship accelerated at full speed while firing their cannons. Beams of white light shoots in every direction of the dark space. The hundreds of thousands of white beams illuminated the empty dark space around them. It was like fireworks in the middle of the dark. It was beautiful yet terrifying because these white beams contained power that could easily kill ordinary people. The battle started just like that and it easily took the lives of thousands of people. The empire fired beams of light that overwhelmed the Liberation Army. Despite their overwhelming number, the Liberation Army didn''t give up as they used various tactics to hold their enemies. The two armies collided and it became a dog fight. Explosions were erupting in every direction sending shockwaves to every ship in the area. Souta was destroying the ships that got in his way. The ships that were blocking his path towards the planet were met with destruction. He kept firing [Dark Shooting Ray] which was powered up by his best feram. It was several times stronger when he used it when he was still a second evolution monster. The enemy ships kept appearing in front of their ships as if they had endless numbers. No matter how many he destroyed, the enemy will still send out an enormous number of ships to his doorstep. Chapter 428 - Great Astley Empire: Planet Astley Souta glanced at Torkez who was at his side after firing the [Dark Shooting Ray]. He asked, "How is the parasitic essence eater in the lab?" "There''s no result. We couldn''t find how the parasitic essence eaters reproduced. We have a theory but there''s no proof so we couldn''t prove it. Since we''re coming towards the Planet Astley, I''m sure that there are a bunch of parasites in their main lab." Torkez replied to him. Although he wanted to help Souta, he couldn''t do anything as he didn''t have a long-range attack that could destroy a ship. Souta nodded. He will know everything once he gathered the empire''s data about the parasitic essence eater. This kind of creature was foreign to him so he was curious about it. Swoosh! Several beams of white light flew in their direction. Hmph! Souta narrowed his eyes as he waved his hand and the gravity field around him expanded. It blocked the beams of light causing a powerful explosion on the surface of the gravity field. Boom! Then, hundreds of beams of light coming from behind them flew towards the enemy''s fleet. They concentrated their attacks on the part where Souta''s ship going to break through. "It''s not enough..." Torkez muttered while looking at the empire''s army. "Yeah, there''s too many of them." Souta nodded and he glanced to the army behind them. He took out the transmission talisman and called Lydia. "What''s wrong, Souta? Do you have a problem?" Lydia quickly asked. "Yes, tell everyone concentrates the attack in one point. Forget everything just do what I said. I will provide enough firepower to pierce the empire''s formation." Souta said and he hung up the call. He then glanced at Torkez and ordered him to go inside the ship and tell them to concentrate the energy of the ship in speed. "I understand." Torkez nodded solemnly as he flew back inside the ship. He understood what Souta wanted to do. Souta will become the shield and cannon of the ship. They don''t need to waste their energy in firing the cannons. They just needed to use it to increase the mother ship''s speed to a higher level. Souta looked ahead with a serious expression. The casualties on their side were huge and the casualties on the empire''s side were also huge but the empire''s army didn''t seem to be decreasing. He felt the speed of the ship increased by several times and countless beams of light exploded on the empire''s army just ahead of them. He slowly lifted his hand and gathered a huge amount of best feram on the tip of his finger. Dark red energy spun around on the tip of his finger. Torrents of energy were crackling around him. The ball of energy expanded several times before it shrunk and the intensity of the fluctuations grew higher. The intense energy sent out an alarm to every ship in the area. The Liberation White Army''s alarm has rung at the same time. The same thing happened to the empire. All of the ships detected the powerful energy fluctuations that Souta was creating. Inside one of the empire''s ships, a general was looking at the projection with a grave expression. He kept hearing the alarm in his ship. *Warning!* *Warning!* *Warning!* "So that''s the famed Souta, the leader of the Liberation White Army." The general muttered as his heart was pounding. This was his first time encountering the famous Souta, yet Souta''s power was outside of his expectation. The higher-ups already said that they shouldn''t underestimate Souta and he did that. He raised his image of Souta in his mind but it was still enough. Souta was still stronger than what he had thought. "Can a human and demi really possessed such strength...?" Then, he saw a huge wave of energy burst out. Energy shoots towards them and it easily disintegrated several ships in front of them. It swallowed and destroyed everything. Nothing escapes from this powerful energy. Boom! Souta used a quarter of his best energy in this [Bestrou]. This [Bestrou] was several times more powerful than when he used it before. In the past, he could only use [Bestrou] because he drunk the monster potion but it''s different now. He had a monster orb and could easily conjure this powerful attack that was unique to a monster. To make sure that his allies wouldn''t get caught up with his attack, he maintained distance from them. Still, the energy wave from the [Bestrou] melted the surface of the nearest ships around him. After that, Souta quickly used his energy and controlled the [Gravitational Ball] spell. He used the power of gravity to pull the ship towards Planet Astley. With his full power, he could easily lift a hundred thousand tons object using the [Gravitational Ball]. So a single mother ship was nothing to him. "Go!!" The ship accelerated forward and it gained speed several times than before because of the gravity. It zoomed forward and it passed the field of smoke caused by the destruction of hundreds of empire''s ships. After a few seconds, they passed the formation of the empire and enter the atmosphere of Planet Astley. Because of this, their speed increased once again and they became a meteorite that crashed on the surface of the planet causing a powerful explosion that shook the land several kilometers away from them. Boom! Jamine and Lydia looked at this scene. "I''ll leave everything to you, Souta." ... Inside the ship, Torkez slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The whole room was filled with smoke and the lights were shut down. He easily understood that the energy reactor of the ship took some damage. He stood up and patted his clothes. "Everyone, are you okay?" He asked in a loud voice. "Yeah," Franklin replied to him and he waved his hand while using his liquefied mana to disperse the smoke in the room. The two saw that the others only received bruises on their body. It''s not deep so they were fine. For their power level, this kind of bruise was nothing. "It''s impossible for the ship to be completely fine after that impact. I guess that Souta prevented the ship from collapsing." Franklin said as he stretched out his hand. "Let''s get out of here." The dragon said in monster language and he shoots a ball of energy on the ceiling. The ball of energy created a huge hole in the ceiling and he flew out of the ship. Franklin, Torkez, and the other followed the dragon as they jumped out of the huge hole. They saw Souta was floating in the mid-air while looking towards the east with a serious expression. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Torkez asked. "According to Lydia, the royal capital is in this direction and with my enhanced vision, I could see a glimpse of a huge city," Souta replied to him. He then added, "We can''t count on our ship anymore. We had to move as fast as possible or the army will come here to check if we''re still alive." "We have no problem with it but I have something to say," Franklin said as he turned to Souta. "Speak," Souta said as he moved his eyes and glanced at Franklin''s face. "We''re going to capital, right? I suggest that we formed a team. A different team and this team''s main goal is to divert the attention of the soldiers of the empire by creating chaos." Franklin said. "Oh, that''s a good suggestion but I think you just want to fight and kill some people," Souta said in a cold tone. "Yeah, but my plan is good, right?" Franklin smiled. "Fine. I''ll just take Torkez with me. Dragon and the rest should follow Franklin." Souta sighed as he knew that Franklin''s suggestion was a good one. He couldn''t deny it. "Yes, sir!!" The other people nodded at the same time. ... In outer space... The Liberation White Army was being pushed back by the relentless attack of the empire. Luckily, the reinforcement from the other organizations has arrived on time. They somehow managed to hold on to their life. Alice has arrived with the forces that she brought in her journey. As soon as she arrived, she immediately tried to contact Souta but no one answered her so she called Lydia, one of the upper echelons of the Liberation White Army. Although, she only met Lydia in Planet Eidin once. Lydia was the only one that knew that she was Souta''s friend. Lydia was glad when she received Alice''s call. Souta said that Alice came from the Great World Imperium like him so Alice must be powerful like him. Her strength would be a great help in fighting the empire. Alice entered the ship. She saw Isabella, Lydia, and a blonde woman. This woman must be Jasmine, one of the higher-ups of the Liberation Army. After greeting them, she quickly asked about the situation and the answer she received was quite bad. Their forces were losing every minute and she also learned about Souta entering the Planet Astley with a few forces. Well, she already heard this plan from Souta. "Fine... I''ll do my best." Alice sighed. Souta always left troublesome things to her. Well, there''s nothing she could do with it as she knew that the things that Souta do must be harder than this one. Also, he''s her leader. Chapter 429 - Great Astley Empire: Arriving At The Royal Capital "Okay, I''ll try to help to the best of my ability," Alice said as she glanced at the projection. She could see that the empire was still pushing them to the limits. She then turned to Lydia and said, "I''ll go now. I''ll handle the left wing so try to deal with the center and right wing." Lydia, Jamine, and Isabella looked at Alice''s back until she disappeared. "It''s been a few months and Alice is still the same. She had that cold temperament around her." Isabella commented with a sigh. "Her strength will greatly help us," Lydia said. "Is she really that strong?" Jamine asked as she glanced at the two. She was the only one who hadn''t met Alice before. She also didn''t have any idea if Alice was strong or not. "Yeah, she''s even stronger than me." Lydia nodded as she glanced in the direction where Alice left. "That strong?" Jamine asked. "Yeah," Lydia nodded and said, "Forget about it. Let''s get back to work." "Oh, you''re right," Jamine replied absentmindedly. She moved her feet and followed her friend, Lydia. The two turned serious when they saw the status of the battle. It was getting worse. They need something that will change the tide of the battle. That''s what all they needed. They don''t need to be worried about the left wing as Alice said that she will handle it. So their job just got easier but it was still very hard. "Hmm...?" Jamine pondered as she walked back and forth. Lydia just glanced at her friend as she sat down on a seat. "If we''re not in outer space, there''s a high chance that we could win this battle. We could use individual power and manpower on the surface better than the empire." She muttered. Boom! While the two were pondering what should they do, the ship shook heavily as if it received some powerful impact. And it snapped Lydia and Jamine out of their thought. Both of them lifted their head and glanced at the projection. "What the hell?!" "What''s wrong?" Their eyes widened and their heart palpitated when they saw the scene on the projection. The scene where the empire finally used dozens of Mana Convergent Bomb at the same time. Several enormous balls of light illuminated the dark space. The ball of light encompasses more than thirty kilometers, destroying everything within it. In this dark space, the Mana Convergent Bomb showed its power to everyone. The power to destroy everything. "Shit!! They really won''t give us a time to counterattack!!" Lydia cursed as she clenched her fists tightly. "It''s hard to find a hole in their tight guard. Also, getting too much closer to them would leave us vulnerable to Mana Convergent Bomb. Souta isn''t here so no one could block the explosion from that powerful bomb." Jamine said while narrowing her thin brows. Isabella looked calm at this moment. She looked at Jamine and Lydia. "Um, we just need someone that could change the tide of war, right?" She said. "Y-Yeah..." Jamine didn''t what''s her mind but she still nodded her head. "But there''s no one who could do it..." Lydia stopped for a second as she recalled that there were beings in this ship with absolute strength. "The dragons and Yuko...?" "Yes, although they aren''t versatile like Souta. They still had powerful abilities. In terms of brute strength, Yuko is even several times stronger than Souta." Isabella said to her. She trained inside Saya''s inner consciousness for five months with Yuko, Souta, and Yenxa. So she knew the true strength of the three that was with her in her training. Especially Souta and Yuko. The scene that she saw before was simply terrifying. It was inhumane. At that moment, she realized it. She realized that Souta was telling the truth that he was a monster. He''s not a human or demi that somehow gained an access to dragon''s energy, no, best feram. "I have a question." Jamine voice sounded and Isabella snapped out of her own thoughts. "W-What is it?" She asked with a flustered look. "Are they going to be fine in outer space? If they couldn''t then I will not send them just to die." Jamine said with a grave expression. Isabella placed her index finger on her lips. After a while, she opened her mouth and said, "According to Souta, a body of a third evolution monster is strong and tough. So they could handle it if they used their energy to protect themselves but not for too long. Souta even said that the dragons and Yuko''s body are tougher than his." "I understand. I think that ten minutes are enough. I should tell them to distract the enemies for ten minutes." Jamine nodded in understanding. "Ten minutes is fine. I think they could even hold out for twenty minutes." Isabella paused and added, "Well, ten minutes is fine. It''s less risky." She learned a lot of things from Souta and Saya in five months inside the inner consciousness. She also learned to access her own inner consciousness. ... In the royal capital, the citizens of the empire were nervous. They knew that war was happening just outside of their planet. Although they had confidence in their army, they still couldn''t help but run their emotions wild. In the history of the founding of the Great Astley Empire, it was the first time that someone managed to push their country to the limit. The emperor broadcasted his speech as he tried to calm the citizen of his nation. In actual fact, he was already feeling nervous deep inside his heart but he just hides it. As a leader of a nation, he had to set up an example for his citizen. He had a backup plan if his army lose. He still had several warheads in his city. Each warhead contained two hundred Mana Convergent Bomb. The Liberation Army would surely felt intimidated at their power. With just one command, the emperor could control these warheads. The Guardian Fortress was the protector of the city. Yet, they have never used it in any kind of war because they haven''t met a worthy foe. A person approaching the emperor and whispered something to his ear. The emperor nodded and said in a low voice, "Track the ship and monitor the entire planet. I want to know if the people inside the ship survive. Maybe, entering our planet is their main goal." "Yes, Your Majesty." The person saluted and left. Just outside of their city, the elite team of the Liberation White Army was looking at the vast royal capital of the Great Astley Empire. "Damn, the Great Astley Empire is really good. Their capital is covered by a thick barrier and detecting field. If anyone approached it within one kilometer they would effortlessly know it." Franklin said as the smile on his face grew wider. "Three layers of a barrier. One for defense, the second one for attacking, and the last one was for detecting. Pretty amazing." Even Souta was surprised when he saw it. He looked up at the barrier and marveled at it. "Well, let''s go." The dragon behind them said. "Charge towards the barrier as fast as you can. I''ll handle the barrier so you don''t have to worry about it. Once we entered the city, I''ll leave with Torkez while the rest of you will divert the attention of the masses." Souta said to them one more time. Since the barrier was going to detect them, there''s no point in hiding their energy. They should simply burst out and charged towards it with great momentum. Boom! They quickly released their energy and launched themselves. Just like what they''ve expected as soon as they released their energy, an alarm sounded in every city of the Great Astley Empire. *Warning!* *Warning!* *Several Fluctuations of energy have been detected two kilometers away from the royal capital. It''s in the south and it''s fast.* *It''s approaching the royal capital.* *Requesting for reinforcement from other cities.* The soldiers who were trying to locate them quickly got to know their position. Before they could even report their sightings, Souta and the rest zoomed the distance as they arrived in front of the barrier. The attack barrier was nothing. With a gravity field around them, the attack barrier did nothing to them. It couldn''t harm them. Swoosh! Souta jumped as he pulled out the vajra sword and coated it with his best feram. He then slashed it forward wielding his great strength to pierce the barrier. [Crimson Moon]!! Bang! The red energy blade met a resistance at first but in the next moment, a huge hole appeared on the surface of the barrier. Cracks were all over it and it was spreading. Swoosh! Swoosh! "Easy," Franklin said with a smile as he jumped inside the hole along with the rest of his comrades. "Royal Capital... Here I come." All of them landed on the ground and it easily destroyed several houses near them. Finally, the group was inside the royal capital. "Just do your best to stop me, empire." Franklin grinned widely as he charged forward. Chapter 430 - Great Astley Empire: Chaos In The Capital Boom! Several explosions occurred in the capital and it quickly caused a panic. The emperor who was having a speak immediately received several reports about this incident. "What?!" The emperor was shaken when he heard the report. Those people were attacking the capital and they easily breached the barrier around the whole city. What the hell is wrong with those people? How did they do it? "Stop those people. Use everything that we have." He ordered his subordinates. He then ended his speech as he excused himself. His fear was coming out and he couldn''t let his citizens find that he was scared. "Don''t worry, Your Majesty. I will protect you even at the cost of my life." A person beside him wearing silver-colored armor said in a respectful tone. This man was the captain of the royal guard, Daynsvi. Also, he was one of the most powerful people in the whole empire. "I''m glad that you''re here beside me, Daynsvi." The emperor glanced at his royal guard and said with a smile. The two went inside the royal palace. They had to make sure that the emperor''s family was safe. Their bloodline must be kept safe. Their ancestor was the founder of the Great Astley Empire. Their family was the one who''s controlling the empire since the dawn of time. They were the ones who built it to its current state. The previous emperor of the empire came from the same bloodline. They didn''t have any outsiders as their leaders. No one succeeded in overthrowing their family so their family solidified its position as the royal bloodline. The emperor found his family in his chamber. They were safe and it gives him a room to breathe. "I''m glad that all of you are fine. I will not let anything happen to any of you." The emperor said with a serious expression. He glanced at his royal guard and added, "I''ll use the warheads, the Guardian Fortress." Daynsvi opened his eyes widely. He couldn''t believe what he heard just now. The protector that hasn''t been used before was finally going to show its fang in the world. ... Hahahaha!! Franklin laughed madly as his liquefied mana spread out. He then gathered it in his palm and destroyed several buildings. Boom! Boom! The dragon and other members of the elite team were following him. All of them were causing havoc in the royal capital. They were spreading destruction and nothing else. Just pure destruction was all they needed. "Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" Franklin was insane. He kept shooting powerful condense mana in every direction. Boom! Boom! Boom! Several explosions shook the ground heavily. Hundreds of tall buildings have fallen down because of it. People who didn''t manage to evacuate on time have died. "This is payback for everything!! I will kill every single one of you!!" Franklin roared as he used a powerful skill to annihilate everything in front of him. Hmm? Suddenly he stopped as he turned his head on the south. Not just him, even the dragon felt something from the south. "They are coming..." Franklin said as he narrowed his eyes. "Yeah..." The dragon nodded as his best feram started to circulate around his body. He was preparing himself for the upcoming battle. Swoosh! Swoosh! Five figures flashed and landed several meters away from them. All of them were wearing armor that seems to be alive. A parasitic essence parasite. These figures were the powerful top fighters of the empire. Franklin looked serious and muttered, "Liquefied mana...? with parasites..." The figure at the center stepped forward. A layer of flesh opened on its head and it revealed the human within the gray-colored flesh. "You''re a member of the Liberation White Army, right? So why are you killing innocent people? If you want to fight you can just fight us not the citizens of our country." The man said to Franklin with a plain expression. "Innocent people? You''re making me laugh. There are no innocent people in this world. Each people in this world have at least one slave. For everyone in this world, every folk from other worlds is just a slave that you can abuse. Am I right?" Franklin laughed lightly as he glanced at the five people that appeared here. "You don''t have to deny it. Twenty years ago, I''m also one of the slaves that you''re people took." "Oh?" The man raised his eyebrows with interest. "From a slave to a person that has a high power level. Liquefying one mana is a great feat that even the general in our army could hardly do it." "Enough chit-chat! Let me have a taste of your power!" Franklin grinned widely as his mana burst out of his body. He charged towards the five people without saying anything. Boom! The intense battle in the royal capital of the Great Astley Empire has started. ... Souta and Torkez were dashing towards the royal palace. They were trying to hide their energy while Franklin and the rest were distracting everyone. After a few minutes, the two arrived near the royal palace. Just like the whole city, the royal palace was covered by a barrier. It was to protect the family of the emperor and the emperor himself. Ordinary B-rank wouldn''t be able to breach this barrier easily. But Souta wasn''t a B-rank. He was stronger than B-rank experts as he was a third evolution monster. It would take a bunch of B-rank of different classes before they could fight Souta. In game terms, he was already a boss of an early version. Souta sighed to himself. He turned to Torkez and said, "We don''t have a choice. If we want to enter the barrier, we have to break it and breaking it means that the people inside the palace will notice us." "Sure, I don''t have a problem with it," Torkez said as a layer of flesh covered his entire body. He activated the parasitic essence eater in his body. He knew that they couldn''t avoid fighting. Souta nodded and he dashed towards the barrier. He used the same attack when he breached the barrier around the city. Bang! A red energy blade created a hole in the barrier easily. As soon as they broke through the barrier, an alarm sounded in the entire palace. It put everyone in their guard as the royal guards quickly assembled to protect their leader and his family. "Let''s go..." Souta smiled as ten black balls appeared on his back. He raised his sword above his head and the ten black balls flew in the sky. "Settle down!" Ohm! A gravitational field erupted in the sky and it spread out. It covered the entire royal palace. This field will prevent anyone from leaving and anyone from entering inside the royal palace. No one could escape this field unless they had a power that could rival Souta''s power. Souta was floating in the sky while looking down at the huge palace. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Everyone should stay still. If you don''t follow my words, I will simply massacre everyone in the palace." His cold voice penetrated the walls of the palace and every people inside it heard it clearly. His best feram spread out of his body and it covered the whole place. The pressure that it brought to ordinary people was heavy, making them fell on their knees. The mana density in this place was too low so Souta could easily do this kind of trick. Nothing prevented him from freely using his energy in this place. Souta narrowed his eyes as he felt the vibration inside the palace. It seems that those people dared to make a move even with his warning. "I said that everyone should stay still!!" A ball of energy condensed on the tip of his sword and it flew towards the palace. Boom! A huge explosion occurred that destroyed several rooms. It wasn''t too powerful as Souta clearly hold back. Swoosh! Souta flew towards the palace and landed near the powerful person that he felt. This person was clearly an A-rank powerhouse. Also, this person had a parasitic essence eater that could boost his power. Thud! Torkez landed beside him and said, "Souta, the people behind this man is the royal family with the emperor. You can guess it as that man is wearing a golden crown with the crest of the empire." "Oh?" Souta raised his eyebrows as he stepped forward but the man quickly formed a blade in his hand and slashed it forward. Swoosh! Souta avoided the slash and the vajra sword emitted a red aura. He then thrust his sword forward. Boom! Everything happened so fast and the people only realized it when the shockwaves from Souta''s attack blown them away. Smoke and dust filled the entire place. Souta glanced at the group of people that appeared in front of him on time to protect the royal family. These people must be the royal guards. He could see that their wounds were regenerating with insane speed. Chapter 431 - Great Astley Empire: Battling The Royal Guards "Your Highness, please leave this place quickly!" Daynsvi, the captain of the royal guard, said while looking at Souta with a wary expression. "Orlan, Gin, Farlon, escort Your Highness and the rest." The three nodded respectfully and they turned towards the emperor and his family. At this time, Souta opened his mouth and said, "It''s no use. I''ve already locked down the entire palace. No one would be able to leave this place without my permission. Well, if you have the strength to defeat me then you could shatter the gravity field that I set up but from what I could see nothing among you have that kind of power." The emperor looked at Souta and asked, "Why are you doing this?" Souta shrugged his shoulder and said, "Nothing personal here. Someone just asked me to help her destroy the empire. You could say that I''m a mercenary that will accept any job as long as you provided me a quest." "T-Then... How about I double the price that they paid to you? Anything, I will give you anything." The emperor tried to negotiate with Souta. "I think that you have misunderstood me. The things I could get from the quest aren''t material and you can''t provide it to me." Souta said as he stepped forward once again. As soon as he stepped forward, the rest of the royal guards charged at him without hesitation. Their mana burst out of their body as the parasitic essence eater boosted their physical abilities. Boom!! Souta collided with Daynsvi. Their figure flashed as they repeatedly threw powerful blows against each other. Even the other royal guards tried to help their leader in fighting Souta. Boom! Boom! Boom! Shockwaves erupted everywhere and crack formed on the ceiling, walls, and floor of the palace. It couldn''t handle the power from a third evolution monster and a powerful A-rank with a parasitic essence eater along with several ordinary B-rank experts. Torkez glanced at the battle then he turned his attention towards the royal family. "I''ll handle this..." He was about to come forward when the rest of the royal guards blocked his way. He knew that it wouldn''t be easy and he already expected that he will fight here. So he had no choice about it as fighting was inevitable in their mission. Both of his hands turned into blades and he launched himself forward. Bang! Bang! Bang! The emperor and his family looked at the battles with a pale expression. They didn''t expect that the enemies would come here to kidnap them. Fear. Fear started to appear in their hearts. This was the first time that they''ve experienced something this terrible. "I need to activate it..." The emperor muttered as he looked at the triangular device on his hand. He turned around and sat down on the emperor''s seat. After he sat down, he leaned his back on the back support of his seat. He then looked at the triangular device in his hand and pressed the button on its back. Ohm! The chair emitted a dim light. Several needles appeared on the back support and it pierced his spinal cord. *Connecting to the Guardian Fortress!* *Activating the Guardian Fortress!* The emperor frowned as he felt pain all over his body. He was establishing his connection to the warheads that were sleeping around the capital. Activating this means that their empire was at its limit. It needed the protection from the guardians that their ancestors left. Also, activating it means that the ancestor will know that their empire was in peril. The ancestor that was sleeping beneath the empire will wake up. One thing was for sure. After this problem was settled, he won''t become an emperor anymore. The ancestor will change the emperor of the Great Astley Empire. Just by thinking about his ancestor, he couldn''t help but shiver in fear. That man was terrifying and was nearly immortal. No one could kill his ancestor. "Start!" ... Souta was feeling the pressure coming from the A-rank experts. The captain of the royal guard was just an ordinary A-rank yet the power of the parasite boosted his strength to the peak of A-rank. Bang! Bang! From their clash, he could understand that his base strength already reached the mid-tier of A-rank. Nothing much it was just his base strength, he didn''t even include the added power of his equipment. Souta moved his body from side to side as he avoided all the attacks from the royal guards. He moved his eyes and counted the people that were attacking him. Hmm...? Twelve people in total. Okay, fine. [Night Overlord''s Aura]! [Shadow Cloak]! [Strength Boost]! [Agility Boost]! [Cat''s Speed]! [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! A huge amount of energy erupted inside his body. The aura swept out and it pushed everything away from him. Daynsvi and his comrades gritted their teeth as they looked at Souta who released an enormous amount of dragon''s energy. Although they read the report about Souta, they still couldn''t believe that a man could harness this terrible power that could defeat anyone. "This is the reason why everyone called him The Strongest... They are right. I don''t know anyone that could defeat this man in a one-on-one battle." Daynsvi felt something bubbling in his heart. He felt bitter because of how powerful the enemy is. The only way to defeat this guy was to work together. Layers of flesh covered his body before he charged towards Souta. Swoosh! When the royal guards arrived close to Souta, Souta didn''t hesitate to slash his sword. [Crimson Moon]! Boom! Boom! The palace was receiving the aftershocks from the battle. It was slowly crumbling down and anytime it could fell. The royal guards attacked Souta. Their flesh turned into a weapon that they used to fight. Souta simply parried their attacks and would swing his sword when he has an opportunity. Every time he swung his sword, one of the arms or legs of the royal guards would fly away. ''One A-rank, three peak B-rank, four early-B-rank, and four peak C-rank experts. Souta, you should eliminate them. If you have a question to ask them then forget about it. Just simply ask the emperor. I''m sure that the emperor knows more than the royal guards.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Okay...'' Souta nodded and his figure flashed forward. The royal guards felt their bodies being restricted. The four C-rank experts couldn''t move as they felt the gravity was trying to crush them in every direction. Then, they saw Souta appeared in front of them and slashed his sword which was coated with red energy. Putchi! The heads of the four royal guards rolled in the mid-air spewing blood in any direction. They were already at the peak C-rank so they could handle Souta''s pressure. The only problem was Souta''s ability to control gravity. Under this power, those C-rank would be weak as a child in front of him. "Wha-" Daynsvi gasped as his eyes constricted. His four subordinates easily died when Souta started to attack seriously. Boom! The whole ground shook heavily and it gathered everyone''s attention because none of them was the cause of it. Souta turned his head and saw four areas in the capital were moving upward. It was separating from the ground and it looked like a fortress armed with powerful weapons. Hmm...? So what''s the cause of it? He wondered as he glanced at the emperor. Judging from the mana signature, it was coming from the emperor. It means that there''s a high probability that the emperor was the one controlling those things. "So the royal family still had a weapon to fight back...?" Souta muttered as he saw Daynsvi charging at him with the rest of the royal guards. A magic circle appeared below his feet and seven shadows flashed towards the rest of the royal guards while Souta collided with Daynsvi. [Doppelganger]! Spikes burst out of Daynsvi''s body and Souta simply blocked it. Now that his shadows were handling the B-rank royal guards, he would have a time to deal with their captain. After blocking the spikes, Souta flew in front of the captain. He thrust his sword forward but then another wave of spikes burst out of Daynsvi''s body. Swoosh! Souta shattered all the spikes with his sword and he kicked his opponent. Daynsvi couldn''t avoid his kick so he was blasted away and crushed on the ground. Bang! Ugh! He felt pain all over his body but he could handle it. His wounds were healing faster thanks to his parasite. He looked up only to found that a red blade flying in his direction. "Shit!" He was going to move to the side to avoid the attack but then he found that his body was bound by a sticky web. The red energy blade landed on his body and it caused a huge cut on his chest to his stomach. "Argh!!" He groaned in pain as he spat a mouthful of blood on the ground. It saw then that he noticed that the ground turned black and several black tentacles emerged from it. The tentacles strangled his four limbs. "Nothing personal here. You just block my way so I''m going to kill you." A voice sounded beside his ear. Chapter 432 - Great Astley Empire: The Founder Of The Great Empire Daynsvi wanted to turn around when he heard Souta''s voice but black tentacles and spider-web restricted him from moving. Also, he wouldn''t make it in time. The physical strength of an A-rank expert that has the power of a parasitic essence eater was enough to break free from these restraints but it wouldn''t be that easy. It will take him a lot of time. "Argh!!" Souta slashed his sword and cut the head of Daynsvi using [Crimson Slash]. At first, he met resistance as the body of an A-rank was tough. An A-rank expert could survive in an extreme environment. After a few seconds, the head of Daynsvi flew in the mid-air as his blood spurted out like a fountain. The regenerative power of the parasitic essence eater wouldn''t help him this time. He was dead so nothing would work. The parasite in his body wriggled and it slowly turned into dust. "Unfortunately, once the parasite bound to its host. Its life is connected to the host. As expected a parasite until the end." Souta muttered while looking at the headless body of Daynsvi on the ground. Maybe, this was the reason why the parasite has a powerful regenerative power. It didn''t want its host to die. He shook his head and looked around. His shadows were fighting those B-rank royal guards. Although the royal guards could handle his shadows, they couldn''t kill it. The shadows will continue to regenerate as long as Souta had enough best feram in his body. He should kill them and proceed to capture the emperor and his family. With that in his mind, he dashed towards the royal guards as several black tentacles rose from the ground. Bang! Bang! Without the help of an A-rank, these B-rank royal guards couldn''t stand against Souta''s full power. They easily fell into his trap and died under Souta''s hand. Souta exhaled as he turned his attention to the emperor and his family. All of his family members were trembling in fear as they saw him killed the royal guards that were protecting them. He stepped forward as he canceled the combat arts and spells that were activated. It''s consuming his stamina and energy and he didn''t want that. "Don''t come here or else I''ll blow up everything in this place." The emperor said to Souta. The Guardian Fortress was sleeping for a long time so it will take a lot of time to activate it. "Then, you''ll die along with your family you know. As for me, I think I could endure it although it would injure me. After all, my body is stronger than anyone in this city." Souta smiled and he continued to approach the royal family with light steps. He didn''t know about the emperor''s ace so he could only bluff him. He observed the emperor who was sitting in a luxurious chair. There''s a strange device on the emperor''s hand and it seems that the chair was bound to him as various needles were stuck into his body. Souta could guess it. He could guess that the emperor''s ace wasn''t suitable for short-range combat. It must be some kind of weapon with that chair as the control. "Even if I die, my soldiers will not surrender to you so it will not work." The emperor said. "The ancestor will simply choose a new emperor to lead this empire." "I know that but have you forgotten where are we. We are on the Planet Astley. This whole world is my hostage. I could simply massacre everyone in this place. So they will submit to me even if they wanted it or not. After all, most of the soldiers'' family members are in this world." Souta simply stated his plan to the emperor. Swoosh! When he arrived ten meters away from the emperor, his figure flashed as he appeared in front of the emperor. He cut down the hand that was holding a strange device and pulled him out of the chair. "Argh!!" The emperor screamed as the needles that were stuck on his spinal cord were forcefully removed. Swoosh! Spider-web bound his limbs and stuck him on the ground. He couldn''t do anything as Souta stepped on his chest. Souta also tied the family members of the emperor starting from the empress and their children. Their power level was too low so they couldn''t fight back against him. "Y-You''re a monster...?" The emperor said in a trembling tone. This man would massacre millions of innocent people in his country just to get his job done. "You''re not wrong..." Souta smiled as he looked at the emperor in the eyes. "You see... You said that the ancestor will simply choose another emperor. So the ancestor is still alive somewhere in this world, am I right?" "N-No..." The emperor trembled as his eyes widened. "Okay, who should I kill first? Your wife, your son, or your daughters? Pick one for me. If you don''t pick anyone, I''ll just torture them at the same time. I will peel their skin and feed it to you." Souta said to the emperor with a faint smile. "I-I... P-Please, forgive me, ancestor..." The emperor mumbled as he tightly closed his eyes. Souta narrowed his eyes as he wondered why this man was begging for forgiveness. Maybe, the ancestor was in this place and just silently watching the things in the dark. "Nope, it''s already too late... You''ve failed. Such a disappointment, I don''t want to come out but you''re useless that couldn''t do anything by himself." A foreign voice sounded and it alerted Souta. He quickly looked around and found nothing. Then, he felt a wave of energy coming beneath the ground. "This mana signature..." Souta jumped and he felt that the person below was protecting the emperor from him. It seems that this so called ancestor has a use for the emperor. Since the ancestor was supposed to be dead and the one who''s controlling the emperor in the shadow, he couldn''t easily let his puppet die. ''Well, let''s render it useless...'' Since the ancestor was here, he doesn''t need the emperor and his family. They became baggage to him that he could discard at any moment. The shadow leader of the Great Astley Empire must be this ancestor. If that''s the case, then he really didn''t need the emperor. [Shadow Bind]!! Black tentacles emerged from the debris of rocks and it strangled the body of the emperor. "Well, it''s time to say goodbye to your descendant." Souta smiled as the black tentacles crushed the body of the emperor. It was simple yet decisive. Just like what he excepted, a figure came out of the huge hole on the ground bearing a powerful aura. "You!! How can you do that?!" The figure said angrily. His energy was seeping out of his body. Judging from the structure of his mana, the figure was a legitimate A-rank and his mana was so dense that it was close to being solidified. ''A peak A-rank. This man is several times stronger than the captain of the royal guards.'' Souta said inwardly as he observed the figure that was called ancestor by the emperor. The figure was an elderly man with curly white hair and he was wearing a lab coat. His powerful aura was seeping out of his body like a raging tide. "Is this your true body?" Souta asked as he silently casted the [Cat''s Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Shadow Cloak], and [Night Overlord''s Aura]. "Oh? So you can recognize me?" The man said as his expression turned calm but deep inside he was still angry at the death of the current emperor. "Of course, you can change your body but you can''t change the nature of your mana. I can recognize your mana signature." Souta replied to the man. "You''re a pain in the ass. You''ve caused so much trouble in the empire and this is where it ends. I will capture you and know how you managed to gain the dragon''s energy." The man said to Souta as his mana grew wilder. "Well, I already told you that I''m a monster and it''s natural for a monster to gain a monster orb through evolution but you don''t believe me at all." Souta sighed and he shrugged his shoulder feeling helpless about this man. "It''s time for me to introduce myself to you. I''m the first emperor of the Great Astley Empire, Gunsi De Folia. I''m the founder of this huge empire." The man introduced himself. "You... How did you manage to live for so long?!" Souta was shocked when he heard the words of the man in front of him. "Through countless research, I''ve managed to increase my lifespan to a few centuries but I''m reaching my limits so I need more. And I guess the dragon''s energy is what I needed." Gunsi said as he narrowed his eyes. "I''ll capture you dead or alive. The parasitic essence eater inside the emperor is important to me. That one is the king. So you will pay for it." His body then expanded as he turned into a terrifying creature that was full of sharp black spikes. His control over his parasitic essence eater was greater than everyone. He spent his time researching about this mysterious creature. "I''ll let you have a taste of my power..." Gunsi roared as powerful shockwaves swept out in every direction. Chapter 433 - Great Astley Empire: Souta Vs. Gunsi Roar!! Gunsi''s roared contained hidden power the shook all the people that had parasitic essence eater in their bodies. It swept out in every direction and those who heard it felt a strange sensation. "Argh!!" Torkez and the three remaining royal guards fell on their knees. Extreme pain assaulted their bodies as they felt that they were inside a furnace. The remaining three royal guards stopped fighting when they saw that Souta killed everyone and took their emperor. They knew that they couldn''t do anything anymore but who would have thought that the founder of the empire would appear in this situation possessing a powerful might. Even the generals and the commanders of the empire who were fighting in outer space felt the same sensation. Lydia also suffered the same thing, their parasitic essence eater was going wild and extreme. The whole battle turned into a standstill as all the generals and commanders turned out incapable of moving. They didn''t even know what''s going on in their parasite. Swoosh! Souta looked at the two-meter tall figure of Gunsi with interest in his eyes. This guy was the strongest opponent that he was going to face ever since he left the Great World Imperium. Just by looking closely, he could feel that this man named Gunsi was close to S-rank. His liquefied mana was so dense that it could counter his best feram to a certain degree. Not just the density, the amount of mana that he has was simply amazing. The amount of mana that he got was even larger than an A-rank expert in Great World Imperium. He glanced at his system and thought that if he defeated this man he would be able to complete the chain quest. The final quest that he got after conquering five planets was to overthrow the empire. And this was within his expectations. "What now? Have you felt fear?" Gunsi asked as he looked down at Souta. Souta lifted his head as he looked at Gunsi in the eyes. "I don''t like when someone is looking at me from above." He said in a cold tone. "You''re still calm even after I showed you my true power!!" Gunsi said as he raised his fist and it turned into a meter large ball with spikes. He then smashed towards Souta. Swoosh! ''So fast!'' Souta said inwardly as he moved his body to the side to avoid it. Boom! The ball of flesh that Gunsi smashed on the ground shook the entire palace. It was so powerful that several large cracks formed on it and after a few moments, the whole ground collapsed. ''He''s not just fast his strength is also several times stronger than an A-rank. To think that he would have this much strength.'' Souta said and he saw the spikes on the ball of flesh stretched out in his direction. He tightly gripped the vajra sword in his hand and slashed the spikes that come at him. Then, he flew away from Gunsi and noticed that Torkez was falling down beneath the ground along with the three remaining royal guards. Ohm! He used a little bit of his gravity power and controlled Torkez body. He placed him on the edge where the gravity field lies and asked, "Are you okay, Torkez?" "No, I can''t control the parasite inside my body. It''s running wild." Torkez replied to him with a pained look on his face. ''What''s going on?'' Souta was confused. Even the three remaining royal guards have the same condition as Torkez. In his vision, flesh stretched out from Gunsi''s body and strangled the three royal guards. "Such a waste of parasite..." Gunsi''s voice sounded as the flesh extracted the parasitic essence eater inside the royal guard''s bodies. Souta widened his eyes when he saw this. He couldn''t believe what he has just seen. This man, the founder of the empire, just extracted a parasitic essence eater out of the royal guard''s bodies. Gunsi glanced at Souta and said, "You must be wondering how could I extract the parasite in their bodies, right? It''s simple. The parasite in my body is no ordinary parasite. It''s the parasite queen that ruled over the whole race of parasitic essence eaters." "Oh, so there''s a queen among the parasite. It''s my first time hearing about it." A smile formed on Souta''s face as he charged towards Gunsi. He realized that Gunsi wanted to extract the parasite from Torkez body so he had to prevent it. "That''s right! Fight me!!" Gunsi roared and his hand turned into a giant blade. He launched himself at Souta and swung it horizontally. Boom! Both of their weapons collided causing a powerful shockwave. It sent out ripples in the atmosphere and disturb everything around them. Boom! Boom! Boom! Two figures collided in the sky repeatedly. Aftershocks of their attacks were sweeping out every second. It was destroying everything around them. The family members of the emperor have died because of their low power level. Their bodies couldn''t handle the shockwaves that came from the battle of Souta and Gunsi. It was above their league. They were like an ant in the face of a two giant predator. Boom! Boom! Torkez spat a mouthful of blood. His eyes couldn''t even follow the movements of the two people that were fighting above him. He was sure that the whole city whole crumbled down if Souta didn''t set up the gravity field around the royal palace. This was his first time seeing someone who could fight Souta at this level. Bang! Bang! Souta tried to avoid all of Gunsi''s attacks but he wasn''t fast enough. Some of the attacks landed on his body. Gunsi wasn''t just powerful. He was also fast and tough. His body was moving in a strange way that Souta couldn''t even predict. "Hahaha! Just accept your defeat and let me study your body!!" Gunsi laughed madly as he rushed at Souta and launched a barrage of powerful attacks. "Tsk!" Souta clicked his tongue as a red blade flew out of his sword and landed on Gunsi''s body. It''s been a while since he experienced such intense battle. He moved away from Gunsi and pointed his sword. A large amount of black energy gathered on the tip of his sword. [Dark Shooting Ray]!! Gunsi crossed his arms in front of him and his flesh turned into a large shield that blocked Souta''s attack. The black beam was powerful as it was disintegrating his flesh but his regenerative power was too fast. In just a few seconds, all the wounds that he received from Souta have completely healed. He lowered his arms and looked ahead only to see a red energy beam flying at him. [Bestrou]!! The beam pushed his body on the field before it exploded. "Argh!!" Boom! A huge explosion erupted as cracks formed on the surface of the gravity field. [Bestrou]''s firepower was something that everyone in the Imperium feared. Swoosh! Souta took a deep breath. His energy was draining quickly and he knew that it wouldn''t last that long. He had to finish this fight as soon as possible. He already drained a huge amount of his energy when he broke through the formation of the empire on outer space. And now he had to fight someone at Gunsi''s level. He was sure that Gunsi''s strength has reached the level of S-rank with the help of the queen parasite in his body. This was better than his expectations. Swoosh! The smoke dissipated and it revealed Gunsi''s figure. He was full of injuries that he received from [Bestrou]. Huh? Gunsi noticed that something was wrong. The speed of his regeneration had greatly decreased. He didn''t know what''s happening to him. At this moment, Souta''s voice has sounded in his ears. "So you''ve noticed it. If you know the reason why there''s a different tier of healing spell when all of them could do is heal a wound then you would understand why you''re regenerative power has slow down." Souta smiled while looking at Gunsi who was confused. "It''s simple. The lingering energy from my attack that caused your injuries had slowed down your regeneration ability. You had to dissipate it first. That''s one of the basics if you want to become a healer in the future." He learned all of this at Ladro Institute. He was really glad that he enrolled in Ladro Institute first before he explored the world or else he would become an ignorant person who only had the knowledge from the game. "You fucking shit!! I''ll use your body in different experiments before I kill you!!" Gunsi''s face contorted as his rage reached the limit. He was so angry at the person in front of him. He took a deep breath to calm himself as he noticed at he let his emotions run wild again. "Well, you wouldn''t win anyway. You could regenerate your wounds plus my overall abilities are stronger than yours. I will finally know how you can have the dragon''s energy. My dream will finally come true." Gunsi said as he knew that his power was stronger than Souta. If their battle continued at this pace then he would win in the end. A smile formed on his face. "I already told you that I''m a monster yet you don''t believe me." Souta sighed as his expression turned serious. "I''m going to show you the true power of a third evolution monster. You will believe me once you''ve seen this." As soon as he said those words, Gunsi froze on his spot as he looked at Souta with a stunned expression. Boom! Immediately, a terrifying force gushed out of Souta''s body and shot upwards in the sky, piercing the gravity field. His body inflated as it absorbed his clothes and dark red smoke erupted. His mouth cracked open until it was close to his ears, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. Black smoke came out of his mouth as he exhaled. Two pairs of eyes gleamed inside the thick smoke as it stared at Gunsi''s figure. [Monster Orb Release]! Chapter 434 - Great Astley Empire: [Monster Orb Release] Inside the dark red smoke, Souta''s body inflated as it absorbed his clothes. His nails grew longer and it resembled a claw from a powerful creature. His eyes gleamed as it turned into slit like the eyes of reptilians but it was somewhat different. If a person looked closely they will notice that each eye has two pupils. Also, another pair of eyes formed on the top of his cheek just beside his original pair of eyes. His mouth cracked open widely to the point that it could reach his ears. Inside his mouth were rows of razor-sharp teeth that could bite anything in half. His muscles grew larger into a savage-looking flesh and black armored like scale covered his huge body. Grim spikes protruded on his spinal cords and just above his waist on the back, four spider limbs came out. Golden tribal tattoo spread out on his body coming from the monster orb on the center of his chest. In just a few seconds, Souta turned into a three-meter tall savage looking monster. He stepped out of the smoke and Gunsi saw his appearance. Gunsi widened his eyes in shock as he couldn''t believe what he saw. This man wasn''t human and demi at all. It''s impossible for a human or demi to have that kind of appearance unless they had a parasitic essence eater. The amount of best feram spreading in the surrounding was several times higher than before. It brought pressure to every living being inside the royal capital. Nothing could escape the pressure brought by Souta''s higher energy. Those weak-willed people quickly fainted when the pressure bore down to every people. They couldn''t even breathe properly as the citizens felt that a heavy object was pressing down on their shoulders. The atmosphere of the whole city turned cold. While everyone was having the time of their life, Souta observed the changes in his body. He even dared to ignore Gunsi who was in front of him. "It''s my first time releasing this form in real world..." He raised his hand and grabbed the hair on his shoulder. He saw that his hair turned white. The black armor around his body must be from the [Armored Scale Formation]. It was like an exoskeleton that could protect his body from harm. His shoulder, elbows, and lower body were covered by black armored. He could feel that this armor was several times stronger than his normal [Armored-scale formation]. And then there were the four spider limbs on his back. He could control it easily and the tips of it were as sharp as a sword. It could easily pierce the defense of B-rank experts. It was a different matter if the said B-rank was a shielder that has tough flesh. He moved his mouth and it turned back into normal but there was a clear line indicating that he could open it widely. The difference in his appearance was huge. No one would think that he was the same person. "Damn, when puberty hit..." Souta turned his attention on Gunsi. He looked at him and slowly asked, "Now, do you believe me?" Gunsi didn''t know what to say as he just stared at Souta. He was shocked as he was having a hard time believing what he was seeing. "Let me tell you one thing. You will die today and no one would be able to save you." Souta said in a cold tone. In the next moment, his figure appeared in front of Gunsi. "Wha-" Gunsi felt pain in his stomach as his figure flew away. The impact disintegrated a layer of flesh in his body. It was so fast that he didn''t have a time to react. Souta chased after him. He wouldn''t give Gunsi a time to recover and he will make it quick. This form was energy and stamina consuming. To maintain this form, he needed a large amount of energy and stamina. Swoosh! Before Gunsi crashed on the gravity field, Souta appeared above him and kicked him. Bang! His body flew at astonishing speed and crashed on the ground causing a powerful shockwave. Boom! Souta followed him as he kept attacking Gunsi. He increased the speed of his attack surpassing the speed of Gunsi''s recovery. How much the parasite queen could heal his body was unknown to Souta. That''s why it was a test. Souta decapitated half of his body every second but in the next moment, new limbs would emerge like nothing happens. Gunsi couldn''t even fight back. The [Monster Orb Release] was the monster''s ace. It was a cheat skill that dominated humans and demis in any era. This was the reason why a subjugation party would need a bunch of healing potions, mana potions, and spare equipment when they were going to fight a third evolution monster and above. That''s why most of the battle lasted for several hours. Just like when Souta''s party subjugated the White Jade Spider in the Dungeon of Eternal Light. It took them more than two hours to defeat the boss and it almost killed his party members. At that time, they only managed to win because the White Jade Spider was exhausted from fighting. Also, it couldn''t keep up the [Monster Orb Release] for a long time. They had a bunch of potions to recover their strength and they also had healers in their party. While the spider didn''t have anyone to heal its wounds. After a while, the speed of Gunsi''s regeneration ability has slowed down. Souta stopped attacking as he observed his opponent. Gunsi''s wounds were healing but not as fast as before. Also, he didn''t have any strength to move his body. He became a living punching bag to Souta. "It''s a pity..." Souta sighed as he lifted his feet and gathered his best feram on it. He then stomped Gunsi''s chest, crushing his heart into meat paste. "N-No... I... can''t... die... yet..." Gunsi took his last breath. He died just like that. The power of the [Monster Orb Release] was something a human shouldn''t fight alone. Especially for people below S-rank. After he saw the notification in his mind, Souta canceled his [Monster Orb Release]. He went back to his normal form and exhaustion assaulted his body. ''This feeling... I finally understand why the White Jade Spider grew weaker after using the [Monster Orb Release].'' Souta thought inwardly. This unique skill was taxing for their body. The feeling of wanting to rest was growing larger. Gunsi''s corpse turned back to its original appearance. The parasitic essence eater in his body moved as if it was trying to escape his body. It was wriggling towards Souta. And Souta noticed it. He saw something moving in front of him so he looked and found that it was the parasite in Gunsi''s body. Nothing new to this, all the commanders that he killed before suffered the same thing. Once they died the parasite in their body will try to escape but no matter what the parasite will follow their host and die too. Souta stretched out his hand and something unexpected happen. The parasite attached to his finger. It removed itself from Gunsi''s body and it seeped in the pores in his hand. The only problem was that Souta locked down his entire body with best feram. It was his protection so the parasite couldn''t enter his body. "Oh?" Souta raised his hand as he looked at the parasite that was trying to enter inside his body. He was interested as he recalled that Gunsi called his parasitic essence eater a parasite queen. Using this, he could extract the parasite from other people. "Should I?" He narrowed his eyes. He lowered his guard as the best feram that was preventing the parasite queen from entering his body disappeared. Ohm! Immediately, the parasite queen went inside his body through his pores. Souta felt a tingling sensation and he watched all of this closely. This parasite was different from the ordinary parasite that Torkez and Lydia had. It was the queen so he didn''t have any idea about its effect on his body. Soon, he heard a familiar notification in his mind. *Ding!* [The Parasitic Essence Eater Queen has entered your body!] [The Parasitic Essence Eater Queen wanted to make your body its host!] [Eject it? Yes/No?] No. Souta answered the question after reading the messages. *Ding!* [You have become the host of the Parasitic Essence Eater Queen!] [Your stamina attribute has decreased by 500!] [Your stamina regeneration has decreased by 50 per hour!] Souta opened his eyes widely when he saw these messages. This was worse than he imagined. Stamina was the hardest one to increase among the three bars in his status(Health, Energy, and Stamina). This one was the side effect of the parasite. The parasite was consuming his stamina and stamina regen. ''Sure, the pros are greater than cons.'' He said inwardly as he felt something moving in his body. He looked down at his missing hand and saw a new one sprouting. After a few seconds, he had a completely new hand. "Oh? This feeling... I missed my left hand." Souta opened and closed his palm repeatedly as if he was amused at his new hand. Well, let''s look at the details of this parasite. Chapter 435 - Great Astley Empire: Parasite Queen [Parasitic Essence Eater Queen]: The Queen of the parasite and the ruler of the parasite. It has the power to control all parasitic essence eaters in the whole cosmos and every parasite is connected to it. No one could deny the rule of the parasite queen. It also has the power to extract other parasites from a person''s body but that person will die. Souta read the details in his mind and just like what he had expected the parasite queen has the power to control the other parasites in the universe. This was quite good as he could easily massacre the commanders and generals in outer space. There were more than a hundred commanders and generals out there and it will be enough for him. All of them were B-rank experts and the experience that he will receive from killing B-ranks were several times higher than C-rank experts. In the past few months, it took him more than a million D-rank experts before he could raise his level by one. It''s nothing as the exp that he received from those low-rank people was too low for his current level. The one thing that he needed now was C-rank or B-rank. He was currently level 41 and the exp that he needed was more than a billion. Killing different creatures wasn''t enough for him to level up. He needed to complete high-level quests and acquired those level-up cards or exp cards. Also, some of the high-level dungeons. He would receive various rewards from the system if he successfully cleared those dungeons and labyrinths. It''s time for a high-level grinding. He was a third evolution stage monster so this was enough to complete some of the high-level missions and dungeons. He should also start collecting his equipment in the game to further improve his combat ability. Souta shook his head and looked further at the benefits of the parasite queen. The parasite queen could heal him no matter how deep his wounds as long as he didn''t die from the enemy''s attack. Upon activation, his overall stats would increase by 200 points. It depends on the stamina that the host provided to the parasite queen. [20 points of stamina were equal to 1 point added in overall stats upon activation.] [5 points of stamina regen per hour were equal to 1 point added in overall stats upon activation.] The 500 points of stamina and 50 points of stamina regen were just an offering so that the parasite queen could successfully bind in his body. Maybe, this was the reason why only B-rank and above experts were suitable to become a host for the parasitic essence eater. Also, these weren''t the full benefits of having the parasite queen in his body. He could also store any kind of energy in the parasite queen. This was the reason why Gunsi had an enormous amount of mana. At this point, he could only store 100 points of best feram in the parasite queen. To increase it, stamina was needed. Damn, everything that all matters to the parasite was stamina so he had to increase it. At this moment, the parasite queen was one with his body. It will not find another host until he died. "Oh, great. This is perfect for me..." Souta said with a faint smile on his face. In his body, aside from the parasite queen, he had three ordinary parasites. These three couldn''t increase his strength and he couldn''t use it. They were simply sleeping inside him until he extracted them and gave them suitable hosts. It''s time to finish this. Souta looked at the sky and he stretched out his hand. The vajra sword flew at his palm and he placed it back on its sheath. The gravity field around the destroyed palace slowly disappeared. He floated and went towards Torkez. Torkez didn''t feel the parasite in his body going wild anymore after Souta took the parasite queen. "Can you move?" Souta asked him. "Yes, but my head still hurts but I could handle it," Torkez said as he stood up. He glanced around and asked, "What should we do? The royal family has died so we couldn''t use them as a hostage anymore. Although it was a bit surprising you still killed the founder." "We should find the control over those flying fortresses. The emperor didn''t even manage to use it but I think that it will greatly help us." Souta said as he narrowed his eyes while looking at the flying fortresses around the royal capital. This was the empire''s ace so there must be some use for it. "I understand." Torkez nodded. "But before that..." Souta took a deep breath and used a small amount of energy in his voice. "Franklin stopped fighting. Don''t kill them. Bring them to me." His voice that was powered up by his energy echoed in the whole capital and everyone heard it. He could feel that the people that Franklin and the rest were fighting were still alive. Those people had parasites in their bodies so he couldn''t afford them to die before he could extract the parasites using the parasite queen''s power. Five parasites. It''s such a waste if he let those parasites died under his watch. After he said those words, he turned his attention back to Torkez and said, "Let''s start finding the control." The two went around the palace and it took them half an hour before they found the control that the emperor used before. It was a single chair and a small triangular device. These two were buried in the debris of rocks. So it took them a while before they could find it. ... Franklin, the dragon, and the rest of the elite team were fighting five A-rank experts who managed to liquefied their mana. Their battle was intense and powerful that it destroyed a quarter of the city. The most horrible part of their battle was that thousands of civilians got caught up by the aftershocks of the battle. The elite team was at a disadvantage. The three A-rank experts had parasitic essence eaters so they could hold on against the dragon. While the remaining two A-rank experts while fighting Franklin and the rest of the elite team. Not just that, after fighting for a few minutes several ships of the empire appeared and help the five A-rank experts. This put them at a great disadvantage. Then a strange occurrence appeared, a strange roar echoed in every direction and it prevented the people who had parasitic essence eater in their bodies. It was a turning point in their battle. While the five A-rank experts were immobile, the elite team annihilated the ships of the empire. That''s what happened to the battle. Franklin explained it to Souta who was looking at the five A-rank experts. "So what are you going to do with them?" He asked Souta. He was curious why Souta wanted these people alive. These five people were powerful figures and they were very dangerous. "Nothing, just extracting the parasite." Souta grinned as his right hand moved. Various strings of black flesh stretched out of his hand. It stuck on the head of the five experts. The flesh seeped in their bodies. "Argh!!" The five experts screamed as intense pain assaulted their bodies. They''ve never felt anything like this before. After a few seconds, the strings flesh that was connected to Souta extracted the parasite inside five A-rank experts. "No!!!" Their bodies fell on the ground without any sign of life. They just died after Souta took the parasite out of their bodies. The powerful A-rank powerhouses died just like that. People at this level were truly powerful. Even in Imperium, A-rank experts could already become high-ranking military officials. Even the branch guild masters of the Adventurers Guild were only B-rank experts. Well, the exp that he received from killing five A-rank experts could be compared to him killing several thousands of C-rank experts. "Eight. I had eight spare parasites in my body." Souta said as he glanced at Franklin and the rest of the elite team. All of them did well in this mission. He will provide parasites to those suitable people. Franklin was a little bit surprised when he saw Souta took out the parasites from the five experts'' bodies. Just what happened in this place for Souta to have that kind of power. Extracting parasites... According to their research, it was impossible. "You! How could..." Franklin wanted to ask but Souta stopped him. "I''ll tell you about it later. But first, we should help our allies that are fighting in outer space." Souta said to him. He didn''t want to explain again and again. He will gather everyone first and explained the parasite queen to his people. Franklin nodded and didn''t ask any questions. He understood that Souta will explain it to him later. Souta glanced at Torkez and said, "Torkez, find the place where the ancestor hide. Gathered every research data and bring it to me." Chapter 436 - Great Astley Empire: "Everything Is In My Control!" In outer space, Yuko and the dragons just finished their attack. They went back inside the ship as the pressure of the outer space was slowly getting heavy for them but they could handle it for half an hour. It''s just that they shouldn''t risk themselves too much when they couldn''t enter the ship and rest before they go out once again. Even with the third evolution monsters'' support they still couldn''t push back the empire. A few third evolution stage monster wasn''t enough to repel hundreds of thousands of mother ships along with millions of assault-type ship. Lydia, Jamine, and Alice didn''t know what to do anymore. Individual power wasn''t enough in this kind of situation. What they needed was a large reinforcement or Souta''s appearance with the royal family? "Damn! The empire is really good at playing with their cards!" Jamine cursed as she commanded the army to retreat. Their army couldn''t afford to fight head-on as the number of the empire''s forces was several times higher than them. Also, the empire had those Mana Convergent Bombs that could easily wipe out dozens of mother ships at the same time. "Argh!!" Suddenly, Lydia fell down on her knees and groaned in pain. "What''s wrong, Lydia?!" Jamine quickly went to her side with a concerned look on her face. "I don''t know but I felt that the parasite inside my body is turning wild. I couldn''t control it anymore." Lydia said with a painful look on her face. Jamine didn''t know what to do. She encountered this type of situation when she was in a lab so she knew that there''s no solution. Why would the parasite suddenly run wild? But Lydia was powerful enough to handle the power of the parasite unlike those ordinary people in the lab. So how could this happen to her? "I-It hurts..." Lydia couldn''t handle the intense pain. Blood flows out of her mouth and splattered on the floor. She didn''t have any awareness of her surrounding as the intensity of the pain was increasing every second. "Lydia! Lydia! Lydia!" Jamine called her friend repeatedly but Lydia didn''t respond to him. Suddenly, she received a report that the empire has stopped attacking them. She didn''t know that the commanders and generals have the same condition as Lydia. "What is happening right now?" She muttered as she glanced at the projection. After a few moments, she shook her head and ordered, "Bring Lydia to the lab and ask the experts in parasites to check her condition." She was worried about her friend but she also needed to know what''s happening in the empire as the person in charge of the Liberation White Army. She took a deep breath and made a decision. She ordered to attack the nearest empire''s ship to find the commander. If the commander was also suffering just like Lydia then it was her chance. An opportunity to fight back against the empire. The Liberation White Army attacked the empire and found that the commanders and generals have the same condition as Lydia. Although they didn''t know what''s happening to those people they still couldn''t let them go. The Liberation White Army launched a full-scale attack. Without the commanders and generals, the empire was in a mess. Although some capable people took in charge, most of them were having a hard time thinking about their superiors. They didn''t have any idea about what''s happening. It took them a while before they recovered under the leadership of the several second-in-commands. But they suffered huge casualties in the attack from the Liberation White Army. Even though they were well trained, the thing that happened to their superiors shocked them. They could accept it if one of their superiors died at the hands of their enemies. But what happened this time has never happened in the entire history of the empire. All of their superiors suddenly fell and groaned in pain. Without the help of their powerful superiors, the strength of the empire has decreased by several times. The fierce battle continued and both sides already suffered great casualties. The Liberation White Army couldn''t retreat anymore. They were walking a path of no return. If they retreat then it means that they lose this battle and a lot of people would stop supporting them. Those organizations will not give them ships anymore. The Liberation White Army wasn''t this large from the beginning. Their scale of operation could only handle the Prison World but everything has changed after they''ve destroyed various bases of empire on different planets, showing great momentum. They had to win this battle as they also knew that the empire wouldn''t let them go easily. They will follow them on different planets until everyone was exterminated. Then, the suffering of the superiors of the empire has stopped. They slowly regained their previous momentum and pushed back the Liberation White Army. While both sides were locked in a fierce battle, several powerful explosions occurred in the center of the battlefield. It illuminated the dark space and everyone trembled. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! Both sides were stunned when the bombs were detonated in the middle of the battlefield. "Mana Convergent Bomb!!" Jamine narrowed her eyes as she focused her attention on the gigantic ball of lights that annihilated every ship in the surrounding area. "How come?!" Even the commanders and generals of the empire were shocked when they saw this. They haven''t even launched the Mana Convergent Bomb so how could it appear in the middle of the battlefield. Then, they heard a voice through their channels. "I''m Souta Ieshi, the leader of the Liberation White Army. The royal capital of the Great Astley Empire is in my hands. I have cut down the bloodline of the royal family so everything is my possession. Those who wanted to resist will face the power of the Guardian Fortress." Four floating fortresses slowly head into the battlefield with Souta flying in front of it. He had a faint smile on his face as if everything was under his control. When Jamine, Lydia, Isabella, and Alice saw him, they sighed in relief. It seems that Souta finished his mission and something happened there that caused the death of the royal family. They don''t need to worry about the deceased royal family. Souta must have a plan in his mind. The generals ordered to stop attacking as they waiting for Souta to finish talking. But their minds were in a mess. The royal family was dead? And the Guardian Fortress was in the enemy''s hand? They finally understood why they haven''t received a report from the royal capital. The enemy has conquered the city behind their backs. The Guardian Fortress was the empire''s ultimate weapon and only the generals and above knew about it. Each fortress was armed with hundreds of Mana Convergent Bomb. It also has a powerful barrier that could withstand the power of twenty Mana Convergent Bombs. ''Only four Guardian Fortresses are here... There are a total of eight Guardian Fortress so the remaining four must be on the planet ready to bomb every city in our empire.'' The generals thought while looking at the Guardian Fortresses that Souta brought. Then, they turned their eyes to Souta who was floating in the front of the four Guardian Fortresses. ''This man is very dangerous... Just how is it possible for a man to possess that kind of power?'' Suddenly, the generals and commanders felt their bodies go numb. The pain once again assaulted their bodies. Then, Souta''s voice echoed in their channels. "At this moment, I have total control over the entire race of parasitic essence eater in this universe. So your life and death are in my hands too." The smile on Souta''s face grew wider. "I have the Guardian Fortresses remain in several cities of the empire, I also have Guardian Fortress here in outer space that could fight your army, and I have the parasite queen which could control all the parasites in the universe. It''s a dead-end for the empire." The eyes of the generals and commanders have constricted in shock. What they heard just now was too absurd but considering what''s happening to them, they could only believe his words. They had no choice but to accept it. "What''s going to happen to our country?" "I still have a family in the capital. I don''t know what happened to them." The soldiers of the empire were worried because he just said he could bomb every city on the planet easily. This was akin to threatening them. Their superiors, the capital, and the Guardian Fortress. Everything was in Souta''s control. "There''s no hope for all you. I''m the winner of this war." Souta''s voice resounded in every channel. All of the people who were watching the battle were shook. The outcome of the war was decided in just a short amount of time. No one expected that Souta would change the tide of the war. His position was solidified and no one could oppose him anymore. After a few centuries of rampaging on every planet, the Great Astley Empire has collapsed. Today will become a historical event that every people will remember. They will dedicate a festival just to remember this event and Souta''s name will become a legend that many people admired and feared. Chapter 437 - Great Astley Empire: Fruitful Rewards The Great Astley Empire has collapsed. Their leader has died in Souta''s hand and he also acquired the secret weapon of the empire. No one could oppose him now. No one had that kind of power. Even assassination wouldn''t work because his individual strength was cut above the rest. No one could deny that Souta was the strongest person that they''ve known. Once again, Souta showed his brutal side to the people by executing the generals and commanders of the empire. Several hundreds of B-rank experts have died. Only a few of them were A-rank. This force was already enough to kill Souta. In fact, even fifty B-rank was enough to fight him. As long as they had different classes in their group that could fill up their weakness then it will not be a problem. More than six hundred commanders and two hundred generals were a huge force that even Souta would have to avoid clashing directly. He was just a third evolution monster, not a fourth evolution monster who could easily kill hundreds of B-rank in the blink of an eye. Well, Souta simply wanted to extract the parasite in their bodies. Collecting a number of parasites that almost reach a thousand was a huge haul. He was satisfied with his loot this time. All the other things simply didn''t get in his eyes. Money and high-grade equipment were nothing to him. His equipment was still better than those treasures that were inside the treasure vault of the royal palace. Souta, Franklin, Torkez, Lydia, Jamine, Alice, and the leader of the organizations that helped the Liberation White Army was sitting around a long table. They were having a meeting about what should they do now that the empire has collapsed. Is the liberation army going to establish a new nation or not? Everyone wanted to discuss it. Souta simply looked at all the people in the room with a plain expression. He didn''t want to do anything about it as he was going to leave soon. Before he goes back to the Great World Imperium, he will check the living labyrinth in Planet Eidin first. ''This is tiresome...'' He sighed inwardly as he rested his head on his palm. He looked at them and heard that Lydia and Jamine were interested in establishing a new overlord nation. A nation that could support the hundreds of planets under the rule of the empire. He was amused. They wouldn''t be here if not for him. The Great Astley Empire will discover the Great World Imperium and will try to attack it. Then, they will wake up the World Serpent and it will be the start of their destruction. "What do you think, Souta?" Souta raised his eyebrows as he noticed that everyone was looking at him. He didn''t know what to say as he was remembering the events that happened in the game. "About what?" He asked without changing his expression. He wanted to finish this meeting as soon as possible. So he tried to think of a way to finish it. Then, "Okay, we''ll establish a new country and that country will be called Astros. This country will support all the planet that was under the rule of the empire previously. It will help them stand on their own. I''ll leave the establishment to all of you." Souta said to them. "Then, who''s going to be the leader of the new country?" Someone asked. But others knew that Souta was going to be the leader of the new country. No one was more suitable than him to be the leader of the new country. "Hmm... You will know it soon. We will announce it after the establishment of the new country." Souta smiled and quickly dismissed the meeting. After everyone left, he sighed in relief. He finally had a time alone. He checked his system and looked at the notification that he received. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the chain quest!] [Congratulations on completing the final quest!] [Congratulations on completing the special quest!] [You''ve received 100,000 exp, 40 free attribute points, and 20 skill points for completing the final quest!] [Processing the rewards...] [Processing completed...] [You''ve received 100,000 exp, 30 free attribute points, 10 skill points, and the skill Ruler of the Sub-world!] [Ruler of the Sub-World]: For each sub-world that you marked as your territory and the people recognized it, you will receive additional 5 points to all attributes. [Great Astley Empire''s chain quest completed...] [Calculating the grade...] [You''ve received Grade S+ score!] *Ding!* [Calculating the bonus rewards...] [Calculating completed!] [You''ve received 2 blank skill card, 1 level up card, 6 random cards, 500,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 5 skill points!] The reward that he got this time was extremely good. It was natural since he got an "S+" score in the chain quest completion grading. The bonus reward was too good for him. Although the skill points were only five at the very least he got himself several cards. The cards that were implemented in version 2. He already answered this question a few months ago. The function of his system maybe was the latest version of the game. He should start by remembering the functions that were implemented in each version. In version 2, the cards became one of the rewards in a quest. The biggest event here was the "Demon Invasion" and the "Rise of the Mechanic Country". In version 3, the cards became an item that could be traded to other players. The biggest event in this version was the "War of Titans and Giants", "Gluttony of the Gods", and "Power of Patience". In version 4, the title system was implemented. The biggest event in this version was the "Age of Exploration", "The Great Labyrinth and the Subterranean World", and the "Death Plague". Trading the cards. He couldn''t use it since there''s no one like him in this universe. He''s the only "Player" in this whole cosmos. Then, there''s the title system in version 4. Now that he thought about it, he hasn''t done anything or triggered something that could give him a title. Well, his level was too low so he couldn''t acquire a title. The requirements for getting a title were hard. For example, if he cleared the Dungeon of Eternal Light alone there''s a chance that he could get a title. It depends on how many players have completed it before. But since he was the only one, he was sure that he would get a title. The only problem was that his strength was too low for him to complete the requirements to get a title. Acquiring a title could give him a boost in his strength. It depends on the title that he acquired. Also, there''s a title unique to each class and other classes wouldn''t be able to acquire it. Aside from the bonus reward, Souta was satisfied with the skill that he got from the special quest. The [Ruler of the Sub-world] was a great skill. It seems that he was will be forced to rule these sub-worlds that the Liberation Army freed. In this case, he wouldn''t be able to avoid contact with other civilizations. The sub-worlds were divided into different grades; particle, mid, and high. It was divided according to the level of the mana density. The Eiden Planet mana density''s level was 24 while the Astley Planet was only 7. The difference was huge but both of them were particle worlds. For a planet to become a mid-world, it needed to have at least level 100 mana density. And for a planet to become a high-world, it needed to have at least level 200 mana density. In fact, the highest mana density that was recorded in Great World Imperium was a planet called Yvlin. The mana density of this high-world was level 343. This planet was under the rule of the Purple Cloud Dynasty. It was high yet compare to the Great World Imperium, it''s nothing. The Imperium''s mana density was level 700 and some of the extreme places of this world have higher mana density just like Mount Olympus which has a level 812 mana density. "It''s unavoidable..." Souta muttered as he leaned his back on his chair. He looked at the ceiling and narrowed his eyes. The start of acquiring a high-level quest will start here. His power was probably sufficient enough to clear some of it. He could understand how much different this world was from the game. It''s the reason why he had to gain his strength as soon as possible. Who knows what will happen in the future. There are a lot of events that exceeded his expectations so he should prepare himself ahead of time. The parasite queen and the parasites will be a great help to him. He was really glad that he took this quest and he also got a blessing from the god of hunt. It will be useful to him until he reaches the level of the monster lord. Well, should he roll the random card? Chapter 438 - Establishment Of Astros Souta rolled the 6 random cards that he got from the bonus rewards. He focused his attention on the six cards that appeared in his vision. *Ding!* [Drawing completed!] [You''ve got 2 Level-up cards, 1 Blank skill card, 1 One million exp card, and 2 Skill level-up cards!] It''s not that bad. At least he got himself some good cards except for the exp card. A million exp could only raise his exp bar by a little amount. It''s not enough for his current level. He had three Level-up cards and this was enough for him. He also got himself two Skill level-up cards which were enough for him to level up his [Night Overlord''s Aura] to level 10. Then, the Blank skill card. He would use it if he met a powerful person that has a lot of high-grade skills. Just like what he did when the Underground King appeared in the Ladros City. The skill that he got from the Underground Skill was [Monster''s Force] and [Burrow]. He didn''t like [Burrow] but what could he do about it? He could only accept it as him being unlucky in drawing abilities from that monster lord. He just hoped that he could get some powerful skills for himself. This time his leveling speed will increase. The fact that his strength was enough to complete a high-level quest will make a huge difference in his growth rate. "It''s time..." Souta chuckled as he stood up and called everyone. After a few minutes, Alice, Lydia, Jamine, Isabella, Torkez, Franklin, and the dragon were in front of him. He didn''t include the leaders of the various organizations that supported them. Those guys were nothing that just hid in the dark and they didn''t even personally appear in the war. If he wanted he could just annihilate those people to decrease the power struggle of the new nation. He had to explain his plan to them. "Why are you calling us after the meeting ends?" Jamine asked with a curious expression. Everyone nodded at her question and they were curious too. "I''m going to tell you that I don''t have a plan on staying here for too long," Souta said as he looked at their expression. Just like what he expected, they were confused at his words. The only one who was calm was Alice and Isabella. They knew that they would go to the Great World Imperium. That''s Souta''s plan from the beginning and nothing changed about it. "Do you mean...?" Lydia recalled what Souta said to her before. Souta told her that he came from the Great World Imperium with Alice and Yuko. "Lydia, do you know something about it?" Jamine asked as she turned to her friend. Torkez and Franklin also looked at her waiting for her to explain what''s happening. "Um... How should I start..." Lydia then explained to the rest about the Great World Imperium. She also said that Souta, Yuko, and Alice came from that world where god lives. That world was dozen times stronger than any of the worlds that they knew of. "Yes, Lydia is right. The Great World Imperium is my homeworld." Souta nodded. This information shocked everyone in the room. This was too much for them to handle. Everyone thought that the Great Astley Empire was already strong but from Lydia''s words, it seems that doesn''t mean anything. It''s hard to believe it but this was Souta. Souta wouldn''t lie without any reason to them. He couldn''t get anything from lying at them. "So I will be leaving this place soon with Alice, Yuko, and Isabella. Of course, I would bring Yenxa with me." Souta said to them. Jamine, Lydia, and Torkez didn''t know what to say. They worked very hard just to destroy the empire and Souta would leave them after he accomplished his goals. Franklin looked at them and he slowly opened his mouth, "Do you still have a slot? Great World Imperium seems interesting. I''ll follow you if you don''t have a problem with it." Since the empire was gone, he found this place boring. Nothing piqued his interest and he thought that he would spend his life on these boring planets. Then, he heard the state of the Imperium. Living gods? Demons? Deities? And divine beasts were all real. All of these could be found in that world and according to them, Souta''s power level wasn''t at the peak. He was only a mid-tier combatant in that world and yet, Souta could already dominate several planets with his strength alone. Then, how many strong creatures could be found in that place? It was countless. Just by thinking about it, Franklin couldn''t help but tremble in excitement. Finally, he would be able to escape this boring life. Souta glanced at Franklin and pondered if he should bring this insane person with him. But he couldn''t deny that Franklin was a powerful person. He was a legitimate A-rank that already liquefied his mana. Speaking of liquefying one''s mana. He asked Saya if he could liquefy his best feram but she said that it was close to impossible. It was one of the two densest energy in the whole universe. ''Did you hear what the god of hunt said? The normal form of mana is a gaseous state. If you condense it you would have a liquefied mana in your mana pool. Then, if you condense it further you will get the solid-state. But then, according to him the next stage of the solid state are the spirit energy or best feram. So if you condense mana to the limit you would only get the best feram and spirit energy.'' That''s what Saya said to him. Maybe, this was the reason why when the moment that a monster gained the best feram, they would become an unstoppable force below S-rank. Just like him, an A-rank couldn''t hope to kill him. The gap between second evolution and third evolution was huge. "If you''re going to leave then I''m coming too. You''re the one who freed me and accomplished my dream of taking down the empire. That is if you''re fine with me coming with you." Torkez said. "Me too... I thought all along that dragons are the strongest creature. I didn''t even think that there are stronger than us. It''s true that the empire is strong but they couldn''t bring out someone who could fight us equally." The dragon said using the monster language. His thoughts were transmitted to the people in this room. Souta looked at them and he shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself. I''m going to warn you that the Great World Imperium is very different from the rest of the planets out there. It''s very dangerous and my power level isn''t that high there." "That''s even better." Franklin grinned widely. "W-Wait!!" Jamine said hurriedly as she looked at them and said, "If you''re all going to follow Souta then who''s going to manage the new country." "That''s why I called all of you here," Souta said as he glanced at Jamine. "You''re just an ordinary person and you will be a burden if you follow me so I''m going to leave the new country in your hands. Don''t worry I will not leave without making a proper arrangement. This planet will be under my protection after all." "Can you explain everything?" Jamine wasn''t flustered when Souta saw that she will become a burden if she followed him. She knew that she was just an ordinary person and being a princess has nothing to do with that. In their eyes, the status of a princess was nothing. Just like what happened to the royal family of the Great Astley Empire, they couldn''t even do a thing in front of Souta. Among the people that were present in this room, she''s the only one that didn''t have high combat ability. Even Isabella could easily defeat her in just one hand. A peak C-rank could easily become a captain of a whole squad in the empire''s army. Souta slowly explained what he planned to do in the new country that he will establish, the Astros. The plan was to let Jamine managed the nation as his representative. He will only take one guardian fortress and the rest will be passed to her so that she will have a power in her hands. Each Guardian Fortress was armed with more than two hundred Mana Convergent Bomb. It was fearsome in sub-worlds but in Imperium, this type of bomb wouldn''t work at all. Even Souta who was a third evolution monster could block it with a level 10 [Gravitational Spell]. It will only become a weapon for low-tier combatants. He will also give the weapons that they took from the empire''s factory to her. He also advised her to train her power level as he will leave ten parasitic essence eater eggs in her hands. She will take one for herself and gave the rest to the people that she could trust. Souta didn''t have to worry about betrayal. He had the parasite queen in his body and he could use it to control the other parasites. In short, he was going to leave everything that wasn''t useful for him but useful in sub-worlds to Jamine. Chapter 439 - The King "I see so you''ll become the leader of this new country and the soon that we established it, you will go back to your homeworld and leave everything here to me?" Jamine said while looking at Souta. "Yes, that''s the gist of it," Souta said as he smiled. "But don''t worry, you can still contact me if you encountered any problem." Jamine sighed and she knew that Souta wouldn''t help her in managing this country. Everything will fall into her hands and she had to solve it alone. A newly established country will naturally encounter a lot of problems at first. Luckily, she had experience in running a kingdom before. "Fine..." She sighed as she gave up on her. At least her position was high. "Um..." Lydia looked at Souta as she raised her hand to gather his attention. She had something to say to him. "What is it, Lydia?" Souta asked as he saw her looking at him like she had something in her mind. "Speak. Tell me what''s on your mind." "I''m sorry." Lydia apologized. "Hmm... Why?" Souta was confused as he didn''t even have an idea why she was apologizing to him. "I-I will not follow you. I want to stay here and help Jamine." Lydia said as she lowered her head. She owed a lot of things to Souta and she felt that she couldn''t repay him even if she served him in her entire life. She wanted to help him but she also wanted to help her friend that she hadn''t seen for a long time. Everyone was going to leave and Jamine didn''t have anyone to support her. That''s why she decided to stay here and help her friend even if it means abandoning her chance to increase her power level in Imperium. "I understand." Souta nodded his head as he glanced at Jamine. He could understand what''s on her mind and it wasn''t a problem if Lydia was going to stay here. In fact, his concern would become less if she stayed here to protect Jamine from those greedy people. "I will not give any talisman to Jamine as you still have that transmission talisman that I gave you before, right?" "Yeah..." Lydia nodded. "It''s fine. I can understand your feelings. Also, it''s better if Jamine has someone that she could fully trust besides her." Souta said as he glanced at Jamine. To have someone that you could leave your back in this world full of uncertainty was something that he didn''t experience before. He could still remember how scared he was when he arrived in Undead Sanctuary. That''s why he was glad when he got Yuko. She became his only source of emotion that could keep him sane. "Thank you, Souta!!" Lydia said as she kneeled down in front of Souta. Her action startled everyone present in the room but she ignored them and continued, "I''m really glad that you lend me your strength at that time. I''m pretty desperate in need of allies at that time. I was alone and no one lend me a hand except for you. So I really thanked you from the bottom of my heart. I will not forget this debt until I die." "This..." Souta didn''t expect her to do this too. It caught him off guard. Lydia wasn''t finished, "If you have any problems. I will answer any of your calls and if comes down to it I will even stake my life for you. You''re the only one I will treat as my leader." ''Fuck! This is embarrassing!'' Souta said inwardly while looking at Lydia who was kneeling in front of him. But he didn''t disrupt her, afraid of making her down. But then, something unexpected happened again. The dragon who was high and mighty bowed down its head. His voice rang out, "I''ll give you my name. This one is called Doranjan. From now on, I will treat you as my king and follow you till the end. I will submit my body and soul to my king." The dragon finally revealed its name and showed his intention to serve Souta. The mighty dragons of folklore bowed down its head and recognized Souta as its king. Franklin looked at the two and a smile formed on his wrinkled face. ''This seems interesting.'' He thought as he followed the dragon and Lydia. He kneeled and opened his mouth, "This old man, Franklin Estuper, will offer you my body and soul to experience the thrill of being alive. I will stand by your side and will fight any danger that comes. I will become your sword that will cut down any people that threatened you." After that, Torkez bowed down along with Jamine. "I, Torkez Grandin, offer everything to my king. I will serve you until the day that I die." "I, Jamine Fleu Rendxynus, will serve you as my king. I will forever be grateful for saving me and taking down my lifelong enemy. In return, I will do everything to the best of my ability to help you." The last one who kneeled was Isabella. "I don''t have anything to say except for being grateful to you, Souta. Words can''t express my feelings when you freed me from my status of being a slave." Souta glanced at Alice who was looking at him. He just didn''t expect this situation to occur suddenly so his mind blanked out for a few seconds. Alice nodded her head and Souta didn''t know what she means by that. Well, since he couldn''t escape it might as well accept them. Ehem! Souta coughed forcefully and he turned his attention on the people who were kneeling. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Just do what you want. Just don''t blame me when you die later as I will encounter a lot of hardship and challenges in my journey. Those weak-willed people should back down as the problem I will face in the future is a hundred times higher than dealing with the Great Astley Empire. You should prepare yourself and resolve yourself to die at any moment. No one could expect what will happen in the future." ""We understand."" Torkez and the rest said at the same time but Franklin''s words were different from them. "I don''t understand. I will truly understand it once I''ve arrived there and personally experience the nature of the so called Great World." Souta glanced at Franklin with interest in his eyes. This old man was really different from others. He then turned to others and said, "Yes, Franklin is right. All of you wouldn''t be able to understand it by simply listening to my words. You will experience it soon once you followed me." His words were right. He will take those high-level quests and it was much different than defeating the empire. The danger will be several times higher and there''s a chance that they will die. But Souta had to take it cause he knew that the moment of peace will be gone soon. Everything will be engulfed in the flames of war and he had to increase his strength so that he could counter those problems that will get in his way of surviving in this chaotic era. "That''s all. I hope you prepare yourself. After we stabilize the Astros, we will immediately leave this planet." Souta said as he clapped his hand and dismissed everyone. Yuko and Yenxa weren''t here but he knew that those two will follow him. They were bound by a contract after all and Souta could simply summon them if he wanted them by his side. After that, Souta went to his room to give them a time to process the information that he gave them. Up until now, only Saya and Isabella learned what will happen in the future about the coming calamity in the whole universe. The unknown enemies of the ancient era will be coming towards this universe. Souta closed the door of his room. He picked a bottle of blue liquid on the table before he sat down on his bed. A mouth with rows of razor-sharp teeth opened on his palm. "The parasitic essence eater is really a mysterious creature. They aren''t in the category of monsters and humans. They just depend on their host to survive." He muttered as he removed the cap of the bottle and poured the blue liquid on the mouth that formed his palm. Swoosh! He was storing the mana in his parasite. It was one of the functions of the parasites. This way he could hide his best feram once he arrived in the Great World Imperium. His base form was already as strong as an A-rank and his release form could rival those powerful S-rank. He wasn''t worried about himself. He was already strong enough to defend himself against most of the people in the Imperium except for those almighty SS-rank and above. The only problem was Torkez and Franklin. They were too weak compared to the people from Imperium. Franklin was an A-rank but he didn''t even master some high-level combat arts to solidified his combat prowess. He was even sure that Alice could defeat him easily. Chapter 440 - Data On the next day, Jamine was finishing the files needed for the establishment and they will have a celebration in five days. They were currently rebuilding the palace as it will be needed for the crowning ceremony. Everything was decided and Jamine will be the leader of the Astros and Lydia will be her right-hand man. Souta was going to become that guardian deity of the new country. His position was higher than the leader and he will only make a move when it was necessary. The leader will be replaced yet the guardian deity will remain the same for eternity. It was a symbol, an icon, that represents the power of the Astros. Everything was ready. Souta was in his room and Torkez was in the opposite direction placing paper files on his table. Souta picked up a piece of paper and read the contents of the paper. The contents of these paper files were about the parasitic essence eater. All the data of Gunsi, the founder of the empire, gathered about the parasite was filed here. After reading it for a few minutes, Souta placed down the files and he looked at Torkez. "So we can''t reproduce the parasites?" "Yes, the parasite king has died and it was in the body of the emperor." Torkez nodded. "I see..." Souta nodded as he recalled the scene where he killed the emperor with his [Shadow Bind] spell. He remembered how angry Gunsi became when the emperor died. "The parasite king is different from other parasites. It could take any host despite their power levels. Also, it couldn''t provide any power boost to its host. Nothing will happen to the host except the slight increase in the host''s lifespan." Torkez explained to him the parasite king that he learned from Gunsi''s data. "Can we cultivate a king?" Souta asked Torkez with a serious expression. This was very important to him. He better knew if he could reproduce the parasites or not. If he couldn''t then he should be careful in giving out the parasites in the future. "There''s no data about it in the files but I''ll try to research it. The only problem is that I may need some parasites to conduct a research about it." Torkez said to him. He personally thinks that a king could appear once the current king died. He just didn''t know how to cultivate it but he will try various methods if Souta permitted him. "It''s not a problem for me. I still have a few hundred parasites sleeping in my body." Souta nodded at Torkez. A few parasites were nothing to him. He just hoped that Torkez wouldn''t disappoint him. "First, I''ll give you ten parasites to conduct your research." "That''s good. I think that it will be enough." Torkez nodded his head. He will try his best to live up to Souta''s expectations. It''s not just about that, he was also curious about this kind of creature. "Then, what about the fact that Gunsi could transfer his soul? Did you gather anything about it?" Souta asked another question that he was curious. "Yes, I''ve gathered it. Simply, it''s not about transferring his soul to another person. It was all about him controlling another person." Torkez said. "What do you mean by that?" Souta asked as he slightly tilted his head. Torkez slowly explained to him everything that he learned about it. Gunsi was only controlling those people using the power of the parasite queen. Those people weren''t people at all, they were similar to golems which Gunsi artificially made. Using his mana and the power of the parasite queen, also a part of his flesh he made those artificial people. Some sort of golems or homunculus. The only difference was that those artificial people couldn''t move alone. They don''t have any will or intelligence, unlike homunculus who could think like humans and demis. Those artificial people would only move if Gunsi controlled them. Just like driving a ship and his body will be vulnerable. "Oh? So that''s how it is... So, can I also use it using the power of the parasite queen?" Souta asked as his curiosity grew stronger. Although he was disappointed that it wasn''t a soul-transferring art. Speaking of soul-transferring art, maybe the reason why he came to this goblin''s body was also because of the soul-transferring art. He was previously a human on earth yet his soul went inside the body of a goblin in imperium. "Yes, you can use it with enough practice. Deep underground of the destroyed royal palace, Gunsi still had a lot of spare bodies there but you can''t use any of it." Torkez paused for a moment before he added, "That''s because those artificial people are made of Gunsi''s energy, blood, and flesh. It''s not compatible with you and you will not be able to control it. There''s a chance that it will go awry if you force yourself to control it. It''s better if we just made artificial people using your energy, blood, and flesh." "And it will not be easy, right?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "Yes, creating those things isn''t my expertise. I just became a researcher because of the parasitic essence eater. I didn''t study other fields so it will require a lot of time and resources before we could create another artificial person that you could control even though we have the data." Torkez explained to him. Souta rubbed the bridge of his nose. It seems that he couldn''t copy Gunsi''s tactics right away. "Okay, thanks for reporting it to me. You can go now." He sighed as he watched Torkez''s back. To think that there will be so much valuable research here in Great Astley Empire. It''s just that he lacked talents to fully utilize it. He didn''t want to study it as it will take a lot of his time. His growth rate would become stagnant if he tried to learn about it. Right now, his focus was on learning Saya''s ultimate skill and nothing changed about it. "I really need a lot of people that I could trust with different talents." Suddenly, Souta heard a knock on his door. He looked at it and wondered who was it. "Come in." The door opened and Alice entered the room before she closed it once again. She sat down on the seat in front of him and looked at him for a while. Souta was curious about her business but he didn''t say anything. He just waited for her to start the conversation. Alice then looked around his room and said, "It''s been a while. Two months maybe three months since we''ve separated. Your reputation spread out on different planets. Nothing could stop you in this place and you can leave peacefully here. Yet, why do you want to go back to Imperium which is full of unknown dangers?" "Why, you ask? Knowing that there are countless people out there that could destroy me simply makes me feel uncomfortable. I know it and I can feel it. There are signs everywhere that the peace that we are enjoying will not last any longer." Souta said as he leaned back on his chair before he continued, "The Mechanic Country is raging war to its surrounding countries showing its might. Then, there are frequent movements from the Three Bringers of Calamity. It''s hard to explain but various giant organizations that is hiding in the dark are moving this time. I don''t know what''s going to happen next so I need to prepare myself for the worse outcome." "So you just want to become stronger to prevent an unexpected event just like what happened in Ibish village and Ladros City?" Alice said as she turned to Souta. "Well, yes. I don''t want to be bothered by such affairs but they kept coming at me and they will come at me. To prevent it, I just need to become stronger than anything else in this whole universe." Souta said to her. "You''ve grown stronger. I''m curious about how they would react. You should rest and enjoy yourself if you have a time." Alice said to him. "How do you look to you? I''m clearly enjoying my time here in sub-worlds. Then, what about you? You always had that stoic face. I don''t even know if you''re having fun here or not." Souta shrugged his shoulder and smiled faintly. "Stoic face? I don''t know what you''re talking about. My time here isn''t that bad. Perhaps, I should leave you here and go back to Imperium alone." Alice said as she stood up and looked at the mirror. "I dare you to leave me here. I know that you wouldn''t do that." Souta smiled and he sighed deeply. "What''s wrong?" Alice asked as she was curious at his sudden change. "Nothing. Something just came into my mind. How good it would be if I''m born in a peaceful era that has no war? Just living peacefully and having fun everywhere." Souta said as he looked at the ceiling. "If that''s the case, maybe you wouldn''t know me and the others from Dark Oculus." Alice glanced at the windows. "Yeah, you had that kind of attitude that will ignore everyone around you. Remember how you ignore me and Bryan at first. What are you a princess?" Souta smiled as he teased Alice. "Sort of.." Alice smiled too while shrugging her shoulders. Chapter 441 - Liven Academy In Eternal Empire... Bryan, Lumilia, and Lynn finished their training with Bargan. They entered the Liven Academy with Alea''s help. Alea was the princess of the elven country and it was easy for her to arrange three people in Liven Academy, one of the greatest schools in this country. Bryan has entered the brawler department. Lumilia has entered the mage department and Lynn entered the support department. It''s been a week since they''ve entered this academy and they''ve focused their attention on learning something good. Lumilia was keeping a tight leash on Bryan afraid of him causing trouble in this place. After all, Alea warned them not to cause too much trouble, especially to the noble elves. She said that she would be placed in a tight spot if they offended those people as she was the one who got them here in the academy so Alea will be responsible for their actions. Currently, the three were having a lunch in the cafeteria. "Bryan, did you remember my words?" Lumilia asked Bryan with a serious expression. "Of course, class rep. I didn''t cause any trouble. I just slept in my class and did nothing." Bryan said as he raised both of his hands with an innocent look on his face. It was as if he didn''t do anything wrong. Lumilia sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose when she heard Bryan''s words. This man was a huge headache. The only thing that she could count on Bryan was his high-level combat prowess. Bryan''s instinct and battle sense were high that it even put those veterans into shame. "Ehe, what can you expect, Mila?" Lynn giggled as she covered her mouth with her hand. Lynn smiled and she ignored Bryan as she turned her attention to her friend. "Lynn, what about you? How are you doing in your department?" She asked. "I''m doing fine. My seniors are kind and they are willing to teach me if I don''t understand the lesson." Lynn placed her index finger on her lips and slightly tilted her head. "I''m doing well too. It''s fine to do things the way you like just don''t create too much trouble for Alea. It will impact her reputation." Lumilia said to the two of them. She suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. I remember that there will be interaction from all departments later after lunch. I think that the departments would compete and will create a friendly test." She said. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind. "Right, there will be a friendly game between departments later so the three of you should do your best." Lumilia, Lynn, and Bryan turned their heads and they saw that it was Princess Alea. Lumilia and Lynn stood up and they tugged Bryan before greeting Alea. "Good afternoon, Princess Aleaphine!!" Lumilia and Lynn said. "How are you, princess? You just disappear last time after bringing us to this place." Bryan said. "Bryan, be careful. There''s a lot of people that are watching us." Lumilia said to Bryan. "Huh? I didn''t do anything wrong. I just ask her." Bryan replied to Lumilia. "It''s fine," Alea said as she waved her hand. She didn''t care about that at all since she treated them as her friends. "I prefer if you treat me as your friend, one of your own." "See..." Bryan said as he opened both of his arms. Lumilia couldn''t do anything but sighed. Since Alea said it herself, she could only accept it but that would bring a lot of jealousy to the people who wanted to grow closer to the princess. She was a noble herself and she knew that connections were important for nobles especially the connections with the royal family. It was very important to any kingdoms or empires. "I only came here to tell you that it''s fine for all of you to go all out in the friendly test. You shouldn''t stay low and you know that you couldn''t avoid it." Alea said as she glanced at Lumilia. Lumilia nodded as she furrowed her brows. She understood that they couldn''t avoid it. The moment that they entered this Academy, they already gathered everyone''s attention because they were brought by the princess herself. Most of the students of this academy knew that they have the princess''s backing. A lot of people wanted to befriend them and the same could be said for the people who watched them warily. Alea smiled as she patted Lumilia''s back. "Just don''t think much about it. You can do anything you want as long as it''s within the rules. That way you have my word that I will support all of you." After saying those words, she left the cafeteria. Lumilia and Lynn simply watched her back. "She didn''t even answer my question," Bryan said with a sigh and he went back to eating his lunch. ... After lunch, all the first-year and second-year students were called into the arena of the academy. The arena was huge that it could house hundreds of thousands of people at the same time. The friendly test was an event where the students could interact with students from other departments. It was a social event with a bit of battle. Lumilia, Bryan, and Lynn were second-year students and they weren''t familiar with the acedemy''s event. They were with their department members chatting with their juniors and seniors. The game started with first-year students. The first-year students divided themselves into different groups. Each group should''ve at least five members and they could have a maximum of ten members in their group. After they grouped themselves, the leader of each group took out a paper from a huge jar. There was one word written on each paper, it was either "Offense" or "Defense". The offense group would have one of their representatives attack the members of the defense group. Each member of the offense group could only have five opportunities to attack and each member of the defense group have five opportunities to defend. The offense group couldn''t attack those defense groups who used up all five tries. Lumilia, Bryan, and Lynn watched the game. The second-year students were next after the first year finished the game. Lynn wasn''t going to participate in this game. She''s not the only one as everyone in the support department wasn''t going to enter this game. Their job was to heal everyone who got injured in the game. After one hour, the first-year students have finished the game. They all used up their five tries and the support department began to heal those people who suffered injuries. Next was the most awaited second-year students. The third-year students weren''t included in this game. They were just watching the event on their seat with interest in their eyes. Lumilia, Bryan, and Lynn went to their own department. They joined different groups and most of them welcomed them despite not knowing their strength. After all, it was to curry the princess''s favor as they knew that the princess was watching this event on the third year''s seat. Bryan''s team was on the defense group. His team had ten members and each member had five tries to defend against the one who wanted to attack them. If they wanted to have a high score, then they had to perfectly defeat all the people that wanted to attack them until they used up all of their tries. The one group that has the advantage here was the offense group. The offense group could choose their opponents while the defense group could only fight the one who challenge them. So if an offense team wanted to perfectly used their attack then they will simply use it on weaker teams. Lynn simply watched the game from the sideline with a calm expression. She knew how strong Bryan and Lumilia so she wasn''t worried about them at all. In fact, she was worried about the people who''s going to choose Bryan as their opponent. Bryan''s improvement in this past month was fearsome. He holds powerful brute strength and has a large amount of mana in his body. The most fearsome was his battle instinct. He could adapt to his opponent''s movement easily. Lumilia sat on the side and several barriers formed around the field. It was to prevent them from causing too much damage. Soon, sounds of fighting erupted in every direction. "It''s much more chaotic than the first years." Screams, the boom of a collision, and the sounds of an explosion were everywhere. Those in charge didn''t bother to interfere until one surrender or lost the ability to fight back. The fight dragged on breaking the peace of the area and Lumilia moved her eyes trying to find Bryan among the masses. Soon, she found as a lot of people were paying attention to him. One of the second-year students went in front of Bryan and said that he wanted to use one of his five attacks on Bryan''s team. This second year was quite powerful but he was also not the strongest. Bryan looked at this man before he turned to his team members and said, "This one is weak I don''t want to lose one of my opportunities to fight against such weaklings so you should handle him." Chapter 442 - Small Event Bryan''s words not only shocked his teammates but also shocked the person who wanted to challenge their team. "You!!" The man who wanted to challenge was angry at his words. It feels like Bryan was underestimating him and he was not worth fighting at all. "I don''t want to fight him. He''s too weak." Bryan said to his team leader while pointing at the man. His team leader didn''t know what to say. Should he let Bryan fight this man or not? He turned his head to his members and saw their expressions. After a while, he opened his mouth and said to Bryan, "Bryan, just fight this man. Since he challenged us, we couldn''t do anything about it. We''re from the defense team, not the offense team." "...fine..." Bryan nodded with a sigh as he looked at the man. "Okay, we''ll start right away. Just attack me whenever you want." This gathered the attention of the people around them. Even some of the third-year students paid attention to this little match. After all, they wanted to know how strong the people that the princess brought in this academy were. In the third-year section, Alea was sitting elegantly while looking at Bryan and his opponent. The woman beside her said, "Who do you think will win, princess?" "Of course, it''s Bryan," Alea replied to her without hesitation. "That easy?" The woman raised her eyebrows as she glanced at Alea''s expression. "Even I don''t know how powerful Bryan is," Alea said as a smile formed on her face. "Hmm... Interesting." The woman cast a deep glance at Alea before turning to look at Bryan. This woman was a beautiful elf with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Her body exuded seductive beauty that will even turn the woman''s head if she walked in the public. She was a daughter of a great noble family in the empire. Her family wasn''t to be underestimated as it was one of the ten great families in the Eternal Empire. Her name was Amiel Le Giniver. "Bryan is someone you shouldn''t underestimate. The things that he experienced are far worse than what we experience in this country." Alea said to her. Amiel looked at Alea and the two of them heard a voice behind them. "I know that man. He''s Bryan Dagruel a famed student from the Ladro Institute and he is also one of the core members of the Dark Oculus Legion." Alea and Amiel turned around and they saw a handsome man with short wavy green hair. He was also a member of one of the ten great families of the Eternal Empire. His name was Erwyn Fringen. Erwyn smiled and continued, "The Dark Oculus Legion is an adventurer organization that was built by students of the Ladro Institute. Their core members have extreme potential that gathered the attention of the higher-ups of the institute. In the past, they subjugated different third evolution monsters and fought against the nobles that wanted to take their treasures. They even fought the officers from the Seven Deadly Sins. Also, they managed to survive the calamity that hit their city which wiped out more than ninety percent of the population of the entire city. Their achievements in battle are greater than what most of the people accomplished in their lifetimes." "It seems that you did some research," Alea said to Erwyn. Erwyn smiled and said, "It''s nothing. The Dark Oculus Legion''s fame exceeded your imagination. I don''t need to investigate their background as it was all over the news. I even know that girl called Lynn have God''s Eye that only the Pope of the True God''s Holy Kingdom has." "Why I don''t know about it?" Amiel asked. "It''s simple. You aren''t reading any news, right? You should read the news from time to time. You would find interesting things there and also know what''s happening in our world." Erwyn said to Amiel. "Okay, then what about the leader of the Dark Oculus," Amiel asked with a curious expression. From what she heard, the commander of the Dark Oculus legion wasn''t among the three people that Alea brought. "That man is called Souta Ieshi. He is the most terrifying and dangerous man among all. From my understanding of what I heard, he is different from the rest. He is the man who fought a noble head and defeated him. He is also the man who held the seven-circle officers in the Ibish village before the reinforcement arrived. His power level is very controversial. The event in the Blue Lawless City piqued the attention of the True God''s Holy Kingdom. They are more curious about him than the girl who managed to awaken the God''s Eye." Erwyn explained. Alea interrupted them by saying, "The match it''s starting." The two turned their heads and focused their attention on the match. ... Bryan''s opponent was an elf. An elf who was famous for his sword skill. His strength was above average and he defeated various strong peers in the past. "I''ll show you why you shouldn''t underestimate me." The elf said as he slowly pulled out his sword and pointed it at Bryan. "Whatever, just come at me." Bryan looked lazy as he waved his hand. He wasn''t underestimating his foe this time. In fact, he would be thrilled if this elf could give him a better and harder fight but his power level has grown too much by receiving Bargan''s personal training for a whole month. From his view, he could easily saw the mana level of this elf. The only thing that he couldn''t see was this elf''s brute strength. The elf narrowed his eyes and his mana burst out of his body like a raging tide. [Sword Art: Thundering Strike]!! His sword move like a bolt of lightning as it emitted a bright blue light and hundreds of light blades formed above him which rained down at Bryan. It was a high-grade sword skill and the power it contained was enormous. "Hoo..." Bryan exhaled and he gently moved his hand. He opened his palm and caught dozens of light blades that come after him. He didn''t need to catch all of them as he knew that the rest of the light blades were only here to block his escape route. But he didn''t plan on avoiding these light blades at all. His body was already strong enough to catch it with his hand. "This is...!!" The elf was stunned when he saw this scene. He couldn''t believe that this man just caught his light blades bare-handed. Swoosh! Bryan then appeared in front of him and touch his nose. "Accept defeat, you can''t fight me with your current strength." He said. The elf didn''t know how Bryan appeared in front of him. He was just too shocked to understand what just happened. When he felt Bryan''s finger on his nose, he came back to his senses. "I... I admit defeat..." He said while stuttering. Bryan was just too strong for him and Bryan wasn''t even using a single skill at this moment yet he used one of his powerful skills. This simple match gathered everyone''s attention and they were interested in Bryan''s strength. They wanted to pry and understand just how powerful this man is. A noble elf looked at Bryan as he narrowed his eyes. He opened his mouth and said to his teammates, "This man looks capable. Go and try him." The noble elf was from the sword department. The elf that Bryan just defeated was his team member. A two-meter tall elf walked towards Bryan and said, "Let me try your strength." "Oh," Bryan looked at this elf. This elf was different from a normal elf as this one was much taller and muscular. He wouldn''t even know it if not for the pointed ears. "Okay, sure. You''re stronger than the last but I think that it''s not enough." He said as a faint smile formed on his face. This was his second battle so he only had a remaining three defend and after that, he wouldn''t be able to fight. When the battle started, the tall elf quickly pulled out a large sword and just watched Bryan''s movement. The tall elf slowly walked around while watching Bryan. Bryan was just standing there but he could feel danger coming out of him. His guard was low so how could he emit such pressure. Sweat formed on the forehead of the tall elf. He didn''t know why but his heart was beating wildly like it was trying to get out of his chest. "There''s no need to hesitate!" The tall elf shouted as his mana exploded and turned into a powerful wind current that spun around his large sword. The wind currents were like a sharp sword that caused several cuts on the floor. [Turning The Wind Blade]!! He then thrust it forward and the wind currents on his sword burst. It turned into a tornado that flew at his opponent. "Not enough." Bryan walked towards the tornado and slapped it suddenly. His entire arm seemed to disappear in an instant as it was engulfed within the tornado. Boom! A loud sound echoed in the next moment and everything seemed to disappear. All traces of the tornado has disappeared, the tall elf was gone too leaving behind a huge crater on the ground. Alea, Amiel, and Erwyn stood up when they saw this. They were shocked as they focused their attention on Bryan''s hand. On Bryan''s hand, a blue energy that was visible to naked eyes was seeping out like a water forming around his fist. "This....?! A liquefied mana!! An A-rank expert!!" Chapter 443 - Farewell A-rank. This was a rank that the Adventurers Guild gave to the people who managed to liquefy their mana. From then, most of the people in the Giza Continent called the people who liquefied their mana an A-rank expert. It became a power level for a specific level of strength. Those people who reached this level can be truly called a powerhouse. And now, a second-year student showed this level of power. It instantly shocked everyone in the whole event. The A-rank was hard to achieve. Only a few third-year students have reached this level of strength and those people were already in the top 10 rankings. Yet, this guy named Bryan easily showed his liquefied mana in front of everyone. It was natural that everyone would be stunned at this scene. It was no ordinary scene after all. "It''s not enough..." Bryan said as he took back his hand. No one dared to challenge him once again when they knew that he was an A-rank expert. Of course, everyone already put him as the strongest second-year student in their heart. Why? Because other than Bryan no students showed a power equal to his or showing liquefied mana just like him. In short, the strongest second-year students were just B-rank experts. Everybody was shocked as their mouths turned into an "O" shape. Silence premised on the whole area. No uttered any sound as if they were afraid of something. Lumilia and Lynn were the only calm people. They knew that Bryan reached the A-rank level in their training. It''s just that they haven''t registered his rank in the Adventurers Guild yet so no one knew about it. "Bryan''s an A-rank!!" Even Alea was shocked that she stood up in her seat and stared at Bryan with wide eyes. Amiel and Erwyn who were with her were shocked too. The small event continued and most of the team formed a plan. They sent their weaker members to consume Bryan''s defense and his team. Most of Bryan''s teammates were just C-rank so they didn''t rank high in the event. But then, no one would underestimate Bryan anymore. The other teams also test Lumilia''s strength and she showed her power as a B-rank expert. She wasn''t as strong as Bryan but her strength place her above the average students of this academy. Every student realized that they weren''t average people. There''s a reason why the princess brought them here to this place. Bryan, Lumilia, and Lynn got the attention of the whole academy in an instant. Their famed spread out and stories about their adventurers were passed to every people. They became famous and popular. The teams with the highest scores didn''t even get the fame that they should''ve gotten in the event because of Bryan, Lumilia, and Lynn. Most of the students didn''t even care about them as their attention was on the people that the princess brought. ... On the planet called Astley... The Liberation White Army has established a new country called Astros. A country that will become a new powerhouse to stabilize the things that happened in this war. The old country has fallen and a new country has risen. The balance has changed greatly and a lot of people were uncomfortable with it but the leaders of the Liberation White Army didn''t care about it. They knew that the people will get used to it sooner or later. They will realize that the laws of the Astros weren''t as strict as the Great Astley Empire. But for the people that were enslaved by the empire were quite comfortable with this new country. After all, they regained their freedom and they could finally work while receiving payment. Unlike before, they work every day without receiving anything as most of them were slaves. Most of the people on different planets paid attention to the establishment of the new country. It will become the new sovereign. At this moment, Souta and the rest already prepared themselves to leave this planet and head towards the Eidin World. The establishment of the new country proceeded peacefully and no one dared to confront their arrangement. Souta became the leader of the planet and Jamine was his representative that will handle every problem. If someone wanted to talk to him, then they should come to Jamine first. After all, her words were his words too. The Astros swallowed those planets that couldn''t support themselves. They became the vassal planet of the Astros Country. While those people who wanted to be independent, Souta let them be. He just let them rooted themselves in other planets. After a few days of arrangement, the total planet under the name of Astros seventy-two. It was registered in Souta''s system as his [Ruler of the Sub-World] skill gain enough stats to boost his strength. Actually, he wanted to rule every planet that was under the empire but he didn''t want to trouble himself anymore. There''s a time for that in the future and he didn''t want to go to another war. His forces were still recuperating from the casualties that they''ve suffered against the empire forces. Souta just wanted to rest for a while before he test his current strength in the living labyrinth. He was on his chair and his head was resting on his palm while looking at the people in front of him. Lydia and Jamine were bidding farewell to the core members of the liberation army. Isabella cried when saying goodbye to her friend Lydia. In the past few months, Lydia and Isabella were together so they got closer and they even treated each other as sisters. Franklin stood beside him and asked, "Are you sure that you don''t want to rule those planets that we freed?" Souta glanced at this old man before he replied, "Yeah, if we force them then there''s a chance that they will treat us as the next empire. I don''t have a problem with that but most of our soldiers will not follow us anymore. It''s outside of our bandwagon, the bandwagon of the liberation army. Well, if we further increase our strength then it won''t be a problem anymore. We could simply make them submit to us without even fighting." "So everything comes to individual strength. A person can do anything with sufficient strength to make anyone shut their mouth." Franklin nodded and a smile formed on his face. "Yeah, that''s why we''ll come back here in the future." Souta nodded as he closed his eyes. On the next day, the group departed. Jamine and Lydia were waving their hands while looking at the floating fortress in the sky. "Be careful! I will miss you, everyone!" Lydia shouted. "Me too! Don''t forget us here! Come back if you have a time!" Jamine shouted. After a while, the floating fortress was swallowed by a pillar of light and it disappeared. The transportational gate was used and the group must have safely arrived on the Eidin World, Isabella''s homeworld. "They''re gone..." Jamine said as she stared blankly at the place where the floating fortress disappeared. She then turned towards Lydia and asked, "I''m sure that you wanted to come with them but my presence here is holding you back. For that, I''m truly sorry." "It''s fine. I will just train here and see if I could catch up to them. If solidified the country then maybe we will have a time to follow them." Lydia said as she shook her head. "I will never forget about them. I didn''t think that Souta will be the one to change the tide of the war. I still recalled back then how I repeatedly ask him to join me to fight the empire." Jamine patted Lydia''s back. She knew that her friend faced countless problems in her journey before they formed the liberation army. Sob! Sob! "I-I wanted to go with them." "I know." "I... I wanted to continue... our journey..." "I know." "It''s fun and I wanted it to last longer..." "I know." Lydia covered her face with her hands as tears poured out of her eyes. Her voice was trembling and she felt a hole in her heart. She recalled everything that happened in the past few months and couldn''t help but cry. The adventurers that she had with Souta, Isabella, Yuko, and the rest were fun and full of hardship. "They just left but I already miss them..." ... Swoosh! A huge floating fortress appeared in the wilderness of the Eidin World. It was the forest between the three dominant forces of the world. Souta came out of it and landed on the ground. Soon, several figures came out of the fortress and followed Souta. Thud! The ground shook slightly as they landed on the grassy ground. "We''re here..." Souta said as he raised his head. He didn''t plan to let everyone knew that he would arrive in this planet. He didn''t want to bother himself meeting those higher-ups of the planet. He only had one goal on this planet and that was to test the living labyrinth. Chapter 444 - Living Labyrinth Souta''s group secretly arrived in the Buckshawn state. The living labyrinth was situated in this place. They cleaned up the part of the forest and camouflaged the floating fortress to make it look like a mountain. Only a few people were left to guard it and they didn''t worry about people stealing it. The controls of the floating fortress were with Torkez so no one would be able to control it or move it. The original controls of the floating fortress were left to Jamine and Torkez simply created a duplicate control to pilot the one that they brought. The people that were left to guard it were Gyun''s party which Alice brought and a few comrades of Torkez when he was fighting the empire decades ago. Eleven people were left inside the fortress and they were training to improve their strength. Souta even said that they could come out and explore the forest and fight some monsters to improve their experience in combat. Doranjan, the dragon, and Yuko were too eye-catching so they had to sneak in at night while Souta used his [Dark Cloud Hunting] spell to block everyone''s vision so that no one would notice the two. This simple event caused a commotion and a lot of people talk about it but then it quickly died down as some people said that it was only a normal mist. No one was harmed in this strange phenomenon so people didn''t take it seriously. The rest of the group didn''t even stay longer in the Buckshawn state. They entered the living labyrinth to the 35th floor to meet with Yuko and Doranjan. On this floor, the monsters were getting stronger and they could even rival C-rank experts in Imperium. So the group stayed here for a day to rest and Souta explained his plan to train here. They easily cleaned the monsters of this floor. The C-rank power level was nothing compared to Souta''s group which was composed of high-level creatures. Souta sat down and narrowed his eyes while pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt dizzy and his urge to kill was getting stronger. ''I think that you need to relax. Just resting for a few days isn''t enough as you are still mentally exhausted. You have killed countless people and felt the emotion of their souls because of that artifact. At this rate, you will be consumed by your monster instinct and will become a mindless monster.'' Saya''s voice was filled with concern. ''You don''t have to burden yourself too much.'' ''I know... I''m trying to calm down and relax but I still kept hearing it.'' Souta replied to her. At this moment, Alice approached Souta and asked, "Are you okay, Souta? Is there something wrong?" She knew Souta for a long time so she could easily notice that he was out of it. He wasn''t in his usual self and demeanor. He looked exhausted in her eyes. Souta took a deep breath and exhaled before he answered Alice. "Yes, I''m fine. I just need to rest for a while. Also, tell everyone to prepare. It''s time for you to have a parasitic essence eater to raise your combat prowess." He said as he looked straight into her eyes. Alice maintained eye contact for a few seconds before she broke it with a sigh. "Fine, I will trust you for now. If I saw any sign that you''re still out of it then I will quickly stop you from going deeper into this labyrinth whether you like it or not." She stood up and walked a few steps before she turned her head and added, "Just remember that your health is more important than this labyrinth. We can always go back here anytime so if you are feeling sick then I''ll stop you." Souta watched her back and thanked her before closing his eyes. He was only planning on waiting for the rest but he didn''t think that he would quickly fell asleep. When he woke up, he found that everyone was here and they were watching him. He rubbed his eyes and yawned before he asked, "What''s wrong?" "Nothing, Alice just pointed out that you''re out of your performance. You must be quite tired so we let you sleep for a while." Torkez was the one who answered him. "It''s okay. I''m fine and there''s no need to trouble yourself." Souta waved his hand as he stood up and patted his clothes. "So, what''s the plan now? Alice said that you will transplant a parasite to our bodies, is that true?" Franklin said to him. "Yes, it''s true but I''m not forcing anyone of you. As you can see that I have the parasite queen in my body so once you have a parasite your life and death are in my hands." Souta said as he looked at their eyes one by one. "I don''t have a problem with it. It can boost my strength so why not. Also, Torkez and Lydia had parasites so I''m fine with it." Franklin said. He didn''t need to think about his decision. Ever since he swore that he will treat Souta as his king, his life was already in Souta''s hands. Yenxa, Yuko, and Doranjan also didn''t have a problem with it. "We''re fine with it." Isabella and Alice said. Alice hesitated for a while there but she decided to place her trust in Souta. Once she took the parasite, then there''s no way back. After all, the topic of her life and death was too big. If her father got to know about this, Souta would get in trouble. She was a daughter of a Great Demon Emperor and her father was one of the strongest figures in the Demon''s Land. That man wouldn''t let anyone control her daughter''s life aside from him. "Are you sure?" Souta asked them once again and the answer that he received was the same so he proceeded to give them one parasite each. Only the queen''s host could take several parasites. The other host would only suffer as two different parasites would fight inside the body of the host. It was easy to take a parasite inside one''s body. They will only touch the sleeping parasite with their hands and the parasite will wake up. Then, everything depends on the person that touches it. If that person has sufficient strength then that person would be able to hold the parasite if not then that person will die. Doranjan, Franklin, Alice, and Yuko successfully integrated the parasites into their body. Souta hold Yenxa and Isabella as their power level were too low and they will only die. They should wait until they reached B-rank. Isabella was close to this level but Yenxa was still too far. She needed to become a second evolution first before she could hope to reach B-rank just like how Souta achieved B-rank when he was still a second evolution monster. After they got the parasites, the group started to familiarize themselves with their newfound powers. They would train themselves here in the living labyrinth to master the parasitic essence eater to the level of Torkez''s control. Souta too was practicing his control and was asking Torkez for some pointers to easily manipulate the parasite in his body. "Okay, we''ll start now. Let''s go on deeper floors and clear it." Souta clapped his hand and said to everyone. The real challenge of the living labyrinth will start now. Actually, he finds this labyrinth easier than the living labyrinth that he cleared in the game. But they were still on the 35th floor and who knows what more it could offer. The group cleared the 36th floor to 39th in one day. Then, they met some resistance on the 40th floor. The 40th floor was different from the floors above as it was larger by several folds. It was even larger than the city above this labyrinth. The group came out of a small passage and saw the 40th floor. They couldn''t saw everything as the thirty-meter tall trees covered the whole land like a carpet. The vibe here was different as they could hear birds chirping in every direction and the sound of wind blowing. "Everyone be careful. Especially you Isabella and Yenxa." Souta said to them. "Yes," "Yes, my lord." Isabella and Yenxa nodded at him and they glanced around with a wary expression. "Still, I didn''t think that there would be this kind of place beneath the city. It''s my first time seeing something like this." Torkez said. "Yeah, it''s quite intriguing how this was made." A smile formed on Franklin''s face. "Something is wrong. The noises disappeared." Alice said as she narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, they are already here." Souta smiled as he looked at the branches of the trees and saw countless monkeys with yellow fur. "Ehe~ let''s start the battle." Franklin quickly rushed towards the monkeys with an excited expression.. His mana burst out and it swirled around his fists. Chapter 445 - Rank 3 Battle Mage They cleared the 40th floor and decided to stay here to rest. It took them four hours to clear this entire giant floor and the monster that they killed were more than a thousand. Also, there were two B-rank here guarding the path towards the floor below. The bodies of the monsters that they killed turned into dust as it was absorbed by the labyrinth. Most of them left some sort of stone that was filled with mana. The monsters in this place weren''t real monsters. They were just creatures that were created by the labyrinth using its essence. Also, the people that died in this place will also turn into dust and get absorbed by the labyrinth. That way, the labyrinth could keep producing strong and powerful monsters. It was a never ending cycle. People would plunder the concentrated mana that came out of the monster here and the labyrinth would absorb the people that died here. "Let''s rest for now," Souta said to them while patting his clothes. He just realized that the living labyrinth was like a dungeon in the game. It has a game like structures. Means that he could farm here just like how he farmed in the game. Killing all the monsters and wait for them to respawn before he killed them once again. But he wasn''t sure if the monster here could respawn infinitely. So he asked Saya for more information about the living labyrinth. The information he had from the game was simple and he didn''t delve into details. He just know that people could get a god''s legacy in the living labyrinth. The answer that he gets from Saya was within his expectations. The monster here couldn''t respawn infinitely and it only respawns based on the amount of energy that each floor has. If he repeatedly cleared all the monsters on this floor, eventually the labyrinth would lose the energy intended for this floor and no monster would appear. It will slowly gather energy by receiving energy from the other floors. It didn''t mean that the other floors would get weakened. The other floors wouldn''t give energy if they lack it, they will only give energy if they had spares. So it had to wait until a bunch of people died on the other floors and filled up this floor to get it back to work. That''s just how it works. Souta thanked Saya and quickly formed a plan in his head. He then gathered Alice, Torkez, Franklin, Isabella, Yenxa, Doranjan, and Yuko in front of him. "Okay, from now on. We''ll repeatedly clear this floor until it runs out of energy to respawn monsters." Souta said and he explained what he just learned from Saya. "But by doing that, I think that we''re just wasting our time?" Torkez asked with a confused expression. The others nodded at his question. There''s no point in clearing each floor repeatedly until it runs out of energy. They could simply go down after clearing it once. "Well, it''s some sort of combat experience for Isabella and Yenxa. The rest can just stay here and wait until we''ve finished everything." Souta wouldn''t say that it was about farming exp for him to increase his exp bar by a little bit. "Well, if you say so then I don''t have a problem with it. Also, I wanted to test the strength of parasites in those monsters." Alice said as she sat down and closed her eyes. The others didn''t have a problem with it so they agree with him. They knew that Isabella was quite strong but she wasn''t that expert in fighting. She would lose to some people who had a vast experience that has the same power level as her. Although she learned a lot of things in Saya''s inner consciousness, it still wasn''t enough in fighting people who experienced dozens of life and death situations. Also, the focus of her training at that time was simply to increase her power level to reach B-rank so that she could somehow survive in extreme environments. "If that''s the case, we are going to stay here longer." Torkez said and Souta nodded at him but he still has something to say. "We can''t stay here for too long. The food that we brought isn''t gonna last for too long. The monster that we killed is turning into dust and the only thing that we could eat in this entire labyrinth are the plants and herbs. But I doubt that would last longer." Torkez said as he looked around the dense giant trees around him. He didn''t even know if there were edible plants or fruits in this place. "Don''t worry about it, if it comes down to it then I will simply send one of my shadows to gather food for us," Souta replied to Torkez. So, the group stayed here on the 40th floor. Souta sent out shadows to clear all the monsters that spawned along with Isabella and Yenxa. Souta didn''t have anything to do so he just observed everyone around him. From time to time, pain will assault his head and he would feel exhausted easily. The urge to kill was only getting stronger. Just like what Saya said, he should just rest until he''s not mentally tired. Right now, if he didn''t rest his instinct would only consume him and will become a mindless monster. "This is pretty useful..." Franklin muttered as he looked at his hand that turned into a sharp blade. He then glanced at the rest and saw them doing the same thing. They were trying their parasites to see what they can do with it. Since he doesn''t have anything to do as his urges were bursting out, he should try to busy himself by looking at his system. He gathered enough skill points and it was enough for him. He looked at his skills in the system and focused his attention on the skills that he was going to upgrade. [Night Overlord''s Aura] Level 8 [Doppelganger] Level 7 He used his two skill level-up cards and leveled up the [Night Overlord''s Aura] to level 10. Then, he used 27 skill points to level up the [Doppelganger] to level 10. *Ding!* [You''ve reached the requirements to promote your class to the next rank!] [Do you want to promote your class to Rank 3 Battle Mage? Yes/No?] *Ding!* [Congratulations!] [You''ve successfully promoted yourself to Rank 3 Battle Mage!] [Intelligence Attribute has increased by 100!] [Strength, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality Attributes have increased by 50!] [Energy(Best Feram) has increased by 100!] [Health has increased by 100!] [Stamina has increased by 50!] [Energy resistance has increased by 100%!] [Physical resistance has increased by 100%!] [Energy Recovery has increased by 20!] [Health Recovery has increased by 10!] [Stamina Recovery has increased by 10!] [Spell Power has increased by 100%!] [Attack power has increased by 50%!] *Ding!* [Weapon Caster''s level has increased by 1!] [Your spell power will increase by 15% if you''re holding a sharp weapon while casting!] [Combat Mage''s level has increased by 1!] [Increased attack power by 15% when fighting an opponent within twenty meters!] After a long time, Souta finally promoted his class to Rank 3 Battle Mage. It''s all thanks to the chain quest that he triggered from Lydia and the quest that the legion members completed. The legion started functioning so he will receive points every time they completed some worthy quest. His battle strength was boosted to another level. Actually, ever since he evolve into the third stage he never met someone who could push him to the limits. But increasing his strength was not bad as this living labyrinth was full of strong monsters. He was a Rank 3 Battle Mage and next to this was the advancement of his class, the upper level of the Battle Mage class. He didn''t need to think about it as he will simply choose the Great Battle Mage. Then, he will achieve what he was in the game. The fighting power of the Great Battle Mage was simply terrifying. It was versatile in any kind of battle be it melee or long-range battle. Actually, the third class like this was only opened in the later version of the game so it was good that he didn''t have a limit. Mage>Battle Mage>Great Battle Mage He didn''t know if there was a fourth class after the Great Battle Mage. He wanted to find it out and test if he really didn''t have a limit. Souta turned his head and saw Yenxa and Isabella came back. It seems that they''ve finished clearing this floor and gain some experience in fighting monsters. But this wasn''t enough as he will let them fight those powerful monsters on the deeper floors. Aside from the living labyrinth, his goal was to increase everyone''s battle power in this expedition. He wouldn''t go back to Imperium without any improvement in their strength. Also, now that the version 2 has begun the Imperium was much more dangerous than before as various wars will erupt every moment. "Yenxa and Isabella. You two can take a rest.. After that, we''ll resume cleaning this floor." Chapter 446 - Ill Protect You In My Own Way Sounds of slashing echoed in every direction. Souta''s group was cleaning the floor on the 45th floor. The monster here wasn''t that much different from the 40th floor. The only difference was their numbers. Souta suddenly stopped moving and grabbed his chest. His heart was beating wildly as if it was about to burst out of his chest. He was losing control of himself and he could understand why. He killed millions of people in the war against the empire. His bloodlust reached its peak and he could also hear the grievance of the souls that he killed. He could even see the pain in their face. It''s wasn''t easy to remove his bloodlust. Even Alice and the rest noticed his bloodlust. ''Damn, it''s getting hard to control it.'' Souta cursed inwardly. ''That''s why I said that you should rest for a while. Stop forcing yourself or else you would cause a monster tide in this world. Even Yuko, Yenxa, and Doranjan would be affected if you got consumed by your desire to kill.'' Saya said to him. ''But I...'' Souta wanted to say something but Saya stopped him. ''There are many factors that are causing you to become like this. Aside from killing people and accumulating bloodlust, my energy is also one of the factors. My powers. Remember that I''m a cursed sword and my past wielders lost themselves and became a mindless killing machine.'' Saya continued to explain. ''My energy is fueling your monster instincts so I suggested that you should stop using me for a while. You''re not physically exhausted by mentally exhausted it will become a weakness of yours and soon you will not be able to control it. That''s why you should rest your mind for a while. Think nothing and enjoy a peaceful life.'' ''Damn! That''s so wasteful of time...'' Souta replied to her with an angry expression. ''Oh, something came into my mind. Ufufu!'' Saya chuckled. ''What is it?'' Souta asked. Then, he felt a huge force invaded his whole body. He was caught off guard and he saw Saya''s figure in his head. It was so sudden that he didn''t have a time to raise his guard. ''Fuck! Saya! What are you doing?!'' He roared inside him and he tried to fight back but it was futile. Saya completely swallowed his consciousness and she didn''t even let him recover. After a while, the expression on Souta''s face turned back to normal. He looked at his hands and muttered, "It''s been a while since I''ve controlled this body. I''m afraid that he will not let me do this that''s why I forced myself in." The one who''s controlling Souta''s body was Saya. "Souta" closed his eyes and went deeper into his inner consciousness. Saya saw Souta''s figure was curling up like a baby inside a mother''s womb. His expression was peaceful and calm. "You should rest here for a while. I will not let you end up just like my past wielders. I will hold tightly onto the last bit of humanity that you have and prevent you from being consumed by your desire. I will protect you in my own way even if you don''t like it." Saya said before she exited Souta''s consciousness. Her only problem was that how she hid the fact that she was the one controlling Souta''s body. She was sure that the others would notice it especially Yuko who knew Souta. "This is a problem..." Souta said and his body flashed. His ten shadows scattered around in every direction and in just a few minutes, he located Isabella''s position. When he landed on the ground, Isabella noticed him and she approached Souta. She just finished fighting some monsters and she was quite tired. "Souta, is there something?" Isabella tilted her head as she found it strange that Souta was looking around with a wary expression. "I''m not Souta. It''s me, Saya." He said and he began to explain what''s happening. "Souta wouldn''t listen to me at all. So I had to do this to prevent him from being consumed by his urges. He is mentally unstable as the burden that he is carrying is greater than you can ever imagine." Ever since she met him. She felt that Souta was afraid of something. Sometimes when he was sleeping, she would see tears poured out of his eyes while trembling. He was under pressure and he wouldn''t let anyone see it on his face. He wanted to grow stronger as fast as possible as if he was scared of something. Isabella grew silent when she heard Saya''s words. After a while, she looked up and said, "I see... So he is currently resting?" "His mind that is," Saya replied. "I didn''t know anything about Souta. I just see him as a strong man that isn''t afraid of anything. But I just realized that maybe he''s always thinking about the calamity that the god of hunt mentioned." Isabella said in a low voice. "I always said that he should take a rest. Forgot about all the fighting and killings just take a rest but he didn''t heed my warning." Saya said. "That''s why I need you to help me hide the fact that I''m the one who''s controlling this body, not Souta." "I will help but... how could you hide it from the people that know him for a long time? I''m sure that they will notice it easily." Isabella asked. "That''s why I''m going down first on the deeper floors and I will just use Souta''s doppelganger to message you. And then you''re the one who will pass the message to the others." Saya paused and she added, "Let''s hold onto this plan for a while. I just hope that Souta will recover before they found out." "Okay." Isabella nodded with a worried expression. After that, Saya immediately left and went to the deeper floors. The plan to continue to clear every floor continue but something changed. Souta went to the deeper floors alone without saying anything to them except for Isabella. Everyone found it weird but they didn''t ask questions as they continued to clean the floors. But Isabella and Saya knew that it wasn''t going to last long. If Souta didn''t appear to them for a long time then they will begin to question Isabella. They will notice it sooner or later. ... In the Great World Imperium... Bryan was walking around the streets. He was going to Lanny corp to get some money for himself. The Lanny corp was one of the sponsors of the Dark Oculus Legion. They provided the core members of the legion money every month. Even though Souta was gone, the contract was still active and some of the members of the legion were from the corporation. "Lumilia didn''t even give some money. Luckily, I kept my some money in Lanny corp. Oho~ I''m quite smart." He said to himself while feeling proud. The "some money" that he said were several hundreds of platinum coins. It was a huge amount of money but each of the core members of the legion was rich from all the third stage monsters that they subjugated in the past. At this moment, Lumilia and Lynn were meeting the nobles that Alea introduced to them. It was boring and he couldn''t even understand what they were talking about. So he decided to go to the branch of Lanny corp in this empire. "So boring... If Souta is here then I could probably fight him and test my strength but Lumilia and Lynn... Ugh! It''s bad." Bryan muttered to himself while looking at the stalls around him. He wanted to buy some delicious meals for himself once he got his money. Hmph! Suddenly, he stopped moving as he turned his head on the narrow alley. The alley was dark even though it was noon but he gazed pierced through the darkness and saw a girl full of bruises was running out of something. He went towards the alley and have a clear look at the girl. The girl looked like she was in her early twenties. She had brown skin and pink color hair. Her eyes were brown and she had two small antennas sticking out of her forehead. The girl was breathing heavily and beads of sweat were dripping out of her body. When she saw Bryan blocking her way, she shouted, "Please, move out of the way! I need to escape!" "Oh?" Bryan raised his eyebrows as he looked behind the girl. He saw two people chasing after her and he easily guessed their power levels. "I''ll help you..." He grabbed the wrist of the girl and his other hand blurred out sending shockwaves to the two people that were chasing her. Bang! Bang! The two people flew away and crashed on the walls. They instantly lost their consciousness. "Oops! Damn! I couldn''t control myself. Lumilia said that I shouldn''t create trouble but does this one counts?" Bryan then looked at the girl.. He was sure that he held himself back and didn''t create too much commotion by sending those two away. Chapter 447 - The Girl "You''re safe now..." Bryan said to the girl. He looked down and saw her bleeding as she had several wounds on her body. "Thanks... I''ll remember you but I need to go now." The girl said and she turned around. After taking a few steps, the girl fell to the ground as she reached her limit. Bryan quickly help her sat on the ground and leaned her on the walls. "Are you okay?" He asked with a concerned expression. "Please, let me get out of this place. I need to move away or else they are going to capture me once again." The girl begged him in a coarse voice. She couldn''t even speak properly as her throat was dry. And she realized that this was her limit. Without anyone''s help, she wouldn''t be able to escape. "Okay... I defeated those people but it seems that I will bring you with me." Bryan turned his head and looked at the two people that he knocked out. He nodded his head and carried the girl on his back before he jumped on the rooftop. Swoosh! His figure flashed towards the location of the Lanny corp. He needed to get there quickly as the girl behind him was injured and needed immediate treatment. ... In just a few minutes, he arrived in the Lanny corp. As soon as he entered the building with an injured girl it gathered the attention of all the people. They knew Bryan but they didn''t know the girl. Lanny corp was connected to Dark Oculus Legion so every member of the Lanny corp knew the core members of the legion. They were nothing that they don''t know. "Medic! healer! I need someone to check this girl''s condition for me!" Bryan''s voice echoed in the whole building and everybody heard him. Quickly the upper echelons of this branch came out to meet Bryan and called some healers. "Here, Sir Bryan." Bryan followed the upper echelons and they led him into a vacant room. There, he placed the girl on the bed comfortably. The girl was already unconscious as her condition was pretty bad. The director of the branch glanced at the girl before turning his attention to Bryan. He asked, "What happened to her, Sir Bryan?" "I don''t know. I just saw that two people are chasing after her so I decided to lend my hand. I knocked those people and she fell unconscious." Bryan explained to the director what happened. Soon, the healers had arrived and they quickly started to heal the unconscious girl. "What are you going to do with her, Sir Bryan?" The director asked while watching the healers cast their spell on the girl. "I don''t know. The girl said that she wanted to leave this place so I will let her leave." Bryan shrugged his shoulder. "If she''s in danger I suggest that we should contact the authorities. They will be able to protect the girl better than us and maybe they will investigate who is trying to harm this girl." The director said to Bryan. "Okay, I will leave it to you." Bryan nodded as he recalled Lumilia''s words to never create trouble. He should just let the authorities handle this problem. After a few minutes, the girl woke up after receiving treatment. The small wounds in her body were completely gone while the deep wounds will take some time before it healed. "Where am I...?" The girl muttered as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Then, she held her head as she felt a slight headache. "You''re in the Lanny corp. Don''t worry you are safe here. Those people wouldn''t find you here." She turned her head to the side when she heard the voice. She saw a young man with a short black spiky hair. His eyes were black and his build was average. Not too thin and not too bulky. "Who are you?" She narrowed her eyes and asked with a wary expression. "I''m Bryan Dagruel. I''m the one who brought you here after I knock out the people who are chasing you." Bryan introduced himself to the girl while assuring her that he had no intention to harm her. Then, the door opened and the director entered the room. The director was surprised when he saw that the girl was already awake. He then said to Bryan, "It seems that she''s fine now." "Yeah," Bryan couldn''t help but nod his head. The director sat on the seat beside Bryan and he introduced himself to the girl. "I''m Patrick Ford, the director of the Eternal Empire Branch of the Lanny Corp." After introducing himself, he asked the girl, "We mean no harm to you but we are curious about you. Can you tell us who you are and who are the people that are going after you?" The girl turned silent after hearing the director''s question. She narrowed her eyes and looked at her hands. "I... I can''t tell you..." She said after some deep thoughts. "Why can''t you tell us? This guy just save your life. Even though you can''t repay him you should''ve at least give him your name." The director calmly asked the girl while pointing at Bryan. Bryan didn''t join the conversation. He knew that he wasn''t good at this kind of conversation. There''s a chance that he will make some kind of mistake if he joined the conversation, so he held himself back from asking even though he wanted to ask a lot of questions. "I can''t let you be in danger when you just save me. That''s the reason." The girl then stood up. "I can''t stay here anymore. They will find me sooner or later." "This is Eternal Empire. It''s much safer inside a large country than outside of this place." The director said to her. "Also, we''ve called the authorities to investigate about it." When she heard those words, the girl opened her eyes widely. Her expression turned into horror as if she saw some ghost. "No... No... No... You shouldn''t have done that. They will find me quicker that way. I need to leave now. This country isn''t safe. Their influence exceeded what''s in your mind." The girl opened the door and dashed outside. Bryan stood up and wanted to follow the girl but the director grabbed his shoulder. "Don''t get involved too much. Let the authorities handle it. I heard that you have a connection with Princess Alea, you can call her and the girl will be protected." The director said while shaking his head. "Also, there''s a lot of possibilities as she didn''t tell us anything about her. Maybe, she is the one in wrong all along. I could think of various things why we shouldn''t trust her easily." Bryan was silent as he once again recalled Lumilia''s words. But his instinct was telling him that the girl was right. They would be in danger if she told him about the person who wants her. His sense flared up at that moment and he was full on guard when he heard it. It was a problem and it''s too dangerous if his instinct was right. After that, the authorities have arrived and the director explained what happened to them. They also explained the appearance of the girl that left. Bryan went back to his dorm in the academy while thinking about what happened just now. He couldn''t get over it and his mind was drifting towards the event. What happened to the girl? He should visit the director tomorrow once again and see if everything was fine. He couldn''t get his mind out of it so he had to at least learn if those people were caught. He could only clench his fist tightly knowing that he couldn''t involve too much. When his mind would wander to the event, he would also recall Lumilia''s words like a chant. This was the only thing that was restraining him from getting involved too much. He decided to tell this to Lumilia and Lynn. When he get back, he went to find the two and found that they finished their meeting with the nobles. Alea was gone too. She must have left with the other nobles. "Oh, you''re back Bryan," Lumilia said when she saw Bryan. "I need to talk to the two of you," Bryan said to Lumilia and Lynn with a serious tone. Lumilia and Lynn''s expressions changed when they heard Bryan''s tone. It was rare for Bryan to become like this so something serious must have happened. "Okay, this is not the right place to talk about. So let''s go back." Lumilia said as she looked around. The three went back to their room and Bryan slowly recounted what happened to him. How he saved the girl and how the girl was afraid of letting the authorities knew about it. "So what do you think, Lumilia?" Bryan asked in a low voice. "Maybe, she''s a wanted person that''s why she doesn''t want the authorities to know about her. Also, there''s a chance that she did nothing wrong but the possibility of it is too low. Even we didn''t know the full extent of this country yet that girl said that this country isn''t safe anymore.. Just what did she know?" Lumilia said while rubbing her chin. Chapter 448 - Normal Day Bryan was in his room thinking about the things that Lumilia said to him. They couldn''t trust that girl as they don''t have enough information but his instinct was telling him the opposite. He could still remember how afraid the girl became when they told her that the authorities were coming. If this was an ordinary event, he would simply save the girl and be done with it but this time his senses were warning him. It means that something dangerous was happening in this country and they don''t have any idea about it. He was an A-rank and he would only feel danger against something at his level or above him. Bryan fell asleep while thinking about the girl. He woke up early in the morning before the sun rise. His routine was to wash his face and brush his mouth before he eat his breakfast. After that, he wore his uniform and went towards the academy. "Ahhh~ I''m tired..." Bryan yawned while walking. He wanted to sleep more but he guess that he would continue it in his class. "Brother Bryan!!" A voice sounded behind him. He turned around and saw a girl with red twin tails running in his direction while waving her petite hand. "Oh, Eunice..." Bryan raised his eyebrows and he stopped walking so that the girl could catch up to him. This girl was a first-year student at Liven Academy. Her name was Eunice Le Giniver. She came from one of the Ten Great Families, the Giniver Family. She was also the little sister of Amiel, Alea''s friend. "I didn''t think that I would see you here," Eunice said with an excited expression as she walked beside Bryan. Her height could only reach Bryan''s chin. "Oh, so where are your guards?" Bryan asked while looking around. "Hmph, I shooed them away," Eunice said as she crossed her arms in front of her tiny chest. "Why are you always asking me about my guards?" "Because last time they fought me and they are quite strong so I wanted to fight them once again," Bryan replied to her while scratching his cheeks. "Tsk! Why is it always about fighting?" Eunice clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Because it''s exciting and fun," Bryan replied to her with a big smile on his face. "Oh," Eunice was in daze when she heard Bryan''s expression. She then shook her head. "You will not be able to catch me like that." "Huh?" Bryan was confused. He couldn''t understand what she mean by that. The two arrived at the academy and they separated. Bryan was a second year student while Eunice was first year student and also their departments were different. "See you later, Brother Bryan," Eunice said while waving her hand. "See you too," Bryan said before he turned around. He got to know her after the small event in the academy. That was the first time that he met this little puny girl. Sometimes, that girl would even join his lunch with Lumilia and Lynn. Just like what he usually does, Bryan slept in the class and wake up when he heard the ring indicating the time for lunch. Most of the people didn''t bother him as they knew that he was strong and has Princess Alea on his back. "Oh, it''s lunch. Right on time. I''m getting hungry right now." Bryan said as he walked into the canteen and went to his usual table. Lumilia and Lynn were already at the table so he just sat beside them. "Did you sleep in your class, Bryan?" Lumilia quickly asked when she saw Bryan''s face. "Yeah, why?" Bryan nodded and asked. Lumilia could only sigh. As expected of Bryan. He was always sleeping in class. This would never change no matter what they experienced. "It''s okay, Mila." Lynn smiled while placing her hand on her friend''s shoulder. "Don''t worry. I never forgot training myself. I will be able to completely liquefied all the mana in my mana pool." Bryan assured her while looking proud at his achievement. "That fast!" Lumilia was a little bit surprised but she quickly calmed down. It was expected from this dumb one yet genius at improving his power level. "I hardly even liquefy one drop of mana yet you are close to liquefying all the mana in your mana pool. Sigh... Just how did you do it?" "It''s simple. Just compressed your mana and imagine it becoming a water." Bryan said plainly. "I know that but doing it is harder." Lumilia sighed once again. Her power level was at the peak of B-rank and she wanted to liquefy her mana as soon as possible. She could remember the battle that they''ve fought in the Moon Tower. Their opponents at that time were mostly B-rank and A-rank experts. If not for Yuko''s timely evolution, then they would suffer defeat at the hands of the executives. "Brother Bryan is truly amazing..." Lumilia and Lynn turned their heads when they heard the voice. They saw Eunice coming at them with her lunch. "Hello, Eunice..." Lynn smiled. "You''re here for Bryan again?" Lumilia asked after greeting her. Eunice smiled as she greeted them before nodding her head. "Yes, Brother Bryan is simply amazing. A second-year yet already reach the realm of liquefying mana." "It''s nothing. I''m sure that Souta is even stronger than me. He is the only one that I couldn''t defeat. But I''m quite excited to fight him once again." Bryan smiled while imagining him fighting Souta with his current strength. "Is your leader really a strong person? I''ve heard tons of news about him but is he really that amazing?" Eunice asked curiously while looking at the three. "Yeah, he''s a super strong person," Lynn answered without hesitation. "I''ve fought him countless times yet I''ve never even won against him," Bryan said. "You''ve heard the news, right? Those news are real. It''s not exaggerated." Lumilia said. "He is the pillar of the Dark Oculus Legion. He built it from nothing till it reaches its current level." "But it still a B-rate sub-organization of Adventurers Guild. You only had one registered A-rank adventurer." Eunice said. "Yeah, that''s why we''re planning to raise our rank later. Bryan will go there and have the guild promote his rank to A-rank. They will approve it since he is already in the realm of liquefying." Lumilia explained to her. "Argh, the realm of liquefying in short A-rank. I still need to work hard before I manage to catch up to Brother Bryan." Eunice gritted her teeth. "Haha, just work hard and maybe you could fight me." Bryan laughed then an idea came into my mind. "How about you join our legion? I''m sure that you like it." Eunice turned sad and she shook her head. "Actually, I wanted to join your legion but my family prohibited me from joining any organization until I graduated." "It''s fine," Lumilia said to Eunice. "It''s okay." Eunice shook her head and a smile formed on her face. "Right? Brother Bryan, you''re liquefying your mana so fast. What kind of technique are you using?" "It''s the Three Element Condensation Technique that Teacher Bargan taught to us." Bryan simply answered her. "Oh, that technique is for people who had three elemental affinities but it will only help you till solidifying realm." Eunice read a lot of techniques in the book in her family so she knew Bryan''s technique to liquefy his mana. After a person reached A-rank or B-rank, they will need a specific technique to help them promote their rank just like the Three Element Condensation Technique. This technique wasn''t for attacking, defending, or supporting in battle. It was a utility skill that will only help a person easily condense their mana to liquid and solid. Without this technique, a person would have a hard time promoting their power level alone. "You''re so lucky you had three elements but I read from the books that it''s hard to liquefy mana with three elemental affinities," Eunice said. "You can''t expect him to give you an answer in detail. I''m sure that he will say that he compressed his mana or some sort of that." Lumilia said from the side. "Right, it''s Brother Bryan after all." Eunice laughed lightly. Lynn smiled and then she asked, "What about you Eunice? I''m sure your family gives you secret technique." "Nah, my old wouldn''t even let me learn those secret techniques. He said that I should rank high in the academy. Ugh, within top 50 my ass!" Eunice stomped her foot in annoyance. "I see... You''re having a hard time on your own." Lynn smiled wryly. "All of us have a problem. Also, you''re only at C-rank Eunice so you couldn''t use the technique for the liquefying realm." Lumilia said to Eunice. "Our technique is only for liquefying realm and solidifying realm. We still have to find a technique for the realm above." "Oh, the shackled realm.. What they called SS-rank, SSS-rank, and Hero-rank." Chapter 449 - Shackled Realm The Adventurers Guild called A-rank and S-rank the liquefying and solidifying realm. Then, they divided the realm above into three ranks. The SS-rank, SSS-rank, and the Hero-rank. These three ranks were also called as the shackled realms. When people managed to completely solidify the mana in their mana pool, they would feel the shackles in their bodies. The shackles that were binding their mortal bodies. It was the limitation of the mortals that were preventing them to reach godhood. There were ten shackles in the mortal''s body and upon breaking one of these shackles a person would reach the so called SS-rank. Then, if they broke three shackles they will become SSS-rank. And breaking six shackles will make them reach the Hero-rank. The Hero-rank was the closest one to godhood yet achieving it was entirely different.. The peak of the Hero-rank was completely breaking all the ten shackles inside a mortal''s body. Then, after it was the god realm. For Lumilia, Lynn, Eunice, and Bryan this level were too far from them. So it was still a mystery and they didn''t have much information in this realm. Even their teachers didn''t have any idea after breaking the ten shackles. But some people said that breaking the ten shackles wasn''t the last step. Many people failed to do it so they landed on the realm between godhood and shackled realm, the demigod realm. "If you want to know more about this god realm then you should ask Princess Alea. After all, her great grandfather is one of the god-level powerhouses of this country. Unlike my family who only had demigods." Eunice said to Lumilia. "I see..." Lumilia nodded. Demigod was still a force to reckon and having it inside a family would be a tremendous deterrent force. The Giniver Family had demigods in their ranks and that''s the reason why they were one of the Ten Great Families of the Eternal Empire. It was so huge compared to her family. Her father was only at the shackled realm and he''s the only notable force of the Asvares Family. That''s why their family was pressured when various nobles tried to get the honey that he got from a fourth evolution monster. Also, not all noble families had powerful forces. Some of them were just rich and didn''t even reach the shackled realm. They could only hire different powerhouses to become their guards. "The class will start so I need to go. See you later." Eunice smiled as she stood up and left after bidding goodbye to them. "See you later," Lynn said as she waved her hand. Lumilia looked at Lynn and Bryan before she asked, "Should we go now?" The three separated and went to their departments. ... After the class, Bryan went to the Adventurers Guild and have promote his adventurer rank to A-rank. He was eligible for it as his mana was already liquefied so he passed easily. It made him the second A-rank adventurer of the Dark Oculus Legion. Yanagi was the first A-rank of the legion. She started from the lowest rank when she just registered but then she easily completed various quests and the branch guild master promoted her directly at A-rank a few months ago. But now at this moment, according to Teacher Bargan. Her power level already surpassed A-rank reaching the realm of solidifying mana. She was currently the strongest force of the Dark Oculus Legion. Her name could terrify a bunch of weak-hearted people. Promoting Bryan to A-rank surprised only a few people as most of them knew that he had the strength to back it up. After all, when he showed his power in the small event his name spread out even outside of the academy. He was an A-rank adventurer so he could take those high-level quests in the guild. This was an entirely different rank compared to the rank below. The amount of quests that he could take was several times than before and also the rewards for these quests were surprisingly good. The only problem was the danger it possessed wasn''t ordinary. Some of it was about subjugating third evolution monsters while the others were about picking ingredients from dangerous places. Also, some of it was about investigating powerful organizations. After that, Bryan didn''t go back to the dorm. Instead, he went to the Lanny corp and asked the director about the girl. "The girl was found yesterday at night. She was trying to leave the country through illegal means but the guard caught her so they put her in the detention center." The director explained to Bryan. "Um... Can you accompany me to the detention center to meet her? I felt that something is happening in this country." Bryan asked the director. "Sure, I don''t have anything else to do. But please wait for a moment, I will inform Jimmy about this." The director said before he took out a transmission talisman to call Jimmy. Bryan left the room and waited for the director at the entrance of the Lanny corp. Since he wasn''t good at understanding things and just always followed his emotions and instinct, he will bring the director with him. After a while, the director came out of the door and called Bryan. "Sir Bryan, let''s go. I''ve already received Sir Jimmy''s permission to help you." The director said to Bryan. "Oh, thanks," Bryan said. "It''s nothing. I''m just doing what my superiors want." The director shook his head. The two arrived at the detention center after a few minutes of walking. They talked to the guards before the guards let them inside the place. The director explained why they came here and one of the guards escorted the two. "Where are here?" The guard said as they arrived in front of a small room. "Can you tell us what you know in this girl? I''m sure that you''ve investigated her since she was trying to leave the country using illegal means." The director asked while glancing at the girl in the room. "Yeah, according to our information this girl is called Mina and she is a prostitute at red light district in the north of the country. She''s also in a huge debt and the reason why she''s trying to run away is about money. She knew that she couldn''t pay so she decided to run away." The guard explained to Jimmy. "Is that also the reason why she''s saying that this country is dangerous and no one would be able to protect her?" The director asked. "Yes, as long as she didn''t pay her debt then the government wouldn''t help her. We would imprison her for a few years depending on the amount of money that she owed." The guard replied. "Hmm..." The director nodded and he gazed at the girl inside the room. He then asked, "How much is her debt?" "Twenty five thousand platinum coins..." The guard said. "What?!" The director was shocked as he opened his eyes widely and his mouth hung down. Twenty five thousand platinum coins were no joke. This amount of money was simply terrifying. He was ready to pay the girl''s debt and bailed her out but this was something that he didn''t expect. But it was suspicious. How could a prostitute owe that amount of money? Where did she place it or where did she spend it? She could already buy a mansion with that money and hired powerful experts. Her life would change but it didn''t. ''Sir Bryan''s instinct was right. There is something more in this case.'' The director thought as he glanced at the guard. "It''s shocking, right? We''re investigating where did she spend that amount of money. It''s like it just pops out of nowhere and vanished in thin air." The guard said to him. "Inform me if you gathered information where did she borrow that amount of money." The director said to the guard. "Yes, I''ll contact you if we gathered more information." The guard nodded. Even he found this was a strange case. He hasn''t encountered anyone that borrowed that amount of money except for those rich nobles. "Thanks. We''ll talk to the girl now." The director said. "It''s fine but that girl won''t tell us anything about it. She just said that she didn''t do anything wrong." The guard said to him. Bryan and the director went inside the room and sat in front of the girl. "Hello, we meet again." Bryan greeted the girl with a smile on his face. The girl simply glanced at them before she closed her eyes but her body was trembling as if she was afraid that she was going to die. "We wanted to help you get out of here. We couldn''t help you if you don''t tell us what you know." The director said in a gentle tone. "Y-You know... n-nothing..." The girl said with a shaky tone. "That''s right, we know nothing. That''s why we wanted you to explain it to us." The director said. Chapter 450 - Visit "Yes, we just want to help you. I can feel that you''re in danger that''s why I can''t let you go away." Bryan said. The girl lifted her head as she glanced at Bryan. She opened her shaky palm and said, "C-Can you r-really help me?" "We couldn''t help you if we don''t know a thing about you or the people who are after you." The director shook his head. "I can help you," Bryan said. The director and the girl glanced at him and saw his serious and sincere expression. He really wanted to help this girl. "I will help you," Bryan said.. He understood that he couldn''t save everyone but if he encountered someone in trouble before his eyes he would save that person. "I..." The girl opened her mouth while looking straight into Bryan''s eyes. "I''m not what you think I am..." "I don''t care. Just tell me your problem and I will lend you everything that I''ve got." Bryan said to the girl. The girl give in as she lowered her head and stared on the floor. She slowly opened her mouth and asked, "What did they tell you about me?" "According to the records your name is Mina and you''re a prostitute with a debt of twenty five thousand platinum coins." The director said. "You didn''t found it weird how could a woman like me have a debt of twenty five thousand platinum coins." The girl glanced at the director. "Nope, everyone who read your records would notice it." The director said. "So can you tell us where did the money came from or where did you spend it?" "Everything is false. Everything about my record is false. I''ll only tell you this but..." The girl hesitated whether she should tell it to these people. She was afraid that she would implicate these two. "Don''t worry. I will not harm you." Bryan said. The girl looked at Bryan for a second before she turned to the director and asked, "Who would come into your mind that has the ability to temper records like mine?" "Government?" The director then realized what she was trying to say. "Do you mean that..." "Y-Yes, that''s why I said that I can''t stay here in this country. I''m in their territory and they would do anything to bring me back." The girl hugged herself as she recalled what happened to her before. "Someone who can temper records of ordinary people in this country. It''s an influential person and I think that it''s a noble. If they are involved in this case then this is really bad. We are like an ant in front of an elephant." The director muttered. "You realize it now. So are you still willing to help me?" The girl asked as she glanced at the two people in front of her. The director hesitated. He was just a director of a branch corporation in this country and going against a deeply rooted noble would be akin to killing himself. Even his superiors wouldn''t help this girl in exchange for offending those nobles. But Bryan was different from him. "Yes, I will help you," Bryan said with a serious tone. "W-What did you say?" The girl was stunned when she heard his words. She felt she was hearing things because of how tired she was. "I said that I will help you. I don''t care if they are nobles." Bryan said. At this moment, the director recalled what happened before the Dark Oculus Legion was formed. The news that shocked every people in the country and it was about the students of the Ladro Institute. The fall of the Vidrato Family. The students who go against the noble family just to save their classmates were all over the newspaper. And Bryan was one of those students along with the Commander of the Dark Oculus Legion, Souta Ieshi. They also fought the nobles in Legion War prior to the attack of the Deadly Sins that wreak the whole city. So it was not their first time dealing with nobles. They were experienced. But this was different and the director realized it. This wasn''t within their territory so the government would side with their people without enough evidence. It was a different matter if this was in Hebrei Kingdom as the Ladro Institute could fully support them. "My name is Cyndy." The girl suddenly said. After a few seconds, she added. "The one who is targeting me is the Bentley Family. They are the ones who said that I have a debt of twenty five thousand platinum coins. They raised it so that no one would bail me out. And when everything settled down, they would simply snatch me." The girl explained while looking at the floor. "I guess that''s their plan. I''m sure that they''ve noticed you and saw your plan to help me that''s why my debt became twenty five thousand platinum coins." "I have a question." The director said to the girl who introduced herself as Cyndy. "I know what you wanted to ask but I can''t say it here as it doesn''t matter. They will not listen to my words even if I told everyone the truth. They would only treat it as nonsense of some prostitute." The girl shook her head as she knew what will happen to her. "So we just need to gather evidence in the Bentley Family. It will be hard you know and I''m sure that their security is tight." The director said. "Yeah, that''s why I''ve given up ever since I failed to leave this country." The girl said in a sad tone. She felt that she wanted to cry right now. "Don''t give up. I will find a way to help you." Bryan said to the girl. "Bentley Family is a powerful family and I... I want to die but they won''t let me die... So I wanted you to promise me that you''ll end my suffering if you can''t hold them. I don''t want to end up in their hands. I''m sick of the things that they did to me. Every day, I''ve cried in the corner hoping that they will kill me." Tears poured out of Cyndy''s eyes. She couldn''t hold her emotion anymore. It''s been a while since someone talked to her like this. "I''ve tried to kill myself many times but they''ve placed something in my body that prevented me from killing myself!! I''m sick of it! I''m sick of this life!" Bryan and the director just listened to her words. This girl clearly suffered from the hands of those people. They could feel her grief in her words. "So promise me!! You want to help me, right?! If you kill me then I will even appreciate you for ending my suffering!" f Bryan was about to say something when the guard against came and said that they should go now. Their visit was finished and it''s time to go back. Bryan glanced one more time at Cyndy before he left with director. ... The two went back to the Lanny corp and they started to plan how they were going to investigate the Bentley Family. The Bentley Family wasn''t one of the Ten Great Families but they still have powerful forces. They also owned everything in the red light district in the north. It was one of their notable assets. "How about you tell this problem to your vice-commander? Also, you had a connection with the princess, right?" The direction suggested to Bryan. Bryan shook his head and said, "I want to keep this secret to them. I decided to help Cyndy alone so I don''t want to burden them." "I see... But we lacked manpower. You couldn''t fight an entire noble household alone. Also, I''m afraid that the Lanny corp will suffer a huge setback if they got to know that we''re investigating them." The director said to Bryan. "Then, I''ll just do it alone. I don''t know what can I do but I''ll try to save the girl." Bryan said as he clenched his fist tightly. "You didn''t even know that girl." The director said. "Yes, I don''t know her but how could I simply watch this unfold in front of my eyes. I''ve personally seen the calamity in the Ladros City. Do you know what I feel when I saw thousands of corpses lying in front of my eyes? I''m there yet I couldn''t do anything to help them. I even failed to protect Cluster and Souta had to clean up my mess by going to another place to save her." Bryan gritted his teeth in frustration. "If I only protected Cluster at that time, then Souta and the rest wouldn''t have a trouble in saving her. Also, do you know how many people died in that place just because of me?" "I''m sorry..." The director sighed. "That girl wanted to die so bad. I couldn''t even imagine what happened to her to the point that she wanted to take her own life. If I ignore her and simply watched her suffer, I don''t think that I will be able to look into my friend''s eyes. I-I wanted to save at least one person... Just one and I will be able to say proudly that I''ve saved someone''s life. That way, I think I will find the importance of my life." Bryan breathed heavily as his emotion got out of control. Chapter 451 - Plot Importance of his life. What the hell was happening to him? Bryan didn''t even know why he was like this. Argh! A pain assaulted his head as he saw various images in his mind. He held his head and knelt on the floor because of the pain A small beautiful girl with a smile on her face. A small boy in front of dozens of corpses. A destroyed mansion. A man wearing a long white coat. A group of children with unknown origins.. A storehouse full of different body parts. And, a huge explosion that covered the whole sky. "What happened to you? Are you fine, Sir Bryan?" The director asked with a concerned look. "Yes, I''m fine. It''s just a headache." Bryan said as he stood up and patted his clothes. His mind was in a mess. What the hell did he just saw? What''s wrong with those images? Is it related to his childhood? But something wasn''t right in those images. Why was it full of blood and looks tragic? Bryan sat down on the chair while thinking about the images that just popped into his mind. When he tried to deeply think about it, an intense pain assaulted his head and it was greater than the pain before. It felt like his head was being cracked open like some kind of fruit. They said that he wasn''t a normal human and he had the blood of a barbarian flowing in his veins. It was the reason why his strength was above average. But he couldn''t even remember his parents. The only thing that he could recall was that they were only ordinary humans. The director glanced at Bryan before he opened the door and said, "Bring us some water! Hurry up!" After ordering his subordinates, he sat on his seat and said while stuttering, "S-Sir Bryan... Y-Your hair..." He finally noticed that Bryan''s hair has changed. The strands in front turned into a color red. It was obvious as the difference between black and red was huge. Bryan raised his hand and grabbed his hair. He looked up and saw the color of his hair. "This? It''s nothing... Teacher Bargan said that I have the blood of a barbarian but it isn''t pure so my hair didn''t permanently turn red." He explained like it was nothing. "You are a half barbarian?" The director asked. "Not like that. Teacher said that it''s less than a quarter." Bryan replied to him. "Well, let''s go back to our topic." The director said and his subordinate knocked on the door. "Come in." The subordinate entered the room with glasses of water. After she placed the glasses of water on the table, she quickly left the room. "Hu~" Bryan drunk the water and took a deep breath. Those images, he will think about it later. What he wanted to do right now was to help Cyndy. "I think that we should let the girl talk about her problem. She should tell about it to the guards." The director said to Bryan after he saw Bryan regained his posture. "I don''t understand complicated things so explain it to me in a simple way," Bryan said. "I''m weak at that." "We should let the girl expose the bad things about the Bentley Family even if no one believes her. At the very least, this will place doubt in people''s hearts about that family and I''m sure that the Bentley Family had various competitors as that''s the life of nobles. And those competitors will try to pry the Bentley Family for the meantime." The director paused for a moment and he added, "But don''t worry about the girl. Remember that the girl wanted to die so badly to end her suffering and the Bentley Family prevented it from happening to the point that they casted a curse on her body. It means that she is important to them and they didn''t want her to die." "After that, what are we going to do?" Bryan asked. "It''s simple. We''re going to investigate the Bentley Family in the dark without anyone knowing about it. Just like I said before, they will pressure us if they knew about it and we will lose our footing in this very country." The director drunk his water and continued, "Fighting nobles are different than what you can imagine. It''s an ultimatum of every country. You just can''t kill your opposition directly as this was the unwritten rule in every land. Finding dirty things and taking down the business of your competitor was the way that they''ve decided upon. It''s full of schemes." In case a noble or any businessman in the country decided to fight, the higher-ups who hold most of the power will not let them do what they want. They were free to fight but direct confrontation wasn''t allowed and no methods were allowed to harm each other. No normal people knew about these rules as they weren''t included in the top class of the country. That''s why when various families wanted to take a piece of the honey that the Asvares Family got, they could only pressure the business of the family. No matter how strong Lumilia''s father was, he couldn''t do anything as the country forbids it. So if someone decided to break this rule, then the country would be forced to move. This was the reason why most of the nobles in the Hebrei Kingdom hated Souta as they think that he was the one who killed Gregory, the head of the Vidrato Family. If they had proof that Souta was the one who killed him, then Souta would be taken out by the country. Even the Ladros Institute wouldn''t be able to protect him if that happens. Murder was different than beating. "It''s too complicated. I only know how to fight." Bryan rubbed his temples. "It''s reasonable as each country didn''t want to watch their citizens murder each other. Also, a country would suffer if the top forces in their territory murder each other. Each force of the noble was huge and it was also a deterrent force to prevent other countries from invading." The director smiled. "So where should we start our investigation?" Bryan didn''t ask for more details as it was too complicated for him. "We should check the red light district first." The director said. ... On that night while Bryan and the director were planning their next move, a man wearing a plain black robe arrived in front of the detention center which Cyndy was held. The man raised his hand and lowered the hood of his robe to cover his head. His gaze was pointed at the detention center and after a while, he looked at the dark starry sky. "The moon is high up in the sky. It''s casting light to illuminate this dark world." He muttered before he turned his gaze back to the detention center. He gathered his mana on the tip of his five fingers before he placed it on the corner of his face. "Everything is ready. A scenario will occur today and it''s my job to perform." He said to himself as he moved his feet and walked towards the detention center. "Hey, it''s already night." The guards noticed him and tried to talk to the unknown man. Suddenly, they felt that their bodies went numb. "Wha-" The head of the two guards on the door of the center flew in the mid-air while their necks were spurting a large amount of blood. The unknown man just sliced their heads apart with astonishing speed. "This is the beginning..." The man said as his mana burst out crushing the door of the center. Boom! The other guards inside the center were shocked but before they could react they found a heavy pressure pressing on their shoulders. It was the pressure brought by a powerhouse at the A-rank level. Shing! Flames gushed out in every direction and it turned into countless flames spears which pierced the bodies of the guards. The man who did this didn''t even give them a time to react or recover their posture. It was done in an instant and it was perfect for assassinating dozens of people at the same time. In just a second all of the people inside the detention center have died except for two. The chief of the guards and Cyndy. The chief of the guards was lying on the ground with several holes in his body. Blood was pouring out of it and he couldn''t move his entire body at all. He was just an early B-rank expert so he was no match for an expert who liquefied his mana to this degree. Footsteps sounded in the hallway and he tried to look at the man. What he saw stunned him as if he couldn''t believe what he was seeing. The man had a short black spiky hair and he was familiar with this man. This man was Bryan Dagruel who was just a student but managed to liquefied his man. ''He is here for that girl...'' He said inwardly. Soon, what he heard confirmed his thoughts. "N-No!! You! Why?! N-No! It''s a scheme right! I shouldn''t have involved them in my situation!!" Chapter 452 - Wanted ''Bryan'' forcefully grabbed Cyndy but she resisted with everything that she have got so he had no choice but to knock her out. He raised his hand and chopped the back of her neck. Pak! "No..." Cyndy fell unconscious while looking at ''Bryan''s face. She didn''t want this to happen at all but what could she do. She didn''t have the strength to protect herself. She was right at all. The security of this country couldn''t even protect her and people shouldn''t trust their safety to these securities.. It''s better if they had the strength to protect themselves. If she had a time, she would diligently train herself to become a powerful person so that no one could harm her. "It''s done." ''Bryan'' said as he placed Cyndy on his shoulder. His eyes moved on the people lying on the pool of blood. He killed all of the guards except for one. That one was the witness that will report everything that happened here. This plan was perfect will be perfect with the intervention of that family. True experts in investigations will be able to know the truth but with the help of that noble family, the truth will be hidden well. ''Bryan'' then left the detention center with Cyndy on his shoulder. Soon, the guards from other sections arrived at the scene. They saw the corpses of the guards of this center and most of them were dead. "Quickly, try to find any survivor and give immediate treatment!" The guards quickly moved and started their operation while blocking this area from ordinary people. In their search, they only found one person alive and that was the chief guard of this detention center. All of his subordinates have died and the people that were arrested in this center were also dead. No one survived except for the chief guard. They guessed that the only reason why he survived was because his body was tougher than the rest. He was B-rank so the attack from the criminal didn''t quickly kill him. The crime was done swiftly. The criminal didn''t just expect that someone would survive his assault. Everything was just their speculation as they needed to talk to the chief guard to find if he saw the appearance of the culprit. When the chief guard told them everything that he saw, the rest were stunned as they could hardly believe it. A lot of people heard Bryan''s name as he was one of the most talented students in the Liven Academy. Also, he was brought here by the princess herself. "Hurry up and find Bryan! He''s the prime suspect of this crime and don''t engage him alone! He''s a powerful A-rank so be careful!" ... Bryan was suspected of killing the dozens of guards in the detention center. It caused an uproar in the whole place and several people were shocked when they found about it. The guards spread out and tried to find Bryan who they thought that killed those people. The guards even went to the dormitory to ask about Bryan. "What?!" Lumilia and Lynn couldn''t believe it when the guards called them and told them about Bryan being a suspect of a gruesome crime. "It''s impossible. Bryan wouldn''t kill a person easily. In fact, if he wanted to rescue that girl he would have knocked out the guards. He''s the one who hates unnecessary killing in our group." Lumilia tried to explain to the guards about Bryan''s personality. "I''m sorry, miss. I know it''s hard to believe but we have a witness that says it was Bryan who did the crime. Unless you have a proof that he''s not the one who killed the guards then we can only detain him." The guards said to Lumilia. Then, they asked the two about where did they last talk about Bryan or if they know his possible location. Lumilia and Lynn cooperated with the guards and they answered all the questions. It was shocking but they had to cooperate well as Lumilia sensed that the guards were suspecting them in hiding Bryan. After all, Bryan was a member of their legion and he''s not an ordinary member. Instead, he was one of the core members of the legion. After questioning the two, the guards left to report to their superiors. Lynn looked at the door and she turned to Lumilia. "What should we do, Mila? Bryan wouldn''t do that, right?" She asked with a concerned look on her face. "Yeah, we know Bryan and I''m sure that he didn''t kill those guards." Lumilia nodded as she narrowed her eyes. Now... this was a huge problem and it probably caught the attention of various people in this country. Lumilia sighed and said, "We don''t have information so we''ll start by investigating it. It seems that Bryan involved himself in some kind of huge trouble." "Yeah, should we tell Souta about it?" Lynn nodded and asked. "No, I don''t want him to worry about the matters here since he wasn''t here so I want to settle this problem without informing him." Lumilia paused for a moment and something came into her mind. "Let''s visit the princess. I''m sure that she would be able to gather information better than us as we couldn''t freely move in this country." She was sure that a lot of people were going to watch their movements as Bryan was involved in a heinous crime. They would watch and see if Lumilia and Lynn have a way to contact Bryan. ... The director in the branch of Lanny corp was also visited by the guards. It was natural as he visited the detention center with Bryan a few hours ago before the sunset. "What?! You''re telling me that Sir Bryan killed the guards and freed the girl!" He couldn''t believe what he just heard. "Yes, we have a witness so can you tell us where is he." The guard asked with a plain expression. "If he didn''t have an alibi then we could only arrest him. There''s nothing that we can do about it." The director was in daze. Various scenarios formed in his mind and he tried to think of a reason why Bryan would do that. ''Surely not, We''ve formed a plan to help the girl but killing the guards isn''t in our plan.'' He said inwardly before he turned towards the guard and said, "I''m sorry, Bryan just returned to his dormitory so if he isn''t there then I don''t know where he went." After the guards left, the director narrowed his eyes as he looked at the windows. He knows that Bryan wouldn''t do that and it seems that the enemy planned ahead of them. Bryan was caught up with this and now he became a criminal. ''Something isn''t right with this. The enemy moved so fast and it seems that there is an enemy in the detention center. Could it be the witness?'' The Bentley Family was a very wealthy. They had tons of assets that could cost hundreds of thousands of platinum coins. But to make an A-rank move like that... It seems that they were hiding some of their forces. ''I need to gather information about the ranks of the Bentley Family.'' He thought as he turned around and called his subordinates. Although the Bentley Family was wealthy, their family head was only at the shackled realm. He only broke two of his shakes making him an SS-rank powerhouse. They had several S-rank and A-rank in their households. It was a strong force but compared to the Ten Great Families, it was nothing. ''They got us this time. I need to tell Miss Lumilia and my superiors about this case. I can''t do this alone. They''ve quickly taken out Bryan.'' ... Bargan was sitting comfortably inside a room somewhere in the Eternal Empire. A lot of people were around him and all of them had a powerful presence. "So why are you on guard against me?" He asked with a plain expression as he slightly tilted his head and looked at the person in front of him. The person in front of him was no ordinary man. This tall man wearing full plate golden-colored armor was one of the most powerful commanders of the Eternal Empire. "You know that your student is the prime suspect of killing dozens of guards so we''re here to prevent you from making a move." The commander said to Bargan. "Yeah, I''m aware of that and I know that my student wouldn''t do something like that. But I''m also aware that all of you here couldn''t stop me if I want to make a move. How many of you have a blessing? and how many demigods did you bring with you?" Bargan smiled and the atmosphere of the room rose to the peak. An intense heatwave swept out in every direction. "Oh? There''s a barrier?" "Yes, we have prepared everything. These barriers are focus on heat and flame resistance so these layers of barriers can withstand the temperature up to fifty million degrees celsius." The commander explained. "Oh, then what about physical attack?" Bargan asked with an amused expression. "I know that you brought your Heavenly Orb Flame and the Phoenix Deity Armor set with you to prevent any unexpected situation like what happened in the Ladros City. But we are also prepared to hold you back here." The commander paused for a moment before he added, "So I''m asking you to stay here for a while and don''t make any move that will break our alliance. I''ve tasked my capable subordinates to thoroughly investigate the scene so don''t worry about your student." Even though he was a person that broke all ten shackles in his body, he still think that he wouldn''t win against Bargan. Especially, if Bargan brought his equipment with him. This person even used several stars to cultivate his flames in the past. And those stars were gone and became a part of his power. Chapter 453 - Plot Of The Bentley Family The one who was called the Flame Master, Bargan Hevifield. He didn''t have any noteworthy master except for the principal of the Ladro Institute which was at the shackled realm. But it''s nothing, the commander even had confidence that he could defeat the principal yet in front of Bargan he stood no chance. Bargan who tapped the power of flames too deeply even managed to earn a praise from various God of Fire. In the battle in Ladros City, Bargan alone fought several seven-circle officers of the Deadly Sins yet he managed to defeat most of them. Those officers from Deadly Sins had blessings and they were equipped with orange grade equipment and above. But they still couldn''t kill Bargan and they only managed to seal him. And that wasn''t even Bargan''s full power. He knows it because he was fortunate to witness Bargan''s full power in the past when Bargan was still roaming in the continent, not stuck in the Ladros City teaching young people. That time, he saw how Bargan wielded the Heavenly Orb Flame which was a universal grade catalyst. That catalyst boosted his flame power by one hundred fold to the point that gods were forced to move to prevent him from destroying fertile lands on the continent. After that event, the gods said that they haven''t seen anyone as strong as Bargan in shackled realm. So a lot of people called him unrivaled under the gods. That''s true. If he weren''t going to include the gods then Bargan was the strongest creature in this world. A man who could soloed several fifth evolution monsters at the same time was none other than him. Other peak shackled realm experts need to party to subjugate a fifth evolution monster yet it was the opposite for Bargan. Monster needed to form a party if they were going to fight him. "We''ll handle this. I''m going to let you know the result of our investigation." The commander said to Bargan. "Yeah, actually I don''t have a plan to move. They are my students but I''m not going to babysit them so I''ll let them deal with their own problems. Also, I trust that they will settle it on their own even without my help." Bargan smiled as he closed his eyes. "That''s good." The commander nodded as he sat down on the seat in front of Bargan. "Our enemies right now are the demons in the Listen Wastes so we should focus on it. I''ve already stayed here for a long time and my country will dispatch me next week." Bargan said to the commander. "Yeah, it''s really a problem. I didn''t think that the demons wouldn''t even try to negotiate with us. I''m going to tell you this, the barrier was shattered." The commander said to Bargan. "What?" Bargan was surprised by what he heard. He then calmed down and realized what''s happening. "I see, so that''s why my country is going to dispatch me so soon." "They spread out in the Listen Wastes and reach several cities. In a swift and militaristic attack, they wiped out hundreds of small countries." The commander''s tone turned grave. "Several large countries are forming their army to block the demons. But one thing is clear, the continent is at war." "War. It''s been a while since I''ve witnessed a war of this caliber." Bargan sighed deeply. "A war that involved gods." "That''s why we''ll do everything to settle any internal conflicts." The commander said seriously. "I''ll trust you with that," Bargan said as he leaned on his chair. First, the Three Bringer of Calamity, and now the demons have appeared. Problems kept popping up left and right. ... Bryan was wearing a black robe and his hood was covering half of his face to prevent anyone from recognizing his appearance. He was near the red light district that was owned by the Bentley Family. His task was to investigate it and know the truth. He was alone and didn''t have anyone with him. "I need to find evidence but... where should I start? The red light district is so huge and it will take several days if investigated every building." He muttered as he rubbed his chin. At this time, he really wanted to have Yujin, Lumilia, or Souta at his side. Those three were the ones who were always planning their moves. They would know where to start if they were in his place. Swoosh! His body flashed towards the red light district. His speed was too fast for ordinary people so no one noticed him appeared on top of one of the buildings. They just thought that the wind just blew strongly and nothing else as it was an ordinary occurrence in this world. What Bryan didn''t know was that there were three people waiting for him on the rooftop. What?! Bryan opened his eyes widely and he turned around as fast as possible. The three people were wearing clothes of the guards. "Hello..." He smiled wryly as he waved his hand at them. But something unexpected happened next. Boom! The three guards burst towards him while brandishing their weapons. Their mana gathered around their weapons as if they were ready to kill Bryan. "W-Wait! What are you doing?! I didn''t do anything wrong!!" Bryan moved swiftly as he avoided the attacks of the guards while trying to explain his reason for being here. But the guards didn''t listen to him at all. They just relentlessly attack him without care. ''Why are these guards attacking me?'' was the question that came to his mind. They just saw him suspiciously but this wasn''t enough for them to attack him. He kept running but the guards didn''t give up at all. Soon, a lot of people noticed the commotion on the rooftop. ''I need to get away from this place quickly.'' He said inwardly as his mana coated his body and his speed increased by several times. Swoosh! He went to the opposite side and left the guards. His body flashed and no ordinary people could follow him with their eyes. The only problem was that a lot of people noticed his energy. And this didn''t escape the surveillance of the patrols around the red light district. While Bryan was moving as fast as he could, he sensed several outbursts of enormous energy in different directions and all of them were heading at him. "What is happening?" Bryan didn''t understand why those guards wanted to capture him so bad. The next thing that happened answered his questions. Boom! Several B-rank experts surrounded him and one of them said, "Bryan Dagruel, surrender yourself and you will be punished for killing several empire guards." "What?!" Bryan''s pupils constricted when he heard their words. Killing several empire guards? He didn''t do it at all. "We are really lucky that we are the ones who found you first. You will not be able to escape this crime and you can''t do anything about it. It''s your fault for going against my lord." The leader of the patrol guards smiled and said to Bryan. He was with the Bentley Family. The Bentley Family ordered them to find Bryan before the empire guards find him so that they could force Bryan into a battle to create a scene that Bryan was really the one who killed the empire guards in the detention center. It was a good plan and the empire guards wouldn''t be able to do anything. They could only accept that Bryan was the culprit and even if they found that Bryan wasn''t the killer, it was all too late. In the end, he will become a scapegoat for the recent incidents. "What are you trying to say?" Bryan glanced around and found that there were five B-rank experts around him. The Bentley Family really wanted to pin him down as they even dispatched five B-rank experts. "You don''t need to understand!" One of the five B-rank experts said as he charged towards Bryan. "You want a fight, right? Then, I''ll give it to you. Five B-ranks aren''t enough to stop me." Bryan said as he pulled back his hand and threw it on the B-rank that charged at him. Boom! Both of their attacks collided and it caused shockwaves in the area that shook several buildings around them. Bang! The B-rank expert was blown away before crashing on the floor with a powerful impact that caused a huge crater. Ugh! Since they wanted to fight, Bryan would give them what they wanted. He wouldn''t hesitate to use his power against these people. Swoosh! The remaining four B-ranks charged at him at the same time. Their mana was all over the place and the civilians panicked. The uproar was noticed by every people within three kilometers in diameter. Shit! Bryan''s mana exploded out of his body and it bore down on his opponents. He wasn''t going to be lenient anymore now that he felt that more than five guards were heading in this direction. "Why are they trying to blame me for the crime that I didn''t do?!" Chapter 454 - 80th Floor Half a month had passed quickly and Souta''s group arrived on the eightieth floor of the living labyrinth. What they did in the past was purely training their skills and power levels so that they could fight high-level monsters. It was a nonstop training just to get to the higher floor of the dungeon and all of their strength had reached a new level. Isabella reached the realm of B-rank at this time. Her training speed was unbelievable that she caught up to the top powerhouses in Planet Astley. In her homeworld''s term, she was a Master-class Knight. A being equal to B-rank experts in Great World Imperium. Also, Torkez finally reached the realm of liquefication with the help of Franklin. He was a legitimate A-rank expert along with Alice and Franklin in the group. Yuko and Doranjan have some improvements in their strength but they were still far from achieving the fourth evolution level. Yenxa didn''t manage to reach her second evolution. She was still at her first evolution stage and the weakest one in the group. The strongest was Souta followed by Yuko and Doranjan who were both third evolution stage monsters. Alice, Franklin, and Torkez would even train their powers by sparring with Yuko or Doranjan as each one of them could take the three alone. Among the A-rank experts in the group, Alice was the strongest even though Torkez and Franklin had vast experience. Franklin and Torkez could keep up with Alice''s fighting style, the only thing that they lacked was powerful combat arts befitting their power level. That''s why Souta had to teach them his combat arts so that they could increase their combat prowess. Curdova, the one he fought in Moon Tower, was still stronger than them. He alone would be able to handle Torkez and Franklin easily. Unfortunately, Souta was still sleeping inside his inner consciousness and Saya was the one who''s controlling his body. "We''ve finally arrived here on the eightieth floor. Is Souta really waiting for us here, Isabella?" Torkez asked as he glanced at Isabella. "Y-Yes... He said that he''ll wait for us here." Isabella nodded with a nervous expression. Up until now, they still didn''t know that Saya was the one who''s controlling Souta body but they were suspicious and wanted to meet him as soon as possible. "I didn''t think that there are so many powerful monsters here in this place," Franklin said while looking around the eightieth floor. The level of monsters that they''ve fought on the lower floor already reached the realm of B-rank and some of the monsters had the power level of A-rank experts. It was fearsome yet brought them a great experience in fighting someone at their level. "Do we still have resources?" Alice asked Isabella. "Yes, Souta used his shadows to go on the surface and bring resources. We still have a meal that could last for two weeks. Also, I have made a lot of potions in the past few days." Isabella smiled as she raised the huge bag on her back. With the brute strength of a B-rank expert like her, this huge bag was close to nothing. She could even easily lift fifty tons with her current strength, and brute strength wasn''t her main force. This was just a natural strength of a B-rank expert. *Yawn* ''I want to see, master. It''s been so long since I''ve seen his master and master didn''t even use his skill to check on me.'' Yuko yawned as she walked forward without care to everyone around her and Yenxa simply followed her. Both of them were connected to Souta through their contracts so they could sense his location. They don''t need to ask Isabella about his location as they will simply go where they sensed him. Yuko already missed Souta. She wanted him to pat her head as soon as possible and have him clean her fur. While she was walking she was wondering what kind of things that she would ask Souta to do for her. Doranjan moved his head and looked at Alice, Isabella, Franklin, and Torkez. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "We''re going to Souta. You should follow us." Using the unique characteristics of the monster language, his thoughts were passed down to them and they understood his words. "Okay, let''s go but let me check this floor first." Torkez nodded and a pair of wings formed on his back. Swoosh! With a flap of his wings, he flew directly into the sky. He didn''t stop until he reached the ceiling of the eightieth floor. "The space between the ground and the ceiling was two hundred meters. It''s slightly higher than tall buildings in Planet Astley." He muttered and he looked around the floor. He narrowed his eyes and realized that this floor was several times larger than the city above this labyrinth. "The diameter is about seventy kilometers. It''s so large and I couldn''t even imagine how many monsters are on this floor." Torkez said as he quickly went on the ground. If some monster saw him them a battle would occur and it will naturally gather the attention of the monsters in the vicinity. When he got down, Alice asked him. "How is it?" Torkez shook his head and replied, "This floor is so large. I think that one day isn''t enough to explore it and find the path to the next floor." "Is that it?" Alice asked once again as she looked up at the ceiling which was emitting a strange light. "Yes, these trees around us are blocking my vision. It''s a one hundred fifty tall tree and it''s my first time seeing something like this in my entire life." Torkez said with a laugh. "Me too," Franklin said. After a few seconds, he added, "This place is really mysterious. You called this living labyrinth because all of the creatures that died in this place were absorbed and became nutrients." "I''ve lived for a long time and this is my first time entering this type of place. Just how did this place form beneath the ground of a whole world. It feels like we''re going towards the underworld." Doranjan said. "I''m wondering the same thing. How this place formed or maybe if this was built by someone. If this is the case, then it''s simply amazing." Torkez said. "It''s like a new world inside a whole world." Alice smiled and she turned around, "Let''s go Yuko and Yenxa are quite far. We need to catch up to them." The living labyrinth was made by a god-level powerhouse to test their inheritor before they died. Sometimes a god would choose to die and create a living labyrinth because of various reasons. But one thing was clear. They weren''t called god for nothing. ... Souta was sitting on a huge root with his eyes close. After a while, he opened his eyes and muttered, "How long has it been?" ''About four weeks...'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. "That long?!" He was surprised when he heard it. He didn''t think that he would sleep for that amount of time. ''It''s not easy to remove the killing intent around you so naturally, it would take a lot of time.'' Saya replied to him. "I didn''t approve of you taking over my body without my consent but I thank you for that. I know that you did it for my well-being." Souta said to Saya. ''Ufufu, will not let you be consumed by your desire. I haven''t seen you stood at the top so I will not let you fall easily.'' Saya chuckled at his words. ''I''ve chosen you as my wielder so naturally, I will protect you.'' "Thanks for that. I''ve calmed down now. I also didn''t felt any urges to kill. It seems like you really did a good job." Souta stood up and patted his clothes. "If I somehow going to lose myself once again. You should remind me or force myself to recover my senses." ''Ufufu, it''s natural. I still wanted to see your future.'' Saya laughed lightly. Hmm? Souta looked at his system and saw that his level was 43. It increased even though he wasn''t the one controlling his body. But then he realized that Saya was his weapon so if his weapon killed someone then the exp would become his. Also, Saya was controlling his body and it wasn''t the body of other people. But leveling while he was sleeping was simply good for him. He thought that this was impossible so he didn''t heed Saya''s words. If he knew this from the start then he would have let Saya control his body so that his mind could rest and remove the killing intent. "What floor is this?" He asked Saya. ''Eightieth floor.'' She replied with simple words. Souta understood why he level up in just four weeks. The monster here in this place should''ve reached B-rank and A-rank. The exp that he will get from killing this level of monster was high. And killing nonstop for four weeks was simply what he called a textbook grinding. The only problem was that he didn''t get any points from this type of grinding. Luckily, he had a legion to complete quest for him so he got a few points even without accepting a quest for himself. This type of grinding was impossible in the past. Chapter 455 - Transferring Parasite Back then grinding like this was impossible. Getting exp and points at the same time was hard. If he grinds like this then he would get a lot of exp to level up but he wouldn''t get any skill points as he didn''t accept any quest. Yes, his level would easily increase this way but the level of his spells, combat art, and class would stop increasing. This was the reason why players had to complete quests to get skill points, free attribute points, cards, and titles. Or else they would simply farm and kill every creature that they saw to increase their level even if it was human or demi. In quests, players didn''t care about the exp that they will receive as there were various ways to get exp. Just by killings thousands of creatures they would surpass the amount of exp that they get from completing a quest that will take a week to finish. Just like the chain quest to defeat the Great Astley Empire. Souta didn''t get much exp from completing it, he only managed to level up to level 42 at that time because of him killing millions of low-level soldiers. What he truly wanted in the chain quest was the free attribute points, skill points, and cards.. Also, the players would receive something if they killed someone higher level than them. Just like when he got the blessing card from killing the seven-circle officer of the Deadly Sins. That''s why most of the players would complete various quests first to upgrade their skills and class before they proceed to grind their levels so that they would receive some benefits if they somehow killed a creature higher level than them. "Good. So good." A smile formed on Souta''s face when he realized all of this. This was better than he expected. He got some skill points because of his legion members completing some quests in the guild. Then, he could freely farm in this place to increase his level. This was simply broken and that''s why he had to go back to the Giza Continent before his Adventurer''s ID expires. It''s been a few months since he was away from the Imperium and he hasn''t even completed one of the guild''s quests with his ID. If this goes on, his status in the guild will change to inactive and it will cut his benefits with the Dark Oculus Legion. Souta sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could return to the Giza continent with his current condition. Everything changed when he took the parasite queen with him. He could store different energy in his parasite just like what he was doing right now. All this time, he hasn''t used his best feram at all. All the energy that he used was mana that he stored in the parasite queen using the mana potion that Isabella created. He could use it to hide the fact that he has best feram but this will lower his battle power to a normal A-rank. Sigh... He had so many things to do once he got back in the Great World Imperium. But this was for the best as it would help him in the future. "How is it been with the others?" Souta asked as he stretched his body. The mana in his parasite started to circulate and rejuvenated his body. "Huh?" But then he noticed that his mana was decreasing. He checked and found that his shadows were still active. It seems that Saya was following his plan before she took over his body. ''They have some improvements. But the little goblin is having a problem. Her current strength is still too weak compared to yours and at this rate, she wouldn''t be able to keep up.'' Saya said to him. "Hmm... Eightieth floor. The level of the monster here is either C-rank, B-rank, and A-rank. There''s a little possibility that this floor has S-rank so a first evolution monster like her would stand no chance in this level." Souta said as he throw several punches in the mid-air. He was conditioning himself for the upcoming battle that will occur on this floor. S-rank. It was entirely different than B-rank and A-rank. If a group of B-rank or A-rank was enough to subjugate a third evolution monster then a group of S-rank was for a fourth evolution monster. B-rank and A-rank were for the third evolution stage while S-rank and SS-rank were for the fourth evolution stage and lastly, the SSS-rank and Hero-rank were for the fifth evolution monster. This was the rule that they made. A qualification to join a subjugation party. If someone wanted to join a subjugation party to hunt down a fourth evolution monster then their strength should''ve reached S-rank or else they will become a fodder. A-rank and below were just insects in front of a fourth evolution stage monster. Yet, Lumilia''s father snatched a precious honey from a fourth evolution bees'' hand. He had an idea just how powerful Lumilia''s father was. If her father decided to help Gregory in that battle then he would be defeated in an instant. "Okay, then I will let Yenxa stay on the lower floors. She didn''t have the qualifications to enter the deeper floors as she is too weak. She should''ve reached her second evolution and that way, I could implant a parasitic essence eater in her body to directly boost her strength." Souta said and he finished his warm-up. He was fine with her staying behind as he didn''t want her to accidentally died on the deeper floors. ''They are here.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. He turned around and saw Yuko running in his direction. He shifted his body to avoid her tackle before he squatted and looked at her. "Come here, don''t tackle me out of nowhere." He said with a gentle expression. "B-but... I missed master..." Yuko approached him and she closed her eyes. After a few moments, she had a comfortable look on her face as she felt Souta patting her head. Ahh, she missed this feeling. How long has it been since her master did this? Souta turned to Yenxa while patting Yuko and said, "You are still stuck on first evolution stage. I think that it would be a bad idea to bring you on the deeper floors so I suggest that you should go back to the upper floors to continue your training. If you''ve reached the limit of the first evolution, you will naturally evolve into the next stage." Yenxa stayed silent for a while before she knelt and said, "I understand, my lord. I will not disappoint you this time. I will definitely reach the second evolution stage." Souta turned to Isabella and said, "Give her all the things that we brought from her planet. It seems that she needed it for her evolution." "O-Okay..." Isabella nodded in daze. She was confused as she didn''t know if this was Saya and Souta himself. Then, she saw Souta smiled and said, "It''s me. You don''t have to worry." When she heard those words, she understood that Souta was back and she didn''t need to hide it anymore. She couldn''t help but sigh in relief. Souta smiled and he turned to others. "This time everything will get real so prepare yourself. We will face something more powerful that requires us to work together. I''m sure that you''ve trained properly in the past few weeks. The parasites that can boost our strength. We need this as our current power will not be enough so I hope that everyone is prepared to face the upcoming dangers with me." "It''s nothing. In fact, your words only make me excited about the deeper floors." A smile formed on Franklin''s wrinkled face. "I''m thoroughly prepared to face any problem," Doranjan said as his wings opened widely and it caused a gust of wind in the surrounding area. "I''m used to any kind of problems." Alice faintly smiled. "I''ll follow you anywhere," Torkez said with a smile. "But before that, I need to give Isabella a parasite to greatly boost her strength. An ordinary B-rank like her wouldn''t be enough so she needed the added power of the parasite so that she could keep up." Souta said as he turned to Isabella. "I''m prepared." Isabella stepped forward in front of Soura and she closed her eyes. She saw how Souta implant the parasite in other people and knew that it wouldn''t take long. Probably, one minute will be enough to transplant it into her body. "Then, without further ado, I will begin. Lower your guard and don''t protect your body using your mana or else the parasite will not be able to enter your body." Souta raised his hand and placed her palm on her forehead. Strings of flesh sprout on his arm and it pierced various parts of Isabella''s body. Isabella''s brows knitted together as she felt a slight pain. Chapter 456 - Deep Floors Souta successfully implanted a parasitic essence eater inside Isabella''s body. This parasite will boost her strength and increased her durability. Also, she was likely to survive a dangerous situation with the help of the parasite''s regenerative ability. "It''s finished..." Isabella opened her eyes and felt the changes in her body. She felt that her limbs had increased but she could hardly control it. It will take some time before she could control her parasite just like a part of her body. At this moment, everyone had parasites in their body except for Yenxia, the little goblin. It will maximize their strength to the next level. Then, they escorted Yenxia to the lower floors to train alone. They couldn''t bring her to the lower floors as the danger kept increasing and it was bad for her as the difference in her power level and the monster was so huge. The monster on the 80th floor and below could easily end her life. That''s why Souta didn''t bring her. It was a different matter if she was a second evolution monster but first evolution... It was too weak. After Yenxia was gone, the group went to clear the 80th floor. The monster that they''ve faced on this floor was too dangerous. It was full of C-rank and B-rank monsters. They fought thousands of C-rank and hundreds of B-ranks. In just a single day, it was hard to clear this floor as hundreds of B-ranks already give them trouble. Also, all of them were fighters and there''s no support or healer class in their party. They didn''t need a healer because of their parasites but support. They needed it as the support class could buff their strength and debuff the enemy''s strength. But facing hundreds of B-ranks with only seven people was hard. It was like facing all the commanders of the Great Astley Empire. If not for their parasites some of them would suffer heavy injuries. In the battle, Souta, Yuko, and Doranjan took most of the B-rank monsters. The three of them fought more than ten B-rank monsters on their own. It was the maximum number that they could fight with their base form. On the second day of clearing the 80th floor. The group wiped out more than half of the monsters on this floor and they continued to find the path towards the lower floors. It was another tiring day for the group but the gains that they''ve received through battles were high. They could feel it. They could feel that they were improving by fighting powerful opponents nonstop. On the third day, the group found the entrance on the 81st floor but they couldn''t pass through it easily as ten A-ranks were guarding it. Ten A-rank were already hard but there were also dozens of B-ranks around the vicinity. Souta didn''t simply want to pass through the entrance and went to the 81st floor. He wanted to hunt the ten A-ranks as the exp that he will receive from killing them was greater than killing hundreds of B-ranks. That''s why they fought it fiercely to the point that Franklin, Torkez, and Isabella used everything that they''ve got and collapsed on the group. Franklin, Torkez, and Alice were A-rank experts. Plus, they had parasites so their based strength was higher than the normal A-rank but it still gave them trouble fighting A-rank and dozens of B-ranks at the same time. It took them one hour before they''ve killed all the monsters. "Huff... Huff... That was exciting..." Franklin said while breathing heavily. He was lying on the ground while looking at the ceiling of the floor. He didn''t have the strength to fight anymore. "It''s hard and the monsters in this huge labyrinth are already enough to take down the Great Astley Empire..." Torkez muttered as he glanced at everyone to see their conditions. "We''ll rest for now since we''ve cleared this floor. After we rest, we''ll quickly go to the 81st floor and see what awaits for us." Souta said to them as he leaned his back on the trunk of a huge tree. This was a living labyrinth so it was different than normal dungeons and they couldn''t gather any treasure in this place except for the stone that came out from the monsters that they''ve killed and the natural ingredients of this place. "On this floor, there are ten A-ranks. The next floor should be harder than this one and we''ll probably face more A-rank in the rest of the floors. Also, the C-rank monsters will be gone too and maybe the common monsters below are as strong as B-ranks." Alice said with a sigh. "Yeah, you''re right. Fortunately, these monsters aren''t real monsters that could use best feram. They are just a bunch of creatures made of energy by the god that created this living labyrinth." Souta smiled as he closed his eyes and pondered to himself if they could clear this living labyrinth and get the god''s legacy. On the next day, the group went to the 81st floor. This floor was entirely different than the rest of the floor above as it was a huge maze. The walls of the maze were so tough that they couldn''t even put a scratch on it. Doranjan and Yuko even used their [Bestrou]. But it only caused an explosion that harmed their comrades instead of breaking the walls. ''It''s futile. You mortals wouldn''t be able to damage something made by god''s powers unless you''re at god level too.'' Saya said inside Souta''s mind. Gods were immortal beings and they were way above mortals in every aspect by a huge margin. They couldn''t die and that''s their well-known trait. Well, there were two reasons why gods died. One was they were killed by another god and two was they choose to leave this world. By ''leaving this world'' means that they will choose to end their life and used their life force and energy to create a living labyrinth to passed all the things that they''ve known to the next generation. Gods could simply pass their knowledge to the country that they''ve created but not all gods were like that. There were rogue gods who were alone and didn''t have anyone with them. Those gods choose to create their labyrinth and gave their legacy to the one who will clear their labyrinth. That''s the one thing Souta couldn''t understand with the gods. Creating a living labyrinth was simply a suicide that will end their life. Maybe, they were too old that they''ve got bored of this world so they just simply end their life. ''It''s not as simple as you think. There''s a reason why they choose to create a living labyrinth at the cost of their lives. You''re not even at the realm of god so it''s too early for you to think about the cause of living labyrinth.'' Saya said to him. "You really know a lot of things. How about you share those things to me?" Souta smiled while he replying to her words. ''One at a time. Too much information will only overwhelm you. If you reach the level of the god, a monster lord in your case, then I will teach you the ways of that level.'' Saya giggled as she knew that Souta really wanted to know about it but she couldn''t. ''You should focus on the things that I''m teaching you first. We will go to that level in the future. You will know the nature of the living labyrinth and the inner consciousness is different than what mortal said.'' ''Is this different from monster lords?'' Souta asked her with a curious expression. ''Fundamentally, the monster lords and gods are the same but in terms of attributes a monster lord is cut above a god.'' Saya paused before she added, ''According to the study, a monster lord''s power comes from its trait and evolution path. It will decide everything while gods come from the accumulation of the knowledge and skills they had as mortals. The ascension also what they called apotheosis is like an evolution of monsters to monster lords. After mortals broke all the shackles that are binding their bodies, they will not easily reach godhood. They had to follow certain steps and those steps are what stopping the Hero-rank or Ten-shackled realm from becoming a god. But it''s different from monsters. ''Monster broke their shackles every time they evolved. And when they finally evolved into the sixth evolution, the monster lord stage, all the shackles within their bodies are gone. This is the reason why monsters had more potential than humans and demis. Since I''m not a monster, I can''t help you with your ascension and my knowledge is limited.'' Souta grew silent as he contemplated what he should do once he go back to the Great World Imperium. He was curious about the information about monster lord since he was taking that path. ''God''s continent... There are many monster lords in that place like the World Serpent, World Wolf, Monkey King, Yamato no Orochi, The Four Divine Beast, and various dragon lords. Or you could go back to the Forest of Eternal Light since you are acquainted with Destruction Queen, Raeshka.'' Saya said to him. Chapter 457 - 82nd Floor The group took four days before they found the entrance to the 82nd floor. The monster on the 81st floor was few but the maze was confusing them so it took days a lot of time before they found the entrance to the next floor. Labyrinth like this could be clear by a power of S-rank and above. That''s why most of the living labyrinth in the Imperium was gone because every time they discovered one, a lot of powerful people will try to conquer and acquire god''s legacy. Sometimes gods appear and took it for themselves. The only known living labyrinth that couldn''t be cleared was the Great Labyrinth near the True God''s Holy Kingdom. Even gods couldn''t clear that terrifying labyrinth that could even swallow immortals. But the Great Labyrinth wasn''t alone. There were a bunch of living labyrinths in the Great World Imperium that were waiting to be discovered and Souta knew a few of them. After all, he cleared some of the living labyrinths in the past and took the god''s legacy. Dark Forest, Calamity Dessert, Poisonous Woods, Sea Serpent''s Territory, and the Dragon''s Peak were some of the places that have an undiscovered living labyrinth in this timeline. Aside from that, there were also other living labyrinths that the top guilds uncovered but he lacked information about those labyrinths. Souta didn''t even know the exact location. All the things that he knew came from his experience. It was impossible for him to know everything what other players discovered and did in the game. On the 82nd floor... The whole floor was filled with active volcanoes that were spewing magma every second. The temperature of the whole floor reached three hundred degrees celsius. In some places, the temperature even reached five hundred degrees celsius. "This place is like a hell..." Torkez commented while looking at the towering volcanoes around him. The group could even see hundreds of giant humanoid creatures made of magma walking around the volcanoes. All of these creatures were emitting energy that could rival B-rank and some of them has the aura of an A-rank. "Oho, this is getting better than what I had expected..." Franklin laughed lightly as his eyes were filled with excitement. "I can''t wait to find out how would they fare against us." "Huff... it''s hot..." Isabella muttered while wiping the sweat forming on her forehead. She was the weakest in the group and resistance to heat wasn''t as great as her comrades. "Isabella, try to use your parasite to make a thin layer of skin. It will help you endure the heat in this place." Alice suggested to Isabella. "Thanks, Alice... But I couldn''t properly control my parasite so it will be hard to create something like that." Isabella smiled wryly. "Try to practice it if you don''t have anything to do. We can do a lot of things using parasites." Alice said. "I will help you in practicing how to properly control your parasite later." Torkez joined their conversation. "Thanks." Isabella scratched her cheeks. "My lord, what should we do now? Are we going to rest or proceed to clear this area?" Franklin said to Souta while flashing his white teeth. His pair of antenna was twitching as if he was trying to sense the monsters in the area around them. "We just took a rest on the previous floor." Souta shook his head and said, "We''ll take care of the monster in this area for our safety. It''s better to have a safe zone if we want to sleep properly." "Oho, I understand... Then, I''ll go now." The smile on Franklin''s face grew wider as he turned his attention to the monster in his vision. He slowly bent his knees and like a spring, he launched himself forward with astonishing speed. Swoosh! Red flesh sprouted from his arms and it turned into sharp blades. With a single wave from his blades, sharp winds flew out that could decimate anyone below B-rank. Souta sighed while looking at Franklin. He turned his head to Yuko and Doranjan before he said, "You two should handle the east. Eliminate anyone in that place." ''Yes, master...'' Yuko nodded as flames burst out of her red fur and it coated her body. Dense best dream spread out in the surroundings as she used her [Flame Expansion] trait skill. She then flashed towards the east to finish her master''s order. ''Yes, my lord.'' Doranjan opened his wide wings and his body flew in the mid-air to follow Yuko. Swoosh! "Alice, Torkez, follow Franklin." Souta then turned to Isabella. "Isabella follow me. We''ll handle the monster on the west." "O-Okay..." Isabella nodded with a flustered look. She was just trying to manipulate her parasite when she heard Souta called her name. "Let''s go." Souta started to run on the west and Isabella followed him. "Hahahaha, this is it!!" Franklin laughed as he slashed his blades on the giant golem in front of him. Boom! The golem made of magma was as strong as an A-rank expert. It raised its giant hand and blocked Franklin''s attack but it didn''t expect that the blade was sharp enough to severe its hand. "Stop laughing, Franklin! This isn''t a game!" Torkez when to the side of the golem and his hand turned into a drill. It spun quickly as it gathered his mana to make it stronger. He then pushed his hand forward and the drill made of flesh decapitated the side of the giant golem. Boom!! "This is my prey, Torkez. You should stop poking your nose in my business." Franklin said as his body flashed and arrived below the golem. He gathered his mana on his blades and swung it. Bang! "The two of you should stop talking while fighting..." Torkez and Franklin turned their heads and saw Alice in the mid-air gathering a large amount of energy on the tip of her spear. "Whoa!" "W-Wait!!" Alice pointed her spear at the chest of the golem and her body flashed with brilliant blueish light. She tightly gripped her spear before she threw it. [Frozen Zero Strike!] The spear drew a line in the sky as it pierced the chest of the giant golem. But the spear didn''t stop at all. It burst out of the golem''s chest and it continued to move forward with great momentum. Swoosh! Her spear pierced another three golems before it landed on the ground causing the floor to shake. The shockwaves from her attack spread out in every direction like a ripple. "Shit!!" Torkez jumped away and layers of flesh covered his body. "Hahahaha, you''re crazy!!" Franklin laughed madly as he did the same. Flesh covered his body to protect himself from the aftershocks. The temperature in the area quickly dropped. The air turned cold and the giant golems were frozen. This was a powerful combat arts that Alice learned while Souta was fighting in the Prison World. It was a high-grade combat arts for A-rank experts like her. Also, it was compatible with her as one of her elemental affinities was ice so she quickly managed to learn this skill. "Fuck, this is crazy. She just killed four golems that could rival A-ranks in just one hit." Franklin said while looking at the damage it caused in the area. "I''m an A-rank too but the difference between us is too large. Is this the level of the people from Great World?" Torkez whispered. Tap! Alice elegantly landed on the ground. She opened her palm and her orange grade spear flew back to her. She looked at her orange grade and saw that the tip needed some maintenance. "I''ve been using this spear for a few years... Even though this is an orange-grade spear, it will be bad if I didn''t maintain it properly." She muttered while looking at her weapon. Her weapon wasn''t a universal-grade artifact that was indestructible or a dark-grade that could maintain the same sharpness even after using it for thousands of battles. Well, it seems that she needed to find some blacksmith to handle her weapon. Alice looked around and saw dozens of golems approaching them from afar. "Four A-ranks and twenty-seven B-ranks. It''s a pretty good lineup." A faint smile formed on her face and her mana burst out of her body. Wings made of flesh sprouted on her back as she flew towards the golems. Oh, this? It looks like a pair of wings in her demon form. If that''s the case, then if she could control her parasite pretty well it means that she could change her appearance by making another layer of skin in her body. Also, she could copy the appearance of a demon, monster, or anything. This parasite was pretty useful. "Leave some for me!!" Franklin shouted as he followed Alice to fight the giant golems. He came here first but this girl was taking all of his prey. Sigh... Torkez shook his head while looking at them.. He could only follow them to directly confront a bunch of powerful golems. Chapter 458 - 85th Floor The group cleared the 82nd floor and they found the entrance to the 83rd floor on one of the volcanoes. The time that they consumed just to clear this single floor was four days. It was an exhausting battle for the rest of the team as the enemies that they fought were B-rank and A-rank. Fortunately, the movements of the golems were predictable so they could fight two or more A-rank golem at the same time. Still, it was tiring as the golems that were guarding the entrance to the 83rd floor were S-rank. On the 83rd floor, the setting was still the same. There were active volcanoes around the whole floor but the temperature was definitely higher than the 82nd floor. Also, the golems here were much more powerful and their movements were complicated. A single B-rank golem from the 83rd floor could easily destroy five B-rank golems from 82nd floor. Nonetheless, Souta''s group still cleared it. The improvements in their skill and power level were huge in this short amount of time. Alice, Franklin, and Doranjan were close to mastering their parasites. Souta didn''t care about how long they could clear this labyrinth. He knew that their group was the only one trying to clear it so he wasn''t worried about others taking the god''s legacy before him. If this living labyrinth was discovered in Imperium, then those Hero-rank would move to clear this labyrinth in just one week. One week? That''s just how powerful those Hero-rank which was close to godhood. Souta''s group already took more than one month and they haven''t even cleared this labyrinth. The group moved to the next floor at their own pace. Fifteen days had passed in the blink of an eye and the group arrived on the 85th floor. On this floor, they finally faced a wall. A wall that forced them to used their aces. 85th floor was a huge dessert. The temperature was nothing compared to the 82nd and 83rd floor but the monsters were entirely different. The monster on this floor could use skills that rose the difficulty to another level. There was a healer, a tanker, a marksman, and a dps. Also, the coordination and timing of the monsters were simply astonishing. It feels like they were fighting skilled adventurers. The group wouldn''t even survive this level of this floor if not for their parasites. Yuko and Doranjan were forced to use their [Monster Orb] release which let them fight dozens of A-rank at the same time. Yuko''s release state was different from Souta. Her body grew into a five-meter tall and her fur turned into dancing red flames. Skins turned into molten rocks that could scorch any creatures. The monster orb in the center of her forehead was releasing a jet black tattoo that spread on her body like a blood vessel. The temperature of her flaming fur almost reached five hundred degrees celsius. Even if she didn''t do anything, normal people would melt just by simply approaching her. This was the release state of the Scorching Red Bear. Doranjan''s release state was different. His dragon bloodline was one of the most common dragons in Imperium, the green dragon. In his release state, he became a twenty-meter tall giant dragon. His scales turned into hard-looking armor and sharp spikes grew on his back. The gap of his scales was emitting a green light which turned into a mist around him. He was just a small dragon with a size of three meters but when was in his release state his size grew to twenty meters. The two of them used their release state to decimated as many monsters as they could on the 85th floor. The potions that Isabella made were being consumed at high speed. Without her potions, the group wouldn''t even last in the onslaught of powerful and well-coordinated monsters. It took them one and a half weeks before they cleared this high-level floor. "Shit, I lost count of how many times they cut my legs and hands... If I didn''t have a parasite then I would forever lose my limbs." Torkez cursed as he lay down on the ground which was full of sand. "Ehe~ they are better than what I expected..." Franklin laughed as he wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. "We could hardly clear this floor and I expected that the next floor would be harder than this one so what should we do, my lord?" He glanced at Souta. "Well, stop here for now," Souta said as he sat down. He then turned his eyes to Isabella, Yuko, and Doranjan. Isabella was the weakest among them so her stamina wasn''t as high as theirs. She was exhausted even though the monster that she fought was only B-rank. Yuko and Doranjan have the most contributions in clearing this floor. It was all thanks to their [Monster Orb Release] that the difficulty of this floor has decreased. His decision to leave Yenxia on the upper floors was right. Even Isabella who was a B-rank was having a hard time on this floor. Yenxia''s power level was equal to D-rank and a single hit from a monster on this floor would kill her as she didn''t have a parasite in her body. "Souta is right. I don''t think that we could kill the next floor and the rest of the remaining floors if we are having a hard time on the 85th floor. Unless our skill has improved or we grew stronger and if not, then we can''t clear the remaining floors with our current strength." Alice said in a low voice. She took a bottle of water from Isabella and drunk it in one go. "Our improvement is great. Compared to the time when we just enter this labyrinth, our strength right now is higher than before but we need to stop now. We finally hit a wall. If we keep moving forward then we will only die." Souta said as he looked at the ceiling. Yuko went to his side and placed her head on his lap. He smiled and patted her head. "...then... Are we going back to the surface?" Torkez asked. "Nope, we''ll stay here and train until we have enough strength to clear the next floor. We''ll improve everything starting from battle style to coordination." Souta said to them with a serious expression. He planned to let them used Saya''s inner consciousness. He didn''t need to worry about his secret leaking to others. He trusts them and also if they somehow betray him. He had the parasite queen which could control all the parasites and all of them had parasites in their bodies. Souta already knew his limits. If he revealed his aces, they could probably clear another two or three floors and that''s it. It wouldn''t change anything at all. They still needed to increase their strength to clear the remaining floors. Isabella, Torkez, and Franklin needed to learn some powerful skills, not some low-grade skills that they learned in their homeworld. In truth, he didn''t need to worry about Isabella. She had a god''s legacy and he was sure that she had her own set of skills in her mind that she hadn''t learned yet. Also, her growth speed was extremely fast. She was just a normal person a few months ago and now, she could already rival B-rank expert which was equal to Master-class Knight in Planet Eidin. Well, as expected of the Great Potion Master in the game. In his group, she was the only one that Souta trusted that could attain godhood. As for the rest, he wasn''t sure about their potential. Souta sighed and looked at his system. In the past few weeks, his exp have increasing nonstop because of his shadows killing the monsters on the upper floors. Also, the number of B-ranks that he killed on the 80th floor to 85th floor was more than one hundred. Even dozens of A-ranks provided a large amount of exp to fill his exp bar. He was getting close to leveling up once again. He missed this type of grinding exp. Unfortunately, he didn''t get any points in the past few weeks aside from the points that he got from the legion. Yeah, in the past he couldn''t grind like this because he was busy gathering points by completing those quests. The quest in the Deep Woods, Gripin City, Fresch Dukedom, Ibish Village, Blue Lawless City, and the Great Astley Empire. The exp he got from all these quests was too little. The A-rank experts that he killed from these quests could be counted in one hand. Quest really was suitable for grinding exp. It was only suitable for grinding skill points and free attribute points. Hunting was still the best way to acquire a huge amount of exp. Well, his current level was 43. He calculated that by the end of this labyrinth. He would probably level up close to 45 and he had 3 level-up cards in his arsenal. Hmm...? I wonder if I could get inside the Mars Archipelago. Most of the lost mana and spirit fruits could be found in that continent. This was one of the best ways to further increase his level and attributes. Chapter 459 - Captured Lumilia, Lynn, and Princess Alea were sitting around a table. The three of them had the same depressed look on their faces. "It''s been a few weeks and there''s still no news about Bryan..." Lumilia sighed as she looked at the coffee on the table. "Sigh... I''ve tasked my subordinates to investigate the incident and they haven''t found anything. Some of the huge family is cooperating with us like Bentley Family and they''ve given every information about it. Every evidence pointed out that Bryan is the killer." Alea stopped for a moment before she added, "Damn, just who would dare to cause me some troubles... I, a princess of a blood moon am getting tired about everything." "Princess, your manners." Lumilia smiled wryly. "Uwa, I forgot that we''re in a public place." Alea fixed her posture. "I know Bryan and I''m sure that he wouldn''t resort to killing. If he wanted the girl to escape then he would simply knock out those guards. He isn''t Souta who is decisive about this kind of things." Lumilia said. "If it was Souta then I would believe that Souta would kill those guards leave no one alive but it was Bryan. Bryan is a kind-hearted person who loves fighting but hates killing." "Yeah, I''m sure that Bryan didn''t kill those guards." Lynn nodded. "But we don''t have any evidence." Alea narrowed her eyes. "I will be forced to restart the investigation." "We''ll be doing our own investigation too but... A lot of people are wary about us since they thought that we''re hiding Bryan from the authorities." Lumilia said. The one that solidified Bryan as the killer was the event when he fought the guards near the red light district. The guards said that they were trying to talk to Bryan when he suddenly attacked them. It only means one thing, Bryan was the killer. If he wasn''t the killer then why would he attack those guards? In one of the rooms inside the royal palace... A tall man wearing a full plate golden-colored armor was looking at the window. He was Resti, the commander of the Eternal''s Army that talked to Bargan a few weeks ago. One of the top experts of the empire. ''Bargan have left the empire to go to the battlefield and the demons have shattered the barrier in the Listen Wastes. Their forces are spreading quickly.'' Resti frowned as he placed his hand on his back. ''The battlefield is being pushed towards the Heretic''s Dynasty. A war against the demon? Who would have thought that it would happen in my generation.'' The war in the Heretic''s Dynasty was going to last as it was different from Listen Wastes which was caught off guard by the demons. But Resti knew that it wouldn''t last long if no one helped the Heretic''s Dynasty. Small countries would simply crumble under the might of the demon army but the Heretic''s Dynasty was a large country that had a god-level powerhouse protecting them. So they would be able to resist for one or two weeks. On the other side, he doesn''t need to worry about demons passing through the body of water that divided the Listen Wastes and Lion''s Kingdom, and Fort Anvi. Those two large countries were experts in naval warfare. The Three Great Countries were only watching the situation. Resti understood the mindset of those people. He knew that the great countries would let the large countries fight the demon army and when the two sides were exhausted that''s when they will appear to swallow everything. That''s not all. There was another reason why they weren''t making a move. They were wary about the Mechanic Country. The military prowess that the mechanic army showed in the war against the Sy, Rhine, and Distrok nations exceeded their expectations. Those three nations were large countries yet the Mechanic Country handled them perfectly. "Sooner or later, we wouldn''t be able to conceal to the public that the demons had appeared. It will cause a panic but we are preparing to manage it." Resti muttered as he closed his eyes. Then, he heard a knock on the door behind him. "Come in." The door behind him opened and a man entered the room. The man bowed down and said, "Sir, I''ve gathered the information about the incident regarding the young man named Bryan Dagruel." "Good. Then, tell me everything..." Resti said as he turned around and sat on his chair. The man placed a stock of paper files on the table before he reported, "This is everything that we could gather. Everything pointed that the young man named Bryan is the killer behind the incident in the detention center. The survivor of the massacre said that he saw Bryan''s face under the hoods." "I have a question. Did you really investigate the scene or maybe did you just get this information from other people?" Resti narrowed his eyes as the atmosphere inside the room turned cold. "Yes, sir. But we had to cooperate with the people that are tasked to handle this case so we simply gathered everything as fast as possible." The man said in a respectful tone. "This information came from...?" Resti looked at the paper files on his table. "The noble families..." The man replied quickly. "Which families?" "Bentley, Ardi, Nasul, and Yasmi family. Since the princess is acquainted with the young man, they are helping the princess investigate this matter to curry her favor." "If I didn''t know Bargan then I would accept that young man is the killer but Bargan, the Flame Master, believes that his student wouldn''t do such vile things," Resti said and then he looked at his subordinates in the eyes. "So I will choose to believe in him. Start over again. Don''t let other people knew that we are investigating this case. Maybe, some of the information that we had were altered." Gather the experts and let them investigated it without letting the authorities knew especially the noble families. Do not exchange information with other people. Just deal with it alone and quietly as you can. Also, don''t let the princess knew that we''re involved in this matter. These were his orders... ... Inside a dark room, Bryan was on his knees as his four limbs were bound by thick chains. These chains were made of metal with the lowest energy conductivity. It has a characteristic that could disrupt mana flow in one''s body so while being bound by these chains, Bryan would be having a hard time exerting his mana outside his body. His mana would only scatter in the air once he let it out. Also, his body was full of wounds and some of it was fresh. He was exhausted. He was captured a few weeks ago when he confronted the guards. He didn''t think that several A-rank would appear out of nowhere. At that time, he didn''t even manage to react when they knocked him out using a powerful combo. Bryan spat a mouthful of blood and he turned his eyes on his side. He wasn''t alone in this place. There were others like him in this prison and all of them were tortured. The only reason why they didn''t kill them was because of their mana. The people that tortured them were slowly extracting their mana and plucking out their mana pool to transfer it to a vessel. "Hey, still alive...?" He asked in a low voice. "Somehow..." Bryan heard a replied and he sighed in relief. At least, some of the people with him were still alive. But who knows when they would collapse. They were fated to become a cripple once their mana pool was plucked out. In the past few weeks, Bryan received torture from people that he didn''t know. From the other captives, he learned that those people were from Bentley Family and they were doing something ominous with the captured girls. Sacrifice. The women were all sacrifice to create a pure bloodline of the Bentley Family. "Those damn elves..." Bryan heard a voice from the other cell. He glanced around and wondered why the people from the Bentley Family weren''t here. He asked and received an answer from the people in this prison. The ritual was going to start tomorrow so they were busy preparing for it. He didn''t understand other complicated details of the ritual but he knew that a lot of people were going to die tomorrow. Argh!! Bryan groaned in pain as the tube that was stuck on his back was sucking his mana. It was draining his energy in his mana pool. The other people writhed in pain too as they experienced the same thing. Some of them collapsed and fell unconscious as they couldn''t handle the intense pain. Damn! Damn! Damn! I need to get out of this place... Bryan gritted his teeth as anger filled his eyes. The chains that were binding him were preventing him from using mana and the tube on his back was sucking his mana. In short, he was left with his physical strength. The only problem was that he was exhausted from all the tortures that he received in the past few weeks and he haven''t eaten a single thing. "DAAAAAAAAMN!!" Chapter 460 - Bloodline He had the blood of a barbarian flowing in his veins. It was said that the barbarian possessed great physical ability but he couldn''t even break these chains around his limbs. Daaaaamn!!! While they weren''t here, he need to remove these shackles. "AAAARGH!!" His mind blank out and he lost his consciousness. He couldn''t do anything at all. "This young man is stubborn... I don''t understand why he is still resisting..." "I''m too tired. This tube sucked out all of my energy. I''m going to rest maybe it''s better if I don''t wake up." "Why did we offend the Bentley Family...?" "For personal reason, I guess..." "At least this will end tomorrow..." "Yeah, I''m finally going to die. Nothing good happened in this life." "That''s just how life is." The other people talked before they fell asleep because the tube just sucked out their energy. They needed some time to recover it and after they recover a little bit amount of their mana the tube will start sucking it out once again. After some time, two people appeared in front of Bryan''s cell. The two looked at Bryan with a plain expression. "I didn''t think that you would appear here once again, Bryan. I thought that you will stay in Hebrei Kingdom but who would think that you will appear here once again." One of the two people said. "Brother Bryan is slowly unlocking his abilities. He is already at liquefying realm and he unlocked a part of his barbarian bloodline." The other one smiled while looking at Bryan but then his expression turned sad. "Sigh, the organization will discover Brother Bryan soon." "Number Ten, don''t tell anybody about it. I hope that we can leave him to have a peaceful life but it seems that he slowly approaching us unconsciously." The man sighed and he raised his palm. He gathered his energy on his palm and placed it on Bryan''s head. After a few seconds, the man removed his hand and he saw that Bryan''s hair was completely red. "Brother Hexan, you''ve awakened his barbarian bloodline? Just how many levels did you awaken it also, did you awaken the other bloodline?" The man who was called Number Ten asked curiously. "I''ve awakened his barbarian bloodline to the limits and that''s all. The other bloodlines are too deep so I couldn''t do anything but this is enough for him." The man called Hexan smiled faintly while looking at Bryan. "I hope that we don''t meet again Bryan. Just have a peaceful life without worrying about your past. I try to hide everything about you in the organization." "I hope you did well, Brother Bryan." Number Ten waved his hand. He turned to Hexan and said, "I think that we would meet Brother Bryan again. He is in the liquefying realm and once he reaches the solidifying realm, his power would skyrocket. Remember, that he didn''t have shackles in his body so he isn''t bound by mortal limits." "Yeah, you are right. He is the CODE 001, after all." Soon, the two disappeared with a flash of blue light. Their presence and traces of them were gone. The next day, Bryan slowly opened his eyes. "Hmm...?" He looked left and right. His senses were unbelievably sharp at this moment. He could hear people talking outside of this prison. The guards were coming to check if someone among them died. "What is this feeling...?" He raised his head and glanced at the chains that were binding his hands. Even though he only has a little bit of mana left in his body, he still felt that he had overwhelming power. Should I... Veins popped in his left arm as he tried to move it forward. Metallic sounds echoed in the cell and cracks appeared on the chains. When he added more force to his arm, the chains broke into tiny pieces as it fell on the floor causing a loud metallic sound. "I''ve never felt something like this before..." Bryan stood up and grabbed the chains on his right arm. He then crushed it using brute force. He did the same on the chains on his feet and the tube on his back. His physical power was upgraded by several levels and he didn''t know why. He has a feeling that he could crush anyone with his newfound strength. "With this, I should be able to rescue Cyndy and the other people there..." He muttered as he tightly closed his hand and felt the power flowing in his veins. He didn''t even notice that the color of his hair has turned blood-red. Also, his wounds had stopped bleeding as his muscles contracted to close the open wounds. "You!!" "How did you escape?!" The people from the other cells noticed that Bryan broke the chains on his body. They were shocked as they couldn''t believe what they were seeing in front of their eyes. Bryan turned around and looked at the tube. This tube was the one that the Bentley Family used to suck his mana. What would happen if he did the opposite? He grabbed the tube and stuck it on his chest. He had the feeling that he could do it and he trusted his instinct. Ohm! A large amount of mana flowed through the tube and entered his body. It felt like the mana was tearing his muscles as it was forcefully transferred into his body. "Argh!!" A sphere of energy exploded and it shook the whole prison. His mana pool was filled and he took back everything that they''ve got. He was now powerful than before. He narrowed his eyes as he sensed that the guards were coming here with sharp weapons. They must have noticed the energy wave coming from him. Also, the device that they used to suck mana was destroyed. Two B-rank and ten C-rank experts. Easy. A faint smile formed on Bryan''s face as he raised his feet and stomped the ground with his full strength. Boom! The ground exploded and large blocks of rocks burst out in every direction. The guards were caught off guard and Bryan used this chance to freed the other captives like him. With his personality, he wasn''t going to abandon these people. Boom! A burst of flames exploded from the ground and Bryan''s figure came out of the surface. He landed on the ground and he found that he was in the red light district. The district was close and only people from the Bentley Family were here as they were preparing for the ritual tomorrow. "I will fight anyone who dared to stop me!!" Bryan roared as he let out a powerful wave of energy that shook everything around him. Hexan and Number Ten were on the top of the building, quietly watching the things unfold before their eyes. "Oi! Brother Hexan, are you sure that you only awaken his barbarian bloodline? Isn''t that a magical human trait? Super energy regeneration..." Number Ten was quite shocked when he saw this. Hexan nodded, "Yeah, I only awakened his barbarian bloodline as it was partially awakened. Maybe, he tapped into his magical human trait when he broke out." "Isn''t that dangerous?! Can he even control it...?" Number Ten glanced at Hexan. "He could control it. After all, he already utilized all of his power in the past to freed himself." Hexan said as he shrugged his shoulder and added, "Also, you had a barbarian, magical human, and witch bloodline too. It''s not surprising that he couldn''t control it. His instinct will tell the answer." "Well, you are right. We should tell Brother Seven about this. He is worried about Brother Bryan too." Number Ten said as he looked in the sky. "Let''s go now... Since Bryan is involved in this case, let''s just took the result of the research." The two disappeared under the moonlight. No one would know that they were here just a moment ago. After all, they have the ability to escape from a god''s detection. ... Bang! Bryan threw a powerful punch that knocked down several B-rank experts that tried to stop him. Chaos spread in the red light district that the Bentley Family was managing. The people that Bryan freed took this chance to escape and freed the other prisoners. The Bentley Family captured hundreds of people and locked them under the red light district, and those people were the source of energy that was flowing throughout the whole district. "Where is the ritual site?!" Bryan jumped fifty meters in the sky and looked around the whole district. He was trying to find the said ritual where the Bentley Family would sacrifice the women that they''ve captured. Then, twenty B-rank experts that were guarding the district charged at him. "Stop him!!" "Stop this man!!" "Don''t let him leave this place!!" "Hmph!!" Bryan snorted as flames formed around his fist. "Take this!" [Blazing Strike]! A three-meter huge fist made of flames shoots out from his hand. It descended on the ground and caused a powerful explosion that blown dozens of buildings. Boom! Chapter 461 - Disturbance In The Red Light District Flames spread out in the red light district. A figure was on the center of it with his striking red color hair. It was Bryan and his body was oozing out a tremendous amount of energy. He showed his power in the red light district to defeat more than twenty B-rank experts. It was a huge feat and twenty B-rank experts were a force to reckon. He went to the person that asked them about the ritual of the Bentley Family. No matter where he looked in this place, he couldn''t find the ritual place of the Bentley Family. It seems that the ritual wasn''t going to happen in this place. "Of course, they aren''t going to start the ritual in this country. After all, it''s going to cause a commotion and the whole country will notice it so the ritual will be held outside the country." The man who answered his question was a B-rank adventurer before he was captured by the people from Bentley Family. He took a quest before to investigate this family but he got captured by a bunch of B-rank experts. But then he learned a lot of things circling around this noble family. Hmm...? A powerful energy shot in the sky in three directions. It was the energy of A-rank experts. This family really had powerful forces as they could easily dispatch several A-rank and B-rank at the same time. "Listen carefully, I''ll only tell you this once." The man said to Bryan where the ritual will be held. He also didn''t forget to warn Bryan about the danger of going into that place. The forces of the Bentley Family in the ritual were much more concentrated than the red light district which only had a few A-rank experts managing it. In that place, he should expect himself to encounter a shackled realm expert. Bryan was only at liquefying level and the shackled realm was too far from his level. "I suggest that you shouldn''t go alone." The man said before he left to escape the red light district along with the other captives. He was a B-rank expert so his physical strength was enough to defeat some of the C-rank guards even if he didn''t have mana in his body. Bryan looked at the man before he narrowed his eyes as he felt that three A-rank experts were rushing in his direction. "I need to get out of this place as fast as possible..." He muttered as he also didn''t forget the warning of that man. If he wanted to get out of this country he shouldn''t let other people notice him or else the guards will notice him too and they will prevent him from leaving this country. Now that he didn''t have much time left, he didn''t need to report this to the authorities. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! A saw a huge block of ice flying at him from above. "They are already here..." Bryan looked at it and moved his body to the side to avoid getting hit. If it was the other day, he would still enjoy fighting these A-rank experts but now that a lot of people were in danger he didn''t have a time to thoroughly enjoy himself. There was a time for that later... Flames coated his fist and he threw it on the block of ice. Bang! The flames collided with ice and it created a mist that covered the entire area. The three A-rank experts narrowed their eyes when they saw this scene. Then, the A-rank mage raised his hand and dozens of wind spears formed above him. The other A-rank experts were a swordsman and a shielder. They fought side by side countless times so they didn''t need to discuss their plan. They know each other very well. The wind spears shoot at high speed and exploded on the ground. A gust of wind swept out and it dispersed the vapor created by the flames and ice. Bang! Bang! Bang! The shielder went to the front with a fearless expression and the swordsman hid around waiting for Bryan to show up. Bryan took a deep breath as his mana concentrated around his body. It strengthened his physical body to the next level. "He''s coming...!!" The mage said as he felt the mana in the air changed. He then gathered his mana on his palm and prepared himself to cast spells to support his comrades. [Titan Wall]!! [Flesh Enhancement]!! [Great Shield Will]!! The shielder used his combat arts that could exponentially raise his defensive ability. ''What?!'' His eyes constricted when he saw a figure appeared in front of him. The figure has red striking hair and his fist was coated in several layers of flames. Bryan was about to throw his fist when he sensed something. He crouched down and saw a blade passed above his head. If he didn''t avoid it, he was sure that the blade would severe his head. The next thing that he noticed was that the shielder and the swordsman were twenty meters away from him. ''They retreated...?'' He lifted his head and saw a five-meter ball of sharp winds heading at his body. Eh~ A smirk formed on his face. Even though he was fighting these guys to go to the ritual place, he still couldn''t help but felt a thrilling sensation in his body. Fighting three A-rank experts at the same time was simply exciting. Boom!! Dust shot up in the mid-air and shockwaves swept out that destroyed several houses around them. The red light district was being demolished as the ones battling here were all A-rank experts. The mage, swordsman, and shielder used their power to contain the shockwaves. They couldn''t afford it if the whole district was destroyed. Their master would punish them for it. But then... The man who was fighting them was strong even among A-rank. A young man with red hair. They didn''t know where did they offend this expert or why this expert was causing trouble in their territory. But one thing was for sure... If they wanted to know the answer to their question, they had to capture this young man with red hair. The shielder stepped forward and the mage was about to cast another spell when... Boom! A lightning bolt from the sky crashed on the ground. Electric sparks spread in every direction like a spider web. Soon the whole place was flooded by lightning and it was followed by a sea of flames. "Shit!!" The shielder stepped back as he saw Bryan charged at him. A figure that was covered in lightning and flames. Swoosh! Bryan threw a punch and the shielder raised his shield in response to block the attack. When Bryan''s fist landed on the shield, spider web cracks formed on it and the force behind his punch generated a ripple across the shielder''s body. ''What the- this power?!!'' The shielder opened his eyes widely as he spat a mouthful of blood before he flew away and crashed on several buildings leaving a trail of smoke. Boom! "This guy is..." The swordsman didn''t even manage to finish his sentence as Bryan flashed in front of him. He sword his sword but the lightning around him reflected his attack and Bryan used this chance to land a direct hit. [Blazing Strike]!! A huge flame fist swallowed the body of the swordsman. Everything that happened exceeded their expectations. Bryan''s physical strength and magical power were outside of their imagination. He was simply too strong for them. "Fuck!!" The mage roared and he tried to create a barrier to protect himself. Lightning on his left side and flames on his right side. He was being sandwiched between two powerful elements. "This is the end..." Bryan opened his palm and flames gathered around it like a whirlwind. At the same time, the mana in the air rose highly. [Flame Blast]!! A powerful beam of flames burst towards the mage that was trying to protect himself from being crushed by two elements. Boom! The explosion caused by the attack shook the entire district. Heatwaves swept out in every direction and it melted the buildings near the explosion. The battle scale between A-rank experts was eye-catching so a lot of people around the red light district felt the energy spiked and the sudden increase in temperature. The authorities received the report about the red light district and they gathered at the entrance. Although they knew that something happened in this place, they still didn''t enter because this place was the territory of the Bentley Family. A huge influential force in the Eternal Empire which had dozens of shackled realm experts. Bryan sighed and looked at his palm. His power was greater than he imagined. It was several times stronger before he got captured. Also, his mana recovery was too fast. "My fire and lightning element has grown stronger..." He had four elemental affinities which were fire, lightning, wind, and wood. But he only trained two elements for the past months.. He will try to master his other elements later if he had a chance. Chapter 462 - Reactions The commotion in the red light district gathered the attention of countless people. It even piqued the attention of those influential people. A lot of people escaped from the district and some of the empire''s guards took them. They found out that these people were adventurers and the Bentley Family kidnapped them. The empire''s guards had no choice but to force themselves inside the red light district when they heard about it. Also, the Adventurers Guild was furious about this incident. A noble family was kidnapping a bunch of their people and tortured them to the point that they just wanted to die. So the guild masters of the four branches of Adventurers Guild in Eternal Empire mobilize the adventurers in this country and issued a request to watch the people of the Bentley Family. They weren''t going to attack first as the guild masters were going to talk to the head of the Bentley Family. Also, they needed to talk to the Security Bureau of this country. Lumilia and Lynn went to the palace as Princess Alea called them. The two of them received the request from the Adventurers Guild and they felt that Bryan''s disappearance was related to this case. When they arrived in the royal palace, Alea''s butler greeted them. "Princess Alea is waiting for you..." The butler said as he bowed his head to the two and lead them towards the room where Alea is. Lumilia glanced at the butler. She knew that this butler was a liquefied realm expert. He was not a simple butler at all considering the level of his strength. They arrived in front of the room and the butler opened the door. Lumilia and Lynn entered the room to see Alea sitting on a chair with a serious expression. Alea smiled when she saw the two. "Good to see you two." She said as she leaned her back on her chair. Lumilia and Lynn thanked her and they sat down on a seat in front of Alea. They didn''t say anything and just waited for the princess to start the conversation. After a while, Alea sighed and she slowly opened her mouth. "You are both registered adventurers so I''m sure that you''ve heard about the things that happened in the red light district one hour ago." She said. "Yes... The guild issued a quest to guard the Bentley Family territory and watch their movements." Lumilia paused as she looked at the door before she continued, "I think that it will not be long before the guild ordered the adventurers to subdue the Bentley Family. The guild masters are really furious this time as more than a hundred adventurers were tortured in the underground of the red light district." Yeah, hundreds of adventurers who were thought dead were still alive. The guild could accept it if they simply died while trying to explore dungeons or completing difficult quests but they were captured and tortured. They became a battery of the whole red light district. Their energy was the ones that keeping that district alive. That''s why the guild couldn''t accept it. If the branch guild masters could solve this problem then they would contact the main guild in the Nivari Kingdom, the country of adventurers. "The captives aren''t only adventurers. Some of them are missing people of this country and we never thought that the Bentley Family is the one behind those kidnappings." Alea sighed as she closed her eyes. A moment after she opened her eyes and looked at Lumilia in the eyes, "and I think that this is connected to Bryan''s disappearance. No, this is connected to his crime and disappearance. If we investigated this matter we will know the truth." "The moment I heard about the in the red light district, I already realized that the Bentley Family is the one manipulating the past incidents behind the scene. The girl called Mina disappeared that night when the incident in the detention center occurred. According to the information, that girl is a prostitute and she had a huge debt. "Just by looking at it, you can already see the connection. The red light district is a property of the Bentley Family. So I did some investigation and asked some of the people from Lanny corp to handle this matter. "Do you know what I''ve found when I went to the Lanny corp?" Lumilia looked at Princess Alea. "What?" Princess Alea narrowed her eyes. "Bryan wanted to take down the Bentley Family because of that girl called Mina. They are planning to take down that huge family but the Bentley Family got them first so Bryan became a criminal for the crime that he didn''t do. I''m not sure about this at first but the incident one hour ago proved that my guess is right." Lumilia exhaled. "The Bentley Family tried to help you investigate the incident in the detention center but their goal is different from you. They gave the wrong information so that we believe that Bryan is really the culprit." "Yeah, I should have let my trusted subordinates investigate this matter. I shouldn''t have depended on them." Alea sighed and added, "But we couldn''t find Bryan among the people the escaped from the red light district. According to them, a man with red hair is the one who freed them and fought the experts of the Bentley Family." "I think that we need to move now..." Lumilia said. ... "I need to find Brother Bryan. If it''s needed I will even flip out the entire Bentley Family just to find Brother Bryan." Eunice crossed her arms in front of her chest. Now that the pieces were coming together, she was sure that the Bentley Family was the one behind Bryan''s disappearance. She came from one of the ten great families so the forces that she could mobilize were huge even though she was just a little girl. She had the authority after all she was the daughter of the head of the Giniver Family, a noble family of high elves. "Eunice..." Eunice glanced at the woman in front of her and snorted. This woman was her older sister, Amiel Le Giniver. "Don''t try to stop me, sister. I will find Brother Bryan." Amiel smiled wryly and said, "You don''t need to use our people. I''m sure that Princess Alea will find Bryan." "No, that''s a big no. I won''t wait here and Brother Bryan would think that I didn''t care about him." Eunice walked out of the room leaving those words. ... The things regarding the Bentley Family were turning high. The guild masters were getting impatient as no matter how much they called the head of the family, he won''t come out and greet them. Maybe, the head of the family wasn''t in this place. Soon, the guild masters received a report from their subordinates. The contents of the report were about the things related to the ritual that they''ve rummaged in the red light district. "Fuck!!! So Algard isn''t here?" One of the four guild masters cursed in a loud voice. Algard was the name of the head of the Bentley Family. "But with this... We have a reason to attack the Bentley Family." Another guild master said while glancing at the other three. "Yeah, tell the adventurers on standby to attack the Bentley Family. We will thoroughly destroy this noble family as they dared to kidnapped our adventurers under our noses. Also, I will report this to the main guild so that they could talk to the higher-ups of this country about our decision." A large operation has started... The adventurers attacked the Bentley Family even without receiving the permission of the Security Bureau. But then, it wasn''t easy for them as the guild master has to make a move. Most of the experts of the Adventurers Guild were only C-rank so they were at a disadvantage in terms of individual strength. They only had a few dozen of B-rank in the whole country and their A-rank could be counted in one hand. They didn''t even have a single S-rank expert. Most of the S-rank experts of the guild weren''t in the Eternal Empire, they were doing a high difficult quest to requires several months to complete. Also, a month ago the main guild called most of the S-rank and above adventurers. Since then, the S-rank and above adventurers could be hardly seen in any country. But they had an overwhelming advantage in numbers as their number was several times larger than the forces of the Bentley Family. Also, most of the elites of the Bentley Family weren''t in their territory. They were outside of the country preparing the ritual to purify their bloodline. While everyone was busy in the Eternal Empire, Bryan already left the country and was heading towards the place of the ritual. He couldn''t wait for other people to come here as he didn''t know how many would die if the ritual started. "Just wait for me." Bryan''s face was serious and it was rarely seen by other people.. Anger filled his eyes as he tightly clenched his fist. Chapter 463 - Blood Awakening Ritual Bryan arrived at the location deep inside the Forest of Eternal Light. He knew that he was in the right place as he saw people wearing armor patrolling around. And these people weren''t ordinary at all as all of them had the aura of an A-rank and B-rank experts. They were pretty deep inside the forest so monsters were common in this place. Corpses of second and first evolution monsters could be seen around. The Bentley Family carefully picked this place. They knew that this place was between the territory of two third evolution monsters so they choose this place as the third evolution wouldn''t wander out of their territory under normal circumstances. The Forest of Eternal Light was the second largest forest in the Giza Continent. Countless powerful monsters inhabited this place and third evolution monsters could be considered normal. If they were unfortunate, they could bump into a fourth evolution monster or a fifth evolution monster. The place that the guards were protecting was a gigantic alter. A fifteen-meter tall tower and above it was the altar. Stairs were situated in the four directions of the tower and the bottom of the tower was emitting a mysterious red light. ''This is harder than I thought...'' Bryan thought while observing the sight. He was only one and the number of the enemies reached hundreds. All of them were C-rank and above. But he couldn''t back down. He couldn''t wait for the other people to come here to stop the ritual. Those people would die if he hesitated and he didn''t want that to happen. He wanted to form a plan but he wasn''t Souta and Lumilia that could easily form a plan. All he could think was fight the enemies head-on. "I will..." He tightly clenched his fist as he looked ahead with a serious expression. ... A tall handsome man wearing a red robe with golden trims was on the center of the altar. This man had short green hair and green eyes. He was the head of the Bentley Family, Algard Bentley. A noble elf and a powerhouse at the shackled realm. "Finally, I will be able to take back the bloodline of my ancestor. My dream will come true at last." He said with an intoxicated face while looking at the moon in the sky. The moon was shining brightly as if responding to his words. He turned around and said, "Bring out the sacrifice that will fulfill my dream." His subordinates guide dozens of women of different ages. The women were different to each other but there was one thing they have in common. All of them were bound by chains and have bruises all over their bodies. Their eyes were lifeless as if they''ve given up on their lives. They accepted their fate. The fate that they will die today and no one would save their pitiful lives. "This is... The road to godhood will be opened in front of our eyes today." Algard couldn''t contain his excitement while watching the women walked towards the altar. The Bentley Family was one of the oldest families in the Eternal Empire. Hundred years ago at their peak, their family produced dozens of shackled realm experts that broke at least seven shackles. They even have demigod powerhouses in their ranks but the era at that time was chaotic and full of war. So most of their experts died at that time and their family was reduced to its current state. Now, he will bring back the bloodline of his ancestor. He will purify and take back the glorious noble bloodline of his forefathers. "Let''s start the ritual... The Blood Awakening Ritual..." Algard looked like he was a madman. His expression was filled with excitement as he couldn''t wait to bring back his family to its peak. His subordinate went beside him and give him a wooden staff. This staff looked ordinary but it was a dark grade weapon called [Staff of the Wooden Priest]. It was a weapon that was passed down in his family. Algard grabbed the staff and tapped the ground with it. A huge magic circle formed and light shone brightly as it shot towards the sky producing a large amount of mana. Ohm!! The next moment, the women fell down on their knees as intense pain assaulted their bodies at the same time. They writhed on the ground as their blood was circulating several times faster than normal. "Everyone prepare yourself." He warned his subordinates. He was at the crucial part of the ritual and he couldn''t afford someone disturbing him. With the amount of mana that the magic circle was releasing, he was sure that it would gather the attention of the monsters in the vicinity. The worst-case scenario was that the two third evolution would come to disturb his plan. That''s why he prepared the elites of his family. He brought one hundred twenty five C-rank, sixty-two B-rank, forty-seven A-rank, twenty-nine S-rank, and ten shackled realm experts. This force could even overwhelm a fifth evolution monster. But it wasn''t the true power of his family as some of his forces were left in the territory inside the Eternal Empire. Just like what he expected, the monsters gathered around the vicinity. Well, he didn''t need to worry about it as the elites of his family will handle it for him. ROAR!!! Roars of different monsters echoed in every direction and the elites quickly moved to eliminate the monsters that approached the ritual site. Hundreds of monsters were attracted to the high flow of energy in this place. The first and second evolution charged at this place with the intention to destroy the flow of foreign mana that was disrupting the surrounding area. "I will go..." Bryan didn''t let this chance passed by. He dashed forward and he opened his palm. He grabbed two B-rank experts before he smashed their heads into each other. Then, he raised his feet and kicked them away from him. Bang! With his current power, he could easily knock down B-rank experts. The barbarian blood flowing in his body was fully activated and it boosted his physical ability by several levels. He could even fight an A-rank expert with just his physical ability not relying on his mana, combat arts, and spells. He was noticed by other elites when he knocked down the two B-rank experts. "Who are you?!" "Get him quickly!!" "We will not let anyone approach the ritual!!" Four A-rank and nine B-rank experts charged at him. The order of the head was to prevent anyone from approaching the ritual. It''s not only for monsters as humans and demis were included in this order. Bryan glanced at the ritual and felt that he should finish this as soon as possible. Cyndy and the rest of the women were waiting for him to rescue them. Who knows how many of them will die if he stayed here for a long time? That''s why... Boom! An enormous amount of mana exploded out of Bryan''s body. It created a spherical wave that pushed everything around him. Then, lightning and flames burst out like a tsunami. He didn''t know why but his mana recovery has improved greatly. ''I need to stop the ritual...!'' Bryan''s body was covered in lightning and flames. He flashed as he collided with the experts from the Bentley Family. Boom!! A loud explosion occurred that shook the ground heavily. Two of the four A-rank flew away and crashed on the trees. They didn''t expect that Bryan possessed unbelievable strength. While they were shocked at his strength, Bryan used this chance to dash forward and pulled back his fist. After gathering his mana, he threw it in the direction of the ritual. [Blazing Strike]!! A gigantic flame fist shot out from his fist and it flew towards the ritual. But then, a figure appeared in front of his attack and blocked it. Boom! The man who stopped his attack was an S-rank powerhouse who solidified his mana. "You''re getting ahead of yourself." The man said as he zoomed the distance between him and Bryan. ''What?!'' Bryan opened his eyes widely as he saw the S-rank was throwing his fist at his stomach. He crossed his arm to block it but when the fist landed on his arm, he felt a powerful force pushing him. It was so strong. The power of an S-rank expert was on a different level compared to an A-rank. An ordinary punch of an S-rank was ten times stronger than the attack of an A-rank that used combat arts. Bang! "Ugh!" Bryan flew away and crashed on the ground creating a deep gully on it. When he came back to his senses, he saw the other two A-rank experts were already beside him. ''Not good.'' Boom! A large explosion occurred and his figure flew away crashing on several trees. "Argh!" Bryan looked ahead and wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. He squatted down and place his right palm on the ground while his other hand was on his back. "I''ll use the one that teacher Bargan taught me..." [Dual Element Drive: Lightning and Flame Force]!! Chapter 464 - [Dual Element Drive] [Dual Element Drive: Lightning and Flame Force]!! The lightning and flames around Bryan''s body grew stronger and wilder. This skill was a powerful unique skill of people that has two elemental affinities and above. This skill greatly boosted their firepower and their abilities related to their elements. Lightning crackled in every direction. It enveloped everything within twenty-meter in diameter around Bryan. It will paralyze any people that have a low resistance to lightning and the flames will place a "burn" status on every people that will chip away their health by twenty per second. The damage of this skill and the effect of this skill scale on the user''s total amount of energy damage. "Oh, this man has two elemental affinities and it seems that he mastered the unique skill of dual elements." The S-rank expert that blocked Bryan''s path said while narrowing his eyes. He thought that this young man with red hair was just strong but this power was outside of his expectations. Nevertheless, this young man was still in the realm of liquefying mana and he couldn''t easily close the gap between the two ranks. "The mana consumption of this skill is huge... Well, it seems that I will have to play for a while until Lord Algard finished the ritual." He said as his mana flowed in every inch of his body to strengthen his physical abilities. But then, the young man in his vision vanished. "Wha-" Bang! Bang! The next thing that he saw was that the two A-rank and several B-rank experts near Bryan flew away as if they received a powerful attack. It was too fast but he could still follow it. A faint smile appeared on his face as he tilted his head to the side and a foot coated with lightning and flames passed beside his cheeks. Swoosh! "That was close..." He clenched his fist as he threw a punch but he missed his opponent. His fist hit nothing but the force behind his punch destroyed the land in front of him. Boom! Bryan narrowed his eyes and threw a punch at the side of the S-rank. But before his punch landed, he felt a pain in his stomach. Argh! He looked down and saw a solid rock burst out of the ground. ''Earth element...'' "Yeah, my affinity is earth element..." The S-rank closed his palm and waved his hand in front of him. Then, dozens of rocks protruded on the floor to hit Bryan. Crackle* A ball of lightning formed on Bryan''s palm and he used it to crush the rocks that were flying at him. Bang! Bang! Bang! ''Shit!'' Bryan glanced at the S-rank. The effect of his lightning and flames release wasn''t effective on this man. It couldn''t even paralyze or burn him. The difference in A-rank and S-rank wasn''t only the form of their mana in their mana pool. All the mana of a B-rank expert in their mana pool was in gaseous state. Then, the mana inside the mana pool of an A-rank expert was in a liquid state. The release of this mana was much stronger than the gaseous state. Also, the fortifying effects were higher. Lastly, the S-rank expert. The mana inside the mana pool of an S-rank expert was solid. It was like a crystal inside a person''s body. According to the books, the S-rank''s mana pool wasn''t a corporeal organ anymore. It was a new organ just like beside the heart of the person that supplied the mana inside the person''s body. Just like the monster orb of a monster. The S-rank has another ability. The protective field that comes from solidifying their mana pool. The protective field was like a transparent layer of skin. It was always active even if the person was sleeping so it protected them from sneak attacks. Under normal circumstances, no one below S-rank could pierce this barrier. Once it was broken, the protective field will need a day before it regenerates. This was one of the things that differentiate S-rank from the ranks below. It widened the gap between them. Once a person reached this level of power, they will be able to fly freely in the sky, survive in outer space, swim in magma, etc. A true powerhouse just like when a monster became a third evolution stage monster. With that said, his opponent was no ordinary human at all. Bryan tightened his fist as dozens of flame spears formed behind him. [Grinding Flame Spear]!! Blades of lightning materialized on the side of his two wrists with the length of two feet. [Lightning Blade]!! Bryan only knows that his barbarian bloodline was partially awakened. He didn''t know that his barbarian bloodline was fully awakened and it wasn''t just an ordinary barbarian bloodline. It was a royal-grade barbarian which boasted to have the most powerful brute strength in the human race. It could even rival those demi that had top tier strength-type bloodlines like bullet ant. Aside from that, there was one more thing that enhances his strength. He didn''t know that he awakened another bloodline, the magical human, which had a high amount of mana and mana recovery. With all of these, Bryan could even fight a top-tier powerhouse from the elves. The elves that boasted to have a higher mana manipulation ability. But then, fighting an S-rank while in the realm of A-rank wasn''t easy to do. Boom! The ground cracked as Bryan charged towards the S-rank elf. The flame spears behind him pointed at the elf and it attempted to pierce his body. Bang! Bang! Bang! Both of them exchanged high speed blows. The whole area was shaking and aftershocks were bursting out every second. The low-level monster that approached them died easily. "You''re strong and you even managed to master the [Dual Element Drive] of lightning and flame but its paralyzed and burn effect won''t work on me. After all, I''m an S-rank and you''re just a strong A-rank." The elf laughed lightly while blocking Bryan''s relentless attacks. He looked like he was taking Bryan lightly but that''s not the case. This elf was just using his words to anger Bryan so that his movements will become predictable. Bryan gritted his teeth as he kept attacking the S-rank elf. The flame spears around him were moving as fast as possible to pierce the protective field of this elf. Compared to teacher Bargan, this elf was nothing. Recalled Bargan''s words about fighting someone at S-rank while having a power of an A-rank. When Bargan was still an A-rank years ago, he used to defeat people who have had a higher level than him. ''I should concentrate my attack on one side...'' Bryan moved his body from side to side as he avoided all of the attacks that the elf threw at him. Swoosh! Swoosh! ''What?! This man... is avoiding my attacks!! He''s getting used to my fighting style!!'' The elf was shocked as he opened his eyes widely while watching Bryan avoided all of his punches and kicks. Argh! He felt a slight pain on the left side of his stomach. Looking down, he saw three flame spears trying to pierce his protective field. ''This guy...'' Bryan appeared in front of him and grabbed his face. "Break for me!" Dozens of flame spears landed on the stomach of the S-rank elf. He then used his other hand to hold the wrist of the elf and smashed him on the ground. Bang! "It''s not enough!" Bryan gritted his teeth as he stomped the hand of the elf to prevent him from gaining his footing. He then poured a large amount of mana on the lightning blade on his wrist. Ohm! He swung his hand and the lightning blade collided on the body of the S-rank elf. Boom! Waves of lightning and flames spread out creating a spherical field that destroyed everything within. The force of the attack devastated nearly every object in the surrounding area. Bang! Bryan''s figure flew out of the explosion and crashed on the ground. His figure was full of blood and he was getting tired. Huff... Huff... His breath was heavy and his body was getting numb. Fighting someone above his level was hard. It was at this moment that he noticed that the fighting around him has stopped. All the first and second evolution monsters were annihilated by the elites of the Bentley Family. After all, a bunch of second evolution monsters wouldn''t stand a chance against a group of A-rank experts. If those shackled realm experts join the battle then it would be over in an instant but those people were guarding the altar and they would only make a move if someone passed through the S-rank experts. Swoosh! The wind blew strongly and the thick smoke was dispersed. Bryan saw that the S-rank elf was standing there with blood flowing out of his mouth. It seems that his attack managed to injure this elf but he knew that it wasn''t enough. While he was thinking about how he should defeat this elf, an intense and heavy energy flooded the entire area. Bryan narrowed his eyes as he looked around. "This.... best feram?!" Chapter 465 - Desperate The S-rank elf wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. "What now... A third evolution monster. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. He was already annoyed by the fact that an A-rank expert made him bleed and now a third evolution monster would add to this. No A-rank has done this to him. This only means that Bryan was a special person among the A-rank experts that he met before. "I don''t want to play anymore. I''m taking this seriously." The elf said as he raised his left hand. Then, one of the S-rank experts who were watching the battle from behind threw a saber at him. After that, the arm guard, gloves, helmet, etc. He wore a high-grade equipment that will boost his strength. His entire focus was only on Bryan and he simply needed to defeat this young man who had a power of an A-rank. "Defeating a genius like you is what makes it more interesting." He said with a smile as he tightly grabbed the saber in his hand. His energy flowed through the blade and it emitted a dim blue light. [Mana Blade]! He didn''t need to worry about the third evolution monster. With his perception, he could sense that there were two third evolution monsters but that''s not a problem. The sixty-two B-rank and forty-seven A-rank experts were enough to handle it. The twenty-nine S-rank experts didn''t even need to make a move. "It seems that you want to stop the ritual but if you just stand there and do nothing Lord Algard will complete the ritual. At that time, your efforts will be in vain." The S-rank elf smiled as he taunted Bryan to attack him. He wasn''t going to lower his guard anymore and he was going to use all of his power to this genius young man. That''s right. If Bryan didn''t make a move then the ritual will be completed before he could save those women. "That''s why..." Bryan compressed his energy. Even with all the added boost of his techniques were still not enough to defeat this one S-rank and yet there were still dozens of S-rank experts waiting for him behind this man. He didn''t bring his orange grade equipment with him so he was at disadvantage against someone who was fully equipped. ... Two people were walking on the streets in the Eternal Empire while watching the commotion in the Bentley Family''s territory. They were Number Ten and Number Six. "Brother Hexan, are you sure that it''s fine to leave Brother Bryan alone?" Number Ten asked curiously. "It''s fine... Bryan couldn''t be killed. Also, when he shattered the prison he awakened the magical human bloodline. That''s just the start of it and since he fully awakened this bloodline on his own his other bloodlines will leave its dormant state." Hexan said with a calm expression as if he knew what will happen to Bryan. "Hmm... I didn''t see Brother Bryan''s file in the white lab. Just how many bloodlines did he have?" Number Ten asked. "You have three bloodlines and I possessed five bloodlines. The boost that it gives to us let us fight someone at a higher level than us." Hexan paused for a moment as he hesitated. In the end, he decided to open his mouth, "Bryan is the perfect being that that man has created so far. Just imagine having the bloodline of all humans and the specialties of the top 30 races of demi. That''s not all, the project will not be called [Project God Slaying] if he didn''t have the power to slay gods. Of course, he had the power of a god just like Number Two, Three, Four, and Five but Bryan is exceptional." Hexan slowly explained what he knew about Bryan to Number Ten. All the things that he knew were passed and Number Ten listened to his words with a surprised look. The passerby couldn''t hear their words as they set up a field around them to prevent people from eavesdropping on their conversation. Even gods would miss their words if they didn''t focus on their senses. "But Brother Bryan''s pain sensitivity is a hundred times higher than normal people?!" Number Ten was shocked. "Yes, and he himself didn''t know it. He just thought that it''s normal but it''s true so I couldn''t imagine how he felt when he was tortured." Hexan sighed with a deep sigh. "..." Number Ten was speechless. ... Alea, Lumilia, Lynn, and Eunice searched throughout the entire red light district. Alea and Eunice even used their forces to search for Bryan but they still didn''t found him. Even the Lanny corp couldn''t find Bryan''s figure nor his body. They were getting worried. "Where did Brother Bryan go?" Eunice muttered with a concerned look. "I don''t know. Where did he go without even notifying us?" Lumilia crossed her arms on her chest while observing the traces of battle in this place. She then glanced at Lynn and asked, "How is it, Lynn? Is the one who fought here is Bryan?" She was getting anxious as she didn''t know what really happened here. "Yes, the lingering mana in the air is similar to Bryan''s magical signature but it''s somehow different. It feels like this is his mana and at the same time it''s not his." Lynn said to her. It''s been an hour since the battle occurred here so the lingering mana was slowly dispersing. If not for her high perception, she wouldn''t even be able to detect it. "Mila, I''m afraid that Bryan isn''t here in this place anymore. He must have left this place after the battle. If I only mastered my [God''s Eye] ability, then I would use it to search for him." Lumilia looked at her friend and smiled gently, "Don''t worry about Bryan. He is stronger than the two of us. Also, we will find him no matter what happens. He is a core member of our legion and everyone should be present here when Souta returned." "Yeah..." Lynn nodded as she remembered Souta. She missed him. She wanted to hear his voice, wanted to see his face, and stand beside him. Lynn, Lumilia, and Eunice turned their head and saw Princess Alea walking towards them with her subordinates following her from behind. "How is it, Princess?" Lumilia asked while glancing at the people behind Alea who were releasing powerful energy. "We''ve found documents in the underground. It''s the evidence that the Bentley Family is doing something illegal." Alea said as she passed a bunch of papers at her. Lumilia received it and skimmed through the documents. She read some important details of the plan of the Bentley Family. The Blood Awakening Ritual...? What is this? She glanced at the princess to inquire about this certain ritual but the princess shook her head and said, "I don''t know but according to the details they wanted to bring back their diluted bloodline so that their innate ability will grow stronger also the possibility to reach godhood will increase." "Maybe, Bryan got to know this information and is in the pursuit of the Bentley Family..." Lumilia said while glancing at the documents in her hand. "I think that he wanted to stop the said ritual quickly. Read more and you will understand that the ritual will be held today." Alea said. "Then, we should check it quickly. No matter how strong Bryan is, the Bentley Family isn''t something that he could handle alone." Lumilia said and everyone reached an agreement. They will leave everything to the Adventurers Guild the Bentley Family''s territory while they were going to check the ritual and prevent it from happening. ... Bang! Bang! Bang! Sounds of explosion echoed in the area as two figures collided repeatedly. Bryan was having a hard time as he couldn''t keep up with his opponent anymore. The true strength of an S-rank was nothing compared to him. Other people would praise him as he could somehow fight an S-rank expert to a certain degree but for him, it wasn''t enough. Bang! Bang! Bang! His figure flew away and crashed on the ground. ''I want to save those people... I don''t want them to die...'' He stood up while looking at the elf. He raised his hand and wiped the blood on his mouth. ''But how...'' The elf smirked and said, "The ritual has already started and it will end in ten minutes. After that, all the sacrifices will take their last breath and I will let you see it so prepare yourself, young man." Damn!! Bryan roared as he charged towards the elf like a rocket. Lightning and flame spun around his fist. [Dominating Lightning Flame Fist]!! "It''s no use. If I''m an A-rank, you would win right away but unfortunately, I''m on an entirely different level." The elf said as he gathered his mana on his weapon and swung it at Bryan. BOOOM!!! Bryan flew and crashed on his previous position. He glanced around and found that the two third evolution monsters were still watching the ritual sight. These two monsters must have felt the danger coming from the shackled realm experts. They possessed some kind of intelligence and this type of monster was always dangerous.. The other S-rank experts were on their guard watching the movements of the third evolution monsters. Chapter 466 - Reinforcement "Oh, so they are just watching us? It''s a bit problematic..." One of the S-rank said with an amused expression while looking at the third evolution monsters that were observing them from afar. Usually, monsters would simply charged at the culprit that made a mess in their territory. That''s the habit of the monsters. They wouldn''t just attack anyone except if they were hungry or someone disturb them. But these two third evolution monsters were just observing them. They were assessing the situation and it means that they had intelligence. Of course, there were exceptions to everything. Monsters like Trolls, Orcs, goblins, and any other humanoid-type monsters had higher intelligence than any other monsters. As most of the monsters only gained intelligence when they reached their third evolution. And these two clearly had intelligence. Fighting intelligent monsters was problematic as their movement wasn''t predictable unlike the other monster who could only charge, bite, etc. "We should eliminate them soon to avoid unnecessary events." Two of the S-rank experts flashed and six A-rank experts followed them to eliminate the two third evolution monsters. With this formation, they could handle the problem. They just need to hold on until the monster used up the [Monster Orb Release] and these two would grow weaker. Swoosh! Swoosh! ''They are making a move...'' Bryan thought as he saw two groups charged towards the direction of the monster. Still, his situation didn''t change at all. He still couldn''t defeat this S-rank elf at all. He was getting desperate as he could feel the mana flow in the altar was getting heavier every second. "Young man, there''s no hope anymore for you..." The S-rank elf didn''t stop taunting Bryan. He was having fun but he didn''t let his guard down because he knew that Bryan was a powerful A-rank that could even keep up with him. ''Is this his limit? His breathing is getting heavy and his hands are trembling...'' He thought while looking at Bryan''s bloody figure. He still couldn''t believe that there was an A-rank as strong as this young man. Even those geniuses in the royal academy wouldn''t be a match for him. ''He''s a barbarian and I could confirm it with his red crimson hair along with his unrivaled physical strength in the realm of liquefying mana. But I''ve fought barbarians in the past and they are not as strong as this one. His pure state is stronger than the pure state of a normal A-rank barbarian.'' Just who is this young man? The elf narrowed his eyes. He was curious about the identity of Bryan and he wanted to know it. Also, he was sure that he could defeat this young man but it wouldn''t be that easy. It would take a lot of effort before he could do that. ''It seems that he only knows the pure state of a barbarian. If he mastered the other state of barbarian then the difficulty would increase.'' The S-rank smiled. Barbarians weren''t one of the most powerful humans for nothing. They were on par with the levels of witches and magical humans. Huff... Huff... Huff... Bryan gritted his teeth and tightly clenched his fist. He ignored the pain in his body and charged his mana on his hand. He was currently weaker than before as the [Dual Element Drive] has subsided. The flame spears on his back and the lightning blade on his wrist has also already disappeared. But he still needed to go on. He couldn''t back down right now. The lives of those women were at stake and he will try to save them no matter what happens. Just keep on fighting... Squeeze out more power... Don''t lose hope... I will... Red sparks flashed in Bryan''s eyes as he glared at the elf. His will to fight was overflowing. Suddenly, a voice sounded in the area... "Oh, so you are a barbarian, Bryan. Eeew, look at how much you grow in the past few months that we haven''t seen each other. It''s amazing ufufufu... but my dear Souta is still better in every aspect. Aw! I wonder when would I see him again! Maybe, he''s completely ripe and I can eat him." "Who''s that?!" The S-rank elf opened his eyes widely and shock filled his eyes. He looked around trying to find where the voice was coming from. Bryan turned his head left and right. Then, he looked at the top of the tree thirty meters away from him and saw a group of people. "Why are you all here?" He asked when he saw them but he sighed in relief. "Tch! That old man went to me and ask me to come here a few weeks ago! He said that I should help my dear Souta''s friend if I want to see him again! Fuck that old man! Blackmailing me like this! I''m sure that I will destroy him one day!" A beautiful woman with long lilac-colored her. Her two eyes were different in color, heterochromia. Her left eye was blue and her right eye was red. She was the strongest student of the Ladros Institute in history. Her name is Yanagi Shina. The people behind her were the members of Souta''s Fan Union Club but now an official member of the Dark Oculus Legion. "Can you still hold on, Bryan?" Jeanne approached Bryan and asked him. She then turned around and said, "Healer, come here and treat Bryan''s wounds. Also, don''t forget to give him health potion and mana potion." "Thanks, Jeanne but..." Bryan looked at her in the eyes. "I know... Since we are here. We''ll try to help you as much as we can." Jeanne smiled as she understood Bryan''s worry. She was the vice-president of the fan club. The fan club was disbanded when they joined the legion. They just establish their own group in the legion and became one of the elite forces of the Dark Oculus Legion aside from the Deputies (The Core Members/Founding Members). They were famous in the circle since all of their members were female. Some adventurers even called them Souta''s harem but then those people got beaten up by Yanagi. "Ufufu... It''s been a while since I''ve fought someone. Well, this will be enough to satiate my boredom." Yanagi said with a faint smile as she stepped forward while looking at the S-rank elf. "Who are you?" The S-rank elf asked with a wary expression. He didn''t think that the young man has comrades. The other elites of the Bentley Family couldn''t stand watching this scene. They stepped up and stood beside him. ''What the hell? It gives me a creepy feeling just by looking at this girl...'' The elites could feel danger around Yanagi and they couldn''t explain why. It feels like a predator was staring at him. "Ufufu..." Yanagi was fully prepared. There was another reason why she came here. Bargan told her that something will happen in the Eternal Empire and she needed to prepare herself if she were to go. "They are strong so be careful. Also, we don''t have much time. The ritual will be completed soon and the sacrifices will die." Bryan said while receiving a healing spell. He was also holding mana potions in his hand to recover some of his mana so that he could fight once again. "Tch! Don''t tell me what should I do! You got defeated by them so I don''t need to follow you!" Yanagi said as she glanced at Bryan. Then, she turned her attention back to the enemies in front of her. "Ehe~" A large amount of mana erupted out of her body and several circles of energy formed around her. The energy was white, flat, and it was spinning like a vortex in the water. "You don''t need to worry at all," Jeanne said while looking at Yanagi''s back. "You haven''t seen it yet, right?" "What?" Bryan turned to look at Yanagi. "You see..." A smile formed on Jeanne''s face. "She''s unpredictable but when she is on your side. There''s no one more reliable than her." Seven blades came out of the whirlpool of energy. It spun behind her as her body floated above the ground. Her cold eyes gazed at the enemies like they were dead people. Each blade was oozing out a powerful aura. It was as if the blades were alive. [Blade Dancer: Divine Blade Formation]! All the blades that were floating on her back were orange grade and the one on her hand was a red grade just one grade below dark grade. In the next moment, the atmosphere got heavier and her murderous aura flooded the entire area. The elites of the Bentley Family were shocked as their eyes opened widely. "This power...?!" "A shackled realm expert!!" If Souta was here, he would recognize this technique. One of the signature techniques of Yanagi Shina in the game. He also wouldn''t be surprised about her power level as he knew that she will reach godhood later in version 3. On that version, she established a name for herself as she slew one of the demon pillars of the Heavenly Demon Palace. The Thousand Blades, Yanagi Shina. Chapter 467 - [Blade Dancer] The Thousand Blades, Yanagi Shina. In the game, there were six god-level powerhouses who had this title. And Yanagi was one of them and she was also the youngest among them. Blade Dancer, Serene Sword, Blade Lotus, Sword Eater, Divine Blade, and Venerable Sun Sword were all the gods that have the title of Thousand Blades. Blade Dancer was Yanagi and this name resounded in the whole continent when she slew one of the demon pillars. She was just a newly born god and yet the power she possessed terrified a lot of people with her eccentric personality. Despite just reaching godhood, Yanagi quickly improved her abilities to the point that it surpassed the gods that were protecting the Hebrei Kingdom. Although she was strong and was acknowledged as high god by ordinary gods, she was still the weakest gods in the six Thousand Blades. But then, a lot of people weren''t concern about it. Yanagi was just a newborn god and her strength would keep improving. She would catch up to the level of the other Thousand Blades in no time but then a calamity hit the continent. The Three Bringers of Calamity finally bared their fangs in the major forces of the Giza Continent and the God''s Continent. The Three Bringers of Calamity had powerful momentum as they annihilated the forces of the Three Great Countries that went to the continents. They cut off the connection of the Giza continent and the God''s continent to the other five continents in the Great World Imperium. The demons on the Giza and God''s didn''t receive reinforcement because of this. Also, the demons in the Demon''s Land became busy as the Three Kings appeared and occupy a large part of their land. The Three Kings were the Underground King, Sea King, and Sky King. All of them were powerful and ambitious monster lords that have the same goal. The goal to reach the unknown level above monster lord. It became a world war that affected the whole world and the one that attacked the several large countries of Giza was the Zodiacs. At that time, the gods of the Hebrei Kingdom joined forces with the other gods of the neighboring countries. Yanagi was included in the alliance and she died in the battle before she could even grow stronger. The Twelve Zodiacs, the Ten Commandments, and the Seven Deadly Sins were all powerful even in the realm of gods. It was said that they were closed to reaching the next step. The only gods who could match them were the leaders of the major forces such as the Crimson Emperor, Zeus, Jade Emperor, Odin, Lucifer, Dark Emperor, and some of the fearsome monster lords deep inside the Dark Forest. Even the six Thousand Blades would have to work together just to deal with one Zodiac, one Commandment, or one Deadly Sin. "Hehe~ I will thoroughly enjoy myself in this battle...!!" Yanagi''s smile grew wider as the blades on her back flew towards the elites of the Bentley Family with astonishing speed. Swoosh! Swoosh! The elves moved away to avoid the speed and several shackled realm experts appeared to handle Yanagi. Since she was a shackled realm expert, the one who could stop her was also another shackled realm expert. Bang! Bang! Bang! "Oh, ten shackled realm...?" Yanagi was a little bit surprised when she found out that there were ten shackled realm experts. Also, from the looks of it, the other expert was on the mid-stage. SSS-rank expert who broke more than three shackles. It''s going to get a little troublesome. She was only at SS-rank that broke her second shackles recently. She just reached this level two weeks ago and she hasn''t fought anyone at her level. So... She was quite eager to fight someone at her level. "Ufufu, let me have a good time..." Yanagi laughed as she charged towards the ten experts at the shackled realm. The blades around her emitted a cold aura that could freeze people instantly below her level. [Blade Aura: Freezing Mode!] Boom!! The clash between the shackled realm experts has started. "Ugh!!" Bryan narrowed his eyes while watching the battle in front of his eyes. These guys were much stronger than the elf that he just fought but Yanagi was handling them alone. "So this is a battle between shackled realm experts..." The atmosphere was heavy as the energy from the shackled realm experts bore down in the whole area. People below A-rank would have a hard time moving near the battle. The shockwaves alone would be enough to kill those C-rank and cripple B-rank experts. The S-rank experts that were close to them were forcefully pushed to the side. Some of them took damage because Yanagi goes wildly and attacked everything in her path. The cold aura of her blades caused a status effect called [Frost Bite] to the people with low cold resistance. It could even affect those people at the shackled realm so S-rank experts would have it worse. Although Yanagi was powerful in her realm, it was still too much for her to defeat ten shackled realm experts alone. The [Blade Dancer] technique consumed a large amount of mana and stamina so she wouldn''t be able to fight that long. This was the technique that lets her fight someone above her level and she hasn''t mastered it. Soon, the ten shackled realm experts managed to push her back. "Ehe~ that''s it... Give me everything!!" Yanagi simply smiled as she wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth. "Tsk, annoying bitch!" One of the shackled realm experts said before they launched an attack at Yanagi. Boom! "We need to move now, Bryan..." Jeanne said to Bryan. "Yes, we still needed to stop the ritual..." Bryan nodded. Jeanne and Bryan lead the other members of the legion around the battle. They couldn''t approach the battle of the shackled realm experts as most of the members of the Dark Oculus Legion were C-rank experts. If they didn''t die, then they would suffer heavy wounds if they carelessly approach the battle. Since Yanagi was handling all the shackled realm experts so the only ones left was the S-rank experts and below. The other S-rank were gone as they were fighting against the two third evolution monsters on each side. But then it would be hard to fight S-rank with their current members. In their group, only Jeanne and Bryan were A-rank, Six of them were B-rank, and the rest were C-rank experts. "Here, use it to boost your strength..." Jeanne gave Bryan a set of orange-grade equipment. It was inside their treasury and since they needed it in the battle she took it with her. Luckily, this equipment has its use. "Thanks, I really needed this..." Bryan said as he wore the equipment before he narrowed his eyes. Boom!! He used the [Dual Element Drive] once again. Jeanne said that she would try her stop anyone in his way so he should focus on his goal to stop the ritual. Flames and lightning flickered around him before it spread it. His eyes were filled with determination and his senses heightened to the limit. Swoosh! Slowly, he could perceive the whole ritual ground. He could detect the women which were writhing in pain and he could see an elf muttering a chant. This elf must be the head of the Bentley Family. As long as he disrupts this elf then he would complete his goal. The women wouldn''t die but what will happen after that? The head of the Bentley Family would be able to move freely. Strangely, his rage was gone and he was completely calm at this moment. He stopped moving and looked at his palm. "What are you doing, Bryan? You have to stop that right?!" Jeanne shouted at Bryan while fighting the elites of the Bentley Family but Bryan ignored her and the people in his surroundings. ''2 minutes... That''s the time left before the Bentley Family completed the ritual...'' He could perceive the ritual and it was strangely familiar to him. He didn''t know why but he knew that there was a barrier around the ritual. This barrier was part of the ritual as it will prevent the vitality of the sacrifices to leave the area. Blood Awakening Ritual? Why does he know everything about it? It felt that he undergo this ritual before. Bryan turned his head to the ritual site and his eyes saw the invisible barrier around it. "My mind is clear now... I feel like I can do anything when I want to do it." The mana in his mana pool began to transform. It circulated at an astonishing speed as the mana was turning into liquid. All of it was transforming into liquid reaching the apex of liquefied state. Swoosh! Suddenly, he ducked down as a sword passed above his head. He turned his eyes to the side and stretched out his hand. "I get it... I understand something... [Ariel: Wind Rupture]..." Bryan''s eyes turned cold. Chapter 468 - [Trinity Elemental Ray] [Ariel: Wind Rupture]!! A powerful gust of wind formed on Bryan''s palm before it burst out throwing countless sharp winds on the elf beside him. Swoosh! "Argh!!" The elf groaned in pain as his body flew away while spewing blood. Bryan closed his palm and the sharp winds disappeared. He realized something right now. His power was much greater than he imagine and he just forgot how to control it so it turned dormant. ''This blood awakening ritual is related to my past...'' He thought as he jumped thirty meters in the sky and he focused his attention on the barrier around the ritual. His eyes were flashing with red and green colors. Since he perceived the ritual, he somehow knew how to take down this barrier. It was either killed the caster or shattered the weak points of the barrier. He couldn''t kill the caster because he was outside the barrier while the caster was inside. The barrier will protect the caster from any harm so his only choice was to shatter the weak points of the barrier but shattering it was hard. The weak points were constantly moving around the barrier and seeing it was close to impossible but strangely his eyes could perceive it. Bang! Bang! The elites of the Bentley Family tried to approach Bryan but Jeanne and the rest of the legion members stopped them. ''Just hurry up, Bryan. We couldn''t hold much longer.'' Jeanne cast a glance at Bryan who was suspended in the mid-air. She already suffered injuries in her body and she couldn''t even move her left hand. Fighting many elites at the same time could even cost her life but she was prepared this time. She had equipment that could save her life in an emergency. That''s why she wasn''t scared fighting S-rank experts with her peak A-rank power. Ohm! Lightning and flames swirled around Bryan''s right hand. ''I somehow increased my mastery over my wind element... Also, a bunch of combat arts and spells related to wind element are popping up in my head.'' He then clenched his fist as wind spun around his fist along with lightning and flames. These three elements didn''t contradict each other instead they supported each other so the power only grew by several times. [Instant Recovery]!! His mana pool was filled with mana instantly. This skill was unique to the people with magical human bloodline. It was a skill that could instantly replenish their mana and they could only use it once every five days. Bryan didn''t know this skill nor his magical human bloodline but his subconscious activated this skill since he was in a tight position. "This...!" He was a little bit surprised at this but he decided to focus his attention on the barrier first. He will try to explore his newfound powers later after he rescued those women. "This is enough!" Bryan gritted his teeth as his eyes flashed with strange light and then he threw his fist forward. As soon as he thrust his fist forward, the three elements shot out in every direction possessing great power. It sent ripples in the air that shook everything in the surrounding area. The trees were uprooted and the ground move like a wave of water. Then, lightning, flames, and wind spread out like a spider web, releasing violent energy sparks. The legion members and the elites of the Bentley Family were shocked when they saw it. Bryan was just an A-rank but this amount of power was on a different level. "Shit!! This guy possessed too much power!!" "That''s three elements?!" "Even though he is an A-rank possessing three elements makes him more dangerous than ordinary S-rank...!" But then they realized that they were too close to Bryan. The energy that Bryan was releasing reached its peak as it could be seen by naked eyes turning into three different colors that illuminated the area. They were in a dangerous position so they hurriedly casted defensive spells and activated defensive combat arts to protect themselves from the violent energy. The moment the three elements landed on the weak points of the barrier it contracted before it once again release a powerful surge of energy. It was a compressed energy and once it exploded, the damage that it could cause was unimaginable. The different colors of energy bombarded the barrier. Boom! Boom! Boom! The power of this attack gathered the attention of the shackled realm experts that were fighting Yanagi Shina. Even Yanagi paused and turned to look at the explosion with an amazed expression. After a few moments, the blades around her moved in front of her and a transparent shield formed to protect her. The power of Bryan''s attack could even reach them, people at the shackled realm. "That little brat even mastered the [Trinity Elemental Ray] which I have a time mastering all this time..." Yanagi muttered as she poured her mana in the shield around her to strengthen it. The power of the explosion was causing a crack on her shield. She didn''t doubt that it could break her protective shield. After all, the [Trinity Elemental Ray] was a powerful unique skill for people that has three elemental affinities or above. It was stronger than the [Dual Element Drive] skill of people that has two elemental affinities. There was a reason why people that have more elemental affinities had an advantage in any kind of situation. Elemental affinity not only gave people the power that boosted the elements but it also gave them resistance and the ability to manipulate elements. "He is better than I imagined. This is great!" Yanagi also had three elemental affinities but she hasn''t mastered the [Trinity Elemental Ray] yet Bryan mastered it before her. So she was truly amazed when she saw him use this skill. Bryan once used this skill in the battle in the Ladros City that turned the whole red light district upside down. The power of his attack at that time even managed to raze apart the surrounding district. But that''s then when Bryan was weak. Right now, he was several times stronger and he fully attained the liquefication of his mana. He was a peak A-rank so the power of his [Trinity Elemental Ray] also grew stronger. Not only that, the bloodline of the magical human could boost this type of skill. So... "Break for me!!" Bryan roared as he concentrated his firepower on the weak points of the barrier. The [Trinity Elemental Ray] was already an overpowered skill. Then, what about if he mastered his fourth element which was wood. Back then he was just a normal B-rank yet this attack could instantly kill an A-rank expert. Now that he was an A-rank the power of this attack could kill S-rank experts and could even severely wound SS-rank experts. BOOM!!! A blinding light surged upwards as the barrier formed a crack on its surface. Also, Lord Algard, the Head of the Bentley Family, opened his eyes and it was full of disbelief. He didn''t think that anyone would know how to break this barrier other than him. "NOOOO!!!!" He screamed as the barrier reached its limits and the power of the three elements rushed inside it completely destroying the barrier that protected the altar. ''No, the girls!!'' Bryan narrowed his eyes as he controlled his power. He didn''t want the people inside the barrier to die with his attack. He knew that the [Trinity Elemental Ray] could easily kill those people and he didn''t want that to happen. He came here because he wanted to rescue them not kill them. He tightened his muscles and made a grabbing motion. The ray landed on the altar close to the girls but it didn''t explode instead it continued to move forward until it was hundred meters away before it exploded. Boom!! As soon as it explode, Bryan rushed forward to the girls to protect them from the shockwave of the explosion. Even this shockwave was enough to kill them. His mana manipulation ability wasn''t as great as Bargan. Soon, the surrounding area was filled with smoke and dust. All the trees within five kilometers around them were uprooted. The thing that was left was a pure wasteland. The green scenery before was gone. Huff... Huff... Huff... Bryan''s chest was heaving up and down and a line of blood came out of the corner of his mouth. Finally, he managed to stop the ritual and destroy the altar. All that''s left was to deal with the Head of the Bentley Family. He looked at his body and felt the mana swirling inside his mana pool. He still had some left but it wouldn''t be enough to fight someone like the Head of the Bentley Family. The Head of the Bentley Family was a powerful man in the shackled realm. To be precise, he was a man that reach the SSS-rank expert who broke five shackles. Just one more shackle and he would reach the Hero-rank. The shackled realm experts that Yanagi was fighting was nothing compared to this man as they only managed to break one, two, and three shackles. "Shit...." Chapter 469 - Great Berserk Kohima Lord Algard came out of the smoke. His figure was unscathed as if Bryan''s attack didn''t do anything to him. He was a person that reached SSS-rank and no matter how much power boost an A-rank had it will not affect him. The disparity in their strength was large. At the very least, Bryan''s most powerful attack could only damage SS-rank and that''s it. It wasn''t enough to kill a legitimate shackled realm expert. It would cost all of his energy just to create an attack to damage a person at this level. "Shit... My body is on the verge of collapsing." Bryan muttered while looking at Algard''s figure. He could barely stand on his feet at this moment. The only reason why he could stand was the women behind him as he knew that these women would die if he collapsed. Yanagi and shackled realm experts of the Bentley Family were on standby. They were observing each other and once they made a move the battle will begin once again. "That little brat is at his limit... Well, he''s only an A-rank after all and there''s a limit to what he could do with that little amount of mana." Yanagi muttered as she took a glance at Bryan''s sorry figure. She couldn''t help Bryan as she knew that the ten shackled realm experts in front of her would stop her at all cost. Hmm?? Suddenly, she turned her head left and right before narrowing her brows. Because of the battle, she forgot the place where they were fighting. "Ufufu... It seems that everyone will have a hard time surviving..." She laughed lightly as she turned her head to Jeanne and the rest before she warned her. Not only her who felt the danger in the atmosphere. The elites of the Bentley Family felt it too. Their instincts were screaming trying to warn them about the upcoming danger. ... "You!!" Lord Algard was furious and he was fuming with rage. His energy was leaking out of his body that it made the area around him boil. "How did you know the way to break the barrier of the blood awakening ritual?!" He asked in a strong tone. He knew that the barrier could even withstand the full power attack of a Hero-rank expert so there''s no way that this puny A-rank could break it even if he had three elemental affinities. So the only reason why the barrier was shattered was that this brat attack the weak points. Just a little bit of time and he would achieve his goal yet a puny A-rank stopped him from achieving it. He couldn''t accept it. "I just simply know about it..." Bryan replied with a smirk on his face. When Algard heard his words, his anger only grew stronger. What kind of answer is that? Even the other noble family in the Eternal Empire didn''t even have an idea about this ritual yet this brat knew about it. "You little shit!! I will you today along with your comrades!!" Algard gritted his teeth in rage as his mana burst out of his body. He could kill Bryan easily but that would be a huge loss so he would kill the people behind Bryan first and make him realize his mistake in going against the Bentley Family. He could see that Bryan had some powerful comrade. Yanagi was an expert at shackled realm but looking at her he could guess that he was still stronger. It wouldn''t be a problem for him to kill her. Suddenly, his energy in the air was offset as a powerful energy bore down in the whole area. His attention was on his enemy so he forgot his surrounding. It was at this moment that he realized the graveness of their situation. Bryan''s attack turned everything within five kilometers into a desolate area so naturally, the overlord of this place will notice it. They were inside the Forest of Eternal Light which houses millions of monsters. They were in the boundaries of the territory of two third evolution monsters. The territory of a third evolution monster was three kilometers in diameter and then above the third evolution was the fourth evolution monster. For each fourth evolution monster in this forest, they had six third evolution monsters under them. In other words, they got in trouble by creating a large destruction in this place. But that''s not the case in this one... Algard opened his eyes widely as the pressure of the best feram put everyone on their knees. Boom! Yanagi and the other shackled realm experts were forced to ground because of this intense energy. The suffocating atmosphere was hard to endure for people below B-rank and the women behind Bryan lost consciousness as they fell on the ground. The only one who could endure this pressure was Algard, a person at SSS-rank. There was only one reason why he was the only one who could move. If B-rank and A-rank were experts that could handle third evolution monsters, S-rank and SS-rank were for fourth evolution monsters, then SSS-rank like him were for fifth evolution monsters. It means that he was the only one among the people here that could withstand the pressure of the fifth evolution monster. But withstanding the pressure was different than defeating it. That''s why his face was turning pale. Even if his staff was a dark grade weapon, it wouldn''t be enough to take down a fifth evolution monster with his strength alone. It would at least take a party of SSS-rank to subjugate a monster at this level and they had to prepare a bunch of high grade potions for the release state of the monster so that they could withstand it. If the monster was at the peak of the fifth evolution then Hero-rank would be needed. "Fuck, this is insane... Why would a fifth evolution monster appear here? It should be at least a four evolution first." He was confident that if it was a fourth evolution then he could handle it. Every second the pressure was increasing and it became harder for C-rank to breathe. They would collapse at any second. Algard turned around and saw a huge figure several hundred meters away from him. There''s no one obstructing his vision as the trees were gone so he could clearly see the appearance of the monster. A creature walking on four limbs. Its body was twenty meters tall and black thick fur covered its neck. It has two pairs of eyes that have flames within it and has a pair of black bat wings on its back which were full of sharp and savage red color spikes. Dark green scales covered the two limbs on the back as gigantic claws that could tear anything were presented. It has five tails that were sharp as sword and green colored liquid was dripping on the tip of each tail. A green gem was shining brightly on its forehead. It was the monster orb of this monster. It was the fifth evolution monster, Great Berserk Kohima. "T-The Great Berserk K-Kohima?!!" Algard subconsciously took a step backwards. This monster was famous for its speed and poisonous attacks using its tail. To defeat this, they needed some potions to detoxify its poison attack and people who could use high-tier cure spells. This monster couldn''t be defeated by a party of ordinary SSS-rank experts. They needed extensive preparation for this monster. He wanted to run away but he was sure that this monster wouldn''t let him do it. In fact, this monster would target him first if he was the one to make a move. The Great Berserk Kohima observed the people present in this place. Then, its two pairs of eyes stopped at Algard who was the strongest and the only one who could deal a damage to his body. Its eyes quickly measured their power level and other than Algard all the people were insignificant in its eyes. No matter what they did, they wouldn''t be able to scratch its body. ''Ugh, I can''t move my body... An unbelievable monster appeared before us...'' Bryan thought as he glanced at the savage looking monster. The monster slowly opened its mouth and said, "Why are you disturbing my slumber? You humans and demi always caused trouble for us monsters..." His thoughts were passed to every people using the monster language. It seems to carry a weight that made the C-rank experts puke on the ground. Everyone knew that a monster at this level had intelligence similar to humans and demis and some of them surpassed them like dragons. Because of this humans and demis rarely met any monster at the fourth and fifth evolution stages. "I''m just living quietly in this place but humans always came and bothered monsters like me. Why? If you don''t give me a satisfactory answer then I''ll kill you before those people arrive." The Great Berserk Kohima said as he could sense that there was a group of powerful elves heading in this direction. Chapter 470 - Attack The voice of the Great Berserk Kohima reverberated in their head. It was the monster language that could communicate to any creature living in this universe. They simply passed their thoughts in their voice and anyone who received it would understand it. If the Great Berserk Kohima only passed his thoughts to Algard then he was the only one who would be able to understand the Great Berserk Kohima. But the Great Berserk Kohima wanted everyone to understand him. To know that this was his territory and no one should disturb him in this place. A fifth evolution monster was self-sufficient. They didn''t need to eat to live. Their powerful monster orb already gave them enough energy to survive without any needs. "..." Algard, the Head of the Bentley Family, didn''t know what to do. Ordinary people only knew that there were five fifth evolution monsters in this forest but he was different. He was the head of a powerful noble family so he had information that there were monster lords in this place and the royal family was in contact with those monsters. If this was only the ritual then the forest wouldn''t suffer like this but a battle occurred here that wiped out everything within a few kilometers so this monster had no choice but to move. ''I would die... What should I do to survive?'' If he had a party of SSS-rank experts like him then they could probably handle but alone... He was sure that he would die if he fight this monster alone. Also, he didn''t have any potion with him. ... The Great Berserk Kohima looked at everyone with a glint in his eyes. He didn''t remove the pressure he was emitting and it prevented everyone aside from Algard from moving. It means that their lives were in his hands and he could kill them if he wanted but he didn''t want that. He was a monster that gained intelligence after evolving so he wouldn''t simply attack anyone. The extreme senses that he honed while fighting for dominance in this territory were telling him that he shouldn''t kill them especially the person behind Algard. He was curious as that person was simply a bug who couldn''t scratch his skin, but why was his instinct was screaming? ''The moment that I attack this bug something unimaginable will happen to me.'' He thought while observing the black-haired bug. ... Bryan shivered when he felt that the fifth evolution monster was observing him. A predator that he couldn''t handle was looking at him. ''This pressure... I could endure it... Compare to Teacher Bargan it''s nothing...'' He gritted his teeth as he tried to endure the weight on his shoulder that was pressing him towards the ground. With great effort, he managed to glance behind him only to find that the women were lying on the ground without any consciousness. Just a few more minutes under the pressure of this best feram and the fragile bodies of these women would break. They would die. A pressure from the fifth evolution monster could even kill a C-rank expert. That''s just how powerful a monster at the fifth stage. ... Hmm... They are here. The Great Berserk Kohima turned his head on the side as he felt that the people that he detected before were close. Soon, they will arrive at this place. ''These humans and demis are really troublesome...'' He lifted his head and roared that made the ground tremble. His roar swept out in every direction as it carried the weight of his power. All the C-rank experts of the Bentley Family and the Dark Oculus Legion fainted as soon as they heard the roar. "No one will answer me!! Then, I''ll show you why you bugs shouldn''t disturb me!!" His aura grew stronger and it reached the peak in just a few seconds. Although he felt danger, he wasn''t afraid of fighting. A monster like him rose to this level because he had the power to dominate his peers. He killed anyone and ate their body that stimulate his gene to evolve into a rare species. The resources in this place were all him. It''s law of the jungle. His expression was full of rage. He was ready to attack at any moment and show these puny bugs why they shouldn''t come in this place. His five tails pointed at them and a large concentration of best feram formed on each tip. Five [Bestrou] were forming and it would cause unbelievable destruction if it was unleashed. Actually, he didn''t want to fight. He wanted to sleep peacefully and depending on their answer he would let them live but no one answered him. He tried to communicate with these bugs yet they didn''t even reply to him. He was already showing them his mercy by not killing them yet they just stood there and close their mouth. No one answered him why they destroyed a part of his territory. Even these humans and demis would get mad if he destroyed their land and they didn''t get a proper response. "Fine then everyone should just die..." His roar before had a purpose. It was to stimulate all the monsters below him in this territory to go mad. The basic instinct of a monster would overflow and they will turn into a pure monster devoid of any intelligence. It would cause a monster tide that will attack the territory of humans and demis. Only monsters that had high intelligence wouldn''t be affected by his roar. This was the privilege of a fifth evolution stage monster. "Since you destroy my land then I''ll destroy yours too..." The energy on the tip of his tails was fully charged. Suddenly, he looked up in the sky and shoot three [Bestrou] in the sky. He then shoots another one towards Bryan and Algard while the remaining one flew at Yanagi and the shackled realm experts of the Bentley Family. Boom!! "Hahaha!! This monster is fun! I''m in a pinch!" Yanagi laughed and one of the rings on her finger turned into tiny fragments before it released a bright light. The pressure on her body. This item was a one-time use that will cleanse her body from any abnormal status effect. Before the [Bestrou] landed on her, the seven blades move in front of her and formed a shield. [Blade Dancer: Variant Blade Shield]!! She was only going to protect herself as she didn''t care about the elites of the Bentley Family. Boom!! The powerful beam swallowed everything around her. It was so powerful that the blade shield quickly formed a crack. Each blade was orange grade yet it couldn''t handle the power of [Bestrou] from a fifth evolution stage monster. On the other side, Algard gathered his mana and pushed his dark grade staff forward to create a barrier. He wasn''t going to block this attack as he knew that he wouldn''t be able to do it. If he was a shielder at SSS-rank then he could probably do it but he was a mage, so his defense was lower than those shielders. "Fucking monster!!!" Algard gritted his teeth as he tried to deflect the powerful beam. He kept pouring his energy on the barrier to prevent it from breaking. He didn''t even know that what he was doing indirectly save the people behind him. But he had no time to think about them as a bigger problem emerge in front of him. Boom!! A powerful explosion occurred as gigantic mushrooms of smoke rose in the sky. The explosions were seen by the people in the Eternal Empire. Everything within twenty kilometers was disintegrated. Only a quarter was left in the territory of Great Berserk Kohima. Although twenty kilometers was huge, it was still a small part of the Forest of Eternal Light. It wouldn''t disturb the other fifth evolution monsters or monster lords that were living in this place. "They are here..." The Great Berserk Kohima growled as he showed his sharp fangs. The reason why he shoots three [Bestrou] above was that the people that he sensed before has arrived. They quickly launched an attack on him without care. They didn''t even try to know the situation and just attack the moment that they discovered him. As expected of humans and demis they wouldn''t care about monsters. They just wanted to take the body parts of monsters like him for their own purpose. He had lived for hundreds of years and he encountered countless humans and demis in his life. Some of them would come here to slay monsters and live the bodies of the monsters in this forest. Some of them would come here and take monsters'' body parts then they will leave. Some of them would snatch the mana fruits that the monsters protected. Some of them would kill each other and plunder other people''s belongings. The Great Berserk Kohima witnessed everything that happened in his territory. But what about him? The moment that he reached fourth evolution he just quietly stayed in his territory. After all, he didn''t need to eat nor drink to live so he had no reason to slay other monsters.. He would only go outside of his territory if it was the breeding season of his species, the Kohima. Chapter 471 - Rescue Ugh! A large amount of blood came out of Yanagi''s mouth. Her whole body was full of blood and her right hand didn''t have any skin left. "Hehe, that monster is really powerful..." She chuckled as she wiped the blood on her mouth and looked at her blades. Everything was shattered. All the orange grade blades were completely gone and it was beyond recovery. "To think that this monster is capable of destroying seven orange grade weapons in just one attack is out of my expectations... If my weapon''s grade is lower then I would have died." Yanagi stood up with shaky knees. She could barely stand after she received that full-blown attack from a fifth evolution monster. At her condition, even B-rank would be able to defeat her as the protective field of her body was completely broken. She was at her weakest point. "I''m quite lucky... If I didn''t have my weapons then I would surely die." She thought that maybe it was the time for her to find a weapon that was higher than orange grade, the red grade. But red grade weapon was extremely rare in this world and most of the people that owned one was powerful. ... "Fuck! I succeeded..." Algard muttered with heavy breaths. He succeeded in deflecting the [Bestrou] of the Great Berserk Kohima using his dark grade staff. The most fortunate thing for him was that he didn''t suffer any heavy wounds. He could still move and gather his mana. Nothing change for him except for the bruises on his body. "Still, I now know the reason why that monster changed its attack direction at last minute..." He could sense that people at his level and above him have arrived in this place and that was the reason why the Great Berserk Kohima changed the direction of the three [Bestrou]. If that monster shoots those three at him then the possibility of him surviving that attack was low. Also, even if he survived he would suffer heavy wounds and will not be able to keep his life. ... "Fucking bugs!" The Great Berserk Kohima roared angrily. The people that arrived were powerful and judging from their auras they could fight him on equal grounds. It would be fine if it was a one-on-one battle but the powerful people that arrived were ten and according to humans and demis'' terms, they were at SSS-rank and Hero-rank. "At the very least I killed some of them." He glanced at the injured Yanagi Shina. Most of the people that were around her had perished. Those shackled realm experts were quite helpless against his [Bestrou]. His eyes flashed with green light as his body exuded a green gas that slowly spread in the entire area. [Poison Desolation]! This was one of the trait skills he gained after evolving for many years. Although the effect was quite slow it would be enough to take down another fifth evolution monster if they inhale a lot of his poison gas. His poison wasn''t that lethal compared to other poisonous monsters but the antidote to his poison was pretty rate than the others. Some of humans and demis cure spells didn''t even work at his poison. The Great Berserk Kohima looked at them with fierce eyes. "The monsters here are quite lenient compared to the monsters in Dark Forest. You humans and demis are afraid of them, those ancient monsters." He then turned around and left the area leaving the poisonous gas in the air. He knew that this gas will kill some of them and he remembered all of their faces. Thud! Bryan fell down on the ground and looked at the Great Berserk Kohima''s retreating figure. The last thing he heard before he lost his consciousness was Eunice, Lumilia, Lynn, and Alea''s worried voice. ""Bryan!!"" They shouted but Bryan didn''t hear them anymore as he reached his limit. "Hmmm...? That''s a Great Berserk Kohima..." A tall elf with long blonde hair glanced at the figure of the monster. He was holding an exquisite bow in his hand which was exuding a fearsome aura. This bow was a dark grade equipment and he was one of the military commanders of Eternal Empire. He was dispatched here to deal with the Bentley Family but he didn''t expect that he would meet a fifth evolution monster. Luckily, the monster didn''t fight them or else they would suffer heavy casualties. He glanced at the elderly man behind him and said, "Minister Eldein, please..." The elder elf nodded his head and a blue orb appeared in his hand. It was a dark grade equipment too and this elf was the Minister of Magic in Eternal Empire. "I will disperse the poisonous gas so you guys should capture Algard..." With a wave of his hand, a powerful mana swept out in the surrounding area. It was followed by white smoke which pushed the green gas away. Slowly the green gas was pushed a hundred meters away from them. "Let''s stay here for a while. I couldn''t completely disperse the poison gas of the Great Berserk Kohima. It will take a few hours before it disappeared so I will erect some wards to prevent us from inhaling that poison gas." The Minister of Magic said. If they leave this place then the poison will attack them so it''s safer if they stayed here for a while and wait for the poison to disappear. "Still, I didn''t think that Algard would do something like this... It placed the empire in a tight position against the adventurers." ... One week had passed in the blink of an eye. The incident regarding the Bentley Family became a hot topic in the whole Eternal Empire. Algard, the Head of the Bentley Family, was captured and was sentenced to imprisonment for two hundred years. His wealth was confiscated by the government and once he got out of prison he will be forced to do labor for another fifty years. Even then, most of the people thought that it wasn''t enough. For all the things that he did, he was just going to prison. Actually, the Adventurers Guild wanted to take Algard''s head for torturing their fellow adventurers but the royal family protected Algard. Algard was one of their people and they were the ones who''s going to decide how to punish him. It was their responsibility, not the Adventurers Guild. The Adventurers Guild was a force to reckon. They were a continental organization that could be found anywhere in this land. They were also a master in hunting monsters as their archives were even larger than the large countries. Even though they were a huge organization, the royal family didn''t give Algard to him. After all, the Bentley Family did help the country a long time ago. Lumilia and Lynn were inside a room in the royal palace. They were here because of Alea. Alea used her authority to get Bryan the highest medical treatment as he was one of the victims of this incident. One week had passed yet Bryan didn''t show any sign of waking up. The doctors and healers gave him treatment so that he could survive without eating. "The doctors said that Bryan will wake up soon. It will entirely depend on his mental health." Lynn said in a low voice. She glanced at Lumilia who was looking at the window before she added, "Should we inform Souta about it?" Lumilia shook her head and said, "We shouldn''t as it will only burden him. Let''s report it once Bryan woke up. We will deal with the problems here so that Souta and Alice could focus on the problem there." "Ah, yes... Souta just encountered a war in sub-world." Lynn nodded as she lowered her head. "After this, we should expand our legion and I will focus on reaching A-rank then we will try to conquer some dungeons here," Lumilia said while rubbing her chin. "Me too... I will try to reach A-rank and learn some fighting skills so I could defend myself. I''m ashamed that I''m always the one being protected. Even without a teacher that could help me master my god''s eye, I will delve deeper into this ability of mine." Lynn said. "I don''t like it but we''re getting left behind..." Lumilia sighed as she turned around and looked at Bryan. Bryan''s name was cleared after the incident. The Bentley Family was the one who framed up Bryan and this information was released in public. Still, a lot of people were amazed at him. To think that he would fight the Bentley Family and hold his ground against them. Also, his barbarian bloodline and magical human bloodline were discovered. They didn''t expect that a person could hold this much bloodline power without decreasing its strength. It was like a pure breed of barbarian and magical human was forced into one person. His bloodline power was even stronger than half-barbarian and half-magical human. But this would bring them trouble... "I should prepare myself." Lumilia said as she narrowed her eyes. Chapter 472 - Two Sides Bryan woke up on the second week. The doctors checked his body first before he got discharged on the second day. As soon as he woke up, his body''s recovery sped up by top-notch. "I''m relieved that you have recovered, Bryan. Huu~ you''re giving this princess too much trouble..." Alea sighed as she dropped her shoulders. "I''m sorry about it..." Bryan smiled wryly while scratching his cheeks. He thought that he could do it alone but he only became a burden to other people. "Ufufu, it''s fine. It''s true that the forces of evil gave me some trouble, but they were nothing compared to this princess, as I, Princess of the Bloodmoon, will always win." Alea stood up and said with a weird pose. "Princess, if be careful when you are speaking that way. What if other people heard you?" Lumilia said to Alea. "Hmph, do you think that I, Princess of the Bloodmoon, wouldn''t know if some stranger is eavesdropping on me? You are underestimating me, minions of Dark Lord!" "It''s fine, Mila. We''re in a private room rented by Princess Alea. Other people wouldn''t dare to approach this room." Lynn said to her friend. "Just ignore the princess... Isn''t this a celebration for Brother Bryan''s recovery so don''t focus on that double face princess, right Brother Bryan?" Eunice said with a smile as she turned to Bryan. "Err..." Bryan just scratched his cheeks with an awkward face. Lumilia smiled while looking at the scene where everyone was chatting happily. She thought that it was time that she contact Brando and Yujin who were studying at the Military Academy of Hebrei Kingdom. She wondered how strong those have gotten. It seems that they''ve already reached A-rank like Bryan. It means that their legion was growing as they had Yanagi Shina who had the power level of an SS-rank expert. Also, Jeanne was an A-rank and some of her subordinates were C-rank and close to achieving B-rank. The Dark Oculus Legion had three main groups. One was the founding members which consist of Souta, Alice, Bryan, Brando, Yujin, Lumilia, and Lynn. The second group was led by Yanagi Shina and judging from their capabilities this group was stronger than the founding members. It''s all thanks to Yanagi who reached SS-rank and was currently the strongest member of the Dark Oculus Legion. Lastly, the people from the Lanny Corp. Souta had a contract with Jimmy so the Lanny Corp sent some of their people in the legion and they became the third strongest group in the legion. The other members were just normal adventurers who always finished their tasks. They sometimes formed a party of ten people to take some high-level quest. "Hmm...? Do you have something in your mind, Lumilia?" Princess Alea asked when she saw Lumilia in deep thought. "Yes, I think that it''s time that we establish a second headquarters of our legion. I will contact Commander Souta to get his authorization so that everything will proceed well." Lumilia said. "Expansion, huh? Does this mean that the second headquarters will be here in Eternal Empire?" Eunice asked as she slightly tilted her head. "Yes, I''m planning to establish it in this place," Lumilia nodded. "To establish a second headquarters, I need three things. The legion commander''s permission, the Adventurers Guild''s permission, and the leader of this land''s permission." "Leader of the Eternal Empire...?" Lynn opened her eyes widely. "Yes, but it''s fine if I got permission from another high-ranking person in this country. It doesn''t have to be the emperor himself." Lumilia assured Lynn. "Then, it''s easy. I''m sure that your leader, Souta, would give you his permission so you have one. Then, you have the princess here and that''s two. Finally, the Adventurers Guild. I''m sure that they will approve this as you have enough force to expand your legion." Eunice said. "Yeah, but we don''t have enough budget. That''s the only problem that I have. Our sponsor, the Lanny Corp, didn''t have any money as they used it to rebuild their building in the Ladros City. That''s the same for our legion. The attack of the deadly sins that time destroyed ninety percent of the city." Lumilia sighed. "I guess that we would have to take some high-level quest." "Then, it''s not a problem at all. I''m a member of the Giniver Family so do you think that I can be your sponsor. No, to be exact I want to sponsor Brother Bryan." Eunice smiled as she turned her head to Bryan. "Really? You will give me tons of money!" Bryan''s eyes lit up. "Yes, I will give you anything that you want," Eunice said with a smile. ... In the living labyrinth in Planet Eidin... Souta''s group has finished clearing the 90th floor. The effort that they did just to clear everything was hard to imagine. The training that they''ve undergone in Saya''s inner consciousness was extreme. Souta and Alice piled up combat arts and spells in their bodies just to improve their battle powers. And they were successful. Everyone grew stronger that they cleared the 90th floor of the living labyrinth. In clearing this floor, Yuko was forced to use both of her blessings and release state. Doranjan also used his release state and Isabella didn''t even hide her blessing. The guardian of the 90th floor was extremely powerful that it took all of them nine hours just to take down this monster. Franklin, Torkez, Alice, Isabella, Yuko, Doranjan, and Souta worked together. Also, the number of times that they tried to clear this floor was more than fifty times. Every time they suffered a defeat they would retreat and train themselves inside Saya''s inner consciousness. For them, the monsters in this labyrinth were more fearsome than the soldiers of the Great Astley Empire. With their current strength, they could even wreck the empire several times. The training doesn''t just improve their power levels but also their combat style. Their battle instinct was honed to a higher level making them more dangerous than people at the same level. "Hu~ we''ve finally cleared this floor," Torkez said with a deep breath. "Haha, this is so fun. How long are we fighting here? Two months? Maybe three..." Franklin laughed. "I don''t know... I''ve lost my sense of time after a few weeks of battling here nonstop." Torkez shook his head. "Hmm... I''m living for hundreds of year''s yet this is the first time that I''ve grown stronger in just a short amount of time." Doranjan, the dragon, said as he moved his huge body and lay down on the ground. He''s a dragon, natural third evolution monster so his life span was more than two hundred years. ''This guy will reach his fourth evolution soon.'' Souta said inwardly as he narrowed his brows while looking at this green dragon. In the last battle, he already felt that Doranjan''s power level was close to reaching the limit of the third evolution. And once he reached that limit, he will naturally evolve into a higher level of species. A dragon will evolve into the fifth evolution as long as they were in the right environment. The only reason why Doranjan didn''t reach the third evolution was the mana density of the sub-world was too low for him. But even in that kind of place Doranjan would still reach the fourth evolution after fifty or more years. His thoughts were interrupted by Alice''s voice. "So what should we do now? The 91st floor is just in front of us. Do we need to train again before challenging it or not?" Alice asked him. "Hmm...?" Souta rubbed his chin as he glance at Isabella who was busy making potions for them and then at Yuko who was sleeping on his lap. "...we''ll try it and I don''t know what''s waiting for us there but the 91st floor is quite different." "Yeah, that''s what I''m worried about. Sometimes the god that created the living labyrinth has questions waiting for the 91st floor up to the 100th floor. We don''t need to fight and those who could answer all the questions will pass through the test." Alice nodded and said. "Sometimes they even put up restrictions. Only elf could enter, only people at a higher level could enter, only people below a certain level could enter... Well, it depends on the god that created it." Souta said as he recalled that he couldn''t get the legacy of the God of Hunt because of these restrictions. He just hoped that this living labyrinth didn''t have those types of restrictions. "Should we try it now?" Alice asked him. "Oh, you''re quite eager to enter the 91st floor. Do you want to know what sort of god left this legacy in this sub-world? Or maybe do you want to get the god''s legacy?" Souta grinned while looking at Alice. "Am I showing it on my face?" Alice sighed before she opened her mouth and said, "...yes... who wouldn''t get excited when you are this close to a god''s legacy? I''m eager to know what kind of things the god left in this place." "Haha, well yeah, me too. But don''t think that you could take it when I''m here. I will grab the god''s legacy before you take it.." Souta laughed. Chapter 473 - 91st Floor To 100th Floor I Souta''s group tried to enter the 91st floor but the moment that they stepped inside the gate, they found themselves back on the 81st floor. They were shocked and surprised at the same time but then words popped into their minds. [The 91st floor to 100th floor are conducted different...] They could enter take the test at the same time but they wouldn''t be able to work together. It means that they would have to finish this floor separately. If Souta was the one to clear this floor then he alone would proceed to the next floor. "This is..." Alice furrowed her brows as this was an unexpected situation. "Oho, it''s entirely focused on a single person''s strength. Cooperation wouldn''t work anymore." Franklin laughed lightly. "...This labyrinth is really good..." A grin formed on Souta''s face while looking at the words that popped up in his vision. Torkez turned to Souta and asked, "The danger ahead is probably higher and going there alone would akin to suicide. Are we still going there to clear it?" "Of course, our goal didn''t change at all but we could easily pull back if we find it impossible to clear," Souta said to him. Then, he looked at everyone and added, "From now on, it''s up to everyone''s strength to clear the floor ahead. You don''t have any allies that you can rely on on the floor ahead of us. If you can''t clear it then retreat to the upper floors and rendezvous with Yenxia." Everyone nodded at his words. If they were confident in their strength then they could challenge the 91st floor but if they weren''t then they should stay here and wait for the others to return. "Does anyone have a problem with it?" Souta asked in a loud voice. Alice, Torkez, Isabella, and the rest answered by shaking their heads. They don''t have any problem with his arrangement. Soon, the people that were going to challenge the 91st floor and above stepped forward. Isabella and Yuko back down from challenging the last ten floors. Isabella was the weakest among them so she knew her limitation. Actually, she hasn''t been much help to them in clearing the 87th, 88th, 89th, and 90th floors. Even though she mastered controlling her parasitic essence eater, she was still a B-rank expert. She was lower than the others who reached the realm of liquefying mana. Yuko didn''t join the rest as Souta asked her to stay here and guard Isabella. The 81st floor has monsters that could pose a threat to Isabella. It would be better if Isabella had someone with her. "We''re going now. Don''t forget to wait for us." Souta said to Isabella before he disappeared along with Franklin, Torkez, Doranjan, and Alice. As soon as they disappear, Isabella sat down on the ground and breathed out strongly. "Hu~" She turned her head to Yuko and saw that she was looking at her. "We''re alone now, Yuko. This place is full of monsters and I think that most of them have respawned." Isabella smiled wryly and she looked up. She already decided what she would do while Souta and the rest were gone. She would unfold the legacy of the God of Hunt in her mind. She would stop studying for potioneering while they were away. She could already use the blessing to temporarily boost her power. Also, the energy she got from the legacy rapidly increase her growth and she was now an intermediate B-rank expert. She would be able to reach peak B-rank soon and liquefied her mana. Isabella closed her eyes and focused her attention on the legacy inside her body. She could judge that the energy coming from it would be enough to raise her power level to A-rank and she just needed two weeks to use it to liquefy her mana. At that time, she needed a strong body to handle the liquefied mana. ''This is the reason why Souta said that I should focus on improving my physical strength... F-rank to B-rank is all about physical strength. It''s to build a good foundation so that the body could hold the liquefied mana in A-rank. If the body isn''t strong enough then it would explode.'' She went through the legacy and found all sorts of techniques. She could find a technique that will help her liquefy her mana and solidify it. There were also techniques for the shackled realm. Then, she found the technique to help her strengthen her body as fast as possible. There were combat arts and spells in the legacy. Also, knowledge about how to use it from the God of Hunt. "Unfortunately, there are no knowledge about potions... Maybe, there is a God of Potions out there." Isabella sighed but this was better than nothing. This was still a legacy of a god. "I still want to brew potions..." ... Souta arrived on the 91st floor. It was too dark that even his night vision didn''t work on this floor. No, his vision was disabled in this place and he wouldn''t be able to use his eyes. His sense of sight was gone. "Alice..." He called out the name of his comrade and just like he expected no one replied to him. Alice and the rest were in different places but everything was the same. They also couldn''t use their sense of sight and they needed to pass the maze which was the 91st floor with just their remaining senses. This was the 91st floor of this living labyrinth of an unknown god. But this floor was pretty much easy for Souta who could control his energy easily. He could release his energy like a radar and he would know the structure of his surroundings judging the objects that made in contact with his energy. "It''s fortunate that I trained to control my energy..." Souta sighed in relief. ''You should thank me for training you...'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. She sounded like she was proud of herself. "Yeah, yeah..." Souta smiled as he walked forward. He currently had two types of energy. One was the best feram which was unique to the monster and the other one was mana which was for humans and demis. The best feram came from his monster orb and the mana was in his parasite. He could store energy in his parasite so he decided to stock some mana using the mana potions that Isabella brew for them. It was to fool those people in Great World Imperium but he doubted that he could fool the senses of the gods. In just two days Souta cleared the 91st floor. It took him two days because releasing best feram constantly was draining his energy pool. He had to rest and wait for his energy to recover. Then, the real challenge was the 92nd floor. He still couldn''t use his sense of sight but he had to fight monsters of this labyrinth. The levels of monsters varies from B-rank to A-rank. Luckily, there''s no S-rank or else he would be forced to use his aces. Souta used all of his combat arts and spells just to defeat those monsters. At the last minute, he even used Saya''s [Possession] skill. He had a hard time fighting while his sense of sight was disabled. ''You should just stay here. I''m that the next floor you still can''t use your sense of sight. So I advise you that you should train yourself how to fight without relying on your eyes.'' Saya said to him. "Yeah, I didn''t even clear this floor. I''m still in the middle part and I''m sure that there are still monsters out there guarding the passage to the 93rd floor." Souta said before he sat down. He should rest for now and recover his energy and stamina. He was quite tired after using [Possession] skill. Then, he would train himself so that he doesn''t have to rely on his eyes all the time. "If they are struggling just like me... Well, I''m sure that they will train themselves just like me." Souta muttered while thinking about Alice, Torkez, Doranjan, and Franklin. ''You don''t have to worry about them especially that old man Franklin. Although his power level is low, his battle instinct and sense are high.'' Saya said to him. "Yeah, that old man is a monster when it comes to battle. He is just like an older version of Bryan but Franklin will not hesitate to kill his opponent." .... On the other 92nd floor... Franklin was laughing like a mad man. "Oh, fuck! This is really a great challenge!" His body moved side to side as he avoided the attack of the A-rank monsters. Then, both of his hands turned into blades and slashed it towards the nearest monster. "Disabling my sight will not work on me.... I''m a demi that uses an antenna to sense the surroundings so I''m not dependent on eyes. Hahaha, fuck! Just die! Fucking monsters! Let me kill all of you!" Chapter 474 - 91st Floor To 100th Floor II One week had passed and Souta managed to clear the 92nd floor. In this week, he trained inside Saya''s inner consciousness to fight without using his eyes. At the end of the 92nd floor, Souta fought two monsters at his level. The monster that could rival the third evolution stage, an S-rank. Despite his disadvantage, he managed to kill them while using most of his cards. The [Possession] and [Monster Orb Release] were used on this floor. The founder of the Great Astley Empire was nothing compared to these monsters. After he cleared the 92nd floor, Souta rest for a day before he head on the 93rd floor. Just like what he expected, he still couldn''t use his sense of sight. Also, the difficulty has increased. It''s not just his sense of sight anymore but also his sense of smell was disabled. But he didn''t have a problem with it. His sense of smell wasn''t that strong compared to Yuko and Doranjan so he rarely used it to sense his surrounding area. The monster on the 93rd floor was still as strong as the monster on the 92nd floor so he handled it the same. He was also getting used to his current condition. It took him three days before he cleared the 93rd floor. He then saw that he level up and finally reach level 44. It was within his expectations as the monsters that he was hunting were B-rank, A-rank, and S-rank. Just a single S-rank already gave him exp equal to a hundred A-rank. This farming was more efficient when he was killing the soldiers of the Great Astley Empire who only had a power level of D-rank and C-rank expert. Unfortunately, he couldn''t gather any souls from the monster here in the living labyrinth as they were just created from the energy of this place to test the people that wanted to get the god''s legacy. But then he was still an early third evolution monster as his level was only 44 but his combat power was as strong as those high third evolution monsters. He could even defeat some of them if he used his cards pretty well. By the way, Doranjan was already at this level. A high third evolution stage and was close to a peak third evolution stage. There was another reason why he could rival a high third evolution stage. The [Ruler of Sub-world] boosted his strength as the worlds that were under the rule of the Great Astley Empire recognized him as their leader ever since the Astros was established. So Souta head to the 95th floor after he recovered from the battle on the 94th floor. On this floor, his disadvantages have increased once again. His sense of hearing was disabled. He couldn''t hear his own voice and the sounds in his surrounding area. The worse case was that he couldn''t even hear Saya''s voice. ''Even telepathic communication was blocked!!'' He thought inwardly as he felt a sense of crisis. Fortunately, he could still enter Saya''s inner consciousness. Once he entered her inner consciousness, he could use his senses so he could hear her voice. It was a relief for him. Time passed quickly and Souta just kept training to clear this living labyrinth. His effort in training level up some of his combat arts. ... Isabella and Yuko were on the 60th floor looking at the white cocoon of energy in front of them. "Almost two months had already passed and they still haven''t come out of the last trial. Are they going to be fine, Yuko?" Isabella said as she rested her chin on her palm. She smiled as she heard Yuko''s words which say that her master is strong so don''t worry. "You''re right, Souta and others are strong so I just need to believe in them." Then, a crack formed on the white cocoon and it slowly spread out on its surface. After a few moments, the cocoon was shattered and a girl that looked like a 14-year-old child came out. The girl was small as her height was just four and a half feet. Her skin was light green and she had a purple color tattoo on her hand up to her neck. She had a shoulder-length dark red color hair, her big round eyes had the same color, and her lips were black. Black spikes with green color tips protruded on her shoulders. "Oh, you''ve grown beautiful Yenxa." Isabella commented when she saw Yenxa''s appearance. Her eyes sparkle as she slowly approached the cute figure. It was completely different from before. That''s right. This little girl was Yenxa, the little goblin that he picked when they were in Planet Greia. This time she finally reached her second evolution. She couldn''t believe it. A goblin would grow this pretty. She haven''t heard anything like this when she was still a slave. "She''s beautiful, right Yuko?" Isabella turned to Yuko and heard a "Tch!" sound in her mind. It felt like Yuko was dissatisfied with Yenxa''s current appearance. "Err..." She scratched her cheeks with an awkward expression while looking at Yuko and Yenxa back and forth. She didn''t know what to do at this moment. "Glad to see that everyone is fine." A voice sounded behind them. Isabella turned around and saw a tall man with short black hair. The man had thick brows and sharp eyes. "Oh, you''re back, Torkez." She smiled when she saw Torkez. "Yeah, is that Yenxa...?" Torkez asked as he observed the little girl. The difference in appearance was huge so he couldn''t recognize this little girl from the bald goblin before. "Ah, yes. She evolve and reached the second evolution stage." Isabella replied. She then slowly asked, "Are you alone? Did you meet the others?" "No, the trial is hard..." Torkez said as he recalled the things that happened to him. "The 91st floor is a huge maze. It would be easy to clear it but somehow I couldn''t see anything in the maze. It took me a lot of time before I cleared it. It was hard and it''s traumatizing." "What do you mean?" Isabella asked with a curious expression. She didn''t challenge the 91st floor and beyond so she didn''t have an idea what they experience. "All the time I couldn''t even use my eyes. Ever since I entered that place my vision was blocked by some unknown power and it took me two weeks before I passed the 92nd floor. I couldn''t even imagine that I had to fight without using my eyes. I could only keep up with those monsters because I had great control over my parasite." Torkez sighed as he glanced at the ceiling. Then he continued, "On the 93rd floor, my ability to smell was blocked and then my ability to hear was blocked. I think on the 100th floor all the senses are blocked and we have to fight powerful monsters without it." "Isn''t that too hard?" "Yeah, I couldn''t only clear the 95th floor before I gave up. I could hardly defeat any S-rank monster with my current strength so I decided to give up." Torkez was an A-rank expert and he just reached it when they started their expedition in this living labyrinth. It''s been four months when he reached this level and he was close to achieving the intermediate stage. According to Souta, A-rank has four stages. Initial, intermediate, high, and peak stages. A person will become an A-rank if they managed to liquefy a drop of mana in their mana pool, and that''s the initial stage of A-rank. If a person liquefy a quarter of their mana in their mana pool then they were at intermediate stage. If it was half then it was at high stage. Lastly, the peak stage. A person will achieve it if that person managed to liquefy all the mana in the mana pool. He had a technique to help him liquefy his mana. He received this technique from Souta and it was a technique that he haven''t found in the Great Astley Empire. He didn''t know that Saya was the one who passed this technique and she just used Souta to strengthen his forces. Saya didn''t have any care about giving powerful techniques to Torkez and the rest. They were bound by the parasitic essence eater and those parasites have completely fused in their bodies. In other words, they were Souta''s possession. "It seems that I''m the first one to give up," Torkez said with a sigh. He knew that he was the weakest among the people that challenged the 91st floor to the 100th floor. "You don''t have to feel bad about it. At least you challenged it while I''m stuck here." Isabella said. "Huff... Since there is nothing to do I''ll just train while waiting for them to come out..." Torkez said as he patted his clothes. "Okay, I''ll just check Yenxa''s ability first..." Isabella nodded at him. "Oh, I''m curious about it too." Chapter 475 - 91st Floor To 100th Floor III "Wait... But how can we talk with her? I don''t even understand Yenxa at all." Torkez glanced at Isabella. "Err... I don''t know..." Isabella said awkwardly. She didn''t have any idea how to communicate with Yenxa. "Then..." Torkez slowly turned his head and glanced at Yuko. "Um... I think that it wouldn''t work. Yuko rarely talk to me in the past few months." Isabella said with a wry smile. She actually wanted to get closer with Yuko but she didn''t even know what Yuko likes. "I see..." Torkez sighed while looking at Yenxa. "Then, we would only know about it when Souta came out of the trial." "We could only wait..." One week had passed quickly and Franklin was the second one who came out of the trial. "Oho, it seems that I''m the second one. Damn! I thought that I lasted longer than others." Franklin said with a laugh. "How''s the trial?" Torkez asked. "It''s fun," Franklin said with a wide grin on his face. "By the way, isn''t that little girl the little goblin before...?" "Yeah, that''s Yenxa and she evolves into higher species but I don''t know the specific details. I just know that her toxins are strong that it could even melt my skin." "Oh, it''s pretty interesting. Her power level is just below B-rank yet her toxins could damage you, an A-rank." "I was shocked when I found about it. Since we couldn''t communicate with her, I observe her battle with the monsters in this labyrinth." "Then..." Franklin glanced at Torkez and asked, "What did you discover? I''m sure that you didn''t observe her for nothing." "Hmm, let see... From my observation, Yenxa''s ability is still the same. It just improves and it''s much more lethal than before. She could exert poison gas from her pores and it will take approximately ten minutes for it to work against B-rank monsters. Thirty minutes if she wanted to take down an A-rank. Fortunately, she didn''t try it on S-rank in the lower floors as those monsters could kill her easily before the poison worked." Torkez paused for a moment before he added, "Aside from poison gas, she could also use liquid poison that could melt any object. You see those spikes of her shoulders..." "Yeah," "Those spikes are similar to her limbs as she could move it just like the tentacles of an octopus. Well, I found one of its purposes. It could splash liquid poison that could severely damage her opponent''s skin. Also, she could directly inject the poison inside her prey''s body by piercing it using those spikes." "Oho, her ability is so sick..." Franklin laughed. "She could kill an A-rank with her C-rank power level. The only problem is that the A-rank could kill her before her poison could work." "Yeah, it''s not just poison. She could bite you with those sharp fangs and you would die with her venom. Isabella took samples of her poison and venom yet she didn''t find a cure for it so right now it''s dangerous to carelessly approach Yenxa if you didn''t have high poison resistance." Torkez said. "What about our parasites?" Franklin asked. "We''re not sure about it. Isabella said that she isn''t sure if the parasites in our bodies have resistance to Yenxa''s ability." Torkez shook his head. "I see..." Franklin nodded while looking at Yenxa. "By the way, have you met Isabella and Yuko on the lower floors?" Torkez asked. "Yes, they are currently on the 75th floor. They are trying to clear it with their own strength. Haha, to be honest, I''m surprised when I saw how that lass, Isabella, has grown in the past two months." "She''s close to reaching Lydia''s strength. If she kept growing at this rate then she would catch up to the two of us." "It''s pretty interesting if you put it that way. It''s good for me though, I don''t want to stand at the top as I wouldn''t be able to enjoy battle if I''m the strongest." "Hmm... How long do you think it will take for them to clear those trials?" Torkez asked. "Just one more month and they will come out... I stopped myself after the 96th floor. I could somehow handle the 95th floor as the movement of the monsters are simple but on the 96th floor, it became too hard for me that I almost died. I had so much fun but I guess that''s my limit." Franklin explained to him. "My limit is 95th floor so can you give me the details of what''s on the 96th floor?" Torkez asked. "96th floor is a huge forest although I can''t see anything I can still feel it. The monsters there had a form of a six-meter tall monkey. Their power level ranges from B-rank to A-rank and there are three S-rank monsters guarding the passage to the 97th floor. They are very agile and it''s hard to predict their movement. Some of them would attack you from afar and some would attack in close range. I couldn''t even land a single hit on those three S-rank monsters. If I didn''t escape on time I would have died there." "Is it really dangerous?" "You say, the S-rank monster on the 95th floor is nothing compared to the S-rank monster on the 96th floor. Both monsters had the same power level but the monsters on the 96th floor felt like it was an experienced fight while the monsters on the 95th floor were just strong and that''s it. They don''t even know how to properly attack a person. It''s like you''re comparing an ordinary civilian to an experienced soldier." The two talked for a while before they went to the lower floors to improve their fighting skills. It''s the only thing they could do while waiting for Souta, Alice, and Doranjan. Time had passed quickly and Doranjan was the third one to come out of the trial of the 91st floor to 100th floor. Franklin and Torkez asked him various questions about the trial. Doranjan simply answered them without hiding anything. He said that he got to 97th floor. The 97th floor was terrifying and he explained that he felt like he was inside a void. The void which was devoid of anything. All five senses were disabled. He couldn''t see anything with his eyes. He couldn''t hear anything even his own voice and heartbeat. He couldn''t smell anything. Lastly, his sense of touch was gone. This was the worse for him. He couldn''t even feel the ground on his feet. Even if he touched the body of the monster he wouldn''t feel anything. There was only one reason why he could survive in that place. He could still sense his energy, the best feram, and he used it to escape from the relentless attack of the monsters on the 97th floor. Even his senses from the parasite were cut. It felt like he didn''t have any body at all, he''s just a lump of energy in that place. He gave up after that and didn''t try to challenge it. He thought that he needed to improve in all aspects. His control of his best feram was the first that he needed. It was fruitful. Although he failed the trial, he understood a lot of things. ... On the 100th floor... Souta couldn''t feel anything aside from his best feram. He was overwhelmed yet improve a lot in this amount of time. His [Energy Manipulation] skill had reached level 7. He could properly control his best feram like his own limbs. He was holding the vajra sword in his right hand yet he didn''t feel anything. He just know about it because of the energy that was flowing inside the sword. He was using [Possession], [Soul Blood Mode], and [Monster Orb Release] at the same time. Yet, his opponent could still hold his ground against him. ''This monster...'' He cursed inwardly as he released countless webs in every direction. On this floor, the last floor, there was only one enemy. The enemy had the same skill set like him. Also, the enemy had the same combat style and it could use monster traits just like him. The enemy was a copy of him. It means that the difficulty was adjusted to the power level of the person that took this trial. A slash shot in front of him that cut his threads and caused a huge cut of his chest. Yet, Souta didn''t feel anything because all of his senses were blocked except for his energy sense. "This is too difficult..." An enormous beam appeared on his side and Souta quickly gathered his webs in front of him while activating the [Armored Scale Formation] at the same time. Then, a bunch of black tentacles rose from the ground to help him block the [Bestrou] of his opponent. [Doppelganger]!! Seven shadows shot in every direction to hunt down his opponent. This room was full of webs and it helped him locate the opponent as his best feram was flowing in every string of webs in this room.. It was taxing to his monster orb yet this was the only thing he could do at this moment. Chapter 476 - 91st Floor To 100th Floor IV One hour before Souta went to the 100th floor... He decided that he would clear the 100th floor. The 99th floor already blocked his connection with Saya and he couldn''t enter her inner consciousness. He already recovered from his battle with the monsters on this floor so it was time that he head on the final floor. The battle on the 99th floor was hard that it made him use all of his free attribute points to further increase his power level. He couldn''t clear it with his current power so he used all of his free attribute points and he was successful. He almost died on this floor as the monsters were not just powerful but also intelligent too. Next was the 100th floor. He didn''t know what lies ahead but he was sure that it was harder than any floor in this entire labyrinth. If he cleared it he would have a chance to get the legacy of an unknown god. Souta decided to wait for a while as he transferred some of his best feram in his parasite. He didn''t have enough mana potion to fill it so he would fill it with his own energy. Also, it would boost his power if he use best feram instead of a mana potion. After a while, Souta stepped inside the 100th floor and he quickly spread his webs. His energy flow through the webs to sense any object that made contact with it. Not just that, he also activated his [Shadow Cloak], [Night Overlord''s Aura], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Cat''s Speed], and [Dark Cloud Hunting]. Although his five senses were cut, it made him possible to sense anyone around him with his skill set. The black mist from [Dark Cloud Hunting] spread in the surrounding area and he sensed one figure one hundred meters away from him. Since his [Energy Manipulation] skill had increased by several levels, he could detect his best feram flowing through the black mist that he emitted. And that figure made contact with the black mist and it was transmitted back to him. ''Just one opponent...?'' Souta was confused. He didn''t think that the 100th floor only had one figure and judging from the surrounding, the whole place was just a plain desolate area without any object. ''Surely, this one is strong as hell...'' He thought as he tightly grip the vajra sword in his hand. Suddenly, a huge amount of mana burst out from that figure. Several skills were activated at the same time as twenty black balls appeared around the figure. It''s the [Shadow Ball] and [Gravitational Ball] spell. Also, seven shadows emerged from the ground. It''s the [Doppelganger] spell. ''What?!'' Before Souta could regain his posture a powerful gravity bore down in his body. ''Fuck! What the hell is going on?!'' He instantly released his best feram and twenty black balls formed around him, the [Gravitational Ball] and the [Shadow Ball] spells. He offset the gravity power of his opponent using his own gravity power. Boom! Shockwaves spread out as Souta pulled a string of his web. Swoosh! Dozens of strings moved at the same time and it tried to bind the figure which was standing one hundred meters away from him. Before the strings could bind the figure the seven shadows move and started to cut the strings of his web. ''It could even cut my webs...!'' A web from a third evolution monster like Souta was tough and strong. Some humans and demis could use it to create an orange-grade armor yet those seven shadows simply cut his webs easily. Do you think that you''re the only one who knew [Doppelganger]? Seven shadows rose behind Souta and it dashed forward with the intention to fight the other seven shadows. Swoosh! Souta bent his knees as he launched himself like a missile towards the figure while activating his [Armored Scale Formation]. Savage looking armor formed around his body and it exuded an ominous aura. The figure raised its sword and swung it towards Souta. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta and his opponent clashed several times causing powerful shockwaves in the surrounding area. Their energy reached the peak as it collided strongly. Bang! Bang! Bang! In just five minutes, Souta and his opponent exchanged thousands of blows at the same time. Their bodies kept blinking in other positions as they used their [Shadow Ball] spell. Souta used his skill set to dominate his opponent but he found that his opponent had the same skill set as him. ''Don''t tell me...?'' His guess was true. The one he was fighting right now was a copy of himself. The only difference was that his opponent was using mana while he was using best feram. Still, the amount of mana that his opponent have was enormous and it was enough to rival his best feram. It was also in solid form and it means that his opponent was an S-rank or above. If it was an ordinary S-rank, Souta could easily dominate the battle but his opponent this time had the same skill and battle style as him. It felt like he was fighting another Souta. ''Damn! this is pretty exciting... Even my monster traits are being used by my opponent...'' The figure used [Armored Scale Formation] and thread to counter his attack. Then, it teleported fifty meters behind him using the [Shadow Ball] spell. Swoosh! Souta quickly turned around and charged a huge amount of best feram on the tip of his sword. [Bestrou]!! [Dark Shooting Ray]!! Two enormous beams collided and a powerful explosion shook the whole area. The shockwaves from the explosion directly disintegrated the fourteen shadows that were fighting beside them. Even the webs around were wiped out into nothing. ''This bastard is really testing me... Let''s see if you can copy this skill!'' Souta grinned widely as his body inflated and savage black spike sprouted on his back. His body grew three meters tall as four spider limbs emerge on his back just below the spikes. His mouth cracked opened revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. His four eyes gleamed in the darkness as his nails grew longer resembling sharp claws. Golden tattoos shone on his chest. The best feram in the surrounding grew heavier and the power of his skills rose by several folds. Especially the five traits that he picked when he evolved. The [Draw Blood], [Armored Scale Formation], [Rapid Recovery], [Thread Forming], and [Black Orc''s Solid Body]. These five were the most affected traits in this form. [Monster Orb Release]! This was his release state as Blood Goblin. Another seven shadows formed beside the figure and these shadows quickly charged towards Souta. Swoosh! Souta grabbed one of the shadows before he opened his mouth widely and bit it into half. Then, the four spider limbs on his back moved as it pierced the other shadows. In an instant, the seven doppelgangers were gone. His body flashed as it closed the distance between him and his opponent. His opponent quickly gathered a large amount of mana on his sword while Souta used [Cross Moon] to attack. Boom! Smoke filled the area and Souta had a shocked expression on his face. His energy sense told him that the power level of his opponent rose to the limit and now it could rival his power in his release state. ''This bastard!!'' Souta gritted his teeth and he pushed his opponent forward while using [Possession]. Then, sounds of wailing echoed in the area as souls from the earring went inside Souta''s body. ''Since you''re the only one here, might as well used everything that I''ve got!'' Boom!! The two wrestled in the mid-air as they crashed on the ground while using everything that they''ve got. Various skills clashed as the two continued to swing their swords. Even in this form, Souta''s opponent could still match him. Just like what he guessed, this labyrinth recorded everything about him and made an exact copy of him with the same skills and battle style. His opponent also had a release form. Although his opponent didn''t have any souls to power up, the labyrinth gave it another skill to boost its prowess to match Souta when he used his [Soul Blood Mode]. Swoosh! Webs spread out in the entire area as it canceled the shadow balls around. It was to prevent any of them from teleporting. Then, the two gravity forces clashed in the middle of the two. Souta and his opponent flashed as their body collided once again. Boom! But the result of this clash was different than before. Both of their swords were embedded in each other chests. Their [Draw Blood] traits further increase their strength when they suffered injuries. Hmm... Souta let go of his sword and his opponent did the exact thing. Then, the two of them threw a barrage of powerful punches. [Transforming Shadow Barrage]!! [Transforming Shadow Barrage]!! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Hundreds of blows were thrown in just a few seconds and Souta changed his tactics. He grabbed the wrist of his opponent but spikes protruded as it pierced his palm. ''It could also control its flesh like this?! Just like my parasite!!'' Souta didn''t care about it. Spikes formed on his palms and it pierced the wrists of his opponent.. Then, he opened his mouth widely revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. Chapter 477 - 91st Floor To 100th Floor V Souta''s opponent tilted his head to the side and bit his hand. Souta groaned but no sounds escape from his mouth. He was silenced by the effect of this floor. He couldn''t feel physical pain with his senses being disabled but the mana of his opponent passed through his body and it made him possible to feel pain. The best feram and mana clashed inside his hand. ''This bastard!!'' Sharp dark flesh sprouted from Souta''s side and it pierced the body of the figure in front of him. Then, he proceeded to bite the head of his opponent with his razor sharp teeth. The two tried to devour each other. It was brutal as the two of them kept biting the flesh of their opponents. Even the [Blessing of the God of Hunt] was used. Everything that Souta was hiding was revealed in this battle. Chomp!! Souta didn''t care about anything as he kept biting his opponent while their skills were offsetting each other. ''Let''s see how much longer you can last!'' Using his parasite he created dozens of mouths with sharp teeth to bite his opponent. His opponent did the same thing. This scene lasted for one hour before Souta managed to completely devour his opponent. He won... Finally, he defeated the only opponent on the 100th floor, the last floor in this labyrinth. The 100th floor was easier than he expected. He thought that he would fight an SS-rank opponent which he couldn''t defeat with a power of a third evolution monster. With his current power, his limit was only S-rank. In fact, S-rank and SS-rank were already for the fourth evolution monster. But his various skills and equipment boosted his power to the next level. ''So if Teacher Bargan is here then teacher would have to fight a copy of him... that''s how it is... The level is adjusted to the participant of the last floor.'' Then, what about a god? If god tried to clear it maybe a god will appear too. Souta shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. He should focus on his recovery first. His right hand was gone and a huge chunk of flesh on his side was gone. His liver and some of his ribs were eaten by his opponent. Blood and bit marks were all over his body. The only reason why he was still alive clinging to his life was because of his huge vitality. Other people would have died or fainted on the spot if they suffered these heavy wounds. The healing properties of the queen parasite have slowed down. It couldn''t keep up as his opponent bit off his arms several times and the queen parasite kept recovering the damage on his body but it reached its limit after recovering lost limbs for an hour. ''So this is the limit of the queen of the parasitic essence eater?'' Souta thought as he activated the [Blood Field], the Blood Goblin''s trait skill. It gathered the blood in the area and it recovered some of his wounds. It also patched up the heavy wounds on his body to prevent him from dying. At least, he wouldn''t die at the moment... His tensed body finally relaxed before he fell to the ground with a loud "Thud!" sound. He lost his consciousness and the last thing that he remembered was that his senses have come back to his body. Also, his connection with Saya has returned. Her voice was filled with concern as she kept shouting his name. ''Souta!!'' ''Souta!!'' ''Souta.....'' ... Almost two days had passed before Souta opened his eyes once again. "Huh...?" Souta slowly opened his eyes only to find that he was in a white space. Everything was white and it felt like it was an endless space. "Is this the 100th floor?" He muttered as he pushed himself into a seated position. Then, he heard Saya''s voice in his mind. ''You''re finally awake, Souta. When my connection was blocked, I thought that something bad is going to happen. Luckily, you managed to survive.'' He heard a sigh of relief in his mind and a smile appeared on his face. From her tone, it seems that she was really worried about him. Souta checked his body and found that he had recovered. There''s nothing wrong with him and he could use his senses once again. He was glad that he tried to clear this labyrinth as he learned a lot of things here. ''If you''re finished checking your body, then you can proceed to that gigantic orb of energy. That''s where the legacy lies.'' Saya said to him. Souta raised his head and saw a giant white orb fifteen meters away from him. The white orb was a lump of enormous energy and it even distorted the space around it. It was astonishing but it didn''t harm his body. "That''s the legacy of an unknown god..." He stood up and observed the orb of energy. Now that his energy sense was enhanced, he could feel how dangerous that orb of energy was if used for battle. Fortunately, that energy didn''t harbor any malice to the one who cleared the labyrinth. In fact, it was enticing him to approach it as soon as possible. With that in his mind, Souta moved his feet and slowly walked towards the giant white orb. "It''s huge..." Now that he was close to it, he only just found that the white orb was three times larger than him. The space around it was being folded forcefully. Strangely, it didn''t do any harm to him. This was his first time seeing something like this. He cleared various living labyrinths in the game and saw dozens of legacy in the forum but this was his first time seeing a legacy in this form. Even the legacy of the God of Hunt before was pretty normal compared to this one. ''That''s not a normal legacy of a god. I wonder just how powerful the god who left it here.'' Saya sounded like she was amazed. Souta stretched out his hand and placed his palm on the surface of the white orb. At the same time, a huge row of words appeared in the sky. [Congratulations participant for clearing the labyrinth!] This... Souta couldn''t remove his hand on the white orb as a huge amount of energy went through his body. Intense pain assault his body as his cells were destroyed and reformed at the same time. His regeneration ability was trying its best to protect his life. System notification popped into his mind as he gritted his teeth while enduring the intense pain. [You''ve passed all the requirements!] [Acquiring the Legacy of the God!] [The consciousness of the unknown god is looking at you!] [Transferring the energy to the host!] ''Souta! What''s happening?!'' Saya shouted at Souta when she saw that something was wrong. Then, her connection with Souta was cut once again. ''What is that?! An A-Ancient God from the L-Lost Era! Twenty Thousand Years Ago!!!'' She screamed as she was forcefully sealed back in the vajra sword. Her mind was in a mess as she felt that she was hallucinating. *Ding!* [The host''s body couldn''t handle the all the energy of the legacy!] "Ugh! I''m already a third evolution monster yet my body couldn''t handle it?! Even Isabella managed to contain the Legacy of the God of Hunt on her own yet I..." Blood came out of his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and pores. [10%... 11%...] [The host will explode once you gained fifteen percent of the energy!] Souta opened his eyes widely when he saw this. Yeah, the legacy didn''t harbor any malice to him but he was just too weak. It wouldn''t harm him but if he tried to acquire it his body would explode from all the energy inside the legacy. *Ding!* [The host is suggested to convert all the energy to experience points!] *Ding!* [Do you want to convert all the energy inside the legacy to experience points? Yes/No?] [Forcefully converting the energy to experience points will lose some of the energy!] "JUST START IT!!!" Souta roared as his body will explode at any moment. If that happens he will die. He didn''t care about the lost energy at all as his life was at stake. [Converting the energy to experience points!!] [1%... 5%... 15%... 24%... 46%... 69%...] He gritted his teeth as the pain slowly disappeared. *Ding!* [Converting completed!] [You''ve level up!] [You''ve level up!] [You''ve level up!] [You''ve level up!] ... Souta breath a sigh of relief while looking at the system prompt inside his mind. *Ding!* [You''ve gained the Cosmic Sign Ophiuchus!] [Due to the loss of energy the amount of legacy that you received has decreased!] [The System managed to take it back and the legacy was stored in the System Store!] [You can use skill points and free attribute points to buy it one by one!] [You''ve gained the title "Labyrinth Cleaner"!] [You''ve gained the title "Cosmic Sign: Ophiuchus"!] [The Thirteenth Zodiac Sign "Ophiuchus" has been born!] Chapter 478 - Ophiuchus [You''ve gained the title "Labyrinth Cleaner"!] [Labyrinth Cleaner]: When you enter a living labyrinth, your overall stats will increase by 50 points. This title was gained if a player managed to clear one living labyrinth. Souta knew that he could upgrade this title as long as he cleared more living labyrinth. [Labyrinth Conqueror] and [Labyrinth Dominator] were the titles above this. Also, the effect of this title was higher than his current one. But then, for him to gain [Labyrinth Conqueror] he needed clear five living labyrinths and twenty living labyrinths for [Labyrinth Dominator]. He guessed that he needed to clear fifty living labyrinths to achieve a higher title than the [Labyrinth Dominator]. In the game, he couldn''t achieve it as most of the top guilds conquered the other living labyrinths. If he somehow achieved a higher title then maybe it''s possible for him to venture into the Great Labyrinth. Then, about his legacy... Souta glanced at the system and saw that he was level 49. Just what kind of god left this legacy that even the body of a third evolution monster couldn''t handle the energy of the legacy. A level 49 Blood Goblin was strong enough to dominate those common third evolution monsters. He was currently at the intermediate stage and was close to the high stage. Just a little bit more and he would be able to level up to level 60 and promote his race to a higher life form. He had spare three level-up cards that he gained from completing the chain quest to destroy the Great Astley Empire. He didn''t think that he would get a lot of benefits in his exploration in these sub-worlds. In just a few months since his last evolution, he already reached level 49. If it was a normal grinding he guessed that it would take him another five months before he reached level 49. ''If I calculate my current speed I guess that I will reach level 60 next year. This is just the second year since I''ve transmigrated into this world. Passing level 60, it would take me another year of nonstop grinding before I gained five levels. Hmm...? Three more years and I will reach level 80, the level cap of the game.'' Souta nodded and he turned his attention to the other title that he gained. [Cosmic Sign: Ophiuchus]: One of the Thirteen Cosmic Power in the whole universe. It provided the user with various abilities. He narrowed his eyes while looking at the description of the title. This was his first time seeing this kind of title in his ten years of playing Battle World Online. He didn''t know about other secretive players like him but he was definitely sure that this was the first time that he saw it. He looked down and saw that he could expand the details to see the abilities that this title granted to him. [Cosmic Body], [Galaxy Eyes], [Nebula Heart], [Star Veins], and [Cosmic Authority: Ophiuchus]. Oi! Oi! Oi! This is the thirteenth zodiac?! Does this mean that the organization called "The Zodiac" has this kind of power? Suddenly a surge of power erupted in the whole place. Cracks spread out like a spider web in the entire area. ''Souta! you should take those things and leave this place as soon as possible! It''s going to collapse as the legacy is the core of this labyrinth! Since you took the legacy, this whole place is going to crumble burying every creature inside it!'' Saya said to him. Souta snapped out of his thoughts and looked around him. Saya was right. He needed to get out of this place quickly or else he would die. He looked at the things that Saya mentioned and saw a bunch of precious items, weapons, and spiritual fruits. He didn''t have a time to check these things so he used his [Gravitational Ball] to create a gravity field around it. Boom! Explosions sounded everywhere as Souta charged to the 99th floor. He could escape using the exit after clearing the labyrinth but that means leaving Alice and the rest in this place. Boom!! Alice, Franklin, Torkez, Isabella, Doranjan, Yuko, and Yenxa looked around as the whole labyrinth started to shake. The monsters on every floor turned into dust as gigantic cracks formed on every corner of the labyrinth. "This...? The whole labyrinth is going to collapse!! It means that Souta cleared this labyrinth!!" Alice shouted as she created a pair of wings on her back using her parasite before she flew towards the upper floor. While Souta was rushing to the upper floors, he used his connection with his tamed beasts to warn them about the destruction of the labyrinth. Then, he took out the transmission talisman and contacted Alice. "Souta!! Where are you?!" Alice''s voice sounded. Her tone was filled with concern. "I''m going there so you should go out of this place soon!" "Yeah, I''m leaving!" "Take Isabella with you! She''s one of the weakest! Don''t worry about Yenxa I will take her with me!" "Okay, then see you on the Guardian Fortress!!" Souta closed the connection as he placed back the transmission talisman in his pocket. He increased his pace as his figure burst through the mid-air. ... In the Buckshawn State, the city above the living labyrinth. "Damn!! It''s going to fall!!" "Run!! Quickly!!" "Don''t look back just keep on running!!" The people panicked as they experienced a strong earthquake that destroyed several huge buildings. They don''t know what''s happening but the trembling of the ground didn''t stop at all. In fact, it kept getting stronger. Boom!! Suddenly, a powerful surge of energy shot through the sky. It gave off heavy pressure to the entire place, no, the entire planet. The surge of energy was coming from the dungeon and all the living beings on this planet felt it. Their instincts were telling them that a powerful creature has arrived in their world and no one could rival it. This was their first time feeling this type of pressure and coercion. Even the people that invaded their planet didn''t have this heavy pressure. I-It felt like they were in front of a God. "Fuck!! Is this the end of the world?!" "We just survive the invasion of the Great Astley Empire and now another one has come!!" Screams of people could be heard in every corner of the whole Eidin Planet. ... Somewhere in the universe, a huge planet that couldn''t be found anywhere stood still. This planet was like a lump of energy and the energy it possessed was a hundred thousand times stronger than the stars. This planet didn''t show any movement in thousands of years. It didn''t even rotate not revolve around the sun. It stood still as if it was the center of the universe. The suns, moons, star systems, galaxies, and other celestial bodies were the ones revolving around it. It was the Great World Imperium, the home of the gods. Some people also called it the World of Gods or Divine Realm. Ohm! A fluctuation of energy passed through in every direction. Only gods, deities, demon gods, and monster lords felt it. It was a strange sensation that they couldn''t describe. The only thing that they knew was that it didn''t come from the Imperium. It came from one of the countless sub-worlds out there. The only people that recognized it were the twelve zodiacs. "Hmm?" Leo narrowed his eyes as he looked at the sky. He was familiar with this feeling as the wavelength of the energy was similar to his abilities. ''The thirteenth cosmic sign, Ophiuchus. It only appeared at this time but it''s still not too late.'' He thought as he glanced at the two people in front of him. "Change of plan. We don''t need to worry about that little goblin. I just sensed the awakening of the thirteenth sign so I need to move as fast as possible." He said to the two people before his figure shot through the sky folding the sky to shorten the distance of his travel. Boom! He didn''t want the other gods to discover it before him. The Cosmic Power was one of the most powerful ancient abilities in this universe and those who gained it could guarantee a smooth path towards godhood. ''First, the God''s Will is busy in locating the remaining three authorities so they will not join the hunt. The Deadly Sins have gathered the Seven Deadly Sins and they are currently trying to find the Original Sin. Hmm? So it''s between me and the other forces.'' Leo said inwardly as his body passed through the vacuum of space. He didn''t know the exact location but he had an idea about where to start. All the other members of the Zodiacs looked towards the sky. They were in different locations across the continent and didn''t know if they should make a move or not. A few minutes later, they''ve received a message that Leo went out of the Imperium to find the remaining Cosmic Power to complete the Thirteen Zodiac Sign. ''It''s going to be chaotic for a while.'' Chapter 479 - Cosmic Power Souta and the rest safely arrived in the Guardian Fortress. It''s been a few months since they came inside the living labyrinth and they finally cleared it after training all the time. "We''ll talk later but for now let''s rest our bodies and minds first." Souta said to his group before he went to his room and lay down on the bed. They were fighting nonstop for the past few months so it was important for them to rest their minds and bodies. Of course, they were going to leave this place. They''ve finished their goal here so he didn''t forget to mention the transportational gate to the crew of this ship. The ordinary crew of this ship was the subordinates that Torkez brought and the Gyun''s party that Souta met in this world. While they were resting the ship will travel in space using the transportational gate to close the distance between them and the Great World Imperium. Souta used the route of the Great Astley Empire as he knew that it would lead him to the Imperium just like what happened in the game. In the blink of an eye, the Guardian Fortress in the Eidin Planet disappeared and it appeared on another planet far away from the Eidin Planet. This zone was called an unexplored area as the Great Astley Empire haven''t explored this galaxy. The Great Astley Empire was an enormous empire that controlled hundreds of habitable planets. Their hands reached several galaxies around their home planet. And each galaxy only had five to ten habitable planets. The rest were just mining areas for resources. But they still prefer to mine resources from a planet that has living creatures as the resources from this planet couldn''t be compared to those mining planets. Also, the mana density of those mining planets was too low as if it didn''t have any mana in the atmosphere at all. All it had were just various chemicals. Souta closed his eyes as he focused his attention on the system in his mind. A semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him and rows of words were written on it. [Cosmic Sign: Ophiuchus] This title only provided him with +100 points to all stats. The abilities that it provided were all sealed in the system store and he needed skill points and free attribute points to unlock it. His body couldn''t handle all the powers of the legacy that''s why the system suggested that he should convert the power to experience points. Luckily, the system stored all the lost energy or else he wouldn''t have a chance to acquire all these abilities again. Just what the hell was the system? It could even seal the Cosmic Power, one of the strongest abilities in the universe. Souta couldn''t help but recall the voices that he heard when he evolved. The Four Authorities, the Aspect of the Sins, and the Star Zodiacs. He was sure that the Star Zodiacs were the Cosmic Power that he gained in the living labyrinth. The voices said that they were needed. These powers were needed for what? He didn''t know the answer but he felt that he was getting closer to the truth. Once he evolved, he was sure that he will unlock a part of his memories when he was still living on Planet Earth. He will also know why he was sent here and why the game that he was playing back then was real. ''Ieshi Clan... And my name is Souta Ieshi. My grandfather said that I shouldn''t forget my name no matter what happens as it will help me. I should try to find traces of the Ieshi Clan in Imperium but I haven''t heard anything about this clan in the game so I don''t know where to start.'' Souta furrowed his brows as he was contemplating where he should start in finding the clues of this mysterious clan that existed twenty thousand years ago. He shook his head and decided to check what abilities that he got and what abilities were sealed in the store. The title [Cosmic Sign: Ophiuchus] gave him a total of five abilities but four of them were sealed in the system store. The only thing that he got for free was the [Cosmic Body]. [Cosmic Body]: A body of stars just like a god. It holds enormous power and potential to manipulate the Cosmic Powers. It''s one of the few bodies in the universe that could hold the Cosmic Powers. This was the description of the ability called [Cosmic Body] but then he didn''t have this one as what he saw was something more amazing. The system somehow managed to integrate his three bodies. The [Shadow Body], [Monster''s Body], and lastly the [Cosmic Body]. And the result was truly amazing. [Dark Stellar Monster Body]. A one of a kind ability that he gained when he almost died. The energy from the legacy destroyed his cells and his body from the inside but his queen parasite reformed his body repeatedly until he converted the energy to skill points. This was the reason why he survived and the reason why the three abilities have merged. Normally he would only acquire the three abilities but not fuse them as he doesn''t have the kind of powers. Damn! This is too good to be true!! [Dark Stellar Monster Body] Effect 1: +1,000 Health, +350 Energy(Best Feram), +100 Stamina, +50 Stamina Regen, +50 Health Regen, +50 Energy Regen, +300 Strength, +20 Agility and Dexterity, +100 Vitality, +50 Intelligence Effect 2: Added fifty percent resistance to all types of elements including space and time. No one could harm the body below liquefying realm. Effect 3: The power of the darkness attribute spell and combat arts will increase by 10 percent. Effect 4: Able to acquire a Cosmic Power. Of course, the previous effect of the [Monster''s Body] and [Shadow Body] have long disappeared. It was just upgraded to a more powerful ability. With this, he couldn''t ask for more. The previous [Monster''s Body] provided him +500 Health but this new body has doubled the stats. The effect 1 was already satisfying to look at and it has other three effects. The effect 2 already guaranteed that no one could harm him below A-rank. No matter how many B-rank he fought he wouldn''t suffer any injuries with this effect. A party consisting of fifteen B-rank with different classes would be enough to injure him and maybe defeat him if they had a powerful skill set but now he didn''t need to worry about it. A smile formed on his face while looking at this ability. He then eyed the system store where the rest of the legacy was sealed. ?[Galaxy Eyes] Cost: 10 skill points and 40 free attribute points ?[Nebula Heart] Cost: 15 skill points and 30 free attribute points ?[Star Veins] Cost: 25 skill points ?[Archetype: Eternity Stellar Formation] Requirements: [Star Veins], [Cosmic Body], [Nebula Heart], and [Galaxy Eyes] Cost: 30 skill points and 10 free attribute points ?[Cosmic Authority: Ophiuchus] Requirement: Level 80, [Star Veins], [Cosmic Body], [Nebula Heart], and [Galaxy Eyes] Cost: 50 skill points and 100 free attribute points Expensive!! But he was sure that all of these were powerful abilities just by looking at the [Cosmic Body] that he received. It''s too much for him. To think that he would have to delay his class advancement for a while to gather a bunch of skill points and free attribute points. What he needed were dozens of high-difficulty quests. Gathering this amount of skill points and free attribute points would take him more than a year. Souta inhaled deeply as he shook his head and glanced at the treasure on the corner of his room. "Saya, have you checked these treasures?" He asked. ''Yeah, these treasures are amazing.'' Saya said with a hint of excitement in her voice. She then explained to him what she found. 1 red grade sword, 1 red grade spear, 2 pairs of red grade gauntlets, 1 red grade robe, 2 red grade rings, 1 red grade book, 2 pairs of red grade earrings, 1 red grade necklace, 2 orange grade halberd, 3 orange grade round shields, 5 orange grade leather armor, 3 orange grade plate armor, 6 orange grade necklace, 4 orange grade belt, 1 orange grade mask, 4 orange grade staff, 2 orange grade swords, 26 high quality mana essence, 17 medium quality mana essence, 9 low quality mana essence, 289 various quality of mana stone, 76 shards of shackles, 327 medium and high grade health potions, 299 medium and high grade mana potions, 143 potions that could permanently enhance attributes, 51 ancient potions with amazing effects, 46 monster orbs of a third evolution monster, 26 monster orbs of a fourth evolution monster, 11 monster orbs of a fifth evolution monster, 100 kg of epic enchanting ore, And 79 all sorts of spiritual fruits and herbs from rare to legendary. Gasp! Souta opened his eyes widely when he heard Saya''s voice. He couldn''t help but gasp as the things that she listed were too rare. He could only find some of it in dangerous places. "Fuck!! I''m rich!!" Chapter 480 - Noxious Dread Goblin This unknown god wasn''t stingy at all. To think that it would give left treasures like these in the legacy. Souta couldn''t contain his excitement while looking at these treasures. He stood up and squatted in front to observe the treasures closely. ''Just like I said before, you will like it.'' Saya said. "Yeah, just who the hell is the god that left all of these in the legacy?!" Saya grew silent as she just observed Souta''s reaction. She lived for a long time and she didn''t even have an idea about that ancient god. She was only sure that the god who left the legacy was strong and that god experienced the Great War twenty thousand years ago. The great tribulation that wiped out the gods, demon gods, deities, and monster lords. It also wiped some of the powerful races in the universe and it resulted in the dividing of the Great World Imperium. The barrier that divided the seven continents of the Imperium. That barrier didn''t prevent any creature from leaving the continent. It just prevented them from going to another continent. Demons from the Demon''s Land could go to the sub-world but they couldn''t go to the Giza continent and the rest of the continents. It was a restriction of the barrier but now the barrier was weakening and soon the powerhouses of the seven continents would meet. The clash was inevitable. "Oho, this is pretty good..." Souta muttered as he picked a pair of silver-colored earrings. [Silver Spring Earring](Red Grade) Effect 1: +100 Energy Regen, +200 Energy, +200 Stamina, +100 Stamina Regen Effect 2: [Cleanse]: could instantly remove any abnormal status. Cooldown: 3 Days Effect 3: Raises the wood attribute spells and combat arts by 10 percent(Activated only when wearing the other earring) This was what he needed the most. The parasite queen in his body greatly decreased his stamina and stamina regen. So using this pair of earrings his stamina and stamina regen would be able to catch up to his other stats. He raised his hands and pierced the lobe of his ears. He now had two pairs of earrings in his ear. One was a universal grade and the other was a red grade. It''s not bad for him. Then, he moved his eyes to the crimson-colored robe in front of him. He picked it up and checked its stats. [Flame Unity Robe](Red Grade) Effect 1: +500 Health, +300 Energy, +100 Stamina, +50 Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality Effect 2: +50% resistance to heat and flames, +20% power of any fire attribute spells Effect 3: [Flame Carpet]: Create a carpet of flames that inflicted burning status to any creature within 500 meters. Cooldown: 1 day Effect 4: [Compression]: Can turn into tiny marble This was also good. He would take it even if he didn''t use any fire attribute spell. There will be a time that this will be useful for him. Also, this robe had [Compression] ability just like Alice''s spear. He could bring it anywhere. He removed his current blue grade robe and wore this red grade robe. With his current power, this blue grade robe couldn''t provide him any help at all. "With this equipment, I would be able to fight a peak third evolution monster." He muttered with a satisfied expression on his face. Then, he picked the two red grade rings. [Nature Spring Ring](Red Grade) Effect 1: +1,000 Health, +500 Mana, +50 Mana Regen, +100 Stamina, +200 Intelligence Effect 2: [Insta Regen]: Could instantly recover 40% of mana. Cooldown: 7 days Effect 3: [Forest Vice]: Create a small field of forest within 500 meters diameter. This field increases the wood attribute spell and combat arts by 10%. Cooldown: 5 days [Silver Desolation Ring](Red Grade) Effect 1: +200 Strength, +150 Dexterity and Agility, +100 Intelligence and Vitality Effect 2: [True Silver Strike]: Launches a bolt of energy that ignored any armor and defenses of the target. Cooldown: 2 days Effect 3: [Silver Desolation]: Create a tsunami of silver metals that could absorb any creature in the field within 300 meters in front of the user. Cooldown: 2 days The first ring was pretty good but Souta didn''t have any mana at all. If it was energy then he would take it. Well, he could just give it to Alice. The second ring was good and it was within his taste. He would use the effect of this ring pretty well in the future. "Damn, this feeling is too good!" Souta said as he looked at the ring on his finger. He didn''t have any interest in the remaining equipment. He would just give it to Alice, Franklin, Torkez, Isabella, and Yenxa to boost their battle prowess. It''s important for them to grow stronger as it will decrease his burden in the future when the war occurred. Since he was done with the equipment he would move to the other treasure, the mana essence and mana stone. These were important to others but not him as he had best feram in his body. He couldn''t use mana essence or mana stone to increase the capacity of his energy. Mana essence and mana stone were expensive in Imperium. The demands of these two items were high and most of the noble families were willing to pay ten thousand platinum coins just for one mana essence. These two items didn''t just increase the mana capacity of a person that uses it but also help a person liquefy and solidify a mana pool. If he was still at second evolution then this will help him so that the best feram that he will receive when he evolves will be larger. Well, he would just give it to others. But the monster orbs were different matters. For a monster like him, monster orbs had the same function of mana stone and mana essence. It could greatly enhance the capacity of his monster orb so that he could hold more best feram. In their group, they only had four monsters so this amount will be enough for them. "I''m good~" One week had passed quickly... The Guardian Fortress used the transportational gate seven times and they haven''t detected any minuscule mana in the area around them. The fortress had some sort of radar installed within that could detect any planet that has level 5 mana density and above. Also, the were hundreds of mini telescopes installed within so that they could observe the planets outside of the radar''s range. They were wandering in space alone hoping to find any planets that has inhabitants. It was an unexplored area so it''s not within the map of the Great Astley Empire. What worried the other people in this boundless and dark space was the stellar beast. A monster that was born in space and roams around it. Souta knew stellar monsters. These types of monsters didn''t have powerful attacks but they had powerful bodies that let them survive in outer space for so long. Each one of the stellar monsters had five kilometers gigantic body. Some of the higher evolution stellar monsters could even devour planets. Stellar monsters were creatures that the Great Astley Empire was afraid of. But in the history of the empire, they only encountered this monster three times and it led to the destruction of their entire fleet in an instant. Who knows where might be those stellar monsters in this boundless space. Souta came out of the room and called the others. He gave them the leftover of the treasures. Even though it was leftover, the treasures still had red grade equipment. He divided it among them and gave all the potions to Isabella so that she could use it as a reference. Those high grade potions will greatly help her as the current her could only brew high quality low grade potions. At this time he noticed Yenxa on the corner. He was a little bit surprised to see her current appearance just a little girl. ''Damn, where the hell did that bald goblin go?! Yenxa''s look is just like a normal demi except for those ominous looking spikes on her back!'' Souta said inwardly while looking at Yenxa. Then, he checked her abilities on the system. =Noxious Dread Goblin(Yenxa)[¡â]= A type of goblin that evolved using strong toxins and managed to gain the characteristics of toxins. Evolution: 2nd Stage Skill(s): [Dash] Level 4, [Cat''s Speed] Level 4, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 4, [Shadow Cloak] Level 4, [Energy Manipulation] Level 3, Trait(s): [Greater Toxin Resistance III], [Monster''s Force II], [Monster''s Body II], [Toxin Blood] Trait Skill(s): [Poison Mist], [Venomous Sting] Souta couldn''t help but gasp when he saw the interface. It''s true that he bestowed her some of his abilities but he just realized that Yenxa was stronger than he thought. [Monster''s Force II] and [Monster''s Body II] at just second evolution then what about when she evolved into third evolution then she would get those "III" for fifth evolution monster. He was looking forward to her improvement in the future.. He was sure that she will become one of the most powerful creatures at his side. Chapter 481 - We Are Too Eye-catching! Souta didn''t bring out the epic enchanting ores and spiritual fruits. He still needed time to think about what he should give them. Then, there''s the epic enchanting ore. This type of ore was rare and could only be found in a few places across the Great World Imperium. It was one of the materials needed to forge high grade weapons. This will be useful if he had a weaponsmith in his group. It''s been one month since he cleared the living labyrinth. Nothing much happened after except the incident in Eternal Empire. Lumilia and Lynn told him about what happened to Bryan through the transmission talisman. "Don''t worry, I think that we''re close to Imperium," Souta said with a smile. "I''m looking forward to it, Souta!" Lynn''s voice came through the talisman as she couldn''t hide her excitement for the day that Souta will come back to them. "I will prepare everything for your return. I hope that you will like the Dark Oculus Legion." Lumilia said. "Yeah, yeah, I''ll leave everything what happened there to all of you. Just don''t forget to increase your power level as it will help you in emergency situations." Souta talked to Lumilia and Lynn for a while before he bid farewell to them. He placed back the transmission talisman in his back and walked towards the window. The items from Imperium were really magical and amazing just like this piece of yellow paper. It lets two other people chat from a distant place. The Guardian Fortress had a technology like this one but the signal couldn''t reach Astley Planet. That''s why they couldn''t contact Jasmine and Lydia with the technology of the Astley Empire luckily Souta left them a piece of transmission talisman so that they could contact him anytime. He moved his eyes and observed the dark space through the windows. Hundred millions of stars were flickering before his eyes and he knew that they were in a desolate galaxy. A galaxy that doesn''t have any habitable planets. All of the stars in this galaxy were dead. It means that it didn''t have any mana at all. Just a lump of metals and chemicals. Suddenly, the windows were filled with bright lights and it blocked his vision. The people that were driving this fortress just used the transportational gate. It was a daily occurrence for him so it was normal. He once again looked at the stars before him with an amused expression. He noticed that they were close to a huge planet. The planet was color blue and he realized that its surface was filled with blue color liquid that is not water. "This planet alone is already ten times larger than Astley Planet. Unfortunately, this planet only had chemicals. It doesn''t have any mana so it doesn''t interest other people from Imperium." He rubbed his chin. Knock! A knock sounded on the metallic door behind him. "Come in," Souta said as he turned around and placed his hand on his back. The door opened and a tall man with shoulder-length dark green colored hair entered the room. The man was wearing a simple black and white cloth, the uniform of this fortress. "You''re Berdu, right?" He asked while observing this man. This man was one of the subordinates of Torkez when he lead the rebel army to fight the Great Astley Empire decades ago. "Yes, sir!" The man named Berdu saluted at him. "So, why did you come here? I hope that it''s worth disturbing my thoughts." Souta walked to the chair on the side and he sat down while looking at Berdu. "We''ve seen a planet that has civilization in it using our telescope. The technology level of the planet is low and about the mana density... It''s beyond our radar so we couldn''t detect its level. Sir Torkez wanted to know your opinion about it." Berdu reported in a polite tone. "Finally, a planet with mana density." Souta rubbed his chin. He looked at Berdu and said, "Okay, you can go now. Tell Torkez that I will come soon." Berdu bowed before he left the room. "Saya, what''s your opinion about it?" He asked. ''Hmm... I don''t know but for sure it''s not the Imperium. You wouldn''t be able to look at the surface of Imperium outside the space as the atmosphere of a Great World is protected by some sort of field that blocked all the vision outside. You can only see Imperium as a huge white planet with one sun and three moons circling around it.'' Saya voiced her opinion. Souta nodded as he knew that she was right. He glanced at the dark space through the window one more time before he left the room. ... Alice, Torkez, Franklin, Isabella, Yenxa, Yuko, and Doranjan were all inside the control room. The control room of the Guardian Fortress was quite huge as its length was seventy meters and its width was thirty meters. All of them were looking at the projection, the projection of the planet that they''d discover. "The technological level of this planet is the same as Isabella''s homeworld. It''s on a surface level but we don''t know its mana density. Mana density is the most important thing as we will know the level of the creatures inside the planet using mana density." Torkez explained to them. "I-Is it possible to approach it?" Isabella raised her hand as she asked. "No, it''s millions of light years away from the Guardian Fortress. We could only approach it using the transportational gate and since we''ve just used the transportational gate we can''t use it anymore. So we''ll need to wait for a day before we can use it once again." Torkez looked at Isabella and explained. "I-I see..." Isabella nodded her head. The door opened and they turned their heads. They saw Souta enter the room with steady steps while observing the projection. "Hmm... We''ll go there to resupply our food. We don''t have infinite stock of food in the fortress so it''s better that we gathered some resources if we''ve found a good planet." Souta said as he swept his eyes on the people present in the control room. He then added, "As for the danger that it possessed... Don''t worry about it, we are heading towards the Great World Imperium and nothing is more dangerous than that planet." "Then, we should prepare ourselves. Based on my experience most of the civilizations are hostile to foreign people." Franklin said with a smile on his wrinkled face. "We are just going to restock our supply but in case of emergency we need to prepare ourselves for battle." Torkez nodded at Franklin''s words. Yenxa walked in front of Souta before she kneeled on one knee. "My Lord, do you have any orders for me?" She said. Souta just glanced at her before he shook his head. "You don''t have to do anything." ... On the next day, the Guardian Fortress used the transportational gate and they''ve arrived on the surface of the unknown planet. The group already know the location of the planet so they could pinpoint it to directly arrive on the surface. It''s not much as the Great Astley Empire always does this when they were going to invade other planets. "Let''s start it immediately!" Souta said with a faint smile on his face. Soon, white light covered the entire fortress as it disappeared along with the light. ... In a certain kingdom on the surface of an unknown planet, humans were living peacefully with a smile on their faces. They were satisfied with their current life as the current king was a wise and kind king. People were walking on the streets. They don''t need to be worried about their safety as the crime rate of their kingdom was too low compared to their neighboring countries. Suddenly, a gigantic object block the sun up above them and cast a shadow that enveloped the whole capital of the kingdom. The citizens couldn''t help but look up and when they do, they couldn''t help but gasp. Their eyes opened widely and their mouths turned into "O" shape. Soon, their face slowly turned pale as if blood left their bodies. "W-What the hell is that?!!!" "I don''t know!!" "Fuck!! We need to get out of here!!" "We''ll die if that thing fell from the sky!!" The citizens panicked and the military guards assured the citizens that they don''t need to worry. The royal palace will do everything to guarantee their safety. At the royal palace, the king and his trusted aids were looking at the giant object that was blocking the sun rays in the sky. All of them had a frown as they didn''t know why this object appeared above their capital. "Is that a fortress?" The king asked. "Your Majesty, I think that you are right but a flying fortress... It''s our first time seeing something like this." One of the people beside the king said. "Flying above our capital without our permission. They are disrespecting the ruler of our country. Maybe, they wanted a war..." ... Souta and the rest were on the Guardian Fortress in the sky. They were looking down at the city before them. "Oh, we are too eye-catching.. I thought that we would arrive in the middle of the forest like before but it seems that I''m wrong." Chapter 482 - High World The king called the upper echelons of the country to have a meeting regarding the flying fortress above their capital. While they were talking, Souta and the rest were simply looking down at the city. "Low-world, the mana density is level 58." Souta muttered as he heard the reports of his subordinate. "What are we going to do next? I thought that we''re going to gather resources from this planet." Franklin asked with a bored expression. "We''ve appeared in the middle of the city so the higher-ups of this country will be going to contact us soon," Alice said from the side. "Yeah, we can negotiate with them that way. Also, don''t underestimate this planet as it has a mana density of level 58. It''s much higher than any planets that the Great Astley Empire discovered." Torkez said. "It''s not that much different. The Great Astley Empire only had a few A-rank experts in their ranks and this planet has probably more A-rank." Souta said to them. With his current strength, he didn''t need to worry about A-rank but it''s better to talk first before he went to extreme way. "Okay, I will wait for a while. If they didn''t appear I will simply go down and make them submit to me." Franklin said with a sigh. ... After a few hours, the palace showed signs of moving. It seems that they were going to contact Souta''s group who were inside the flying fortress. "Oh, they are flying!" Franklin said with an amused look while looking at the four people that flew towards the fortress. Two of the four people were old men wearing exquisite robes while the other one was a middle-aged man wearing full plate armor. The last person was wearing a crown and it seems that this was the king of this country. The two old men were using a simple levitate spell to help the king who was standing on the golden-colored carpet. Alice, Doranjan, Torkez, and Isabella were looking at these four people with interest in their eyes. Yuko was simply sleeping on the side while Yenxa still had that expressionless face beside Souta. "Three A-rank and one B-rank. The weakest one is the one who''s wearing a crown, the king. Everyone! don''t lower your guard, no matter what happens they are still experts at A-rank." Souta said in a low voice while glancing at them from behind. ... "This technology! It''s not from our world..." One of the two old men muttered while looking at the Guardian Fortress closely. "Yeah, we have an agreement from a higher world. So I think that this flying fortress came from a different faction." The other old man nodded. These two old men were the greatest magician of the kingdom while the middle-aged man was the military command of their army. They were here to guarantee the safety of their king, the most important person in the country. The king glanced at them and said, "We''ll try to know their purpose by coming here so don''t show any sign of hostility. I don''t want a fight to break out in our capital as it will kill a lot of innocent people." "Yes, your majesty!" The three bowed slightly at the king. The four arrived on the deck of the fortress and Berdu was already waiting for them. Berdu wasn''t that strong as her power level was only C-rank. "Please follow me," Berdu guided them to the room where Souta was waiting. While they were walking, they observed the fortress with interest. It''s rare for them to see something like this in their entire life so their mind was filled with curiosity. Soon, they''ve arrived in front of a metallic door. "We''re here, please proceed carefully and choose your words wisely," Berdu warned them before he left. The king, the two magicians, and the commander nodded at each other before they entered the room. "Let''s go." Inside the room, what they saw were various dangerous creatures. There were humans, demis, and monsters waiting for them. ''A d-dragon?!!'' They were inwardly shocked when they saw a green dragon looking at them with fierce eyes. This was the first creature that they saw after they entered the room as the body of a green dragon was too eye-catching. Doranjan simply observed these four puny humans. Gulp! They couldn''t help but gulp when they saw the green dragon watching their movements. Then, their eyes moved around. They saw a two and a half meter tall bear sleeping on the corner. The bear had crimson fur just like a flame. A young girl with green skin and shoulder-length dark red color hair. Her big round eyes were red and her lips were black. Black spikes with green-colored tips were protruding on her back. Just by looking at her appearance, they knew that this girl wasn''t human at all. Beside the little girl was a beautiful young woman that looked like 18-19 years old. They were glad to see a human in this group. It calmed them down a little. On the left side, there were three people. Two men and one woman. The woman had green silky hair that was tied in a bun. Her appearance was average with her green eyes and sharp eyebrows. She was wearing round eyeglasses. This was the most average looking person in the group. The young woman before was unbelievably beautiful but this woman looked like a normal villager. The two men were a middle-aged man and an old man. The middle-aged man looked like a battle-hardened warrior while the old man with a pair of antenna on his forehead had a faint smile. At the center of the group was a young man with dark green-colored skin who was comfortably sitting on a chair. He had blood-red color hair that was tied in a ponytail and his eyes had the same color as his hair. His was full of accessories from earrings, necklaces, bracelets, to rings. Also, his red robe was made exquisitely as they could feel some sort of power emanating from it. ''A young master? This young man must be a son of a big shot!'' The king was about to introduce himself but Souta raised his hand to stop him from saying anything. "Let me get straight to the point. I have arrived here to gather resources from this planet. I want a supply that will last for three to five months." Souta said while looking at the eyes of the king. He then added, "If did that then I will leave this planet immediately. Of course, I will not take it like a thief. I will give you something good in return if you manage to complete my task quickly." "Um... Sir...?" The king didn''t know if he should say something or not. He didn''t even know how to call Souta so he was hesitating. "Tell me, what do you want?" Souta said to the king while glancing at the three people beside him. The three people besides the king seem to leave everything to him. "I just want to ask something..." The king paused. "Okay, tell me what you want to know?" Souta nodded as he gave his permission. "I want to ask what faction you belong in the higher world? We had an agreement in the High Serenity Palace and it prevented anyone from interfering in the lower world." The king asked while watching Souta''s expression. "Oh, can you tell me more about it?" Souta was a little bit surprised. He didn''t expect that this low-world had contact with a higher world. The king explained the agreement to Souta. The agreement that they had from the High Serenity Palace, an organization from a higher world. Souta rubbed his chin while listening to the king''s explanation about High Serenity Palace. The information that the king had was too vague for Souta to understand the power of that organization but he was sure about one thing. The High Serenity Palace wasn''t from a mid world but a high world. He was in the route of the Great Astley Empire and if the empire met this planet the empire would invade it. How come the empire managed to overcome it if this planet was under a high world? "Hmm... I''m not part of any faction in the higher world that you mentioned. I moved on my own and my target is beyond that even you don''t even understand what really is a higher world so I''m not going to say any more than this." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder while leaning his back on the chair. He closed his eyes and tried to recall all the mid and high world that he knew in the game. Some of those planets contained his past equipment so it was inevitable that he contacted this world. It''s just that it''s too early for him but what could he do. It was already in front of him. He should visit the planet of the High Serenity Palace to see if it was connected to other worlds. He also wanted to know how the Great Astley Empire managed to reach the Imperium if there were high worlds in their way. "It''s interesting...." Chapter 483 - Towards The High World A sub-world was divided into three tiers; the low world, mid world, and high world. Most of the gods didn''t care about the low and mid world but the high world was a different story as some of the resources of the high world could rival the resources in Imperium. If his memories were right, Goddess Athena, the one he served in the game, had one hundred seventy nine high worlds under her rule. While Souta only had one high world under his rule and that world was given to him by the twelve executives of the Mechanic Country after he was promoted to a chief commander rank. Although gods and deities took control of thousands of high worlds, there were still high worlds out there that doesn''t belong to a god. Some of the folks there rose to god-level and took control of their own world. A god that doesn''t in Imperium and people from Imperium called them Outer Gods. Most of the countries in Imperium were recruiting those Outer Gods as they didn''t belong to any organization. "I''ve decided. We will visit those sub-worlds first." Souta said as he looked at Alice, Torkez, Franklin, Isabella, Yenxa, Yuko, and Doranjan. He should inform Lumilia and Lynn about this so that they wouldn''t wait for him. "We''re not at the level of gods yet so a mid and high world could pose a threat to us so prepare yourself." Everyone nodded at his words. Most of them didn''t know anything about the higher world so they didn''t have opinions about his idea. On the next day, the group received the supply from the palace and it was enough for five months. Souta thanked them and gave a bunch of gold and silver to the king. He also didn''t forget to ask about the High Serenity Palace. The national library of the king had some records about the organization and it seems that the High Serenity Palace helped their ancestor in founding this kingdom. After taking all the information about the organization from the higher world, the Guardian Fortress disappeared using the transportational gate. Inside the meeting room of the Guardian Fortress, everyone has gathered. "Now that everyone is here let''s start the meeting," Souta said as he sat down on his seat. Torkez stood up and unfold a huge brown paper on the table so that everyone could see the contents. "The people from that planet didn''t even know what''s in this paper. No, they couldn''t understand it as they have no way to leave their planets. They don''t have the technology to realize the vastness of the universe." Torkez explained in simple words so that everyone could understand. He then pointed his finger at a drawing on the paper. "This is a map from their national library left behind by their ancestors and this is our current location. They called this galaxy a dead field as most of the planets and stars here didn''t have mana except for one, the planet that we just visited. "And then there''s this blank space. This was the space between two galaxies and it was so huge that it would take us five use of transportational gates to travel through it." Alice furrowed her brows while looking at the map. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "That''s five days, we have supply now so it won''t be a problem for us." "Is that our destination? A galaxy that has a high world?" Franklin asked. Souta simply listened to them without voicing his opinion. He was trying to find the reason why the Great Astley Empire didn''t meet any high world on their way to Imperium. "No, this galaxy is another dead field." Torkez shook his head. Then, he added, "But there''s a planet here that will lead us to the galaxy of the High Serenity Palace." Before someone asked a question he continued his explanation. "That planet has a teleportation device and that teleportation device is greater than the transportational gate that we are currently using." The transportational device couldn''t travel from one galaxy to another in just one use. Yet, the device on that planet was said to pass through several galaxies in just one use. The difference was so large that Torkez could hardly believe it. Souta knew that machines like transportational gate didn''t have any use in Imperium. The density of mana in Imperium was too high that it will block them from creating a shortcut in the space. This was the reason why space magician was too rare in Imperium. It will need thousand times of power to tear the space in Imperium compared to outer space and sub-world. It was also the reason why Souta didn''t leave a [Shadow Ball] when the [Dimensional Hole] spell swallowed him, Alice, and Yuko. He knew that the range of his [Shadow Ball] spell was limited in Imperium. Well, this spell was already greater than the transportational gate. Because of low mana density, he could directly teleport to the Astley Planet if he left a [Shadow Ball] there. The transportational gate couldn''t do that. The only problem was that he could only teleport to the black ball. "Don''t worry about finding the planet as we already had a map of that dead field galaxy." Torkez said with a smile. "Okay, I can''t wait for it." Franklin grinned widely. "Me too, I couldn''t find any suitable herbs that I can use on the previous planet so maybe I will find some in the high world," Isabella said with a hint of excitement in her tone. It seems that she was eager to try what she discovered in the mid and high grade potions that Souta gave to her. "You will find what you want there." Souta smiled as he assured her. The group continued their journey and after six days they''ve arrived on the designated planet. Five days to arrive at the dead field and one day to arrive at the planet. "This is not a machine or some sort of device. It''s a teleportation spell." Alice said while looking at the ground. Souta and the others walked beside her and looked at the ground. They saw a complicated magic circle carved on the ground. It has a diameter of two meters and judging from its structure it will take a huge amount of energy to activate it. "Is this really a spell? It''s too complicated for me to understand its structure." Franklin commented from the side. "It''s a high tier spell so it''s natural that you haven''t seen something like this before," Souta replied to Franklin. "We''re lucky that the magic circle didn''t have any damage or else we wouldn''t be able to use it," Alice said as she squatted down and touch the magic circle. "According to the information that we''ve gathered, it''s been one hundred years since someone used this one," Torkez said. That was the last time since the people from High Serenity Palace visited the previous planet. Since then, no one has appeared and it seems that they''ve abandoned that planet. "We can use it and head to the other side of the spell... Everyone prepare yourself! We don''t know if the people from the other side will be hostile to us or not!" Souta said in a loud voice. This spell was the same as the one in the Undead Sanctuary. Both of them were carved on the ground for transportation purposes. The only difference was that the magic circle of the Undead Sanctuary was more advance than this one and it only needed a little amount of energy to activate. After a few minutes, the group moved the Guardian Fortress above the magic circle. They were going to bring the fortress with them as most of their supplies were here. Also, the bunch of spiritual fruits that Souta brought from the living labyrinth was here. He couldn''t leave everything behind. Souta was standing on the magic circle while the Guardian Fortress was just above him. He opened a bunch of low-grade mana potions and poured it on the magic circle. After a few moments, the magic circle emitted a white light and it grew brighter every second. Soon, Souta and the fortress was engulfed by white light and they disappeared on the surface of the planet. ... "We''re here..." Souta opened his eyes and he looked at his surrounding area. Debris of rocks was all over the place and it seems that this place was a castle previously. The breeze blows on his face as the dust slowly shot up in the mid-air. "Is this the High Serenity Palace...?" He muttered as he didn''t expect this situation at all. The place was literally an abandoned ruin. Maybe, the enemy of the High Serenity Palace destroyed them and that''s the reason why no one visited the previous world for a hundred years. He raised his head and saw the others come out of the fortress. They had a curious expression on their face while looking around. "This situation is quite favorable to us." Chapter 484 - Numan Country Since the teleportation circle was connected to the High Serenity Palace and the other side was in ruins only means one thing... The High Serenity Palace got demolished a long time ago. Souta glanced at Torkez and asked, "What''s the mana density of this planet?" "Our device couldn''t measure the total mana density of this planet. It''s probably greater than level 300." Torkez replied to Souta. "So it''s really a High World..." Souta muttered. "My body feels heavy and it felt like my power is being restricted in this world. I don''t like it." Franklin said as he narrowed his eyes. He couldn''t exert his mana outside his body easily just like what he had always done before. "You will get used to it soon. The restriction of the Imperium is much greater than this one." Souta said to him. "Tsk! I felt like I''m becoming a normal person." Franklin clicked his tongue. "You''re just exaggerating it. You''re an A-rank and it''s pretty strong in Imperium." Souta said. All of them except for Souta and Alice weren''t used to high density mana so they were a little bit uncomfortable. Souta found that his decision to go to the high world was right. If they went directly to Imperium which has thicker mana then they would feel overwhelmed. "What should we do now, Souta?" Alice asked. "The same thing we''ve done when we first arrived in sub-world. Finding the folks of this planet and gathered information." Souta smiled as he replied to her. The group scattered around as they started to search for a nearby village or city. The Guardian Fortress hid beneath the ground just like what it did before in the Astley Planet. They still couldn''t afford it if anyone discovered their base. Soon, they''ve found a city twenty five kilometers away from them. The city was big from their estimation it has a population of two million people. It was a huge force as they didn''t know how many experts it possessed. But still, they couldn''t leave this city alone... Souta and the others had to gather information so it was inevitable that they go to that city. "We''ll go..." Souta said to them. He divided the group into three groups. The first group was Souta, Isabella, and Franklin. The second group was Alice, Torkez, and Yenxa. Lastly, the third group was Yuko and Doranjan. The first and second group was going to the city while the third group was staying beside the Guardian Fortress to protect it. They only had one goal for the meantime and that''s to gather information about this world. The first and second groups arrived in the city. They separated as soon as they entered the city and the process of entering the city was easy. They just bribe the guards and those guards let them enter without a problem. This city was called Blue Ray City and it was one of the three hundred seventy five cities of the Numan Country, a powerful country on the southern continent of this planet. The one who''s controlling this country was the eleven pavilion, seven towers, three lords, and one palace. Also, they were the ones that monopolize the resources in this land. According to history, the Numan Country played a huge part in destroying the High Serenity Palace one hundred years ago. It was more complicated than Souta had expected. Souta, Franklin, and Isabella were inside the room talking to Alice''s group about what they''ve found through transmission talisman. "The guards here are quite weak as their power level is only C-rank but I''m afraid that the leading organization of this country is stronger than we''ve thought." Alice''s voice sounded through the talisman. "Yeah... The guards are already C-rank so it''s easy to guess the power level of the higher-ups." Souta nodded as he looked through the windows. "Well, I''m gonna cut the connection right now. Continue researching about the history of this world. I want to know if this is connected to other High World." "Okay," Alice said before the connection was cut. Souta stood up as he placed the transmission talisman in his pocket. Then, he looked at Franklin and said, "I have a task for you. I don''t need any objection." Franklin was a little bit surprised when he heard Souta''s cold voice. He quickly kneeled down and said, "I will do anything that you want, my lord. Just give your order and I will accomplish it to the best of my abilities." He knew this time that Souta was serious so he needed to be respectful about the person that he swore to serve. "Good." Souta nodded and he slowly told his plan to Franklin. After listening to Souta, Franklin had a serious expression on his face but his heart was filled with excitement. Finally, he will be able to relieve his boredom. "I will accomplish it as soon as possible." Franklin said as he still didn''t dare to raise his head in front of his lord. "Okay, you can go now. I''m looking forward to the result of your work." Souta nodded and Franklin quickly disappeared from his sight. "Um... Is it really okay to send Franklin alone, Souta? I think that I could help him as my abilities are more suited to that work. If you gave your permission to me I can go and help him." Isabella said from the side. Souta shook his head and said, "Yeah, you have the legacy of the God of Hunt but his personality is more suited to that kind of work. You can just stay here with me and improve your potioneering." Isabella puffed her cheeks. "I already went through a war with you so I can at least do what Franklin can do." "Hahaha!" Souta laughed as he opened the door and exited the room. ... Three days had passed.... Souta opened a small coffee shop in the Blue Ray City with Isabella. He simply used a bunch of gold and silver to open here and it was easy. As long as he had money, he could do a lot of things in a city like this one. He liked the feeling of slapping golds in the face of those greedy people. It feels great as they will do everything that he said as long as he gave them gold and silver. "Since this is the first day, I doubt that people would enter our shop," Souta said to Isabella before he went upstairs. Inside his room, Souta used the mana in his parasite to set up a field around the room. He then sat down in the center of the room and took out a golden-colored orb. This was a monster orb of a fifth evolution monster. He was using the best feram stored inside it to widen the capacity of his monster orb so that he could store more best feram. He closed his eyes and felt the energy inside the orb. He slowly guided it inside his body and led it to the orb on his chest. He needed to be careful as one wrong move could damage his monster orb. A monster orb was the most important part of a third evolution monster and above. It was the source of their energy and once that it was damaged they wouldn''t be able to use their unique advantage. [Energy has increased by 5!] [Energy has increased by 5!] [Energy has increased by 5!] ... After two hours, Souta opened his eyes once again. He was exhausted mentally as controlling foreign best feram was hard. Ever since he got the treasure from the living labyrinth, Souta hasn''t finished absorbing all the energy in this monster orb. At this moment, he was trying to increase his level by training, not by hunting. If this was still a game, training could only increase the proficiency of his combat arts. He learned his lesson before. He almost got insane last time because of nonstop killing in the war. If Saya didn''t help him then he would have become a monster consumed by his instinct at this moment. After he used all the energy inside this monster orb, Souta would use the spiritual fruits that he had. While everyone was busy with their own task, he would build up his strength to prepare himself. He sighed and he looked at his stats. Name: Souta Ieshi Race: Blood Goblin(3rd Evolution) Level: 49 Class: Rank 3 Battle Mage Health: 5,720 Stamina: 1,875 Energy(Best Feram): 1,770 Strength: 2,730 Agility: 2,499 Dexterity: 2,580 Intelligence: 3,103 Vitality: 2,397 At his current state, he was literally an overpowered third evolution monster. The one that greatly enhanced his stats was the skill that he received from Lydia''s chain quest, the [Ruler of the Sub-World]. Also, the energy of the legacy when he still hasn''t converted the energy to experience points. He could even trash his level 60 character back in the game if they both have the same equipment. He guessed that he would surpass the level 80 Blood when he reach his fourth evolution. "I''m looking forward to it." A smile formed on his face while looking at his base stats. Chapter 485 - State Of Blue Ray City The power level of this world was divided into Ruin, Disaster, Extermination, Annihilation, and Extinction. Souta didn''t know how would he compare them to Giza Continent''s power level so he made Alice investigate it further. It''s better if she fought some Ruin, Disaster, and Examination rank to determine its level. Right now, he was still in the coffee shop with Isabella trying to use the monster orb to increase his energy capacity. He was on a break so he was sitting on the counter sipping a cup of warm coffee. It''s been a while since he could relax like this. He was glad that he had subordinates or else he would do all the work by himself. "After I''ve set up everything then I will show myself to this world." He whispered while looking at the cup of coffee in his hand. If he managed to take over this world then he would get ample resources. Also, he would be able to increase his stats thanks to the [Ruler of Sub-World] skill. ''A third evolution monster like you isn''t enough... A high world had powerhouses at shackled realm so you should reach fourth evolution first before you could take those people.'' Saya said to him. "Yeah, at my current power a person who broke one shackle is my limit..." Souta nodded as he accepted the limitation of his strength. If he met such individual then Souta would be forced to use everything to escape. ''Well, you still have a bunch of monster orbs and spiritual fruits so your survival rate against SS-rank would increase.'' Saya said to him. "It''s raining... I felt a faint fluctuation of energy..." Souta muttered as he turned his head outside. After clearing the labyrinth, his energy awareness in the surrounding was enhanced by several folds. So he could sense if the flowing mana in the air had changed. ... A beautiful woman with long black hair and pointed ears was walking in the dark alley with blood covering half of her face. She was breathing heavily as she pushed herself to walk. Rain poured down from the sky and it slowly washed the blood on her body but it only made her look miserable. "T-That bastard betrayed me!!" She gritted her teeth as her eyes were full of rage. Then, she opened her eyes widely as she turned around only to see four people wearing red robes. "Red Witch!!!" She faced the four people with anger in her eyes. If she wasn''t injured then she could easily take these four Ruin Realms without sweating. She was a person at the peak of Disaster Realm. She was close to reaching Extermination Realm and when that happens she would be able to expand her organization. But it seems that it wouldn''t happen anymore. One of her trusted subordinates betrayed her for a scroll and that subordinate aligned with Red Witch and Nine Lives. "Leader of Clautus, Remina. By the order of our mistress, you will die today." One of the red robe people said in a cold tone. "Do you really think that a peak Disaster Realm would easily die at the hands of Ruin Realm like yourself?" The woman who was called Remina said as she wiped the blood on her cheeks. "No, that''s why we prepared something for you!" The four people in red robes were about to charge at her when they suddenly stop as a voice rang out. "Young woman, do need any help?" Remina including the four people turned their heads in the direction of the voice. On the top of a building, a well-built man wearing full plate armor was sitting on the edge. His short black hair was messy and his eyes were sharp. He looked intimidating as the black armor had one large eye on the center which was looking at them and red veins were thumping on the surface of the armor. "Who are you?" Remina slowly asked as she subconsciously took a step backward. This stranger didn''t look friendly at all. In fact, her instinct was telling her that this man was dangerous. "Do you know who we are?! Don''t interfere in our business if you don''t want to get involved in this problem!" One of the four red-robed people warned. "I have a task to gather information and gathering information from people like you should make my task easier," Torkez mumbled as he jumped down. Black flesh sprouted on his back and it quickly cut down the limbs of the four red-robed people. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! It was easy as cutting grass. He was an A-rank and these four people only had a power level of C-rank. The difference in their power level was too huge so they don''t have a chance to fight back even if they wanted to resist. It was already over before they realized it. Spurt!! Blood spurted dyeing the floor in red color. The stench of blood emanated in the alley. ''Ruin Realm is a C-rank and Disaster Realm is a B-rank so the Extermination Realm should A-rank...'' Torkez thought while looking at the four people. Three of them were dead leaving one who was barely hanging on his life. If his guess was right then he should be at Extermination Realm based on this world''s standard. This world was much more terrifying than he thought. A-rank experts could be counted in two hands in the ranks of Great Astley Empire and they were already at the peak of power in that enormous empire yet in this world there were two ranks above A-rank. The Annihilation Realm and Extinction Realm. Torkez looked grim as he turned his head to the woman who was called Remina. Gulp! Remina gulped when she saw Torkez looking at her. This stranger was strong and it seems that even if she''s at her peak she wouldn''t stand a chance against him in a one-on-one battle. "Don''t worry, I will not do anything to you. Also, you wouldn''t be able to escape from me if I want to capture you. You are injured and the strength that you could exert in your condition is just above normal people." Torkez said to her. "But there''s something I want to know so I will help you for now. Later, I will ask you some simple questions and you can answer them based on your knowledge. It''s enough for me." Remina didn''t have a choice but to accept Torkez''s condition. Who knows what he will do to her if she rejected him so she didn''t dare to show unpleasantness in her face. The most important thing right now was for her to survive so that she could take her revenge on the person that betrayed her. ... In the unknown house, Torkez gave a few low grade potions to Remina to treat her wounds. After she received first aid, he began to ask her some questions. Remina was the leader of a small group known as Clautus. The goal of the group was simple and easy to understand. They just want their group to become a prominent organization in this city. After that, they will continue to expand their forces until they could rival the top organization in this country. But a mercenary group like them were treated as cannon fodder in this country. They didn''t have an actual status but she wanted to change it. One day, while they were exploring an unknown ruins they''ve found a magic scroll. No one was knowledgeable in their group to understand the scroll so they went back to the city and wanted to find a suitable person to appraise it. But then she didn''t expect that one of her subordinates would betray her. In fact, that subordinate knew the content of the scroll. She almost died because of that and she found that her subordinate was in cahoots with Red Witch and Nine Lives. Two of the strongest underground organization in this city. The two organizations had a powerful leader at Extermination Realm and the executives of the two organizations were as strong as her, a peak Disaster Realm. Through her story, Torkez understood the state of this city. This city was situated on the edge of the country and most of the forces that ruled here were underground organizations. "I see... But do you have any idea what''s in the scroll?" Torkez nodded and asked. Remina shook her head. "I don''t have any idea. That bastard took it from me without even mentioning the contents of the scroll but I remembered him telling me that it contained power." "It''s natural that it contained power as that person wouldn''t betray you if not for that. He was blinded by greed." Torkez said as he looked through the window. "Um... Thanks for helping me. I want to ask what''s your name and what organization do you belong to?" Remina asked after some hesitation. "Name''s Torkez. As for the name of the organization... I don''t think we have one." Torkez shrugged his shoulder. Remina looked at him with seriousness in her eyes. She clenched her fist and said, "Please forgive my rudeness but I wanted to ask for your help! Since you''ve killed the people from Red Witch, you got involved in this problem so I think that they will pursue you!" "Oh, so you''re telling me that if I didn''t help you you would tell the Red Witch that I''m the one who killed their people." "No! but I don''t have a choice! I want to find my comrades in this city but I''m injured so I can''t do anything right now! From your questions, I understand that you don''t know anything about this country so I guess that you are a foreigner!" "Well, it''s true. I''m a foreigner but I have a task here." "My group will help you in your task!" "Goodbye. I will mention your story to my leader to see if he will agree to your request." Torkez said as he waved his hand.. Then, he opened the door and left the small house. Chapter 486 - Clautus In the secret hideout of the Red Witch... A seductive woman with long silky hair was sitting on a throne-like chair with her legs crossed in front of her. She was the leader of the Red Witch Organization, Amanda Brune. "You are saying that the four Ruin Realms have died?!" She asked in a cold tone. "Yes, My Mistress." One of her subordinates said in a respectful tone. "Even though Remina is a Disaster Realm, she is already injured to the point that she couldn''t even fight a Ruin Realm. Hmm... Maybe, someone helped her or else she would have died for sure." Amanda said while rubbing her beautiful soft chin. "My Mistress. The Nine Lives is asking us to start our preparation for the summoning scroll." Another subordinate entered the room and said. "Tell them that I will start the ritual. Also, don''t forget to tell them to hunt down Remina and her group. They are the ones who know that we have the scroll. We couldn''t let the other organizations know about it." Amanda said. "Yes, My Mistress." ... ''Took a deep breath... Just follow the rhythm of energy pulsing in your veins.'' Souta was sitting in the center of his room with a monster orb in each of his palms. His eyes were closed as he followed Saya''s instruction. The two monster orbs in his palms were from a fifth evolution monster. The energy stored within was enormous and if he directly guided it inside his body his monster orb would explode. He heard system prompts saying that his energy had increased. [Energy has increased by 5!] [Energy has increased by 5!] [Energy has increased by 5!] His speed of absorbing the energy has increased thanks to Saya''s help. He didn''t even know that the technique that she was teaching him had a function like this. It seems that the [Archetype: Vajra Extremety] was better than he imagined. Now that he mentioned it, there was an Archetype technique in the legacy that he received. The legacy that he got only had a few techniques compared to other legacy but all the techniques in his legacy were powerful. Souta opened his eyes after a while. He checked his body and nodded with a satisfied expression. The improvement this time was greater compared to the past few days. ''You are close to learning my technique.'' Saya said to him. "Really?" Souta raised his eyebrows. ''Yes, just a little bit more and you will be able to use it.'' He was looking forward to that future. It took him a lot of time and he was close to learning it. He guessed that he would be able to apply it in battle next time. If he didn''t have Saya''s inner consciousness then who knows how long it would take him before he learned this kind of technique. Knock! A knock sounded on his door and it was followed by Isabella''s voice. "Souta, Torkez is here. He said that he wanted to talk to you." "Okay, tell him that I''m coming," Souta said before he stood up. He placed the two monster orbs inside the drawer on the corner of his room. Then, he waved his hand as he dispersed the field that he created around him. ... "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin as he listened to Torkez''s report. He took a sip of his coffee and glanced at the system. [Quest Triggered!] [Remina''s Revenge]: Remina was betrayed by one of her trusted aides. She almost died because of that person and now she wanted to get her revenge. Help her in her revenge. Rewards: 10 skill points, 15 free attribute points, and 25,000 exp. ''This is a good quest.'' The rewards were high and this was what he needed right now. He needed skill points and free attribute points to but the legacy in the system. He wouldn''t decline a quest in his situation so... "You have my permission. You can help that woman named Remina but don''t underestimate the people of this world." Souta said in a serious tone. The quest reward was high so it means that the danger it possessed was high too. It probably involved a bunch of B-rank experts or maybe an A-rank. Well, he was already sure that the leaders of the so called Red Witch and Nine Lives would make a move based on the rewards of the quest. According to Torkez''s report, Extermination Realm was equivalent to an A-rank powerhouse. Ordinary A-rank wouldn''t be Torkez match so he would be safe but it''s better to be cautious than regret it later. "Okay, you can go now. You can talk about it to Alice. Also, I''ll call Yenxa here with me so bring Isabella with you." Souta then turned his head and said in a loud voice, "Isabella, you can go with Torkez if you want to go outside." "Oh, really?!" Isabella''s voice sounded from the other side of the room. "Yeah, yeah. I know that you want to explore this city so you can follow him." Souta sighed inwardly. ... On the next day, Torkez appeared before Remina. He said that he could help her with his strength in exchange he just wanted to her force later but then he realized that Remina''s forces were really small. The Clautus Group only had twenty two members including the one who betrayed her. Also, most members were Ruin Realms as Remina was the only one at Disaster Realm. It was quite pitiful as their forces were too weak for Torkez. Torkez sighed as he wondered if this force will be enough to gather information across the whole country. "Err... I''m sorry about it." Remina said with an awkward smile on her face. "Don''t worry about it." Torkez shook his head and he changed the topic. "So do you know where''s the hideout of the Red Witch and Nine Lives? Also, can you elaborate to me the forces of those two organizations?" "Okay." Remina nodded and she told him the details of the Red Witch Group and Nine Lives Group. According to the information that she had gathered, the Red Witch had more than ten thousand members and the same could be said to Nine Lives. The leaders of the two organizations were powerful people at Extermination Realm. There were known twenty five meeting places of the two organizations across the city but their actual base of operations still remained a mystery until now. Most of the information that she had came from the broker that she knew. Knowing their meeting place was enough for Torkez. He wouldn''t have to do this if the one that he brought before didn''t die. Unfortunately, that Ruin Realm person died from blood loss before he could ask some questions. "Okay, tell me your plan," Torkez said while looking at the people behind Remina. These people were the members of the Clautus. They''ve gathered here to plan on how they will achieve their revenge. Remina nodded as she passed a map of the city to him. She then explained that the red circles on the map were the meeting places of the two organizations. They needed to be careful in approaching it as the twenty thousand members of Nine Lives and Red Witch was Ruin Realm and their actual members were much more. All the residents near the red circles were members of the two organizations. Their power level didn''t reach Ruin Realm so they only became a lookout for their meeting places. Remina''s plan was simple. She will attack the three meeting places in the eastern part of the city. They will capture some of the Ruin Realms of the two organizations and interrogate them. They wanted to know where''s the man who betrayed them. "Okay, I get it. We will attack tonight, right?" Torkez nodded and asked. "Yeah. We don''t have much time. We also wanted to know the purpose of that scroll the two organizations became restless after they got ahold of that." Remina said with a grim expression. "Do you know what''s written on the scroll?" Torkez asked with a curious expression. "I don''t know but it''s some sort of magic circle. It''s too complicated for me who didn''t even study spells so I don''t know what its use." Remina felt sorry that she didn''t have much information to share with Torkez. Suddenly, one of her subordinates joined the conversation of the two. "Actually, I know the drawing on the scroll." A young woman said with slight hesitation. Remina was surprised when she heard her subordinate''s words. "You, you know it?" "No, I don''t know it. I just remember the magic circle so I can draw it for you." The young woman stood up and went to the drawer. She took out a piece of paper and a pencil. "I forgot some part but the magic circle looked like this one." She said as she passed the scribble on Torkez. Torkez simply looked at the scribble on the paper.. He didn''t know if he should believe this young woman or not. Chapter 487 - Demon Summoning Scroll After talking to Remina, Torkez left their hideout as he went to the northern part of the city. He entered a small inn and quietly went upstairs. Knock! He knocked on the door and after he received a reply, he entered the room while looking at his surrounding. Inside the room, he saw Alice standing in front of the window. Torkez looked around the room and asked, "Where is Isabella?" "She just went out saying that she wanted to familiarize herself in this city," Alice said with a sigh. She could understand why Isabella was like that. Isabella was a slave before so she hasn''t gone to any place that she wanted. "I see..." Torkez nodded. "The Clautus Group that you are talking about... Can you tell me more about it?" Alice quickly went to the main topic. The two talked about the Clautus Group and their future plan. How this group could benefit them and how much it would help them. Also, they talked about the leading organization in this city, the Red Witch and Nine Lives. At the end of their conversation, Torkez passed the scribble that he received from Remina''s subordinate to Alice. "Hmm... What''s this?" Alice asked as she looked at the paper in her hand. "Err... They said that the magic circle in the scroll looked like this one. Maybe, you know something about it." Torkez said with an awkward expression. "..." Alice flinched when she saw the scribble on the paper. She then looked at Torkez and said, "Continue supporting that group... I''ll think that the Red Witch and Nine Lives will be moving soon. Some of the rulers of this country will be forced to move and the whole city will turn upside down." "I have the same thoughts too. The Clautus Group will become a casualty if we didn''t help them. After the two organizations got ahold of the scroll, their movements became frequent. It''s easy to guess that they are planning something big." Torkez nodded before he turned around. "I''ll go now. See you later." "Okay, be careful. I''ll continue my investigation alone." Alice nodded. If they could take out the Red Witch and Nine Lives then it''s better for them. The only problem was that it will attract the attention of the other organizations in the country. Alice went to the table after Torkez left the room. She placed the paper on top of it and stared at the scribble. "No matter how much I look at it, I think that this is a Demon Summoning Circle." She muttered as her brows knitted tightly. She stretched out her hand and burned the paper before she sat down on the floor. "If this is really the Demon Summoning Circle then I should prepare myself." She mumbled with a grave expression before she set up fields around the room. Then, a dark aura oozed out of her body like a mist. Her body slowly transformed and changed into her demon form. "I need to intercept it no matter what happens." ... The Clautus Group wasn''t the only one who noticed the strange actions of the Red Witch and Nine Lives. The Purple Heart Tower, one of the seven towers that ruled the Numan Country, also noticed the movements of the two organizations. So the Purple Heart Tower sent some of their forces to investigate this matter. Torkez and the Clautus Group launched an attack on the three meeting places of the two organizations. They cleaned it up and interrogated the members of the two organizations unfortunately their position wasn''t high so they didn''t even know the plan of their leaders. They didn''t get any information about the scroll. Luckily, they got intel about the person who betrayed Remina. That person was now one of the squad leaders of the Red Witch. "Is Jovin the person who betrayed you?" Torkez asked. "Yeah, he is at the peak of Ruin Realm so it''s possible that he really become a squad leader of the Red Witch." Remina nodded her head. "Then, we''ll focus on finding that man first," Torkez said after he contemplated what they should do. On the next day, the news about the attack on the meeting places of the Red Witch and Nine Lives spread out. Ordinary people didn''t know about it but the people who know the underground world of the Blue Ray City heard about it. "Those rats!!" Amanda cursed when she heard the news. She glanced at the people below her with cold eyes before she said, "Kill those Clautus rats... I don''t want them to disturb the ritual." "Yes, My Mistress. You can leave those Clautus rats to me. I''ll make sure that they wouldn''t disturb the ritual." One of the executives of the Red Witch said in a respectful tone. "This incident is quite big. It attracted the attention of the Purple Heart Tower so before they realized what we are trying to do we should finish the ritual as soon as possible." Amanda said before she stood up from her seat. She then walked out of the dark room. "I''ll go meet the leader of the Nine Lives so take care of the rats that trying to stop us." "Yes, My Mistress!!" Amanda didn''t look back. Her mana wrapped around her seductive body before she leaped in the mid-air. Swoosh! She was too fast for other people to notice her movements. In just a few minutes, she landed down in front of a church. "This is the place..." She gazed at the old church in front of her. Then, she turned her head to the side as she noticed a presence. "You''re here, Amanda. How is the preparation?" A man with long white hair and mustache wearing a black coat approached her. This man was the leader of the Nine Lives, Greyman Firnes. "It''s good. We could start the ritual tomorrow." Amanda replied to Greyman before she entered the church. This was the ritual place. They will summon a demon in this land and use its power to conquer this city. But before that, they needed to make sure that they could control the demon, or else they were the ones who are going to die. Finally, after the ritual, the whole Blue Ray City will be in their hands. Then, they would reach the Annihilation Realm will the help of the demon that they will summon. Even those bastards from the capital wouldn''t be able to do anything to them. They will become the true ruler of this city. They didn''t want to stay in the dark anymore. ... Torkez was standing on the rooftop of the building looking at the people of the Clautus Group on the ground. The Clautus Group was moving swiftly as they headed towards the west. According to their intel, the man who betrayed them was in that direction. "This morning the members of the Red Witch and Nine Lives are gathering on the south. I don''t know what they are planning but I have a bad feeling about it." He muttered as he turned his head to the south. He could go there and investigate the situation but that means leaving the Clautus Group alone. He knew that no matter what happened Souta wasn''t going to show himself as the time wasn''t ripe yet. It''s too early for his leader to make an appearance that''s why he was thinking of using the Clautus Group as a foothold. "I will help them defeat the Red Witch and Nine Lives then the Clautus Group will swallow the two organizations. They will become a leading organization in this city and that will attract the attention of the closest tower here, the Purple Heart Tower." The foundation of this country was the eleven pavilions, seven towers, three lords, and one palace. They were the ones who built this country after destroying the High Serenity Palace one hundred years ago. "But I don''t need to worry about it. Unlike the Red Witch and Nine Lives, the Clautus Group had a decent reputation so they will probably accept it. I will make this group the path so that when Souta decided to show himself he will have a foothold in this world." A smile formed on his face. He did think that this was a good a plan. He just needed to be careful about the Red Witch and Nine Lives'' leaders. He was sure that they were both A-rank so it seems that he needed to make a move personally. Swoosh!! His figure disappeared as he followed the group on the western part of the city. In just a few minutes, he arrived on the scene and he saw the Clautus Group fighting a bunch of guys wearing red robes. The battle was intense but they were greatly outnumbered. The person who was commanding the members of the Red Witch was a man in his early twenties. He had short blue hair which was combed on the left part of his head. "So that''s the man who betrayed Remina. Hmm... His power level is only C-rank but it seems that this whole gathering is a trap to eliminate her." Torkez commented while looking at the battle from above. Chapter 488 - Trap Torkez realized the plan of the enemies. The two organizations were doing something big in the southern part of the city and they didn''t want anyone to bother them. They knew that the Clautus Group was the one who attacked the meeting places yesterday so they wanted to eliminate this small group. They slowly released intel about Jovin, the man who betrayed Remina. They were sure that Remina would appear so they set up a plan to eliminate her. "But they didn''t know that I''m here..." He muttered to himself as he watched the battle. Dozens of Ruin Realms were circling Remina and they were working together to fight this woman who was at Disaster Realm. While they were holding Remina, the other members of the Red Witch will kill her comrades and when they eliminated all of Remina''s comrades they will use their numbers to kill Remina. It was a good plan. Jovin smiled while thinking about the plan. Once he killed this woman, he would be able to sleep peacefully at night. "Group 3 and 4 just focus on holding Remina. Don''t rush recklessly as she had the power to kill one of you easily. Just distance yourself and prevent her from advancing or escaping." He said as he looked at the fourteen people that were around Remina. "Jovin! You bastard! Come here and fight me!" Remina roared angrily. She pounced forward but the two people in front of her stepped back while the six people on her life and right side charged at her. She quickly stopped and charged her mana in her fist. Then, lightning whip stretched out on her sides. Swoosh! The six people quickly jumped away when they saw the lightning whip. Their goal was simple and it was too pressure Remina. If she charged forward without caring about her health then she would be able to eliminate the people in front of her. It''s just that she would suffer some injuries by doing so. In Torkez''s eyes, the defeat of the Clautus Group was inevitable. The reason was the Red Witch had some members hidden in the surrounding area. If those members appeared then he was sure that the Clautus Group would really fall. "You bastard! I''ll kill you!!" Remina roared as she charged forward as a lightning web spread out on her body. Then, the lightning shrunk on her palm creating a ball of powerful energy. [Lightning Gear]!! She pushed her palm forward and a powerful beam of lightning burst out. Crackle! "Remina! Will you please die for me?!" Jovin said with a mad smile as several figures appeared in front of him. Boom!! A powerful explosion burst forth creating a field of dust in the whole area. "Huff... Huff..." Remina was breathing heavily as she felt quite tired. That attack consumed a large amount of mana in her body and she think that she could only use it three more times. ''I''m sure that guy is dead. Even if he didn''t die he will surely suffer heavy injuries from my attack. No one under the Disaster Realm could block that type of attack.'' She said inwardly. She actually wanted to see Jovin''s expression before he died but she couldn''t help it. This was harder than she thought. "Oh?" Torkez was quite amazed when he saw Remina''s firepower. This woman was stronger than most of the battalion commanders of the Great Astley Empire. Even Lydia would suffer defeat if she fought Remina in a one-on-one battle without the help of a parasite. Souta was right. This world was terrifying than he imagined. He sighed inwardly while thinking about it. ''But the battle isn''t finished yet... As long as you don''t confirm your opponent''s death you shouldn''t let your guard down.'' Torkez narrowed his eyes as he patted his clothes. He guessed that it will be his time to make a move. Hmm...? Remina noticed some movements in the dust. She quickly turned around and threw a punch behind her. Spurt!! Blood splattered on the ground as a powerful gust of wind blew the dust in the area revealing an old man wearing a red robe in front of Remina. Ugh! Remina groaned in pain. She looked down only to see a dagger stuck on her side. "You!!" Her eyes constricted as she saw the old man in front of her. This old man was an executive of Red Witch. A person at the peak Disaster Realm. If this person was then Jovin was still... She turned her head and saw Jovin''s smiling face. In front of Jovin, there were still two new faces and these two had the aura of a Disaster Realm. "T-Three executives?!!" "Our Mistress said that we should exterminate your small group so that you wouldn''t be able to bother our plan." One of the executives said while taking off the hood on her head revealing a beautiful face with long white hair. "Don''t worry. After we kill you we will send your comrades to follow you." The other executive said. He was a man with chestnut color hair and eyes. Their aura wasn''t as oppressive as the old man but it was still a problem to her. Another Disaster Realm could just make the situation worse for her. "Don''t say anything. We are here to kill this woman not to tell her our plan." The old man said to the two in a cold tone. Ever since the three executives appeared the battle stopped. The members of the Red Witch didn''t dare to make a move without the permission of an executive. They just looked at the members of the Clautus Group with hungry eyes as if they wanted to devour them. Remina looked at the three Disaster Realm around her. She circulated her mana around her body to prepare herself when these three attack. "I want to enjoy this but that old man wanted to finish this as soon as possible so..." The man with chestnut color hair and eyes charged at Remina with astonishing speed. Swoosh! He raised the saber in his hand before he slashed it forward. Suddenly a tall man appeared in front of him wearing a full plate black armored. The man simply caught his sword with his bare hand. "What?!" The male executive was stunned when he saw this but before he could regain his posture the man in front of him launched a powerful blow on his chest. Bang!! The male executive flew and crashed into several houses. Boom!! The old man and the female executives subconsciously took a step back as their eyes constricted. This guy simply blows their comrade away with just one punch. "You are here..." Remina muttered as she looked at the figure that just arrived. Torkez ignored her as he turned his head to the old man and the female executive. "I couldn''t afford to lose the Clautus Group at this moment so let me personally deal with you guys..." The huge eye on the center of his armor opened widely. Then, his body transformed under the eyes of the people present in this place. It was the full-body transformation of the parasitic essence eater. Black flesh converged from the huge eye and it coated his entire body. He became a two and a half meter tall man with ten moving tails on his back. Each tail has sharp tips that could pierce any metal and his black armor had purple color veins on the surface. After a few moments, the ten tails on his back stretched on the sky before they fall down nailing the bodies of the members of Red Witch. Bang! Bang! Bang! "If none of you don''t want to move then let me start it..." Torkez said before he charged towards the two Disaster Realm. In just a second, he arrived in front of the female executive. Swoosh! "So fast!!" She exclaimed as she tried to jump away but Torkez''s fist was already in front of her face. "No!" The old man went to her side while slashing the dagger in his hand. Then, he noticed something strange. He quickly stopped his attack as he tilted his head on the side. Swoosh! Several spikes burst out of the arm of Torkez grazing the old man''s cheeks. The female executives tried to gather her mana to protect her from Torkez''s punch but the moment it landed on her face she realized that she couldn''t defend against it. Bang! Her body flew like a missile crashing on the ground creating a huge crater. Torkez''s punch destroyed all the defenses that she had in her body. A punch from an A-rank boosted with a parasitic essence eater wasn''t something a B-rank like her could defend against with. The difference in their power level was huge. "This... E-Extermination Realm..." The old man muttered with wide eyes while looking at Torkez. He could see the depth of this man''s strength so he was sure that this unknown man was an Extermination Realm powerhouse just like the leader of the Red Witch and Nine Lives. Hmm...? Torkez didn''t bother looking at the old man anymore. Instead, he gazed at the building five hundred meters away from his position. ''An A-rank...'' He narrowed his eyes and his expression turned serious. Chapter 489 - Fall Out An A-rank expert... Torkez narrowed his eyes as his mana flared up before he shoot a ball of condensed energy. Boom!! Every house five hundred meters in front of him was disintegrated in an instant. It didn''t leave anything behind and he knew that there''s no civilians in this area. The Red Witch already evacuated those civilians when they started this trap. So all the people here were members of the Red Witch. "Oho, I didn''t think that I would meet an unknown Extermination Realm in this place..." A voice sounded and Torkez turned his head on his left side. Several hundred meters away from him, a person stood with a calm expression. The person was a tall man with long braided blue hair. He had a scar on his right cheek and his eyes had the same color as his hair. The man was wearing a black pants and a black coat paired with a purple-colored necktie. On top of his coat was a purple-colored short cloak that didn''t even reach his waist. A pair of swords was hanging on both sides of his waist. Remina and the old man were startled when they saw the unknown man''s attire. "P-Purple Heart Tower...?!!" Remina exclaimed while looking at the man. "Yes, I''m the one that tasks to investigate the matter in the Blue Ray City, a Golden-Plate Senior Master of the Purple Heart Tower." The man said with a faint smile while glancing at Torkez. He was intrigued as he could sense that this man was a top-class among the Extermination Realm. Also, this man had strange abilities that he haven''t seen in his entire life. "A-A Golden-Plate Senior Master... This is bad, Sir Torkez! The only people that could acquire this rank are people at Extermination Realm! Also, since a person at this rank was dispatched here it means that the Purple Heart Tower couldn''t tolerate the chaos that is happening around the city." Remina said to Torkez in a low voice. Torkez''s frown grew deeper when he heard that this man was from the Purple Heart Tower. He glanced at Remina before he opened his mouth, "I''ll deal with him. You should take your comrades with you and get out of this place as soon as possible." "But..." Remina wanted to say something but Torkez cut her words. "Don''t worry, just leave with your comrades, or else you would get caught in the aftershocks of the battle," Torkez said to her. It was also the right time to test the true power of an Extermination Realm in this world. But before he starts the battle, he should take care of this nuisance. He turned his attention at the members of the Red Witch. Dozens of strings of flesh stretched out of his body. The strings of flesh bore down like a rain as it pierced the body of the members of the Red Witch. "No! No! No! This is not real!! It can''t be!!" Jovin''s face was pale as he looked at this scene. When he came to this place, he had the confidence that he could eliminate Remina but now... Everything that happened wasn''t within their expectations. "Remina!!!!" He roared as he looked at the black flesh in front of his face with despair in his eyes. The black flesh simply nailed his body to the ground as several black spikes emerge from it directly destroying his internal organs. Ugh! A large amount of blood came out of his mouth. His body was limp and he lose his strength to move his body. "Here, you can do what you want to him..." Torkez said as he threw Jovin towards Remina. He didn''t care what would she do with him as Jovin was already on death''s bed. "This..." The old man realized that there''s no way that he could win this fight as there were two Extermination Realms. It was already beyond his league the moment an Extermination Realm appeared on the scene. He needed to escape quickly and report this to his mistress. But how could Torkez let him leave easily? Swoosh! Torkez''s mana spiked up as he charged towards the old man with astonishing speed. He opened his palm and several long black blades formed on top of it. He quickly caught up with the old man and he slashed the blades in his hand. "Damn!" The old man cursed when he saw this but a figure appeared in front of him and blocked the sharp blades that were going to take his life. Clang! Clang! The Senior Master of the Purple Heart Tower somehow protected the old man''s life. He managed to block the sharp blades using the pair of swords in both of his hands. "I still have some uses for you so get out of this place... I will find you later after I take care of this man." The Senior Master said to the old man while looking at Torkez who was in front of him. He was vigilant as he knew that Torkez was a high-level Extermination Realm. ''Judging by his energy level, this man is stronger than the leaders of the Red Witch and Nine Lives, Amanda and Greyman.'' He thought as he tightened his grip on his swords while silently circulating the mana in his body. Torkez took some distance away while glancing at the southern part of the city. If he only had the transmission talisman with him, he would report his findings to Alice so that she could go to the south to find out what''s going on in that direction. Well, this was also one of Souta''s goals. To find out the battle power of the people in this world. He finally met an Extermination Realm so he would test this man before him. ... In the southern part of the city, inside a huge abandoned church, Amanda and Greyman were standing around a magic circle on the ground along with their subordinates. Amanda only brought two people with her while Greyman brought three people with him. All the people that they brought inside the church were all Extermination Realm. The five Extermination Realms were the right-hand men of Amanda and Greyman. Their status was higher than those executives as they only followed the instructions of the leader. "It''s time... I will finally enter the realm of Annihilation." Amanda said with a gleeful expression. She would be able to stand at the top after this and she would be able to start her plan. "First, we would activate the magic circle and summon the demon. Prepare yourself as this is the demon from folklore. If we received its contract then the demon will follow our words." Greyman said as he looked at the six people around him including Amanda. "Yeah, then let''s add more sacrifice..." Amanda said as her mana flared up. "Got it." Greyman and the five Extermination Realms followed her lead as their mana erupted before it shot towards the sky like a pillar of light. Boom! Flames burst out of the ground and it swallowed the ordinary members of the Red Witch and Nine Lives. These ordinary people were the added sacrifices that they were talking about. For their goals, they would care about the lives of people that didn''t even enter the Ruin Realm, even if those people were members of their organizations. Ordinary people were just cannon fodder in their eyes as they could easily discard for their goals. "Arghhh!!!" Screams of people echoed outside the church as the flames burned the bodies of those people alive. "Let''s begin it." Amanda said before she placed her palms on the ground. The rest of the people around the magic circle followed her as they poured their mana inside the circle. Boom!! The ground started to shake as the magic circle emitted a dark blue light that illuminated the entire hall. Then, the magic power of the dead sacrifices shot through the sky before it bore down on the magic circle creating a powerful pressure in the whole area. Bang!! Amanda looked at the bright magic circle with an excited expression. She will be able to take a step towards her goal after this. She smiled and heard her two subordinates'' voices. "My Mistress!!" She was about to turn around when three spears shot towards her at high speed. Swoosh!! It was too fast and she didn''t have a time to dodge them. One of the three spears pierced her stomach while the other two spears struck both of her arms. Bang! Bang! Bang! "Ugh!" Amanda was nailed on the floor as she looked at the four people who had fierce smiles on their faces. She glanced at her two subordinates and found that they suffered the same thing. "Y-You...!!" Greyman walked in front of her before he explained, "What can I do? I need to sacrifice someone at Extermination Realm so I decided to kill you along with your subordinates." "G-Greyman!! I will kill you!!" Amanda said with a fierce expression. Greyman just smiled before he turned around.. He didn''t bother himself looking at the pitiful appearance of the Red Witch instead he focus his attention on the magic circle. Chapter 490 - Perfect Mastery Amanda gritted her teeth as blood poured out of her mouth. She was caught off guard and the enhanced senses of Extermination Realm didn''t help in this environment. The energy coming from the magic circle was too high so even if someone used mana here, she wouldn''t be able to sense it. That''s why Greyman used this opportunity to eliminate them. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Why didn''t she expect this betrayal?! was it because Greyman saved her life before? Yes, that must be the reason why she didn''t expect that Greyman would betray her. Ah~ this must be her fate after killing countless people... She already knew it from the beginning but she at least wanted to find out why her people have to die. She wanted to know the reason why an unknown group of people killed all witches in the world. This was her responsibility as the sole survivor of the witches in this world. She would accomplish it even if she used vile methods that everyone treated as taboo. Before she died at least she wanted to know why?? Just why? ''I can''t die in this place... I will accept any punishment after I discovered the truth.'' Amanda gritted her teeth as her eyes burned with determination. She could still remember the faces of the other witches like her. Those witches that have gentle smiles on their faces were kind people but everything changed after that incident. Everyone has fear and despair painted all over their faces. "Argh!!" Amanda opened her palm and gathered her remaining energy. A pair of blood-red daggers with an exquisite design formed on her hands. This was the unique ability of witches. Witches had their own weapons inside their bodies that grew alongside them, and they called these weapons Soul Weapon. In the Imperium, most of the witches thousand years ago were hunted down because of these weapons. The soul weapons of the witches could even rival the top grades weapon existing in the entire world. Making them feared by countless people, and it also brought trouble to them as people were blinded by greed taking their soul weapons as trophies. The most famous witch several thousand years ago that brought the age of witches in the Giza continent was Le Fay. She was a witch that reached the god realm and her soul weapon was upgraded to match the universal grade equipment making her extremely powerful. Her soul weapon was a wooden broom and no one would have thought that a simple-looking broom could rival a universal grade weapon. Since then wooden broom was often accentuated every time people mentioned witches. It became their symbol. A crimson-colored aura erupted from the daggers in Amanda''s hands. She used all of her remaining strength to launch one powerful attack. [Witch Domain: Natural Dividing]!! A powerful red slash erupted and Greyman quickly noticed it. The three Extermination Realms also noticed this extremely powerful attack that could heavily injure their bodies. "One last attack before you die...? As expected of the Red Witch, you wouldn''t die without fighting back." Greyman simply smiled while facing the gigantic red slash that cut the ground and the roof of the church into half. It would be a different matter if he was alone but he had another three Extermination Realms with him so he wasn''t afraid of the attack. "Do it! Protect the magic circle at any cost!" He said as he gathered up his mana and placed his palm together. He opened it and a cone shape field appeared in front of him. Swoosh! "It''s all in vain! Hahaha!" Greyman laughed as the three Extermination Realms created a barrier using their mana to block the red slash. Boom!! Torkez opened his palm and tried to grab the old man but the Senior Master of the Purple Heart Tower prevented him from touching the old man by launching a huge wave of water. Swoosh! Torkez simply punched the wave of water and it quickly disappeared into thin air. He then bent his knees and continued charging forward. "Tsk!" The Senior Master clicked his tongue in annoyance while looking at Torkez who was covered in layers of black flesh. He avoided fighting at close range as he realized that Torkez''s physical prowess was unimaginable. But then the Senior Master himself wasn''t that good in long-range combat. His weapon was a twin sword so he usually fought head to head but this time was different. Torkez''s physical strength was problematic for him so he didn''t dare to approach him carelessly. Water coated his twin swords before he slashed his swords forward forming an X shape water current in the air that flew towards Torkez. Swoosh!! Torkez narrowed his eyes and he lifted up his left foot. Then he stomped the ground as hard as he could causing the floor to collapse. Boom! Spider web cracks formed on the floor before several gigantic debris of rocks were thrown in the mid-air. "This is enough..." Torkez grabbed one of the boulders and poured his mana on it before he threw it towards the X shape water blades. Boom! Torkez used this chance to chase after the old man once again. The explosion from the attack created a field of smoke that blocked the vision of the Senior Master. This would buy him a few seconds and that was enough for him to deal with a mere B-rank expert. But he was wrong... Ohm!! Torkez turned around as he sensed a powerful wave of mana. Then, he saw fifty-meter tall waves of water trying to swallow the whole area. This wasn''t an ordinary wave as he could see the water blades on its surface slicing the buildings in front of it. "This... Did he already intend to abandon the old man? Maybe he decided to kill the old man so that I couldn''t get any information from him." He muttered while looking at the approaching waves. "I didn''t have any flashy attack like that... All I have are some skills that could help me in close combat but it''s enough to offset that flashy waves." Torkez''s face turned serious as his left arm turned into a huge sharp lance. He then activated the [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Cat''s Speed], and [Shadow Cloak] that Souta taught in the living labyrinth. The huge sharp lance spun at high speed creating a whirlwind and its tip shone brightly as he poured his mana on it. Ohm! When the water waves were twenty meters away from him, Torkez thrust the lance forward. [Stab]! Bang!! It was simple yet the power of this attack was terrifying. All the water waves in front of Torkez had disappeared. Even the clouds in the sky were dispersed as if they were in the way of a great being. A huge gulley could be seen from the ground as the whole area felt like they weren''t inside a city anymore. "This...?!!" The Senior Master was paled as he couldn''t believe what he saw. That attack was clearly above the level of Extermination Realm. It could even rival some of the weaker attacks of Annihilation Realm. What the hell is this man?! Is this man from the central continent? He heard the powerhouses from the central continent. There were thousands of Extermination Realm and hundreds of Annihilation Realm in that land. That land surpassed the combined military prowess of the east, west, north, and south continents. The rulers of that land were powerhouses at Extinction Realm. According to his knowledge, Extinction Realm were people that broke the shackles of the mortal body. They had ultimate combat arts and spells that couldn''t be compared to the other continents. ''I need to report this to Tower Master?'' The Senior Master thought while glancing at Torkez''s daunting figure. What he didn''t know was that the combat arts that Torkez used was a simple [Stab]. Torkez simply mastered a simple [Stab] to an unimaginable level. Souta once said that Torkez already surpassed Souta''s mastery of the skill [Stab]. This means that the level of his [Stab] was higher than Souta. In the past, while they were training on the living labyrinth. Torkez decided that he would focus his attention on mastering this skill. A skill that has the powerful piercing ability and armor penetration effect was perfected by him. "This skill is really good..." He nodded with a satisfied expression. Fighting powerful monsters in the labyrinth while training this one skill has paid off. If he had this power from the start then maybe he wouldn''t be imprisoned in the Prison World. Maybe, he would be able to take down the powerful generals of the Great Astley Empire including those Royal Guards that had the power level of an A-rank. ... In the coffee shop in the Blue Ray City... Souta was inside his room absorbing the energy of the monster orbs in his palms. After a while, he opened his eyes and glanced at the window. "That Torkez... It seems that he is currently fighting. Well, with his current power he could even escape from the assault of an S-rank." He smiled before he closed his eyes once again.. He just felt Torkez''s mana spiked up and it made him curious. Chapter 491 - Demons Trick The old man who was watching the scene turned pale. He had never seen something like this before and the fact that Torkez''s last attack was several times stronger than his mistress. He believed that his mistress couldn''t match Torkez in frontal battle. Torkez''s battle prowess was simply terrifying as a Senior Master from Purple Heart Cloud didn''t stand a chance. Perhaps only people at Annihilation Realm could stop this man. He didn''t dare to move his body as if he was afraid that Torkez would notice him. ... The Senior Master had a gloomy expression as he stood in his position. He didn''t expect that there would be a situation in Blue Ray City that he couldn''t solve with his current strength. "I don''t know where come from or what you are but I will retreat for now. Just don''t forget that you are in Numan Country." He said to Torkez before he turned around and left the area. Torkez just looked at the Senior Master''s retreating figure. After he was sure that the Senior Master was gone, he breathe a sigh of relief. He didn''t want to kill a figure from the leading forces of this country as it would cause too much commotion. If he somehow killed that person then most of the ruling forces will become hostile to him and he didn''t want that to happen. Even if he killed that man, the Purple Heart Tower would simply do a large-scale operation in this city and they would find Torkez and the others who were hiding in this place. At least for now that Senior Master should''ve realized that Torkez didn''t want to kill him or else he wouldn''t be able to leave this place easily. In fact, the chances of him dying at Torkez''s hand were high. Torkez looked around and realized that the whole place was devastated. Luckily almost all the people that died here were members of the Red Witch. "It seems that the Clautus Group have safely escaped this place." He muttered as he knew that the aftershocks from the battle between A-rank experts were too much for C-rank experts. They would die if one of the skills of Torkez or the Senior Master landed on them. "Now then... Let''s talk." Torkez smiled while turning around to face the old man several dozens of meters away from him. Without the protection of a Senior Master from Purple Heart Tower, this old man will not be able to do anything. His life was in Torkez''s hands. ... In the southern part of the city, a huge commotion gathered the attention of the people... A huge fire spread out and the ordinary citizens couldn''t do anything about it as ordinary water was useless to the flames that were created using the mana of Extermination Realms. These flames came from the abandoned church on the top of the hill and they didn''t even know that it already burned hundreds of members of Red Witch and Nine Lives Group. Inside the church... Amanda looked at the four people in anger. Blood was coming out of her mouth and she knew that she failed to destroy the magic circle. "Ugh! I didn''t think that I would meet my end here..." She glanced at them with hatred in her eyes. She betrayed a lot of people and killed countless people just to get to her current position. To know the reason why her race was killed. But she didn''t expect that she would die because of betrayal. Maybe this was her fate, she would experience a pitiful end because of all the inhumane things that she did in the past. She couldn''t help but chuckle when she thought about it. Her vision turned blurred as she slowly closed her eyes. Boom!! The energy of the magic circle turned dark blue as it grew brighter until it illuminated the entire hall. "It''s coming! The demon that will grant our wish!" Greyman said with a mad expression. He couldn''t contain his excitement as he imagined what he''s going to do once he reached the Annihilation Realm. "Oh, noble demon from Demon Land please help us conquer this city..." He said as he prepared himself. The other three Extermination Realm also turned serious as they knew that demons were powerful creatures. They would subdue this demon to form a pact after they got a chance. Once the demon completed their wish, the demon would take something from them as a form of payment. A figure appeared in front in the center of the pillar of white. Greyman and the others couldn''t clearly see its appearance but they could see the silhouette of this figure in the light. It was a humanoid creature that has one pair of horns protruding on its head and it has a pair of bat wings on its back. According to their information, these were the characteristics of a demonkind. Swoosh!! After a few seconds, the dark blue light disappeared and the demon reveal its appearance. They saw a beautiful woman with unbound charm. The woman had long silver-colored hair and its ends were blue. Her skin was pale as if she didn''t have blood flowing in her veins. In her arms and legs, her skin color gradually changed into raven black. The irises of the woman were slit and there was a crimson ring around it. A pair of black horns on the side of her head and blue flames flickering on the center of her forehead. "This is a demon...?" Greyman and the other three Extermination Realm were stunned while looking at the beautiful demon that appeared in front of them. The demon gave them a glance before she turned her head in the blue sky above her. She slowly raised her left hand and made a grabbing motion. Boom!! The space above the church crackled. It looks like it was being forcefully folded as the space was swirling like a vortex. Then, a black mass of liquid seeped out of the vortex and it slowly covered the whole place like a barrier. [Heavenly Demon''s Black Curtain]! The entire place within five hundred meters was covered by the liquid-like barrier. It was pitch black as if they were looking in the void. This skill prevented anyone from peeking inside the barrier and it also prevented the leaks of any energy fluctuations. It didn''t have any defensive abilities as it was just an auxiliary skill. The notable feature of this skill was the space lock. It could prevent anyone from using low-level space ability inside the barrier. The demon then turned her attention on the four people. She slowly opened her mouth and asked, "I''m Alicia Remeri Lucifer, a noble heavenly demon from the Demon''s Land. Summoners, tell me what is your desire?" Her eyes emitted a strange light while looking at the four people. It felt like the four people were being consumed by something extraordinary that they haven''t experienced in their entire life. "I..." Greyman slowly opened his mouth but no words came out. He looked at the eyes of the demon for a few seconds before he shook his head. "I wanted to conquer this whole city, no, this whole country... I wanted this whole country and become its supreme ruler." He said with a resolute expression. Then, he noticed that some unknown words were written in front of him. The demon that named herself Alicia grinned. She raised her hands and rows of words were added on the unknown words in front of them. "W-What is this...?" Greyman asked with some hesitation. He couldn''t understand anything that was written in front of him. He felt that something was wrong but he thought that it was natural since he was in the presence of a demon from legends. "It''s a contract. I''m sure that you''ve heard of the demon''s contract. It''s one of the unique abilities that demons have." Alicia smiled and her nails which resembled a claw emitted a bright blue flame. Then, she grabbed the words in front of her before they turned into blue particles that disappeared into thin air. "Contract complete..." She muttered in a low voice. Greyman grinned widely as he finally established a contract with the demon. He was going to become the supreme ruler of this country. Thud! Suddenly, his complexion changed as blood poured out of his mouth. He looked down and saw a spear embedded in his stomach. "Why...?" He glanced at the demon who had a bewitching smile on her face. "Do you know that demon summoning is forbidden unless you truly understand the demon''s language? Well, the reason is simple. A lot of people used demon summoning in the history but most of them were tricked by demons simply because they couldn''t understand the demon''s language." Alicia paused for a moment before she continued, "Since you couldn''t understand any of the demon words in front of you, I modified it to my liking. I couldn''t change everything in the contract and that''s a fact so I simply changed your name." "W-What? Y-You tricked me!!" Greyman gritted his teeth. "I removed your name and added the name Souta Ieshi, so I will complete this contract in his name." Alice said while looking at the pitiful appearance of Greyman with a wide smile on her face. Chapter 492 - Fall Of The Nine Lives "Fucking demon!!" Greyman roared as his mana burst out of his body. He then tried to attack Alice but she simply pulled out the spear on his stomach before kicking him towards the three Extermination Realm. Ugh!! He spat a mouthful of blood as he looked at the demon with rage in his eyes. "Why did you trick me?!!" He roared while circulating his mana around the wound on his stomach to stop the bleeding. "It''s your fault for trying the demon summoning. Any kind of demon would change the contract if they knew that their summoner didn''t even know the demon''s language so naturally you would be tricked." Alice said as she waved her spear and the blood on it splattered on the ground. Her expression turned cold as her mana slowly oozed out of her body. [Heavenly Demon''s Aura]! A heavy and chilly pressure bore down on the four people in front of her. She would kill these four people for trying the demon summoning circle. If she didn''t interfere with the summoning, another demon different from her would appear in this world and the possibility of her being discovered was high if that happens. She tightened her fingers on the spear in her hand and black energy slowly flows through the spear. Ohm! The spear in her hand was given to her by Souta. A high-quality red grade spear called Dauntless Frosty Spear. This was several times better than the spear that she used before as it could boost her strength by several times. "S-She''s just an Extermination Realm!! Attack her at the same time!!" Greyman yelled while pointing at Alice. "B-But..." The other three Extermination Realm tried to say something but Greyman cut their words. "Don''t say anything! She''s alone and didn''t we talk about it already that we will subdue the demon!!" The three Extermination Realm had no other choice but to follow Greyman. They released their energy as they charged forward at the same time while brandishing their weapons. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh! "This fucking demon!!" Greyman gritted his teeth as he glanced at the wound on his stomach. He didn''t expect that this would happen at all but he wasn''t afraid of a battle even if it was a demon. The demon that he summoned was just an Extermination Realm so he had a chance to subdue her. If he worked together with the other three then the possibility of him winning this battle will increase. ... Alice moved her body from side to side as she swiftly avoided all the attacks of the three people. She was analyzing their battle power at this moment so she haven''t launched a single attack. Bang! Bang! Bang! The three people were getting annoyed as none of their attacks landed on Alice. Despite having an advantage in numbers, they still couldn''t land at least one attack and this made them feel uncomfortable. A bad feeling was slowly brewing in their heart. Shiing!! Alice suddenly turned her head to the side and saw a green light. She flapped her wings and in just a second she arrived one hundred meters above the surface. Swoosh! She looked down and saw woods burst out of the church. It spread in every direction as pink flowers formed on the branches of the woods. "A wood attribute...?" She muttered as the three Extermination Realm once again charged at her. Then, dozens of thick woods shot through the sky. It was moving as if it has a soft body but these woods were thought. "Let me test the skill of this spear." Alice said as the energy around the first turned into icy blue. The atmosphere around her turned cold as freezing waves swept out in every direction dropping the temperature by several folds. Swoosh!! The three Extermination Realm were just ten meters away from her so she slashed the spear diagonally. [Trinity Icicle Flash]!! The freezing aura on the tip of her spear transformed into three vortexes of icy energy. The three vortexes shot a maelstrom of cold energy. Bang! Bang! Bang! The three Extermination Realm tried to avoid it but they felt that their speed has decreased several times because of the cold energy. In the end, they couldn''t avoid the three maelstroms of cold energy. It landed on their body and it instantly dropped their body temperatures. It was freezing as they saw that some part of their skin has turned into ice. Hmph!! Alice wanted to finish them but the woods prevented her from chasing after the three. She raised her spear above her head and used another skill of the spear. [Daunting Frost Age]!! The weather inside the black curtain has greatly changed as a hailstorm appeared at Alice''s command. It swept out everything and froze all the woods around her. It was an AOE skill with low damage but have a powerful buff and debuff effect. "It''s time for me to finish you. I''m done analyzing your strength and testing my new weapon." Alice said as she cracked her neck and layers of flesh coated her body. The flesh turned into a thing skin and armor that boosted her strength. It''s time to add her power so that she could eliminate these four A-rank experts. The [Daunting Frost Age] was still active and it decreased the combat ability of her four opponents. This was enough for her. Swoosh! "She''s coming!!" Greyman shouted as he tried to cast another wood attribute spell. Unfortunately, the moment he casted it the woods quickly turned into ice. "Is this the power of a demon...?" It was useless. Everything that he did was useless in front of this terrifying demon that he summoned. Without enough cold resistance, he wouldn''t be able to use his wood attribute. The power of the demon was better than he imagined. Swoosh!! Alice appeared in front of the three Extermination Realm. She tightened her grip on her spear before she thrust it forward. [Sonic Thrust]!! The other two managed to dodge her spear but the remaining one Extermination Realm was stabbed directly into his neck. Ugh! The Extermination Realm slowly lost the luster in his eyes and he died just like that. It was easy. These A-rank experts were just at the initial stage as they haven''t completely liquefied their mana. The monsters in the living labyrinth were several times stronger than these people. Plus, Alice was using her demon form this time so her strength was several times greater than her normal form. Swoosh! She pulled her spear and directly charged at the two Extermination Realm. Those two had fear in their eyes and they lose their calmness so it was easy to predict their movements. They couldn''t even fight back as Alice directly sliced their heads. "N-No, I can''t die like this..." Greyman turned around when he saw the three Extermination Realm has died in Alice''s hands. He realized that he didn''t stand a chance against this demon and he could only escape. Escaping was the right choice but it was too late. Alice looked at Greyman''s figure with cold eyes before she raised her spear. Then, she threw it in his direction. Swoosh! The spear created a black line in the sky as it pierced the chest of Greyman. Greyman paused as he looked down and saw a fist-sized hole on the center of his chest. His face distorted as he tried to turn around but he failed because he lost all the strength in his body. He fell to the ground and created a pool of blood underneath his body. "I..." The life in his eyes disappeared. The leader of the Nine Lives had died today. Thud! Alice landed beside Greyman''s corpse. She opened her palm and the spear turned into a small marble. The small marble flew into her palm and the blue flames on her body expanded. It enveloped her body and when it disappeared she was back in her human form. She placed the marble in her pocket and glanced at the dark curtain. The dark curtain would disappear soon as she settled everything in this place. "Thanks for this demon summoning I''ve gained a lot this time..." Killing four A-rank experts was easy for her. The four A-rank experts weren''t weak, it''s just that she was too strong for them. If she fought these four people before she entered the living labyrinth a few months ago then she would have a problem dealing with them. The training in living labyrinth didn''t just enhance her combat arts and power level. It also enhanced her abilities, senses, fighting style, and reflexes to a higher level. It was fruitful and the demon summoning this time was fruitful too. Alice looked at her palm and slowly gathered her mana. "I''ve reached the peak of liquefying realm. All of the energy inside my mana pool are in liquid state. I think I will be able to reach solidifying realm sooner than I expected." The sacrifices became her strength and it was one of the benefits of demon summoning. Hmm...? Alice turned her head as she noticed a faint movement deep inside the rubble. Chapter 493 - First Step The Senior Master that retreated from fighting Torkez glanced at the dark curtain on the southern part of the city. "What is that...?" He muttered while narrowing his eyes. The things that arise in this city weren''t in his expectations. He thought that it would revolve around the Nine Lives and Red Witch but it seems that some unknown forces were moving in the dark. First, the unknown Extermination Realm which was stronger than he had met before. He guessed that even the other Senior Master of the Purple Heart Tower wouldn''t win against Torkez in a one-on-one battle. Then, there''s this mysterious black barrier. The vibe that he was getting from this wasn''t good and his instinct was also telling him to not approach it carelessly. "I need to report this to Tower Master. Perhaps our strength isn''t enough to handle this alone so maybe we need to receive help from the other towers." He muttered as he glanced at the citizens of this city. They were all panicking and the city guards were trying to calm them down but he knew that the city guards didn''t have any idea what''s happening in this city. Even the city lord could only sit back in his mansion. The underground ruler of this city was the Red Witch and Nine Lives. Those two organizations possessed greater power than a mere city lord of a backward city of the Numan Country. But at this moment, the Senior Master knew that the two organizations were facing a predicament that they couldn''t imagine. Some unknown group of people has infiltrated this city and they were trying to bring the two groups down. The city lord was freed from the grasp of the two organizations but he knew that someone would take the position of those two. The citizens were worried because they realized that a storm will come after this. The hungry nobles in the central part of the city will move. The Senior Master turned around and left. He was going to leave this place and report what he had witnessed to Tower Master. ... Two days had passed quickly since the fall of the Nine Lives and Red Witch. Their leaders were gone and no one could command them so the Clautus Group used this chance to swallow their group. With Torkez as a backer, the Clautus Group took half of the wealth of the two groups in just two days. They also expanded their group and tried to fight the nobles in the central part of the city but they didn''t stand a chance. Even though the city lord wanted to partake in this chaos, he didn''t join because he didn''t have enough strength. Without a backer of an Extermination Realm, he wouldn''t be able to win no matter what he did. Torkez and the core members of the Clautus Group were inside a spacious room with exquisite design. This mansion was one of the wealth that they took from the Nine Lives. "How is it?" Torkez asked. "We''ve taken fifty-four percent of the Red Witch''s wealth and thirty-four percent of Nine Lives. The nobles in the central part are having a feast as they sent out everything to devour the pieces that were left behind by the two organizations." Remina paused for a moment before she added, "We fought some of them on the way but we clearly lack manpower. In the past two days, we''ve recruited some of the former members of Red Witch and Nine Lives to expand our group. Right now we had more than two hundred members around the city." "It''s not enough but we can''t do anything about it. Most of the members of the Red Witch and Nine Lives died in the incident in the southern part. They were massacred by some powerhouse." Torkez said as he rubbed the space between his brows. "But that''s not the problem this time..." Remina said with some hesitation. "What is it?" Torkez raised his eyebrows as he glanced at Remina. "An unknown organization entered the city a few hours ago and they are all elites. They joined the chaos and started to plunder the inheritance of the two groups. Some of the noble teams were annihilated an hour ago." Remina said to him as she didn''t expect this too. Maybe, this group was the reason why the leaders of the Red Witch and Nine Lives were gone. "Any details about that unknown group...?" Torkez asked as he tapped his finger on the table. It seems that it wasn''t easy to control this city without moving personally. "According to the survivors, the leader of the unknown group is an Extermination Realm," Remina answered him. If this was true then she wouldn''t be able to solve this with her power. She would need to rely on Torkez once again to gain an advantage in this chaos. "Okay, I will personally take a look at this group. Then, what about the information that I''ve asked you to gather?" "The Purple Heart Tower is still silent about this matter. Please, understand that our influence is still weak so we couldn''t get much inside intel about the leading forces of this country." "I know... that''s why I''m trying to help your group build its fame." Torkez sighed as he closed his eyes. It seems that he needed to disturb Souta once again. He stood up and said, "Just continue what you are doing. I will report it to my leader." His figure disappeared in the blink of an eye. Remina just glanced at Torkez''s previous position in deep thought. She knew that Torkez was a powerful Extermination Realm that could even defeat a Senior Master from the Purple Heart Tower. Just to say the leaders of the Red Witch and Nine Lives avoided a Senior Master in direct confrontation. That''s just how dangerous a Senior Master was yet Torkez could even make a Senior Master retreat. Then... Just who was capable of ordering such a powerful man like Torkez? ... Even though turmoil was all over the city, Souta was still living peacefully in his small coffee shop. He was too busy increasing his energy capacity using a monster orb from a fifth evolution monster. After a while, Souta let go of the orb in his hand before he stood up and sat down on a vacant chair. He glanced at the system and saw that his energy level had reached 1,900 points. He was satisfied with this development as he didn''t expect that in just a week his energy level would greatly increase. This wasn''t a game anymore so a simple training like this one could give him experience points but the amount was little. The system was his greatest strength at this moment so he needed to work sometimes without depending on it. Without the system, he wouldn''t be able to take the god''s legacy. The legacy of the thirteenth zodiac was too powerful for a mere third evolution stage monster like him. He even guessed that he needed to become a fifth evolution stage to completely take it. Well, it was one of the requirements that he needed to get the Cosmic Authority of Ophiuchus. He was already lucky that the system managed to store the lost legacy in the system store or else he wouldn''t be able to get it in his entire life. He would only reach level 49 and that''s it. The although the system converted some of the energy to experience points, it still couldn''t forcefully place all the legacy inside his body if it could then he wouldn''t have to buy it. But his body was too weak so the system had no choice but to place the remaining legacy in the system store so that he would have a chance to take it back in the future. The system didn''t have any storage so it could only place the legacy in the system store. ''If I''m already at fifth evolution then I wouldn''t have to use skill points or free attribute points to take it back.'' Souta thought before he sighed. He came back to his senses when he heard a knock on his door. "My Lord, the old man is here." Yenxa''s plain voice sounded behind the door. "Old man? Oh, Franklin... Call him." Souta realized that she must be talking about Franklin. In their group, Franklin was the only one who had that kind of appearance. Soon, Franklin entered the room and he immediately kneeled down in front of Souta as a sign of respect to the man that he swore to serve. "How is it?" Souta asked as he looked at Franklin with a serious expression. "I''ve already created a group called Noxious in the depths of this country. I''ve already established the name of this group to some high noble families around the country." Franklin reported. "How many jobs did your group accepted in the past week?" "We''ve already completed 35 high-level jobs. My group consisted of 100 elite C-ranks and 10 elite B-ranks. I''m currently the only A-rank in the organization." "The assassin organization called Noxious will be left to you. Take Isabella with you, her strength and skill set will compatible with this type of work. Well, if she didn''t want it then don''t force her." Souta said as one of the steps has been completed. An assassin organization under his command. Chapter 494 - Witch "Pick any talents that you think will have a great future. I will transplant the parasitic essence eater to control them." Souta said in a cold tone. He knew that loyalty was a fragile thing to the people that he didn''t even know. That''s why he had to do this... Transplanting a parasitic essence eater in their body will not only boost their strength but Souta will also have a way to control them. "I understand." Franklin nodded before he continued, "I didn''t dare to make a big move as the higher power in this country are called Annihilation Realm. From my investigation, it seems that Annihilation Realm is equivalent to an S-rank expert." "Mn." Souta rubbed his chin as he realized that the name of the power level was the same as the Council of High-world in the game. If he remembered it correctly the highest power in this kind of world was Extinction Realm in other words a Shackled Realm expert. Also, the Council of High-world had god-level powerhouses. It has five gods that managed that gigantic organization of sub-world. Their goal was to rival the Imperium and prevent the gods from Imperium from controlling too many high worlds, but the overall power of this organization was weak compared to the organization in the Imperium. They could only compare to a large country in Giza Continent. In the game, the Council of High-World was annihilated by Beelzebub. The Lord of Flies, Beelzebub, took all five of them alone. In the end, the four of the five gods had died and only one managed to escape. The entire Council of High-World was destroyed including their planets and galaxies. "Pest from sub-world shouldn''t get involved in the affairs of Imperium." That''s what Beelzebub said at that time after he destroyed hundreds of high world alone. Souta knew that it was far away in the future but his current organization wouldn''t be able to handle the Council of High-World. That''s why he should be careful in handling things here in this world as it was somehow connected to the council. "I think that we can handle this country step by step but for the central continent... We can''t do anything about it as the peak experts there already reached the shackled realm." Souta said to Franklin. "I have the same thoughts... I will continue to expand my group and gather talents to increase the number of experts that can fight for us." Franklin said. "Good." Souta nodded. A knock came from the door and Yenxa''s voice sounded once again. "My Lord, the tall man is here." "Torkez? Let him in. I want to hear his report too." Souta said to Yenxa. The door opened and Torkez entered the room. Torkez swept his gaze across the room and his eyes landed on Franklin. ''It seems that Franklin has finished his task.'' He thought as he stood in front of Souta and kneeled down. If it was a normal time, it was fine to act like normal comrades or friends but the leader has given him a task so he had to treat it seriously and act accordingly. "How is it? Did you finish it?" Souta asked even though he knew the answer. The system already gave him a notification that the quest was completed and he received the reward even though he didn''t do anything. "Yes, but we encounter some problem so I want to ask your permission to bring to take my subordinates with me," Torkez said in a respectful tone. He was talking about the people that remain in the Guardian Fortress. Those people only had the power of C-rank but they were quite useful for Torkez. "Okay, you can take them with you." Souta gave his permission. It didn''t matter to him if Torkez brought all of his subordinates to this country. "But why do you want to bring them with you?" "I will be able to control this city soon. The only problem is that the expansion of Clautus Group encountered an unknown organization and it''s quite powerful. According to our intel, the leader of this organization is an Extermination Realm so I plan to handle it with my subordinates." Torkez replied to Souta. "Eh...?" Franklin glanced at Torkez with wide eyes. "Eh...?" Torkez turned to Franklin with a confused look. "Eh...?" Souta looked at the two of them as he didn''t have any idea what''s happening. "Um... Can I say something?" Franklin forcefully coughed to gather everyone''s attention. Souta gave him a nod. After receiving Souta''s permission, Franklin glanced at Torkez and asked, "Did you say that you''re helping Clautus Group?" "Yes, why?" "Sigh... I should''ve realized it when something happened in this city. There''s no way that you aren''t involved in the big incident in this city." "Do you mean..." "Yeah, the unknown group that you are talking about is the group that I have recently formed, the Noxious Group. This is an assassin organization that Souta asked me to form to secretly infiltrate the depths of this country." "I didn''t expect this at all," Torkez said with a sigh while glancing at the windows. It seems that the problem with this unknown organization has been solved. "Okay, I''ll pull back my subordinates so that you can focus your expansion in this city. I will simply devour the other assassin organization in this country before I extend my hands to the neighboring countries." Franklin said to him. "But I''m not the one who destroyed the Red Witch and Nine Lives. It''s Alice and it seems that she has her own plans." Torkez said. "Alice...?" Franklin slowly glanced at Souta and Souta shook his head indicating that he didn''t know anything about Alice''s plan. "I leave all of you to do what you want in this country as long as you don''t forget to gather information," Souta said. For him, as long as they didn''t overdo it they could do anything they want. He would simply stay here and expand the capacity of his monster orb using the monster orb from a fifth evolution monster. Torkez and Franklin nodded at him. After chatting for a little bit, the two left the coffee to settle their own problems. Torkez went back to the Guardian Fortress to bring his subordinates into this country while Franklin went back to the assassin organization that he created to pull back his forces in this city. ... On the next day, Alice had appeared in Souta''s coffee shop and she brought a woman with her. The woman was beautiful and seductive and her red clothes couldn''t even hide her curves. She had a long silky red hair and eyes. She looked fierce but her complexion was somewhat pale and Souta could clearly see that she was injured. Souta observed the woman before he turned his eyes to Alice and asked, "Who is this?" He could feel the liquefied mana lingering around the body of this woman so he was curious. "She said that her name is Amanda, the leader of the Red Witch," Alice said as she glanced at Amanda who was sitting beside him. "Oh? The leader of that small organization..." Souta raised her eyebrows and looked at Amanda. He didn''t expect that he would meet the leader of the ruling forces of this city albeit a former one. Amanda was silent as she just listened to the conversation of these two people. She didn''t know them nor have any idea what they were planning to do with her. When she woke up this morning, she found that she was already in Alice''s grasp. She was injured so she couldn''t escape. Also, the aura around Alice that she didn''t bother to hide was that of an Extermination Realm. It was one of the reasons why she didn''t try to escape. With her current condition, there''s no way that she could escape from other Extermination Realm. So she decided to stay until she completely recovered but she didn''t expect that this girl, Alice, would bring her to meet the so-called leader. Before meeting this leader, Amanda asked what happened to the southern part of the city. She loses her consciousness after she used her final attack on Greyman and she didn''t know what happened after that. Amanda just heard Alice''s words that the Red Witch and Nine Lives were gone. The noble families in the central part and Clautus Group were dividing the wealth of the two organizations. "Then, why did you bring her to me?" Souta asked as he slightly tilted his head while looking at Alice. "She''s a witch." Alice simply answered his question. "A witch? Are you for real?" Souta was surprised when he heard it. He then turned his attention on Amanda with a curious gaze. Even in Imperium, a witch race was pretty rare. They weren''t different from ordinary humans and they blended pretty well in society. Unless the witch was forced into an emergency situation, the witch wouldn''t reveal their identity as a witch. "Yes, I''m a witch..." Amanda replied while narrowing her eyes. Chapter 495 - You Are Mine "A witch you say... Even in Imperium, the witches hide pretty well among the masses so it''s not easy to find them. If I want to verify it can you show me your soul weapon?" Souta rubbed his chin and asked while looking at the mature beautiful woman in front of him. Amanda narrowed her eyes at Souta''s words. Imperium? She hasn''t heard it before but it seems that this mysterious man knew a lot of things about witches. Also, from his words, it seems that there were other witches. Is it possible? Her clan was exterminated decades ago and she was the sole survivor of the witches. She always thought that she was the last witch. Alice simply stood at the side. She already saw Amanda''s soul weapon so she wasn''t that curious about it. "How do you know about the witch''s soul weapon?" Amanda asked in return. Soul weapon was a witch''s ace so she wouldn''t show it easily to anyone. "I know a lot of things. It''s more than you can imagine so show me your soul weapon if you really are a witch." Souta smiled faintly. Amanda had no other choice but to show it to him. She knew that she wouldn''t be able to escape even if she tried it. She closed her middle finger and ring finger and used them to caress the lower part of her palm. Then, energy slightly fluctuate, and a red-colored vortex of energy formed on her wrist. A small exquisite black handle slowly came out of the vortex. Amanda wrapped her fingers on the handle and slowly pulled it out. She did the same thing on her other hand. "Oh, it''s really a soul weapon...?" Souta looked at the pair of daggers in her hands with an amused expression. The pair of daggers had a black handle and its blade was red like the color of blood. Its design was perfect and it''s enough to arouse the attention of those who liked to collect beautiful objects. This pair of daggers were good but it only had the power of a high-quality orange grade weapon. He knew that as long as a witch grew stronger their soul weapon would evolve into a higher grade. The soul weapon of a god-level witch could rival a universal-grade weapon. Also, the ability of their soul weapon was very compatible with the witch. "Now, do you believe me?" Amanda asked as she loosened her grip on the two daggers before they turned into tiny particles. Her soul weapon has come back to her body. She could take it out anytime and use it to surprise her opponent. "Yeah, you are really a witch... No wonder why you name your organization a Red Witch." Souta nodded with a satisfied expression. "Then, what will you do to me?" Amanda asked with some hesitation. "Nothing, I''m just curious about rare species like you. You know it''s satisfying to witness the ability of a rare species like you." Souta said. "You..." Amanda didn''t know what to say. It feels like this guy was treating her like an expensive object. Souta ignored Amanda as he turned his attention to Alice who was silently watching from the side. "How is it?" He asked. "Hm... This planet is really connected to other high worlds. It''s possible that the forces in the central continent detected us when we used the transportational gate." "Yeah, the possibility of it is pretty high so we have to prepare ourselves." "Torkez is controlling the Clautus Group. It won''t be long before he grasped the whole city in his hand. After that, I planned to help him further expand this organization so that it would envelop the whole country. As for the neighboring countries... There''s a dwarf kingdom on the north, an elven republic on the south, a monster empire on the edge of this continent." "Franklin has established an underground organization called Noxious. It''s full of elite assassins. I will let him infiltrate the dwarf kingdom as for the monster empire... I will send Yuko and Doranjan to deal with it. With their current strength, they wouldn''t be in trouble unless a fourth evolution monster appeared but it''s unlikely that a fourth evolution monster is hiding there." "So you plan on conquering the south continent?" "Yes, I will gather more talents under my wings to further increase our forces. Also, if someone could replace Torkez it would be great." "I see... Currently, Torkez couldn''t focus on researching the parasites." Alice nodded as she glanced at Amanda who was silently listening to their conversation. "How about her? Do you think that she has the capability to replace Torkez?" Amanda gulped nervously they turned their attention on her. The conversation of these two people looked normal but the content was terrifying. Do her ears functioning well? These two casually mentioned that they planned to conquer the whole south continent! A whole continent, not a country! It was completely different from conquering a country! Conquering a whole continent was a hundred times harder than conquering a country. Who are these people for them to casually mention something like that? She didn''t have any idea at all. Amanda subconsciously shivered when she saw Souta looking at her. She felt like a predator was eyeing her and those eyes felt like it could see everything that she was hiding. "Her power level is A-rank but she''s pretty weak but she''s a witch so if she undergoes hard training she would become powerful. As long as she solidified her mana then her soul weapon would reach the level of red grade and when she reached the shackled realm her soul weapon would become a dark grade." Souta said while rubbing his chin. Even god could hardly get a universal grade weapon but a witch was guaranteed to have one. Among the three god-level powerhouses of Hebrei Kingdom, only one of them has a universal grade the other two only had dark grade equipment. "What you do think, Alice?" "She''s suitable. She has experience in managing an organization like Torkez so she''s perfect for that position. That way, Torkez can focus on his research about parasites." Alice said her opinion. In the end, Souta was the leader so he had the last decision. If Torkez managed to produce the parasite king then they would be able to reproduce the parasitic essence parasites. It means that the strength of their forces would increase by a higher level. Also, Souta didn''t need to use the parasite carefully. He could just transplant it to any suitable people above C-rank. Souta nodded and he turned his attention on Amanda. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, "What''s your name witch?" "Amanda Brune..." Amanda answered him with a resolute expression. Although she was afraid, she tried to hide it in her heart. There''s no benefit if she let out her emotion. She always does it... In the past and now. "Good." Souta nodded with a faint smile as he approached her. He looked straight into her eyes and said, "I can see intense hatred deep in your eyes. The things that you want to achieve with your small organization can''t be something simple." Alice just watched this scene with an amused expression. ''Do you know that you look like a devil with that kind of expression, Souta?'' She thought. "I can help you achieve your goals. The dreams that you thought that you can''t fulfill. I can help you with it and also you will gain a strength that you can''t imagine. How about it? I just want you to work for me in return then I will help you achieve your dream no matter what happens." Souta whispered into Amanda''s ears using his gentle voice. "I..." Amanda didn''t know if she should accept it or not but certainly, Souta''s words were extremely alluring for her. She knew that her goal was hard to achieve considering her level of strength and the organization that she had before was too weak. She didn''t want to accept it but she realized that her puny strength wouldn''t be able to help her. That''s why when she saw the demon summoning scroll, she didn''t hesitate to prepare the ritual. Even if she sold her soul to a demon, it''s fine as long as she could achieve her goal. It''s not for her but for her tribe members that were murdered mercilessly. "I accept it. I will work for you as long as you help me." Amanda said with a resolute expression. She was ready to face any kind of consequences for her actions. She was even ready to die for her goals. "Good. Then, from now on you''re mine." Souta grinned widely as he raised his hand and caressed Amanda''s cheeks. Red flesh started to wriggle on his wrist and in just a few seconds his arm was covered by several layers of black and red flesh. "Lower your defense. The natural resistance of an A-rank is pretty tough for parasites. Even if you are sleeping the parasite wouldn''t be able to fuse with your body." Black and red flesh started to seep into the pores of Amanda. At the same time, Souta looked at the system prompt that he just received. *Ding!* [You''ve triggered a Chain Quest!!] Chapter 496 - Fate Of Eidin Sub-World The natural defense of an A-rank was high so the parasitic essence eater wouldn''t be able to enter the body of an A-rank. If an A-rank used mana then that expert could expel the parasite before it could fuse in the body. The parasite didn''t have a power level and their basic strength was even lower than normal people. Their ability was just to boost their host''s strength. Black and red flesh struck Amanda''s face after she lowered her defenses. Amanda groaned in pain as the parasite started to fuse in her body. It went into every part of her body and consumed a large amount of her stamina. If she was below B-rank then she would''ve died. After a while, the parasite has completely fused in her body. Souta removed his hand on her cheeks and he opened his arms widely. "Welcome to our group, Amanda Brune!" He smiled and added, "Don''t worry about your problem. It''s not yours alone. Everyone in this group will help you solve your problem so don''t hesitate to ask for everyone''s help." "I..." Amanda felt the changes in her body. The strength that she has had been boosted by several times but there''s a certain unfamiliar sensation. Well, she just received her parasite so she wasn''t used to it. She will be uncomfortable for a few days until she got used to the parasite. "Alice will help you arrange your task and she will introduce the others to you. Also, I''m Souta Ieshi, the leader of this group and I formally welcome you in this group." Souta said with a smile. He saw that Amanda didn''t know what to say as she was still confused. He could understand it so better leave her for now to digest all the information. With that in his mind, he turned to Alice and said, "I''ll leave her to you." "Okay..." Alice nodded. After Amanda and Alice left the coffee shop, Souta sat down on his chair and looked at the system. *Ding!* [You''ve triggered a Chain Quest!] [Amanda]: Amanda is the sole survivor of this planet''s witch race. On this planet, she''s the only witch alive as all of the other witches were massacred decades ago. [Clues] Quest 1: Ask Amanda about the massacre that happened in her clan. Reward: 10,000 exp The reward of this quest wasn''t that but the quest was simple too. He could easily ask Amanda about this so that he could gather more information about why the witch race was massacred on this planet. Souta rested his chin on his palm and looked at the window. The witches on this planet were on the verge of extinction. It''s not easy to massacre a whole race especially if that race possessed unique ability like a witch. Well, a quest like this was open for him as he needed more skill points and free attribute points to buy back the legacy that was stored in the system store. He would conquer this continent and gather talents to produce an army with parasitic essence eater. He already had a plan to use half of the parasites that were hiding in his body. Those people with parasites couldn''t betray him because he has the queen. Their lives will be in his hands the moment he transplanted the parasites. After that, he will go to the central continent. Since this world was connected to the Council of High-World, he could find a teleportation spell in the central continent that was connected to Imperium. But first completing this new chain quest was his goal. He had an idea about what happened to the witches on this planet. There''s no way that the people who could massacre an entire clan of witches weren''t in the central continent. In his opinion, only people from that place had the power to exterminate witches. The people in this southern continent didn''t have that power at all. S-rank expert was the most powerful here so it wouldn''t be enough. Well, there''s a possibility that some of the organizations here contacted people from the central continent to annihilate the witches. About their reason... It was still a mystery even for him. Maybe some sort of personal grudge. He closed his eyes and decided to leave this place to Alice. He will go straight to the central continent while the rest was preparing here in the southern continent. Council of High-World... While thinking about this organization, he couldn''t help but narrow his brows. In the game, before Beelzebub ultimately destroyed them, he clashed with them a few times. The reason why they clashed was because of [Solid Hunter State Boots] and [Ying and Yang Bracelet]. A dark grade and universal grade artifact respectively. He didn''t have a powerful country like Mechanic Country behind him at this moment. Also, he wasn''t Athena''s Hero so he couldn''t use their forces to prevent the Council of Hero from retaliating. Well, he guessed that he will try to become Athena''s Hero once again after he settled everything so that he could have a good backer behind him. "It''s good..." Souta smiled as he opened his eyes. He stood up and exited his room. Time had passed quickly and the influence of their group which they called Astros penetrated deep in the southern continent. Franklin''s Noxious Group successfully influenced the neighboring human and demi countries. This organization becomes one of the most powerful assassin organizations in the entire southern continent. Their appearance alarmed countless organizations across the whole land but Franklin didn''t care about them. In fact, he would personally eliminate those people that wanted to make a move against them. The forces of the Noxious Assassin Group became huge and the top organizations couldn''t tolerate them anymore. They didn''t want to see any organization grow to their level. It wouldn''t only break the balance in their forces. The five countries started to launch an investigation. They wanted to meet the so-called leader of Noxious. About the development of the Clautus Group, Alice was the one who handled it instead of Torkez. This group became a huge organization that could influence five big cities in Numan Country. If it''s not for Noxious Assassin Group gathering the attention of top-tier people, the Clautus Group would face some pressure. All this time, Amanda had been practicing her control over parasite in the Guardian Fortress. Most of the people knew that she was dead, they didn''t even know that she became one of the members of a group that was plotting against this entire southern continent. Just a little bit more and they would be able to initiate their plan... ... On the Eidin World, Isabella''s homeworld... After a huge earthquake a month ago, most of the people here have recovered and they started to renovate the fallen structures. It was peaceful in this world and every country was trying to recover from the damage that they took from Great Astley Empire. Ever since they learned about the existence of other worlds, most of the countries formed an alliance in case something like the Great Astley Empire attack them once again. A new era has risen on this small planet. But then something terrifying once again occurred. The sky darkened and a vast energy enclosed the whole planet like it was trying to devour everything. It was much more terrifying than the last incident. Ordinary people below C-rank directly fainted and only a handful of people on the whole planet could barely endure the pressure in the atmosphere. They didn''t have an idea what''s happening but they were sure that this was the end. Their instinct wasn''t telling them to run away. Instead, it was telling them to give up and accept their fate. They felt like they had to prostrate and submit to the being that will appear before them. A God which was way above their league was going to appear. Ohm!! A vortex of energy formed above the Buckshawn State like a whirlpool. It was distorting the entire space and the whole ground was trembling. Crack! The space above the Buckshawn State cracked and then a hand covered in black aura shattered the entire space. Boom!! A man wearing a black furry cloak and a white shirt underneath it emerged from the shattered space. His short black hair was fluttering as he looked down at the world with cold eyes. He raised his hand and combed his hair. There was a fierce lion tattoo on the back of his palm. This man was one of the Zodiacs symbolizing Leo. "I could feel the essence of the last zodiac in this planet but the root has disappeared. It felt like it was sealed once again." Leo muttered as he slowly descended on the ground. The moment that he stepped on the ground everything around him trembled. It was natural for him as he visited sub-worlds in the past and this always happened. He knew that every living creature here have fainted because of his aura and this world will fall too. A sub-world with a low mana density like this one couldn''t handle the natural pressure of a powerful god like him. "Oh, it seems that the little goblin has been here before..." A faint smile formed on his face as he turned his head on the destroyed living labyrinth. "This is interesting...." Chapter 497 - Zodiac Leo "It seems that the little goblin is connected to the thirteenth zodiac but it''s somehow strange. The power of the sign is faint and I could hardly sense it. It feels like it went back to its legacy form." Leo muttered as he tightly knitted his brows. He wanted to know what happened to this world before but looking around he knew that he didn''t have much time. He had to clear everything so that the other god wouldn''t find anything in this area. "It such a pity that I had to destroy sub-worlds once again..." His energy burst out of his body and the shaking of the ground grew stronger. Then, he snapped his fingers and all the people on this planet have vanished in an instant like a bubble. Swoosh!! Gigantic cracks formed on the surface of the planets and lava started to pour out like a fountain. The Eidin Sub-World was facing inevitable destruction and no one would be able to prevent it unless they were as strong as Leo. Leo will destroy any lingering energy of the thirteenth zodiac in this planet, no, in this galaxy. He will wipe out everything so that other gods wouldn''t be able to trace it and only him and the rest of the zodiac could find it. He stretched out his hand and a boundless amount of energy erupted. In just a second, a disc of black energy swept out and it destroyed the Eidin Sub-World. For gods like him, everything outside the Imperium was like a fragile glass that they could easily shatter. Boom!! The black disc of energy continued to grow larger until it destroyed every planet in the entire galaxy in just a few seconds. It deleted any traces of the thirteenth sign in this entire galaxy but Leo''s energy continue to grow stronger. "I''ll erase a few galaxies to be sure..." He narrowed his eyes and he shot a punch forward containing his boundless might that seemed to destroy everything. The space was shattered and it turned into a gigantic black hole sucking everything in sight. Ohm!! Five black holes appeared in total as it started to suck the floating asteroids. Even suns, stars, and planets have disappeared in just a few moments in this entire universe. Leo watched everything with a calm expression. The body of a god was unhindered outside the Imperium and they could do everything they wanted in any part of the universe. Destroying several galaxies that only have a few planets that have mana density was easy. It would be a different matter if that planet was a high-world that has dense mana in the atmosphere. Leo could also destroy it but it would consume a large amount of his energy. He stretched both of his hands and said, "Settle down!" His energy pressed down on several black holes. It took him a whole minute before the black hole turned into tiny particles of space elemental energy. Just like that he successfully destroyed the traces of the thirteenth zodiac in this area. Now, he just needed to find the thirteenth zodiac using the connection of cosmic signs. The other gods wouldn''t be able to use this method unless they possessed cosmic signs like him. Bang! Leo tore the space in front of him and he disappeared. He was going in the opposite direction of where he sensed the cosmic sign. It was to confuse those fellows as he knew that he wasn''t the only one who sensed when the cosmic sign awakened before. Most of the gods in Imperium must have sensed it like him. But he was one of the most sensitive people to cosmic signs due to his connection with them. Tearing the space to travel as fast as possible was only possible to gods. This was what they called void travel. ''I will find the connection between the thirteenth zodiac and that little goblin.'' When he arrived in the Eidin Sub-World, he felt the lingering energy of that little goblin here. If not for his god senses he wouldn''t be able to find it. Other gods wouldn''t be able to sense it. Leo was confident with his ability that most of the gods couldn''t match him. If he wasn''t confident then he wouldn''t dare to fight the Three Great Countries decades ago with just twelve gods. Also, the dimensional hole that appeared on the Blue Lawless City was connected to this planet. In just a few hours, he passed through hundreds of galaxies directly breaking the space in his path. Even the stellar beast in outer space perished as it couldn''t handle the cracks in the space. Suddenly, Leo stopped as he sensed a high world. He was extremely far from Imperium and he didn''t expect that there would be a lone high world in this part of universe. "This will be fine for now..." A vast amount of mana suddenly erupted when he approached this planet that could be graded as a high world. Hmm... He raised his eyebrows as the energy of an unfamiliar god swept through his body. "An outer god?" A faint smile formed on his face as he continued to approach the planet. He wasn''t afraid of outer gods as he knew that the people that were chasing him at this moment were much more terrifying than this lone god. "If I were you, I would run away from this place as soon as possible. This place will become a vacant area in the universe soon." He said but the outer god didn''t make an appearance. He sighed in disappointment as his energy swept through the entire high world. "Huh? What the hell?! There are actually seven outer gods on this planet! These forces are even stronger than the Council of High-World that wanted to rival Imperium." As soon as he swept his energy on the entire planet the seven gods appeared before him. Each one of them was releasing powerful energy. "God from divine world. This place is not for you so we advise that you return to your world. You wouldn''t find anything here." The seven gods said at the same time. "Divine world? Oh, it seems that you know Imperium so why haven''t you gone to that place. That place had resources that could even give a god a boost." Leo said while turning his head on the planet before him. Sub-world could hardly endure the existence of gods so most of them always went to Imperium to find new opportunities. It was rare to find gods that will stay in their homeworld after they ascended. The seven gods were about to say something when Leo cut their words. "It''s too late. They are already here." Leo grinned widely as several powerful energy fluctuations erupted in every direction. The space around them distorted before cracks appeared. Boom!! Eventually, the space was shattered like a fragile glass and several figures emerged from the broken space. The seven gods subconsciously took a step back as they stared at the figures in shock. They knew the existence of Imperium but they refuse to go there because they wanted to watch their homeworld. The figures that appeared surrounded the seven gods and Leo. They were from different factions and they carried powerful energy around their bodies. "Aren''t you guys busy dealing with Deadly Sins on your continent?" Leo asked nonchalantly as he faced the three people with several pairs of golden-colored wings on their backs. "Especially you Jophiel, Raphael, and Gabriel. Esquin, the Ruler of Gluttony, thought that you are hiding the Original Sin." Jophiel was a beautiful woman with six pairs of with on her back. She was a long blonde hair that drapes on her back and her silver-colored armor with blue linings covered her lower body and upper body with the exception of her navel. She was standing in front of the two angels behind her. The two behind her were Raphael and Gabriel. The two were the pillars of the Angel Faction in God''s Continent. Leo just glanced at the two handsome angels with blonde hair behind Jophiel. These two were a problem and they could give him some trouble. Then, he swept his eyes around him and carefully consider his odds. Aside from the Angel Faction of God''s Continent, the other faction was here too. The most eye-catching ones were the gods from Mount Olympus. He already expected it as he knew that the thirteenth sign had a connection to their faction in the past. "Apollo, Athena, Hermes, Ares, and Artemis. What a lineup for Mount Olympus." Aside from them, Wind God, Nature Earth God, and Vice Deity of Purple Cloud Dynasty were here. Dragon Slayer and Flame Extinction God of Red Crystal Empire. Aqua Cardinal and Shadow Cardinal of the True God''s Holy Kingdom. Balder, Tyr, and Njord of Asgard. Ebisu and Hachiman of Takamagahara. Nezha, Guan Yu, and Hou Yi of Heavenly Palace. Sekhmet and Osiris of Aaru. Beside them, a couple of gods from the other continents of Imperium made an appearance. Due to the restriction of the Great Barrier the gods from other continents could only meet outside of Imperium. It was the first time that they''ve gathered like this. This was an insane lineup that could scare ordinary gods but he wasn''t afraid of them. These gods rarely interact with each other so their teamwork was close to nonexistent. It would be a different matter if all of them were from one faction. "It''s been a while since I''ve fought someone at god-level..." Leo''s eyes contracted as boundless energy erupted on his body. The dark energy swept out in every direction as shadows enclosed the space beneath his feet. "Come my minions." The gods from Giza Continent knew that before being a Zodiac, Leo was a powerful necromancer that could effortlessly smash a god into smithereens. "Then, let me hear your reason for coming here." Leo asked in a cold tone as several gigantic skulls peeked through the shadows beneath his feet. His entire body right now was covered in black energy like a mist. =End of Volume 5= Thank you for supporting my work and I hope you continue to read it! We''ve finished volume 5 and we are now at volume 6. The title of the next volume is Chaos in God''s Continent. Our goblin, Souta, will be back to Imperium in this volume so look forward to it. I hope I can give you a better experience in the next volume so be sure to follow it. The next volume is Volume 6 (Chaos in God''s Continent) Once again, I thanked everyone for supporting my work. Chapter 498 - Side Story: Lynn Yaoli The class is going to end and vacation will come soon. It''s already night so I change my clothes into pajamas before I head excitedly to my bed. Why am I excited? There''s only one answer and that''s because I''m going to talk to Souta. I''ve borrowed the transmission talisman from Mila this morning so that I could talk to Souta alone before I go to sleep. I could still remember that I''m just an ordinary student at Ladro Institute back then. My dream isn''t big as I just wanted to help my parents have a good life after I''ve graduated. I didn''t expect that my life would change after I met him. Souta is collected and calm. That''s my usual impression of him. I thought that was rather impressive, honestly. At that time at special test almost blew me away. How shall I say it? He was calm at that time despite facing all the top students alone and he managed to protect me. That part of him is somewhat attractive to me, so to say. "Oh, I should calm down..." I said to myself as I took out a piece of yellow paper. This piece of yellow paper is called Transmission Talisman. It will let me talk to the paper on the other side no matter how it is. Using this I could talk to Souta anytime but that won''t do. I don''t want to disturb him and think that I''m annoying. My heart wouldn''t be able to take. Just by imagining that scene already makes me tremble. At first, I just had a simple crush on him. Before I knew it, he became one of the reasons of my life. W-waaahh!!! I felt my cheeks heating up as I used both of my hands to cover my face. Then, I rolled on my bed while getting flustered about my imagination. "Lynn, you have to calm down!" I said to myself repeatedly. Ever since then, I thought that I should change my life. I don''t want to become an ordinary girl anymore. I want to become someone special in his eyes. I want to stand at his side. Looking at his potential, I know that he will become a great person someday. And when he became a great person, I want there to be with him. "Hu~ Souta, I want to see your face..." I buried my face in my pillow as I imagined his face. Souta''s appearance isn''t that great compared to other boys in our academy but he is the only one who can make my heart skip a beat. "Ugh~ Souta, I miss you~" This is bad. I couldn''t control it. I really love Souta. I feel light and fluffy. I know he''s special to me. I wanted to tell him as soon as possible. I''m getting shivers and the beat of my heart continued to grow louder. But will he accept my feelings? I think that Souta isn''t that interested in romance. That''s the impression I got from him but I will make sure to make him look at me. "Yeah, I will do it." I turned around and raised my fist in the air while shouting. Ah! I have a lot to say but when I''m with him, all the words that I want to say are stuck in my throat. Then, I should start it. I picked up the transmission talisman and started to pour my mana. Soon, it got connected to Souta. "Hello," My lips trembled as I heard his voice. Hearing his voice isn''t enough. I want to see him. Ugh, what should I do? Now, that I heard his voice... I can''t think of a topic to start the conversation. First, I should let him know that it''s me. "H-Hello S-Souta! it''s me, L-Lynn..." Waaaahh!! My voice! I couldn''t control it. I''m stuttering! Why I couldn''t control it?! This is bad! Is my response too blunt? S-Should I add something? Nah, I don''t know what to say. "I know. How is your day, Lynn?" Souta replied quickly and it helped me snap out of my thoughts. But how did he know that it''s me? Did Mila say it to him? Forget about that, I should answer Souta as soon as possible. I don''t want to make him wait. "I-It''s fine. The vacation will start soon and I plan to go back to the Hebrei Kingdom. I will visit my parents and after that, I will return here to help Mila expand our legion." "Me too. I just finished dealing with some trouble here so I finally got a time to relax. I think that I will return to Imperium soon." "R-Really?" "Yep, so you should wait for me." I couldn''t hide my excitement when I heard that. "Y-Yeah, I will wait for you. I-I really miss you." My voice grew tinier at the end of my sentence. But what am I saying to him?! I''m not prepared at all! I-It just came out of my mouth! I''m really looking forward to his return but there''s something I didn''t know at that time. If I only realized it sooner then I would be able to impede the upcoming event. At that time, I didn''t know that I have already a place in his heart. This piece of memory is my treasure and I wouldn''t forget it no matter what. I wanted it to last longer. I cursed my dumbness. If only I realized it then I would be able to stop him. I... I''m sorry, Souta... It''s not your fault... ========= Volume 5 officially ends now. Next chapter is the start of Volume 6 Chaos in God''s Continent. I divided the volume 6 into six parts. ?Preparation to Imperium ?Athena''s Hero ?Gluttony of the Gods ?Demon''s Salvation ?Titans and Giants ?Fall of Vajra Please look forward to the next volume as I guarantee you guys that this will be much more intense than the previous volume. More questions and answers will appear in this volume but I think that it will be a great experience for you guys. Once again, I thank everyone who supports me to continue this.. Without you, I wouldn''t be able to continue this work. Chapter 499 - Unrivaled Power Of Leo "We will leave you alone. We just wanted you to give up Ophiuchus. We, Gods of Olympus, didn''t about your fight with the Three Great Countries but it will be too much if you got the Ophiuchus. Zeus said that he will not tolerate it." Hermes said to Leo with a faint smile while opening his arms widely as if indicating that he will not pursue Leo anymore if he agreed to their condition. "Give up you say? I don''t mind adding Mount Olympus to my list of things that I need to exterminate." Leo replied as the shadows beneath his feet started to tremble. "Is that your decision? You already had trouble dealing with the Three Great Countries I don''t think that you can handle it if you add Olympus." Hermes'' tone turned serious as his body started to emit a powerful aura that distorted the space around him. "Hahaha, fuck! I don''t think that you need to worry about me!" Leo laughed loudly at Hermes'' words. His expression turned serious and added, "You will not have a time for that. Esquin, the Ruler of Gluttony, is ready to launch an attack at your puny God''s Continent. You will not have a time to meddle in the affairs of other continents." He then turned his head at the rest of the gods from God''s Continent. "Aren''t you people also attacked by demons. The army of the Great Demon Emperor Lucifer is slowly encroaching the God''s Continent and Giza Continent. Once you think that everything is fine, the Deadly Sins and God''s Will will appear to topple the entire Imperium. They will not stop until they found the Original Sin and the Four Authorities." Athena narrowed her chestnut color brows at Leo''s words. She knew that Leo was right. The army of that powerful Great Demon has destroyed several human and demi countries at the edge of their land. But what she didn''t think was that Esquin, the Ruler of Gluttony, One of the Aspects of Sins, was going to attack the God''s Continent. Although she was a War Goddess, she knew that she wouldn''t be Esquin''s match in a one-on-one battle. That man, Esquin, was one of the strongest gods that she had seen aside from Zeus. The gods from other factions too were shocked at Leo''s words. They knew that the Deadly Sins and God''s Will didn''t have goodwill to other living beings but hearing this made them shuddered. Aside from the Three Bringers of Calamity, they needed to be wary of the demons from Demon''s Land. The demons already showed their fangs even though the Great Barrier was still intact. "You thought that I would give up just because all of you have appeared in front of me! No, you just think too highly of yourself! It would be a different matter if the leader of each faction are facing me but unfortunately, you''re not as strong as them!" Leo''s aura burst fort as gigantic skeletons came emerged from the shadows beneath his feet. There were fifteen gigantic skeletons and each one was one hundred meters tall. Also, the fifteen gigantic skeletons possessed an aura that could rival gods. Boom!! It''s not finished yet. After the fifteen gigantic skeletons appeared, exactly two hundred three meters ghouls had emerged from the shadows. Each one of them possessed an aura of a demigod. This was the power of a peak necromancer known as Leo, the leader of the organization called Zodiacs. "My minions... Kill everyone here. It''s time that they realized how foolish it is to intimidate me." Leo said in a cold tone as he glanced at the powerful gods around him. A pale color flame appeared in his palm and he crushed it. "Domain release!" [Domain of the Dead: Undead Retribution]! The shadows beneath his feet spread out and it swallowed everything around him including the space. It was the domain of gods which said that could bring out the true power of gods. It was an ability of the gods that could bring out their inner consciousness into reality. In Leo''s case, his domain could increase the power, speed, and toughness of his undead by 1,000 percent. Also, in his domain, all of his skills will receive a boost of 500 percent which stack up to his summoned undead making them more terrifying than normal. One more thing, his undead will be indestructible while his domain was active. It means that no matter how much gods destroyed them, the undead could regenerate infinitely as long as they were inside the Domain of the Dead. Ohm! The gods found that everything around them has changed. They weren''t in outer space anymore. Black soil and grass were beneath their feet. Blood red moon and black sun were in the sky emitting a strange aura that changed all the energy into an undead attribute. Pale hands with rotting flesh could be seen on the floor and there were millions of them. A river of pale hands that emitted a bloody rotten stench in the atmosphere. "In an instant!" Gabriel muttered in shock as his three pairs of wings lost their luster. Athena, Hermes, and the other gods were shocked too. They didn''t think that Leo could spread his domain easily like this. Also, the size of this domain was a thousand times larger than any of them. They couldn''t help but feel a tinge of fear in their heart. The gods from the Three Great Countries weren''t shocked as they already knew the power of the leader of the Zodiacs. Leo wouldn''t be able to fight the combined forces of the Three Great Countries if he was weak. The rumors about Leo weren''t an exaggeration at all. In fact, his actual strength was even stronger than the rumors. Boom!! The gods would surely fight back so they released their own domain. Several domains were activated at the same time and they clashed inside the Domain of the Dead directly distorting the surrounding area. The space was forcefully folded and cracks were appearing everywhere. This was what happened when several domains of gods collided. It will continue to pull the space and tear each other until one of them were left. Flame, shadow, water, wind, wood, light, and every other element were bursting in every direction changing the terrain every second. It''s like an apocalyptic scene. The galaxies around were directly pulled into their domains and the space folded these galaxies turning them into a bunch of fragments. Bang! The seven outer gods also used their domains. They didn''t try to join the battle as their focus was entirely on protecting their planet. They tried to use their boundless energy and tore the space around it before transferring it into a faraway place. But doing it was hard, the space around a high world was fortified by the planet''s energy. Ordinary gods like them would have a trouble transporting their planet. Leo naturally noticed what the outer gods were doing but he decided to ignore them. In fact, he even pulled them out of his domain so that they wouldn''t join the battle. If those seven outer gods join the battle then the difficulty will increase. A fluctuation water element surged on his right side and a shadow element on his left side. It was the attack of the Aqua Cardinal and Shadow Cardinal of the True God''s Holy Kingdom. ''These people knew that it''s useless to fight my minions as long as it''s within my domain so they decided to attack me.'' He thought as powerful dark energy gathered on both of his hands. He was familiar with the Aqua Cardinal and Shadow Cardinal before as they were one of the gods that he fought decades ago when he attack the Three Great Countries. Naturally, these two were also familiar with his fighting style. Not just them, Wind God, Nature Earth God, and Vice Deity from Purple Cloud Dynasty were familiar with him. Also, Dragon Slayer and Flame Extinction God of Red Crystal Empire. [Hundred Thousands Corrupting Ray]!! Leo raised both of his hands and countless black rays rained down from the sky. Then, he waved his hands and walls made of skeletons emerged around him. [Titanic Undead Wall]! The walls blocked the attack of the two cardinals easily. It even reflected a portion of their attack power. Bang! Bang! Dragon Slayer narrowed while eyes when he saw the walls made of skeletons. He tightened his grip on his greatsword before he charged forward. An image of a red dragon appeared behind him and it slowly fused in his body. [Dragonic Earthen Body]!! His greatsword emitted a red light before it turned into flames and the temperature rose infinitely. His greatsword was a universal grade weapon so it has the capability to cut down a god. The heat rose exponentially and it didn''t only burn physical matter. It also burned time and space and the other elements in the atmosphere. "You''ve grown stronger once again! You''re just a hundred-year-old god yet you''ve surpassed most of the gods in the entire world of Imperium!" Dragon Slayer roared as he swing his greatsword. His greatsword directly shattered the walls made of skeletons. Bang!! "Tsk! Dragon Slayer, a man who fought several dragon gods on Dragon Peak. Your attack power is really problematic." Leo said as he flicked a small marble beside him and it turned into a black staff with triangular accessories and it has tree skulls on the top. This was his universal weapon, [Divine Nightmare Staff]. He was about to cast its skill to counter Dragon Slayer when he detected a fluctuation behind him. Hmm...? The space broke apart leaving a huge void and Athena, a beautiful woman with long chestnut color hair wearing a piece of exquisite armor, emerged from the void. Athena directly thrust her sword forward. Swoosh! Swoosh! Leo raised his universal grade staff and used it to block Dragon Slayer''s universal grade great sword. Then, he stretched out his hand which was covered in dark energy to catch Athena''s blade. "You used void travel in my domain?" He asked as he turned his head to Athena. He didn''t expect that this woman could use void travel inside his domain. He could understand it if she used void travel to escape but directly moving behind was something only capable by gods at his level. Only the other zodiac, the commandments, seven deadly sins, and the other faction leaders could do it. This woman didn''t have the aura of a peak God yet she could do it. Hmm...? "What an interesting sword? Is the reason why you could use void travel in my perimeter because of this universal grade sword?" He asked with an amused expression. "You!!" Athena gritted her teeth as she looked fiercely at Leo. She couldn''t believe that this man would catch her sword with his bare hand. She then noticed something. A golden-colored light started to shine on Leo''s fingertips which were on her sword and the light slowly turned into golden armor. At the same time, she heard his voice. "I''ve shown you guys my power as a god now let me show you my power as the Zodiac Leo." [Cosmic Authority: Leo]!! Chapter 500 - Central Continent "So this is the Earthen Core City?" Souta muttered while looking at the gigantic wall that reached over fifty meters as he removed the hood on his head. "Yes, according to the information that we''ve gathered this is the Earthen Core City. One of the most prosperous cities in the central continent." A tall woman with beautiful red hair replied to him. She was Amanda Brune, the witch that join his group weeks ago. "I see... Then, we''ll start gathering information in this city." Souta nodded as he walked forward to enter the city. Amanda looked at the top of the walls one more time before she followed Souta. Just like Souta, it was her first time in the central continent so she didn''t know a lot of things here. She glanced at Souta before turning her eyes on the figure of a little girl that was following him. That little girl was called Yenxa and this girl was strange. Her language was different so she couldn''t converse with this girl. Also, the appearance of this girl wasn''t normal even for a demi. Amanda sighed and put those thoughts in the back of her mind before she followed the two. Entering this city was easy, they just needed to pay one thousand copper coins. So the three entered the city without any problem. Souta decided to visit the central continent after some contemplation. He decided it because he thought that it would be the best course of action before he took aggressive action against the forces in this land. In the southern continent, no one knows about his plan except for his trusted comrades and he knew that they wouldn''t betray him. He had an insurance after all. So it means that even if the forces here discovered him they wouldn''t be able to find where he came from. It would be close to impossible to link him to the southern continent. Souta had two reasons why he came here ahead of time. The first was to find the traces of Council of High-World. If he confirmed the existence of council in this world then it would change the rest of his plans. The second was to complete the chain quest that he triggered through Amanda. He already asked Amanda about the massacre of her clan and she told him everything about it. That''s he decided to visit this place first. [False] Quest 2: According to the information that you''ve gathered the one responsible for the witch clan is in the central continent. Find the traces of the witch clan in the central continent and you will discover the truth about the incident decades ago. Reward: 7 skill points, 15 free attribute points, and 50,000 exp The words "you will discover the truth" sounded in his mind. It seems that there''s more to it than what he thought. Amanda thought that what she saw was the truth and she believe it but what if someone cast an illusion spell on her. After all, she was a child at that time and a simple spell could easily influence her mind. But 7 skill points... It was harder than he thought. He didn''t have any influence on this place so he had to find information manually. Also, if the people responsible for the massacre of witch clan found that some people were digging into the past incidents they wouldn''t sit idly and watch him discover the truth. They will undoubtedly come at him with ill intention. And he didn''t want that to happen. He had to first confirm the existence of the council before he took the route of violence. Souta, Yenxa, and Amanda entered the city. They quickly find an inn and leave their things there before they go out to gather some information. Since Yenxa couldn''t converse with humans and demis yet she was left in their room to guard their things. Earthen Core City was a huge city that has a population of more than ten million people. It was one of the most famous cities in the entire central continent and a lot of powerhouses were could be found in this place. It wasn''t easy to control this number of people that''s why the city was divided into seventy-two zones. Each zone was ruled by different factions but mostly it came from the government that called themselves Union Peace. Union Peace was the government of this land and it was mysterious. A lot of people didn''t know about it except for the fact that they were responsible for the entirety of land. A powerful organization that controlled most of the land in the central continent was indeed fearsome. The strongest people in other continents were only at Annihilation Realm yet this land had Extinction Realm which was above the Annihilation Realm so it wasn''t easy to control this land. Yet, they managed to do it. Souta and Amanda came back to the inn when the sun goes down. They haven''t gathered any important information except for the basic knowledge of this land but it was enough for now. At least, they weren''t ignorant about the things in this land. They had a lot of time so this day wasn''t a problem for them. "This city is really powerful... I don''t know how many Disaster Realm I saw today. Also, I even saw some Extermination Realm which was rarely seen in the southern continent." Amanda said with a sigh. She realized how hard it is to find a clue about the massacre of her clan. "Tomorrow, you''ll head to the library to know the history of this land. I heard that there''s a huge library in Zone 31." Souta glanced at her before he took a sip of coffee. Yenxa stood at his side with a calm expression. She was waiting for his orders. "Zone 31? I see... I have no problem with it but I wanted to slowly contact the ruling forces of this city to gather more detailed information. Is that okay?" Amanda asked as she tucked the hair that was falling on her face to her left ear. Her simple movement like this was alluring and it even caught Souta''s attention. "Yeah, just stay out of any trouble. Your power level is an A-rank but I think that it''s not enough even if you use parasite." Souta said to her. "I know, I will avoid any unnecessary trouble. Our goal this time is to gather information." Amanda said then she slightly bowed her head and added, "Thank you for doing all of this for me. I will be forever grateful to you." "It''s nothing. Since you''ve joined our group, naturally, I will help you solve your problem first." Souta shook his head. He wouldn''t even help this woman if not for the chain quest that she provided. He wouldn''t mind earning dozens of skill points before he arrived in Imperium. Also, if he confirmed the council was here then he would go to retrieve that. The confrontation between him and the council was inevitable. It would undoubtedly push him to the limit so he didn''t plan to reveal his forces on the southern continent or else the council would target it first. Souta looked at Amanda and Yenxa before he said, "Okay, you can rest for now. I have something I need to do." Before they could react Souta already left the room. Souta glanced at the dark sky and recalled some events in the game. If he was right, the demons had already launched an attack on God''s Continent and Giza Continent. Since there were no players that could respawn with a given time, no one would be able to cut down the forces of the demons. The forces of demons would easily swallow a quarter part of the two continents. It would take some time before the two continents launched a counterattack. Before Souta could realize it, he was already on Zone 70. There was a huge brothel here and he wanted to release his stress this night. He hasn''t done it for a while and Amanda''s appearance made his urge spike up. ''This is the red-light district of this city...'' Souta said inwardly while looking around. This place was full of brothels and attractive girls that were waiting outside of different buildings. Different perfume went to his nose as he continued to walk forward. Men were entering different buildings and women were calling them out. Some of the women invited him and already stated their prices for one night but he decided to ignore them. ''What are you planning? I thought that you would pick any random girl to release your stress.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Nope, since I''ve had a lot of money, I decided to go to the high-class brothel and picked a decent prostitute that could somehow handle me.'' Souta replied to her. ''I see... You''re a third evolution monster so an ordinary girl wouldn''t be able to handle you. If you did it with an ordinary girl you had to be careful as an ordinary girl is like a fragile glass with your current strength.'' Saya said. "I''m here." Souta muttered as he raised his head and looked at the mansion in front of him. This huge mansion didn''t like a brothel at all.. It felt like it was an estate of a noble family but the fact that it was here in the red light district and also the girls in front tells everyone that it was indeed a brothel for high class people. Chapter 501 - Clues Of Witch Clan Ugh! Souta slowly opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He was still a little bit dizzy as he pushed himself into a seated position. "You''re finally awake." An alluring voice sounded in front of him. He turned his head and saw a beautiful woman with long silky blue colored hair. Her eyes were blue and her eyebrows were blue too. Her beauty was seductive and alluring just like Amanda. The woman was wearing a piece of white cloth that hid her sensitive parts but it couldn''t conceal the perfect proportion of her body. She smiled faintly and crossed her legs in front of him while smoking. Her charm was undoubtedly high and Souta would say that this woman had the highest sex appeal of all the women that he had met so far. She was Alice''s opposite in terms of beauty. "Yeah," Souta simply nodded at her before he stood up and picked the vajra sword on the side. He looked at his reflection in the mirror while fixing his clothes. The woman observed him before she said, "While you are sleeping, I couldn''t help but look at it. I didn''t expect that I would find a monster like you in this city." Souta''s eyes contracted as he swiftly turned around while pulling the vajra sword out of its sheath. Swoosh! In just a second, he already placed the blade of his sword on the neck of the woman. The woman glanced at the blade on her neck. Then, she looked at him with alluring eyes and asked, "Why did you stop?" Really, why Souta didn''t kill this woman? It was because he heard Saya''s voice in his mind. Saya said that this woman didn''t do anything after she learned that he was a monster. She didn''t call any people to subdue him instead she kept it to herself. She told him that he had to ask first why this woman didn''t tell anyone about him. Although the women in this brothel were high class, Saya said that this woman was extraordinary. While he was sleeping, this woman observed his belongings and she managed to guess the grades of his equipment. Souta didn''t say anything to the woman. He was conversing secretly with Saya in his mind to know what this woman did while he was sleeping. ''Did she sense your presence?'' He asked. ''Nope, even the monster lord in the Forest of Eternal Light didn''t sense me so how could this girl sense me? At the very least, her power level is high. I think that she already reached the shackled realm.'' Saya said and her words made Souta turn serious. A shackled realm expert was something that he couldn''t hope to fight with his current strength. The limit of a third evolution monster like him was the solidifying realm. For him to defeat a person at shackled realm, he would need to reach his fourth evolution or maybe fifth evolution for people that broke all the shackles. It means that the reason why this woman didn''t call anyone was because she was confident that she could subdue him alone. That''s the confidence of a powerhouse that broke the limit of a mortal''s body. "Who are you?" Souta asked with a serious expression. The woman smiled and didn''t reply to him. Instead, she asked, "Where are you from? Are you a monster specifically trained in the monster dungeon on the east to infiltrate human and demi society?" "Answer my question first," Souta said in a firm tone as he tightly gripped the sword in his hand. He was prepared to launch a frontal assault if something goes wrong. Although he couldn''t defeat a shackled realm, he was confident in his survival ability thanks to the parasite inside his body. "I''m Eilish also called as Blue Reaper. I''m the ruler of the underground world in this city and I think that you know what it means. I wouldn''t let any man sleep with me but you''re different. The moment that I saw you, you already piqued my interest." The woman introduced herself as she smiled seductively. "So... Can you tell me why are you in this city?" "Okay, I will believe you for now." Souta as he removed his sword from her neck and placed it back into its sheath. "Then, can you answer my question? I''m interested in why would a monster infiltrate a city. From my understanding, those monsters on the east wouldn''t resort to these things. They would either fight to death or escape with their tails behind their back." Eilish asked. "I will not tell you my name," "It''s fine." "I came here to gather information. Mainly about the organization called Council of High-World." Souta said as he eyed her face. Just like what he expected, this woman flinched the moment he said those words. Eilish''s eyes constricted and the smile on her face disappeared. "How do you know that organization?" She asked in a cold tone. ''That organization? Then, she''s not a member of the council.'' Souta said inwardly. "I can''t tell you but I''m currently looking for it and the whereabouts of the Witch Clan." Souta shook his head and said. "Witch Clan? That clan is tricky and it''s full of powerful people. Even this entire city wouldn''t be a match of the Witch Clan''s powers. But I don''t know its location as I haven''t heard any news about them for more than a decade." Eilish said as she waved her hand and added, "More importantly, the Council of High-World that you are talking about. Don''t tell them about other people or else you wouldn''t know when you will be attacked. They are everywhere and you wouldn''t be able to imagine how powerful they are." "Everywhere? Do you mean the Union Peace that controls most of the land in this continent?" Souta asked in a low voice. "Don''t investigate them. They are dangerous." Eilish warned him. "Fine, how about the Witch Clan?" Souta nodded and changed the topic. At the very least, he already confirmed the existence of the council on this planet. He already got a rough idea about his next move but first, he needed to complete Amanda''s chain quest. "Witch Clan is a mysterious clan... They are secluded and people rarely knew about them. If not for my connection I wouldn''t even know their existence." Eilish paused for a moment as she took a paper from the drawer and threw it at Souta. "Here, visit this place. From what I know you will find something connected to the Witch Clan in that place but don''t get your hopes high. Even I didn''t know anything except that it''s connected to the Witch Clan." "Thanks for this..." Souta said as he placed the paper inside his pocket. He was about to turn around and leave when Eilish stopped him. "One more thing." Eilish raised her index finger and asked, "Are you really from a monster dungeon in the east? How about joining my group? I can guarantee your place in this city." "No, I''m not affiliated with that monster dungeon. Also, I don''t have any intention to join your organization. This place is too small for me." Souta turned his head to look at her in the eyes, "If you want to find me just find me at..." Since this beautiful woman was kind enough to give him this much information, he told her where to find him. "Okay. If you''ve changed your mind I''m willing to take you in my wings." Eilish smiled. Souta raised his hand and said, "Nah, it''s the opposite. If your information is right then I would be kind enough to let you join my group." He smirked and left the room. Eilish stared at the closed door with a seductive smile on her beautiful face. "It''s interesting. He''s not affiliated with the monster dungeon and I could guess it. So the question is what kind of organization is lying behind him. All of his equipment are high grade and I didn''t expect that I would see those high-grade equipment on a monster." Then her expression turned serious. "He asked about the Council of High-World. That gigantic organization is founded by gods and it''s not something a mortal could rival much less a monster like him." For now, she will wait for the news of his discovery in that place. Decades ago that place was a hidden base of the Witch Clan but something occurred which she had no idea about. Also, she didn''t dare to visit it even with his current powers as she didn''t know what dangers lurks in that hidden base. Since Souta wanted to know about the Witch Clan, she could only give him this information so that he would investigate it in her instead. Souta would get what he wanted and she too would benefit from it. It''s a win-win situation for the two of them. ... Souta went back to the inn and gathered his companions.. He needed to talk to them before he proceeds to his next destination, the place that Eilish told him. Chapter 502 - News In the Great World Imperium, a piece of news spread quickly like a wildfire and it shocked the whole world. It brought fear and at the same time woke up everyone to realize that the Zodiacs were back after a decade of laying low. They didn''t know where it started but everyone has heard the news to bring terror and fear. The contents of the news were about the confrontation of Zodiac Leo, the Leader of Zodiac, and various gods and deities all over the world. The people all over the Giza Continent and God''s Continent started to panic. They had to deal with the demon invasion and now one of the Bringer''s of Calamity has demonstrated an unrivaled strength once again. But then the news was vague and only gods knew what really happened in the confrontation. More than 20 gods have worked together yet they didn''t even manage to defeat Leo. Everyone knew that they couldn''t defeat Leo but defeating him was an entirely different matter. Defeating him and making him flee was easier than killing the notorious Leader of Zodiacs. But in the end, all of them failed. Leo''s god power alone could already rival the top powerhouses of gods like Jade Emperor and the Pope of True God''s Holy Kingdom. In the battle, Leo summoned fifteen god level undead and two hundred demigod level undead. He used these indestructible undead to hold the unknown gods from other continents like Mars Archipelago and Vulcan''s Ring. Then, he fought the main gods of the Giza Continent and God''s Continent. Each of these gods had powerful universal grade weapons and artifacts. They thought that they already cornered Leo but at that moment Leo used his Cosmic Authority that symbolizes his zodiac sign. What they fear had already happened. Leo successfully mastered his Cosmic Authority and he alone toyed with more than 20 gods. He didn''t suffer any injuries yet his opponents were already bleeding and some of them had lost their limbs. Knowing that they couldn''t do anything to Leo without enough preparation, the gods decided to retreat. It was a huge victory for Leo, who earned the nickname Terror of Giza decades ago. At the same time, the God''s Will and Deadly Sins had already finished their preparation. They were ready to launch an overwhelming attack once the Great Barrier had opened up. They will raze everything until they find their goal. Although several bad news was circulating around the world, one good news had appeared and it gave everything a breather for the impending war. The demon army had stopped advancing. They just stayed in their conquered lands for a while as if waiting for the orders of higher-ups. No one knew when they will start their invasion once again but it gave everyone a time to prepare. Just like that every force in the Great World Imperium has started to prepare even those hidden monster lords and gods start planning for the unknown future ahead of them. Somewhere in the Forest of Eternal Light... A small girl with a long chestnut color hair that was tied in twin tails was seating on a throne with a serious expression. She was wearing a revealing dragon armor that mostly covered her private parts. She was Raeshka, the Monster Lord of Destruction. In front of her was a humanoid creature with a furry lower body and a pair of goat horns on its forehead. Its eyes were pitch black even the color of its sclera was black. If Souta was here he would recognize this strange creature as the Great Lumb. The one who always gave a special quest to the players in the game. The Great Lumb opened its pitch black lips and said, "It has begun once again. I can feel it. The foreign power is growing stronger just like in the old times. This foreign power will stop an administrator like me from working. In ancient times, this power blocked all the vision of that clan." "Ieshi Clan?" Reashka asked as she tilted her head. "Yeah, the Ieshi Clan. It''s not only the Ieshi Clan that suffered in this foreign power, the Vajra Clan, the Asura Clan, and Three-Eye Tribe also suffered from this foreign power. All their unique abilities were rendered useless so they were massacred." The Great Lumb said. "Hmm... Speaking of Ieshi Clan, I met a monster before that called himself an Ieshi. Do you know anything about him?" Reashka asked. "No, I don''t know everything. We, the Great Lumb, are just an artificial creatures created by this universe to prevent anyone from breaking the laws." The Great Lumb paused for a moment before it added, "In my record, there are exactly one hundred thirty five thousand and three hundred fifty two people that have Ieshi in their name. Having the name Ieshi doesn''t necessarily mean that they are a part of the once Great Noble Clan that everyone respected." "Although I''m old, I still didn''t know what happened in that war twenty thousand years ago. Do you have the authority to pass down the information you have?" Raeshka asked. "Yes, I have an authority to pass down the information except for what happened twenty thousand years ago. Everything regarding that Great War is blocked. Do prepare and every kind of treasure will awaken once again once they''ve sensed the foreign powers. All the sealed ones will be unlocked to prepare for combat. You will see the resources from twenty thousand years ago will bloom once again in this era. Everything is needed for preparation... The Great Combat Lumb will replace me..." The Great Lumb started to turn into tiny particles of light. ... "Where have you gone this whole night?" Amanda asked. "It''s nothing. I just gathered information and it was fruitful." Souta replied to Amanda. "Fruitful?" Amanda looked at him with doubt in her eyes. "Yeah, so Yenxa you will stay here for a while. You will protect our belongings here." Souta nodded and said to Yenxa who was silent on the side. Then, he turned to Amanda and took out the piece of paper that he got from Eilish. "Here, this place should be connected to the Witch Clan so we will head there to verify if this is true or not. But prepare yourself, we don''t know the danger hidden in that place." He explained to her the details of his plan. This expedition should be fruitful and he already expected that there''s danger. The rewards wouldn''t be that high if this quest was easy. "I understand. So my family is really connected to the central continent..." Amanda muttered. "Hold on, do you still remember where''s your clan location?" Souta asked. "No, I could only vaguely remember the brutal incident decades ago." Amanda shook her head. "Prepare yourself. We''ll head out tonight." Souta squinted his eyes and left the room. ... Eilish, the ruler of the underground world of this city, was an influential person and he didn''t have any idea about what she was planning. She gave him information about Witch Clan yet she didn''t even know what was hidden in that place. Maybe, she''s trying to use him to test that place before she made a move. Well, he will know it after he explored the place. The place was quite near in Earthen Core City. It was just ten kilometers away from the city and it was hidden beneath the two mountains there. "It seems legit..." Souta muttered while looking at the contents on the paper in his hands. "It''s dark..." Turning his head, he saw two mountains on the horizon. His objective this night. Then, he turned his head in the opposite direction and looked down on the city. He was above the walls that protected this city from any harm. While Amanda was preparing, he came here to think through about the recent information that he received. "I think that Amanda is ready now." Souta said to himself as his figure disappeared on top of the walls. He could only hope that he could complete the Quest 2 with this small expedition. While he was here, Franklin and the rest were slowly expanding their influence in the south continent. The south continent was weaker than the central continent but they still needed to be careful. They didn''t want to make any big move that will gather the attention of the people in the central continent as it will foil his plan. Alice would handle it in his stead. He trusted her. ... Souta came back to the inn and just like what he expected, Amanda was thoroughly prepared for the expedition. She finally found a clue to her clan after all these years so she was anxious and excited at the same time. She had an idea that she could find clues in the central continent but she was too weak and her forces weren''t enough. That''s why she didn''t dare to step foot in this land. The central continent was too much for an Extermination Realm like her. "Let''s go," Souta said to Amanda. "I understand." Amanda nodded as she put the hood on her head. After giving Yenxa an order to stay vigilant, the two left the inn. The hidden base of the Witch Clan was ten kilometers away from the Earthen Core City. It''s not too far for Souta and Amanda but they decided to take it slow.. They would gather the attention of other people if they increased their pace and moved using their energy power. Chapter 503 - Witch Clans Remains "Is this the place?" Amanda inquired. "Yes, according to my information there''s a hidden base here," Souta replied while looking around. They arrived in the place between two mountains. The whole area was covered in trees and gigantic rocks. There were low-level monsters here but it didn''t pose any problem to the two at all. "What if it''s false?" Amanda asked while jumping on the top of the tree to observe the surrounding. "Then, we can''t do anything about it. With our current situation, we just need to confirm every piece of information with our own two eyes." "I can''t recall anything about my childhood because of my trauma so I can''t tell if this place is really related to the Witch Clan." "It''s fine. I understand so you just need to precisely follow my command and I will help you fulfill your goal." "Um... I don''t know how to reply about that but it''s my first time that I''ve gotten intel regarding my clan. Using the organization that I''ve built in Blue Ray City, I tried to gather information but it''s useless. My influence wasn''t enough and my organization was just a small group in that country. I couldn''t get those high classified information." "Come here, I think I''ve found it." Amanda jumped down on the trees and she approached Souta who was squatting between a meter tall rectangular rock. "Below here. We can push this rock aside and we will find the passage." Souta said as he placed his palm on the smooth surface of the rock. Finding the passage will be easy if he used his energy but before coming here they discovered traces of people. So they didn''t dare to use their energy in case the other people had some sort of sensory type mage or sensory artifacts. They didn''t know the goal of the other group but it''s better to be cautious. Until they confirmed the status of the other group, Souta wouldn''t let down his guard. Souta slowly pushed the rock to the side and a dark passage was revealed in front of his eyes. "There''s really a path..." Amanda muttered as she narrowed her eyes. She did every kind of vile thing in the past just to get a piece of information from her clan but who would have thought that she would find a clue this way. Souta jumped down after confirming that there''s no people around and Amanda followed him. The whole place was murky and filled with dust. The soil on the ground was dried and cracks formed around it. This feels like this place hasn''t been visited by people for a long time. But this couldn''t deceive Souta. There''s a faint mana lingering on the air and it was different from natural mana. The natural mana in the air was colorless and it didn''t have any attributes or characteristics. But the mana that came from people were different, it has a unique energy signature or waves that differ to each person in the whole world. It''s like a fingerprint but in the form of energy. Also, the energy that came from people had attributes depending on their elemental affinities. Amanda couldn''t sense this but Souta could certainly detect it. His training in the living labyrinth was not for nothing. The place where he couldn''t use his five senses except for his sense of energy greatly enhanced his energy detection ability. "It''s doesn''t look like there are people here." Amanda said in a low voice. "No, people have been visiting this place but they haven''t touched anything here. I''m sure that we would uncover something if we followed this path." Souta glanced at Amanda and warned her to not use her mana. They had to be cautious for them to be able to successfully infiltrate the depths of this underground base. The two moved forward for half an hour and they haven''t found anything yet. They were slow like a snail but everything in the surrounding was examined carefully by them. This whole place was like a maze as there were dozens of paths heading in different directions. In this situation, the two decided to stick together in case of an emergency they could work together. Soon, they found an old room. The room didn''t have a door and it was quite wide inside it. There were drawers but it was filled with mold and the same for the other accessories in the room. Souta looked around without touching anything. This room has a length of twenty meters and it has a width of seven meters. Its height was three meters. From the design of this room, it feels like it was specially made for a certain purpose but Souta could guess it as most of the things here have mold on them. "This... I''m familiar with this..." Amanda muttered in a low voice. Hmm...? Souta turned around and he followed Amanda''s line of sight. He saw a carving on the wall. The carving had the shape of a shield and there were various weapons and utensils on top of it. ''Witch...'' The word "witch" was the first thing that come into his mind. He was sure that this strange carving was the symbol of Amanda''s Witch Clan. In the Great World Imperium, the symbol of Witches was a broom. It was a sign of respect for the strongest witch that had ever lived and the soul weapon of the strongest witch was a broom. Amanda was about to touch the carving when Souta grabbed her wrist. "Stop! Don''t touch it! Who knows if there''s a mechanism behind it that can only be activated by a person who had the bloodline of a witch like you." Souta said in a serious tone. No matter how much Amanda missed her clan, it wasn''t enough for her to ruin his clan. They would eventually arrive at the truth but for now, she had to stay rational. "Oh, sorry..." Amanda came back to her senses as she took a deep breath to calm her tense muscles. "I''m fine." "Good. Then, I want to know what is this carving?" Souta asked. "...I''m not sure but I recalled seeing this carving in my childhood. I have a feeling that this is the symbol of our clan." Amanda said to him. "I see..." Souta nodded and he thought that he was right. Amanda looked like she forgot everything about her childhood except for the fact that her clan was massacred. Maybe, someone deliberately messed with her memory in the past. If the Witch Clan was really massacred in the past, then Eilish would have information about it albeit not the full details. At least, she would learn that the entire Witch Clan was gone yet she didn''t have any idea about the Witch Clan. Eilish was a person at the shackled realm so her influence must be great. It would be a different matter if she gave him false information. If that happens then Souta would plan his revenge on Eilish. ''At least, this underground place is connected to the Witch Clan. It confirms one of my guesses now I just need to find a few more evidence.'' Souta said inwardly as he glanced at Amanda. "Let''s go now." The two left the room and they continued to move forward. They found stairs and went downstairs only to find a huge and wide space in front of their eyes. There were pieces of round shields, swords, spears, bows, and chains on the ground. But all of them were full of rust so they were useless in real battle as they were too brittle. "This is..." Souta looked ahead and saw a fifteen-meter tall metallic gate. The left part of the gate had a color of deep red while the color on the right was deep blue like an ocean. The symbol was carved in the center of the gate. It looked majestic with its golden trimming on the edge. The gate was glistening and time couldn''t rob its greatness just like weapons above blue grade. It felt like it was a newly crafted gate but in fact, this gate was old. It was older than him and Amanda. Amanda was amazed when she saw this piece of art. Souta was about to step forward when he suddenly felt a danger. He retracted his foot and looked at the side of the gate only to see two majestic humanoid golems. The golems were perfectly carved similar to the body of humans. It has a height of four meters and the two golems were holding a scimitar in each of their hands. The two golems trembled and dust fell down from their body. Their weapons and armors shone brightly as the thick layer of dust disappeared on its surface. With just a glance, Souta could guess that these scimitars were high quality orange grade weapons and the armor of the two golems had the same grade. "Who would have thought that these two golems are still active." He muttered while looking at the two golems on each side of the gate.. If he stepped forward, these two golems would attack him. Chapter 504 - Discovery "These two golems are as strong as a fully armed A-rank powerhouse." Souta muttered with a serious expression while looking at the two golems. He wasn''t sure about the golems'' battle prowess but if it was extensively made for battling then there''s a high possibility that these two golems possessed combat skills or arts. "Let''s find another way." He said as he glanced at the two golems one more time. He didn''t want to start a battle here and destroying these two fully-equipped golems would at least take him three minutes. That''s the limit of his current strength. "Okay." Amanda nodded at his words. She knew why he choose to find another route even though there''s a high possibility that the golems wouldn''t attack her, a person with a witch bloodline. Once this gate was opened, it will catch the attention of the other people in this place. After all, opening that majestic looking gate will surely cause some changes in this place and they don''t have any idea about the changes that it would bring. The two left and they tried to find another route upstairs. Almost two hours had passed since they left the gate and they finally found a gap in the floor that could lead them to the floor below. What''s waiting for them on this floor was out of their expectation... Dozens of people equipped with leather armor and sharp weapons emerged from the shadows and surrounded them. ''It seems that they knew that we''re here.'' Souta said inwardly while looking around with a vigilant expression. He slowly counted the number of people around him. "Who are you?" Amanda narrowed her eyes and she covered her head with a hood. Layers of flesh quickly covered Souta and Amanda''s face like a mask. Who knows if these guys had connections to the organizations in the central continent? They don''t want those guys to knock on their door. A man with a short white hair stepped forward. He was wearing a set of formal clothes and his features were sharp. "I didn''t expect that there will be a visitor today. Forgive me for not welcoming you properly but I don''t think that the two of you will be able to leave this place." The man said with a wide grin that almost reached his ears. ''Twenty seven people and they are hiding their energy level so I couldn''t guess their rank. Maybe, it''s some sort of artifact or skill to hide one''s energy.'' Souta ignored the man as he started to ponder what he should do to escape this place. "Before I attack you, I want to know how the two of you discovered this place." The man asked. "We''ve come across a book. The contents of the books indicate that there is a Hidden Base of the Witch Clan in this place." Amanda quickly thought of a suitable answer. "Now tell me why are you people in this place? Also, where''s the previous owner of this place?" "The previous owner of this place is gone after we completed our deal so we''re the owner of this place." The man said before he raised his hand and pointed at the two. "Attack!" Boom! Boom! Instantly, several energy surged fort inside the room and it caused the whole place to tremble. This place was full of mold and cracks so it couldn''t handle when a bunch of powerful people release their energy at the same time. "An intruder like you should die!!" More than ten people with an aura of a B-rank charged at Souta and Amanda. To be precise, nineteen out of twenty seven people were B-rank and the remaining eight people were A-rank. Swoosh! Swoosh! "Let''s go!" Souta grabbed Amanda before he charged on the ceiling as ten black balls formed on his back. The black balls spun quickly and it released gravitational power that tried to push the twenty seven people away. Boom! Huge cracks formed on the ground. After a few seconds, the floor collapsed and Souta punched the ceiling borrowing the power of his parasite. They needed to escape from this place. He was careful so that these people don''t recognize their appearance. The conversation between this man and Amanda just now gave Souta a hint about what happened in the past. There''s a deal between these guys and the previous owner of this place which was the Witch Clan. He had to know it but for now, his priority was to escape. At least he had a lead in this event. The seven A-rank experts, Extermination Realm on this planet, charged through the ceiling and chased the two. Their speed was fast and they could somehow keep up with Souta''s speed. ''They are using several combat arts to increase their speed and there''s a support mage among that that casted buff spells to further improve their speed.'' Souta glanced behind him as he saw several A-rank destroyed the floor like him. He waved his hand and the ten black balls behind him scattered throughout the hidden base. Then, a heavy pressure bore down from above as if it was trying to crush everything into meat paste. [Cat''s Speed]! [Agility Boost]! [Shadow Step]! He increased his pace as he swiftly avoided the falling debris while carrying Amanda who was slower than him. Amanda lifted her head and looked at the people that were chasing them. The gravity slowed their movements but she realized that these people wouldn''t give up. Layers of black flesh covered her hands. Tentacles made of flesh protruded from her arms and they wrapped around the debris of rocks before throwing it on the A-rank experts. Of course, ordinary rocks wouldn''t work on A-rank experts. That''s why she imbued her mana on these rocks every time she throw it. Bang! Bang! Bang! [Dark Cloud Hunting]! Black smoke seeped out of Souta''s body and it quickly spread in the surrounding area. Souta used this chance to escape from the hidden base with his fastest speed. The man with white hair just narrowed his eyes while looking at Souta''s back. "That man thinks that he could conceal it after using all these spells. He''s not a human at all nor a demi. He is a monster that could use our spells. I wonder if he''s a spy from the monster dungeon." He turned around and walked downstairs as the debris of rocks continued to fall. He didn''t care about it being buried alive by these rocks. With his strength, he could effortlessly get himself out of this place. But he didn''t do it. This place was his workplace. As long as the deeper level of this hidden base was fine then nothing would happen even if the upper level had collapsed. ... Souta slowed down when he confirmed that those people didn''t follow him and Amanda. He released Amanda and looked at the two tall mountains behind him. He will return to this place soon. There''s still something that he needed to know. "Those people! They are occupying the territory of Witch Clan!" Amanda gritted her teeth but she knew that she couldn''t do anything without Souta''s help. There were eight Extermination Realm and nineteen Disaster Realm guarding the hidden base. It was already a strong lineup in the southern continent yet in this place they were from an unknown group. Who knows how many powerhouses the top organizations of this land had? A mere Extermination Realm like her couldn''t do anything alone. She needed to rely on a strong person that could protect her. "Don''t worry. At least this expedition isn''t fruitless. We learned something from them as that man said that he made a deal in the past. A deal to the previous owner of the hidden base. It means from the Witch Clan." Souta glanced at Amanda before he turned around. The flesh on his face turned back to normal as he slowly removed his disguise. "Yeah, I understand." Amanda nodded at him. ... On the next day, Souta and Amanda were already back in the Earthen Core City. They''ve returned safely and rested on the inn that Yenxa was quietly protecting. Souta and Amanda were having a meeting about their plan. The plan to attack the hidden base and to eliminate those people that were occupying it. It was a simple and direct tactic, and he likes it very much. But he guesses that their manpower wasn''t enough. Souta planned to take all those A-rank experts alone but what about Amanda. She had the power of an A-rank but there''s too many B-rank in that place. From his understanding of her current power level, Amanda could only handle a group of ten B-rank experts. Also, her mastery of her parasite wasn''t high. So he will take Yenxa with this expedition so that she could help Amanda. Amanda''s equipment was lousy so her battle strength among A-rank was limited. But Yenxa had great equipment and it will be enough to handle two to five B-rank. Plus, her control of parasite was higher than Amanda''s control. Yenxa could already imbue her toxins on her parasite. Hmm...? Souta noticed something as he looked at the window. The people outside were few and all of them had a tense expressions. It seems that something happened while he wasn''t here. Chapter 505 - Secrets Of Archetype Souta and Amanda were looking at the window when they heard a knock on the door. Knock! Knock! Souta turned his head and asked, "Who is it?" "I''m a servant of Lady Eilish. Lady Eilish is hoping that she could see you tomorrow." A low feminine voice sounded behind the door. "I understand. You can go now." Souta said while looking at the door. Eilish was a shackled realm expert. She was too powerful and Souta had to be cautious when dealing with her. He knew that he couldn''t stop her if she wanted to move against him, and Eilish understood it. That''s why she gave him a time to prepare and didn''t immediately ask for his presence. "Who is this Lady Eilish?" Amanda asked with a curious expression. "An expert... An expert at Extinction Realm." Souta replied to her. "E-Extinction Realm?!!" Amanda was shocked when she heard his words. This level was only a legend in the southern continent yet this land really houses people at Extinction Realm. "She''s the one that gave me the information about the hidden base," Souta added. "I-I see... T-Then, are we going to deal with Extinction Realm?" Amanda asked as her lips trembled. If they could only get the information about Witch Clan from an Extinction Realm then there''s a high possibility that the one responsible for her clan''s massacre was an Extinction Realm too. "I don''t know but you don''t have to worry about it. If dealing with Extinction Realm is what it takes to fulfill your wish then I will do it. You just need to follow my arrangement." Souta assured her when he saw her downcast look. "I understand." Amanda lowered her head as she clenched her fists tightly. Souta smiled and thought that it was time. He glanced at Yenxa who was staying silent behind him. "Come here, Yenxa." "Yes, My Lord." Yenxa stepped forward. "Let me show you something, Amanda." Souta said as he waved his hand and set up several layers of field around the room. Then, he pulled the vajra sword out of its sheath. Swoosh! Before Amanda could react, she found that she was in a different place. A mystical place that she hasn''t encountered in her whole life unless there''s a god-level powerhouse in her clan. But that''s unlikely as the Witch Clan of this world wouldn''t fall if they had a god. "There''s still some time left so we''ll train in this place. Remember that the time in this place is different than time in reality." Souta said before he proceed to explain what he''s capable of doing. She''s now a member of his group so she had to know these benefits. This was to prepare themselves for the next day when they raided the hidden base once again. By raiding that place, Souta hoped that he could complete the Quest 2 of the Chain Quest. By the time he completed this chain quest, he would have enough points to unlock one of the abilities of Ophiuchus. One of the abilities that he was excited to unlock was the Cosmic Authority. The ability that made the Zodiacs'' members a force to reckon at the top rank gods in the entire universe. In the game, he recalled when Leo used the [Cosmic Authority: Leo] to confront the combined forces of the Three Great Countries. That scene was absolute and it forced the Three Great Countries to use their secret weapons like Thousand Spell Cluster. Souta, Amanda, and Yenxa trained inside Saya''s inner consciousness for a few days. They didn''t need to worry as five days here was equal to one day outside. Souta''s eyes were closed as he kept swinging the energy blade in his hand gently. He kept changing his form every minute while maintaining the rhythm of his breathing and energy flowing in his body. Amanda and Yenxa already stopped practicing as they watched Souta''s movements from afar. Although Souta''s swing was gentle, the force behind it contained enough power to annihilate them. Crackle! Black lightning was forming around him. It was the opposite of his gentle form and swing as the lightning were wild and violent. Suddenly, the black lightning flowed through his body and when he swung the energy blade in his hand, a wave of black lightning surged out of the blade like a thunderstorm. "I understand now!" Souta opened his eyes as he tightened his muscle and swung the energy blade once again. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Form One: Mahayana Tribulation]! An ear-piercing sound echoed and it was followed by a series of black lightning encompassing the entire area. The black lightning was like a spider web connected to each other as it brings fort destruction everywhere. Amanda and Yenxa were forced to retreat. They understood that the range and power of the attack were beyond their expectations. After a while, the rage of the black lightning disappeared. Souta looked at his hand and smiled, "Finally, I''ve learned it." ''Congratulations, you''ve learned my race''s Archetype Skill! Your future will be higher with this skill!'' Saya''s voice sounded and it feels like she was excited for real this time. "Without your guidance, I wouldn''t be able to learn this skill alone." Souta muttered as he loosened his grip and the energy blade slowly disappeared into thin air. What''s shocking was that he received a lot of system prompts after he learned the technique. He looked at it and was surprised when he saw the messages. [You''ve comprehended an Archetype Skill]! [You''ve opened up a path towards godhood]! [You can reach the level of Gods, Deities, Demon Gods, Spirit Gods, and Monster Lords]! [Your soul has been strengthened]! [You''ve gained 100+ points to all stats]! [You''ve gained 20 skill points]! [You''ve gained 50 free attribute points]! [Your level has increased by 2]! [You''ve leveled up]! [You''ve leveled up]! [Your Health has increased by 100]! [Your Energy has increased by 20]! [Your Stamina has increased by 20]! [Your Strength has increased by 50]! [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 30]! [Your physical and energy damage have increased by 5%]! [Your resistance to energy and physical attack have increased by 5%]! [Your Health, Stamina, and Energy Recovery have increased by 10]! [Your Health has increased by 100]! [Your Energy has increased by 20]! [Your Stamina has increased by 20]! [Your Strength has increased by 50]! [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 30]! [Your physical and energy damage have increased by 5%]! [Your resistance to energy and physical attack have increased by 5%]! [Your Health, Stamina, and Energy Recovery have increased by 10]! Souta shivered while looking at the messages in his vision. He didn''t think that he would receive this much benefit from learning this one skill. It''s definitely worthwhile that he invests his time in trying to learn this skill. ''Now that you''ve learned this skill. Let me tell you one thing, Archetype Skill is a foundation to reach godhood. Without it, you would fail the ascension.'' Saya said to him. "Foundation?" ''The ascension of a mortal''s body is a sensitive matter. The chances of a mortal achieving god realm are less than five percent. Archetype is created to increase the chances of breaking through the mortal''s body.'' Souta frowned when he heard this. This was important information yet he hasn''t heard anything about it in the game. His question was answered by Saya. ''Archetype is a secret technique that can only be passed down through legacy. This is a powerful skill so there are restrictions. ''A mortal would automatically forget anything related to Archetype. That''s why most of the gods, deities, demon gods, spirit gods, and monster lords used the legacy method or the skill dividing. Then, why is Isabella didn''t know anything about Archetype even if she got the legacy of a god? The answer is that she knew it but instantly forgot it once she acquired it. She will remember it once she broke five shackles which is the boundary between mortal and immortal. In your case, the fifth evolution is the boundary for monsters. ''Skill dividing is a skill that only a god-level powerhouse can use. It''s similar to blessing but a god who used skill dividing will experience a weakened state and they are vulnerable at this time. Even mortal could kill them in this weakened state.'' Souta deepened his frown after he heard Saya''s explanation. It means that in the game he had Archetype Skills too, but he would only be able to see it after reaching a certain level. Then the reason why Saya could teach this skill to him was because Saya was dead long ago and passing this skill to him was treated as god''s legacy. Only a few mortals could ascend without depending on the Archetype Skill. After learning the truth, the ascension became a complicated matter to him. It''s different than what he expected but he was could comprehend this skill even though he was only a third evolution monster. Also, he could see the Archetype Skill that he received from legacy in his System Store. He wondered why... ''I can''t explain it to you but it seems that you''re not bound by this restriction. It seems that you lose something in the past in exchange for this.'' Saya said. Lost something? Could it be my life as a human on the earth? By it''s not an equivalent exchange.. The restriction is greater than my past life. Chapter 506 - Warning Saya explained to him the secret of Archetype. He finally got to know that only people that reached SSS-rank experts had the right to talk about this type of skill. The [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] had fifteen forms and each form had various uses. The one he just used was for attacking several enemies at the same time in every direction. It was a set of skills. It also increased his level and he was currently Level 51. It even gave him a bunch of skill points and free attribute points. It was definitely worth his time. He was close to his fourth evolution which was Level 60. He was Level 51 and he had three Level-up Cards in his arsenal that he could use anytime. It means that he only needed six levels and he would be able to reach Level 60. But he didn''t think that his fourth evolution was far in the future. He was currently in the middle of the chain quest so he was sure that he would receive a bunch of cards after he complete it. "I''m satisfied with the result. It''s time to go out." Souta said as he turned around and approach Amanda and Yenxa. It''s time to talk to Eilish and hear what she wanted to say. An hour had passed quickly... Souta arrived on the red light district and he immediately went to the largest brothel which was Eilish''s mansion. When the guards saw him, they quickly approach him and said, "Sir, we''ve been expecting you. I will guide you to Lady Eilish''s room." "Okay." Souta nodded while observing the female guards. These guards were all B-rank experts. Eilish really had a strong foundation in this city. As expected of a shackled realm expert. They were only the only ones who could gather hundreds of B-rank in the same group. Soon, Souta arrived in front of Eilish''s room. "My Lady, he is here." "Good. You can go now." "As you wish, My Lady." The female guards bowed in front of the door before they left without making any sound. Souta glanced at their back before he heard Eilish''s voice once again. "Come in." He shrugged his shoulder and entered the room. "Welcome." Eilish smiled when she saw Souta. She was sitting on a chair with her legs crossed in front of her. Her chin was resting on her palm and she looked very alluring. "What want to have a go with me again?" Her smile grew wider after she saw him observing her body. Souta shook his head as he sat down on a vacant chair and asked, "What do you want to talk about?" "Direct to the point, huh?" "Yeah, you are the one who gave me the information about the Witch Clan''s hidden base so I think you have an idea about what''s happening." "I have an idea but I don''t know the exact details. What you''ve found in the hidden base is something that even I don''t have any idea about." Eilish''s smile vanished as she directly looked into Souta''s eyes. She added, "I think that we went too far this time." "Why?" Souta raised his eyebrows. He wondered if this was related to the group of people that he found in the hidden base. "Have you noticed the tense atmosphere of the city?" Eilish asked. "Yeah, what about it? Ah, don''t tell me..." Souta felt that his guess was right. "You are right. I also think that this is connected to what you found in that place. Just what did you discover in that place?" "I didn''t discover anything. A group of people is currently occupying that place. They blocked me so I decided to retreat for the time being." "An unknown group of people and currently the Union Peace is investigating the city. These two are connected so you should get out of this city for a while." Eilish warned him. "Union Peace had a lot of ways to find you as long as you are in this city." "Don''t worry, I will leave this city tonight," Souta said to her. "What are you planning? Are you going back to the hidden base?" Eilish asked. "Yes, I have to know the secret of the Witch Clan." Souta nodded. "...I have a suggestion," Eilish said to him after a bit of consideration. "What is it?" Souta asked with a curious look. He didn''t know what this woman was planning for him. He just knew that he needed to be careful. Eilish didn''t answer him immediately. Instead, she stood up and opened her drawing. She then took out a pen and a piece of paper. Souta watched her write something on the paper. After a while, Eilish put down the pen and she fold the paper before placing it inside an envelope. "Here. Go to the city called Paultry and find a dwarf called Gragas. I''m acquainted with him so give this letter to him." Eilish said as she placed the envelope on the table. "Why do I have to go to that place?" Souta asked. "You want to know about the Witch Clan, am I right? Then, Gragas is the right person. He is a dwarf that knew a lot of things about the witches. After all, he wanted to replicate their soul weapon for a long time. I''m sure that you will learn something from him." Eilish paused for a moment before she added, "You don''t need to go back to the hidden base for now. I''m sure that the Union Peace gathered some of their forces in that place. If you don''t want them to capture you then finding Gragas is the best course of action. For now, that is..." "Why are you giving me all this information? I thought that you don''t want to go against the Union Peace." Souta asked as he narrowed his eyes. "Actually, I wanted to know the extent of their forces but I don''t want to move personally as one mistake could lead me to my downfall. I won''t move until I''m sure that I could take them out with my forces. After all, Union Peace is the strongest organization in this world." Eilish said to him. "So you''re using me to test them." Souta''s expression turned gloomy. "What''s wrong with that? You are the one who wanted to investigate the Witch Clan even after knowing that it''s related to Union Peace." Eilish paused as she turned around and looked at the window. "But I won''t let you die easily. That''s why I''m stopping you from going to the hidden base once more. I don''t know what''s waiting for you in that place but I have a bad feeling about it." "Fine..." Souta sighed. "I will go to the Paultry City tonight." "Good." Eilish nodded with a smile. Souta bid farewell before he left the room. He finally understood why Eilish was willing to help him. Union Peace remained as the strongest organization in this world for hundreds of years and no one dared to go against them. So Eilish didn''t have an idea if her forces were enough to takedown that gigantic organization or not. After all, no one tested the Union Peace for hundreds of years. Their true strength was unknown. Eilish stared at Souta''s figure until he disappeared. "The Council of High-World. I don''t know if they are willing to help the Union Peace but if the council really planned to take over this world... then, no one would be able to oppose them. It''s been a while since someone dared to go against them so I''m planning to watch this till the end." ... Souta returned to the inn. Amanda was quite surprised when he said that the plan has changed. "Is this related to that Lady Eilish?" "Yeah, she said that going to the hidden base right now would be dangerous. So we will go to a city called Paultry and find the dwarf named Gragas. According to her, this particular dwarf seems to know a lot of things about witches so maybe we could learn something from him." Souta explained to her. "Are you sure about this?" Amanda asked. "I don''t know but I don''t think that Eilish will lie to me. If she wanted to earn my trust then she wouldn''t give me false information." Souta said to her. "Okay," Amanda nodded. "Good. I''m glad that you understand. Our plan could change if we learned some useful information from the dwarf. So always prepare yourself." "I understand." Souta, Amanda, and Yenxa left the city after he explained everything. Their destination was one hundred kilometers from the Earthen Core City so it will take some time before they arrive in that place. ... Eilish was standing in front of the window with a glass of wine in her hand. She was gazing at the bright moon in the dark starry sky. Knock! Knock! A knock sounded on her door. "Come in," Eilish said without looking back. A female wearing a maid outfit entered the room. She bowed and reported, "My Lady, they left the city thirty minutes ago. From their direction, it seems that they are going to the Paultry City." "Good." Eilish nodded with a satisfied expression. It seems that Souta heeded her warning. It was a good thing as she heard from her spy that the Union Peace was mobilized one hundred Disaster Realm, thirty Extermination Realm, and seven Annihilation Realm. This lineup was terrifying for a lone third evolution monster.. Going to the hidden base was a wrong move. Chapter 507 - Gragas Souta, Amanda, and Yenxa arrived in the Paultry City. This city wasn''t as large as Earthen Core City but it was still huge compared to the city on the southern continent. There was one reason why Eilish said to go here aside from finding the dwarf called Gragas. The Union Peace was the strongest organization in the central continent, which means that there were number two or number three organizations. And Paultry City wasn''t under the rule of Union Peace. It''s under the rule of an organization called Night Watch. It''s a strong organization but not as strong as Union Peace. Although this wasn''t Union Peace''s territory, Souta couldn''t let down his guard. All the other organizations in this land were afraid of Union Peace, after all. They wouldn''t dare to offend the Union Peace for a monster like him. "How are we going to find Gragas in this huge city?" Amanda asked. "Eilish said to me that Gragas is a blacksmith and he wanted to replicate a soul weapon. So we are going to narrow down our scope." Souta said to her while walking. Amanda and Yenxa were following him while observing the locals of this city. There were stalls in every corner of the street. Some of the people were buying, some of them were chatting, and some of them were on the corner as if waiting for someone. The whole street was filled with people from different races. "Hmm... So we are going to find a blacksmith. It''s easier than finding any clues about my clan." Amanda said in a low voice. The three were wearing hoods to cover their head and layers of flesh on their face so that no one would recognize them. They could change their appearance using the parasite but they couldn''t change their energy signature. If a person has a keen sense then they would recognize Souta''s group. Souta glanced at Yenxa. He still couldn''t ask her to do other things except for battle. Yenxa couldn''t understand human and demi language. It would take a lot of time before she learned to understand this language. Also, even if she understood human and demi language it would still take some time before she could speak using it. She would learn the monster language when she reach her third evolution but that would easily give her identity as a monster. She could only understand Souta when he was using monster language or goblin language but if he used human and demi language, she would be left in the dark without knowing anything. This was the reason why she was silent all the time when there were other people around her. "Is there something you want to do, Yenxa?" He asked in a low voice using monster language. "Nothing, My Lord. I''m fortunate that I could follow you like this and receive your guidance." Yenxa shook her head as she replied to him in a tiny voice that only Souta could hear. Then, she glanced at Amanda in the corner of her eyes. Even Amanda who just recently joined their group has more uses than her. Souta sensed her gloomy emotion. He felt it through the contract that he had with her. "You know, you can ask Doranjan to teach you human and demi language. Aside from me, he is the only one who can teach you the most common language that people use." Alice, Torkez, Franklin, or Amanda couldn''t teach Yenxa as Yenxa didn''t understand their words in the first place. Even if they wanted it, it would be useless. "I understand, My Lord." Yenxa said to him. Souta nodded and the group walked around the streets for a few minutes until they found an inn. Eilish warned him before he left the Earthen Core City. The Union Peace had mobilized a powerful force and he knew that he couldn''t win in a frontal battle against them. If it''s a one on one battle then he was confident that he could defeat them but fighting at the same time would be a disadvantage for him. He was a Level 51 Blood Goblin and he learned the [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]. He doesn''t need to fear an S-rank expert in a frontal battle. He could even crush the protective field of those S-rank experts with his current strength. Most of the people that acquired Archetype were at the peak of mortal''s strength yet he managed to learn it at third evolution. But then it wasn''t enough if he truly wanted to defeat them. He needed to reach his fourth evolution as the quest that he mostly got at this moment had high difficulty. After they checked in, the group went out and gathered information about a blacksmith called Gragas. Of course, they found Gragas'' location in just two hours. They simply asked every dwarf that saw on the street if they knew someone named Gragas. It''s impossible for Gragas, who''s a dwarf himself, to not know any of the dwarves in this entire city. At least, he would be acquainted with some of them in one way or another as he was a blacksmith. "Okay, we''ll go back and rest for now," Souta said to Amanda. "What about Gragas?" Amanda asked. They already knew where to find Gragas yet why Souta stopped at this moment when they were close to finding the dwarf. She didn''t understand why. "It''s simple. You and Yenxa needed to rest. We''ve traveled from Earthen Core City to Paultry City without resting so this is the right time for the two of you to rest. At least, we know the shop that dwarf and we can easily find him there so you don''t have to hurry." Souta paused before he added, "We will stay in this city for a week or two then after talking to Gragas, I''ll decide if we''ll raid the hidden base or not." "I-I''m sorry, I''m too hasty." Amanda apologized to him. She''s been trying to find clues of her clan in her entire life so she was anxious about it. It feels like the clues would slip away if she didn''t grasp it tightly. "It''s fine. I understand your feelings." Souta said to her. The three went back to the inn to rest. All of them agreed that they will find Gragas after they recover their fatigue. Souta''s body and stamina were stronger than them so he didn''t need to rest. In fact, absorbing the energy inside the fifth evolution monster was enough for him. The best feram of a fifth evolution stage was much more potent than his energy. After absorbing it, he didn''t need to sleep nor eat to stay alive. His speed in absorbing energy had increased greatly to the point that some of the energy was converted to experience points after learning the Archetype. It was a brand new world to him. He didn''t experience this in the past so he was quite flabbergasted after experiencing this. On the next day, the three went to the shop of Gragas. Gragas'' shop was called Bounty Weapon. It was a small shop in the alley and it was made of rare woods that have high resistance to flames. "This is it." Souta muttered as he observed the shop. Then, he pushed the door and stepped inside. Amanda and Yenxa followed him. The space inside was small. There''s a counter on the back and a small boy with purple color skin and cat ears was sitting on a chair while reading a book. The small boy turned his head and he beamed a bright smile when he saw three people enter the shop. "What do you want, sir? Weapon or armor?" He asked enthusiastically. Amanda and Yenxa looked around. Different types of weapons and armors were hanging on the wooden walls of the room. Most of these weapons and armors were blue grade. The only difference was their quality. "Boy, do you know where''s Gragas?" Souta asked. "Master?" The boy muttered then he asked, "What do you want from my master?" "Nothing, I just want to have an important conversation with him so tell me where''s Gragas," Souta said. He was right. Since this boy called Gragas his master, this must be really Gragas'' shop. Maybe, Eilish was talking about different Gragas and the master in this shop only had the same name. There''s a possibility of that but it''s too low. The small boy didn''t say anything to Souta. He just kept looking at him with a frown. He was anxious as he didn''t know what this guy wanted from his master. "Don''t worry, I will not do anything. I''m just here to pass a letter to Gragas." Souta assured the boy before he waved his hand and set up a field in the whole shop. "Yenxa, close the door. Don''t let anyone enter the shop for a while." He said using monster language. Then, he went straight to the back to where he could feel a solidified mana. It seems that this Gragas guy wasn''t just an ordinary blacksmith.. An S-rank expert was hiding in this small place. Chapter 508 - Deal The aura of an S-rank. Gragas was a powerhouse at S-rank level. It was an interesting development that he didn''t expect. Souta walked forward and entered the room in the back. His senses were raised to the limit and his muscles were very tense right now. He was ready to fight it out at any moment. Inside the room was a dwarf with a hammer in his hand. He had curly hair, a thick beard, mustache, and eyebrows. His fierce eyes were looking straight at Souta like the ones from predators. His energy was oozing out of his body and it was giving an intense pressure. "Quite rude, aren''t you? You even set up a field around my shop." The dwarf asked in a cold tone. Souta ignored the fierce aura around the dwarf. He found a vacant chair and sat down nonchalantly. "You!!" The frown in dwarf''s face grew deeper. He opened his mouth and asked, "Do you understand me, monster? If you didn''t answer my question I will eliminate you!" Souta fiddled with his clothes before he took out a white envelope. He placed the envelope on the nearest table and said, "I''m here to give you this letter. A lady from the Earthen Core City called Eilish asked me to give this to you." "Eilish, that bitch! But why did she send a monster to my door? Just what she is planning... Monster dungeon or Union Peace." The dwarf said while glancing at the envelope. He was still holding the hammer in his hand, clearly wary about Souta. Souta fixed his posture and his expression turned serious. The dwarf in front of him was still wary even after knowing that Eilish sent him here. If it wasn''t for Eilish, Gragas would''ve attacked him immediately. He used best feram to set up the field and an S-rank like Gragas would sense the energy of monster in the air. "Let''s get to business. I don''t know what''s written in the paper or anything about her plan. I came here because I heard something from her." Souta said to Gragas. "What do you want, monster? If I didn''t like anything then I would capture you and report your existence in the officials." Gragas said in a strong tone. He was warning Souta not to do anything wrong as he was in a human and demi territory not in the wild where monsters roam freely. "I heard that you know a lot about witches. I want you to tell me about it then I''ll leave this place, no, this city. You see, I''m currently investigating the whereabouts of the witches but there''s almost no clue about them. Luckily, Eilish said that you know something about them." Souta explained to Gragas. "It''s true that I know something about witches but what makes you think that I will tell a monster about it. Who knows what will the monster dungeon do?" Gragas said as he picked the envelope on the table without removing his gaze at Souta. "You read that first. I will wait so that we can have a good conversation." Souta said while pointing at the envelope. Gragas slowly placed the edge of the envelope in his mouth. He didn''t want to let go the hammer in his hand with a monster in front of him. Who knows if this monster will attack him or not? He opened the envelope and read the words in the letter in his mind. After a while, he crumbled the letter and looked at Souta. "It seems that bitch, Eilish, trust you," Gragas said. "Oh, what did the letter say?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "It''s just about you. She said that if possible I should cooperate with you. Both of us had the same goal so we can work together. She also added the incident in the hidden base of the Witch Clan." "Then, what''s your opinion about it? Are you going to cooperate with me or not?" Souta asked with an amused expression. He didn''t expect that the contents of Eilish''s letter were about him. "Your goal is different from my goal. I wanted to replicate the soul weapon of the witches using my skills as a blacksmith. I don''t need to know why did they disappear decades ago. It''s none of my concern. Plus, Union Peace is likely to be related to it." Gragas said to Souta. "I see... Then, what if I tell you that I have a witch at my side?" Souta grinned. "You... What?!!" Gragas opened his eyes widely when he heard Souta''s words. Souta raised his finger and said, "I just want to know the information you had regarding the witches. Also, have you thought about it? Maybe, you will understand the uniqueness of a soul weapon if you learned all the secrets of the witch." "Are you saying that my skill isn''t enough?" Gragas asked in a grave tone. His eyes were fiercely staring at Souta as if he wanted to devour him. "Yes, skill isn''t enough. You need to acquire all knowledge about soul weapons." Souta nodded. In the game, there were countless powerful blacksmiths that wanted to replicate a soul weapon but all of them failed. In return, those blacksmiths only managed to create the compression ability which will turn the weapon and armor into a small marble that they could carry anytime. No one even able to create a universal grade weapon or armor in the game. But he wouldn''t tell this to Gragas. Replicating a soul weapon was simply a dream. "You''re quite good, monster," Gragas said as he sat down and placed his hammer on the table. "Good. Now let''s have a proper conversation." Souta smiled when he saw Gragas place down his weapon. This was a sign that Gragas was willing to talk to him. "I''m willing to share my information to you but in return, I need to know if what you said is true. That you have a witch friend." Gragas said. "No, no, I will not lie to you. I have a witch friend and the reason why I''m trying to find the Witch Clan is because of that friend. The identity of a witch is confidential so I''m afraid that I couldn''t introduce my friend to you." Souta shook his head. "If you have something you want for help then I can help you with it. Meeting my friend is impossible for now as I don''t even know if you will keep this as a secret or not." "Fine... I understand your logic." Gragas sighed as he knew that just like him, Souta didn''t also trust him. "Then, can you tell me what you want so that we can proceed? Letting you meet my witch friend will take some time. Maybe that friend will appear if I discover some good information." Souta said with a faint smile. "Don''t be like that. I tell you everything that I know after you''ve helped me in getting something in the upcoming underground auction two days from now." Gragas said. "Auction?" Souta tilted his head. "Yes, in that auction a soul weapon will appear. The owner of that soul weapon has died and it''s pretty much useless to other people aside from the owner but I can use it to study." Gragas explained and Souta understood right away. "You want money?" "Yes, also if possible I want you to steal it if you don''t have money. After you steal it you can return to Earthen Core City and have Eilish deliver the soul weapon. Then, after I confirmed it I will go to that city and tell you everything that I know." Gragas said. "Money, I don''t lack money at all," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. "Then that''s good. It will make it easier to get that soul weapon." Gragas said. "That''s it," Souta said before he stood up and added, "I will return here after two days to join you in the auction." Souta, Amanda, and Yenxa left the shop and returned to the inn. They stayed there for two days and kept training inside Saya''s inner consciousness. Although Souta learned the [Archetype: Vajra Extremity], he was still training to increase its proficiency. This skill couldn''t be leveled up using skill points or free attribute points. He could only master it by practicing it countless times until he could use it as his breathing. He absorbed in his training that he forgot that ten days had already passed inside Saya''s inner consciousness. He looked at his skill in the system. Ultimate Skill: [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] Proficiency 4% Souta wiped the sweat on his forehead with a satisfied expression. This was enough for him as he knew that in terms of stats he would be able to rival his game character soon. The only thing that he lacks were combat arts, spells, equipment, and blessings. If he reached the combat prowess of his game character then he was sure that he would be able to fight those top-tier powerhouses below gods. Blood was a character that could rival weaker gods. There was a reason for that and that''s because of the blessings. In this world, a mortal body wouldn''t be able to handle the blessing of two or more gods. In the game, players had no restrictions. That''s why he could gather the blessing of twenty-six commanders and eleven generals of the Mechanic Country. This was the reason why he could stand at the top in the player''s community for several years. The game character Blood was such a character. Chapter 509 - Auction Souta, Amanda, Yenxa, and Gragas went to the auction site. The Crimson Auction. This was a famous underground auction in the whole city. It attracted a lot of wealthy and powerful people because of their rare treasures. The group wore masks to conceal their appearance. They could use their parasites but they didn''t do so because the people from the hidden base witness their parasite ability. Although those people wouldn''t recognize the parasite if they just used it to cover their face, it''s still better to be careful. Also, most of the people in the auction were wearing a mask to prevent some risk of other people knowing their identity. It was one of the written rules in this auction. The outside appearance of the auction was dull and it looked like a normal passage. But the space inside the passage was like a giant maze. It lives up to its reputation as the largest auction house in the city. "We are here," Gragas said as he took a seat on the back rows. They weren''t VIPs so they couldn''t get a private room. Entering the auction house was easy thanks to Gragas. Gragas was a regular and he had a pass. He could easily get Souta and the rest some pass so that they could enter the auction without paying. After all, an S-rank expert was still a powerhouse even if he didn''t have an organization. People would respect him for his strength. That''s the privilege of a powerhouse. Souta, Amanda, and Yenxa sat on the seats beside him. Souta smiled under the mask while glancing at Gragas. He didn''t tell Gragas about Amanda as it was still too dangerous. "This is pretty big..." He muttered while looking at the people around the place. Thousands of people were waiting for the auction to start. It definitely lives up to its reputation. So what kind of items will appear here aside from the soul weapon? He was quite interested in what he will find. While he was deep in his thoughts, he heard Gragas'' cold voice. "Hey, don''t use your monster energy here? It would be dangerous if people discovered that you''re a monster. Thousands of guards would surround us and most of their strength are Disaster Realm and Extermination Realm." Gragas said while looking at him with fierce eyes. He had to avoid that situation no matter what happens. His strength wasn''t enough to fight hundreds of Extermination Realm. "I know. You don''t have to worry about me. If someone discovered me then you can quickly attack me to clear your name." Souta replied to Gragas. Amanda just listened to their conversation. Soon, the auctioneer appeared on the stage and the whole place turned silent. Everyone knew that the auction will start so they focused their attention on the stage. The auctioneer gave a welcome speech for a minute before he started the auction by bringing the first item on the stage. The first item was just a rare blue grade whip. The second item was a spell book that contained a tier 1 spell. The third item was an orange grade gauntlet. The fourth item was another spell book but this time the spell that can be learned from it was a low grade tier 2. What surprised Souta was the ninth item. The ninth item was a monster orb of a third evolution stage monster. It was sold for five thousand platinum coins. The auction continued and various materials, spellbooks, combat arts, potions, armors, and weapons appeared before Souta''s eyes. Soon, the soul weapon appeared as the second to the last item. "Here is it. The famed soul weapon of a witch. The witch that owned this soul weapon was an Annihilation Realm." The auctioneer slowly explained the details of the soul weapon and its origin. "Oh? So that''s the soul weapon..." Souta muttered with an amused look. The soul weapon was a piece of a white handkerchief. It looks ordinary and dull but it was within his expectation as the owner of this handkerchief was dead. Other than the owner no one would be able to use the soul weapon. So it''s pretty much useless for every people in this place but they would still buy it for collection or study it. A soul weapon was a super rare item, after all. Wealthy people would display it in their houses and show it off to their peers. "Let''s start it for 1,000 platinum coins." The auctioneer said as he fully displayed the soul weapon in front of everyone''s eyes. Souta turned his head and saw that Gragas had a determined look on his face. His passion to create equipment similar to soul weapons never left his body. He wanted to accomplish it no matter what happens. "You can go all out. You have my money so don''t worry. Tactics... You don''t need it." He said with a faint smile on his face. "I owe you one," Gragas said before he shouted, "Ten thousand platinum coins!" Everyone turned their heads when they heard Gragas'' words. They didn''t expect that someone would instantly raise the price of the item this much. Before they could regain their posture, someone from the VIP room raise the price. "Eleven thousand platinum coins!" Gragas narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the VIP room. "Twenty five thousand platinum coins!" He gritted his teeth as he knew that this amount of coins was huge. It would be enough for him to buy tons of rare materials to forge high grade weapons and armors. ''That''s all the money that I brought in this continent. It already exceeded the market price of a soul weapon by several times.'' Souta said inwardly. He didn''t expect this at all. He thought that Gragas would be able to buy a soul weapon for five thousand coins. The price of a soul weapon from an Annihilation Realm shouldn''t be higher than the price of a monster orb from a third evolution stage monster. Luckily, the person in the VIP room gave up. The twenty five thousand platinum coins were a huge amount even for wealthy people. Souta glanced around and found that most of the people were paying attention to their group. But their gaze immediately disappeared as soon as the last item was brought out. The last item was the main event. It was a spirit fruit called High Phaseless Fruit. It looks like an apple but its color was unusual. It was black but it will turn into white the next second. Then, it will turn black once again. Souta raised his eyebrows when he saw this fruit. It was outside of his expectations to find a super rare spirit fruit in this land. Even in Imperium, various noble families would mobilize their forces just to get their hands on this fruit. The High Phaseless Fruit could only be found in a place where light and darkness blend together. It was an extreme environment where light attribute and darkness attribute collided creating a unique place. Only people above B-rank could handle the extreme energy of this fruit. This fruit was one of the fruits that could give light and darkness attribute to the person that ate it. If the person has light and darkness attributes then that person will gain an innate body. But Souta didn''t have a plan to acquire it. He doesn''t have any money in his pocket. Also, he already has High Phaseless Fruit in his collection. He had 79 spirit fruits and herbs that he acquired from the legacy and High Phaseless Fruit was one of them. But acquiring another wasn''t a bad thing. Unfortunately, he didn''t bring enough money with him. Sigh... He should''ve investigated the items before coming here. Souta could only watch as the High Phaseless Fruit was sold for fifty thousand platinum coins and three sets of orange grade armor. "I wanted it for myself..." He muttered as he glanced at Gragas. They will return after they retrieve the item that they bought. This auction was pretty interesting. "Let''s go." Gragas stood up and said to Souta''s group. "Okay." Souta nodded and he followed Gragas. Amanda and Yenxa simply followed him without saying anything. The auction this time widened Amanda''s worldview. She didn''t think that she would be able to see rare treasures in an auction. The group arrived on the backstage to find the auctioneer. They stated their identity to one of the guards and the guard led them to a room. Suddenly, the ground shook heavily and the sound of explosions erupted. The mana in the air also got heavier. Boom! Boom! "What''s happening?!" Amanda quickly stood up. Yenxa quickly stood beside Souta and her mana oozed out of her body. Souta looked up and felt the explosions caused by mana. He also felt that a strong barrier has enclosed the whole area. "It seems that someone has started a fight." He said to Gragas. He was curious as Gragas still had a calm expression. It seems that he wasn''t bothered by those explosions above them. "This always happened after the auction but don''t worry the guards will handle it," Gragas explained. Then, cracks appeared on the door as flames burst fort in their room like a tsunami wave. Boom! Chapter 510 - Chaos In The Auction House Gragas raised his hand and his mana flared up. He opened his palm as the flames rushed inside the room and when he closed his palm the flames disappeared. He was a blacksmith and he was a master at handling flames. "You said that everything will be fine, right?! Then, why did this happen?!" Amanda glared at Gragas for giving them false information. She wanted to say something but Souta raised his hand while glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. She immediately shut her mouth and crossed her arms in front of her. She was annoyed that this dwarf deceived them after they gave all of their money to this dwarf. "Don''t be annoyed, Amanda. Gragas was also surprised that this happened." Souta said with a sigh. This woman normally had a fiery attitude due to her upbringing but she was subservient to Souta. He knows that she understood her position and without him, she wouldn''t be able to find the clues about her clan. "I don''t know what happened as this never happened before. The guards of this auction house are strong so they wouldn''t go down easily. If the battle arrived here then the perpetrators must be strong." Gragas said with a serious expression. "The bastards that attack the auction house! Just what are they planning! Come let''s go and find the soul weapon! I won''t let them take the soul weapon!" "Good. That''s what I want to hear." Souta smiled as he stood up while patting his clothes. If possible, they could simply take the soul weapon and leave this place while the guards were fighting. "Let''s go." The group exited the room and saw the scene outside the room. The hall was scorched and churned corpses were laying everywhere. The temperature was high and the strong stench assaulted their nose. It was gruesome. "Do you know the way?" Souta asked Gragas. He glanced left and right only to find that everything was burned into crisps. They came from the left passage. This passage will lead them to the auction site before. So if they wanted to leave this place, they could take this passage. But... Souta could feel the energy of several A-rank experts colliding repeatedly causing the whole place to tremble. "I have an idea." Gragas nodded. "Good, lead the way." Gragas glanced at his hand. He didn''t bring his hammer with him so his combat power was lower than normal. If they met a fully armed Annihilation Realm, it would give him some trouble. The group took the passage on the right. It was a passage forbidden from outsiders and only the staff of the auction house have access to it. On their way, they met some guards and the people that were attacking the auction house. Naturally, the group knocked them out effortlessly as the guards and perpetrators were only at Disaster Realm. Only Yenxa would have a problem dealing with Disaster Realm. She would need to improve her strength before she could fight someone at Disaster Realm. Her toxins would work against Disaster Realm... but the Disaster Realm could take her out before the toxins affect the Disaster Realm''s body... Soon, they stopped as they found a group of people in front of them. The group consisted of six people, four men and two women. All of them were wearing black formal outfits made of rare materials. ''Two S-rank and Four A-rank experts.'' Souta observed the energy around their body. "Oh, what do we have here? The group that bought the soul weapon. I didn''t expect to meet you here, Gragas." The old man from the opposite group said. "As I thought, Vincent, you''re the one who bought the High Phaseless Fruit," Gragas said as he removed his mask. He was acquainted with this old man. "Yes, it is I, Vincent, of the Gargan Corporation. Let me guess why you are here... You are here to take advantage of this chaos to take the soul weapon without paying for it." The old man said with a faint smile. "You''re wrong. I came here to protect the soul weapon. I don''t want to lose it in front of my sight." Gragas said in a strong tone. "I have a proposal." The old man paused as he looked at the opposite group calmly before he continued, "How about we work together? We will take the items from this auction house and divide them fairly after we''ve escaped." Gragas glanced at Souta, Amanda, and Yenxa before he answered Vincent. "I know your personality, Vincent! It''s impossible for you to divide the items fairly because of your greed! But don''t worry, I don''t want any trouble so I wouldn''t say to everyone that I saw you today!" Gragas said before he turned around. Souta, Amanda, and Yenxa also turned around and started walking. They didn''t need to delay their time by talking to this old man. Every second the aftershocks that caused the entire place to shake were getting stronger. Delaying the time will only make the risk higher. "It''s unfortunate. I hope that you keep up with your words." Vincent said as he turned around. His followers followed him while glancing at Gragas'' group. "Don''t worry, I''m not like you." Gragas raised his right hand in the air. Their destination was the same. The two groups'' target was the vault of the auction house which was located deep underground. They just took different passages but all of them will meet in the vault later. The group continued to move forward and they met the perpetrators. A group of twelve people rummaged one of the rooms, and all of them had the aura of a Disaster Realm. Disaster Realm wasn''t a problem for them so they easily take care of these people. After that, they met another group once again. This time the opposite group had two Extermination Realm which was equivalent to two A-rank experts in Imperium. It took them a minute or two before they could wrap up the two Extermination Realm Realm. Gragas was the one who dealt with two Extermination Realm. He didn''t want Souta to use his best feram as it would reveal his monster identity. But he didn''t know that Souta already sensed the impending battle. The battle that concerned Annihilation Realm, a powerhouse at S-rank level. They were far from the auction site so they couldn''t feel the aftershocks from the battle but Souta sensed another battle ahead of them. It was faint but he could clearly feel it. Souta looked at Gragas and it seems that Gragas hasn''t felt it. He wasn''t imagining it and he trusted his senses. There''s no doubt that more than two Annihilation Realm were fighting ahead. He couldn''t guess how many S-rank experts were there as the barrier was obscuring his senses. ''They are right ahead...'' Saya''s voice sounded. The group dashed forward while ignoring the dead bodies scattered across the land. Soon, the group arrived in a wide space and the entire place was silent. The energy from S-rank experts that Souta felt before was gone but the atmosphere was tense. The lingering mana from S-rank experts was still in the air. Dead bodies were scattered in the area. Some of them were decapitated and some were burned. Inside the room, Souta could see a group of people wearing dark blue robes. There were bloodstains on their body and all of them were releasing murderous aura. On the side, he saw the body of the old man who called himself Vincent. Vincent didn''t have any sign of life as his lower body was sliced into several pieces which were scattered around him. "Vincent?!!" Gragas opened his eyes widely. He didn''t expect to see a powerhouse like Vincent die in this place. Much worse was that they just talk a moment ago. "You!!" Gragas glared at the group of people who were wearing dark blue robes. He didn''t need to use his mind to guess that they were the ones who killed Vincent''s group. The air around him started to boil as his energy was intensely seeping out of his body. The opposite group had a total of twelve people. Three of them were S-rank, five were A-rank, and the rest were B-rank. A powerful lineup that could take down a third evolution monster. Even if there were no S-rank and the opposite group only had A-rank, it was still enough to take down a third evolution stage. "This..." Amanda''s expression turned pale. The energy that was coming from the opposite group was horrendous. It gives off heavy pressure as if a heavy boulder was pressing her body. Bang! Yenxa, who was the weakest among them, fall on her knees. She couldn''t handle the aura of several S-rank experts with her current evolution level. "What do we have here?" Souta placed his hand on Yenxa''s shoulder and used his energy to disperse the pressure on her body. She did the same thing on Amanda. "I didn''t expect that the higher-ups are right? A monster really blends in our society... It''s dangerous." A woman with a long blue hair said in a cold tone while looking at Souta.. She was the leader of the group that attacked the auction house. Chapter 511 - Battle In The Auction House The room was wide and the air inside was tight. There''s no window nor path for the air to enter deep inside this place so ordinary people below C-rank would suffer suffocation from this plane. The room was illuminated by a magic crystal that was hanging on the walls. Without this magic crystal, the entire place would be dark. Souta''s group was standing in front of the door frame. The door which was made of rare materials was on the floor just beside them. It seems that the people inside the room forcefully opened it. The whole place didn''t collapse even after S-rank powerhouses fought in this place. It feels like Souta was inside a high level dungeon in Imperium. The dungeon in Imperium was durable as it could handle the power of powerful monsters. Just looked back when he subdued the White Jade Spider in the Forest of Eternal Light. The White Jade Spider was a third evolution stage monster yet the room that it resided at didn''t even collapse. ''It was enchanted by runes...'' Saya''s voice sounded. ''Runes?'' Souta glanced at the walls and floors. The walls and floor were color gray and it only had cracks on its surface. ''Yeah, you know about runes, right?'' Saya said. ''Yes, I''ve learned its history and use in the institute.'' Souta nodded. Runes were similar to magic circles as they contained mysterious powers. The only difference was the runes couldn''t be imprinted inside a person''s inner consciousness. But it can be imprinted outside of a person''s body. In the game, the class of these people was called Rune Warriors or Rune Knights. Runes were also an enchantment. Runes were imprinted in transmission talismans that made people communicate from different places. It has many uses and strengthening an object was one of them. ''I only know the basics of runes as I don''t have a time to study it. In the institute, I learned the formation of a magic circle and it was already enough to take most of time my. Then, ever since we arrived in sub-world I diverge my attention on your Archetype Skill.'' Souta said to Saya. ''Actually, I didn''t expect that you wouldn''t be bound by the restrictions of Archetype Skill so when I found out about it, I eagerly changed your training regime. After all, it will give a great advantage when fighting someone that didn''t have Archetype Skill.'' Saya said awkwardly. Souta was about to reply to Saya when a young man from the opposite group stepped forward and released a powerful energy of an A-rank powerhouse. Boom! "This is dangerous... I didn''t know how they killed Vincent''s group easily. Vincent is a person at Annihilation Realm yet he didn''t even last long against these people." Gragas said in a grave tone. He wanted to attack but he didn''t do so. The strength of the other group exceeded his imagination and he didn''t have an idea how did they manage to kill Vincent''s Group in a short amount of time. "Extermination Realm..." Amanda turned pale and felt that the aura of this young man was stronger than her. The young man looked at the four of them and smiled, "The higher-ups are right. The third evolution monster is really here. We''ll talk later after we capture you." Souta glanced at Gragas and said, "Don''t have a choice. We''ll fight them here." "It seems that you are their target," Gragas said. "Well, it seems that they are related to the people that are occupying the hidden base of the Witch Clan." Souta smiled bitterly as he stepped forward. "I''ll paralyze them first just like what I did to the previous group so prepare yourself to attack anytime." The young man said as his mana started to gather on his hand creating a vortex of energy. Swoosh! Souta grinned as he slowly approached the opposite group. The enemies consisted of three S-rank, five A-rank, and four B-rank. It''s been a long time since he had fought seriously. Ever since he arrived in this high world, he stayed low profile and didn''t do anything. His last battle was against his copy in the living labyrinth. But that was a few months ago. He was several times stronger compared to the time when he fought his copy. The opposite group narrowed their eyes when they saw Souta walk towards them with a grin on his face. The best feram slowly seeped out of his body and it brought heavy pressure. A natural pressure brought by a third evolution monster. But the three S-rank experts weren''t worried at all. One of them had the power to kill a third evolution monster and it would be overkill if the three of them work together. In their opinion, the five A-rank experts beside them were enough to deal with Souta. "As expected of a monster, a creature that doesn''t know fear." The young man said as the four A-rank experts stood beside him. They were the ones who killed Vincent''s Group that had two S-rank experts. So they had a confidence to defeat Souta. Gragas slightly bent his knees and immediately launched himself forward like a rocket. Boom! His speed was great as he directly flew ahead of Souta and head straight to the S-rank experts. Boom! The battle quickly started as one of the three S-rank experts wrestled with Gragas. Gragas was cautious at first but when he realized that Souta wanted to directly crush the enemy, he didn''t hesitate anymore and rushed ahead with all of his strength. There''s one thing in his mind and that''s to secure the soul weapon for his study. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta glanced at the battle and sighed inwardly. He didn''t expect that Gragas would rush forward. Still, this room was pretty huge, the gap between the ceiling and the floor was probably twenty-five meters. There were dozens of silver-colored chests at the side and the treasures of the auction house must be inside those chests. "Amanda, Yenxa, prepare yourself." Souta said as he continued to move forward. He silently activated the [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Cat''s Speed], [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Shadow Step], and [Night Overlord''s Aura]. The young man at A-rank directly used a skill when Souta was ten meters away from him. "Close your eyes and cover your ears!" The young man roared as a bright light appeared above his head. Then, he snapped his finger causing an ear piercing sound to echo in the whole area. [Bloody Ear Rupture]! [Blinding King Light]! [Bloody Ear Rupture] was a powerful skill that could generate powerful sound waves. It would hinder the hearing senses of any creature and it could even generate a powerful sound attack. The [Blinding King Light] was a skill to block the opponent''s vision. It was an auxiliary skill used for support. The young man used these two skills to directly rob the senses of their enemy. Vincent''s Group was caught off guard by these skills and the comrades of the young man used the opportunity to gravely injure them. ''Eh? This guy is preventing me from hearing and seeing things.'' Souta said inwardly as flesh covered his eyes and ears. He was familiar with this skill. The people who looked at the blinding light would feel excruciating pain from their eyes and the same from the sound. People who heard the sound would feel extreme pain. Swoosh! Thinking that they caught Souta, the other four A-rank experts unleashed their powerful skills. "How absurd..." Souta grinned widely as his body inflated and a vast amount of best feram gushed out of his body. "Quickly stop the attack!!" One of the S-rank experts shouted but he was already too late. Souta''s body turned into a three-meter tall savage looking monster. His huge body swiftly avoided the attack of the A-rank experts while activating several skills at the same time. Boom! Boom! [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Second Form: Thousand Oaks Absorption]! Souta opened his giant hand which was covered in black armor. Black lightning formed on his palm and it spread out like a spider web. The remaining attack of the A-rank experts landed on the lightning web creating powerful shockwaves. Then, Souta closed his hand and the skills of the A-rank experts disappeared. Swoosh!! Amanda and Yenxa didn''t know what''s happening as they used their parasites to protect their ears and eyes. They just felt an enormous amount of energy erupted in front of them. Souta arrived in front of the young man who casted the skill. "H-How...?" The young man looked at him with fear in his eyes. The two S-rank experts quickly move their bodies with unbelievable speed. They were going to try to save the young man but how could Souta let them save the young man. Souta''s mouth crack widely revealing rows of razor sharp teeth. Black vapor came out of his mouth and it made him look terrifying. The young man wanted to move away but he realized that his body was suppressed by a heavy gravitational field. He could only watch Souta''s widely opened mouth. Chomp!! Souta closed his mouth and the upper body of the young man was gone. Blood flow down on the corner of his mouth as the lower body of the young man fell. Thud! Chapter 512 - Against Two S-rank Experts I The upper body of the young man was gone. In an instant, an Extermination Realm has died. For Souta, killing an A-rank expert with his guard low was simple. He was in his release state so his overall strength was several times higher than his normal form. He was a brutal monster in this form. Souta raised his head as he felt energy fluctuations in front of him. The two S-rank or what they called Annihilation Realm charged at him with a murderous aura. They realized that Souta wasn''t an ordinary third evolution monster that they could deal with easily. Instead, this one was dangerously powerful than other third evolution monsters that they''ve slain in the past. The two S-rank experts were a woman and a man. The woman has long blue hair and sharp blue eyebrows. Her eyes were filled with killing intent as she pulled out the sword on her waist. She was the leader of this group that attacked the auction house. And she was also the most powerful Annihilation Realm in this group. The man looked like he was in his late twenties. He had short and messy blonde hair. Sharp eyes and hook nose along with his murderous aura that was stronger than the woman makes him more terrifying. It''s clear that he had slain a number of people greater than the woman. The two arrived on Souta''s left and right sides. They quickly swung their weapon with the intention to injure him. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta spat the upper body of the young man in their direction. A huge amount of blood splattered around as the attack of the two S-rank experts pulverized the body. The woman''s eyes turned cold. This monster was brutal so it needs to die. She didn''t care about capturing him alive anymore. Swoosh! The four spider limbs behind Souta moved forward. It was coated with best feram and it blocked the attack from the two S-rank experts. BAM! Shockwaves swept out and the remaining four A-rank experts were blown away. Previously, they just caught Vincent''s group off-guard but now, they would be able to feel the battle of a real Annihilation Realm. BANG! BANG! The ground shook heavily and cracks formed on the wall, floor, and ceiling of the huge room. Even though it was enchanted by runes, it still couldn''t handle the power of a third evolution monster and several S-rank experts. "Amanda, Yenxa, I''ll leave the rest to you! Don''t forget to secure the soul weapon and the other rare treasure!" Souta shouted but then his body crashed through the walls causing the dust to shoot up. Fighting two well-equipped S-rank experts were still too much for him. Amanda and Yenxa opened their eyes when they heard his words. They saw that there were still Extermination Realms and Disaster Realms in front of them. The Annihilation Realms, which was above their league, were busy fighting Gragas and Souta. "Huff..." Amanda took a deep breath as several layers of red color flesh covered her entire body. Squirming tentacles protruded on her back. This was her first time fighting several Extermination Realm in her entire life. So she was slightly nervous but her eyes were still filled with determination. She knew that her path to revenge wasn''t going to be smooth. Yenxa looked at the people in front of her with cold eyes. It''s been a while since her lord had given her an order. She had to complete it no matter what happens. She slowly opened her arms widely and green-colored mist seeped out of her pores. It was a toxin that could even paralyze people that was above her level but it would take some time before it affect her opponents. So she just needed to endure it. Well, she had a parasite so she was confident that she could survive. She just needed to avoid attacks that could insta-kill her. ... On the other side... Souta was having a tough time enduring the onslaught of the two S-rank experts. Aside from his released form, he used his parasites to strengthen his whole body to a higher level. He was strong yet that two S-rank experts could still suppress him. Blood was splashing out of his body as the two slashed their sharp weapons repeatedly like a madman. They wouldn''t give him a chance to attack. BANG! BANG! BANG! The shock waves from their attacks were causing the ground to tremble. The runes on the walls, ceiling, and floor emitted a dim light as the powerful energy was peeling them off. "Just continue to attack him! The [Monster Orb Release] had a time limit so we would be able to kill this monster later as long as we don''t give him a chance to fight back!" The woman shouted as she imbued more of her energy in her sword. Then, her attacks grew stronger and faster. The man followed her pace as he used everything that he had got. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta gritted his teeth as he endured the attacks. He didn''t use his parasite to regenerate his wounds as he wanted to increase his overall stats by using [Draw Blood]. [Draw Blood] was a trait that increased his stats by five percent every time he loses one percent of his health. BAM! BAM! After a minute, Souta grinned as he revealed his razor-sharp teeth. ''Okay, this is enough for me.'' He said inwardly as he glanced at his attribute panel. He loses fifty percent of his health points and his stats had increased vastly. After a long time of practicing his control on his parasite, he learned how to control its regenerative power. So this time, if his health points went down below fifty percent, the regenerative power of his parasite will activate and maintain his health points to fifty percent. Feeling the overwhelming strength in his body, Souta clenched his fist and he suddenly threw a punch towards the two S-rank experts. BOOM! The two managed to avoid his punch that contained boundless amount of best feram. Although they avoided it, they were shocked inwardly. Why did it feel that this monster got stronger? Hmph! Souta stomped his feet on the floor and darkness covered it. In the next moment, hundreds of black tentacles filled the entire place. It was followed by black mist and a heavy gravitational field. [Shadow Bind]! [Dark Cloud Hunting]! [Gravitational Ball]! Hundreds of black tentacles stretched out in every direction. The two S-rank experts narrowed their eyes as the gravity field tried to squash them into meat paste. Black mist surged and the black tentacles flooded the two S-rank experts. It created intense energy fluctuations that produced a dominant energy wave in the atmosphere. It directly destroyed hundreds of runes on the walls, ceiling, and floor. BOOM! [Thousand Severing Strike]! Sharp winds flew out in every direction. The source of the attack came from the two experts that were being engulfed in squirming black tentacles. The sharp winds cut down hundreds of black tentacles in an instant. It even dispersed the black mist around them. Everything was cut down. And the whole place was going to collapse at any moment. "Good." Souta raised the vajra sword and layers of black flesh covered the sword. The vajra sword changed its appearance and size to fit his huge body. The normal size of a sword was too small for his three-meter-tall body. He going all out. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! Ohm! Waves of black lightning gushed like a tsunami. The whole place couldn''t take it anymore as it finally collapse under his might. Souta greatly underestimated the destructive power of this skill. The two experts tried to escape but the black lightning was too fast. It swallowed everything like a flood. Even the people at the surface were affected as they suddenly saw webs of black lightning in every direction. The floor beneath their feet burst as an enormous amount of horrifying lightning spread out. BAM! BAM! Souta wasn''t finished as he knew that his two opponents were still alive. He had a way to know if his opponent died from his attack or not. It''s simple. He just needed to glance at his system to see if he received a system prompt. [Possession]! The energy in his body grew exponentially and after a while, his aura increased dramatically once again. "Activate! [Blessing of the God of Hunt]!" His release form was going to wear off so he had to finish this as soon as possible. He will eliminate one of them. The best outcome was that he could eliminate the two experts before his release form ended. [Watching Prey]! Souta chose the man at his lock prey. The [Watching Prey] ability came from the activation of the blessing. His damage will increase by one hundred percent to the lock prey that he had chosen. It means that his damage to the man will be greater than the woman as he could only use it for one person. "Let me fight you for real!" He smirked before charging towards the man while the black lightning was still raining down destroying everything around him. Chapter 513 - Against Two S-rank Experts II S-rank was really on a different level. It was at a level where they could easily take down a third evolution monster alone. Souta was maintaining his health points at fifty percent. His attacks right now could pierce the protective field of an S-rank. And without it, he wouldn''t be able to damage his opponents even if he was using his release form and Saya''s power. BAM! [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Second Form: Reverse Moon Oak]! Souta opened his other palm as a black lightning vortex materialized and it shoots the attacks of the A-rank experts that he absorbed before. BAM! BAM! [Crippling Slash]! The woman went in front of the man and slashed her sword. Souta''s attack was sliced into two before it exploded beside her. "This is honestly good. It gives me a realization that I could fight a prepared S-rank with my current strength." Souta grinned widely as he slashed the sword in his hand. Fighting an S-rank was still risky. If he was an ordinary third evolution monster then he would have died at the first minute before he could use his release form. Even then his release form would only give him the strength to defend himself so he had to depend on his parasites and equipment to be able to handle a legitimate S-rank. The S-rank monster on the living labyrinth was nothing compared to these people. His normal form was already as strong as an A-rank expert. It was really good compared to other third evolution monster who was only as strong as a B-rank in their normal form. But then he''s not fighting one S-rank but two S-rank experts. These two were frighteningly had high experience in combat. Their intuition and reflexes were above average. They weren''t an S-rank that stayed in their house until they reached their current power level. They obtained their power by experiencing countless battles in the past so they had rich fighting experience. Swoosh! Swoosh! The woman appeared in front of him and the man appeared beside him. Both of them attacked at the same time. Souta blocked the sword of the woman using the vajra sword while the four spider limbs on his back parried the weapon of the man. Clang! Clang! ''I guess that my limit is two S-rank. It would be too much for me to fight three S-rank.'' Souta said inwardly. At the very least, he hasn''t reached the max level of third evolution so he could probably fight three or four S-rank experts after he reached the max level which was level 60. And that''s if his combat arts and spells didn''t improve. BOOM! The floor collapsed and the three of them fell on the lower floors but their battle didn''t stop. They kept exchanging blows in the mid-air. BANG! BANG! Souta opened his palm and countless web flew in all directions. It filled the whole area but the first form of his Archetype was still here. The black lightning in the sky was churning the surface for him and it even opened a path for him to leave. "Webs?" The woman frowned as she cut down all the webs around her. Every second she would change her position as black lightning would fall down from above like a rain. It has the capability to injure her an Annihilation Realm which has a protective field. "This monster still in its released form...?" The man said as he landed beside the woman. A few minutes had passed since they started the battle but the monster in front of them was still using the [Monster Orb Release]. "We should delay it. This monster wouldn''t last long anyway and it seems that this monster is eager to finish the battle." The woman said as she circulated her mana in her body. Souta cracked his neck as he approached the two. His shadow on the floor squirmed as seven humanoid figures emerged from it. [Doppelganger]! The amount of best feram that he had was something that they wouldn''t imagine that came from a third evolution stage monster. He was carefully absorbing the energy from a fifth evolution monster orb in the past so he abstains himself from wandering around the world. He only came out personally because he had triggered a chain quest. If not for this chain quest, Souta would have stayed in his coffee shop to increase the energy capacity of his monster orb. So... The time limit of his released form was longer than when he fought the ancestor of the Great Astley Empire. It couldn''t be compared at all, as his energy capacity had increased vastly thanks to the fifth evolution monster orb. Boom! The seven shadows launched themselves towards the two S-rank experts along with Souta. The was the advantage of having many skills. The only problem was that it was had to control several skills at the same time while fighting that''s why Souta was always training his control inside Saya''s inner consciousness. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta and the seven shadows clashed with the two experts causing powerful shockwaves that affect the other battles that were happening in the auction house. Amanda and Yenxa along with their opponents were the most affected as they were the closest ones in the area. Plus, Gragas was fighting another S-rank close to them so they could hardly concentrate on their battle afraid that the shockwaves from the other battles would kill them. The seven shadows rushed towards the woman while Souta wrestled with the man. "This monster can penetrate my protective field?!" The man gritted his teeth as he slashed his sword horizontally. Swoosh! Souta shifted his body to avoid it and pulled a string of web. The web was connected to the boulders of rocks so when he pulled it the boulders flew towards the man. Ohm! Using the web as a medium, Souta imbued the boulders his energy and he fueled it with the power of gravity. BAM! BAM! The man slashed the boulders causing them to explode but when he turned his head to face Souta, he found several red energy blades in front of him. [Cross Moon]! The man was blown away and several cuts appeared on his body. He gritted his teeth as he couldn''t believe that a mere third evolution monster could give him this much trouble. ''Just how long can he hold his released form?!'' He looked ahead only to see Souta rushing at him with a murderous aura. BANG! Souta grabbed the face of the man and several spikes burst on his palm. The spikes made from his parasites could hardly pierce the tough flesh of the man. "So tough..." He raised his sword and swung it down. [Cross Moon]!! BOOM!! "Argh! Fucking monster!!" The man gritted his teeth while looking at Souta through the gaps of Souta''s finger. He couldn''t remove his hand which was on his face. It felt like this monster was trying to crush his head but he knew that it was impossible. This monster didn''t have enough strength. Plus, his defensive ability was high. [Cross Moon]!! BOOM! Souta threw the man on the walls before he pointed his sword in his direction. A huge amount of best feram formed on the tip. It spun widely as the black lightning in the sky struck down. The black lightning merged with the energy making it more powerful. The first form of his Archetype was still active and it could give him a boost to his strength using the black lightning. Souta was manipulating the black lightning to improve his attack power all the time. And it was one of the reasons why he could damage a powerhouse above his league. [Bestrou]! A large concentration of best feram erupted like a volcano that was trying to destroy everything. BOOM! A powerful explosion rose in the sky as it destroyed the entire place. Even the barrier around the auction house vibrated as cracks formed on its surface. Souta was about to chase the man when he sensed something behind him. Layers of red flesh covered the four spider limbs on his back. Clang! Clang! The woman swung her sword and she managed to cut down two out of four spider limbs. Souta narrowed his eyes and he moved his fingers. The scattered black balls went behind him and he focused the gravitational power in pushing the woman. "Go away!!" The woman glared at Souta and when she was about to launch a skill, Souta vanished like a bubble. Swoosh! "Where?" She looked around only to find the seven shadows once again. Then, another explosion occurred and it was filled with best feram. ... Souta just used the [Shadow Ball] to teleport and chase after the man. This man was his target, after all. And the ability [Watching Prey] was locked on this man. So he wanted to finish this man and switch the [Watching Prey] to the girl. "You fucking monster!! Know your place!!" The man shouted in anger as flames formed around his weapon. His entire body was filled with his own blood. He didn''t escape the [Bestrou] before without suffering a heavy injury. The [Bestrou] was too powerful that he almost died from it. If he didn''t manage to activate several defensive combat arts then he wouldn''t suffered heavily. Souta didn''t care about the man. He just charged at him with a wide grin on his face. "The protective field is destroyed so..." [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! Chapter 514 - Against Two S-rank Experts III [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! A loud thunderclap echoed in the sky as black lightning coated Souta''s huge body. It complemented his strength as a gigantic figure with four arms materialized on his back. This figure had two pairs of eyes and horns on the side of its head. It has a semi-transparent body that was made of lightning. It slowly opened its eyes and looked at the man. The terrifying aura that it possessed was something that the man had never felt before. Just like a god. After all, the Archetype was a skill for those who want to ascend godhood. It wasn''t something that a mortal could easily learn. Only people that broke five shackles had the right to learn this type of skill. For monsters, it was equivalent to a fifth evolution monster. Although his Archetype has a low power due to his limited power level, it was still enough for him to severely injure and maybe kill an S-rank powerhouse. It has the potential. "Let me break you!" Souta roared as he swung his sword and the twenty-meter tall figure behind him turned into a torrent of energy that rushed towards the man. The man wanted to retreat but he found that a powerful gravity was pushing him towards that attack. His face turned pale as he realized that he couldn''t block the attack with his current power. He would die. He would die for sure. The torrent of energy swallowed his entire body and the energy turned into a grinder that twisted every object inside it. "NOOOOOO!!!!" The man roared as his body was gradually turning into a bloody mist. Blood poured out of his seven orifices and his internal organs were crushed. His four limbs were twisted as blood spurted out of it. ... The woman was confused when she saw the six shadows disappear leaving one shadow. The last shadow suddenly turned around and left. "What is happening?" She whispered to herself. Then, a sudden explosion shook her to the core as the aura in the atmosphere skyrocketed to the point that it brought pressure on her body. Her eyes constricted as the bell on her waist turned into dust. This bell was a treasure that she used to create the barrier around the entire auction house. If it turned into dust, it only means one thing. "This?!" She quickly looked up and saw the barrier was shattered. A huge gaping hole could be seen on the barrier. "Shit! What happened?!" She gritted her teeth and took out a bottle with a single pill inside it. She removed the cap and placed the pill inside her mouth. This pill could recover her health and mana. She still had three left in her pouch so she guessed that it was enough to handle the monster. "It''s been a few minutes... I need to finish it before the authorities of this city enter the barrier through that hole." She muttered as she flew in the direction where her comrade was fighting the monster. Swoosh! ... "Huff... Huff..." Souta looked down as he heard the system prompt in his mind saying that he killed the man. The attack before was too powerful and his body couldn''t handle it. Although he could use the Archetype skill now, he still have to be wary if he wanted to use the fifth form and above of [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]. To use the fifth form, Souta even canceled some of his active skills so that he could control it. He looked at his hand which turned into bones without any flesh. Gradually the flesh covered the bones and turned into a fresh hand. "It hurts..." He gritted his teeth as he opened and closed his palm. The fifth form had a powerful backlash on his body so it resulted in his hand turning into bones. "I wouldn''t even dare to use it without parasite." He muttered as he turned his head on the hole in the barrier. ''You''re just a third evolution monster so it will burden your body if you used the Archetype. At the very least, you had a killing strike which you lack.'' Saya said to him. "Then, the remaining one..." Souta turned his head and narrowed his eyes. The woman was stronger than the man he just killed so the difficulty in killing her was high. Well, it was nothing compared to battling them at the same time. He was lucky that he managed to separate the man and woman, and clearly they underestimated him. It allows him to separate the two. "This will be a tough battle." Without saying another word, he launched himself on the woman. He flicked his finger and the web that was attached on the handle of the vajra sword was pulled. The vajra sword flew towards his palm. He wrapped his finger around it and layers of flesh covered the sword once again. [Crimson Moon]!! Hmph! The woman snorted as she tightened her grip on her sword. Then, she swung it and their weapons collided causing a powerful shockwave. BOOM! [Watching Prey]! Souta and the woman exchanged blows a thousand times. Every second shockwave burst out in every direction. The ripples of energy circled around the area. They didn''t even know that the people on the surface and other floors had died because of their battle. It doesn''t matter to the two as they only wanted to kill the opponent in front of them. [Element Drive: Wind Force]! The woman used a powerful ability unique to the people that only had wind elemental affinity. Power gusts of wind swept out like a hurricane as it clashed with Souta''s terrifying attack. Boom!! ''She even knew [Element Drive].'' Souta''s grin grew wider as he created a gravity field to suppress the sharp winds. "Just die!" The woman swung her hand and Souta looked up. A gigantic tornado crashed down on his body from above. The black savage armor on his body was slowly turning into dust. BOOM! His body was smashed on the ground and the tornado didn''t stop. It continued to grind his body as his blood splattered in the area. "Fuck! This is great!" Ohm! He gathered his energy on his palm and pushed it towards the tornado. [Dark Shooting Ray]! An enormous black beam swallowed the tornado. It tore everything in sight before it exploded on the barrier that caused another hole in it. BOOM! Souta saw the woman flying at him in his field of vision. The woman was carrying a powerful energy as if she wanted to eliminate him in one attack. "As if that''s possible." He smiled as he activated the equipment skill called [Insta-Regen]. The [Insta-Regen] could instantly recover forty percent of his mana but in his case, his energy only recovered by a mere ten percent. After all, the energy he had wasn''t mana. It was enough to lengthen the duration of his released form. "Then, how about this?!" [Silver Desolation]! [Flame Carpet]! The whole field turned into a burning place as pillars of flames would soar on the sky every second. Then, it was followed by a silver metal tsunami. The silver metal was radiating a powerful heat thanks to the [Flame Carpet]. The burning silver liquid rushed towards the woman. The two equipment skill complemented each other. Most of his equipment right now was red grade so he could go toe to toe with a peak S-rank with his current strength. The only people who could potentially kill him were the shackled realm experts. No matter how strong an S-rank the woman was, she wouldn''t be able to kill him with all of his aces. Two tornadoes bore down and collided with the silver liquid. BOOM! The woman gritted her teeth and she took out another pill. She ate it and felt that her mana and health had returned to her body. With all the pills that she had, she could fight for another hour using her full strength but she wondered about her opponent. The released form wouldn''t last that long. And in the end, she would win this battle. Souta stood without attacking her personally. He just kept controlling the silver liquid to attack her and it confused the woman. ''What is this monster trying to do? His time will be up if this keeps up.'' She narrowed her eyes. Then, she saw a shadow appear on Souta''s side. The shadowed stretched out its hand and presented a fist-size orb. ''That?! A monster orb?!'' She opened her eyes widely when she saw it. Souta grabbed the orb and smiled widely. This was what he wanted from the beginning. If the woman could use pills to recover her mana and health, then why couldn''t he use a monster orb to lengthen the duration of his released form by absorbing the energy inside it. "This will be your end." The energy inside the fifth evolution monster orb flowed inside his body and it slowly filled his monster orb. For the excess energy... Souta pointed his sword at the woman and used his body as a medium. A large concentration of best feram gathered on the tip of his sword. [Bestrou]!! Chapter 515 - Fight To Death Somewhere in the universe... Leo was floating in the space with his eyes closed. The battle was too devastating that it destroyed thousands of galaxies in the universe. If they move they''re while battling then they would have probably destroyed millions of galaxies. Right now, the galaxy field that they''ve fought turned into a desolate area. There''s no star, planets, asteroids, or any other celestial bodies. Also, the space in that place was destroyed as cracks could be seen everywhere in the field. Various elemental properties lingered and a boundless amount of mana was circling and grinding the place. As expected the other parts of the universe couldn''t handle the powers of gods. Even the space was destroyed. Only the space in Imperium could contain them. After a while, Leo opened his eyes and looked around. There''s not much he could see except for pure darkness. "Those gods from God''s Continent really did a good job this time." It wasn''t that he didn''t suffer an injury while fighting those gods at the same time. It''s just that he hid the injuries that he suffered from fighting them so that they wouldn''t notice his condition. In fact, they had the opportunity to severely injure him but those gods lack teamwork. The only gods that had teamwork at that time were from True God''s Holy Kingdom, Purple Cloud Dynasty, and Red Crystal Empire. Also, the lineup of Mount Olympus was strong. Five high gods that could utilize principles were strong. Even the other gods from God''s Continent that were present at that time were high gods but the lineup of Mount Olympus was the most dangerous group aside from the Three Great Countries at that time. Those gods of Olympus even brought two sets of universal grade equipment just to suppress him. Most of the equipment wasn''t for attacking or defending but for sealing. They knew that attacking or defending against Leo was useless so they resort to sealing powers. Fucking gods. "I will recover my energy first before I start finding that thirteenth sign." He said to himself as he looked at his body. The injuries he suffered were light compared to the injuries that he took when he fought the Three Great Countries decades ago. "I still need to stabilize my Cosmic Authority. Also, my principles are getting out of control if I used it while using the Cosmic Authority." Mortals didn''t know a lot of things about gods. But the gods, deities, spirit gods, monster lords, and demon gods were divided into two levels. The Earth God and High God. The Earth God was a newly born god while the High God was a god that master the principles. The principles were the only thing that differentiate the two levels. In fact, some of the Earth Gods had a higher amount of energy and physical power than High Gods. Just looked at that Dragon Slayer from Red Crystal Empire. The Dragon Slayer had an enormous amount of energy and unrivaled physical strength even among gods. Just a single punch from him could shatter the space in this place. He could even defeat some of the High Gods who focused on mastering principles. "I''m tired. I''m going to sleep for a while. I will have my revenge later after I found the thirteenth sign. Those gods will think that I''m bullying them if I attack right away." Leo scratched the back of his head and lay down in a sleeping posture on the outer space. But before he could sleep, he sensed someone approaching him. He turned around and saw a gigantic ball of meat that has a size of a small planet. "This...? Ancient Monster Lord, Stellar Devourer..." ... BOOM! BOOM! It feels like it was the end of the world. Explosions in every direction as Souta spammed [Bestrou]. "Ugh!" He suddenly spat a mouthful of blood and it caused him to stop firing [Bestrou]. Forcefully using the energy inside a fifth evolution monster orb damaged his organs. Even with the help of his parasites, the damage he took was still greater. The monster orb was left in the inn so he sent one of his shadows before to take it. He knew that he would drain his best feram fighting two S-rank experts. That''s why he prepared himself and sent the shadow when the barrier was broken. He was tired and the woman was tired too. They could only recover their health and energy, and they didn''t have any way to recover their stamina. It all comes down to the battle of endurance but Souta wouldn''t let it happen. He had to kill this woman as soon as possible. He could feel it. The city was forming an elite army to subjugate every living being inside this broken barrier. With his heightened senses, he detected those fluctuations of energy outside. More than forty A-rank and five S-rank experts. With his current state, he could only fight one S-rank. Even those forty A-rank experts had the potential to subjugate him. Also, there''s no way that there were no shackled realm experts in this city. The Earthen Core City had a shackled realm like Eilish so it was impossible for this city didn''t have one. The shackled realm was the only one that could order more than five S-rank experts. Souta bent his knees and launched himself towards the woman. [Cross Moon]! Hmph! The woman coated her sword with sharp winds. She then met Souta''s attack with her own attack. [Gust of the Fierce Tiger]! BOOM! Both of their attacks collided and ripples of powerful energy swept out. Bang! Bang! Bang! Thousands of blows were thrown in just a few minutes. The place around them was devastated and it was on the verge of breaking down. The whole auction house was trembling as it could collapse at any moment. Even the runes didn''t help them in keeping their base intact before the power of an S-rank and a third evolution monster. Plus, Souta and the woman weren''t the only ones fighting in this place. Gragas was battling another S-rank. Although their battle wasn''t as flashy as Souta, they still caused great casualties in the entire place. Bang! Bang! Bang! Amanda and Yenxa stopped fighting the A-rank and B-rank experts. They just took the soul weapon and the fruit before they retreated. The battle was too much for them and there''s no way that they could fight beside the S-rank experts. Two figures collided in the sky repeatedly. Both of their strength was overwhelming the masses as it gives off an oppressive aura every time they collided. Both of them were using their full power and the hole of the barrier was growing every second. It was absolutely dominating and suffocating for the below B-rank. [Thousand Heavenly Cut]! In just a second, Souta''s body received thousands of cuts. His tough body couldn''t handle the powerful attacks and the regeneration power of his parasite couldn''t keep up. Swoosh! Souta shifted his head as a white energy blade passed beside his cheeks and it slice the two spider limbs on his back along with his left arm. Spurt! His parasite tried to regenerate his limb but the woman cut him down a thousand times once again. Her attack speed was too fast and Souta could hardly keep up with her. [Blood Field]! Souta activated his trait. The blood from the ground flew in the sky and it gathered in his body. This trait uses the blood in the surrounding area to recover his health, energy, and stamina. He could only use this trait once a day and it will last thirty minutes after he activated it. He will become near impossible to kill if he added this with his parasitic ability. "This...?" The woman opened her eyes widely. The monster in front of her was getting tougher and stronger every second. She gritted her teeth and increased the speed of her attacks once again. Then, she took out a pill and placed it on her mouth. This was a battle of endurance so she had to last longer than this monster. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta swung his sword repeatedly as he tried to attack her but still the attack speed of his opponent was several times higher than him. Every time he launched an attack he would receive five attacks. "A peak S-rank like you is really great! You would step into the shackled realm soon. Unfortunately, you have to die here!" He grinned as a blood-red aura covered his entire body. The wailing of the souls sounded and the transparent body of the souls peeked through his body. The murderous aura which was filled with grief and hatred enveloped the entire place. [Soul Blood Mode]! and [Harvester of the Soul]! Souta launched forward and the sword of the woman pierced his chest. He used his parasite to tighten his muscles so that he could hold the sword in just a second. A second was enough for him to deal heavy damage to this great woman. "I couldn''t pull it...?" The woman was caught off guard as she couldn''t pull her sword. She looked up and saw boundless energy above her in the form of a blade. "This is it!" Souta tightened his grip as his flesh was turning into dust. The energy that he gathered was too much for his body and he knew that it was the same for the woman.. So he swung it down. Chapter 516 - Back To Earthen Core City Souta turned back into his normal form. He fell on his knees and spat a mouthful of blood. This battle gave him an idea about his real strength. Two S-rank experts had died in his hand today and it was enough for him. If another S-rank expert appeared then he wouldn''t be able to fight back. Fighting two S-rank was his current limit. But he will get stronger in the future. The mastery of his Archetype was still low so he had the potential to rival those shackled realm experts with his current evolution. The Archetype will be one of his foundations in the future. Saya was right this was his foundation in reaching monster lord. Although he had the system, he didn''t need to rely on it as he couldn''t level up Archetype using points. He would practice later and improve his strength to the point that he didn''t need his equipment skill to fight the S-rank experts. He stood up and his parasite slowly healed his wounds. After fighting fiercely, the regeneration ability of his parasite had slowed down. He gathered a little bit of his energy in his throat. "Gragas, Amanda, Yenxa! Come here! We''re leaving this place!" His voice echoed in the entire place. Soon, Gragas, Amanda, and Yenxa appeared before him. They were wounded and blood covered their bodies. Also, their breathing was ragged. It seems that their battles were hard too. "Have you secured the items?" Souta looked at Amanda and asked. Amanda nodded before she showed the items to him. "How can we get out of this place?" Gragas asked while looking at the broken barrier in the sky. He could feel several presences of Annihilation Realm powerhouse. It would be bad if those people caught them. Also, those people must be targeting Souta. It was impossible for them not to sense the dense best feram in the atmosphere after an intense battle. "I prepared an escape route," Souta said to him. Before he started the battle, he already knew what would happen if he didn''t have an escape route. So he prepared it. ... The battle in the Crimson Auction shook the entire Paultry City. The entire underground base was demolished and hundreds of people died. The barrier prevented anyone from leaving and entering so most of the people inside had either fought to death or died from the aftershocks. The incident involved an unknown monster, several Annihilation Realm masters, and dozens of Extermination Realm masters. The reports of the battle quickly spread in the city. It shook the heart of the people and it made them shiver uncontrollably. Four Annihilation Realm masters and dozens of Extermination Realm masters had died. Four Annihilation Realm master?! That''s a strong force that other people couldn''t ignore. Even the larger organizations of the Paultry City were scared when they heard the news. Those four powerful people were a huge asset for an organization like them. They weren''t Union Peace or Night Watch that ruled dozens of big cities in the central continent. Only the top 10 organizations in the land could afford to lose four Annihilation Realm experts. Naturally, the Night Watch who ruled the Paultry City launched a large scale investigation. They wanted to find out what really happened in the Crimson Auction. Soon, they''ve found out that the two Annihilation Realm masters had died at the hands of an unknown monster. They concluded that the monster was a fourth evolution monster but then a lot of questions appeared. A fourth evolution monster could easily kill an Annihilation Realm so why did it take so long for a fourth evolution monster to kill the two Annihilation Realm? Maybe, the monster wasn''t a fourth evolution from the beginning. But no matter how powerful a third evolution monster is, they couldn''t hope to kill an Annihilation Realm. In fact, they were just a prey for Annihilation Realm masters. Also, a fourth evolution monster was too rare in the whole world. Only the Monster Dungeon in the east has fourth evolution monsters in their ranks. Each time a fourth evolution monster moves it would cause a huge ruckus in the land and that''s why the Union Peace was keeping an eye on them. As only Extinction Realm masters could handle them. In the end, the Night Watch said that it was indeed a third evolution monster and it''s not an ordinary one. Instead, the monster was probably a rare species and a mutated one at that. That''s the only explanation that they could give. If it''s a mutated monster then there''s a probability that it could kill an S-rank. But it was still a possibility and a lot of powerful people who were familiar with monsters didn''t believe it. This piece of news spread out in the nearby cities like a wildfire and various organizations tightened their defenses. They didn''t want a monster to enter their city and cause a problem just like in Paultry City. ... In the Earthen Core City... Yenxa, Amanda, Gragas, and Souta were inside a room with Eilish, the Leader of the Red Light District. After the battle, the group quickly went to the Earthen Core City and Eilish helped them enter the city in an illegal way. She had some influence in this city as an Extinction Realm master so she had various methods. Eilish tucked her silky blue hair on her ears and she lifted a glass of wine. She glanced at Souta and said, "I''ve heard the incident in Paultry City. I didn''t expect that there would be a battle." "Yeah, those guys are targeting me. They know that I will come in that place." Souta said with a sigh. "Those guys must be connected to the group in the hidden base. In other words, the Union Peace. When you''ve arrived in the hidden base, they''ve probably guessed that you''re looking for the clues of the Witch Clan so when the auction started in the Paultry City, they''ve guarded the soul weapon to see if you''re going to appear. Lucky for them, you delivered yourself on their doorstep. It''s just that they underestimated your strength." Eilish paused for a moment and smiled. "Me too, I didn''t expect that you''re capable." Gragas, who was listening to the side, couldn''t take it anymore. He opened his eyes and said, "I''ve gotten involved in your affairs. Those people will investigate all the people that attended the auction so they will know my identity. It means that I can''t go back to Paultry City." Eilish turned to Gragas. "So what are you trying to say?" "Benefits. I want benefits." Gragas said. "You already have the soul weapon in your hand so don''t ask for something else. I''ll let you meet my witch friend if you keep quiet about this." Souta said. The corner of Amanda''s mouth twitched when she heard Souta''s words. "They are coming for you. If only I know that they will attack the auction house, then I wouldn''t have come with you." Gragas said. "It''s the same. You will take the soul weapon even if I''m not there so naturally, you will fight them. It''s just that we work together this time and handle them." Souta glanced at him. "Also, you have to tell me about the Witch Clan. It''s a part of our deal." "Just accept it Gragas. Even if you want it or not, you are already involved in this case the moment you decided to take the soul weapon. This is your lifelong dream, isn''t it? You have said before that you are prepared to face any kinds of consequences." Eilish added from the side. "Fine..." Gragas sighed in defeat. He didn''t expect this development at all. He was just a simple blacksmith that has a dream to replicate soul weapons. A blacksmith that has a power level of an S-rank said that he was a normal blacksmith. Who would believe it? "I don''t know if it will help you but..." Gragas began to explain what he knew about the Witch Clan. The others listened to his story especially Amanda who was eager to know details about her clan. He didn''t know much about the Witch Clan but he knew a lot of things about their soul weapon. He explained what he found in his years of research about them. After half an hour, Souta sighed as he glanced at the system. The information of Gragas wasn''t enough to complete the Quest 2 of Chain Quest. But it wasn''t in vain. At the very least, he learned that the Witch Clan was a secluded clan decades ago. They were powerful and yet they didn''t involve themselves in worldly affairs. According to Gragas, there were twenty-seven branches of Witch Clan in the central continent. And one of them must be the hidden base that they''ve found. About the main territory of the Witch Clan, no one knew about it except for themselves. Five years ago, Gragas explored the continent to find these hidden bases. He wanted to see if he will find something that could help him in replicating the soul weapon. Unfortunately, he met a group of people and they heavily injured him. It was fortunate that he managed to keep his life but since then he decided to settle himself in Paultry City. Also because of that setback, he advanced his power level to Annihilation Realm. "Isn''t your friend a witch? So why doesn''t your friend know about the hidden base?" Gragas asked. "My friend is an orphan. My friend only realizes that he is a witch after his soul weapon materialized." Souta replied calmly. ''He? So I''m a man now.'' Amanda closed her eyes when she heard Souta''s words. This guy was good at lying. If Souta wasn''t talking about her then she would believe his words. ''In the end, we still need to find these hidden bases..'' Souta said inwardly. Chapter 517 - Two Weeks In the south continent... Alice was monitoring Torkez and Franklin''s actions. The Noxious, the assassin group formed by Franklin, became the strongest underground organization of the Numan Country. It developed very fast and it alerted a lot of people. So most of the underground organizations tried to stop Noxious but all of them were demolished. Franklin personally annihilated those people with Isabella''s help. Compared to the central continent, the people in south continent were weaker. The only people that could be a threat to them were the Annihilation Realm masters. In other words, the S-rank experts that controlled the Numan Country. The Noxious swallowed various underground organizations in just a month and they finally extend their hand on the neighboring countries to expand their influence and strength. It became a powerful force with five A-rank experts, one hundred twenty B-rank experts, five hundred sixty C-rank experts, and thousands of below C-rank experts. It will continue to rise and Franklin was confident in his abilities. The Clautus Group was pretty much normal compared to Noxious. It just became a city-scale organization as it completely replaced the Red Witch and Nine Lives in the Blue Ray City. The Clautus Group wasn''t an underground organization so they had to be careful about their reputation and action. After all, they didn''t want to challenge the ruling forces of the Numan Country with their current strength. They will suffer an instant defeat if they fight one of the ruling forces as they didn''t have an Annihilation Realm master in their ranks. Alice was satisfied with their works as they were close in conquering a Numan Country. She''s the one who''s in charge here as she was the only one who could contact Souta. Souta didn''t have any spare transmission talisman with him so Torkez and the rest didn''t have a way to contact him. They didn''t want to use the Great Astley Empire''s technology in the Guardian Fortress as there''s a high possibility that someone from the central continent could detect the wavelength. It''s too risky compared to the transmission talisman. About Yuko and Doranjan, Alice had no news about them. She could only hope that the two were doing well in the Monster Kingdom. "Those two are strong so they are going to be fine..." She muttered as she looked through the window. The city looks peaceful but she knew that various organizations were competing hidden in the shadows. "I will continue my training. I completely liquefied all the mana in my mana pool and reached the limit of A-rank. The next process is solidifying. Just a little bit more and I will attain S-rank." ... Two weeks had passed since the incident in the Paultry City. Souta and the others hide in Eilish''s mansion. They were safe here and no one would forcefully barge inside the house of an Extinction Realm master. The situation became intense as Night Watch decided to pressure the Monster Dungeon by sending a few elites. A monster was involved in the incident so most of the people thought that it was related to the Monster Dungeon. Even the Union Peace decided to move and pressure the Monster Dungeon. The atmosphere was intense as war could break out at any moment. The nearby monster around it was eradicated and it could be seen as Night Watch wouldn''t stop until they learned the inside story of the incident. But then the Monster Dungeon denied everything and said that they didn''t send a monster in that place much less a monster that could use best feram. The Monster Dungeon wasn''t afraid of them. They literally came out of their nest and fought the people from the Night Watch and Union Peace. They pushed them back with a dominant attitude. "It will turn into a war," Eilish said. "Who do you think will win?" Souta asked as he glanced at Eilish. "Of course, the Union Peace. If the Monster Dungeon is going to fight Night Watch then they would have a chance but sadly, the Union Peace is present. It''s the effect of your action in Paultry City." Eilish smiled faintly. "Yeah," Souta nodded. He didn''t expect that his simple action in the city would cause a chain reaction that would lead to war. Well, he didn''t care about them. He was glad that they would fight each other as it would give him an opportunity to move freely. An opportunity to find the hidden base. Eilish turned to Gragas and asked, "Are you going to join them?" "Ugh, what can I do? I''ve gotten involved in this trouble so I don''t think that I could get away with this easily." Gragas said with a sigh. Since the Night Watch and Union Peace were prepared for a war then he was sure that the two giant organizations would hunt him down if they knew that he was involved in the incident. "That''s good to hear." Souta smiled faintly. "What''s good about it?" Gragas asked with an annoyed expression. "It means that you have a chance to learn more about the soul weapon. If it''s your dream then isn''t it normal to take the risk? Don''t tell me you are afraid of them?" "No, I''m not afraid of them! I just want to leave peacefully and create a masterpiece!" Gragas said in a loud voice. "Hehe~ leave peacefully..." Souta laughed and he shook his head. Then, he added, "You wouldn''t be able to leave peacefully if you had a huge dream of replicating a soul weapon. In any case, you will face various challenges in order to achieve it. As you know, a lot of blacksmiths tried to replicate soul weapons but none of them achieve it." "I know! You don''t have to tell me about it!" Souta shook his head and he turned his attention on Eilish. "Anyway, we will leave this city tomorrow to go back to the hidden base." He said. "Oh, you''re leaving?" Eilish raised her eyebrows. "Yes, I can''t wait any longer. Plus, the Night Watch and Union Peace are busy dealing with Monster Dungeon so we will sneak inside the hidden base." Souta nodded at her. "You have a point but you said that there are people guarding the hidden base, right? So, how do you plan to deal with them?" Eilish asked. "The usual way without any scheme. Just utterly crush them since I don''t have to worry about reinforcement." Souta''s tone was chilly as the atmosphere around him turned cold. "It seems that you are confident. You''ve escaped before so why did you think that you can take them right now?" "I didn''t retreat because I don''t have a chance to take them down. I retreat because I don''t want to attract attention, but I don''t have to worry about it right now. The Monster Dungeon solved all of my problems as it took all of the attention of the huge organizations in this land." The Union Peace must have thought that he was going to hide for a while and they wouldn''t guess that he was going to attack the hidden base. It''s not entirely that they were going to lower their security because of this reason. In fact, the security of the hidden base must be higher than the last time. Anyone who was in their right mind would tighten the defense of their base after an unknown people sneak inside it. So Souta already expected to fight some S-rank once again. In the past two weeks, Souta didn''t just sit idly waiting for the opportunity. He trained hard in the last two weeks to increase the mastery of his Archetype. He also increased the capacity of his monster orb using the monster orb of a fifth evolution monster. In the battle, he wasted some of the energy inside it. He used it as a fuel to fire his [Bestrou] and charged his monster orb to increase the duration of his release form. So those energies didn''t improve his energy capacity at all. His energy had reached 2,000 points. The improvement kept increasing after he learned the Archetype. The third form of Archetype was really helpful as it could enhance his training speed by several times. It could also help him hide his energy inside his body without a single leak so that no one could sense his best feram unless a powerful sensory type appeared in front of him. It was called [Third Form: Serenity of the Vajra]. The fourth form of the Archetype was a defensive ability. It would be helpful to him but he didn''t use it in the last battle. Just like the fifth form, he could hardly control this form. It would forcefully cancel some of the activated skills in his body. So unless he''s in a dire that he absolutely needs to block an attack, he wouldn''t use it for the time being. [Fourth Form: Bridal Lotus Benevolent Rose]. That''s the name of the fourth form of his Archetype. "That settles it. We will leave tomorrow." Souta said before he stood up and left the room.. Amanda and Yenxa followed him closely. Chapter 518 - [Nebula Heart] Souta went to the room that Eilish provided to him. He closed the door and set up a field and sat cross-legged in the center of the room. "Huff..." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The system interface flashed before him. Skill point(s): 44 Free attribute point(s): 91 He earned 10 skill points from completing Remina''s quest. Then, he earned 20 skill points from learning the Archetype skill. The rest was added because of the quest completed by his legion members in the Imperium. It''s good that his Adventurer''s ID wasn''t expired yet. He could still earn skill points from his subordinates in Imperium. [Sealed Abilities and Skills] ?[Galaxy Eyes] ?[Nebula Heart] ?[Star Veins] ?[Archetype: Eternity Stellar Formation] ?[Cosmic Authority: Ophiuchus] He glanced at the legacy that was sealed by the system. This was entirely different from the normal legacy that he has in the game. When he received the legacy in the game, all the skills and abilities will be added to his skill tree. But this one was sealed so he had to unseal it using points. Then, it would appear on his skill tree. If he wanted to learn it then he would have to use skill points just like how he learned skills from his skill tree. After all, this legacy would be gone if the system didn''t seal it. He couldn''t blame the system for this. He could only blame himself as his body wasn''t strong enough at that time. He wouldn''t have died if not for the system. Right now, he guessed that his strength was enough to handle one of the abilities in the legacy and he had enough skill points to unsealed and learn one of them. He could only unseal the cosmic authority if he was Level 80. Then, about the Archetype. He could only use it after he learned the other three abilities. Souta contemplated what he should unseal with his current amount of points. He could unusual two abilities but he would be left with no skill points and free attribute points to learn it. ?[Nebula Heart] Cost: 20 skill points and 40 free attribute points He decided that he will unseal this ability and learn this ability. He didn''t hesitate anymore and used points to unseal the ability. *Ding!* [Unsealing the Nebula Heart...] [1%... 16%... 43%... 57%... 74%... 95%... 99%...] *Ding!* [Unsealing complete!] [You can view Nebula Heart in Skill Tree!] Souta quickly opened the Skill Tree and checked the [Nebula Heart]. He used the same amount of points when he unsealed it to learn this ability. *Ding!* [Warning!] [Prepare yourself!] Before he could react, Souta widened his eyes as extreme pain assaulted his body. His muscles contracted and sweat formed around his body. It looks like he just came out of the bath with his body drenched in sweat. "Argh!!" Souta roared in pain but nothing escape out of the room because of the field he set up. The pain was greater than anything that he had experienced so far. It was excruciating as if he wanted to die and end this pain. "Fuck!! Damn!!" He gritted his teeth and he felt his monster orb was being crushed by an unknown force. It was painful as this was one of the most important parts of a third evolution monster and above. Soon, blood came out of his seven orifices. The temperature of his body was changing every second. It will turn cold and in the next moment, it will turn hot. Every fiber of his body was feeling the excruciating pain and it was transmitted to his brain at the same time. Even his energy sensed was assaulted by the pain leaving him nothing. "ARGHHHH!!!!" Saya kept calling his name but he couldn''t hear her with his current condition. *Ding!* [You''ve gained Nebula Heart!] The pain in Souta''s body instantly disappeared. "Huff... Huff... Huff..." His breathing was heavy and his body was drenched in sweat. He couldn''t believe the pain that he experienced just now. It was horrendous and he didn''t want to experience it again. He almost lost his will to survive. ''Souta, what happen to you?'' Saya asked him with a concerned tone in her voice. "The legacy... that I''ve gotten in Eidin sub-world... I... didn''t expect that... a single ability in the legacy could bring... so much pain..." Souta said between his breath. He raised his hand and wiped the sweat on his face. Then, he noticed the changes in his body. He was surprised when he felt a new organ filled with energy beside his monster orb. The new organ was situated on the right side of his chest next to the monster orb which was on the center of his chest. The new organ had the same size and appearance of his heart. The only difference was that this new organ was filled with energy like the monster orb. He hurriedly opened the interface and saw a bunch of notifications. [Your energy recovery has increased by 200 points!] [Your stamina recovery has increased by 20 points!] [Your Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 200 points!] [Your energy has increased by 500 points!] It was great, especially the increase in energy recovery. Before this, his energy recovery was 291 per hour but now it became 491 per hour. He had a total of 2,500 energy(best feram) as of right now. It means that even if he drained his energy in the battle, he just need to simply rest for five hours. If he sleeps his recovery would increase by five folds so he really didn''t need five hours to recover his energy to the maximum. He could last long in his released form but there was one problem. His stamina was too low compared to his health and energy. He needed to find a way to enhance his stamina and stamina regen. Aside from this, there was one more thing. The [Nebula Heart] had an energy capacity of 1,000 points energy. This was like a mana pool of humans and demis or monster orb of monsters. It means that even if he drained the 2,500 points of best feram in his monster orb, he still had 1,000 points of best feram in his [Nebula Heart] which was situated beside his monster orb. What a good bargain. His skill points and free attribute points weren''t wasted with something like this. Energy: 2,900(Best Feram) ?Nebula Heart: 1,000(Best Feram) ?Parasite Queen: 100(Mana) Out of the three energy bars, the parasite queen was the only one that didn''t have energy recovery. The upper two could recover on their own but the parasite queen was different. He had to manually fill it up like a bottle of water. His energy was 2,900 points and the reason was his intelligence had increased by 200 points. The ratio before was 1:1 but after it reached 2,000 points, the ratio became 1:2. If it reaches 3,000 points, he guessed that the ratio would increase to 1:3. Compared to the time when he just evolved, the amount of energy he had right now was simply amazing. When he entered third evolution stage, he only had 700 points of energy. This was nothing, and each time he leveled up his energy had increased by 20 points. He was Level 51 right now so the added energy was 220 points. Well, there were various ways to increase his energy right now. He still had a bunch of monster orbs in the Guardian Fortress. He couldn''t help but look forward to his promising future. There were still [Galaxy Eyes] and [Star Veins]. He was sure that these two wouldn''t disappoint him. [Nebula Heart] was great so these two should be the same. After he unsealed and learned the other two, he will unseal the Archetype skill. It will be great as Archetype was categorized as supreme skill. Souta talked with Saya for a while before he called Amanda and Yenxa. He decided to use their time to practice until morning before they depart. On the next day, the group finished their preparation. "This boy Louise will lead you outside of the city," Eilish said as he introduced a man in his early twenties with a power level of B-rank to the group. "I''m in your care." The man said and he slightly bowed to the group. Souta nodded and asked Eilish, "Are you sure that this path is safe?" "Yeah, I''ve been using this to illegally import some of the goods inside the city so there''s no problem to it." Eilish smiled. "Good. Then, we''ll go now." Souta said as he turned around. Yenxa followed him while Amanda bowed towards Eilish before she followed Souta. "Tsk, I don''t know what you are planning for helping us but I think that you wouldn''t get what you wanted," Gragas said before he followed Souta. The guide bowed respectfully to Eilish before he followed the group. His task was just to guide Souta and the rest so he wouldn''t fail it. Eilish looked at their back until they disappeared. "I''m looking forward to your achievements. I think that it''s time that someone challenges the authority of Union Peace. Nothing happens in the past few decades and it''s the right time." She narrowed her eyes as her aura turned cold. "I will free myself from this world. My target is Imperium, the World of Gods.. And I will achieve godhood no matter what happens." Chapter 519 - Yuko And Doranjans Situation Souta, Yenxa, Amanda, and Gragas arrived one kilometer before the hidden base below the two mountains. They didn''t move forward anyone and decided to rest as they were afraid that some people would spot them if they moved forward. Souta glanced at Amanda and Yenxa. Amanda was a witch and her soul weapon at this moment only had a power of an orange grade weapon. Her power level was improving thanks to their constant training inside Saya''s inner consciousness. She''s at liquefying realm and when he asked her about it she answered that she liquefied forty percent of her mana in her mana pool. It means that she already reached the intermediate stage of liquefying realm or A-rank expert. It wouldn''t take too long for her to reach high stage and peak stage. But then her power level was still low compared to Franklin and Torkez who reached high stage of liquefying realm. Also, her combat prowess was lower than the two who experienced brutal war in Great Astley Empire for decades and nonstop fighting in the living labyrinth. Her skill set too was nothing compared to them. It seems that he needed to thoroughly train her and impart some of his skills to her. Then, about Yenxa. She was a genius as she already reached the peak of C-rank. Her skill set and combat prowess too weren''t bad. It''s better than Amanda. If Amanda was an early stage B-rank then Yenxa would have beaten her. In training, Yenxa never complains and she did everything that he ordered like a robot. She didn''t show much emotion and she only followed his commands. She wouldn''t even budge even if Franklin or Alice ordered her to do something for them. If the order didn''t come from Souta, she wouldn''t follow it. She swore to serve him not those people so she only listened to him. It''s bad. Souta said inwardly as he pinched the bridge of his nose. There will be a time in the future when he''s not by her side. At that time, she needed to listen to Alice''s or Torkez''s commands. It seems that he needed to correct her behavior. But he could somehow understand her. Yenxa didn''t listen to others because she couldn''t communicate with them. Also, she didn''t have a sense of familiarity with humans and demis. She felt at home with Souta beside her who was also a goblin. ''Hmm? Maybe, I should leave Yenxa to Doranjan next time. That way, maybe she could open up to the others.'' Souta rubbed his chin as he contemplated what he should do to Yenxa. Oh, right? Doranjan and Yuko were in the Monster Kingdom in the south continent. Souta closed his eyes and activated the [Pet Resonance] skill to Yuko. Both of their senses were shared to each other. ''Master?'' A small tiny voice sounded in his head. There''s no doubt that this was Yuko''s voice. She must have felt surprised as he suddenly activated the [Pet Resonance]. ''Yeah, it''s me. Where''s Doranjan? I couldn''t see him through your vision and couldn''t sense him through your perception.'' He nodded and asked. ''Hmph! That hateful old lizard left me here! One day, I''m going to defeat that old lizard! I will! I will beat him!!'' ''Hahaha, Doranjan is already a century year old so you wouldn''t stand a chance against him! He could become a fourth evolution stage at any moment as he reached the peak of third stage.'' ''Then, I will also evolve into the fourth stage and beat him! I don''t think that I couldn''t beat him in the future!'' ''I''m looking forward to it.'' Souta laughed lightly before he asked, ''So where is he?'' ''That old lizard is fighting for the dominance of this woodlands. I don''t know where he went but he said that he had sensed the presence of another lizard like him.'' ''Oh, another dragon... It''s interesting.'' Souta chatted with Yuko for a while as he asked about their current situation in that place. The place they were residing right now was called Forbidden Woodlands or Monster Kingdom. It was a place full of monsters and it has a total of thirty-seven enormous mountains. These mountains were full of resources and each mountain was guarded by a third evolution monster. According to Yuko''s words, there''s no leader in this place and all thirty-seven third evolution monsters were the authorities. If a thirty-eighth third evolution monster was born then it would turn into a fight to control one of the mountains. So when Yuko and Doranjan learned it, they decided to occupy one of the mountains by defeating the third evolution monster that ruled it. Still, thirty-seven third evolution monsters were a huge force. This was the reason why most of the humans and demis banned anyone from entering the Forbidden Woodlands. Eventually, people started calling this place the Monster Kingdom. Fortunately, those thirty-seven monsters looked like they didn''t work with each other. Their pride was high and wouldn''t cooperate. To control them, one needed to shatter their pride and thoroughly beat them to the point that their chances of winning were basically zero. The basics of taming a third evolution monster. If the third evolution monster had high intelligence, then they could talk reasons with it. "Damn, thirty seven... Even I wouldn''t be able to handle it. Three would be enough to defeat me and five would be enough to kill me." Souta muttered as he looked at the sky. The Monster Kingdom in the south continent was already strong but the so-called Monster Dungeon here in central continent was stronger. He shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. He took out the fifth stage monster orb and started his training. On the next day, Souta opened his eyes before the sunrise. He expanded his perception and found that Yenxa and Amanda were asleep while Gragas was already awake. He stood up and woke the two. They start their infiltration and maybe it will lead to another battle. It''s inevitable as he guessed that he would interrogate the people there for more information. ''So the battle is unavoidable...'' He said to himself. The group quickly ate their breakfast before they departed towards the hidden base. The distance was one kilometer and they could quickly cover it with their speed but they slowed down their movements. They didn''t want to alert the other people. "This is pretty bad right?" Gragas said in a low voice while looking around. "Yeah, they''ve completely occupied the two mountains," Souta replied. "How can we enter the hidden base?" Amanda asked. The two mountains were several meters in front of them but there were barricades set up around the foot of the mountains and there were hundreds of guards patrolling around it. Four hundred Ruin Realm masters. One hundred forty Disaster Realm masters. Twenty nine Extermination Realm masters. Lucky for them, there''s no Annihilation Realm in the two mountains but they weren''t sure about the hidden base beneath the two mountains. It seems that they''ve somehow lowered their guards because of the impending war with Monster Dungeon. If not, they would''ve probably sent five Annihilation Realm masters to guard this place. Gragas, Souta, and Amanda looked at each other. "Should we go?" Gragas asked in a low voice. "Yeah," Souta nodded. "Who''s going to be the bait?" Amanda asked as she looked at the two. "Of course, it''s you and Yenxa," Souta replied to her. "I should''ve expected this." Amanda sighed. "Good luck, I will help you using my doppelganger so don''t worry," Souta assured her. He knew that it was suicide for Amanda and Yenxa to confront these people unless they were at Annihilation Realm like Gragas. Even Gragas would have died if he confronted twenty-nine A-rank experts and hundreds of B-rank experts alone. His protective field would eventually shatter if it kept receiving attacks from A-rank experts. "You should start it, Gragas." Souta glanced at the dwarf. "Okay." Gragas nodded and he raised his hammer above his head. His mana spiked up and it coated his hammer. Them, flames surged from his hammer as the temperature rose drastically. "So much for an infiltration mission! This is already a raid mission!" He roared as he swung his hammer on the ground. [Earthshaking Burning Smash]! The ground shook heavily as huge cracks formed on it before flames gushed out of these cracks just like tidal waves. Swoosh! Swoosh! Amanda and Yenxa quickly charged forward to swiftly kill some of these people. Gragas'' attack caught most of the guards off guard and it would give them a chance to eliminate dozens of people. [Doppelganger]! Seven humanoid shadows emerged from Souta''s shadow. They stood beside him before their body flickered as they followed Amanda and Yenxa. Ohm! Souta opened his palm and three pitch black balls formed on top of it. The black balls scattered around the mountains. He could simply use it to teleport later. He could also use it to save Yenxa or Amanda if they couldn''t handle their enemies. "Yeah, this is not an infiltration mission anymore!" Chapter 520 - Battle In The Hidden Base "Stellar Devourer...?" Leo narrowed his eyes as he stared at the planet-size pile of flesh in front of him. This monster lord was stronger than the gods he had fought before. It didn''t live in Imperium but instead, it was leaving in the second dimension. "You are wondering why I''m here? It''s simple, I just sensed the battle here from the other dimension so I came to check what happened." A large eye appeared on the humongous monster and it gazed at Leo. The second dimension, third dimension, and fourth dimension up to the thirteenth dimension were the layers of this universe which ancient people called Mother. Most of the dimensions were destroyed because of the war twenty thousand years ago. Even the dimensional beings that inhabited those dimensions have perished. Only god-level powerhouses could travel between dimensions using void travel. But then, there''s nothing much to see in other dimensions because it was full of space cracks and holes. There''s no energy in those dimensions anymore and there''s nothing that could be found there. Still, some creatures were living in those places like this monster lord, the Stellar Devourer. Also, some of the bases of God''s Will and Deadly Sins were situated in those shattered dimensions. Even some of the heretic gods were hiding there. "You are injured right now and yet I''m afraid that even in your current condition I wouldn''t win a fight against you. One of the strongest gods of Imperium." Stellar Devourer said in a deep tone. "Tsk, at the very least you can worsen my injuries and I don''t want that to happen. I still have something to do so I don''t want any trouble." Leo clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I don''t think that you came here to say those words to me so spill it." "I''m 19,000 years old and one of the oldest monster lords. I don''t care about worldly affairs. I just want to see the Zodiac Leo and know your goals." "As expected of an old monster lord, you aren''t even afraid to mention the words, Zodiac Leo." Leo grinned. "What can you find with your curse name? I''m just staying in the second dimension for the past hundred years so you will not find anything interesting with that." "That''s true, but what else do you want to know? Hmm..." Leo suddenly stopped talking as he stared at the monster in front of him with wide eyes. Zodiac Leo was a curse name. Anyone who uttered these two words will be known by Leo. Everything that they did in the past two years will become visible to Leo. "You...!!" Leo couldn''t believe what he saw in Stellar Devourer. "Yeah, I''m sure that you''ve seen it with your curse name ability but that creature is indeed the administrator that protected the laws of the universe." Stellar Devourer nodded and said. "The Great Barrier is going to open and the whole Imperium will undergo a huge change." Leo paused as his eyes turned cold. "But I don''t care about the universe, I will only change my mind after I achieved my goal. That''s the reason why I''m doing this." "The forgotten gods, monster lords, and spirit gods from my era are preparing to enter the Imperium once the barrier has opened." "I don''t care about you people. Just remember that don''t get in my way or else it will become a bloodbath. You will realize why they call Zodiacs the Bringer of Calamity." Dense energy seeped out of Leo''s body as he stared at Stellar Lord with chilly eyes. ... Souta and Gragas went inside the hidden base while Amanda and Yenxa were distracting the guards around the two mountains. The upper floors of the hidden base were destroyed because of their previous encounter. The only floors that were left were the lower floors and these floors were several times tougher than the upper floors. But then, the lower floors were covered in boulders. They didn''t have a time to find the passage so they had create one. [Burrow]! Souta used his skill and he easily pierced through the ground using his hands. He only stopped when he found the passage before the upper floors collapsed. Since he could remember, it was easy to find and drill it. Thud! Souta and Gragas landed in front of the giant gate. "If I''m not wrong, there are two golems here... But it seems that it''s gone now." Souta said as he looked at the side of the gate. "Two golems?" Gragas glanced at him. "Yeah, two golems and they probably had a power of an Extermination Realm master," Souta replied and he was about to add something when he sensed several mana fluctuations. Boom! The whole area shook heavily as dense mana spread out in the atmosphere. Souta narrowed his eyes and he stared at the floor. He could sense that there were one S-rank and a fierce number of A-rank experts below. One S-rank alone wasn''t a problem but there were more than fifty A-rank here. Gragas and Souta would have a hard time eliminating them. ''Well, this is different compared to the auction house.'' Souta said inwardly as he glanced at Gragas. Gragas was covered in orange grade armor and his hammer was red grade. He was fully prepared this time compared to the time in Paultry City. Without high grade armor, Gragas could already defeat an S-rank. So Souta didn''t need to worry about him. "Let''s go and surprise them," Souta said as he placed his palm on the gate and pushed it. "Yeah, I''m upset because they are occupying the hidden base of Witch Clan like this. If they aren''t, I would have learned something about the Witch Clan decades ago." Gragas grinned as he placed his hammer on his shoulder. "Don''t come back to me while crying," Souta said as he slowly pulled the vajra sword out of its sheath. "Ha? You''re the one that should be careful, monster. If you run from them, I will personally subjugate you." Gragas snorted. The door slowly opened and a pale light shone ahead. A group of people was waiting for them behind the gate. All of them possessed a powerful aura that made the ground beneath their feet tremble. "Let''s go and start fighting them. Remember to spare some people so that we could interrogate them." Souta said with a wide grin before he charged forward. Swoosh! [Night Overlord''s Aura]! [Agility Boost]! [Strength Boost]! [Shadow Cloak]! [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! [Cat''s Speed]! Best feram burst out of his body and it collided with the mana causing sparks to fly out in the atmosphere. [Cross Moon]!! Boom! Boom! Gragas looked at the scene before him. He shook his head before he charged forward to join the battle. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta moved his body left and right as he avoided various attacks of more than twenty A-rank experts. His speed was faster than these people but they could still react because of various buffs and combat arts. [Shadow Bind]! The ground turned black as dozens of shadows rose from it. It quickly attacked the nearby people. [Dark Cloud Hunting]! Black mist oozed out of his body and it quickly spread in the entire floor, covering everything in black smoke. Obviously, this would affect Gragas as well but he didn''t care as this would also affect the enemies. It was a fair trade for them. At least, Souta got buffed and the enemies received a debuff. Souta turned around and waved his hand. He casted [Agility Boost] and [Strength Boost] on Gragas to make sure that he could handle several A-rank experts. "For now, I need to find the S-rank." He muttered as ten black balls formed on his back. The black balls spun and the gravity had increased several times. It tried to suppress all the A-rank experts within his sight. Boom! With his current amount of energy, Souta didn''t need to worry about the energy cost of his spells. He could afford to use them at the same time and use them repeatedly. "There!" Souta turned his head as he sensed the S-rank on the floor below. Suddenly, six people appeared around him. The six people quickly thrust their sharp weapons forward without saying anything. It was swift and accurate as they blocked all the escape routes. Also, ordinary people wouldn''t be able to block all of their attack which was positioned in different directions. Unfortunately, they met Souta. Strings of black flesh protruded on Souta''s skin and it matched the attack of the six people. "What?!!" Then, they saw Souta inflated as various savage-looking spikes burst on his back and exoskeleton black armor slowly covered his body. Four spider limbs grew and it quickly slashed down. Clang! Clang! Clang! The six people managed to block the attack but the force behind it pushed them dozens of meters away. They stabilized their posture as their expression turned serious. A huge amount of best feram spread out trying to suppress their mana. A three-meter tall monster came out of the smoke as it looked at them with fierce eyes.. The sword in its hand looked like a stick with the monster''s size but then a layer of black flesh covered the sword. Chapter 521 - Improvement Souta coated his sword with best feram and swung it on the A-rank on his left side. Swoosh! Five A-rank experts rushed forward and blocked his attack with their combined strength. They even set up a barrier spell to weaken his momentum so that they could succeed in blocking his slash. "These guys..." He was surprised to see that these people had great teamwork even without communication. It''s like they knew what their comrades were going to do. They were good but Souta was used in fighting several people at the same time. In the game, a bunch of people surrounded him and tried to PK him several times. Even the top guilds cornered him and those people had almost perfect teamwork. He even died to some of them because of their trap but he also learned a lot of things from him. Clang! Clang! Clang! Souta clashed with a total of fourteen A-rank experts. Every time he tried to unleash a fatal attack, his opponents would work together so that no one could die among them. If one of them suffered an injury, the injured person will step back and drink a health potion to recover. Still, Souta had the upper hand in the fight. It''s just that he couldn''t find an opportunity to kill one of them. They were passively defending against his attack waiting for him to return to his normal form. That''s the basic tactics in subduing a third evolution monster. "But do you think that it would work against me? An expert in monster subjugation quest!" Souta stomped his left foot on the ground. [Shadow Bind]! [Shadow Spike]! It wasn''t enough to damage an A-rank expert but it was enough to distract them. The fourteen A-rank experts slashed the tentacles and spikes. Then, they sensed a huge amount of energy in front of them. He pointed his sword ahead and casted [Dark Shooting Ray]. Boom! A dark beam shoots forward and the fourteen people jumped on the sides to avoid it. The beam exploded behind as it destroyed several pillars, walls, floors, and ceilings of the hidden base. The entire place shook heavily as if it was going to collapse at any moment. The fourteen people were now divided into two groups. One was on the left side and the other one was on the right side. "Eh~ I got you now." Souta charged on the left side as he pressed his hand downward causing a huge amount of best feram to bore down. It was followed by the pressure of heavy gravity. Boom! The group on the left side tried to create a distance but they found that their feet were stuck on the ground. No, the ground turned into a pool of blood as sticky webs were wrapped around their toes. Swoosh! Souta arrived in front of them and grinned widely. The people on the right side wanted to help their comrades but then they''ve found that they were also stuck in a pool of mud with sticky webs around their toes. Then, black shadows rose from the ground and they wrapped around their bodies to prevent them from moving. Souta wasn''t finished. To make sure that they wouldn''t be able to escape, he created a net of webs from above before he imbued it with his best feram so that it wouldn''t snap easily. Swoosh! He opened his mouth and a large concentration of energy spun around it. A red energy ball with black linings expanded before it shrunk. The best feram in his monster orb and [Nebula Heart] quickly decreased at a fast rate as it gathered around his mouth. [Bestrou]! A tremendous beam shoots from his mouth and it swallowed everything in front of him. It was a pure destructive attack that disintegrated the walls in an instant. The bodies of A-rank experts tried to resist the energy at first but it didn''t last long before their defense was broken. First, their skins turned into ashes. Second, their muscles and meats. Lastly, their bones fall apart turning into tiny particles. Souta then turned his head with the intention to annihilate the group on the right side. But the group broke free from their shackles as they swiftly moved their bodies to avoid the terrifying beam. The people outside stopped fighting as the two mountains trembled as if it was afraid. Then, a powerful beam surged from the ground and it pierced the mountain before it exploded. Amanda was shaken when she saw the enormous mountain was reduced into a pile of rubble. From what she knew, this mountain was one thousand five hundred meters above the surface level. It wasn''t easy to destroy it but it seems that the red beam before didn''t target the mountain. It just pierced the mountain and shoots through the sky directly dispersing all the clouds. If it landed near them, then there''s a probability that she would suffer heavy injuries to the point that she could die at any moment. And the people below her power level would directly die. Swoosh! The group''s expression turned serious. The monster in front of them was stronger than the info that they''d received. From the info, this monster was already strong as it could contend against two Annihilation Realm masters but it seems that they still underestimated this monster. Of course, Souta was stronger than before. He gained [Nebula Heart] and it boosted his overall abilities. Also, he didn''t need to worry about his best feram being drained. "They got away..." Souta muttered in disappointment. It was not bad considering that he managed to reduce their numbers in half. Fighting fourteen A-rank experts would be a problem but fighting seven A-rank experts was easier. He had 2,900 best feram in his monster core and 1,000 best feram in his [Nebula Heart]. The difference was huge compared to the time when he fought in the auction house. At that time, he only had 2,000 best feram. He bent his knees and charged towards the seven A-rank experts. He raised his sword above his head and swung it down. Swoosh! Souta narrowed his eyes as a figure appeared in front of him. The figure used a halberd to block his sword attack. Boom! The shockwaves caused by his attack made the whole place tremble. "This time I will not retreat!" Souta roared as he slashed his sword repeatedly. He was familiar with this man. This man was the one who stopped him from exploring this hidden base before. He only thought that this man was just an A-rank but he didn''t expect that this man had the power of a peak S-rank that could rival the woman that he fought in the auction house. This is bad. If he fought this man in this place then the whole hidden base will collapse just like what happened in the auction house. He couldn''t let that happen until he explored this hidden base and discovered the information about the Witch Clan. Clang! Clang! Clang! Both of them exchanged powerful and fierce blows. Cracks started to form around the ceiling, floors, and walls. It wouldn''t last long before it collapsed. His [Bestrou] dealt a considerable amount of damage to the hidden base, after all. It destroyed most of the pillars that supported the hidden base. [Blessing of the God of Hunt]! [Watching Prey]! [Possession]! Souta used his aces and he slashed his sword horizontally. Clang! "What?!" The man was surprised as Souta''s strength had suddenly increased. Suddenly, a giant hand grabbed his face and various spikes tried to pierce his skin. Souta used every fiber of his muscles to throw the man on the ceiling. Bang! The man crashed through the ceiling. His body caused spider web cracks on it. He looked ahead only to find that Souta was already in front of him. "This monster...!" Souta slashed his sword once again as a red blade of energy swallowed the man. Then, he pointed his finger and casted [Dark Shooting Ray]. Boom! A huge gaping hole appeared on the ceiling. Since the hidden base was beneath the two mountains, a hole appeared on one of the two mountains. No, the other mountain was demolished by his best feram before so only one mountain stood still in this place. "Ugh!" The man found that he was five hundred meters above the surface. He calmed himself as he wiped the blood on his mouth. "Isn''t this monster stronger than the report?!" He was annoyed as he realized that the report given to him was false. The higher-ups clearly underestimated this monster and maybe that''s the reason why this monster decided to return to this place. He circulated his mana and looked up. "What the hell is this?" Dark clouds formed just right above him. The clouds were releasing a very oppressive aura and his instinct was telling him that it was dangerous. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! Black lightning rained down like a thousand arrows.. It enveloped and encompasses a wide area that made the man realize that it was impossible to escape its range. Chapter 522 - Capturing The Hidden Base BAM! BAM! BAM! The black lightning roared in the sky as it struck down a lone figure hundreds, no, thousands of times. "Argh!!" The man spat a mouthful of blood as he took a distance but the black lightning followed him. The monster also chased after him. He couldn''t believe it. A third evolution monster was suppressing him? An Annihilation Realm master? Fuck those higher-ups!! This monster was stronger than the normal third evolution stage monster. This monster was fully equipped with high-grade equipment. It could use spells like those mages. Also, its release form was longer than normal. [Element Drive: Earth Force]! Even after using everything that he had got, he couldn''t find an opportunity to defeat this monster. Swoosh! Souta chased after the man while pondering how could he capture this man alive. He finished testing his strength as he found that he could go toe to toe with an S-rank expert and even pushed an S-rank into the corner. He didn''t even use his [Draw Blood]. Also, his Archetype had grown stronger. His proficiency was just 4% before but now it reached 6%. The increase was just 2% yet the difference was huge. He didn''t even need to use the fifth form to severely damage an S-rank. Just the first form alone was enough to suppress those A-rank experts. Souta glanced below and the black lightning was pressuring the A-rank experts and this was the reason why they couldn''t help the S-rank. If they joined forces there''s a possibility that they could kill him but why would Souta let that happen. Archetype really lived up to its title, the supreme skill. Boom! Souta slashed his sword diagonally. The man raised his halberd to block Souta''s attack. Bang! He managed to block it but the force behind it blew him away. His figure crashed on the mountain like a meteorite causing a huge causing on it. The man quickly stood up but he realized that he was surrounded by black tentacles. "Fuck! I don''t have a time for these pests!!" He roared angrily and thrust his halberd forward. [Night Piercing Thrive]! The black tentacles in front of him were shredded into tiny pieces in an instant. But then the black lightning struck down at his position. Boom! He needed to constantly change his position or else the lightning will strike him down. Once it struck him, it will continue a barrage of thousands of lightning bolts. It will be harder to escape when that happens. Swoosh! But he made a grave mistake... He took his attention to somewhere else so he didn''t even notice that Souta was flying at him. When he noticed it, it was already too late. "Fuck!" A loud ear-piercing sound echoed as Souta flew in the mid-air. His body caused a shockwave as it tore the air. He grinned widely and thrust his sword forward. The sword was covered in layers of flesh, a dense amount of best feram, and black lightning from the first form. The man reacted by shifting his body to the side but the sword managed to pierce his shoulder. At least, he avoided deadly injury in his heart. "S-rank is really on a different level." Souta said with a smile before he twisted his sword. The enormous energy in his sword exploded causing it to shoot a powerful beam that tore the man''s shoulder. Boom! He then swung down his sword. It separated the man''s right arm from his body and blood spurted out like a fountain. Souta took a step forward and he grabbed the man''s face. Then, he smashed him on the ground. Boom! Black lightning struck the two but it only harmed the man. The black lightning from first form could only enhance his abilities. It couldn''t harm the user of the Archetype. He pinned down the man as the spider limbs of his back nailed the arm and two legs of the man to prevent him from moving. Then, he wrapped it with spider webs and black tentacles to lower the risk. At the same time, the gravity field pressed the man as if it was trying to crush him to death. "You monster!!" The man roared as he tried to free himself but everything he did was futile. Souta suppressed him with all of his might. The enormous amount of best feram that Souta had was pressing the man to the ground along with various skills and abilities. "You are good..." Souta said as he looked at his stomach and saw the halberd of the man penetrate his exoskeleton. It even caused him a considerable amount of damage but the parasite simply recovered his wounds as if nothing happened. "I still need you alive." He raised his hand and black lightning struck down. The atmosphere turned cold as the wailing of the souls echoed into their ears. He activated the [Soul Blood Mode] for a minute and he knocked unconscious the S-rank expert. Of all of his aces, this was the thing that he rarely use. This mode consumed souls, not energy or stamina. So he couldn''t use it carelessly. If a god discovered him using this ability, then it would be a problem. The gods were sensitive to souls and they could see those souls that couldn''t be seen by normal eyes. "I''ve finished it. It''s time to help the others." Souta stood up as he patted the dust on his body. Slowly, his body returned to its normal appearance. He now looked like a normal-looking demi, unlike his previous appearance which was like the incarnation of savages. ... After half an hour, he finished dealing with the other A-rank experts. He aided Amanda and Yenxa who couldn''t even defend against their opponents and just relied on their parasites to survive. It''s understandable that they couldn''t handle their opponents. Their power level was just A-rank and C-rank while their opponents were a bunch of A-rank and B-rank experts. Yenxa didn''t directly fight as an A-rank could one-shot her. Her parasite would be useless at that time. Luckily, Souta''s seven shadows eased their burdens in fighting strong opponents. "Wake them up." Souta said as he rubbed his chin. The S-rank and six A-rank experts were left alive. About the other experts? He massacred them and gathered their souls. Just a little bit more and he would be able to fight S-rank without relying on his aces. Most of the people in this world were hunting him and his actions caused a problem for the Monster Dungeon. Damn! Monsters were certainly not welcomed in humans and demis'' society. It''s just a single monster and yet two giant organizations were planning to take down the Monster Dungeon. Being a monster could cause trouble in a world like this. Unless he was in a dangerous situation, he wouldn''t use his release form for a while. His base form should get a boost too. Cough! Cough! He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard coughs. Turning his head, he saw that the seven people had woken up. They were coughing up blood as they tried to break free. Unfortunately, it only caused their wounds to bleed crazily. "How are we going to get information from them?" Gragas asked as he looked at the seven people who were coughing blood. "Of course, you have to ask them nicely," Souta replied quickly. One of the A-rank experts glared at Souta and said, "You will not get anything from me. Just kill me, monster." Swoosh! Swoosh! A gust of wind passed beside the A-rank and when he realized it, he found that both of his arms were rolling in the mid-air. "Argh!!" The man writhed in pain as his blood poured on the ground. Souta looked at the man with cold eyes. He swung the vajra sword once again and the legs of the A-rank expert were chopped. Then, he grabbed the hair of the man and stabbed him several times. "ARGHHHHH!!!" The man screamed in pain as tears and snot covered his face. Souta avoided his vital points so he wouldn''t die instantly instead he would die slowly and painfully. "I have granted your wish. You will die in the next five minutes so you don''t need to worry." Souta said as he threw the man on the ground. The expression of the other six people turned grim when they witness this scene. They recalled how Souta massacred their comrades one by one. "Tsk! I thought you are going to ask them nicely." Gragas clicked his tongue with a dissatisfied look. For him, this was too brutal and he hasn''t seen anything like this before. He killed a bunch of people in the past but he hasn''t killed someone in this way. "Amanda, you can do it right?" Souta turned to Amanda. "Don''t underestimate me. I''m a leader of an organization before so I''m experienced in this kind of thing." Amanda stepped forward and smiled seductively. "Well, yeah. I''ve looked at the things that you did in that organization and I''ve found it fascinating. You have a talent." Souta replied with a smile. "Thanks for the compliment. I will do everything to find the truth and that''s the reason why I''m willing to become your possession.." Amanda bowed slightly before she stood in front of the six people. Chapter 523 - False Amanda tortured the six people to get the information out of them. She was brutal and cruel to the people who got in the way of her goal. Just like how she has been in the Red Witch that she established. At that time, to complete the demon summoning ritual she didn''t even hesitate to kill hundreds of people for sacrifices. "I-I''ll talk..." The S-rank expert glanced at Souta. He was covered in wounds and his left eye was plucked out. His skin was peeled off and all of his nails were gone. Ordinary people would die if they had his injuries. The only thing that''s keeping him alive and conscious was the vitality of an S-rank expert. "I never expect that I will torture Annihilation Realm master in my entire life. This level is already at the top brass of Numan Country. "Okay, tell us everything that you know. Why are you here in this place and what''s your connection with the Witch Clan?" Souta said in a cold tone. He was expressionless. He didn''t have that brutal look or mad smile. It was as if the man in front of him was just an insect. "I''m from the Union Peace. Everything in this place is owned by Union Peace." The man said. Souta and Gragas frowned when they heard it. Just like what they have expected this was related to that giant organization that controlled most of the land in the central continent. Facing this organization, they felt pressure on their shoulders. "Continue," Amanda said. "Decades ago the Witch Clan gave up the right of this hidden base to Union Peace. This hidden base is a mining site. A site where people could mine mana stones." Mana stones. It was a stone that contained a vast amount of mana. It was divided into three grades; Low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade mana stones. It was effective in trying to increase a person''s mana pool capacity. It was also used as a fuel to activate various machines and devices. In short, it was a low-quality monster orb. But why would the Witch Clan give the hidden base to the Union Peace? "I don''t know why but the Witch Clan isolated their main territory. This is the reason why the public didn''t have news about them. I only know that the Witch Clan and Union Peace seems to have an agreement decades ago." The S-rank explained in a low voice. "So the Witch Clan isn''t extinct? They are just hiding from the public''s eyes." Souta glanced at Amanda. "Yes, they are still alive. At that time, there''s a big battle that occurred and I''m still a low-rank agent of Union Peace when that happened so I didn''t receive much information." "Witch Clan must be involved in that big battle, right?" "Yes, a lot of powerful witches battled against each other. The other giant organizations are involved in this matter too. So if you want to know more about this matter I suggest that you should find them." The S-rank expert said. "If you know it then you must have heard about the other hidden base of the Witch Clan?" "The Union Peace controlled five hidden bases including this one and they are all mining sites. People at my level are guarding those places. Perhaps, if they knew what happened here then they will dispatch the other Annihilation Realm masters to guard the hidden base." The S-rank paused for a moment before he looked at Souta with a serious expression. "I don''t know why a monster like you wants from the hidden base but don''t anger the Union Peace if you still wanted to live." "Why?" "The Union Peace had ten rulers and they are all Extinction Realm masters. Also, their right-hand men are at the level of Extinction Realm. In total, the Union Peace had twenty Extinction Realm. They aren''t called the strongest organization for nothing. Even the Night Watch only had five Extinction Realm and that''s the second organization next to Union Peace." "Well, I don''t want to fight the Union Peace. I just wanted to know the current situation of the Witch Clan." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "You will find it here." The S-rank used his finger to write the location of the Witch Clan''s main territory. "I don''t know if they are still here but you will uncover the truth if you go there." "I thought that you couldn''t give us some good information but it seems that you''re better than I imagined." Souta smiled faintly. "It''s nothing. It''s just some minor details of that incident. The reason of the battle is still unknown to me. Even my superiors didn''t talk about it." The S-rank laughed and blood came out of his mouth. "I told you everything that I know so end my suffering right now." "You''re good. What''s your name?" Souta asked. "Eztein... Eztein Hamalton." The S-rank said his name to Souta. "Eztein Hamalton. Don''t you want to live?" Souta asked. "Of course, I want to live but I already told you the information so the Union Peace will hunt me down and torture me for several years until I died. So it''s easier if you just kill me, isn''t it? Also, my injuries are severe and life-threatening. Even if you spare me, it will take a few months before I could recover from my wounds even if I have high-grade health potions." The S-rank was confused why Souta was asking about it. "Good. I''ll spare your life." The S-rank opened his eyes widely. He glared at Souta and said, "You! You want me to suffer even after I said all those information to you!" "I''ll let you live and from now on, you will follow me until I die. You will become my minion for the rest of your life." Souta said and he grabbed Eztein''s head. "What do you mean?" Eztein stared at Souta in the eyes. He was quite confused and doubtful about what''s happening. "Open your pores and directly shut down all the defense of your body," Souta said. Even if an S-rank was at death''s door, his body would subconsciously reject the parasite and the parasite wouldn''t be able to do anything about it. The parasite didn''t have combat power if they didn''t have a host so they were easy to kill. "Why are you doing this? What''s your plan?" Eztein gritted his teeth. "Do you want to live right? If you accept my offer then you will live. The only downside is that you have to follow my commands but don''t worry I will not restrict your movements." Souta smiled devilishly. "I... Do you have the confidence to go against the Union Peace?" Eztein asked. "No... But my target isn''t Union Peace. Union Peace will be busy with Monster Dungeon so we have all the time in our hands." Souta explained. "I see... Cough! Cough!" Eztein coughed a mouthful of blood. "I will accept your proposal." He said. "Oi, are you really going to pick this guy? He will become our burden! Even if he recovered there''s no guarantee that he will not betray us!" Gragas said from the side. "I have a method so don''t worry." Souta simply waved his hand to Gragas. He knew that Gragas didn''t have an idea that he could control parasites. Until someone told him about it, he wouldn''t know that Souta could control Yenxa and Amanda''s life and death. He ignored Gragas and told Eztein to shut down all the defenses in his body. Just simply accept everything so that the parasite could enter his body. Eztein closed his eyes and he followed Souta''s instruction. He slowly felt the parasite entering his body and it started to fuse with his cells. It was an uncomfortable feeling as a mysterious creature was invading his body freely. He could repel it right now but if it completely fused he guessed that he wouldn''t be able to remove it from his body. This mysterious creature would become a part of his body. After a few minutes, the parasite transplant was complete. "This..." Eztein was surprised when he saw that his injuries were closing too fast. His skins and nails which were gone had recovered. This must be the reason why this monster could recover at high speed? He said inwardly while admiring the ability of the parasite. Gragas opened his eyes widely when he saw this scene. He didn''t expect to witness a scene like this. ''That regenerative power is inhumane! It''s passable? So that''s the reason why these two girls haven''t died while fighting several Extermination Realm masters.'' Gragas glanced at Amanda and Yenxa. This type of ability felt like it was an ability of a monster. He wondered if Souta was turning his followers into monsters. "Okay, we''ve finished our business here," Souta said as he clapped his hand. He turned his head and saw Amanda''s expression. He said, "Amanda, just hold it in for a while. I''m here with you so don''t worry." "Y-Yeah..." Amanda nodded her head. She ignored Eztein who she just tortured a few minutes ago. She didn''t even care if this guy joined their group or not as her head was filled with the information of Witch Clan. She couldn''t believe that her clan, the Witch Clan, was still alive. But from her memories, she saw them getting killed one by one. She didn''t know what to believe anymore.. She couldn''t only place her trust to Souta. Chapter 524 - Quest 3 Eztein was amazed by how fast the regeneration ability of the parasite that was transplanted into his body. It was surreal. If he didn''t see it with his own eyes he wouldn''t believe that a human and demi could have an ability like this. "You will be able to walk on your own a few minutes later," Souta said as he turned around and raised his hand. [Gravitational Ball]! Ten black balls formed above him and it flew fifty meters above the surface. He closed his palm and the whole ground started to shake. The boulders that buried the hidden base began to float in the mid-air one by one. Since they were here, it''s not that bad to gather some mana stones for themselves. Souta knew that they couldn''t bring every stone in the hidden base so he was going to take everything that he could with his group. "Amanda, Yenxa, Gragas, let''s go and take some mana stones. Everything that you''ve taken out will be yours so don''t worry about it." He said as he felt quite generous at the moment. After all, he completed Quest 2 of the Chain Quest after Eztein told him the truth. ''This is originally the property of Witch Clan I have the right but well, since I''ve decided to pledge myself to this man everything that I have are belong to him.'' Amanda shook her head and smiled faintly. This was not bad for her. At least she knew that Souta wasn''t lying to her when he said that he will help her in her goals. "What about him?" Gragas pointed at Eztein. "Don''t worry about him. He couldn''t betray me at this moment. The moment he accepted my proposal, the moment he gave up his life to me. He couldn''t revoke even if he wanted." Souta simply waved his hand towards Gragas as he continued to walk forward. Soon, the group arrived at the real entrance of the hidden base. It was the same gigantic and majestic door that they''d found when they came here for the first time. Everything in this place was in a mess and even the two golems that were guarding it were gone. The majestic door was slightly opened and Souta knew that Gragas fought several A-rank experts in this place. This was the reason why the whole place looked like this. But thanks to his gravity spell, the boulders were removed easily. Most of the important things here were excavated by Union Peace years ago and the only important thing here was the mining site on the lowest floor of the hidden base. So aside from mana stones, they couldn''t get any valuable items here. Hmm... Souta opened the interface and looked at the system prompts that he received. [Congratulations on completing Quest 2 of Amanda''s Chain Quest!] [You''ve received 7 skill points, 15 free attribute points, and 50,000 exp!] He nodded with satisfaction. He understood why the title of Quest 2 was "False." The Witch Clan wasn''t exterminated decades ago and Amanda wasn''t the sole survivor. *Ding!* [Quest 3 triggered!] [Witch Clan] Quest 3: Find the Witch Clan and investigate Amanda''s connection to her clan. Why was her memory was different from the truth? What really happened to the Witch Clan decades ago? Reward: Fixing Amanda''s memory, 1 Level-up skill card, 1 Blank skill card, 10 skill points, 20 free attribute points, and 100,000 exp Warning: Please proceed with extreme caution! The reward of the Quest 3 was enticing but Souta expression turned grim when he saw the warning. This warning means that the opposite side was hostile to him. It didn''t have in the quest when the Ladros City was attacked because the hostility of those people wasn''t directed at him. Even Leo and the Underground King didn''t have hostile intent at him so the quest didn''t notify him. But now... When something appeared like this, it means that the opposite side already has a bad intention to him. But how? Oh, he recalled that he was Union Peace''s enemy at this moment. Does this mean that Witch Clan was in cahoots with Union Peace? He thought that the battle decades ago revolved around these two and the Witch Clan was defeated. That''s why the Witch Clan gave up their hidden base to the Union Peace. It was then that they reached an agreement to stop the war. But it seems that he was wrong... The two groups were in alliance. It''s getting pretty interesting. The Witch Clan of this high world was better than he imagined. Enough with that, Souta glanced at his total skill points and free attribute points. Skill point(s): 14 Free attribute point(s): 33 From the looks of it, it seems that his legion members in Imperium have completed some of the good quests out there. If he completed the Quest 3, he would have enough points to unseal one of the legacy''s abilities in the system. Sigh... It seems that he going to be busy for a while. ''I need to prepare myself.'' Souta said as his expression turned serious. This quest wasn''t about A-rank or S-rank experts. Shackled realm expert would appear for sure and he didn''t doubt it. It would be fine if it was just one or two broken shackles. Nonetheless, the danger was still too high. Preparation is a must in this kind of situation. His power could defeat S-rank now. He could probably fight an early stage SS-rank for a few minutes before he got defeated. He would be fortunate if he last five minutes. ''Just give me one week and I will make it longer.'' Souta said inwardly. He then turned his head to Amanda and Yenxa. Yenxa''s combat power was still at the peak of C-rank but her monster abilities could even affect an A-rank expert, two major realms above her. Amanda was an A-rank expert. These two weren''t enough if he wanted to secure his victory. Then, he had Eztein, a legitimate peak level S-rank. He probably solidified 80% of his mana in his mana pool. At least with his help, the overall power of the group had increased dramatically. ''Oh, Witch Clan, just what are you planning? Don''t force me to reveal my hands to you. I hope that I can complete the quest before the battle began.'' Souta rubbed the bridge of his nose. Maybe, he could use the reward "Fixing Amanda''s Memory" to avoid the battle. He was sure that this reward will be needed. The quest didn''t indicate that he had to fight anyone. It was different from subjugation or killing quest or fighting quest when he fought Gregory before. Still, he had the advantage in this situation. They don''t know that he was coming to Witch Clan''s main territory. Half an hour later, the group finished taking the highest quality of mana stones that could be found in this mining site. They couldn''t bring everything so they targeted the most precious stones. "Let''s return now." Before they left, Souta made sure that he killed everyone from Union Peace except for Eztein. He also didn''t forget to burn their bodies. After all, he didn''t want the Union Peace to know that Eztein was still alive. It would be bad if Eztein was under a curse or spell but according to him, the Union Peace didn''t have that procedure. After two days, the group returned to Earthen Core City and entered using the secret passage of Eilish. They''ve safely arrived in her mansion but it seems that there was a problem. Eilish didn''t have that smile on her face. Her expression was serious and the aura around her was boiling. It gives off heavy pressure to anyone below B-rank. "Don''t leave this mansion or wander around the city for a while. The Union Peace is trying to find the culprit behind the incident in the hidden base. You know what I''m saying?" Eilish said to the group. "The news traveled so fast. It seems that we can''t enter another city at this moment." Souta said as he rubbed his chin. "Yeah, they are infuriated this time. They wanted to capture you and your comrades. They even launched a frontal assault on the Monster Dungeon''s monster army. It turned into a full-blown war." Eilish explained. She then turned her attention on Eztein. "Oh, it seems that there is a new face to your group." "Sort of things happened." Souta simply shrugged his shoulder. "Ah, this is too much. Do you think the war will reach us Eilish?" Gragas asked with an annoyed expression. He wanted to study the soul weapon as soon as possible but there was a possibility that the war will hinder him. War was one of the most troublesome things in this world. "Although the possibility is less than fifty percent you should prepare yourself in case the war reaches this city," Eilish replied to him. "I see..." Gragas nodded. Eztein looked at Eilish. He was shocked inwardly. He didn''t expect to meet an Extinction Realm master in this place. He also realized that Souta wasn''t from Monster Dungeon.. The one backing him wasn''t a monster but instead a human. Chapter 525 - Training Souta, Yenxa, Amanda, and Eztein were inside a room. The room was huge and it was protected by several layers of barriers. It was to prevent anyone from eavesdropping and carelessly entering the room without their permission. Souta told Eztein that they were going to train. He told him everything that he needed to know about the group. Since he had the parasitic essence eater in his body, Souta didn''t need to worry about betrayal. After that, the group entered Saya''s inner consciousness. Souta didn''t tell a thing to Gragas as he wasn''t part of the group. He wouldn''t tell him everything unless he had a parasitic essence eater in his body. "So this woman who tortured me is part of the Witch Clan? She is the reason why you''re trying to find everything related to that clan." Eztein said as he looked at Amanda from the corner of his eyes. He still couldn''t forget the pain he experienced from this woman''s hands. "Yeah, so what are you going to do?" Amanda glared at Eztein. "You! You can''t defeat me, witch! You must be some bastard daughter of a witch so they decided to abandon you!" Eztein replied to Amanda in a loud voice. "Stop arguing, we are here to train. We must improve our battle prowess as fast as possible." Souta looked at the two. Then, he threw an object at Amanda. "Here, catch it." Amanda caught the object with her hand and closely looked at it. "Isn''t this the one from the auction house?" She asked as she glanced at Souta with a confused expression. "Yes, you''re the one that took that fruit so take it and eat it. Improve your combat prowess with that fruit." Souta said to her. He didn''t care about the High Phaseless Fruit as he already had a few of this fruit in the Guardian Fortress. Also, the High Phaseless Fruit was only effective once. If Amanda ate this fruit and she ate another High Phaseless Fruit then it would only increase her mana a little bit. Still, the High Phaseless Fruit was too rare and precious. It could give light and dark affinity to any person that ate it. There''s a chance that a person would gain an innate body too after eating this fruit. This was the reason why a lot of people coveted this precious mana fruit. "Are you giving the High Phaseless Fruit to her?! Isn''t that too important?" Eztein opened his eyes widely as he looked at the fruit in Amanda''s hand. "It has no value if we don''t eat it," Souta shrugged his shoulder and turned to Amanda. "Eat it. It''s yours. Just remember that we will go to the Witch Clan after this so we have to prepare for all kinds of trouble." "I-I understand." Amanda nodded her head and she stared at the apple-shaped fruit in her hand. The color of the fruit would turn black and in the next moment, it would turn white. This was the characteristic of the High Phaseless Fruit. Light and darkness attribute. "Good." Souta smiled while looking at her. The first time she joined the group, she was silent all the time. But now, she must be pretty comfortable with the group. It''s a good thing for her. Suddenly, he noticed a figure beside him. He looked over and saw that it was Yenxa. "What is it, Yenxa?" He raised his eyebrows and asked. "Um... Er..." Yenxa was hesitating if she should say what''s in her mind or not. "Tell me, if you have any problem. I will listen to it." Souta said. Yenxa rarely talks so he was a little bit surprised at this situation. "Please forgive me for my rude behavior, My Lord! I''m wondering if you could teach me your skills!" Yenxa kneeled in front of him and said using goblin language. "Skills? What skills?" "The ability to control gravity..." She said in a low voice. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin and observed her for a while. Yenxa was smarter than most intelligent second evolution monsters. She was even smarter than Yuko who always acted like a spoiled child in front of him. She must have realized that she possessed a powerful ability to take creatures that were stronger than her. But her ability needed time to take effect so wanted to learn his [Gravitational Ball] spell, an all-rounder spell that could be used in various ways. It will greatly help her in delaying her opponents. Hmm... Souta had [Pet Bestowing] skill but he couldn''t use it to impart spell into her body. He could only use it for combat arts and a few of his traits. He had tested it before. He found that this [Pet Bestowing] worked differently than what it was in the game. He couldn''t bestow exclusive traits like [Blood Field]. Only normal traits like [Extraordinary Body] or [Greater Energy Resistance] would work. Bestowing spell would work. He tried it once to Yuko. Yuko learned the knowledge about his [Light Heal] spell but the problem was that it wasn''t imprinted in her inner consciousness so she couldn''t use it perfectly like him. Although Yuko knew the structures of [Light Heal] spell, she couldn''t use it because she didn''t have any idea about the magic circle and its uses. She could use this spell if she had the [Light Heal] spell was imprinted in her inner consciousness. That''s why when he was using [Pet Bestowing], he mostly imparted his combat arts to them. "Do you really want to learn it?" Souta asked. "Yes, my lord! I want to get stronger!" Yenxa replied to him with a serious expression. She didn''t even hesitate to answer him. "Fine. I''ll teach you the basics of spell casting." Souta said as he knew that he couldn''t directly teach the [Gravitational Ball] spell to her. This spell was tier 2 so it would be too complicated for her. First, she needed to know the structures of the magic circle and how to build it using energy. He would teach her step by step. He was lucky that he enrolled in the Ladros Institute or else he wouldn''t know the basics of spell casting. The system simply provided a magic circle inside his inner consciousness. The group trained nonstop inside Saya''s inner consciousness. Originally, they planned to train for a week but since Yenxa wanted to learn spell casting, Souta had extended their training for another week. It means that the time they spent inside Saya''s inner consciousness was ten weeks. Boom! Boom! Two figures collided several times in the mid-air causing powerful shockwaves. The sound of their collision was horrifying and the vibration in the air shook the entire place. Bang! Bang! ''Those two are really strong... Souta is a very unusual monster and Eztein had grown stronger in the past few weeks.'' Amanda said inwardly as she observed the battle between Souta and Eztein. She was a hundred meters away from them. It would be dangerous if she was close in the fight between Annihilation Realm and a third-stage monster. Bam! Bam! Bam! Eztein arrived in front of Souta and he lifted his left foot. His foot was like a hook as it tore the air towards Souta. Souta raised his right hand to block the kick. His eyes never left Eztein''s body. Bang! A loud sound exploded when the kick landed on Souta''s hand. It was so powerful as it contained a huge amount of energy. It even managed to crack his bones and destroy the best feram he used to strengthen his whole arm. But Souta ignore it, in just a second his arm was completely healed and black energy covered both of his hands. He pulled back his left hand and tightly clenched his fist as a large concentration of best feram swirled around it. [Transforming Shadow Barrage]!! Eztein grinned and he used his own combat arts to fight Souta in a close-range battle. Boom! Boom! Boom! Souta was fighting Eztein, a strong S-rank powerhouse, without the help of equipment''s added stats and it was too difficult. The difference in strength put him in a tight spot against Eztein. If he didn''t have his equipment, he couldn''t hope to defeat much kill Eztein. The fight would only result in a draw. At the very least, his ordinary attack could now pierce the protective field of an S-rank, all thanks to his Archetype. If he wore his equipment, he could capture Eztein alive just like before when they fought in the hidden base. The difference in equipment was huge. Eztein only had a piece of orange grade halberd while he had a bunch of red grades, one dark grade, and a pair of universal grades. The difference was laughable. He could destroy S-rank with his skill set and equipment set. He would be able to fight two S-rank experts with this. "Let''s rest for a while," Souta said as his aura disappeared. Eztein glanced at Souta and said, "I didn''t think that you would learn [Element Drive] in just a short amount of time." "Yeah, but I still need to familiarize myself with this. I could barely control it if I activate it on top of my other combat arts." Souta said with a sigh. ''You will master it in no time. Don''t worry you have me here. You will be able to use it in combat soon..'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. Chapter 526 - Coming Out Of Training In the battle just now, Souta didn''t even use the [Element Drive]. If he used it then he wouldn''t be able to control it if he activated his other combat arts just like [Night Overlord''s Aura] or [Shadow Cloak]. It would be worse if he used Archetype on top of it. "You can rest now, Eztein. I''m going to continue my training." Souta said to Eztein. "Okay," Eztein nodded and he gave Souta one more glance before he went to the side to rest. Souta ignored him and he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and slowly circulate his best feram inside his body. [Element Drive: Dark Force]! A huge wave of energy swept out. The temperature dropped drastically and his body emitted pitch-black vapor. The ground beneath his feet was completely black and there was some sort of black veins popping out of his body. Dark Force was a skill unique to the people that have darkness element attributes. It will boost their overall power by forty percent when activated and the strength of any combat arts or spell with darkness attribute will have a one hundred percent increase in effect and damage. He needed to learn this skill as most of his opponents at this moment knew how to use [Element Drive]. The woman that he fought in the auction house was an example. Also, Eztein too knew how to use [Element Drive]. In the past ten weeks in Saya''s inner consciousness, aside from training his Archetype, Souta also tried to learn this unique skill. He knew that it would greatly help him in battle. But then, he hasn''t received any system prompts about this skill. Just like the Archetype, he only received a system prompt when he could finally apply it in a battle. In his current condition, it would be impossible for him to apply [Element Drive] in a battle. Well, since he could activate it, he was close to learning this technique. It won''t be long before he could use it in a battle. After a few hours, Souta stopped training the [Element Drive]. He sat down and rubbed his chin. ''It seems that ten weeks in this place isn''t enough to learn the [Element Drive]. I think I would be able to use this soon so I need more time.'' He said inwardly while glancing at Eztein, Amanda, and Yenxa. He''s not the only one that improved in the past few weeks inside Saya''s inner consciousness. The others had improved too. Yenxa learned the basics of spell casting but ten weeks wasn''t enough for her to be able to cast a spell. So just like him, she needed more time. Her learning ability was high and it could even rival those top students in Imperium. Amanda reached the high level of A-rank. She liquefied more than fifty percent of her mana but she was far from reaching the peak level of A-rank. Since she ate the High Phaseless Fruit, she gained light and darkness elemental affinity. But it was useless as she haven''t learned [Element Drive] or any other spells or combat arts with light and darkness attributes. So she still needed more time to make the effect of High Phaseless Fruit useful. At the very least, she used the energy of the fruit to fasten her liquefication. Eztein was at the peak level of S-rank but he was still far from reaching SS-rank or shackled realm. He just needed some high-grade equipment and he would be fine on his own. Then, his current power level. His released form without the equipment added stats and skills could rival a peak level of S-rank like Eztein. If he wore his equipment, he had no problem dealing with an S-rank at all. "Another two days," Souta muttered. He decided to delay their departure for two days. It means that they will have ten days inside Saya''s inner consciousness. He gathered the three and told them his plan to delay their departure. Everyone agreed to them as they felt that will be a huge improvement in their ability in the next ten days. Their instincts were telling them. After that, Souta went outside and inform Eilish and Gragas about his plan. "I will delay our departure for two days," Souta said to Gragas while glancing at Eilish. "Why so?" Gragas asked. "I haven''t finished our preparation. You have to remember that Witch Clan isn''t an ordinary group of people. They are powerful so we have to prepare ourselves for the worse." Souta opened his arms as he explained. "Preparation? Just what the hell are you doing in your room. You shut yourself with the other three inside your room for two weeks straight so I''m curious about your so-called preparation." Eilish said with a faint smile. "It''s simple. We''re just trying to improve our power level. Amanda is an Extermination Realm master so she''s focusing herself on liquefying her mana. Eztein, that new face, is an Annihilation Realm master so he''s focused on solidifying his mana. I just gave them a suitable environment inside my room to help them improve." Souta said to Eilish. "Oh, you can do that?" Eilish raised her eyebrows with interest in her eyes. "Yes, it''s a simple formation," Souta said with a plain look. Of course, he was lying. He just set up a normal barrier using his energy. He couldn''t set up a formation as it was too complicated for him and he didn''t even have an idea how to create one formation. "Hmm..." Eilish stared at Souta for a while minute before she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, it doesn''t matter. I will not pry into it. You just have to make sure that if you get caught you don''t say anything about me." "Thanks for your understanding and don''t worry about me betraying you. You''ve been a huge help to me so even if those people capture me, I will not tell them anything about you." Souta paused for a moment before he inquired, "But I''m curious about your goal. Why are you helping me a monster? You must have realized from our previous interaction that I didn''t belong to the Monster Dungeon. So why?" "I already told you before, right? You''re using me to gather information and I''m using you to test the Union Peace." Eilish replied to him. Souta narrowed his eyes and slowly asked, "Is it about the Council of High Worlds?" The smile on Eilish''s face disappeared quickly. Her eyebrows knitted tightly as she stared at Souta. "I guess I''m right. But don''t worry I won''t pry into your secrets. Just look at your face in the mirror, it''s scary, it''s reducing your charm. Your face is different compared to the time you slept with me." Souta said jokingly as he shrugged his shoulders. "I warned you. The Council of High World is bigger than what you can imagine. They are far more stronger than the forces in this world. Also, where did you even hear that organization''s name?" Eilish said as her expression eased up a little bit. "Wait! you old hag Eilish slept with a monster!! Damn! That''s too much!!" Gragas said as he looked at the two back and forth. "Oi, do you want me to stitch your mouth?!" Eilish glared at Gragas as she released an intense aura. "Ehe~ it seems that this little dwarf wanted to reincarnate before he could achieve his dream." Souta flashed a threatening smile as his energy started to ooze out of his body. "Haha, I''m just joking don''t be mad!" Souta chatting with them for a little bit, he went back to his room and entered Saya''s inner consciousness. He was eager to master the [Element Drive] and use it in combat. Just like that, two days had passed in the blink of an eye. Souta, Amanda, Yenxa, and Eztein came out of the room. They''ve finished their training and were ready to go at any moment. "That''s more amazing than I thought. Two weeks and two days had passed here but there..." Eztein mumbled as he looked around. Souta ignored him and went directly to Eilish''s room. The other followed him as they knew that they were going to inform the owner of this mansion before they leave. It''s rude to leave without saying anything to Eilish. "Oh, I could feel the changes in their aura. They really grew stronger in just a short amount of time." Eilish raised her eyebrows as she looked at Yenxa, Amanda, and Eztein who stood behind Souta. "Just like what I said before, I''m preparing for the worse so we need to improve our power level," Souta said. "Are leaving today?" Eilish asked. "Yep, just like what I had planned." "Do you need anything?" "Nope, I''ve already had everything." "Take this, this will help you in case you fought someone beyond your level." Eilish placed five small bottles with green liquid inside them. "Oh, a temporary damage boosting potion." Souta quickly recognized the potion. "It seems that you know about these potions so I don''t need to explain it. Take this and don''t forget how I''ve helped you." Eilish flashed a faint seductive smile. "Okay, I will not hesitate and take these potions with me," Souta smirked and he grabbed the five potions on top of the table.. "If you ever need my help then don''t hesitate to call me." Chapter 527 - Arrangements Souta''s party secretly left the Earthen Core City. Their target was the Witch Clan''s main territory. They didn''t need to join the war between Monster Dungeon and Union Peace and Night Watch. The war got intensified in the past two weeks and even those shackled realm experts had appeared. The Monster Dungeon was a powerful force of monsters in the central continent. The ruler of this place was a powerful fifth evolution monster that had strong dominance over lower monsters. Souta needed to avoid meeting the fifth evolution monster in his current condition. He was just a third stage and the fifth stage could already exert dominance like those monster lords albeit not that strong. If the fifth stage monster in Monster Dungeon learned that he was the cause of this war there''s a possibility that Souta will be killed. There''s another possibility that the fifth stage monster will take him as an underling. Becoming an underling of a fifth stage monster was worse. He would be forced to stay here in this sub-world to serve that monster and he didn''t want that to happen. The dominance of the higher evolution would restrict his evolution and in this case, the fifth stage could also launch an attack that could increase the monster''s instinct to the limit. It would turn into a monster tide and Souta would become a mindless monster that only knew how to kill people. This was the reason why he didn''t want to meet monsters above his evolution level. If Raeshka wasn''t easy to talk to, he would have been gone forever. The group decided to rest as the sky was dark. They set up a camp and surrounded the fire that they make. "Have you visited the Witch Clan before?" Gragas asked Eztein. "No, I simply heard about its location. I don''t think that people like me could visit it. The righthand of the Ten Rulers will personally visit the Witch Clan if they have some business." Eztein shook his head and explain. ''Righthand of the Ten Rulers? Those people are Extinction Realm...'' Souta said inwardly. Amanda simply listened to their conversation. She was quite anxious as she finally had a lead to her clan. According to this man called Eztein, her clan was still alive contrary to what she knew. So to confirm it, they decided to visit the Witch Clan personally. The Earthen Core City was several kilometers away from them. If they didn''t have Eilish as their backer, they wouldn''t dare to return to that city. The city was situated near the southwest part of the continent while the Monster Dungeon was in the eastern part of the continent. The war zone was far but its size was increasing as it already engulfed more than ten big cities. They had to avoid that place. They had to cross several hundred kilometers to arrive at the Witch Clan''s main territory which was situated in the northern part of the continent. In the north, there was a huge body of water called Mist River and the Witch Clan''s main territory could be found here according to Eztein. Souta stood up and said, "Just stay there for a while. I have something to do." He went to the corner, several meters away from the camp. Then, he took out the transmission talisman. He easily connected to Alice''s transmission talisman. "Alice." He said to the talisman. He easily heard a reply in just a second. "Yep, I''m here Souta." Alice''s voice sounded. "I want you to prepare the Guardian Fortress and everyone. There will be a time that I will need all of your strength." Souta said to her. "You need our strength?! What happened?" Alice''s voice turned serious and Souta could feel it. "You know why I''m here, right? I''m here to gather information about the Witch Clan. It seems that Amanda isn''t the only witch in this world. We''ve gathered intel about her clan. They are alive and a hidden faction in this land. It seems that investigating this clan brought me some huge trouble and based on their power level I can''t solve it alone. So I need you to prepare everyone." Souta explained to her. "I see. What about Yuko and Doranjan? They didn''t have a transmission talisman and the Monster Kingdom is quite far in Numan Country." "Don''t worry about them, I''ve already ordered them to return immediately to Guardian Fortress. It seems that they will bring some monsters with them." "Monsters?!" "Yeah, it seems Yuko and Doranjan gained followers in the Monster Kingdom. They said that they will bring those monsters with them and I agree with them." "But the Guardian Fortress..." "Don''t worry, I''ve called Jamine and Lydia. I''ve asked them to send another Guardian Fortress to our location. Also, I''ve already told them the route that we took so you just need to meet the people that she sent halfway. You know how to activate the teleportation magic circle, right?" "I know, leave everything to me. Just focus on your situation there. I will prepare everyone so that when you need our strength we would be able to arrive quickly." Alice said with a smile. "Good. Then, contact me if everything is ready." Souta said. If he had a spare transmission talisman, then he would give it to Torkez or Franklin to avoid the situation where they unknowingly confront each other just like before. He cut the connection and narrowed his eyes. Franklin will bring a few elites with him and Torkez will do the same thing. They just couldn''t leave the organizations that they build. Also, Doranjan and Yuko will bring a group of monsters with them. His organization was expanding. After he returned to Imperium, he planned to build a base. Then, he was going to connect his base in the southern continent of this world and also the Astros Country that he established in the Planet Astley. About Yenxa''s tribe, he will cultivate them after he settled in Imperium. After all, he planned to create an army using the parasitic essence eater. An army that will follow his every command was what he needed. Also, if he had powerful subordinates he could simply command his subordinates to take his equipment in the game. It would take a lot of time if he personally took those items one by one. He shook his head and proceed to call his friend in Imperium. His talisman got connected in just a second. "Hello, Souta!!" Lynn''s voice sounded. From her tone, she was brimming with excitement contrary to her usual expression which was shy. "Yeah, what is it, Lynn? It seems that something good happened today." Souta asked while wondering what''s the cause of this. "I have succeeded in liquefying my mana! I finally reached A-rank!" She was happy to share this news with him. Souta laughed with imagining her expression on the other side. He wanted to see her current expression. "Congratulations, Lynn! I''m sorry, I''m not there to personally congratulate you." "No, no, no, I-It''s fine. I''m happy that I could share my achievement with you." Lynn said through the talisman. "How about Bryan and the rest?" Souta asked. "Mila had reached A-rank three weeks ago. Bryan had already reached the peak level of A-rank. He said that he was close to reaching S-rank. Yujin and Brando who are in the military academy in Hebrei Kingdom said that they are both A-rank as well." Lynn said to him. "It seems that all of you are doing fine. My combat prowess is already at the peak level of S-rank and Alice just reached the peak of A-rank a few weeks ago." Souta explained to her his situation. "You are improving too fast, Souta. I don''t think that I will be able to catch up with you. Bryan is already fast for me yet you said that you''re a peak S-rank." Lynn said with a sigh. "You don''t have to catch up to me. Just do your best to increase your strength so that you can protect yourself in dangerous situations. Remember that I''m not with you so you can only rely on yourself." Souta said with a smile. "I-I understand..." "Hahaha, okay. What do you want to talk about? I still have a lot of time so I will give it to you." "Y-You don''t have to... I''m not..." "Shh! Don''t say that. I''m busy in the last few weeks so I haven''t contacted you. Consider it as my compensation." Souta and Lynn chatted until morning. They talked about nonsense things but it was quite enjoyable for Souta. He battled several S-rank in the past few weeks and the situation in the continent was very tense so it was refreshing to talk to Lynn. It calmed down his nerves and stiff muscles. He stood up and placed back the talisman in his pocket. ''So none of them had reached S-rank. Alice could reach S-rank at any moment and she will be able to surpass them. Their power level is lagging. It seems that I need to give them information about some of the dungeons that could give them a boost.'' He said inwardly. His group in sub-world was already stronger than his group in Imperium if he didn''t include Yanagi Shina.. Yanagi was already a shackled realm but if Souta worked with Yuko and Doranjan it wouldn''t be a problem to stop her. Chapter 528 - Low-level Undead In a small pub filled with people of different races. The people were drinking and chatting. Their laughter echoed in the whole pub as they filled their glass with alcohol. The wooden door of the pub directly opened and five people wearing black robes that covered their bodies directly stepped forward inside the pub. They were Souta, Amanda, Yenxa, Eztein, and Gragas who traveled from the Earthen Core City to this small rural village. This village was called Gans and it only has a population of three thousand people. Compared to a big city like Earthen Core, which had tens of millions of people, this small village was nothing. The people inside the pub turned silent as they observed Souta''s group. After a while, they returned to what they were doing before as they decided to ignore this group. They must be travelers that happened to pass by in this small village. Souta didn''t want to stay in this village for too long. They will just stay here for a night and will leave this village tomorrow. He had nothing to do with this sub-world. Chain quest was his priority than other affairs on this planet. Also, he already had a plan to continue his travel to Imperium after this. Who knows how long it would take if he delayed his departure. Union Peace and Council of High World. From Eilish''s reaction, he concluded that the two were really connected. He shook his head and thought that it was pointless to think about these things considering that he was still a third evolution stage monster. An organization with five gods controlling it was beyond his level. The group sat around the vacant table. They pulled their hoods and ordered a few drinks. "Oh, I haven''t drunk alcohol since we departed. I hope the alcohol in this place can satisfy me." Gragas said with a laugh. "It''s not that bad," Souta said as he observed the surroundings. "This village is a little bit strange," Amanda said in a low voice. "You''ve noticed it too." Eztein glanced at Amanda. "The negative energy surrounding the village is high. I must say that it''s related to undead." "Don''t bother yourself about it. Our target is the Witch Clan''s main territory." Souta said to the two in a low voice. Eztein simply shrugged his shoulders. He was just curious and didn''t have a plan to involve himself in some sort of undead. Amanda also didn''t care about this village. Just like Eztein, she was just curious about it. She wouldn''t care even if this village was burned in front of her eyes. After all, she burned and sacrificed people in pursuit of her dream before. ''Undead?'' Souta said inwardly as he felt that the negative energy didn''t come from this village. Instead, it was coming from the jungle a hundred meters at the north of the village. ''The undead are slowly taking the villagers'' life force. Considering the power level of the villagers, no one had noticed it.'' Saya explained to him. Speaking of the undead, Souta recalled the first place where he found himself in Imperium, the Undead Sanctuary. He only cleared the low-level dungeons in that place. The mid-level and high-level dungeons were still untouched. If he cleared it, he would gain enormous treasures. Also, clearing it would earn him skill points and free attribute points. He would visit it once again if he had some time after he returned to Imperium. Although he got the universal treasure in the sanctuary there were still some dark grade treasures. He forgot what kind of treasure but it should be useful and only that matters to him. The group chatted and drink for an hour before they left the pub. They went straight to the inn to rest as they were going to leave tomorrow morning. Since all they did was training, Souta let them loosen up for a bit. It wouldn''t harm them anyway as he always celebrated after a hard quest in a brothel. On the next day, Souta''s group left the village called Gans before the sunrise. They walked straight towards the jungle on the north. They had to cross this jungle and they will find mountains peaks. Behind those mountain peaks was the Mist River where the Witch Clan lies. "The negative mana is irritating..." Gragas said while walking. "The amount is high but the density is low so it must be some low-level undead at Disaster Realm," Eztein said. He had the right to call B-rank or Disaster Realm low level because he was at S-rank or what people of this world called Annihilation Realm. Souta didn''t care about some low-level undead. The only thing that''s in his mind was his preparation for the Witch Clan. He already called Alice to start preparing and Jamine which was in the Astley Planet. There was something that''s bothering him when he called Jamine. Jamine informed him that the Eidin sub-world was gone along with the galaxies surrounding it. The whole space turned into a desolate area. They couldn''t find any stars, planets, asteroids, or sun. It was empty. There''s no doubt about it. The cause of it must be a god. No mortal could extinguish several galaxies effortlessly. A god. The group continued to walk for thirty minutes when they felt a fluctuation of negative energy. "Oi! Is that undead asking us to eliminate it?! Didn''t that undead notice why no monster dared to attack us is because we didn''t bother to conceal our energy level?!" Gragas said in an annoyed tone. "What can you do about low-level undead? It has a different sense of danger compared to those monsters." Eztein said to Gragas. "My light attribute is still lacking so I couldn''t merge it with my mana," Amanda said. The undead was weak against light attribute energy but hers was nothing. Inside Saya''s inner consciousness, she only trained her dark attribute and her original attribute which was the lightning attribute. "After we passed this jungle, we need to conceal our energy. We''re getting close to the Witch Clan so I don''t want them to discover us soon." Souta said as he glanced at Eztein, Amanda, and Gragas. "I know, I know, so let me deal with this puny undead quickly. This undead is making me mad." Gragas said as he took the hammer on his back. "Fine, just make it quick. Also, don''t create a huge commotion. A little bit of your strength will be enough to handle it." Souta said with a sigh. "Ehehe, I know," Gragas said with a laugh. His mana slowly covered his covered body before he dashed on the east. It was the direction where the negative energy was coming from. Swoosh! In just a second, he traveled several hundreds of meters. He didn''t even use his full speed but it was enough to create a gust of wind caused by his energy to demolish some of the trees in his path. "Annoying undead, I''ve found you! Stop hiding beneath the ground!" Gragas smiled as his thick beard fluttered in the wind. Then, he raised the hammer above his head and swung it down. Bang! The ground shook heavily and spider-web cracks formed before it collapsed revealing a huge space beneath the surface. "I don''t know why but it feels I''m the one that''s only affected by the undead energy. The others are taking it simply as if nothing happened." Gragas jumped down and saw a skeleton wearing an exquisite red robe. It was holding a staff in its left hand and a book in its right hand. The skeleton was oozing out mana that could rival peak B-rank expert. "You can enter Extermination Realm if given some time. Unfortunately, you dared to bother me so I''m going to eliminate you and your minions." He said while glaring at the undead. He could feel that this place was a dungeon and it was filled with low-level undead but the one in front of him was the strongest so he wasn''t worried. This place was simply a low-level dungeon. One hit is enough to demolish this place. Gragas grinned as he tightly gripped the handle of the hammer. His mana gathered around the hammer and flames surged fort enveloping his weapon. [Blazing Pounding Smash]! BOOOOM!!!! Souta, Amanda, Eztein, and Yenxa turned their head on the east as they felt Gragas''s energy spiked. They could feel a shockwave and the trees around them trembled because of the gust of winds. Swoosh! "I already said that he didn''t need to use his strength," Souta muttered before he continued to walk. Amanda and Eztein glanced at Gragas'' direction one more time before they followed him. A few minutes later, Gragas caught up with them. "How is it?" Eztein asked. "Nothing. Those undead are annoying but they are too weak." Gragas replied. "What can you do we are living creatures? Only necromancers could control them. Besides, low-level undead didn''t have high intelligence.." Eztein shrugged his shoulder. Chapter 529 - Witch Clan: Mist River "So this is the Mist River?" Souta''s group was standing on top of the cliff looking at the huge snake-like river in front of them. It was an enormous body of water that has a length of 15,566 km and a width of 5 km. It was the second largest river in the entire central continent. There were dozens of tribes that were living around the river and these tribes were dangerous. They possessed great hunting skills and fighting skills. Each one of them lived in this rainforest and most of them were hostile to outsiders. "So how do we find the Witch Clan''s territory?" Gragas asked while observing the famous river. This was his first time coming to this place so he was quite amazed by the beauty of the Mist River. "We could find a thick mist that''s covering the river. From my information, the Witch Clan''s land is covered in thick mist and it''s the one that''s protecting them from outsiders." Eztein replied. "Don''t ask me about the thick mist. I just heard the information and I haven''t visited that place personally." "But we can already see dozens of spots that are covered in thick mist from here so how are we going to identify the Witch Clan?" Amanda asked. "Forget the spots on the rainforest. Just focus your attention on the spots on the river. The rainforest is ruled by various tribes and I think the Witch Clan is the one handling the river. It''s just a guess but I have a feeling that I''m right." Souta said as he glanced at them. "We should handle it cautiously. The tribes in the rainforest are vicious and brutal. They will not hesitate to kill or capture us once we''re spotted." Eztein warned them. The tribes lived in this rainforest their entire lives. The hunted and hunted and hunted. That''s all the things that they''ve done so they were all experienced fighters and had great combat prowess. They couldn''t communicate using the most common language so it was almost impossible to talk to these tribes. "Let''s go." Souta jumped down from the cliff and the rest followed him. The cliff had a height of 200 meters but it was nothing for their current power levels. Even if they fell from a height of 1 kilometer they would feel nothing. The group walked cautiously inside the rainforest. The trees around them were tall and it''s blocking the sunlight. So no sunlight had reached the ground. They followed the river hoping that it would lead them to the Witch Clan. A few hours later, the sky was getting dark and they still haven''t found their target. As expected finding the Witch Clan in the Mist River was difficult. They needed to be patient and observe their surrounding. They even felt mana fluctuations on the other side of the river. It seems that someone was fighting judging from the surge of energy in the atmosphere. From the density of the energy, they concluded that it was a person at A-rank level or Extermination Realm. "It must be someone from the tribes in this place," Gragas muttered as he glanced in the direction where he felt the energy fluctuations. "They must be hunting some monsters," Eztein said while shrugging his shoulders. Souta glanced at Amanda and whispered, "Do you remember anything about this place? You''re a witch so I think that you must have an idea how to find the Witch Clan." Amanda shook her head and said, "I don''t remember anything about this place. It feels familiar and nostalgic to me but I can''t recall anything and it''s frustrating me." "It''s fine. Just don''t forget to tell me if you remember anything." Souta said to her. Finding the Witch Clan was included in Quest 3 but he didn''t expect that it was difficult to locate it even if they knew that it was here in Mist River. The reward was high so he wanted to complete it as soon as possible. Days had passed quickly. They were following the river for a whole week but there''s no progress. They had one clue and that''s a mist in the river but until now they haven''t found any mist in the river. "What the hell?! Is the Witch Clan really in the Mist River?! Maybe, your information is wrong!" Gragas said in a loud voice as he glanced at Eztein. "I don''t know. I already said before that I''ve only heard this information. I don''t have to confirm it or not." Eztein rebutted. "What should we do, Souta?" Amanda asked Souta. Souta looked at them one by one before he took a deep breath. He actually didn''t know what to do in this situation. The only thing that comes into his mind was to attack the tribe that they were avoiding and force them to answer their question. Who knows if those tribes knew the location of the Witch Clan or not? ''I have an idea.'' Saya''s voice suddenly sounded in his mind. ''Oh, what is it?'' Souta asked as he motioned Amanda and the rest to wait for a while. ''I''m observing the river for a week. I realized that you will not find the Witch Clan if you simply walked on the land.'' Saya said. ''What do you mean?'' Souta was a little bit confused. ''I say that you should travel on the river. It''s called Mist River yet people could only find the mist inside the rainforest. Why is that?'' ''Okay, I understand. I trust you.'' Souta turned to Amanda and the rest and slowly explained his plan to them. The plan to travel on the river was risky. "If we really travel on the river then the tribes would discover us! We don''t know how strong the tribe but in the past week we already sensed several Extermination Realm!" Gragas rejected the idea. "It''s risky but we have nothing to lose. We are following the Witch Clan for a week and we found nothing. So I think that we should risk it. Traveling on the river will let those tribes discover us and if we haven''t found anything we should simply launch an attack at those tribes." Souta paused for a moment and an evil grin formed on his face. "If we used everything and wiped out the tribes the Witch Clan will undoubtedly sense the battle. Then, they will send people to investigate what happened. What will we do next is up to your imagination." "You are really vicious. As expected of a monster. I think that you just want to fight and massacre them and this plan is just an excuse." Gragas said with a sigh. "Tsk! I thoroughly thought about this plan. And I think that this is our only way to find to Witch Clan." Souta said. "I know, I know, oh, by the way, what kind of monster are you again?" Gragas asked. His question gathered Amanda and Eztein''s attention. Yenxa was still silent on the side but she was listening to their conversation. She was the only one who knew that Souta was a goblin. "A goblin." Souta simply answered. "What the actual fuck?!! You!! You are a goblin! Are messing with me! Your release form didn''t look like a goblin at all!" Gragas said in a loud voice while pointing his finger at Souta''s nose. "You fucker!! Imma subjugate you right here right now!!" "Shh! Noisy." Souta covered his ears as he turned his face away from Gragas. He sighed and said, "Ah~ I''m a rare species of goblin called Blood Goblin. I have a characteristic of a few monsters that I''ve eaten before. I actually wanted to gain some dwarf''s characteristics so maybe I will eat you if you kept spitting your saliva." "You!! I''ve decided that I will subjugate you!!" "Anyway, let''s start our plan." Souta quickly changed the topic as he walked beside the river. After an hour, the group finished their preparation. Gragas build a small boat using the lumber from the trees in the rainforest. It was fragile but they didn''t need to worry about it. They will only use it once after all. The group boarded the small boat. A black ball of energy appeared on Souta''s back. Using the power of gravity, he pushed the boat forward to follow the flow of the river. "What the hell?!" "This...?!" "How?!" The boat had just traveled for a few minutes and they already saw white mist in every direction. The mist grew thicker every second until they could only discern everything in the radius of five meters. They couldn''t even see the rainforest because of the mist. "It seems that my decision is right." A grin formed on Souta''s face as he heightened his senses. He could feel that the white mist was stronger than the black mist that was produced using the [Dark Cloud Hunting] spell. ''It''s an illusion so be careful of what you see and felt.'' Saya warned him. ''I understand. For now, I will only trust my energy sense..'' Souta replied to her with a serious expression. Chapter 530 - Witch Clan: Passing Through The White Mist "The mist is worse than I had imagined. We will get lost if this continued. We had to find the right path quickly." Gragas said with a frown on his face. The mist was blocking their vision. They couldn''t even hear what''s happening around them aside from their voices and the flow of water. "This is a serious matter," Eztein muttered. He only heard it but he didn''t expect that it was hard to pass this thick mist. Amanda looked calm outside but she was anxious and excited at the same time. If they passed this thick mist, they would be able to arrive at the Witch Clan''s territory. She dreamed of finding this place countless times and she never thought that a monster would be the one to help her. Her gratitude and loyalty to Souta increased greatly. Yenxa simply glanced at Souta and didn''t say anything. She already realized that she was helpless in this situation but that''s not the same for her master. "Just keep moving forward," Souta said while staring in front. He had a calm expression as this mist didn''t bother him at all. He could entirely feel that the white mist around them was filled with mana and it was the cause of the disruption of their senses. "Are you sure that this is the right way?" Gragas asked while glancing at Souta. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the confidence in Souta''s eyes. "Absolutely." Souta didn''t even look at Gragas. He just kept staring ahead. "Very well. It seems that you know what you''re doing so I will trust you for now." Gragas nodded and he didn''t bother Souta anymore. The small boat kept moving in the middle of the white mist. The white mist only appeared the moment they travel on the river using the boat. So there was a rule to follow if someone wanted to find the Witch Clan. They had to travel on the river as they wouldn''t be able to find the Witch Clan if they just walk beside the river banks. Even if they run throughout the entire riverside they wouldn''t find the white mist in the river because of the illusion barrier that was preventing every creature from seeing what was inside the river. It was only blocking the appearance of the river but it didn''t block the vision on the other side. So the people could still see and hear what''s happening on the other side of the river. Using a very complicated barrier formation they made it possible. Time had passed quickly. They didn''t even realize that three hours had passed since they''ve entered the white mist. It was too silent and the eerie vibe in the atmosphere was bone-chilling. "How many hours had passed since we enter this fog? It feels like I lost my sense of time. Somehow I feel calm." Gragas wondered. Soon, the silent atmosphere was shattered as sounds of laughter echoed. The laughter of children, adults, and elderly sounded everywhere. ''It''s starting. It will only get worse as we are approaching the Witch Clan.'' Saya informed him. Souta nodded and he moved his eyes. He looked at Amanda, Gragas, Eztein, and Yenxa. "Prepare yourself. This white fog is a barrier formation and a high level at that. It will weaken our five senses. It will also produce powerful illusions as we got closer to the Witch Clan." He slowly explained the barrier formation to them. He recounted to them what Saya said to him about this white fog. "If you can''t handle it just close your eyes and cover your ears. The things that we hear and see are different from each other. Remember my words." Souta started to hear familiar voices in his ears. Lynn, Lumilia, Bryan, Brando, and everyone that he knew was whispering to his ears. He stayed calm and ignore everything around him. Soon, the scene in front of him had changed. The scenery became a bloody and brutal battlefield. Corpses were scattered like a trash and a pool of blood was forming on the floor. The thick stench of blood assaulted his nose. All the people that he had killed were before his eyes. "Why did you kill me?" "I have a family..." "I didn''t do anything wrong." "You should have the one that died." "No one will care if you die..." Souta scratched the back of his head and yawn. The creepy voices and brutal scenery didn''t matter to him. He had seen violent scenery in the game and it was much worse than this. He had killed countless people and he didn''t regret it. From the beginning, he knew that he would eventually kill a lot of people so he was prepared. Everything was for his survival. He sighed and thought that if he was in their position what would he do. He knew that his path was filled with blood and a lot of people who stood beside him will probably die too. Souta looked down and he couldn''t see Amanda and the rest. The illusion was too good and if he didn''t have high perception then he wouldn''t feel that his comrades were just beside him. Another hour had passed and Souta felt the fluctuations of Amanda, Yenxa, Gragas, and Eztein''s energy. Their energy was trembling and it felt like they were being emotionally disturbed. "The illusions are finally affecting them. Just hold on for a little bit. I can feel that we are getting closer." Souta muttered as he crossed his arm in front of his chest. He closed his eyes and covered his ears with flesh. Hearing the creepy voices for an hour was an unpleasant and irritating experience. After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked in front of him. "This...!" He clenched his fist and threw a punch. Bang! Loud sounds echoed and it sounded like a shattered glass. The wind blows strongly and the white fog slowly disappeared. "We''re here." Souta narrowed his eyes as he found that the boat was already on the land. He placed his hand in his pocket and grabbed the transmission talisman. He tested if he could still connect to Alice and the result was as he expected. The barrier formation couldn''t block the transmission talisman. It couldn''t be compared to the barrier that covered the Ladros City which could even block the connection of talisman. Gragas, Amanda, Eztein, and Yenxa noticed that they weren''t in the river anymore. They jumped out of the boat and looked around but they found that a group of people wearing red formal clothes with golden trims were circling them. "Is this the witches?" Gragas asked in a low voice. "Probably, but their aura is filled with killing intent." Eztein laughed dryly as he slowly pulled the halberd on his back. From the witches'' point of view, they were intruders so they couldn''t help it if the witches were hostile to them. ''I understand your feeling. These guys also intruded the hidden base and turned me into a slave.'' Eztein said inwardly. The number of witches around them was more than thirty. Twenty of them had the energy level of a B-rank while the rest had the aura of an A-rank. A tall handsome man stepped forward. He had long blonde hair and a pair of blue eyes. His skin was soft like that of a woman. "I''m the Chief of Witch Clan''s Enforcer, George Lothyne! Intruders, I ask you! Why have you come you our land?!" The man introduced himself as a high-ranking person in the Witch Clan. Among the witches here, he was the only one that had the aura of an S-rank. His aura was ominous and heavy. It was heavier than the woman that Souta fought in the auction house. It was even heavier than Gragas and Eztein. It was as if this man had already solidified one hundred percent of his energy in his mana pool. He was just simply waiting for his opportunity to break one of the shackles and he will enter the realm of SS-rank. As expected, the Chief Enforcer should be one of the strongest people here. If the Chief Enforcer was already at the peak of S-rank then the Clan Leader was surely at the shackled realm. ''Fuck! This is definitely dangerous. This clan alone would be enough to wipe out the Great Astley Empire in just a single day.'' A smile formed on Souta''s face while thinking about the forces of the Witch Clan. The Ancestor of the Great Astley Empire could only be compared to an early stage of S-rank. Even Gragas and Eztein would decimate the Ancestor in the blink of an eye. Souta raised his hand and pushed Amanda forward. Huh? Amanda looked back with a confused expression as she didn''t know why Souta pushed her. "Introduced yourself. Don''t worry, I''m here." Souta smiled and said. "I...." Amanda wanted to say something but she eventually nodded her head as determination filled her eyes. She turned to the Chief Enforcer and said, "I''m Amanda Brune, a member of the Witch Clan! I came here because I want to find out the truth!" Chapter 531 - Witch Clan: Powerful Lineup The Chief Enforcer narrowed his eyes when he heard Amanda''s introduction. He opened his mouth and slowly said, "You said that you belong to Witch Clan and your name is Amanda Brune. Do you know what that means?" "I don''t know but from what I could remember that is my real name. I didn''t know what happened as my memory is vague but I can show you that I''m really a witch." Amanda said as she waved her hands. A pair of exquisite daggers had appeared. The daggers had a black handle and its blade had the color of blood. This was Amanda''s soul weapon, she called it [Crimson Severing Dagger]. "That''s really a soul weapon...!" George, the Chief Enforcer, subconsciously took a step back while looking at the daggers in Amanda''s hands with wide eyes. "You! Is Amanda Brune really your name?" He muttered as he moved his eyes on Amanda''s face. Now that he thought about it, her appearance was slightly familiar. His subordinates were confused as they didn''t know what did this means. They just observed Amanda''s group as they lowered their weapons. "You! You! You! You!" Gragas pointed his finger at Amanda and his eyes felt like it was about to pop out. He couldn''t believe it. Amanda was a witch and he didn''t even notice that he was traveling with a witch. He remembered that Souta said that he had a witch friend but who would have thought that he was talking about Amanda. "If you are really Amanda Brune then you''re Young Miss." George kneeled on one knee and he glanced at his subordinates. "Tell the Clan Leader and Clan Elders about this." Souta watched the scene unfold before his eyes. He found the Witch Clan''s main territory and the only thing that he needed to do was to find out the truth, and then he will be able to complete Quest 3. It took them a lot of time just to find this place. He hoped that he could finish this quest as soon as possible. "Me? Young Miss...?" Amanda was confused when she heard George''s words. "Yes, you may not remember it as you were still a child back then but your father was the former Clan Leader of the Witch Clan," George said in a respectful tone. He stood up and turned around, "Let me guide you to our clan, Young Miss." "O-Okay..." Amanda nodded subconsciously. Souta glanced at Eztein and Gragas who were still in daze and said, "Let''s go. I wanted to see the Witch Faction of this high world." Gragas snapped out of his daze and stared at Souta. "I have a lot of questions that I want to ask you later." "Sure." Souta nodded as he already have an idea of what Gragas wanted to ask. Eztein followed them while glancing at Amanda. He was no different from a slave in his current condition so he already knew that Amanda was a witch but he didn''t think that she would have a high position in the clan. The daughter of the previous Clan Leader? That''s insane. While they were walking, Amanda asked George various questions related to her identity. She had told him that from her memory, she remembered that the Witch Clan was exterminated. George laughed in response to her words. He said that a big battle occurred in the central continent several decades ago. The battle caused a lot of their clansmen to die and that must be the one in her memory. She must have witnessed her clansmen die before her eyes and it traumatized her causing her memory of that incident to shuffle. "What happened to my parents?" Amanda asked in a low voice. "Forgive me for my rudeness but... Both of them died in the battle decades ago. They risked their lives to protect the clan." George said with a solemn look. He then began to explain the structure of battle at that time. At that time, Witch Clan was one of the Four Clans of the Central Continent. Their influence and power were enormous as it encompasses the entire continent only second to the Union Peace. The ruling powers of the central continent at that time were the Ten Empires, Six Pavilion, Four Clans, One Dungeon, and One Parliament. It was peaceful but each group was checking each other and no one dared to break the balance. Until one day, an inheritance of a god had appeared on the land. It stirred the calm water of the continent and each group began to secretly gather their armies. At first, they joined hands to acquire the inheritance and they will simply divide it after they acquired the treasures. It worked and all of them divided the treasures fairly. But who would have thought that the heir of the powerful emperor at that time would be assassinated? The empire was one of the Ten Empires and the emperor bestowed the treasure to the crown prince. Unfortunately, someone killed the crown prince and took the treasure. The emperor was furious and launched a large-scale investigation. He found that all of the evidence led to one of the Four Clan, the Shadow Clan. The Shadow Clan denied all of the accusations of the emperor. A few days later the treasure of the crown prince was found in the vicinity of the Shadow Clan''s territory. They were the culprit but the Clan Leader of the Shadow Clan insisted that they didn''t kill the crown prince not coveted the treasure. The emperor didn''t listen to them and due to his anger, he launched a full-scale attack on the Shadow Clan. It was the start of the chaotic times. Another empire had lost an heir and it was done through poisoning. The only organization that mastered the way of the poison in the continent was the Green Mist Pavilion, one of the Six Pavilions. The same thing happened to the other factions and it turned into a war. Those gigantic organizations fought each other. At that time, the Witch Clan had joined forces with the Union Peace, Green Mist Pavilion, Bruming Empire, and Tranquil Clan. It was a tough battle and it killed millions of innocent people. In the last battle, the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan sacrificed himself along with the Clan Elders. They won but at what cost? So they decided to seclude themselves after the war to slowly regain their strength. "That happened?! I didn''t know the inside story of that war. I just know that I fought and killed countless people to survive." Gragas said with a sigh as he recalled how his family died in that damn war. Souta looked at George strangely. George looked like he was telling the truth but Souta knew that it was false. If it was the truth he would have completed Quest 2 but unfortunately, he didn''t receive any system prompt. ''From his expression and tone, he is telling the truth but...'' It seems that George didn''t really witness how Amanda''s parents die. The information was only passed to him and he believed it. No, everyone in the Witch Clan believed it. Amanda''s parents didn''t sacrifice their lives. There''s more to it. The information was altered. Souta was convinced that someone manipulate the war but he didn''t care about it. He just wanted to know the truth to complete the chain quest. Soon, the group arrived in front of a fifteen-meter tall metallic gate. The gate was exuding fierce around and they could see runes flickering on the surface. "We''re here." George said as he glanced at Amanda before he pushed open the huge gate. Beyond the gate was an enormous and grandiose castle. The mana density in the air was three times higher than outside. It seems that the Witch Clan was really a prosperous clan. They even have a formation that could gather mana around their territory. Rows of people were waiting for them on the side. All of them were emitting the aura of a B-rank expert. The people in the front were higher ranking so they were at least A-rank experts. Souta ignored the rest as he focused his attention on the three elderly waiting at the door of the palace. The three elderly had welcoming smiles on their face as they looked at Amanda. ''These three old men are at the shackled realm.'' His expression turned gloomy. He glanced left and right as he could feel several peak S-rank experts in the vicinity. He didn''t care about high S-rank and below as the only people that''s capable of beating him were peak S-rank. But then, the number of S-rank in this clan was higher than he expected. Three shackled realms. More than fifty solidifying realms. More than a hundred liquefying realms. More than five hundred B-rank experts. Damn! It feels like he was looking at the lineup of those high-rank noble families in Imperium.. If they had a demigod in their ranks then it would be able to rival those great families. Chapter 532 - Witch Clan: Start The Witch Clan was powerful and it put a pressure on Souta''s shoulder. If a battle occurred here, then he wouldn''t last long against the three shackled realm experts. If he was lucky enough he would only last for one minute against them. Only fourth evolution and above monsters could defeat humans and demis that broke their shackles. Even dragons, one of the strongest species, wouldn''t last longer than ten minutes as long as they were at the third stage. But he wasn''t discouraged by this fact. He was still level 51 and he didn''t even buy all the organs in the legacy. He still had [Galaxy Eyes] and [Star Veins] which would undoubtedly boost his strength. He also needed to upgrade his class after buying these two to further promote his strength. By the time he was level 59, he was sure that he would be able to fight someone at the first level of shackled realm or even possibly kill them. He would surpass Bargan''s feats. If he asked anyone in Giza Continent about who''s the most successful mortal, most of them would answer Bargan because of his feats. When Bargan was still an A-rank, he could already fight and defeat ten S-rank experts without high-grade equipment. That''s what he wanted, to break the common sense. "Welcome back, young miss. Everyone thought that you are dead." An old man with long white hair and long beard stepped forward. He was wearing a red robe and black tunic with golden trims. Just by looking at it, Souta could guess that this old man''s clothes were red grade treasure. Even the bracelet and ring of the old man were both red grade. Judging from this, he was definitely in a higher position than the two old men beside him. ''This is the current Clan Leader of the Witch Clan.'' He said inwardly while observing the old man. The aura of this old man was even stronger than Eilish, a shackled realm expert that helped him in Earthen Core City. "You may not remember me but I''m your uncle, Rowan Brune. I stepped up after your parents sacrifice their lives in the war." The old man introduced himself as he stepped forward to welcome Amanda, the previous Clan Leader''s daughter. "T-Thank you..." Amanda was overwhelmed by their hospitality. Even the Clan Leader personally welcomed her and she couldn''t even believe that her father was the previous Clan Leader. She always thought that she was just a normal member of the clan. The other two old men also introduced themselves. The old man on the right was Elder Gaun. He had a short white hair and his face was full of wrinkles. His beard was long that it reaches his chest. The old man on the left was a short and he looked fragile. He was bald but his facial hair was thick like Elder Gaun and Clan Leader. He was Elder Hanmi, one of the two remaining elders of the Witch Clan. "Come, let me treat you and your friends to some delicacies of our clan." Rowan smiled as he turned around and started to walk. His movement was fluid and elegant. "Thank you..." Amanda nodded and she followed the Clan Leader. Souta, Gragas, Eztein, and Yenxa simply followed her without saying anything. They could only observe the situation unfold before their eyes as the pressure brought by this clan was tremendous. Although the clan looks friendly to them, they knew that it was only because of Amanda. Without her, the clan would kill them the moment they stepped foot in this place. "Although the Witch Clan is powerful, compared to the Union Peace right now they are still lacking," Eztein whispered to Gragas. "It''s natural. They wouldn''t seclude themselves if they didn''t suffer heavy casualties in the war decades ago." Gragas replied. The Witch Clan had a total of twelve elders decades ago but only two elders remained. The only requirement to become an elder was to reach the Extinction Realm. Since no one had reached Extinction Realm in the past decades, the number of the elders remained the same. That''s why until now they haven''t shown themselves to the public. Everyone will know how weak the Witch Clan have become and various organizations would try to invade their territory for treasures. ... Inside the huge and wide room, the group was sitting in front of a long table. The Witch Clan had prepared a banquet for Amanda. Their hospitality was at its peak and Souta felt disturbed at what they''ve shown. Rowan and the two elders asked Amanda various questions about their journey. They even asked Souta and the rest some questions regarding Amanda. Everything went smooth and well. Rowan once again explained the things that happened in the war when he learned that Amanda thought that her clan was exterminated. His explanation was the same as George, the Chief Enforcer, but it was much more detailed. "I''m sorry for your loss. Your parents are legends and I admired them from the bottom of my heart. They are truly the heroes of Witch Clan." Rowan said to Amanda. ''Hmm...? This guy. Even his explanation is the same as the Chief Enforcer.'' Souta said inwardly while glancing at Rowan with suspicious eyes. It only means that this guy was the one that spread that false story in the entire clan which everyone believed. It seems that he still needed to investigate this matter thoroughly to complete Quest 3. But where he should start his investigation? Rowan would know it if he carelessly asked people here about the war. "Oho~ it seems that like your parents you are a genius. You already reached the intermediate stage of Extermination Realm at such a young age." Elder Hanmi praised while caressing his thick white beard. ''If they met Yanagi or Bryan they would realize what their word means.'' Souta felt that their words were quite funny to hear. Yanagi was already at the peak A-rank when he first met her. At that time, his power level was only at C-rank. Bryan had the same power level as him when they entered the institute and now he reached peak A-rank in just a short amount of time. Well, he still couldn''t defeat Souta who could already smash high S-rank. What could he do? Souta had a cheat called system. Also, Yanagi was at shackled realm at this moment. He didn''t know her current battle prowess as he couldn''t only gauge it based on Lynn''s words. It was only his estimation if he could hold her with the help of Yuko, Doranjan, Eztein, and Gragas. He also wondered if Yanagi could match the shackled realm experts of the Witch Clan. He just know that all of them were shackled realm. He didn''t know how many shackles they broke including Yanagi. He could only estimate that their power level was at the first stage of shackled realm. "It''s nothing. I just got lucky to reach this level." Amanda said. "We will introduce you to the genius of our clan," Rowan smiled and said. "Arfi, come here! Introduce yourself to Young Miss Amanda!" A handsome man in his early twenties approached their table. He looked at Amanda and slightly bowed his head before he introduced himself. "It''s my pleasure to meet you, Young Miss. I''m Arfi Lothyne, son of George Lothyne, the Chief Enforcer of the Witch Clan." "It''s nice to meet you too, I''m Amanda Brune." Amanda greeted Arfi with a smile. "He''s also at the intermediate stage of Extermination Realm. He will become an elder and had the potential to reach Clan Leader in the future." Rowan explained to Amanda. "Clan Leader, can you tell me more about my parents?" Amanda asked while ignoring Arfi. She came here to learn more about her parents not to listen to them praise another witch in front of her. Rowan and the two elders told Amanda various stories about her parents. She enjoyed listening to the stories about her parents. She always wondered what will happen if her parents were still alive. It was midnight... The Clan Leader had arranged a room for the group. Amanda was lying on her bed while looking at the ceiling. The Witch Clan that she assumed had died were alive and it decreased the burden in her heart. She''s always living a life thinking that everyone died and it made her brutal and cruel in the past. Her heart was at ease right now. The only regret that she had was that her parents had died. If her parents were here then everything would be perfect. Suddenly, a knock sounded on her door. Knock! Knock! She sat up and looked at the door while narrowing her eyes. "Who is that?" She asked wondering who would knock on her door at midnight. "It''s me, Elder Guan." ... Souta was sitting in the center of the room in a lotus position. With a monster orb in his palm, he was slowly guiding the best feram in his body. Suddenly, a familiar sound rang in his mind. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing Witch Clan Quest 3!] [You''ve received 1 Level-up skill card, 1 Blank skill card, 10 skill points, 20 free attribute points, and 100,000 exp!] ["Fixing Amanda''s memory" is proceeding!] "WHAT?!!" Souta opened his eyes widely when he saw the message in his mind. "What happened?" He quickly stood up and place the monster orb in his pocket. There was only one reason why he completed the Quest 3... and that was through Amanda.. It means that she somehow found the truth about her parents. Chapter 533 - Witch Clan: Truth And Final Quest Amanda stood up and walked towards the door. She raised her hand and grabbed the doorknob before she slowly opened it. What stood beyond the door was an old man with short white hair and a long beard. He was one of the two remaining elders in the Witch Clan, Elder Guan. "Why are you here elder? Is there something wrong?" She asked in a low voice as she looked outside and the only person that she could see was Elder Guan. Aside from him, there''s nothing else that she could find. But why would Elder Guan appear in front of her door at midnight? "Young Miss, forgive me for my rudeness but I have something to tell you." Elder Guan said as he slightly bowed his head. His eyes were full of remorse as he glanced at Amanda. "What is it?" Amanda asked as she slightly tilted her head. "About your parents..." Elder Guan said in a low voice as he stared at Amanda''s eyes with a serious look. "...C-Come inside the room..." Amanda hesitated for a moment before she opened the door. She heard them along with Clan Leader talk about her parents but somehow she felt that they haven''t divulged any important details to her. She wanted to talk to Souta about this uncomfortable feeling tomorrow morning, but it seems that this elder was going to reveal something to her. ''My clan, my parents, why do I feel something is wrong?'' She said inwardly as she watched Elder Guan enter the room. The elder sat in front of the table and she sat opposite of him. The atmosphere was cold and they could hear the wind whistle outside the room. Elder Guan sighed before he looked at Amanda. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, "Young Miss, do you believe that this is not the only planet that has living beings in the universe?" "Yes, there are records in the south continent about it. Those planets are too far from us so they couldn''t be reached by normal means. They could only set up teleportation circles to easily reach those planets. But no one knows how to use those teleportation circles today." Amanda replied. "Exactly. Several decades ago most of the large organizations in our world knew how to create and activate teleportation circles. It''s the same for our clan. We have some planets under our rule before the war occurred. Strangely all the experts about teleportation circles had died in the war. Your mother and father are included in those experts." "What?!" Amanda opened her eyes widely. "The Council of High Worlds. Have you heard about it before?" Elder Guan asked. Amanda shook her head and said, "I''ve heard about it before but I don''t know if this is true or not. The information about this organization is too little. Is this organization related to the death of the experts in teleportation circles?" She''d heard the Council of High World before. It was the time when Souta was talking to that woman called Eilish. "The war decades ago is their conspiracy to control our world. The god''s inheritance that appeared was their doing and they are also responsible for the assassinations in different factions at that time. They caused everyone to fight among themselves and when everyone was weak they slowly seeped into our world to control it. "The Council of High World is an organization that we know less. It''s mysterious and powerful at the same time. I don''t even know the extent of its full force as from what I''ve heard only a few people from the council bother our world. It means that the people that created the war aren''t everything. That''s the reason why they didn''t even launch a frontal assault at our bases." Elder Guan took a deep breath before he continued. "But is that really the case? Gods are real and they are in the Council of High World. The council control the Union Peace and we didn''t even notice it. Our clan formed an alliance with it to defeat the other organizations but then before we realized it we slowly fall into their trap." Amanda didn''t say anything. She just kept listening to Elder Guan''s words. The information that she received right now was something that she didn''t expect. It was huge information that could create chaos outside. "Your parents visited you at that time to check your condition but they didn''t even know that the enemy will attack. Rowan, the current Clan Leader, betrayed your parents. Your parents are helpless against him as he caught them off guard. He colluded with the Council of High World and it led to the death of thousands of our clansmen. It''s all because of the treasure in the god''s inheritance called soul booster. It was a treasure that could enhance the soul of a person to the next level but for us witches, it will enhance our soul weapon." "W-What?! T-The Clan Leader... H-He is the cause of the death of my parents?!!" Amanda couldn''t believe what she heard. Clan Leader Rowan was her father''s younger brother so he was her uncle. But he didn''t expect to hear something like this from Elder Guan. Then, why would he look at her with those eyes? Those kind eyes? Is it an act? But it was too real for it to be an act. "I know it''s hard to believe but it''s the truth. About the council, only a handful of people knew about them in our world. What I''m wondering about is how did you survive? Everyone thought that you have died, young miss. You shouldn''t have come back here so I suggest that you should leave this place as soon as possible before Clan Leader does something to you." Elder Guan looked at Amanda with a wry smile and said, "But I''m happy that I could see you in the end. Our young miss has grown beautiful and your parents will be proud of you." "A-aa... I..." Amanda looked at the ground with blank eyes. Suddenly, she grabbed her head as intense pain assaulted her. "Argh!!" Elder Guan noticed that something was wrong with Amanda. He quickly stood up and checked her pulses. "What''s wrong, young miss?" ... Souta was surprised when he suddenly received the system prompt saying that he completed the Quest 3. He was just planning to investigate the truth as the Clan Leader''s story was false but he didn''t expect that he would complete it this way. He received 10 skill points for completing it and he had a total of 32 skill points. When he unsealed and bought the [Nebula Heart] it left him 4 skill points. Then, he completed the Quest 2, and it increases his skill points by 7. He had trained for two weeks and some of his legion members completed some quest at that time so he earned some skill points this way. 32 skill points were enough to unseal one of the abilities in legacy but it wasn''t to integrate it into his body. So he would save it for the meantime. "Amanda!!" Souta arrived in front of Amanda''s room. He quickly opened the door and saw Amanda on the floor writhing in pain. Beside her was the old man called Elder Guan. He went beside Amanda and checked her condition. He didn''t suspect Elder Guan was the one who did it as he knew that the system was simply fixing her memory. It wasn''t related to Elder Guan at all, but Souta was sure that he was the one that revealed the truth to Amanda and the reason why he suddenly clear Quest 3. "You!" Elder Guan looked at Souta and narrowed his eyes. "Place Amanda on the bed for now," Souta said as he walked outside the room. He would ask them after Amanda regained her senses. He could see from the system that it would only take five minutes to fix her memories. "Damn! This is really bad!" He couldn''t help but glance at the Quest 4 which was said the final quest of this chain quest. *Ding!* [Quest 4 triggered!] [Riot] Quest 4: Amanda regained her memories. She is the daughter of the previous Clan Leader. The current Clan Leader isn''t in his right mind someone is controlling him. Protect Amanda and kill the current Clan Leader of the Witch Clan. Rewards: 20 skill points, 55 free attribute points, and 50,000,000 exp *Ding!* [Special Quest triggered!] [Clan] Special Quest: Complete the Quest 4 with fewer casualties on Witch Clan''s side. Rewards: Depend on the number of survivors Fuck! Asking him to kill a shackled realm expert was too much. It was a different question if he would only stop the Clan Leader but killing him was entirely a different league. He wasn''t even sure if he had enough firepower to deal a fatal blow to a weakest shackled realm. ... Rowan, the Clan Leader, was in his room meditating. He suddenly opened his eyes and a fierce aura covered his body. "Amanda, why didn''t you leave this place? You even regained your memories so I would be forced... No, I..." He said to himself and he looked like he was struggling. Chapter 534 - Witch Clan: Start Of Chaos "Yenxa! Gragas! Eztein! Come here!" Souta said as he poured some of his energy in his voice. The three quickly went out of their room after they heard his voice. His tone was serious so they knew that it was a serious matter. Also, they knew that Souta wouldn''t call them for nothing in the middle of the night. "What''s the matter, Souta?" Gragas asked while rubbing his eyes. He was sleeping when he heard Souta''s voice. He then stopped as he heard Amanda''s voice in the room. She sounded like she was in pain. "This..." Eztein glanced at the room before he turned his attention at Souta as if he was asking what''s going on. "Come. We will know the answer. Also, one of the elders is inside the room so be careful." Souta said before he turned around and enter the room. Yenxa, Eztein, and Gragas followed him. The moment they entered the room they saw Amanda writhing in pain. "Argh!! It hurts! My head feels like it''s going to explode!!" Amanda roared as she grabbed her head tightly. She couldn''t do anything to lessen the pain. The images that popped into her mind were forcefully twisting her memory. Elder Guan stood up as he glanced at the group. He was about to say something when Souta asked something. "What happened here? It''s midnight and you wouldn''t visit Amanda''s room if it''s not important matters." Souta stared at Elder Guan''s eyes. He knew that this elder didn''t harm Amanda but he still needed to do this to avoid suspicion. "You''re asking me politely, monster. You should watch your word in front of me. If you didn''t come here with young miss I would have killed you the moment I saw you." Elder Guan said in a cold tone. "I don''t care about your opinion of me. I just wanted to know what happened to Amanda. She suffered like this and don''t tell me it''s just a coincidence that you are in her room." Souta didn''t back down. Although this elder was a shackled realm expert, he didn''t care about that. He knew who''s the real enemy and he was just testing the waters to see if there''s other enemies in this clan. After all, his special quest was to secure the survival of the Witch Clan. If there''s fewer casualties then his rewards would be higher. "I''m telling you that I don''t know what happened to young miss. I''m talking to her when young suddenly became like that. I wouldn''t harm her. That''s what I promise to her parents." Elder Guan while glancing at Amanda. Soon, Amanda had calmed down. She was breathing heavily and her body was drenched in sweat. Her eyes were round as if she was shocked. She just recovered her memories in the past. "I... I''ve remembered everything... Uncle Rowan killed my parents..." She said in a low voice. "WHAT?!!" Eztein and Gragas were shocked when they heard her words. Uncle Rowan? Isn''t that the name of the current Clan Leader? If that''s the case then they were in the enemies... ''So that''s how it is... But there''s still an important detail that''s missing.'' Souta thought as he glanced at the quest. The Quest 4 said that Rowan isn''t in his right mind. Someone was controlling him. Since Amanda regained her memories, he could simply ask her. But... "Oh, it seems that you''ve recovered your memories, my niece." A voice sounded behind them. "Wha-" Eztein, Gragas, Yenxa, and Elder Guan were surprised when they heard a voice. They were about to look over when a figure flashed beside them. Swoosh! Souta opened his eyes widely. His energy burst out as he pulled the vajra sword on its sheath and swung it behind him. Boom! Half of the room was disintegrated immediately as smoke and dust filled everything in front of him. His reaction was too fast that it caught Eztein, Gragas, Yenxa, and Elder Guan surprised. "You''re quite strong for a mere third evolution monster." A voice sounded and the smoke and dust slowly disappeared as the wind blows. Clan Leader Rowan was revealed while grabbing the blade of the vajra sword with his bare hand. "Although the Witch Clan had declined and is not as strong as the current top organizations. It still a place for a mere monster to mess with." Rowan said while looking at Souta with chilly eyes. His hand was filled with a boundless amount of energy and it prevented him from being harmed by Souta''s attack. The pale blue light that covered his hand was so dense that it made the atmosphere vibrate. Tsk! Souta clicked his tongue. He knew that Rowan was a shackled realm but to possess this much strength was really beyond his expectations. If the Witch Clan was already this powerful then what about the top organizations like Union Peace or Night Watch. Out of the four top clans that joined the war decades ago, only the Witch Clan was left but they were reduced to the point that they needed to hide just to protect themselves. "Well, what can I do? Your head is very tempting as it will give me a bunch of points." Souta said with a laugh and he poured his best feram on his sword. He pulled it back and thrust it quickly but Rowan reacted faster than him. Rowan used the back of his palm and parried the blade before he delivered a powerful blow on Souta''s stomach. Bam!! His body bent backward before it flew and crashed on the walls. Bang! "Souta!!" Eztein and Gragas shouted as they raised their hands to cover their heads. "S-Souta...!" Amanda was still feeling a bit tired because of the pain that she felt when she regained her memories. "Clan Leader?! Why are you doing this?" Elder Guan stepped forward and asked while glaring at Rowan. His energy slowly seeped out of his body making the air around him boil. No matter what, he was still a clan elder, a person at Extinction Realm. Rowan smiled and shouted, "Listen! Elder Guan and Young Miss Amanda had committed a treason! They coveted the title of the clan leader and attacked me! They are colluding with the other forces so we will prevent them from leaving this place!!" "You!! You are setting us up! Young miss is your niece. Do you really want to kill her?" Elder Guan tightly clenched his fist. "What do you think?" Rowan grinned evilly as he stared at Elder Guan''s eyes. Boom!! A thick and dense best feram swept out in every direction. The atmosphere suddenly turned heavy and the weaker people felt the pressure of the immense energy. Souta walked out of the smoke while cracking his neck. The wounds in his body were closing at high speed. As long as he didn''t get one shot by his enemy, it was close to impossible to kill him in his current state. "Oh, fuck! That really hurts..." He slowly activated his skills. [Night Overlord''s Aura], [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Cat''s Speed], and [Shadow Cloak] were all used at the same time. Jet-black energy slowly covered his body like an armor and he used [Armored Scale Formation] trait to make it stronger. "Eztein, Gragas, Yenxa, do your best to survive! Especially you Gragas, you don''t have a parasite so your healing speed is several times slower than us." Souta said with a faint smile on his face as he focused his attention on Clan Leader Rowan. Rowan turned to Souta and said, "Oh, so you dare to fight me with your meager abilities." Souta slowly opened his mouth and said, "Elder Guan, right? I''ll leave Amanda in your care." Elder Guan narrowed his eyes. He stared at Souta''s back and his energy swept out in every direction. He sensed that most of the clan members were gathering outside, completely surrounded them. "Witches under my jurisdiction! I hope you can put your trust in me this time! I don''t have a time to explain but Clan Leader is the one that attacked us first! Clan Leader Rowan just wanted to eliminate young miss to prevent her from snatching his throne!" He shouted as he poured his mana in his voice so that everyone could hear him. Then, he grabbed Amanda and burst through the ceiling. As soon as Elder Guan left with Amanda, Souta dashed towards Rowan. He poured a huge amount of best feram in the blade and slashed it horizontally. [Crimson Moon]! "Have a death wish, right? Then, I''ll gladly grant it." Rowan said in a cold tone before he shot a powerful punch. Boom! Both of their attacks collided and the whole building quickly exploded. ... Elder Guan looked down before he turned his attention to the people around him. They were all Rowan''s subordinates but his attention was on the old man behind. "Even you! Elder Hanmi!" He gritted his teeth and said. If Elder Hanmi sided with Rowan then their situation would become worse. He could stop Elder Hanmi but who would stop Clan Elder Rowan. He knew that the monster and the other three people could only buy a few minutes. "Young miss, prepare yourself.. This is going to be a bit difficult." Chapter 535 - Witch Clan: Clan Leader Rowan Elder Guan was in the sky with Amanda in his arms. Opposite of his was Elder Hanmi, a person of the same level. Although the two haven''t fought before, they could vaguely guess that both of them have the same power level. So, to stop Elder Hanmi he needed to make a move himself. He doesn''t need to leave it to his subordinates as he knew that his subordinates wouldn''t be able to do anything to him. They could only buy a few minutes. "Elder, we''re here!" Elder Guan glanced and he saw his subordinates. He smiled as he realized that these guys really trusted him. "You guys, I''ll leave Young Miss in your care! I''ll stop Elder Hanmi! I''ll explain everything to you guys later!" He said to his subordinates. "Don''t worry, Elder. I''m quite confused about what''s happening but we decided to trust you." The Chief Enforcer George said. He was the strongest S-rank in the Witch Clan and he was also Elder Guan''s trusted aide. "Someone escort Young Miss away." Elder Guan said while watching Elder Hanmi. If someone from the opposite side made a move he will not show any mercy. Ten people went beside him and took Amanda. Four of them have the power level of an Extermination Realm while the rest were Disaster Realm. Elder Hanmi glanced at Amanda before he turned his gaze back to Elder Guan. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "I''m also confused about what''s happening so I''m not going to follow Clan Leader''s order to kill you. I''m just going to capture you and will decide what to do after I hear the situation of both sides." "Clan Leader will be forced to kill you if you do that! He is the one who killed the previous Clan Leader!" Elder Guan said with a grit of his teeth. "Where''s the evidence? And if the Clan Leader is really the one who killed the previous Clan Leader then why haven''t you told anyone about it for a long time." Elder Hanmi stared at him with chilly eyes. Hmph! Hanmi opened his hand and a vortex of energy formed on his palm. He raised his other hand as he made a grabbing motion. Then, a total of twelve needles flew out of the vortex of energy. The needles were silver and each one has a size of six inches. This was the soul weapon of the Elder of the Witch Clan named Hanmi. "The [Flying Piercing Needle]..." Elder Guan squinted his eyes when he saw the silver-colored needles flew around Elder Hanmi. It seems that he couldn''t talk his way out of this without fighting. "Lady Asmin, Young Miss'' mother, told me to keep quiet about this before she died. She said that it''s not Rowan''s fault and I should observe Rowan closely to figure out the truth. She asked me to solve this problem without affecting the Witch Clan but Rowan is always on guard. I couldn''t find an opportunity for the past decades." He said as he brought out his soul weapon. His soul weapon wasn''t majestic or grand like Elder Hanmi or anything like that. His was only a piece of a white small pill. Its name is [Power Steering Pill]. He could materialize this pill three times a day and it can only be ingested by him. If other people touch it it will turn into energy particles. This [Power Steering Pill] will give him various abilities equal to that of a dark-grade treasure. "I will hear the full story after I capture you." Elder Hanmi said as he charged towards Elder Guan with flying needles beside him. Hmph! Elder Guan tightly clenched his fist and gathered his energy. When Elder Hanmi arrived in front of him he threw a powerful punch that shook the entire area. BOOM! The Chief Enforcer George glanced at the battle of the two elders before he focused his attention on the opponents in front of him. His opponents were Elder Hanmi''s subordinates. A group of Annihilation Realm witches. But he was glad that he wasn''t alone. All the enforcers of the Witch Clan were behind him. Although he was recognized as the strongest Annihilation Realm in the clan, it doesn''t mean that he could defeat multiple Annihilation Realm witches at the same time. It just means that no one could defeat him in a one-on-one battle. "Let''s start it." He said in a plain tone as a two-meter-long spear materialized in his hand. This was his soul weapon, the [Jaguar Psych Spear]. ... Bam! Bam! Bam! Souta, Eztein, and Gragas cooperated as their figures collided with Rowan several times. Every time Rowan would throw an attack one of them would be blown away because of how powerful Rowan was. A single attack from an Extinction Realm was enough to send them crashing onto the buildings. "Ah, fuck! I didn''t expect in my entire life that I would have to fight an Extinction Realm! It''s exciting but it''s also worrisome!" Eztein cursed and a burst of energy surged out of his body. It was him activating the [Element Drive: Earth Force]. "He''s playing with us. Just looked at those people behind him." Gragas smiled wryly. The members of the Witch Clan have surrounded the entire area and they were just waiting for the Clan Leader''s command to attack. "Don''t worry about it just use everything." Eztein glanced at him. "Okay," Gragas nodded as flames rushed out of his body and it flows around like a stream of water. Its nature was completely opposite of a common wild flame. It was the flame that he used when forging weapons and armors. It was also an after effect of his [Element Drive: Flame Force]. He glanced at Souta and said, "What about you, Souta? Use your release form. We wouldn''t stand a chance if we kept saving our power." "I know." Souta nodded with a serious expression. "Are you done preparing?" Rowan asked the three foolish people in front of him. "Kind of." Souta chuckled before he asked, "Why are you holding back against us? Don''t tell me you really don''t want to kill Amanda!" "You, what are you trying to say?" Rowan glared at him as his energy tried to pressure Souta but Souta countered it by using the quality of his energy. Still, he couldn''t completely offset it as the Rowan had a tremendous amount of energy that he couldn''t imagine. "I don''t know what happened but I know that she''s your niece. Do you really want to kill your niece?" Souta said as he charged forward and hundreds of black tentacles rose from the ground. "What do you know?!" Rowan shouted as he waved his hand and the black tentacles were shredded into tiny pieces. He looked at his sides and saw Gragas and Eztein. Eztein thrust his halberd but Rowan simply shifted his body and grabbed the halberd. Then, he quickly punched Eztein''s stomach before he three him at Gragas. Bang! He wanted to chase the two to deliver the finishing blow but the gravity got heavier all of a sudden. Hmm...? He looked down and saw that the floor beneath his feet had turned into a pool of blood. Both of his feet were slowly sinking through the mud. At the same time, black tentacles rose once again and it strangled his feet pulling him deeper into the mud. He suddenly felt a huge energy fluctuation behind him. He turned his head only to find Souta charging a powerful attack. [Dark Shooting Ray]! A powerful and enormous beam of black energy shoots from the tip of Souta''s finger. "It''s futile." A cold voice rang. It was followed by an explosion of boundless energy. A spherical form of energy surge out and it destroyed everything around Rowan. Boom! "Shit!" Souta opened his eyes widely and in the next moment, Rowan was already standing beside him. This guy wasn''t even trying yet he could trash the three of them easily. "You''re not even worthy to play with me in your current form." Rowan lifted his foot and before Souta could react, he already sent Souta away with a heavy kick. Ugh! Souta''s figure crashed on the ground and rolled several times before his body had stopped. "Do it," Rowan said, and the members of the clan that was waiting for his order quickly move. They threw dozens of spears from above towards Souta''s body. Bang! Bang! Bang! The spears pierced his chest, legs, arms, and stomach. "Argh!!" Souta gritted his teeth as he narrowed his eyes. His body ballooned up and the energy he was releasing skyrocketed. "Aaaah!!" Boom!! An explosion occurred at Souta''s explosion. The dust and smoke covered the area when several spears flew back towards the clan members. Swoosh! Swoosh! The clan members were all experts so most of them managed to avoid but there were unfortunate ones that got hit. "Tsk! So persistent." Rowan clicked his tongue and saw a three-meter tall monster rush out of the smoke. The monster was charging at him with unbelievable speed. "I still can''t believe how a monster could get such a powerful ability." He muttered as he pulled back his hands and gathered his energy. The moment Souta arrived in front of him, the moment he threw his fist. Both of their fists collided causing powerful ripples in the air. Chapter 536 - Witch Clan: Battling The Clan Leader Souta threw a punch and Rowan threw a punch. Both of their fists collided causing a shockwave. The atmosphere was stirred and the ground trembled. The amount of energy that was gushing out was enormous. Bang! "Akh!" Souta gritted his teeth and swung down the sword in his other hand. Rowan shifted his body to the side and thrust a fist once again on Souta''s face. Rowan''s fist was about to land on Souta''s face when he suddenly opened his palm and changed the direction of his hand. He grabbed the black spike protruding on Souta''s shoulder and he pulled the monster in his direction. Then, he delivered an elbow on the monster''s stomach which was covered in black armor. Bang! Souta was flung away and crashed on several houses causing wreckage in the residential area of the clan. But Clan Leader Rowan wasn''t done. He opened his palm and a ball of energy flew in the direction where Souta''s crashed. Boom! Rowan was about to throw another ball of energy when he felt energy fluctuations behind him. He bent his body and a halberd passed just above his head. "Tsk! You can even dodge that!" Eztein clicked his tongue in annoyance. He then jumped in the mid-air while launching a series of thrusts at the Clan Leader. "You''re strong for an Annihilation Realm. With your strength, you could even rival the top Annihilation Realm masters of my clan." Rowan said while deflecting the force of the attack with his hand. Suddenly, the ground shook and the floor beneath his feet collapsed. Boom! The earth opened and boulders of rocks swallowed him. "Souta is right! You''re not even trying to fight us!" Gragas said with a serious expression. He then raised the huge hammer in his hand and swung it on the ground once again. [Earth Swallowing Smash]! ... Ugh! Souta stood up from the rubble. Rowan''s attacks were heavy and powerful, and it was just a simple attack for a shackled realm expert. If he didn''t have a parasite then he wouldn''t last long against Rowan. "The only thing that I could do now is to buy time." He muttered as he looked above him. The members of the Witch Clan were on the mid-air looking down at him. They were observing him as they prepared to launch an attack the moment he moved. Someone was controlling Rowan to kill Amanda but Rowan himself didn''t want to kill Amanda. Maybe that''s the reason why Rowan wasn''t even serious about fighting him. He hasn''t even shown his soul weapon yet and he already forced Souta to use his released form. As expected of a shackled realm expert. Although Rowan didn''t want to kill Amanda, Rowan would surely kill Souta, Eztein, Gragas, and Yenxa once he was sure that Amanda was out of the clan''s territory. It was to make the person behind him believe that he tried to kill Amanda but was stopped by this small group. It was a good story but Souta didn''t like it. He was doing all of this to earn points to make himself stronger and stronger until no one could rival. That''s the only way for him to survive in the chaotic event in the near future. He didn''t care about anything else. His focus should be on earning points and nothing else. Boom! Souta turned his head and saw that Eztein and Gragas were going all-out to hold Rowan. Yenxa was nowhere to be found as he asked her to hide for a while. In the battle against a shackled realm expert, just a simple normal attack of Rowan would be enough to decapitate her. Her parasite would be useless if she got done in one shot. "I should help them..." He muttered and he took a step forward but a spear landed in front of him. Bang! He looked at the people floating in the mid-air and said, "This group is really a problem. They have surrounded the area and would attack anyone that leaves the perimeter. What a good excuse so that the Clan Leader could play with us." Boom! A powerful energy surged in the sky appeared in the direction where Gragas and Eztein were fighting Rowan. It caused everyone to turn their heads as the pressure that the energy brought was many times stronger than before. "AAARRGH!!! NOOO! DON''T FORCE ME!!" Rowan roared as he grabbed his head. His voice was filled with madness and his eyes turned red. His irises and sclera were pure red as if blood had painted it. Souta opened his eyes widely when he saw this scene. ''No, this guy isn''t going to play easy anymore. He is serious.'' He slightly bent his knees and he dashed forward. The clan members were focused on their leader so they couldn''t react when Souta moved suddenly. Swoosh! Souta stretched out his hand and casted [Shadow Bind] spell. Black tentacles emerged but it only lasted a few seconds before it got shredded apart. The intense energy waves around Rowan were strong enough to tear apart his [Shadow Bind] spell. He increased his speed and his huge body tore the air. A loud sound exploded as Souta arrived in front of Rowan. Boom! The Clan Leader was out of his mind and it seems that he didn''t notice Souta. His body just kept releasing the powerful energy that prevented anyone below A-rank from approaching the area. "Souta!" Eztein and Gragas narrowed their eyes. They didn''t know what''s going on so they didn''t dare to approach the powerful Clan Leader carelessly. But they didn''t expect that Souta would charge like that. Swoosh! Souta gritted his teeth as he gathered his energy on the vajra sword. "Take this!" [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! A loud thunderclap echoed in the sky as black lightning struck down and covered Souta''s huge body. The black lightning boosted his strength and a gigantic figure made of black lightning materialized behind him. The figure had four arms, two pairs of eyes, and a pair of horns on the side of its head. The aura that it possessed was fearsome and terrific. It was like looking at a higher being. "Break for me!" Souta roared as he swung the sword down. The gigantic figure behind him turned into a torrent of energy that rushed towards Rowan. BOOM!!! Gragas and Eztein took a distance as the explosion was too powerful. There''s a high chance that they will get caught if they stayed in their position. This attack was enough to severely injure an S-rank but who knows how it would fare against a shackled realm expert. The battle here was intense but the battle among the two elders was much more fearsome as both elders were going all out. The aftershocks from the battle were enough to shake the territory of the clan. Even the formation around the clan, the barrier, was forming a crack because of their boundless strength. "Just by looking at it, I could remember how those powerful Extinction Realm masters fought in the war decades ago," Gragas muttered with a gloomy look. More than fifty Extinction Realm masters participated in the war decades ago. It was a historical event that changed the balance of powers in the entire central continent. Only a few people knew that inside information of the war and the ordinary people didn''t even have an idea why the top masters in the continent were battling. "It''s a bitter memory but how could we escape from this situation?" Eztein asked with a wry smile. "In any case, let''s just help Souta," Gragas said as he tightly wrapped his fingers around the handle of his hammer. BOOM! Rowan came out of the smoke and he grabbed Souta''s face. He smashed the huge monster on the ground and he continued to move while grabbing the monster''s face. "Ahhhk!!" Souta glared at Rowan and he tried to yank Rowan''s hand on his face which was several times thinner than his. But it was futile. Rowan was too strong for the current him. Bang! Their figures crashed on the barrier and spider-web cracks formed on the surface. Rowan looked at Souta with bloodshot eyes before he shouted, "Witch Clan! In the name of I, Rowan Brune, command you to attack the traitors! Don''t hold back!" "This fucker is really out of his mind!" Souta gritted his teeth as he slashed his sword but Rowan simply raised his other hand and deflected the attack. He was sure that the fifth form of his Archetype had damaged this Clan Leader. The only problem wasn''t that it didn''t enough power. It would probably take one hundred attacks of fifth form to injure this man but with his current condition, he could only use fifth form about ten times. Any more than that would undoubtedly take a toll on his body. "Fuck! This brings back memories! It feels like I''m fighting a raid boss!" Souta grinned as a surge of dark energy gushed out of his body. It boosted all of his active darkness attribute skills by several times. [Element Drive: Darkness Force]! Chapter 537 - Witch Clan: Secret Skill [Element Drive: Darkness Force]! All the active skills related to the dark attribute received a great boost. His [Shadow Cloak] and [Night Overlord''s Aura] had enhanced his overall abilities by a top-notch. Luckily, he didn''t leave Earthen Core City until he could use [Element Drive] in a battle. Not just his skills had received a boost. Each of his stats had received an extra 150 points just by activating this darkness affinity skill. [Gravitational Ball]! [Shadow Bind]! He glared at Rowan and casted several spells. Each one only took 0.01 seconds to cast and it complimented his current body state. Black tentacles rose from the ground and they wrapped around Rowan''s legs. The heavy gravity bore down on Rowan, who was tightly gripping his face. The gravity was heavier as the Clan Leader felt like a million tons boulder pressed on his body. Boom! The ground formed huge spider-web cracks and every object in the surrounding was squeezed because of the intense gravity. "Argh!!" Souta gritted his teeth as Rowan increased the strength of his grip. He swung his sword once again but Rowan deflected it as if he didn''t feel the pressure of heavy gravity. ''This fucker!'' He focused the gravity on Rowan''s body and the pressure on the surrounding had disappeared. All the pressure was pinpointed on the figure of the Clan Leader. Hmph! Rowan snorted and he delivered a punch on his stomach. The black armor was shattered instantly and the barrier behind Souta broke. Boom! Seven shadows emerged from the ground and launched an attack. They were just the Souta''s shadow so they could use skills but their physical strength was high. Then, the four spider limbs on Souta''s back pointed at Rowan. A huge concentration of best feram gathered on each tip. "Eat this!!" Souta roared as four [Bestrou]s were fired at the same time. It swallowed everything in front including Rowan. Boom! A large explosion occurred that destroyed a quarter of the territory occurred and the gust of wind that it produce destroyed buildings in the perimeter near the explosion site. Almost everything was disintegrated. The power of four [Bestrou]s was not to be underestimated. "Argh!" Souta stood up while holding his face. When he launched four [Bestrou]s, Rowan was forcefully pushed away causing Souta''s skin on his face to rip apart. After all, Rowan was gripping his face. Flesh moved on his face and soon, a new layer of skin had appeared. That Rowan didn''t even flinch under the pressure of fifty million tons. This level of pressure was enough to decrease Eztein''s movement speed by twenty percent. He tested it when they were training in Saya''s inner consciousness but the pressure didn''t even affect Rowan at all. He glanced in the sky and felt that the barrier was going to collapse soon. Even if he didn''t do anything, the battle of the two elders would shatter it in just a minute. His [Nebula Heart] and monster orb were distributing best feram throughout his entire body nonstop just to endure Rowan''s attack. Souta narrowed his eyes as he felt Rowan''s energy. "He''s coming." All of his injuries had healed and most of his energy was strengthening his vital part so that he could avoid getting one-shot by his enemy. Layers of flesh covered his body and his figure grew taller once again. Various black spikes protruded on his back and his skin turned into gray as red veins could be seen through his skin. His legs and arms grew as thick as an elephant limb. The four spider limbs on his back grew thicker and sharper. His four eyes turned pitch black and his irises were inside a crimson ring. This was the activation of his parasite''s full power. He charged forward at full speed and he collided with a figure inside the smoke. The shockwave from their collision directly dispersed the smoke in the area. Boom! ... Bam! Bam! Bam! Eztein and Gragas couldn''t help Souta at all. The Annihilation Realm masters of the Witch Clan were blocking the two of them and they couldn''t pass through them. In fact, they were being suppressed by four Annihilation Realm masters while the rest were watching from the side. If they took a distance, those people that were watching the battle would launch an attack. So the only thing that they could do was to keep fighting the four Annihilation Realm masters in close range. "Damn! It seems that I''m going to die here!" Gragas cursed as he swung his huge hammer. One of the enemies stepped forward and raised a round golden-colored shield. It blocked his attack and another opponent jumped in the mid-air before using a skill. Bang! Eztein looked fine because the parasite was constantly recovering his wounds but Gragas didn''t have a parasite so he could only endure his injuries. "Don''t worry since they are doing this, they must have decided to capture us. Although the Clan Leader ordered to kill us, they felt that there''s no need for that." Eztein said while avoiding the attacks of the two Annihilation Realm masters in front of him. "So in other words I will not die right now but later after they extracted information from me," Gragas said begrudgingly. "Sort of." Eztein raised his halberd above his head and blocked a sword attack. He lifted his feet and kicked the person in front but he felt a pain behind him. The other one had sneaked behind him. "Tsk! I will not get captured once again! I don''t want to experience that kind of torture! Especially right now that I gained super regeneration, they could torture me all day long and it would break my mind!" The wounds on his back closed quickly and layers of flesh covered his halberd. Thud! Thud! Suddenly, members of the Witch Clan started to fall to the ground. Their bodies had suddenly turned limp and they fell powerless on the floor. The members of the Witch Clan had stopped attacking as they stared at their comrades with a confused expression. The Ruin Realm witches collapsed and some of the Disaster Realm witches had collapsed too. "Ehe~ it seems that the poison of the little girl had started working." Eztein laughed. "By the way, where''s that girl?" Gragas asked while looking around. "I don''t know, her power level is low so she couldn''t carelessly show herself as there are many people in this place that could easily capture her. One Extermination Realm would be enough so I think that she decided to hide and simply used her poison ability." Eztein said with a shrug of his shoulders. At least this gave them time to rest while the witches were figuring out what''s happening to their comrades. ... "Fall!" Souta raised his hand and dark clouds gathered above. Thunderclap roared like a raging lion and black lightning struck down repeatedly. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! The black lightning was like a rain as it struck down Rowan''s fragile-looking body but Rowan simply shrugged the lightning as if it was some dust. Hmm...? Rowan suddenly stopped and looked at the dark clouds above. He felt a strange sensation coming from the lightning. It dealt too low damage but the pressure it possessed was real. Souta quickly charged forward when he saw Rowan turn his attention somewhere else. He tightly gripped his sword and used [Possession]. Boom! In just a second, he arrived in front of the Clan Leader. In this state, Souta was extremely powerful and no third evolution would be able to match his speed and strength. Swoosh! Rowan saw Souta from the corner of his eyes. He saw Souta raising his sword as black lightning circled around the blade and a huge amount of best feram gathered like a tide. Souta looked at Rowan fiercely as a ball of best feram formed on his other palm. The [Bestrou] spun wildly as it gives off aggressive and violent feelings. He pushed his hand on the red blade of the vajra sword and the [Bestrou] coated the blade. It produced an intense reaction as if it was going to burst at any moment. "Ahhh!!" Souta roared as he slashed the vajra sword with all of his might. [Bestrou] x [Crimson Moon] x [Mahayana Tribulation] It was one of the skills that he trained before coming here. He knew that there''s a high chance that he would fight someone at the shackled realm in this chain quest. That''s why he thoroughly prepared himself and created an attack that could pierce the tough shell of a shackled realm. He used the vajra sword as a medium to contain the enormous energy from three skills. It wouldn''t work if Saya wasn''t helping him restrain the energy as it would blow up at any second. In fact, only red grade and above weapons could handle this amount of energy. BOOOOM!!! A massive blade of energy burst forth and it cut everything. The entire territory of the Witch Clan was cut in half and the barrier was directly shattered into tiny fragments. The massive energy blade continued to move forward as it sliced the white fog and the river into half.. It only disappeared after it reached thirty kilometers. Chapter 538 - Witch Clan: Suppression Read novel online free fast updates at novelhall.com or NovelTeam.Net Souta looked at the scene in front of him before he fell on his knees. Everything in front of him was sliced into two. From his position, a huge cut with a length of thirty kilometers could be seen from above. The cut had a width of twenty meters and a depth of one hundred twenty meters. His attack directly killed some of the members of the Witch Clan. Actually, he didn''t care about them at all. He just wanted to avoid killing them because of the Special Quest but he couldn''t help killing a few of them since the fight was difficult. Also, those witches were the ones standing in front of his attack so some of them would naturally die. He reverted back to his original form and he spat a mouthful of blood. Cough! All the active spells and combat arts had disappeared. The skill that he just used was very taxing to his own body. Huff! Huff! Huff! Souta''s chest was heaving up and down. He wiped the blood on his lips and stood up. He knew that his attack wasn''t enough to take down a shackled realm expert. If it was below shackled realm then their life and death would be unknown if they tanked Souta''s attack. "Damn! this is really hard..." He cursed as he silently circulated his energy throughout his body. He took out the fifth evolution monster orb and slowly recovered his energy. He was lucky that Rowan wasn''t taking him seriously. Rowan didn''t even use his soul weapon yet so his full power was still unknown to Souta. "Just a little bit more time..." ... On the other end of the gully, Rowan was laying on his back while staring at the dark starry sky. After a few moments, he stood up and looked at his hand. He was bleeding. A mere third evolution monster managed to make him bleed. This third evolution monster was seriously strong. It was stronger than all of the third evolution monsters that he had seen in his entire life. It reached the limit of the third stage and was close to reaching the fourth stage. A fully equipped monster that learned various spells to the point that it could rival those mages in terms of spellcasting. What an unbelievable creature. Suddenly, his eyes squinted as pain assaulted his head. "I have to finish this..." He looked towards the Witch Clan''s territory and he could feel the aftershocks caused by the battle of the two elders. The white fog that was concealing their land was gone. Their territory could be seen in the middle of the river and erecting this type of formation would take a long time. It means that anyone would be able to find their land once people visited the Mist River. There''s no protection anymore, aside from their own power. Ohm! Blueish energy slowly covered his entire body. He was going to use some of his power to settle everything. "Argh! Damn! Young Miss, I hope you have already escaped, or else I will not be able to control myself any longer." ... The Witch''s land was chaotic. It became a battlefield that directly razed their residential area to the ground. Elder Guan and Elder Hanmi''s faction were fighting across the land. Energy fluctuations from Disaster Realm, Extermination Realm, Annihilation Realm, and even Extinction Realm would surge in the sky every second. The thick best feram from the third stage monster had spread in the clan. It was like a poisonous gas for ordinary people as they fainted directly when Souta spread out his maximum energy level before. Children, seniors, or any people with low power levels had fallen one by one. The pressure from the best feram along with the pressure coming from the Extinction Realm masters was too much for them. It''s been so long since an incident at this level had occurred in the Witch Clan. So right now, only the Ruin Realm people helped the ordinary witches evacuate out of their clan headquarters. Cough! Cough! Souta looked up and saw dozens of S-rank experts along with thirty plus A-rank experts were hovering in the sky. All of them were observing him with serious expressions. It was as if they were deciding what would they do to a powerful monster like him. Clan Leader Rowan had a total of thirty-one loyal S-rank experts under his commands. Elder Guan only had nineteen S-rank while Elder Hanmi had twenty-three S-rank experts. Looking at dozens of S-rank above him, Souta knew that these guys were serious, unlike Rowan who was only playing with him. These guys would undoubtedly subjugate him under Rowan''s order and they would execute it without fail. In a situation like this, Souta even wanted to fight Rowan for the time being. But he couldn''t do anything except for fighting and that''s his greatest perk. "Come!" Souta fixed his posture and his flesh wrapped around the handle of the vajra sword. His body inflated as he used his released form once again. Tremendous best feram gushed out of his body but the S-rank experts remained unfazed. They simply released their energy level. The only reason why they didn''t attack immediately was because they saw how he fought against their Clan Leader. They were cautious of his strength. "If you''re not going to attack then-" A loud sound rumbled and a powerful pressure bore down on everyone. Boom! Souta turned his head and he saw Rowan hovering in the sky close to the clouds. He had a cold look in his eyes and Souta quickly realized that it will not be the same anymore. Rowan didn''t attack immediately instead he observed the entire land. He saw Souta looking at him, Eztein and Gragas fighting some of his subordinates, even the little girl that was releasing poison, and Amanda who was still in the territory of the Witch Clan. "Young miss, why haven''t you left yet?" He muttered before his figure disappeared. He was too fast. He was just several thousand meters above the ground and yet in an instant, Souta found that Rowan was already several meters away from him. Swoosh! Souta gritted his teeth as he activated his combat arts and spells. He swung his sword but Rowan appeared in front of him and grabbed his wrist. "Futile... It''s amazing that you could even damage me but that''s it. You still didn''t have a chance against me." Rowan said as he tightened his grip on Souta''s wrist. Then, he moved his hand and twisted Souta''s arm. Spurt! Blood gushed out as his right arm was diced. Souta ignored his right hand as the four spider limbs on his back fired four [Bestrou]. Boom! This type of pain wouldn''t even make him flinch. The pain in integrating [Nebula Heart] was a thousand times worse than twisting his arm. "Wha-" Souta opened his eyes widely as he saw that his [Bestrou]s were shattered with just a single punch of Rowan. The force behind Rowan''s fist tore the [Bestrou]s and it even made a hole in his stomach. Bang! He was blown away and his figure crashed on the ground causing a huge fissure. He couldn''t do anything alone. His attack could deal some damage to Rowan but it wasn''t enough. He stood up and the wounds on his body were recovering quickly. The hole on his stomach had disappeared and his twisted right arm had returned back to normal. ''The Clan Leader didn''t go after you... It seems that he is going after Amanda.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. Souta opened his eyes widely. He bent his knees and launched himself in the sky. No matter what he couldn''t let Rowan kill Amanda. If Amanda died then this Chain Quest will be for nothing. He couldn''t let that happen. Amanda was the core of the Chain Quest. Boom! A giant green ball of energy appeared in front of him and it crashed into his body. Souta tried to push the ball of energy using his strength but the energy within the gigantic ball was enormous. He glanced at the side and saw that the energy was coming from five peak S-rank experts. "Argh!!" The ball of energy forced him into the ground before it exploded. Boom! ... Rowan was holding Amanda on the neck while floating above the Witch Clan. "Look, your comrades are strong but they can''t make up for the quantity of my subordinates." He said in a cold tone as he looked down at the battle. "Ugh!" Amanda couldn''t break free from his grasp. She was too weak as she was only at Extermination Realm. She couldn''t do anything to him even though she had recovered her memory and remembered everything. She followed her line of sight and saw Souta, Gragas, Eztein, and the others were getting suppressed by the combined might of Elder Hanmi''s forces and Clan Leader''s forces. "U-Uncle... I''m sorry that I''m making it hard for you... Y-You''re the one that saved me yet I''m here..." "Stop, I don''t want to hear it," Rowan said as he glanced at Amanda from the corner of his eyes. But then, he stopped moving as unfamiliar energy spread out in the clan. "What''s this?" He opened his eyes widely and stared at the land below him. Ohm! A huge magic circle appeared on the Witch Clan. The magic circle was emitting a bright blue light and a huge amount of energy was gushing out like a tide. "Oh, it seems that I''m not too late.." A charming voice echoed in the whole area. Read novel fast updates at novelhall.com or NovelTeam.Net Chapter 539 - Witch Clan: Favor Read novel online free fast updates at novelhall.com or NovelTeam.Net Gragas condition was worse. His body was full of wounds and he could barely move because of it. "Ah, fuck! This is too much for me..." He cursed as he leaned his back on a broken wall. Fighting three Annihilation Realm masters was too much for him. He wasn''t even a peak Annihilation master so how could they let him fight several people at his level. Cough! Cough! He coughed a mouthful of blood before his body fell on the ground. Thud! Three figures landed in front of him. They were his opponents, the three Annihilation Realm masters of the Witch Clan under the direct command of the Clan Leader. "If you''re going to kill me just do it. I don''t want to feel any pain." Gragas said to the three witches. Swoosh! Swoosh! Eztein moved his body swiftly left and right as he avoided all kinds of attacks. He was doing fine compared to Gragas who was on the death''s bed. He was at the peak of Annihilation Realm and he also had a parasite in his body. So he could heal his wounds and injuries easily unlike Gragas. "Shit! That dwarf is going to die! I want to help him but I can''t break through my enemies'' formation." He saw Gragas'' condition from the corner of his eyes. He wanted to help but he couldn''t because of his strong opponents. Four peak Annihilation Realm masters were totally suppressing him and without the parasite, he knew that he would be a goner right now. He was passively defending and avoiding his opponents'' attacks in his condition. Finding an opportunity to counter was hard and the opponents were smart enough to realize it. Swoosh! He quickly raised his halberd and blocked a sword slashed from above. Then, he quickly kicked the ground to create a distance as two witches appeared on each side. "Fuck!" He couldn''t help but curse as a huge cut appeared on his chest. Suddenly, unknown energy spread out in the whole area. Then, the ground emitted a strange light. Ohm! "What the hell?" Eztein looked down. Gragas who was laying on the ground looked and wondered what''s going to happen. Everyone stopped moving as the ground emitted a bright blueish light that illuminated the entire clan. "Hmm...?" Souta narrowed his eyes and the pressure coming from the light was from a real shackled realm expert. It was different from the two elders and the Clan Leader. A fourth shackled realm had made an appearance in the Witch Clan. ''[Mass Teleportation] spell.'' Saya''s voice sounded. ''Teleportation spell... It means that they aren''t Alice and others. The transportational gate would create a pillar of light. No wonder this feels different.'' Souta nodded inwardly. Although a new group had appeared he still needed to deal with his current situation. He was surrounded by a total of ten S-rank experts and dealing with them was difficult. He couldn''t even injure one of them as their teamwork was great. If it''s just a one on one battle Souta was confident that he could destroy them one by one but fighting ten at the same time was a different matter. If he wasn''t careful they would''ve already killed him. Unlike Rowan who was only playing with him, these witches were trying to kill him. But then the group of people that appeared was beyond his expression. He was familiar with this group as this one was the one who''s always lending him a hand in this continent. "Oh, it seems that I''m not too late." A charming voice echoed as a group of beautiful females had appeared on the battleground. The woman at the center of the group was a very attractive woman with long silky blue hair. Her eyes and eyebrows had the same color as her hair. She was wearing a piece of white dress. In her left hand, she was holding a wooden staff that was as tall as her, and on her right hand, there was a tobacco pipe. This woman was the ruler of the red light district in Earthen Core City, a powerhouse at shackled realm. She''s Eilish also known as Blue Reaper. "Fufu~" She chuckled as she looked around. She found that Souta was a hundred meters away from her on the south while Gragas and Eztein were further in the east. They all looked pitiful. Then, she raised her head and looked at Rowan who was grabbing Amanda on her neck. "Who are you?" Rowan asked in a serious tone as the aura in his body skyrocketed. This unknown Extinction Realm. He had to take any person at this level seriously. Eilish narrowed her eyes and thought, ''This guy is stronger than me.'' She acted as if she didn''t hear Rowan''s question, no, she didn''t want to answer him. "I will ask once again. Who are you and what are you doing in my land?" Rowan asked in a chilly tone and the pressure that he was emitting grew stronger. "I''m here to take my people with me," Eilish said while looking around, observing the forces of the famed Witch Clan. ''There are a total of seventy-three Annihilation masters. That''s a huge force it seems that they aren''t united. Two groups are fighting in the northwest including two Extinction Realm masters. The forces here are this guy along with thirty-one Annihilation Realm and Ninety-one Extermination Realm. Even so, it''s too huge compare to the forces that I brought.'' She already thought of many things while exchanging simple words with Rowan. She had analyzed the opponent''s forces and she was planning how to counter it with just a small number of people that she had brought. "People? Your people caused trouble in my land so are you going to take responsibility for their mess?" Rowan asked. "Nope, I''m not going to take responsibility for it." Eilish paused for a moment before her eyes turned chilly as her aura started to seep out of her body. She added, "But they aren''t the cause of it. They just came here to find the Witch Clan because of that girl in your hand. I doubt that they will create a trouble. Even if they are, then can you explain to me how this mess had started?" "It started because of them. I don''t have a time to explain to you." Rowan replied while staring at Eilish''s eyes. He wouldn''t back down no matter what happens. ''This... Isn''t he a bit unreasonable?'' Eilish was a little bit surprised when she heard his response. Souta who was watching the scene opened his mouth and shouted, "Eilish! You wouldn''t be able to reason with that man! We''ve found that Amanda is the daughter of the former Clan Leader so he wouldn''t let us go no matter what happens! So ask you a favor to help us for a while!" The S-rank experts who were close to Souta didn''t expect that he will join the conversation between Extinction Realm masters. They quickly raised their weapons and attacked him. Swoosh! Souta simply vanished from his position using the [Shadow Ball] spell. While everyone was busy looking at the newly arrived group, he had set up his [Shadow Ball] spell in every direction. "Well, I don''t care anymore. Just attack them." Rowan had given his order to his subordinates. "Tsk! Protect them." Eilish clicked her tongue in annoyance. She wanted to avoid fighting as the opponent''s forces were several times higher than her. The enemy had thirty-one Annihilation Realm masters while she only brought twelve Annihilation Realm with her. The difference was huge and it seems that the opponent''s forces weren''t exhausted yet. After all, they were only dealing with Souta, Gragas, and Eztein. The witches didn''t need to use everything against three people who only had the power of an Annihilation Realm. The twelve people behind her moved and they divided themselves to help Gragas and Eztein. Swoosh! As soon as her subordinates left, Eilish opened her mouth and asked, "What do you mean by that?" Souta walked out of the shadows and said while looking at Rowan, "Help me hold this guy for a while." "You want me to fight an Extinction Realm master for you. I even came here to pick you up but fighting an Extinction Realm..." Eilish glanced at him with a doubtful look. "My forces will arrive here soon." "Forces? Do you have Extinction Realm with you?" "No, but I''m sure that I could handle him after so help me for now." "Ah, fine, I''ll do my best. That guy is stronger than me. Also, are you the one who caused a cut on his hand?" Eilish sighed before she nodded. "Yep, I''m the one who did that and that''s the only thing that I could do to him." Souta nodded with a serious expression. "You''re much more capable than I thought." Eilish smiled. "I''ll leave him to you. I''ll cut down his forces for the meantime. Thirty-one Annihilation Realm is too much for your subordinates." Souta said before he turned around. Ohm! Dozens of balls of energy flew towards him at high speed. Each one contained power that could heavily injure an S-rank. Boom! Souta didn''t even turn to look as he knew that Eilish will handle it for him. And he was correct. Eilish tapped her wooden staff on the ground and it created a transparent barrier that protected him from Rowan''s attack. "Oh my, I''m sorry but I''m gonna have you play with me for a while.." She smiled seductively while looking at the Clan Leader. Read novel online free fast updates at novelhall.com or NovelTeam.Net Chapter 540 - Witch Clan: Eilish And Souta Vs Rowan I The battle between the two elders was getting intense every second. They flew high above the clouds to fight so that they didn''t cause too much damage to the clan. The damage that they caused in their land was already high so they didn''t want to increase it anymore. "Elder Hanmi! Why are you trying to harm, young miss?!" Elder Guan shouted as he repeatedly attacked his opponent at high speed. His attacks caused a high tearing sound in the air and it was followed by shockwaves. Bang! Bang! Bang! "I''m not trying to harm young miss. I''m going to capture her to know the truth." Elder Hanmi replied as he used his soul weapon to block the shockwaves. Boom! "That''s the same! the Clan Leader will kill her!" Elder Guan roared as he gathered a huge amount of energy and fired it at Elder Hanmi. Shiiing! Eilish who was facing Rowan glanced in the direction where the two elders were fighting. The energy spiked from the battle was too high and anyone would notice it within fifty kilometers. "It seems that one elder is on our side so it''s not that bad." She sighed and she focused her attention on Rowan. Amanda was still in Rowan''s hand so she couldn''t carelessly launch an attack. If her attack was too powerful then it would kill Amanda. Boom! Boom! Sounds of explosions echoed around them. It seems that her twelve subordinates had started fighting the strong witches and judging from the fluctuations of energy they were outnumbered. "I should help them a little." Eilish tapped her wooden staff on the ground and a magic circle formed beneath her feet. [Unfettered Speed]! [Mighty Giant Strength]! These two spells were both buff and support type spells. The first spell could increase the agility of a person by one hundred points and the latter could increase a person''s strength by one hundred fifty. But she wasn''t finished buffing her subordinates. [Burning Touch]! This spell could add a fire attribute to a person''s normal attack. For finishing, she used the three spells on her body. She was going to fight the strongest person in the whole Witch Clan so it was natural that she buffed herself. Hmm...? Rowan looked around as he felt the increase in power of Eilish''s subordinates. "It will not help them for too long." When he turned his head back to Eilish, a saw a huge block of ice close to his face. "Eh...?" The ice block was just two meters away from him. Although it was close, he still could avoid it with his speed but he wouldn''t do that. This spell wasn''t even tough from the beginning. Swoosh! He gathered his energy on his fist and threw it towards the huge ice block. Boom! The ice block exploded but Rowan noticed that something was wrong. The fragments of the ice block turned into sharp ice spears. "No!" Rowan opened his eyes widely as the ice spears flew at him. The speed and strength that it possessed were twenty times higher than the ice block before. Boom! Smoke covered the area and a figure came out of it. It was the Clan Leader Rowan, the strongest witch in the clan. Tsk! Rowan looked at Eilish and said, "So your goal is to take Amanda from me. I didn''t expect that but fine, I''ll just have to kill you." Eilish managed to separate Amanda from Rowan using a barrier. While Rowan was busy dealing with the ice spears, she secretly created a barrier and hid it with the ice spears. And when an opportunity appears she separated the two while casting multiple spells to distract Rowan in just a second. Ohm! The atmosphere turned heavy and chilly. His body started to emit enormous and dense energy. The air tightened and time seemed to stop. "He''s getting serious." Eilish narrowed her eyes. She had to avoid close combat as it''s outside of her expertise. She preferred to fight long-range where she could bombard her enemy with powerful destructive spells. Ohm! Ripples of energy spread out and a giant majestic golden bell materialized above Rowan. The bell had a height of twenty meters and it has a black pattern on its body. It was the soul weapon of the leader of the Witch Clan, the [Great Molina Bell]. Rowan''s ultimate weapon and the thing that could bring out one hundred percent of his power. "Now, let me deal with you." ... Amanda fell to the ground and coughed a mouthful of blood. Although Eilish managed to rescue her, the aftershocks and energy from her attack still damage her body. Luckily, her parasite worked fast and recover her internal injuries quickly. "Damn, I can''t do anything! I just recovered my memories and my head is still out of it!" She muttered while holding her head. Ding! A sound of a bell rang in the entire place. The sound traveled within a radius of one hundred kilometers and every creature within heard it. "This..." She recalled something from her memory when she heard this sound. She quickly looked up and saw a giant golden bell. "That''s uncle''s soul weapon...?" Two Extinction Realm masters were going to clash using their full strength. The casualties would be high if they fought here in this place. The two elders went above the clouds when they fought but Rowan and Eilish didn''t seem to care about their surroundings. The killing intent in Rowan''s aura pressured everyone in the vicinity. Judging from this, it seems that he wouldn''t care about the life and death of other witches in this place as long as he killed Amanda''s group. Huh? Amanda saw a blueish barrier expand from Eilish''s body. The barrier swallowed Rowan and it pushed everyone away. Ohm! On the next moment, she found that the barrier had crashed into her body and it pushed her out of the clan territory causing her to fall on the Mist River. Eilish had pushed everyone out of the Witch Clan''s territory and she isolated herself with Rowan so that no one would disturb their battle. In short, no people were in the witch land except for the two. That''s what they thought. They didn''t even know that Eilish let one person inside to help her. She was a textbook mage so she wasn''t that good in close combat. She would be instantly defeated if Rowan got closer to her. That''s why she needed someone who could keep up with Rowan. And the only person that bled Rowan was Souta. A third stage monster who could somehow keep up with an Extinction Realm. Bang! Souta emerged from the rubble. He looked around and found Eilish. "I thought you don''t need me!" He shouted. He was fighting Rowan''s subordinates and he had already taken down five A-rank experts when the barrier expanded. "I''ve changed my mind after seeing that bell. This guy is entirely on a different level." Eilish replied to him. Ding! The bell sounded once again. The wave of energy spread out and it caused multiple big explosions. Boom! Boom! Boom! "It''s bad," Eilish said before she waved her wooden staff, and a barrier formed around her and Souta. The explosions were powerful and huge to the point that it''s useless to dodge them because of their wide range that encompasses everything in the land. The whole land was turned upside down and no building was left standing after the groundbreaking explosion. Some part of the land had even sunk in the river. Swoosh! Souta''s three-meter tall body came out of the smoke. Violent energy gushed out of him as he flew towards Rowan at high speed. "Just die you fucker!!" Souta roared as he swung his sword with all of his might. He activated several spells and combat arts that could boost his power. [Crimson Moon]! Rowan simply shifted his body and the bell collided with the blade of energy. Then, he saw spider webs attached to his clothes. "What''s this?" His line of sight followed and saw Souta holding the other end of the webs. Souta smirked and he didn''t give Rowan a time to react as he pulled the web. He raised his sword and charged his best feram. [Possession]! [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [Crimson Moon]! Eilish raised her staff above and used her buff spells to strengthen Souta. Her powerful spells boosted his power to the next level and it made him possible to damage a shackled realm expert like Rowan. "Do you want to know who''s more durable than us?!!" Rowan raised his hand and he decided to tank Souta''s attack. In return, he will attack Souta with his soul weapon. The moment he swung down his hand, the moment the energy blade landed on his body. At the same time, the giant bell launched a powerful beam. BOOOOM!! Two figures came out of the smoke and crashed on the ground. The explosion was destructive that it destroyed the barrier that Eilish created to isolate the Witch land. Eilish raised her staff and casted several attack spells. [Thundering Earth Crusher]! [Thousand Water Shock]! [Dominating the Wind]! One had a best feram and the other figure only had mana so naturally, she knew who she should attack. Chapter 541 - Witch Clan: Eilish And Souta Vs Rowan II A mushroom of smoke rose to the sky and it enveloped everything. The explosion destroyed everything and it sunk the whole Witch Land. It erased the Witch Land on the Mist River without leaving anything behind. Eilish tightened her grip on her staff as she floated away while observing the clouds of smoke and dust. Her spells just now directly resulted in the destruction of the land. The water on the river started to fill in the crater slowly. Souta rose from the river and stared at the scene. The wounds in his body were closing at high speed. "You''re insanely powerful, you know." He said as he floated beside Eilish. There''s a chance that he would die in that attack if not for the buff that he received from her. "That''s nothing compared to our opponent." Eilish glanced at him and added, "You should stay beside me and prevent him from approaching me. My specialty is spell bombardment, not a melee fight." "I know. I will not carelessly engage with him as he''s too strong for me." Souta nodded. His job here was to prevent Rowan from leading Eilish to a close-range battle. "I just come here to pick all of you. I didn''t expect that would fight an Extinction Realm." Eilish said with a sigh. "I would compensate you later so don''t worry," Souta assured her. It would be quite bad for him if she back out now that Rowan brought out his soul weapon. There''s no way that he could stand alone in front of a shackled realm. Rowan rose from the river and looked at the two of them with furious eyes. "You! You just destroyed my land! I will kill of you!" His anger had reached the limit as the whole island in the middle of the giant Mist River had sunk. It wasn''t built to withstand an attack against an Extinction Realm master. "[Great Molina Bell]!" He raised his hand and the majestic golden bell rang. Swoosh! Eilish opened her eyes widely and she quickly set up a barrier around her and Souta. Bang! The barrier was shattered instantly as the sound waves that came from the bell were fierce. "Tsk! This guy..." Eilish flew backward as she pointed her staff at Rowan. Her mana gushed out and the water on the river rose, forming five water dragons. [Water Forming Dragon]!! Swoosh! Rowan flew around as the five water dragons chased him. The dragons were fast but he was faster. There''s no way that they could catch up to him. He knew his opponent''s goal. To create a distance so that she could bombard him with powerful spells. What a typical strategy for mages. "Naive." He turned around and faced the five water dragons. The golden bell that was following him rang once again and it produced sound waves. Boom! "Not enough." [Burning Sound]! The twenty-meter tall golden bell rang again and the sound waves that it produce had changed. The sound had gained fire attribute that directly evaporated the five dragons made of water. "Change it to [Rapturing Ears]!" The sound had changed once again. Right now, the effect was exploding the ears of the people that heard the sound. The range was huge as the sound traveled within a diameter of fifty kilometers. A super AOE attack. "He didn''t even care about his subordinates." Eilish gritted her teeth and used a huge amount of mana. The wooden staff in her hand emitted a bright light. [Water and Wind Isolation Wall]!! The water rose from the edges of the Mist River. The wall of water on both sides blocked the sound and the wind above tightened to isolate the space. The height of the water wall was ten thousand meters so every creature in the forest had seen this scene. Swoosh! Eztein looked at the wall of water with an amazed expression. Extinction Realm master really could change the geographical structures of the land. They could create and destroy mountains, create rivers, or volcanoes depending on their powers. "We need to get out of this place as soon as possible." He said to Eilish''s subordinates that helped him in repelling the witches. He understood why the wall of water was created. It was created to prevent the aftershocks from the battle from affecting them. It means that they were all inside the attack range of an Extinction Realm master. Just by imagining it already gives him chills. ... "Prepare yourself. I''m going to use one of my strongest spells." Eilish said to Souta in a low voice. "Okay, I get it." Souta nodded and he knew that aside from watching and preventing Rowan from approaching he couldn''t do anything. The space between walls of water had a width of two kilometers but for shackled realm experts this distance was nothing. So the walls only narrowed the place where they could retreat and both of them knew that''s what Rowan wanted. To fight him head-on. "There''s nowhere to go." Rowan laughed lightly as he looked at the two. His aura burst forth as he charged forward with unbelievable speed. "Buy me some time to build up the magic circle." Eilish said as she released the wooden staff in her hand. The staff floated in front of her before it spun around generating powerful wind currents. Ohm! She opened her arms and a vast amount of energy gathered around her palms. Swoosh! Souta left a [Shadow Ball] spell before he charged forward. His figure collided with Rowan within a second and he was blown away. Bang! He stabilized himself in the air and looked at Rowan who ignored him. He made a grabbing motion and the ten [Gravitational Ball] spells behind him spun quickly. "Full power hundred million tons gravitational pull!!" His monster orb and [Nebula Heart] provided a huge amount of energy enough to sustain his usage of high gravity power. "Argh!! Just stop for a second!!" Souta roared as he transferred most of his energy to the power of gravity. Bang! A tremendous weight bore down on Rowan''s body and it caught him off guard. His figure was pressed down and he saw that the part below him was gone. It was left with a huge gaping hole with an unknown depth. "The hell..." The power of gravity was focused on his position. It wasn''t focused on his figure alone so the river below him was pressed down creating a sinkhole. He turned his head and glanced at Souta. "This fucking monster is really getting on my nerves." He gritted his teeth and the golden bell beside him rang once again. Dong!!! The sound exploded and the hundred million tons of gravity were repelled instantly. If this was ordinary sound then it wouldn''t do anything but this sound was caused by Rowan''s soul weapon which was equivalent to dark grade and it also contained the power of a shackled realm expert. Bang! "ARGHH!!" Souta gritted his teeth as he was pushed back and every vein in his body had exploded. His eyes, ears, nose, and throat were crushed in an instant. Ding!! The bell rang again and when the sound wave hit his body this time, every skin on his body was peeled off creating a gruesome appearance. "UGH!!" Even the black armor that was created using [Armored Scale Formation] trait was directly shattered into tiny pieces. His huge savage body had turned into a fragile skinless monster in just two attacks. ''Come on.'' Souta gives up on healing his throat, eyes, ears, nose, and skin first. He focused on healing the body part that he could use for combat as he realized that the regenerative powers of his queen parasite had slowed down. After all, ever since he started fighting Rowan, he was constantly receiving life-threatening wounds and the queen parasite was working on repairing his body nonstop. So its power had slowed down just like when he fought the Ancestor of the Great Astley Empire before. Swoosh! A figure flashed towards him. [Soul Blood Mode]! The souls on his earring were released instantly and they flowed in his body fueling all of his attributes to the next level. He didn''t need to hesitate when his opponent was a shackled realm or else it would cost him his life. He had trained to fight even when he couldn''t use all of his five senses. As long as the opponent had energy, then he would be able to sense his opponent''s position and movements. He charged best feram on his sword and swung it down. ''Saya! Take control of the energy!'' He roared inwardly as the vast amount of energy was concentrated on the vajra sword. ''I know! So focus yourself on the attack!!'' Saya replied to him. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [Bestrou]! [Crimson Moon]! He fused all the attacks into one slash and directly threw it at Rowan. He was still in his [Monster Orb Release], [Possession], [Element Drive], and [Soul Blood Mode] form. The various combat arts and spells were still active around his body, and also Eilish''s buff spells were still on. So the power behind his attack directly reached the lowest level of the shackled realm. "Fucking monster!!" Rowan roared when he saw the slash. He controlled the giant bell behind him to fly in front to block the slash. BOOM!!!! Chapter 542 - Witch Clan: Eilish And Souta Vs Rowan III Rowan raised his arms and the golden bell blocked Souta''s slash. Boom! Souta gritted his teeth as he put more force in his slash. His ears had regenerated along with his eyes. Also, some part of his skin had recovered. His [Draw Blood] trait made his attacks stronger but he couldn''t risk himself not regenerating some of his wounds caused there''s a chance that Rowan would be able to one hit him if his health was too low. "Souta!! Leave him!!" Eilish shouted as she finished her preparation. Rowan turned his head and opened his eyes in shock. The energy that gathered around the wooden staff was too dense and enormous. The fluctuations were producing violent torrents of energy in the form of sparks. It was distorting the area around her. "This is..." With just a glance, he knew exactly what will happen to him if Eilish launched that spell. Bang! "What?!" He lost his focus when he saw Eilish and he ignored one of the problems around him. Souta, who was pushing his soul weapon, managed to break through his defenses. "Eilish, don''t worry about me!! Just cast the spell!" Souta roared as he slashed the vajra sword in his hand once again. Swoosh! "Ugh!" Rowan groaned as a huge cut appeared on his chest and the torrent of energy from the slash swallowed his body. "Fine." Eilish pressed her hand together and her attention was on the two. Since she heard Souta''s approval, she wasn''t going to hesitate anymore. [Heaven and Earth Annihilating Cannon]!! She pushed her hand forward and the wooden staff stopped spinning. The energy inside it suddenly exploded and an enormous beam engulfed everything in front of her. The black and white energy twisted together like a snake as it moved in a straight line. The height and width of the beam covered everything and the walls of water were instantly shattered by its power. A low-grade tier 3 spell was casted by a shackled realm expert using a vast amount of mana was horrific. BOOOOM!!! Eztein was holding both Yenxa and Gragas on his shoulder when an enormous explosion burst behind him. "Fucking shit!!!" They were already far from the riverside yet the shockwaves caused by the beam still blow them away. The beam illuminated the sky and the forest which was covered in darkness. The witches and Eilish''s subordinates had already distanced themselves. Everyone knew that when two Extinction Realm masters were fighting, everything below it would get caught up in the aftershocks of the battle. So everyone within three kilometers of the beam felt the most powerful shockwave. And it even injured most of the B-rank experts around. Swoosh!! The two elders who were fighting above the clouds suddenly stopped and both of them looked down only to find an enormous white and black beam engulfing the whole Mist River. "They are fighting below... An Extinction Realm..." Elder Guan muttered in disbelief. Elder Hanmi narrowed his eyes and didn''t say anything. The black and white beam traveled three hundred and fifty kilometers in a straight line destroying a total of four three thousand meter tall mountains. It didn''t explode as it simply faded away after traveling so far. The geographical structure of the entire land had changed just like that. People of this land needed to redraw the map once again. A large part of Mist River was gone just like that. There was a reason why they were called Extinction Realm. Just like the war decades ago, it entirely changed the land formation of the whole central continent. "Oh shit, I thought I was a goner." Souta said beside Eilish as he watched the spectacle caused by her attack spell. He recognized the spell that she had used and was quite surprised to see its power in this high world. Eilish glanced at him and said, "I never expected you to know short-distance teleportation spell." "It''s nothing compared to your spell." Souta shrugged his shoulders. He canceled his [Monster Orb Release], [Soul Blood Mode], and [Possession] skills as it was too taxing using these three at the same time. "Be careful, that guy wouldn''t go down easily," Eilish warned when she saw him turn back to his normal form. "I know." Souta nodded with a serious expression. He knew that a shackled realm wouldn''t die from an attack like that but Rowan wouldn''t also escape it unscathed even if he used his soul weapon. That''s the most important thing. To injure Rowan and lower his combat prowess. Swoosh! They saw a silhouette inside a smoke. Boom! The smoke was dispersed as the figure released an energy wave. The figure was Rowan and his body was covered in his own blood. He directly took Eilish''s attack and he survived with heavy injuries. He was angry. The rage in his body was about to explode. It''s been a long time since someone managed to push him to this extent. "He''s coming." Eilish said and Rowan disappeared in their vision. Swoosh! Souta quickly activated his [Possession] and [Monster Orb Release] form. His body had inflated and he immediately swung the vajra sword in his hand. Hmph! Rowan snorted and threw a punch. His fist and the sword collided causing a shockwave. Bang! "Tsk! This is bad!!" Eilish clicked her tongue as she flew backward to create some distance while erecting barriers around her. The distance between her and Rowan was just a few several dozens of meters. [Spiral Dominant Sphere]!! She waved her hand a more than twenty fist-size white energy balls formed around her. The white energy balls flew towards Rowan and shoots energy rays. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! [Great Molina Bell]! The golden bell rang and it produced a sound. The sound caused the white rays to explode before it even reached Rowan. Souta knitted his brows and he slashed his sword repeatedly. Bang! Bang! Bang! Rowan looked at Souta in the eyes as he blocked all the slash using his left hand alone. He clenched his fist and deflected Souta''s sword. Bang! "Argh!" Souta gritted his teeth and he looked down. He saw Rowan''s other hand move so fast before it pierced his stomach. Ugh! The four spider limbs on his back charged [Bestrou]s. He quickly fired it after gathering enough power. Boom! "Not enough!" Rowan roared as he pulled back his hand and threw a punch that contained a vast amount of energy. Boom! The [Bestrou]s were blasted away and Souta opened his eyes as a blinding light burst. Rowan gives him one more glance before he flew away. He rushed towards Eilish who was preparing various spells. Swoosh! The white energy balls were dispersed by the sound waves from the golden bell. It also shattered a layer of the barrier around Eilish. Bang! Eilish gritted her teeth and she raised her hand above her head. A giant block of ice materialized above her. The block of ice had a diameter of two kilometers. It was so huge that it almost blocked everything that was above her. "Petty tricks." Rowan snorted and he gathered his energy on his soul weapon. [Thousand Destruction Sound]! The majestic golden bell rang several times and it sent ripples in the air like a wave of water. Of course, it wasn''t easy destroying this giant block of ice. If it was an ordinary giant ice then it would be easy to shatter it but this block of ice wasn''t ordinary at all. It contained Eilish''s vast energy that toughened the ice several times. But Rowan was a shackled realm expert. He was a witch and his soul weapon directly boosted his firepower and it was compatible with his battle style. Destroying this ice was only a little harder for him. Rowan flew towards the ice and in the next moment, the ice was shattered into tiny fragments. Bang! [Heightened Flame Ray]! Eilish pointed her staff forward and flames gushed out like a tsunami. Swoosh! A figure appeared beside him and she opened her eyes in shock. Rowan had gotten close to her and it will be bad for her. It''s not that she didn''t know how to fight in close range but her opponent was clearly a master in melee battle compared to her. It would be a disadvantageous position to her so the chances that she will suffer defeat were higher. "Leave me no choice!" Eilish gritted her teeth as she grabbed her staff which was floating beside her and swung it at Rowan. Rowan smirked and threw a punch at her. Boom! Both of their attacks collided and it sent shockwaves in the surrounding area. Both of them continued to fight head-on and Rowan didn''t give Eilish a chance to get away from him. Every time Eilish tried to run away, he was always blocking her path and forced her into a melee battle. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta coughed a mouthful of blood and he turned his head. He saw that the two were fighting and he could clearly see who was winning the battle. "Ah fuck!" He cursed in annoyance. This was not the only problem right now. Yenxa and the others were also fighting the other witches. "Just one more minute...." Chapter 543 - Witch Clan: Arrival Shockwave after shockwaves occurred as the two shackled realm experts collided in the sky. The fluctuations of energy were too high and dangerous that it was impossible for normal people to approach the battle. Bang! Bang! Bang! Ugh! Eilish coughed a mouthful of blood as Rowan punched through the barrier around her and landed a blow on her stomach. She was injured and her opponent was the same. Both of them were wounded but in close-range battle, there''s nothing much she could do against Rowan. So he was suppressing her with all of his might. Souta didn''t even help her and simply watched the battle from below. He focused himself on recovering his energy while Rowan was busy fighting Eilish. With a monster orb in his hand, he slowly guided the energy inside it to his monster orb and [Nebula Heart]. He could feel it. He''s been using this fifth evolution monster orb for a long time and just a little bit more the energy inside will completely drain. ''Just hold on for a while, Eilish. I owe you a big one this time.'' He closed his eyes and focused on the task ahead of him. "Oh, fuck!! I''m exhausted and I don''t know if I could last long in this battle!" Eztein cursed as he swiftly moved his body from left to right to avoid the attack from the witches. He could only dodge them as he had Gragas in his left arm and Yenxa in his right arm. Gragas was heavily injured and couldn''t move due to this. He would only die if Eztein let go of him. Yenxa was fine. She had a parasite like him so she wouldn''t die easily but her power level was too low. She wouldn''t be able to completely avoid the attack of an S-rank expert just like how he does. "The reinforcement is only twelve people and it wasn''t enough to cover all the witches in this place! Fuck! Some of the strong witches are even following us!" He couldn''t do anything except for running with these two in his arms. He looked up and wondered what happened to Amanda, the daughter of the previous Clan Leader. Boom! Eilish swung her wooden staff and Rowan raised his right hand. The staff landed on the back of his palm and it pierced the energy that was covering his body. Rowan gritted his teeth and he kneed Eilish''s stomach before he punched her in the face. Bang! Eilish was blasted away and the golden bell rang once again. The sound waves landed on her body causing a powerful explosion. Boom! Rowan didn''t want to give her a time to regain her posture and cast a powerful spell so he chased after her inside the field of smoke. Ohm! The golden bell emitted a bright golden light and it coated his body. He appeared in front of Eilish and launched a barrage of punches. Eilish gritted her teeth and took all the blow. She tightly clenched her fingers around the staff before she thrust it forward. [Force Blast]! The attack landed on Rowan''s face but Rowan simply ignored the damage it had done to his body. He grabbed her neck and their figures crashed on the river like a meteor. Boom! The water shot up in the air. In the next moment, flames surge in the river and it evaporated most of the water. White mist spread out but a shockwave swept out and dispersed it on the next second. In the bottom of the crater, Rowan was still holding Eilish on the neck. Ugh! ''This guy... He didn''t even care about the damage that I dealt on his body as long as he dealt greater damage on my body. He''s a madman.'' Eilish said inwardly as she glared at Rowan who was on top of her. The golden bell hovered above them and it was producing a light that boosted Rowan''s physical prowess. Rowan balled his other hand before it emitted golden light. Then, he threw it on Eilish''s body. Boom!! Suddenly, the floor beneath Eilish had turned into mud and black tentacles rose beside her before it pulled her deep into the mud. "Wha-" Rowan was surprised as he felt a powerful gravity pulling him into the sky. Gravity? He instantly knew that Souta was the cause of it. So that monster still wasn''t dead and could somehow fight. "I should have confirmed that he couldn''t fight before I leave him but that means giving this woman a time to cast another powerful spell." He muttered as he turned his head and saw black mist spreading out in the surrounding area. He knew that Souta had the power to damage him but it''s nothing compared to the damage caused by an Extinction Realm''s tier 3 spell. That''s why he had ignored and forgotten about Souta. Rowan looked down and found that Eilish was gone. He was only grabbing a piece of black tentacles. "Damn!" A torrent of violent energy flew on his side and engulfed the area around him. [Dark Shooting Ray]!! [Bestrou]!! Boom!!! Souta looked at the explosion before he turned his head and looked at his right. Eilish was coughing a mouthful of blood and her figure looked weary. "I thought that he got you..." She lifted her head and said. "Yeah, he got me but he had failed to kill me so I decided to recover for a while." Souta nodded at her words. He added, "My comrades are coming. We will handle this so you should focus on recovering your energy first." He had seen how Rowan suppressed her and she would have died if he was late by a second. From her condition, he could clearly see the advantage brought by having a parasite in one''s body. A shackled realm''s recovery ability was fast but not as fast as the parasitic essence eater. "Are you sure you can handle him?" Eilish said as she wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth. "Fifty percent. You''ve injured him and he used most of his energy to suppress you so he''s not at the peak of his strength. I could somehow handle him with my comrades." Souta replied to her. "Aren''t you worried about the other witches?" Eilish asked. "That''s why you are here? The quality of the opponent''s forces is higher than us so I want you to help me suppress some of the Annihilation Realm witches." "There''s more work for me. I thought you said that I should focus on recovering my energy." Eilish smiled faintly. "It''s better than fighting Rowan, right?" Souta smiled back. "Fine. But..." Eilish paused as she placed her hand on her stomach before she continued, "Few of my ribs are broken and my internal organs are damaged. I couldn''t completely heal this as Clan Leader''s lingering energy was still in my wounds. So I could only probably fight ten Annihilation Realm with my current condition." That''s if she didn''t use her full power. But using her full power would cost her as the internal injuries that she suffered were greater than she imagined. "They are here." Eilish heard his voice and she looked up. She saw a pillar of light appear out of nowhere in the middle of the field. Souta was mentioning his comrades before so she was curious about them. She only knew Yenxa and Amanda, not the rest of them. These guys must be strong but she heard him say that there''s no Extinction Realm master so they were just going to work together to deal with a master at this level. That''s absurd. It takes great courage to stand in front of an Extinction Realm. What she didn''t know was that Souta had witnessed a fight between gods and this was nothing compared to it. Even his teacher, Bargan Hevifield, would only need one finger to completely wipe Rowan''s existence. Soon, the pillar of light had disappeared and three floating fortresses were revealed. The three floating fortresses were the Guardian Fortresses of the Great Astley Empire. The reinforcement that Souta had been waiting for arrived. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Several figures flew out of the Guardian Fortresses and landed beside Souta. "What''s the current situation?" A female voice sounded and Souta turned his head towards the person who spoke. He smiled and said, "It''s worse. I almost died while waiting for you guys." The people that arrived were Alice, Torkez, Franklin, Isabella, Yuko, and Doranjan. "We''ve brought everyone here so care to tell us, Boss, who are we going to fight," Franklin said with a wide smile. He was excited when he heard that they were going to fight strong people in the central continent. "The witches, subdue everyone except for those witches." Souta told them about Elder Guan''s forces. Those witches were on their side and they were not going to interfere in Elder Guan and Elder Hanmi''s fight. They were going to focus on Clan Leader Rowan''s subordinates which were composed of dozens of S-rank and a huge number of A-rank experts. "We''re ready. My minions are at your command." Franklin said and he bowed slightly. He had brought the elites from the assassin organization that he formed. "We''ve brought everyone that we could," Alice said as the people from the Guardian Fortresses released their aura. ROAR!!! Doranjan and Yuko roared and the monsters that they brought roared too in response to them. ROAR!!! Chapter 544 - Witch Clan: Yuko, Doranjan, Alice, And Souta Vs Rowan ''So this is the reinforcement that he was talking about...'' Eilish said inwardly as she glanced at them. She then looked at Guardian Fortresses in the sky and thought, ''There''s no technology on this planet that could create something like that. So how...? Don''t tell me...'' Souta looked around and smiled faintly. The chances of him completing his quest grew high but still, Rowan was in a different league. The smoke disappeared and it revealed Rowan''s appearance. He just tanked [Bestrou] and [Dark Shooting Ray] and it only leaves bruises on his tough body. "Ah, damn! That hurts! My protective field is weakening and an attack like that could now damage my body... I don''t like it." Rowan cracked his neck and he looked ahead. He saw an unfamiliar group of people beside Souta and Eilish. There''s also some sort of floating fortresses in the sky above them. "So they are the one that I felt but..." He looked around and found that none of them had reached his level nor Eilish''s level. In other words, all of them were weaklings. They wouldn''t stand a chance against him in a one-on-one battle but who knows if they were abnormal like that third stage monster who was called Souta. They probably had some sort of technique that could pierce his body. He could still remember how that strange technique of Souta damage his body before. "I''m done playing with you guys. If you want war then I''ll give you one." Rowan said as his expression turned hideous. He didn''t know these newly arrive people but since they were standing beside Souta and Eilish, he just needed to kill them all. Although he was enraged, his aura was like a calm water. "Witches! Hear me! Stop playing and kill all these people! Don''t hold back and use your soul weapon!" His voice reverberated in the whole area and it even caused the ground to tremble. Souta narrowed his eyes and said, "Franklin, Isabella. Bring some of your people and help Yenxa and the two people with her." Since they didn''t meet Eztein and Gragas, he had to explain it to them. "Can I bring one of the Guardian Fortress with me?" Franklin asked. "Fine. Just accomplish it no matter what." Souta glanced at him before he nodded. He knew that there were a bunch of S-rank chasing Eztein''s group so Franklin and Isabella alone wouldn''t stand a chance. They have to overwhelm them with numbers, tactics, and technology. For individual strength, their opponents were highly powerful. It''s not wise to fight them in a fair battle. "I understand." Franklin nodded and wings grew on his back. He flew towards the Guardian Fortresses in the sky with Isabella. Alice glanced at Eilish wondering who''s this woman. She saw her injuries and thought, ''Her injuries aren''t regenerating. It means that she''s not one of us but she''s on our side for now.'' Then, she turned her head to Souta. She saw that his wounds were slowly regenerating. It was still fast but not as fast as before. His parasite was the queen and its regeneration ability was higher than any known parasite so if it slowed down then Souta must have taken a considerable amount of injuries while they were gone. ''Also, it seems that the opponent is injured.'' Various scenes came into her mind as she tried to imagine what happened before they arrive in this place. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Hundreds of people flew above Rowan and stared at their group. They were all witches and Rowan''s personal subordinates. The force of the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan. Their power levels range from B-rank to S-rank. A terrifying lineup. "For now, let''s see... Doranjan, Yuko, and Alice will back me up." Souta said as he pointed at Rowan and added, "Our target is that guy, he is the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan. He is currently injured but don''t underestimate him. He still had the power to defeat all of us in a one-on-one battle." "Then, I should handle the rest with our current forces..." Torkez muttered as he looked at the witches. The energy emanating from those people was intense and he doesn''t think that their forces had a huge chance of overcoming them. Although, they had an advantage in terms of numbers the enemy had higher quality. "So, we will fight quality with quantity." "Ah, don''t worry about that. This woman here is Eilish, she will help you handle most of the strong witches so that you can focus on cutting down their numbers." Souta said as he introduced Eilish. Eilish stood up and smiled faintly, "Souta''s friends. Don''t worry about it. I looked pretty bad right now because of my injuries but I can still handle those witches. If I can handle some of the strong witches here then it''s the same for that guy. He could handle all of you." "Although, I said that you can leave Rowan to us. I still hope that you can support us with your spells." Souta said to her. "I know. If you ever got defeated then I will leave this place without hesitation." Eilish said to him. "I understand. You''re already doing a great favor to me by helping me fight that guy before." Souta replied as he understood that they were not close enough to the point that she will risk her life for him. Helping him and going against Witch Clan was already risky for her. He turned to Torkez and said, "Go, use everything to push those witches away from the Clan Leader." "I understand." Torkez nodded and black wings formed on his back. He flew towards the sky and commanded the Guardian Fortresses. After a few seconds, one of the Guardian Fortress moved. The clash between Souta''s forces and the witches had begun. Eilish also moved as she knew that her strength was needed to shorten their gaps in terms of power level. Even though she was heavily injured, she was still a shackled realm expert and it would need a few solidifying realm to fight her on equal grounds. "Hmm...? Why wasn''t one of the Guardian Fortress stayed?" Souta looked up and asked. The last Guardian Fortress was still above them and it seems that they had no plan to move. "The one controlling it is part of Torkez group but it seems that the monsters inside it didn''t want to follow their orders," Alice reported to him. The monsters that Doranjan and Yuko brought only followed them. Communication was a problem but there were two third-stage monsters among them so those two could talk to her but somehow, those two monsters wouldn''t listen to them. "Doranjan, Yuko, tell them to move or else I will discipline them later!" Souta said in a cold tone as he turned his head to the dragon and a bear. Those fucking monsters really needed to suffer before they submit. Some of them wouldn''t even submit to him even if he beat them. He was about to add when a figure appeared in front of him. Swoosh! "Stop talking monster! Let me finish you properly this time!" Rowan laughed as he coated his fist with a huge amount of mana and threw it in Souta''s body. Bang! Souta was blown away and Rowan opened his other hand. Several balls of golden light formed as the golden bell rang behind him. He shoots the golden lights towards Souta. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The golden lights pierced through Souta''s legs, arms, chest, and stomach. He wanted to completely avoid it but the lights were incredibly fast and he wasn''t in a position to avoid it. "...?" Alice reacted quickly as she pulled out her spear and thrust it towards Rowan. "It''s futile," Rowan said and Alice, Yuko, and Doranjan were blown away instantly. Boom! "Argh!" Alice gritted her teeth and she was shocked. Rowan was in no position to attack them yet he managed to do so. "It''s the sound. He could create sound waves using that giant bell of his. If you can''t avoid sound then use your energy to protect your body all the time. Even I could barely avoid sound waves." Souta stood up as he wiped the blood on his mouth. He explained Rowan''s ability to Alice, Doranjan, and Yuko so that they could prepare themselves. "It''s futile. You can avoid sound waves because you''re unbelievably fast for your level but I don''t think they had that speed in them." Rowan replied as he glanced at Alice, Doranjan, and Yuko. No matter how much he looked at them, they weren''t as strong as Souta. As expected, it''s impossible for third evolution monster to have that kind of power. Souta was an exception and it would be too ridiculous if there''s another third evolution monster like him. Hmm...? Doranjan unfurled his wings as his body grow taller and a vast amount of best feram exploded in him. [Monster Orb Release]! Yuko''s body inflated as a dense amount of flames covered her and it turned the whole area into a sea of fire. [Monster Orb Release]! Their normal form couldn''t keep up with Rowan''s simple movements at all so they had no choice but to use their release form at the moment. "Turning serious, huh?" Rowan smiled and his expression turned brutal. "Come, let me subjugate all of you.. I will a huge fortune if I sell your body parts." Chapter 545 - Witch Clan: Eilishs Boosts "Doranjan, tell those monsters in the fortress to help in the battle," Souta said with an annoyed expression. He stood up and looked at the holes in his body. It would be a problem if he took more damage. His regeneration ability was slowing down because of the constant severe damage that he took from Rowan. "I understand." Doranjan nodded at him. His huge wings flapped and he shot in the sky in an instant. Swoosh! Rowan looked at the dragon and he was about to chase after him when Yuko charged forward. ROAR!! The temperature rose as Yuko emitted a vast amount of flames that burned the ground. She raised her paw and swung it down with enough force that could destroy a building. Hmph! Rowan snorted as he blocked the paw with his hand. The ground beneath his feet cracked and a shockwave swept out. Alice narrowed her eyes when she saw this. She bent her knees and launched herself forward. She knew that Yuko wouldn''t be enough to handle Rowan. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta took a deep breath as he watched Yuko and Alice clash with Rowan. Rowan was suppressing them with great power and he quickly gained an advantage due to the difference in their strength. "His soul weapon can create sound waves. It can also create a golden light that could boost his physical prowess and speed to the point that he could suppress other people at his level." He slowly explained the ability of the golden bell before he charged forward to join the battle. Seven shadows emerged beside him and ten black balls formed on his back. [Doppelganger]! [Gravitational Ball]! He waved his hand and another ten black balls appeared. These black balls scattered around the field and it was his [Shadow Ball] spell. Bang! Bang! Bang! "Tsk!" Rowan clicked his tongue as he tilted his head and avoided a spear. He lifted his hand and punched the spear before he kneed Alice on the stomach. "Ugh!" Alice spat a mouthful of blood and she felt Rowan grab her hair before he smashed her on the ground. Bang! The bell rang and the sound waves offset the flames that were coming from behind. The bell rang again and this time the sound waves hit Alice who was on the ground. "Argh!!" She groaned in pain. She couldn''t see the attack and she could only hear it. The attack was sound so if she heard it the attack would land on her at the same time. [Golden Molina Blade Energy]!! The golden light in Rowan''s hand turned into a sharp blade. Suddenly he was hit by a powerful gravity. "That monster!!" He gritted his teeth and saw Souta on the side. He couldn''t believe that this monster still have enough energy to pull this kind of powerful gravitational spell. He had grown weaker from fighting Eilish and this monster yet this monster could somehow fight him. Unbelievable! It must be because of the regeneration ability. No matter how much he damages this monster, this monster kept regenerating nonstop. There''s must be a limit to it. Yes, there must be or else it would be too ridiculous for a mere third evolution monster to possess this kind of ability. Well, he will kill this woman first. He swung his hand under the pressure of heavy gravity. Swoosh! Alice gritted her teeth and the golden energy blade flung on her neck when layers of flesh covered her body. Her body bent in a strange position to avoid the attack. Bang! "What?!" Rowan was surprised when she saw Alice''s appearance. So this woman had the same ability as that monster. He confirmed it after he saw the wounds on her body disappear like nothing happened. He was distracted as various thoughts came into his mind. He didn''t even notice that Yuko was already behind him. When he came back to his senses, he realized that the huge flaming bear had smashed him on the ground. The dense and wild energy of the monster had assaulted his figure. Boom! Souta pointed his sword and shoot a black beam. [Dark Shooting Ray]! Boom! Souta took out the monster orb of a fifth evolution monster. He placed it on his nape as flesh protruded and hold the orb in place. This way, he could recharge his energy. He just needed to be careful or else he would only damage his insides if loses his focus from the energy coming from the orb. A [Bestrou] came from above and it landed on Rowan''s position. Boom! Souta looked up and saw that Doranjan had come back. But there''s another dragon beside him. The dragon didn''t have green scales like him but it had red scales with white dots on its body. ''Is this the dragon that he was talking about?'' He said inwardly. He wasn''t going to complain if this dragon would follow his command but only make the situation worse then he would kill it without hesitation even if it''s Doranjan''s friend. He doesn''t want someone to mess up as their situation was life-threatening. Although the quest said that he would receive high rewards if the casualties in Which Clan''s side was few, he didn''t order anyone to hold back. Franklin, Torkez, and his other subordinates could kill any witches that dared to fight them. About Amanda''s feelings about them killing her fellow witches, he would deal with it after he finish this quest. It doesn''t matter even if she called him cold-blooded. The situation was worse than he imagined. ... Eilish was floating in the sky looking down at the battle. "Just like I expected, the forces of the Witch Clan are still strong even though they didn''t belong in the top rank." She muttered to herself. The Witch Clan were in the top forces decades ago but that changed after the war. Right now, they couldn''t even compete in the position of top 10. Any one of those organizations would completely decimate the Witch Clan. "If I only brought more forces then I would be able to handle it." Unfortunately, she only brought a handful of Annihilation Realm masters as she didn''t expect that the scale of the battle will become larger. She turned her head and saw several witches flying towards her. "They couldn''t turn a blind eye to me, huh?" She smiled faintly before she pointed her wooden staff and streams of water shoot towards the witches. Two Annihilation Realm witches went in front and they deflected her spell with their soul weapon. Bang! ''As expected, the power of my spell grew weaker. I couldn''t pour enough mana on my spell.'' Eilish said inwardly. She thought that she could handle ten Annihilation Realm masters with her condition but it seems that she overestimated herself. [Air Mine]! She waved her staff and her mana scattered around the field. The [Air Mine] spell could create an invisible bomb in space and it will trigger if it detected any creature within five meters. This spell wasn''t strong but it was enough to slow down these witches. Since she was at Extinction Realm, these bombs will deal some damage to them. "Now, then... Some help from me." She smiled and raised her staff. The staff emitted a bright blue light that illuminated the area. [Greater Strength Enhancement]! [Scorching Light]! [Weightless Body]! [Extraordinary Speed]! [Nature''s Healing Light]! Five magic circles appeared beneath her feet. The [Great Strength Enhancement] was a spell that could substantially increase the physical ability of a person every second. The [Scorching Light] was a spell that will coat a person''s body with a dim yellow light. This yellow light will give the person a fire attribute for a limited amount of time. Every time the person attack, the yellow light will emit flames. For [Weightless Body], any person would be able to fly using this spell. This spell increases a person''s speed by a small degree. The [Extraordinary Speed]. Just like its name, it boosted a person''s speed massively. The [Nature''s Healing Light] will recover a person''s health by a small amount every second. Eilish body emitted a light as she felt the effect of her spells. She drained a huge amount of her mana and she knew that she could only do this for their side to increase their chances of winning this battle. The spell not only boosted her but it also boosted everyone on her side. She casted all the five spells on her subordinates and Souta''s reinforcements. Even if she was an Extinction Realm, she naturally felt the mana coming out of her mana pool. "Ehe, this is my first time giving buff spells to many people at the same time." Torkez who was in his black parasite armor suddenly paused. He felt something strange in his body and to think that his strength and speed would grow exponentially. "What happened?!" He looked around and saw that everyone on his side felt the same thing. He lifted his head and saw Eilish. "Did she use a spell on everyone here?" ... Souta and the others who were fighting Rowan also felt the increase in their strength. "That woman. I thought that she would take it lightly but it seems that she is serious too. I have to change my evaluation of her. She''s worthy.." Souta smirked as he clenched both of his fists. Chapter 546 - Witch Clan: Fierce Battle Against The Witch Clans Clan Leader Souta, Alice, Doranjan, Yuko, and the other dragon received Eilish''s buffs. In this kind of situation, a person who could provide this much buff could change the tide of the battle. ''She provided buffs to everyone on your side. It means that she used a huge amount of energy and from her current state I could say that she couldn''t handle ten S-rank like what she said. Five or four S-rank would be enough to handle her and it doesn''t need to be at peak S-rank.'' Saya slowly said to him her thoughts about Eilish''s current condition. ''It doesn''t matter. I don''t have enough force to help her. Also, I''m sure that those S-rank wouldn''t be able to kill her easily. Even if she''s severely injured she is still a shackled realm expert, after all.'' Souta replied to Saya. He didn''t have a time to worry about Eilish as his condition was pretty grave too. Rowan swung his hands and sound waves landed on Doranjan, Yuko, and the red dragon''s body. They weren''t fast enough to dodge this type of attack even though they were in their released form. "These monsters are tougher but it''s not as tough as that guy." He muttered as he glanced at the three before turning his eyes on Souta. From what he could see, the only threat here was this monster. "Where are you looking?!" Doranjan roared as he shoots [Bestrou] from his mouth. Swoosh! "You''re not worthy of my time, dragon," Rowan said as he waved his hand, and a strong invisible shield formed in front of him. The shield was vibrating and kept releasing high pitch sounds. Boom! The [Bestrou] directly hit the shield but it couldn''t damage it. This shield was tougher than any shields that they have witnessed before. Yuko growled as she opened her mouth widely. She fired her own [Bestrou] and the red dragon did the same thing. Three [Bestrou] from three third evolution monsters in their released form fired it. The amount of best feram in the atmosphere was terrifying as the ground trembled like it was afraid of it. Crack* Rowan narrowed his eyes as the shield formed a crack. He looked down and saw that the floor beside him have crumbled into dust fading in thin air. He clenched his fist and the golden light emitted radiantly on his fist. He then threw it in front of him directly shattering the shield that he created. [Golden Sound Punch]! The force in his punch blew the [Bestrou] away. The particles of the three [Bestrou] scattered in the different areas creating hundreds of small explosions that almost covered the entire river. Even with Eilish''s buffs, the three of them still couldn''t handle Rowan alone in terms of power. "I''m not done." Rowan pulled back his other hand and was about to punch again when he sensed someone behind him. He quickly shifted his body and a spear thrust heavily on his previous position. Tsk! Alice was annoyed that this guy managed to avoid her attack. She took a step forward and spun around. Using her momentum, she swung her spear to gain more power in her strike. Dong! The golden bell rang again. Alice narrowed her eyes and she swung her hand as fast as she could. The concentration of the mana around her arm was high to the point that people could see visible energy around it. [Mountain Slice]! Swoosh! Rowan opened his eyes in shock. Although he was shocked, he still shifted his body to the side in an instant to avoid the blade of energy. He was shocked that this girl managed to react to his sound waves and slashed them down. Boom! Souta gritted his teeth as his figure inflated. His mouth cracked open as savage black spikes protruded on his shoulders. Black armor covered his body as his hair grew longer. This wasn''t enough. Layers of flesh covered his huge body. The parasite in his body was reaching its limit. He could feel that it was screaming and a stinging sensation assaulted his body as he used the parasite transformation. [Possession]! He then activated various combat arts and spells that could boost his combat ability. The monster orb of the fifth evolution monster on his back acted like a battery as it provided energy so that he could use all of his techniques. "You!! How can you still use that form?!" Rowan couldn''t believe it. He thought that Souta couldn''t use his release form so how can he still use it. "It''s nothing. Release form consumed a large amount of energy per second and most of the monsters didn''t have enough energy but I kept training my energy level. I kept increasing it so that my release form can last longer." Souta said as he arrived in front of Rowan. He was right. Compared to the other third evolution monsters, he was a menace. Aside from his monster orb, he had [Nebula Heart] and a parasite that he could store his energy. Also, his other ace was the monster orb of the fifth evolution monster. He had been absorbing the energy inside it for a long time that he got used to it. He could now absorb the energy inside while fighting at the same time. It feels like he had several energy cores in his body. "Shit!" Rowan cursed as he tried to jump away but he found that his feet were covered in sticky spider webs. Then, a sword coated in dense best feram landed on his neck. "ARGHHH!!" Souta roared as he put all of his might but he couldn''t entirely slice Rowan''s head. Rowan''s flesh was too tough and all he could do was cut it to some extent. Spurt! Blood spurted on Rowan''s neck like a fountain but Rowan didn''t back down. He knew that Souta couldn''t cut his head off and even if he could it would take a lot of time. He took a step forward and punched Souta''s side. Then, he proceeded to knee him on the stomach before smashing him on the ground. Bang! Bang! The golden bell shoots powerful sound waves and it exploded in Souta''s huge body. It was then that three [Bestrou] fired at Rowan once again. [Great Bell Barrier]! The golden bell went in front of Rowan and it produced a huge and powerful golden barrier. The previous barrier that he created was shattered so he created a stronger one this time. "Souta..." Alice muttered as she glanced at Souta''s figure. This was her first time seeing that form of his. She was with him for a long time yet she hasn''t seen it before. She has realized long ago that he was a monster but she hasn''t confirmed it as Souta didn''t say anything about him. In the war against the Great Astley Empire, she had heard of a man and a bear that could use Dragon Energy. She knew that it was Souta and Yuko, and it was at that time that she slowly realized his true identity. She was sure that Souta didn''t bring any monster potion with him so how could he use that energy. There''s only one answer and that was he''s a monster himself. Also, when Souta fought in the Astley Empire, she was in outer space fighting the forces of the empire while Souta brought a few elites to assault the capital. So she didn''t see him fight personally. Even in the Living Labyrinth, Souta mostly used the mana that he stored in the parasite. She wanted to ask him about it but she hold herself as she had her own secrets too. ''No, this isn''t the time to think about this. I''m sure that he will explain everything to me after this battle.'' Alice shook her head and concentrated on the battle before her eyes. She tightly clenched her fingers around the spear and she launched herself forward. Swoosh! Souta and Yuko were exchanging heavy blows with Rowan. The two of them were in their release form and they were using the power of their parasites yet Rowan was oppressing them with his might. Bang! Bang! Bang! Alice appeared behind Rowan and slashed her spear. Hm? Rowan sensed her presence. He opened his palm and several balls of golden light appeared. The balls of light shoot at Alice but she didn''t try to avoid it. She took it head-on and the golden lights pierced her body. Ugh! She simply gritted her teeth as put more force in her spear. As long as she didn''t die, her parasite could still recover her from any injuries. "You guys are suicidal!!" Rowan cursed as the tip of the spear slightly pierced his chest. A huge hand grabbed his face and smashed him on the ground. Bang! "Alice! I know what you''re thinking! I''ll tell you about it after this so let''s finish this!" Souta said as he tightly grip the Clan Leader''s face. "I know!" Alice nodded and she gathered a large amount of mana on the tip of her spear. Sparks flew out as violent torrents of energy exploded. The spear was slowly piercing Rowan''s chest. [Blinding Golden Bomb]! Rowan snapped his finger and the golden bell above released a very intense ray of energy. BOOM!! Chapter 547 - Witch Clan: Isabellas Techniques The attack from the golden bell engulfed Souta, Alice, and Rowan. Rowan didn''t care about getting hit by his own attack. He knew that his body was several times tougher than Souta and Alice. That''s the reason why he decided on this risky attack. The two could regenerate using that strange ability and Rowan knew it. The only reason why he did this was that he finally noticed Souta''s recovery ability wasn''t as fast as before. It means that there''s a limit to this ability. They couldn''t keep regenerating forever. ... Franklin arrived at the site where some people were fighting. He saw a man carrying a dwarf and Yenxa in his arms while avoiding the relentless attacks from the witches. "So, Yenxa are here..." He muttered as he looked around and saw other people fighting the witches. They must be that woman''s subordinates, the woman with a strong presence beside Souta. There was only one thing he could say to them and the witches. Strong. They were far by stronger than any opponents he had fought in the Great Astley Empire. He, alone, wouldn''t be able to fight even a single witch. He would be able to hold himself but it will be hard to defeat an S-rank with his current A-rank power. Even if he used his parasite it would be a difficult fight. Well, it doesn''t matter for him. It wouldn''t be thrilling if his opponent was weaker than him. He flashed a wide grin before he charged himself towards the Yenxa''s group. "They are far by stronger than us so use our advantage, our numbers, to eliminate them!" He shouted as he ordered the people behind him. Eztein, who was avoiding the attacks from S-rank witches, suddenly stopped as he saw a group of people charging forward. Even the witches stopped moving to look at the new group. "Is this our reinforcement...?" Eztein muttered in a low voice while observing the new group. He confirmed it when he heard the man leading the group shout Yenxa''s name. "Yenxa, stop using your ability! It will affect our comrades and it will become disadvantageous to us!" Franklin shouted as he noticed that Yenxa kept releasing her poison gas. The poison gas must have knocked down the weaker enemies below B-rank. Even the witches at B-rank and A-rank were affected by her poison but they were strong enough to endure it. The only good was that her poison lowered the battle power of those B to A-rank witches which were good for them. It means that even several C-rank experts would be able to give the single A-rank witch a good battle. ''Her poison is already strong enough to affect A-rank so if she grew stronger in the future, she would be able to knock down those powerful S-rank. What a terrifying ability? But we didn''t need it right now. We have hundreds of C-rank experts on our side and they wouldn''t be able to handle her poison for too long.'' Franklin said inwardly as he clenched his fist and gathered his mana. He used his fist to blow the poison gas in the field. If Yenxa didn''t stop using her ability then it wouldn''t matter even if he blow the poison gas. There were several S-rank experts here and a single wave of their hand would be enough to disperse the poison but Yenxa didn''t stop releasing her poison. The only thing to stop the poison was to kill her. "Old man... I understand..." Yenxa looked up and saw Franklin''s face. "So they really are on our side..." Eztein glanced at Yenxa who was in his arm. Yenxa rarely spoke to people and she wouldn''t even talk to him or Gragas. So he was quite surprised to hear her say a word. Sigh. He was glad that they had reinforcement. It seems that he would be able to take it easy from now. He was exhausted taking care of the heavily injured Gragas and Yenxa while getting chased by a bunch of S-rank. Ehe! Franklin smirked as he collided with an S-rank witch. Boom! The collision caused a shockwave and his figure was blasted away. As expected of an S-rank, even with the boost from that woman, he couldn''t take this lightly. So he had to use everything that he could to thoroughly fight some strong witches. In an instant, layers of black flesh covered his body. It boosted all of his ability to the limit and it made him possible to fight against people above his level. "Let''s start the damn party!" Franklin''s figure flashed once again and he collided with S-rank witch hundreds of times in just a few seconds. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta''s forces used their numbers to fight the powerful witches. The number of witches was low because Yenxa already eliminated the fodders with her ability so the only remaining witches were above C-rank. The difficulty in fighting the witches got easier all thanks to her ability. Right now, everyone could focus on ganging up on the strong witches that endure the poison. Damn, her ability was really useful in this kind of situation. Franklin smirked as his hand turned into a blade. He thrust it forward but the witch in front of him simply blocked his attack. "I like it." He said while looking straight into the witch''s eyes. The witch knitted his brows together but was taken by surprise when he saw Franklin''s hand contract and then several tentacles came out. The tentacles turned into blades and they slashed towards him. He tried to retreat but it was too late for him. The blades already caused dozens of cuts on his body. He was having a hard time following his opponent''s movements. It was too unpredictable as this was his first time fighting a person that could change the appearance of their body parts. "You are stronger than me but you''re having a hard time predicting my movements... Ehe~ don''t even try to predict it." Franklin laughed as he swung his left foot upward. Swoosh! The witch lowered the two-meter silver metal pole in his hand to block the kick. Strange things happened again before it landed on his soul weapon. Black spikes with red veins protruded on the foot and the savage spikes were long enough to hit his body. "Shit! What the hell is this?!" The witch cursed and he moved his body away but he noticed that a tentacle was wrapped around his left wrist. "Eh~" Franklin pulled back his other hand. The witch was flung towards him and he used his dominant hand, which had the appearance of a blade, to injured this witch. His power level was lower compared to his opponent and he had to use a huge amount of mana in his every attack for him to damage this witch. In terms of overall stats, the witch was higher than him but the witch didn''t have great combat skills. It was plain and simple. It feels like they haven''t fought a life-and-death battle before. And he was right, the only good thing about these witches was their high power level. They were holed up in this place for decades and the new generation of witches haven''t experienced real battle before. This was the reason why Eztein could hold himself against the attacks of several S-ranks with Gragas and Yenxa in his arms. ''If they really didn''t have battle experience then the difficulty would go lower once again. Even if that''s the case, it still hard fighting an opponent with higher stats.'' Franklin said inwardly as he kept attacking the S-rank witch in front of him. No matter what the witch in front of him was still an S-rank and one wrong move could kill him. Suddenly, he felt danger above him. He looked up and saw a woman with a huge hammer in her hand coming at him. Swoosh! Franklin kicked the ground to retreat but the woman already swung her soul weapon. The huge hammer caused a violent wind to sweep everything in front of her. "Fuck! This girl is mad!" He laughed as the wind smashed his body away. It tore his flesh and blood spurted out in the air. Boom! His figure was like a meteor as it crashed on the ground creating a wide and deep crater. "Ah, what''s wrong with that girl? Her strength and speed are several times higher than that man. Is she at the higher level of S-rank? At intermediate? High? Or maybe at peak level? No, that woman didn''t possess the aura of a peak level like the other witches here. She''s definitely an intermediate level." He muttered to himself while staring at the sky. From what he understands, the strongest witches here peak S-rank and those peak S-ranks were currently fighting the twelve people on the other side. His wounds were regenerating as he stood up and saw that the girl was saying something to the man. "They are dead." He muttered in a plain tone while looking at the two. He sighed to himself before he turned around to look at his next opponent. "Next time, don''t interfere in my fight, Isabella." Suddenly, a cut appeared on the neck of the woman and the man. The cut opened and blood gushed out like a fountain. "Ugh!" "W-What?" The two were too stunned as they didn''t realize what was happening. They raised their hands and placed them on their neck only to see the horrific sight on each other''s necks. [Cutthroat]! [Blend Presence]! [Stealth Energy]! [Hunting Prey]! Isabella appeared behind the two holding two daggers in both of her hands. She looked at Franklin and puffed her cheeks. She said, "But Souta said that we should finish this as soon as possible. I actually don''t want to fight but I don''t have a choice so I can only do this. Have you seen how strong these people are?" "You just killed them yet you are saying that they are strong," Franklin said without looking at her. "I just caught them off guard. If I fought them head-on then I will suffer a horrible defeat. My techniques aren''t great for battle like that." Isabella said. "Yeah, yeah, you''re techniques are suitable for being an assassin. Even I would''ve died in your hands if I didn''t know the tricks behind it." Franklin waved his hand before he jumped away to fight strong witches. "Hmph! This old man! I will tell Souta that he didn''t follow the order later! I should help Yenxa for now...." Isabella looked around before her body turned into shadows and blend into the ground. Chapter 548 - Witch Clan: Isabella And Eztein Vs. Witches "It''s good that there is reinforcement but... why the fuck did these three are still chasing after me?!!" Eztein shouted as he jumped side to side avoiding the ice spears, flame rays, and sharp winds. The three witches that were following him weren''t ordinary at all. The three of them were at the peak stage of S-rank. If it was an early stage or intermediate stage, then he would be able to fight them even with Gragas and Yenxa in his arms, after all, he was also at the peak stage of S-rank. ''The witches that are following me decrease in numbers but the strong ones left to deal with me. It''s frustrating that they prioritized me over the reinforcement.'' He said inwardly as he continued to move his body left and right. Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind one of the three witches that were chasing him. The figure stabbed the neck of the witch using a dagger in its hand. The witch was stunned as he opened his eyes and mouth widely. The presence behind him suddenly appeared out of nowhere and it instantly tried to kill him. Swoosh! The tip of the dagger slightly pierced the neck of the witch before he quickly grabbed the dagger on his neck. "Eh?" A soft muffled sound escaped from the figure''s mouth before it disappeared. The figure reappeared beside Eztein. "Oh, the potion girl..." Yenxa turned her head to look at the figure. She recognized the figure as Isabella. "Hello, Yenxa." Isabella smiled as she placed her hand in her pocket and took out two healing potions and two mana potions. She gave the potions to Eztein and said, "Um... Drink this and give the dwarf the health potions. This will recover a bit of his strength. I can see that you have a parasite so you don''t need health potions for now." "O-Okay..." Eztein nodded before he placed down Yenxa and took the potions. Isabella turned her head towards the three witches and said to Yenxa, "Um... Yenxa, you can go back to fortress for now." This was the first time that someone reacted to her skills. Even Franklin couldn''t react with her skills yet one of the three witches here caught her dagger with bare hand. Also, her dagger met a resistance when she stabbed the neck of that witch before. Just like what she expected, her hunting skills wouldn''t properly work against people at the peak stage of S-rank. It was already great that she could kill early stage and intermediate stage S-rank with her combat skills but above that level, it would be too much for her. She was the successor of Travsky, one of the strongest God of Hunt in ancient times. She inherited most of his fighting skills, combat style, and knowledge and it will make her a terrifying existence if she successfully learned all of these. The skills that she used right now were skills used for ambushing an enemy. A killing technique made for killing a creature in an instant. She was just an early stage A-rank yet with her skills she could kill an enemy who didn''t have an idea about her presence. She was a perfect assassin but her combat prowess was low. She still hasn''t learned any skills in fighting any enemy head-on. So people at A-rank would be able to defeat her in close combat. Also, if her assassin techniques had failed to kill an enemy then it wouldn''t work for a second time as she couldn''t use the same technique in a single target twice. She had to wait for another hour for her to be able to hide her presence on her target. ''I still had a lot to learn. The God of Hunt had a lot of skills and I only managed to learn a few of them. The God of Hunt isn''t all about ambushing an enemy. It''s about hunting any type of creature in the universe using a long-range ability, fighting ability, assassin ability, or support ability.'' It''s all about hunting a creature with different techniques based on the opponent''s weaknesses. Travsky, one of the strongest gods twenty thousand years ago, was feared by countless gods, deities, demon gods, monster lords, and spirit gods. Until now, she only learned a fracture of his power. Isabella slightly glanced at Eztein and asked in a low voice, "Can you still fight?" "Yeah, just a little bit." Eztein nodded at her question. "I''m still not great at fighting head-on so I''m leaving the frontline to you. I will hide in the shadows and wait for an opportunity to launch an attack." Isabella explained to him. "I understand. It''s really good that you''re helping me. It''s better than fighting these three alone." Eztein said. "Don''t worry, our help is here," Isabella said before she disappeared into the shadows. More than seventy armed people had arrived on the scene. They were the help that Isabella was talking about. They were here to gang up on the witches while Isabella was going to take a chance to injure them with her techniques. Her power level was too low to instantly kill someone at that level. The only thing she could do was wound them with her killing technique. The key to winning this battle was Eztein as he alone had the strength to kill a peak S-rank. Isabella and the others were just here to keep the enemies. "Tsk! She disappeared... Watch out." One of the witches said. He was the one that got attacked by Isabella before. There was one reason why they didn''t attack immediately and that was because they couldn''t feel anything from Isabella. Her presence and aura were hidden to the point that they felt that they were just looking at a stone. That''s why they were wary and didn''t take an initiative to launch an attack. It was too risky as they didn''t have an idea what''s the enemy skills. "These weaklings are going to bother us?" Another witch said in an annoyed tone while looking at the people around them. Eztein suddenly charged at them after drinking the mana potions. He had recovered some of his mana and it would be enough to fight these people. Swoosh! One of the witches raised an ice spear and blocked Eztein''s halberd. The ice spear was his soul weapon and it has a power of a red grade weapon. Bang! "It''s time for payback, bitches!!" Eztein grinned as he looked at the witch with mad eyes. He couldn''t properly fight before because he was carrying Yenxa and Gragas. Now that he was free from them, he could properly show these witches who''s the boss. He already knew their ability and combat prowess. Their combat prowess was low but they had speed and strength that could rival his own. And that doesn''t matter to him. He stepped forward and held the halberd with both of his hands. Then, he trusted it in different directions with different strengths and speeds. Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Another witch joined the battle and Eztein was exchanging blows with two peak S-rank witches. "I thought that the Witch Clan is great but you are just an inexperienced bunch of children. There''s no danger in this place so you haven''t honed your skills in real battle. That''s the difference between you and me." Eztein continued to attack the two witches with different patterns. He had experienced fighting Souta before coming here and got tortured by their princess to death. What these witches experienced was nothing compared to him. The only threats here were the old folks that participated in the war decades ago. Those old guys were dangerous even if they had low power levels, he wouldn''t underestimate them. Bang! Bang! Bang! Eztein shifted his body to the side as he avoided the ice spear. He stretched out his left hand and grabbed the spear. His palm slowly turned into ice but he ignored the pain and pulled the spear in his direction. Swoosh! He gritted his teeth as a beam of flames pierced his stomach. He tightly clenched his fingers around his halberd and stabbed it forward. "Damn!" Eztein cursed as the witch managed to avoid getting hit in the chest. Still, his halberd penetrated the shoulder of the witch that the ice spear as soul weapon. It was at this time that Isabella appeared behind the witch. She quickly brandished her dagger and stabbed it forward. Ugh! The witch spat a mouthful of blood and he turned around while swinging his fist. His fist was too fast for Isabella and she didn''t have a time to avoid it. It landed on her body crushing her rib cage. Bang! "Retreat!" Isabella said before she crashed on the ground hundreds of meters away from the witch. She imbued poison in her dagger and even if she couldn''t kill these witches with her killing techniques at least this poison will slow them down. She personally brewed this poison to take down S-rank but she hasn''t tested it before so she didn''t have an idea if this would knock down an S-rank. At the very least, this poison will affect the witches. Eztein didn''t know what she was planning but he still followed her commands. He saw several barriers forming around the three witches. "What are they doing?" The people on their side were using a huge amount of mana to create a tough barrier to imprison the three witches. "It''s not going to last long. They are simply wasting their mana by using it for a barrier." He muttered but he saw the people retreat as fast as they could while pouring their mana on the barrier. "Run!" Isabella said before her body disappeared into shadows. "What the hell?!" Eztein cursed as he had an ominous feeling about it. He didn''t have a choice but to use everything that he could to run away from this place. Suddenly, he saw the floating fortress in the sky shoot a projectile towards the witches. It was so fast as it covered several kilometers in an instant. "Shit!" In the next moment, a blinding light erupted behind him as intense heat swept out in every direction. The shockwave behind him blow him away and the ground started to disintegrate. BOOOMMM!! Chapter 549 - Witch Clan: Power Of Mana Convergent Bomb "Oh, shit!! They didn''t tell me anything about it?!" Eztein shouted in frustration as the impact of the explosion trashed him on the ground. The flames caused by the explosion swallowed him and he tried to defend against it but it was futile. It was already too late to set up a barrier. "SHIT!! AT LEAST TELL ME THE PLAN NEXT TIME!!!" BOOOOOM!!!! Time seems to stop at the moment as a huge explosion erupted in the woods and almost wiped out everything in the vicinity. ... Isabella and the rest were already in the sky when the bomb exploded. Every people heard an ear-piercing sound and it was followed by a powerful gust of wind that uprooted tens of thousands of trees in the forest. Then, a powerful suction force pulled every object towards the epicenter and the force turned opposite in less than a second. It blew everything, ravaging every object in tiny pieces before the heat flared up. Isabella and the others raised their hands to block the light but it didn''t stop them from seeing the light. The light pierced through their arms and eyelids and they could see every vein in their hands. ''I''m sure that a peak S-rank could survive a direct hit from the Mana Convergent Bomb but they wouldn''t escape it unscathed. Even Souta confirmed its power before when he confronted the Great Astley Empire. The power level of the empire is low but their technology is high and this world is the opposite. The power level is high but the technology is low.'' Isabella said inwardly as she raised her hand and the Guardian Fortress shoots another three human-size bombs. Against the powerful army, they had to use technology to shorten the gap in their strength. S-rank would be injured and A-rank would be severely injured while B-rank would directly die from the second impact. The C-rank below would simply disintegrate from the first impact of the explosion. That''s how she saw it. She heard from Souta before that he only managed to escape it with burned skin and flesh was because he had eaten a mana fruit that raised his resistance. It was a fruit that could let him walk two thousand degrees celsius. She was sure that Souta could handle the Mana Convergent Bomb right now as he was several times stronger than the time when he fought the Great Astley Empire. But it couldn''t be the same for S-rank witches here. They were tough but surely they haven''t eaten the same mana fruit as Souta. It would be a different matter if it was a shackled realm expert but those shackled realm witches were fighting each other and the last shackled realm witch was fighting Souta. In other words, there was no person that could save these witches. ''After these, I could let that man fight them.'' Isabella was talking about Eztein. Eztein was at the peak S-rank and he had almost the same amount of durability as these witches. That if she didn''t include the parasite. Also, Eztein wasn''t in the epicenter of the explosion unlike those witches so even if he was injured it was nothing compared to those people in the center. ... Franklin was having a thrilling fight with powerful witches on the other side of the land when powerful explosions erupted. The explosions stopped their battle as they turned around to look at the gigantic mushroom of clouds that reached the clouds in the sky. Even at their position, they still could feel the power of the explosion. The power that could harm their bodies. "Don''t worry about it. Just focus on fighting your opponent here." Franklin smiled as he waved his hand. He was here with Eilish''s twelve subordinates. When he saw that they were fighting strong witches, he had joined the battle to feel the thrill of fighting someone at the peak. Well, fighting someone at peak S-rank was really good but with his current power level he couldn''t keep up with them. He could only fight thanks to the twelve people beside him who also had the power of a peak S-rank. "Everything will be over soon. You''re strong and I admit it but you''re not united. I can feel someone strong fighting above those clouds. The witches are dealing with us and their fellow witches at the same time." Franklin said as he glanced at the sky in the opposite direction. For him, this will lead to the witches'' downfall. If the witches joined together then even if they had an advantage in technology and experience their chances of winning will be too low. And that''s one of the reasons why the Great Astley Empire managed to conquer several planets with powerful civilization. The empire struck while those civilizations were having internal strife. "You''re overestimating yourself!" One of the witches said to Franklin. "No, no, no, I''m not overestimating or underestimating anyone here. I''m just saying the truth. Hahaha!! It''s truly remarkable how those bombs could bring fear to people at your level! Do you know how many people fear those bombs in my homeworld? It''s one of the symbols of fear of the once Great Astley Empire! But I didn''t like it cause I prefer fighting and beating my opponent with my own hands!" Franklin laughed madly. ... Eilish looked around the area and was surprised by the power of the bomb. She didn''t expect that they had a technology that could bring this much destruction. It was nothing to people that broke the mortal shackles like her but for people below her level... That power would be devastating. It means... She turned and looked at the Guardian Fortress floating in the sky above her. This one also had one of those bombs. "Prepare yourself. We''ll use it too." Torkez flew at her side and said. "You''ll use those bombs to defeat the witches?" She asked. "Yes, what can we do, we couldn''t defeat them with a simple clash in power so we have to borrow power from our technology." Torkez shrugged his shoulder. "It''s not enough to defeat witches at Annihilation Realm so it means that I had to deal with the finishing blow." Eilish guessed what he was thinking. Torkez nodded and didn''t hide his plan from her. "But I have to say the flaw of this plan..." Eilish added as her tone was serious. "We only need to use it to the witches at Annihilation Realm. If we somehow killed a huge number of their clan members then those two sides fighting in that direction will feel threatened as they will think that we are annihilating their species." Eilish pointed in the direction where the two elders were clashing. If those two elders decided to fight them then they would suffer defeat. She couldn''t imagine herself fighting two Extinction Realm masters. "So that''s the current situation... then I will follow your words." Torkez nodded at her. He understood her words clearly and quickly devise a proper plan in his mind. "I''m glad that you''re quick to understand it," Eilish said. She turned her head to look at how the other group fared against Rowan. ... Rowan was watching the huge explosion around him. After a few moments, he looked at the Guardian Fortress in the sky before he turned to Souta, Alice, and the rest. "I understand now. You''re not from this world, are you? Those floating fortresses and the bombs that could bring destruction are a technology that couldn''t be found in this world." Rowan paused for a moment before he continued, "Let me guess... All of your strength is pretty much above your current power level and you possessed skills that I haven''t seen before. I experienced war and yet I haven''t seen it so it''s probably not one of the low-world. Maybe, it''s another high-world but I think that it''s the Great World." Souta narrowed his eyes as Rowan''s tone had changed. He could feel the calmness in his voice even though he was injured. "The Divine World has an abundance of energy which makes the people living in it stronger than any other world. Even just a simple stone in Divine World would become a precious stone in a low world. It''s so great that experts who heard it wanted to live in that world." Rowan looked at Souta, Yuko, and the others. "But it''s not easy living in that world. There''s one thing that people from that world fear and that is the potential of the monster unlike here in the sub-world that didn''t fear it. In that world, a monster lord is born and it is a symbol of destruction because of the immense power it possessed. So they hunted down monsters to prevent any monster lord from being born." "You... You''re not the Clan Leader." Souta said in a low voice. He was wary about this and didn''t know who was the one controlling Rowan. Alice and Doranjan turned to look at Souta when they heard his words. "I know some continents that have made the monster decline. The number one on the list is the Demon''s Land. The demons encroached the whole continent and they worked together to kill all the monster lords in the continent. Some of the monster lords didn''t have a choice but to flee out of the Divine World as the creatures of Divine World couldn''t enter the other continent because of the barrier. The next is the Ruin Desolate Land which is also quite similar to how demons massacred monsters from their land. After it is the Giza Continent, then the Vulcan''s Ring Continent, Frozen Continent, and Mars Archipelago. The last on the list is the God''s Continent as some of the folks there worshipped monsters." Rowan said. ''This guy is knowledgeable in Imperium....'' Souta said inwardly. Chapter 550 - Witch Clan: Alices Form The ordinary witches have already evacuated to the edge of the land. They all looked up as they saw several mushrooms of smoke reaching the clouds. The powerful explosions made the children tremble in fear as their parents soothe them saying that everything would be fine. For them, who were living in peace for so land, a fight of this scale was a horrifying sight to them. They couldn''t control their fear and most of them have a pale expressions. They could only pray that after this battle nothing would happen to them or their clan. The old witches were simply watching the battle with a calm look. They experienced a lot of things in their life and they weren''t afraid to die. Their only wish was for their descendants to live tomorrow. "Is it true that the Clan Leader is trying to kill Lady Amanda?" "I don''t know but I heard Clan Leader say that Lady Amanda''s comrades attacked him." "Clan Leader or Lady Amanda... Each side is fighting and I don''t know who''s going to win in the end." "Elder Guan had sided with Lady Amanda while Elder Hanmi''s motivation is unknown. It seems that he''s not helping Clan Leader''s forces directly." "Oh, god. What is happening to our clan?" ... The power of the Mana Convergent Bomb was unleashed on the witches above A-rank. They didn''t hold back at all in launching a bomb that could wipe out the entire land. It was a total destruction in the whole forest. The tribes that were living in the forest got caught up in the battle. The fearsome aura of the powerful beings made them retreat. It was shocking for them as no one expected that there would be a large-scale battle in this place. Thirteen S-rank witches had been knocked down from the Clan Leader''s forces. There were only eighteen S-rank witches left to deal with and all of them were injured tanking the bombs. Aside from the S-rank witches, Clan Leader''s forces still had a lot of A-rank and B-rank. All the C-rank witches were gone because of Yenxa''s poison. Although their number was fewer, they still had an advantage in terms of individual strength. Souta''s forces managed to keep up with Rowan''s forces. He had a total of seven hundred people with different power levels and Yuko and Doranjan brought a total of one hundred twenty monsters with them. Using their numbers and technology, they brought down powerful witches one by one. They also suffered casualties. More than a hundred people and twenty monsters had already died in the battle. "Am I already late?" Amanda had arrived on the battlefield with a tired look on her face. She just came from the battlefield on the other side and was greeted her was worse. It really became a war. She knew that Souta had an army. When they were still in the southern continent, she heard Alice say that they were planning on conquering the whole continent in the dark and established a force on this planet. Also, Souta had already told her that they weren''t natives of this planet. They came from a far stronger world with countless powerful beings. "I already remembered everything... I need to find them." She said before she continued to move on the battlefield. ... "The Divine World really hated monsters with huge potential. Did you come from Demon''s Land? I guess not as you wouldn''t escape that land with your current power. The demons will take you as their slaves and will kill you once they realized that you had the potential to become a monster lord. Ruin Desolate Land is also a brutal place for monsters. If you''ve managed to leave the Divine World then you''re from Giza Continent or either Vulcan''s Ring Continent, Frozen Continent, and Mars Archipelago." Rowan said while ignoring Souta''s question. "How did you know a lot of things from Imperium?" Souta narrowed his eyes. "People from sub-world are interested in Divine World. Once they''ve heard of it, they will try to acquire more information regarding it. They couldn''t help themselves but want to live in that world." Rowan paused for a moment before he continued, "Did you come here to play a king? Is it because no one can accept you in your homeworld? Did you become tired because you''re always a prey in your world? Humans and demis will hunt you so you came here to play a king." Doranjan, Yuko, and the red dragon listened to his words. Souta simply narrowed his eyes and said, "I didn''t come here intentionally. I just arrived here on an accident." "Is that so? Then, how do feel about the life here? It''s pretty different from Divine World, right? Although people are afraid of monsters, it was still nothing compared to the Divine World where they will massacre monsters. You see the Monster Dungeon in this world. The other organizations didn''t care about it as long as they didn''t hunt people in large numbers or they didn''t interfere in the top organizations'' affairs." "But they are in a war..." "Yes, and it''s because of you, right? Two S-rank agents of the Union Peace had died in the incident in Paultry City. It will settle soon as they will realize that the Monster Dungeon did nothing. I find it strange that the Monster Dungeon kept saying that they didn''t know about it but after I''ve witnessed your fighting power, I became sure that you''re the one that caused the incident. Union Peace is an organization several times larger and stronger than Witch Clan. They had enough power to thoroughly crush you. More than twenty Extinction Realm masters will put their eyes on you." Rowan looked at Souta''s army fighting the other witches. "This army of yours could only fight the Witch Clan because the two elders aren''t helping me. So how could you handle the Union Peace? Also, not only the Union Peace is going to look for you, the Night Watch and Monster Dungeon will hunt you down. Their influence will make the other top organizations move to owe each other. In the end, all the people in this world will hunt you down once again. No one will accept you even your fellow monsters in the Monster Dungeon will kill you. What a pitiful life to live in?" ... Far away from Rowan, Eilish who was observing the battle heard Rowan''s words. She was surprised, "S-So, all of you are from Divine World?! It''s a reasonable explanation as no country could produce this technology..." "Not me, Souta and Alice are the only ones from Imperium. I don''t know their story but they wanted to go back there and that''s our goal." Torkez, who was beside her, corrected her words. "Also, this technology didn''t come from their world. It came from an empire we defeated in the past." "I-I see... Still, people from Divine World?" Eilish stared at Souta and Alice''s figure. Who knows what she was thinking right now. ... At this moment, Amanda arrived several hundred meters away from Souta and the rest. She saw that everyone was there facing Clan Leader. She needed to talk with them and tell everyone the truth behind this. "You are wro-" Souta couldn''t finish his sentence as Alice interrupted him. "Shut up!!!" Alice said in a loud voice as she glared at Rowan. ''Eh...?'' Souta was stunned as he didn''t know why she was angry. He stared at her figure wanting to know the reason. "Even if no one can accept Souta in Imperium, I''m sure that our friends will accept him. At the very least, I''m one of the people that will accept him." Alice said strongly as she slowly raised her spear and pointed it at Rowan. "Souta, I''m sorry I hid it from you for a long time. I will show you what I am today." Her aura rose exponentially and the temperature in the atmosphere had decreased. The chilly wind blew in every direction as Alice started to emit a black aura. She grabbed her wrist and removed her bracelet. After she removed it, her energy level rose once again and it gushed out like a tsunami. "This is my true form... Limit break!!" She said as black energy exploded and blocked everyone''s vision. The energy was so dense that it felt like they were in the depth of the ocean. Boom!! After a few moments, the black energy dissipated and Alice''s figure had changed. Her skin turned pure white as if she didn''t have blood in her veins. The upper part of her arms up to her hands gradually changed into black. Her nails grew longer and it resembles the claws of violent creatures. There were black fur things on her wrist fluttering like a dancing flame. There was a pair of horns on her head and a blue flame on the center of her forehead. On her back, there was a pair of black wings and a black tail with a sharp tip. ''Demon? And a Heavenly Demon at that...'' Saya''s voice sounded in Souta''s mind. She had reached godhood before but she failed to see through Alice''s disguise. What sort of techniques did she use? ''I know that she was hiding her true form ever since she gave me the artifact for changing appearance but I didn''t expect that she is a demon..'' Souta said inwardly. Chapter 551 - Witch Clan: Struggle I "Demon?! So you people are truly from Divine World... There''s no need to doubt it now." Rowan said as he narrowed his eyes. The demons were fierce creatures that he couldn''t take lightly. They were strong and have cunning means to defeat their enemies. "Souta, I''ll everything to you after we''ve finished this so, please don''t doubt me for now." Alice turned to him and said with a slightly trembling voice. Souta smirked and said, "As if I''d doubt you. Let''s just finish this man." Swoosh!! There was one reason why Souta didn''t attack while Rowan was talking. It was because he was silently absorbing the energy of the monster orb on his back to recover his best feram. Since Rowan had given him this opportunity, then he wouldn''t hesitate and recover his strength. He also warned Yuko not to do anything. He let Rowan take the stage for a while to recover his strength. This overconfident guy will fall soon. Souta swung the vajra sword in his hand and a red energy blade shoot out. Then, seven shadows emerged beside him and attacked Rowan in different directions. Swoosh! Swoosh! Rowan clicked his tongue in annoyance as he waved his left hand. The golden bell above him launched several sound waves at the seven shadows. Then, he raised his right hand and caught the red energy blade before shattering it into pieces. Bang! "I can do it. I can protect you from the people of this world." Rowan said as he stared at Souta. Then, he saw a figure pass beside him. He turned around and quickly caught the spear. Alice gritted her teeth and she launched a kick but was smashed by a sound wave from above. Her figure crashed on the ground causing a huge crater. Boom! Rowan didn''t have a time to deal a finishing blow as Souta and Yuko appeared in front of him. Bang! Bang! Bang! The three exchanged high-speed blows and their attacks generated powerful shockwaves that swept out the whole area. Roar!! Yuko roared as she tanked several sound waves before she opened her mouth and used [Burning Shout II]. Flames surged out and engulfed Rowan but Rowan easily dispersed the flames with his might. Hmm? Rowan sensed a presence above him. He looked up only to see Souta slashing his sword in his direction. [Crimson Moon]! [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [Bestrou]! With the help of Saya containing the enormous energy in the sword, he fused the three skills into one slash. "There''s no need to join you. You''re not Rowan, the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan, so stop manipulating the Clan Leader, or else I will kill you sooner or later." Souta said in a cold tone as the slash landed on Rowan''s body. Ugh! A huge cut appeared on Rowan''s chest. He stared at Souta as blood spurted out of his wound. "If you want to rule those people then I can help you. I can help you reach monster lord level..." Then, energy beams smashed his body to the ground. Doranjan, Yuko, and the red dragon fired their [Bestrou] at the Clan Leader. BOOOMM!!! Souta stared at the huge explosion. A cracking sound echoed behind him and when he heard it, he realized that the fifth evolution monster orb on his back was drained. All he left was the energy in the monster orb and [Nebula Heart]. If he couldn''t defeat Rowan before he run out of energy then they would suffer defeat. He looked down and saw that his hands were shaking. His body was reaching his limit and the same for his parasite. He had to finish this as soon as possible. Fighting an injured shackled realm was already hard. Then, what if Rowan didn''t get injured by Eilish before? He would finish Souta and the rest within ten minutes. The shackled realm experts that he fought in the Ladros City was easier. After all, those Seven-Circle Officers couldn''t use their energy and their bodies were weakened to the limit because of fighting Teacher Bargan. They were on their death''s door, unlike Rowan who was only weakened. At this moment, Amanda had arrived on the scene. "Souta!!" She shouted in a loud voice. "Hm?" Souta turned and raised his eyebrows. He saw Amanda looking at him in the eyes. "I-I remember everything!" She said. ''Yeah, yeah, the system is the reason why you remembered your past. You should''ve thanked me.'' Souta didn''t change his expression. He kept looking at Amanda waiting for her to say everything. Boom! The ground trembled and the smoke was blown away. Rowan was standing in the center of the crater while looking at them with rage in his eyes. Souta turned his head and Amanda''s voice echoed in the surrounding area. "My Uncle, Rowan, isn''t the same as before! He is the one who killed my mother and father, the previous Clan Leader, yet he is also the one who saved me in the past! He, My Uncle, is the reason why I''m alive! He is being controlled by someone!! That''s why... Witches! Stop fighting and help us fight uncle!" Amanda''s voice was heard by every people. It caused the two sides to stop fighting as they all turned their heads. "You are accusing me, your own uncles, of a murder that he didn''t do," Rowan said as he looked at Amanda. "How could I kill my own brother? You''re truly desperate, my niece." "Uncle! I know you''re there trying to fight the one who''s controlling you! If you give us a nod then every witch here will know that you are being controlled so please help us one more time for our clan!" Amanda shouted at Rowan. She still remembered what he said to her when he saved her life. At that time, she was still a child and couldn''t remember everything that happened but now... She realized that someone was manipulating the Witch Clan, no, not just the Witch Clan but the entire war decades ago was planned by some people. "Argh!!!" Rowan suddenly gritted his teeth. "N-No... Don''t fight back!!" Blood flows out of his mouth as he slowly gives Amanda a nod. "You fuckers!!!!" At this time, everyone realized that Amanda was saying the truth. The Clan Leader of the Witch Clan was being controlled by someone. "Here me!!! Witches!! I, Rowan Brune, will pass the title of the Clan Leader to my niece, Amanda Brune, today! Follow her words and respect her just like how you respect me!! I have one last wish! Kill me!! Don''t hesitate!!" Rowan shouted and his voice reverberated throughout the entire area. Everyone heard his declaration, even the witches that evacuated have heard his words. It was his struggle, to tell the truth to his clansmen as he finally saw some hope. On the other side, Elder Guan and Elder Hanmi stopped fighting as they heard everything. "I already told you..." Elder Guan said. "How can I believe as you don''t have any evidence to prove your words." Elder Hanmi said. "You believe me now, right? We need to stop Clan Leader now." Elder Guan said as he glanced in the direction of the Clan Leader. Suddenly, something changed with the witches around them. The witches'' eyes turned red and they started killing each other. At the same time, Rowan''s voice had sounded once again. "You leave me no choice!! I can''t use the witches now so I''ll just destroy it! Do you all think that I didn''t do anything in the past decades?" Rowan laughed as he opened his arms widely. Souta looked around and heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Special Quest Triggered!] [Kill]: An unknown person is controlling Rowan''s body. Using Rowan as a medium, the unknown person spread out his control to most of the witches in the clan. The only way to stop it is to kill Rowan. Kill Rowan before half of the Witches have died. Reward: ??? "Shit!!" Souta cursed when he read the quest. His energy burst out as he charged towards Rowan without hesitation. "Everyone! Follow me!!" "On it," Alice said as she flew towards Rowan. "Still resisting?" Rowan looked at them coldly as he clashed with Alice and Souta. Soon, Yuko, Doranjan, and the red dragon joined the battle. The five of them worked together to fight the powerful Rowan. BOOOMM!! The two elders couldn''t help at all as they tried to stop their subordinates from killing each other. Even witches that have been knocked down by Yenxa''s poison have gotten up. Elder Guan had a total of nineteen Annihilation Realm witches under him and Elder Hanmi had a total of twenty-three Annihilation Realm witches. And all of them were under the influence of control. They were killing each other including those Extermination Realm witches. The situation quickly turned grave as the two elders didn''t want to kill their subordinates. They hold back their strengths to protect them. "Is this for real? Just who is the person that could control our Clan to this extent?" Elder Guan gritted his teeth in frustration. ... [Heavenly Demon''s Aura]! Alice stabbed her spear repeatedly and Rowan deflected her attacks with his two hands. The aura surrounding Alice was heavy and powerful but Rowan could endure it. Bang! Bang! Bang! "You''re a powerful demon but you still haven''t broken your shackles so it''s my win," Rowan said as he avoided her spear before he delivered a powerful blow on her stomach. Bang! Chapter 552 - Witch Clan: Struggle II Alice took a blow on her stomach. She raised her left hand and conjured a black energy. As soon as she conjured it, the golden bell rang and sent out sound waves. Bang! Bang! The sound waves were blocked by her energy. "Yeah, I''m not a match for you but... I''m not alone." Alice sneered while looking at the man in front of her. Swoosh! Rowan quickly threw a punch beside him as Souta arrived and rapidly slash the sword in his hand. His fist which was covered by his energy collided with the sword. Boom!! Souta gritted his teeth. This was going to be their last battle as the fifth stage monster orb on his back was drained. He couldn''t receive any more energy and actually, this was better for him. He was having a hard time keeping up with Rowan as some of his attention was focused on absorbing the energy from the monster orb. Now that the orb was gone, he could entirely concentrate on fighting this Clan Leader. "I can help you. As long as you accept my offer then you won''t need to fight me. Instead, you will receive benefits better than what these witches could give you." Rowan said while shifting his body to the side. Then, he kicked Souta on the knees before he received a slash on his left shoulder. He simply ignored the pain and punched Souta on the elbow before he threw a golden energy ball. Swoosh! Alice thrust her spear forward and deflected the golden energy ball. She gathered her energy as the gigantic bell launched a series of sound waves. [Dark Sweeper]! A black sphere of energy formed in front of her and she threw it towards the invisible sound waves. The two attacks collided causing a powerful explosion in the sky. Boom! Souta and Rowan who were closed to it ignored the explosion as they kept exchanging powerful and high-speed blows. The seven shadows secretly went behind Rowan. When the opportunity to arises, the shadows launched an attack but Rowan''s reaction was fast. In an instant, he crushed the seven shadows but he didn''t know that these shadows were bait. ''This...?'' Rowan looked behind him as a powerful gravity suddenly pulled him towards the ground. He resisted using his power but he saw Souta slashing his sword in his direction. "It isn''t enough!" He said as he raised his other hand and created a golden semi-transparent shield. Swoosh! Souta vanished in front of him and was replaced by a small black sphere. Then, his senses told him that there was danger above him. [Shadow Ball]! He clenched his fingers tightly as his sword landed on Rowan''s body once again. This guy, Rowan, wanted to lure him with some benefits yet Rowan didn''t know that Souta wouldn''t receive anything from the Witch Clan after this. Also, how could the one controlling Rowan give him some points equivalent to the chain quest that he was trying to complete right now? In his point of view, even if Rowan wanted to give him some powerful skills or treasure it wouldn''t matter to him at all. He could get those things in the future but the points that he will get in this chain quest will vanish if he failed it. The two things couldn''t be compared at all in his eyes. For a chain quest, he simply came here with Amanda to complete it and nothing else would change his mind. He didn''t come here to rescue this clan or save some innocent people. He came here for his own benefits and that''s to earn some points for himself. He wouldn''t even bother coming to the central continent if not for the chain quest. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [Bestrou]! [Crimson Moon]! "From above...?" Rowan was stunned and in the next moment, his body crashed on the ground with an extreme force that created a huge and deep crater. Boom! His body was nailed five hundred meters below the surface. His soul weapon, the golden bell, was offset by the demon and the red dragon. All the sound waves launched by it were intercepted by these two creatures. Ugh! He spat a mouthful of blood and saw a blinding light above him. "These monsters!!!" Yuko and Doranjan fired their [Bestrou] at Rowan not giving him a chance to dodge it. The rays of energy flung out in every direction as it exploded on Rowan''s figure. Boom! Boom! A series of explosions sounded and it caused the debris of rocks to shoot up in the mid-air before it turned into tiny particles as the shockwaves swept out. Argh!! Rowan gritted his teeth as he gathered a huge amount of energy in his fist. Then, he split the [Bestrou] with a swing of his hand. [Majestic Ruin Cleaver]!! The attack didn''t stop as it continued to move upward splitting the powerful [Bestrou]. Yuko opened her eyes widely as she stopped her attack to shift her body to the side but Doranjan was too late to react. The attack was simply too fast and before he realized it, his [Bestrou] was cut into two. Swoosh! His right hand and right wing were also sliced. A huge amount of blood spurted out and it looks like it was raining from the ground. "It''s too strong..." Doranjan muttered as his slit eyes turned in Rowan''s direction. His huge dragon body was an easy target for his opponent and the opponent''s attacks were as fast as the sound. Rowan slightly bent his knees and launched himself in the sky. In just a second, he arrived in front of Yuko. Swoosh! The flames around Yuko''s body intensified as she swung a paw at Rowan. Rowan sneered and he raised his hand completely blocking her attack. He slowly clenched his other hand before throwing a punch. Boom! The punch was so powerful that it made a huge gaping hole in Yuko''s body. Roar! Yuko growled and she swung her other paw. At this moment, Souta arrived beside her and grabbed Rowan''s wrist. "Since you don''t want to join me then I will simply kill you and your comrades. Everyone in this place will die soon so there''s no use for you to struggle." Rowan said as he turned his head to Souta. His eyes were cold and it was filled with murderous intent. "Because of your puppeteer ability, right? I can prevent it by simply killing this man, the Clan Leader, and everyone will go back to normal." Souta smirked. He took this chance to observe his opponent only to realize that Rowan''s body was reaching the limit. After all, Rowan fought Eilish and the others all by himself. He was exhausted and his wounds were only getting worse as the battle continued. "You know puppeteer?" Rowan widened his eyes at Souta''s words. His aura fluctuated but he regained his calmness when he remembered that this monster came from Divine World. There were tons of people with strange abilities in that world so this monster must have seen this ability before. "Well, yeah..." Souta grinned and he thrust his sword forward. He and Yuko wrestled with Rowan in the mid-air. Their figure crashed on the ground while the red dragon and Alice were still intercepting the sound waves coming from the golden bell. "I''ll handle this, demon. Go and help them." The red dragon turned its huge head to Alice. Alice stared at the dragon for a while before she nodded her head. She knew that Souta, Yuko, and Doranjan would have a hard time defeating Rowan. They needed her help. In her eyes, Rowan''s defeat was inevitable. That body had reached its limit and the only thing that kept it from fighting was the one who was controlling Rowan. Swoosh! "You''re here again, demon?!" Rowan said in a cold tone as he kicked Yuko away before he blocked Souta''s sword and punched him in the face. Then, he faced Alice who was coming at him with unbelievable speed. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta looked ahead as he stomped his foot on the ground. Debris of rocks flew in the air and hundreds of black tentacles rose. The four spider limbs on his back pointed upward as they gathered a huge amount of his best feram. "Alice!!" He shouted and Alice glanced at him. She quickly retreated away from Rowan using her fastest speed. Rowan naturally heard Souta''s voice so he turned his head only to see Souta charging an unbelievable amount of best feram. "This is dangerou-" Before he could finish his words, Souta who was before his eyes vanished completely, the black tentacles in the air blocked his vision. [Shadow Ball]! Souta appeared behind Rowan. He used some of his energy to use a thick and tough web and wrapped it around Rowan''s feet and arms. "It''s no use!" Rowan shouted. Souta simply brandished his sword and the enormous best feram fused around the blade of his sword. AAHHH!!! He roared while swinging his sword which contained most of his energy. Chapter 553 - Witch Clan: Struggle III Rowan''s reflexes were on a different level. The body of a shackled realm expert couldn''t be underestimated. It was on clearly a higher level than a third evolution monster and a person at solidifying realm. Souta''s sword slash has enough power to damage the tough body of a shackled realm. He saw it clearly and he tried to avoid it with his maximum speed which was faster than his sound attacks. Even though he was fast, he realized that the sword slash contained an energy that pulled him towards it. ''It''s pulling me?! It''s impossible...'' In the end, he couldn''t avoid the violent energy torrent from the sword slash. It ripped his left shoulder apart and his entire left arm flew in the air. It wasn''t that awful compared to getting his head cut into two. At the very least, he avoided death. "It missed..." Doranjan muttered when he saw that Souta failed to kill Rowan. Yuko fell down on the ground. The huge gaping hole on her chest was regenerating as she lifted her head and looked at the enemy. The red dragon didn''t know what was happening as he was busy intercepting all the sound waves. But since the golden bell continued to release strong sound waves it means that Rowan was still alive. "I''m reaching my limit here... The central continent is truly dangerous." The dragon didn''t have a parasite so he couldn''t recover from his injuries like Souta, Yuko, Doranjan, and Alice. Compared to the four of them, he was the easiest to kill. Eilish turned to Torkez and asked, "Can you hold all of these witches for a few seconds? I''m going to help them for a while." "Hold them. I don''t think I can hold them for too long. A few seconds would be enough for them to kill me so make sure to make it fast." Torkez said in a grave tone. Eilish was the focal point of this group and without her, they wouldn''t be able to fight a group of witches that had several S-rank and more than thirty A-rank. Luckily, the witches were insane as they were fighting everyone in front of them including their fellow witches. If not for that, a single second would be enough for more than five S-rank to kill him. "Twenty seconds and it will be done," Eilish said as she placed her hand on her stomach. The injuries that she received from fighting Rowan before were getting worse. She really envy these people that had strange yet powerful regeneration ability. The two elders who were preventing more than thirty Annihilation Realm and a number of Extermination Realm witches got their hands full. "Elder Guan. Assists them so leave our fellow clansmen to me. I can''t promise you that no one will die but I''ll try to minimize the casualties with everything I have." Elder Hanmi said to Elder Guan. "Even so... Thirty Annihilation Realm masters are too much for you." Elder Guan hesitated. He never doubted the abilities of numbers. There were some cases in the war that an Extinction Realm master died in the hands of a combined force of Annihilation Realm masters. "If no one stopped the Clan Leader then most of our fellow clansmen would die. Do you want that to happen?" Elder Hanmi said in a fierce tone. "I understand." Elder Guan nodded. ... "Fuck!!" Souta roared as the sword slash continued to move forward directly slicing every object in its path. He felt weak as he fell on his knees. The tiredness and exhaustion assaulted his body. Even his wounds had stopped regenerating. The queen parasite had reached its limit and from now on he wouldn''t be able to use its regeneration ability until it recovered its strength. "You''re done." Rowan smiled as he tightened his other hand. "Not yet... Did you forget about her?" Souta chuckled as he looked at Rowan in the eyes. The temperature dropped suddenly and towering ice rose from the ground. The ice was covered in darkness making it look terrifying. Hmm...? Rowan looked down before he jumped away to avoid the walk of ice. [Freezing Darkness]!! Alice sighed as she managed to separate Souta from Rowan. The wall of ice that she created had a height of five hundred meters, a length of fifteen kilometers, and a thickness of fifty meters. "Oh, right? This demon is a problem too." Rowan muttered as he turned his eyes on the girl on top of the wall of ice. Alice took a deep breath. She had realized her demon form and broken the limit. It means that she was in her strongest form. This was her full power, the power of the daughter of the Great Demon Emperor Lucifer. ''I don''t want to break the limit as my father would know my position but I don''t have a choice now.'' She said inwardly before she pointed her spear at Rowan. [Secret Technique: Heavenly Demon Dual Element]! The enormous wall of ice was shattered in an instant and it condensed hundreds of powerful concentrations of energy. It looks like a whirlpool with a blue and black color fusing into one. With a wave of her spear, the whirlpool shoot countless rays of energy at Rowan. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! "Ugh!" Rowan spat a mouthful of blood as he placed his right hand on his left shoulder. The wound was twitching and it felt extremely painful because of all the ice and dark energy in the atmosphere. Even the lingering best feram made his wounds hurt. Bang! Just like that, he forgot to avoid the rays of energy. Bang! Bang! Bang! "Damn!" Rowan grumbled as he launched himself towards Alice. Alice didn''t back down as she collided with Rowan several times before she was blown up in the sky. Boom! ''I still have energy left in my orb. The [Nebula Heart] and parasite are completely drained because of my last attack. I just have one last attack so I don''t have a choice now...'' Souta looked up as he activated his equipment skill. [Harvester of the Soul]! All the souls around him were sucked inside his earring and Souta quickly used the [Soul Blood Mode]. The souls in his earring started decreasing as they turned into fuels that boosted his body. ''I can''t move my body so I can only try this...'' Souta opened his right palm and several small spheres of energy swirled around his hand. He gritted his teeth as he poured all of the remaining energy in his orb towards his palm. Dozens of tiny condensed [Bestrou] fluctuated and it gives off a very oppressive aura. This time he will try different than normal [Bestrou]. He already tried to make his [Bestrou] into a form of sword slash by combining it with [Crimson Moon], but he needed Saya''s help to execute that attack. ''This is my last attack...'' Souta focused his attention on Rowan who was fighting Alice. He tightened his muscles before he threw the attack. The [Bestrou]s that he created didn''t focus on destructive power. Instead, he focused all of its power on killing strikes. It wouldn''t explode upon contact just like the normal [Bestrou]. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The small beams of highly concentrated best feram flew towards Rowan at high speed. It was like a light that traveled in space without any sound. Hmph! Rowan suddenly glanced at Souta and shifted his body to the side. He avoided the super fast beams as if he excepted that Souta will attack him. Eilish and Elder Guan gritted their teeth in frustration when they saw that Souta''s attack failed to hit Rowan. As an Extinction Realm master, they naturally sensed the power behind those attacks. It would be sufficient to deal considerable damage to Rowan. But then something happened the next moment... Blinding rays of light erupted on the floor beneath the Clan Leader. It was so fast and unexpected that made Rowan lose his focus. The rays of light pierced his body. Bang! Bang! Bang! Ugh! Rowan groaned in pain as blood gushed out of his mouth. The rays of light completely penetrated his defense. He knew that he was weakening but to think that his defense will shatter just like that. "F-Fuck!" He looked up with difficulty only to see the demon girl looking at him with fierce eyes. Several golden spheres formed as he opened his right hand. Ohm! Alice took a deep breath as the black and blue energy around her intensified. She tightly grip her spear before she launched herself at the Clan Leader with a determination to end this battle. Swoosh! Eilish suddenly stopped moving and she raised her staff above her. "Fine, I''m going to leave it to you!" She said as she casted several buff spells to boost Alice''s combat prowess. Elder Guan, who was on the other side, raised his hands above his head. He could cast buff spells like Eilish so the only thing he could do was to create a barrier around Alice to protect her. "Free the Clan Leader!!" Rowan gritted his teeth and waved his hand. The golden spheres shoot sound waves just like his soul weapon, but its strength was lacking compared to his golden bell. Nevertheless, it was enough to deal with a person that hasn''t broken a single shackle. Swoosh! Alice''s figure flashed as she moved her body from side to side avoiding the sound waves with unbelievable speed. [Secret Technique: Heavenly Demon''s Dark Stride]! Some of the sound waves were blocked by a barrier that Elder Guan conjured around her. Her speed was fast enough to avoid sound waves but if several sound waves come at her at the same time, she would have a problem. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! In just a second, she avoided thousands of sound waves. Argh! Rowan widened his eyes as Alice penetrated his chest with a spear. "N-N-N-No......!" Chapter 554 - Strange Phenomenon Ugh! Rowan glanced at Alice and he raised his hand to counter but Souta saw it. Swoosh! Ray of light flashed in an instant and it penetrated his body once again. At this moment, the one controlling Rowan''s body realized that he lost. This group of people won against him and it was humiliating. He was the only one thinking about that. The rest of the people didn''t think that his defeat was humiliating. After all, he fought Eilish and other people alone using the body of the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan. Souta and the rest thought that they were lucky that they''d defeated Rowan. Souta glanced ahead before he sighed in relief. He hasn''t fired all of the small [Bestrou]s before as he knew that Rowan would simply avoid it. So he devised a plan to fool Rowan thinking that was all of his attacks. "It''s over..." He fell to the ground and his body turned back to normal. The wounds that he received weren''t regenerating as the power of his parasite had reached its limit. ''Yeah, it''s over... You should train your Archetype after this. You could only use five forms and it already gave you a huge boost in fighting a shackled realm expert. The first form is pretty good. The second form can only work on A-rank. The third form is good too. The fourth form can only block low-level S-rank.'' Saya said to him. ''I know. I''ll train it after this.'' Souta nodded at her. The Archetype was really helpful in battling Rowan. The [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] had fifteen forms and he can only use five forms with his current strength. His mastery over this skill hasn''t even reached fifty percent so he still had a lot to improve. Just what would happen if he could use the perfect mastery Archetype? He couldn''t help but imagine it. The first form was Mahayana Tribulation which conjured black lightning in the sky that could damage the target. The black lighting can also be used to strengthen the user''s body and attack. It was a very useful skill. The second form was Thousand Oak Absorbtion and Reverse Moon Oak. Just like what the name suggested, it was used for absorbing the energy from the enemy''s attack and releasing it as his own attack. It was pretty useful but with his current mastery, he couldn''t absorb solidifying realm expert''s energy attack. The third form was the Serenity of the Vajra. This form could let him increase his absorption ability just like how he absorbs the energy from the fifth evolution stage monster orb. It was different from the second form which could only absorb energy from an attack. This skill was for objects such as monster orb, mana stone, mana essence, etc. The fourth form was the Bridal Lotus Benevolent Rose. It was a defensive type skill and for his current mastery, he could only perfectly block any early-stage S-rank attack. It means that only people at the intermediate stage and above S-rank had the ability to damage him. This was the reason why most of the early stage S-rank didn''t enter Souta eyes. The fifth form was the Rage of the Thunder God which was a very powerful offensive skill. It could pierce the defense of a peak S-rank and even damage a shackled realm with the help of other skills. It was one of Souta''s offensive skills in fighting creatures above his level. There are still ten forms and he''s looking forward to the time that he could use all fifteen forms without side effects on his body. After all, the Archetype was for people that were as strong as fifth shackles so using this skill taxed his body heavily. Souta looked around and saw that the battle had stopped. The witches had turned back to normal and they weren''t being controlled anymore. Cough! Rowan coughed a mouthful of blood. He glanced at Souta, Alice, Yuko, Doranjan, and the Red Dragon. He smiled and said, "Everyone... I''m thankful that you''re here to help my niece." Turning to Amanda, he continued, "Amanda, from now on, you will be the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan. I''m sorry for your parents... I wanted to tell you a lot of things but I don''t have a time... The Council will come so prepare yourself. They are the ones that started the war decades ago. They are the ones that placed the god''s inheritance in this world so that various organizations would fight over it, but they didn''t expect that every organization would work together and divide the inheritance. So they secretly manipulated the direction of the events. They killed the heir of the emperor that triggered the war." Cough! Cough! "The Council will come so prepare everyone... They will destroy everyone in this world." Rowan said before he fell to the ground. He drew his last breath with a smile on his face. Today, the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan has died after he passed down his title to his niece, Amanda Brune. "U-Uncle!!!!" Amanda shouted as she run towards Rowan. She hugged his body tightly as tears poured down from her eyes. "AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Alice looked at this scene before she sighed and turned her head on the sky. Her body slowly turned back to normal and her wounds were closing rapidly. She breathed out. Then, she approached Souta and asked, "Can you still move your body?" "I don''t think I could do that... Every time I tried to move my body, extreme pain assaulted me." Souta laughed wryly as he glanced at Alice. "Here, I''ll help you." Alice smiled as she went to his side and hooked his hand on her shoulders while grabbing his waist to support him. "You totally did it again this time. Fighting a person that broke one shackle is too absurd." "I have a reason for doing this. It''s so that I can grow stronger in the future." Souta laughed as he replied to her words. "You''re always thinking about getting stronger. Have about to take a rest for a week or month? At this rate, you''re not just going to collapse physically but also mentally." Alice said in a concerned tone. "I-I just want to survive..." Souta looked at the dark sky. Crack!! A sound of a glass breaking echoed in the whole area. No, they didn''t hear the sound with their ears. It feels like the sound was directly transmitted to their brain. Even if they cover their ears, they will still be able to hear it. Hmm...? Alice and Souta paused as they looked around wondering where the sound came from. They weren''t the only ones that heard it. All the people on the battlefield heard the same sound. "What''s that?" "Did you hear that?" "Yes, it sounds like something was shattered." "I heard that sound too." What they didn''t know was that they weren''t the only ones that heard it. Every creature in the entire cosmos heard the same sound. It was a strange phenomenon that a mortal wouldn''t be able to explain. Somewhere in the universe, a man wearing a black robe with red fur on its collar was sitting on a throne. His messy chestnut color hair fluttered as the aura inside his body fluctuated. He slowly opened his eyes revealing a pair of deep brown color eyes. The man turned his head and looked outside the window. His gaze pierced through every object as he saw everything that was happening outside. "That sound... There are no rules anymore. It will become the survival of the fittest from now on. So I should start my plan." The man stood up before he opened his mouth and declared, "I, Esquin Georagnisus, Ruler of the Gluttony, shall initiate the plan on the God''s Continent! There are no rules that are binding me anymore so prepare yourself! Bring out all the Bloodstone that we''ve collected in the past!" His voice reverberated throughout the entire planet. Every people looked at the sky as they heard the announcement of their god, the God of Gluttony, One of the Seven Deadly Sins. In the other place, a woman wearing a white cloak slowly stood up from her seat. In front of her was a round table with ten seats and she was the only one present in this dark room. She had a pair of black horns on the side of her head and one red horn on the center of her forehead. She had long pink hair with a hint of whiteness that drape on her shoulders. Her ears were pointed just like those elves. She had a pair of green reptile eyes, a slit one. "The rules are gone. The Administrators wouldn''t interfere anymore and the Great Barrier is slowly weakening. Sooner, everyone would be able to travel throughout the entirety of Imperium. I think that the time has come to find the remaining..." She smiled faintly as the world she was in trembled in fear. Dense best feram spread out of her body as it covered the whole world. "Tell the other Commandments that I, Aleteya, the Monster Lord of Malevolence, the Commandment of Selfless, gathering everyone in the Divine Room to discuss the plan for the Four Authorities." There''s no restriction anymore so they will be able to move freely. It''s been a long time since she''d felt this. "The Zodiacs had moved after a long time so most of the organizations in the seven continents are focused on it. Everyone is getting restless... I can feel it in my skin. My instinct as a monster lord is telling me that danger is approaching.. We need to act quickly." Chapter 555 - Aftermath ''Souta, I''ve got something to say.'' Saya''s voice echoed in his head. She appears to be concerned about something. ''What is it?'' Souta asked while wondering why she was so serious. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Alice asked while supporting him. Souta shook his head and said, "It''s nothing." He then heard Saya''s voice. ''The sound just now is definitely the breaking of rules. I mentioned before that you shouldn''t take the souls carelessly as it is one of the rules. You will suffer consequences if you continued to prevent souls from going to reincarnation but right now that rule is broken... ''It means that you can plunder souls without worrying about the consequences. Other people would be able to break the limits in their bodies easily. Meaning that the chances of reaching god realm got easier but it was still hard. I personally think that only five or ten people will achieve god realm in each continent for the next five years.'' ''This...'' Souta was shocked inwardly. He finally understood why suddenly a burst of people reached god realm in the later version of the game. Yanagi, Isabella, and Randolf were some of those people. There were others too in the other continent and some people were from sub-worlds. The whole universe will focus on Imperium. The rules that prevent some gods from using their true powers have disappeared. The treasures that were sealed by the cosmos will be free to take and the thrones will appear. It will become a battle for supremacy in the near future. No matter what other people did, the administration will not interfere anymore. It will start from the bottom of power then it will go up until gods participated in chaos. The Great Barrier that protected the seven continents of Imperium from going to each other will open soon. So that''s why all of that happened... He understood the reason why those versions were just getting worse and worse. ''From now on, people can go against the natural order of the universe without suffering the consequences. As long as one has enough power then they could do whatever they wanted.'' Saya said to him. ''Gods will move frequently from now on. They will be able to freely wield the so-called Grid.'' Grid is the ability of Gods, Monster Lords, Demon Gods, and Spirit Gods that goes against the rules. Some gods called it Principles, some called it Laws, and some called it Aspects. God-level beings weren''t afraid of Administrators. They just simply respect the beings that maintained the cosmos but mostly it came from the benefits that they will receive just by listening to the Administrators. Even if they killed the Administrators, those beings will simply spawn on the other part of the universe. They don''t have emotions or will. They were programmed to maintain the universe and will warn any being that brings harm to it. Just like a golem that had no soul. But they were full of information. That''s why some of the god-level beings enjoyed talking to them. The Administrators knew every type of spirit or mana fruits. The rules were easy to follow. It wasn''t something like "Do not kill" or "Do not plunder" things. It was something about sensitive matters like reincarnation or destruction of any small dimension. While the basic rules were like planets, galaxies, or anything outside Imperium. Why most of the god-level beings avoid using Grid outside of Imperium is that they could shatter those basic rules. Once it was shattered, those planets wouldn''t rotate nor move. It will simply float without direction and eventually collided with stars, asteroids, or other planets. A place without rules will not be usable for a long time. It will take time before the rules had recovered and once the rules had recovered the cosmos will spawn stars, asteroids, or dead planets. As for how long until one planet gained mana in the atmosphere was unknown. ''The basic rules are still here but Gods can simply break it easily now and replaced those rules with their own. Slowly, the people in sub-worlds will start to rely on gods to live. They would be helpless if the rules are completely gone.'' Souta couldn''t help but sigh at her words. He was really lucky that he triggered Amanda''s chain quest. He needed to earn various points as soon as possible to upgrade his skills and complete the legacy of the thirteenth zodiac. With Rowan''s death, all the witches that turned insane go back to normal. The battle had stopped too as they know that Rowan was only being controlled by someone. Everyone was exhausted and tired. A lot of witches died and some from Souta''s side died too. It was unavoidable as they were fighting with their lives on it. Elder Guan looked down at the scene around him with a gloomy face. The entire island of the Witch Clan was demolished as the main battle happened in that place. He avoided battling in that place by going in the sky but the one controlling Rowan didn''t care about it. "We, the Witch Clan, need to start over." He muttered as he looked at his fellow witches. No one had expected that this will happen in their clan today. At the very least, nothing was controlling their clan anymore. They freed their Clan Leader from the hands of those unknown vile people. The people that started the war in this world decades. "It''s finished..." Franklin said as he returned back to normal. He looked at the crazy witches and felt disappointed. "I''m still not done yet but whatever since the leader had stopped I had to stop too." Wings formed on his back before he flew towards the Guardian Fortress in the sky. The red dragon fell on the ground with a loud "Thud" sound. He just took the full power of the golden bell alone so he received considerable damage to his body. Stopping all those sound waves was tough. He growled as he lifted up his gigantic head. "I don''t know why there''s a battle here but it seems that it''s complete now. The world is really huge. There are a lot of strong creatures." Doranjan and Yuko stayed in their position for a while, waiting for their parasite to completely heal their wounds. Unlike the others, creatures with parasites don''t need the healing potions of Isabella. Eilish looked at the Witch Clan before she sigh. She didn''t expect the outcome of this battle nor the information that she learned from this battle. She was lucky that she survive from this battle against the Clan Leader. She realized that among the Extinction Realm masters, she was one of the weakest. Her lack of strength in fighting close-range combat will become her downfall in the future. She could match, no, she was stronger than Rowan in terms of firepower but that''s it. In terms of speed, strength, and toughness Rowan was higher than her. "It''s really tiring but I''ve gained a lot of things in this battle. It''s not that bad." She muttered in a low voice. Amanda held her uncle in her arms tightly. Tears were pouring down from her eyes. Her uncle Rowan was a strong man. The person that controlled him managed to capture his mother, sister, wife, and son. Rowan didn''t tell his brother about their mother, sister, and his family. Amanda''s father, his brother, was the Clan Leader and he was focused on the war that was happening on the whole continent so he didn''t notice it. Rowan endured everything while those people were torturing his family. At first, his mother died, then his sister too. The enemy set up a situation where the Witch Clan wouldn''t think that the two died in torture. Rowan was the only one that knew the truth and he hide it from his brother. The enemy wanted for his brother, the Clan Leader, to go to their place to set up an ambush but Rowan didn''t say anything to his brother. He knew that once his brother knew the situation, his brother would go alone to save his family. Even if his brother knew that it was a trap, he will still go because of his personality. However, Rowan understood that once the Clan Leader died the Witch Clan will lose its morale and they will suffer heavy casualties in the war. Days had passed quickly and Rowan was filled in despair as the head of his wife was delivered to him. At that moment, his son was the only one alive. Not just that, the Clan mysteriously suffered heavy casualties on different battlefields. He realized that the people that captured his family were greater than he imagined. The whole war in the central continent was their playground. They had the power but they didn''t do it because they simply wanted to have fun playing with them. It was frustrating. He couldn''t do anything. In the end, he told his brother about it. Just like what he expected, his brother left to rescue his brother. Rowan didn''t want his brother to die so he brought a group of elite Extinction Realm witches only to find that everything was within the enemy''s expectations. They were annihilated and his son had died too. It was pointless. He shouldn''t have told his brother about his son. If he didn''t tell him then his son was the only one that should have died just like how his wife had died. But what could he do? That was his son and he couldn''t just ignore his own child. His mother, sister, and wife died so he couldn''t just let his son die. Even if he knew that it was futile, he still tried it but at what cost. Several Extinction Realm masters were annihilated. They were the foundation of the Witch Clan. "AARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! UNCLEEEEE!!" Amanda screamed. Chapter 556 - Bountiful Rewards Alice escorted Souta in the Guardian Fortress. Souta at this moment was too vulnerable. He didn''t have best feram in his monster orb and his parasite was incapable of regenerating his wounds. Also, every time he moved his body extreme pain will assault him. All of these were the effect of pushing his body to the limit in fighting Rowan. "Are you okay, Souta?" Isabella went to his side and asked him with a concerned look. "You check it," Souta said as he slowly closed his eyes. He leaned his back on the wall comfortably but the moment his back touches the wall he groaned in pain. "Aww!" His tolerance to pain was high but it seems that this battle affected his nerves. His pain sensitivity had increased by several folds. Isabella checked his body after she received his permission. Then, she went to her laboratory to take potions that could help him in his current condition. While waiting for Isabella, Souta opened the system interface in mind. *Ding!* [Congratulations for completing the quest Riot!] [You''ve gained 20 skill points, 55 free attribute points, and 50 million exp!] This was his reward for completing the final quest of the chain quest. It was a huge haul of points and he will be able to unlock one of the abilities in the legacy. It was great and he didn''t regret coming to the central continent because of this. Now that he thinks about it, Alice introduced Amanda to him and he triggered her chain quest. It seems that he owes her one this time. He wouldn''t even think of coming to this continent if he didn''t have the chain quest. He would''ve stayed in the south continent increasing his energy capacity before he returned to Imperium. Souta couldn''t help but smirk inwardly. He then looked at the messages in the interface once again. *Ding!* [You''ve gained 13,500,379 exp for defeating an SS-rank expert!] [You''ve leveled up!] [Your Health had increased by 100!] [Your Energy had increased by 20!] [Your Stamina had increased by 20!] [Your Strength had increased by 50!] [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 30!] [Your Physical and Energy Damage have increased by 5%!] [Your Physical and Energy Resistance have increased by 5%] [Your Health, Energy, and Stamina Recovery have increased by 10!] [You''ve gained 1 skill point!] [You''ve gained 2 free attribute points!] He reached Level 52 and finally got closer to his next evolution. After he learned the Archetype, his level become 51 at that time and there''s only a little black space in his exp bar. But that little blank space still needed a few millions of exp. Then, as for the evaluation of the Chain Quest and Special Quest... *Ding!* [Congratulations for completing the Special Quest]! [Congratulations for completing the Chain Quest!] [Processing the grade...] [Processing complete!] [You''ve received Grade A- score!] [Calculating the rewards...] [Calculating completed!] [You''ve received 550,000 exp, 10 skill points, 25 free attribute points, 1 Blank skill card, 3 Energy Recovery cards, 2 Skill Level-up cards, and 2 Level-up card!] This was the bonus reward for completing the entire Chain Quest. The evaluation reward and the next one was the reward of the Special Quest. [You''ve received 5 skill points, 15 free attribute points, and 100,000 exp!] The rewards of the Special Quest were nothing compared to what he received from Quest 4 and the Chain Quest. It was too few but he could understand it. It only means that the casualties on the witch''s side were high to the point that his rewards had decreased to only this much points. In this quest, he strangely triggered two Special Quests. It was quite rare and he glanced at the reward that he received for completing the second Special Quest. [Congratulations for completing the quest Kill!] [You''ve received a Special Character Invocation Card =Blood=!] It was the first time that he received a reward like this. Even in the game, he never saw any cards like Special Character Invocation Card. Narrowing his eyes, Souta opened the details of the card. He roughly guessed the function of this card but he had to confirm it with his own eyes to make sure that he wouldn''t miss a detail when he used it in the future. [Special Character Invocation Card =Blood=]: Using this card will let you temporarily gain the power and possession of Blood. Note: This card is a one-time use card. It will disappear after you use it. The power you gained will last for an hour. Oi! Oi! Is this even a joke?! His character in the game was his reward?! He could temporarily use every arsenal that he used in the past. He knew his character like the back of his mind so he knew how powerful it is. Even though Blood didn''t have any Archetype or Best Feram, Blood was still unbelievably strong. It was a broken character. It was his accumulation for playing the Battle Worlds Online for ten years. This was mad. This one card would be enough to turn a whole situation upside-down. Even if the three shackled realm experts of Witch Clan worked together they wouldn''t last a minute against him if he activated this card. Using Blood, he slew demon commanders of the demon army in the war and in the war against three Bringers of Calamity, he slew seven-circle officers of the Deadly Sins and those archbishops of the God''s Will. He shook his head and put those thoughts on the back of his mind. The rewards that he received were worth all the hard work that he put in it. He was satisfied as he couldn''t help but smile to himself. He earned 36 skill points and he had left 32 skill points before. So he had a total of 68 skill points at this moment. It would be enough for him to unlock and learn another ability in the legacy. He had to complete it as he knew that his title [Cosmic Sign: Ophiuchus] would receive a boost after a learned all the ability. While he was thinking about this, Isabella came back with various potions in her hands. "Here, this one is for pain. This one will let you relax. This one will recover some of your wounds." One by one she handed him the potions while explaining its use to him. "O-Oh... I see..." Souta nodded as he opened the cap of the bottle and drank the liquid within. Gulp! After drinking all the potions, Souta glanced at Alice and asked, "How is the situation outside?" "The same as before. Torkez is counting the casualties on our side and the witches are doing the same thing. Both sides suffer heavy casualties." Alice said to him. Souta already expected it. He wouldn''t receive a Grade A- score if the casualties from witches were small. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Gather everyone here in an hour. I will rest here for now. I''ll talk to them after that." "I understand." Alice glanced at him one more time before she left the room. Souta was tired and he wanted to sleep right now but he knew that he still had to do a lot of things. He could barely move his body and the pain lessened thanks to Isabella''s potion. He glanced at the total skill points that he had before he looked at the store. His skill points and free attribute points were enough to unlock and integrate another ability. He didn''t hesitate anymore and use his points to unlock the [Galaxy Eyes]. Then, he used a bunch of points once again to integrate it into his body. A total of 30 skill points and 60 free attribute points were consumed in an instant. [Unsealing the Galaxy Eyes...] [1%... 13%... 25%... 47%... 81%... 99%...] *Ding!* [Unsealing complete!] [Warning!] [Prepare yourself!] Souta gritted his teeth and he felt very intense pain in his body. The pain was several times greater when he integrated the [Nebula Heart]. It was especially worse in his eyes. After a while, the pain disappeared and he heard the system prompt in his mind. *Ding!* [You''ve gained Galaxy Eyes!] He slowly opened his eyes to look around. It has still the same color but it felt like it contained heavy power. Oh, His vision was adjusting and he could see the energy flow in the atmosphere, the natural energy of this planet. His eyes adjusted once again and he could now see the heat in his surrounding. The creatures were visible to his eyes even if they were beyond the walls. "Isabella!" Souta said and Isabella quickly came to his room. "Do you need something, Souta?" When he saw Isabella his eyes adjusted once again. He could see the mana pool in her body. It was below her chest and on the upper part of her abdomen. It was in liquid form, indicating that she was an A-rank expert. He could see the mana flowing out of it supplying her body. Then, using this pair of eyes he would be able to know if his opponents were going to make a huge attack based on the energy he could see from their bodies. It was pretty useful in battle. What shocked him the most was that he could see the invisible shackles around her body. The shackles that limited the mortal''s ability. "Souta..." Isabella looked at him strangely. She felt that he was looking at her and not at the same time.. It was a weird feeling that she got when someone was prying on her. Chapter 557 - Warning In the God''s Continent... The Demon army was advancing with powerful momentum as they conquered cities and kingdoms left and right. The power of their army was too high that it brought terror upon the whole land. The southern part of the continent was ground zero. Most of the people that lived here evacuated in fear that the demon army will massacre them. It was a brutal place that span over several tens of thousands of kilometers. Although the demon army was powerful their advancement had slowed down. The God''s Continent wasn''t an easy place to conquer after all. There were dozens of powerful factions and all of them couldn''t be underestimated. Until now, the major faction like Mount Olympus, Asgard, or Angel faction only sent some of their forces to stop the demons. The God''s Continent was huge and it was the largest continent in the Imperium. The land that the demons have conquered was small compared to the entirety of the continent. They were still far from reaching the territory of those major factions. Even some of the countries here had birthed one or two god-level powerhouses so naturally, the demon had to exert more force if they wanted to reach the major factions. But the demon army right now could only do what they could. It was because they were reaching their hands too far. They invaded the Giza Continent and God''s Continent at the same time. It means that their forces were divided into two and no matter how many demons were there they still wouldn''t be able to conquer the two continents at the same time. That''s why some of the major factions didn''t move directly as they were still trying to find out the goals of the demons. It wasn''t a simple invasion and dividing their army into two was too risky so why did the Demon Emperor do that? It was as if the demons were trying to find something... At this moment, the demons had raided the nearest dukedom. Of course, the dukedom resisted with all of their might but the demon army was just too strong for them. They quickly suffered heavy casualties on a single night and their capital was taken over. "Oho, humans and demis are weak!" "Hahaha, they aren''t weak! We are just powerful!" The demons chatted as they slaughtered the people from the dukedom. One of the high-ranking demons was patrolling the site, counting the casualties that they''ve suffered. He was tall and huge. He was wearing black armor and a pair of heavy swords were hanging on his back. His skin was purple with black veins around his arms. He had a pair of black horns on the side of his head and his sclera was dark purple. "Ugh! Aah! Come on! Human!" Groans and moans sounded from one of the broken houses. Hmm? The demon turned his head and saw his fellow demon raping a human woman from the side. His expression turned cold and said, "The Demon General ordered to slaughter the humans and demis, so what do you think you are doing?" The demon that was assaulting a human woman turned his head and saw his face. His expression turned pale and he quickly stood up. "S-Sir Knight!! I''m going to kill her after this! I''m just venting out-" Before he could finish his words, the high-ranking demon waved his hand and decapitated the human woman. The woman died without any resistance and her suffering had ended in an instant. "Go away now! Before I get angry!" The high-ranking demon said in a cold tone. "Yes, sir..." The low-ranking demon quickly retreated. He was afraid that his superior would kill him too. Dying like this was humiliating and he didn''t want that to happen. Sigh! The high-ranking demon sighed while looking at his subordinate''s back. Some of the demons cared about their honors but they didn''t care about their enemies'' honor. He really thought that those demons were pathetic. Looking around he could see bloodstains everywhere and body parts scattered in every corner of the streets. The battle before was brutal and their enemies were desperate as they tried suicidal tactics. He could even see body parts of his fellow demons on the ground. This was a battlefield. Ordinary people would puke at a mere sight of this place. The stench of blood was too thick and the ground was dyed in blood. "Soon, this place will become one of our territories..." He muttered in a low voice. The demons will rebuild this city so that other demons could live in this land. The same thing happened to the country they first invaded. Right now, the humans and demis that they were encountering were getting stronger. He realized that sooner or later they will meet humans or demis that have the same power level as theirs. After all, this continent was in the Great World Imperium. "Just what is Majesty planning to do? Tens of thousands of demons had already perished in the war..." The demon before called him Sir Knight. That title was related to their power levels. In this place, a Demon Knight like him was equal to Solidifying Realm expert. In the other continent, it was called S-rank but in the Demon''s Land, the demon that solidified its mana was called Demon Knight. A Demon Knight like him could become the leader of a company. It means that he had more than a hundred demons under his command. Boom!! Suddenly, a powerful aura swept out in the whole area. The aura brought pressure to all the demons in the land. They couldn''t help but kneel down under. Slowly raising his head, the high-ranking demon saw a group of people flying in the sky. "What?!" He was shocked as he recognized that the people who flew above them weren''t demons. They were humans and demis but... the power that those people possessed was extremely terrifying. Even the pressure that brought him onto his knees was horrific. It was as if he was in the presence of a Demon Pillar, a demon that ascended. He stared at those people with his eyes. Those people were wearing black robes and their murderous aura was overflowing. Boom! A shockwave swept out several kilometers. The Demon Pillar had moved and it seems that he was going to confront these unknown people. Swoosh! A man wearing a black robe with fur on its collar slowly flew out of the group of people. He had messy chestnut color hair and eyes. The energy around his body was overwhelming that it brought countless demons to their knees. "Kneel down, I don''t like the way you demons look at me." He muttered and his energy exploded once again. Those demons that haven''t brought their shackles directly collapsed and lose their consciousness. Even the demons that broke one to four shackles could barely endure the enormous aura in the atmosphere. This man... if he wanted, he could directly kill all the five hundred shackled realm demons in this place without breaking a sweat. But this man didn''t want that... He came here to warn them. He glanced at the most important demon in this place. That demon was none other than the Leader of the 69th Army of the Great Demon Emperor Lucifer, Jaguan Derka, a Demon Pillar. The Demon Pillar, Jaguan, was sweating as he stared at the man before his eyes. Even though he already ascended and was on the same level, the man before him could still bring this much pressure on his body. It feels like he was in the presence of His Majesty, Lucifer. "Don''t worry, demon. I''m not here to kill you. I''m just here to leave a message to your leader. Tell your emperor that this continent will become my hunting ground. I don''t wish to add the Heavenly Demon Palace as my enemy as all the major factions of this continent will go against me soon." The man paused for a moment before he continued, "So tell Lucifer to slow down his army. I will eradicate all the demons if they block my path if I deem it." "How dare you utter the emperor''s name?" Jaguan said in a loud voice when he heard this man''s words. "It doesn''t matter how I address Lucifer. Tell him that I, Esquin Georagnisus, the Ruler of Gluttony, will make an appearance in the world. I don''t know what is he planning but don''t forget to remind him of my words." The man looked at the Demon Pillar coldly. His robe fluttered in the winds as he waved his right hand beside him. A pitch-black portal formed and he gave the demon one more glance before he entered the portal. "Don''t forget my words, demon. Oh, also let me warn you... The Ancient Underground King, Sky King, and Sea King have been unsealed. You should deal with them first before you head out to conquer other lands. Those three monster lords are going to take over your land before you know it. Their peak power is even stronger than most of the monster lords nowadays. Chaotic time is here, you don''t have an idea about it, but Lucifer understands the significance of the disappearance of the rules." His words lingered for a while before it disappeared. =Start of Act 2: Gluttony of the Gods= Chapter 558 - Meeting I Act 2: Athena''s Hero/Gluttony of the Gods "Is there something wrong, Souta?" Isabella asked with a confused expression. She saw his eyes were changing forms. It felt like there was a dark starry space hidden beneath those paid of eyes. "N-Nothing... Call me when everyone is ready?" Souta said and he shook his head. "I understand. Your condition is still not good so advise you to rest for a while. Your body is strong so you can probably recover some of your strength in an hour." Isabella said to him before she left the room. Souta tried to adjust his vision to normal. The things that he could see with these eyes were far from ordinary. Even the invisible shackles that were binding the mortal''s body were visible to him. He could accurately see the power level of his opponents and the mana that they had in their mana pool. These two pieces of information would be useful in battles. He could even see the flow of mana in a person''s body, so when a person was going to use a huge attack he will know it immediately. His energy sense was already high and now his eyes were transformed. "I should try it once again..." To use this pair of eyes, he doesn''t need any mana or best feram at all. That''s why it was useful. His eyes rotated and changed its forms once again. Right now, various constellations were forming in this pair of eyes. The things that he could perceive at this moment were different from before. He was looking at the space. Yes, the space where he was in. This whole space was perceived by his eyes. He moved his hand to touch it but he realized that it wasn''t enough. Even though he could perceive the space, he still didn''t have enough power level to touch it. Those gods were the only creatures that could do it. They could break the space with their strength and moved faster than anything. ''These are... the dimensional boundaries...'' After exploring the power of his eyes, he found that he could even see the boundaries. He was flabbergasted by how much he could see. This whole legacy was unbelievable. His eyes turned back to normal before he opened the system interface once again. It was time to see the benefits of integrating this pair of eyes called [Galaxy Eyes]. [You''ve successfully integrated the Galaxy Eyes!] [Your Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality had increased by 50!] [Your Health, Energy, and Stamina Recovery had increased by 20!] The increase in stats wasn''t as great as [Nebula Heart]. The true prowess of [Galaxy Eyes] wasn''t visible to a mere status. His eyes could see the truth and lies around him. It means that illusions wouldn''t work on him anymore. He could even see if someone was telling lies or not. He could even see the dreams of the creatures around him. He just wasn''t sure if this would work on gods. The gods were different from mortals and the power they held could probably bypass his vision. But then, he realized one thing... That all the body parts that he got from the legacy will resonate once he integrates all of them. It means that his ocular ability will grow and the best feram he could store in his heart will increase. A mere 1,000 points of best feram will be too low for him in the future. Sigh... He was looking forward to his strength in the future but not the events. He will make sure that he would survive no matter what happens. Soon, Alice had returned to his room. She looked at him with a strange expression. She felt that something had changed in the time she was gone. But she couldn''t describe it. She shook her head and said, "Souta, they are ready..." Souta glanced at him before he nodded. He slowly moved his arms, then his feet, before he stood up. He could barely walk in his current condition. Even the protective energy around his body was gone so B-rank would be able to damage him. Although he was weak people at C-rank couldn''t hope to damage his tough flesh. Only B-rank above had the ability to do that. "Do you want me to support you?" Alice asked as she tilted her head. "No, it''s fine. I can handle it." Souta shook her head. He smiled and left the room with Alice. ... In the main room, Franklin and the others immediately lowered their head when Souta came in. Unlike him, the others look like they were fine after experiencing such battle but he knows that everyone here had a hard time. Even the green dragon, Doranjan, look unscathed. In the battle against the Clan Leader, Rowan cleanly sliced Doranjan''s arm along with his wing. It''s just that his body parts already regenerated thanks to his parasite. Souta could see that they weren''t in a condition to have another big battle. With his eyes, he could perceive the amount of energy left in their body. Only the Red Dragon was covered in injuries among the people present in this room. Souta sat on the seat in the center before he said, "Good work everyone, you can lift your head." He leaned back and felt a slight pain assault his body. It''s worse. Every time he made contact with an object it felt like a thousand needles were poking him. If his pain tolerance was low then he would be writhing on the ground at this moment. Hu~ Taking a deep breath, he turned his eyes to Torkez and said, "Torkez, tell me the details..." Torkez already knew what he was going to say. A projection appeared before everyone''s eyes. It was the details of the battle. "Regarding this battle, we''ve lost a total of two hundred twenty one people, thirty nine of these are monsters that Yuko and Doranjan brought. We''ve left with five hundred eighteen humans and demi while the monster still had eighty one left. A total of five hundred ninety nine forces." Torkez paused for a moment as the projection changed into several numbers. "Among the five hundred ninety nine people left, four hundred thirty seven of them are heavily injured and the rest took slight injuries. It''s already great that they didn''t die on the battlefield considering that the opponents are stronger and faster. Also, unlike us, those humans, demis, and monsters didn''t have parasites in their bodies. They are prone to death." Eztein was new so he considered his position in this group. He just went on the corner and listened to Torkez''s explanation without voicing his opinion. He glanced at Yenxa, the only person he knew in this room aside from Souta and Amanda, but this little girl wouldn''t even talk to him. "The casualties this time are more on my side. I trained my subordinates as assassins they aren''t that good in close-quarter combat." Franklin said as he glanced at Torkez. "Yeah, you trained them as assassins but you aren''t fighting like them. You should''ve trained them a little so that they could defend themselves in a close-range battle. I saw that most of your assassins died after they failed to assassinate the witches." Torkez said to Franklin. "It''s not the time. They haven''t even mastered assassination so how are they going to learn other things. If they became master assassins then I will thoroughly train them to be able to keep up with me in a fight." Franklin said with a grin. He could imagine those subordinates of his getting stronger capable of removing his boredom. That''s what his goal is. If he couldn''t find an opponent then he will train someone that could fight him anytime. Oho! A really good plan. Souta raised his hand and everyone shut their mouth. They looked at him waiting for his words. "It''s fine. Torkez, just let Franklin do what he wants to his subordinates. Also, gather all the people that reach B-rank." He turned to Doranjan and Yuko before he continued, "Gather monsters that could rival B-rank. You know the requirements of the parasitic essence eater so I''ll leave it in to your hands. I guess that it''s time that we follow the Great Astley Empire''s footstep. I''m going to build an army using parasites and this army will dominate our opponents with their unrivaled regeneration ability." "We understand!!!" Everyone said at the same time. Their loud voice shook the whole room. "I have a suggestion, Lord Souta." Torkez stepped forward and kneeled down in front of him. "Speak." Souta raised his eyebrows wondering what Torkez wanted to say. "I wanted to create a research team. This time, the Mana Convergent Bomb helped us a lot in decreasing the opponent''s forces. The research team will focus on advancing our technological weapon like the Mana Convergent Bomb. I wanted to improve the Guardian Fortress firepower and the force field that it could deploy." Torkez explained. "Oh, that''s a good suggestion. I''m not against it so you can do what you want. Just don''t forget to report to me the details of the research. I wanted to help in this research too." Souta said with a wide smile.. "I have tons of ideas in my mind." Chapter 559 - Meeting II Souta didn''t reject Torkez''s idea of building a research team that focuses on improving their technology. He knew that technology had an advantage in numerous situations. He came from Earth and in the game, he joined the Mechanic Country. So he naturally knew the advantages of high technology. "I gave you my permission to form a research team. My only request is that you don''t forget my goal right now." He said to Torkez in a solemn tone. "I understand. I will try to find a way to cultivate the King Parasite." Torkez nodded. After talking to Torkez, Souta turned his head to Doranjan and Yuko. He glanced at the Red Dragon before he focused his attention on Doranjan. He had something to say regarding the monsters that he brought here. "Doranjan, I''ll leave the responsibility of the monsters that you and Yuko brought here to you. I''m quite dissatisfied with them at the moment. They didn''t join the battle quickly when I gave the signal and it caused some of our forces to die. I don''t want that to happen again." Souta said to Doranjan in a grave tone. This was the reason why he didn''t like those low intelligence monsters in a war. They couldn''t take complicated commands as it will take a lot of time before his command sink into their minds. It''s a hassle. Furthermore, the monsters that Yuko and Doranjan brought were non-humanoid. And the non-humanoid monsters had the lowest intelligence among the type of monsters in the first and second evolution stage. Goblins, trolls, orcs, and ogres were some of the humanoid monsters that had high intelligence in the lower evolution stage. The difference was huge. The former could only understand simple order while the latter could easily adapt in various situations. "I''ll give one of the Guardian Fortress to you. That fortress will become the headquarters of the monsters in our group for now." Souta tapped his finger in his armrest before he continued, "Also... Yenxa." Yenxa quickly stepped forward and kneeled in front of him. "I''m here, My Lord. Just give me your orders and I will accomplish it to the best of my ability." "It''s good that you are attentive." Souta smiled as he turned to Doranjan, "Go with Doranjan. Return to your home planet and take all survivors from your tribe. My memory from that battle is still fresh and some of your tribesmen survive so bring them here." "I understand, My Lord." Yenxa nodded her head. "I will turn one of the Guardian Fortress into a den of monsters. Your tribesmen, convince them so that our forces can grow stronger. Creatures with toxin ability are good as they could easily eliminate the weaker opponents." Souta said as he rubbed his chin with a wide grin. The Guardian Fortress was huge. Although, it couldn''t rival Motherships it still could accommodate thousands of people at the same time. It has a force field that could block an attack from B-rank and a heavy cannon that could pierce the defensive ability of any B-rank expert. Its most powerful weapon was the Mana Convergent Bomb that could even damage S-rank. In the low world, it has a power that could turn a huge city into dust in an instant. Some upgrades would be enough for it to go against a large army of experts. It was a perfect headquarters for a moving army like them. "Souta, it would take a lot of time for them to go back. We can''t go to Imperium without them." Alice suddenly said. "Don''t worry, I have some plans. We''ll meet before we enter Imperium." Souta glanced at her. "I still have one more place to visit before the two of us return to our home planet." "I understand. I will take back Yenxa''s tribesmen with us. I will also try to return as soon as possible." Doranjan said to Souta. "Good. You can ask Torkez for people that could operate the fortress. As for protection, you don''t need that. You''re strong enough plus Yuko and that Red Dragon are with you." Souta said. He then looked at the rest. "As for us, we will depart immediately. We can''t stay here anymore. The enemy will come here sooner or later that''s why he needed to leave this place. We don''t have enough strength to fight a giant organization." Naturally, he can''t stay here anymore as he knew that the Council of High-World will forcibly take this world. The person that was controlling the Witch Clan''s Clan Leader was familiar to him. That man was one of the five Council Directors. A man at the peak of the shackled realm also called Hero-rank. From now on, his group will be chased by that man until they''ve returned to Imperium. The Council Director will stop playing and he will clean up all the big forces on this planet. No one had the power to stop the Council Director on this land and the war between the Monster Dungeon and the top organizations will get interrupted. ''Those organizations will fall. It''s inevitable. The only one that will be left standing is the Union Peace which is a subsidiary group of the Council.'' Souta said inwardly as he leaned his back on his seat. So he needed to buy time until Doranjan and rest had returned. Luckily, he had something to do that will distract the Council. It''s the inevitable clash between him and the Council. He will just fight against them earlier and the reason was still the same. To take the [Solid Hunter State Boots] and [Yin Yang Bracelet]. Before he returned to Imperium, he had to take these two pieces of equipment which he used in the game. "Good. I hope you can return immediately." Souta finished his conversation with Doranjan as he turned to Amanda and said, "Amanda, what about you? What''s the status of the current Witch Clan? The territory had sunk and they couldn''t live here anymore. They had to relocate and I don''t think that you would be able to help them. Remember that you''ve sworn yourself to me so that I could help you find your clan..." "Yes..." Amanda nodded her head. "Now that I''ve completed your wish, it''s time for you to fulfill yours. You will follow me until you die even if you like it or not... Just bid your farewell to them, we''ll leave tomorrow after the cooldown of Transportational Gate." Souta said in a cold tone. "Do you understand my words, Amanda?" "Yes, I understand everything." Amanda nodded solemnly. "Good, then dismiss... You can go and rest for now." Souta said as he clapped his hand. He still had something to do and that''s to talk to Eilish and Gragas. Also, he needed to plant Parasitic Essence Eater to the monsters that reached B-rank and above. One by one they left the spacious meeting room. A few minutes later, only Souta, Alice, Torkez, and Eztein were left. He called Eztein as he needed him as a guide to find Eilish and Gragas. As for Alice, she stayed here for some unknown reasons. Maybe it was about her identity. Well, Souta really didn''t care about her identity as a demon. In fact, he was glad that she was a demon so her strength was stronger than her human form. He wouldn''t be able to win against Rowan if she didn''t release her demon power. As for Torkez, he was here to talk about their next destination... "How is it? Have you found the planet that I''m talking about?" Souta asked while glancing at Torkez. "Hmm... I don''t know but I''ve found a similar planet twenty galaxies away from us. That planet had high-density mana in the atmosphere and the environment of this planet is extreme." Torkez explained as a planet appeared on the projection. The planet that Souta was talking about was the planet where he could find the [Solid Hunter State Boots] and [Yin Yang Bracelet]. From his memories, the environment was extremely harsh. It had a surface temperature of 300 degrees celsius and it can reach 900 degrees celsius. It has over 1,900 active volcanoes. There''s no day and night on this planet as thick chemicals from the atmosphere block all the sunlight. The air pressure was so high that a normal human wouldn''t last a single minute in that place. The wind swiped too fast that it instantly killed him in the game when he was still a level 25 player. Most of all, the mana in the atmosphere wasn''t calm at all. It was wild and fluctuating every second. On that planet, it feels like someone was casting millions of tier 1 and tier 2 spells nonstop around the world. That planet was called Orina. It wasn''t completely under the Council as the residents of Orina were powerful considering their planet. They could somehow repel the forces of the Council and hide in the underground places that they''ve built. "We''ll visit that planet...." Souta narrowed his eyes. Chapter 560 - Meeting III "We''ll see if that planet is really the one..." Souta said while rubbing his chin. The Council was really hard to deal with. Back in the game, he came to Orina when he was a low-level player but instantly died due to its harsh environment. Later, he came back when he became one of the Commanders in the Mechanic Country. He entered the planet dominantly fighting both the Council and the people of this planet. The [Solid State Hunter Boots] and [Yin Yang Bracelet] were important to his strength. He couldn''t let these two pieces of equipment rot on that planet. "What''s with that planet, Souta?" Alice asked from the side. "It''s just a sub-world but I needed to acquire something in it. If that planet is really the one then we will fight against the Council of High-World." Souta explained to her. There was a reason why the Council of High-World wanted that planet for themselves. It was because of the mana stones on the planet. The mana stones that can be found on the surface of Orina were enormous. There was even a mana essence, a highly concentrated mana. The energy inside a mana essence was fifty times higher than the high-grade mana stones. Also, according to the folks there their god was the God of Storm. And people from the Council thought that the Legacy of the God of Storm was somewhere around the planet. Later on in the game, no one found the legacy even after thousands of players explore the planet. "Just reminder that I''m still not sure if this planet is the one you''re talking about. We need to approach it first before I confirmed anything. It''s too far and our technology isn''t that advanced to pry that planet." Torkez explained. "Oh..." Eztein was on the sideline and he couldn''t even join the conversation. He didn''t have an idea what they were talking about. He just knew that these guys wanted to find a certain planet. "Alright. But if we found one of the planets under the Council that I know then I would be able to ascertain their territory." Souta turned his eyes away from the projection. Although they were inside the territory of the Council of High-World, Souta didn''t have an idea where they were or what''s their position in outer space. After all, there were tens of thousands of galaxies under its rule, and among all the galaxies they could only find hundreds of planets with mana density. It was too huge and they didn''t know where to find that one planet among these galaxies. If he found one planet that he knew in the game, then he will know the structure and his position at the moment. Unfortunately, the planet that they were on was unknown to him in the past so he couldn''t do anything about it. "Hmm... We really need to build a research team to improve our technological advantage. Most of the people didn''t even care about technology, they only care about spells or their own individual strength." Souta said with a sigh. He shook his head and said, "Torkez, just focus on cultivating Parasite King." "I understand." Torkez nodded. "Okay." Souta looked at Eztein and said, "Eztein bring me to Eilish and Gragas'' room. I need to thank them for helping me, especially Eilish. Without her, I wouldn''t be able to hold back Rowan alone." "O-Okay..." Eztein was a little bit surprised but it was within his expectations. He was called here so he realized that Souta needed him for something. "Torkez, Alice. Help the preparing the others. I''ll be out for a minute." Souta said before he followed Eztein out of the room. After Souta was gone, Alice breath a sigh while looking at the door. "Sigh..." She was glad that Souta didn''t care about her identity as a demon but she wasn''t an ordinary demon. She was the third princess of the Heavenly Demon Palace, one of Great Demon Emperor Lucifer''s daughters. She wondered what would be his reaction if she told him the truth. Nevertheless, she could hardly believe that Souta was a monster all along. All the hints were there, it''s just that she didn''t bother thinking about it in the past. Torkez glanced at her and said, "I''ll go now. I''ll help Isabella deliver potions to our wounded men." "Okay, I''ll stay here for a while," Alice replied to him. In this group, she was second to the strongest if she released her limiter. Her demon form wasn''t her strongest form, it was still limited due to her nature as her father would sense her location if the limiter was broken. Souta was worried about the Council but Alice didn''t care about it. What concerned her was her father''s army. She was sure that her father already sensed her location and sooner demons would arrive in this place. They would literally flip this planet upside down just to find her whereabouts. She needed to tell him about this. Alice raised her hand and looked at the bracelet on her wrist. "My strength is still far from enough." Her current power level without being limited was already at S-rank. The energy from the demon sacrificial ceremony before let her reach the level of S-rank. She solidified some of her mana but she was still far from peak S-rank. Nevertheless, her strength was enough to contend against ordinary peak S-rank due to the advantage of her race. She also had a lot of powerful skills thanks to her origin. "I''ll just wait for him to finish all the things he needed to do here." ... Souta and Eztein arrived in Gragas'' room. Gragas was awake and he could barely move his body due to the heavy injuries that he took in the battle. "Damn! I''m all beat up now. How do you plan to reward me for helping you in battle?!" Gragas said in annoyance when he saw Souta enter the room. "Tsk! Tsk! You would be dead right now if not for me..." Eztein opened his arms and shook his head helplessly. "You''re the same. If not for that strange regenerative ability you would be in the same condition as me." Gragas raised his voice. "Now, now, let''s stop the joke." Souta smiled thinking that Gragas was fine if he could talk like that. "I''m not joking!" Gragas sighed thinking that this monster was annoying to deal with. "Well, don''t worry about it. I''ll compensate you for helping me this time. It''s better than you can imagine." Souta said as he recalled that he had a bunch of precious materials in his room along with those mana fruits that he got from the legacy. "Oh, what if I don''t like it?" "Haha, you will like it. I''m confident with that." Souta laughed. Then, someone opened the door and enter the room. "Really? Then, what about me? I think my contribution in battle is higher than that dwarf." Eilish said with a faint smile on her face. "You old hag!! Don''t underestimate me!! I did a lot of things today that I never imagine that I would do in my life!" Gragas pointed his finger at the newly arrived woman. "You''re here. If the two are here then let''s finish it. Just say what you want, I will give anything to you if it''s within my capabilities." Souta said as he glanced at Eilish and Gragas. Eilish ignore his words and said, "You know... I didn''t expect to hear that you''re from the Great World. It''s outside of my expectations and when I thought about it it made sense that you''re from that world." Souta looked around the room. He sat on the empty chair before he said, "Yeah, people wouldn''t go around declaring that they are from Imperium. Only ignorant people do that." "So, what are you going to do now? Are you going to stay on this planet or not? The person controlling the Clan Leader will hunt you sooner or later." Eilish asked as she glanced at his face from the corner of her eyes. "What I''m going to do? Of course, I''m going to leave this planet. I''ve confirmed that the enemy is from the Council of High-World. Based on what happened here, they are going to forcibly control this planet so I advise you to be careful." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "Hmm...? Where do you plan to go?" Eilish asked. "Why do you want to know? Do you want to come with me to Imperium? Is that what you want?" Souta turned to her. "It''s true that I want to go to Imperium. Even though I''m at Extinction Realm, it would still take thousands of years if I travel to space alone. And you, you have the technology to jump through space." Eilish said to him. "I doubt that you would let me borrow one of your ships if I ask for it." "Yeah, I wouldn''t give any of my ships to you. And letting someone stronger than me in my ships wouldn''t let me relax even if I know that it''s you." Souta paused as he stared into her eyes. "Unless...." Chapter 561 - Meeting IV In the Heavenly Demon Palace... A handsome man with long silver hair and a pair of black horns on the side of his head was sitting comfortably on the throne. There was a blue ember burning on the center of his forehead and his purple eyes were gleaming in the dark. His skin was pale and he was wearing an exquisite robe. This man was the Great Demon Emperor Lucifer, one of the Three Great Demon Emperor of Demon''s Land. He was the ruler of the Heavenly Demon Palace, a force that occupied a quarter of the continent. "Really? The Ruler of Gluttony said that. Hmm... That''s a bit troublesome. That man is one of the few gods that could rival me. I don''t even know if I could win if he uses his Aspect of the Sin." Lucifer muttered as he rested his chin on his palm. "Well, don''t worry about it. Just continue what you are doing in God''s Continent but take it slowly this time. You guys are no match for him and I don''t have a time to handle a guy like him so wait for the major factions to move." "I understand Your Majesty." A voice sounded. "I just sensed my daughter''s location and she''s not in Imperium. Gather some troops and bring back my daughter to me." Lucifer waved his hand and a faint smile formed on his face. "Really, what a man, Esquin. He even had a time to warn me about some monster lords. Is he saying that one of those monster lords is stronger than me? I don''t think so. Did he know how many monster lords that I''ve killed so far? But since he warned me about those monster lords it seems that those three are exceptional." The Demon''s Land had no monster lord anymore. It''s been thousand years since one was born. All the monster lords had been killed by the Great Demon Emperors and Demon Kings. It''s been a while since monsters dare to fight back against demons in this land. "Your Majesty, about the Land of Giza... Should we continue our conquest?" The voice asked Lucifer in a polite tone. "Yes, you should continue conquering the land but since my daughter isn''t in Imperium, try to focus army now. Don''t scatter them like before. The Great Barrier around the other four continents is opening soon so we need to have a foothold in every land. I wanted to fight for the throne and took the title Satan for myself." Lucifer slowly closed his eyes. "Yes, Your Majesty. We will fulfill your command." The world was changing too fast and mortals and immortals needed to keep up with it or else they would perish. The Imperium was getting stronger every second. The mana density in the atmosphere was getting thick and some part of the land had already birthed to ancient mana fruits that could even give gods a boost in their prowess. Some of the hidden gods and monster lords across the world were planning to appear soon. They could feel it. Their senses were telling them that this was a sign of omen. A world without the balance of administrators will experience chaos from countless beings that wanted to rule over it. Yet, some of the people that knew the truth were preparing for the worse. The worse scenario that occurred twenty thousand years ago. The Great War which countless powerful beings had perished. The Dimensional Creature, Primordials, Elemental Beings, and Progenitors were gone. The only creatures left were humans, demis, and regular monsters. How could these mere creatures handle the harsh calamity that was about to occur? It was about to open and no one was prepared for what was about to come. ... "So you want to control me?" Eilish asked Souta. "No..." Souta pinched the bridge of his nose before he sigh. "I''m grateful for your help. Without you, I wouldn''t be able to win against Rowan but to bring you with me..." "I''m like a bomb that could go against you anytime. If an Extinction Realm master suddenly goes against you then your forces would suffer severe casualties." Eilish said to him. "Yeah... I don''t understand why you wanted to go to Imperium. This place is much safer." "It seems that you still don''t have a little bit of trust in me. Also, this place is much safer? I don''t think that this place is safe for me nor for that dwarf. The enemy recognized our face and I think that they will come to us sooner or later." Eilish explained as she glanced at Gragas. Surely, this dwarf already guessed what will happen soon. She continued, "The two of us help you in solving your problem. So I think it would be best to help us move out of this planet as consideration for helping you. You already said this before that without us you wouldn''t be able to solve this. I''m not asking for anything like wealth or something like that what I want is to move out of this place first. And it''s within your capabilities." "Sigh... Really, I don''t think I could say anything." Souta pressed his temples and he glanced at Gragas and Eilish. "Fine, but you have to follow my words in my ships. Before that, I have a proposal for you." "What is it?" Gragas asked. "Hmm..." Eilish looked interested. "I wanted to invite you, Gragas, to join my organization. I will provide you with everything that you need in forging weapons and armor. I will also form a team of blacksmiths with you at the center." Souta explained to Gragas. "Also, your dream is to create a soul weapon, right? I have a witch in my team so you can study here." Gragas stared at him for a moment before he said, "Give me some time. I''m not sure how to react if you suddenly invite me to join your organization." "Fine..." Souta nodded. At the very least, Gragas didn''t reject his proposal immediately. Also, blacksmith was what he needed the most in his organization. He already has a potioneer so he didn''t have a problem regarding potions. Souta turned to Eilish. "As for you, I will bring you to another planet so call your people here. That''s the limit of what I can do." "Aren''t you going to invite me to your organization just like that dwarf?" Eilish was a faint smile. "Then, how about you join my group? Considering your strength, I''ll give you a high position." "No, I refuse," Eilish said immediately. "See..." Souta opened his arms. "A person like you wouldn''t want to become a subordinate of a weaker person. I know it so I didn''t bother asking about it. That''s the same for me, I don''t want to become a subordinate of someone weaker than me." "Aren''t you too cruel to leave me on an unknown planet after you used my body?" Eilish made an expression like she was about to cry. "That will not work on me." Souta shook his head. "Oh, I almost forgot that you''re a monster. Talking to you feels like I''m talking to an actual human or demi. You''re completely different from those muscle-headed monsters." Eilish placed her index finger on her lips. "Anyway, I''m gonna drop you to any habitable planet that we''ve found on our way so prepare your baggage." Souta sigh and he wondered since when did this woman become talkative. Eztein looked at these two with a blank expression. ''What should I do? Should I leave this room or not?'' He said inwardly. He had nothing to do so he could only watch from the sideline. Also, he hope that Gragas could join the organization. He was unfamiliar with all the members of Souta''s organization except for Yenxa and Amanda. But those two wouldn''t even talk to her so he could only place his hope on Gragas. ''You can do it, Gragas. I''ll place all my hope for you. Don''t forget about me saving your life.'' "I really wanted to go to Imperium. I will still try to go there even if you leave me on another planet," Eilish said. "Why do you even want to go?" Souta asked. "It''s because of a promise..." Eilish said faintly. Souta stared at her and from what he could see with his [Galaxy Eyes] she wasn''t lying. This pair of eyes could see if someone was lying or not and Eilish was saying the truth. She wanted to go to Imperium because of a promise and she didn''t have a plan to go against him. "Let''s talk about it later... We still have a lot of time and there are things I needed to do now." Souta said to her as he waved his hand. He turned around and left the room saying, "Don''t worry, I''ll thoroughly think about it." Eilish stared at Souta''s back. She clenched her fists tightly. No matter what, she had to go to Imperium. "Hey, why do you even want to go to the Great World? The books describe Great World as an amazing place but judging from Souta''s place, the Great World isn''t different from other worlds out there. It''s just that the beings there are several times stronger.." Gragas asked Eilish. Chapter 562 - Shocked! Souta was called by Amanda after he finished talking to Gragas and Eilish. She said that she had something to discuss with him and Souta already guess that it was about the current situation of the Witch Clan. He knew that it would sprout some problem if he took Amanda with him considering Rowan passed his Clan Leader''s position to her before his death. "What is it, Amanda?" Souta asked. "I-I''m the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan so..." Souta stopped her before she could even finish her words. "I''m not going to change my decision. I helped you find your clan and even solve some of the problems here. So you can''t stay here as you''re going to come with me." Souta said to her. "No, no, no, it''s not about that." Amanda shook her head. "Then, what is it?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "No, I''m just thinking if I can convince my clan to travel with me," Amanda said. "Wait, what? You want the entire Witch Clan to come with you?" Souta opened his eyes widely. "Yes, I just want to ask for your consent if they could ride this ship with me." Amanda nodded. "Hmm... That''s pretty troublesome. I don''t know if I could let your tribesmen ride my fortress. I know it''s rude but I don''t trust any of your tribesmen." Souta slowly explained to her. "Have you told them that you''re my subordinates? The witches wouldn''t let their Clan Leader become a subordinate of a person weaker than them? And I''m currently weaker than the two elders... They are like a ticking bomb if I let them in on my fortress." "No, I haven''t told anyone about it yet." "Then, it''s really a problem. We are going to leave this place tomorrow so be sure to tell them about it. I already gave my permission to Eilish and adding another person at shackled realm would be too much. It''s fine if you could convince them to become my subordinates but I doubt that will happen. Their pride is huge and it would be humiliating for them to become a subordinate of a monster." "That..." "See... We''ve been together for more than a month now so you must guess some of the things that I like and not. If they became my subordinates then it''s basically the same as my slaves. With parasites in my people''s bodies, I can control their life and death with a flick of my finger. Have you forgotten our deal when you decided to join my group?" "Ah," Amanda looked down. She had forgotten about it. She''s basically Souta''s slave and she ignored it because of how serious he is in helping her find the Witch Clan. How could she forget it? She became too occupied with the matters of her clan. She even forgot the horrible things that she did in the past just to find some clues about her clan. She''s no different from the person that controlled the Witch Clan. "Huff..." She took a deep breath and close her eyes only to open them after a few seconds. She regained her posture and natural demeanor before. Remembering her past made her feel different but that doesn''t matter now. "I''m sorry about it. I forgot my position. I shouldn''t have focused on my clan. Please forgive my insolence, I will find a way to strengthen our organization. I will convince the Witch Clan to join us." Amanda''s tone had changed. She''s back to being the cruel leader of the organization that she formed before, the Red Witch. "Even with parasites..." "Yes, I will persuade them to agree to plant the parasite in their bodies. The Witch Clan will be useful to you." Amanda said in a serious tone. "Oh, good. Then, I''m looking forward to it." Souta saw that she wasn''t lying at all. His [Galaxy Eyes] was telling him that there''s no lie in her words. "Thank you for your time. I''ll go now." Amanda said as she slightly bowed before she turned around and left. Souta looked at her back before he shook his head. Even though Amanda was the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan, the possibility of her convincing the other witches was less than fifty percent. Especially, since her power level was too low. Just like Eilish who didn''t want to submit to him, the two elders were the same. If he was stronger than them the chance would increase. That doesn''t matter to him, he still has Isabella with him. Although her current power level was low, she was guaranteed to reach godhood in the future. He just needed to protect and cultivate her well. Speaking of Isabella, she was a freak. She already became A-rank while he was away for a short amount of time. From a mere ordinary person to A-rank was just simply too fast. "That''s my Isabella for you..." Souta smiled as he entered the control room. He sat down on the vacant seat and glanced at the projection on the screen. "Alice, come with me." He called Alice and the two of them went to another fortress. He didn''t have energy in his body so he couldn''t fly. Alice carried him to the other fortresses where monsters were situated. The two landed on the deck and they were greeted by Doranjan and Yuko. The injured Red Dragon was also here. Doranjan and the Red Dragon fought before in the southern continent. Of course, the one who won the battle was Doranjan. In terms of battle strength, he was already at the top tier of the third evolution stage, just below Souta and slightly stronger than Yuko. He didn''t kill the red dragon. Instead, he recommended the red dragon to join the group if he wanted to gain strength. That''s why the red dragon was submissive towards Souta. Souta and Alice didn''t last long in the fortress. The only thing that he did was plant parasitic essence eater towards the monsters that reach B-rank in terms of strength. Even if their energy level was low as long as their body was strong then it would be enough to handle the parasite. That''s the same for Yenxa, her energy level was low and even her speed only rivaled C-rank yet he planted the parasite in her body. There were eighty-one monsters here not including Souta, Yuko, Doranjan, and the red dragon. And Souta used thirty-three parasitic essence eaters to them. He was quite disappointed that not even half of them reach the power of B-rank but it was currently enough for him as the parasites in his body were limited. He went out of the fortress with Alice as Doranjan and the rest were going to depart soon. They were going to fetch Yenxa''s tribesmen. "Hu~" Souta breath a sigh of relief. He was in the control room with Alice. He was glad that he didn''t need to move anymore. Since the battle, he hasn''t had enough time to relax his body. Now that he finished his duty as the leader, he could probably relax unless an accident occur. "I''ll just plant parasites on humans and demis on our way. Becoming a leader is really a tiring thing..." Souta turned to Alice and said, "How about you take it over for me?" Alice simply smiled and shook her head before she opened her mouth, "I have some knowledge but I don''t have experience like you nor I could do it like Mila." "Ugh, that''s unfortunate... In times like this, I really hope that Lumilia is with me. Every time we had finished our expeditions or battles I don''t have to do anything. She will simply provide all sorts of report files that I needed to look at." Souta leaned back as he looked at the ceiling. Alice fiddled with her fingers and slowly asked, "So aren''t you going to ask me about my identity?" "Oh, nervous are you?" Souta raised his eyebrows with interest. "Well, yeah. I don''t personally like talking about my background." Alice slowly nodded. "Then, I will not ask about it. If you want to say something then my ears are here. I will listen to you." Souta looked away from her as raised his hands and placed them on the back of his head. Alice stared at him for a while before she turned her eyes away. She flicked her fingers and a barrier that could isolate sounds. "My true name is Alicia Remeri Lucifer." Souta was shaken as he turned his head towards Alice with wide eyes. Alice continued, "You may not know it but I''m the third princess of one of the three Great Demon Emperors, Lucifer. I''m a noble demon from Demon''s Land." Of course, Souta knew Lucifer. Lucifer was one of the top god-level powerhouses in the entire Imperium. The only gods that could rival him were the Crimson Emperor, Pope of the True God, Zeus of Olympus, etc... Ordinary gods were no match for him. But what surprised him the most was that he couldn''t remember the third princess named Alicia in his memories. He could recall the first and second princess but not the third princess. *Ding!* [Great Quest had been triggered!] [Great Demon Emperor]: Lucifer is one of the Three Great Demon Emperor of the Demon''s Land. His prowess is boundless that it brought fear to the monster lords living in the Demon''s Land. His goal is still a mystery to his fellow demons. Find out the truth behind Lucifer''s action. Rewards: 200 skill points, 700 free attribute points, 500 billion exp, and 20 random cards [Warning]: Please proceed with extreme caution! A Great Demon Emperor will detect you once you harbor ill intent towards him! [Warning]: Please proceed with extreme caution! You don''t need to fight the Great Demon Emperor! Finding his objectives is enough! [Warning]: Please proceed with extreme caution! The system advises you to handle it carefully! The system suggested that you should have at least a minimum strength of Monster Lord before thinking about completing it! [Warning]: The Great Demon Emperor somehow senses abnormalities! The system advises you that you shouldn''t sleep from now on! The Great Demon Emperor had power over dreams! ''Shit! Things got out of hand!!!!'' Souta''s vision was suddenly filled with system warnings.. The warnings from the system were nonstop. Chapter 563 - Who Knows A Great Quest. It was a type of quest that concerned the gods, monster lords, spirit gods, or demon gods. It was one of the most difficult quests as a god-level powerhouse could directly attack. Some of his quests before also involved gods but those gods weren''t the main focus of the quest. The instruction wasn''t against the gods but here... The Great Quest was primarily focused on god-level beings. Souta would undoubtedly fight some god-level beings in this quest. Even if he didn''t meet Lucifer, those Demon Pillars will chase after him if he goes against Lucifer. Demon Pillars were the army commander of the seventy armies of Heavenly Demon Palace and each one of them attained god realm. But he didn''t need to worry about this Great Quest now. He was weak and he just need to follow the system''s instructions to avoid Lucifer''s detection. Plus, he didn''t harbor any ill intent towards Lucifer at this moment. As for sleeping, it''s such a waste as his recovery abilities would increase by five times while he was sleeping. Just a few hours of sleep and he guessed that he would recover his normal condition but not anymore. Damn! The power of dreams was such a powerful ability. Most of the people didn''t know Lucifer so even if they harbor ill intent towards the leader of the demon army, Lucifer wouldn''t be able to detect it. It would be a different matter if it was him. Souta knew Lucifer''s name and his appearance so a little bit of ill intention would fly towards Lucifer''s consciousness. In return, he would be able to know Souta''s appearance and name. He could use Souta''s appearance and name to enter the dream realm. With his power, he could easily kill Souta in his dream. It was a great combo for killing people in a long distance. Dream Realm. It was a mysterious realm along with a soul realm that even gods couldn''t easily interfere. It was just below soul realm in terms of strangeness as gods could somehow manipulate it like Lucifer. According to the gods that studied dreams, as long as they integrated the essence of their dreams into their consciousness then they would be able to gain a territory in the dream realm. The chance of integrating the essence of dreams was only five percent but now that the rules were fragile the chances had risen. It became twenty percent so some of the gods that were interested in the dream realm were vying for the essence of dreams. It will be a long chaotic fight in the future until a monster lord won the battle of dreams. It was one of the three ancient monster kings, the Sea King, also known as Cthulhu. Cthulhu will be called Lord of Dreams in the next few years. Souta along with the few commanders of the Mechanic Country participated in that battle. Even with his full universal artifact set, Cthulhu killed him dozens of times and he even killed two of the ten commanders that participated. There were many battles that will occur in the Imperium once the Great Barrier have fully opened. The battles of dreams were just one of the conflicts that gods participated in. Souta was in his deep thoughts when he heard Alice''s voice beside him. "Souta, is there something wrong? You looked pale." Alice asked. "Ah, n-nothing... I''m just shocked by your revelation. I thought that you''re just an ordinary demon but didn''t expect you a noble demon at all." Souta smiled wryly as he scratched the back of his head. The Great Quest made him remember some of the events that happened in the game. "Anyway, you can continue if you want. I''m here to listen to your story." "Alright." Alice looked at him for a while before she sighed. "I escaped from my father''s hand without any clue as I was still a fourteen-year-old child at that time. I know a lot of things about the Demon''s Land yet I know little things about my father. Even though he''s my father, I rarely saw him. The one that takes care of me is my mother." She slowly recounted the things that she experienced in the past. As the daughter of Lucifer, she received formal training from other Demon Pillars. She learned the demon''s technique and proceeded to train her combat skills without raising her power level. That''s why for a long time, she stayed at D-rank level. According to her instructor, before she could increase her power level she needed to hone her combat skills to the limit. But then, an unknown incident occurred. Her mother appeared in front of her with blood all over her body. Alice didn''t know the details but her mother took her out of the Demon''s Land. In the process, her instructor, the 61st Demon Pillar, had died along with her mother and her butler, Sebas. She could only remember her mother''s words at that time. Her mother said that she needed to get out of the Demon''s Land as far as possible. She should hide her identity as a demon and don''t tell anyone about it. No matter what, she shouldn''t release the limit placed on her body as her father would be able to sense it. She tried to ask the truth but her mother replied that it was not the right time. If Alice learned the truth, Lucifer would be able to sense her location. So if she wanted to learn the truth of the incident, she needed to reach god level. Ordinary god would be insufficient as her father was one of the strongest demon gods out there. There were only ten demons that could fight him in the entire Demon''s Land. "Hmm... Then, do you hate your father?" Souta glanced at her. "No, I don''t know the truth so how could I hate my father. In fact, I admire my almighty father and I want to be like him. So unless I know the truth, my feelings wouldn''t change." Alice said as she lowered my head. "I see..." Souta turned silent as he finally understood why Lucifer couldn''t detect Alice. Her mother probably didn''t tell the truth so that Alice couldn''t hate her father. Lucifer had the power to know the location of the people that hate him. Without knowing the truth, Alice could only doubt her father but not to the point of hating him. It was good and it saved her life. Suddenly, he recalled her words. "Wait! Wait!" Souta turned to her with wide eyes and asked, "You said that your mother told you that you shouldn''t remove your limiters because your father would be able to detect your location, right?" "Yeah..." Alice looked up at his face. "T-Then... Have you removed your limiters in the battle against the Clan Leader?" Souta cautiously asked. He was nervous to know the truth. "Yeah, I don''t have a choice. My normal demon power is only at intermediate stage of S-rank. If I remove my limiter then I''m basically a peak S-rank and that isn''t even enough to fight against an early stage SS-rank." Alice paused and said, "Oh, we should need to get out of this planet as soon as possible. My father will send some of his forces here to clean this place." ''Shit!!! My guess is right!! She really removed her limiter! Lucifer''s army will now be going to chase after me! I already had trouble with Council of High-World and now, a bigger hunter had joined the party!!'' Souta pinched the bridge of his nose. Too much trouble for a mere third evolution stage monster. He really needed to join Athena''s hero and take those quests that she provided to her heroes. Most of his equipment was hidden in the sub-world that she owned. To complete his set, it was one of the steps that he needed to do. After this, he will go to Mars Archipelago and fight for his island there. "Sorry, I-" Alice couldn''t finish her words as Souta raised his hand to stop her. "No, no, no, don''t worry about it. I should ask you a question instead." Souta looked at her as his expression turned serious. "Do you still want to return to Imperium where the chances of your father finding you are quite high? Of course, you already heard from Lumilia''s report that the demons are currently attacking the Giza Continent. Even so, are you still sure that you wanted to follow me?" "Yes, I do trust you." Alice nodded her head. "Then, don''t worry about it. If it comes down to it, I''ll do everything in my power to help you. Well, I don''t think I could help with my current power level but in the future... Who knows..." Souta grinned widely. He was sure that in the future he would become a powerful monster lord. He already had a clear path to god realm. Even without the system, as long as he reached the limit of fifth evolution he could use his Archetype Skill for ascension. "Sure, it''s not that bad to bet on my friend." Alice smiled as she raised her hand. Souta shook her hand and said, "Well, after finishing my concerns we''ll go back to Giza and tell the others about our identity." Chapter 564 - Orina I "You see... My mother said that my father could sense my location if I release my limiter. I thought that releasing my limiter is one of the best choices there to fight the Clan Leader. I don''t think I could help you with my normal demon powers." Alice explained to him. "Don''t worry about it. We''ll leave this place soon. We just needed to make sure to clean our traces on this planet." Souta said. "Speaking of traces... Back in the southern continent, the people there attempted to start the Demon Summoning Ritual. I don''t want another demon to appear in this place as there is a chance that they will discover me. So I used my knowledge and decided to interfere with it. I forcefully let them summon me and complete the contract. Luckily, they are ignorant and know little of the contract. It''s easy to trick them." Alice slowly recounted to him the things that occurred in the southern continent while he was busy running his coffee shop. "Oh," Souta raised his eyebrows as he realized something. "So that''s how you met Amanda. And also, you''re saying that the traces of the Demon Summoning Ritual will confuse the demons that will arrive here." "Yeah, they will think I got summoned here and after I completed the contract, I returned to where I''ve been before." Alice paused for a moment before she continued, "They will still find the truth if they''ve investigated well but it''s enough to buy us some time." "Yeah, it''s enough." Souta nodded. He felt tired and wanted to rest but since the system warned him, he should follow it. He couldn''t underestimate the top gods of Imperium. ... "What about you, Souta? How did you come to live with humans and demis?" Alice asked as she glanced at him. She finished her story so she was a little bit curious about his story. How come a monster like him lives along with humans and demis? Does he not afraid of the danger that other people will subjugate him? Souta didn''t know how to say it. His physical body was monster but his mind and soul were still that of the Souta Ieshi of earth. He didn''t enjoy what other monsters enjoyed so he was a bit different from them. His preference and taste were still the same when he was on earth. The only difference was that his physical body had changed. "Well, um... It''s hard to explain but I just found myself going towards the human kingdom. I decided to live in the kingdom and learned various things. I don''t have a complicated background." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "Hmm... Then, what kind of monster are you?" Alice asked with a curious expression. No matter how much she looked at him, he looked like a demi. One wouldn''t doubt him until they saw his monster orb release form. "A goblin," Souta replied to her. "A goblin?!" Alice opened her eyes widely as she looked at him from head to toe. "Well, yeah... There''s no doubt that I''m a goblin." Souta nodded with a helpless expression. Even he found his appearance more on the demi side. He looked like his past self except for his skin tone and slightly pointed ears. It must be because he still had feelings about his past. That''s why every time he undergoes evolution, his appearance change to suit his past. Well, it''s better this way. He pretty much like his previous appearance than some random goblin face. "O-Okay..." Alice stuttered while observing his appearance. She thought that he was some kind of rare monster so she didn''t expect that he was a common monster in Giza Continent. Souta looked at the Great Quest. This was the most unexpected thing that happened today. Alice was Lucifer''s daughter and he had no idea about it. The Great Quest was like a pyramid quest. Every time a scenario had changed it will trigger a sub-quest that could let him get closer to completing the Great Quest. It was like a chain quest but this one had different choices. If three sub-quests appeared then he could only choose one of these quests. After he finished choosing a quest, the other two quests will disappear. He had to wait again until another sub-quest appeared. He opened the Great Quest to see if there were choices but he found nothing. He glanced at Alice beside him and asked, "Do you have allies in Demon''s Land?" "I don''t think so..." Alice shook her head. "I''m still a child at that time and didn''t have any demons sworn their allegiance to me. Also, most of the demons in Heavenly Demon Palace used their oath to my father." "I see... According to Lumilia, the demons are invading the Giza Continent. Listen Wastes and Heretic Dynasty had fallen to demon''s hands. That''s two large countries and each one probably had two or five god-level powerhouses guarding the country but they had somehow fallen..." Souta paused as he looked at her. Alice continued his words, "It means that my father dispatched Demon Pillars. Without Demon Pillars, the demon army would have a hard time conquering two large countries." "Yeah, we should know the position of the demons so that you could avoid making a contact with them. Who knows if there are demons out there that could see through your disguise." Souta said to her. Yeah, currently his [Galaxy Eyes] could see through Alice''s disguise. "I understand," Alice noticed that he was exhausted so she suggested, "I''m gonna leave for now. You should rest for a while. You look tired." "Hahaha, who needs rest! I don''t need it!" Souta laughed as he scratched the back of his head. He was actually dying to sleep now but he couldn''t do so after seeing the warning. He was afraid that Lucifer would find his dream and kill him on the spot. "But you look-" "Who needs it? I don''t see anyone that needed to sleep here." Souta slightly raised his voice. He sighed and clapped his hands, "Anyway, I think you need more rest than I, Alice. I''m going to check the others for now." With that, Souta stood up and left the room with unsteady steps. "What''s wrong with him?" Alice stared at his back with a confused expression. ... Souta went to Franklin. At this moment, Franklin had finished counting all the remaining people that reached B-rank and above. It was time for Souta to do his job to plant parasites to these people. Planting parasites was important as it will increase the overall combat prowess of his people. Although their power level was low, they will gain an advantage to the people of the same level using parasites. Souta entered a huge spacious room. Inside there were hundreds of people laying on stretchers. Most of the people here were heavily injured to the point that they couldn''t even walk on their own. It was a pitiful sight. Among seven hundred thirty nine people only five hundred eighteen had survived and more than four hundred are heavily injured. ''They did great considering that they fought the Clan Leader''s forces which were several times stronger than them.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Yeah, I know.'' Souta swept his eyes across the room. The people were quiet as Souta observed them. It was their first time meeting the leader of the organization that they joined so they were quite nervous. They heard from Franklin, Isabella, and Torkez that their leader was strong and they just witnessed his battle prowess from the battle just now. It was just that they didn''t expect him to be a monster. It was outside of their expectations and it made them more nervous. "Quiet! The Lord is here! I don''t care if you are injured or not just keep quiet or else I will kill you!" Franklin said in a loud voice as his body emitted a strong bloodlust. Some of the people here weren''t from the assassin group that Franklin formed but he didn''t care about it. Those who disobeyed his words will suffer death. Franklin turned his head and looked at the woman with long black hair and pointed ears. "Oi, Remina! Give Lord Souta the report!" He said to her. This woman was the woman that Torkez helped back in the southern continent. She actually wanted to stay back in the south to slowly expand the organization but her curiosity about Torkez''s lord overcome her. "Hmm..." Souta received paper files and slowly read the continent in his mind. According to the content of the paper, one hundred sixty one people were qualified to receive parasites. Among the five hundred eighteen survivors, only eighty-nine have the power level of B-rank. The remaining seventy two people only had strong bodies that could endure the backlash of taking parasites so they were qualified. "Good, then let''s start right away," Souta said as he turned his head at Remina. "You will be the first. Forcefully remove the natural energy protecting your body and relax your muscles. It will be over in a minute." "Eh..." Remina was surprised as she didn''t think that he would start with her.. Soon, her forehead was grabbed by Souta. Chapter 565 - Orina II On the next day, Souta was in his room with monster orbs in both of his hands. He was guiding the energy inside the monster orbs to recover his best feram. This was the only thing he could do if he wanted to recover his energy faster and also he ate some of the mana fruits that could increase his regeneration. He didn''t eat some of the mana fruits as it has less effect on him. After all, he has already eaten those types of fruits before. The effect wasn''t as good as the first time so he unwillingly stored it. He would simply give it to his people to boost their overall powers. Of course, he would take the fruits that he haven''t eaten before. Souta had finished transplanting the parasites to his people. All the people that received parasites immediately recover due to the regeneration ability of parasites. It means that he could immediately mobilize some of his forces. It was good since he wasn''t in any condition to move. Regarding the Witch Clan, Amanda had reported to him that she persuaded half of her clansmen. Elder Guan''s side was willing to join him but Elder Hanmi''s side was the opposite. Elder Hanmi was a prideful man as he didn''t want to submit to a man weaker than him, especially since that man wasn''t part of their clan. Also, Souta was a monster and he subconsciously denied to join Souta''s group. A witch submitted to a monster? This never happened in the history of their clan. But what could they do, Amanda was already in Souta''s hands. The parasite was already transplanted to her body a long time ago. The only reason why he didn''t rush to kill Souta was because he was grateful that Souta helped solve their problem. But solving their problem doesn''t mean that Elder Hanmi had to become someone under Souta. He was grateful and he would help Souta in time of need to make it even but he wouldn''t bow his head. The only person that could lower his head was the Clan Leader. But the current Amanda only had the title of Clan Leader. She hasn''t done enough achievement to become the pillar of the Witch Clan. Her strength was also too low to stand at the top of the entire clan. Souta could only accept it. In the beginning, he already knew that persuading all the witches to join him was impossible even with Amanda''s help. Amanda actually did a great job as she convinced Elder Guan to join. That''s a legitimate shackled realm expert. A person that was way above Souta''s strength. Since all of them were going to follow Amanda, he still had a chance in the future. They won''t say no after he became stronger than them. "Let''s start," Souta said. He was inside the control room along with Torkez and others. As soon as he finished his words, he heard a system prompt in his mind. A quest has been triggered and it was connected to the Great Quest. [Please choose one of the two choices!] [Fight]: Stay on this planet and wait for the demon army to arrive. Fight and show the demons your prowess. Reward: 20 skill points, 50 free attribute points, 10 million exp, and 3 random cards [Escape]: Leave this planet to avoid confrontation with the demon army. You have one week before the demon army will reach this planet. Reward: 3 skill points, 10 free attribute points, and 50,000 exp Souta narrowed his eyes after he read the two choices. In the end, he chose the second one as he knew that fighting another big battle will be too much for him. Plus, his forces were still weak, and even with the help of the Witch Clan, they were going to suffer a brutal defeat. It was still too early to directly confront the demon army. If he was on the battlefield with other forces then he would fight but here... There''s no guarantee that all the forces here could stop the demon army. He couldn''t underestimate the demon army. Even if this was within the territory of the Council of High-World, the demon army would still advance. After all, in the game, the Lord of Flies brutally destroyed the Council. Right now, the Council was still a huge enemy for him yet this Council was just a bigger ant in front of the demon army. Sub-world wasn''t a good place to confront the demons. If he wanted to fight the demons then he would need to fight them in Imperium. After all, in that place, different organizations were also fighting the demons. He wouldn''t be able to hide in the sub-world as there''s no country or organization that was hindering the demons'' movement outside of Imperium. All he could do now was to wait for the right time. "Start it," Souta said once again and Torkez followed his command. He pressed the button to activate the Transportational Gate. Ohm! The Guardian Fortress was enveloped by white light before it vanished on the surface of the world. Based on the information of the quest, there''s still one week before the demons arrived but he didn''t need to wait for them. He would immediately leave this place so that they couldn''t follow him. Souta sat down comfortably in his seat as he breathe a sigh of relief. This travel will take them at least two weeks before they arrived on that planet. He still had a time to recover the injuries he took from fighting Rowan. ''I''m bored... All I could do is train but I''m not in a condition to train. It would only worsen my wounds.'' He said inwardly as he closed his eyes. Various scenes from the game came into his mind as he tried to remember all the key parts of big events. He tried to remember every important part. This will determine his action in the future. Gluttony will attack the God''s Continent in the near future. He will fall as Michael took the stage to fight him. Before Gluttony fall, the Titans will come out and it will catch the major faction off guard. After the fall of Gluttony, the action of demons intensified in every continent. Most of the top-rank Demon Pillars will appear. He just knew this event from his memories but the details were unknown to him. He didn''t even know why the demon slowed down in God''s Continent but he guess that it has something to do with Gluttony. Gluttony must have some sort of agreement with the demons or else the demons will not stop advancing their troops. So the best course of action to avoid demons was to go to God''s Continent. About the inside details of this event, Souta was sure that he will learn more of it this time. The Ten Commandments, Twelve Zodiacs, and the Seven Deadly Sins will fall one by one due to the intense battle with the top organizations in the entire Imperium. Right now, there were no players to minimize the destruction of these organizations. Just like what happened to the demon army, most of the players at that time took the quest to hold back the demons. Although they couldn''t stop the demon army, they still managed to hold them back and killed tens of thousands of demons in every theater. Souta sighed and shook his head. Without players, the casualties this time will be larger than what it was in the game. He had to prepare himself for the worse. He stood up and patted his clothes. He said, "I''m going back to my room. I''ll leave everything here to you." Alice, Torkez, and the rest nodded at him. They knew that Souta still haven''t recovered from the battle. Souta entered his room and he flicked his finger. His best feram flow out of his body and it caused him to twitch as pain assaulted his muscles. His muscle fibers and cells were vulnerable at this moment so if he let his best feram out of his monster orb it would somehow burden his muscles and cells. Ohm! The best feram created some sort of barrier around his room to isolate it from outside. He then went towards his desk and took out several books from the drawer. These books were all related to spell casting. How to properly build the structure of advanced tier 1 spell. How to identify the parts of magic circle and repair it. He focused his attention on Archetypes for more than six months and that caused him to delay his study of the magic spells. Since he couldn''t train his body, he will just focus his attention on spells right now. "Saya, do you have some sort of knowledge about spells?" Souta asked curiously. For him, Saya was like an encyclopedia that he could ask any question. ''A little bit. I just know some low-tier spells. My focus is on the combat skills of the vajra race so don''t expect me to teach you high-tier spells.'' Saya answered him. "Oh, I understand. Then, study spell with me. Maybe, you will learn faster than me and if that really happens you can just teach me." Souta said with a smile. ''I will still reject your proposal. And why would you need my help? You''re a person who can imprint spells in his inner consciousness consecutively. All the inner spells in my inner consciousness are just spells I imprinted with the help of the top vajra people. I couldn''t do it like you.'' Saya said to him. ''I didn''t even know how you learned all those spells when I''m just beside you all the time so why bother asking me.'' Souta couldn''t say that he didn''t personally imprint those spells in his inner consciousness. He just bought it in the skill tree and the system will automatically imprint it inside him. The truth was he wasn''t a genius like what Saya thought of him. Chapter 566 - Orina III Souta read the all books about spells in his drawer. He learned the basics of spellcasting at Ladro Institute so he easily understood some of the things in the book. He was really glad that he choose to go to Ladro Institute. With this, casting a normal tier 1 spell wasn''t a problem to him but with his building speed, it would take him at least five seconds to build the circle of the most basic tier 1 spell. It was worse than he could imagine. Alice could build the magic circle of tier 1 spell in an instant. The difference was huge and it wasn''t suitable for combat. He could understand why Eilish needed him to keep Rowan away while preparing the magic circle. Building a magic circle wasn''t easy and it was especially hard for her since she was casting a high-tier spell. Oh, speaking of Eilish... She was an expert in spellcasting and maybe she could teach him. Well, Souta was sure that she would teach him since she was on his ship. If she somehow rejected him he wouldn''t mind throwing her out of the Guardian Fortress. "Oho, she will not reject it." Souta laughed evilly. Saya could only sigh and said, ''You''re too much. She just helped you fight the Witch Clan and she hasn''t received from you yet you''re already planning to scam her once again.'' "Nah, I''m not actually going to throw her out of the fortress even if she declined. I''m only going to use these words to raise the chances of her accepting my proposal." Souta explained to her. ''What if she really rejects the idea of teaching you?'' Saya asked. "What can I do? I''m just going to stay in my room and study spellcasting on my own. Or maybe I could ask Alice to help me since you, Saya, don''t want to help me." Souta shrugged his shoulder. ''Why did you have to mention me? Did you forget that I''m the one that taught you the Archetype Skills? If you''re going to be like that then I''m not going to let you in inside my inner consciousness in the future.'' Saya said. "No, no, no, I''m just joking! Don''t take it seriously!" Souta''s face turned pale. ''Ufufu, don''t forget that I''m here to help you all the time. If I said that I don''t know much about spells, I really don''t know about it. Don''t forget that I''m your partner and I still want to see what you will achieve in the future.'' Souta turned silent as he listened to her words. He couldn''t see any lies in her words using [Galaxy Eyes]. Seeing the truth was one of the abilities of this pair of eyes. ''It''s pretty fun to watch you. You probably didn''t notice but slowly you became attached to the people around you. At first, I''m confused. I could see that you don''t care about Lumilia at that time, so why did you even fight for her? It''s like I''m looking at a person doing troublesome chores. Did you treat the action of helping her as chores? Then, slowly I could see development. The stoic face and evil grin on your face were replaced when they are beside you. I totally saw it when you fought for that child, Cluster. I saw it in your face that you really wanted to save her. Even that kind girl called Lynn, you were careful around her so that she wouldn''t be traumatized from your methods.'' Saya paused as she laughed and then added, ''Don''t forget that I''m watching you all the time. You even made me watch the scene of you making out with girls.'' Saya was probably the only person that saw all of his actions. She could pretty much narrate all the things that he did after he took the vajra sword in that village. Well, except for the time when her consciousness enters slumber because of his mistake. "Stop it. I know what you''re trying to say." Souta said to her as he massaged his temples. ''Ufufu, fine... As long as you understand." Saya chuckled. "For now, I need a teacher who can guide me in spellcasting," Souta said as he all the books on top of each other. He then stood up and went outside of his room. He had tier 2 spells in his inner consciousness but that was even too complicated for him. He couldn''t even understand the structure of those spells in his consciousness. ... "Sure, so when I''m going to start teaching you?" Eilish nodded and asked. "Eh, really?" Souta raised his eyebrows. He already expected her to agree but he didn''t think that it was this easy. He didn''t even need to try hard to convince her. "Yeah, why not? I don''t have anything else to do here on this ship so why not teach you something about spells? Also, since I''m riding in your ship I felt like I had to do something." Eilish placed her finger on her lips and something came to her mind. She moved her face closer to him until her lips were just beside Souta''s ears. She said, "Hmm... Maybe, you''re thinking about other compensation. Could it be that you want to have a go with me? It must have been a while for you so you must be pretty pent up." Souta took a step back and saw her smiling at him seductively. He gulped as he tried to control his urges but Eilish was just too much. Her sex appeal was overflowing that it made him for him to control his desire. "Oh, it seems that you really want it? I thought so... I observed your interaction with the women around you and I concluded that you haven''t laid your hands in them." Eilish had a faint smile on her face as if she saw through him. "They are different. Things will be awkward if do that." Souta said as he averted his eyes. "So what is it? Do you want me to teach you or not?" Eilish asked. "I felt like the role suddenly change. I''m the one who should be asking you not the other way around." Souta said as he turned around. "So be it. Where are we going to start the class?" Eilish asked as she followed Souta. On the corner of the hallway, Eztein was leaning on the wall with sweat forming on his face. "What''s wrong with those two? I thought that they are just joking before but it seems that they are really doing it. Shit! I think I saw something that I shouldn''t mention around." Eztein looked around him cautiously. He breathe a sigh of relief when he found that there was no one here except for him. "I should tightly shut my mouth and don''t let anyone found about it. As expected my new boss is really a great man. Even an Extinction Realm is seducing him." Suddenly, something came into his mind and his face slowly lost its color. "Oh, shit! Aren''t those two unbelievably powerful?! Is this ship going to crumble if they did it here?!! I-I need to prepare myself for the worse!" His imagination was going wild as he imagine his boss'' giant mode going at it with a fragile looking woman. Fuck! The difference in size was huge! Maybe, she could take the boss! I mean she''s an Extinction Realm so her body must be tougher than her appearance! "Shit!!" Eztein turned his head and glanced at the hallway. He saw that Souta and Eilish weren''t gone and he decided to follow them. He arrived in front of the training ground of the fortress. "T-This... Training Ground?! Like hell, a bed could hold their power!" He raised his hand and placed his palm on the walls. He felt some sort of restriction as some strange power was pushing his hand away. Hu~ Eztein sat down and breath a sigh of relief. He looked at the ceiling before he muttered, "I''m glad that they set up a barrier. I''m worried for nothing." He decided that he shouldn''t talk about this thing to others. Even if he suffered Amanda''s torture once again, he wouldn''t talk about what he just witnessed. ... Several weeks had passed quickly since they left. They finally found the planet that Souta was looking for. The Planet Orina which was a high world infamous for its harsh environment. Everyone was in the control room looking at the projection of Orina. The gigantic planet that has a diameter of 211,087 km was presented in front of them. ''It''s almost two times the size of Jupiter.'' Souta removed his gaze from the projection as he turned to Alice who was beside him. He asked in a low voice, "Do you think that the demons turned over the planet before?" "Yeah, I''m sure of it. I know how they operate and all the creatures there must be shocked by the arrivals of demons. In any case, if everything is as you say then they would clash with the forces of the Council of High-world which is also after us." Alice answered him. She then smiled and said, "You really are good at causing trouble. The demons in my case while the council is yours." "Hmm... It''s not that different." Souta shrugged his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at Planet Orina. The [Yin Yang Bracelet] and the [Solid State Hunter Boots] were waiting for him. A universal and dark grade artifact respectively. A week would probably be enough for him to take it and leave quickly before the council could react. Chapter 568: Orina V Chapter 568: Orina V Zone 9, the floating islands... Souta smiled inwardly as he tightly clenched his fists. He knew that taking his equipment wouldn''t be too easy. The floating islands covers an area of 5,300,567 square kilometers. It was comparable to a continent on some planets. The floating islands were enormous as lava was floating out of it making a horrific scene along with the red background. The Magna demi and the forces of the Council were trying to occupy this zone because of its rich resources. The rare metals and herbs could be found in any of the islands. The group traveled from island to island avoiding the eyes of the two sides. It was too soon to make an appearance and he didn''t want to confront them while he haven''t found the location of his equipment. Aside from the magna race and Council, the group also avoided some of the islands that houses extremely powerful monsters. The Molten Junua was a monster with a height of ten meters. It has a head of a lion, its hair was sharp thin metals, and its body was covered in a red exoskeleton made for swimming through magma. It was a territorial monster that attack any creature that entered its nest. As long as they didn''t enter its territory, the Molten Junua wouldn''t initiate an attack. That''s why the magna race and Council avoided the territory of this certain monster. ... The group found a rocky island and they decided to rest in this place. "It''s been a few days since we entered this planet. I don''t think I could stay here in my whole life. Just looking at the scenery around me could already give me depressions." Eztein sighed as he lay down on his back. Even if he looked at the sky, all he could see was just a layer of dark red clouds with lightning flashing every second. "It''s also hot here," Amanda said from the side. "Although our bodies could handle it, 400 degrees celsius is still too much. Well, it''s pretty good to train it. Our body would adapt to this temperature if we stay here for too long. If that happens, opponents that use fire attribute would be easy for us." Franklin said with a smile. "We wouldn''t stay here for too long. Tomorrow, we''re going to start moving without care." Souta said. "Oh, so a battle is going to start. Hey, I like it." The smile on Franklin''s face grew wider. Suddenly, Elder Guan joined the conversation. "I don''t think we have to wait that long." Elder Guan said as he turned his head and stared at the sky. "Hmm...?" Souta stood up and looked in the direction where Elder Guan was looking. His eyes adjusted and he saw a group of people flying in his direction. Those people weren''t magna demi. Aside from magna demi, the other race could only come from the Council. "The Council is here. Prepare yourself." Souta said to his people. Alice, Franklin, Amanda, and Eztein quickly stood up and silently gather their energy. They were preparing for combat since the other side came from the Council. Souta narrowed his eyes as he saw through the people from the other side. ''Three S-rank, fifteen A-rank, and thirty-three B-rank experts. One of them completely solidified the mana pool. It means a peak S-rank.'' He said inwardly as he assessed the power level. Then, about the combat skills? He wouldn''t doubt that the enemy''s combat skill was high as he knew that the forces of the Council were fighting the magna race. In short, they had rich experience in life and death battles compared to the witches. But how did the Council know about their location? He was pretty careful in traversing this land so that no one would notice their group. Souta opened his eyes widely as he felt that someone was trying to connect to the transmission talisman on his pocket. Don''t tell me...? He quickly took out the talisman and connected the call. As soon as the call was connected, he heard Torkez''s voice. "This is bad, Souta! I think that the organization you called Council is attacking us! They are launching a direct attack at our fortress!!" Alice, Franklin, Amanda, Eztein, and Elder Guan turned their head in surprise. They heard Torkez''s report and just like him they couldn''t believe that the Council found their location quickly. "Shit! How many people are attacking us? And how our forces could fare against them?" Souta quickly asked. "We''re somehow lucky! The witches and Eilish''s forces are helping us repel the enemy but I don''t think that we can stay here anymore! If we stay here any longer then the enemy would only bring out enough forces to wipe us out at that time!" Torkez said. Before Souta replied to Torkez, he ordered Alice, Franklin, and Eztein to stop those people in the sky first. "Alice, Franklin, and Eztein... I''ll hold them back for now. If you can take them out then finish them as quickly as you can." "I understand." Alice nodded before she pulled out her spear and flew into the sky. Franklin and Eztein followed her. Swoosh! Swoosh! "Torkez, just hold on for a while. I''m going to finish what I need to do quickly. Use everything that you can to repel the enemies." Souta said to Torkez. He didn''t want to leave this planet without taking the equipment that he used in the game. Him, coming to this planet would be useless if he didn''t get what he wanted. He already knew that it wouldn''t be easy but to think that the council would discover them easily was beyond his expectations. "Souta, are we going to leave this planet now?" Amanda asked. "No, we still have some time. Let''s go and kill those people quickly. We don''t have that much time." Souta said to her before he flew into the sky. Elder Guan sighed and turned to Amanda, "Young Miss, stay here. There''s no Extinction Realm in the other group so it would be easy for me." "I understand." Amanda nodded. Swoosh! With Elder Guan''s help, the group finished all the people from the council in just a few minutes. With just three S-rank, they couldn''t stop the power of a shackled realm expert. It was easy. ''I''m really glad that he came along with us.'' Souta said inwardly as he glanced at the elder. In his hand, the leader of the enemy group was spewing blood out of his mouth. He turned to the man in his hand and asked, "How did you people find us in this place?" "Haha, there''s no need to be surprised. You monster choose to oppose the Council without knowing its capabilities. We have people that are monitoring the movements of the Magna folks and you entered in their detection range." The man laughed as he explained everything to the ignorant monster. ''Sensory type...? I don''t think that their range is that huge. Maybe, they have hundreds of sensory types and boosted their ability with an artifact.'' Souta narrowed his eyes. Although he knew the Council in the game, it was impossible for him to know everything about it. "The moment we detect you we contacted the higher-ups and ordered us to capture you." "Capture us? Are you sure that you are here to capture us not kill us?" Souta asked with a confused expression. "Haha, I''m just an official in this place. I don''t know what''s happening in the main headquarters or what are they planning. But it seems that they wanted to know some of the information that you have and from the looks of it, it''s very important for them." The man laughed. "Tsk!" Souta clicked his tongue in annoyance. He raised his sword and stabbed it on the neck of the man. Putchi! The man fell down as he drew his last breath. Alice gazed at the man with a cold look and asked, "Souta, how is it? Are we going to continue?" "Yes, we''re not going back. The Council will block our way from now on and they knew our location so it''s time for us to take an initiative." Souta looked at them. He divided the group into two. The first group was Alice, Eztein, and Franklin while the second group only had Amanda and Elder Guan. Although Amanda was weak, Elder Guan was unbelievably powerful to the point that he could beat the first group alone. Souta and Alice could only keep up with a shackled realm like Rowan because Eilish had severely injured him. If Rowan was at his peak, the two of them wouldn''t stand a chance. "Wreak havoc and attack the floating islands of the Council! Distract them as much as you can!" Souta said in a firm tone. His expression said that he wouldn''t take no for an answer. "No problem for me, in fact, I couldn''t wish for more," Franklin smirked. "I''ll try to contribute but what are you going to do?" Elder Guan asked. "Nothing, there are some chores that I need to finish." Souta waved his hand. "After I finish what I need to do, we will go back so distract the prying eyes of the council." Chapter 569: Closing Chapter 569: Closing Souta looked down as he waved his hands. The souls of the dead people were sucked into his earring. Alice and the rest had already left to attack the bases of the council. Distracting the council was very crucial to him so that he could move freely to get his equipment. In the game, he was already a commander of the Mechanic Country when he retrieved these two pieces of equipment so he was pretty strong that he didn''t need anyone to distract the council. He just snowballed this place with an overwhelming power that the council and magna race couldn''t do anything to him. Ohm! Ten black balls appeared behind Souta. It spun around as his body shot into the distance like a missile. His speed had decreased compared to the time he was fighting Rowan. It wasn''t because he got slower but the density of the mana on this planet was higher. A normal person from a planet without mana would be crushed into dust by the pressure of the mana on this planet. Swoosh! Half an hour later, Souta arrived in the center part of the floating islands area. There was a gigantic floating in the center but his target wasn''t on that island. In fact, it was beneath the ground. On the ground, there was a volcano spewing lava nonstop creating a pool of lava in the surrounding area. That''s the entrance to it, the mouth of the volcano. ''What are you trying to find in this place?'' Saya asked him doubtfully. Sometimes she couldn''t understand the reason of his action. Even though she was always beside him, she was still left behind like the others. "Just like how I find you? I''m trying to find a piece of artifacts." Souta smiled as he shot towards the volcano. Boom! The volcano erupted as ashes and lava burst out of its mouth. The tremor it caused in the surrounding area made some of the tall rocky areas collapse. He didn''t care about all the magma or the ashes. He simply swam through it until he reaches 10,000 meters below the surface. Swoosh! The mana density in the area got higher and the pressure tightened heavily so Souta stopped moving. He felt like he had reached the right place. If he wasn''t sure, it was in this area. The map that he found in the game was indicating that this was the right place. He closed his eyes and tried to remember how did he enter that place. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and he looked down. A pile of blue crystal shining through the wall was just a meter below him. "Here." He floated in front of it and he shot a normal punch. The crystals in front of him crumbled as it lost its color. ''A fake crystal wall...'' What appeared before his eyes was a dark passage leading to an unknown place. Even Saya was observing the passage without bothering Souta as she felt that there was something dangerous within this place. "This feeling... It''s here." Souta stepped his foot in the dark passage. Instantly, the walls shone and emitted a dim light illuminating the entire passage. Then, the entrance behind him was blocked by layers of soil. He turned around and knocked his knuckle on the soil that blocked the entrance behind him. "If I didn''t find the exit then I will be forever buried in this place." Souta squinted his eyes as he recalled that the walls, ceilings, and floor of this place had [Impact Transfering] and [Energy Transfering]. It means that if he punches the wall with all of his might the impact would scatter in the entire mass of land. Even his best feram would scatter in the whole continent. In other words, if he didn''t have enough strength to destroy the whole continent he wouldn''t be able to shatter the walls. This was a high world, not some low world so his strength wasn''t as destructive as how it was in a low world. Actually, completing this place was easy. He just needs to find the core of this dungeon and destroy it. The [Yin Yang Bracelet] and [Solid State Hunter Boots] were both located in the core. There were only golems guarding it and those golems had simple attack patterns. Souta walked for dozens of minutes until he found three passages before his eyes. He didn''t even think about it as he walked straight onto the passage in the middle. From his memories, this was the right path. The complicated passage of this place was already solved by his past self. So he didn''t have any problem at all. A few minutes later, he arrived on the second puzzle. He was in a spacious room with a statue of a woman holding the head of the man in the center. There were three doors and each door had an altar beside it. Souta pulled out the vajra sword and cut the head of the statue. He picked up the head of the woman and the man before he went to the door on the left side. He placed the head of the woman on the altar and the door opened. In this puzzle, he thought that the head of the man was the key to one of the doors. He never thought before that he could cut down the head of the statue so he was stuck for quite some time in the past. All the doors could be opened by the man''s head but all of it resulted in dead-end. The head of the woman was the key and the head of the man was the key to the next puzzle. There''s nothing else to do here so he left the spacious room. He continued to clear puzzles after puzzles until he arrived at the last and final puzzle where the core was situated. Almost three hours had passed since he entered this dungeon and he completed a total of fifty-three puzzles. He couldn''t remember all the fifty-three puzzles so he had to rack his brains to clear those puzzles that he couldn''t remember. And that''s the reason why it took him three hours. "I didn''t think that it would take me a few hours to arrive at this place..." Souta muttered with a dissatisfied look. He wondered how the others were faring against the council. He just hope that they were holding pretty well on their own. ''You''re dissatisfied that you''re too slow to complete those puzzles yet in my perspective you''re already fast. I didn''t even know how did you know most of the puzzles in this place.'' Saya said to him. "Let''s leave it like that but for now..." A smile formed on Souta''s face as he stepped forward. In front of his eyes, a huge triangular object was floating on the edge of the room. It was inside a cylindrical glass and it was emitting a huge amount of mana in the surrounding area. The last room was a contest of strength. Boom! The room shook heavily as three humanoid ten-meter tall metallic golems emerged from the walls. The glowing eyes of the golems stared right at Souta. They energy that they were emitting was too dense that a peak S-rank was nothing compared to it. Souta''s eyes adjusted as he glared at the three gigantic golems. "The energy level of these three is higher than S-rank. Comparable to some shackled realm but the combat prowess is lower than S-rank. Too predictable. Don''t have a problem dealing with it." It would take ten minutes, no, five minutes of his full power to finish these three. Without any hesitation, Souta''s body inflated as savage black-colored armor covered his body. These golems'' power level was higher than S-rank but lower than SS-rank. It means that his normal form would have a hard time fighting these three. His attack wouldn''t probably work against them. Boom! "Greetings!" Souta wrapped the vajra sword in layers of flesh before he swung it towards the nearest golem. Bang! Using his eyes, he could see the core of the golems. The weakness to defeat them easily but to shatter these cores, he needed a powerful attack to pierce the layer of energy wrapped around it which was impossible in his normal form. The golem crashed on the wall as it received Souta''s attack. The other two simply waved their metallic hands at him. It was simple and slow. Slow for him but fast for people at A-rank level. Swoosh! Swoosh! The room was large enough to contain these golems so Souta''s body could move freely in this space. The walls, ceilings, and walls were tough that he didn''t need to worry about needless destruction. The golems shoot beams from their eyes and Souta shoot [Bestrou] from the tip of his sword. Boom! The power of their attack was too powerful yet the spacious room was still unmoving. Well, the impact or shockwaves of their battle were transferred in the entire land causing a high magnitude earthquake on the surface. The floating islands were unaffected by it but the bases of the magna race and council on the ground suffered the most. The earthquake wasn''t stopping at all, in fact, it kept getting stronger every second. Chapter 570: [Yin Yang Bracelet] Chapter 570: [Yin Yang Bracelet] Flames were everywhere and explosions would erupt every second. Sounds of screams and crying were all over the place as blood covered the entire land. "Mommy! Mommy!" A child holding a stuffed toy in her hand was crying in the middle of the burning city. The buildings were falling and the whole area was filled with smoke and dust. The child had nowhere to go. Her parents had just died and she would die soon. She was just a five-year-old kid so she didn''t have enough power to survive in this calamity. A powerless person like her wouldn''t last long in the world of war. Crack! A huge building fell over and crashed onto her fragile body. In an instant, she died and she didn''t even realize it. Boom! This incident wasn''t only happening in this city. It was occurring in the other cities across the whole continent too. The people that were protecting and managing the city were helpless against the calamity that hit them. The demons. The demon from folklore had appeared before everyone''s eyes. It caught all the forces off guard and in just a single day more than fifty percent of the central continent''s population was wiped out, including the monsters. The Union Peace and Night Watch were in the middle of a war against Monster Dungeon when these demons appeared out of nowhere. The three gigantic organizations were turned into ruins and most of their forces had perished leaving only a few higher-ups that escaped from the battle. The Extinction Realm masters of the Union Peace and Night Watch successfully escaped but the fourth evolution monsters of the Monster Dungeon fought to death with their Lord, a fifth evolution monster. It was a battle that last twenty-four hours and chipped away the forces of the demons. The people that died were uncountable as some of the corpses had turned into dust. Even the geographical structure of the continent had changed because of the power of the fifth evolution monster. In the end, the Monster Dungeon was defeated. The sole fifth evolution stage monster of this world had perished. "Tsk, I didn''t think that there would be a fifth evolution stage monster on this planet. Because of this, the mission got delayed." The leader of the 3rd division said in an annoyed tone. The Heavenly Demon Palace had seventy-two armies and each army was commanded by Demon Pillar, a God-level powerhouse. A demon army consisted of several demon corps which was commanded by a Demon Saint, a Hero-rank in Giza Continent''s term. What this demon commanded was only a demon division. A demon division was lower than a demon corps as a demon corps consisted of several demon divisions. The demon that could command a division had at least a power level of Demon Saint. They were powerful on their own and his subordinates were powerful too. "We even lost two of our brigade commanders in the battle." One of the demons reported. If a demon corps consisted of demon division, then a demon division consisted of several demon brigades. The army ranking of the demon army from highest to lowest was Army Leader, Corps Leader, Division Commander, Brigade Commander, Battalion Commander, Company Leader, Platoon Leader, and Squad Captain. And the two demons that died were brigade commanders, a Demon Spirit which was equal to SSS-rank. The death of brigade commanders was a huge loss to his division and he didn''t know how he could explain it to the corps leader. "This is irritating..." The Division Commander gritted his teeth. "This is all because of this one monster." He turned his head and stared at the corpse of the fifth evolution monster. Although the monster was just an early stage, it still possessed unimaginable power that could destroy lands easily. The result of their battle was that a quarter of the central continent was turned into blazing hell. "Argh, we need to finish this mission. Find the trait of demons on this planet even if you turned it upside down." His subordinates knew that they were trying to find a certain demon but they don''t have an idea who is it. He was the only one who know that their mission was to capture the Third Princess. The other demons were oblivious to this fact. ... On the Council''s side... "What?! the demons appeared? T-They are stretching their hands on sub-world!! Damn! Unforgivable!" One of the higher-ups of the Council was filled with rage when he heard what happened. Suddenly, one of the higher-ups said, "I think I know the reason?" "What is it?" The rest of the higher-ups asked as they narrowed their eyes on this certain man. "Remember that I''m the one that is handling that world in the shadows. I accidentally fought beings from the Great World and one of them is a demon. I think that the reason why the demon army is there is because they are trying to find that woman." The man slowly narrated what happened to him while he was secretly managing that planet. "Still, even if that''s the case that is still within our territory! The demons should have asked us first!" "Do you think that we are worthy of their time? Don''t forget that most of the organizations in the Great World are looking down on us, the Council of High-World." "Those arrogant pricks of Great World?! One day, I''ll show them that the sub-world could rival them!!" The higher-ups talked about their hatred towards the people from Imperium. One of them even came from a planet that was experimented on by people from Imperium. Cooperation with them was impossible. They hated the big organizations of Imperium. All of them suffered from the hands of the people from Great World. ... Boom! Boom! Souta avoided the attacks of the three golems and he kept shooting energy blades on the chest of the golems. Their cores were situated in that part so he focused his attack on that part to shatter it. But the energy layer around the core was tough. That''s all. The golems were fast, powerful, and tough but their combat prowess was one-directional. It was like he was playing a game with easy difficulty. Boom! Boom! Souta launched a series of powerful attacks. The black lightning from the first form of Archetype was raging in all directions. "Tsk! These golems aren''t suitable for fighting! They should just become a meat shield on the battlefield!" ''Yeah, their movement is too simple.'' Saya couldn''t help but agree with his words. Even the weaker golems that Curdova created have much more complicated movements than these three. At least those golems could exchange blows with Souta. Yet, these three were failures. Just who the hell would leave these three failures to guard the core? Souta tightened his muscles as he gathered a huge amount of energy in his sword. Swoosh! His figure flashed in front of a golem and he quickly thrust the vajra sword forward. The energy inside it exploded creating a violent torrent of energy to rush towards the golem. Boom! "With this, I finished dealing with one golem. Only two left." Souta quickly turned his attention to the remaining two before he proceeded to attack them. Boom! Boom! Boom! A series of explosions sounded in the room as the battle continued. After a few minutes, the battle stopped. Souta had finished dealing with all three golems. "Ah, that was exhausting. I didn''t receive any damage by I used almost half of my energy dealing with them." Souta sat down on the ground as he glanced at the cylindrical glass which contained the core of the dungeon. He then shook his head and approached the bodies of the golems. He picked one certain part in each golem. These parts were the key to open the cylindrical glass. He used the keys and the cylindrical glass was shattered revealing the triangular shape object inside it. Wondering where''s the equipment? It was behind the walls. Since he couldn''t shatter the walls with his current strength, the only thing he could do was to break the core to shut down the mechanism operating the [Impact Transferring] and [Energy Transferring]. "It''s time." Souta smirked as he slightly raised his hand and threw a jab at the core. The core was shattered easily and the whole place started to shake heavily. Boom! Cracks appeared on the ceiling and it started to collapse. This whole place was going to fall in just a minute. Souta hurriedly gathered his energy and break the wall in front of him. What appeared before his eyes was another dark spacious room. But he could see what was hidden inside it with his own eyes. Even without [Galaxy Eyes], he could see in the dark with his night vision trait. A bracelet with black and white color was emitting faint energy. It has a purple color gem on the center. The universal grade artifact, [Yin Yang Bracelet]. An artifact that embodied the dark and light attributes that simulate a chaotic ability. And beneath it was the [Solid Hunter State Boots]. A piece of dark grade equipment famed for its strange speed ability. Chapter 571: Councils Attack: Leaving the Planet Orina Chapter 571: Council''s Attack: Leaving the Planet Orina Souta took the bracelet and the boots before he used his gravity ability to push the debris of rocks away from him. Boom! The whole place was crumbling and he was ten thousand meters beneath the surface. He hurriedly flew towards the entrance while smashing the walls that blocked his way. Since the mechanism had stopped, he could shatter the walls right now with his sheer strength. Bang! Bang! Bang! Using a string of flesh, he took out a transmission talisman. He then called Alice. "Alice, we are going to leave this planet. Tell the others to escape and go back to the Guardian Fortress as soon as possible. I''ll call Torkez to prepare the transportational gate right away." "Got it." Alice nodded from the other side of the talisman. Souta cut the call and he proceeded to call Torkez. He told him to prepare the transportational gate as he know that the people from the fortress were fighting the forces of the council for several days nonstop. The fortress even launched several Mana Convergent Bomb just to hold their position. Swoosh! He exited the volcano only to witness the collapsing area around him. The ground was shaking nonstop as lava would burst out in huge cracks. The land within one hundred kilometers was experiencing a powerful earthquake. It wasn''t an ordinary earthquake instead the earthquake caused the land to sink into the sea of lava. Souta turned his head towards the floating islands in his vision. He made a grabbing motion in the air and the gravity around him tightened. "Since I''m here, I''m going to destroy some of their facilities." Boom! The floating islands started to move slowly. The size of each floating island wasn''t normal so the amount of best feram that he was using to move these islands was enormous. His energy was depleting at unbelievable speed. "Argh! Settle down!!" Bang! The islands collided with each other and Souta quickly removed his ability. Just by moving those islands, he consumed a quarter of his energy already. As expected, the energy in the atmosphere was the cause of it. The mana density was making it hard for him to use his energy. He was like a normal human deep in the sea that couldn''t move with his usual speed. "But this is enough..." Souta looked up and his body shot through the sky. His figure penetrated through the layers of cloud that were covering the entire planet. He could already see some of the forces of the council noticed the fluctuations of his best feram. They were preparing to head in his direction. ''I guess the battle will occur there.'' His body exited the layers of clouds. Along with him, several figures emerged from the clouds in the far distance. Those figures were several kilometers away from him and he could see that they were after Alice and the rest. The forces of the council were chasing them. They could defeat them as the forces of the council that were chasing them only had low-rank soldiers, but there''s no need to fight them. The most important thing right now was to arrive in the Guardian Fortress. Souta knew the details of the Guardian Fortress. They don''t need to enter the fortress. They just need to arrive on the range of the transportational gate and Torkez would activate it immediately. Boom! The group continued to fly through the sky. When they''ve passed through the atmosphere of the planet, their speed had increased several times. There''s no mana in outer space so they were moving without any restrictions of natural energy. "Just focus on the Guardian Fortress!" After a few minutes of flying with unbelievable speed, the group saw the scene on the Guardian Fortresses. More than hundreds of soldiers from the council were attacking the two Guardian Fortress. They even saw corpses floating around in outer space. Swoosh! "Let''s go!" Souta pulled out the vajra sword and shot several energy blades. Alice, Eztein, Franklin, Amanda, and Elder Guan also threw their attacks at the council. Then, they quickly head towards the Guardian Fortress. Boom! Several explosions occurred as the mana waves from it caused the two fortresses to vibrate. "Torkez! Start the transportational gate!!" Souta shouted as he poured his energy into his voice so that it could travel through outer space. With their power level, pouring their energy into their voice so that they could communicate in outer space was nothing but a small trick. He could even do this trick long ago. Alice turned her head and looked at the council soldiers. She gathered a huge amount of mana in her spear and pointed it at the enemies. In the next moment, a huge block of ice appeared beside her and it flew straight towards the enemies. It wasn''t an ordinary block of ice as it contained Alice''s energy. ''This will delay them for at least three seconds...'' Alice said inwardly as she moved her body away to follow Souta. There were bruises around her body and not just her, Amanda, Franklin, and Eztein had wounds on their bodies too. They''ve attacked the bases of the council in Planet Orina. Although there''s no SS-rank soldier, they still faced the overwhelming numbers hidden in those bases. It''s natural that they would receive injuries. It''s not surprising at all. The only person that has escaped unscathed was Elder Guan. Elder Guan was a person that broke one shackle. Although he was weaker than Clan Leader Rowan, there''s still no doubt that no mere S-rank could rival his power. "For real, they are here. I thought that I will have to fight these people for several days." Eilish sighed in relief when she saw the group. She was one of the vanguards of the fortress that was pushing the council''s soldiers away. Without her, the fortress will receive enough damage to disable to transportational gate. "Hmph! Just what they did even do on that planet?!" Elder Hanmi snorted as he glanced at the group. He wasn''t Souta''s loyal follower, so he was a little bit suspicious about Souta''s goal in Planet Orina. From what he knows, even Torkez didn''t know Souta''s goal nor the reason why they enter that planet. Is it to attract the council? In his perspective, they should''ve avoided the eyes of the Council of High-World. They should lay low for a while and wait for the council to regain its calmness. But what they were doing right now would only make the council rage. He was sure that after this, the council will not stop chasing them. But what he didn''t know was that Souta didn''t care about the rage of the council. Once he entered the Imperium, the council wouldn''t be able to do anything. They could only bark at him and stealthy send a low number of their forces. After all, the council was afraid of Imperium and the beings called Gods, Spirit Gods, Monster Lords, and Demon Gods. Even though the council was formed by a huge number of top-tier high worlds, they only had five gods in their rank. Five gods were nothing in comparison to Imperium which had hundreds of gods not counting the hidden ones. Torkez, who was in the control room, looked at the projection. When he saw that they entered the range of transportational gate, he quickly pressed the button to start it. "This will not end here. They are going to launch more attacks in the next location." Souta muttered as he glanced at the council''s soldiers. The white light engulfed him and the rest before they vanished from their location. The transportational gate had many loopholes. They just used it in front of enemies'' eyes and the council had many ways to track their movement instantly. There were many facilities here unlike on the previous planet. Amanda''s planet was on the edge of the council''s territory so it didn''t receive much attention. It didn''t have facilities which could track teleportation nor any people that could detect it. Even if they sent out people to that planet to track the teleportation, it would be too late as the lingering energy from using the transportational gate would scatter. Unless a god had personally appeared, no one would be able to differentiate the scattered energy in the air. This was the reason why Leo quickly realized that Souta have been in Eidin Planet but Leo didn''t know where he escaped. The reason was that the space on a planet with mana stabilized more quickly than outer space. That''s what happened to the demon army, they arrived at the previous planet a week later after the Guardian Fortress used the transportational gate. The situation was different right now. The Guardian Fortress had just used teleportation in outer space and the lingering mana from using it was still thick. And Souta was right... They were deep into the council''s territory so the attack that they will encounter will be much fiercer than before. "The transportational gate had 24 hours of cooldown before we could use it again. It means that we had to defend ourselves from the council for the next 24 hours!!" Souta shouted before he glanced at the two pieces of equipment that were floating beside him. He hasn''t even basked in the joy of taking these two pieces. Well, it''s not bad. In the worse case scenario, he will simply use these two. Chapter 572: Councils Attack: Battle in the Space Chapter 572: Council''s Attack: Battle in the Space "Please, teach me how to fight properly!" Yenxa said to Doranjan in a serious tone. "Um... How should I say it? There''s a huge difference in our body shape so I wouldn''t be able to teach you. My body is several times larger than yours so my combat style is entirely different while your body is humanoid like humans and demis. It means that your combat style is closer to them." Doranjan slowly explained to Yenxa. "But the easiest way to hone your combat skill is through battle. You''ve already experienced different battles and I''m sure that you''ve built up your combat style." "My Lord taught me his spells and I''m not sure how should I use them in battle. I don''t want to bother My Lord because of this so I could only ask you." Yenxa said. "I see... There''s a training ground in this fortress. It''s in the basement. Do you want to go there and show me the spells you learned?" Doranjan asked. "W-Wait! M-Master taught you his spells?! Rah!! No matter what you did you will never become Master''s..." Yuko joined the conversation. Yenxa turned to Yuko and said, "I just want to become useful to My Lord. I''ve realized in the previous battle that I couldn''t help him at all. I swore that I would help him before but I couldn''t do anything." "Wah! Of course! Hmph! I''m the only one who could help Master!" Yuko harrumphed as she turned her head sideways. "Master always gave me fruits that I like and he always pats me! I''m getting stronger and soon I will be able to evolve once again! Once that happens Master will praise me once again! Kuh! I can''t wait for it!" Doranjan just looked at the two monsters in front of him. He was the strongest here and he was also the oldest here. Almost one hundred years had passed since he was born. Yet, the two in front of him could surpass him in the future. No, Yuko was already close to reaching his level and if that happens he didn''t know how could he stop these two. If that''s the case, then he would simply make sure to become stronger so that these two couldn''t catch up to him. Nothing was wrong with it. He could feel it. He was at the limit of his evolution and it was the first time that he was experiencing this type of feeling. Before meeting Souta, he thought that his knowledge was huge and the only thing that he didn''t know was little. He even learned all the languages of humans on his planet. But he realized that he was quite ignorant. He didn''t even know what''s a best feram. He always thought that it was unique to dragons and no other creature could manipulate this energy. After all, all dragon was born with this power. Souta told him the truth about monsters. Everything that he need to know about monsters and dragons was revealed before his eyes. ''Such a problem... I don''t know what would these two do if they aren''t besides Souta.'' Doranjan said inwardly with a sigh. Yuko and Yenxa weren''t talkative but when it comes to their master they would blabber nonstop. "Stop it! Let''s go to the training ground!" He said to the two before he turned around his huge body. Right now, the fortress had completed its missions. Yenxa''s tribesmen were on board and they were on their way back to the meeting place. Soon, they were going to the rendezvous point. ... Days had passed quickly... The Guardian Fortresses was getting chased by the army of the Council of High World. They were getting closer to Imperium and the army that was chasing them was getting stronger too. They arrived in a distant galaxy with a low world in it. The mana density of this planet was too low but it was still under the rule of the council. It had several facilities and military bases in it. Just like what Souta expected, the council managed to trace them using the lingering energy from their previous location. The transportational gate was made using science and magic and its magical structure wasn''t that complicated. The council could easily track them with it. Right now, Souta and the rest were floating in outer space. The two Guardian Fortresses were behind them and in front of them was the army of the council. ''Just one more jump and we will arrive in the Imperium and the council knows it too. They are getting impatient by sending a strong army to stop us. In the next jump, I''m sure that the army will definitely try to stop us at all cost.'' Souta said inwardly while observing the army of the council in front of him. The two elders along with Eilish were also here. The strongest people in the fortresses were outside to repel the forces of the council. Everyone knew that it will become an all-out battle until the cooldown time of the transportational gate. "They are coming..." Franklin smirked as he saw hundreds of people rushing in their direction. They were in outer space so only B-rank and above have the capability to survive in the vacuum of space. The battle started as Eilish casted a wide-range offensive spell. She raised her staff above her above and a magic circle formed beneath her feet. Several hundreds of spears made of water formed around her. The spears were vibrating strongly as they emitted a very dangerous aura. With a wave of her staff, hundreds of spears flew towards the army of the council. Elder Guan glanced at Eilish and thought, ''This is the woman who stood against the former Clan Leader.'' No matter what, Elder Guan and Elder Hanmi had respected Eilish for her strength. She was a textbook mage at Extinction Realm. Even the Clan Leader avoided fighting Eilish at long-range battle. She was a disaster that could wipe out an entire country in the high world easily. More than twenty S-rank worked together to stop Eilish''s attack. Even then, the spell still took some of their comrades. "It''s fine to attack now!" Franklin grinned widely as he charged towards the enemies. Eztein, Alice, Amanda, and the other S-rank witches also charged at the enemies. Of course, Souta didn''t want to be left behind. The experience points that he could get from killing S-rank were several times higher than A-rank. When he waged war against the Great Astley Empire, he killed millions of C-rank and D-rank. Killing a thousand A-ranks was already enough to fill the exp of those millions C-rank. Yet, the exp he could get from one S-rank was equal to hundreds of A-rank. The difference was huge. Although killing was the slowest way to raise his level, it was still better than nothing. He played the game for ten years and he knew the big event where he could get billions of exp but gods were involved in those events. Ever since he arrived in this world, his goal was to survive. He would avoid participating in those events if it was necessary. After all, in every event in the game, he died several times. That''s why he was only taking the quest that he knew he could complete. But unique events in this world, just like what happened in Ladros City. If he knew that the Underground King and Zodiac Leo would appear there he would have evacuated that place a long time ago. He was lucky that the two fought in the sky or else everyone in the city would have died. "Tsk!" Souta clicked his tongue as he threw a punch at the A-rank in front of him before he slash his sword on the person beside him. He wanted to fight some S-rank but these guys kept bothering him. Although these guys were weaker than him, they had good coordination that made them harder to kill. Bang! Bang! Bang! They exchanged hundreds of powerful blows in just a minute but Souta failed to land a fatal blow. ''My normal form still couldn''t handle a group of nine expert A-rank.'' Souta tightened his fist as a gravity field formed around him. The field expanded instantly as it tried to push everyone away from him. [Hunting State]! [Serial Killing Steps]! The black boots that he was wearing emitted a strange dark blue aura. His body moved so fast that the A-rank could hardly follow his movements. The equipment skills of the dark grade [Solid Hunter State Boots] were activated. The [Hunting State] could create a field that could decrease the target''s movement speed by 20%. Can be only used at five targets at a time. This skill consumed 2 stamina per second and stamina was the thing that he lacks the most. His health and energy(best feram) were enormous but stamina was left behind. Once he got to Imperium, he will try to increase it first. While the [Serial Killing Steps] was a movement skill that could increase the user''s speed by 20%. While using, the user''s stealth ability and backstab attack will also increase by 20%. The last effect of this skill was that the other movement skill that he had will have a 10% power up and he currently had a lot of movement skills in his arsenal. The only problem was that this skill can only be used for ten minutes at the cost of 100 stamina and 100 energy. It has a cooldown time of 2 hours before he could use it again. The two skill was completely compatible to each other. Decreasing the opponent''s speed by 20% and increasing the user''s speed by 20% could create a huge gap in a one-on-one battle. Chapter 573: Councils Attack: Imperium Chapter 573: Council''s Attack: Imperium Souta moved his body from side to side as he avoided the attacks of the nine A-rank experts that were after him. Since he activated the [Serial Killing Steps], the effect of [Cat''s Speed], [Shadow Steps], [Agility Boost], and [Dash] had been raised by 10%. It was good as if all these four movement skills had experienced an upgrade. "What?! He''s faster!!" "Shit! Don''t give him a chance to attack!" The A-rank tried to get close to Souta but it was already too late. Souta used the field of [Hunter State] to target five of them. The five target''s speeds will decrease by 20% and they will slowly lose their advantage in number. [Crimson Moon]! Souta slashed his sword and a red energy blade flew towards the A-rank experts. Boom! ''Shit! I wanted to cast some spells but it will take some time.'' He cursed inwardly. ''I thought that you''re a genius.'' Saya said. ''No one said that I''m a genius.'' He complained to her. Souta could build a basic magic circle of a tier 1 spell but his building speed was still low. To build the magic circle of the most basic tier 1 spell could still take him five seconds. Thanks to Eilish, he could properly cast spells without relying on the system but it was still not enough for a proper battle. His enemies could kill him before he could cast those spells. "I''m gonna do it like how I do it usually." Souta muttered as he flew around faster. His target fight now was the five A-rank that had suffered from the decrease of twenty percent movement speed. For him, they were the easiest to kill. [Solid Hunter State Boots](Dark): A pair of boots that were created by Frozen Blacksmith Yunhar Ten thirteen thousand years ago. Yunhar is an elf that wanted to surpass the creation of dwarves and before he died he created this pair of boots as his masterpiece. Effect: +300 Agility, +250 Dexterity, +50 Strength, +50 Intelligence, +50 Vitality +100 Energy, +200 Health, +50 Stamina, +10% physical and energy defense Skill: [Hunting State], [Serial Killing Steps], [Rapid Demolition Spring] He charged towards them but the other four prevented him from approaching the other five A-rank experts. Boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions occurred as Souta exchanged high-speed blows with the A-rank. Even though he was in his normal form, he was slowly gaining an advantage in fighting several A-rank. He couldn''t do this before and he would probably suffer a defeat if he fought several A-rank alone in his normal form. "Tch!" Eztein was annoyed as more than ten A-rank experts were trying to take him down. "The council will come at us in full force next time. I''m afraid that we wouldn''t be able to escape if that happens." He shifted his body as a spear passed beside him. He realized how enormous the council was as an organization. It controlled hundreds of high worlds and some of those high worlds were stronger than his home planet. Whoosh! He grabbed one of the A-rank in the neck and several spikes burst out of his hand trying to pierce the defense of A-rank. "You will not be able to escape!" Eztein used his power as a peak S-rank to pin down the A-rank before he stabbed the A-rank with his halberd. Once he got ahold of his enemies, they wouldn''t be able to escape him. The difference between an A-rank and a peak S-rank was huge. The only problem was that the enemies were good at using their numbers to suppress him. "Just die you bitch! You shouldn''t have joined the council!" He pulled out his halberd as the A-rank drew its last breath. Suddenly, he felt fluctuations of energy beside him. Turning his head, he saw a powerful ray of lightning coming in his direction. "Holy mother of sweet chickens!" He tried to dodge it but it was already too late. The lightning ray was too fast and it was already close enough to him. Bang! He could only cross his hands in front of him as the lightning ray smashed him. Boom! Hours have passed quickly since the battle started... Souta and the rest were getting pushed back. Isabella who was inside the fortress was concocting potions nonstop to provide it for battle. The battle was too intense as hundreds of people from the council had perished and on Souta''s side, they suffered the same. People died and the bloodshed continued. "Just hold on for a while. The transportational gate will be active soon." Torkez''s voice echoed as his mana passed through everyone. He had to do this as normal sound couldn''t travel through the vacuum of space. "Oh, fuck! Finally, I''m getting tired of fighting these bitches!" Eztein breathe a sigh of relief as he launched a series of stabs at his opponents. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Huff! Souta wiped the sweat on his forehead as the wound on his cheeks slowly closed. Even with the help of three SS-rank experts, they could hardly defend the Guardian Fortresses. As expected, the Council of High-World was a powerful organization just like in the game. Up until now, he hasn''t used his [Monster Orb Release]. Using that form will drain his stamina and energy at high speed and he wouldn''t last several hours in battle. Even if he killed dozens of A-rank, the council would just send more reinforcement. It was impossible for him to fight for hours in his [Monster Orb Release]. "I lost count of how many people I have slain... I''m already dead tired but I need to keep fighting." Souta could only grit his teeth. This was for his own growth. He knew that the Council of High-World was still beyond his league but he still choose to offend them. Because he knows that the council didn''t want to enter the land of Imperium. It was the safest place for people that offended the council. It was contradicting his goal right now to never confront a god-level powerhouse. There was a reason why he did this. He knew that the five gods of the council wouldn''t move this time. In the game, the five gods were preparing for the event that will occur. The boost of his two new equipment was huge. Even the added stats of his new universal artifact was too great that it placed his normal form above A-rank but below S-rank. This advantage will decrease if the enemy had high-grade equipment like him. Unfortunately, the soldiers of the council only had a set of purple grade equipment. It was a grade below orange and a grade above blue. The only soldiers that had orange grade equipment from the council were the team captains. In one hundred soldiers, there were ten team captains and those people were leading the attack. Their equipment was low for Souta''s perspective but the people on Souta''s side, they were high. The top forces of the council had higher grades of equipment. Boom! Boom! Souta waved both of his hands and the ten black balls around him rotated quickly. Ohm! In the next moment, dozens of gigantic asteroids flew towards the direction of the council''s soldiers. The smallest asteroid had a diameter of one hundred kilometers. "Huff... Damn! I''m too tired..." Souta''s chest was heaving up and down while looking at the council. While contemplating what he should do next, Torkez''s voice echoed. "It''s finished! Everyone! Enter the range of the transportational gate!" Everyone turned serious as Torkez''s words as they enter the range of the gate. This means that the next battle was the last battle before they arrived in the Imperium. Since this was the last, the difficulty was flared up and at this moment most of them were dead tired. "Just a little bit more and we will survive this. Do your best to survive, everyone." Souta''s voice echoed. He noticed that the soldiers of the council had stopped pursuing them. It means that the council had calculated all the movement patterns of the transportational gate. They were waiting on the other side. "We''re going to Imperium! Everyone prepare yourself! We couldn''t directly enter the atmosphere of the Great World using the transportational gate as the mana in the atmosphere is too thick! So we''re landing there in a normal way!" Torkez explained to everyone as he pressed the button and a bright light covered the entire fortress. Swoosh!! In the next moment, Souta and the others found themselves close to a huge planet. The Great World Imperium. The Imperium was covered in white layers of mist and no one from outer space could see what was inside the Imperium. This layer of white mist was a huge concentration of mana that could block the perception of creatures outside Imperium and it could also prevent anyone from directly moving through space. There was a sun and three moons revolving around it. The moment that they saw it, they felt a strange sensation inside their heart. It feels like someone was telling them that this was the center of everything. The origin of creation and destruction. The source of all things. The Divine World, Imperium. Chapter 574: Councils Attack: Entering the Imperium I Chapter 574: Council''s Attack: Entering the Imperium I "So this is the famed Imperium... The Divine World of legends..." Eilish muttered as she stared at the huge planet with a mesmerizing look. She dreamed of seeing this legend in the past and now, it was before her eyes. She could hardly believe it. "The home planet of our leader..." Eztein stared at the white planet as he felt a strange sensation flowing inside his body. Everyone was staring at the famed World of Gods. A world where gods and myths exist. A world that is filled with unknown resources that they haven''t seen before. A world that they only know in books. Most of them thought that the Divine World was just a myth. And now, it was lying before their very eyes. The sensation was real so there''s no doubt that this was really the Great World. "We''re finally here. It''s been a long time since I felt the natural energy of Imperium." Alice said in a low voice as she narrowed her eyes. She recalled what''s happening in Imperium right now. The barrier has partially opened and the demons have arrived in the two continents, the God''s and Giza Continent. War was happening at this moment and countless people have lost their lives. She knew that the demons were brutal to their enemies so she had an idea about the things that happened to the people that got captured alive. ''According to what I know the Great Barrier will disappear soon and people from other continents will be able to travel throughout the entire Imperium.'' Alice said inwardly as she silently glanced at Souta. Souta covered his eyes with both of his hands. He felt extreme pain assault his eyes the moment he looked at Imperium. "Souta! What''s wrong?" Alice hurriedly went to his side and asked him in a concerned tone. "I-I''m fine..." Souta was breathing heavily and he was drenched in sweat. He recalled what he did see when he looked at Imperium when his eyes adjusted trying to see the truth. A gigantic ball of dense energy. It felt like he was looking straight at the sun when he was still weak. The ball of energy had energy veins around it and those veins spread out in the entire outer space. It was connected to the sun, moons, and the planets around it giving off a strange feeling as if it was alive. Some of the veins disappeared in outer space as they traveled through dimensions. It was as if it was holding everything in place. But some of the veins were slowly retreating, removing their connection with the planet, galaxies, and other celestial bodies. It was cracking, moving in an unorthodox manner as the veins started to fade in outer space. The gigantic ball of energy, which was Imperium, was beating wildly. There were stains in its pure white blue color. The dark purple energy dot on its surface was slowly spreading as if it was corrupting the entire world. Deep within it, a huge eye opened and looked back at Souta. It was at that moment that Souta felt a stinging pain in his eyes. ''W-What is that?'' Souta was shocked as he kept recalling the things that he saw with his [Galaxy Eyes]. ''Saya?'' ''What''s wrong, Souta?'' Saya asked. ''Is Imperium a living being? Or who the one named Imperium?'' Souta asked her as he glanced at the sword in his waist. ''Imperium? A living being? I don''t think so but I think that our universe is a living being. After all, there are administrators that seem immortals. No matter how many of them that you killed, they will simply respawn in different places. But no one can prove that there''s a higher being. Even gods didn''t know who or why the administrator was created.'' Saya said to him. Then, what did I see in Imperium? Just what is that eye? Souta pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe, this was the reason why they said that the Imperium is the focal point of the universe. After all, he could see those energy veins holding everything. If the Imperium disappeared then everything would fall apart including those dimensions. It will be the end of everything. Boom! Boom! He snapped out of his thoughts when several explosions occurred around him. "Damn! The Council?! They really are persistent!" Souta gritted his teeth as he turned his head sideways looking at the army of the council that just arrived. "Everyone! Prepare yourself! This will be the last battle! After we enter the Imperium, they will not be able to chase after us!" Everyone was exhausted. Torkez hurriedly controlled the Guardian Fortress to flew through the Imperium. The two fortresses moved and the army of the council quickly chased after them. The battle started once again just like that. Boom! Boom! Boom! "Hmm? They even sent an Extinction Realm expert this time..." Eilish narrowed her eyes as she sensed the aura of four Extinction Realm experts. "There''s only three of us so are we going to fight them?" Elder Guan asked. "No, we are not going to fight them. We are just going to hold them until everyone enters the atmosphere of that planet." Elder Hanmi replied. "The two of you don''t want to let the other witches fight an Extinction Realm. The casualties will be higher if we let one of them pass us so there''s no other choice." Eilish shrugged her shoulder as she looked at the two elders. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The three of them flew at high speed and they collided with the Extinction Realm experts of the council. BOOM!! Souta glanced at their battle with a serious expression. It seems that it was a good idea not to drop Eilish when they were traveling. She really helped him a lot this time and he would pay her back. He wouldn''t forget her help. Ohm! "Souta, a group of people is blocking us on the front!" Torkez''s voice sounded. Souta quickly turned his head and saw the soldiers of the council on the other side too. ''They are attacking us from the front and behind! This is going to get tricky!'' The enemies behind were being held by the three shackled realms along with their subordinates. What about the front? Souta and the others had to do something about it so that they could safely enter the Imperium. He wiped the sweat on his forehead before he said, "Torkez, launch the Mana Convergent Bomb. Just destroy them and used everything." "I understand." Torkez nodded and he commanded his subordinates to prepare. In the next moment, they launched several Mana Convergent Bomb in front of them. The bomb exploded at the same time causing a powerful wave of energy in the entire field. The blinding light erupted and everyone couldn''t help but covered their eyes with their hands. The heat waves traveled through the space like a tidal wave in the sea. BOOM! Even the two fortresses were pushed back as the explosion caused by several Mana Convergent Bombs was too powerful. "No matter how much I see it, those bombs are really powerful," Eztein commented. "We still have something to do, you know? We have to fight the people that survive the explosions and only strong people could survive that. Expect that it will be a hard battle." Souta said to him. "I know." Eztein nodded. "But don''t worry, the others are going to arrive soon. Doranjan and Yuko will be able to help us." Souta said. "Confirm. I''ve got a visual of our enemies. Half of them died and they are currently organizing themselves. We could use this chance to kill a few of them." Torkez said. "Okay. Let''s go, Alice, Eztein, Franklin and some of you follow me. We''re going for the kill." Souta said as he flew towards the enemies. "Good. I''m waiting for this." Franklin smiled. Eztein, Alice, and the rest nodded at him. The group charged at the enemies with an imposing aura around them. They were ready to fight and kill the people that got in their way. ... Torkez, who was inside the fortress, was watching the battles. He sighed and said, "It still isn''t enough. The witches couldn''t hold the enemies on the back anymore. We have to pass through before that happens or else we would suffer heavy casualties." ''Just a little bit more and the reinforcement will arrive.'' He said to himself as he stood up and picked up his weapon. He took a deep breath and said, "Call the rest of the people that can fight. We need to provide backup to Souta." "Yes, sir." One of the people that were controlling the fortress nodded at him. "I will fight too. I don''t think that forging weapons at this moment will help us resolve our current situation." Gragas said as he entered the control room with a huge hammer on his shoulder. "Sure, I will not reject people who wanted to fight at this moment. Just a little bit more and we will be able to enter the atmosphere of Imperium." Torkez nodded. Gragas was an S-rank expert so his help was welcome. The army of the council was overwhelming. It has four SS-rank experts and more than thirty S-rank experts. The number of A-rank was over one hundred. ... "I''m going all out. Alice, Eztein, support me." Souta said before his body inflated turning him into a three-meter tall monster. "Alright." Alice turned into her demon form. "Got it, boss." Eztein coated his whole body with a huge amount of mana. Chapter 575: Councils Attack: Entering the Imperium II Chapter 575: Council''s Attack: Entering the Imperium II For the final struggle, Souta will stop conserving his energy. He would go all out in this battle. Boom! His body inflated as black mist spread out in the area around him. The thick best feram spread out and it pressured the soldiers of the council. The bloodlust was too thick that it made the people around him shiver. [Dark Cloud Hunting]! A huge hand stretched out from the black mist and it grabbed the head of the A-rank soldier. "N-No!" The A-rank soldier screamed as the grip on his head tightened as if it was trying to turn his head into meat paste. "Die!" Souta roared as he stabbed the A-rank using the sword in his hand before he smashed him into the other A-rank soldiers. Bang! Then, he opened his mouth widely and a huge concentration of best feram gathered in his mouth. Ohm! In the next moment, he fired a powerful [Bestrou] at the group of A-rank soldiers. Boom!! Souta hasn''t heard the system notification yet so he knew that the group of A-rank was still alive. "So resilient..." He stretched out his hand and he created a net using his webs. The net spread out trying to catch everything inside the explosion. At the same time, two red rays flew towards him. The rays were exuding an intense heat that could damage his exoskeleton armor but Souta ignored the two red rays. He could trust the people that he brought. Swoosh! Swoosh! Alice and Eztein went to his sides and blocked the two red rays so that he could focus on piercing the council''s formation. Souta didn''t even look behind as he charged forward. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! Black lightning rained down on the A-rank soldiers inside the net. The net was made of Souta''s best feram and they wouldn''t be able to cut it easily. Also, the gravitational field was trying to enclose the soldiers in a single position so that he could focus on eliminating them in one combo. "I''m not done!" [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [Bestrou]! [Cross Moon]! With the help of Saya stabilizing the intense energy, he combined the three skills into one slash. The power of the slash was tremendous and the space itself was trembling. The group of A-rank soldiers could only watch as the slash swallowed their bodies. They were annihilated. Not even a corpse was left after they took a direct hit from that powerful slash. Boom!! Souta exhaled as he looked ahead. He was close to reaching his limit but he knew that they could make it in Imperium. He wouldn''t risk this one if the chances were low. It was extremely dangerous and he could die. He looked around and with a wave of his hand, he gathered all the souls of the people that died in this place. ''Can you still keep up with them?'' Saya asked him as she could feel his exhaustion from his breathing. ''Yeah, no problem. I can still fight for at least five minutes.'' Souta replied to her. Shiing! A pillar of light shone in the middle of the battlefield. Eztein, Alice, Franklin, Souta, and the rest turned their heads. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this scene. "Finally, they are here," Torkez muttered. The last Guardian Fortress has arrived. It means that Yuko and Doranjan would be able to help them. Also, the last Guardian Fortress still had a lot of Mana Convergent Bomb stocked. They could simply use those bombs to push back the council''s soldiers. "Surely, my work will turn easier now that they are here. Probably." Eztein commented before he focus his attention on the council''s soldiers. Alice turned to Souta and said, "Souta, we should move now." Souta took a deep breath before he nodded at her. Then, he opened his mouth and said, "Everyone! We are going to enter the atmosphere of the Imperium! So focus on moving towards the Guardian Fortress! Don''t bother the enemies in this back! Just focus on those soldiers that are in our way!" His voice resounded in the entire field. He was using [Monster Language] to pass his thoughts in his voice so only people at his side could hear his words. The people from the council could only hear a roar as Souta didn''t pass his thoughts to them. ... Eilish stopped for a moment as she looked behind, "We need to move now. It seems that it''s time to enter the Great World." She glanced at the two elders and the two nodded at her. "Alright, one last attack to keep them busy." Elder Hanmi said as he gathered a huge amount of mana in his palm. Then, he transferred his mana into his soul weapon. [Flying Piercing Needles]! His soul weapon was twelve silver needles. They were comparable to dark grade weapons and it was even better to some of them as the abilities of Elder Hanmi''s soul weapon were compatible with his fighting style. "Fine, I''m going to cast a huge spell so keep those four busy for a while," Eilish said as she grabbed her staff with both of her hands. The mana around her flared up as a magic circle started forming beneath her feet. She was going to cast a powerful tier 3 spell. "Got it." Elder Guan nodded at her and he looked at Elder Hanmi. Both of them charged towards the four SS-rank soldiers of the council. Boom!! ... The three Guardian Fortresses were here. Yuko, Doranjan, and the Red Dragon quickly went out of the fortress to help the battle. With the help of the monsters, the Guardian Fortresses managed to pierce the formation of the council''s soldiers. Everyone was trying their best to breakthrough but the council wasn''t giving in. The amount of B-rank and A-rank experts in the council was higher than on Souta''s side. Luckily, the witches and Eilish''s subordinates were filling up those gaps. Even then, the council''s army still had a slight advantage in terms of numbers. "Back me up!" Souta said as he continued to charge forward with great momentum. He already cut down dozens of A-rank and now the soldiers that were standing before his eyes were S-rank. "It will be hard to push through them," Eztein commented as he glanced at Souta. "Just focus on assisting our leader," Alice said to Eztein before she focused her attention on Souta. "Fine." Eztein shrugged his shoulder with a helpless expression. He couldn''t refute her. All the people treated her as Souta''s right-hand man and the way Souta treated her was different from the rest of them. Souta activated his buff skills as he collided with an S-rank soldier. Boom! Both of their figures were thrown away. "Ugh!" Souta wiped the corner of his mouth and he glanced at his [Armored Scale Formation]. The black armor around his body had several dents on its surface and cracks were spreading out. "Huff..." He activated [Possession] along with the power of the queen of parasitic essence eater. His body grew taller once again and he looked more savage right now. His wounds were regenerating at high speed. He shook his body before he charged forward once again. This time, Alice and Eztein followed behind him to deal with the unexpected attacks from the enemy and also to provide help if they were trying to gang him up. Boom! Boom! Boom! "Damn! There''s too many of them!" Souta cursed as he activated the equipment skill of the [Solid Hunter State Boots]. His speed had increased as he exchanged blows with five S-rank experts. Alice and Eztein were separated from him as four S-rank soldiers attacked them. Suddenly, Souta heard a notification in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Escape]: Escape from the pursuit of the Council of High Worlds within five minutes. A four shackles expert along with 5 three shackles and 9 two shackles experts will arrive in your position within five minutes. Escape immediately if you don''t want the Council to capture you. Rewards: 10 skill points, 20 free attribute points, and 500,000 exp ''Oh, shit!'' Souta cursed inwardly when he said saw the message. Eilish, Elder Guan, and Elder Hanmi were only one shackle expert. None of them have broken two shackles so how are they going to fight the incoming reinforcement from the council. The one, two, and three shackles were called SS-rank. Since Eilish and the two elders only broke one shackle, they were only at an Early Stage SS-rank. They weren''t even at the intermediate stage or peak stage. The worse case here was that the reinforcement had someone at the SSS-rank level. Four, five, and six shackles were called SSS-rank. The remaining four shackles were Hero-rank. Although he got stronger by getting a piece of dark grade equipment and a universal artifact, it was still not enough to fight a shackled realm expert. At the very least, he could only fight several S-rank experts just like what''s happening at this moment. Before, the maximum S-rank he could fight with him as the offensive was two Peak S-rank. Three if the S-ranks were just an early or intermediate stage. "Kill them all!" Chapter 576: Councils Attack: Entering the Imperium III Chapter 576: Council''s Attack: Entering the Imperium III ''One final push and we''ll be able to breakthrough.'' Souta said inwardly. He had to make sure that they will get in Imperium before the reinforcement of the council arrives. He slightly turned his head and glanced behind him. Everyone was trying their best to fight the soldiers of the council. But he knew that this wasn''t enough. Yuko and Doranjan have arrived and it only fills up the people that were tired from battle. The monsters, led by Red Dragon, were pushing the right flank of the enemy''s formation. They were doing great unlike the rest who were dead tired from fighting nonstop battles. "Souta, we won''t last long if this keeps up," Alice said to him while fighting an S-rank soldier. "I realized that too. We need to make a move that will disrupt the enemy." Souta replied to her as he charged forward and clashed with the five S-rank soldiers. Boom! Boom! Boom! He already activated two out of three equipment skills of the [Solid Hunter State Boots]. It slowed down his opponents and increased his speed. It also increases the effect of his [Cat''s Speed], [Dash], and [Shadow Step]. Souta''s speed was raised to the limit as it let him keep up with five S-rank experts alone. He was equally changing blows with the five of them at the same time. Dozens of flame spikes rushed towards him and he sliced the spikes using the [Cross Moon] skill. Bang! "Our leader is really something else... He is already exhausted fighting nonstop in the frontline yet he could still keep up with five S-ranks alone." Torkez commented as he glanced at the frontline. The people that were fighting on the frontline were Souta, Alice, Eztein, Franklin, and some of the S-rank witches. They were trying to breach the tough formation of the council''s forces. "We should go now." Gragas, who was beside him, said. "Yeah, we should do our best too," Torkez said before he charged forward. Swoosh! "I''m going to sneak around and cut down the numbers of the enemies," Isabella said before she disappeared from her position. Gragas glanced at her before he shrugged his shoulder. Then, he followed Torkez. ... Bang! Souta was blown away as he received a powerful attack from his opponents. His wounds quickly closed as he stared at the five S-ranks who were rushing at him. ''I will cut down one of them.'' When the five arrived close to him, he quickly casted the [Dark Cloud Hunting] and used the gravitational field to push away the four S-rank. He would focus his attention on one of them first. If he succeeded, then he will only have to fight four of them later. As soon as the gravity field was activated, Souta stretched out his hand and a string of spider web flew out of his palm. "This is..." The S-rank didn''t have time to think about it as Souta pulled the web. Swoosh! "Ah!" He didn''t have a choice but to collide with this monster. He gathered a huge amount of energy in an instant as he pulled back his hand. He moved his eyes only to see seven humanoid shadows keeping up his four comrades. He quickly realized the plan of the monster in front of him. "So your target is me? It''s not easy to kill me!" He roared as he threw a punch forward. His fist tore the tough armor on Souta''s body as it created a huge gaping hole near Souta''s chest. Bang! "Arggh!" Souta endured the pain and he grabbed the head of the S-rank. A grin formed on his face and said, "I finally caught you!" [Blessing of the God of Hunt]! [Watching Prey]! [Soul Blood Mode]! [Element Drive: Dark Force]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [First Form: Mahayan Tribulation]! [Crimson Slash]! [Bestrou]! [Dark Shooting Ray]! Several skills were used at the same time. The best feram inside Souta''s monster orb and [Nebula Heart] rapidly decrease. A bright blinding light erupted in his direction. It shook the entire space as the dense wave of best feram disrupted the mana flow in the whole area. BOOOOOOMMM!!! In the next moment, the light disappeared and only a gigantic monster was left. He was holding the head of the S-rank in his hand and the black armor on his body was tattered. "Huff..." The monster slightly opened his mouth and white mist oozed out of it. Souta released the head of the S-rank and it floated near him. He finally killed one of them and it would make killing the other four easier. "Prepare..." He charged towards them at high speed. Since he activated his [Soul Blood Mode] and [Blessing of the God of Hunt], he needed to make sure to get rid of his opponents as soon as possible. Boom! Boom! Boom! The battle between Souta and the four S-rank wasn''t visible to ordinary people. They wouldn''t be able to follow their movements as their perception was too low. They would only feel the aftershocks of the battle yet those aftershocks could disintegrate all the creatures below C-rank. Even C-rank and B-rank could hardly see their figures. Shockwave after shockwave was sent out in the surrounding area as Souta exchanged blows with the four S-ranks hundreds of times. The [Doppelganger] was helping him keep the S-ranks in bay. Fighting four was definitely easier than fighting five of them much less when he was using the [Soul Blood Mode] and blessing. The four spider limbs on his back charged and it fired four [Bestrou] towards the four while using a gravity field to slow down their movements. The same tactics had worked once again. Souta zoomed the distance in one S-rank. He pointed the tip of his sword at the chest of the S-rank and used the attack skill of the [Solid Hunter State Boots]. [Rapid Demolition Spring]! "Wha-" The S-rank soldier opened his eyes widely as he looked at the scene before his eyes. Souta''s thrust the vajra sword forward thousands of times in an instant. Even the perception of an S-rank could hardly follow it. It was too fast as the S-rank got overwhelmed by the pure attack speed of the skill called [Rapid Demolition Spring]. It was fast yet the damage wasn''t that high so the S-rank managed to survive yet how could Souta let him go easily. Although it didn''t kill the S-rank, the damage it dealt was lethal. It left him on the verge of death. "Too bad." Using the four spider limbs on his back, Souta wrapped the S-rank in spider web before he used his finishing attack. The combined [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God], [Bestrou], and [Crimson Slash]. Boom!! "Two down!" Souta turned his head and said, "Let''s go!! Push them with everything!" The Guardian Fortress shoots several Mana Convergent Bomb once again. The time was ticking and the reinforcement would arrive soon. The five S-rank experts that Souta fought weren''t the only S-rank in the council''s formation. Alice, Eztein, Yuko, Franklin, Doranjan, and the others were fighting S-rank experts too. "Let''s push them!" Souta roared as a dense amount of best feram spread out. He clashed with the three S-rank and killed them using his finishing attack. The amount of energy that he had left was close to zero. The parasite queen was also reaching its limit. Souta was slowing down but he knew that he had to keep moving forward. [Insta Regen]! He used the equipment skill of his red grade ring to recover some of his energy. It was a huge help to him and he would be able to fight a little longer with this. "Huff... Just one more time." Souta muttered as he caressed the black and white bracelet on his right wrist. He had no choice but to use this so that they could safely enter the Imperium. He didn''t want others to know the ability of this bracelet yet. Just like the [Soul Blood Earring], the [Yin Yang Bracelet] was a universal grade artifact. The [Soul Blood Earring] didn''t give the user immediate power. But the power that it provides was permanent even if the user threw the pair of earrings. "I have already consumed the High Phaseless Fruit... So I have both light and dark attributes." Black and white tattoos came out of the bracelet and it scattered in the space around Souta. A strange fluctuation of energy swept out as the tattoos started to merge together. One was pitch black and the other was pure white. The two different color tattoos turned into two humanoid creatures. The white creature was twenty meters tall. It had a pair of white wings on its back. It also has a pair of wings on its waist and its head. The creature had four slender arms and it has a huge hole in the center of its chest. It didn''t have a face instead what was on its face was just a pure white orb. Three halos were hovering above its head and on its hand, it has a long golden staff. The black creature had the same height. It didn''t have eyes, ears, or nose. It only has a huge mouth that were filled with razor-sharp teeth. It was holding a huge greatsword that could slice through the thickest metals. It was covered with a gray robe but this robe was part of its body. It was filled with tiny sharp spikes. [Yin Yang Twin Spirits]! ''Only people that had dark and light affinity could use this equipment skill.'' Chapter 577: Councils Attack: Entering the Imperium IV Chapter 577: Council''s Attack: Entering the Imperium IV The [Yin Yang Twin Spirit]. One of the three equipment skills of the universal grade artifact [Yin Yang Bracelet]. The dark and light manifestations didn''t have specific power levels. Its ability depends on the user of the artifact. Although the [Yin Yang Twin Spirit] was just materializing two spirits, the two spirits that it manifested were unbelievably strong. They had their own skills and abilities. And all the abilities that they possess were high tier. It can be said that they were stronger than Souta who was in his [Monster Orb Release] form. They weren''t like his [Doppelganger] which could only be used to keep his opponent busy for a short amount of time. "Not enough!" Souta tightened the muscles in his body as he emitted a strange black and white light. He activated the second equipment skill of the [Yin Yang Bracelet]. [Yin Yang Unification]! The [Yin Yang Unification] was a skill that increases his dark and light abilities by 500%. The effect was too powerful for people that use these two specific attributes. Once activated, the unification mode will last for five minutes and it has a cooldown of one week. All the dark and light attribute skills of Souta will experience a huge change once this skill was used. "Let me break you!" Souta said as he charged forward to the formation of the council''s soldiers. The dark and light spirits followed him. It was like there was three Souta on the battlefield. Souta along with the two spirits were fighting another group of S-rank and they were pushing them back. The light spirit clashed with three S-rank and the dark spirit was the same. They were basically fighting six people at peak S-rank. And Souta who experienced an upgrade in all of his dark attribute skills clashed with seven S-rank at the same time. "What the hell is this guy?!" One of the S-rank said in frustration as he tried to block the greatsword of the dark spirit. Bang! He was blown away and when he regained his footing, he saw several black rays flying in his direction. "Shit!" Boom! "Settle down!" Souta made a grabbing motion as he activated the full power of the [Gravitational Ball]. The power of gravity grew by 500% due to the effect of [Yin Yang Unification]. The tier 2 [Gravitational Ball] spell could now rival a high-ranked tier 3 spell. The power of gravity was too much and it could crush anyone below A-rank in pieces. Yes, it could crush B-rank and it could restrict the movement of A-rank experts. Ohm! The entire field of gravity spread out in the surrounding area. The pressure prevented all the soldiers below S-rank from moving and it directly killed all the soldiers at B-rank. Their bodies just exploded and blood scattered everywhere. "How can we stop this guy?!" One of the S-rank said. "Just hold him for a while. Our reinforcement is coming." Another S-rank said. Swoosh! Swoosh! Seven shadows came out of Souta''s body and attacked the S-rank experts. Even his [Doppelganger] right now could give S-rank a trouble. Each shadow only had Souta''s seventy percent of stats and it couldn''t use any of his skills. With the [Yin Yang Unification], the overall stats of the [Doppelganger]s were raised to the upper limit. Each one was as strong as an early stage S-rank. ... Alice, Franklin, Eztein, and the others just stared at Souta with wide eyes. "What the hell is that? Aren''t our boss too powerful for his level?!" Eztein commented in shock. "Hmm... So that''s why he went to that planet," Alice murmured as she watched Souta''s figure directly annihilate all the B-rank in the area. "It''s not the time to be shocked with our leader''s ability! Let''s use this chance to move closer to Imperium!" Torkez shouted and everyone snapped out of their daze when they heard his voice. He was right, they don''t have a time to watch Souta''s fight. "Start to call the others..." They were going to slowly pull back their forces as they were close to Imperium. All the people below A-rank will start to return, then the A-rank''s turn, lastly the S-rank. Their leader once again surprised them and it gave them an opportunity. "I still want to fight but sadly everything has to end," Franklin murmured. ... With Souta''s lead, the three Guardian Fortress managed to advance forward. Souta was going all out with everything that he had got. No S-rank could fight him at the moment and he was manhandling all the soldiers below S-rank. At the same time, Souta felt like he was about to collapse every second that had passed. ''I could still go on.'' Souta squeezed all the energy that he could produce to hold all the enemies in their place. [Yin Yang Bracelet](Universal): A powerful artifact that holds the power of light and darkness. Effect: +500 All stats, +50 energy, stamina, and health regen, +20% elemental and physical resistance Skill(s): [Yin Yang Twin Spirit], [Yin Yang Unification], [Grand Demolition Space] He moved his body too fast as he struck all the S-rank experts before his eyes. Bang! Bang! Bang! Several S-ranks were blown away and some of them managed to block his attacks. But they didn''t expect the two spirits to follow Souta''s lead. The light and dark spirits delivered a blow to those S-ranks. Souta moved back a little bit and he turned to Alice. "Alice, come here! Tell Eztein to eliminate some of the A-rank that I restricted!" "Okay, I understand." Alice nodded and she flew towards Eztein and told him Souta''s words. "For real! I still can''t believe that our leader could restrain all the Extermination Realm experts in this place!" Eztein flew beside her and both of them went in different directions. The two started to massacre the helpless A-ranks. Those A-ranks from the council couldn''t do anything at all. They could only watch as Alice and Eztein delivered a fatal blow on their body. They could barely move because of the gravitational field restricting them. Bang! Bang! Souta glanced at the two with a satisfied expression. He was trying his best to control the gravitational field around him or else it would affect his comrade too. He wanted to control his ability like how Bargan controlled his flames. "Well, it''s still better than nothing." He murmured before he turned his full attention on the group of S-rank soldiers that were battling the two spirits and seven shadows. ... Eilish and the two elders arrived on the scene along with the other witches. The witches entered the Guardian Fortresses but the three decided to stay to keep their back safely. The others on the frontline too entered the fortresses as they were going to pass through the atmosphere of the Great World right now. "Go now!!" Torkez yelled and his voice echoed throughout the entire place. The soldiers of the council couldn''t do anything as they watched the three Guardian Fortress move. Souta, Alice, Eztein, and some S-rank witches were keeping them busy. "Finally, the Imperium..." Eilish muttered with a small smile on her face. She followed the fortresses after casting a spell. Even though she was exhausted from battle, there was still a smile on her face. After all, the legend that she could only read in books was within her sight. "Watch out!" Elder Hanmi shouted. Eilish and Elder Guan turned their heads and saw the four Extinction Realm experts manage to catch up to them. "You''re not gonna stop us!" Elder Guan and Eilish quickly enter into their fighting stance. They once again clashed with the four Extinction Realm experts of the council. Boom! Besides the Guardian Fortresses... Torkez watched the clash between several shackled realm experts with a gloomy look on his face. "They still followed us here. We don''t have a choice." He turned his head and shouted in the fortress. "Remina! Use the remaining energy of the fortresses to increase its speed!" "Yes, sir!" Remina, who was inside the control of the Guardian Fortress, nodded. She hurriedly used the emergency button to activate the remaining energy inside the core of the fortress. Once they used this button, all the energy inside the core will be used for speed only. The barrier around the fortress will disappear and various facilities can''t be used. "After this, everything will be fine..." Ohm! The Guardian Fortresses strode towards the atmosphere. Under the watchful eyes of many people, the three fortresses slowly got pulled by the Imperium''s gravity. They successfully entered the atmosphere and it was up to them how they were going to land on the famed Divine World. As soon as the fortresses entered the atmosphere, Torkez shouted to everyone. "Let''s go!" Several layers of flesh covered his body as he let the gravity pull his body. Isabella, Gragas, Franklin, Yuko, Doranjan, and the others followed suit. All of them used their parasite to cover their bodies. Swoosh! Swoosh! Vast and dense mana surrounded them and it made them feel like they were in the presence of a supreme being. The mana density of the Divine World was too high that it could crush ordinary mortals from any sub-world. "This feeling is uncomfortable," Franklin said with a frown. "The gravity is dozens of times higher than any of the planets we''ve been before," Torkez commented. All of them looked down and saw a vast land before their very eyes. Chapter 578: Back to Imperium Chapter 578: Back to Imperium "What should we do now, leader? Are we going to eliminate all of them?" Eztein asked. "No, there''s no time and we can''t kill all of them in a short amount of time." Souta shook his head. The three Guardian Fortresses had entered the atmosphere of the Imperium so there''s no need to kill all of the council''s soldiers. After all, they don''t have enough power to kill dozens of S-rank. The only thing that they could do was to keep them busy. "So we''re going back," Alice said. "Yeah, we''re going back to Imperium." Souta nodded with a serious look. "For now, retreat away. I will create a gravitational force that will slow down all these S-ranks." "Okay." "Got it." Alice and Eztein flew away from Souta. Souta used all of the energy left in his monster orb and [Nebula Heart] to create a strong field of gravity. It was a meat grinder for people below S-rank but this gravity field could only slow down the movement of people that solidified their mana. Although it couldn''t deal any damage to S-rank, it was still enough to buy them some time. Ohm! "Damn!" "Fuck!" "That monster had a strange ability!" "It''s my first time seeing a third evolution stage that is as strong as this one!" The S-rank soldiers were being pulled away. Their strong bodies were resisting the intense gravity around them. They wanted to follow Souta but they couldn''t do so as the seven shadows and two spirits attacked them once again. Bang! Bang! Bang! "Ugh!" Souta spat a mouthful of blood as his body turned back to its normal form. All of the active skills around him had disappeared except for the [Gravitational Ball] spell. "Souta!" Alice flew and supported him. "Thanks, let''s go now. This gravity field will only last for thirty seconds." Souta said to her. Exhaustion assaulted him and he could barely move his body now that he drained all of the energy in his monster orb and [Nebula Heart]. Even the energy in his parasite queen was gone. There''s nothing left. "I understand. Leave everything to me. You can rest now." Alice said to her as she glanced at the black hole-like thing that Souta created using the power of gravity. "I can''t rest... I... Don''t... Want..." Souta tried to say something but his vision slowly became blurred. He was slowly losing his consciousness. "You''ve worked hard. I will try to keep you safe." She muttered as she glanced at him who was in her arms. She turned to Eztein and nodded. The two of them flew towards the Imperium. ... The Guardian Fortresses passes through the atmosphere. They were descending too fast as the gravity of the planet was pulling them on the ground. "We''re here. It''s Imperium." The layers of flesh on Torkez''s face had returned inside his body. He looked around the vast and bustling land. "This is the Divine World of legends." Franklin muttered as he flew towards the Guardian Fortresses. "So this is Souta and Alice''s homeworld. The World of Gods." Isabella looked at the beautiful land before her eyes. She then slowly closed her eyes and felt the dense mana in the surrounding. "It''s just like what Souta had described. The restriction here is high because of the density of mana in the atmosphere." She could feel her speed and strength had decreased but she ignored it because of the refreshing feeling of the mana in the air. It was her first time feeling this. "This is also the place where the God of Hunt fought before..." Swoosh! The three Guardian Fortresses didn''t have enough energy to make a decent landing so they crashed on the ground like a meteor. Torkez, Franklin, and the rest of the S-rank witches supported so that the impact wasn''t that powerful. At least, the fortresses weren''t completely destroyed. They could repair it later and they could use its function once again. "We''re finally on this planet, but how can we know if we are inside someone''s territory or not?" Franklin said as he glanced at the plains around. "Let''s just wait for Souta and the rest. Since this is Souta and Alice''s homeworld, they have an idea where we are at this moment." Torkez said before he walked towards the fortresses. The humans, demis, and monsters that were inside the fortresses came out. They were quite dizzy because of the impact but they weren''t injured. There were no casualties when the fortresses crashed on the ground. Torkez breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his head and saw Yenxa staring at the sky. "Did something happen to our leader?" He asked in a low voice. Yenxa simply glanced at him and she shook her head. Then, she went back to stare at the sky. "I see. I don''t have to worry about the others. Still..." Torkez looked at all the creatures before their eyes. Their small group had grown into a big organization. Monsters, humans, and demis had gathered into one organization. It was thanks to everyone''s efforts. They should have a decent name and a symbol. If they got a name, they should start working like a real one and built their own facilities. ''Astros... That''s the name that Souta gave to the country that replaced the Great Astley Empire. Maybe, we could use that name too. I will ask Souta about it later to further organize the group.'' Torkez snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the voices of the people around him. "They are here!" "They''ve returned!" "It''s a success!" Elder Guan, Elder Hanmi, Eilish, Souta, Alice, Eztein, Yuko, Doranjan, Red Dragon, and some of the S-rank witches and subordinates of Eilish were slowly descending from above. All of them were covered in blood. They''ve experienced a great battle against the forces of the Council of High-World. "We''re finally here..." Souta sighed as he looked around. "You still haven''t rest. I told you that it''s fine." Alice glanced at him who was on her back. Souta was worn out and could barely move so she had to carry him. "Don''t worry about me. I can handle it." Souta smiled faintly. "You can handle it?! You can barely move in your condition yet you''re still acting tough. It''s better if you sleep and rest so that you can recover your strength." Alice said. "I still have a lot of things that I needed to do. Don''t forget that I''m a leader of this group and I should be the one handling it. It''s my responsibility as a leader. I needed to know how many casualties did we suffer in the battle." Souta paused before he added, "I''m not going to rest if my subordinates are still working after such a big battle. Everyone is tired too so I''m not the only person that is exhausted in this place." "Okay, fine, I understand." Alice sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Souta was too stubborn. "Sometimes, you should care for your well-being first. You will break if you didn''t rest properly. Not physically but mentally." "I''m pretty tough. Though I almost lost myself last time but it''s fine now. I washed those things before." Souta assured her. "I''ll trust you this time," Alice said. The two of them landed on the ground. Torkez, Franklin, and the rest quickly gathered in front of him. Alice looked at them and waved her hand, "There''s no need. Just give the reports to our leader. Our leader is fighting in the frontline nonstop so he is quite tired." "Don''t be like that, Alice," Souta said with a faint smile. He was leaning his back on a rock to prevent himself from laying down. "I''ll skip the formalities so I''ll go now. I''ll return after I calculate our losses in this battle." Torkez said before he turned around and left. Everyone understood that Souta pushed himself too far in this battle. He was the one fighting all the strong experts of the council head-on and keep pushing them so that the fortresses could advance forward. Souta looked at them before he glanced at the system. He received the notification that he completed the quest. He gained 10 skill points, 20 free attribute points, and 500,000 experience points. A quest with a reward of ten and above skill points was hard to come by. That''s why he was doing everything that he could if he triggered one. There''s no quest that he could repeat in this world like in the game so he had to check all the quests that he triggered. Up until now, he only completed a few chain quests, and chain quests were an important source of cards. Even in the game, he rarely encountered this type of quest and players would do everything just to trigger one. As for the great quest, it was the rarest type of quest. He was playing the Battle Worlds Online for ten years and the times that he trigger such quest could be counted in both hands. While the chain quest that he encountered wouldn''t surpass thirty. Chapter 579: Conversation Chapter 579: Conversation Torkez reported their losses to Souta. The casualties that they''ve suffered in the battle were high and their three Guardian Fortresses couldn''t even move right now. It will take some time to repair it. Souta could only accept it as he knew that they were nothing compared to the Council of High-Worlds. If the reinforcement arrive at that time, then they wouldn''t be able to escape against an SSS-rank expert. He realized that the moment he entered the Planet Orina, the council noticed his presence. The council didn''t want any outsider on that planet as they didn''t want to share all the resources that can be found on that huge planet. So just by being there, he already provokes them. Well, it''s worth becoming their enemy as he got a universal artifact that could greatly boost his dark attribute spell. His [Gravitational Ball] spell alone could restrain all the creatures below S-rank. He didn''t even need to focus the power of this spell on a single position. Before, he had to personally fight and kill all the A-rank that got in his way but now... He didn''t need to do so. He could simply use his gravity and kill them using his [Doppelganger] which was equivalent to Early Stage S-rank if he activated the [Yin Yang Unification]. The artifacts that he got in Planet Orina could let him fight several Peak Stage S-rank at the same time and potentially defeat them. Souta watched everyone become busy. Not everyone had a parasitic essence eater in their body so some of the people were injured. They needed treatment. The most important thing was that they''ve arrived in Imperium. "So where are we, right now?" Alice asked. "God''s Continent." Souta simply stated. He didn''t even hesitate as he already the answer from the start that they were on God''s Continent. The Great Barrier wasn''t fully opened. Souta could enter this land without being suppressed and out of the seven continents of the Great World Imperium, only God''s Continent and Giza Continent were opened. The barrier in these two continents was long gone. Even the barrier in the Demon''s Land hasn''t fully opened. Also, when he entered the atmosphere, he saw the land and he was familiar with it. Alice didn''t know about it as she only know the Demon''s Land but Souta was different. He knew the seven continents of Imperium in the game. When the Great Barrier had disappeared, he traverses across the land to complete different quests. "God''s Continent? It seems that we couldn''t return to Giza Continent easily." Alice muttered. Souta glanced at her and said, "Yeah, so we''ll stay here for a while. If we want to pass return to Giza Continent then we need to pass through the Great East Sea where countless sea monsters live. Those monsters are territorial and they would attack us the moment they saw us. They wouldn''t even talk to us even if we tried." "Hmm... I see..." Alice nodded. That''s not the real reason why Souta decided to stay on this continent. The real reason was this land was currently the safest place for Alice as demon forces were pursuing her. The demon forces would slow down advancing in this land as one of the Seven Deadly Sins will launch an all-out attack on various major factions in this continent. It will become an all-out war involving the top powerhouses at god realm. Although, the battle here will be much worse. At the very least, the target of the Deadly Sins wasn''t him or Alice. It was the major factions, unlike the demon forces whose target was her. He could simply stay at the sideline and watch the story unfold before his eyes. He didn''t have enough power to join the battle so it''s better if he stayed out of it. No, no, no, not completely stayed out of it. There were a bunch of quests that he could trigger if the Deadly Sins attack. Especially, concerning the officers of the Deadly Sins. The Deadly Sins was a huge organization and Gluttony had followers. So fighting the followers of Gluttony was enough for him. He wouldn''t directly involve himself in Gluttony as it could result in his death. He was already concerned about Lucifer and he wouldn''t add Gluttony to that. Or else he wouldn''t know how he would die. "I will try to precisely know our location later. I couldn''t move right now so we''ll try it later." Souta said to her. "Okay... It''s my first time on God''s Continent. I only know about it from the books that I''ve read back then when I was still in the Demon''s Land." Alice said to him. "Well, it''s different. In the Giza Continent, the gods aren''t actively interfering in the affairs of mortals. Remember the gods of the Hebrei Kingdom, the gods of Hebrei haven''t appeared in the public for decades. Only the top echelons could meet the gods. Yet, in this land, the gods had always appeared and choose their heroes among mortals." Souta slowly explained to her. "Heroes? Is that the people that they choose to bestow their blessings, right?" Alice asked. "Well, it depends on gods. Some gods called them Apostles or Heroes. Once you reach god-level you can create your own name. As for me, I will simply call them Apostle. The Apostle Generals of my own army." Souta said with a smile. "Are you sure that you can reach that level? It feels like you didn''t doubt yourself." Alice asked with a small smile as she glanced at him. "Of course, if I didn''t die then I will surely achieve the level of gods. Are you doubting your leader? Sigh... I forgot that you have sworn your loyalty to me." Souta sighed as he teased her. He acted as if he was depressed. "What are you saying? I''m not..." Alice slightly raised her voice but Souta raised his hand to stop her from talking. "I''m just kidding. But I''m surely going to achieve the god level in the future. I''m going to live freely in this world. No one could hunt me if I''m stronger than anyone else." Souta said. "I understand you. Right now, demons are the most hated creatures in Imperium as my father''s army is attacking the Giza and God''s Continent. So I need to hide my identity all the time. I also have be to on guard with every people that I encounter in case they become suspicious." Alice said as she lowered her head. "The answer to most of the question is individual strength. If you are strong enough to dominate this entire then mortals and gods wouldn''t bother you even if you are a demon or monster." Souta replied to her as he sensed her sadness. "Just become powerful. Focus on training and I will help you when you need it." "I realized that too but reaching god level isn''t easy as you said, countless people dreamed of reaching that level yet only a handful of them succeeded," Alice said. "You''re the daughter of one of the most powerful demons yet you don''t have the confidence to reach your father''s level." "My father''s might is fearsome. Even I, his daughter, couldn''t understand the extent of his powers. Once I saw him easily kill a strong monster lord before. He wasn''t even serious at that time." "I understand it. It''s hard to explain but I know the extent of the top powerhouses in this world." Souta wasn''t lying. In the game, he saw Lucifer''s full power and it was really powerful. Ordinary gods didn''t stand a chance against him. "Don''t worry, we''ll reach that level in the future. Just focus on your development like what I always do. Train your power level and skills." "I know. It''s not like I''m not training." Alice said to him. "Can you help me stand up?" Souta stretched out his hand. Alice shook her head and helped him with a small smile on her beautiful face. Regardless of his weak condition, Souta still believes that he would be able to surpass the top gods. Now that they''ve returned to Imperium. Souta needed to start his plan. He had enough power to retrieve some of the equipment he had in the game. He will start it after he confirms their location in God''s Continent. But before that, he had to settle down first. He couldn''t bring all the people here to any city as it will arouse any officials. They will think that he was trying to wage a war. The Guardian Fortresses were enough as their headquarters but they needed to repair it first. The second thing was the resources. They needed to make a deal with some wealthy merchant so that they could get their daily necessities. Luckily, Souta wasn''t alone. He had capable people with him. Torkez had experience in running and creating an organization. After all, he was the founder of the rebel army that fought against the Great Astley Empire. He also had Alice with him who was a princess of one of the largest demon empires. Chapter 580: Departure Chapter 580: Departure The group was repairing the Guardian Fortresses. It''s been a week since they''ve arrived in Imperium and they haven''t tried to find any city at the moment. Souta decided to settle in this place. They will make this land their territory. The territory of their organization. In the past week, Torkez discussed things related to the organization. He said that it was better for their organization to have a name and he suggested to Souta the name Astros. Souta didn''t care about the name at all so he agreed to Torkez''s suggestion. There''s no harm if he would follow his subordinate. They were here to support him and he could rely on them sometimes. Souta also talked to Gragas. Gragas decided to join the Astros and he became the main weaponsmith of the organization. Well, even the weaponsmith of the Witch Clan couldn''t compare to him so they became Gragas'' subordinates. Gragas became the Chief of the Military Arms Department. Franklin was the Chief of the Noxious, the Assassin Corps of the Astros. Isabella was the second-in-command of the Noxious and she was also the Chief of the Potioneer Department. Torkez was the Chief of Finance, Research, and Secretary of the Leader. He was the third highest authority beside Souta and Alice. Doranjan was the General of the Feral Corps, an army made up of pure monsters. The highest authority that could command monsters besides Souta was him. Alice didn''t take any position so she just became Souta''s second-in-command. As for the witches and Eilish''s organization, Souta merged them into his own. He already talked to Eilish about it. He recruited her but she said that she didn''t want him to bound her so he didn''t transplant any parasite to her body. But her subordinates weren''t excluded from it. Souta transplanted parasites to her subordinates and they became a member of the Astros. He could let Eilish roam even without a parasite as she was stronger than him. But these people were weaker than him so they had to follow his rules and words. As for the witches, most of them became ordinary citizens. After all, not every witch was strong. Some of them were elderly, children, or just normal people. Eilish took the role of the General of Mage Corps. People who wanted to join the Mage Corps will be under her rule and they will receive her training to become a suitable war mage. The two elders had been given a high position too. Amanda asked Souta to form her own organization within Astros just like the Noxious and Souta gave his permission to her. Amanda became the Chief of the Witch Corps. The Witch Corps was entirely made up of witches. It became the strongest group within Astros because of the presence of the two SS-rank experts. There were still vacant positions but they could fill them up in the future after their organization grew larger. The main party of the Astros was named Blood Corps tribute to Souta''s in-game character. Alice, Eztein, Doranjan, Yuko, Torkez, Franklin, Isabella, Yenxa, and Amanda were the only member of the Blood Corps. Although some of them were leaders of a department, Souta still choose them. The Blood Corps were people that he could bring in his expedition. If Souta wanted to go to a city, anyone suitable from the Blood Corps would accompany him. They were also fighters that could fight beside Souta and Souta was the only person that could command them. ... Souta was in the training ground with Eilish. She was currently teaching him spells. He had been studying spells ever since she accepted his suggestion and Souta was working hard to properly cast a spell without relying on the system. Currently, he was perfecting the tier 1 spells. Although he didn''t need tier 1 spells, he still needs to study it as it was the foundation of higher tier spells. If he wanted to master tier 2 and above spells, he needed to master the lowest tier first. Luckily, his memory was high and he could easily remember all the important details that she taught him. "You''re getting better and better. It won''t be too long before you could instantly cast a tier 1 spell." Eilish praised him. "It''s nothing compared to the other people. There''s still a lot of things that I need to learn." Souta shook his head. "Yeah, after mastering the instantaneous casting you need to learn double-casting but I wonder how can your spells in battle..." "All of my spells are spells that I''ve imprinted in my inner consciousness," Souta answered her. "Inner spells didn''t need to manually build a magic circle as the magic circle is already in my inner consciousness. I just simply poured my energy into the magic circle to activate it. It''s simple as that." "But isn''t that insane... Most of the mages could only imprint up to five magic circles but you have dozens of them. One wrong move in imprinting could destroy your inner consciousness. It will affect your body." Eilish said to him. "That''s what I was trying to know. Why I don''t feel the burden of imprinting spells in my inner consciousness." Souta shrugged his shoulder as he acted as if he didn''t know anything. "Okay, that''s it. After you learn the instantaneous casting of tier 1 spell, you can come to me and I will teach you double casting. Just don''t forget to practice it at least four hours a day and you will get used to it soon." "I understand." Souta nodded. "So what are you planning to do? It''s been a week since we''ve arrived in Imperium and you show no sign of leaving this place." Eilish asked. "Hm... I will bring some people with me three days from now to find the nearest city. I just stayed here to recover but I should ask that question to you. You want to come badly to Great World but now that you''ve arrived here, what are you planning to do next by joining my organization?" "Me? It''s still too early for me. I''m feeling uncomfortable these days as my body hasn''t adjusted to the mana density of this planet. It''s too high and I felt like I''m being restrained." "I see. I will not pry deeply but if you want to know something about this world, you can just ask me or Alice. Alice and I are folks of this planet so we know a lot of things here than any of you." Souta said before he turned around and exited the training ground. ... On the next day... The organization could function properly. With this, Souta planned his next move to go to the nearest city. Their current resources were limited and they need to find merchants that could supply them. Souta chooses Alice and Eztein. Eilish will join too so there were four of them in total. She said that she wanted to come with him to explore the Great World that she could only read in books before. "I thought that you didn''t want to move," Souta said to Eilish. "Yeah, but I''m also curious about the city." "There''s nothing much difference between the city here and in your homeworld. The only problem is that the ordinary people here are ten times stronger than the ordinary folks there." "Oh? It''s interesting. Do you think that there''s a god in the city?" "Sigh... Gods wouldn''t show themselves easily. Even if you''re living in this place, you can hardly see a god in your entire life." "Alright, I still want to come with you." "Fine, I understand. Just listen to my word. I don''t want trouble to come at me. It''s a different matter if I will take the initiative to go to the trouble." Souta pinched the bridge of his nose. At least a shackled realm was going to accompany him in a city. Her strength was an assurance in an emergency situation. "So... Boss, where are we going to depart?" Eztein asked as he joined the conversation. "On the next next day," Souta replied to him. "Oh, then I need to prepare too." "Yeah, pack some potions that Isabella prepared. Also, some gold and silver ores. We need to exchange them for some coins." Souta said. "Is there something I can help with?" Alice asked. "Nothing. I don''t have anything else to do too so I''m going to train before we depart." Souta replied. "Then, I''m going to train too," Alice said in response. "Come with me. We''re going to increase our combat skills." The two went to the training ground. They entered Saya''s inner consciousness and trained their combat skills. Two days had passed quickly... Souta, Alice, Eztein, and Eilish had finished their preparation. They left after bidding their farewell to their comrades. "Too bad. I actually want to come too." Franklin sighed. "I wanted to see the power level of the people of this world." "That''s the reason why our leader didn''t choose you to accompany him," Torkez said to Franklin. "You''re too much. You''re much more aggressive than monsters." Doranjan said. Chapter 581: Heroes Chapter 581: Heroes The group traveled for a day until they found a dukedom. The dukedom was called Lubock and it has more than five hundred thousand population. Lubbock was a dukedom located at the western part of Hairin. Hairin was the land ruled by Dionysus, a powerful god from Mount Olympus. Judging from this, Souta knew that they were far from the demons. It means that they were safe for a while and didn''t need to worry about the demons. Well, it''s better to be cautious than to regret it later so they will still keep up their guards. Souta, Alice, Eztein, and Eilish entered the dukedom. The dukedom was lively and thousands of people were coming in and out of the dukedom every day. "Hmm... It''s pretty lively here." Eilish muttered as she looked around at her surrounding. "Do you think so?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "They are waiting for something," Alice said. "Something?" Eztein looked around. "Let''s find a place to stay first. Then, we''ll tour around the place while looking for a merchant we can make a deal with." Souta said to them. The group hurriedly finds an inn. Eztein and Eilish were pretty excited to explore a dukedom from the Great World. "I can feel the strength of ordinary people here but I haven''t seen someone that could rival me," Eilish said. "Do you think people that broke a mortal shackle is common here? No, they are pretty rare considering that most of the people that broke a shackle have high status. You wouldn''t see them walking around." Souta explained to her. "Mm. Those people are pretty much in noble households." Alice added. "I see." Eilish nodded her head. "Also, most of the people that have potential went to the capital of Hairin. They either wanted to join the god''s legion or make a name for themselves." Souta said. "Ow, then what''s the power level of the strongest person in this place, boss?" Eztein asked. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin before he said, "Shackled realm... I think. Maybe a solidifying realm." "Oh, then this is pretty much the countryside." "Yeah, you can call it like that." Souta nodded. "You said that people with potential went to the capital to join the god''s legion, right? Then, who is the god managing it? I haven''t seen a god managing a land before. I only know the gods from the council so I''m pretty much clueless about them." Eilish asked. "Dionysus is the god that''s ruling the Hairin. He is one of the top gods of the Mount Olympus and he was very powerful. The gods of the council wouldn''t win against Dionysus even if they fought him." Souta looked at them and said, "But I will warn you. Don''t mention the name of the gods easily as most of the people here worshipped them. You have to add Lord if you will speak about them in public." "That strong?!" Eztein was surprised. "Yeah, the gods of the council only have above average strength." Souta slowly explained the difference between the two. Mount Olympus is one of the Holy Lands of God''s Continent. No mortal could easily enter this land as most of the creatures that were living here were either gods or people that received the blessings of a god. The Council of High-World only had five gods yet the Mount Olympus had more than forty gods in its ranks. The difference was huge and even the non-holy land had three to six gods in their ranks. "So strong!!" Eztein muttered in shock. "And there are dozens of holy lands in this continent, right?" Eilish asked. "Yeah, Mount Olympus, Albios, Heavenly Court, Asgard, Takamagahara, Vaikuntha, Tir Na Nog, Aaru, and the Garden of Eden, are examples of Holy Lands," Souta said to the two. "All of those holy lands had more than forty gods?!" Eztein asked as he opened his eyes widely. "Yes, that''s why people from sub-world called Imperium the Land of Gods or Divine World because of the number of gods that''s living here," Souta said. The leader of the Holy Land was an insanely powerful god. They were sometimes called the King of Gods. They were comparable to the ruler of the three great countries, the great demon emperors, and the rulers of the notorious bringers of calamity. ''You know a lot of things in this continent for someone who came from the Giza Continent.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''It''s written in the books.'' Souta said to Saya as he shrugged his shoulder. The four went around the dukedom and talked to several merchants. They wanted someone that could provide supplies to the headquarters of Astros. It was already night when they found someone that fitted their condition. The merchant was a handsome ocean elf. "So your headquarters is in the west, outside of Hairin?" The ocean elf asked. "Yes, it will take one day before you arrive there. We have silver and gold ores that we could use to exchange for our needs." Souta explained to the elf. "Hm... Gold ores aren''t that attractive but silver ores are a different matter. I can take it but do you have other valuable things?" The ocean elf asked. "I have epic enchanting ores and some monster orbs," Souta answered after some contemplation. He had a total of 46 monster orbs of a third evolution monster, 26 monster orbs of a fourth evolution monster, and 100 kg of epic enchanting ore. He got all of this from the living labyrinth. He still had fifth evolution monster orbs but those things were too valuable and it''s beneficial to his growth. He wouldn''t sell it. As for the epic enchanting ore. It''s a metal that was added to increase the enchantment capacity of an object. The success rate of enchantment will be boosted by twenty percent if they had this type of ores so it''s pretty valuable. Souta had 100 kg of epic enchantment ore and he gave half of it to Gragas the moment he joined the organization. So he still had 50 kg left and he could sell 20 kg of it and he would receive thousands of silver coins. "Epic enchanting ore and monster orb?!" The ocean elf was surprised. "Yeah, so are you going sign our deal or not? It''s pretty good, you know?" Souta said without changing his expression. "It''s pretty good but are you sure that you have those things? I''m afraid that there are bandits waiting for me the moment I left the dukedom." The ocean elf said. He wasn''t strong as his power level was only C-rank so he was pretty cautious about people that could potentially deceive him. "Don''t worry, you''re not the only merchant that we are going to make a deal with," Souta assured the elf. "Also, you can ask some mercenary to escort you. That''s how merchants do things, right? They always hire mercenaries to guard them." "Fine, but first, let me see the other merchants." The ocean elf nodded and said. "I have no problem with it." Souta shrugged his shoulder. This was the limit of this dukedom. He could only find small-time merchants in this place not some large corporations like Lanny Corp. At this moment, bells rang around the entire city. Ding! Souta, Alice, Eztein, and Eilish raised their heads as they heard the sound of the bell. "Hm... The heroes are here." The ocean elf muttered as he turned his head in the direction of the city gate. "Heroes?" Eztein looked at the elf with a confused expression. He didn''t know what was happening. "They are people that received blessings of the gods." Souta explained. "Oh, they are here? I want to see them." Eztein was curious. Souta simply shook his head and smiled. He forgot that he hadn''t told them that he, Yuko, and Isabella has a blessing. He wondered what will be his reaction if he told Eztein that three of them has blessings. "Let''s take a look," Eilish said. "Okay, I''ll follow after I''ve finished this," Souta said to Eilish before he turned back his attention to the ocean elf. The ocean elf looked at him and said, "I already accepted your deal but let me see the other merchants first." "Okay. Then, let''s go." Souta turned around. The ground went near the city gate to watch the heroes. Thousands of people gathered on the streets as they also want to see the heroes of the gods. A lot of people dream of achieving it but only a few could make it true. "The heroes are here!" "Let me see!" "I heard that they will be dispatched to kill demons!" "The heroes are strong! They will kill those vile demons!" The people murmured to each other and their voices filled the streets. Souta and the others were on the sideline watching the entrance of the so-called heroes of the gods. ''They are here. It means that this place is their hometown.'' Saya said. Souta nodded and narrowed his eyes. The heroes had entered the gate and their group consisted of seven people. Three shackled realms and four solidifying realms. Chapter 582: Youre a monster, right? How about you talk to them? Chapter 582: You''re a monster, right? How about you talk to them? Souta''s eyes adjusted as he saw through the heroes that entered the city. The strongest one was a person that broke four shackles. The second was three shackles and the third was two shackles. The remaining was at the peak of solidifying realm. A powerful group of people have arrived but Souta knew that only the strongest one had received the blessing among the seven of them. The blessings that god could bestow to their followers were limited so it was impossible for everyone to have it or else there would be an army full of blessing users. ''SS-rank...'' He muttered inwardly before he averted his eyes. He was sure that if it was a person that broke one shackle then their group could handle it even without Eilish''s help. After all, they''ve gotten stronger ever since they fought Clan Leader Rowan in the Witch Clan Territory. "So strong..." Eztein muttered in shock. He could feel the aura emanating from the so-called heroes. "Three of them are above my levels. It was indeed a strong lineup." Eilish nodded at Eztein''s words. "But I wonder who''s the god they serve." At her words, Souta turned his head and glanced at their banner. He looked at their symbol and sighed. The god that these people serve was just an ordinary god of Mount Olympus. Although this was Dionysus'' territory, the people of this land can still choose which god they would serve. In the end, everything in Hairin was ruled by Mount Olympus, one of the Holy Lands. Becoming the heroes of the main gods of Olympus was several times harder than becoming heroes of ordinary gods. Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Poseidon, Ares, and the rest had high requirements. Sometimes people that wanted to join their legion died because of the harsh test. "The authority of heroes is just below the gods. In this land, they are above nobles, kings, and emperors." Souta shook his head before he looked at the ocean elf. He said, "Let''s go now. Let''s look for the other merchants." "O-Okay." The ocean elf was still in a daze looking at the heroes. He snapped out when he heard Souta''s voice. The group turned around and they stopped watching the parade. Alice who was in the back glanced at the heroes one more time before she followed Souta. These heroes would soon be dispatched to confront the demons in the war. Demons. She felt conflicted because she was herself a demon and every people in this city was calling them vile, cruel, inhuman, wicked, etc. ''The demon''s reputation isn''t good here too.'' It''s natural that the reputation of the demons wasn''t good. After all, the first thing that the demons did after the great barrier loosen was to attack Giza and God''s Continent. No one would have a good impression of the demon race after the invasion. The first impression was too horrible. At least for now, most of the races think that the demons were their enemies that they had to kill. It would be dangerous if the words got out that she was a demon. The group left and went to find merchants that they could strike a deal with. On the next day, Souta finished what he wanted to do in this place. He found three merchants that could bring them supplies and exchanged their products. He didn''t care about the heroes. He was just curious about the appearance of the heroes and he was satisfied when he saw their strength. He heard from the people that the heroes would stay here for a week before they went towards the frontline. The demon invasion wasn''t a big problem to the Holy Lands. Actually, they didn''t care about it just like how the three great countries of the Giza Continent didn''t care about the demons. The only people that cared about it were the people that were affected by demons or people that didn''t have the confidence to protect themselves. So heroes took this chance to make a name for themselves. They went to the frontline to create a legend of their own story. It was to get the attention of the gods and deities. To prove their potential. To increase their fame. To increase their authority. Souta and the rest left the dukedom after they told the location of the headquarters. "We''ve completed our goal so what are we going to do now?" Eilish asked with a curious expression. Alice and Eztein glanced at him. They wanted to know what Souta was planning to do. "Finding merchants isn''t enough." Souta shook his head. "We''re going towards the capital of heroes, the central point of all territory of Mount Olympus, the Champion''s Den." "Champion''s Den?!" "Yeah, the Champion''s Den is the city of heroes. It is a place where heroes gathered or people that wanted to become heroes." Souta explained to them what kind of place was the Champion''s Den. All kinds of strong people can be found in that place. From A-rank to God-rank powerhouses could be found living in that place. "W-Where going to that place?!" Eztein was shocked when he heard Souta''s explanation. "Indeed. It''s my goal for now." Souta nodded. Alice narrowed her eyes. Souta saw her look and said, "Don''t worry, nothing would happen to you." He knew her concerns. Her disguise wouldn''t work on people that achieved godhood so if they were going to a place that has gods, there''s a high chance that her identity would be revealed. "I know. I trust you." Alice shook her head. ''You really know a lot of things for a mere goblin. Oh, I recall that you''ve mentioned Athena before.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. Souta ignored Saya. He was going to follow some of the things that he did in the game. Of course, he knew the limitation of his current ability so he excluded the things that he couldn''t do with his third evolution strength. "I''m quite excited when I heard you''re explanation. I''ve broken one shackle but I haven''t seen a group of people above my levels." Eilish said with a smile. "Imperium couldn''t be compared to the people in your world. The difference is huge and the forces inside the Champion''s Den could easily annihilate all the forces in your world." Souta said. "It''s harsh but it''s the truth." Eilish nodded. "Boss, are we going to join the heroes?" Eztein suddenly asked and it gathered Alice and Eilish''s attention. "Hm... Joining a god''s banner isn''t bad at all. But well, let''s just see..." Souta smiled and didn''t answer directly. Champion''s Den was still quite far from their position. It was outside Hairin and it would take them several weeks before they could arrive in that place. A lot of things would happen before that. The group traveled for several days. They''ve received Torkez''s call that the said merchants have arrived at their headquarters. He negotiates with them and Souta told him to exchange the epic enchanting ores and some monster orbs in his room. It was their funds if they wanted to build a true headquarters in that place. After Souta said those words to Torkez, he didn''t interfere with the negotiation. Torkez could handle it and he trust that he wouldn''t let him down. It''s for the future of the Astros. It''s been five days and the group was in the middle of a huge jungle. "Are we going to enter this place?" Eztein asked. "Yeah," Souta simply nodded. "A dungeon. We could find treasures in this place." Alice said. That''s right. The group was standing in front of a cave, the entrance of a dungeon. The aura emanating in front of the entrance made everyone sure that there were two or more third evolution stage monsters living in this place. "There''s nothing to worry about, I couldn''t feel any danger," Eilish assured them. She was the strongest here and an ordinary third evolution monster was nothing to her. "Let''s enter," Souta said with a simple shrug of his shoulder. He could see that there were a total of seventy-nine monsters in the dungeons and three of them have reach the level of the third stage. They could easily clear it with the strength of their group so there''s nothing to worry about. "I wonder what kind of treasure is hidden in this place." Eilish wondered as she followed Souta behind. "Just normal treasures. Mid-grade potions and orange grade weapons." Souta said. "If this place has fourth evolution stage then we could find high-grade mana fruits and red grade weapons," Alice added. "Boss, you''re a monster, right? How about you talk to the monsters in this place?" Eztein asked. "Huh?" Souta tilted his head in confusion. What''s there to talk about? Does Eztein think that the monsters would simply leave their home when he said so? Even if he talked to the monsters here they wouldn''t easily surrender all the belongings here. In the end, Souta could only sigh and said, "Eztein put your position on the monsters inside the dungeon. Someone entered your home and suddenly demanded that they wanted your treasure. What are you going to do in this situation?" Chapter 583: Second Headquarters Chapter 583: Second Headquarters "Oh, I understand. If I''m living peacefully in a dungeon and suddenly a group of people came in front of my door wanting to take all the valuable things then I would get angry too." Eztein nodded. "In those monsters'' perspective, we''re just a group of robbers." Souta sighed. "That''s why it''s important to look at the situation from different perspectives. Sometimes, you would figure out how things work if you put yourself in your opponent''s point of view." "There''s a law that forbids stealing. Of course, the monsters aren''t included in that law. It''s only for humans and demis. In the end, that law only applies to cities as humans and demis would fight each other in the wilderness for wealth." Alice added. "I see... I understand now." Eztein nodded in understanding. Eilish opened her mouth and said, "Sometimes, humans and demis are much cruel than monsters. You would even wonder who are the real monsters." Monsters only fought for mates and prey yet humans and demis fought for every reason they could find in the world. "Let''s enter now and gather some valuable things," Souta said. The four of them entered the dungeon leisurely. With their strength, they didn''t have to worry about a third evolution monster. A peak S-rank like Eztein could kill a normal third evolution monster alone. Alice who was in the initial stage of S-rank could handle a third stage monster with her demon form. Souta was already stronger than the third evolution but weaker than the four evolution. His strength was abnormal even among the rare monsters. For Eilish, she was pretty much unstoppable. If there were six of her then she could subdue a normal fourth evolution monster. A shackled realm could already fight a fourth-stage monster to some degree. In short, one of them could clear this dungeon easily. Four of them entering the dungeon was simply overkill. Just like what they expected, they cleared the dungeon in an hour. All the valuable things inside become theirs and no one could refute them. Looking at the loots before his eyes, Souta recalled the time he took the other half of the [Soul Blood Earring]. At that time, he didn''t even dare to clear the dungeon because of the other third-stage monsters living in that place. Just one third-stage already gave his group a beat down to the point that they couldn''t fight another one. Yet, at this moment he could clear that level of dungeon alone with his current fighting power. He also recalled the time he fought Gregory. He even lost ten years of his lifespan for overusing Saya''s energy. Ten years of lifespan? He didn''t care about it right now as the lifespan of Blood Goblin was one hundred fifty years. He would evolve into the fourth stage soon and his lifespan would probably increase by three hundred years. As for monster lords, they didn''t have a lifespan at all. They could live forever as long as they wanted. Yet, even though they could live forever, he hasn''t seen someone surpass twenty thousand years old. The Great War. The God of Hunt said that it was because of the Great War that occurred. Is it a clearing? Wiping out most of the existence in the universe to reset it? It seems that it only occurred every twenty thousand years. "What are thinking, Souta?" Alice asked. Souta snapped out and he glanced at her. He remembered that only he and Isabella have an idea about the truth that happened twenty thousand years ago. Most of the living creatures in this universe didn''t know about it. What about gods, demon gods, spirit gods, and monster lords? Did they know about it? Maybe, some people have an idea because the God of Hunt wasn''t the only god twenty thousand years ago. Some of those gods must have left a clue to the Great War that occurred in the past. Knowing about something worse would occur in the near future only put a burden on Souta''s mind. It seems that the power of the monster lord wasn''t enough. He had to raise it to a higher level that no one had attained before. That unknown. He will reach it to ensure his survival. "Are the treasures not enough for you, boss?" Eztein asked. Souta turned to Eztein and shook his head. "It''s enough. It could help us." Then, he glanced at his surroundings. "This place could become our headquarters too. It''s pretty huge." "But it''s pretty far so how are we going to transfer our supply?" Eztein asked. "Object teleportation. Eilish knew how to place that spell as it was easier than the normal teleportation." Souta said. "Hmm... It''s pretty good. Just you know that object teleportation can''t be used on living creatures. It only works on objects." Eilish said with a nod. She then looked at Souta and said, "Actually, I''ve placed two types of teleportation in my room. It means that there''s point A so I just need to place a point B and I would be able to travel back to point A easily." "So you actually did those things?" Souta narrowed his eyes. "Yes, it''s for my safety. If someone dangerous occurred I just need some time to create point B to escape." Eilish explained. "Well, then we''ll use the Object Teleportation. Since you''ve already set up the first point then you can set up the second point here so that we could transfer these things back to the headquarters." Souta said to her before he took out a transmission talisman. "Okay, but it will take one day for me to permanently fix the point B in this place," Eilish said. "It''s fine. We can wait." Souta said. The thing that Eilish was trying to do was permanently create a portal in this place back to the Guardian Fortress. In this way, they could use the teleporter to transport objects into two different places easily. It wasn''t as simple as casting a magic circle. It was slightly the same as the one in Undead Sanctuary. Souta used a teleporter at that time to get out of the sanctuary and arrive at the Cursed Cemetery. A permanent magic circle embedded in the ground. While Eilish was preparing for her work, Souta called Torkez using the transmission talisman. "Leader, is there something you need?" Torkez asked politely. "Dispatch Franklin to my place and bring some people that could renovate structures," Souta said his location and slowly explained his plan to Torkez. "You''ve found a place that will become our second HQ?" Torkez raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, so I want you to dispatch some people to protect this place as soon as possible," Souta said. "I understand. I will quickly dispatch a group of people." Torkez nodded. "Good." Souta ended the call and he turned back to Eilish. He watched Eilish create a permanent teleportation spell on the ground. Since he was studying spell casting, he could learn a lot by watching an expert like her. Alice and Eztein also watched Eilish. No one dares to disturb her as they know the consequences if Eilish makes a single mistake in her work. The worse possible thing was that it would create a huge explosion that could heavily injure them. On the next day, Eilish had finished her work. She took a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat forming on her forehead. She used half of her energy in creating that permanent point. "It''s finished." She muttered. Souta stood up and he walked towards the magic circle on the ground. He squatted down and placed his palm on its surface. "We can use this properly." He turned around and said. "Eztein, bring all the loots here. We would transport it back to our base right now." Eztein brought all the looks and placed them on top of the magic circle. Ohm! A pillar of light enveloped all the loots and in the next moment, all the loots had disappeared. The loots have been transferred back to the Guardian Fortress. "Oh, it really works!" Eztein exclaimed. "Of course, it would work. I''m the one that creates it after all." Eilish rolled her eyes. Souta glanced at her and said, "You can rest now. I know that it needs a lot of energy to create a teleporter so you must have used a lot of your mana." "I understand but when are we going to depart?" Eilish asked. "We''ll wait until Franklin and the rest have arrived. We can''t leave this place without any guards after all." He said in response to her question. The group waited for several days until Franklin''s group arrived. Franklin brought thirty-five people with him and most of them knew how to build structures. They needed their skills to create a second headquarters for their organization. This place and the Guardian Fortresses will be connected in the future. With this, they could easily dispatch people to different places. On the next day, Souta''s group quickly departed. They were heading in the direction of the Champion''s Den. Chapter 584: Champions Den Chapter 584: Champion''s Den After traveling for several weeks, Souta, Alice, Eztein, and Eilish had finally seen the famous Champion''s Den. The huge and bustling city of heroes was before their eyes. "We''re finally here." Eztein sighed in relief while looking at the city before his eyes. "It took us a lot of time but seeing this city personally is different than hearing it from Souta''s story." Eilish smiled faintly. Souta simply smiled at her words. He took a step forward and said, "Let''s go." Alice followed him with a serious expression. She was worried that the gods would discover her identity. Although Souta assured her before, she still couldn''t help but become nervous when entering this city. The Champion''s Den. It was a city outside of Hairin so it''s natural that it took them several weeks. This city was in the center of different territories of the gods from Mount Olympus. If Mount Olympus was for gods, then the Champion''s Den was for heroes. This place had many opportunities and countless people dreamed of coming to this city. This city was twenty times larger than any cities that they''ve seen before. The population of this city surpassed forty million people. The people that were coming in and out of the city were countless. It was the most bustling city in the entire territory of Mount Olympus. Souta''s group entered the city and they began to look around like curious cats. Even Souta was curious at the surroundings even though he had been in this place before in the game. Well, when he went to this place in the game, the tension was already high because of Gluttony''s rampage. But at this moment, despite the threat of the demons, the people were still lively. They still trusted the heroes, champions, and warriors of the gods. They didn''t fear those demons. Stalls were lining up as the group passed through the huge gate. Elves, dwarves, humans, beastmen, and other rare races could be seen walking around and chatting to each other. Some of them were wearing armor and robes emitting a powerful energy that they couldn''t hide. "This city can actually make me tremble," Eilish said to Souta in a low voice. Although there were people with low power levels, there were people with a powerful aura in their surroundings. Eilish, who was observing the power level of the folks, could hardly maintain her balance. "Don''t pry them or else it would only bring you trouble," Souta warned her. She didn''t have [Galaxy Eyes] like him so she was using her senses to detect the power level of the people around her but some of the high-level people noticed what she was doing so they blocked her senses. "If you provoke people with high status in this place, then no one could save you with your current status nor your strength." Even Souta wouldn''t be able to save her. It''s better to know that the One Shackle Realm expert was nothing in this city. She had to realize that there were countless people above her level. There were God Realm experts in this city but they hardly make a move so most of the time, Demigods were the top powerhouse. "I understand." Eilish nodded solemnly. "As long as you understand. But the people here didn''t want trouble too. They don''t want to create a scene." Souta explained as he pointed at the group of armored people patrolling around. "Guards?" Eztein tilted his head. "Yes, the guards belong to Ares'' warriors, the God of War. They are the ones that are maintaining the peace of the city and the people that didn''t follow the rules would be imprisoned." The Ares'' warriors were one of the strongest legions in the Champion''s Den. They were fair and would only follow the rules. So even Demigods would think twice before creating a scene in this city. The Ares'' warriors only followed the command of their god, Ares. That''s the reason why ordinary people weren''t afraid of living in this place despite the countless experts around them. They were protected by the law. As long as they were in this city, the Ares'' warriors would protect the peace and innocent. The reason why Ares'' warriors were the ones managing the peace of the city was that Zeus asked Ares to handle it. Zeus was the King of Gods on Mount Olympus so naturally, Ares would follow Zeus'' command. Ordinary people didn''t know about it but Souta who learned it from the game was different. He knew a lot of things in Champion''s Den like the back of his hand. He also received his fame back there in this place. Becoming one of the greatest heroes of Athena. Her most favored child was him. Ah, this place really brings back memories... Souta looked at the blue sky before he closed his eyes. He inhaled the fresh air as if reminiscing the things that occurred here in the game. ''It''s peaceful.'' "Are we going to join a god''s legion?" Eztein suddenly asked. "Well, let''s visit the legions first before we decide," Souta said to him. "Oh, I''m quite interested in that." Eilish raised her eyebrows at his words. Alice just silently listened to their conversation. The group went to find a place where they could stay for a night first. After that, they toured around the city looking for the god''s legions. The first legion that they''ve found was Apollo. The legion in Champion''s Den wasn''t the main headquarters of Apollo''s legion. The headquarters in the Champion''s Den was like a secondary base for requirements. At the very least, the headquarters of the god''s legion in this city was huge. It contained tens of thousands of people that participate in all sorts of activities around the city. Even some of the main champions of the gods were living in this place. After they visited Apollo''s legion, they went to the other legions. It was already night when they''d finished visiting more than forty legions in the city. In the central plaza, Souta and the other three were standing in front of a thirty-meter tall monument. They were looking at the region ranking written on the stone monument. 1. Children of Zeus 2. Hera''s Warriors 3. Ares'' Warriors 4. Hell''s Paradise 5. Children of the Sea 6. Athen''s Champion 7. Hunter''s Bowl 8. Grains of Land 9. Forge the Sky 10. Maiden''s Heart Souta looked at the ten top list and sighed. The top ten legions were still the same and nothing had changed. Well, it will change in the future when the chaos spread. "Children of Zeus. Zeus is the King of Gods, right?" Eztein asked in a low voice. "Yes, he is the ruler of Mount Olympus. He is one of the strongest gods out there." Souta answered. He then began to explain the other legions so that they could understand it better. Children of Zeus, Hera''s Warriors, Ares'' Warriors, and Athen''s Champion had their god''s name in their legion. So people could easily guess the name of the gods that they serve. As for Hell''s Paradise, they served Hades, the God of the Underworld. Poseidon, God of Sea, was the god of the Children of the Sea legion. Hunter''s Bowl was Artemis while Grains of Land was Demeter. Forge the Sky was Hephaestus and lastly the Maiden''s Heart, the Top Ten, was Aphrodite. He also told them some of the powerhouses in each legion. Eztein and Eilish were shocked after listening to his words. Souta didn''t exaggerate the power of the legion as he simply told them the truth but it seems that this was still beyond their imagination. He could understand as they came from the sub-world where the strongest individual was only at SS-rank. The difference was huge and even the weakest legion below the top forty still had Demigods in their ranks so how could any of the top organizations in their home planet could rival it. "Let''s go back for now," Souta said to them. They could see that they weren''t physically tired but mentally. The city widened their view. It''s better as they could develop strong mentally as they know that there''s someone higher above them. Souta then turned his attention to Alice. "Are you feeling well?" He asked. He noticed that she was silent ever since they entered this city. She hasn''t said a single word to him nor has she paid attention to the beautiful scenery around. Alice shook her head in response before she said, "It''s nothing. I''m still feeling nervous in this city. I don''t know if someone is going to discover my identity." "Don''t think about it. You''re only making yourself suspicious if you are acting that way. Just try to relax just like the people around us. That way, you will blend easily in the surrounding." Souta said to her. "I understand." Alice took a deep breath. "Calm yourself. Don''t think about your identity for now. Just focus on what''s before your eyes. Tomorrow, we''ll enter a legion so prepare yourself." Chapter 585: Athens Warriors Chapter 585: Athen''s Warriors "Souta, is it true?" "What?" "Mila said that you''ve returned." "Oh... Yeah, I''ve returned but I''m not currently in the Giza Continent. I''m on God''s Continent and it''s quite far so it would take me a while before I return." Souta was sitting on a chair while looking at the window. The sky was dark and most of the people were asleep. He had nothing to do so he accepted the call from Lumilia. He just finished talking to Lumilia and Lynn replaced her. "Aw... I thought that I could see you." "Haha, don''t worry I won''t be long before I go back there. I actually miss everyone there." Souta laughed. "Hehe... Souta, I''m waiting for your return. I will be waiting here with others. There''s currently a war because of demons but it''s far from the Hebrei Kingdom and Eternal Empire." "I''m excited to return here but I''m afraid that it will take a lot of time. So until then keep practicing." Souta smiled lightly as he stood up and opened the window. He gazed at the starry sky as Lynn''s voice sounded in his ears. "Mm. I''m practicing every day and once you return I''m going to show you the fruit of my hard work." Lynn giggled and added, "Though it''s not much compared to Bryan and Yujin''s improvement but I''m doing my best." "I''m looking forward to it. Also, I have something to tell you and the others at that time. It''s important." Souta was ready to tell them the truth once he returned. He already decided and Alice will also tell them about her identity. He was sure that they will be shocked but he was looking forward to that day. "W-What is it?" "It''s a secret. It''s better if I said it personally. I would love to see your reaction at that time." "Eh?! You''re teasing me again!" "Nope, it''s just that I learned a lot of things in my travel. It didn''t just improve my strength but it also develop my mentality." Souta smiled lightly. The two continued to talk for a while until the sun began to rise. It was then that Souta decided to bid farewell. "It''s already morning, Lynn. We''ll talk later. I still have to do something." "Ah, sorry. I got carried away. You waste a few hours of your time talking to me." "Don''t mind it. It''s not a waste. I actually enjoy talking to you. Talking about ordinary things calms my nerves. Then, I''m going now. Call me later if you want to talk again." "O-Okay, I''m glad that I didn''t cause any problem. See you later, Souta." Souta ended the call as he closed his eyes. He imagined Lynn''s face with a beautiful smile before he shook his head. "She''s really a kind person." He exited his room. He knocked on the doors of the other four and found that they were awake. "Let''s eat breakfast first. After this, we''re going to visit a certain legion again." The group went downstairs to have breakfast. After that, they went outside and quickly went to a god''s legion. "We''re here." Alice, Eztein, and Eilish lifted their heads. They saw a huge palace before their very eyes. They were familiar with this as they have visited this place yesterday. "Are we going to join this god''s legion?" Eztein asked in a low voice. "I''m going to join this legion. I''m not forcing you to join but I think I can gain a lot if I join this. You can join other god''s legions if you want." Souta explained. "I see." Eilish nodded. "Athen''s Champion," Alice muttered. "Yeah, this is my choice. To join the legion of the Goddess Athena." Souta nodded at her words. ''My Goddess, one of the few gods that I respected.'' "Hm..." Alice hummed as she took a glance at his face and saw that he had a faint smile as if he was excited to meet the said goddess. "Let''s enter." Souta stepped forward and enter the huge gate. On the side of the gate, some of the warriors of Athena approached the group. He simply explained that they were here to join the legion. "The recruitment area is in Site B Building 4." The guards said. After thanking the guards, the group walked around and after a few minutes, they''ve arrived at the recruitment area. The recruitment area looked like a giant stadium. Thousands of people were here trying to join the legion of Athena. This legion was in the top 10 legions so a lot of people wanted to be a part of it and shared its glory. "Oh! These people are here to join too?!" Eztein exclaimed. "Athen''s Warrior is in the top 10 in the legion ranking so I already expected it," Eilish said. Souta turned to them and asked, "Are you sure that you want to join this legion?" "Yeah, I''ll just follow you. I''m still ignorant in this place so I''m afraid that I will offend someone without knowing." Eilish smiled at him. "You''re my boss so I''ll follow you." Eztein shrugged his shoulder. "Well, suit yourself." Souta decided to not think about it. If they want to follow him then he will not force them. To join the legion, the group first registered their names in the registrar. After this was an interview then the examination. The examination was the most important part as it will decide whether they could join the legion or not. Athen''s Warriors didn''t have a level restriction for people that wanted to join. From the lowest power level up to the highest power level. Anyone can join as long as they passed the examination. The level of the examination depends on the power level of the said person. The most important was that they combat power. The examination has two parts. One for combat and one written exam. After all, Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war. Souta and the rest finished registering their name. Someone will call their name and they will be interviewed. Since they had nothing to do, the group found a vacant seat. They decided to wait here while observing the people in the recruitment area. "In my world, a person at my level could already become an overlord yet in this place most of the people ignore me," Eilish muttered while looking around. "That''s natural. One shackle realm is rare but not that pretty rare. It is still in the mid-tier in terms of power level in this world. If you''ve seen the tragedy in Ladros City you will see how insignificant a one shackle realm is." Souta said in response. "Tragedy in Ladros City? What happened there boss?" Eztein asked curiously. "Ladros City is the place where we''ve been living before we arrive on the sub-world." Alice suddenly said. "Imagine a god and a monster lord fought in that city. The whole city was demolished and ninety percent of the population were wiped out." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "Before that, an organization attacked the city. The people that attacked consisted of C-rank to SSS-rank." The nobles and the high-ranking teachers of the Ladro Institute worked together to fight the six-circle and seven-circle officers. But most of the seven-circle officers were handled by one person called Bargan, the Flame Master. Souta was lucky that the seven-circle officers that he fought were already on the brink of death. "That happened?!" Eilish was surprised to hear this story. "Yeah, it was a life and death situation for me, Alice, and the rest of the people in that city." Souta nodded. The battle between Leo and Underground King was still one of the biggest clashes besides the battle between Leo and several gods. Oh, in the Three Bringers of Calamity, Leo became the most active one after his two appearances. The rest of the Bringers of Calamity hasn''t appeared yet. "Gods..." Eilish muttered as she narrowed her eyes. "Souta Ieshi!!" Eztein, Alice, and Souta raised their heads. "Oh, it''s me." Souta stood up and he turned, "I''m gonna go now. Wait for your turn." With that, he left the group... Souta was inside a small room sitting on a chair. In the opposite direction was a middle-aged man with long blue hair and a pair of antenna on his forehead. He had a pair of semi-transparent wings on his back. He naturally knows this guy. Igmun Romar is the name of this guy. A high ranking officer of Athen''s Warrior. Although he wasn''t part of the main heroes, he was still powerful. Souta''s eyes adjusted and he saw that Igmun was at four shackles realm. When he joined the Athen''s Warrior in the game, Igmun was at six shackles and he became a hero by receiving Athena''s blessing. "Hmm..." Igmun tapped his finger on the table while reading the words written on a piece of paper in his hand. "You said in this paper that you''re a monster, right?" "Yes," Souta answered politely. "In Mount Olympus, there are several monster lords such as Lady Echidna, Lord Typhon, Divine Sphinx, and Empyrean Satyr. So I''m going to ask why do you want to join Athen''s Warriors instead of joining the banner of the monster lords on Mount Olympus?" Igmun asked as he looked at Souta with a serious expression. Chapter 586: Twelve Zodiacs Chapter 586: Twelve Zodiacs A man walked into the dark cave. He has messy black hair and a simple black cloak with a fur collar. He was Leo, the Founder of the Zodiacs. The one that built the organization that countless people feared. Following behind him were two people. One was a beautiful woman with a katana hanging on her waist and one was an old man wearing a butler outfit. Both of them were wearing metallic collars with chains attached to it. As soon as Leo entered a room inside a cave, he saw a round table with chairs around it and twelve people doing different things. One was napping with drool on his mouth, one was playing card games, one was talking to a stuffed toy, and the others were chatting. These twelve people were the only members of the Zodiacs. They represented the twelve signs. ""Brother Leo!!"" Two little girls with short pink hair greeted Leo with a smile on their faces. The two little girls were wearing the same outfit and they had the same appearance. They were also holding the same stuff toys. "Hello, Pisces. I''ve returned." Leo smiled as he greeted the two little girls gently. He patted their heads before he turned to the other members of the Zodiacs. The two little girls looked like a twin but in fact, they were one. It was one of the most troublesome powers Pisces. Just imagine fighting two peak god-level powerhouses at the same time. Although Pisces looked like a child, she was in fact a hundred years old girl standing at the top of the power level. A tall man with a bulky body wearing full plate black armor crossed his arms in front of his chest. He glanced at Leo and asked, "The news traveled fast and we''ve already heard about your fight with other gods. Seeing that you didn''t bring something with you, I guess that the gods caught the thirteenth?" Leo sat on a vacant chair and waited for the rest to sit in their respective seat. He then answered Taurus'' words. "No, I failed to find the thirteenth sign. It was as if the thirteenth sign has been sealed once again." "Then, what do you think we should do with that power?" Sagittarius asked. "It''s not like we''re really looking for the thirteenth sign. Our goals are different so I don''t think we should care about it." Scorpio said. "We should kill the person that acquired it. We could use the Divine Might Steering Gem to take the thirteenth sign and maybe we could give the power to your friends there." Taurus said as he pointed at the two people standing behind Leo. "Thirteenth sign isn''t that important anyway. We don''t have the same goal like those Commandments that wanted the Four Authorities or those Sins that badly wanted the Original Sin." Capricorn sighed and added, "With or without the thirteenth sign, we''re going to start the plan in a few years anyway so it''s better if we lay low for a while and reserved our fighting power." "Capricorn is right. We should preserve our strength but if one of us saw the thirteenth sign, we should take this chance to kill the host." Aries said. "Well, I''m just intrigued by this power. After all, it''s been a long time since someone got ahold of this power so people forgot that the total signs are thirteen, not twelve." Leo said as he closed his eyes. After a while, he opened his eyes and asked, "What about the country that we''ve built. Does anyone know that we''re the ones behind it?" "It''s still in the process of making a name. It finished conquering the neighboring countries but since there are demons. We should use them to further raise the fame of our country." Aquarius paused and added, "And I don''t think anyone knows that it''s related to us, Zodiacs." "The peace is breaking. I''ve heard that Gluttony is planning to attack God''s Continent to lure out the Original Sin. Do you think he would succeed or not?" Gemini asked. "That''s interesting. Actually, Gluttony visited the demon camp and leave some words to the Demon Emperor. You know what, the Demon Emperor actually delayed the advancement of his army." Scorpio said. "The Demon Emperor knew that he isn''t Gluttony''s target so he decided to sit back and watch the upcoming show. After all, no one among his subordinates could stop Gluttony and it would only cause him a huge casualty if he joined the battle." Capricorn said. "So it''s better if he continued his attack after Gluttony wears down the forces of the Holy Lands in God''s Continent. It''s at that moment that the demon army will attack for real." "Esquin and Lucifer are both powerful gods. Esquin didn''t want to fight Lucifer and Lucifer didn''t want to fight Esquin. They both know that if the two of them fight the chances of them achieving their goal will decrease. If Esquin fight Lucifer then even if Esquin won he wouldn''t have enough strength to attack the major forces. The same could be said for Lucifer, if Lucifer fought Esquin then even if he won he wouldn''t have enough strength to continue his invasion." Leo explained. "As for who''s stronger we will not know until they fight. Even with the threat of the Commandments, Sins, and us Zodiacs, there''s a reason why the major factions are still standing firmly. It''s because they are strong." Virgo added. "Yeah, the major factions are strong. If not I would''ve destroyed the Three Great Countries long ago." Leo said with a serious expression. He couldn''t help but agree with Virgo''s words. If the major factions weren''t strong then the Commandments, Sins, and Zodiacs wouldn''t have to hide. Even with the rules, they would have destroyed the major factions and accomplished their goals if the major factions were really weak. "Brothers and sisters! How about I play hide and seek with the thirteenth sign? If I find the thirteenth then I would kill that person." Pisces suddenly said. Libra looked at her and smiled gently. She patted the little girls'' head and said softly, "Don''t bother about it. We''ll have to go out soon and play a better game against the gods." "Ah, but I want to play right now," Pisces said as her shoulders dropped down. Cancer who was napping suddenly raised his head and said, "We can play later Pisces. Just hold it down for a while. We will be able to return and fulfill our goal." "O-Okay." Pisces nodded. "Regarding the thirteenth sign. We''ve decided that if any of us sense it then we''ll go for the kill. Don''t stray too much from our goal. Don''t forget the reason why we gather." Leo said. "I will stay here for a while. I''ve gathered too much attention lately and it''s not a good idea if those gods started to hunt me." ... Igmun stared at Souta. Souta also stared at Igmun for a while before he answered, "I admired Goddess Athena for a while. Although there are monster lords that could help me pave my paths like Lord Typhon and Lady Echidna, I still choose to serve Goddess Athena as her warrior, not a pet." He knew that Athena had several pets at the level of the fourth and fifth evolution stages. Those pets were powerful and some of them were even stronger than her heroes. Also, he was a humanoid monster, unlike her pets. "I can sense that you are a third evolution stage. Your intelligence is already similar to us humans and demis. You''re not a dragon that had high intelligence among monsters so tell me what kind of monster are you?" Igmun asked. Souta didn''t try to hide his power level in front of Igmun. He knew that if he wanted to join the Athen''s Warriors, he didn''t need to hide his power level. "I''m a Blood Goblin. One of the rarest types of goblin in the world. Truth to be told I''ve learned all the things that I knew and even learned the language of humans and demis by living with them for a long time." Souta answered with a straight face. "Blood Goblin? I''ve heard of it before but it''s my first time seeing you so I don''t know if I should believe you or not." At Igmun''s words, Souta directly used the special trait of Blood Goblin. [Blood Field]! A red aura flared up and it instantly covered the whole room. Souta canceled it after a few seconds. "It''s really the [Blood Field]. I heard that this trait can instantly heal the user''s injuries as long as there is blood in the surroundings." Igmun said in amazement. "Yes, as long as the user didn''t die this skill can recover all of the user''s injuries." Souta nodded. "Oh, monster is really different from humans and demis. They can get overpowered skills like that just by evolving." Igmun muttered. The interview continued and Igmun asked Souta various questions regarding about him, the legions, Goddess Athena, and other god''s legions. Souta answered everything smoothly. He was sure that he will pass the interview like how he did in the game. "Although you are a monster, you should be careful when dealing with other people. Some of them didn''t have a good impression of monsters." Igmun said. "Well, it doesn''t matter. In the combat examination, as long as you show your strength you can shut up any opposition." Chapter 587: Examination I Chapter 587: Examination I "Yeah... did you worship Lady Echidna and the other monster lords of Olympus?" Souta nodded and asked. "I worship all the immortal beings of Olympus." Igmun simply answered without hesitation. ''Just as I thought. Igmun is like this even in the game. As long as you''re on the Olympus'' side, this guy will not treat you badly.'' Souta was satisfied. He then opened his mouth and asked, "I''m pretty confident with my skills but why did the legion of the monster lords not included in the legion ranking?" Although he knew the answer, he still had to ask this question. "It''s simple, it''s because they don''t have headquarters in Champion''s Den. I''m not discriminating against monsters but I think you understand what will happen if a low intelligence monster that only followed its god walked around a city." Igmun said. "Yeah, it will cause a panic." Souta nodded in understanding. Not all third evolution monsters were as intelligent as him and Doranjan. Doranjan was an exception because he was a dragon. And Souta was a rare case. Yuko only has an intelligence of a child and she was pretty brutal to her opponent. Most of the monsters were savage and the ordinary people here didn''t belong to their monster lords. Since they had low intelligence they were easily provoked and caused a riot. They didn''t even know how to act in a city and will always cause trouble for the guards. That''s why the legions of the monster lords weren''t in Champion''s Den. Only high evolution monsters could converse properly. Sometimes humans and demis couldn''t keep the greed in their eyes when looking at rare monsters. Body parts of rare monsters could be sold at high prices and some monsters could instinctively sense those greedy eyes. Although God''s Continent was tolerant of monsters unlike the other continents, there''s still disparity between the two creatures. Their way of living had a huge difference. "I''m glad that you understand it." Igmun nodded at him. "It''s nothing. I learned a lot of things living with humans and demis." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "Good. Then, let''s proceed to the examination." Igmun said before he stood up. "Come, follow me." Souta stood up and followed Igmun outside the room. The two directly went to the stadium. While on their way, Igmun explained the examination to Souta. "The examination is the most important thing as this will decide if we are going to accept you in our legion or not. Since you''re a third evolution monster, your strength must be equivalent to some A-rank or S-rank. So you''re going to take the examination of this level." Igmun said, "We will test your strength, speed, and combat power. The test is simple so I''m going to ask what test you want to take. A-rank or S-rank?" "I''m pretty confident so I''ll take S-rank," Souta replied. "Good. Then, you will have no problem as long as you pass the examination." Igmun was satisfied at his answer. Souta glanced at Igmun''s back. Of course, he wouldn''t join the banner of a monster lord in Olympus. Those legions hardly get any quests and the monsters were mostly staying in the territory of monster lords so it wasn''t beneficial to him. It was actually good since he would receive tons of mana fruits but in return, he would hardly get any quest. The quest was his source of skill points, experience points, free attribute points, and cards. He wouldn''t exchange it for mere mana fruits. "We''re here." In the stadium, dozens of examinations were ongoing. Some of the people had passed and some of them have failed. It was natural as not everyone was qualified to join a legion of a god. A tall man with a pair of fox ears approached Souta and Igmun. "This is your examiner, Manduk." Igmun introduced. Souta greeted Manduk in a polite tone. He didn''t need to boast nor show arrogance as it would only bring him trouble. It was better to treat people politely as long as they didn''t show hostility toward him. Igmun began to explain Souta''s situation and Manduk listened with a serious expression. "Mm. A monster. It''s my first time experiencing this." Manduk nodded and he turned his attention to Souta. "I''ll leave him in your care." Igmun raised his hand before he turned around and left. There''s nothing he could do here as he wasn''t the examiner of this test so he should go back and complete his task. "Igmun told me that you wanted to take an S-rank test. Is that right?" Manduk asked. "Yes." Souta nodded. "It''s a good decision." Manduk turned and pulled a huge square shape object in front of Souta. The object was five meters tall and its color was pitch black. It has an oval shape metal in front of it. "First, I will test your power. You just need to punch it with all of your strength. I''m warning you that you can''t use your energy as it will cause you to fail the exam." Manduk paused before he continued, "Since you are a monster, I will explain the origin of this device to you. This object called Power Testament is made using Lord Typhon''s scale, one of the strongest monster lords in Olympus. I''m sure that I don''t have to explain who is Lord Typhon. Even in other lands, Lord Typhon is known by countless creatures out there." Souta nodded and didn''t say anything. In fact, he already knew this. If he used his best feram, the power of the scale would rebound to him. Typhon had an energy reflection trait. His scales and exoskeleton armor had the power to reflect energy attacks. Although this piece of scale was plucked from Typhon''s body, it still managed to contain his trait. In any sense, Souta was just a third evolution stage so the power within the scale was enough to rebound all of his energy and injured him. ''This scale could be used to create a powerful red grade armor or even a dark grade artifacts that had an energy reflection skill.'' Saya''s voice sounded. Souta nodded inwardly at her comment. "With a little tweak using Lord Typhon''s scale we manage to create this device. We could measure your strength using this and if the reflection was activated it means that you used energy in your attack so don''t try to use energy no matter what. The consequences will be dire." Manduk said. "I understand." "Then, you start and punch the Power Testament with all of your might." "Okay." Souta stood in front of the huge object. He clenched his fist tightly before he slowly pulled it back. Veins popped out of his arm as he focus his strength on his fist. In the next moment, he threw his fist forward. The moment his fist landed on the oval shape object a loud sound exploded. His fist was too fast to follow. People at B-rank couldn''t see a thing, they just heard a loud sound. Boom! Even though he was in his base form he was still pretty confident with his strength yet it didn''t leave any scratch on the object. As expected of Typhon''s scale. Souta exhaled as he fixed his posture. He glanced at Manduk and asked, "Is this enough?" "Mm..." Manduk turned his head and looked at the object. On the back of the object, numbers were written along with a leaf. "You''ve reached fourteen leaves. Just to say one leaf is equivalent to ten thousand tons so your punch just now has the power of one hundred forty thousand tons." Manduk said. Souta narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the power testament. His score was lower than his expectations but when he remember that he was back on Imperium he just sighed. The power he had in the sub-world was suppressed in this world. He could obliterate an entire country in any sub-world yet in this place he was just a small city scale. Manduk saw Souta''s look and he laughed, "Don''t be that hard on yourself. I''ll tell you this. Your physical strength is already cut above and don''t forget that you''re a monster. Your physical strength will spike if you use the release form and energy." Souta shook his head. "I know. I just thought that it would be higher." "Hehe, it''s already on the level of initial stage S-rank. I guess that you''re close to the fourth evolution as no monster would have that strength unless they were on the limit of the third stage." Manduk laughed as he pushed the Power Testament. "Mmm..." Souta didn''t say anything. He was only at the high stage of the third stage, not the peak stage. So he could still improve his power. "Okay, next is the test of speed," Manduk said. "Also, the condition of this test is still the same as power. You can''t use your energy to improve your speed." "I understand." Souta glanced around and saw five people forming around him and Manduk. These people were sensory type, they would notice it even if he used a little bit of his energy. Unlike mana, best feram was noticeable because of its nature. Chapter 588: Examination II Chapter 588: Examination II As for the test of speed, it''s pretty simple. Souta just needed to run as fast as possible towards the finish line back to the starting line ten times without using any sort of energy or skills. ''Too bad you can''t use your energy. You have a lot of skills that could boost your speed yet you can''t use any of it.'' Saya laughed in his mind. ''Don''t be like that, Saya. It''s just a test and I''m quite curious how fast I am without using any skills.'' Souta replied to her as he looked Manduk. Manduk noticed his glance and he nodded in return. "You can start anytime." Souta took a deep breath and his expression turned serious. The distance between him and the finish line was fifty meters. He had to run back and forth ten times to complete the test. As for how fast he covered it will determine if he could fast the test. In short, he had to cover one thousand meters as fast as he could. ''Don''t let your expectations high again. You can travel faster than light in outer space if you used all of your skills yet in this world it''s impossible. Plus, you can''t even use your gravity power to boost you so don''t expect anything.'' Saya said as a matter of fact. Souta nodded inwardly when he heard her words. He had a question in his heart. How does that work? Is light faster here in Imperium than in other worlds or not? The light speed in Imperium wasn''t constant unlike in sub-world. There were some places in Imperium where light couldn''t travel and even places with super high-density mana would slow down the speed of light. Sometimes the light would synchronize with mana increasing its speed several times. Imperium was a Divine World. The basic knowledge in another world sometimes wasn''t applicable in Imperium. That''s why for folks of sub-world the Imperium was the most mysterious knowledge. Their knowledge would be turned upside down. A place without light. Souta could still use his eyes as his eyes didn''t light to perceive the things around him. His eyes could directly look at the energy in the surrounding. That''s the same for high-level beings but Souta gained this ability even before he could reach that level. If he improved his spell damage more then his gravity ability would be enough to isolate light. "Go." Souta opened his eyes widely and his figure flashed. In the eyes of other people, they only saw that Souta''s figure had vanished but in the eyes of S-rank and above they could see him too fast. Swoosh! In the next moment, Souta was back in his position. He stood straight and fixed his clothes. He was fast but it still took him less than 1.919 seconds. It was definitely slower than his speed in the sub-world. If he used my energy then my speed would increase. Then, he still had several movement skills that could greatly boost his speed so it wasn''t that bad. ''Plus, this is Champion''s Den. The mana density in this city is higher.'' Souta said inwardly. He recalled the Clan Leader''s sound attack. The attack of the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan was definitely faster than normal sounds as it was imbued with a huge amount of Rowan''s mana. "Not bad. It''s good." Manduk nodded and he recorded Souta''s score. "Next is the energy level, right?" Souta looked at Manduk. Marduk shook his head and said, "I don''t think we need that for you. You''re a third evolution stage monster so you''re energy is best feram not mana like us humans and demis. The quality of your energy isn''t something that I can question. So we''ll immediately proceed to the combat prowess." "Oh, so how are we going to test my combat prowess?" Souta asked even though he already knew the answer. "It''s simple. I''m a One Shackle Realm so you''re going to fight me and show me all your might. After that, I will decide if you are qualified to join our legion or not." Manduk said as a grin formed on his face. "Oh? It''s pretty troublesome." Souta raised his eyebrows. He didn''t need to show all of his aces on this test. It''s not a life and death battle. Manduk turned on the five sensory types and said, "Call five more and erect a barrier to isolate us. Don''t forget that this man is a monster so don''t let his best feram affect your mana. Use quantity to fight quality." "Yes, sir." The five sensory types nodded. Souta and Marduk waited for a whole minute. After the battlefield was set up, the two began to prepare themselves. "Since this is a test for combat prowess, you can use your release form to show me your true power," Manduk said as he raised his hand and signaled Souta to come and attack him. Souta wasn''t the only one on the stage right now. There were dozens of people taking the same examination but Manduk''s words gathered the attention of the audience. "Oh?!" "Wait! Did Instructor Manduk say that that guy is a monster?!" "A monster joining the Athen''s Warriors!!" "That monster didn''t want to join the Goddess'' pets so possibly that is the reason why he wanted to become a warrior!" "But why is a monster here?!" "I don''t know. I don''t even know that he is a monster until Instructor Manduk said it!" "He didn''t look like a monster! He looked like an ordinary demi for me but who knows what he will turn in his release form!" "Oho! This will be better worth watching!" "We have a lot of audiences here so you better not get distracted. Just focus your attention on fighting me." Manduk smiled. Souta nodded before he took a deep breath. In the next moment, a huge amount of best feram burst out as he charged towards Manduk like a beam. Swoosh! The moment he arrived in front of Manduk, Souta''s body inflated as black mist spread out in the surrounding. "Going all out at first but it still took you 0.0003 seconds before you enter your fighting posture," Manduk commented as Souta swept a huge sword covered in black flesh. Manduk shifted his body and easily avoided Souta''s sword. The sword landed on the ground and it caused a huge fissure. Boom! Souta didn''t hold back at all. He was fighting an opponent at shackled realm so if he hold back then it would be his demise. He used [Cat''s Speed], [Strength Boost], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Agility Boost], and [Shadow Steps]. He slashed his sword repeatedly but Manduk managed to dodge all of his attacks easily. "What about this?!!" Souta raised his hand as he activated the [Dark Cloud Hunting]. When he brought his hand down, a powerful gravity bore down on Manduk''s body. "This...! You..." Manduk opened his eyes widely. [Shadow Bind]! [Shadow Ball]! Black tentacles rose from the ground as ten black energy spheres spread out. Souta then charged his best feram on the blade of his sword. He swung it horizontally. Swoosh! A burst of energy flew out and it obliterated everything in front of him. Boom!! Alice, Eztein, and Eilish were watching the battle intently. "This... That guy is stronger than the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan." Eilish muttered as she narrowed her eyes. Both of them were One Shackle Realm yet the difference in strength was huge. It was surprising to see someone stronger than the Clan Leader. She thought that the Clan Leader was already strong among the One Shackle Realm yet she didn''t expect that she would see one in this place. Even the One Shackle Realm experts of the Council of High-World that she fought before weren''t as strong as this one. This greatly widened her view. "Our boss''s opponent is strong but boss is amazing too. He is growing too fast. At the time when boss fought the Clan Leader he isn''t that strong but now..." Eztein said while watching the battle. His attention wasn''t on Manduk but on Souta. Although he knew that Souta had that space with a different time, the strength that he was showing today far surpassed what he knew. "But why our boss isn''t using his killer skills." Eztein wondered. From his point of view, if Souta used those skills even if he couldn''t defeat Manduk the evaluation would be higher. "Souta is cautious. He wouldn''t easily reveal all of his cards." Alice said. "Mm..." Eztein glanced at her before he continued watching the battle. ... "You''re amazing! I didn''t expect that you would be stronger than any of the third evolution stage monsters that I''ve seen before." Manduk said with a faint smile. "Tsk, it''s nothing but it''s still not enough to defeat you," Souta said in response. "You''re the best but there''s still a limitation to third evolution stage so if you wanted to defeat a person that broke a shackle then you need to reach your next evolution first," Manduk said. "I will reach that point soon so let''s continue this!!" Souta launched himself with overwhelming force. Chapter 589: Examination III Chapter 589: Examination III Boom! Manduk dashed out of the smoke. ''This guy is strong.'' He said inwardly as Souta chased after him. Swoosh! [Crimson Moon]! He clenched his fist and he gathered a huge amount of mana. He then punched the red energy blade in front of him. Bang! Manduk saw Souta continue to attack him. He simply blocked and dodged Souta''s attack without fighting back. He could deal with Souta using his strength but that''s not the point of this examination. In this examination, he had to see the combat prowess of the people that wanted to join the Athen''s Champion to know if they were really qualified to serve the Goddess Athena. ''I can deal with him since I''m at One Shackle Realm but if I''m still at S-rank then this guy would be able to defeat me.'' Manduk thought. Souta was the strongest third evolution monster he had seen so far. He guessed that no S-rank would be able to defeat Souta. A monster was really a different breed compared to humans and demis. That''s why a party was necessary when they need to subjugate one. Boom! A dark aura covered Souta''s body and his strength had increased several times once again. [Element Drive: Dark Force]! ''Hmm... He could even use [Element Drive]. That''s an insane mastery over dark attribute. This guy... He is qualified.'' With that in Manduk''s mind, he quickly parried Souta''s sword and delivered a blow on his stomach. Bang! "Ugh!" Souta spat a mouthful of blood and felt a huge energy brewing in front of him. A big attack. Manduk was finally going to attack him. It was a huge problem. Although he had fought with Shackled Realm before, the situation back then was different right now. At that time, he teamed up against a Shackled Realm yet at this moment he was fighting alone and the opponent right now was stronger than Rowan. Although he got stronger, the difference in battle power was still huge. "You are doing good," Manduk said with a smile as he appeared in front of Souta. He stretched out his hand and grabbed Souta''s face before the energy in his hand exploded. Boom! Then, he smashed Souta to the ground before launching a series of punches. Bang! Bang! Bang! He then kicked Souta on the side before saying, "Let''s stop this. I know that you can still fight but in the end, you still didn''t have enough power to defeat. Ah, that''s not the point. What I want to say is your performance is extremely good. Simply amazing." "Damn! That hurts!" Souta slowly stood up and he returned to his normal form. The bruises that he received had disappeared in the blink of an eye. Manduk approached him with a smile and he raised his hand. "Congratulations, you''re terrific and I will say this to you. You will pass the examination without a doubt. I guess that you and I will be comrades soon." "Oh, thanks." Souta shook Manduk''s hand and said. "Although you still had to wait for the result of the examination, I''m sure that you will pass it so I''m congratulating you in advance," Manduk said to him. "Then, I don''t need to worry about it," Souta said. "Yeah, you''re performance is extraordinary." "Thanks, I''ll go now," Souta said politely before he excused himself. Manduk simply stared at Souta''s back. After a while, he said, "It''s my first time seeing a monster like him. He''s incredibly familiar with human and demi''s culture." Souta''s combat prowess shook the entire stadium. A lot of people were talking about him and even the S-rank experts were wondering whether they could defeat Souta in a one-on-one fight or not. They even doubt if he was really a third evolution monster. After all, the battle strength that he had shown was above the third evolution stage but weaker than the fourth evolution stage. What they don''t know was that Souta hasn''t even reached the limit of third evolution so he still could improve his strength. ... "What a magnificent show of power, boss!" Eztein said when Souta returned. "It''s nothing." Souta looked around and asked, "Where is Alice?" "Her? The interviewer called her just now." Eztein answered. "Hm..." Souta hummed and he sat down. He crossed his arms in front of his chest before he closed his eyes. He recalled his battle against Manduk. No, he shouldn''t call it battle as Manduk wasn''t even serious in fighting him. It would be over in just a minute if Instructor Manduk fought him seriously. His strength right now was above S-rank and he could even fight several S-rank experts at the same time if he used his equipment skills. Hmm... The limit should be eight, no, maybe ten S-rank. Right, ten S-rank was his limit but it was still not enough if he wanted to fight ten S-rank. Eilish even fought more than ten S-rank while still injured from her battle against Rowan. He should know that Eilish''s strength was average in the level of One Shackle Realm. Clan Leader Rowan and Instructor Manduk were stronger than her. ''I gained light elemental affinity from eating the High Phaseless Fruit. It means that I should begin training to learn another [Element Drive].'' People that mastered their respective elemental affinity only could use the [Element Drive]. Since he had two elemental affinities, he could learn [Dual Element Drive]. It was several times stronger than the normal [Element Drive]. Mastering the [Dual Element Drive] would greatly increase his battle power. If he could master this skill then he could probably fight ten S-rank with half of them being at the peak stage. No, he will be probably stronger than that. Souta opened his eyes. Eztein left and Alice began her examination. He focused his attention on her. ''It will be easy for her to pass this without revealing her demon form.'' He said inwardly. ''It''s not a problem for her and Eztein. The one you should be worried about is that girl Eilish. Although she''s a Shackled Realm, her combat prowess is really low.'' Saya said. ''Well, you are right.'' Souta couldn''t help but nod at her. After a few minutes, Alice finished her examination. Eztein also finished his examination. Both of them showed their potential. Eilish examination was different. She had to fight an instructor at Four Shackles Realm. The people that set up the barrier were all at Shackled Realm. After all, a barrier made by several Solidifying Realms was useless against someone at Shackled Realm. The examiner tested Eilish''s physical strength and speed. The result was normal as her physical strength and speed were just average in her power level. Then, her energy level. This time was different. Eilish had a huge amount of mana in her mana pool. After that, they proceeded to combat test. Eilish starts the battle by casting several attack spells and creating a barrier around her. She showed a textbook mage and showed everyone her powerful offensive spell. A bombardment occurred inside the barrier and the ground kept shaking. If the barrier disappeared then there''s no doubt that this whole area would be flattened by her attacks. After a few minutes, the instructor declared that the examination was over. No one knows if Eilish passed or not. A lot of people watched her battle as they rarely saw someone at Shackled Realm fight seriously. Out of thousands of people that wanted to join the Athen''s Champion at this moment, only six of them were at Shackled Realm. Although they were Shackles Realm, the Athen''s Champion wouldn''t easily accept them in their legion. They still had to meet the required strength. Being at the top 10 legions, the Athen''s Champion had the right to decline people at Shackled Realm. They didn''t lack Shackled Realm experts and most of their members were exceptional among their peers. "Sigh... It''s harder than I thought. I never imagined that I would have to fight someone that strong before." Eilish said after she returned. "It''s fine. Your performance is not bad. If I were the instructor then you would barely pass the exam." Souta said to her. "I''m not optimistic with my chances. I realized how hard it is to join a god''s legion." Eilish said. "It''s fine," Souta said to her. In the game, he was a member of Athen''s Champion so he climbed through the ranks before becoming Athena''s favored hero. It means that he experienced being an examiner. He guessed that Eilish would pass the examination but her status among Shackled Realm would be low. Hmm... Now that they''ve completed their examination, Souta was confident that all of them had passed. Especially him, since he showed a very exciting performance. His status would be high and if he wasn''t a monster the Athen''s Champion would give him his own team. They would nurture him and dispatched him to several sub-world to complete a mission. First, he would complete several missions, then he would be given the right to travel through the Goddess'' sub-worlds. Okay, I''m itching to get my hands on those artifacts. Chapter 590: Official Chapter 590: Official Just like what Souta expected, Alice and Eztein passed the examination. Eilish had barely passed and the four of them were considered a member of Athen''s Champion. Before they left the headquarters, Igmun said that they should return tomorrow morning. Souta knew that they would receive their emblem tomorrow and the emblem was important. They would become an official member of Athen''s Champion once they got that one. "It''s harder than I thought," Eztein said with a sigh. "It''s pretty interesting that way. I quite enjoy this place, especially the dense mana in the atmosphere. The god''s legion lives up to my expectations as it was full of strong people." Eilish said with a faint smile. "Tomorrow, we''ll come back and join the assembly," Souta said to them. Alice, Eztein, and Eilish nodded. On the next day... Souta, Alice, Eztein, and Eilish were in standing along with dozens of people. In front of them were members of the Athen''s Champion. A two-meter tall man stepped forward and looked at the new recruits with a fierce gaze. He had short black hair and a pair of bear eyes. He also had a thick beard and mustache. "I''m Vandal, Chief Captain of the Third Set." The man introduced himself as a powerful aura burst out of his body. ''This guy is still the same as before.'' Souta narrowed his eyes as he tried to endure the pressure boring down on his body. He naturally Vandal in the game. Vandal was a person at Eight Shackles Realm yet at this moment his power level was only at Seven Shackles. It seems that he didn''t improve that much. Well, considering the time, it was already great that he broke another shackle to improve his strength. "What the heck is this pressure?!" Eztein tried to hold himself from collapsing. The pressure coming from a person that broke Seven Shackles was fearsome. Even Alice was having a hard time. Beads of sweat started forming on her head. They felt that if this man wanted to kill them, then they wouldn''t be able to do a thing. They were too vulnerable in front of this man named Vandal. After a few moments, the pressure stopped. Vandal looked at them and said, "There are a total of fifty-four people that passed the examination yesterday. I''m glad that a lot of people had passed the exam unlike before that only ten or twenty people passed." He looked around and continued, "Some of you may not know it so I will explain my position first. In Athen''s Champion, there are six divisions. Each division is divided into ten sets." Vandal was the Chief Captain of the Third Set of the Pallas Division. His position was high and ordinary people could only look up to him. After all, he was close to reaching godhood. Just three more shackles and he would be able to break through the limit of mortals. In each Set, there were Ten Grains. Each grain was commanded by a Captain just below the Chief Captain like Vandal. "You and you, come here. You will join the Third Grain Wisdom." Vandal pointed at Eilish and another man. The Third Grain Wisdom was a group full of Shackled Realm Experts. They were elites and most of them were dispatched to dangerous missions. "As for the rest of you, you can group up yourself and join the other Grains except for First, Second, and Third." Vandal said to the rest of them. All of them needed to know that the Third to First Grain of each Set was only for people that reached the Shackled Realm. Souta glanced at Eilish and asked, "Are you fine with this arrangement? We''ll go separate ways." "I don''t think we could join the same group," Eilish replied. "Yeah, the difference in power will be different but after completing a few missions we will gain the right to form a circle in the legion. That way, you can join our circle." Souta said. "Okay, I''ll just follow your words." Eilish nodded. Souta grouped himself with Alice and Eztein while Eilish left to meet the members of the Third Grain Wisdom. He was familiar with Athen''s Champion so he know where to start. Vandal continued his speech and explained the rules of the Athen''s Champion. The recruits listened to his words attentively. They needed to follow it or else they would suffer consequences. ... After the assembly, Souta, Alice, and Eztein went to join the Tenth Grain War. There were three brackets in each Grain. Grain War, Grain Wisdom, and Grain Virgin. And Souta chose to join the Tenth Grain War. "Actually, we don''t know what to do with you since you are a monster but the higher-ups just decided to treat you like normal recruits." The leader of the Tenth Grain Wisdom, Carmel, said. "I understand, sir." Souta nodded politely. The person in front of him will be his superior from now on. Carmel was a moon elf at Four Shackles Realm. Souta already expected this. He glanced at the people around him and saw that they were looking at him while murmuring to each other. They must be talking about him being the sole monster in this Set. Carmel looked at the two people beside Souta and asked, "Are these two the only member of your circle?" "Yes, sir." Souta nodded. Even if he tried to recruit other people, he knew that no one would join him. There''s a possibility that the other people would accept him but he didn''t want to join those groups. What he wanted was to create his own circle and make a name for himself. He will rise through the ranks at high speed so that Athena would notice him sooner. Carmel didn''t say anything. He turned his attention to the other recruits after a while. "The recruits this time are not bad." He muttered in a low voice. "Everyone! Be ready to receive your emblem! This emblem will prove that you are officially a warrior of Athen''s Champion!" One by one, the recruits received three sets of emblems. One was the official member of Athen''s Champion, the second one was for the Pallas Division, and the last one was for the Third Set. "Congratulations everyone! You are now officially a member of the Athen''s Champion! You will fight for our Goddess! And fight for our Glory!" Carmel shouted as a powerful energy burst out of his body. "OHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The recruits shouted along with Carmel. "We''ve joined the Athen''s Champion. What are we going to do now, boss?" Eztein asked? "Take some mission and complete it as soon as possible," Souta said. "Oh, I should''ve expected this." Eztein sighed. Days had passed quickly in the blink of an eye. Souta officially named the circle that he created Astros. They took and completed missions every day. On the fifth day, the higher-ups gifted them a room for their circle in the headquarters. The room was a reward for their fast completion rate of missions. Souta and the others weren''t holding back at all, they were showing their strength to everyone by completing any missions that they took. On the tenth day, the Astros was upgraded to a Yellow Squadron. They became one of the most active circles in the Tenth Grain War. Even the people from the other Grains had heard the name Astros. They were slowly becoming famous. On the seventeenth day, the Astros become a Third Class Yellow Squadron. Their room in the headquarters of receive an expansion. The size of their room was doubled and they had a mission board. It was one of the most important things here and people could personally hire them using this one. Although their circle was already a Third Class Squadron they still only had three members and that''s what surprised most of the people. The benefits that they''ve received from the legion were high. After all, in the entire Tenth Grain War, there were only forty-nine Third Class Squadron. On the twenty-third day, Carmel called Souta in his office. Carmel glanced at Souta before he looked at the file in his hands. He slowly said, "Your performance in the past few weeks is better than I imagined. I have a mission here and if you completed it, the higher-ups will promote Astros to Second Class. So I ask do you want to accept it or not?" "Can I ask what is the mission, sir?" Souta asked. "Hmm... It''s confidential so I will not tell you about it. I will only tell you after you accept the mission. It''s a gamble for your circle so choose wisely." Carmel said. Souta stared at Carmel and his [Galaxy Eyes] told him that Carmel was telling the truth. After a while, Souta nodded. "I understand. I will accept the mission." "Good. I have a lot of expectations for you. Don''t let me down." Carmel smiled. "As long as you complete this mission my Tenth Grain War will have another Second Class Squadron." *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Vampire? Or a Zombie? Or another unknown creature?]: In a dukedom called Halbun, people have been found dead under their beds with bite marks on their bodies. The only problem is that the bite marks of the victim correspond to their teeth. Rewards: 12 skill points, 20 free attribute points, 100,000 experience points Chapter 591: Dukedom of Halbun Chapter 591: Dukedom of Halbun "You will depart this night. You will go to the dukedom without notifying other people. Don''t let the people of the dukedom know you are from Athen''s Champion as there''s a chance that the culprit will escape." Carmel said to him. "I understand." Souta nodded as he glanced at the mission on his system. This mission will not be easy considering the rewards that he could receive. "I hope you completed this mission. I personally took it from the other leader just to give it to you." Carmel paused and said, "Your circle will be promoted to Second Class Squadron after this." "Thanks, I appreciate it, sir," Souta said. His goal was the First Class Blue Squadron. Once his circle attained that rank, they would be given the right to explore the sub-worlds under Athena''s control. At the moment, his circle was still a Third Class Yellow Squadron. He still needed four more advancement missions to reach the First Class Blue Squadron. The First Blue Squadron was rare in Tenth Grain War, this was the reason why Souta choose the Tenth Grain. He wanted to monopolize all the missions that he will get once their circle was promoted to that level. "Good. You can go now. I expect a good news once you return." Carmel said. Souta bowed before he left Carmel''s office. He went to the Astros'' room in headquarters to discuss this mission with others. Carmel looked at the closed door and sighed. "The demons are attacking the continent and various evil organizations are taking advantage of the chaos. The whole situation is getting worse. We need to pluck out those organizations with evil intention." He pinched the bridge of his nose. He guessed that sooner or later they will be dispatched to confront the demons in an all-out battle. "I didn''t think that a huge war would occur like this in my generation. Gods... I wonder what are their thoughts about this war." ... Souta called Alice and Eztein. He told them that they had a mission. "This mission was passed directly to me by the Tenth Grain War Leader Carmel. You will not tell anyone about it and this will be our advancement mission. Once we completed it, we will be promoted to Second Class Squadron." "Oh, an advancement mission? I guess that it will not be easy, unlike our past missions." Eztein said. "What about Eilish? Are you planning to tell her about this?" Alice asked. "Yep, but I will not tell her the details of our mission," Souta replied to her. He stood up and opened the cabinet on the corner. The cabinet was full of low-grade health potions and low-grade mana potions. These potions were provided by legion after they were promoted to First Class Yellow Squadron. ''This mission will not be easy. It''s also strangely difficult for a promotional mission for Second Class Yellow Rank.'' Souta said inwardly as he picked several potions and placed them on the table. Alice and Eztein followed suit. They prepared the equipment and potions that could help them in this mission. "Boss, I want to ask. Why don''t we recruit people to join us in our circle?" Eztein asked while arranging the equipment. "I just don''t want to. I will ask Franklin and others to join Athen''s Legion but as for other people I don''t think I could accept them." Souta replied to him. "It''s because they don''t have parasitic essence eater, right?" Alice and Souta glanced at Eztein when they heard his words. "Oh, what''s wrong, boss?" Eztein tilted his head and asked. "Nothing..." Souta sighed and shook his head. Eztein was right. He couldn''t easily trust strangers that didn''t have parasitic essence eaters. "You''re planning to call the others here, right? You are going to integrate some of our forces in Athen''s Champion." Alice said. "That''s the plan. Astros is still a small organization as it only had three Shackled Realm Experts. If we wanted to expand it better if we gained Athen''s Champion as our backer." Souta said in response to her words. "I see..." Alice turned her head and looked at the windows. "Although the Council of High-World is afraid of entering Imperium, they will surely send some elites to eliminate us. With our current strength, just one person at Second or Third Shackles Realm will be enough to wipe us out." "That''s why I''m trying to increase the fame of Astros. So if Astros got attacked, the Athen''s Champion will surely help us as long as we showed them that we are worth nurturing." Souta said. "They will not be able to ignore us. They needed manpower in the war against demons." "I see... But are we going to participate in the battle against demons? I thought that the battlefield was too far from this place." Alice asked. "It''s too far but have you seen it before right. Some of the warriors of gods were dispatched to help the countries that suffered from the demon invasion. But don''t worry about it, once we expand our circle you can just stay here once that happens. I''m sure that no one will mind it." Souta paused before he added, "Also, the advancement of the demon army had slowed down in the past few weeks." "Alright, I will not think about it." Alice smiled. The three finished their preparation after twenty minutes. Then, they visited Eilish to notify her that they will leave for a while. Ever since Souta joined the Athen''s Champion, this mission will be the hardest one. Souta once again visited Carmel in his office. He notified Carmel that he was going to depart soon. One hour later, the three had left the Champion''s Den. They were heading towards the dukedom in the south. They didn''t follow the normal route as it will take them two weeks before they arrived at the dukedom. They went through the wilderness to shorten their travel time. "Actually, we can use the teleportation circle in headquarters to travel to the other headquarters of the Athen''s Champion but Captain Carmel said that we shouldn''t use it. Our mission is confidential and it seems that some organization is involved with it." Souta explained to the two. "Isn''t this mission too important to leave to a newly made circle?" Eztein asked. "Yeah, it''s too important but Carmel took the quest from the other Captain''s hands. He wanted to use this quest to promote us and increase the number of high-rank squadrons in the Tenth Grain War." Souta answered. "I see..." Eztein nodded as he get the gist of it. The situation inside the Athen''s Champion was more complicated than he thought. The Tenth Grain War was one of the weakest Grain. They only had a few high-rank squadrons in Tenth Grain War. So as the leader of this Grain, Carmel wanted to increase the number of the high-rank squadrons. Since he saw that the Astros had the potential to become a high-rank squadron, Carmel would naturally support them. "That''s why we need to complete this mission so that the Grain Leader will continue to support us," Souta said. "So that''s how it is. I understand now." Eztein nodded. "This mission is important. I have a feeling that it will lead us to a bigger scope of events." Alice said. "Me too." Souta agreed to her words. The group continued their journey and after four days, they''ve arrived near the Dukedom of Halbun. It was a huge place with a population of more than one million people. The population of this dukedom was nothing compared to forty million people in Champion''s Den but it was still bustling. Everyone already expected it but finding the culprit in the strange cases will be hard with all of these people. Souta glanced at Alice and Eztein and saw that they already removed the Athen''s Champion''s emblem on their clothes. No one should know that they belong to a god''s legion as it could potentially scare the culprit. "Okay, we''ll start here." Souta took a deep breath and said. Alice and Eztein nodded at his words. The three of them were going to separate to increase the proficiency of their investigation. They were going to stay in different parts of the city and slowly uncover the truth about the events. ... Souta was inside a small pub in the northern part of the city. He had a mug of beer in his hand and he listened to the story of the drunkards around him. This was one of the best places to gather information. He just needed to filter all the information later and he will get a clue. ''The mysterious incident occurred one month ago. There are a total of seventy-two victims and all of them have bite marks on their bodies. What makes this incident strange is that the bite marks correspond to the teeth arrangement of the victims. In short, it looks like those people killed themselves by biting their bodies.'' Souta said inwardly. ''You needed to know the victims first. You need to know if there are any similarities to the victims. Also, the place where they died. It''s important in an investigation.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''Alright.'' Souta drank the beer in his mug before he stood up. Chapter 592: Investigation Chapter 592: Investigation Souta left the pub and glanced at the system. He had a total of 71 skill points. After integrating the [Galaxy Eyes], the number of skill points left in him was 38. He earned another 10 skill points for completing the quest to escape the Council''s forces. The rest was earned by completing low-level missions in Athen''s Guild and the quest completed by his comrades in his Dark Oculus Legion. So if he completed this mission, he would have enough skill points to unlock and integrate the [Star Veins]. He already integrated [Cosmic Body], [Nebula Heart], and [Galaxy Eyes], the only one left was the veins that will connect all these parts. He had an idea that once he integrate all the body parts, their effects would synchronize making him more powerful than normal. His base form would experience a huge change so that it will be enough to handle the power of [Cosmic Authority: Ophiuchus]. Maybe, all these body parts were needed to contain the Cosmic Sign. He guessed that none other than these other people would be consumed by the extreme force of the Cosmic Sign. So this mission wasn''t just crucial for his circle but for himself too. He checked the improvement of his strength in the past few weeks. The mastery of his Archetype had reached twenty-four percent and he could finally use the fifth form without suffering a backlash. Also, most of the forms that he could use had experienced a huge upgrade. Not just that, he could now use the sixth and seventh forms of the [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]. His strength had increased in the past few weeks. Not just him, even Alice, Eztein, and Eilish. Alice''s base form had reached the level of Intermediate Stage of S-rank. Eztein was close to breaking the first shackle while Eilish was approaching Rowan''s power level. The power of his team was high and their development was fast. Souta walked around the dukedom and he found another pub. He listened to the rumors in different pubs to know if there were any sort of similarities. He also observed the situation of the whole dukedom. ''It looks like a normal city.'' Saya commented. He couldn''t help but nod at her answer. The Dukedom of Halbun was normal. People wouldn''t expect that there was a strange incident that occurred in this place. After a few hours of walking around the city, Souta found a street filled with people murmuring to each other. The guards were present so the situation here must be serious. His high senses picked up the topic of their conversation. ''Oh, it seems that there is another victim here.'' Souta hide his presence and he jumped on the roof of the houses. He watched the scene from above and saw two guards carrying a corpse of a young man. The young looked like he was in his twenties. He had bite marks on his neck. "What is that...?" Because of his [Galaxy Eyes], Souta saw a strange dark green color energy lingering around the bite marks. ''Probably cause by some weird skills... I don''t understand as it is my first time encountering this type of incident.'' He thought before looking around to find the energy related to it in the air. Hmm...? What he saw was that the air in this place had a faint energy just like on the bite marks of the young man. It was scattered in the surrounding area slowly blending in the mana. Probably some type of camouflage so that people wouldn''t be able to find the culprit easily. ''Even the mana signature of the culprit is gone.'' Saya said. ''Yeah, it''s just like Isabella''s skill.'' Souta nodded seriously. Isabella had the God of Hunt legacy. Every time she used her mana, the mana signature that she left in the atmosphere would disappear in just a minute so it will be hard to trace it. ''That young man died six hours ago so we were too late. The mana signature disappeared too quickly. But we had a lead right now.'' Souta said. Saya agreed with his words. ''The faint energy on the young man''s neck had the attribute of a curse and water.'' It means that he only needed to find a person with curse and water attributes. However, that itself was a problem. There were millions of people here and finding one person with the same attribute will be hard. At the very least, they''ve confirmed that the culprit was still inside the dukedom. They shouldn''t reveal that they were from Athen''s Champion or else the culprit would lay low. On the next day... Souta, Alice, and Eztein met together. They exchanged the information that they have gathered so far. "The murder happened in a different part of the city so it''s hard to know where will it happen next. I don''t know if there''s another pattern but don''t think we could get it on the map." Eztein said while looking at the map on the table. There were "x" marks on the map indicating the murder case that occurred regarding the case that they were investigating. "Have you investigated the background of the victims?" Souta asked. "I''ve learned the background of some of them but not everyone. One day isn''t enough for that. The victims are either children, adults, or elders. It feels like it''s random and they aren''t even related." Alice explained. "Oh, I forgot, someone died yesterday and the victim had a bite mark." "I was there yesterday. I couldn''t find anything except for the curse and water attribute mana in the corpse." Souta said. "This is a place where millions of people live. Some of those people are using basic spells in their daily lives so it''s interfering with our senses with all those mana signatures. It''s already great that you''ve sensed the attribute of the corpse." Alice said. "I know. I want to know your opinion on this case. How to approach this case without notifying the higher-ups of this dukedom?" Souta asked. He was sure that if he asked the officials then they would receive support from the noble family but it will be too eye-catching. The culprit will notice them before they found the truth. "Should we lock down the entire dukedom?" Eztein suggested. Souta shook his head and said, "It will cause a panic. Also, the higher-ups of Athen''s Champion think that this case is related to some huge organization. So that''s not a good idea as it will easily cause an all-out battle. A lot of people will die in this place." "Imagine if an S-rank or higher power level fought here then all the ordinary people here will be caught in the aftershock of the battle," Alice said. "I understand. I''m not used to this. When I was working for Union Peace, my priority was always my mission more than the lives of other people." Eztein replied. "Anyway, I think we should continue our investigation boss. How about we investigate the underground? Or nobles? Or the duke''s family?" Souta turned silent. He rubbed his chin for a while before he opened his mouth, "Duke''s family... It will be hard to investigate them. The experts in the duke''s family could rival us but... we could simply ask the citizens if there are strange things in the duke''s family." He pinched the bridge of his nose as he recalled the duke family in his previous quest. The unfortunate ending that occurred in that quest. "Then, who''s going to investigate the duke''s family, boss? If Isabella is with us, she will be perfect for this job. Her stealth skill is simply perfect." Eztein said with a sigh. "I''ll do it." Alice glanced at Souta. "Oh, are you sure?" Souta asked. "Yes." Alice nodded. "Very good. Then, I''ll check the other noble families in this place so the underground will be left to you Eztein." Souta said as he moved his eyes to Eztein. "Okay, I don''t have a problem with it, boss." "If we''ve somehow found the culprit then don''t engage immediately. Gather everyone first and we will strike together. Understand?" "Yes, boss!" "Yeah." "Very well, let''s go now." The three left separately. They were going to investigate different things. It was dark. Eztein and Alice were going to rest first but Souta didn''t want to rest. He was going to start his investigation this night. It was already their second day in the Dukedom of Halbun yet they still didn''t find a solid clue regarding the murder case. Souta was walking in the dark alley. He could see one or two thugs in the corner murmuring to each other. They were having some sort of deal. He raised his hand and grabbed his face. His face began to distort and his appearance changed. The ability to control his flesh freely was helpful. Souta smiled inwardly and approached a thug. "Huh? Who are you?!" The thug raised his eyebrows when he saw Souta? "I just want to ask some question." Chapter 593: Artifact? Chapter 593: Artifact? "Huh? Is there something for me in it?" The thug asked. "Of course," Souta said as he threw a piece of gold coin in the air. The thug stretched out his hand and caught the piece of gold coin. Opening his palm, he observed the coin in his hand. "Oh, go on. You can tell me what you wanted to know." The thug said as he put the gold coin in his pocket. "Do you know something about the recent incident regarding the people that died because of their own bite?" Souta asked. The thug opened his eyes widely before he looked left and right trying to find if there were people around him. After finding that there''s no one around him, he breathed a sigh of relief. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Souta. "You''re not from this place, right?" He asked. "What makes you think so?" Souta raised his eyebrows at the reaction of the thug. "That topic is forbidden in the streets. People believe that as long as you don''t mention it, you will not suffer the curse." The thug explained. "Curse?" "Yeah, we believe that it is a curse that''s haunting the Dukedom of Halbun. This is not the first time that this happen. My pops told me that this incident also occurred exactly twenty-seven years ago. He told me that some people excavated a cursed artifact that day and it leads to the series of curses across the entire dukedom." The thug explained slowly. "Then, do you believe in that story?" Souta asked. "I have no choice but to believe it. Nothing will happen to me anything if I didn''t mention it so it''s better to be safe but... You, you had to be careful. You''ve mentioned it. According to my father, you will become the target of the curse." The thug warned. "Oh? But I heard that drunkards in the pub mentioning it several times." Souta tilted his head. "Not everyone knows about it. That''s why people kept dying from the same curse. Do you think those people will mention it if they know that they shouldn''t utter those words?" The thug said with a serious expression. "Since you gave me a silver coin, I''ll just warn you." He then turned around and left. "Be careful." Souta looked at the back of the thug with a deep frown. This incident wasn''t new. It happened decades ago. It seems that the background of the culprit was deeply rooted in this city. Some people know that it was a curse but Souta thought that it didn''t come from a cursed artifact. Instead, it comes from a person with a curse attribute. "Twenty-seven years ago... I need to investigate what really happened that day." Souta muttered to himself. ''It seems that your guess is right. If this incident occurred in the past then there''s a high possibility that some organizations are involved with it. You need to be careful.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. ''I know.'' Souta nodded before he disappeared. He reappeared on the rooftop of a six-storey building. Swoosh! Even though it was dark, Souta could clearly see what was happening below him. His eyes followed the thug''s movement until he reached his home. After all, Souta wanted to talk to a person that know the events decades ago and the father of the thug know it. Before he began his investigation with the other noble families he had to meet the thug''s father. "But... I mentioned the curse before. It would be better if I became the target of the culprit so that I could finish this mission as soon as possible." Souta muttered as he turned his head. Swoosh! He jumped on the other roof as he followed the thug. Half an hour later... Souta was standing in front of a small wooden house. He slowly raised his hand and knocked on the door. Knock! Knock! "Who is it?! It''s already dark!!" A voice sounded from the house and after a few moments, the door slowly opened. "Hello, sir." Souta greeted the middle-aged man behind the door. "Who are you?" The middle-aged man asked warily. "Me...? Hmm... You can call me Fate." Souta smiled faintly. "Please, excuse me for my rudeness. I know that you''re wary about me but I just want to know something." The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and asked in a strong tone, "What do you want to know?" Souta looked left and right before he placed his mouth near the middle-aged man''s ear. He whispered, "About the curse..." The man opened his eyes widely as he step back in shock while looking at him. "You! You! How?!" "I just heard that you know some details of the curse spreading the entire Dukedom of Halbun." Souta lowered his voice so that no one could hear it. For security, he even used some of the mana he stocked in his parasite to isolate the sound. "Where did you learn it?" The man asked. "I will not tell you my source but I assured you that I will not spread what I will hear from you." Souta looked at the small house and added, "Also, it seems that you lack money so I will give you one silver coin." The value of a silver coin was higher than a gold coin. The middle-aged man turned silent. After a while, he looked at Souta and said, "Come inside." Souta''s smile grew wider when he heard it. "You pick a good choice. I appreciate it." He stepped forward and followed the man inside the wooden house. The moment he entered the house, he felt something. Hmm... He looked down and tapped his boots on the wooden floor. "Oh, it seems that your background isn''t ordinary at all. This wood came from a rare tree called Ardoni." "I got this house from my father. I couldn''t sell the woods because it''s too old and already lost its luster." The man waved his hand as if it was nothing. "At least you will earn one hundred to two hundred gold coins with it." "Don''t worry about it. I''m used to living here anyway. I still managed to live through this life." Souta looked at the middle-aged man''s back without saying any more words. The life of weak creatures was really pitiful. They could hardly get any money to buy their daily necessities. Money? For powerful creatures money wasn''t a problem. Money was automatically coming to them every time they make a move. Before Souta could hardly get any money from his quest but now... Just simple carcasses or loots from high-level dungeons could earn him tons of money. "You can sit anywhere." The middle-aged man said. Souta just sat on a vacant chair and observed the room. He snapped his fingers and a barrier that isolated sounds enveloped the house. "You don''t need to worry, I''ve erected a barrier to prevent eavesdropping." He assured the man. "...As expected you''re not an ordinary person." The middle-aged man replied. "That doesn''t matter. I''ll just want to know everything that you know about the curses. I just arrived in this place the other day and I found this case quite intriguing." Souta said with a small smile. "Is that so? I must warn you that this is dangerous." The middle-aged man said with a gloomy look. "I know. I''ve conquered tons of dungeons housing powerful monsters so I''m used to danger. I even encountered gods before." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "Um... Actually, I don''t know the exact details of the curse." The man said hesitantly. "Don''t worry, just tell me everything that you know about the curse. After this, you can even forget about me and I will not bother you. No people have seen me entering this place and no one is listening to our conversation." Souta assured the middle-aged man. "Fine... All of this started twenty-seven years ago. The Dukedom of Halbun isn''t as prosperous as of right now. At that time, a group of treasure hunters discovered a passage under the city." The man took a deep breath before he continued, "I''m just a bystander so I don''t know what happened in their exploration but according to the survivors. They''ve opened a coffin containing an artifact with a powerful curse." The survivors planned to sell this but on the next day, the survivor died because of the curse. Their bodies had bite marks that correspond to their teeth. No one believed it but the curse slowly spread to the people that talked about it. More than three hundred people had died because of that curse and it lasted for three months. The man didn''t know why the curse stopped but he was glad that the disaster had disappeared. Souta frown grew deeper after he heard the middle-aged man''s story. Is it really because of an artifact? Just like the incident with Saya or maybe not? He moved his eyes and looked at the rewards. ''This will not be an easy mission.'' Chapter 594: Another Clue? Chapter 594: Another Clue? Somewhere, inside a dark area, a man was sitting comfortably on a chair while resting his chin on his palm, behind him stood a man with pink color hair. Both of them were watching several projections in front of them. "Hmm... So he finally arrived on God''s Continent..." The man on the chair mumbled. "Yeah, his progress is good. That land will be enveloped in chaos soon. It will become a battlefield for gods soon." The man with pink color hair replied. "Everything is according to plan. I''ll arrange it so that he could fight the person behind the incident sooner." The man on the chair said in a deep tone. "But it''s not enough if you want him to continue getting stronger." The man behind said. "That''s why the background of that person is important. It will become an all-out battle against him. Of course, it will not be an immediate battle as I know that he will lose. I will slowly arrange the scenario for him like I always do." The man on the chair paused for a moment before he said, "Then, I''ll use the demons. Tragedy is the best way to make him stronger." "What about the Bringers of Calamity?" "Oh, those people? They are certainly strong but don''t worry. They are also moving according to my plan. I have the perfect scenario in my head. It will become an epic scene." "Then, you''ll let him go back to Giza Continent?" "Yes, it will be one of the epic scenarios. I will arrange the final battle with his teacher before he ascends to the rank of monster lord." "You''re really good at setting up things." The man behind said with a sigh. "What can I do? I''ve been here for eleven cycles and I can''t even get out of this place. So I could only watch and set up the things outside but I guess this will be the last cycle. If it failed then..." The man on the chair said with a shrug. The man with pink color hair turned silent. He had been here for one cycle and it''s not comparable to the man before him. The cycle that the man said was the extermination every twenty thousand years. It means that he came from the era twenty thousand years ago and the man before him came from the era two hundred twenty thousand years ago. "The end will start soon. Do you think that you could stop it?" He asked the man before him. "You''re the only variable in the last cycle but the cycle this time is different. There are dozens of variables that could change the tide and I''m arranging things for them so that they could reach the limit." The man said with a small smile. "If we could only move out of this place." The man with pink hair said. "We could. But not now. The cycle this time will be much worse than the previous cycles and it will be the time to do things that I haven''t done before." The smile on the man''s face grew wider. They were sealed. Sealed in a place where no one could reach. The Blankness. A place where there''s no concept of creation. Only nothingness. ... Early in the morning... Souta was walking in the streets near the district of the nobles. He was observing if some of the nobles were connected to the incident. After learning something about the incident twenty-seven years ago, he guesses that the chances that he would find the culprit within the nobles were low. ''I should find the underground place where they said they found the cursed artifact.'' He said inwardly. Hmm? He slightly turned his head. His gaze pierced through the crowd and in the corner of the alley, a group of people was beating a man. This incident always occurred in every city and it''s not his problem so he didn''t need to involve himself. He would be exhausted if he tried to help everyone. He wasn''t a Saint nor a Hero. He was just a man that was training hard so that he don''t experience the same thing. "Oh?" A shop caught his attention. He moved his body and entered the shop. He closed his eyes and smell the aroma in the air. "Good." He smiled and sat on the chair. This shop was a coffee shop. Since he liked coffee, he wouldn''t let this chance not to taste the coffee of this place. After a few minutes, his order had arrived. He looked at the cup of coffee and held it in his hand. "The temperature is good and the fragrance is nice. What about the taste? Let''s find out." Souta brought the cup near his face and took a sip. "Ahhh... It''s good. The ingredients are normal but the taste is perfect. I really like it." He smiled comfortably as he placed down the cup on the table. He glanced sideways and asked the waitress, "Can you call the master for me?" "Do you have a problem, sir?" The waitress asked politely. "No, I found this coffee to my liking so I just want to meet the master that brews this perfect coffee." Souta smiled. "Sir, we have other customers so he still brewing coffee for other people." The waitress replied. "Oh," Souta raised his eyebrows before he looked around. Just like what the waitress said, he wasn''t the only customer of this coffee shop. There were seven other customers. Well, he could wait. ''Do you think you should drink coffee comfortably here in this place?'' Saya asked him. ''It''s not bad to relax once in a while. Plus, I''m investigating the case since yesterday night so no one will complain if I try to relax for a few minutes. It will not harm me anyway also it could help me clear my mind.'' Souta shrugged his shoulder and continued to drink his coffee. After a while, he noticed that the waitress wasn''t serving anyone anymore, and also no customer had entered the shop. The staffs were free and it was the time. Souta stood up and he walked towards the waitress. He paid his bill and called the master. "Is the master free? I really want to see him." The master was an old man with slick back white hair. His movement was elegant and it seems that he had trained before. ''B-rank...'' Souta gazed at the master and it seems that the master really trained before. He has a decent power level for a person that brews a coffee. If it was before B-rank was a big deal for him but now, B-rank wouldn''t even be able to scratch him. Only people at the Shackled Realm could give him a beating. Unless people broke their mortal bindings, Souta was sure that he would be able to defeat anyone. That''s how confident he is in his strength. Although he was invincible in the realm of S-rank and the third evolution monster, the realm of shackle was really hard to catch up with his current evolution. He guess that unless he got two pieces of equipment of his in the game he wouldn''t be able to battle a shackle realm in a one on one battle. Souta slightly bowed down and said, "I''m Souta Ieshi, I''m honored that I could meet someone who could brew a delicious coffee like this one." The master only had a power level of B-rank but he was an elder and most of all he could brew delicious coffee. That''s why Souta had to show his respect. "Oho, a young man that likes coffee. No need to now down, brewing coffee is just my hobby. It''s rare for young people like you to drink coffee these days. Most of the young people wanted to taste those drinks that have a good effect on their bodies." The old man said. "But I haven''t seen you before. Are you new to this place?" "Yes, master. I just arrived on this dukedom the other day. I didn''t expect that I would taste a delicious coffee here." Souta said politely. He then looked around and asked, "Master, I have a question." "What is it, young man?" The old man asked with interest. "Do you want to move out of this place? If you want you can work for me. Don''t worry, master. The work is still the same as you only have to brew coffee." Souta said straightforwardly. The old man smiled and shook his head. "I''m sorry, young man, but this is my hometown. I want to live in this place peacefully." Souta turned silent as he looked down. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "But I think that there will be turmoil in this place later." "Oh, you''re talking about the recent incident." Souta raised his head with a surprised expression. The old man smiled and said, "Don''t be surprised. I''ve been living in this place for a long time so I have an idea about the recent incident." "Then, can you..." Before Souta could finish his question, the old man continued, "The case this time is the same as before but it''s much worse. If you don''t want to get involved with it, you can leave the dukedom as soon as possible. Several organizations are moving behind the scene." Souta narrowed his eyes. Chapter 595: Curse Chapter 595: Curse Souta rubbed his chin as he realized that the old master before him know some details about the things that were happening in this city. "Master, can you elaborate it?" He asked. "I''m sorry young man, although I''m staying in this city for several decades, I still don''t know the full details." The old man shook his head. "Is that so... Thanks for the warning. I''ll keep your words in my mind." Souta smiled before he took a sip of his coffee. "Do you have any questions?" The old man asked. "Nothing." Souta shook his head. "Then, I''ll go now. I still have something to do." The old man smiled before he left. Souta just stared at the old man''s back before he closed his eyes. The curse and the several organization that was moving in the dark. It seems that the Grain Leader was right. This mission could lead them to another organization. But for now, if he wanted to know the truth about the case, he had to find the origin of the curse. A battle will erupt in this dukedom and he had a bad feeling about it. After a while, he paid the bill and left the coffee shop. He will not force the master to work for him. ''What do you think about it, Saya?'' He asked while walking on the streets. ''Mmm... We gained some important information. According to the master of the coffee shop and the father of the thug, some treasure hunter found a cursed artifact underground.'' Saya said. ''So do you think that I should check the place below this city?'' Souta asked as he looked at the floor. But according to the information that he gathered, the sewers of this dukedom were small. Maybe, this was just a camouflage to hide the place deep under the dukedom. But there''s a chance that the said place wasn''t located in this city. There were too many variables so he had to eliminate some of them. ... Souta, Alice, and Eztein gathered in their room. "Have you found anything suspicious?" Souta asked. "I investigated the outskirts of the duke households and some part of the households but I found nothing. The security in the deeper part was tight so I couldn''t enter." Alice explained. But that''s the most suspicious part. The duke households felt like they were turning a blind eye to the mysterious case. The authority or guards were the only ones investigating the case. "Really... The duke family seems like they know something about it." Souta said with a sigh. "How about we make contact with them?" Eztein asked. Souta shook his head and said, "No, it''s too early to reveal ourselves." "Then, what are we going to do next?" Eztein asked. "Hmm... From my information, the curse came from an artifact that the treasure hunters found in an underground place decades ago." Souta said while rubbing his chin. "Underground?" Souta nodded at Eztein. "Are we going to try to find it? If the underground place is located here in this dukedom then we would be able to find it after we thoroughly examine this city." Alice commented. "Yeah, but if it was located outside the city... It would take a lot of time." Souta added. "I understand so..." Eztein glanced at the two before he continued, "when are we going to start?" "Tonight." Souta paused. "Alice will examine the surrounding area outside the dukedom and I''m going to examine the sewers. You, Eztein, will observe the city while the two of us are gone." "Okay, boss." Eztein nodded. "I have no problem with it." Alice nodded too. The three quickly departed to finish their job. Alice went out of the dukedom while Souta snuck into the sewers. Eztein was simply walking on the streets looking around to see any suspicious movement regarding the incident. They were lacking in manpower. If they had more people, they would be able to find more clues. Just like that, a week had passed in the blink of an eye. Three more incidents occurred. The victims were two adult females and one young boy. The three victims died in different locations and they weren''t related to each other but they died from a similar cause. ''It''s tiring... This dukedom is huge so it''s hard for me to observe this whole city alone. Hundreds of thousands of people are living here.'' Eztein said inwardly. He was standing in front of a stall eating street foods. "At least, the street foods here are good." He said with a satisfied look. Suddenly, he looked around and narrowed his eyes. ''I sense something...'' Eztein turned his head as he secretly look at the people around him. He couldn''t accurately guess the power level of the people around him but his instinct was telling him that there was at least an S-rank around him. ''Did someone know that we''re investigating the case?'' He contemplated as he walked into the alley and placed his hand on his face. His face had distorted and his appearance quickly changed. While he was walking he heard a faint groan. Hmm? What''s that? Turning his head on his left side, a young woman was writhing on the ground while grabbing her neck with both of her hands. Veins were popping out of her body as dark green energy oozed out of her mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. "This is..." Eztein widened his eyes. He quickly looked around and swept his aura in the surrounding area. So this was the reason why his instinct was telling him that there was danger. The mysterious case occurred right before him and the culprit was nowhere to be found. ''Don''t tell me the culprit can use a long-range curse...'' He stopped five meters away from the young woman and saw bite marks appearing all over her body. Then, black blood flows out of her seven orifices. The moment the black blood landed on the ground it quickly evaporated. It disappeared into nothingness. ''Is this the curse they are talking about...?'' Eztein watched the process intently. But something occurred. The dark green energy rushed at him suddenly. "Shit!" Eztein quickly moved back but he was too late to react. It was outside of his expectations. He didn''t approach the young woman because of danger but he didn''t expect that the energy would fly at him. Ohm! The dark green energy landed on his left hand. "What the fuck is this?" Eztein quickly gathered his energy in his left hand to resist it and used his right hand to chop his left hand. "Argh!!" Blood splattered and a left hand fall on the ground creating a small pool of blood. His fast response to cut his hand considering this mysterious curse was incredible. He had a parasitic essence eater in his body and it could quickly regenerate his lost hand. But the dark green energy was much worse than he imagined. Even though he already chopped his left hand it still managed to latch itself onto his body. "Fuck! This is bad! If I couldn''t resist it then it would swallow me!" Eztein cursed as he tried to circulate all of his energy on his body. His resistance as a person that solidified a mana pool was great but this was no ordinary curse. It kept latching on his protective field trying to contaminate his mana. ''It could even affect my mana field...'' The only thing he could do was to resist it with his own energy. He realized that using physical was useless. Footsteps sounded in every direction causing him to turn his head. He saw that the authorities were here and suddenly realized something. "Shit! I was set up! The culprit knew it!" The guards surrounded him while brandishing their weapons. The dark green aura around him confirmed that he was related to the mysterious curse that was disturbing the city. Although they didn''t witness the crime scene, Eztein will become the biggest suspect. ''Fuck this shit! I messed up! How am I going to explain this to boss?!'' Eztein said inwardly as he glanced at the guards. "You!!" "Don''t resist!!" The guards shouted at him. "I know, I will not resist. I''m just going to tell you that I''m a victim too." Eztein said as he raised both of his hands above his head. He could only sigh at his misfortune. Luckily, he already changed his appearance using the parasite but if someone really set him up then the culprit knew their identity. ''Boss needed to know this information... I will let myself capture first to know what they are planning. I will not create a commotion with the boss''s approval.'' With that in his mind, Eztein looked at the young woman. The young woman was already dead with bite marks on her body. All the black blood had already evaporated leaving no traces on the ground. Then, he looked at his hands. He was still trying to resist the dark green energy using his mana but the guards around him couldn''t tell it. They only thought that the dark green energy came from him. ''Curse... I could still hold it for a long time.'' Chapter 596: Creep Lord Chapter 596: Creep Lord ''They got me...'' Eztein laughed inwardly as the guards handcuffed him. He looked at the cuffs and observed it. ''Oh, these cuffs are pretty tough. It can disrupt my mana flow in my body.'' Breaking these cuffs wasn''t that tough for him but it would at least take him a few minutes with his current physical strength. These cuffs were manufactured in the Champion''s Den and delivered throughout the various subsidiary kingdom, dukedoms, and empires of Olympus. It couldn''t hold a person that broke a shackle and it could at least hold a person that solidified mana for a few minutes. Eztein narrowed his eyes. Since these cuffs were disrupting his mana flow, the corruption of the curse had sped up by several folds. ''Three and a half days... I think that''s my limit.'' He took a deep breath as he looked at the blue sky above the city. ... Souta had no idea what happened to Eztein as he was in the sewers. "This..." He crouched down and let himself submerged in the water full of dirt. "I think I found it." His palm touched the ground and he released some energy. The thick dirt attached to the ground was scattered immediately. It revealed a small metallic round door. On the surface of the door, there were various ancient languages written on it. Those who seek salvation should go. Those who pursue vengeance should go. Those who pursue truth should go. -Creep Lord Saya read the ancient language for Souta. ''Creep Lord? Who is that?'' Souta tried to recall if there was a person that''s called Creep Lord in the game. But he remembered nothing. ''My previous was called Black Edge Zomus but before Zomus my user was called Phantom Blade. Creep Lord is from the same generation of Phantom Blade. I only heard about it.'' Saya explained. "Tell me more about this Creep Lord," Souta said as he releases some mana from his parasite and opened the metallic door. ''I only heard that she was a gruesome woman that love to torture her victims. She was decisive and insane as she massacre two kingdoms in a single day. She was pursued by different countries.'' Saya paused for a moment and continued, ''There''s no news about her fall but I didn''t expect that she would go here in God''s Continent.'' "Her power level?" Souta asked. ''She broke Ten Shackles and was on the verge of achieving godhood but I guess she failed.'' Saya said. "I see." Souta nodded in understanding. If Creep Lord reached the level of God Realm then she would surely return and her name wouldn''t disappear like a bubble. He would have also heard about her when he was still in the game. ''If she''s still alive, she would seek vengeance on the people that tried to execute her.'' Saya added. ''Ten Shackles Realm means a Peak Hero-rank. Even if she failed her ascension she would still become a powerhouse at Demigod-rank.'' Souta rubbed his chin. Maybe, she was left severely injured and spent her last minute in this place. If that''s the case then this place was basically her tomb. Souta entered the door. The dirt water mysteriously stayed on the above. It didn''t even fall down inside this place. "There''s some sort of active mechanism here?" He looked up and his eyes adjusted. There were countless tiny runes on the ceilings. The runes were too tiny as it was comparable to the size of the pores of the human body. "Too small... It''s my first time seeing runes like this. Even Gods that mastered runes couldn''t do this." Souta muttered in amazement. After all, people right now only focused on the power and effect of the runes. They didn''t care if the runes were large or small. "This is really the right place..." He continued to walk but soon thick stench assaulted his nose. "It''s stink..." With his enhanced senses, the smell felt like it was damaging him. He pinched his nose and narrowed his eyes. Still, he continued going further. Soon, he arrived in a room full of coffins. There were a total of thirty coffins in this room. The atmosphere was eerie and there were hints of curses in the area. "Curses of Creep Lord. So the deaths in the city are caused by the curse of the people that used Creep Lord''s treasure or power. I understand some of it." Souta tried to open one of the coffins but he found nothing. Nothing was inside the coffins except for a mist of dark green energy. The dark green energy tried to attach itself to his body. "Oh?" He raised his eyebrows with interest as he watched the scene unfold before his eyes. "It''s a very fatal cursed energy but my energy is one of the most densest here..." Best feram seeped out of his body and countered the cursed energy. The amount of cursed was small so the best feram easily dominated it. Souta shook his head and looked around. On the center of all coffins, there was a stone tablet. He slowly approached it and saw the ancient language written on it. This is the end. I couldn''t fulfill my dream. Everyone is basking in fake peace. Here I am, hiding from those people. For future generations that will discover this place should know that godhood is nothing but a dream. They hid the secrets of it and I failed because of it. It''s a sham. -Creep Lord Saya translated the words for Souta. "Secrets of godhood? Is she talking about the Archetype?" Souta muttered. ''Maybe, only people that reached a certain level of strength will be able to know or gained enough power to know the truth of Archetype.'' Saya said. Creep Lord reached the level of Ten Shackles but she couldn''t reach godhood because she didn''t have any Archetype. Only huge organizations have the manuals for Archetype but since Creep Lord was a lone wolf, she didn''t have anyone that could provide a manual for her. Just like now, Olympus had various Archetypes and they only gave it to the people that swore their allegiance to them. Unless a person was truly lucky to clear a living labyrinth and got the Archetype of the fallen gods, people wouldn''t be able to get ahold of it. But some of the people didn''t need to find an Archetype. In the game, Randolf aka Dark Emperor created his own Archetype before he ascended to god-level. That Archetype was very compatible with his style so he easily rise through the ranks and defeated dozens of gods to achieve his status. ''You don''t need to worry about Archetype. You have my [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]. It''s one of the best out there.'' Saya said to him. ''I know.'' Souta nodded. One hour had passed quickly and he arrived in front of a spacious room. On his way here, he encountered various traps that could endanger his life but he passed all of them. Going to this place was just out of his curiosity. He already confirmed that the people that got the Creep Lord''s inheritance was the culprit behind the mysterious case. Souta stepped forward and entered the spacious room. There was nothing here except for a huge exquisite coffin on the center of the room. The coffin was made of rare materials and it had a glossy dark purple color. Various runes and ancient languages were carved on its surface. Above the coffin, there were three things. One was a candle, the other one was a plate, and lastly a jar. Souta approached it and sensed thick cursed energy from the three objects. The most powerful cursed energy was coming from the coffin. ''Creep Lord should be dead for a long time yet her strong energy is still lingering here. It didn''t even scatter in the atmosphere.'' He said inwardly. ''It will scatter naturally but the runes here prevented that natural phenomenon.'' Saya explained to him. "Oh, so these runes had that type of function. It could prevent the curse energy from scattering in the atmosphere." Souta observed the runes. ''Yeah, you should be careful as some of the runes here are unknown even for me.'' Saya warned him. "I can see it," Souta said seriously. He had special eyes and adjusting his vision for runes could let him see its function. After observing the runes for a few minutes, he turned his attention back to the three objects. The three objects were releasing special cursed energy but it seems that the core was gone. Souta could see that there should be an object on top of the plate and another object inside the jar. The treasure hunters should have these two missing objects. As for the candle, plate, and jar, these three were attached to the cover of the coffin. Souta couldn''t even remove the three objects. He was even forced to use his best feram to counter the energy within. "I understand why most of the treasure hunters died here." When he touched one of the three objects a huge amount of cursed energy tried to enter his body. Without proper strength, people below liquefying realm would die. Chapter 597: Execution: Start Chapter 597: Execution: Start After finishing his investigation, Souta went to the surface. He went to the pub, the meeting place of the three. He was alone. Alice and Eztein haven''t arrived yet so he decided to listen to the rumors first. "Hey, have you heard about it?" "What?" "The news!" "It''s circulating fast." "The guards have captured the culprit." "For real?!" "Yeah, a lot of people are talking about it for now." "Huuuu~ I''m glad that they captured the culprit. I''m afraid that I would get cursed soon, for real." The drunkards were talking nonstop and Souta picked up a lot of interesting rumors. The one that caught his attention was the culprit. The guards captured the culprit? It feels impossible so he wanted to verify if it was true or not. ''I should wait for the others to arrive.'' Souta said inwardly before he drank a mug of beer. Suddenly, the door of the pub was slammed open causing all the people inside to turn their heads. Bang! Souta looked and saw that it was Alice. He was about to call her when saw said, "Souta, come here. I need to talk to you." She sounded serious so he didn''t ask her any more questions. He just stood up and left a few coins on his table before he left. ... The two went to the alley where there were no people that could eavesdrop on them. "What''s wrong? Did you discover something important?" Souta asked. "No, I didn''t find anything outside the dukedom." Alice shook her head. "But have you heard about the culprit being captured by the guards?" "Yep, I just heard it from the people in the pub. What''s with it? Is this rumor true?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "No, but the one they captured was Eztein. They thought that he was the curse user that is murdering the citizens of Halbun in an unusual way." Alice said. "Wait! What?! Haven''t we just arrived in this city a week ago so how could they suspect us?" Souta asked. "They didn''t want to listen to any sort of excuses." "It means that they wanted to make him the scapegoat for this case to calm down the citizen." Souta realized it quickly. Since the murder was happening for a long time, the citizens of Halbun were secretly terrified about it. After all, the culprit didn''t differentiate any victims of the curse and just kill anyone. If this continues most of the citizens would migrate to other lands to continue their peaceful lives. "Should we rescue him immediately or not?" Alice asked. "No, we''ll wait for a while. I''m sure that Eztein can handle it." Souta suddenly recalled something. He narrowed his eyes and said, "But if the guards captured him, they will know that Eztein came from Athen''s Champion." "Eztein had the emblem hidden in his clothes. The guards will naturally find it as long as they thoroughly check his clothes." Alice said. "Yeah, let''s wait for that. If the guards ignored the emblem then they were in cahoots with the real culprit." Souta nodded. The emblem of Athen''s Champion couldn''t be ignored by people from this land. After all, the Dukedom of Halbun was within the jurisdiction of Olympus. They knew the powerful legions of gods and Athen''s Champion was within the top legions. "The culprit will soon discover that the Athen''s Champion is investigating this case. It will be hard to move at that time." Alice said. "No, it''s the opposite. If the culprit had some plans with this dukedom then he will make haste after he discovered the emblem of Athen''s Champion." Souta said. "I understand." Alice nodded. "Okay, let''s observe for a while." The two left and they exchanged information about their investigation. Alice found nothing outside the city and Souta told her about the Tomb of the Creep Lord inside the sewers. According to his investigation, the culprit should be one of the treasure hunters that got the inheritance of the Creep Lord. The inheritance from a powerful Ten Shackles Realm expert wasn''t something that they could underestimate. They should be careful in dealing with it. ... On the next morning... Souta noticed a strand of dark green energy around his energy field. It was trying to corrupt his monster orb. "I''m cursed... I couldn''t even remove it." He was surprised to find that he was cursed. He thought that he would be able to successfully repel all the cursed energy in those three objects but it seems that he underestimated those objects. ''It''s not fatal for me. The curse is strong but it''s still not enough to fully contaminate my body.'' Souta said inwardly after he observed the curse in his body. Compared to the people who died because of curses, he was several times more powerful than them. His resistance was naturally higher so he wouldn''t die easily. Plus, this curse was corrupting his monster orb so people that suffered the same curse would have their mana pool corrupted. ''I can easily suppress it with my best feram. But I shouldn''t let my guard down.'' Souta stood up from his bed and wore his clothes. He then went downstairs to have his breakfast. Alice joined him and both of them have breakfast at the same time. After that, the two went outside to gather more information. What they discovered was that the higher-ups wanted to execute Eztein. Everyone thought that Eztein was the culprit behind the cursed incidents. "They are going to execute Eztein...?" Souta muttered while reading the newspaper. "They are really going at it," Alice commented. Souta read the details of execution. "Hmm... So they are going to execute him in the colosseum. Eztein is going to fight other prisoners until he collapses and died." There were other S-rank prisoners too so Eztein was going to fight all those people alone. It was an unusual way of execution. "When?" Alice asked. Souta glanced at her and said, "Six days from now. It looks like the culprit knew that Eztein belongs to Athen''s Champion and is waiting for us to rescue Eztein." "So are we going to rescue him?" Alice asked. "Nope, we''re staying low for these upcoming six days. We are going to watch the execution." Souta explained to her. He didn''t doubt Eztein''s battle prowess. He was sure that Eztein could dismantle other S-rank easily. After all, he was already at the peak of S-rank and was on the verge of breaking a shackle. Those people really thought that they could kill Eztein like that. They were wrong. Souta planned to stay on the sideline until those people moved personally when they realize that they couldn''t kill Eztein. "We still have six days... We should improve our battle power in this amount of time." He said to Alice. Alice simply shrugged her shoulder as she already expected it. For her, if Souta has a lot of time he would simply expend it on training. Soon, the two went inside Saya''s inner consciousness. They used the time to fully train everything that they could improve. They didn''t even leave the inner consciousness and just immersed themselves in training their power level and combat skills. Just like that, six days had passed quickly. It was already time for Eztein''s execution. Souta and Alice exited Saya''s inner consciousness. Their aura around their bodies was stronger than before. It was suffocating especially for Souta which had best feram. Huff... Souta took a deep breath and suppressed the lingering aura around him. He once again got stronger. He was sure that he was in the top ten strongest third evolution monsters in the entire Imperium. He stretched his arm and observed it. ''Except for those two unique monsters, I should be at the top three right now.'' He said inwardly. The two unique monsters that he was talking about were the monsters that grew famous in the game. The first time that those monsters appeared was just in the second evolution but they evolved quickly and became a well-known monsters. When those two reached the level of monster lords, their fame was comparable to the three kings of monsters. Just like Bargan who was invincible at his power level, those two unique monsters were the same. ''Well, well, well,'' Souta smiled to himself and shook his head. He went out of the inn with Alice and after walking for a few minutes the two arrived at a huge colosseum. The colosseum could accommodate thirty thousand audiences. A lot of people were already here to watch the show. They wanted to see the person behind the cursed murders going around the dukedom. "There are too many people..." Alice said in a low voice. "Yeah," Souta nodded at her words. If a battle broke out here, then a lot of people would die since most of them were just ordinary citizens with low power levels. Just a release of his best feram would be enough to knock down thousands of people at the same time. "It''s going to start." Chapter 598: Execution: Ezteins battle Chapter 598: Execution: Eztein''s battle "Hey, it''s time to go now." Eztein raised his head and saw a guard standing in front of his jail. The guard opened his jail before saying, "Follow me." He currently had nothing with him except for a rugged short. Everything he had with him was confiscated. His body was full of wounds as they tortured him in the past week. Eztein stood up and didn''t say anything. He just followed the guard silently while looking at his surrounding. He already knew that they were going to execute him. Those people knew him yet they insisted that he was the culprit. Just by that action, he already realized that the higher-ups of this dukedom were in cahoots with the real culprit. That''s why he persevered. He could break through the jail if he tried but he just endure it because he didn''t know what his boss was planning. He could also break the jail but he knew that the people who were secretly watching him would appear to stop him at all costs. He didn''t even know how many enemies were there in the entire dukedom. He had to be careful when dealing with his enemies since his boss was cautious this time. But well, he also realized that he had to do it this time. Soon, Eztein arrived at the center of the colosseum. ''So this is the colosseum that they are talking about... It''s bigger than I expected.'' He said inwardly as he looked at his surroundings. He could see thousands of people watching him as they "boo" at the same time. These civilians believed that he was the culprit behind the murder incidents. They were all filled with hostility against him. Clang! Eztein turned his head as a metallic sound echoed behind him. The guards simply locked the door behind him. He shook his head and decided to focus his attention on what will going to happen. He didn''t know his boss'' plan but it seems that something big will happen today and he was looking forward to it. As for now, this show inside the colosseum was his. Ohm! Layers of barriers locked down the entire field. It was to protect the audience and to prevent the prisoners from escaping. Outside the barrier, a man stood up and said, "Today! we are going to witness the struggle of a man that killed hundreds of innocent people of Halbun!" His voice echoed throughout the entire colosseum. "We''re to give other prisoners a chance! A chance to gain their freedom! Whoever managed to kill this man will be freed!" ''Oh, so that''s how they are going to incite the other prisoners to kill me...'' Eztein raised his eyebrows. "Now, for the first challenger! This man was a notorious criminal ten years ago but he was captured by our great captain of royal guards! His name is Frander!" A tall man entered on the other side of the ring. Compared to Eztein who had nothing, this man was wearing a full set of equipment. He had a murderous aura leaking out of his body as he stared at Eztein as if he was his prey. Eztein narrowed his eyes. He knew that he was at a disadvantage as he didn''t have any equipment with him. He could only trust his power level and combat skills that he trained through fighting the forces of the Council. ''Boss said that my strength should be at the top of S-rank. I already completely solidified my mana pool and I already felt the shackles. Boss said that it was a sign that I can go to the next level.'' Eztein slowly circulated his mana. ''I will use all the battles here to grasp an opportunity to strengthen myself so that I can surely breakthrough into the famed Shackle Realm.'' He raised his hand and taunted his opponent. "Come, show me everything that you''ve got." Frander got angry. He didn''t expect that this guy had the guts to taunt him. His opponent didn''t have any equipment and was full of injuries so he thought that his opponent would be cautious. His mana burst out of his body as charged toward Eztein at high speed. Swoosh! "So fast..." Eztein smirked as he coated his entire body with mana. He quickly threw a punch but Frander simply block it with one hand. Bang! "Shit! You''re so good." Eztein said with a small smile before he threw a barrage of punches. "You''re underestimating me!!" Frander gritted his teeth as he took a step forward. He wanted to brawl with Eztein without backing out. He was prepared to use his advantages against his opponent. No matter what happens, he had to win. He wanted to claim his freedom once again. He didn''t want to rot in that prison again. "Die for me!!" Bang! Bang! Bang! The two clashed at close range. Shockwaves were sweeping out every time they launched an attack and the ground kept shaking as if there was an earthquake. ''No way! He''s overpowering me in that condition!'' Frander was shocked when he realized that Eztein was pushing him back in that condition. "You are strong... but not strong enough to defeat me." Eztein tightly clenched his fist as a huge amount of mana formed around it. At the same time, he activated several combat arts. [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! [Adrenaline Spike]! [Control Resistance]! [Earth Wave Fist]! Frander gritted his teeth as he crossed his arms in front of him. He wanted to dodge but he knew that it was too late. That attack would land on him before he could get away so he had no choice but to take it head-on. [Tough Body]! [Flesh Defensive Barrier]! Boom! A powerful force landed on his body and it quickly blew him away. He flew too fast and crashed into the walls near the audience. The impact was powerful that it shook the entire colosseum. Smoke and dust covered the entire field causing the audience to watch silently. Swoosh! Eztein was standing in the center of the stage with a plain expression. He glanced at his fist and muttered, "This one is pretty strong." If it was him before he met Souta, he would have a hard time fighting this opponent. Right now, it was a different matter as he undergoes intense training with Souta several times. Even with all the disadvantages that he got, fighting someone at this level was nothing to him. He shook his head and smiled to himself. He simply waved his hand and all the dust was blown away. Swoosh! The audience saw that Frander was unconscious while his body was stuck on the wall. Blood was pouring out of his mouth. Eztein lifted his head and looked straight at the organization of this execution. The nobles who were watching the show had a frown on their face while some of them were smiling. Well, most of them were betting if Eztein could defeat his opponent or not. ''Show me everything that you''ve got.'' Eztein said inwardly. He knew that not all nobles knew the truth of the incident. Only a few ones involved with the real culprits know the real culprit behind the cursed murders. Another person entered the stage. It was a thin man with a dangerous aura lingering on his body. The battle started once again... Hiding between thousands of people, Souta and Alice were watching the battle with a plain expression. ''Eztein is good. He could probably break through the Shackle Realm in one month.'' Souta said inwardly before he turned his attention to the noble''s area. He was observing the expression of the nobles. He was looking at them with his perceiving eyes to see if he could learn something from these nobles. ''One, this one had a different expression. It seems like he didn''t join the bet but he showed a worried face when Eztein won the battle.'' He''s a little bit suspicious. Souta observed them one by one and he didn''t even realize that Eztein already defeated eight opponents. No one could defeat him and his momentum was high leaving the audience in silence. The entire stadium was in shock. All those eight people were notorious criminals. They were pretty strong but they couldn''t even defeat an injured man without any equipment. "Hoo~ the last one was pretty tough. I''m quite exhausted right now." Eztein said in a low voice as he wiped the sweat on his forehead. The organizer of the colosseum looked at Eztein before he said, "Bring that thing inside. We don''t need those useless prisoners. At this rate, most of the prisoners would die before they could kill this man." "Yes, sir." His subordinate saluted before he left. The organizer sighed as he looked straight at Eztein''s face. ''A warrior from Athen''s Champion is really strong.'' Soon, a giant monster entered the stage. It was a third evolution monster called Grim Rock. A three-meter tall monster that looked like a hedgehog. Eztein stared at the monster first before he looked at the organizer. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "If you wanted to kill me you should''ve brought more. Not killing me when you have a chance was your biggest mistake." Chapter 599: Execution: Tomb Chapter 599: Execution: Tomb The chains on the monster''s huge body fell to the ground causing a loud metallic sound. Boom! In the next moment, the monster roared as a powerful wave of best feram swept out in the entire colosseum. The audience was shocked as no one expected that the organizer of the colosseum would send out a third evolution monster. "For the final touch! Our main character here will fight a powerful monster called Grim Rock! Will they entertain us or not? Everyone place your bet!!" The organizer said in a loud voice while opening his arms widely. "OHHHHH!!!" The audience shouted in excitement. Eztein was wounded and exhausted so it would be a good match for a third evolution monster. This match should be entertaining for them. Eztein simply watched them with a blank expression. Everyone was underestimating him. Even though he was injured and cursed, the mastermind behind this really thought that he couldn''t fight a third evolution monster. "Wrong..." He muttered in a low voice and under everyone''s eyes, his body inflated as several layers of flesh covered him like an armor. "Ah, it feels good. It''s been six days since I''ve used the ability of my parasite so I feel refreshed." He smiled as he turned his eyes on the monster in front of him. Eztein was suppressing his parasite''s ability so that his wounds wouldn''t recover. It was all to fool everyone so that they think that he didn''t have that kind of ability. A week ago, he was sure that no one saw him when he recovered his severed arm. It''s not that he didn''t use the power of parasite. He just limited the power of parasites in the past week or else he would collapse from the torture and the curse in his body. Especially, the curse. It was hard to suppress it with his mana alone. He wouldn''t last if he didn''t have the parasite. The curse was slowly corrupting him while the parasite was regenerating the corrupted parts bit by bit. "Are you surprised everyone?" Eztein asked as his mana slowly covered his body. He tightened his fist and quickly charged at Grim Rock. Boom! Souta smiled when he saw this. Defeating Grim Rock wouldn''t be a problem for Eztein anymore. Grim Rock was already insane and its intelligence became low because of the constant torture its experience in the past. It was like a human with a mental problem. "Just what did they do to that Grim Rock?" Souta muttered as he could feel boundless hatred from that monster. He would become like that if he couldn''t control his emotion. "Souta," Alice called his name. Souta turned his head and his brows quickly narrowed down. "Have you felt it?" Alice asked. Souta nodded as he turned his head from the side. He could feel several fluctuations of curses around them. What they didn''t know was that hundreds of people already died from the curse while they were watching the battle on the colosseum. People were already panicking across the entire dukedom. "It seems that something is happening while we are busy here," Alice said. "I will go out. You will stay here, Alice." Souta said before he stood up and left. Alice watched his back before she turned his attention on Eztein''s battle. The battle was already in Eztein''s favor and a lot of people didn''t like what they were seeing. Hmm? Alice quickly looked up and saw a barrier enveloping the whole colosseum. "They are going to move...!!" The audience had no idea about what was happening. They were too focused on the battle before their eyes. Alice quickly flew up leaving words, "Eztein, I''ll leave everything to you here!" Eztein paused when he heard Alice''s voice. He looked up and said, "Fine, I''m always doing the hard work. I''m used to it." The audience also heard Alice''s voice and it was at this moment that they noticed the barrier enclosing above them. "What''s that?!" "Is that a barrier?!" "What for?!" ... Souta was standing on top of a five-storey building looking down at a corpse of a young girl on the ground. "The curse spread today and the culprit didn''t even try to suppress it." He muttered as he could feel that even he was affected by the curse. Dozens of people were collapsing every minute because of the mysterious curse and the entire dukedom was in chaos. At this point, no one could save them until he took out the culprit behind these curses. ''You should carefully observe the things around you and you will find a clue. I know you are capable of that.'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. Souta nodded before his eyes adjusted. His perception was heightened to the limit. It let him see the line between curses letting him see who''s going to collapse next. But it wasn''t enough... Slowly, he couldn''t hear anything. He couldn''t even smell anything. He closed all of his senses except for his eyes. The limit of his eyes reached a new height. "This is..." He marveled scenery before him but he quickly returned. "I found it..." The corners of his mouth slowly curved upwards. Suddenly, he looked at the sky above him. "Alice... What she''s doing there? Did she leave Eztein alone?" Souta tilted his head as he wondered. His energy burst from his body as he launched himself at her like a rocket. Swoosh!! Alice''s eyes were widely opened as she stared at the entire dukedom in shock from above. Who would have thought that this was going to happen? At this rate, if no one stopped this, every people would die from the curse. It would leave nothing alive and it would even affect people with higher power levels like her. Hmm...? She moved her eyes as she felt someone flying towards her. When she saw that it was Souta, she lowered her guard. She didn''t think that it was fake as she knew that no one could perfectly copy Souta. Even if they copy his appearance, no humans or demis could use best feram like monsters. "What are you doing here?" Souta asked. "I decided to leave because the culprits are moving. They enclosed the colosseum with a barrier and I made a quick decision that if both of me and Eztein were locked inside, it would be hard to move in the city." Alice explained. "I see... I know that you realize that we are dealing with an organization. The culprit isn''t alone so do you think Eztein can handle the colosseum alone?" "Yeah, I think the colosseum is just a trap to lock the three of us. It would be better if one of us stayed there while the two of us deal with the happenings in the city." "Good," Souta smirked. "Forget about that for now. How about you look at the city in our current position?" Alice pointed down with her index finger. "I already...?" A shocked expression appeared on Souta''s face after he look down. "This is... A giant magic circle is active in the entire dukedom!" It''s true that Souta knew a lot of spells but he didn''t know every spell in the whole world. The only person who was capable of that was the Grimoire of Spell. "There are several people on each corner of the spell. I think they are supplying energy to the spell to keep it active." Alice looked at him and asked, "Should we go and eliminate them?" "No, I already knew the source of it. I''ll just go and find it. Your job is to distract them." Souta said. "That fast?! You already found the source..." "Yeah, it''s nothing." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "Fine, I''ll go now and eliminate them." Alice sighed at Souta''s efficiency. "Good, then let''s go now." Souta launched himself downward at high speed. Swoosh!! At the same time, dozens of people wearing dark green cloaks appeared around him. Souta didn''t have a choice but to stop and looked at these people. These people had a blank expressions on their faces and they were muttering strange language. It seems that they weren''t here to communicate with him. "As expected... They are watching my movements." He muttered to himself. He couldn''t help but glance at Alice who was still above him. Alice saw his glance. She already knew what he was asking for her. "Okay, fine, I''ll deal with them." A powerful wave of mana burst from her body as she launched herself towards the group of people. Boom!!! A huge explosion occurred in the sky causing the citizens to pause and look up. This explosion only added fear to them as they don''t have any idea what was really happening in their city. Souta came out of the smoke as he continued heading to the ground. When he was closed on the ground he pulled out the vajra sword from its sheath. Ohm! A huge amount of best feram gathered on its blade. He slashed it splitting the entire land in half. ... Souta landed on the tomb of the Creep Lord once again. It was his second time coming here. "Really nice, why I haven''t discovered at that time that the source of the curse is in this place?" The cursed energy in this place was several times higher than last time. He could even feel that the curse that he suppressed in his body using his best feram was pulsating. It was as if it was trying to devour him desperately. "Know your place! Lower energy!" Souta narrowed his eyes as his best feram blooded the entire tomb causing it to shake several times. "It''s no use, using only curse energy towards me, a monster, wouldn''t let you devour me. So why don''t you show yourself?" Chapter 600: Execution: Chaos in the Dukedom Chapter 600: Execution: Chaos in the Dukedom "Is there anyone that could challenge me here?" Eztein said in a loud voice while standing on the top of a Grim Rock. He just defeated a third evolution monster which shocked the entire colosseum. At this moment, no one doubted his strength and some people even feared him. As they knew he was the culprit behind the cursed incidents so how are they gonna kill him if he was this strong? The organizer gritted his teeth in frustration while looking at Eztein''s arrogant look. "You leave me no choice..." Swoosh! Swoosh! Dozens of people wearing dark green cloaks landed on the stage. The aura they possessed was quite strong and added that they were all together it became overwhelming. "I''m going to personally take you out." The organizer also jumped down from the audience''s seat to face Eztein. "Oh, one, two, three..." Eztein raised his eyebrows and started to count his opponents. "Thirteen... Me against thirteen people? It''s not bad." Layers of flesh covered his body and his aura became domineering. He smiled and said, "Come I''ll take all of you! It''s a good chance to remove thirteen people from blocking my boss'' way!" "You! Fucking!" The organizer grunted as Eztein kept taunting them. "If you''re not going to take the first move then I''ll do it!" Eztein quickly dashed towards the thirteen people. The thirteen people scattered around and he followed one of them. Swoosh! He raised his hand and it turned into a brutal blade with heavy killing intent that spread throughout the entire area. "You know, I''m quite furious at you people!" Eztein slashed his hand to eliminate one of them. But three people appeared in front of him and blocked his attack. Boom! Then, another three people appeared behind him. Before he could turn around the three people already launched a series of powerful attacks. Boom! Boom! "You can talk big but you wouldn''t win against us alone!" The organizer smiled before he stretched out his hand. One of his comrades stepped forward and passed a pitch-black staff on him. "Today onwards, we will stop hiding in this city! We will make it big!" He stabbed the staff on the ground and a powerful wave of cursed energy burst out. The barrier that protected the audience from the battle on the stage disappeared this time. [Cursed Connecting Wave]! He opened his arms widely as the curse spread out. Hundreds of people quickly collapsed in just a few seconds. "Fall! This city will fall soon! The lord will destroy this city!!" The audience started to panic. They were just prey for people with higher power levels. Without the authorities, no one will protect them. No, the authorities were in cahoots with the organization that wanted to destroy this city. "You! How dare you?!" Some of the nobles wanted to fight back but they realized that they couldn''t move their bodies. They also couldn''t properly circulate their mana. "W-What did you do?!" The organizer smiled and explained, "I''m sorry for our respectable nobles but I''m afraid that you can''t stop us. I put poisons in your drink and secretly inflicted all of you a curse." Nobles were the only people that had the ability to stop them in the entire dukedom. Ordinary people didn''t have that power. That''s why they carefully planned this event. To gather a whole lot of nobles and poisoned them. If the nobles were gone then they would be free to do whatever they wanted in this city. "Our duke will stop you!!" One of the nobles said with great effort. "The duke?" The organizer looked up and rubbed his chin. "Ah, he''s already gone." "W-What do you mean?" Another noble asked. "He''s gone. I''m afraid that you people can''t count on your duke anymore. My lord has already taken care of him." The organizer said with a smile. "Bwahahaha!" A laugh sounded causing everyone to turn their heads. They saw that it was Eztein. Eztein wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth and his wounds regenerated rapidly. "You people thought that you already win. I''m gonna say that you are celebrating too early. You haven''t even defeated any of us. And as for your lord, my boss will take care of your great lord." He said with great confidence. The organizer''s expression turned serious. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "We actually knew that you people are from Athen''s Champion. But that''s the reason why we are moving this plan faster. We are going to take care of everything before those strong people from Athen''s Champion arrive here." "So you are saying that you can take care of us but not the reinforcement that will arrive after you defeat us?" Eztein stood up as a domineering aura exploded out of his body. "That''s where you are wrong." He squatted down and placed his left palm on the ground. [Element Drive: Earth Force]! His aura grew several times higher than before. Boom! Eztein glanced at the organizer and said, "Now, let me show you my real strength." "Have you forgotten that this is your execution?" The organizer didn''t even flinch at Eztein''s burst of aura. ... Battle was occurring in the middle of the city. The shockwaves from the battle already destroyed several tall buildings and most of the civilians had left the area. Boom! Alice crashed into a building. The building was shattered and a ball of energy flew toward it at high speed. In the next moment, the shattered building exploded as debris of rocks flew in every direction. Boom! [Freezing Breeze]! Everything within hundred meters quickly turned into ice. The temperature in the atmosphere suddenly went down as a cold breeze swept out. Bang! Alice emerged from the debris of rocks and stared at the figures above her. "These guys are strong..." She muttered in a low voice. She tightly wrapped her fingers in her spear. She was ready to fight any of them once again. Fighting these guys let her discover one thing. These guys were trying to protect something in the corners of the magic circle that enveloped the whole city. She turned her head from the side and thought, ''I should lure them and disrupt whatever they are planning. Casting a huge magic circle isn''t easy after all. There must be a core. A core that will stop the spell.'' Swoosh! The people wearing dark green cloaks once again charged at her. Hmph! Alice gathered her mana on the tip of her spear and thrust it forward. Clang! One of her opponents blocked her spear attack with a sword. Then, another figure appeared behind her. She stomped her right foot on the ground and several spikes of ice burst from it. Bang! The figure didn''t have a choice but to avoid the spikes. ''Fighting several opponents is really hard especially if their power level is close to mine. It''s hard to create a gap.'' She said inwardly as she thrust her spear several times at the figure in front of her. Clang! Clang! Clang! [Element Drive: Ice Force]! A powerful cold aura burst from her body. She tightened her arms and pointed her spear at the sky. "Fall down! [Winter Dazzling Meteor]!!" Her opponents couldn''t help but look at the sky. They saw several gigantic boulders of ice with a diameter of two hundred meters. "I know that you people wouldn''t avoid this attack of mine." Alice smiled at them. Her attack this time had a huge AOE effect that could damage whatever her opponents were protecting. Seven boulders of ice with that size would surely destroy a huge part of the city including the core of the magic spell. Also, these weren''t ordinary boulders of ice. It contained Alice''s energy so destroying it wasn''t easy. ''I gambled... If they didn''t stop my spell then my spell would kill hundreds of civilians but it doesn''t matter now since they will try to stop it at all cost.'' Alice narrowed her eyes. Her conscience wouldn''t be able to handle it if she kill hundreds of innocent people. Those people didn''t even have any hostility against her. BOOOOM!!! The people wearing black cloaks released several spells. The shockwaves from it shook the ground. It even blew several small houses in the vicinity. Bang! Bang! The debris from ice meteor fell in every direction. "It''s time." Alice tightened her grip on her spear as she launched herself towards the people wearing dark green cloaks. In an instant, her spear pierced the chest of her opponent. The blood of her opponent didn''t even splatter as it quickly turned into ice. "One down, I''m going to finish this real quick." ... Inside the tomb, dozens of people wearing dark green cloaks were lying on the ground. All of them were lifeless as their bodies were covered in blood. Souta was walking in the center of these corpses. His face was blank as these corpses didn''t bother him in the slightest bit. When he entered the last room, he laughed. "Hahaha, they fooled me..." What was before his eyes were just a simple giant orb of curse energy. This was the source but at the same time, it wasn''t. Using his eyes, he could see a small string of cursed energy behind the orb connected to somewhere above the city. These were just a huge amount of cursed energy that supplied the curses incidents that were currently happening above. "You think I wouldn''t find you?" Chapter 601: Execution: Mastermind Chapter 601: Execution: Mastermind Alice pulled out her spear on the chest of a person wearing a green cloak. These guys were cult. All of them were prepared to die for the sake of the successor of the Creep Lord. It''s really troublesome to fight insane people. ''I''ve killed three of them but it seems that it will be harder from now.'' She said inwardly while looking at the tall pillar hundreds of meters away from her. This pillar was one of the focal points of the magic circle that was casted in the entire dukedom. It has a height of twenty meters and it was pulsing with dark green light. She already guessed the effect of the giant magic circle. The giant magic circle was casted so that most of the ordinary people in the dukedom would be affected by curse. A super wide range spell. The Dukedom of Halbun had millions of population and not everyone was ordinary people. Hundreds of thousands reached C-rank, tens of thousands have reached B-rank, thousands have reached A-rank, and hundreds of them reached S-rank. Those people that reached Shackled Realm were either on Champion''s Den or doing quests for their legions. In short, there were hundreds of thousands of experts that could help Alice yet no one came to stop this cult. The answer to that question was that they were busy. People that died because of the curse came back. They weren''t revived but their dead bodies were moving according to the will of the curse user. So Alice wasn''t the only person fighting right now. She could feel the vibrations on the ground. The other experts of this city were fighting the people that came back with all of their might. Also, most of the fighting forces of this city, the nobles, were poisoned by the organizer of the colosseum. The cult planned this event really well so that everything will go well for them. A few hundred people managed to take over a city with millions of population. ''I need to stop them...'' Alice dashed forward but five people quickly blocked her path. She quickly swung her spear and clashed with the cult people. Boom!! ... "Here..." Souta stopped and stared at the store in front of him. He didn''t anticipate that the source of the curse would be connected to this place. The coffee shop that he visited before. When he came here last time, he couldn''t see any curse energy in this shop. But right now, he was certain that the string of curses in his vision was coming out of this small place. Souta stepped forward. He stretched out his hand and opened the door. Inside the shop, the old man was standing on the backside placing cups in the drawer. When he heard the door creaked open, he turned his head. He smiled and said, "What are you doing here, young man?" Souta simply smiled and found a vacant chair to sit on. He looked around commenting, "You have no customers today." "Yeah, it''s a little bit chaotic." The old man said in response. "Hmm..." Souta stared at the old man. "You have fooled me. I didn''t expect that you are the mastermind behind all of this incident." The ground shook slightly. The battle outside the shop was causing the small objects in this place to tremble as if there were an earthquake. All of the citizens in this city were panicking yet this old man was still here without a care about the chaos outside. "It''s already too late young man." The old man said. He didn''t even deny Souta''s words. It means that he already accepted it. "What do you mean by that?" Souta asked. "The curse already affected forty percent of the entire population and it''s quickly spreading. People that have died because of it will rise again to create more chaos." The old man explained. "Oh, don''t worry about it. So you''re really the mastermind behind all of this?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "A week ago I found the Tomb of the Creep Lord thanks to your words. You weren''t lying but you just carefully choose your words so that I wouldn''t know that you lie to me." "I''m the successor of the Creep Lord. I''ve inherited most of her skills but my current power couldn''t utilize most of it so I''m planning to hide here but I didn''t expect that the Athen''s Champion would get a whiff of it." Souta ignored the old man as he looked at the system. *Ding!* [Quest Completed!!] [You''ve received 12 skill points, 20 free attribute points, and 100,000 experience points!] *Ding!* [You''ve leveled up!] [Your Health had increased by 100!] [Your Energy had increased by 20!] [Your Stamina had increased by 20!] [Your Strength had increased by 50!] [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality had increased by 30!] [Your Physical and Energy Damage had increased by 5%!] [Your Health, Energy, and Stamina Recovery had increased by 10!] [You''ve gained 1 skill point!] [You''ve gained 2 free attribute points!] He finally reached level 53. The last time he leveled up was still at the quest where he fought the Witch Clan''s Clan Leader. He went to Planet Orina to take the [Yin Yang Bracelet] and fought the forces of the council for several days nonstop. Then, he arrived here in Imperium and after joining the Athen''s Champion he grinds the quest for more than twenty days quickly promoting his circle to Third Class Yellow Squadron. That''s not all, the members of his adventurer legion in the Giza continent were still giving him some experience points so he naturally earned all the experience he needed for one level. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Curse]: The curse master has shown his true self to you. You have two choices. Capture the curse master or kill the curse master to stop all the curses in the dukedom. Rewards: (Depends on your choice) Souta snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the old man''s voice. "What are you thinking? Do you still think that you could stop me? Or did you bring reinforcement here?" Souta raised his head and looked at the old man. "No, I''m just thinking what sort of reward would I receive if I somehow stop you." "You think that you could stop me?" The old man tilted his head. "How would I know if I don''t try?" Souta grinned as he kicked the table in front of him. Bang! A huge amount of best feram burst out and he rapidly closed the distance between him and the old man. Swoosh! Brandishing his sword, he directly used one of his skills. [Crimson Moon]!! A red light erupted from the coffee shop and it directly slice several houses in half. "Oh, as expected of the mastermind." Souta turned around and saw the old man standing several meters away without any scratches. "It''s nothing young man." The old man said with a blank expression. Souta faced the old man and asked, "If I''m not wrong, you were just a B-rank expert last time so how did you power up yourself that quickly?" He was curious about it. His [Galaxy Eyes] wasn''t wrong. This old man only had a power level of a B-rank. That''s why Souta didn''t care about this old man before except for the fact that this old man could brew delicious coffee. "That''s the reason why I''m hiding for several years. My power is too low and those nobles would be able to kill me easily if I''m not careful enough. I''m slowly accumulating the curses over the years in the tomb." The old man paused. "After you visited me, I realized that it''s the right time to integrate all the accumulated curses in my body, and as you can see... This is the result." "In short, you''re an old man that couldn''t advance to A-rank so you resort to using curse energy to promote your power level." Souta shrugged his shoulder. If this old man just integrated the power of the curse then his control should be low. He would have a chance to capture this old man. "You wouldn''t be able to fight people on the same level as you." "But it''s enough to defeat a third evolution monster like you..." The old man smiled. "When I first saw you I thought that you are from the legion of a monster lord but after I investigated further I found that you are from Athen''s Champion. You''re a newbie, right?" "Hahaha! Newbie?! Me?!" Souta grinned widely. "Let''s find out if I''m a newbie!" Souta charged toward the old man as ten black balls appeared behind him. [Gravitational Ball]! [Cat''s Speed]! [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! [Agility Boost]! [Strength Boost]! [Night Overlord''s Aura]! [Shadow Cloak]! He activated several skills at the same time. Then, black mist exploded out of his body and quickly spread to the surrounding area. [Dark Cloud Hunting]! The old man''s expression turned serious. A huge amount of cursed energy seeped out of his body before he threw a punch in Souta''s direction. [Decaying Strike]! Souta slashed his sword and a red light flew out. [Crimson Moon]! Both of their attacks collided causing a powerful explosion. BOOOM! Chapter 602: Execution: Clash Chapter 602: Execution: Clash A huge beam of cursed energy rushed forward directly annihilating everything in its path. Swoosh!! Souta moved his body but the beam still managed to graze him. His skin quickly turned into ashes and his muscles started to rot. ''A powerful curse!!'' He narrowed his eyes and controlled his parasite to regenerate the affected area. Swoosh! The old man appeared behind him. Souta tightened his grip on the vajra sword and quickly slashed it. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Second Form: Thousand Oak Absorption]! Black lightning formed on his palm and it spread out beside him like a spider web. A wave of cursed energy smashed into it. Boom! Souta closed his palm and the black lightning disappeared along with the cursed energy. The blade of his sword which was close to the old man suddenly stopped. Hmm? Souta narrowed his eyes only to see a small barrier made from cursed energy preventing his sword from reaching the neck of the old man. "If you really wanted to stop me, you should''ve used your monster release." The old man said before he raised both of his hands. Swoosh! He punched Souta''s sword before he grabbed Souta''s collar. Then, he lifted his feet and kicked him away before launching a beam of cursed energy. "Shit!" Souta was blown away but he quickly stabilized himself in the air thanks to his [Gravitational Ball] spell. The beam of cursed energy was about to hit him so he opened his other palm. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Second Form: Reverse Moon Oak]! A vortex of black lightning formed in front of him. The vortex shoots the cursed energy he absorbed before. Boom! Two cursed energy collided. Souta took a deep breath and stared at the old man. He didn''t just stay in the Athen''s Champion for more than twenty days and do nothing. He wouldn''t forget to train his skills wherever he is. The mastery of his Archetype had increased so his second form could now absorb an attack that''s equal to a peak S-rank. If raised his mastery level it would be enough to absorb the attack of the powerful shackled realm experts. "You, you can absorb my curse energy...?" The old man said and then he noticed something from Souta''s hand. "It seems that you couldn''t properly control it." Souta''s hand was decaying due to cursed energy. Souta simply shook his hand and his hand started to regenerate. "Just like I said you''re just a fake. That''s why I can absorb your attack if not then I wouldn''t be able to absorb it." The second form couldn''t entirely absorb the cursed energy of his opponent. The cursed energy that the old man used exceeded the output that the second form could absorb. So he suffered a little bit of backlash. "Your regenerating ability is magnificent but you can''t remove my cursed energy that easy. It will continue to eat you until you can''t regenerate." The old man said. Souta didn''t say anything and simply slashed his sword forward. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! Black lightning rained down on the old man powerfully. Dozens of houses turned into rubble in an instant. Swoosh! Swoosh! The old man moved his body left and right. His speed was fast as he avoided every lightning that fell in his direction. Then, he flew in Souta''s direction. Swoosh! Souta gathered his best feram on the blade of his sword. BOOM!! The two exchanged blows at high speed. In just a few seconds, they already threw hundreds of attacks on each other. The buildings around them were collapsing one by one as they couldn''t handle the aftershocks of the battle. Bang! Bang! Souta flew and crashed into a building. Then, the building exploded as a beam of cursed energy swallowed it. BOOM! "Just like I said you couldn''t fight me in your current form." The old man said as he waved his hand directly blowing all the dust in the air revealing Souta''s figure laying on the piles of rocks. Souta simply sighed. The old man was right. Ever since the battle started, he never landed a hit on his opponent. All he could do was to defend against the attack of the old man. "If you''re not going to take this seriously then I''m going to force you." The old man said before he flew into the sky. Swoosh! Souta stared at the old man who was up above the city. He slowly stood up and shook his body. Some of the wounds that he received started to close as if nothing happened. But he didn''t heal all of his wounds. These wounds were crucial to him to increase his strength. All the accumulated wounds would boost his stats because of [Draw Blood]. ''Okay, this boost in stats is enough. It''s time to get serious.'' Souta said inwardly. The reason why he didn''t use everything that he have got before was to accumulate wounds. He also wanted to test his opponents to see his chances of killing or capturing. The ground started to shake heavily. In the next moment, an enormous amount of cursed energy burst in every direction. The quantity of this energy was terrifying as if it was about to fill an entire sky. "Shit! Is this guy serious..." Souta said while looking at the terrifying scene in the sky. He glanced at his arm and felt that the cursed energy that was trying to eat him was growing wild. It was as if it was trying to eat him in desperation. "At this rate, most of the people in this dukedom would be affected by the curse." This was all the cursed energy he gathered in the past few decades. This was the reason why his power level rose several times in just a few days. ... Eztein, the organizer, and the others stopped fighting as they turned their heads above. All of them saw an immense amount of curse energy flowing in the atmosphere. "What the hell is that?!" Eztein muttered. "Oh, our Lord is about to make a move! This city will fall today!" The organizer said with anticipation. His eyes were filled with hope. Eztein slightly turned his head and glanced at the organizer. "Your Lord?" "Yes, the successor of the Creep Lord will appear today!!" The organizer opened his arms widely with a mad look on his face. The other worshippers fell to their knees. They started to pray to the Creep Lord. "That''s not even a god-level yet you people are worshipping whoever is that," Eztein muttered as he tightly clench his fist. "Hehe, our Lord will guide us toward the greatness." The organizer laughed as he faced Eztein. "You will eat shit after this! My boss will handle your great fucking lord!" Eztein smiled before he charged forward. ... Alice had a gloomy expression on her face. The enormous amount of cursed energy in the sky came from the pillar that she wanted to destroy. She failed her job and realized that things will turn difficult starting now. The quantity of cursed energy was too much that it started to affect her. After all, she was just fighting close to the pillar and it wouldn''t be strange if the curse affected her. "They just keep coming at me." She muttered. She slew ten people yet another ten people were blocking her way from destroying the pillar. "I just need to destroy it and Souta will handle the rest." She said before she launched herself on the group of people wearing dark green cloaks. Boom! ... The experts living in this dukedom were starting to feel despair after seeing the enormous amount of cursed energy. They were fighting for their survival, slaying every people that attacked them. Even though the people that they were killing were once they knew, they still do it because of their will to survive. But after seeing the clouds of cursed energy... "Hehe! Is this a joke?!" "How could this happen?!" "Why?!" The experts stared blankly at the sky. They could fight but the curse was affecting their power level. The only thing that they could do was to struggle until they die or wait for their own death. They couldn''t even rely on the nobles anymore. The entire city was filled with despair. ... Clouds of cursed energy covered the sky above the dukedom. It blocked the light coming from the sun as shadows slowly encroached on the city. A pair of red eyes were gleaming in the cloud. The eyes were filled with a murderous aura that could paralyze normal people. Ohm! Souta slowly opened his eyes and looked at the scene before him. His body started to inflate and a vast amount of best feram burst out suppressing any cursed energy near him. [Monster Orb Release]! His mouth cracked open revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. Layers of flesh moved from his hand and it covered the vajra sword to fit his size. "Settle down." His aura flared up once again. Black and white energy covered his body. [Dual Element Drive: Dark and Light Force]! Chapter 603: Execution: Fake Chapter 603: Execution: Fake [Dual Element Drive: Light and Dark Force]!! A month had already passed ever since Souta consumed the High Phaseless Fruit. A fruit that allows him to have an affinity in dark and light attributes. He already mastered the [Element Drive] of dark attribute so in the past weeks, he tried to master the [Element Drive] of light attribute inside Saya''s inner consciousness. He succeeded in performing the [Dual Element Drive]. He could now use it in real battle. "It''s not enough..." Souta''s aura grew stronger once again as he activated the [Possession] skill of his sword. [Hunting State]! [Serial Killing Steps]! His opponent''s speed would decrease by 20% while his speed had increased by 20%. Also, his other movement skill experienced an upgrade as their effect had been raised by 10%. Decreasing the opponent''s speed while increasing his speed will create a huge gap. It was a good combo skill of his equipment [Solid Hunter State Boots]. No matter what, he shouldn''t underestimate his opponent. "Now, let''s start the real battle." Souta grinned as he stared at the clouds of cursed energy. The four spider limbs on his back pointed at the clouds and each one charged a huge amount of best feram. Boom! Four [Bestrou]s were shot in just a second. An explosion occurred above the city that shook the entire area. Souta narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Everyone! Keep fighting! The Athen''s Champion is here to back you up! Fight for your survival!" He then said in a loud voice that everyone could hear. It was to motivate the experts of the dukedom to keep fighting. If those experts fall and the old man received help then it would make everything troublesome for him. At least, he didn''t want that to happen. He should at least let the people of this city know that the Athen''s Champion was here to help them. The name of the Athen''s Champion was huge and it would give hope to some people that lost their will to fight. "Stop giving them hope." The old man who was in the clouds of cursed energy said in a coarse tone. "All of you will die here." "Eh~ is that so? Then, let''s see how you can do it!" Ten black balls formed behind Souta and he quickly flew in the old man''s direction. "Fine!" The old man pulled back his fist as a powerful concentration of curses swirled around his hand. Then, he threw a punch in front of him. [Everlasting Curse Strike]! Souta tightened his grip on the vajra sword and swung it to meet the attack of the old man. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! BOOM!!! Two attacks collided causing ripples in the atmosphere. The cursed energy and best feram clashed directly destroying everything around it. It formed a spherical shape energy in the mid-air as the two types of energy tried to push each other. BOOM!! In the next moment, a blinding light erupted as a powerful wave of energy swept out in every direction. It exploded. The explosion created a huge crater with a diameter of three hundred meters. All the buildings inside the range of the explosion were turned into dust. ... The experts who were fighting the cursed people felt a little hope after they heard Souta''s words. They started to fight like a madman trying everything that they could do to survive. Their bodies were weakened with curse but it didn''t stop them from fighting the enemies in front of them. "The Athen''s Champion is here!!" "The warriors of the Goddess are here with us!!" "Don''t lose hope!!" "We can still make it!!" "YEAHHHH!!!" They screamed at the top of their lungs. Their fighting wills were once again ignited. It doesn''t matter if their enemies were once their friends, everyone knew that the people that died from the curses would be controlled by the leader of the enemies. So they will fight to free the bodies of their friends and families. Alice raised her head as she heard the shout of the other people. She shook her head and smiled. "I guess they could still fight and help us." She then turned her attention back to her opponents. "You people think that it would be easy to destroy an entire city that has a population of over one million. The experts are flocking here and they would do everything to stop you." It''s true that the Dukedom of Halbun wasn''t as powerful as the city near the Champion''s Den. But the number of experts here couldn''t be underestimated. Despite the fact that the protector of the dukedom had fallen. Some of the citizens here could still fight and with their combined strength they could turn the tide of battle. Swoosh! [Freezing Shards]!! Alice pointed her spear ahead and dozens of sharp ice flew toward her opponents at high speed. ... Boom! Boom! Two figures were colliding repeatedly in the mid-air. Each time the two figures collided a powerful shockwave would sweep out. One of the figures was covered in dark green light while the other one was covered in dark and light aura. In just a second, they collided hundreds of times. Hundreds of tall buildings were razed to the ground. These two figures were Souta and the old man who was the successor of the Creep Lord. Boom! Boom! Both of them wrestled in the mid-air and their bodies crashed to the ground. They directly landed on the sewers and continued their fight. Bang! Bang! "Are you not afraid of the nobles?" Souta asked while blocking the attacks of the old man. "Why would I be afraid of them?" The old man asked back in a strong tone. "Some of the nobles here had a descendant in other huge cities like Champion''s Den. Some of them even reached the Shackled Realm. They would be writhing in rage if they knew what you did." Souta explained while slashing his sword horizontally. The old man shifted his body to avoid it before launching a ray of cursed energy. Boom! "I''m not afraid of them! I will surpass them sooner or later!" Souta waved his hands and the dust around him was blown away. The black armor on his body had started to decay. The cursed energy of this old man was really a strong one. The old man stopped and looked down at Souta. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, "What''s the point of asking such question? You know that you can''t defeat me so you''re trying to scare me away, right?" "Well, yeah. I couldn''t defeat you with my current strength." Souta shrugged his shoulders. Even with [Dual Element Drive], [Possession], [Monster Orb Release], [Serial Killing Steps], and [Hunter State] he couldn''t defeat the old man. The old man still had an advantage in speed, strength, and other stats. The only thing Souta had the upper hand on was the quality of his energy. After all, the old man used the decades of accumulated energy to boost his combat power. That''s why he called the old man a fake. The old man broke one of his shackles without even liquefying and solidifying his mana pool. This would result in a backlash sooner or later. His normal body which was protected by a gaseous mana wouldn''t be able to handle the rebound of shattering ones shackle. There was a reason why people liquefy and solidify the mana in their mana pool first before they try to break their mortal shackles. "You think everything will be solved as long as you gather enough cursed energy from the people you cursed." Souta smiled. "Yeah, I will keep repeating this cycle." The old man said in response. "So sad. I could only kill." Souta''s expression turned serious. "I could say the same thing to you!" The old man said before he charged forward. He stretched out his hand and grabbed Souta''s neck. But Souta already expected this scenario. He vanished from his position and reappeared behind the old man. "Wha-" The old man was surprised. [Shadow Ball]! Souta grabbed the old man''s nape before he could react. Boom! The two smashed on a metallic door. "That caught me off guard." The old man muttered as he stood up. "We''re here. This will be a perfect place for your fall." The old man turned around after hearing Souta''s words. He noticed something in his surrounding. "This is...?" "That''s right. This is the Tomb of the Creep Lord. You are her successor, right? Then, this is the right place for you." Souta smiled as he stared at the old man straight in the eyes. "You are making me laugh. You think you could defeat me here?" The old man opened his arms widely as a huge amount of cursed energy flooded the entire area. "Yes, this is the right place." Souta nodded before he closed the metallic door. The tomb was full of runes so it should prevent some of the energy from leaking out. [Blessing of the God of Hunt]! [Watching Prey]! [Soul Blood Mode]! [Yin Yang Unification]! The entire tomb shook as Souta''s aura grew several times once again. "This will be the final battle... for you..." Chapter 604: Execution: [Sixth Form] Chapter 604: Execution: [Sixth Form] "Who the hell are you?" The old man asked. No matter what he did, he was still a person that broke a single shackle yet he couldn''t even take down this third evolution monster in front of him. "Who am I? I am Souta Ieshi, a warrior from Athen''s Champion. Currently, there''s a huge disparity between us." Souta raised one of his fingers. "First, the skills I have is greater than yours." Although Creep Lord was a powerful person at Ten Shackles Realm, she was still a mortal. She didn''t even have an [Archetype] to help herself ascend to godhood. Souta''s skills and traits were still better than it. "Second, the equipment that you have is weaker than what I have." Souta''s equipment was full of high-grade artifacts. He even has two universal-grade and two dark-grade yet the old man didn''t have any of these levels. "Third, the battle experience. You lack experience in fighting someone at my level." The old man just got promoted. Souta was the first time he fought with his current strength so he lacks experience in fighting a high-level battle. "Lastly, you''re originally just an ordinary B-rank yet you skip several ranks. So you are weaker than your current power level." Forcefully breaking a shackle without undergoing the liquefying and solidifying state made him so weak for a Shackled Realm expert. A month or two his body would start to collapse because of this. The old man narrowed his eyes after hearing Souta''s words. He realized that Souta was right and if he met a legitimate shackled realm, he wouldn''t be able to win. "You are not going to win against me." Souta said before he disappeared in front of the old man. The old man widened his eyes. He quickly turned around just to see a first close to his face. [Night Curse Barrier]! A layer of barrier formed in front of him just in time before the fist landed on his face. "Tsk!" Souta clicked his tongue in annoyance. The old man still had a fast reaction and could keep up with his movements. He raised his other hand and slashed the vajra sword on the barrier. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! Black lightning flooded the entire space. The barrier made of started to form a crack. ''Saya, help me control my energy.'' Souta said. ''Got it.'' Saya replied. ''Good.'' Flesh covered Souta''s hand and it locked his hand on the vajra sword. Then, a huge amount of best feram gathered on the blade of the sword. The energy in his monster orb and [Nebula Heart] rapidly decreased. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [Crimson Moon]! [Bestrou]! Four skills were fused into one slash. The dark red light illuminated the entire area as black lightning was shooting out in every direction. "What the hell?!" The old man opened his eyes widely. The oppressing aura coming from the dark red slash was making him tremble. He wanted to move but a heavy gravitational field was pressing him in his position. It was already too late. Even if he breaks out of the gravitational field, the dark red slash would undoubtedly hit him. "There''s no choice!" He placed his hands in front of him and a huge amount of cursed energy swirled. The ground trembled and sweat formed on his forehead. After all, this was his first time using this amount of cursed energy in a single attack. [Ultimate Curse: Desolate Earth]! His most powerful attack collided with Souta''s combined attacks. The collision of the attack shook the entire tomb as if it was going to collapse. Some of the runes had disappeared as it couldn''t handle the power of the two attacks. BOOMM!!! Even though the explosion was powerful, the tomb was still intact. It wouldn''t fall easily from the attack of a third evolution monster and a fake shackled realm. After all, the one that strengthened this tomb using runes was the Creep Lord herself, a Ten Shackles Realm expert. This tomb would collapse if Souta was a fifth evolution stage monster and the old man was a Hero-rank. Unfortunately, their current power level wouldn''t even scratch the Creep Lord. "Ugh!" The old man spat a mouthful of blood. Souta''s attack didn''t damage him that much but somehow his body was feeling numb. ''Did I use too much power? I''m afraid that I should finish this fight as soon as possible so that I could start my recuperation.'' He said inwardly. Hmm... Souta suffered wounds in the explosion too but his condition was better than the old man. After all, the old man had weak regeneration abilities while he had high regenerative powers. The two couldn''t be compared at all. ''He''s finally feeling the backlash. If I could hold on and keep forcing him to use more energy then he will collapse on his own.'' He said inwardly. "I''m not done yet." The old man stood up as he wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. Souta didn''t say any more words as he charged toward the old man. Boom! Boom! The two fought inside the tomb with madness in their eyes. The tomb kept shaking every time they collided. Bang! Bang! They were giving everything that they could. They were fighting with the intention to defeat the opponent before them. They exchanged blows thousands of times. Boom! Souta and the old man took a distance from each other. Both of them took a breath to prepare for another round of battle. ''This monster is extremely dangerous. It''s my first time fighting a monster like this.'' The old man thought while observing Souta. ''My body couldn''t last longer than this. I should gamble my last minute for a burst of power.'' With that thought in his mind, the old man''s energy level rose once again. The cursed energy around him became darker and green veins started to pop on his skin. [Calamity Curse: Hundreds Killing Mode]!! This was one of the most powerful secret skills of Creep Lord. He shouldn''t have used it with his current power level but he had no choice. If he didn''t use it then he wouldn''t have a chance to defeat the monster before him. He will gamble everything. Souta''s brows furrowed deeper. He knew that this will be the last round of their battle as the old man was using everything. ''He is staking everything.'' He could tell it with [Galaxy Eyes]. He could see that the old man''s body was being consumed by his own curse. Despite that, the old man still decided to use a powerful secret skill. ''This should be the last round.'' He was exhausted and tired too just like the old man. Although he could regenerate his wounds, his stamina and energy were depleting at a high rate. This battle consumed a lot of his aces. The same could be said to the old man too. If that''s the case, then he should gamble too. The corner of his mouth curved upward. Having activated all the buff skills that he could use, Souta''s power reached the limit. With the [Yin Yang Unification], the [Gravitational Ball], [Shadow Steps], [Dark Cloud Hunting], [Shadow Cloak], and [Night Overlord''s Aura] had received a 500% boost. Even his [Dual Element Drive] was affected by the effect of this equipment skill. While the old man was staring at Souta, the tomb suddenly shook, and a ring of energy exploded at where Souta was standing. The next moment, Souta''s enormous body disappeared. Leaving a track of energy sparks, he came right before the old man. Wrapped in crimson, black, and white energy, the tip of the vajra sword suddenly appeared right before the old man''s eyes. [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! [Crimson Moon]! [Cross Moon]! [Bestrou]! ''What?!'' In the blink of an eye, the old man took a deep breath, gathered the cursed energy around him, and released it on his fist like a tidal wave. [Destruction Curse Ray]!! Boom! The next moment, a ring-shaped shockwave exploded from the point of impact. Both of their bodies were shot in the opposite direction, turning into a stream of lights, and crashing on the walls of the tomb. Ugh! The old man spat a mouthful of blood again. He shook his body and looked at Souta. "What the hell is that?!" Even though Souta was blown away too, he escaped unscathed from the impact of the explosion. Black lightning with the shape of a rose was in front of him and before was black lightning in the shape of a spider web. Above Souta was a cloud of roaring black lightning. The enormous amount of energy around him was pressuring the old man as if he was looking at a higher being. The [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation], [Second Form: Thousand Oak Absorption], [Fourth Form: Bridal Lotus Benevolent Rose], and [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God] were used at the same time. In the past few weeks, Souta raised his mastery to 30% letting him use several forms at the same time. Not just that, the forms that he could use had increased. Souta slowly raised the vajra sword which was covered in a dense amount of black lightning. [Sixth Form: Piercing Thunder Strike]! Chapter 605: Execution: Ending Chapter 605: Execution: Ending "Argh!!" The old man roared as he placed both of his hands in front of him. Dense cursed energy swirled around like a tornado. [Sixth Form: Piercing Thunder Strike]! With a single step, Souta appeared before the old man. He quickly thrust the vajra sword forward and the dense black lightning around it shot like a beam. The [Sixth Form] of his Archetype wasn''t a powerful offensive attack. It was an auxiliary skill that could add armor and energy penetration properties to his attack. So he added his [Sixth Form] to his [Fifth Form] to easily penetrate the old man''s cursed energy. He also combined it with his [Bestrou] and [Crimson Moon] to make it more fatal. Boom! The old man opened his eyes widely. The dense cursed energy in front of him was blown away. The next moment, several cuts appeared on his body, spurting blood all over the place. "Ugh! N-Noo!!" Then, the black lightning swallowed his body. "Argh!!!" Thud! The old man fell to the ground. His body was full of wounds and blood kept pouring out of it. Souta turned back to his normal form while looking at the old man. He could see that didn''t have the energy left to fight. Sigh... For real, this will end. Even though the old man was a fake shackled realm, he still managed to defeat him. He was quite satisfied with his improvement in the past few weeks. At the very least, he was sure that he could contend with a real shackled realm for a few rounds. He could remember the time when Clan Leader Rowan managed to severely injured him in just a single strike. If not for his parasite, he would have died against Clan Leader Rowan. "I-I can''t fall here... I still have to..." The old man mumbled as he forced himself to stand. His whole body was twitching and blood kept pouring out nonstop. "You will die if you continue," Souta said with a blank expression. "No! I still have to..." The old man stared at Souta''s eyes with strong determination. "Oh, I see..." Souta brandished his sword and stepped forward. He slowly raised his sword above his head and slashed it horizontally. "Goodbye." ... The battle in the colosseum was still ongoing. Eztein was fighting several people from the cult at the same time. Swoosh! He moved his body from the side and a halberd crashed on his previous position. Then, a string of flesh burst out from his stomach. The flesh turned into a sharp blade cutting the person that threw the halberd at him. Ugh! Eztein felt pain behind him. He turned around and saw that the organizer attacked him. His body flew away like a cannonball, turning into a stream of light, and crashing on the audience seats. Boom! "This guy is unbelievably strange. It feels like we aren''t fighting a human." The organizer commented before he threw a huge fireball at Eztein. Boom! Yes, this was his first time seeing someone with that strange ability. A human with that high level of regenerative power was close to none. Even if he chopped Eztein''s limbs it would only grow instantly. So if he wanted to kill this man, he had to do it swiftly without giving him a chance to regenerate. Also, that strange ability was hard to predict. Eztein could control his flesh freely as if he was really not a human. That kind of trait was for monsters. "This is too much trouble." The organizer said weakly. He was already tired and exhausted from fighting Eztein yet he couldn''t kill him at all. What''s worse was that his subordinates were getting slain one by one. Right now, there were only three of them left. ''I''ve already poisoned all the nobles so it should be easier but this man is stopping us! Athen''s Champion! Just what the hell is this man!'' The organizer gritted his teeth in frustration. Swoosh! Eztein waved his hand and the smoke around his was blown away. He looked at the three remaining people. "The cursed energy in the atmosphere became thin. Perhaps, do you know the reason why?" He said as the wound on his back started to close. Even the curse that was contaminating his body had weakened considerably. It only means one thing. His boss and Alice succeeded. He should finish this too. With that in his mind, Eztein charged forward. His body flew at a very high speed rushing in the organizer''s direction. Swoosh! "Tch!" The organizer just looked at Eztein with wide eyes. In fact, he also guessed it. The reason why the cursed energy had become thin. But he didn''t want to accept it. He didn''t want to accept that his Lord suffered a defeat. Boom!! Eztein was pushed back several meters away. He looked ahead only to see a figure appear before him. He instinctively raised his hand. Bang! His hand blocked a kick from the unknown person but he was still blown away. The unknown person once again appeared before Eztein. The person took out a sharp dagger and swung it at his face. ''Shit! Too strong...'' Eztein said inwardly. He subconsciously closed his eyes as he felt that he was going to die. From that little exchange, he immediately realized that the unknown person was a person at Shackled Realm. With his current condition, he didn''t have the confidence to escape with his life. Bang! A loud sound echoed and Eztein didn''t feel anything. He opened his eyes only to find a hand blocking the unknown person''s dagger. "I''m glad that I arrived here on time. Don''t worry, you can leave this to me." The person that saved Eztein said. "Who are you?" Eztein asked. "Me? I''m Grein from Swift Wind Circle, Third Grain Wisdom, Third Set of the Pallas Division." The man introduced himself. "Third Grain?" Eztein realized that this man was from Athen''s Champion. They were from the same Set just different Grain. After all, the Third Grain Wisdom was for people that reached the Shackled Realm. Grein smiled before he turned his attention to the unknown person before him. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Red Matter... We''ve finally confirmed that the Red Matter Association is involved in this incident. After three years, you''ve finally shown yourself." Red Matter was a terrorist group that killed countless people in the past. They also performed different crimes in different cities. Until now, they were laying low profile so the God''s Legions couldn''t find their base of operation. "Tsk! Athen''s Champion!" The person from Red Matter clicked his tongue. He quickly turned around and run. It was not the time to fight a Shackled Realm Warrior from Athen''s Champion. "You think I''ll let you leave!" Grein frowned as a huge amount of mana burst out of his body. His body turned into a stream of light, following the unknown person''s direction. Swoosh! Eztein breathed a sigh of relief after the two Shackled Realm experts were gone. "Fuck! I would''ve died if not for that fellow warrior from Athen''s Champion! But why are they here? It seems that there''s something more to this mission that they didn''t tell us." ... On the other part of the dukedom, Alice could be seen standing beside a beautiful woman with red hair. "I didn''t think that you would come to this city," Alice said. "Me too. The Grain Leader dispatched me and the other two warriors here." The beautiful woman was none other than Eilish. She looked around and added, "Still, for the three of you to make a mess of this city..." "The circumstances forced us. Our mission is to investigate the culprit behind the mysterious incident but things heated badly and this happened." Alice replied as she shrugged her shoulders. "But where''s Souta? I could feel best feram in the atmosphere but I couldn''t locate his exact position." Eilish asked. "If I''m not wrong he is fighting the boss of these guys," Alice said while looking at the dead bodies of the people wearing dark green cloaks. "Hmm..." Eilish hummed. ... Inside the Tomb of the Creep Lord... Souta was sitting on the unconscious body of the old man. He glanced at the interface in his vision and saw a series of messages pop up. ''Capturing this guy is harder than killing him so my rewards should be high...'' He said inwardly. *Ding!* [Quest Completed!] [Congratulations on completing Curse Quest!] [You''ve received 2 random cards!] ''Only 2 random cards? Well, this is not a chain quest that I would receive a lot of cards so this is enough.'' It''s already great that he triggered a quest like this. He didn''t expect it but in the end, it works well for him. ''Roll the 2 random cards.'' *Ding!* [You''ve gained 1 level-up card and 1 skill level-up card!] ''Oh, another level-up card. So I have a total of 6 level-up cards in my possession and I''m currently level 53. If I use these cards then I will reach level 59. I just need one more level to achieve level 60.'' Souta stood up and patted his clothes. "Okay, it''s time to settle everything on the surface." Chapter 606: Red Matter Association Chapter 606: Red Matter Association When Souta arrived on the surface, he realized that everything was finished. The city was devastated and most of the people living here had died. "I''m just here to investigate but everything happens so fast." Souta said with a sigh. The unconscious old man was floating beside him. He was lifting him using the power of gravity. He turned around as he heard footsteps behind him. He saw Alice and Eilish approaching him. "Oh, how come you''re here, Eilish?" He asked. "The Grain Leader dispatched me here," Eilish answered his question. "Oh," Souta raised his eyebrows as he realized something. "So we''re just baits to lure the true mastermind." "Well, in summary. I''m here with two other Shackled Realm Experts. They are currently following the trail of the Red Matter Association. I stayed here to protect the survivors." Eilish explained to him. "I see..." Souta said before he pointed at the unconscious old man. "Then, do you still need this person?" "Yeah, I think he knows something about the Red Matter. It''s better if we captured him alive." Eilish nodded. "Good." The three walked around the dukedom. The liveliness was gone as tons of dead bodies were scattered in every corner. The stench of blood was thick and most of the buildings were gone. The atmosphere of the entire city changed in just a day. It was cold and silent. They couldn''t hear the laughter of children and the chattering of the adults. It became desolate. "Where''s Eztein?" Souta asked while they were walking. "He''s resting in the colosseum. He used most of his strength in battling the enemies." Alice paused before she added, "Also, the survivors have gathered there." "The survivors... How many are them?" Souta asked. "I can only estimate that only twenty percent of the entire population have survived," Alice answered. "They really planned this well," Souta commented. "Yeah, they first eliminated the duke and lure the nobles into the colosseum. Then, they poisoned them. That''s the reason why a lot of people perished in this incident. The battle power of the dukedom was reduced to nothing before the cult acted." Alice nodded at his words. "It''s fortunate that not all citizens are weak. Some of them even had the power level of an S-rank. They are the reason why there''s still twenty percent left in their population." Eilish commented. After ten minutes of walking, the three arrived at the colosseum. Souta also finished harvesting some souls while he was walking around the dukedom. He wouldn''t forget collecting souls no matter what. He consumed some of the souls in his earrings when he used the [Soul Blood Mode]. So it''s better if he could refill it. ''With all the skills that I have, I think that I''m unrivaled below Shackled Realm. Even a fake Shackled Realm would be slain in front of me.'' Souta and the two entered the colosseum. The moment they enter, a lot of people turned to look at them. Most of them had a blank expression and their mode was gloomy. After all, these people experience a tragedy. They had to fight their comrades, friends, and family members that got consumed by curse. Souta turned to Eilish and asked, "Did you bring any supply?" "Nope," Eilish shook her head. "Hmm..." Souta walked around and found Eztein sleeping near the audience seat. He could see that Eztein pushed himself too hard in this battle. It seems that his opponents gave him a hard time. He sat down beside him and looked at Alice and Eilish. "I''m going to rest here for a few minutes to recover some of my energy. Notify me if the other warriors of Athen''s Champion have arrived." He said before he closed his eyes and started to focus his attention on his monster orb. Half an hour later, Souta opened his eyes... "They are here," Alice said to him. "Okay." Souta stood up and looked around. He saw one unfamiliar face and the other one was familiar to him. The unfamiliar one was a tall man with blue hair. His skin was white as snow and his eyes were sharp. He had a pair of wolf ears on the side of his head and a furry tail sticking out behind him. He was Grein, a One Shackle Realm Warrior of Athen''s Champion, Third Grain Wisdom of Third Set Pallas Division. The other was Manduk. The instructor that tested him in the examination when he joined the Athen''s Champion. All of them were from the Third Set Pallas Division. It seems that the Third Set Pallas Division target was the Red Matter Association. All the things related to it will be dealt with by the Third Set. Souta approached Manduk and Grein before he greeted them politely. They were his seniors so he had to treat them according to their ranking. "What''s going to happen to this dukedom, Sir Manduk?" Souta asked carefully. He didn''t know the Third Set''s full plan but since he was involved with this they should gave him some information. "No need to be formal to me. We''re all comrades here." Manduk waved his hand. "Hmm... This dukedom is done. The duke and the nobles that are maintaining this city are gone. But I think that the higher-ups are going to help this city. They are going to build a branch of Athen''s Champion here." "From big city to small city..." Souta muttered. Manduk glanced at him and said, "You can request to be transferred here if you want after you come back to HQ. I think that they will approve it since your Circle is the savior of this place. It will be easier for the citizens to accept your group than some random warrior from our legion." "I''ll think about it," Souta rubbed his chin. He would indeed be able to move freely here but the opportunity was less compared to the Champion''s Den. The mission that he could pick would be filtered as some of the Circles would pick it up before it arrive at him. He changed the topic. "What happened to the Red Matter members?" "They''ve escaped. We failed to follow them." Manduk shook his head. The members of the Red Matter that they chased were quite strong. All of them were at One Shackle Realm. "Is the Red Matter really a strong organization?" Souta asked curiously. He didn''t know about this specific organization in the game. All he could remember were organizations that made an impact on the overall situation in each version and some of the organizations that he personally took down. And Red Matter Association wasn''t included with it so he had no idea about it. "They are strong. The Third Set had been dealing with them for five years but we successfully took them down. Three years ago, a big battle occurred. The Chief of the Third Set dispatched the four Grains to eliminate them but the leader and some of the executives of the Red Matter managed to escape." Manduk explained the history of Red Matter and the Third Set Pallas Division. The leader of the Red Matter was a powerful man at Six Shackles Realm and his executives were at Five Shackles Realm. At that time, Vandal, the Chief Captain of the Third Set, was still a Six Shackles Realm Warrior. Vandal and the Leader of the Red Matter fought but it resulted in a draw. Realizing that he couldn''t defeat Vandal, the Leader of the Red Matter escaped. But it was different this time, Vandal broke another shackle a year ago finally reaching Seven Shackles Realm. In Giza Continent''s terms, Vandal reached the so-called Hero-rank. Vandal was confident that he could defeat the Leader of the Red Matter even if he reached Seven Shackles Realm. ''As strong as the Chief Captain of Third Set... He''s indeed powerful.'' Souta said inwardly. ... On the next day, people from the Athen''s Champion arrived. They started to help the survivors build the dukedom once again. They gave them food and other necessities to survive this crisis. From now on, the dukedom will receive support from Athen''s Champion. The Athen''s Champion will also build a branch here and stationed some of their forces here. The old man was brought to the Champion''s Den. The warriors of Athena will interrogate him to extract information regarding the Red Matter. It will be a matter of time before they clash with Red Matter again. Several days had passed... Souta, Alice, and Eztein returned to the headquarters in Champion''s Den. They already completed their mission so it''s time to receive their rewards. The leader of the Tenth Grain War, Carmel, quickly called them into his office. Souta, Alice, and Eztein saluted to their Grain Leader and waited for him to explain everything. Carmel looked at the three of them for a while before he opened his mouth, "I have read your report. The three of you did a great job in this quest. Although your original mission was just to investigate it, the circumstances led forced you to fight. I''m impressed with your quick decision and you have adapted really well. You''ve captured one of the people related to the Red Matter." "Thank you, sir!" "Today, the Astros Circle will become a Second Class Squadron of the Tenth Grain War. For Second Class Squadron, the minimum members must be five people. So I think that you should start recruiting members to expand your circle. Also, here... The Grain Leaders decided to give these things to you." Chapter 607: Back in Champions Den Chapter 607: Back in Champion''s Den Souta glanced at the piece of paper on top of the table. "Take a look at it," Carmel said with a smile. "I understand." Souta nodded before he stretched out his hand. He read the contents of the paper. They will receive seven low-grade health potions and three mid-grade health potions every week. They will also receive seven low-grade mana potions and three mid-grade potions every week. Aside from those things, they will receive two low-grade strength potions and two low-grade speed potions every week. This was their reward aside from promoting their squadron. The resources from advancing their squadron rank weren''t included with it. "Did you like it?" Carmel asked. "Yes, sir," Souta answered politely. "It''s nothing. It''s your reward for capturing a person related to Red Matter." Carmel waved his hand. "Sir, I just want to ask what happened to Dukedom of Halbun," Souta said. He had no idea what happened after he left the city a few days ago. "The Athen''s Champion supported the dukedom to rise once again. It will be called Halbun City and we will choose a reliable person among the survivors to become its city lord." Carmel tapped his finger on the table before he added, "Among the two hundred thousand survivors there should be one person suitable for the position. If not, then we will have to arrange someone in our ranks." "I see..." Souta nodded in understanding. "Do you have any more questions?" Carmel asked. "Nothing, sir." "You can go now." Souta, Alice, and Eztein left Carmel''s office. They went straight to the room of Astros Circle. "Oh~ we can finally rest..." Eztein said with a satisfied look after he sat down on the sofa. "Don''t say that or else Souta will start training us once again," Alice said to Eztein. "Ooopps!!" Eztein quickly covered his mouth before glancing at Souta. Souta ignored the two of them before he sat down on the corner and took out the transmission talisman in his pocket. He called Torkez who was in the main base of Astros. "Torkez, what''s the situation there?" Souta asked. "Everything is moving according to your instruction. We''ve also finished renovating the dungeon, our second headquarters." Torkez explained everything in detail. They could easily send supplies to the second headquarters thanks to the Object Teleportation that Eilish set up. It took her one day to set up that magic circle and it was pretty good even though it couldn''t transfer living creatures. The only problem was that it needed energy to keep it active. Although it''s permanent, it still needed energy for its effect to not disappear. If the Object Teleportation''s energy source had disappeared, then they wouldn''t be able to use it again. They will need someone to fix it again. "Good job." Souta paused and said, "Dispatch Franklin, Yenxia, and Isabella here. Tell them to meet me in Champion''s Den." "Are they the only ones that you need? What about the materials?" Torkez inquired. "Yes, they are the only ones for now as for materials I currently don''t need them. Oh, right? I forgot. Bring all the fifth evolution stage monster orbs in my room." Souta said. "I understand. I will immediately dispatch them." Torkez nodded. "Good." Souta and Torkez continued to talk about the situation in the headquarters. ... Several days had passed... Eztein was standing in front of the gate of the Champion''s Den. "When are they going to arrive here? I''m getting bored." He yawned with a tired look. Souta asked him to wait for Franklin, Yenxia, and Isabella in this place. It was an easy task and he couldn''t disobey his boss so he had no choice but to come here. "We should''ve recruited some people for this kind of job." He muttered before he sat down on the corner looking at the people entering the gate of the city. ''Still... I never thought that a city like this existed back then.'' The power that this city holds was several times larger than the combined strength of his world. He couldn''t imagine something like this before. Also, the weapons, armors, and potions here were all extraordinary. Even the combat arts and spells here couldn''t be compared to what he learned in his home world. He was lucky that Souta and Alice taught him some of the combat arts they knew before coming here or else he would have a hard time keeping up with the people of this world. Sigh... He sighed deeply while turning his attention to the guards. Ares'' Warriors. One of the strongest God''s Legion in Champion''s Den. ''Even these four guards are already at the peak of S-rank.'' While he was observing the guards, Eztein heard someone call his name. "Oi, Eztein, We''re already here. You''re not paying attention to your surrounding." He turned his head and saw three people approaching him. They were Franklin, Yenxia, and Isabella. He stood up and complained, "You''re already here. I''ve been waiting here since forever. I felt like I was going to lose my mind." "Oho, I''m just a bag of old bones. Don''t expect an old man to move faster." Franklin laughed lightly. ''Tsk! Do you think that I didn''t know that you tried to go on a long path just to fight some monsters on the way here?'' Eztein said inwardly. "Sorry for making you wait." Isabella made an awkward expression. Yenxia just looked at him without saying anything. Eztein sighed and said, "Well, let''s go. Boss is waiting for your arrival." Franklin looked at the city gate and squinted his eyes, "This city is really different from others. I could feel several high energy levels coming from it." "Well, some of the people here didn''t even bother to hide their power level," Eztein said while scratching the back of his head. He started walking towards the city gate. The three followed him while looking around. They easily entered the city gate. Eztein just showed his Athen''s Champion''s emblem and the guards inspect their belongings before they let them enter without a problem. ... Inside the headquarters of Astros Squadron in Athen''s Champion... Souta was sitting on a chair and opposite of him was Franklin. "Here''s the coffee." Isabella approached the table and placed cups of coffee in front of them. "Thanks." Souta held the cup with his hand and smell the fragrance coming from it. After tasting the coffee, he glanced at Franklin and asked, "So where''s the thing?" "Oh," Franklin picked up a bag on his side and took out several spheres with different colors. He placed the spheres on the table and somehow the atmosphere had changed. The energy exuding from each sphere was oppressing. After all, they were monster orbs of fifth evolution stage monsters. Each one was like a powerful energy battery that could supply an entire city for a long time. "Good." Souta smiled as he held one of the monster orbs and placed it close to his face. With this, he could expand his energy capacity once again. And depending on its usage, it could help him in a battle just like how it did when he fought the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan. "I''m satisfied." Souta glanced at Franklin and then at Isabella before falling his eyes at Yenxia. He was checking their power level with his [Galaxy Eyes]. Nothing would be able to escape his eyes unless they had secret artifacts. "Franklin, Isabella. You two should take the Athen''s Champion''s Examination and join my squadron." "I understand." "Okay." The two already guessed why Souta asked them to come here in Champion''s Den from the beginning. "But before that let me test your combat prowess first..." Souta said to them before he stood up. Franklin already reached the initial stage of S-rank while Isabella reached the high stage of A-rank. It would be a matter of time before she achieved the peak stage. The two followed Souta to the training ground. In that place, Souta tested their combat prowess to see if they could pass the examination of their power level in Athen''s Champion. He fought the two of them for several rounds. Isabella was doing great as she tried to erase her presence while Franklin was busy fighting Souta in a close-range combat. Franklin was a genius in close-range battles. His quick decisions, instincts, and experience were considerably high. But the person he was wary the most was Isabella. Isabella had a low power level and she was still an inexperienced fighter but... She was dangerous. She was just hiding in the surroundings waiting for the right time to attack Souta. And when she attacked at the right opportunity, she dealt considerable damage to him. She was just like a hunter, no, an assassin waiting in the dark to swiftly end her target. The thing that raised her attack to the limit was the properties of her skills. Armor penetration and energy penetration were both high. She also had a skill that could ignore her opponent''s armor and energy armor. This was the reason why she could kill people at a higher level than her. No matter how high her opponent''s armor and energy armor, if her attacks ignore it then it would be useless. The legacy of God of Hunt was extraordinary. Chapter 608: [Star Veins] Chapter 608: [Star Veins] It''s not that she can totally ignore the armor and energy armor of her opponents. It has still limitations. The reason why it was deadly was because she combined the properties to ignore armor and armor penetration ability into a single burst attack. That''s why she could kill someone at S-rank even though they had a protective field around their bodies. Souta thought that she was the only A-rank expert that had the potential to kill him. Well, in the end, she was still an A-rank and one powerful shot from him would be enough to heavily injure her. He ended the test after he thoroughly defeated Franklin and Isabella. They were good and their combination was extraordinary as they understood each other. They even managed to force him to use some of his aces. "Good job, I think that the two of you will pass the physical examination with a flying score." Souta praised them. "Thanks." Isabella bowed her head. "You''ve grown stronger once again. I couldn''t even keep up." Franklin grinned. "It''s nothing. Now, let''s go back to our room." Souta waved his hand before he turned around. As for Yenxa, he was planning to train her. She was still a second evolution monster but she was close to reaching the third level. That''s why he was going to train her. On the next day, Franklin and Isabella began to study for the written exam of the Athen''s Champion. Since they don''t have a problem with physical examination according to Souta, they could focus their attention on written exams. A week had passed before Franklin and Isabella took the examination of the Athen''s Champion. Both of them were prepared so they passed just like what Souta was expecting. They didn''t disappoint him. With them being an official warrior of Athen''s Champion, they joined the Astros Squadron. Since they reached the minimum number of members, their circle finally become an official Second Class Yellow Squadron. Their next target was the Third Class Yellow Squadron and then the Blue Squadron. With that in their mind, each of them took missions to complete to increase the pace of their achievements. Although they didn''t know the number of their achievements, their Grain Leader was recording it. They had records of the achievements of each Squadron under their name. Their achievements kept piling up. They were close to advancing the rank of their Squadron once again. In just two weeks since Franklin and Isabella joined the Astros Circle, they''ve already completed dozens of missions. The Astros Circle became one of the most active Squadrons in the Tenth Grain War. The rewards that they received from completing missions accumulated so Isabella decided to take a leave. It was time for her to start brewing potions once again since she gathered various ingredients from completing missions. Souta had no problem with it so he gave her his permission. As long as she doesn''t forget to train her power level, she could bury herself in potioneering all day long. Souta and Yenxa kept training. For combat experience, Souta took a mission to exterminate bandits. He let Yenxa fight these bandits so that she could gain combat experience. In the past week, Alice had reached the high stage of S-rank. Her strength had grown once again. "How is it?" Souta asked. "It''s good. I''ve stabilized the energy in my mana pool." Alice spoke while looking at her hand. "Good." Souta, Alice, and Yenxa were walking in the streets of Champion''s Den. They just finished doing a mission about subjugating bandits. "Battling is really the most efficient way to stabilize one''s energy," Alice commented. Souta smiled at her words. Their Squadron will experience a huge upgrade in their fighting power soon. Eztein was close to reaching Shackled Realm. Yenxa will promote to third evolution stage while Souta was close to reaching the fourth evolution stage. Once that happened, the overall might of the Astros will become higher. His group will be able to suppress the witches. Right now, half of the witches weren''t convinced about him so he had to show his dominance. Souta smiled faintly while thinking about it. He shook his head and glanced at Yenxa. "Is there anything that you want?" He asked. "Nothing My Lord. Accompanying you is my greatest pleasure." Yenxa said. "Is that so..." Souta simply shrugged his shoulders. He stretched out his hand and ruffled her hair before he added, "If you need something just tell me about it." Yenxa slightly closed her eyes as Souta''s hand was on top of her head, "I understand, My Lord," Now that he thinks about it. He remembered Yenxa''s tribe in the Astros. He wondered if they were doing fine. After all, their tribe was the weakest group in the entire Astros while the witches were the strongest. ''I will check it later.'' Souta''s group arrived at the central plaza. There were no changes in the ranking curved on the stone monument at the center of the plaza. Children of Zeus was still the top legion while Athen''s Champion was Rank 6. ''I''ll try to get a high-level mission so that I could level up faster.'' He said inwardly. The three went back to the Headquarters of Athen''s Champion. Souta quickly received various news. It seems that something happened while he was away. The first news was the troublemaker Franklin. He joined the mini-tournament in the colosseum and fought a lot of warriors from different legions. He provoked a lot of people. He fought which resulted in him laying in the medical room of the Headquarters. "That guy... If he wanted to win the mini-tournament he should''ve improved his power level first. The initial stage of S-rank isn''t enough even if he had the parasite." Souta pinched the bridge of his nose. "Leave him be. He deserved it." The second news was different. It was about his friends on the Giza Continent. "Souta, Lumilia said that they will be dispatched to confront the demons," Alice said to him. "What?!" Souta was surprised. They were just students but why were those bastard countries dispatching them on such a dangerous battlefield. He didn''t even need to ask why as he realized the answer to his question quickly. The countries lacked manpower. There were no players that could take quests to confront demons on the frontline. Hundreds of thousands of players rushed onto the battlefield back in the game but now... There were no hundred thousands players. ''This is troublesome... This means that the demons would be able to break through the barricade early. They would be able to confront the Heretic Dynasty and the Gigantis Kingdom.'' Souta narrowed his eyes. He lacked information right now and he didn''t even know if the large countries formed an alliance. Those bastards. They should''ve formed the alliance sooner before it became too late. The Heretic Dynasty and Gigantis Kingdom will fall sooner without the help of players. Souta knows it. The demon army here in God''s Continent will stop advancing while the army in Giza Continent will advance. They haven''t realized the graveness of the situation. A brutal war against demons will occur in Giza Continent while God''s Continent will fight Gluttony''s forces. It''s happening... Slowly, the entire Imperium will be wrapped in flames of war. There will be no place to hide. "I just need to do what I need to do," Souta mumbled while looking at the system interface. Then, he glanced at Alice and saw her downcast expression. "Don''t worry, it''s not your fault. Bryan and others will be fine." He assured her. "I-I know..." Alice said in a low voice. Souta didn''t say anything. He understood why she was worried. Her race was raging a bloody war on the other continents and her friends were about to participate. "As for the last news..." The most surprising news was the news that they received from the Headquarters of Astros. The title of the strongest in Astros had changed. Doranjan successfully evolved in the fourth stage. He became the most dominant creature in the Headquarters of Astros. Doranjan was stuck at the third stage for a long time. So it''s natural that he achieved the fourth stage. He''s slowly stepping on the stage of Imperium. His evolution was on time. The things that were happening around the world were getting worse. "I guess it''s time for me to step it up..." Souta stood up. He looked at everyone in the room and said, "I''ll go back to my room. Don''t disturb me if it''s not an emergency." After saying those words, he locked himself in his room and set up several barriers. He focused his attention on the system interface that appeared in his vision. "It''s time." Without hesitation, he used the points that he accumulated in the past to unseal the [Star Veins]. Then, he used points once again to integrate it into his body. A total of 80 skill points disappeared in an instant. At the same time, Souta felt a stinging sensation all over his body. It was as if thousands of needles were poking him. "ARGHHHH!!!" Chapter 609: Complete Cosmic Body Chapter 609: Complete Cosmic Body *Ding!* [Unsealing the Star Veins!] [1%... 23%... 46%... 62%... 79%... 84%... 99%...] *Ding!* [Unsealing completed!] [Warning!] [Prepare yourself!] [Integration will begin in 5 seconds!] [5... 4... 3... 2... 1...] "ARGHHHH!!!" Souta screamed as intense pain assaulted his body. Even though he had high resistance against heat, he felt like he was being burned alive. All the pain that he felt when he integrated the [Galaxy Eyes] and [Nebula Heart] was simultaneously appearing on his body. It felt like he was being tortured. The [Nebula Heart] on the right part of his chest was thumping wildly. Various veins sprouted on it and the veins slowly spread out inside his body. It slowly connected on various organs in his body including his monster orb. "ARGHHHH!!!" All he could do now was scream. *Ding!* [Integration completed!] When he saw the notification, he thought that he would be able to relax but he was wrong. *Ding!* [Fusing the Cosmic Parts!] [1%...] Souta opened his eyes widely. He couldn''t even react as intense pain once again assaulted his body. This time, it was much worse. It felt as if his body was being crushed slowly. "ARGHHHH!!" Time passed slowly... Drops of sweat fell on the ground as Souta breathe heavily. His chest was heaving up and down. A minute had passed but it felt like eternity for him. He glanced at his hand and saw that it was covered in sweat. His muscles were twitching uncontrollably. "Fuck! I thought that I would die!" His voice was trembling. The physical pain that he experienced just now was worse than everything that he had experienced before in his entire life. All kinds of torture would pale in comparison to that. He even suspected that his sense of pain was raised to the limit to achieve that kind of horrible feeling. "Ugh! I''m feeling bad..." Souta stood up and took a piece of cloth on top of the table. He used it to wipe the sweat on his body. Then, he sat down on the chair and focused his attention on the notification that he had received. If he wasn''t wrong, he heard several notifications. It should be great considering that he completed the entire body part. [Congratulations you''ve achieved the "Perfect" Cosmic Body!] [Your body can now handle the power of Cosmic Authority!] [Your title Cosmic Sign has been completed!] [Cosmic Sign: Ophiuchus] Effect: +300 to all stats, 10% physical damage, 20% energy damage, 20% energy resistance, 10% physical resistance, 30% immunity to abnormal status, +30 health recovery, +50 stamina recovery, +30 energy recovery, +500 health, +100 stamina, and +300 energy This title only gives him "+100 to all stats" before but now that he integrated all the body parts it changed. The result was simply amazing and his battle power had soared once again with this. He would be able to defeat the old man without using the [Soul Blood Mode]. But this wasn''t the end. His [Nebula Heart] had experienced an upgrade. [Nebula Heart]: 1,000 ? 2,000(Best Feram) The notification says that all of his body parts had been upgraded. [The Cosmic Body Parts unlocked its true potential!] [The power of each part had been upgraded!] [You''ve gained "Serpent Dominance" ability!] [Serpent Dominance]: Activating this ability will make all the creatures below the user''s power rank suffer a debuff(-70% to all stats). Other uses are unknown. [Your level has increased by 3!] [You''ve leveled up!] [You''ve leveled up!] [You''ve leveled up!] [Your Health has increased by 100]! [Your Energy has increased by 20]! [Your Stamina has increased by 20]! [Your Strength has increased by 50]! [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 30]! [Your physical and energy damage have increased by 5%]! [Your resistance to energy and physical attack have increased by 5%]! [Your Health, Stamina, and Energy Recovery have increased by 10]! [Your Health has increased by 100]! [Your Energy has increased by 20]! [Your Stamina has increased by 20]! [Your Strength has increased by 50]! [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 30]! [Your physical and energy damage have increased by 5%]! [Your resistance to energy and physical attack have increased by 5%]! [Your Health, Stamina, and Energy Recovery have increased by 10]! [Your Health has increased by 100]! [Your Energy has increased by 20]! [Your Stamina has increased by 20]! [Your Strength has increased by 50]! [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 30]! [Your physical and energy damage have increased by 5%]! [Your resistance to energy and physical attack have increased by 5%]! [Your Health, Stamina, and Energy Recovery have increased by 10]! [Level: 53 ? 56]! He reached level 56 in an instant. It was the same when he comprehended the [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] which increased his level by two. Damn! This legacy was too good. If his body was stronger at that time, then he wouldn''t have to use his points like this. The legacy should''ve disappeared but thanks to the system for storing it in the empty store function it was saved. If the system didn''t move at that time then he would''ve lost these abilities forever. He had reached a new height of strength. The foundation of his power was too solid. Only a few selected creatures would be able to fight him on equal ground on the same level. Souta stood up and noticed that the barriers he set up in his room were shattered. He stretched out his body and exited his room. When he opened the door, he saw Alice and the others looking at him. "What''s wrong?" He asked even though he already knew the answer. "We just felt a strong wave of energy coming from your room, Souta," Isabella replied. "Oh, I just reach the limit of my evolution. I think it''s time that I reach the next level too." Souta said with a huge grin on his face. "What?!" Everyone was shocked when they heard his words. This was not the answer that they were expecting. Evolution for monsters was a big deal. They could only evolve a few times in their lives so if they do evolve their overall strength would experience a huge change. Their ability would break through several levels. "So I''ll ask my superiors for a decent place for me to evolve." Souta turned around as he waved his hand. Actually, he wanted to level up his skills first before he evolved but since everyone was advancing their power level, he guess that he should evolve. "You can do anything that you wanted while I''m still gone." He was about to open the door when a figure appeared before him. Ohm! A tall figure of a woman suddenly appeared in the room startling everyone. The woman''s beauty was ethereal it was as if she wasn''t a mortal. She had long chestnut color hair. Her skin was white as snow and her lips were like a cherry. Her body was covered by pieces of exquisite armor but it couldn''t hide the perfect curve that she had. She had a noble demeanor. It was like she detached herself from this world. "Hmm..." The woman hummed as she looked at them one by one. Souta opened his eyes in shock. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. When the woman looked behind him, he regained his senses. He quickly went down on his right knee, placing his right hand on his chest, closing his eyes, then bowed his head slightly. It was at this moment that he heard Eztein''s voice behind him. "W-Who are you?!" His tone was filled with uncertainty. It was the same for everyone. They didn''t know who''s this unknown woman but their instinct wasn''t working at all. They couldn''t feel anything. It was as if this woman was just an illusion. If they closed their eyes they wouldn''t be able to feel her presence. Souta turned his head and said in a strong tone, "Bow your heads!!" "B-but!" "Just bow your heads! Don''t make me repeat myself!" The temperature suddenly dropped as Souta emitted a powerful aura. He was serious. In the end, everyone knelt down like Souta. It was their first time seeing him like this to them. It was like he was going to murder them if they didn''t heed his words. "You don''t have to be like that to your people." The woman spoke softly. "But..." Souta was about to say something but the woman cut his words. "It''s actually my fault for coming here without notifying you, my children." The woman said. "It''s not your fault," Souta said. "You can stand up." The woman said softly. Her voice was like a melody that calmed everyone in the room. "Yes, My Lady." Souta stood up and slowly stepped backward. "It seems that everyone didn''t know me so I should start by introducing myself." The woman giggled as she covered her mouth with her hand. "B-Beautiful..." Eztein muttered in daze. Souta glared at Eztein and said, "Keep your comments to yourself." Eztein shut his mouth. "Don''t be shocked." The woman paused before she continued, "I am Athena, One of the Great Goddesses of Olympus, the Goddess of Athen''s Champion." That''s right. The woman that appeared before them was Goddess Athena. One of the few gods that Souta respected in the entire world. The goddess that he served in the game. Chapter 610: Athena Chapter 610: Athena Everyone was stunned when Athena introduced herself. They didn''t dare to make a move nor make a sound. A real god was standing before their eyes. A higher being that rules mortals. They were rooted on the spot. A god could kill them with a snap of fingers. They were like an ant in front of a god. No one expected that they would meet the goddess of their legion this way. Alice, Eztein, Isabella, Franklin, and Yenxa stood behind Souta. It was their fault for not recognizing the goddess of their legion. They didn''t know if they should apologize or not. They understood why Souta was acting like that. "It''s my pleasure to meet you, My Lady. I, Souta, leader of the Astros Squadron belonging to the Tenth Grain War Third Set of Pallas Division, at your command." Souta greeted Athena politely as he introduced himself. Athena nodded at him before she looked around. "Two monsters... A human, a demi... And a demon. And all of you had strange lifeforms inside your body... Quite a peculiar group you have here." She smiled before she turned her attention to Souta. "It is as you say, My Lady," Souta replied to her formally. By strange lifeforms inside their bodies. Maybe she was talking about the parasitic essence eater. As expected of the perception of gods. Alice flinched when she heard Athena''s words. Just like what she expected, the perception of the god couldn''t be blocked by a mere artifact. It would be a different matter if the said artifact was a universal grade. She didn''t know what to do in this situation. What if Athena captured her and the other? Then, it would become her fault for being a demon as she inflicted others with her problem. She subconsciously glanced at Souta waiting for his reaction in this kind of situation. "It seems that you have a lot of circumstances," Athena said. "Yes, My Lady. It''s troublesome but we could somehow handle it." Souta replied to her. "Can you tell me where you came from?" Athena asked. "I''m from a large country called Hebrei Kingdom in Giza Continent," Souta turned his head to look at Franklin, Isabella, Eztein, and Yenxa, "The four of them are from a sub-world." Lastly, he looked at Alice and said, "She''s from the Demon''s Land but she''s my classmate in the Hebrei Kingdom." "Hmm..." Athena hummed as she looked at the people behind Souta. She slowly opened her mouth and asked, "Can you leave the two of us alone? I have some to say to your leader." She then remembered something. She smiled and placed her index finger in front of her lips, "Also, can you not tell anyone that I''m here? No one knows that I''ve visited this place. They will get angry at me if they know that I''m here." By "they" she meant the leaders of the various Divisions of her legion and her heroes. The others nodded politely before they left the room. Alice took a glance at Souta and saw him nodding at her before she left. She trusted him that he will do everything within his powers. After everyone was gone, Athena glanced at the door and said, "It seems that she trusted you." "I trust her and she trusts me. It''s mutual." Souta replied to her. He bowed and stretched out his hands, "How about you take a sit first, My Lady?" "Okay." Athena nodded and accepted his offer. She pointed at the chair in front of her and said, "You should sit too." "Thank you, My Lady," Souta said before he sat down. She looked at him intriguingly. "Can tell me how did the two of you meet? If it''s a problem you don''t have to tell me." Of course, Souta would tell her the story. Who would dare to reject her? Well, even if he didn''t tell her the story between him and Alice, she wouldn''t find fault with him. She was just curious about it. She wasn''t a narrow-minded person. Slowly, Souta told her the story when he was still in the Ladros Institute. Athena just listened to his story with her eyes closed. She was imagining in her mind the words that were coming out of his mouth. The place, the event, and everything were forming in her mind. After a while, Souta finished his story. "And that''s how we end up in this place." Athena opened her eyes and said, "You didn''t lie. I can see a few universal grade artifacts in you just like what you told me." Of course, Souta didn''t tell her everything. He changed some of the details for his own convenience. He didn''t even tell her the abilities of his artifacts and he knew that Athena would ask about it. Also, even if she knew that Alice was a demon she wouldn''t discriminate her. She was that sort of god. She was still the same goddess that he knew. She never changed. "My Lady, I want to ask what makes you come here?" Souta asked. "Oh," Athena raised her eyebrows. Then, she took out a small white marble and placed it on top of the table. "Do you know what is this marble?" Souta shook his head as he didn''t have an idea. It was his first time seeing it and he was curious. He actually wanted to touch it and inspect it using the system but that was too rude. "This marble is a relic. It sensed that you have a Cosmic Body." Athena spoke slowly. Souta was shocked but he didn''t show it on his face. He couldn''t believe that Athena had an artifact that could sense his Cosmic Body. No, no, he was staying here for a long time but she only came here after he perfected the Cosmic Body. It means that the artifact only detects him after he completed integrating all the body parts. As for the Cosmic Body... He shouldn''t lie to her but he will hide some things. "Yes, My Lady. I just perfected the Cosmic Body." Souta answered truthfully. "I see... So that''s why it only reacts now. So you only refined it now. No wonder." Athena nodded as she placed back the marble in her pocket. She then looked at him seriously and asked, "Do you know what it means to have a Cosmic Body?" Souta shook his head and said, "No, I just know that it''s a powerful ability that could help me in the future." "Before I answer it I just want to know where did you obtain the Cosmic Body," Athena asked. "Inside the living labyrinth that I''ve told you about, My Lady," Souta answered. "Is there anything else beside it?" Athena asked. "Nothing aside from a huge amount of mana fruits and treasures," Souta said without changing his expression. ''How strange? The Cosmic Body should be one with the Thirteenth Sign but the relic is telling that he didn''t have any Star Zodiacs in his Cosmic Body.'' Athena said inwardly. Souta finally understood why she was here. She had an artifact that could sense his Cosmic Body so she must be targeting the Thirteenth Zodiac Ability. Of course, she wouldn''t be able to detect it even with an artifact. The [Cosmic Authority: Ophiuchus] was sealed by the system. No one would be able to detect it unless he unsealed it using skill points. "Having a Cosmic Body means that you are qualified to take hold of the power of Zodiacs. I''m sure that you''ve heard about Zodiacs, One of the Three Bringers of Calamity, right? All members of Zodiacs had that power." Athena explained to him with a grave expression. "If I have a relic that can detect Cosmic Body, then surely they have something similar too." Souta nodded. If what she said that true then it would be a problem. "I''ve been staying here for too long. Prepare yourself I will call you later and this time it will be an official meeting." Athena said with a smile before she stood up. "Don''t worry, I help you hide it." Souta stood up and bowed, "I understood, My Lady." "Bye-bye. See you later," Athena waved her hand with a bright smile before her figure was enveloped by light. When the light dissipated, she was already gone. After she disappeared, Souta heard Saya''s voice in his mind. ''Ufufu, that''s terrifying... I could feel her gaze upon me. She sensed my existence.'' It was natural. Athena was a god, not just an ordinary god so sensing a consciousness inside a sword was easy for her. ''Is it really alright? That god knows Alice''s identity, you know?'' Saya asked. "Yep, it''s fine. If it''s Goddess Athena, then we don''t need to worry. She''s not the type of person that will discriminate others. It will be a different story if we started a killing spree in this place." Souta assured her. He recalled that Athena will call him soon. Her words bothered him. She meant that Zodiac could detect his Cosmic Body if he entered their range of perception. "Tsk! I should really prepare myself. But for now, I should finish my evolution since I have to meet Goddess Athena soon." Chapter 611: Preparation Chapter 611: Preparation "Why was the Goddess of our legion visited us? And from the looks of it, her target is you..." Alice asked Souta. "Yep, Goddess Athena told me something important. If I didn''t know this then it could lead us to our doom." Souta said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "That worse?" Eztein said. "Yeah, I won''t tell you the information as it''s currently above our level. It''s related to gods." Souta nodded. "G-Gods?!!" Alice, Franklin, Eztein, and Isabella were stunned. It''s not just above their level. It''s several levels above them. For them, gods were unreachable beings that they could only look up to. "But how does it concern you?" Alice asked slowly. "You know the living labyrinth that we cleared in Planet Eidin?" "Yeah, Isabella''s homeworld... No, don''t tell me." "Yep, the legacy that I acquired was related to this. I finally understood the reason why Planet Eidin was destroyed." Souta said with a gloomy expression. He recalled when Jamine told him the dozens of sub-world that they controlled disappeared in an instant. So that''s the reason why... "Shit! Gods... I don''t know what to say anymore." Eztein said. "Oho~ this old man is trembling..." Franklin laughed as he glanced at both of his hands. Souta shook his head and looked at everyone. "Since we''re too powerless to confront the problem, we shouldn''t worry about it for now. It''s better if we continue our pace and get stronger step by step." He exited the room after he finished talking to them. He needed to finish his business first. Knock! Knock! "Come in." Souta opened the door and stepped forward inside. This was the room of the Tenth Grain War Chief, Carmel. Carmel was sitting on a chair looking at him with a curious expression. He smiled and said, "Isn''t this the little monster in our Tenth Grain? What''s the matter this time? It''s rare for you to visit my office on your own." "Good day, Sir." Souta greeted his superior first. He didn''t want to delay it anymore so he went straight to the point. "I could feel that I''m about to evolve, Sir. Can you provide me a place where people won''t disturb me?" "Hmm... Evolution." Carmel rubbed his chin. He eyed Souta and asked, "Can you really feel that you''re about to evolve?" "Yes, Sir. I''m not making an assumption here. This feeling is the same when I evolve into third stage back then." Souta answered. "If that''s the case then I''ll arrange a place for you." Carmel nodded at him. "Still, fourth stage, huh? You''ll be entering the top stage of powerhouse..." "Thank you, Sir." Souta saluted. "It''s nothing." Carmel waved his hand before he stood up. "Come, follow me." Soon, the news that he was going to evolve spread in the entire Tenth Grain. After all, Carmel ordered some people to clean one of the training grounds and asked some people to call some experts from the Third Grain. Those people naturally talk about it while doing their jobs and it quickly spread. "Is that the one?" "Yep, he''s the monster of the Tenth Grain War." "Going to fourth stage! It''s a very rare scene to see a monster of this level evolve." "What do you think he''s eating?" "Do you think he''s eating human flesh?" "Shh! What if he eats you?" "Yiikes! I don''t want that to happen!" "Don''t worry, I heard a rumor that he didn''t like the meat of an old man like you. I heard he likes the meat of a woman in their prime." "Oww! Luckily, my girlfriend is in another city." "Do you think he''ll become our Goddess'' pet?" "I don''t think so. He''s a humanoid monster so I can''t imagine our Goddess petting him." "Oi! My mind! You''re tainting our Goddess!!" "Our goddess have pets but none of them are humanoid like this one!" Souta was looking at the training ground with a blank expression while his shoulder was dropped. "T-This... Am I a show? I-Is my evolution a show?" There were hundreds of people around the place waiting for him to start. "I-I''m sorry, they can''t help it. It''s rare for people to see a monster evolve to a higher stage, especially if that monster is going to evolve into the fourth stage." Carmel smiled wryly. He didn''t expect that this would create a commotion. Souta almost changed his mind about choosing this place. ''I should ignore them.'' He shook his head and took a deep breath. "Are you ready?" Carmel asked him. "Yeah, I''m ready." Souta nodded with a serious expression. Carmel raised his hand and several people stepped forward. These people were all Shackled Realm experts. Eilish and Manduk, who they met in Halbun Dukedom, were also present. "Set up the barriers!" Carmel ordered. A tremendous amount of aura burst out of the bodies of the Shackled Realm experts. They raised their hands and a barrier formed around the stage. If a third evolution monster evolved into the fourth stage, the amount of best feram that will scatter could affect the surrounding. So they will make sure that everything will be fine after this. "Everything is good. You can start now." Souta nodded and focused his attention on the system interface. He stepped forward and stopped in the center of the stage. He sat down and closed his eyes. ?Level-up card(x6) Six and he was level 56 so he just needed to use four. As for the remaining two cards. He will save it for the future. ''Use four Level-up cards.'' Four cards quickly disappeared and he saw his level change repeatedly. *Ding!* [You''ve leveled up!] [You''ve leveled up!] [You''ve leveled up!] [You''ve leveled up!] [Your Health has increased by 100]! [Your Energy has increased by 20]! [Your Stamina has increased by 20]! [Your Strength has increased by 50]! [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 30]! [Your physical and energy damage have increased by 5%]! [Your resistance to energy and physical attack have increased by 5%]! [Your Health, Stamina, and Energy Recovery have increased by 10]! [Your Health has increased by 100]! [Your Energy has increased by 20]! [Your Stamina has increased by 20]! [Your Strength has increased by 50]! [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 30]! [Your physical and energy damage have increased by 5%]! [Your resistance to energy and physical attack have increased by 5%]! [Your Health, Stamina, and Energy Recovery have increased by 10]! [Your Health has increased by 100]! [Your Energy has increased by 20]! [Your Stamina has increased by 20]! [Your Strength has increased by 50]! [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 30]! [Your physical and energy damage have increased by 5%]! [Your resistance to energy and physical attack have increased by 5%]! [Your Health, Stamina, and Energy Recovery have increased by 10]! [Your Health has increased by 100]! [Your Energy has increased by 20]! [Your Stamina has increased by 20]! [Your Strength has increased by 50]! [Your Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality have increased by 30]! [Your physical and energy damage have increased by 5%]! [Your resistance to energy and physical attack have increased by 5%]! [Your Health, Stamina, and Energy Recovery have increased by 10]! *Ding!* [You''ve reached the limit of your level!] [You need to evolve first if you want to continue leveling up!] Souta felt that he had grown strong once again. The added stats from leveling up four times in a row brought a huge boost to his fighting power. He even felt that he could fight a genuine One Shackle Realm expert for a few rounds. ''You just reached third stage a few months ago and now you''re already tackling the fourth stage... I wouldn''t believe it if I didn''t witness all of it.'' Saya''s voice sounded. ''It''s nothing.'' Souta replied to her. He already said to her that as long as he didn''t die he was confident to reach the level of gods in just a few years. Two years had passed since he transmigrated to this goblin body. In that short amount of time, he reached the limit of the third stage from a non-evolve goblin. No one would believe him if he told this story to people. Even Yuko hasn''t reached the limit of the third stage yet. Most of all, she was already at the second stage when Souta first met her. So in the span of two years, she only evolved one time yet Souta evolved three times. The fourth was today. Race: Blood Goblin(3rd Stage) Level: 60(Max) He finally reached it. Souta smiled inwardly and looked at the system prompt that he received. [You''ve reached the level requirement for the next evolution!] [If you want to continue leveling up please proceed to evolution!] [Do you want to evolve? Yes/No?] Yes. Souta didn''t hesitate to answer. [Race Detected: Blood Goblin!] [Opening up evolution path!] [The system detected seven evolution paths available!] [Please choose one of the seven following evolution paths. Warning! The evolution is irreversible. Please choose wisely.] [Moonlight Goblin] [Shadow Hunter Goblin] [Desolate Walker] [Pure Energy Hob] [Crimson Twilight] [Mutated Hobgoblin Commander] [Ferocious Shadow Eater] Chapter 612: Fourth Evolution: Crimson Twilight Chapter 612: Fourth Evolution: Crimson Twilight Carmel was inside the barrier along with Souta. He watched as a white energy slowly enveloped Souta like a cocoon. Thud! The white cocoon throbbed one time. Then, it throbbed again in the next second. The throbbing increased and slowly a dense amount of best feram spread inside the barrier. Thud! Thud! Carmel didn''t have a problem with it. He continued watching the evolution warily. He was a person at Four Shackles Realm, in other words, SSS-rank. A person at his level could even kill a fourth evolution monster so he wasn''t fazed at all while facing the dense best feram. People at his level wouldn''t need to form a party to subjugate at fourth stage monster. It would be a different person if the said monster was a fifth stage. A party of his level could only subjugate the weakest fifth stage. Yet, he could subjugate the fourth stage alone. There was a time when he couldn''t defeat a monster but he could at least go toe to toe with the said monster. Just with this alone, he could see the difference between the fourth stage and the fifth stage was huge. ''Another person at the level of early stages of Shackled Realm will be born in our Tenth Grain War...'' He said inwardly. Fourth stage monsters were equal to Shackled Realm experts. As for Souta, he was sure that after the evolution his minimum strength will be at that level. After all, Souta had the strength to fight peak S-rank in his third stage. So, it wouldn''t be strange if his strength reach the Shackled Realm after his evolution. What he was talking about wasn''t Souta''s full power... This was also the reason why he personally took in-charge with the protection. If he was here, everything will flow smoothly. ''What a strange monster... It''s even stronger than the monsters that Our Goddess keeps around.'' Carmel glanced at the floor and saw cracks forming on it. He raised his hands and his mana spread out, countering the best feram. ... Souta looked at the seven choices in front of him. They were different and powerful in their own way. He thought that five evolution paths would appear but he was wrong. His target evolution was also here but there were other two evolution paths with which he wasn''t familiar before his eyes. Ferocious Shadow Eater and Crimson Twilight. He glanced at the tiny details of the Ferocious Shadow Eater. Every ability of this type couldn''t be explained in small paragraphs of description bracket but it was enough for him to realize that this type was powerful. Ferocious Shadow Eater was a type of goblin that could eat the shadows of every creature just like what its name suggests. Using the shadows, this monster could increase one''s power level, temporary boost of defense, attack, or energy, and recover any type of wound. ''What a versatile ability...'' Souta thought deeply. If he was in a situation where he needed speed, he could use shadows to increase his speed. But there must be a limit to it. The description didn''t say anything but he was sure about it. He shook his head and read the description of Crimson Twilight. What was this? One of the super branches of the Blood Goblin... Why was he haven''t heard anything about this in the past? If it''s related to Blood Goblin he should''ve at least heard this type. But, he couldn''t recall anything no matter how much he racked his brain. He sighed and looked at the description one more time. This type of goblin has the power to freely control blood. It was versatile too. In some sense, it''s almost the same as Ferocious Shadow Eater. The only difference was that Crimson Twilight was using blood and Ferocious Shadow Eater was using shadows. Then, he glanced at his target evolution path... Compared to these two his target evolution path was nothing. The other evolution paths seem okay but only these two certain paths give him more freedom. Also, the description of these two wasn''t their full ability. There was more to it and he would only know it once he had chosen one of the two paths. ''Arrr... Alright, I''ll take a gamble this time. Since these two look the same, I''ll randomly pick one...'' Souta closed his eyes and shuffled the two choices. No, his senses were too high so it''s useless. He should lower his senses first to the level of ordinary people in Imperium. This is enough. He randomly picked one of the two choices that he chose. *Ding!* Souta slowly opened his eyes and looked at the path that he had chosen. [Selection complete.] [Undergoing race evolution.] ... Hmm? Carmel who was watching the cocoon noticed something. A powerful surge of energy exploded within the white cocoon. Electric like energy violently strikes in every direction. The stage quickly collapsed because of the lightning whips that came from the white cocoon. The Shackled Realm experts who were maintaining the barrier turned serious. They quickly poured their mana to prevent the barrier from breaking. "So this is evolution..." He muttered to himself before his mana burst out of his body. He raised both of his hands and made a grabbing motion in the air. A huge amount of mana was sandwiching the burst of energy coming from the white cocoon. It was preventing those dangerous dense energy whips from damaging the stage. "Since he''s my subordinate, I would be held responsible for it. I don''t wanna pay for its restoration." ... *Ding!* [Evolution completed!] [Crimson Twilight: A species of goblin that has the power of blood. They faced extinction twenty thousand years ago.] *Ding!* [Armored Scale Formation has been upgraded to Armored Scale Formation II.] [Rapid Recovery has been upgraded to Rapid Recovery II.] [Thread Forming has been upgraded to Thread Forming II.] [Draw Blood has been upgraded to Draw Blood II.] [Black Orc''s Solid Body has been upgraded to Black Orc''s Solid Body II.] [Greater Energy Recovery has been upgraded to Greater Energy Recovery II.] [Night Vision II has been upgraded to Night Vision III(Max).] [Extraordinary Body II has been upgraded to Extraordinary Body III(Max).] [Higher Energy Resistance II has been upgraded to Higher Energy Resistance III.] [Monster Force II has been upgraded to Monster Force III.] [Monster Body has been upgraded to Monster Body II.] [Blood Field has been upgraded to Blood Field II.] [All traits and trait skills have been upgraded!] The [Armored Scale Formation] originally had 1,000 extra HP but now that it was upgraded to "II", the extra HP was 2,000. Just by looking at the upgraded traits and trait skills, Souta could feel the boost in his overall strength. With [Blood Field II], Souta felt that he could become an immortal if he combined it with the regeneration ability of parasites. *Ding!* [All combat arts that haven''t reached Level 10 had increased by 1 level.] *Ding!* [Traits detected!] [Please select one of the following options below!] [Crimson Steal] [True Grey Mania] [Crimson Perception] The three traits were extremely good. He wanted to get all of them but it was impossible. The [Crimson Steal] was a life steal ability. Every time he landed an attack on his opponent, he would receive 10 HP. 10 HP was nothing comparable to his thousands of health points. Ten points of health were nothing but in a battle with his current power level, it could bring a huge gap to his opponent. After all, people at his level could exchange thousands of blows in just a minute. Thousands of blows. Ten points per blow so it would at least help him last a little longer. As for [True Grey Mania], it was a trait that increases his affinity in shadow and light attributes. It was good as he could master skills related to these two attributes easily and his attack power would increase too. Not just that, it would affect the power of his Element Drive too. As for [Crimson Perception], it was an ability that could let him sense any creatures that have blood flowing in their body within a diameter of twenty kilometers with him as the center. Souta thought deeply about what he should choose. In the end, he chose the [Crimson Perception] as he felt that aside from his [Galaxy Eyes] he didn''t have any perception ability. He didn''t need [Crimson Steal] as he had various abilities that could recover his health in the meantime. And, he also didn''t need [True Grey Mania] at this moment. He had [Yin Yang Bracelet] for this type of ability so he excluded it. The only one left was [Crimson Perception]. *Ding!* [You''ve learned Crimson Perception!] *Ding!* [You''ve learned Crimson Twilight''s unique traits!] [Blood Reign]: Can manipulate blood in the surrounding area. Has many uses. [Twilight Physique]: Within twilight''s time, the user would receive a 20% boost to all stats, skills, and affinities. [Day and Night Mastery]: +30% affinity to light when the sun is up and +30% affinity to shadow when the sun is out. *Ding!* [Evolution complete!] [Race: Crimson Twilight!] Chapter 613: Outside Chapter 613: Outside *Ding!* [Evolution completed!] [Race: Crimson Twilight!] [Every attribute has increased by 300!] [Health has increased by 500!] [Stamina has increased by 150!] [Energy has increased by 400!] [Health, Energy, and Stamina Recovery have increased by 50!] [Physical Damage and Energy Damage have increased by 30%] [Physical Resistance and Energy Resistance have increased by 20%!] *Ding!* [You''ve reached the fourth evolution stage!] [Every time you level up you will gain 200 Health, 40 Energy, 40 Stamina, 100 Strength, 60 Agility, 60 Dexterity, 60 Vitality, 60 Intelligence, +10% Physical Damage, +10% Energy Damage, +10% Physical Resistance, +10% Energy Resistance, +30 Health Recovery, +20 Stamina Recovery, and +20 Energy Recovery!] Ohm! Souta slowly opened his eyes as he felt overwhelming power inside his body. So this was the feeling of achieving the fourth stage. 100 points of strength per level... He could still remember back then he could only get 1 point of strength per level. The fourth stage was different and he still had to explore its other ability, unlike the third stage. He could still remember in the forum that the fourth stage''s unique traits had other abilities aside from its description. He stood up and checked the changes in his appearance. He grew a little bit taller and the color of his skin was much darker than before. His sharp nails were pure red and the color of his eyes was crimson blood color. His hair had the same color and there was a short horn protruding on the center of his forehead. Souta raised his hand and touched the horn on his forehead. Its size was almost the same as his thumb. Also, he noticed that both of his wrists were covered in dark red fur. ''The changes in my power are huge... I need to familiarize myself first.'' Souta said inwardly as he glanced at his surrounding. Using [Crimson Perception], he learned that there were a total of three hundred seventy two people in this place. He could widen its range to twenty kilometers in diameter but there''s no need for now. Carmel approached him with a smile on his face. "Good, how is it?" Souta was about to reply when a pain assaulted his brain. He fell on his knees and grabbed his head with both of his hands. "Argh!!" Carmel was stunned when he saw this. He quickly went down to support Souta. "Hey, what''s wrong?!" Carmel narrowed his eyes. "Shit, he couldn''t hear me! Is there a problem with his evolution?!" He looked around. There''s no monster expert in Tenth Grain War so he didn''t know who should he call for help. There''s no one who could check Souta''s condition properly. Alice, Eilish, Isabella, and the others run in their direction with a worried expressions. "Souta!!" "Boss!!" Souta gritted his teeth. Images were flooding his mind. It was always like this every time he evolves. He already guess that this was related to his past but it seems that there''s more to it. ''Argh! Fuck... I can''t...'' His vision blurred as he saw five people running in his direction. He tried to stay conscious but in the end, he still fainted. ''This shit... always happens to me....'' ... A young boy with a short black was holding a sharp knife in his hand. There was a bloodstain on his face and blood was dripping from the knife. Police and medics were running around him. The young boy was expressionless as he stared at the people around him. A man wearing a black suit slowly approached the boy. He slick back white hair and a thick beard. In his hand was a simple black umbrella. Even though there were a number of people inside the house, no one noticed the man. The man squatted and smiled. "Do you have other relatives?" "I don''t know." The young boy answered with a dazed look on his face. "What''s your name?" "Souta Yamazaki." "Why did you stab your father?" "He stabbed my mother and sold my sister." "What do you plan now that you lose your parents?" "I don''t know." "I see..." The man stretched out his hand toward the young boy. "You will forget everything that happened here. From now on, you are my grandson." The young boy fainted and fell onto the man''s arms. Boom! The ground shook heavily as if it was going to collapse. All the people in this country felt it. The man looked up and muttered, "This world is too fragile. It can''t accommodate a person at my level." He stood up while carrying the young boy in his arms. "A little bit of mana and it already caused an earthquake in the entire country... This tiny bit of mana will do nothing to Great World..." The images in his mind change... "I''ve already set up everything..." The man with slick back white hair said. "I''m counting on you, Souta. Find them in Mars Archipelago. They will help you in your journey." "Yes, Grandpa." Boom! The ground shook and an enormous amount of mana gushed out in every direction. The whole place trembled and barriers showed signs of breaking. The man was stunned. He looked around at his surrounding warily. "This mana... Gods... No, consciousness..." "Yes..." The man narrowed his eyes and asked in a cold tone. "What do you want?" "Is this the boy that you''ve chosen?" "Yes, I will entrust the future to him." "It seems that you''ve made your decision. We''ve made our decision too. This will be the last cycle." "I''m aware of that. The previous cycle was prevented by sealing all the doors and separating the seven continents." The man replied. "At what cost? The collapse of other dimensions... The Great War shattered those dimensions. We''re afraid that the cycle this time will be much stronger than before so let me give you a hand." "You..." The man was speechless as he stared at the enormous amount of energy rushing inside the body of the young man. "His body couldn''t handle this." Bang!! Cracks formed on the body of the young man and before long his physical body turned into ashes. "Fear not. He will forget everything that happened in this world except for the Vision that you created. We are going to disappear soon so this will be the last time." "Then, my plan will..." The man opened his eyes widely. "My preparation will be useless if this happened..." "Trust him. You are the one that groomed him. Even if he forgot you, he will do better. Besides, we''re not the only one that''s preparing for the calamity." "I know that. She will come to this universe soon." The man shook his head and approached the soul of the young man. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the head of the soul. "I will forcefully imprint your name using my powers. Don''t forget it. Your name is Souta Ieshi." "You''re going all out. Your body will collapse soon." "It''s already broken. After the calamity, the survivors suffered the same broken body. I could only last long because of my powers if not then I would''ve fallen long ago." The man said. "The Curse... I hope the Imperium survived this calamity if not I''m afraid that everything will perish. She''ll devour everything." "The seal on the doors is weakening. She and her minions will appear soon. Her force will be stronger this time." "Last time, one thousand gods appeared but the hosts of the Star Zodiacs, Four Authorities, and Deadly Sins fought them in different dimensions causing the dimensions to collapse." The man had a grim expression. "Right now, the overall gods and monster lords of the universe haven''t reached a thousand. So it will be a hard battle for this generation." "The upcoming war will be the last hope of survival of the universe. It will decide everything. Our universe showed signs of breaking so it couldn''t handle one more cycle. Imperium entered a deep sleep to preserve its energy. It will bloom soon and many people will reach god-level sooner." "The existence that surpasses gods... She will arrive to devour this universe... But what I''m afraid is that she already made preparation this time." "It seems that''s the case." "Her, Lynn, what are you thinking?" Lynn turned her head and saw Bryan. She smiled wryly and said, "I''m just thinking about Souta. I''m wondering what he is doing right now." "Souta... Don''t worry about him. He''s strong. He''s the only person that I couldn''t defeat." Bryan said. "I''m wondering how strong is Souta too. All of us have solidified our mana pool, especially Bryan. He completely solidified his own so he''s going to tackle the Shackle Realm soon." Brando said while rubbing his chin. While they were talking about Souta, Lumilia approached Lynn. "Are you okay, Lynn?" Lumilia asked with a concerned look. "Yeah, I''m just having a bad feeling and Souta suddenly comes into my mind. I hope I''m just imagining things." Lynn lowered her head. Lumilia smiled and patted Lynn''s back. "It''s fine. Souta is strong just like what Bryan said. Trust him. I think Souta is the one who''s worried about us since we are going to fight the demons soon." Chapter 614: Mock Battle I Chapter 614: Mock Battle I Hmm... Souta slowly opened his eyes only to see a familiar ceiling. Suddenly, he recalled something. He stood up and checked the system interface. Sigh~ He breathes a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Lucifer would discover him but it seems that wasn''t the case. He recalled the system''s warning. Lucifer only senses the abnormalities but it wasn''t pinpointed at him. As long as he didn''t harbor any ill intention then it would be good. But that''s too risky... Who knows when Lucifer would sense him again. Just need to be careful. Souta pushed himself into a sitting position before he glanced at the door. He could sense that everyone was here. They weren''t inside his room afraid of disturbing his rest. But something''s bothering him. The images that flooded his mind after his evolution. So, he''s an orphan... An old man adopted him and that old man''s name... He couldn''t recall the old man''s name. He couldn''t even remember what he was doing before he become an orphan. It''s too vague. The words that he could remember were vague. It''s about the door. And ''She''. Who are they talking about? It seems that it was related to the Great War twenty thousand years ago. The contents of the conversation. He couldn''t really remember it as the only thing that he could remember was that someone grabbed his head painfully. I''m getting close to the truth. I guess once I reach the fifth stage the images will be clearer. Souta took a deep breath to calm himself. He stood up and glanced around. ''If I''m not wrong... Athena said that she would call me but I fainted after evolution so... Well, she''s a god so she could sense my situation.'' The whole Headquarters of Athen''s Champion was inside a god''s perception. The gods can monitor every living being in their field of senses. ''She will call me sooner or later.'' He exited the room and saw Yenxa standing beside the door with an expressionless face. "My Lord." Yenxa quickly greeted him. "You should rest." Souta smiled as he ruffled Yenxa''s hair. "Oh, you''re awake, boss." Everyone quickly turned their heads. They saw Souta dragging a chair into a corner before sitting on it. Souta looked at them before he asked, "How long have I passed out?" "Three hours," Alice answered him. Souta nodded. Three hours were shorter than last time. "Are you okay now, Souta?" Isabella carefully asked him. "Yep, this always happened every time I evolve." Souta pauses and explained. "My mind couldn''t handle all the information that flooded in from evolution." "Hu~ I thought something bad happens to you, boss. What would I do in this world if you disappear like that?" Eztein wiped the sweat on his forehead. "Do you think that Souta would die from something like that? You''re too naive." Eilish said to Eztein. "Ah? You... Nevermind." Eztein was about to rebut but he recalled that Eilish was stronger than him. So, he shut his mouth. Wait till I become SS-rank. Alice looked at the two and shook her head. She turned her attention back to Souta and asked, "So, what are we going to do now? Are we going to take a difficult mission so that we could promote our squadron easily?" In the past, they always took an easy mission even after Isabella and Franklin joined the squadron. The only difficult mission that they took was the mission in the Dukedom of Halbun. Souta couldn''t help but nod at her words. If he wanted to promote the squadron quickly then they have to take difficult missions. Also, he would receive a lot of bonuses for completing difficult missions. Just like what happened in the Dukedom of Halbun. Although the rewards were nothing compared to the quest in Witch Clan, he still got a few cards. It was understandable as the Witch Clan quest was a chain quest. A chain quest was hard to come by. "We will talk about it later. I think we should continue our current pace." Souta said. He still didn''t know what Athena was going to do with him. She knows that he had a [Cosmic Body] and Zodiacs will probably target him if they learned this information. It''s too dangerous to come out of the Champion''s Den. He wasn''t afraid of other creatures but gods. It was a different matter. He currently didn''t have a way to escape from someone at Zodiac''s level. Although he was eager to take high difficult quest, he still need to hold himself back. It was too soon to confront someone at their Zodiac''s level. Well, if he avoided them Zodiacs would meet their doom in the future. A lot of gods fall in the war and gods at the peak were included in it. But the first one to fall will occur soon in the battle on this continent. Souta stood up and glanced at Eilish, "I forgot. You''re not a member of our squadron. You can go to your Grain Leader and inquire about it. That is if you want to join our squadron." "Of course, I will join your group. You''re the only person that I know in this world." Eilish flashed a seductive smile. "Good." Souta then turned to Franklin. "You''re injured. You''ve exhausted your parasite''s ability. You should''ve used your time to complete easy mission instead of going to colosseum." It''s not that there''s no reward in going to colosseum. The rewards were great and extraordinary, especially if there was an event. The rewards would be doubled and various legions would be competing for the top rankings. But Souta prefers to earn achievements through completing missions to promote their squadron faster. "You should have known when to stop. The parasite''s ability isn''t something that you could randomly show to others." Souta sighed. "Well, it doesn''t matter anymore." "I understand... I just tested the experts of this place." Franklin replied with a smile. "I will train for a while before I take some missions. I just got some manual for solidifying realm." "Okay." Souta nodded. He stretched his body and glanced at Eilish, "Do you want to accompany me to the training ground? I want to test my skills." "You should go now. I will come later after I finished my task." Eilish shook her head. "I understand." Souta rubbed his chin. "Who should I ask?" Carmel? But it''s too rude to ask Carmel for a sparring plus Carmel was a powerful Four Shackles Realm expert. Even though he was a fourth stage now, he still wouldn''t stand a chance. An SSS-rank expert like him must have joined a party to subjugate a fifth stage monster before. "I''ll just ask other people," Souta muttered. He went out of the room and the others followed him. They wanted to see Souta''s strength after he evolved. They were all curious about it. Soon, Souta arrived at the training ground. He looked around and saw a familiar face. "Manduk!" A tall man with a pair of fox ears turned around. A grin formed on his face when he saw Souta. "Oh, you''re here. Is everything fine with your body?" "Yep, fainting after evolution always happens to me. It''s a natural occurrence for me." Souta opened his arms widely with a helpless look. "Oh, I see." Manduk nodded with a look of understanding. He glanced at Souta and said, "You''re here. It means that you wanted to test your strength, right?" "Yeah." Souta nodded. It was pretty obvious since he rarely practices here. If he was going to train then he would enter Saya''s inner consciousness. "Do you want me to become your sparring partner?" Manduk looked around and asked. "Oh, if it''s okay with you then I have no problem with it," Souta said. Manduk was a suitable sparring partner for Souta since he was a One Shackle Realm. So, Souta would gladly accept his offer. "That settles it." Manduk grinned and he turned around. "Everyone! Can I borrow this for a while?! I and this man before me will have a mock battle! I''m sure that you''ve seen him before since he undergo his evolution in this place a few hours ago! This will be an entertaining battle for you!" Every warrior in the training ground turned their head. They murmured to each other before they exited the stage. It seems that they wanted to see Souta''s strength after he evolve. Soon, a lot of people heard about the mock battle. So, hundreds of people arrived at the training ground to watch the battle. They were excited and started to bet on who was going to win. There were even warriors who were kind enough to set up a barrier around them. Manduk turned at the warriors around and said, "Thank you, warriors!" Then, he faced Souta. "Are you ready?" "Yeah," Souta nodded and his expression turned serious. Slowly, dense best feram leaked out of his body. "Good." Manduk also turned serious. The opponent that he was going to fight was different from the monster that he tested in the examination before. No matter how strong a third stage they weren''t going to reach a Shackled Realm expert. But the situation was different now, that third stage monster had reached fourth stage. Souta had the right to fight him now and defeat him. Chapter 615: Mock Battle II Chapter 615: Mock Battle II "How long do you think Manduk will last?" "Three minutes...?" "No, that''s too short. It''s probably ten minutes." "That''s right. It''s probably ten minutes so I''ll bet it." "Since he''s a new evolve fourth stage, I''ll take ten minutes too." "It would be over in five minutes if he used his release form right away." "But I don''t think that will happen, he wanted to test his strength so he will probably use his traits first." The surrounding warriors murmured to each other. They didn''t think that Manduk would win at all in this mock battle. After all, the one he''s fighting was a fourth evolution monster. Manduk would probably win if he had a help of four or five S-rank that could support him. "They aren''t optimistic about your chances of winning," Souta said to Manduk. "Well, you know that this is a basic for everyone. Us warriors avoided fighting a fourth stage monster in a 1v1 situation unless a warrior is at Four Shackles Realm. That''s the basic common sense." Manduk shrugged his shoulder. "I see..." Souta understood that only Four Shackles Realm experts and above had a one hundred percent chance of winning in all levels of fourth stage monster. "Well, it doesn''t matter. It''s rare for me to have a sparring partner like you so let''s start this right away." Manduk grinned. "Fine." Souta grinned. A powerful aura burst out of their body and they charged at each other. Boom! Shockwaves swept out as both of their punch collided. The entire ground trembled and the excitement of the warriors rose sharply. The battle has started. Manduk took a distance before glancing at his hand. He could feel a tingling sensation slowly spreading in his hand. ''What the hell?! Isn''t this guy''s normal form ridiculously strong?'' He was shocked but he didn''t show it on his face. He knew that he couldn''t win this battle but he should be able to win against Souta''s base form. Swoosh! ''He''s coming...'' Manduk quickly focused on the figure in front of him. [Internal Focus Steps]! [Guardian''s Hundred Body]! [Golden Physique]! In just a second, he activated three combat arts. He hurriedly moved his body to the side as a fist passed right beside his face. ''So close...'' He lifted his knee and used this chance to kneed Souta on the stomach. Bang! It was successful. He wanted to retreat but he was stopped by something. ''What the hell?!'' He looked down only to see webs sticking on his feet. Shit! It was too late. Before he could even remove the webs on his feet, a pain assaulted his stomach. Bang! His body bent forward as the force behind the punch blow his body away. The webs on his feet were torn as he crashed into the barrier. Boom!! Everything happened so fast. The battle just started a second ago and yet they were fighting like they were at the last minute. The warriors around were stunned for a second but after they realized what happened they roared loudly. "OHHHHH!!!!" "MANDUK!! ENDURE IT FOR FIVE MINUTES!! IF I WIN I''LL BUY YOU A DRINK!!" "YEAHHH!!" "KEEP IT UP!!" Souta exhaled as he looked at the thick smoke ahead. He was naturally stronger than the initial stage fourth evolution monster. Just his physical strength was exceptional among monsters of the same level. [Monster''s Force III]: +600 Strength, +400 Agility, +400 Dexterity, +300 Vitality, +20% Physical Damage, and +20% Energy Damage This was the ability for a fifth stage monster. This boosted his strength to an imaginable level. It was like he was equipped with another high-level artifact or weapon. Also, his body was extremely durable. [Monster''s Body II]: +1,000 Health, +400 Vitality, +50 Health Recovery, +30 Stamina Recovery, and +30 Energy Recovery This let him fight a person at Manduk''s level in a 1v1 situation using his base form. His current strength was enough to trash Rowan, Witch Clan''s Clan Leader, since Manduk was stronger than him. He was sure. In the entire Astros, he was the strongest creature. The two witch elders, Eilish, or current Doranjan, none of them could defeat him in a one-on-one battle. Swoosh! The smoke was blown away revealing Manduk''s figure looking at him with eyes full of fighting spirit. [Blood Reign]! Souta tilted his head. As expected he couldn''t control the blood inside Manduk''s body. ''How about this?'' He raised his hand and several small holes formed on his palm, then blood gushed out of it. The blood floated on the space above his palm. Swoosh! He moved his hand and the blood turned into a sphere. In the next second, it turned into square, then star. It changed its shape every second. "I''m getting used to this..." He suddenly closed his palm and the blood turned into several small sharp spikes. They moved and pointed at Manduk, who was looking at him warily. Now that Souta focused his attention on the opponent in front of him, he realized that Manduk''s aura was several times stronger than before. While he was engrossed in changing the shapes of blood, Manduk had activated several combat arts to prepare himself. "Go." With a wave of his hand, the blood spikes flew at Manduk. Swoosh! Manduk swiftly moved his body from side to side while punching the blood spikes that blocked his way. Bang! Bang! In just a second, Manduk arrived in front of Souta. Souta grinned as he made a grabbing motion and the droplets of blood behind quickly turned into spikes once again. Swoosh! Manduk ignored it as lightning and flames coated both of his fists. Souta jumped back but Manduk quickly chased after him. He didn''t have a choice but to fight head-on. Boom! Boom! Both of their figures collided several times. Shockwave after shockwave was sweeping out in the surrounding. Luckily, it was blocked by a barrier, or else it would cause great damage in the area. The warriors watching the head-on battle of the two were thrilled. The battle between the Souta and Manduk was better than they had expected. It made them forget their bet. They wanted this battle to last longer. Every second, warriors would arrive at the training ground just to watch the mock battle. Manduk was chasing after Souta while Souta was fighting back and throwing blood spikes. Their speed and power were high as the stage was destroyed, debris of rocks flying everywhere. Bang! Bang! ''Manduk is really a strong expert.'' Souta said inwardly as he avoided and blocked Manduk''s attacks. The experts of Imperium were different from the experts in sub-world. This guy would trash Rowan, Eilish, and other Shackled Realm from that sub-world. The difference in combat arts, spells, equipment, and experience was huge. Manduk had vast experience in fighting creatures at his level. While the Shackled Realm experts in sub-world were few, so they rarely clash unless a war occurred. Boom! [Dual Element Drive: Fire and Lightning Force]! A powerful energy erupted inside Manduk''s body. Fire flooded the entire area and lightning danced in every direction. Souta didn''t have a choice but to brandish the vajra sword hanging on his waist. He had to take it seriously. Lightning flew at him but a shield made of blood blocked it. Bang! The blood evaporated in the air and the lightning whip dissipated. Shuushhhh~ Souta narrowed his eyes as he gathered his energy on the blade of his sword. "Let me return it!" [Dual Element Drive: Dark and Light Force]! Boom! Lightning and fire clashed with dark and light energy. An intense aura rumbled and the ground kept shaking as if it was about to collapse. [Day and Night Mastery]! [Night Mastery]! Since it was night, his affinity to dark had increased by 30%. He raised his other hand and the droplets of blood floating around him were enveloped by dark energy. ''So I could combine this two...'' [Blood Reign: Dark Force]! Then, he dripped his blood on the blade of the vajra sword. Soon, it was covered in blood with dark energy. [Roaring Flaming Thunder Palm]! Manduk had already finished his preparation. He launched a powerful combat arts at Souta''s direction without hesitation. Souta tightened his grip on the sword and quickly swung it upward. [Crimson Moon]!! Blood flew out of the sword as red and dark energy fused together turning into a terrifying force that collided with lightning and flames palm. BOOM!! A transparent energy ripple expanded at the center of the impact followed by different elemental energies. Everything around them was disintegrated. The debris of rocks was shredded into tiny molecules not visible to naked eyes. A blinding light that contained four different elements erupted within the barrier. It swept out the entire space within, not leaving anything. It was shocking but the barrier stood still. After all, several Shackled Realm experts were maintaining it. Even if a crack formed on it, they would immediately repair it using their energy. A leak of energy from the battle would cause damage to the surrounding area. It would even pressure people below Shackled Realm. Swoosh!! Inside the barrier, Souta slowly looked around. The spherical blood covering him like a barrier slowly opened. ''Crimson Twilight... It''s my first time seeing this so I don''t know how to use its full potential but it seems that it''s pretty strong. I still need to explore its other capabilities.'' If it was the evolution that he wanted before then Souta didn''t need to explore its abilities. He was familiar with it so he could fight using everything. Chapter 616: Mock Battle III Chapter 616: Mock Battle III Souta and Manduk continued their battle for a few minutes. As time passed by, Souta was getting used to his ability. The Crimson Twilight''s ability was extremely compatible with his fighting style. He could use blood to form a shield, boost his attack, or heal his wounds. A good ability for an all-rounder like him. As long as there''s blood, he could do anything. There more blood in the surrounding the more powerful he would become. Swoosh!! Lightning and flame gushed at his direction. Souta pulled back his sword and waved his other hand. The blood around him formed a huge shield in front of him. The blood shield wasn''t ordinary. It had an attribute of dark to boost its overall effect. [Blood Reign: Dark Blood Shield]! Boom!! The attack exploded and the entire place shook heavily. Violent energy was raging in every direction. In the next second, the blood shield was shattered and Souta quickly swung the vajra sword in his hand. Boom! Another powerful explosion erupted. Souta glanced at the system and smiled. He didn''t think that Element Drive would perfectly synchronize with his [Blood Reign]. There''s no rejection at all. Noting that he needed Saya''s help every time he used [Bestrou] and [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]. Because of the rejection, he couldn''t control its power that''s why Saya was helping him control it. But this... Everything was flowing perfectly. "You''re amazing! Manduk! Let me defeat you right here right now!!" He rushed forward with a huge grin on his face. Ten black balls formed behind him and he pressed down his other hand. Boom! Heavy gravity bore down inside the barrier trying to crush every living being and object inside it. Manduk gritted his teeth as his figure was enveloped by flames and lightning. [Lightning and Flame Dominating Body]! He then charged forward. Souta and Manduk collided several times. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! The warriors that were watching the battle were thrilled. The battle was intense and it gives them goosebumps. They totally forgot about their bet. Eztein was amazed, "Fuck! Boss is enjoying the battle! I don''t think that I would witness a battle like this!" "I want to fight like that too." Franklin, who was beside Eztein, said with an ecstatic look on his face. He, too, wanted to have a battle like that. A battle that would wipe the boredom in his life. Eilish, who just arrived, smiled wryly. "I don''t think that I could win against him in that state." Alice glanced at her and said, "He hasn''t even used his release form. Souta is just familiarizing himself with his current strength." Eilish shook her head. "Yeah, he''s simply amazing. I couldn''t describe him aside from that one word." Souta and Manduk exchanged blows for several minutes. They were throwing everything at each other. Souta even activated [Cat''s Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Night Overlord''s Aura], [Shadow Steps], and [Shadow Cloak] to help him. Manduk was really pushing the limit of his base form. No normal Shackled Realm could do it. Rowan would definitely not last longer if he fought the current Souta. Boom! Souta was blown away and crashed into the barrier. Blood flows out of his mouth. He didn''t need to wipe it as it floated in the air and went around the vajra sword. "Time is running out for both of us..." He loosened his grip on the vajra sword and it floated beside him. He opened his arms and spider webs flew out of the tip of his fingers. In the next moment, the webs turned red and dark energy enveloped it. An ominous aura surrounded it. "Shit!" Manduk opened his eyes widely. His wariness skyrocketed as goosebumps appeared on every part of his body. His instinct was screaming that this was dangerous. Blood red threads covered every space in front of him. Manduk realized that he couldn''t avoid this attack. The only choice he had was to block it. "Ehe, just as I expected..." Manduk smiled to himself as he crossed his arms in front of him. A semi-transparent figure of a giant turtle appeared behind him. [Solid Turtle Shield]! He knew that it wasn''t enough. [Lightning Oracle]! [Burning Violent Wall]! This should be enough but he shouldn''t be optimistic about it. His chances were pretty low from the beginning so he had to gamble everything that he had. "This time... Let me reach you!" Roar!! Souta raised his eyebrows. He saw a huge dragon made of lightning and flames charging at his direction. It possessed unbelievable speed to it would reach his position in the blink of an eye. He closed both of his palms. A dense amount of best feram smoothly flowed in the blood-red color webs. [Bestrou]! ''Don''t reject it. Flow inside...'' Intense energy fluctuated inside the webs and the threads vibrated as it produced an ear-piercing sound. Eeeeiing!! Souta''s eyes constricted as his concentration reached the limit. He loses sight of everything outside the barrier. His entire perception was focused on the things inside the barrier. Nothing could escape him. [Blood Thread: Dark Weaving]! With a wave of his hand, a net of webs smashed the dragon. The net covered everything and at the center of impact, a ripple expanded. BOOM!! Another explosion occurred inside the barrier and it blocked everyone from seeing the things that happened inside. Smoke and dust covered the entire field. Some of the warriors started to talk to each other. They were wondering what happened inside since there was no sign of movement after several seconds. The high-level warriors already knew the outcome so they turned around and left. "It''s good..." Inside the barrier... Souta spat a mouthful of blood. He looked at his chest and saw a huge and deep wound. Blood was gushing out like a waterfall. "That''s too powerful..." Manduk''s attack had a property that could ignore some of his defenses. Not just that, it also contained power enough to break down his [Shadow Cloak] instantly. It also possessed a paralyzing effect and burning that tore down his flesh bit by bit. "If I was still a third evolution monster... A graze of this attack would be enough to heavily injure me and I would have no way of blocking it." Souta said as he stood up and placed his hand on the wound on his chest. Manduk''s brutal aura was still lingering on his chest and it was preventing the parasite from repairing his body. The remaining aura was tearing down every cell and flesh that was going to close the wound. Ohm! Best feram gathered on Souta''s hand before he grabbed Manduk''s remaining energy. He used his best feram to remove his opponent''s energy from his body. Soon, the wounds started closing at a visible speed. The dark and light aura around him slowly disappeared. Souta rubbed his chin and muttered, "So this is the limit of my Element Drive... Ten minutes... I trained it almost every day and this is the result. Well, it''s not bad." It''s the same as his opponent. He turned his head ahead and saw everything with his eyes. Manduk was on his knees breathing heavily. His body was covered in blood and wounds. He still has some energy left in his mana pool but his Element Drive had reached the limit too. ''Oh, he could still stand... Manduk is really a strong person.'' Souta said inwardly. Manduk heard footsteps. He raised his hand and saw Souta approaching him. Souta sighed and said, "Let''s end this here. If we keep up, it will not be a sparring anymore." Manduk nodded. "You''re right. I''m quite tired too. I couldn''t even force you to use your release form." Souta smiled and didn''t say anything. ... The battle had ended and the news of it quickly spread in the entire Third Set. The monster in their Set reached fourth evolution stage and displayed powerful might that could defeat a One Shackle Realm. Inside the base of the Astros Squadron... Souta was laying comfortably on a sofa. He was reviewing his battle against Manduk. During the battle, he discovered a lot of things about the potential of his current species. Element Drive was an important part of it. It will be the foundation of his battle style in the future along with [Blood Reign]. In the battle before, he learned that [Blood Reign] could perfectly synchronize with his two elemental affinities during Element Drive. Also, it will become a medium that let him create a combo of different skills resulting in a more powerful and effective skill. He could still remember the feeling when he flowed [Bestrou] inside the threads. It was impossible to do it before. He could only flow [Bestrou] inside the vajra sword and Saya had to help him suppress it too. But now... Souta smiled and mumbled, "I''m looking forward to what it can do in the future..." He will train his Element Drive to increase its time limit. Crimson Twilight''s potential wasn''t bad at all. It didn''t let him down. Chapter 617: Division Commander Chapter 617: Division Commander "What are you doing?! I bought that using the money that I received from completing missions!" Eztein shouted. "Hmm? I thought that it''s for everyone." Eilish raised her eyebrows while holding a bottle of alcohol in her hand. "No! That is Red Island! It''s an alcohol made from various high-level ingredients! That one contains energy and I used 200 silver coins!" "Then, I''ll pay you back later!" "No! It''s equivalent to 2 platinum coins so how are you going to pay me!" "That''s why I said later! After I earned enough money I''ll pay you!" "Fuck! I need that now! You don''t know that I''m practicing a combat arts and I need the specific energy inside that alcohol to help me!" "Then, practice other combat arts." "Argh..." Eztein turned his head and said, "Boss, you should expel this woman! She''s using all the things here without even asking if someone owned it!" "Don''t involve me in your problem..." Souta, who was comfortably laying on the sofa, said. "Boss..... I''m your trusted comrades... You should help me...." Souta turned around as he decided to ignore him. He thinks that he was the only one that had spare money in his group. The others used their money for various things. Eztein used his rewards to buy things like that Red Island alcohol. He also his rewards to redeem manuals from Athen''s Champion. Manuals that could help him break through Shackled Realm faster. The others also bought manuals or fruits that could enhance their strength. All the money Souta had in his pocket came from the Athen''s Champion. The money that he brought with him from Astros was all gone. It''s not that he didn''t have any money, it''s just that he used it to settle down the entire Astros here on this continent. The remaining funds were going to the expansion. "Ugh! I have no choice but to do it..." Eztein narrowed his eyes. He walked towards Isabella''s room. "Hey, Isabella, do you trust me?" "Umm..." Isabella was confused. "If you trust me then I''ll help you establish a business here... With my help, we can have a lot in the market street using my connection. I just need you to create potions for me." "Don''t listen to him, Isabella. This guy is going to scam you. He''s a famous swindler in the Tenth Grain War." Eilish said to Isabella. "Oi! What are you saying?! I have a good reputation here!" Eztein pointed his finger at Eilish. He was angry as this woman was ruining his reputation. Knock! Knock! Everyone stopped talking as they turned their heads at the door. ''Is Athena going to summon me?'' Souta looked at the door. Alice stood up and slowly opened the door. She looked outside and saw a woman wearing silver-colored armor. The woman looked at Alice and asked, "Is Souta here?" Alice nodded. "Tell him that the Pallas Division Third Set Cheif Captian Vandal wants him to come to his office immediately." Alice turned his head and looked at Souta who was laying on the sofa. Souta nodded at her before he stood up. He knew that Athena was the one who was calling for him. Well, he couldn''t avoid it so he better finish it as soon as possible. "I''ll go now." He turned around and looked at everyone. "Don''t ruin our base... It''s already night so don''t cause any commotion." Then, he stepped out of the door and followed the woman. ... Souta was following the warrior in front of him. He scanned her using the power of his eyes and realized that this woman was a Two Shackles Realm expert. ''Well, it''s not surprising since the one calling him is that Vandal. A Seven Shackles Realm is the only one who could order a person like this woman.'' He shrugged his shoulder and didn''t say anything. While they were talking Souta was looking around his surrounding. They''ve exited the area of the Tenth Grain War. They were walking in the territory of other Grain. Souta looked up and saw a towering palace in a distance. That palace was called Maiden Judge. It was Athena''s home in this entire place. The Headquarters of Athen''s Champion in Champion''s Den was huge. With Maiden Judge at the center, the whole area around it was divided into six zones equal to the Six Divisions of Athen''s Champion. It''s been a long time since he had seen this place... He was always staying in the area of the Tenth Grain War so he hasn''t visited the other area ever since he joined Athen''s Champion. Soon, Souta arrived in front of the Pallas Division Third Set Chief Captain''s office. Knock! Knock! The woman knocked on the door and said, "Chief Captain, I''ve brought him." "Good." The woman slowly opened the door and made way for him. Souta looked at her for a while before he stepped forward. He looked at the room and found that Vandal was the only person here. He greeted Vandal first as he was his superior before he stood still without moving an inch. Vandal narrowed his eyes as he observed Souta from head to toe. Souta tried to calm down but his instinct was screaming. He knew that Vandal was just assessing him but it felt like a top predator was looking at him. The man before him was the Chief Captain of the Third Set Pallas Division. A man that reached the level of Hero-rank. No matter how powerful a fourth evolution is, they don''t have a hope to defeat someone at Hero-rank. It was an entirely different level. Souta couldn''t even dominate the entire SS-rank so he was still quite far from reaching the famed Hero-rank. After a while, Vandal looked down at the paper file on his desk and said, "I don''t know why as they aren''t telling me the reason but the higher-ups wanted you to go to the Maiden Judge." "Maiden Judge?" Souta acted as if he was surprised. Higher-ups? By higher-ups, Souta knew that Vandal was talking about the Division Commanders. The Athen''s Champion was divided into six divisions and each division consisted of ten sets. Vandal was the Chief Captain of one set so the people that he could call higher-ups were none other than those Division Commanders. Aside from heroes, those people were the only ones that can easily have an audience with the goddess. Division commanders were also the ones who were managing the legion. "Yeah, the huge palace in the center of the entire legion is the Maiden Judge. Go there and make sure that no one else knew about it." Vandal said while massaging his temple. He didn''t even know why those old people wanted to meet this newly evolved monster. "I understand." Souta nodded. Vandal explained to him what he should do and do not when meeting the Division Commanders. After that, Souta excused him and quickly head to the Maiden Judge. He was already familiar with those people so he what he should do even without Vandal''s instruction. Also, he was sure that Athena was the one that wanted to meet him. It would be a pretty big deal if Athena directly called him. ... Souta arrived in the Maiden Judge in just a few minutes. There were two guards on the side of the door and both of them had a power level of Three Shackles Realm. He identified himself and the guards let him in. With a single look, he saw that the entire palace was fortified with countless runes. It was like a fortress that could directly annihilate intruders. Even he, a fourth stage monster, wouldn''t survive if he show hostility in this place. Besides, the six Division Commanders that were staying here were all Demigods. The people that failed the process of ascension. In other words, they failed to become gods. Well, not all the Division Commanders were staying here. Some of them were in the other Headquarters of Athen''s Champion. With his eyes, he could see hundreds of people stronger than him in this palace. It was like he was entering a wolf''s den. Several auras swept passed his body. ''They are observing me.'' Souta said inwardly. He looked at his side and saw a man with bear ears wearing a black suit. "I''m Claman. I will guide you." The man introduced himself politely. "I''m Souta. I''ll be in your care." Souta returned the greeting. Even the demi in front of him was a Two Shackles Realm expert. Souta followed Claman and they arrived in front of a huge exquisite door in just a minute. "I am Souta, Leader of the Astros Squadron under the Tenth Grain Set!" Souta said introduced himself first before he asked permission to enter. The door slowly opened and Claman bowed down before he left. Souta entered and saw an old man wearing a white robe with golden trimmings. The old man had long white hair and his beard was thick. In his hand, was an exquisite wooden staff with a golden orb on top of it. ''It''s been a while, Cicero.'' Cicero Flavius, the Commander of the Pallas Division. A Grand Mage that controlled four elements. "You''re here." Cicero looked down at Souta from his spot. Chapter 618: Meeting with Athena Chapter 618: Meeting with Athena Cicero Flavius. One of the six Division Commanders of the Athen''s Legion. A very powerful man that holds the highest authority here. ''So Athena used Cicero to summon me...'' Souta looked at Cicero before he slightly bowed down and introduced himself once again. He already forgot how many times he introduced himself today. Cicero nodded and said, "I''m Cicero Flavius..." It was a simple introduction but every people in the entire legion knows the name Cicero Flavius. People at this level didn''t need a grand introduction. They will just say their name and people would already recognize their ranks and achievements. "What are your orders, Commander Cicero?" Souta asked politely since Cicero didn''t say anything. Also, he had to make sure that he didn''t know that Athena was the one that called him here. "Souta Ieshi... A monster that joined our legion a month ago. He was assigned to Tenth Grain War and contributed a lot to the mission in the Dukedom of Halbun. In just a short amount of time, he easily promoted his circle to Second Class Yellow Squadron..." It was as if Cicero was reading his reports. Everything that Souta did ever since he joined the legion was recorded. Souta didn''t care about all of it but he didn''t show it on his face. He was just wondering when will this old man finished talking. After a while, Cicero turned his attention back on Souta once again. "I''m not the one that called you here." He pointed at the door behind him and said, "Go inside the room. No matter what you see, don''t let any other people know about it." ''Finally...'' Souta sighed inwardly. ''I''m going to meet Athena. I want to finish this as soon as possible.'' He bowed at Cicero before he walked forward. Cicero kept observing him without saying any words. It only stopped when Souta entered the door. ... "Sigh..." Souta sighed after closing the door. He knew that this door had high-concealment runes that could prevent eavesdropping and could block perception. Giggle* He turned around as he heard a soft laugh behind him. He saw Athena laughing with her hand on her mouth. He stood straight before he went on his knees and said, "It''s my pleasure seeing you again, My Lady." "Yep, don''t worry about it." Athena waved her hand. "Cicero is a busy person. He canceled some of his plans just to listen to my request." Souta knew very well that managing a legion as big as Athen''s Champion was hard. Athena forcefully coughed as she fixed her posture elegantly and her expression turned serious. "Cosmic Body is very important. The strength that it provides isn''t that huge but its utilities could even make a god envy it. The most important thing about it is that it could hold the power of a Zodiac." She spoke clearly and Souta listened to her with a serious expression. He knows that this was a very important meeting that could change his life. So he had to pay attention to the words that were coming out of her mouth. "I''ll give you two choices. Stay in the Olympus and accumulate your strength. If you choose this, I will help you to the best of my ability to train you. Even gods and monster lords in Olympus will give you their guidance. But the moment you choose this, you can''t leave Olympus until you have enough strength to protect yourself. You should know that the Zodiacs will likely target you the moment they realized that you have a Cosmic Body." Athena narrowed her eyes and asked, "Do you want to know why?" Souta nodded, "Yes, My Lady." "Cosmic Body can only hold a power of Zodiac. Since you didn''t have a Zodiac Authority inside you, they will think that you''re a threat. You will be able to take their Zodiac Authority and fill up the emptiness in your Cosmic Body." ''It means that my Cosmic Body isn''t complete even though I already integrated the body parts. To complete it, I just need a Zodiac Authority to upgrade it to the highest level.'' Souta understood Athena''s words. If Souta grows stronger, the Zodiacs will be wary of him so they will eliminate him. Of course, they didn''t know that Souta had Zodiac Authority. It''s just that it wasn''t in his body. It was in his system waiting for him to unseal it. "At your current level, even if there are millions, no, billions of you... You will not stand a chance." "Then, what''s the second choice, My Lady?" Souta carefully asked. "The second choice is nothing... You will live the same as you have always been. Completing the missions in my legion and grow stronger on your own." Athena paused for a moment before she continued, "But I''ll give you a manual to conceal your Cosmic Body... You don''t need to be careful about other gods as they didn''t have an ability to detect Cosmic Body. I couldn''t even detect it but I have a relic related to it so I sensed your presence." "Well, the manual that I''ll give will be able to conceal your Cosmic Body from Zodiacs. Of course, it''s not perfect but it''s still doable. I''m not going to force you. Just live whatever life you wanted, my child." Souta looked down. From the beginning, he already had one answer. He lifted up his head and smiled, "I''ll take the manual and live the same as before, My Lady." If he chose the first option then Souta would lose the opportunity to trigger quests from the system. His growth would be stagnant and it would take a long time before he could reach monster lord. He didn''t even know if he could reach monster lord level with just training alone. Even if he could reach monster lord on normal route, he didn''t know how long it would take. Twenty years? Thirty years? No, probably more than fifty years. The best way for him to get stronger was to complete a quest. "If you want to take the second choice then you''ll have to master it first. You can''t leave Champion''s Den without mastering it as it''s still too risky to leave without any protection." Athena said. Souta nodded. He had no choice but to follow her command. At least, she didn''t force him to stay at Olympus. If it was another god, he could imagine being locked in that place without his consent. ''It seems that Olympus wanted Zodiac Authority for themselves...'' He said inwardly. If they had a creature with a Cosmic Body in their ranks then they have a chance of acquiring the Zodiac Authority. They wouldn''t let this opportunity pass by. Glancing at Athena, he knew that she had her own plan. It seems that she hasn''t told anybody in the Olympus about his Cosmic Body. He really owed her this time. Who knows what will those power hungry gods would do if they knew this information. Souta was about to bid farewell when Athena opened her mouth. "I have one more thing to say." He raised his eyebrows and looked at her with a confused look. He thought that it was finished but it seems that he was wrong. "I will arrange a territory for you outside the Champion''s Den. You have a demon beside you, right? It would be better if she''s not staying here. She had an artifact for disguising but it wouldn''t work on gods so other gods would discover her if they come here. You know that a god''s senses can cover this entire city easily. They would easily know that there''s a demon here in just a blink of an eye." "I couldn''t ask for more. Thank you for your kindness, My Lady." Souta bowed his head to his goddess. "It''s nothing. Both of you joined my legion, so you are one of my people too." Athena smiled and a small book appeared on the table near them. "Take this and you can take your leave." "Please excuse me, My Lady," Souta said before he stood up and carefully took the small book. He placed it inside his clothes and silently walked toward the door. "I know you have a story but please be careful. Don''t forget my words. If you reach fifth stage, you can come and meet me at my temple in the Land of Eternal Spring." Souta heard Athena''s voice before he close the door. He turned around but it was in vain. Athena''s aura had disappeared. She''s not in this place anymore. ''What a busy goddess...'' He laughed inwardly. Suddenly, goosebumps spread on his body as he turned his head to the side, only to see Cicero looking at him. "Don''t tell anybody that you meet our goddess today," Cicero said. "I understand." "Since the goddess didn''t tell me anything. Although I''m curious, I wouldn''t ask anything about your conversation. Just remember, the warriors of our legion didn''t know about it. They just knew that I''m the one who called you here." "I will not forget it." "Good, you can go now." "Then, please excuse me, Commander Cicero." With that, Souta left the Maiden Judge. It will become one hell of a week for him. He will try to learn the manual that he received as fast as possible so that he could continue taking quests. Chapter 619: Its the start... Chapter 619: It''s the start... Two weeks had passed in the blink of an eye. Souta stayed inside Saya''s inner consciousness. All he did was trained the manual he received from Athena. It was called [Hidden Concealing Method]. It was a high-level skill and its only purpose was to hide the unique presence of Cosmic Body. It took him a total of forty days inside Saya''s inner consciousness before he managed to learn it. Now that he learned this skill, it was safe to say that he could escape the perception of Zodiacs to some extent. Of course, the perception of Zodiacs was unimaginable so he better not get close to them as there''s a chance that they would discover him. Just like what Athena said this skill was not perfect. After all, Zodiacs were all high level gods and who knows what sort of trick they were hiding. "As long as I don''t encounter Zodiacs..." He used forty days to learn this skill. The remaining time was for him to familiarize himself with his new skill set. The combination of his [Blood Reign] and [Element Drive] gave him a new height in his combat prowess. Using blood as a medium to create a combo skill was indeed terrifying. Souta glanced at Yenxa. "Can you do it?" Yenxa shook her head with a disappointed look. "I''m sorry, My Lord. I think that it would still take a lot of time." Souta smiled and he ruffled her hair. "Don''t worry. Just move at your own pace." He thought that he could promote Yenxa to third stage but it seems that seventy days of intense training weren''t enough. At the very least, Souta felt that she reached the limit. She would hit her third evolution soon. Yenxa should be able to reach third stage. She just needed some stimulation just like what happened to Yuko back then. Yuko unexpectedly evolve when they were battling in the Blue Lawless City. Life and death battle was really effective. "Seventy days had passed inside Saya''s inner consciousness but only two weeks here. I wonder what they are doing." Souta stretched his hand as he left his room with Yenxa. He found that Isabella was the only one inside their base. "Where are they?" "Umm... They are on a mission. They left four days ago." "Oh," Souta understood. It seems that they couldn''t wait for him so they took some missions for themselves. Nevertheless, four days ago...? Maybe, the difficulty was quite high. He understood as it took him almost two weeks to complete the mission in Halbun Dukedom. Souta sat down on the sofa and looked at the ceiling. He had nothing to do. He just finished training so he wanted to go out after burying himself inside Saya''s inner consciousness for a long time. He turned his head to the side, looking at the banner with Athen''s Champion symbol encrypted on it. Second Class Yellow Squadron. It''s still the same. The rank of their circle haven''t changed but he guessed that they were close to their promotion. First Class Yellow Squadron and next is Third Class Blue Squadron. Two promotions and he would be able to take one visit to any sub-world under Athena''s control. "I''ll make it faster." Souta narrowed his eyes. He recalled that Athena said that she will arrange a territory for himself outside the Champion''s Den. It''s a good choice considering Alice''s identity as a demon. It would be bad if other gods discovered Alice. It would be fine if only Hermes, Artemis, Hestia, or Persephone but as for the others... Souta didn''t trust them. He stood up and took out the transmission talisman that he hid in the drawer. "What is it, Souta?" Torkez''s voice echoed. Souta inquired about the things that happened there. Torkez answered all of his questions without hiding anything. In short, the Astros grew larger as they slowly began to absorb the nearby smaller villages. He told Torkez about the territory that Athena will arrange for him. He said that he wanted some capable people to send here. Torkez answered that he will dispatch Amanda along with some of Eilish''s original subordinates. All of them were peak S-rank and would greatly help him. Also, Torkez told him that Lydia contacted him five days ago. She just asked about their situation here and she also gave him the blueprint of Floating Fortress. After settling everything, Souta put down the transmission talisman. He turned his head and said, "Isabella, can you prepare me a cup of coffee?" "Okay!" Isabella replied. Four hours later... A knock sounded, followed by a voice of a man. "Souta! Grain Leader Carmel is summoning you to his office!" Souta turned his head to look at the door and found that after announcing those words, the man hurriedly left. It seems that something happens... ''Ufufu... What a timing.'' Saya chuckled. ''Yep, since I don''t have anything to do might as well see what happened.'' Souta stood up. "Isabella, Yenxa, take care of the base for me... I have something to do." "Okay." "Yes, My Lord." ... Inside Carmel''s office. Carmel was sitting on a chair with his chin resting on his hands. His eyebrows were knitted together as he glanced at the people in front of him. There were a total of sixteen people and Souta was among them. He was standing in the back row, observing the other people. He found that these people were all Shackled Realm experts. And they were all leaders of a squadron like him. ''Something serious happened since only people at Shackled Realm were called here.'' Saya said. ''Surely.'' Souta narrowed his eyes. Carmel slowly opened his mouth and said, "I called you here because of some important matter." He stretched out his right hand. "Several weeks ago, the leader of Astros Squadron, Souta, captured a person in his mission. That person''s name is Rufus, and he is connected to Red Matter Association." ''So that old man''s name is Rufus... It seems that they are successful.'' Souta said inwardly. The other people in the office didn''t utter any words. They just listen to their Grain Leader. The matter about Red Matter Association was serious and everyone in the Third Set knew about it. "We interrogate Rufus and we extracted information about the Red Matter. We launched a secret mission and some of you received it..." Carmel eyed some of the people in front of him. "We destroyed a total of seven small bases of Red Matter. A week ago, we managed to locate the main headquarters of the Red Matter Association." Souta and the other leaders were surprised. Locate the main headquarters of the Red Matter Association? If it comes to this, then the next thing that will happen was... "Just now, we received information from the people that we dispatched there. It''s been confirmed that place is the main headquarters of the Red Matter." Carmel paused and looked at them one by one. "The Third Set of Pallas Division will have a large-scale operation at this moment. Several Grains will be mobilized and squadrons that have Shackled Realms in their circle are included in this operation." The leaders of squadrons knew that this would be a big battle. "Chief Captain Vandal already summoned some of the available Grain Leaders. Since some of the Grain Leaders aren''t available as they couldn''t leave the city they were stationed in, we decided to request help from Fourth Set. This was already approved by higher-ups so prepare yourself. We''ll have a war." After a series of questions and answers, Souta and the other squadron leaders left Carmel''s office. They were going to prepare for this large-scale operation. ''Finally, something interesting...'' Saya laughed. ''It''s getting worse...'' Souta said as he glanced at the paper files in his hand. He clicked his tongue and entered the base of Astros. He threw the paper files on the table before he slumped on the sofa. He started at the ceiling and sighed. "What''s wrong, Souta? Did something bad happen?" Isabella asked after she heard him sigh. "Nothing..." He said before he closed his eyes. Isabella curiously picked the paper files on the table. She read it and her face slowly turned into shock. In the files, several organizations started moving and confronting various gods'' legions. Red Matter Association wasn''t the only one that was moving. There were more than thirty organizations as big as Red Matter that moved without care. They already burned and ravaged dozens of villages, towns, and cities. It seems that bigger organizations were sponsoring them. Organization like... ''Wingless Crow, Burial Face, Tyrant Grim...'' Souta muttered. Big organizations like the three that he mentioned were almost comparable to a god''s legion. The big bosses of these organizations were all gods. Big organizations like these three were helping smaller organizations like Red Matter. That''s the reason why there''s a lot of movement from smaller organizations and they were slowly chipping the forces of each sacred land this way. It''s the start... Giant terrorist organizations wouldn''t be able to cooperate because each one of them had ambition and strength. The big bosses were all gods. Their strength was almost similar to each other. There''s one reason why they were conspiring. "Gluttony..." Souta muttered under his breath. Chapter 620: Large-scale operation Chapter 620: Large-scale operation "We''re joining the large-scale operation. We have Shackled Realm experts in our squadron so we have to join." Everyone was preparing. The Third Set of Pallas Division was preparing to fight an all-out battle against the Red Matter Association. They knew that some of them would die in this operation but all of them were prepared. They were warriors. They were all fighting between life and death. Souta hung a small bag on his waist. The small bag contained a monster orb of a fifth evolution stage monster and some potions. He fixed his equipment and checked if he forgot something. It''s better to be prepared in a battle like this. Sigh~ He turned around and looked at Isabella and Yenxa. He couldn''t take any of them with him as none of them have reached S-rank. Although some of the squadrons were going to bring A-rank and below members, it was still too risky. He was alone. Alice and the others were still on a mission. Well, it doesn''t matter. If he contributed a lot in this mission then there''s a chance that his squadron would have an advancement. "Is this fine, Souta? You''re going alone..." Isabella asked with a concerned look. "Yeah, it''s better this way. If you want to come with me then I suggest that you don''t. You can just take another quest to increase the speed of our promotion." Souta said while shaking his head. "I understand..." Isabella nodded as she placed her hands on her chest. "I''ll just wait for others here." "Good." Souta turned to Yenxa. "Guard our base. I''ll leave this to you." "Yes, My Lord." Yenxa nodded. Souta opened the door and left the base. He went straight to Carmel''s office. Since he was alone, he didn''t need a lot of time to prepare. Just bringing himself and some potions was enough. He knocked on the door. Knock! Knock! "Come in." Souta entered the office and saw Carmel sitting on a chair wearing high-grade leather armor. He had a bow on his back and a pair of daggers on his waist. Carmel was an ocean elf. He had blueish skin, dark blue hair, and a pair of blue eyes. He was fully equipped. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Souta. "You alone?" "Yeah, my comrades are on a mission right now. I don''t think they will be able to arrive on time." Souta replied. "I see. I will arrange you to some team later." Carmel said. "Do you need something else?" "I just want to know if I can meet the person that I''ve captured," Souta said. "What are you going to do with that person?" Carmel asked. "Nothing, I just want to see his condition." Souta smiled. "Hmm... I can give you my permission." Carmel said while rubbing his chin. "Thanks..." Souta bowed. ... Souta went to the underground prison of Athen''s Champion. The warriors that were guarding this prison were all Shackled Realm. After all, a lot of important people were imprisoned here. They were all sources of information like the old man that he captured. Some of the prisoners haven''t been interrogated. He showed his permission to the guards and one of them escorted him. In just a minute, they arrived in front of Rufus'' jail. Rufus was the name of the old man that he captured in the Dukedom of Halbun. "He''s here. You can talk to him for five minutes." The guard said before he left. "I understand," Souta said before he turned his attention on the old man inside the jail. The old man''s appearance had changed. His body was full of wounds, his white hair was shriveled. His skin lost its luster and he was just a pack of bones. It looks like he didn''t have any flesh in his body. Both of his arms and legs were tied in chains. His nails were gone and some of them were scattered on the ground along with his teeth. One of his ears was chopped and blood was still pouring out of it. It was still fresh. ''Torture...'' Souta had a cold look on his face. He could imagine the gruesome torture that this old man suffered at the hands of Athen''s Champion. With his eyes, he could see that this old man didn''t even have energy left in his body. Not a single curse energy. It was the side effect of forcefully advancing the rank without adequate method. Rufus slowly lifted up his head. He widened his eyes when he saw the creature standing before him. "You... Hahaha, you''re here to laugh at me? I failed and I deserved this! If I didn''t fail then all of you will be in the same position as me!" He laughed madly. Souta grinned, "Looking at you, I thought that you already lost your spirit but it seems that I was wrong." "Hehe, this is nothing. The moment I started my plan decades ago, I''m prepared for all kinds of outcomes. I just didn''t expect that I would be defeated by you." Rufus pursed his lips. "A monster... Oh, It looks like you''ve evolved. Your appearance is the same but there are differences from before." "I''m just a cheat. I guess that if you lay down like how you always did in the past then I wouldn''t discover you. It''s just sad that you underestimated me, thinking that you''ve already seen everything." "What can I do? Both sides are pushing me to the stage... If I kept hiding, the one behind me will not stay on the sideline. So I gambled everything." Rufus said with a wide smile on his wrinkled face. "Red Matter... I guess you already know what we are planning." Souta turned serious. "Wahahaha! I want you to destroy each other! I told the warriors some information about the Red Matter but it seems that the results are fruitful! Is it a war?! Are you going to a war?!" "Yep, we need to destroy them. I''m sorry to say but the one who''s going to fall is Red Matter. I came here to see your condition so I gotta go now." Souta gives Rufus one more glance before he turned around. Rufus'' voice echoed behind him as he walked away. "No good. Be careful on your way. Red Matter isn''t alone. They aren''t alone. If you''ve underestimated them then it will be your downfall." ... "They''re not alone," Souta muttered while rubbing his chin. So it means that Red Matter Association was cooperating with other organizations. It would be great if it''s only Red Matter but he thinks that''s nigh impossible. Red Matter wouldn''t be unbridled if they were alone. So he already expected this outcome. "I''ll just need to be cautious." Souta shrugged his shoulder. He placed both of his hands in his pocket and continued walking. In the stadium, a lot of warriors assembled. All of them had an imposing aura and their fighting spirit were burning. "I''m leader of the Blue Cross Squad, Leilus." A man with a wolf ears and a wolf tail stretched out his hand. He had thick brown hair and a pair of greenish eyes. "I''m Souta, leader of the Astros Squad." Souta smiled as he shook Leilus'' hand. He looked at Leilus'' comrades and added, "Unfortunately, my comrades are on a mission so I''m alone. I''ll be in your care for now." "It''s nothing. We''re glad to have you in our group." Leilus smiled. Carmel arranged for Souta to join this group. This group had a total of five members joining the operation. The other groups had seven to ten members so Carmel chose this group for Souta. "Hi, I''m Drami." A young petite girl with bunny ears waved her hand. "I''m Sakme, the vanguard of our squad." A tall woman wearing full plate armor said. She had long maroon hair and there were red scales on her cheeks and arms. "Marcus, ranger." He was a man wearing leather armor and a black cloth that covered most of his body. He had a bow and a short sword. He even had a few throwing weapons on the small bag on his waist. "Paolo, the mage of the Blue Cross." Paolo was a high elf with long smooth blonde hair. He had a pair of golden eyes and smooth fair skin. He was wearing green clothes that looks like a robe. "I''ll listen to your arrangement. Just ask anything and if I think I can do it I will try it." Souta said as he observed them. One Two Shackles, two One shackles, and the other two were peak S-rank. A pretty good party composition. He could see that the other two were already on the verge of reaching Shackled Realm. He saw that one of their shackles have cracks. It''s only a matter of time before they broke through. If given some time, they would reach Shackled Realm. "Attention! Warriors of Athena!!" A loud voice echoed in the whole area. There was pressure on the voice that stopped everyone from talking. Souta and the others turned their heads and saw the Chief Captain of the Third Set Pallas Division. Chapter 621: Departure Chapter 621: Departure Vandal simply encouraged them. About the plan? The Grain Leaders will tell them about it on their way. They will not engage in battle immediately. They will thoroughly examine the place around the headquarters of the Red Matter. It''s better to be safe as it will avoid unnecessary casualties. They didn''t want that. They didn''t want the warriors to die in vain. Six Grains will participate in this mission. The top forces will be the first three Grains which consisted of Shackled Realm experts. Only people at Shackled Realm can join the First, Second, and Third Grain. They will be the main force of the Third Set. The people from the Second Set will be the support. Carmel gathered the warriors of Tenth Grain. "Tenth Grain, we''ll not join the main force. We''ve already confirmed that the Headquarters of the Red Matter Association is in Mirror Lake. Our task is to survey the kingdom around it with other Grains. Of course, the warriors from Second Set will help us too." Mirror Lake. It was a place far away from Champion''s Den. Normally, it would take them two and a half weeks to go there if they were going to walk. Even if they flew it would at least take them several days. Also, the only person who can go there within a day was Vandal. That''s why Vandal requested help from the higher-ups. The Mirror Lake was close to the territory of one of the gods of Olympus. The higher-ups of Athen''s Champion contacted that certain legion. The other side agreed on helping them. So they set up a portal to receive them on the other side. Setting up a portal consumed a huge amount of resources and the Athen''s Champion paid for it. It was different from the teleportation that Eilish set up. Eilish only set up teleportation for non-living things. Yet, this one could transport living beings. The other side was going to receive and even give them a helping hand in fighting the Red Matter Association. So the chances of winning this battle were high. Red Matter must have received help from other organizations so the warriors of Athena receiving help was better than nothing. They accepted it with open arms. "I''ll explain the rest after we''ve arrived there." Carmel said before he turned around. Souta and the other squadron leaders nodded. This operation must succeed. They already failed before so it shouldn''t happen once again. Souta watched the process of setting up a portal. More than ten mages were working together in completing this. There were even craftsmen around to help build the foundation of portal which was made of mana essence and mana stone. After building the foundation on both sides, enchanters stepped forward and started to encrypt runes on the two foundations. It took five minutes to set up runes that will strengthen the foundations. Then, mages started to do their jobs. A vortex of energy formed in the center. It swirled around before it slowly expanded and connected to the pillar on each side. "It''s stabilizing! Connect it to the other side!" They began to connect this passage to the other side. "It''s complete." The portal was completed before their eyes in just a few minutes. Several high-level mages, craftsmen, and enchanters worked together so things like this weren''t a problem. Vandal stood before the portal and said a few words before he entered. The First Grain followed him and then the Second Grain. There were people that will be left here to guard the portal. And the people that stayed here were banned from taking a mission, they will be on standby waiting for further orders. Also, the people who will return after completing missions will be put on standby. All of them were reserves. In case an emergency occurred, they will be dispatched to the other side. "It''s our turn." Carmel said as he walked forward. Souta and the other leaders of Squadron followed their Grain Leader. They entered the portal. Ohm! Souta stepped out of the portal. He squinted his eyes as the sun was shining brightly in the sky. He looked down and found that they were on a plateau. "We''re here." Souta turned his head and saw the Blue Cross Squad beside him. Just like him, they were observing the surrounding area. They found Vandal talking to some unknown people. Those people must be from the god''s legion of this area. Hmm... They were called Sky Earth? Right, that''s right. They were number twenty-two in the legion''s ranking. After Vandal talked to the people from Sky Earth, he called the Grain Leaders for a meeting. He explained the plan. This place was at the edge of a god''s territory. It was called Sky God Avenue just like how Athena had the Land of Eternal Spring and Hairin for Dionysus. The Mirror Lake was close to this place. It will take them at least three days if they traveled on foot. It was their plan from the beginning to travel on foot. There''s a chance that they will get discovered if they flew at high speed. They will not only alert the nearby kingdoms but also alert their target, the Red Matter Association. So for now, they will travel on foot and avoid any problems before they proceed with their plan. With that, the group traveled on foot. They avoided the territories of monsters in the surrounding. Even if they could defeat those monsters, they avoided them. It would do them no good if they could problem in this area. "We''ll enter the Fone Kingdom..." Carmel said. Souta didn''t have any recollection of this kingdom. "Originally, the Seventh Grain will be the one to take it but a member of Blue Cross said that place is her home," Carmel said as he glanced in the direction of Blue Cross. Souta glanced at them before he turned to Leilus. Leilus smiled as he shrugged his shoulder. Then, he pointed at the tall woman behind him. "Not me, it''s her." Souta nodded as he observed the woman named Sakme. He wondered why she didn''t join the Sky Earth as it was close to her hometown. Instead, she chose to join Athen''s Champion which was far away from Fone Kingdom. Carmel continued, "She belongs to one of the noble families there. With her help, we will be able to enter the Fone Kingdom easily. Remember to hide our emblem and the moment they asked us, we''re just a normal mercenary group." Only Blue Cross, Souta, and Carmel will enter the kingdom as mercenaries. The other squadrons of Tenth Grain will sneak inside the kingdom. They were capable warriors so sneaking inside a small kingdom like this was easy. "Fone Kingdom... Our reason for going there is to find out if the Red Matter Association already grasps the surrounding kingdoms and dukedoms around the Mirror Lake." Several hours later, the group decided to set up a camp. Although they could still continue, it''s still better to rest and relax their mind before the battle. If they were mentally tired before the battle then it would cause unnecessary casualties on their side. Souta and Blue Cross were sitting around a bonfire. Leilus, the leader, was roasting meat from the low-level monster that they hunted. Souta glanced at Sakme. He asked, "What''s the noble title of your family?" "Count," Sakme answered without looking at him. "Hmm... It''s pretty high." Souta nodded and asked another question. "Did they know that you''re a warrior from Athen''s Champion?" Drami, a young petite girl, was the one that answered his question. "No, Sakme told us that she run away from her family several years ago. She became a mercenary in Sky God Avenue before she wandered around further." "I see..." Souta nodded. Just from those words, he had a vague idea of how these people met each other. "What about you? You''re a monster, right? Why didn''t you join the legions of those monster lords?" Drami asked in a small voice. She looked at him curiously. Souta raised his eyebrows as he glanced at her. He looked down and saw that she was holding the hand of the man beside her. It seems that this girl called Drami and Marcus was a couple. "Well, I don''t know... I just felt that comfortable outside the wilderness. I wanted to explore the world. I forgot to tell you, I grow up with humans." Souta slowly told them a story. The others simply listened to him. They were curious as Souta was different from them. He wasn''t a human nor a demi, he was a monster. "So that''s why you''re not afraid of humans and demis..." Drami muttered. "I want to ask if some hunter attacked you in the middle of a city?" Paolo, the mage, suddenly asked. "Oh..." Souta rubbed his chin. He then shook his head. "I don''t think so. Most of the people that attack me were my enemies. They didn''t attack me because I''m a monster. No, in fact, they didn''t even know that I''m a monster." The Blue Cross continued to ask questions about Souta. They were curious about the story of a monster. It was pretty interesting for them. Chapter 622: Fone Kingdom Chapter 622: Fone Kingdom A day had passed... The Tenth Grain separated from the main force. The other Grains too turned in the other direction. The Mirror Lake was surrounded by two kingdoms and three dukedoms. The other Grains were tasked to enter these kingdoms and dukedoms while the main force will head towards the Mirror Lake. Time had passed quickly... The Tenth Grain arrived in front of the gate of Fone Kingdom. ''It''s pretty huge...'' Souta said inwardly as he entered the gate with others. The kingdom was huge but its military might was lacking. It couldn''t even be compared to some small countries on Giza Continent. The classification of powers in the Giza Continent was only divided into three ranks. The small country, large country, and great country. Small countries didn''t have any gods. They weren''t included in the map as they could always fall at any time. The large country was different. Each one of them was housing two to three gods and sometimes they even had six to nine gods. Usually, the public only knew one god as the other gods were hiding as tactical weapons. As for a great country. They had more than twenty gods and some of them were hiding. Even without gods, the military might of a great country couldn''t be compared to a large country. For a country like Fone Kingdom, it should be as strong as a top faction in Eilish''s world. Probably had a few Shackled Realm experts. ''Well, let''s be careful.'' Souta said to himself. He wouldn''t let down his guard just because of the outward appearance of this kingdom. "Oho~ so this is where you came from, Sakme!" Drami surveyed the surrounding with a bright smile on her face. "It''s nothing great." Sakme shook her head. "The guards couldn''t even recognize you." Leilus smiled wryly. "Hehe, it''s because Sakme has been away for many years," Drami said as she raised her hand to Sakme''s height level. While the Blue Cross was talking to each other, Souta approached Carmel. "Gra- Carmel, when will the other come here?" Souta wanted to say Grain Leader but he immediately stopped himself. He recalled that once they''ve entered this kingdom, they will call him by his name. "At night, let''s not talk here. We''ll continue this after we find the place." Carmel said. "I understand." Souta nodded. He understood Carmel''s worry. Right now, he haven''t even seen a person at S-rank in the street so it''s probably safe. There''s nothing these people could hide against his [Galaxy Eyes]. He could even see through Alice''s disguise artifact which could hide her identity from anyone below gods. It''s a different question if they were holding a universal grade weapon but he thought that''s almost impossible. Well, almost impossible means there''s still a chance so he better not risk it. "How about you, Souta?" Paolo asked. Souta turned his head and looked at him with a confused expression. His mind was wandering so he didn''t hear what they were saying. "We''re asking if you want to tour with us," Drami said. "Okay, I have no problem with that." Souta nodded. "We could also use this chance to familiarize ourselves in this place. We have Sakme here, our guide." Leilus said. "You''re right." Souta couldn''t help but nod at Leilus'' words. He had a point. They didn''t know this place so it''s better to understand this place a little bit. "You guys can do that. I''m going to find a pub here to gather information. Since that girl there is a noble, I can just ask around." Carmel said as he waved his hand before he walk away. "Germana Household, sir," Sakme said. "Noted," Carmel said. The rest just stared at Carmel''s back until he disappeared. "Aw, our leader disappeared like that," Drami said. "Don''t mind our leader. I''m sure he had a plan in his mind." Leilus said to Drami. "Okay, let''s go, Marcus!" Drami hopped and she hook her arm around Marcus'' arm. "You''re too lively, Drami," Marcus said with a sigh. "Ehe~" Drami laughed. "You didn''t even know the way here. Where are we going without Sakme?" Marcus flicked Drami''s forehead. "Aw! You''re so mean, Marcus." Drami looked at him with teary eyes while covering her forehead with her hands. "Don''t mind those two, they are always like this," Paolo said to Souta. "Okay," Souta glanced at him before he nodded. Leilus walked beside them and asked, "Can you drink, Souta?" "With our power level, I don''t think that will happen," Souta replied. "We can simply adjust our body. Don''t tell me you don''t know how to adjust your resistance...?" Leilus put an arm around his neck. "I know that but we''re on a mission here," Souta said. "You''re right but this will make us less suspicious, right? Also, we can simply adjust our bodies once again." Leilus explained to him. "Fine..." Souta sighed. "We''re going to drink tonight!" Leilus said in a loud voice as he raised his other hand above his head. "Yeah!!" "Too bad, Kayle, Bruts, and Merci aren''t here!" ''These guys...'' Souta smiled as he followed them. The group toured around the Fone Kingdom. They did a lot of things and visited various tourist spots. Souta gained a little bit of understanding about the Blue Cross Circle. They were not bad. It was already night when the group arrived at Germana Household. A count household that holds a certain authority in this kingdom. Sakme was still young when she left years ago and she didn''t even contact her family so she had no idea if there were changes in her family. She thought that her family wouldn''t care about her but the moment they arrived here they welcomed her. It seems that people from Germana Household heard her return from the guards. A count family had ears and eyes around the kingdom so it was natural that they''d heard Sakme''s return since she didn''t even try to hide it. "Welcome home, young miss!!" The subordinates of the family said in a loud voice. With Sakme at the front, the group walked forward with rows of people on both sides. "Huhu~ young miss? How old are you, Sakme?" Drami teased while looking at the people around them. Sakme ignored her as she kept walking forward. ''Hmm...'' Souta scanned the mansion with his eyes. All the people that he detected using [Crimson Perception] were scanned by [Galaxy Eyes]. No one was left behind. ''The power of Germana Family isn''t bad. They have thirty-one S-ranks and eight of them reached the peak stage. Unfortunately, they didn''t have Shackled Realm expert.'' The group entered the house. The maids arranged a room for Souta and the rest while Sakme went to greet her parents. "Ahh~ Sakme is taking too long..." Drami said as she slumped down on the sofa. "What can we do? Sakme is away for several years. Also, she ran away so she wanted to settle things here." Leilus said. "We only have today. Tomorrow, we''ll start investigating this kingdom if they had people from Red Matter." Marcus said as he glanced at Leilus. "Yep, that''s why we should enjoy ourselves tonight!" Drami raised both of her hands. "Before we do that we have to make sure that this family had nothing to do with Red Matter," Leilus said in a low voice. Everyone narrowed their eyes at his words. This was true. If there were enemies in this place then they wouldn''t be able to sleep. "W-What should we do if we find that Germana Family is cooperating with Red Matter?" Drami asked even if she knew the answer. She glanced at the expression of her comrades. "Extermination," Paolo said in a grave tone. "B-But they are..." Drami wanted to say something but Marcus held her hand. "It''s fine. It''s just a guess." Marcus said to her in a light tone. "If they are really cooperating with Red Matter, then we would have no choice but to kill them. Our Grain Leader is here and he wouldn''t hesitate to do it. Don''t forget how many cities, towns, and villages were burned down in the past few weeks." Souta said to them. Leilus looked at them and said, "Grain Leader is still out there so we should finish this as soon as possible. Who wants to go out there and investigate the family?" "I''ll do it. I''m suitable for this job." Marcus stood up. "I''ll stay here. I won''t bother you guys." Souta said before he stood up. He went to the other room and set up a barrier. He scanned all the people here and there''s no Shackled Realm expert. No one could threaten him and Marcus would be fine since he himself was a One Shackle Realm. "This should be enough." Souta muttered as he looked at the barrier around the room. Then, he took out the monster orb from the small bag hanging on his waist. He sat down and held the monster orb tightly. He closed his eyes and focus his attention on the energy inside the monster orb. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Third Form: Serenity of the Vajra]! He used the third form and the speed of his training had increased. Best feram gushed out of the monster orb and entered his body. Chapter 623: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Start Chapter 623: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Start A few hours later, Souta opened his eyes. He exhaled and smoke made of dense feram came out. His eyes gleamed as he felt that he grew stronger once again. He looked down at the monster orb in his palm. ''The [Third Form: Serenity of the Vajra] is much more effective than before. The speed at which I absorb the energy is several times faster.'' Souta narrowed his eyes as he placed the monster orb inside his bag. ''Ufufu, Don''t compare an Archetype to those manuals. Even the lowest Archetype is several times better than those techniques.'' Saya said to him. It''s better than the manuals in Athen''s Champion. Even though he only had 37% mastery, this technique become one of his foundations. He originally thought that he would be able to level it up after his evolution just like his other skills but it seems that he was wrong. Evolution only increased his mastery of this technique. Even the other forms of Vajra Extremity had been strengthened. Ordinary Shackled Realm would be no match for him. Souta shook his head and glanced at the door. For now, his mission was his priority. "I should get going now. I sensed Grain Leader''s presence." He approached the door and grabbed the doorknob. Before he opened it, he glanced at the system one more time with a grave look. The quest that he received was familiar to him. It was related to the version "Gluttony of the Gods". It was the second turning point of the chaos in God''s Continent. The first turning point was the time when the demon army launched an invasion on the edge of the continent. The invasion halted because of Gluttony''s appearance. Gluttony will cause chaos here as he will manipulate several organizations to attack the hundreds of kingdoms, villages, and cities. Soon it will be a battlefield of gods. Gluttony will take the lead and attack the holy lands. The other holy lands that were not affected will stay on the sideline to preserve their strength. Gluttony will be the first one to launch an attack against the major forces among the Commandments, Sins, and Zodiacs. The others will stay on the sideline and watch the war to gauge the strength of the major forces of the continent. Even though Gluttony was a member of the Deadly Sins, the other Deadly Sins will not help him. They just bonded together so that the major faction couldn''t eliminate them easily. Each one of them wanted the Original Sin for their own selfish purpose. So if Gluttony succeeded, he would use the Original Sin for himself. There''s a chance that the other Deadly Sins would attack him to take the Original Sins. All of them were people that didn''t hesitate to murder millions of innocent people for their own purpose. ''Well, what can I even do with my current power level. It''s still too far for me to face someone at his level.'' Souta shrugged his shoulder. It was already great that he reach his current level at the current timeline. It was thanks to the chain quest that he triggered. Back in the game, when Gluttony launched an attack, he only triggered one chain quest ever since he started playing it. Right now, Gluttony was just preparing yet he already triggered several chain quests. Souta smiled as he went to the other room. He found that Marcus was already back and Carmel was discussing some things with Leilus. "How is it?" He closed the door behind him and asked Marcus. "Nothing suspicious." Marcus shrugged his shoulders and opened his arms. "I checked every place and person but I found nothing. I think this family didn''t have a connection with Red Matter." Carmel glanced at Souta and said, "I also think that. I wandered around the kingdom and discover a lot of things." Souta raised his eyebrows. He secretly glanced at Sakme before he nodded at Carmel. "Germana Family is losing its power in the kingdom. Its influence isn''t as large as before. Several noble families had risen and there''s one particular family." Carmel said before he looked at Sakme. Sakme noticed his look and continued, "Dreyfus Family. One of the Marquis Household in the Fone Kingdom." "The Heir of the Dreyfus Family is the person supposed to be Lady Sekmet''s fiance." Drami laughed lightly. Sakme glared at her and Drami quickly covered her mouth. "Lady Sekmet...?" Souta glanced at her with a questioning look. "Sekmet Germana. That''s my real name. Sakme Flacy is just a name to hide my real identity." Sakme explained. "Anyway, that''s not important. The Dreyfus family isn''t that powerful. They only had fifteen Solidifying Realm before I left. But now they even had three Shackled Realms in their family." "She''s right. They could even match the Royal Family which had three Shackled Realm experts. They even had more than fifty Solidifying Realm." Carmel said as he narrowed his eyes. "Their growth is unreal so we need to investigate it. Luckily, Sakme had a way." "Oh, what is it?" Souta asked. "We''re going to celebrate my return tomorrow. We''ve already sent invitations to large families in the kingdom. I know the punk from Dreyfus Family will accept it and bring the Shackled Realm experts with him to show off the power of their family." Sekmet said as a glint flashed in her eyes. "Some people will stay here while the others will go to the households of the other families to investigate." "The other squadrons will do it along with me. Since all of you are here, it will be suspicious if some of you disappeared." Carmel said as he looked at them one by one. "Do you know your task, right?" "Yes, Sir!" Everyone said at the same time. "Good. I''ll leave everything here to you and you can leave the other families to me and the other squadrons." Carmel said. After that, Carmel left the mansion without anyone noticing. No one knew that he came here except for them. He''s a very capable person. A Four Shackles Realm expert wouldn''t be discovered by people at Solidifying Realm. Souta glanced at the system interface. Another quest pop-up in his vision. The quest this time was a side quest and it confirmed that the Red Matter Association was involved in the Fone Kingdom. But he wondered if the Red Matter have discovered them. Yep, that should probably the case. If that''s the case, then Red Matter could send people to destroy the portal that they created to prevent reinforcement? It shouldn''t be, since the plateau was guarded by powerful experts from Sky Earth. The portal was just built in a hurry so it was easy to crush it even with those protective runes. Just an aura from a powerful expert would be enough to disrupt it. He didn''t know how many experts guarding the portal but from what he could see there were more than twenty Shackled Realm and those people could become our reinforcement. Aside from Shackled Realm experts, there were seventy-plus Solidifying Realm. "Ah, there''s no doubt that Dreyfus Family is in cahoots with Red Matter Association," Drami said with a sigh. "We''ll know it tomorrow," Leilus said to her. "But according to Sakme, their family isn''t that powerful several years ago. They stayed like that for several decades and it''s impossible for them to prosper without help." Drami said. "You can''t be like that. They may have a fruitful encounter and gain a bunch of mana fruits and manuals." Marcus said to her. Souta listened to their conversation. Speaking of manuals, he hasn''t given some manuals to his subordinates in Astros. He checked the manuals of Witch Clan and it''s only up to Shackle Realm. He should prepare other manuals so they had choices. It''s impossible for all the people in Astros to be compatible with a single manual. There were already various skill books and spells there. But they lacked manuals. Manuals to help them liquefy their mana easily. Manuals to help them solidify their mana easily. And manuals that could help them break their shackles. There were even manuals for specific elemental affinity. ''After this mission, I''ll arrange everything so that we could produce more experts.'' Souta said inwardly. ''Ufufu, it seems that you''ve forgotten me.'' Saya laughed. ''Oh, right! Then, can you really pass your techniques to me?'' ''Don''t worry, I''ll help you.'' ''Thanks.'' Souta said in his mind when an arm hooked his neck. He turned his eyes and saw that it was Leilus. "What are you thinking? Let''s celebrate tonight. I don''t think that we would be able to enjoy the party tomorrow since we have a mission." Leilus said. "Yeah, let''s drink tonight!" Drami raised a glass of beer. "Ohhhhh!!!" "Fine..." Souta smiled. ... Several hours later, Souta came out of the room. The others were already sleeping. Before they sleep they adjust their bodies back to normal. Hmm...? Souta narrowed his eyes. He felt three people watching the room. He didn''t bother them as he entered the other room. He couldn''t feel hostility from them and they were weaklings. Three initial stage of S-ranks wouldn''t be able to harm Blue Cross Squadron. Even before his evolution, he could easily deal with an initial stage of S-rank much less now that he practically could overpower a One Shackle Realm with his combat prowess. ''Forget them. I''ll just continue my training.'' Souta sat down and held a monster orb. He should focus his attention on his training. He only opened his eyes when morning comes. He raised his head and expanded his perception. Birds chirping, servants'' voices, and sounds of plates came into his perception. It''s started. Souta stood up while stretching his arms. He glanced at the system and a grin formed on his face. [Side Quest Triggered!] [Terror in Fone Kingdom]: Exterminate the members of Red Matter Association in Fone Kingdom. Rewards: 10 skill points, 20 free attribute points, and 100,000 experience points [Quest Triggered!] [Darkness in kingdoms]: Participate in the war and help the Athen''s Champion in defeating one of the terrorist organizations that brought chaos. Rewards: ??? Chapter 624: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Party Chapter 624: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Party Looking at the quest in his vision, Souta was sure that the members of the Red Matter Association had infiltrated this small kingdom. It was natural. Everyone from the Third Set had guessed it. They just lack evidence to prove their thoughts. Souta raised his head and looked at the window. Beyond this small kingdom lies the Mirror Lake. According to the information of the scout, the headquarters of the Red Matter Association was beneath the Mirror Lake. It was impossible for that kind of organization to keep its hands out of the surrounding kingdoms. Since they knew that the surrounding kingdoms were weak, they would slowly control it from the inside. That''s what he would do too if he was the leader of the Red Matter Association. Souta locked his fingers and stretched his arms. "I should relax for a while. My body is quite stiff." He went to the other room and found that Sekmet was gone. She must be helping her family prepare for the celebration. Her return wasn''t the only thing that her parents were happy about. Her parents must be happy since their daughter had returned powerful. Peak S-rank. That''s Sekmet''s current power level. Peak S-rank was already an elite expert. It was important, especially for a small country like the Fone Kingdom. She was also young. She was a lady in her late twenties and had a chance to enter Shackled Realm. There''s no doubt about it considering the manuals and resources that she got from Athen''s Champion, Sekmet would reach Shackled Realm. This was the reason why Germana wanted to celebrate this occasion. They wanted to brag about Sekmet''s future. Souta strolled around the mansion, looking at the servants that were arranging the party. Sekmet''s parents wanted to celebrate this party two days from now so that they could prepare a grand occasion but Sekmet forced them to celebrate it today. The reason was simple. She wanted to celebrate the party today and invite the other nobles so that the other squadrons could investigate. News about her return already traveled to the ears of the nobles. They would surely accept the invitation to see Sekmet and understood her stance. But all these political talks were nothing to her. She was here with a mission to eliminate Red Matter Association and the political situation of Fone Kingdom was nothing compared to it. If people from this place knew that she was a warrior from Athen''s Champion, then they would open their mouths in shock. Her status would rise. After a few minutes of strolling, Souta found Sekmet. "Sakme..." Sekmet turned around. She was wearing a red dress with white trimmings. Her long red hair was tied in a bun on the back of her head. The red scales on the lower part of her cheeks were glistening. "Beautiful. You''re better than I expected." Souta nodded while rubbing his chin. "..." Sekmet stared at him with a blank expression. "Cough, cough, it''s nothing." Souta turned his head to the side. "I want to know what time..." "The party?" "Yep, so that I could change my clothes. The others are currently changing their clothes." "An hour from now. The guests would arrive soon so I think that you should change too." Sekmet said to him. "Okay, then I''ll go now." Souta turned around as he waved his hand. Since they were Sekmet''s comrades, it was natural that they were invited. It was a formal party, so they will wear formal clothes befitting of a noble party. When he returned to the room, Leilus and the rest had finished changing to their formal clothes arranged by Germana''s servants. "It''s crude..." Marcus commented while fixing his collar. "It couldn''t even compare to my leather armor." "What can we do... It''s low quality." Leilus smiled wryly. Souta ignored them and went to the drawer. He saw the clothes prepared for him inside it. He took it out and quickly changed his clothes. ... "Hmm..." Souta hummed while looking at his reflection in the mirror. It''s been a while since he wore formal clothes. He tied his red hair in a ponytail before he looked at his reflection once again. "It''s perfect." The only problem was the quality of the clothes. It''s not even a blue grade or yellow grade. This was expected since they weren''t in Champion''s Den where the most ordinary clothes were either yellow or blue. "Souta, are you finished? We''re going out now." Leilus asked him. "Yeah, Drami is waiting for me," Marcus added. "It''s fine you can go now." Souta waved his hand. "If you say so..." Leilus glanced at his back before he left with Marcus and Paolo. Souta glanced at the door after they left. He then went to the corner and arranged his equipment neatly. ''Are you sure you''re going to leave your equipment here?'' Saya''s voice sounded. "Yep," Souta turned his eyes to the other corner and saw the Blue Cross Squadron''s equipment. "They even left their equipment here so I''m going to do the same." ''Their equipment is nothing compared to yours.'' Saya said. It''s true since most of his equipment was red grade and he even has dark grade. "I have my preparation." Souta stood up. The vajra sword was on the corner along with some of his equipment. He didn''t leave all of his equipment as some of them have [Compression] skills like his [Flame Unity Robe]. Equipment that had [Compression] skill could turn into tiny marble that he could bring anywhere. Unfortunately, the vajra sword didn''t have that ability. Well, it''s not like he didn''t have any equipment. A gamer was always full of accessories with different abilities. Souta smiled as he glanced at his fingers which were full of rings. He caressed the two eye-catching rings on his fingers. These two were [Silver Desolation Ring] and [Nature Spring Ring]. Both were red grade artifacts. On his wrist, he had [Yin Yang Bracelet] and on his ears, he had [Soul Blood Earring] and [Silver Spring Earring]. Two universal grades, three red grades, and the rest were just orange grades and below. "I''ll start my preparation..." Souta muttered as thin webs shot out from the tip of his fingers. In just five minutes, everything has been cleared. The whole Germana Household was filled with super-thin webs not visible to naked eyes. As of right now, the entire place became his nest. There was web attached to his equipment and with a simple flick of his finger, he could get them. Some of the thin webs were fragile and were for detection only. He controlled the life and death of the people inside this territory. With a wave of his hand, sharp webs would take the life of the people that he wanted to kill. "The people of Germana Household wouldn''t sense it. As for Blue Cross Squadron..." He wasn''t sure if the Blue Cross Squadron noticed his preparation. It''s good to say that Leilus should''ve noticed it as Leilus was an expert at Two Shackles Realm. A loud voice echoed causing Souta to snap out of his thoughts. He walked to the window and saw that the nobles had arrived. They were announcing their arrivals in a loud voice. "Successor of Earl Madrigal, Richard, is here!!" "Daughter of Baron Natus, Shihana, is here!!" "Third son of Marquis Burton, Chris, is here!!" Souta turned his head away and exited the room. Since the nobles were here, he should go out and observe them closely. ... "Souta!" Souta turned his head and saw that Leilus and the rest were calling him. They were standing in the corner holding a glass of wine in their hands. He smiled and went to their side before looking at the nobles around them. The nobles brought two or three bodyguards with them. Most of them were experts at Solidifying Realm. "How is it?" Souta asked before he took a glass of wine. "Our target hasn''t appeared yet," Leilus replied. By target, he meant the Heir of the Dreyfus Family. "I think it''s better if we shouldn''t focus on one person. It''s true that Dreyfus Family is suspicious but we haven''t confirmed it yet so I think it''s better if we treat all these people as suspects." Souta said in a low voice that only he and Leilus could hear. "You''re right." Leilus nodded at his words. Suddenly, a loud voice echoed. "Successor of Marquis Dreyfus, Alexander, is here!!" Both Leilus and Souta stopped in their tracks as they turned their heads to the entrance. "Speaking of the devil," Leilus muttered. A handsome man with short blonde hair entered the hall. He had a pair of golden eyes and he carried a unique aura around his body. He had a long furry tail swinging on his back. He was Alexander Dreyfus, Sekmet''s fiance. A 25-year-old man had an aura of Peak S-rank. ''This guy!!'' Souta was shocked when he saw Alexander''s appearance. ''Eiii!!! The appearance is slightly different but... isn''t this man, Alexander, the Ancient Myriad Emperor?!'' Chapter 625: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Alexander Chapter 625: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Alexander Souta''s eyes constricted as he stared at the young man in front of him. He was stunned and rooted in his position. His appearance was a little bit different from Souta''s memories. But he was sure that this man was the famous Ancient Myriad Emperor in Ruin Desolate Land. He was young but Souta was confident that this young man was that legend. There''s no mistake. Ancient Myriad Emperor. A widely known NPC in the game. He rose through rank at high speed and defeated any creatures that got in his way. After he ascended, he created a huge commotion in the Ruin Desolate Land by defeating several gods alone. His battle achievements spread throughout the entire world. His special ability was called [Seven Elements Unification]. The only man that possessed seven elemental affinities. Later on, he established a strong organization and was called the Ancient Myriad Emperor. Souta narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin. All of that will happened in just two years. He knew a lot of powerhouses that rose quickly in the game. In fact, he already met some of them. Isabella, the one who will be called "Faceless Woman", Yanagi "Blade Dancer", and Randolf "Dark Emperor". And then this one that appeared before him, the future Ancient Myriad Emperor. He knew them but he didn''t know their origin. How could he remember all the details from the game? It''s already amazing that he could still remember where he got all of his equipment and some of the important events. He couldn''t even remember the thirty-plus gods of Olympus much less remember all the background details of a certain character. So the Fone Kingdom was the hometown of the Ancient Myriad Emperor. Souta observed the two people following Alexander. His eyes adjusted and noticed that the two people broke one of their Shackles. Then, he focused his eyes on Alexander. Hmm? One of the Shackles around Alexander''s body had various cracks on its surface. It was like a fragile glass that would shatter at any second. Furthermore, the mana inside his mana pool was triple as large as ordinary Peak S-rank. It was even comparable to a weak Shackled Realm expert from any sub-world. ''He had a solid foundation. His energy is flowing smoothly inside his body. His energy output must be several times higher than Peak S-rank. He could breakthrough at SS-rank anytime but he''s suppressing it.'' Souta said inwardly quite shocked by what he saw. This was the most solid foundation he had seen ever since he integrated the [Galaxy Eyes]. None of the S-rank warriors in Athen''s Champion could compare to this man. Moreover, Souta observed the seven marbles inside Alexander''s solidified mana pool. The seven marbles had different colors corresponding to the elemental affinity that he had. The elemental affinity already had a seed which means... The second level of [Elemental Drive]. Souta himself only mastered the first level of [Elemental Drive] yet this man already mastered the second level of all seven elements. As expected of someone who will become a top powerhouse in the next two years. Even Souta wasn''t sure if he could achieve it. He wasn''t a genius like others thought. Most of his efforts came from the system. The only thing he could proudly say that he mastered without the system''s help was Saya''s [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]. ''I will try to find an opportunity to talk to him later.'' Souta said inwardly. "He''s different than what I imagined. Completely different from what Sakme described." Leilus whispered. "Oh, yeah." Souta just nodded at Leilus'' words. Alexander was the Ancient Myriad Emperor in the future. Souta tried to assassinate him in the game but got killed several times. So he knew little things about him. This guy wouldn''t work with Red Matter Association. There''s a chance that the future had changed once again. The mission that he had in the Dukedom of Halbun was only for S-rank but the difficulty was high. No S-rank in the Athen''s Champion could defeat a fake Shackled Realm. It means that the mission failed in the game and no one managed to capture Rufus. If no one captured Rufus then the upcoming battle here wouldn''t occur this early. Alexander would have left the Fone Kingdom after achieving Shackled Realm since there''s no more opportunity here. ''I got it.'' Souta walked to the side and looked at the other guest. Leilus glanced at Souta and asked, "Did you discover something?" "Nothing." Souta shook his head. At this moment, Drami, Marcus, and Paolo approached them. "That guy is strong... It''s unusual." Paolo said while glancing at Alexander. "Did you find anything suspicious from other guests?" Leilus asked. "Nothing. The power level of the other guests is low so we could easily observe them but there are few Shackled Realm experts here so we don''t dare to act rashly." Marcus said. He was right. Aside from Alexander, there were guests that brought Shackled Realm experts. Souta looked around and found five One Shackle Realm experts. The other guests were either S-rank or A-rank. A low number of them were B-rank. "We''ll have time. We''ll scatter later and talk to the guests to find more information." Leilus said. At this moment, the party was going to start. Not everyone attended the party. It was understandable as they just issued an invitation yesterday night so not everyone was prepared for him. "We''re going now," Drami said before she left with Marcus. Paolo raised a glass of wine close to his lips and said, "I''ll try to talk with some beautiful ladies later. How about you, Leader?" "I don''t know. I''ll just find someone suspicious and try to extract information." Leilus shrugged his shoulders. The two of them glanced at Souta. Their eyes were asking, "How about you?" "It depends on the situation." Souta smiled. Sekmet''s mother and father appeared. They started to give a speech that lasted for a few minutes before they introduced Sekmet. Sekmet appeared elegantly as she slowly walked down the stairs while holding the hem of her dress. The guests focused their attention on the star of today''s party. The daughter of the Germana Family. The party had officially started. Leilus and Paolo left Souta''s side as they began to approach some of the nobles. "Later." Souta sighed as he turned his eyes and found that a lot of people were trying to talk to Sekmet. ''Should I start?'' Before he could even move, a young man in his early twenties approached him. Hmm? Souta observed the young man. The young man had slicked-back brown hair and sharp brows. He was taller than Souta and his build was normal. ''Liquefying realm... Pretty good.'' He quickly assessed the power level of the young man. The young man smiled kindly and said, "Hello, I''m Jovian Burnhum, second son of Count Burnhum. It''s my first time seeing you here so I guess that you are one of Miss Sekmet''s guests." Souta smiled and introduced himself to Jovian. Souta guided the conversation as they slowly strolled around the hall. It was perfect and they only stopped close to Alexander''s position. "Oh, so that''s how it is... You''ve been with Miss Sekmet''s for a few years and grew stronger beside her." Jovian nodded. "Yep, our mercenary group experience a lot of things and we even went to several big countries. We are actually on our way to Sky God''s Avenue but we decided to visit this place here." Souta paused before he added, "Sekmet will reach Shackled Realm soon so we want to find an opportunity for her along with our comrade Paolo." "Shackled Realm...? That''s already a top-level warrior in our country. People at that level would receive countless recommendations from noble families." Jovian said. "Do you know Sekmet before she left years ago?" Souta asked. "Hmm... I don''t know as I''ve only seen Miss Sekmet from a few banquets." Jovian suddenly remember something as he turned his head. "I recall that Miss Sekmet is Sir Alexander''s fiancee." "Hmm?" Alexander turned his head as he heard someone mention his name. He saw two people looking at him. They were Souta and Jovian. "Oh, Sir Jovian and..." Alexander raised his glass of wine at Jovian before he glanced at Souta. "I''m Souta. Miss Sekmet''s comrades." Souta greeted him politely. "It''s my pleasure to be your acquaintance, Sir Souta." Alexander smiled. "It''s my pleasure too." Souta smiled. The three talked about normal things. Souta didn''t go straight to the point as he was trying to find an opportunity to ask about the current situation. While everyone was talking, a voice sounded. "Third son of King Fone is here!!" Souta and the rest of the Blue Cross Squadron turned their heads. They heard people around them talking to each other about the third son of King Fone. "His Highness is here." "Third Prince is late as usual." "Shh! Be quiet! You know Third Prince''s personality." "Yeah, if he heard you, you would be beaten to death." "I heard that he was confronting the Crown Prince''s forces luckily the Dreyfus Family was backing Crown Prince." Chapter 626: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Re-Birth Chapter 626: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Re-Birth "So this is the house of Germana..." A handsome young man muttered while looking at the huge mansion. He was Alexander Dreyfus, the son of Marquis Dreyfus. He combed his hair with his fingers and looked at the two people that he brought. These two were warriors of his family that he helped broke through the Shackled Realm. Then, he glanced at the two guards of the Germana family on each side of the gate. The two guards were Peak S-rank and they were nothing worth mentioning. Their foundation wasn''t good too and it would at least take them several years of hard work if they wanted to reach Shackled Realm. "Don''t lower your guard no matter what." He said to the two warriors of his family before he walked forward. "Yes, Young Master." The two guards nodded. Soon, the guards of the Germana Family announced his arrival. Alexander had a bad feeling about this. His instinct was telling him that there was danger here. A glint flashed in his eyes and his mana gathered around it. [Mind''s Eyes]! He turned around his head and his expression turned serious. ''What is this...? Don''t tell me there is a Black Sprite Spider here!'' His pair of eyes saw something that other people couldn''t see. On each side, there were countless thin webs and some of these webs were extremely sharp and tough. ''Just what on earth?'' Alexander glanced at the two people behind him. It seems that they haven''t noticed these webs at all. As expected, they wouldn''t notice it without a high-level skill [Mind''s Eyes]. They would only notice it the moment the hidden spider poured energy into these webs. Also, the placement of the webs was carefully thought of. It was placed quite far from the people so no one would notice it. Even ordinary Shackled Realm experts wouldn''t notice it unless they focused their senses. He exhaled and looked at the Germana Household before him. This Germana Family wasn''t an ordinary household. They were staying neutral despite the intense situation between the princes of the Kingdom. Or maybe this was related to the daughter of the Germana Kingdom that returned yesterday. His runaway fiancee. "Young Master, is there something wrong?" The two people behind him asked as he suddenly stopped on his track. "Nothing." Alexander shook his head and continued to walk. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to remember his fiancee. He now realized that he only met his fiancee a few times and his attitude at that time was worse. ''Damn, this is worse... Just why did you do that, Alex...'' He was Alexander Dreyfus but at the same time, he wasn''t. He, Alexander, had memories of powerful experts in his mind. He achieved something and reincarnated into the body of this young man. Previously, he was called Vince and he was a widely known expert. He achieved creating a manual called [Re-Birth Transformation]. Using various high-grade resources that he gathered throughout his journey, he performed the ritual. He thought that something was wrong as the ritual exploded at that time and died miserably. But he didn''t expect to wake up into this body a year ago. At first, Alexander thought that this was a dream. When he was a child, he always have the same dream. He felt that traveled around the world. It started a year ago when all of his memories as Vince returned to him. That started the change. He began to train harder and quickly achieved Peak S-rank. He could reach Shackled Realm but he was suppressing his power as he had to accomplish something before he broke his first Shackle. He was right. The [Re-Birth Transformation] worked but it still needs perfection. Through the power of the manual, he had seven affinities the moment he was born. It was a huge starting point but he haven''t had his memories at that time so the things that he practiced were incompatible with this body. "We''re here." Alexander and the two people he brought arrived. He looked around and noticed that people were looking at him. ''I wonder if Crown Prince will come to this place... I don''t know any people here.'' He said inwardly as he found a place in the corner. He came here because he was curious about his fiancee who returned as Peak S-rank. If he wasn''t wrong, his fiancee was just a mere B-rank at that time. But he didn''t expect to find this place eerie. Something was bothering him and he couldn''t explain it. The celebration had started and Sekmet appeared. ''Hmm... So that''s her.'' Alexander closed his eyes and he didn''t bother himself anymore. Although he looked like he wasn''t paying attention, his senses were observing the movements around him. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes as he heard someone mention his name. He looked over and saw two people. They introduced themselves as Jovian and Souta. Hmm...? This guy. Alexander was interested. He couldn''t see through this guy. It means that this guy was above One Shackle Realm. Oi! There''s no person that could rival that power level in this small country. The strongest here was only a One Shackle Realm. ''This guy is Sekmet''s comrades.'' He looked around and found Sekmet''s comrades. Aside from this guy, there was another person that he couldn''t see through. That person was a wolf demi. Two people above One Shackle Realm. They had a solid lineup and from the looks of it, they were all experienced fighters. ''Interesting... But why do I feel like they are trying to find something... Just like this guy, he''s skillfully guiding the topic of the conversation for his own convenience.'' Alexander glanced at Souta. He was wary but he decided to play along since they haven''t shown hostility. He just didn''t know their goal and maybe they were related to the webs around the mansion. While they were talking, an announcement resounded. It was the arrival of the Third Prince. "Tsk! A troublesome guy had arrived..." Alexander clicked his tongue. "Do you know the Third Prince?" Souta asked. The one that answered Souta''s question was Jovian. "You didn''t know. Sir Alexander is supporting the Crown Prince and the Third Prince wants to become the king so they clashed several times." Jovian explained. "Hmm... Political problem." Souta nodded. "That guy is troublesome. He isn''t strong but the people around him are troublesome. I didn''t even know how he recruits them." Alexander said. "Unknown people?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "Yes, they are following the Third Prince''s order without question. In just a short amount of time, they become one of the largest factions in the Royal Family. They are suppressing the Crown Prince." Jovian explained. "Oh, interesting." Souta grinned as he looked in the other direction. "That guy is here," Alexander muttered as he followed Souta''s line of sight. A young man wearing exquisite clothes entered the hall. He had long blue hair and sharp eyes. He had an arrogant look in his eyes as he looked at the expression of the people around the hall. There were five people following him and three of them were Shackled Realm experts. ''This guy brought three One Shackle Realm experts to this party. The other two are Peak Solidifying Realm experts.'' Alexander said inwardly. He noticed that Souta was observing the Third Prince and the people behind him with a grin on his face. ''This guy... What are you planning?'' He narrowed his eyes and decided to observe first. The people that his fiancee brought weren''t ordinary. "Please excuse me, I have something to do," Souta suddenly said. "Take care," Alexander nodded and raised the glass in his hand. "If you need something you can talk to me, Sir Souta," Jovian said with a smile. ... Souta approached Leilus. "Did you find anything?" Leilus asked in a low voice. He naturally saw Souta talking to Alexander so he wanted to know if he gathered some information. "Nothing. Alexander is suspicious but I think that Third Prince is the one that we need to investigate." Souta said while looking at the Third Prince. "Third Prince? That guy?" "Yeah, according to Alexander, the Third Prince gathered people of unknown origin. I personally think that unknown people are from Red Matter Association." Souta''s tone was solemn. "I think you have a point. Three of them are One Shackle Realm and from what Grain Leader said yesterday, the Royal Family only had three Shackled Realm experts and these three didn''t belong to them." Leilus said. "Oi, he''s already causing trouble," Souta said with a huge grin. Not far away from them, the Third Prince approached Alexander with an arrogant look. "Alexander, Alexander, I don''t know what you see in my brother but I think that you should choose properly who you want to support. I don''t think my weak brother can properly rule this kingdom once he became the king." "It''s much better than letting this kingdom fall in your hands. Who knows what will you do if you became a king." "Me? Of course, I''ll make our kingdom strong. Our Fone Kingdom will rise under my hands. Are you not ashamed that other people didn''t even know the name Fone Kingdom?!" Third Prince said strongly. Chapter 627: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Confirmation Chapter 627: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Confirmation Souta stared intently at Third Prince''s group. His eyes were adjusting every second, letting him see everything. After a few moments, he sighed and patted Leilus'' shoulders. "Is there something?" Leilus asked. "I''m sure of it. That guy is our target. His whole group is our target so ask Drami, Marcus, and Paolo to prepare." Souta said while looking at the commotion. He stretched out his hand at Leilus. "Here," Leilus looked at his hand and saw strings of webs. "What''s this?" "Your weapons and armors are connected to the end of it. So simply pull it and all the equipment of your squadron will arrive at your location." Souta explained. "Call them immediately, I''ll confront them and you will provide me support." "Wait? What?" Leilus was confused about how Souta became sure that the Third Prince was their target. Although Third Prince had unknown backing, they still didn''t have any evidence if it was related to Red Matter Association. "Just trust me," Souta said as he walked forward. Leilus stared at his back for a while before he turned around to find his comrades. ... "There''s no future if our kingdom is gonna fall in your hand." Alexander stepped forward and said straight to the Third Prince''s face. "Eh~ so that''s how it is. My weak brother must have brainwashed you to become his watchdog. I don''t know what you are planning but you will not achieve it." Third Prince laughed. "I don''t mind beating you but I don''t wanna cause trouble for Germana Family," Alexander said before he turned around. The Third Prince''s smile disappeared as he glanced at his surrounding. He saw that a lot of people were watching them. These people were distancing themselves from them as if they didn''t want to get involved. "Tsk! You better not forget my words. I''m doing this for our kingdom." The Third Prince was annoyed. A person approached him and said with a smile. "Third Prince, don''t bother yourself with that guy from Dreyfus Family. Sooner or later, we''ll be able to take the throne." The Third Prince looked at this young man."Forget it! I don''t think that he will not succumb to me..." This young man was a son of a Count Family and he was supporting him. Clap! Clap! Clap! A clap sounded and everyone turned their heads. Alexander stopped on his track as he turned his head, only to see Souta walking towards the Third Prince. ''This guy... Just what is he planning...?'' Suddenly, he noticed strands of web on Souta''s sleeve. His eyes widened as he stared at the man before him. ''Don''t tell me this guy...'' Souta had a huge smile on his face as he approached the Third Prince while clapping his hands. "You! Who are you?! Don''t annoy me!" The Third Prince narrowed his eyes. One of the people behind him stepped forward. Even the young man beside him glared at Souta. Suddenly, among the crowd, one person stepped out. He was Jovian. He went beside Souta and said, "Sir Souta, do you know that Germana Family is neutral? If you trouble the Third Prince then it will involve the Germana Family." The young man beside the Third Prince heard Jovian''s words. He grew arrogant and said in contempt, "Oh, I heard that Lady Sekmet became a mercenary so you''re one of her people? A mere mercenary like you shouldn''t be given a chance to stand beside a noble!! You should go back to your rotten house!" Souta turned to Jovian and said, "I know what you are trying to do so can you please step back. I will handle this." Jovian smiled wryly and slowly went back to watch the scene. "And you?" Souta turned around and looked at the young man. He slowly raised his hand and placed it on the young man''s shoulder. "Bow down! I didn''t come here for you." The young man was forced to kneel. He didn''t even know why but he couldn''t control his body. Souta looked down at the young man and continued, "A mere noble without any real powers. Just shut your mouth and don''t get involved in my business." "You!!" The young man was furious. He wanted to pounce at Souta but he couldn''t even move his body. "I said keep your mouth shut," Souta said in a cold tone as he raised his hand and tightly closed his palm. Ugh! The young man spat a mouthful of blood and fell on the ground. The crowd was shocked when they saw this scene. They didn''t think that Souta would injure a noble. What''s worse was that they didn''t even know how Souta did it? Souta ignored the young man as he turned his attention on the Third Prince. "Who are you?!" The Third Prince said as his brows knitted together. He didn''t dare to underestimate the person in front of him. Souta didn''t say anything as he continued to walk forward while staring at the Third Prince''s eyes. "You!! Stop him!" The Third Prince gritted his teeth and two peak S-rank stepped forward to block Souta. "Don''t move," Souta said as a powerful dominant aura exploded out of his body. [Serpent Dominance]! The others couldn''t feel it, but the three people in front of Souta including the Third Prince felt the horrendous pressure coming out of him. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably as they stared at the figure before them with shaky eyes. Sweat started pouring out of their pores as a giant head of serpent materialize in their vision. Thud! They fell on their knees as they couldn''t handle the pressure. They felt their strength leaving their bodies and they couldn''t even properly circulate their energy. Souta stretched out his hand and grabbed the neck of the Third Prince. He lifted him up while staring at the Third Prince with cold eyes. The crowd didn''t know what was happening but some of them stepped forward. "Hey! What are you doing to the prince of our kingdom?!" Before they could even do something, the rest of the Blue Cross Squadron appeared wearing their equipment. They blocked anyone from interfering with Souta. "What''s the meaning of this Lady Sekmet?!" One of the nobles asked loudly. Sekmet glanced at the nobles who spoke and narrowed her eyes. She already changed her outfit so she was ready to fight at any moment. "Please step back. I don''t want anyone to be involved in this." She said in a cold tone. Her aura was slowly seeping out of her body. Alexander, who was watching this scene, knitted his brows tightly. ''What are they trying to do? Is there something that I miss?'' He looked around and focused his eyes on Souta who was lifting the Third Prince. ''Everything changed ever since that guy heard about the unknown people behind the Third Prince.'' ... Souta looked at the three Shackled Realm experts behind the Third Prince. They weren''t moving but he knew that the pressure brought by his skill couldn''t affect them. This was within his expectations. The [Serpent Dominance] could only affect people at S-rank and below as they were beneath them in terms of power level. ''So the skill didn''t include the benefits of equipment and my release form. In short, people below my base form''s power level are the only ones affected by a debuff.'' "Ugh! W-What are you trying to do?!" The Third Prince said with great effort. Souta snapped out of his thoughts as he stared at Third Prince. "Don''t hate me. It''s just that I''m doing my job." He said as he stretched out his other hand and took something hidden in the Third Prince''s pocket. It was a letter. It didn''t even have any insignia and other people would only think that it was an ordinary letter. "That...!!" The Third Prince was shocked when he saw it. He tried to resist but he couldn''t even muster all of his strength at the moment. "This letter is..." Souta smiled as he opened it but the three Shackled Realm experts reacted quickly. Swoosh! They launched their bodies forward but before they could even reach Souta figures blocked their path. Bang! Bang! Bang! The three Shackled Realm experts were pushed back as they stared at the figures in front of them. The people that stopped them were Drami, Marcus, and Leilus. They were on the same level except for one person. Leilus, the leader of the Blue Cross Squadron, and a person at Two Shackles Realm. The intermediate stage of SS-rank. "Don''t move." Leilus said as a powerful aura bored down on the three initial stage of SS-rank. "Good job." Souta said with a smile before he turned to read the contents of the letter. After a few moments, he crumpled the letter and it turned into dust. Paolo turned his head and asked, "What did it say?" "Confirmed. They are our targets." Souta turned to Marcus and added, "Marcus, you should go out and tell Grain Leader and the other squadron about this." He then squatted down and looked at the two peak S-ranks beside him. He reached out his hand and ripped their clothes, revealing a symbol of Red Matter Association on their chest. Souta grinned widely at the Third Prince. Nothing could escape his [Galaxy Eyes] unless they had a universal artifact for concealing but the chances of it were low. "Third Prince, you good? The support you have will not be able to help you anymore." Chapter 628: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Appearance of the Red Matter Association Chapter 628: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Appearance of the Red Matter Association "Since we''ve confirmed they are from Red Matter Association, it''s time to start the plan," Leilus said as he glanced at the bodies of two S-ranks. "Eliminate all the members of the Red Matter Association." As soon as he said those words, an enormous amount of mana burst out of his body. He charged toward the three initial stage SS-rank experts with a heavy amount of killing intent. Boom!! One of the SS-rank experts crashed into the wall. Leilus quickly turned his body around while pulling out the sword on his waist. Swoosh! The remaining two SS-rank experts couldn''t react as Leilus beheaded one of them before their eyes. The difference in terms of strength was huge. They couldn''t simply overcome it with just their numbers alone. "Hope you haven''t forgotten about us!" Drami and Marcus appeared behind the two SS-ranks. They didn''t even give their enemies a chance to escape as they swiftly launched their attack hitting the vital parts of their enemies. Bang! Bang! In just a few seconds, they took down the two SS-rank members of the Red Matter Association. The crowd was stupefied. They couldn''t even believe their eyes. Three One Shackle Realm experts fall before their eyes just like that. One Shackle Realm was already the top expert within their kingdom yet three of them died easily without having a chance to fight back. With their power level, they couldn''t even deduce that the Blue Cross had a huge advantage. After all, Leilus was a man at Two Shackles Realm. He was several times stronger than One Shackle Realm so his aura alone could pressure the three One Shackle Realm experts of the Red Matter Association. "Good job, Marcus!" Drami raised her hand with a smile on her face. "It''s nothing. It''s thanks to leader''s pressure that we could easily take down these people." Marcus replied. "What''s the meaning of this, Sekmet?!" A loud voice sounded. Drami and Marcus turned their heads. They saw that Sekmet''s parents have arrived and saw three dead bodies. "Mother, Father, I''ll explain everything later so don''t get involved. It''s too dangerous." Sekmet said. "How can we not get involved if this happened inside our mansion?" Sekmet''s father asked seriously. "I''ll do something about it," Sekmet said. Clap!! Souta clapped his hand and he used a little bit of his energy to boost the sound so that everyone could hear it. Everyone turned their heads and looked in his direction. "Okay, everyone. The show is over so please don''t leave this mansion no matter what. You can come out after we finished our job." Souta said with a huge smile on his face. Alexander, who was watching the scene, opened his mouth, "Job? What are you planning to do?" He knew that these people were dangerous. Their strength exceeded the entire might of the Fone Kingdom. They didn''t even have Two Shackles Realm yet the group before him had one or maybe two. Souta turned to Alexander before he answered. "Don''t worry, it''s for the goodness of this kingdom. We will cleanse it to eliminate all the people hiding in the dark." Alexander didn''t say any more. Even the two initial stage SS-ranks behind him were on guard. They didn''t know what will happen next so they had to prepare. "If any of you had a connection with Red Matter Association you should say it right now? I don''t think I will show mercy if I found out about this later." Souta said in a cold tone as he swept his eyes at the nobles. He then raised his foot and stomped the head of one of the S-rank beside him. The skull of the S-rank exploded. Blood splattered and brain liquid scattered on the ground. The [Serpent Dominance] even lowered the defense of S-rank so Souta could easily kill someone below his power level without effort. After that, he proceeded to kill the other person. Since they were from Red Matter Association, they had to die. He was just completing his mission. Ugh!! Some of the nobles puked as they couldn''t handle the horrendous scene. It''s too much for them. Hmm...? Souta noticed something. He looked at the ground and his gaze pierced through it. "Brace for impact!" He shouted as several webs shot out from his fingers. He tightly grabbed the webs and waved both of his hands. Swoosh! The crowd was forced back as the webs pushed them away not caring if they were injured or not. Alexander noticed something was wrong so he looked down and activated his [Mind''s Eyes]. He saw an enormous amount of energy several hundred meters below the surface. The energy was rushing towards the surface at high speed. "Shit! Retreat!" He jumped away and the two One Shackle Realm experts followed him. Leilus and Paolo also moved away while Sekmet and Drami helped Sekmet''s parents to retreat. Swoosh! "Fucking hell! They are crazy!" Souta jumped and a sword flew in front of him. He quickly grabbed it before he tightened his other hand. Ohm! The blood of the five corpses quickly turned into sharp spikes. In the next moment, the ground shook heavily followed by a huge explosion that made the entire Germana Household tremble. Boom!! Smoke and dust filled the entire hall. Leilus stepped forward and blow the smoke using his energy. What was revealed before his eyes was a massive pit. It had a diameter of seven meters and its depth was unknown. Souta narrowed his eyes seeing this scene. He looked up and found that the ceiling also had a massive hole. He glanced at Leilus and said, "I think that Grain Leader will announce the mission soon. This is just a greeting from the Red Matter Association. The real battle will start soon." "It''s quite troublesome." Leilus sighed as he glanced at the group of nobles who had a stupefied look. "Yeah, I don''t think that this kingdom could hold a battle of several Shackled Realm experts at the same time. Looking at the guards of this Third Prince, I think that they had more Shackled Realm experts in this country." Drami said with a serious look. Her aura was different from her normal playful look. The situation this time was serious so she had to get serious too. "Let''s see..." Souta tucked a string of web and the Third Prince was thrown in front of him. "Third Prince, do you know that the name of the people that are helping you is the Red Matter Association?" "N-No... I-I don''t know anything..." The Third Prince said while trembling. He was scared as these three people were unbelievably strong. His powerful guards couldn''t even fight back. "Hmm... You are lying." Souta took a small marble from his pockets. He threw it into the air before several equipments materialized around his body. "I don''t have a time so tell me more about the Red Matter Association. I don''t think that your status as a prince of this kingdom will save you if you lied to me again." He said plainly while fixing the equipment on his body. It''s useless to lie in front of him as he had the ability to see through a lie. "Paolo, I''ll leave this guy to you. I''m sure that he knows something about Red Matted Association." Souta said. "Okay, leave it to me." Paolo nodded as he stepped forward and grabbed the Third Prince. "N-No... D-Don''t kill me... I''ll tell you the truth..." Souta stood up and looked in the direction of the royal palace. "It''s starting." Boom! The ground shook heavily and a sound of an explosion echoed in the entire area. The sound was coming from the royal palace. It seems that the battle had started. "We''ll be busy too," Leilus said solemnly. "Yep, it''s nothing strange since we cause a commotion here by killing five of their members." Souta smiled. Both of them sensed several unknown Shackled Realm experts heading in their direction. Using the [Crimson Perception], he detected more than twenty people rushing at the Germana Household. They didn''t even bother to hide their aura as the atmosphere in the entire area slowly changed because of it. "They really invested in this kingdom... I wonder if they are hiding something." Leilus muttered. "I don''t know. We''ll know it later." Souta shrugged his shoulder. Although he asked Paolo to interrogate the Third Prince, he doubted that the Third Prince knew about the Red Matter Association''s plan. He was just a puppet that they could control. "Let''s start," Leilus said before he turned to Drami. "Drami, I''ll leave this place to you. Sekmet and Paolo will assist you." "I understand." Drami nodded. Swoosh! Swoosh! Leilus and Souta disappeared. They were going to block and eliminate the members of the Red Matter Association. Boom! Boom! Boom! Leilus and Souta just disappeared a few seconds ago and the battle already started shaking the whole Germana Household. "Now, we only had to deal with the ordinary members." Drami said while fixing her gauntlets. The two only blocked strong opponents leaving the weaker ones to her. It''s her job to finish this. Chapter 629: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Collapse I Chapter 629: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Collapse I Drami turned around and looked at the nobles. She swept her eyes across their faces and slowly said, "If you want to survive prepare yourself to fight. I know some of you brought capable people so don''t expect anything from us. We''re not here to protect you, we''re here to eliminate the Red Matter Association." There were some One Shackle Realm experts here like her. They couldn''t hide under her senses. Some people wanted to say something but they didn''t have the courage to stand in front of Drami. They could only stare at her and listen to her words. "I''ll fill you in. A terrorist organization sneaked inside your kingdom in the form of Third Prince''s backer. They are called Red Matter Association." Sekmet stepped forward and explained. They didn''t need to keep it a secret since everyone would realize it sooner or later. "Even if you don''t want to fight, I think that all of you will be forced to fight soon. After all, we already disturbed the bee''s nest. They will flock to us until one of our group dies. They will massacre this entire kingdom." She paused and her tone turned serious. "I know that some of you are blaming us for confronting the Red Matter Association and you are out of this matter. You are wrong, the Red Matter is helping the Third Prince succeed the throne so I think you guys should realize what will happen once they succeeded." "Red Matter is an organization that burned dozens of kingdoms. We, the Athen''s Champion, will eliminate them at all costs. We failed before so we will not make the same mistake." Sekmet''s voice grew louder as she took out an emblem from her pocket. It was the emblem of Athen''s Champion. "We''re not forcing you to fight. Just prepare yourself in case someone from the Red Matter attacked you." "A-Athen''s Champion!!" The nobles were shocked to hear that they were from Athen''s Champion. Athen''s Champion was a huge organization backed by a god-level existence. It was an unimaginable power for them. And Athen''s Champion was just one of the organizations in Olympus. Olympus was one of the most powerful groups on the entire continent. ... Boom! Red energy light flashed out from the vajra sword. It collided with a huge shield causing a powerful explosion. ''It''s tough...'' Souta said inwardly. He was surrounded by the experts from Red Matter and all of them were One Shackle Realm. In front of him was a man carrying a huge silver-colored shield. From their exchange of blows, Souta knew that this man was tougher than Manduk. A person that specialized in defense, completely different from Manduk. This shielder was tanking all the attacks coming from him to protect his teammates. ''Defense is high but his attack power isn''t that much.'' Souta glanced at his left side. A woman with a long spear was looking at him fiercely. This woman had high attack power and it was incomparable to the shielder. On his right side, there was a man holding a black sword. He also had high attack power. Several dozens of meters behind the shielder was another woman. The woman was holding a golden sphere. She was a support-type mage and it was really troublesome as she was casting debuff and buff spells on him and her teammates. All four of them were at One Shackle Realm. "I guess I should take it seriously." Souta muttered. A huge amount of energy gathered on the blade of his sword. A dark red aura slowly enveloped it, giving off a dangerous vibe. At the same time, he activated [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Cat''s Speed], [Night Overlord''s Aura], [Shadow Cloak], [Shadow Steps], [Agility Boost], and [Strength Boost]. His aura rose several times and darkness spread from his feet enveloping an area of several hundreds of meters. Coming out of the darkness were ominous black tentacles. [Shadow Bind] and [Dark Cloud Hunting]. Ohm! Ten black spheres emerged around him and they scattered around the area. In the next moment, another ten black spheres formed on his back and they spun indefinitely. [Shadow Ball] and [Gravitational Ball]. This was what Saya called his Second Mode. It was when he realized that he couldn''t defeat his opponent using his base power alone. It was a time when he had to use his combat arts and spells. "Ever since I evolve I haven''t fought anyone that could let me go all out! So let me enjoy this a little bit!" Souta grinned widely as he dashed towards the spear woman. The moment he made a move, the shielder charged at him to block his path while the swordsman slashed his sword in his direction. [Crimson Moon]! He quickly turned around and used one of his skills. Boom! Both energy blades collided resulting in a powerful explosion. This gives the shielder a time to catch up to him. The shielder charged a huge amount of energy and bashed his shield at him. Souta raised his other hand and a gravitational field formed around it. Boom! The attack was blocked but Souta was pushed away several meters. He quickly pressed his hand down as intense gravity bore down on the four members of the Red Matter Association. At this moment, Souta shifted his body to the side. "You think that I couldn''t sense you..." A smirk formed on his face as he slashed his sword. Spurt! Blood spurted in the mid-air and a man materialized with a dumbfounded look. Ugh! The man was holding a pair of daggers with a huge cut on his shoulder. He was an assassin of the Red Matter Association. He thought that his stealth was perfect but he didn''t think that the monster before him could see through his perfect concealment. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, or else that slash would''ve hit his vital parts. Souta looked at the assassin with a faint smile on his face. "Wondering why? It''s simple. You have blood flowing in your veins. You can say that I can detect all creatures within my range as long as they had blood in their bodies." He explained his ability nonchalantly. As for whether they could counter it or not doesn''t matter to him. Well, it''s impossible for these people to remove their blood as they will die in the process of doing so. The [Crimson Perception] was a perfect counter for human and demis assassins. Even if Souta couldn''t sense their energy as long as they had blood, they wouldn''t be able to escape his perception. Even Isabella''s perfect concealment didn''t work at him. "This...?" The assassin was speechless. Even if he knew how Souta''s ability works, there''s no way to counter it. If he wanted to move undetected then he had to remove all of his blood. It''s the same as him being dead. This monster is an anti-assassin. The bane of assassins like him. "If assassination wouldn''t work then I just have to kill you head-on." The assassin gritted his teeth as violent waves of lightning burst out of his body. [Elemental Drive: Lightning Force]! "That''s it! Let me feel it! Use everything that you''ve got!" Souta laughed as the assassin dashed at him with heavy killing intent. Boom! Boom! Boom! The shielder, spear woman, and the swordsman joined the battle. It was a four versus one situation but Souta was holding his own against powerful One Shackle Realm experts. Not really a four versus one situation. It was a five versus one as there was one person that didn''t join the battle. It was the support. She was assisting the people that Souta was fighting by healing them and giving them buffs. Boom! Boom! The black tentacles moved but it was easily destroyed by the members of Red Matter. It was a low-tier spell, after all. Even with several boosts of energy damage and elemental damage, it couldn''t do anything against the Shackled Realm experts. But it a useful to buy some time and distract his opponents. Boom! Souta''s body flew like a meteor before crashing on the ground causing a massive earthquake. Hundreds of infrastructure were destroyed in just one minute of battling. The whole area turned into ruins and hundreds of innocent people died from their battle. Those people couldn''t escape on time. The energy alone from several Shackled Realm experts and a fourth stage monster was enough to suffocate ordinary people to death. It was much worse as the aftershocks didn''t leave their bodies intact. It was scattered all over the place. Ugh! Souta stood up and wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. It was impossible for him to escape unscathed while fighting four One Shackle Realm experts alone. He was at disadvantage. He could barely attack them when all four of them rushed at him. Defense was the only thing that he could do. It was a good thing as he wanted to test his limit. His wounds didn''t regenerate as he wanted them to accumulate to boost his fighting prowess. "I wanted to test something but that support mage is giving me trouble. Should I cut her down first?" Souta muttered as he glanced at the support-type made. The only problem was that these four people wouldn''t let him about her easily. Right now, the assassin and shielder have used their [Elemental Drive]. The other three still haven''t used their [Elemental Drive]. "Should I force them?" Souta smiled as black and white energy exploded within his body. [Dual Element Drive: Dark and Light Force]! Chapter 630: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Collapse II Chapter 630: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Collapse II The entire Fone Kingdom was in a state of panic. The citizens were filled with fear as they felt that they were going to die today. Even the guards and soldiers of the kingdom didn''t know what to do. They didn''t know how or why? But it just happened suddenly. Battles erupted across the entire kingdom. It''s not an ordinary battle, instead, it was a battle between several Shackled Realm experts. The fierce battles were slowly swallowing the entire kingdom and they couldn''t do anything about it. Thousands of innocent people died in just a few minutes and it was still growing at high speed. Sooner or later, the casualties would reach tens of thousands of people. They knew it but they couldn''t do anything. They were powerless. No matter what they say or no matter what they do, they couldn''t stop the battle because of their meager strength. It was devastating for the Fone Kingdom. A kingdom that became a battlefield for two giant organizations. The battle wasn''t just between Shackled Realm experts. In the Germana Household... Drami and Sekmet along with other capable people were fighting the S-rank experts of the Red Matter Association. It was a battle for their survival. They defeated all the members of the Red Matter Association in just a few minutes. After all, there were several Shackled Realm experts on their side. Drami and the two guards of Alexander were One Shackle Realm experts. They could fight more than twenty S-rank experts alone so it didn''t take long for them to annihilate all the members of the Red Matter Association. "I tried to keep one of them alive but some curse killed them before he could leak out information." Alexander muttered while looking at the corpse that died from an unknown curse. Drami glanced at him and said, "Only a number of them had cursed. Not everyone so we could still find someone to interrogate. If we''re lucky we would find that person just like how our Athen''s Champion managed to capture a man that wasn''t cursed." "Is that so..." Alexander walked to the side. If that''s really the case, then the curse was weak as it couldn''t influence the entire organization. But removing it was hard so it would take a lot of effort. He didn''t have time for that since battles were happening across the kingdom. Even at this moment, he could feel the vibration on the ground. ''I didn''t think this would happen at all. What should I do? The kingdom is gone and it would be hard to rebuild it later.'' Alexander said inwardly. Hmm? From the corner of his eyes, he saw the one called Paolo running towards Drami. "Are you okay, young master?" One of his guards asked. "I''m fine. I don''t have any injuries." Alexander waved his hand. His attention was still on Paolo and Drami. "What did you say?" Drami asked in a low voice. "The Third Prince knew something about the plan of the Red Matter Association. He said to me that they are trying to find a first-rate mana essence mining spot." Paolo said. "First-rate mana essence mining spot?! That''s ridiculous... Is there something more?" A first-rate mana essence was one of the materials needed to craft a red grade artifacts. Even the entire Athen''s Champion only had twenty one first-rate mana essence mining spots, yet there''s another one here. It was a huge discovery that would shock several giant organizations. Drami realized that this will be a huge problem. Most of the organizations wanted to get a hold of a precious mining spot. "But have the Red Matter Association confirmed it? Or not?" She asked carefully. "I don''t know. The Third Prince is just a puppet for them so he didn''t know the full details. He just accidentally heard one of his Red Matter guards talked about it." Paolo shook his head. "Did you extract more information?" "The problem of the mining spot is for the higher-ups to solve but the information that I''ll tell you is the one for the entire warriors in this kingdom." "What is it?" "The Third Prince only said a few words. He said [Titanous Victor Golem]." "What?!!" Drami opened her eyes widely. "It''s not that a problem since we have Grain Leader with us but it would wipe out the entire kingdom," Paolo said as he glanced at the group of nobles. "We have to tell Leilus about it!" Drami said seriously. "I''ll go. We have to inform Grain Leader and the other squadrons about it since there''s a chance that ''that thing'' will catch everyone off guard." Paolo said. "Okay, I''ll stay here with Sakme," Drami said. Paolo looked at Sekmet''s direction. "Sakme wanted to protect her family. She''s going to leave this place after our mission but it''s better if she helped her family survive this ordeal. Even though she runs away for a few years, she couldn''t deny the fact that they are her family." "Yep," Drami nodded. "I''ll go now," Paolo said before he turned around. He was about to fly when Drami stopped her. "Wait!" "Why?" Paolo asked with a confused look. "I think I should go. Captain Leilus and Souta are fighting Shackled Realm experts from Red Matter so I think it''s safer if I go." Drami explained. "Is it fine?" "Okay, I''ll stay here with Sakme." "Thanks, then I''ll go now." Drami waved her hands before she flew into the sky. Paolo looked at her figure before he shrugged his shoulder. "She just wanted to meet Marcus as soon as possible." ... [Dual Element Drive: Dark and Light Force]! Souta just activated his [Element Drive] when he noticed a figure approaching at high speed. He wasn''t worried at all since the energy coming from the figure was familiar. The people from Red Matter Association quickly attacked the incoming person. "Hehe~ quite impatient aren''t you guy?!" Souta laughed lightly as he bombarded the five people using several [Bestrou]. Boom! Boom! Boom! They had no choice but to stop and blocked the beam of energy. Souta turned his head and looked at the person that just arrived. It was Marcus, a member of the Blue Cross Squadron. "How is it?" He asked. Marcus looked at his opponent and said, "You are playing. Captain Leilus finished dealing with his opponents and he went straight to the other area." "I''m not playing. They are hard to deal with despite their looks." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "Do you want my help?" Marcus suggested. "Okay, just hold that shielder and the one with a pair of daggers. You just need to hold them back as I know that it will be too much if I ask you to defeat them." Souta said. "I just need to block them? I can do that." Marcus nodded. He didn''t need to fight till death and defeat them so it was a lot easier. "I think I can defeat them if I use my release form but I don''t want to use it. The release form of the fourth stage monster is different from the third stage monster. The consumption of energy and stamina is too large. The backlash of using is several times higher and also there''s a time limit." Souta explained why he haven''t finished these five people using his release form. When he was at third Stage, Souta could use his release form for more than half an hour. But now that he became fourth stage, it''s natural that his release form had grown stronger too. He could only use it for a few minutes just like back then when he just reached the third stage. At that time, he could only use his release form for a few minutes. If he wanted to use it, then he should be prepared to fight to death. "I understand. You don''t need to explain anymore. I''ll just block those two so you should finish this as soon as possible." Marcus said as he slowly pulled out the pair of daggers hanging on his waist. "Good." Souta smiled. Both of them flashed as they flew towards the members of the Red Matter. Boom! Boom! Shockwaves spread out from the center of the impact and it caused a massive earthquake. Bang! Bang! Marcus fought the shielder and assassin. Their bodies turned into streams of lights as they collided hundreds of times in just a second. Souta glanced at their battle and smiled inwardly. Marcus was doing it better than he imagined. "Don''t worry about your comrade. You should be worried about yourself." A voice sounded and Souta swiftly tilted his head. A sharp spear passed through grazing his cheeks. ''That''s close.'' Souta stretched out his hand. He wanted to grab the spear and pull the woman but something prevented him from doing so. A cold energy exploded from the tip of the spear. The energy turned violent as it tried to attack him. "That''s good!" Souta laughed as he used [Bestrou] at point-blank range. BOOM!!! He took a distance away before he focused his attention on the center of the explosion. "Tsk! Really hard to kill..." The smoke dissipated revealing the figure of the spear woman covered in a golden barrier. The support-type mage casted a strong barrier. What''s worse was that the three of them were using [Element Drive]. Their aura was several times stronger than before. But... That doesn''t matter to him. "I''ll kill the three of you first then proceed to those two." Souta grinned as exoskeleton armor slowly formed on his body. Blood flows through its surface and it changed its form. [Armored Scale Formation]! [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]! Chapter 631: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Collapse III Chapter 631: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Collapse III [Armored Scale Formation]! Souta''s skin trembled uncontrollably. It looks like something was wriggling inside his skin. In the next moment, black scales appeared all over his skin. It was glimmering and an ominous aura was seeping out of the scales. Zzzz! Blood poured out and covered his entire body. His clothes stuck on his body as blood continued to flow. Ohm! Souta moved his hand as dark and light aura formed above his palm. These two distinct energies started to fuse with the blood. It gives the blood form and power. When he closed his palm, the entire blood became solid. It turned into a new armor. His head was covered in a white plain helmet. It has eight dots on its face and there were three cuts on both sides of the helmet. It had one black horn protruding from the center of the forehead. As for his body, it was covered in black and white carapace. On his back were four spider limbs with sharp tips that could slice through metals. Every second, blood veins could be seen through the armor thumping a tremendous amount of energy. [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]! Souta opened and closed his palm feeling the power flowing through his body. He trained inside Saya''s inner consciousness for seventy days. After he learned the [Hidden Concealment Method] to hide the energy signature of his [Cosmic Body], he explored the uniqueness of his race. The Crimson Twilight''s potential was huge. Using the blood as his medium, he upgraded the trait skill [Armored Scale Formation]. The blood was akin to a container that held the dark and light energy with [Armored Scale Formation]. If it was like that then, he couldn''t create a new form of armor. At that time, he realized the connection between Blood Goblin and Crimson Twilight. He realized that he had traits of other monsters thanks to his previous race, the Blood Goblin. In short, what he needed to do was tap into that small genes flowing through his blood. He couldn''t use the blood of other creatures on this armor. He could only use his blood. That''s why it was a dangerous technique that could lead to his death. If not for his regenerative power, he wouldn''t think of creating an armor using his own blood. This was the power of Crimson Twilight. The power to create combo traits using the traits that he gained when he was still a Blood Goblin. It depends on the traits that he chose when he evolved into Blood Goblin. Saya called this Third Mode. It was a time when he would use various traits in a battle. The Second Mode was for his spells and combat art while in the Third Mode, he will add his traits to further increase his combat power. Souta turned his head and looked at the three people. "Now, let''s continue our fight." The three people looked at him warily. His form had changed and as everyone knew, when a monster changed its form it means that its ability had grown stronger. Its power rose sharply. "If you''re not going to attack then let me start it." Souta''s figure flickered. Swoosh! The swordsman''s pupils shrank. He quickly slashed his sword on his left side. Clang! "Good reaction." Souta laughed before he repeatedly slashed the vajra sword. Clang! Clang! Clang! The two exchanged high-speed blows for a few seconds before one of them flew away and crashed on the ground. Boom! Souta was about to chase after the swordsman when the spear woman attacked him. She thrust the spear several times as cold energy spread in the area. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta moved his body from side to side, dodging the spear of the woman with great accuracy. Although he grew stronger with this armor, it wasn''t to the point that he could overpower three One Shackle Realm experts at the same time. After all, this wasn''t his release form. There''s no way that it could match the added power of release form. There''s no way it could match the reason why people formed a party to subjugate a monster of the same level. In the next few minutes, the swordsman and spear woman fought Souta in a close-range battle while the support-type was healing their injuries and casting barriers to protect them from fatal attacks. Suddenly, the swordsman and the spear woman stopped moving. They looked around them and found that there were countless thin webs in the whole area. ''When did he set this up?!'' The swordsman said inwardly. None of them noticed it. Even his comrades were shocked when they realized that webs were all over the entire area. "Ehe~ surprise..." Souta laughed and he pulled dozens of webs at the same time. In an instant, the webs turned into blood-red color and an enormous amount of energy flowed through them. [Blood Thread: Dark Weaving]! The swordsman, spear woman, and the support mage felt danger. Their instinct was screaming that these webs were dangerous. They had to run. Their pupils shrank as countless webs tightened around them. Argh! The support mage gritted her teeth as she casted powerful barriers to protect the two and herself. BOOM!!! Souta observed the scene with a cold look on his face. Three explosions occurred at the same time and his webs were torn apart one by one. The energy inside the webs exploded the moment it snapped out. BOOM!! BOOM!! A series of explosions sounded covering the entire place in smoke and dust. At the same time, Souta glanced at the system seeing notifications popping up one after another. It means that the explosion caused by his webs killed numerous civilians. "They are still alive..." He could feel their blood flow. He raised his hand and looked down at his armor. His armor had dents and cracks on its surface. It was a proof that fighting these three wasn''t easy. "It''s an enjoyable battle." Souta laughed lightly before he charged forward. Countless blood-red webs followed behind him. Swoosh! The three people were covered in blood and their bodies were full of injuries. The support mage was trying to use all of her mana to heal the other two when Souta charged at them. "Continue to heal us!" The swordsman shouted as he tightened his grip on his sword. The spear woman raised her trembling hands and pointed her spear at Souta. They were ready to fight until death. "Good." Souta smiled as he continued to charge forward. Swoosh! The swordsman slashed his sword and the spear woman thrust her spear. Their weapons pierced Souta''s body. They noticed that something was wrong. It felt different. It feels like their attacks didn''t land on a monster''s body. "Shit!!" The body in front of them slowly turned into a pile of webs and blood. They quickly turned around having an ominous feeling in their hearts. What they saw was a humanoid monster covered in black and white carapace behind their comrade. "Ehe~ goodbye!" Souta waved his hand. Countless thin webs flew and pierced the body of the support mage. Her defense was the lowest among all the Shackled Realm experts here. She was the easiest to kill. "Ugh! W-What!" The support mage looked down and saw countless webs sticking out of her body. Blood slowly flows from her seven orifices. Souta exhaled as he grabbed the webs before pulling them. Bang! The body of the support mage was shredded into tiny pieces. She was torn apart like a piece of paper. "One down. The most problematic person is finally gone." Souta said as he focused his attention on the two. Right now, no one could heal them or cast a barrier to protect them from his attack. They had no support. They were on their own. Ohm! A dark and light aura coated the vajra sword. [Cross Moon]!! The swordsman and the spear woman moved their bodies to avoid the energy blade. They didn''t want to block Souta''s attack with their current condition. There''s a chance that their wounds would open up due to the force of the attack. Unfortunately for them, Souta wouldn''t give them a chance. Swoosh! Souta appeared beside the swordsman. The swordsman reacted by slashing his sword. Souta didn''t move and he just stared at the opponent. The sword of the swordsman landed on his shoulder and it sunk deep into his bones. He quickly raised his hand and grabbed the blade of the sword. Then, blood came out of his wounds before it swallowed the sword. "Shit!!" The swordsman wanted to release the sword but he realized that webs were tightly wrapping his hand on the handle of his sword. The spear woman charged forward wanting to help him. "No! Don''t come here! It''s a trap!" The swordsman cried out. "It''s too late," Souta muttered and the whole scenery changed. [Blood Thread: Despair Cage]! The spear woman stopped moving as she turned her head. She saw blood-red webs swirling in every direction creating a huge sphere with three of them inside it. They were locked here with that monster. They had no way out aside from defeating him. "Your sword almost reached my heart. Too bad, you don''t have enough strength to push through it." Souta said to the swordsman before the cage shrunk at high speed. Immense best feram were flowing through every strand of webs. It was thumping. It will be the end for these two Shackled Realm experts. They wouldn''t be able to escape death with these. "Argh!!" The swordsman realized that they were going to die. He roared as he used his last bit of strength to launch a powerful attack. "You can''t hope to defeat the Red Matter!!" The spearwoman followed after him. She used all of her energy without caring about her defense. BOOM!! Chapter 632: Terror in Fone Kingdom: [Titanous Victor Golem] Chapter 632: Terror in Fone Kingdom: [Titanous Victor Golem] Souta glanced at the system. He knew that he managed to kill those two Shackled Realm experts. It was a hard battle. The last attacks of those were powerful enough to knock him out. Luckily, he was prepared so he managed to escape with his life. At the very least, the injuries he took weren''t life threatening. He looked down and his armor was in tatters. The battle would''ve lasted longer if he didn''t bait himself. He could only use [Blood Armor] when he''s in the state of [Elemental Drive]. In that state, he could tap the genes in his blood to awaken a power beyond his race. That''s why [Elemental Drive] was important for him. "Three One Shackle Realm is my current limitation," Souta muttered. It was already great that he could defeat three One Shackle Realm experts in his base form. No, it was better than most monsters. He just evolved and this was his first real battle at this level. He stepped forward and glanced at the piles of meat in front of him. He raised his palm and the equipment of the dead members of Red Matter floated in the mid-air. Then, webs wrapped around it before it flew in the sky. "Despite it being low quality, those equipment are still orange grade. It''s better than getting lower grade equipment." Those things didn''t have use for him. But he had a faction now, so he had to think of a way to strengthen his organization, and giving them high grade equipment was one of the answers. "It''s time to finish this." Souta turned his head at the battle not far away from him. Marcus was still holding on against two One Shackle Realm experts. He didn''t heal his injuries as he wanted to use the effect of [Draw Blood]. He could heal it anytime with the parasite''s ability. Swoosh! He flew in the sky and joined the battle. It took them five minutes before they killed the remaining two members of the Red Matter. It''s a lot easier since he had Marcus with him. After looting the corpses of the enemies, Souta glanced at Marcus. "What''s happening there in the Royal Palace?" He asked. The battles in the Royal Palace were worse. Even at this place, they could feel the vibration in the air. It was boiling and freezing at the same time. "After we discover the members of Red Matter Association in the Third Prince''s faction. I went to find the Grain Leader. And after I informed Grain Leader about it, we went to the Royal Palace. In the underground prison, we discovered traces of Red Matter." Marcus slowly narrated the things that he experienced. They discover that the prison wasn''t a mere prison. It became a hidden base of the Red Matter Association in the Fone Kingdom. At that time, the experts from Red Matter noticed their presence. A battle quickly occurred and dozens of Shackled Realm experts appeared. There were four people at Three Shackles Realm. Grain Leader didn''t have a choice but to step forward and fought those four alone. As for the squadron leaders, they fought the other members of Red Matter. In just a minute, the tall and imposing Royal Palace was razed to the ground. Grain Leader Carmel was a Four Shackles Realm. He had no problem dealing with four Three Shackles Realm experts. Even if there were seven Three Shackles, he would have no problem with it. The problem was that the Red Matter was unusually prepared. Various high-tier magic circles were prepared. It caught Carmel off guard and managed to decrease his combat ability by twenty-five percent. He even took some injuries as he protected some of the warriors with him. They already had casualties with them. Two squad leaders and eleven ordinary members had died because of the enemies'' trap. And the casualties were getting higher every second. Souta have a solemn look after he listened to Marcus'' story. He carefully asked, "Based on what you saw, who''s at disadvantage?" "In terms of overall might, our Tenth Grain War had the upper hand even though we lose some of our members in the first clash. We can still defeat them." Marcus said. "I see... We can defeat them but we should be prepared for the casualties on our side." Souta nodded. "Yeah, it can''t be small for this size of battle." Souta and Marcus quickly turned their heads. Both of them felt an energy flying in their direction. The energy signature was familiar. It was Drami. Drami landed in front of the two. Before the two could ask anything she already opened her mouth. "[Titanous Victor Golem]! The Red Matter is preparing that golem!" "What?!" Souta and Marcus were shocked when they heard her words. "Paolo managed to extract the information from the Third Prince. The Third Prince didn''t know if it is real but we should be careful." Drami said. "Wait." Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose. "If this information is real then it will be troublesome. Only Grain Leader Carmel could stop it." "A lot of people will die," Souta muttered. The [Titanous Victor Golem] was a war golem. It was a very powerful golem that was created for war. Its greatest strength lies in its humongous body. It has a height of one thousand meters. According to the information in the archive, its fighting power was equivalent to a Four Shackle Realm expert. It was slow but it has a tough defense and powerful attack damage. It also has dozens of wide-range attacks using energy. It was invented by the Divine Golem Creator thousands of years ago. It was a tool that can be used to wipe out weaker experts in an instant. "We should inform Grain Leader about it," Marcus said. "You are right. If the Tenth Grain War was caught off guard once again then we would suffer great casualties." Souta nodded. "As for the [Titanous Victor Golem], the Grain Leader could take it down. The only problem is that a lot of people will get caught up in the battle. Allies and enemies will be affected once the golem started to move." Marcus explained. "I''ll go." Souta suggested. "Are you sure?" Marcus asked as he looked straight into Souta''s eyes. "Yeah, I think I can help the other squadrons. In the worst-case scenario, I will have to use my release form." Souta said seriously. "But you are injured, Souta. Do you want some healing potions? I still have some here in my pocket." Drami asked while looking at his condition. "I have healing potions too." Souta patted the small bag on his waist. "I just didn''t use it because I want to use one of my abilities." "I see..." Drami didn''t force him anymore. "Okay, I''ll go now. Better check the surrounding. I''m sure that there are members of the Red Matter Association hiding in the dark." Souta said as he slowly floated in the air and then his body flashed toward the sky. Swoosh! A lot of people sensed his aura. They saw him flying in the direction of the Royal Palace. It didn''t matter even if the members of the Tenth Grain War or Red Matter Association detected him. He had to go to Grain Leader Carmel and inform him about the [Titanous Victor Golem]. As for whether someone will try to sneak attack him, Souta had [Crimson Perception]. He could easily sense if someone will approach him. It would be a different matter if a golem or undead will sneak attack him. Why did he volunteer to find the Grain Leader? Souta glanced at the system. It was a confirmation that the [Titanous Victor Golem] was here. *Ding!* [Side Quest Triggered]! [Rising Golem]: Prevent the activation of the Titanous Victor Golem. Time Limit: 10 minutes Rewards: 10 skill points, 15 free attribute points, 10,000,000 experience points This was only a side quest. It''s been a while since he got here on God''s Continent but he hasn''t activated a single chain quest. So he wouldn''t get cards this time. Souta shook his head and focused his attention ahead. He slowed down his speed as the aftershocks of the battle were getting stronger. He was close so he would naturally feel the intense vibration in the air. Thud! He landed on the ground and looked up. Ripples of energy were spreading above and violent energy sparks were flying in every direction. It was a terrifying sight. He turned his head left and right and battles were ongoing. Looking at the ground, he could see corpses of civilians. Corpses of elderly, adults, children, and babies were scattered. They couldn''t handle the fluctuations of energy so they collapsed on the spot. Smoke was rising in the remaining buildings while most of the houses had already collapsed burying countless people. He could even see the souls of these people. They didn''t even realize that they were dead. Crying in the corner while hugging their children as fear painted their faces. Hu~ Souta exhaled as he activated the equipment skill of his earring. He silently plundered thousands of souls in just a few seconds. Chapter 633: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Helping another squad Chapter 633: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Helping another squad ''Damn! It''s not easy to approach Grain Leader!'' Souta cursed silently. He couldn''t approach Grain Leader Carmel because of the intensity of the battle. Carmel was fighting four Three Shackles Realm experts alone with a huge handicap. He was injured and his strength had decreased because of the trap laid out by the Red Matter Association. Nevertheless, he still had the upper hand in the battle. ''So the [Titanous Victor Golem] is the reason why these people haven''t lost their confidence.'' Souta understood why the Red Matter was like that. He didn''t want to get caught up in the battle between Grain Leader Carmel and the experts of Red Matter. "I guess I should help another squad first. I only had ten minutes before the activation of [Titanous Victor Golem." He flew towards the nearest battle in this area. ... Shockwaves after shockwaves burst out destroying hundreds of buildings. Two figures were colliding in the sky. One was wearing a black robe while the other one was wearing bronze-colored armor. Below them, several people were fighting fiercely. "To think that Red Matter Association is prepared in this battle." The man wearing bronze-colored armor muttered in a low voice. He was the captain of Blue Waves Squad, a person at Two Shackles Realm. "Athen''s Champion. Don''t think that you can win this battle just because you had the upper hand. Nothing is certain when it comes to an all-out war." The person from Red Matter said before he charged toward the Captain of White Waves Squad. Boom!! The members of the White Waves Squad glanced at the sky. Their expression was awful. They felt that they had to end this quickly before they suffered more casualties. "Attack them! Focus your attention on the enemy before you! Don''t worry about our captain!" An elf shouted. He was the Vice-Captain of the White Waves Squad. "Vice-Captain is right! We should finish our opponents first!" One person said. The White Waves directly clashed with the members of Red Matter. Besides the captain, the White Waves had four One Shackle Realm and three S-rank experts. Their lineup was stronger than Blue Cross Squad. They were a First Class Blue Squadron. They were two ranks higher than Leilus'' squad. Actually, the White Waves brought five Shackle Realm experts to this mission. It''s just that one of them had died at the hands of Red Matter. Losing a One Shackle Realm greatly diminished the battle power of their squad. While everyone was fighting, countless webs spread out and a thick best feram shook the entire area. "W-What?!" Both White Waves and Red Matter were surprised at the development. They didn''t know where these webs came from but when they felt the best feram, their expression turned grim. "Monster?! Is there a monster in this city?!" The webs turned bloody red before it slashed out. Boom!! The members of the Red Matter were pushed back. They were caught off guard so they suffered a massive blow to their bodies. Some of them were injured heavily, luckily they managed to escape on time. "What happened?! It didn''t attack us!" One of the members of the White Waves was bewildered. "Have you forgotten that there''s a monster in our Tenth Grain War? He recently reached the fourth stage so he''s on par with us." The Vice-Captain said. "Oh, that guy that caused a commotion a few weeks ago." One of them remembered the commotion in the training ground. "Let''s use this chance. Attack the enemies!" The Vice-Captain ordered when he saw that the enemies were still confused. He quickly charged at them gathering a huge amount of mana in his saber. "AHHHH!!!" The other members of the White Waves followed their Vice-Captain. Boom! Dozens of meters away, Souta was observing the battle with narrowed eyes. The White Waves gained a huge advantage with his help so they would be able to finish their opponents faster. The only problem... Souta turned his head. Inside the range of his [Crimson Perception], four people entered and were approaching this direction. ''An enemy? I''m not sure as I can only sense their blood.'' His eyes quickly adjusted and his gaze zoomed in. What he saw made his brows knitted together. The four people weren''t from Athen''s Champion. Instead, they were from Red Matter. Two of them were One Shackle Realm while the remaining two were peak S-rank. Tsk! Souta clicked his tongue. He activated several combat arts and spells. What Saya called his Second Mode. He just used his [Elemental Drive] so he couldn''t use it carelessly this time. "Before they arrived I had to finish this." He brandished the vajra sword on his waist. To finish this battle quickly, Souta had to use one of his aces. [Hunting State]! [Serial Killing Steps]! A field expanded with Souta as the center. The [Hunting State] was a skill where he could choose five targets to decrease their movement speed by 20%. Using this skill, he chose Shackled Realm experts of the Red Matter including the one that was fighting against the Captain of the White Waves. As for the [Serial Killing Steps], this skill allows him to increase his speed by 20% and increase the effect of his other movement skill by 10%. It also boosted his backstab strike and stealth ability by 20%. In short, Souta was several times faster before while the speed of his target had slowed down. It was the equipment skill of [Solid Hunter State Boots]. Swoosh! Souta appeared beside one of the Shackled Realm experts of Red Matter. He quickly raised his sword as his monster orb and [Nebula Heart] pumped an enormous amount of energy. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]!! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]!! The Shackled Realm expert was too late. He only noticed that someone was beside him when the dense best feram fluctuated highly. He couldn''t react at all as his body was swallowed by a powerful lightning blade. BOOM!! Violent black lightning crackled as it spread out causing massive destruction in the area. A figure flew out of the explosion and crashed on the ground leaving a trail of smoke. ''He''s still alive? He''s tougher than the one before.'' Souta said inwardly. Although the enemy was still alive, that person couldn''t do anything to him. He was in a state of life and death. He was barely hanging on to his life. His mastery over Archetype had increased after his evolution so its strength had grown once again. He could literally one-shot weaker Shackled Realm like Eilish using Fifth Form. Unfortunately, Eilish was stronger than she was back then in the sub-world so she could probably last longer. "This is the end!" He pointed his sword at the enemy and a huge amount of energy gathered on the tip. Ohm! Black and white energy spun around before it expanded. In the next moment, it shrunk before it burst out sending a powerful beam. [Bestrou]! BOOM!! A powerful explosion occurred as a mushroom of smoke rose to the sky. A huge crater with a diameter of one hundred meters was left on the ground. ''He''s dead.'' Souta glanced at the system. He already received experience points from killing that man. He managed to kill that man in just a few seconds using the element of surprise. So this was the reason why Isabella said that she preferred assassination over head-on battle. Although he had a powerful attack, he wouldn''t be able to do this without the equipment skill of [Solid Hunter State Boots]. It gives him enough speed to quickly arrive behind that man before he notices Souta''s presence. Speed alone wasn''t enough. Souta didn''t have any stealth combat arts or spells but he could hide his aura inside his body so the increase of 20% in stealth made him less noticeable. The +20% back strike also made his Fifth Form stronger than normal. The man could even move or dodge because his speed have decreased by 20%. Also, a powerful gravity locked him in his position. Everything was perfectly executed. ''Damn! I have a talent in assassination.'' Souta rubbed his chin and he noticed someone in his perception. A person appeared behind him in the blink of an eye. Swoosh! The person swung a giant axe. Bang! He thought that he already caught Souta off guard but he was wrong. Thick layers of solid blood blocked his strike. The surface had cracks on it but blood continued to flow making the barrier more solid and bigger. "What the hell?!" He gritted his teeth. He was about to swing again when members of the White Waves attacked him. "Argh!! These despicable bastards!!" He tried to escape but he realized that both of his feet were wrapped in webs. "Shit!!" He cursed as he noticed that Souta was already looking at him with cold eyes. "You wouldn''t be able to kill me easily!!" He roared with burning fury in his eyes. Souta smiled and answered, "Yes, I know. That''s why I have my fellow warriors here." He knew that he wouldn''t be able to sneak attack once again. He just got lucky but that doesn''t matter anymore. With less Shackled Realm from the Red Matter''s side, the faster they would be able to finish this battle. A minute hasn''t even passed since Souta joined the battle and it already placed the enemy on the losing side. Chapter 634: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Its thrilling Chapter 634: Terror in Fone Kingdom: It''s thrilling "Attack together!!" The White Waves attacked the Shackled Realm expert of the Red Matter together. Various combat arts and spells were used at the same time. "Argh!!" The expert couldn''t hold it anymore. The barrier around him was full of cracks and it was going to collapse any second. "Break!" Souta slashed his sword horizontally and the barrier was shattered. Boom! Before the expert could react the Vice-Captain of the White Waves attacked once again. Boom! Boom! "For the final blow..." Souta went behind the experts and pierced his heart with his sword. Then, he pulled it and shot [Bestrou] at point-blank range. Boom! Another expert of the Red Matter had fallen. Souta exhaled and he glanced at the Vice-Captain. "Hey, I have something to tell you." He said. The Vice-Captain turned his head. He was wondering what Souta wanted to say. "What is it?" He asked. "Can you inform the other squads and Grain Leader that the Red Matter have [Titanous Victor Golem]?" Souta paused before he added, "We don''t have much time so I can''t explain it in full detail but I''m going to say that we capture some of the enemies and learned that they are preparing the [Titanous Victor Golem]." The Vice-Captain''s face turned into shock then he became serious. If Souta was right then he didn''t have any time to inquire for more details. "I want some people to investigate the area to find any link regarding the War Golem. We have to stop it at all cost no matter what happens." Souta said with a grave look. The Vice-Captain calmed himself before he nodded. "You are right. If there is really a [Titanous Victor Golem] here then it would cost us a lot if we didn''t stop its activation." "I''m glad that you understand." Souta sighed in relief. "I''ll help you kill one more Shackled Realm before I left." "That will help me a lot." The Vice-Captain said. Both of them charged ahead. The enemy already lost two One Shackle Realm experts so they had a huge advantage in terms of power. They just needed time before they could clean up the Red Matter. Souta used various skills to entrap the Red Matter while the Vice-Captain attacked with his subordinates, then Souta delivered the final blow. Just like that, another Shackled Realm died in his hand. ''They would be able to take a breath with this so I have to go now.'' Souta said inwardly. He turned to Vice-Captain. "I''ll go now. Send some of your people to inform the other squads." "I understand. Thanks for your help, warrior." The Vice-Captain nodded as he patted his chest. Souta flew away without looking back at the White Waves. He knew that the reinforcement of the Red Matter will arrive soon but he was going to leave those people to White Waves. He already helped them kill three One Shackle Realm experts. It was enough. Glancing at the system, he saw that he only had eight minutes left before the activation of the War Golem. He could shout to inform everyone about the golem but that would make the Red Matter focus their defense on the golem. It will become harder to stop it if that happens. It''s better if Athena''s warriors acted like they didn''t know about it. While some of them were trying to find its location. Huff~ Looking at the entire place, Souta recalled the event in Ladros City back then. The only difference was that the scale of battle in Ladros was higher than this one. At that time, he was just a person that could barely fight an A-rank. But now, he could even kill a One Shackle Realm expert without using all of his aces. Souta opened his palm and ten black energy spheres appeared. [Shadow Ball]! The energy spheres flew in every direction. "So where should I start it?" Souta was two hundred meters above the surface looking at the surrounding area. He had no idea where he could find the [Titanous Victor Golem]. ''They couldn''t hide a giant golem easily. The War Golem''s size was one thousand meters so the only place they could hide it was... Underground. It should be easy... The problem was the activation. The battles already scrape layers of earth in this place yet he hasn''t seen a single thing related to War Golem. Swoosh! He teleported to another place and continued to observe the area. If the War Golem was buried here then it would be deeper than he could imagine. There were craters with a fifty meters depth here yet he couldn''t find anything. The attacks from One or Two Shackles Realm experts wouldn''t be able to destroy a part of the War Golem. Only the Grain Leader has enough firepower to destroy it. A minute had passed and Souta had already teleported to five different places. This time, instead of observing, he decided to go underground himself. Swoosh! [Burrow]! He continued to dig the area with the help of his skill. When he passed one hundred meters, it was getting harder to dig. He could feel that the layers of rock were full of mana making it tougher. It left him no choice but to coat his hands with a huge amount of best feram. Bang! Souta fell and landed with a loud sound. He realized that there was a huge wide space here. "There''s a place like this here?" He muttered as he looked at the hole above. He was probably six hundred meters below the surface. "I think this is the right place." Souta tapped the walls with his hand. It was tougher than he imagined. It was probably enchanted with some sort of runes as it didn''t collapse even with the fierce battle above. There were only two paths before him. He glanced at the left side before he focused his attention on the right side. He could see mana flowing from this direction. It seems that there was a source coming from this direction. It would be great if it was the activation of the War Golem. Souta checked his body first. He could probably use [Element Drive] for three minutes and that''s already his maximum. He already used it when he fought three experts before so this was understandable. And he had six minutes left before the start... It was enough as long as he didn''t meet a person above his level. Well, he shouldn''t worry too much. This was only a side quest. This mission to annihilate the Red Matter already gives him three quests from the system. It was a good bargain. Unfortunately, the chain quest was what he wanted the most. Souta walked forward. His senses were heightened and his perception was trying to detect if there was anyone close to him. The information coming to his head every second was enormous. It will be hard to process it anymore if he tried to look through everything with his [Galaxy Eyes]. ''If you could use the tenth form then you wouldn''t have a problem with that.'' Saya said to him. Souta didn''t even hear Saya''s words as he was focused on the information he got through his perception. Suddenly, he stopped moving. "Three people... Two of them are at One Shackle Realm while the other one is at Two Shackles Realm." He muttered with a grave look. Two Shackles Realm. A level of Squad Leader like Leilus from Blue Cross Squad. It will be a tough battle. ''Should I try to call reinforcement first...'' Souta looked back and then glanced at the remaining time in the system. He closed his eyes and tried to feel the remaining [Shadow Ball] on the surface. But he couldn''t feel any of them anymore. His [Shadow Ball] was just an inferior-rank tier 2 spell. The buff from his class made it stronger but the shockwaves from above could easily destroy it. Even if he tried to hide it, the intense pressure in the atmosphere would destroy the black spheres. This was the reason why he could barely use it in a high-level battle. The aura of a One Shackle Realm expert alone would destroy the black sphere before it got away. It would be a different matter if he activated the equipment skill of [Yin Yang Bracelet] which could boost his dark attribute spells and combat arts by 500%. "Let''s do this..." Souta took a deep breath and seven humanoids rose from his shadows. [Doppelganger]! He sent three shadows above to call for reinforcement while the other four would help him in battle. These shadows only had 70% of his physical strength. They couldn''t even use his skills so the only thing they could do was to keep the enemies busy while he kills them one by one. "Good..." Souta dashed forward. He didn''t need to hide anymore. He was prepared to fight the three enemies ahead. Using his strength, he will try to finish it as soon as possible. While he was dashing, several skills were activated one by one. All the skills within the Second Mode. "It''s thrilling!" A grin formed on his face. Chapter 635: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Powerful elf Chapter 635: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Powerful elf The Fone Kingdom wasn''t the only place that became a battlefield between Athen''s Champion and Red Matter. Most of the cities, towns, and kingdoms that were around Mirror Lake simultaneously became a battlefield. In short, this entire region became a battlefield between two gigantic organizations. These kingdoms and cities were sandwiched. They were helpless as they could only watch civilians die one by one. They were too weak. Souta arrived at a huge wide space. It was unbelievably wide as the thing that lies before his eyes were none other than the [Titanous Victor Golem]. In front of this giant golem, he felt like he was just an ant. The golem was laying down with its back on the ground. There were various mechanical objects attached to every part of its body. In front of its head, there were three people preparing something unknown. But Souta could see that beside them were a bunch of first-rate mana essence. ''First-rate mana essence?! So it''s real...'' Souta was a little bit surprised. He calmed down as he saw the three people turn around to face him. He wasn''t hiding his aura at all so these people sense the best feram in the atmosphere. The energy that was pushing the mana away. "So there is a monster here? But how does a monster like this arrive in this place?" A man with long green-colored hair rubbed his chin. He had droopy eyes, a hook nose, and a pair of long-pointed ears. Souta grinned widely. He didn''t need to answer this man''s question. He could already see the things that he needed to destroy to stop the activation of the War Golem. "Go!" He said and the four shadows beside him pounced forward. Their target wasn''t the elf, it was the two people beside the elf. Ohm! A black mist slowly spread out of his body while the shadows beneath his feet grew larger. Hundreds of black tentacles rose from the shadows as the atmosphere turned cold. An ominous aura enveloped the entire place. "This monster didn''t want to talk. Judging from his attire, he''s a monster that had high intelligence." The elf said while looking at Souta with an amused look. "He''s attacking us without any explanation. Such a bad manner." Souta dashed forward with a wide smile on his face. Red energy enveloped the blade of the vajra sword. Boom! The elf raised his head while blocking Souta''s sword with a short dagger. "Let me introduce myself first. I''m Gremina, Gremina Vanti. People called me Future Cutter." A surge of mana exploded within his dagger and it pushed Souta several meters away. Boom! "What a funny nickname for an elf." Souta laughed as his aura grew stronger once again. The [Possession] was activated before he charged at the elf once again. "Keke! As expected of a fourth stage monster! You can understand me!" The elf laughed as he stepped forward. Boom! Both of their weapons collided causing shockwaves in the surrounding. "I want to play with you but I have to do something first." The elf said in a low voice while shifting his body to avoid Souta''s sword. Then, he stretched out his hand and grabbed the monster''s wrist. Souta tried to move away but the grip of the elf was stronger than he imagined. He used the power of gravity to push him away while the black tentacles strangled him. [Shadow Ball]! No, it was useless. It was shredded into pieces along with the black tentacles. Even the four shadows that were holding the other two experts were torn into tiny pieces. Boom! The elf was a person at Two Shackles Realm. He was many times stronger than One Shackle Realm. He just released his sharp energy and most of Souta''s skills were destroyed in an instant. Ugh! Souta suddenly felt a pain in his side. His eyes moved and saw his hand spinning in the mid-air. Then, his body flew away and crashed into the walls causing the place to tremble. "Finish him." The elf said before he turned around. The two people nodded at his words. One was a beast man while the other one was a female dwarf. Both of them were at One Shackle Realm. Ugh! Souta spat a mouthful of blood as he glanced at the two people in front of him. "Damn! That fucking hurts!" He stood up and cracked his neck. His hand slowly regenerated quickly, shocking the two people. His regeneration power was out of this world. "Eh~ this is not the end." Souta laughed as several layers of flesh covered his body. His aura flared up and it generated a powerful force that blow the rocks around him. [Hunting State]! [Serial Killing Step]! [Blessing of the God of Hunt]! Along with these three, he also activated the [Gravitational Ball] once again. It was included in the skills that the elf destroyed so he had to waste his energy to cast in once again. Four shadows rose behind him. The [Doppelganger] were active again. "I''m done with you guys." Souta gave the two people a cold look. Black and white energy gushed out of his body like a tsunami. Then, blood poured out and turned into armor. [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]! Swoosh! His figure vanished before the two''s eyes. They could barely follow him with their eyes. The beast man opened his eyes widely as he heard a loud sound explode beside him. Then, his comrade was flung away before beams of light and dark shoot her figure. Boom! "Shit!" Goosebumps appeared on his body as he tightened his fist. He quickly turned to his left side and crossed his arms. Bang! A powerful force landed on his arms and felt his bones cracking. His body flew like a rocket crashing into the thick walls. "Four minutes left." Souta muttered as he glanced at the system. He had to kill these two people first before he fight the elf. If he didn''t finish these two, there''s a chance that they would disturb him when he fought the elf. He didn''t want that to happen as a moment of distraction could lead to his defeat when fighting someone at Two Shackles Realm. Most of the members of the Red Matter in the Fone Kingdom were fighting the people from Athen''s Champion. They were lucky that they discovered the warriors of Athena first. The higher-ups of the organization knew that this day was coming so they were prepared. As for the [Titanous Victor Golem], Gremina didn''t know where did they get this kind of rare thing. Although he wanted an answer, all he had to do for now was to activate it and kill most of the warriors above. This golem was dispensable. After the golem exhausted the strength of the warriors, he would appear and kill them one by one. It was a good plan. ''Keke, the other groups are using the same thing... Athen''s Champion. Do they really think that we didn''t know their plan? Do they really think that we didn''t know that they are here to attack the main base?'' Gremina laughed inwardly. He looked up and thought that he should''ve asked some people to stay here. But he couldn''t underestimate the power of the Athen''s Champion. That''s why almost everyone went on the surface leaving the three of them here to activate the golem. "I''m finished..." He said with a satisfied look. Then, his expression turned serious as he looked behind. Countless webs were stuck everywhere and two of his comrades were wrapped. Their limbs were chopped hanging on the webs as blood kept dripping from their wounds. They were on their way to the afterlife. Their injuries were serious and they would die if not treated immediately. Looking at this scene, Gremina sighed. "These two are useless. No, I think they''ve underestimated this monster. It doesn''t matter anymore. I already finished the activation, the golem will wake up in just a few minutes." He raised his head and looked at the figure standing on the webs close to the ceiling. "Keke, an intermediate-level fourth stage." He took out a small device from his pocket and pressed the button. A strong barrier formed on the machinery behind him. He knew that if this monster used his release form, then the aftershocks of the battle would be dangerous. It could potentially disturb the activation. Black mist covered the monster. Gremina moved his eyes to the spot several meters away in the northeast. It was covered in black mist but he could sense the best feram coming from that place. "Here." He dashed while taking out the short dagger that he used before. This dagger was an inferior quality red grade. He got this dagger from exploring a dungeon after he killed all the monsters living inside it. ''This guy isn''t going to buy time? He wanted to fight me in an all-out battle even though he could just wait for the golem.'' Souta was a little bit surprised. A huge smile formed on his face. He couldn''t hide his excitement. "I like it. If you want to fight, then I''ll give you a battle that you want." Chapter 636: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Youre not from Red Matter Chapter 636: Terror in Fone Kingdom: You''re not from Red Matter In an underground labyrinth in the depths of the Mirror Lake. "Master, the preparations are complete." There was a round table with thirteen people sitting around it. The atmosphere around the spacious room was eerie. "Vandal will not be able to stop me this time." A middle-aged man with slick back black hair and a pair of tiger ears said in a cold tone. He was the leader of the Red Matter Association, Avron Hallsmein. The twelve people sitting around him were all his subordinates that he gathered throughout his journey. Right now, they were preparing to fight their enemy, the Third Set of Pallas Division from Athen''s Champion. It will be a tough battle for them but they had to win this battle no matter what. This will be their only chance. "Our people wouldn''t be able to hold the main force of the Third Set for a long time." A woman said while looking at him. Avron glanced at her. "It''s fine. As long as they buy us some time then everything will be set in stone. We will not let their sacrifice be in vain." "We''ve received support from other organizations but I don''t think that we could trust them." A man wearing knight armor said. "We only trust ourselves. We can''t trust them but we also can''t deny the fact that the deal that they propose to us is beneficial to our plan. If they want to use us then we''ll use them too. It''s all for the sake of achieving my dream." Avron said with burning eyes. His tone was filled with desire. ... "Hmph! I didn''t think that this would happen today." Alexander snorted as he looked down at the corpses beneath his feet. He had already defeated twelve people at the level of Peak S-rank. He mercilessly killed all the people that tried to harm him. It was nothing but self defense. He didn''t want to initiate an attack because he didn''t want to involve himself in the battle between two giant organizations. But what could he do? The people from Red Matter Association kept coming and attacked every people that didn''t belong to their group. "They are just trying to make every people here become their enemies. They probably resolve themselves and made proper arrangements." Alexander turned around and narrowed his eyes. His two subordinates were still fighting One Shackle Realm experts from Red Matter. "I don''t want to advance to Shackled Realm as I want to master some technique first but if it comes down to it... I will have no choice but to break one shackle." His figure disappeared. He knew that this kingdom wouldn''t be able to rise again so he had to finish some of his business here. He will leave this place later. Several hundreds of meters away from his previous location, Alexander arrived in front of a mansion. This mansion was the mansion of the Dreyfus Family. He looked around and found traces of battle everywhere. He couldn''t also sense people nearby him. "It seems that they already left." He muttered as he entered the mansion. He went into the secret chambers of the Dreyfus Family that were only known by previous family heads. It was a small land with a ten-meter tall tree and a pond beside it. He focused his attention on the tree. Precisely, the fruits hanging on it. A super legendary high-grade mana fruit called Vine Weaver. The Divine Phaseless Fruit that Souta got from the sub-world was also a super legendary high-grade mana fruit. If it was easy to acquire this type of fruit then almost every powerhouse would have light and dark attributes. The mana fruit was divided into different ranks. The common, uncommon, rare, super rare, legendary, and mythical. And the quality of each mana fruit was divided into four grades. Low, mid, high, and perfect grades. As for the Vine Weaver fruit. It was a fruit with a huge amount of energy inside it. Once eaten, it could increase the energy output, energy capacity, and smooth energy flow of a person. The energy inside the fruit could blow an expert at B-rank. So only people at A-rank and above could consume it. If an expert potion master processes this fruit, they could maximize the effect of Vine Weaver fruit to create a potent potion. "Two fruits? It''s enough for me." Alexander took the two fruits hanging on the tree. Boom! Suddenly, the ground shook heavily as dominating best feram bore down. Ugh! He fell to his knees and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. The pressure quickly disappeared just like how it suddenly appeared. "What was that?!" He muttered in shock. He looked up and found that the entire secret chamber was going to collapse at any second. His heart was beating wildly as he couldn''t help but remember the pressure he felt just now. That best feram... Based on his experience in his past life, the pressure comes from a monster that reached the pinnacle of fifth stage. A level close to monster lord. But how? There''s no fifth-stage monster here. The pressure alone was even stronger than normal fifth stage monster. It was terrifying as he almost fainted because of it. He trained his body intensely in the past and acquired an ability to resist high-intensity energy pressure but it was useless in front of the best feram just now. "A lot of things are happening in this kingdom." A few minutes ago... ''This guy didn''t want to buy time? Did he really think that he could kill me easily?'' Souta smirked before he waved his other hand. Countless blood-red webs formed a huge net, blocking all the escape routes of the elf called Gremina. "Keke, I''ll take everything that you''ve got." Gremina laughed. His hands blurred and powerful gust of winds swept out. He cut tens of thousands of webs in just a blink of an eye. Swoosh! He pulled back his hand and energy swirled around his dagger. "Take it more seriously or else it will cost you your life." Energy surged from his body as wind and water flew in every direction. [Dual Element Drive: Wind and Water Force]! Boom! Boom! Boom! Souta and Gremina exchanged blows thousands of times. Even though Souta had debuffed Gremina''s speed and buffed his own speed, Gremina was still several times faster than him. In terms of overall stats, Gremina was higher than him. The only thing that kept Souta was the versatility of his abilities. Bang! Bang! Gremina swung his dagger and Souta raised his sword to block it. Bang! Souta gritted his teeth as a powerful force shook his body. A ring-shaped shockwave exploded from the impact, turning his body into a stream of light, and crashing into the wall. Crackle!! Gremina wanted to finish Souta but he quickly looked up as he felt something wrong. He saw a sea of black lightning crackling on the ceiling. "Keke, this is quite dangerous." Black lightning rained down endlessly. Sounds of explosions echoed everywhere as Gremina blocked all the lightning strikes. Some of the lightning landed on Souta''s body, coating his energy body in dark sparks. "Let me break you!" Souta laughed as souls flowed into his body. It powered up every cell in his entire body making him more ominous. [Soul Blood Mode]! Pointing his sword ahead, Souta dashed with incredible speed. The black lightning that was raining down couldn''t even damage him. In fact, it was a fuel that boosted his strength to a higher level. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [Sixth Form: Piercing Thunder Strike]! Then, he added blood to the blade of his sword. The next moment, dark and light energy smoothly flowed inside it. [Bestrou]! "I don''t think that you could still laugh after this..." Souta thrust his sword forward and blinding light erupted. Saya still had to help him control this energy. Although he could combine these attacks with the help of his blood, he still couldn''t master it completely. BOOM!! The ground shook heavily as an energy explosion filled the entire area. A bunch of machines was turned into dust and debris of rocks started to fall from the ceiling. The underground area was going to collapse soon. Souta narrowed his eyes as he saw Gremina''s figure. He had bruises on his body and his clothes were torn. The left part of his chest was visible and there was a purple snake tattoo on it. Gremina looked at him and said, "You could even damage an orange-grade equipment with that attack. The worse thing is you haven''t even used your release form." "You! You''re not from Red Matter Association?!" Souta stared at the tattoo on Gremina''s chest. "Oh," Gremina looked down and saw the tattoo on his chest. "What should I do? I can''t let other people know about it! You''re stronger than what I imagined but I have to kill you now!" Goosebumps appeared on Souta''s body. He felt a very intense killing intent from Gremina. He was about to use his release form when... "I can''t allow you to live anymore. I''ll end this now." The smile on Gremina''s face disappeared. Chapter 637: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Future Cutter Chapter 637: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Future Cutter Souta designated this man, Gremina, the most dangerous Two Shackles Realm expert that he saw. He was stronger than the average squad leader from Athen''s Champion by a lot. His instinct as a monster was screaming. He should run away as far as possible from this man. If Souta really couldn''t handle this man then he would run away. Using his release form at this moment would only weaken him in the next battle. This was just a side quest. This was just the first battle so he couldn''t use his release form carelessly. He would have to fight Three, Four, or Five Shackles Realm experts when they raided the main base of the Red Matter Association. Completing that quest was much more important than this side quest. The release form of fourth stage was several times stronger than third stage monsters. But that cheat skill has side effects on his body, especially since he just evolved a few weeks ago. Just like how he felt exhausted when he used the release form when he just reached the third stage back then. The side effects slowly disappeared as he advanced through the third stage reaching intermediate, high, and peak stages. The same could be said to the fourth stage. So the side effect was still strong at his current level. It was much stronger than that time. This was the reason why the current release form could be only used in emergency situations. If he couldn''t run away from this elf, then he would use it to save his life. This was the first battle. A clean-up for the upcoming war in Mirror Lake. If he was exhausted or weakened then he wouldn''t be able to contribute to promote their squadron. Also, there''s a huge chance that he wouldn''t receive any cards as a reward. As for this side quest, the rewards were fixed. He would only receive skill points, attribute points, and experience points. There''s nothing more and less. That''s why using his ace this early will be a loss for him in the upcoming battle. ''You should run away.'' Saya suggested. Even Saya could feel the dangerous aura around Gremina. ''But it''s your responsibility to stop the activation of the golem. The Tenth Grain War will suffer huge casualties but it will be hard to do so if that elf is blocking our path.'' Saya said. ''Yeah, it will be difficult. I wanted to contribute high in the main battle to raise my achievements so I can''t use my release form.'' Souta said to her as he slowly took a step back. ''Promotion of your squad, huh? If you want to prevent more casualties then you should go all out, but it also means that you will not be able to participate in the main battle. You will only become a backup personnel if you got exhausted in fighting here.'' Saya said. ''I''m sorry for the others but I still think that I should run for now.'' Souta was rooted on the spot. A dangerous aura was creeping on his body. "I''m sorry but you have to die right now. I can''t let anyone know where I''m from." Gremina said in a cold tone. "Who are you? And why are you in Red Matter Association?" Souta asked even though he already knew the answer. The purple snake tattoo on the elf''s chest was familiar to him. It was the cult and believers of Yamata no Orochi. A powerful and sealed monster lord that once suffered a defeat at the hands of Susanoo. The Eight Serpent Cult. They only had one goal. And that was to unseal Yamata no Orochi. "You don''t need to know, monster. Or do you want me to call you warrior of Athena?" Gremina said as he stepped forward. "You can use your release form but I don''t think that will work." "What do you mean?" Souta narrowed his eyes. No matter how strong this elf is, in the end, he''s still a person at Two Shackles Realm. Souta estimated that he could even fight someone at higher stages of Two Shackles Realm with his release form. If he added his [Yin Yang Bracelet], then he could probably fight this elf till the end. The only thing that worried him... was the unknown sensation that he felt. It was strange and weird. He could hardly explain it. "You probably think that you can fight me in your release form. That''s right, you can fight me alone so you''re not wrong but I have an ability that let me defeat someone at a higher level than me." Gremina explained. "Using this ability, I killed someone at Fifth Shackles Realm before." It was absurd. A Two Shackles Realm killing someone at Fifth Shackles Realm was insane. Especially, since both of them were at their peak. Souta only managed to kill someone at SSS-rank because of the side effects from sealing Teacher Bargan. Their stats had degraded and they lost all of their energy. Even the protective field that was preventing lower-level people to harm them was gone. But Gremina was saying that he killed someone at SSS-rank without all those advantages like Souta. It was impossible but Souta could tell that he wasn''t lying. His [Galaxy Eyes] was telling him that Gremina wasn''t lying to him. All the words that come out of his mouth were the truth. "I''ll let you know why they called me Future Cutter!" A huge amount of energy burst out of Souta''s body. He tried to escape but unknown energy hold his body on the spot. His eyes lose its light and his senses slowly disappeared. ''Souta! Souta! What happened to you?! Hey! Can you hear me?!'' Saya anxiously shouted. Her partner couldn''t hear her anymore. No matter how much she shouted it was useless. It was like Souta was unconscious. Ohm! A portal appeared above Souta''s head. ... Chaos was everywhere in the Fone Kingdom. Battles were rampant and countless people had died. The battle between Red Matter and Athen''s Champion killed countless innocent people. Some of the civilians managed to evacuate on time. They were hiding in a place that only they know. They were scared. They were waiting for the battle to finish. It doesn''t matter who wins anymore. They just wanted to finish the battle as soon as possible or else the people that will die will only increase. Boom!! A powerful aura swept out in the entire kingdom. People below B-rank collapsed instantly. The pressure was heavy and without enough power, they couldn''t withstand it. They could only die. As for the people from B-rank to S-rank. They could barely hold on to their senses. Their bodies couldn''t move no matter how much they tried. It was like death was hanging on their head. "W-What the hell?!" "I can''t move!!" "Ugh! This is..." Carmel, who was fighting the four Three Shackles Realms of Red Matter, suddenly stopped moving. He looked around with widely opened eyes. "This is a pressure from a fifth stage monster?!" Even the experts from Red Matter Association stopped moving. They were wary about the powerful monsters that suddenly appeared. A monster at fifth stage. Only people at SSS-rank and Hero-rank had the right to stand in front of it. In other words, unless a person was above Three Shackles they couldn''t hope to stop a monster of this level. Killing it was also impossible. They needed a party of SSS-rank. As for the high-level and peak-level fifth stage, Hero-rank was needed. ... "Future Cutter is my nickname and ability at the same time." Gremina looked at the unconscious Souta in front of him. Then, he stared at the huge portal above. "I have the power to cut someone''s future. So, I will summon your future from five years ahead and slay it with my own hands." ''Future? This is a dangerous technique! He''s trying to divide the time and create a separate world for it. The Imperium will not tolerate it.'' Saya said inwardly. She then recalled that the rules were broken. The inhabitants of this world had the right to create new rules. At the very least, this ability should have a huge backlash. Gremima''s aura grew stronger. He was going to slay Souta''s future self. Five years ahead, so he would also gain a power five years from the future. Boom! His aura grew stronger and it eventually reached Six Shackles Realm. He was only a Two Shackles Realm at this moment but five years later he would gain this power. So he was quite happy with his potential. With only this, he didn''t have the power to slay his opponent''s future self. But his ability had other effects. Alongside with the power of his future, he will gain a plus one thousand percent boost in his overall power. This was the reason why he could slay someone''s future. This ability had a lot of limitations. Like how he couldn''t summon a future of a god. He had another limitation. Using this ability lets Gremina borrow power from his future self too. So if he chooses ten years and his future in that time was god, he couldn''t borrow it. The same could be said if he''s opponent were god in that time. He would detect it so he will adjust the time. He would suffer a huge backlash from trying to borrow or summon a god. His existence would disappear. That''s why he was only choosing one to five years of time. He was cautious. "Now, let me slay your future self," Gremina said as he looked at the sleeping figure that appeared above Souta''s head. Chapter 638: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Cleaning Chapter 638: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Cleaning The figure above Souta was sleeping with its hands folded in front of its chest. "Just what kind of monster?" Gremina narrowed his eyes. The monster was a humanoid. Its skin tone was dark and it had a horn protruding on the center of its forehead. There''s also a pair of gray-colored horns above its pointed ears. It had a long deep-red hair that was tied in a ponytail behind its back. It was wearing a long black coat and black pants of the same color. It has black nails and crimson fur covered both of its wrists. "It doesn''t matter anymore. I''ll kill him quickly." Gremina stepped forward as he tightly held the dagger in his hand. It was strange but his hands were trembling. With the power of his future self and a boost of one thousand percent, he was a hundred times stronger than before. He guess that he could fight someone at Seven Shackles Realm if he wanted in his current state. Unfortunately, this power could only be used against the future of his opponents. He slightly bent his knees and charged a huge amount of mana on his dagger. This was his advantage. He could freely attack his opponent''s future self first as they were unconscious. It would use this chance to kill this monster. If not, then heavy injuries would be enough for him. "Die!!" Gremina roared as he pounced at the sleeping figure. The energy twisted violently as the entire area shook along with it. BOOM!! The energy exploded and a ripple burst from the center of the impact. Waves of energy swept out one after another. The force behind the attack caused an impact on the surface. The Fone Kingdom felt a strong earthquake in its entire territory. It feels as if it''s going to sink at any second. The power of a Six Shackles Realm boosted by one thousand percent was indeed terrifying. It wasn''t a simple boost in stats. His energy and physical damage had also increased by one thousand percent. Even his resistance had been boosted to the limit. Also, his affinity, combat arts, and spells were included in the boost. He could literally one-shot people above his power level. Gremina was satisfied with his power. Using this secret ability of his, he could even defeat creatures above him. The only problem was the backlash using this power. Advancing time in a strange way caused him his lifespan and energy. He would be weakened for a whole month and he wouldn''t be able to use this ability again for a whole year. The aftershocks of his attack could''ve killed Souta, who was only at the beginning of fourth stage, but Souta had already fused with his future just like how Gremina borrowed the power from the future. But there was one thing he didn''t expect... He saw his dagger stop near Souta''s neck. "How?!" He was shocked when he saw it. It was different from what he imagined. His most powerful attack didn''t even land on the body of the monster in front of him. Souta slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of pure red eyes. If one will look closely, one will find that there were four pupils inside the human eyes. "Hmm...?" His eyes landed on Gremina. Gremina shivered when Souta looked at him. He didn''t know why but he felt like he was standing in front of an apex predator. His body was shivering uncontrollably. He couldn''t even attack nor run even if he wanted to. It was as if someone was grabbing his entire body, preventing him from moving. "W-What...?! T-This is not an ordinary fifth stage?!!!" He said with great effort. Beads of sweat were forming on his body. He loses his confidence instantly. He hasn''t encountered something like this in his entire life. The monster in front of him was extremely dangerous. "Yamata no Orochi''s servant dared to kill me? Do you know me, puny elf?" Souta''s voice echoed. It sounded like different creatures were speaking at the same time. It was eerie and creepy, but it contained enormous power that made Gremina fall to his knees. "Y-You! H-How did you know... my m-master''s name...?" Gremina said with great effort as blood slowly poured out of his nose and eyes. It felt like his organs were being drilled inside out. "I''m a Serpent Bearer! You should know your place, elf!" Souta''s voice directly resounded in Gremina''s head. He gritted his teeth as he felt that his brain was going to explode at any moment. Suddenly, Souta looked at the ceiling and narrowed his eyes. "The Imperium is looking at us. It''s observing us. Apparently, your ability summon a creature you shouldn''t have summoned." "W-What do you mean?" "You shouldn''t have used this ability on me. After this event, you will lose this ability. The future is unknown yet you tried to open it. Even the Ieshi Clan could only see a path of it yet you... Because the things that they are afraid of will come to us." "I can''t understand..." Gremina held his head with both of his hands. "It''s fine. Imperium is the focal point of our universe. It''s the one holding both the future and past along with the present. It is singular. A parallel line. An ever expanding space." Souta slowly raised his hand and pointed his finger at Gremina. "N-No, I... I don''t want to die... Please..." Gremina knew what was going to happen next. "You overstep your boundary." Souta said coldly as an enormous amount of best feram exploded out of his body. "At the very least, let me refine your body." Various tentacles-like flesh burst out. The flesh was covered in blood as it rushed towards Gremina. "N-No!!!!" Gremina looked at it in horror as the tentacles swarmed around him. The tentacles mass carpeted the several dozens of meters as it skewered everything in sight. It was full of blood and flesh, continuously writhing and wriggling. It was a terrifying sight. All of it happened in just a second. Everything happened too fast. The pressure disappeared along with the mass of flesh and blood like a bubble that pop-out of thin air. The only thing that was left was a red marble on Gremina''s previous spot. It was glistening with unbound power. "As far as I know time ability isn''t effective against gods. Time couldn''t affect a body that transcends mortality." Souta walked forward and picked out the red marble. "Saya." ''You... Are you really, Souta?'' Saya asked carefully. The Souta right now was different from the Souta that she knows. Although he tried to hide it, Saya could feel the unbound savageness hidden in his heart. It was filled with malice and hostility against everyone. "I... Yeah, I''m Souta. I don''t have enough time so advise myself to give this to Isabella." Souta said as he placed the red marble inside his pocket. Saya didn''t say anything. She just kept silent observing his attitude. It feels different so she didn''t know how to approach Souta. Souta looked at the sword hanging on his waist. After a while, he opened his mouth. "I... I''ve missed you. Let me give you some advice... Don''t protect me anymore. I don''t want him to end up the same as me." ''Same as you?'' Saya asked carefully. "I''ve become an enemy of the whole world. I''ve established a great empire and most of the gods are hunting me." Souta paused for a moment before he added, "Tragedy will happen in the near future... No matter what happens, don''t protect him. I don''t want him to lose his Saya. Just kept on guiding him like you always do." His tone was filled with bitterness. Shortly after, he sighed as he slowly raised his hand. "I''ll disappear soon so before I vanish, I will clean up this entire kingdom." Souta made a grabbing motion. A cold energy surge upwards, sweeping every corner of the kingdom. It was terrifying as every member of the Red Matter Association was frozen in ice in the blink of an eye. In the blink of an eye, a powerful lineup of Red Matter Association in the Fone Kingdom died without them knowing the cause. [Great Frost Aura]! "I''ve cleaned up everything. Don''t forget my words... Lynn... Protect... You can''t tell Souta about it or else his body will..." Souta couldn''t even finish his sentence before he fell on the ground. The whole underground base was shaking nonstop. Debris of rocks was falling one after another. "Hmm? What the hell happened here?!" Souta returned to his senses. His eyes were filled with confusion as he didn''t have any idea what transpired here. Even the quests were completed without him knowing anything. ''Saya, are you here?!'' He asked. ''Oh, yeah, I''m here.'' Saya snapped out of her thoughts. ''What happened here?'' Souta asked. ''...I don''t know who did this but someone helped us...'' Saya said. Souta moved his body to the side as a meter-size boulder fell on his previous position. Bang! "I want to know what happened but I''ll ask the details later," Souta said before he left. Chapter 639: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Another Chapter 639: Terror in Fone Kingdom: Another Souta arrived on the surface. The underground base had collapsed, burying the [Titanous Victor Golem]. He finished the quest and all the members of the Red Matter Association in the Fone Kingdom have died mysteriously. They just felt an aura of a pinnacle fifth stage monster and all of a sudden, everything was finished. It was indeed a terrifying experience. Souta found the Blue Cross Squad and asked them about the things that happened. Just like him, they didn''t have any idea too. "What the hell happened?" He narrowed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. The good thing about this was that he completed two quests without him knowing anything. He sat on the corner and looked at the sky, feeling exhausted. Suddenly, he felt something in his pocket. He took it out only to find a small pure red marble. It was glistening and inside it contained enormous energy. "What is this?" He muttered to himself as he carefully observed it. ''While you were unconscious, I found it so I decided to bring it with you. I think you should let Isabella examine it.'' Saya said to him. "Oh, I see..." Souta raised his eyebrows. He could tell that Saya was lying to him with his [Galaxy Eyes]. "Saya, tell me the truth... What really happened while I was unconscious?" He asked in a serious manner. He didn''t understand why Saya had to lie to him. ''I... I can''t tell you... It''s something really to a huge casualty. It''s not that I don''t want to tell you, it''s just that I can''t.'' Saya explained. "So you''re saying that something is preventing you from telling me what happened?" ''That''s the gist of it. The time is preventing me from saying anything related to it. I''m just a consciousness so I''m bound by it. If I have my previous body then this is nothing to me.'' Saya said to him. "I see..." Souta nodded at her. This time, she was telling him the truth. Even though she couldn''t tell him the truth, he still wanted to know. He was curious about how did this happen in the first place. All he could remember was that Gremina used his strongest ability and fell unconscious after that. ''The one from before is Souta from five years... He just evolve into the fourth stage a few weeks ago and in just five years he will reach the peak of the fifth stage. It''s unbelievably fast.'' Saya said inwardly. ''Also, it''s too powerful. It''s several times stronger than a pinnacle fifth stage monster.'' What she didn''t know was that considering the system, it was reasonable that Souta reached the fifth stage in five years. It was short but it''s also not too long. Souta reached level 60 in just two years. It was harder to level up above level 60, so it will take a lot of time if he wanted to reach level 80, the fifth stage. Well, since he reach the pinnacle of fifth stage, its level was definitely higher than level 80. ''I don''t know if it''s bad or not. He said that I shouldn''t protect him. He will face a tragedy in the near future. Just what did he experience to have that kind of face.'' Saya observed Souta''s face while in deep thought. Souta looked at the system and opened his eyes widely. He saw countless notifications, seemingly endless. ''I...'' He killed tens of thousands of people and most of them were normal people. The citizens of Fone Kingdom were killed by him? But how? He looked around with a pale expression. His eyes saw countless grieving souls around. Although he killed innocent people before, he was trying to avoid killing them. That was his bottom line. He was trying to avoid this as he felt that he would become someone else if he carelessly killed innocent people. His monster instinct would eat his emotion and he would become a mindless monster. He wouldn''t be able to think properly if that happens. ''I...'' Souta walked around and looked at the corner. He saw a woman holding a young girl in her arms. Both of them were dead and it seems that they died because of intense energy pressure. His eyes pierced through the surrounding area and saw a bunch of corpses. Their cause of death was all the same. "I''m sorry..." Souta closed his eyes and sighed deeply. He didn''t know how, but the system was telling him that he was the one that killed these people. ''I need to clear my mind...'' Huff! ''I can still do this.'' He shook his head. After a while, he opened his eyes. He needed to think about something else. ... In the outskirts of Mirror Lake. The main force just finished the people of the Red Matter Association that was trying to stop them. "They are just buying time." Vandal said as he looked at the Mirror Lake. "I have the same thoughts, Chief. I don''t know what they are planning but we should prepare ourselves. I think it''s better if we fight them as soon as possible before our enemies finished their preparation." A woman with long yellow hair said. She was the Vice-Chief of the Third Set of Pallas Division, Shirley De Guann. "We''ve suffered some casualties this time but we can still fight the Red Matter with our forces." Vandal said. "What about the Grains that we sent to the surrounding kingdoms?" Shirley asked. "Have you read the report already?" Vandal looked at her. Shirley shook her head. "No, sir." "I see... They are fighting the members of the Red Matter Association. It''s a huge battle as three [Titanous Victor Golem] appeared in different cities. Our side suffered huge casualties this time." "[Titanous Victor Golem]?!" "Yes, that was what they said in the report. It''s hard to believe it but our troops encountered those so-called War Golems." "That''s quite a problem. Only a Grain Leader can match a War Golem''s strength." Shirley rubbed her chin. "We''ll gather everyone here in the next two hours. After that, we''ll proceed to Mirror Lake. Our support from the Fourth Set and Sky Avenue will narrow their encirclement after we proceed." Vandal explained. "You must be aware that Red Matter isn''t moving alone, Chief?" Shirley asked. "Yes, that''s why we asked the Fourth Set and Sky Avenue to support us. Also, the Red Matter Association will not make a big movement like this one without someone supporting them." Vandal paused for a moment before he continued, "This is the reason why this mission is important. It will lead us to a bigger event that could endanger a lot of people." "It''s really strange that a lot of organizations like Red Matter Association are making a move. Even the other Divisions are busy taking care of other troubles. Not just us, even the other legions are moving to fight those organizations. I think that if we didn''t take care of it, it will cause a huge war." Shirley said her opinion. "The happenings in the continent are getting more and more chaotic. Sooner or later, Division Commander will have to make an appearance. Even gods could show themselves if things get more worse." Vandal said in a grave tone. He had a bad feeling about these events. First, was the demon invasion. And now they had to care about these hidden organizations. At the very least, the situation here wasn''t as bad as in the southern part of the continent, where demons ravaged dozens of countries. ... "I don''t know what happened but all the members of the Red Matter Association in the Fone Kingdom have died," Carmel said in a loud voice. He looked at the aftermath of the battle and said, "What''s left is this ruined land. I don''t think the Fone Kingdom could rise once again after this." The squads of the Tenth Grain War were all standing in front of him, listening to his words. Some of them were injured and full of blood but all of them had a serious look on their face. This situation was serious. They didn''t have time to joke around. Their members had died too in this battle. As for the Fone Kingdom, although it was unfortunate, they couldn''t do anything about it. The members of the Red Matter Association weren''t the only ones that died from the strange incident just now, most of the citizens of this kingdom couldn''t handle the intense pressure of the best feram that appeared. The pressure directly killed all the people with low power levels. Souta was with the Blue Cross Squadron. While listening to Grain Leader Carmel, he was checking his system. He just finished two quests and earned 20 skill points. It was good. But another quest had pop-up. [Red Matter Association]: The Third Set is going to confront the Red Matter soon. Help them destroy the organization and discover its connection with the Third Set. Rewards: 10 skill points, 40 free attribute points, 10 million experience points, and 2 random cards. ''Oh, a card? It''s a pretty good reward. I don''t think this is going to be an easy mission.'' Souta muttered inwardly as he glanced at Carmel. Chapter 640: Preparation Chapter 640: Preparation Inside a dark room... A man was resting on a sofa with a book on top of his face. He had a long brown coat with fur on its collar and a white long sleeve with its button undone underneath it. His long pants had star patterns carved on them. In his hands, there were several rings around his finger and a pair of silver bracelets on his wrist. This man was the leader of the Red Matter Association, Avron Hallsmein. Avron suddenly snapped out of his dream. The book fell on the floor with a loud sound causing him to stare at it. His forehead was covered in sweat and his breath was ragged. He massaged his temples, clearly remembering the content of his dream. "That dream again..." He stretched out of his and picked a black glasses on top of the table. Then, he took a bottle of wine before drinking it. Gulp! "Ugh! I..." He was irritated. He always dreamed of what happened to him in the past and before of this, he couldn''t sleep properly. It was a nightmare that he wanted to forget but at the same time, he couldn''t. "I''ll take them down no matter what... Vandal, you wouldn''t be able to stop me this time." He muttered while gritting his teeth. He drank the wine again until he emptied the bottle. Gulp! Throwing the bottle on the side, he stood and approached the other table. A grin formed on his face and it slowly turned into a laugh. "Gararara!!" He laughed like a madman. "I''ll drag them down! This land! This place!" Veins pop-up on his forehead as he stepped forward and stared at the window. There''s a huge sparkling city outside the window. It was an underground city with countless people of different races living within. "Everything will become clear soon." ... Souta and the rest of the Tenth Grain War had two hours to rest before they join the main force of the Third Set. "What do you plan to do with your family, Sekma?" Souta asked Sekmet. The rest of the members of the Blue Cross turned their heads and looked at her. They wanted to know her answer. "I don''t know. Honestly, I''m not really close to them. They could go to another city or kingdom to build a household. I think that''s the best for them." Sekmet said with a sigh. "I don''t know what''s your parent''s attitude but they are nobles. I think they will use your name and your backing to set up a foundation." Souta said. "I''m not a great person in Athen''s Champion. Also, that''s not how it works in the legion. The legion will not support our family. You should know that." Sekmet shook her head. Of course, Souta know what she was talking about. Athena promised that she will give him a territory. But whether he could protect it or not, was all up to his abilities. If it was snatched by other people, the Athen''s Champion wouldn''t help him retake it. The same could be said for other warriors that received territory and title as their rewards. The legion didn''t care if they wanted to build their own force or not as long as they remember that in the end, they belonged to Athen''s Champion. "We''ve participated in this mission. I think that if you want you can request a change of reward to our Grain Leader." Souta said. "I don''t plan on doing that. I''ve risked my life in this mission so the reward should be for myself. I will exchange my achievements for some combat skills and resources to boost my combat prowess." Sekmet paused before she continued, "I''m a warrior now, not a noble." "Don''t think badly of them. Don''t disregard your identity as noble. Even some nobles near the main city are powerful enough to defeat us." Leilus said. The main city was the Champion''s Den, where millions of warriors gathered together to join a legion. It was one of the biggest city in this land aside from a god''s city. "That''s the main city. Don''t compare the nobles close to the main city to a noble of an unknown kingdom." Sekmet said as a matter of fact. This was the truth. An unknown kingdom like the Fone Kingdom could be destroyed anytime and the people from the main city wouldn''t even hear it. "I see... It''s all up to you. At the very least, they are you still have your family with you." Souta turned around and waved his hand. "I''m leaving for a while. I wanted to find that Alexander guy. He piqued my interest." "Oh, that guy? He''s unbelievably strong for a peak solidifying realm. He''s even stronger than me and Sekma, who trained in the Athen''s Champion." Paolo raised his eyebrows. "Is that true?" Leilus turned his head to Paolo and Sekmet. Sekmet nodded. Both her and Paolo were at the peak of solidifying realm yet when they saw Alexander''s battle prowess, they felt that he was in a different league. "Yep, I saw his battle, and all I could say is that he''s a rare talent. I think no one among all peak solidifying realm in legion could defeat that guy." Drami said while raising both of her hands. "He is an amazing guy." "That is really interesting... No wonder why Souta wanted to meet that man." Marcus said in a low voice. "So Souta wanted to recruit that Alexander guy?" Leilus asked. The rest of his comrades nodded in response to his question. ... ''Saya, what do you think of that Alexander?'' Souta asked. He continued to fly but Saya still didn''t reply to his question. He glanced at the sword on his waist and asked once again. After a few seconds, he still hasn''t heard her voice. ''Saya?! Saya?!'' He shouted. ''Oh, what is it, Souta?'' Saya asked. ''You... Nevermind.'' Souta shook his head. He felt that she was out of her character today. This started after that strange event when he fell unconscious. He didn''t know what was happening but he guessed that she would return to her normal self soon. She had given him a lot of benefits so if she didn''t want him to tell something then he wouldn''t force her. He decided to trust her which he couldn''t do before. He landed on the outskirts of the ruined kingdom. The trees around this place were uprooted and cracks filled the ground. ''It seems that the aftershocks of the battle somehow destroy this place.'' Souta said inwardly as he slowly observed the area. He walked around for a few minutes until he found a group of people. The Dreyfus Family. Before he could approach the group, Alexandar stepped out. He noticed Souta''s presence. "Oh? You have a good perception." Souta was a little bit surprised. "What do you want?" Alexander asked with a deep frown on his face. He saw how Souta fought before so he knew how dangerous this monster in front of him was. This monster alone could annihilate his entire family. "Straight to the point? I like it..." Souta smiled. "I want to know if there''s a chance that I could recruit you to my organization. I could see the unlimited potential you possess." Of course, Alexander was a guaranteed powerhouse in the future just like Isabella. Honestly, he was even stronger than Isabella in the game. He was just slightly below the level of those kings of gods. And reaching that level only took him a few years. His growth rate shook the entire world when his past spread out like a wildfire across the Imperium. "Frankly, I don''t have an interest in joining any organization," Alexander replied. "Why? Didn''t you join the faction of the crown prince?" Souta tilted his head. "That was because I want to create a kingdom suitable for my family members before I leave. But it doesn''t matter now since the kingdom is destroyed by your fights." Alexander explained. "I see..." Souta rubbed his chin. "If that''s the case I can take your family under my wings too. I have a bunch of sub-world under my control and I''m a leader of an organization called Astros. Sooner, I will receive a territory from Athen''s Champion so if you don''t want them to stay in a sub-world your family can stay in my territory." He slowly explained what he could do for Alexander. "Even if what you''re saying is true, I still don''t want to be tied to any organizations. I have a lot of places I need to visit so I don''t have time to settle in some places first." Alexander shook his head. ''Hmm... This guy isn''t as easy as Isabella. I could offer him a bunch of resources but I don''t want to favor him over the others.'' Souta said inwardly. "Then, are you going to leave your family?" He asked. "That''s the plan. I already gave them a lot so I think it''s time to focus on myself. I will travel around the world and discover a lot of things I haven''t known before." Alexander said. "What will happen to your family?" Souta asked. "I don''t know. They are on their own from now on. As long as they didn''t offend any powerful organization, then they could peacefully live just like how it always been." "Peacefully? That sounds pleasant to my ears..." Souta narrowed his eyes and looked at the sky. Chapter 641: Foundation Chapter 641: Foundation "Did you know the situation of the world?" Souta asked seriously. Live peacefully. That sounds good and he also wanted to live like that... But it seems impossible after knowing what will happen in the future. Aside from the events in the game, Souta was extremely wary about those unknown enemies that gods, demon gods, spirit gods, and monster lords fought twenty thousand years ago. It was a major event that annihilated most of the highest-ranking powerhouses in Imperium. A tragedy that no one knows. Up until now, the event twenty thousand years ago was still a mystery for most people in the whole cosmos. "What do you mean?" Alexander felt the seriousness in Souta''s tone. "I''m sure you''re aware of the demon invasion. The entire population of God''s Continent knew that the demons are waging war at the edge of the land. They already conquered dozens of countries in a short amount of time." "What about it?" "That''s the only thing that the top faction couldn''t hide from the public''s eyes. Aside from that, there are still hidden currents slowly encroaching the land without us knowing. Only people in certain factions knew about it." "So you are saying..." "Yes, why do you think the warriors of Athena are here in this kingdom? Why do you think the Red Matter Association is just showing themselves at this moment?" Souta paused for a moment. "This is only the tip of the upcoming events. Various organizations are moving at the same time and dozens of kingdoms like Fone had been burned down in just a short amount of time." "It''s the start of chaos. Gods are already arranging the battlefield. They are looking at the entire continent as if it was a chessboard and us, mortals, are their chess pieces. A great war will occur soon so you should join an organization that can help you before it''s too late." Alexander sighed as he closed his eyes. After a while, he opened it again. "That''s more of a reason why I should travel now. I have to do something before what you said became true." "It seems that I can''t persuade you even if I offer you a bunch of resources." Souta smiled in defeat. "I can get resources for myself. I wanted to know why you wanted me to join your group even telling me all those stuff." Alexander curiously. "Just like what I told you before. You have vast potential. I''m sure that you will achieve godhood in the near future." Souta shook his head. "If I was a human or demi, would you join my group or not?" "My answer is still the same." "I see..." Souta smiled. "I''ll finish our discussion now. I''m Souta Ieshi, remember my name. I''ll remember yours and I''m sure we will meet again in the future. If you have any problem you can always ask me." "Thank you for your understanding. I''m Alexander Dreyfus, it''s my pleasure to be your acquaintance." Alexander shook Souta''s hand. Since he couldn''t recruit Alexander, he could only befriend him and slowly establish a connection. Alexander will become the Ancient Myriad Emperor in the future. He just hoped that when the time happens, he will not forget him. "If you encounter any problem that you can''t solve alone, you can go to Athen''s Champion and find me. You can even hire my squad as long as you can afford it." With that, Souta left. He already expected this outcome. He knew that Alexander wouldn''t join Astros. Also, he didn''t want to force Alexander to join his group. There were still a lot of chances in the future. He will slowly build up their relationship. Souta glanced at the system. [Congratulations on completing the Quest "Terror in Fone Kingdom"!] [You''ve received 10 skill points, 15 free attribute points, and 100,000 experience points!] [Congratulations on completing the Quest "Rising Golem"!] [You''ve received 10 skill points, 15 free attribute points, and 10,000,000 experience points!] ''I don''t even know how I completed these two quests...'' Souta said inwardly. Glancing at his points, he found that he had a total of 38 skill points. Ten shadows rose behind him. The [Doppelganger] was casted silently. Souta stretched his body as he sat down on the corner while the ten shadows dispersed in every direction. They would try to find any equipment left on the battlefield. He didn''t want to do it on his own so he summoned his shadows. Controlling ten shadows was hard but since he wasn''t going to fight, he could somehow handle it. He went back and focused his attention on the system. Skill point(s): 38 Free attribute point(s): 61 He wouldn''t unlock the remaining abilities in the legacy that he got. It was too dangerous for his current power level. He knew it since Athena already warned him about the dangers of possessing a [Cosmic Body]. So he would upgrade his class for now. His class got stuck at Rank 3 Battle Mage for a long time. It''s time to advance it to Great Battle Mage. The class that he got in the game. Spell(s): Tier 1: [Fireball] Level 1, [Ice Shot] Level 1, [Light Heal] Level 1, [Agility Boost] Level 1, [Strength Boost] Level 1, [Mud Slide] Level 1, [Shadow Bind] Level 10, [Shadow Spike] Level 1, [Shadow Ball] Level 10 Tier 2: [Gravitational Ball] Level 10, [Dark Cloud Hunting] Level 10, [Dark Shooting Ray] Level 1, [Doppelganger] Level 10 The only useful spells for him were the dark and light attributes since they were buffed by his affinities. The other tier 1 spells were useless since he was fighting an opponent that broke a shackle. A mere tier 1 without the help of his affinities wouldn''t work at those levels of people. It''s time for him to decide what skill he would use to promote his rank. Last time, he used the [Night Overlord''s Aura] and [Doppelganger]. He looked at the available skills in his skill tree. [Shadow Dispersion], [Shadow Damager], and [Ominous Touch]. These three for spells. [Dark Menace], [Spare the Dark], and [Night Ray Thrust] And these three were for combat arts. He had to choose one spell and one combat arts and level them up to level 10. That''s all he needed to advance his class to the third class. Souta chooses [Shadow Damager] for spells and [Dark Menace] for combat arts. The [Shadow Damager] lets him lock onto one target and that target will fully synchronize with the shadow. Then, they could receive damage by attacking their shadows. In short, he could attack his opponent''s shadow using this spell. As for the [Dark Menace]. It was a simple combat arts that could boost his other dark attribute skills for a short amount of time. The other combat arts were defensive and offensive but he didn''t need them at the moment. He preferred to stock up all of his buff skills to boost his combat power in a battle since he didn''t lack any offensive or defensive skills. As for the other spells, they were good too. The [Shadow Dispersion] was a spell that could weaken his opponent''s dark attribute attacks. It would make it easier fighting another dark attribute. The [Ominous Touch] will add a part of his energy with some corrosive properties. It could instantly corrode people below S-rank without enough resistance. "Good. These are enough for me." Souta smiled and used some of his skill points to learn his two chosen skills. *Ding!* [You''ve learned Shadow Damager!] *Ding!* [You''ve learned Dark Menace!] The knowledge about these two skills was poured into his mind. Souta closed his eyes and studied the knowledge for a few minutes. He only opened it after he grasp the fundamentals of these skills. He opened and closed his palms, feeling the power within. His knowledge about spells wasn''t great as he could barely understand any tier 2 spells. But thanks to Eilish, he was slowly grasping the structure of the tier 2 spells. If he continued to study, he would be able to cast a tier 2 spell without using the magic circle in his inner consciousness. "I''m getting better and better..." Souta said with a sigh. At this moment, even if all the magic circles in his inner consciousness disappeared, he could still cast all of his tier 1 spells manually. Dark attribute for skill tree and light attribute manually. That''s his goal for now. He will manually learn some light attribute skills once he returned. He had a light attribute now so he had to use it to make his combat style more versatile. He glanced at the remaining skill points. Skill point(s): 34 It wasn''t enough to level up one of his spells to level 10. At the very least, he already set up a foundation for his class advancement. It was enough for him. Souta smirked. He stood up while stretching his arms. "Okay, it''s time to join the main force and let the real battle begin." The real battle between the Third Set of Pallas Division and the Red Matter Association will begin soon. Chapter 642: Mirror Lake Chapter 642: Mirror Lake Back in the headquarters of Athen''s Champion in Champion''s Den. Franklin, Eztein, Eilish, and Alice had returned after finishing the mission that they took. "We''re back!" Eztein said as he opened the door of the Astros Squad Room. He quickly sat on the sofa and sigh in relief. "Oh, that was hard." "Don''t you think that there are fewer people here in this area? I barely saw any people while walking to our base and yet the security is tight." Eilish said. "Now that you mention it. All the people that we met are warriors guarding the gate and patrols." Eztein placed his hand on his chin. "We are away for several days so we don''t know what''s happening. It''s natural." Franklin said with a smile. Alice sat on a chair without saying anything. She just listened to their words. Although she looked like she didn''t care, she was thinking about their topic. She too found it too weird that they''ve met fewer warriors while walking in this area. Hmm? She turned her head and looked at the person that arrived. Isabella came out of her room and greeted everyone. "How is the mission, everyone?" She asked. "It''s fine. It''s a bit troublesome but we handle it perfectly." Eilish answered. "Did Souta come out of his seclusion?" Alice asked. "Y-Yes," Isabella answered. "Oh, the boss came out." Eztein looked around. "So where is boss?" "I-I''m going to explain it." Isabella slowly explained the things that happened while they were away. "Wait! You mean leader go to war without even waiting for me?!" Eztein asked with wide eyes. "Y-Yes." Isabella nodded. "Ugh! Why did he hog all the exciting things for himself? I thought that he wouldn''t forget about me." Franklin said in a low voice. "It was sudden. The Grain Leader suddenly summoned all the squad leaders." Isabella said. "I see... So that''s the reason why we met fewer people here." Eilish nodded in understanding. "Warriors that came back from completing a mission are forbidden to take another mission. They are obligated to prepare themselves and head to the war as reinforcement." Isabella said. "Oh, I still have a chance." Franklin raised his eyebrows with interest. "I wonder what''s happening there." Alice narrowed her eyes. She stood up and opened the door. "I''m going out for a while. I want to know what''s currently happening in the war." She quickly left after leaving those words. "War, huh? I don''t know how to feel about it. I don''t even know a tiny detail regarding this war." Eilish muttered. "Yep, back in our world. People at your power level are the ones deciding the war. Yet in this world, you are just a slightly stronger warrior." Eztein looked at her. He was right. Back in their world, Eilish was a leader of a powerful organization. She was a person that could control the life and death of countless people. There''s a big difference in her status back in her world than in Imperium. ''This is what I want. The Divine World Imperium is my goal from the beginning. I think it''s time complete my goal in this world.'' Eilish narrowed her eyes. ... After the Tenth Grain War finished resting, Grain Leader Carmel assembled all the warriors that could fight. All the members of the Red Matter Association in the Fone Kingdom were gone so it was time for them to join the main force. "Listen, Warriors!! It''s for us to join the main force and help them in the battle!! Glory for Goddess Athena! We pray that you guide us in our battle!!" Carmel''s voice resounded. "Glory for Goddess Athena!!" "Glory for Goddess Athena!!" "Glory for Goddess Athena!!" The warriors said in a loud voice. Their voice contained their determination to fight until their death. They were prepared to sacrifice their lives to complete this mission. Carmel observed the warriors in front of him before he turned his head in the other direction. He didn''t have any idea what happened to the other Grain that went to the surrounding kingdoms like Tenth Grain War. Did they succeed or not? He will know it once they joined the main force. ''They even prepared a [Titanous Victor Golem]... It''s unexpected.'' He muttered inwardly. If not for the strange incident that killed every member of the Red Matter Association, the casualties they suffered would increase several times. He didn''t know what really happened but he didn''t have a time to think about it. He would report it to Chief Captain Vandal and let the higher-ups handle it. Also, the War Golem was still hidden underground. They would try to excavate it soon after they finished this mission. A War Golem was a huge asset. It has a power equal to a Four Shackles Realm expert. It would boost their strength if they get their hands on it. "Among all the warriors that participated in this battle, seventy-one warriors have perished. We will not let their sacrifice go in vain." The Tenth Grain War left the ruined Fone Kingdom. They headed in the direction of Mirror Lake. The Fone Kingdom had fallen and the survivors had no way of rebuilding it. The entire land was ravaged and most of the citizens had died. It was the worse tragedy in their history. Yesterday, they were just living peacefully, and on the next day, a big battle occurred. They couldn''t even believe that this happened. There was no sign. It was too sudden. No one was prepared for this disaster. Even if they were, what can they do in the battle between Shackled Realm experts? Nothing. They could only run. "I pity the citizens of Fone Kingdom," Drami said in a low voice. "There''s nothing we can do about it. We have to fight the Red Matter. If the Red Matter escaped then more people would only die." Leilus said to her. "Grain Leader already warned us about this scenario. We should prioritize killing the Red Matter members than protecting the civilians or else we would lose the battle." Paolo said gravely. "I know it already. But is there a way to change the battlefield where we didn''t have to worry about civilians dying from the aftershocks of our battle?" Drami said with a heavy sigh. "We would have already done it if we could. The fact that the higher-ups didn''t care about the civilians already told us how desperate they are to get rid of the Red Matter Association." Marcus said. "If we didn''t annihilate them this time. We would hear news about a kingdom or a city getting massacred by this group in the future." Leilus said. Souta just listened to their conversation. He didn''t even try to join. He just listened to them. The life of a civilian in this world was pretty much the same as grass in every field. That''s why he didn''t want to be a civilian that stayed on the sideline. Souta shook his head and he tried to calculate the battle that will happen in the Mirror Lake. He already used the [Blessing of the God of Hunt] so it was in cooldown. Also, he used the equipment skill of the [Solid Hunter State Boots]. Aside from these two, he still has something he could use when he fights a strong person. Two of his universal grade''s equipment skills were still available. His release form was also good. ''I pretty much saved up all of my aces.'' Souta said inwardly. A few hours had passed, and the group arrived near Mirror Lake. Grain Leader Carmel quickly left as he had to report the details of their battle in the Fone Kingdom. He also had to inquire about the things that happened here in the main force of the Third Set. "This is worse than I imagine..." Leilus muttered while looking around. "Yeah, the atmosphere here is kinda dark. I could guess what happened in just a single look." Souta nodded with a serious expression. A lot of warriors around them were injured. Some of them have worse injuries like their limbs were chopped. There were also corpses lining at the back of the camp. "The Sky Avenue is surrounding the entire land. They will deal with any of the Red Matter that will try to escape so it''s up to us to fight them. At the very least, we know that they are out there. This alone lifts the morale of our warriors." Leilus said in a low voice. "I don''t know the exact details but it seems that the forces of the Red Matter Association are stronger than we expected." Souta rubbed his chin. He looked ahead and saw a huge lake before his eyes. The lake was calm but he could see the aftermath of fierce battles that happened here near the lake. There were several dozens of huge craters and the mana signatures were still present in the air. Then, he glanced at the two giant mountains behind the lake. It was strangely unaffected. "The Fourth Set is with us, right?" He asked. "Yep, they are waiting around. I think they will join us when we launch our attack soon." Leilus nodded. "I see... The help from Fourth Set is quite good. I don''t think Third Set alone is enough to defeat the Red Matter." Souta said. "I have the same thoughts too. Actually, this is not a secret but most warriors thought that Red Matter Association is receiving support from a bigger organization. Have you heard about the recent news? More than fifty organizations like Red Matter are moving. We are not the only warriors fighting an organization like this one." Leilus paused for a moment. "Other gods legion are fighting those organizations. I think that''s the reason why Chief Captain Vandal asked for Fourth Set and Sky Avenue''s help. Maybe because he had guessed that Red Matter is receiving support." Chapter 643: Subterranean Chapter 643: Subterranean Souta continued to observe the beautiful Mirror Lake. He looked at the sky and realized that it was getting dark. His dark attribute skills would rise sharply at night so he was glad that they were going to Mirror Lake at night. But... The underground labyrinth at Mirror Lake was the headquarters of the Red Matter Association. According to the report, the underground labyrinth was a den of several fourth stage monsters before, but the Red Matter cleared all those monsters and stayed in that place. Souta shook his head as he turned around. He checked his equipment and every warrior did the same thing. The time of battle was slowly approaching. A few minutes later, a commotion occurred at the camp of the Chief Captain. A lot of high-level warriors were gathering at the front. Souta and the Blue Cross Squad had no idea about what was happening. "The scouts had returned!" Leilus muttered. "What did they discover in the Mirror Lake?" Souta asked. "I don''t know but it seems to be a bad news." Leilus shrugged his shoulders. "There''s a lot of uncertainty in this mission. I don''t know what news we would receive soon." Souta muttered. "I have a bad feeling about this." Drami muttered with a face full of worry. "It''s going to be fine," Marcus said as he held her hand. Chief Captain Vandal came out of his camp. He assembled all the warriors as he was going to announce an important thing to them. "Warriors!!" Vandal''s voice was coarse. Everyone could feel that he was tired. Then, he slowly explained his plan and the things that the scout found in Mirror Lake. The announcement shook the entire group of warriors. They didn''t expect this at all. No one knew that it was coming. In the underground labyrinth of the Mirror Lake lies a giant city, no, it was better to call it a country. The scout estimated that it had a population of more than fifty million people. A subterranean country. According to their guess, the citizens of this country didn''t even know the Red Matter Association. In short, most of them were innocent people. They were all hostages of the Red Matter without them knowing anything. More than fifty million people... That''s a lot. Most of the warriors knew that they couldn''t handle the guilt of killing those people. Maybe, they would go insane and wouldn''t be able to live a normal life after this. "How?" was the question in Souta''s mind. The report before clearly said that the underground labyrinth was a den of several fourth stage monsters. How did it become a place that could house fifty million plus people? ''Fuck! I think I would go insane from all this shit! My mind is slowly turning blank... I need to calm down and control my urges.'' Souta said inwardly. "I''ll divide us into several groups! Some of us will stay on the surface while the rest will head underground! We''ll take out the roots of the Red Matter Association no matter what!" Vandal said in a loud voice. His determination could be felt in his words. He was resolute. "Prepare your mind! Prepare for the worst! We are Warriors of Athena!!" "Glory for Goddess Athena!!" ... Souta and the Blue Cross Squad were assigned to the warriors that will head underground. Most of the warriors that could fight were assigned this way. The only warriors that will stay on the surface were those that received injuries in the battle previously. While resting, they will guard the entrance of the labyrinth. An hour had passed and people from the Fourth Set had arrived. They talked with the Chief Captain and Vandal arranged all of them. They will fight alongside the Third Set. Also, people from the other grain had slowly arrived. Most of their conditions were worse than the Tenth Grain War. According to them, a [Titanous Victor Golem] was activated right in front of their eyes. The War Golem took the lives of dozen warriors instantly. If not for their Grain Leader, they wouldn''t be able to fight back. It was a total destruction on their sides. The Tenth Grain War was lucky that the activation of War Golem was prevented. An hour had passed quickly and it was already dark. Everything was arranged so it was time to start the mission. Souta and the Blue Cross Squad followed everyone. They headed towards Mirror Lake. "We''re here." One of the scouts said. "The entrance?" Vandal asked. "Beneath the lake, Chief Captain." The scout answered politely. "I see..." Vandal nodded. "Everyone! Follow me!" Vandal jumped on the lake and the warriors followed him one by one. Their energy level scared the low-level monsters living in the lake. Most of them were at Shackled Realm so it shook the core of the monsters that were living here. Hundreds of Shackled Realm experts were a terrifying lineup. There was a small hole beneath the lake. The water in the lake strangely didn''t even go inside this hole. It was the effect of the runes carved around it. Vandal and the rest went inside this hole. This hole was a passage that will lead them to the so-called subterranean country. Some of them were looking forward to it and some of them weren''t. After all, they all knew what will happen to the innocent people once the Third Set collided with Red Matter. Unnecessary deaths will occur. That''s the truth that they couldn''t escape. "Is there really a country in this place?" Leilus muttered. "It looks like a dungeon..." Souta looked around. He realized that the report that this place was once a den of monsters must be true. Maybe, there''s another passage here that the monsters didn''t know about and that passage was discovered by Red Matter. This leads them to a far more spacious place that could house fifty million people. The group explored the place for half an hour. It was like a maze. Fortunately, the scouts had memorized this place. So the time was shorter when the scouts were still trying to find the passage here. Beyond this dungeon was the place that they were trying to find. The subterranean country. A country built beneath the surface. The group slowly came out of the passage and what appeared before their eyes was a spacious place. It was beyond their imagination. They didn''t expect anything like this. "Whoa!!" The sound of exclamations came out from the mouths of the warriors. They were surprised and shocked at the same time. Souta was the only one who wasn''t surprised. He saw dozens of subterranean countries before and those places were larger than this one. Approximately, the distance between the surface and the floor was a hundred thousand feet. This place was like a whole new world. There was even a forest, lake, river, mountains, and hills. Near the ceiling, clouds were floating around slowly. It has its own ecosystem. In the middle of this land was a huge city filled with countless structures. "Damn, it feels like I''m in a sub-world once again. The only difference is that the mana density here is higher." One of the warriors exclaimed. What the warrior was saying was true? This literally feels like they were in a sub-world. But Souta''s focus was on different things. His eyes were looking at the walls. The walls were full of ancient runes. And it was still active. "I will look at it closely next time." Souta shook his head and he turned his attention to the warriors around him. He wondered how they were going to approach this country. Did this country know the existence of the surface or not? What''s their attitude about the people on the surface? He was looking forward to it. ... The leader of the Red Matter Association, Avron Hallsmein, was leaning on a soft chair. A book was on top of his face and a bottle of wine was scattered on the table. Suddenly, the door of his room opened. A tall man with a scar on his face entered. He looked at Avron and said, "Master, they''ve stepped on the land." This man was one of the twelve executives of the Red Matter Association. The book fell on the ground and Avron glanced at the executive. "Let Shiela deal with them... I''m sure that those people didn''t know our place, right?" He asked. "Yes, master. They didn''t know anything about it. That place is only the outer land of the entire subterranean land." The executive answered. "Then, it''s good." Avron nodded and he picked up a bottle of wine on the table. He removed the cap and drank the wine. "Vandal... It''s been a few years... Yet, you''re still trying to stop me. Out of all people, I thought that you are the one who was going to understand me." Avron narrowed his eyes as he turned to the executive. "You can go now. It''s Vandal we are talking about here. It''s not easy to take him down. We''ll use everything we''ve got." Chapter 644: Aekr Republic Chapter 644: Aekr Republic "We''ll not hide. We''ll be straightforward. The Red Matter Association know that we are here so it''s useless to hide anymore." Vandal said in a stern voice. He already steeled his heart to fight through the Red Matter. "Yes, Sir!!" The warriors nodded at his words. "We just need to be careful of their traps." Vandal added. The group went down as they match towards the country in their sight. They didn''t even try to hide their energy so the creatures around them noticed the group. As they grew closer, Souta felt a stinging sensation all over his body. ''What?! Suppression...!!'' His guard was raised to the limit and his senses spread out. All the creatures that have been detected with his [Crimson Perception] were transmitted to his brain. ''It''s outside my perception... That''s why it''s light but there''s no doubt what I felt just now is suppression.'' Souta looked around. He turned to Leilus and asked, "Did you feel something just now?" "I don''t." Leilus shook his head. He looked at him with a face full of question marks. "What did you feel? There should be something here." All the warriors were on guard. They were prepared even if Red Matter ambushed them yet no one sensed what Souta was talking about. Since Souta was a monster, and the monsters were famed for their extreme instinct, he decided to inquire more. Maybe, it will help them if they knew more about it. "I felt a slight suppression just now..." Souta said in a low voice. "Suppression? A god or a monster lord?" Leilus rubbed his chin. "I don''t think that there will be a higher being in this place." "I don''t think it''s from a god or a monster lord." Souta shook his head. He already met gods and monster lords before so he was familiar with their presence. The suppression just now was weaker. "A higher being...? A higher being in my perspective as a monster..." Souta narrowed his eyes. "Fifth stage monster?! Yep, this should be the case. Aside from gods and monster lords, the only creatures that could suppress me are fifth-stage monsters." "T-That should be the case..." Leilus looked around and added. "Since you are the only one who felt it, then it must be a fifth-stage monster." A fifth-stage monster was a monster that could use a downgraded suppression of monster lord. All lower monsters before it would be suppressed. Their ability would be limited so they wouldn''t be able to go against a fifth stage monster. Also, a fifth stage monster could cause a monster tide. If they willed it, they could let the lower monsters lose their minds and go berserk. Once this happens, the lower monsters wouldn''t be able to resist their instinct. Their minds would be consumed by their urges and instinct. They would become a war machine that couldn''t think straight. They would attack anyone that they deemed a threat. This was the reason why Souta was avoiding a fifth stage monster. If he was a human or demi, then he wouldn''t feel this suppression. It was only exclusive to monsters. "If there is really a fifth stage monster here then we need to report it to Chief Captain," Leilus said in a grave tone. The power of a fifth stage monster couldn''t be underestimated. Although there were hundreds of Shackled Realm experts here, they couldn''t risk fighting it when they had to deal with Red Matter Association. "Fifth stage monster...?" Leilus rubbed his chin. "Maybe, this is connected to the fifth stage monster in the Fone Kingdom. The presence of that monster alone already paralyzed my entire body." Souta grew silent. He heard that a fifth stage monster appeared in Fone Kingdom while he was unconscious. No one actually saw the appearance of that monster. They only felt its powerful aura yet it stopped the battle between the two forces. "I''ll report it to Grain Leader," Leilus said before he left. "Okay." Souta nodded. ''Damn, things are getting more disadvantageous for me.'' He cursed inwardly. Soon, Souta was summoned by Chief Captain Vandal. He stood beside Grain Leader Carmel while facing the Chief Captain. "Is what Carmel reported true?" Vandal asked. "If it''s about the suppression that I felt then it is true. I wouldn''t mistake it for something else. This is a suppression that only a monster like me could feel against a higher species." Souta answered. "I wouldn''t doubt your words." Vandal turned around. "Should I change how we approach the city? I don''t want to disturb a fifth stage monster and make an enemy out of it. It would only bring us trouble." "Sir, I don''t think that this monster will attack us. If we don''t disturb it then it will probably leave us alone. I couldn''t feel any hostility from it and it seems that it was only observing us from afar." Souta answered. "I know. A fifth stage monster is intelligent. It''s capable of thinking complicated thoughts. It will not necessarily attack us as long as we show that we don''t have any hostility against it." Vandal said. "For now, let''s slow down. Although low, there''s a chance that this monster is affiliated with Red Matter Association." The matter about the fifth stage monster spread throughout the entire group. Everyone should be mindful of their movements. No one should be careless in this important mission. Fighting a stronger organization was already hard so they didn''t want to add another enemy. They continued their advancement but they slowed down a lot, considering the traps of the Red Matter Association. Soon, the group arrived in the vicinity of the city. They stopped in front of a fifty-meter tall giant metallic gate. Vandal stepped forward as he looked at the top of the gate. There were humans and demis looking at them warily on the top. "We''re people from Athen''s Champion! Can you understand my words?!" He said loudly. He used the most common language in Imperium, in case these people couldn''t understand his native words. Shirley, Vandal''s secretary, stood beside him. She stared at the people above and slowly swept her mana around. "The power level of these people is quite low. No one is at Shackled Realm." Shirley whispered. "What should we do, sir?" "Hmm... We''ll try to talk to them. Ask our scouts to infiltrate the city while we try to talk to these people. We''ll use a two-way tactic here. We don''t have to force our way in yet." Vandal said to her. "I understand, sir." Shirley nodded before she went back. The scouts of the Third Set had disappeared without any sounds. They already went beyond the walls to gather information. "Who is the person in charge here? Is there anyone that can speak to me?" Vandal said. The Grains were silent. No one dared to disturb the plan of their Chief Captain. But some of them were already preparing for battle since no one was answering them from the other side. A few moments later, an old man with a domineering aura arrived. His energy level was clearly weaker than Vandal and some of the warriors but his posture and aura were something else. This old man was definitely a veteran fighter. That''s just how he projects himself in front of hundreds of warriors of Athena. He didn''t even get overwhelmed being stared at by hundreds of Shackled Realm. "The name is Narkus and I''m the person in charge of guarding this place." The old man said in a coarse voice. "People from above, may I know why you came to our place? I don''t think I can let all of you inside our city looking at your group." "I understand your concerns... And you are right. All of us are warriors preparing for war but we''re not going to fight your people. We are here to know if you''ve heard of the name Red Matter Association." "Red Matter Association...?" "Yes, the Red Matter Association is a group that terrorized dozens of cities and kingdoms on the surface. We just wanted to pull them out to prevent any cities or kingdoms from falling." "I haven''t heard that name before. As you can see, our Republic of Aekr is in an isolated place where we don''t have any idea about the events on the surface. So I''m sorry if I can''t answer any of your questions." Vandal narrowed his eyes. It was strange. The Red Matter Association was clearly hiding in this underground place but it seems that these people didn''t know about them. ''I don''t have more time.'' He said inwardly. Glancing at the gate, he said, "Can we talk properly? From your tone, I can guess that you know one or two things from the surface." "Aren''t we talking right now?" Narkus asked. "Yes, but I want a proper talk. You know, it''s hard for me to look at you from below." Vandal said seriously. Narkus stared at Vandal for a while. "Fine..." Narkus turned around and added, "Let that gentleman in." Vandal glanced at Shirley and gave her a signal. He didn''t need people to accompany him. In the entire Third Set, he was the strongest one so no one could protect him. Shirley nodded. She will arrange everything while he was gone. Chapter 645: War in Subterranean World: Might Chapter 645: War in Subterranean World: Might Inside a small room, Vandal was sitting on a chair. Opposite of him were Narkus and the other guards of the gate. Vandal observed the five people before his eyes. He already calculated his percentage of winning if a fight broke out. According to his calculation, the chances of him being defeated by these five people were at 0.5 percent. None of them has reached Four Shackles so their chances were basically close to zero. Although he was sure that he could defeat these five people, he still didn''t let down his guard. Who knows if there was a trap here? Or if there were other people hiding that he couldn''t sense. There were many different factors in a real battle so a calculation like this could be wrong. Nonetheless, his chances of winning were high. "Have you heard about a terrorist group called Red Matter Association?" Vandal asked. "Just like what I said before I didn''t hear this name before," Narkus said. "People of Aekr are ignorant of the events on the surface. We''re keeping our distance away." "But it seems that you know something from the surface, right?" "That''s right. I know a lot of things from the surface than the people of this place. People of certain status couldn''t ignore the enormous threat lingering on the surface. Every three years, we''re sending people above to gather information." "So you have an idea what''s happening right now?" "Yes, the demon invasion that occurred on the border of the continent. It''s still far from our place and I personally think that it would take several years before the demons arrive here if they continue their pace." "You''re not bothered by demons? Haven''t you heard that even gods aren''t safe from their army?" Vandal raised his eyebrows. "I''m not bothered at all. No, to be precise, I''m accepting the fact that I will not be able to do a thing once the demons arrive at our Republic of Aekr." Narkus paused as he stared at Vandal. "I don''t think that you guys will let that happen easily. It means that our country still has a lot of time." "Haha, you are right. The Holy Land will not tolerate the demon army once it grew closer to their territories." Vandal laughed. Olympus was like that. Olympus would send powerful forces once the demon army was close to their territory. But now... They were only sending out a batch of squads to hold off the demons. Sending out missions and then killing some demons in the frontline before returning. And Olympus wasn''t the only Holy Land of God''s Continent. The Heavenly Palace and Asgard were also here along with other factions of gods. One wrong move and the demons would be in an all-out war against one of the Holy Lands of God''s Continent. "You''re right but I don''t think you should be worried about demons first. The Red Matter Association isn''t as huge as the demon army but it has enough power to destroy your country." Vandal turned serious. "And I have received a reliable information that they are staying in the place beneath the Mirror Lake." "How can I prove that we don''t know anything about Red Matter Association?" Narkus asked. "I want to return the question to you. I want to know the proof that you didn''t know anything about Red Matter Association." Vandal said. "I don''t know." "Can you set me up a meeting with the higher-ups of your country? We can''t leave as long as we don''t investigate this place." Vandal was exercising their absolute advantage in this situation. The advantage of possessing great strength. The other side will have no choice but to comply with them. It seems excessive but that''s just how this world works. ... "What do you think they are talking about?" Leilus asked. "It''s the same as before. Chief Captain is buying time before the scouts finished their investigation. After that, he will decide whether we force our way inside the gate or not." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "I have a feeling that this will not end well," Leilus muttered. "Actually, I have the same feeling." Souta said. "Me too. Isn''t everything here strange? Our journey is too smooth. Ever since we entered this place, we haven''t encountered any danger." Paolo said. "Yep, I don''t think it''s a good idea to wait here. The Red Matter Association isn''t the type that will only watch us from the sideline. They will surely attack us in unexpected ways." Drami said. Souta just looked at them. He didn''t say it but he also had a bad feeling and it only kept getting stronger. ''Just what is the plan of the Red Matter Association? What is their goal? What are they trying to achieve?'' He squinted his eyes while looking at the giant metallic gate. There were millions of people living behind this gate. How many of them would survive the war was still unknown. Souta turned his eyes on the system quests. He should complete this today. An hour had passed and Vandal haven''t returned. The warriors were waiting outside the gate but they were getting impatient. Shirley, Vandal''s secretary, was trying to explain things to the warriors. It was hard to handle all these powerful warriors but she had the experience so she''s not a bit intimidated by them. She had to exercise her authority as the secretary of the Chief Captain. The Grain Leaders helped her in calming down the masses. Hmm...? Souta narrowed his eyes as he stared at the ceiling full of glittering crystals. ''Did it move just now?'' He was confused. His eyes adjusted and zoomed in so that he could see the surface clearly. There were several cracks spreading on it. It was trembling as if it was going to collapse at any moment. The runes around that part were disappearing one by one. ''This...?'' Souta was surprised when he saw it. The runes that were holding and strengthening it were disappearing. If this continues, that part was going to fall. "No! Everyone prepare yourself!!" He shouted. ... In a huge spacious room, Vandal was in a meeting with the higher-ups of the Aekr Republic. ''I underestimated this place...'' He said inwardly while looking at the people in front of him. The higher-ups were all people at Shackled Realm. And from what he could sense, there were more than fifty Shackled Realm experts in this building. Although they were just low Shackled Realm, they were still a force to reckon with. There were millions of people here so it would be weird if they didn''t have someone at Shackled Realm. "Regarding about the Red Matter Association... We didn''t know anything about it. I hope you understand us." One of the higher-ups said calmly. "I understand your worry but I''m not going to use force unless I verified your connection with them... So don''t worry." Vandal said to them. The higher-ups stared at him. One of them spoke after a while. "I see... So you already sent your people to investigate our nation. That''s trespassing into our territory." A loud sound erupted suddenly that disrupt the meeting. It was the sound of rocks crashing into each other. "What''s that sound?!" The higher-ups stood up from their seats. Their faces were full of wariness as they stared at their subordinates wanting to hear an answer. Even Vandal stood from his seat. "It''s coming from above." He walked towards the window and looked outside, only to see a huge shadow covering the whole city. "This..." He looked up and his eyes widened in shock. "A huge chunk of rock is falling!!" The higher-ups went outside and stared at it with shock. They were confused as to how that boulder fall towards them. This event hasn''t happened in the entire history of the Aekr Republic. The runes around were holding it so why? Unless someone removed the runes and took out that boulder forcefully. "There''s no time!" A powerful mana surged out of Vandal''s body. His energy erupted as he flew towards the boulder of rock. Swoosh!! When Vandal grew closer to the boulder, he realized something. "The runes are still here!! So how?!" There were still runes around the boulders. It means that this wasn''t a natural phenomenon. It was a set-up by some people and those people must be from Red Matter Association. The runes that disappeared were only on the side to pull out the boulder. That must be how they''ve done it. "Damn! They planned on killing countless people!!" Vandal cursed as he gathered a huge amount of mana. He poured it on the short sword in his hand. "Avron! I will stop you no matter what!!" [Thunderous Exploding Slash]!!! A light burst forth along with the sound of an explosion. The enormous wave of mana swept out in every direction causing every object to tremble under its pressure. "Chief Captain!!" The warriors outside the gate covered their eyes. They''ve recognized the mana signature just now. It came from the Chief Captain of the Third Set. "No! We can''t stay in this place anymore!! Every let''s go inside!! We''ll destroy the debris of rocks!!" Shirley shouted. Chapter 646: War in Subterranean World: Fall Chapter 646: War in Subterranean World: Fall The huge boulder of rock exploded in the sky. Vandal splits the rock into hundreds of pieces using his destructive attack. Destroying this rock was hard since the runes around it were still active. ''Tch! I couldn''t destroy everything!'' Vandal turned in mid-air. He stared at the fragments of the boulder. Although it was only fragmented, each has a size of five to ten meters in diameter. A smile formed on his face as he saw the warriors of Athena destroy the fragments of boulders one by one before they fall on the city. Boom! Boom! Boom! A series of explosions occurred across the city. The warriors didn''t manage to destroy every rock. Instead, they only manage to minimize the damage it would cause to the city. It was a good outcome. "What happened?!" The President of the Aekr Republic was confused. As to why or how this happened, no one had any idea. It was too sudden that everyone was caught off guard. "I''m sorry, President..." A voice sounded behind the President. The President opened his eyes widely and was about to turn around when a sharp blade came through his chest. Ugh!! Everyone was shocked at this scene. The other higher-ups of the Aekr Republic were stunned. They couldn''t believe what they were seeing. "What are you doing, Couger?!!" Narkus, the Chief of West Gate, shouted. His aura burst out of his body and it made the air boil. "Couger!! You fucking!!" The General of the Army of Aekr shouted as he pounced at Couger with madness in his eyes. Swoosh! Couger pulled out his blade and quickly slashed it towards the General''s direction. The General''s gauntlet shone brightly as it collided with the blade. Boom! The air vibrated wildly and a shockwave surge out from the center of the impact that blow the President''s body away. "President!!" The Vice-President shouted as he jumped and caught the injured body of the President. He stared at the two people that started fighting. Bang! Bang! Bang! In just a minute, the General of the Army was thrown away. His body was covered in blood. "You! You hid your strength!" The General wiped the blood on his mouth. He was shocked when he realized that he couldn''t keep up with Couger. Couger looked at the General with mocking eyes. "Yes, I''m sorry for doing this but this nation will fall along with the foreign warriors." He said plainly. He was the secretary of the President. He was one of the loyal people to the President and he served this nation for decades. "So you are from Red Matter?" Vandal''s voice sounded as he landed on the ground and observed this guy called Couger. Couger glanced at Vandal and narrowed his eyes. "Foreign warrior, I''ll admit that I''m indeed a member of Red Matter. This nation will become your graveyard." "Oh? And how are you going to achieve that?" Vandal asked as he raised his eyebrows. Although the person in front of him was strong, it was still nothing compared to him. This man Couger was only at Three Shackles Realm. Before Couger could reply, Vandal appeared in front of him. He brandished his short sword and swiftly chopped Couger''s arms. "Argh!!" A pair of arms rolled in mid-air as blood scattered everywhere. "I don''t need to hear your answer." Vandal said coldly as he stabbed Couger in the chest. "Ugh!" Blood poured out of Couger''s mouth. Intense pain assaulted his body. His strength couldn''t do anything to the man before his eyes. The disparity was simply huge. The General and the other higher-ups of Aekr Republic couldn''t even follow Vandal''s movement. They were surprised by how he easily subdued Cougar. "Cougar, why?" The President said with great effort. He wanted to know why Cougar betrayed him. "I don''t have anything to say to you, President." Cougar laughed madly as blood continued to flow out of his mouth. "I''ll die today and the mechanism will be activated once my heart stops beating." This revelation shocked everyone. What mechanism? A trap prepared by the Red Matter Association? So that''s the reason why Cougar didn''t fear death. He accepted his death before trying to assassinate the President. "The Red Matter Association is really full of insane people!" Vandal said with a grave expression. He already pierced Cougar''s heart so he knew that this man wouldn''t live for too long. "Mwahahaha!! Just die for me!!" Cougar laughed with a mad expression. His laugh echoed throughout the surrounding area. "My death is just the start! Let the plan begin!" His eyes lost their luster as he slowly fell to the ground. He drew his last breath with a wide grin on his twisted face. Vandal stared at Cougar''s body coldly. "So what''s going to happen next?" As soon as he said those words, the ground shook heavily. A powerful earthquake shook the entire nation. Every structure started to tremble uncontrollably. Nothing could stop what''s going to happen next. They could only watch the scene unfold before their eyes and see if they could prevent it or not. "Sir, what happened here?" Vandal turned his head and saw his secretary approaching from a distance. "The Red Matter Association is creeping into this nation... We need to eliminate them as soon as possible." Vandal said. Shirley looked at the corpse and quickly understand what happened. The dead person must be from Red Matter Association. "I''ll command the warriors, Sir!" "Another one is coming... And it seems larger than the last time." Vandal lifted his head as he stared at the trembling ceiling. The runes were glistening and energy could be seen flowing from them. The effects were unknown but it seems that another boulder of rock would fall towards the nation once again. The boulder last time already had a size of five hundred meters yet the incoming one seems several times larger. It would be a problem if a giant boulder full of runes fell on this nation. Millions of people would die in an instant. No matter what he couldn''t let that happen. Vandal turned to the injured President and said, "I think you should evacuate all the people of your nation. What will happen will be outside of my control. Your nation is in danger." "I..." The President was about to answer when something interrupted them. Vandal, Shirley, the President, and the other higher-ups of the Aekr Republic turned their heads. Boom! Boom! Boom! Hundreds of explosions rose across the entire nation at the same time. Mana fluctuations surged simultaneously in every direction. "What is happening to our land?!" Narkus muttered in shock. "This can''t be...!" The General couldn''t believe what was happening to their nation. They felt they were just seeing things. Cries and shouts of people echoed in every direction as chaos engulfed the entire country. "The Red Matter Association must be behind this. This must be the plan that the Cougar guy said before he died." Vandal mumbled. He took a deep breath before he shouted, "WARRIORS OF ATHENA!! THE RED MATTER ASSOCIATION IS MOVING!! STOP THEM AT ALL COST!!" His voice resounded throughout the entire nation. His words contained mana that could travel several miles away. Souta looked at the direction where the voice came from. "So the Red Matter still attacks us in the end." He muttered before turning his head at the huge nation before him. He was on top of the wall observing the happenings around. He jumped down as he saw the other warriors fly deep inside the nation. They just help in destroying the fragments of rock and now another trouble had appeared. But something was missing... "The executives of the Red Matter Association... The leader isn''t even here so where are they hiding." Souta muttered and he swept his eyes around. He moved his body swiftly as ten black spheres emerged on his back. Swoosh! He swiftly defeated the members of the Red Matter Association that he saw. Most of them were just S-rank but they had great numbers. In just a minute, he became a meat grinder as the power of gravity crushed every S-rank member of Red Matter. As long as he could see one of them, he would turn them into meat paste using intense gravity. He was unstoppable. With his current power level, people below Shackled Realm were insects that he could easily crush. More than fifty S-rank experts had died in his hands in just a minute. "Ah~" Souta stood at the top of a building with his eyes closed. He slowly absorbed the souls of the people from Red Matter. He wasn''t the only one killing in this area. There were other warriors too. "These poor souls... Let me harvest you..." Hmm...? Souta opened his eyes as he stared at the east. He sensed several Shackled Realm experts. These Shackled Realm experts weren''t warriors of Athena. There was only one answer. They were people of Red Matter that were tasked to deal with Shackled Realm warriors. "So the real battle will only begin..." A grin formed in his place as gallons of blood swirled above his head. His eyes gleamed as killing intent slowly seeped out. Chapter 647: War in Subterranean World: Battle Chapter 647: War in Subterranean World: Battle Souta wasn''t the only one that felt it. The other warriors also sensed the intense fluctuations of the energy in the atmosphere. The aura of the Shackled Realm experts made the earth tremble. "They are here." The vibrations in the air were getting stronger every second. The experts weren''t hiding their battle intent. They were all ready to fight an all-out battle in the middle of this place. "There are still civilians around. I don''t think they can evacuate before the battle started." One of the warriors said. "We can''t protect everyone. Protecting the masses while fighting those mad people from Red Matter Association will be hard." "Focus on the enemy in front of us." A Squad Leader said with a grave expression. Chaos spread quickly. People were panicking as they tried to run everywhere. They were helpless as the energy kept surging in every direction. Thousands of innocent people had already died at the initial clash of the two groups. Even the authorities of the Aekr Republic couldn''t stop the events. "They are coming!" In the blink of an eye, dozens of people flashed in the air and launched a series of attacks. Swoosh! Flames, lightning, light, water, and ice rained down casually destroying the houses. "Everyone protect yourself!" Leilus said to his squad members. He raised both of his hands and a mana barrier formed before him. "Yes, Sir!!" Marcus, Sekmet, Drami, and the others followed the order of their Squad Leader. They erected a barrier to protect themselves from the attack of the enemies. Boom! Boom! Boom! Blood was gathering in mid-air as it blocked the spells from the enemies. Some of the blood turned into sharp blades before shooting at incredibly high speed. Swoosh!! "It''s getting worse." Souta glanced at the side of the Red Matter. Within the range of his perception, he could sense thousands of people around him. The people that were running away must be the civilians but the people that were coming in their direction must be from Red Matter. So using his [Crimson Perception] to sense the enemies, he launched countless blood blades toward them. Swoosh! "Tsk! Not enough firepower." Souta clicked his tongue in disappointment. All the people that he shot within his range were still alive. None of them have died from his counterattack. ''It''s really hard to insta-kill a One Shackle Realm with my base power alone.'' He said inwardly. He slightly turned his head and glanced at the warriors behind. Some of the warriors quickly charged forward after blocking the enemies attacks. They were going to clash at this moment. No one could stop this clash. ''Should I join them or not?'' Souta sat down. He was on top of a three storey house watching the scene before his eyes leisurely. The house beneath him was one of the only few untouched houses in the area around him. Most of the houses in the vicinity received damage from the initial attacks of the Red Matter. "Kill steal should be enough for me. Yep, I''m going to kill steal everyone." Ten humanoid shadows rose behind him. [Doppelganger]! Souta suddenly turned his head at the sky. He saw three figures coming in his direction. "You chose to fight me..." The ten shadows quickly jumped to intercept the three figures. Two men and one woman. The woman was equipped with a long sword while the man was equipped with a pair of daggers and the last one was armed with a round shield and a short sword. Bang! Bang! They quickly destroyed four shadows but got entangled with the remaining six shadows. "Go down!" Souta pressed his hand down and the gravity on the three people increased hundreds of times. It became heavy as the ground started to form spider-web cracks. Then, he activated several combat arts and spells to boost his overall strength. The Second Mode. Bang! Bang! Bang! It took the three people ten seconds to defeat the six shadows. Although they were being suppressed by heavy gravity, it didn''t hinder them that much from destroying Souta''s doppelganger. Souta charged forward with great battle intent burning in his eyes. The ten shadows that were destroyed suddenly regenerated. "It will be a hard battle." Souta laughed as he slashed the vajra sword in his hand. Swoosh! The man raised the round shield above his head and blocked the vajra sword. Clang! Then, he thrust his short sword forward but Souta was already gone. The figure that appeared in front of his eyes was four shadows. Swoosh! [Melting Strike]! The woman used a very destructive combat arts. She slashed her sword downwards and the atmosphere boiled. Her slash generated a powerful heat wave that melted several houses. It also destroyed ten shadows at once. Boom! "That''s close." Souta muttered as he stared at the woman. The man with a pair of daggers was observing him while the man with a round shield stepped forward projecting a defensive aura. ''As expected... Without any dark enhancing skills, the strength of my doppelgangers couldn''t keep up with a serious One Shackle Realm expert.'' He said inwardly while analyzing the strength of the opponents. He couldn''t carelessly use his [Element Drive] again. He just used it in the previous battle in the Fone Kingdom and from the current situation, he knew that this was not the final battle. There were more battles to come so he had to save his aces for more difficult opponents. The leader of the Red Matter Association hasn''t shown his appearance yet. This was only a trap to cut down the forces of the Third Set. "I didn''t expect a monster to become a warrior of Athena. Are you sure you''ve joined the right legion?" The woman said mockingly. "Ehe~ it''s too boring to join the legions of those monster lords. They rarely participate in worldly matters. I wouldn''t have a chance to fight and kill people like you if I join one." Souta said with a wide grin. "Then, you''ve made the wrong choice!!" The woman said before she charged at him. Her aura burst forth turning into flames. [Element Drive: Fire Force]! "Damn! They are getting serious!" Souta said to himself as he coated the vajra sword with his energy. He swung it diagonally the moment the woman appeared before him. Swoosh! The woman also swung her sword and both of their attacks collided causing a powerful vibration in the surrounding area. The other two men followed the woman to attack Souta. They wrestled in the mid-air. Using their advantage in numbers, they pressured Souta into taking a defensive style. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! Souta''s body was thrown away and penetrated several buildings before finally stopping. "Ow, fuck! These guys are serious about taking me down!" Souta said while looking at the ceiling. He stood up and shook his body, causing the dust to fall. The ten shadows regenerated beside him and they quickly disappeared to attack his three opponents. Black tentacles were wriggling around in a wide area. They were being chopped at high speed leaving no time to regenerate. ''I just want to kill steal yet why did these three want to fight me...'' He complained in his head. Suddenly, he felt something. Swoosh! He quickly moved his body and jumped out of the building. In the next moment, the building exploded as a red light flashed. Boom! "Oh, damn!" Souta landed on the floor looking at the three people. His energy was decreasing every second as his opponents were destroying his shadows nonstop. His shadows couldn''t even last for more than five seconds. They were utterly destroyed every time they regenerated. Bang! A loud sound echoed from above. Souta looked up and realized that the loud sound came from the ceiling of this place. Something was happening on the ceiling. The huge shining crystals that provided lights on every living being here were falling. "Don''t tell me that another one will fall...?" He muttered with a gloomy look. "Your guess is right. Another boulder will fall here in this nation." The woman said with a smile. "Hmm..." Souta turned his attention back to her. "I guess this is enough of me." "Monster, why don''t you show your release form to us?" The woman said. Souta didn''t answer her question. Instead, he walked toward her as strings of flesh wrapped around his body. His appearance had greatly changed. He grew taller and looked more savage. Boom! Souta raised the vajra sword as a huge amount of energy surged out of his body. [Possession]! "I''m going to finish this as soon as possible." The man with a round shield didn''t even hesitate as he charged at Souta. The man with a pair of daggers and the woman followed behind him. They were ready to support him at any time. "That''s right! Enough talk! Come at me and give me everything that you''ve got!" Souta grinned widely as strings of red flesh wriggled on his face. Power gathered on the blade of his sword as he swung it. [Crimson Moon]! Chapter 648: War in Subterranean World: Plot Chapter 648: War in Subterranean World: Plot Souta used [Possession] and the power of his parasite realizing that he couldn''t take it more easily. Although he wanted to save [Possession] for later fights, he realized that he had to use one of his aces if he wanted to eliminate the three people before him. Boom! Boom! The battle became intense as Souta started to take this fight seriously. The three people were using [Element Drive] at the same time to overwhelm him. Unfortunately for them, Souta was an expert in fighting several opponents at the same time. He had vast experience in this type of battle. Swoosh! Blood gathered around turning into a huge crimson sphere fifty meters above the surface. And some of the blood was flowing around Souta protecting him from any harm. The woman slashed her sword but Souta jumped away as blood turned into sharp bullets, shooting at her nonstop. Swoosh! Swoosh! The man with a round shield stepped in front of her and blocked the blood bullets. Bang! Bang! "This one is a tricky monster..." The man with a round shield muttered. "Stop complaining, just do your job and we''ll get it done." The woman said before she charged forward once again. She and the man with a pair of daggers attacked Souta on both sides. Souta looked left and right. He waved his sword and a barrier made of black lightning formed around him. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Fourth Form: Bridal Lotus Benevolent Rose]! Boom! Boom! "What the hell?!" The woman cursed as veins popped on her forehead. The barrier blocked their attack but they realized that it wouldn''t last long if they attack it several times. "Attack again!!" They wanted to attack once again but they noticed something. Both of them looked above and saw the huge crimson sphere spinning wildly. In the next moment, the crimson sphere shoots countless blood bullets in their direction. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! "Not enough!" Souta grinned as he thrust his sword upward. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]!! Black clouds gathered as dark lightning rained down along with the blood bullets. Every escape route was blocked and there was nothing they could do except defend themselves from these vicious attacks. The [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] was close to reaching fifty percent mastery. It means that it was close to fully showing its true might. Although it was still less than fifty percent, it was enough to fight One Shackle Realm experts. The Fourth Form could at least take ten all-out attacks from One Shackle Realm expert before it breaks and two to four attacks from Two Shackle Realm expert. "This is...?!" The man with a round shield was stunned looking at the scene. He realized that he couldn''t block all of the attacks that were coming at them. "Take a hold of yourself, everyone!!" The woman and the man with a pair of daggers had no choice but to step away from Souta while erecting a barrier around them. They had no choice but to retreat as they didn''t even know if Souta was going to attack them while blocking the blood bullets and dark lightning coming from above. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! Souta was about to launch an attack but something interrupted him. His attention turned to the ceiling of the entire place. A boulder several times larger than before fell. His eyes could see all the runes gleaming on its surface. It contained a vast amount of energy. ''I hope that Chief Vandal could handle it. The aftermath of destroying that thing will not be easy to handle.'' The fragments from that boulder would be enough to devastate the entire nation. It was like an energy reactor that could explode anytime. From this action alone, he realized that the Red Matter members in this place were like a suicide squad that was ready to sacrifice their lives. Swoosh! Just like what he expected, he saw Vandal fly towards the boulder. The Chief Captain of the Third Set was emitting a powerful energy that covered the entire nation. Streams of energy were spreading out from Vandal''s body like a spider web. Souta quickly stopped the blood bullets that were raining down. The blood flow in his direction and it turned into several layers of the umbrella to protect him from the aftermath. "Hahaha, this is the end!" The woman laughed as she looked at Souta. She and the other two men took out a small device from their pockets. The device had a size of a palm and it has a triangular shape with a thumb size orb in each corner. "Goodbye, Mr. Monster." The woman said with a smile before she pressed the button on the device. The other two men also pressed the button and a field of electric sparks formed around them. "What''s that?!" Souta narrowed his eyes. His eyes adjusted as he looked at the field of electric sparks around them. "This...? No?!!!" He quickly turned on the sky but it was already too late. BOOOOM!!! Light burst from the sky as a thunderous sound echoed. A gust of winds swept out in every direction along with the intense energy pressure. Ripples of energy wave spread out from the center of the impact. The whole atmosphere vibrated and it started to boil obliterating every object within the impact. The debris from the boulder scattered in every direction. It fell right through the city. The damage it did was devastating. "No! It''s a set-up ever since the first boulder!" Souta tried to spread out the blood to protect other people from falling debris. His gleaming eyes turned to the three people. It was full of killing intent that made them feel a chill running through their spine. "I''ll kill you all after this..." As soon as he said those words, blood covered his entire body. It isolated him from everything. Giant rocks continue to fall. Explosions sounded throughout the city as smoke and roaring flames spread out. The population of the city was directly cut down by thirty percent. The higher-ups of the Republic of Aekr worked together to protect their people from death. A unity occurred among them. Everything that they did was for the safety of the masses. Vandal already told them to leave the battle to the warriors of Athena and that they should focus on protecting the people. And looking in a positive light, only thirty percent of the population had died. "What the hell is that?!" The President muttered with a pale expression. He was injured as his chest was stabbed before but he didn''t stop to rest. He kept moving to help his people. "If that giant boulder fell it would wipe out the entire nation..." Various emotions were swirling in his heart. He wanted to blame the warriors for provoking the Red Matter but he couldn''t do so. Just from the action of Red Matter, he knew that they would have fallen from their hands sooner or later even without them being provoked by Athen''s Champion. "No, no, I should focus myself on saving my people." He took a deep breath to calm himself. Everything was silent as smoke slowly dissipated. Buildings were destroyed and the bustling streets were now filled with corpses. The stench of blood was everywhere and the color of blood dyed the ground in red. It was horrible. "I..." Vandal looked at the scene below him with cold eyes. He already steeled his heart but to see this kind of scene set a ripple in his heart. "Everyone protect yourself!!" A loud voice echoed. He recalled that it was the voice of the monster in his set. If he wasn''t wrong, his name was Souta. At Souta''s words, Vandal quickly reacted as he saw waves of blood flow in the mid-air. It was followed by electric sparks that spread out like a net trying to enclose everything. "Shit!!" The electric sparks came from every direction as they surrounded him. Pain assaulted his body as he tried to resist it with his energy. "This is sealing technique...?! What about the other warriors?!" He looked down and saw the same thing all over the city. The electric sparks were spreading out enveloping the warriors on the ground. Swoosh!! Souta moved his body as he controlled the blood to block the sparks that were coming at him. His body suddenly disappeared from his position and waves of blood flooded a part of the city. It became a river of blood. Swoosh! Souta appeared inside one of the houses. His breathing was heavy as his aura slowly hid inside his body. He was trying to conceal his presence while controlling the river of blood that he created. "Luckily, I hid one of the [Shadow Ball]s." The entire place became a sealing ground. It wasn''t a good idea to show himself right now. He had to let the sealing process pass for now before he made a move. They were tricked. It was perfectly planned by the Red Matter Association. The first boulder was a set-up and the second boulder was a distraction. There were sealing runes hidden inside those boulders so when Vandal destroyed it, the runes scattered around the city. And when the time was right, the Red Matter Association activated the sealing runes and it caught everyone off guard. It was a good tactic. Chapter 649: War in Subterranean World: Appearance of an Executive Chapter 649: War in Subterranean World: Appearance of an Executive "Damn, I couldn''t see it coming because the sealing runes aren''t active when I look at the boulders. I thought that the Red Matter members here are all suicide squads. Never thought that they had a plan like this." Souta smiled to himself. He only realized it when the three people used a device to project a barrier around themselves. The moment he scanned it using his eyes, that''s when he realized that the barrier was for protection against sealing runes. He should''ve carefully scanned the boulder before. If he did that, then he could have prevented this incident. That was his mistake. "These guys really like plotting something big..." A wide grin slowly formed on his face. "If that''s the case then let me deal with everything. I''ll make your downfall easier Red Matter Association... I''ll set up everything." Souta stood up from his position. He closed his eyes and tried to sense if there was any presence around him. His [Crimson Perception] detected all the living creatures with blood flowing inside their bodies. "The closest person is just thirty meters away from me." He turned his head and looked in the direction where he sensed the person. "It''s not a good idea to go outside right now." The sealing runes were still active and once it detected him, the runes will try to seal him. If that happens, he will be helpless against the people of the Red Matter Association. But if he wanted to make a perfect plan that no one will know, he had to make sure to kill those three people that were targeting him. He failed to kill them even with [Possession] skill. No, it''s a good bargain for him since he made them use their [Element Drive]. It means that they will not be able to use their [Element Drive] for the time being. Once he gets out of this place, it will be his chance to eliminate them. He calculated his aces. He still had a lot of things that he haven''t used. His [Element Drive] could be used for another minute but once the time runs out, he wouldn''t be able to use it until the next few days. His [Energy Drive] power was close to zero. He kept training it in Saya''s inner consciousness but it wasn''t enough for a long battle. It was only good for a burst one on one fight. "Okay, I''ll keep this one..." Souta caressed the bracelet on his wrist. Five minutes had passed and the sealing process was done. The entire place was silent so Souta decided to get out of the building. He looked around, only to find that the whole place became desolate. Most of the buildings were ruined and blood dyed the whole, mainly caused by him throwing a river of blood everywhere. Looking around with his eyes, the souls were making a loud screeching sound that only he could hear due to him possessing the [Soul Blood Earring]. Along with his [Galaxy Eyes], his perspective was different from other people''s. He sensed a creature with blood close to him. He approached the creature and saw that it was a warrior of Athena. The warrior was an S-rank expert but he couldn''t exert any energy from his body. His entire mana pool was sealed by dozens of runes. "You... You can still fight? They are planning to annihilate us here." The warrior said with great effort. "What happened here?" Souta asked while looking at the north. He could sense mana fluctuations in that direction. "After my energy got sealed, I hide myself and those people chased after me. Luckily, they didn''t manage to find my hiding spot so I survive." The warrior took a deep breath before he continued, "There are warriors that escaped from the sealing runes. They are currently fighting the people from Red Matter. I think you should go and help them." "What about you?" "I''ll go too... Even though I couldn''t use my energy, I could still fight using my physical strength. It would be enough for me." "I see... You''re a true warrior." Souta nodded at him. He just observed the surrounding before focusing his attention on the space above the city. ''So that''s how it is...'' There was a huge transparent barrier covering the entire nation. It didn''t block people from going outside but it block people from entering the city. ''This is the reason why people from the Fourth Set aren''t helping us. They have their own problem to deal with.'' What about the Chief Captain? Souta couldn''t sense his presence anymore. Sealing runes like these wouldn''t probably work against a person like him. So maybe, the Red Matter matter prepare a different dish for him. "Oho, they truly plan all this shit..." Souta laughed lightly. ... Most of the warriors of Athena got their mana pool sealed. They were caught off guard and they couldn''t do anything about it. The Red Matter Association started hunting them one by one. Luckily, there were a number of people that succeeded in breaking through the sealing runes. No, they escaped before their mana pool was sealed. The most crucial part was the blood river that rampaged through the city. The blood river helped these warriors find an opportunity to escape from the sealing runes. There was one reason why the blood river became an opportunity for them and that was the energy flowing through it. The best feram. An energy unique to a monster. The higher energy made hard for the runes to seal the warriors. Although in the end some of them couldn''t escape, a number of warriors were prevented from being sealed. It was simple. The mana of the sealing runes overwhelmed the best feram in the river of blood using their quantity. "We can still fight and defeat them. The orders of the Chief Captain are to kill the members of the Red Matter Association and we will complete it no matter what." A high-rank warrior said in a strong tone. He was from the First Grain, the strongest Grain in the entire Third Set. "Yeah, Banni is right. I''m Xander, the Grain Leader of the First Grain. I''m commanding everyone to kill the Red Matter Association. This is a war. We will not go down without fighting back." A five-foot-tall man said loudly. He had cat ears and a brown-colored tail sticking on his back. He didn''t have a physique of a normal warrior but his strength was greater than most warriors. He was the Grain Leader of the First Grain. Aside from the Chief Captain, he was the strongest person in the entire Third Set. Banni was one of the few people that managed to break through from the sealing runes without the help of the blood river. He only relied on his own strength from freeing himself. "AHHH!!!" The morale of the warriors had increased tremendously. Their battle intent rose as they fought the people from Red Matter Association. A huge battle occurred in the middle of the city. It became the battlefield of the two giant organizations. "How many warriors could still fight?" Banni asked while observing the battlefield. "All the warriors wanted to fight even though their mana pool is sealed. They all have the hearts of a true warrior." A Squad Leader from First Grain replied. "What about the other Grain Leaders?" Banni asked. "They are currently in a battle in the southern and eastern part of the nation. The western part became a desolate place." "We still have an advantage right now. This is not the entire force of the Red Matter and our current overall might is still higher than theirs. We can still win this battle." Banni said in a cold tone. Boom!! Suddenly, a huge energy fluctuation occurred above them. Banni and the other warriors close to him looked above. All the warriors around him were all high-rank warriors. They weren''t afraid of anything from the Red Matter Association. They were with Vandal when they clashed with the Red Matter Association years ago. "So you''re here... Shiela." Banni said slowly with a light laugh. A woman with red flowing hair appeared above them. She had snow-white skin and purple color eyes. She was wearing a green dress and on her back, there was a pair of wide wings covered in brown feathers. Behind this woman, was a group of people with powerful energy. Their appearance was noticed by the members of the Red Matter that were fighting the warriors of Athena. "Executive Shiela is here!!" "An executive will finally make a move!!" Shiela was the name of the woman. She was an executive of the notorious Red Matter Association. A person that Banni couldn''t underestimate. They once clashed before so Banni knew how strong the woman that appeared. "It''s been a long time Shiela. Today, I will defeat you and take down the Red Matter Association." Banni said as he slowly took a step forward. His aura grew stronger and the warriors behind him also released their aura. "It will be different today," Shiela said with a beautiful smile on her face. Chapter 650: War in Subterranean World: 1 vs. 12 Chapter 650: War in Subterranean World: 1 vs. 12 The warriors of the Fourth Set were looking at the transparent barrier that was covering the Aekr Republic. One of the warriors stepped forward and tried to touch it. But something forced his hand away as electricity flowed through the air. It was a barrier made to prevent them from entering the Aekr Republic. "Go and check out what''s happening on the surface." The leader of the warriors from Fourth Set said. The Red Matter Association''s plot was something that they didn''t expect so they had to prepare themselves. Since they couldn''t provide backup to the warriors inside the Aekr Republic, they had to make sure that everything was fine outside. Who knows if the Red Matter Association will attack the warriors on the surface? "Also, if the warriors on the surface are fine then call the Sky Avenue and ask for more reinforcement. Ask them to call the warriors on the other side of the portal." "Yes, sir!" The leader of the group took a deep breath. He looked up at the barrier with a grave expression. "For now, let''s try to break this barrier. It''s tough but I don''t think that it can hold us for a long time." He just hoped that nothing bad would happen inside the Aekr Republic. The main force of the Third Set of Pallas Division was inside so it should be fine. Even if there''s danger inside, they could probably last for a long time since there''s a lot of strong warriors in Third Set. ... The western part of the Aekr Republic was devastated. The warriors of the Athena in this region had mostly died. Souta was in this region and the whole place was strangely silent. Dead bodies of civilians and warriors were scattered across the land. Boom!! The ground shook heavily and a pillar of energy surged upward in a distance. "What?! This level of energy... Someone is fighting a Grain Leader?" And from the looks of it, it wasn''t an ordinary Grain Leader. This energy fluctuation must be coming from the Third, Second, or First Grain Leader. The power level of these three people was entirely above the rest of the Grain Leaders. They were just lower than the Chief Captain. "If that''s the case, then the high-level experts of the Red Matter Association must be here... The executives... A lot of our warriors'' mana pools are sealed so they must be thinking that they could cut down our forces." The north, south, and east region of the Aekr Republic had become a battlefield. The western region, where Souta was situated, became hunting of the Red Matter. The warriors in this region didn''t have any high-rank warriors so they couldn''t fight back against the Red Matter. Although it became like that, the powerful members in this region had left already to support their people in destroying the Athen''s Champion in other regions. In their minds, the warriors in the western region were done. That''s the reason why Souta couldn''t sense a lot of living creatures within the range of his [Crimson Perception]. ''I don''t think you should join the battle there... It''s too dangerous...'' Saya said in his mind. ''Yep, I don''t think I could provide much support to them. If that''s the case, I''ll just clean up this region, no, I should find a way to counter the sealing runes.'' Souta replied to her. ''It''s a sealing rune... There''s a way to counter it but I suggest that you should find the strongest people on your side.'' Saya said to him. ''You mean... The Chief Captain Vandal?'' ''That''s right. He''s the only person who can end this battle. Without him, you can''t hope to defeat the leader of the Red Matter Association. His power is the key to winning this war.'' ''Okay, I understand.'' Souta turned his head as he saw a group of people flying in the mid-air. They were members of the Red Matter. He could see that they were just at solidifying realm. "I''ll kill these people first..." He raised his hand and ten black spheres formed behind him. [Gravitational Ball]!! "Go down!" Boom!! The three people were caught off guard. A powerful gravitational field suddenly landed on their bodies and pushed them to the ground. Bang! Bang! Bang! Their figures crashed on the ground helplessly. They couldn''t even fight back against the intense gravitational pull. Souta quickly charged at them. He pulled out the vajra sword and gathered his energy on its blade. [Crimson Moon]!! Swoosh!! A huge slash appeared on the chest of the three figures. Blood spurted out like a fountain as the three of them turned around to fight back. But it was useless... A huge beam was already in front of their faces. The beam swallowed the three of them before it exploded in a distance. Boom!! This will attract the other members of the Red Matter Association. And Souta didn''t care about it at all. "With my current power level, S-rank experts wouldn''t stand a chance against me." Souta said to himself. When he was still in the sub-world, he was having a hard time fighting an S-rank expert but now, he could kill them easily. Swoosh!! He turned around and when he saw the people flying in his direction, a smile formed on his face. "Just like what I expected, they are still here." Five people were flying and three of them were familiar. The three people were the three that he fought before. Souta wouldn''t forget their faces. He said that he would kill them so he will kill them no matter what. Swoosh!! Unfortunately, they brought other people with them. Aside from them, there was another group coming from the opposite direction. This group consisted of seven people. Three were at One Shackle Realm and the remaining four were at solidifying realm. "So, a total of twelve people against me..." Even though the enemy had a huge advantage in numbers, Souta was still calm. He knew that this battle will attract all the living creatures in the western region. The Red Matter and Athen''s Champion. He will attract both groups and a huge battle will occur. Even though they had disadvantages, the warriors will still fight until they die. "Let''s start this quickly..." The ground beneath Souta''s feet slowly turned dark and it quickly spread out, turning the entire ground into a pitch-black area. Then, ten shadows rose behind him as a black mist slowly spread in the air. Wriggling black tentacles slowly emerged from the shadows and blood flowed in the air. The whole atmosphere was eerily quiet. "Not enough..." The monster orb and [Nebula Heart] inside Souta''s body quickly pumped out a huge amount of energy. They flowed through the [Star Veins] which increases his energy output. Then, strings of flesh burst out of his body and enveloped his figure. His form had changed and a dangerous aura slowly seeped out of him. Along with the usage of the queen parasite, he also activated the [Night Overlord''s Aura], [Shadow Cloak], [Dark Menace], [Shadow Step], [Cat''s Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Agility Boost], and [Strength Boost]. All of this happened in just a few seconds while the twelve people from Red Matter were flying towards his position. ''I know that without the help of my [Element Drive] or release form, my chances of defeating these people are low...'' Souta narrowed his eyes. ''That''s why I have to use one of my aces...'' "Just like I thought, you''ve managed to escape..." The woman with a long sword said with a smile. "This time, we will put you down monster." "Try it if you can!" Souta replied as black and white tattoos came out of the bracelet on his wrist. The tattoos scattered around Souta as energy fluctuations swept out. In the next moment, the tattoos started to merge together. One was pitch black while the other one was pure white. The two different tattoos turned into two different humanoid creatures. [Yin Yang Twin Spirits]!! One of the equipment skills of the universal artifact called [Yin Yang Bracelet]. An undoubtedly powerful skill that could turn the tide without him using [Element Drive] or [Monster Orb Release]. The twelve people suddenly stopped moving as they stared at the two creatures beside Souta warily. With their power levels, the black mist could barely block their visions. "What the hell is that?!" "Is that his skill?!" "I don''t know!!" None of them had any idea what''s the two creatures. They could only feel danger coming from them. The twin spirits didn''t have any specific power levels. Their abilities depend on the power of their user so the power of the twin spirits was definitely stronger now that Souta reached the fourth evolution stage. The twin spirits were several times stronger than before. "Go..." Souta said one word and the twin spirits on his sides disappeared. Swoosh! In the next moment, they were in front of the two groups. Their strength exploded as they took their first attack. Boom!! It''s only his second time using this skill ever since he acquired the [Yin Yang Bracelet]. Chapter 651: War in Subterranean World: Might of the Twin Spirits Chapter 651: War in Subterranean World: Might of the Twin Spirits The [Yin Yang Twin Spirits] was a powerful skill of universal grade artifact. It was a skill that could manifest two creatures of dark and light attributes. The power of twin spirits depends on the power level of the users so if the user was weak, the power of the twin spirits was also weak. A true manifestation of Souta''s unbound power. He didn''t have to fight the enemy himself. Instead, he could simply stand at the back and support the twin spirits in battling his opponents. It was easy to say that the power of twin spirits was above Souta''s base form. They were as strong as his release form without any power boost from combat arts, spells, and equipment. Nevertheless, even without those boosts, Souta''s power was still above an initial fourth-stage monster. So the might of the twin spirits was something beyond their power level. The people from Red Matter Association would need at least one Two Shackles Realm expert to hold one of the twin spirits. Bang! Bang! Bang! The twin spirits were trashing the twelve people from Red Matter. They only had six One Shackle Realm and the rest were all at solidifying realm. People below Shackled Realm couldn''t help in this situation. "Die!" Souta looked at them with cold eyes as he made a grabbing motion in the air. The gravity around them tightened and it restricted the movements of the S-rank experts. Swoosh! The white spirits charged at the six One Shackled Realm and it raised its golden staff above its head. The golden staff emitted a bright light and in the next moment, a shockwave appeared in front of it pushing the six figures away. "Shit!!!" "No!!" Using this chance while the S-rank experts were restricted by Souta''s gravity, the black spirit charged at him with a slash from its greatsword. An enormous dark slash crossed in mid-air as it swallowed the bodies of the S-rank experts. Boom!! "Shit! This is beyond my expectations!" The woman with a long sword cursed while staring at the scene of the black spirit killing her comrades. She then turned her attention behind the black spirit. Souta was looking at her with a wide grin on his face. It was as if he was mocking her for their decision to fight him. "You fucker!!" "I won''t give you any more time. I can sense that your reinforcement are coming in this direction and it seems that they had a few strong people there. But before they arrive here, I will make sure that all of you are dead." Souta said with a light laugh. The ten shadows behind him quickly charged at them along with the black spirits. "Enclose!" The blood flowed in mid-air as it swirled around shooting hundreds of blood bullets at the targets. The black tentacles also shoot forward to distract the targets. "Hahaha!! Die! Just like what I said before I''ll kill you!!" Souta laughed at them before pressing down both of his hands. The gravity field locked their position and it will try to push away everyone that wanted to escape. "Checkmate!" The twin spirits zoomed the distance in the blink of an enemy. They quickly engaged in a fierce battle against the six One Shackle Realm experts. Bang! Bang! Bang! The man with a round shield tried to block the greatsword of black spirit. Unfortunately, he didn''t have enough power to take it head-on. His figure flashed away before crashing on the gravity field. The gravity field pushed him away as the blood bullets landed on his body. Bang! Bang! Before he could react the shadows attacked him repeatedly. "ARGH!!" The rest of the people turned their heads when they heard his scream. They wanted to help him but they were being held back by the twin spirits. "Shit!!" With one gone, the difficulty in dealing with the twin spirits became harder. They passively went into a defensive position to buy some time before their reinforcement arrive. Souta glanced at them before he shook his head. He focused his attention on the man with a round shield. "They abandoned you... So accept your death like a warrior." He thrust the vajra sword forward and it pierced the chest of his target. "You!!" The man loosened his grip on his weapon and shield. His strength was slowly leaving his body but he wanted to make a last attack. He gathered his mana on his fist but Souta quickly pulled his sword and slashed his neck. Spurt! Blood flows out nonstop and Souta slashed his neck one more time until it the man''s head was separated from his body. "One slash isn''t enough to chop the head of a One Shackle Realm expert... It seems that I need to train more." Souta muttered while looking at the headless corpse of the man. Thud! The corpse of the man fell to the ground with a loud sound. His blood flows out of his body as it joined the blood flowing in the air. One down and the other five will be much easier. "Here I come." Souta flew at them without hiding his aura. The people from Red Matter sensed his presence but what could they do? The twin spirits were already big trouble for them and now Souta was going to join. They could only feel helpless in their situation. They knew that couldn''t do anything. "Look at me." Souta gathered a huge amount of best feram in his sword. He mocked them before throwing a sword light in their direction. [Crimson Moon]!! "Not enough..." [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]!! Black lightning roared above them. The intense fluctuations caused them to feel nervous and fearful at the same time. "I''ll take a gamble here." One of them said loudly. "I''ll go and attack that monster while you guys keep these two creatures away from me. Also, help me block the attack from above." "I''ll go with you, I''ll fucking kill that monster." The woman said as she gritted her teeth. Two people were going to attack Souta while the other one was going to block the black lightning from above. The remaining two will try to buy them some time from keeping the twin spirits away. "I can only keep these two creatures for ten seconds. Any more than that would cost me my life." One of them said. "That''s enough. We have to risk or else all of us will die." The woman with a long sword said. "Fine." "Okay, good." Two people quickly left the range of the twin spirits while the other one went above them to create a barrier. Swoosh!! "Not a bad choice but it''s still hopeless in front of me." Souta said as he collided with the two people. They exchanged hundreds of blows in just a second. Boom! Boom! Boom! They were desperate. They were doing everything that they could so that they could kill him within the time limit. Unfortunately, Souta was playing with them. He didn''t even try to attack them. He focused his attention on evading their attacks and running away from them. "Don''t run away from us, monster!!" The woman shouted with a mad look on her face. "Ehe~ catch me if you can..." Souta laughed as blood flowed in front of him to block the woman and the other one. The woman and the other man quickly threw a powerful attack. Boom!! The blood evaporated from their attack but they noticed that Souta was already gone. "Where is he?!" The two looked around trying to find his trail. "Time''s up..." A voice echoed from their ears. Their hearts beat loudly as they turned their heads, only to witness their comrades being beheaded by twin spirits. Their eyes constricted as despair slowly enveloped their hearts. The other one that tried to block the black lightning for them was beheaded too. Only the two of them were left. "You failed to kill me. If you killed me then the two creatures there would disappear as I''m the one that summoned them. Too bad, you failed." Souta''s voice sounded as the two people looked up. They saw him floating several meters above them. "It''s time for you guys to join your comrades." He pointed his sword at them and a vast amount of energy swirled on the tip of the blade. [Bestrou]! The two people looked at it and they didn''t even try to evade the incoming attack. They already accepted their defeat. Boom!! Souta heard a notification in his mind and breath a sigh of relief. He finally killed the two groups. "Now, for the real trouble..." He turned his head in the other direction. In his vision, he could see more than twenty people flying at high speed. On the opposite, a group was also approaching this area. The first group was Red Matter while the second group was Athen''s Champions. They sensed the battle fluctuations in this area so they came here to provide support to their comrades. Souta looked at the twin spirits floating behind him. ''These two spirits would vanish sooner so I have to make sure to eliminate one or two more enemies before that happened.'' Chapter 652: War in Subterranean World: Top Executive! Chapter 652: War in Subterranean World: Top Executive! The group from Red Matter Association consisted of forty-one experts. Half of them were at One Shackle Realm while two of them were at Two Shackles Realm. The warriors from Athen''s Champion had thirty-seven experts. Half of them had their mana pool sealed so the group was at a disadvantage. Although they also had two Two Shackles Realm warriors, their overall might was less than the other group. Nevertheless, the warriors of Athena never lose their battle spirit. They were prepared to fight the Red Matter Association to death. The spirit of a true warrior was burning in their eyes. Boom!! The two groups didn''t even talk. The battle began as soon as they met. They clashed with everything that they got. Souta let the twin spirits join the battle before he took a step away from the fight. It was too chaotic as skills were flying in every direction. "Souta, you''re here!" Souta turned around and saw a familiar face. A tall man with a pair of fox ears was looking at him. It was Manduk, the man who helped him familiarize himself with his battle power when he just reached the fourth evolution stage. "Yeah..." He nodded at Manduk. "Where''s your squad?" "We separated when the sealing runes appeared. I don''t know what happened to them but I think that they are still alive." Manduk replied. "You''re lucky that you managed to escape from those sealing runes." "Yeah, I wouldn''t deny it. Those are too dangerous. It sealed the mana pool of our warriors and we are currently trying to undo the seals." "Did you find a way?" Souta asked. "According to Squad Leader Jamil, there are two ways to undo the seals on our warriors." Squad Leader Jamil was a leader of a squad from Third Grain. He was a warrior at Three Shackles Realm and he had knowledge about runes. "Do tell me, maybe I can help..." "He said that the sealing runes came from the fragments of the boulder that Chief Captain smashed. The sealing runes weren''t active at that time. It means that the Red Matter Association had a Rune Master in their ranks or they had a device to activate it." "I see... So it''s either we find the Rune Master or the device used in runes." "Yeah, he also said that the Rune Master must be inside this place since hundreds of runes are activated at the same time. It''s no easy feat to activate all those runes from a different place." Souta quickly understood. The Rune Master and a device to activate the sealing runes were the key. "What about undoing the runes with Squad Leader Jamil''s skills?" "That''s one of the ways too but Squad Leader Jamil said that it would take a lot of time before he could reverse the effect of the sealing runes. Two to three hours." "Two to three hours... Many of our warriors would die at that time." Souta muttered in a grave tone. "That''s why some of our warriors aren''t focused on fighting the Red Matter Association. They were tasked to find the Rune Master or the device." "I''ll try to find the Rune Master or the device too," Souta said. "Are you sure?" Manduk looked at him. "Yes, I think I have a lot of chances in finding one of them," Souta said. He was confident that his chances were higher than the other warriors. He had [Galaxy Eyes] that could see through a lot of concealment. Once a Rune Master or the device went into his vision, he would know it as long as he carefully scanned them. "Okay, I''ll trust you." "Good. I''ll leave the battle to all of you." Souta said before he flew away. He left the Twin Spirits to fight the people from Red Matter Association. The Twin Spirits were a huge help as an ordinary One Shackle Realm expert wouldn''t stand a chance against one of them. It would take a group of One Shackle experts to stop them. Swoosh!! Although he had to find the Rune Master of the device, Souta wasn''t focused on any of them. Finding either one in this huge nation was extremely hard. The western region alone was huge. He had another goal in his mind. The appearance of an executive was nothing to him. He knew that the high-rank warriors would deal with it. As long as the leader of the Red Matter Association didn''t appear, the high-rank warriors wouldn''t be at a total disadvantage. Souta arrived at the place where the Chief Captain have a meeting with the officials of this nation. "I need to scan this place... Then, I''ll find a way to break the barrier and try to locate the whereabouts of the Chief Captain." This was Souta''s goal. He approached a cabinet. He looked at the books lined up and carefully picked one. He opened the book and scanned the pages with his eyes. "Republic of Aekr... Dawn Kingdom... Cartel... and Kaetws Federation... Four nations and the Aekr Republic is one of them. Where are the other three?" Souta closed the book and placed it back in the cabinet. This subterranean wasn''t simple as it seems. There''s a hidden fifth evolution stage monster and now there were other three hidden nations. Just like what he thought, this place was huge but he couldn''t see any area where he could find the fifth evolution stage monster. The territory of a powerful monster. ... Two figures were colliding hundreds of times in mid-air. They were Banni and Shiela. The Grain Leader of the First Grain and an executive of the Red Matter Association. "No matter what happens, you are still not on my level of power. I don''t know where you got your courage to come here alone but I will make sure you regret it." Banni said as he slashed both of his daggers. Bang!! Shiela managed to block his attack but the force behind it threw her to the ground. Shockwaves spread out as she crashed into the ground causing a huge crater. Boom! "Among the twelve executives of the Red Matter Association, you are the weakest one. The result would have been different if it''s Jayden or Larry." Banni slowly landed on the ground. He looked at Shiela with cold eyes and said, "If you don''t want to die, tell me how to undo the sealing runes on my warriors?" "Do you think that I would tell you about it? The sealing runes are one of the most complicated runes. Do you think anyone can understand it? Even I don''t know how to undo it!" Shiela said with a laugh. "You''ve been trapped here in this place. Master set up everything and all of you would die." "If I''m going to die... Then, you should die first." Banni looked at her with cold eyes. He lifted the daggers in his hands and a tremendous amount of energy gathered around its blade. "I never meant to win in the first place... I''m just here to buy some time." Shiela said as she closed her eyes. She knew that she could never defeat Banni. The difference in their power was huge and it would only take Banni a few minutes to defeat her. Only the top executives could fight the second strongest warrior in the entire Third Set of Pallas Division. But everything was planned... Her master, Avron, set up the stage for everyone. Banni narrowed his eyes when he heard her words. Even so, he still swung the dagger in hand as he wanted to kill Shiela. Swoosh!! The blade of the dagger was about to land on Shiela''s neck but something happened. A vast amount of energy burst from the ground. It surged upward as it blew up the entire area, creating a vast smoke that could melt metals. Boom!! Banni didn''t back out. He swung his dagger again but a huge force collided with his attack. Boom!! His figure emerged from the smoke. He landed on the side and looked at the wound on his right arm. "This energy fluctuation...?!" He recognized the energy from the attack. "Grain Leader!!" The other high-rank warriors came to his side. They quickly came here since they sensed a powerful energy fluctuation. And all of them were familiar with it. "Grain Leader, this aura..." One of them muttered. "I know, Jayden is here... The top 2 of the Red Matter Association." Banni took a deep breath and said, "I can handle this. You guys can go and help our fellow warriors. I want you to preserve the lives of our warriors as many as you can." "But that''s..." "I know, I''ve fought Jayden years ago..." Banni said. "We don''t even know the location of Grain Leader Servas and Grain Leader Micah. So I want you guys to command the other warriors and let me deal with the other side''s strong experts." Grain Leader Servas was the leader of Second Grain while Grain Leader Micah was Third Grain. Both of them were powerful warriors that could contend with the executives of the Red Matter, so their strength was needed to take down the strong guys from the other side. "We understand, Sir! Please be careful!!" Chapter 653: War in Subterranean World: Banni vs. Jayden Chapter 653: War in Subterranean World: Banni vs. Jayden Banni could clearly remember the battle years ago. The time when they did a large-scale operation to wipe out the Red Matter Association. The power of the top 2 executive was no joke. "I don''t have anyone with me right now... I guess I have to do it alone." Banni smiled wryly. The Chief Captain was gone and they couldn''t find Servas and Micah. The Squad Leaders of the First, Second, and Third Grain were doing their best to support the warriors that got their mana pool sealed. So he was alone to deal with the executives of the Red Matter Association. "It''s a tough job but I have to do it." Banni tightened his muscles and his energy enveloped his body. His mind was prepared for everything that would happen next. The smoke slowly dissipated and a tall man was standing in the center of the crater. The man was wearing a formal suit. He was holding a rapier in his right hand while his left hand was on his back. He had sharp brows and deep black eyes. On his forehead, there was a pair of antennas sticking out and an exoskeleton could be seen on some part of his body. He was alone. Shiela was nowhere to be found. "She escaped..." Banni muttered with a grave look. Jayden has arrived and he failed to land a killing blow on Shiela. Well, with her condition she wouldn''t be able to fight anymore. Even if she healed herself, she wouldn''t be able to fight at her peak. Ordinary Squad Leaders were enough to match her. The Squad Leaders from higher Grains would dismantle her in her current condition. "It''s been a long time Banni." Jayden greeted him. "Yeah, I didn''t think that you are still alive," Banni replied with a laugh. "Well, it''s not like everyone can kill me." Jayden shrugged his shoulder. "You''re on time. If you were one second late, I would have killed Shiela." "Haha, she had another job. She didn''t need to fight anymore." Jayden laughed. "I see... It''s understandable with her current condition but... I think you would end up the same as her." Banni burst forward as he zoomed the distance between him and Jayden in an instant. Jayden laughed as he thrust the rapier in his hand. Swoosh! Banni blocked it with his dagger then he kicked the group and jumped in the air. Lightning covered his blades before slashing in his opponent''s direction. [Twin Lightning Slash]!! "Not enough!" Jayden jumped backward as a magic circle appeared on his left hand. [Three-layered Wood Gate]!! Three twenty-meter-tall wood emerged from the ground. The wood gates were lined up as they blocked the lightning slash. Boom!! The first gate was shattered but the second gate stopped the lightning from advancing. "It''s really irritating that you have the same element as your Chief Captain!" Jayden said before he dashed forward while thrusting his rapier. "It''s an honor to have the same element as my Chief Captain!" Lightning and wind exploded from Banni''s figure. [Dual Element Drive: Lightning and Wind Force]!! The air vibrated and a ring of energy exploded at where Banni was standing. The next moment, his figure which was covered in lightning and wind disappeared. Dragging a chain of lightning and wind tracks behind, he came right before Jayden. Wrapped in lightning and wind, the pair of daggers, instantly appeared in front of Jayden''s eyes. [Hailing Storm Blade]!! In the blink of an eye, Jayden gathered his energy while raising his rapier to block the incoming attack. Boom!! Jayden gritted his teeth as a ring-shaped shockwave exploded from the point of impact. A tsunami of lightning and wind rushed at him. His body shot out like a cannonball hundreds of meters away and penetrated buildings one after another. "The lives of the warriors are in my hands. No matter what I can''t afford to lose this battle." Banni mumbled in his heart. Without the Chief Captain, Servas, and Micah, he had to hold the enemies before they come back. No matter how many executives came here, he had to fight them. He couldn''t rely on his warriors. His fellow warriors had their own problems regarding the sealing runes, so he didn''t want them to worry about powerful enemies like executives. ... The Blue Cross Squad was at the edge of the eastern region of the Aekr Republic along with another squad. They were here with the folks from this nation. They were helping them fend off the attack of the Red Matter Association. "I''m sorry, warriors. Our forces aren''t to decrease your burden." The President of the Aekr Republic said. "It''s nothing. A little bit of power is enough to help us." Leilus said while wiping the blood on the corner of his mouth. "Squad Leader, here." Paolo approached him and threw a bottle of health potion. Leilus quickly drank the potion and asked, "Thanks, Paolo. How many health potions are left in our baggage?" "We still have thirty-three health potions, Sir. We couldn''t last long." Paolo answered. "Only two squads are left in this area. We finally find the way to undo the sealing runes but we can''t break through the formation of our enemies. It''s tough." Leilus said while looking at the battlefield. Hundred meters away from him, Drami and the others were fighting the members of the Red Matter Association. He and Paolo retreated from the battle as both of them received injuries. After taking potions and resting for a few minutes, they will switch with one of the warriors on the frontline. "Is there really a way to help you?" The President asked. "Yes, but it''s on the other side. Fifty people from Red Matter Association are guarding that building. Twenty-six are at One Shackle, while five are at Two Shackles, and one at Three Shackles." Leilus replied. The Blue Cross Squad only had five people and the other squad, which was called Wind Slide, had eight people. Luckily, they had the soldiers of the Aekr Republic to help them. Although only a few could help them, since most of the soldiers were escorting the civilians out of the nation, they were still glad for their help. "Do you want me to gather my elite soldiers and help you in your goal? I will personally fight too. Even if I''m injured, I think I could still handle someone at One Shackle Realm." The President said in a serious tone. "What about the civilians?" "They are fine. Narkus and the other Guardians of the Gate are with them. Also, most of my people have successfully escaped from the nation." The President was only talking to those who managed to survive after the initial attack of the Red Matter. Hundreds of thousands of people had already died from the first attack and a lot more had perished from the next attack. "Are you sure you can decrease the soldiers around your people?" Leilus asked. "I''m sure that they can manage it. Helping you is like helping us survive too." The President said seriously. "Okay, gather your elite force. I''m going ahead of you so just bring your force to the battle. We''re going to push through them afterward." Leilus said before he flew towards the battlefield. "We''re counting on you, President." Paolo said before he followed Leilus. Swoosh!! Blue Cross Squad and Wind Slide Squad along with some soldiers of the Aekr Republic were doing great in holding against the force of the Red Matter Association. In the beginning, they had a total of thirteen squads with them but the eleven squads had died one after another leaving only the two squads on the battlefield. They suffered huge casualties and the enemy''s side was the same. Both had suffered casualties and they were slowly wearing down each other. Boom! Boom! "We need to get through! Our potions wouldn''t last long!" Leilus said as he joined the battle. A man swung a sword in front of him but he quickly jumped to the side and threw a powerful punch. Bang! His punch pushed back the enemy but another enemy charged at him. A warrior came to his side and helped him block the attack of the enemy using a great sword. Then, Leilus launched a series of punches blowing the enemy away. Boom!! "How many potions are left? We need to do this no matter what. The enemies are encircling us as they don''t want us to pass the message on to the other warriors." This man was the Squad Leader of the Wind Slide Squad, Fridd. He was a strong warrior but his current condition wasn''t great. He had been fighting nonstop ever since the forces of the Red Matter appeared. "Of course, we found the device to undo the sealing runes so they weren''t going to let us leave this place alive," Leilus said. "So it''s do or die?" Fridd took a deep breath and a smile formed on his face. "Yes, there''s no other way. Even if we failed, we are going to die as a warrior." Leilus smiled. Chapter 654: War in Subterranean World: Second Level Chapter 654: War in Subterranean World: Second Level "You''ve greatly underestimated us this time. The other top Grains didn''t even come here and you think you can defeat us!" Jayden said as he stood up from the rubble. He wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth with his hand. He suffered some injuries from receiving Banni''s attack. "They are busy... I''m sure you understand the state of the world." Banni replied before fixing his posture and pointing his daggers at his opponent. The Grains that Jayden was talking about were the other First Grains and Second Grains. The Athen''s Champion was divided into six Divisions and each Division was divided into ten Sets. Each Set was divided into three Grains; Grain War, Grain Wisdom, and Grain Virgin which symbolizes their holy goddess. And each of the three Grains was divided into ten ranks. First to Tenth. At First being the strongest and Tenth being the weakest. Banni was leader of the First Grain War so Jayden was talking about the First Grain Wisdom and First Grain Virgin. The power of the absent two leaders was just slightly below him. The two contributed greatly in the fight against Red Matter Association years ago. "Then, you should say goodbye to this world!" Jayden said as he thrust his rapier. Boom!! A loud sound exploded as a shockwave flew in Banni''s direction. "I have honed my skills in the past few years just to defeat you! I am stronger than before!" Banni shifted his body to the side as he avoided the shockwave. Then, he charged forward as lightning and wind followed his tracks. [Greater Skin Reinforce]! [Wind''s Agile]! [Blade of Earth]! [Steel Flesh]! He activated several combat arts as he arrived in front of Jayden''s eyes. These combat arts were trained to perfect mastery. "Then, I''ll fight you seriously!" Jayden grinned as an enormous amount of mana exploded within his body. His overall stats had increased vastly. Swoosh! He moved his body to the side as lightning and winds crashed in his previous position. [Element Drive: Wood Integration]!! His energy level flared up as he dashed forward. His figure collided with Banni. Boom!! Banni was thrown away. His body penetrated several buildings before he stopped. Ugh!! He spat a mouthful of blood as he felt intense pain in his body. His opponent finally used the [Element Drive] and it overwhelmed him. "T-The second level..." Banni mumbled as he stood up with great effort. What Jayden used wasn''t an ordinary [Element Drive]. It was the second level called Integration. If the first level was Force the second level was Integration. The Integration was achieved by forming an elemental seed in their mana pool. Not only it could boost their elemental affinity by a large margin, this could also bring them a huge boost in overall stats once activated. Banni knew that Jayden was going to fight him with all of his power. The power of Integration. Jayden stabbed his rapier on the ground. A tremendous amount of energy spread out like a tsunami. [Rising Nature]! The ground shook heavily as thousands of woods sprung up from the ground. It covered everything within a twenty-kilometer radius. Buildings or houses were destroyed as woods pierced them from the ground. The civilians that were hiding from the battle got swallowed by these things. An entire forest had risen instantly. It covered half of the northern region. The warriors that were fighting in this region had no choice but to stop fighting as they sensed a tremendous energy in the atmosphere. They could only retreat and watched the whole forest emerge from the ground. "Grain Leader Banni!!" The warriors were concerned but they couldn''t do anything about it. The person that Banni was fighting was in a completely different league from them. "Don''t falter warriors! Grain Leader Banni will handle it! Focus on our enemy in front!" One of the Grain Leaders of lower Grains shouted. The only thing they could do for now was to fight the enemies in front of them. Without defeating these people, they wouldn''t be able to help the other warriors. Banni moved his swiftly as he chopped down the woods that were coming at him. ''The effect of this spell isn''t originally as strong as this one... But because of the second level of [Element Drive], its power had grown stronger.'' A low-rank tier 3 spell became a high-rank tier 3 spell. The effect of Integration was horrifying. And this was just the second level. If a second level was already this strong, then what about the third level or the fourth level? Banni took a deep breath. He circulated his mana inside his body and activated more of his combat arts. The lightning and winds swirling around him grew fiercer as he stared at Jayden''s lone figure. "It''s do or die! If I couldn''t kill him, I will do my best to injure him so that the other warriors could kill this guy. Even if I die I will..." Banni''s eyes were filled with fighting spirit. He roared as he charged at Jayden with everything that he had got. Swoosh!! "Come!! I am prepared!" Jayden said seriously as he pointed his rapier ahead. Hundreds of woods moved and rushed ahead. It was an overwhelming sight as each one had a thickness of three to five meters. [Swift Wind Slash]!! [Lightning Demolition Strike]!! The woods exploded as lightning and winds surged in every direction. The violent energy coming from the impact spread out. Banni emerged from the explosion as he jumped forward while pointing his daggers ahead. "Jayden!!" Two figures clashed in the mid-air. The air vibrated as both of their energies collided causing violent sparks in the atmosphere. Boom!! Both of their figures flew out like a cannonball and crashed on the ground. Bang! Bang! Ugh! Banni stood up as he wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. He grinned and said, "It''s true that a higher level of [Elemen Drive] is strong but... If that''s all you''ve got then you wouldn''t be able to defeat me." "True." Jayden laughed lightly as he zoomed the distance between him and Banni. "You''re not the second strongest in the entire Third Set for nothing. I always admire your strength and I''m sure that it would be a great achievement to defeat you here." He raised his rapier and swung it down. [Nature Slash]! "Haha! So that''s how you saw me! In the battle of two warriors on the same level, experience always matters!" Banni laughed as he avoided the attack and thrust his daggers forward. Swoosh! Jayden crouched down and he launched a kick on his opponent''s knee. Banni raised his foot to block it but he saw Jayden stopped. Then, a rapier flashed toward his face. He reacted quickly but it grazed his cheeks. Blood spurted out from his wound and he tried to slash the figure in front of him. Swoosh! Jayden jumped away but he felt something wrong. He saw Banni with a huge grin on his face. [Exploding Air Mine]!! Behind him, a wind burst out throwing powerful energy. The eruption of the winds chopped hundreds of woods in the area. "It''s not enough!" Banni gritted his teeth. His figure flashed and appeared in front of his opponent but Jayden already expected it. A rapier pierced his right shoulder. Ugh!! The energy inside the rapier was fierce and it grew wilder causing Banni to groan in pain. It was grinding his flesh and it was very painful. ''I have to defeat this person!'' Banni threw the dagger in his left hand at his opponent. Jayden simply tilted his head to avoid it. He pulled back his left arm and when he was about to deliver a blow, Banni opened his palm. [Lightning Cry]!! It was just a simple low-tier spell but it distracted Jayden. The spell exploded in front of him not because it was powerful. Boom!! The reason was that Banni overload the magic circle of the low-rank tier 1 spell with his energy causing it to explode. It couldn''t handle the enormous amount of energy used to cast a high-tier spell. So Jayden thought it was a high-tier spell when he sensed the amount of energy inside the magic circle. "Shit!!" Jayden cursed as he waved his hand to blow the smoke away. But then, he saw Banni staring at him ten meters away from his left side. The dagger in his right hand was shining brightly. [True Strike]!! [Essence Boosting]!! Banni used the equipment skill of his red grade dagger. The [True Strike] was a skill that could ignore the defense of his target while the [Essence Boosting] could boost his attack damage by 150% for one attack. What makes it more powerful was that he loaded his attack with lightning and winds. [True Lightning Wind Blast]!! Banni slashed the dagger in his hand and a powerful wave of energy followed it. "Arghh!!" Jayden gritted his teeth as he raised his weapon in front of it. [Nature''s Shield]! [Nine-layered Face Barrier]! [Enhance Body Flesh]! [True Damage Resistance]! He used various defensive skills to block the incoming attack. BOOM!! Chapter 655: War in Subterranean World: Other side Chapter 655: War in Subterranean World: Other side A huge chunk of forest was destroyed. Everything within this area was turned into dust. Buildings and rocks couldn''t be seen anymore. The area within two kilometers radius turned into a desolate desert. Everything was pulverized. Banni was standing with blood all over his body. His breathing was heavy and his consciousness was slowly slipping away. Ten meters away from him was Jayden. His condition was the same as his blood kept dripping on the sands. In that instant, after Banni used his powerful attack Jayden activated the equipment skills of his rapier. It was his last resort and Banni tried to defend it by launching his own attack. Everything happened in just a single moment. It was too fast. "I-I''m sorry my fellow warriors... This is everything that I could do..." Banni muttered as he slowly fell. His vision was blurred and he couldn''t even feel his body. Thud! Jayden looked at Banni. He couldn''t even move a single part of his body with his current condition. He was exhausted and didn''t have enough energy to fight for a second time. "As expected of Banni... I''m impressed... You just fought Shiela a while ago yet you still manage to defeat me..." He fell down on his knees as his blood kept dripping. His left shoulder along with his left arm was gone. He guessed that he wouldn''t be able to survive unless someone gave him a first aid. A piece of yellow paper slipped out of his pocket. The yellow paper slowly fell on the sands as it emitted a dim blueish light. "M-Master, are you t-there?" He asked with great effort. "Yes..." A voice sounded from the paper. "I''m sorry, Jayden. I don''t think I could help you." "N-No..." Jayden said as he slowly lifted his head and looked at the crystals on the ceiling. The two of them knew each other for a long time. He was the first person that joined the Red Matter Association. The two of them build this organization into its current state. They faced a lot of challenges and overcome them. "Thank you for all your hard work." Jayden smiled when he heard those words. His body fell on the sands as his consciousness left his body. Ever since the two of them started this insane path, they were prepared to taint their hands. They steeled their hearts as they knew that one of them could die at any moment. They took a life of countless people and throughout their journey, a lot of their comrades died. On the other side, Avron, the founder of the Red Matter Association, had a grave look on his face. Veins were popping up on his forehead. Avron glanced at the piece of yellow paper. "So long, partner... On behalf of your effort, I will finish this no matter what." ... On the edge of the eastern region... "President, are you sure you want to gather are elite soldiers?!" One of the officials of the Aekr Republic asked. "I''ve already gathered them. The civilians are safe outside the city and we''ve already confirmed the effect of the barrier." President said while glancing at the official. The barrier around the entire nation didn''t limit them from leaving the nation but it prevented them from entering, so once they were outside they wouldn''t be able to enter the nation once again. Why did the Red Matter Association create a barrier like this? He could think of one reason why. Using the barrier the Red Matter divided the forces of the warriors, so there must be warriors outside the nation. While the warriors were divided, the Red Matter will try to annihilate the forces inside the nation before they fight the warriors outside the city. In this way, the enemy wouldn''t have to fight the entire forces of the warriors. It was a good tactic along with the sealing runes. Everything was planned. This was also the reason why the President was sure that no one would come at his people. If the enemy chased after his people then the warriors outside would sense it. Their efforts to divide the warriors into two would have gone to waste if they were going to fight them at the same time. The Red Matter should''ve focused their strength on the warriors inside the nation. "Soldiers, follow my lead!!" The President shouted as he raised his fist above his head. Although he got injured from the failed assassination attempt, he could still fight as he already received first aid. "Ahhh!!!" The elite soldiers under his command roared. "Let''s go!" The President flew and the elite soldiers followed him. There''s only one thing they could do to help the warriors in fighting the Red Matter Association. And that was to assist them in claiming the device that could undo the sealing runes on the other warriors. Leilus and the other warriors heard a battle cry on their backs. They turned around and saw the elite soldiers of the Aekr Republic charging forward to help them. "The President already finished arranging them... It''s good for our side." Leilus said with a smirk. "We have some help?! Oh, I think we can do this one more time!!" Drami yelled as her mana flared up. "Don''t say anything. Just focus on breaking through the enemy''s formation!" Marcus said before launching a powerful attack. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! A huge battle continued the fighting spirit of the warriors was reignited. They pushed the enemy''s formation along with the elite soldiers of the Aekr Republic. Combat arts and spells were thrown all over the place, causing hundreds of explosions in the area around them. Since the civilians in this area have evacuated safely, they could go all out without minding the lives of innocent people. Bang! Bang! There''s no tall building left standing in the place. All of the tall buildings were razed to the ground. BOOM!!! A powerful wave of energy surged in a distance far away from the warriors. Everyone who felt the energy wave sensed the intensity of it. The energy level was beyond their league and it cause them to stop and looked in the direction where the energy was coming from. "The other warriors are fighting! We need to finish this as soon as possible!" Leilus yelled. "We will prevail this, warriors! Our fellow warriors over there are doing their best so we will live up to the warrior''s spirit!" Fridd, the Squad Leader of Wind Slide, yelled. "AHHHH!!!" The warriors roared. The battle continued for dozens of minutes and several of them had fallen to the ground. They suffered heavy injuries, while some of them were exhausted. "Squad Leader, I''m so tired..." Paolo said while kneeling on the ground. His left hand was covering the wound on his stomach. "We''ve consumed all of our potions. Can you still do this?" Leilus asked. "One more time. I don''t think I will last longer." Paolo smiled. "That''s good," Leilus said and he swept his eyes on the battlefield. He observed the condition of his squad members. Drami, Sekmet, and Marcus already showed signs of exhaustion just like Paolo. They wouldn''t be able to last more than five minutes. Even the help of the elite soldiers wasn''t enough. At the very least, the help only gave them more time before they suffered a defeat. Without the elite soldiers, they would have fallen down earlier. "I''ll risk everything, Fridd. Hold them, can you do that for me?" Leilus asked his fellow Squad Leader. "I can at least do that much." Fridd nodded with a serious look. "Thanks for trusting me, warrior." Leilus smiled before he charged forward. "Marcus! Drami! Follow me! We''ll drill through them!" Boom!! Leilus was in front while the two were behind him. They were charging forward at high speed and their energy level were rising rapidly. Swoosh!! "Stop those three!!" The people of Red Matter stood in front of them. They were prepared to collide with these three. Swoosh! Several balls of flames suddenly flew over and landed on their bodies causing several explosions to occur. Boom!! Boom!! "Don''t worry, I got you!" Fridd smiled as a sword flashed and deeply cut his body. Ugh!! "I''ll leave it to you, warriors!" He ignored the enemies in front of him but he instead focused his attention on the people that will try to stop those three even if he suffered grave injuries. "Thanks." Leilus, Drami, and Marcus''s speed had increased several times. Their formation broke through the enemies. They pierced through them. Boom!! Drami and Marcus quickly stopped. They turned around and looked at the enemies in front of them. This was the plan all along. "Leave this to us, Squad Leader!" Their Squad Leader will head inside while the two of them will try to stop the people from Red Matter Association. "The two of you are true warriors..." Leilus said as he entered a building. He trusts his comrades. Two warriors against dozens of experts on the same level. Their chances of winning were pretty much zero. But their goal wasn''t to win. It was to buy time so that Leilus could get the device and undo the sealing runes. Chapter 656: War in Subterranean World: Goodbye Chapter 656: War in Subterranean World: Goodbye "It''s all up to you, Leilus," Fridd said with a smile on his face. Even though ten people surrounded him, he still had that smile on his face. As long as Leilus undo the sealing runes, it would be fine if he died. He accepted it. No, the warriors have accepted it. Marcus and Drami were standing side by side. Around them, there were more than twenty people from the Red Matter Association. "Do you think that Squad Leader already got the device to remove the sealing runes?" Drami asked her lover. Her condition wasn''t good. She couldn''t move her left arm as most of the muscles in this arm were ruptured. "I don''t think so but Squad Leader will surely accomplish it," Marcus said as he forced a smile on his face despite his condition. "Then, let''s hold these guys as long as we can," Drami said as she lifted her right hand and wiped the blood on her face. "We''ll take down as many enemies as we could," Marcus said. Both of them knew that they could die on this mission. The percentage of them dying when they accepted to go with Leilus to get the device was high. Even so, they still accepted it. Who''s going to help Leilus if not them? The Wind Slide Squad? Their job at pulling out the other forces of Red Matter was important. Paolo and Sekmet? No, they were weaker than the two of them. They were just at Solidifying Realm so they wouldn''t be able to stop if multiple Shackled Realm come at them. The elite soldiers with President? No, their entire forces were weaker and the others need their help so that they could last longer. Their presence alone also helped Leilus push through the enemy''s formation. They were the right people for this job. "Marcus, don''t die before me. You have to let me die first." Drami glanced at Marcus. "I don''t want to see you die so..." "..." Marcus stared at her eyes. "I got it. I''ll just follow you." A beautiful smile formed on Drami''s face after she heard his words. "I love you, Marcus." "Me too," Marcus replied with a soft smile. ... Inside the building... Leilus was looking at the device in his hand. This was his final mission. After he removed the sealing runes, he would have to face the enemies outside this building. Knowing the number of enemies, he knew that wouldn''t survive it. Not just him, but also the elite soldiers, the President, the Wind Slide Squad, Marcus, Drami, Sekmet, and Paolo would suffer the same fate. No, in fact, they would perish first before him. After all, they were the ones currently fighting outside, not him. Once he gets out of this place, who would still be alive waiting for him? He didn''t know the answer to his question. "This is it." Leilus pressed the button on the device. Ohm! The button emitted a strange light but it quickly disappeared. "What happened?" He turned his head and looked at the windows. Hundreds of sealing runes slowly rose in above. The runes came out of the bodies of the warriors as they slowly floated towards the sky. Ohm!! But then something occurred, the sealing runes emitted a strange electricity as it flew back towards the bodies of the warriors. The mana pools of the warriors were once again sealed. The thing that Leilus and the others risked their life for... was useless... It only removed the sealing runes for a short moment. "Ahaha!" Leilus laughed madly after he realized what happened. They risked their lives for nothing. Why didn''t he realize that if this was the true device to remove the seals, then why it wasn''t heavily guarded? There''s only a bunch of Solidifying and One Shackle Realm experts here. Even the lowest rank Grain Leader would be able to take it away. "I''m sorry, everyone... I failed..." ... Somewhere in the Aekr Republic... Inside a laboratory, a woman with a fiery red hair was leaning on the huge glass tube. She had snow-white skin and a pair of purple color eyes. She was wearing a green dress and on her back, there was a pair of wings covered in brown feathers. She was an executive of the Red Matter Association, Shiela. After fighting Banni, the second strongest in the entire Third Set, she went to this old laboratory. She almost died in the battle and she probably couldn''t help her master anymore. Her condition was worse. If she didn''t take first aid, then she would''ve died from severe injuries all over her body. "You think you can easily counter our plan... We''ve made several plans just to delay your advancement and let master complete the project..." Shiela mumbled with a soft smile on his face. There was a small device in her hand and it was the same device that Leilus found in the old building. The device that Leilus used to remove the sealing runes was real. The sealing runes were removed but what he didn''t know was that Shiela also possessed the same device. So after Leilus removed the sealing runes, Shiela used the device in her possession to seal the mana pool of the warriors again. She felt something from her dress. She took out a piece of yellow paper inside her dress and realized that her master was calling her. "This is... Shiela. I-I''m sorry, Master... I didn''t answer immediately." She quickly apologized. "It''s fine. No need to apologize to me. I''m glad that you''re still alive. Jayden had failed." Avron''s voice echoed from the piece of yellow paper. "Jayden...?" "Yeah, are you still going to continue it?" "Yes, Master... This is the only thing I could do for you." Shiela said with a smile on her face. "I see... Thank you for all your hard work. I won''t forget you." "It makes me happy hearing those words from you," Shiela said as she slowly put down the device in her hand and the yellow paper. Then, she took out a small square-shaped device. It was different from the device to control the sealing runes. This device was for the lethal poison scattered around the entire nation. There were poison bombs scattered around the Aekr Republic. Once she pressed the button, the bomb would explode and the entire nation would be covered in poison. It would kill everyone under the Five Shackles Realm while it would weaken the people above this level. "Goodbye..." She was about to press the button when a blade came through her chest. Ugh!! Shiela spat a mouthful of blood. She was stunned as she didn''t expect this situation at all. She wasn''t in a condition to engage in another battle and even those weak One Shackle Realm have a chance to defeat her. "Isn''t this a transmission talisman?" A voice sounded behind her. She forced herself to look back, only to see a figure with a plain expression. The figure was a man with a dark green skin. He had a small horn on the center of his forehead and he was wearing dark clothes underneath his red robe. This man was emitting best feram. He didn''t bother hiding it at all. "A monster...?" "Yes, I''m a real monster," Souta said as he crouched down and picked the two devices. One was for the poison bombs and the other was for the sealing runes. "Let me remove the sealing runes from my fellow warriors." He said as he pressed the button on the device in his left hand. Then, he throws it on the ground and glances at the remaining device in his right hand. "You guys planned to poison everyone including me. It seems that I really have to destroy you guys or else I would suffer the consequences." Souta turned his head to Shiela. He knew that Shiela wasn''t in the condition to fight yet ordinary Solidifying Realm wouldn''t be able to breach her tough flesh. Unless they had high-grade weapons or secret skills. Unfortunately for her, Souta had a high-grade weapon and his power level surpassed that of a Solidifying Realm. "Let me end your suffering." Souta said as he raised the vajra sword and swung it down with all of his might. [Cross Moon]!! Even though she was on death''s door, Souta still used his skill to kill her. He would never underestimate someone at Shackled Realm. After killing her, Souta destroyed the device used to activate the poison bombs across the entire country. It would be dangerous if he left it. Then, he picked up the yellow paper on the floor. "This is really the transmission talisman. So the Red Matter Association is one of the organizations that smuggled goods from Mechanic Country." He mumbled while staring at the talisman in his hand. He could remember that the forces of Mechanic Country would arrive on this continent to eradicate such organization. Such quests were given to the players that joined the army of Mechanic Country. It means that they would arrive soon. Chapter 657: War in Subterranean World: Stone Monument Chapter 657: War in Subterranean World: Stone Monument "I''ll take this transmission talisman..." Souta muttered before placing the talisman in his pocket. If his memories were right, the army of the Mechanic Country would''ve arrived on this continent sooner. They would show this land what a powerful force they were. The army would dismantle several giant organizations on this continent. This also means that the entire world was changing. The chaos would start soon and no one would be able to prevent it. Souta shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. He just killed an executive but he felt nothing. The executive was at her death''s door so it was an easy feat for him. If she was at her peak, then the outcome would change. "I need to plan the next battle..." He narrowed his eyes. If the poison bombs exploded, then it would kill hundreds of warriors in the nation. It would also affect him in one way or another. The Red Matter Association was dangerous. He had to thoroughly destroy them. If he wasn''t here to stop the executive, then the warriors would be done. It was good that he tried to find the device to remove the sealing runes. Earlier after he left the battlefield in the western region, Souta head to the place where he sensed the strongest enemy. Why would he want to find the strongest person on the enemy side? It''s because the strongest person was likely an executive of the Red Matter and they had a huge authority over the entire organization. Having a huge authority means that they knew how to undo the sealing runes. After all, those kinds of people were the ones overseeing this plan. It''s easy to find those types of people since the battle was huge and everyone felt the mana fluctuations in the atmosphere. Souta found Banni and Shiela fighting. Of course, he didn''t join the battle as it was too dangerous so he simply observed them from a distance. It was then that another executive appeared and the previous executive escaped the battle. Although everything happens instantly, his eyes managed to capture it. He saw where the woman went so he slowly followed her while hiding his aura to avoid him getting sensed by the other party. It went smoothly for him as he found her in this old laboratory in the southern region. Then, he killed her before she activated the poison bombs. "They''ve planned this perfectly but they''ve made a mistake. They didn''t know that my eyes could see through the escape route of this dead woman." If it was other warriors, then they wouldn''t be able to follow Shiela. It was only because of his special eyes that he could follow her. Crack! A sound of a glass shattering echoed throughout the entire nation. Souta couldn''t help but look up. He muttered, "These sounds... The barrier is finally broken. The warriors from the Fourth Set are surging in." With this, the warriors would counterattack. The sealing runes were gone and the warriors from Fourth Set were here. It would only be a matter of time before they defeated the forces of the Red Matter Association in this country. This was not the final battlefield. The rest of the Red Matter Association was still lurking in the dark. Souta walked around the laboratory as he observed every little thing here. He reached out his hand and picked a notebook from a table. He opened it and scanned the contents of the notebook. "The four nations again... But this place clearly had one nation. Does this place have another passage?" Souta rubbed his chin. Maybe, that''s the reason why they couldn''t find the base of the Red Matter Association. He spends a few minutes looking at the book trying to find an answer. Unfortunately, he couldn''t find what he was looking for. The passage to the other three nations. Souta turned his head and glanced at the door on the corner. "As for the final battle, I will sit on the sideline and arrange everything to counter the Red Matter." He placed down the notebook in his hand and walked towards the door. Then, he entered the room and saw a stone monument. "What''s this...?" The stone monument was situated in the center of the room. There were various machines around it but nothing was connected to it. It was alone in the center. Ancient writings were written on it and it looks like it contained some unknown special powers. Souta approached it and placed his palm on the surface of the monument. ''It''s similar to the stone tablet in Sub-World Greia...'' Saya said. "You mean, this stone monument contained a legacy?" Souta was surprised at her words. Sub-World Greia. The homeworld of Yenxa and also the place where Isabella got the legacy of Travksy, the God of Hunt. ''No, the energy you feel is only a lingering energy from the legacy. The legacy was gone so someone must''ve cleared the test of a god.'' Saya paused for a moment before she continued, ''This place must''ve contained a living labyrinth before.'' "I see..." Souta nodded before he focused his attention on the writings on the monument. "Can you translate the words for me, Saya?" I''ve built this place for the future of the people... Using my powers, I''ve folded the space here and created this world. To the people who will find it in the future, use my gifts to get stronger and achieve godhood. We''ve failed before so I don''t want the next generation to suffer the same as us. The catastrophe that hit the entire Imperium is horrible. The war is still ongoing but I''m heavily injured. My powers are almost gone so I''m preparing to leave my legacy here for the next generation. Dozens of gods have already died and I''m going to follow them soon. The Imperium is currently in a war against these unknown powerful creatures. I didn''t know where they came from but their forces rivaled the combined forces of the entire Imperium. I''m just one of the dozens of Gods of Space in Imperium. Still, to the people who will find my legacy, prepare yourself for the worst. The war had just started yet I''m already in this state. I could only leave everything to the other gods. These were the words written on the stone monument. Souta rubbed his chin while processing the message that he heard from Saya. It''s the same. There''s not much difference from before. They were still talking about these unknown creatures. The creatures that the entire world fought in a war. They were all saying the same thing. To prepare for the next war. Souta frowned as he looked at the window. He finally understood why he felt something strange when he entered this place. The space around here was folded by the God of Space to create a massive field. A place built to prepare for the upcoming war. The civilians will hide here while the warriors will participate in the war. "God of Space, why didn''t leave any hint?" Souta sighed. "I wonder if the other gods leave some clue." ''Or maybe, they only discover the real abilities or characteristics of the enemies at the end of the war. According to the stone monument, the war was still ongoing when the God of Space decided to leave his legacy. The God of Space must have known little from the creatures that they were fighting.'' Saya said. "That''s also true. They didn''t even mention the name of their enemies." Souta agreed with her words. If that''s the case then the information they have from the enemies was little. He wanted information about these "unknown creatures" so that he could prepare himself. It wasn''t included in the game events so he was cautious. The game events were extremely dangerous too but at the very least he had information about them. ''Souta, this stone monument isn''t complete... I think the God of Space divided it into different parts.'' Saya suddenly said as she noticed something from the monument. "If you''re right then the other stone monuments must be in the remaining three nations," Souta muttered while narrowing his eyes. In the end, he sighed and shook his head. He shouldn''t overthink about these matters. He will find the other three monuments in the other nations. He just hoped that the God of Space left some hints for them. "First, I have to destroy the Red Matter Association..." Souta turned serious. He knew that he had to finish this before he could properly think about the message left by the God of Space. "This matter is over... I need to head out now but first..." He exited the room and glanced at the corpse of Shiela. He looked at the orange-grade equipment around her body. He should get his loots first before he left this place. After finishing his business, he left the old laboratory and looked above. Just like what he expected, the barrier was gone and it seems that the warriors had started their counterattacks. He could sense a lot of mana fluctuations in the atmosphere. A few of them were stronger than the rest. It seems that various Grain Leaders had taken the stage to annihilate the Red Matter Association in this country. "I could sense that all the Grain Leaders that participated in this mission are here but the Chief Captain is still missing... Just where did he go... Or maybe something happen to him." Chapter 658: War in Subterranean World: Aftermath Chapter 658: War in Subterranean World: Aftermath With the help of the warriors from the Fourth Set, the Third Set defeated the Red Matter Association in the Aekr Republic in just two hours. It was a victory for the Athen''s Champion this time but the casualty of the battle wasn''t small. Hundreds of warriors had died. Precisely, three hundred seventy nine warriors perished in this battle. And half of them were heavily injured. The potions that they brought too were consumed leaving only a few in their storage. The Grain Leader of the First Grain War, Banni, was also heavily injured. He wasn''t in a condition to fight anymore. The warriors that knew healing spells already gave him first aid but he was still exhausted from the battle against Jayden. With his condition, he could only fight low-level enemies. If he fought another executive, he would surely die. Three hundred warriors had died from this battle. Most of them were the warriors that got their mana pool sealed. It was understandable since they could only fight the enemies using their physical strength. Although combat arts didn''t need mana to use, they still imbued their mana in their combat arts to make it more powerful. Aside from that, the natural energy barrier around their bodies had disappeared since they couldn''t use any mana. Along with them, two Grain Leaders had died. The Grain Leaders of the Ninth Virgin and Tenth Wise. It was a huge loss since these two people were warriors at Four Shackles Realm. The initial stage of SSS-rank. Four Shackles Realm was one of the requirements if one wanted to become a Grain Leader. It was the minimum power level. As for the warriors of the Fourth Set, three Grains were only present in this mission. The Sixth Grain Wise, Fourth Grain Wise, and the Third Grain Virgin. Souta was walking around. Unlike many warriors, his body didn''t have any wounds. It''s not that he didn''t suffer injuries from fighting the enemies. It''s just that his regeneration ability was greater than any human and demi-human. After walking around, he found his group. Looking at them, he realized that the number of warriors in the Tenth Grain War had decreased. ''It seems that some warriors in our Grain had perished.'' Souta walked over and saw the Blue Cross Squad at the corner. He turned his head and saw their conditions. They were all heavily injured. "Aha, I''m glad that you''re still alive, Souta!" Leilus said with a laugh. Beside him was the rest of the Blue Cross Squad. "Well, something happened..." Souta smiled as he shrugged his shoulder. "You look like you didn''t even participate in a battle. Ah~ I thought that I was going to die." Drami said with a wry smile on her face. "I''m tired. I want to go back and drink alcohol." "You sound like an old man," Marcus said to her. "My regenerative ability is higher than human and demi so..." Souta said as he sat down beside the group. "Ah, that''s cheating! I want to have that kind of ability too! Argh! My wounds!!" Drami raised both of her hands but she immediately brought them down and held her wounds. None of them weren''t in any condition to fight. He could see with his [Galaxy Eyes] that the energy in their mana pool was drained. "What did you experience in the battle, Souta?" Souta turned his head and saw that it was Sekmet. She was staring into his eyes. "Yeah, what happened to you? What you did was very eye-catching. We saw tons of blood flowing in the air." Leilus said. "You know, most of the warriors that died came from the western region. I do not have a choice but to protect myself to the best of my abilities. I tried to protect my fellow warriors from sealing runes using my blood control ability." Souta slowly explained to them. "What about you guys?" "Ah, damn! We were defeated." Leilus said in a low voice as he tightly clenched both of his fists. He slowly explained what happened to them from the start. They basically found the device to remove the sealing runes but it was heavily guarded. They fought and a lot of warriors perished in the battle. In the end, they succeeded in getting the device but it only removed the sealing runes for a short amount of time. They thought that they were going to die when the barrier was broken. The warriors from the Fourth Set rescued them. "Oh..." Souta listened while rubbing his chin. When they remove the sealing runes, it was the time when Souta was observing Shiela. It was the moment before he killed her. "In the end, the sealing runes were removed," Leilus said. "The important matter is that you guys are still alive," Souta said to them. "I''m thankful for that." Paolo forced a smile on his face. Souta glanced at him. Paolo loses his left arm in the battle. It was chopped by his opponents when they engaged him in a close-range battle. "Oh, right?" He suddenly remembered something. He opened the small bag on his waist and took out several health potions. "Here, I think these potions will help recover you guys." "I will gladly accept it." Leilus smiled. This will help them recover a little bit. "Are you still going to join the battle?" Souta asked. "No, the injured people had to stand by. Our job right now is to rest and provide support if an emergency occurred." Leilus said. "Be careful. The Red Matter Association is tricky." "Be careful. Don''t die before us! We still need to return to headquarters! You''re a monster so use your instinct!" Drami said. "Don''t die," Sekmet said. "I don''t have a plan to die," Souta assured them. He didn''t want to die and that''s the reason why he kept fighting. He shook his head and looked around. Grain Leader Carmel stood in front and said something regarding the next battle. The injured warriors will stay here to recuperate but they should prepare for the emergency. If something happens they will have to fight. Two squads perished in the Tenth Grain War. They already expected that some of their fellow warriors would die in this war but personally experiencing it was hard. "Attention, warriors!!" A loud voice echoed. The warriors stopped what they were doing as they turned their heads. They saw the First Grain War Leader, Banni, in front. Besides him was Shirley, Vandal''s assistant. The Chief Captain was missing so as the second strongest warrior Banni will take the position to command everyone. He didn''t need to fight on the frontline since he was injured. Instead, he would take the role to command them in the rear. Most of the potions were given to him. Although he said that he wouldn''t fight, if a situation arrives he would fight alongside the warriors. That''s why the other warriors prioritized him in healing. But then... They had no idea where to find the headquarters of the Red Matter Association in this place. Souta had no choice but to step forward. "Permission to speak, Grain Leader Banni!" "I''ll give you my permission." Banni glanced at him. "I''ve discovered that this place had four nations. The Aekr Republic is only one of them but I don''t know where to find it." Souta said. "Are you sure about it?" Banni said as he narrowed his eyes. If Souta was right, then this place was bigger than they had imagined. "Yes, sir! I learned this when I went through the place where Chief Captain Vandal has a meeting with the officials of this country, and also from the book in the laboratory in the southern region." Souta paused before he continued, "I think we should ask the officials of this nation. They are on the other side." "Okay, I will ask them. Thanks for your contribution, warrior." Banni said before he turned around. He said something to Shirley and after a while, Shirley flew away. Souta stared at her figure until she disappeared. She must be heading toward the people of the Aekr Republic in the eastern region. "I''ll give everyone one hour before we move out. Prepare yourselves, warriors." Banni said to them. Souta sighed as he sat down on the corner. He opened the small bag on his waist and looked at the things inside it. All the potions that he brought with him were gone. The only things left were the monster orbs of a fifth stage monster. This will be a good time to recover his energy. He excused himself. He went to find a desolate place and after finding the right place, he used [Burrow] to create a small place underneath the ground. "I only have one hour..." He sat down and took out the monster orb before closing his eyes. [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]! [Third Form: Serenity of the Vajra]! He guided the energy inside the monster orb towards his own monster orb to replenish his energy faster. While doing this, he was slowly refining his orb to increase its capacity. Chapter 659: War in Subterranean World: To the Other Side Chapter 659: War in Subterranean World: To the Other Side Souta opened his eyes as energy glimmered inside his pupils. Hu~ He exhaled as he placed back the monster orb inside the small back. Forty minutes had passed since he started replenishing his energy so he still had some time left. He still had something to do. He went to the surface and looked at his surroundings. He gritted his teeth as he gathered the souls around him. A lot of people died in this place. He needed their souls to become stronger so that he could challenge the upcoming events. The Aekr Republic had a population of fifty million. The number of souls lingering around the nation was enormous. Their death was unjust and their sounds of grief were everywhere. "Let me use your souls... I promise that the Red Matter Association will fall today." The voices of the souls were creeping into his ears. Their grief and sorrow made him narrow his eyes. His emotion was stirred and he couldn''t do anything about it. He could see the souls of children and adults floating around. They all had painful expressions on their face. The number of people that died was hard to imagine. His urges were going out of control as his energy was turning wild. Souta gritted his teeth as he brandished the vajra sword on his waist and chopped his left hand. Argh!! The pain returned him to his senses. He kneeled on the ground as his chest heaved up and down. Sweats were forming all over his body. He watched as his hand returned to its normal state. "Fuck! I almost lost control..." Souta cursed as he stood up and wiped the sweat on his forehead. ... After gathering tons of souls, Souta went back. He saw that everyone was preparing. It seems that Shirley had finished talking to the President and she learned the location of the other three nations. It was good. It was within his expectations. The President should know the location of the three nations since they had a data book about them. They had meetings before. "Warriors, Attention!" Every warrior stared at Banni''s figure. They clenched their fists as they knew what would come. They were going to find the headquarters of the Red Matter Association. Banni took a deep breath before he roared, "It''s gonna be an all-out war!!" The real war will begin when they find the headquarters of the enemies. They were going to fight the real force of Red Matter and things wouldn''t be easy for them. There''s a chance that they would suffer a defeat. Even so, they will use everything that they''ve got. This time two executives appeared and they managed to defeat both of them. No, Banni alone defeated the two executives. In the next battle, they were going to fight the ten remaining executives of the Red Matter Association without Banni. Also, the leader of the Red Matter was the person that they had to worry the most. Without their Chief Captain, there''s no person among them that could rival that man. "For the glory!! For the honor!! For the people!! We''ll defeat our enemies!!" Banni raised his hand as his voice echoed in the whole area. His eyes were burning with determination. "OHHHH!!!" The warriors roared as they raised their weapons above their heads. "You have to be careful, Souta," Leilus said. "Yeah, yeah, I don''t want to hear a news of you dying in a battle." Drami nodded. "Oi, dying in battle isn''t that bad. It''s one of the most heroic ways to die." Marcus said to Drami then he turned to Souta. "Just don''t die this time. If you really have no way out then do it in a way you will not regret." "Don''t mind them. Just go all out." Sekmet said. "Don''t be like me. I know you''re strong but don''t underestimate your opponents." Paolo said. "I know." Souta smiled as he closed his eyes. These guys weren''t bad at all. "I''m not going to die." He turned around and waved his hand. The moment he turned his back on the Blue Cross Squad, his expression turned serious. His urges were getting out of control as bloodlust was brewing inside his heart. He will destroy the Red Matter Association. He had to do it along with the warriors of the Athen''s Champion. A small grin slowly appeared on his face. ... Warriors of the Third Set and Fourth Set left the Aekr Republic. They marched towards the north with heavy feelings. They were silent as no one was in the mood to talk to their fellow warriors. It made the entire atmosphere heavy. They truly wanted to destroy the Red Matter Association as soon as possible. Just by looking at the current state of Aekr Republic, their hatred had skyrocketed. The innocent people that died in the battle were countless. Corpses were scattered all over the ground and the stench of blood filled the air. Some of the corpses were grinding to the point that no one could recognize them. The Aekr Republic became a place of death in just a few hours. It was horrifying as they couldn''t even remove the scene of mountains of dead bodies in their minds. Every time they close their eyes, they always remember those certain bloody scenes. No matter how many times they experience it, they will never get used to it. "Halt!!" Banni said as he raised his hand. After marching for an hour, the warriors arrived at the boundary of the subterranean world. It was the corner of this land and it was just a layer of solid bedrock. But according to the President, there was a hollow space beyond this bedrock. Once they passed through a certain passage they would be able to see a larger land. Shirley stepped forward as her long and soft hair swung on her back. Her body was covered in full plate dark red armor. Although she''s not the strongest person in the Third Set, she was definitely within the top 20. She wouldn''t become an assistant of the Chief Captain if she didn''t possess enough power. She''s the one who talked to the President so she must have known where the passage to the other side was. Shirley fiddled with the wall for a few minutes until the ground shook heavily, and the wall cracked open revealing a huge space within. "It''s done." She said as she walked back to her position. "According to the President of the Aekr Republic, there are many passages but this one is the nearest to our location so we''ll take this one." Banni commanded the warriors and they entered the wide passage. It has a height of twenty five meters and a length of fifty meters. Souta lifted his head as he scanned the passage with his eyes. After a moment, he followed the other warriors as he didn''t see anything dangerous. The group walked within as they slowly circulated their mana. Those who were proficient in defensive skills and spells started to place a barrier around them. It took them five minutes before they arrived on the other side. This whole place was insanely huge. It was several times larger than the land on the other side of the wall. Tall mountains, wide forests, long rivers, and grasslands were before their eyes. The crystals on the ceiling were giving off lights the same as the sun. And behind the mountain range, there was a huge city. It was far but they could see it with their enhanced senses. Souta looked at the other warriors around him. They were floating in the mid-air, observing their surroundings warily. He was about to float to observe the area when Banni''s voice resounded. "Warriors! Prepare for combat!" He quickly turned his head and followed Banni''s line of sight. The ground was shaking as rocks were rolling around. They collided with each other and slowly turned into humanoid giant creatures. One by one three-meter tall humanoid rocks stood from the ground. "These... Earth Golem? No, not just that. There are Earth Might Golem and Gladiator Golem." Souta narrowed his eyes. The Earth Golem wasn''t a problem as they only had the power of Liquefying Realm and Solidifying Realm. But they had an enormous number. He calculated that the number of the Earth Golem was approximately two thousand. The Earth Might Golem was an upgraded version of Earth Golem. It had the power equivalent to a One Shackle Realm expert. Its number was several times lower than the Earth Golem. It was between one hundred fifty and two hundred. The problematic ones were the Gladiator Golem. Each one was equivalent to a Two Shackles Realm expert. There were approximately fifty Gladiator Golems in the area. These golems were different from the dormant Titanous Victor Golem in the Fone Kingdom. These golems were created automatically using earth attribute spells. It means that the people of the Red Matter Association were also here. "Engage!!" Banni roared as he pointed his dagger ahead. The warriors followed his command as they rushed forward and collided with the golems. Chapter 660: War in Subterranean World: Golems Chapter 660: War in Subterranean World: Golems Souta charged forward with the warriors from the Tenth Grain War. The enemy had an advantage in numbers but in quality, the force of the Athen''s Champion won. The strongest golems here were the Gladiator Golems and their strength was equivalent to a Two Shackles expert. That''s the same as the squad leaders that participated in this mission. Most of the squad leaders that joined this war were Two Shackles, just like Leilus. It means that the number of Two Shackles Realm in Athen''s Champion was higher than the number of Gladiator Golem. The enemy only had the advantage in the number of low-rank soldiers. After all, they had two thousand Earth Golems. Souta saw Manduk in the front. He smirked as he jumped in mid-air before he swung his sword. [Crimson Moon]! Red energy blades shoot out from his sword. The energy blades destroyed three Earth Golems instantly. Boom!! Manduk turned his head and saw that it was Souta. He smiled and said, "Oh, good to see you here. Let''s destroy these damn golems." "Sure, let''s get it done. It''s good that you''re here too." Souta said as he runs beside Manduk. Returning that greeting mean that Souta was glad that Manduk was here in this battle. If he wasn''t in this battle, then would have probably died in the Aekr Republic or got injured to the point that they couldn''t fight anymore. Boom! Boom! The two fought side by side as they destroyed Earth Golems one after one. Their coordination was good as it almost seems that they''d been working together for a certain amount of time. Boom! Boom! They kept destroying golems after golems. They didn''t even know that they were already deep into the enemy''s formation. More than twenty golems surrounded them and three of them were Earth Might Golem. They were on each other''s backs while observing the golems around them. "This is quite troublesome," Manduk said with a grin on his face. "Don''t worry, Grain Leader Banni knows that we are here. He will send warriors to help us." Souta said as he imbued his best feram on his sword. "That''s good," Manduk said as he glanced at him. "Well, let''s start this." Both of them narrowed their eyes as they charged at the enemies around them. Swoosh! Swoosh! Manduk moved his body to the side as he avoided an attack from a golem. He clenched his fist as he covered his body with mana. [Golden Physique]! [Guardian''s Hundred Body]! [Internal Focus Steps]! He used several combat arts to boost his stats before he delivered a powerful on the golem in front of him. Bang! The arm of the golem exploded from the impact of his punch. He was about to finish it when two golems pounced on him from behind. [Instant Steps]! His figure disappeared before the two golems and he reappeared behind them. "You couldn''t even follow my movement so it''s a goodbye for you guys!" Manduk said as flames burst from his right fist and lightning crackled around his left fist. He raised his right hand and opened his palm. Lightning and flames swirled about him. [Roaring Flame Thunder Palm]! When he pressed down his palm, lightning and flames surged and swallowed the two golems. Boom!! The two Earth Golems were obliterated by his powerful attack. Swoosh! Suddenly a golem appeared before him and quickly threw a punch. It was too fast but Manduk managed to cross his arms in front of him. He knew that he had no time to avoid it so he could only block the attack. Bang! He was thrown twenty meters away before he managed to stabilize his feet on the ground. "Earth Might Golem...? This will make it more interesting." Manduk stood up as he observed the golem. Behind the Earth Might Golem, there were five more Earth Golems. He sneered before he charged forward leaving lightning and flame trails behind him. Boom!! Souta moved his body side to side while slashing the golems. He was demolishing these bunch of hard rocks one by one. The arms, legs, and heads of the golems rolled in mid-air. Every time he swung his sword, an energy blade would fly out instantly. Boom!! Boom!! Several explosions occurred as four Earth Golems exploded. The fragments of rocks in their body shot in every direction as Souta waved his left hand creating a barrier to protect him. He turned around and two Earth Might Golems were rushing at him with unbelievable speed. These kinds of golems were equivalent to a One Shackle expert. Yeah, it was equal in energy level and physical capabilities but there''s a huge difference compared to One Shackle expert. They didn''t have any skills at all while human and demi''s experts could use various combat arts and spells against them. That''s why the golems couldn''t take on someone on the same level. It was different from Titanous Victor Golem which had various skills programmed to them. He turned to Manduk and said, "I''m going to leave you here. Some warriors are close to us. You can cooperate with them." "What?!" Manduk was surprised as his eyes opened widely. Souta didn''t say anymore as he pressed down his hand. Ten black spheres appeared behind him and heavy gravity bore down on the golems around him. Boom! He shoots into the sky and uses several skills. [Dark Cloud Hunting]! [Cat''s Speed]! [Triple Muscle Strengthening]! [Agility Boost]! [Strength Boost]! [Shadow Steps]! [Shadow Cloak]! The golems wanted to chase after him but Souta burst through the mid-air. ''I finally understand it... The plan of the Chief Captain.'' Bang! He landed on the ground causing the dust to shoot up in the air. He raised his sword and swung it down in front of him. Swoosh! A red energy blade flew out of his sword. Suddenly, three figures jumped out to avoid his attack and landed on the sides. They were wearing dark green cloaks and armed with wooden staffs in their hands. They were looking at him with narrowed eyes as they didn''t expect that he would find them. "How?" One of them asked warily. Souta beamed a huge smile and said, "A Tier 2 [ Greater Invisibility] Spell. Well, you guys had blood flowing in your veins so there''s no way that I would miss you." "Blood?" They were confused. They wanted to find out the answer to how this monster managed to find their location and see through their invisibility. But they didn''t have to do it as they could feel a dangerous aura leaking out of this monster''s body. "Not just that, I also know the location of the other thirteen mages hiding in this area. I can feel it. I can feel their blood." Souta said as the ground slowly turned dark and black mist seeped out of his pores. It''s impossible for all these golems to appear out of nowhere. There must be people that cast spells to create them and judging from the numbers and powers, they must be nearby. That''s why Souta went deep into the enemy''s formation so that he could sense them once they entered the range of his [Crimson Perception]. As if they could remove all the blood in their body. Even if they only had a drop of blood, Souta would still be able to sense them. "Attack!!" The three people raised their staff and it released a dim blueish light. Ten golems charged at Souta. Swoosh! Swoosh! "Earth Golems are nothing to me..." Souta''s voice echoed as several energy spheres appeared around him. These swirling energy spheres were concentrated [Bestrou]. It didn''t possess any destructive power that could level a mountain but it had high penetration power. It will simply pierce through the body of his target. The spheres shoot rays of energy. It didn''t produce any sounds. It was silent and the next thing that happened was that the Earth Golems'' bodies were obliterated. Souta didn''t even look at the golems. He just focused his attention on the three mages in front of him. "You!!" The three mages gritted their teeth as their mana flared up. "Three One Shackle experts... Not bad." Souta mumbled before he charged forward while the swirling energy shot dozens of rays at the same time. Boom!! Boom!! Banni was in the back observing the entire battlefield. The numbers of the golems were nothing in front of the powers of the warriors. Three Grain Leaders had joined the battle and they''d already destroyed hundreds of golems. In his opinion, the warriors would demolish all the golems in the next thirty minutes. It''s easy, the golems didn''t even have a Three Shackle Realm in their ranks so how were they going to win? "We have an advantage in this battle but we need to find the casters." Shirley, who was standing beside him, said, "Warrior Souta is currently engaging three casters in a battle. Should we send someone to support him?" "No, let him do what he wants. Send some warriors around him. I think the other casters are watching him so we should take this chance to eliminate them." Banni said. A warrior wearing leather armor approached the two from behind. Chapter 661: War in Subterranean World: Casters Chapter 661: War in Subterranean World: Casters Souta faced the three people at the same time. Although he just experienced several battles in the past few hours, he was surprised to see that had an advantage against three versus one. ''Isn''t these guys weaker than Witch Clan Leader...?'' He said inwardly as he swung his sword horizontally. [Crimson Moon]! A red energy blade flew out and caused a huge cut on the chest of one of the three people. Blood spurted out as he tried to jump away but Souta chased after him. Swoosh! Swoosh! The other two pounced forward to protect their allies but Souta simply shoot concentrated [Bestrou] at them before using [Crimson Moon] once again. Boom!! Then, he tried to pull them with gravity to slow down their movements. Boom!! He was dominating the three people from Red Matter Association. These three were weaker. They were weaker than the people he fought in the Fone Kingdom and the Aekr Republic. He even guessed that three peak S-rank experts would be enough to defeat one of them. The three people could only defend against his attack. They didn''t even have a chance to counterattack him as they didn''t have enough firepower. "Too weak!!" Souta arrived in front of the three as a huge amount of best feram swirled around the blade of the vajra sword. In the next moment, he swung it down with all of his might. Boom!! He stood in front of the explosion before he glanced at his surroundings. The other casters didn''t even make a move even though he was thrashing these three. They thought that they were completely hidden. What they didn''t know was that Souta could sense their location with his [Crimson Perception] and could see through their [Invisibility] with [Galaxy Eyes]. Well, the mana of his enemies was already drained from the beginning so they couldn''t properly use their spells. After all, they just created thousands of golems and it drained their mana pool. ''They didn''t even know how to use [Element Drive]...'' Souta said in his mind as he shrugged his shoulder before turning back his attention on the three. It''s not like everyone could master [Element Drive]. Speaking of [Element Drive], he couldn''t help but remember the person he met before. Alexander. The man who will become an emperor in the future. When he looked at Alexander, he found that he was only at peak S-rank but there were elemental seeds inside it. It means that Alexander had mastered the second level of [Element Drive], Integration. Souta smirked, ''That man will be insanely strong once he breaks his Shackles.'' He moved his feet and slowly approached the three people. The three people were injured as blood was dripping from their mouths and arms. "Let me end this... If your other comrades aren''t gonna help you then you will die." Souta said to them with a cold look. He could feel that there were warriors in the vicinity. Banni must''ve dispatched them to assist if the other people of Red Matter appear. ... Most of the Grain Leaders were observing the battle at the rear. The warriors didn''t have a problem with all these golems so they only watched the battle from the sidelines to preserve their energy. The strongest golems were only equivalent to Two Shackles. Squad Leaders were enough to handle those golems so they didn''t need to move at all. Carmel, leader of the Tenth Grain War, was watching Souta''s battle. "The mages that created these golems are hiding around. Souta is doing a great job. I''m sure that other mages will appear soon." He said in a low voice. The Grain Leader beside him added, "There''s probably more than fifty mages here considering the number of the golems that they created." "Oh, that monster killed one of the three... This will make it easier for him to kill the other two. Now, let''s see if the other mages will appear." Another Grain Leader said. "Our warriors already destroyed half of the golems. It would take them five more minutes before they completely wiped out the army of golems." Another Grain Leader said. Suddenly, they felt chills run down their spines. No, every warrior felt it as they opened their eyes widely. They turned their heads and were stupefied. They saw black clouds approaching them from above. Thunder was roaring and lightning was crackling around the clouds. Several silhouettes could be seen inside the clouds. They didn''t even bother to hide their extreme aura that made the entire atmosphere cold. Banni narrowed his eyes while staring at the scene. "They are here..." Shirley muttered with a gloomy look. The unknown warrior beside the two didn''t say anything. Banni turned his head and he saw Grain Leader Micah and Servas walking in their direction. The two of them glanced at the unknown warrior before they asked, "Have you felt it?" "Yeah, I can feel their aura." Banni nodded as the two stood beside him. "It''s the aura of executives..." Servas said. "Three of them..." Micah said gloomily. Servas was the leader of the Second Grain War while Micah was the leader of the Third Grain Wise. Both of them were strong enough to stand at the top of the Third Set. They were also familiar with the aura of the executives as the two of them were one of the warriors with Vandal when he fought the Red Matter Association years ago. Both of them were warriors that didn''t join the battle in the Aekr Republic. They were outside the barrier along with the other top Grain Leaders. If they were inside then they wouldn''t let Banni fight two executives alone. They would work with him to finish the battle faster. "The worst is that I could sense Larry''s presence..." Banni clenched his fists. "It''s a problem..." Servas muttered. If Jayden the one that Banni fought before was the top 2 executive, then Larry was the top 1 executive. He''s the strongest executive in the Red Matter Association. A yellow beam suddenly came out of the dark clouds as it flew in their direction. Swoosh! Banni and the others opened their eyes widely as they jumped away from their position. They didn''t expect that the strongest executive would appear at this time. Boom!! A powerful explosion shook the entire ground as smoke and flame spread out in the entire area. "Rahahaha!!" A maniacal laugh came from the dark clouds. The silhouettes inside slowly stepped forward as they looked down at the warriors on the ground. There were a total of twenty-five people and three of them were executives that only the top warriors could rival. "I will enjoy killing all these warriors!" A tall man with a scar on his face said with a wide grin. He was standing at the center of the group and his name was Larry, the top 2 executives. His body was covered in pieces of armor. In his right hand, there was a huge war axe with a dragon coiling around its handle. It was his signature weapon that made him dominate the warriors in the past battles. "Before that... We must kill Banni and the rest of the strong warriors." He turned his eyes on Banni''s figure. One of the warriors in the Third Set that could give him trouble. Unfortunately, Banni was exhausted from fighting Jayden. "Let''s go!" His figure shot forward. He wanted to kill this man as soon as possible. Servas, Micah, and Shirley''s energy burst as they charged forward. The other Grain Leaders followed the three from behind. Boom!! A strong force of the Red Matter Association had appeared. They were stronger than the experts last time. Souta glanced at the sky. The battle between the top forces had begun. Red Matter sent three executives and twenty three other people that could rival ordinary Grain Leaders. "I need to finish this as soon as possible." He muttered as he looked around. He just finished killing the three mages so it''s time to kill the others that were hiding. Snap! Souta snapped his fingers. Blood came out of the three corpses and it flowed above him. He took a deep breath and shouted, "I will mark the enemy''s mages. Take them out as soon as possible." His voice echoed throughout the battlefield. The warriors turned their heads as they heard his voice. Then, they saw blood flowing in mid-air before it stopped in different directions. "That...?" One of the Squad Leaders was surprised. "Well, let''s trust our fellow warriors. It''s time to show these guys the power of the First Grain War squads." A two-meter tall man with a pair of bear ears said with a smile. The Third, Second, and First grains were different from the lower Grains. The basic requirement in joining their group was that a warrior needed to break at least one shackle. It means that all of them were at the Shackled Realm with One Shackle expert as the weakest. The Squad Leaders of these Grains could even rival ordinary Grain Leaders. They were the top forces of the Third Set. Chapter 662: War in Subterranean World: Fail? Chapter 662: War in Subterranean World: Fail? Souta marked the position of the mages with blood. If he wanted to finish this as soon as possible, he had to borrow the strength of other powerful warriors around him. Swoosh! ''It''s great! This will end faster...'' He said inwardly as he continued to run around the battlefield while marking the position of the mages. The top warriors had begun to move as they eliminated the mages that were marked by Souta one by one. It was easy as the mages only had the power level of a One Shackle. From time to time, Souta would glance at the battles above to know the current situation while arranging things here. A total of thirty warriors were fighting the twenty-five experts of the Red Matter Association. Those warriors were all Grain Leaders and they possessed enough power to fight with the experts on the enemy''s side. Although the leader of the First Grain Wise and First Grain Virgin were absent. Some of the squads from these two Grains were present here. These powerful warriors were standing at the rear carefully observing the battle above. They could join the battle but they didn''t do so. Why? Because they were guards. They didn''t even know if someone from the Red Matter Association was hiding in the dark. So their position was to prevent those experts from trying to sneak attack. If they decided that there was no enemy around then they would join the battle above. Since Red Matter showed different traps in the last battle, they had to be careful. Boom!! ''I don''t know the next move of the Red Matter but this time will be different.'' Souta said inwardly. Banni had a plan too along with that warrior. They were just waiting for the next move of the Red Matter. These battles? They were just testing each other. In no time, thousands of golems had been destroyed and most of the mages were killed. It was going to end soon so... Boom!!! The ground shook heavily as an enormous amount of mana swept out. Everyone was shocked as they stared in a certain direction. The location of the three nations. The energy shot through the sky as they could see a giant pillar of energy from the position. The three nations were far away and they couldn''t even see it if they didn''t fly above, yet the giant pillar of energy could be seen clearly. It was even larger than the mountains around the three nations. "What''s that?!" "This amount of energy is insane!" "Shit! What''s going on?!" The warriors were shocked and surprised at this event. They expected that the enemy had some sort of plan but this was outside their expectations. ''It started but...'' Souta narrowed his eyes. He was wrong. The enemy''s target wasn''t them from the beginning. The three executives were here to buy time and let them feel worried about an ambush. So while they were busy, the enemy had prepared another plan. The three nations were trembling. The amount of mana that made the pillar of energy was too high. "I miscalculated..." Souta said to himself. He thought that the enemy would attack them after they destroyed all the golems but now looking at the current situation, the three executives were probably baits. He rubbed his chin as he looked at the battles above. He wondered if that warrior will show his identity or not. The chances were high since they wanted to eliminate their enemies as soon as possible. "Attention, warriors!!" Souta turned around and saw a woman with red striking hair. She was wearing full plate armor with a red cape on her back. She was one of the Squad Leaders in the First Grain War. "Warriors!! Destroy all the golems and mages! We''ll charge at the three nations to prevent the plan of the Red Matter!" She said in a loud voice. ''What plan?'' Souta wanted to ask. It seems that the high-ranked warriors knew the goal of the Red Matter Association and that was the reason why they were trying to stop them at all costs. He was just a low-ranked warrior so even if he asked, they will not probably tell him anything about it. For now, he should just follow the orders and raise his achievements to promote his squad faster. Hmm? Souta turned his head and looked above. Suddenly, the unknown warriors burst through the sky and arrived in front of the experts of the Red Matter Association. "This is enough." The unknown warrior said as he exhibited a very powerful aura. Boom!! ... "Everything will start today!!" A man was standing in front of the pillar of energy with widely opened arms. He was Avron, the founder of the Red Matter Association. Behind him, there were thousands of people from the Red Matter Association. The ground beneath his feet started to shake. Cracks spread out in the entire nation as the civilians started to panic. "Master, are you sure about Larry, Fordine, and Carrie?" A woman behind Avron asked. "That''s why I''ve sent those three. They are enough to buy us some time to activate this." Avron answered her question. "The warriors of Athena are cautious but they didn''t expect that our goal isn''t to eliminate them. They are just a secondary goal." "What if the Chief Captain is there?" The woman asked once again. "It doesn''t matter. Vandal is surely in this place. I know his personality. He will not run away by himself." Avron said as he waved his hand. He went to the side before taking out a square-shaped object from his pocket. He raised the object above his head and it started to float towards the energy pillar. After a few moments, the object disintegrated as the earthquake grew stronger. Huge metallic pillars surfaced from the ground, destroying countless buildings in the nation. Boom! "Just a little bit more..." Avron narrowed his eyes. He turned around and said, "Eliminate all the people that will try to stop us at all costs." "Yes, sir!!" His subordinates answered at the same time. He could sense that the soldiers of this nation were charging at them. Well, he didn''t care about them since they had no power to stop him. Also, he controlled half of the three nations. He will just simply send all those people to battle those guys that wanted to stop him. The only problem was the warriors of Athena. He wondered just how long Larry, Fordine, and Carrie could last against the warriors of Athena with only twenty-three top experts of Red Matter. He gritted his teeth and tightly clenched both of his fists. There''s no way out. This was the only thing he could do with the current situation. "I promised..." ... "Rahahaha! So you''re still here, Vandal?" Larry laughed loudly as blood was dripping out of his mouth. He was on the ground with his body covered in wounds. It was gruesome as some of his bones pierced his muscles and skin. Vandal, the Chief Captain of the Third Set, was floating in the sky while looking down at him with cold eyes. "I''m a bait, no, we are all bait. We are prepared to die the moment we arrive here. Our goal is to confirm whether you are still here or not. Guess what we found? You are really here, Vandal." Larry said with a mad look on his face. He was defeated along with the people that he brought with him but that''s fine. "Rahaha! Vandal! You''re certainly stronger compared to the last time! But... If that is all you''ve got then you will not be able to defeat my master." "Is that all you have to say?" Vandal asked in a cold tone. "You will understand it after you meet my master..." Larry smiled widely. He stared at Vandal in the eyes. Vandal ignored him as he turned to look in the direction of the three nations. "I''ve shown my power just now. Avron is one step ahead of me." It was very faint but he could sense Avron''s energy in the energy pillar. He could feel it. This will be the final battle against the Red Matter Association. This battle will decide whether they will die or not. "Warriors, charge!! I will take down Avron!" Vandal shouted before he flew towards the three nations. While they were busy here, countless innocent people were dying at the hands of the Red Matter. The governments of the three nations tried to fight back but the enemies were too powerful for them. Aside from that, some of their people had betrayed them. The three nations were too pitiful right now. Souta glanced at Vandal''s figure. The moment Vandal appeared, Larry and the other two executives got defeated in just a minute. The battle was one-sided as the Chief Captain thrashed them around. "Truly powerful... He just defeated three executives that brought fear to the warriors." He said before turning his attention to Larry. This guy was strong. He would be able to dismantle three or four Grain Leaders if Vandal didn''t appear. "You should have realized it. Those people only forced us. You will gain their wrath. Are you prepared? The entirety of Athen''s Champion will be affected by it. Rahahaha!" Larry laughed. Chapter 663: War in Subterranean World: Setting Up Chapter 663: War in Subterranean World: Setting Up Souta could see it. The end of this war was near. He just hoped that Chief Captain Vandal could defeat the leader of the Red Matter Association. Nevertheless, he would arrange things secretly for his own good. The warriors were rushing towards the three nations. It''s getting chaotic as he could feel several powerful energy coming from that direction. At the very least, they''ve already eliminated five of the twelve executives of the Red Matter. Two of the strongest executives were gone so it should be easier this time. But what''s the goal of Red Matter? He wanted to know why they sacrificed their strongest fighters to buy some time. "This will be the last... Luckily, I''ve saved some of my aces." Souta muttered with a sigh. He had fought dozens of experts ever since they arrived in the Fone Kingdom. In all those battles, he could finish his opponents without taking injuries but he tried to save his aces. Sadly, he didn''t manage to save his [Element Drive] and [Yin Yang Twin Spirits]. But that''s fine since he wouldn''t be able to make it out alive if he didn''t use these two abilities. He turned to the side and looked at Larry, the top 1 executive. Larry still had that smile on his face. His injuries were so severe that he was going to die in the next few seconds. He was only alive because of his great vitality as a powerful expert. Even if someone gave him first aid, it was already too late. He already lost a huge amount of blood and most of his internal organs were damaged from his battle against Vandal. Some of the warriors wanted to capture him and interrogate him as the top 1 executive of the Red Matter Association, Larry must''ve known a lot of information about the plan of his leader. But it was already too late as he was going to die soon. "Did I do great...? I''m sorry, master... I wanted to hold them longer but we were not enough..." Larry said as his vision turned blurry. He stretched out his hand and reached for the sky. "I hope you''re satisfied with my service..." He could still remember the time when he was on the streets begging people for money. His master pulled him out of that place and gave him a place where he could call home. Souta shook his head before he followed the other warriors. He slightly bent his knees before he flew into the sky. Boom! Hundreds of warriors charged toward the three nations. When they arrived at the vicinity, they saw the chaos inside. Buildings were collapsing one by one and thousands of people were fighting. Some people sided with the Red Matter and some people sided with the government. It was chaotic as explosions were erupting in different parts of the country. People that didn''t have strength couldn''t do anything but flee in panic. The metallic pillars that surfaced from the ground continued upward. The pillars were actually connected to the enormous object inside the energy pillar at the center of the three nations. "What the hell is that?!" "That thing is so huge!" "What...?!" The warriors were stupefied when they saw it. Ohm! The energy disperses in the surroundings and the appearance of the object was revealed. It was a giant piece of solid rock with various buildings and castles on top of it. The metallic pillars turned into flexible limbs connected to the giant rock above and thousands of runes were glimmering around it. It was like a giant spider. It covered the boundaries of the three nations while the metallic limbs were inside the cities. It has the size of an entire nation. Looking at this scene, Avron laughed while opening his arms widely. "This is the Aranhgrad. It''s time to start the next step." He muttered as he floated above the Aranhgrad and landed on the supposedly head of the giant object. The rest of the executives followed him. Avron walked for a few meters and stopped in front of a rectangular-shaped object protruding from the ground. Then, he placed his palm on top of it before pouring his energy. Ohm!! A ripple of energy slowly swept out. It was silent and harmless but something happened in the Aranhgrad. A mechanical sound rang as numerous runes shone brightly. Avron removed his hand and an enormous amount of mana gathered on top of it before surging towards the sky. One of the executives approached him from behind and asked, "Are you sure about this, Master?" "Yeah, this is the only way..." Avron nodded as he tightly clenched his fists. The people of the three nations will all die if this plan continues. Although he had killed people before, killing tens of millions of people would feel different as it brought him huge pressure on his shoulder. But he already steeled his heart. If he didn''t continue this, he would die along with his subordinates. He would die in vain. He at least wanted to take down those people with him if he was gonna die. Ohm!! The energy in the sky scattered around and covered the entire three nations like a barrier. The barrier was harmless as of this moment but later on, it will become the opposite. It will massacre all the living creatures around without mercy. "Sometimes I asked, how did we end up like this?" Avron muttered as he turned around and faced his seven remaining executives. "Josen." "Master." Josen fixed his posture. He was a man with a pair of wolf''s ears on the side of his head and a wolf''s tail on his back. He was the third executive. "Nigret." "At your command." Nigret kneeled down respectfully. He had a pair of antennas on top of his head and exoskeletons on his arms and legs. He was the fifth executive. "Lovan." "Yes, sir." Lovan was a man with long black hair with a scar on his left eye. He was the sixth executive. "Ashen." "Master." Ashen was a beautiful elf with pure white hair and green-colored eyes. She was the seventh executive. "Amy." "Yes, master." Amy was a beautiful woman with green scales on some parts of her body. She also had a pair of horns sticking out of her forehead. She was the ninth executive. "Wenkha." "I''ll follow your command," Wenkha said calmly. He had a short green hair, green eyes, and his body was covered in light armor. He''s the tenth executive. "Crusz." "I''m here, master." Crusz was a two-and-a-half-meter-tall man. His eyes were red and his long red hair was tied in a ponytail. He was the eleventh executive. Avron looked at them one by one with a calm expression. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Larry and the others had fallen. They performed well against a strong enemy and we''ll not forget what they did for us." He took a deep breath and stretched out his hand. "Here, after this, you will..." ... The situation escalated quickly and it became an all-out war. The Red Matter Association and the rebels against Athen''s Champion and the government of the three nations. A full-blown war occurred. Staring at this scene from above, Vandal felt cold in his heart. A lot of people were dying every second and it was horrifying. "I need to stop this..." This subterranean world was isolated from the surface and people were here living a life without caring about the events on the surface. This place was huge and it could be compared to some of the small sub-worlds out there. The dangers here were small and they didn''t have a lot of competition. There were only four countries and it seems that four of them were on friendly terms. As for the monsters living in the mountains, rivers, and forests, they were not strong but not weak at the same time. It was only equivalent to the power level of the people in this place. That was if he wouldn''t include the fifth evolution stage that one of his warriors said. But they haven''t proved anything yet aside from that instance of suppression that his warrior felt. Nevertheless, the entire population of the subterranean world was high. The dangers here were a lot lower than the dangers on the surface and there wasn''t war here. It was a huge factor why the number of people in this place was higher to some unknown kingdom on the surface. "Go into formation." Vandal narrowed his eyes. His command was passed down and warriors from the Fourth Set had started to move. They surrounded the three nations with little manpower. The barrier that was covering the three nations was harmless. Warriors could go out and go inside without being affected by it. But he had a bad feeling about it. So he asked Fourth Set to surround the nations and set up their own battle. While the Fourth Set was around, they would fight the Red Matter Association in an all-out battle. Anyone from the enemy''s side that tried to leave would be struck down by the warriors from Fourth Set. They will lock down three countries at the same time. Chapter 664: War in Subterranean World: Chaos in the Three Nations Chapter 664: War in Subterranean World: Chaos in the Three Nations Although the Fourth Set only had two Grains in this mission, their numbers were enough to encircle the whole area. They brought the entirety of the squads in their Grains unlike the Third Set had many squads away from the mission. Even some of the Grain Leaders were absent. Their numbers were equal to four Grains of the Third Set that participated in this mission. Smokes and flames rose within the cities of the three nations. It''s been a while since the war started and thousands of people had already died. Most of the warriors had a blank look on their faces as they fought the enemies. After witnessing thousands of deaths before their eyes, their heart became as firm as iron. They simply fight and fight the enemies that they saw while following the orders of their superiors. It was their first time participating in a battle with this many deaths. Only those warriors that were dispatched to the battlefield against the demon army could stay calm in this situation. After all, the situation there was several times worse than the situation here. Even veteran warriors would have to prepare if they were to be dispatched to the demon battlefield. An hour had passed since the war erupted. A lot of civilians managed to leave the three nations. The warriors of the Fourth Set didn''t kill them. Instead, they helped them build a camp for them to stay and rest. Now, the outskirts have been covered with thousands of tents. The civilians were shaking as the events in the three nations terrified them. Some of them were starting blankly and some were crying in the corner of their tents. There were patches of vomit on the grasses as most of them couldn''t stomach the deaths of the people. They were just living a peaceful life and yet this happened. No one among them expected that they will experience something like this. Even though a lot of time had passed, the humongous objects with metallic eight limbs had shown no signs of moving. It stayed still the entire time and the barrier around the territory only kept getting stronger. But it was still harmless so people could still leave the three nations. Souta approached the warriors of the Fourth Set while looking at the city. "How long do you think it would take before this war ends?" He asked calmly. One of the warriors glanced at him before he replied, "Until afternoon? I don''t know... The battle will end if the Chief Captain defeated the enemy''s leader. No, it will probably not end easily like that." It was only his estimation of the current progress of the war. It would take at least a few hours before the two sides exhausted their forces. Defeating the leader of the enemies probably wouldn''t end this battle until they annihilated the enemies. As far as they''ve seen, the enemies would fight until the end considering the enemies they''ve fought before coming to this place. The battle in Mirror Lake, Aekr Republic, and the entrance showed that the forces of the Red Matter Association had a determination to die. Buying time even if they sacrifice their lives showed a great will. It also means that forcing the enemies to surrender would not be easy. "I see..." Souta nodded at the warrior. He waved his hand and said, "I''m going now. I think I could help some of our warriors." The warriors looked at him as he walked toward the three nations. He had finished placing some of his plans so it was time for him to join the battle. As he was approaching the three nations, Souta observed the huge piece of land supported by eight metallic limbs above. "It''s my first time seeing this kind of thing... It''s kind of similar to Guardian Fortress." Yeah, this thing looked like the Guardian Fortress. The only difference was that those eight metallic limbs and the sheer size of this fortress. This thing was dozens of times larger than the Guardian Fortress. Souta stopped when he passed through the walls and entered the city. The vibrations in the air were strong but he could hardly feel the mana fluctuations of the experts. The mana coming from the Aranhgard was overshadowing everyone. They could even feel the fluctuations at the entrance of this land when they were fighting the golems. "The situation here is much worse than I imagined." He muttered in a low voice. He was gone for an hour so he wasn''t updated on the current situation. Hearing it from the warriors outside was different from seeing the situation with his own eyes. "So for the second step of my plan... To complete my quest." Souta walked on the streets as seven shadows rose beside him. The shadows jumped in different directions and each one had a black sphere in its hand. The [Shadow Ball] spell was for insurance so that he could teleport away in case a dangerous situation occurred. When the shadows were gone, Souta jumped onto one of the buildings. He observed his surroundings and saw dozens of battles near his area. Most of them were fighting in groups. Swoosh! He continued to jump from one building to another. He swiftly run in the direction where he could sense power mana fluctuations. Hundreds of people were fighting in the surroundings and he would kill experts from Red Matter Association if he saw them. Killing experts below Shackled Realm was easy for his current power level. He didn''t even need to use his skills. In just half an hour, more than fifty experts of Red Matter died in his hands. He even killed some of the rebels that were fighting the governments of the three nations. Swoosh! Souta stood at one of the tallest buildings around. He closed his eyes and learned that his shadows haven''t found something yet. Well, this place was as huge as Aekr Republic and there were three of it so finding something here was several times harder. "Even though I killed a lot of people on my way here the enemies still had a lot of men." He said with a heavy sigh. The corpses of children and old men were scattered around. He could remember the war against the Great Astley Empire. "I need to finish this as soon as possible..." He muttered as he tightly clenched his fists. He could visibly hear the voices of the souls around him. When he harvests the souls in the Aekr Republic, he almost loses himself from the various emotion he felt from the souls. It''s brewing in his heart. That''s why he swore to destroy the Red Matter Association no matter what. He widened his perception as he observed the entire place around him. Ohm! The number of people he could sense within the range of his [Crimson Perception] was nearly twenty thousand. Suddenly, he turned his head to a small house twenty meters away from him. He could sense that there were three people inside it. Even though they have a little mana, they wouldn''t be able to escape his perception. He jumped down and slowly approached the house. Inside the house, he saw three children shivering inside the cabinet. Two girls and one boy. The cabinet was quite large as the three of them fitted inside it. The oldest one was a girl that looked like 7-9 years old. She was hugging her two siblings with tears in her eyes when Souta opened the cabinet. The girl glared at him as she hugged her two siblings tighter. Her eyes were filled with hatred and anger. "As I expected..." Souta already expected that the three living beings that he sensed were civilians. He could see that this child was afraid of him as her knees and arms were shaking. "Are they your siblings?" He asked but the little girl didn''t answer his question. Oh, he rubbed his chin as something came to his mind. He forgot that he just killed a bunch of people so the stench of blood around him was thick. The bloodlust that he was subconsciously emitting was too much for them. Souta took a deep breath to calm his nerves. The bloodlust was still around him but it wasn''t as strong as before. The little girl noticed it but she was still afraid of him. She wanted to escape with her siblings but she knew that she couldn''t do it. This man will probably kill them. Souta didn''t know what to say. The little girl didn''t say anything and the two children in her arms were shivering. He looked around the room and noticed two bodies on the floor. "Oh?" He raised his eyebrows. "Is this your parents?" The little girl flinched as her eyes grew watery. Her face was slowly turning pale as she bit her lip. She was trying to hold her tears. The two children in her arms whimpered. From her reaction, Souta knew that he was right. These two bodies were their parents'' corpses. "Okay, I will not harm you. I will get you out of this place. Don''t worry, I guarantee your safety." Souta squatted and looked at the little girl in the eyes. Chapter 665: War in Subterranean World: Close Counter Chapter 665: War in Subterranean World: Close Counter ''I don''t know how many people have died and the souls of their parents are probably one of the souls that I''ve harvested.'' Souta said inwardly as he stood up and patted the head of the little girl. The little girl flinched when Souta''s hand touched her head. She thought that he was going to kill her just like how people killed her parents. "I will get you out of this place." Souta said in a light tone as he didn''t want to scare her. He turned his head to the window and narrowed his eyes. He''s busy killing people left and right that he forgot that he was far away from the walls. His location was close to the central region of this nation. It will take some time before he could escort these children. Hmm...? Souta quickly turned around as his eyes turned cold. He felt an energy fluctuation coming at him. Swoosh! A two-meter fireball was flying in this direction. It was going to hit this very house precisely. He raised his hand and gallons of blood surged upward covering the entire house like a barrier. Boom!! The fireball exploded and it shook the house causing the little girl to fall to the floor. It was just the aftershock of the explosion. It caused no harm to the children in the house. The blood barrier prevented the fireball from destroying the house. An incident like this was normal in the current situation. Every minute, various spells would land on some of the buildings causing destruction in the area. Well, most of the people that were fighting around the three nations were the government and the rebels. Their numbers were higher than the experts of the Red Matter Association and warriors of Athen''s Champion. It''s just that they were too weak compared to the two organizations. That''s why most of the spells that would come out of nowhere were just low-tier spells. If it really came from the experts of the two organizations, the whole area would be affected by the aftermath of the battle. Since he could easily block the fireball, it must be an attack from a B-rank or A-rank expert. A simple fireball would be a lot stronger if S-rank or SS-rank used it. Souta looked at the little girl and said, "I will guarantee your safety. You don''t have to worry about anything. Just follow me and I''ll escort you and your siblings out of this place." "I..." The little girl was about to say something when Souta patted her head once again. "Don''t worry, I will not hurt you. I have a friend who''s a little bit older than you and looking at you, it reminds me of her." Souta smiled gently. He remembered Cluster and wondered what she was doing right now. Once he returns to Giza Continent, he will visit her in the True God''s Holy Kingdom. The last time he saw her was at the Blue Lawless City before he got transported to the sub-world. "You don''t have to say anything. Just follow me, okay?" "B-But someone said that we should wait here... It''s dangerous outside and said that we should hide here." The little girl while shaking. "Wait here...?" Souta rubbed his chin. "Maybe, it''s one of my fellow warriors. It''s fine I think it''s better if I escort you out of this place. Us warriors wouldn''t want to see children die in this place." "O-Okay..." The little girl nodded meekly at him. "What''s your name?" "A-Airi..." "Okay, Airi. My name is Souta. Bring your two siblings outside and follow me. Once you are outside, don''t look around. Just close your eyes and I will do everything." The scenery outside was horrendous. Souta didn''t want them to see those dead bodies scattered in the streets. It was too much for innocent children like them to witness it. He didn''t even know why he was doing this. He just felt that this would lessen the heavy feeling accumulating in his heart. He felt that helping some people would be able to help him control his urges. "I-I understand." The little girl named Airi nodded as she wiped the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "Then, let''s go." Souta turned around and exited the house. Airi turned to her siblings. She hugged both of them and said, "Don''t cry, we will follow that brother. I''m with you so don''t worry." "What about Mama and Papa?" The other little girl asked while sobbing. Airi lowered her head. She gritted her teeth as she felt her chest tighten up. After a while, she looked at her siblings and said with a smile, "Mama and Papa are fine. Now, close your eyes and tightly grab onto my shoulders." The three children left the house and slowly approach Souta who was standing in the middle of the streets while looking at the enormous fortress above the three nations. Souta turned his head. Looking at the three children, a smile formed on his face. He grabbed his robe and it turned into a small marble. In the next second, the marble turned back into a red robe and it landed on the three children. "Use this to protect yourself. It''s a piece of red grade equipment called [Flame Unity Robe]. It will protect you from harm." Souta said to the little girl called Airi as he patted her head. Airi nodded her head meekly as she fixed the robe and covered both of her siblings with it. ''With this, they would be able to withstand a little bit of my aura.'' Souta said inwardly. The energy of a fourth stage monster was too dangerous for low-level creatures. The three children didn''t even reach C-rank so they would die on the spot if he somehow release a certain amount of best feram. He wondered when will the reinforcement arrive. While the barrier was preventing the entry of the Fourth Set warriors into the Aekr Republic, they already called for reinforcement above. A few hours had already passed since then so the backup would probably arrive soon. ''I''m not really good at protecting people...'' Souta sighed. ''I''m only good at killing them.'' The fact that he had to hold most of his powers so that he could interact with children was something he already expected before. His best feram was like a radiation that would kill people that didn''t have resistance to it. At the very least, escorting these three children would give him a time to rest. After all, he had been fighting nonstop before. His mind was also exhausted. These events and the harvesting of souls drained him. "T-The person before also gave me something to protect my siblings," Aira said as she looked up at him. "Hmm...?" Souta raised his eyebrows. He didn''t even look at her. He was observing this area with his [Crimson Perception] and [Galaxy Eyes]. He wanted to find a route to avoid the battle around him. He didn''t want to fight with these children around as he know that there was a huge chance that it would affect the children with him. On a battlefield like this, he knew that he couldn''t avoid battle. He could sense that people were fighting once again on the path that he took before. Even though he killed a bunch of enemies there, the battle was still ongoing. So he just wanted to avoid people that could make him use his powers. People at A-rank and above. The rest could be dealt easily using his physical prowess alone. No skills, no energy, no trait skill, just brute force was enough. "It took us longer because we pick it up on the table..." Airi continued as she took out a piece of paper with unknown symbols on it. "Huh?" Souta turned his head and when he saw the piece of paper, he hurriedly stretched his hand and threw the piece of paper above. "Cover your eyes." Blood surged above and enveloped the paper. In the next moment, a sound of an explosion echoed with the river of blood. Boom! Souta''s eyes turned cold as his expression distorted. Rage was brewing inside his heart and it was slowly going out of control. "T-That..." Airi was shocked and her expression turned pale. Souta took a deep breath when saw the children shivering in fear. They were scared and horrified by what happened just now. It seems that the person that helped them before wasn''t a member of Athen''s Champion. That piece of paper was a talisman called Energy Reacting Talisman. Once it was exposed to a certain amount of energy, the paper will explode and kill the people around it. He let down his guard because of the person that helped them. He didn''t expect that there was another motive to it. Luckily, his reaction was fast or else... "I''m here. Nothing will happen to you. I''ve guaranteed your safety so I will not let any of you die under my watch." Souta said as blood slowly flooded the entire area. Chapter 666: War in Subterranean World: On top of Aranhgrad Chapter 666: War in Subterranean World: On top of Aranhgrad Souta gave Airi his red-grade robe. It was to boost her overall stats so that she could run faster. He could carry them with his gravity power and blood but their bodies were too fragile. Plus, the urges he was feeling were getting hard to control. There''s a chance that they would die if he used his ability. ''I don''t even know why I''m doing this.'' Souta smiled wryly. ''Maybe because I subconsciously absorb the soul of their parents. That''s why I''m trying to help them. I''m a hypocrite, isn''t it?'' ''Yeah, in this world... It''s hard to survive without having a cruel side. Everyone had a side like that in their hearts.'' Saya said to him. ''Even I once killed innocent people before. The people that I killed are probably higher than yours so don''t worry.'' ''You say that. Even so, I''m going to keep forward. I know for sure that I will kill a lot more in the future so I have to steel my heart.'' Souta said to her with a smile. It''s probably fine if he kept treating this world as a game just like the time when he just arrived here. But slowly without him noticing it, the way he looked at this world slowly changed. He couldn''t treat it the way he treated it before. This was real. Everything was real to him. This was his new reality. Souta glanced at the three children and smiled. He''s going to protect them as it was within his powers. It was a sad reality but if it comes down to it, he knew what he would do if his life was at stake. ''Your life before others, right?'' Saya said. ''Yeah...'' Souta nodded with a cold look. The group continued to run. The vibration in the air was getting stronger so they turned around and avoided coming to those people. "Come here... This path will take longer but it''s better than coming close to that battlefield." Souta said. "O-Okay... We''ll follow you..." Airi nodded at him. She was carrying her two siblings with ease. It was all thanks to the added stats of the red-grade equipment. Without it, the aftershocks from an A-rank battle alone would be enough to pressure her. "Good... I can sense more than a hundred people ahead. But don''t panic, I can easily handle these people." Souta assured her. "I''ll t-trust you, b-brother..." The group moved forward and they finally saw hundreds of people fighting in the middle of the streets. Various spells were being thrown out and people were crashing into the buildings. "Kill them all!!" "These fucking government''s dogs!" "Kill them!" "On your right!" "Duck!" The scene was chaotic and the aftershocks from the battles caused the ground to vibrate. Airi was scared as she tightened her grip on her siblings. She wanted to turn around and run but she decided to trust Souta. "Just keep running!" Souta said to her in a serious tone. Airi gritted her teeth as she hugged her siblings tightly. She closed her eyes and ran forward to the best of her abilities. She was fast but compared to the people that were fighting she was too slow. With the help of the red-grade equipment, she could run as fast as D-rank but the people around were either C-rank or B-rank. Hmm...? A child? Some of the rebels noticed her presence. A little girl was running forward with her eyes closed while carrying two children. "Huh? Did she have a death wish?!" One of the rebels tried to approach her but a figure appeared in front of him. Swoosh! Souta pulled back his hand as he stared at the rebel as if he was already dead. "Don''t you dare?!" He threw his hand and it slammed into the face of the rebel. The rebel couldn''t even follow his movement before his head exploded. The last thing he saw was Souta''s face before he died. Boom!! The rebel''s brain sprayed in all directions. The headless body was twitching as it slowly fell to the ground. "Tch! Disgusting!" Souta clicked his tongue as he wiped the slimy goo that splattered on his cheeks. After a while, he noticed that the place grew silent. He lifted his head and found that everyone, including the government''s soldiers, was looking at him. "Why? Is this your first time seeing someone get killed like this?" He raised his eyebrows as he carefully watched them. Airi was still running at this time so it would be fine if all the attention of these people turned to him. In just a few seconds, he narrowed down all the people that he had to kill. He marked all the rebels in this area with blood. "Shit!! A strong one arrives! We should ask someone from the Red Matter Association to take care of this guy!" One of the rebels said angrily. Although they were angry, none of them dared to move after witnessing Souta kill someone with just a simple punch. Souta sighed as he took a step forward. At the next moment, he vanished in his position. He reappeared in front of the nearest rebel and punched his brains out. Boom!! The brains of the rebel splattered on the ground. He died before he could even react. Souta turned to the government''s soldiers and said, "Why are you guys just standing there? Aren''t these your enemies? Hurry up and help me." The soldiers snapped out of their daze. They hurriedly moved their bodies and fought with the rebels once again. Boom! Souta swiftly moved his body like a wind. He appeared in different locations as he punched the enemies one by one. All it took was one punch to kill one enemy. He was simply using his physical strength. He had to avoid using energy or any of his abilities unless it was a worthy opponent. Bang! Bang! Bang! The rebels slowly felt pressured. They knew that no one among them could fight against Souta. Even if they worked together, they wouldn''t be able to win. Their chances were pretty much zero. Swoosh! Souta stopped killing them. He would leave these people and follow Airi since she ran quite far. He simply disappeared as he jumped through the roofs of the houses. Thud! He landed beside her and noticed that her eyes were still closed. "That''s right. Keep running. You don''t have to see everything here." Souta said to her. He looked up and a group of warriors flew above him. They didn''t say anything and just simply gave him a nod before they continued. "Glory!" He saluted while looking in their direction. Then, he followed Airi as if nothing happened. He had recovered some of his energy but it wasn''t enough. After he successfully escorted the three children, he''ll probably recover a good amount of energy. ... At the surface of Aranhgrad. Vandal was standing in front of the leader of the Red Matter Association. A cold breeze brushed his face as the crystals on the ceiling shone brightly. "Avron, you can still surrender." He said. Avron glanced at him and laughed lightly. He opened his arms and said, "Surrender? There''s no point in doing that. I couldn''t turn back. It''s already too late. Don''t you know how many people I''ve killed in the past?" "If you surrender now there''s no more death that will happen." Vandal said. "Gararara!!" Avron laughed madly. "Then all of their deaths will be for nothing. Are you here to talk shit me or fight?" "Chief Captain, it''s no use." Micah, one of the Grain Leaders, whispered. Vandal didn''t say anything. He just kept staring at the man before him. Avron turned his attention to the group of people behind Vandal, the Grain Leaders. He counted their numbers and found that there were eight warriors. Most of them were Grain Leaders of upper rank. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "All of you came here to fight, right? Then show me your will warriors!!" Boom! As soon as he said those words, a powerful aura gushed out of his body like a tsunami. The energy spread out in the blink of an eye and it covered the entire space. "Garara! Warriors!" Avron laughed as the aura continued to spread. It was so powerful that even the people in the three nations felt the intensity below. It was their first time feeling an aura spiked up ever since the pillar of energy surged from Aranhgrad. "Enough, Avron." Vandal said before his aura burst out. Boom! Both of their energy collided and after a few moments, both of them disappeared from their position. Boom! A loud sound occurred as both of them collided. In just a second, they''ve exchanged blows thousands of times. Even under the pressure of the enormous energy of Aranhgrad, the two of them could still move so fast. Boom!! Boom!! "Chief Captain!!" Micah, Servas, and the other Grain Leaders shouted. They were going to help Vandal when several figures flew in their direction with incredible speed. "The executives! Prepare for combat!" Servas narrowed his eyes. He clenched his fist and circulated his mana inside his body. "Warriors!! We are your opponents!" A wolf demi grinned widely as he thrust forward his sharp claws. He was Josen, the third executive. Boom!! Chapter 667: War in Subterranean World: Close Chapter 667: War in Subterranean World: Close The war became much more intense as Avron and Vandal started fighting on the surface of Aranhgrad. The collision of the two leaders could be felt anywhere in the three nations. It was a fight between two people at the top. Aside from them, the executives and Grain Leaders began their all-out battle. They didn''t fight on Aranhgrad. Instead, their battlefield was the three nations as no one among them wanted to distract their leaders. It was chaotic before but now it''s worse. The Red Matter Association and the Third Set began to launch a full-scale attack on each other. The most affected people were the citizens, rebels, and the government army. The death counts spiked up in just a few minutes. "Stay back." Souta said seriously. Standing behind him were Airi and her two siblings. In front was a group of seven people. They were all from the Red Matter Association. Luckily, none of them had reached Shackled Realm. They were just a bunch of Solidifying Realm but it was a problem for him since he didn''t want to use his energy. The two sides were observing each other. Even though the Red Matter had an advantage in numbers they still didn''t attack immediately. They were cautious of him. ''They didn''t underestimate me... It''s better if they underestimate me and attack me quickly. That way, I could swiftly kill one or two of them but since they are cautious they wouldn''t do that.'' Souta said inwardly. He glanced at the children behind him. "Just stay behind me. I''ll tell you what to do later." The wall was within their sight. Just a few kilometers and they would be able to leave this place. But a problem occurred since Vandal and Avron started their battle. The two organizations became restless and started to fight for real. So this place got flooded by experts. Within a radius of five hundred meters, Souta could sense that there were hundreds of people around. Probably close to five hundred and most of them were battling. They could even feel vibrations in the air from the position. It made the three children shiver in fear and if not for Airi''s will to protect her siblings, she would have collapsed on the ground. Part of it was thanks to the red-grade robe but still... She was doing a great job by holding herself from collapsing. Hmm? Souta suddenly turned around and threw a punch at the space behind Airi. Boom! Airi closed her eyes as Souta''s fist passed above her head. She hugged her siblings tightly as the force behind the punch pushed her three meters away. Souta''s fist landed on something in that blank space. A figure was blasted away before crashing into several houses. "Stealth? It''s not going to work if I''m your opponent." Souta said as he turned around looking at the six remaining people. They were not moving at all even though he just blasted one of their comrades. Airi quickly stood up and then she heard Souta''s voice. "Run!" She didn''t even look back. She just ran forward with her siblings. She was scared so she closed her eyes. The six enemies were in front of her and she thought that she wouldn''t be able to run if she looked at them. Souta pulled out the vajra sword from its sheath. Then, he slightly bent his knees before he charged ahead. Swoosh! "Here it comes." One of the six enemies said. They prepared themselves as they quickly got into position. The mage and healer of the group jumped onto the rooftop of the houses. The man in front of the group took out a marble from his pocket and it turned into a huge shield. Then, the three people beside him brandished their weapons. Souta arrived a meter away from them. He raised his sword above his head and the enemies prepared to receive his attack but he stopped. "What?!" The shielder of the group was surprised. In the next moment, they saw strings of flesh come out of Souta''s left hand. The flesh grew longer and it swiped them out. Boom!! Their figures crashed on the nearby buildings. Hmm? Souta was about to follow up when the mage launched sharp winds at him. He raised his sword and slashed each one of the sharp winds. Bang! Bang! Bang! Suddenly he crouched down and a dagger passed above his head. Souta glanced behind him and saw that it was the person that hid using stealth before. He quickly lifted his feet and kicked the man on his knee. Ugh! The man lost his balance as he felt pain in his knees. He narrowed his knees when a fist landed on his face. Argh! Blood spurted out from his mouth and before he could regain his footing, Souta kicked him in the stomach. Bang! His body flew like a cannon and crashed into several houses. Souta actually didn''t want to kick the man. He wanted to finish him with his sword but someone interrupted him. So he raised his sword to block an attack before he kicked the man. He took a glance at the three children and saw that they were far away. He lifted his right foot and kicked the man in the knees before he swung his sword. Bang! Souta turned around and chased after Airi. He couldn''t leave her alone as the entire area was a battlefield. Even right now, fifteen people were fighting just forty meters away from her right. Swoosh! "He''s running away! Follow him!" The people from Red Matter said. They got up from their position and chased after him. Souta glanced and saw seven people following him. He looked around before he took a deep breath. Fighting seven Solidifying Realm with his physical strength alone was hard. He''s even holding back his strength. His punch alone could generate a powerful gust of wind and it would affect three children. Especially, if he throws a punch with all of his strength. It was too dangerous for them. The difference in strength was huge so they were the most affected if powerhouses fought. "Just keep on running! Once you pass through the walls, you will see my fellow warriors there! They will protect you and guide you to the other survivors!" Souta shouted. He wanted to ask for some help. There were warriors around fighting the Red Matter around but if he shouted there was a chance that the enemy would gather here. He hasn''t even mastered the monster language to the point that he could accurately choose who could understand his intent with these many people. It''s not a problem if there were only five or seven and among those people, he could choose two people to pass his intent. But he was on a battlefield. He couldn''t accurately choose his target. Souta stopped moving and the seven people also stopped in their tracks twenty meters away from them. "This is a problem. These people aren''t even hiding their aura so they attracted other people here." He muttered to himself. Suddenly, he grinned before he continued to run. "Hahaha, you think I will fight you!" Just wait until he secures the safety of the children. At that time, he would demolish them with overwhelming power. Swoosh! Souta suddenly swung his sword and cut down the incoming ice spike. He turned his head and saw people from Red Matter on his left side flying in his direction. "Just like what I expected but it didn''t only attract the people from your side. Your energy also attracted the warriors from my side." He said with a smile on his face. On his right side, several warriors were dashing on the rooftop of the houses. They were here to fight enemies and helped if they had some allies here. Swoosh! Swoosh! The three groups continued to move towards Souta''s position. The closest group to him was the one behind him. "Just a little bit more." Souta said in a low voice. The enemies were throwing various spells and he moved his body swiftly to block all these attacks. If one of these spells passed through him it would endanger the lives of the children. "Ehe~ throw everything!" He swung the vajra sword repeatedly and the spells exploded before it could even reach him. He actually wanted to carry the children before but Saya said that he shouldn''t do that. The excess best feram on his skin would only harm their bodies if they were having contact for several minutes. He realized that once he reached higher levels, he wouldn''t be able to approach creatures at lower levels. Just his presence alone would be enough to kill those people. Unless he reached a mastery to the point that he could erase his presence and energy. Gods and Monster Lords were at that level. Swoosh!! Airi was giving her best. She arrived in front of the huge walls as she looked left and right. "There!" She exclaimed when she saw the gate. Finally, she would be able to escape this place. Boom!! A loud explosion occurred. The aftershocks of the explosions threw her and her siblings into the walls. Ugh! It hurts! She felt intense pain in her body. Several bones of her must be broken from that impact. Ugh! She coughed a mouthful of blood before turning her head. She saw a huge ball of fire above the streets. It was as big as ten two-story houses. Chapter 668: War in Subterranean World: Battle Chapter 668: War in Subterranean World: Battle "N-No... We''re close..." Airi said while looking at the huge ball of fire. Suddenly, a foot landed in front of her and it blocked her vision. She looked up and saw that it was Souta. "If I say I got your back, trust me. You don''t have to look back to see if I''m still there. I''ll always be." Souta said to her before he turned around. "Don''t look back. Take your siblings and get out of this place." "I..." Airi forced herself to stand. She glanced at her siblings and saw that both of them lost consciousness. "They are fine. They just fainted. The warriors outside will help you treat your injuries so hurry up." Souta said. "T-Thank you, b-brother... I''ll always be in your debt. Thank you for saving us." Airi said before she picked both of her siblings. She then ran towards the gate without looking back. Souta sighed before he glanced at her back. He smiled and said, "Well, it''s not that bad." He shook his head and focused his attention ahead. Something occurred that he didn''t expect. In that explosion, three warriors died instantly. Looking at the giant ball of fire, he knew that Shackled Realm experts had arrived. The Solidifying Realm experts that were chasing him were on the sidelines watching the event unfold. With the appearance of Shackled Realm, they had to be cautious as it could cause their deaths. The situation was dangerous. Time seems to stop as more and more experts had arrived. They were in the mid-air without moving yet their mana was circulating very fast around their bodies. Some of them were injured as they just clearly experienced battle. ''Three hundred...'' Souta had a gloomy look on his face. What makes it troublesome was the person that caused the explosion. It was dangerous since that person possessed an overwhelming aura. This man had his hand above his head as the huge ball of fire floated on top of his hand. He had long red hair tied in a ponytail on the back of his head. He was wearing a black tunic with various ornaments around it. Souta could even feel the pressure coming from the man''s presence. He moved his eyes and glanced in Airi''s direction. When he saw that she was gone, he breathed a sigh of relief. If a battle of this scale suddenly occurred while she was here then he wouldn''t be able to guarantee her safety. But it''s still not safe unless she got out of the barrier. The battle power of this man was above him and if he released his energy there was a chance that it would affect her. ''Let''s wait for a bit more...'' Souta said inwardly. ''Don''t do anything reckless. Continue to observe...'' Saya warned him in a serious tone. ''Yeah, I know...'' Souta said to her. He looked around and several people that he knew. ''Grain Leader Carmel? That one is the leader of Sixth Grain Wise, Arse...! Also, Grain Leader Yemi is here!!'' He was shocked as he recognized three Grain Leaders around. There were even high-ranked warriors here. If they were here then that man must be... An executive?! Souta''s expression turned gloomy. The man was the eleventh executive, Crusz. He was powerful in his own right and no one could deny it. Crusz looked around as he slowly opened his mouth and said, "Do you really think that dividing us executives will make you win this war? It''s good but I hope you make it entertaining for me. I''m getting bored all this time waiting for you warriors to come." His expression turned mad. He grinned maniacally as he turned the giant fireball on the ground. "For the opening strike!" [Blazing Floor Carpet]!!! "Shit!!" Souta cursed as he jumped in the mid-air and crossed his arms in front of him. Then, a wall of blood emerged from the ground. Boom!! Once the fireball landed on the ground, the fire spread out as it flooded the entire area with a radius of five hundred meters. Hundreds of houses were set on fire instantly. This spell was only harmful to low-level experts. Its main effect was to increase the power of the fire attribute combat arts and spells. The reason why Souta blocked it was that it could affect the children. Airi hasn''t traveled far enough. She was closed and he could sense that some of the Fourth Set warriors were approaching her. "Good job." Souta smiled. Boom! The energy erupted out from the bodies of the experts around. They protected their bodies from flames as the warriors and Red Matter clashed. The three Grain Leaders surrounded Crusz and they attacked him at the same time. Boom!! Boom!! A powerful shockwave swept out and it destroyed his wall of blood. Crusz and the three Grain Leaders were going all out. It will be hard to approach their battle with all these shockwaves. "Mnahahaha!" Crusz laughed as Yemi kicked him in the stomach. Bang! His body was blasted hundreds of meters above the surface. It was followed by a ray of light that Carmel fired. An explosion occurred but Carmel continued to fire his attacks. "Let''s go!" Yemi and Arse flew towards the smoke. They didn''t even give Crusz a time to recover as both of them delivered a powerful blow to his stomach. Bang! The impact of their punch dispersed the smoke and they could see that Crusz still had that smile on his face. Souta was observing their battle. After making sure that Airi was safe, he stepped forward. It''s time for him to join the battle. He said before that he would demolish them. They even gave children a bomb. He took a deep breath and circulated his energy around his body. Looking at the battles in front of him, his eyes turned cold. Warriors were fighting their enemies with burning determination. Some of them had died as their corpses fell on the ground. A few S-rank experts landed in front of him. "This guy didn''t even move!" "Are you scared of dying?!" "Hahaha!" The S-rank experts laughed as they slowly approached him. Souta smiled and said, "Yeah, I''m scared of dying but... I''m not afraid of some weaklings like you." "Huh?!" The S-rank experts were confused. Souta stepped forward and the air around him changed. Ohm! An invisible pressure spread out of him. All the S-rank in this place, including his allies, felt a chill on their spine. They felt strength leaving their bodies and it rooted them on the spot. It feels like an apex predator was staring at them. [Serpent Dominance]! "W-What''s this...?!" The S-rank experts'' expressions changed. Their complexion turned pale as Souta slowly walked in their direction. "I-I couldn''t muster a-any strength...!" They subconsciously took a step back before they fell on their butt. Beads of sweat formed on their forehead as goosebumps appeared on their body. "Just die for me." Souta swung his sword. The next moment, the heads of the S-rank experts rolled in mid-air before it landed on the ground. "You guys don''t have a place on this battlefield." He raised his other hand as the blood of the people that he just killed left their bodies. With a flick of his finger, blood bullets shoot in every direction targeting the people from the Red Matter and rebels. His skill immobilizes all the Solidifying Realm and below within a radius of one kilometer. There''s no differentiation. Even his fellow warriors were affected by it. A few seconds had only passed yet someone at Shackled Realm already appeared before him. "That''s some dangerous skill you have there! It deals with weak people!" The man said in a low voice as he thrust the golden spear in his hand. Souta didn''t say anything. He simply tried to block the spear but he realized that the force behind it was several times stronger than he expected. Boom! A ring-shaped shockwave exploded from the point of impact. Souta couldn''t handle the power so his body was thrown like a cannonball. He crashed on the walls causing a huge dent to it. Ugh! Damn! Souta stood up and noticed that he was bleeding. The strength of this person was higher than what he expected. A Two Shackles Realm expert was capable of giving him an injury with little effort. ''The Squad Leaders should be the ones dealing with this person. My base form is weaker than them.'' He complained in his heart as he wiped the blood in the corner of his mouth. He looked up and understood why this person got free from the hands of other warriors. His [Serpent Dominance] affected his fellow warriors. S-rank warriors were working together to fight a Shackled Realm but since his skill affected them, the enemy easily defeated them. Even though he killed a bunch of enemies before, the Shackled Realm warriors still got their hands full as the number of enemies was higher. ''Damn, this skill is for fighting an army alone.'' Chapter 669: War in Subterranean World: Leader of the Rebel Army Chapter 669: War in Subterranean World: Leader of the Rebel Army Souta gritted his teeth as the expert pounced on him. The expert thrust the golden spear in his hand. Bang! Souta shifted his body to the side as he avoided the spear. Then, he took a step forward and opened his left palm. Swoosh! Grabbing the expert in the face, he slammed him to the ground before swinging the vajra sword in his right hand. [Crimson Moon]!! Boom! An explosion occurred and smoke covered the area. A figure was blown away from the smoke like a cannonball before crashing on the nearby houses. Ugh! Souta groaned in pain as he felt some of his bones were broken in that short clash. Fighting Two Shackles Realm expert was really too much for his base form. The enemy charged in his direction but walls of blood blocked his path. He swiftly destroyed the walls of blood with a few swings of his spear. It was easy considering his strength but someone intercepted him from going after Souta. Bang! Bang! It was a warrior. A Squad Leader from the Seventh Grain War. When Souta saw this, he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn''t want to deal with a Two Shackles Realm expert with the current state of war. It will only exhaust his energy. If he was going to fight, he should use it to create a bigger impact on the state of war. "Ah~ damn..." Souta stood up as he stretched his body. He looked at the battle between the Grain Leaders and the executive before he shook his head. Hmm...? Speaking of the devil... A grin formed on his face. "I''ll leave everything in this place to you guys..." He flicked his finger and he vanished from his position. Swoosh! A black sphere appeared in his position and it quickly formed a crack. After a few moments, the black sphere was shattered because of the aftershocks from the battles in the area. ... Swoosh! Souta appeared on top of the huge building. He glanced at his left side and saw his doppelganger standing. "You can disappear now." He stretched his hand and touched the doppelganger before it disintegrated. His other doppelgangers haven''t found anything yet. Well, the timing was right and he wanted to fight. He had been avoiding battle since he entered this place. Dawn Kingdom, Cartel, and Kaetws Federation were the three nations. Previously, he was in the Kaetws Federation but after switching with his [Shadow Ball] that was carried by a doppelganger he arrived in Cartel. Cartel, a nation as big as the Aekr Republic. "Surprisingly, this place is closer to that elevated land." Souta muttered as he looked at the Aranhgrad. The energy fluctuations above it were stronger at his current position. It means that Chief Captain had started his fight against the founder of Red Matter. "Well, I guess it''s my time." He smiled as he flicked his finger and his figure vanished once again. ... "Dromas, this is the Palace of Greatness, the house of this nation''s leader." A man with a pair of cat ears said. "Is President Finn still here?" The man named Dromas said. He was a two-and-a-half-meter-tall man with huge bulky muscles. He had pure red short hair and red eyes. His body was covered in golden armor. "Oh, it seems that they are here..." Dromas exclaimed when he saw three people coming out of the palace''s gate. He grinned widely revealing his sharp fangs, "You finally decided to face your death, huh?" "Dromas, I''m done with you. To think that you would cause this rebellion and help the terrorists in their plan." A man wearing a dark blue robe said in a strong tone. He was Finn, the President of Cartel. One of the two people beside him stepped forward. He was a tall man wearing a full plate platinum-colored armor. He had a huge sword hanging on his back. He was Boudo, the Guardian of the Palace. "Enough with this, Dromas! You can still command your people to stop this and fight the terrorists!" Boudo said strongly. Dromas ignored Boudo as he stared at the warrior behind President Finn. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "George, I''ll leave Boudo to you. I''ll handle Finn and the other guy." "I understand, Dromas." The man with a pair of cat ears nodded. He stepped forward and faced Boudo who was larger than him. "You!!" Boudo gritted his teeth. He turned to Finn and said, "President, these guys wouldn''t listen to us. They don''t want to talk. They will just kill everybody here." Finn exhaled. "I thought that we could change his mind but after seeing his eyes I realized that it was already too late." He then stared at Dromas. "Dromas! You''re consumed by hatred! Your hatred will only cause a lot of deaths! You will become the one you hated the most!" No matter what he said, it was useless. Dromas didn''t even show any reaction to his words. Realizing it, Finn could only blame himself. Dromas was the previous Guardian of Palace of Cartel that was protecting this nation in the past. And, after that certain incident, everything changed. The warrior behind Finn looked around. He could feel that a lot of people were fighting several kilometers away from this place. It seems that the rebels were blocking all the people that wanted to come here. After a few moments, he turned to Finn and said, "There''s nothing you can do to change his mind. We need to act now and kill this man but that will be the hardest part. He''s undoubtedly a strong opponent." Finn clenched his fists tightly. Dromas ignored Finn and he instead focused his attention on the warrior. "Hey, this is not your business. You should deal with those Red Matter guys." The warrior replied, "We need President Finn''s cooperation to save the civilians so it''s my business. Your group is problematic too since they are causing unnecessary trouble and we couldn''t focus our strength on Red Matter." "Then! I''ll kill you too!" Dromas said with a huge grin on his face. Suddenly, they all turned their heads as they felt a presence coming in their direction. Souta raised his hand and greeted the warrior beside President Finn. "It seems my timing is right, Grain Leader Darwin. I can assist you in dealing with this guy. If I''m not wrong, this guy is the leader of the rebels, right?" "Yeah, Squad Leader Souta. His name is Dromas and undoubtedly the strongest expert in the three nations if we didn''t include the Red Matter and Athen''s Champion." The warrior named Darwin said in response to his words. "You! Who are you? How did you pass through my men?" Dromas asked in a loud voice. Souta placed his finger and his lips. "Hmm... I switched with my shadows. Nevermind that, I came here because I want to stop all the rebels. By defeating you, the rebels will lose their morale and our warriors will be able to focus their fights on the Red Matter." "Ah, I''m done. I''ll just kill everyone here." Dromas said with a blank look on his face. "Souta!! Be careful!!" Darwin exclaimed. Dromas vanished from his position and reappeared in front of Souta. He pulled back his hand and a huge amount of mana swirled around it. Swoosh! Souta crouched down and the fist past above him. The buildings behind were obliterated effortlessly. He looked up and saw that Dromas was staring at him. "God, those eyes are terrifying..." He smiled to himself as he slashed the ground with his sword. Dromas was confused but he suddenly felt someone slash his body. He didn''t know what happened but he knew that he had to eliminate this monster. Suddenly, he felt a pain in his side. Turning his head, he saw that it was the other warrior. Bang! His body turned into streams of light as he penetrated several buildings. Boom!! Boom!! "Are you okay, Souta?" Darwin asked. "Yeah, he almost got me there." Souta nodded before he stood up. Dromas would''ve hit him if he didn''t cut his shadow. His [Shadow Damager] spell was quite effective as it could damage his opponent by simply targeting their shadow. "That one is strong. Are you sure that you could keep up?" Darwin asked him. "Yep," Souta smiled before he pointed his finger behind. "It seems that they don''t need my help there." Finn and Boudo were fighting George. George was the right-hand man of Dromas and he wasn''t a person that they could underestimate. If they wanted to change the tide of war, first they need to eliminate the rebels. To weaken the rebels, they had to eliminate Dromas and George, the pillars of the rebel army. "Okay, let''s do this." Darwin took a deep breath as he fixed his posture. His energy slowly seeped out of his body. "I''ll support you," Souta said as his aura slowly rose. His Second Mode was activated. Both of them were going to seriously fight the leader of the rebel army. Dromas, the Red Guardian. Chapter 670: War in Subterranean World: Souta and Darwin vs Dromas I Chapter 670: War in Subterranean World: Souta and Darwin vs Dromas I Souta took a deep breath as he gathered the souls in his surroundings. If he was alone, he wouldn''t fight Dromas but since he had Grain Leader Darwin with him the chances of winning had increased. Aside from arranging everything, this was the only thing he could do. The executives of the Red Matter Association were out of his league much less the founder. Thud! Dromas came out of the smoke. He stared at the two of them with intense killing intent. "Hey, you two! This is not your business! Get out of my way! Let me fucking kill Finn!" He said in a hoarse voice. The energy around his body kept increasing. The pressure around him made the ground tremble. "I''m afraid that we can''t do that," Darwin replied as he slowly brandished the sword on his waist. "DIE!!!" Dromas roared as he jumped forward. He instantly covered several hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye. Darwin stepped to the side and kneed Dromas on the stomach. Then, he swung his sword but his opponent caught it with his hand. [Earth Shaking Strike]! Dromas threw a powerful punch at Darwin''s chest. Bang! A ring-shaped shockwave exploded from the impact. The next moment, Darwin''s body flew at high speed before he crashed to the ground. ''So fast!'' Souta exclaimed inwardly. He knew that his opponent was strong but it was above his expectations. Swoosh! The [Dark Cloud Hunting] was blown away easily and the [Shadow Cloak] was shattered in just a single punch. Ugh! Souta spat a mouthful of blood. He could hardly react to the movement of his opponent. It was too fast and the strength was beyond his imagination. Dromas grabbed his face before he threw him in the air. Then, he punched him in the stomach with all of his might. Bang!! Blood splattered everywhere as Souta''s body was blasted away. His figure penetrated dozens of buildings away before he crashed to the ground causing a huge explosion. Boom!! Dromas turned his head away and said, "One down." He glanced at his subordinate who was fighting Finn and Boudo. He wanted to join the fight but he knew that he had to defeat the other warrior. "Tsk! After I finish my goal I will kill them all!" He said to himself. He looked at the side and saw Darwin staring at him. It will take some time if he wants to kill this guy. "It hurts... I can''t believe that I''m fighting a barbarian in this place." Darwin said as a smile formed on his face. He didn''t expect it at all. Plus, it seems that this guy had learned various combat arts related to his bloodline. It will be a great challenge for him. "You think highly of yourself just because you came from the surface," Dromas said in a low tone. His energy fluctuations flared up once again. Several combat arts were activated one by one. "Bloodline alone will not make you the stronger fighter here! I''ve fought barbarians before!" Darwin said before his energy flared up too. He activated his combat arts to boost his overall stats by a large margin. The two suddenly disappeared from their position. The next moment, they were already exchanging hundreds of blows in the middle of the palace. Boom!! Boom!! "Ugh!!" Souta opened his eyes. The punch from Dromas penetrated all of his defenses and it even destroyed the equipment he was wearing. He forgot that his [Flame Unity Robe] was still with Airi. So his defense provided by red grade equipment disappeared. He looked at the huge hole in his stomach and sighed. His flesh was moving and after a few seconds, the hole on his stomach had disappeared. "Damn, that fucking hurts!" Souta complained as he stood up. Dozens of his bones were broken in that attack and he couldn''t even do a thing. He picked up the vajra sword on the ground before he stretched his body. All of his wounds were completely healed just like that. The parasite was really useful or else he would''ve died from that kind of injury. "At least from that attack, I realized the extent of my opponent''s strength. His energy reserve is equal to Grain Leader Darwin but he had unbelievable physical prowess. A barbarian with various combat arts that boosted his physical strength to the limit." He muttered while rubbing his chin. His eyes could see the energy capacity and power level of his opponent but he couldn''t see their learned combat arts. He could only know it if his opponent activated it. Still, at that moment, he saw various skills were activated one by one. It shook him to the core as that attack almost killed him. "Okay, I''m good as new... It''s time to return." Souta grinned as he rested the vajra sword on his shoulder. While he was walking, strings of flesh slowly covered his body. "It''s been a while since I''ve fought someone above me. It''s making my skin crawl." His Second Mode wasn''t enough to keep up with Dromas. One hit was enough to heavily injure him so he was going to take this to the next level. It''s been a while. He wouldn''t be able to experience this feeling if he Athena trained him in Olympus. Boom!! Boom!! Darwin slashed his sword and an energy blade flew out of it. Dromas simply punched it and the energy blade was chopped into two. The pieces of energy flew behind him and caused destruction. "You can''t do it! There are a lot of people stronger than me!" Darwin roared as he slashed his sword once again. Dromas stepped on the side barely avoiding the slash before he stomped his right foot heavily on the ground. [Earthshaking Wave]! Cracks formed on the surface as boulders of rocks burst from the ground. "No matter what I will achieve my goal! Nothing could stop me!" He moved his body to the side as Darwin destroyed the boulders of rock. Then, he clenched his fist as light seeped out of it. The next moment, he threw it forward and it was followed by a huge ray of energy. [Barbarian Demolition Fist]!! Darwin narrowed his eyes. He realized that he couldn''t avoid this attack so he could only block it or offset it with his own attack. He jumped away while pointing his sword at the attack. His blade gives off a brilliant white light. Not only that, his body also emitted a burst of light as he thrust his sword. [Oblitering Holy Judgement]!! "What?!" Dromas was shocked when he saw that the white light swallowed his attack. He was about to retreat when his feet sunk to the ground. No, the solid ground turned into mud. He simply removed it with his energy but several black tentacles emerged strangling his body. Not even a second had passed but the white light was already in front of him. He gritted his teeth and faced the incoming attack. Boom!! The white light continued to move forward as it obliterated everything in its path. It wasn''t destructive but the power it possessed was concentrated. If people were beside it, it wouldn''t do any harm but the moment they touch the white light it will be their doom. Souta landed on the ground as he watched the white light destroy everything. It continued to move forward until it reached several kilometers before finally stopping. "A high level light attribute combat arts..." As expected of a Grain Leader of Fourth Wise. In that second, Darwin used [Elemental Drive] to bolster the power of his attack before he turned it off again. It was quick but it shows the amazing control of his power. ''I can still feel his presence. That guy is still alive. Be careful. You distracted him at that crucial moment so he will try to target you this time.'' Saya warned him. "I know..." Souta replied to her. That attack reached the battle on the other side and he could feel that it killed some people there. "You''re still alive, that''s great," Darwin said when he saw him. "Thanks to your distraction he got hit by my attack. No matter how strong he is, he wouldn''t be able to escape without any damage." "Well, yeah..." Souta nodded. Boom!! An explosion occurred on the other side as the ground started to shake heavily. They saw Dromas charging at them with unbelievable speed. "I''ll take him..." Darwin said before he stepped forward. Swoosh! His figure collided with Dormas. They exchanged thousands of blows in just a second when Dormas suddenly used his [Elemental Drive]. [Dual Elemental Drive: Fire and Earth Force]!! It was so powerful that it blew Darwin several hundred meters away. Then, when Dormas'' feet touched the ground it quickly turned into magma. "Shit!!" Souta tried to fly in the mid-air but the opponent grabbed him on the feet. Then, he smashed him into the sea of magma. Bang!! If it was an ordinary magma, it wouldn''t harm him but it contained Dormas'' enormous mana, and it was breaking his defenses. "Move!" Souta roared as blood flooded the whole area. It tried to offset the magma but the energy within it was too much. It was evaporating the blood that he was controlling. His skin was melting and regenerating at the same time. It was a painful process that he had to endure in his current state. Chapter 671: War in Subterranean World: Souta and Darwin vs Dromas II Chapter 671: War in Subterranean World: Souta and Darwin vs Dromas II Dormas deactivated his [Element Drive]. The magma quickly turned into solid rocks as mist spread everywhere. Bang! With a punch, he dispersed the mist along with the ocean of blood. Even though his opponent was a monster, the difference in their level was huge. "Damn!" Souta cursed when he saw Dromas'' figure floating fifty meters above the ground. "Did that monster send you here?" Dromas asked as he appeared in front of Souta and kicked him in the chest. Argh!! Blood spurted out as various flesh was destroyed on Souta''s body. His bones and muscles were being pulverized to dust. Cough!! Cough! Souta fell on his knees and coughed a huge amount of blood. He lifted his head and grinned, "Ehe~ You know it, right? But unfortunately, that one didn''t send me here. As you can see I''m one of the warriors here." "Then die!!" Dromas said coldly before he threw a punch. Bang! Souta moved his body and his opponent''s fist pierced through his stomach. He flicked his finger as the blood on the ground coated Dromas feet before it hardened. "Hmm? What are you trying to do?" Dromas looked down. Then, a huge amount of best feram burst forth. Souta smiled widely as he swung his sword. The blade of his sword gives off a blinding crimson light. [Bestrou]!! [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]!! [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]!! [Sixth Form: Piercing Thunder Strike]!! A powerful attack landed on Dromas'' neck. It shattered several defenses on his body and it shook him. "You!!" Dromas glared at him as he pulled out his hand on Souta''s stomach. Argh!! Souta groaned in pain. When his opponent pulled out, his intestines were ripped out. Blood came out but he ignored the intense pain in his body. He focused his attention on chopping Dromas'' neck. [Crimson Moon]!! [Crimson Slash]!! His attack power had increased several times due to him being injured. It was the effect of his trait [Draw Blood II]. "You fucking monster!!" Dromas roared as he threw a punch. Black lightning and crimson energy exploded in the whole area. It swallowed everything within a one-kilometer radius. Boom!!! The people near the battle couldn''t help but turn their heads. The energy coming from that direction was extremely dangerous. A gust of wind gently blew the smoke covering the area. Dromas was floating while holding his neck. That monster managed to give him a wound on his neck. After a few moments, he removed his hand as the cut stopped bleeding. Removing the lingering best feram on his wound took him a lot of effort. It wasn''t easy at all. "Which one should I finish first?" He narrowed his eyes. He could feel that the monster was still alive and the warrior was coming in his direction. "I don''t have a choice." He turned around and launched a powerful kick in the air. His kick generated a shockwave that flew towards Darwin. Darwin simply slashed the shockwave with his sword. Then, he continued to move forward at high speed. His body emitted a light as his speed increased several times. Boom! Instantly, he arrived in front of Dromas. He swung his sword diagonally but Dromas caught it with one hand. He clenched his left fist and threw it ahead. Swoosh! Dromas tried to avoid the punch as he loosened his grip on the sword. But it was already too late. Bang! Darwin''s fist landed on his shoulder. It pushed him several meters away and a bright light encompasses his surroundings. "Shit!!" He cursed as he crossed his arms in front of him. Flames and earth covered him as the bright light shrunk at unbelievable speed. [Brilliant Holy Smite]!! Darwin swung down his sword and a white light burst in every direction. Boom!! Souta looked above as he covered his eyes. He stood up with great effort as his wounds rapidly closed. He almost died in that situation. "Damn, it''s incredible..." He moved his body as he followed the two. Boom!! Boom!! He watched as Darwin and Dromas exchanged hundreds of blows. He was looking for an opportunity to land an attack. ... Fred, a warrior from Fourth Set, was looking at the three nations with a grave expression. The two Grain Leaders of the Fourth Set had joined the battle and the remaining warriors were tasked to erect the barriers. "The state of war hasn''t changed one bit. Almost three hours had passed since the war started." He turned his head and looked at the civilians that managed to escape from the battlefield. Their numbers were close to ten million. It looked like a lot of people had survived but ten million wasn''t even half of the entire population of three nations. Most of them were people living near the walls so they managed to quickly escape. For people living in the inner part of the nations, they were stuck in the middle of the battlefield. Most of them had died as they didn''t even have enough strength to protect themselves. C-rank, D-rank, and E-rank were all fodder. It was nearly impossible to escape the battlefield of A-rank and above with that level of strength. Even A-rank and S-rank were just normal soldiers in this war. Fred shook his head as he walked to the corner. He drank a mana potion to refill his mana so that he could help in maintaining the barrier around the three national. After the civilians finish resting, they will leave this place. Even though they weren''t on the battlefield, the dangers here were still high. They need to go to the other side of the subterranean world. The place where the Aekr Republic was situated. "Just what are they planning?" No matter how much he racked his brain, he could understand the goal of the Red Matter Association. That giant piece of land was like a fortress. No, it''s a fortress but what could it do? And the purpose of that vast amount of energy continued to surge near the ceiling was still unknown. A lot of warriors were trying to guess its purpose but it was their first time seeing it, so they didn''t have any idea. ... On the surface of Aranhgrad... Huff!! Vandal was breathing heavily as he looked at the man standing in front of him. His body was full of wounds. The mighty Chief Captain of the Third Set was reduced into such state. "You are strong, Vandal... But you wouldn''t win against me... I didn''t just sit on the couch drinking alcohol in the past few years." Avron said as he stepped forward. "I trained harder to overcome my limits and now... I''ve reached this level of power but it still isn''t enough to achieve my goal." "I understand you as I want to get my revenge on them too but... Your path is wrong..." Vandal said in response. "Do you think they are above us?" "...No" "So why? They aren''t different from us but they are looking down at us as if we''re just an insect." Avron said. "We''ve known each other since we were kids but you''re blaming them..." Vandal said. "Why couldn''t we get the justice that we want? Is it because they are the descendants of the gods? Olympus is standing on their backs. That''s why we couldn''t do anything to them." Avron said as he opened his arms widely. "You know what? I''m not a good person so I''m going to do it in my own way. Why are you working with one of their gods?" "You...! Avron! You need to realize that you''re going to kill a lot of innocent people!" Vandal said in a loud voice. "I already realized it a long time ago... When Layla was killed by those people, what did you do? You run and leave me alone in that place. They''ve imprisoned me." Avron glared at Vandal but he quickly calmed down. "You did nothing for Layla. I''m alone fighting for her justice without anyone beside me. I got tired in that dark place." "I..." Vandal clenched his fist tightly. "You did nothing! Instead, you even serve one of their gods!" Avron threw a punch. "Your hatred consumed you, Avron!" Vandal roared as his fist collided with his opponent''s fist. Boom!! Their punches generated shockwaves that swept out the area around them. Vandal was thrown away and crashed into the buildings while Avron was only pushed dozens of meters away. "You said that you wanted revenge too, right? What are you expecting?" Avron said while patting his clothes. "Stop expecting to achieve what you want." "In the past few years, I''ve learned a lot of things. I experienced a lot of things. I''ve failed countless times." Avron walked to the edge of the Aranhgrad and looked down at the countless people fighting below. "People want to be loved but refuse to love. People want victory but refuse to fail. People want change but they think the same. People want acceptance but refuse to accept themselves. People want knowledge but refuse to learn. People want wisdom but refuse to look." He turned around and looked at Vandal''s eyes. "People want justice but refuse to fight for it. And I''m the same as those people. It''s ironic, isn''t it?" "I-I will stop you from killing innocent people...!" Vandal stood up as he wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. Chapter 672: War in Subterranean World: Souta and Darwin vs Dromas III Chapter 672: War in Subterranean World: Souta and Darwin vs Dromas III Finn and Boudo finally defeated George, the second-in-command of the Rebel Army. It took them all of their strength to defeat this man. They didn''t expect that there would be another powerful man close to Dromas level in the entire three nations. "Huff... We did it..." Boudo said with great effort as his great sword fell from his hand. He didn''t have enough strength to lift his sword after fighting such a battle. "Yeah, somehow..." Finn, the President of Cartel, nodded. He glanced at Boudo and saw his state. Boudo lost his left arm and there were several gaping holes on his body. His orange-grade armor was shattered and their potions were consumed. Blood kept pouring out of his wounds, creating a small pool of blood on the ground. "You did great..." Finn said as he used all of his effort to salute to the Guardian of Palace. He knew that Boudo wouldn''t last long with that kind of injury. The only thing he could do was see him off. He closed his eyes as Boudo slowly fell on the ground. He tightly clenched his fist and wondered why did this happen. In an instant, the entire nation was engulfed in chaos. No one expected this to happen at all. "I just hope that the warriors will win against Dromas." Finn turned his head and looked in the direction where he could feel the battle. Defeating George considerably weakened the Rebel Army. The Rebel Army was more focused on Cartel than the two other nations so the number of enemies here was several times larger. But something''s strange... They shouldn''t have enough people to fight against the Rebel Army and Red Matter but somehow they managed to hold on for a long time. Even those Commanders of Rebel were being held back. The Athen''s Champion and Government shouldn''t have enough people to handle them. Everything was in a stalemate. There''s no progression in this war. Even though Finn wanted to win against the Rebel Army and Red Matter, he still felt a little weird about this situation. The Rebel Army and Red Matter matter should''ve completely conquered the entire Cartel right now. Now that he thinks about it, maybe this was a strategy of Athen''s Champion. Or there''s a chance that the Red Matter is planning something again. "What is it? I need to uncover it to formulate a counter plan." Finn said to himself as he stood up and wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. He glanced at Boudo''s body before he left. He wanted to retrieve his body safely but he knew that he still had something important to do. He just hopes that Boudo will forgive him in the afterlife. ... Bang! Bang! Bang! Darwin and Dromas wrestled as both of them crashed on the ground. The entire place was devastated as both of them used their [Element Drive]. It became an all-out battle until one of them died. Souta jumped behind Dromas before he quickly swung his sword. Black lightning and crimson energy shot down. "Pesky!" Dromas blocked the attack with his hand before he delivered a blow on Souta''s stomach. He was irritated. He couldn''t even kill this monster. No matter how severe injuries he gave to that monster, the monster would come back as if nothing happened. He wanted to directly kill but Darwin was preventing him. Swoosh! A large cut appeared on his back, the moment he turned his attention on Souta. It was hard fighting two people at the same time. Especially if one of them was at the same power level. "Don''t ignore me..." Darwin said in a low voice. He raised his sword above his head before he swung it down with all of his might. "You fucking shit!" Dromas roared as he faced the attack with his powerful punch. Boom!! Shockwaves swept out. There''s nothing that could be destroyed around them. All the buildings within two kilometers radius were obliterated. Magma, blood, and light were flooding everything. ''To think that there is an expert as strong as this one in this place. With his strength, he could defeat other Grain Leaders.'' Darwin said inwardly while slashing his sword. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Swoosh!! He thrust his sword forward. He didn''t think that he would fail to hit his opponent. No, even if Dromas tried to avoid his attack someone would make sure that his attack landed. "You fucking!!" Dromas cursed loudly as strings of flesh wrapped around his feet. He was pulled back and a blade pierced his right shoulder. Argh!! Then, it was followed by black lightning and white light. It strikes him repeatedly until he severed the flesh that was wrapped around his feet. Spurt! [Holy Vanquish]! Darwin used one of his powerful combat arts once again. Suddenly, he tilted his head as something flashed beside him. His cheek and right ear were peeled off from his face. ''That''s close...'' He said inwardly before he kicked his opponent and pulled out his sword. But Dromas grabbed his feet and smashed him on the pool of magma on the ground. Bang!! Souta waved his hand as several minuscules [Bestrou] formed around him. His monster orb and [Nebula Heart] released a huge amount of energy to power this attack. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Dromas moved his body swiftly as he avoided the rays of energy one by one. In the next second, he looked up as black lightning rained down along with blood bullets. ''This attack would demolish any One Shackle Realm... I''ve already assessed his strength. He''s just an intermediate-rank fourth-stage monster. If he is late or peak rank then it would be different.'' He said in his mind before he increased his speed. Even though he was exhausted and injured from battling Darwin, he still had enough strength to deal with this monster. After all, his [Element Drive] was still active. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta could barely follow Dromas'' movement. The next thing he knew, Dromas hand was already grabbing his face. He mowed him on the pool of magma as a layer of his skin melted. Souta swung his sword but Dromas other hand grabbed his shoulder before ripping his entire arm. Then, Dromas threw him towards Darwin. "Die together!!" Dromas roared as he repeatedly punch the air. [Thousand Blazing Strike]!! Each punch generated a powerful shockwave that turned into flaming energy. It boiled the atmosphere as he continued to punch. Darwin caught Souta and pushed him on the behind. "Stay behind me!" He said as he faced the powerful series of attacks. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! The power of the attack shook the entire field. It flattened everything within five kilometers. The tall structures around were melted and tens of thousands of people were caught up in the attack. Cough! Cough! Souta was on his knees as he coughed a large amount of blood. Most of his internal organs were destroyed and his body was covered in heavy injuries. His skin was gone and some of his bones could be seen sticking out of his muscles. ''Souta! Souta!'' Saya called out with concern in her voice. ''I''m fine... I survived...'' Souta replied to her. His regenerative ability had slowed down considerably. All this time, he was receiving wounds that could take his life. Even the orange grade equipment on his body became irreparable. ''It''s twilight...'' Even though his vision was blocked by the ceiling, he could still feel the time. He couldn''t even move his body. He guessed that it would take a minute before the queen parasite fixed his bones and muscle tissues for him to move. Thud!! Darwin fell down with grave injuries all over his body. He did everything he could to prevent further damage to his body but the opponent was simply powerful. "G-Grain L-Leader Darwin..." Souta said with great effort. He focused the regenerative ability of his parasite on his legs to fix his broken bones and muscles. He stood up and tried to approach Darwin but his legs were still wobbly. Thud!! He turned his head as he heard the sound of footsteps. Dromas was slowly walking toward them with unsteady legs. His right hand was chopped as blood kept pouring out of it and Darwin''s blade was embedded in his chest. "Y-You fucking monster... You''re still alive. Even though your power level is low, your regenerative ability is simply beyond imagination." He said as he pulled out the sword on his chest. Such a monster was dangerous if it grew stronger in the future. "I''ll fucking make sure to kill you this time." He arrived in front of Souta and grabbed his neck. He looked down at the wounds all over Souta''s body and said, "Your ability had slowed down. I guess it has a limit." Argh! Souta clasped the hand on his neck. He tried to break out of it but he didn''t have enough strength. No, the enemy was also above his level so it''s pretty hard to tell. "Hehehe!" Souta laughed lightly. Dromas was confused as he narrowed his eyes. "Why are you laughing? Is it because you haven''t used your release form, right? Do you think that you would be able to take me down with it?" "You have no idea... Even though I''m injured and all, I still reserve most of my power while you... You exhausted yourself fighting Grain Leader Darwin." Souta looked at Dromas in the eyes. "Let me show you, why everything is within my calculations." Ohm!! Chapter 673: War in Subterranean World: Fall Chapter 673: War in Subterranean World: Fall "What?!" Dromas saw a white sphere hovering above Souta''s head. "Haha, you didn''t sense it, right? I wonder why?" Darwin laughed. It was simple. The small bag on Souta''s waist was destroyed and Souta made a preparation. The reason why Dromas was sure that Souta was still alive was because of the best feram in the surrounding. But that''s where the trick lies. If he only focused on his senses, he would discover that the best feram atmosphere wasn''t coming from Souta. He would also sense the energy signature wasn''t from his opponent. In truth, it was coming from the monster orbs scattered around the area. It blocked his judgment and didn''t even notice the mana coming from the white sphere. That''s why don''t even let your emotions control you when you''re in the battle. "It still didn''t change a thing!" Dromas roared as he pierced Souta''s chest using his other hand. Spurt! "Ugh! This is nothing..." Souta grinned as the white sphere fell on top of his head. His whole body was enveloped by white light. This was a spell called [Gracious of Holy Lord]. A powerful support spell that could boost the target''s overall stats by sixty percent. The target would also gain an additional ten percent light attribute power to any attacks. It also has a healing effect that would heal fifty health points per second for five minutes. But casting this spell costs Darwin all of his remaining mana. While he was blocking Dromas'' relentless attacks, he decided to use this spell on Souta. After resolving himself, he cast the spell while disregarding his defense. Then, he took out a chance to counterattack before he finish it. Luckily, he managed to chop Dromas'' hand and stabbed him with his sword. Those few exchanges drained his energy and stamina. At this moment, he didn''t have enough strength to move his body. Even the natural protective field of Shackled Realm experts was gone. He was only relying on his great vitality to stay conscious. "I''ll leave everything to you, Squad Leader Souta," Darwin said. "Yeah," Souta said before he waved his hand. Boom!! The Second Mode was used once again. Various skills overlap with the [Gracious of the Lord]. It gives off a strange white and black aura around his body. The Second Mode and [Gracious of the Lord] weren''t enough to push Dromas. But Souta somehow managed to do it. His injuries were extremely fatal and it gives him unbelievable power. [Draw Blood II]: Every time he loses 1% of his health his stats would increase by 8%. And he was down to the last ten percent of his total health points. It means, his stats right now was in a different league compared to when he was fighting without any injuries. "...?!" Dromas was pushed back. He gritted his teeth as he wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. He looked ahead and opened his eyes widely in surprise. The blood in the surrounding area swirled around Souta and it healed some of his injuries. [Blood Field II]!! Souta didn''t completely heal his body. He only healed the wounds that could prevent him from moving like broken bones or tendons. All this time, he was only using the power of his parasite to regenerate. He didn''t even touch his other abilities. He cracked his neck as his body inflated. Savage-looking spikes came out of his back. Mouth cracked widely revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. Another pair of eyes opened just below his eyes and above his cheeks. And the horn on the center of his forehead had grown larger. Ohm! Black tribal tattoos spread on his body as exoskeleton formed covering his elbows and legs. His long crimson hair was dancing around the energy. Everything happened in less than a second. [Monster Orb Release]!! An enormous amount of energy shot through the sky. It shook the entire area and people around the nation felt the release of the best feram. Black smoke came out of his mouth. Souta stared at Dromas who was looking at him with intense hostility. "You thought we were fighting you without a plan? That''s where you are wrong. From start to the end, Grain Leader Darwin and I are already planning how to defeat you." Souta said as he slightly bent his knees. The next moment, he was already in front of Dromas. Swoosh! He swung the vajra sword but his opponent was still someone he couldn''t underestimate. Dromas avoided the slash even though his body was on the verge of collapsing. Dromas took a step back. It would be easy if he wasn''t heavily injured or at least saved up his [Element Drive]. But there''s no need to fret over the past. His chances of defeating the release form of this monster were still above fifty percent. Then, he stopped before he swung his feet. It was sharp as it cut the ground in half. Bang!! Souta narrowly avoided the kick. He moved forward as he used one of the equipment skills he had. [Insta-Regen]! It was a skill from a red grade ring called [Nature Spring Ring]. It could recover forty percent of the user''s energy instantly and it has a cooldown of seven days. "You can''t escape from me..." He pointed his sword ahead. Black lightning crackled on his blade as [Bestrou] enveloped it. [Dual Element Drive: Dark and Light Force]!! "You fucking monster! Do you think that I would escape from you?!" Dromas roared loudly as he gathered the remaining tiny bit of mana he had in his fist. "Ehe~ don''t let your emotions cloud your judgment." Souta laughed lightly before he thrust his sword. His last bit of [Element Drive] was activated at this moment to boost his attack. Blood swirled around as [Bestrou] synchronized with it. Black and light energy entangled with each other as it flew towards Dromas. Then, black lightning and crimson energy rotated around with great momentum that made the entire atmosphere boil. Swoosh! [Barbarian''s Ultimate Mighty Fist]!! Dromas roared as he punched with all of his remaining strength. This was his last attack and if this one failed, he wouldn''t have enough strength left in his body. He squeezed out all of the power inside his body. Blood gushed out of his pores, mouth, nose, eyes, and ears as he threw his strongest attack. Boom!! The collision of the two powerful attacks caused an intense reaction in the entire area. The range of the explosion was just one kilometer yet it possessed destructive power that could demolish dozens of One Shackle Realm instantly. The remaining energy shot through the sky, hitting the ceiling of the subterranean world. Shhhhh~ Smoke filled the whole place and the ground was turned into sand. It became a desolate land devoid of any sounds and life. The air was boiling and the thick energy from the atmosphere could suffocate people at A-rank. Even if an A-rank miraculously survives this explosion, the radiation from the air would kill them. Their flesh and the natural protective field wouldn''t be able to prevent the intense energy from crushing their organs. Thud! Souta fell down on his knees as he slowly turned back to his normal form. He turned his head and looked at the vajra sword on the sand floor. His whole right arm along with a part of his chest was obliterated in that attack. "Cough... That attack was weaker than what he showed against Grain Leader Darwin... Yet, I could barely offset it..." The difference in strength was simply too astronomical. The power of that attack wasn''t even half of the power of the strongest attack Dromas used against Darwin. Luckily, he had [Vajra Sword Saya] and Archetype which could damage high-level opponents. He even dealt the last blow to SSS-rank experts before when Deadly Sins invaded the Ladros City. Well, at that time, the seven-circle officers only had less than one percent HP. It was all thanks to his teacher, Bargan, who damaged them to the point that they were going to die at any moment. The situation this time was somewhat similar. The only difference was that Dromas still had a little bit of strength and energy while the officers couldn''t even use their energy. Also, Souta was several times stronger now than in the past. "Ah, fuck! Honestly, I''m so tired right now..." Souta stood up. In that attack, he even used most of the Archetype''s form that he knew but it still costs him to lose his entire arm. "My fighting style is becoming reckless these days... It must be the influence of having the guaranteed regeneration." He said to himself as he looked around. He saw Dromas approximately a hundred meters away from him. "In the end... I failed..." Dromas laughed lightly before he fell on the ground. Souta had a gloomy expression on his face. All of Dromas'' limbs were still intact. He just fell into exhaustion and that caused him his defeat. "I still won... Now, for the next step..." Chapter 674: War in Subterranean World: Counter Chapter 674: War in Subterranean World: Counter "I can''t..." Dromas said with great effort before he fell. His vision turned completely black and he lost consciousness. He was the last barbarian in the three nations. His entire clan was massacred five years ago leaving him the sole survivor of the clan. His parents, wife, siblings, and children died pitifully. At that time, he was the Guardian of Palace so he used his authority to investigate the scene. He toppled different areas in the Cartel just to find the culprit. He even destroyed several small-time organizations and bandits in his rage. In the end, a lot of people changed their impression of him. His temper had also changed due to that incident. He was quick to anger and he could be even seen throwing hands at his subordinate. It''s not good for the country. The Guardian of Palace should be a role model for citizens of Cartel so President Finn decided to relieve him from his position. Boudo replaced him as the Guardian and President Finn promised him that he wouldn''t stop investigating the massacre. Dromas accepted President Finn''s proposal. He knew that he had lost his calmness after his family died so he wasn''t suited for that position. He investigated the crime alone and found clues that led to the Government of Cartel. At that time, he realized that if he wanted to know the truth he had to go against the entire Cartel. "So much for being the strongest..." Souta muttered. The leader of the Rebel Army, the former Guardian of Palace, had fallen in the middle of the country that he once served before. He was defeated by warriors from Athen''s Champion. The marvelous strategy and techniques of Darwin and Souta triumphed over the most powerful expert of the three nations, Dromas Rockmoor. "I guess... It''s not bad..." Souta laughed to himself. This battle gave him insight and it was very important regarding his current battle style. After everything settled down, he would try to make time for himself to sharpen his battle style. ''Life and death battle was really important if a person wants to improve their techniques.'' He said inwardly while looking at the vajra sword. He picked it up with his left hand and slowly approached Dromas'' body. His right arm hasn''t completely regenerated. It would probably take five minutes before it grew back. ''Too strong... Every time he hit me it only left me five percent of my total health. The [Armored Scale Formation], [Shadow Cloak], gravitational field, and natural protective field were all shattered in just one attack. No, he would''ve killed me if I didn''t avoid getting hit in my heart and head.'' No matter what, Dromas power level was still above him and he would be having a hard time if he relied on his strength to kill this guy. A dark grade sword was one of the keys to kill this tough guy. Souta looked at the sword in his hand. His hand was trembling as he felt contorting pain all over his body. It felt like someone was crushing his heart. "Fuck... I just used my release form for a few minutes and yet, I could barely hold my weapon." He said in a low voice. He still had energy left thanks to him using [Insta Regen] and he still had the stamina to move. The reason why he couldn''t move before was that the bones, tendons, and muscles were ripped apart. But this feeling was different... It was the effect of using his release form. This was also the reason why he wants to avoid using [Monster Orb Release]. It means that even if he had full stamina and best feram at this moment, he wouldn''t be able to fight properly. "You''re strong..." Souta said in a cold tone as he raised the sword above his head. He gritted his teeth as he endured the pain he was feeling. The best feram flowed on the blade of his sword. Ohm! Suddenly, Dromas'' shadow moved and unexpectedly a figure rose from it. In an instant, the shadow moved in front of Souta. Swoosh!! It was as if time had slowed down. Souta''s attention was still on Dromas and he didn''t even notice the shadow in front of his face. No, it was just that the shadow was so fast as if time had slowed down in its presence. The shadow moved its hand rapidly. It seems to vanish as it shot through Souta''s body. Bang! Bang! Bang! A hand grabbed Souta''s shoulder and pulled him behind. Then, another person appeared and it quickly launched a series of thrusts using a rapier. Bang! Bang! Souta was thrown out and rolled on the ground before a shockwave blew him several meters away. He stabilized his footing and noticed that he had dozens of holes in his body. "Damn, I already know this but it seems that it is still beyond my league... I almost died." He cursed as he slowly retreated hundreds of meters away. With his current condition, he had no way to fight and even if he was at his peak he wouldn''t be able to last long in this upcoming battle. He knew the limit of his current power level. His power of gravity carried the monster orbs and Grain Leader Darwin with him. "You!! How did you know?!" The shadow was surprised. That monster would''ve died under his hand if these two didn''t intercept him. He wanted to know how these two discovered him hiding inside the Rebel Army Leader''s body. The shadow around his body slowly dissipated revealing a demi with characteristics of a wolf. His name was Josen, the Third Executive of the Red Matter Association. "That''s what I want to know too?" One of the two warriors shrugged his shoulder helplessly. "Then, how?" Josen asked in a low tone before he brandished a pair of daggers on his waist. The two warriors looked at each other. The other one opened his mouth and said, "Well, it''s not us that found you. It''s the Squad Leader Souta. From the beginning, we''re already here waiting for your appearance." "So sorry that we busted your plan. From now on, we are your opponents." The other warrior said. These two strong warriors were the two Grain Leaders of the Fourth Set that helped the Third Set''s mission. "Shit! You are getting on my nerves!" Josen mumbled. He turned his attention on Dromas and kicked him. "This guy is useless... He didn''t even know that I was the one who massacred his clan." His body was instantly covered in darkness before he dashed forward with insane speed. Boom!! Boom!! The battle started and Souta was watching them from afar. The monster orbs were floating around him giving off a strange luster that flowed in his body. Using his gravity powers, he gently laid Darwin on the ground. Darwin just fainted from overworking his body. After all, he''s the one who protected Souta from Dromas series of punches. "Our role here is done..." He muttered as he sat on the ground. Footsteps came from behind and stood beside him. Souta didn''t even turn his head. He already knew that they were coming. There were two warriors behind him. The Tenth Grain Wise Leader and Seventh Grain Virgin Leader. "This is a serious matter. I didn''t think that Grain Leader Darwin would fall. Luckily, he''s alive." The Seventh Grain Virgin Leader said. "The two of you have taken down the pillars of the Rebel Army. It''s time to change the tide of war to our side." The Tenth Grain Wise Leader added. "Then, I''m going out now..." Souta said politely before he stood up. He gave them a salute before he left with unconscious Darwin. These two warriors would help the two Fourth Set Grain Leaders in defeating the Third Executive. They needed at least much power to defeat one of the highest executives of the Red Matter Association. Twenty minutes later... Souta was sitting on the walls of the Cartel, watching the battlefield. Everything was moving according to his plan. "Let''s see what Red Matter will do in this situation..." The two Grain Leaders of the Fourth Set were already with Souta from the very beginning. They just didn''t show themselves to fight Dromas. They just keep their distance from the battle and watch the scene carefully. So when Josen appeared, the two quickly moved to intercept him. As for the other two Grain Leaders, it was a preparation that Souta finished. He, along with the two leaders of the Fourth Set, eliminated their opponents and created a scenario for Souta and Darwin to fight. His perception noticed the presence of the Third Executive. That''s why Souta didn''t join the battle as soon as he teleported using his [Shadow Ball]. The moment he stepped foot in the three nations, Souta scattered his [Doppelganger] along with his [Shadow Ball] for different reasons. One of them was completed. To find and eliminate the leader of the Rebel Army. The tide of war was slowly changing to their side. The morale of the rebels plummeted after they knew that their leader was killed. He arranged it so that it would look like some natives from three nations killed Dromas. It was to create a hero among the people of these nations and this would boost their morale. It would have a different impact if the person that killed Dromas came from a foreign land. The impact on the masses and rebels would be different. "I''ll step on the sideline for now," Souta said as one of the monster orbs landed on his palm. Chapter 675: War in Subterranean World: Secrets Chapter 675: War in Subterranean World: Secrets Josen who was fighting the two Grain Leaders of Fourth Set and another two Grain Leaders of Third Set was being pushed back. He was strong but fighting four Grain Leaders was extremely hard and stressful. He didn''t even know if he was going to win or not. But everything was decided after he heard his master''s words. He raised his hand and touched the metallic collar around his neck. ''So you''ve decided to save us, in the end. But I''m going to follow you...?!'' Suddenly, he opened his eyes widely. He stopped moving as his senses flared up. His mouth and hands trembled as if something bad happened. He glared at the four warriors. "You...! How?!" "We''re winning this war." The Grain Leader from Fourth Set said. "Is it hard to understand that?" The Tenth Grain Wise Leader asked lightly. "I don''t know what happens but..." Josen gritted his teeth. He wanted to help his comrades but these four warriors were preventing him from moving. In his perception, two of the remaining executives had vanished. Their mana signatures which were powerful a while ago suddenly disappeared. There were two reasons why. It''s either that they escaped or they got defeated by warriors from Athen''s Champion. They should have a great advantage in this war but strangely they were the ones that were getting defeated. Even if the Rebel Army had fallen, the members of Red Matter Association were enough. So why? No, just like what happened to him. Someone was controlling this entire battlefield. "Huh?" Souta''s image suddenly came into his mind. He didn''t know why but he felt that monster was connected to it. ... On the surface of Aranhgrad... Two and a half hours had passed since the war started in this land. Vandal was facing the leader of the Red Matter Association, Avron. Vandal was full of wounds and his breathing was heavy. He was fighting Avron all this time and Avron even let him rest so that he could fight once again. The difference in their strength was huge even though both of them were at Seven Shackles Realm. "Why don''t you kill me, Avron?" Vandal asked in a low voice. "It''s a waste to kill you. After all, you''re a former friend of mine so I wanted to show you the process of me achieving my goal." Avron said to him. "If you still want to fight, I''ll entertain you to the best of my abilities." "You...!! This is not a game, Avron!" Vandal gritted his teeth as he slowly brandished his sword. Lightning slowly crackled around the blade of the sword. [Lightning Blade Enhancement]!! It was the equipment skill of his red-grade weapon. A skill that adds fifty percent lightning damage to his attack for thirty minutes and it has a cooldown of seven days. [Great Tortoise Shell]!! This skill was the equipment skill of his armor. It has an effect that could enhance the user''s defense by twenty percent and add an invisible field that could protect the user. "I will not give up! You''re still living in the past! I will wake you up!" Vandal roared before he dashed forward with all of his might. At the same time, he activated some of his combat arts to enhance his strength. "You can''t win just against me." Avron grinned as he bent his body backward. A sword passed above his face and he moved his feet to fix his balance before he punched the sword. Clang! Sparks flew out as Vandal lifted his feet and launched a lightning kick. But Avron simply moved his other hand and caught the lightning kick. Bang! The force behind him the kick traveled through Avron''s body and pushed him several meters away. He felt slight numbness in his hand and he realized that his opponent''s attack had a paralyzing effect. Unfortunately, it only slightly numbs his hand. If it was other people, then they wouldn''t be able to move their hands after taking that attack. It would paralyze them for one second and one second was a great deal for people at their power level. One second was enough for any of the Seven Shackles Realm experts to launch ten thousand punches. Hmm...? Avron quickly crouched down as Vandal slashed the air, barely missing his neck. He moved swiftly as he grabbed the right hand of his opponent and delivered a blow on Vandal''s chest. [Demolition Impact]!! The moment his fist landed on Vandal''s armor, lightning spread out as he felt great resistance. Then, he added more force to his punch to blast his opponent away to create some distance. Boom!! Vandal''s body flew away leaving lightning trails behind. He penetrated hundreds of buildings before his body stopped. Swoosh! Avron watched as the buildings collapsed in front of him. He raised his hand and touched his neck. Darkness covered his fingers as he used it to close the cut on the side of his neck. "That''s close... As expected of my friend. You are the only one that has the capability to stop me." He said in a low tone. Darkness slowly covered his entire body and it slowly turned into black light-armor. [Darkness Knight Suit]!! He activated one of his most powerful dark attribute skills. He suddenly turned his head and looked at the pillar of energy coming from the Aranhgrad. "It''s going to start soon. Just a little bit more and..." He muttered to himself. Boom!! Vandal''s energy pushed all the rubble around him. He stared at Avron with anger in his eyes. "Avron!! Fight me!!" He roared as he activated all of his equipment skills. As a Chief Captain, most of his equipment was red-grade. The lowest grade that he wore was just an orange grade bracelet. Lightning and wind spread out and it destroyed buildings within a radius of five hundred meters. Everything was cleaned and there was nothing left standing around the area. Avron looked at him and said, "Very well, I intend to finish this soon. You''ve cleaned the battlefield so I''m sure that you have prepared yourself." Swoosh! Vandal eyes constricted as Avron suddenly vanished. Then, he slashed his sword at his left side and a lightning energy blade flew out. "Avron, you became someone you hated in the past. I could still remember the time when you, Layla, and I played when we were kids. You said I''m your friend, right? That''s why I''m going to stop you from committing anymore sins!" He clearly felt Avron''s presence but the moment he attacked, the presence disappeared completely. Instead, it reappeared behind him. "I promise in the name of my goddess, Athena, that I will stop you at all costs!" Vandal kicked the ground as he jumped in the air. Lightning gathered around his sword before it swung it down with all of his force. Roar!! The lightning turned into a dragon as it crashed on the floor creating a sea of lightning that enveloped the whole field. [Descent of the Dragon]!! Avron crossed his arms as lightning surrounded him. It was attacking every part of his body nonstop. It was powerful as it even penetrated his protective field. Although he was stronger than Vandal, Vandal still had the ability to kill him so he wouldn''t let down his guard even for a moment. Darkness covered both of his arms before he waved it. [Dark Fissure]!! Ohm!! The whole floor quickly turned into darkness before it shot up colliding with the sea of lightning. "God? Oh, right... It seems that you know little of them." Avron said as he jumped in the air and threw a punch at Vandal. Vandal gritted his teeth as he raised his sword and blocked the punch. Bang! Vandal was pushed back. But he shortly charged at his opponent once again. Every slash of his sword was filled with lightning and wind. "God? They are quite similar to us. The secrets of attaining godhood. I''ve achieved it, the secrets of the gods." Avron said as he moved his body from side to side, barely avoiding the sword that was coming at him. The energy blade shot through and destroyed the area behind him. At this moment, a quarter of the surface of Aranhgrad was demolished. Even though the battle was intense, the Aranhgrad showed no sign of collapsing. It was only shaking due to the sheer power of the two powerhouses fighting on top of it. "What are you saying?" Vandal narrowed his eyes. He suddenly felt danger coming from his opponent''s body. He stopped attacking Avron and then he jumped away, to create some distance. His instinct was screaming at him to run away. If he recklessly attacks, there''s a huge chance that his opponent would take him down since he had no idea about what was going to happen. "Let me show you," Avron said and the air around him changed. The temperature dropped instantly as if a storm was about land. He was standing still but everything felt as if time had stopped. The space started to vibrate as a large amount of mana gathered on the tip of Avron''s finger. He slightly opened his mouth and said in a low voice, "Don''t lose sight of it." [Archetype: Spatial Domination]!! [First Form: Volume Down]!! The energy gathered on his finger swirled wildly like a hurricane and quietly the space distorted. Everything around Vandal was folded into tiny pieces. It seems that an invisible hand was crushing the entire area. Chapter 676: War in Subterranean World: Past Chapter 676: War in Subterranean World: Past Somewhere in the three nations... Souta was inside a dark room with a book in his hand. His other hand was on his chin as he kept reading the contents of the book with his eyes. The ground was vibrating heavily and energy would spike up every other second but he ignored it all. Although he looked like he was fine, it was only because of the regeneration ability of the queen parasite. After a few minutes, he closed the book in his hand and looked outside. "According to my arrangement, we had a sixty percent chance of winning this war. Every executive of the Red Matter Association is busy fighting the Grain Leaders. There''s no one that can give them a concrete plan anymore. Plus, I''ve stained the leader of rebels so they are out of sight. They will fall sooner or later." With all the casualties that the Third Set received in the previous battle, the chances of winning this war were just thirty percent. But because of his secret arrangement, the chances grew higher. In fact, the tide of war was slowly shifting to their favor. Starting from the Grain Leaders of Fourth Set... To slaying the leader of rebels. Before fighting Dromas, Souta switched with his [Shadow Ball] and prevented the ambush of the Red Matter. He saved the Seventh Grain Virgin Leader and Tenth Grain Wise Leader by informing them that there were enemies waiting in the dark. How could he detect them? It was simple since they had blood in their bodies. That''s why it took him one hour before he fought the rebel leader, Dromas. By looking at his enemies, Souta could see their power level due to him having [Galaxy Eyes]. He slowly organized the warriors to fight the enemies they had an advantage against. One by one he directed different battlefields in the shadows leaving only a few battles such as Grain Leaders and the other high-rank warriors who were fighting the officers of Red Matter Association. The officers were just second to executives in terms of strength. So ordinary Squad Leaders, who had a power level of Two Shackles, wouldn''t win in a head-on battle against them. What he did was simply change the warriors who were going to fight those officers. Of course, there were times when warriors died because of his decision. He felt sorry for them but their deaths only solidified Souta''s plan. "In the next couple of minutes, the battle in the Kaetws Federation will be concluded. I could only hope that the warriors would win against their opponents. I simply set up a path for them to win so the thing that will decide the war is their strength." ''Truly magnificent.'' Saya praised him. Souta shook his head and said, "It''s nothing. I could do it because of my abilities. If I don''t have any of it, it will be hard to gain information and arrange the battlefield to our favor." ''Other people will not think of that. What you did was great and the last arrangement is going to bloom, right?'' Saya said. Knowing the exact position of the enemies within a certain range was far too useful in war. Since he knew the position of the enemies and the enemies hiding, he could easily prepare an ambush and eliminate them. A lot of generals and commanders would be jealous of this ability if they knew it. Its potential in war was big as long as they perfectly utilized it. In a one-on-one battle, this ability wouldn''t be able to help much but in war... It''s absolute. "Well, yeah..." Souta shrugged his shoulder. This was one of the reasons why he chose [Crimson Perception]. In the future, different wars will erupt so this ability will help him in commanding his army. Back to the topic at hand, Souta turned his gaze at the table. Precisely, at the notebook on top of it. It was a diary of one of the executives of the Red Matter, Shiela. Just like the previous place, this building was also an abandoned laboratory which Red Matter made in secret to research some things. It took him a lot of time to find this place. He sent his doppelganger across the three nations just to find buildings like this one. The same as the laboratory where he found the Stone Monument in the Aekr Republic. Souta approached the table and opened the diary. He finally knows the reason why Vandal was obsessed with the Red Matter Association. It seems that the Chief Captain and Avron were childhood friends. Both of them were living in the slums and a woman named Layla took them. That woman became their adopted mother. They didn''t tell her about it but the two pickpocketed other people to make a living. They fought in the streets to gain their territory in the slums. It was a normal way of living for them. Months had passed since then. The two decided to stop pickpocketing and follow Layla''s footsteps. They wanted to build a bakery and live a normal life for the rest of their lives. They bought a small lot and were preparing to build their dream bakery. But one day, the two offended a person from above. Vandal got in trouble with an individual with a great background. It was the start of their downfall. That individual wanted to demolish the slum and create a new district for rich people. As for the residents of the slum, that person didn''t care at all. So Vandal was infuriated when he heard those words. He couldn''t control his emotions so he fought them. Avron arrived at the scene and one of the guards of the individual was beating Vandal to death. He fought his way and eventually freed his friend but the individual moved. All resistance was useless. They got beaten and chained. Avron knew that they were going to die but at least he needed to let Vandal escape. Yet, they didn''t have enough strength at all. It was futile. Even though they were extraordinary, they were still kids in the end. There''s no way they could beat someone at that level. The one that rescued them was Layla. They didn''t expect the kind and gentle woman to be strong. Layla showed them her prowess as she defeated the guards left and right. She rescued the two but the outstanding individual made a move. She was captured and the two couldn''t even move from their hiding place in fear. Layla was brutally murdered and raped in front of them and they couldn''t do anything to stop it. On the next day, they found that the slums were demolished and the people living there were massacred. Men were brutally killed while women were raped to death. Even the king of the slums couldn''t escape such fate. Avron accepted this fact. They were not good people from the beginning and they were simply living by pickpocketing other people. So they were treated as garbage. The rich nobles didn''t even care about their lives. For them, the people living in the slums were just animals that they could kill anytime. For the first time in his life, he resolved himself and killed a person. Souta closed the notebook. He didn''t need to read the rest to know what happened next. From the contents of the diary, he learned that the person that they''ve offended was a descendant of gods. A person living in Olympus. Well, he knew the attitude of those people. In Olympus, those people were living life peacefully. It was just like a normal city he could find anywhere in the world. Even if he observed them from afar, he wouldn''t find anything wrong. People were chatting with happy faces and some were talking about business. If he entered that place, some people would ignore him and some were going to treat him with great hospitality. That''s the case if he was a descendant of gods. If he''s not a descendant of gods, they wouldn''t welcome him and they would even treat him as garbage. The difference in treatment was huge as they thought that other people weren''t their equal except for those people chosen by gods themselves. "Those people are quite funny..." Souta closed his eyes as he reminisced the time when he was in Olympus as Athena''s Hero. He sneaked in and killed some of the NPC he didn''t like. Even at the time when the Titans caused chaos in Olympus, he even spared some time to kill some of the descendants of the gods. "Such a good time..." Unfortunately, he couldn''t do that this time. If an opportunity comes then... He smiled contently as this diary reminds him of the old times in the game. He shook his head and walked to the other room of the laboratory. He completed one of his goals so it was time to proceed to learn the truth of this subterranean world. The Stone Monument... Yes, it was here. "Oh... Saya, I''ll leave it to you..." Chapter 677: Was in Subterranean World: Arrival The ground shook heavily as if it was about to collapse. Thousands of sturdy infrastructures collapsed promptly without warning. The earthquake¡¯s range covered the entire three nations and all the standing buildings had fallen. There were only a few places that weren¡¯t affected by war but this sudden earthquake demolished all the buildings. The civilians that were hiding in those places weren¡¯t spared at all. Various buildings fell and crushed their bodies into meat paste. Only a few people survive. Even the gigantic Aranhgrad was swaying in the mid-air. Its enormous weight added a force on the ground that made the earthquake more powerful. The area around its legs collapsed creating a fifty-meter pit. ¡°This¡­¡± Souta supported himself by grabbing the edge of the wall. The laboratory didn¡¯t collapse as the runes around it supported its foundation. This place was hiding the Stone Monument left by the God of Space, so it was natural that this place was sturdy. It¡¯s just that the Red Matter Association turned it into their laboratory to research the truth. ¡®The space is trembling. It¡¯s distorting as if someone was grabbing and twisting it.¡¯ Saya commented as she felt the space around her. ¡°Just like what I expected¡­ The God of Space created this subterranean world so his inheritance should be in this place like the Stone Monument but there¡¯s nothing left. The Red Matter should be the one that gained it.¡± Souta concluded by putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. The Red Matter gained the inheritance, if not then how did they know that a giant fortress was buried underneath the three nations? ¡°Chief Captain would suffer a defeat this time¡­ Luckily, I¡¯m prepared.¡± He muttered before he fixed his posture. The earthquake had stopped and most of the objects in the laboratory were thrown on the floor. ¡°Also, the Red Matter set up a formation this way and I only made a few twists to turn the favor to us.¡± In this formation, no one blocked Vandal from approaching the giant fortress. Avron already planned to confront Vandal from the beginning so the other members of the Red Matter didn¡¯t block his path. If that¡¯s not the case, Vandal would have to face the army of Red Matter before he could approach Avron. ¡­ ¡°What was that?!¡± Vandal¡¯s complexion wasn¡¯t good. That attack shook the entire fortress and everything almost collapsed. If he didn¡¯t activate his [Element Drive] on time, he would suffer heavy damage. Still, his entire right arm was gone. It was crushed into a bloody mist by that power. Regarding this, his combat prowess had been downgraded by a large margin since his right hand was his dominant hand. ¡°Archetype¡­ This is the secret of gods. Since you are at the same level as me, you would be able to understand my words.¡± Avron said with a faint smile. ¡°Archetype¡­? What¡¯s that?¡± Vandal was confused. It was his first time hearing this term. He had no idea what his opponent was talking about. ¡°People below Five Shackles wouldn¡¯t hear this word. No, according to my research, some unknown power is blocking their senses from hearing and understanding it. So it¡¯s impossible for them to learn it.¡± Avron said. ¡°What¡­?!¡± ¡°No need to feel shocked. The Archetype is one of the powers that will let us pave the way toward godhood. A lot of people didn¡¯t know about it, since even if they heard it they would easily forget it due to that strange power.¡± ¡°You are saying that this is the key to achieving godhood?!¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve gained the inheritance of a god and learned a lot about things regarding them. You¡¯ve trained your skills and [Elemental Drive] while I trained myself to use this skill perfectly.¡± Avron said to him. ¡°Judging from your words, it seems that your god never told you about this. Am I right?¡± Vandal listened to Avron¡¯s words. Judging from the current situation, he didn¡¯t have a chance to defeat his opponent. He was saving his [Element Drive] for a critical situation but that attack changes everything. It forced him to use [Dual Element Drive: Lightning and Wind Integration] and what made it worse was that Avron hadn¡¯t even used his [Element Drive]. ¡®Should I retreat? No, I can¡¯t retreat¡­ Avron will succeed if I back down. I need to create an opportunity to weaken him even if I die. Then, I will leave the rest to my warriors.¡¯ Vandal said inwardly. ¡°Oh, you still haven¡¯t given up. I can see it in your eyes.¡± Avron said with interest. He raised his hand. ¡°Try to dodge it.¡± Swoosh! Before he could even use his skill, Vandal quickly moved his body leaving a trail of lightning and wind. He covered several kilometers in less than a second. It looks like he teleported rather than dashing due to his unbelievable speed. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Vandal¡¯s eyes constricted as he heard a voice behind him. He quickly traveled but the space around him started to twist. [Archetype: Spatial Domination]! [Fifth Form: Veil of Prostor]! [Second Form: Invisible Night Blade]!! It was silent but various objects were suddenly sliced into two. There was no resistance as almost everything was cut cleanly including those rare metals on Aranhgrad. It was invisible but Vandal could sense the huge amount of mana coming from it so, he barely avoided the invisible blade without taking any damage. It even caused a huge slash on the entire Aranhgrad. ¡°You¡­?! You didn¡¯t even care about this fortress anymore.¡± Vandal said while breathing heavily. He kept moving his body from another place to another as he didn¡¯t know when will Avron would attack him again. ¡°About Aranhgrad? No, I don¡¯t care about it. Its purpose was to condense that thing called ¡°Prototype Sicily¡±. According to what I know, Aranhgrad is one of the things that could create it. Never mind it¡­¡± Avron dismissed it as he waved his hand. Suddenly, he vanished from his position as a huge wave of lightning and sharp winds flashed on it. Boom!! ¡°He avoided it! Just like what I thought he never let his guard down!¡± Vandal narrowed his eyes. He quickly turned around and waved his hand, creating a burst of lightning and wind. He sensed his opponent¡¯s energy signature behind him so he didn¡¯t need to look to confirm it. Just attack with an intention to kill his opponent. Never let him have a chance to attack. Boom! Boom! Boom! Lightning and wind pillars bombarded the entire surface of Aranhgrad. Yet, none of the attacks managed to leave the area. It was blocked once it left a certain distance from the Aranhgrad. Block? Block by invisible barrier¡­ No, it was precise to say that the space around the fortress was locked. Vandal realized it so he knew that he couldn¡¯t escape anymore and that he also could receive reinforcement. They wouldn¡¯t even be able to monitor the happenings here with the spatial lock ability. That¡¯s why he was fighting recklessly without even thinking. That¡¯s the only way he could fight since his opponent understands his way of fighting. Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of explosions erupted as the lightning carpet bombed the whole surface. No infrastructure was spared this time and cracks formed on its thick shell. The runes that were strengthening it were flicking widely. Swoosh! Vandal opened his eyes widely as he turned around. A hand pierced his stomach and lightning burst out of his wound. Crackle! Avron pulled out his hand but was quickly grabbed by Vandal. Vandal didn¡¯t spare any seconds as he sent a huge amount of lightning to Avron¡¯s body. Argh!! Avron screamed in pain. He gritted his teeth as he raised his hand and threw invisible blades. [Second Form: Invisible Night Blade]!! Vandal moved to the side as he pulled his opponent with him. Then, he kneed Avron on the stomach. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the strength of a warrior!¡± He roared as he continued to deliver a blow on his opponent¡¯s body. Bang! Bang! Bang! Suddenly, darkness burst out from Avron¡¯s body. It spread out quickly and swallowed the lightning in the area. [Element Drive: Dark Integration]!! Vandal widened his eyes. He loosened his hand before he jumped away but several slashes appeared on his body. Spurt! ¡°Ah, this hurts¡­ It even damaged some of my internal organs.¡± Avron mumbled as he slowly turned his head to Vandal. His eyes were devoid of any emotion. It was as if it was darkness itself. Boom!! ¡°What?!¡± Avron widened his eyes as he looked above. Sounds of broken glass echoed in the whole area. It was so loud that it made some people cover their ears. The space lock was shattered by a boundless force. It was followed by enormous pressure that slammed the Aranhgrad. Bang!! ¡°What?!¡± Vandal was shocked when he felt it. This sudden turn of events was outside of his expectation. In the old laboratory¡­ Souta glanced outside and muttered, ¡°It¡¯s here¡­ Everything is set in place.¡± Chapter 678: War in Subterranean World: Hippogriff ROARRR!!! A powerful roar reverberated throughout the entire subterranean world. It announced that the ruler of this place was here. ¡°W-What is a fifth stage monster doing in this kind of place¡­?!¡± Vandal said while stuttering. He couldn¡¯t help it since a powerful monster appeared. Yes, a fifth evolution stage monster had appeared and shattered the space lock. He suddenly recalled the information that he received from a warrior named Souta. But why would this monster appear here at this time? ¡°So you finally appeared here?¡± Avron forced a smile on his face. The monster was called Terror Gale Hippogriff. It has a size of five meters in height and its length was eight meters. It¡¯s a creature with the front half of an eagle and the hind half of a horse. Its feather was like a blazing flame dancing in the wind and its dark eyes were like a pair of exquisite gems. A huge amount of best feram was flowing around its body like a tide of the ocean. Its sharp claws were glistening with horrendous power that could cut through any metal. ¡°You are spreading your energy in a useless way like this. Why? You want everyone to know that you are still here, right? Well, I¡¯ve prepared this Aranhgrad to dethrone you from your seat,¡± Avron said as darkness slowly condensed around his body. ROAR!!! The warriors in the three nations felt a heavy boulder pressing down on their shoulders. The pressure of the fifth stage monster was extraordinary as it could simply knock out low-rank experts. One by one, most of the experts below S-rank fell on their knees. The intense pressure was slowly suffocating them and it will eventually lead to their death. Even though the Terror Gale Hippogriff was on the Aranhgrad, they could still feel the pressure. It was wildly exerting the best feram to show everyone that he was here, the ruler of the subterranean world was him. The Grain Leaders and Executives stopped for a moment as they felt the best feram coming from Aranhgrad. It was a pressure several times more powerful than Souta. To defeat it, they needed a party of SSS-rank or Hero-rank, which means that only them had the capability to stop such monsters. But the situation wasn¡¯t right¡­ Most of them were exhausted and tired from fighting each other nonstop for the past few hours. It would be hard to defeat a fifth stage monster in their current state even if they worked together. With this, all the remaining civilians in the three nations collapsed. Their body couldn¡¯t handle the pressure of a fifth stage monster. So the only civilians from the three nations were the people with the Fourth Set. Currently, the Fourth Set was helping them evacuate outside the subterranean world but there were millions of them. So evacuating all of them wouldn¡¯t be simple as it would take a lot of time. The passageway couldn¡¯t even fit all of them so the Fourth Set was occupied in maintaining the civilians to prevent panic because of the appearance of a fifth stage monster. Luckily, they weren¡¯t close to the three nations, or else they would suffer the same fate as those people. ¡°What is that?!¡± ¡°Look, over there!¡± But this didn¡¯t mean that they escape danger. ¡°Engage!!¡± ¡°Exterminate those monsters!!¡± That¡¯s right. Thousands of monsters were rushing in the direction of the Fourth Set. They had bloodshot eyes as they madly charged forward recklessly. It was a monster tide. ¡°The monsters are coming!!¡± ¡°Protect the civilians!!¡± It¡¯s true that Fourth Set only had hundreds of warriors but it wasn¡¯t enough to protect millions of people against the frenzied monsters. The three nations were only a small part of the subterranean world. There were mountain ranges, lakes, rivers, and volcanoes where monsters lived. A lot of people would die¡­ ¡°But if I want to destroy the entire Red Matter Association, I could only do this¡­¡± Souta muttered as he stepped outside of the laboratory. He was feeling uncomfortable as the fifth stage monster was influencing his mind to a certain extent. His urges were slowly going out of control. That¡¯s why he needed to get out of the three nations¡¯ territory as soon as possible. ¡°This feeling¡­ I hate it.¡± He said with a smile on his face. He looked left and right as he sensed hundreds of people. He slowly raised his hand as blood flowed upward and turned into spears. Swoosh! When he swung down his hand, hundreds of blood spears shot down and killed the members of the Red Matter. ¡°Damn, I wanted to kill the rest but it¡¯s getting hard to control my ability¡­ I¡¯m weakened due to activating [Monster Orb Release] so I could hardly show my full ability in this environment.¡± Souta said with a sigh while scratching the back of his head. He could recall the time when he was setting up all this situation. Two and a half hours ago before he entered the territory of the three nations¡­ Souta stepped on the top of the volcano in the subterranean world. He entered the mouth and went through the passage on the side. There, he found a huge spacious room. The density of energy in the atmosphere was higher in this place. He naturally sensed various rare herbs and fruits in this room. ¡°It seems that I was right¡­ I would find the fifth stage in this place.¡± Souta muttered in a low voice. Actually, he already sensed the monster. He acted like this to lower the guard of the monster that could kill him instantly. ¡°You are looking for me?¡± A voice echoed in his mind. It was followed by a heavy pressure that made him fall on his knees. Bang! Souta gritted his teeth as he tried to resist the suppression. It wasn¡¯t a real suppression as only monster lords could radiate it. It was a semi-suppression indicating that the fifth stage was close to the level of the monster lord. ¡®Souta, are you sure you can handle this? I can take over your body if you want?¡¯ Saya asked. ¡®No! I need this to defeat the Red Matter Association! The Third Set and the backup Fourth Set aren¡¯t enough!¡¯ Souta stopped her from doing any unnecessary things. ¡°Don¡¯t bother to resist it. A mere fourth stage monster couldn¡¯t hope to go against the fifth stage monster like me.¡± Souta forcefully turned his head as blood flowed out of his mouth. He saw the Terror Gale Hippogriff sitting calmly in the shadows while staring at him with those gleaming eyes. ¡°I have a proposal for you¡­¡± He said with great effort. ¡°Hmm¡­ What is it? You dare to disturb me if it¡¯s not worth it then I¡¯m going to kill you.¡± The pressure on Souta¡¯s body slowly disappeared. He breathed a sigh of relief before he fixed his posture. ¡°The army of humans and demis are going to cause the destruction of this land. They will fight because of their greed and selfish reasons. They wouldn¡¯t care if this land disappeared.¡± Souta paused for a moment. ¡°I want to stop them but you¡­ You¡¯re the only one who had the power to stop them. And¡­ This is your land, they should know how to behave in your territory.¡± ¡°And why would I do that?¡± The Hippogriff asked. ¡°It¡¯s simple. It¡¯s because this is your territory. You will lose your habitat if they fought fiercely in this land. Even though I knew that you would appear once they endangered your habitat I still came here because I want to warn you.¡± Souta said with a serious expression. ¡°It¡¯s true that I would fight someone who tried to destroy my land but from my eyes, they are weaklings that I could anytime. Is that the only reason why you¡¯re here?¡± ¡°Yes, I came here to warn you. Humans and demis are cunning creatures. They wouldn¡¯t fight anyone without any chances.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying that they had the ability to kill me, is that right?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± ¡°Y-You!!¡± A huge pressure bore down on Souta¡¯s body once again. He was at Hippogriff¡¯s mercy as it could kill him anytime. After a few moments, the pressure disappeared. The Hippogriff spoke once again. ¡°You¡¯re underestimating the power of a fifth stage monster. I knew the ability of humans and demis as I¡¯ve been observing them for a long time. They are creatures that will fight for unnecessary things like coins. But¡­ Do you think you can come and go as you please in this place? I can sense that you just evolved but you¡¯re not worthy of disturbing me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to follow you. I will serve you as my lord after you demonstrated your strength to those vile humans and demis. I will surrender myself to you.¡± Souta bowed down as he glanced at the monster in front. ¡°Rararara, you think that I need you¡­ In my territory, there are dozens of monsters at your level. I don¡¯t need you.¡± ¡°I can destroy any of them. Once you accept me, I will guarantee that no one could disturb you once again. You can sleep without care and I will finish everything.¡± ¡°Very well, from now on you will become a monster under my wings.¡± The Hippogriff stood up as he tapped Souta¡¯s forehead with his sharp claws. ¡®This guy is too easy to fool. After this, you will not be able to see me for the rest of your life.¡¯ Souta said inwardly. Chapter 679: War in Subterranean World: Avron vs. Hippogriff There was a reason why Souta was confident with his proposal. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be bound by the Terror Gale Hippogriff. The inheritance of the God of Space was gone so the Red Matter Association acquired it for sure, if not then it would only be one of the locals. The Red Matter Association was staying in this land for several years and surely they already discovered the existence of the fifth stage monster. They just probably didn¡¯t do anything that would arouse its attention and in the dark, they were preparing to eliminate it. The presence of a fifth stage monster was like a time bomb for the Red Matter Association. They could only sleep peacefully in this land when they were sure that they had the power to eliminate it. At the very least, no one would escape unscathed if the fifth stage monster and Avron clashed. It doesn¡¯t matter who wins among them, the Athen¡¯s Champion would eliminate them and claim victory at the end of the day. ¡°Hippogriff¡­ You appeared in the end. I thought that you are just going to observe everything on the sideline like you always do.¡± Avron forced a smile on his face. ¡°Puny humans!!¡± The Hippogriff roared before he flapped his wings. Flames on his wings swirled wildly and it turned into tornadoes. Boom!! Avron jumped away while shooting several rays of energy to slow down the flame tornadoes. He knew that he couldn¡¯t defeat this powerful monster in a head-on confrontation. ¡°I¡¯ve prepared this Aranhgrad for you!¡± He grinned as he took out a small device in his pocket. He crushed it with his palm and the fragments of the device turned into five rings. ¡°Activate Aranhgrad!!¡± Thousands of runes shone brightly around the giant fortress. The pillar of energy that supported the sky suddenly disappeared leaving only a huge ball of light close to the ceiling. ¡®I didn¡¯t need to channel any more energy to Prototype Sicily. I just need to wait for it to mature and I will be able to complete one of my goals.¡¯ Lightning whip burst forth from the edges of the fortress. It spread out and enveloped the fifth stage monster, Hippogriff. The Hippogriff turned his head left and right. The countless lightning whips were rushing at him at extreme speed. He opened his beak loudly and a huge amount of flames gathered. Ohm!! [Terror of the Flaming Wind]!! He used one of his trait skills. A skill that could let him create a miniature sun with overwhelming heat. The light coming from it illuminated the entire subterranean world and the temperature rose rapidly. ¡°I know that it¡¯s not gonna be easy but this guy is really strong,¡± Avron muttered while looking at the miniature sun. The appearance of this monster was still within his expectations. Plus, it doesn¡¯t matter as Project Sicily had finished taking the energy. It will continue even without the support of Aranhgrad. The heat coming from it dispersed the countless lightning whips easily. The entire area was boiling as if everything was going to turn into ashes. Sun rays burst forth and he quickly moved his body away while sending darkness to offset it. ¡°I should start the last part¡­ This monster is the obstacle to creating the Spatial Gem but it will not stop me.¡± With a wave of his hand, the five rings on his finger shone brightly. Some unknown mechanism in the core of the fortress had begun to move. It was going to process and construct the stone from legends. Thirty minutes¡­ Thirty minutes before it completes the construction. In that amount of time, he should kill this monster first so that no one could disturb him. ¡°If this was before then I will be defeated even after borrowing the power of Aranhgrad but now¡­ I mastered the Archetype of Space God.¡± Avron jumped above as darkness covered his whole body. Then, he opened his left arm and energy fluctuated around it. [Archetype: Spatial Domination]!! [Seventh Form: Emptiness Earth]!! BOOMMM!!! Vandal was blown away by the shockwaves of the two attacks. He looked ahead with disbelief in his eyes as the small sun and colorless giant sphere collided. He gritted his teeth as he grabbed the wound on his stomach. ¡°So this is the power of the Archetype¡­¡± Even though he was strong among the Seven Shackles Realm, the power that Avron showed this time was greater than he had imagined. Although the thousands of runes from the Aranhgrad were supporting him, it was still a great feat to fight a fifth-stage monster alone. Seeing this scene personally, he could say that Avron was the strongest Seven Shackles Realm he had met in his entire life. He had met and fought various Seven Shackles Realm from other God Legions but none of them would be able to contend against this man. ¡°But how come he could use all those runes?¡± Bang! Bang! Avron crashed on the ground. He looked ahead and saw a giant fireball and wind coming at him. He kicked the ground to create a distance. He grabbed the air in front of him and darkness spread out. [Veil of Darkness]! The sharp wind destroyed the curtain of darkness while the fireball flew in his direction. He then raised his hand and swung it down. [Second Form: Invisible Night Blade]!! Boom!! ¡®My [Element Drive] will not last longer than Vandal so I have to damage this monster before my drive runs out of power. It will make the battle easier after that.¡¯ Avron said inwardly as he flew towards the sky. Swoosh! A huge flaming claw suddenly appeared beside him. He opened his eyes widely as the claws rushed at his body. [Fourth Form: Dimensional Step]! The Hippogriff only hit the air as Avron suddenly vanished. He quickly turned around and flapped his wings creating a flaming tornado. At this time, Avron reappeared behind the Hippogriff. He stepped on its body and grabbed both of its wings. ¡°Y-You!!¡± The Hippogriff roared as flames erupted in every direction. Avron gritted his teeth as both darkness and flames fought each other. Boom!! The two crashed on the ground. Then, the best feram shot through the sky like a giant pillar. The energy dispersed the shadows on the entire surface of Aranhgrad. Avron was blasted several hundreds of meters away. He stretched out his hands and stabbed the ground to force himself to stop. Then, he looked ahead before raising both of his hands. [Archetype: Spatial Domination]! [Sixth Form: Boundary of the Empty Land]!! The space in front of him was folded several times. A crackling sound echoed as the space distortion occurred. Then, a huge amount of flames and wind smashed into the folded space. The impact caused a powerful shockwave yet nothing passed through the folded space. It was blocking everything in sight. Bang!! Looking at the scene ahead, Avron grinned and said, ¡°Finally, you¡¯re taking this seriously¡­ Then, let me respond to you!¡± [Archetype: Spatial Domination]!! [Ninth Form: Eternal Damnation]!! The space around him was shattered like a fragile glass. The fragmented space turned into sharp weapons as it flew toward the direction of the fifth stage monster. The Hippogriff size had shrunk down. It turned into a two-meter-tall monster with two pairs of flaming wings. Its aura was stronger than before and sharp winds were spinning around its claws. It was the [Monster Orb Release] of the Hippogriff. It wanted to finish this fight as soon as possible. What it didn¡¯t expect was that Avron had the ability to hold it down. The space affinity was extremely hard to counter than any other elements out there. It was also one of the hardest things to master out of all affinity types. Boom!! The two fought fiercely as the aftershocks from their battle slowly chipped the Aranhgrad. The fortress was trembling heavily and some of the runes around it started to explode due to overload. It was shining brightly under the darkness. It kept flickering and gave a boost to Avron¡¯s combat prowess. Due to its effect, Avron started bleeding in all seven orifices as his body couldn¡¯t handle the overwhelming power of all runes. If he didn¡¯t have the key and Archetype of Space God, then his body would¡¯ve exploded before. Bang!! The legs of the Aranhgrad moved and it caused a tremor in the entire three nations. Its weight was something that they couldn¡¯t imagine. Boom!! Souta stopped moving as he turned his head. The aura of the fifth stage monster had grown stronger and it could even pressure him at this distance. The uneasiness he was feeling was growing stronger. It was forcefully letting his urges out of him. That¡¯s why he created a string of flesh and drilled his stomach to control the urges. ¡°Shit! This will end soon¡­¡± He cursed before he continued running. He was already outside of the three nations and was catching up on the warriors of the Fourth Set. The environment of the three nations was disadvantageous to him. The other Shackled Realm experts could still fight under that pressure but him¡­ He was different. He was a monster. The suppression it brought was higher to him compared to humans and demis. Chapter 680: War in Subterranean World: Fall of Aranhgrad Boom! With a loud bang, the entire surface of the Aranhgrad was instantly flattened by Avron¡¯s attack. It was a powerful folded space that grinded everything in its path. Even the Hippogriff was nailed to the ground. The dominating power of space erased all the flames and winds. It could hardly resist such attack made by a powerful expert. ¡°Shit! The runes are exploding one by one but¡­ I think it¡¯s enough to last until the [Monster Orb Release] ends.¡± Avron said as he wiped the blood on his face. His body was full of injuries and even with the help of Archetype, red-grade equipment, [Element Drive], and Aranhgrad, he could hardly suppress this lone monster. To defeat this Hippogriff, he would at least need his executives to support him so that he wouldn¡¯t suffer any life-threatening injuries. But it was too late now, he already finished arranging their path to survive. He was alone once again. ROAR!!! ¡°PUNY HUMANS!! I¡¯LL KILL YOU! SHOW ME THE POWER YOU¡¯RE PROUD OF!!¡± The Hippogriff roar reverberated across the entire three nations. Its huge body rose from the ground as best feram bore down directly interrupting the flow of mana in the atmosphere. It was radiating with unbound power. It opened its mouth loudly and small dots of energy appeared in thin air. The small dots gathered together forming a huge sphere of berserk energy. It shrunk before it fired thousands of red rays. [Bestrou]!! ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the Aranhgrad! Even though it¡¯s old and rusty, it still came from the ancient era and a fortress built by a god itself!¡± Avron roared as various runes emitted a strange light. Darkness wrapped around his hands as he tore through the space. Boom!! A loud bang echoed as the space shattered. The fragment of space turned into sharp blades as it collided with the energy rays. Then, darkness swept out above and shot down like a lightning. The Terror Gale Hippogriff flapped its wings. It was followed by a powerful gust of wind that collided with the darkness from above. Swoosh!! Avron emerged from the sea of flames and he pounced at the Terror Gale Hippogriff. ¡°Die! Human!¡± The Hippogriff said as it swung down its sharp claws. Avron crossed his arms above his head as he blocked the sharp claws. Cracks formed underneath his feet as he felt his arms going numb. ARGH!!! He roared madly with a ferocious look on his face. He wasn¡¯t intimidated even though he was facing a powerful fifth stage monster alone. He raised his left foot and heavily stomped the ground. A magic circle formed beneath his foot and after a few moments, the ground changed. [Darkness Weaver]!! The ground turned into sticky black mud. It slowly wrapped the limbs of the Hippogriff. A low-grade tier 3 spell could affect the target¡¯s physical body. It was a spell that could lower the target¡¯s defense by wrapping them with thick black mud. Bang! Avron vomited a mouthful of blood. He felt that the bones in his hands were going to break if he continue this. ¡°Ehe~ I don¡¯t think you can escape from this¡­¡± He laughed as he stared at the Terror Gale Hippogriff¡¯s eyes. He eased his arms and the sharp claws crashed into his body. He was nailed to the ground covered in blood. Nevertheless, the grin on his face hasn¡¯t disappeared. The Terror Gale Hippogriff was alarmed after seeing Avron¡¯s eyes. The instinct kicked in as it felt danger. Avron slowly opened his mouth, ¡°Fucking monster¡­ Just die¡­¡± Before the Hippogriff could even react a huge ray of light crashed into its body. The flames and winds around its body were dispersed and all of its defense was shattered instantly. The ray of light pushed it out of the Aranhgrad, smashing into its leg before finally crashing into the three nations. It was followed by a deafening sound that reverberated throughout the entire subterranean world. A rapid release of energy occurred as the wind blows strongly. It was followed by a heat wave that could burn the skin of a Shackled Realm expert. Then, a blinding light shone as the explosion erupted. BOOM!!! Everything within a radius of twenty kilometers from the impact was swallowed by the explosion. And the area around it was also affected by powerful shockwaves. ¡°W-What?!¡± Vandal who was watching the battle was stupefied after seeing this. Looking down, he could see the destructiveness of that attack. He didn¡¯t know the outcome of this battle. The appearance of the Terror Gale Hippogriff wasn¡¯t within his expectations but it opened a possibility for him. It gave him a chance to stop, no, to defeat Avron. Ugh! Avron stood up. He was weary and felt tired. He wanted to rest but he had to force himself to finish what he started. No matter what people called him, he would follow this path. ¡°I used some of the energy in Project Sicily. Those people would try to kill me if they learned about this.¡± He mumbled to himself as he glanced at the bright energy sphere close to the ceiling of the subterranean world. Using the power of Project Sicily heavily taxed his body. Project Sicily¡­ Was an object that was created using various highly classified materials and the boundless energy of the Aranhgrad. In fact, this was one of the things he needed to accomplish but it wasn¡¯t his goal. Someone just asked him to forge this object. He didn¡¯t know the true uses of this object. The ray of light before was caused by Project Sicily by infusing the runes of Aranhgrad, creating a reaction that burst energy rays. As for his true goal¡­ Avron turned his attention to the rings on his fingers. ¡°A little bit more and the Spatial Gem with be completed.¡± A gem with the ability to borrow and control space. It was beneficial to him as it would greatly boost his Archetype. Due to its strangeness when infused with Archetype, he would be able to promote easily to the next level, the Eight Shackles Realm. All of this was within the inheritance that he got from the God of Space. The Aranhgrad was just a tool to forge those objects. Awakening it took a long time and a lot of preparation but now¡­ He could feel that it was collapsing. Still, even if it collapsed, the Spatial Gem would be completed. Hmm¡­? Avron sensed something as he slowly turned around. He saw Vandal looking at him with determined eyes. ¡°Gahaha, Are you happy? That fucking monster is still alive and I have to finish it.¡± He laughed as he faced his childhood friend. ¡°I know¡­ But I will stop you first.¡± Vandal said without changing his expression. The ground shook as one of the limbs of Aranhgrad collapsed. Its giant metallic limb crashed on the three nations, burying the Terror Gale Hippogriff on the ground. It was still alive but it took heavy damage from taking that energy ray from Project Sicily head-on. It wouldn¡¯t be able to move for a while. ¡°Hehehe, come! Show me your will! Vandal!!¡± Avron roared as he charged forward. Swoosh!! Vandal also dashed forward and both of their bodies wrestled on top of Aranhgrad while it was plummeting toward the ground. Boom!! Souta glanced at the three nations with a grave look on his face. In this situation, only experts would be able to survive the things that were happening in that place. The giant fortress was collapsing and parts of it were crashing down the land, burying countless people. It was even hard to tell how many warriors would survive in the end. Boom! Boom! A series of explosions rose, forming a mushroom of smoke. It was as if the end of the world. No, for people of the subterranean world this was really the end of the world. Their world was this place. Even the ceiling was shaking nonstop as cracks were spreading out. The runes that were strengthening it were flickering dimly. Bang!! The Aranhgrad crashed on the ground and slid in their direction. From the looks of it, the fortress was going to crash on the passage. If that happens, Souta and the rest would be stuck here for a long time. A lot of people saw this scene and their expressions quickly turned pale. They were terrified to the point that they couldn¡¯t even move their bodies. ¡°N-No!¡± ¡°W-We are going to die!¡± The size of Aranhgrad was no joke. It was as huge as one of the three nations. It could even house millions of people on its surface but seeing this giant fortress coming at them¡­ shook them to the core. ¡°Mama!!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to die!¡± ¡°Help me!¡± Some of the people gave up as they fell to their knees. Some of them hugged their family members as they close their eyes preparing for their deaths. ¡°This is bad.¡± Souta looked behind and saw that a lot of people were hurrying towards the exit. He looked at the warriors of the Fourth Set and said, ¡°Warriors, don¡¯t fall back! We can do this!¡± Chapter 681: War in Subterranean World: Stopping the Aranhgrad When the Aranhgrad fell, a lot of experts jumped away to avoid being crushed into meat paste. Still, some of them didn¡¯t manage to escape on time. Their fate was unknown. No one knows if they were alive or not. Grain Leader Banni looked at this scene. He was concerned about the things that were happening. It was too chaotic and the formation was broken. ¡°The three nations are falling¡­¡± He muttered as he turned his head and watched the current three nations. Among the tens of thousands of tall buildings on this land, only a few were left standing. He took a deep breath and said, ¡°Warriors! Fall back!! We¡¯re going back!!¡± It was a decision he made after carefully deliberating what he should do. There¡¯s no need for them to stay in this land. All the ordinary people died due to the best feram from that fifth stage monster. Also, among the remaining seven executives, only four were left. They didn¡¯t need to deal with them considering the state of the situation. It was as if the entire subterranean world was going to collapse. Not just that, but he could also feel the energy fluctuations of the fifth stage monster. It means that it was still alive so they had to stay away from it. Let the Red Matter Association and that monster kill each other. ¡°Retreat!! It¡¯s an order!!¡± Even if he wanted to fight, his injuries haven¡¯t completely healed so he couldn¡¯t join. After all, he fought two executives in the Aekr Republic and managed to overcome them with his own power. Huh? He noticed that they were not the only ones that were escaping. The experts from the other side too were running in the direction of the Aranhgrad. No. If that happens a lot of people would die. ¡°Shit¡­¡± Banni cursed as he gritted his teeth. He jumped forward and punched one of the experts of Red Matter. He had to force himself to fight even if his injuries grew worse. ¡°Warriors!! Fight them!! Don¡¯t let them go!!¡± ¡­ ¡°Fuck!¡± Souta cursed silently. There were other exits but it was also filled with people. He could go outside and let the fortress crush these people but that would change other people¡¯s impression of him. Most of the warriors were prepared to sacrifice their lives in this mission. So he should at least do something befitting as a warrior of Athen¡¯s Champion. In the game, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to sacrifice his life since he knew that he could respawn but here¡­ It was different. This was outside of his expectations. He didn¡¯t expect that the fortress would slide in this direction. If he knew this from the beginning, he wouldn¡¯t bring the Grain Leader of the Fourth Set into the three nations. In that case, he could only place his hopes on the combined might of the Fourth Set warriors. ¡°Warrior!! Don¡¯t let that thing pass behind us!! Millions of people will die!! We will stop it at all costs!!¡± Souta roared as he raised his sword above his head. ¡°What about the monsters?!¡± One of the Squad Leaders asked. That¡¯s right, the monster tide caused by the Terror Gale Hippogriff hasn¡¯t disappeared yet. The warriors were fighting these monsters before Souta arrived here. Even though the warriors had killed thousands of monsters, there were still hundreds of them left. ¡°You¡¯re a monster, right? Can you do something about it?¡± Another Squad Leader asked. They thought that since Souta was a monster himself, he had a way to stop the monster tide. Souta shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not. These monsters are consumed by their instincts. Unless I¡¯m at the same level as the one that caused them this way, I can¡¯t change anything.¡± ¡°I see¡­ The monster that appeared in the three nations is a fifth stage.¡± The Squad Leader said dejectedly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, ignore all of them! Just focus your attention on stopping that gigantic fortress!!¡± Souta said. Boom!! The fortress was two hundred meters away and it was rushing in their direction. It was scrapping the ground causing the earth to shake. A lot of warriors gulped nervously. The sheer size of this fortress made them feel hopeless but they had to do this. They had to protect the innocent people behind them. Boom!! One by one, they started to release their energy and activated their combat skills. Various auras soared through the sky as they glared at the incoming fortress. ¡°AHHHH!! FOR THE PEOPLE!! WE ARE TRUE WARRIORS!!¡± Their shout was filled with unbound determination. It was their strong will that they could face danger without looking away. ¡°AHHH!!¡± Souta roared as he forced his body. He was fighting nonstop ever since he entered the Fone Kingdom and his body was exhausted. He saved three children in this place and wondered what they were doing right now. They haven¡¯t probably left so he had to prevent this fortress from crashing the exit passageway. He guaranteed their safety. Hence, he wasn¡¯t going to let them die in this place. This was also a chance for him to change. A change that would let him go to the Giza Continent without fear. He tightly gripped his sword as strings of flesh wrapped around his body. His body grew larger as he used his released form. Blood poured out of his seven apertures and his veins were exploding. He was forcing his body to the limit. If he didn¡¯t have the queen parasite, he would be done. [Soul Blood Mode]!! Countless souls screech as they entered his body and boosted his strength to the limit. With a wave of his left hand, a heavy gravitational field bore down on the entire fortress. Cough!! Souta vomited a large amount of blood but he didn¡¯t stop using his power. The remaining runes were still protecting the Aranhgrad and it increased their difficulty in stopping the fortress. His bracelet shone brightly as his power had increased several times. [Yin Yang Unification]!! No matter what, he had to stop this fortress. He made a grabbing motion as the blood scattered on the floor moved at his will. The blood turned into countless blood spears before it rushed at the monster tide. Rumble! Black clouds formed in the sky and countless lightning whips rained down on the field. The black lightning didn¡¯t only target the monster tide, it also bore down at the Aranhgrad with the intention to destroy it. Boom! In just a few moments, the Aranhgrad arrived in front of their faces. The warriors of the Fourth Set collided with it causing various shockwaves to spread. Various spells and combat arts were used simultaneously. Bang! Bang! Bang! The four spider limbs on Souta¡¯s back shot [Bestrou]. Then, he embedded his feet in the ground and collided with the fortress. [Possession] was providing him more energy than usual. No, it could be said comparable to the one he used when he fought Gregory before. Saya was exhausting all the energy inside the sword to strengthen him. Most of his aces were used this time, except for the ones he used before like [Element Drive] and [Yin Yang Twin Spirits]. Even the equipment skills of his artifacts were used such as [Forest Vice], [True Silver Strike], and [Silver Desolation]. ¡°ARGH!!!¡± Souta roared with a ferocious look on his face. He was using everything without holding back at all. His monster orb and [Nebula Heart] were fiercely pumping best feram and his [Star Veins] made the flow of energy inside his body smooth. It doesn¡¯t matter how much the monster orb and [Nebula Heart] pumped energy, the [Star Veins] could take it all without changing the flow of energy. It was thanks to [Star Veins] that he could control all the energy provided by the two energy cores in his body. ¡°STOPPPP!!!¡± This was what he needed. Not just an improvement in his strength, but also in his mentality. He should prepare to face all challenges. Yep, that¡¯s it. That¡¯s why when he returned to Giza Continent. He would tell everyone about his monster identity. Whether they accept him or not, he would face it. Just like a true warrior. ¡­ Shhh~ The wind blows strongly as the fortress stopped advancing. The ordinary people slowly opened their eyes and saw this scene. Mixed emotions filled their hearts. ¡°W-We¡¯re saved¡­?!¡± One by one, the civilians regained from shock. They started to cry and hugged their family members and friends. They thought that they were going to die but they didn¡¯t expect that the warriors would risk their lives to protect them. Thud! Thud! The warriors started to collapse. All of them were covered in their own blood as they fell to the ground. They had succeeded and it was enough for them. They were glad that they could protect the people. Cough! Souta coughed a mouthful of blood. He lost too much blood. He would¡¯ve died if he didn¡¯t have the queen parasite in his body. Ugh! He looked up and saw a person standing in front looking at him and the warriors of Fourth Set. This person was wearing the blue-grade robe of the Red Matter Association. ¡°A-An¡­.. enemy¡­..¡± Chapter 682: War in Subterranean World: Strong Will Souta¡¯s body was literally destroyed. His bones could be seen sticking out from his body as his blood dripped to the floor nonstop. He looked like a patch of flesh mashed up together. Although he looked like this, his parasites were moving slowly, regenerating his wounds. It had greatly slowed down compared to the past. ¡°A-An¡­.. enemy¡­¡± Souta looked at the person in front of him. His eyes were blurry so he couldn¡¯t clearly see it but he could make an outline in his mind based on the pattern he saw. This person should be a member of the Red Matter Association. ¡®Fuck¡­ I reached the limit of my strength. I could barely move my body this time.¡¯ He said inwardly as he tried to move his body with great effort. All the energy in his [Nebula Heart] was consumed and only two percent was remaining in his monster orb. In fact, he shouldn¡¯t have any energy left long ago but he had [Insta Regen] that refill his energy reserves. But now¡­ He literally was close to draining his best feram. Ohm! He gritted his teeth as he stood up and forced his monster orb to pump out the remaining best feram in his body. The energy flowed smoothly in his body as he felt that he could create one more powerful attack. His body slowly emitted an aura of a fourth stage monster. He glanced left and right, only to find that the rest of the warriors were the same as him. The others who had lower power levels had long collapsed on the ground. Hundreds of warriors from Fourth Set had worked together to stop the Aranhgrad. They succeeded but it left them with heavy injuries. The Solidifying and One Shackle Realm had fainted. The Squad Leaders who were at Two Shackles and Three Shackles were still conscious but they could still hold on for a while. They weren¡¯t Souta who had an unimaginable regenerative ability. They naturally noticed the appearance of the enemy. There¡¯s not one of them but there were three of them. It wasn¡¯t a good situation for them. The Three Shackles Realm Squad Leaders forcefully moved their heavily injured bodies. They could walk without any problem but they weren¡¯t in a condition to fight. ¡®Shit!¡¯ Souta cursed inwardly as he tightly gripped the vajra sword in his hand. As long as his enemy underestimated him, it would open an opportunity for him to launch one more attack. Even if there were hundreds of warriors, a lot of people would still die if these three attacked since everyone was heavily injured. ¡®I¡¯ll use your body.¡¯ Saya said to him. ¡®Thanks¡­ I¡¯ll leave the rest to you.¡¯ Souta smiled as he could feel her concern in her voice. He recalled the time when he wasn¡¯t close to Saya and she was trying to occupy his body. And now, both of them were partners in crimes. She was the only person who knew a lot about him except for the fact that he was a human before. Speaking of that, he felt that some of the people would understand if he told them that he was a reincarnated person. After all, reincarnation wasn¡¯t unprecedented in this world. Just like Alexander who would be revealed as the reincarnation of the Ancient Myriad Emperor in the future. It¡¯s just that¡­ it¡¯s hard to come by a person who retained their memories of past life. It deals with a secret technique and this was the case with Alexander. He had a secret technique that helped him retains most of the important things in his memories. The three people from Red Matter Association observed them. Their eyes were filled with a vicious aura and it was no different from a monster in berserk state. But they clearly had control over their bodies. The air around them was no different than the ordinary One Shackle Realm. However, the rest of the warriors weren¡¯t in the condition to fight. Even the strong Squad Leaders would be able to hold them for at least five minutes. After all, the runes around the Aranhgrad destroyed all of their defenses and their equipment. ¡°Let¡¯s kill them all and it weaken one of the factions of Olympus.¡± One of them said plainly. ¡°That¡¯s natural. We¡¯re just a One Shackle and yet we have a chance to kill a bunch of warriors at One Shackle. There are even warriors at Two Shackles and Three Shackles. What a luck we have today.¡± The one on the left side said. It was clearly a voice of a woman. The one on the right side didn¡¯t say anything as he brandished a scimitar. ¡°Be careful. Even though they are on the verge of collapsing, some of them are still at Two Shackles and Three Shackles. We couldn¡¯t underestimate them. One wrong move and they would kill us.¡± The man in the middle warned his comrade. At the end of the day, the enemies had higher power levels than them. Even if they were injured they had the power to kill them. ¡®Shit¡­ I don¡¯t have enough strength¡­¡¯ Souta cursed inwardly. He focused the regeneration ability of his parasite on his right arm so that he could swing it one more time. But the regeneration had slowed down. It would probably take at least one minute before he could barely use his arm once again. Sounds of footsteps echoed causing them to look over. ¡°Huh¡­?!¡± The three people raised their eyebrows as they stared at the small figure in front of Souta. It was a little girl that looked like 7-9 years old. She had short pink hair and chubby cheeks. Her body was covered in bruises. Souta raised his head and widened his eyes. This little girl was the girl that he rescued before. If he wasn¡¯t wrong, her name should be Airi. ¡°D-Don¡¯t touch¡­ Cough! Cough!¡± Airi said while trembling. Blood poured out of the corner of her mouth and nose. She was clearly injured but she still faced the three people despite not having any strength. ¡°Y-You¡­ run away¡­ the energy here can kill you¡­¡± Souta said with great effort. That¡¯s right, for an ordinary person like her the energy lingering in the atmosphere was enough to suffocate her. It was especially the case with his best feram. Since he was preparing to launch one more attack, the remaining percent of his energy gathered around his sword. The leaked energy was poisonous to her ordinary body. ¡°I-I¡¯m here to return this to you, brother!¡± Airi turned her head as she raised the [Flame Unity Robe]. This was the only reason why she could endure the intense energy in the air. Hence, the moment she lost the protection of the red grade artifact, she would undoubtedly collapse. ¡°Hahaha, are these the warriors of Athena? They even have to rely on a little girl to save them!¡± One of the enemies laughed before he walked forward. His aura grew larger and it pressured Airi. Bang! Airi was forced to kneel. She gritted her teeth as she felt her blood boiling. She couldn¡¯t even breathe properly due to the pressure. No, it wasn¡¯t even a pressure. It was just a natural aura of a One Shackle Realm. ¡°Do you want to live? Go away and I¡¯ll kill all these warriors.¡± The unknown man said. ¡°N-No, I owed big brother a lot. I¡¯m going to protect him.¡± Airi said before she vomited a huge amount of blood. Her vision was getting blurred and she was losing control of her body. ¡°B-Brother¡­ I think this would help you¡­ And I wanted to say thank you for saving my little brother and sister¡­¡± The [Flame Unity Robe] fell on her hands. Then, she collapsed on the ground while blood kept pouring out of her seven orifices. She couldn¡¯t handle the energy anymore. The woman stared at the red robe and noticed something. ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t this a high-grade artifact? I think it¡¯s better than my orange grade artifact.¡± ¡°Huh¡­? Now that you mention it. It looks like a high grade artifact.¡± The man looked down and understood what his comrade was trying to say. He crouched down and was about to pick up the robe when a shadow appeared in front of him. Swoosh!! The man looked up but he hand quickly grabbed his hand. In the next moment, he found himself being dragged to the ground with a palm on his face. Bang!! The two people were shocked as they looked back at their comrade. Their instinct kicked in as they felt several presences appear around them. ¡°Thanks for buying us some time little girl! You have the spirit of a true warrior!¡± The warriors at the Two Shackles and Three Shackles moved simultaneously. In one on one, they couldn¡¯t win against a One Shackle Realm in their current condition but they could work together. They were forcing their bodies and their injuries were getting worse. But it doesn¡¯t matter to them anymore. Even if they died, at least they had to show something to the little girl that they were true warriors that never back down. Airi¡¯s will ignited their warrior¡¯s spirits. Boom!! Souta was filled with killing intent as he dragged the man. The man flinched when he felt the tremendous killing intent. He raised his hand and stabbed Souta in the stomach but Souta ignored it. Instead, he opened his mouth widely revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. ¡°ARGH!!¡± The man screamed in pain as he twisted the sword in his hand. Then, he kneed Souta on the stomach. He was about to deliver a blow once again when a sword light flashed. Swoosh! ¡°Huh¡­?¡± He felt that half of his body was gone. Chapter 683: War in Subterranean World: Death Argh!! The man screamed as a huge cut appeared on his upper body. It broke all of his defense and caused huge damage to him. He looked at Souta with a terrified expression. His instinct was screaming at him to run away. The bloodlust seeping out of this monster¡¯s body rooted him on the spot. Souta arrived in front of this man. He swung down the vajra sword with all of his might. Black lightning and crimson colored energy rolled around the blade before it flashed forward, spewing a huge energy blade. ¡°N-NO!!! Y-YOU CAN¡¯T¡­.!!!¡± The man yelled as he looked at the blade. The next moment, the huge energy blade landed on his body. It blew him several hundreds of meters away leaving a trail of black lightning and blood. A huge cut could be seen on his cheeks down to his stomach. His bones and internal organs were visible and it apparently received damage. He was caught off guard and it led him to his current condition. Souta was about to swing his sword once again when veins and muscles in his right arm exploded. It had reached its limit. Huff~ He exhaled as he turned his head to the crumbling ceiling. The vicious aura around his body had disappeared. The [Soul Blood Mode] and [Yin Yang Unification] were turned off and his body returned to its normal stature. He fully drained all of the energy in his monster orb and [Nebula Heart]. Even the energy he stored in his parasite was consumed. He felt dry and placed his hand in his pocket. After knowing that the monster orbs were still here, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had a total of 11 monster orbs of a fifth stage and he only drained 2. So he still has 9 remaining orbs. He only brought 4 monster orbs of a fifth stage in this mission and leave the rest in his base. As for the rest of the third stage monster orbs, Yuko and Doranjan would use them in their training. He turned around and found that the remaining two enemies were finished. The Squad Leaders worked together to defeat those two. Although they didn¡¯t have regeneration abilities like him, they were still powerhouses at Two Shackles and Three Shackles Realm. ¡°Finally¡­¡± After a minute, Souta could move his arm once again. He looked at the vajra sword in his hand and threw the sword at the man directly nailing him to the ground. He approached the man and pulled out the sword. Then, he noticed something strange. He reached out his hand and moved the man¡¯s shirt to the side. A tattoo of a red axe and pink flower was reflected in his eyes. ¡°This¡­? They aren¡¯t from Red Matter Association.¡± After a careful thought, he found this normal. This man should be a spy from another organization like the one from the Fone Kingdom. The leader of the Red Matter Association should have known about this fact but he just let them be. It¡¯s impossible to not notice all the spies. ¡°Squad Leader Souta.¡± Souta turned his head when someone called him. He found that it was one of the Squad Leaders of the Fourth Set. This warrior¡¯s left arm was missing, his armor was full of cracks, and blood was dripping out of his body. Looking at the condition of this Squad Leader, Souta was glad that he had a parasitic essence eater in his body. ¡°What is it?¡± He asked. ¡°That girl. We can¡¯t save her. She called you brother so you must have known her.¡± The Squad Leader said as he pointed at Airi. He shook his head with a sad look and continued, ¡°That girl shows a strong will befitting of a true warrior. Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have any first aid and potions here.¡± ¡°Damn it!¡± Souta cursed as he walked forward with heavy footsteps. He approached the girl named Airi. One of the warriors looked at Souta. He shook his head and said, ¡°She wanted to give this to you.¡± Souta stared blankly at the [Flame Unity Robe]. An uncomfortable feeling was swelling in his heart and he couldn¡¯t describe it. Huff~ He inhaled as he squatted down and held her soft dainty hand. He could feel that she was still breathing but it was slowing down. Her organs were badly damaged. ¡°B-Bro¡­ther¡­?¡± Airi said in a low voice. Her vision was blank so she couldn¡¯t see Souta¡¯s figure but she could still remember this hand. The hand that helped her when she was in despair. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here,¡± Souta said as he lowered his head. He was racking his brain trying to find a way to save this girl. Her body was too weak so transferring a parasite would only consume her vitality. As for potions? The Fourth Set didn¡¯t have any left. After all, they¡¯ve helped millions of civilians from the three nations and the heavily injured civilians received potions. They didn¡¯t have enough supply since no one expected that there would be too many civilians in this place. No one even knew about the subterranean world hidden below the Mirror Lake. They only thought that it was an ancient ruin. ¡°T-Thank you¡­ for¡­ saving us¡­¡± Airi said before she drew her last breath. Souta tightly held her hand as he gritted his teeth. He rarely saved people on his own accord without the System¡¯s Mission yet he failed. He failed that couldn¡¯t even guarantee her safety. He carefully put down her hand before he took the [Flame Unity Robe]. He wore it and then he looked above. He stared at the little soul in the air and flashed a gentle smile. ¡°Thank you. I will never forget you.¡± He said from the bottom of his heart. It was thanks to Airi that the focus of the three enemies had diverted. If not for her, the warriors wouldn¡¯t have an opportunity to launch an attack. ¡®Fucking Scarlet Axe!!¡¯ Scarlet Axe. The organization of the man that he just killed. He would thoroughly destroy them later and ripped their bodies apart. ¡®Souta! Calm yourself!! Don¡¯t let your instinct consume you!¡¯ Saya warned him. Her voice was filled with vigilance as it reverberated in his head. Argh! Souta gritted his teeth as he forcefully chopped his right hand. The aura of the fifth stage before nearly destroyed his senses and now that this happened it was hard to control his emotions. He was going to lose his mind at this rate. He would become the same as those monsters in the monster tide. A mindless creature that wouldn¡¯t stop unless they were killed. He couldn¡¯t let that happen. He didn¡¯t want to lose his rationality. ¡°Hey!!¡± ¡°Squad Leader Souta!!¡± ¡°What are you doing?!¡± The Squad Leaders were stupefied when they saw him chop his hand. They couldn¡¯t understand what he was trying to do by cutting his hand off. Souta looked at them with an aghast face and said, ¡°Huff¡­ Don¡¯t worry¡­ I¡¯m just controlling myself¡­ You know¡­ The effect of that fifth stage monster¡­ I¡¯m afraid that I would join¡­ The monster tide¡­¡± Suddenly, he heard an ear-piercing sound in his mind. It caused his face to distort as he fell down on his knees. He was pale and understood what happened just now. He looked at his body and noticed that the regeneration had stopped. The Queen Parasite had reached her limit and couldn¡¯t heal his wounds anymore. ¡®It¡¯s bad¡­ At least, the parasite closed all of the life-threatening wounds. They aren¡¯t fully healed but it wouldn¡¯t kill me.¡¯ He said inwardly. The Squad Leaders totally forgot that he was a monster. His actions and mannerisms were different from other monsters so they subconsciously thought that he was a demi-human. If not for the best feram lingering in the atmosphere and the appearance of his release form, they wouldn¡¯t believe that Souta was a monster. ¡°This girl¡­ We¡¯ll bury her as a true warrior.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m grateful to her.¡± Souta smiled gently as he patted Airi¡¯s head. In this life, she was one of the people who earned his respect. Even though she was weak, she still faced her fear without looking back. Boom!! Suddenly, all of them turned their heads as they heard a loud bang on the Aranhgrad. ¡°VANDAAAL!!¡± ¡°AVROOON!! A ring-shaped shockwave exploded as two figures collided. These two were Vandal and Avron. The Chief Captain of the Third Set and Founder of the Red Matter Association. Both of them were childhood friends yet they were fighting to death at this moment. ¡°The descendant of gods didn¡¯t care about us! They are covering up all the crimes that they did! Gods didn¡¯t even help us at all!¡± Avron roared as he launched a series of punches. ¡°Avron! You¡¯re blinded by your rage!!¡± Vandal shouted as he tried to block all of Avron¡¯s punches. Both of them were at their limit. Their attacks weren¡¯t as powerful as before but it was still enough to dismantle any Three Shackles Realm expert. Chapter 684: War in Subterranean World: Victory ¡°Vandal! Layla was killed by those people but what did you do?! Why did you run away?!¡± Avron¡¯s roar was filled with anger. He knew that it was normal for people to die and he already accepted it. But it didn¡¯t mean that when someone close to him died, he would run away. In the slums, people always died and it was normal in their lives. Just because he accepted that it was normal doesn¡¯t mean that he wouldn¡¯t fight if someone close to him died. He would fight till the end and seek retribution. ¡°You¡¯re a coward!!¡± Avron roared as he punched Vandal in the face. Bang! Vandal was blown away and he rolled on the ground. He quickly stabilized himself and regained his footing. Huff! He inhaled sharply as he stared at Avron¡¯s eyes with an unbending will. He wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth as his energy spiked up. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you call me a coward. I know it. I still didn¡¯t forget the person who killed Layla. It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t forget my origin. I¡¯m fighting in my own way.¡± He said strongly as he raised his hand. A huge amount of energy swirled around it as wind and lightning violently strode forward. Both of them were fighting nonstop and they were reaching their limits. The fall of Aranhgrad greatly damage them but it didn¡¯t stop them from fighting. Looking at Vandal¡¯s unyielding eyes, Avron smirked, ¡°In the end, you haven¡¯t changed a bit. That¡¯s right! Show me your unyielding will! Show me your path!¡± He recalled the times when they were still children. The time when they were living in the slums and fighting for food on the streets. Even their dream to build a small bakery and showed it to the most important person in their lives. ¡°Let¡¯s end this!¡± Avron narrowed his eyes as he made a grabbing motion in the air. The air tightened and darkness flowed through his body. In the next moment, he hurled a ray of darkness at his childhood friend. [Shadow Killing Ray]!! The ray of darkness flashed forward as the surrounding area turned dark. The light was extinguished within a radius of five kilometers. Vandal couldn¡¯t see anything except for absolute darkness. But he could sense the incoming attack. The amount of energy of that attack couldn¡¯t be hidden from his senses. After taking a deep breath, he pressed his hand forward. [Lightning Earth Dominion Strike]!! It was their last attack. This would decide everything. Win or lose, they resolved themselves to accept the outcome of the battle. They just wanted to show each other who was right or wrong. And the winner of this battle would be ¡°right¡±. BOOM!! The two attacks collided causing the entire Aranhgrad to shake. It started crumbling as pieces of its body fell on the ground. Most of the runes around it were gone so it was on the brink of destruction. It was irreparable. A fortress that existed since the ancient era had fallen today. Shockwaves swept out one after another. Light and darkness spread out in every direction causing the surrounding experts to feel pressured. The clash of two powers was extremely huge. However, it didn¡¯t harm any people since the entire Aranhgrad¡¯s size was close to the three nations. If they fought in the three nations, one of the nations would evaporate along with its people. In the next few seconds, the explosion slowly disappeared leaving dense smoke on top of Aranhgrad. Sparks flew out in the air from time to time caused by intense energy reactions in the atmosphere. Soon, the smoke dissipated revealing two figures standing in the middle of a desolate area. Cough!! Cough!! Vandal coughed a mouthful of blood. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Avron warily. Avron forced a smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it. Don¡¯t lose yourself.¡± With those words, he fell on his back. He stared deeply at the crumbling ceiling. He slowly turned his head and said, ¡°This world is going to collapse soon. There¡¯s still time.¡± ¡°Y-You¡­¡± Vandal didn¡¯t know what to say to his childhood friend. He clenched his fists tightly. He finally stopped his friend but¡­ he felt empty on the inside. ¡°Cough! Don¡¯t hesitate¡­ My people will surrender after you announced my defeat¡­ They are too dependent on me¡­ Without me, the organization will not function¡­ It¡¯s up to you¡­¡± Avron said with great effort. He took a deep breath before he continued, ¡°The Project Sicily and Spatial Gem¡­ You can take my lifetime work. It¡¯s not bad.¡± The Spatial Gem was a special object. It was created by using different rare ingredients and the power of this world, the Subterranean World. It absorbed the space properties that were stretching this world and that¡¯s the reason why the folded space was crumbling. ¡°Fuck!¡± Vandal cursed in a low voice. Then, he inhaled sharply before he shouted, ¡°AVRON, THE FOUNDER OF THE RED MATTER ASSOCIATION, HAD FALLEN!! SURRENDER YOURSELF! AND STOP MAKING IT HARD FOR EVERYONE!!¡± His voice resounded throughout the entire subterranean world. It caused everyone to look up and glanced in the direction of the voice. When the people of the Red Matter Association heard it, they started to loosen their grip on their weapons. Clang! Clang! One by one, their weapons fell to the ground. The defeat of their powerful leader gave them a huge shock. Even though they were in a disadvantageous position, the reason why they could still fight was because of their leader. As long as their leader was standing, they could keep fighting. Souta breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad that Vandal won the battle. The two friends have the same goal. But they took a different path. ¡°Finally¡­¡± He sat down and relaxed his tense muscles. Starting from the Fone Kingdom until the Subterranean World, the war against Red Matter Association was concluded. This was also his first real battle ever since he stepped on the fourth stage. ¡°We won!!¡± ¡°Chief Captain!!¡± ¡°For the people!!¡± ¡°For the glory!!¡± ¡°For the goddess!!¡± The warriors raised their weapons in the air as they shouted at the same time. They were celebrating as the war finally end and they saved a lot of people. Looking at this scene, Souta couldn¡¯t help but smile. He turned his head and looked at the passage. Most of the people have gone to the other side. They were heading toward the surface. There, their safety was secured as the experts from Sky Avenue have long surrounded the Mirror Lake. A lot of warriors sacrificed their lives in this war. ¡°I learned a lot of things in this war¡­¡± Souta muttered to himself. The Red Matter Association surrendered. So the warriors captured them. They wouldn¡¯t kill people that surrender or lose their will to fight since it was going against their warrior¡¯s code. Some of the Red Matter members tried to resist but they were quickly suppressed so nothing much happened. Even the remaining executives were captured. ¡°Master is this really what you want?¡± Amy, the ninth executive, said in a low voice. She recalled her last talk with her master. It was so frustrating. ¡°Grrr!¡± She raised her hand and caressed the collar on her neck. Before the battle, Avron placed collars on everyone and said that if he failed, they should just say that they were under his orders. The slave collar will prove their innocence as they couldn¡¯t disobey the owner. She felt that her master already plan to fail from the beginning. ¡­ ¡°Vandal¡­ Hahaha¡­ Everyone here is a victim of those people¡­ I gathered them in hopes that they could get their revenge too.¡± Avron laughed lightly. ¡°Some of them got their family killed, some were raped, and some experienced all kinds of torture. So I took them as my slaves.¡± ¡°You will die.¡± Vandal said plainly. ¡°I know.¡± Avron nodded. He already knows the outcome of his defeat. Ever since he took someone¡¯s life, he was prepared to be killed. ¡°Once we returned to Champion¡¯s Den, your people could escape death but you¡­ You will be publicly executed.¡± Vandal said as he turned around. ¡°Just kill me¡­ If I¡¯m going to die. I want to die at your hands.¡± Avron said. ¡°No, it¡¯s too easy for you. You¡¯ve ruined countless people¡¯s lives. You will not have an easy death.¡± Vandal said. He didn¡¯t even look at his friend anymore. ¡°I guess that¡¯s it for me.¡± Avron smiled faintly. People were hurrying as the ceiling started to fall. The whole subterranean world was going to collapse in half an hour. Before this place collapsed, they should settle everything. Inside the Aranhgrad¡­ Vandal was following the energy coming from the so-called ¡°Spatial Gem¡±. He didn¡¯t what was that gem but Avron said that it was special. Of course, he would believe Avron since that guy sacrificed a lot of things just to forge it. His mission was to destroy the Red Matter Association and he already completed it. So there¡¯s no need to get the gem but he wanted to know why did Avron say that the gem was special. Hmm¡­? He noticed something. A figure was standing several meters away from him. The figure was wearing black trousers with various chains. His body was covered in bandages. ¡°Who are you?!¡± Vandal asked in a low voice. Chapter 685: War in Subterranean World: Explosion Vandal glared at this unknown person. He silently prepared himself for battle since he didn¡¯t know the purpose of the other side. ¡°Oh? A Chief Captain. You could capture me if you¡¯re at your peak. Unfortunately, you don¡¯t have enough strength in your current condition.¡± The unknown man said. His voice feels like several people were talking at the same time. ¡°You¡­! A Six Shackles?!¡± Vandal was shocked when he realized the power level of this unknown man. He readied himself as his remaining mana flowed through his body. ¡°Goodbye, I¡¯ve taken the Spatial Gem.¡± The unknown man raised his hand and pointed his finger at him. ¡°People called me Grim. Don¡¯t bother me, instead look carefully at your surrounding. They are here.¡± With that, a magic circle formed on the unknown man¡¯s feet. The magic circle emitted a bright light and it swallowed him. In the next few seconds, the light disappeared along with the man who named himself Grim. ¡°What was that?!¡± Vandal was confused. Although he was worried, he was glad that he didn¡¯t fight that man. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat Grim. In his current condition, his battle power should be at Three Shackles Realm. ¡°But the Spatial Gem is gone¡­ I need information regarding the Spatial Gem. That Grim probably knows its worth.¡± Aside from that, he was worried about Grim¡¯s words too. Surrounding? They were here? He was confused but he had a bad feeling about it. ¡°Right now, I should leave this land.¡± He muttered. There were only ten minutes left before this world collapses. Some parts of the ceiling already crashed on the three nations. Several hundred-meter boulders were falling every second like a meteorite crashing on the ground and shaking the entire earth. Soon, he arrived on the surface of Aranhgrad. He glanced around and found that most of the warriors had evacuated. Only a few people were left in the subterranean world. He approached Avron and said, ¡°Someone stole the Spatial Gem.¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± Avron widened his eyes. He was too shocked that it caused him to move his body and cough a large amount of blood. ¡°T-The¡­ Spatial Gem is gone¡­?! No?¡± ¡°Is it that important?¡± Vandal asked. He wanted to know information about it so that he could know if he had to chase after that Grim or not even if he was injured. ¡°Yeah, but¡­ I should be the only one.¡± Avron turned his head and looked at the ceiling. He saw that the Project Sicily was still there. The energy inside that object was the one he used to defeat the Terror Gale Hippogriff. It was important too but the Project Sicily wasn¡¯t his objective. It also contained enormous power but it¡¯s fundamentally different from Spatial Gem. Even he didn¡¯t know things about it. He just forged that object according to the recipe that he received. Since they successfully forged it, those people should¡¯ve¡­ ¡°No, they are here!¡± Avron widened his eyes. He turned his head and saw a figure clad in a dark purple aura standing behind Vandal. ¡°Behind you!!¡± His aura erupted out of his body like a raging tide. His figure disappeared on the spot. [Fourth Form: Dimensional Steps]! He reappeared in front of Vandal and kicked him in the stomach. Then, he swung his hand at the figure clad in a dark purple aura. Bang!! Vandal was thrown out of the Aranhgrad and crashed on the ground. He was caught off guard as he was thinking deeply about the words of Grim. The sudden commotion caused the remaining warriors to turn their heads. ¡°Chief Captain!!¡± They hurriedly approached Vandal and helped him stand up. Less than fifty warriors were present and some of the members of the Red Matter Association. ¡°Avron, you!?¡± Vandal shouted. Avron¡¯s hand was blocked by a dark purple tentacle. Then, he swung his other hand diagonally but the other person expected it. Clang! Dark chains flew out of the robe of the person and pierced Avron¡¯s chest. Ugh! Avron spat a mouthful of blood before he shouted, ¡°GO!! DON¡¯T COME HERE! VANDAL!!¡± His words were naturally heard by everyone since he poured his energy into his voice. He grabbed the dark chains on his chest as he raised his other hand. [Archetype: Spatial Domination]!! [Fifth Form: Veil of Prostor]!! [Sixth Form: Boundary of the Empty Land]!! The space around was locked and it would prevent Vandal and the others from approaching. It was also folded into several layers securing that no one would help him. At this moment, a roar reverberated throughout the entire subterranean world. It was the Terror Gale Hippogriiff. ROAR!!! It had come back. It recovered some of its strength and judging from its aura, no one among them could stop it. As expected of a fifth stage monster. Even after taking a direct hit from the Project Sicily, it could still stand after resting for a short amount of time. ¡°You leave me no choice!!¡± Avron said as he raised his hand and swept it in the air. [Eight Form: Oblivion Down]!! The folded space on the ceiling trembled before it disappeared. Without the folded space, the ceiling directly fell toward the ground. It spread out as several huge boulders plunge carrying great momentum. With this, Vandal didn¡¯t have a choice but to retreat. He took the warriors with him and went through the passage. He realized one thing. Avron had gone easy on him. He held back fighting him with all of his strength. But why? So he still has that in him¡­ Avron looked at the figure clad in a dark purple aura. He took a deep breath and pulled out the chains on his chest. Clang! Then, he pulled the figure and swung his hand. The space around him tightened and folded around his hand. Clang! Several chains came out of the person¡¯s robe. The numbers were three times higher than before. And all of them were clad in a dark purple aura. ¡°I expected. You came to kill me.¡± Avron said as his right hand was wrapped in chains. He tried to break it but he found that it was tougher than he imagined. He raised his feet and launched a powerful kick. Bang! Bang! Bang! Several chains pierced his body once again. His defenses were completely ignored by these chains. Cough! Blood splattered everywhere. ¡°I know that you came here for Project Sicily but¡­ I bonded with it using the Aranhgrad¡­ So you can¡¯t easily get it.¡± He said with great effort as his blood dripped to the ground creating a small pool of blood. This guy was a Messenger of Gluttony. He came to him a few weeks ago and he initiated the aggressive action of the Red Matter Association. The Messenger asked gave him various rare ingredients and asked him to forge the so-called Project Sicily. He also gave him the recipe for this object. Avron had no choice but to comply. He knew that if he somehow reject the proposal, the Red Matter Association would suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of this guy. The Messenger gave him a time to forge and if he hasn¡¯t completed it at that time, then he would suffer the consequences. That¡¯s why he started to move the entire Red Matter Association and naturally, this action couldn¡¯t be hidden from the eyes of the Athen¡¯s Champion. This led to the current war between the two organizations. So he sped up his other plans¡­ The awakening of Aranhgrad and the creation of Spatial Gem. He was forced to take action even if he didn¡¯t want to. The Deadly Sins was a notorious organization in Imperium. There were no people in this world that didn¡¯t know the name of the Bringers of Calamity. Cough! Avron felt his body getting numb. He tightly gripped the chains on his chest and gathered the last bit of his mana. ¡°Let¡¯s all die together!¡± When he closed his palm, Project Sicily emitted a bright light that illuminated the entire Subterranean World. The Messenger looked up and said, ¡°It seems that this one is a failed project.¡± ¡°Garararara! You¡¯re trying to use me! Then, die with me!¡± Avron laughed as the Project Sicily exploded. Violent energy whips flew in energy direction. Then, a semi-transparent white sphere expanded within the object and pushed everything away. No, it disintegrated everything that touches it. The violent reaction of the energy caused the fall of the Subterranean World faster. The white sphere continued to expand as it produced various elements. Fire, winds, lightning, water, and earth spread out, causing destruction in the whole region. The Terror Gale Hippogriff stopped moving as it stared at the energy reactions. In the next moment, the energy waves swallowed its entire body along with the three nations. Then, Avron and the Messenger were caught up in the explosion. The Aranhgrad was demolished in just a few seconds. ¡°Vandal¡­ Layla¡­ I¡¯ve failed once again¡­¡± A loud bang echoed as the Subterranean World was swallowed by that bright light. It pulverized everything within that place. Chapter 686: Strange Phenomenon Boom!! Souta watched as the Mirror Lake and the surrounding mountains collapsed. The folded space was gone so it was natural that everything here would collapse. The dense mana seeped out as the tremors continued for a few minutes. Everyone could feel an intense energy reaction underground. It was too powerful as the shockwaves swept out several kilometers away. The war between the Red Matter Association and the Third Set of Pallas Division was concluded. There were unexpected factors but no one knew their significance until they came across with them in the future. One of the organizations that terrorized several kingdoms and empires was gone today. The warriors had claimed the victory but some of them felt empty. The casualties that they suffered weren¡¯t low. A lot of people died and sacrificed their lives in this war. ¡°Avron¡­¡± Vandal tightly clenched his fists. He realized that Avron was holding back when fighting so he didn¡¯t know what to feel right now. But what¡¯s with those people? Grim and that person clad in a dark purple aura. He only knows one thing and that¡¯s they weren¡¯t on the side of Olympus. He took a long sigh as he turned around and called his assistant, Shirley. For now, he should settle everything here. He also called the representative of Sky Avenue. ¡­ ¡°What happened to you, Souta?¡± Sekmet and the others from the Blue Cross Squad approached him. They looked at him with concern in their eyes especially after seeing his condition. Souta wouldn¡¯t die from his injuries but his body was full of wounds. Even his hand was missing and half of his face was gone. The parasite queen had reached its limit so his wounds haven¡¯t recovered. ¡°I¡¯m fine. The battle is just beyond my expectations.¡± Souta forced a smile on his face. ¡°Damn, look at you¡­ Are you sure that you are fine?¡± Leilus asked as he observed his gory wounds. ¡°Yep, this will not kill me.¡± Souta nodded. Sekmet, Paolo, Drami, and Marcus looked fine. It seems that they¡¯ve rested properly while he was gone fighting the Red Matter Association. ¡°I¡¯m glad that you¡¯ve survived,¡± Marcus said. ¡°Huhu! We¡¯re gonna have a feast once we go back!¡± Drami said excitedly as she raised both of her hands. ¡°Hmm? Souta, who¡¯s that?¡± Sekmet noticed something so she asked. ¡°Huh¡­¡± Souta looked down at the corpse of a little girl beside him. This body was Airi and he brought her with him as he wanted her to have a proper funeral. ¡°Ah¡­ This is Airi¡­¡± He said as he smiled gently. He raised his hand and slowly caressed her head. ¡°She is a girl I met in the three nations. I owed her my life.¡± He proceeded to narrate how he met Airi. The Blue Cross Squad grew silent as they listened to his story. It was a simple story but it touched their hearts. Airi was a strong and brave girl. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Sekmet said in a low voice. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Souta simply waved his hand. He wasn¡¯t bothered at all. Also, this was a good time to divert his attention since he didn¡¯t want to fall asleep. ¡°Um¡­ Souta¡­ Where are Airi¡¯s siblings?¡± Drami asked carefully. ¡°I still haven¡¯t found them. After I¡¯ve recovered some of my strength I will look for them.¡± Souta answered her question. ¡°We will help you look for them, right Marcus?¡± Drami said with a smile as she turned to her lover. ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Marcus couldn¡¯t help but nod. The other members of the Blue Cross Squad expressed their intention to help him. Souta could only say his thanks to them. Hmm¡­? Souta felt something as he stared at the sky. His eyes changed and he saw a boundless amount of mana in the sky. It caused him to immediately closed his eyes as he felt that his eyes were burning. It was something that he haven¡¯t experienced before. ¡°Argh!!¡± His face distorted as he gritted his teeth to endure the extreme pain. The Blue Cross Squad naturally saw his situation. ¡°Hey, what happened, Souta?!¡± ¡°Souta?!¡± ¡°Are you okay?!¡± Souta didn¡¯t look at them. Instead, he pointed at the sky with his finger. ¡°Huh?¡± Leilus and the others were confused but they still looked up to see if there was something above. What they saw were boundless dark clouds. It was enveloping the entire sky as thunder would rumble every second. Lightning would flash from time to time illuminating the whole area. The dark clouds stretched from the horizon to the other part of the sky. It was blocking every part and no one could see the stars or sun anymore. What¡¯s worse was that everyone could feel an unbelievable amount of energy from those dark clouds. Soon, most people noticed the strangeness above. They couldn¡¯t help but look up and observed the changes in the dark clouds. Ohm! At this moment, Souta adjusted his eyes to normal. He looked up and stretched out his hand. Plop! A drop of water fell into his hand. Souta gazed at him and felt something. This drop of water contained an enormous amount of energy comparable to an initial level third stage monster orb. It was astonishing. Then, he felt rejuvenated. The energy seeped into his body and all the pain disappeared immediately. Plop! Plop! In the next minute, the rain poured down on the region. No, the entire Imperium was experiencing the same thing. It was raining all over the world and every drop of rain contained vast energy. Souta took a deep breath. He noticed that the mana density in the atmosphere rose sharply. It didn¡¯t stop as it continued to increase the mana density in the air. Just like him, the other warriors had no idea about this bizarre phenomenon. ¡®Souta, if I¡¯m not wrong¡­ This is happening to the whole world.¡¯ Saya said to him. ¡®Whole world, huh? I don¡¯t know¡­¡¯ Souta was confused. He looked around and saw ordinary people falling on their knees. They were holding onto their neck as they had painful looks on their face. ¡°Argh!!¡± ¡°H-Help me!¡± ¡°N-No!¡± The ordinary people were having a hard time. The sudden change in mana density made it hard for them to breathe normally. It was as if they were going to die from suffocation. Their movements had slowed down. It was the effect of higher mana density. It submerged everyone into a sea of mana. If they were just fifty feet below the sea before, then right now they were three hundred meters below the sea surface. But they were going to be fine. This wouldn¡¯t kill them as their bodies were used to living in Imperium even though they were only ordinary people. If it was ordinary people from a sub-world, then the mana pressure would crush their bodies. ¡°The world got stronger¡­¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. He raised his finger and a five-inch ball of fire formed. ¡°This¡­ The amount of energy I poured is enough to create a two feet size fireball and it could create a three-meter depth fissure on the ground yet¡­ The power had decreased due to the mana in the atmosphere.¡± He waved his hand and the fireball vanished. It seems that everything would be harder from now on. If this phenomenon occurred before, the Subterranean World wouldn¡¯t collapse like that. The mana density wasn¡¯t the only one that changed. The space and earth had become several times tougher than before. Even some pebbles on the side of the road had increased their hardness. ¡­ In another place¡­ A man wearing a black robe with a thick red fur around its collar. On the back of the robe, was a symbol of a red eye. He had messy chestnut color hair and his pair of sharp eyes were watching the rain outside. This man was Esquin, One of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Gluttony. ¡°This happened too quickly¡­ It seems that the Imperium didn¡¯t tolerate the strange fluctuations before.¡± Esquin narrowed his eyes with a faint smile on his face. It was as if he was amused by all the events that happened today. That strange fluctuation before had a linkage with time and summoning. Yes, the time and space were distorted. Its strangeness was foreign to him. Even he, a God, could only understand a bit of it. He could only guess that time and summoning were fused and it pulled something. It shouldn¡¯t happen but the rules were gone so it actually occurred. Pulling something that existed already was a violation and it would cause a tremendous change in the entirety of the sequence. ¡°If something like that is possible then¡­¡± Esquin muttered as he stretched out his hand. He grabbed the space around him. Bang! Cracks spread out in the air. He looked at it and shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not it. Something is blocking me. Is it because I lack an understanding of time? But from the fluctuations before¡­ The individual who used it seemed like had a low understanding of time, space, and summoning. It didn¡¯t even reach the level of God. So, maybe it¡¯s an enlightened ability¡­ or just get that ability through luck.¡± Chapter 687: Returning ¡°But that strange ability summoned something that shouldn¡¯t exist¡­ It caused the Imperium to move forward and strengthened the whole world.¡± Esquin stared at his hand. The body of a god wasn¡¯t affected by time so when he broke the space he should¡¯ve achieved the same result. But he only found nothing. He couldn¡¯t even create something similar to that strange fluctuation before. After a few trials and errors, he gave up. From his guess, that strange fluctuation was caused by an ability learned through luck. Without much understanding of time and space, an individual wouldn¡¯t even be able to create something similar. Plus, there was a strange feeling every time he tried his hand to pass through the unknown. It feels like there was an invisible boundary like space and time. Just like the boundary of dimensions. To go to the lower dimensions or upper dimensions, an individual needed to break through the space and time boundary. Flying endlessly in outer space wouldn¡¯t get them anywhere. It feels like it was the same as the boundary of dimensions but higher than it. It was hard to perceive it or maybe he was wrong at all. ¡°Interesting¡­¡± He turned around and walked away from the windows. ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for me to move¡­ God¡¯s Continent. The Imperium would be able to handle a god¡¯s strength without suffering much. So a god would be able to go all out without damaging the land as much as before.¡± Esquin wasn¡¯t the only one who felt it. The other gods also felt the strange fluctuations but they couldn¡¯t pinpoint it just like him. They could just stare at the raindrops filled with energy. The blessed land of Imperium. The mana density rose sharply. It was as if the Imperium was preparing for something. Once the Great Barrier disappeared, the living beings of the other continents were able to freely move between different lands. Nothing could hinder them anymore. With this, mana fruits, herbs, and other ingredients such as metals would be able to reach higher grades. First the disappearance of rules and now the higher mana density. Strange phenomena occurred one after another. And it was just the beginning. Those who couldn¡¯t keep up with the changes would perish. ¡°I don¡¯t have a good feeling at this¡­¡± Souta said in a low voice. The raindrops rejuvenated his body and closed most of his wounds. Even the parasite in his body recovered some of its energy from this event. This let him completely heal all of his wounds. He looked at Airi¡¯s corpse. ¡°If this strange phenomenon occurred earlier then you would have probably survived.¡± Since the raindrops could rejuvenate one¡¯s body, it would have given Airi a bit of time to prepare first aid and saved her. Unfortunately, none of it matters now as she was already dead. He could only accept the truth. ¡°As for your siblings¡­ I¡¯ll take care of them. I will not let them die.¡± Energy fluctuations flared up one by one. Souta looked over and found that some of the warriors had broken through the next realm. They utilized the energy coming from the raindrops to strengthen their bodies. Those people who were stuck at Solidifying Realm for a long time had broken one of their Shackles. As for ordinary people, they weren¡¯t experts so they couldn¡¯t perfectly utilize the energy from the raindrops. But it still baptized their bodies making them a little bit stronger. Sooner or later, they would get used to the density of mana in the atmosphere. ¡°As for me¡­¡± Souta glanced at the system. He received various notifications and it felt that his body had grown stronger once again. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad. It saves me a lot of time.¡± It took a while before the warriors came back to their senses. The increase in mana density caused a commotion as everyone talked and chatted about it. After all, this event hasn¡¯t occurred in the history records so they didn¡¯t have any idea at all. Some guess that it was a bad omen and some said that it was the world would thrive today. Vandal finished talking to the representative of Sky Avenue. He was listening to the chatter of the warriors around him. About this event, he also has no idea so he would only try to find information once they returned to Champion¡¯s Den. ¡°It¡¯s easy to guess but I think it¡¯s related to gods. The increase in mana density means that this world had grown stronger and it could take more gods.¡± After all, high level sub-worlds could barely hold a god¡¯s presence. If gods fought in a sub-world, the expected outcome was the destruction of that planet. As for those low-level sub-worlds, those planets would crumble immediately once a god descended on their surface. Only Imperium could handle the existence of gods. No, even if the gods fought here it would only destroy the land, not the entire planet. At this moment, Shirley arrived beside him. She was holding a stack of paper with both of her hands. ¡°Chief Captain,¡± Shirley called out. ¡°Speak,¡± Vandal nodded at her. He knew that she would report the casualties of the Third Set. Shirley slowly reported to him the details of the war. The casualties on their side, how many enemies they¡¯ve captured, and the survivors of the three nations. Among all the Grain Leaders that participated in this mission, eight have perished. Five hundred eighty-one warriors had died and one hundred fifty-seven of them were from the First, Second, and Third Grain. This means that they were all high-rank warriors as only experts at Shackled Realm were eligible to join those grains. It was a huge loss for the entire Third Set. ¡°Hu~¡± Vandal took a long sigh after hearing Shirley¡¯s report. He glanced at her and said, ¡°We¡¯ll take the people from Red Matter Association with us. We¡¯ll imprison them and interrogate them, especially those executives.¡± The executives had collars on their necks. It means that they were Avron¡¯s slaves and they would follow his orders. But now that Avron had died, the effect of the collars was gone. The slave collars were equipment used to bind someone. The only way to remove this was by using a key, killing the contractor, or asking for help from an expert stronger than the contractor. Aside from those three, there were different special ways to remove it. A sealing technique was one of the special ways. Just need to seal the mechanism inside the collar and everything would work out. After all, the slave collars weren¡¯t a godly artifact. It was only a downgraded version of a famous universal-grade artifact. It was far from perfect. ¡°Have you taken any measures in case those executives try to escape?¡± ¡°Yes, Chief Captain. They cooperated with us and let their defenses down so that we could place a Locking Crippling Sphere on their chest.¡± Locking Crippling Sphere was like a slave collar but its function was only to capture people. It couldn¡¯t force an order just like the slave collar. The only thing it could do was lock an individual¡¯s mana pool. If one surrendered and let lowered their guard the Locking Crippling Sphere would inject a special metal inside a person¡¯s chest. It was similar to how Souta transferred parasites into a person¡¯s body. Without lowering their defenses, a parasite wouldn¡¯t be able to enter an expert¡¯s body. And it was the same for the Locking Crippling Sphere. If they really wanted to capture a person, then they should use a sealing technique. For stronger individuals, a sealing technique was used. ¡°Inform the warriors that we¡¯ll return two hours from now.¡± Vandal said to her. ¡°Yes, Chief Captain.¡± Shirley nodded at him. She quickly left to inform the warriors about the Chief Captain¡¯s words. As for the people of the Subterranean World¡­ There were millions of them so they couldn¡¯t bring all of them to Champion¡¯s Den. The Sky Avenue was the one whose going to help them settle in this land. Their goal was to destroy the Red Matter Association and they¡¯ve already completed it. It¡¯s time for them to rest after a long battle. The warriors deserve it. Two hours had passed in the blink of an eye¡­ The warriors had rested and two hours were enough for them to recover some of their strength thanks to the raindrops. The Third Set departed as they went back to Sky Avenue¡¯s territory. Their journey this time was smooth and they haven¡¯t met any accidents. Some of the warriors were happy that they won the battle, and some were sad that they lose their comrades in war. Some of them couldn¡¯t even bring their comrade¡¯s corpses. They could only honor their fallen comrades. Their sacrifices were the reason why they were still alive. They would live for their brothers. Soon¡­ The warriors arrived in the Champion¡¯s Den. It feels like they¡¯ve been away for hundreds of days. ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± Souta said while looking at the Athen¡¯s Champion. Chapter 688: I wont forget you The Red Matter Association had fallen. There was an unexpected event in the end but it didn¡¯t last long. Other organizations were moving in the shadow of the Red Matter Association. As for the Spatial Gem and Project Sicily, the Third Set didn¡¯t manage to get their hands on any of the two. The unknown man called Grim took the Spatial Gem and Avron used the power of the Project Sicily to destroy the entire Subterranean World. Project Sicily wasn¡¯t really the Red Matter Association¡¯s goal. Avron only forged it because the Messenger of Gluttony forced him. Not really, Avron only forged it because the Messager gave him ingredients for Project Sicily and Spatial Gem. So the plan of the Red Matter Association sped up. Up until now, the uses of the Spatial Gem were still unknown. Avron said that it would be used to break through to the Eight Shackles Realm but that¡¯s the most basic function of it. There were other functions that they didn¡¯t know. As soon as they arrived in the Champion¡¯s Den, Vandal quickly went to the higher-ups to report the outcome of the war. He didn¡¯t miss any details as he reported everything that occurred in the Subterranean World. The members of the Red Matter Association were escorted and locked in the prison. There, the guards would interrogate them and give punishment according to their crimes. Obviously, the Locking Cripling Sphere was used to them. Also, they would be given a strong poison pill to infect their bodies. The poison pill wouldn¡¯t kill any of them. It would only give them a debuff so that they couldn¡¯t recover from their peak strength. It was to avoid them breaking out of the prison. Vandal told the Division Commander that he would report again once he received information from the prisoners that they¡¯d captured. They needed to know the point of view of the prisoners to know really what was happening in the war. He exited the room of the Division Commander. He took a long sigh as he glanced at the windows, ¡®The Deadly Sins been getting restless these past few weeks¡­ It seems they are planning something big.¡¯ He said inwardly. The appearance of the Messenger of Gluttony was a little bit unexpected. ¡°I need to keep up¡­¡± He said to himself. The changes in mana density would bring him a chance to reach the next level faster. Also, he had to ask about the so-called Archetype that Avron mentioned. In the Astros Squad in the Athen¡¯s Champion¡­ Souta was sitting in his room with his chin resting on his palm. He confirmed his guess last time. The Deadly Sins was moving in the dark manipulating various organizations. ¡°Hmm¡­ A still have some time¡­¡± He closed his eyes and recalled the places where Gluttony would launch a direct attack. But the subsequent events also confirmed his thoughts. The world was moving beyond his information. The shattering of rules and increase in mana density wasn¡¯t in the game. These two would certainly affect the timeline that he knew so he should better prepare himself for the unknown. If the war occurred, he would have to fight experts stronger than him. But he wasn¡¯t that anxious since he was confident that he could escape from anyone unless they were at Hero-rank and above. He rubbed his chin as he recalled his battle against Dromas. The guy was strong and the only reason why he could damage him was thanks to Archetype and dark grade vajra sword. He needed to improve a lot of things and used these two to his advantage so that his attacks would grow stronger in the future. ¡°Magic circle¡­¡± Souta raised his other palm and his energy gathered on top of it. After a few seconds, a magic circle formed emitting a dim light. ¡®I can build tier 1 magic circle in five seconds manually without relying on the system. Five seconds¡­ It¡¯s too long, I need more practice and comprehending the formula and structures of a magic circle.¡¯ He said inwardly as he observed the magic circle in his palm. In the next moment, he closed his palm and the circle disappeared. Luckily, his learning ability had increased ever since he fused the [Galaxy Eyes]. Huff~ Souta took a long sigh as he folded his arms in front of his chest. Then, he closed his eyes and recalled the Stone Monuments in the Subterranean World. The legacy of the Space God was gone but the words written on the monument gave him some clues. ¡°I don¡¯t when it started but they just came to Imperium. They are creatures with different shapes and appearances. They are equipped with a never before seen type of energy. They are ferocious creatures that killed everything in their paths. They are dangerous and the strongest among them could even kill gods. It brought chaos to the whole Imperium in just a year. They appeared out of nowhere. Thousands of mortal kingdoms and empires were destroyed. I fought one of them and I killed two creatures at god-level. It resulted in me suffering grave injuries. Thousands of sub-worlds had fallen and almost every living creature outside of Imperium have died. I stand here in this land knowing that I would die soon. I folded the space here using my knowledge and ability. I will leave everything here in hopes that the future generations would acquire my legacy and knowledge. I don¡¯t have any information about those creatures but remember that those creatures aren¡¯t from Imperium. I don¡¯t know but I heard some crucial words regarding the enemy. The Door. I don¡¯t know what is the Door as I¡¯m just an ordinary god that understands the space. I hope my knowledge would help the future generations. That is if the Imperium is still intact in the future.¡± These were the words left behind by the creator of the Subterranean World, the Space God. The information wasn¡¯t much but it was confirmed that they were fighting some creatures and those creatures came out of nowhere. And they were using a never before seen type of energy. ¡®It wasn¡¯t enough¡­¡¯ Some of the information was useless to him since he already knew it from the God of Hunt. It only strengthened his guess and confirmed some of his thoughts regarding the events twenty thousand years ago. Hu~ Souta shook his head. He wouldn¡¯t get an answer like this. He should wait until he found another clue about the events at that time. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± He placed his hand inside his pocket and took out the strange marble. He stared at it for a while before he shouted, ¡°Isabella, come here!¡± In just a few seconds, Isabella already arrived in his room. She knocked on the door and he gave her his permission to come inside. The door creaked open as she slowly stepped inside. She looked at him anxiously as if she had done something wrong. ¡°Give me your hands,¡± Souta said. Isabella stretched out her hands. She didn¡¯t know what Souta wanted but she obeyed his orders since he was her leader. Souta stood up as he gave her the unknown red marble. ¡°I-Is this a pill?¡± Isabella tilted her head as she observed the red marble on her palm. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Souta shrugged his shoulders. ¡°So I want you to study it and gave me a detailed report.¡± ¡°Oh¡­?¡± Isabella raised her eyebrows as she looked closely at the red marble. Stars appeared in her eyes and she opened her mouth, ¡°This is amazing¡­ Souta, where did you get it?! I don¡¯t know what it is but I think that this is a pill! It¡¯s a bit crude but it¡¯s surely a high-grade pill! Can I go now?! I want to study it quickly! Ah, no! This pill!¡± Souta smiled looking at her enthusiastic expression. He waved his hand and said, ¡°You can go now, just don¡¯t forget to give me a report.¡± ¡°Oh, I will not disappoint you!¡± Isabella hurriedly left the room with the red marble in her hands. ¡°That girl¡­¡± Souta pinched the bridge of his nose as he stepped outside of his room. He exhaled and looked around. Alice and Franklin were sitting on the couch. Yenxia was on the corner with a book in her hands. Eztein was outside walking around the Champion¡¯s Den. ¡°Alice, come with me,¡± Souta said before he left the Astros Squad room. ¡°Okay,¡± Alice nodded before she stood up and fixed her clothes. The two arrived in a spacious place. This place was the graveyards of the fallen warriors of the Athen¡¯s Champion. Eilish was already waiting for him. Souta and Alice stood beside her without saying anything. They just simply watched the scene in front of them. The warrior¡¯s funeral. Airi was also included as a lot of warriors wanted her to be buried in the warrior¡¯s cemetery. It was an honor that they could give her since she showed them a spirit of a true warrior. Souta narrowed his eyes as he stared at the two children. He would take care of them in her stead. ¡°I won¡¯t forget you.¡± Chapter 689: First Class Deep in the ruined Subterranean World. Boom! A pile of bedrock burst open as a man clad with a dark purple aura emerged from it. He was the Messenger of Gluttony. His condition was bad as the explosion ripped his body apart. He was full of injuries and he barely survived that explosion. ¡°I¡¯ve gathered the data of Project Sicily. I just need to find someone to test and improve it.¡± He muttered as he held his stomach. The only reason why he could still stand was because of the dark purple energy keeping his body intact. The explosion severely damaged his body and it would take a lot of time to repair it. At the very least, he completed his goal. He got his hands on the date of the Project Sicily and this would help them in their future plan. He just never expects that Avron would go against him in that crucial moment. It almost cost him his life. He stepped on the boulder of rock and observed his surrounding. The space wasn¡¯t wide as hundreds of boulders were enveloping the entire area. After all, the folded space that was supporting the Subterranean World has disappeared. Hmm¡­? The Messenger turned its head as he sensed a presence several meters away from him. He couldn¡¯t approach it since there were rocks in his path. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the Terror Gale Hippogriff¡­ It¡¯s still alive after taking the explosion from Project Sicily? I should kill this one before it recovered.¡± Killing intent flashed from the eyes of the Messenger. He would kill the guardian of the Subterranean World. ¡­ The stars glistened in the night sky and the moon shone brightly illuminating the dark land. The cold breeze of the night gently brushed across Souta¡¯s cheeks as he stared at the countless stars. Souta stretched out his hand and said, ¡°I really like the calmness the night gave to us. It balanced the bright atmosphere of the day.¡± ¡°When are you going to return, Souta?¡± Lynn¡¯s voice came from the transmission talisman. ¡°Soon, I still have something to do in this place.¡± Souta smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll return no matter what happens.¡± ¡°Mm¡­ I trust you.¡± Lynn said. ¡°By the way, my Adventurer ID is expired, right? So Lumilia must have replaced my position. Do help her in managing the legion.¡± ¡°Yes, Mila became the Commander of Dark Oculus Legion. But we¡¯re currently out of the headquarters, right now. So Jeanne and the others are handling the affairs of the legion. I don¡¯t know anything about handling an organization so I can¡¯t help much.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just do it in your way. How are you guys faring against the demons?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. We¡¯re only fighting low-rank demons. Most of the time, Bryan, Yujin, and Brando would eliminate all the enemies before I could provide support.¡± Lynn said dejectedly. ¡°That¡¯s fine. You don¡¯t have to do anything if they can handle it all. Just focus on preserving your strength and when the time comes you will be able to use your strength to support everyone.¡± Souta said to her. ¡°I understand¡­¡± Lynn nodded. ¡°Just be careful and don¡¯t let that idiot Bryan wander alone. I¡¯m afraid that Bryan will get into another trouble.¡± Lynn chuckled when she heard his words. She leaned on the tree behind her and looked at the sky. She placed the transmission talisman near her mouth and whispered, ¡°I wonder when will you return. I will always wait for you to come back.¡± ¡°Look forward to it,¡± Souta answered before he changed the topic. ¡°You know, when I was walking in the streets the other day I found strange food here. I thought that it would taste bad but surprisingly it fitted my taste.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± ¡°Yep, it¡¯s tasty.¡± ¡°I wanna try it!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I remember the recipe. I think I can make it if I had the ingredients.¡± The two talked casually. They didn¡¯t talk about heavy topics anymore. Just chatted about normal daily life. They only stopped before sunrise. They bid farewell to each other before Souta cut the connection of the transmission talisman. He placed the paper back in his pocket before he stood up and stretched his arms. He jumped down from the roof and patted the dust on his clothes. It was time for him to go to the office of the Chief Captain. ¡­ Vandal was sitting in his chair, looking at the paper in his hand. He was filling up report after report so he was quite mentally exhausted. Luckily, his assistant was helping him with this job. He also had to select people that would replace the position of the dead Grain Leaders. It was hard since the basic requirement for it was a Four Shackles Realm, and the warrior should¡¯ve made a huge contribution to the legion. ¡°Forty-six warriors had applied for the position of the Grain Leaders¡­¡± He muttered. He wondered who he should choose this time. Knock! A knock came from the door and he glanced at Shirley, who was quietly standing beside him. ¡°I believe that it is Squad Leader Souta from the Tenth Grain War,¡± Shirley said in a low voice. Vandal turned to the door and said, ¡°Come in.¡± The door creaked open and Souta stepped inside the room. He stood straight as he banged his chest and said, ¡°Good morning, Chief Captain!¡± Vandal glanced at him for a moment before he returned his gaze to the paper in his hand. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth and said, ¡°Your contribution to the war was huge. The other Grain Leaders told me about it. You¡¯ve done something great.¡± ¡°Thank you, Chief Captain,¡± Souta said. To arrange the warriors on the battlefield, Souta naturally contacted several Grain Leaders on posts. Those warriors didn¡¯t hide anything and said that he was the one who arranged the strategy to tie up the forces of the Red Matter. He was also the one who located the leader of the Rebel Army. Along with Grain Leader Darwin, the two of them defeat Dromas, the Red Guardian, and forced out the Third Executive Josen. ¡°Here, take this¡­¡± Vandal placed a paper on top of the table. ¡°I don¡¯t know why but the higher-ups decided to station your squad outside of the Champion¡¯s Den. Maybe, it¡¯s their plan to expand our scope to prevent other organizations from moving.¡± Souta reached out his hand and looked at the paper. ¡°This¡­ It¡¯s too far¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s basically out of the Olympus¡¯ territory. We wouldn¡¯t help aside from obtaining the land. Other than that, you have to protect yourself from all sides. Also, if you met a powerful organization you can report to us and we will send reinforcement.¡± Vandal said. ¡°So I¡¯m on my own,¡± Souta muttered while reading the rest of the contents. ¡°Not quite right. Look at the back. It feels like the higher-ups are testing something. It was written that you couldn¡¯t reveal that you¡¯re from Athen¡¯s Champion. After you secured the position, we will help you set up a portal so it will become a branch of Athen¡¯s Champion in the future.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Souta nodded. The territory of Olympus was huge and the Champion¡¯s Den was close to its center. Every god had their own land and it contained dozens of kingdoms and empires that worshipped the gods of Olympus. That¡¯s why most of the God Legions have different headquarters stationed across the land. And now, the Athen¡¯s Champion was extending its hand outside the Olympus. In the current state of the world, it was a dangerous move. So Souta had to hide the fact that he was from Athen¡¯s Champion. It doesn¡¯t matter if others know it. As long as he didn¡¯t blatantly reveal it to others, it would be fine. He participated in Red Matter Association and he had records so some of the forces could investigate his information. It would be fine as the higher-ups would back him up. But Souta knew the truth that all of this was just an excuse. After all, Athena promised to give him a land so that he could stay there and hide Alice¡¯s identity from the perception of the other Olympus gods. ¡°And this. This is your reward for your contribution to the war.¡± Vandal said as he placed another paper on the table. Souta looked at it. He earned thousands of achievement points from the war. With this, he could exchange it for some mana fruits, equipment, spell books, or combat arts. It was up to him how he would use his achievement points. Aside from that, the most important thing was that his squad was promoted. The Astros Squad finally became the First Class Yellow Squadron. Just a little bit more and he would achieve the Blue Squadron Rank. The resources that the Astros Squad would receive monthly had increased. A bunch of low-grade potions and mid-grade potions would be given to him. Since he had a bunch of potions, Isabella would be able to focus on her research. Chapter 690: Ekatoe City First Class Yellow Squadron. In the entire Tenth Grain War, there were only twenty-nine squads at this rank. It also means that they would be eligible to exchange some of the information at their rank level. Souta exited Vandal¡¯s office. Then, he went to Carmel¡¯s office. He reported to his Grain Leader that he was dispatched outside of Olympus and received a land. He also said that he was dispatched there as a part of his mission. After that, he went to the Blue Cross Squad and bid farewell to them since he was stationed outside of Champion¡¯s Den. He wouldn¡¯t meet them for a long time until he returned here, or there was a special mission like the one against the Red Matter Association. He stayed here for a day as he joined the victory celebration of the Third Set. The celebration lasted for two days. So everyone from the Third Set was free and the warriors just enjoyed their free time. On the next day, Souta packed his belongings. Alice and the rest also packed their things as they followed him. They settled everything here so it¡¯s the right time to move to their new territory. ¡°Goodbye, Souta!¡± Drami said while waving both of her tiny hands. ¡°Be careful.¡± Sekmet said with a smile. ¡°If we have some time we¡¯ll visit you there,¡± Leilus said. ¡°I hope we could fight together once again.¡± Grain Leader Darwin said. A bunch of warriors from Third Set were seeing him off. They got closer to fighting together against the same enemies. Even though the war didn¡¯t last long, they felt that they were fighting for a long time side by side. It was a feeling built without thinking about their benefits, the warriors simply wanted to defeat the Red Matter Association and protect the civilians. ¡°Goodbye¡­¡± Souta waved his hand before he turned around and left. Alice and the others saluted to the warriors before they followed him. Almost everyone from the Third Set knew that he was dispatched outside of Champion¡¯s Den. It should be a secret but Souta knew that was just an excuse. The Astros Squad was placed outside of Olympus in the name of the mission but they didn¡¯t actually care about the mission. The higher-ups would take care of it after he settled in his territory. They would fix it to become a branch of Athen¡¯s Champion. ¡­ ¡°Hmm¡­ This is the Ekatoe City.¡± A tall man said while looking at the small city. He had short black hair and his features were sharp. He was wearing a leather armor and a white lab coat on top of it. This man was Torkez. A beautiful woman with long black hair and pointed ears approached him from the side. Her name was Remina. ¡°Sir, we estimated that Ekatoe City only had a population of thirty thousand people. Its rank is quite low and it doesn¡¯t have a lot of powerhouses.¡± Remina said. ¡°Our job is to handle all the opposition of this city before our leader arrives,¡± Torkez said. ¡°I understand,¡± Remina said. Torkez stretched his body and said, ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve fought someone. I wonder if I could still keep up.¡± Ekatoe City. It was a city outside the territory of large countries or any holy lands. It was just one of the cities that could be destroyed anytime so it wasn¡¯t included in the God¡¯s Continent land. Well, on the regional map, this city was included and the regional map was updated every six months as some of the territories would collapse or new ones would arise. A few days ago, the City Lord suddenly resigned and it shook the forces of the city. It was too sudden and no one was informed about it. Then, they quickly received that a new City Lord would be coming soon. A lot of people wanted to find the City Lord but he was already gone. No one was left in the City Hall. It became abandoned in the blink of an eye. The various forces in the city became restless. The city lord was just a puppet of the strongest family in the city. The sudden disappearance of the City Lord shook the entire city. He only left a note before he disappeared. The note said that he was going to retire and he was going to pass the position of City Lord to a man named Souta. No one knew who¡¯s Souta or where he came from. It was a mystery so a lot of people were perplexed. The Shimpan Family, the one who controlled the former City Lord, wanted to ignore the letter. They wanted to place a new City Lord for their benefit. No one knew who¡¯s Souta. After all, Souta hasn¡¯t made a name for himself, and all the things that he did in God¡¯s Continent were small. Even if Souta was the one who stopped the chaos in the Dukedom of Halbun, his name would only spread in the neighboring small cities or small kingdoms. That dukedom was nonexistent in the eyes of the people across the continent. The news wouldn¡¯t spread that far unless the dukedom was a ranked as large country. If a dukedom, city, kingdom, or empire had a god powerhouse it would be ranked as a large country. No matter what type of government it had, as long as it had god-realm experts, people would call it large country. If Ekatoe City had a god-realm expert overseeing it, even if it had only a thousand people, people would still call it large country. A god-realm powerhouse was all that matters. People would naturally flock around and the population would expand quickly. After all, it was safer in a place that god protected. Aside from the large country, just below it was the rich country. A rich country was a city, kingdom, etc that houses Shackled Realm experts up to Demigod Realm. If the Ladros City wasn¡¯t part of the Hebrei Kingdom, it would still be a rich country since it houses several dozens of Shackled Realm experts. ¡°What the hell did that Carpo do?! If I see him, I¡¯m going to skin him alive!¡± An old man with a thick beard and mustache said angrily. He was the head of the Shimpan Family, Edward Shimpan. ¡°He escapes and appointed an unknown person as the next City Lord! Father, I think that the Shimpan Family should step up and control the city openly!¡± The man with long black hair and thick eyebrows said. He was the first son of the family head, Adel Shimpan. ¡°We should be careful, father. The other city will come to us if we carelessly move. Since the appointment of the new Governor, there¡¯s been a strange silence between the other cities.¡± The second son of the family head said. He was Alan Shimpan ¡°Right, the Governor of the Mine Valley wanted to expand its territory. It wanted to swallow Ekatoe City and other cities around it.¡± Edward said as he stroked his thick beard. ¡°Tsk! Then, what about the new City Lord of our city?¡± Adel clicked his tongue and asked. ¡°There¡¯s a chance that it¡¯s set up by the new Governor. If we move carelessly then we would only give the Governor an excuse to attack us.¡± Alan said. ¡°Should we ask some bandits to go to the Crime Law City?¡± Edward carefully asked. ¡°No, father! Those bastards from that city will only use this to loot the wealth of our family!¡± Adel rejected it. ¡°I think that we should first wait for the appearance of the new City Lord.¡± Alan sighed and said. ¡°According to Carpo¡¯s letter the next City Lord would arrive in a few days.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better if we ignore the letter and placed a person that we could control,¡± Adel said. ¡°No matter what, we can¡¯t lose control of this city,¡± Edward said in a low voice. Suddenly, the door opened and a person hurriedly stepped inside. The person was breathing heavily and sweat was forming on his forehead. ¡°Huff¡­ Huff¡­ Family Head! A group of people arrived at the City Hall! They said that they are the subordinates of the new City Lord!¡± The person said. ¡°What?!!¡± Edward, Adel, and Alan were shocked when they heard their subordinate¡¯s words. ¡°Are you serious?!¡± ¡°Yes, sir. They went inside the City Hall.¡± The person said. The news about the group of people claiming that they were subordinates of the new City Lord quickly spread across the entire Ekatoe City. Various small forces inside the city quickly moved. The civilians could only hope that the newly appointed City Lord wouldn¡¯t increase their taxes. Torkez was standing in the office of the City Lord. He was looking at the window with a calm look. ¡°Call the engineers and earth mage. We¡¯ll build new buildings around the City Hall and expand it. As for the people that oppose the rule of our leader, kill them all. This is our new territory. It will become a part of Astros in the near future.¡± Chapter 691: Shimpan Family Torkez didn¡¯t care about the forces of this city. As long as they follow the rule of Souta, he wouldn¡¯t mind them. Hmm¡­? He turned his head and saw several people trying to enter the gate to City Hall. He wondered where they got their guts to cause trouble in this place. But after observing them he sighed. Those people were just thugs and it seems that they were following someone¡¯s order to test the waters here. Torkez turned his head to Remina and said, ¡°Go, leave one alive for interrogation then we¡¯ll move to destroy the people behind them.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Remina nodded and she quickly left to complete his order. Looking at her back, Torkez sighed. He sat down on an empty chair and leaned his back while looking at the ceiling. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve met Souta and the others. I wonder what happened to them. The Astros still lacks a lot of things¡­¡± He mumbled to himself. He should take this chance to rest since he¡¯s been working nonstop for the past few months. He could just leave the rest to Remina and the others. He only brought ten people here. He was in the advanced group so the rest would arrive later. Not everyone would come here since they still have to guard the Guardian Fortress. It¡¯s just that since this place became Souta¡¯s territory, they had to build it the same. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m going to rest here.¡± Torkez nodded as he closed his eyes and he slowly fell asleep. ¡­ Remina walked outside and glared at the three thugs who were trying to enter the City Hall. The two people who were guarding the gate bowed when she appeared. After all, her position in the Astros was quite high. ¡°What are you doing here? This is the City Hall! You people aren¡¯t welcome here!¡± She said in a cold tone. ¡°Oh, a beautiful woman! Why don¡¯t you just have fun with us?¡± One of the thugs licked his lips. They stared at her body with lecherous eyes. They didn¡¯t even bother hiding their gaze at her. Remina narrowed her eyes and said, ¡°Kill them. Leave one alive.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± The two guards nodded at her politely. ¡°Hey-¡± One of the thugs was about to say something when something flashed in front of them. In the next moment, their heads were rolling in the air, splashing blood in every direction. Thud! With a ¡°thud¡± sound, their heads landed on the ground. The remaining thug slowly turned his head and looked at his comrades. His face quickly turned pale as he fell on his butt while pointing at the two guards in horror. ¡°Y-Y-You¡­¡± He was shocked and scared at the same time. He didn¡¯t even know how his comrades died. It was too fast and he only realized it when two heads rolled on the floor. ¡°You couldn¡¯t even assess our power level so you must have thought that everyone is the same as you,¡± Remina said plainly. She turned around and added, ¡°Pick him up. We¡¯ll interrogate him.¡± She strode forward and entered the City Hall once again. She went to the other room and find her subordinates. She asked them to clean the gate and dispose the corpse of those thugs. This city was just similar to where she came from, the Blue Ray City. In that city, the strongest experts were only at Liquefying Realm. At that time, she was only a small figure and she was ignorant about the true powerhouses of the universe. ¡°I wonder if there are people that we could use.¡± Remina muttered as she stared at her hand. She was stronger than before. She had reached the so-called Liquefying Realm and the nine people with her were all B-rank. Before Liquefying Realm or A-rank, people had to strengthen their bodies and achieve a state where their bodies could withstand the transformation of mana. So from the lowest rank up to B-rank, people should focus on strengthening their flesh. There was another route aside from strengthening their flesh. It was to widen their mana pool and increased their mana capacity. Most of the mages used this route. ¡°I wonder how many experts are hiding in this city.¡± Remina said in a low voice. It doesn¡¯t matter since she would find out later. They were going to check every corner of Ekatoe City before the leader arrives. ¡°It feels like they didn¡¯t care about the changes in the world. Or maybe, they think that it is out of their league.¡± She muttered. The changes in the mana density were a huge event but it seems that most of the people here didn¡¯t care about it. ¡°Or maybe, this is normal for them since they are folks of Divine World. But Sir Torkez said that this isn¡¯t a normal event.¡± She shook her head and placed thoughts in the back of her mind. She still had something to do, so she shouldn¡¯t think about those things right now. She would figure it out later after she completed her job. ¡­ In the Shimpam Family Household¡­ Edward had a gloomy look on his face. He looked at his two sons and slowly said, ¡°The people from Blood Gore Bandits make a move. The people that they send to test were killed mercilessly.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the rank of the people in the City Hall?¡± Adel, the first son, asked with a frown on his face. ¡°I don¡¯t have any idea but the three people from Blood Gore Bandits Masters,¡± Edward said as he stared into the eyes of his sons. ¡°Masters? Then, the people at City Hall are experts at Grandmaster rank.¡± Alan, the second son, said while rubbing his chin. ¡°It¡¯s good that we remain silent or else our people would suffer the safe fate as those bandits.¡± In God¡¯s Continent, the expert at C-rank was called Master while the expert at B-rank was called Grandmaster. They were different from the Giza Continent which used the ranking of Adventurers Guild in the entire land. Alan glanced at his father and asked, ¡°Father, do you think that they are people of the Governor?¡± Edward sighed and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have any idea. We can only wait for the response from the City Hall and we¡¯ll know whose side they are.¡± Adel slammed his fist on the table and said angrily, ¡°No matter what! I will not let other people control our city! We should take the Blood Gore Bandits and let them fight the experts at City Hall!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t brother! Unless we have enough information about those people we can¡¯t act recklessly!¡± Alan said to his brother. ¡°What if it gets to the point that it¡¯s already too late to move because of your hesitation?! Can you really take the blame for it?! Huh?!¡± Adel said loudly. ¡°STOP!!¡± Edward shouted to stop both of his sons. He glanced at them and said, ¡°Adel, stop it. Alan is right. In this world, it¡¯s better to move carefully. Sooner or later, I¡¯m afraid that even our land would be involved in wars.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we had to move. Expand and strengthened our territory before the war occurred.¡± Adel clicked his tongue. He¡¯s not wrong. In this situation, they had to expand their powers and strengthened their army. The Governor had changed and he was already planning to annex the surrounding city including Ekatoe City. If they still remain silent, then they would be helpless once the army of the Governor of Mine Valley. ¡­ ¡°Vice-Chief, the prisoner spilled some information. He said that he belonged to a group called Blood Gore Bandits. It¡¯s a bandit group that secretly hides and controlled the underground of Ekatoe City.¡± The two guards that interrogated the thug returned. They quickly reported what they found to Remina. Torkez was the Chief of Finance, Research, and Secretary of the Leader. While Remina was the Vice-Chief of Finance so when Torkez was in his research, she was the one who was handling the Finance Department of Astros. Remina nodded while listening to the reports of her subordinates. The Blood Gore Bandit was one of the three underground organizations of Ekatoe City. The three underground organization was in alliance to go against the Shimpan Family. They were fighting about who was going to control the city. ¡°As for the strength of their organization¡­ It seems that we can¡¯t act rashly. I need to report this to Sir Torkez first.¡± Remina said with a frown. She massaged her temples and after a while, she glanced at the two. She waved her hand while saying, ¡°You can go now.¡± They were the first batch here. The second batch would arrive soon and they would have enough manpower to annex the three underground organizations. ¡°Sir Torkez is the one who¡¯s going to decide,¡± Remina mumbled as she stood up. She quickly went to the City Lord¡¯s Office and found that Torkez was sleeping. She didn¡¯t disturb him and she just waited for him to wake up. In her view, the information about the three underground organizations wasn¡¯t worth it if she was going to disturb Torkez. Still, she had to report so she waited for him. When Torkez woke up and heard her report, he answered, ¡°Nah, we don¡¯t need to wait for the others. Let¡¯s just go there and destroy those people.¡± Chapter 692: Raiding the Blood Gore Bandits Hideout ¡°Are you sure that we can fight them, Sir?¡± Remina asked as she was a little bit surprised at his decision. From her understanding of him, Torkez wouldn¡¯t act rashly as he was going to gather more information before he take action. ¡°Yeah, I think that we could handle them. The three leaders of the underground organizations are just bandits and they are at Solidifying Realm. It would be a different question if someone at Shackled Realm is living in this city.¡± Torkez explained to her. ¡°I understand, Sir.¡± Remina nodded at him. She slightly bowed and quickly left the room to call the others. Torkez glanced at her until she disappeared. Then, he looked at the window. ¡°We¡¯re not going to destroy the three of them. I doubt the other two organizations would help the Blood Gore Bandit. It will be a good example since we¡¯re going to rule this city.¡± If the others weren¡¯t convinced then they should leave this place or else if they got in the way of Souta¡¯s plan, Torkez wouldn¡¯t be able to guarantee if they were going to survive or not. ¡­ In the Blood Gore Bandits headquarters¡­ A tall man with short red hair smashed his fist into the table. He had a bulky body, his skin was tanned, and he had a huge scar across his face. He was the leader of the Blood Gore Bandit, Carmin. ¡°Those guys from the City Hall did that?! They really killed my men!!¡± Carmin said with a ferocious look on his face. He was emitting strong bloodlust that made the other people in the room silent. ¡°Who are those people?! The former City Lord escaped and passed the position to an unknown person, and now¡­ A group of experts is occupying the city hall!¡± He was frustrated. He didn¡¯t expect that the people in the city hall would boldly kill his subordinates in daylight. He turned his head and glanced at one of his men. ¡°Hey! What¡¯s the response of the Shimpan Family?!¡± He asked with a fierce look on his face. ¡°I don¡¯t know, boss. They are just observing the situation for now.¡± The subordinate answered quickly, afraid that Carmin would kill him. ¡°Ha! Those fucking shits! Can someone go to the Virna Bandit and South Maim Gang?! I need to ask them something!!¡± He said while gritting his teeth. He should cooperate with those two to control the city hall. According to his information, there were only eleven people inside that building. It would be easy to kill them if he work with the other two gangs. Boom! Suddenly, the ground shook and they sensed several mana fluctuations. ¡°What¡¯s happening?!¡± Carmin asked angrily. The door was slammed open and a thug hurriedly entered the room. He looked around and his eyes stop at his boss. ¡°Boss! A group of people is attacking our base!!¡± The thug explained. From his looks, it seems that he rushed here from that place where the mana fluctuations came from. ¡°What?!¡± Carmin opened his eyes widely. ¡°Who is brave enough to attack the base of Blood Gore Bandits?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, sir! But they started killing our people!!¡± The man explained with a hint of fear in his tone. ¡°Tsk! Useless!¡± Carmin clicked his tongue before he stood up. He wore his equipment and picked up a spear. ¡°Come with me, everyone! Let¡¯s see who¡¯s brave enough to attack us, the Blood Gore Bandit!¡± ¡­ ¡°This group of bandits is surely a powerful group,¡± Torkez commented as he chopped the head of a bandit with his hand. He looked at the headless corpse of the bandit. Then, he looked around and saw that every bandit in this street was dead. Their corpses were scattered around and their blood dyed the ground in red. ¡°Hu~¡± He took a long sigh before he turned his head. Most of the bandits here were just C-rank. They were just foddered so the ten people he brought easily killed them all. Nine of them were at B-rank and Remina was A-rank or Liquefying Realm. It was easy for them to finish a group of thirty people at C-rank even if he didn¡¯t make a move. Remina approached him and said, ¡°Sir, we¡¯ve finished taking care of all the bandits in this area.¡± ¡°Good job. It¡¯s time to find their leader.¡± Torkez said. Then, he raised his eyebrows and turned around. ¡°Nevermind, they are coming to us.¡± ¡°Oh, do you mean?¡± Remina looked in the direction where he was looking. ¡°Yep, they are here.¡± Torkez nodded with a faint smile on his face. He wouldn¡¯t need to waste his time trying to find the rest of the bandits. Remina turned around and said to her subordinates. ¡°Prepare for battle, the enemies are coming.¡± ¡°The civilians in this street are gone but on the other streets¡­ You should order three people to evacuate the civilians within a radius of five hundred meters.¡± Torkez said to her. ¡°There¡¯s an S-rank so this place would get destroyed from battle.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Remina nodded. Three people quickly disappeared after receiving the order. A battle of an S-rank would pulverize this street without a doubt. Even though the increase in mana density strengthened the world, an S-rank could still show a power that could destroy a huge area of land. After a few moments, a group of seventeen people arrived. There was one S-rank, two A-rank, six B-rank, and the rest were just C-rank. ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re the people from the city hall.¡± The strongest one said with an amused expression. He glanced around and looked at the corpses of his men. ¡°You didn¡¯t even hold back. You¡¯ve killed all my men. Is that how people from the city hall should act?¡± He was Carmin, the leader of the Blood Gore Bandit. One of the strongest people here in Ekatoe City. Torkez ignored Carmin. Instead, he glanced at Remina and asked, ¡°Can you handle the rest?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try, sir,¡± Remina answered. She wasn¡¯t sure if she could defeat two Liquefying Realm alone but she¡¯ll try her best to defeat them. As for the B-rank and below, her subordinates were enough to handle them. ¡°Okay, just don¡¯t die. I¡¯ll finish this as soon as possible.¡± Torkez said before he disappeared from his position. Boom! The ground cracked as he appeared in front of Carmin. He raised his hand and it quickly turned into a sharp blade. Then, he swung it down with all of his might. ¡°You!!¡± Carmin was a little bit surprised but he never panicked. He was an experienced fighter so he reacted quickly. Raising the spear in his hand, he blocked Torkez¡¯s attack without any problem. Boom!! The bandits beside Carmin quickly jumped away as shockwave swept out. They didn¡¯t want to get caught in the battle between two S-rank experts. Their job was to finish the other people from City Hall. Bang! Bang! Remina and the others clashed with the bandits with all of their might. Several houses were demolished in the blink of an eye. ¡°Who are you?! Are you working for Governor?¡± Carmin asked while gritting his teeth. He infused his mana in his spear and pushed his opponent away. Then, he quickly stepped forward and thrust his weapon. ¡°Who¡¯s that? I¡¯m working for one person. And he¡¯s not the Governor of some shit.¡± Torkez bent his body as the spear passed through two inches above his chest. He moved his hand and grabbed the spear before he stomped his left foot on the ground. Bang! The ground shook as huge cracks appeared. Torkez pulled the spear and delivered a blow to Carmin¡¯s stomach. Bang! ¡°Ugh! You can turn your hands into blades?!¡± Carmin spat a mouthful of blood as he waved his weapon and flames burst out of his other hand. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve fought someone,¡± Torkez said before he jumped away. His figure quickly disappeared and the flames missed him. Swoosh! The flames landed on the ground causing a series of explosions that destroyed dozens of houses instantly. Boom! Boom! Carmin said as he stared at Torkez who was standing on top of a house. ¡°You¡¯re strong! Why don¡¯t you join us? If you join us then we¡¯ll conquer this city.¡± ¡°Huh? Conquer this city?! Are you dreaming? Hahaha!¡± Torkez laughed when he heard Carmin¡¯s words. His energy flared up and the ground started to tremble. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll let you live and you will see for yourself how naive you are!¡± ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Carmin narrowed his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re a high-stage S-rank so I couldn¡¯t afford to take it easy. So let me show you something¡­¡± Torkez grinned widely. A huge eye appeared on the center of his leather armor. It opened widely and stared straight at Carmin. Then, his body transformed under Carmin¡¯s eyes. It was a full-body transformation of the parasitic essence eater. Strings of flesh converged from the huge eyes and it enveloped his entire body. In the blink of an eye, he became a two and a half meter tall man with ten tails sticking out on his back. Each tail had sharp tips that could pierce any metal and his thick black skin had purple veins throbbing inside it. ¡°You don¡¯t have a chance against me¡­ I¡¯ll chop your limbs and let you witness how my leader controlled this small city.¡± Chapter 693: Reform Bang! Bang! Shockwave after shockwave swept out the surrounding area. The entire streets were demolished and the battle between Torkez and Carmin attracted the other experts in Ekatoe City. Boom! Carmin was blown away and his body penetrated several houses. Ugh! He groaned in pain. He looked ahead only to find that his opponent was already close to him. The shadow of his opponent covered in as he found himself staring into nothingness. "N-No..." He realized that his opponent was stronger than him. He had no chance of him at all. Even if he could injure his Torkez, Torkez would simply regenerate faster than he could ever imagine. He didn''t know how he could defeat this guy. He... He felt scared for the first time in several years. Thud! Torkez stepped forward and it slightly shook the floor. He stared at his opponent coldly as a huge amount of mana was fluctuating around him. "Just like what I''ve said before... You have no chance to defeat me." He said before he swung his huge arm which was covered in spikes. "Don''t underestimate me!" Carmin roared and he swung his spear at the same time. Flames covered his spear and the temperature rose sharply. Boom!! Both of their attacks collided. A ring-shaped shockwave spread out from the center of the impact. It destroyed the surrounding houses. Argh!! Carmin was blown away once again. Before he could crash onto the ground, Torkez chased after him and shot a ball of condensed energy. Boom!! It was a one-sided battle. Torkez was dominating Carmin ever since he used the power of the parasite. Even though both of them were at the same level, he was trashing his opponent like he was lower than him. Torkez''s parasite boosted his strength and also his equipment was better than Carmin''s. Most of his equipment was orange-grade and Carmin only had blue and purple grade. The difference was huge. Carmin was just a leader of a small gang in a random city in God''s Continent so it would be hard for him to acquire higher-grade equipment. After several minutes of trashing, Carmin couldn''t even move his body anymore. He was full of wounds and his left arm was shredded into tiny pieces. Torkez stretched out his hand and grabbed Carmin''s head. He raised him in the air as he narrowed his eyes. "Y-You... m-monster... j-just w-what the hell are you..? J-just... kill me..." Carmin said with great effort. He couldn''t even speak properly with his current condition. Torkez grinned and said, "As I said before, I will not kill you. I will let you watch my leader take over this city. After that, I''ll kill you." After he said those words, his other hand turned into sharp blades. The blades moved fiercely as it tore Carmin''s remaining arm into countless pieces. ARGH!!! Carmin screamed and his voice echoed throughout the whole area. Everyone within a radius of one kilometer heard the pain in his voice. Torkez loosened his grip as he let his opponent fall to the ground. He raised his right foot and stepped onto Carmin''s back. "I''m not a fan of killing but I have to do this... My Lord said that I''ve got to take control of this city before he arrives. As for the rest of the organizations in this city, I''m sure that they are watching this battle." He said as he glanced at his surrounding. While he was fighting Carmin, he sensed several energy arrived near the battlefield. Well, he didn''t care about them and his goal was to show his power so that they wouldn''t have a second thoughts when Souta ruled this city. "Argh!! You are not... from the Governor... y-you..." Before Carmin could finish his sentence, Torez kicked his head directly knocking him out. This was a good exercise. It''s been a while since he fought someone and he felt that his combat prowess was getting rusty. "I only won because I have a great advantage..." He muttered in a low voice. Carmin could damage him but it was useless since he had a parasitic essence eater in his body. If the battle lasted longer then his parasite would reach its limit. "It took me almost twenty minutes to finish a high-stage S-rank. When Franklin is at my level, it only took him five minutes to finish the same level of opponent." Torkez shook his head. He turned and clapped his hand loudly. His subordinates and the remaining bandits of the Blood Gore Bandits heard the loud sound. When they looked over, they saw that the battle was concluded. The bandits didn''t have a choice but to surrender. Torkez''s appearance didn''t have a slightest wound and from their battle against the other people, they guess that he also had an unbelievable regeneration ability. All of them had that powerful regenerative ability. How? The question that kept lingering in their minds. "It''s finished... Let''s pack things up." Torkez smiled. If the others still tried to fight them, they should''ve known what would happen. The destruction of the Blood Gore Bandits was an example. Shimpan Family and the other two organizations were alarmed. They didn''t think that the people in the city hall were so strong that they would uproot the entire Blood Gore Bandits in just a single day. Right now, they were discussing some things if the people from city hall were Governor''s men. They even sent some of their men to the neighboring cities to find some clues related to these people. While they were alarmed, the civilians were happy that the Blood Gore Bandits was destroyed. The bandits that extort their money were finally gone. But some minded people have different ideas... They thought that this event would ignite a chaos in the entire city. In the city hall... "I think it''s better if we start implementing the law," Torkez whispered. Souta would arrive in a few days so it''s better to set things right. "Sir, we''ve finished demolishing the old buildings around the city hall. The earth mage and the engineers would arrive soon." Remina reported. Torkez raised his eyebrows. "Oh, that''s good. Announce to everyone in the city that this place will undergo a huge change. Demolished the city walls and the district around the city hall. The people in the inner district shall move according to our arrangement." "Yes, sir." Remina bowed slightly before she left. She didn''t even ask whether the civilians would like it or not. She already knew the answer to it. Torkez glanced at her back before he stared at the seat of the city lord. He knew that changes would arouse the emotions of civilians but he still had to do it. "Later, they would realize that all of this is for the expansion of Ekatoe City. It will only flourish because that''s the only way we could keep up with the changes in the world." The announcement shook the entire Ekatoe City. It was inevitable since the people that were living around the area of people were rich so they didn''t want to move out and squeezed themselves into the outer district. It was their land so how could they give it up easily? The Virna Bandit and South Maim Gang silently stir up the emotions of these people so that they would vent all of their anger at the new city lord. All this time, the Shimpan Family was observing the entire event. They didn''t even move. They just watch the event unfold before their eyes. They knew that if the city hall didn''t change their decision, a rebellion would occur. But since this was the first day, it wouldn''t happen. On the next day, a lot of people were still protesting around the city hall. The nine guards were emitting a strong aura so they didn''t dare to advance. They could only shout and swear. Looking at these people, Torkez felt a slight headache. He didn''t want to massacre them as he knew that if someone suddenly came and said that they would destroy their home and move out, of course, he would react the same. "After building everything, I will arrange an area for them." He said in a low voice. Suddenly, he turned around as he sensed Remina''s aura. He asked, "What did you find?" "Sir, I''ve found that the Virna Bandit and South Maim Gang are behind this." Remina paused and asked, "Should we move and kill them?" Torkez shook his head, "No, Amanda is going to arrive soon. Some of the Noxious are with her so we can leave this job to them." "I understand, sir." Remina nodded. Two hours later a group of people entered Ekatoe City. The one who was leading this group was Amanda, the Chief of the Witch Corps. She brought thirty witches, twenty from the Noxious corps, and fifty ordinary members. In these one hundred people, thirteen were S-rank, forty-seven were A-rank, and the rest were either B-rank or C-rank. With this lineup, everyone would soon realize that they had no chance to overthrow the city hall. Overwhelming power would shut the mouth of all weaklings. Chapter 694: Reforming the Ekatoe City In just a few hours after Amanda¡¯s arrival, the Virna Bandit and South Maim Gang were destroyed. It shook the entire city as the three organizations that rule the underground of Ekatoe City were thoroughly destroyed. It was a force that could sweep out the entire city. They didn¡¯t imagine that the new city lord would have this power. Everyone could only shut their mouth in front of overwhelming power. Inside the city hall¡­ Amanda was sitting in front of a table while drinking tea. She placed down the cup in her hands and looked at Torkez, who was sitting in front of her. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of sending some of our people to the nearby cities to know the situation of this area.¡± She said. ¡°Okay, send the agents of Noxious. Franklin trained them as assassins so they will do better. Just tell them that don¡¯t create any trouble or attention.¡± Torkez replied to her. ¡°Yep, that¡¯s better. We don¡¯t even know if our leader would care about conquering the nearby cities.¡± Amanda shrugged her shoulders before she crossed her legs. ¡°So¡­ Who¡¯s going here next?¡± Torkez asked her. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Souta asked me to go to the Champion¡¯s Den before but he changed his mind. So I went back and picked up some people before I headed here in Ekatoe City.¡± Amanda opened her arms helplessly. She actually wanted to visit the famous Champion¡¯s Den once. ¡°Hahaha¡­ You don¡¯t have to think badly of it. I think Souta will ask us to register in Athen¡¯s Legion sooner or later. When that happens, you can volunteer yourself.¡± Torkez laughed lightly. Amanda smiled as she closed her eyes. ¡°I wonder what are they doing right now.¡± ¡°Yep, I bet that old man Franklin is causing trouble once again.¡± Torkez laughed. Torkez and Amanda were talking casually. None of them even mentioned the three rulers of the underground in Ekatoe City. Those organizations didn¡¯t even enter their eyes. It wasn¡¯t worth their time if they were going to think about them. So they just wanted to talk casually since they had time. They knew that once Souta arrived here, they would probably get busy. The inner district was demolished. All the people that were living there had moved out. They didn¡¯t have a choice at all. The people from city hall forced them and some people got injured in this process. After clearing the entire district, the engineers and earth mage started to build a wall around it. The walls had a height of forty meters and a thickness of two meters. It was made with high-class metals so it wouldn¡¯t break easily. The civilians could only watch this hopelessly. They didn¡¯t even have an idea what¡¯s the plan of the city hall by building a huge wall inside the city. On the next day, more people arrived. The leading people were Elder Guan of the Witch Corps and Gragas, the Chief of the Military Arms Department. Their arrival extinguished any sort of resistance from any organization inside Ekatoe City. Learning that there was a Shackled Realm expert in this group of people stupefied them to the point that they couldn¡¯t believe it. Even the Shimpan Family, the strongest family in the whole city, silently drew their investigation as they were afraid of going against this power. Right now, they didn¡¯t even think about controlling the city anymore. A Shackled Realm expert was enough to sweep through this place. ¡°Just where did they come from?¡± Edward, the family head of the Shimpan Family, said in frustration. He could only let out a long sigh and accept that this city wasn¡¯t for them. ¡°Father¡­¡± Alan, the second son, looked at his father¡¯s depressed look. ¡°I think that these people aren¡¯t under Governor. In fact, they are far stronger than the Governor.¡± He tightly clenched both of his fists and slowly said, ¡°Maybe, they are from a larger territory¡­ But why would those people be interested in our small city? I don¡¯t get it.¡± He was talking about those famous countries or cities that housed several dozens of Shackled Realm experts. The small Ekatoe City couldn¡¯t even be compared to those places. The difference was huge as they could see it in the goods sold in this city. There were no high grade weapons, potions, or any rare materials that could attract those experts. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Edward sighed heavily as he glanced at the ceiling. In front of those people, he could only shut his mouth. ¡°We can only look at this positively. Maybe, our city will experience a huge change and maybe attract various resources.¡± Alan said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. There¡¯s no need to look at this situation negatively. ¡°We can only help them in maintaining Ekatoe City if we didn¡¯t want to lose our status.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡± Edward nodded. ¡°I wonder what will be the Governor¡¯s reaction,¡± Alan said with a hint of worry in his tone. Three days later, Souta¡¯s group finally arrived at Ekatoe City. ¡°It¡¯s a big city,¡± Isabella muttered as she looked left and right. She rarely got out of the base so she was curious about this new base of Astros. ¡°Oho, this is our land,¡± Eztein exclaimed while looking around. Souta smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m only the city lord of this place. Nothing much.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the same as those nobles. This is your land from now on and you¡¯re the one who¡¯s going to decide the rules of this land. You can even stay here for as long as you like.¡± Eilish replied to his words. ¡°I think it¡¯s better in Champion¡¯s Den. Most of the people there are stronger than me but this small city¡­ I don¡¯t think that there¡¯s anyone who could fight me.¡± Franklin said with a plain look. ¡°There is nothing you can find there. I asked Torkez to clean the place before I arrive.¡± Souta said with a smile while looking at the two children walking in front of him with Alice. The two children were Airi¡¯s siblings. The girl was named Aina while the boy was named Anzu. They were walking several meters ahead of him and they were equipped with purple-grade equipment. It was some sort of training for him as well. Souta was trying his best not to leak any of the best feram in his body. If he loses focus, then it would affect the two children. Best feram was harder to control than the mana and one of the reasons was its violent characteristic. ¡®In this place, they would be able to live a better life. I could let them learn several combat arts or spells. It depends on their style. That way, they could protect themselves in the future if I¡¯m gone.¡¯ Souta said inwardly while looking at Aina and Anzu. This was his way of repaying Airi for what she did to him. Even though he never asked her to risk her life, he still owed her and that¡¯s his moral. Even if she stepped up because of her feeling, Souta still had to take responsibility. He wouldn¡¯t blame her if she didn¡¯t come forward at that time as that¡¯s what he would do if he met someone far far stronger than him. It¡¯s her decision to step up and it¡¯s his decision to take care of her siblings. The group entered the city. They didn¡¯t attract any attention as a number of people were entering and leaving the city every hour. Plus, they looked pretty much ordinary with the two children. They quickly headed straight to the city hall where everyone was waiting for them. Inside the office of the city lord¡­ Souta was sitting in his seat while listening to Torkez and Amanda¡¯s report. Listening to them, made him think that he didn¡¯t have to give them an order. He looked at the two of them before he turned to everyone in the group. ¡°Just focus on building this city and don¡¯t forget to train yourself. One month from now, some warriors will come here and bring us our monthly resources. They will also arrange a mission board in our base.¡± He slowly explained to them so that everyone could understand. He also didn¡¯t forget to tell them that if they wanted, they could join the Athen¡¯s Champion. The walls would be completed in the next few days and they would begin to build several structures. The wall was a boundary for Astros and Ekatoe City. Only members of Astros could enter the former inner district of this place. As for the members of the Astros, they were going to maintain the stability of the land. The taxes were the same and the rules slightly changed but they were all familiar with it. It¡¯s just that Souta, demolished the structures of nobles. In his city, no one could own a land. It was all the property of the city hall and their taxes were for their protection. Some of the taxes would go to the new building project around the Pople district. Pople district was the given name of the land outside of the Astros. In short, Ekatoe City was divided into two areas; the Astros and the Pople. Chapter 695: Combat Arts, Spells, and Techniques The Astros had many members, especially the people from the witch clan. He even brought children and old witches after accepting Amanda¡¯s allegiance. Not everyone in the witch clan was an expert so he naturally didn¡¯t know what to do with them. So he let them do what they were doing when they were still in the witch clan. Simple farm and selling to make a living. Just the lives of ordinary people. They had different professions and most of the engineers that were working to build the wall were witches. Also, Souta would copy Athen¡¯s Champion. He planned to create a portal here and establish a connection on the Guardian Fortress. Doranjan, Yuko, and the others were still staying in that place. To create a portal, he had to use most of the savings that he kept. It would take a large number of resources as he also needs to create a portal on the Guardian Fortress. The resources needed depends on the distance between the two sides. The transportational jump of the Guardian Fortress was almost nonexistent in Imperium. The mana density in this land was preventing it from jumping to a far place. Especially right now since the increase in mana density a few days ago. The travel distance of the transportational jump was reduced by a lot. It¡¯s not as simple as the portal that Eilish build to transport objects. ¡°You can also recruit the civilians in this city¡­¡± Souta then clapped his hands and said, ¡°Okay, I still have something to do so you can go out now.¡± Torkez, Alice, Franklin, and the rest nodded at him before they left the room one by one. After everyone left, Souta stood up and looked at the piles of thick notebooks in the corner of the room. He picked one and placed it on top of the table. ¡°Saya, I¡¯ll leave it to you. It¡¯s time to fulfill what you promised before.¡± He said. ¡®Fine¡­¡¯ Saya¡¯s voice sounded in his head. Souta lowered his guard and Saya took control of his body. She then opened the notebook and proceeded to write something in it with full concentration. Previously in the Fone Kingdom, Saya said that she was going to provide him with some of the combat arts and spells that she knew. Not just combat arts and spells, there were even techniques that could help people strengthen their flesh and mana pool faster. There were even techniques for Liquefying, Solidifying, and Shackled Realms. This would help the Astros grow faster than before. This would even benefit the chiefs of Astros except for Alice and Isabella. Well, she was using a demon art to help her liquefy, solidify, and break the shackles in her body. As for Isabella, she had the legacy of the God of Hunt. Their progression was definitely faster than anyone in the Astros. Alice had already broken one shackle when the mana density rose sharply and Isabella was currently at the initial stage of S-rank. Franklin, Eztein, and Eilish also had better combat arts and spells than others. The achievement points they earned from clearing the mission were exchanged for high-level skills in Athen¡¯s Champion. That¡¯s why Souta recommended that if anyone wants to join the Athen¡¯s Champion, they could join freely. After two days, the compilation of combat arts, spells, and techniques was completed. Saya didn¡¯t include the exclusive race skill as no one would be able to use it except for vajras. It was the same for Alice¡¯s demon art. It wasn¡¯t built for other races to use. Souta asked if Archetype was an exclusive race skill which she answer by saying ¡°no¡±. He could learn it but the true power of [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] would only be displayed when a vajra was using it. So that¡¯s why he felt that something was missing when he was practicing it. ¡®This is enough¡­ I can¡¯t remember the other powerful skills.¡¯ Saya said in a tired tone. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯ve greatly helped me.¡± Souta smiled as he could understand Saya¡¯s feelings. It was impossible for Saya to remember all the skills that she knew for several hundreds of years. She was a god before but right now¡­ Her ability had degraded much to the point that it even affected some of her memories. Souta was somewhat similar. He couldn¡¯t remember all the dungeons that he knew in the game. He had already forgotten some of the events in the game. And the hundreds of quests that he took in the game, he could only remember a few of them. He wanted to recruit people like Isabella, Yanagi, or Alexander who would become powerhouses in the future. But he forgot their backstory so he didn¡¯t even know where he could find them. He was surprised when he met Alexander in the Fone Kingdom. That man was going to become the Ancient Myriad Emperor. ¡°Hu~ let¡¯s call Torkez.¡± Souta exhaled as he stretched his body. Saya had been using this body to write every explanation of the combat arts, spells, and techniques that she could remember. He circulated his best feram to stimulate his muscles and bones. It was also a way of strengthening his body. He gently opened his mouth and said, ¡°Torkez, come here.¡± His voice contained best feram so it traveled quite far and Torkez naturally heard it. In just a few seconds, Torkez arrived in his room. ¡°Is there something I can do for you?¡± Torkez asked after he bowed his body slightly. It was a sign of respect for the leader. Although Souta said that he didn¡¯t care about it, Torkez would bow if he knew that he was going to receive an order. ¡°See these notebooks?¡± Souta pointed at the piles of thick notebooks. ¡°Take all of it and build a school in Astros. All of you can learn this and after that, find some instructors for the school.¡± Torkez stared at the notebooks. After a few moments, he said, ¡°I understand. I will do my best to improve myself.¡± ¡°Nah, don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m sure that you will be fine. Just don¡¯t forget to continue your research on parasites.¡± Souta waved his hand. Torkez thanked him before he left whole all the notebooks. Souta knew that he could leave it to him and everything would work out. If there was any problem that he couldn¡¯t solve, he knew that Torkez would consult him. Sometimes he wondered why he played solo in the past. He had a feeling that there was a reason for it but he couldn¡¯t remember it. His memory was still vague even though he reached the fourth stage. ¡°There¡¯s still one month before the warriors from Athen¡¯s Champion arrive. I couldn¡¯t take any missions so I guess I will try to perfect my combat style.¡± Souta said as he left the city lord¡¯s office. He learned a lot of things in the war against Red Matter Association. Also, his release form had taxed his body too much compared to when he was still third stage. The consumption of best feram and stamina was too high. He called Yenxa before he visited Alice¡¯s room. He told her that he was going to leave for a while. When she asked ¡®why?¡¯ He answered her that he was going to train with Yenxa. She was at the limit and would reach the next evolution soon. ¡°How long?¡± Alice asked as she glanced at Yenxa who was standing beside Souta. ¡°One month¡­ The maximum time is probably two months.¡± Souta answered her. ¡°Hm¡­ I see. Then, should I tell others or not?¡± Alice nodded and asked. She knew that Souta was a training maniac. He just returned from war and he hasn¡¯t even rested for a long time, yet he was going to train once again. So she was already used to it. Souta shook his head and said, ¡°You can tell them after I left. I don¡¯t want to bother them this time. They are all busy. You also have to train. Don¡¯t forget your goal.¡± Alice laughed lightly as she covered her mouth. ¡°I know, I know. I didn¡¯t forget it. You don¡¯t have to always mention it.¡± ¡°Well, if you say so¡­¡± Souta shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take care of this place while you are gone.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± After talking to Alice, Souta secretly left Ekatoe City with Yenxa. Aside from Alice, the others had no idea that the two had left this place. Ekatoe City belongs to a group of seven cities around the Mine Valley. And the Mine Valley was a part of the land called Hall Plains. It was a region outside the territory of Olympus. It contained seventeen small nations and several dozens of independent cities and independent noble lands. There was a mountain range thirty kilometers away from the city. Souta and Yenxa went to that place to start their training. While the two were away, the renovation of the city continued. A few days later, the wall was completed and it was called the inner wall, the boundary of Astros and Pople. The wall around the city was also expanded and various houses were built. The former residents of the inner district took these newly built houses. Days had passed quickly¡­ A school was established on Astros and Torkez started to implement some of the rules of Astros. The entire Ekatoe City had no other choice but to keep up with the changes. Everyone was busy. Chapter 696: Changes Although Souta wanted to return in just a month, it still took two and a half months to complete his training with Yenxa. Almost three months had passed ever since he left. All this time they were either in Saya¡¯s inner consciousness or in the mountain range fighting monsters. In these two months, a rumor spread out in the nearby villages and towns. It was a rumor of an incredibly powerful monster taking over the entire mountain range. The two monsters wouldn¡¯t kill anyone. Instead, they would fight everyone that they saw and leave them in a state of collapse. Naturally, every expert who encountered these two monsters survived so they could live and tell the tale about them. After knowing that the two monsters didn¡¯t kill anyone, the people in the nearby towns and villages breathe a sigh of relief. So they started to head to the foot of a mountain and placed all sorts of offerings for the peace of their home. It was normal in this land. After all, some of the people in this continent worshipped monsters like Monkey King, Yamato no Orochi, Typhon, Echidna, and the Four Heavenly Beasts. They wanted protection and blessed their land so that they could harvest their farms quicker. In some ports, they even worshipped a sea serpent so that they could sail without any accidents. Out of the seven continents of the Imperium, God¡¯s Continent was much more open to monsters. Some of them even thought that monsters were better deities. After all, most of the war was caused by humans and demis, not by monsters. Souta and Yenxa lived in the mountain range. Yenxa fought endlessly to gain experience and improve her battle style. In this place, there were dozens of third stage monsters so she avoided their territory and only fight those monsters at second stage. It took her one month before she reached the third stage. At that moment, she began to target those third stage monsters. If she was about to suffer a defeat, she would escape and come back after she recovered her strength. Just like that, almost three months had passed since they entered the mountain range. Souta and Yenxa had finished their training. ¡°It¡¯s time to go back,¡± Souta said as he glanced at the system. The rewards from the quest that he got to destroy the Red Matter Association weren¡¯t too high nor too low. It was average for his current level. After all, this was just an ordinary quest, it wasn¡¯t even a chain quest or great quest. The chain quest with low difficulty would even have a higher reward than an ordinary quest with high difficulty. [Congratulations on completing the quest ¡°Darkness of Kingdoms¡±] [You¡¯ve received 22 skill points, 40 free attribute points, 20,000,000 experience points, and 1 Level-up card] When he first read it, he was quite surprised as he didn¡¯t expect that he would even be able to receive a card. After all, the source of the cards was the chain quest and the great quest. The skill points were just normal and he even thought that the destruction of Red Matter Association was inevitable. Even if he didn¡¯t do anything, the quest would be completed on its own. He just made it faster by making an arrangement. The Terror Gale Hippogriff would surely appear and fight Avron even if Souta didn¡¯t warn that monster. The only thing he did during the war was fight some fodder and help some warriors survive. If he didn¡¯t strategically arrange the battlefield, the casualties in the Third Set would be higher. Nonetheless, they would still win. Using the skill points that he earned, he level up the [Dark Menace] to level 10. He just needed to level up his [Shadow Damager] spell and he would achieve the requirements to promote his class. Skill point(s): 12 He had been stuck in this place for two and a half months so he didn¡¯t even receive a single quest. He had no way to increase his points and this would have happened if he accepted Reashka or Athena¡¯s proposal. He would lose the advantage of having a system. He had two sources of power that made him far stronger than people at his current level. First, was his own strength as well as his various abilities. Second, was the strength of the system like the class function or the card function. As for Yenxa, she evolved into a creature called Vicious Terra. A type of goblin that had various toxins in its body. The strongest toxin in her body was a liquid toxin and it could melt experts at initial stage of A-rank. She could even affect S-rank as long as the expert received enough toxins from her. But it would take a lot of time to affect an expert at that level. Probably two hours of exposure to her toxins. She also stabilized her strength to the initial level of the third stage. The increase in mana density also helped her strengthen her body. She would approach the intermediate level soon. Of course, she wasn¡¯t the only that received benefits from those raindrops. Souta also grew stronger and reached level 64 himself. Aside from his base strength, he also trained his skills and reached the next level. ¡°Yenxa, it¡¯s time to return,¡± Souta said in a low voice. ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡± Yenxa bowed at him. She was strong enough to contend against the top experts of Astros. Reaching third stage greatly enhances her overall strength. Souta waved his hand and ten black spheres formed on his back. After a few moments, he and Yenxa shot through the sky. He guessed that Torkez and Alice stabilized his territory while he was gone. Two months have passed and the Ekatoe City had changed a lot. It was two times larger than two and a half months ago. A lot of merchants were visiting the city every week and goods were exchanged. Although it was like that, no one had seen the current City Lord. The civilians that were living in the city didn¡¯t even know the appearance of the City Lord except for the members of Astros. Various establishments were constructed around the city. In the entire history of Ekatoe, these months were the most prosperous they¡¯ve ever been. Countless experts also visited the schools to check the various combat arts and spells that the schools teach to their students. The civilians had no idea that the City Lord had returned today. Inside the city lord¡¯s office, every chief of Astros had gathered. ¡°Hmm¡­ So it¡¯s complete.¡± Souta was seating in his seat while looking at the reports. He was reviewing the changes that happened in this place while he was training with Yenxa. ¡°The warriors of Athen¡¯s Champion had built a post tower here. In that place, we can take missions and submit them to the staff that the legion arranged. Amanda and a few witches joined the legion. It¡¯s good for our development.¡± As a First Class Yellow Squadron, the experts that could join the squad had increased. Also, the missions in the post tower grew along with their ranks. They could take some higher missions but they didn¡¯t have enough authority to take a mission regarding Athena¡¯s sub-worlds. The corresponding ranks for sub-worlds were Third Class Blue Squadron and above. Souta looked through the report calmly. The portal wasn¡¯t completed. The resources needed to build it were higher than they expected so they only built one. It needs two portals to work so people could go to the other side. One was here in Ekatoe City and the other one was in the Guardian Fortress. In regard to this, Alice decided to use some of the resources that he hid in his room. He still had a bunch of high-grade ores, potions, monster orbs, mana fruits, and equipment that he got from clearing the living labyrinth. Souta didn¡¯t care about it. After all, he already took the things that could help him. As for the rest of the mana fruits or potions in his room, he had no use for them. Even if he consumed those fruits and potions, it wouldn¡¯t increase his strength anymore. ¡°Good. So the construction of the portal is still ongoing?¡± Souta raised his head and looked at Alice. ¡°Yes, it will be completed next week,¡± Alice answered him. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Souta nodded. This was very important to him. It was also for his protection. If a powerful expert attacked this city, he could simply enter the portal and destroy it on the other side. He put down the papers on the table and looked at them with a satisfied expression. ¡°Good job. Not just the territory, you guys also didn¡¯t forget your personal training. You¡¯ve all improved while I was gone.¡± He stood up and faced the windows. ¡°I think it¡¯s time to invite the local forces of Ekatoe City. Send an invitation to them.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Torkez nodded. He glanced at him and slowly added, ¡°The Shimpan Family wanted to visit you, Lord Souta. But since you weren¡¯t here before, I rejected him.¡± ¡°You can go now.¡± Souta waved his hand. ¡°Alice, follow me. We¡¯re going to check the mission board in the post tower.¡± Chapter 697: Meeting the Local Leaders Souta and Alice were looking at the mission board inside the post tower. They were wondering if there were suitable missions for their current level. Sigh~ Souta shook his head with a disappointed look. Most of the quest here was for low-level and it would only give him 6 skill points at maximum. Plus, it would take a lot of time to go to the mission place. Just looked at the mission regarding the Red Matter Association, their travel time was even longer than the entire war. The war against the Red Matter Association lasted one day. All that battle happened within just a single day and it earned him 22 skill points. Even though it was an ordinary quest, it still gave him a lot of skill points considering the scale of the Red Matter Association. "None of these missions interest you?" Alice asked when she saw his look. "Yep, it''s better to ask Eztein or Amanda to complete this mission," Souta answered her words. "A new batch of missions will arrive soon. You can take a look at that time." Alice said. "Okay, I''ll do that." Souta nodded. "I have a question," Alice said while glancing at his expression. "Tell me." "Why did you call the local forces of this city? I don''t think that they can help you." "Hmm... That''s a good question. But you know, I heard an interesting rumor while I was training in the wilderness." Souta smiled as he rubbed his chin. "What is it?" Alice looked at him with interest. "An expert arrived on this barren land and spread various combat arts and spells. I don''t know if it''s true but I want to learn about this legend. Apparently, they said that it happened one thousand years ago." Souta said with a faint smile on his face. "If that legend is true then maybe the expert came from Olympus," Alice replied to him. "Possibly," Souta didn''t reject her words. The Olympus existed for thousands of years. So there''s a chance that the expert came from Olympus as it was close to this barren land. "It became a rumor since various cities had fallen and new ones rose in the past several hundred years. Naturally, the evidence that the expert existed was lost in time." Souta said. "Is that the only reason why you called the local forces?" Alice asked as she slightly tilted her head. She was a little bit confused. "Of course not, if this is the only reason then I would only send some people to investigate this legend. This time, I want to thoroughly control the entire city." Souta said as he opened his palm. A ball of energy formed on top of it. "Well, I don''t think that they will refuse me. As I said before, I will become the sole authority of the entire Ekatoe City." "Hmm... So you''re going to fight the neighboring cities?" Alice suddenly asked. "Huh?" Souta looked at her. "No, I don''t have that sort of plan. I just want this city. If I got carried away, the other forces of this land will notice us." This city was just a part of Mine Valley and the latter was only a small part of Hall Plains. Although there''s no god powerhouse in this land, there were forces that could rival his own. It''s not good to attract the eyes of those forces. "I see..." Alice nodded at his words. "Anyway, this city is enough for me so I''ll take all the people here. What I mean is I''m going to integrate them in Astros by transferring parasites in their bodies." Souta grinned widely. Alice sighed as she pressed her temples. She should have expected this. The two left the post tower. Torkez had finished gathering all the leaders of the local forces of Ekatoe City. There were nineteen people sitting around a long table. Most of them were anxious as they kept fiddling around. It was understandable since it was their first time coming inside the so-called Astros. The power of Astros was beyond their imagination and they didn''t even have an idea why the mysterious City Lord suddenly invited them. They were nervous. They kept racking their brain as to what to say when they met the City Lord. "Shut up!!" Franklin roared as he glanced at these nineteen people with killing intent in his eyes. The aura of a peak stage S-rank was seeping out of his body. "Don''t make any rude remarks when the City Lord comes in! I will not hesitate to murder anyone who disrespects the City Lord!" The people glanced at him in horror. They quickly shut their mouth, not daring to utter any words. Compared to Franklin''s level, they weren''t worthy to mention. The only person capable of ignoring the killing intent was Edward, the family head of the Shimpan Family. He was the strongest expert in Ekatoe City before the arrival of Astros. He was a person at peak stage S-rank. Even though, he could still feel that this man who called himself Franklin was stronger than him. They were at the same level but he felt that he wasn''t going to win if he fight this person. Among the nineteen leaders in this room, only five of them were at S-rank. Aside from Edward, the remaining four S-ranks were only at the initial stage. The rest of the leaders were at peak A-rank. "Boring..." Franklin sighed deeply when he saw their reaction. He wanted them to have an intense reaction so that he could start a battle here but it seems that these guys were well-behaved. "Franklin..." Torkez said in a low voice. "I know," Franklin flashed a faint smile. His wrinkled face looks demonic along with that killing intent flashing deep in his eyes. ''This old man is still the same...'' Torkez said inwardly as he shook his head. He could only recall that the old man was once a famous murderer in the Great Astley Empire. "These guys will not last long. You know what I mean." Franklin said with a voice that only the two of them could hear. At this time, the door opened and Souta entered the room with Alice following him. The nineteen leaders turned their heads and saw a young man with pitch-black hair. His skin was fair and his features were sharp. He had a cold demeanor as if he didn''t place anyone in his eyes. Following behind him was a beautiful girl who looked like she was 18-20 years old with fair smooth skin. She had the same demeanor as the young man. These two people were Souta and Alice. Before entering this room, Souta created a layer of skin using the ability of the parasite to change his appearance. "Why haven''t you greeted the city lord? Do you want to die?" Franklin said as the aura around his body grew stronger. At this time, the nineteen people returned to their senses. They stood up at the same time and greeted Souta politely. Souta smiled and returned their greetings. They sat down after Souta gave them his permission. But they still couldn''t believe that this young man was the mysterious City Lord who haven''t made an appearance ever since he took the position. Although he was a young man, they couldn''t underestimate him. They couldn''t perceive him. They could only feel a hint of aura and it was enough for their instinct to kick in, telling them that the person in front of them was dangerous. Edward narrowed his eyes but he was shocked inwardly. He was a peak S-rank so his senses were higher than the rest. He naturally felt the best feram lingering around the young man''s body and it felt too deep. ''This... A f-fourth stage monster...'' It was perceivable at his power level. Since the natural protective field around this young man''s body was made of best feram, he knew that the one standing in front of them was a monster. This made the situation worse. From his understanding, a party of Solidifying Realm was enough to deal with an initial level fourth stage but judging from the aura, this one wasn''t an initial stage at all. So it would take a party of One Shackled Realm to deal with this monster. Souta turned to Edward and smiled. He knew that Edward realized that he was a monster. He couldn''t hide this fact from people at peak S-rank. Well, it doesn''t matter to him. He looked at everyone and slowly opened his mouth, "I want all of you to submit to me. The city had changed so I want everyone here to work for me. What do you think, everyone?" As soon as his voice fell, the nineteen leaders of the local forces were shaken. They couldn''t believe that he would go straight to the point. Edward raised his hand and asked, "City Lord, what do you mean by working for me? Aren''t we already working for you?" "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin before he answered. "What I mean is that you guys will join Astros. You see, I don''t want any other forces around in my city. Oh, don''t get the wrong idea here. I''m not forcing any of you to join. It''s just that if you didn''t join the Astros, you wouldn''t have the right to stay in this place anymore." Chapter 698: Plan ¡°Y-You! What do you mean by that?! T-This is our home so how could you!¡± One of the nineteen leaders stood up and said in shock. His voice quivered as he pointed his fingers at Souta while trembling. He was one of the initial S-rank in the group. They were here before Souta became the City Lord. Souta glanced at the initial S-rank with a smile. He slowly said, ¡°No, this is my city. I¡¯m the Lord of this place so naturally, it belongs to me, not you.¡± He suddenly remember something so he changed his words, ¡°Okay, I will not force you to leave the city. Just remember that once you join the Astros, you will gain power. I will even help you expand your organization.¡± Franklin, who was ready to kill, tilted his head in confusion. He didn¡¯t know why Souta suddenly changed his mind. But since it was the decision of his leader, he could only follow it. Something came to Souta¡¯s mind that changed his decision. It was too sudden but he realized something. It was better to have these guys around the Pople District. Yep, these guys would definitely have some uses so he couldn¡¯t just force them to leave or directly kill them. ¡°I¡¯ll permit it. You have my word that my forces will not harm you as long as you didn¡¯t try to harm Ekatoe City.¡± Souta narrowed his eyes and said in a serious tone. It was better if they realized that joining the Astros would be the right decision. He could also use them for some experiments in the future. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t kill them but it has a chance that they would be heavily injured if the experiments failed. If it succeeded they were the ones who were going to receive benefits. ¡®Are you going to try it on them?¡¯ Saya suddenly asked. ¡®Yep, since I don¡¯t have any guinea pigs they can become one for me.¡¯ Souta replied to her. According to Isabella¡¯s research, the red marble could be refined using people¡¯s life essence. It would resonate once ingested and using the consumer¡¯s life essence they would receive an enhancement in their bodies. Souta couldn¡¯t clearly understand but she said that it wouldn¡¯t work on old people. Since the red marble uses own¡¯s life span to permanently increase the user¡¯s own strength. ¡®The red marble that you gave to her couldn¡¯t be used by anyone aside from the owner of the life essence inside it. It means that if Isabella refined that pill using your life essence, the other people wouldn¡¯t receive a benefit even if they ingested it.¡¯ Saya explained. ¡®My life essence will only resonate with me, not with other people. It wouldn¡¯t recognize other people so it will not have an effect on them.¡¯ Souta said inwardly. But the problem was how to refine that pill. Although Isabella learned the effect of the red marble, she didn¡¯t know the process to perfectly refine it. According to her, the red marble was refined crudely and it couldn¡¯t bring out the true effect of the pill. Even if it was ingested, the owner of that life essence would only gain a little bit of strength. Souta smiled as he looked at the nineteen people. He would offer them some benefits so that they would volunteer to join the experimentation. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll treat you better.¡± His grin almost reached his ears. Since these guys weren¡¯t his direct subordinates, they could become his guinea pig along with the captured criminals in the city. They didn¡¯t know why the mood quickly change but they felt glad that the intense atmosphere was gone. Edward suddenly stood up from his seat and slightly bowed, ¡°I¡¯m willing to accept your proposal to join the Astros.¡± Souta¡¯s smile froze when he heard Edward¡¯s words. He slightly turned his head and narrowed his eyes, ¡°Can you tell me why did you accept my proposal?¡± ¡°I felt that I would grow stronger if I became your follower. No, not just me, I have a feeling that the entire Shimpan Family if we are under your care.¡± Edward said. Souta couldn¡¯t help but sigh. He motioned Edward to return to his seat and said, ¡°Just remember that you couldn¡¯t revoke this decision for the rest of your life.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Edward paused for a moment. Then, he resolved himself and answered, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m willing.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Souta stood up and clapped his hand. He looked at everyone and said, ¡°For those people who didn¡¯t want to work for me then you can leave this room. Ah, don¡¯t be afraid as I promise you that we will not harm you on your way out.¡± They looked at each other. Some of them hesitated but in the end, out of nineteen people, only three of them were left in the room. Souta didn¡¯t care about them. Since they wouldn¡¯t work for him, he wouldn¡¯t guarantee their protection against outsiders. They could continue their business here. As long as they didn¡¯t break any law, then nothing would happen to them. But it would be hard to have a business in Ekatoe, especially those underground organizations. Souta didn¡¯t permit that kind of business in his territory. If they continued, they could only blame themselves. Astros would swiftly wipe their organization in this city. They would become guinea pigs for the experiments. ¡°Since the three of you decided to work for me¡­ Let me get this straight first. You will follow whatever I want and whatever I wish. It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s hard or not. Well, I¡¯m not the type of person that gives his subordinate an impossible task so you don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± Souta waved his hand and smiled. Edward and the other two listened to his words. They didn¡¯t know what would happen to them. ¡°Okay, concentrate on your body and let your guard down. Deactivate all the protective energy and lowered your muscles.¡± Souta said as he stretched out his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll give you guys some power.¡± Edward glanced at the other two. They saw the hesitation in their eyes. ¡®There¡¯s no turning back. I just hope that nothing will happen to my family after this.¡¯ He said inwardly before he closed his eyes. The defenses in his body were lowered to the limit. He was in his most vulnerable state. ¡°Your flesh controls it a little bit,¡± Souta said as he placed his hand on Edward¡¯s chest. Even without the natural protective field, the parasite wouldn¡¯t be able to enter an S-rank¡¯s skin. It would be crushed under the heavy pressure of the strengthened flesh of an expert. Strings of flesh came out of his palm, the flesh pierced Edward¡¯s skin and slowly entered his body. The strings of blood-red flesh kept wriggling around as it slowly fused with his body. After a while, Edward opened his eyes. He examined his body and felt nothing wrong. ¡°This¡­¡± He didn¡¯t know what happened. He was just confused as the other two. ¡°That¡¯s the power of parasite. Since you just acquired it, you have to train yourself to control it. Its potential is huge and it could save you in dangerous situations.¡± Torkez proceeded to tell the parasite to them. He even demonstrated its abilities. Edward and the other two were shocked. The abilities of this so-called parasite were unbelievable to them. They couldn¡¯t imagine that they would have the power to instantly regenerate any of their limbs. Souta grinned looking at this. The procedures continued as the other two also received their parasites. Then, Souta asked them about the legend of the expert that spread combat arts and spells a thousand years ago in this land. The answer that he received was just like what he expected. They heard about it but there¡¯s no evidence that it was true. Although there¡¯s no evidence, they said that the expert arrived at the Mine Valley first. ¡°Mine Valley¡­¡± Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. Legends like this tend to be true. After all, this story wouldn¡¯t circulate if similar events didn¡¯t happen in the past or maybe this was completely made up. ¡°City Lord¡­ Is there something wrong with this legend?¡± Edward carefully asked. He wanted to know why Souta was asking about this old story in a children¡¯s book. ¡°Nope, I just find this story quite fascinating,¡± Souta answered vaguely. He didn¡¯t explain anymore. The three bid farewell as they left the Astros. Souta didn¡¯t explain to them that he could control their life and death with the parasite in their bodies. It was better this way as he could see if they would betray him or not. As for the others who rejected his proposal, they wouldn¡¯t receive any help from him in this city. If they made one wrong move, the Astros would swiftly end their organizations. Days had passed and the construction of the portal was completed. From now on, the members of the Astros could go to the Guardian Fortress without traveling for a few days. The construction of the portal exhausted the wealth that he accumulated over the past few months. Everything that he plundered from dungeon to dungeon was almost gone. In short, he was broke once again. Chapter 699: Tournament of Astros: Beginning The completion of the portal made it possible for Yuko, Doranjan, and the other monster to travel to Ekatoe City. The Astros was slowly forming into a decent organization that could stand on its own. Although it wasn¡¯t at that level yet, it was slowly crawling up. ¡°I want to see everyone¡¯s improvement.¡± With those words coming from Souta, the entire Astros became busy in an instant. They were running back and forth while carrying various things. After three days everything was complete. Souta was sitting at the top while looking down at the huge arena before his eyes. The person who was sitting on his left side was Alice and the one on his right side was Yuko. He glanced at Alice and asked, ¡°Do they have to create this tournament?¡± Alice smiled and said, ¡°Torkez said that it is important for Astros. We need some sort of festival or similar to that event. That¡¯s why it became a tournament. Everyone is free to join and the winner will receive various rewards from the leader.¡± ¡°From me?!¡± Souta widened his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything right now! I¡¯m just a fucking broke monster!¡± ¡°Torkez already prepared the rewards.¡± Alice paused before she added, ¡°By the way, I¡¯ve joined the tournament. It will be a good job to show superiority to other chiefs.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Souta rubbed his chin before glancing at the arena. ¡°This will be a good chance to create a squad exclusive to myself.¡± Yuko suddenly tackled him as she stuck out her tongue and licked his face. ¡°Master!! Yuko joined too!!¡± The two of them fell to the ground but Yuko didn¡¯t stop. She kept licking his face with a happy expression. ¡°Okay, okay, I know,¡± Souta smiled wryly as he patted Yuko¡¯s head. He just stayed on the ground with her. He hasn¡¯t seen her for a long time so he knew that she missed him. It took ten minutes before Souta returned to his seat. He picked up a tissue and wiped the saliva on his face. ¡°Hu~¡± He took a long sigh and noticed that Alice was chuckling on the side. ¡°Hey, you know what.¡± He put up a plain look as he stared at her. Alice raised her hand while her other hand was covering her mouth. ¡°You don¡¯t have to explain. I know.¡± Looking at her, Souta couldn¡¯t help but sigh once again. He focused his attention on the arena. A lot of people were around it preparing for the start of the event. All of them were members of the Astros. Monsters, demis, and humans were all present around the huge and wide arena. The host of the event was a beautiful witch. She looked like a person between 23-27 years old. She had long eyelashes and long bright red hair fluttering on her back. She was wearing a short skirt with a thigh high socks. She walked onto the stage and introduced herself as Meina. She was holding some sort of mic in her right hand. ¡°Hello, everyone! I¡¯m, Meina Amenikari, your host for today¡¯s event, the Tournament of Astros!¡± She had an attractive voice and her charm was high. Charm? Souta raised his eyebrows as he observed this woman. Meina was just an ordinary C-rank expert and the object in her hand must be her soul weapon. It has the power to enhance sound and create a powerful soundwave to attack her enemies. The characteristics of the sound that she make depends on her. ¡®Hmm¡­ So that¡¯s the reason why I felt the charm.¡¯ He said inwardly before he glanced at the lower rank people and noticed that they were staring and listening to her words attentively. He understood why Torkez choose her to become the host of the event. ¡°Hmm¡­ Can you give me the rundown of this event? I want to know where did you get all the money to set up this kind of event.¡± While Meina was entertaining everyone, Souta asked Alice. He could see that there were monster orbs on each corner of the arena. It must be a powerful supply of the barrier that would protect the audience when the tournament started. Alice nodded and she slowly explained everything to him. Torkez accumulated various resources in the past while they were in the Champion¡¯s Den. He bought weapons from merchants and sell them again to other merchants. Sometimes Gragras would produce high-quality equipment and he would sell it for a high price. Also, they would raid dungeons that they discovered and plunder everything. He wasn¡¯t the Chief of Finance Department for nothing. Torkez was the leader of the rebel army and he was also the one who¡¯s managing their resources in the past. So he had vast experience. ¡°Dungeons? So that¡¯s why the number of monsters had grown. Doranjan must have taken them under his wing. As for Torkez¡¯s way of gathering wealth, I have nothing to say except for incredible.¡± Souta said with a nod. ¡°Also, the tournament is divided into two categories. The upper and lower.¡± Alice said. Souta watched the battle at the arena. It was between two witches and their battle power was only at B-rank. He could guess that this was what she called ¡°lower¡±. ¡°The lower is for the ordinary agents of Astros. Torkez divided it so that people with low power levels could join the fun. It would be bullying if we let them enter the tournament when the contestants are Franklin¡¯s level.¡± Alice explained. The battle at the arena continued. Soon, Remina appeared and she quickly defeated her opponent. She was quite strong compared to the time in the sub-world. The battle arrangement was only known by the host herself. The audience and the contestants didn¡¯t have any idea about the next battles. It was to add thrill to this tournament. The lower had finished all the battles. It took three hours before every battle was concluded. This was just round one of the lower tournament and it would continue tomorrow. Now that the round one of lower was concluded, it was time for the upper tournament. Of course, there¡¯s a fifteen minutes break before it started. Souta and Alice talk casually as they let time pass by. Soon, the audience gathered around the arena once again. It¡¯s time for the main event. ¡°Oh,¡± He looked at the arena with interest. Meina paused as she stared at the piece of paper in her hand. She then raised the mic and said loudly, ¡°The first battle of round one of the upper tournament is between¡­¡± The audience also grew silent as they listened to Meina¡¯s words. ¡°Sir Eztein and Lady Eilish!!!¡± There were only twenty-four contestants. Although the witches had a lot of S-rank experts, only a few of them joined the tournament. They only choose a few people to represent the witches in the league. ¡°Oh, this one¡­¡± Souta grinned when he heard the name of the two people. ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± Alice asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know but¡­ This will be an interesting battle.¡± Souta replied to her. At the side of the arena, Eilish was a little bit surprised. She didn¡¯t expect that the first battle would be hers and it was against Eztein. She looked at the two children at her side and said, ¡°Anzu, Aina, Big Sister had to enter the arena so I¡¯m going to bring you to Sister Alice.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Anzu, the little boy, nodded his head. ¡°A-Are you going to hurt yourself, Big Sister?¡± Aina asked as she looked at Eilish with her round eyes. ¡°No, I¡¯m not going to hurt myself. I¡¯m simply going to teach Eztein a lesson.¡± Eilish smiled gently as she patted the little girl¡¯s head. ¡°A lesson?¡± Aina tilts her head, looking confused. ¡°Yep, let¡¯s go now.¡± Eilish nodded but she didn¡¯t explain anymore. She brought the two children to Alice, Souta, and Yuko. ¡°Brother Souta! Sister Alice!¡± The two children greeted them with a huge smile on their faces. ¡°If isn¡¯t Anzu and Aina. You have to stay here for a while since Eilish has something to do.¡± Souta said to them. ¡°Yes!!¡± Anzu and Aina nodded as they raised their hands. Alice carried them and let the two children sit on her lap. Souta shook his head gently. These two were protected here. They had accessories on their bodies and all of them were orange grade. It was protection for the best feram that leaked out of his body. ¡°I¡¯m going now.¡± Eilish waved her hand before she turned around and left. ¡­ Eztein was sitting in one of the audience seats with his eyes closed. His arms were folded in front of his chest. When he heard his name and the name of his opponent, he slowly open his eyes and grinned. ¡°Wahahaha!! I¡¯ve longed for this opportunity! That bitch is drinking my wine without my permission back in Champion¡¯s Den! Hehe~ I¡¯m gonna show you a defeat you haven¡¯t experienced before! Mwahahaha!¡± Eztein laughed as he strode toward the arena. It was an opportunity for him. ¡°This battle is personal!¡± Chapter 700: Tournament of Astros: Eilish vs Eztein Under the eyes of hundreds of people, Eztein and Eilish strode toward the arena. ¡°Mwahaha!¡± Eztein laughed loudly as he stood in the arena with overwhelming confidence. He cracked his knuckles before he took out his weapon. A three-meter-long golden halberd with silver-colored serpents coiling around it. He stared at his opponent as he tightened his grip on his weapon. Ohm! A dominant energy slowly oozed out of his body. It caused the entire arena to tremble. ¡°It¡¯s time¡­¡± Eztein grinned. Eilish simply looked at him. Her hips were swaying left and right as she strode forward before she stopped ten meters away from her opponent. A staff crashed beside her. It was the weapon that she always used. A weapon that could amplify her spell power. Unlike Eztein who was showing off his overwhelming aura, Eilish simply stood in her position, waiting for the host to start the battle. ¡°Oh, Eztein just broke through the One Shackle Realm yet the aura he possessed is stronger than the previous Witch Clan¡¯s Clan Leader.¡± Souta was amused. He was looking forward to the rest of this fight. ¡°But it¡¯s not easy to defeat Eilish,¡± Alice commented. ¡°Although she is still at One Shackle, her power is stronger than before. She is far stronger than she was back in the sub-world.¡± ¡°Yes, Eilish is a top contender.¡± Souta nodded at her words. Ohm! Layers of barriers formed around the arena. It was to protect the audience from any harm and also, a battle between One Shackle Realm could cause the entire area within a one-kilometer radius to evaporate. Even though the mana density had increased, they could still cause further destruction with the power that they possessed. ¡°Let¡¯s the battle begin!!!¡± Meina¡¯s voice traveled everywhere and it was a signal to start the battle. The rules were simple. The contestant would lose if they surrender, got knocked out, or couldn¡¯t get up within five seconds. Eztein and Eilish just stared at each other even though the battle had already started. They were observing the movements and were waiting for an opportunity to attack. Suddenly, Eztein jumped in mid-air as he poured his mana into his halberd. ¡°Since you are a mage, I thought that you would create a distance between us!¡± In the next moment, the halberd in his hand vanished. It flew towards Eilish with unbelievable speed. Swoosh! Eilish smiled as she stared at the halberd. She slightly shifted her body and a flash of light burst through right beside her. Boom!! The halberd didn¡¯t even hit her. It simply crashed on the position beside her. ¡°Tsk!¡± Eztein clicked his tongue when he saw this scene. He put both of his palms together and his mana flared up. [Collapsing Earth Wave]!! A huge crack formed on the floor beneath Eilish¡¯s feet. The entire area collapsed creating a huge valley before the two sides of the floor flew in her direction. Eilish raised the staff in her hand and a semi-transparent sphere formed around her. The boulders crashed at her and the barrier protected her from any harm. Bang!! ¡°You are strong but it will take more than that if you want to defeat me,¡± Eilish said softly. [Water Forming Dragon]! With a wave of her staff, five dragons made of water formed around her. The water dragons hurriedly pounced at Eztein with great momentum. Bang! Bang! Eztein swiftly moved his body as he avoided them one by one. He runs through the body of the water dragon and lets it collide with another water dragon. Bang! He jumped from side to side before he picked up his halberd. Lightning and flames covered his body. [Lion Charge]!! His body flashed forward leaving a trail of lightning and flames. Eilish narrowed her eyes as she jumped away while casting a spell. More than thirty fist-size energy spheres formed around her. Each sphere contained enough power to directly obliterate an A-rank expert. [Spiral Dominant Sphere]! She quickly fired the energy spheres at her opponent. Boom!! Boom!! Eztein moved too fast as he tried to avoid all the energy spheres. Unfortunately, one landed on his left shoulder causing a small explosion. Ugh! He groaned then he realized that he was covered in shadows. When he looked up, he saw another water dragon crashing down at him. ¡°Damn! This bitch!¡± Eztein gritted his teeth as he raised his halberd above his head. It was too late to dodge so he could only try to block this attack. Bang!! The water dragon slammed onto his body and it continued to descend. The momentum was high that it crashed him into the floor. ¡°AHHH!!!¡± Eztein roared as flames enveloped his weapon. Then, lightning covered his body causing the floor on his back to collapse. Boom!! He gritted his teeth as he grabbed the water dragon with his hand covered in lightning. Then, he thrust the halberd which was covered in flames. [Dual Element Drive: Lightning and Fire Force]!! Boom!! The water dragon evaporated instantly. Eztein shot through the mid-air and he found Eilish in the corner of the barrier. His figure was releasing high-pressure energy which caused the area to tremble. Lightning and flames were violently dancing around his body. It covered the entire space around the barrier, not giving any Eilish a chance to escape. ¡°Persistent,¡± Eilish said as she narrowed her eyes. Now that Eztein used his [Element Drive], she guess that it was the right time to take this seriously. At this moment, she would focus on taking down Eztein with all of her might. Boom! The audience didn¡¯t even know what was happening in the arena. All they could see was a flash of elements every second. Their perception wasn¡¯t at the level where they could follow the movements of two One Shackle experts. Even S-rank could barely follow Eztein¡¯s and Eilish¡¯s movements. Only people at peak S-rank and above understood what was happening in the arena. ¡°Hooo!! What is going on?! The battle between Lady Eilish and Sir Eztein is too fierce! I don¡¯t deserve to be a host of this battle!¡± Meina yelled as she stared at the arena with wide eyes. She turned around and looked at her surrounding. Her eyes lit up when she saw Torkez standing at the side. She approached him and asked, ¡°Chief Torkez, can you give us your comment about this battle? You¡¯re one of the contestants so it would help us understand what is happening.¡± Torkez glanced at her for a second before he looked at the battle. ¡°I¡¯m a participant but Eztein and Eilish are at entirely different levels. I will not win if I face any of them. Hence, I couldn¡¯t accurately describe the fight.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Chief Torkez. Just give us some idea.¡± Meina said with a smile. ¡°Hm¡­ Okay.¡± Torkez nodded. ¡°From what I could see, Eztein is in trouble. He¡¯s having a hard time approaching Eilish. If he made one wrong move, I think Eilish has enough firepower to end him.¡± ¡°Ohhhh~¡± Meina looked at the battle. ¡°Thank you for your helping us, Chief Torkez!¡± ¡­ ¡°It¡¯s going to end soon. It¡¯s prepared. If it continued those magic circles around would simply bombard the entire arena.¡± Souta watched the battle with an amused look. It¡¯s pretty interesting to watch them fight. But there¡¯s someone that surprised him. It was Eilish. Although she was still at One Shackle Realm, her combat prowess was higher than he imagined. With her current combat strength, she would be able to trash Clan Leader Rowan without any effort. ¡°Yeah,¡± Alice couldn¡¯t help but nod at his words. She understood what he meant. The two of them continued to observe the battle. Boom!! A loud explosion occurred and the layers of barrier were shaken. It forced Torkez to add another third stage monster orb to support the barrier. The shock was too intense and the monster orbs on each corner of the arena couldn¡¯t take the power of Eztein and Eilish. Even the personnel that were managing the barrier were having a hard time. Swoosh~ Cough! Cough! Eztein coughed a mouthful of blood. His body was covered in blood but he still has the energy to fight. ¡°Shit, it¡¯s bad.¡± He gritted his teeth as he looked up and saw Eilish floating above. Eilish chuckled before she pointed her staff at him and said, ¡°It¡¯s time to end this Eztein. It¡¯s not that easy to defeat me. You¡¯re just an ordinary agent at that time when I was ruling the entire underground world of Earthen Core City.¡± ¡°Like hell, you could defeat me!!¡± Eztein roared as he rushed ahead while tightly gripping the halberd in his hand. Lightning and flames surrounded his body as strings of flesh enveloped his weapon. Swoosh! His wounds quickly healed as he arrived in front of Eilish. His appearance had changed. He used the power of his parasite to boost his physical strength. With a resounding roar, he swung the halberd in his hand. ¡°Well, you still can¡¯t defeat me with your current strength,¡± Eilish said as she narrowed her eyes. Ohm! The tip of the halberd stopped before her eyes. Just an inch and it would cut her. Too bad, she already prepared the outcome. Chapter 701: Tournament of Astros: Sponsor ¡°Argh!!¡± Eztein groaned in pain as there were dozens of light blades stabbed all over his body. He couldn¡¯t move at all. ¡°Let me finish this battle,¡± Eilish said in a cold tone. The moment her voice fell, various magic circles glow up in the entire area. Ohm! The mana in her mana pool was quickly leaving her body. She was providing energy to all the magic circles in the air. The consumption was high but the firepower it possessed was tremendous. ¡°Shit!¡± Looking at this scene, Eztein could only force a smile on his face. He knew that there was no chance for him to block all these spells. Even if he could block some of the spells then what about the others? Swoosh! In the next moment, the magic circles reached their limits. Eilish activated the spells one by one. Various spells were used almost at the same time. Flames, lightning, and every common element rushed at Eztein. Some of the spells even reduced his movement speeds, defense, and attack power. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! From offensive to support spells were launched one after another without any delay. Boom!! ¡°Eilish won,¡± Souta said in a low voice when he saw this scene. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s problematic. I have to devise a plan to counter her bombardment if I faced her.¡± Alice said with a serious look. ¡°Do you think you can win?¡± Souta asked with a smile. ¡°I can if I use all of my demon power, probably. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t use it so I can only form a plan and improve myself.¡± Alice shook her head. She wasn¡¯t sure if she could defeat Eilish in her current form. ¡°With a little bit of push, she would be able to break her second shackle,¡± Souta said while looking at Eilish. His eyes were adjusting and he could see cracks in one of the shackles around her. She would reach the Two Shackles Realm. At that time, she would gain enormous power that could match some of the Squad Leaders in Athen¡¯s Champion. ¡°She¡¯s at the limit?!¡± Alice was a little bit surprised when she heard Souta¡¯s words, but she quickly calm down after a careful thought. She realized that Eilish was stuck at One Shackle Realm for a long time in the sub-world, so it was natural that she would reach the Two Shackles after staying at Imperium. ¡°Yep, probably she¡¯ll successfully break it next month. I¡¯m looking forward to her power-up.¡± Souta said. ¡­ ¡°The winner of the battle is¡­ Lady Eilish!!¡± Meina said as she raised her soul weapon. Her voice echoed throughout the entire area. Eilish smiled before she descend to the ground. She looked at her body and saw some of her wounds. She sighed. She was different from these people. She didn¡¯t have any parasites so she didn¡¯t have that powerful regeneration ability. She shook her head and walked away. Meina talked to the audience first while a group of earth mages started to fix the arena. The entire arena was gone and all that was left were deep valleys. Different parts of the arena had different temperatures and the aura of the two fighters before was still lingering in the atmosphere. It would take thirty minutes to fix the arena. So the audience could still do other things before the battle started. They could finish some important things in their homes. ¡°While we are waiting for the earth mages to fix the arena, I invited a guest here,¡± Meina said as she pointed at the person beside her. ¡°The chief of Noxious, the Great Sir Franklin!!¡± ¡°Ohhhhh!!¡± The audience roared. ¡°Sir Franklin, I have a question for you,¡± Meina said as she placed her soul weapon closer to Franklin. ¡°What is it?¡± Franklin asked. ¡°According to my sources, you¡¯re one of the great sponsors of the Tournament of Astros. Is this true?¡± Meina asked. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve used most of the wealth that I earned in Athen¡¯s Champion. I¡¯m also the one who pushed through and made this event possible.¡± Franklin¡¯s answer was simple. ¡°Can I ask why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that I want to fight these guys badly. Our lord forbids us to fight each other but with this tournament, we can fight to our heart¡¯s content.¡± Such an answer was really like Franklin¡¯s. He never change at all and he would always seek the thrill of fighting. ¡°This old man¡­¡± Souta smiled as he recalled the time when he first met this guy. The Prison World under the rule of the Great Astley Empire. At that time, he freed all the prisoners and declared war against the empire. He established the Liberation White Army and fought the empire in different sub-worlds. Franklin was one of the people who followed him in the war. He wondered that perhaps if Franklin was a monster, he would crave the desire to murder all creatures. He wouldn¡¯t resist and simply fight until he loses all of his stamina and energy. Eventually, he would die like a puppet. ¡°Thank you for your words, Chief Franklin!!¡± Meina bowed as Franklin walked away. Although Franklin¡¯s answer was out of her expectation, she needed to be cool-headed as she was a professional. She smiled and faced the audience. Waving her hands at the audience, she slowly opened her mouth and said, ¡°Now, the next battle is going to start soon! I¡¯ll name our two fighters! The battle this time will be between Young Miss Yenxa and a fellow witch called Leef!¡± Souta widened his eyes. He didn¡¯t expect that Yenxa would join the tournament too. As far as he knows, her combat power wasn¡¯t enough to defeat a top-level S-rank. The contestant of the upper tournament was either Shackled Realm or Peak Solidifying Realm. ¡®Well, it¡¯s her decision. She must have wanted to test her strength.¡¯ He smiled as he cast his eyes down. Even if she suffered a defeat, she would be able to gain experience in this battle. As for her opponent, Leef. She was a young genius woman from the witch clan. When Souta and the others fought Clan Leader Rowan, she was only at the high-stage S-rank. But now, she improved herself and achieved the peak S-rank. She was one of the young people whom the old witches hoped to achieve the Shackled Realm. ¡°If Yenxa¡¯s opponent is an initial stage there¡¯s a chance¡­ She¡¯s already fortunate that she hasn¡¯t faced Eztein or Eilish.¡± Souta muttered to himself. Even he could barely defeat a One Shackle Realm with the help of others when he was at the peak third stage. Naturally, she wouldn¡¯t stand a chance if she met any Shackled Realm. ¡°Actually, I said to her that she should join the lower tournament but she insisted on joining the upper.¡± Alice suddenly said. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s her decision.¡± Souta smiled. ¡°Also, don¡¯t underestimate Yenxa. After becoming a Vicious Terra, her toxins could affect low S-rank but it will take a lot of time.¡± The two fighters enter the arena. Leef was a young woman in her early twenties. She had blue hair and round blue eyes. Her body was covered in a dark blue robe and it couldn¡¯t hide her curves. At this moment, Leef was observing Yenxa. She knew this young monster. A monster with a power of toxins and those toxins were the ones that knocked out almost all B-rank witches back then. Although Yenxa had reached third stage, Leef wasn¡¯t worried at all. She had grown stronger too and Yenxa was only in the initial stage. Even if she possessed unbelievable power, it would only reach the intermediate stage. It¡¯s still within the scope that she could deal with. ¡°Let the battle begin!!!¡± Meina¡¯s words indicated that the battle had started. Yenxa raised her palm and green-colored gas was condensed on top of it. It quickly spread out enveloping the entire arena with poisonous gas. Leef observed the gas carefully. Then, she brandished the rapier hanging on her waist and swung it down with great force. Swoosh! Her slash generated a powerful gust of wind that blows the poisonous gas away from her. Then, the tip of her rapier glows in blue light. With a single thrust, an enormous force shot through ahead. The energy it contained was heavy and dense. [Sharp Gray Thrust]! Yenxa jumped to the side to avoid it but she saw that Leef was already in front of her. The distance was close and it would be a problem for her if she engaged with a peak S-rank in close combat. Leef thrust her weapon once again. This time, Yenxa couldn¡¯t completely avoid it. The rapier caused a huge gaping hole in her shoulder. Yenxa greeted her teeth as she ignored the pain. She continued to jump to create some distance while releasing poisonous gas through her pores. [Shadow Cloak]! [Shadow Step]! A dark cloak formed around her body and her speed increased. Then, dozens of black tentacles rose from the ground. [Shadow Bind]! Chapter 702: Tournament of Astros: Yenxa vs Leef Yenxa cast the spells that she learned. Although she knew that she had no chance of winning, her goal was last long against an expert above her level. Bang! Bang! Bang! Leef swung the rapier in her hand. Every slash demolished dozens of black tentacles that were blocking her path. She didn¡¯t even need to exert her strength to destroy all these tentacles. Hmm? She suddenly looked up and saw clouds of green gas forming above the arena. The poisonous gas in that area was too thick and she calculated that even peak A-rank would be affected. ¡®Just like I thought¡­ Her ability is dangerous.¡¯ Leef said inwardly. Boom!! The thick and dense green clouds roared. The next moment, the rain started to fall on the entire arena. It was a weird rain as it has a color of green. It didn¡¯t take them too long to realize that it was poison. Leef tried to dodge the rain but there were too many drops. It blocked all of her escape routes so she could only let the rain fall on her body. ¡°This¡­¡± She examined her body. She noticed that the poisonous rain didn¡¯t have any effect on her currently but it was slowly eroding her natural protective field. It was too weak that she guess that it would take at least several hours to corrode her protective field. After the natural protective field, it was the skin and the skin of a peak S-rank like her was tough. It would also take a lot of time before the rain melted her skin. And below the first layer of skin, there was another protective field. ¡°Still, I needed to finish this as soon as possible.¡± She muttered before she charged at Yenxa once again. She slashed her rapier repeatedly launching various combat arts. Bang! Bang! Bang! Yenxa tried everything that she could to avoid the series of attacks. But she couldn¡¯t avoid everything. It caused her several wounds but she quickly mobilized the power of parasites to heal her wounds. She used liquid poison to launch an attack but her opponent was simply too strong. She was having a hard time right now. Every second, a cut would appear on her body and at the same time, the parasite would heal it. If this keeps up, sooner or later the power of parasite would get exhausted. [Dominion Gale Cut]! Leef¡¯s figure flashed forward. The next moment, she was already standing behind Yenxa. Ugh! Yenxa groaned in pain as a huge cut appeared on her body. But she didn¡¯t fall down, she let the parasite heal her wounds and several strings of flesh covered her body. Boom! The aura around her body grew stronger. It caused the whole arena to tremble as various gas oozed out of her pores. This gas had different colors it was a mixture of red and purple. Dark green liquid started to drip from the spikes on her back. Green veins pop up on Yenxa¡¯s skin. It was thumping a tremendous amount of best feram throughout her body. Her nails grew long like sharp claws and poison flowed through them. Various spikes protruded on her back as the monster orb on the center of her chest glowed brightly. Then, various jet-black tattoos spread throughout her skin. [Monster Orb Release]! Looking at the momentum that Yenxa was releasing, Leef was unfazed. She even smiled and faced Yenxa¡¯s power. ¡°Then, let me respond.¡± She raised her rapier and it glowed brightly. Orange light erupted as it enveloped her entire right arm. When the light disappeared, her arm was covered in some sort of red armor and it was connected to the rapier, oozing a dangerous aura. This was her soul weapon, [Crimsom Right Hand]. Boom!! ¡°Good. Yenxa¡¯s holding on.¡± Souta smiled. Alice glanced at him and asked, ¡°Did she learn the [Element Drive]?¡± Souta shook his head. ¡°No, when we were training. She didn¡¯t have enough time to master it. This is the current limit of her power.¡± ¡°I see¡­ She even forced Leef to use her soul weapon. It¡¯s already a great achievement.¡± Alice nodded at his words. ¡°In the near future, Yenxa will grow into a powerhouse. She had that potential.¡± Souta still had a smile on his face. In his opinion, it doesn¡¯t matter even if Yenxa was defeated in this battle. Yenxa was still grasping her own style and she was close to mastering it. This battle would further hone her combat prowess. Bang! Bang! Bang! The sound of explosions echoed repeatedly as two figures clashed in the arena. Bang! Yenxa waved her hand as a wall of liquid poison burst from her hand. But it didn¡¯t do anything, the poison wall simply exploded when the rapier pierced it. She jumped away trying to create some distance but Leef was too fast. ¡°You can¡¯t escape from me,¡± Leef said as she appeared behind Yenxa. She swung her weapon and the armor in her arm delivered a huge force. Boom!! The force further enhances her attack. Yenxa was blown away and crashed on the barrier. Layers of flesh around her stomach disintegrated instantly when that attack landed. She narrowed her eyes and saw Leef charging at her. She felt that she reached her limit. She couldn¡¯t even understand the ability of her opponent. The difference was simply huge. This would be the last. She opened her mouth widely and gathered her best feram. Small dots emerged and these dots gathered together, forming a huge energy sphere. It expanded before it shrunk. [Bestrou]!! ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll take it head-on.¡± Leef smiled as she pulled back her weapon. Her abundant mana flared up reaching the limit of S-rank. She¡¯s not holding back. When the ray of energy arrived in front of her, she thrust her rapier with overwhelming power. [Ultimate Crimson Night Thrust]!! BOOM!!! The two attacks collided causing a huge shockwave. Various energy sparked in every direction. It whipped the surroundings violently. BOOM!! The [Bestrou] didn¡¯t even last more than five seconds before Leef¡¯s attack pushed through it. It moved forward and swallowed Yenxa¡¯s figure. The explosion covered the entire space inside the barrier. It caused a huge tremor but it didn¡¯t penetrate the thick barrier made of several monster orbs. The audience couldn¡¯t see anything as smoke and dust filled the whole area but those people with high power levels could perceive what happened inside without any effort. The next moment, the smoke was blown away and it revealed Leef¡¯s figure standing at the center. Yenxa was on the ground without moving. She was knocked out. ¡°OH!!! The winner of this battle is¡­ LEEF!!!!!¡± Meina declared the winner in a loud voice that echoed throughout the entire Astros. Since the battle was finished, the earth mage hurriedly bring Yenxa out of the arena and let the medics handle her. Then, they return to fix the arena once again. ¡°This girl is a top contender at S-rank. Yenxa did a great job in withstanding those attacks from Leef.¡± Souta commented. This was the second battle and there were several battles left. Doranjan, Alice, Franklin, and the others haven¡¯t even fought. They could only wait for their turn. At this moment, Meina announced the contestants of the next battle. They were Isabella and a witch named Hanso. To think that Isabella, who didn¡¯t like battle, would join this tournament of her own volition. Isabella currently had the power level of an initial S-rank. Although her strength was weaker compared to Hanso, no one underestimate her. Her skills were one of the most dangerous in the entire Astros. The techniques and skills that she was practicing were different from others. It was a pure killing skill for a fast and swift hunt. Souta glanced at Hanso and examined his body. He found that Hanso had a normal defense of a high S-rank. ¡®If he didn¡¯t have any defensive ability that could block true damage then Isabella had a chance to defeat him. True damage is indeed strong.¡¯ He knew that Isabella had skills that could easily penetrate the armor and defense of her enemy. It was a terrifying skill made for swiftly killing a target. True damage. A damage that couldn¡¯t be blocked or reduced by armor or a protective field. It would directly chip the target¡¯s HP. Unless a person had resistance to this type of attack, they couldn¡¯t guard against it. Well, there were various defensive skills had the ability to block true damage but he doubt that Hanso had one. If he had broken one of his shackles and sublimated his body. He could effortlessly defeat Isabella. Speaking of shackles¡­ Souta turned to Alice and asked, ¡°You¡¯ve broken one of your shackles, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, why?¡± Alice nodded lightly. ¡°What¡¯s the characteristic that you¡¯ve gained? Eilish told me that her first characteristic is the increase in speed of her mana recovery. This characteristic made her comparable to those magical humans in terms of recovery speed.¡± Souta explained to her. ¡°Characteristics of energy recovery, huh? I want that too¡­ but the one I received was the characteristics of ice.¡± Alice answered with a faint smile. Chapter 703: Tournament of Astros: Alice vs Elder Hanmi ¡°Characteristics of ice? Then¡­¡± Souta glanced at her as his eyes slowly moved and changed. ¡°No, I¡¯m still at the first level but it let me approach the second level,¡± Alice answered. She noticed that he was staring at her so she asked, ¡°What are you looking at?¡± ¡°Ah, nothing¡­¡± Souta shook his head. ¡°I thought that you mastered the second level Integration.¡± ¡°Have you forgotten that only experts that broke the first great shackle could master the Integration?¡± Alice raised her eyebrows. ¡°Oh, right. I really didn¡¯t pay attention to it that much since I¡¯m different from you guys.¡± Souta shrugged his shoulders. Mortals couldn¡¯t grow infinitely. They would reach their limit if they continued to grow. That¡¯s why they had to break the limiter in their bodies called shackles. So if an expert wanted to achieve the so-called Integration, they had to break the first great shackle, the fourth shackle in mortals body. The fourth shackle was the shackle that limited the growth of elemental power in a mortal¡¯s body. After breaking it, they would achieve unbelievable powers. The strength that they would gain from breaking the fourth shackle was higher than the third shackle. Also, shattering the fourth was harder than the first three shackles. Many experts got stuck at this level and couldn¡¯t proceed forward. That¡¯s why the Adventurer Guild in Giza Continent named the first three shackles SS-rank and the fourth shackle and above SSS-rank. Every time a human or demi broke their shackle, they would gain a random characteristic. A characteristic was a random power that a mortal would gain from breaking a shackle. Unlike humans and demis, monsters broke their shackles after their evolutions. And instead of characteristics, the monster¡¯s abilities would advance to the next level in the process of it. ¡°I understand¡­¡± Souta nodded lightly. But there was one thing that was bothering him. Alexander Dreyfus. He clearly saw that man had seven seeds in his body. It means that his seven elements were all at the level of Integration. How? That must be some sort of secret technique to achieve the second level while at the realm of Solidifying. ¡°You know now, the reason why most humans and demis are envious of monsters¡¯ growth. If breaking my shackle could only enhance all of my skills then I would be glad even if I didn¡¯t gain any characteristics.¡± Alice explained. ¡°Well¡­ There¡¯s a reason why we are called monsters.¡± Souta couldn¡¯t help but smile. If someone were to ask him to choose if he wanted a random ability or enhancement of all of his abilities. Of course, he would choose the latter without hesitation. ¡®As for Yenxa¡­¡¯ Souta glanced at Yenxa who was receiving treatment. If Yenxa had the proper equipment, she would be able to fight higher level opponents. He was similar to her. He could still remember the time when he was having a hard time fighting an S-rank and had to use the power of his universal grade and dark grade equipment. If he didn¡¯t have any of these high grade equipment, he doubted that he would defeat his previous opponents. While Souta and Alice were chatting, the battle between Isabella and Hanso was concluded. The winner was Hanso. Even if she had powerful skills of the God of Hunt, her opponent was still a level higher than her. If she was going to sneak attack then she could probably end the battle easily but¡­ this was different. She was enclosed in a barrier so she couldn¡¯t fully utilize her ability. She was weak in fighting head-on. Although she lost, no one doubted Isabella¡¯s ability. Aside from the Shackled Realm experts in Astros, no one could probably guard against her if she were to attack like an assassin. Hiding in a dark and swiftly end the battle before it even starts. In the end, she still showed a good fight. The fourth battle was between Amanda, the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan, and Arfi, the son of the Witch Clan Chief Enforcer. The winner of this battle was Amanda. Watching all of this, Souta realized the set of tournaments. The first battle was between Eztein and Eilish and the second battle was between Yenxa and Leef. So tomorrow, the first battle of the second round would be Eilish and Leef. Damn, everyone was sure who was going to win. No need to say it. Soon, the fifth battle started. It was between a monster called Great Lightning Jaguar and a witch named Prima. The winner of this battle was Prima. Then, the sixth battle¡­ ¡°Now, let¡¯s welcome the contestant of the next fight!!!¡± Meina¡¯s voice echoed. ¡°Elder Hanmi, one of the two elders of our clan, the Witch Clan!! And his opponent is none other than the second-in-command of the Astros!!! Lady Alice!!!¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Souta raised his eyebrows with interest. He turned his head and glanced at Alice who was sitting beside him. ¡°It¡¯s your turn.¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Alice nodded and looked at the two children. She held both of their hands as she turned to him. ¡°I¡¯m going to bring Anzu and Aina to Eilish first.¡± She said before she left. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m looking forward to your fight.¡± Souta gives her a light nod. He focused his attention on the stage. It was a good matchup. Elder Hanmi was a good opponent to test Alice¡¯s strength. He was also looking forward to Elder Hanmi¡¯s improvement. Since he was in the Champion¡¯s Den for a long time, he didn¡¯t know how much the others have improve. His eyes could see that Elder Hanmi was still at One Shackle Realm, but he didn¡¯t know if he learned new skills or honed his fighting style. So this tournament would make him know their improvement. ¡­ Alice stepped into the arena after she left Anzu and Aina in Eilish¡¯s care. She gazed at her opponent. A bald old man with a thick beard and mustache was standing in front of her. He was thin and his back was slightly hunched but Alice knew very well that she couldn¡¯t underestimate him. Elder Hanmi. The man who he couldn¡¯t hope to defeat a few months ago. Alice took a deep breath as she slowly brandished her weapon. She fixed her posture as she stared at her opponent without blinking. Elder Hanmi opened his hand and a vortex of energy formed on his palm. He raised his hand as he made a grabbing motion before twelve sharp needles came out of the vortex. The needles were silver and each one was six inches long. This was his soul weapon, the [Flying Piercing Needles]. ¡°START!!!¡± With Meina¡¯s signal, the two quickly moved as they vanished from their position. Swoosh! The next moment, several shockwaves swept out and the ground trembled continuously. The audience couldn¡¯t even follow the movement of the two fighters. They could only feel the intensity of the energy coming from the arena. Boom! Boom! Alice and Elder Hanmi already threw thousands of blows in just a few seconds. They were going all out as the sound of the collision continued to echo. The sharp needles were flying everywhere as they flew toward Alice with unbelievable speed. ¡®A problematic soul weapon.¡¯ Alice squinted as she moved her body from side to side to avoid the sharp needles. Then, she swung the spear in her hand toward the incoming needles. Clang! Touching the floor with her hand, she pounced in the direction of her opponent. At the same time, layers of gray-colored flesh covered her body. It looked like she was wearing a tight armored suit. Looking at this scene, Elder Hanmi swiftly pulled out the short sword on his waist. He raised it and blocked Alice¡¯s spear. Bang! He felt his hand getting numb from the impact. He jumped away while controlling the twelve needles. He realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to win in a frontal battle. The physical prowess of his opponent was slightly higher than his. Suddenly, he felt danger coming from behind. His instinct was telling him to dodge. So without looking behind, he changed his direction. Boom!! A huge block of ice crashed in his previous position. It was terribly strong as he could feel a huge amount of mana inside that block of ice. If that one hit him, he would undoubtedly receive some damage. ¡°I have to go all out.¡± Elder Hanmi muttered as he raised his hand above his head. He was still moving around the arena while Alice was chasing him. All this time, he haven¡¯t stopped moving as he knew that he would only give his opponent an opportunity if he stopped on his track. [Element Drive: Wind Force]! Powerful swirling winds enveloped the twelve needles. When the needles moved, they were faster than before. It produced an ear-piercing sound and before anyone could hear it, it was already in front of Alice. Bang! Some parts of the arena were thrown in mid-air as Alice crashed into the ground. One of the twelve needles managed to hit her and it left a huge gaping hole on the side of her stomach. ¡°Ugh! Such power¡­¡± Alice muttered as she felt the taste of blood in her mouth. She looked up and saw the twelve needles flying at her once again. She stomped her left foot on the block of stone. Bang! The temperature in the atmosphere quickly went down as a wall of ice rose from the ground. It was seven meters tall and has a thickness of two meters. Chapter 705: Tournament of Astros: Letter ¡°Show me!!¡± Franklin yelled as he swung his fist infused with an overwhelming aura. Bang! George crossed his hand and blocked Franklin¡¯s fist. Then, he raised his foot and kneed his opponent on the stomach. Ugh! Franklin groaned in pain. He looked up as he saw his opponent move above him. Then, he felt a pain in his back as his figure crashed on the ground like a meteor. Bang!! George didn¡¯t stop. Layers of flesh covered his body as he threw several dozens of energy balls at Franklin¡¯s position. Boom! Boom! Boom! He suddenly opened his eyes widely and stopped firing energy balls. A ray of blueish energy abruptly came out of the smoke. It flew toward his position with insane speed. Luckily, his reaction speed was honed to the limit so he managed to shift his body before the beam landed on him. Bang! The smoke was blown away as a loud sound echoed within. Franklin was standing with his body covered in wounds. Well, the wounds quickly disappeared in a split second as layers of flesh enveloped him. ¡°It¡¯s truly magnificent. The essence of battle is something really worth experiencing.¡± Franklin said with a faint smile. His mouth cracked widely almost reaching his ears. ¡­ Inside the guest room¡­ Souta was observing the envoy of the Mine Valley. He was a man with short green hair and tan skin. He was wearing a black coat on top of his white vest. He introduced himself as Jeoban. There were four people inside the room. Aside from Souta and Jeoban, Edward and his son were also present. They were the ones who brought the envoy here and they also wanted to accomplish something so that they could show to City Lord that they were useful. ¡°So¡­ What did the Governor of Mine Valley want from me? If I¡¯m not wrong, I didn¡¯t stretch out my hand from the nearby city and I¡¯m staying here ever since I took the position.¡± Souta said without changing his expression. He wasn¡¯t afraid of this envoy. Jeoban only had a power level of initial A-rank and Souta already scanned him. So he was sure that this guy wasn¡¯t carrying anything dangerous with him. ¡°City Lord, I came here to deliver the message of the Governor.¡± Jeoban bowed before he took out a letter. He raised it in front of Souta. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Souta stretched out his hand and took the letter. He opened it and read the contents. Jeoban stared at him while waiting for his reply. Edward and Alan, the second son, didn¡¯t have any idea what was written in the letter. They simply stood at their position not daring to interrupt the City Lord. Souta placed the letter on the side and glanced at the envoy. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, ¡°Did the Governor say anything for me?¡± ¡°Sir, Governor Ray said that he hoped that you could support him with his endeavor. That¡¯s all.¡± Jeoban answered respectfully. ¡°So if I wanted to know more¡­ Then, I have to visit the Mine Valley.¡± Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. The Governor of the Mine Valley was called Ray Faustin. He took the position four months ago and established a solid foundation in his territory. According to his information, Ray Faustin was an ambitious man. He already annexed three of the surrounding cities around the Mine Valley. With this, Souta could guess that the Governor¡¯s target was the remaining cities including the Ekatoe. But the letter said something¡­ The contents of the letter said that Ray Faustin was inviting him to join the so-called Dragon Council. Souta didn¡¯t have to answer immediately as Ray said that he should visit the Mine Valley first to attend the meeting of the Council. At that time, he would learn some information and he would decide if he wanted to officially join the Council or not. He glanced at the envoy and said, ¡°You can go now. My people will prepare a room for you so you can stay here for a night.¡± ¡°Thank you for your hospitality, City Lord.¡± Envoy Jeoban bowed respectfully before he left the room. Souta glanced at Edward and Alan. He asked, ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°Governor Ray wanted to take over the entire Mine Valley. I think it¡¯s dangerous if you visit Bland City without any preparation. Ray Faustin had already taken three cities and this invitation must be because he learned that the other cities already planning to fight back. He wanted to know if there are people willing to work for him in the nearby cities by sending an invitation.¡± The one that answered was Alan, the second son of the Shimpan Family. ¡°I have the same thoughts as my son, City Lord. If we ignore the letter I think that we will incur the wrath of Governor Ray. Both choices are dangerous so we need to have a backup plan.¡± Edward added. ¡°I see¡­¡± Souta nodded. He lacked information right now. The Bland City in Mine Valley where the Governor resides was tightly guarded. In the end, if he wanted to know more he had to visit that place. It was risky but he had a reason. In the letter, Ray Faustin called him a warrior. It¡¯s decided. He would visit Bland City but first, he had to talk to the warriors stationed in the post tower. It seems that the letter from Grain Leader Carmel had arrived. Hmm? Souta turned his head. He glanced in the direction of the arena. He could sense that the match had ended and the next match was starting. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t watch it since the Mine Valley had sent an envoy. He stood up and waved his hand. ¡°You can go back now.¡± He dismissed Edward and Alan before he left the room. He went straight to the post towers where the warriors were situated. The warriors haven¡¯t left the Ekatoe since they still had something to finish here. Unlike him, the warriors weren¡¯t in a hurry to build the portal. They were building it step by step and they¡¯ll eventually finish it. So once the portal once completed, the other warriors of Athena could come to this place since it would become a branch station. This portal wasn¡¯t connected to Athen¡¯s Champion in Champion¡¯s Den. Instead, it was connected to a portal to another branch of Athen¡¯s Champion close to the main city. In this way, the legion could cut down the resources needed to build a portal. Information, the farther the portal to each other the harder it was to build and it would need an astronomical amount of resources. Even activating it would cost a lot ever since the increase in mana density. He arrived at the post towers and arranged a meeting with the warriors staying there. Inside a room¡­ Souta was seating in a comfortable chair and facing him were two warriors of the Second Grain Wise. One of them was wearing a light armor with a small crimson cloak on top of it. The other one was a two and a half meter tall man with scar on his cheeks. His muscles were bulging out as he was only wearing leather armor. He had a great sword on his back and a pair of bear ears on the side of his head. ¡°Did he bring the bring the letter, Squad Leader Markov?¡± Souta asked. The tall man was a fellow Squad Leader from the Third Set Pallas Division. The tall man looked at the warrior beside him and said, ¡°Give it to Squad Leader Souta.¡± ¡°Yes, captain.¡± The other warrior nodded and took out a letter. He gave it directly to Souta. Squad Leader Markov observed him who was opening the letter. He slowly said, ¡°You realize the graveness of this right?¡± Souta looked at Markov and nodded calmly. ¡°Yes, this land isn¡¯t within the territory of Olympus.¡± ¡°Be careful. Don¡¯t attract too much attention,¡± said Markov. ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t have a plan to expand this city anymore. This city is enough for me.¡± Souta replied while reading the contents of the letter. After reading the letter, Souta burned it with his fireball. He then glanced at Markov and said, ¡°So¡­ according to Chief Captain, he saw the Messenger of Gluttony in the subterranean world. There are other warriors who saw the messenger.¡± ¡°Yeah, the higher-ups think that the Deadly Sins are behind the action of the Red Matter Association.¡± ¡°It means that there is a chance that I would meet them in this land, am I right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why the higher-ups want you to move slowly. If you met or found any clue about the Deadly Sins, you should report it immediately. They are lurking in the shadows controlling smaller organizations like the Red Matter Association.¡± ¡°So the gods are on edge¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s difficult for a god to move in this situation. If a god on our side suddenly makes a move, there¡¯s a chance that the gods on the other side will appear too. Also, what if the smaller organizations are a trap? If the god on our side moved and fell in that, we would suffer a lot.¡± Souta sighed after hearing Markov¡¯s words. He knew that if a god moved recklessly, then it would become a war between gods. That¡¯s the most dangerous as several dozens of countries would be destroyed in an instant. At that time, he would have a hard time moving around. This wasn¡¯t a game anymore so he couldn¡¯t afford to die to test if he could respawn. Chapter 706: Tournament of Astros: News If they were on a mission outside Olympus then it would be fine but¡­ If the warriors stayed outside and started to build the base. The others would see it as them trying to expand their territory. The worst-case scenario would result in a large-scale war. It was especially the case if they build a base near the other Holy Lands or Large Countries. Luckily, in the entire Hall Plains, there¡¯s not a single Large Country or Holy Land. Although this land was huge, it was still desolate and small in the eyes of those large countries. The territory of Olympus alone was sixty times larger than Hall Plains. It was too large that it had hundreds of small countries in its territory. That¡¯s why sometimes, a small-scale war occurred inside the territory. Those small countries were fighting each other and the higher-ups couldn¡¯t even bother those people since they were too busy with a much bigger problem. The warriors would also take some missions to investigate those small countries. Just like what happened to the Dukedom of Halbun where Souta fought the old man that wields the power of curse. ¡°The warriors doing missions outside of Olympus have also received the same warning. The situation is getting out of hand.¡± Markov said to him. ¡°I understand. Then, what about the demons?¡± Souta nodded and asked. ¡°The demons? The demon army had stopped advancing. Still, solidified their formation in the southern part of the continent. They are currently in a standstill against the large countries in that land. We¡¯ve sent some of our warriors there a few months ago.¡± Markov slowly explained. The demon army had occupied hundreds of kilometers of land in the southern territory. They were currently fighting the army of the four large countries in that land. Most of the battles were still between low-level experts and it haven¡¯t escalated to a full-blown war of all top powerhouses. The top powerhouses were still keeping each other in check. If one moved then the rest would follow suit. Through Markov¡¯s explanation, Souta was glad that the demon army was still moving according to his memory of the game. If it changed, he would be worried and have to provide all sorts of plans. ¡°Here, look at this¡­ This is basic knowledge so there¡¯s no problem with me sharing it with you.¡± Markov placed a map on the table. He looked at his men and asked, ¡°Give me a pen.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± His subordinate nodded and left. In just a minute, he came back and gave a pen to his Squad Leader. Markov glanced at Souta and asked, ¡°You haven¡¯t been dispatched to the battlefield, right?¡± ¡°Against the demons? Yes, I haven¡¯t, I only heard it from fellow warriors.¡± Souta nodded lightly. ¡°This is roughly the battlefield of the demons.¡± Markov drew several small circles on the map and showed it to Souta. Souta narrowed his eyes and said inwardly, ¡®This is roughly the same.¡¯ He was glad that the situation here was somewhat similar to the game. It means that he hasn¡¯t made an impact on this land. Well, ever since he came here the only experts that he fought were from Red Matter Association. Also, he hasn¡¯t made a move in other important areas. ¡®Here, the Solnes City¡­ This will be called Solnes Theatre in the next few months. I need to make ample preparation.¡¯ He didn¡¯t know a lot about Solnes Theatre as he didn¡¯t participate in that battle, but Souta knew an important thing. One of the highest-grade mana fruit would appear there, a mythical grade mana fruit. It was called Tears of Divine Might. The person who grasped it in the game was none other than the Top 14 in the Players Leaderboard. That man used the power within the fruit to achieve all those feats and even in an interview, he always gives the credit to the Tears of Divine Might. Souta didn¡¯t know the effect but he had to get it to know it. Is it a fruit that could give him a vast amount of experience? An increase in level? Maybe a unique skill or some powerful abilities? Or something that could enhance stats tremendously? Who knows since the Top 14 hid all the details of the mythical grade fruit? No one knew its effect. Hu~ Souta sighed as he leaned his back on the chair. If he knew that this was going to him, he should¡¯ve paid more attention to the details of that event. The only thing he knew was that the Tears of Divine Might would spawn in the Solnes Theatre in the next few months. No matter what, he should get his hand on it. There¡¯s no way that the mythical grade fruit had a low effect. The lowest effect should be a tremendous experience points that could directly increase his level by four to five level. If his level was lower it would probably increase his level by seven or maybe eight. At the very least, he had a few months to prepare himself. One thing that¡¯s for sure. He would meet the Deadly Sins in that place so preparation was all he needed. ¡°Avoid coming close to the southern territory,¡± Markov warned him with a serious expression. ¡°Although it¡¯s too far from this place, there¡¯s still a chance that you would get caught in the battle. Without missions from the higher-ups, don¡¯t ever go in that land.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Souta nodded sternly. He valued his life more than anything else. He wouldn¡¯t do something out of his league. ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Markov fixed his posture and added, ¡°I think we¡¯ll finish the portal soon. About the leader of the Red Matter Association, some of our warriors went back to Mirror Lake and they¡¯ve found that Avron¡¯s and the Messenger¡¯s bodies were gone.¡± ¡°So they survived the explosion?¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But it¡¯s true that the effect of the slave collars on the executives disappeared so it indicated that Avron died but maybe the Messenger took his body.¡± Markov shrugged his shoulders. ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯ll check things out in this land. Once I¡¯ve noticed something, I¡¯ll quickly report it.¡± Souta said. ¡°Good.¡± Markov nodded. Souta left the post tower after he finished talking to Squad Leader Markov. He went back to the tournament and found that it was almost finished. He sighed as he went back to his seat. He at least wanted to rest for a week or two but it seems that he could only shorten his rest period. It¡¯s mentally exhausting but he had to tough himself if he wanted to survive. ¡°I¡¯ll just finish this festival¡­¡± Souta said in a low voice. ¡°Where did you go?¡± Alice suddenly asked him. ¡°Me? An envoy from Mine Valley had arrived. Then, I talked to Squad Leader Markov who is in-charge of the construction of the portal.¡± Souta answered her question with a tired look. ¡°Is there something I can help with?¡± Alice noticed his look and tone so she knew that Souta was thinking about something huge again. It should be a serious matter. So the only thing she could do was decrease the weight he was carrying. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll inform you later. For now, I want to enjoy my time watching the tournament.¡± Souta said as he forced a smile on his face. ¡°I got it.¡± Alice nodded and smile gently. It was currently the 12th match, the last match of the upper tournament today. The match was between Doranjan and Ardelo. Doranjan was no doubt a top contender as he was a monster at the fourth stage. Aside from Souta, there¡¯s no other monster at his level in the entire Astros. Ardelo was a man with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail on the back of his head. He was wearing a black mask with a black outfit. In his hands, he was holding a pair of sharp daggers. He was one of the top experts in the Noxious Corps, the group that Franklin founded with Isabella. He was strong but he was having a hard time fighting Doranjan, a fourth stage monster called Great Green Dragon. Doranjan¡¯s body was ten meters tall and he had a length of fifteen meters. Each of his wings spans seven meters. His green glossy scales were like a tough armor that could rival those high quality orange-grade armor. He opened his huge mouth and greenish energy gushed out like a tsunami. ¡°Shit!¡± Ardelo cursed in a low voice as he tried to escape but he found that all the escape routes were blocked. He forgot that the space in the arena was limited so he couldn¡¯t move the way that he wanted. Boom!! A loud explosion occurred that shook the entire arena. Doranjan glanced at the smoke and slowly said, ¡°Give up, you¡¯re not my match.¡± Yes, an S-rank would need a party composed of different specialties just to fight an initial fourth stage. A lone S-rank wouldn¡¯t be able to prevail against a fourth stage monster. Chapter 707: Tournament of Astros: Start of Day 2 Doranjan won the battle in an overwhelming battle. Ardelo had no chance of winning from the beginning. He was unlucky that he met Doranjan in his first match. ¡°Who wins in the previous matches?¡± Souta asked Alice who was sitting beside him. Alice told him the winners. After the 7th match where Franklin and George fought, the 8th match was between the Red Dragon and a witch called Ren. The one who prevail was Ren as he defeated the Red Dragon with all of his might. The 9th match was between Yuko and Sisi, one of Eilish¡¯s subordinates. She was a great fighter but at the end of the battle, Yuko won by knocking her out using her release form. The 10th match was between Elder Guan and Maki, also one of Eilish¡¯s subordinates. Elder Guan won easily as the gap between the two was huge. He was a top One Shackle Realm while Maki was only a peak S-rank. No matter what tricks she used, Elder Guan used the overwhelming gap in their powers to win. The 11th match was between Lina and Torkez. Lina was also one of Eilish¡¯s subordinates. She showed her combat prowess to everyone as she shockingly defeat Torkez who was favored to win the match. As for the final match, Doranjan won. ¡°The first day of the upper tournament had ended!! Everyone knows the contestants of the tournament!! So fighters!! Prepare yourself and see you tomorrow for the next matches!!!¡± The matches tomorrow were decided. 1st match¡­. Eilish vs Leef 2nd match¡­. Hanso vs Amanda 3rd match¡­. Prima vs Alice 4th match¡­. Franklin vs Ren 5th match¡­. Yuko vs Elder Guan 6th match¡­. Lina vs Doranjan Some of the matches were already decided. Even the audience could see who was going to win in some battles on the 2nd day of the upper tournament. ¡°This will be interesting¡­¡± Souta smiled while looking at the matches. He wondered who was going to win at the end of the tournament. He could watch the matches but he didn¡¯t have a time to do other things. There were other things that he must do. He stood up and stretched his arms. ¡°Alice, come with me. I have something to discuss with you.¡± He had to tell her about the letter and formulate a plan together with her. The danger level was unknown and it would be quite bad if he didn¡¯t inform his comrades. Also, there¡¯s a chance that Governor Ray knew about the state of the Hall Plains. Maybe, he knew the secret organizations lurking in this land. Souta didn¡¯t have any idea about it since he came from Olympus and he hasn¡¯t visited this place in the game. In other words, accepting the invitation of the Governor was important. ¡­ Isabella returned to her room. Suffering a defeat to Hanso didn¡¯t have much impact on her, she had an important job right now and that was to replicate the red pill that Souta gave to her. ¡°The red pill used some sort of energy¡­ A lifespan? Life essence or maybe other things¡­¡± She muttered as she opened the notebook on her desk and wrote down all the things that she discovered in the red pill. ¡°Life essence is quite right but I should call it life essence and how to extract it¡­ It¡¯s a bit problematic. It has the same structure as mana but it wouldn¡¯t work on other people¡­ Ugh! I don¡¯t know.¡± Isabella grabbed her hair in frustration. Extracting this so-called ¡°life essence¡± was hard as it couldn¡¯t be found in ordinary objects or ingredients. Only living creatures possessed it so she had to use living creatures to find a way to extract the life essence. ¡°But how¡­ this will be a dangerous experiment so I doubt that anyone will volunteer themselves.¡± She sighed as she opened the drawer on her desk and took out a transparent bottle. Inside the battle was a glistening mysterious red pill. She knew that even if she consumed it, it wouldn¡¯t have any effect on her. After all, the life essence of this pill wasn¡¯t from her in the beginning. ¡°Just how did someone extract a life essence? Is this really possible¡­? Ugh, I need to calm down. Souta said that I should take it slowly.¡± Isabella placed the bottle in the drawer and stood up. She took a deep breath before she said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take a walk outside to clear my mind.¡± With that, she wore a brown coat before she left her room and headed outside the City Hall. Hm~ mnn~ She walked in the streets while humming a song from her hometown. Even though it was dark, there were still hundreds of stall line-up across the streets. The atmosphere was still lively and it was going to continue until the tournament was over. ¡°Oh, if it isn¡¯t Lady Isabella! How are you today?¡± An old lady greeted Isabella with a smile on her face. ¡°T-Thank you, I¡¯m doing great today.¡± Isabella smiled as she waved her hand. Then, she quickly left the scene while using her stealth skill. ¡°T-That¡¯s not good¡­ Ugh, I feel so bad. I¡¯m still not used to other people talking to me.¡± She muttered with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m different from before. I have strength now and I could protect myself from harm but¡­ It¡¯s still hard for me to talk to other people. The old lady didn¡¯t have any ill intention but I¡­¡± Isabella disappeared from her position, only to reappear on the roof of a two-story house. She observed the people as she recalled the past. A lot of things happened this year. This year also entirely changed her gray and plain life in her homeworld. The war against the Great Astley Empire, fighting nonstop in Living Labyrinth, traveling in outer space, and escaping from the Council of High-Worlds. There were times when she almost gave up as her mental health couldn¡¯t handle all the situations but she managed to prevail. Even after taking the life of another person almost made her lose her mind. All the things that she hasn¡¯t experienced before were something she didn¡¯t imagine that she would do in her entire life. ¡°Aaaahaa~ I¡¯m just a slave but sometimes I wonder why Souta free me. Is it really because I¡¯m a talented person just like what he said?¡± She raised her head and looked at the glistening stars in the sky. ¡°This is a beautiful world¡­ Life is full of unexpected things.¡± The corner of her mouth curved upward. Nothing was more beautiful than this peaceful night. It calms her senses and brings her a sense of comfort. She subconsciously closed her eyes as the cold breeze of night gently brushed her cheeks. Slowly, she fell into a deep sleep. ¡°Umm¡­?¡± Isabella slowly opened her eyes as the sunlight brushed her eyelids. It woke her up and she instantly realized that she fell asleep on the roof. ¡°Uwah, I fell asleep! I still have to complete my task!¡± She quickly stood up and patted the dust on her clothes. ¡°Why did I sleep here?! What if other people saw me? Ugh, it¡¯s embarrassing!¡± Isabella shook her head as she activated her stealth skill. Then, she hurriedly jumped down from the roof and went straight to the City Hall. Today, Isabella never showed herself to the public¡¯s eyes. ¡­ On the outskirts of Mirror Lake¡­ Vandal was looking at the piles of rock with a gloomy look on his face. Beside him was his assistant, Shirley. ¡°Chief Captain, we¡¯ve recovered thirty corpses and most of them are warriors,¡± Shirley reported. ¡°Preserve their bodies, we¡¯ll give them a proper burial in our legion.¡± Vandal said to her. ¡°I understand,¡± Shirley nodded before she left. Vandal took a long sigh after his assistant disappeared. Until now, they haven¡¯t found Avron and the Messenger of Gluttony¡¯s bodies. ¡°Project Sicily¡­ Avron mentioned it to me but after heading to the library, I haven¡¯t learned anything related to it. Deadly Sins, they are getting active in the last two years¡­¡± He muttered to himself. According to the information that he gathered, the forces of Deadly Sins were active in the Giza Continent last year. ¡°The Bloodstones of the Vampire Clan¡­ Is it related to Project Sicily? And that man who called himself Grim, just what is he planning to do with the Spatial Gem?¡± There were tons of questions that he didn¡¯t know the answer to. He already reported it to the higher-ups but it seems that they didn¡¯t know what the Deadly Sins was planning to do. Vandal even personally interrogated the captured executives of the Red Matter Association. According to them, they didn¡¯t know that Avron was contacted by the Messenger of Gluttony. They didn¡¯t have any idea about that event. The only thing he could do was to find Messenger and Avron if they were still alive. In this situation, it was hard to move since the gods were watching the movement of the Demon Pillar in the southern territory. ¡°The other territories are also at war¡­ Not everyone on the continent is on the same side.¡± Chapter 708: Tournament of Astros: Recipe The second day was as lively as yesterday. People woke up early in the morning as they set up various stalls all over the streets. Of course, the festival was only in the Astros. A lot of people already gathered around the arena to watch the tournament. The upper tournament wasn¡¯t going to start immediately. The lower tournament was first before the matches of the higher-level experts. The participants were already warming up on the side of the arena. The audience was cheering for their favorite contestants. Yenxa woke up. She stood up and fixed her bed before she wore her clothes. Clothes. She wasn¡¯t used to wearing something like this. Covering her body with a bunch of tough fibers gives her an uncomfortable feeling. Back in the tribe, goblins like her only used a piece of cloth to cover their lower body. That¡¯s it, no more and no less. But it¡¯s different here, her Lord said that she should wear something like this as it could also boost her strength to a certain degree. ¡°I¡¯ll follow my Lord¡¯s order.¡± She said to herself while looking in the mirror. She raised her hand and tied her soft silky hair in a ponytail. Then, she fixed her dress. Her dress normally was a blue or purple grade. Lower than that, it would only disintegrate if she subconsciously let out her toxins. So there¡¯s no point in using something that would only melt if she used her ability. Souta said that he would find equipment that was compatible with her ability. Since her Lord said it, she wasn¡¯t worried about not getting any equipment. After she finished, she opened the door and left the room with a book in her hands. It was a book of spells. She walked out of the house and saw her tribesmen. Compared to before, her tribesmen have better equipment and they were trying to adjust to this life. Her Lord asked her to pick them up which led to the current situation. In the battle in her homeworld, a lot of her tribesmen perished and only a few dozen survived. Even their habitat was destroyed from the battle. Right now, Doranjan was the one handling them. As a higher species, he took them under his protection. Nevertheless, she never felt any sort of attachment to them. Back in the day, fights broke out almost every day. Her tribesmen fought for food and only the strong survive. There¡¯s never been a moment of peace in that harsh environment. Although she was considered the chief of her tribe, never she did something befitting of this position. ¡°Red Dragon.¡± Yenxa paused as she turned her head. She saw the Red Dragon in front of a bunch of monsters. According to her knowledge, Doranjan and the rest of the monsters invaded several dungeons. Doranjan took most of the monsters that submitted to him under his wings. This expedition made the Feral Corps of the Astros grow larger. A third stage monster even joined the corps. That monster was the Great Lightning Jaguar who joined the upper tournament. So right now, the corps had a total of four third stage monsters including her, and one fourth stage. Well, they were going back soon. After all, the base of the Feral Corps was on the other side of the portal. They only came here because of the festival and some of the monsters wanted to test their strength in the tournament. She shook her head and turned away from the group of monsters. Right now, she had to do something before she went to the arena. ¡°Ah, this¡­¡± Opening the book in her hands, she looked at the words written on the last page. The words weren¡¯t related to spells. Instead, it was just a simple recipe for a dessert that she like. ¡°Um¡­ Yellow apple, grapevine, melting sugar, and shell cheese. I¡¯ll ask the green woman to cook for me.¡± She muttered in a low voice while looking at the recipe. She nodded to herself and closed the book. ¡°Okay,¡± She went out and headed straight to the area where humans and demis lived. ¡°Good morning, young miss!¡± An old man said with a smile on his face. Yenxa nodded at the old man and didn¡¯t say anything. She continued to walk across the streets as she observed the people around her. ¡°Good morning, young miss!¡± ¡°Good morning, sister!¡± ¡°Oh, how are you today, Lady Yenxa?¡± A lot of people recognized her and warmly greeted her while she was strolling. She was quite well-known among the people of Astros as one of the people who stood beside the Lord. She nodded at them but didn¡¯t say anything. Although she studied the most common language of the Imperium, she still wasn¡¯t used to speaking. She could¡¯ve placed her thoughts in any random words so that these people could understand her but¡­ In her opinion, using monster language gives off a different impression. ¡°You can have this young miss.¡± An old lady gave her a small bag of apple pie. Yenxa looked at the small bag and then at the old lady. Her expression was still the same and she was even wondering why this old lady was giving her this small bag of apple pie. ¡°It¡¯s okay, you can even taste it right now if you like.¡± The old lady smiled brightly. Yenxa nodded and took the small bag. She picked one before taking a small bite. ¡°Hmmm~ I-It¡¯s good¡­¡± She said in a small voice. This old lady was not bad. She would remember her face so when there was an opportunity, she could repay her. ¡°I¡¯m glad that you like it, young miss.¡± The old lady said gently with a soft smile. Yenxa gave the old lady a light nod before she turned around. She was about to walk away when someone called her name. ¡°Oh, Yenxa! You¡¯re here!¡± She turned around and saw a beautiful woman with long red striking hair. This woman was one of Lord¡¯s trusted aides. ¡°Red Witch.¡± ¡°Eh!¡± Amanda smiled awkwardly as she scratched her left cheek when she heard Yenxa¡¯s words. She forced a smile and asked, ¡°What are you doing here? Aren¡¯t you going to watch the tournament? It¡¯s going to start soon.¡± ¡°Here.¡± Instead of answering, Yenxa opened the book in her hands and showed the last page to her. ¡°Hmm¡­?¡± Amanda raised her brows as she looked at the contents. After reading it, she stared at Yenxa and said, ¡°You want to buy these ingredients? Then, let me help you. I actually know where you can find them.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Yenxa nodded. She turned at the small bag and took out one apple pie. Then, she held it in front of Amanda and said, ¡°Take this.¡± ¡°Thanks, but I¡¯m still full.¡± Amanda waved her hand. She smiled wryly as she noticed that Yenxa was hesitant to give the pie. ¡°Good.¡± Yenxa nodded and placed the apple pie in her mouth. She closed her eyes as she appreciated the taste of the food. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s finish this before the tournament starts.¡± Amanda said before she walked away. Yenxa glanced at the old lady one more time before she followed Amanda. ¡­ The lower tournament had started. The strongest contestants were only at Liquefying Realm. Although their power level was lower than the experts at the upper tournament, they still showed their great skills to the audience. Souta enjoyed watching this kind of battle. The contestants weren¡¯t powerful but their weapon mastery was high and their martial prowess could even rival those people at S-rank. ¡°They could start learning [Elemental Drive] at their level. It will give them a huge advantage over their opponent.¡± He said in a low voice. Well, he couldn¡¯t blame them even if they haven¡¯t achieved it. Some of the One Shackle Realm hasn¡¯t even learned [Element Drive] themselves. If he wasn¡¯t wrong, in one of the books that he gave to Torkez, a book about how to train the [Element Drive] faster was included in it. So he was sure that his people would achieve the first level sooner or later. Hmm¡­ Souta glanced at the next fighter. It was Remina, Torkez¡¯s subordinate. She was one of the most favored fighters in the lower tournament and she dominated her opponents yesterday. But the experts that won yesterday¡¯s matches were also strong. They were experts from Noxious, Witch Clan, and one of Eilish¡¯s subordinates. It wouldn¡¯t be as easy as yesterday. Souta watched the battle without blinking. He was memorizing their moves and assessing their fighting style at the same time. He was comparing them to him and if there was something, he would give them advice to further improve their skills. Not just that, he would also take some of their moves for himself. He wasn¡¯t some petty person that would think that all the moves of the people below him were useless. Some of the moves were worth looking at. So this wasn¡¯t only beneficial to his subordinates but also to him. Chapter 709: Tournament of Astros: Amanda vs Hanso The lower tournament today was concluded. The winners of the matches would enter the finals tomorrow. The contestants showed their martial prowess and it entertained a lot of audiences. Actually, the audience enjoyed the lower tournament more than the upper tournament. After all, the level of the experts at the upper tournament was out of their league. The speed of the experts at peak S-rank and Shackled Realm wasn¡¯t something that they could follow with their eyes. Only people at S-rank and above could watch the battle. Soon, Meina announced the start of the upper after a thirty-minute break. The first match was between Eilish and Leef. A lot of people knew who the winner was even before the battle started. After all, Eilish was an expert standing at the top of One Shackle Realm while Leef was only at Solidifying Realm. The difference in strength was huge and there was no thrill at all. Even Souta couldn¡¯t even defeat a One Shackle Realm alone before he evolved. Meina gave Leef a chance to surrender before the start of the battle. Although Leef had no chance to win, she didn¡¯t give up and wanted to test her strength against an expert above her. This was her chance to fight One Shackle Realm. In regard to her determination, Eilish didn¡¯t attack at the start. She just defends herself and lets Leef use everything that she got. She only finished the battle after letting Leef realize the power of a One Shackle Realm. This was a good thing for Leef. If she met a One Shackle Realm in the future, she would subconsciously compare her strength to Eilish. If her strength hasn¡¯t surpassed Eilish, she would simply avoid fighting. So she wouldn¡¯t carelessly fight someone at that level of strength even if she grew stronger in the future. Eilish won the battle. Everyone expected this outcome. Right now was the start of the second match. ¡°Let¡¯s welcome the fighters of the second match!! The Clan Leader of the Witch Clan, Lady Amanda, who defeated Arfi, the son of the Chief Enforcer!! And her opponent is someone from the Witch Clan too!! Hanso, a genius of the Witch Clan, who defeated Lady Isabella yesterday in the third match!!¡± Meina announced enthusiastically. A lot of people were waiting for this. Both experts were top contenders and the gap in their strength wasn¡¯t that large so it would be an intense battle. It was different from Eilish and Leef¡¯s battle in which the outcome was already decided from the beginning. Amanda stepped inside the arena with a calm look. Hanso also stepped inside as he faced Amanda, the Clan Leader of the Witch Clan. The crowd cheered loudly for the two of them. No matter the outcome, both contestants were from Witch Clan so they proudly raised their chests. Ohm! The layers of barriers around the arena were activated. ¡°Let the battle begin!!¡± At Meina¡¯s signal, the battle had started. This was a highly anticipated battle. Amanda raised her hands and a vortex of energy formed in the mid-air. A pair of crimson-colored daggers came out of the vortex. It was her soul weapon, [Crimson Severing Dagger]. Hanso also materialized his soul weapon. It was a plain-looking sword called [Flexible Swift Blade]. Both of them stared at each other for a while. They simply circulated their energy around their bodies. ¡°Don¡¯t ever hold back,¡± Amanda said before she dashed forward. Her aura flared up as the daggers in her hands emitted a dim red glow. Swoosh! Hanso narrowed his eyes. He jumped away before thrusting the sword in his hand. His sword stretched forward as it moved like a whip. It was as flexible as rubber and paired with his energy, it was also tough at the same time. Bang! Bang! Amanda moved swiftly as she jumped side to side while blocking the attacks with her dagger. She knew what her opponent¡¯s soul weapon could do. [Flexible Swift Blade] was a sword that could stretch several hundreds of meters away. It was also flexible as rubber just like its name suggested. It was swift as it could attack in any direction using its elasticity. She had information but facing it personally gives her some sort of pressure. Clang! Clang! Clang! She turned around and blocked the attack behind her, then she quickly turned to the left as another attack was coming. Clang!! Amanda stepped forward and lightning burst out of her pivot foot. [Lightning Wave]!! The lightning spread out like a net as it violently rushed toward Hanso. Seeing this, Hanso infused his energy into his soul weapon. In an instant, cold energy covered his sword and he swung it down with all of his might. [Freezing Blade]!! The two attacks collided causing violent sparks of energy to spread out like a shockwave. Boom! ¡°I can see Amanda¡¯s improvement. She¡¯s several times stronger right now compared to the time when you introduced her to me.¡± Souta said with his chin resting on his hand. ¡°Yeah, after recovering her memories, she spends most of her time training to improve herself. She wanted to get her revenge on the people that killed her parents and the one that manipulated Clan Leader Rowan.¡± Alice nodded at his words. Souta recalled something and said, ¡°I wonder if she trained her elements. If I¡¯m not wrong, she ate the High Phaseless Fruit, giving her another elemental affinity.¡± ¡°You have given her a legendary grade mana fruit?! I thought that she had three elemental affinities from the beginning but it seems that I got the wrong idea.¡± Alice said as she slightly raised her voice. She was a little bit surprised at Souta¡¯s revelation. ¡°You want one? If I find another one I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± Souta waved his hand as if this matter was no big deal. Among the mana fruits that he got from the living labyrinth, there were only four legendary grade fruits. High Phaseless was the first one as for the remaining three, he consumed two of them leaving only one legendary fruit in his storage. The three legendary were Poisonous Bubble, Demon Eggplant, and Cocofire. As for the lower grade fruits, Souta consumed most of them. The fruits that wouldn¡¯t affect him, he gave those to his comrades. After all, he could only eat a limited amount of the same fruit, and if he passed that limit, he wouldn¡¯t feel the fruit¡¯s effect. ¡°As if finding one is easy,¡± Alice said with a sigh. ¡°Just trust me,¡± Souta said to her. Soon, the mythical grade would appear along with hundreds of legendary so it¡¯s impossible for all those legendary to not have a single High Phaseless. ¡°Sure,¡± Alice said before she focused her attention on the match. Clang! Clang! Three ice pillars rose from the ground. Amanda was in the center of the three pillars. She jumped in the air but she bumped into an invisible barrier. ¡°Huh?! A barrier¡­?¡± Amanda charged her energy in her soul weapon. She was about to attack when cold air seeped out of the three ice pillars. [Ice Enclosure]!! The cold air had some sort of energy as it repelled her body away from the pillars. She threw a powerful lightning wave but the cold energy grew stronger and suppressed the lightning. Bang!! At this moment, Hanso jumped in the air and pointed his sword at Amanda. The aura around his body grew stronger as it reached its limit. [Element Drive: Ice Force]!! Blueish light glowed as he infused his energy into his weapon. Then, he thrust it downward with unbelievable speed. The cold energy swept out and the arena was frozen instantly. [Icy Flash]! ¡°You leave me no choice¡­¡± Amanda gritted her teeth as lightning and dark energy oozed out of her body. When the sword was in front of her face, a white light burst out of her body. Boom!! The blinding light erupted and it was followed by darkness. The next moment, lightning crackled as it spread everywhere like a tsunami. In an instant, the three pillars of ice were shattered along with the barrier. Bang! Hanso was blown away and his body crashed into the barrier. He opened his eyes widely as he stared at the center of the arena. ¡°This¡­?! I failed in my attack¡­¡± His skills were shattered by a powerful force so he realized that his opponent was going all-out. Amanda standing at the center of the arena with a frown on her face. Lightning, light, and darkness were oozing out of her body. The three different elements were spreading out, affecting the entire surrounding. [Triple Element Drive: Trinity Force]!! She spat blood on the floor before she raised her hand and wiped the streak of blood on the corner of her mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down, Hanso.¡± Amanda slightly bent her knees. With a loud bang, she flew straight toward her opponent with insane speed. She quickly covered the distance in the blink of an eye. She raised the daggers in her hand and swiftly swung them down. Swoosh! ¡°Huh?¡± Hanso couldn¡¯t even follow her movement. He was still staring at the center of the arena. He just saw her disappear and the three elements swirled violently. Chapter 710: Tournament of Astros: Franklin vs Ren Hanso felt pain as a huge cut appeared on his back. He didn¡¯t even realize that his opponent was already behind him. His body flew downward as it crashed on the ground like a meteorite. Dust shot up but quickly got blown away by lightning whips. Bang! Bang! The lightning repeatedly struck Hanso¡¯s position. From time to time, light and dark rays would erupt from the explosion causing the whole area to be covered in blinding light. The [Element Drive] of three elements user was entirely in a different league. ¡°Argh!!!¡± Hanso gritted his teeth as he endured the bombardment with his body. He raised his hand with great effort as he tried to condense cold energy to protect him, but it was useless. The three elements shattered his natural protective field and the energy he tried to condense. ¡°Ugh!¡± He was smashed to the ground once again. Using his willpower, he activated the skill of his equipment. It was called [Protect Healing]. The effect of this skill was that some of his wounds would recover in just a short amount of time and he would gain a barrier around him that would last for three seconds. The healing effect wasn¡¯t important to him as he had parasites. The one that he needed was the barrier to buy him some time to prepare himself. ¡°Argh!!¡± Hanso roared as he burst through the bombardment. When he saw Amanda, he quickly thrust his sword with all of his might. The cold energy around the blade strengthened as it tried to fight the three elements in the atmosphere, causing a series of shockwaves in the air. Swoosh!! With the boost coming from the [Triple Element Drive], Amanda reacted before the sword could even approach her. She moved her body sideways before she charged at her opponent. ¡°I¡¯ve put everything in my training in the past few months! I can¡¯t be defeated by someone at my level!¡± Her daggers emitted a crimson light as she swung them down at her opponent. [Witch Domain: Natural Dividing]!! It was the skill of her soul weapon. A gigantic red slash appeared in the area as it covered the entire space inside the barrier. It was a skill infused with three elements making it abnormally powerful. ¡°Shit!¡± Hanso stared at the red slash. He could only curse as it landed on his body, trashing him toward the barrier before it finally exploded. Amanda really had the power to become a Clan Leader. Boom!! ¡°It¡¯s finished,¡± Souta said with a grin on his face. Amanda¡¯s combat prowess exceeded his imagination. Utilizing her advantage of having three elements, she could defeat experts at the same level as her. Also, her soul weapon was synchronizing with her [Element Drive] during the battle. ¡°I really like it¡­¡± It was unfortunate that he didn¡¯t get to watch all of the matches yesterday. The improvement of his men was a sight to see. First, Eztein reaches the Shackled Realm, and then Alice. Yenxa also was a top contender. Unfortunately, her opponent was too much for her current level of strength. It was too early for her to fight someone at peak S-rank. When Souta evolved into the third stage, he even used his release form to fight the ancestor of the Great Astley Empire who only had the power of peak A-rank. It was already great that Yenxa could last against a peak S-rank. ¡°It¡¯s my turn next,¡± Alice said before she stood up and left. Souta just looked at her back before he shrugged his shoulders. He wasn¡¯t bothered since he already knew the outcome of the match before it even started. Alice¡¯s opponent this time was a witch called Prima. Honestly, with Alice¡¯s current power level there were only two experts that could fight her in the entire Witch Clan. She defeated the first one yesterday and the other one was Elder Guan. The two elders of the clan were Shackled Realm so they were qualified to fight Alice. As for Prima, she was a strong witch but her power level was still at Solidifying Realm. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to cross the gap and defeat someone at a higher level. It¡¯s not unprecedented as there were people that could pull it off but¡­ The most shocking achievement in history was Bargan Hevifield. At the level of A-rank, he was already a dominant fighter that was feared for his unrivaled strength. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s starting¡­¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. The two contestants entered the arena. Alice and Prima stared at each other and with Meina¡¯s signal, the battle had started. Prima quickly dashed forward without hesitation. She knew the difference in their strength so she had to take the initiative to attack. She pulled out a long sword and slashed it in any direction. Alice simply avoided her attacks without fighting back. She¡¯s giving her opponent a chance to showcase her skill before she makes a move. It was boring if she ended it easily and the audience wouldn¡¯t appreciate it. Souta removed his eyes from the ongoing match. The battle was already decided so he didn¡¯t need to watch it at all. Instead, he stared at the city and wondered what would happen in Bland City, the central of the Mine Valley. Also, the missions in the post tower didn¡¯t pique his interest. So once the portal was completed, he would visit the headquarters and pick a suitable mission for his level. It would be better if there were familiar missions. He would use this opportunity to slowly improve his strength. It would be bad if his level only got higher but his skills got stuck at low levels. Since the events were moving according to his memories, he would be able to prepare. Before the peace was shattered, he had to stay still. He didn¡¯t want to gather too much attention as of now, there would be a time for that in Solnes Theatre. By the time he looked back at the arena, the match was already concluded. Alice won the match without sweating. It was easy for her to defeat someone below her current level. Now, the fourth match. Franklin vs Ren. Ren was a witch at peak S-rank. Honestly, there were more than fifty S-rank experts in the Witch Clan. Right now, there were only thirty-plus left as the chaos back in the sub-world killed the others. Still, thirty S-rank was a huge number. Also, they had two Shackled Realm experts. It wasn¡¯t called the largest faction in Astros for nothing. ¡°The winner of this battle will fight Alice tomorrow¡­¡± Souta didn¡¯t know what to feel. No matter what happened, it was impossible for them to defeat Alice in tomorrow¡¯s match. Alice returned to her seat and glanced at him before she focused on the arena. Franklin and Ren stood straight as they ignored the voices of the crowd. They were only waiting for Meina¡¯s signal to start this battle. ¡°I hope that you don¡¯t disappoint me,¡± Franklin said with a faint smile. He tightened the leather armor and long coat on his body. ¡°You will find out soon,¡± Ren replied plainly. He tightened his fist as a pair of silver-colored gloves materialized in his hands. It was his soul weapon, [Scorching Silver Gloves]. ¡°The fourth match of the upper tournament!! Ready!! Let the battle begin!!¡± Meina swung her hand as she retreated to the side to watch the battle. ¡°Ehe~¡± Franklin chuckled as he quickly pounced on his opponent. Both of his hands turned into giant claws before he swung them down with overwhelming might. Ren didn¡¯t avoid the attack. Instead, he received Franklin¡¯s attack head-on and kneed him in the stomach, then he grabbed him on the head. In the blink of an eye, he smashed Franklin into the ground causing a huge crater. Bang!! Ren was about to attack again when several spikes burst through the smoke. With his confidence, he once again received the attack as he pulled out his fist. Then, flames burst out coating his soul weapon with intense heat. The next moment, he threw his fist forward generating a powerful heat wave that boiled the atmosphere. ¡°Good!!¡± Franklin laughed looking at this scene. He crossed his arms as strings of flesh covered his body. He slightly bent his knees. With a loud bang, he dashed forward and collided with the attack. Boom!! ¡°One more time!¡± Ren roared as he threw another punch in the air. Flames erupted from his fist like a tidal wave. It has a great momentum that could burn anything it touches. [Unbind Slash]!! A wave of energy flashed and the tide of flames was sliced into two. Red widened his eyes and he reacted quickly to avoid the attack. The whole arena was cut in the blink of an eye. It was terrifying as the flash from before possessed an extremely dangerous aura. Ren narrowed his eyes. He turned and looked at the arena, only to find Franklin staring at him with a huge grin. ¡°You¡¯re not bad. Now, let me treat you with everything I¡¯ve got.¡± Franklin said before his energy skyrocketed instantly. Chapter 711: Tournament of Astros: Breakthrough ¡°Now, entertain me!!¡± Franklin¡¯s energy soared as layers of dark grey flesh coated his body. His mouth cracked widely revealing rows of sharp teeth. His entire body had grown larger as armored-like flesh covered him. His legs were as large as an elephant¡¯s leg and there was a thick long tail with various spikes sticking out on his back. His left arm was different from normal. His hand up to his elbow was replaced by three huge blades. His aura was blowing all the dust and smoke around him. His bloodlust was overflowing and it was pressuring the entire area. Just one look at him and they would feel the intense bloodlust coming out of his body. Whoosh!! Souta squinted his eyes and said, ¡°Alice, prepare to stop the match at any moment. The old guy Franklin is getting absorbed in the battle. I¡¯m afraid that he will not be able to hold himself.¡± ¡°Yeah, he didn¡¯t even hide his killing intent anymore. It¡¯s too strong that it paralyzed some of the weak-willed people.¡± Alice nodded at his words. The crowd went silent after seeing the overwhelming bloodlust. They felt like they were standing in front of an apex predator. ¡°What the hell is that parasite transformation?!¡± Ren said in shock. His opponent didn¡¯t resemble a human nor demi at all. He knew that Franklin had great control of the parasite but this was too much. It feels like it was an entirely new different species. Suddenly, his aura skyrocketed and flames surged out of his body without warning. He subconsciously activated his [Element Drive]. Ren spun back urgently and lifted his arms. BANG!!! A blinding flash of blueish light spun through the air, roaring and howling madly before it slammed into his arms. The deafening collision resulted in a ring-shaped shockwave to spread out in every direction. The flames on his body were extinguished instantly and even with his [Element Drive], he was blown away. The blueish light carried such great force that ripped the skin and muscles on his arms. If not for his soul weapon, both of his arms would be gone right now. Szzzz¡­ Ren coughed madly as blood gushed out of his mouth. Fortunately, the parasite quickly tends to his injuries closing all the fatal wounds around him. Shhh¡­ Flames emerged on his body once again as he lifted his head and looked at his opponent. Franklin was standing not far away from him and the three huge blades in his arm were out of shape from the intense friction and collision. Black smoke was out from his boiling body. ¡°W-What was that?¡± Ren muttered to himself as he stood up with all of his might. Right now, most of his injuries had recovered due to the ability of the parasite. ¡°[Mad Demon Warrior]¡­ One of the highest-level combat arts that I¡¯ve learned in Athen¡¯s Champion.¡± Franklin said as his body recovered from injuries and blueish light arose. He swung the thick savage tail, slowly took a step forward with his sturdy-looking leg, and gave a further explanation, ¡°This is a combat art design to use with [Element Drive]. A lot of warriors failed to master this art due to its side effects. It¡¯s destroying my body when activated but since I have a parasite, I can negate the side effect using its ability.¡± Ren didn¡¯t do anything. He¡¯s letting Franklin explain it to him so that he would have a time to recover a little bit of his strength. In exchange for extreme physical ability that complimented the [Element Drive], Franklin¡¯s organs were being corroded every second. ¡°It took me a lot of time for me to learn this art. If you have nothing else to show me then I¡¯m going to end this battle.¡± Franklin slightly bent his thick giant legs. With a loud sound, he pounced forward with great momentum. Whoosh!! ¡°Damn!!¡± Ren roared as he swung his arm which was covered in extreme flames. [Great Demolition Fist]!! The flames in his fist roared and howled as if it was about to destroy everything. The heat from the flames caused the floor to melt. His soul weapon glowed as it further increased the power within his fist. BOOM!! When the two monstrous forces struck each other, a wave of energy exploded from the source of impact. The power within devastated the arena, leaving only a pile of debris. BANG!! The two continued to throw their overwhelming attacks at each other. They wrestled in mid-air before their figures crashed on the ground like a meteorite shaking the entire earth. Ren only lasted for a few minutes before bursting open, a bloody mist covered his whole body. A terrifying tremor and force assaulted his body once again. ¡°ARGH!!!¡± The regenerative power of his parasite couldn¡¯t keep up anymore. He squeezed his fist and a great power began to emerge in his arm. It flowed into his fist before throwing a horrendous punch that shook thee entire area. ¡°Ehe~¡± Franklin¡¯s mouth turned into a nasty grin before he raised his right arm. Ren¡¯s fist slammed into his arm turning it into a puddle of blood and it quickly evaporated into thin air due to the extreme heat. Then, he swung his left hand accompanied by three giant blades. [Dominating Mad Slash]!! Energy blades emerged in the space as they sliced Ren¡¯s body. Blood poured nonstop, followed by a heat wave that smashed Franklin¡¯s body. BANG!! Franklin crashed on the ground. He quickly got up using his tail, squeezing his energy into his arm. He was about to attack but suddenly felt something in his body. ¡°¡­?! This¡­?¡± He stopped on his track as the vicious bloodlust suddenly disappeared. ¡°Ugh!¡± Ren coughed as he forced his head to look at Franklin. He forced his eyes open. Although his face was swollen, he could still see his opponent. He was wondering why Franklin stopped but his vision slowly turned blur. He fell but forced his bloody arms to prevent himself from falling with his face first. A figure landed in front of him. It was the person who was beside the leader, Alice. ¡°You can stop now,¡± Alice said to him. ¡°Huh?¡± Ren lifted his face before he collapsed. Exhaustion finally washed over him, who slowly fell asleep. Alice sighed looking at Ren. Then, she turned around and her gaze linger around Franklin. Franklin¡¯s body returned to normal as the intense fluctuation disappeared. She narrowed her eyes as Eztein and Eilish appeared beside her. ¡°He¡¯s about to reach the level above.¡± Eilish opened her mouth. ¡°Haha, this battle pushed him and it let him sense the shackles.¡± Eztein laughed lightly. Once a mortal sensed a shackle they could prepare themselves and tackle it. Alice listened to them as she waved her hand and transferred Ren out of the arena. The winner of this battle was decided but since Franklin reached a crucial point of his breakthrough, they had to postpone the announcement first. Boom!! The ground shook giving off the rumbling sound of thunder. The energy around Franklin surged upward but it was blocked by a barrier. The power of his mana continued to increase and every wave of energy contained his vast element power. ¡°He¡¯s about to break it, let me give you a hand,¡± Eilish said as a loud crackling sound echoed in the area. She lightly stepped forward and pressed her palm on Franklin¡¯s head. Her energy lingered around Franklin as it slowly guides him. She was only giving him a way to break the shackle. It wouldn¡¯t do anything well if she helped him in breaking his shackle since both of them have different energy signatures. In fact, it would only harm him if her mana pried in Franklin¡¯s shackles at this crucial moment. ¡°Did he have enough energy to pull this through? He just undergo a battle so his energy reserve¡­¡± Eztein didn¡¯t finish his sentence as the crackling sound grew louder. If a person didn¡¯t have enough energy to break the shackle then they would fail the ascension. It would only injure and damage their energy pool. It was a backlash that not many people wanted to experience. BAM!! A deafening sound broke out along with a tremendous force that swept out in the entire field. It was a like broken dam as tides of energy kept gushing out with tremendous force. ¡°He achieved it,¡± Alice said in a low voice. Szzz¡­ Element power sizzled in the atmosphere as Franklin slowly opened his eyes. When he opened his mouth, white smoke seeped out as the wind particles around him slowly died down. ¡°Ah~ the characteristic of strength¡­ It suited my style.¡± He examined his body and found that his physical strength alone was several times stronger in the past. He could also feel that he could grow stronger this time as if some sort of barrier was broken. ¡°This¡­¡± A wide grin slowly crept on his face. He lifted his face and gazed at the people around him. He felt overwhelming power inside his body. He wanted to release it. Suddenly, Franklin swung his fist toward the nearest person in front of him. ¡°Help me release my power!!¡± Chapter 712: Tournament of Astros: True Power BAM!! A blinding flash of blueish light hurled into the air as it flew straight toward Eilish. It slammed into her as a powerful shockwave swept out directly shattering the barrier around the arena. A massive amount of energy gushed out the moment the barrier was shattered. It spread out forcing ordinary people to feel a heavy weight pressing on their shoulders. Meina, who was just standing outside the arena, was blasted away. Her figure looked fragile as she crashed into the audience¡¯s seats. When the smoke disappeared, Franklin laughed as he saw Eilish simply block his attack with her hand. ¡°Good.¡± He said before he swung his hand once again. This time, wind elements swirled around his fist and it made it more powerful and devastating than before. ¡°It seems that you wanted to feel the effect of your breakthrough¡­¡± Eilish¡¯s raised his other hand and a magic circle formed on her palm. [Dominant Repulsion]!! A massive force formed through her palm and it slammed into Franklin¡¯s body. Ugh! Franklin groaned in pain as his body was blasted away crashing on the ground several meters away. He quickly stabilized himself before layers of flesh covered his body. Savage looking armored flesh formed around him as spikes protruded on his back along with a thick battering tail. Then, he threw himself forward once again. BANG!! Elder Hanmi and Elder Guan moved as they protected the audience from the shockwaves. The impact of an attack coming from a Shackled Realm was harmful to ordinary people. ¡°Franklin!! The barrier was gone!! You¡¯re causing problems here!!¡± Torkez said loudly while gritting his teeth. He couldn¡¯t approach them since the waves pushed everything around. Amanda and some of the S-rank experts that could withstand the shockwaves turned to protect the entire crowd. Regardless, Franklin attacked as if he didn¡¯t hear them. He was too absorbed in his current power and wanted to test it badly. Whoosh! At this moment, Eztein moved. He appeared just above Franklin with a spear in his hand. ¡°You need to stop now, Franklin!¡± Instantly, he thrust his weapon nailing Franklin on the ground. BAM!! Each of their moves caused a terrifying energy that pressured the audience. The barrier was gone so the aftershocks from a Shackled Realm expert could harm them. ¡°Hahaha, good. That¡¯s it.¡± Franklin laughed as he gazed at the spear on his body. The next moment, the elemental energy from his body seeped out making his aura much more powerful than before. He was about to swing his thick tail when a voice rumbled everywhere. ¡°Enough!¡± The voice carried a strong power that made everyone silent. It felt as if they heard thunder directly in their mind. In just a second, all the energy fluctuations in the arena had disappeared. It was replaced by a much stronger force that shook the entire Astros. The floor vibrated nonstop as if the entire area was going to collapse at any second. In the Pople district, the citizens of Ekatoe city couldn¡¯t help but look in the direction of the Astros. They just heard loud tremors and in the next second everyone stopped in their tracks. In the Shimpan Family, Edward was discussing some important matters with his two sons when the three of them suddenly stopped moving. ¡°T-This¡­?¡± Edward lifted his head with all of his might. He felt that this strength was leaving his body. He didn¡¯t know why but everyone was experiencing the same thing. They lost their strength without any warning and felt a huge presence at the center of the Astros. They didn¡¯t know what was happening but the fluctuation of energy was best feram. ¡°C-City Lord¡­¡± At the arena, Souta gazed at Franklin with cold eyes. He just used [Serpent Dominance] and the effect of this ability instantly covered everything within Ekatoe city. Gulp! Franklin subconsciously gulped when he saw Souta¡¯s stern expression. ¡°Remember your oath,¡± Souta said before he closed his eyes. Ohm! The invisible pressure on his body disappeared as if nothing happened. Everything returned back to normal and people breathed a sigh of relief. Sigh! The pressure just now wasn¡¯t harmful but the feeling of their strength leaving their bodies was something they didn¡¯t want to experience. It feels as if they returned to the lower level once they were. [Serpent Dominance]: Activating this ability will make the creatures below the user¡¯s power level to suffer a debuff (-70% to all stats). Other uses are unknown. In short in this little spectacle, Souta didn¡¯t harm anyone. He just removed seventy percent of their strength. Alice, Eztein, Eilish, Elder Guan, and Elder Hanmi felt horrible. Compared to them, ordinary people weren¡¯t as pale as them. After all, the closer they were to Souta¡¯s level, the larger the decrease in strength. If they had 1,000 stats then the decrease was 700 points while ordinary people who only had 30 stats were lessened by 21 points. 21 points compared to 700 points. Of course, the people closer to Souta¡¯s power level felt it more. Also, they were more sensitive to the changes in their bodies. ¡°The leader is terrifying¡­¡± Eztein said in a low voice before he pulled his spear out of Franklin¡¯s body. ¡°Souta sure is something else¡­ I knew that this day will arrive but I didn¡¯t anticipate that it will come sooner¡­¡± Eilish forced a smile on her face. Franklin wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth and his body returned to normal. He knelt down and said, ¡°Forgive me, I acted out of the rules. I implore the Lord to punish me.¡± ¡°No need. I¡¯ll disqualify you from this tournament. Your opponent tomorrow will win by default.¡± Souta said as he waved his hand. For him, the greatest punishment he could give to Franklin was to disqualify him from the tournament. If it was other people he wouldn¡¯t disqualify them but since the person he was talking about was Franklin, not be able to fight was a huge blow to a person who craved battle more than anyone. ¡°I¡­ I accept the punishment of the Lord.¡± Franklin said. ¡°Okay, get out now. The tournament will continue.¡± Souta said with a small sigh. He turned to the two children beside him and asked with a smile, ¡°Did I scare you, Aina? Anzu?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± The two children were trembling. It took them a while before they gained their senses. They cried out and turned around to hug Yuko. ¡°Ah, Yuko!! Big Brother Souta is scary!! Big Brother is scaring us!!¡± Souta laughed at their reaction. As long as they were fine. Even if they grew scared of him, it would be fine as long as they were alive. It would be better like that since they wouldn¡¯t be exposed to his best feram. As for Yuko, they had protection from various artifacts and Yuko was still a third stage monster. Her energy wasn¡¯t as strong as his. Souta shook his head and returned his attention to the arena. The power he showed just now once again made everyone realize why he was the Lord of Astros. It¡¯s been a while since he exhibited his power to them so this event cleared their minds. He was the strongest person in the entire Astros. Back in the war against Red Matter Association, his [Serpent Dominance] could only affect experts at S-rank and below. The ability considered that One Shackle Realm and above were either at his level or above so they weren¡¯t affected but now¡­ This ability affect One Shackle Realm which was above Solidifying Realm. It only means one thing. One Shackle Realm was lower than his current power level. ¡°A high rank fourth stage¡­¡± Doranjan muttered to himself while looking at Souta¡¯s figure. He himself was only at initial rank. The disparity was huge. Meina was injured. The healers healed her and it took a while before she could return to her job as the host of the tournament. She was just a C-rank so she wasn¡¯t powerful enough to receive a parasite from the Lord so she didn¡¯t have that regeneration ability. The earth mages quickly fixed the arena and the monster orbs were replaced. After thirty minutes, everything returned to normal. Although everything was fixed, the atmosphere wasn¡¯t as lively as before. A lot of people were harmed when the barrier was shattered. Regardless of that, the tournament would still continue without any delay. There were only two matches left. The next match would be Yuko vs Elder Guan and after that was the battle between Doranjan and Lina. Souta looked at the two children and said gently, ¡°Aina, Anzu, Yuko will fight next so Big Sister Eilish will accompany you for now.¡± ¡°O-Okay.¡± Aina reluctantly nodded her head. She stood at the side and her brother, Anzu, followed her. Looking at them, Souta smiled softly and he couldn¡¯t help but patted their heads. ¡°Behave well, Big Sister Eilish will take you to the marketplace tonight.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± Anzu and Aina raised their heads as they looked at him with bright eyes. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll take you there tonight.¡± At this moment, Eilish arrived and said to the two children with a soft smile. Chapter 713: Tournament of Astros: End of Second Day Although Souta was strong, he was still at the level of initial rank. Level 61 to 65 were considered initial, level 66 to 70 were intermediate, level 71 to 75 were high, and lastly, level 76 to 80 were peak. That¡¯s just how the game divided the power levels. He was only level 64 close to the intermediate rank. Regardless of his level, his combat prowess was higher due to him possessing various skills, equipment, and the benefits he received from the system. It made other people think that his aura was already at high rank of fourth stage. Honestly, it¡¯s not really a high rank. It was a level between intermediate and high. In short, Souta¡¯s base power was already stronger than intermediate fourth stage but weaker than the high fourth stage. It was a huge improvement in his power and normal One Shackle Realm wouldn¡¯t be a problem for him. Only those experts at Two Shackles and above could give him trouble. His other source of strength wasn¡¯t included with it. He achieved this in just two months but half of the credits go to the increase in density. It literally bolstered his muscles to the next level achieving a great enhancement in physical abilities. Everyone received benefits from the increase in density. Alice and Eztein reached Shackled Realm while Franklin just broke his shackle a while ago. Torkez and Amanda used the energy to approach the Shackled Realm. Just a little bit more and the two of them would break one of their shackles. Yenxa attained her third evolution. Doranjan was close to achieving the intermediate rank of fourth stage. Yuko entered the peak rank of third stage. She was close to attaining her fourth evolution. Eilish was close to breaking her second shackles. Gragas was also close to reaching Shackled Realm. If his focus was on training not on forging, he would certainly break one of his shackles in the past two months. The fastest one among them was unquestionably Isabella. She was just a normal person in the past few months and yet she already caught up with some of the experts in Astros. This speed of improvement was stunning to the point that other people would have a hard time believing it. Plus, she wasn¡¯t focused on her training as she was also busy brewing potions. Right now, she¡¯s only at intermediate S-rank. She¡¯ll be able to approach Amanda and Torkez soon. As expected of the future god-rank powerhouse. As for the other future god-rank powerhouses, Souta could only sigh. It was hard to recruit them since they had their own ambition just like Alexander, the future Ancient Myriad Emperor. The least he could do was to form a connection with them. He also didn¡¯t know their exact locations so he didn¡¯t know where he could find them. Yuko and Elder Guan¡¯s battle had started. Yuko quickly used her full strength as she rushed at her opponent with intense flames surging in her body. A peak third stage was powerful but against a One Shackle expert, it was still lacking by a huge margin. Plus, Elder Guan had grown stronger too. His strength in sub-world couldn¡¯t be compared to his current strength. He became a legitimate expert of Imperium. At the very least, Yuko showed a great battle. She would last longer if she fought the Elder Guan in sub-world with her current power. Souta nodded in satisfaction while looking at the battle. Everyone was improving and it was good for him. They could help him in his future endeavors. At the end of the battle, Elder Guan knocked out Yuko with his powerful skill. ¡®The two elders of the Witch Clan are improving. They have soul weapons so the only thing that they lack is the equipment that could complement their strength.¡¯ Souta said inwardly while rubbing his chin. Aside from the few red grade equipment that he had, Astros didn¡¯t have a lot of high grade equipment. Also, Gragas was only one person so he couldn¡¯t forge every single people of Astros a worthy equipment. Although some of the witches became his apprentice, their skills were only enough to forge yellow grade and blue grade. They couldn¡¯t even create a purple grade weapon which was only a grade below orange. In the entire Astros, Gragas was the only person who could forge a weapon at orange grade. ¡®Just how will Astros fair against Dark Oculus?¡¯ He didn¡¯t even know the exact strength of Dark Oculus right now. He only heard about it from Lumilia and Lynn. They already had Shackled Realm experts like Yujin, Shiina, and Jeanne. Bryan was still at Solidifying Realm but he recently defeated someone at One Shackle. According to what Lumilia said, Bryan couldn¡¯t sense any shackles in his body so he was still at Solidifying Realm. But his strength kept growing as if it didn¡¯t have any limiters. So far, Souta could only estimate the current strength of Dark Oculus. He only knows that it became one of the huge Adventurer¡¯s Legions in Hebrei Kingdom. Once he returned, he would integrate the two organizations into one creating a far more powerful organization under his command. ¡®Right now, aside from experts¡­ What I need the most are people that would help Gragas and Isabella. I¡¯ll try to recruit more people.¡¯ Souta turned his head and saw the battle between Doranjan and Lina had started. Lina was a peak S-rank expert and she was one of Eilish¡¯s subordinates in sub-world. She was a strong expert but in front of Doranjan, a fourth stage monster, it was useless. The battle only lasts a few minutes. Doranjan won the match by utilizing his advantage as a monster. Lina was doing good at first but later in the match, she could only passively defend herself as Doranjan attacked her with overwhelming might. Just like that, the second day of the Tournament of Astros was concluded. Looking at the scene, Souta stood up while patting his clothes. He still had some business he had to finish. He went to the portal and activated it. This portal was connected to the Guardian Fortress. Building this portal took almost all of the savings of Astros but no one regretted it. This was an important thing for everyone and it was also for their safety. Soon, he arrived at the forging room. Souta raised his hand and knocked on the door. After a while, he opened it and stepped inside. He saw a short muscular man with thick facial hair. The man was Gragas, the Chief of the Military Arms Department of Astros. The person who handles and maintains almost every equipment in Astros. Two people were assisting him in his work. These two people were from Witch Clan and they were forging masters. Although they were forging masters, compared to Gragas they could only be his assistants. Souta sighed at this scene. The Military Arms Department really lacks personnel. Luckily, there some people that were willing to learn forging. But it would take some time before they could actually forge equipment. He gently tap on the wall and used a little bit of his energy. Ohm! Gragas opened his eyes widely and stopped focusing on his work. He turned around and saw Souta leaning on the wall beside the door. ¡°Sorry for disturbing you but I don¡¯t have that much time to wait so I could only do this,¡± Souta said before he went to the topic. ¡°Hmm¡­ I heard from Torkez that you wanted to meet me.¡± ¡°Oh, that? I wanted some of your webs.¡± Gragas said. ¡°Fine,¡± Souta sighed as he opened his palm and asked, ¡°Thin webs or normal webs?¡± ¡°Normal is fine,¡± Gragas answered. A bunch of webs flew out of Souta¡¯s fingertips. They fell on the floor as he continued to release webs. When he reached the fourth stage, the webs that he could create grew stronger and became high grade materials. After a while, Souta closed his palms and stopped producing webs. He knew that some of the clothes of the people of Astros were made from his webs. As long as the person creating the clothes was an expert, they could maximize the potential of his web creating various benefits such as energy resistance or physical resistance. Souta didn¡¯t know how could they do it as it wasn¡¯t within his expertise. He didn¡¯t have knowledge regarding this matter and it would only stagnate his training if he tried to learn it. So he could only place his trust in Gragas to produce a high quality equipment. ¡°These are enough! We can create various equipment using all these webs!¡± Gragas beamed as he gazed at the webs on the floor. He turned to his assistants and said, ¡°Pack all the webs and placed them in our storage.¡± ¡°Is there something else?¡± Souta asked. ¡°No, this is enough for now. I know that you¡¯re busy so I just wanted to let you know that we¡¯re currently lacking in materials. The remaining materials could only be used to create ten to fifteen pieces of equipment and it depends on what type.¡± Gragas explained to him. He still had the materials that Souta gave him but his knowledge wasn¡¯t enough to use such precious materials. Those were from the living labyrinth that Souta cleared in the sub-world. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll find a way to gather more materials,¡± Souta said. Chapter 714: Assassination Souta was in his sitting with monster orbs in his palm. He was slowly guiding the energy inside his body and used it to temper his muscle fibers. Then, he guides his energy and fused the two energy below his abdomen. After that, he carefully guides it around his monster orb. Since this energy didn¡¯t come from him, it would take him some effort to strengthen his monster orb and increase its capacity. One wrong move and he could damage his orb. Luckily, his [Star Veins] were no ordinary veins. It could safely circulate this foreign energy inside his body without damaging his organs. His energy output was a lot better thanks to the [Star Veins]. Best feram was harder to control compared to mana. Suddenly, he felt someone standing in front of the door. He stopped his training and glanced at it before he said, ¡°What is it?¡± It was still four in the morning so why would Torkez come to his room? Unless something important happened. ¡°Souta, the envoy of Mine Valley died. We¡¯ve just heard this news but the envoy¡¯s corpse was found five kilometers away from our city. Someone is trying to frame us.¡± Torkez reported. Souta was dumbstruck when he heard the report. He didn¡¯t expect this to happen at all. After his meeting with the envoy, he arranged a room so that he could stay there for a night. That¡¯s what happened. But he didn¡¯t imagine that someone would kill him when he left Ekatoe City to report back to the Governor. ¡°Where did the incident occur?¡± Souta asked in a cold tone. ¡°In the northeast close to lake Nardi,¡± Torkez answered. Souta wore his equipment and exited the room. He opened the window and flew into the sky. Like a meteorite, he shot through the sky heading in the direction where the incident happened. Thundering sounds echoed as he flew without hiding his energy. The rumbling sounds woke all the experts in Ekatoe City. They felt Souta¡¯s overwhelming aura within the sky above the city but it quickly disappeared. The death of the envoy was a serious matter that he couldn¡¯t ignore. Aside from the people within the city, Souta knew that he hadn¡¯t offended the experts of the neighboring cities. If that was the case then maybe¡­ The problem lies within the Mine Valley. The letter of invitation of the Governor. That sounds plausible. Maybe the opposing side just wanted him to become a scapegoat as the death of the envoy would surely anger the Governor of Mine Valley. When Souta arrived at the scene, he saw that there were more than twenty agents of Astros. They were investigating the death of the envoy. When they saw him, they quickly greeted him with respect. Souta simply waved his hand and asked, ¡°How is it? Did you find anything?¡± ¡°Lord, according to our investigation, Envoy Jeoban died a day ago when he left the city. His body was found by a traveling merchant and the merchant reported it to us.¡± One of the agents reported to him. Jeoban¡¯s carriage was hit by several spells. Then, Jeoban and his guards tried to fight but they were killed easily. They were only one slash on their neck so the battle must have ended quickly. They couldn¡¯t even resist the strength of the attackers. As for the lingering energy, the mana in the atmosphere already washed it. So they couldn¡¯t record the energy signature of the attackers. Considering the changes in the density, the lingering energy wouldn¡¯t last longer than before. It would dissipate faster so it was probably useless even if they arrive here yesterday. Souta pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed after hearing the report. He wanted to enjoy the last day of the event but it seems that he wouldn¡¯t be able to. He strode forward and observed the corpses of Jeoban and his guards. Just like what the agents reported, they died from a slash on their neck. It was a swift and lethal slash. A frown appeared on his face as he examined the dead bodies. He found that these guards were at Liquefying Realm and they died in one hit. The only experts capable of accomplishing this feat were those at Solidifying Realm. In other words, S-rank. But what confused him was that the attackers really believed that the Governor would think that he was the one who killed Jeoban. It¡¯s easy to guess that Souta was not the killer nor his people. Unless he didn¡¯t place the Governor in his eyes but what was the benefit of that? Even if Souta didn¡¯t like Jeoban, he wouldn¡¯t kill just because of that reason. At the very least, even if Governor Ray didn¡¯t believe it, he would have a bad impression of him. ¡®It seems that I have to visit Bland City as soon as possible and explain this to the Governor.¡¯ Souta said inwardly while rubbing his chin. He also had to pay attention outside Ekatoe City. This incident wouldn¡¯t occur if there were experts patrolling around the land. Previously, he was too focused on the matters about the development of Astros that he ignored everything outside of it. He turned to the agent beside him and said, ¡°Go back to the city and call Amanda and Franklin here.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± The agent saluted before he left hurriedly. ¡®Souta, I have a bad feeling about this.¡¯ Saya suddenly said. ¡®Huh? What is it? Is there something wrong with the corpses that I failed to notice?¡¯ Souta opened his eyes widely. He was confused as his eyes could see everything within these corpses. ¡®There is no problem with it but¡­ I don¡¯t know why or how but I¡¯m getting restless¡­¡¯ Saya said vaguely. She could hardly explain what she was feeling. ¡®Okay, I¡¯ll heed your warning in mind.¡¯ Souta nodded. He knew that she was right. This incident wasn¡¯t small and it involves a far larger picture. Why did he know? Souta glanced at the system notification. [You¡¯ve triggered a Chain Quest!] He didn¡¯t know if he should be happy or not but he would welcome this bunch of skill points and cards. As long as the Chain Quest involves Solidifying Realm and above, the reward was surely cards. As for Normal Quest, even if Shackled Realm was involved, there¡¯s no guarantee that he would acquire cards. Only Chain Quest could guarantee it. Souta glanced at the details of the first quest. [Unprecedented Child]: Throughout history, a creature was born with ultimate power. He was born to rule and dominate. A natural emperor. [Assassins] Quest 1: Find the people that killed Envoy Jeoban. Rewards: 1,000,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 5 skill points The frown on Souta¡¯s face grew deeper when he read the quest information. Unprecedented Child? He hasn¡¯t heard anything about it in the past. Souta shook his head before he turned around. Amanda and Franklin were here. It¡¯s time to find the killer of Envoy Jeoban. Right now, it¡¯s one of the most important things that he should settle. ¡°Amanda, Franklin, you two will come with me.¡± He said. Amanda looked at him with a confused expression. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. I haven¡¯t found the assassins so we¡¯re going to Bland City while investigating the incident.¡± Souta shrugged his shoulders. He added, ¡°We¡¯ll visit the cities and towns near the Bland Cities. Then, I¡¯ll attend the meeting that the Governor set up. I wanted to know if he knew something regarding this incident. At the very least, he should have an idea about the people that are opposing him.¡± Amanda and Franklin nodded at his words. ¡°Still, they sure have guts. They even involved us in this matter.¡± Franklin said while looking at the corpses. ¡°This will be a chance for us too.¡± Souta smiled before he turned to the agents and said, ¡°Tell Torkez that the three of us will leave now. Also, don¡¯t forget to investigate the other cities. If you found any clues about the assassins contact me immediately.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The agent saluted. ¡°What about the festival?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Unfortunately, we¡¯ll not attend it.¡± Souta shook his head, ¡°Rest is over, for us. It¡¯s time to work.¡± He planned to rest until the festival was over or the construction of the portal to Athen¡¯s Champion but this incident happened. So he had to start working earlier. Fortunately, he triggered a quest so this was a good motivation. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Souta, Amanda, and Franklin left the site. They flew in the direction of the Mine Valley. On this route, they would find cities and towns before arriving at Bland City. They would start their investigation in those places first. After they left, some of the agents went back to Ekatoe City. They passed his message to Torkez. In response to this, Torkez mobilized the experts of Astros to investigate the land around the city. He also sent the Noxious Corps to the nearby cities. The small organizations inside the city felt something. A large group of experts was moving out radiating a powerful aura. Chapter 715: White Line City The Tournament of Astros still continued even though Souta was gone. Alice and the rest of the chief learned what happened from Torkez so they understand why he left with Amanda and Franklin. Torkez mobilized the Noxious Corps and sent them to the nearby cities to find any clues about the assassins. The news about the death of the envoy spread throughout the entire city. A lot of small factions grew restless when they heard the news. Soon, this piece of news would travel to other places and everyone would learn about the death of the envoy of Mine Valley. The Shimpam Family also used its connection to find out the truth of this incident. Some people were already thinking that the Astros was behind this and they were just acting to investigate the truth. They had different ideas and opinions about this matter. Regardless of everything, this was a bad news. It could lead to a war and that¡¯s what Souta was avoiding. Although he was high profile when he took over Ekatoe City, it was only within the city. He never thought about stretching his hands in the nearby cities as it would cause a big commotion. It would attract a lot of people. He didn¡¯t want that. The Athen¡¯s Champion said that he should stay low-profile if he could. So launching a war against the other cities wasn¡¯t in his plan. But since this incident occurred, a lot of organizations would investigate the Astros. Astros, the overlord of Ekatoe City, would enter their eyes. At this moment, Souta¡¯s group arrived at the city called White Line. It was a place larger than Ekatoe City and its location was good so a lot of merchants were visiting this place every day. Moving to the northwest of White Line City, they would find the route to Bland City, the Central of the Mine Valley. The group just visited this place in case they found some clues about the assassins. ¡°This quite a place¡­¡± Amanda commented while looking around. ¡°Yeah, Ekatoe City couldn¡¯t offer what the White Line could offer to other cities. The product that this place provides is those rare ores.¡± Souta said in response. The White Line City was within the territory of Mine Valley. The Mine Valley was a place where people could mine different types of ores. All the cities inside the Mine Valley were the suppliers of the ores that were circulating in the region. According to the information, there were eight cities in the Mine Valley. Including Bland City, Governor Ray already took over three more cities which means that he controlled half of the Mine Valley. And White Line City was one of the remaining four cities that the Governor haven¡¯t controlled yet. If the Governor really possessed that power then it was only a matter of time before he took over the entire region. ¡°It will be good if we could take control of at least one of the mines here,¡± Amanda said. ¡°Forget about taking control. We should at least secure one supplier so we wouldn¡¯t worry about ores. I¡¯m sure that Gragas would be happy to hear it.¡± Souta shook his head. ¡°Okay, go out now. Amanda, you¡¯ll take the west. Franklin, you¡¯ll go north and I¡¯ll be investigating the east and south.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Amanda and Franklin nodded and they separated ways with him. Souta strode into the alley before he jumped into the roof of one of the tall buildings. He cast his eyes down as several figures rose from his shadows. The next moment, the shadows scattered in every direction while carrying a black sphere. [Shadow Ball]! [Doppelganger]! ¡°The forces here aren¡¯t something that I could underestimate.¡± He could feel the lingering energy in the atmosphere. It came from an expert at One Shackle Realm. He wasn¡¯t mistaken as he knew very well the pressure within the energy of an expert at that level. He met and fought a lot of powerful experts in the war against the Red Matter Association so he was familiar with it. ¡®If I¡¯m not wrong the overlord of this city is the Star Pavillion.¡¯ After Souta scattered his shadows, he went back to the streets and gathered information about the Star Pavilion. Since this faction could go against the Governor, it must have possessed some strength, or else they would be under the rule of Bland City just like those other three cities. What he gathered was just basic information. The ordinary folks didn¡¯t know everything about the pavilion, they just know what it showed publicly but it was enough for him. At least he had a general idea about the so-called Star Pavilion. Next, Souta went to the slums. The atmosphere in this place was unlike before. It was dark and gloomy. He strode on the streets while the people just stared at him. Souta could sense a hint of killing intent in some of the people. ¡®They are quite weak. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll provide me the information that I wanted.¡¯ He turned to the dark alley, only to find three thugs blocking his path. He raised his head and looked at each one of them. ¡°Oho, what do we have here?¡± A two-and-a-half-meter-tall man said while cracking his knuckles. ¡°He looks like he had some money with him! This will be good!¡± The man on the left side said with a wide grin. ¡°Hey, say something!¡± The man on the right side said. ¡®They aren¡¯t even at C-rank. Oh, probably in between D-rank and C-rank.¡¯ Souta quickly guessed the power levels of these thugs. These people were just at the level of students at Ladro Institute. Some of the higher year students were even stronger than these three. He placed his hand inside his pocket and took out a piece of gold coin. ¡°I¡¯ll give you this coin if you answer my question,¡± Souta said as he flicked the coin in the air. ¡°Hahaha, you really have money in your pocket and it¡¯s a gold coin of all things!¡± The tall man laughed madly. The two thugs beside him didn¡¯t hide the greed in their eyes as they stared at the gold coin with drool on their faces. ¡°What you gonna do? I wanted to know where is the black market in this place. Just guide me there and this coin will be yours.¡± Souta said with a faint smile. ¡°Boss, this guy surely had a lot of coins! Let¡¯s rob him!¡± The man on the right side said before he licked his lips. ¡°Yeah, yeah, let¡¯s take everything!¡± The other thug said. Before the tall man could reply. A golden light flickered in front of them and they heard Souta¡¯s calm voice. ¡°Here!¡± Bang! A thick stench of blood suddenly permeated the atmosphere. The tall man and the other man slowly turned their heads. What they saw shook them to their core. Their comrade was still standing but his entire head was gone. It was as if something mashed the skulls of their comrade. Bits of flesh and blood scattered around and brain goo splashed on their faces. Ting! Huh? The two looked down and saw a golden coin on the ground. It was the coin in Souta¡¯s hand just now. They slowly turned pale as they realized what happened. ¡°Here! A silver coin!¡± Souta said as he flicked another coin in his fingers. Whoosh! Before they could even react, a silver light flashed and the head of the man exploded just like the other thug. Souta looked at the corpse and said with a sigh, ¡°I thought that you wanted my coins. Why didn¡¯t you catch the coins?¡± He crouched down and picked up the two coins on the ground. ¡®How the fuck are we going to catch that thing?!¡¯ The tall man wanted to say these words but he held himself. He didn¡¯t want to get killed so he forcefully controlled his trembling body. Souta looked at him and said, ¡°Guide me to the black market. I wanted to know some information.¡± ¡°Y-Yes, sir.¡± The tall man nodded like a chicken. He didn¡¯t expect to meet an expert in this place. His luck was so bad that it killed two comrades. The tall man guide Souta to the black market. The other side of the White Line City. In this place, he gathered all sorts of information but he hasn¡¯t found anything related to the assassins that killed the Envoy of Mine Valley. It only means that the assassins were quite capable. Also, he gathered information about other assassin organizations. But from his guess, none of them have the guts to kill an Envoy of Mine Valley. After all, they were quite weak and the Governor would easily dismantle them. Unless, there was an organization backing them. Well, this information was useless for investigation so he would send some people to contact them. ¡°Do you have more questions, sir?¡± A person from the black market said. He was a dealer of information and he knew a lot of things about the happenings and secrets within the Mine Valley. ¡°Nothing. Here¡¯s the payment.¡± Souta shook his head and placed several silver coins on the table. Chapter 716: Night District Souta turned his head and looked in the direction of the Star Pavilion, the overlord of White Line City. He was contemplating whether he should meet the leader or not. In the end, he shook his head and placed those thoughts in the back of his mind. He didn¡¯t want his existence to be known by these people until he learned something about the assassins. It¡¯s better to stay low-profile at this time. That¡¯s if he was going to use his true appearance. He could simply create a different identity for himself. A smile formed on Souta¡¯s face as he strode on the streets. He placed his hand on his hand and without anyone noticing it, his appearance had changed. Even his skin tone gradually changes into a lighter color. Then, he held the bracelets on his wrist and activated its effect. It was the [Bracelet of Silencing] that came from Raeshka and the other one was a bracelet of Alice, which she used to hide her real appearance and strength. Two artifacts for disguise. He was sure that no ordinary expert would be able to see through this disguise unless they had the same eyes as him. In this state, he couldn¡¯t use his real power. He would only be able to wield a fraction of his strength but it¡¯s enough for him. It¡¯s equivalent to a Peak Stage Solidifying Realm. No, he was stronger than Solidifying Realm but weaker than Shackled Realm. He forcefully suppressed his best feram and only used the mana he stored in the Queen Parasite. ¡®This should be enough for now.¡¯ Souta went back to the black market. No one recognized him as his appearance had changed. He approached the person before. The information dealer looked at him and said, ¡°Do you know the deal?¡± Souta nodded and passed five gold coins to the dealer. The dealer was surprised when he saw the gold coins in his hand. Before he could say something, Souta already said, ¡°I wish to talk to your boss, the leader of the Night District.¡± Night District. It was the organization that ruled the black market of White Line City. Although it wasn¡¯t as strong as Star Pavilion, the Star Pavilion would suffer heavy casualties if the two organizations fought. It couldn¡¯t compare to those bandit groups in Ekatoe City. The dealer narrowed his eyes and asked, ¡°Do you think five gold coins is enough to meet our boss? Who do you think you are?¡± ¡°Tell him that I have something useful. It¡¯s about the Governor, Ray Faustin.¡± Souta said in a low voice. He was only bluffing since he didn¡¯t know anything about the Governor but this was enough to get the attention of the leader of Night District. Any information about the Governor was important. ¡°Are you sure?¡± The frown on the dealer¡¯s face grew deeper. ¡°The death of envoy,¡± Souta said. The dealer opened his eyes widely before he nodded. ¡°Wait for me here. I¡¯ll have to verify this information first.¡± He said before he left. Looking at the dealer¡¯s back, Souta knew that the death of Envoy Jeoban already spread. Although the public still didn¡¯t know about it, it was only a matter of time. After all, organizations like Night District would be able to hear it first than ordinary people. Souta wanted to meet the so-called leader of Night District. He was sure that the leader knew things that his subordinates didn¡¯t know. But it would attract a lot of attention if he used his true appearance without any disguise or restrictions. Although he didn¡¯t come here for trouble, there¡¯s a chance that a fight would break out if a misunderstanding occurred. While waiting, Souta closed his eyes and sensed his shadows. Until now they haven¡¯t found anything. He guessed that the intel he could gather in one city was limited. Well, it was within his expectation so he wasn¡¯t disappointed. The dealer came back and simply said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He didn¡¯t explain anything. There¡¯s no point in that since Souta would understand it once they arrived. The two went inside a huge mansion filled with guards. It looked like a household of an ordinary noble but the truth was¡­ This mansion was under the Night District. It was one of their properties within the city. The dealer guided him into a room. Inside it, there was a chubby man with thin facial hair. He was eating a bunch of meat across the table and beside him, there were various girls of different races. He was the boss of the Night District, Nathan. The moment he stepped in, Nathan stopped eating and focused his eyes on Souta. ¡®Quite strong¡­ A Peak Stage Solidifying Realm.¡¯ Souta said inwardly as he assessed the strength of the person in front of him. ¡°My men said that you have information about the Envoy of Mine Valley¡­¡± Nathan said slowly while examining Souta. He was a little bit surprised since he couldn¡¯t see the depth of this person¡¯s strength. Souta was probably on the same level or above him. He wanted to scan Souta using his mana but that was too disrespectful. It would lead to a fight. ¡°Yes, I know a little bit about it. That¡¯s why¡­¡± Before Souta could finish his words, the ground suddenly shook heavily. Rumble! A huge earthquake hit the whole city. A lot of people outside panicked but for Liquefying Realm and above, they could handle this earthquake. Souta was disturbed as he looked around and felt nothing wrong. He thought that this was just an ordinary earthquake but his eyes saw something unusual. There was a strange energy flowing in the air. It gives off pressure but nobody felt it, including him. He couldn¡¯t explain it but this reeks of danger. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± Nathan asked when he saw Souta¡¯s reaction. He felt nothing and thought that the earthquake was ordinary. ¡°No, something just came into my mind.¡± Souta shook his head. He focused on what was in front of him for now. ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong the Envoy of Mine Valley visited all the cities to deliver a letter, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. The envoy arrived in this city a few days ago but I don¡¯t know the contents of the letter. What about it? Do you know something about it?¡± Nathan nodded but he bit the piece of meat in his hand. ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell you where I got this information but the information that I¡¯m about to tell you is verified.¡± Souta paused for a moment before he continued, ¡°The letter is an invitation from the Governor. He is inviting every City Lord to Bland City.¡± Nathan narrowed his eyes. ¡°Invitation for what? The City Lords will not accept the invitation if it¡¯s not important. Also, most of them are wary of the Governor since he took over three cities. The moment he rose into that position.¡± ¡°The Mine Valley. The Governor wanted to unify it and the letter contained words that he wanted to create a council called Dragon Council. As for the specific details of the Dragon Council, I don¡¯t know about it. I¡¯m still gathering information and I think that it is the cause of the envoy¡¯s death.¡± Souta explained. ¡°I see¡­ So someone is trying to stop the formation of the Dragon Council. It¡¯s really weird that the Governor easily took three cities without fighting but it seems that there¡¯s more to it.¡± Nathan nodded in understanding. ¡°What I want to know is the information of the assassin groups in the Mine Valley. Is there a group here that would go against the Governor just like that?¡± Souta asked. ¡°You¡¯re right. I have something in my mind after hearing your words.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°The Murder Society,¡± Nathan said in a low voice while looking straight into his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Souta was a little bit confused. He was new to this place so he didn¡¯t know a lot of things here. What he knew was just public knowledge. ¡°It¡¯s an incredibly powerful organization. I don¡¯t know if they would care about the Mine Valley but it¡¯s possible that they are the ones behind the assassination. As for why they killed the envoy, it¡¯s simple, someone must have paid them huge money. That¡¯s their job.¡± Nathan¡¯s tone was grave and from his words, the so-called Murder Society was all over the entire Hall Plains. It runs one of the darkest jobs here in this land. ¡°Do you have contact with them?¡± Souta asked. ¡°How could I? I haven¡¯t even met anyone of them but according to the rumors, they will come to you if you needed them. Honestly, I don¡¯t believe it. I¡¯m more inclined that there¡¯s some sort of password that acts as a signal and once you utter those words, they will hear you.¡± Nathan shrugged his shoulder. Souta was a little bit disappointed since the Murder Society could be the one who killed the Envoy of Mine Valley. ¡°If what you said is true then the Mine Valley will undergo a huge change soon. I can only protect what¡¯s within my territory. Also, don¡¯t mention the Murder Society in front of other people. It¡¯s dangerous.¡± Nathan warned him. Chapter 717: Information Since Amanda went with Souta, she was disqualified in the Tournament of Astros. Well, even if she stayed there her opponent was Eilish, someone who could defeat the elder of the Witch Clan. Naturally, Eilish would defeat her. As for the second match, Alice won by default. Souta disqualified Franklin yesterday so Alice didn¡¯t have an opponent. There¡¯s no action as the audience just watched Meina declared the winner of the first and second matches. The third match was different. It was between Elder Guan and Doranjan and both of them were here. No one wanted to back down from the match so it would be a battle just like yesterday. The crowd was riled up when they heard the battle. After seeing the first two matches, they thought that no battle would occur today but it seems that they were wrong. ¡°Let¡¯s welcome both fighters!!¡± Doranjan and Elder Guan entered the arena. The Great Green Dragon opened its huge majestic wings. The leader of the Feral Corps of Astros, Doranjan. An enormous pressure bore down as he released his best feram. Elder Guan was unfazed by his opponent¡¯s show of strength. He opened his hand and a white pill appeared. It was his soul weapon, [Power Steering Pill]. He placed the white pill in his mouth and it quickly turned into energy that fused into his body. In the next moment, his strength rose sharply giving him various buffs equal to the dark-grade artifact. Everyone was silent as they waited for Meina¡¯s signal. ¡°One¡­ Two¡­ Three¡­ Go!! Let¡¯s start the third match!!!¡± Doranjan quickly swung his huge and sharp claws. The energy within surged like a tidal wave. It felt like it was about to destroy the entire area. This was the power of a fourth stage monster. Elder Guan tightened his muscles as the gauntlets around his hands emitted a dim blueish light. A violent energy erupted as he threw his fist. [Destruction Fist]!! BANG!! Doranjan¡¯s claws were repelled under the might of Elder Guan¡¯s attack. He was a little bit surprised as he didn¡¯t think that his opponent would go all-out from the beginning. He turned around and swung his tail but Elder Guan easily avoided it. Then, he felt a force slam into his stomach. In the next moment, his huge body flew and crashed into the barrier. BAM!! Elder Guan¡¯s aura rose once again. He activated various combat arts that he learned in the past. ¡°You are a fourth stage so I won¡¯t hold back.¡± With those words, he began to launch a series of powerful attacks at his opponent. Each attack caused the entire arena to tremble and shockwaves would sweep out. If not for the barrier, the entire place would be flattened. Suddenly, a pillar of energy shot upward and violent sparks flew in every direction. The torrent of energy stood like a pillar supporting the heaven and earth. Elder Guan was forced to stop his attacks. ¡°It¡¯s here¡­ The [Monster Orb Release].¡± He narrowed his eyes and stared at the torrent of energy with burning fighting intent. BOOM!! ¡°Doranjan¡¯s decision is correct. He couldn¡¯t hope to defeat a One Shackle Realm in his normal form. He¡¯s not Souta.¡± Alice commented while watching the battle. This should be the normal power of a fourth stage that recently evolved. Unlike Souta, who was a beast among monsters as he had high power levels the moment he evolved. Although some of his strengths could be credited to his high grade equipment which Doranjan didn¡¯t have, it was still ridiculous to possess that kind of power at the initial level. When the torrent of energy dispersed, it revealed a huge Great Green Dragon¡¯s majestic body. It has a height of twenty meters and a length of thirty five meters. Its huge body was covered in green glossy scales and its two pairs of wings were unfurled as if covering the entire sky. There were wraps of green fur on each of its shoulders drifting on its back which was covered in black spikes. On its muscular arm, there were golden marks like a tattoo coming from the center of its chest. Each mark was producing a dim golden glow. This was Doranjan¡¯s release form. ¡°Let¡¯s start the battle once again.¡± Doranjan said in a deep tone. Every time he opened his mouth white mist would come out. Rumble! ¡°Let me ask you something. Who are you?¡± Nathan asked in a serious tone. From his guess, Souta wasn¡¯t an ordinary person. It was impossible for him to know this information without sufficient background. ¡°William. That¡¯s my name.¡± Souta said with a faint smile. Nathan stared at him for a long time before he sighed. ¡°It seems that you will not tell me anything about yourself. I can¡¯t force you. I don¡¯t want to add one more enemy to my list.¡± ¡°So what are you going to do with the information that I gave to you?¡± Souta asked. ¡°First, I¡¯ll observe the Star Pavilion¡¯s action. I will move depending on their movements. If the Governor is really planning to unify the Mine Valley, then the overlord of different cities will react.¡± Nathan said gravely. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. What I want to know is what you are planning to do. The Murder Society, if you are planning to look for them. Be careful and don¡¯t ever mention my name.¡± ¡°I understand. Our conversation will stay here so don¡¯t let other people know what we talked about.¡± Souta nodded before he left. Nathan simply stared at the door. It took him a few minutes before he returned to his senses. He glanced at the meats on the table and muttered, ¡°That guy. Just what the hell is he? Something feels off when I¡¯m looking at him.¡± ¡°Do you want me to follow him, Boss?¡± One of his subordinates suggested. ¡°No, I¡¯m not a sensory type but at least that man is on the same level as me.¡± Nathan shook his head. Although he wasn¡¯t a sensory type, he could at least sense if a person was below his power level. Since he couldn¡¯t see the power of that person, that person who called himself William was on par with him. Souta met with Franklin and Amanda. The information that they gathered was the same. It¡¯s all about the basic foundation of the Mine Valley and Star Pavilion. If they wanted to delve further into it, they had to ask those organizations that ruled a city. ¡°Should we visit those organizations first or head straight to Bland City?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Let¡¯s go to Bland City. I think we will understand something after we talked to the Governor.¡± Souta answered while rubbing his chin. The assassin organizations in the Mine Valley should know something but they probably have little information. It¡¯s better if they knew who killed Envoy Jeoban. That way he would be able to proceed to the second quest of the Chain Quest. ¡°I understand.¡± Amanda nodded lightly. Then she asked, ¡°Are we gonna stay here or not?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s stay here for a night. We will go to Bland City tomorrow morning.¡± Souta said in response to her question. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go and rent a room for us.¡± Amanda turned around and left. Souta glanced at Franklina and said, ¡°Follow her,¡± Franklin nodded and left. Souta turned around after they disappeared from his vision. He looked at his surroundings and saw a coffee shop. A smile formed on his face. It¡¯s been a while since he visited a coffee shop. He went inside and ordered their specialty. Although he didn¡¯t have platinum coins, he still had several gold coins in his pocket so it wasn¡¯t a problem if he ordered a high-class coffee for himself to indulge. After waiting for a few minutes, the waiter arrived and served a cup of coffee on his table. Sniffing the aroma coming from the cup, a satisfied smile plastered on his face. There¡¯s nothing better than having a coffee break. Souta calculated his coins and thought that he would have a spare to visit a brothel tonight. It¡¯s been a while. He was too busy lately that he hasn¡¯t released his pent-up stress so he would go all out tonight. ¡®That Eilish¡­ She didn¡¯t even let me have a go¡­ She¡¯s too busy in her practice.¡¯ Souta smiled to himself as he took a sip of his coffee. The taste was perfect and it fitted his taste buds. This was really his stress reliever. ¡®Oh, right? Saya, do you know something about that strange energy before? It felt familiar but I couldn¡¯t explain where I sensed it in the past.¡¯ He suddenly remembered the earthquake and that strange energy just now. ¡®That is Grid¡­ Just like I thought, this is not a simple matter.¡¯ Saya said in a grave tone. ¡®Grid?! Are you for real?!¡¯ Souta opened his eyes widely. ¡®Although it was faint and weak, there¡¯s no doubt that it was a Grid. A whip of Grid but it contained boundless power. Ordinary people couldn¡¯t sense it and it seems that it¡¯s dissipating.¡¯ Saya explained. ¡®So there¡¯s one here.¡¯ Souta looked outside. ¡®No, not in this city nor the Mine Valley. Probably farther away. From the looks of it, it¡¯s vulnerable and a dying one.¡¯ Saya said. Chapter 718: Conference Saya explained the state of Grid to him. It wasn¡¯t that powerful compared to the live one but he should be careful too. He was also considering how to report it to the Athen¡¯s Champion. It was far above where he could handle it alone. He couldn¡¯t just casually tell them that he sensed Grid as most of the warriors didn¡¯t even know about it. But why would there be a whiff of Grid in this place? People that could master this power were no joke. They were powerhouse standing at the top of the world. ¡®Are you sure that there¡¯s no problem with it?¡¯ Souta asked once again. ¡®Probably, if the person using it is here then the strength within will be much more powerful than what you see. If such power landed here, the entire Mine Valley will disappear in the blink of an eye. We¡¯re lucky that it only caused an earthquake.¡¯ Saya said to him. ¡®So they are starting to move.¡¯ Souta turned his head at the sky. Perhaps, the person that used it was preparing something. It should be outside the Hall Plains according to Saya¡¯s estimation. ¡®You don¡¯t have to worry. Just ask some warriors about the situation outside the Hall Plains. For now, this place is relatively safe since it¡¯s closer to Olympus. No gods will approach the Hall Plains.¡¯ Saya assured him. ¡®I understand.¡¯ Souta closed his eyes. The Hall Plains and after it was the vast Obsidian Desert. Beyond it was the Green River Valley, it was a vast land that housed a large country. If that¡¯s the case, then the Grid should be coming from that large country. It seems a battle between gods was happening in that place. Speaking of Grid, Souta was curious about Saya¡¯s Grid if she mastered one before. So he asked her to satisfy his curiosity. ¡®Hmm¡­? I¡¯m just a sword right now. I couldn¡¯t even use most of my power in this state but I mastered it before. Mine is called [Lightning Lotus Sun]. It has the power to turn everything around me into vajra lightning, including time and space. The range of my Grid is probably the same as Hall Plains. I couldn¡¯t remember every detail.¡¯ Saya said. ¡®Vajra lightning?¡¯ Souta was a little bit confused. He recalled the black lightning of the Archetype that he was using. ¡®Ufufu, you¡¯re not a vajra race so the dark lightning you produce in Archetype is just a downgraded version of a real vajra lightning.¡¯ Saya chuckled when she saw his expression. ¡®Nevermind.¡¯ Souta shook his head. He could guess that she was no ordinary god back then. There was various Grid but from her little description, hers was on the stronger side. Souta finished drinking his coffee. He went outside after paying his bills. Franklin and Amanda were both waiting for him, they finished renting rooms to stay in for a night. After telling them not to cause trouble, he dismissed them. Then, he went to find a brothel. ¡­ Before sunrise, Souta, Amanda, and Franklin gathered outside of the White Line City. They walked until they were quite far from the city before they flew. They didn¡¯t want others to discover them as they were staying low-key for now. Well, it¡¯s not that they were deliberately hiding from other people. It¡¯s fine for them even if some people discover them. It¡¯s just that Souta didn¡¯t want to attract too much attention by moving without caring for his surroundings. Later, the three landed near Bland City. They joined other people who were entering the central of Mine Valley. As soon as they enter, they quickly realized the difference between this place and the White Line and Ekatoe. It was too prosperous and it probably has five times the population of White Line and Ekatoe combined. It was a bustling city and the streets were full of people from different races. Some of them were talking solemnly while others were leisurely chatting. Merchants wanted to gain a business opportunities and experts wanted to learn combat arts or spells. Souta sensed tens of thousands of people within the range of his [Crimson Perception]. There were too many of them so he couldn¡¯t count their exact numbers in just a few seconds. ¡°Ekatoe feels like a small town compared to this,¡± Amanda commented. ¡°The strength of the folks here is much stronger,¡± Franklin said while observing the people around him. The three stroll around to familiarize themselves first. Bland City was huge and it was divided into ten districts. It has an academy for children and various facilities that could help the entire city in the future. Although the Governor was the strongest here, there were still various factions laying in different districts. But most of them were part of the government. In the end, Souta thought that Bland City would survive on its own. Unlike Ekatoe which didn¡¯t have academy, mine, or farms, this place was complete. Only when Souta took over the position of City Lord, he established facilities such as schools and farms. It wasn¡¯t relying on merchant¡¯s products. Souta, Amanda, and Franklin were sitting around a table inside a restaurant. They were having a meal and chatting about the information that they¡¯d gathered. ¡°Should we go to the Governor¡¯s Palace or not?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Tomorrow is the start of the meeting. I don¡¯t plan to show myself so we¡¯ll stay low for a while. We¡¯ll observe the people that will enter the city.¡± Souta said in a low voice. ¡°Right, the Governor sent an invitation to other City Lords,¡± Franklin said. ¡°Yeah, they will arrive today.¡± Souta nodded. Amanda looked left and right before she asked, ¡°What about the Murder Society? Do we have to investigate it here?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what we will be doing today. But be careful and don¡¯t mention the Murder Society to other people. Also, change your appearance and I¡¯ll permit you to kill.¡± Souta said gloomily. They wouldn¡¯t easily mention the name Murder Society but if they mention it and judge that the other people had ill intention, they could kill those people. If possible they would kill everyone that heard the word Murder Society from their mouths. It was to avoid the attention of that organization even if it means offending the entire Bland City. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about your mana signature. They don¡¯t have any device to record it. This place isn¡¯t a Holy Land or a Large Country to have that kind of technology.¡± Souta assured them. Not everyone could memorize their energy signature. Also, the mana density was higher and if no one discovered the crime, the lingering energy would disperse faster than before. They wouldn¡¯t even have a time to memorize it. They just need to avoid attracting too much attention. If they released their energy level, it would gather the powerhouse of this city. Just like that, the three went in their own ways. They strolled around the entire city trying to find any clues related to the Murder Society. They spent several hours and they were quite shocked that everyone didn¡¯t seem to know this organization. In this case, the image of Murder Society in their mind had changed once again. It was much deeper than they imagined. Even normal organizations didn¡¯t seem to have any idea about it. With this, they realized that what they were doing was pointless. They should have started with an organization on the same level as Night District. But even Night District only heard rumors about it and they weren¡¯t sure of the Murder Society¡¯s real standing. It seems that they need to find a much more powerful organization¡­ An organization like Star Pavilion, an overlord of a city. ¡°It seems that I can only wait until the meeting started¡­¡± Souta said to himself while staring at the enormous City Hall at the center of Bland City. It looks like it was more of a Royal Palace than a City Hall. ¡®I hope that they knew something about the people that killed Envoy Jeoban.¡¯ If they didn¡¯t know anything then everything was left to him to discover it. At the very least, they should have clues regarding the Murder Society. If not, he would have to investigate outside of the Mine Valley just to find the culprit behind the incident. Until now, he didn¡¯t even know if the Murder Society was related to the envoy¡¯s death. It was only his assumption so there¡¯s no evidence to prove it. Until he finds one, he wouldn¡¯t actively attack that mysterious organization. ¡°Let¡¯s find it tomorrow.¡± Souta stayed in an inn and entered Saya¡¯s inner consciousness. He trained for a while and only came out when the sun was already up. It was time for the meeting. Various lords of different cities around the Mine Valley had arrived yesterday. The atmosphere was tense as some of these lords were enemies. If they weren¡¯t in the Governor¡¯s territory they would have already started a battle. No matter what they had to give the Governor some face. As for their enemies, they would deal with them once they returned to each of their own cities. At this time, Souta, Amanda, and Franklin stood in front of the enormous City Hall. They presented the invitation letter to the guards before they stepped forward. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Chapter 719: Dragon Council Souta, Amanda, and Franklin were guided by a guard. They stopped in front of the door and told them that only Souta could enter. Only the City Lords could enter inside and participate in the conference. He asked Amanda and Franklin to stay outside and observed the things around the City Hall. Then, he proceeded inside the room. ¡®This is quite huge¡­¡¯ Souta said as he strode forward and saw the seat for Ekatoe¡¯s City Lord. He pulled the chair and saw down before he slowly examined the people inside the room. There were twenty four seats in total and thirteen people were currently here. The rest haven¡¯t arrived yet. The moment he stepped inside the room, the people turned their eyes and observed him. Especially when he sat down in Ekatoe¡¯s seat. All of them knew what happened near Ekatoe City, the death of the Envoy of Mine Valley. Also, they¡¯ve heard that the new City Lord gained control of the entire city in just a few days after gaining the position. Naturally, Souta sensed their gazes at him but he simply closed his eyes. He came here for two reasons; To know more about the Murder Society and learn the goal of the Dragon Council that the Governor wanted to establish. ¡®Sigh¡­ I must complain. Why didn¡¯t they serve some drinks for the guest? I want to drink some coffee while waiting.¡¯ Souta complained inwardly. He decided that he would establish the largest coffee shop in Ekatoe once he returned. He would also recruit people that could brew delicious coffee. Preferably, those that have Spirit Chef talents. They could prepare drinks or meals that could give buffs to people. After half an hour, the twenty four seats were filled. All the invited City Lords have arrived. This surprised him a little bit. He didn¡¯t expect that there would be twenty four cities in this place. Some City Lords were strong while others were average. The City Lord of Ekatoe should be also average if Souta didn¡¯t take the position. Among the twenty four cities in this land, the Ekatoe belongs to one of the weakest. ¡°Hey, so you¡¯re the new City Lord of Ekatoe, huh?¡± Souta turned his eyes to his left side. He saw a man with a pair of white rabbit ears smiling at him. He looked at the table and saw the tag ¡°Lambrey¡±. It was a city outside the Mine Valley. It was quite far from the Ekatoe and it would take one day to travel from Ekatoe to Lambrey. ¡°I heard what happen to the envoy. Do you do it? Did you really kill the envoy that the Governor sent?¡± The City Lord of Lambrey said with a wide smile on his face. Souta shrugged his shoulders and said, ¡°Well, I came here for that reason. I want to know the inside-out information about that incident.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that you didn¡¯t kill the envoy? Hmm, that¡¯s a bit problematic. Then, who is the culprit behind the death of the envoy? Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I¡¯m Jovi, the City Lord of Lambrey.¡± The man with a pair of white rabbit ears said. Souta gave him a light nod. ¡°Souta, City Lord of Ekatoe.¡± Jovi wanted to ask a lot of things but he stopped himself as the Governor of Mine Valley arrived. A tall man with slick back brown hair entered the room. He was wearing brown-colored formal clothes and he had a cold demeanor. His eyes swept across the room before he sat down on his seat. Despite the cold aura around him, his posture was well-conduct. This man was Ray Faustin, the Governor of Mine Valley. The man that wanted to unify the Mine Valley and returned the other cities to the rule of the Governor. That¡¯s how it was in the beginning. All these cities were under the rule of the Governor but as the cities grew stronger, they started to break free from the hands of the Governor. So at this time, the position of Governor wasn¡¯t as good as it was in the past. In the end, strength still matters. The previous Governors didn¡¯t have enough strength, and it led to the current situation where most of the cities were independent. Ray looked at them one by one. ¡°I am the Governor of Mine Valley, Ray Faustin, and I¡¯m grateful that everyone attends this meeting. All leaders of twenty four cities had gathered around the table today.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ve read the letters, right? I¡¯m prepared to establish the Dragon Council that will stand at the top of the Mine Valley.¡± He proceeded to explain the pros and cons of the council that he wanted to build. Souta listened quietly. He was a little bit surprised that the Governor didn¡¯t even mention the death of the envoy. It seems that this guy knows something that he didn¡¯t know. ¡®It seems interesting.¡¯ He grinned inwardly. ¡°The Hall Plains is restless. Various organizations are mass recruiting people and some of them are fighting each other. The Imperial Capital couldn¡¯t handle all of these organizations. Sooner or later, it would turn into a full-blown war. Although they wouldn¡¯t care about a backward place like Mine Valley, we still need to prepare ourselves. The Imperium is changing and everyone experienced it.¡± Ray explained calmly so that everyone could understand his words. ¡®That¡¯s right¡­¡¯ Souta agreed with Ray¡¯s words. The Imperium was changing and his knowledge of the game was limited. He didn¡¯t even know the breaking of rules and increase in mana density events. There¡¯s no way something he would miss something as huge as this. Maybe, these two events happened but he was completing some quest so he didn¡¯t bother himself with it. ¡°The Dragon Council will be an organization center in Mine Valley. I want us to join together and help each other in times of crisis.¡± Ray paused as he slowly swept his eyes at the crowd. ¡°Some of you must be wondering why I¡¯m doing this. It¡¯s because there are benefits for me if I do this.¡± If Ray said that he was just doing this to protect everyone, these City Lords wouldn¡¯t believe him. It was more believable if he said that he was going to protect the Mine Valley because there¡¯s benefit from it. ¡®There¡¯s no person that will try to save everyone if there¡¯s no benefit¡­ Maybe, except for Bryan. That guy is a lucky dumbass.¡¯ Souta rubbed his chin. Even Souta himself didn¡¯t know how Bryan survived all these years with that type of personality. He looked at the City Lords and found that most of them weren¡¯t interested in working with the Governor. They had their own hidden agenda and they wouldn¡¯t simply start an organization with other people who were once their enemies. What if this Governor abolished the underground dealings once they joined the council? Some of them gained huge profits from the drugs and other things they smuggled. At least, this guy, Governor Ray, couldn¡¯t abolish their business as it would lead to war. ¡®So how are you gonna handle it?¡¯ Souta grinned inwardly. It was fun to witness this scene firsthand. It could somehow satiate his boredom. Ray calmly observed everyone. He saw within their eyes that only a few people were interested in the Dragon Council. ¡®In the end¡­ It still led to this.¡¯ He closed his eyes for a moment. Then, he spoke coldly, ¡°For those who aren¡¯t interested in my offer. I suggest that you leave this room. As for those who wanted to join the Dragon Council, stay here. We¡¯ll talk about the rules and establishment of the organization in the Mine Valley. As for other things, it¡¯s confidential so I¡¯ll only talk about it once you joined the council.¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± The City Lords were a little bit surprised when his tone changed. Aside from a few pros, there¡¯s no worth in joining the council. They thought that Governor Ray would entice them by offering huge benefits so that they could join. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m interested in it.¡± Three City Lords spoke. They were the City Lords of the three cities that the Governor conquered. They would willing to accept the Governor¡¯s proposal. ¡®Hmm¡­?¡¯ Souta raised his eyebrows. He noticed something wrong with these three guys. ¡®The Governor conquered their cities, right? But why is their attitude like that? It feels like all of them are at the same level. They didn¡¯t submit to the Governor but rather it is more like cooperation.¡¯ ¡®Right, there¡¯s no word that the Governor launched an attack on their cities. After all, if the Governor really conquered their cities and they survived. It means that they¡¯ve begged for their lives or surrendered to him.¡¯ Cooperation? Alliance? Interesting. Souta smiled as he raised his hand and said, ¡°I¡¯m interested in your proposal. I¡¯ll stay here and join your so-called Dragon Council.¡± The rest of the City Lords turned their heads at him. They didn¡¯t expect the suspect in the assassination of the envoy to accept the proposal. Did he lose his mind? Is he scared of the Governor? Maybe, he surrendered so that the Governor wouldn¡¯t use this reason to attack the small Ekatoe City. Chapter 720: Lord of Contract Huh? Did this guy really kill the envoy? The City Lords gazed at him as if they wanted to hear his explanation. But Souta simply shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes. He wouldn¡¯t bother explaining himself to the people that wouldn¡¯t stay here. ¡°Okay, it seems good. I¡¯ll stay here.¡± The man who was sitting beside Souta spoke. He was the City Lord of Lambrey, Jovi. Ray looked at the two before he nodded. He then turned to the rest and said, ¡°As I¡¯ve said before. Gentlemen, you can leave this room if you have no intention of joining the Dragon Council. I¡¯ve already told the rest of you about the incoming danger. So if you don¡¯t want to join then you can prepare on your own.¡± The City Lords were dissatisfied with his words. They thought that Ray Faustin was arrogant. ¡°Tsk! Do you really think they will care about this small land?!¡± ¡°Maybe, you just wanted to control the entire Mine Valley!!¡± ¡°You must be dreaming thinking about controlling the Mine Valley! We will not submit to you!¡± ¡°We¡¯re not afraid of you!¡± They glared at Ray and the rest of the City Lords that were willing to join the council. In the end, they left the room without creating more trouble. After all, they were in Bland City, and Ray¡¯s entire forces were inside this land. If they really fight here, they would be surrounded by hundreds of experts. No matter how strong they were, they would probably fall. Ray sighed while looking at the backs of the City Lords. After they were gone, he turned to the rest and said, ¡°I¡¯m glad that some of you decided to cooperate with me. What I explained before is all true. I¡¯m sure that some of you are doubting my words but if you sent scouts to the central, you will find that my words are true.¡± Eight City Lords decided to stay in the room and listened to the Governor¡¯s words. The influence of the Governor wasn¡¯t as huge as before. Every city in the Mine Valley became independent and they didn¡¯t need support from the higher-ups. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why is it happening?¡± One of the City Lords asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Various organizations suddenly fought each other and the central is in chaos right now. The Imperial Capital is trying its best to contain the chaos but the other nations interfered.¡± Ray said in response. ¡°Do you really think that they will come to our land?¡± Another City Lord asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure. According to my intel, various organizations are expanding their scope of influence. They are recruiting people and destroying towns and villages. They will not leave the Mine Valley alone for a long time.¡± Ray explained. He turned silent before he looked at Souta and added, ¡°I think that they are already looking at our land. The death of my envoy is probably because they want to cause chaos here.¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. He laughed lightly and said, ¡°You aren¡¯t suspicious of me? That¡¯s good, then I want to know who you think is the culprit behind the assassination.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Ray shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s probably one of the organizations in the central. That¡¯s why we need to prepare ourselves. I want everyone here to join hands and strengthen our defenses.¡± ¡°So the Dragon Council is for this reason, right? You said this before but I wanted to know the exact details of this council that you wanted to establish.¡± One of the City Lords said. ¡°Okay¡­ Listen carefully.¡± Ray nodded. The Dragon Council was the organization that would handle the entire Mine Valley. They would set up a defense and send their forces outside the land to investigate the events in the other regions. They were going to protect this land from outside forces that wanted to annex them. Since there were nine of them, there were going to be nine leaders of the Dragon Council. They were called the Nine Heads, and every time they had a suggestion they had to ask the permission of the other Heads. They were all in the same position and voting was decided on their next course of action. Ray also explained to them the rules of the Dragon Council. Since they were allies right now, they could ask for everyone¡¯s help here in case they encountered a problem. The Nine Heads were decided. Ray Fausting, the Governor of Mine Valley, became the First Head. And Souta, the City Lord of Ekatoe, became the Seventh Head. Bland City, Ekatoe City, Lambrey City, Blue Fin City, Night Light City, Ergano City, Arstin City, Yoimi City, and lastly the Vine West City. Nine cities have joined together to create the strongest organization in the entire Mine Valley. ¡°Now let¡¯s form a contract,¡± Ray said with a faint smile on his face. Jovi and the rest of the City Lords widened their eyes. They were inwardly shocked. ¡°Why? It¡¯s better to form this contract. This way all the things here will stay with us. Also, the contract will not restrict our movements. It¡¯s just that, we will not make a move to destroy the Mine Valley, or else we would suffer the consequences.¡± Ray opened his arms before he placed a piece of red paper on the table. ¡°Fine¡­ Since I¡¯m here already, I will not back down.¡± Jovi sighed and said. ¡°Good.¡± Ray nodded and turned to the rest. ¡°What about the rest of you?¡± They hesitated for while before they eventually nodded their heads. The contract was a big matter. They couldn¡¯t simply abolish it or else they would offend the being of contract, the Lord of Contract. Hu~ They formed a contract and signed it with their blood. Then, they burned it. Sizzle! The ashes gathered in the air and turned into an eyeball. It has the size of a man¡¯s head and bloody veins were creepy out of it. Ohm! Pressure gushed out of the eyeball as it stared at the nine people in the room. ¡°Oh, Lord, May you witness the contract bound by our blood!¡± Ray, Jovi, Souta, and the rest narrowed their eyes as they tried to resist the pressure weighing down on their shoulders. The one whose most affected in this situation was Souta. ¡®This is just a natural presence of this creature yet¡­ It brought so much pressure.¡¯ Souta gritted his teeth inwardly. After a while, the pressure disappeared but he could still feel that someone was grabbing his heart. His hair stood on its end as a chill run down on his spine. He felt like he was about to die. Compared to others, what he was experiencing was entirely on a different level. Souta felt like he was about to lose control and rampage in this land. As long as this eyeball willed it, he would follow it without question. It was terrifying. His whole body submitted to the eyeball floating in the air. ¡°I accept your contract¡­¡± The words lingered around before the eyeball disappeared into thin air. Ray, Souta, and the rest breath a sigh of relief. They wiped the sweat on their foreheads as they leaned their back on their chairs. ¡®Are you sure about the contract?¡¯ Saya¡¯s voice sounded in Souta¡¯s mind. ¡®Yeah, it¡¯s fine. You¡¯ve seen the contract, right? As long as I didn¡¯t destroy the Mine Valley it will be fine even if others destroy it.¡¯ Souta replied to her. The rest of the City Lords turned to Ray after they calmed down. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you have this means.¡± ¡°The Lord of Contract, I¡¯ve heard of it before but this is the first time someone brought a contract.¡± ¡°Where did you get it?¡± ¡°Did you come from one of the Large Countries or Holy Lands?¡± They were utterly shocked. The contract of the Lord of Contract was terrifying just like the rumors. ¡°I exchanged it when I was roaming the continent before,¡± Ray said to them with a wry smile. Although this wasn¡¯t his first time seeing the contract, the pressure brought by Lord of Contract was still the same. In any case, people couldn¡¯t go against it unless they broke through the first great shackle. It was a contract for experts at SS-rank. So once they¡¯ve reached the SSS-rank, the contract wouldn¡¯t bind them anymore. A high-level contract was needed for those high-level experts. The Lord of Contract. Was a powerful monster lord that reigned in one of the largest regions of God¡¯s Continent. It was also one of the famous monster lords here. ¡®The pressure is entirely different from Raeshka.¡¯ Souta sighed as he wiped the sweat forming on his forehead. He also cast a deep glance at the Governor. He didn¡¯t expect that this guy had a contract paper. The contract wouldn¡¯t reach a small land like Mine Valley. Only those Large Countries and Holy Lands have it. The Champion¡¯s Den had a store selling these contract and they even had high level ones for those experts at SSS-rank and Hero-rank. ¡°Then, let¡¯s begin the first meeting of the Dragon Council,¡± Ray said as he sat down in his seat. Chapter 721: Nine Heads Now that everyone signed the contract, they were in this together. They would protect the Mine Valley and wouldn¡¯t plan something bad to this land. Of course, if the Mine Valley was destroyed by other people the contract wasn¡¯t going to affect them. The contract was only done so that each of the Nine Heads wouldn¡¯t scheme against the other which would lead to the destruction of the Mine Valley. It was perfectly done by Governor Ray. ¡°There are nine of us together. The Dragon Council will do its utmost best for the Mine Valley. As for the other City Lords, let them be. We¡¯ll deal with them if they try to interfere with our goal.¡± Ray, the First Head, said as he swept his eyes across the room. ¡°Okay.¡± Souta nodded. He didn¡¯t have a problem with those City Lords. What matters to him right now was to find the culprit behind the death of the envoy. ¡°What if those people attacked us? Do you think that they will create an alliance to protect their business?¡± The Fourth Head said. He was an elf with dark skin and was wearing fine clothes. ¡°I think the Fourth Head is right. They knew about the Dragon Council so they will probably create an alliance in case we fight them.¡± The Ninth Head said. She was a small woman with a muscular body. Her long chestnut-colored hair was tied in a bun on the back of her head. She¡¯s a dwarf. ¡°Want to vote? Honestly, I don¡¯t think that we should care about those people. We should find the culprit behind the death of the envoy. I¡¯m sure that they are already trying to cause chaos here since they¡¯ve assassinated the envoy.¡± Souta expressed his opinion. ¡°Yeah, I think we should vote. Knowing the hidden enemy is more important than the enemy that we know.¡± Jovi nodded. He was the Fifth Head of the newly established Dragon Council. The rest of them nodded. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll start voting. Who¡¯s in favor of leaving the other City Lords for now?¡± Ray said in a serious tone. Even if everyone decided to interfere with those City Lords. They wouldn¡¯t quickly attack right now even if those people were still within the city. It would gather the hatred of all organizations if they did something like that. Not just the overlord of cities even those underground organizations would try to suppress them for their acts. Also, it was hard to fight those City Lords at the same time. If they really tried to kill them then those people would work together and it would only cause further destruction. A lot of people would die in this land. The voting had ended. Five people were in favor of leaving those City Lords alone. The least they could do right now was not to fight each other as there was a chance that the culprit behind the assassination was only waiting for that moment. What if a third party launched an attack while they were fighting the City Lords? So until they figured out the identity of the culprit, they would try to avoid fighting the other City Lords. If the other City Lords didn¡¯t interfere with Dragon Council, Ray and the rest wouldn¡¯t care about them. That¡¯s why whether they were enemies or not wasn¡¯t decided yet. ¡°Hahaha, interesting¡­ So how should we find those guys? If you don¡¯t have any idea I can give you one.¡± Souta laughed as he looked at the rest of the Nine Heads. Ray, Jovi, and the rest turned their heads at him. ¡­ Spring Land¡­ It was a place beside the Mine Valley. Although it was just an area in the Hall Plains, it was still twenty times larger than the Mine Valley and the resources that people could find in this land were ten times greater. In this land, a nation called the Heiro Kingdom was ruling the land. It was the overlord of the whole Spring Land but right now¡­ Something was happening. Various nobles rebelled against the royal family and it caused destruction across the land. They couldn¡¯t lose control over various cities and those organizations decided to step up. A battle occurred in different places. A middle-aged man was sitting on the throne with his hands on his chin. He was the king of the Heiro Kingdom, a small kingdom within the Hall Plains. ¡°Twenty cities had fallen and Marquis Vincent had died in the battle¡­¡± The King muttered as he glanced at his subordinate. ¡°It¡¯s getting worse.¡± One of the subordinates said. ¡°Father, I think we should focus our army on the remaining cities.¡± A beautiful young lady expressed her thoughts. She was the princess of the Heiro Kingdom. ¡°Do you want us to give up those cities?¡± The King gazed at her with cold eyes. ¡°Father, sister is right. We should preserve our forces right now. Let them fight each other and we will not actively participate in the battle.¡± A tall handsome young man said. He was the first prince of the Heiro Kingdom. The King closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them once again, he nodded, ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll give up those cities. We¡¯ll also send some people to our allied kingdoms. I wanted to know why did these guys suddenly become bold.¡± ¡°I understand, Your Highness.¡± One of the subordinates bowed. Although it was quite chaotic in the Hall Plains, there were still some peaceful areas. From their guess, it¡¯s only a matter of time before it turned into a full-blown war. ¡°Gather, all the remaining nobles. I want to talk to them.¡± The King added before he closed his eyes. He was contemplating what really happened in this place. It all started two months ago. In the beginning, it was just a fight between two small organizations. As the strongest force in the Spring Land, those two organizations weren¡¯t worth their time. They didn¡¯t interfere but in a short amount of time, the scale of the battle grew larger. Dozens of organizations became involved in the conflict and towns and villages were ravaged. It was all too late before they noticed it. At the very least, aside from the Heiro Kingdom, there was the Triple Tribe Alliance which was trying to stop the conflict. There were other organizations that tried to stop this battle but they were destroyed easily. So the kingdom and alliance became cautious. They could only stop this battle step by step. ¡­ Bland City. In an expensive hotel room, a bald man with thick facial hair was looking down at the masses through the window. He was one of the City Lords that rejected the offer of the Governor. His people called his Lord Amune. ¡°I thought the Dragon Council is worth my time but it seems the condition is too bad. Ray simply wanted to unify the Mine Valley under those excuses.¡± He took a glass of wine and raised it to his eye level. ¡°If he wanted it then I¡¯ll take a bite of his pie. Does he really think that he is the only one who had information?¡± He drank the wine in one go before he turned around. ¡°I think I could reach a higher level soon. It¡¯s time to destroy this place. Hehe~¡± Suddenly, he paused and looked at the couch. He saw a chubby man with slanted eyes looking at him. ¡°Why are you here?¡± He asked. The chubby man smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to leave this place soon. I¡¯ll leave everything in this place to your hands.¡± ¡°I know what to do. No one bit our bait so I¡¯ll change my tactics.¡± He waved his hand, clearly disinterested in talking to the person on the couch. The chubby man simply shrugged his shoulders as he stood up. He was going to leave when he recalled something, ¡°Oh, right? Be careful of the Governor and the Lord of Ekatoe City. I got goosebumps when I saw them earlier.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Amune stared at the chubby man with widened eyes. ¡°Yeah, they aren¡¯t ordinary people. It¡¯s creeping me but I can say that they are strong.¡± The chubby spoke with seriousness in his tone. He then changed his expression as his eyes almost turned into a crescent shape. ¡°What do you want to stop your plan?¡± Amune calmed down. He glanced at the glass on the table and said, ¡°Even without my orders they will execute it. It is set from the very beginning.¡± ¡°I see. Then, I hope you have good luck.¡± The chubby man¡¯s smile grew wider. Suddenly, the door was slammed open and they saw a lone figure with a creepy smile. ¡°Ehe~ good morning! Oh, wait! My bad! It¡¯s already noon! So good afternoon!¡± BOOM!! The ground shook heavily as a sound of an explosion erupted. Ray, Jovi, Souta, and the rest turned their heads. They felt the mana spike from the distance and judging from it, a strong and unknown group had arrived. ¡°What just happened?¡± Ray narrowed his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s pretty good.¡± Souta smiled as his eyes pierced through the walls and saw the scene where the explosion came from. Chapter 722: Chaos in Bland City Souta¡¯s eyes could see the people that were fighting. Although his vision was filled with mana, he could still see those people. ¡°Hahaha, a group of people is attacking this city. It seems that this will be the first job of Nine Heads.¡± He laughed lightly as he glanced at the people around the room. Ray looked deeply at him before he nodded. ¡°Seventh Head is right. I don¡¯t know what they are planning but to think that they would attack the Bland City out of all cities.¡± ¡°Is this related to the other City Lords?¡± The Second Head asked calmly. ¡°Perhaps.¡± The Third Head answered. ¡°We¡¯ll know it once we captured them.¡± Jovi, the Fifth Head, said with a light smile. ¡°Hihi, we should fight them together or you¡¯ll handle this alone, First Head?¡± The Ninth Head said with a laugh. ¡°To avoid further casualties, it¡¯s better if we work together. What¡¯s the point of forming the Dragon Council if we¡¯re not going to help each other? Since they dared to attack this place even though most of my subordinates are here, it means that they are prepared.¡± Ray said. The others nodded at his words. Hmm¡­? Everyone looked up as they felt a large concentration of mana descending toward the City Hall. ¡°Let me handle this one. You guys can go now.¡± The Eight Head said as his body bulked up instantly. His energy rose as he shot through the roof. BANG!! Ray and the rest looked at each other. They knew what they have to do. Swoosh! Their figures shot through the windows as they flew in different directions. The guards of Bland City were fighting the unknown people that suddenly launched an attack. Even though they had an advantage in numbers, they became passive in battle. Why? It¡¯s simple. They had to protect a large number of civilians. The attack was too sudden and hundreds of civilians already died in just a short amount of time. So the guards divided their forces. The first group was going to hold the attackers while the second group was going to help the civilians in evacuating. At this moment, Souta landed on the rooftop and observed the city. A total of two hundred and thirty-five experts were on the enemy¡¯s side. While Bland City had triple the number of forces but since they had to protect the civilians, they couldn¡¯t perform to the best of their abilities. ¡®Once the civilians are out. The soldiers of the Governor could easily annihilate this group of people.¡¯ He rubbed his chin and turned his head to the city walls. A lot of soldiers tightened their guards on the wall in case someone attacked. ¡®But two hundred twenty-five experts¡­ The soldiers on the walls didn¡¯t even notice them entering the city. How?¡¯ Souta shook his head and smiled, ¡°I¡¯ll just capture one of them and ask. Maybe, they knew about the Murder Society or the culprit behind the assassination.¡± Suddenly, he felt intense cold behind him. When he turned around, he saw a blueish energy rushing in his direction with thousands of ice particles. Swoosh! Amune and the chubby man glared at the figure standing in the hallway. The figure was an old man with a wrinkled face and he had a pair of antenna sticking out on his forehead. ¡°Who are you?!¡± Amune asked with all seriousness. His energy slowly seeped out of his body. The chubby man was also observing this old man. Both of them didn¡¯t even know where this person come from. ¡°My, my, my, the two of you are quite strong¡­ I wonder if you have a time to let this old man experience the thrill of fighting.¡± The old man had a creepy smile on his face as he took a step forward inside the room. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Amune asked cautiously. He secretly glanced at the chubby man and found that he was also looking at him. ¡°Let¡¯s try to kill each other! You win if you killed me!¡± The old man¡¯s face distorted as flesh burst out turning into sharp and flexible whips. Swoosh!! Amune and the chubby man widened their eyes. They jumped through the windows and launched an energy ray on the lowest level of the hotel. BOOM!! The first floor was swept out and the hotel started to fall to the building beside it. When it collided, cracks spread out as various debris crashed on the ground. ¡°What the hell is that?!¡± Amune stared at the scene as he landed on the ground with the chubby man several dozens of meters away from the hotel. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± The chubby man shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Oh my, you guys are too good.¡± A voice sounded as a figure came out of the smoke. Amune narrowed his eyes warily while the chubby man glanced at the figure before looking at Amune. ¡°I¡¯ll leave this one to you. My job here is done.¡± The chubby man said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you can leave the rest to me.¡± Amune nodded. ¡°Be careful, this one isn¡¯t ordinary.¡± The chubby man turned around and waved his hand. ¡°Trying to run from me!¡± The old man grinned before he charged forward. He zoomed the distance between them in an instant. He was about to swing his arm when Amune appeared in front of him and launched a series of lightning punches. Bang! Bang! ¡°Hey, I¡¯m your opponent,¡± Amune said as he gathered his energy in his feet and kicked the old man in the chest. His lightning kick landed heavily on the old man¡¯s chest. A shockwave spread out from the center of the impact. Ugh! The old man spat a mouthful of blood as he endured the kick, then he grasped his opponent¡¯s feet. His other hand turned into a huge sharp blade as he swing it down at his opponent. ¡°Who are you?!¡± Amune opened his eyes. He twisted his body and used the momentum to launch another kick using his foot. Bang!! Lightning erupted from his feet as it collided with the huge sharp blade. ¡°I am Franklin. Remember the name of the person who¡¯s going to kill you.¡± The old man had a huge smile on his face before he swing his hand once again. Bang!! Ray landed on the ground as he observed the enemies who were attacking his soldiers. The Dragon Council was formed. He knew that he couldn¡¯t bring all the City Lords to his side. Even if he explained that he wanted to protect the Mine Valley, there was no point as long as he couldn¡¯t give them huge profits. Some of them truly wanted to protect this land while others only move for profits. ¡®The City Lords. Where are they?¡¯ He moved through the land as he observed the things around him. He didn¡¯t show himself yet as there was a chance that a hidden enemy was just hiding nearby waiting for him to come out. Or maybe¡­ The target wasn¡¯t him from the beginning but instead, the aim of the attackers was those City Lords. But why? While he was in deep thought, he felt something above him. When he looked up, he saw a fireball with a radius of three meters. ¡°Shit!¡± The fireball crashed down like a meteorite. BOOM!! Two people were standing several dozen of meters away from the explosion. ¡°Did you get him?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t think this is enough to take down the famous Governor Ray.¡± ¡°Surely, he¡¯s a person with power but that attack power is enough to damage him to a certain degree.¡± The two people suddenly paused as a huge wave of energy erupted from the smoke and dust. They raised their hands and were about to attack once again¡­ Swoosh!! A white energy flashed from the smoke and in the next moment, a person was already beside him. ¡°Huh?!¡± The two people were frozen in shock. They were still looking at the smoke, not realizing that Ray was beside them. ¡°You¡¯re underestimating me too much. That level of attack wouldn¡¯t harm me at all.¡± Ray said before he swung down his fist. [Golden Giant Fist]!! A golden bright light flashed and a golden giant fist crashed down on the bodies of the two people. BANG!! They didn¡¯t even realize that they were buried beneath the ground. The force of the fist spread out like a ring sweeping everything in its path. Dozens of houses were demolished instantly. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that they are already waiting for me¡­ Then, what about the other City Lords?¡± Ray gazed at two bodies on the ground. Then, he turned around with a sigh. He had some guesses about the goal of the attackers but why do this in his city? All the City Lords were here so the power of Mine Valley was concentrated in Bland City at this moment. ¡°These two are dead¡­ I should have lessened my strength.¡± He shook his head. He forgot to hold his strength and accidentally killed these two people. He thought that they were strong since they could launch a powerful fireball but it seems that he overestimated them. Their defenses were too fragile that they broke instantly under his power. Chapter 723: Capture Souta¡¯s figure flashed and he instantly appeared on the ground, avoiding the vicious cold winds that hurled at him. He glanced at the person that attack him with a puzzled look. Isn¡¯t this man one of the City Lords? Why attack him? ¡°You¡¯re better than I imagined. You actually avoided my surprise attack. You have top-notch reflexes.¡± A short man with sharp eyes and fur on his arms said with bloodlust flowing from his eyes. ¡°Oh, that?¡± Souta scratched his cheeks feeling the bloodlust coming from this guy. If he wasn¡¯t wrong, this guy was called Voser. ¡°Tell what other things the Governor told you after I left!¡± Voser said as he stood in his position while letting out the intense energy from his body. ¡°Nothing much. It¡¯s pretty much the same as what you heard. The Dragon Council is trying to help each other in strengthening the Mine Valley to resist the people outside the land.¡± Souta opened his arms widely. ¡°No way that¡¯s true! Then, why did you agree with his condition?! There is no benefit at all!¡± Voser didn¡¯t believe Souta¡¯s words. ¡°It¡¯s because it is quite interesting don¡¯t you think?¡± Souta grinned. ¡°Governor Ray didn¡¯t force any of you. You can decline or join on your will. Those who wanted to protect the Mine Valley have bonded together. If he proposed benefits quickly, then I¡¯m sure that some of the City Lords will join. But that¡¯s no good. Governor Ray only wanted people that have the same goal as him.¡± ¡°And that goal is to protect the Mine Valley?¡± Voser¡¯s frown grew deeper. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Souta clapped. ¡°You! That¡¯s ridiculous!¡± Voser roared as he launched himself forward. In just an instant, he arrived in front of Souta and threw a punch in his stomach. Bang! Souta¡¯s body bent backward as he flew away like a cannonball. His opponent chased after him and kicked him below. The cold energy seeped out as if it was trying to turn his entire body into ice. ¡°You know why he didn¡¯t force you? I¡¯m sure you understand right? It is hard to work together with people that have different goals. Especially, if he didn¡¯t know your personality or attitude. He would be wary all the time.¡± Souta said before he received a punch in the chest. His figure turned into a stream of light and crashed on the ground causing the earth to shake. ¡°Profits? It¡¯s already there from the beginning. If the Dragon Council took over the entire Mine Valley, all of its resources will be divided by us. We would also be able to exchange supplies such as grains, ores, and other little things easily since we are allies. As for you, what if the outsider offers you a larger profit? Then, you would betray us.¡± Beams of blueish energy hurled down causing a series of explosions. All the things within a radius of two hundred meters were frozen. But Souta didn¡¯t stop talking at all. ¡°The contract is too loose. Governor Ray only used it as assurance but people from Dragon Council could still indirectly harm the Mine Valley since there¡¯s a loophole. But I don¡¯t understand why he wanted cooperation. If it is me, I¡¯m going to force every single one of you to do my bidding. I will utterly lock you down without anyone of you noticing it.¡± At this time, Souta received hundreds of attacks from Voser. He was lying in the middle of a ten-meter-deep crater with his hand inside his pockets. Suddenly, he stopped and turned his head to the side. It was clear that he didn¡¯t put Voser in his eyes. ¡°Oh? It seems that I need to finish this too.¡± With his [Crimson Perception] and [Galaxy Eyes], he instantly knew what was happening in the other part of the battlefield. The enemy¡¯s forces were getting eliminated one by one. The soldiers of Bland City had finished evacuating the citizens and the elite soldiers had arrived. They swiftly killed the attackers. Although the enemy¡¯s side had Solidifying Realm experts, the elite soldiers killed them with little effort. Even at the same level, the elite soldiers had great timing, skills, reflexes, equipment, and experience. All of these were going to decide the battle if both experts were on the same level. That¡¯s what he wanted to see. The capabilities of the Dragon Council. Even though it was just Governor Ray¡¯s elite soldiers, it was worth the wait. His perception could see a person¡¯s power level but he couldn¡¯t see through their timing, skills, reflexes, and experience just by looking at them. He could feel it but it was different than seeing it. It was more accurate if he judged them in a battle. ¡°Hu~ Your massage felt good. I didn¡¯t expect that you had great massage skills. I almost wanted to hire you.¡± Souta stood up and patted his clothes. ¡°You! What are you?! How?!¡± Voser looked at him in horror. He did everything he could but he didn¡¯t even injure this person. He subconsciously stepped back. Right now, the atmosphere around Souta was different than before. It¡¯s giving him an eerie vibe. ¡°If I want it. I could finish this faster but I wanted to see Governor Ray if he is worth my cooperation. Now, I¡¯m sure that he could help me.¡± Souta fixed his clothes as he stared at Voser. ¡°I did everything!! Why aren¡¯t you down?¡± Voser was scared when he saw the smile on Souta¡¯s face. ¡°Oh, that?¡± Souta raised his eyebrows and looked at his right hand. ¡°Here, you scratch me in this place. ¡± He covered it with his left hand. When he removed his left hand, the scratch on his right hand was gone. ¡°Now, it¡¯s gone.¡± Voser started sweating as he felt a chin run down on his spine. The more looked at Souta, the more he felt terrified. He couldn¡¯t describe it but this guy was dangerous. ¡°Oh, your senses are quite good. Trust it. Sometimes your senses will save you from dangers.¡± Souta pointed his finger at Voser. ¡°But not this time.¡± Voser wanted to turn around but his body didn¡¯t move. He felt that once he turned his back on this guy, he would instantly die. ¡°Argh!!¡± He could only watch as webs came out of Souta¡¯s finger and enveloped his body. He tried to resist with all of his strength but he felt the gravity around him tighten and black tentacles rose beneath his feet. Then, black mist seeped out as the webs tried to envelop him. ¡°Fuck!! You fucking!!¡± He roared as the gravity tightened once again. It was as if it was trying to crush his entire body into meat paste. Before his vision turned black, he heard Souta¡¯s voice once more. ¡°I will not kill you. You still have some uses. Tell me the reason why you attack this place.¡± Souta patted his hands. He paused and looked to the side, only to find three people looking at him in horror. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s more! Too bad, I got one here so I don¡¯t need you guys.¡± He grinned and swung his hand. Hundreds of web strings flew out from his fingers. It crossed the distance in the blink of an eye before it tore the three people into countless tiny pieces. BAM!! Blood and meat scattered across the land, and it quickly emitted a thick nasty stench. He didn¡¯t need a Solidifying Realm with him. He had a One Shackle Realm here so this guy knows something more than the other fodder. ¡°My work here is done.¡± Souta muttered as he turned his head in the direction where the elite soldiers were fighting. ¡°How is it? Where is Franklin?¡± He asked. Amanda appeared as she glanced at the dead bodies before she answered, ¡°Franklin is still fighting out there. He¡¯s fighting a City Lord and from my guess, that one knew something about this event.¡± ¡°What about the rest of the City Lords?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any idea about their current situation. It feels like they just vanished in this city. I tried to find them but there was no use.¡± Amanda replied. ¡°They are gone?!¡± Souta was flabbergasted. It seems that they weren¡¯t on the same side as this Voser. Some of the City Lords vanished and some of them attacked this city. ¡°Then, this guy¡­¡± He pointed at Voser who was covered in webs. ¡°Yes, he probably knew where those City Lords went. But not everyone vanished, some of them are still in this city leisurely observing the situation.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Hah¡­¡± Souta pinched the bridge of his nose. Three sides. The City Lords who were watching probably had no idea about the real situation behind this incident. ¡°Bring this guy. We¡¯ll interrogate him later.¡± Souta pointed at Voser. ¡°I understand.¡± Amanda nodded. Souta looked in the direction where he felt the familiar mana fluctuations. He slowly opened his mouth and said, ¡°Franklin, finish this and bring him here.¡± His voice traveled through the air and it caused Franklin to stop for a moment. Hmm? Franklin looked up before he stared at Amune. ¡°I wanted to enjoy this fight longer before I kill you but it seems that my boss wanted you alive.¡± ¡°Boss? Who are you?!¡± Amune narrowed his eyes. This guy was already strong and to think that there was a man backing this ridiculous guy. He was curious and wary at the same time. ¡°Ehe~ you will know it once I¡¯ve captured you.¡± Franklin flashed an evil smile before he dashed forward. Chapter 724: Franklin vs Amune ¡°You¡¯re strong but you lack understanding of energy!¡± Franklin said before his body inflated turning into a vicious-looking pile of flesh. With parasite transformation, he didn¡¯t look like a demi at all. If he told someone that he was a monster they would likely believe him. Just looking at his appearance, it was no different from other monsters. ¡°What the fuck is that?!¡± Amune was horrified. He didn¡¯t know what was with his opponent. Franklin charged forward and swung the huge blades in his hand. Amune gritted his teeth as he crossed his arms. The blades slammed heavily on his arms and the terrifying force within made his body tremble. The floor beneath his feet cracked as dust shot up in the air. Franklin¡¯s strength had grown stronger once again. In terms of physical state, Amune realized that this guy was higher than him. BAM!! ¡°You¡¯re strong! But you are also weaker than any Shackled Realm in Astros!¡± Franklin raised his feet and delivered his leg on Amune¡¯s side, sending him in the air. Amune sprung in the mid-air and his body turned into a stream of light flying at Franklin with unbelievable speed. Franklin faced him with a huge smile on his face. BOOM!! The collision produced a powerful shockwave that destroyed the houses around them. The world got stronger, things got tougher, and the expert had their strength restricted due to the dense mana in the atmosphere. But they could still produce devastating powers. Both of them collided hundreds of times in just a second. It devastated everything within a radius of five hundred meters. If the soldiers didn¡¯t help evacuate the civilians, a lot of people would die from their collision. While they were fighting, Third Head arrived near the battlefield with Ninth Head. They just finished their job and went here because of the intense mana fluctuations in the atmosphere. ¡°Hey, hey, hey, who¡¯s that old man?¡± Ninth Head exclaimed while watching the battle. She turned her small body to the person beside her. ¡°I don¡¯t know. He¡¯s trashing that Amune.¡± Third Head said with a yawn. She used her soft, white, and dainty hand to cover her mouth. ¡°Tch! Amune! That bastard didn¡¯t expect that he would meet his match today!¡± Ninth Head clicked her tongue as she placed both of her hands on her hips before she laughed. ¡°Hahaha! You deserve it!¡± But who is that old man? Should they help the old man or help Amune? At this moment, they didn¡¯t know who was on their side. Maybe, none of them were on the side of the Dragon Council. ¡°Yawn¡­ I¡¯ll just sit here for a while. Call me if you need me.¡± Third Head sat on the corner and hugged her knees. She gave the battle one more glance before she closed her eyes. ¡°Okay,¡± Ninth Head nodded before she focused her attention on the battle. ¡°Ow! Man!! Amune is weaker than I imagined! Ah, his elemental mastery is too low!¡± ¡°Geez, if the mana density didn¡¯t increase they would¡¯ve destroyed this city! I should contain the shockwaves!¡± Ninth Head stepped forward and pressed both of her hands together. A small green energy sphere formed and it emitted a gentle light. A magic circle formed beneath her feet as a tremendous amount of mana gushed out of her small body. [Curtain of the Peaceful Forest]! She hurled the energy sphere into the sky and it exploded causing green liquid to fall down like rain. The liquid continued to flow and each drop was blocking shockwave after shockwave. It formed a clear green curtain that covered the entire area. ¡°It¡¯s my first time using this after the mana density increase but¡­ the range of my spell is inferior than last time.¡± Looking at her spell, Ninth Head sighed. The power of One Shackle Realm had decreased tremendously. She could cover the entire city before but now the range only spans several hundred meters. If it was in the high world, she would be able to envelop an entire country. In the mid world, it would span several countries and if it was lower world it would cover an entire continent. Her strongest attack would even be able to crush huge cities. ¡°Shit! That old man looked like a monster! What¡¯s wrong with those wriggling flesh?! Ew! So ugly!¡± BOOM!! Franklin laughed madly. He swung the huge blades in his hand but his opponent avoided it. Then, he opened his palm and a ball of energy formed. He threw it and Amune roared before punching the energy ball. The explosion occurred but it didn¡¯t bother him at all. He rushed toward Franklin while raising both of his hands above his head. Intense flames burst out causing the temperature to rose sharply. ¡°Ah!¡± Franklin once again swung the huge blades heavily. The blades flashed a bright light and they collided with the flames. BOOM!! Amune¡¯s figure was blown away. He rolled in mid-air before crashing to the ground. His body was full of wounds and he realized that he was weaker than his opponent. His equipment was just purple grade and his combat arts were lower too. It couldn¡¯t compare to Franklin who had orange-grade equipment and high level combat arts from Athen¡¯s Champion. He stood up with great effort. He knew that he had to escape somehow but there was a problem with the surrounding. He felt the aura of two other One Shackle Realm experts. One of them didn¡¯t even bother to hide it before casting a spell to contain the shockwaves of the battle. ¡°Shit!! With those two, it¡¯s harder to escape!¡± Amune cursed. He looked around to find an escape when the smoke was cut into two. Then, a huge blade of energy flew at him with unbelievable speed. [Unbind Slash]!! Goosebumps spread on his body as he felt danger coming from the slash. He tried to escape but one of his legs was sliced apart. ¡°ARGH!!¡± Amune screamed as a huge amount of blood gushed out from his leg. His palm turned bright red and heat waves came out of it. He reached out and grabbed his leg, using the heat to stop the blood loss. Thud! Franklin landed in front of him causing his heart to skip a beat. He was terrified and he didn¡¯t even dare to move. Franklin stared at Amune with a puzzled look. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you know Element Drive? You lose your legs because you didn¡¯t use it.¡± ¡°Huh? E-Element Drive¡­? Do you think anyone could use it?¡± Amune didn¡¯t expect such question so he answered subconsciously. ¡°Oh¡­!¡± Franklin raised his eyebrows, staring intently at Amune. He forgot that not everyone could easily master [Element Drive]. He had been used to seeing it so he thought that everyone have learned it. Back in Athen¡¯s Champion, even those Solidifying Realm warriors have learned [Element Drive]. So all the Shackled Realm warriors could use this technique, and the Astros were the same. Yet, this One Shackle Realm didn¡¯t even know how to utilize elemental power. ¡°I haven¡¯t even used mine so I thought you had one. You are weaker than I expected. Maybe, the other man is stronger than you. I shouldn¡¯t have let that man leave.¡± Franklin said before raising his hand. Amune¡¯s mind buzzed when he heard Franklin¡¯s words. This guy¡­ could use [Element Drive]? There¡¯s no way he could escape after learning this. ¡°Haha! I lose¡­¡± A dry laugh escaped from his mouth as he stared at those gigantic blades. The last thing he saw before his vision turned black was Franklin swinging those savage blades. Franklin¡¯s body turned back to normal. He sighed and stretched his body. ¡°That was a good fight! Luckily, I didn¡¯t use [Element Drive] quickly or the battle would end. But it still isn¡¯t enough for me. I want to use all of my powers!¡± He turned his head and looked at the two people in a distance. He didn¡¯t see these two cane out of the meeting room so they weren¡¯t probably enemies. Franklin shook his head and glanced at the unconscious Amune. He didn¡¯t kill Amune since this guy probably knew something about this incident. He also wanted to ask about the man who left before and what was their relationship. ¡°I¡¯ll bring you to meet the leader.¡± He stretched his hand and grabbed Amune¡¯s head. He started to walk in the direction where he could feel Souta¡¯s energy. Suddenly, he recalled something. The green curtain was still active so he wouldn¡¯t be able to leave this place until he shattered it or the caster deactivated the spell. ¡°I need to go now. Can you dispel your spell?¡± He said before he continued to walk. Ninth Head stared at Franklin from a distance. Her mouth turned into an ¡°O¡± shape as she gaped at him dragging Amune¡¯s body. ¡°Whoa! He¡¯s really an old man! And what the hell is that flesh before?! Is that a type of combat art or spells?¡± She turned her head to Third Head and asked, ¡°Hey, what should we do? Should we follow the old man or hold him here?¡± Chapter 725: Hes my subordinate ¡°Oh, it¡¯s already finished?¡± Third Head opened her eyes. She looked around and found Franklin dragging Amune. She couldn¡¯t help but mutter, ¡°That¡¯s it! Amune is a weakling. The elemental properties in the atmosphere are too low. It means that he didn¡¯t use [Element Drive] or maybe he hasn¡¯t learned it at all.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s follow the old man.¡± Ninth Head said before she walked. Third Head sighed before she stood up and patted the dust on her clothes. Then, she followed Ninth Head. She couldn¡¯t help but turn her head as she tried to sense any mana fluctuations in the atmosphere. The fluctuations were few so it means that most of the battles were finished. It¡¯s only a matter of time before First Head subdued all the attackers. ¡­ Souta placed his hand in his pocket and took out a bottle with blue liquid. It was a mana potion. He removed the cap and poured down the liquid into his palm. A mouth formed on his palm and the liquid simply flow through it. He was recovering the mana inside the parasite. The spells before consumed a quarter of mana that he had. Although it looks easy, he still had to use a large amount of mana in binding Voser who was a One Shackle Realm. He never intended to use his best feram as he didn¡¯t want anyone to discover his identity. Also, he was forcefully emitting the mana of his parasite as a cover for his best feram. It was a great way but those sensory type One Shackle Realm would be able to feel the best feram even though he was emitting mana. In the meeting before, Edward Shimpan, a Solidifying Realm expert, discovered his identity by feeling the natural protective field. It was natural since Souta wasn¡¯t using mana to confuse his senses back then. ¡°Souta, Franklin is here.¡± Amanda¡¯s voice sounded. Souta turned his head and saw Franklin. Then, he noticed the person in Franklin¡¯s hand. Amanda was right. This guy was one of the City Lords. Hmm? He moved his eyes and saw two people far behind Franklin. They were both woman and members of the Dragon Council. ¡®I forgot about them. They didn¡¯t know that Franklin is my subordinate.¡¯ He said inwardly. Ninth Head and Third Head looked at each other with surprise in their eyes. They didn¡¯t expect the old man was connected to Souta, who was the Seventh Head of the Dragon Council. They flew ahead and landed beside the group. ¡°Owa, I¡¯m surprised Seventh Head. I didn¡¯t know that you were acquainted with this fierce old man.¡± Ninth Head said while glancing at Franklin. Third Head was also glancing at Franklin from time to time. She didn¡¯t forget to examine Amanda who was standing beside Souta. ¡°He¡¯s my subordinate Franklin.¡± Souta smiled wryly. ¡°Ehhh?! Seriously?!¡± Ninth Head exclaimed. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s the one who came with me here in this city.¡± Souta explained. ¡°Ow, for real? I didn¡¯t expect it¡­¡± Ninth Head¡¯s mouth turned into an ¡°O¡± shape. ¡°Anyway, the battle is almost done. We¡¯ve captured these two people so let¡¯s go back and interrogate them.¡± Souta clapped and quickly changed the topic. He was afraid that Ninth Head would still talk about Franklin. But he found that Third Head was staring at him intently. ¡°What is it?¡± Souta asked carefully. ¡°Nothing.¡± Third Head shook her head. The group went towards the City Hall. They stayed there and waited for the remaining members of the Dragon Council. Half an hour had passed, and the elite soldiers had finished clearing the battle. Governor Ray left everything to his trusted aides before he flew towards the City Hall. When he arrived, all the Heads were there and he was the only one missing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, It took so long.¡± Ray apologized before he sat down in his seat. ¡°No worries, First Head. We know that you had to order your men to take precautions.¡± Ninth Head said. ¡°Okay.¡± Ray forced a smile on his face. He swept his eyes across the room and asked, ¡°How is it? Did you find anything? I¡¯ve captured some of the attackers and my men are interrogating them right now.¡± ¡°Three City Lords had attacked us. I don¡¯t know where they got their confidence but something feels off about this.¡± Jovi said. ¡°Three?¡± Ray narrowed his eyes. ¡°Yeah, Seventh Head captured Voser and his subordinate captured Amune. While Second Head caught Fryzz.¡± Ninth Head flashed a crafty smile and added, ¡°Since they attacked then no one would complain if we attack them, right? Their cities didn¡¯t have City Lords so their defenses must be weak. We could conquer it in just one or two weeks.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. They had a lot of resources too. We could divide it for ourselves.¡± Jovi glanced at her. ¡°Wait?¡± Ray raised his hand and asked, ¡°You said that Seventh Head¡¯s subordinate caught Amune? Is that true?¡± ¡°Yeah, that old man is strong. He trashed Amune around and it felt funny. If you don¡¯t believe me you can ask Third Head. Both of us watched the battle.¡± Ninth Head giggled. Ray and the rest of the Heads turned their eyes to Third Head. They wanted to know if Ninth Head was saying the truth. Third Head felt helpless when she saw the gazes directed at her. She could only nod her head in confirmation. When they saw Third Head¡¯s confirmation, they couldn¡¯t help the feeling of shock in their hearts. Gasp! Does this mean that Seventh Head had a subordinate at City Lord¡¯s level? It seems that they underestimated Seventh Head. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me that you had a powerful subordinate?¡± Jovi nudged him on the side. ¡°No one ask me before.¡± Souta smiled wryly. He could feel the gazes of people on his body. It was uncomfortable since he didn¡¯t want them to look at him in case they discover that he was a monster. It wasn¡¯t the time to reveal his monster identity. Even though they were considered allies now, everyone was still hiding their aces. Ray could only sigh and said, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go now. We¡¯ll check the prisoners to see if my men got some information.¡± He knew that these people were curious about Souta. Jovi and the rest were the City Lords for quite some time now so they heard each other and they also gathered intel. But Souta was different, he only took the position two months ago so their intel about him was insufficient. Souta breathed a sigh of relief. He leaned on his chair and said, ¡°I¡¯ll stay here. You guys can go over.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Third Head said with a yawn. ¡°Alright.¡± Ray and the rest nodded their heads before they left. Within Souta¡¯a calculation, they would return half an hour later. He glanced at Third Head only to find her resting her head on the table with her eyes closed. ¡°Is she always like this?¡± He said in a low voice that only he could hear. ¡°Nevermind.¡± Souta shook his head and placed both of his hands on the table. He opened his left palm and constructed a tier 1 magic circle. Since he had a little bit of time, he should make it worthwhile. ¡®My speed in spell casting had improved. It turned out better than before.¡¯ In building this magic circle, he didn¡¯t rely on his system. He builds it with his own knowledge. He had been trying to learn spellcasting without relying on system for a while so this was a huge achievement for him. Although it couldn¡¯t directly increase his strength, it still made him a little bit excited. ¡®One of the most important processes is the flow of energy.¡¯ Souta carefully injected the mana inside his parasite into the magic circle on his palm. Sizzle! A fist-size fireball formed instantly. While maintaining the fireball, he glanced at his right palm and tried to construct another tier 1 spell. Crack! The magic circle cracked and the mana goes wild. It fluctuates but Souta hurriedly closed his palm eliminating the magic circle. ¡®Hu~ that¡¯s close¡­ It almost explodes. Nevertheless, it¡¯s only a tier 1 so it will not harm me. I can¡¯t cast two tier 1 spells manually.¡¯ Souta opened his left hand again and the magic circle quickly formed above his palm. He was getting used to this and his mind was clear even when constructing a magic circle. ¡®I have the basic foundation. But I still haven¡¯t mastered multicast. After I mastered it, Eilish said that she will teach me advanced lessons about tier 2 spells.¡¯ He poured a little bit of mana and a fireball formed once again. Using his other hand, he touched the fireball. ¡®Probably three hundred degree celsius¡­ It¡¯s quite good but this level of heat wouldn¡¯t even harm me even when I just advanced to the third stage. I even swam through a pool of magma in a sub-world.¡¯ The dangerous thing about spells was the energy they contained. As long as it¡¯s within the limit of tier 1 magic circle, he could inject enough energy to level an entire area. Chapter 726: Death ¡®Using elemental power I can also create a fireball.¡¯ Souta opened his right palm and a fireball instantly appeared. It was easy to use elemental power but he didn¡¯t use it in battle since it¡¯s the fuel of [Element Drive]. He examined the two fireballs in both of his palms. The first one was created using a spell and the second one was created by other means. He injected the same amount of mana and noticed that the fireball that manifested from the spell was stronger. The only downside was that it wasn¡¯t flexible. It was always in a form of a ball of fire. It was related to the magic circle. As for the other one, Souta turned his eyes and controlled it. The fireball slowly turned into various shapes. It was flexible but it lacks power. He dispelled the spell and touch the fireball in his right hand. Injected more mana and the heat coming from it grew stronger. Sizzle! ¡®Five hundred degrees celsius¡­¡¯ Souta raised his eyebrows before he poured his mana once again. This time, the temperature stayed at five hundred degrees celsius but his pair of eyes could see that it was much more powerful than before. He tried to pour more mana but the temperature didn¡¯t increase anymore. It only grew brighter in his vision as he could see the mana inside it with [Galaxy Eyes]. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­¡¯ He created a thin and weak web and placed it on the fireball. The web lasted twenty seconds before it turned into ashes. Then, he retrieved his mana and the fireball grew dimmer but it still maintained the temperature of five hundred degree celsius. He placed the same level of web inside this fireball. The outcome was different than last time, this time the web lasted two minutes before it turned into ashes. ¡®The difference is huge¡­¡¯ Souta wanted to use his best feram but the other people would discover it. So he refrained himself from doing it. ¡®The difference between a spell and this¡­¡¯ He cast a fireball spell once again. Looking at the two fireballs, he closed both of his palms. The magic circle disappeared and the fireball instantly vanished in the air. But the other fireball took thirty seconds before it vanished into thin air. ¡®As I thought it¡¯s within the structure of the spell. It seems I need to understand the meaning of each structure. That way I can probably create my own spell.¡¯ The fireball spell disappeared instantly. But there were other spells that the effect wouldn¡¯t vanish even after the magic circle disappeared. He concluded that the magicians created those spells that way. He used the fireball spell once again. He set another thin and weak web on fire before dispelling the spell. The fireball vanished but the fire on the web remained. ¡®I see¡­ So that¡¯s how is it.¡¯ ¡®I still have a long way to go. But I can see it¡­ Finally.¡¯ Souta¡¯s mouth curved upward. He hurriedly retrieved a bottle of mana potion in his pocket when he noticed that Third Head had her eyes open. She was staring at him with a puzzled look. ¡°I¡¯m just playing.¡± Before she could say something, Souta already said these words. He ignored her and drank the potion in his hand. He leaned and closed his eyes. Both fireball that he manifested has limitations. One was the limitation of the magic circle and the other was the elemental affinity. Now that both of his [Element Drive] was at the first level. He could simply manifest other elements using his energy albeit weaker than his affinity. ¡®Sigh¡­ Study, I need to study more to understand it better. My current knowledge is limited. I only know game matters, not the actual spellcasting.¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t rush it. Take it step by step.¡¯ Saya suddenly said. ¡®Fine.¡¯ Souta nodded. He knew well that he couldn¡¯t rush everything. He was glad that his power level was growing stronger thanks to the system so he could only focus his remaining attention on spells, combat arts, traits, and Archetype. If he had to include it then it would take him a lot of time. Souta and Third Head waited for a while before the rest came back. Ray, Jovi, and the others sat in their seats calmly. However, the atmosphere was quite strange. None of them initiated a conversation. They were just in deep thought. At this moment, Souta stared at Ray. He knew that this guy was strong, far stronger than any of the people. This was also the reason why he joined the Dragon Council. He was curious about this guy. ¡°What happened?¡± He asked. Ray lifted his head and slowly said, ¡°They died.¡± ¡°They died?!¡± Souta was dumbfounded. He couldn¡¯t believe that the people they captured died just like that. ¡°Someone killed them.¡± Ray nodded and explained further. ¡°It turns out that someone killed them. The killer is my subordinate.¡± ¡°Your subordinate¡­? How?¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. ¡°Yeah, my subordinate killed them. A lethal poison was injected into the body of the prisoners.¡± Ray slowly explained. His subordinate poisoned the prisoners. When the evidence was found, he told Ray and the others that he had no idea about what happening. It seems that there¡¯s a gap in his memory. It means that someone controlled his body without him knowing. ¡°Charm. I think someone used charm on my subordinate.¡± Ray added. ¡°Charm¡­¡± Souta rubbed his chin. He was familiar with this ability. It was an ability that could influence a person¡¯s mind. Even Meina, the host of the Tournament of Astros, had charm ability but her power level was low so she couldn¡¯t affect Souta and the rest. Souta sighed and said, ¡°Everyone here should know about the assassination of First Head¡¯s envoy near my city, right?¡± Ray and the rest nodded their head. They knew this information but no one delved into this topic. ¡°Yeah, what about it?¡± ¡°I think that we should find the culprit first. I think the incident today is connected to the assassination.¡± Souta paused for a moment before he added, ¡°Maybe, they wanted to create a dispute between me and the First Head so they assassinated the envoy. I¡¯m a new City Lord so I don¡¯t know much about the Mine Valley, plus there¡¯s a rumor that the First Head wanted to annex the entire Mine Valley. It¡¯s possible that they assassinated the envoy to give the First Head an excuse to attack my city.¡± Souta was the primary suspect in the assassination. But Governor Ray didn¡¯t pursue this matter and in the end, the two worked together. So their plan had failed and this time they attacked Bland City using the three City Lords namely Amune, Voser, and the one that Ray captured. Then, it leads to the death of the three City Lords. Even if they explained that Dragon Council wasn¡¯t the one that killed the three, other people would less likely to believe it. A dispute had already begun so it¡¯s killed or be killed. The loser had died and Dragon Council became victorious. ¡°Wait.¡± Second Head raised his hand. He glanced at them and said, ¡°I think the people behind wanted the three to lose their lives here.¡± ¡°Why do you think so?¡± Ninth Head asked curiously. ¡°Think about it. The three had died here and remember that we are already talking about conquering the cities under Amune and the rest, right? The reason behind the attack wasn¡¯t known to everyone. The other City Lords would be on guard and they wouldn¡¯t let those cities fall under our hands.¡± Second Head said. This time, Third Head opened her eyes and added, ¡°A battle for those three cities will occur soon. The resources it possessed are huge. Everyone wanted to take a bite from it.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Since Dragon Council became the killer. Those cities that didn¡¯t belong to us would be wary. There¡¯s a chance that they would form an alliance just like us to counter us.¡± Souta leaned on the chair and stared at the ceiling. He stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to check their body first. Also, did any of you discover the mana fluctuations within the killer.¡± He was talking about Ray¡¯s subordinate who killed Amune, Voser, and the other one. ¡°No, the mana has already dissipated into thin air. Even if there¡¯s still lingering mana left, it¡¯s hard to recognize it due to mana density.¡± Ray shook his head. Souta nodded but he still chose to leave the room. He was different from them. As long as there was a lingering mana, his eyes could see it and he would be able to distinguish its signature from the energy in the atmosphere. He just hoped that it haven¡¯t disappeared yet. Souta didn¡¯t care about the problem of war. He knew that Ray was powerful so he could leave all those people to him while he was going to find the people behind this incident. The other cities wouldn¡¯t be able to bother him thanks to the Dragon Council. Chapter 727: Plan Souta was standing in front of a cell staring at the dried-up bodies inside it. Each body lose the luster of their skins and it looked like they didn¡¯t have blood anymore. They were dried and a purple liquid was dripping out of their eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. These were the corpses of the three City Lords that they captured. The poison that was used was a higher grade than what Yenxa could create. Even though the three City Lords were heavily injured, a normal poison wouldn¡¯t work on them. A poison that could kill Solidifying Realm would only make them a little dizzy. ¡®Is there someone with a poison ability among the enemy? The probability is high.¡¯ Souta turned around and went to the other cell. The elite soldier who was manipulated to poison the City Lords was imprisoned here. Even though he was manipulated, he still couldn¡¯t escape the punishment. Well, it was only light punishment and it wouldn¡¯t harm him. His eyes emitted a dim light and it slowly changed its form. It looks like it transformed into countless bright stars. ¡®It¡¯s still here. Yeah, one hour hasn¡¯t even passed yet since he was charmed so the lingering energy is still here.¡¯ He could see a very thin line of energy attached to the soldier¡¯s body. It was too thin that it made experts hard to distinguish it from the mana in the atmosphere. From its look, the energy would completely dissipate within the next hour. Souta stepped forward, close to the railing, and stretched out a hand. He memorized the energy signature within it before it completely disappeared. The energy signature was fragmented. But he still managed to memorize part of it and it was enough for him. This was a clue that would lead him to the culprit. Souta sighed and a smile formed on his face. In the game, players didn¡¯t even know how to recognize energy signatures. Of course, they couldn¡¯t even feel the mana density so this experience was novel to him. Souta hasn¡¯t experienced this in the game. In the end, Battle World Online was just a game and this was a reality. It was similar but there¡¯s a difference between the two. The phenomenon didn¡¯t occur in the game yet it happened here. The breaking of rules and increase in mana density was new to him. Also, it seems that the Shackled Realm experts here were stronger than in the game. After fighting dozens of Shackled Realm, Souta concluded that this was the case. Even Saya couldn¡¯t talk in the game. Yet in reality, the sword had consciousness. She brought huge benefits to him and the Archetype wasn¡¯t in the game. They had difference but it was still connected. ¡°Souta, I¡¯m here to report.¡± Amanda walked beside him. ¡°How is it?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Franklin, couldn¡¯t find the culprit. We found the culprit¡¯s trail but it disappeared outside the city.¡± Amanda reported. She then lowered her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s due to our negligence that the enemy managed to manipulate the soldier.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. The enemy this time is a bit tricky.¡± Souta waved his hand. It¡¯s not a huge loss, at the very least they gained an idea about the enemy¡¯s ability. The enemy was a bit cautious and bold. He didn¡¯t expect the charm ability and he was in the meeting room. The energy fluctuation from the ability must be small that his senses neglected it. After some time, Souta returned to the meeting room. Ray and the rest were still planning the next move of the Dragon Council. They had to thoroughly plan how to conquer the three cities left behind by the three City Lords. When he entered the room, they looked paused and looked at him. ¡°How is it, Seventh Head?¡± Ninth Head asked with a smile. Looking at her bright smile, Souta almost mistook her for a child but he knew that her stature was small because of her being a dwarf. If he didn¡¯t see her muscle, he would believe it if someone told him that she was a thirteen-year-old child. ¡°It¡¯s pretty good.¡± Souta smiled as he strode forward and ruffled her hair. Ninth Head slapped his hand and glared at him. ¡°Grrrr, Seventh Head, today, you¡¯re my arch-enemy!¡± ¡°Hahaha, okay, okay,¡± Souta laughed as he sat down in his seat. ¡°Don¡¯t treat me like a child! I¡¯m the overlord of Deer Mane City, a twenty-nine-year-old beauty!¡± Ninth Head gritted her teeth while emitting a fierce aura. Souta ignored her. He stared at Ray and said, ¡°I want to investigate the culprit.¡± Ray and the rest turned serious. Even Ninth Head who was to skin him turned quiet, waiting for him to finish his words. ¡°I¡¯ll leave occupying the three cities to you. As for me, I¡¯m going to focus my forces on identifying the enemy. Just don¡¯t forget to give my share once you occupied the three cities.¡± Souta said. Ray nodded at his words. ¡°We could do that. We¡¯ll gather the attention of everyone in the Mine Valley so that you could freely move behind the scene. But you have an idea about the culprit, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I have some inkling about it. Murder Society.¡± Souta said in a low voice. Everyone turned silent when he heard his words. Their eyes constricted as if they heard an unbelievable news. ¡°It seems that everyone here knows about the Murder Society.¡± Souta laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t investigate them. Murder Society is just a primary suspect so I will investigate them with fewer people. If a lot of people suddenly tried to find the Murder Society, I¡¯m sure that we will gather their attention. What if they aren¡¯t the culprit? Then, everything will be in vain and we¡¯ll gain another enemy. So it¡¯s better if we minimize the investigation to a small group of people.¡± ¡°I understand Seventh Head¡¯s reasoning. Murder Society is a huge organization active in the central. We didn¡¯t want to make an enemy out of them.¡± Jovi said. ¡°I¡¯ll help you.¡± Ray, Souta, Jovi, and the rest turned their head and looked at Third Head in surprise. ¡°There are Nine Heads. Leaving the risky investigation to Seventh Head alone will be too much. So two Heads will investigate this matter while the rest will focus on the three cities.¡± Third Head explained. After saying what she wants, she closed her eyes and rested her head on the table. ¡°Third Head has a point. I¡¯ll approve of this. Shall we cast a vote right now?¡± Eight Head glanced at everyone. The voting occurred and everyone approved of letting Souta and Third Head investigate the enemy behind the scene. The meeting continued and everyone voiced out their opinion regarding the three cities. Souta and Third Head¡¯s city would be quiet this time and the forces of the other Heads would focus on gathering the attention. If the enemy wanted the entire Mine Valley to fight each other. Then, the Dragon Council would simply follow the arrangement to conquer those cities. It was to make the enemy think that everything was going according to their plan. Well, even if Dragon Council wasn¡¯t aware of the enemy behind the scene, they would still try to occupy those cities due to the resources it possessed. After that, Souta and Third Head talked about their aim. Third Head would investigate the matter inside the Mine Valley while Souta would seek information in the nearby area outside. He also told her that if she found the culprit, she could contact his subordinate in Ekatoe City. The same for him, if he discovered the culprit he would send her information. After the meeting, Souta called Amanda and asked about Franklin¡¯s whereabouts. She said that Franklin haven¡¯t returned yet and he was still trying to find the enemy. Souta decided to leave Franklin alone. He could sense him due to the parasite and parasite queen¡¯s connection. Souta chose to go outside the Mine Valley. The culprit must be just in the area near the Mine Valley. It should be easier for him to find them since he knew the mana signature. If he didn¡¯t find anything in two weeks, he would postpone this quest first and return to Ekatoe City. He had other important matters to attend to. At that time, he would leave the investigation to his people. Three days had passed quickly¡­ Two brown-cloaked figures were walking in the barren land. They were Souta and Amanda. ¡°It¡¯s here,¡± Souta muttered. In front of them was a small city. A city filled with numerous people. ¡°I thought that it¡¯s chaotic beyond the Mine Valley, but looking at it, it seems peaceful.¡± He said in a low voice. Amanda couldn¡¯t help but nod her head. According to their information, cities were being plundered and people were massacred. ¡°Let¡¯s find out.¡± Souta grinned before he continued walking. Amanda simply followed him. The two already changed their appearance in case an accident occurred. It was called Burluk City. It has a high population ranging from two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand. For a city of this size, this number was already huge. A bunch of people were walking on the streets and various stalls were erected on the roadside. What surprised Souta was there was a recruitment post here. Chapter 728: Mince Hand ¡°How many mana potions are left?¡± Souta asked. ¡°I only have four left,¡± Amanda answered. Hearing her words, Souta couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Using mana to cover his best feram was consuming a bunch of mana potions. He had no choice but to do it since he didn¡¯t want other people to know his monster identity. He¡¯s been filling up his parasite with mana before leaking it out around his body to disrupt the senses of those One Shackle Realm experts. Or else, they would recognize his energy just like how Edward from Shimpan Family realized his identity. ¡°It seems that we need to restock our potion here,¡± Souta muttered. Both of them entered Burluk City. It was a city smaller than Ladros City yet its population was higher. The only difference was the power level of the experts here. Naturally, Burluk City wouldn¡¯t even be able to resist an attack from the Deadly Sins. The City Lord¡¯s forces, some incredibly powerful nobles, and the teachers of the institute managed to resist the attack from Seven-Circle Officers and below. Those officers were equivalent to Hero-rank and SSS-rank. It was easy to say that the officers that attacked Ladros City would easily dismantle the Red Matter Association. Avron would be able to kill three or four officers thanks to the power of Project Sicily but that¡¯s it. He wouldn¡¯t be able to fight all those officers alone even with the help of his entire organization. Souta and Amanda separated and gathered information. They met up in a small restaurant after three hours of intel gathering. They learned the basics of this land and the current and recent events that happened in the past few months. ¡°It¡¯s quite interesting here.¡± Souta laughed lightly. He could feel many jealous gazes were directed at him. ¡°In my opinion, it¡¯s quite bad. I want to level this city.¡± Amanda commented. Souta laughed at her words. He had an average face and aura but Amanda still had that striking beauty despite concealing it with the parasite. Coupled with her temperament, a lot of men wanted to strike up a conversation with her. Of course, Amanda showed a little bit of her killing intent to those men to prevent them from approaching her. She even wanted to murder those people that look at her with lewd eyes. She was a former leader of an underground organization and murdered a lot of people before she regained her memories. Yet, she couldn¡¯t kill them even if she was stronger than them. She could only sigh helplessly and ignore those men. It would create trouble if she killed people. Plus, the ruling faction of this city was a Church so killing would undoubtedly gather the attention of those priests. ¡°I haven¡¯t felt this since I was in Ladros City. This is such a great feeling. The jealousy of others is amazing. I feel so blessed. Haha¡­¡± Souta laughed but some sort of field blocked his words from reaching other people. He stroke his chin. ¡®I wonder what the girls are doing right now.¡¯ He could remember the jealousy of his schoolmates when he gained a fan club. He smiled and shook his head. He would ask Lynn about them later when he had a chance. For now, he should focus on the things in front of him. ¡°How is it? The intel.¡± Souta asked. Amanda turned serious and slowly explained what she gathered. Burluk was situated on the edge of the Spring Land. It was a land just beside the Mine Valley. In this land, there was a ruling nation called Heiro Kingdom. The kingdom was still powerful but its scope of influence had deteriorated. Various organizations rose and fought for dominance, this led to the current situation where the kingdom decided to pull back its army and guard its territory. The war was far from Burluk City but the hands of various organizations reached this place. They didn¡¯t fight. Instead, they set up a recruitment post to increase their manpower. Just by joining these organizations, people would be able to receive various benefits that could even entice those wandering mercenaries. ¡°What should we do? Should we send some of our forces here?¡± Amanda asked. Souta stroke his chin and asked, ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I think that we should join one of these organizations. That way, we¡¯ll gather info that we couldn¡¯t get from ordinary people.¡± Amanda said after contemplating for a while. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that.¡± Souta gazed at her. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Yes, the Murder Society is a secret organization that ordinary people didn¡¯t know.¡± Souta paused before he added, ¡°We could also move the entire force to gather everyone¡¯s attention.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case then let¡¯s send the Noxious Corps. They will be able to move in the dark and if someone discovered them, they could simply say different names since a sudden rise of a certain organization are not unheard of in this land.¡± Amanda said. That was the case in Spring Land. Various organizations rose and fallen in the past few months so if one organization suddenly rose, it wouldn¡¯t gather too much attention. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll inform Alice.¡± Souta nodded. ¡°That Third Head simply wanted to take it easy. She said that she¡¯ll help you but she only took the Mine Valley as her investigation area while we¡­¡± Amanda complained. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Souta waved his hand. It¡¯s better than doing it alone. At least, there¡¯s someone who¡¯ll investigate the Mine Valley. The two finished their meal before they left the restaurant. They went to the plaza and looked at the recruitment post of various organizations. They were trying to find a suitable organization that they could infiltrate. Souta and Amanda chose different organizations. It¡¯s faster if they were going to work in different groups. Although they were in different groups, they were still in the Spring Land. They could contact each other easily. They were prepared. As long as they discovered the culprit, they would mobilize the force of Astros to apprehend them. That¡¯s what Souta wanted, to complete the quest that he triggered. Souta joined the group called Mince Hand. What an ominous name! But this group had its own history in Spring Land. It was founded a hundred years ago so Souta wanted to learn its detailed history. The procedure to enter was easy. It was fast as the organization was recruiting a bunch of people to fight. They wanted to rise like other groups. Although it has a long history, the power of Mince Hand was low. This was also the reason why Souta could join this group easily. Those big organizations were strict in their recruitment. Souta wouldn¡¯t be able to pass since they would verify his identity. But a small group like Mince Hand was quite lax in their recruitment, a small identity was all he needed. Where he got his identity? It¡¯s simple. Souta killed a random thug and changed the layers of skin on his face similar to that thug. Although he couldn¡¯t copy the energy signature since it was unique, a small organization didn¡¯t have any tools to verify it so he got recruited without any problems. ¡°I¡¯ve filled up all the slots. We¡¯ll depart tomorrow morning so rest properly.¡± A middle-aged man said with a smile. He introduced himself as Chun, an instructor in Mince Hand. ¡°Yes, Instructor.¡± Everyone replied. Souta looked around. He found that the people that joined the Mince Hand were quite a lot. A total of twenty-four people and most of their power levels were low. Some of them haven¡¯t even started to train. Aside from the twenty-four recruits, there were one instructor and ten senior apprentices. ¡°Senior Heili,¡± Souta called one of the senior apprentices. ¡°What is it?¡± A tall woman with long blonde hair asked. ¡°Where¡¯s our headquarters?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Oh, Instructor Chun forgot to tell you about it? Our headquarters is in Beinu City, it will take us two days before we arrive there.¡± Heili patiently explained to Souta. ¡°I see. Many thanks, Senior Heili.¡± Souta slightly bowed his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. If you have any questions you can ask me or your other seniors.¡± Heili smiled gently. Souta went back to the inn. After he set up the barrier, he closed his eyes and entered Saya¡¯s inner consciousness. He trained his skills and only stopped when it was morning. ¡®I can feel it¡­¡¯ Souta opened his eyes and glanced at his hands. ¡®You¡¯re close to mastering half of the Vajra Extremity.¡¯ Saya said to him. ¡®Yeah, I feel like I can reach the next level soon.¡¯ Souta replied to her before glancing at the system. The mastery of his Archetype was at 49%. Just a little bit more and he would be able to break through 50%. At that time, the power of Archetype would undergo a qualitative change. He would be able to exhibit more power and all the forms that he could use would undergo an upgrade. ¡®I¡¯m looking forward to using this to those people who tried to frame me up.¡¯ Chapter 729: Attack Souta met with the people from Mince Hand. They gave a red robe carved with the symbol of the group before they arranged the carriage they were going to use. The red robe was only a yellow-grade equipment, second to the lowest grade. The group was quite weak so they were going to travel with the allied organization. Most of the recruits were only D-rank and C-rank while the senior apprentices were at the Initial Stage of B-rank. If not for the energy from the increase in mana density they would probably be at a lower level. Even Instructor Chun was only at the Peak Stage of B-rank. Souta couldn¡¯t help but sigh looking at their weak lineup. The Mince Hand wasn¡¯t even an overlord of a city so this was within his expectations. He guessed that the Shimpan Family in Ekatoe City was even stronger than Mince Hand. So why did he join this weak group? Well, he wanted to learn their history. He could ask this from other people but learning it within the organization gives him a more detailed explanation. It would also coincide with his previous goal of learning the myth. Plus, Mince Hand was a member of a faction called Hundred Face Alliance. It was an alliance of multiple organizations to fight those incredibly powerful organizations. ¡°Everyone line up and enter the carriage! We¡¯ll depart soon!¡± Instructor Chun said in a loud voice so that everyone could hear him. The apprentices slowly entered the carriages. They did one headcount before Instructor Chun went to talk with the allied group. Traveling together was to protect themselves from bandits and monsters. Souta leaned forward and looked outside. ¡®I¡¯ll leave the other side to you, Amanda.¡¯ He just hope that any of them would quickly find the culprit. A day had passed and they were halfway through Beinu City. Souta spent his time talking to senior and his fellow apprentices. It made him closer to everyone. It was an act that he needed to do to gain the trust of everyone. Despite acting, Souta didn¡¯t push himself too far since it would lead to suspicion. Besides talking to them, he spent his time training inside Saya¡¯s inner consciousness. He wanted to reach 50% mastery of Vajra Extremity to further improve his combat prowess. Of course, Souta suppressed most of his energy. He even activated the effect of his bracelet so that no one would discover him. Or else, just a leakage of his energy would be enough to terrify all these people. It would also blow his disguise. None of them were even at Liquefying Realm and the equipment on their bodies was all low-grade. It wouldn¡¯t protect them from his energy undulation. He was like a walking nuclear reactor. The radiation coming from him would bring harm to low-level creatures. Souta examined his body. He¡¯d grown stronger once again. Although it was substantial, it was still good compared to nothing. ¡®I used all my achievement points to buy resources to create a portal so I don¡¯t have anything left.¡¯ His bodily power was stronger than before but there was still a space for improvement. He would complete missions later to earn some achievement points in Athen¡¯s Champion. That way, he would be able to learn some light attribute skills. Speaking of portals, that one was too expensive. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t delay it as it would make things easier to transport and his army could go back to port to gather more resources. He also should ask Isabella to create a potion suitable for a monster¡¯s improvement. All the potions were created for humans and demis. There was even a potion that could increase an expert¡¯s chance of breaking through the shackle. But those types of potions were useless to him. Souta suddenly narrowed his eyes. He silently bit his tongue to calm his senses. His urges were going out of control once again. He felt like someone was whispering vile things to his ears. ¡®Huff¡­ The emotional instability of a monster is such a problem¡­¡¯ He wondered how other monster deal with this problem. Yuko and Doranjan showed that they haven¡¯t shared the same problem as him. Is it possible that the grief and hatred of souls triggered this instability? ¡®I¡¯ll spare a time to visit Typhon or Echidna in Olympus. I¡¯m sure they wouldn¡¯t do anything to me since I¡¯m a follower of Athena but I need to prepare myself. Both of them didn¡¯t have a good reputation. Ah, most of the rulers of Olympus didn¡¯t have a good reputation except for a few selected individuals.¡¯ Souta shook his head and smiled wryly. Boom!! Suddenly, there came a deafening sound of an explosion outside. Shockwaves and flames swept out uprooting all the trees in the surrounding area. The carriages were violently thrown in the air. The people couldn¡¯t react on time as they were swept by an intense high-temperature wind. ¡°What happened¡­?¡± Souta opened his eyes before he stood up while patting his clothes. Although he suppressed most of his powers, his body was strong enough to endure this type of attack. He had eaten various mana fruits so his body gained resistance to various elements. His resistance was enough to resist attacks below Shackled Realm. Even One Shackle would have a hard time trying to injure his body. ¡°Someone attacked the Hundred Face Alliance¡­?¡± If it was the Mince Hand alone, Souta wouldn¡¯t be surprised since the Mince Hand was weak but¡­ They were traveling with other groups here. Even an overlord organization in a city wouldn¡¯t dare to offend the entire Hundred Face Alliance. He had a time to observe his surrounding. Under the gray sky, there was an unending stream of black smoke rising to the sky. ¡°A barrier¡­?¡± Souta noticed the translucent barrier. It was like a dome separating every part of the land. In this case, each group was covered in barrier. The Mince Hand group. Carriages were scattered everywhere, piles upon piles of black ash and burnt corpses lying near them. ¡°This smell¡­¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. ¡®A special incense. It will knock out people below Liquefying Realm for a short amount of time.¡¯ Saya¡¯s voice sounded in his mind. ¡®You lowered your defense and the smoke managed to penetrate your body but it didn¡¯t have any effect on you since you have great resistance.¡¯ ¡°It means¡­¡± Souta turned his head. ¡­ ¡°I¡¯ve finished everything here.¡± A woman covered in a tight red suit emerged from the shadows. The aura emanating from her body was pure bloodlust. It was suffocating and ordinary people wouldn¡¯t be able to endure it. ¡°I let some people survive but this is according to plan. They will ignite small friction that will lead to battle in their respective territory.¡± She muttered as she scanned the area with her eyes. She finished planting evidence so it¡¯s time for her to leave this place. She took out a handkerchief from her pocket and used it to wipe the blood on her face. She killed twenty people and let the remaining people live. Hmm¡­? She noticed a silhouette in her vision. What? Someone managed to resist the special effect of Knockout Incense! Who is that? Is there a Liquefying Realm here? Various questions popped into her mind as she stared at the figure walking in her direction. Soon, she got a clear picture of the unknown person. It was a youth wearing the uniform of the Mince Hand. Huh? What is this? Based on his uniform, he¡¯s only an apprentice but¡­ How? The youth was Souta in disguise. Souta raised his eyebrows as he examined the woman in front of him. She was quite passable with that body of hers. He couldn¡¯t help but felt his blood boiling. ¡®Fuck! This again! Emotional instability!¡¯ Souta hurriedly shook his head. He stared at the woman and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I want to ask you. Who are you? And how did you manage to stay conscious?¡± The woman asked with a faint laugh. ¡°Are you with the Murder Society?¡± Souta laughed. When he saw the woman grow silent at his question, his grin almost reached his ears. ¡°Bingo! Murder Society. I didn¡¯t think I will find one here.¡± His face was full of smiles as he approached the woman. ¡°You! Where did you hear that?!¡± The woman¡¯s voice turned frosty at the mention of Murder Society. Her aura grew stronger as the ground beneath her feet started to vibrate. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you and ask your comrades about it,¡± Souta said. ¡°Huh? You kill me? You must be dreaming!¡± The woman let out a roar as she charged forward with all of her might. From her point of view, Souta only had a power level of Peak Stage of B-rank. He probably resisted the effect of incense due to having some sort of artifact. Swoosh!! ¡°I just wanted to know if you have any idea who murdered the envoy of Mine Valley. If you answer me I¡¯ll probably spare your life.¡± Souta stared blankly at the woman. ¡°Die!! You brat!!¡± The woman¡¯s nails grew longer as light elements coated her sharp nails. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re damaging my ears.¡± Souta stretched out his hand and grabbed the woman¡¯s face. Then, using his other hand he grasped her jaw before pulling it. Spurt! Blood spewed in every direction as the miserable voice of a woman echoed in the whole area. Chapter 730: Wingless Crow ¡°Senior Heili!¡± ¡°Senior Heili!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­?¡± Heili slowly opened her eyes feeling a slight headache. She pushed herself into a seating posture and held her head. ¡°W-What happened?¡± She glanced at the young man with a questioning look. She could see that the youth was covered in wounds but his condition was better than hers. ¡°I think someone attacked us, Senior Heili. I just woke up and found that a lot of apprentices had died. Even some of the senior brothers¡­¡± Souta said before he lowered his head and bit his lips while clenching both of his fists. His body was trembling from rage. ¡°Attack us?!¡± Heili widened her eyes and she forced herself to stand up. She swept her eyes across the littered carriages and burnt corpses. By the looks of it, this apprentice was telling the truth. Someone placed a trap and it led to the destruction of all the carriages that they brought. Not just that, they even suffered serious casualties. Their allied groups were in a similar situation. The Hundred Face Alliance took a huge blow this time and they didn¡¯t have any idea about the culprit. ¡°Where¡¯s Instructor Chun?¡± Heili asked in a coarse voice. ¡°Instructor Chun is talking to the instructors of our allied groups. They are trying to find the cause of it.¡± Souta answered her question in a trembling tone. There were seven schools that went to Burluk City this time to recruit new blood. They wanted to strengthen their forces instead they were ambushed and fell into the trap of their enemies. The loss was quite huge as some of the senior apprentices had died. The instructors of the seven schools stood side by side, gazing at the small pit on the ground. The pit was emitting a white vapor with a strange fragrance. It was hot and cold at the same time. The pit was half frozen and half burnt. ¡°Freezing Flame skill¡­? From Ardous City, the Green Vine Pavilion.¡± ¡°An overlord wanted to uproot us?!¡± ¡°Even if it¡¯s an overlord, they can¡¯t easily take the Hundred Face Alliance! The entire alliance is much stronger than a lone overlord organization!¡± ¡°We should go now. The evidence is here so we¡¯ll need to return and inform our masters about this.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t fight them head-on since we lose too much this time. We¡¯ll need to return and tend to our injuries.¡± The instructors talked to each other. They had no idea that the culprit behind the ambush wasn¡¯t the Green Vine Pavilion. Instead, it was the Murder Society, an enormous organization that they couldn¡¯t fathom with their minds. The instructor helped the survivor apprentices pack their things. After an hour, they immediately left the area even though most of them were heavily injured. They had no choice. They didn¡¯t know when will the enemy attack them. Four days passed in a flash. After settling in the headquarters of the Mince Hand, he spent some time familiarizing himself with the school rules and regulations. Then, he received a small residence. He told the other apprentices and instructors that he was going to enter a secluded training for a while. This excuse was good since he received the basic techniques of Mince Hand. It was natural to practice it first and he would consult them later if he had any problems. It would take him at least three weeks to grasp the techniques of the Mince Hand. After that, he could become an inner apprentice of the school and participate in those exclusive lessons. Swoosh!! In truth, Souta didn¡¯t enter seclusion in that small residence. It was just an excuse he made up so he could travel back to Mine Valley. After interrogating the people from Murder Society he finally had an idea about the unknown enemy. He couldn¡¯t help but recall what happened at that time. ¡°Murder Society¡­ I think I need to know if your organization killed the envoy of Mine Valley.¡± Souta said while staring at the miserable woman with a blank look. ¡°Ugh¡­ Umm¡­ Ahhh¡­¡± The woman couldn¡¯t even speak as her entire jaw was gone. Blood was gushing out and her tongue was hanging. ¡°Tsk! Useless.¡± Souta turned around and walked towards the barrier. He grabbed the barrier and slowly crumpled it until it was completely gone. Boom! This type of barrier could only handle an attack up to the Peak Stage of Liquefying Realm. It was nothing compared to the barrier in the Tournament of Astros. The experts that attacked the other groups were shocked when the barrier was shattered. Before they could regain their senses, Souta stretched his hand and covered them in webs. Dealing with Liquefying Realm experts was easy even without using his strength. They were like ants in front of him that he could accidentally kill if he wasn¡¯t careful. In truth, not killing these people was harder than killing them. ¡°Okay, I want to know who attacked the envoy of Mine Valley,¡± Souta asked with his hands behind his back. The experts of the Murder Society were kneeling in front of him. Their bodies were bound in the thick special web. No matter what, they wouldn¡¯t be able to free themselves from these webs unless they had a power of a One Shackle Realm. The experts glared at him with murderous eyes. They couldn¡¯t win against Souta but they weren¡¯t afraid of him. The organization backing them wasn¡¯t to be trifled. ¡°You¡¯re done! Keke, you actually attacked us, the Murder Society¡­¡± A person that looked like the leader of the group said with a laugh. ¡°So Murder Society isn¡¯t the one who killed the envoy?¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. ¡°Of course. Let me tell you something brat! You couldn¡¯t hope to fathom the extent of our organization! You will die and your comrades will be hanged in the headquarters!¡± The leader laughed madly. ¡°Talking about the organization backing you¡­ Is the Murder Society great? Why don¡¯t you just tell me if you know who kill the envoy or not?¡± Souta scratched his head in annoyance. He placed his hand in his pocket and took out a small badge. ¡°Take a look at this. If you¡¯re going to show off the organization behind you then you should consider who you are talking to first, right?¡± ¡°This¡­?¡± The leader and the others were stupefied when they saw the badge in Souta¡¯s hand. They started to tremble as their face slowly turned pale. ¡°Athen¡¯s Champion. I¡¯m a Squad Leader in a God¡¯s Legion. I don¡¯t want to do this but you guys kept mentioning that you have a backing.¡± Souta sighed while looking at their expression. ¡°If you answer me from the start this wouldn¡¯t happen, you understand?¡± ¡°Now tell me what I want to hear.¡± His tone turned cold as the leader and the rest felt a chill run down on their spine. They finally realized why Souta didn¡¯t care about the Murder Society. Souta had the backing of a God¡¯s Legion which was countless times stronger than their organization. What they didn¡¯t know was that it was hard to mobilize those high-ranking warriors. Once they left Olympus¡¯ territory, the other Holy Lands and Large Countries would be wary of them, carefully observing the movement of those warriors. It was especially hard for god level to move in the current situation. Well, these people didn¡¯t even know that so there¡¯s no need to explain it. ¡°T-The Murder Society didn¡¯t kill the envoy¡­ It¡¯s the Wingless Crow¡­¡± The leader said with a pale face. ¡°Wingless Crow?¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. It¡¯s the first time he heard it. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know¡­ We¡¯re just low-ranking members of Murder Society. That cult is a mystery to us too¡­ But I know that they are in cahoots with the White Line City¡¯s overlord¡­¡± The leader paused for a moment. ¡°I only heard it from the higher-ups. That cult wanted to take over the Mine Valley. That¡¯s why the Murder Society didn¡¯t interfere with the affairs in that piece of land.¡± ¡°Even the Murder Society is wary about that unknown group?!¡± Souta was dumbfounded. From his understanding, Murder Society was one of the strongest organizations in the entire Hall Plains. And they were connected to White Line City. He visited that place before he went to Bland City. It seems that he needed to show a little bit of his strength. ¡°Those Wingless bastards are insane! They aren¡¯t afraid to die, saying that it is the will of their god! They will do everything to accomplish their goal!¡± The leader continued. It seems that the Murder Society didn¡¯t have a good impression of those crazy cult bastards. ¡®Cult? They are worshipping a god! Those people are troublesome to deal with. They will make all sorts of excuses just to accomplish their goal.¡¯ Souta turned gloomy. He had dealt with various cults in the past and it was very troublesome. Negotiation was impossible unless Souta had faith in their god. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve heard everything. Now, lower your defenses and open your pores.¡± Souta said to them with a frosty look. ¡°Y-You, I¡¯ve told you everything! W-What are you planning to do?!¡± The leader was agitated. Chapter 731: Preparation ¡°Tsk!¡± Souta clicked his tongue in annoyance. The experts of Murder Society decided to fight until the end when they realized that Souta was planning on controlling them. They preferred to die than let someone control them completely. Their determination was just like those warriors in Athen¡¯s Champion. Souta took out the transmission talisman and called Alice. ¡°Alice, can you hear me?¡± ¡°Yeah, loud and clear.¡± Alice¡¯s voice sounded through the talisman. ¡°I want you to gather our force and surround the White Line City. If possible you can ask the Dragon Council for some help. They are our allies so even if it¡¯s little they will lend us some hands.¡± Souta said in a serious tone. ¡°White Line City? You mean¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, the people that assassinated the envoy are probably hiding in that place. I want you to surround that city as soon as possible. Also, do it secretly. Don¡¯t let the other side notice you unless you have blocked all the escape routes. You can¡¯t be careless.¡± ¡°Okay, I understand.¡± ¡°Good. I¡¯ll head there as soon as I settle here. You can kill anyone who disobeys my orders.¡± Souta bid farewell and canceled the call. His eyes turned gloomy as he recalled the words of the experts from Murder Society. Wingless Crow was a group that even the Murder Society was wary of. A famous assassin organization actually avoided an unknown cult. It seems that this Wingless Crow was stronger than he expected. ¡®I¡¯ll report this to higher-ups. I¡¯ll lay low for a few days while completing missions from the legion.¡¯ He already decided his next course of action. After completing Quest 1, he would return to Champion¡¯s Den and complete a few missions before he return here. After all, aside from this unexpected Chain Quest he still had other plans. The Astros Squad was already a First Class Yellow Squadron. It was suitable to take some of the missions that he knew in the past. He also finished his preparation. If not for the Chain Quest, he would¡¯ve headed there as soon as he finished the Tournament of Astros. Chain Quest was an important source of skill points, attribute points, and cards for him. It¡¯s impossible for him to abandon it. ¡°As for the Wingless Crow¡­ I just hope that they will let me finish this without giving me too much trouble.¡± ¡­ After Alice received Souta¡¯s orders, she quickly mobilize the available experts of the Astros. She also didn¡¯t forget to send people to the Dragon Council to ask for some help. ¡°I¡¯ll be in charge of this operation. Isabella, gather the remaining members of the Noxious Corps and go to the White Line City to scout. Eztein will go there and lead the advance force.¡± Alice quickly issued a command. The Noxious Corps were trained assassins. Then, there¡¯s the advanced force that would surround the entire White Line City. They would isolate that place and prevent anyone from leaving. They also had permission to kill anyone who didn¡¯t follow their instruction. They were prepared to destroy an entire city and massacre everyone in it if the city didn¡¯t cooperate with them. ¡°What about me?¡± Eilish asked with a smile. ¡°We need some people to guard our city. Doranjan and Elder Hanmi will also stay here.¡± Alice explained. ¡°You¡¯re bringing Eztein and Elder Guan. That¡¯s two One Shackle Realms. It seems that the enemies this time isn¡¯t ordinary.¡± Eilish smiled. ¡°Yeah, Souta also ask me to contact the allies of Ekatoe City. They will also help us so I think it¡¯s enough to handle everything hidden in White Line City.¡± Alice nodded at her words. ¡°So Souta joined this so-called Dragon Council¡­ And he said that we should be careful too. Although we could trust the council we shouldn¡¯t completely lower our guards against them, am I right?¡± Eilish tapped the table with her soft and slender finger. She then gazed at Alice and asked, ¡°Are you going to bring the witches or the formal force?¡± The formal force was the people that once belong to Eilish. They were her subordinate when she was still an underground ruler in the Earthen Core City back in the sub-world. ¡°As long as they passed the criteria, I¡¯ll bring them with me. Plus, Eztein already took twenty S-rank and seventy A-rank with him. We don¡¯t have a lot of people in Astros.¡± Alice said with a sigh. ¡°Why don¡¯t you use the other forces in Ekatoe City? The Shimpan Family is quite strong considering that they had ten S-rank in their ranks. Also, if I¡¯m not wrong, the family head broke through the Shackled Realm.¡± Eilish gave her opinion. In the past, Shimpan Family had grown stronger and Edward, the family head, reached the Shackled Realm. They were supposed to be the overlord of Ekatoe City if not for Souta occupying it. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll bring some of them as insurance.¡± Alice nodded. They couldn¡¯t be careless. Souta knew the dangers of the current situation. In the game, millions of players took countless quests and eliminate various hidden organizations. Even though the players were bound by their level cap and couldn¡¯t match the experts in a one-on-one battle, they still had the advantage in numbers. So naturally, they demolished organizations left and right. But now, there¡¯s no players¡­ Who would help the folks of God¡¯s Continent in discovering the trails of those hidden organizations? Plus, those organizations were backed by a more powerful group. That¡¯s why they need to be careful. They weren¡¯t players that could respawn indefinitely. If everyone was a player, Souta wouldn¡¯t mind being reckless. After all, death wasn¡¯t a problem. He wouldn¡¯t mind flipping the entire Hall Plains. Even if he died, he would just respawn after waiting for a countdown. ¡­ Dragon Council¡­ ¡°Wait, Seventh Head is asking for assistance?¡± Fourth Head said in a loud voice. ¡°Yes, his subordinate contacted us. They want us to send some forces to the White Line City.¡± Eight Head nodded at the Fourth Head. ¡°White Line City?! Could it be that he¡­¡± Fifth Head opened his eyes widely. ¡°Yeah, I think Seventh Head found the culprit behind the assassination.¡± Jovi, Fifth Head, said slowly. ¡°We couldn¡¯t send a lot of people. We¡¯re still entangled in the battle for the three cities. We couldn¡¯t pull our forces and send it to the White Line City.¡± Second Head said. ¡°Yeah, it would place us in a disadvantageous position.¡± Fifth Head couldn¡¯t help but nod at Second Head¡¯s words. ¡°Then, leave it to me, I¡¯ll send my forces.¡± Third Head suddenly said causing the rest of the Heads to stare at her. ¡°Eh, are you sure? If I think it¡¯s better if each one of us dispatched five Solidifying Realm experts.¡± Nine Head said to Third Head. There were eight of them here so if each of them sent five Solidifying Realm experts, it would create a huge force enough to threaten a city. And if they added them to Seventh Head¡¯s army, it should be enough to deal with the White Line City. Plus, Solidifying Realm wasn¡¯t the only expert they were going to dispatch. It was just the highest experts that they could send. They didn¡¯t include the lower experts which were below Solidifying Realm. So aside from those Solidifying Realm experts, each one of them could send ten to fifteen Liquefying Realm. ¡°There¡¯s no need. I¡¯m supposed to assist him in finding the culprit anyway so it¡¯s within my limit.¡± Third Head shook her head and rejected Ninth Head¡¯s proposal. Ray, who was listening to their discussion, opened his mouth. ¡°Are you sure about it, Third Head?¡± ¡°Mn.¡± Third Head nodded. She pondered for a moment before she added, ¡°I¡¯ll also go to White Line City.¡± Her decision surprised the rest of the Heads. In their opinion of her, Third Head was a woman that like to laze around. She didn¡¯t want to personally handle things herself. But now¡­ She said that she would personally go to White Line City?! ¡°Seventh Head has Shackled Realm subordinate and yet he still asks for our assistance. It means that the enemy is far greater than he imagined.¡± Third Head explained. The rest of the Heads understood her explanation. ¡­ Shadows slowly approached the White Line City. They moved swiftly as they quickly traversed the woods and saw the famed city. They were the Noxious Corps led by Isabella herself. When Franklin was gone, she was in charge of the corps. ¡®Alice said that there are powerful beings in this city. She said that I should prevent people from leaving this place.¡¯ Isabella said inwardly as she glanced at the people beside her. She divided the group and blocked all the gates of the city. The line of people outside the gate was forced inside and the Noxious Corps guarded it. Of course, the guards resisted but Isabella and the rest already received a permission that they could use violence in this operation. They tightly locked the gate and waited outside. Isabella and a few other S-rank were suspended in the sky observing the city. ¡®This¡­ Shackled Realm¡­¡¯ She narrowed her eyes as the undulation of power energy erupted throughout the city. Chapter 732: Chaotic White Line City ¡°This undulation¡­ Shackled Realm¡­¡± Isabella and the rest retreated from a distance but they still observed the city. Their goal was to find out if someone was going to escape. ¡°Begin the first step,¡± Isabella said in a low voice. The people beside her nodded before they looked at the experts on the ground. Ohm! The experts of Noxious Corps gathered their energy as they took out monster orbs. In just a second, a translucent barrier covered the entire city. This barrier was fragile. Unlike in the tournament which only took a small space, this barrier covered the whole city so its defensive capabilities were scattered. Its purpose was to detect anyone who would try to leave the barrier. After all, even if an expert has mastered stealth that expert still needed to pass through the barrier to leave the city. ¡°W-What is that?!¡± ¡°A barrier¡­?!¡± The citizens of the White Line started to panic. They stared at the translucent screen above the city with widened eyes. They could feel powerful auras outside the city waiting for a chance to enter. Then, the ground shook as a heavy and strong energy fluctuation burst through the City Hall. ¡°T-This¡­!!¡± ¡°C-City Lord!!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the City Lord!!¡± The mood quickly changed when the person inside the City Hall showed his power. ¡°WHO DARE TO CAUSE TROUBLE IN STAR PAVILION¡¯S TERRITORY!!¡± A loud voice filled with overwhelming energy reverberated throughout the whole city. Isabella¡¯s expression turned grim when she heard the voice. ¡°This is not an ordinary Shackled Realm¡­¡± She turned her head and sighed in relief. Alice, Eztein, and Elder Guan flew beside her. The Head of the Shimpan Family followed behind the three. ¡°Sorry, it took us a while to come here,¡± Alice said. ¡°No problem. Nothing really happened this time.¡± Isabella said. ¡°How is it?¡± Alice asked while observing the city from above. ¡°They had Shackled Realm¡­¡± Isabella answered. ¡°As expected¡­¡± Alice nodded her head. ¡°Should we attack them?¡± Eztein asked as he turned his head in the opposite direction. ¡°Oh, they are already here. Our support.¡± Third Head was flying at normal speed. Behind her were the experts under her command. They were all elite soldiers that experienced hundreds of battles. Alice flew over and greeted them. Third Head responded politely but she was inwardly shocked by their lineup. Four One Shackle Realm experts were a force to reckon in the entire Mine Valley. Aside from the Shackled Realm, they also had a bunch of Solidifying Realm experts. ¡®Seventh Head really hid his strength deeply¡­¡¯ Third Head said in her mind. ¡°We¡¯ll attack them and try to locate the people from Wingless Crow. You can support us from behind.¡± Alice said. ¡°Okay.¡± Third Head nodded as she raised her hand. A middle-aged man flew over and bowed deeply. ¡°My Lady, I¡¯ll fulfill your command.¡± ¡°Help them. Command our forces and locked the entire city. Capture anyone who tried to leave.¡± Third Head said with a yawn. ¡°I understand, My Lady.¡± The middle-aged man bowed once again. Alice looked at them for a while before she turned her attention back to the city. ¡°Let¡¯s start.¡± The target was an unknown organization called Wingless Crow which was working with the Star Pavilion. In order to find out the truth behind the Wingless Crow, they had to capture and interrogate the experts of the Star Pavilion. ¡°Dispel the barrier!¡± The barrier quickly disappeared revealing the entirety of the city. There¡¯s no defensive mechanism at all. Alice knew that she shouldn¡¯t expect this city to be the same as Ladros. She slowly raised her hand and gigantic ice spears formed around her. Her aura rose sharply as a magic circle materialized beneath her feet. ¡°Go!¡± With her signal, the ice spears were launched. It quickly closed the gap and pierced the huge and majestic City Hall. Bang! Bang! Bang!! ¡°We¡¯re under attack!!¡± ¡°I repeat! We are under attack!!¡± ¡°The south gate has been breached!!¡± ¡°No!!!¡± ¡°The north, east, and west gate have been breached!!!¡± The guards couldn¡¯t stop the invaders from entering. They didn¡¯t have enough power at all. They were just weak and puny guards at the C-rank level. They couldn¡¯t even scratch the weakest A-rank expert of Astros. There¡¯s no way they could stop the invasion. The invasion was too sudden and they had little time to prepare. ¡°This¡­¡± In the City Hall, everyone could see the gigantic ice spears that nailed their place. The energy it possessed made everyone who approach it turned into an ice sculpture. ¡°This undulation¡­ A One Shackle Realm expert¡­?¡± An old man with a long white hair muttered grimly. Veins popped out on his forehead and everyone could feel the rage brewing in his heart. This old man was the City Lord of White Line City, Vaulin. ¡°Who are these people?! Why are they attacking us?!¡± He said angrily. His energy was fluctuating immensely as the entire area continue to shake. ¡°Master, I¡¯ve seen the City Lord of Umbra¡­!¡± One of his subordinates said. ¡°What?! Umbra! That girl is here! Don¡¯t tell me the Dragon Council is¡­¡± Vaulin opened his eyes widely. His whole body trembled and his rage almost explode. ¡°DRAGON COUNCIL!!!¡± Alice and the rest couldn¡¯t help but turn their heads at the City Hall. The powerful energy undulation that reverberated just now was too heavy. They were standing on the city walls watching everything. Bang!! Bang!! The experts of the Star Pavilion started to fight back. A huge battle that covered the entire city occurred. Even the small organizations in White Line couldn¡¯t help but fight. A lot of innocent people got caught up in the battle. ¡°Eztein¡­¡± Alice said. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s my turn.¡± Eztein stood up and pulled the halberd on his back. ¡°I¡¯m coming.¡± A smile plastered across his face as he jumped down from the wall. Thud! The moment his feet touch the ground, the moment he burst through toward the City Hall with unbelievable speed. His energy shot through the roof as he charged forward while gathering his mana on his weapon. Rumble! Eztein locked at the person who had the strongest aura in the City Hall. Boom!! He tore through the huge building as he dragged an old man with a powerful aura with him. Rumble! ¡°You dare!!¡± Vaulin roared as he stretched out his hand and created a barrier around him. Eztein simply smashed the barrier with his halberd and kicked his opponent in the chest. Bam!! He wanted to attack again but he saw dozens of fireballs appear in the air. The fireballs shot at him but Eztein swiftly moved his body avoiding it. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Alice watched the battle with a plain look. With the current situation, they held a great advantage over the enemies. After all, the Star Pavilion was participating in the battle for the three cities. It means that some of their forces weren¡¯t here. ¡®But our real target is the Wingless Crow¡­ Are those guys here or not? We didn¡¯t alert anyone. Maybe, they are still hiding waiting for an opportunity to come out.¡¯ Alice narrowed her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t hold back! Kill those resist! People who surrender should go east gate! Our people will investigate you! We will not harm you if we find that you¡¯re not our target!¡± Her voice wasn¡¯t loud but everyone in the city heard it. Her words give the civilians some hope. They thought that they were going to die in this battle and almost gave up. Alice looked at Edward and nodded. Edward flew towards the east gate. His job was to guard that place and prevent anyone from causing chaos. If someone violates it, then he would mercilessly kill that person. His One Shackle Realm strength should be enough to deter all those people. ¡°Wait!!¡± Elder Guan suddenly said. He pointed at the city and said, ¡°Look, something has changed. The citizens started to violently attack our forces. They didn¡¯t even care about their lives anymore.¡± Inside the city, tens of thousands of citizens charged at the forces of Astros madly. They were like a beast that keep charging without regard for their pitiful lives. It was like a monster tide. The only difference was it was made up of humans and demis. ¡°ARGH!!!¡± The experts of Astros didn¡¯t have a choice but to fight back. The B-rank experts were even forced to use the full potential of their parasites. They waved their savage arms dismantling dozens of people in the blink of an eye. They couldn¡¯t afford to control their strength anymore. They just keep blowing all the people that attacked them. Blood and flesh splashed everywhere dyeing the whole area in red. A thick stench of blood spread out as the citizens continued their mad attack. ¡°What is happening?!¡± Alice narrowed her eyes. It was too chaotic right now so she didn¡¯t even know if someone cast a spell that made all these people go crazy. Everyone who was watching this scene couldn¡¯t believe what they were witnessing. ¡°Why¡­?¡± Isabella covered her mouth in shock. At this moment, Third Head opened her eyes and said, ¡°It¡¯s a charm. It is similar to the one in Bland City.¡± ¡°Shit!!¡± Alice cursed as she flew above the city. She raised her hand and a huge amount of energy swirled around it. Boom!!! Chapter 733: Appearance of the Wingless Crow ¡°Shit! What¡¯s happening?!¡± Eztein cursed as he noticed the strange activity of the citizens. ¡°Keke, that¡¯s what you get from attacking me!! All of you will be branded as a murderer!!¡± Vaulin laughed. ¡°Shut up!!¡± Eztein roared as he punched Vaulin in the chest. Bang! Vaulin¡¯s body penetrated dozens of houses. He couldn¡¯t win against Eztein even with [Element Drive]. He was a classic mage and didn¡¯t have that much experience in terms of close combat. Ugh! He wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth while staring at Eztein with blood-red eyes. ¡°Keke¡­¡± He laughed as he ignored the deep wounds around his body. ¡°Tsk! Crazy guy!¡± Eztein clicked his tongue before he dashed forward. Swoosh! When he arrived at Vaulin, his halberd was already deep inside Vaulin¡¯s chest. He was stunned as his opponent didn¡¯t even resist this time. ¡°You will regret it! You think you guys are great just because of your so-called Dragon Council!! Keke!!¡± Vaulin laughed as blood kept pouring out of his mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll keep you alive.¡± Eztein gave his opponent one more glance before he pulled out his weapon. The wounds on his body were already gone so it looks like he didn¡¯t even experience a battle. ¡°Kill me! I already lose!¡± Vaulin screamed. ¡°No, we still have to ask you about Wingless Crow,¡± Eztein said without a care. ¡°Huh? W-What¡­? H-How do you know about that name?!¡± Vaulin opened his eyes widely. He pointed his finger at Eztein and said, ¡°Y-You! You will die!! A horrible death is waiting for you!!¡± ¡°Oh, it seems that you really have a connection with Wingless Crow.¡± Eztein grinned as he faced Vaulin. Boom!! Suddenly, there was a series of deafening sounds of explosions throughout the entire city. A bunch of pillars of energy tore through the ground and shot upward into the sky. Dozens of powerful auras swept out causing everyone to pause for a moment except for those mad citizens. Eztein, Alice, Elder Guan, Edward, and the rest flinched as they felt the violent energy. They shifted their gazes as they felt the malevolent auras. ¡°What it is this time?¡± Eztein muttered as he turned his head to the side. ¡°Keke! They are here! You¡¯ve said it yourself! They will kill everyone in this place! Fuck!¡± Vaulin almost turned mad. ¡°Shut up!¡± Eztein narrowed his eyes as he smashed the Vaulin¡¯s nape using the back of his hand. Pak!! A loud sound echoed as his mana swept through. No matter what, Vaulin was still a One Shackled Realm so he had to use his mana if he wanted to knock him out. Hmm? Eztein noticed dozens of citizens rushing at him madly. He narrowed his eyes and swiftly knock them down. He controlled his strength so he avoided killing them accidentally. ¡°I consumed a quarter of my mana fighting this guy. I could still fight but¡­¡± Eztein¡¯s brows knitted together. A rare worried look flashed on his face. He could feel the auras coming from those pillars were stronger than Vaulin. ¡­ Alice furrowed her brows while staring at the pillars of energy that slowly disappeared. She could feel dozens of Shackled Realm auras around the city. ¡°This¡­? Are they from the Wingless Crow¡­?¡± Since there was no evidence, she couldn¡¯t confirm if these new people were the targets of her mission. ¡°I need to confirm it¡­ If they are really the Wingless Crow then we¡¯ll have to fight them at all cost until Souta arrive.¡± She landed on the ground and more than fifty citizens quickly pounced at her. She simply waved her hand and turned these pitiful people into ice sculptures. ¡®I could probably hold five of them. Eztein could handle three. As for Elder Guan and the Head of Shimpan Family¡­¡¯ Alice pondered while observing her surrounding. She then glanced at the city walls. ¡°Right, we still have some support. There¡¯s no need to worry that much.¡± The S-rank experts of Astros were busy dealing with the other members of Star Pavilion and the smaller organizations of this city. If not, they could help in holding one of these guys that appeared. The only problem was what if these guys didn¡¯t want to fight? What if they tried to leave? Alice didn¡¯t have enough strength to hold dozens of Shackled Realm in this land. Souta would arrive in just a few minutes. She wouldn¡¯t have a problem buying some time. ¡­ ¡°Jeje¡­¡± A man wearing a pure white robe was revealed as the pillar of energy disappeared. He had an evil smile on his face as he looked at the people around him. ¡°To think that we will be forced to move¡­ What a useless bunch of insects!¡± The A-rank experts of the Astros flinched. They wanted to escape but some strange powers were preventing them to move. ¡°Time to kill these peasants!¡± The white-robed man¡¯s body blurred and the next thing that happened was pure massacre. In just a few seconds, he killed all the experts of the Astros in the whole area. The same thing happened in other parts of the city. The Astros suffered huge casualties in the blink of an eye and no one could prevent it. At this moment, Eztein, Elder Guan, and Edward landed in different areas to fight these guys who were suspected to be a member of Wingless Crow. ¡­ ¡°Shit! I just reach this level yet I¡¯m already fighting a strong one.¡± Edward secretly complained. He just broke through the Shackled Realm the past few days and he barely familiarize himself with his powers. His expression was currently bad. The white-robe man before him had a stronger aura than him. It¡¯s clear that this guy was already at Shackled Realm when Edward was still at Solidifying Realm. ¡°You¡¯re my opponent¡­? I can feel that you are not strong enough to be my opponent. Nevertheless, you will be a good warm-up for me.¡± The white-robed man with long brown hair said. He brandished a pair of scimitars hanging on his waist. ¡°Go easy on me,¡± Edward said before he charged forward. Layers of flesh instantly covered his body boosting his strength to a certain degree. ¡­ Elder Guan placed his hand in front of his mouth. Then, a small white pill formed in his palm, and he ate it. This pill was his soul weapon, [Power Steering Pill]. Feeling the power flowing through his body, Elder Guan glared at his opponent. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re energy!! It risen!¡± A woman with long green hair was a little bit shocked. She didn¡¯t know how but this guy¡¯s aura rose sharply. ¡°I¡¯m your opponent!¡± Elder Guan¡¯s body inflated as layers of flesh enveloped him. He used the ability of the parasite to the best that he could. ¡­ ¡°You¡¯re quite strong¡­¡± A man with short black hair said to Eztein. He could feel the fluctuations around Eztein¡¯s body which gives him a feeling of danger. Eztein grinned as he raised his hand. ¡°You¡¯re not enough! I want two more!¡± The next moment, he threw the halberd in his hand to a certain distance quickly traversing the space before crashing to the ground which caused a huge explosion. BOOM!! ¡°That place¡­?!¡± The short black hair man¡¯s pupils shrank as he stared in the direction where Eztein threw his weapon. In that direction¡­ where one of his comrades is. Suddenly, a huge hand grabbed his face and smashed his body on the ground. He felt a stinging pain as various spikes were trying to pierce his skin. ¡°Shit!!¡± ¡­ Alice shifted her gaze. Based on the energy fluctuations, the battle had already started. She felt a slight ache in her heart. She didn¡¯t know how to explain the casualties to Souta. She already overestimated the enemies but they still exceeded her expectation. Her calculation was off the mark and it made her feel bad. The enemy had a strong lineup made up of dozens of Shackled Realm experts. Then, there¡¯s one person that exceeded her imagination. Regardless, she could only rely on the support from their allies. After all, Third Head brought two One Shackle Realms with her and she herself was at Two Shackles Realm. She would be enough to stop the strongest person on the enemy side. Hmm¡­? She turned her head as she saw a bald old man walking in her direction. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Ohm! A red-grade spear appeared in her hands and it exuded a strong cold energy. ¡°You¡¯re from Wingless Crow, right?¡± She asked. ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know where you heard that name but you are right, young lady.¡± The old man said. ¡°I wanted to know where you find our information. Well, I would ask that after we¡¯ve captured you.¡± ¡°Tsk, I¡¯m the one who¡¯s going to capture you!¡± Alice said in a low tone. Immense energy exploded out of her body as the area within a radius of two hundred meters instantly turned into ice. Her aura made the people who were hiding in the dark show themselves. ¡°Come, I¡¯ll handle all of you at the same time!¡± Chapter 734: Arrival Souta knew that some of the members of the Dragon Council were powerful. Although they tried to conceal their auras at the conference, they couldn¡¯t escape Souta¡¯s prying eyes. Their basic power level couldn¡¯t be concealed from him. Unless they had a universal artifact for concealing their power levels. The strongest person was Ray. That one alone made him suspicious. In fact, he hid a lot of information regarding the Mine Valley. Souta wouldn¡¯t believe that Ray simply wanted to protect this place. Regardless, Ray didn¡¯t offend him so he was still on the border of cooperating with that guy. It wasn¡¯t good to add more enemies for himself. Third Head narrowed her eyes as she looked down at the entire city. ¡°Wingless Crow¡­ As expected, a bunch of unknown organizations is starting to reveal themselves.¡± She slowly raised her hand. The next moment, she swung down her hand and a huge gigantic palm materialized beside her falling into the city. The palm strike contained immense energy that caused people below Shackled Realm to tremble in fear. It felt like this attack was going to demolish the entire city. But before the palm strike landed, a white-robed man with long blue hair flew upward and slashed a gigantic sword energy. BOOM!! A ring-shaped shockwave spread out from the center of the impact. The ground shook heavily as if everything was going to collapse. Alice, Eztein, and the rest shifted their gaze above the city. The massive energy above was terrifying. ¡°They started.¡± Alice turned back her attention to her opponents. Five people were staring at her fiercely. All of them had murderous auras oozing out of their bodies. She tightly grasped the spear in her hand. The cold energy seeped out causing a white mist to spread in the area. With a boom, her figure vanished and reappeared in front of the old man. ¡°Wingless Crow! Just surrender or else you all will die!¡± Alice thrust the spear. The intense energy burst out like a beam flying in the old man¡¯s direction. Swoosh!! The old man reacted by crossing his arms. A thick barrier formed in from of him then two of his comrades helped him add another layer of barrier. Suddenly, the aura around Alice grew strongly. A massive amount of energy shot everywhere turning the whole area upside down. ¡°What?!¡± The old man and the other two were shocked. They didn¡¯t expect that their opponent was this decisive. ¡°Shit!!¡± The remaining two wanted to help but Alice moved faster than them. ¡°Too late,¡± Alice said as her attack heavily landed on the layers of barrier. The barriers didn¡¯t even last a second before it was shattered like a fragile glass. Her [Element Drive] boosted her power beyond their expectations. They didn¡¯t even expect that she was going to use this ability from the start. To add more power, Alice even used the power of her parasite. Various flesh covered her slim body and it even coated her weapon to match her transformation. BAM!! The old man opened his eyes widely as the spear flashed in front of him. He shifted his body but it was useless. The tip of the spear heavily smashed his shoulder causing it to explode. The remaining force behind it hurled his body into the air as his right arm rolled in the opposite direction. ¡°Too weak!¡± Alice wanted to finish the old man but the other four people surrounded her before launching an attack at the same time. Bang! Bang! Bang! She alone exchanged blows with four experts at One Shackle Realm. Cough! Cough! The old man coughed a mouthful of blood before he took out a potion from his pocket. Then, he sprayed it on his shoulder before drinking the remaining liquid. Ugh! He groaned in pain. He couldn¡¯t help but opened his eyes in shock when he saw Alice fighting his four comrades alone. What is this? They should be the stronger ones. It looks like this girl is bullying them. How? The power of this girl was beyond their expectations. Just looking at it, he knew that Alice still had the upper hand in fighting four experts. ¡°What the hell?!¡± He gritted his teeth and charged forward to help his comrade. They had to work together if they wanted to defeat this girl. Boom! Boom! Third Head¡¯s subordinates also joined the battle. She brought two One Shackle Realm experts and those two were fighting the members of the Wingless Crow. The entire city was devastated. Dozens of powerful beings were fighting across the land and it caught up with thousands of civilians. They were swept and uprooted instantly. Various spells and combat arts were launched and it made the whole area like a scenery from the end of the world. ¡°You must be from the Dragon Council, right?¡± A man with long blue hair slashed his sword forming a fifty-meter energy blade. Swoosh! Third Head snorted and she used another palm strike. BAM!! The collision of their attacks caused a ripple in the air. ¡°What¡¯s your goal? Is it true that you people are the ones that assassinated the envoy of Mine Valley?¡± Third Head asked calmly as if she didn¡¯t care about the strength of her opponent. ¡°You hid your strength well, City Lord of Umbra!!¡± The man launched another fierce attack. Bang!! Third Head blocked with another palm strike. ¡°No, I just grew stronger after the density of mana increased. The rest are the same as me.¡± ¡°Hehe, Our plan failed but we can still salvage it as long as I kill you.¡± The man laughed madly. ¡°Mine Valley is going to fall into our hands soon. Just watch and let me take care of you.¡± He snickered as shot a series of energy blades. Then, he pounced forward gathering both of his elemental power and mana on the tip of his blade. ¡°Die!!¡± He roared while thrusting his sword forward. ¡°Boring.¡± Third Head yawned and slapped. BANG!! A tremendous white light erupted forming a gigantic palm out of thin air. Light shone brightly as it collided with her opponent¡¯s blade. ¡°There is a reason why you guys are hiding in the dark scheming to conquer our land. It¡¯s because you know that you wouldn¡¯t win in a head-on clash against us, right? Well, if you can win against us you wouldn¡¯t resort to those schemes of yours. You would simply destroy us and take over the Mine Valley.¡± Third Head¡¯s aura rose as she used her [Element Drive]. The man smiled and used his own [Element Drive]. Both of their figure collided causing a powerful shockwave. ¡­ Isabella didn¡¯t have a way to interfere with a battle between Shackled Realm. It was possible if she was a Peak Stage of S-rank with the skill set that she got from the legacy of the God of Hunt. But she was far from it so she could just simply help the expert of Astros to evacuate. Fighting a Shackled Realm with a group of S-rank. It was certainly possible but it would literally dismantle almost all the experts that they brought here just to bring down a Shackled Realm. She wasn¡¯t prepared to do that nor Alice wanted that scenario. After all, Souta was going to arrive soon. It was just a matter of time before their opponent suffered a defeat. She had one hundred percent trust that these enemies wouldn¡¯t be able to breathe in front of her leader. She moved her body and threw a potion on the ground. The potion caused a small explosion and thick smoke covered the area. ¡°Come! Leave the city! We can¡¯t rescue any citizens!¡± She said to her comrades. ¡°Yes, Mam.¡± The experts of Astros followed Isabella¡¯s instructions. Soon, almost everyone was outside the city. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Isabella continued to help the remaining experts by throwing potions that produced thick smoke. The citizens were charmed and they had no way to dispel such ability. This made her feel bad. A lot of innocent people died in this operation. This was their mistake. Suddenly, she paused as she turned her head outside the city. A faint rumbling sound could be heard in a distance and there was a heavy aura coming from it. It was familiar. Realizing this, a smile bloomed on her face as she breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Finally.¡± Isabella relaxed her tense muscle. Ohm!! A heavy aura spread. Dark clouds gathered in the sky as thunder roared wildly. Alice, Eztein, Elder Guan, and Edward paused for a moment. They couldn¡¯t help but shift their gazes at the dark clouds. This best feram¡­? The undulation¡­ There¡¯s no doubt. All of them were familiar with this aura except for the Wingless Crow and Third Head. ¡°What¡¯s that?! A monster¡­?!¡± One of the Wingless Crow members said. ¡°Yeah¡­ You guys are done.¡± Eztein grinned before he slowly retreated. There¡¯s no point in staying in this place now. Alice, Elder Guan, and Edward also retreated and it made everyone confused. Boom!! A loud deafening sound reverberated. Everyone couldn¡¯t help but turned their eyes from the direction where the sound came from. Ohm! They saw a lone figure suspended in the sky just below the dark clouds. Chapter 735: Quest 2 ¡°This energy¡­ A monster?!¡± The members of the Wingless Crow, Third Head, and her forces stared at the figure who was releasing immensely heavy energy. ¡°A monster? This level is dangerous¡­¡± The man with long muttered in disbelief. The pressure brought by best feram of this monster actually made him feel danger. His situation was dangerous. He was fighting the girl to a standstill and if he added this monster¡­ He knew that he would suffer a defeat. He also used his [Element Drive] and a quarter of his mana. But he still wasn¡¯t sure if this monster would attack him. The other members of the Wingless Crow also stared at the lone monster in the sky. They were all at One Shackle Realm yet they could feel a chill in their hearts. It was like a knife was already on their neck. ¡°Why did a monster of this level come here?!¡± They thoroughly checked the dangerous beings in this place. The only fourth stage monster in Mine Valley was the one living in the river on the east edge. That one was a gigantic alligator, not a humanoid one. Even though they coveted the treasure guarded by that monster, they still didn¡¯t fight it. Why? Because that alligator was unbelievably strong. A monster at the high rank of fourth stage. Plus, if they wanted to fight that monster they had to go through a bunch of higher third stage monsters under its wings. Yet, this one was different¡­ A humanoid monster was dangerous. Especially, if it reached a high level. Its intelligence would be equal to or even surpass some humans or demis. ¡°Seventh Head¡­?¡± Third Head widened her eyes in surprise. She recognized the appearance of the figure floating below the dark ominous cloud. Wait! How? In the meeting, she felt mana oozing out of him so she thought that it came from demi. So how? Did he use a monster potion? No, from his looks, he didn¡¯t feel the strain from using that potion. She felt a thick fog cover his image in her heart. He became so mysterious. First, his powerful subordinates and their strange ability to morph. And now¡­ She didn¡¯t know how to describe her feeling. She felt that Seventh Head duped everyone from Dragon Council. Souta looked down at the city. His eyes scanned it and he counted the total number of enemies. While they were surprised at his appearance, he slowly raised his hand. [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! Thunder roared within the dark clouds. The deafening sound reverberated throughout the entire city. It felt like the sky was angry at everyone. The next moment, black lightning struck down and heavily smashed the members of the Wingless Crow. Rumble! Rumble! Even the man in front of Third Head was blown away. They couldn¡¯t react in time as the black lightning descend once again. BAM!! The lightning continued to strike every members of the Wingless Crow. Alice and the others had long retreated and he also recognized Third Head¡¯s subordinates by looking at their armors. So he didn¡¯t accidentally attack them. His attacks were concentrated on the group called Wingless Crow. The people that assassinated the envoy of Mine Valley. They were also the ones who plotted the attack back in Bland City. ¡°ARGH!!¡± Miserable cries echoed as some of the enemies couldn¡¯t handle the pain brought by the black lightning. They were just One Shackle Realm and the skill that Souta used was an Archetype. After reaching 49%, the attack power of his Archetype had increased vastly. He even guessed that if it reached 50% these guys would disintegrate immediately even if he stayed at his current power level. ¡°NO!!! STOP!!!¡± They cried out as their skin started to melt. Their equipment cracked and was about to break at any moment. As for those who had orange grades, they lasted for a little longer. BOOM!! A large bolt of lightning descended causing everyone who was watching to cover their ears. Even the sound it produce wasn¡¯t ordinary, it contained energy that could potentially shatter their eardrums. Souta looked down and snapped his fingers. The blood that dyed the city moved and it quickly enveloped the members of the Wingless Crow. In their current condition, they wouldn¡¯t be able to gather enough strength to free themselves from the blood seal. Suddenly, a bright light flashed and Souta quickly moved his body to the side. The energy blade flew and it cut the dark clouds in half. Swoosh! Strong¡­ Souta shifted his gaze. A man with long blue hair was looking at him with unbound rage. This man was quite strong considering that he achieve Two Shackles Realm. He must be the leader of this group. But it wasn¡¯t a problem. Souta was still at his peak yet this guy fought Third Head and got caught off guard by his [Mahayana Tribulation]. Souta moved his hand once again and a sea of blood tried to swallow the leader of the Wingless Crow. Swoosh!! ¡°You¡¯re underestimating me!!¡± The leader roared as he threw dozens of energy blades at the sea of blood. The energy blades evaporated the blood but another lightning bolt descended from the sky. The black lightning struck fiercely. Boom!! ¡®I must capture this man.¡¯ Souta¡¯s figure blurred as he instantly appeared before the leader. He wrapped his finger around the handle of his sword and pulled it out of its sheath. Ohm!! The moment he pulled out the sword, various spells and combat arts were activated. The Second Mode was used. Souta knew that he had to overwhelm this guy before he could react to his skills. ¡°W-What?!¡± The leader of the Wingless Crow endured another bolt of lightning. Then, Souta appeared before him so he wanted to launch a powerful attack. But his body felt a heavy gravitational field tighten around him. Bang!! He instantly felt goosebumps all over his body. The floor beneath his feet turned into a black mud as various tentacles rose and wrapped around his legs. Then, seven humanoid shadows tightly hold his body together as black mist enveloped him along with droplets of blood. This black mist even lowered his strength just a little bit and various white webs struck his body to restrain his movement once again. All of this happened instantly. He didn¡¯t even regain his senses when Souta attacked again. [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! Souta thrust his sword which was infused with black lightning. The black lightning rushed forward like a tidal wave. ¡°ARGH!!¡± The leader of the Wingless Crow shrieked as the black lightning swallowed him. BOOM!! Everything was perfectly executed. Souta used every opportunity and swiftly according to it. He even used the weakness of his opponent. ¡®It should be fine now¡­¡¯ Souta looked at the smoke. He moved his hand once again and used various skills to capture the leader. He was careful. After all, this guy was Two Shackles Realm no matter what happens. If given an opportunity, this guy could show a burst of strength and escaped from his grasp. Cough! Cough! The leader coughed a huge amount of blood. He felt a stinging sensation all over his body and he could barely move his hands right now. No, he could move his hands but he was bound by various abilities. His pupils shrank when he saw the humanoid monster in front of him. ¡°You!! Why are you in this place, monster?!¡± ¡°Me? Oh, I forgot to tell you that I¡¯m Seventh Head of the Dragon Council.¡± Souta chuckled as he examined the man before him. Alice, Eztein, and the rest arrived beside him. Souta asked them to gather the rest of the Wingless Crow. They haven¡¯t killed them. He just took their strength to leave this place. With their condition, he doubted that they could leave this city under the watchful eyes of Astros and Third Head¡¯s forces. But that doesn¡¯t mean that they had zero chance so Souta had to seal them in a sphere of blood to lower their chances. ¡°What do you want from me?¡± The leader glared at Souta. ¡®What do I want?¡¯ Souta stroke his chin. He glanced at the leader and asked, ¡°Is this everyone in the Wingless Crow?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s everyone.¡± The leader said. Souta nodded before he walked away. The leader who was bound by webs, tentacles, gravity field, and tentacles followed behind him. Souta glanced at the system. He completed Quest 1 and as expected, this wasn¡¯t a simple matter. *Ding!* [You¡¯ve completed Quest 1!] [You¡¯ve received 1,000,000 experience points, 10 free attribute points, and 5 skill points!] The condition to complete Quest 1 was to find the people that killed envoy. He didn¡¯t have to fight them but he captured them so that he could gain enough information. Quest 2 was such a problem. He needed to operate once again. [Unknown] Quest 2: An unknown group was hiding in the Hall Plains. Find information about them. Rewards: 10,000,000 exp, 10 free attribute points, and 5 skill points Gathering information. He didn¡¯t need to directly clash with that unknown group. Well, even without a quest Souta would still try his best to gather information about the organizations in the Hall Plains. It¡¯s better if he had information so that he could prepare. Chapter 736: Charm How is this unknown group connected to Wingless Crow? Souta on their way to the Wingless Crow base asked the leader various questions. He learned that the Wingless Crow wanted to take over the Mine Valley but they were too weak. So they just hid in the dark manipulating the event before they take a move. Their plan was perfect. Various powers would fight for the three cities and once they exhausted their strength the Wingless Crow would appear to dominate the Mine Valley. Unfortunately, Souta discovered them before they completed their plan. They even bribed some City Lords to join their forces. The three City Lords that attacked Bland City and the City Lord of White Line City were all bribed by them. ¡°Are you working for some people?¡± Souta asked. ¡°No,¡± The leader answered decisively. ¡°Then, why do you want to occupy the Mine Valley?¡± He asked another question. ¡°Huh, it seems that you people didn¡¯t understand what¡¯s really happening.¡± The leader laughed at Souta¡¯s ignorance. ¡°This is a war for resources.¡± ¡°Resources?¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. ¡®The mana density has increased so various resources will bloom faster than before.¡¯ Saya suddenly said. She explained further. ¡®In Imperium, mythical will appear once every ten years, legendary once every five years. In high-world¡¯s state, legendary will appear once every twenty years. Some of them didn¡¯t even know the true value of legendary. As for mythical, there¡¯s no case that a mythical bloom in sub-world.¡¯ ¡®You mean¡­¡¯ Souta¡¯s brows furrowed deeper. He suddenly recalled the various small events in the game. He knew that a mythical rank fruit would appear soon but he didn¡¯t think about the lower ranks. ¡®Yeah, various resources will appear soon. This must be the reason why they are fighting for various lands.¡¯ Saya said. ¡°Hehe, if we occupied the Mine Valley, the resources that will appear here will become ours. That¡¯s why the entirety of Hall Plains is in chaos.¡± The leader laughed. Then, the Wingless Crow was just the first. Other organizations would eye the Mine Valley sooner or later. They wouldn¡¯t ignore this land. What if a legendary rank fruit appeared here? It would be their loss if they didn¡¯t conquer the Mine Valley. Souta and the leader arrived in front of a huge gaping hole. In this dark underground space, the Wingless Crow stayed here for several months planning to take over the Mine Valley. Souta and the rest jumped down. What they found was a huge blood circle on the floor. It was giving off an eerie vibe. ¡°What the hell is this?!¡± Eztein looked at it strangely. It looks like a magic circle but he knew that it wasn¡¯t magic circle since wasn¡¯t made by weaving energy. ¡°Blood sacrifice¡­¡± Souta muttered gloomily. ¡°Blood sacrifice?!¡± Alice¡¯s eyes shrank when she heard his words. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Eztein asked. Elder Guan and the others also stared at Alice waiting for her to explain. ¡°W-What?! How do you know about Blood Sacrifice?¡± The leader stared at them in disbelief. Alice cast a deep glance at the leader¡¯s face before she turned to Eztein and the others. ¡°Blood Sacrifice. From its name, we can already guess what it is. It is a ritual that needed the lives of creatures in exchange for powers. The powers that they received came from a god.¡± Unlike the blessings of the god, the blood sacrifice would only enhance the sacrificer¡¯s ability to a certain extent base on the level of creatures that were sacrificed. ¡°Who is your god?¡± Souta asked. ¡°No, I can¡¯t say it. I will die.¡± The leader¡¯s expression turned pale. Souta took a deep breath to calm his senses. There were different types of blood sacrifice and their uses vary from each god. What they know was just the fundamentals of the ritual. ¡®There¡¯s Grid before and now¡­ A blood sacrifice appeared here¡­¡¯ Souta stroke his chin. He couldn¡¯t interrogate the leader. It seems that some sort of restriction was placed on him to prevent him from divulging any important information. He stared at the leader and asked, ¡°Are you the sacrificer?¡± ¡°N-No, I¡¯m not.¡± The leader was scared right now. This monster knew a lot of things. ¡°Then, who?¡± Souta asked fiercely. He exuded a strong bloodlust that frightened the leader. ¡°T-The¡­ Ugh¡­ No¡­!¡± The leader suddenly puked. Black smoke came out of his mouth and a bunch of stigmas appeared on his body. Shooosh! Alice, Eztein, and the others who were close to the leader were alerted. They quickly circulated their energy around their bodies and took a distance away from him. Souta widened his eyes. He quickly pulled out the sword on his waist and activated his Second Mode and [Element Drive]. [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [Sixth Form: Piercing Thunder Strike]! BAM!! He swiftly used his killer technique to kill the leader before he exploded. Even the name of the sacrificer was forbidden. It was outside of his expectation. The leader¡¯s eyes were wide open and there was a huge gaping hole in his chest. He died just like that. Slowly, his body fell to the ground with a thud sound. ¡°This¡­!¡± Souta felt something. He shifted his gaze to the sky. A large amount of energy burst out as he shot through the sky in an instant. Alice and the rest were shocked by the sudden change. They couldn¡¯t help but follow him. When Souta arrived at the sky, he felt his vision darken for a moment. ¡°Shit!!¡± Souta cursed. His eyes were filled with rage. The bloodlust he was exuding was denser than before. He felt like he had to kill someone and drink their blood to satiate his rage. That power. That ability. It¡¯s a charm. He didn¡¯t expect that someone could charm him for a moment despite the resistance he gained from eating various mana fruits. He was confident in the resistance gained from various fruits. Even if Two Shackles Realm got charmed, he would be unaffected by it. Even if it only affects him for an instant, it already speaks for the ability of his opponent. Strong. This was worse than what he expected. The person that used charm wasn¡¯t here. He just realized it. If that¡¯s the case, how? He shifted his gaze at the blood sacrifice on the underground. ¡®Using blood sacrifice as a medium. At first, it only affected ordinary people but since people continued to die, it grew stronger and managed to release the true ability of the sacrificer.¡¯ Saya explained. ¡°I understand. I think I needed some preparation to deal with these guys.¡± Souta said. ¡°Hoo~¡± He relaxed his muscles. Just now, his heart was filled with rage. This emotional instability was really a problem. Souta turned around and found that Third Head and the rest of the people in this place were in a daze. They had blank looks on their faces. It seems that the opponent not only charmed him but also everyone. The first person that woke up was Third Head. It took her almost ten seconds. Ten seconds was enough for an opponent of this level to execute hundreds of moves. She wouldn¡¯t be able to defend against the attacks in her charmed state. If not for Souta being here, he guessed that everyone would be massacred today. Soon, everyone regained their senses. They didn¡¯t even realize that an unknown person charmed them. It was terrifying. ¡®I¡¯m glad that I ate those fruits or else¡­¡¯ Souta said inwardly. Third Head flew at his side and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you are a monster.¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. ¡°No one ask me before. You yourself decided that I¡¯m a demi. I never even said that I¡¯m a demi from the start.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s because I can feel mana from you. How did you do it?¡± Third Head looked at him with interest in her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s a secret.¡± Souta smiled. ¡°Where you come from?¡± Third Head changed her question. ¡°Hmm¡­ Do you know a place called Ladro?¡± ¡°No,¡± Third Head shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s where I came from.¡± The two then talked about how they were going to divide the White Line City. A few hundred citizens have survived and every official died. No one was controlling this city anymore. Then, this place was them for the taking. They wouldn¡¯t leak this news and slowly occupy this place. It was to prevent other cities from coveting the White Line. White Line had several mining spots that could give them rare metals so it was important. Since he didn¡¯t have any use for the Wingless Crow. He killed all of them and took their souls along with the people that perished here. After that, Alice gave him a report about the casualties in this battle. It was quite huge since the Wingless Crow killed dozens of A-rank and S-rank. Third Head also suffered a few casualties but not as huge as Astros. Souta and the rest stayed here for a night. The next day, Souta took his forces with him and left the White Line in Third Head¡¯s care. He left ten S-rank and thirty A-rank with her just in case. The other Heads of the Dragon Council were going to send their forces to protect the city. This Chain Quest seems harder than he imagined. He would return to Champion¡¯s Den and report the unknown organization here so that the higher-ups would send a few squads to help him. Aside from that, he had a mission that he wanted to take. It¡¯s time for him to take that one and upgrade his arsenal. Chapter 737: Mission In a room, the light was dimmed, and a promiscuous atmosphere permeated through the room. The sound of gasping and panting could be heard inside blending together. After some time, the woman moaned loudly before she lay down on the bed. The woman glanced at the person beside her weakly and asked, ¡°You never push this type of thing. Is there any problem?¡± Souta lifted himself and say on the side of the bed. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s becoming frequent. My urges. Now, I can subtly hear someone telling me to kill. It¡¯s getting worse.¡± For him, not being able to control emotions was worse. It could even affect him in battle. The worst-case scenario was he could die because of him not being able to control his emotion. He would fall for enemies¡¯ tricks easily. ¡°You can ask Doranjan or Yuko about it. I think they have an idea about your emotional instability since both of them are monsters too.¡± Eilish said before she stood up. She picked up a loose robe and draped it on her shoulder. Then, she took out a pipe from a drawer and lit it up. ¡°I consulted them but they don¡¯t have any idea. It seems that I need to visit those monster lords of Olympus.¡± Souta said with a sigh. He even ask Saya before and she also didn¡¯t have any idea. She wasn¡¯t a monster nor she didn¡¯t have a pet before. ¡°Are you going to Champion¡¯s Den now?¡± Eilish glanced at him. ¡°Yeah, I also need to complete some missions. It¡¯s been a while since I took some.¡± Souta nodded at her words. ¡°Are you bringing someone with you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bring Yenxa, Yuko, and Eztein with me.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Then, I¡¯ll stay here.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­?¡± Souta glanced at her while wearing his clothes. ¡°Do you perhaps have any plan to go to Champion¡¯s Den?¡± ¡°Yes, I want to accept some missions. The mission in the post tower is not good for me. It¡¯s for Solidifying and Liquefying Realms. The rewards aren¡¯t enough.¡± Eilish answered his question. ¡°I want to exchange my achievement points for Limit Breaking Potion. Apparently, it could enhance an expert¡¯s chances of breaking a shackle by ten percent. It¡¯s effective for people below the first great shackle.¡± ¡°You guys sure are lucky. You have various potions and pills that could help you increase your strength faster. Monsters didn¡¯t have that sort of benefit. We could only rely on mana fruit to boost our improvement.¡± ¡°Well, alchemists didn¡¯t create those potions and pills with monsters in their minds. They brew or refine those things to sell to humans and demis. Even the weakest humans and demis will buy potions while the weakest monster didn¡¯t have high intelligence.¡± Eilish puffed a smoke. She raised her hand and gathered the smoke on the tip of her finger. They would get executed in some cities. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll just make Isabella work harder.¡± Souta smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and wait for you to complete your mission. Then, I¡¯ll go there to take one.¡± Eilish said. ¡°Okay.¡± Souta waved his hand. He left the room and went to the post tower. He notified the warriors that he was going to use that portal. The portal was finished. He also didn¡¯t forget to notify the people that he was going to bring in his mission. After some preparations, Souta left the Astros with Yenxa, Yuko, and Eztein. He left all the matters regarding Astros to Alice. She would be able to handle it with Torkez¡¯s help. He needed ample preparations to complete the Chain Quest. Just bursting through it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Well, it¡¯s within his plan. If he didn¡¯t trigger the Chain Quest, he would have gone already after the Tournament of Astros ended. Speaking of tournament, it seems that Doranjan became the champion. Eilish was the first runner up and Alice was only second to her. Even though Doranjan didn¡¯t have various abilities like Souta, he was still a fourth stage monster. Eilish alone wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat Doranjan¡¯s release form. Souta and the rest arrived at the other side of the portal. Then, they traveled for several days before they arrived at the Champion¡¯s Den. He could use the portal to his destination but it would cost him a fortune. He didn¡¯t even have enough wealth with him right now since he used it for building an exclusive portal. ¡°Finally¡­ We¡¯re here at Champion¡¯s Den.¡± Eztein exclaimed as he gazed at the bustling city. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Souta said. The group waited for a few minutes before they could enter the gate. This place was still the same as before. Nothing had changed at all. They went straight to Athen¡¯s Champion. After that, Souta went to Grain Leader Carmel¡¯s office. He passed his report about the blood sacrifice and some unknown group lurking in Hall Plains. ¡°Mm¡­ It might take a while but I¡¯ll dispatch available squads. I need to report this to the higher-ups and after getting their approval I¡¯ll immediately process this.¡± Carmel said while looking at the report in his hand. ¡°I¡¯m fine with it.¡± Souta nodded. ¡°The situation may look good but cracks have already formed.¡± Carmel paused for a moment. ¡°There¡¯s even trouble all over our territory and we lacked manpower. Also, the Childer of Zeus just fought an organization at Red Matter¡¯s level a month ago. They also encountered another Messenger of Gluttony. Sigh¡­ I don¡¯t even know what will happen next. It¡¯s no coincidence that a Messenger appears in a short amount of time.¡± ¡°Maybe, they are planning something big,¡± Souta said even though he knew deep inside what would happen. There may be slight differences but the essence of the event was the same. ¡°I think so¡­ There¡¯s even a report that the einherjar of Valhalla encountered a Messenger. The same for Heavenly Palace and Takamagahara.¡± Carmel pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡®It¡¯s close. I need to thoroughly prepare myself. But any sort of preparation is useless if I met Gluttony on the battlefield.¡¯ Souta said inwardly. Messengers of Gluttony were appearing in different parts of God¡¯s Continent. The higher-ups should have realized it. Gluttony of the Gods. ¡°Be careful, there¡¯s a chance that you can meet the Messenger of Gluttony in Hall Plains,¡± Carmel warned him sternly. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why I requested some assistance. I¡¯ll avoid direct confrontation.¡± Souta nodded. He knew how serious this matter is. ¡°Good.¡± Carmel sighed as he leaned on his chair. Souta left Carmel¡¯s office. He met with Eztein, Yenxa, and Yuko then they went to the mission counter. He asked about the mission regarding his rank and browse through it. He saw a bunch of missions but he continued to flip. After a while, he saw what he wanted. ¡°This¡­ I¡¯m going to take this mission.¡± Souta said as he placed the book in his hand on the desk. The receptionist received the book with a smile on her face. She recorded his name and the name of his squad. Then, she began to explain the details of the mission. The mission was to solve the problem in Lerna Island. This island was quite large as it houses three kingdoms. Right now, there was a plunge of undead wandering around the island. It ravaged various towns and villages under the three kingdoms. ¡°You just need to stop the tide of undead. But be careful sir, three One Shackle Realm warriors and seven Solidifying Realm warriors haven¡¯t returned since they took the mission. Also, that place is¡­¡± The receptionist wanted to explain further but Souta stopped her. ¡°I know. It¡¯s related to Heracles, right? I know what to do.¡± Souta smiled at her. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The receptionist smiled and sighed inwardly. She didn¡¯t want any warriors to accept the mission and died without any idea. That¡¯s why she was relieved when Souta knew about the hidden dangers of Lerna Island. Souta bid farewell to her before he left with the others. He glanced at the system and saw the quest notification. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Undead]: Stop the undead crisis in Lerna Island. Rewards: 1,000,000 experience points, 10 free attribute points, and 7 skill points It¡¯s quite difficult but Souta already knew what to do. Plus, the undead tide hasn¡¯t gotten worse at this point. Back in the game, dozens of Shackled Realm experts have perished and every living creature on Lerna Island was dead. The undead even crossed the huge river around it and destroyed some of the nearby cities. Souta, Yenxa, Yuko, and Eztein walked out of the Athen¡¯s Champion. They didn¡¯t stay in Champion¡¯s Den any longer. They joined some merchant groups and traveled with them. ¡°So some warriors have gone missing in Lerna Island?¡± Eztein asked. ¡°Yeah, if they are still alive. We¡¯ll find them there.¡± Souta said in response. ¡°Undead¡­ I wonder why undead appeared there¡­¡± Eztein muttered. Souta simply shrugged his shoulder. He looked at Yenxa and Yuko. ¡°I will send both of you to fight those undeads. It will be a good chance to experience some battles.¡± Chapter 738: Lerna Island ¡°That¡¯s Lerna Island¡­ Isn¡¯t it a little larger than what I expected?¡± Eztein exclaimed. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s huge. There¡¯s a reason why three kingdoms existed in that place. If it¡¯s small, it wouldn¡¯t fit those three kingdoms.¡± Souta nodded lightly. In front of them was a huge piece of land surrounded by river. ¡°Three kingdoms, huh? Veinu, Franca, and Xermu.¡± Eztein muttered as he recalled the names of the three kingdoms on Lerna Island. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Souta said. They crossed the river effortlessly and arrived at the island. The moment they stepped their feet on the ground they felt the dead mana in the atmosphere. It made people feel uncomfortable and restless. The dead mana was an attribute that most of the undead possess. ¡°This¡­?¡± Eztein raised his hand and slowly felt the mana in the atmosphere. He couldn¡¯t help but feel shocked. Even Yenxa and Yuko were sensing the strange mana in the air. ¡®Special environment like this already appeared?!¡¯ Saya¡¯s voice sounded in Souta¡¯s mind. She appeared to be in shock. ¡°Yeah, from the looks of it, the area is in the northern part of the island,¡± Souta said. Special environment. An area where the natural mana gained an attribute that corresponds to its surrounding. Sometimes it formed randomly and gods couldn¡¯t even comprehend how or why. This was useful for any creatures that have the same attribute. This place had a special environment with a dead mana attribute. People with dead mana attributes would be able to double their elemental training speed in this environment. All spells and combat arts related to dead mana would receive a ten percent boost judging from the elemental properties in the atmosphere. ¡°Should we go? This place is quite bad¡­¡± Eztein said. ¡°Yeah,¡± Souta nodded. The group walked for a few minutes until they found a village infested with undead. Hundreds of undead were wandering aimlessly at the village. The thick rotten stench of undead lingered in the air. ¡°Oh, shit¡­ It smells so bad.¡± Eztein pinched his nose as he furrowed his brows tightly. He looked at Souta and asked, ¡°Can I eliminate all these undead?¡± ¡°No,¡± Souta rejected Eztein. Then, he glanced at Yuko and Yenxa. ¡°Let Yuko and Yenxa handle all these undead. If someone beyond their level appeared, we¡¯ll take care of it.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Eztein nodded. What could he do? Souta was his boss so he had to follow him. He could only hold his breath. ¡°Yuko, Yenxa, take down all the undead in this village,¡± Souta said. He could sense that there were no living creatures in the village so it was fine for the two to go all out. Roar!! Yuko stepped out with a roar that attracted the attention of the undead. Flames danced on her fur as the temperature rose sharply. The undead screeched as they charged at Yuko. Their numbers were high as they filled the whole area. The ground trembled as they run as fast as they could. ¡°Ar!¡± ¡°Ouh!¡± Yuko wasn¡¯t fazed by their huge numbers. Instead, the flames around her grew hotter and wilder. The soil beneath her feet shot up as she vanished from her position. The next moment, she was already in the center of hundreds of undead. With a swing of her flaming paw, shockwave swept out producing violent heat energy. BAM!! Tens of undead turned into ashes instantly. Yuko opened her mouth and a huge amount of flame gushed out like a raging tide. The sea of flames swallowed everything in front of her. Her destructive power was too high that it even wiped out half of the village instantly. Roar!! Yenxa glanced at Yuko before she focused her attention on the undead. She jumped in mid-air while the spikes on her back produced poisonous gas. Green liquid flow out of her hands. The undead started to melt under Yenxa¡¯s extreme acid attack. The skin and flesh of the undead slowly turn into a pile of sticky goo. Their bones weren¡¯t even left behind as she strengthened the acid that she produce. Souta and Eztein watched them exterminate the undead. Souta focused his attention on Yuko. She was strong but compared to him when he was at peak third stage, she was pretty weak. Even if he gave her equipment that matches his own, she wouldn¡¯t reach his level. Aside from battle experience, Yuko had pretty decent stats. She was stronger than any peak level Scorching Red Bear. Her skill set was limited compared to his. He didn¡¯t have enough skill points to bestow her his skills. It was far from sufficient as he still needed to advance his class and get the remaining legacy of the Thirteenth Zodiac. Souta was level 64 right now and was close to level 65. Even with his current power, he was sure that he wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat a level 64 Blood. In terms of stats, he was higher than level 64 Blood. The only difference was the skill set. Blood grind skill points for several years and earned hundreds of skill points. The current Souta was far enough from achieving the skill points he had when he was Blood. After all, he was only in this world for almost three years. Blood had hundreds of skills and simply activating several dozens of buff spells and combat arts would be monstrous. The effects would stock up until his stats reached an unbelievable level. For detection, offensive, defensive, long range, tracking, buff, debuff, and movements¡­ Blood had dozens of combat arts and spells in every category. That¡¯s the effect of having a huge amount of skill points. Aside from that, he had all the blessings of the commanders of the Mechanic Army. That was only a side of Blood¡¯s strength. That character was broken. Souta turned his attention to Yenxa. Her strength was weaker than Yuko¡¯s since she just reached third stage not long ago. Unlike Yuko, Yenxa was learning spellcasting and her knowledge was comparable to his who had attended school and taken the mage course. Yenxa was talented. Souta couldn¡¯t be compared to her if he didn¡¯t have the system. If she keeps this up, she would probably bested him in terms of spellcasting in the future. After a few minutes, Yenxa and Yuko finished exterminating all the undead. Even the entire village was demolished. Souta waved his hand and gathered the soul in the area. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s find the nearest kingdom and check the current situation.¡± The group continued to advance. Yuko and Yenxa dealt with all the undead that they met on their way. They easily demolished any undead that attacked them. After a few hours, the two already demolished thousands of undead. They were either burned or melted from extreme acid. The group arrived at a border of a kingdom. ¡®This is the Veinu Kingdom. This is a better starting point. I could initiate it immediately.¡¯ Souta recalled his memories from the game. In front of them was a huge fortress. There were hundreds of soldiers stationed here, preventing the undead from infiltrating the kingdom. Currently, the fortress was under attack by tens of thousands of undead. There were mages on top of the wall firing their spells non-stop while refilling their mana with potions. ¡°Should we help them? There¡¯s only a hundred A-rank undead. We can deal with this group easily.¡± Eztein asked. The difference between SS-rank and A-rank was like heaven and earth. Even if there were thousands of A-rank, he would be able to deal with it. It¡¯s a different matter if it was S-rank. Even a One Shackle Realm expert would have gotten in trouble in front of hundreds of S-rank. ¡°Not yet. The two of us will enter the fortress first. Yuko, Yenxa, stay here and watch the movement of the undead. If I launch a fireball at the sky, you can go and eliminate them.¡± Souta said. ¡°Okay.¡± Eztein shrugged his shoulder. He didn¡¯t know what Souta was planning. ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± Yuko and Yenxa nodded at his words. The words of their master were absolute in this situation. Souta and Eztein left while Yuko and Yenxa stayed but they decided to hide somewhere in case they attracted the attention of the undead. They didn¡¯t want to spoil the plan of their master. Swoosh!! The soldiers didn¡¯t even know that Souta and Eztein sneak inside the fortress. ¡°Their security is quite tight but it¡¯s only for people below S-rank,¡± Eztein commented while looking at the soldiers. ¡°Yeah, they wouldn¡¯t last a single week if those undead at the central started attacking,¡± Souta replied. ¡°But why are we here, boss? We can reveal our identity to them and they¡¯ll let us inside the fortress. I think they would be happy if they know that warriors from Athen¡¯s Champion are here to solve their problem regarding undead.¡± Eztein looked around. ¡°We can¡¯t trust anyone here. Remember that the previous warriors that took this mission have gone missing. Information is a must. We need to differentiate our target and not.¡± Souta said trying to bluff Eztein. ¡°Okay.¡± Eztein nodded. Chapter 739: Invading the Fortress Somewhere inside the fortress¡­ A soldier was walking in the hallway. All of a sudden, a hand patted him on his shoulder. It startled him as he quickly jumped away and raised his weapon. ¡°W-Who¡¯s there?!¡± He was shaken but when he saw the person in front of him, he lowered his guard a little bit. ¡°Oh¡­!! C-Commander Eili!¡± ¡°I apologize for surprising you.¡± A man with short brown hair smiled wryly. His body was covered in exquisite armor with a red cape on his back. This man was Commander Eili. The commander of the soldiers in this fortress and the man that was protecting the border of the kingdom. An accomplished man that stood at the top of the kingdom¡¯s most valiant warriors. ¡°How¡¯s the patrol going? Any problems with the undead?¡± Eili asked. ¡°No, sir! The mages already cut down the numbers of the undead outside! We can deal with the rest while the mages are recovering their energy!¡± The soldier stood straight and answered in a clear and loud voice. ¡°Good. It may be hard but we need to keep this up. We¡¯re facing a crisis that we¡¯ve never experienced before. Just a little bit longer and we¡¯ll be able to find a way to exterminate all the undead.¡± Eili said to the soldier. ¡°Yes, sir! Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll do my best!¡± The soldier answered. Eili nodded with a satisfied look on his face. He glanced at the retreating soldier¡¯s back before he looked at the window. It¡¯s been two months since the undead started rampaging in Lerna Island. Eili fought left and right trying to save innocent people from the gruesome death caused by those vile undead. The undead swarmed the villages and towns around the three kingdoms. Countless people have died and everyone could guess that aside from the three kingdoms, there were no living people on Lerna Island. So the three kingdoms decided to set aside their conflicts. They had to work together to eliminate the undead that threatened people of the Lerna Island. After two weeks of research, they found that there was something off with the northern region of the island. It seems that the dead mana in that area was highly concentrated. So the three kingdoms formed a special group consisting of elite soldiers. They were the best of the best of Lerna Island. But until now, the special group hasn¡¯t returned yet after venturing into the northern region. No one knew what happened, the people could only pray to the gods that nothing happened to them. ¡®For the kingdom. I need to continue fighting. God of War, Ares, please give me the strength to defeat our enemies.¡¯ Eili prayed in his heart. Boom!! Suddenly the ground shook heavily as violent tremors spread out trying to destroy the whole fortress. ¡°What was that?!¡± Eili was shocked as he observed his surrounding. ¡°Commander Eili!!¡± Eili turned around and saw the soldier before. ¡°It¡¯s an emergency! T-The Royal Room¡­ Have collapsed!¡± The soldier said clearly. ¡°What?!¡± Eili widened his eyes. Although no one was staying in the Royal Room, it was still important. People from the Royal Family stayed in that place every time they visited this border. People were forbidden to enter that place. Even he, a commander, didn¡¯t know what was inside that room. ¡°Shit!!¡± Eili narrowed his eyes as he dashed through the hallway. ¡­ ¡°Hey, didn¡¯t expect that there was a strong barrier protecting this room,¡± Eztein said with a hint of surprise in his voice. He stepped forward and glanced at the space inside the room. He sensed something when he entered. His senses spread out and it feels like the area had expanded. ¡°Hmm¡­? Some sort of space folding¡­ How? The space is stronger than before so it¡¯s hard to bend it.¡± Eztein glanced at his arm. He could feel the flow of mana in the air but something shock him. There was a hint of dead mana in the atmosphere. It means that there was an undead in this place. ¡°Undead¡­ Didn¡¯t expect it in a tightly guarded fortress¡­¡± A smile formed on his face. This only means that there was a secret in this place that was related to the undead outside. But shattering the barrier probably caused a commotion. Those soldiers were probably on their way here to this place. ¡°Well, before that happens¡­ I gotta go and finish my job.¡± Eztein walked forward. Although the space here was larger than what it looked like outside, it was still a little bit small for him. He could easily cover the entire place in just a minute. There were probably twenty to twenty-five rooms. Well, he would know it once he explored this place. Swoosh!! He ventured to every room that he saw. His mana swept out every second trying to sense if something went wrong. He bulldozed everything in his way. Souta has given him a time limit to finish this job. So he had to complete it as soon as possible. Swoosh! He dashed through and arrived in front of a fist size golden sphere. But his attention wasn¡¯t on the golden sphere. Instead, it was at the figure standing in the opposite direction. ¡°Now, this is what I¡¯m talking about¡­¡± Eztein stepped forward and observed the undead. The undead was a man with rotten flesh. It had sharp nails and sticky liquid flowing out of its mouth. He wasn¡¯t a slightest bit afraid of this undead. After all, the aura that was coming off of this undead was only at the Peak Stage of S-rank. There was nothing to be afraid of against an S-rank if you were a Shackled Realm expert. ¡°Excuse me, let me take this golden sphere,¡± Eztein said as he stretched out his hand. Just then, the undead¡¯s figure blurred and it arrived beside him. The undead swung its hand at him with unbelievable force. Eztein simply raised his other hand and blocked the undead¡¯s attack. The attack generated a powerful shockwave that swept everything behind but he was unfazed. ¡°Hey, go out there for a moment.¡± Eztein narrowed his eyes. In an instant, he delivered three punches on the undead¡¯s body. BAM!! The undead¡¯s body bent backward and crashed on the wall causing the entire room to shake. Eztein grabbed the golden sphere. The moment he grabbed it, the entire place shook and cracks appeared in the space. ¡°This¡­ A high-quality red grade artifact¡­?¡± He realized that the space inside the Royal Room was caused by this artifact. ¡°Not good¡­¡± His energy exploded as he burst out flashing into the entire space. In just a few seconds, he exited the Royal Room and the whole space inside it collapsed. Bang!! Space cracks appeared outside as dead mana gushed out of it like a tidal wave. ¡®Wait!¡¯ Eztein narrowed his eyes. He was confused about what was happening. He looked down at the golden sphere in his hand and found that there were cracks on its surface. ¡®Just like I thought¡­ It only had a limited amount of use.¡¯ The dead mana filled the whole area instantly. It was coming from the space cracks caused by the collapse of the space created by the artifact. But how? There were undead hidden inside those cracks and now they were appearing amid the fortress. They used the space cracks as a passage to cross the border. Why? Eztein was confused as he saw a bunch of S-rank undead coming out of the spatial cracks. ¡°Damn, I never understood the boss¡¯s plan but I know that I have to fight all of these undead.¡± A wry smile formed on his face. He placed the golden sphere inside his pocket and brandished the halberd on his back. His body exuded great battle intent. Suddenly, Eztein looked at the ceiling before he jumped away. The next moment, the ceiling exploded as a huge energy blade flew out and it even demolished the floor. Boom!! ¡®The commander is here¡­?¡¯ Eztein said inwardly. At this moment, the space cracks turned smaller but more than twenty S-rank and fifty-plus A-rank undead had come out of it. ¡­ In the underground prison of the fortress¡­ ¡®Hmm¡­ It seems that Eztein completed his job.¡¯ Souta said inwardly as he felt the energy fluctuations on the surface. Eztein¡¯s job was simple. It was to take that red grade artifact to destroy the space inside the Royal Room. Once it was destroyed, it would create spatial cracks and it would bring out the undead from the other side. ¡°It¡¯s time for me to do my job.¡± Souta smiled as he stared at the space crack in front of him. There was a special thing about that red grade artifact. It was a key. It would open a door that would lead him to the other side to finish his mission as soon as possible. But how did this space crack appear in front of him? That artifact was a key to this place. A special space crack would open in the underground prison once the former space created by the artifact collapsed. The only problematic thing about it was that the undead of Lerna Island would attack everyone who had that golden sphere. So Souta left Eztein to deal with that problem. Chapter 740: Undead Why is it in this place? Well, the ancestor of the Veinu Kingdom was a necromancer in the past. He hid his things and the undead he controlled in a special place. So after he died, the undead became powerless for several decades. They grew stronger and right now they reached the limit. They appeared on Lerna Island causing a rampage everywhere. Also, the appearance of the special environment made the undead more powerful. If it not for this, the locals of Lerna Island would be enough to exterminate the undead. Souta glanced at his surrounding. Corpses of prisoners were scattered around. No one would have thought that the ancestor would choose a place like this as a passage to his secret hideout. ¡°A good one¡­¡± Souta flicked his fingers and fireballs were launched into the sky. He was in the underground but he set everything up. It¡¯s time for Yuko and Yenxa to help Eztein deal with those undead. He personally experienced the difficulty of this mission in the game. He could leave this to them. When he turned back his attention to the space crack, Souta realized that it grew smaller. The space was healing at a faster rate. Even though the key could only be used five times, it was still at the highest level of red grade. It wasn¡¯t useful except for opening the passage. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad¡­¡± Souta smiled and he entered the passage. ¡­ Eztein glanced at Commander Eili. He didn¡¯t know how to explain this situation. Souta just told him to take the golden sphere inside the Royal Room so he didn¡¯t know that it would open cracks in the space and pour out high-level undead. Eili also noticed Eztein who was staring at him. He was surprised inwardly. He didn¡¯t expect that he would find an unknown human here. ¡°Who are you?!¡± He asked warily. He could feel that Eztein was above his level. A Shackled Realm expert? Why would an expert of this level appear here? He didn¡¯t have any idea. If Eztein had ill intentions, he would have no way to stop him. ¡°No, time to explain. The undead are starting to move.¡± Eztein said as he pointed his finger at the undead. ¡°Kuhhh!!¡± Several powerful undead rushed toward Eztein at the same time. The powerful energy of dozens of S-rank shook the entire hallway on the verge of destruction. The undead swiped its rotten hand. Eztein crouched and thrust his halberd. The spear destroyed half of the undead¡¯s face instantly. Then, he lifted his feet and launched a heavy kick. Bang!! Eztein¡¯s aura grew stronger as the halberd in his hand flashed brightly. It turned into a ray of light nailing several undead to the walls. Looking at this, he put both of his hands together. [Collapsing Earth Wave]!! Cracks spread out and covered the entire castle. ¡®Not good!¡¯ Eili¡¯s eyes shrank. He took the soldiers with him and jumped through the windows. The next moment, the whole castle exploded as various heavy boulders were thrown everywhere. Boom!! ¡®Shit!¡¯ Eili cursed inwardly while looking at the destroyed castle. Then, he noticed something. He turned to the walls, only to find thousands of undead were rushing in this direction. Problems occurred one after another. He didn¡¯t know what to deal with first. ¡°Soldiers of Veinu Kingdom!! Protect our border at all costs!! Once the undead passed us they will come to the capital and harm our family! Do it! For our family! For the kingdom! Don¡¯t let the undead breach our walls!!¡± He said in a loud and clear voice. He wanted them to prioritize the undead outside the wall while his focus was on the undead inside. Even without him, he trusted his subordinates that they wouldn¡¯t let any of those undead pass through. Boom!! Boom!! Shockwave swept out and soldiers near the destroyed castle were blown away. Eili turned his head. The unknown man was fighting several powerful undead at the same time. ¡°I have to risk my life.¡± His body glowed in white light before he charged forward. Swoosh!! Eztein who was avoiding the attacks of the undead noticed Eili¡¯s presence. ¡®So he is back¡­¡¯ He moved to the side and swung the halberd in his hand. His weapon easily destroyed the skull of a peak A-rank skeleton. His strength far surpassed the limit of what an A-rank could handle. Eztein easily demolished them one by one without spending much effort. Twenty seven S-ranks could give a One Shackle Realm expert a problem but it was different. The opponents were undead and they lacked coordination that could make them dangerous. Eili who was watching the battle was stupefied. A Shackled Realm expert was really strong. He was a peak S-rank himself so he could only fight one of them. ¡®Looking at his expression, it seems that he isn¡¯t using his full strength. He is reserving his energy.¡¯ He tightly gripped the sword in his hand. That¡¯s the strength that he wanted. He wanted to break through the shackles and reached the level above. At the same time, outside the walls¡­ Thousands of undead were rushing toward the fortress when suddenly a sea of flames surged at them. The flames spread out and burned hundreds of undead in just a few seconds. ROAR!! A roar reverberated throughout the plains as a flaming bear jumped into the sky and crashed to the ground. Meanwhile, Yenxa was dashing through the ground spreading her extreme acid that could melt tough metals. The two monsters didn¡¯t hold back as they used every ounce of their strength to demolish the undead. The soldiers and mages on top of the walls were stupefied at the appearance of the two powerful monsters. They didn¡¯t even know whether they should be happy that the monsters were destroying their opponents or be sad because the monsters could probably target the fortress next. ¡­ Souta arrived in a vast swamp. At the center of the swamp, there was a huge castle. The castle looks old as no one maintained it for several decades. This place was a part of the northern region of Lerna Island. Souta couldn¡¯t feel it in the past but now¡­ This place was really a special environment suitable for undead. He shook his head and observed the old castle in front of him. According to his memories, the ancestor of the Veinu Kingdom was the guardian of this castle. He was the protector of this place and prevented everyone from coming here. Well, finding this place was hard. The barrier that surrounded this place could even hold a full-power attack from a high level Hero-rank. The barrier weakened and the undead here found a loophole in the barrier. They could get out and enter whenever they could. As for other people, they would have a hard time finding this place not to mention entering it. There were several illusion layers that would confuse the senses of every expert below Shackled Realm. After they passed through those illusions, they had to break the barrier to arrive at Souta¡¯s position. If a person wanted to shatter the barrier they had to be at least a Seven Shackles Realm. Or maybe a special artifact with the effect of creating a passage through a barrier. There were a lot of ways to enter but each one was hard. Souta wouldn¡¯t even be able to arrive here if not for the key the ancestor left behind in the Royal Room. ¡°This is quite good¡­¡± He closed his eyes and let the air brush his face. The thick dead attribute didn¡¯t even bother him in the slightest bit. He even felt a sense of calmness in this environment. The emotion became stable and no unclear thoughts lingered in his head. It was so calming. After a while, Souta opened his eyes with a faint smile on his face. He felt refreshed and he didn¡¯t know the reason why. It was strange but he guessed that it was probably related to the special environment. His urges which he was trying to suppress for a long time had disappeared. He felt that he had gotten stronger once again. No, he was stronger. Souta glanced at the system and found that he level up. Wait¡­!! How?!! He didn¡¯t even do anything. He narrowed his eyes and realized that when he was in that state of calmness before, his experience points had increased to the point that it reaches level 65. Souta closed his eyes and did the same thing as before but his experience didn¡¯t increase. There¡¯s something wrong with this. He could understand it if he level up when he was training since it could increase his strength. But he did nothing this time. He just stood here peacefully. How? While Souta was in deep thought, a dark light flashed and blasted his body away. He crashed into the barrier causing a ripple in the air. Boom!! A skeleton was suspended in the mid-air looking down at the thick smoke. The next moment, the smoke was blown away revealing Souta¡¯s face which was filled with rage. ¡°YOU FUCKING SKELETON!! I¡¯M GONNA SMASH YOUR BONES INTO PIECES AND DEVOUR YOUR SOUL!!¡± Chapter 741: Battling the Undead Souta¡¯s face distorted with rage. His killing intent exploded as he glared at the skeleton in the mid-air. He launched himself into the air like a missile and his energy soared through the roof. Instantly, he bashed the skull of the skeleton and the impact caused a ripple that spread out. Boom!! The skeleton didn¡¯t even know what happened as its body crashed on the ground like a meteor. It tried to stand up but it felt a heavy gravity tighten on its body. Souta instantly covered the distance between him and the skeleton. He already activated his Second Mode as his aura rose sharply. ¡°DIE!!¡± Flesh covered his right arm and it even coated the vajra sword in his hand, pouring a huge amount of strength into this attack. [Crimson Moon]!! A red light swallowed the skeleton. It struggled for a few seconds before it felt its strength leaving its body. [Serpent Dominance]!! With a debuff of minus seventy percent of its stats, the skeleton¡¯s body started to form cracks. It struggled with all of its might but everything it did was in vain. Its skull disintegrated followed by its arms and legs. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± A voice sounded beside Souta¡¯s ears as it slowly vanished. In just a few seconds, nothing was left out of its boney body. With a minus seventy percent of its defense, Souta could literally just demolish any One Shackle Realm creature with a single strike. Just like that, a powerful undead that reached the level of One Shackle Realm had perished at Souta¡¯s hand. His bloodshot eyes glared at the air. ¡°You think you¡¯re safe!!¡± Souta raised his hand and devoured the soul. The soul acted in fear but it couldn¡¯t escape the power of a universal artifact. Puff! It couldn¡¯t even offer a little bit of resistance as the earring sucked it. ¡°Fuck!¡± Souta cursed as he bit his tongue to calm himself. He tried to calm himself once again but he never felt peaceful like before. The feeling from before was strange and it even let him reach level 65. With his current level, the amount of experience points that he needed to level up was astronomical. He would remember that feeling. For now, he would finish this mission. There were still undead lurking in this place and it would be bad if they launched another sneak attack. His [Crimson Perception] was useless to pure skeleton undead. Only those with a little bit of blood were passable since he could even sense a drop of blood several kilometers away from him. ¡°The battle should have alerted the undead inside the castle.¡± Souta muttered as he turned his attention to the old castle in the middle of a swamp. He walked on the surface of the water while observing every movement in his surrounding. At this moment, he didn¡¯t even bother hiding his energy. It was useless since the undead already detected his energy from the battle before. They were probably observing him. Oh? Souta raised his head and a wide grin formed on his face. ¡°In the end, they are still undead¡­ Their intelligence is lower comparable to non-evolve monsters.¡± Their state of being was different and the connection placed to their vessels by a necromancer was the only reason why they could stay in mortal world. If not, the soul realm would swallow them even if they like it or not. Several undead were suspended in the air. Souta didn¡¯t even care about the rest as his attention was on the two undead with overflowing energy. The first one was a three-meter-tall giant piece of rotting flesh and the other one was a skeleton wearing a long purple robe. Both of them were exuding an aura at the limit of Two Shackles Realm. It was just their natural state, they didn¡¯t even forcefully release their energy nor used their skills to boost their strength. As for the other undead, they were all fodder at One Shackle Realm. They couldn¡¯t enter Souta¡¯s eyes with his current strength. ¡°Ehe~ Let¡¯s start it¡­¡± Souta laughed as he used [Serpent Dominance] immediately to suppress the lower level undead. Then, a black mist seeped out of his pores as he activated his Second Mode. The giant undead charged at him with insane speed. It raised its huge hand and heavily swung it down. Boom!! It thought that it hit Souta but he felt a hard block in front of it. When the smoke disappeared, a human-size black flower that looked like a combination of rose and lotus blocked its fist. [Fourth Form: Bridal Lotus Benevolent Rose]! Souta raised his hand and dark clouds formed in the air just below the barrier. Thunder roared as lightning would flash every second. [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! Black lightning descended instantly. The bolt of lightning flashed across the sky as it struck those undead in the mid-air. A loud bang reverberated as the undead crashed on the ground causing the water to splash everywhere. BANG!! The next bolt of lightning made the water on the swamp boil. Seven shadows rose beneath Souta¡¯s feet. All of them charged forward and they had the same goal, and that was to exterminate the One Shackle Realm undead. With the debuff from his [Serpent Dominance], his seven doppelgangers could handle those undead. Souta made a grabbing motion in the air. The gravity field around those low-level undead tightened greatly. He wanted to finish them but the giant undead finally shattered the Fourth Form of his artifact. Bam!! ¡°The strength of this giant isn¡¯t bad.¡± He quickly jumped away as he brandished the vajra sword. This giant shattered his Fourth Form in just a few seconds explained that it has unbelievable attack power. Souta was confident that a Two Shackle Realm expert would at least take thirty seconds to break his Fourth Form unless they used Element Drive. The Two Shackles Realm skeleton suddenly shot out scorching fireballs, brightening the surrounding area. Bang! Bang! Crimson energy blades burst out in retaliation. Souta countered it with his energy attacks. Then, he twisted his body and a fist struck at his previous position. ¡°That¡¯s close.¡± Souta increased the energy circulation in his body and it gives him additional power. Quickly stepping forward, his sword was like a venomous snake pouncing at the giant undead. It was about to hit the giant when a barrier materialized blocking Souta¡¯s strong. It only lasted for a second before it collapsed but it gave the giant enough time to launch another attack. ¡°They have coordination¡­ Probably due to the ancestor controlling them before. Their bodies memorized it.¡± Souta went into a defensive stance. A loud blast reverberated as the fist collided with his sword, pushing him several dozen of meters in the air. Bang!! Bang!! Souta exchanged blows with the giant undead and the skeleton. These two undead were really not an ordinary Two Shackles Realm. They could keep up with him who already used the Second Mode. This mode boost was certainly not low, it contained the boosts of several combat arts and spells. Souta who was on the offensive suddenly changed his stance. He hurriedly used [Fourth Form: Bridal Lotus Benevolent Rose]. After that, a huge fist covered in overwhelming dead mana struck the shield. The collision resulted in the swamp being swept out. All the water and soil shot up into the air as the black lightning struck down once again. ¡°Fifth Form-¡± Souta stepped forward as the vajra sword emitted a cold light. Black lightning crackled and his energy surged out. The giant undead attacked once again but Souta suddenly vanished from his position. His destructive fist could only hit the air. Swoosh!! The skeleton sensed something. It turned around and launched several scorching fireballs at the ground which was covered in black tentacles. At the next moment, Souta appeared and saw dozens of fireballs screeching toward him. ¡®This skeleton already guess the fundamentals of [Shadow Ball] spell¡­?¡¯ Souta narrowed his eyes. He changed his stance and used different skills. [Second Form: Thousand Oak Absorption]!! Black lightning spread out like a net. It swallowed the fireballs like nothing. ¡®This is the limit that I can absorb¡­¡¯ Souta¡¯s face contorted as he spun around in the mid-air and swung his sword at the skeleton. [Second Form: Reverse Moon Oak]!! The energy that he absorbed from the fireballs gushed out. It launched a torrent of black lightning that brightened the surrounding area. The skeleton raised both of its hands. Several layers of barrier appeared and it blocked the chains of violent lightning. It raised its head and saw Souta soar through the sky brandishing a sword that was covered in lightning. ¡°Fall¡­¡± Souta said before he thrust the sword. The Second Mode was still active so his strength far surpassed his normal strength and his enemies suffered a debuff from the black mist he was emitting. Also, the gravity field was constantly trying to suppress these two. [Sixth Form: Piercing Thunder Strike]! The black lightning flashed brilliantly as it pierced through the layers of barriers easily. It then heavily struck the skeleton. Chapter 742: Seals The skeleton screeched as it received a powerful attack that ignore the barrier it created. It suffered greatly and stumbled in the mid-air. It almost fell but a flame flickered within its eye sockets. A black beam suddenly erupted from its chest. It flew out at high speed causing the air to boil as the energy violently whip out. Souta¡¯s eyes shrank as he moved his body to the side. He barely avoided the powerful attack. Then, he felt a chill on his back. Bang!! Before he could even react, a loud bang exploded as the giant undead smashed him. Its attack tore the [Shadow Cloak] and [Armored Scale Formation], slicing a decent amount of his health points. ¡°Not bad!¡± Souta smiled as he spun in the mid-air. The giant undead felt something was wrong. When Souta slashed his sword, he vanished out of thin air. Swoosh! Souta reappeared on the ground once again. At the same time, lightning struck down at his position destroying the traps that the skeleton prepared. He knew that the skeleton grasp his [Shadow Ball] spell so he was prepared this time. ¡°Nice try.¡± He kicked the ground and arrived in front of the skeleton instantly. The skeleton moved away while creating several layers of barriers. But how could Souta let him get away? Souta dashed forward while using gravity to increase his speed. Then, he thrust his sword once again penetrating the barriers around the skeleton. [Sixth Form: Piercing Thunder Strike]!! Subsequently, he opened his other hand and thick webs shot out. It wrapped the undead¡¯s legs and Souta pulled the web in his hand. [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]!! Torrents of black lightning swallowed the skeleton. Cracks formed all over its body but it was still struggling. The enormous energy it possessed was enough to block some of the damage caused by the lightning. Souta charged once again. He pulled back his sword and heavily swung it down. The slash generated a powerful black lightning that descended from the dark clouds. Bang! Bang! Under Souta¡¯s violent attacks, the skeleton couldn¡¯t even find a way to counter. It could only take the attacks repeatedly. ¡°Hahaha!!¡± Souta laughed madly as violent lightning flooded the whole area. It looks like it was trying to destroy everything in sight. BAM!! The horrifying lightning continued to spread out and it even affected the giant undead. At the moment, the water in the entire swamp had already evaporated. There was nothing left aside from the thick burned soil on the ground. ¡°More! Give me more! Hahaha! Souta dashed through the air and grabbed the skeleton¡¯s skull. His eyes which contained bloodlust stared at the skeleton¡¯s eye sockets. ¡°Ehe~ good! You¡¯re good!¡± He grinned madly. The next second, he slashed the skeleton and a violent torrent of lightning slowly disintegrated its body. BOOM!! When Souta heard the system notification, he turned his attention to the giant undead. ¡°You¡¯re next!¡± Before he could charge, Souta heard Saya¡¯s voice inside his head. ¡®Souta, think about it! Calm yourself! You¡¯re losing yourself!¡¯ Saya said. Souta realized that he was getting carried away. His emotion was unstable and it¡¯s even influencing him. He took a deep breath and bit his tongue once again. Ugh! ¡°Thanks for the warning¡­¡± Souta said as he wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. He waved his hand and devoured the soul of the skeleton before he charged forward. The giant undead was also staring at him. Both of them collided in the air causing a powerful shockwave to sweep out. Bang!! ¡­ The body of the giant undead slowly fell to the ground. Thud! ¡°It¡¯s not enough¡­¡± Souta grumbled with a hint of disappointment in his tone. When he was fighting he canceled his Second Mode and fought the giant undead squarely. He only used his Archetype and it took him ten minutes before the undead crumbled into dust. He wanted to use the giant undead to push his Archetype to 50% mastery but it seems that it wasn¡¯t enough. The giant was tougher but it didn¡¯t have any powerful attack like the skeleton. That¡¯s why Souta choose it as a training partner but it seems that it couldn¡¯t provide him with what he needed. He sighed and looked around. His shadows have eliminated the other undead so this place was clear. There¡¯s no threat. With his current strength completing this quest wasn¡¯t a problem for him. As for why he took this quest. The answer lies inside that old castle. Souta¡¯s eyes flickered as he strode toward the castle. This was the most important thing for him. Lerna Island and Heracles. The second labor of Heracles. ¡°This is it!¡± Souta stood in front of a giant rock that was emitting ominous energy. It was too dense and ordinary people would have died from the pressure of energy in this place. The giant rock had strange runes carved on its surface and various metal poles protruding around it. Outside of it, there were dozens of golden-colored metal chains crisscrossed around. ¡®A sealing technique¡­¡¯ Saya muttered. ¡°There are four layers of seals in it.¡± Souta nodded at Saya¡¯s words. ¡°The first seal was inside that giant rock and the second one was the giant rock itself. The third and fourth were the metal poles and golden chains.¡± He laughed lightly and stretched out his hand. Bang!! His hand seemed it hit a barrier and a mysterious force pushed his hand away. It was powerful as it destroyed all the defenses in his hand and it even caused him to bleed. ¡°It¡¯s strong¡­¡± Souta glanced at his hand. With the power of his parasite, it quickly returned to normal. The ancestor of the Veinu Kingdom was a powerful necromancer and he was the guardian of this castle. There¡¯s even a barrier around the castle that prevented anyone from approaching the swamp. Heracles and the ancestor have a master and subordinate relationship. He asked the ancestor to guard this place tightly. The question is¡­ What is he guarding? The answer lies within the layers of seals. ¡°To open this seal¡­¡± Souta turned around. He went downstairs and found a huge and spacious room. This was a throne room. A red carpet lies on the floor, beautiful chandeliers were swaying on the ceiling, and a majestic throne was situated at the end of the room. At the throne, there was a skeleton wearing a red robe and it was clasping a purple staff. This was the skeleton of the ancestor of Veinu Kingdom. The guardian of this castle was nothing but a corpse now. Souta smiled before he walked forward. He stopped in front of the skeleton and remove the equipment on its body. The staff, robe, boots, and belt were only high quality orange grade. These were useless to him but his men could make use of these artifacts. A bunch of orange grades could considerably increase an S-rank battle prowess. But these things weren¡¯t his target. His goal for coming here was the thing inside the throne. ¡°It¡¯s here¡­¡± Souta raised his hand and the skeleton to the side. At the top of the throne, he could see a ring embedded in it. The ring was golden and there was a green gem flickering on its surface. If he removed this ring, all the seals above would crumble and the being inside it would be free. Well, Souta knew the mechanism behind this. It would be a problem if the sealed creature rampaged once it broke free. There¡¯s a fifty-fifty chance whether he could stop that creature or not. If it could use suppression after getting out of the seal then he was undoubtedly gone. That¡¯s why he didn¡¯t want to risk it. He was doing all of this to survive so if he could die why would he do this? Souta narrowed his eyes. He reached out his hand and caressed the ring on the throne. ¡®This is¡­ A dark grade artifact?!¡¯ Saya was stunned at the discovery. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s a dark grade.¡± Souta nodded calmly. ¡®Hey, it¡¯s a dark grade, you know, a¡­¡¯ Suddenly, she stopped as she recalled that Souta had two universal grades and another two dark grades. Souta shook his head and ignored her. It was true that the ring was a dark grade artifact. It was one of his artifacts in the game called [Burning Ring Seal]. This artifact was used as the core of the seals. Souta moved his fingers and slowly rotated the ring. Ohm! The ring emitted a dim light and a loud sound echoed. The whole castle trembled as if something terrifying occurred. ¡°This should be enough¡­¡± Souta muttered before he turned around leaving a doppelganger to guard the ring. If he took the ring, the creature would be fully unsealed and it would be bad for him. Souta only removed the first two seals and this would give him a chance to converse with that creature. It was his goal from the beginning. Soon, he returned to the seals. Chapter 743: [Serpent Dominance] Somewhere, inside a dark area, a man was sitting on a chair with a frown on his face. He has long black hair that draped over his shoulder. A man with pink hair color was standing behind him looking at the screen before them. ¡°Both of them are going to meet¡­ It¡¯s too early.¡± The pink-haired man said plainly. ¡°Yeah, both of them are variables that could change the tide in the future. We couldn¡¯t let anyone of them perish soon.¡± The man on the chair nodded. ¡°There¡¯s a difference in power. The other one had already tapped the power of beast instinct while the other only tapped the tip of it. The two of them will achieve monster lord in the future as long as they continue their pace.¡± The pink-haired man said. ¡°Both of them are already at the fourth stage. This is good but for them to cross paths this early¡­¡± The man on the chair rested his chin on his palm. ¡°Their meeting is inevitable. Well, I already have a plan regarding this. No one among them would die.¡± He then glanced at the pink-haired man behind him and chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re luck is bad. I¡¯ve watched everything that happened in the previous cycle and you¡¯re the only variable. No wonder the entire population almost experienced extinction. Even at my time, there are six variables.¡± ¡°From my knowledge, the Imperium held back in the last cycle to preserve its power. Only this time the Imperium took out everything giving birth to dozens of variables.¡± The pink-haired man said. ¡°Hehe, variables should just continue to improve their strength. They shouldn¡¯t worry about other people. That¡¯s why I¡¯ll give them a path. I¡¯ll guide them.¡± The man on the chair said strongly. ¡°Imperial¡¯s blessed children¡­¡± The pink-haired man muttered. ¡®We¡¯ll lose control of what¡¯s happening soon. The foreign energy is making it hard for me to interfere. She¡¯s getting closer and closer. I don¡¯t have much time.¡¯ The man on the chair said inwardly. ¡­ Sob! Souta heard a sobbing sound when he approached the seals. In the center of the metal poles, the giant rock was gone. Instead, a woman with long black hair was curled in the center as she tightly hugged her knees. Some parts of her arms and legs were covered in black scales. She¡¯s crying?! The great monster sealed in this place was crying? The monster that Heracles subdued in his second labor¡­ It¡¯s different from what he imagined. She wasn¡¯t like this in the game. This woman was the Lernaean Hydra that Hercules defeated in his second labor. She hasn¡¯t died from that battle. In fact, Hercules couldn¡¯t kill her at that time so he resorted to seal her after weakening her. Thump! Souta felt his heart beating wildly. It felt painful and it made him hard to breathe. ¡°This level of suppression?!? There are two seals left so how¡­?¡± He gritted his teeth and pressed his hand on his chest. It was outside of his expectation that the suppression would be this powerful. ¡°H-Hey, can you remove the suppression?¡± Souta asked with great effort. The woman lifted her head revealing a flawless face. Her skin was white as snow, exquisite slit pupils, and plump red lips. A streak of tears dropped from her eyes as she stared at the unknown monster. Her emotions were fluctuating wildly but once she heard this monster¡¯s voice, her emotional instability slowed down. She slowly opened her mouth and timidly asked, ¡°H-How?¡± ¡°Y-You¡­!¡± Souta was stunned. He didn¡¯t expect that she didn¡¯t even know how to control the suppression she was emitting. She wasn¡¯t bluffing since his [Galaxy Eyes] could differentiate the truth from lies. ¡°Can you calm down?¡± Souta asked carefully. He could still feel the powerful pseudo-suppression from this woman. The woman stared at him with her reptilian eyes. She didn¡¯t why but she felt like she could trust this man. Some sort of intimate feeling was blooming in her heart. ¡°Do you want to get out of this place?¡± Souta said as he felt something strange deep inside his mind. ¡°I-I want¡­¡± The voice of the woman was cut down as Souta felt the surrounding had changed. Everything turned dark and he found himself in the middle of nowhere. Souta couldn¡¯t move his body. He could only feel a surge of loneliness in the surrounding. I¡¯m lonely. It¡¯s always been like this. I couldn¡¯t see or talk to anyone. I¡¯m¡­ Argh!!! RAAHHH!! Souta suddenly went back to reality. His forehead was filled with beads of sweat and his breathing was heavy. ¡®What is that?!¡¯ He clenched his chest as various images popped into his mind. He stared at the woman in front of him and understand what was going on. ¡°I am¡­¡± Souta stretched out his hand. The woman also subconsciously stretched her hand. ¡°¡­The Serpent Bearer¡­¡± Both of them were about to grasp each other¡¯s hand but the seals pushed them away. Kyahh!! The woman screamed as her body slammed into the ground. Huh? Souta regained his senses. He looked at his hand and it quickly regenerate. He couldn¡¯t feel the pseudo-suppression anymore. He understood everything. He controlled the doppelganger downstairs immediately. The doppelganger moved and took out the [Burning Ring Seal], completely removing the remaining two seals around the woman. Crack! A loud sound echoed as the metal poles along with the chains were shattered into tiny particles. Just like that, the seals were gone. The indomitable monster that Hercules fought in the past regained its freedom. Souta smiled at the woman and said, ¡°Come here¡­¡± The woman stared at his hand before her figure flashed. She turned into a small snake that slithered around his arm in an intimate manner. The head of the snake gently rubbed against his cheeks. ¡®So this is another use of [Serpent Dominance]¡­¡¯ Souta stared at the system and saw that the details of the ability had changed. All the serpents in the world would favor him. They would treat him intimately and if someone fall-out, the effect of this ability was disastrous. It wouldn¡¯t only affect serpents at the same level as him. It would also affect those who are above him by one rank. If the difference was beyond one gap, Souta would gain an additional +500% damage to the said serpent. That¡¯s why this ability was called [Serpent Dominance]. He could dominate snake-type monsters easily. But it wasn¡¯t perfect yet¡­ There are still various limitations. For instance, their intimacy was low at the beginning¡­ It only worked because the woman wanted to remove the seals and he fulfilled her wish. He could see that this ability would reach perfection once he unlocked the remaining legacy. The serpents around him would treat him as their master even without receiving the parasites. He would have an army of snakes in the future. This¡­ Souta sucked a cold breath. This ability was powerful. There were various snake-type monster lords in the world. World Serpent Jormungandr, the one who destroyed the army of the Great Astley Empire in the game. Yamata no Orochi, a powerful monster lord that Susanoo sealed in the past. These two were just an example of snake-type monster lords. Even if they fall out with him, the effect of perfect [Serpent Dominance] would let him have an advantage against them. Saya understood the meaning of Future Souta¡¯s words back then. Why he didn¡¯t place Yamata no Orichi¡¯s worshipper in his eyes? It¡¯s because of this ability¡­ She finally understood why the Thirteenth Sign was so great. Souta didn¡¯t need contract for this serpent to follow him. She had a favorable impression of him and thanks to the effect of [Serpent Dominance], she would follow him as if he was her master. ¡°I¡¯ll give you power¡­ Lower your defense and open your pores.¡± Souta said gently to the snake wrapped around his arm. The snake looked at him for a moment before it followed his instruction. Souta proceeded to implant a parasite inside the body of this snake. No matter what, the parasite was assurance. He would be able to control this snake in case the two of them fall out. ¡°Stay here for a while. I¡¯ll come back later. Just focus on recovering a little bit of your strength.¡± Souta said to the snake. Although she was a fifth stage monster, she was still sealed for several decades and it led her to her declining stage. She wasn¡¯t some sort of monster lord that could endure the power of seal for thousands of years. So that strength she could muster right now was only twenty percent of her overall might. In her current state, if she used her release form it would worsen her condition. Souta looked up. This place was a special environment and the energy density in the atmosphere was higher than normal. She could probably speed up her recovery if she stayed here. Only at her full power she would be able to help Souta in his next plans. Chapter 744: Loot The [Serpent Dominance] could also boost the training speed of any snake-type monsters. This was greater than what Souta imagined. Recovery? Souta narrowed his eyes. The Nine-Headed Hydra didn¡¯t have any injury. Her weakened state was the effect of her being sealed for a long time. Even the parasite wouldn¡¯t be able to help her. That¡¯s why¡­ ¡°Stay here for a while¡­ Just recover a little bit of your strength.¡± Souta said to her. The snake nodded its head. ¡°Good.¡± Souta was satisfied. If she could exert a little bit of her strength then it would be enough for him. After he returned, he would help her recover her previous state. If he let her naturally, it would take a few months before she regained her powers. That¡¯s why he had to help her regain her powers faster. ¡®In one month¡­ I have to do it in one month.¡¯ Souta said inwardly. In the current situation of God¡¯s Continent, her strength would bring Souta a bit of safety. The demon army¡¯s invasion had slowed down because of Gluttony so this land was the safest place among the seven continents of Imperium for Alice. The Giza Continent was still facing the onslaught of the demon army so it was bad to go there at this moment. ¡°Do you have a name?¡± Souta asked the snake. ¡°This one is called Kessa.¡± The snake spoke using the monster language. ¡°Okay, Kessa. I will return later to pick you up so try to recover using the special environment as fast as possible.¡± Souta said. At first, he wanted to leave her in this place for a month but since he wasn¡¯t sure about the safety of his territory it was better if she was there as a guardian. Kessa hesitated but she still asked, ¡°Are you going to return? Are you going to abandon Kessa?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to abandon you. I just want to settle some matters outside.¡± Souta assured her. If she wasn¡¯t weakened, he would undoubtedly bring her with him. ¡°Kessa understand.¡± Kessa nodded her snake head. Souta nodded and left the old castle leaving Kessa alone. Her personality was outside of his expectations. She was very timid, and from his guess, it was the effect of her battle against Hercules. He broke down the barrier around the swamp by destroying its core. Then he went out and faced thousands of undead wandering outside the swamp. The fearsome army of undead charged at him without hesitation. Their aura was horrifying but Souta didn¡¯t even flinch while looking at them. He faced them head-on by using his skills and abilities. Every time he attacked, dozens of undead would perish. He easily took down the undead below Shackled Realm. There were only three One Shackled Realm undead and his doppelganger was enough to handle them. This was far easier than when he completed this quest in the game. At that time, the undead army had mostly destroyed the three kingdoms and they even crossed the rivers. The number of Shackled Realm undead far surpassed twenty. In just half an hour, Souta eliminated every undead in the vicinity. The only thing left was to clean the entire Lerna Island. Souta wouldn¡¯t do this since it would take a lot of time if he visited every place of this land just to destroy the undead. He would leave most of it to the three kingdoms. With their current military might, they could capture the territory they lost to the undead army. Regarding this, he would help them a little bit so he sent his doppelgangers in every direction to eliminate the undead. He would cancel it once he left the island. Souta arrived at the fortress. He found that Yuko, Yenxa, and Eztein had finished clearing all the undead in the surrounding. There¡¯s no need to worry with just a bunch of S-rank undead with Eztein¡¯s One Shackle prowess. ¡°Master!!¡± Yuko immediately tackled him the moment she saw his figure. She stuck out her tongue and licked his face. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m back¡­¡± Souta laughed lightly as he patted Yuko¡¯s head. Even though Yuko was at third stage, she was still like a child. He comforted her for a few minutes before Yuko let him go. Yenxa stood beside him without saying anything. Souta preferred her like this. If she were to act like Yuko, he wouldn¡¯t know what to do. Souta stood up while patting the dust on his clothes. He looked at Eztein and asked, ¡°How is it?¡± Eztein naturally knew what Souta wanted to know. ¡°We¡¯ve finished everything here. The soldiers are still wary of us so I revealed our identity as warriors from Athen¡¯s Champion. Only then that they lowered their guards.¡± ¡°They understand that Lerna Island is within the scope of Olympus¡¯ territory so they would have to follow us whether they like it or not.¡± Souta nodded. Olympus was the overlord of this land. A mere small kingdom on Lerna Island wouldn¡¯t go against a warrior from one of the major organizations. ¡°They wanted to thank us for solving the undead army so they invited us to stay for a night.¡± Eztein looked at Souta¡¯s expression. ¡°We¡¯ll accept their invitation. Tomorrow morning we¡¯ll depart immediately.¡± Souta paused as he recalled something. He turned to Eztein and asked, ¡°What about the previous warriors that took this mission?¡± Eztein shook his head. ¡°According to the commander, we are the first warriors that arrive here in Veinu Kingdom. They didn¡¯t know that the Athen¡¯s Champion already dispatched warriors earlier.¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. He also didn¡¯t find any of the warrior¡¯s corpses on his way. They weren¡¯t on the swamp or the old castle. He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, ¡°Gather more information. If we couldn¡¯t then we¡¯ll just leave tomorrow and let the other warriors investigate it.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Eztein nodded. ¡°Maybe, they didn¡¯t arrive in Veinu Kingdom. They are probably on the other two kingdoms.¡± ¡°That¡¯s also possible.¡± Souta and the rest walked inside the fortress. The castle was destroyed previously when Eztein launched his skill so the soldiers could only set up a tent. Commander Eili talked with Souta about this but Souta didn¡¯t care even if he slept inside a tent. Plus, Souta wouldn¡¯t sleep since he didn¡¯t want to risk his life. Although he was sure that Lucifer wouldn¡¯t discover him since he didn¡¯t harbor any animosity toward him, it was still better if he avoided sleeping. Commander Eili gave them each of their own tents. Souta, inside his own tent, called Eztein over. Eztein entered the tent and quickly took out the golden sphere he got inside the Royal Room. This golden sphere was a limited-use artifact. Souta observed the artifact with his own eyes. This would be enough to create a special space like Royal Room in Astros. He would arrange it in reference to the Royal Room¡¯s arrangement. ¡°It¡¯s quite good.¡± He nodded with a smile on his face. ¡°Is it good? When I hold it before I don¡¯t feel anything¡­ It couldn¡¯t even raise my physical power nor energy power. I just know that it is a high-quality limited-use red grade artifact.¡± Eztein said, very confused. ¡°This one didn¡¯t have any added stats. Its only use was to create a special space like the Royal Room and acts as its core.¡± Souta explained. ¡°Then, you¡¯ll establish a special space in Astros?¡± Eztein understood what Souta wanted to do. ¡°Yep, I¡¯ll add something more to it. We¡¯ll gather more artifacts in the future to strengthen the power of Astros.¡± Souta said as he returned the golden sphere to Eztein. He used a bunch of powerful limited-use artifacts in the game so he planned to get those things along with his equipment. Right now, he got [Soul Blood Earring], [Solid State Hunter Boots], [Vajra Sword Saya], [Yin Yang Bracelet], and [Burning Ring Seal]. Five pieces of equipment and he already tamed his pet in the game, the Nine-Headed Hydra. Once Kessa recovered her strength, she would be at the intermediate level of fifth stage. Her strength far surpassed the fifth stage Terror Gale Hippogriff that appeared in the Subterranean World. Souta caressed the [Burning Ring Seal] in his finger. With this, it should be enough to complete the Chain Quest. After the Chain Quest, he would get another mission to further increase his strength before the battle in Solnes Theater. The battle for the Tears of Divine Might. Souta had to acquire it no matter what. At that time, his strength would be known by several large factions and they wouldn¡¯t be able to ignore him. So he had to prepare himself. Kessa¡¯s full power would be a great help. Suddenly, Souta and Eztein felt goosebumps. Their eyes shrank as a powerful pressure spread out in the area. This is¡­?!? Everyone felt the overwhelming pressure. Ordinary soldiers felt their hearts tighten as they fell to their knees. The best feram swept out washing the entire area. ¡°This energy¡­? A fourth stage?!¡± Eztein couldn¡¯t help but glance at Souta. ¡°Yeah, and judging from the aura, it is a peak-level fourth stage!¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. ¡®I can probably use this to push the Archetype to fifty percent.¡¯ Chapter 745: Imperiums Blessed Children A meteor fell down from the sky and crashed on the outskirts of the fortress. The ground trembled heavily and a shockwave swept out, knocking down the soldiers and mages inside the fortress. Souta, Eztein, Yuko, and Yenxa hurriedly run out of their tents. The magnitude of energy made everyone turn pale. The soldiers below A-rank clutched their chests tightly as if someone was crushing their hearts. ¡°W-What is happening?!¡± ¡°Why is a powerful fourth stage here in our kingdom?!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t breathe!¡± ¡°No way!¡± The soldiers trembled in fear. Their complexion was bad as if they lose their blood. Commander Eili hurriedly approached Souta and the rest. He knew that Eztein have monsters with him so he wanted to verify if the monster that appeared was their comrade or not. Souta¡¯s answer made his expression turn bad. It was a simple ¡°No¡± yet it brought him a heavy pressure that made his scalp numbed. He knew that there was a high chance that this would turn into a battle. The only reason why he could retain his posture was because of Souta¡¯s group¡¯s presence. They gave him a little bit of assurance just by standing here with them. ¡°I think you need to evacuate the soldiers that couldn¡¯t handle the pressure,¡± Souta said with utmost seriousness. The presence of the fourth stage monster that appeared gave him a dangerous feeling. Souta was confident that he could fight any fourth stage with his combat prowess but this one gave him a different feeling. ¡°I understand¡­¡± Commander Eili nodded gravely. He turned around and quickly informed his soldiers. ¡°Souta, should we go now? It will be bad if this place turned into a battlefield.¡± Eztein said. ¡°Yeah,¡± Souta nodded and he turned his eyes to Yuko and Yenxa. ¡°Stay here.¡± The two were just third stage. No matter what, their strength was far from reaching a peak level fourth stage. It was especially the case with Yenxa. Her power level hasn¡¯t even reached the peak level of third stage so it would be bad if she tried to fight someone who was several times stronger than her. Yenxa and Yuko understood his words. The pressure alone from a higher species made them have to move. The only people that could fight were Souta and Eztein. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Souta and Eztein flew in the direction where the meteor crashed. After a few moments, they arrived at their destination. In front of them was a huge crater with a radius of twenty-five meters and a depth of seven meters. Thick smoke and dust covered the area. Ordinary smoke couldn¡¯t block Souta and Eztein¡¯s vision so they could see the creature in the center of the crater. It was a five-meter-tall creature with a pair of red horns on the side of its head. It has two pairs of crimson eyes, rows of razor-sharp teeth, and pointed ears. It has long black hair and its body was covered in a tough looking pitch-black exoskeleton. Red veins could be seen through its yellowish skin and a long tail covered in sharp spikes were moving behind. It has a gem on its chest, forehead, and both of its shoulders. A huge club in its right hand and a bunch of bracelets on his left wrist. The appearance of this monster made Eztein subconsciously take a step back. The savage aura around this monster made his body feel numb. Souta widened his eyes in shock when he saw this monster. He suddenly recalled something in the game. This appearance¡­?!? That two-meter long club¡­!! There¡¯s no doubt about it!! This monster was The Uncontrollable, Gerxuzs!! Souta felt a chill run through his body. Gerxuzs was one of the monsters that rose quickly in the game and reached the highest level in a short amount of time. His growth speed could be compared to the genius of humans and demi races like Yanagi Shina and Alexander. Suddenly, Gerxuzs figure flashed and he instantly appeared beside Eztein. Eztein¡¯s eyes shrank as he quickly brandished the halberd on his back. He wanted to strike first but it was too late. Gerxuzs spun around and viciously swung the huge club in his hand. A terrifying energy swept out and Eztein had no choice but to raise his weapon. BAM!! The collision produced a loud sound. Eztein was thrown away and crashed on the ground deeply. At this moment, dark clouds formed in the sky as thunder roared fiercely. Lightning bolt descended with unbelievable speed. It struck Gerxuzs¡¯ body fiercely. [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! Souta narrowed his eyes. He viciously pounced at his enemy while launching another powerful attack. [Crimson Moon]!! A red energy blade flew out and Gerxuzs simply crushed it by swinging the huge club in his hand. It was a simple swing yet it shattered Souta¡¯s attack easily. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that a monster like you is here! It seems that you¡¯re the reason why the warriors of Athen¡¯s Champion are missing!¡± Souta spoke using monster language. He activated his Second Mode. Ohm! The ground turned dark as various black tentacles emerged from it. His pores emitted a dark mist as black energy covered his body like a cloak. Then, ten black balls appeared behind him and the gravity instantly increased several times. Gerxuzs was a little bit stunned when he saw Souta¡¯s skill. He grinned widely and said, ¡°That¡¯s not a monster skill. You shouldn¡¯t rely on things like that. Let me show you a true monster trait skill.¡± [Enmity Dark Tyrant Body]!! His aura grew several times stronger. His overwhelming energy clashed with Souta¡¯s energy causing sparks to fly out between them. ¡°We are monsters! You should change your attention to the power within! We have the power!¡± Gerxuzs body flashed and collided with Souta. The two wrestled fiercely sweeping out the entire place. All the trees within a radius of five hundred meters were uprooted instantly. The fierce battle between top fourth stage monsters in the entire Imperium had begun. Souta recalled the doppelgangers around Lerna Island. He then recast it and the shadows immediately charged at his enemy. [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]!! Souta violently shouted. The vajra sword cross crossed producing a large amount of energy as layers of flesh covered his body. The weapon collision gave rise to a severe shockwave. The tyrannical power directly shook the atmosphere sucking everything within the center of impact. Then it exploded hurling the enormous energy in four directions. [Sixth Form: Piercing Thunder Strike]!! Violent black lightning smashed down, flooding the whole area. Gerxuzs viciously swung the huge club generating a powerful wind that clashed with the black lightning. With practically no hesitation, Gerxuzs¡¯ foot suddenly stepped hard. The ground instantly broke apart, and the enormous opposite reaction spread smoke and dust everywhere. In the cloud of dust, a figure covered in black lightning charged forward. BOOM!! The two monsters exchanged thousands of blows. Both of them fiercely launched their overwhelming skills at each other. ¡°Damn it!¡± Eztein wiped the trail of blood on the corner of his mouth. Strings of flesh instantly covered his body before he activated his [Element Drive]. He joined the battle and it quickly became 2v1. The horrifying battle shook the entire area. The soldiers watched in horror as they saw black lightning descend from the sky repeatedly. The battle continued for half an hour. Eztein couldn¡¯t hold on and just changed his position to support. He could barely keep up with his One Shackle strength. Souta shouted, violent lightning burst out from his sword. Gerxuzs continued to swing the huge club in his hand. The tyrannical collision caused a vicious shockwave, sweeping out everything. Souta was fighting for half an hour yet he couldn¡¯t even push his Archetype to 50%. He was lucky that Gerxuzs was matching his strength and didn¡¯t use anything like release form. Both of them were fighting with their base form to exhaustion. Despite only using their base form, the entire land within a radius of two kilometers was devastated. Their incredibly powerful attack flattened everything. ¡°Keke, truly magnificent but this is getting boring! Let¡¯s increase our power!¡± Gerxuzs laughed evilly. He activated another trait called [Boundless Fighting Wrath]. His energy level rose sharply as the club in his hand burst with tremendous energy. A ray of light flashed as the sword and club collided. Souta was getting receiving wounds every second. He was at a disadvantage in terms of stats against Gerxuzs who was at the top of peak level fourth stage. In regard to this, Souta had no choice but to activate [Element Drive]. Dark and white light converged in his body as his skill power increased once again. ¡°Eat this!!¡± ¡­ Somewhere in a dark space¡­ A man with a black hair smiled faintly. ¡°This is it. The battle between two variables, the Imperium¡¯s Blessed Children. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen heaven-defying people battled each other.¡± A pink-haired man was standing beside him. The pink-haired man narrowed his eyes. ¡°They are like us¡­ the Children of Imperium.¡± In front of them, various projections could be seen scattered everywhere but their attention was focused on one. In that projection, Souta was battling Gerxuzs. Chapter 746: Souta vs Gerxuzs Clear and crisp exchanges. The sparks of weapons showered down everywhere. Just the killing intent that surged from the two weapons tore apart the land without stopping. Bang! Bang! Bang! Continuous sounds of explosions echoed everywhere. The elemental powers of Souta and Gerxuzs rampaged throughout the land. Souta¡¯s [Dual Element Drive] waged war against his opponent¡¯s [Dual Element Drive]. Dark, light, flame, and ice shone brightly as the mountain near the fortress exploded with great impact. Gerxuzs smirked. The weapon in his hand fired a flame and ice energy ray. Souta forced his body up. Suddenly, Gerxuzs moved at an even faster speed. He somersaulted, and like a specter, he crossed the distance between him and Souta instantly. Another wave of attacks had begun. Despite the gravitational field and debuff from [Dark Cloud Hunting], Gerxuzs showed a speed that was several times faster than Souta. In just a second, Souta suffered heavy injuries from Gerxuzs mad assault. Souta had no choice but to use [Blood Armor: Jade Spider] to fight his opponent. He felt overwhelming pressure. Although he knew that Gerxuzs would become a powerful monster lord in the future, he didn¡¯t expect that he was overwhelming at fourth stage. With [Blood Armor], Souta was sure that he could fight three to five Two Shackles Realm at the same time yet his opponent could keep up with him. Black lighting flashed out as it heavily smashed Gerxuzs¡¯ body. Souta leaped in the sky as he raised his sword and a huge amount of lightning gathered around his blade. ¡®Souta be careful! That huge club is a universal grade artifact! After clashing with it thousands of times, I realized its power!¡¯ Saya said in his mind. Souta simply nodded. He knew from the game that Gerxuzs¡¯ ordinary looking club was in fact a universal grade. Even the five bracelets on his wrist were high grade artifacts. Two of them reaching the dark grade. [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [Sixth Form: Piercing Thunder Strike]! Souta swung his sword and black lightning surged out like a tidal wave. Gerxuzs laughed and he fearlessly faced the overwhelming lightning with dark and light energy. BOOM!!! Eztein already retreated from the battle after the two monsters used their [Element Drive]. Their battle prowess surpassed any normal Two Shackles Realm so he had no way to interfere. He himself was only above average One Shackle Realm. He hasn¡¯t even mastered the combat arts he got from Athen¡¯s Champion. He turned around and looked at Commander Eili. ¡°Commander, I¡¯m afraid that the entire fortress will get caught in the battle. You need to evacuate the soldiers.¡± Commander Eili could only follow Eztein¡¯s words. He had no capability to protect himself from those two monsters. Souta and Gerxuzs weren¡¯t even using their release form yet. He was only a mere S-rank so he couldn¡¯t fight against high level fourth stage. BAM!! Gerxuzs¡¯ instantaneous speed grew even faster. Although Souta had anticipated it, his opponent had already traversed the sea of lightning, his huge club suddenly vanishing. The huge club¡¯s speed was extremely quick, even the overpowering Souta was somewhat unable to withstand it. Souta stepped backward, dodging the huge club, at the same time wielding the [Vajra Sword Saya]. With a bang, their figures respectively retreated. Souta tightened his grip on the sword. His aura grew stronger as he activated [Possession], [Hunting State], and [Serial Killing Step]. These three skills were the skills of his two dark grade artifacts, [Vajra Sword Saya] and [Solid Hunter State Boots]. Gerxuzs simply laughed while ignoring the wounds in his body. His figure flashed, instantly covering hundreds of meters. ¡°It can¡¯t be your whole strength! It seems that you are ignorant of the beast instinct! The power of monsters!¡± BANG!!! Shockwaves swept out as the two monsters started fighting once again. Souta gritted his teeth as he tried to withstand the overwhelming attacks of his opponent. He was shocked. Gerxuzs¡¯ combat prowess was beyond his imagination. Although Gerxuzs had various artifacts, its power should be within his calculation. Another second had passed, and he took more than a hundred blows. If he didn¡¯t have the added stats of the [Burning Ring Seal], he would be put in a more disadvantageous position. He pressed both of his hands and the ring flew above him. [Flame Prism Seal]!! ¡°Using a flame seal against me!¡± Gerxuzs snickered as he smashed the seal above with greater strength. Souta retreated several meters away. It doesn¡¯t matter, Gerxuzs would need at least five seconds before he could free himself from that seal. If only Gerxuzs didn¡¯t have a fire attribute, the seal would at least buy him thirty seconds. [Burning Ring Seal](Dark): A ring that houses a powerful flame power for thousands of years. A powerful Vulcan King sealed his power within while forging this ring. Effect: +200 Strength, +200 Vitality, +100 Agility, +50 Dexterity, +200 Energy, +70% Fire Resistance, +70% Fire Damage, and +20 Energy Recovery Skill(s): [Flame Prism Seal], [Hundred Flame Doctrine: Shattering Seal], [Hundred Flame Doctrine: Combined Flaw], [Hundred Flame Doctrine: Unified Flame], and [Hundred Flame Doctrine: Extreme Victorious Array] Souta flipped his hand and the ring spun faster. A huge amount of energy gathered around it as it emitted a vast flame. [Hundred Flame Doctrine: Shattering Seal]!! [Hundred Flame Doctrine: Combined Flaw]!! He simultaneously activated two equipment skills of the [Burning Ring Seal]. The power of a dark grade artifact wasn¡¯t someone could underestimate. But Souta knew that this wouldn¡¯t last long against his opponent. Gercuzs also had two dark grade artifacts and three red grade artifacts. With the activation of three dark grade artifacts, Souta was sure that he could fight eight Two Shackles Realm by himself. He wasn¡¯t exaggerating it, it was just how he saw his power based on what he saw in the war against Red Matter Association. BOOM!! A huge explosion erupted as the equipment skills of [Burning Ring Seal] were shattered. Gerxuzs activated the power of his dark grade artifact. ¡°Show me! Or else you will become my prey!!¡± Gerxuzs roared as his figure was covered in high density flame. He waved the huge club in his hand and cold energy burst forth. Swoosh!! Souta hurriedly moved his body. A ray of blue light flashed before him freezing everything in its way. A straight line that spanned five kilometers turned into ice. Flame and ice. Gerxuzs control over his elemental attribute was better than he expected. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta and Gerxuzs fought thousands of times. By the time they consumed half of their elemental power, the whole land turned into ruins. Ice, flame, dark, light, and lightning consumed the land within a radius of three kilometers. If not for the sharp rise of mana density a few months ago, the affected area of this battle would be much worse. Souta¡¯s figure crashed on the ground followed by flame and ice. The energy spread out shredding a layer of earth. He was frustrated. He wanted to try to break through to 50% mastery of Archetype but it was useless. Even a powerful opponent like Gerxuzs couldn¡¯t help him. Life and death battle was the fastest way to hone his skills and abilities. ¡®Souta, I think I understand why you couldn¡¯t reach the higher level of Archetype.¡¯ Saya¡¯s words sounded in his mind. ¡®Why?¡¯ Souta asked slightly confused. ¡®It seems that the vajra lightning is a big factor. The lightning that you produce is nothing but an imitation of vajra lightning.¡¯ Saya said with utmost seriousness. ¡®What?! Then, I¡¯ll be stuck at this level!! My Archetype will not be able to improve further?!¡¯ Souta was dumbfounded. ¡®I¡¯m a monster so I couldn¡¯t use vajra lightning. Is there really no other way?¡¯ ¡®There is a method but it will take longer than you imagine¡­ For now, you have to finish this battle.¡¯ Saya said to him. ¡®Fuck!¡¯ Souta couldn¡¯t help but cursed. This was worse than he imagined. The [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] was incompatible with him. He thought that he would be able to practice it until 100% but it seems that it was only his imagination. Luckily, Saya seemed to have found a way to reach 50%. Whether it would work or not he would know later. Rage was brewing in his heart and his emotion was going out of control. The next moment, he bit his tongue to calm himself. Unexpectedly, he easily calm down this time. Souta took a deep breath. He moved his body as Gerxuzs started his onslaught once again. It would be bad if he got caught while brooding over Archetype. He waved his hand and the bracelet on his wrist glowed. He used the equipment skill of universal grade artifact. [Yin Yang Twin Spirit]!! Two savage spirits materialized beside Souta. The first one was dark spirit and the other one was a light spirit. Both of them were exuding a fierce aura that could make ordinary people faint in fear. At the same time, Souta¡¯s energy soared through the sky. A pillar of energy shot through the dark clouds and black lightning struck down ruthlessly. Chapter 747: Gerxuzs, The Uncontrollable [Monster Orb Release]!! Souta¡¯s body expanded as a thick and savage-looking exoskeleton wrapped around his body. The energy around him grew stronger as pitch-black spikes protruded on his back. Black tribal tattoos spread out and his crimson hair grew longer. The explosive release of his power caused an earthquake that shook the entire area. Souta slightly opened his mouth and puffed out a black smoke. His crimson eyes were glowing in the dark as he stared at Gerxuzs. ¡°Keke, that¡¯s it! Let me respond!¡± Gerxuzs laughed maniacally but a figure crashed onto his side. He flew and heavily crashed on the ground. When he looked up, the twin spirits were already pinning him down. The power of twin spirits was related to Souta¡¯s power. As long as Souta was strong, the twin spirits would only get stronger. Naturally, no one could underestimate the ability of a universal grade artifact. ¡°I¡¯ll show you!!¡± Gerxuzs roared as his energy skyrocketed instantly. The twin spirits were blown away as flame and ice rushed in every direction. The power he exhibit this time was several times stronger than before. This¡­ Gerxuzs opened his mouth widely and his sharp teeth grew longer. His black hair fluttered and its color slowly turned into dark red. The pair of horns on the side of his head grew longer. Its huge body burst out in flame as the exoskeleton around him turned into hard and cold ice. The flame and ice didn¡¯t contradict each other. In fact, they complimented each other, making Gerxuzs more powerful than ever. [Monster Orb Release]!! Gerxuzs stepped forward. His thick tail rammed the ground causing a small earthquake. His sever meter tall body was incomparably huge to Souta¡¯s two-meter tall figure. Even the aura he possessed was visibly more powerful than Souta. ¡°Keke,¡± He laughed as the huge battering club in his hand blurred. The next moment, hundreds of shockwaves were sent in Souta¡¯s direction. Souta narrowed his eyes. He swung the [Vajra Sword Saya] and black lightning followed it, dispersing the shockwaves with great effort. As far as he was concerned, Gerxuzs was undoubtedly stronger than the current him. Bang!! Bang!! Gerxuzs clashed with Souta and the twin spirits alone. Hundreds of bouts led to him suffering grave injury and the same could be said to Souta. The only difference was that Souta¡¯s regenerative ability far surpassed Gerxuzs. With both of them in their release form, the entire field within a radius of five kilometers was totally devastated. ¡°Keke, fight! Fight! Fight!¡± Gerxuzs laughed madly. He moved his body even faster than before. The huge club in his hand shook as it dispersed the black lightning in the surroundings. Commander Eili, Eztein, and the others watched the battle in horror. This was far beyond their imagination. High intensity energy was grinding the whole field. People below S-rank would have no way out of that place. ¡°W-What the hell?!!¡± ¡°Why is a level of that monster on our island?!¡± The soldiers¡¯ expressions were bad. Their mouth was hung open as they stared at the battle from afar. Bam!! ¡°I can see that you only tapped it!! It¡¯s far from enough!!¡± Gerxuzs said as his figure appeared in front of Souta. So fast! Souta flipped his hand, the [Vajra Sword Saya] glowed brightly releasing an ocean of energy. [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]!! [Sixth Form: Piercing Thunder Strike]!! Gerxuzs barely avoided the attacks using his extreme speed. Blocking Souta¡¯s attack wasn¡¯t good for him. No matter what, Archetype was an extremely powerful skill. He didn¡¯t want to face it head-on without preparation. He wanted to retreat but he was quite surprised to find the Souta appeared beside him. It was too late to retreat. He received a vicious thundering kick on his stomach. The kick contained dark, light, and lightning which pierced through his defenses. His position was knocked apart, but even so, a vicious strike like that was unforgettable to Gerxuzs. However, Souta¡¯s attack was far from over. His figure flashed, creating hundreds of afterimages instantly. Gerxuzs smirked and faced Souta in the sky. Their figure was too fast and their energy collision created a brilliant spectacle in the sky. The different energy spread out creating a vast net that covered the sky. BOOM!!! The two hover in the air. Their battle at similarly high speeds practically was a frightening hurricane. The wind pressures their weapon raised unexpectedly made the ground spray with vast elemental powers. It viciously wiped out every living being in their range of battle. The more they fought, the more frightening things became, and the more Souta found that he was unable to keep up with his opponent¡¯s rhythm. Gerxuzs¡¯ attacks were innumerable, constantly changing, and completely possessed the ultimate intent to destroy his target. It was terrifying beyond belief. His strength, speed, energy, and stamina were far beyond Souta¡¯s current ability. The gap in their power was getting large. Cough!! Souta spat a mouthful of blood. His figure flashed and crashed on the faraway small mountain. The mountain shook and all the monsters living within fled quickly. ¡®Fuck! This is bad!¡¯ Souta stood up and used a little bit of parasite ability to control his wounds. To maintain his ability to fight and to get the benefits from [Draw Blood] traits. ¡®Can you still handle it?¡¯ Saya asked gravely. ¡®Somehow. Well, the battle will be concluded soon.¡¯ Souta replied to her. ¡®You mean¡­¡¯ Saya said, slightly surprised. ¡®Yeah.¡¯ Souta nodded his head as he wiped the trail of blood on the corner of his mouth. ¡®Still, it¡¯s my first time seeing a monster as strong as this one. It¡¯s beyond natural.¡¯ Saya said. Even her previous wielder hasn¡¯t met a fourth stage monster as strong as Gerxuzs. ¡®It seems that you aren¡¯t the only one that is beyond natural, Souta.¡¯ ¡®Of course, Imperium is vast and birthed to countless powerful experts beyond imagination.¡¯ Souta smiled wryly. Gerxuzs landed on the ground like a meteor. The entire place shook under his feet. ¡°You¡¯re far stronger!! Stronger than any peak fourth stage monster that I¡¯ve fought before!! Before meeting me, you must¡¯ve thought that you are the strongest fourth stage?!¡± Gerxuzs stepped forward. His huge feet shook the ground and his energy spread out causing cracks to spread. In just a second, the monster who couldn¡¯t make it in time collapsed because of the high intensity best feram that Souta and Gerxuzs were releasing. Souta¡¯s fierce body stood without flinching. His muscles tightened, ready to go another round of battle against Gerxuzs. He was also prepared to use his remaining aces, the [Soul Blood Earring] and [Yin Yang Bracelet]¡¯s remaining abilities. There¡¯s also the Blessing of the God of Hunt. In case something happened, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to use all of his aces just to survive. The third skill of [Yin Yang Bracelet] and the forbidden spell of [Burning Ring Seal] would greatly tax his body. He wasn¡¯t at the level where he could endure the penalty for using these skills. ¡°You used human and demi¡¯s abilities¡­ Quite good but you shouldn¡¯t forget your origin.¡± Gerxuzs raised his weapon above his head. ¡°Now die!¡± when he was about to swing it, his complexion suddenly change. ¡°Huh?!?¡± He turned his head to the side as he narrowed his two pairs of eyes. An ominous aura spread out that made Gerxuzs and Souta trembled uncontrollably. It was as if someone was trying to control their bodies. ¡°This?!? Trying to suppress me? I may be a fourth stage but I already tapped the beastly instinct to a certain level¡­ Trying to take advantage of emotional instability will barely work against me unless you¡¯re a monster lord.¡± Gerxuzs sneered. His aura exploded and the trembling of his muscles calmed down. Souta coughed and fell onto his knees. He looked up in shock. He didn¡¯t expect that Gerxuzs could break free from the suppression of higher level species. Gerxuzs looked at Souta in contempt. ¡°You unexpectedly rely on human and demi¡¯s skills.¡± Souta couldn¡¯t say anything, the suppression was getting stronger. Gerxuzs also felt a pressure on his shoulder. No matter what, he was only a fourth stage monster. He couldn¡¯t fight under the pseudo-suppression for a long time. His figure turned back to a normal five-meter monster and his huge finger tapped Souta¡¯s forehead. ¡°I¡¯ll help you once.¡± Souta felt that the pressure on his body had decreased. ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll hunt you again without interruption. Leave this place immediately.¡± Gerxuzs¡¯ figure flashed and shot through the sky like a missile. Souta looked into the distance and saw a huge monster. The monster¡¯s body was enormous, reaching three hundred meters above the ground. Its gigantic body was covered in pitch-black scales and black flames would erupt out of it every second. It was a gigantic serpent, the Nine-Headed Hydra also called as Lernaean Hydra. Souta pursed his lips seeing Kessa¡¯s true body. Gerxuzs never would have imagined that the Nine-Headed Hydra already submitted herself to Souta. After knowing that his Archetype couldn¡¯t improve, Souta already called for Kessa¡¯s assistance to fend off that monster. It¡¯s a pity that the Archetype couldn¡¯t improve for now. If he broke through 50%, he already guess that he would be able to hold Gerxuzs with that much power. Chapter 748: Aftermath Commander Eili and the rest of the soldiers turned pale when they saw the enormous Nine-Headed Hydra. A powerful fifth stage monster from legends. Just a fourth stage could already give them a helpless feeling and now¡­ A FIFTH STAGE HAD APPEARED!!! Feeling the high intensity coming from that monster made their knees collapse. Their strong will was slowly crumbling. With the power of Nine-Headed Hydra, their numbers were useless in front of it. At the very least, to confront a fifth stage monster they should be at the level where they broke the first great shackle of a mortal¡¯s body, the fourth shackle. Four Shackles Realm. That level of power was the minimum requirement to become a Grain Leader in Athen¡¯s Champion. In Giza¡¯s terms, it is the starting point of SSS-rank. In this rank, the fourth, fifth, and sixth shackles belong to this level. The Adventurer¡¯s Guild grouped these three shackles as SSS-rank. That¡¯s the bare minimum level which requires in confronting a fifth stage monster. Yet, Commander Eili and the soldiers haven¡¯t even broken one shackle. They haven¡¯t even reached the path of mortal shredding so how could they fight the Nine-Headed Hydra? There¡¯s no doubt that they would die here. Commander Eili already resolved himself. He glanced at Eztein and was slightly confused. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Sir Eztein? The battle had stopped ever since the Nine-Headed Hydra appeared. I¡¯m afraid that Sir¡­¡± Commander Eili didn¡¯t finish his sentence as he lowered his head. ¡°Souta is still alive,¡± Eztein said plainly. ¡°Huh?¡± Commander Eili lifted his head, extremely confused. He stared at the approaching Nine-Headed Hydra. He shook his head and left. He would help his subordinates first. Eztein, Yuko, and Yenxa could feel that Souta was alive. They were bound by parasites so they knew that the queen hasn¡¯t changed its host. It was still inside Souta¡¯s body. Soon, the Nine-Headed Hydra arrived at the fortress. The steel walls that protected them for several years couldn¡¯t even be compared to the size of this gigantic hydra. The soldiers on the other side couldn¡¯t even lift their fingers. They felt that they would die from suffocation. They didn¡¯t even notice that there was a figure standing at one of the heads of the hydra. The figure jumped and landed on top of the wall, surprising everyone. It¡¯s Souta. His appearance shocked everyone including Eztein, Yuko, and Yenxa. Although Eztein knew that Souta was still alive, he didn¡¯t expect that Souta was with the Nine-Headed Hydra. This throughly surprised him. Seeing the state of the soldiers, Souta eyed Kessa. Kessa tilted her nine heads in confusion. She didn¡¯t know what he wanted her to do. ¡°Revert back to your snake form. Also, suppress the best feram in your body. I don¡¯t want you to accidentally kill everyone here.¡± Souta spoke using monster language. Kessa nodded and with a puffed of thick smoke, she turned into a small snake that coiled around Souta¡¯s arm affectionately. She loves the feeling around him, it gives her a feeling of calmness that helped her control her emotion. The [Serpent Dominance] was a better ability than he imagined. ¡°S-Souta¡­¡± Eztein looked at the snake in Souta¡¯s arm with wide eyes. Yuko and Yenxa curiously observed this small snake who was in fact a powerful fifth stage monster. Although Kessa tried to conceal her energy, it was still enough as her body was giving off an invisible pressure. Anyone who looked at her would feel that she was abnormally strong. ¡°I know what you wanted to ask but I¡¯ll explain it later,¡± Souta said to Eztein while patting the snake coiled around his left arm. Eztein nodded but he still stared at the snake. This monster was on the same level as the overlord of Monster Dungeon back in his world. A fifth stage that could rule an entire race of monsters. If not for that monster not bothering itself with worldly affairs, Eztein knew that the whole world would fall into its hand. Back then, he didn¡¯t think about the strength of a fifth stage but after arriving at Imperium, it was then that he realized the overwhelming power that the fifth stage possessed. If this snake joined the Astros¡­ Does this mean that they will have the strength to contest for a high-world governorship? As for low-world and mid-world, they already have enough strength after Doranjan reached fourth stage back then. Footsteps sounded and Souta turned his head. It was only Commander Eili who rushed here after seeing the hydra¡¯s transformation. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he stared at the docile snake on Souta¡¯s arm. It looked harmless like this but he knew how powerful this seemingly harmless snake was. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everything¡¯s fine. Kessa will not harm anyone here.¡± Souta said to Commander Eili. He was exhausted after an intense battle with Gerxuzs so Siuta didn¡¯t have a time to explain everything. He just wanted to rest for now. After saying that he subdued the Nine-Headed Hydra, he left without explaining much. He went back to his tent and lay down flatly. His muscles relax as he spat a mouthful of blood. ¡°Ah~ I want to sleep¡­¡± Souta spoke thinly. This mission was much worse than he imagined. He never expected that he would meet the famous Gerxuzs here out of all places. He suffered a defeat this time. In any case, based on my current level I¡¯m only an intermediate fourth stage I¡¯m still far from reaching peak fourth stage. Souta closed his eyes as he recalled the battle. There was still a difference between him and Gerxuzs. He was an intermediate fourth stage while the other one was undoubtedly one of the strongest peak fourth stage. If both of them were at intermediate level, Souta was confident that he could dominate the battle. He was still unrivaled at the same level. After a while, Souta sat up. He noticed that Kessa was asleep and she subconsciously tightened around his arm. He gritted his teeth in pain. Kessa was still a fifth stage and her strength surpassed him. He carefully pulled her before placing her on the floor. Then he closed his eyes and began a round of energy circulation. One day had passed quickly and Souta haven¡¯t even left his tent. He just continued to recover his strength while Eztein was handling things for him. The undead crisis was gone so everything would revert back to normal in this fortress. But it would still take a lot of time before they could regain their previous strength. After all, a lot of soldiers fell at the hands of those undead. Commander Eili did everything that he could to satisfy Souta¡¯s group. They were the saviors of the fortress and another reason was that he was afraid of their powers. Just recalling the sight of the Nine-Headed Hydra made him shudder in fear. Another day passed, the three kingdoms started their expedition to eliminate the remaining undead to take back the territory that they lose. Souta¡¯s fame spread throughout the entire Lerna Island. They dubbed him ¡°Master Hydra¡±, the warrior who subdued the legendary Nine-Headed Hydra. This title shook Lerna Island and a lot of ordinary folks revered this title. He instantly became a legendary warrior in their eyes. At this time, Souta¡¯s group left the fortress without notifying anyone. He went to the nearest city. The largest church here was Heracles¡¯ church. Souta wanted to visit Athena¡¯s church but he dismissed the idea. He just realized that up until now, he didn¡¯t know Athena¡¯s Oracle Chant. If he had time, he would try to learn it in the future. Souta¡¯s group went straight to the old castle where Kessa was sealed before. When he arrived there, he found that the swamp had already regained its clarity. The affected area from his battle against the undead had dimmed down. It¡¯s regaining its previous scenery. As expected of a special environment. ¡®This is a first grade special environment for dead attribute¡­ It is closely related to darkness and curse. This place will help you train a little bit of your darkness element attribute.¡¯ Saya explained. Souta nodded. As for why he came back here¡­ It¡¯s simple. He still hasn¡¯t harvested the things in this place. He left Kessa here before for her to recover so that when he returned to pick her up, he would harvest the resources here. This swamp was a special environment and was sealed for several decades. There were a bunch of rare herbs and fruits here. Souta asked Eztein and the rest to gather all the resources. A bunch of herbs and fruits which could bring them benefits were gathered in just half an hour. Most of the resources here were uncommon and rare. There were only two super rare but it was enough for him. Souta was satisfied with this gain. These would improve the might of Astros even by a small level. Astros shouldn¡¯t just rely on him in terms of strength. Everyone should grow stronger so when someone attacked while Souta doing mission, the Astros could protect itself even without him. Chapter 749: Report Bang!! A huge sound echoed as a five-meter-tall monster slammed a giant rhinoceros to the ground. Blood splattered everywhere as the rhinoceros¡¯ eyes lost their luster. Just like that, a peak fourth stage had died. The one who killed it was a giant humanoid monster armed with a huge club. This was Gerxuzs, the Uncontrollable. ¡°It¡¯s weak¡­¡± Gerxuzs spat in contempt. This peak fourth stage rhino was far weaker than the goblin he fought in Lerna Island. For him, no fourth stage monster could give him trouble except for that one. He was decimating every peak fourth stage that he met left and right and only left high level fourth stage and below. He didn¡¯t even know that the fourth stage goblin that he fought before wasn¡¯t even a peak level nor high level. Souta was only at the intermediate level yet he could clash with the top peak fourth stage. Gerxuzs frowned and left the territory of the rhinoceros. Souta¡¯s combat style was unusual for monsters. Several combat arts and spells boosted his strength by a certain degree and different skills were used to pressure Gerxuzs. The gravitational field and the other skills that lowered his ability a little bit did a great job of keeping him in check. If he didn¡¯t focus his attention on his surrounding sometimes shadows would emerge from the ground and attack him. It was an unforgettable battle for him. A monster with the combat style of humans and demis. It was far more dangerous than any of peak fourth stage monsters that he saw before. Truly magnificent beyond compare. ¡°It seems that I need to hunt some humans or demis and learn their skills¡­ It would be fun to hunt that goblin after that¡­¡± ¡­ Athens¡¯s Champion. Souta¡¯s group returned after a huge harvest. Souta reported the completion of his mission. He also didn¡¯t forget to report the warriors that perished on Lerna Island. What shocked him the most was that his feat had already traveled to this place. The warriors had heard about him subduing the legendary Nine-Headed Hydra. ¡°I didn¡¯t believe it at first but¡­¡± Carmel chuckled as he glanced at the sleeping snake coiled around Souta¡¯s left arm. The aura around it gave him pressure. The rumors were true. Souta really subdued the Nine-Headed Hydra. ¡°Somethings happen¡­¡± Souta smiled and didn¡¯t explain clearly. It¡¯s better to leave these things to their imagination. ¡°Anyway, the contribution you earn in this time is huge. I think that you will be able to promote your squad soon.¡± Carmel changed the topic. ¡°Thank you,¡± Souta said politely. He looked up and asked, ¡°Grain Leader, what about the selection of the other Grain Leaders? Is it complete?¡± ¡°Yes, new Grain Leaders have emerged and they will become the pillars of our Third Set of Pallas Division.¡± Carmel nodded. ¡°We wanted to celebrate it but the situation isn¡¯t good. So the higher-ups send some of the new Grain Leaders away for a mission.¡± ¡°In the Ruin Battlefield?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Yeah, that place became much worse than before. Our legion collaborated with Hell¡¯s Paradise, Hunter Bowl, Grains of Land, and Maiden¡¯s Heart to occupy one region in Ruin Battlefield.¡± Grain Leader Carmel said. These four were organizations of the gods of Olympus. Ruin Battlefields were the worse place on God¡¯s Continent. There were countless opportunities but the danger it possessed was something that normal people couldn¡¯t imagine. A bunch of countries were vying for these lands. There were no ordinary people living in that place. Only experts could last long and fight for various opportunities it possessed. In every Ruin Battlefield, Zeus dispatched one god to guard their occupied territory to protect their interest. The other Holy Lands were the same. It was a place where battle never ends. ¡°I see¡­¡± Souta nodded in understanding. He eyed Carmel and carefully asked, ¡°Grain Leader, what about the reinforcement to Hall Plains?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Six warriors accepted the mission. You can expect to see them soon in your territory.¡± Grain Leader Carmel answered. ¡°Their strength?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Passable. Just one squad. We¡¯re still waiting for other warriors to accept the mission.¡± ¡°Thanks¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be like that. If what you reported is true then something is really happening in that barren Hall Plains. A Blood Sacrifice for god¡­ Just what are they doing¡­¡± Carmel narrowed his eyes. Souta chatted with Carmel for a few minutes before he left the office. He completed his mission and quest, and he also harvested a lot in this expedition. Souta went back inside his room and set up a barrier. He glanced at the system and saw that he had a total of 24 skill points. To promote his class he had to level up one spell to ten and one combat arts to ten. The [Dark Menace] already reached level 10 so it was time to improve his [Shadow Damager] spell. With a single breath, Souta consumed the skill points he earned to level up his [Shadow Damager]. Instantly, 20 skill points disappeared. *Ding!* [You¡¯ve leveled up Shadow Damager to level 6]! This spell helped him a lot in his battle against Gerxuzs. By attacking Gerxuzs¡¯ body and his shadow, Gerxuzs received double damage. Souta couldn¡¯t help but look at all the spells that he had. Spell(s): Tier 1: [Fireball] Level 1, [Ice Shot] Level 1, [Mud Slide] Level 1, [Light Heal] Level 1, [Agility Boost] Level 1, [Strength Boost] Level 1, [Shadow Spike] Level 1, [Shadow Bind] Level 10, [Shadow Ball] Level 10 Tier 2: [Gravitational Ball] Level 10, [Dark Cloud Hunting] Level 10, [Dark Shooting Ray] Level 1, [Doppelganger] Level 10, [Shadow Damager] Level 6 Souta had a total of fourteen spells. He could cast all the tier 1 spells he had without relying on the system. Even if the mysterious system suddenly disappeared Souta could still cast the tier 1 spells. Fourteen spells¡­ It wasn¡¯t enough. He lacks skill points. Plus, he used the previous skills points he had to complete the body parts in the legacy. The Archetype and Thirteenth Sign were different from Saya¡¯s Archetype. The Archetype in the Legacy was completely compatible with him as it provides him with a body that could exert 100% of its power, unlike the [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] which got stuck at 50%. Souta looked at the combat arts that he had and sighed. It wasn¡¯t enough. What he need was fifty spells and combat arts to activate another hidden function. A function that let Blood gain strength to fight higher-level beings. Souta closed his eyes and began his energy circulation training. Best feram flowed throughout his body smoothly with the help of [Star Veins] and it slowly refined his bones and muscles. On the next day, Souta¡¯s group departed. ¡­ Dragon Council. ¡°We¡¯ve taken the White Line City¡­ This piece of news shocked the entire Mine Valley. They didn¡¯t expect that we would take the White Line while everybody was fighting for the three cities.¡± Ray, the First Head, pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°The Wingless Crow is too crafty. We didn¡¯t know that they are behind the assassination. Now that we¡¯ve taken the White Line City, the other organizations didn¡¯t hold back at all.¡± Jovi, the Fourth Head, swept his eyes across everybody. ¡°The Shackled Realm experts from other cities had begun to move. They hell bent on plundering any resources in those three cities.¡± ¡°What I¡¯m worried about the most is those organizations outside the Mine Valley. If we fight an all-out war they could seize this chance to take over our land.¡± Eight Head said. This was the reason why they were trying to avoid an all-out battle. There¡¯s probably another organization eyeing the Mine Valley just like Wingless Crow. The Wingless Crow wasn¡¯t an ordinary organization as it possessed dozens of One Shackle Realm and the leader strongly reached the level of Two Shackle Realm. ¡°What about I go ahead to fight for one of the three cities?¡± Second Head suddenly said. The rest of the Heads turned their attention to Second Head. Second Head grinned and explained, ¡°I¡¯ll fight an all-out war while you guys watch out the organizations outside the Mine Valley. Set up a post and connect it to each other to prevent a large army from approaching our land.¡± ¡°Then, our force will be scattered around the Mine Valley¡­¡± Sixth Head said, full of concern. ¡°No, we¡¯ll follow Second Head¡¯s proposal. I¡¯ll use my army set up a defense and scout around the Mine Valley. They couldn¡¯t probably detect people above Solidifying Realm but it is enough to detect a large army.¡± Ray said. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t try to invade with just dozens of One Shackle Realm. An expert of that level would have trouble if they got surrounded by an army of Solidifying Realm.¡± ¡°Then, we¡¯ll have to sacrifice our people?!¡± Ninth Head pursed her lips, clearly dissatisfied with Ray¡¯s words. ¡°We have no choice. It¡¯s not that we¡¯ll fight them directly. We¡¯ll simply use this to intimidate them so that they wouldn¡¯t rashly invade our land.¡± Ray explained. ¡°Our choice. How about we cast our vote now? We¡¯ll wait for Seventh Head¡¯s vote but we¡¯ll take our vote now.¡± Fourth Head said. Chapter 750: Going back to Ekatoe City Souta became a sort of celebrity at Athen¡¯s Champion. His feat in subduing the Lernaean Hydra was heard by countless warriors. He¡¯s slowly making a name for himself in Athen¡¯s Champion and his name would spread out in the future. It¡¯s natural that Souta started to attract some attention. His mission record was clear as there was not a single failed mission. This attention had merits and it could also bring him trouble. If he attracted the attention of those giant organizations then it would be over for him. If it¡¯s possible, Souta wanted to go to sub-world and finish some quest before he returned. Unfortunately, Astros Squad¡¯s rank wasn¡¯t enough to take a mission regarding Athena¡¯s sub-world. Still, he was only quite popular in the warriors¡¯ circle. It wasn¡¯t enough to attract the attention of those powerful beings. So he still walkout openly. For now, Souta should focus his attention on clearing the Chain Quest. If he could clear this quest, he would earn a lot and improve his battle power. Souta, Eztein, Yuko, and Yenxa have arrived at Ekatoe City after a few days of traveling. Souta quickly called Alice and the rest to inquire about the recent happenings in Mine Valley. He wondered if they found the person that used Charm in White Line City. That one is the most problematic person. Through Alice and the rest, he got to know that the Dragon Council had completely occupied the White Line City. They were also preparing the fight the other organizations for the ownership of the three cities. The fight was getting worse every day and sooner or later it would turn into an all-out battle. His name also resounded throughout the entire Mine Valley. His domineering power destroyed the organization made the other cities more mindful of him. A fourth-stage monster had emerged and took the position of City Lord in Ekatoe. Everyone was wondering where Souta came from. From their knowledge, the only fourth stage monster in Mine Valley was the Devouring Alligator. ¡®It seems that I can¡¯t stay low-profile¡­¡¯ Souta rubbed his chin. Although he was powerful, the other people shouldn¡¯t know the true extent of his strength. Also, the Hall Plains were far from the Lerna Island or Champion¡¯s Den. The news about him subduing the Lernaean Hydra wouldn¡¯t reach this place. After the meeting, Souta took the golden sphere from Eztein. He then went to the treasury of Astros to create an alternate space using the artifact. It took him an entire day before he finished it then he left Kessa inside to recover. She was in deep slumber and using this chance to recover her strength. She had some sort of trust toward him so her guard was lower with his presence. He didn¡¯t forget to inform everyone about Kessa¡¯s existence. This made everyone dumbfounded. A fifth stage monster joined their group?! It would be the Guardian Beast of Astros and the overall might of their organization had reached a higher level. Souta didn¡¯t explain it in detail instead he left the explanation to Eztein. ¡°We¡¯ll join the fight for the three cities,¡± Souta said with his hands on his back. ¡°What? I thought that you are planning to lay low.¡± Alice glanced at him. ¡°Yeah, but it seems impossible right now after what happened in White Line.¡± Souta glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. ¡°Then, what are you planning to do?¡± Alice nodded and asked. ¡°I will go back to Mince Hand. I will send Torkez and Yenxa to the three cities and Doranjan¡¯s feral corpse to attack the Devouring Alligator on the east edge river.¡± Souta turned and looked at her. ¡°I want you to supervise them. Get our members to fight these guys and let them gain experience. A battle will easily improve their strength.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Alice understood his explanation. ¡°After I return I want to see another one or two Shackled Realm experts in Astros,¡± Souta said. The number of peak S-rank in Astros was high. They couldn¡¯t break through with the help of high mana density a few months ago so Souta provided a bunch of high-level techniques. But it seems that they were still stuck at their level. So he pondered what they were lacking and came to the conclusion that they lack real battle experience. A battle that would stimulate their potential and push their limit to the next level. ¡®This wouldn¡¯t attract the attention of those people, right?¡¯ Souta asked himself. He shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. He chatted with Alice for a little bit before he left. The matters of Astros were left in her hands. He expected that once he returned, the Astros would grow stronger. He didn¡¯t need to worry that someone would attack Ekatoe City. Kessa could intimidate anyone even those SSS-rank experts. They would think twice once they realized the presence of an even stronger monster in the Astros. A few days later¡­ Mince Hand. Souta came out of his residence while stretching his arms. He turned his head and noticed a young man. The young man had striking red hair and an average build. ¡°Hello.¡± Souta greeted the young man politely. It seems that this person was his neighbor. The young man returned his greeting with a smile. He chatted a little bit with Souta before they went to the Mince Hand building. Mince Hand. A small school that contained a vast history. This was Souta¡¯s impression of Mince Hand. Souta bid farewell to the young man then he toured around the Mince Hand¡¯s Headquarters. Mince Hand was a huge school before but a calamity shook the entire school leaving it in its current declining stage. Most of the high-level experts have perished. A voice sounded that snapped him out of his daze. ¡°How are you, Junior Brother?¡± Souta turned his head only to find a beautiful face close to him. This woman was none other than his Senior Sister, Heili. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Senior Sister. I came out because I¡¯m having a hard time practicing.¡± Souta laughed wryly as he scratched the back of his head. He didn¡¯t even know the techniques that this school have. No, he received it before but he didn¡¯t bother himself looking at it. ¡°Do you want me to give you pointers?¡± Senior Sister Heili asked. ¡°No, thank you. I think I can grasp it soon, Senior Sister.¡± Souta politely decline. ¡°If you have any questions you can consult me.¡± Heili smiled. ¡°I¡¯m going now. I still have to check the other juniors.¡± ¡°Thank you, Senior Sister.¡± Souta waved his hand. After learning the background of Mince Hand, he went back to his residence. As a disciple of Mince Hand, he should grasp the basics of the technique before he could learn the higher-level techniques or intel. Souta sat down and opened the book in his hand. This was the basic technique of Mince Hand, [Divine Dark Circulation]. He decided to train this technique for a while so that he could join into the inner circle of Mince Hand. He read the contents of the book and entered Saya¡¯s inner consciousness. ¡­ Earthen Woods. Earthen Woods was a place adjacent to Mine Valley and Spring Land. It was a huge and dangerous place. Various monsters and demi tribes inhabited this vast land. Even the people of Spring Land didn¡¯t dare to venture inside it without preparation. At this moment, a chubby man was hiding inside a house. He concealed his aura and presence to prevent anyone from detecting his presence. ¡°Shit! That old man is consistent! I didn¡¯t think that I would face a problem like this!¡± He was none other than the person who talked with Amune back in Bland City. After the incident in Bland City, he fled as quickly as possible but he didn¡¯t expect that someone would chase after him. He traversed through the vast Earthen Woods and the old man was still chasing after him. The said old man was none other than Franklin. Their play-tag shook the entire land. Both of them disturbed the territories of demi tribes and monsters, leading those creatures to chase after them. This incident scared a lot of people. Various beings had fallen from the battle and several One Shackled Realm experts had fallen. Thus, naming the chubby man as ¡°Golden Palm¡± due to his extremely powerful palm technique that vaporized One Shackled Realm, and naming Franklin as the ¡°Changing Face Demon.¡± Franklin became famous due to his ability to quickly change his appearance. He could control his flesh like no other. Right now, everyone knew that these two were enemies. Their battle passed through dozens of territories. No one wanted to antagonize them so most of the people could only watch from the sideline. ¡°That man dangerous¡­ Just where did he come from¡­ It was my mistake to use Amune in my scheme. Didn¡¯t think that there would be a monster like that hiding in Bland City.¡± The chubby man said in annoyance. Chapter 751: [Divine Dark Circulation] Franklin descended from the sky to a small town. His One Shackle Realm aura was fluctuating wildly, scaring the all S-rank and below experts in the town. ¡°That¡¯s the Face Changing Demon!!¡± ¡°Face Changing Demon?!! You mean the guy that wreaked havoc in different territories!!¡± ¡°Then, the Golden Palm is here too!! If the rumor is true the Face Changing Demon is chasing the Golden Palm!!¡± The people of the town looked at Franklin with a horrified expressions. The killing intent around Franklin was overflowing and some of the weak-willed people couldn¡¯t even handle it. Franklin arrived at the ground and saw a group of people waiting for him at the entrance of the town. Within his perception, he realized that these guys were only A-rank. The strongest one was barely at the Peak of A-rank. ¡°Your Distinguished Self, what can we do for you?¡± The man at the center said politely. He was the chief of this town and it was his responsibility to welcome this powerful person. Franklin looked around before he said, ¡°Use Norman Language, I don¡¯t understand your local language.¡± ¡°Forgive me, Your Distinguished Self. Is there anything we could do?¡± The man quickly changed to the universal language of Imperium. ¡°People who enter your town in the last two days, bring them in front of me. Also, bring me the record of the people that leave the town in the last two days.¡± Franklin said coldly. ¡°I want it as soon as possible.¡± Regarding his rude attitude, the chief of the town couldn¡¯t do anything. He was only a Peak A-rank while the Face Changing Demon was an expert at One Shackle Realm. The disparity in their level was huge. The Face Changing Demon could crush him with a flip of his hand. The chief nodded and quickly left to complete Franklin¡¯s task. Franklin narrowed his eyes. He was displeased as the guy that he was chasing always manage to escape. As expected, it was harder to kill an expert on the same level than to capture. He looked at the sky. ¡®If I couldn¡¯t capture that man in the next five days I would return to Ekatoe City. I learned a lot of things while chasing that man, I need to report it to Souta.¡¯ ¡­ Souta slightly opened his mouth and black vapor came out mixing in the air. He looked down in amazement and found this unbelievable. ¡°It¡¯s compatible with me¡­ What the hell?¡± It only took him three days inside Saya¡¯s inner consciousness and he could already use the technique called [Divine Dark Circulation]. ¡®Is it because this technique is for darkness attribute?¡¯ Saya asked. ¡°No, Athen¡¯s Champion has methods for darkness attribute but it¡¯s not as effective as this one.¡± Souta explained to her. ¡®Better than the methods that I provided and the ones from Athen¡¯s Champion?¡¯ Saya was flabbergasted. She didn¡¯t think that a technique from a weak organization was better than the one from Holy Land. ¡°No, it¡¯s not better but this [Divine Dark Circulation] feels like it was made for me¡­ The effect is ten times better than any of the techniques that I¡¯ve used.¡± Souta muttered in amazement. He too couldn¡¯t believe that the technique of a small organization was better than Holy Lands. Of course, Athen¡¯s Champion was still better. It¡¯s just that those powerful techniques needed a high rank and Souta needed vast achievement points to get it. But the techniques he could exchange as a First Class Yellow Rank Squad should still be better than any of the techniques of a small organization like Mince Hand. ¡°It seems that I need to enter the inner circle of the Mince Hand¡­¡± Souta muttered in a low voice. He stood up and felt the smooth energy in his body. It feels better than before. This is just the basic of [Divine Dark Circulation]. It already could increase his energy output by five percent and boost his elemental power to a certain level. With Souta¡¯s current elemental power, his [Element Drive] could last thirty minutes. It¡¯s far better than last time when his limit was five minutes. Yet this [Divine Dark Circulation] made his darkness [Element Drive] last two minutes longer just by learning the first level of this technique. It¡¯s far more compatible with him than any of the techniques that he saw before. This was the technique that the disciples of the Mince Hand received after joining the school. Souta had the first volume with him and it consisted of three stages. He was only at the first stage and the benefits that he received were far better than he imagined. Souta left the residence. He went around and asked some disciples about the technique. He realized that the benefits they received after mastering the first stage weren¡¯t comparable to his. It made him wonder why it was different. ¡°I think I could stay here for a while¡­¡± Souta went back to his residence. He continued his training to master the first stage of the [Divine Dark Circulation]. Three days had passed quickly and Souta was training inside Saya¡¯s inner consciousness. Fifteen days had passed inside Saya¡¯s inner consciousness while only three days had passed outside. In these fifteen days, Souta trained the [Divine Dark Circulation] while Saya was finding a way to break through 50% of Archetype. In these fifteen days, Souta experience unprecedented tranquility in training. He broke through the Second Stage of the technique and improved his power by a little bit. The dark element power he had become a sea of power. It was already forming into a seed to reach the Second Level of [Element Drive], the Intergration. All of his darkness attribute skills had received a ten percent boost from training this technique. ¡°Szzz¡­¡± Souta opened his red eyes and they reflected an endless darkness. He felt overwhelming darkness inside his body. ¡°Oh, this feels good.¡± He stretched his arms. He estimated that if he trained for another fifteen days inside Saya¡¯s inner consciousness, he could finish the first volume of the [Divine Dark Circulation]. At that time, he would reach the limit of Element Force. He wanted to continue his training but he decided to apply to become an inner disciple. He already reached the Second Stage of [Divine Dark Circulation] so he passed the requirements. Also, he changed the energy he was emitting to match those experts at Initial B-rank. His disguise was perfect. It was impossible to bypass several orange grade artifacts for disguise unless they reached the Four Shackles Realm. After a few minutes, Souta arrived in a huge hall. He shook his head and smile at the person behind the counter. It was an elderly man with an aura of Peak B-rank. ¡°What can I do for you, young disciple?¡± The old man asked. ¡°Hmm¡­ Elder, I want to apply to become the inner disciple.¡± Souta went straight to the subject. He wanted to receive the second volume of the technique as soon as possible. ¡°You want to become an inner disciple?!¡± The old man was startled but he quickly regained his posture. He looked at Souta from head to toe and realized that this guy was already at Initial B-rank. ¡°Mn, I already reached the requirement.¡± Souta nodded as he didn¡¯t hide his Initial B-rank power level. He also didn¡¯t forget to show the mastery of the technique. Instantly, [Divine Dark Circulation] came over his entire body like ripples, producing a dark element that passed through his skin. ¡°Second Stage?!¡± The old man couldn¡¯t contain his shock. His voice was heard by other people from the hall. They looked over and observed Souta. ¡°Second Stage?!¡± ¡°That guy already master the Second Stage!!¡± ¡°Unbelievable! One month had passed and I¡¯m only at the First Stage!! Yet that guy!!¡± The people couldn¡¯t help but talk to each other as they examined Souta¡¯s figure from a distance. Souta ignored the gazes around him. His attention was on the old man. ¡°Elder, how is it?¡± He asked. ¡°Cough¡­¡± The old man forcefully coughed to calm his senses. ¡°Give me your token of Outer Disciple and I¡¯ll give you the token of Inner Disciple. Becoming an Inner Disciple means that you can choose a path of your own. There are five paths and each path has more than twenty teachers, you can choose a teacher to guide you in your training.¡± The old man explained everything that Souta needed to know as an Inner Disciple of the Mince Hand. His tone slightly changed. He became respectful. If he wasn¡¯t wrong, Souta joined the Mince Hand in less than a month and he unbelievably reach Second Stage. The old man took four months back then to reach the Second Stage of this [Divine Dark Circulation]. He couldn¡¯t imagine Souta¡¯s future achievements. He was only certain that he would become a major character of Mince Hand. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± Souta thanked the old man after receiving the token of Inner Disciple. From now on, he was an Inner Disciple of the Mince Hand. He could get information that he wouldn¡¯t know as Outer Disciple. It was far better and he like it. Suddenly¡­ *Ding!* [Quest Triggered]! Chapter 752: Inner Disciple As soon as Souta received the token of Inner Disciple, he heard a familiar notification in his mind. Hmm¡­? A quest¡­ Souta slightly knitted his brows as a semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him. He opened the details and checked the content of the quest. [Disciple]: Became a Core Disciple of Mince Hand within a month. Rewards: Manual of [Divine Light Circulation], 10,000 experience points, 5 attribute points, and 3 skill points Within a month, isn¡¯t this too suspicious? Souta tightly knitted his brows. He could only complete this quest to get that reward. The reward was the opposite of his current technique, [Divine Dark Circulation]. Since the technique was too compatible with him, the reward should also help him improve his light affinity to achieve the Second Level Integration. A month¡­ It should be fine to complete it on the last day while completing the Chain Quest. As for Quest 2 of the Chain Quest, Souta only knows that the person who used Charm in White Line City was a member of the unknown group. They were collaborating with the Wingless Crow. It was bad. Wingless Crow and an unknown organization. Luckily, the main headquarters of the Wingless Crow wasn¡¯t in the Hall Plains. They were far from this land. They were the same as Red Matter Organization which had various branches. And then¡­ There¡¯s the Murder Society of Hall Plains, one of the strongest organizations in this land. Souta killed their people before so he was sure that the Murder Society would investigate the Hundred Face Alliance. If he was in their position too, he would send more people to know what happened to the squad that attack the alliance. That¡¯s simple. He wasn¡¯t sure about their might but he guess that the Murder Society had a bunch of Shackled Realm experts. Souta shook his head as he walked forward. What he needed to do right now was to choose from five paths and a teacher which would guide him. The five paths of Mince Hand. Dark Fighter, Dark Mage, Potioneer, Shadow Cleric, and Craftsman. Souta only had two choices. The Dark Fighter and Dark Mage. After a few minutes of pondering, he chose the Dark Fighter. As for any attribute, he didn¡¯t find any of them in this school. It seems that Mince Hand¡¯s focus is on the darkness attribute. Dark Fighter or Dark Mage and choosing a teacher. Souta randomly chose them. He was sure that he was far stronger than any of the teachers in this place. The only thing that is important to him was the second volume of [Divine Dark Circulation]. If Souta was wicked enough, he could simply destroy this school and take the techniques. Unless everybody offends him, Souta wouldn¡¯t do shit like that. At the very least, even if he was stronger than them, the teachers¡¯ attainment in [Divine Dark Circulation] was far better than his. They could give him some pointers that would help him advance this technique. Souta choose one teacher and he followed a guide. They passed through several corridors, a garden, and one huge hall. Then, they stopped in front of an area with a small arena in the center. There were rooms circling around it and in one room a number was written on it. Dark Fighter Class 0-2 The guide looked at Souta before he turned around, leaving him in front of the door. ¡°That guy¡­¡± Souta was speechless as he stared at the guide¡¯s back. He shook his head and raised his hand. Knock! Knock! He knocked on the door and after waiting for a second, a voice echoed inside. ¡°Come in!¡± Souta opened the door and stepped inside the room. The room was a little spacious and it had dozens of chairs for students. There was a man in front, observing him. ¡°I¡¯m a new disciple¡­¡± Souta passed a piece of paper to the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man looked at the paper for a while before he turned his attention to Souta. ¡°So you¡¯re a new inner disciple. I¡¯m Vick, from now on, you¡¯re one of my students. If you had any questions about your training you can ask me.¡± ¡°Thank you, Teacher Vick.¡± Souta bowed slightly. He already saw through Teacher Vic¡¯s power level. An expert at Initial A-rank. ¡°Alright, since you are my new student, show me your mastery of [Divine Dark Circulation].¡± Teacher Vick quickly said. ¡°Alright.¡± Souta nodded and followed the instruction of his teacher. He showed him the circulation of a Second Stage of [Divine Dark Circulation]. It was flawless and perfect, almost reaching the Third Level. Teacher Vick showed an amazed expression looking at Souta. He didn¡¯t expect that this new disciple¡¯s technique was too deep. It was perfectly built without mistakes. ¡°You¡¯re attainment is higher than what I imagined¡­ It even surpassed the Second Stage of us teachers¡­¡± Teacher Vick muttered. Souta was also confused. He just knows that this technique was highly compatible with him. It was as if it was made for him. Teacher Vick stared at Souta in the eyes. ¡°You¡¯re going to reach the Third Stage in less than two weeks. I can feel it in your aura so I¡¯m going to pass you the second volume of technique or maybe do you want other techniques? I can only give you one for free after becoming an inner disciple.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll choose the Second Volume of the [Divine Dark Circulation], Teacher Vick,¡± Souta answered. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s my thoughts too. With your attainment in this technique, you shouldn¡¯t train other techniques until you reach the Sixth Stage.¡± Teacher Vick nodded in approval. Then, he began to run down the basics of the Third Stage, Fourth Stage, Fifth Stage, and Sixth Stage to Souta so that he would have an idea once he started the training. Souta listened attentively and the more he listened, the more confused he became. From Teacher Vick¡¯s words, [Divine Dark Circulation] shouldn¡¯t be as effective as what Souta gained. This made him speechless as he realized that his Second Stage was comparable to Third Stage of other disciples. ¡®How? I¡¯m getting more and more curious about this technique and the background of Mince Hand.¡¯ Souta said inwardly. After Teacher Vick explained the Sixth Stage, the final stage of the second volume, he proceeded to teach the fundamentals of the Inner Disciple. In this school, to get other techniques, skills, or spells, the disciples had to complete a task of their professors to earn school points. These school points were used to exchange for other techniques or skills. They could also use it to buy potions or items. They could even borrow the high grade artifact of the school for a limited amount of time if they had enough school points. After that, Souta walked out of the Dark Fighter Class 0-2. ¡®It¡¯s good that I got the second volume. I could use this time to perfect it to the highest grade before I think about becoming a Core Disciple.¡¯ Souta gazed at the book in his hand. He could guess from Teacher Vick¡¯s words that there were other volumes of this technique. This was making him excited and he couldn¡¯t help but grin while thinking about the other volumes. ¡°Junior Brother¡­?!¡± A feminine voice sounded beside him. Souta was startled. He realized that he lowered his guard while thinking about the technique. He got carried away and his emotion went high. Although it was piqued up by his [Crimson Perception], he subconsciously ignore it as the person didn¡¯t have any killer intent and was too weak to become a threat. He turned his head and saw that it was his beautiful senior. He smiled and said, ¡°Good morning, Senior Sister Heili!¡± ¡°Y-You are here¡­! It means that you are already¡­¡± Senior Sister Heili stared at him in shock. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m an Inner Disciple now.¡± Souta didn¡¯t hide it from his senior. ¡°It¡¯s too fast! I thought that you haven¡¯t reached the First Stage a few days ago!¡± Senior Sister Heili said. ¡°Hehe, I actually hid it from you. I just want to surprise you when I became an Inner Disciple.¡± Souta smiled wryly as he quickly found an excuse. ¡°You certainly surprised me¡­¡± Heili said blankly. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it¡­¡± ¡°I still need to rely on Senior Sister. I don¡¯t know a lot of things here so maybe¡­¡± Souta smiled. ¡°Oh, sure. If you have any problem you can ask me.¡± Senior Sister Heili said. Souta traded some words with her before he returned to his residence. He was an Inner Disciple now so the Outer Disciple looked at him in admiration when he walked back to his residence. If he was any younger, the entire Mince Hand would have treated him a genius that could reach Shackled Realm. Sadly, the appearance that Souta had came from a thug in his mid-twenties. Souta smiled as he saw down and looked through the entire second volume of the [Divine Dark Circulation]. Right now, he had Six Stages of the technique and he mastered upto the Second Stage. It seems that it would take a lot of time to reach the Sixth Stage. Chapter 753: Hall of Power After becoming an Inner Disciple, Souta learned a lot of things about the Mince Hand. The school was founded thousands of years ago. It was the glory days of the Mince Hand and their forces couldn¡¯t be compared right now. The vast difference made the higher-ups of the Mince Hand sigh deeply. The declining stage of the school began hundreds of years ago when a war occurred in the Hall Plains. Exactly nine hundred ten years when various organizations attacked the overlord of this land, the Hall of Power. It was a terrifying war that shook the entire region. Darkness covered the sky as flames and lightning spread destruction. Millions of experts battled in the land and sky, day and night. Countless innocent people perished and their blood dyed the entire land in red. Wails and grief of the dead people turned into malice as a powerful necromancer turned the corpses into undead. The war lasted for several years. It destroyed more than sixty percent of the entire population of the Hall Plains, leaving it in a crippled state. The Hall of Power was gone and only those second-rate organizations were left in the Hall Plains. What happened next was worse. Those schools and other organizations scrambled for power. Each of them wanted to become an overlord so they fought and fought until they exhausted themselves. The group that won was the Imperial Family which was currently in the central area of Hall Plains. While everyone was fighting, the ancestor of the Imperial Family gathered people and stop the never-ending war in their land. The Mince Hand was one of the organizations that fought for the overlord position. In the end, they lose their high level experts leaving the school to defend for itself. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is¡­¡± Souta closed the book in his hand. He turned his head and glanced at the beautiful woman next to him. ¡°Senior Sister, did you find anything?¡± Heili looked at him with an apologetic expression. She shook her head and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry Junior Brother, I can¡¯t find anything about the founding of the school.¡± ¡°This is the oldest record in our library. We can¡¯t do anything about it.¡± Souta shrugged his shoulder. ¡°Maybe, we can find records in other schools.¡± Heili suddenly said. ¡°Other schools?¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. ¡°Is there any organization that survived that calamity like our school?¡± ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, two from the Hundred Face Alliance had a vast history like our own. Maybe, they preserve information about the events before the war.¡± Heili placed her finger on her lip as she pondered. ¡°I see¡­¡± Souta nodded. ¡°Maybe, the headmaster knows something that we don¡¯t know,¡± Heili added. That¡¯s for sure. Souta agreed with that. The headmaster should know how the Mince Hand was founded thousands of years ago. There¡¯s also a possibility that the history of Mince Hand disappeared in that war. Souta stood up. He looked at Heili and said, ¡°Thank you for accompanying me here, Senior Sister. I think we should return now. I have to continue my training.¡± ¡°No problem, Junior Brother.¡± Heili flashed a bright smile. Souta went back to his residence and quickly entered Saya¡¯s inner consciousness. He started training the [Divine Dark Circulation] to achieve the Third Stage. As for the [Archetype: Vajra Extremity], Souta left it to Saya to figure out a way for him to reach the higher level. In his hand, this skill was weaker since he didn¡¯t have the right affinity and ability to produce its strongest force. What he could create was simply an imitation of a legendary ability. A medium. It seems that there¡¯s still a long way to go before he could reach the top brass. Souta couldn¡¯t help but glance at the quest in the system. ¡®Core Disciple¡­¡¯ He already knew how to become a Core Disciple of Mince Hand. One was to complete the Fifth Stage of [Divine Dark Technique] and challenge a Core Disciple to a battle. Once he defeated the Core Disciple, Souta would get the seat of that disciple. It was easy. The only problem was the Fifth Stage. It would take a while before Souta attained that level. ¡­ Bland City. The Dragon Council was in the middle of a meeting. There were seven people sitting around the round table. They were the Heads of the Dragon Council called Nine Heads. Right now, two of the Heads of the count were absent from the meeting, the Second Head and Seventh Head. ¡°I¡¯ve already spread out my forces to cover the perimeter of the Mine Valley. They will inform us once they saw people outside.¡± Ray, the First Head, said. ¡°Seventh Head agreed with our plan. He sent his forces to help Second Head in the three cities.¡± Jovi, Fourth Head, added. ¡°We should take one of the three cities as soon as possible. I¡¯m currently working on advancing my forces to the next level. I¡¯ve used too much resources and I need more.¡± Eight Head said. ¡°Me too. I¡¯ve consumed a lot of resources.¡± Ninth Head added. The Dragon Council was tight on resources. There was a battle ongoing in the three cities so they needed to supply their soldiers there. They never imagine that the situation in Mine Valley would escalate this quickly. ¡°We¡¯ll take over the three cities soon,¡± Ray said with a serious expression. He was determined to take those three cities. The only problem was those organizations outside that were eyeing the Mine Valley. He swept his eyes across the people in the room. He slowly opened his mouth and said, ¡°I think I¡¯ll have to show everyone something¡­¡± The rest of the Heads turned silent as they stared at Ray. They could feel the seriousness in his voice so they knew what he was about to say was important. ¡°Follow me¡­ I can¡¯t talk about it.¡± Ray simply said before he stood up without explaining. Everyone was curious so they followed behind him. Even Third Head woke up and stared at Ray curiously. ¡°We have to keep this secret and bury it in our hearts. I¡¯m going to call Second Head and Seventh Head soon. We need to increase our strength.¡± ¡­ The chief of a town brought every people that enter the town in the past two days in front of Franklin. They were shivering in fear as they could feel the cold and pressuring aura around the famous Face Changing Demon. ¡®It¡¯s not him¡­¡¯ Franklin examined them one by one as he used his mana to pry their power level. Their power level was simply too low. C-rank and B-rank experts. He could easily kill these people if he wasn¡¯t careful. He stood and felt something wrong. With his countless experience, he realized that danger was approaching. His energy burst out of him, blowing the people around him. Franklin quickly flew to the sky but then a huge magic circle appeared on the ground. The amount of energy it possessed was tremendous and he could already imagine what would happen next. ¡°Damn! They got me!¡± Franklin smiled as he looked at the sky. A pillar of energy descended, smashing his figure to the ground. Then, several people jumped out from the shadows and threw various spells. BOOM!!! Flames, lightning, water, ice, and light bore down pulverizing the area. In an instant, dozens of spells were used and half of the town had vanished. A lot of people got caught in the attacks. They died painlessly as the powerful spells instantly disintegrated their fragile bodies. Some people survived but their conditions weren¡¯t optimistic. They would die if they didn¡¯t receive immediate first aid. The man who was called Golden Palm emerged from the shadows and stared at the explosion. The aura around him was menacing. ¡°I know him¡­ This is not enough to kill him.¡± Golden Palm said plainly. Franklin was chasing him for a long time and he had an idea about Franklin¡¯s strength. He doesn¡¯t underestimate the man that could chase him all the way here. Boom!! A powerful surged out blowing the smoke and dust away. Franklin¡¯s appearance had already changed. He didn¡¯t look like a human at all. He¡¯s a massive piece of flesh with various spikes. He used the ability of the Parasitic Essence Eater to the fullest. ¡°I just plan on giving up but I didn¡¯t expect that you would try to trap me,¡± Franklin said with a huge grin, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth. ¡°Hmph!¡± Golden Palm snorted as he raised his hand and slapped heavily in Franklin¡¯s direction. Massive energy converged and assembled into a huge golden palm that shot forward with insane speed. It feels like it covered heaven and earth. ¡°Using the same skill again to this old man.¡± Franklin leaped in the air and swung the sharp blades in his hand. BAM!! The two attacks collided turning the whole town upside down. Franklin was thrown away and crashed on the ground causing a huge crater. His eyes shrank as he hurriedly move his body to the side. The next moment, a huge force heavily smashed on his previous location. The force behind it caused a powerful shockwave that uprooted the nearby trees. ¡®It seems that I need to report this to Souta¡­¡¯ Franklin narrowed his eyes. Chapter 754: Volunteer ¡°This¡­ As expected there¡¯s a strong organization backing him.¡± Franklin smirked as he pushed himself out of the ground. Then he dashed through the field as various spells were launched. Explosions erupted but Franklin swiftly avoided the spells from his enemy. He waved his hand and powerful blade energy was fired at his enemies. When it was about to land, a golden palm appeared once again and crushed the energy blade effortlessly. Franklin could defeat Golden Palm in a one-on-one battle but if Golden Palm had various helpers then it would be a different matter. He wasn¡¯t confident that he could capture that guy plus there was an even stronger person here. The one above. That person was standing in the middle of the clouds looking down at the masses as if they were ants. ¡®That guy is giving me goosebumps! I want to fight him but I have to report this to Souta!¡¯ Franklin said inwardly. He couldn¡¯t help but glance at the person who was suspended on the clouds. A triangle with a finger and a dragon coiling around it. He could see that tattoo on the palm of that person. A different organization? He fought the Golden Palm guy several times and he hasn¡¯t seen that tattoo. Maybe, a personal tattoo. At the very least it was a clue. Now that he had a clue, he should get out of this place as soon as possible. Suddenly, a huge pressure bore down pressing Franklin to the ground. ¡°Shit!¡± Franklin widened his eyes. BAM!! ¡­ Mince Hand was located at Beinu City in Spring Land. Spring Land, Mine Valley, and Earthen Woods. These three regions formed a triangular shape with Mine Valley at the back and the other two at the front of the central region. At this time, the disciples of the Mince Hand were running back and forth. The commotion caused Souta to pause his training. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Souta walked outside and saw the seriousness on the face of his fellow disciple. He could feel the tense atmosphere and some of the faces that he saw were pale. The nervousness was high. Souta grabbed the shoulders of one of the disciples. He didn¡¯t know what was happening but he had an idea judging from the seriousness on their faces. ¡°You don¡¯t know?! The Hundred Face Alliance is going to war with two overlords at the same time!!¡± The disciple said and quickly left. ¡°What?!¡± Souta was rooted in his position. He was quite stunned at this sudden event but after a careful thought, this should be within his expectations. Various organizations were recruiting to strengthen their military might to fight each other. Even the Heiro Kingdom, the strongest in Spring Land, lost several cities to different organizations. The entire Spring Land was chaotic. Souta didn¡¯t notice it because he was always training in his residence or in the library researching the founding of Mince Hand. Nevertheless, it was a fact that the alliance the Mince Hand was part of was going to fight two overlords. The organization that controlled an entire city was called Overlord. Ekatoe City had various organizations but Astros was the overlord organization. Even the members of the Dragon Council were the leaders of an overlord organization in their respective cities. The only difference was that some of the overlords were strong and some were weak. The overlord of White Line City was an example of it as it needed to depend on the power of the Wingless Crow. Third Head¡¯s army was strong and even Souta wouldn¡¯t underestimate the people under her wings. That sleepy girl was strong. He could see that she was holding back when she was fighting the leader of Wingless Crow. No, she was probably too lazy to fight using her full power. ¡°So I¡¯m going to fight, huh?¡± Souta looked over. He could sense that the school had tightened its security. Well, it¡¯s just the beginning phase of war so the scale shouldn¡¯t be high. It would probably start from the D-rank and C-rank. Souta shook his head and smiled. He placed both of his hands in his pocket before he strode forward. ¡°This should relieve my boredom. My emotion is getting harder and harder to control so I should vent out my urges to kill in the upcoming battle.¡± He arrived at the area of the inner disciples. He saw that most of them were in front of their teachers, waiting for the commands. These disciples were mostly at initial B-rank. A few of them were at intermediate and high levels. If they were going to fight an overlord organization, the Mince Hand was going to lose for sure. Even the Shimpan Family, who controlled the Ekatoe City before the Astros, had three S-ranks and several dozens of A-ranks. Surely, the Mince Hand would suffer a devastating loss if they were alone. Souta saw a familiar figure in the corner of his eye. He walked over and called the person. ¡°Senior Sister!¡± Heili turned her head when she heard a familiar voice. She saw Souta approaching her leisurely. Leisure? In this time of crisis. She couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly at her Junior Brother¡¯s attitude. ¡°Junior Brother, aren¡¯t you nervous? We¡¯re going to fight an overlord.¡± sighed Heili. ¡°Don¡¯t be mistaken. I¡¯m nervous, Senior Sister. It¡¯s just that I¡¯m an expert in hiding this type of emotion.¡± Souta flashed a bright smile. Heili sighed once again. She pinched the bridge of her nose and didn¡¯t know what advice she could give to her junior. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve improved once again, senior.¡± Souta appraised as he noticed the fluctuations of Heili¡¯s aura. She had grown stronger. Her body and energy level would reach the prerequisite level to liquefy the mana soon. She advanced to intermediate B-rank. ¡°You can tell?!¡± Heili was surprised that he could see through her strength. ¡°Yeah.¡± Souta nodded. ¡°Junior Sister.¡± A manly voice sounded. Souta and Heili turned their heads and saw a white-haired youth wearing a black vest. A pair of swords were hanging on his waist. ¡°Oh, Senior Brother Neiso!¡± Heili greeted the white-haired youth politely. ¡°This¡­¡± Souta raised his eyebrows with interest. He didn¡¯t expect that he would find a peak B-rank student in this place. ¡°Junior Brother, this is Senior Brother Neiso, one of the Core Disciple of our school.¡± Heili introduced the youth to Souta. Neiso just glance at Souta before he turned back his attention to Heili. Souta pursed his lips seeing Neiso¡¯s reaction. This guy was a Core Disciple and to become a Core Disciple, Souta had to challenge and defeat one of them. After he reached the Fifth Stage, he would take down this proud guy. ¡®I wonder what will be his reaction at that time¡­¡¯ Souta grinned inwardly. He shook his head and didn¡¯t bother them anymore. He walked to the front and listened to the words of the teachers. Their opponent this time was the Green Vine Pavilion from Ardous City and the Lifeless Hall from Eilu City. Souta realized that these two overlords were the scapegoat of the Murder Society after they attack the Hundred Face Alliance. Well, Souta was there and eliminated the Murder Society, but he let them continue their plan to blame the two overlords. ¡®It doesn¡¯t even matter. I just want to calm down my urges¡­¡¯ Souta¡¯s eyes turned frosty. He was having a hard time focusing on training when he had emotional instability. Mince Hand was going to lend a helping hand to fight these two overlords. Of course, all the members of the alliance were going to send their forces. The teachers chose several groups of disciples. Two Core Disciples, fifty Inner Disciples, and one hundred Outer Disciples. Souta volunteered himself as he wanted to let off some steam. At his current level, this scale of battle was a child play in front of his eyes. On the next day, the group departed. They went straight to the Ardous City where the Green Vine Pavilion resides. It took them six hours of travel before they arrived at the ground base five kilometers away from the city. The battle had started already. The soldiers of Green Vine Pavilion were confronting anyone who approached the city wall. They simply attacked without saying anything. It was madness. In return, the Hundred Face Alliance, sent hundreds of C-rank to advance forward. Various battles in different directions were currently ongoing. Souta, with his [Crimson Perception], could feel that there was a total of one thousand seven hundred ninety nine people in the woods right now. They were either enemies or part of the Hundred Face Alliance. Hmm¡­ This is better than I had imagined. Souta raised his eyebrows in delight. He waved his hand and gathered the lingering souls in the surroundings. He shook his head and turned around. The leader of his group was going to give them some words. It¡¯s better for him to listen before he rushed to the battlefield. It¡¯s less suspicious that way. Good. Chapter 755: Destruction Souta was crouching behind the bushes as he examined the area around him. He raised his left hand and a black energy sphere materialized around it. The energy sphere orbited around his arm. [Gravitational Ball]! Souta¡¯s eyes pierced through the woods as he stared at the people standing on top of the city walls two kilometers away from him. ¡®I need to eliminate these guys¡­ They are scouts that observed the battlefield and it will be bad if they saw that my strength is beyond B-rank.¡¯ Souta¡¯s eyes were filled with killing intent as he stared at the people from Green Vine Pavilion. He made a grabbing motion. The atmosphere suddenly changed. The people on top of the city wall suddenly stop moving. ¡°Argh!!¡± ¡°W-What¡¯s happening?!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t breathe!!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t see anything!!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t hear anything!!¡± ¡°No!!!¡± They fell down on their knees as they clutched their chest. Their faces were distorted from pain as blood started gushing out of their seven orifices. Their bodies were crushed into tiny pieces of meat, leaving a pool of blood on the floor. The city wall was devoid of any sounds. No one knew that all the people that were looking out had died. ¡°Now that the eyes are gone. I can satisfy my desire to kill.¡± Souta grinned devilishly. His aura was filled with raging killing intent as he dashed through the woods. Swoosh!! The sun was high and no one had any idea that a powerful monster was lurking in the woods. Souta swiftly killed and even tortured some of the people that he met. Blood dyed the greenish grass as corpses fell down like dried leaves. Miserable cries echoed in the woods as Souta continued his killing spree. Monsters that leave here, people from Green Vine Pavilion, and even people from Hundred Face Alliance were no exception. Souta got carried away by his bloodlust. Half an hour later. Souta was standing looking at the sky. His body was covered in blood and various body parts were scattered around him. ¡°I relieved my desire¡­ It felt so good¡­¡± His mouth let out a groan of satisfaction. This was a way for him to control his emotion or else, he would have massacred everyone in this place. That¡¯s not good and it contradicts his plan. Which was why he had to kill to satisfy himself, to control himself. Right now, after he satisfied his desire, he felt tranquil. A serenity that he felt back then in the special environment on Lerna Island. ¡°This¡­ I can feel it¡­ Saya, I¡¯m enlightened¡­¡± Souta muttered while looking blankly at the sun. ¡®What is it?¡¯ Saya suddenly asked. She was busy thinking about a way to breakthrough fifty percent of the Archetype. ¡°About Archetype¡­ I think I can manage it¡­¡± ¡®What?!?¡¯ The events on the battlefield shook the two sides. More than half of the people had perished in the most gruesome ways. Their internal organs were pulled apart, and stuffed into the other people. Even the monsters that inhabited the woods had perished in the same manner. This piece of news scared the Green Vine Pavilion and Hundred Face Alliance. The two sides temporarily stopped sending their people to the battlefield as they waited for more reinforcement. Since the Green Vine Pavilion¡¯s headquarters was inside the city, they quickly send several A-rank experts to the battlefield. They searched through the entire woods but they didn¡¯t find the culprit. At the same time, they didn¡¯t forget to push the Hundred Face Alliance. The culprit, Souta, was leisurely resting at the camps of Mince Hand. He didn¡¯t even bother himself for what he did. He acted as if the brutal killings weren¡¯t related to him. Fighting on the battlefield, eating a meal, resting, training, and then fighting again. He repeated this cycle until he finished his quota. Souta walked out of the tent after a few rounds of training. He noticed that the atmosphere had changed. He could see a look of relief on the faces of these people. He strode and found Heili. He was curious so he asked her what was happening. ¡°A Solidifying Realm elder had arrived,¡± Heili said. ¡®S-rank?!¡¯ Souta raised his eyebrows. ¡®The war had reached the state where S-rank needed to move. This is getting interesting but this isn¡¯t my problem anymore.¡¯ The S-ranks were getting involved now. It would become an all out battle sooner or later. Souta estimated that it would probably take one or two months before the final battle. The Green Vine Pavilion could just send its forces to attack the members of the Hundred Face Alliance, it would leave their base defenseless. The same could be said for the Hundred Face Alliance. They had to lure out the master of the Green Vine Pavilion. They would be at a disadvantage if they fought the master as their home base which was filled with traps. As for why would it last one or two months, the answer was supplies. The Hundred Face Alliance surrounded the entire Ardous City, cutting down all the merchants that wanted to enter the city. They only had to wait until the supply runs out and the Green Vine Pavilion would be forced to fight to gather more supply. Even the master would probably move at that time. The S-rank expert of the alliance was here to strengthen their power. At the same time, set up traps for powerful experts of Green Vine Pavilion. He turned to Heili and asked, ¡°Senior Sister have you finished your quota?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Heili answered. ¡°Then, why don¡¯t you return with me? I already finish my quota.¡± Souta suggested. He already satisfied his desire so he wanted to go back to continue his training. He was close to reaching Fourth Stage of [Divine Dark Circulation]. That way, he would be able to challenge a Core Disciple and become one himself. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Heili shook her head. ¡°I think of staying here for another week.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Souta nodded. He respected Heili¡¯s decision. He was different from her. He had no attachment to Mince Hand so he didn¡¯t want to fight for them. He joined because he wanted to gather some information and blend with the people of Spring Land. As for Heili, she was a disciple of the school for several years. She grew alongside it. ¡°Why don¡¯t you stay here, Junior Brother?¡± Heili asked. Souta was about to answer when a voice sounded. ¡°Let him be, Junior Sister. He just became a disciple of our school so he wouldn¡¯t risk his life for our school.¡± Souta and Heili turned their heads and found that it was the Core Disciple, Neiso. Neiso was one of the two Core Disciples of Mince Hand that was dispatched in this war. ¡°That¡¯s why we need to care¡­¡± Heili said. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Senior Sister.¡± Souta stopped Heili as he shook his head. Suddenly, Souta felt goosebumps all over his body. ¡°Senior Sister!!¡± He quickly reacted as he stretched out his hand and grabbed Heili¡¯s head. He covered her body and swiftly created a barrier. BOOM!!! A deafening sound erupted instantly as the entire area shook. A shockwave blasted everything into smithereens, spreading out everywhere. Chapter 756: Ancient Ruin ¡°Cough! Cough!¡± Heili coughed. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the thick smoke and dust in the area. ¡°What happened, Junior Brother?¡± Souta didn¡¯t answer Heili¡¯s question. Instead, he focused his attention on the surrounding. He had an idea about the attacker. Murder Society. It should be them. After all, their people vanished after dealing with the Hundred Face Alliance. If there were another group aside from them, Souta really had no idea. He didn¡¯t even know if the Hundred Face Alliance had other enemies. ¡®Ten S-rank experts and one One Shackled Realm?!?¡¯ Souta was slightly shocked at the lineup of the attackers. At this rate, everyone in this place was going to die. Souta glanced at Heili. Heili also looked at him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Junior Brother? Let¡¯s stand up and check if we could help our comrades.¡± Souta shook his head. He swiftly moved his hand and before Heili could react, she already lost consciousness. ¡°You¡¯re a kind woman and I have a good impression of you so I don¡¯t want you to die in this place¡­¡± He muttered before he stood up and carried Heili in his arms. Seven shadows rose from the ground and stood beside him. [Doppelganger]!! With a wave of his hand, all the doppelgangers had disappeared as they hid in every direction. Souta wanted them to follow the attackers to find their headquarters. Souta dashed without looking back. He already knew that the Murder Society would attack them but he didn¡¯t expect it at this time. No one realized that he had left the camp of the Hundred Face Alliance. ¡°Who are you?!¡± ¡°Argh!!¡± ¡°Why?!!¡± ¡°Everyone run!!¡± The unknown people started the massacre. Ten S-rank experts were unstoppable. They killed everyone in their sight and even the S-rank of the Hundred Face Alliance couldn¡¯t do anything. The One Shackle expert simply floated above while observing the entire camp. He had an indifferent expression on his face as if the lives of these people were the same as ants. Thud! An old man fell on the ground without any signs of life. His face was painted in horror as the energy level around him still lingered. It was clearly the level of an S-rank expert. He was the S-rank expert of the Hundred Face Alliance. The One Shackle expert shook his head in disappointment. ¡°He didn¡¯t know why our squad vanishes after that attack¡­ It seems that there¡¯s a hidden expert in the Hundred Face Alliance¡­¡± He turned around and added, ¡°Leave some people alive. Let them spread the word about this incident. I¡¯m sure that the hidden expert will know that we are hunting.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir!!¡± The ten S-rank experts nodded at the same time. ¡­ Souta arrived in a small city. He rented a room in an inn and placed Heili on the bed. He sat on the corner of the bed and recalled the events at the camp. There¡¯s an eighty percent chance that those people were from the Murder Society. To be able to send one One Shackle and ten S-rank experts easily couldn¡¯t be more than one of the strongest organizations in Hall Plains. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Souta sighed as he glanced at Heili. He checked her pulse and found that she just fainted from his chop. There was no attack that landed on her body while he was protecting her. ¡®What are you planning to do with her?¡¯ Saya asked. ¡®I¡¯m going to wait until she wakes up. Then, both of us we¡¯ll return to Mince Hand.¡¯ Souta answered. He planned to continue his training in Mince Hand and achieve the Fifth Stage before he challenges one of the Core Disciples to complete his quest. Since the [Divine Dark Circulation] was compatible with him, the [Divine Light Circulation] should be the same. He was looking forward to getting his hands on it. Souta went downstairs and ordered a meal. Although he didn¡¯t need to eat, he just wanted to satisfy his craving for food. He sat down and observed the area. A bunch of people were eating and drinking around a table. Some of them were on the corner waiting for someone. Sounds of laughter echoed in this lively atmosphere. ¡®It¡¯s not bad¡­¡¯ Souta folded his arms in front of his chest, finding this atmosphere a bit pleasing. After a few minutes, a waiter arrived and placed his meal on the table. The meal was cheap as it only cost him a few copper coins. Although he didn¡¯t have any silver or platinum coins with him, a few gold coins could still sustain him. ¡°Hey, did hear it?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Souta raised his eyebrows as he listened to the conversation around him while eating. ¡°Some people discover an ancient ruin near the Vantas Mountain Range.¡± ¡°Wait, for real?!?¡± ¡°Yeah, a lot of merchants know about it!!¡± ¡°Several factions are moving too! It seems that the ancient ruin is true!¡± ¡®Vantas Mountain Range? And an ancient ruin¡­¡¯ Souta was interested in it. Who wouldn¡¯t be interested in an ancient ruin where he could get various treasures? But Heili was here¡­ Should he bring her back to Mince Hand before he goes to Vantas Mountain Range? He wouldn¡¯t have enough time if the ruin. ¡®I¡¯ll just bring her with me. I can¡¯t leave her alone when she¡¯s kind to me.¡¯ Souta shrugged his shoulders. Heili should be able to handle herself with her intermediate B-rank power level. So she would be fine even if he brought her to the ancient ruins. Souta finished his meal and returned to his room. He did a few rounds of training and he only stopped when the sun was already up. His attainment in [Divine Dark Circulation] had increased a little bit. He went to check on Heili and found that she was awake. ¡°Senior Sister!¡± Heili slightly turned her head when she heard someone call her name. She was familiar with this voice so she knew that it was her junior brother. ¡°Junior Brother, what happened? I remember¡­¡± Heili lowered her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Senior Sister. I decided to save you at that time. It would be useless if we fight with our current strength. We would only waste our lives.¡± Souta explained to her. He told her everything except for a few important details. ¡°Are we the only ones alive?¡± Heili asked in a trembling tone. ¡°I don¡¯t know. There¡¯s probably someone like us who survives out there.¡± Souta shook his head. He closed his eyes and sensed his doppelgangers. His shadows were still following the culprits of the attack. ¡°You don¡¯t need to comfort me.¡± Heili shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯m just telling the truth. If we survive, then there¡¯s also a chance that other people would survive.¡± Souta said to her. In fact, he knew that the attackers deliberately left some people alive through his doppelgangers. ¡°¡­You are right, Junior Brother, there are people stronger than us so they probably survive too.¡± Heili could only nod her head. She lifted her head and looked him in the eyes. ¡°What should we do now, Junior Brother? When will we return to our home?¡± ¡®Home, huh?¡¯ Souta said inwardly. He didn¡¯t reject her words about her home. In this world, Astros and Dark Oculus were the things he could call home. ¡°We¡¯ll go another way. There¡¯s a chance that those people will chase the survivors. So we¡¯ll stay out for a while.¡± He found an excuse to check the Vantas Mountain Valley. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll listen to you, Junior Brother,¡± Heili said. ¡°Thank you for listening to me, Senior Sister.¡± Souta nodded. If there¡¯s a chance, he would help her in the future. After all, he had a good impression of her. They prepared their things and quickly departed. They went through the most common route. On their way, the news about the incident in Ardous City had spread. Various powers were shocked since the Hundred Face Alliance camp was obliterated. Even their enemy, the Green Vine Pavilion was stunned when they heard the news. An S-rank expert along with a few A-ranks had perished in just a day. No one had any idea about the identity of the culprit. The Hundred Face Alliance stopped showing their aggression at the two overlords. They didn¡¯t have any idea who they offended so they became cautious. At this time, Souta and Heili arrived at the small town called Blue River Town. It was a place with a population of less than a thousand. It was usually a quiet and peaceful place but it was different this time. A lot of people have arrived and occupied the inns. It was related to the ancient ruin in Vantas Mountain Range. ¡°An ancient ruin?¡± Heili curiously looked around. She wanted to know more about the ancient ruin as she haven¡¯t gone to one before. ¡°It seems so. Do you want to check it?¡± Souta asked. ¡°I¡¯m curious but I don¡¯t think we should join. There are countless experts waiting for it to open.¡± Heili answered worriedly. She was just an intermediate B-rank so she wasn¡¯t sure if it would be fruitful. The worst-case scenario was that the two of them would perish inside the ancient ruin. ¡°It¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll find an inn first.¡± Souta smiled. Chapter 757: Meeting an acquaintance Souta could understand why Heili didn¡¯t want to go to the ancient ruin. Several powerful factions that were stronger than Mince Hand were trying to get a piece of ancient ruins. Yet, Souta wanted to fight for it with the two of them. It would be suicide if they offended those factions. Souta didn¡¯t explain further to her. With his current strength, he wasn¡¯t afraid of anyone under the Great Shackle. Heili doesn¡¯t need to know it. Heili¡¯s power level was decent at the intermediate B-rank. The only problem was she was pretty old. If he wasn¡¯t wrong, she was twenty four years old this year. Even the Core Disciple Neiso was twenty-seven this year. Lumilia and the rest were only nineteen this year. Yanagi and the third years should be twenty-one this year. Yanagi was already a peak A-rank at that time in school and after the incident regarding the Deadly Sins, she broke through S-rank easily. When Heili was twenty one she was probably at C-rank. ¡®As for me¡­ I don¡¯t know. If I count the time I arrive here, then it¡¯s getting close to three years.¡¯ Souta rubbed his chin. Three years, yet he could already rival those powerful Shackled Realms. Well, he knew that it was thanks to his system. Hmm?! Souta suddenly noticed a familiar aura. He grabbed Heili¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Heili looked at him, very confused. Souta ignored her as he turned his head to the left side. There, he saw a handsome youth with short blonde hair. The man had a pair of golden eyes and carried a noble aura around him. The golden tail on his back was swinging left and right as he strode across the streets. ¡°Wait for me, Senior Sister, I just saw an acquaintance,¡± Souta said to her. ¡°O-Okay.¡± Heili nodded subconsciously. Souta walked forward and called the man. ¡°Alexander, I haven¡¯t seen you since the incident in the Fone Kingdom.¡± The blonde youth turned his head and saw an unfamiliar face. He narrowed his eyes and asked, ¡°Who are you? How do you know me?¡± ¡°Oh, I forgot. I¡¯m in disguise.¡± Souta chuckled. He grabbed his face and changed his appearance to his original look. ¡°You¡­¡± Alexander widened his eyes when he saw Souta¡¯s face. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m Souta. I didn¡¯t think that I would meet you here in this place.¡± Souta laughed lightly as he looked around. The Blue River Town was quite lively today. It was a small town with less than a thousand population. The chief was only an initial B-rank. Even Heili was stronger than the chief of the town. Yet, today, a bunch of high-level experts arrived in this small town. ¡°Me too. What are you doing here? I thought you belong to Athen¡¯s Champion? This is not Olympus Territory.¡± Alexander asked as he flicked his finger and create an invisible field. No one could hear their conversation inside this field. ¡°I¡¯m still a member of Athen¡¯s Champion. You could say that I¡¯m an undercover agent right now.¡± Souta shrugged his shoulders. He examined Alexander with his [Galaxy Eyes] and the result never surprised him. This guy, Alexander Dreyfus, was already at Two Shackles Realm. The only person that possessed seven elemental affinities was truly a once in a twenty thousand years genius. Even the seeds of elements already bloomed, becoming a full power of elements. This was the third level, the Fusion. After the Force was the Integration and then the Fusion. It was a level where one became an element itself. When Souta saw him last time in the Fone Kingdom, Alexander¡¯s seven elements were only at second level, the Integration. This means that in a short amount of time, Alexander advanced all of his elements to the third level. Souta could understand Alexander¡¯s Two Shackles power level since he knew that this man was holding his level suppressing it to the peak S-rank. Other people wanted to advance yet this guy was suppressing his advancement. Thoroughly a never before seen genius. He really wanted to recruit this guy. If that happens, the Astros would certainly rise in the ranks of a large country with two future gods. Plus, Alexander wasn¡¯t an ordinary god. The Ancient Myriad Emperor in the game was a powerful god that became well-known after the countless adversaries that he overcome. One of the top gods of the Imperium. The same could be said for Isabella. The Faceless Woman also called Master of Potions was a terrifying god in the game that fearlessly offend the Three Bringers of Calamity. Their rise from being a mortal to the top gods was just a few years. It could be said that they were a protagonist on their own. It felt like the Imperium was caring for them after they overcome their challenges. While Souta was observing Alexander, Alexander was also observing him. He was shocked as he couldn¡¯t see the depths of Souta¡¯s power even with his current strength. It seems that there was still a gap in their strengths even after he finished suppressing his power level. ¡®This monster¡­ probably at the peak of the fourth stage¡­ What an improvement. If I didn¡¯t have memories and techniques of my past life, he would be an existence that I could only look up to. It seems that a new monster lord will be born in the next few years. Imperium is really a world full of geniuses. I¡¯m not the only genius in this era.¡¯ Alexander said inwardly with a sigh. He shook his head and said. ¡°Did you come here because you heard about the ancient ruin?¡± ¡°Yeah, I have the plan to explore this ruin.¡± Souta nodded. He grabbed his face and his appearance went back to before. ¡®Hmm¡­ He would be able to help me take my treasure back. The ancient ruin in this place is something that I established before I undergo reincarnation. Some of the things that I needed are here.¡¯ Alexander observed Souta. After a few seconds, he asked, ¡°Then, what about we join forces? Is your squad members with you?¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t think that you will invite me.¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. ¡°You¡¯re planning to explore the ruins so it¡¯s better if we join together. Plus, I don¡¯t want to compete with you.¡± Alexander explained. ¡°I see¡­ Then, take care of me. We¡¯ll work together.¡± Souta said while looking at the system notification that he received. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered]!! [Ancient Ruin]: Help Alexander in taking over the Multiple Element Realm. Rewards: 10,000,000 experience points, 8 skill points, 20 free attribute points, and [Five Element Rune Formation] Five Element Rune Formation? A rune¡­ This was better than he expected. As long as he set this rune formation in Astros, he would be less worried about security. ¡°You agree?¡± Alexander was a little bit surprised that he agreed easily. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s better if we work together. We would be able to sweep the entire ruin with our strength.¡± Souta said. ¡°Let¡¯s meet at the ancient ruin tomorrow.¡± Alexander waved his hand before he turned around. Suddenly, he stopped and looked back. ¡°Wait, I forgot something.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. ¡°Here, Escape Talisman. You can use it to leave the ancient ruin.¡± Alexander threw a piece of paper. Souta caught the paper and when he glanced at Alexander, he found that he was already gone. Sure enough, Alexander knew something about the ancient ruin. ¡°That guy¡­ is unpredictable as always.¡± Souta smiled as he placed the piece of paper in his pocket. He went back and Heili asked where was his acquaintance. ¡°He left. We¡¯re going to meet him tomorrow at the ancient ruin.¡± Souta answered. The two found an inn after half an hour of touring around the town. There¡¯s only one vacant room so they quickly paid for it. If they didn¡¯t rent it then other people would have gotten it and they would have no place to stay for a night today. The inn was already full of people and the staff couldn¡¯t do anything to the arrogant customers. The people that came here were strong and fierce. Some of them even came from an influential families. A fight even broke out because of a simple argument. It was hard for the non-fighters to accommodate these experts. For a small town that only had one initial B-rank, these hundreds of experts flocking around the town were a problem that they couldn¡¯t deal with no matter what. Some savage experts even took over the houses of the residents here. But all of these things didn¡¯t bother Souta. He was training so that the same thing wouldn¡¯t happen to him. It wasn¡¯t to save everyone. He was trying for himself. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to sleep, Junior Brother?¡± Heili asked. ¡°No, I¡¯m going to stand guard here. The town is quite lively tonight. Who knows if there is someone that will attack us?¡± Souta smiled as he placed his hand on his back. Chapter 758: Opening of the Ancient Ruin White Wheat City was one of the three cities that various overlords wanted to take over. The City Lord had perished in Bland City and the overlord, Prime Night Hall, tried to control the city even without their leader. The Prime Night Hall succeeded in controlling the city but the problem didn¡¯t stop. Right now, they were facing several overlord organizations that wanted to take over their city. Without their City Lord, the strongest expert, they couldn¡¯t hope to fight the City Lords of other cities. Luckily, the battle didn¡¯t reach the point where Shackled Realm experts needed to appear, so they could somehow handle the enemies. They also received support from other cities in the dark. That¡¯s why they could last longer. Vann, the appointed leader of Prime Night Hall, became the City Lord. He was the strongest in the city aside from the previous City lord. Right now, he was in the middle of his office facing back and forth trying to find a way to overcome their current crisis. He was a Shackled Realm expert but he knew that his strength wasn¡¯t enough to intimidate the other cities. Compared to his predecessor, his strength was nothing. Suddenly, the door was slammed open and a man rushed inside. ¡°S-Sir, an army is attacking us again!!¡± The man reported as he tried to catch his breath. ¡°Again?!! An army of five hundred people just attacked us yesterday and we lose one hundred men!! And now, another one is attacking us!!¡± Vann gritted his teeth. He clenched his fists tightly as veins bulged out of his muscles. ¡°It is because of those Dragon Council bastards! Trying to protect the Mine Valley! Yet, they attacked us!!¡± He knew that not everyone would want to protect the Mine Valley. Joining the Dragon Council? That¡¯s nothing but a fleeting dream. If the City Lords knew that they would be bound by contract then they would be glad that they didn¡¯t join the council. Some of them would be glad to overturn the entire Mine Valley if given a chance so why would they join the Dragon Council? So the Dragon Council became a thorn in their eyes. Vann went out of his office. He quickly arrived at the city wall and saw the approaching enemy army. ¡°What the hell is that?!¡± He muttered subconsciously as he stared at the enemy army with wide eyes. The soldiers on the city wall had mixed expressions. ¡°S-Shit! Are they even demi?! Monster!!¡± The enemy army was approaching their city in a domineering manner. The army approximately had three hundred men. Their appearance was out of this world. They were humanoid but each one looked like a massive flesh covered in various sharp spikes. Some of them were even riding those non-humanoid monsters. The energy they possessed wasn¡¯t strong but they carried an intimidating aura. Bloodlust seeped out and filled the atmosphere. The soldiers and the citizens of the White Wheat City could feel the intense bloodlust in the air. The killing intent made their hair stand on its end. The enemy was approaching¡­ Elder Guan stared at the huge walls. He was the one who led the army of Astros to attack this city. He glanced at his left side and right side. Yuko and Yenxa were here to take over the city. They would fight an all-out battle to complete the task given to them by their Lord. ¡°Everyone prepare yourself.¡± Elder Guan said as he narrowed his eyes. His voice wasn¡¯t loud but everyone behind him heard it. The army of Astros used their parasite ability to the fullest to boost their strength. All of them were B-rank and A-rank experts. Elder Guan even brought dozens of S-rank witches to raise their chances in this raid. ¡°Let¡¯s conquer this place! Second Head of the Dragon Council will make sure that no one will attack us from behind! So it¡¯s up to us to conquer the city in front of our eyes!¡± The soldiers of the Astros roared at the top of their lungs. Their roars shook the ground and their energy surged out like a tidal wave. In the next second, their footsteps sped up until they were rushing toward the city wall with overflowing confidence. Their brutal aura soared up as the monsters screeched wildly. All of them were savage-looking. The only one who hasn¡¯t used the parasite¡¯s ability was Elder Guan. He was still observing the reaction of the enemy and would react depending on their movements. ROAR!! Yuko and Yenxa dashed faster than anybody. In just a second, they already arrived at the wall. Yuko roared as flames danced around her body before she smashed the barrier that was protecting the city. Yenxa jumped in mid-air as she tightly clenched her fist. A massive amount of best feram swirled around her tiny fist as a green mist covered her entire arm. BAM!! Elder Guan narrowed his eyes. ¡°There are several layers of barrier in this city. It could attack and defend. Hmm¡­ This must be the reason the other cities didn¡¯t dare to launch an all-out war. There are various traps hidden in every corner of the city.¡± ¡­ ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Souta and Heili arrived at the Vantas Mountain Range. Both of them stood side by side at the entrance of the ancient ruin. The ancient ruin was in the middle of three mountains that formed a triangular shape. It was a huge hole and there were stairs that led to the bottom of the hole. At the bottom, Souta could see that it was filled with white most but there was an intense energy fluctuation. ¡®The space is folded and there¡¯s a portal. It seems that this ancient ruin is in the alternate space.¡¯ Souta concluded after seeing the crucial parts at the bottom of the hole. A commotion occurred. Souta and Heili looked over and found hundreds of experts clamoring. The experts of the top factions of Spring Land had arrived. As expected, they wouldn¡¯t let something like this passed by. Yaniesvyl, the Princess of Heiro Kingdom. Verto, the Heir of the San Sun Clan. Lady Heimbra, the next master of the Poison Demon Palace. Dream from Great Chan Hall. Casti from Night Light Association. Hermo from Thunder Hall. All of them were people from the top faction in the Spring Land. Souta could see why Ray was wary about the organization outside the Mine Valley. These organizations could easily fork out several Shackled Realm experts. ¡°Wow, so that is Princess Yaniesvyl,¡± Heili exclaimed. ¡°Do you know her?¡± Souta asked. ¡°I don¡¯t but I heard a lot of stories about her.¡± Heili slowly explained. ¡°It is said that Princess Yaniesvyl is the most gifted child of the King of Heiro. When she was eighteen she reached Grandmaster Realm, twenty at Liquefying Realm, twenty-two at Solidifying Realm, and right now she was twenty-four she became a Shackled Realm expert. I don¡¯t know her current strength ever since the increase of mana density.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also twenty four but the difference in our strength is like heaven and earth.¡± Souta couldn¡¯t help but nod at her words. This Princess was really amazing. ¡®Yaniesvyl? Heiro? Oh, that one¡­ I remember her.¡¯ Souta remembered this name in the game. Yaniesvyl was a strong NPC but she wasn¡¯t that famous because of the existence of Yanagi, Gerxuzs, Alexander, and other NPCs that quickly rose through the ranks to achieve the level of gods. In the later version, she was only at Freedom Realm. Experts who broke through all ten shackles were also called Freedom Realm. They break all the mortal limits so they were free and unfettered. That¡¯s why it was called Freedom Realm. Hmm¡­ So she¡¯s from Hall Plains. Didn¡¯t expect it. ¡®If I¡¯m not wrong, she¡¯s with the Ancient Myriad Emperor.¡¯ Souta looked around. Alexander still hasn¡¯t arrived yet. After a few minutes of waiting, Alexander arrived. ¡°You¡¯re here,¡± Souta said. ¡°Yeah, it took longer because of some things that I settled,¡± Alexander said as he stood beside Souta. ¡°Say, is this ancient ruin gonna open today? Or should we force ourselves inside?¡± Souta asked while looking at the giant hole. From his guess, he couldn¡¯t force himself inside the barrier. It would repel him no matter what. ¡°It will open today,¡± Alexander answered without explaining anything. ¡°I see¡­¡± Souta nodded. He didn¡¯t ask. He knew that Alexander had a secret. Heili, who was beside Souta, was a little bit shocked when she saw Alexander. Alexander carried a noble demeanor and he greatly carried himself not in a forced manner but more like this was his natural disposition. She also couldn¡¯t see the depth of his strength and the slight leakage of his energy gave her pressure. She turned her head and looked at her junior brother. She felt that he was becoming mysterious. Ohm! An energy wave swept out in every direction, silencing all the experts in the area. They couldn¡¯t help but stopped chatting and focus their attention on the giant hole. The barrier that prevented anyone from approaching it showed signs of breaking. Cracks slowly spread out and after a few moments, it broke. Bang!! Chapter 759: Multiple Element Realm A sound of broken glass echoed. The barrier was finally broken. When an expert discovered this place, it already showed signs of breaking. It¡¯s just that it immediately healed and everyone already made a calculation. Truthfully, it was Alexander that released the ancient ruin. He was the one who broke its seal so it appeared right in this place. He couldn¡¯t hide it from other experts as the moment he broke the seals, the energy it contained surged out attracting the nearby experts. It¡¯s just that it took a few days before the last barrier completely break. Souta didn¡¯t have any idea about the detailed knowledge about it. He just knew that it would open soon according to the rumors. He never studied things like this back in the academy. ¡°It¡¯s open!¡± Heili exclaimed as she covered her mouth in shock. The massive amount of mana coming from the ancient ruin brushed across her face. It was her first time seeing an ancient ruin. ¡°We¡¯ll wait until they disappear,¡± Alexander said before he glanced at the other experts. The first people that entered the giant hole were the top factions followed by the other organizations. Soon, most experts have gone inside the ancient ruins. ¡°Are you prepared? This will not be easy. A battle will surely occur and we could die anytime inside the ruin.¡± Alexander asked with a serious look. ¡°You know me¡­¡± Souta simply said then he turned to Heili. Alexander knew Heili¡¯s power level. She could become a burden for Souta and him. He didn¡¯t even know why would he bring her here with her low power level. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Heili clenched both of her fists tightly. Souta turned to Alexander and shrugged his shoulder with a smile on his face. He slowly opened his mouth and said, ¡°I quite like her. I wanted to know if she¡¯s worth my help.¡± His words were spoken in a monster language. The intent was only passed to Alexander so even if anyone heard it, they wouldn¡¯t understand anything. ¡°You¡¯re taking this too lightly.¡± Alexander shook his head. ¡°Nevermind. Suit yourself.¡± He then flew towards the giant hole. Heili glanced at Alexander confusedly. She didn¡¯t know what he was talking about. She went closer to Souta and whispered, ¡°Junior Brother, is your friend okay?¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s not okay. That guy is crazy.¡± Souta laughed lightly as he recalled what the Ancient Myriad Emperor did in the past. ¡°What?! Are you for real, junior?¡± Heili whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. Let¡¯s go now.¡± Souta said before he flew. ¡°I¡¯m not worried about him. I¡¯m worried about us¡­ I don¡¯t know him but can we really put our lives for him?¡± Heili asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. That guy is trustworthy. You can try to befriend him too. Once he treated you as his comrade, that guy will help you if you encounter a problem.¡± Souta replied to her. ¡°Hmm¡­ That is quite impressive if it is coming from you, junior. But I will not try to befriend him just for that. I will see his character first. That¡¯s the most important thing.¡± Heili said as she gave Souta a glance. ¡°Then, what about Senior Neiso? Is he your friend?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that Junior Brother. Senior Neiso just hasn¡¯t put his trust in you yet. Once you know him, you will realize that he¡¯s quite a kind person. He¡¯s only looking out for me.¡± Heili explained. ¡°His attitude toward you is the same as his attitude toward me a few years ago when I just join the school.¡± She giggled. ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s a pretty interesting story.¡± Souta nodded and asked, ¡°Then, what about you? Do you trust me?¡± ¡°Not yet. That¡¯s why I¡¯m associating myself with my juniors to see if I could trust them.¡± Heili said. ¡°You¡¯re quite honest. I thought you would say that you trust me.¡± Souta smiled faintly. ¡°It¡¯s one of the ways. If I¡¯m honest with you maybe you will place your trust in me. A tactic. It is my tactic.¡± Heili confidently patted her chest. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Souta said as his expression turned serious. Both of them entered a giant hole and found themselves unable to fly. They fell on the stairs circling around the hole. Souta and Heili quickly fixed their stance as they looked down at the seemingly bottomless hole which was filled with white mist. ¡°The air here is somewhat different¡­¡± Heili muttered. Souta looked up and explained, ¡°The space here is folded. The space fluctuations are high so we will find a portal at the bottom of the wall.¡± ¡°A portal?! Isn¡¯t that hard to open in the current situation?¡± Heili asked. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why there is a tunnel like this that will act as a bridge. The folded space and the runes carved around will lessen the pressure.¡± Alexander suddenly answered. Heili didn¡¯t understand how that works. She just simply saw the runes carved around the bottomless hole. It was no ordinary rune. Each one was a high and complicated rune with different uses. These runes were also the reason why they couldn¡¯t fly in this place. ¡°This is from the era ten thousand years ago¡­¡± Dream, from the Great Chan Hall, said with amazement. Souta and the others turned their heads and looked at the giant portal. The portal covered the space at the bottom. Various runes and ancient writings intertwined at the walls to the edges of the portal. The runes and carvings were filled with mysticism that didn¡¯t exist in the current era. ¡°Ten thousand years ago?! Then, this ruin existed way before the Hall of Power rose in fame?!?¡± Heili muttered in shock. ¡°What kind of ruin is this¡­¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. ¡°Prepare yourself!¡± Alexander warned. Ohm! Suddenly, the portal emitted a bright light and it enveloped everyone in the area. A powerful force sucked every creature toward the portal. They didn¡¯t have any power to resist at all. They could only helplessly watch as the portal sucked everyone inside. The next moment, the light disappeared and everyone was gone. Ugh! Souta blinked his eyes as he felt a slight headache. He looked up and found himself inside a huge and spacious dark hall. ¡®That power¡­ I couldn¡¯t resist it at all.¡¯ He recalled the feeling of not being able to control his body. It was too much for him who always wanted to fully control himself. ¡®There¡¯s no mistake. This place is built by god-level.¡¯ Saya said to him. ¡®That power before is a leftover power of a god. It seems that we are in an alternate space. The space is pretty hard and the atmosphere contains all kinds of power. It¡¯s unbelievable.¡¯ ¡®And the one that made this isn¡¯t an ordinary god at all¡­ The creator should be stronger than my peak.¡¯ Souta could sense Saya¡¯s shock in her words. A god stronger than Saya¡¯s peak? This wasn¡¯t within his expectations. This ancient ruin was better than he expected but his quest was to help Alexander in taking over the Multiple Element Realm. Multiple Element Realm was the name of this ruin. No, it shouldn¡¯t be called a ruin anymore. This was an entire sub-world hidden in an alternate space in Imperium. ¡°Junior Brother¡­¡± Souta turned his head as he heard Heili¡¯s voice. He saw her on the ground holding her head. It seems that she suffered headaches too after arriving at this place. As for Alexander, he was completely fine. He stood on the side examining the hall. Aside from them, other people were also here. It seems that everyone got transported to this place. Souta turned to Alexander and asked, ¡°What should we do now?¡± His goal was to help Alexander so he would follow him for a while. This guy, the Ancient Myriad Emperor, knew something about this place. ¡°We¡¯ll just wait here. The others will pave a path for us.¡± Alexander said in a low voice that only the two of them could hear. ¡°The others¡­?¡± Souta looked at the people in the area. ¡°We just have to wait for them.¡± Alexander nodded. Heili looked at the two of them before she turned at the people around. Ohm! The atmosphere changed as a wave of energy swept out in every direction. The light suddenly disappeared all of a sudden and it was replaced by darkness. ¡°W-What¡¯s happening?¡± Heili subconsciously took a step back as she raise her hand to create a small ball of fire to illuminate her surrounding. ¡°Is it the challenges of this ruin?¡± Souta grinned. ¡°Yeah, the trial had begun.¡± Alexander nodded. The ground shook heavily as hundreds of stone golems formed in just a second. It was too fast that it caught everyone off guard. The formation of the golem quickly threw the other people into panic. After all, each golem had a power level of B-rank. For Souta and Alexander¡¯s current power level, these stone golems were nothing. But for Heidi and other B-rank experts, this was a tough challenge. Just like that, the battle started immediately. Chapter 760: Second Trial Yaniesvyl and the others started fighting the stone golems. They easily dismantled hundreds of stone golems with their strength. Some of the rogue experts suffered injuries but none of them died in the first trial. In the battle, Yaniesvyl, Verto, Heimbra, Dream, Casti, and Hermo showed their powers. They showed the other experts what it means to be someone from the top faction. Dismantling hundreds of B-rank was an easy work for them. The only people who weren¡¯t impressed were Souta and Alexander. The intensity of their energy could easily destroy the stone golems from inside out. Also, Souta even played with Two Shackles Realm undead in his previous mission so these stone golems were nothing in his eyes. ¡°Strong¡­!¡± Heili muttered. ¡°They¡¯ve cleared the stone golems¡­ We can go to the next trial.¡± Alexander said. ¡°Next trial?¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. ¡°Yeah, the next trial will be harder¡­¡± Alexander nodded. ¡°Also, be careful¡­ The next trial is dangerous. Even I don¡¯t know where will we be transported to.¡± Souta glanced at Alexander¡¯s face before he turned to Heili. He took out the Escape Talisman he received from Alexander and gave it to her. ¡°Take it, Senior Sister. Once you encountered danger, just pour your mana into the talisman to activate it.¡± Souta said to her. ¡°I can¡¯t take it, Junior Brother. What about your safety?¡± Heili shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I have another one with me.¡± Souta lied to her. Heili looked at him straight into her to see if he was lying or not. After a few seconds, she smiled and said, ¡°Okay, fine. I¡¯ll take it. I just want you to know that you should prioritize your safety, junior.¡± ¡°I¡¯m always thinking about my survival.¡± Souta smiled back. Clang!! A mechanical sound echoed as a huge metal door appeared. A metal door slowly opened revealing a portal inside. ¡°Another portal?!¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t found any treasure in this room! Maybe, we could find one on the other side of this portal!!¡± ¡°Yeah!!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡± Although the experts wanted to rush inside, they still hold themselves back. They cautiously looked at the top experts, waiting for them to enter the portal first. It¡¯s fine even if they didn¡¯t get all the good stuff. They would just take the leftover. ¡°Hmph! A bunch of garbage.¡± Hermo, from the Thunder Hall, snorted as he glanced at the other experts. He clicked his tongue and walked towards the portal. Yaniesvyl and the other first rate faction entered the portal followed by the second-rate faction. The last batch of people that entered the portal were the experts that didn¡¯t belong to any factions, the rogue experts. After that, Souta¡¯s group entered the portal. Second trial¡­ ¡°Huh? This is different¡­¡± Souta found himself in another huge hall. The only difference was that there were various portraits stuck on the wall. At the end of the hall, there was an altar with dragon statues and there were two metal gates on each side. Souta noticed that there were fewer people in this place. He looked around and found that Heili and Alexander weren¡¯t here. Even those people from the top faction weren¡¯t present. It seems that they¡¯ve been transported to different places. ¡°This is quite a problem. Luckily, I gave Senior Sister the Escape Talisman or else¡­¡± Souta smiled to himself. He looked around and counted the people in this place. There were a total of thirty-nine people here and most of their power levels were low. None of them reached Liquefying Realm. He also checked if they had hidden artifacts. Luckily, they only had artifacts below orange grade. With Souta¡¯s current strength, artifacts below orange grade would be useless to him. Even if it was for sealing or killing it wouldn¡¯t work at him because of his tremendous strength. Even an orange grade still had a low chance of affecting him. Well, it would be different if it was in the hand of a stronger expert that could fully utilize its power. Since these experts weren¡¯t a problem to him, Souta simply focused his attention on the hall. He examined the portraits of the dragons on the wall. ¡°Dragons¡­?¡± There was even a dragon altar. Certainly, the second trail was somehow connected to dragons. ¡®Multiple Elements Realm¡­ Just who is the god that created this place? I kinda wanna know.¡¯ Souta wanted to know if that god was dead or not. If the god was dead then where¡¯s the Living Labyrinth? Maybe, that god didn¡¯t bother creating a labyrinth when it was about to die. ¡°Hey! What¡¯s that?!¡± ¡°The four gates are opening?!!¡± Souta turned his head when he heard the words of the experts around him. The four metal gates slowly began to open, revealing dark passages. Soon, several tubes started to appear on the ground and ceiling. Then, semi-transparent creatures came out of the tubes one by one. These creatures had the appearance of dragons but their aura was weaker. They didn¡¯t even possess best feram which all dragons possessed. ¡°Projection?!¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. He then glanced at the portraits and realized what¡¯s the trail and how to complete it. ¡°Shit!! These monsters are strong!!¡± ¡°We need to get out of this place or else we would die!!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡± The experts found themselves unable to fight the dragon projection. Even if they defeated one, another dragon projection would only come out of the tube. ¡°We need to go to those four gates!!¡± ¡°But how can we make sure what¡¯s the right passage?!!¡± ¡°Is that important?! If we stayed here more and more creatures will only come out!! In just five minutes, this entire place will be filled with those creatures!!¡± ¡°Yeah!! We will die if we stay here!!¡± The experts glanced at each other. Then, they rushed ahead and fought the dragon projections that were blocking their paths. They didn¡¯t defeat the projections. Instead, they just pushed them and run toward the four gates. In the end, Souta was left alone in the hall. He was standing with his hand on his back, watching the dragon projections. ¡°Those people didn¡¯t even observe the portraits,¡± Souta said with a sigh. ¡®What can they do? They are too occupied by those projections. They simply didn¡¯t have a time for these things.¡¯ Saya said. ¡°They didn¡¯t notice that the dragons on the portraits are all pointing at the altar. It¡¯s not a coincidence. I will wait here to see if my guess is correct. If not, then I will go inside one of the passages.¡± Souta said calmly. Roar!! Two dragon projections swiftly charged at him. The two dragons swung both of their sharp claws that could easily tear metals apart. But Souta didn¡¯t care about them. He simply took one step and the dragons simply felt a crushing force. Instantly, their projections disappeared leaving nothing in the air. Bang!! One by one the projections disappeared. They couldn¡¯t even make Souta look at them. The gap in their strength was simply too large. Even if a real third stage dragon appeared here, Souta wouldn¡¯t even bother himself. Soon, he arrived in front of the altar. The altar started shaking and it slowly opened. The two dragon statues moved to the side, revealing two dragon claws. On the claws, there were bottles with pills inside of them. ¡°Oh,¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. ¡°Aren¡¯t these Body Enhancing Pills and Mana Enhancing Pills?¡± These two types of pills were for B-rank experts. It could help them reach a higher level faster. A level where their body and mana pool was strong enough to proceed to the next stage, the Liquefying Realm. ¡°It¡¯s useless for me but I¡¯ll take it. Astros had dozens of B-ranks and Isabella couldn¡¯t make each one of them a pill to enhance their power.¡± Souta smiled as he took the two bottles and placed them inside his pocket. Soon, the altar had fully opened revealing a passage downstairs. The dragon projections constantly attacked Souta but every time they tried, they were crushed by his overwhelming energy. They wouldn¡¯t be able to approach him unless Souta was half-dead. ¡°As expected, there really another passage here¡­¡± Souta smiled. He stepped forward and went downstairs. The second trial was nothing to him. It would only trouble those B-rank and A-rank experts. ¡°What about Senior Sister? I just hope that she is fine¡­¡± The passage was dark but it didn¡¯t hinder him at all. After a minute, Souta found himself in a small room with a portal at the end of the room. ¡°Gods really had a lot of assets. Just building one pair of portals already exhausted my wealth.¡± Souta muttered. He looked around the room and noticed that there were cabinets. He looked through them and only found things for B-rank and A-rank. Most of it was useless to him but he did bring a few pills for Liquefying Realm. ¡°Then, let¡¯s get to the next trial¡­¡± Souta stepped as he nonchalantly stepped inside the portal. He hasn¡¯t met a challenge in this place at all despite it being made by god. From his guess, the trails were just a way to enter the real Multiple Elements Realm. Chapter 761: Legendary Third Trial¡­ Souta looked around. He was in a hall once again. The only difference was that this hall was probably twenty times larger than before. It also has dozens of rooms on each side forming a maze-like appearance. Additionally, the mana density here was terrifyingly high. Souta walked into one of the rooms. What he found was that several experts were fighting over a single orange grade artifact. The artifact wasn¡¯t armor nor a weapon. It was just a small black colored pen. He could understand why they were so desperate. Artifacts were one of the few things that could increase their strength. They were stuck at B-rank for a long time and training alone would barely increase their strength. Some of them were retired but after hearing the ancient ruin here, they decided to risk everything for a chance to promote their strength. ¡®They would fight me to death if they knew the pills that I got from the previous trials¡­¡¯ Souta said inwardly. Those pills were extremely important for B-rank. An artifact appeared in this room¡­ Don¡¯t tell me that a treasure would appear in each room?! Souta raised his eyebrows with interest. Since this orange grade pen was useless to him, he would go to the other room to find if there was an artifact suitable for him. Swoosh! Suddenly, a man appeared in front of him holding a blade in his hand. The man didn¡¯t say anything as he swiftly thrust his blade ahead. Hmm? Souta saw a sharp weapon just an inch away from his eyes. Clang! The man widened his eyes. The blade in his hand shattered the moment it touches Souta¡¯s eyes. He felt that he was just seeing things. ¡°Blue grade weapon wouldn¡¯t be able to damage my eyes. Also, you are infusing too little mana in your blade. Not just that, you are also lacking in strength, speed, and skills.¡± Souta said as he stared at the man blankly. Ugh! The man fell to the floor while holding his neck tightly. He was groaning in pain as he couldn¡¯t breathe properly. ¡°My best feram is too strong for you¡­ A mere initial B-rank will not be able to contain my energy.¡± Souta said in a low voice as he walked past the man. He didn¡¯t even bother looking at the man on the floor. ¡°N-No¡­ M-Mons¡­ Ter¡­¡± The man looked at Souta¡¯s back in horror. Souta shook his head. ¡®He thought that I would fight for an orange grade artifact. He didn¡¯t even know that I have given a set of orange grades to a young boy.¡¯ He said inwardly. Souta ignored the rest of the people and walked to the next room. Just like what he expected, people were already fighting in this place. What surprised him was that Alexander was here, and ten people were chasing him. His opponents were only B-rank while he himself was Two Shackles Realm. The difference in strength was huge but Alexander hasn¡¯t gotten rid of them. ¡°I see¡­ So he is holding back. He is only using the strength of B-rank.¡± Even if that¡¯s the case, the natural physical body of Two Shackles Realm was a hundred times stronger than B-rank. His opponents wouldn¡¯t be able to scratch him even if he stand there doing nothing. Souta sighed. He didn¡¯t know what Alexander was thinking. ¡°Alexander, just eliminate them or put them to sleep!¡± Alexander turned his head when he heard Souta¡¯s voice. He nodded and his figure flashed instantly knocking out the ten people. Souta walked over and asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just knock them out from the beginning?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just trying something new,¡± Alexander answered. ¡°Moreover, why are they chasing after you? Is there a treasure that could pique a Shackled Realm¡¯s interest?¡± Souta asked as he looked at the unconscious people. ¡°Yeah, Prime Energy Water¡­ I got it from this room.¡± Alexander simply said. ¡°Prime Energy Water? The water that could increase a person¡¯s energy circulation, is that it?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s beneficial for experts up to Solidifying Realm and it could slightly help Shackled Realm in their energy circulation.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty good.¡± Alexander looked around and asked, ¡°I didn¡¯t see the woman with you. Where is she?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know but I gave her the Escape Talisman so she should probably be fine.¡± Souta shrugged his shoulder. He changed the topic, ¡°This is the third trial. Let¡¯s hurry up and complete it.¡± ¡°Are we not going to wait for your friend?¡± Alexander asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about her. This ruin is made by God so it¡¯s better if she left in the earlier trials. The next trials are probably something that B-rank couldn¡¯t handle. I don¡¯t have to protect her all the time.¡± Souta said seriously. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s complete this trial faster.¡± Souta and Alexander worked together. The duo was unstoppable in the third trial. They easily complete the trial in just ten minutes. Nothing could threaten them with their overwhelming power. With their combined strength, they broke through the third trial and fourth trial easily. On the fifth trial, they arrived at a huge colosseum along with other people that also passed the fourth trial. The colosseum was covered by a thick barrier and runes that prevented them from leaving. The only way to leave this place was to complete the trial. The trial was simple. Everyone worked together to defeat thousands of stone golems. These golems weren¡¯t the same as the ones in the first trial. These golems were stronger as their power level had reached Liquefying Realm. Thousands of A-rank golems surged into the colosseum. The battle was fierce and some of the experts died. After defeating all the stone golems, several treasures appeared along with the portal to the next trial. Souta and Alexander took the treasures with them and killed some of the people that went after them. Sixth Trial¡­ Souta and Alexander arrived in a grassland. Close to them was a huge castle with several colosseums around it. They were covered by several layers of tough barriers. ¡°So the first to fifth trial happened in that place¡­¡± Souta narrowed his eyes as he looked at the sky. This place was really a sub-world. It has a landmass, sky, and other things that made up a sub-world. It was in an alternate space so without the power to break through the space, Souta wouldn¡¯t be able to return easily. ¡°Yeah, the sixth trial is here¡­ It is also the hardest trial as we could meet the living creatures of this land. The mana density is high due to the connection it possessed with Imperium.¡± Alexander explained as he slowly floated in the sky. Souta followed Alexander while looking at the vastness of outer space. In this entire space, he could only see a few stars and everything else was blank. Even if he flew in a straight line, he would only fly endlessly without seeing another sub-world. ¡°The space is harder than I imagined¡­¡± Souta said. ¡°Of course, but if you fly in a straight line toward that darkness you will find that the hardness of space is decreasing slowly. After a few months, the space will be brittle enough for us to cross over to the main space.¡± Alexander explained. ¡°So the sixth trial¡­?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Let¡¯s return to the land first,¡± Alexander said. Souta nodded. He was tempted to take over this entire realm for him but he had to complete his quest first. Plus, it¡¯s not worth it if it would offend the future Ancient Myriad Emperor. ¡°Did you feel it?¡± Alexander suddenly asked. ¡°Yeah, those gazes. The moment we flew into the sky, several powerful creatures locked their eyes on us. As expected this isn¡¯t an ordinary sub-world. It¡¯s comparable to high-world.¡± Souta said. ¡°That¡¯s why we need to be careful,¡± Alexander said. ROAR!!! A powerful reverberated throughout the entire area. It was followed by a sweeping best feram that made Souta and Alexander knitted their brows. ¡°Fourth stage¡­?!¡± Souta was surprised. ¡°Should we check it out? From the looks of it, other experts had already arrived here. They began to disturb the living beings in this land.¡± Alexander asked. ¡°It¡¯s up to you. I¡¯m going to follow you for now. After all, you seem to know this place.¡± Souta shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s check it out first,¡± Alexander nodded. The two rushed inside the woods. They went straight in the direction where the best feram was coming from. They were fast and in just ten minutes of rushing they arrived near the place. Both of them stopped on a tree as they observed the happenings. A fifty-meter tall tree stood straight as if it was supporting heaven and earth. The giant tree had a single fruit that was releasing a huge amount of earth¡¯s elemental particles. ¡°An Earth World Mango?¡± Alexander narrowed his eyes. ¡°A legendary grade¡­¡± Souta muttered. It was a treasure that could enhance a creature¡¯s earth affinity to the next level. An expert would be able to achieve the first level of earth¡¯s [Element Drive] once they consumed it. It was also highly beneficial to the people that practiced the earth element¡¯s technique. Chapter 762: Key The legendary grade was important but Souta didn¡¯t have earth affinity. It would be useless to him. He rubbed his chin and recalled the people from Astros. Alice and the others didn¡¯t have earth affinity. Also, acquiring the Earth Energy Mango would be hard since there was a pack of monsters guarding it. Hiding at the top of the tree was a group of apes with white fur. There were six fourth stage monsters and dozens of third stage so snatching the Earth Energy Mango required great courage and skills. ¡®If Isabella is here, I could probably try it since her stealth skill is better than mine.¡¯ Souta said inwardly. He turned his head at Alexander and wondered what he was going to do. Alexander knew what Souta wanted to ask so he shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s not fight for it. It¡¯s too early to use our strength.¡± He said. The Multiple Elements Realm was his so he knew that there were other treasures in this place. Also, the danger it possessed was something that he could underestimate. Ten thousand years had passed so it¡¯s natural that legendary grades could be found. ¡°Be careful¡­¡± Alexander slowly retreated. Souta didn¡¯t have a choice but to follow this guy. Since Alexander said it, there were definitely more opportunities in the future. This world was huge so there was no way that he wouldn¡¯t find anything. He could only agree with Alexander. It¡¯s too early to waste their energy. If they weren¡¯t careful, they could become powerless people waiting to be slaughtered. Souta and Alexander turned around and left. It¡¯s not easy to snatch a legendary fruit from six fourth stage monsters. They would have to use great effort to achieve that feat. A day had passed and a lot of battles occurred. The experts that passed the fifth trial quickly fought for resources after they arrive in this realm. They snatched and fought everything that got their attention. Even those powerful experts died after they exhausted their energy. All this time, Souta and Alexander were simply traveling throughout the woods without caring about the battles. They were reserving their energy. ¡°Just what are you planning? Are you planning to sweep everything once they exhausted their strength?¡± Souta asked. ¡°No, I¡¯m waiting for the key to appear. At that time, I want you to protect me.¡± Alexander said. ¡°Key?¡± Souta was slightly confused. ¡°Yeah, a key.¡± Alexander nodded but he didn¡¯t explain the details. ¡°When?¡± Souta simply asked. ¡°Sooner¡­ That¡¯s why we need to go now.¡± Alexander said before he increased his speed. Souta didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, he just followed Alexander. Both of their figures flashed through the forest. Ordinary people wouldn¡¯t be able to follow their movements with their eyes. Their speed was unbelievably fast. It¡¯s just their ordinary speed. They didn¡¯t even use their energy to boost their speed, afraid that they would attract everyone¡¯s creature. Swoosh!! The two passed through a huge forest and they arrived in a massive desert. While they were traveling, Alexander explained things about this realm to Souta. Important things about the Multiple Elements Realm. Souta saw how large the Multiple Elements Realm from above. Alexander said that every creature here was a monster. There were no humans or demis. The monsters here were fearsome. They grew powerful by fighting each other for a long time. They wouldn¡¯t listen to any words as it was killed or be killed in this realm. They were territorial as they would attack any creature that entered their territory. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Alexander stopped in the middle of nowhere. Souta was a little bit confused since the two of them were just standing in the middle of a vast desert. There¡¯s nothing in their vision except for endless sand. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± Souta looked down and his eyes adjusted. He saw through the layers of sand and found an object slowly rising toward the surface. ¡°Yeah, but before that, we need to prepare ourselves,¡± Alexander said as he looked at his surrounding. ¡°Hmm¡­?¡± Souta also noticed creatures approaching them at high speed. He looked over and realized that these creatures were swimming through the sand. ¡°Sandworm? There are quite a number of them¡­ Plus, there¡¯s a fourth stage monster within their ranks.¡± Souta grinned as he cracked his knuckles. ¡°Leave it to me¡­ Let me have some fun with these monsters.¡± Killing intent slowly seeped out of his body. The bloodlust that he was holding back suddenly gush out of his body like a raging tide. It flooded the whole area and it even stopped the approaching sandworms for a few seconds. When Souta sensed that they still proceeded despite sensing his bloodlust, the smile on his face grew wider. Alexander sighed as he noticed that Souta was getting carried away. Even if he stopped Souta, he knew that Souta wouldn¡¯t stop until he satiated his boredom. ¡®Still¡­ This bloodlust is terrifying¡­ Just how many people did he kill for it to gather this amount?¡¯ Alexander turned around and focused his attention on the object below. He would get the key to control the Multiple Element Realm and while doing so he would be vulnerable. That¡¯s why he wanted Souta to protect him. Huff! Alexander raised his hands and a huge amount of mana burst out. Several layers of barriers with different elemental powers formed around him. ¡°These barriers will last for ten minutes¡­¡± He muttered as he focused his attention on the sand. The area in front of him started to move. Soon, a five-meter tall metal pillar emerged from the sand. The pillar was black with white stripes and a spherical object at the center of it. ¡°It¡¯s here¡­¡± He knew that once he try to acquire the key, his power would be suppressed to the limit. Even experts below his level would be able to match him. It¡¯s worse but everything here was his set-up so he could only accept it. He was glad that he had Souta on his back. ¡°I¡¯ll get it!¡± Alexander pushed both of his hands forward. Lightning crackled around the pillar before it flowed through his body, trying to paralyze him. ¡°Argh! I¡¯m glad that I enhanced my body to the limit before opening this realm!!¡± He gritted his teeth as he felt pain all over his body. Meanwhile, Souta was fighting the group of sandworms. He was playing with them as he slowly ripped the weaker ones into tiny pieces of meat. The blood of the sandworms splattered around, dyeing the sand in red. ¡°Hahaha!! Come here!!¡± Souta laughed madly before he pounced at the nearest sandworms. He raised his hand and a huge amount of best feram gathered around it. ¡°DIE!!!¡± He was about to smash the third stage sandworm when the fourth stage sandworm blocked his attack. Its huge body collided with his fist and it pushed him dozens of meters away. Bang!! Souta paused as he felt the intensity in the air. Somehow, the fourth stage sandworm along with the remaining third stage sandworms used their release form. Their body undergoes a transformation. The fourth stage sandworm grew larger shadowing Souta and Alexander¡¯s figure. Jet-black tattoos covered its body as it body extended up to two hundred meters long. The fluctuations of energy made the air tremble. It was as if everything going to collapse. The entire area was filled with a huge amount of best feram. But Souta didn¡¯t falter at all. It even made the smile on his face grow wider. ¡°Hahahaha!! Come at me!!¡± Souta also released his energy. The monster orb and [Nebula Heart] pumped a massive amount of best feram throughout his body. Several skills were activated as he used his Second Mode. Black mist seeped out of his body as layers of dark aura covered him like a cloak. A powerful gravitational field assaulted the whole area and it restricted the movements of the third stage sandworms. ¡°Hehehe!! Die!!¡± Souta laughed madly as he swung his hand. Several strings of web flew out trying to capture all the monsters. ROAR!! The fourth stage sandworm released a powerful roar. It quickly charged a [Bestrou] and fired it instantly. The sand shot up in the air as the beam disintegrated the webs. It continued to push forward until it got close to Souta¡¯s face. Boom!! Smoke and dust filled the area. The fourth stage sandworm knew that Souta was still alive because of the black most in the atmosphere and the heavy gravity that was pressuring its movements. The dust slowly dissipated revealing a sphere of blood. The blood moved to show Souta¡¯s figure inside it. Souta still had that smile on his face. ¡°You know what? I already fought what would people called one of the strongest fourth stage. After fighting you, a sandworm, I¡¯m finally sure that their fame isn¡¯t for nothing.¡± Souta opened his palm and a scythe made of blood formed. He reached out and grabbed it as he stared at the fourth stage sandworm. ¡°I¡¯m sure that there are only three monsters that could keep up with me and you didn¡¯t belong to it. Against a fourth stage nobody like you, I don¡¯t need to use my release form.¡± Chapter 763: My shadows will be enough Alexander gritted his teeth. He was in the process of taking the key. He actually didn¡¯t have the plan to open this realm so soon but with the way things were going right now, he had to change his plan. He had to recover his past strength faster. He could feel it. The state of the Holy Lands, the demon army, and the Bringers of Calamity. War was going to erupt soon. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary war where only mortals were the participants. It would be a war between those gods. He should have a minimum of seven shackles strength if he wanted to survive. ¡°Argh!!¡± A streak of blood flows down from the corner of Alexander¡¯s mouth. He felt his strength leaving his body at high speed. BOOM!!! The ground shook heavily and a powerful energy fluctuations swept out like a raging tide. ¡°This¡­?¡± Alexander¡¯s eyes shrunk as he looked above. He saw dark clouds in the sky flashing black lightning. ¡°This power¡­ This fluctuation¡­ There¡¯s no doubt that it is an Archetype?!¡± He turned his head and saw Souta¡¯s figure which was covered in black lightning. Souta was tearing the flesh of the fourth stage sandworm with a look of ecstasy on his face. The third stage sandworm couldn¡¯t even fight back at all. Their proudly tough bodies were easily destroyed by the violent black lightning. It was easy to guess that Souta was playing with them. Yep, even a normal intermediate fourth stage sandworm was just a plaything for him. He was too powerful beyond common sense. ¡°Archetype¡­? How?!¡± Alexander suddenly felt a headache as he held his head. ¡°Argh! Damnit! I just remember Archetype and now it¡¯s being deleted from my memories¡­ Who the hell place a curse on all Archetype techniques?! Fuck! I gotta hurry up and reach Five Shackles Realm!¡± Alexander ignored the pain as he decided to put the matter of Archetype in the back of his mind. No matter how much he tried to remember the Archetype, some sort of mysterious force would erase all the information of Archetype in his mind. That¡¯s why he decided to think about it once he reached the Fifth Shackles Realm, the level where the mysterious force wouldn¡¯t be able to delete the information. BOOM!! Black lightning flooded the whole area. The fourth stage sandworm wailed loudly but Souta simply swung the vajra sword in his hand. The energy blade absorbed the black lightning before it tore the sandworm apart. It couldn¡¯t do anything but accept its fate. Its death was inevitable ever since it decided to face Souta. ¡°Ah~ it feels so good¡­¡± Souta stood at the top of the fourth stage sandworm¡¯s corpse. He had an ecstatic look on his face while staring at the dark clouds. He basks himself in the strange feeling in his heart. It lasted for a whole two minutes before he returned to his calm look. The dark clouds disappeared but the lingering best feram in the area made this place hazardous for ordinary people. ¡°I¡¯ve calmed down¡­ It felt refreshing.¡± Souta muttered as he placed back the vajra sword in its sheath. He looked at the corpses of the sandworms. He wanted to take some spoils but their bodies were utterly destroyed. Even their monster orbs were shattered so Souta couldn¡¯t collect them. ¡°Huh?¡± Souta suddenly turned around. He focused his attention on the east as his [Crimson Perception] detected a group of creatures approaching this place. ¡°So the battle before attracted the attention of other creatures¡­ But from this blood flow¡­ It seems that they are humans or demis.¡± He turned to look at Alexander and found that he wasn¡¯t finished taking the key. From the looks of it, it would take a lot of time. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter. Souta¡¯s job was to protect him. Hmm¡­? Another group¡­ Souta raised his eyebrows as he sensed another group in the west. He could only smile wryly as he knew why these folks were all coming in this direction. It was because he got carried away and played with the sandworms. ¡°I¡¯m not excited right now¡­ My nerves are all calm after experiencing the sandworms. I should be able to calmly fight right now.¡± Souta closed his eyes as he stretched his arms. His emotional instability was too much of a wild card. He couldn¡¯t fight the way he wanted if it spiked up. ¡°They are here¡­¡± Souta calmly opened his eyes. In the opposite direction of him, a group of thirty-one people had arrived at the field. The group stared at him as they slowly examined the area. Thirty one people weren¡¯t in one group. They were divided into two groups. They were from Night Light Association and Thunder Hall. The people that were leading them were Casti and Hermo. Both of them were promising young experts of the top factions in Spring Land. Hermo was twenty-five years old. He was a disciple of the Grand Elder of the Thunder Hall. He had spiky yellow hair and an arrogant look on his face. Casti was a woman wearing a black veil that covered half of her face. She was twenty-six years old this year and was famous in the entire Spring Land for her mastery of dark and light attributes. The two of them were the future of their respective organizations. They were expected to take up a huge role in the Spring Land in the next few years. ¡°Tsk! It seems that the battle is finished! It looks like they found a treasure in this place! What a good timing!¡± Hermo laughed wickedly after he saw Alexander. ¡°Young master, we need to be careful. The lingering energy in the atmosphere is intense. We expected them to be stronger than a group of monsters.¡± An old man whispered to Hermo. ¡°I know but we had a great advantage in terms of numbers plus they just fought so their energy reserves aren¡¯t full.¡± Hermo laughed. He turned to Casti and asked, ¡°What do say, Casti? Should we combine our group and take whatever treasure is in their hands?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a great proposal, young master Hermo.¡± Casti smiled faintly underneath her veil. Souta raised his eyebrows with interest seeing their confident looks. They didn¡¯t even bother to hide their conversation using an isolation barrier so Souta heard all of it. ¡®My energy reserves aren¡¯t full? Yep, but I have two energy reserves¡­ No, three if I included the mana in the parasites. Plus¡­¡¯ Souta¡¯s eyes adjusted as he looked at their mana pool. ¡®Their combined mana pool is only equal to the current energy I have in the monster orb.¡¯ Well, it doesn¡¯t matter if Souta¡¯s energy reserve was higher than theirs since they have a bunch of potions and pills that they could use to replenish their mana. They also had some treasures that they could use. Everything. [Galaxy Eyes] saw everything on their bodies. The level of their weapons, armor, artifacts, mana pool, or power levels. Everything was laid open before Souta¡¯s pair of eyes. Some of them even had concealing artifacts but it didn¡¯t work against the all-seeing [Galaxy Eyes]. ¡®Eh~ Oopps! I need to calm down.¡¯ Souta quickly covered his face with his hand. He was getting carried away and a smile was forming on his face again. ¡°Huff¡­¡± He took a deep breath and asked, ¡°Are you guys finished talking to each other? If don¡¯t come the others will arrive sooner.¡± He pointed at his back. In that direction, the other group would arrive here in just a few seconds. ¡°I just want to inform you that a bunch of monsters is heading this way. I actually don¡¯t want to fight. I just wanted to take it easy.¡± Souta said nonchalantly. It doesn¡¯t matter if a fight broke out or not but he preferred to stay here quietly without doing anything. He just calmed down so he didn¡¯t want his emotion to go out of control. ¡°Huh?! What is this guy saying?!¡± Hermo said angrily as he glared at Souta. ¡°He¡¯s right. There are a group of monsters.¡± Casti said as she glanced in the direction where Souta pointed before. ¡°Haaa!¡± Hermo and the others looked over. They saw a group of sandworms swimming through the sands. Each of them was carrying a powerful aura that made the air vibrate. Souta sighed when he saw the sandworms. ¡°Guess there¡¯s no other choice.¡± He slowly pulled out the vajra sword from its sheath. His aura skyrocketed in the blink of an eye as his clothes fluttered in the air. Beads of blood slowly floated as black mist seeped out of his body. The gravitational field appeared once again as Souta activated the Second Mode. His aura shook Hermo and Casti¡¯s group. They stared at him with wide eyes as they didn¡¯t expect him to be a monster. So the energy they felt before came from him. Even the group of sandworms was forced to stop. The oppressive aura stunned them for a second. ¡°Thirty one here and nineteen at the back¡­ A total of fifty creatures. Come. I¡¯m gonna demolish everyone.¡± Souta looked at them coldly as he activated his [Serpent Dominance] ability. ¡°No, my shadows will be enough.¡± Chapter 764: Guardian ¡°Oh, I forgot that I already sent my shadows to tail those people from Murder Society.¡± Souta scratched his head as the oppressive aura around him vanished. Several skills that he casted suddenly disappeared. Despite that, the sandworms and the others could feel their strength leaving their bodies. Hermo and Casti subconsciously took a step back. Their power was getting lower and lower. They looked at their people only to find that they were experiencing the same thing. ¡°You!! Who the hell are you?!¡± Hermo roared as he fiercely glared at Souta with a hint of fear in his eyes. The feeling that more than half of his strength was suppressed was terrible. It was hard to describe but all of the training that he did in his life was a waste in front of this one humanoid monster. Souta ignored Hermo¡¯s words. He glanced at Alexander and wondered when he would finish taking the so-called ¡°key.¡± As if sensing what he wanted to ask, Alexander turned around with blood flowing out of his mouth. ¡°Souta, hurry up and finish them. I will be able to get this key soon so the guardian of the key will appear too.¡± ¡°Guardian?¡± ¡°Yeah, do you think that the creator of this place would depend on the sandworms to protect the key?! Anyway, you know what you have to do so I¡¯ll focus my entire attention here.¡± Alexander wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth before he went back to his business. ¡°Oh, I see¡­¡± Souta rubbed his chin in understanding. Sandworms would probably take the key if they knew its existence. Plus, in the previous trials¡­ He saw a bunch of golems and projections so probably the guardian should be one of them. A machine programmed to do one thing was probably the best guardian than others. A golem or projection didn¡¯t have a mind of its own. It would only follow what it was programmed to do. The creator of this realm didn¡¯t need to worry about betrayal from them. Guardian? He shouldn¡¯t think about it. He was getting excited as he imagined the power of the guardian. He shouldn¡¯t look forward to it. What if the guardian was just a little bit stronger then he would be disappointed. Souta shrugged his head as he turned his head to the pitiful people waiting for his judgement. ¡°Well, well, well, what should I do with these guys?¡± He smiled creepily causing everyone to flinch. Casti gracefully bent her body forward and said respectfully, ¡°Sir, please forgive us for offending you. If you don¡¯t mind, we will not bother you anymore.¡± She didn¡¯t even hesitate to bow her head. For her, it was going to help her survive then it doesn¡¯t matter even if she bow her head. Her life was all that matters to her. Souta raised his eyebrows with interest. He didn¡¯t expect this woman to bow her head. ¡®She is the leader of the group, right? Sigh¡­ Doesn¡¯t matter to me.¡¯ He raised his hand and motioned them to leave. ¡°You can leave if you want but if you try me again know that I will not show mercy. Oh, I forgot¡­¡± Suddenly the whole area turned cold. They could feel immense pressure coming out of his eyes. ¡°I can sense anyone within a diameter of twenty kilometers. If I sense anyone of you, don¡¯t expect that you will be able to step out of this land.¡± Souta said. ¡°You fucker! Do you think you-¡± Hermo stopped in the middle of his sentence. He looked down and saw a black tentacle slithering around his leg. ¡°Huh? W-What is this?¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m done. I¡¯m done.¡± Souta sighed as he silently move his hand. Several tentacles rose from the ground and strangled the people from the Thunder Hall. The sandworms weren¡¯t an exception. The black tentacles wrapped tightly around them as if trying to crush their bodies. ¡°N-No!¡± Hermo roared in horror. The black tentacle was slowly crushing his body from the inside out. He didn¡¯t even have the strength to resist so he could only watch this disgusting thing kill him. Shinggg!! Suddenly, a brilliant sword light flashed and the black tentacles around their bodies were sliced into tiny pieces. Hermo fell on the ground. His forehead was full of sweat and his breathing was ragged. He glanced at the person beside him and sighed in relief. ¡°I¡¯m glad that I brought you here, Elder Monbi.¡± ¡°Be careful, young master. That one is a fourth stage monster, a humanoid one. I don¡¯t know what type of ability it has but it seems that it didn¡¯t work on me, a Two Shackles Realm expert.¡± Elder Monbi said. ¡°Elder Monbi?!¡± Casti was shocked. She heard of this powerful elder from Thunder Hall. One of the three Two Shackles Realm of the Thunder Hall. Grand Elder, Patriach, and lastly Elder Monbi. Originally, there were only two Two Shackles Realm experts of Thunder Hall but after the increase in mana density a few months ago, Elder Monbi broke through the shackles. This alone increase the overall might of the Thunder Hall several times. ¡®Didn¡¯t expect that he would come here with Hermo. So that¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t see the depths of his strength. He is Elder Monbi.¡¯ Casti said inwardly. It seems that the Thunder Hall really doted on Hermo. If not, they wouldn¡¯t send a Two Shackles expert with him. Even she didn¡¯t have that kind of treatment. ¡°Young lady Casti, do you mind if we talk a bit?¡± Elder Monbi said. ¡°What do you want, Elder Monbi? As you can see, all of my men are affected by the pressure. We can¡¯t fight so if you want us to help you I¡¯m afraid that I have to decline.¡± Casti answered politely. She knew that she couldn¡¯t offend this powerful elder. Either way, she really couldn¡¯t fight the humanoid monster and Elder Monbi. ¡°Huh? What are you saying?¡± Casti, Hermo, Elder Monbi, and the rest shivered when they heard the voice. They slowly turned their heads and found that Souta was standing in front of Elder Monbi. ¡°Did you gain confidence just because you¡¯re not affected by my ability? Is that it?¡± Souta asked as he put his face closer to the old man. He already knew that this old man was Two Shackles expert when he scanned them earlier. It¡¯s just that he wasn¡¯t a bit intimidated by a lone Two Shackles. It¡¯s a different matter if the Two Shackles expert was Alexander. That guy had seven elements that reach higher levels than him. ¡°Y-You!¡± Elder Monbi was shocked. His eyes were widely opened as he slowly took a step back. ¡°Fall,¡± Souta said as he stretched out his hand. Elder Monbi couldn¡¯t handle it anymore. He quickly brandished his sword and slashed it diagonally. Clang! Clang! Clang! Casti, Hermo, and the others couldn¡¯t follow their movements. They just saw the two figures vanish in front of their eyes before hearing several explosions in the air. Without any warning, the two started a battle. They were shocked. This was their first time seeing a battle of a Two Shackles Realm expert. It was frightening to the point that the energy waves from the clash alone made them fall to their knees. It was as if a heavy boulder was pressed on their shoulders. Even without the pressure from that strange ability of that humanoid monster, they would still be pressed to their knees. It was the only thing they could do. Some of the weaker men in their group began to lose consciousness. As expected, without their strength the energy waves of Elder Monbi knocked them out. Bang! Bang! Bang! A figure fell from the sky and heavily crashed on the sands. It blows a large amount of sand that filled the air. ¡°Ehe~¡± Souta charged as he swung his hand. Elder Monbi wanted to dodge but it was too late. Several strings of webs already restrained his limbs. Bang! Elder Monbi screamed as a huge cut appeared on his chest. Blood spurted out and it quickly turned into sharp blades that pierced his body. Souta was about to punch a hole through the old man¡¯s chest when he sensed something. He slightly turned his head and saw that another fourth stage sandworm was behind him. But the one that he sensed wasn¡¯t this sandworm. ¡°So it¡¯s here¡­¡± A wide smile formed on his face as a terrifying force gushed out of his body. ¡°Then, I don¡¯t need you guys to accompany me anymore. The real challenge is here.¡± Souta¡¯s grin seemed to reach his ears. Elder Monbi didn¡¯t know what he was talking about but he grew terrified when he felt the massive amount of energy that burst out of Souta¡¯s figure. ¡°W-What are you?!¡± Elder Monbi asked while stuttering. Dark clouds gathered in the sky as thunder roared wildly. Souta threw Elder Monbi to the side like a piece of garbage. Then, he flew into the sky and stop just below the dark clouds. He stared down with an excited expression. ¡°This energy fluctuation¡­ This must be the guardian that Alexander was talking about! I¡¯ll start it with a bang to test my new tapped blood!¡± Chapter 765: Great Black Orc As for the rest of the people, Souta didn¡¯t care about them. If they survive, they survive. If they die, then they die. The most important thing to him right now was fighting the guardian. It¡¯s making his blood boil. This was the main dish that he wanted. The old man called Elder Monbi couldn¡¯t even match those ordinary squad leaders of Athen¡¯s Champion. He was basically a fodder in Two Shackles Realm. He was outclassed in all stats. At this point, Souta believed that even the so-called Grand Elder was just slightly weaker than a squad leader. In short, Souta could dismantle the entire Spring Land even if they combined their forces with just his Second Mode alone. Souta stared down as he saw the space distorted. It twisted horribly as a powerful aura surged out into the area. ¡°There is another alternate space?! Or maybe is it prepared as the home of the guardian?¡± He narrowed his eyes as he felt that there was another hidden space behind that distorted space. He could feel that it wasn¡¯t the space of the main dimension where the Imperium resides. The twisted space opened like a mouth and a gigantic creature appeared. It was a ten-meter-tall creature wearing pitch-black full-body armor with a huge sword hanging on its back. ¡°A golem¡­¡± Its gigantic body was full of runes. Each one exudes a powerful energy that fully enhances the fighting abilities of the golem. This one was called [Darkness Guardian]. ¡°My base isn¡¯t enough so I¡¯ll increase my power a little bit¡­¡± Souta¡¯s aura skyrocketed as he activated his Second Mode. His overwhelming power was released to this world. He guessed that he didn¡¯t need to hold back against this golem. He was going to thoroughly enjoy fighting this one. The guardian didn¡¯t even look at other people. Instead, he focused his attention on the person who was trying to acquire the key. He was programmed to protect the key from anyone at all costs. That was the only thing on his mind. He grabbed the huge sword on his back and charged forward. Swoosh!! The guardian quickly arrived in front of the barrier around Alexander. He swung his sword with the intention to shatter the barrier and kill the person inside. It was a simple yet decisive attack. Bang!! Souta appeared in front and blocked the slash using the vajra sword. He felt his hand turning numb just by blocking that attack. ¡°This guy¡­ Even though he is suppressed by the gravity field and dark mist, he still could throw a powerful slash like that. What if he isn¡¯t suppressed at all? His power will increase greatly.¡± Souta spun in mid-air before he kicked the chest of the guardian. Then, he shot several energy blades in his direction. [Crimson Moon]!! BOOM!!! A powerful explosion erupted. Elder Monbi and the sandworm who were closer were blown away. The shockwave alone made the entire place tremble. It was as if this whole place was going to collapse. ¡°N-No¡­ W-What is this?!¡± Elder Monbi was trembling. He couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing right now. The power of the male-looking golem and the humanoid monster was beyond his imagination. Even Grand Elder and Patriarch were nothing compared to these two. ¡°T-There¡¯s no way someone at this level on Spring Land?!! Don¡¯t tell me they come from a large country?!!!¡± He was losing his mind. He offended the humanoid monster so if this monster attacked the Thunder Hall¡­ They¡­ They would be gone in just a single night. They didn¡¯t have the power to defend themselves against such monsters. BOOM!! Another explosion erupted. The whole area was pulverized in the blink of an eye. Souta was blown away as blood flowed out of his mouth. The difference in strength was clear as day and night. The guardian was simply stronger than him even with his Second Mode. In just two blows, his Second Mode was directly suppressed. ¡°If Second Mode isn¡¯t enough then I¡¯ll just use this¡­¡± Souta grinned as dark and light burst out of him. It shot upward in the dark clouds causing the thunder cries. At the same time, the blood of the dead sandworms floated in the mid-air. The atmosphere greatly changed and everyone could feel it. It was as if someone was gripping their hearts directly. Rumble! ¡°This¡­ Dark and light elements¡­¡± Casti stared at the two opposite energies. She was from the Night Light Association and she also had affinities to two elements. But it was different this time¡­ It felt like if she used elemental power of dark or light, that monster would be able to suppress her directly. ¡°This is [Element Drive]!¡± Casti suddenly noticed that her strength came back to her body. Despite that, she still couldn¡¯t properly stand due to the energy pressure of the golem and the humanoid monster. Suddenly, everything turned quiet. She turned her head and saw droplets of blood floating in the mid-air. The dark and light shone brightly as if the entire world came to a standstill. The next moment, everything turned heavy and it forced Casti¡¯s head to the sand. ¡°What is that?!¡± The last thing she saw was the countless dots of light in the dark clouds before she lost consciousness. The pressure knocked her out. Even a powerful expert like her couldn¡¯t even withstand the energy of the two. [Dual Element Drive: Dark and Light Force]!! [Armored Scale Formation]!! Souta¡¯s body was covered in armor. Then, blood seeped out from the gaps and it transformed into another layer of armor before fusing together. The color turned black as Souta felt that his body was forcefully twisted causing him to groan. ¡°ARGHH!¡± He gritted his teeth as his blood seeped out of his pores. The black transformed into dark armor that covered his entire body. Blood and flesh covered the vajra sword. They entangled together turning into some sort of huge mace that fitted his current size. A pair of blood-red eyes gleamed under the black helmet. He grew taller, turning into a four-meter giant savage monster. [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]!! This was completely different from his [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]. That one enhanced his abilities especially his thread-forming trait to the limit. This one was the same except for the thread-forming trait. Also, the strength it possessed was greater than his previous armor transformation. Great Black Orc boasted its great strength and high endurance. Right now, Souta gained those characteristics by tapping deep inside him. ¡°Let¡¯s try it!¡± Souta swung the mace in his hand. The guardian also swung his weapon. Both of their attacks collided causing a ripple in the air. Shockwaves exploded sweeping out everything. BOOM!! Thunder rumbled violently as black lightning rained down. The sunny scenery before the battle was nowhere to be seen anymore. It was like a super typhoon had descended on the entire desert. A natural disaster that no one could prevent. The whole land was shifting creating a huge valley in every direction. The creatures outside the desert couldn¡¯t help but turn their heads. They could feel the massive energy fluctuations roaring in the direction of the desert. They could also see the vast and thick dark clouds looming above the land. It was destruction incarnate that would demolish everything in sight. Even in outer space a person could see dark clouds covering the entirety of desert. If one would remove the clouds, the forming valley would be visible. It was so huge that they would see cracks desert outside the planet. BANG!! Elder Monbi watched everything in horror. He was still alive because of his high power level. For the rest of his people, he didn¡¯t know if they were alive. In this disaster, he didn¡¯t even know if he could survive so he didn¡¯t have a time to worry about the others. He should worry about his safety first. ¡°W-What is this?!¡± Elder Monbi muttered with a pale look. ¡°N-No, the entire desert¡­ H-How¡­? This desert should be as large as Spring Land! No, this isn¡¯t Imperium! We¡¯re not in Imperium!¡± Since they weren¡¯t in Imperium, this world couldn¡¯t handle the strength of higher level creatures. The density of mana was so low that it got easily pushed away by the energy coming from the two fighters. ¡°Huh?¡± Elder Monbi saw a huge figure heading in this direction. In the next moment, the giant figure heavily landed on his position. He didn¡¯t even have a time to dodge it as the armored golem crashed onto him like a meteorite. Bang!! Souta chased after the guardian. He leaped forward before swinging the mace in his hand. The guardian blocked the attack but the land beneath was split open. It collapses instantly due to the heavy force that it received. [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]!! The guardian raised his sword as the various runes around his body shone brightly. A shield formed around him as the black lightning heavily smashed the shield. Bang!! Chapter 766: Strength The Fifth Form was too powerful. It turned the entire land upside down and killed every living being within its range. Everything within a straight line of hundreds of kilometers was swallowed by the overwhelming black lightning. That one attack caused a giant rift in the ground that reached dozens of kilometers deep. Souta and the guardian were literally overturning the land. They were changing the geographical formation of this desert and no one could prevent it. Watching everything from afar feels like the end of the world was coming. It was easy to say that ninety percent of lifeforms in the desert were already dead at this moment. ¡°Come here!¡± Souta swung the giant mace in his hand. The guardian also swung the giant sword. They exchanged blows thousands of times in the blink of an eye, overturning the whole field. They exploded with much power as the vast land suffered a never-ending quake. The [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc] boosted his physical power to an unbelievable level. It was his greatest strength when using this ability. Bang! Bang! Bang! Hundreds of runes shone around the guardian¡¯s body. His power reached a higher level once again. He leaped forward while dragging a kilometer-long carpet of flames around his sword. Instantly, he arrived in front of Souta. His body was much larger compared to Souta¡¯s body. He carried dominating aura as he swung the sword along with the sea of flames. Souta¡¯s eyes shrunk. The flames were just two thousand degree celsius but the problem was that it contained a vast amount of energy. The amount wasn¡¯t something that he could ignore. Swoosh!! The sea of flames rushed forward like a tsunami. [Fourth Form: Bridal Lotus Benevolent Rose]!! The sea of flames collided with the barrier causing an intense reaction of energy that shot upward in the sky. It blew the dark clouds away but the dark clouds gathered in just a second. Souta dashed through the thick smoke and appeared in front of the guardian. The guardian remained the same as he swung his sword and Souta reacted quickly by stepping back instantly. The sword hit nothing but the force behind it almost blow Souta away. Souta only steadied himself by concentrating the gravity field around his body. ¡°Let me finish this!!¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. He stepped forward before sliding between the guardian¡¯s legs. He then jump in the air and concentrated his energy on the mace. His muscle bugled as the [Nebula Heart] and monster orb pumped energy throughout his body. The guardian was about to launch another powerful attack when Souta swung the mace in his hand. Black lightning erupted as blood flowed through the weapon enhancing its capabilities. Using blood as a medium, he threw several powerful attacks in the blink of an eye. [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]! [First Form: Mahayana Tribulation]! [Crimson Moon]! All this time he focused all the gravity to restrict the guardian¡¯s movement. It was an all-out spell attack to the point that the magic circle of the [Gravitational Ball] reached the limit. It couldn¡¯t take any more energy or else it would explode. The mace arrived in front of the guardian¡¯s eyes. The distance between the two before the contact was just a single inch. Suddenly, before the collision, Souta activated [Possession] and [Yin Yang Unification] to greatly boost all of his skills and abilities. BOOM!!! It was a large deafening sound. Blinding light erupted shining through the sky. The vast energy evaporated everything without leaving a single trace. What was left was just a place filled with thick black smoke. The fluctuations of energy were high, turning the entire area into a hazardous place. Energy sparks would crackle in the air every second. Souta was standing in the middle of nowhere. His body had returned to normal. He was a little bit exhausted but he still had a huge grin on his face. In front of him was a gigantic rift across the land. The land was split open. It was so huge that it split the entire desert region in half. The largest desert on this planet was sliced into two and the rift was observable in outer space. It looks like a fault line had appeared in this desert. Even Souta was a little bit shocked seeing the destruction his attack caused. Although it was within his expectation since he knew that this wasn¡¯t Imperium, it was still a bit impressive seeing it with his own eyes. ¡°If I use my full power then the destruction will increase multiple times,¡± Souta muttered as he looked around. Despite his powerful attack, the space in this sub-world was still intact. It didn¡¯t even show signs of cracks or distortion. ¡°Nonetheless, this place is a high world. It¡¯s not as fragile as those mid and low worlds.¡± More importantly¡­ Souta found that he was on the edge of the desert. It seems that the battle took him to this place without realizing it. He was too absorbed in the fight. ¡°I¡¯ll go back¡­¡± Souta returned and found that Alexander hasn¡¯t finished his job. He was still standing in front of the pillar. No, he was floating. The whole ground had collapsed leaving the pillar alone. Souta shrugged his shoulder. Since there was nothing to do, he would recover a little bit of his energy first. From his point of view, the battle before destroyed all lifeforms in this region. There¡¯s no one alive except for him and Alexander. After waiting for a whole minute, Alexander pulled out of both his hands. Bright light with different colors spreads out in the sky like a net. It covered hundreds of kilometers as a ripple of soft and calm energy spread out. Alexander fell but Souta controlled him using gravity to prevent him from falling. ¡°Is everything alright? You look tired, you know?¡± Souta asked after looking at Alexander¡¯s pale face. ¡°Yeah, I got the key. I put it inside my body. The only problem is that I couldn¡¯t use my strength now that this key is with me.¡± Alexander explained. Souta¡¯s eyes adjusted and saw that a strange object was inside Alexander¡¯s mana pool. This strange object was powerful and it was refining Alexander¡¯s energy. ¡®This¡­ A universal grade?¡¯ His eyes shrunk as he realized the level of the artifact. He took a deep breath to control himself. It would be bad if his emotional instability spiked up once again. If that happened he wouldn¡¯t be able to control himself. He closed his eyes. He felt someone was whispering in his ears. It was saying that he should kill Alexander. Kill. Kill. Kill. It took him a minute before he opened his eyes once again. Souta turned around and asked, ¡°So what should we do now? You got the key, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, we just need to find the place where we will need to use the key,¡± Alexander said. After that, this place would become his once again. He wouldn¡¯t be able to manipulate this realm like in the past but it should be enough for his current level. ¡°I see¡­ So do you need a rest?¡± Souta asked while both of them were slowly descending on the ground. ¡°No, this is fine. I just couldn¡¯t use my energy.¡± Alexander said. Even without his energy, his body was still at Two Shackles Realm. He was extremely powerful. Also, he didn¡¯t have injuries so he was still at his peak. ¡°So where we will find the place to use that key?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Back to where it started.¡± ¡°You mean?¡± ¡°Yeah, the castle back there,¡± Alexander answered. ¡­ In the forest. Yaniesvyl, the Princess of Heiro Kingdom, gathered a lot of experts. Even the experts from San Sun Clan and Great Chan Hall were present. Their numbers reached several hundred. They gathered here for one goal and that goal was to eliminate Heimbra of the Poison Demon Palace. Yaniesvyl let out a sigh. The fluctuations of energy level before were too high. It was terrifying. Luckily, it seems that the owner of that energy wasn¡¯t in the forest. As expected this place wasn¡¯t ordinary. There were countless dangers and opportunities. She looked around and said, ¡°We should worry about ourselves first. Lady Heimbra found the Extreme Poison Field and she is currently refining it. Once she succeeded, we will all die. That¡¯s the only outcome.¡± ¡°What is the Extreme Poison Field?¡± One of the experts asked. Dream, from the Great Chan Hall, stepped forward. He opened his mouth and slowly explained so that these people could understand the graveness of this situation. ¡°The Extreme Poison Field is a natural phenomenon. It appears in an environment with countless lethal poisons. It contained the most dangerous poison that could kill experts easily. Once Lady Heimbra completely refined it, the field will release poison into the atmosphere. The poison is powerful enough to kill even experts at Shackled Realm. It will then be absorbed into her body to raise her power.¡± The experts were shocked when they heard the explanation. If the poison could kill Shackled Realm, then it would be extremely fatal to most of them who haven¡¯t even broken one shackle. Chapter 767: Poison Swamp ¡°Then, what about the monster that wreaked havoc in the desert? What if it comes and attacked Lady Heimbra? Then, are we gonna all die?¡± An expert at Liquefying Realm asked. Just by recalling the intense energy waves from that direction made him shiver. ¡°I don¡¯t think that the monster in the desert will come here in the forest. This place is large and contained an unknown number of fourth-stage monsters. Until now, we only discovered a total of fifty eight fourth-stage monsters. Each one of them is territorial. They didn¡¯t like leaving their territory and only come out to fight for the resources. By resources, I mean those super-rare grade fruits and some of them are even guarding legendary grade.¡± The one that answered was a beautiful pink hair woman. She was wearing a white cloth embroidered with blue linings. Her hair was tied in a ponytail. There was a pair of swords hanging on her waist. She had a heroic aura around her. She was Yaniesvyl, the Princess of the Heiro Kingdom. Actually, she was worried about that monster in the desert too. Judging from the energy fluctuations, it was a fourth stage but it possessed unbelievable strength. Well, her words have a point. Yaniesvyl sighed inwardly. Fight for resources? That¡¯s the same reason why the Spring Land was in chaos. They were trying to occupy more land so that the chances of high grade resources falling into their hands would increase. ¡®If those people knew that there are legendary grades here, they would probably launch a huge expedition.¡¯ The only problem was the monsters that were guarding those legendary grades. Each of them was an extraordinary monster that survived throughout this brutal place. According to Dream, the carving at the entrance was from an era ten thousand years ago. In that amount of time, a bunch of legendaries would naturally bloom. The older ones were already consumed by top monsters but the recent legendary grades were still present. There¡¯s that Earth Energy Mango guarded by White Prime Apes. Then, there¡¯s Freezing Shifting Fruit on the southeast. It seems that the monsters were waiting for the right time to consume those legendary grades. But fighting right now for those legendaries was suicide without enough force. Yaniesvyl was just a One Shackle expert so she wasn¡¯t a match for those powerful fourth stages. The least she could do was hold herself against initial fourth stage. If it was intermediate, high, or peak then she wouldn¡¯t last a single minute. ¡°But Lady Heimbra is different¡­ Once she completely refined the Extreme Poison Field, the poison will kill us whether we like it or not.¡± Yaniesvyl said. Dream stepped forward and added, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not that you will fight for nothing. Once we survive this place, we will give you appropriate rewards for your efforts.¡± This was the most important thing. Words alone wouldn¡¯t move these experts. They had to add benefits to entice them. In the face of benefits, a lot of experts agreed with their proposal. Yaniesvyl, Dream, and Verto gathered together to start their plan. They had to act quickly or else they would only give Lady Heimbra more time to complete her refinement. It would be too late once that happens. ¡°Still, didn¡¯t expect that she will find the Extreme Poison Field in this realm¡­¡± Dream said with a sigh. ¡°Yeah, this realm is better than I expected. I thought that the ancient ruin is just some random labyrinth but to think that it is an entire realm¡­¡± Yaniesvyl said. ¡°We should just stop Heimbra. Sooner the poison cloud will envelop this area. The strongest creatures will survive but those low-level¡­¡± Verto said in a grave tone. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± Everyone finished their preparation in just half an hour. ¡°Everyone, there is no time to lose. To avoid sudden changes, we should move out now.¡± Yaniesvyl, Dream, and Verto flew out of the camp. More than a hundred experts followed behind them. Their speed was slow. They were afraid of attracting the attention of some powerful monsters. It would be bad if they fought monsters and lost some people here. Also, their numbers were eye-catching. If they were a little bit careless, a bunch of monsters would attack them. Still, it was hard for them to not be detected. That¡¯s why Verto was flying at the front using an artifact to hide the presence of everyone behind him. It was an orange grade artifact from San Sun Clan. The concealment wasn¡¯t perfect but it was enough for them to traverse the forest. As long as they didn¡¯t intentionally release their energy, it would be fine. After approximately two hours of travel, the group finally saw a conspicuous part of the forest. They could see various poisonous plants and trees. There were even poisonous and venomous monsters. They were here. They called this place, Poison Swamp. It was a dangerous area filled with poison and dangers. If one wasn¡¯t careful they wouldn¡¯t be able to leave this area in their life. The Poison Swamp was approximately fourty square kilometers. It was huge as most of the poison attribute monsters were living here. Thin fog of poison was filling the air. ¡°Everyone, get ready,¡± Yaniesvyl said and her voice travel through the entire crowd. The experts prepared their detoxifying potions, pill, or artifacts. They had prepared for half an hour and they even received the support of Yaniesvyl, Dream, and Verto. The three wouldn¡¯t come here without preparation or else they would only seek their own death. If they didn¡¯t have anything the poison fog would kill all the low-level experts. Everything took their anti-poison before heading inside the Poison Swamp. After they entered the swamp, the group quickly met some monsters. Lucky for them, the monsters were only non-evolve and first evolution. With their current power level, it was easy to dispose of monsters up to second evolution stage. Though they would met problems with the third evolution stage, they could still dispose of that level of monsters. Yaniesvyl, Dream, and Verto led the group carefully. They passed through several poison traps. They even avoided places where the poison was highly concentrated. One hour later, the group arrived in the deep parts of the swamp. At this time, they already met a lot of trouble and they lost a total of sixteen people. Some of them got caught off guard by third evolution stage monsters, some fell into the poison field area, and some accidentally touch an extremely poisonous tree. After traveling more, they finally saw some people. But these people weren¡¯t friendly at all. ¡°Poison Demon Palace!¡± Yaniesvyl said in a grave tone. The people from Poison Demon Palace. It means that Lady Heimbra was in this area refining the Extreme Poison Field. They only had to search this place and they would undoubtedly find their target. ¡°I¡¯ll handle them quickly,¡± Verto said before he charged forward. Yaniesvyl turned around and said, ¡°Everyone, we should go and fight the member of the Poison Demon Palace! If you saw Lady Heimbra quickly inform us! You don¡¯t need to fight her, me and my people will personally fight her!¡± A battle started in the deep area of Poison Swamp. It was a battle against the top faction called Poison Demon Palace. The Poison Demon Palace had a great disadvantage in terms of number but the battle was equal. They were in the Poison Swamp so the environment was favorable for the experts of the Poison Demon Palace. The alliance had to work together if they wanted to defeat their enemies. It was tough fighting in this environment. Some plants or trees would emit poison when in contact with certain elements like fire or water. The enemies weren¡¯t as careful as them. After all, the enemies were poison users so they had some resistance to poison. Yaniesvyl and Dream flew in search of Lady Heimbra. ¡­ Souta and Alexander were walking leisurely in the forest. Souta¡¯s hands were inside his pockets as he stared at the dark and starry sky. ¡°You¡¯re lucky, you know. You picked me as your bodyguard.¡± Souta said. ¡°Yeah, I will not forget your help.¡± Alexander nodded. ¡°I think no one could defeat me in this entire realm¡­ Oh, is there a fifth stage here?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Probably not¡­ I don¡¯t know. If there¡¯s a fifth stage here, then that will be the strongest in this world.¡± Alexander said. Ten thousand years had passed since he left this realm alone so he didn¡¯t know if some monster became fifth stage. ¡°I see¡­ It¡¯s probably not. I overturn the whole desert and it didn¡¯t even show interest, not even once. It didn¡¯t even glance. Just one glance and I will feel the suppression so it will be enough to sense a fifth stage.¡± Souta shrugged his shoulders. Suddenly, he stopped on his track as he turned his head at the horizon. ¡°What is it?¡± Alexander asked. Souta smiled and answered, ¡°It¡¯s twilight¡­ All of the cells in my body are screaming in joy.¡± Chapter 768: Battle in the Poison Swamp ¡°Twilight?¡± Alexander was confused. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s twilight¡­¡± Souta nodded without explaining much. ¡°Then, should we move forward?¡± Alexander asked. ¡°It¡¯s such a waste if we didn¡¯t use this time to snatch some things¡­¡± Souta was a little bit excited. At this time, he was in his strongest form. His stamina, energy, and health recovery had increased by twenty percent. He could feel it. Alexander was about to say disagree when he felt a slight mana fluctuation in the atmosphere. Souta also felt the fluctuation in the air. Both of them turned their heads in the direction where they felt the energy. ¡°This is¡­¡± Alexander narrowed his eyes. ¡°Perfect timing¡­¡± Souta grinned widely. Then, he glanced at Alexander and asked, ¡°What about you? You can¡¯t use your energy, right? If you want you can leave it to me.¡± ¡°No, I will go too. I¡¯m afraid that you will kill everyone.¡± Alexander said. ¡°Oh, come on, man!¡± Souta waved his hand. ¡°Even though I¡¯m a monster, I still have some morals you know. I will not kill anyone who didn¡¯t provoke me. If I just started killing anyone, the warriors from the Athen¡¯s Champion will be the first ones to attack me since I¡¯m part of their legion so they are responsible for me.¡± ¡°I know but you killed everyone that arrive in the desert, right?¡± Alexander said. ¡°Oh, that¡­ I accidentally killed them. Even the people that excuse themselves were caught in the battle. It¡¯s not my fault. The strength of the guardian isn¡¯t something I could underestimate.¡± Souta recalled Casti¡¯s group. She wanted to leave before the battle started but the guardian arrived so the aftershocks killed her. Well, he didn¡¯t plunder her soul so she could try it in her next life. As for the others, there¡¯s no hope for them since he plundered their souls. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about. It looks like you are about to lose control any second. Just like those monsters in the monster tide where they couldn¡¯t control their emotion. Their instinct consumed them and became a mindless killing machine.¡± Alexander said. ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, if you want to come with me then let¡¯s hurry up.¡± Souta shrugged his shoulders. ¡­ Yaniesvyl and Dream were standing in front of a purple barrier. Both of them could feel ominous energy inside this barrier. This frequency only comes from Extreme Poison Field. ¡°This is it¡­¡± Dream narrowed his eyes. ¡°But the problem is that this barrier is Six Layers Poison Array. We can¡¯t carelessly attack it. It has offensive capabilities.¡± Yaniesvyl said. ¡°But we don¡¯t have a choice. If we wait longer, Lady Heimbra will finish the refinement of the Extreme Poison Field.¡± Dream said in a grave tone. ¡°You¡¯re right. Our comrades are fighting the other members of the Poison Demon Palace. We can¡¯t let them wait for too long.¡± Yaniesvyl nodded. They were about to attack when two people walked out of the barrier. Yaniesvyl and Dream opened their eyes widely. ¡°Why are the two protectors of the Poison Demon Palace here?!¡± Poison Demon Palace had four protectors in total. They were the ones standing at the top in charge of guarding the entire palace in four directions. The East Protector and West Protector were here. Both of them hide their identity and tag along with Lady Heimbra. ¡°Shit! This is bad!!¡± Dream gritted his teeth. ¡°Yeah, but we don¡¯t have a choice!¡± Yaniesvyl nodded. ¡°It seems that you wouldn¡¯t give up even after seeing us. I expected more from you, Princess Yaniesvyl.¡± The West Protector said with a sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t waste any words at them. We should just kill them.¡± The East Protector said with a huge grin on his face. ¡°I know.¡± The West Protector nodded as a huge amount of mana burst out of his body. Both of their figures flashed and quickly arrived in front of Yaniesvyl and Dream in an instant. Yaniesvyl and Dream¡¯s eyes shrank as they hurriedly brandished their weapons. Bang! Bang! In just a second, their figures were thrown several meters away. Yaniesvyl took an object from her pocket before she threw it into the sky. The small object exploded creating several lights in the sky. ¡°You want to call your comrades, right?¡± The East Protector grinned before he leaped forward. His figure burst forth as he thrust the short sword in his hand. Yaniesvyl used everything she got to protect herself. She hurriedly activated several combat arts to boost her power. She moved to the side to avoid her opponent¡¯s attack but the East Protector forcefully stopped his attack. Then, he swung sideways aiming at Yaniesvyl¡¯s neck. ¡®Not good.¡¯ Yaniesvyl used the handle of her sword to parry it. Then, she stepped forward before she spun and used her momentum to kick her opponent¡¯s stomach. Bang! The East Protector was forced to back away. Yaniesvyl didn¡¯t waste any more time. She raised her sword as the temperature rose sharply. Flames danced around her blade as she swung her sword downward. ¡°It¡¯s not enough!¡± The East Protector said before he activated several combat arts that he knew to boost his stats. With this power, he raised his sword and swiftly slashed the incoming attack. His attack was clearly stronger. Yaniesvyl slash only lasted a second before it broke apart. She knew that the East Protector was stronger than her so she was prepared for this. Before the two attacks collided, she retreated and prepared herself to cast a spell. ¡°Fall!¡± She raised her hand as her mana flared up. A magic circle appeared beneath her feet, shining brightly like a sun. In the next second, a giant flaming rock appeared in the sky. It has a diameter of one hundred fifty meters and it was descending at high speed. ¡°You want to attack the barrier!¡± The East Protector only laughed at her last-ditch effort. He raised his sword and was about to execute a combat art when Yaniesvyl appeared in front of him. ¡°You!¡± Although he was surprised he still reacted swiftly. He bent backward to avoid the sword and kicked the ground. Then, he spun in the air before he kicked Yaniesvyl in the face. After that, he thrust his sword upward. Boom!! A beam of sword light flew out of his sword and collided with the flaming rock. BOOM!!! A loud explosion occurred as the flaming rock exploded. Its fragments fell down causing several small explosions in the area. Cough! Cough! Yaniesvyl coughed a mouthful of blood. She slightly turned her head and saw that Dream was in the same situation. The Two Protectors were only playing with them. Even at their full power, they couldn¡¯t match these two old men. Boom!! The land shook and the Six Layers Poison Array started to change color. It slowly turned green as green fog seeped out filling the area. ¡°No! It¡¯s at this stage!¡± Yaniesvyl gritted her teeth. She knew that the refinement of the Extreme Poison Field was close. ¡°What about you join us, Princess?¡± The West Protector asked. ¡°If you join us, the Heiro Kingdom and Poison Demon Palace will be able to sweep the Spring Land. We will catch everyone off guard and attack the other top factions.¡± ¡°Princess, don¡¯t listen to them¡­¡± Dream said with great effort. ¡°What are you saying? Even if I agree with you, I will still die because of the poison from Extreme Poison Field.¡± Yaniesvyl laughed as she stood up and wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth. ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡± The West Protector nodded. He couldn¡¯t refute her words since ordinary detoxification items wouldn¡¯t work against the Extreme Poison Field. ¡°See¡­¡± Yaniesvyl smiled as she pointed her sword ahead. Before she could do anything, the East Protector appeared in front of her. He swiftly launched a series of sword attacks. He was too fast for her. Yaniesvyl couldn¡¯t even follow his movements. Bang! Bang! Bang! Ugh! Yaniesvyl groaned in pain. Several huge cuts appeared on her body as blood gushed out of these wounds non-stop. ¡°You¡¯re waiting for your comrades, right?¡± The East Protector smiled wickedly. ¡°I have to tell you the truth now. East and West aren¡¯t the only protectors here. The North and South are here too. They are taking care of your comrades.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Yaniesvyl widened her eyes. Her grip on her sword loosen and slowly, the sword fell to the ground causing a metallic sound. Does this mean that the four protectors are here? Why? She couldn¡¯t understand why would they leave the base of the Poison Demon Palace. If that¡¯s the case, the entire alliance made up of rouge experts was useless. They didn¡¯t stand a chance at all. ¡°You, Verto, and Dream. We¡¯ll take all of you alive and use you to gain an advantage to your factions. Now, we just have to find Casti and Hermo.¡± The East Protector said wickedly. Suddenly, a voice sounded beside his ear. ¡°You¡¯re looking for them. Unfortunately, they are not in this place anymore.¡± The East Protector¡¯s eyes shrank as he quickly shot a sword light before he jumped away to create some distance. Before he could take a good look, a voice sounded beside him once again. ¡°Are you looking for them? Do you want me to help you meet them?¡± Chapter 769: Power The East Protector swung his sword once again. This time he placed all of his power into this attack as he executed his killing sword technique. His sword flashed turning into a stream of light that instantly arrived in front of the unknown person. The unknown person simply laughed before he raised his hand. It looks slow but his hand was incredibly fast as he caught the blade effortlessly. The sudden stop of the blade generated a powerful gust of wind that blew everything behind the unknown person. ¡°I-Impossible!! Who are you?!¡± The East Protector subconsciously took a step back. This time he got a clear look at this mysterious person. This person was two meters tall and had a well-built body. He was wearing a black coat with a white long-sleeve underneath it. He had long blonde hair and pure gold color eyes. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to me. My goal is to kill everyone here.¡± The mysterious man smiled as he looked at the sky. ¡°Still, I didn¡¯t expect that there are terrifying beings here. The being who could create an alternate space in Imperium, especially a high world could only be a god.¡± ¡°Terrifying beings?! God?!¡± The East Protector was confused. Yaniesvyl, Dream, and the West Protector observed the mysterious man with utmost cautiousness. This man, after all, easily stopped the East Protector¡¯s powerful attack. He made it look so easy but if they were in his position, they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop that attack like him. ¡°Yep, Casti from Night Light Association and Hermo from Thunder Hall are both dead. They wandered around this land without even thinking that there are powerful creatures here. They seek their death by going to the desert.¡± The mysterious man looked at them. He previously followed the two to find an opportunity to kill them but after sensing that creature¡¯s power, he quickly run as fast as possible. His decision was correct. After he left the desert, the entire place was turned upside down. The whole region was devastated and he even thought that if he was still there, he wouldn¡¯t survive at all. That energy was equivalent to a peak fourth stage monster. It was even stronger than most of the peak fourth stage. It was horrifying. Suddenly, the whole area shook heavily and the Six Layers Poison Array was shattered. A huge amount of poison gas spread out in the entire area. Lady Heimbra had completed the refinement of the Extreme Poison Field. It became one with her as she uncontrollably release a huge amount of vicious poison gas. ¡°With this, everyone here will die. Then, I¡¯ll kill Heimbra and everyone from the top faction will lose their minds after losing all of you. They will overturn the whole Spring Land to find the culprit but I will be gone at that time.¡± The mysterious man laughed. ¡°Y-You!!¡± The East and West Protectors pounced fiercely. If one wasn¡¯t enough then all of them were going to attack. Swoosh!! Another two shadows appeared behind the mysterious man. They were the North and South Protectors. They just finished Yaniesvyl¡¯s comrades so they came here but they didn¡¯t expect that an unknown man was obstructing their plan. ¡°Not enough!¡± The mysterious man laughed. In the next moment, the four protectors were blown away. Their bodies violently crashed on the ground causing a huge crater. Their contact and energy even triggered some of the plants and trees to release poisons. At this rate, this whole area was going to be filled with poison too. Yaniesvyl and Dream didn¡¯t have the strength to fight back. The detoxification items that they had weren¡¯t enough to handle the poison from the Extreme Poison Field. Tap! Yaniesvyl and Dream turned their heads as they saw a silhouette walking out of the poison fog. Both of them were familiar with this aura. ¡°Lady Heimbra is here¡­¡± Yes, Lady Heimbra finished refining the Extreme Poison Field. She made it her own ability and fused it in herself. ¡°My Lady!! Run!! Run!!¡± The four protectors shouted at the same time. Right now, the most dangerous person in this area was the mysterious man. He possessed a power that surpassed everyone in this place. No one could defy him. The target of the mysterious man was everyone from the top faction. ¡°Hahaha! Extreme Poison Field¡­ That¡¯s a very rare ability that only people with affinity to poison could refine.¡± The mysterious man laughed as he looked at the beautiful Lady Heimbra. He wickedly licked his lips as he approached her. ¡°Who are you?¡± Lady Heimbra narrowed her eyes as she slowly took a step back. She already refined the Extreme Poison Field so her pores were releasing a huge amount of extreme poison every second. But this man offset her poison with his energy. The poison couldn¡¯t even reach this man no matter how much she tried to push it at him. It was as if there was an invisible barrier that she couldn¡¯t penetrate around his body. But how is that possible? ¡°It¡¯s not my ability¡­ It¡¯s because of my arm guard.¡± The mysterious man raised his hand. ¡°This arm guard is a red grade equipment and using this¡­ Your poison will not be able to touch me.¡± ¡°Y-You!! Who sent you here?!¡± Lady Heimbra narrowed her eyes cautiously. Someone who could get their hands on an orange grade artifact wasn¡¯t ordinary. ¡°You just refine the Extreme Poison Field so the poison you could use isn¡¯t that strong yet. You continue to release poison fog from your pores and you will absorb it in the next few hours to enhance yourself. You will continue this cycle ten times. After that, you will become someone dangerous that could pose a threat to me.¡± The mysterious man explained nonchalantly. ¡°But the ¡®you¡¯ right now isn¡¯t a problem for me.¡± ¡°How dare you underestimate me!!¡± Lady Heimbra shouted as she waved both of her hands. Her left hand emitted green light while her right hand emitted purple light. [Great Poison Ray]!! The two lights intertwined together as she fired a powerful ray at the mysterious man. At the same time, the four protectors stood up and rushed together to support their young lady. ¡°My Lady, we¡¯ll help you!!¡± The four protectors said as they pounced at the mysterious man while gathering their energy to launch an attack. ¡°Ehe~ You could just sit quietly¡­¡± The mysterious man laughed. Boom!! A powerful flaming field expanded from his body. The field collided with Lady Heimbra¡¯s attack. It resisted for a few seconds before it shattered the ray, leaving the four protectors exposed. The field continued to expand quickly, pushing everything away. Instantly, the entire area within a diameter of one kilometer was melted. Even her poison fog vanished into thin air due to the intense heat of the flaming field. Lady Heimbra gritted her teeth as she crossed her hands in front of her. The flaming field burned layers of her skin and muscles. Even the natural protective field around her was melted. ¡®He¡¯s focusing his energy on increasing the temperature¡­! He got amazing control over his energy!¡¯ Although she was in a dire situation, she still couldn¡¯t help but feel amazed at her opponent¡¯s ability. Instead of focusing on energy damage, the mysterious man charged his energy on the characteristics of the flame. This way, he could avoid people with a specific resistance. ¡°[Sun Layer Barrier]¡­ This has the same temperature as the sun plus it¡¯s much more powerful since it has my energy within. Ordinary sun only possessed heat and gas. It didn¡¯t have any mana in it.¡± The mysterious man laughed heartily. He slowly walked towards Lady Heimbra. Suddenly, two figures crashed on the ground near them. The collision blew the heat wave coming from the mysterious man¡¯s spell. The temperature returned to normal and the atmosphere became quiet. ¡°I told you to be careful!¡± ¡°But I can feel a strong presence here so I decided to carry you!¡± ¡°What if we attracted the other fourth stage monsters?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m much more sensitive to monsters so I know if there¡¯s one here!¡± The mysterious man, Lady Heimbra, Yaniesvyl, Dream, and the four protectors heard voices within the smoke. All sorts of things happened ever since this expedition started. First, the appearance of the four protectors, then there¡¯s this mysterious powerful man, and now¡­ Who is it this time? Before they could even react, something strange happened¡­ The mysterious man who they thought to be the most powerful was in the mid-air. A red hair man was grabbing him on the neck. What?! No one even saw what happened. They just found that this red-haired man already grabbed the mysterious man on the neck. ¡°Hey, I heard what you talking about¡­ You want to kill the people from the top faction, right? Can you explain to me what it got to do with you or maybe have you heard something from Wingless Crow?¡± Souta asked in a cold tone. ¡°Wingless Crow? Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± The mysterious man widened his eyes in shock. His energy burst out releasing the full power of his spell. 100% [Sun Layer Barrier]!! Chapter 770: Hidden faction ¡°Not good!¡± Alexander swiftly moved his body when he felt the energy of the mysterious man. He waved his hand and pushed the other people away. Yaniesvyl and Dream, who were closest to him, were hurled several kilometers away. As for Lady Heimbra and the four protectors, they were thrown several hundred meters. It¡¯s up to them if they could survive or not. 100% [Sun Layer Barrier]!! The mysterious man activated [Element Drive] to further boost the one hundred percent power of his attack. His energy level spiked up to the limit as the heat drastically rose. ¡°You¡¯re probably the one who destroyed the Wingless Crow branch in Mine Valley so I¡¯ll kill you right here right now!!¡± The mysterious man roared as he waved his hand and the five rings on his fingers flew in the mid-air. The five rings release a bright light that illuminated the entire area. ¡°I¡¯ll activate all of you to increase the power of my spell and hold the magic circle together!!¡± Just like that, a powerful light shot upward. It was pure and condensed flames which were existed to cause destruction. It started with the mysterious man¡¯s body before it spread out covering the area within a diameter of three kilometers. ¡°Feel my power! Hahaha!!¡± It shot upward like a pillar of light, destroying everything within. It pierced through the clouds and continued to move upward without any sign of stopping. Eventually, it collided with the moon causing a huge explosion. Still, it continued to move as if nothing could stop it. Yaniesvyl and Dream looked at it in horror. They looked up to see the ends of it but it seems endless. It felt like a huge spear of heaven had pierced this land. They felt like an ant looking at an elephant. The disparity was like heaven and earth. They couldn¡¯t even fathom what was happening right now. ¡°So you really know the Wingless Crow, eh? Good.¡± The mysterious man saw a shadow of a hand through the light. The hand contained enormous power that offset his all-out attack. It moved and grabbed his face. He felt an overwhelming force pressing him to the ground. Voices whispers to his ears. His body was shaking uncontrollably. Various forces gripped his body tightly. He saw a silhouette of a giant serpent directly looking at him. Bang!! Instantly, the pillar of light disappeared. Souta was gripping the mysterious man¡¯s face tightly. Everything around them disintegrated. The power of the attack just now was too high to the point that Souta had to activate some of his aces instantly to counter it. ¡°It¡¯s twilight so I¡¯m a lot stronger than normal but to think that this guy could force me to use my release form for a second is beyond my expectation.¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. He slightly glanced at his surrounding. Everything around was a mess. There¡¯s no ground beneath him anymore. He was just floating in the mid-air. This mysterious man launched a super attack that almost turned everything into nothing. Alexander survived but he received heavy damage in exchange. If he could use his energy, he would have taken less damage. Alexander even tried to save Lady Heimbra and the four protectors but they also died. They didn¡¯t even leave any traces of their bodies. He wanted to protect them since the mysterious man wanted to kill the experts from the top faction to cause utter chaos in Spring Land. Luckily, Yaniesvyl and Dream were alive. ¡°Y-You!! You!! I¡­!!¡± The mysterious man wanted to resist but he found that his body was numb. ¡°Huh?!¡± He looked over, only to find that his four limbs were gone. The instant he thought he repelled Souta, Souta used that opportunity to dismantle him. He activated most of his aces and sliced the mysterious man¡¯s body while he was distracted. Everything happened in less than a second. ¡°I know Wingless Crow. It¡¯s a powerful underground organization but its main headquarters isn¡¯t located in Hall Plains. It means, that some groups in this land are working with them. I just want to know for what purpose. You know them, right?¡± Souta asked calmly. ¡°Hahaha!! It¡¯s true that the Wingless Crow in Hall Plains is just a branch but you shouldn¡¯t think about them!¡± The mysterious man laughed madly. ¡°They are looking at the people that destroyed the Wingless Crow in Mine Valley! You will die sooner or later! You shouldn¡¯t antagonize them!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not up to you if I¡¯m going to die or not,¡± Souta said in a cold tone as his hand pierced through the mysterious man¡¯s chest. ¡°Tell me everything that you know or else I¡¯m going to rip out your heart.¡± ¡°Hehehe! Wingless Crow is just a backup plan. They are helpful but needless in the end plan. Be careful, you might die without knowing it.¡± The mysterious man emitted a strange light as his mana started to go wild. ¡°Our king is going to return! Oh lord of mine¡­ Please forgive this lowly being.¡± ¡°Self-destruct!!¡± Souta narrowed his eyes as he directly ripped out the mysterious man¡¯s heart to stop the unnecessary explosion. Ugh! The mysterious man lost the luster in his eyes as he fell into the bottomless pit that he created. Souta just looked down before firing [Dark Shooting Ray] to thoroughly kill the man. Boom!! Mine Valley and now¡­ The Spring Land. So by destroying the branch of Wingless Crow he offended two large factions. The main Wingless Crow and the one working with the branch which was his current target. Souta didn¡¯t have to worry about the Wingless Crow for now. He was familiar with that group so he knew how they works. They wouldn¡¯t be able to send their men at him since their main headquarters was on the other side of the continent. It was far from Hall Plains. One thing that he should focus his attention on was the group working behind the branch of the Wingless Crow. The person that cast a large-scale charm back then in the White Line City. ¡°Their king is going to return¡­¡± Souta muttered in a low voice. He couldn¡¯t help but glance at the Chain Quest. [Unprecedented Child]: Throughout the years, a creature was born with ultimate power. He was born to rule and dominate. A natural emperor. [Assassins] Quest 1: Find the people that kill Envoy Jeoban (Completed) [Unknown] Quest 2: An unknown group is hiding in the Hall Plains. Gather information about them. This seems bigger than what he expected. Kessa was recovering her strength in Ekatoe City so he wasn¡¯t worried about his base getting destroyed. She would be able to scare a lot of powerful experts even if she hasn¡¯t recovered most of her strength. ¡®Saya, how is it?¡¯ Souta asked. ¡®Theoretically, it¡¯s possible. You said that you understand it, right? If you start it, you will not be able to use it for the time being.¡¯ Saya said. ¡®Yeah, I think I could start it.¡¯ Souta nodded his head. ¡®Ufufu, you said that you¡¯ve been enlightened and you will handle it on your own.¡¯ Saya chuckled. ¡®Well, I have you here so it¡¯s not good if I didn¡¯t use your knowledge to see if it will work.¡¯ Souta shrugged his shoulders. ¡®The fundamentals are similar to sublimation of combat arts and forbidden formation of spells. You haven¡¯t even learned the two but if you think about it there¡¯s still a difference.¡¯ Saya paused for a moment before she added, ¡®You haven¡¯t even grasped the essence of combat arts and spells yet. In terms of knowledge, you¡¯re still at mid-level. If what you¡¯re saying is true then there¡¯s a chance that you could pull it off.¡¯ ¡®At least I¡¯m not a low level¡­ I will try it.¡¯ Souta sighed. He had Saya so he wasn¡¯t worried about sublimation but the forbidden spell was different. She didn¡¯t know the actual formation of the forbidden spell. Luckily, he belongs to one of God¡¯s legions. He could get his hands on the formation of the forbidden spell once he accumulated a large number of achievement points. ¡°Hey, Souta. Is there something wrong?¡± Souta turned his head and looked at Alexander. He shook his head and answered, ¡°Nothing¡­ Just some problem with my territory.¡± ¡°Oh, I forgot that you have a territory now,¡± Alexander said. ¡°Perhaps, you know something about them. Did you hear about a very special organization in Hall Plains while you are traveling?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Murder Society?¡± Alexander raised his eyebrows. ¡°Aside from them. Murder Society isn¡¯t that strong.¡± Souta said. ¡°So something stronger¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I only heard about Murder Society.¡± Alexander apologized. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Souta shook his head. ¡°Maybe, the Murder Society knew about it. They are a hidden faction in Hall Plains yet experts at Solidifying Realm somehow heard of them. It¡¯s strange if you think about it. There¡¯s a chance that the Murder Society is their face.¡± Alexander said. ¡°So in the end I have to find the Murder Society.¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. He was glad that he sent his shadows to follow them. Once he finished this quest, he would spare some time to visit them. Chapter 771: Quest Complete Souta and Alexander landed on the ground nonchalantly. Souta took a glance at Alexander¡¯s condition and asked, ¡°You look worse, do you need help?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, I can still do this,¡± Alexander said. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have asked you.¡± Souta said calmly as he raised his hand and cast the very basic healing spell, [Light Heal]. He couldn¡¯t use it on himself. Plus, he doesn¡¯t need it since his parasite overpowered this spell. ¡°This is enough for first aid,¡± Souta said as he used his light elemental power to enhance the effect of [Light Heal]. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. I can manage it once we return to the castle.¡± Alexander said. ¡°Fine.¡± Souta shrugged his shoulders. It was at this time that he noticed that there were two people staring at them. Souta smiled as he placed both of his hands in his pocket. He approached the two as he examined them. Yaniesvyl and Dream flinched when they saw Souta walking at them. They subconsciously took a step backward. They were lying if they didn¡¯t say that they were afraid. It¡¯s natural since this man easily killed the mysterious man. Souta smiled inwardly. This must be the place where Alexander met Yaniesvyl for the first time. ¡°Leave them alone, Souta.¡± Alexander¡¯s voice sounded behind him. Souta glanced at Alexander before he shrugged his shoulder. He turned around and walked away. The two of them flew into the sky and left. Yaniesvyl and Dream breathed a sigh of relief after they were sure that the two were gone. Their legs collapsed and both of them fell to their knees. ¡°We¡¯re the only one left¡­¡± Dream muttered. ¡°Yeah, a lot of unexpected things happened in this place. I think we should find a way to leave this place.¡± Yaniesvyl suggested. ¡°Yeah, if not for that blonde man, we would have died from that last attack,¡± Dream said. ¡°Those two are powerful experts. I didn¡¯t know that there are experts like them in Spring Land.¡± ¡°I know but¡­ The man before isn¡¯t a demi. He is a monster. From the energy waves, he is the one that destroyed the desert.¡± Yaniesvyl muttered in a low voice. They barely avoided death this time. ¡­ Souta and Alexander landed in front of a castle. There were layers of barrier covering it, preventing anyone from entering inside. Even Hero-rank and fifth stage monster wouldn¡¯t be able to forcefully enter. Alexander was proud of his previous creation but he didn¡¯t show it on his face. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Just walk beside me. The barriers will not obstruct us since I have the key with me. Just follow me and you will be fine.¡± Alexander said. Souta nodded in response without saying anything. He was recalling his exchange with that mysterious man. That man had some sort of power that boosted his attack in the last second. It even forced Souta to use his release form and his other artifacts to counter it. He asked Saya about it and her answer was ¡°Borrowed Power.¡± So that man was really connected to the group besides the Wingless Crow. The people who used the Blood Sacrifice, a borrowed power from their lord. So the king that man mentioned must be at least a god¡­ Souta already filed a report in Athen¡¯s Champion so some of the squads were on their way here to investigate this matter. No matter what, they shouldn¡¯t tell anyone that they came from Athen¡¯s Champion, or else those people wouldn¡¯t show themselves in this land anymore. They were already cautious by hiding deeply in Hall Plains so once they sense a Holy Land investigating them, they would be forced to lay low for a while. That way, Souta wouldn¡¯t be able to complete his Chain Quest. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Alexander said. Souta snapped out of his thoughts. He realized that they were already inside the castle. They were on the underground floor where various runes were shimmering on the walls and ceiling. ¡°I¡¯ll start it.¡± Alexander stood in front of the altar. He pressed both of his hands on his chest. Souta simply stood on the side and watched everything. He would be able to finish this quest soon after Alexander took over the control of the Multiple Element Realm. After half an hour, the ground shook heavily. No, the entire Multiple Element Realm was shaking. The monsters were awakened by the sudden quake. After all, the scale this time wasn¡¯t just a single region like desert or forest. The earthquake spans everything in this realm. So every monster living in this world was alerted. Ohm!! A large amount of energy burst out of the altar swallowing Alexander¡¯s body. ¡°Alexander!!¡± Souta stood up from his seat. He didn¡¯t carelessly approach the energy field. He simply gathered his energy to prepare in case an accident occurred. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine. Just enter that energy field and you will find me.¡± Alexander¡¯s voice echoed in the area. At the same time, Souta heard a familiar notification in his mind. This caused a smile on his face. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the quest Ancient Ruin!] [You¡¯ve gained 10,000,000 experience points, 20 free attribute points, 8 skill points, and Five Element Rune Formation!] Souta shrugged his shoulder and walked towards the white light. The next moment, he found himself in a very large space. The ground felt like water, the sky seemed endless, and there was no boundary. The elemental particles here were high. It feels like he was in a special environment. ¡°Just what is this place?¡± Souta asked while looking around. He found a small house and walked towards it. Alexander walked out of the house. ¡°This is the core of the Multiple Element Realm, the origin of this world. This is my target from the beginning.¡± Alexander explained. ¡°So you will be able to control anything in this realm?¡± Souta asked curiously. ¡°Not really. I¡¯ve access to the control befitting my power level. Those beyond my current level, I have no control over it. After all, I¡¯m just a mortal. I¡¯m not a god.¡± Alexander explained. ¡°I see¡­¡± Souta nodded. At this time, he observed Alexander and found that he already recovered his strength. No, it seems that he was stronger than before. ¡°This place is suitable for training. You can stay here for a while if you want.¡± Alexander said. ¡°I can feel it. The elemental particles are high. It feels like I¡¯m in a special environment.¡± Souta smiled. ¡°Just inform me if you¡¯re going to leave. I still have something to do.¡± Alexander said before he went back to the house. Souta stared at Alexander¡¯s back until he disappeared. Then, he took a good look at his surrounding. This was a good place to reach the Sixth Stage of the [Divine Dark Circulation]. Just how did this place become possible? ¡®Just like what I said this realm is connected to the Imperium¡­ Remember the tunnel before? It acted as a bridge so it¡¯s considered as a part of Imperium. Also, there are various high grade artifacts formation in the area that made it possible. Probably, dark grade or even higher. This is undoubtedly created by a powerful god that stood at the top.¡¯ Saya said seriously. She was sure that even she wasn¡¯t capable of building something like this. It needed various mastery in all types of classes. Rune formation, barrier formation, and all types of elemental formations were built with perfection. But all of it wasn¡¯t enough¡­ It needed the support of various high-level artifacts and energy cores. Connecting to Imperium¡¯s space was hard to do. Probably, several gods¡¯ bodies were sacrificed to build the entire field. ¡®Just who is that Alexander and how did he know a lot of secrets about this place?¡¯ Saya turned her attention to the small house where Alexander resides. ¡°That guy¡­¡± Souta smiled and shook his head. He couldn¡¯t say that Alexander would become a top god-level powerhouse in the future. As for now¡­ His priority was to train his skills and abilities. To improve his power. Once he finished it, he would return to Mince Hand to finish his other quest to get the [Divine Light Circulation]. He needed that technique so that his light element would be able to catch up to his dark element. Right now, his dark element was close to the limit of the Element Force. Sooner or later, he would be able to achieve Element Integration in his dark element. It would be a problem if his light element got stuck in Element Force. After all, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use [Dual Element Drive] if his elements had different levels. To use it, both elements should have the same stage. So if he wanted to use [Element Drive], he would only be able to use it on one element first. Dark and then switch to light after exhausting his elemental force. Having more elemental affinity gives a person a huge advantage that is if that person managed to master all elements. If not, it would only become a burden. Souta even wondered how the fuck Alexander trained his seven elements. ¡°Nevermind, I¡¯ll start my training.¡± Chapter 772: Invasion Bland City. Footsteps echoed in a deep, dark underground place. They were the members of the Dragon Council, also known as Nine Heads. ¡°We¡¯ve been walking forever¡­ Just how deep is this place.¡± Ninth Head said while looking around. ¡°Judging from the time and distance, we are one thousand meters below the surface.¡± Third Head answered calmly. Governor Ray, First Head, glanced at them from the corner of his eyes. He then asked, ¡°How much of you know the history of Hall Plains?¡± ¡°The history of Hall Plains is pretty much nonexistent. From the records, there is a powerful country that existed here in the past.¡± Fifth Head said while stroking his chin. ¡°That country is called the Hall of Power. Aside from that, I don¡¯t know anything else.¡± Fourth Head said as he tried to remember the records he had seen before. ¡°So someone erased the history? Is it the Imperial Family in the central region?¡± Eight Head asked. Governor Ray continued walking down the stairs while listening to their words. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, ¡°Yes, there is a large country in Hall Plains a long time ago. It was the central power of Hall Plains, it¡¯s called the Hall of Power. The Hall of Power disappeared after a brutal war that occurred a long time ago. Right now, most of the top factions in the Hall Plains were once part of the previous Hall of Power.¡± Countless powerful experts died in that war and it reduced this land to its current state. A barren land without any sort of actual power. The experts of this land grew weaker as various spells, combat arts, and techniques were lost in the war. No faction in the entire Hall Plains could even produce an expert that broke a great shackle, Four Shackles Realm. The emperor of the Imperial Family in the central region was only at the peak of the Three Shackles Realm. Even the increase in mana density couldn¡¯t help the emperor¡¯s breakthrough. It only made him stronger than the normal Three Shackles Realm. Ray glanced at them from the corner of his eyes and said, ¡°Some of you arrive at the Second Shackles after the increase in mana density while the others have reached Second Shackles a long time ago.¡± ¡°Yep, it¡¯s not enough. I¡¯m still thirty four years old this year and I think I could achieve more.¡± Ninth Head nodded her head. ¡°So I¡¯m planning to go to any large country or Holy Lands to find some treasure or techniques that could help me reach the Fourth Shackle. The treasure that we could find here is only for Liquefying and Solidifying Realm. There are few for Shackled Realm but it¡¯s not enough.¡± ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Ray suddenly said. The rest of the heads looked up and saw a gigantic exquisite jade door filled with all sorts of seals and runes. It has a height of fifty meters and a width of ten meters. At the bottom part of the jade door, there was a small door in it that fitted their size. Even though the jade door was sealed, they could still feel the intense oppression in the air. It was heavy and suffocating. The unknown being that lies behind this door possessed strength that could look down at them as if they were ants. ¡°This is the secret that the Governor of Mine Valley passed down from generation to generation. It¡¯s a secret buried deep in the mind of the previous Governors.¡± Governor Ray said as he looked calmly at the giant jade door. ¡°This is¡­¡± Ninth Head and the rest opened their eyes widely. They felt insignificant in front of this jade door. They didn¡¯t expect that something like this was hiding in the Mine Valley. ¡°It¡¯s too early to be surprised. Behind this door, you will find out what happened to the war a thousand years ago.¡± Governor Ray said. ¡­ White Wheat City. Elder Guan, Yuko, Yenxa, and the rest successfully captured the White Wheat City with the help of the forces of Second Head. The battle for the three cities was coming to end. One city had fallen within the hands of the Dragon Council. They started to sort out all the resources in this area. The mining area became an exclusive possession of the Dragon Council. The profits from this would be handed to two major forces of the Dragon Council, the Second Head and Seventh Head. Both of their forces were the key that conquered this land so fifty percent of the territory was going to fall to them. As for the other half of the land, the rest of the Nine Heads were going to divide it for themselves. Conquering the White Wheat City shook the other factions. At the same time, they begin their fierce assault on the remaining two cities. After all, the forces of the Second Head and Seventh Head were occupying the White Wheat City so they couldn¡¯t join the battle on the other two cities for the time being. If they ever left the city, there was a chance that the other factions would attack them. So until they build a proper defensive barricade, Second Head¡¯s forces and Seventh Head¡¯s forces weren¡¯t going to leave this city. They would stay here until they successfully rooted themselves. Elder Guan was standing at the top of the city wall, looking at the land before his eyes. He could see that there was an army on the horizon but that army was just observing them. He could understand why. The Feral Corps and the Witch Corps showed their fierce military might in this battle. Words of their feats were spread out in the other cities so it was natural that the other factions became cautious of them. Their brutal power and immortal-like characteristics spread out like a wildfire. ¡®So we are slowly showing ourselves in this world¡­¡¯ Elder Guan muttered. If the Witch Clan had this sort of military power back in his homeworld, they could probably conquer everything except for the Monster Dungeon. He didn¡¯t even expect that the Divine World from legends really existed. ¡°Is there something on your mind, Sir Guan?¡± A voice sounded behind him. Elder Guan turned his head and found that it was the Second Head of the Nine Heads. A person that stood at the top of the Dragon Council. ¡°I¡¯m just watching that army, wondering if they are going to attack or not.¡± Elder Guan stared at the army several dozens of kilometers away. ¡°Probably not, that army is here because they wanted to pressure us to stay here so that the other factions could conquer the other two cities.¡± Second Head said as he also looked at that army composed of hundreds of humans and demis. ¡°So if they sent some of our forces they are going to attack us?¡± Elder Guan raised his eyebrows. ¡°That should be their plan. To hold us here or maybe they are baiting us to attack the other cities so that they could conquer this place. Attacking other cities means dividing our forces, they are probably looking for that opportunity too. Either way, we¡¯ll stay in this place for a while.¡± Second Head said. ¡°I see¡­¡± Elder Guan nodded. He then recalled something. ¡°What about the villages and towns around the three cities?¡± ¡°Oh, those places? They became a camping area of various factions.¡± Second Head said plainly. Regarding this matter, the villages and towns couldn¡¯t resist the overlord of a city. The strongest expert in those villages and towns were just low-level B-rank. Some of them even called themselves nobles and created a fiefdom yet the only strongest expert they had was only a mere peak level B-rank. In the eyes of the overlord organizations, they were all the same even if those people call themselves nobles. They were just ants that they could exploit anytime. It would be a different matter if those self-proclaimed nobles had powerful experts in their households. The overlord organizations would even welcome them on their land with open arms. Footsteps sounded beside the two of them. Elder Guan and Second Head turned their heads only to see a guard rushing in their direction. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Second Head asked. Elder Guan was curious so he looked at the guard waiting for him to catch his breath. This seems important or else this guard wouldn¡¯t dare to disturb the two of them. ¡°S-Second Head, our scouts have arrived!!¡± The guard said between his heavy breath. ¡°So what¡¯s the report of our scouts?¡± Second Head asked calmly. ¡°The various tribes in the Earthen Woods appeared and attacked the border of the Mine Valley! A city has already fallen in their hands!¡± The guard said with a trembling tone. ¡°What?!¡± Second Head and Elder Guan were both shocked at the report. ¡°The report says that a powerful tribe unified all the tribes in the Earthen Woods and now¡­ They are thinking of invading the Mine Valley!¡± Second Head and Elder Guan grew silent at this information. This was a sudden event that they didn¡¯t expect. The raid from those tribes would surely damage a part of the Mine Valley. They needed to act quickly. Chapter 773: Tribes Spring Land, Mine Valley, and Earthen Woods. These three regions formed a triangle shape at the edge of the Hall Plains. Spring Land and Earthen Woods were both larger than Mine Valley. Mine Valley was ruled by a group of cities. These cities didn¡¯t belong to any country or kingdom. They have created their own government. Spring Land was ruled by a kingdom and various factions. It has a kingdom that was acknowledge as the strongest faction in the entire region. Earthen Woods was different. It was just a huge jungle filled with countless tribes. These tribes fought each other every year for territory and food. They were very aggressive. Even merchants avoided this land since those would only plunder them. Without enough strength, a person couldn¡¯t even walk out of this land. But now¡­ Someone unified the tribes in the Earthen Woods. It was hard to achieve it since there were various powerful tribes that could even rival the top factions in Spring Land. Even the Mine Valley would be nothing once the Earthen Woods was unified. ¡°The Enruet City had fallen¡­¡± The guard said. Enruet City. The overlord of this city was powerful and even Second Head wasn¡¯t sure if he could defeat the City Lord of this city. Yet, the Enruet City had fallen overnight. ¡°I want you to send the message to the other Heads of the Dragon Council. We need to plan for the counterattack.¡± Second Head said. ¡°Sir, Governor Ray left a message that you will be in charge of the Dragon Council for a while. The other Heads are with the Governor for some important matters.¡± The guard explained. ¡°What?!¡± Second Head opened his eyes widely. Aside from him, the other Heads of the Dragon Council were gone. They were absent at this crucial time. ¡°What a timing¡­¡± He turned his head and looked at the army outside the city. He noticed that they were retreating. It seems that they also heard the news about what happened in Enruet City. Second Head took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. After a while, he opened his eyes and tightly clenched his fist. ¡°Send a message to activate the war formation of every city under the Dragon Council. Also, call back our forces in the perimeter of the Mine Valley and set up a defensive barricade near the Enruet City.¡± Second Head paused and added, ¡°Since I¡¯m the only Head available, the forces of the other Heads would follow me, right?¡± ¡°Yes, sir. We¡¯ve received a report that they will follow your orders until the Heads came back. They¡¯ve appointed a second-in-command that will make up a decision for the Heads. You can talk to them, Sir.¡± The guard said. ¡°Good. The three cities aren¡¯t important anymore. A stronger enemy appeared at this time so we¡¯ll focus on our defense to wait for them to attack once again. So once we gather enough data on our enemy forces we¡¯ll be able to counterattack efficiently.¡± Second Head decided at the moment. He waved his hand and said to the guard, ¡°You can go now.¡± After the guard left, Second Head sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked up and recalled that Elder Guan was still here. ¡°Ekatoe City doesn¡¯t have any defensive or war formation array, right? Do you want me to help you set up a temporary array for defense?¡± Second Head asked. ¡°I¡¯ll talk about it to Alice but I don¡¯t think you should focus on our city first. You should set up a trap near Enruet City as soon as possible in case they advanced their troops. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s what Alice will say.¡± Elder Guan said. As far as he knows, the safest place in Mine Valley was Ekatoe City despite it not having any sort of protective arrays. Currently, there were several One Shackle experts in the city and there were also squads from Athen¡¯s Champion that Souta requested. There was even a weakened fifth stage monster sleeping in the depths of the Astros. So Elder Guan knew what he had to do. He had to avoid these people entering the Astros just to set up a temporary protective array since there was a chance that they would discover that they were from Athen¡¯s Champion. ¡°Thanks¡­ I will go now. It seems I will be busy today. Geez, those Heads go out and left everything here for me to handle.¡± Second Head turned around and smiled wryly. He walked away while scratching the back of his head. Elder Guan stared at Second Head¡¯s back for a while before he also left. ¡°Things are getting troublesome¡­¡± He returned to his room and called a few witches. He gave them an order to return to Ekatoe City and informed Alice about everything that happened here. All the events that transpired here would be reported to her. Next, he should stay here for a while and wait for Alice¡¯s words. She was the one who would decide what would be their next actions. The Feral Corps in this city wasn¡¯t the full force. Most of the were with Doranjan to conquer the river on the east edge of Mine Valley. Also, Souta and Franklin were still gone. Amanda hasn¡¯t even shown up. Elder Guan was worried about her. Amanda was the daughter of the former Clan Leader so he wouldn¡¯t let anything happen to her. The future of the Witch Clan lay within her hands. ¡°Huff¡­ I need to calm myself. We are getting stronger too. A lot of experts from Astros broke through from this battle and achieved higher levels of power.¡± Elder Guan closed his eyes and went to his bed. The news about the fall of the Enruet City quickly spread out in the entire Mine Valley. This piece of news stirred the forces of the land as they couldn¡¯t help but pulled back all the forces they gathered to fight for the three cities. The most important thing right now was to build up their defense against the invasion of the Earthen Woods tribes. Ordinary people felt the gloomy atmosphere and they started to stock their food and other necessity needed to survive. They had no choice but to rely on the giant organization in their cities to survive. Without the protection of the organization, they wouldn¡¯t be able to defend themselves against the tribes from the Earthen Woods. The tribes were feared for their aggressive nature. Weaklings would die at their hands without a doubt. The next day¡­ Alice received the report from Elder Guan. She was sitting in the City Lord¡¯s office reading the report. The first file was the casualties of the battle and the people that reached higher levels. This was Souta¡¯s target. To stimulate them through life-and-death battles to achieve the next stage of power. ¡°Twenty three B-rank, seventeen A-rank, three S-rank, twenty eight first stage monsters, and eleven second stage monsters had died from the battle. A total of eighty eight casualties.¡± Alice sighed gloomily. The casualties were higher than what she calculated. She was glad that she sent Elder Guan there or else the casualties would be higher than this. Also, all those experts had parasites in their bodies. The parasitic essence eater was limited so they couldn¡¯t afford to lose them anymore. It was also the reason why a lot of experts survived that battle for the White Wheat City. ¡°The worse case is none of them even achieved Shackled Realm¡­¡± Thirty three peak A-rank rose to initial S-rank after the battle but none of the peak S-rank stepped into the realm of Shackled experts. A lot of peak B-rank experts managed to liquefied their mana making them a legitimate A-rank experts. Alice massaged her temples. She didn¡¯t know how to explain this to Souta. Plus, the Earthen Woods tribes attacked the Mine Valley. Problems kept coming. She didn¡¯t even know how to handle an entire organization. There were lots of things that she needed to do. ¡°Eilish¡­ I hope she comes back to help me deal with this problem.¡± Eilish went to Athen¡¯s Champion to complete some missions. She was planning to exchange her achievements for some potions or pills that could help her break through the second shackles. She was already preparing for her ascension to the higher level. It was good. After all, once Eilish reached Two Shackles Realm, the overall might of Astros would also increase too. Isabella alone couldn¡¯t provide potions to everyone plus she was still researching the pill that she received from Souta. ¡°Doranjan¡­ I just hope that once he returned I will hear a good news.¡± Doranjan should succeed in his task no matter what. At least, they would be able to drastically increase their military power with it. ¡°Should I use this chance to increase the tax? After all, a war is going to erupt and we needed funds for all kinds of weapons and armor.¡± Alice leaned on her chair as she blankly stared at the ceiling. Chapter 774: Out A few days later¡­ The tribes of the Earthen Woods advanced their forces. Second Head already made preparation with this, he already set up a defensive barricade and protective array to repel the army of the enemy. A battle started in the vicinity of Enruet City. Alice even sent two hundred experts to participate in the war. These experts were all B-rank and above. She just hoped that they could advance their level through this war. The enemy had ten thousand experts. Hundreds of them were lower level warriors below B-rank. Even so, they still had an absolute advantage in numbers compared to the Dragon Council which could only send three thousand people. Luckily, Second Head was prepared as he set up various arrays that could help his people in the fight in the war. He also brought out a large stock of his mana potions and health potions to increase their strength. In this war, Alice sent Isabella and the Noxious Corps to the frontline. She had no choice. The other forces of the Astros haven¡¯t returned yet from their expedition. Also, Elder Guan, Yuko, Yenxa, and the rest were still in White Wheat City guarding it in case someone attack them. On the fifth day of the war, Alice sent the experts of the Shimpan Family to the frontline as the Shackled Realm experts of the enemy started to appear. Edward, the family head was a One Shackle Realm, so it was enough. The other forces of the Nine Heads also send their One Shackle Realm experts to participate in the war. Total destruction occurred in that place with the presence of Shackled Realm experts. Thousands of refugees went to various cities seeking food and home. The battle killed a lot of innocent people. Even the small town and villages weren¡¯t spared at all. The tribes from the Earthen Woods burned everything in their paths. They spared no one. The other cities locked their gates off while the Dragon Council was fighting the tribes. In fact, this was what they wanted. They wanted the Dragon Council and the tribes to exhaust each other and then they would be the ones to rip the benefits. On the sixth day, Doranjan and the Feral Corps returned from their expedition. Alice was slightly stunned when she saw Doranjan. The aura around Doranjan¡¯s body was much more fierce and powerful than last time. ¡°Intermediate fourth stage¡­¡± Alice muttered. This was good. Even if Doranjan failed his task, it doesn¡¯t matter since he enhanced his strength to a higher level. This was already a great improvement for Astros. Now they just needed to increase the number of their Shackled Realm experts. ¡°It¡¯s considered complete¡­¡± Doranjan said. ¡°Considered? Why?¡± Alice asked. ¡°The Devouring Alligator is an intermediate four stage so I couldn¡¯t force her but she said that she will visit our place soon to see the lord,¡± Doranjan explained. ¡°Hmm¡­ So the alligator wouldn¡¯t follow someone close to its power level.¡± Alice rubbed her chin. ¡°I think that it will have no problem.¡± Doranjan looked at the depths of the Astros. The lingering aura of the fifth stage monster made him shiver. ¡°Once she felt this aura, she will never be able to return even if she wanted it.¡± ¡°A fifth stage suppression, huh?¡± Alice also looked in the direction where Kessa was sleeping. It would be good if she could recover her strength. ¡°Yeah, we monsters couldn¡¯t ever oppose someone at fifth stage. That power is restricting our bodies.¡± Doranjan said in a low voice. ¡°Then, the Devouring Alligator will belong to Astros¡­ No, precisely became a follower of the hydra.¡± Alice muttered. She shook her head and said, ¡°Tell the Red Dragon to prepare. I¡¯ll send some of the monsters to help our forces on the frontline. It would be better if they could also improve or evolve.¡± ¡°I understand¡­¡± Doranjan nodded and looked around. He asked, ¡°Souta hasn¡¯t returned yet?¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t even know where he is or what he is doing right now. The other warriors of Athen¡¯s Champion wanted to meet him.¡± Alice said with a sigh. After that, Doranjan let the Red Dragon prepare for another battle. The Red Dragon would bring hundred monsters as reinforcement. The Great Lightning Jaguar would also come. Two third stage monsters would be a great help in the frontline. They just had to avoid Shackled Realm experts and they would be fine. ¡°Now, I¡¯m waiting for the response of the Dragon Council.¡± Alice closed her eyes. Bland City¡­ In a deep underground area. The whole place was dark and the atmosphere was cold. There was a huge jade door emitting a very powerful energy. It was beyond the normal scale. The small door beneath it opened and several figures walked out of it. They were the Heads of the Dragon Council, the Nine Heads. The energy they were exuding this time was several times more powerful than before. The increase in their strength wasn¡¯t small. If their strength was like that of a child before then now they have the strength of an adult. The gap was simply large. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that something like that is hidden in our region.¡± Ninth Head said. ¡°Me too¡­ So this is the remnant of the previous era of Hall Plains.¡± Fourth Head nodded at her words. ¡°Sadly, there¡¯s not much left¡­¡± Ninth Head¡¯s shoulder dropped in disappointment. ¡°But we could still use this area for training. It¡¯s similar to the training area of those large countries. The density of mana here is higher than normal.¡± Third Head said. ¡°Yeah, with a little bit of external help, we would be able to increase our power level. So we just needed to train our combat arts or improve our understanding of spells.¡± Fifth Head nodded. Ninth Head glanced at Governor Ray and asked, ¡°What about Second Head and Seventh Head?¡± ¡°Second Head should be tired after we left everything to him. We¡¯ll call him back so that he could also improve his strength.¡± Governor Ray paused for a moment before he continued, ¡°We haven¡¯t contacted Seventh Head for a while. He¡¯s not even in his territory.¡± ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, in the last meeting he said that he will investigate the attackers. He did find the attackers in White Line City but he said the main culprit is something else.¡± Third Head said. She was the one who help fight the Wingless Crow in the White Line City. ¡°So he is still investigating. He sure is persistent. I will contact his second-in-command. I will ask her to contact Seventh Head as this is an important matter.¡± Governor Ray said. Governor Ray and the rest returned to the City Hall. It¡¯s been a week since they went to the underground place. When they heard about the report about what happened while they were away they were shaken. What?! A war happened just like that and the enemy this time was a unified force of the Earthen Woods. But how? So someone has the power to unify those aggressive tribes. It seems impossible but it already happened so they could only believe it. The total power of the tribes of the Earthen Woods was stronger than the military might of the entire Mine Valley. Although they were shocked, they quickly recovered their composure. They¡¯ve also grown stronger in the past week. ¡°We need to call Second Head here.¡± Governor Ray said. Then, he looked at the other Heads and asked, ¡°Who wanted to replace Second Head¡¯s position?¡± Eight Head raised his head. ¡°Me? I wanted to test my new strength. Oh, don¡¯t worry, I will not actively join the battle. I will only watch first to see if there¡¯s someone on my level there.¡± ¡°Okay, you can prepare to depart now. It¡¯s better if we move faster before the enemy could react.¡± Governor Ray narrowed his eyes as he glanced at Jovi. ¡°Fourth Head, can you go to?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Fourth Head asked. ¡°You and Eight Head will go there. Forget what I said before, this time we can catch the enemy off guard. Both of you can go all out.¡± Governor Ray said decisively. ¡°I like this plan more.¡± Eight Head grinned. ¡°It¡¯s better if Fourth Head hid in the shadows first. Eight Head will become a spearhead that will attack the enemy head-on. You shouldn¡¯t reveal yourself unless the situation calls for it.¡± Third Head suddenly said. ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t have a problem with it.¡± Fourth Head nodded. ¡°Good. You can prepare to depart now.¡± Governor Ray nodded at them. ¡°I will send a message to Ekatoe City. I want to know if they could call Seventh Head.¡± ¡°I will handle that. I will send my people.¡± Third Head said. ¡°Thanks.¡± Governor Ray said. ¡°What about the cities that refuse to fight the enemies? They aren¡¯t part of the Dragon Council so they will step back and watch! Did they think that those savage tribes will not attack them?!¡± Ninth Head complained. ¡°They are just people that only move for personal benefits. They don¡¯t care what happened to other people.¡± Governor Ray said in a serious tone. Chapter 775: Call ¡°What I¡¯m curious about is who unified the tribes in the Earthen Woods?¡± Sixth Head said while tapping his finger on the table. ¡°According to the report a huge battle occurred in the Earth Woods a week ago before they launched an invasion in our land.¡± Governor Ray swept his eyes across everyone. ¡°A man called Face Changing Demon stirred the best of the tribes. The battle shook a large number of tribes and it led to the death of seven One Shackle Realm experts. In the end, a Two Shackles Realm expert appeared and fought the Face Changing Demon.¡± The battle was too huge and a lot of people were caught up in it, resulting in severe casualties of over ten thousand people. The two fought fiercely and the Face Changing Demon even managed to injure the Two Shackles Realm expert by using a very powerful technique. After that, a powerful tribe appeared and used the opportunity to unify all the tribes. What happened to the Face Changing Demon? He should be dead after getting surrounded by hundreds of powerful experts. The tribe that surrounded him said that they killed him. ¡°That happened in Earthen Woods?! As expected the Hall Plains isn¡¯t peaceful right now.¡± Fifth Head exclaimed. ¡°So what is the name of the tribe that appeared?¡± Ninth Head asked. ¡°The Four-Armed Tribe¡­ They belong to Four-Armed Race.¡± Governor Ray answered. ¡°Four-Armed Race?! They said that the Four-Armed demi is comparable to the human race¡¯s Barbarian!¡± Ninth Head was slightly shocked. The others were also stunned at this information. It was hard to believe but they have no choice but to accept it. ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t even know that a group Four-Armed people are hiding in the Earthen Woods. From the looks of it, they are staying in that land for a long time.¡± Governor Ray said with a sigh. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t ignore the other cities if our enemies are the Four-Armed Race! We should take them down as soon as possible! Those selfish bastards will only become obstacles if we let them be!¡± Ninth Head said in a strong tone. ¡°Oh, it means that you want¡­¡± Fourth Head raised his eyebrows with interest. ¡°Yes, I think it¡¯s time for the Dragon Council to take over the entire Mine Valley! Let¡¯s unify the Mine Valley!¡± Ninth Head said. Governor Ray closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and looked at everyone. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that. Let¡¯s cast a vote right now if everyone approves of this decision.¡± ¡°I have no problem with it.¡± Fourth Head grinned. ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°Yeah, our enemy is an entire region so we should also unify our region.¡± The rest of the Heads agreed with the decision. ¡°It seems that no one had a problem with our next course of action. Then, Ninth Head along with the Fifth Head and Sixth Head will conquer the remaining two cities. The Second Head and Seventh Head¡¯s forces had conquered the White Wheat City, leaving the two cities. So we will start by conquering those two.¡± Governor Ray said slowly so that everyone could understand. No one had a problem with this arrangement. They unanimously agreed with this plan. The Heads exchanged a few more words before they concluded the meeting. Eight Head and Fourth Head quickly departed. They would go to the battlefield as soon as possible to launch a fierce attack against the enemy¡¯s formation. Third Head sent some of her people to Ekatoe City to deliver the message of the Nine Heads. Ninth Head, Fifth Head, and Sixth Head also departed to start the plan to unify the Mine Valley. While the two Heads were dealing with the invader, the three of them would deal with the problem inside the region. ¡­ Ekatoe City. Alice just received the message. The Nine Heads wanted Souta to return since they have an important business with him. They said it was a classified information so he would only know it once he went to Bland City. At the same time, the details of the next course of action of the Dragon Council were written on the back of the letter. ¡°So they are planning to unify the Mine Valley?¡± Alice rubbed her chin. It seems that the invasion of the tribe forced them to make this decision. It¡¯s better to deal with the opponent inside first as to avoid getting stabbed in the back. Souta would also make the same decision. Alice took out the transmission talisman and tried to connect it to Souta. It took her half an hour before she got connected to Souta. ¡°Are you busy, Souta? You didn¡¯t answer my call at all.¡± Alice asked. She have no idea what he was doing right now. She just knew that he disguised himself and joined some school of experts to investigate the matters of the Spring Land. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m very busy¡­ But what made you call me? I thought I said that I leave everything in your care. You don¡¯t have to call me. Just make a decision for yourself. Even if it¡¯s good or bad, the most important thing is experience.¡± Souta¡¯s voice sounded through the transmission talisman. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s just that the Nine Heads wanted you to come back. They said that it is a classified information so they can¡¯t tell me. So when are you going to come back?¡± Alice asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Tell them that I left everything in you, your words will be equivalent to my words. I¡¯m still in the middle of an ancient ruin so I won¡¯t be able to come back. Also, I will visit the Murder Society after this.¡± Souta said. ¡°I understand¡­¡± Alice nodded. ¡°Thanks, bye. I¡¯ll come back later after I settled everything here so send my regards to everyone.¡± Souta said before he cut the call. Alice sighed as she stared at the transmission talisman in her hands. So he still left all the decisions to her. ¡°He just said that he is inside an ancient ruin and will visit the Murder Society soon. Where did he find the headquarters of those guys?¡± She muttered before she stood up from her seat. ¡°He cut the call. He didn¡¯t even ask what is the current situation.¡± She called one of her people and asked to deliver a letter to the Dragon Council. Since Souta already said it, she would stand as acting City Lord while he was gone. Her words were equivalent to Souta himself. She wondered what the Dragon Council would think once they read her letter. She walked towards the window and stared outside. The people of Astros were busy, including her. She didn¡¯t even have a time to continue her training. Torkez was better than her at managing an organization but he had a different job. He was searching for a way to cultivate the king of parasites so that they could reproduce this type of lifeform. Once he completed this task, everyone in the Astros would be able to gain the power of the parasite. ¡°I¡¯ll find an assistant later.¡± Alice said before she turned around. ¡­ A beautiful woman with long red hair was standing in front of a stone monument. She had red lips, plump breasts, and her body was covered in a white dress that couldn¡¯t conceal her slender figure. She was Amanda. In front of her, the stone monument was half destroyed. Every second, she would look at the monument and then glance at the book in her hands. Her right arm was covered in bloody bondage. Standing behind her were a man and a woman named Jason and Lindi. They were a couple that Amanda met on her journey to the central region of the Hall Plains. Jason and Lindi were married for ten years and they were both archeologists. ¡°Are you sure you are fine?¡± Lindi asked worriedly. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± Amanda smiled and shook her head. Amanda and Souta joined different small schools in Spring Land. But after a week of joining the school, the school that she chose was destroyed by an unknown organization. She fought fiercely and she almost died trying to escape from those guys. Luckily, Lindi and Jason found her and they helped her recover a little bit of her strength. Until now, she hasn¡¯t recovered her peak and even her parasite was exhausted. She joined their journey and arrived in the central region of the Hall Plains. What they found here was much worse than the Spring Land. The chaos here was several times larger than the Spring Land and Mine Valley. It was an all-out war in this region. ¡°Looking that this remains¡­ The legend are true¡­¡± Amanda muttered while observing the half-destroyed stone monument. ¡°According to our research that children¡¯s story is true¡­¡± Jason said as he opened the book in his hand. ¡°Once upon a time, an expert appeared in this land and spread various spells and combat arts. It¡¯s the starting point of the Hall Plains according to the children¡¯s fairy tale.¡± ¡°Mostly, fairy tales are half truth so we need to find clues that will make light of it,¡± Lindi added. ¡°Yeah, the Hall of Power¡­ They are the ones that started it.¡± Amanda nodded. Chapter 776: Invitation ¡°The Hall of Power¡­¡± Jason said in a low voice. ¡°According to our research, the Hall of Power is a large country that ruled the entire Hall Plains a thousand years ago. They appeared on this land and taught people various skills to improve themselves.¡± Lindi said. ¡°The only problem is how they vanished in the annals of history¡­¡± Amanda said gloomily. ¡°There¡¯s barely any record of the Hall of Power. It is strange, very strange considering that it is a large country that houses a god-level powerhouse. Even those fallen large countries in other lands are recorded but the Hall of Power¡­¡± Jason said as he closed the book in his hand and placed it on his back. ¡°Yeah, it seems that someone deliberately destroyed all the records about the Hall of Power. The only group that could destroy the Hall of Power is also a large country or any of those organizations that have gods.¡± Amanda narrowed her eyes. It¡¯s impossible for an organization without a god to destroy the Hall of Power. ¡°Then, the Imperial Family¡­¡± Amanda rubbed her chin. ¡°They should know a little bit about the Hall of Power,¡± Jason said. ¡°Yeah, they rose quickly after the Hall of Power disappeared. No matter how much you look at it, it¡¯s impossible for them to appear as soon as the ruler of the Hall Plains vanished. They must have known that the Hall of Power was going to fall or maybe they are related to it.¡± Lindi speculated. ¡°Should we find the Imperial Family? They are in the middle of a war so I doubt that the royal bloodline will go out of their way to meet us, a stranger.¡± Amanda said. ¡°Even if there isn¡¯t a war, meeting someone from the Imperial Family was hard. Those guards of theirs would immediately execute us on the spot. But we had a lead¡­¡± Jason said as he looked through his bag and took out another book. He showed the book to Amanda and explained, ¡°The inheritance of the Hall of Power isn¡¯t gone. Their subsidiary group inherited a fraction of their knowledge and went into hiding.¡± Amanda reached out her hand and took the book. Jason glanced at Lindi and continue, ¡°Lindi and me, speculated that those subsidiary group who are under the Hall of Power changed their names. They hide themselves among the various overlord organizations in the entire Hall Plains. That book is a part of the inheritance that we unearth in our exploration.¡± ¡°[Divine Fire Circulation]¡­?¡± Amanda opened the book and skimmed the first few pages. ¡°A technique to improve a person¡¯s fire element mastery¡­? What it got to do with the Hall of Power?¡± ¡°The Hall of Power distributed a bunch of its skills to its branches before it got destroyed, and this [Divine Fire Circulation] is one of the skills passed down. I don¡¯t know how many branches are still alive today.¡± Jason said. ¡°That¡¯s why we had to search the smaller organization first. The Imperial Family is out of our reach but the smaller isn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Then we simply need to find anything related to it,¡± Amanda said. ¡°It¡¯s not simple. Some of the branches have fallen and other people took the things from those branches and established new organizations. Some of those organizations didn¡¯t even know that the techniques they used are from the Hall of Power. Some of them are even faking it saying that they got the technique from a destroyed organization when in fact they are that destroyed organization. It¡¯s because they didn¡¯t want others to find out the truth.¡± Jason explained. ¡°That¡¯s it¡¯s not easy to investigate those organizations but it¡¯s better compared to the Imperial Family.¡± ¡°Investigating this is risky. Some of those organizations will kill us if they knew that we are investigating the truth. Also, the one that destroyed the Hall of Power will surely not let this matter go away. After all, they did trouble themselves by erasing almost everything related to the Hall of Power. Are you sure you still want to investigate the truth with us?¡± Lindi said. The half-destroyed stone monument. The carving was almost gone but Lindi and Jason could still guess that it was a part of the Hall of Power¡¯s insignia. The truth about the Hall Plains¡­ Amanda wanted to know it. It felt like she had gone back to the time when she was trying to find the clue about the Witch Clan. It¡¯s making her a little bit excited. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Jason suddenly said. Amanda and Lindi turned their heads warily. ¡°There¡¯s someone here. Maybe, some people that involved in the war. We can¡¯t involve ourselves with them.¡± Jason said as he packed all the things they had in his bag. The three quickly left the area without making any sound. If they met any people from the other organizations that were waging war in the central region it only mean trouble. Currently, they didn¡¯t have that kind of plan. With Amanda¡¯s strength, she could tell the number of people. There were seven people and most of their strength was just B-rank. She could easily eliminate them. Even Lindi and Jason could deal with them since they were both at Liquefying Realm. The only problem was that if they killed them, the superiors of these people would be suspicious of why their subordinates suddenly disappeared when they patrolled here in this abandoned ruin. ¡­ Ekatoe City. Alice was preparing herself to head to Bland City, the main headquarters of the Dragon City. Souta left everything to her decision and she told the Nine Heads about his words. She told them that it was impossible for him to return quickly. It would take a month or so before he could return. She also told them that what Souta was doing was for the Mine Valley. He was out there trying to investigate the roots behind the Wingless Crow in White Line City. The Nine Heads understood this reasoning so they quickly have a meeting. In the end, the Nine Heads decided to take Alice as Souta. After all, Third Head confirmed her strength when she helped them in attacking the White Line City. They called Alice to the main base. ¡°I don¡¯t know what they are hiding. To know it, I could only accept their invitation and head toward Bland City.¡± Alice muttered as she looked in the mirror and fixed her clothes. After that, she went toward Torkez¡¯s laboratory. She knocked on the door gently and after a few seconds, she heard his voice. ¡°Come in.¡± Alice opened the door and saw Torkez in his lab coat. It seems that he just finished his experiments about the parasitic essence eater. ¡°What makes you come here?¡± Torkez asked as he clapped his hands and asked his subordinates to prepare some coffee. ¡°No need. I will not stay here longer.¡± Alice waved her hand and dismissed the subordinates. She was just going to inform him about her departure so she would not stay here long. ¡°I received an invitation from the Nine Heads of the Dragon Council. I will go there in Souta¡¯s stead so I want you to handle the matters of Astros while I¡¯m away.¡± Alice explained. ¡°I see¡­¡± Torkez nodded and said, ¡°Okay, leave it to me.¡± Knock! ¡°Lady Alice, Sir Torkez, Lady Eilish had returned.¡± A voice sounded beyond the door. Alice and Torkez turned their heads in the direction of the door. ¡°It seems that there¡¯s no need for me to take over,¡± Torkez said with a smile. ¡°It seems that way¡­¡± Alice nodded. She then stood up and said, ¡°Sorry for bothering you, I¡¯ll go now and meet Eilish.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Torkez simply waved his hand. Alice left the laboratory and quickly went to meet Eilish. When she saw Eilish, she was slightly stunned. ¡°You! That aura¡­?¡± Alice muttered as she stared at the undulating aura around Eilish¡¯s body. ¡°Ufufu.¡± Eilish chuckled as she covered her mouth with her hand. ¡°That¡¯s right, I broke through the second shackles.¡± She completed her breakthrough and finally reached the Two Shackles Realm. She had been stuck at One Shackle for a long time so when she received external help from a potion called Limit Breaking, she easily advanced to the next level. She was glad that she kept her achievement points in Athen¡¯s Champion. ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯ve grown stronger. I will be assured to leave the Astros in your care.¡± Alice sighed in relief. ¡°What happened?¡± Eilish raised her eyebrows. Alice explained that she was invited to Bland City. She would go there so someone has to take care of the matters of the Astros. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to stay here for a while so you could go there without worry. I¡¯ll take care of all the affairs.¡± Eilish said. ¡°Thanks. You can check all the recent files in the City Lord¡¯s office.¡± Alice said. After chatting with Eilish, Alice departed. She only brought two people with her. Although they weren¡¯t strong, they were also not weak. Their strength was at the intermediate S-rank and high S-rank respectively. They would take care all the things that didn¡¯t Alice¡¯s concerns. Chapter 777: Coming out of the Multiple Elements Realm ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ve understood it?¡± Alexander asked. ¡°I understand the fundamentals of sublimation. It¡¯s enough for now since I¡¯ve got to return.¡± Souta said as he stood up and stretched his arms. ¡°So you¡¯re going to leave this place, now?¡± Alexander asked as he strode toward the small house. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s been three weeks. There¡¯s still some business that I need to attend to.¡± Souta answered. He had grown stronger while he was here so he thought that it was time to leave. Alexander entered the house. He came out after a few minutes, carrying a small brown bag. He threw the bag in Souta¡¯s direction. ¡°Here, it¡¯s my gift for helping me.¡± Souta caught the bag and curiously look at the things inside it. Shock filled his face when he saw the things lying inside the bag. He looked back at Alexander and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t this too much?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. You deserved it.¡± Alexander waved his hand. He turned around and pointed at the magic circle on the ground. ¡°If you wish to leave, just activate that spell.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Souta nodded. He was a little bit excited as he didn¡¯t think that Alexander would be this generous. He placed his hand inside the bag and took out a dark apple-shaped fruit. The fruit has the size of his palm and it has flower drawings around it. This was a legendary grade called Shadow Mixing Fruit. It was quite beneficial to him. It seems that Alexander picked this fruit while thinking about his elemental affinity. Souta smiled. He didn¡¯t hesitate and gobbled up the fruit in the next second. Soon, he felt power coursing through his body. His dark element rose sharply, filling up his entire body as he silently activated the [Divine Dark Circulation]. He didn¡¯t waste any of the benefits of the fruit that it could give him. He maximized it with the help of this technique. It was outside his expectations. He didn¡¯t think that the [Divine Dark Circulation] would be able to help him this much. Previously, when he ate the other fruits he could only get roughly sixty percent of its power. But now, the [Divine Dark Circulation] helped him achieve eighty percent which was higher than what he thought. Maybe, it also helped that the Shadow Mixing Fruit was a dark type, compatible with his technique. Souta¡¯s dark element grew stronger and stronger. Even his resistance had reached a higher level. Even if he fought another dark element user, he had certain resistance to it so he would be able to fight other creatures of the same element. He looked at the system and saw that his exp bar was eighty percent filled. He was level 66 right now and was close to reaching level 67. It took him four hours before he fully used the energy of the Shadow Mixing Fruit. Souta opened his eyes and breathe out a black gas. His pores had opened up, releasing the same black gas. When he clenched his fist, the black gas disappeared. ¡°I¡¯ve grown stronger once again.¡± He smiled and checked the bag once again. He took out another fruit. This time, the fruit only had the size of his thumb and it had a pure snow-white color. Really¡­ Alexander really chose the perfect fruit for him to consume. Fruit with other elements was basically useless to him since he didn¡¯t have those elements. The fruit could multiply his elemental power but since he didn¡¯t have those elemental affinities what¡¯s there to multiply? Fruit that could let him gain another affinity? Those things were rare even for a legendary grade. The other legendary grade could raise his resistance to other elements. Some of it could boost his physical strength, speed, and sometimes increased energy capacity. There were even legendary grades that could give him weird abilities. But Souta still preferred the fruit that could raise his dark and light elemental power. Souta place the white fruit back inside the bag. He would consume it once he gained the [Divine Light Circulation] to maximize the benefits that he would receive. ¡°Legendary grades are so good. This one raises my dark element higher than before. The last one I consumed helped me boost my light element to Force. I even had resistance to space and time thanks to the legendary grades that I gained from the living labyrinth.¡± The resistance he had didn¡¯t show much since the space and time elements were rare. Although he didn¡¯t have any affinity with these two elements, using his elemental power to change form he could alter these two albeit weaker. So despite having a talent, he couldn¡¯t use it to reach the level of [Element Drive]. Only affinity could achieve it. Souta looked at the other things inside the bag. Alexander was really generous as there were two dark grade artifacts inside. It was worth it to befriend this guy. He wondered if he helped Alexander in the future what items would he get. Aside from the two dark grade artifacts, there were two books. One was for sublimation and the other one was for forbidden spells. It was incredible that he couldn¡¯t help but raise the corner of his lips. ¡®Saya, what do you think?¡¯ He asked. ¡®About what?¡¯ Saya asked in return. ¡®It¡¯s possible, right? I¡¯ve even practiced it and achieved a considerable success.¡¯ Souta said. ¡®I can¡¯t believe it¡­ Just be careful and think about the ends of it. If not, you will be stuck once again. I guess for now, there¡¯s no problem¡­ It¡¯s just that you can hardly¡­¡¯ Saya didn¡¯t finish her sentence but Souta know what she wanted to say. ¡®Yeah, that¡¯s why I¡¯ll refrain from it¡­ For now¡­¡¯ Souta said to her in a serious tone to assure her. There was nothing he could do. From his understanding, this was the better result that he could produce for now. There¡¯s still a long way to go. Souta shook his head and walked toward the magic circle. He looked at the small house and said, ¡°Alexander! I¡¯ll go now! If you want, you can come with me for a while! I¡¯ll treat you to a brothel! Eat all you can!¡± ¡°Shut up!! Just leave this place!!¡± Alexander¡¯s voice resounded. Souta smiled wryly and shook his head. Two of them grew closer in the past fifteen days and Alexander even help him train his combat prowess. ¡°Fifteen days alone without seeing a woman¡­ Sigh¡­ I will visit a brothel.¡± Souta stepped inside the magic circle and used his energy to activate it. He grabbed his face first and changed his appearance. A light engulfed him and his body disappeared without a trace. Ohm! Souta reappeared at the entrance, the tunnel between the Imperium and Multiple Elements Realm. The bridge where the creator of the realm folded the space and connected it to the main world. He stretched his arms and yawned. Suddenly, he stopped and noticed almost fifty people in the air with murderous gazes. Souta ignored them and walked away. But before he could walk far a series of energy spheres were hurled before him. He stopped walking and the energy spheres crashed in front of him causing several small explosions. Despite the small explosions, the power it possessed was strong. He turned his head and looked coldly at the people in the air. ¡°What is the meaning of this? I didn¡¯t know any of you, right? So why are you bothering me?¡± A middle-aged man stepped forward and said, ¡°You came from the ancient ruins, right? Tell me, everything that happened inside or else¡­¡± ¡°Or else what? You will kill me?¡± Souta laughed at the middle-aged man¡¯s words. He didn¡¯t expect that he would meet a clown as soon as he came out of the Multiple Elements Realm. ¡°Dude, stop with your joke! Go away while I¡¯m in the good mood! I still need to visit a brothel!¡± Souta waved his hand and shooed them away. He then continued to walk. He didn¡¯t want to bother himself with these people. It was pointless. Plus, he was in a good mood since Alexander gave him a lot of stuff that he could use. ¡°Go.¡± The middle-aged man said in a cold tone. The next moment, dozens of energy beams including elemental attacks were hurled at Souta. The fluctuations of energy rose as the beams exploded causing the ground to shake heavily as if a powerful earthquake hit the area. ¡°Capture him and heal him. We¡¯ll interrogate him later.¡± The middle-aged man said. He glanced at the smoke and turned around. The smoke slowly dissipated and everyone saw that Souta was still standing without a single scratch on his body. ¡°Hey, can you stop this kind of shit while I¡¯m still kind?¡± Souta said in a plain tone. The middle-aged man was shocked. He opened his eyes widely as he didn¡¯t think that this guy could escape that barrage of attacks unscathed. ¡°It seems that I need to do this myself.¡± He said to himself as his mana flared up. He charged forward as he quickly zoomed the distance between him and Souta. Chapter 778: Annihilation The middle-aged man channeled his mana in his arm. The gauntlet he was wearing shone with blue light as he smashed his fist at Souta¡¯s stomach. His fist erupted with brilliant lightning upon contact. Bang!! This was one of the strongest attacks that he knew. Since his opponent had thick skin, he just had to attack the inside and it would be over. He laughed to himself thinking that he overestimated his opponent. But then, he felt something wrong. He looked up and saw that Souta was still unfazed. ¡°Is that it?¡± Souta asked plainly. ¡°H-How?!¡± The middle-aged man couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. Even the other people were also shocked. ¡°Even the Leader couldn¡¯t¡­¡± One of the experts said with widely opened eyes. ¡°How?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible?!¡± In this place, the strongest was undoubtedly the middle-aged man. He was the Leader of the Thunder Hall yet this unknown person took his powerful attack head-on. He came here because the experts from his organization haven¡¯t come back after entering the ancient ruins. The only people that returned were Princess Yaniesvyl and Dream but he couldn¡¯t just capture them since they were from other big organizations too. The two also haven¡¯t said anything about the ancient ruins since they came out. It was a mystery so he brought his people here to find out what happened in the later part of the trial. There were some survivors of the first and second trials but they were useless since the experts from Thunder Hall had gone far. The middle-aged man felt a chill on his spine. His attack should be unblockable. The focus of his attack was to damage the innards of his target. No one could block this. ¡°Wondering why? It¡¯s simple. It is because you are too weak.¡± Souta spoke calmly. He turned his head away. ¡°Well, I lost my patience here so it¡¯s time for you to experience something new.¡± Souta started to walk away once again. The other people sighed in relief but Souta flicked his fingers. Instantly, everything turned dark. It was too dark that all the people in the area couldn¡¯t see their surroundings. ¡°I have trained my dark and light elements, you see¡­ Using my power I gather the light and let the darkness consumes it. In short, there¡¯s not a single speck of light in this place only darkness remains.¡± Souta explained to them as he continued to walk. There was no expert who had the power to stop him in this place. All of them were too weak with his current power. ¡°That being said¡­ You guys thoroughly are trash! You didn¡¯t even practice your senses! Use your energy to refine them or feel the mana in the area! Well, it¡¯s already too late.¡± With another snap of his fingers, a powerful gravitational field appeared in the area. The gravity crushed their bodies into meat paste. They didn¡¯t even have the power to resist. Screams of agony resounded through the area and the middle-aged man tried to resist. ¡°Argh!!!¡± ¡°NO!!!¡± ¡°Help me!!¡± ¡°AHHH!!¡± After a few minutes, the screams disappeared along with the darkness. What was left was a brutal scene of people mashed together. They all died with despair written on their face. Souta glanced at his hand. ¡°It¡¯s good¡­ My elemental power is enough.¡± He smiled as he continued his walk. Some of the potions that they had flew beside him. The bottle caps were removed and a string of flesh suck the blue liquid inside. He replenished the mana inside the Queen Parasite. He placed one of his hands in his pocket and took out a small piece of paper. He opened it and looked at the contents. It was a piece of paper that he took from the mysterious man that he killed in the Poison Swamp. It seems that the faction behind that man was really connected to the Wingless Crow. The Wingless Crow was situated in White Line City. They were planning to leave but he managed to get information about them on time. Luckily, he asked Alice to surround the city to prevent anyone from leaving the city. So the Wingless Crow was forced to hide in the city for a while and let the fight subside. Unfortunately for them, Alice still surrounded the city even after she destroyed the Star Pavilion. It was at that moment that the Wingless Crow realized that Alice must be looking for them. They had no choice but to reveal themselves. In fact, even if the Wingless Crow tried to escape from the beginning they wouldn¡¯t be able to do it easily. Astros had a bunch of Shackled Realm experts and Third Head¡¯s force was even there. The only problem was the person that appeared at the last minute. The one that used a powerful charm. Well, that person wasn¡¯t even there from the start. It was just a backup when the Wingless Crow¡¯s base was destroyed. ¡°So the person that used charm is from the same faction as the one in the Poison Swamp¡­¡± Souta rubbed his chin as he continued to look at the paper. It was written here that the Wingless Crow should have left the White Line and gone to the Earthen Woods without anyone noticing their presence on that day. ¡°I¡¯m lucky that I asked Alice to surround the place immediately and even ask the Dragon Council¡¯s hand. Anyway, what I need to do right now is to complete the quest first¡­¡± Become a Core Disciple and get the [Divine Light Circulation] to further improve his mastery over his light element. Then, he would visit the Murder Society. His doppelganger had located their base of operation so he wasn¡¯t worried about it. ¡®Souta¡­ I wanted to ask this for a while.¡¯ Saya¡¯s voice suddenly echoed in his mind. ¡°What is it?¡± Souta raised his eyebrows as he placed the paper back in his pocket. ¡®What do you want? I mean what is your goal? I¡¯m with you for the longest time and you always say that you only wanted to live.¡¯ Saya asked. Souta grew silent at her question. He stared at the sky for a while before he answered, ¡°Hm¡­ Yep, I want to survive. That¡¯s my initial goal. Becoming a knight, a king, an investigator, or any other profession, or perhaps living a peaceful and ordinary life¡­ All of this can be achieved once I¡¯ve gained enough strength in this world. So for now, I¡¯ll focus on surviving what will come in the future while trying to enjoy a little bit of my extra time.¡± He shrugged his shoulder. His goal was simple yet at the same time was hard to achieve. After all, he knew what would happen in the near future and he couldn¡¯t place his life in the hands of other people. Even after that, there¡¯s a much worse enemy. The one that the God of Hunt mentioned and the one that was written in the stone monument left behind by the God of Space. Ordinary people would be swept out. If he couldn¡¯t survive right now then how would he expect to survive the events in the future? Airi even saved his life so he wouldn¡¯t die easily. His goal was still the same when he first arrived in this world but something was different this time. ¡®Ufufu. The ¡®You¡¯ before will not say the same thing.¡¯ Saya chuckled. Souta simply smiled as he went toward the nearest town in the area. He quickly changed his appearance once again. Although he could change his appearance, he couldn¡¯t change his energy signature. If there was a sensory type that memorized his energy signature then that person would recognize him immediately. He arrived at Blue River Town, only to realize that Heili was still here waiting for him. He went to the inn and knocked on the door of her room. When Heili saw him, she was surprised at him but soon breathed a sigh of relief. She almost thought that Souta died in the ancient ruins. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you return?¡± Souta asked. ¡°I¡¯m waiting for you. I plan to wait for three more days before I return but I¡¯m glad that you are back.¡± Heili said as if a heavy weight was removed from her heart. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go back.¡± Souta nodded. He wanted to get his hands at [Divine Light Circulation]. He trained his [Divine Dark Circulation] enough so he was eligible to challenge one of the Core Disciples and replace them. ¡°Where¡¯s your friend?¡± Heili looked around and didn¡¯t find Alexander. That guy gives her an oppressive feeling and she realized that she wasn¡¯t imagining it. That guy was mysteriously powerful. ¡°He stayed in the ancient ruins,¡± Souta answered. On their way, Souta asked Heili how she fared in the ancient ruins. She said that she got to the second trial before she used the Escape Talisman to safely exit the ruins. At the very least, she got something that would benefit her. Souta understood that the first and second trials were for B-rank experts while the later trials were for higher level experts. It was understandable that she didn¡¯t pass those difficult trials with her combat prowess. Chapter 779: Challenging the Core Disciple Souta and Heili arrived at Beinu City, the city where the main base of the Mince Hand was situated. Souta let Heili go to the Mince Hand first as he had something to do. After that, he went straight to a brothel and release his pent up stress. He felt refreshed after doing it for a long time. Saya even complained to him as she didn¡¯t want to hear those disgusting voices. On the next day, Souta went to the Mince Hand. He checked all of his skills first. After practicing with Alexander inside the Multiple Elements Realm, his combat arts had grown stronger. Although he didn¡¯t need the sublimation book as he had Saya with him, he was still grateful to Alexander. Most of all, the forbidden spell was what he needed the most. Saya wasn¡¯t a spell master in her time so she didn¡¯t know the formation and structure of forbidden spells. Saya just knew that its fundamentals were quite similar to the sublimation of combat arts. Since he was closer to sublimation than a forbidden spell, Souta decided that he should focus first on sublimation. Actually, he would gain this function once he learned enough skills. But that¡¯s too far since he didn¡¯t even have enough skill points. Souta gives his skills one more glance. Skill(s): [Dash] Level 9, [Stab] Level 9, [Cat¡¯s Speed] Level 10, [Air Walk] Level 8,[Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 10, [Shadow Cloak] Level 10, [Shadow Step] Level 7, [Crimson Moon] Level 10, [Cross Moon] Level 10, [Transforming Shadow Barrage] Level 6, [Burrow] Level 3, [Energy Manipulation] Level 6, [Night Overlord¡¯s Aura] Level 10, [Dark Menace] Level 10 If he was going to divide the ranks of his skills. [Dash], [Stab], [Cat¡¯s Speed], and [Triple Muscle Strengthening] belong to the basic tier. The rest aside from [Energy Manipulation] was high tier as this skill was on a higher tier. Sublimation of combat arts. The first thing that he needed was [Energy Manipulation] at level 8. That¡¯s the same for the forbidden formation. If he unlocked the system function, then he didn¡¯t need it he just needed to pay skill points for sublimation and forbidden formation. [Energy Manipulation] was harder to improve than [Mana Manipulation]. He was already lucky that he improve it to level 6 all this time. His type of training was to control his best feram and prevent it from leaking out of his body all the time. So when he constantly trying to control it twenty-four hours a day. He was just letting it out when he was fighting. Aside from [Mana Manipulation], Souta needed to reach Perfect Mastery over his chosen combat arts that he wanted to sublimate. Perfect Mastery means level 10 in the system. Also, if his chosen combat arts were related to swords and other weapons he needed to make it up with his mastery. Luckily for Souta, his [Weapon Mastery] right now was level 8 and only [Sword Mastery] reached level 9. Sometimes sublimation needed a higher level of elemental power. These steps were just the basic requirements of sublimation. But Souta¡¯s goal was different. Although he focused himself on sublimation, he just wanted to learn the basics for his target. Souta arrived at the Mince Hand. Heili already told the instructors that he was alive when she returned yesterday. All this time, the Mince Hand thought that they were dead. After all, only a few people survive that incident in Ardous City. That incident spread out and made the war between the Hundred Face Alliance and Green Vine Pavillion stop. Although they stopped the war, the two factions were still fighting silently. If a member of the Green Vine Pavillion saw a member of the Hundred Face Alliance, they would immediately proceed to kill the other group. The large-scale battle was the only one that stop. ¡°I will train for a while¡­¡± Souta said to Heili and his teacher before he went to his room. He stayed inside for two days. He practiced his techniques inside Saya¡¯s inner consciousness for ten days straight. His [Divine Dark Circulation] technique had reached the limit, the Sixth Stage. Aside from that, he also studied the sublimation of combat arts. When he finished his training, Souta went straight to the instructor of his class. He wanted to become the Core Disciple of the Mince Hand to get his hand on the last volume of the [Divine Dark Circulation] and finished his quest. ¡°You want to become a Core Disciple?!¡± Instructor Vick looked at him with widely opened eyes. He looked at him up and down before he realized that Souta was exuding the aura of a high level B-rank. It was too fast. ¡°Yes, I think I¡¯ve reached the requirement.¡± Souta nodded as he silently showed his [Divine Dark Circulation]. He showed the aura of the Fifth Stage even though he already mastered the Sixth Stage. ¡°That¡¯s really the Fifth Stage of [Divine Dark Circulation]¡­¡± Instructor Vick muttered in a low voice. He looked at Souta once again and said, ¡°Wait for me, I¡¯ll arrange the test for you and also choose the one you wanted to challenge.¡± After saying those words, Instructor Vick turned around and left. Becoming a Core Disciple was a bigger deal than becoming an Inner Disciple so it was inevitable that the upper echelons of Mince Hand would be informed of this matter. Souta looked back and shook his head. Although it was a big deal for others, for him it wasn¡¯t the case. It was just a simple test to complete his quest and get the rewards. ¡®Ufufu¡­ Isn¡¯t it interesting? Everyone here thought that you are a talented person.¡¯ Saya¡¯s laugh echoed in his mind. ¡®Well, I have an excuse for my power level. Even Senior Sister Heili achieved high level B-rank after passing the trials in ancient ruins, so why wouldn¡¯t I?¡¯ Souta shrugged his shoulders. The only thing that matters the most was that the Mince Hand wouldn¡¯t get suspicious so that they could give him the last volume of the [Divine Dark Circulation]. After waiting for more than ten minutes, Instructor Vick returned. ¡°Let¡¯s go follow me.¡± Instructor Vick said before he passed a piece of paper to Souta. ¡°The list of the current Core Disciple is listed here. Choose one that you want to challenge.¡± Souta nodded and looked at the names written on the paper. There were ranking among the Core Disciple from first to twentieth. Soon, he found Neiso¡¯s name at number fifteen. ¡®This guy managed to survive?!¡¯ He was a little bit surprised when he find out about this. Still, this doesn¡¯t change that Souta would challenge him to the position of Core Disciple. ¡°Instructor Vick? There are twenty Core Disciples, why?¡± Souta asked. When he asked Heili before about Core Disciple she told him that there were less than ten Core Disciples. ¡°Some of them are Personal Disciples of an elder. They are considered as Core Disciples of Mince Hand.¡± Instructor Vick answered. The two arrived in the backyard of the Mince Hand and saw a huge training field. There were pillars around it with various exquisite carvings. Looking at it, Souta felt that Mince Hand really had a long history. He could see some ancient words written on it despite not knowing how to read. ¡°I want to challenge Senior Neiso.¡± Souta said after a while. Instructor Vick looked back at him before he continued walking. They entered the arena. There were already two old men waiting for them. Instructor Vick said that Souta wanted to challenge the rank fifteen of the Core Disciple. One of the old men simply clapped his hands and said, ¡°Call Neiso over here. Tell him that a challenger has appeared and if he didn¡¯t get here on time the challenger will win by default.¡± Souta felt the air tremble a little bit. The old man used a little bit of mana to his voice so that it could be heard by other people hiding in the bushes. Souta already knew that there were people hiding in the bushes but he simply ignored them. They were all S-rank and their total number was more than thirty. Also, the two old men were One Shackle Realm. No matter how much they tried to conceal their mana, they couldn¡¯t escape Souta¡¯s extreme senses. There was no secret before his eyes and he could even tell if someone was lying or not. Soon, Neiso arrived. He was a little bit shocked when he found that Souta was the challenger yet he didn¡¯t show it on his face. He kept his expression as he politely greeted the two elders. Souta and Neiso stood in the arena as Instructor Vick stepped out of their way. The two old men also sat at the side without caring about the battle. They only talk to themselves. For them, the battle of this level wasn¡¯t worth their eyes. It¡¯s normal for Inner Disciples to challenge the Core Disciples and they¡¯ve seen it a lot of times. ¡°I will be the referee of this battle. The rules are simple, just knock your opponent out and you will win.¡± Instructor Vick said. Watching Neiso, Souta could hardly contain his excitement. He wanted to finish this quest but his expression suddenly change. Although it was faint, the words of the two old men got his attention. Chapter 780: Becoming a Core Disciple ¡°Go!¡± Instructor Vick said loudly. Neiso quickly raised both of his hands. Magic circles formed beneath his feet as he launched a barrage of ice spears at Souta. Souta wasn¡¯t even bothered by it as he swiftly move his body avoiding all the ice spears. Bang! Bang! Neiso was a little bit surprised to see Souta dodging all of his attacks. He stomped his feet on the ground and a thick transparent barrier formed around him. With a wave of his hand, he casted another spell. Several black tentacles rose from the ground. ¡°Try this!!¡± He gritted his teeth as a wand appeared in his hand. His energy fluctuations grew stronger as he activated the effect of his orange grade wand. Neiso was strong but he met the wrong opponent this time. Souta simply avoided all the attacks coming at him. The voices of the two old men were low and they even isolate it but Souta¡¯s power was able to bypass it. They didn¡¯t even realize that Souta¡¯s attention was on their conversation, not the battle. ¡°Did you investigate who¡¯s the one that attacked the Hundred Face Alliance?¡± ¡°Yeah, but all the clues lead to nothing. I could only think of one organization based on the description of the survivors.¡± ¡°Is it Murder Society?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the only organization that comes to my mind but I¡¯m wondering why did they attack us or how did we offend them? The Master is currently in a meeting with the other Masters of the alliance.¡± ¡°Is this really the end? Our Mince Hand is getting weaker and weaker each generation. Seventy years ago we don¡¯t even need to join an alliance as we have the strength of an overlord organization.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t actively move before of our bind. The era is changing and the powerhouses of the Hall Plains will be shuffled. The most dangerous region right now is the central family where the Imperial Family reign.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too sad. Taking the powers of previous ancestors binds us in this place.¡± ¡®They are bound in this place?!¡¯ Souta didn¡¯t know what they were talking about but he continued to listen to them while avoiding Neiso¡¯s series of attacks. He wanted to prolong the match so that he could listen more to their words. He knew that they were telling the truth or else he would sense it. So he trusted their words and think that it would benefit him since he was staying here in Hall Plains. The two old men continued their discussion without being aware that someone could listen to their words. ¡°The Imperial Family will suffer greatly this time. A lot of factions are eyeing the throne of the central region. Sooner or later, the war will envelop the entire Hall Plains. The Murder Society is being active recently and we still don¡¯t know what they are planning.¡± ¡°The Triple Tribe Alliance is trying to absorb all the organizations that had fallen. They are one of the strongest organizations here aside from the Heiro Kingdom. According to our intel, the three tribe leaders are all experts at third shackles.¡± ¡°Three Shackles? That¡¯s a big problem that even the Imperial Family would have a hard time facing.¡± ¡°Yes, Thunder Hall had fallen too. Their leader along with other top experts is confirmed dead. Their corpses are at the entrance of ancient ruins. A lot of factions wanted to investigate it but they couldn¡¯t enter inside it. It seems that someone gained control over the ruins.¡± ¡°It means that no one could enter it unless they had the power of a God to forcefully break the barriers. What happened there shocked the entire Spring Land. There are survivors but they only passed the first to fifth trial. All the people that have gone to the sixth trial didn¡¯t come out except for Princess Yaniesvyl and Dream.¡± ¡°Speaking of Dream, the Great Chan Hall was destroyed too a few days ago. The attackers almost wiped out everyone before kidnapping Dream. Two of the strongest faction had fallen. Thunder Hall and Great Chan Hall.¡± ¡°The ancient writings are maybe right. This must be the sign of the return of the old emperor.¡± ¡°It¡¯s passed down from generation to generation of elders since the formation of Mince Hand. Just what is this old emperor? Is it related to the old powers in Hall Plains?¡± ¡°The writings just said that the old emperor will return. We don¡¯t even know what¡¯s this emperor about. It is said that the emperor is sleeping in this very land, the Hall Plains. One day, he will rise again and claim what¡¯s rightfully his.¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. He heard this emperor again. This so-called emperor must be at god level but¡­ why didn¡¯t anyone know about it. If it was a god of Hall Plains, then surely everyone should have heard the name of the god. Surely, he was right on track. This must be related to his Chain Quest. This so-called emperor and the Blood Sacrifice were making sense. Blood Sacrifice was created to borrow the power of god so there must be truly a god in this place. Also, he recalled that there was a Grid before. It must be related to this emperor. But without proof, he still wasn¡¯t sure. If there was really a god then why everyone didn¡¯t know about it? Even if it was a god that committed mass murder, the tales of this god would still be heard. Maybe, it wasn¡¯t really a god. It was just a powerful mortal at Freedom Realm. Souta continued to listen. ¡°Sigh¡­ The most important thing right now is how to survive. I don¡¯t think that the Hundred Face Alliance could face all those hungry organizations. Aside from the Murder Society, there is another faction lurking in the dark. There isn¡¯t a single proof if it is true but most experts felt that the various accident across the land isn¡¯t a coincidence.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also wondering about that. The Green Vine Pavilion kept saying that they aren¡¯t the ones that attack us. ¡± ¡°So you are saying¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I think that the rumors are true.¡± The two old men continued talking but their topic changed to their training. Since there was no point in listening to their training, Souta decided to end the match. Also, it would be too suspicious if he delayed the match longer. He already heard enough so it was time for him to end this. Souta swiftly moved his body from side to side as he slowly brandished his sword. His body had several wounds as he let Neiso attack him before. The cause of Souta¡¯s wounds wasn¡¯t Neiso, it was Souta himself. Neiso didn¡¯t have the power to damage Souta even if he sleep on the ground and let Neiso attack him. It was possible if Souta was on the verge of death and Neiso had a higher-grade weapon. Swoosh!! Souta arrived in front of his opponent. He raised his feet and kicked the barrier around Neiso several times. Bang! Bang! Bang! The barrier was shattered after the twentieth kick. Neiso was shocked as he tried to jump away but Souta didn¡¯t let him go easily. Souta slashed his sword and a red energy blade flew out. Boom!! Neiso groaned in pain as he directly received the energy blade. He wanted to cast a spell to protect himself but he felt an intense pain on his side. His figure bent sideways before he flew out like a missile. Souta quickly chased after him. He gathered a little bit of mana before he swung down his sword. His attack directly reached the realm of peak B-rank. Holding back was extremely hard. Souta was even sweating hard as one wrong move he could kill his opponent. Well, controlling his strength was also a type of training so he wouldn¡¯t complain about it. It would be great for him in the future if he learned to fully control his strength. Swoosh!! The smoke and dust slowly disappeared. Souta checked Neiso and found that he only fainted. He breathed a sigh of relief as this quest was finally completed. Instructor Vick stepped forward and checked Neiso¡¯s condition. After seeing that he was fine, Instructor Vick looked at Souta and declared Souta as the winner. He became the fifteenth rank Core Disciple. There was no audience aside from the two old men and hidden S-rank experts. So no one knew that Souta had beaten the fifteenth rank Core Disciple. It would be announced later. ¡°Come follow me, I will give you the uniform of the Core Disciple.¡± Instructor Vick said. Souta nodded and followed Instructor Vick while looking at the system. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the Quest ¡°Disciple¡±!] [You¡¯ve gained 10,000 experience points, 5 free attribute points, 3 skill points, and a manual of the Divine Light Circulation technique!] This was enough for him. He would return once he visited the Murder Society. Then, he would report back to the Athen¡¯s Champion what he finds here and ask for more reinforcement. He doubted that they would send more since they were wary of other factions too. If they send a large batch of warriors outside the territory of Olympus, it would be mistaken as them expanding their territory. The other Holy Lands and Large Countries wouldn¡¯t tolerate it. Chapter 781: Cry Souta found that the [Divine Light Circulation] was complete volume. He could practice it up to the Ninth Stage of the technique. He thought that it would be just the first volume. With this, he would be able to increase the training speed of his light element. This would boost his strength to a certain degree. Souta received the last volume of the [Divine Dark Circulation] and the uniform of the Core Disciple. His status in Mince Hand wasn¡¯t low now. He was just lower than the Elders and some Instructors. As for the other students, he was above them. ¡®Finally, the complete volume of these two techniques¡­¡¯ Souta said inwardly. He wanted to return to his room and train these two techniques as soon as possible. Suddenly, he heard a sound of crying in his head. Souta turned around and looked over to find where the sound came from. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± He narrowed his eyes and noticed that Instructor Vick, who was beside him, also heard the same sound. ¡°Instructor, did you hear that too?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Yeah, it sounds like someone is crying.¡± Instructor Vick nodded his head in bewilderment. Both of them were confused as they couldn¡¯t figure out where the sound was coming from. Souta and Instructor Vick opened the door. They found that the students in the hallway were hearing the same thing. No, the entire Mince Hand was hearing this strange sound of crying. Sob! Sob! One of the female students began to cry. They just couldn¡¯t help it and the others followed soon. ¡°W-Why am I crying?¡± ¡°I just felt like crying!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just want to cry!¡± One by one the students started crying. Tears gushed out of their eyes as they used their hands to wipe their tears. Souta opened the window as his eyes adjusted. He scanned and found that the whole city was hearing this strange sound. ¡®I¡¯m afraid that it¡¯s not just this city¡­¡¯ Saya said in a low voice. Souta looked at the sky as he put his hand on his chest. The sound of crying was affecting him. He didn¡¯t even know what was wrong with this phenomenon. ¡°What the hell is happening?¡± Souta narrowed his eyes as he could see that the mana in the atmosphere was trembling. They were scraping each other, producing a strange invisible ripple in the air. The fluctuations were getting higher and higher every second. Sob! Everyone in the entire world was experiencing the same thing. The strange sound of crying was heard throughout the entire world. Every living being couldn¡¯t help but stop what they were doing. They could feel the sadness penetrate their hearts. Dark clouds gathered in the sky. It enveloped the whole world as thunder roared fiercely. Violent lightning would flash every second in the sky. After a few seconds, heavy rain descended on every land. Mother nature struck fiercely. Thousands of feet of tsunami swallowed the seashores around the world, destroying every structure in those regions. All the volcanoes around the world erupted at the same time. It was a horrible disaster. Ordinary people could hope to survive in this kind of environment. Esquin narrowed his eyes as he stared at the dark clouds. Even, he, a powerful god didn¡¯t know why this was happening. He only knows one thing. ¡°The Imperium is crying¡­¡± He muttered to himself before he closed his eyes. Although he didn¡¯t expect this phenomenon, he still wouldn¡¯t change his plan because of this. Everything would proceed according to his desire. ¡°The entire world is crying¡­¡± Athena, Ares, and Hermes stopped talking as they stared at the dark clouds in the sky. Their expression turned serious as lightning reflected in their eyes. ¡°This is a bad omen¡­¡± All the gods, demon gods, and monster lords felt it. They were the most sensitive beings and slight fluctuations in the air would be felt by them. It was natural for them to know this but they didn¡¯t know the reason why. The reason why Imperium was in grief and pain. The Combat Lumbs stopped functioning as their figures slowly turned into dust. They had to do something about this. In just a short amount of time, all sorts of strange phenomena occurred around the world. For some people it was good and for some, it wasn¡¯t. This event lasted for an entire day before the dark clouds disappeared. Souta still had a frown on his face. His body was light and he felt rejuvenated. His energy was turning wild and he could hardly control it. He had grown stronger. There was no doubt about it. He couldn¡¯t help but glance at the system and saw that he leveled up. He didn¡¯t even know how or why but his level had increased. He wasn¡¯t imagining it. This feeling was the same back then when he was trying to find the undead but it was also different at the same time. At that time, it feels more natural but now, it feels forced. ¡®Plus¡­ There¡¯s this feeling¡­ It feels like I can do this.¡¯ Souta grasped his chest tightly with his hand. This was strange yet beneficial to the point that it made him suspicious. He asked Saya what she knew about the weird phenomenon. ¡®I only know one thing¡­ It¡¯s Imperium.¡¯ Saya answered. ¡°The Imperium¡­¡± Souta narrowed his eyes as he stared at the sky. He recalled the moment he looked at Imperium from outer space. At that time, a huge eye opened and stared back at him. He got overwhelmed instantly which made his eyes suffer intense pain. Although he had knowledge of the game, it wasn¡¯t everything. He didn¡¯t know everything about this world. Sigh¡­ Souta breathed deeply. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t find an answer right away. At the very least, this power that strengthened him seems to not affect his body too much. He just couldn¡¯t control his energy at the moment due to the sudden increase in power. ¡°For now, I should stabilize my power and train my [Divine Light Circulation] to Second Stage or Third Stage before going to the Murder Society.¡± Souta actually hasn¡¯t met anyone that could make him go all-out the entire time he was staying in Hall Plains. The last time he fought seriously was against Gerxuzs and the Red Matter Association. This showed that he was getting stronger and slowly reaching the top. But it¡¯s better to be safe than to suffer an accident. That¡¯s why he would train his light element first before going to the Murder Society. Also, from the information that he heard from the two elders of Mince Hand, it seems that someone kidnapped Dream and destroyed the Great Chan Hall. If that¡¯s the case then the same thing would probably happen to Princess Yaniesvyl. After all, he saw them together at the Poison Swamp. He would also go there and wait for the kidnappers to appear. He had a feeling that the kidnappers were related to the mysterious man that he killed in Poison Swamp. ¡­ Somewhere in a dark space¡­ A man with black hair was seating on a chair with his chin resting on his palm. His face was devoid of the smile that was always there. Right now, annoyance and shock painted his face. A pink-haired man was standing behind him with a deep frown. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, ¡°A variable has died. The Imperium mourned for the child¡¯s death and struck a disaster across the world.¡± ¡°It¡¯s pretty much impossible for variables to die before they grow but this happens¡­¡± The pink-haired man added. The variables were Imperium¡¯s future strongest force. They shouldn¡¯t have died as their destiny lies in the future. Yet, something unbelievable happened. The Imperium¡¯s Blessed Child had died defying the destiny. ¡°Even I don¡¯t know how it happened¡­ I have the power of destiny and fate so I can protect and manipulate their path to reach their peak faster. No, I should be the opposite. I can only manipulate the fate and destiny of those around them. The variables will not die until they grow stronger as the power of the Imperium around them is stronger. No matter how hard the challenges they face, they will survive in one way or another. They are the main characters of this world. Until they fulfill their destiny, they won¡¯t die.¡± The man with a black hair paused before he continued, ¡°Yet, someone broke through the power of Imperium along with destiny and fate and it led to the death of a variable.¡± ¡°Does this mean that the other variables will face the same thing? They could die right now even before achieving the realm of the gods.¡± The pink-haired man asked with his brows knitted tightly. ¡°The variables aren¡¯t safe right now. I¡¯ll change the plan regarding the variables in Vulcan¡¯s Ring Continent and Ruin Desolate Land.¡± The man with a black hair opened his palm but shock filled his face. ¡°This is too soon. The destinies and fates were shattered. Any person could die even if their destined death haven¡¯t come. I expected this to happen but it¡¯s too soon. The foreign energy is corroding the boundary.¡± ¡°The plan will proceed, right?¡± The pink-haired man asked. ¡°Yes, but everything is up to them now. I just hope that they will choose what I prepared for them. Variables, don¡¯t disappoint me.¡± Chapter 782: Murder Society ¡°It¡¯s enough¡­¡± Souta came out of his room after he finished training the [Divine Light Circulation] to the Second Stage. ¡°It¡¯s time to visit the Murder Society. What do you think, Saya?¡± Souta asked as he stretched his arms. ¡®You can go but if you want to try to save the Princess you should make it fast.¡¯ Saya answered in her usual playful tone. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Souta rubbed his chin. ¡°The unknown group kidnapped Dream and destroyed the Great Chan Hall. Maybe, the unknown group will also kidnap the Princess but I¡¯m not sure if they will try. I just hope that they will try to kidnap her so that I could capture them alive.¡± ¡®Ufufu¡­ You¡¯re an evil man¡­ You¡¯re hoping that someone will kidnap the Princess.¡¯ Saya chuckled. ¡°Well, It¡¯s the Murder Society first. If I didn¡¯t find anything, I will head over to the Heiro Kingdom.¡± Souta decided. The Heiro Kingdom was the strongest powerhouse in the Spring Land, after all. They wouldn¡¯t fall easily just like the Great Chan Hall and other factions. They ruled dozens of cities and no other overlord organization could remove their control over those cities. ¡®I doubt that Murder Society knows something.¡¯ Saya said. ¡°At the very least, we have to try.¡± Souta shrugged his shoulders. On the grand scale, the Murder Society was just a small organization in a backward region. Hall Plains was small compared to the entirety of God¡¯s Continent. Even if it vanished, only a few people would notice it since the land wasn¡¯t even one percent of the whole. Souta went to Sister Heili and Instructor Vick and informed them about him leaving the city. After that, he immediately departed and flew at high speed. His body tore through the air, creating a ripple that spread out in the area. The headquarters of the Murder Society wasn¡¯t located in the Spring Land. It was located further, closer to the central region. The land was called Darkstone Ranges. A region filled with hundreds of tall mountains that reach the sky. A land that circled the entirety of the central region. So if anyone wanted to go to the central region they had to go through the Darkstone Ranges. Only a few people lived in this area as various terrifying monsters inhabited this place. It wasn¡¯t easy to traverse this horrible land. But Souta didn¡¯t have a problem with it. He flew through it while releasing his overwhelming aura and [Serpent Dominance] that frightened nearby monsters. From the point of view of other people, his aura was undoubtedly someone at the highest of fourth stage. Unless there¡¯s a fifth stage, no one could stop Souta. Just by flying through several dozens of mountains, Souta realized that some of the monsters were following him. He looked back and saw a two-hundred-meter-long giant boa. The giant boa was releasing an aura of an intermediate fourth stage. Aside from the giant boa, there were various serpent-type monsters that were following him. Souta realized the other effect of his [Serpent Dominance]. It just didn¡¯t have an intimidation effect, it also had that strange effect on serpent-type monsters where they would feel some sort of intimacy with him. ¡°Since you¡¯re here, let me use you.¡± Souta flew down and descended on top of the giant boa¡¯s head. He tapped the head with his palm. ¡°Go that way.¡± He spoke using the monster language and his thoughts were passed to the giant boa. The giant boa was called Venomous King Boa. It wasn¡¯t a rare monster but it was relatively strong due to its powerful venom and tough scales. It could be found in some large swamps with a temperature above seventy degrees celsius. It has strong resistance to flames but low resistance to cold. Souta asked the giant boa about various things about the Darkstone Ranges. According to him, the Darkstone Ranges were divided into seventeen territories. Each territory was ruled by powerful fourth stage monsters. The territory he was in right now was ruled by Venomous King Boa. In this land, he was a king and there was another fourth stage monster that was living here. His mate, an initial fourth stage monster. ¡°So there are more than seventeen fourth stages¡­¡± One territory didn¡¯t only have one fourth stage. It had other fourth stages too but their power was less than the ruler. They were pretty much initial or intermediate level. This must be the reason why the Darkstone Ranges was one of the most dangerous places in the entire Hall Plains. Soon, Souta arrived near the headquarters of the Murder Society. The entrance was just a small cave and it looked like some monsters were living there. But Souta could sense that there was a passage in this cave that led to the underground base. It looks so ordinary that no one would expect that this was the entrance of the Murder Society¡¯s base. Thud! Souta jumped down and landed on the ground causing the dust to shoot up in the air. He waved his hand and thanked the giant boa for the ride. He suddenly vanished from his position and a moment later, two armed people walked out of the cave. From their energy fluctuations, they were at high Solidifying Realm. The two people brandished their weapons as a powerful energy washed their faces. They felt a chill on their bones as they saw an enormous boa dozens of meters away from them. ¡°W-Why is h-he here¡­?!¡± ¡°D-Don¡¯t move! Just relax and lower your weapons!¡± The two people slowly lowered their weapons to show the giant boa that they didn¡¯t harbor any hostility. They knew this boa. They knew that it was the king of this territory. To avoid a direct clash against this monster, they had to show humility. Their base was here, after all. With their attention on the Venomous King Boa, Souta entered the cave without them noticing anything. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­¡¯ Souta scanned the whole base with his eyes and immediately found the person with the strongest aura. ¡­ The leader of the Murder Society was in his room looking down at the table. He was a tall man with an average build. He wasn¡¯t muscular nor thin. He had sharp eyebrows and short black hair. His body was wrapped in a black tight skin suit and loose dark shirt filled with various small weapons. He was called Death King. He was the one who made the Murder Society rose to the top of the Hall Plains. They were the strongest underground organization in this land. Right now, he was looking at the table with scattered papers on top of it. The papers were the reports of the occurrence across the Hall Plains. His expression was grim as he couldn¡¯t truly understand what was going on. ¡°Just what is happening in our land¡­?¡± Every region of Hall Plains was in chaos. It was getting worse every second as a fight would break out between organizations every other day. He had information that he gathered throughout the land but he still didn¡¯t know the name of the culprits. Someone must be instigating all these fights. Even if it was a battle for resources, it would not be this worse. Some events made him suspicious. It¡¯s true that Death King wanted some organizations to fight each other so that he could gain some footing in the future but this was worse than he imagined. Plus, some of his people have gone missing yet the plan still went smoothly. How? Why? ¡°There¡¯s a faction that I don¡¯t know and that faction must be manipulating all these things behind the scene. They even know my movements. Is there a spy in my organization?¡± Death King narrowed his eyes. It shouldn¡¯t be the case since the people within his organization were under a hypnosis spell and binding rune that prevented them from betraying the group. But what if the unknown faction was powerful enough to break through the spell and rune? Suddenly, he felt a strange sensation. It was too silent and the atmosphere was eerie. Death King slowly turned around and saw a humanoid creature behind him. The creature had a horn on its forehead and a pair of crimson color eyes. It has long red hair and dark green skin with red fur around its wrist. ¡°You must be the leader of the Murder Society?¡± The humanoid creature said before it sat down on a vacant chair. ¡°Indeed, people called me Death King.¡± Death King as he examined the creature. ¡°The name is Souta. I will not lie to you. I¡¯m the City Lord of Ekatoe City, and Seventh Head of the Nine Heads also known as Dragon Council.¡± Souta introduced himself to let the Death King slightly lowered his guard. ¡°If you think I¡¯m lying, you can investigate it later and you will find the truth.¡± Death King stared at Souta for a while. He didn¡¯t know if Souta was lying or not. He heard about Dragon Council from Mine Valley but he hasn¡¯t thought much about it. There¡¯s one thing that he was sure of. This creature was a monster with unbelievable strength. His instinct was screaming just by facing this guy. ¡°Why are you here?¡± He asked. ¡°There¡¯s something that I want to know.¡± Souta smiled. Chapter 783: Death King Souta knew that Death King was just slightly weaker than the Guardian of the Key in the Multiple Elements Realm. His aura was a little bit weaker but his combat skill was higher than a programmed golem. If the two fought, Death King would probably emerge victorious after a long and hard battle. This guy could give Souta some trouble in his base form just like how the Guardian forced him to use [Blood Armor]. Souta could easily kill this guy with his release form though. As expected of the Boss of the Murder Society, one of the strongest organizations in the Hall Plains. It¡¯s no wonder that he could send several One Shackled Realm experts to attack the Hundred Face Alliance. But that¡¯s before. After training inside the Multiple Elements Realm, Souta had grown stronger. He even leveled up when ¡°Imperium Cry¡± happened a few days ago. He received a boost making his body grow stronger. Right now, Souta was sure that he could slay the Guardian without using his [Blood Armor]. So, Souta wasn¡¯t afraid of this guy called Death King and his entire organization. He had seen through their strength and he confirmed that they weren¡¯t a threat to him. Souta didn¡¯t even try to hide his energy flow using his artifacts so Death King could somehow sense the overwhelming energy that resides in his body. ¡°What do you want to know?¡± Death King asked in a strong tone. ¡°Don¡¯t be so tense. I¡¯m not gonna do anything to you.¡± Souta smiled as he waved his hand nonchalantly. ¡°If a powerful monster suddenly appeared in your base without anyone noticing it, I believe this is the right reaction. No one will be able to relax in this situation.¡± Death King said as he looked at Souta warily. ¡°Well, it¡¯s true. You have a point.¡± Souta leaned his back on the chair as he crossed his legs. ¡°But I¡¯m not here for that. I heard you talking about this unknown organization hiding in the Hall Plains. I just want to hear everything you know about them. I¡¯ve met some of them before but they suicide to avoid information leaks.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your relationship with them?¡± The frown on the Death King¡¯s face grew deeper when he heard about this unknown organization. He should be the king of the underground world of Hall Plains yet some unknown group had appeared out of nowhere. ¡°I just met one of them in the White Line City after I exterminated the branch of Wingless Crow there. That person has a powerful charm ability. I¡¯ve been trying to find this unknown and mysterious group since then. But I haven¡¯t found anything yet.¡± Souta explained. ¡°So you didn¡¯t belong to them?¡± Death King said. ¡°What did I say? I¡¯m Seventh Head of the Dragon Council. Those guys are my enemies since they previously plotted against the Mine Valley. I just want to know more about them so that I could prepare.¡± Souta opened both of his arms. ¡°Fine¡­ I don¡¯t know everything about them. I don¡¯t even know the name of their organization. They just appear here.¡± Death King walked toward the table and picked up a bunch of paper. He threw the papers in Souta¡¯s direction. ¡°That¡¯s everything that I know about them.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Souta narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the papers. According to this, the unknown group was huge as they had people all over the Hall Plains. They hid in the dark and most of the war was caused by them. They were the one who was instigating all those organizations to fight each other. They were probably the one that unify the tribes in Earthen Woods and also the one that destroyed the Great Muzkin Kingdom in Dense River. Dense River was on the other side of the Hall Plains. If Mine Valley was in the south, then Dense River was in the north. ¡®If this is true then this is no ordinary organization¡­¡¯ Souta muttered inwardly. ¡°If you want to know more about them then confront them directly. You said that you killed the one from the ancient ruins, right? They destroyed the Great Chan Hall recently and it seems that they are desperate to know about what happened in ancient ruins.¡± Death King paused for a moment before he continued, ¡°So they are probably going to attack the Heiro Kingdom. Their target is Princess Yaniesvyl, the other survivor in the ancient ruins.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking too.¡± Souta nodded at Death King¡¯s words. ¡°Before confronting them, I just want to know more about them. How many people do they have? How strong are they? It¡¯s better to investigate first than finding all this stuff too late.¡± ¡°I have too little information about them. You will not find anything that you want here.¡± Death King said. ¡°Indeed.¡± Souta placed the papers on the table before he started at the ceiling. ¡°But you¡¯ve made a reasonable hypothesis of their powers and you¡¯ve even marked down some of their people. It¡¯s enough for me.¡± Then, he stood up and patted his clothes. ¡°I¡¯m going out now. Thanks for giving me that information. It will be useful for me.¡± Souta left after saying those words. As soon as Souta left, Death King breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down on the chair and relaxed his muscles. ¡°That was dangerous. That monster is giving me an ominous vibe. He¡¯s probably someone close to the fifth stage. Also¡­¡± Death King narrowed his eyes as he turned his head. Souta wasn¡¯t the only one he felt. He also felt the aura of the ruler of this area, the Venomous King Boa, outside of the headquarters. It would be dangerous if a battle broke out. He would be forced to relocate the base. ¡°That monster is the most dangerous one I encountered except for those fifth stage monsters¡­¡± ¡­ Outside the base, Souta rode the giant boa once again. Souta sat down on the head of the boa, enjoying the scenery of the area around him. The Venomous King Boa escorted him outside the Darkstone Ranges. After a few hours, they arrived at the corner of the Darkstone Ranges. Souta waved his hand and asked, ¡°Do you want to come with me?¡± The giant boa shook its head and Souta smiled in understanding. He knew that [Serpent Dominance] gave them a favorable impression of him but that doesn¡¯t mean that they would follow him. They would only become friendly to each other. Serpents could still reject him but in a battle against serpent-type, Souta had a great advantage because of this ability. Kessa only followed him because she was sealed and didn¡¯t have any place to settle in. The only choice was to follow Souta who gave her a sort of intimate feeling. ¡°Goodbye, I will visit you if I have a chance.¡± Souta waved his hand before his shoot through the sky. He flew straight toward the direction of the Spring Land, Heiro Kingdom. He didn¡¯t know if that organization had already attacked the kingdom or not. He just hoped that they weren¡¯t done so he could capture them. The Murder Society only had a record of two experts from an unknown organization. These two experts were different from the ones that he encountered. They had normal members but these two definitely belonged to the upper echelons, according to what Murder Society gathered. The first one was a woman with a full plate red armor. She had short black hair and a huge scar across her cheeks. Her name was unknown but her strength was high. She was an expert at Three Shackles Realm. According to the witnesses, she had wood and light elements. The second was a man in his late thirties. He was bald but he had a thick black mustache and beard. He was wearing a dark blue robe and a black scepter with a red gem in his right hand. His name was unknown too. He was also at Three Shackles Realm and he had the ability to create explosions in thin air. There were others on the same level as these two but there wasn¡¯t enough information. There¡¯s no data and that¡¯s why the Murder Society was also wary about them. Even Souta felt that this organization wasn¡¯t simple. After flying for a day, Souta arrived in the Spring Land. He quickly received a shocking information. The Triple Tribe Alliance, which was said to rival the Heiro Kingdom, had fallen. This surprised Souta a little bit. He asked some people about this matter. The Triple Tribe Alliance¡¯s Tribe Leaders died. The three tribe leaders were killed and a lot of members were slaughtered. The casualties reached one hundred thousand people. Most of them were experts at C-rank and B-rank. The witnesses only saw several dozen of meteors falling at high speed. The meteors killed almost every expert of the Triple Tribe Alliance. As for the battle that comes after it, the other people couldn¡¯t see it because of the shockwaves and the mana pressure. ¡°Damn, with this much power¡­ I¡¯m sure that they are the unknown organization but, why would they attack the Triple Tribe Alliance?¡± Souta muttered to himself. Chapter 784: Princess Yaniesvyl A lot of people were investigating the site, they wanted some clues that would lead them to the culprit behind the fall of the Triple Tribe Alliance. Souta managed to sneak in. The guards were only B-rank and a few of them had reached A-rank. Still, there was some high level officer that was assigned to do the investigation. These officers were mostly S-rank. They were still not enough to prevent Souta from sneaking inside. Souta concealed most of his energy as he activated the effect of his bracelets to help him suppress his overwhelming energy. ¡°This¡­¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. The lingering mana in the atmosphere was on the verge of disappearing. Despite that, he could still feel the power behind it. No ordinary expert possessed such energy. Souta advanced and he discovered a few marks on the rubble. The marks were red and they looked familiar to him. The marks weren¡¯t completed since the entire place was demolished. It looked like a puzzle so Souta went around to find the other pieces. ¡°Where have I seen this thing¡­?¡± After a few minutes, Souta found another rock with red marks too. In his mind, he put the two marks together. He still couldn¡¯t understand it so he wanted to find other marks again. He was about to move when Saya¡¯s voice echoed in his mind. ¡®Did you forget it? This mark is a part of the ritual circle of the Blood Sacrifice.¡¯ Saya said. Souta¡¯s pupils shrank as he understood why the red marks felt familiar to him. It was similar to the Blood Sacrifice he found in the White Line City after he captured the Wingless Crow¡¯s members. ¡°Blood Sacrifice¡­ So they sacrificed all the people of the Triple Tribe Alliance but where would they use the energy that they¡¯d gathered?¡± Souta couldn¡¯t feel any borrowed power from the lingering energy. It means that the one who attacked the Triple Tribe Alliance didn¡¯t use the energy from the Blood Sacrifice. He turned his head and looked at the horizon. The unknown organization didn¡¯t bother covering this event. They just let the other factions speculate about the destruction of the alliance. It seems that they would show themselves sooner or later. For now, they wouldn¡¯t show unless¡­ ¡°They eliminate the biggest obstacle in Spring Land¡­ The Heiro Kingdom.¡± They were afraid that all the factions in Spring Land would band together. After all, that¡¯s what the Triple Tribe Alliance was trying to do. It was trying to absorb all the smaller groups and give them resources. If given more time, the alliance would undoubtedly grow larger and it would threaten the unknown organization. So they decided to eliminate the alliance while in the process of growing. ¡°Then, what about the one that unified all the tribes in Earthen Woods?¡± Souta rubbed his chin. According to the data of the Death King, the unknown organization had its hands on the tribe that unified that region. And now, they were waging war against Mine Valley. ¡®The one who will receive the most benefits is that unknown organization¡­ After all, war is a good way to use Blood Sacrifice. All the people that died in the war will become a sacrifice.¡¯ Saya said. ¡°Hmm, then I will go to the Heiro Kingdom. They will try to eliminate them and sacrifice all the people there.¡± Souta said in a low voice. He turned around and flew into the sky with a loud noise. His energy flared up and everyone in the vicinity felt the pressure. He didn¡¯t care if they noticed him. The most important thing was to arrive at the Heiro Kingdom as soon as possible. ¡­ Triple Tribe Alliance¡¯s fall shook the entire Spring Land. This stopped the ongoing battles of other organizations for a while. But everyone could feel the looming tension in the air. Ordinary people could feel that a bigger battle would occur. The battles stopped and various organizations tried to strengthen their defenses. Heidi Kingdom¡­ Princess Yaniesvyl was in her room staring at the window. She had a bad feeling about this. It was like a calm before a storm. She sighed before she walked out of her room. She went straight to her father¡¯s room and gently knocked on the door. She has made up her mind. ¡°Come in.¡± A voice sounded inside the room. Princess Yaniesvyl slowly opened the door and saw her father, the King of Heiro Kingdom, sitting on a chair with his back facing her. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. ¡°Father¡­¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± The King asked after a while. ¡°I¡­ I will leave the kingdom.¡± Princess Yaniesvyl said after some hesitation. It was hard to say this but she already made up her mind. ¡°Why? Is it because of what happened in the ancient ruins?¡± The King asked without looking at her. His back was still facing his daughter. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t know why but those people are targeting important people from overlord organizations. I think they will come for me sooner or later.¡± Princess Yaniesvyl said. She knew that the target of the unknown man in ancient ruins was them, the people from the top factions. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t go well since a monster arrived and killed that man. So they were targeting the survivor of the last trials. Princess Yaniesvyl and Dream were the only known survivor of the last trial so they were coming for them. Dream was gone along with the Great Chan Hall so their next target should be hers. She also had a feeling that the one that destroyed the Triple Tribe Alliance was them. She just didn¡¯t know why would they attack the alliance first. The information she had wasn¡¯t enough. She had to know the truth. That¡¯s why she decided to leave the kingdom. Since she was the target, they would come at her but, what if they still destroy the kingdom even after she left? ¡°Are you sure about your decision?¡± The King asked once again. ¡°Yes, father. It¡¯s better if I leave the kingdom. I will not inform mother about this since she will stop me. Just announce later that you¡¯ve expelled me.¡± Princess Yaniesvyl said. The King turned around and stared into his daughter¡¯s eyes. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, ¡°Fine, I will respect your decisions.¡± ¡°Thank you, father.¡± Princess Yaniesvyl bowed her head. She talked with her father for a while before she excused herself. She was back in her room and packing all the things she would need on her journey. There were other people in the ancient ruins. The man that saved her and Dream from the last explosion. The man with that monster. She didn¡¯t know him but she should at least try it. She would return to the ancient ruins. According to the information that she gathered, when Thunder Hall learned that Hermo haven¡¯t returned yet, they tried to enter the ancient ruins but somehow it rejected anyone who tried to enter. Then, somehow the Thunder Hall¡¯s experts were found dead on the site. Their bodies were mutilated and no one would¡¯ve recognized them if not for the clothes and badges in the area that belong to Thunder Hall. ¡°Iris, take this and go to the treasure hall to retrieve my Crystal Crane Sword.¡± Princess Yaniesvyl threw a palm-size badge at her maid. ¡°Yes, My Lady.¡± The maid, Iris, bowed before she left the room. Princess Yaniesvyl focused her attention on the things that she would bring. Aside from her sword, Crystal Crane Sword, which was a low-quality red grade, she would still bring a bunch of potions that would ensure her life. Mana potion, health potion, smokescreen potion, or explosive potion. A few minutes later, the maid came back. She entered the room with a sword in her hands. The exquisite sword was wrapped in thick bandages. It was the Crane Crystal Sword. Princess Yaniesvyl said, ¡°Iris, place the sword on the table.¡± Suddenly, she felt a pain assault her stomach. Princess Yaniesvyl looked down and saw a blade protruding from her belly. Blood flows out of her mouth as she turned her head and looked behind her. ¡°I-Iris¡­¡± Princess Yaniesvyl saw her maid holding the handle of the sword. Iris just stabbed her using the sword and she didn¡¯t even notice at all. The red-grade weapon easily tore through the natural defenses of her body. If it was a lower grade then it wouldn¡¯t be able to pierce her. Iris would¡¯ve needed to infuse her mana in a lower grade weapon before she could injure Princess Yaniesvyl. But doing so would get her detected by the princess. It was a different question if the sword was a red grade. It was powerful enough to pierce through Princess Yaniesvyl¡¯s defense even without infusing her mana. ¡°Why¡­? We¡¯ve been together for five years¡­¡± Princess Yaniesvyl asked. ¡°Please forgive me, Princess. They have my family. I could only do this.¡± Iris said with trembling hands. ¡°You could have killed me but you didn¡¯t. It seems that they want me alive. Cough! Cough!¡± Princess Yaniesvyl coughed a mouthful of blood. ¡°Y-Yes, they want you alive in exchange for my family,¡± Iris answered as she loosen her grip on the sword. ¡°Good.¡± Princess Yaniesvyl smiled as she quickly turned around and threw a punch at Iris. Bang! Chapter 785: Raid Ekatoe City¡­ Eilish and the other experts of the Astros gathered around the portal. It was the time of the arrival of the reinforcement from Athen¡¯s Champion. Souta and Alice were away so Eilish was in charge of Astros for the time being. She would welcome the warriors from the legion. Soon, the portal lit up and exuded a dim light. The next moment, several people walked out of the portal. All of them were doned with various types of armor. The undulating aura around them was quite scary. They were all elites that experienced thousands of battles. Eilish walked forward and introduced herself, ¡°I¡¯m Eilish, a member of Astros Squad from Tenth Grain War.¡± A tall man with a scar on his left eye smiled and shook her hand. ¡°I¡¯m Veimu, Squad Leader of Dice Squad from Eight Grain Wisdom.¡± A total of three squads had arrived. The first squad had four members, the second squad had seven members and the third squad had six members. A total of seventeen warriors. The number was small but all of them were Shackled Realm experts. Veimu was even at Three Shackles Realm. If he advanced, he would be qualified for the position of Grain Leader as only an expert at Four Shackles and above could gain this position. The other two squad leaders were also strong. They were at Two Shackles Realm while the rest were at One Shackle. It was a powerful force considering the state of Hall Plains. But they had to come here since the threat of the Blood Sacrifice wasn¡¯t small. They had to investigate it and only someone at Three Shackles Realm would lead them. The numbers were small and it was enough in case the Large Country or Holy Lands discovered them. It would be a great deal if there was a hundred Shackled Realm. Although the warriors have read the mission, Eilish still explained to them where they¡¯ve found the Blood Sacrifice. She also didn¡¯t forget to tell them the current state of Mine Valley and other regions of the Hall Plains. ¡°We will head out tomorrow. If I¡¯m not wrong, Grain Leader Carmel is still currently looking for available squads to dispatch. So you should expect one or two squads to arrive here in the next few days.¡± Veimu said. They would head out tomorrow to start their mission to investigate the Blood Sacrifice. ¡°Also, if Squad Leader Souta came back, tell him to write a report and send it to the headquarters. His report will decide if we will receive more reinforcement.¡± ¡­ Ten thousand meters above the Heiro Kingdom. Several dozens of people were floating while staring down at the strongest faction of the Spring Land. An old man wearing a brown shirt with a scarf around his neck was leading the group of experts. His aura surpassed the rest of the people behind him. With just a single look, everyone could see that he was the strongest among them. ¡°Our job is to capture the princess and buried the entire kingdom.¡± The old man said in a low voice but everyone could hear his words. ¡°With the princess¡¯s personality, she will try to run and announce that she left the kingdom but I¡¯ve made my preparation. She will not be able to escape.¡± ¡°We understand, Lord Dramus.¡± The people behind him said at the same time. ¡°Then, let¡¯s commence the operation.¡± The old man, who was called Lord Dramus, said. He pointed his palm at the Heiro Kingdom and gathered his mana. ¡­ Princess Yaniesvyl knocked out Iris. Iris was her maid that accompanied her for five years. She didn¡¯t have the heart to kill her. She just knocked her out. Cough! Princess Yaniesvyl pulled out the sword on her back and spat a mouthful of blood. She sprinkled her wounds with health potions before she drank another potion. She felt better but she hasn¡¯t completely recovered. The damage that the red grade sword dealt to her was considered lethal. ¡°Just like I thought, they want to capture me alive.¡± She stood up and hung the sword on her waist. She opened the door and wanted to leave as soon as possible but the ground shook heavily. BOOM!! A high magnitude earthquake assaulted the entire kingdom. The palace was built using high-quality materials so it wouldn¡¯t collapse easily but¡­ The other structures in the kingdom weren¡¯t. Buildings and houses collapsed under the powerful earthquake. ¡°This¡­!!¡± Princess Yaniesvyl widened her eyes as huge energy fluctuations erupted above the kingdom. ¡°They wanted to eliminate the entire kingdom?¡± She realized what the enemy wanted. Capturing her was just one of the goals. Even if she wasn¡¯t here, those guys would still attack the Heiro Kingdom. ¡°Dispatch all the units!!¡± ¡°Evacuate the civilians!!¡± The King of the Heiro Kingdom quickly assembled his royal guards. The knights of the kingdom were dispatched one by one to help the civilians. The whole place was under attack by a group of unknown people. Heiro Kingdom wasn¡¯t called the strongest of the Spring Land for nothing. They had several powerful experts. They were all elites that experienced brutal battles in their lives. Princess Yaniesvyl could hear the voices of the knights and royal guards in the palace. She took a deep breath before she run into the hallway. ¡°The battle has started and I don¡¯t think that we stood a chance.¡± She muttered to herself. The enemy wouldn¡¯t attack them if they weren¡¯t confident in taking the kingdom. They must have thoroughly prepared for this invasion. BOOM!! A deafening sound erupted outside the palace along with a small sound of explosions. She knew that the royal guards and knights were trying their best to repel the enemies. She could also feel the aura of several Shackled Realm experts. Princess Yaniesvyl couldn¡¯t help but glance at the windows. What she saw shook her to the core, the bustling kingdom was now full of flames and black smoke. Buildings have collapsed and corpses were scattered on the ground. Several people were fighting in mid-air. She gritted her teeth before she continued to run. Soon, she arrived at the throne room. She didn¡¯t even knock or announce her arrival. She just slammed the huge door open. ¡°Father!¡± She saw her father standing with his back facing her. There were two royal guards beside him who were helping him wear crimson-colored armor. That armor was the national treasure of their kingdom, the Red Steel Armor. The King turned around and said, ¡°You¡¯re still here, Yaniesvyl. I thought that you already left.¡± ¡°Father, I can¡¯t¡­ They¡­¡± Princess Yaniesvyl bit her lips. She couldn¡¯t tell him that Iris betrayed him as she knew that once her father found it Iris would be executed immediately. ¡°You can go now,¡± The King said to her. He then glanced at the two royal guards and said, ¡°Leave the kingdom, take her with you.¡± Before the two could respond, he spoke once again, ¡°It¡¯s the order of the king! Take her out of the kingdom!¡± ¡°Father, I still¡­¡± Princess Yaniesvyl wanted to say something but something interrupted her. Bang! A loud noise echoed as the front part of the palace collapsed. Something powerful smashed and shattered the tough walls. It revealed a clear bright blue sky. The two royal guards supported the injured princess. The King didn¡¯t even look at them as his attention was on something else. His expression was gloomy as his aura started to boil. ¡°It¡¯s too late¡­¡± The King said in a low voice. Princess Yaniesvyl and the two royal guards heard the voice of their king. So they turned their heads and saw an old man suspended in the air looking at them with a faint smile. What shook them was the head on the old man¡¯s hand. The eyes were still open and blood was coming out of its mouth. They recognized the head. It was the Captain of the Royal Guards, one of the strongest experts in the entire kingdom. The Captain of the Royal Guards was dead! Lord Dramus opened his lips and said, ¡°It seems that I¡¯m on time. You are still here, Princess Yaniesvyl.¡± ¡°What do you want from me? You¡¯ve captured Dream, right?¡± Princess Yaniesvyl forced herself to ask these questions. ¡°Yeah, and he told us everything but we need to know if his story is the same as yours. That¡¯s why I¡¯ll capture you.¡± Lord Dramus said. ¡°If I come with you, will you cease your attack?¡± Princess Yaniesvyl asked as she stood up and tightly grip the sword on her waist. ¡°It¡¯s impossible. We could still capture you even if you want it or not. This kingdom will fall today. It¡¯s been decided.¡± Lord Dramus said slowly. ¡°Yaniesvyl, Run!! RUNNNN!!!¡± The King shouted as his energy flared up. He would fight this guy until he was sure that his daughter was safe. ¡°RUN!!¡± The King screamed once again. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat this old man. The difference in their power was clear as sky. Chapter 786: Lord Dramus Athen¡¯s Champion, the main base of Athena¡¯s legion in Champion¡¯s Den. Vandal was sitting in his office while staring at the man in front of him. The man was none other than the Grain Leader of the Tenth Grain War, Carmel. Vandal removed his eyes from Carmel and glanced at the paper files on the table. ¡°Blood Sacrifice in Hall Plains? That¡¯s not a good sign¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ve dispatched several squads to help Squad Leader Souta in his investigation,¡± Carmel said. ¡°The overall might?¡± Vandal turned his eyes at Carmel. ¡°One Third Shackles and two Second Shackles. The rest are First Shackle Realm.¡± Carmel paused for a moment. ¡°The others are on their way too. I think they will arrive in Hall Plains tonight.¡± The second batch had the same might as the first batch of warriors. One Three Shackles, two Two Shackles, and the rest were One Shackle Realm experts. The threat level of Blood Sacrifice was high and sending a batch of Solidifying Realm would be useless. So all the warriors that were dispatched were all Shackled Realm. ¡°I sent the Sixth Grain War leader.¡± Vandal suddenly said. ¡°What?!¡± Carmel was a little bit surprised but when he thought about it carefully, this made sense. ¡°Then, the Sixth Grain War Leader¡­?¡± ¡°Yes, they went to Hall Plains but on a different route. They are a separate force to surely destroy the threat of Blood Sacrifice.¡± Vandal nodded. When Carmel heard these words, he breathed a sigh of relief. With a Grain Leader in Hall Plains, things would be easier for other warriors. The power of a Grain Leader wasn¡¯t something anyone could underestimate, after all. They were elites that honed their skills through countless life-and-death battles. Knock! Carmel and Vandal turned their heads at the door. ¡°Come in,¡± Vandal said. The door slowly opened and a warrior stepped inside. He bowed to Carmel and Vandal before he reported. He reported that all the warriors that were dispatched had arrived at Hall Plains safely. They would not contact anyone in the next few days since they would start their investigation. ¡°I will wait for their report.¡± Vandal stood up from his seat. ¡­ Boom! A loud sound echoed as a figure flashed through the sky with insane speed. The Heiro Kingdom appeared in Souta¡¯s vision and it made him smile. He felt a strong presence in that place which made his blood boil. ¡°Here I come!¡± Souta increased his speed once again. A terrifying aura exploded out of his body. It greatly increased his speed. The people on the ground just heard a loud booming sound and felt the horrific aura that loomed above them. The next moment the aura disappeared as if nothing happened. They looked up and saw nothing but they knew a terrifying monster just passed by in their area. The pressure before was so heavy that it made ordinary people faint instantly. Only C-rank and above could handle it. Luckily, it quickly disappeared or else even C-rank would not be able to handle a few seconds of exposure. ¡­ Ugh! The King kneeled as he coughed a mouthful of blood. He lifted his head and looked at the old man floating in front of him. Lord Dramus glanced at the King before he turned his attention to Princess Yaniesvyl. ¡°It¡¯s useless to run. The entire Heiro Kingdom was sealed by me before I initiate the attack. The fact that you didn¡¯t notice it means that you lack the ability to oppose me.¡± Princess Yaniesvyl looked up trying to sense how the kingdom was sealed, but she haven¡¯t detected anything. It feels normal but the enemy had no reason to lie to her. Even if she tried to escape she knew that the enemy could easily capture her. The difference in strength was huge. She didn¡¯t have the strength to fight back and she didn¡¯t even have the power to escape. If the gap in strength was a little bit smaller, she would have escaped even if she couldn¡¯t defeat the enemy. Argh! The King forced himself to stand up. Blood was dripping out of his mouth as he slowly raised his sword. ¡°Oh, still want to fight me? If you didn¡¯t have the protection of that armor set, you would be long dead.¡± Lord Dramus was amused. ¡°I¡¯m the King of Heiro Kingdom! I must stand before my enemies! I will not cower in front of my subjects!¡± The King declared in a strong tone. ¡°What an admirable king¡­¡± Lord Dramus laughed. ¡°Unfortunately, I have to end this farce now.¡± He raised his hand. A huge concentration of energy swirled around his palm. The force sucked all the winds in the area as dozens of light dots appeared around his hand. Princess Yaniesvyl turned pale. The level of energy that she was seeing right now was beyond her capabilities. No one in the entire kingdom has the power to block this attack. If the old man was alone then there was a chance but the old man had comrades too. His comrades were fighting the other high level experts of the Heiro Kingdom. ¡®I will die! No, he will capture me! He wanted to kill my father first!¡¯ Princess Yaniesvyl stood up as she tightly gripped the sword in her hand. She stepped forward and glared at Lord Dramus. ¡°You still have some use so you can¡¯t die.¡± Lord Dramus said as he stretched out his other hand. He waved it and a force erupted that blew Princess Yaniesvyl to the wall. Bang! Princess Yaniesvyl groaned in pain. She opened her eyes and found flames wrapping around her limbs, preventing her from moving. ¡°N-No¡­ Father¡­¡± She looked at her father who was facing the overwhelming Lord Dramus. ¡°Die!¡± Lord Dramus grinned widely. He raised his hand above his head and a ball of energy expanded above his palm before it shrank in the next second. BOOM!! A deafening sound exploded followed by the sound of broken glasses. The entire atmosphere suddenly changed and everyone was forced to look up. All the experts that were fighting outside the palace paused as they stared at the semi-transparent fragments that fell from above. Even the civilians who were trying to hide couldn¡¯t help but turn their heads in the sky. The broken fragments kept falling before they turned into tiny particles. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Princess Yaniesvyl and her father were confused. They looked at Lord Dramus and found that he was also shocked at this. It seems that this wasn¡¯t within his plans. ¡°H-How?¡± Lord Dramus muttered to himself. He couldn¡¯t believe that the barrier that sealed the entire kingdom was shattered. No ordinary force could break the barrier. He narrowed his eyes as he observed the broken fragments. There¡¯s no doubt about it. The barrier was destroyed. ¡®Who?¡¯ There were only a few people capable of destroying his barrier in the entire Hall Plains. ¡°Huh?¡± Lord Dramus noticed a silhouette in the sky. It was too high so he couldn¡¯t clearly see the appearance of the person. Princess Yaniesvyl and her father followed Lord Dramus¡¯s line of sight and saw the silhouette of a person. A few moments later, the person in the sky descended. It was a humanoid creature with dark green skin and a pair of red eyes. It was Souta. ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Princess Yaniesvyl opened her eyes widely as she recognized the appearance. Souta didn¡¯t even change his appearance this time so she recognized him. Also, even if Souta changed his appearance she would still be able to recognize him once she felt his energy signature. The King didn¡¯t have any idea about it. ¡°Souta, you¡¯re here¡­ It means that the ancient ruins¡­¡± Lord Dramus was surprised when he saw the appearance of the person. Souta wanted to say something but the old man¡¯s words surprised him. He examined the old man with his eyes before he asked, ¡°You recognize me?¡± ¡°Souta, City Lord of Ekatoe City, Ninth Head of the Dragon Council, Leader of the Astros Squad, a warrior from the Tenth Grain War Third Set of Pallas Division, a peak fourth stage monster of Athen¡¯s Legion, and recently called as Master of Hydra¡­¡± Lord Dramus said. ¡°You¡¯ve vanished from our radar so I didn¡¯t expect that I will meet you here in Spring Land.¡± ¡°It seems that you did your homework very well.¡± Souta laughed lightly. ¡°So you should know why I¡¯m here¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ We¡¯ve investigated the Nine Heads of the Dragon Council after the downfall of the Wingless Crow branch in Mine Valley, and see what we discovered. The Athen¡¯s Champion extending their hands out of the Olympus¡¯ territory. We¡¯ve already taken notes of all the threats inside the Hall Plains so you will be dealt with soon.¡± Lord Dramus said. ¡°You know a lot of things¡­¡± Souta stared down. His monster orb started to pump energy throughout his body. The atmosphere started to change as the entire ground trembled rapidly. ¡°You have to tell me everything that you know.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your time but you came knocking at our door. It seems I have to take you down along with the Heiro Kingdom.¡± Lord Dramus faced Souta. Both of their energy collided causing sparks to fly out in mid-air. Chapter 787: Souta vs. Dramus ¡°Athen¡¯s Champion¡­?!¡± Princess Yaniesvyl was shocked when she heard Lord Dramus¡¯s words. She didn¡¯t expect that the humanoid monster she met in the ancient ruins had a huge background. She didn¡¯t know about the other things that Lord Dramus said but she knew the Athen¡¯s Champion. It was a widely known legion in the whole land. It was one of the most powerful God¡¯s Legions in the entire Olympus. ¡°Come,¡± Souta said coldly. ¡°You¡¯re underestimating me!¡± Lord Dramus laughed. He bent his knees and pounced toward Souta like a lion. Souta was one of the people on their target list. Their target list was people that could potentially disrupt their plan. People who were dangerous enough and they should proceed with utmost caution when dealing with these people. Lord Dramus jumped to the side and threw a punch at Souta but his fist hit nothing. He turned his head and found that Souta disappeared. Swoosh! ¡®No, he¡¯s moving too fast.¡¯ Lord Dramus looked around. He clenched both of his fists tightly as he gathered his mana. ¡°You¡¯re gonna tell me your plan!¡± Souta appeared behind Lord Dramus. He pulled back his fist and threw it in the next second. Bang! Lord Dramus couldn¡¯t react at all. Pain assaulted his back as he received Souta¡¯s punch. His body crashed on the floor and broke through the lower floors of the palace. Argh! He fixed his posture in mid-air as he blow his energy away. He managed to stabilize himself as he safely landed on the ground. He looked up and saw Souta on the upper floor looking down at him. Lord Dramus was thinking if he should continue this plan or not. Souta¡¯s appearance in this place was out of everyone¡¯s expectations. Also, he didn¡¯t have any preparation at this moment. He didn¡¯t even know if he could defeat Souta. Swoosh! Lord Dramus¡¯s eyes shrank as Souta vanished in front of his vision. He turned around and saw Souta behind him. Souta brandished the sword on his waist and swiftly slashed. Lord Dramus reacted this time as he raised both of his hands. Bang! The red energy blade tore through Lord Dramus¡¯s defenses. His body crashed on the walls and flew out of the palace like a missile before crashing on the ground. Argh! Lord Dramus gritted his teeth. Souta was stronger than the information they have gathered. His mana erupted and caused the ground to tremble. He jumped into the sky as he gazed at Souta who was staring at him. His body was emitting a black mist and the sclera of his eyes turned pitch black. [Dauntless High Spirit]! [Mad Driving Earth]! [Ultra Fighting Will]! [Tainted Vision]! Lord Dramus activated his powerful skills to boost his combat prowess. He knew that he couldn¡¯t defeat Souta by normal means so he had to use everything that he has got. ¡°Not enough!¡± [Hundred Speed Acceleration]!! [Swift Cloud Stepping Feet]!! [Super Reinforcement Armor]!! He continued to activate his skills. His aura grew stronger and stronger, reaching the higher stage. The energy around him roared strongly as it blew everything around him. ¡°Your threat level has increased. It seems that we need to eliminate you as soon as possible. I¡¯m afraid that the other members will not find you in your city. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter, they¡¯ll still execute the plan even if you¡¯re not there or not.¡± Lord Dramus stepped in the air as he charged toward Souta. His body quickly arrived in front of his target in the blink of an eye. He was too fast. Souta raised his sword to his left side. Lord Dramus¡¯s punch was strong but he still managed to barely block it. The force behind the punch threw Souta against the walls. Souta used his feet to stop the momentum but the floor collapsed. At the same time, Lord Dramus threw another powerful punch. Bang!! ¡®So they already have the plan to attack me. Even if I stayed at the base, they will come at me.¡¯ Souta said inwardly as his body tore through the walls. He looked down at his body and saw that he was full of bruises. In the next second, all the bruises were gone. The regenerative ability of the parasite was incredibly powerful. Lord Dramus appeared in front of him and launched a series of powerful attacks. Bang! Bang! Bang! ¡°Settle down,¡± Souta said and a powerful wave of energy erupted from his body. Heavy gravity bore down as black mist started to seep out of his pores. A dark energy cloak wrapped around his body as he strongly swung the vajra sword in his hand. Boom!! Lord Dramus was blown away. He stared at Souta¡¯s figure grimly. Souta just activated his Second Mode. Most of his skills that could buff his body were used. ¡°Let¡¯s start round two.¡± Souta said before he dashed forward. Lord Dramus jumped away but he felt a strong gravitational force slowing his movements. The gravitational force wasn¡¯t strong enough to completely stop him but it was enough to slow down his movements. It wasn¡¯t just the gravity force, the black mist was also affecting his body stats. ¡°Shit!¡± Lord Dramus gritted his teeth as he saw Souta getting close to him. BOOM!! Souta and Lord Dramus clashed thousands of times in the next few seconds. Their figures tore through the palace, ravaging anything that got in their way. They fought fiercely without caring about their surroundings. Princess Yaniesvyl and her father couldn¡¯t do anything about it. They could only watch the battle as they didn¡¯t have the strength to interfere. ¡°Just what is happening¡­¡± She muttered to herself. It seems that there¡¯s a hidden force in Hall Plains that caught the attention of a large organization like Athen¡¯s Champion. ¡°Something is happening in the Hall Plains and we have no idea about it¡­ This isn¡¯t a simple war for resources if big organizations are involved.¡± The King said. ¡°Father, did you see the tattoo on the enemy¡¯s tongue?¡± Princess Yaniesvyl suddenly asked. She was talking about the old man called Lord Dramus. ¡°What do you mean?¡± The King glanced at her. ¡°While the enemy is talking to us before¡­ I noticed a tattoo on his tongue. I think I saw that tattoo somewhere but I couldn¡¯t remember it.¡± Princess Yaniesvyl said. ¡°Tattoo? I haven¡¯t noticed that he had a tattoo on his tongue.¡± The King shook his head. He had no idea what his daughter was talking about. Princess Yaniesvyl grew silent. She had a bad feeling about this. That tattoo feels familiar to her but she couldn¡¯t remember where she had seen it before. Bang! Bang! Souta moved his body swiftly as he countered all of Lord Dramus¡¯s attacks. In terms of combat skills alone, Souta could see that his opponent had vast experience. Lord Dramus could still keep up with Souta even though his stats were lower. ¡®He¡¯s good.¡¯ Souta jumped in the air as he launched several energy blades at his opponent. Lord Dramus roared as he punched the energy blades while approaching Souta. ¡°You can¡¯t defeat me if that¡¯s all you¡¯ve got,¡± Souta said as he jumped away and swung his right hand. Strings of web flowed through the air, rushing in Lord Dramus¡¯s direction. Lord Dramus moved his body from side to side, avoiding the webs that were coming at him. He knew that he couldn¡¯t defeat Souta in this way but he had no choice. He was trying to find a way to escape right now. Fighting one of the people on the target list would be quite difficult without any preparation. ¡°Damn!!¡± He cursed as he found his left leg wrapped in thick layers of webs. He tried to remove the webs but Souta quickly arrive in front of him. [Crimson Moon]! Lord Dramus crashed on the ground like a meteor. The ground shook heavily as thick smoke and dust shot up in the air. Hmm? Souta narrowed his eyes. He felt that the webs that he attached to Lord Dramus got shredded. Then, a huge amount of energy erupted like a volcano. Boom!! Souta remained unfazed at this sight. He was wondering how he could capture this guy. Even though he was stronger, his opponent wasn¡¯t someone he could capture easily. ¡®I¡¯ll let him exhaust his energy first. Once he got weakened, I¡¯ll capture him.¡¯ Souta said in his mind. He lifted his other hand and blood flowed behind him. In the next second, the blood turned into dozens of red spears. ¡°Go.¡± He pointed his two fingers in Lord Dramus¡¯s direction. The red spears burst forth in the air at the same time. All of them were fired simultaneously with insane speed. But before the red spears could even approach Lord Dramus, they were shattered in the mid-air. Flames and lightning spread out in every direction. ¡°I¡¯m done with you¡­ [Dual Element Drive: Lightning and Flame Force]!¡± Lord Dramus glared at Souta with his aura rising through the sky. ¡°Nice, I thought that you are going to escape but it seems that I¡¯m wrong¡­¡± A smile formed on Souta¡¯s face. He raised the vajra sword above his head and pointed the tip towards the sun. ¡°Let me respond with your show of power. [Element Drive: Dark Integration]¡­¡± Chapter 788: Battle The whole area suddenly went dark. All light disappeared instantly. People who didn¡¯t have special eyes couldn¡¯t see anything in the darkness. People who rely too much on their eyesight were disabled at this moment. ¡°This is¡­¡± Lord Dramus¡¯s pupils shrank. He was a battle-hardened elite and he could fight even if he closed his eyes. But this type of darkness didn¡¯t hinder his eyesight at all. Even with the absence of all he could still see the area around him. He gathered his mana in his eyes and picked up the particles of energy in the atmosphere. The particles of energy acted as a light that made him able to see even without light. But what shocked him was the power. The power that was overflowing out of Souta¡¯s body. ¡°S-Second Stage¡­?!¡± This was beyond his level of understanding. His elemental power was only at the first stage and according to the information he had gathered, Souta only had the first stage of elemental power. ¡°This is bad¡­¡± Lord Dramus gritted his teeth. The information he had was outdated. Souta grew stronger in the past few weeks and achieved the second stage of elemental power. ¡°Let¡¯s start it.¡± Souta grinned before he pressed down his hand. Bang!! Lord Dramus was slammed into the ground by a strong gravitational field. The [Gravitational Ball] spell was a dark attribute spell. It received a huge boost after Souta activated the [Element Drive: Dark Integration]. The boost this time was ten times larger than the [Element Drive: Dark Force]. Ugh! Lord Dramus tried to stand but he found himself being dragged by several black tentacles. The [Shadow Bind] spell was just a low level tier 1 spell but after receiving the boost from Dark Integration, the power it possessed grew larger. Although it wasn¡¯t enough to crush Lord Dramus, it was enough to restrict him for a second. ¡°Fuck!¡± Lord Dramus roared as he released a field of lightning and flames that disintegrated the black tentacles. He opened his mouth widely and fired a ray of lightning and flames. Swoosh!! Souta moved his body to the side to avoid the deadly ray. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to tank that attack without suffering injuries. Although he had a parasite to heal his injuries, he still preferred to reserve the energy of his parasite. He kicked the air and quickly zoomed the distance between him and Lord Dramus. Souta pulled out his vajra sword and slashed it at his opponent¡¯s chest. [Crimson Moon]!! Lord Dramus managed to block the attack using a barrier made of lightning and flame. But it only lasted for a few seconds before it collapsed. Bang! The red energy blows his body away. He stabilized himself in the air before he landed on the ground. When he looked up, he saw a huge beam flying in his direction. [Bestrou]!! ¡°Shit!¡± Lord Dramus knew that it was too late to dodge. If that¡¯s the case, then he should just take the attack head-on and reduce the power of the beam by using his own attack. BOOM!! Souta was careful. He didn¡¯t want this old man to self-destruct just like the one in the Multiple Elements Realm. He would exhaust his opponent so that he wouldn¡¯t have any energy left to start a self-destruct technique. That¡¯s why Souta didn¡¯t want to quickly overpower this man. With his power, he could kill Lord Dramus while using the [Element Drive: Dark Integration]. Lord Dramus would simply self-destruct once he realized that there was a huge gap in their strength. So Souta was lowering his level right now to his opponent¡¯s level by showing that the gap was small. It means, Lord Dramus could still see a little bit of hope in escaping or defeating Souta. That¡¯s why he would keep fighting. ¡®Right? Deplete your energy until you can¡¯t self-destruct¡­¡¯ Souta smiled in his mind. ¡°DIE!!¡± Lord Dramus roared. His left fist was covered in lightning while his right fist was covered in flames. Souta moved in the darkness as he avoided and deflected Lord Dramus¡¯s fierce attacks. Every time he saw an opportunity, he would attack to chip down his opponent¡¯s life. Darkness moved in the air, attacking Lord Dramus in every direction. In this form, Souta could control the shadows easily. His element power was enough to achieve that. Bang! Bang! Bang! Princess Yaniesvyl and her father already left the palace. It was too dangerous to stay there since Souta and Lord Dramus were fighting. They could get caught up and perish from their strong killing attacks. But the darkness that enveloped the whole area made them unable to proceed further. They just stood in their spot without doing anything. They could only feel the pressure from the two fighters. ¡°This level¡­ [Element Drive]¡­?¡± Princess Yaniesvyl muttered to herself in shock. Although the [Element Drive] was common to high level experts in Holy Lands or Large Countries, it was a different case in Spring Land. In Spring Land, the experts capable of using [Element Drive] were less than ten people. There were millions of people on this land yet only a few could wield it. This just showed the difference in their land compared to those Large Countries and Holy Lands. ¡°Follow me, Yaniesvyl. We¡¯ll go through the darkness.¡± The King suddenly said. ¡°I understand, father.¡± Princess Yaniesvyl nodded her head. Even though there¡¯s darkness around them, they still have to move forward or else they would get caught up in the battle. That¡¯s the worst-case scenario. Argh!! Lord Dramus groaned in pain as his right hand rolled in the air, spraying blood in every direction. Thud! He stepped back and tried to calm his senses. His breathing was ragged and his body was full of sweat. Lord Dramus was a little bit tired. ¡°Huff¡­ Huff¡­ I don¡¯t think that I would be able to safely run from this monster¡­ Integration? Didn¡¯t expect his element to be at Second Stage.¡± Lord Dramus muttered to himself as he burned the wounds on his right arm to stop the bleeding. ¡®This guy is strong¡­ Stronger than the Boss of Murder Society. If my dark element is at a lower level, he would be able to keep up with me.¡¯ Souta said inwardly while scanning Lord Dramus with his eyes. ¡®He still has energy left. Just a little bit more and he would drain all of his energy in his mana pool.¡¯ Souta looked down at his body. His body has several wounds but he didn¡¯t use the parasite to heal them. It¡¯s better if Lord Dramus could see that he was also injured. That way, self-destruct wouldn¡¯t come into his mind. But Souta forgot something important. ¡°Ehe, I¡¯ll kill you¡­ You will fall today.¡± Lord Dramus suddenly laughed. Souta stopped moving as he was confused. The next moment, Lord Dramus released a vast amount of mana as red light erupted from his body. A huge eerie magic circle formed on the ground. ¡®Souta, that is¡­¡¯ Saya said. ¡®Yeah, Blood Sacrifice¡­ I forgot that they are using that type of power.¡¯ Souta replied to her grimly. He thought that they wouldn¡¯t use the energy they borrowed from Blood Sacrifice because they have other uses for it. Even the person he met in the ancient ruins didn¡¯t use the power of Blood Sacrifice. ¡°I will kill you and destroy the entire Heiro Kingdom. You will be a good sacrifice. I¡¯m sure that our King will give me more energy if I sacrifice you.¡± Lord Dramus laughed madly. ¡°I doubt that will happen¡­¡± Souta smiled. ¡°Yeah, keep that attitude! You people from Holy Lands really think that you¡¯re the best out there!¡± Lord Dramus¡¯s aura grew stronger and stronger. Souta simply narrowed his eyes and didn¡¯t say any more words. Blood slowly flowed through his skin. He was ready to use his [Blood Armor] anytime to start another round of battle. BOOM!! The whole area shook heavily as the aura around Lord Dramus suddenly disappeared like a bubble. All the momentum that he gathered just vanish in the blink of an eye. Souta was surprised as he didn¡¯t know why the energy just disappeared like that. It made no sense for all those energies to disappear into thin air. ¡°W-What?! W-What¡¯s happening?!¡± Lord Dramus looked down at his body. He was confused and scared. The power of his King disappeared without him knowing anything. ¡®I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening but it¡¯s my chance to capture him.¡¯ Souta said in his mind. He was about to charge at Lord Dramus when he felt a presence above him. Souta quickly paused and looked above. He saw three people suspended in the sky looking down at them. Lord Dramus followed Souta¡¯s line of sight. His pupils constricted when he saw the people above. ¡°S-Sir¡­?!¡± The three people glanced at Lord Dramus before they turned their attention to Souta. They weren¡¯t exuding any powerful energy but their presence brought some sort of pressure. Souta felt goosebumps all over his body. He quickly activated [Blood Armor] instantly as he felt a sense of danger. ¡°This¡­ Someone at SSS-rank¡­¡± Chapter 789: One versus Three An expert that broke one great shackle, SSS-rank. The man in the middle was undoubtedly someone at the level of Grain Leader of Athen¡¯s Champion. This level of power was high in terms of Hall Plains standards. The man was wearing a long black cloak with white fur on its collar. He had a tattoo on the left eye down to his cheek. Underneath his cloak was a dark attire with red trimmings. The two people beside him were quite strong too. They were at Lord Dramus¡¯s level. The one on the left side was a woman and the one on the right side was the one he saw in Death King¡¯s files. The two were called Night Queen and Earth Master. Ohm! Souta¡¯s body was covered in white armor made of blood. It was the [Blood Armor: Jade Spider] form. He used it instinctively when he felt great danger coming at him. His senses heightened to the limit and one wrong move from these guys, Souta would fight back with all of his might. Souta was careful. If it was one-on-one then he wouldn¡¯t fall back but the enemy outnumbered him. He was at a disadvantage. Also, there was no one in the entire Heiro Kingdom that could help him in battle. They couldn¡¯t even deal with Lord Dramus alone so how could they even help Souta? ¡®Be careful, Souta. They are dangerous.¡¯ Saya¡¯s voice echoed in his mind. ¡®Yeah, I know. My instinct is screaming at me right now.¡¯ Souta replied to her while observing every movement of the three people. After a while, the man turned his head back to Lord Dramus. He slowly opened his mouth and said, ¡°I thought that we forbid you to use the energy from Blood Sacrifice. Do you know how important the energy we¡¯ve gathered from Blood Sacrifice is? We can¡¯t waste any energy.¡± ¡°Y-Yes, Sir.¡± Lord Dramus answered while trembling. Judging from his reaction, the man was at a higher level than Lord Dramus. ¡®Just like I thought. They are reserving the energy from Blood Sacrifice for something.¡¯ The frown on Souta¡¯s face grew deeper. He didn¡¯t know what they were planning but he didn¡¯t have a good feeling about it. It feels like they have an eye on the entire Hall Plains and they knew everything that was happening on this land. The man then turned to Souta. Souta felt his body tighten and he reacted by swinging the vajra sword in his hand. Swoosh! A red energy blade flew out. The man looked at the attack and his aura erupted like a volcano. A huge amount of energy bursts forth like a tsunami colliding with the red energy blade. The collision caused a ripple in the air, sweeping out everything within a diameter of five hundred meters. Bang!! Lord Dramus, who was closer to the collision, was blown away. He raised his hand to protect himself from the shockwave. Souta saw this scene and felt his blood boil. He was still in his [Element Drive] and [Blood Armor] so his attack was powerful enough to disintegrate any One Shackle Realm expert yet this man blocked it just like that. ¡°This is a little bit interesting¡­¡± Souta grinned widely. He cracked his neck as his energy overflowed his body. His monster orb and [Nebula Heart] pumped energy throughout his body. The man was unfazed at Souta¡¯s overwhelming energy. ¡°Souta, a warrior from Athen¡¯s Champion. If you are here then you must have reported what you have seen to Athen¡¯s Champion, right? It seems that I can¡¯t delay the plan anymore. Well, it¡¯s a perfect timing to initiate it.¡± He raised his hand and the entire ground glowed with crimson light. At the same time, several dozen of meteors appeared in the sky and descended toward the city. Souta looked around and smiled wryly. He knew that he couldn¡¯t save everyone in this situation. All the people that died would be sacrificed so he wanted to at least prevent that but it seems impossible now. ¡°Where do you plan to use the energy from Blood Sacrifice?¡± Souta asked. ¡°Where? It¡¯s simple. To eliminate the greatest threat in Hall Plains and to accomplish our goal. I will not waste the energy from Blood Sacrifice on other people.¡± The man answered calmly. ¡°Oh, then who¡¯s the greatest threat in this land? The one who could threaten an expert like you.¡± Souta didn¡¯t expect to receive an answer from the man. ¡°Just know that it¡¯s not you.¡± The man answered. Souta dashed towards Lord Dramus and heavily swing the vajra sword in his hand. Lord Dramus was shocked as he tried to jump away but Souta swiftly appeared in front of him. The blade arrived closer to Lord Dramus¡¯s neck but a barrier appeared that repelled the vajra sword. Clang! ¡°Oh,¡± Souta raised his eyebrows. He knew that the man protected Lord Dramus. He opened his mouth and fired [Bestrou]. This time, Lord Dramus managed to react. Ha gathered a huge amount of lightning and flames before he threw it ahead. The [Bestrou] collided with the lightning and flames. A ring-shaped shockwave spread out from the center of the impact. At the same time, the meteors crashed on the kingdom killing tens of thousands of people. Boom! Boom! Souta loosened his grip on his sword. He opened both of his palms and strings of webs shot in every direction. The webs turned blood-red as he infused his energy around them. ¡°[Blood Thread: Dark Weaving]!¡± Souta closed his palms and pulled out the strings in the next second. The webs spread out like a net, enclosing several meteors. The meteors were torn apart instantly preventing them from causing too much death. He at least wanted to prevent further sacrifice for Blood Sacrifice. After all, he didn¡¯t want these guys to accomplish their goals. He could fight them and he was sure about one thing. They wouldn¡¯t use the energy from Blood Sacrifice against him or else they wouldn¡¯t be able to complete their goals. But Souta was curious about one thing. Just who is the greatest threat in this land that they needed to borrow the power from Blood Sacrifice? From what he could see, they were pretty strong. ¡°Ehe, show me what you¡¯ve got! Entertain me! Your decision to save energy from Blood Sacrifice is wrong!¡± Souta¡¯s body flashed. Night Queen and Earth Master who were beside the man finally moved. They released their energy and pounced at him with unbelievable speed. Bang! Bang! Their body moved too fast as they clashed hundreds of times. Souta was fighting Lord Dramus and the other two alone. Fortunately, Lord Dramus was already injured from the battle before and Souta also sliced one of his hands. The entire terrain was devastated in an instant. The power they possessed shook the Heiro Kingdom to its core. It was falling and crumbling. Bang! Bang! The man simply watched the battle with an unconcerned look. Souta¡¯s power surpassed the intel that they had. If he wasn¡¯t wary about the Athen¡¯s Champion, he would have launched an attack against Souta several weeks ago. But he didn¡¯t do it since if Souta was to die in this land, it would alert the warriors from the legion. ¡°Tomorrow¡­ I¡¯ll start it¡­¡± He said in a low voice that only he could hear. Souta saw them today. It means that he would report the threat to Athen¡¯s Champion once he returned. Before that happens, the man would initiate his plan. The man knitted his brows tightly as he watched Souta fight three of his subordinates. Souta hasn¡¯t even used his release form so they should expect greater danger. ¡®His power is greater than I imagined¡­ Should I eliminate him?¡¯ The man opened his mouth, ¡°You¡¯re free to use your artifacts. Try to kill him.¡± ¡°Yes, Sir!!¡± The three people said at the same time. Each one of them had one red-grade and five orange-grade artifacts. They activated the effects of the artifacts and raised their combat prowess. ¡°Just like that!¡± Souta smiled. Strings of flesh covered his body and his [Blood Armor] expanded to fit his current size. The power boost of the queen parasite was used. The vajra sword was covered in blood and flesh. Souta charged at the nearest for and swung the sword. Night Queen raised the daggers in her hands and blocked the attack. At the same time, Lord Dramus and Earth Master appeared beside Souta and launched a vicious strike. Bang! Bang! ¡°What?!¡± Lord Dramus and Earth Master opened their eyes widely. They saw thick layers of blood blocking their attacks. ¡°Not enough,¡± Souta said coldly. He spun around and delivered a swift kick to their stomachs. Then, the spider limbs on his back fired [Bestrou]. Boom!! Souta wanted to attack the Night Queen again but he felt something above him. He looked up and saw a huge energy ball flying in his direction. Instantly, his armor turned black as he switched to [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]. He crossed his arms and tried to block the attack. Bang!! Chapter 790: Battling an SSS-rank expert Bam! Souta was slammed to the ground causing a huge crater on it. His black armor was shredded and huge gaping wounds could be seen on his body. ¡°Ugh! That shit hurts! As expected, SSS-rank is really strong for [Blood Armor].¡± Souta stood up and some of his wounds have closed. He left some of the wounds on his body so that he could receive boost from his [Draw Blood II] traits. Although the [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc] specialized in raw strength it still had greater defense than his [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]. Yet, this man broke through his defenses easily. If he didn¡¯t train with Alexander, he guess that he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with this man. Souta took a deep breath and stared at his opponents. He gathered the lingering souls in the area. ¡°What?! You¡­ You know soul arts?!¡± The man showed a surprised look. He stared at Souta with wide eyes. Souta was stunned when he heard the man¡¯s words. H-He could feel it. The souls?! How?! The man smiled and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it. Your threat level has increased once again. Soul arts, eh? Thoroughly a magnificent skill.¡± Souta didn¡¯t answer. He just kept his expression as he continued to gather the nearby soul while concentrating on his elemental powers. ¡®Saya, do you know the reason why he knew about me gathering souls?¡¯ Souta asked in his mind. ¡®I don¡¯t have any idea. Only experts who break all the shackles would be able to perceive souls. It¡¯s impossible unless he knew soul arts.¡¯ Saya answered. ¡®Maybe, he really knows soul arts.¡¯ Souta said. Ohm! The darkness in the area disappeared and it focused only on Souta¡¯s body. His aura continued to grow stronger as he carefully examined the surroundings and his opponents. ¡°You must be wondering how I know you¡¯re using soul arts, right?¡± The man continued, ¡°It¡¯s simple I¡¯m sensitive to souls. I couldn¡¯t see the souls but I could feel them. I guess that is where my talent lies but there are no soul arts so I decided to abandon it. But since I could feel the souls in the surrounding, I tried to experiment with something at the beginning.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Souta knitted his brows tightly. ¡°Once you become aware of souls, your power will affect them. With a little bit of trial and error, you will be able to erase a soul from this universe and prevent them from entering the cycle of reincarnation. Like this!¡± The man suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed the nearest soul around him. He concentrated his energy on his palm and crushed the soul into nothingness. Then, he grabbed another soul but this time his hand simply passed through the body of the soul. ¡°It all comes down to your intent. People who couldn¡¯t feel souls aren¡¯t conscious of the soul in the world so they are unable to interact with each other. But once you become conscious of them, you can bring them harm. I tried harming the souls of living beings but it seems impossible since the physical body is like a shell that is protecting the soul. So I concluded that it is impossible unless I have a soul art.¡± ¡°Do you really have a time to give me a lesson?¡± Souta smiled and asked. ¡°Why not? You¡¯re the first person that I met that have the same talent as me. It¡¯s once in a lifetime opportunity for me.¡± The man answered with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ve decided, I¡¯ll let you live and capture you. I¡¯ll make you mine.¡± ¡°No, thank you,¡± Souta replied before he swing the vajra sword. The man didn¡¯t even know that Souta¡¯s ability to perceive soul only came from a universal artifact. Lord Dramus, Night Queen, and Earth Master quickly stepped forward and blocked his attack. Then, they rushed ahead with their weapons gleaming with intense energy reaction. Souta stepped back and changed his armor once again. Webs spread out like a net, trying to capture the three. ¡°Let me deal with it.¡± Night Queen jumped ahead with a pair of daggers in her hands. She repeatedly swung her dagger to repel the webs while Lord Dramus and Earth Master dashed to the side to attack Souta. Souta changed his form again and used [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]. In terms of close combat, this was better than Jade Spider. He stepped in and swiped his vajra sword that turned into a giant mace to Earth Master. Then, he raised his foot and kicked Lord Dramus in the stomach. Bang! Bang! The two were blown away, crashing on the ground hundreds of meters away. Huh? Souta found that a huge cut appeared on his arm. In that split second, Lord Dramus and Earth Master managed to attack him and sliced the thick armor on his body. At this moment, Night Queen was freed from the webs. ¡°Take this!¡± She swiftly arrived above Souta and stabbed her daggers downwards, aiming at his neck. Souta felt a stinging sensation from above so he moved sideways but didn¡¯t completely dodge the daggers. It pierced his left shoulder but it gives him an opportunity. ¡°Not enough!¡± He grabbed her wrist and threw her on the ground. Then, he swung the giant mace in his hand firing [Crimson Moon]. Boom!! Souta ignored them as he kicked the air. In just a second, he arrived in front of the man. The man faced him with a calm look on his face. ¡°It will be better if we join forces. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a good idea?¡± The man said. ¡°Yeah, It¡¯s a good idea unfortunately you¡¯re in my way from completing my quest!¡± Souta laughed madly. He held the giant mace with both of his hands and heavily swing it. The man didn¡¯t fall back. Instead, he raised his fist and threw a punch. Bang!! The collision caused a powerful shockwave. Souta and the man were blown hundreds of meters away from each other. Huh? The man looked stunned. He stared at his fist and saw that he was bleeding. He didn¡¯t hold back at all yet Souta¡¯s attack managed to push him away and even cause him to bleed. This feat was impossible for a normal fourth stage monster. ¡°Ehe, it¡¯s bad to underestimate your opponent.¡± Souta laughed after seeing the stunned look of the man. Suddenly, three figures shot from below and arrived beside him. They were Night Queen, Lord Dramus, and Earth Master. He saw that their wounds were mostly healed. And their energy was also stronger than before. ¡°Don¡¯t ever think about keeping up with me.¡± Souta activated the Blessing of the God of Hunt and [Serial Killing Step], an equipment skill of [Solid Hunter State Boots]. The man narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°Go away!¡± Souta¡¯s speed had risen sharply. He was incredibly fast and before the three experts could react, Souta gave slashed them several times. Swoosh! Ugh! Night Queen, Lord Dramus, and Earth Master received several sword wounds on their bodies. Blood gushed out like a fountain before it turned into sharp spears that hurled at them. Bang! Bang! Souta spun around as his body expanded along with his armor. His energy level grew higher once again breaking the limit. [Monster Orb Release]!! Souta was about to attack the three when the man appeared in front of him. The man raised both of his fists and launched a series of powerful punches at Souta¡¯s body. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta was slammed into the ground causing a huge earthquake. He stood up quickly and faced the man without fear. ¡°Governor Ray, is he the greatest threat you are talking about?¡± Souta asked while moving his body side to side to avoid the man¡¯s punches. He spun and kicked but the man simply blocked his attack. Then, he swung the weapon in his hand but the man vanished in front of him. Swoosh! The man appeared behind him and launched a swift lethal strike that cracked his armor. ¡°Governor Ray, who is that?¡± The man asked as he jumped in the air and raised both of his hands above his head. ¡°Oh, I thought you know every threat in Hall Plains but it seems that you are lacking something¡­ Haha, Governor Ray is strong.¡± Souta laughed as he opened his mouth widely. He charged and fired [Bestrou] in an instant. The man fired a huge ball of energy in Souta¡¯s direction. ¡°Well, I¡¯m gonna thank you for your appearance here in Hall Plains. Without you, we will not be able to complete our goal.¡± Boom!! The two attacks collided causing a huge explosion that shook the entire kingdom. The aftershocks swept out everything in the area around them. It was a devastating sight to see many people get caught up in the shockwaves and perished without knowing how they died. Souta stand back as he narrowed his eyes. He didn¡¯t know what this man was talking about. ¡®Without me, they will not be able to complete their goal?¡¯ He looked down at his body and thought that he could still keep up. But he was at a disadvantage even with the combined might of [Monster Orb Release], [Blood Armor], Blessing of the God of Hunt, and the equipment skills of [Solid Hunter State Boots]. Huff¡­ Souta took a deep breath as the [Burning Ring Seal] flew out of his finger and spun on top of him. Then, he raised his weapon and his aura grew stronger once again as he activated [Possession]. ¡°I¡¯ll take it on another level¡­¡± Chapter 791: Destruction of the Royal Capital Princess Yaniesvyl and her father were running around the kingdom. Following behind them were the Queen and a few royal guards along with a number of civilians that managed to survive the first strike of invasion. The royal capital was reduced to smithereens. Only a handful of people managed to preserve their lives from the disaster. The first strike of invasion was when Lord Dramus launched an attack. It quickly reduced the population of the capital by twenty percent. Then, the second strike was when those three experts appeared. The meteors that followed it killed seventy percent of the remaining people. At last, the battle between Souta and the four experts. ¡°The royal capital¡­¡± ¡°My home¡­¡± ¡°Brother and father are still there¡­¡± Princess Yaniesvyl turned her head and looked at the survivors. Her expression was full of grief. She didn¡¯t expect this scenario at all. She realized that she was too weak. A princess of a powerful kingdom in Spring Land? Her status didn¡¯t matter in front of the people that truly possess strength. No matter how lofty she lived in this place, those people could easily take whatever she had. She realized that whatever she had was fragile as glass. ¡°Yaniesvyl, what do you think will happen after this?¡± The King suddenly asked. Princess Yaniesvyl glanced at her father before she looked at the capital. Various lights and elements were flashing at the city, ravaging the entire landscape. Waves of energy would spread out every second adding more destruction. It was a total chaos in the capital right now. Ordinary people wouldn¡¯t be able to survive in that place so there was no more hope for Princess Yaniesvyl. She wanted some people to survive but looking at the battle scene gives her a sense of despair. Even B-rank wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the intense pressure in the atmosphere so how could ordinary people survive? ¡®I¡­¡¯ Princess Yaniesvyl tightly clenched her fists until blood came out. She swore to herself that she wouldn¡¯t let things like this happen ever again. Bang! Bang! Sparks of weapons showered down everywhere. Intense energy surged out from two people as they repeatedly collided in the air. The aftershocks from their collision tore apart the land layer by layer without stopping. Sounds of explosions erupted in every direction. Souta and the man fought fiercely in the air as their killing intent burst out everywhere. Souta was at a disadvantage against his opponent. He was already using [Element Drive], [Blood Armor], [Monster Orb Release], parasite boost, and Blessings of the God of Hunt. Also, the equipment skills of his three dark grade artifacts were used. [Burning Ring Seal], [Solid Hunter State Boots], and [Vajra Sword Saya]. At this point of time, he already activated the [Yin Yang Twin Spirit] to deal with the Night Queen, Earth Master, and Lord Dramus. The twin spirits would fight alongside his doppelgangers in hope that they could capture at least one of them. BOOM!! Souta was trashed around. He couldn¡¯t gain an advantage against his opponent. He was being beaten down madly without leaving a chance to fight back. In response, Souta was forced to use [Soul Blood Mode] just to add one layer of strength. Bang! Bang! The two figures clashed again as shockwaves swept out everywhere. They step up and the force they were using this time was stronger than before. ¡°You! Soul arts! You really know how to use soul arts! Why don¡¯t you come and join me?¡± The man laughed as he tightly grip the scimitar in his hand. This was the treasure of his organization, a dark grade artifact. ¡°Join you!¡± Souta laughed before he dashed forward. He moved his body even faster than before. The weapon in his hand shook as it dispersed the energy that the man hurled at him. The man jumped away while raising both of his hands. Flames and waters twisted together before he threw it at Souta. [Opposite Fusing Shock]!! Souta poured his mana into his weapon and swung it toward the incoming attack. [Crimson Moon]!! [Bestrou]!! Two attacks collided. The collision sprayed intense energy everywhere. It evaporated a layer of land. BOOM!! ¡°Soul arts is a forbidden technique. Once a word got out that you know about it, those hidden experts will come out and try to kill you.¡± The man said. ¡°Kill me? What about you? You¡¯re already trying to kill me¡­¡± Souta laughed in disdain. ¡°Kill you, that¡¯s just their excuse. In fact, everyone will try to get the soul arts out of your mouth. They wanted to get their hands on it.¡± The man said. ¡°I know it. But I don¡¯t even know a single soul art.¡± Souta roared before he charged once again. ¡°Eh, you¡¯re already using it so there¡¯s no point in denying that you don¡¯t know soul arts.¡± The mad looked at Souta in disdain. He also dashed forward to face this powerful monster. Clang! Clang! Clang! They exchanged thousands of blows in just a few seconds. They hover in the air as they hurled various powerful skills at each other. They fought at high speed which practically burst the wind dozens of kilometers away. Souta could barely keep up with his opponent¡¯s speed. It was getting difficult to continue fighting this way as the man kept getting stronger. He tried all sorts of tricks but the man simply used more and more skills to match his own. ¡°I have no choice!¡± Souta raised his hand and the [Yin Yang Bracelet] emitted a dim light. He activated the [Yin Yang Unification] which boosted his dark affinity. His skills that were related to dark undergo an upgrade in an instant. ¡°You¡¯re strong¡­ You exceeded everything that I imagined!¡± The man said as he heavily swung the scimitar in his hand. ¡°Yeah,¡± Souta roared as he also swung his weapon. The weapon collision sprayed elemental energy everywhere. Sparks flew out in the center of the impact as a suction force appeared before it blew everything away. Bang! The man was a little bit surprised as his body was pushed away. When he looked up, he saw Souta in front of him. Souta has gotten stronger once again. The man didn¡¯t expect that Souta still had a power boost. ¡°Didn¡¯t expect this, right?¡± Souta laughed as he delivered a thundering kick to the man¡¯s stomach. Ugh! The man groaned in pain as his figure turned into a stream of light, crashing on the ground below. In the next second, a huge wave of energy exploded. The man stood up emitting intense energy in the air. Flame and water were swirling around him. ¡°This is it¡­ [Element Drive].¡± Souta heightened his senses to the max. He knew that his opponent was getting serious. It took Souta a lot just to force this man to use his [Element Drive]. Luckily, his opponent¡¯s [Element Drive] was only at Force Stage. If it was Integration Stage, Souta was sure that he wouldn¡¯t be able to last a single minute. But something wasn¡¯t right¡­ Souta could feel a hint of familiarity from the man¡¯s energy flow. Huff¡­ ¡°This will be a problem.¡± Souta took a deep breath and his flesh wrapped around the handle of the vajra sword so that it wouldn¡¯t leave his hand. It would be dangerous from now on since the enemy was getting serious. Still, his [Element Drive] could only last for another hour. After reaching the Integration Stage for his dark attribute, Souta¡¯s [Element Drive] time limit increased to two hours. It should be one hour but the effect of [Divine Dark Circulation] was better than he imagined. Souta placed his hand inside the small bag on his waist. He took out a palm-size goblet and threw it in the air. The goblet flew alongside the [Burning Ring Seal]. This goblet was a dark grade artifact that he received from Alexander. He wanted to borrow the goblet¡¯s strength to increase his chances in this fight. Alexander really knew how to gift someone. All of the gifts that Souta received were related to his attributes. [Carpet of the Night]!! [Darkness Sweep]!! Souta activated the equipment skills of the goblet as he pressed both of his hands together. His weapon floated beside him, releasing a wave of energy. One of the equipment skills could boost his chosen dark attribute skill by three hundred percent and the other one add a layer of the night in the sky to boost his stats by ten percent while lowering the enemy¡¯s defense against dark attribute by five percent. The skill he chose was his gravity skill so it received a two hundred percent boost in power. Shadows covered the sky and ground. Then, the ground started to shake as Souta¡¯s energy erupted like a volcano. A crack appeared and it quickly grew larger in just a second. The whole capital was split into two. The two sides rose from the ground, emerging hundreds of meters above. The man stared at this sight with wide eyes. The royal capital was huge. It has a size of forty-seven square kilometers. Yet, it was lifted and split into two. Countering the Imperium¡¯s gravity was hard to achieve especially the ground floor since it was restrained by nature¡¯s energy. ¡°AHHH!!¡± Souta forcefully put both of his hands together. The next second, the two sides of the capital collided together. Chapter 792: It has begun Boom!! The man was sandwiched by the two sides of the capital. The gravity force was too powerful that the whole part was being compressed. Souta gritted his teeth as he used all of his got to crush his opponent¡¯s body. The gravity force that he was using reached the upper limit to the point that he could bend the light in Imperium. Bang!! An explosion erupted as a figure burst out from the smoke, flying through the air with insane speed. The man¡¯s body was covered in blood. Even with his strength, he couldn¡¯t completely block the crushing force of the enormous gravitational field. ¡°If you want to kill me, you will take more than that.¡± The man said as he flew towards Souta. He raised his scimitar and charged energy on the blade. His elemental power was concentrated around it as flames and waters intertwined together without opposing each other. ¡°Even though I¡¯m pretty much ordinary among my level, a mere fourth stage monster will not be able to defeat me easily.¡± Yes, if he was strong he wouldn¡¯t have to hide in the dark. He wouldn¡¯t have to fear the surrounding Holy Lands and Large Countries. The man knew he was weak. That¡¯s why he kept hiding in the Hall Plains in fear of those powerful organizations. Souta¡¯s appearance in Hall Plains shook him at first. He thought that the Athen¡¯s Champion realized his plan but it seems that he was only imagining things. Also, Souta brought him hope. He thought that he wouldn¡¯t be able to find it but who would have thought that it was within the legion of a Holy Land? Yeah, his opponent was pretty normal at his level. Souta knew it but still, the man was a strong foe for his current level. Even the Leader of the Rebel Army in the Subterranean World was slightly stronger than this man. Back then, he relied on the power of Grain Leader Darwin to exhaust the Leader of the Rebel Army. Now, he could already go toe to toe to someone at this level with the usage of all of his aces. It was impossible before but Souta was stronger than he was in the war. ¡°Yeah, the mere fourth stage you are talking about is going to beat you to death!¡± Souta laughed as he quickly placed his hand on the small bag on his waist and took out a small hourglass. This was the second dark-grade artifact that Alexander gave to him. ¡°I¡¯m really glad that I help Alexander. That guy is pretty generous. Who would have gifted a dark grade artifact to someone?¡± The [Burning Ring Seal], [Goblet of the Night], and [Darkness Time] were spinning around him. These three dark grade artifacts were emitting intense energy fluctuations that made the atmosphere boil. [Goblet of the Night](Dark): A goblet of an ancient king. It was a tool used to create Shadow Prime Water and it possessed insane dark attributes. Effect: +200 Strength, 150+ Vitality, +100 Dexterity, +100 Agility, +200 Energy, +100 Stamina, +10 Energy Recovery, +100% Resistance to Darkness, +50% Affinity to Darkness Skill(s): [Carpet of the Night], [Darkness Sweep] [Darkness Hourglass](Dark): An hourglass of a powerful rogue expert in the past. He created this artifact using all the knowledge he had gathered on his journey. Effect: +200 Vitality, +100 Strength, +50 Agility, +50 Dexterity, +150 Energy, +100 Stamina, +20 Energy Recovery, +50% Dark Damage, +50% Darkness Affinity Skill(s): [Darkness Time], [Shadow Rewind], [Traceless World] The small hourglass emitted a dim dark light. Shadows enveloped Souta¡¯s huge body as he felt energy coursing through his veins, empowering his entire body. [Darkness Time] As long as it was night it would add three hundred stat points to each of his attributes with the expense of his energy. The only downside was that he couldn¡¯t use this equipment skill when the sun was up. ¡°Argh!!¡± Souta faced the man. They wrestled in the air as both of their bodies slide through the ground. With another collision of their weapons, the two fighters were blown away by the extreme shockwave. The man grunted as the scimitar in his hand blurred. In the next second, hundreds of shockwaves were sent in Souta¡¯s direction. Souta narrowed his eyes as he flew around while swinging the weapon in his hand, dispersing the shockwaves that were sent at him. Then, he jumped and slashed in the air, hurling dozens of crimson energy blades. The man stepped to the side and avoided the energy blades but he saw that Souta vanished from his position. He quickly turned around and swung his scimitar. ¡°Teleportation? What a good spell you have there!¡± The man laughed and Souta tried his best to deflect the attack. Souta gritted his teeth and loosen his grip on the handle of his weapon. The flesh that was attached to the sword was also removed. Souta grabbed the man¡¯s wrist and pulled him closer. Then, he kneed him in the stomach before he launched a barrage of punches. [Transforming Shadow Barrage]!! The man received hundreds of punches filled with overbearing darkness in just a second. He struggled and managed to swing his scimitar after a few seconds but he already received a huge damage. Swoosh! Souta sidesteps and grabbed the vajra sword in the air. Then, he thrust it forward. The man stomped the ground causing flames to burst out. The flames erupted turning into a raging tide that rush in Souta¡¯s direction. Bang! Souta didn¡¯t fall back. Instead, the spider limbs on his back charged [Bestrou] and he executed [Crimson Moon] skill. Blood flowed beside him and turned into a solid shell. The blood shell closed after he launched his skills. BOOM!! The collision caused a huge shockwave followed by a terrifying suction force that sucked everything in the center of the impact. Then, it exploded hurling energy lights everywhere. The two sides of the royal capital that were floating were smashed. Each side turned into small fragments that flew away like a meteor carrying intense energy. The spectacle flared up thousands of meters above the ground. The light from energy illuminates the entire sky creating a galaxy-like formation. It was beautiful yet terrifying at the same time. Princess Yaniesvyl and the other survivors saw this scene several dozens of kilometers away. They couldn¡¯t help but gasp at how such a beautiful scenery was the effect of the battle from two extremely powerful fighters. This was their first time seeing a battle of this scale. ¡°Huff¡­ Huff¡­¡± Souta was breathing heavily as his body was full of wounds. His armor was full of cracks and his left arm was gone. He felt tired but he could still fight for several rounds. His [Element Drive] could still last for twenty minutes. He didn¡¯t realize it but he was fighting straight for almost two hours against a powerful opponent. All the energy he had in his [Nebula Heart] was drained. All that was left was the monster orb but it still had sixty percent left so he could still fight for a while. Souta gritted his teeth as his left arm grew back. Black armor covered it once again. His parasite wasn¡¯t exhausted. It could still help him. The man was also injured albeit his condition was better than Souta¡¯s. He turned his head as he felt something. After a few moments, he smiled and said, ¡°It seems that the mission is complete.¡± He turned his attention back to Souta and added, ¡°Without you, we wouldn¡¯t be able to accomplish it. So you¡¯ll fall now. You¡¯re much more dangerous than the intel. Still, you¡¯re not worthy of using the Blood Sacrifice.¡± The man turned his back to Souta. Souta¡¯s pupils shrank. He trembled as felt the twin spirits were stained. They went back to the bracelet. He couldn¡¯t even believe that the two spirits got defeated. They were as strong as his release form without any power from his artifacts. Swoosh!! Six shadows appeared above. They were descending down at high speed. Before Souta could even react, they arrived above him. ¡®Shit!¡¯ Souta cursed but it was too late. Several blades pierced through his tough body. He felt intense pain coursing throughout his body. Bang! Souta was slammed to the ground as the six people surrounded him. The ground suddenly shook heavily and a huge energy flared up in a far distance. Souta couldn¡¯t help but turned his head. His eyes shrank as he saw a huge mountain rose into the horizon. The mountain pierced through the clouds, reaching ten thousand meters above the ground. ¡°What is that?¡± Souta muttered to himself. The mountain was bloody red. It was emitting a black ominous smoke and various roots spread out in the sky. The man stared at the huge mountain. He smiled and said, ¡°It has begun. I need to go now before it¡¯s too late.¡± He looked at Souta and said, ¡°I will go now. I hope you enjoy your remaining time in this world.¡± Then, his figure shot through the sky, heading toward the bloody mountain with insane speed. The six people also turned around and flew. Souta smirked and said, ¡°Do you really think that it¡¯s easy to escape from me? It seems that strange mountain is important to you so you have to get on there as soon as possible but¡­ I will prevent you from achieving your goal.¡± The small hourglass spun around. It emitted a strange black energy before it quickly spread out as if it was a root. [Traceless World]!! ¡°I will delay you with all of my might!¡± Chapter 793: Mountain of Demise In the central region¡­ An earthquake occurred that shook the entire region. No, the earthquake¡¯s scale was so high that everyone in the Hall Plains felt it. It was utterly devastating for the people in the central region as this area was the epicenter of the earthquake. Amanda and the archeologist couple, Jason and Lindi, hover above the ground so that the earthquake wouldn¡¯t affect them. This earthquake was dangerous as it has a flow of energy waves. Creatures would be affected by energy waves and they would receive damage. Looking at this, they quickly realized that this was no ordinary earthquake. It must have been caused by a powerful expert. Boom!! ¡°Is that¡­?¡± Amanda widened her eyes. Jason and Lindi were pale as they witness the emergence of a huge mountain. The mountain pierced through the clouds. Cracks spread out on the surface of its surface and blood-red water gushed out of it. It looks like the entire mountain was bleeding. It was followed by black smoke spread out in the atmosphere. Then, dark roots spread out in the sky encapsulating everything within its reach. Living things and non-living things were wrapped in dark roots. The next moment, the black smoke covered the entire sky above the Hall Plains. Rain poured down instantly as lightning flashed every second. A thunderstorm rages throughout the land. It only lasted for a few seconds before it disappeared. The next thing that happened was snow. Endless snow fell from the sky and coated the soil in white puffy snow. After that, the mountain bled once again followed by the intense heat that melted all the snow. ¡°Is this for real?¡± Amanda muttered as she witness these strange things in just a matter of minutes. ¡°There¡¯s no doubt¡­ That is the Mountain of Demise!¡± Jason responded in a tone of disbelief. Amanda, Jason, and Lindi were investigating the truth of the Hall Plains. The events one thousand years ago. What truly happened at that time? And why most of the relics of the past were gone? The three of them discovered a lot of things and they even encountered dangers at which they almost lost their lives. ¡°The Hall of Power is back. They are gonna show themselves to the world.¡± Lindi said. ¡°Then, the writings we¡¯ve found¡­?¡± Amanda narrowed her eyes. ¡°Yes, the one who was born emperor will rise. The writings said that he will be back to rule and dominate.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°The one who was born free¡­¡± Amanda muttered to herself. Born free, without any shackles. A natural-born ruler. An unprecedented event that almost disappeared in the annals of history, the birth of the No God Emperor. The remains of the Hall of Power were secretly moving in the dark to release their Emperor. The man who was said to be able to kill gods after three years since he was born. ¡°The Hall of Power will rise once again¡­¡± Outside of the Ancient Ruins¡­ Alexander stopped walking as he stared at the enormous bleeding mountain. He narrowed his eyes and observed the phenomenon around it. ¡°That is Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain also known as Mountain of Demise. Why is that mountain here in this place¡­? I don¡¯t remember this when I was still here. It must be done after I left. This is a huge problem.¡± He looked down at his body and checked his equipment. He was fully equipped with the best of artifacts. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll check it out. Souta is probably heading towards the Mountain of Demise too.¡± Alexander recalled that Souta was trying to find a hidden organization in this land. He guessed easily that the hidden organization must be the one that made the Mountain of Demise appear. ¡°It will be a total chaos from now on. Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain isolated this entire land so that no one from the outside could interfere. If the people outside forcefully broke it, the creature inside the mountain will also be free. The only way to stop it is inside.¡± He walked in the direction of the bleeding mountain. Somewhere in the Hall Plains¡­ A tall woman with long red hair was looking at the mountain. She was wearing full-plate silver-colored armor and a pair of short swords on each side of her waist. Her features were sharp and part of her cheeks had red scales. She also had a long tail covered in red scales sticking out on her back. Behind her was a group of men and women with strong killing aura. ¡°Grain Leader¡­ Is that?¡± One of the men behind her said while staring at the mountain in shock. ¡°It¡¯s the Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain but¡­ Why is there one in this place?¡± The woman said with a frown. She was the Sixth Grain War Leader of the Third Set of Pallas Division. They were here to investigate the truth about the Blood Sacrifice. They didn¡¯t go to the portal to arrive in Hall Plains. They went to a different route and the other warriors from Athen¡¯s Champion didn¡¯t know that they were here. ¡°Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain is a sealing technique used to seal powerful creatures. According to the legend, the technique could even seal gods, monster lords, and demon gods. It¡¯s my first time seeing one.¡± Another warrior explained. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll go to Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain.¡± The Sixth Grain War Leader said. ¡°Yes, Mam.¡± The warriors behind her nodded and followed her footsteps. In another region of Hall Plains¡­ A tall creature, hidden by the shadows of the tree, was looking straight at the gigantic mountain. The creature smiled revealing a row of razor-sharp teeth. ¡°It¡¯s pretty interesting.¡± The creature stood up and the ground shook slightly. Around it, were a bunch of corpses floating in a pool of blood. The stench of blood lingered in the air as the cold breeze tried to wash the thick stench. The creature¡¯s red eyes gleamed in the dark before it vanished from its position. At the land area of the Heiro Kingdom¡­ [Traceless World]!! Darkness emerged from the hourglass. It spread out in every direction as if it was going to swallow everything in sight. In the blink of an eye, it covered a diameter of two kilometers. The man and the other six people turned their heads. Lord Dramus, Night Queen, and Earth Master stepped forward. They were going to fight Souta if necessary. But another one had stepped forward. It was a five feet tall man wearing leather armor. He had a golden bow in his hand and his left eye was covered in an eye patch. He was called Night Eye. Night Eye opened his mouth and said, ¡°I¡¯ll handle this. You can¡¯t delay everything now that the Mountain of Demise had appeared. A little bit of a delay will be fatal for us.¡± The man looked at Night Eye before he nodded. The situation right now was very important for them. They had to match it up with the appearance of the mountain or else they wouldn¡¯t be able to achieve their goal. They didn¡¯t have a time to deal with Souta. ¡°Okay,¡± The man turned around and continued flying in the direction of the Mountain of Demise. Lord Dramus, Night Queen, Earth Master, and the other two give Night Eye a glance before they followed their leader. Lord Dramus, Night Queen, and Earth Master were exhausted too. They fought the twin spirits and seven doppelgangers at the same time. If not for Night Eye and the other two, they would have taken more time before they could defeat their opponents. Ohm!! The shadows continued to spread out, wanting to catch everyone. But Night Eye simply raised the bow in his hand and fired hundreds of arrows at the same time. Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of explosions erupted in the shadows, slowing it down by several times. Still, the explosions prevented the shadows from delaying the man and the others. ¡°I didn¡¯t know where you got your courage to face me alone but I¡¯m glad¡­¡± Souta smiled as the shadows swallowed everything. In the next moment, Night Eye found himself in the middle of nowhere. Everything around him was pitch-black space. There¡¯s not a single speck of light. Night Eye raised his other hand and he created a small ball of flame using his energy. The ball of flame appeared but the light coming from it instantly disappeared into the darkness. No, it was better to say that darkness consumes the light. ¡°Just what is this place?¡± He muttered as he recalled that the shadows swallowed him alone. ¡°[Traceless World]¡­ No light could exist in this area. You can¡¯t run from me. The only way to get out of here is to defeat me. You got baited by me. I actually don¡¯t plan to fight all of you at the same time. I just realized the value of that strange mountain when I saw the expression on your leader¡¯s face. So I tried to delay you hoping that one of you will step up to stop me. That way I will be able to capture you guys.¡± Souta said as he looked at Night Eye from the darkness. He was exhausted but in a one-on-one battle, Souta could still show some strength. He still have his best feram left in his monster orb and it was enough for him. Chapter 794: Souta vs Night Eye Souta landed on the pitch-black ground. His feet caused a sound that echoed in the area. He slowly brandished his sword and stared at his opponent. ¡°You are good. You will not be able to return. You must tell me what you are planning if you want to live.¡± Souta said. ¡°I will not tell a single soul about our plan. We¡¯ve waited for this for a long time but we must thank you. If not for you, we will not be able to reach our goal.¡± Night Eye said as he raised his bow and pulled out the string. An arrow made of energy materialized on the bow. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are talking about. Why are you thanking me?!¡± Souta dashed as he infused his best feram in the vajra sword. Night Eye jumped away and fired hundreds of arrows at the same time. Souta moved his body to the side and avoided the arrows. Then, he stopped and slashed the arrows coming at him before he charged forward. ¡°If you didn¡¯t want to tell me anything, then I¡¯ll have no choice but to kill you.¡± Souta slashed his sword in the air and fired several energy blades. He understood that his enemy wouldn¡¯t tell him anything. These people would either due than to leak their plan. They have that burning determination. Boom! Boom! Night Eye continued to maintain his distance between him and Souta while firing his arrows. This was his fighting style. He was an archer and long-range battle was where he shone the most. In just a second, he released hundreds of arrows at the same time. The arrows flew towards Souta like rain. There were too many of them so he couldn¡¯t avoid everything. Also, each arrow possessed unbelievable speed and firepower. Souta knew that his opponent was strong. After all, this guy was one of the experts that help Lord Dramus and the others deal with the twin spirits. Souta¡¯s twin spirits weren¡¯t weak at all. They were as strong as his release form without any sort of equipment. The fact that those guys eliminated the twin spirits showed the strength that they possessed. ¡°Eh~ good¡­¡± Souta grinned widely. He shifted his body to the side and dozens of arrows passed beside him. Then, he kicked the ground trying to catch up to Night Eye. But the arrows that he avoided suddenly turned around. ¡°A homing arrow¡­?¡± Souta jumped and slashed some of the arrows. The arrows exploded, filling the whole area with smoke. Souta waved his hands and shadows shot in every direction. Then, he spun around and his armor turned white. Webs quickly spread out like a net, trying to control everything. Swoosh!! Night Eye moved his body as fast as he could, trying to avoid all the shadows and blood-red webs. When he landed on the ground he saw Souta stomp his foot heavily on the floor. His eyes shrank as he hurriedly jumped in the air. A second after he jumped, hundreds of crimson spikes burst out of the ground. The next moment, the crimson spikes turned into liquid before they formed a spear shape. Souta controlled the shadows, webs, and blood in the surroundings. He perfectly maneuvers everything around him. Night Eye couldn¡¯t even have an opportunity to attack. All he could do was dodge and defend against the shadows, blood, and webs. He was being attacked in every direction. Souta charged forward while controlling the pace of the battle. He wanted to corner Night Eye and end this as soon as possible. He was exhausted so he didn¡¯t want to delay this any longer. Fighting an SSS-rank expert already cost him too much. When he saw the opportunity, Souta quickly changed into [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]. Night Eye slipped up and let one of the webs stick to his leg. He wanted to sever the web when thousands of droplets of blood rushed at him along with the shadows. ¡°Shit!¡± He cursed. He had no choice but to raise his bow above his head. He pulled the string and fired a ray of light into the sky. The ray of light exploded a thousand meters above the ground, creating a spherical shape of blueish energy. Then, thousands of light arrows bore down on the entire field. Bang! Bang! Bang! Night Eye managed to sever the web on his legs and the blood and shadows around him. He was about to jump away when a figure flashed in front of him. It was Souta in his [Blood Armor]. Souta stretched out his hand, wanting to grab Night Eye. But Night Eye saw all of this and he managed to react. He tilted his body to the side, avoiding Souta¡¯s hands. ¡°I¡¯m not done yet¡­¡± Souta said as he pressed his hand to the floor. Night Eye widened his eyes as he felt a crushing force pushing him to the ground. It was so heavy that he felt like an entire mountain was pressed on his shoulders. Souta gritted his teeth as he used all of his power in his gravitational field. Boom!! Cracks spread out in the ground before it completely collapsed. Night Eye groaned in pain as he was forced to the ground. He looked up and saw a red energy blade coming in his direction. He used his energy to force his body to stand. Then, he rolled to the side with great effort just to avoid the energy blade. Souta turned the gravity sideways. Night Eye lost his balance as he fell toward Souta¡¯s direction. ¡°Just like what I¡¯ve said before you don¡¯t have anyone with you so you can¡¯t hope to defeat me. It takes more than one if you want to defeat me.¡± Souta as he tightened his grip on the sword. Then, he swung it towards Night Eye. Argh!! Night Eye gritted his teeth. He used all of his might to avoid the slash but the crimson energy blade still managed to cut his left arm. Souta raised his left foot and delivered a devastating kick to his opponent¡¯s stomach. Night Eye spat a mouthful of blood as his body flew away, crashing on the boulders of rocks with insane speed. Boom!! Souta exhaled as he stared at Night Eye¡¯s hand rolling in mid-air. He knew that he won this battle. With just one hand, an archer couldn¡¯t hope to fully utilize their weapons. They had to hold the bow and pulled the string. Cough! Cough! Night Eye coughed as blood came out of his mouth. He still forced himself to stand while gripping the bow in his hand. He was in a tough situation right now. ¡°So¡­ care to tell me what are you guys planning to do?¡± Souta asked as he slowly approach his opponent. Night Eye wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth and smiled. ¡°Hahaha, this is fine. Sir Draymond will be able to complete our goal¡­ The Mountain of Demise had appeared so we just need to proceed. There¡¯s nothing you can do to stop it.¡± ¡°Mountain of Demise, huh?¡± Souta turned his head. The shadows slowly dissipated, revealing the scenery around him. At a faraway place, he could still the towering bloody mountain. ¡°Perhaps, I will go there and settle things with the so-called Sir Draymond,¡± Souta said. There¡¯s only one person that Night Eye would address with respect. So the man from before should be Sir Draymond. ¡°It¡¯s too late¡­¡± Night Eye smiled. ¡°Okay.¡± Souta nodded as he arrived in front of Night Eye. ¡°Are you prepared to die?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask me that question. I¡¯m prepared for it ever since I embarked on this path.¡± Night Eye said. Souta raised his sword. He realized that no matter what he do, Night Eye wouldn¡¯t tell him their plan. So it was time to end this facade. ¡°The Hall of Power didn¡¯t need to fear anyone!!¡± Night Eye laughed in the face of death. Souta narrowed his eyes and beheaded Night Eye with a swing of his sword. The vajra sword emitted a bright red light and it destroyed the landscape behind Night Eye. Even if Night Eye accepted his death, Souta still had to use his energy, or else he wouldn¡¯t be able to cut his opponent¡¯s head. Night Eye could still fight as he still had energy left but there was no point to it. He couldn¡¯t even properly hold his weapon and he would only torture himself if he tried to fight. At the very least, he already completed his job and he was satisfied with it. Night Eye¡¯s head rolled in the air, splashing blood everywhere. The blood flowed in the mid-air and shot through Souta¡¯s body. ¡°This is good¡­¡± Souta absorbed the blood and used it to recover his wounds. This was a very tiring day for him. He didn¡¯t expect to meet an expert at Fourth Shackle. It was outside of his imagination. In the end, the scale of the battle became too large that it destroyed the entire capital of Heiro Kingdom. Nothing was left anymore. It was pure destruction. ¡°The Hall of Power¡­¡± He said in a low voice as he turned his head to look at the giant bloody mountain. Chapter 795: Ten Commandments The moment Night Eye died, Souta waved his hand and canceled all the active skills around him. Blood, webs, and shadows were dispersed on the ground. Even if Night Eye tried to escape, Souta would still capture him. In [Traceless World], Night Eye couldn¡¯t hope to escape unless he killed Souta. Killing Souta was already difficult to imagine so when his hand got sliced his hope of leaving this place alive became nonexistent. He couldn¡¯t even wield his bow properly with one hand and even if he resort to close combat he wouldn¡¯t be able to best Souta. Although Night Eye was good at close combat, it wasn¡¯t comparable to experts like Souta who mainly fight in that range. Souta sat down on the ground and leaned his back on a boulder. He was quite tired. Fighting someone at Four Shackles Realm was too much for him. He was lucky that he had a bunch of high grade artifacts with him or else¡­ He would be forced to use that. ¡°Saya, do you perhaps know anything about that mountain?¡± Souta asked as he stared at the mountain in the distance. ¡®Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain¡­ That mountain is a result of a powerful ability used to imprison different creatures. In many cases, most of the beings that are sealed beneath the mountain are powerful. Sometimes God-levels are buried below that mountain.¡¯ Saya paused for a moment before she added, ¡®Right now, we don¡¯t have any idea about the creature beneath it but¡­ It¡¯s probably a being at God-level as we can guess it from looking at the after effects.¡¯ ¡°I see¡­¡± Souta nodded. God-level was practically out of his reach right now. He wanted to go there as soon as possible but his equipment skills were on cooldown. Plus, he needed to recover his energy and stamina too and his [Element Drive] couldn¡¯t be used at this moment. He used all of his elemental powers and without it, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use [Blood Armor]. ¡°At the very least, I finally knew that they are from the Hall of Power.¡± Souta closed his eyes and started to focus on recovering his energy. He needed to speed up his recovery and if possible, he needed to achieve the Integration Stage of his light attribute. Boom!! The mountain shook once again. Right now, the entire Hall Plains was covered by a crimson-colored net. It means that no one could leave and enter the Hall Plains. A lot of people didn¡¯t even have an idea about the Mountain of Demise. They didn¡¯t know that every living being here would be sacrificed. In short, the whole region became a sacrificial altar for the being that was buried in the Mountain of Demise. If they wanted to leave this place, it was all to them. Bland City¡­ Alice exited the underground base with Governor Ray. The aura around Alice¡¯s body was a bit unstable but it was several times stronger than before. She had reached Two Shackles Realm and from the looks of it, her aura was definitely stronger than ordinary Two Shackles expert. ¡°There¡¯s an emergency¡­¡± Governor Ray said. They could stay in the underground base for another three days but an emergency occurred. The appearance of the Mountain of Demise alarmed a lot of experts in the Hall Plains. Alice and the other City Lords knew the danger of the Mountain of Demise. Even though they¡¯ve seen it personally, they have seen it in some records. The description and the phenomenon around it matches the one that they¡¯ve read. So they were sure that the towering mountain was in fact the real Mountain of Demise also known as Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain. Governor Ray turned his head and stared at the towering mountain. ¡°So they are back¡­ They¡¯ve chosen the worse scenario for us. I need to move now.¡± Alice glanced at Governor Ray. The secret in the underground base wasn¡¯t a small matter. It was a huge secret that would shock anyone. ¡°Is it connected to the secret beyond the Jade Door?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Yeah¡­ The Hall of Power, I thought that they haven¡¯t found it but it seems that I¡¯m wrong.¡± Governor Ray nodded grimly. A few days ago¡­ Alice was following Governor Ray on dark circular stairs. The atmosphere was eerie and heavy at the same time. She could feel that the energy in the air was getting denser and denser. ¡®To think that there is such a place in this barren region¡­¡¯ She said inwardly. She was a little bit shocked. This place was suitable for training yet the density of energy was still increasing without stopping. Suddenly, Governor Ray opened his mouth and asked, ¡°How much do you know about the history of Hall Plains?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I just heard a few rumors saying that it¡¯s a huge place in the past.¡± Alice answered truthfully. ¡°Well, that¡¯s true. A large country called the Hall of Power was once the ruler of this region. It ruled the entirety of the Hall Plains but it suddenly collapsed. The worse case is that there are almost no records of the said country. People only thought about it as myths and legends.¡± Governor Ray said. ¡°If that¡¯s true then there¡¯s only one possible scenario¡­ The other gods are involved in the collapse of the Hall of Power. It¡¯s not just one god. Several gods are probably involved in the incident.¡± Alice gave her opinion. ¡°Yeah, gods are involved but it¡¯s not just simple gods¡­¡± Governor Ray paused as he glanced at Alice. He asked, ¡°Ever heard of the Ten Commandments of the God¡¯s Will?¡± ¡°The Ten Commandments¡­?¡± Alice narrowed her eyes. Everyone knew the Three Bringers of Calamity. God¡¯s Will, Deadly Sins, and Zodiacs. They were a powerful group of gods that brought terror to the entirety of the Imperium. They were on the same level as her father. Even her father said that although he wasn¡¯t afraid of them he wouldn¡¯t carelessly offend them. ¡°We¡¯re here¡­¡± Governor Ray said. Alice regained her senses and saw a huge exquisite door in front of her. It has a height of fifty meters and a width of ten meters. Thick chains were bound around it and on the bottom part of the door was another door of normal size. ¡°This¡­ So all the mana in the air are coming beyond this door?¡± Alice was stupefied. She couldn¡¯t imagine what sort of place lies beyond this majestic jade door. ¡°Let¡¯s enter¡­¡± Governor Ray said. He walked towards the jade door and pressed his palm on the side. There was a mechanism in this area so that he could enter the place safely. Alice observed the door as she followed Governor Ray. She was curious about this. She wanted to know how it was related to the Bringers of Calamity. When they entered the door, Alice was shocked by the density of mana. According to her estimation, it was fifty times higher than the density on the surface. ¡°Just what is this place¡­?¡± She muttered to herself. The place beyond the door was simple but it was filled with all sorts of ancient runes. And there was an altar in the center of the spacious area. The altar was white and it was emitting a dim light in this dark place. ¡°That is¡­¡± Alice widened her eyes in shock. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a God corpse.¡± Governor Ray said. ¡°This was the corpse of a God that ruled the Hall of Power thousand years ago. Also, he¡¯s my ancestor.¡± ¡°Yes, the ruler of the Hall of Power is my ancestor. But he had fallen because of the incident related to his son.¡± Governor Ray said gravely. ¡°Even though my ancestor had fallen a thousand years ago, his body is still here. The moment he died, the energy inside his body exploded and scattered in this place, directly increasing the density of mana. We can still use some of his blood to provide you energy but whether you handle the energy is all up to us. We can only stay here for a week and after that, we will be forced out. The restriction here is too high. If I didn¡¯t have my ancestor¡¯s blood flowing in my veins, we would not be able to enter this place.¡± Alice nodded at Governor Ray¡¯s words. She glanced at the corpse and asked, ¡°How is it connected to the Bringers of Calamity?¡± Governor Ray stayed silent. It took him a while before he decided to say something, ¡°Five Commandments have appeared here and demolished the entire Hall of Power. The allied gods and the gods from other places didn¡¯t provide any help.¡± ¡°Five Commandments?!¡± Alice couldn¡¯t believe what she was hearing. The Ten Commandments were in the same organization called God¡¯s Will. Although they were in the same group, they didn¡¯t work together. In fact, they just bonded together because they have the same goal. They didn¡¯t have any sense of camaraderie. They wanted the so-called Four Authorities so after they achieved it, everyone guessed that each of the Commandments would fight to obtain the Four Authorities to achieve their personal goal. They just group together because of the pressure from the large countries, great countries, and holy lands. Chapter 796: Grave news ¡°Why did the Five Commandments attack the Hall of Power? It is because a powerful existence has been born here. The son of my ancestor is an unprecedented event that hasn¡¯t occurred in the entire history of Imperium. It alarmed a lot of gods and before we realized it, the Five Commandments demolished the entire Hall of Power.¡± Governor Ray paused before he added, ¡°It is said that my ancestor¡¯s son is connected to their goal. We didn¡¯t know who spread this rumor but God¡¯s Will demolished us even though there¡¯s no proof. I think they are afraid of something. My ancestor¡¯s son quickly rose to the power and challenge everyone. A huge battle occurred here that almost extinguished the population of the Hall Plains.¡± Alice wanted to ask something but Governor Ray interrupted her. ¡°Let¡¯s start. We couldn¡¯t stay here for a long time. I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t be able to enter this place for the next few months. I have used all the time that is given to me.¡± Governor Ray said. Alice nodded. She knew that Governor Ray was right. This place have many restrictions and no one could probably force their way in here. Even Hero rank would die if they tried to enter this place by force. After all, a god was the one that created this place. ¡­ Alice recalled the conversation in the underground base. There was a corpse of a god in that place and once news about it spread out, she knew that it would throw the entire Hall Plains into a chaotic situation. ¡°The Hall of Power is back¡­ I need to make a move now. I will bring my troops toward the Spring Land.¡± Governor Ray said. ¡°You will go to Spring Land? What about the Mine Valley?¡± Alice asked. ¡°That¡¯s why there are other members of the Dragon Council. I¡¯m leaving you and the rest of the Heads to deal with the tribes from the Earthen Woods while I go to the Spring Land. I will expand our scope of influence along the way.¡± Governor Ray added, ¡°We have less than two weeks before the Mountain of Demise fully exploded¡­¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Alice nodded as she lifted her head and looked at the crimson net that covered the sky. Governor Ray didn¡¯t waste his time as he quickly assembled three thousand troops. After he assembled his troops, he packed all the rations that they would need in their march. He would conquer a few areas in the Spring Land and head toward the Mountain of Demise. He would open up a path for others. Alice was preparing to leave Bland City and return to Ekatoe City when a guard approached her. ¡°L-Lady Alice¡­¡± The guard was breathing heavily and his expression was pale. It seems that he ran here as soon as he heard something important. ¡°Calm down and slowly tell me what happened¡­¡± Alice said to the guard. The expression of the guard already told her that this was very important. ¡°The White Wheat City¡­¡± The guard lifted his head and looked at Alice. ¡­ In a faraway place¡­ A man was sitting on a throne with his eyes closed. In the next second, he opened his eyes and a smile appeared on his face. ¡°It seems that something has occurred. Let me see it¡­¡± A surprised look appeared on his face as he turned his gaze to the window. ¡°To think that there are fools that wanted to awaken the No God Emperor. They are asking to die. The Commandments will not tolerate it.¡± He stood up and a dark furry cape appeared on his back. He combed his messy hair with his fingers before he walked down on the throne. This man was Esquin also known as the Ruler of Gluttony. ¡°I haven¡¯t even started my plan yet a lot of interesting events had occurred in that short amount of time. Lately, the Imperium mourned and now¡­¡± Esquin¡¯s figure slowly disappeared as he walked into the darkness. ¡°This isn¡¯t a good sign¡­¡± ¡­ Souta opened his eyes and saw a group of people in front of him. He narrowed his eyes as he recognized Princess Yaniesvyl. The others were probably experts from the Heiro Kingdom. He moved his eyes away from them and looked at the Mountain of Demise. He still had a little bit of time left. Souta wanted more time so that he could use his equipment skills once again. ¡°Umm¡­ Excuse me, Sir¡­¡± A voice sounded beside him. Souta turned his head and looked at Princess Yaniesvyl¡¯s group. All of them were experts above C-rank. No ordinary people were present among them. Well, he could understand it since the radiation caused by the battle hasn¡¯t disappeared yet. So ordinary people would only die from suffocation if they appeared in this area. Only B-rank and above who could properly use their energy to fully protect their bodies could handle the radiation. ¡°What is it?¡± Souta asked. ¡°We just wanted to thank you for saving some of us.¡± Princess Yaniesvyl bowed. She glanced at him and added, ¡°Also, can I know who are they?¡± She was talking about Lord Dramus and the others. Souta laughed at her words. ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me. You¡¯re thanking me after I destroyed your kingdom. Well, it¡¯s not my intention but it¡¯s a fact that my attacks demolished almost everything in this place. Also, I don¡¯t think I saved any of you, you are the one that saved yourself.¡± With the intense pressure of the battle before, ordinary experts wouldn¡¯t be able to survive at that time. Souta also didn¡¯t have much time to save them as it would be fatal for him if he didn¡¯t focus his attention on the enemy. After all, he was fighting that Sir Draymond and the others alone. ¡°As for their group¡­ That last person mentioned something like the Hall of Power. Did it ring any bells?¡± Souta glanced at them from the corner of his eyes. ¡°Hall of Power¡­?¡± Princess Yaniesvyl widened her eyes. ¡°Oh, it seems you knew something about them. Care to tell me?¡± Souta smiled. His information about the Hall of Power only came from the Mince Hand. He wanted to gather more information about his enemy before he fought them once again. He carefully listened to her words. The Heiro Kingdom has a bit of understanding about the past overlord of the entire Hall Plains. The other experts didn¡¯t know about this information except for Princess Yaniesvyl and the other members of the royal family. Maybe this was also one of the reasons why the Hall of Power targeted them. After a while, Princess Yaniesvyl has finished telling Souta everything that she knows. She just stayed on the side while staring at him. He was a warrior from the Holy Land. His identity alone was enough for them to respect him. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Souta rubbed his chin. He was looking at the system. He just completed the Quest 2 of the Chain Quest. *Ding!* [You¡¯ve completed Quest 2!] [You¡¯ve received 10,000,000 experience points, 10 free attribute points, and 5 skill points!] Souta turned his eyes and glanced at the details of Quest 3. [Hall of Power] Quest 3: The Hall of Power has returned. They will use the Mountain of Demise to achieve their goal. Defeat fifty members of the Hall of Power. Rewards: 10,000,000 experience points, 15 free attribute points, and 8 skill points Looking at this he realized that this wasn¡¯t the final quest. It seems that there¡¯s more to this scheme set up by the enemies. Quest 3 was probably easier than the previous quests where he had to go to various cities and gather information. Hall of Power had other members and he would probably be able to complete this quest if he eliminated those low-level members of the Hall of Power. ¡°Sir¡­¡± Princess Yaniesvyl wanted to ask something. ¡°Souta, that¡¯s my name,¡± Souta said to her then he pointed at the mountain. ¡°You wanted to know about that, right?¡± Princess Yaniesvyl nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s the Mountain of Demise. You can see the red net that covered the sky. It means that we are trapped in this place. The entire Hall Plains are sealed along with that mountain. No, it is better to say that it fused with the seals. No person could go inside right now and no person could go out. Everything will be decided in that giant mountain.¡± Souta explained to her slowly so that she could understand the threat of the Mountain of Demise. ¡°Isn¡¯t that dangerous, Sir Souta?¡± Princess Yaniesvyl asked. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s dangerous but I¡¯m not in a condition to fight again. The battle just now consumed a lot of my energy. I need to recover first.¡± Souta explained to her the reason why he wasn¡¯t making a move. Suddenly, he stopped and felt something in his pocket. Souta reached his hand and found that it was the transmission talisman. He took it out and poured a little bit of his energy. What faced him was Alice¡¯s strong voice. ¡°Souta! Something occurred here! The White Wheat City has fallen! Elder Guan is dead! Yuko is heavily injured! And Yenxa is missing!¡± Chapter 797: Attack ¡°What did you say?¡± Souta narrowed his eyes and asked Alice again through the transmission talisman. ¡°The White Wheat City has fallen. Our forces in the city are annihilated and only a few lucky ones survived. We lost a lot this time. I¡¯m willing to receive any punishment.¡± Alice said. She really felt that it was her fault. While she was enjoying the benefits of the underground base, the others were fighting for their lives. If she stayed, she could probably help them on time before they got annihilated. But that seems impossible because even Kessa¡­ ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s just that we didn¡¯t expect that the enemy would attack us directly.¡± Souta said to her through the transmission talisman. ¡°Elder Guan¡­ He is dead. Yenxa is missing. Yuko is injured. Kessa is¡­¡± Alice paused. ¡°What is it? What happened to Kessa?¡± Souta asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s better if you come here yourself.¡± Alice couldn¡¯t explain Kessa¡¯s condition to him. It was weird and she hasn¡¯t encountered something like this in her life. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go there immediately.¡± Souta said. He quickly cut the call and launched his body in the air like a missile. Boom!! The ground shook and his energy exploded. Princess Yaniesvyl and the others were shocked at this change of event. They didn¡¯t even know why Souta would suddenly leave with a horrible expression. ¡­ Souta hasn¡¯t fully recovered yet so his speed was slower than usual. He tried to use his remaining energy but it seems useless. He couldn¡¯t even exceed his normal speed before. When he arrived at the White Wheat City, the other members of Astros and Dragon Council¡¯s agents were here present. He descended to the ground as Alice approached him. She already sensed his arrival so she quickly came here to greet him. ¡°This¡­¡± Souta stared at the city in front of him. It was devastated and almost everything was destroyed. Corpses were scattered everywhere and a thick stench of blood lingered in the air. He looked down and saw the corpse in front of him. It was Elder Guan¡¯s corpse. The Witch Clan Elder who accompanied them was killed by an unknown group. Elder Guan¡¯s body was full of holes. It seems that he suffered greatly before he passed away. Alice, who was standing beside Souta, glanced at his expression but she kept her mouth shut. She didn¡¯t dare to say anything. ¡°Elder Guan¡­ He¡¯s the one closest to Amanda. He is also the one who helped us when we were fighting the Witch Clan Leader¡­¡± Souta said plainly. His face was devoid of any emotion. He simply stared at the corpse with blank eyes. ¡°Where¡¯s Yuko?¡± Souta looked at Alice and asked. ¡°Follow me¡­ She¡¯s alive but I don¡¯t think that she will be able to wake up soon. Her parasite was exhausted too so it couldn¡¯t repair her body completely.¡± Alice explained. The two walked in the barren land and stopped in front of a simple cabin. Yuko¡¯s huge body was laying on a soft bed. Her body was full of wounds and there were people around her pouring healing potions on her wounds. There were also healers that were casting healing spells. Souta stared at Yuko for a while before he turned around and said, ¡°Guide me to Kessa¡­ I need to check her condition too.¡± Yuko was fine now. She wouldn¡¯t die but she wouldn¡¯t be able to move her body for a while after she woke up. Plus, she did well in the battle. She reached a higher level. Unfortunately, the opponents this time were just too strong. She was on the right track. By the time she woke up, she would be able to improve her strength tremendously. Kessa¡¯s condition was strange according to Alice. He needed to check it and even if he couldn¡¯t understand it, he had Saya with him. Saya had vast knowledge and she knew a lot of things. Souta paused on his track as he recalled something. The words of Draymond finally sank into his mind and started to connect a few pieces of the puzzle. He had a vague idea of what was happening here. It means that the Hall of Power was the culprit. Souta glanced at Alice and asked, ¡°Do you know what happened to other cities or maybe regions?¡± Alice narrowed her eyes as she tried to recall some information. ¡°I don¡¯t particularly remember that something big happened to other cities. The only noteworthy event was the attack from the tribes of the Earthen Woods.¡± She said. ¡®It seems that I am right. The Hall Power is behind this.¡¯ The frown on Souta¡¯s face grew deeper. The greatest threat¡­ Could it be¡­ ¡­ Two days ago¡­ The White Wheat City was heavily guarded by people from the Astros. Although they were guarding the city, some of the people were relaxed as they knew that they wouldn¡¯t participate in the war against the tribes from Earthen Woods. Still, some people were wondering about the state of the frontline. The tribes were strong and they had countless people. Each one of them was aggressive and they respect strength. At this time, two people stepped inside the White Line City without others noticing them. It was like the people around them hadn¡¯t seen them at all. The two people were wearing white robes that covered their figures. They looked around the area. ¡°Really, the perfect one is here¡­¡± One of the two people said. He raised his hand and pulled down his hood, revealing blonde hair and a pair of cat ears. He was called Drayrin. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that we would see the return of our Emperor so soon. It must be fate that brought her here.¡± The other person said. He also pulled down his hood revealing a white face with pitch-black hair and red eyes. His name was Ragnis. ¡°Should we start now?¡± Drayrin asked. ¡°What about the greatest threat? How will we be able to deal with that?¡± Ragnis answered with a question. ¡°Sir Draymond tasked some people to deal with that monster. They are going to use the energy from Blood Sacrifice and sacrifice themselves if needed.¡± Drayrin said. ¡°Oh, to be able to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. How lowly it is?¡± Ragnis smiled. ¡°Well, let¡¯s start our mission now¡­¡± Drayrin said as a smile formed on his face. Both of their figures blur as they vanish from their position. Ohm!! Yenxa was in her room sitting in a lotus position. She was circulating her energy inside her body to refine every fiber of her body, starting from bones to muscles. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and saw two people in front of her. The two people were wearing white robes and their eyes were filled with interest. ¡®What?! Who are they?¡¯ Yenxa was shocked. She stood up and looked at the two warily. She didn¡¯t know when did they enter her room. It only means one thing, these two people were far beyond her level. There was one thing for sure. These two didn¡¯t come with kind intention. Without hesitation, Yenxa opened her pores and green-colored gas seeped out, filling the whole room with poison gas. She also waved her hand and cast magic spells. ¡°Attacking us as soon as you saw us? You are quite aggressive. As expected for a monster. You are territorial.¡± Ragnis said as he stretched out his hand. Yenxa looked up as her expression turned pale. As soon as Ragnis raised his hand, an enormous amount of mana burst out offsetting the best feram that was coming from Yenxa. The two energy collided and flattened the whole building in the next second. Boom!! The explosion attracted the attention of the experts in the city. They quickly went toward the direction of the explosion and when they arrived, they saw two people wearing white robes. One of them was holding Yenxa by her neck. ¡°Lady Yenxa!!¡± They shouted. Ragnis, who was holding Yenxa, turned his head and said, ¡°Oh, it seems that they are here. Well, let¡¯s wrap this up quickly.¡± ¡°Ugh!¡± Yenxa groaned in pain as she struggled with all of her might. ¡°Hey, even though you¡¯re the perfect one, your level is still far below mine so don¡¯t ever think about fighting me,¡± Ragnis said as he put more force in his hand. ¡°Lady Yenxa!!¡± The experts charged forward as their energy skyrocketed reaching the maximum of their strength. Drayrin, who was watching from the sideline, finally moved. He quickly appeared in front of the experts as both of his hands glowed with blueish light. [Downfall Earth Breaker]!! The sky suddenly turned dark and the atmosphere dropped drastically. The next moment, hundreds of boulders of ice descended like a meteor. ¡°Die! You have no place in our world.¡± The blocks of ice crashed on the ground with insane speed. The experts tried to melt it with fire but it didn¡¯t work. Their strength was too low to even think about countering the Drayrin¡¯s attack. Suddenly, a huge energy net appeared above them and destroyed some of the ice blocks. And a figure landed in front of them and faced Drayrin. ¡°Everyone, I¡¯ll handle this. You should run, the level of these people is too high.¡± The man that appeared was none other than Elder Guan from the Witch Clan. Chapter 798: Elder Guan ¡°Oh, someone with strength has finally appeared¡­ Are you the strongest expert in this city?¡± Drayrin looked at Elder Guan with interest. Elder Guan didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he observed the man in front of him and the other man who was holding Yenxa. He was wondering how he could save Yenxa from these two powerful experts. ¡°You¡¯re too serious. Then, let me see how you react after I do this!¡± Drayrin suddenly charged forward. He raised both of his hands which were covered in blueish light and heavily swung it down at the same time. Swoosh!! A blue ray shot out, sweeping the ground with destructive force. Seeing this, Elder Guan hurriedly summoned his soul weapon. It was a small pill and he placed it in his mouth. It was a pill that would give him the stats similar to any dark grade artifacts. He crossed both of his hands and a huge energy broke out of his body. Elder Guan dashed ahead and collided with the blue ray to prevent it from causing any more destruction. Bang!! The impact caused a ripple in the air. It sucked everything before it spread out like a shockwave. The winds howled wildly as Elder Guan used several combat arts to boost his strength. He continued to charge while deflecting the blue ray to the sky. ¡°You have some skills. I didn¡¯t think I would meet someone as capable as you in this city¡­¡± Drayrin smiled as he imbued more energy in his attack. ¡°Ugh!¡± Elder Guan gritted his teeth as he endured the power of the blue ray. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re part of Souta¡¯s group then it¡¯s understandable,¡± Drayrin said as he pushed his hand forward. His energy flared up to the maximum pushing Elder Guan away. Bang!! Elder Guan was blown away and crashed into several buildings. He felt a numbing sensation all over his body. Despite using his soul weapons and combat art, the enemy still managed to blast him. There were only a few people in his world that could fight him squarely yet in Imperium there were a lot of them. This wasn¡¯t a world where he could fight top experts easily. Ugh! Elder Guan coughed a mouthful of blood. He looked ahead and saw that Drayrin was slowly approaching me. ¡°This is dangerous¡­ I never thought that there was a dangerous enemy in this place. Why did they want to take Yenxa?¡± He stood up and wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. ¡°You can¡¯t defeat me. Just accept death like a dog.¡± Draynin said as he raised his hand and gathered a huge amount of mana. Suddenly, Drayrin turned his head as he felt something. The next second, a sea of flame fell down from the sky, devouring the entire land. It was followed by a powerful roar that shook the ground. Elder Guan didn¡¯t waste his time as he grabbed ahold of this opportunity. He quickly used [Element Drive] to maximize his strength to the limit as he charged forward. Swoosh!! His figure kept blurring as he moved in the direction of Yenxa. But before he could even approach her, Drayrin appeared beside him. ¡°Do you really think that level of fire is enough to hold me back?¡± Drayrin asked. Elder Guan was shocked. Even after using [Element Drive], this guy was able to catch up with him. This level of speed was insane. Elder Guan realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to outrun this guy so he swung his hand. ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Drayrin smiled as he lifted his hand and deflected the punch. Then, he clenched his fist and delivered a heavy blow to Elder Guan¡¯s stomach. Bang! Elder Guan was pushed away but he steadied himself. He looked up and saw a huge figure descending at high speed. ¡°Yuko?¡± Elder Guan muttered. Drayrin also looked up and saw a flaming bear falling in his direction. A smile formed on his face as he threw a punch toward the incoming bear. Boom!! The collision shook the ground as cracks spread out like a spider web. The flames scattered around and burned dozens of houses. Elder Guan took a deep breath as his body transformed in a blink of an eye. Strings of silver-colored flesh covered his whole body and several tentacle-like things sprouted on his back. Yuko also used her parasite and everything that she had got. Elder Guan and Yuko fought Drayrin fiercely. Their speed was unbelievably fast and their power shook and devastated the area around them. Bang! Bang! Bang! Hundreds of buildings were destroyed in just a few minutes. The whole area turned into a hell of fire as Yuko used her maximum firepower against Drayrin. In the end, she could only support Elder Guan in a battle as Drayrin¡¯s power was clearly above her. Drayrin looked at Yuko with interest in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re suitable too but not as good as the perfect one. You can make a good substitute.¡± ¡°Stop talking shit!!¡± Elder Guan roared as he put all of his might in his fist. He threw it and Drayrin faced it without fear in his eyes. ¡°Interesting. Let me see what you¡¯ve got.¡± Drayrin smiled as he threw him a punch. Boom!! Ragnis, who captured Yenxa, looked at the battle before his eyes. He was unfazed at the aftershocks of the fierce battle. ¡°Hey, finish this quickly. I got the perfect one and I think that the greatest threat is coming. They are gonna start using the energy from Blood Sacrifice. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.¡± Ragnis said with a bored look. Drayrin smiled as he glanced at Yuko and Elder Guan while dodging their attacks. ¡°You hear that. I¡¯m gonna finish this so prepare yourself.¡± Elder Guan opened his eyes widely. Goosebumps assaulted his body as he detected a very high amount of energy exploded from Drayrin¡¯s body. The next moment, Drayrin was already beside him and Yuko was thrown far away in the city. Her paw rolled in the air, spilling blood everywhere. ¡°Yuko¡­?!¡± Elder Guan muttered in disbelief. Before Elder Guan could even react, he felt intense pressure all over his body. In an instant, he was smashed into the ground creating a deep crater with a diameter of a hundred meters. Ugh! He spat a mouthful of blood and saw that both of his legs were gone. Elder Guan used the ability of the parasite to grow another pair of legs. Cough¡­ Cough¡­ Elder Guan looked tired as he stared at Drayrin who was hovering in the air. He felt a numbing sensation all over his body and his eyelids felt heavy. Is this it¡­? Am I gonna die like this? I¡­ Elder Guan slowly turned his head. A huge fluctuation of energy was rising in the distance. ¡°Yuko¡­ You¡­?¡± Elder Guan gritted his teeth as he forced himself to stand. Blood gushed out of his wounds and the parasite quickly stopped the bleeding. Drayrin moved his eyes away from Elder Guan. Even Ragnis, who was bored, stared into the distance. The energy fluctuation was rising nonstop. ¡°To think that it will try to evolve in this situation. Isn¡¯t this asking for death? Anyways, let¡¯s end this farce.¡± Drayrin raised his palm. Dots of light formed around him and gathered around his palm. The dots of light turned into a small ball of energy. It expanded and shrank every second as the energy in the atmosphere swirled around it like a hurricane. ¡°Trying to evolve. It wouldn¡¯t work even if she successfully evolve. It¡¯s too low.¡± Ragnis said as he too observed the situation. In his understanding, there¡¯s no way a newly evolve fourth stage could fight them. Even if that fourth stage could match Drayrin, he was still here. He was stronger by a huge margin. ¡°Damn, I have to move¡­¡± Elder Guan gritted his teeth. He forced his entire body to move. ¡®If I¡¯m gonna die then at least I have to¡­¡¯ Elder Guan looked in the direction where he could feel the energy of Yuko. His eyes were burning with intense determination. ¡°Take this¡­ This is my gift.¡± Drayrin said softly as the energy in his palm exploded and shot into the distance. [Catastrophe Blast]!! The energy blast destroyed everything in its path. The ground was split into two as the beam continued to move forward without stopping. In fact, it even sped up and gained more power. Swoosh!! Suddenly, a silhouette of a man appeared in front of the beam. The man raised both of his hands as he tried to block or deflect the powerful blast of energy. It was Elder Guan. ¡°ARGHHH!!!¡± Elder Guan groaned in pain as wounds appeared on his body before it disappeared in the next second. This cycle continued as the beam grew stronger and stronger. If it wasn¡¯t for the parasite he would have collapsed a long time ago. Elder Guan was really amazed by the regenerative ability of the parasite. ¡°It¡¯s like he is immortal,¡± Drayrin said and he put more force into his attack. Boom!! Elder Guan was pushed back and he was swallowed by the energy blast. I¡­ At least want to meet young miss¡­ I hope that¡­ Chapter 799: Fall I¡­ Elder Guan looked at the beam in front of him. His defense collapsed and he realized that there was no way he could overturn this situation. His heart felt calm and his expression changed. He had a peaceful look on his face as the beam slowly swallowed him. Elder Guan recalled everything. He was a young genius back then. He defeated the other witches and was hailed as one of the children that would bring the Witch Clan to the highest. Only a few people could match him. One of them was Amanda¡¯s father. They grew up together and became close friends as he watched him become the Clan Leader. They fought side by side for the future of the clan. I¡­ I¡¯m going to meet you soon¡­ I¡¯m sorry that I didn¡¯t protect your daughter. Boom!! Elder Guan tried his best but he couldn¡¯t even stop the enemy¡¯s attack. The energy beam broke through all of his defense and continued to move forward. Eventually, it reached Yuko¡¯s location and caused a giant explosion. The explosion caused a mushroom of clouds that reached hundreds of meters above the ground. Everything around it was annihilated. ¡°Hmph, what a guy.¡± Drayrin smiled as he recalled Elder Guan¡¯s last expression. Even in the face of death, he never showed fear and despair. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Ragnis said as he removed his gaze from the explosion. Even the aura of the bear disappeared so everything was finished. ¡°Fine.¡± Drayrin nodded. They were about to leave when they felt a huge fluctuation of energy. The energy shot through the sky and bathed everything in crimson light. The mana bored down and pressured every living being in the area. ¡°This is¡­¡± Drayrin and Ragnis opened their eyes widely. They were familiar with this brutal energy. There¡¯s no doubt that this was the energy from the Blood Sacrifice. The energy they gathered from performing the ritual throughout the years was finally unleashed. No one would have thought that the warrior who brought the perfect one to start their plan would also bring the greatest threat. But no one in the Hall of Power thought that it was a disaster. For them, it was a challenge that they needed to overcome to complete their plan. There¡¯s no such thing as smooth sailing in this world. Everyone has their own challenges. Luckily, they were prepared. The amount of energy they amassed through the sacrificial ceremony was enormous. It was enough for them to overcome this trial. Their hard work wasn¡¯t in vain. Drayrin and Ragnis flew in the sky at the same time. They looked in the direction where the energy was coming from. It was far away but they could see people fighting in the distance around a huge monster. ¡°They are starting it¡­ After this, we won¡¯t have anything that could stop us in this place. We will be able to achieve our goal.¡± The group of people was fighting people in armor around the huge monster. The monster¡¯s body was terrifying as it emitted a vast amount of best feram that rendered the lower level experts useless. ROAR!!! Its approximate height was about five hundred meters. It has nine heads and its body was emitting a black fog that blocked most of the attacks that were coming at it. It was the Nine-Headed Hydra. The hydra was bathed in the crimson light as its terrifying strength was slowly corroding into nothingness. Still, it fought fiercely and directly killed several experts around it. Ragnis and Drayrin watched the battle several dozens of kilometers away. ¡°Do you think they could stop that monster? There are other experts helping it.¡± Drayrin asked. ¡°They can. No matter how powerful a fifth stage is, it¡¯s still a fifth stage in the end. The energy from the Blood Sacrifice comes from our Lord, the one and only true Emperor.¡± Ragnis answered. ¡°So, the Hydra will not be able to escape from it. After all, we¡¯re using a large amount of energy from the Blood Sacrifice to suppress it. Plus, the hydra is weaker than I imagined.¡± Drayrin paused and added, ¡°I heard that it was a powerful monster that Heracles couldn¡¯t kill before.¡± ¡°Yeah, so Heracles only sealed it before reaching godhood. It means that it only got out of being sealed so its strength hasn¡¯t recovered yet.¡± Ragnis smiled and shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Nevertheless, it wouldn¡¯t be able to escape imprisonment even if it gained its full strength.¡± The Nine-Headed Hydra fought back fiercely. Even under the suppression of the crimson light, it still managed to show a powerful strength beyond their imagination. The experts around it tried to help it fight the people from the Hall of Power but they were suppressed by crimson light. The crimson light in the sky grew brighter and bright. After a few minutes, it completely restrained all the experts that were helping the hydra. Even the hydra¡¯s strength had diminished greatly. Soon, the light was too bright to the point that it blocked everyone¡¯s vision. Ragnis and Drayrin couldn¡¯t even see what was happening there. But they knew that everything was going according to their plan. The greatest threat in the plan would be suppressed in that place until they achieved their goal and the energy from the Blood Sacrifice disappeared. ¡°We need to get out of this place now,¡± Drayrin said. ¡°Well, we already completed our job and I¡¯m quite excited to see the return of our emperor,¡± Ragnis said with an excited look. He was already imagining what would happen at that time. Drayrin and Ragnis flew into the sky and left the White Wheat City destroyed. The city was devastated and a lot of people were caught up in the battle. The few survivors were trying to help people who were on their last breath. Drayrin¡¯s last attack was so powerful that it even killed Elder Guan who was powerful among the One Shackle Realm. ¡­ Souta and Alice arrived at a certain area far away from the devastated White Wheat City. They were standing in front of a huge crimson crystal. The crystal was emitting pure energy greater than what they¡¯d seen before. Its height reached seven hundred meters and has a diameter of five hundred meters. Inside the crystal was an enormous monster with nine heads. It was the Nine-Headed Hydra. Aside from Kessa, there were other experts too that were sealed inside it. ¡°I see¡­ So everything that man said is true.¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. ¡°Are they sealed?¡± Alice asked worriedly. ¡°From the looks of it, yes,¡± Souta answered before he looked at the sky. The crimson energy net that covered the entire Hall Plains. He continued, ¡°I think that this is the energy from the Blood Sacrifice that they are talking about. It is connected to that thing that isolated the whole Hall Plains. If we wanted to crystal, then we have to break that crimson net first.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Alice widened her eyes. That¡¯s impossible with their current strength. The power of the crimson net was beyond their imagination. Unless¡­ ¡°The outside force helps us or we find the core of it,¡± Souta said. ¡°Outside force? Do you mean a God?¡± Alice asked as she observed the crimson energy net. ¡°Yes, only someone at that level could break it. The energy from that crimson net is too vast and it seems that the enemy collected that energy through Blood Sacrifice for a long time.¡± Souta paused as he turned his head to the towering mountain. ¡°But the net seems to be fused with the Mountain of Demise. It means that breaking the net will also shatter the Mountain of Demise.¡± ¡°In short, the one sealed in that mountain will also break free.¡± Alice understood. She recalled what Governor Ray had said to her before. ¡°The Hall of Power birthed a powerful creature and it seems that it alerted the Commandments.¡± Souta glanced at her as it was his first time hearing this story. ¡°Is that real?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Alice nodded and proceeded to recount what Governor Ray said to her. Souta listened to her words and his expression slightly changed. Five out of the Ten Commandments of God¡¯s Will attacked the Hall of Power? That¡¯s¡­ It seems that there is a bigger scheme that he wasn¡¯t aware of. ¡°So, the child of the Ancestor of the Hall of Power is suspected to be connected to the goal of God¡¯s Will. Even the other gods are involved since they destroyed almost every evidence left of that child.¡± Souta rubbed his chin. After thinking for a few minutes, he shook his head. He couldn¡¯t think how or why? But he would know the answer once he goes to the Mountain of Demise. This must be the Unprecedented Child in his quest. Souta glanced at Alice and said, ¡°Prepare everyone. We¡¯re going to expand our reach and go to the Mountain of Demise.¡± ¡°Do you think that Yenxa is still alive?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Yes, I can still feel the connection between me and her through the contract. It seems that she is on that mountain too.¡± Souta nodded. Chapter 800: War ¡°Where¡¯s the reinforcement from Athen¡¯s Champion?¡± Souta asked. ¡°They departed already. I think they are heading toward the Mountain of Demise.¡± Alice answered. ¡°If that¡¯s the case then let¡¯s move our forces. Call everyone available.¡± Souta said before he turned around with a cold look on his face. The final battle would occur in that place. All forces within the Hall Plains would gather to stop the impending doom. They were on their own there was no way that they could rely on outsiders to save them. ¡­ Souta and Alice returned to Ekatoe City. Alice quickly assembled all the available forces that the Astros could muster. The witches and the other departments could feel the tension in the air. Especially, the witches since one of their elders had died. Eilish was still in the other city fighting the tribes from the Earthen Woods. She wasn¡¯t alone, she was fighting along with the other heads of the Dragon Council. Plus, she already reached Second Shackles so her chances of survival were high compared to Elder Guan. Isabella, Gragas, Torkez, Alice, Eztein, and Doranjan gathered all of their troops around the plaza of the city. Souta was sitting on the highest chair while looking down at them. Even the Shimpan Family and the other strong family who swore their allegiance to Souta were present. Everyone could feel the seriousness of this situation. Souta¡¯s aura was oozing out of his body to the point that it could harm normal people. In regard to this, Alice took Aina and Anzu away for safety purposes. Souta looked at the troops for a while before he turned his attention to the huge green dragon, Doranjan. He slowly opened his mouth and said, ¡°Where¡¯s the Devouring Alligator? I thought that I gave you a task to bring that monster to me.¡± ¡°My Lord, She said that she will visit us later,¡± Doranjan said respectfully. He couldn¡¯t call Souta¡¯s name in this situation. ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t care about her. I will give you one more chance. Go to her territory and say that if she does not come under my wing, then I will treat her as a threat. I will attack and demolish everything that she possessed.¡± Souta¡¯s voice brought pressure on everyone in the plaza. Everyone realized that Souta had grown stronger once again. The pressure that he brought was far stronger than before. ¡°I understand, My Lord. I will complete this task as soon as possible.¡± Doranjan said. Souta removed his eyes from Doranjan and glanced at the Red Dragon beside him. After a while, he looked at Gragas. ¡°Gragas, you will stay here to protect the city. I will leave one hundred troops in your care.¡± Souta said. Then, he turned to the Shimpan Family and the rest, ¡°You too will stay here. Follow Gragas¡¯ commands while I¡¯m not here.¡± ¡°I understand, My Lord.¡± Gragas and the others said at the same time. After saying what he wanted, Souta quickly went to the main topic. ¡°First Head of the Dragon Council, Governor Ray, brought his troops and marched towards the Spring Land. He is planning to expand the influence of the Mine Valley while heading to the Mountain of Demise.¡± Souta paused for a moment before he continued, ¡°And I have the same plan as him. We will go to the Mountain of Demise but on a different route. We will traverse through the boundary between the Spring Land and Earthen Woods. It will be easy.¡± The big forces of the Spring Land were mostly gone so Governor Ray would have an easy time there. The tribes in the Earthen Woods were busy dealing with the other heads of the Dragon Council so they wouldn¡¯t have enough people to stop Souta. ¡°I will bring you there to conquer. Don¡¯t show anyone who disobeyed mercy. We will fight and kill.¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. ¡°And I will¡­ grab the whole Hall Plains.¡± He then proceeded to tell them his plan. Alice and Isabella would separate from them after they traverse the boundary of the two regions. They would go to the northern part of the Mountain of Demise. Eztein and Torkez would be in the same group as their task was to enter the eastern side of the mountain. Souta and the main group would head to the western part. They would pave a road and demolish everything in their path. ¡­ After a few days, Souta and the rest departed from Ekatoe City. Souta recovered his stamina and energy too so he could fight with all of his strength. He led hundreds of troops to advance toward the Mountain of Demise. The troops went to the boundary between Spring Land and Earthen Woods unbridled. There were some people from the other forces in that area but they were no match for Souta¡¯s troops. They annihilated everything that got in their path. It was a swift operation that shook the other regions but they had no time to respond to Souta since they were also facing their own problems. While Souta was marching forward, a piece of news spread out that shook the whole Hall Plains. The Murder Society had fallen. At the same time, the name of the Hall of Power appeared and stories about them were heard in every corner of the Hall Plains. Various regions responded to this and sent their most powerful forces to the Mountain of Demise. Then, the Hall of Power declared that everyone would die soon. Everyone in the Hall Plains would become a sacrifice. They set up a huge sacrificial ritual that covered everything within the scope of the crimson energy net. There¡¯s no way out except to defeat the Hall of Power. Even if they didn¡¯t want to announce this, all large forces would spread it so they took an initiative. At the same time, they also told everyone that those who joined their cause will be spared by their emperor. In the Mountain of Demise, a group of people gathered at the peak of the mountain. They were setting up a ritual, a ritual different from the Blood Sacrifice. This ritual was for the return of their emperor. ¡°Soon! Our emperor will return!¡± Draymond laughed as he raised both of his hands and looked at the dark sky. Behind him were various top members of the Hall of Power. They already crossed out the greatest threat in their plan so there¡¯s nothing in the Hall Plains that could stop them. They were that confident. ¡°The time has come! Those gods will pay greatly once our emperor has returned!¡± Draymond¡¯s voice echoed throughout the whole mountain. He smiled as he turned around and looked at the members of the Hall of Power. ¡°Let¡¯s start the ritual!¡± ¡­ Outside of the Hall Plains. A man appeared above the sky looking down at the crimson energy net that covered the whole region like a dome. He was wearing a black robe with red fur on its collar. Underneath his robe was a white shirt and black pants which were covered in various runes. He had sharp features and his pair of brown eyes were glistening with energy. His hair was messy and its color was chestnut. This man was famous throughout the Imperium. His name was Esquin Georagnisus. The man who ruled the Sin of Gluttony. Just a mention of his name would shake various gods from different factions. Today, he visited a barren land because of the event that happened here a thousand years ago. ¡°To think that you¡¯re secretly planning all this time. I wonder if you will be able to succeed this time.¡± Esquin muttered to himself. The crimson energy net had fused with the Mountain of Demise. It means that once a god shattered it, it would also break the Mountain of Demise that sealed the No God Emperor. Well, shattering the crimson energy net was extremely hard since it already fused with the Mountain of Demise that could seal No God Emperor. ¡°I¡¯m sure that this alerted various gods. I wonder how they would react to this.¡± Esquin smiled. No God Emperor was the only creature that was born free. A creature born without shackles. Someone at the Freedom Realm at birth. It scared various gods and they were forced to commit this crime that they wouldn¡¯t be able to forget. ¡°But why haven¡¯t I heard anything about it? It seems that the remains of the Hall of Power hid quite well. After they discovered it, it was already too late. The crimson net has fused with the Mountain of Demise so they couldn¡¯t do anything.¡± After all, high-level factions were dealing with different things. It was hard to monitor everything outside of their territory and they were also wary of the other factions. There¡¯s also the case that the Hall of Power didn¡¯t really move since they haven¡¯t found the perfect one yet. They walked around the Hall Plains, taking different identities. They only started moving after they confirmed the appearance of the perfect one. So the Large Countries and Holy Land reacted too late since they were dealing with problems regarding demons too. Also, the Ruin Battlefield affairs and the other organizations under Gluttony were moving too. It means that everyone was caught off guard when the Hall of Power moved. They lacked manpower. Esquin suddenly turned his head and raised his eyebrows with interest. ¡°They are finally here.¡± Chapter 801: Return of the Legend Souta and the others arrived at the central region. He already separated from the other groups that would take the other entrances of the Mountain of Demise. Souta had a calm look on his face as he gazed at the enormous mountain. Although he looked calm, deep inside he wasn¡¯t. The situation this time was worse than he imagine but he couldn¡¯t let it show on his face or else his subordinates would lose their morale. It was his responsibility as a leader. Elder Guan had died along with the other members of the Astros. Yenxa was missing, Yuko was heavily injured, and Kessa was sealed with others. He had to keep calm even though they suffered such devastating loss. Plus, the entire Hall Plains was covered in that crimson energy net. No one would be able to leave and enter this land anymore. The only way out here was to defeat the enemies. Souta couldn¡¯t help but look at the people standing behind him. He didn¡¯t know how many of them would die after this but he needed them to defeat the enemies. Alone, Souta didn¡¯t have a chance to stop the plan of the Hall of Power. That¡¯s why he had to bring the force of the Astros. ¡®Also, where are the warriors of Athena? They should be here too.¡¯ Souta tightly clenched both of his fists. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Kill everyone who tries to stop us.¡± Souta said coldly as he stepped forward into the central region. The central region was in a chaotic state. A bunch of organizations were fighting left and right. Some of them were on the side of the Hall of Power in hopes that the Hall of Power would spare them for the upcoming purge. Astros wasn¡¯t the only one that arrived at the central regions. The organizations from the other regions had arrived too. Some of them wanted to stop the plan of the Hall of Power while the rest sided with the Hall of Power. It became a full-blown war in just a day. Battles and corpses were everywhere. ¡°Kill them all¡­¡± Souta commanded while staring at the group of people hundreds of meters away from him. The other side approximately has two hundred people and a few of them reach the Realm of Shackles. Judging from the words that they were shouting, he knew that they were on the side of the Hall of Power. ¡°GO!!!¡± The soldiers of Astros roared as they charged with all of their might. The battle started instantly the moment he arrived at the central region. Souta simply walked nonchalantly in the middle of the battlefield. Swoosh! A man armed with a huge axe jumped beside him. ¡°You¡¯re mine!!¡± The man roared as he heavily swung the axe in his hand at Souta¡¯s neck. Souta didn¡¯t even look at the man. He simply waved his hand before the man exploded. His internal organs were scattered everywhere. The blood flowed in the air and swirled above Souta. Ohm! A witch hurriedly ran to Souta¡¯s side. He was gasping and said between his breath, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, My Lord. You are forced to move because of our mistake. I will stand by your side so you don¡¯t have to deal with everything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just kill as much as you can.¡± Souta answered calmly. He continued to walk as several humanoids emerged from his shadow. The doppelganger quickly darted toward the Shackled Realm experts. As long as he could deal with the Shackled Realm experts, his forces would easily dismantle the enemy¡¯s forces. Clang! Clang! Sounds of weapons clashing echoed in the area. Every second a shockwave would sweep out in every direction followed by a series of explosions. The Liquefying Realm and Solidifying Realm experts were going all out. Souta was still unfazed. Soon, he passed through the forces of the enemy. The people who tried to attack him were all dead as their blood flows above him. He didn¡¯t stop and soon the enemy forces were annihilated. He collected all the souls without looking back as the members of the Astros followed him. As a leader, Souta didn¡¯t need to move all the time. His people needed experience so that they could help him in his future battles. If he babysit them, Souta was sure that they wouldn¡¯t last long in the Great War. They would just cower in fear and lose sight of the most important thing. The ability to move in the presence of fear and despair. Even if it¡¯s hard, they had to experience this. They need to have a good foundation. Or else¡­ It would be useless. Well, he was dealing with Shackled Realm experts so that they wouldn¡¯t be overpowered. The members of Astros should be able to deal with experts below Shackled Realm. Souta narrowed his eyes as he tried to calm his wildly beating heart. He took a huge stride as the members of the Astros followed him with burning determination. ¡®We can win this¡­¡¯ Souta¡¯s eyes suddenly contracted. He turned his head and felt the vibration on the ground as a vast energy erupted in a distance. ¡°This aura¡­ There¡¯s no doubt that someone at Second Shackles is fighting.¡± It seems that higher level experts were raging war in this land too. He sensed the energy signature and found that he wasn¡¯t familiar with it so it was probably an unknown Two Shackles Realm expert. ¡°Follow me. Don¡¯t do anything else aside from following me.¡± Souta said without looking back at his people. His target wasn¡¯t the other experts. He doesn¡¯t care if they kill each other. The group rushed ahead and defeated all kinds of enemies in their paths. They didn¡¯t show any mercy and slaughtered everything. No one was spared except for those who were identified as allies. By the time they traveled dozens of kilometers, the whole ground was bathed in red. The space above them was covered in the red sea. From the beginning up to this, Souta gathered all the blood of the creatures that his group killed. He controlled all the blood to follow him. There¡¯s nothing that could stop him anymore. ¡­ Eztein and Torkez¡¯s side. They arrived at the site with the members of Astros and saw a desolate land. The whole area was filled with intense heat and flames along with strong winds would burst out from the cracks in the ground. There were countless corpses scattered across the land. Some of them were burned while some were sliced apart. The stench was strong as the members of the Astros with weak stomachs started to puke. ¡°What is this¡­?¡± Eztein frowned. ¡°Something occurred here¡­¡± Torkez muttered as he crouched down and observed the land. Eztein looked ahead and said, ¡°I can feel a presence in that direction.¡± He turned to Torkez and asked, ¡°Should we go or not?¡± Torkez didn¡¯t answer immediately. Instead, he asked, ¡°What do you think is the cause of this? A One Shackle? Or maybe above?¡± ¡°Probably One Shackle¡­ If it¡¯s Two Shackles expert then the damage to the land would be much worse.¡± Eztein said after pondering. ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go.¡± Torkez decided. If it¡¯s a One Shackle then the group would be able to handle it. If it¡¯s above them it would be a problem. The group advanced cautiously. They traveled several kilometers when an energy flared up in the distance ahead of them. Eztein and Torkez looked up. They were familiar with this aura. They hurriedly moved with the rest of the Astros. When they arrived at the site, the scene was strangely quiet. Corpses were scattered everywhere and a person was standing in the center of it. The aura around the person was fluctuating highly, creating a vision of white steam around his body. ¡°You¡­!!¡± Eztein and Torkez widened their eyes. The person turned his head and looked at the group with a huge grin on his face. ¡°Oh, you guys are here.¡± He said. ¡­ Draymond looked up and smiled. He opened his arms widely before a huge pillar of crimson light shot through the sky. Boom!! The whole mountain started to vibrate. The energy around it grew stronger and stronger until it tore through the crimson energy net and expanded into outer space. The pillar of crimson light even pierced the dense mana in the atmosphere of Imperium. ¡°This is it!! All the energy we gathered from our ritual is for this very moment!!¡± Draymond laughed madly. The vibration spread out and shook the entire Hall Plains. It disturbed every living being in the whole region. Even the people who didn¡¯t have an idea about the Mountain of Demise could feel that something bad would happen soon. ¡°The return of our emperor is here!!¡± The other members of the Hall of Power knelt down and started to pray. Their voices synchronized as it gives more power to the crimson light, turning it into a more terrifying energy. They pray to god. Their hope. The return of the blessed being. A being that scared most of the gods and monster lords. The being who once declared war to the entirety of Imperium. The No God Emperor, the man who was born free. Chapter 802: Chaos in Hall Plains: Start of War Souta and the rest finally arrived in front of the Mountain of Demise. The central region was huge and it took them a day just to arrive at this place. They even passed through the territory of the Imperial Family. The only problem was that there were thousands of people blocking their path. From the looks of it, these people were hostile to him. They weren¡¯t going to let Souta¡¯s group enter the Mountain of Demise. A battle was the expected outcome between these two sides. ¡°Everyone, prepare for battle,¡± Souta said in a low voice but his words traveled through every member of Astros. He observed the strength of the opposite side using his [Galaxy Eyes]. He found that there was no need to worry about the enemy except for their numbers. The enemy only had two Two Shackles and seven One Shackle experts. It was nothing compared to him. Boom!! Suddenly, the ground shook heavily. Souta and the rest looked at the sky and saw a pillar of crimson energy shooting toward outer space. ¡°What is this¡­?¡± Souta muttered as he tightly knitted his brows. ¡®The ritual has started. I didn¡¯t think that it was connected to a sub-world. A bridge has appeared and if you go to the top of the Mountain of Demise you will find it. It means that the sub-world is a sacrifice and will create a mirage so that the being sealed inside the mountain will be able to go out.¡¯ Saya explained. ¡°Then¡­¡± Souta looked down. Some of his equipment skills were still on cooldown. He couldn¡¯t use them yet but he had a way to defeat Draymond. ¡°Everyone!! Attack!!¡± Souta shouted as his energy burst out of his body. He immediately summoned his doppelgangers. Swoosh!! Instantly, the two sides clashed fiercely on the foot of the Mountain of Demise. The soldiers of Astros quickly used their parasitic transformation to boost their combat power. It was natural since they were fighting several people at a time. The numbers of the enemy were high so they had to use everything that they could. Boom!! Souta manipulated the blood that he gathered. The sea of blood charged through the top powerhouses of the enemy¡¯s side along with the doppelgangers. All the Shackled Realm experts would be handled by him. Bang! Souta moved his body as fast as he could. The One Shackle experts could only see a blur in the air. It was a speed that exceeded the perception of a One Shackle. It was too fast. In an instant, Souta appeared in front of them as he brandished the sword on his waist. He was about to swing it down on their necks when the two Two Shackles experts appeared beside him. Both of them attacked Souta with all of their might. Bang!! Souta was blown dozens of meters in the sky. He then waved his hands as thousands of blood spears were fired in the blink of an eye. The two Two Shackles experts tried to block all the blood spears but then they realized something was wrong. ¡°It¡¯s too late¡­¡± Souta smirked. The two Two Shackles experts widened their eyes as they swiftly turned around. They saw Souta¡¯s seven doppelgangers dashing through the blood spears as they attacked the One Shackles experts. Bang! Bang! At the same time, Souta kicked the air and propelled himself toward the Two Shackles experts. The blade in his hand glowed with crimson light. Swoosh! ¡°Huh?¡± The two Two Shackles experts were stunned. They slowly turned around and saw that Souta was standing behind them with his back facing them. Their visions slowly turned black as a red line appeared on their body. Spurt!! The next second, their bodies were split apart. Their blood sprayed in the air but it didn¡¯t fall on the ground. Instead, all the blood flowed in midair and joined the sea of blood. Souta sheathed his sword and took a deep breath. He just defeated two Two Shackles Realm experts in just a matter of seconds. Normally, it would take at least a minute but this time he didn¡¯t have the time to play around. In that split second when he swung his sword, Souta activated various skills along with [Possession] to catch them off guard. It worked since they didn¡¯t expect that Souta would suddenly grow stronger at that certain moment. ¡°It was short but that burst consumed some of my energy,¡± Souta muttered as he tightly clenched his fist. He stood up and slightly turned his head. ¡°Everyone, I¡¯m going ahead. I¡¯ve taken care of all Shackled Realm experts so you guys deal with the rest. I hope you can use this battle to improve yourself.¡± After he said those words, Souta took a stride toward the mountain. Astros¡¯ name resounded throughout the entirety of central region. Their unbridled actions gathered a lot of attention as they marched through the Mountain of Demise. They annihilated all the people that get in their path. Not a single mercy was given to those people. At this moment, a lot of organizations learned about the Astros arriving at the foot of the Mountain of Demise. Some bonded together to stop Astros while others hoped that Astros could stop the impending calamity. Souta destroyed everything in his path. He arrived near the peak of the mountain and gazed at the pillar of crimson energy. He stopped moving as a figure appeared far away from him. He was familiar with this figure. This man was none other than Draymond, the one he fought in the capital of Heiro Kingdom. ¡°So you¡¯re here?¡± Draymond said with a faint smile on his face. ¡°Do you like my gifts?¡± ¡°Gifts¡­¡± Souta narrowed his eyes as he felt rage brewing in his heart. He was duped by this man. Elder Guan had died along with the other experts of Astros and Kessa has been sealed once again. Souta didn¡¯t understand it at first but after seeing those scenes, he realized that everything was in the plan of this guy. Souta didn¡¯t even know how to explain Elder Guan¡¯s death to Amanda. Elder Guan was the closest witch to Amanda. She would be devastated once she learned about his death. ¡°This time¡­ I will kill you.¡± Souta said in a cold tone. His two energy cores were full of energy and he guessed that it would be fine to use it for now. ¡°Where did you get that confidence? Did you forget what happened last time?¡± Draymond asked with a mocking smile. ¡°I almost thought that you would not come after me. I thought that you gave up since you haven¡¯t made a move in the past few days. Did you know that the ritual only lasted for two weeks? And right now it will be completed soon.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your problem,¡± Souta answered. He didn¡¯t immediately head here because he had to make sure that he recovered to his peak and let some of his equipment skills finish their cooldown time. If not, he was sure that he wouldn¡¯t be able to fight this guy. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. No matter what you do today, the ritual is already fixed. Our emperor will return.¡± Draymond said. Souta took a deep breath as his aura rose sharply. Draymond smiled and his aura burst out of his body too. In an instant, the two figures collided in midair causing a violent shockwave to sweep out in every direction. Boom!! The soldiers of Astros looked up. They could feel the vibration in the air and they knew that their Lord was already fighting. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this!!¡± They roared as they raised their weapons above their heads. Strings of flesh writhed as they covered their bodies like armor. ¡­ On Eztein and Torkez¡¯s side. ¡°You guys are here!¡± An old man said with a huge grin on his face. His clothes were filled with blood stains. ¡°Franklin!!¡± Eztein and Torkez exclaimed when they saw the old man¡¯s appearance. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen each other for a long time.¡± Torkez said before he asked, ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I followed Souta on the Bland City and chased after an unknown guy. That guy is tricky and managed to trap me. I was lucky that I survived and then, that mountain appeared all of a sudden.¡± Franklin said as he pointed his finger at the Mountain of Demise. ¡°I came here because I want to know more about this mountain. Do you perhaps know anything about it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain also known as the Mountain of Demise,¡± Eztein said as he slowly explained what was that huge mountain that almost reached outer space. ¡°What?! So you¡¯re telling me that we are confined in Hall Plains?! So our leader rallied our forces to stop it!¡± Franklin was surprised after he heard the explanation. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the gist of it. We have to go on another route.¡± Torkez nodded. He then recalled something. ¡°Are you traveling alone? Did you see Amanda?¡± ¡°Amanda? That little witch. No, I haven¡¯t seen her.¡± Franklin shook his head. He then smiled and said, ¡°More importantly, we should go there. I can feel it. The presence of strong people that will entertain me.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. Amanda is probably fine. Souta gave her a different task last time but¡­ I wonder if she heard the news about Elder Guan.¡± Eztein said. Chapter 803: Chaos in Hall Plains: Souta vs Draymond I Souta and Draymond fought at an extremely fast speed. Their figures kept flickering as they collided hundreds of times in just a second. Waves of energy kept spreading out like a ripple as sparks would fly out every second. Bang! Bang! ¡°You¡¯ve grown stronger again!¡± Draymond said as he threw a punch at Souta. Souta raised his sword and blocked the punch but the force behind it still managed to blow him away. His body crashed into the nearby rock causing the entire mountain to shake. ¡°Ehe~ while I¡¯m recuperating, I¡¯m also training myself in the past week.¡± Souta laughed as he waved the vajra sword in his hand. His aura skyrocketed as he activated [Soul Blood Mode] and [Possession]. The blood also coated his body and turned into armor. [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]!! ¡°This again! You never failed to amaze me! If you join hands with me then nothing could stop us!¡± Draymond said. ¡°You¡¯re dreaming. You don¡¯t know how many powerful creatures are hiding in this world.¡± Souta laughed at his opponent¡¯s words. He slightly bent his knees and launched himself at Draymond like a rocket. Swoosh!! ¡°So be it.¡± Draymond activated his combat arts to boost his strength. Boom!! The two collided once again. The collision caused an extreme reaction as energy sparks rained down on the ground. Despite using several of his aces, Souta was being pushed back by his opponent. As expected, a Four Shackles Realm expert was still too much for him. He was forced to use his release form earlier than he imagined. Without his universal and dark grade artifacts, he didn¡¯t think that he would win against Draymond in a one-on-one battle. He calculated his strength and guessed that his overall stats were between Three Shackles and Four Shackles Realm. Souta fiercely clashed with Draymond. The release form only lessened a little bit of his pressure but he was finding an opportunity, an opportunity to end this once and for all. This was the reason why he tried to fight Draymond. Bang! Bang! ¡°You think you can defeat me?! Without that hydra, you can¡¯t stop me. Plus, even if you stop me now. The ritual has already started.¡± Draymond laughed. ¡°Hmph! I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Souta snorted as he swiftly swung his sword repeatedly. In just a second, he threw thousands of slashes at his enemy. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Draymond was fast. He managed to block all of the slashes and even made a counterattack. He delivered a fast blow on Souta¡¯s face and stomach in the blink of an eye. Bang! Bang! Ugh! Souta spat a mouthful of blood as his armor formed a huge crack. ¡°Your subordinate will not return to you! That one is a sacrifice to our emperor!¡± Draymond laughed as he kicked Souta in the stomach. Souta¡¯s body bent as he crashed into the side of the mountain, creating a huge pit. Cough! Cough! Blood gushed out of his mouth as he stared at Draymond who was floating in the air. He gritted his teeth and felt the anger in his heart about to explode. ¡°You take Yenxa away!! You fucking shit will die today and no one will be able to save you even your shit emperor!!¡± Souta said with clear anger in his tone. He lost a lot because of this man so he would get his revenge. He knew that his journey wouldn¡¯t be an easy one and there were people that would die. He already accepted that some of them would die but¡­ He wouldn¡¯t let their death be in vain. Souta would murder and rip the souls of the people that killed them. He was a hypocrite. He killed people but didn¡¯t want people beside him to die. Yenxa was taken by these people. There was no witness except for a few that survive that accident. No one could report that the target of those people was Yenxa since they were all in a coma. Even Yuko was still sleeping without a sign of waking up. Although the healers said that she would wake up soon, it didn¡¯t mean that Souta wasn¡¯t angry about the people that did it to them. It even cost him the death of one of his powerful subordinates, Elder Guan. ¡°Ah, fuck¡­ I¡¯m done.¡± He waved both of his hands and controlled all the blood that he gathered before. The sea of blood rage on the mountain like a storm. It was devastating everything in its path. The blood flooded several kilometers of area within the Mountain of Demise. Everyone could see a pile of redness on one side of the mountain. It was too eye-catching as blood was flowing everywhere in that particular area. ¡°You will die today!¡± Souta tightened his fist as tens of thousands of spears formed using the blood of the creatures he slaughtered in his path. Each one contained a huge amount of best feram so it possessed some kind of power. ¡°You¡¯re really crazy! You¡¯re healing yourself with blood and you can even use it as a weapon! What a fucking monster!¡± Draymond smiled widely. He pushed both of his palms forward and gathered a huge amount of energy. ¡­ Torkez, Eztein, and Franklin arrived at the foot of the mountain along with the other soldiers of Astros. In front of them, stood thousands of people from the Hall of Power. Each one of them was radiating fighting intent. It seems that they wouldn¡¯t let Astros pass without a fight. ¡°Boss is right? They divided their ranks so that they could stop him¡­¡± Eztein grinned as he tightly held the spear in his hand. ¡°I could feel the boss¡¯ energy. It means that the boss is fighting the leader of the enemy.¡± ¡°Our goal right now is to defeat these guys as soon as possible. While our lord is keeping the enemy¡¯s leader busy, we should head to the peak of the mountain.¡± Torkez said in a low voice. Eztein nodded before he glanced at Franklin. ¡°Hey, do you still have energy left, old man?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. I always have spare energy when it comes to battle.¡± Franklin answered before he charged forward at the enemy group alone. Swoosh!! ¡°This old man!¡± Eztein gritted his teeth. ¡°Follow Franklin, Eztein! Help him! I will stay here and command the soldiers! I can only adjust the formation base on your and Franklin¡¯s position!¡± Torkez said loudly. ¡°Got it.¡± Eztein nodded before he charged forward to follow Franklin in the frontline. Torkez glanced at the soldiers of Astros as he raised his hand. ¡°Everyone, charged! Don¡¯t hold back and use your parasites! They have a huge advantage in numbers! Healers, stay back along with the mages! Mages, start building your magic circle! You will fire your spell when I give the signal!¡± Torkez quickly commanded the hundreds of soldiers in his back. Bang! Bang! Eztein widened his eyes and saw a figure coming at him. Huh?! It was Franklin. He stretched his hand and caught Franklin on the waist. Eztein said, ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡± Franklin wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth before he answered. ¡°Look at the front. The enemy has a strong contender.¡± Eztein lifted his head and stared ahead. He saw a man with blonde hair, eyes, and a pair of cat ears. He was wearing a white robe and a black shirt underneath it. The aura around him caused the ground to vibrate nonstop. Just from this alone, he could feel that this blonde man was strong. ¡°Yo, are you people from Astros?! Hahaha, did you come here to take revenge?!¡± The blonde man laughed. ¡°Revenge?¡± Franklin was a little bit confused. ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t know? Perhaps, you¡¯re not with them.¡± The blonde man stroked his chin. He then glanced at Eztein. ¡°But you, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re with Astros. Hahaha, let me introduce myself first. I¡¯m, Drayrin, the one who killed most of the people in White Wheat City!¡± ¡°You!¡± Eztein¡¯s eyes constricted. A second later, he gritted his teeth. ¡°So you¡¯re the one who killed Elder Guan and the others?!¡± ¡°Is that his name? I forgot the name of the person that I killed.¡± Drayrin raised his eyebrows. He was nonchalant. He didn¡¯t feel that anyone could defeat him from the opposite side. ¡°Franklin, support me, let¡¯s kill this bastard,¡± Eztein said in a cold tone. He drew a deep breath as he held his spear with both of his hands. Franklin glanced at Eztein and smiled, ¡°Fine, you¡¯re going to take the show for today.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that. I know that I, alone, isn¡¯t to defeat this man. We must work together.¡± Eztein said. ¡°Okay,¡± Franklin nodded. He cracked his neck before a string of flesh covered his entire body. In an instant, he turned into a humanoid monster. Eztein too used his parasite. He wasn¡¯t going to hold against a powerful man that could kill Elder Guan and the rest of the Astros soldiers in White Wheat City. ¡°Oh, I remember this one. That man used something like that too and it made him almost unkillable.¡± Drayrin smiled with interest in his eyes. Chapter 804: Chaos in Hall Plains: Other side On the other side of the central region of Hall Plains. Amanda and the other two archaeologists were inside an abandoned ruin. They were putting all the clues that they¡¯d discovered so far. ¡°So far¡­ There is a really ancient civilization here before the Hall of Power¡¯s rise.¡± Amanda muttered. ¡°Yeah, it seems comparable to a large country.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°Then, how do we stop the Mountain of Demise with this? There is not much time before the so-called emperor broke out of the seal.¡± Amanda asked. ¡°We can use this to disrupt the flow of energy in the layers of the crimson net. As long as we find the central point of ruins, then it¡¯s possible.¡± Lindi answered. ¡°Lindi is right. If we do nothing then all of the people in the Hall Plains will be purged. But it won¡¯t happen right away. According to our investigation, the first seal will occur first, and a portion of the emperor¡¯s power will break out. In this case, the emperor needed a vessel to hold his power.¡± Jason explained. ¡°Speaking of the vessel, if the Hall of Power started the ritual, it means that they already had the perfect vessel for it,¡± Lindi added. ¡°Perfect vessel¡­?¡± Amanda narrowed her eyes. She had a bad feeling about everything that was happening so far. The ancient civilization before the rise of the Hall of Power was one of the things that could stop the ritual. Amanda knew that Souta and the others would also try to stop this. In fact, even the other warriors of Athena would help them. It was the truth and she believed them but she also had to try her best too in case something goes wrong. Bang! Bang! Bang! Franklin and Eztein were fighting Drayrin fiercely across the land area. They were too fast and strong as their battle devastated the nearby landscape. Despite being both at the top level One Shackled Realm. Eztein and Franklin couldn¡¯t overpower Drayrin. ¡°Hey, old man. It seems that the rumors about you are true.¡± Eztein said as he repeatedly thrust his spear at their opponent. ¡°What rumor?¡± ¡°Rumors about you injuring a Two Shackles expert and even breaking through the formation of several One Shackle experts,¡± Eztein answered. ¡°Oh, that happens.¡± Franklin shrugged his shoulder. ¡°You two are taking it easy.¡± Drayrin smiled as he increased his speed and more. Bang! Bang! Bang! The collision of their powers caused an intense reaction in the air. A large amount of energy swept out, shaking the entire ground. The whole area feels like it was about to burst open as the energy of the three experts fiercely clashed in midair. Boom!! Franklin smiled as he rushed forward. He didn¡¯t even try to block Drayrin¡¯s attack at all causing his left leg to explode. His blood sprayed in every direction but he kept moving forward. ¡°Come here and let me rip your stomach!¡± Franklin laughed. ¡°This lunatic shit!¡± Drayrin took a step back. He gathered his energy in his hand and threw another punch. Swoosh! Eztein appeared beside Franklin before he heavily swung his spear. The blade of the spear collided with Drayrin¡¯s attack. Argh! Fuck! Eztein gritted his teeth and he used all of his might. In an instant, he activated the [Element Drive] to bolster his overall stats and firepower. With this boost, he managed to deflect the opponent¡¯s attack. Also, Franklin didn¡¯t hesitate and used his [Element Drive] too in tandem with Eztein. He rushed forth heading in front of Drayrin in the blink of an eye. Swoosh! ¡°You fucking!!¡± Drayrin roared. A vast amount of elemental energy exploded out of his body. It created a vast net that expanded nonstop until it covered a huge area. Franklin crossed his arms in front of him and tore the energy field violently. The energy field also scraped his skin and muscles but the parasite quickly recovered his body to normal. He pounced at Drayrin without wasting any second. Drayrin became mad. This fucking immortal being was annoying and he knew that he had to end this quickly. But killing Franklin and Eztein was easier to say than doing it. He tightly clenched both of his fists and clashed with Franklin. The two wrestled in midair as their energy field swept out every second without an interruption. Bang! Bang! Eztein watched both of them and was preparing himself to join once he saw an opportunity. ¡°The old man is several times stronger than before¡­ His improvement is too fast.¡± Eztein took a glance at the other soldiers of Astros. Torkez was commanding the soldiers and was giving the enemy side a good fight. He smiled and shook his head. He could leave that side to Torkez without any problem. ¡°Torkez will handle that side. I need to make sure to kill that guy. He is the one who killed Elder Guan.¡± Eztein narrowed his eyes. Franklin continued to wrestle with Drayrin. He was taking more damage than he expected. He couldn¡¯t completely avoid Drayrin¡¯s powerful attacks so he could only rely on his parasite and avoid taking damage to his vital parts. Bang! Bang! Drayrin felt a numbing sensation around his fists. Franklin¡¯s attack was affecting him and vice versa. Franklin¡¯s bones cracked and his skin was shredded every time he took Drayrin¡¯s attack. The only difference between the two was that Franklin had a super regenerative ability thanks to the parasitic essence eater while Drayrin didn¡¯t. Argh! Drayrin groaned as he felt pain assault his back. He glanced over and saw Eztein attacking him with a sharp spear. ¡°This trash!!¡± Drayrin turned around to attack Eztein but Franklin didn¡¯t let him do so easily. Franklin viciously swung both of his arms which turned into gigantic blades. Bang! Bang! He ignored the pain as he heavily struck Eztein¡¯s stomach. His fist, which was full of elemental energy, exploded upon contact with Eztein¡¯s body. Boom! Eztein was blasted away and crashed on the ground causing a deep pit. He spat a mouthful of blood and felt hundreds of bones within his body were shattered instantly. ¡°Argh, fuck!¡± Eztein gritted his teeth as he stood up while the parasite rapidly repaired his body. He took a deep breath before he joined the battle once again. ¡­ It was chaotic in Hall Plains. Battles were happening everywhere and civilians were dying every second. Those people who didn¡¯t have the strength to protect themselves were the first ones to die. Every city and organization was taking sides, the side of the Hall of Power or they would go against the Hall of Power. There were only two options and those who didn¡¯t move would perish if the ritual was completed. On the other side of the central plains¡­ Alice and Isabella¡¯s group were also facing a bunch of people from the Hall of Power. They were killing people left and right but the enemies kept coming at them. It was a nonstop assault. ¡°Isabella, hide for now and find an opportunity to assassinate the enemy¡¯s higher-ups,¡± Alice said to Isabella. Isabella nodded before she took a step back and vanished in the shadows. Alice had a serious expression on her face as she looked at the top of the Mountain of Demise. She knew that they couldn¡¯t keep up with this pace. They had to defeat the enemies as soon as possible. This entire plan was reckless from the beginning. Souta¡¯s words made sense but she felt that that wasn¡¯t the true reason why he divided the Astros into several groups. He must be planning something. Alice took a deep breath before she lead her subordinates to fight the enemies in front of them. ¡°Charge!!¡± She immediately brandished her weapon and rushed at the enemy¡¯s leader. Alice would keep them busy so that Isabella would gain an opportunity to kill the others. With a single swing of her spear, dozens of enemy soldiers were blown away. She continued to advance while defeating all the enemies that were blocking her way until she arrived at the focal point of the enemy. There were three One Shackle Realm experts but they weren¡¯t enough if they wanted to fight Alice. She was already Two Shackles ever since she came out of that underground tomb in Bland City. She hasn¡¯t fought anyone that could make her go all out. The Hall of Power was a good place to test her newly found strength. According to Souta, the enemy had a lot of strong experts. ¡®But I don¡¯t think that it will be easy¡­¡¯ Alice said inwardly. She thrust her spear at the three One Shackle experts. The three experts tried to jump away but Alice simply spun her spear at high speed. A strong suction force appeared that slowed the three experts. She then gripped the spear and swiftly launched consecutive strikes at the enemy. Bang! Bang! Bang! When Alice was at One Shackle Realm, she could already fight several of them at the same time. Now that she achieved a level above, an ordinary One Shackle Realm was too weak in front of her. Chapter 805: Chaos in Hall Plains: War on every side Alice¡¯s group fought the people from the Hall of Power fiercely. It was a brutal battle but they managed to defeat them in just an hour. They suffered some casualties but it wasn¡¯t high. Alice sighed looking at the scenery of countless corpses around the battlefield. No matter what, the war was always cruel on both sides. She couldn¡¯t help but recall the war on the sub-world where they had to fight the Great Astley Empire. In that war, they had to fight every day and she killed countless people. It was physically and mentally exhausting. Millions of people died in that war. They had to fight from planet to planet until they broke through the Great Astley Empire¡¯s formation and arrived at their motherland. Alice personally witnessed the soldiers who fought by their side break mentally. They even obliterate almost all the living people on a single planet. Alice glanced at her subordinates and said, ¡°Take all of our fallen comrades and preserve their corpses. We will take them back to our land once we finish this war.¡± ¡°Yes, Mam!¡± The soldiers of Astros hurriedly left. No matter what, Alice had to respect the soldiers of the Astros that stake their lives in this battle. They would be buried with respect in the future and their family would receive some sort of compensation. This was the first time that the Astros suffered heavy casualties. The attack on White Wheat City and this war would surely change the state of Astros in the future. They even lost some of the top members of the Astros. Elder Guan had perished, Yuko was heavily injured, the newly recruited Nine-headed Hydra was sealed again, and Yenxa had gone missing. Alice turned her head to the side as she heard faint footsteps. She saw that it was Isabella. ¡°No matter what, I never get used to this sight,¡± Isabella said in a low voice. ¡°Me too.¡± Alice agreed with her words. Isabella revealed a forced smile. She shook her head and said, ¡°We already eliminated all the enemies here. What should we do next?¡± ¡°Next¡­¡± Alice narrowed her eyes and looked up at the top of the Mountain of Demise. She could feel Souta¡¯s energy at the top. It was stronger than before so he must be fighting a tough opponent. An opponent that she couldn¡¯t hope to defeat. Then, she recalled something that Souta said to her. It was about them. Souta said to her that after they defeated the enemies at the foot of the mountain they should occupy it. They would only let the warriors from Athen¡¯s Legion to the top but would stop any people aside from their allies. By allies, it means only people in Athen¡¯s Legion and Dragon Council. They would have to fight any other group from other regions of Hall Plains even if that group wanted to fight the Hall of Power too. Why? She couldn¡¯t understand why Souta specially ordered her to do so but he must have a reason for doing so. In short, their group has a different goal than Eztein¡¯s group. Eztein¡¯s group would head toward the peak of the mountain once they defeated their enemies. ¡°We¡¯ll stay here and prevent anyone from approaching the mountain,¡± Alice said to Isabella. ¡°Why? I thought that we would head on the top of the mountain.¡± Isabella asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know but Souta gave me this order.¡± Alice shook her head as she didn¡¯t know what Souta was planning. Isabella nodded. She sighed and muttered, ¡°I want to go back and continue my research. Fighting in the frontline is too much for me.¡± Alice smiled. She then sensed something from the mountain. Hmm¡­? She looked and felt a slight fluctuation of energy. She glanced at Isabella and said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave the command to you. I have something I need to check out.¡± ¡°Why? I think you need to bring a few people with you.¡± Isabella quickly said. Alice shook her head and explained, ¡°No, I think I¡¯m fine on my own. If I ever met someone of the same level as me then the soldiers will die. The most important thing is to complete Souta¡¯s task. You should go and help the other groups too so that they could proceed to the top of the mountain.¡± She told Isabella the whole plan. Her explanation made sense and Isabella couldn¡¯t refute her at all. ¡°I-I understand¡­¡± Isabella could only nod her head. Alice left and went in the direction where she sensed the strange energy fluctuations. She arrived in the middle part of the Mountain of Demise and saw a small hole covered by elemental particles. It was in the form of sand. If not for her extreme senses, she wouldn¡¯t notice it. ¡°It¡¯s still nothing compared to Isabella¡¯s stealth¡­¡± Alice said to herself. Isabella could literally blend her presence into the surround and only people with higher senses could detect her. With a wave of her hand, she removed the sand and saw a deep, unknown passage. ¡°This¡­¡± Alice had a bad feeling about this. She wanted to turn around but what if the enemy had another plan in this passage? If she discover their plan then she would have to stop them so she had to check if this passage would lead her to something that could change the tide of war. Before she went inside, Alice glance at the top of the mountain. This passage was hidden too well and most of the people here were too focused on getting to the top of the mountain so they wouldn¡¯t notice small details like this. ¡°I need to check this out. I already told Isabella the plan so she will be able to execute it without me.¡± ¡­ The state of Hall Plains was chaotic. Governor Ray led his troops and was currently on his way to the central region. He defeated anyone that blocked his way and paved his path toward the focal point of the entire Hall Plains. The Spring Land was in tatters after a series of events that occurred there. Even the Heiro Kingdom, the superpower of Spring Land, was devastated after Souta fought the experts of the Hall of Power. The other heads of the Dragon Council were currently focused on stabilizing the Mine Valley. They were gathering a huge force to unify the Mine Valley and defeat the tribes from the Earthen Woods. Bland City, a city under the rule of Governor Ray. It was also the center of the Dragon Council. The security was high but right now, the personnel in this place were too few. After all, Governor Ray brought his troops to march toward the central region. The one who was handling the affairs of Bland City in Governor Ray¡¯s position was one of the heads of the Dragon Council, Ninth Head. She was a dwarf and a leader of an overlord organization in the Mine Valley. She joined the Dragon Council because her friend, Third Head, joined this group. She was guarding the city to protect the absolute secret of Mine Valley, no, the Hall Plains. The corpse of the god buried deep inside Bland City was too important to be left alone without any protection. ¡°I want to train inside the tomb again but there¡¯s a prerequisite number of times it could only open. Plus, it also needed the blood of the descendants of that god.¡± Ninth Head said while looking at the majestic jade door of the tomb. She was staying in front of the door because of the high concentration of energy here. It would give her a lot of benefits just by using it to expand her own mana pool and temper her flesh to a higher level. Suddenly, a footstep sounded behind her. Ninth Head widened her eyes as she quickly turned around. No one should know about this place aside from her and the other heads of the Dragon Council. ¡°Who is it?!¡± She shouted and saw a beautiful woman wearing a black dress that showcased her excellent curves. The unknown woman had a pair of black horns at the side of her head and one red horn at the center of her forehead. She had long pink hair with a hint of whiteness at the ends that draped over her shoulder like a waterfall. She had a pair of pointed ears just like those elves and a pair of green reptilian eyes. She also had a blueish gem embedded in the upper-middle part of her chest. ¡°Who are you?¡± Ninth Head asked cautiously as she couldn¡¯t feel anything from this unknown woman. The unknown woman glanced at Ninth Head before she focused her attention on the jade door. She slowly opened her mouth and said, ¡°It¡¯s been a while. This body has been buried here for hundreds of years. It¡¯s time to dispose of it.¡± ¡°You!! Who are you?! Answer me!¡± Ninth Head said in a loud voice. Her mana flared up as she readied herself for confrontation. ¡°I¡¯m Aleteya.¡± The unknown woman said as she slowly raised her left hand. Chapter 806: Chaos in Hall Plains: Souta vs. Draymond II ¡°I¡¯ll kill you¡­ You take Yenxa from me then I¡¯ll have to take your life.¡± Souta said in a frosty tone. His killing intent shot through the sky shaking everyone in the whole area. ¡°This¡­!¡± Draymond flinched. Souta¡¯s killing intent spread out like a tsunami swallowing everything. It was filled with rage and pure savageness. It could be felt throughout the entire area around the Mountain of Demise. It was too strong. Eztein, Torkez, Franklin, and the thousands of people around the foot of the mountain couldn¡¯t help but stopped what they were doing. They stood on the spot as they stared at the mountain before their eyes. The intensity of the killing intent made the weaker-willed people lose their minds. ¡°Argh!! No!!¡± ¡°ARGHHH!!!¡± ¡°Kill them all!!¡± The people with low resistance collapsed on the ground. The killing intent was too strong and it attacked everyone¡¯s mind. Some people started to hallucinate while some of them directly fainted as they couldn¡¯t handle the pressure brought into their minds. ¡°Oh, no, our boss is angry! Shit! This is bad!¡± Eztein said while staring at the top of the mountain. ¡°This is the first time that I¡¯ve felt Souta this angry¡­¡± Torkez muttered. ¡°I don¡¯t like this feeling. If Souta is like this then something serious must have happened.¡± Franklin narrowed his eyes. On the other side of the mountain¡­ Isabella was staring at top of the mountain with a worried look. ¡°Souta¡­¡± She muttered to herself. Inside the mysterious passage¡­ Alice stopped in her tracks as she felt the killing intent. She remembered this feeling before. It was the same as that time when the Deadly Sin¡¯s officers attacked them. Aside from that time, Souta never showed this type of killing intent in the other people that they¡¯ve fought before. Even when fighting in the Sub-world or in the Dukedom where they fought the curse user. This was the second time. This made her worry. Alice wanted to go back to check Souta but she had to see what lies in this passage. She gritted her teeth and continued to move forward. She just hoped that there was nothing dangerous here. Souta was like a demon king that awakened from his slumber. He was full of rage that caused the atmosphere to quickly turned cold. Draymond stopped at his track as he felt a chill on his spine. He widened his eyes as he stared at Souta. He could feel the intense killing intent that was oozing out of Souta¡¯s body. It was uncontrollable and it made his hairs stand on its end. In his vision, he could see a manifestation of a giant predator behind Souta¡¯s back. Gulp! Draymond subconsciously took a step back. It was his first time seeing a killing intent manifestation like this. It was like he was hallucinating. It was a frightening feeling. ¡°Eh~ it¡¯s not like you haven¡¯t taken someone¡¯s life before. This killing intent is the proof of how many people you¡¯ve killed before. Surely, you haven¡¯t thought that you could lose the people beside you.¡± Draymond forced a smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯m a hypocrite. I don¡¯t care about what you think of me.¡± Souta said in a cold tone. He tightened his grip around the handle of the vajra sword before he dashed forward. Swoosh!! ¡°I forgot that you¡¯re a monster!¡± Draymond laughed and he faced Souta head-on. Both of their figures collided causing a huge shockwave. They fought fiercely shattering everything in their paths. Their speed was extreme and no ordinary experts could perceive their movements. They were too fast to the point that they could escape the senses of low Shackled Realm experts. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta and Draymond retreated a hundred meters away from each other. Draymond wasn¡¯t as easygoing just like their fight in Heiro Kingdom¡¯s capital. In the short amount of time that they¡¯ve gone, Souta has grown stronger. A fourth stage monster that could fight a Four Shackles Realm expert like him was simply unbelievable. He should¡¯ve killed Souta before but the appearance of the Mountain of Demise was unexpected that¡¯s why he quickly left to initiate the ritual. And he didn¡¯t take Souta as a real threat before. The only dangerous thing about Souta was that he was the master of Nine-Headed Hydra. Draymond focused his attention on the hydra and sent some people to seal it using the precious energy that they¡¯d gathered for several years through Blood Sacrifice. Draymond also knew the history of Hall Plains. He knew that the gods of Olympus wouldn¡¯t really step into this land by sending more powerful experts. After all, almost every god in Imperium knew the No God Emperor. There were lots of consequences once they tried to pry their nose into the land that the Five Commandments decimated in the past. Right now, no big factions wanted to antagonize the Ten Commandments or any of the Bringers of Calamity. They were currently busy dealing with the demons so they didn¡¯t want to add more enemies for the time being. What if while they were fighting the demons the Ten Commandments appeared and helped the demons? Even if it was a slim chance of angering the Ten Commandments, they still didn¡¯t want to risk it since the consequences would be dire and it would greatly change the whole state of God¡¯s Continent. Draymond took a deep breath. He smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re unbelievable. You managed to step close to my realm in just a short amount of time but it¡¯s not enough to defeat me.¡± If he gave Souta another month or so, Draymond was sure that Souta would be able to fight him toe to toe. Maybe, even defeat him. ¡°Well, it¡¯s enough¡­¡± Souta said calmly but deep inside his rage was getting out of control. The reason why he grew stronger was that he trained his body to the limit while waiting for the cooldown time of his equipment skills. Also, he became level 68 now after the day when Imperium cried. Then, he used three Level-up cards to increase his level to 71 before this battle. Although using the Level-up cards that he was saving was a waste here, he had to do it if he wanted to defeat Draymond. Then, he earned 8 skill points by completing the Quest 3 of the Chain Quest. So he had a total of 33 skill points. He used 30 points to upgrade level 6 [Shadow Damager] to level 10. It earned his requirement to promote his class. Before fighting Draymond, he did all of this so that he could battle this Four Shackles guy and give him an opportunity to end this battle once and for all. So he was a Rank 3 Great Battle Mage the moment he started fighting Draymond. ¡°You think you could defeat me,¡± Draymond said. ¡°Yeah.¡± Souta nodded calmly. ¡°Let¡¯s see the full extent of your strength!¡± Draymond raised his voice as his aura flared up. His energy burst like a bomb that swoops everything around him. Fire and water particles spread out covering an entire area within a radius of two kilometers. He finally used his [Dual Element Drive: Fire and Water Force]. Draymond bent his knees and in the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Souta. His energy was like a tsunami that was going to swallow his opponent in just a second. It was a terrifying sight. ¡°Die!!¡± Draymond said as he swung his fist. ¡°You think you¡¯re the only one who has two elements!¡± Draymond heard Souta¡¯s voice before he saw a flash of brilliant light shot into the sky. The light twisted around the darkness as if they were giving each other strength. [Dual Element Drive: Dark and Light Integration]!! Souta¡¯s light element was not as strong as his dark element but it already reached the stage of Integration. He managed to speed up his training speed thanks to the [Divine Light Circulation] technique. He knew that his elemental ability was nothing compared to Alexander¡¯s but Souta was still proud of his success. ¡°This¡­?! Two elements at Integration!!¡± Draymond was stunned at this sight. Souta didn¡¯t let this opportunity pass by. He swiftly swung the vajra sword in his hand. Light and darkness swirled around the red energy blade as it blasted Draymond away. Bang!! Ugh! Draymond groaned in pain. His orange-grade clothes suffered heavy damage from that one slash. ¡°I¡¯m not done yet!!¡± Souta repeatedly swung the vajra sword. At the same time, the four spider limbs on his back shoot several [Bestrou]. Boom! Boom! Boom! Draymond took everything. He was forced back but he quickly regained his posture. The difference in their elemental realm shortened the power gap between him and Souta. It was to the point that Souta could literally threaten him. Draymond gritted his teeth and punched the incoming [Bestrou]. The explosion shook the entire mountain causing huge fragments of rocks to fly out everywhere. He then charged forward and clashed with Souta hundreds of times in midair. Souta tried to use all sorts of tricks to counter Draymond who was coming at him with killing intent. Chapter 807: Chaos in Hall Plains: Souta vs. Draymond III Souta was strong enough to contend with Draymond¡¯s [Element Drive]. Both of them fought at extreme speed and their energies were bursting in every direction causing destruction to the Mountain of Demise. Although they were strong, the destroyed land of the mountain would quickly regenerate as if nothing happened. If the Mountain of Demise was so fragile that it couldn¡¯t even handle the battle between the Fourth-stage monster and Fourth Shackle expert then it wouldn¡¯t be able to contain a god. Bang! Bang! Souta spreads the blood thread trying to restrict Draymond¡¯s movement but Draymond was too strong. He nimbly avoided the threads and tore the threads that he didn¡¯t have a time to avoid. Sometimes Souta would hide a [Shadow Ball] in a bundle of threads so that it wouldn¡¯t get destroyed by shockwaves. Using this, he would teleport everywhere and swiftly attack Draymond in his blind spot. There was a time when Draymond would predict his movement and catch him off guard. Luckily, Souta had super regeneration ability, or else he wouldn¡¯t last more than half an hour fighting a Four Shackles Realm expert. Souta compressed the sea of blood into several tiny drops of blood. Each drop contained a vast amount of his best feram and its density was too high. The drop of blood was powerful. Draymond didn¡¯t even want to block it. He just ran around trying to dodge it while shooting energy beams at it. At the same time, he was also calculating Souta¡¯s threads, gravity powers, and energy beams. Fighting Souta was hard as he needed to think about every step that he needed to take. ¡°It¡¯s troublesome¡­¡± Souta had various abilities that he needed to take note of. It was like Draymond was fighting several people at the same time. This fucking monster was too versatile and it was his first time experiencing this in a battle. If he wasn¡¯t careful he would get caught by Souta now. Draymond flew in the air as he glanced at the droplets of blood that were chasing him. He was also confirming Souta¡¯s location from time to time. He didn¡¯t forget that Souta had that annoying teleportation ability. Souta observed Draymond while controlling several abilities at the same time. He was controlling blood, gravity, and threads while the four spider limbs on his back were shooting [Bestrou]. The [Burning Ring Seal] and [Darkness Hourglass] were floating around him. The two dark-grade artifacts were giving off the power to hold down the powerful Draymond but it could only slow him down. ¡®What are you planning to do? I think that you should end this as soon as possible. In a battle of endurance, you will only lose against him.¡¯ Saya said to him. ¡®I know but it¡¯s hard to find an opportunity to end this.¡¯ Souta replied to her. ¡®You can use your remaining equipment skill. With that, your strength will increase again.¡¯ Saya said. ¡®No,¡¯ Souta shook his head. He was already using [Possession], [Soul Blood Mode], and the other dark-grade artifacts. He moved his eyes and thousands of blood threads spread out like a net. It rapidly turned into a ball, enclosing Draymond inside it. But¡­ Draymond vanished without a trace. The threads captured nothing. ¡®Careful, Souta!!¡¯ Saya¡¯s voice was full of concern. Souta heightened his senses. Draymond just vanished in front of him. The ground started to shake and a hand emerged from the cracks. Swoosh! Souta wanted to jump but Draymond managed to wrap his fingers around Souta¡¯s feet. He pulled Souta and smashed him on the ground. He then pulled back his fist and threw another punch that contained a vast amount of energy. [Flaming Northern Strike]!! Souta crossed both of his arms and directly received the punch. His armor and bones cracked as the blood vessel in his arms exploded. The power behind Draymond¡¯s fist was overwhelming. Ugh! Souta couldn¡¯t directly block it. All of his tough defense broke instantly. Even the gravity field was shattered in just a second. It couldn¡¯t even repel the energy from Draymond. He gritted his teeth and kneed Draymond¡¯s stomach. Then, he elbowed Draymond before he got a space to slash his sword. Swoosh! Draymond shifted his body to the side but it was too late. A huge cut appeared on his shoulder and his blood sprayed in every direction. He felt something was wrong but he didn¡¯t back down. He stood on his ground and exchanged blows with Souta. In a direct confrontation, Souta was no match for him. He was stronger and faster. He was a better fighter. Bang! Bang! Bang! Draymond continued to attack Souta with everything that he has got. Souta¡¯s armor and muscles were getting shredded apart. The only thing that made him keep up with Draymond was his regenerative ability. Souta gritted his teeth and thrust the vajra sword. Draymond in exchange threw a devastating blow. Souta raised his other hand to block it. Bang! He managed to block it but at the cost of his left arm. His left arm was shredded into tiny pieces. The rings and bracelet on Souta¡¯s destroyed left hand flew around. At the same time, the vajra sword pierced through Draymond¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I got you¡­¡± Souta forced a smile on his face. Draymond widened his eyes. He wanted to step back but it was too late. The blood from Souta¡¯s destroyed left hand wrapped around his body. Also, he felt intense pressure coming from the blade that pierced his shoulder and he started hearing all sorts of things. ¡°Argh! What the hell is this?!¡± Draymond gritted his teeth. He felt that something was invading his mind. Souta loosened his grip on the sword and pressed his palm on Draymond¡¯s chest. ¡°Give me five seconds, Saya.¡± After saying those words, Souta closed his eyes. The [Yin-Yang Bracelet] started to emit a dark and white light. The energy started building up around it. It swirled strongly like a storm. Light and darkness twisted together, forming a huge pillar that shot toward the crimson net in the sky. The next second, the twin spirit of light and darkness appeared beside him. The two spirits raised both of their palms and pressed them on Souta¡¯s back. The building of energy was highly concentrated. Everyone within the area of the entire central region felt the intense fluctuations of energy. It¡¯s frightening. Millions of people that were fighting in the central region stopped for a moment. They looked up at the giant Mountain of Demise and saw a dark and light pillar as if it was supporting heaven and earth. The emperor and various leaders of different organizations that rallied to the central region saw the majestic pillar of two elemental energies. No matter even if they were enemies or allies, they couldn¡¯t help but admire the dark and light pillar for a second. The pillar was in the middle of the redness around the mountain. It was too eye-catching and the energy it was giving off was as vast as an ocean. Alexander, who was heading towards the mountain, narrowed his eyes and stared at the pillar of two elements. ¡°This¡­ Souta¡¯s energy signature¡­?¡± He muttered to himself. Alexander fought beside Souta in the Multiple Elements Realm so he was familiar with Souta¡¯s energy signature. ¡­ A creature stood at the top of a small hill. The unknown creature stared at the pillar of energy before a creepy smile appeared on its face. ¡°There¡¯s that guy. This is interesting.¡± The unknown creature said in a deep voice. Behind it, there were hundreds of corpses scattered all over the area. Their bodies were ripped apart and their blood created a small pool of blood at the foot of the hill. ¡­ On the other side of the central region, a group of warriors was staring at the same scene. They were the warriors of Athen¡¯s Champion that were tasked to investigate the event here in the shadows. A tall and beautiful woman with long red hair was standing in front of the group. She was the Grain Leader of the Sixth Grain War of the Third Set Pallas Division. ¡°We need to hurry up! Something is happening in Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain.¡± The woman said. ¡­ After a few seconds, Souta opened both of his eyes. His left eye was pure white and the other one was pitch black. Draymond finally broke free as he pulled out the vajra sword from his shoulder. He threw it away and noticed the changes in Souta. ¡°This¡­¡± His heart subconsciously skipped a beat. The instinct that he honed throughout the years was screaming at him. They were telling him to run as fast as he could. Souta slowly opened his lips. ¡°[Grand Demolition Space]¡­¡± He said in a soft and cold tone. The [Yin-Yang Bracelet] emitted a dim gray light and the dark and light pillar shrank into a tiny ball of energy in the blink of an eye. The twin spirits behind Souta also vanished. One small magic circle appeared behind Souta. Then, a second magic circle appeared on top of it. A third and fourth emerged before a dazzling white light erupted. e. ¡°T-Tier 4¡­ Spell¡­¡± Draymond¡¯s face was filled with shock as the light and darkness swallowed his body. Arghhh!! Chapter 808: Chaos in Hall Plains: Gods watching the Land The light and darkness engulfed everything. The eruption destroyed everything within its area. It was completely silent as the sound didn¡¯t even make out of the area. The particles were obliterated. The only thing that was left was the traces of energy in the atmosphere. Souta was breathing heavily and his body was covered in his own blood. The parasite started to work as it slowly repaired the damage to his body. It was slow as the queen parasite was reaching its limit. In front of him was a huge pit. A part of the mountain was destroyed in the blink of an eye. It was emitting red smoke and sparks were flying everywhere. An area within a diameter of ten kilometers was turned into a desolate land. The space and time were distorted but it quickly healed in no time. The Imperium right now was nothing compared to before. Also, the Mountain of Demise started healing the damage it received from the attack. ¡®Souta, are you okay?¡¯ Saya asked worriedly. ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡± Souta said before he fell down on his knees. The [Yin-Yang Bracelet] had three equipment skills. The first one was the [Yin-Yang Twin Spirits]. The second one was the [Yin-Yang Unification] and the third one was the [Grand Demolition Space]. The skill he used right now was the [Grand Demolition Space]. It was the ultimate skill of [Yin-Yang Bracelet]. It obliterated its target into nothingness including space and time. It was a Tier 4 spell of the legend, a forbidden spell. The only problem was the requirement to use it. Souta had to sacrifice the twin spirits for its usage and he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the two spirits for an entire month. Also, the skill consumed a lot of his energy, health, and stamina. It was a one-hit skill and he needed five seconds before he could prepare it. That¡¯s why he set up the fight that way. He needed Saya to buy him some time to prepare the skill and also lower Draymond¡¯s guard by indirectly showing everything that he has got. In the game, Souta could easily use it since he had various defensive skills to protect him, and skills to recover his lost mana, health, and stamina. The repercussions he received could be easily dealt with with his skill set. He also had artifacts to directly bring out four magic circles of the forbidden spell. Cough! Cough! Souta coughed a mouthful of blood. He felt tired but he could still go another round. He still had energy left in his [Nebula Heart]. It was good that he had two energy cores in him. As for Draymond, there was nothing left of him. Not even ashes remain after he took a direct hit from [Grand Demolition Space]. He also confirmed his death by looking at the system notification. ¡°It¡¯s not over¡­¡± Souta forced himself to stand. He walked toward the top of the mountain. Draymond said that the ritual was already completed and there was nothing he could do to stop it. ¡®Be careful, I have a bad feeling about this.¡¯ Saya warned him. When Souta arrived at the peak, he saw a huge altar. There were several corpses around the altar. All of them were wearing white robes that had an insignia of the Hall of Power. This place was also close to the crimson net that was covering the entire Hall Plains, no, the crimson net was coming from this place. Souta looked up and stretched his hand. The crimson net was just several feet above him. At the center of the altar, there was some sort of passage that led to outer space. A vast amount of energy was coming from it and it seems that it was connected to the ritual. ¡®Souta, I think that the guy before is right. The ritual is in motion and the passage here is connected to a sub-world. The vessel is probably right there.¡¯ Saya said to him. ¡°Vessel¡­ Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s¡­¡± Souta narrowed his eyes. ¡®It¡¯s probably her¡­¡¯ Saya said in a low voice. Souta grew silent as he stared at the passage above his head. He didn¡¯t know what lies on the other side of this passage except that it was an unknown sub-world. He took a deep breath before jumped toward it. His body was sucked and the mysterious force of the passage guided him to the other side in the blink of an eye. He traveled from Imperium to an unknown place. Bang! Souta landed on the ground with a bang and noticed the changes in the mana density. It was too thin and he felt that he could easily destroy this place if he wanted. But that¡¯s not the issue right now, the problem was the other side of the passage was a devastated land. A sea of fire was everywhere and dark smoke was rising through the sky. The whole star system was covered in the crimson net. ¡®This is the place¡­¡¯ Saya muttered. Souta stood up and looked around. He could see and hear hundreds of souls in the surroundings. It means that they just died as souls couldn¡¯t stay in this realm for a long time. They would be forced into the soul realm to cleanse their souls and undergo reincarnation. ¡®This sub-world is the sacrifice¡­¡¯ Saya added. ¡°Am I too late?¡± Souta spoke in a low voice while observing the surroundings. Footsteps sounded behind and he quickly turned his head. Souta widened his eyes and he saw the one behind him. ¡°You!!¡± Outside of Hall Plains¡­ Esquin, the Ruler of Gluttony, was floating in midair with a smile on his face. Behind him was the crimson net that covered the entire Hall Plains. He was facing the gods from other factions. Hercules, Hermes, Njord, Vidar, and some of the gods from Large Countries. ¡°It¡¯s too late! You guys are too scared to offend the God¡¯s Will. That¡¯s why you didn¡¯t notice anything happening in this land. Is it because you didn¡¯t want another problem to come with you while you all are dealing with the demons?¡± Esquin laughed as he stared at them one by one. He shrugged his shoulders and laughed at the gods. ¡°Well, you also want him to fall so you didn¡¯t do anything and let the God¡¯s Will destroy this land a thousand years ago. Everyone is scared of the No God Emperor.¡± Esquin wasn¡¯t scared of facing several gods from different factions at the same time. He was confident in his abilities and power. ¡°You have no idea about what truly happened there. You haven¡¯t even been born at that time. So don¡¯t talk like you know the truth of the No God Emperor.¡± Njord said coldly. ¡°Oh, yeah, but that makes me curious about why the No God Emperor scared most of the faction in the Imperium,¡± Esquin said with a faint smile. He then shrugged his shoulder and turned his back at the group of gods. ¡°You came here for nothing. The ritual is completed. The No God Emperor found the perfect vessel and is in the process of freeing his body. If I only knew this, I would have sent some of my men here to investigate the truth.¡± Njord, Hermes, and the other gods had gloomy looked on their faces. They knew that Esquin was telling the truth. They couldn¡¯t even touch the crimson net as once they destroyed it, it would fall apart alongside the Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain. They would only speed up the process of No God Emperor breaking free. Esquin snorted at the group of gods. He flew up and followed the trail of the crimson net that was heading to outer space. It was connected to a sub-world. ¡°Some of our warriors are inside the Hall Plains. Trust them and they will prevent the awakening of the No God Emperor. They are all warriors at heart.¡± Hercules said to Hermes. Hermes nodded. He then said, ¡°For now, we should fortify space around this so that no one will try to break the crimson net.¡± ¡°What about the Ruler of Gluttony?¡± One of the gods asked. ¡°It¡¯s not the time to fight him. If we start the fight it will affect the crimson net and you know what will happen once that happens.¡± Vidar said. ¡°Also, that guy will not try to free the No God Emperor,¡± Njord said. ¡°Some of the Deadly Sins partake in that event. They turned a blind eye as the two lords of the Hall Plains sought help from the other gods. The two lords asked for a helping hand from every faction in Imperium including those who are lurking in the shadows. But everyone turned a blind eye as five of the Ten Commandments demolished this place a thousand years ago.¡± Hermes said. ¡°But that the Ruler of Gluttony now is different from the one a thousand years ago.¡± One of the gods said. ¡°Let¡¯s just prepare for the worst,¡± Hercules said. He wasn¡¯t a god at that time so he didn¡¯t know what really happened. ¡­ Esquin traveled billions of light years away from Imperium. He easily broke the space with his speed and arrived at a star system covered in the crimson net. ¡°No God Emperor¡­ I will decide if you are essential to my plan or not. If not, then you can rot here in eternity. If you are useful then I don¡¯t mind offending all the factions in God¡¯s Continent and the God¡¯s Will since I¡¯m already planning to let loose.¡± He just floated while staring at the star system. The space around him was distorted because of his presence. It was crumbling into tiny pieces, creating several wormholes out of nothing. The space outside Imperium couldn¡¯t handle the existence of gods. It was too fragile for a powerful god like him. Chapter 809: Chaos in Hall Plains: Jungle of Defamation Esquin was staring at the star system when he noticed something. He looked around and narrowed his eyes. There was a sensation that someone was observing him. It was faint but it didn¡¯t escape his extreme senses. ¡°Someone is watching me¡­?¡± Esquin silently gathered his energy and it caused the space around him to vibrate strongly. Cracks appeared out of nowhere as the planets, stars, and other celestial bodies with the protection of the crimson net trembled as if they were about to explode. It wasn¡¯t the group of gods before. He was sure that Hermes, Njord, and the others wouldn¡¯t fight him in this place since they didn¡¯t want to affect the crimson net. So who was spying on him? Is it one of the Commandments? If that¡¯s the case then it would be a little problematic but he wasn¡¯t afraid. Ohm! A silhouette appeared after a long time. It was a woman with three pairs of majestic wings behind her. She also has small wings on the side of her head that cover her face. Her golden brown hair was flowing into the space, emitting a luster that calmed down the space. The woman was holding a glowing trumpet in her hands. ¡°Gabriel¡­? And that trumpet¡­ You?¡± Esquin looked gloomy. ¡°Gluttony¡­ It¡¯s time for you to vanish.¡± Gabriel said in a soft voice. Her voice traveled through the vacuum of space and it healed all the cracks that were caused by Esquin¡¯s presence. Ohm! Dozens of holy spears appeared behind her and quickly shot toward the Ruler of Gluttony. Each spear contained a vast amount of power that could potentially annihilate everything. Swoosh! Esquin couldn¡¯t avoid the spears. It pierced his body as his blood gushed out. He coughed and smiled at Gabriel. ¡°Gabriel, it seems that you know me¡­ You wouldn¡¯t come here if you didn¡¯t know about my past identity.¡± Esquin laughed as a streak of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. He then looked up and stared at the vastness of space. ¡°I¡¯m sure right now. The one who is spying on me isn¡¯t Gabriel but it¡¯s another person. I don¡¯t know who you are but I will find you.¡± With those words, his body dissipated into tiny particles leaving the golden spears alone in space. ¡°A clone¡­¡± Gabriel muttered and she recalled Esquin¡¯s words. Someone was spying on him? She couldn¡¯t help but look around and scanned all the galaxies within the area to verify his words. But she found nothing after a few seconds of scanning. There was nothing in the fifty-five galaxies around except for a few planets with mana density. She shook her head and looked at the star system covered by a crimson net. The state of God¡¯s Continent right now wasn¡¯t good. Gods were moving frequently and mortals were the ones who suffered every time a god fought. While the other factions were busy with the demon army in the south, the angel¡¯s target wasn¡¯t those demons. They wanted to locate Esquin and stopped the plan of the Deadly Sins. ¡°Gluttony, does he want to free the No God Emperor or not? I don¡¯t know how it is related to their plan.¡± ¡­ Somewhere in God¡¯s Continent, Esquin was sitting on a throne. He opened his eyes and revealed a light glow that contained enormous power. He muttered, ¡°Gabriel, she destroyed my clone. It seems that the angels are currently keeping me in check. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± The most important thing was the one who was spying on him. He was sure that it wasn¡¯t Gabriel. It must be another being at the level of a god. ¡°It should be one of the gods that were hiding in different dimensions. I will deal with them soon.¡± Esquin closed his eyes once again. The events in Imperium were getting out of hand. The last time was when Imperium cried for an unknown reason. It was strange and the whole world was enveloped by a natural disaster. The good thing was that it only lasted for a day. In an unknown place¡­ The man with a black hair was sitting on a chair with a serious look on his face. A man with pink hair was standing behind him. He also had the same expression. After a few seconds of silence, the pink-haired man opened his mouth, ¡°That man, Gluttony, managed to sense your calculation.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a bit unexpected but he really sensed my calculation.¡± The man on the chair nodded. ¡°He sensed it but he couldn¡¯t sense my location. No one in the universe knows about our location.¡± Even if several gods flipped different dimensions, they wouldn¡¯t be able to find a single clue. ¡°Then, why did you try to calculate him? You know that gods are sensitive if someone is prying on them. Did you find out if he would free the No God Emperor?¡± The pink-haired man asked. ¡°Yeah, he will not free the No God Emperor. I can see where he came from and someone from the angels already stopped him.¡± The man on the chair said. ¡°I see¡­ The generation of gods in this cycle is strong. The case about the No God Emperor is unprecedented.¡± The pink-haired man said. ¡°Of course, in all the cycles that I¡¯ve seen the No God Emperor is the first one.¡± ¡°The No God Emperor already took over the vessel. He will proceed to free the main body. What do you think will happen to the variable?¡± ¡°There are three variables in that piece of land. There¡¯s no need to worry. As long as it¡¯s not the main body of the No God Emperor, I will put my trust in them.¡± The man on the chair said with a faint smile on his face. ¡°Well, each one of them received their own blessings from the Imperium so they are the strongest on their levels. But we are talking about the No God Emperor here. That god is unfathomable.¡± The pink-haired man said. ¡°We¡¯ll see what will happen soon. We can¡¯t lose any more variables much less three of them at the same time.¡± The man on the chair said. ¡°They are enclosed so outsiders will not be able to provide them any help. They had to shatter the crimson net first but shattering it means freeing the No God Emperor.¡± The pink-haired paused for a moment before he continued, ¡°So it means that the variables are on their own.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that they are hopeless. The Imperium strengthened them after the death of one of the variables. Although it is too low, they still have a chance.¡± The man on the chair said. Bang! Bang! Eztein and Franklin moved at high speed as they clashed with Drayrin. Both of them went to Drayrin¡¯s side and swiftly launched a fierce attack. Drayrin grabbed Eztein¡¯s spear and kicked him in the stomach before he turned to Franklin and threw Eztein in his direction. Franklin changed his posture as he caught Eztein and threw him to the side. Eztein stabilized his footing before he bent his knees and launched himself toward Drayrin like a missile once again. At the same time, Franklin was already exchanging high-speed blows with their opponent. Eztein joined and it became a total chaos. Boom! Shockwave after shockwave was sweeping out every second. The area around them was already in ruins because none of them were holding back. Their elemental energy was flaring up enclosing the whole field. ¡°Old man, can you still go?¡± Eztein asked Franklin. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me that question. I¡¯m always ready to fight.¡± Franklin said. Franklin was at the front while Eztein was supporting him. Sometimes they would change their position so that each of them could catch a breath while fighting the powerful Drayrin, the culprit behind the destruction of the White Wheat City. ¡°Still have a time to talk, huh? So annoying¡­¡± Drayrin said while dodging and blocking the attacks from his two opponents. He then smiled, ¡°You guys didn¡¯t have a chance to win from the beginning.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Eztein narrowed his eyes. He had a bad feeling about this. ¡°Don¡¯t mind him! Just focus on your attack!¡± Franklin said. The next moment, Eztein widened his eyes. He stretched out his hand and grabbed Franklin¡¯s wrist. Using his strength, he threw his comrade to the sky. Swoosh! In the next second, a bunch of woods emerged from the ground. The woods were flexible and agile. It quickly wrapped around Eztein¡¯s body before he could even escape. Ohm! ¡°What is this¡­? My power¡­¡± Eztein muttered as he felt that his strength was leaving his body. Franklin, who was thrown into the sky, narrowed his eyes. He wanted to save Eztein but hundreds of woods quickly rushed at him. Swoosh! Swoosh! Franklin tried his best to avoid the woods while destroying some of them at the same time. He slightly turned his head and noticed something. ¡°This¡­?!¡± His eyes were filled with shock. He couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. Drayrin smiled. ¡°As you can see, there¡¯s no more hope for people who oppose us.¡± Thousands of trees emerged from the ground. It turned the entire central region into a vast jungle. Each tree was like a machine that was after all the living creature in the whole region. The trees had different sizes. The smallest one was ten meters tall while the largest one was seventy meters. ¡°This is the Jungle of Defamation!¡± Chapter 810: Chaos in Hall Plains: Ragnis ¡°Jungle of Defamation!!¡± Drayrin smiled as he opened his arms widely as if he was welcoming everyone. Jungle of Defamation was one of the aces of the Hall of Power, designed to handle anyone who dared to confront them. Its use meant that the Hall of Power was on its last legs. Franklin stared at the surroundings with a gloomy look. Dense woods strangled a large number of people, draining their mana out of their bodies. It was also a type of sacrificial ritual to speed up the awakening process of their emperor. Franklin then glanced at Eztein, who was wrapped tightly by several branches of trees. He struggled to break free, but the branches were slowly draining his energy with each passing moment. ¡°Nothing of you can escape us! No matter how much you struggle, in the end, we will take over this land by the time our emperor arrives here!¡± Drayrin said to Franklin with a huge smile plastered on his face. He was already imagining the moment when his emperor would return to this land. ¡°You¡­ This is not your power. The energy isn¡¯t coming from you,¡± Franklin said. ¡°You¡¯re quick. I don¡¯t have to hide it since all of you are going to die. The Jungle of Defamation is hidden in this land. No one could break it unless they shattered the core. It will continue to absorb all energy and eventually free our emperor. This is our last resort,¡± Drayrin explained calmly. In his point of view, these people gave them a challenge, but once the Jungle of Defamation was activated, all of them were just fodder. That¡¯s why he was calm and easygoing right now. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Franklin looked around. ¡°You can¡¯t find it. The entire central region is huge. It is 6,598 square kilometers. It¡¯s like finding a needle in a haystack,¡± Drayrin laughed at Franklin. Franklin shook his head and smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t have to think about it. I will just kill you. I¡¯ll leave that part to my comrades.¡± ¡°Huh? You really think you could kill me?!¡± Drayrin frowned. He pointed his fingers at Franklin. In the next second, thousands of trees stretched out, rushing at Franklin with extreme speed. Swoosh! Swoosh! Franklin moved his body from side to side, avoiding all the branches while launching energy beams at Drayrin. Boom!! ¡°You piece of shit! I will show you what despair is!¡± Drayrin was angry. He charged forward and clashed with Franklin. Bang!! ¡°Your mind is very simple! You guys will not place the core of what you call the Jungle of Defamation near the border of the central region! If some of your people are protecting an object somewhere in this land, then it would have gathered attention!¡± Franklin said as he repeatedly swung his blade-like hands. Drayrin smiled before he answered, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. The one who is protecting the core is stronger than me. Even if you find it, it is still useless if you can¡¯t defeat that person.¡± ¡°Oh, you have no idea what we are capable of. You thought that you knew everything just because you have our information. I¡¯m saying this because I know that you guys will fall sooner or later. I¡¯m not kidding at all.¡± Franklin mocked his opponent. ¡°Prove it to me!! Show me what you¡¯re capable of!!¡± Drayrin got angry at Franklin¡¯s words. His energy spread out as he attacked Franklin fiercely. His elemental power rose sharply. His strength and speed had grown too as he activated his strongest skills. ¡°I¡¯ll show you what I¡¯m capable of!!¡± Drayrin roared. His body moved too fast and it exceeded Franklin¡¯s perception. In an instant, he had blown his opponent to the ground. Bang! The ground shook as thousands of branches swiftly rushed to strangle Franklin. Franklin wanted to escape quickly but one of the branches managed to coil around his left leg. Without hesitation, he severed his left leg. Blood sprayed in the surroundings like a fountain. It was bad but he was lucky that he removed the branch. ¡°Damn!¡± He smiled to himself thinking that this was the greatest fight that he experienced in his entire life. The chances of him winning was too low but it only made him more excited. It was thrilling. It made his blood boil. ¡­ Alexander was close to the Mountain of Demise when tens of thousands of trees suddenly emerged from the ground. Some of the trees even reached fifty meters in height. In just a second, some of the branches wrapped around him. Confused, he realized that this was happening throughout the entire land. ¡°Hmm¡­ These branches have the energy absorption ability?¡± Alexander muttered to himself. He looked around and saw that other people have their energy drained by these branches. Some of the people escaped and were hurling heavy attacks at the trees. However, they seem to be never-ending. They kept coming again and again without a sign of their number decreasing. He raised his hands and yanked the branches around his body. These branches couldn¡¯t drain even a tiny bit of his mana. They sapped the mana inside his body, but Alexander¡¯s control over his mana overpowered them. It was simple but hard to do. In the entire Hall Plains, only a few selected people could achieve the same feat. Alexander turned his attention to the top of the Mountain of Demise. ¡°There is something ongoing there. It is close to the crimson net, so there must be more of this ritual than what we saw,¡± He muttered before he advanced. ¡­ At the secret passage of the Mountain of Demise¡­ Alice arrived at the focal point of the passage and saw a man blocking her way. The man had a snow-white face, pitch-black short hair, and a pair of red eyes. His name was Ragnis, the one who kidnapped Yenxa in White Wheat City. Alice was alert as she could feel the danger oozing out of the man¡¯s body. This man was strong. There¡¯s no doubt about it. Her instinct alone was telling her that this unknown person was dangerous. Behind the man was a huge tree, which was emitting a dim green and yellow light. The energy around it was too dense and it made the whole area slightly vibrate every second. It was wrapped in a semi-transparent barrier. ¡°What is that?¡± Alice frowned. She had a bad feeling about this. She had no idea what was happening on the surface. ¡°Oh, someone managed to find this area.¡± Ragnis raised his eyebrows and the corner of his mouth slightly curved upward when he saw Alice. ¡°I¡¯m going to say that this area is off-limits so I advise that you go out and never return to this place.¡± ¡°Are you with the Hall of Power?¡± Alice asked even though she was sure. She just wanted some time to observe what that mysterious tree was. ¡°You already know the answer to that question, Alice¡­¡± Ragnis replied. Alice widened her eyes as she subconsciously took a step backward. She didn¡¯t expect this man to know her. ¡°You must be wondering how, right? It¡¯s simple, ever since we¡¯ve located the perfect vessel we have started to investigate Souta and his people.¡± Ragnis explained. Alice didn¡¯t say anything. She just kept staring at this man while slowly circulating her mana around her body. ¡°Return now. If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Ragnis said. ¡°I can¡¯t return now. That tree is probably important to you.¡± Alice said in a serious tone. ¡°Then, die!¡± Ragnis instantly appeared in front of Alice. Alice already expected this so she managed to react quickly. She took out her spear and swiftly thrust it at her opponent. Swoosh! Ragnis shifted his body to the side. Then, he took out a pair of daggers on his back. The daggers emitted lightning arcs around its blade, amplifying its power to a higher level. Clang! Clang! Alice and Ragnis exchanged high-speed blows in just a second. Alice, who was in an offensive position, quickly changed her stance to a defensive one. Ragnis was faster than her and it was putting her in a pinch. Each of his blows created a lightning arc that traveled through her skin. This alone made both of her hands slightly numb. [Boosted Lightning Speed]!! Ragnis moved even faster than before. In just a second, he slashed Alice thousands of times. Then, he spun around and kicked her in the stomach. Bang! Alice crashed into the wall and spat a mouthful of blood. Some of her opponent¡¯s attacks still managed to bypass her defense and caused several cuts on her body. Ugh! She wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth as she stared intently at her opponent. She wanted to meet someone that could test her strength before and now an opponent that could make her go all out has really appeared. ¡°I told you to return now. Don¡¯t make me repeat myself.¡± Ragnis said coldly. ¡°Why don¡¯t you show me what you are going to do if I didn¡¯t heed your words.¡± Alice smiled faintly as her aura rose sharply. She tightly gripped the spear in her hand and cold energy slowly seeped out of it. Chapter 811: Chaos in Hall Plains: Alice vs. Ragnis ¡°You¡¯re smiling? Do you think this is laughable?¡± Ragnis said as veins popped on his forehead. His job was to protect the tree so he didn¡¯t have a time to play with anyone. Plus, the Jungle of Demise was already activated. It means that a large number of Hall of Power members have fallen including their leader, Sir Draymond. Sir Draymond¡¯s death was the trigger to activate the Jungle of Demise. ¡°You are wasting your time. The ritual started several days ago and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Our emperor will return soon.¡± Ragnis said with a mad look. He opened his arms widely and looked above as if he was welcoming the return of the great emperor. ¡°Maybe, but I will try it on that tree. If you are protecting it, it means that it is important for your plan.¡± Alice said as she pointed her spear at Ragnis. ¡°You¡¯re dead.¡± Ragnis looked at her coldly. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before both of them vanished from their position. Alice quickly dashed toward the tree but Ragnis blocked her path. They exchanged thousands of blows as Ragnis madly swung his daggers. Clang! Clang! Clang! ¡°Don¡¯t ever think about touching it?!¡± Ragnis said in a strong tone. His energy level rose once again as he activated another skill to boost his power. Alice took a step back and raised her spear above her head. [Hail Storm]!! The temperature suddenly dropped as a cold wind swept out in the whole area. It was followed by thousands of blocks of ice raining down the field. ¡°Tch!¡± Ragnis clicked his tongue in annoyance. He slightly bent his knees before he launched himself into the air. His figure turned into a lightning arc that shattered all the blocks of ice in just a second. His figure was leaving a trail of lightning that slowly spread out like a net. Seeing this scene, Alice proceeded to launch another skill. [Great Blizzard of Thousand Moon]!! The storm grew stronger and stronger. Snow filled the area as large ice spikes emerged from the ground and ceiling. They were all heading towards the tree. ¡°Shit!¡± Ragnis realized this so he rushed back. His body flashed turning into a ray of lightning. [Lightning Weaver]!! His lightning trail didn¡¯t disappear at all. Instead, it stayed on the field encroaching on the whole area with vicious lightning that destroyed the ice spikes. In just a second, he protected the tree from all the ice spikes and ice blocks. Even the cold energy was repelled by his lightning. [Paralyzing Barrier]!! Ragnis threw his dagger in the air before he pressed his palm on the floor. A huge net of lightning appeared and it covered the barrier around the tree. Even though the barrier was tough, he had to make sure that it wouldn¡¯t break so he added another layer of barrier to the tree. ¡°I¡¯m going to end you right now!¡± Ragnis glared at his opponent. His energy skyrocketed and hundreds of lightning bolts burst out of his body. Crackle! It spread out quickly filling the whole cave so Alice had to erect a shield made of ice to protect herself from all the lightning bolts. She then stomped her foot on the ground creating dozens of ice spears that floated on her back. At the same time, her energy level rose to the limit creating a field of cold energy that expanded in a circular motion. She activated her [Elemental Drive: Ice Force] without hesitation. She didn¡¯t want to hold back and wanted to go all out to finish this battle as soon as possible. She would use any means to achieve her goal of stopping the plan of the Hall of Power. Alice swore to herself. She was actually blaming herself for what happened to the White Wheat City. Souta left her in charge of everything yet she only gave him more problems. She couldn¡¯t finish it on her own. ¡°You¡¯re going all out from the start.¡± Ragnis narrowed his eyes. Then, a burst of elemental power exploded within his body. He had no choice but to use his [Element Drive] too. ¡°This is the only way¡­¡± Alice said coldly. She stepped forward and thrust the spear in her hand. Swoosh! The spear created a shockwave that flew toward the tree at extremely high speed. Trails of cold energy that freeze everything in its path were left behind it. But before it could even touch the tree, Ragnis appeared in front with a flash of lightning before he dispersed the shockwave with a wave of his hand. Boom!! Alice knew that this was going to happen. She had to defeat this man first if she wanted to get ahold of that mysterious tree. She bent her knees and launched herself like a missile. Swoosh! She tightened her grip on her spear and swung it toward Ragnis. Ragnis smiled and crossed his daggers in front of him. Clang! Ragnis then spun in the air and tried to kick Alice in the stomach. Alice used her other hand to block the kick but Ragnis already anticipated it. A figure appeared behind her and swiftly attacked her without hesitation. Ugh! What?! A clone¡­? Alice spat a mouthful of blood as she glanced at the figure behind her. It was a copy of Ragnis. She gritted her teeth and spun in midair at high speed. The speed grew faster and faster until she created a blue tornado with ice spikes swirling around the cold wind. [Cold Tornado]!! Ragnis and his copy jumped away to avoid the tornado. Then, both of them raised their daggers and electric sparks traveled between them. In the next second, three more copies of Ragnis appeared. There were a total of four copies of him and all of them rushed at the tornado. Boom!! The four copies exploded causing the whole cave to tremble. Although it was extremely powerful, it wasn¡¯t enough to destroy the whole cave. This area was still part of the Mountain of Demise. Alice was blown away and crashed into the walls. She wiped the corner of her mouth and widened her eyes. Ragnis was already in front of her. She moved her hand and swung her spear. Ragnis blocked it before they exchanged hundreds of blows instantly. Sparks and energy waves flew every time their weapons collided. The collision caused extreme friction of energies in midair that sent ripples in the atmosphere. Lightning and ice spread out enveloping the whole cave. Bang! Bang! Bang! After a few moments of clashing, Alice was thrown away once again. She crashed into the ceiling as three copies of Ragnis appeared once again. The three copies charged at her and exploded causing waves of lightning to spread out in a circular motion. Boom!! ¡°You have no chance against me¡­¡± Ragnis said as he stared at Alice¡¯s bloody figure. Cough! Cough! Alice coughed heavily as her body fell to the ground causing a loud thud sound. She forced herself to stand and glared at her opponent. ¡°You can¡¯t defeat me with your current strength,¡± Ragnis said in a frosty tone. It¡¯s not that this battle was easy for him. Alice was strong and he had to give it to her but he was far stronger than her in all aspects. Speed, strength, defense, and energy were all above hers. He was a little bit tired and he received damage from fighting her. Ragnis guessed that if she was fighting the other member of the Hall of Power then she would have defeated those people. Unfortunately, she met him. Ugh! Alice was breathing heavily. Her wounds recovered in the blink of an eye and she fixed her stance. She was ready to fight another round again. ¡°This should be enough¡­ Huff¡­ I can¡¯t fall today¡­ Huff¡­ I will defeat you.¡± Alice forced a smile on her face as she pointed her spear at her opponent. ¡°You!!¡± Veins popped up on Ragnis¡¯ forehead. He gritted his teeth before he charged at her. Swoosh! On the other side of the Mountain of Demise¡­ Franklin¡¯s body was full of wounds. He was in midair with branches wrapped around his body. His blood was flowing out of his mouth, dripping to the ground. Ugh! Franklin slowly lifted his head and stared at Drayrin. ¡°Hahaha! What did I say?! All of you will fall here!¡± Drayrin laughed madly at the sight of his opponent¡¯s condition. Both Franklin and Eztein were captured by thousands of branches. They didn¡¯t have the strength to break free from these shackles. The more they struggled the more energy was drained from their bodies. On Torkez¡¯s side¡­ Torkez and all the other people within his group were captured too. They couldn¡¯t do anything as the branches were too fast for their current level. It was too much for them. ¡°Damn¡­ What the hell is this¡­?¡± Torkez muttered with a tired look. He slightly turned his head and tried to sense what was happening around him. It was bad. He couldn¡¯t even sense Franklin and Eztein¡¯s energy from the direction they were fighting in. Cough! Torkez spat a mouthful of blood and felt his vision getting blurred. ¡°Is this the end¡­?¡± Chapter 812: Chaos in Hall Plains: Alicia Isabella was also captured by the branches of the trees. The same thing happened to the people with her. All of them were captured with no way of escaping this predicament. ¡°What¡¯s happening¡­? A-Alice¡­ Where are you¡­?¡± Isabella said in a weak voice. She could feel that the branches were slowly draining her mana. She wanted to take it back but her control over her mana wasn¡¯t that great. She couldn¡¯t do anything. She could only hope that Alice was fine. ¡­ ¡°The entire Hall Plains is isolated from outside space, right?¡± Alice asked with great effort. She was holding her shoulder as blood kept flowing out of it. Her parasite¡¯s ability had slowed down. It means that it was reaching its limits. Soon, she wouldn¡¯t be able to recover her wounds, and when that happened, she was sure that this man would kill her. They¡¯ve been fighting for half an hour. They threw tens of thousands of attacks at each other but Ragnis condition was better than hers even though she had a powerful regenerative ability. Both of their elemental powers were exhausted too so they were in their base form. Probably, a couple of S-ranks were enough to defeat the two of them in their current condition. Their natural defenses were broken and their resistance was too low at this moment. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why none of you can leave this place. You guys are only making it hard for your well-being. None of you will have a painless death.¡± Ragnis answered with a smile. He raised his hand and wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. His condition was better than Alice but it was still worse. Fighting a Two Shackles Realm expert with super regeneration was so hard that he had to use everything that he had got. Alice supported herself using her spear. She stared at Ragnis with determination burning in her eyes. She wouldn¡¯t fail this time. ¡°You! You still have the will to fight.¡± Ragnis narrowed his eyes. He was irritated by the fact that his opponent refused to give up even if she didn¡¯t have a chance to win at all. ¡°If you want to die then so be it! Come!¡± ¡°Who said that I couldn¡¯t defeat you?!¡± Alice raised her voice. Her energy burst like a bomb, sweeping out the dust and debris around her. In the next second, darkness enveloped the ground, wall, and ceiling. Everything turned dark as her energy continued to grow. Darkness covered her figure as a blue flame emerged on her forehead. ¡°You¡­?!¡± Ragnis subconsciously took a step back as he stared at Alice with wide eyes. Ohm! Alice walked out of the shadows, revealing her true form. A pair of bat wings on her back, a long black tail, and a pair of horns protruding on the side of her head. Her skin tone was so pale as if she didn¡¯t have blood flowing in her veins. The color of her arms and legs gradually turned black with black fur around her wrist that was fluttering like a dancing flame. Her nails grew longer and sharper which resembled vicious claws. ¡°You¡­?! A demon?!¡± Ragnis was shocked. ¡°Yeah, is there any problem with it?¡± Alice said as she stepped forward. Ragnis looked down and saw that his hands were shaking. The demons brought fear into this land especially those at the edge of the continent. Those people were the ones that faced the cruelty of the war that even Large Countries were afraid to face. ¡°Die!¡± Alice¡¯s figure flickered. She instantly arrived in front of her opponent. While Ragnis was still in a daze, she swiftly attacked him and delivered a devastating blow to his body. Bang! Ragnis crashed into the walls causing a spider web crack to spread out. Alice chased after him and swung her spear once again. Bang! Every time she swung and slashed her spear, darkness and cold wind followed. She launched a series of powerful attacks at Ragnis with the intention to end this battle as soon as possible. [Heavenly Demon¡¯s Aura]!! Darkness burst out in every direction, shaking the whole cave as if it was about to collapse. [Dark Sweeper]!! Several spheres of darkness flew out of Alice¡¯s hand. These spheres chased after Ragnis before they exploded at the same time. [Freezing Darkness]!! She didn¡¯t give him any chance to counterattack. She continued to drain her mana as she used spells and combat arts repeatedly. Nothing could stop her at this moment. She was using all of her power to end this battle. Ugh! Ragnis spat a mouthful of blood as he saw his leg rolled in midair, spraying blood everywhere. He understood that he was in a bad position. If this continued then he would die in the next few minutes. ¡°You¡­!? If they knew your identity¡­ Millions of people will hunt you down!!¡± Ragnis gritted his teeth as he tried to block the darkness spheres that were coming at him. Bang!! ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Alice said in a strong tone filled with killing intent. She couldn¡¯t let anyone know her identity or else it would bring trouble to Souta and the others. She wasn¡¯t worried about the other people of Astros. They were under Souta¡¯s control through parasites. [Secret Technique: Heavenly Demon¡¯s Dark Stride]!! Alice moved faster than before leaving a trail of darkness behind her. ¡°You damned demon!!¡± Ragnis roared as he swung both of his daggers. He poured everything that he could into this last attack, hoping that he could stop the demon. Swoosh! Boom!! Both of their attacks collided causing a powerful shockwave that swept out everything around them. The ripples of energy spread out in the air as sparks of lightning and darkness flew out between the two attacks. Bang! It was followed by a series of explosions. The mysterious tree trembled and the lightning barrier around it started to disappear. Swoosh!! Smoke and dust filled the area. Alice waved the spear in her hand and the dust was blown away. She stared at Ragnis who was laying on the ground. ¡°This is the end¡­¡± She said as she raised her spear and pointed the tip at his neck. ¡°Ehe¡­ Struggle as much as you want, demon. Our emperor will return soon and you will die along with the entire population of Hall Plains.¡± Ragnis smiled while staring into Alice¡¯s eyes. Alice closed her eyes and pushed her spear forward, killing Ragnis on the spot. Then, she returned to her human form and turned her attention to the mysterious tree. This tree must be important to the Hall of Power if they place a powerful man to guard it. So she needed to destroy it. She imbued her remaining mana in her spear. Her weapon emitted a dark smoke and blue mist. The two elemental powers slowly twisted together before she swung it with all of her might. Bang! The tree trembled before an ear-piercing sound echoed in the whole cave. Alice fell to her knees as she used her hands to cover her ears. Her eyes didn¡¯t leave the tree as she wanted to observe what would happen. Thud!! The tree started to foam like a living being. Then, blood came out of it before it exploded into tiny pieces. ¡°What is that¡­?¡± Alice muttered as she picked up her weapon. The tree exploded in a strange manner that flabbergasted her. She didn¡¯t know if it was a good thing or not. She simply trusted her instinct which told her to destroy the tree. ¡°I¡¯m tired¡­¡± Alice¡¯s vision was getting blurry. Her eyelids felt heavy and sweat was forming all over her body. She was exhausted and her blood kept flowing out of her wounds. Her parasite had reached the limit so her injuries weren¡¯t recovering. ¡°I did my best¡­¡± With those words, Alice fell to the ground. She lost consciousness in the deepest part of the cave. She still wanted to help more but her body collapsed. The thing about the so-called emperor gave her an extremely bad feeling. She didn¡¯t know how or why but it feels like she was standing in front of death. ¡­ On the other side of the crimson net, an entire star system was enveloped in chaos. Souta was laying in a pool of blood. His entire body was covered in deep wounds. His breathing was faint as if he was about to die at any moment. Ugh! Souta coughed a mouthful of blood and stared at the figure in front of him. He couldn¡¯t open his left eye anymore and his right hand was gone, leaving open wounds that kept spewing blood on the floor. ¡°Yenxa¡­ You¡­ took her body¡­ I will¡­¡± He said with great effort. He could barely move his body right now. The figure standing in front of Souta was none other than Yenxa. It was Yenxa but not her at the same time. The so-called emperor of the Hall of Power took over her body. ¡°I am the No God Emperor. This body is mine.¡± No God Emperor said in a plain tone as he tightly clenched his fist. Chapter 813: Chaos In Hall Plains: No God Emperor ¡°I can¡¯t believe that there¡¯s a vessel like this in this world. It¡¯s too perfect. Already had [Monster Force] for higher stages while being at the third stage is too perfect.¡± No God Emperor said as he opened and closed his hands. ¡°The only problem is that it didn¡¯t train my technique.¡± He then glanced at Souta and said, ¡°You will be a good vessel too. Too bad, this body is better than yours. Judging by your energy, I can feel that you¡¯ve practiced two of my techniques. The owner of this body is your subordinate, right? Why didn¡¯t you teach her those techniques?¡± ¡°What¡­ do you¡­ mean?¡± Souta replied with great effort. He forced himself to stand and glared at the figure in front of him. No God Emperor raised his eyebrows. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know anything about it. I¡¯m the creator of [Divine Dark Circulation] and [Divine Light Circulation] that you¡¯ve practiced.¡± He turned around and slowly floated in midair. He didn¡¯t recognize Souta as a threat to him even if he couldn¡¯t exert his full power in this vessel. ¡°W-Where are you going?!¡± Souta gritted his teeth. He pushed the queen parasite to the limit to recover some of his injuries. No God Emperor stopped in midair and he slightly turned his head. ¡°I¡¯m going to use this vessel to free my real body from the Mountain of Demise.¡± ¡®Souta, I realized it now. He¡¯s going to switch the position of Yenxa and his real body. Yenxa will die and the real body of this guy will break free from the Mountain of Demise. This is a part of the ritual. It means that the ritual hasn¡¯t been completed yet.¡¯ Saya explained to Souta. No God Emperor¡¯s goal was to switch himself with the vessel. He took over Yenxa¡¯s body, and since he possessed her, he was going to manipulate the Mountain of Demise to recognize him inside Yenxa. Once that happened, the Mountain of Demise would seal Yenxa while the real No God Emperor would use the opportunity to slip away. Souta understood it. The only problem was the last of the Chain Quest. He had completed Quest 3 before coming here. He used it to promote his class to Rank 1 Great Battle Mage. The last quest gave him a shock. [Awakening] Quest 4: Kill Yenxa before the No God Emperor could switch their bodies. Rewards: 100,000,000 experience points, 25 free attribute points, and 15 skill points. He couldn¡¯t do it. Every time he thought about killing Yenxa, he would recall the time they spent together. Souta could be considered her teacher or master as he was passing his skills to her. But if he couldn¡¯t kill Yenxa then No God Emperor¡¯s plan would succeed. In the end, Yenxa would die and No God Emperor would demolish the entire Hall Plains. Two outcomes and Yenxa died in these two paths. ¡°I¡­¡± Souta looked down as he tightly gripped the vajra sword. ¡®Saya, do you think that we could win this battle?¡¯ he asked blankly. ¡®Honestly, we don¡¯t have any chance at all in your current condition. You just experienced a great battle to arrive here and a stronger opponent has appeared. It¡¯s too low.¡¯ Saya answered in a low voice. She could see that Souta was conflicted by what was happening now. Boom!! Several gigantic explosions occurred. Souta and No God Emperor turned their heads. They saw that the folks from this world had arrived. On this planet, they easily detect where the high fluctuations of energy were coming from. They had to solve this issue as soon as possible or else they would die. The civilization of this planet was shocked when disaster suddenly arrived. The disaster was something that they haven¡¯t experienced before. A crimson net covered the entire star system and brought a huge amount of energy to this land. Ordinary people directly collapsed from it. Earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions started to appear one after another within a few hours. It was like the end of the world. An army arrived in this area before to solve the problem but No God Emperor annihilated the army. It was too much for them as they didn¡¯t expect that a single creature could possess this much power. It was absolutely beyond their imagination. They were desperate so they assembled everything they could to eliminate No God Emperor. It was their last stand. If they didn¡¯t win, they knew that they were going to face extinction. Souta shook his head. The army that appeared was advanced. They had flying ships and various technologies but he knew that it wasn¡¯t enough. ¡°It¡¯s futile¡­¡± He muttered. All of these people were going to die today. Souta couldn¡¯t help but stare at the crimson sky. Smokes were rising everywhere and dark clouds gathered in the north. With his eyes, he could see that the energy brought here by the crimson net was fluctuating wildly and it affected the whole planet causing gigantic storms and other natural disasters to strike. [Insta Regen]! Souta used the equipment skill of his red grade ring called [Nature Spring Ring]. He recovered a little bit of his energy. While No God Emperor was busy with the army of this planet, Souta would try to recover some of his stamina and best feram. ¡®I will go all-out.¡¯ He said to himself. He planned to use everything he had to stop this guy. There¡¯s no point in saving the people of this planet. Souta wasn¡¯t even sure if he could survive this situation. Swoosh! No God Emperor flew tens of thousands of feet above the ground. He faced all the flying ships without changing his expression. In his point of view, these guys were trash that was seeking death. ¡°All of you will die today.¡± No God Emperor said as he slowly lifted his hand. The leader of the army only had a power level of C-rank. He was nervous and scared at the same time. What he and the army was facing now was a god-like being. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that there¡¯s a creature with this much power in this universe.¡± The leader muttered while staring at No God Emperor¡¯s figure. As a part of an army, he was ready to face death along with his soldiers. The only thing he was afraid of was the death of his family and the people of this world. He raised his hand and brought it down, signaling his subordinates to launch their powerful weapons. ¡°Lunch the antimatter!¡± The flying ships aimed their cannons at the figure floating in midair. In the next moment, they shoot several projectiles. Swoosh! These projectiles were dangerous. It would literally wipe out everything in this area. Even their ships would be affected by explosions. No God Emperor was unfazed as he stared at these projectiles. He could simply avoid it as their speed haven¡¯t even broken through the sound barrier. But he didn¡¯t need to do so. He couldn¡¯t even feel a single mana from these projectiles that could harm him. ¡°You¡¯re world is too fragile¡­ The mana here is too thin for you to understand it.¡± He said before all the bombs exploded. BOOM!!! A strong hot wind swept out along with the shock waves. All the trees and structures in the area disintegrated in an instant. A blinding light erupted as a powerful wave engulfed everything. Souta narrowed his eyes as he raised his hand. His natural protective field was still intact. Ohm!! Even though the explosion happened ten thousand feet above the ground, Souta could still feel the power it possessed. The radius of the explosion was too huge. It killed all the people within an approximate diameter of five thousand kilometers. It was devastating and countless lives were lost instantly. Even the army themselves weren¡¯t spared. It was basically a suicide move. When the ships exploded, all the bombs hidden within exploded too. A series of powerful explosions occurred ten thousand meters above the ground. A suicidal move and the government didn¡¯t even need to send all the soldiers to death but it wouldn¡¯t change. They would all die in the end. Ohm! After a few moments, all that was left was pure devastation. Their target, No God Emperor, was still in his position. ¡°It¡¯s quite strong for a manaless attack.¡± He complimented the dead army. He truly meant what he said. It was outside of his expectation to see a powerful explosion this one without any boost from mana. If they added mana then it would be suitable to use in Imperium. No God Emperor smiled and shook his head, ¡°I want to use it, unfortunately, everything here should become a sacrifice for me.¡± He then turned his attention back to Souta. ¡°Now, let¡¯s continue.¡± No God Emperor said. ¡®Saya, I¡¯ll let you partially possess me. You¡¯ll take care of the energy control.¡¯ Souta said in his mind as he raised the vajra sword. ¡®Leave it to me, just focus your attention on attacking and defending. I¡¯ll distribute your energy efficiently.¡¯ Saya replied to him. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± Souta forced a smile on his face. He didn¡¯t hesitate and activated [Possession], [Element Drive], and [Monster Orb Release]. Chapter 814: Chaos In Hall Plains: Terror Of The No God Emperor ¡°No God Emperor¡­ The one who was born free. A man without any shackles.¡± Amanda and the two archaeologists discovered the truth about the Hall of Power. Currently, the three of them were exhausted. While they were investigating a ruin in the central region, thousands of trees emerged from the ground and attacked. They did everything that they could but they were captured in the end. Luckily, the tree disappeared and they were free once again. ¡°Huff¡­ No God Emperor was sealed thousands of years ago, right? Then, what happened before it?¡± Amanda asked as she looked at Jason and Lindi. ¡°According to this text, the Hall of Power fell at that time. No God Emperor is a person that shouldn¡¯t be born in this world. He is an unprecedented existence.¡± Lindi said. ¡°The God of Hall of Power at that time was called Vexus. It has the status of a Large Country but everything changed when God Vexus introduced his wife to his people¡­¡± Jason paused and his voice turned serious. Vexus¡¯ wife wasn¡¯t a human nor a demi. Instead, his wife was a monster. Although the relationship between two different species was rare, it wasn¡¯t the first time. The only problem was monsters couldn¡¯t give birth to humans and demis¡¯ child. But Vexus¡¯ wife got pregnant and it aroused a lot of gods and monster lords in the Imperium. In regard to this, five out of ten Commandments attacked the Hall of Power. The reason was still unknown but the Hall of Power fell at that time. Vexus¡¯ child survived the calamity. He later rose to the ranks in just a few years and rebuilt the Hall of Power with his own hands. He was called the No God Emperor. An offspring of a human god and a monster became one of the most powerful existence. He had no shackles on his body so his growth speed was too fast and he quickly rose to the ranks of gods. The moment he achieved such level, he directly killed the gods of the nearby Large Countries. No God Emperor was a half-human and half-monster. He could use the best feram of the monsters the moment he was born. A lot of gods feared him and in his glory days, he killed a total of forty-seven gods before he was sealed. His famous feat which made other gods feared him was when he tore through the fifth dimension and killed ten gods in a single battle. ¡°A half-human and half-monster¡­ A high-ranking god.¡± Amanda narrowed her eyes. ¡°We will all die if No God Emperor has fully awakened. The only way to deal with it is to release the mechanism of the ancient ruins.¡± Lindi said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Remember that we discover a trait of an ancient civilization here before the rise of the Hall of Power?¡± Jason said. Amanda nodded. The one that explained it to Amanda was Lindi. ¡°Approximately ten thousand years ago, there is a civilization here. It vanished but traces of it were scattered around the Hall Plains waiting to be discovered. Those mechanisms are advanced and we just need to activate them.¡± Those mechanisms were extremely ancient and most of the knowledge pertaining to it was lost in the annals of history. But Jason and Lindi were investigating it for a long time. They have been trying to find the whole history of the Hall of Power for decades so they knew bits of what happened in the past. ¡°If it can help us prevent the awakening of No God Emperor then let¡¯s try it,¡± Amanda said. ¡°Good.¡± Lindi nodded. ¡­ Souta¡¯s body inflated as a tyrannical power burst out within his body. The monster orb and [Nebula Heart] kept pumping out energy to boost his strength. He charged forward as the [Blood Armor] covered his body, protecting him from any harm. Souta swung the sword in his hand, creating a huge blade of energy. Bang! No God Emperor raised his hand and twisted the energy blade effortlessly. Souta already expected this so he wasn¡¯t surprised. He knew that No God Emperor was powerful but his current power was limited due to Yenxa¡¯s power level. The power that he showed was already beyond Yenxa¡¯s capability. Saya explained to him that since Yenxa became a vessel, the No God Emperor boosted her power to a higher level. It was the maximum that she could handle with her body as more power would only destroy Yenxa. No God Emperor didn¡¯t want that to happen since he needed the vessel to free his real body. That¡¯s why No God Emperor¡¯s prowess was limited but it was still far above Souta¡¯s capabilities. Plus, Souta was already tired after his battle against Draymond. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta and No God Emperor clashed in the air. The collision of their attacks caused a devastating damage to this land. The fragile planet with low mana density could barely handle the energy collision. In just a second, Souta was blasted away and crashed on the ground causing a huge earthquake. He was outclassed in all aspects. ¡°You are strong. Stronger than any of the fourth stage monsters that I¡¯ve seen in my life. You can come and work for me. I will not treat you badly.¡± No God Emperor complimented him. He was genuine in his proposal to take Souta under his wing. ¡°Shut up!¡± Souta rose from the ground. He raised his hand and made a grabbing motion in the air. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± No God Emperor tilted his head as he looked down at his body. Then, he realized something. ¡°Oh, you have control over this body. That¡¯s a bit unexpected but it wouldn¡¯t work.¡± Souta widened his eyes before he felt an intense pain assault his body. He fell to his knees and coughed a mouthful of blood. Ugh! ¡®He affected the control of parasite¡­?!¡¯ Souta couldn¡¯t believe this. His opponent used the connection between the parasite inside Yenxa¡¯s body and the queen parasite as a bridge to attack him. ¡®Souta, you have to sever it or else you will die!!¡¯ Saya shouted in his mind. The opponent that he was facing now was different from all the people he had fought before. ¡°I didn¡¯t notice it at first since I¡¯m familiarizing myself with this body but you have something quite interesting there.¡± No God Emperor smiled. ¡°If you waited for the right moment then perhaps you can return me.¡± ¡­ In Bland City, the underground place where God¡¯s corpse resides¡­ Ninth Head was looking at the unknown woman who introduced herself as Aleteya. She was cautious as she could feel that the woman in front of her was dangerous. She couldn¡¯t quite explain this feeling but she trusted her instinct. She silently circulated her energy to prepare herself for battle in case Aleteya became hostile. ¡°Move, I need something beyond this door,¡± Aleteya said calmly. ¡°What?! You know what¡¯s hidden beyond this door¡­?¡± Ninth Head was a little bit surprised to find that this woman knew something about what was laying in this place. ¡°It¡¯s time to take it up. If you don¡¯t want to move then I¡¯ll have to use force.¡± Aleteya said as her tone turned chilly. Ninth Head flinched as she jumped away, creating a distance between her and Aleteya. She waved her hand and a palm-size blue crystal flew out. Ohm! Boulders of rocks gathered around the blue crystal and it formed into a three-meter-tall giant golem. Ninth Head raised her other hand and several green crystals flew out. It fused into the golem and gives it form and power. In just a few seconds, the golem was covered in full-plate dark-colored armor. It has a huge mace in its right hand and a large amount of energy could be felt within the golem. Ninth Head landed on the shoulder of her creation and stared at Aleteya. She was a dwarf and she specialized in golem creation. Although she wasn¡¯t that strong in terms of combat, the golems that she could create made up for what she lacks. The reason why her organization became an overlord organization was because of her golems. ¡°You¡¯ll oppose? Very well. Although this body of mine has been in deep slumber for a thousand years, I can still fight someone at your level.¡± Aleteya said before she took a step forward. Her energy burst out of her body causing the whole area to shake. ¡°This is¡­ Best feram¡­?¡± Ninth Head was flabbergasted. ¡°Y-You¡­!! You¡¯re a monster¡­?¡± Aleteya smiled and said, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m Selfless¡­ All these years, I¡¯ve been waiting for this moment. It¡¯s finally matured and I¡¯m going to take it with my own hands.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Ninth Head was confused. ¡°Hmm¡­ You¡¯re guarding this place yet you don¡¯t know the importance of what¡¯s hidden in this land.¡± Aleteya smiled mischievously. She covered her mouth with her hand. ¡°Shit, it seems that Governor Ray hid a lot of things from us.¡± Ninth Head said to herself. Chapter 815: Chaos In Hall Plains: The Experts From The Sub-World ¡°Come and join me. Forget about anything else. I¡¯m sure that we¡¯ll be able to take down Imperium if you join hands with me. I¡¯ll help you evolve faster.¡± No God Emperor said while looking at Souta. ¡°Shut your damn fucking mouth!! I ain¡¯t joining some bullshit of yours! I¡¯m going to make you pay for possessing one of my people!¡± Souta said with his brows knitted tightly. His killing intent was too dense right now to the point that anyone who looked at him would have a hallucination of a giant predator standing at the top of the food chain. ¡°Why is she needed for your awakening?¡± Souta stepped forward and slowly raised the vajra sword in his hand. Light and darkness elements gathered around the blade of his sword. It twisted together, creating a vortex of energy. ¡°Haha, it¡¯s because I¡¯m too powerful. My intent couldn¡¯t just possess anyone as it will destroy their bodies and souls easily. I needed someone with a perfect body that is close to mine. This one is an example.¡± No God Emperor said with a faint smile on his face. He was in no hurry to defeat Souta. It¡¯s been a thousand years since he talked to someone. ¡°It¡¯s close to mine. This body has the [Monster Force] of a higher evolution stage. Do you know that [Monster Force] is the one that¡¯s maintaining the circulation of best feram inside a monster¡¯s body? That¡¯s the reason why monsters only get it once they reach the third stage. Without it, their bodies would collapse faster every time they used their release form.¡± Souta turned silent. The reason why Yenxa was chosen was because of the [Monster Force] that he passed to her. He understood it. So this incident was his fault? Of course not, Souta was going to blame it on No God Emperor. He was going to force back this god back to eternal rest and when he had the strength to kill him, he would tear this god into tiny pieces. ¡°I don¡¯t care about that shit! What I know is that you dared to use my people as your vessel! That¡¯s one thing I will never let go of!¡± Souta walked towards No God Emperor. His aura grew stronger and stronger as his [Nebula Heart] kept pumping best feram all over his body. ¡°Come! Show me what you¡¯ve got!!¡± No God Emperor raised his hand and taunted him. ¡°Certainly,¡± Souta raised his other hand and activated most of his buff spells and combat arts to boost his overall strength. At the same time, he changed his armor to [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]. He could feel it. He was getting stronger and stronger through this battle. Souta was getting proficient in using his strength. He kept pushing his body to the limit throughout all the battles he had been in before. Souta and No God Emperor were about to start another round of battle when someone interrupted them. An old man with five people following them arrived at the battlefield. Souta and No God Emperor stopped as they both turned their heads at these unknown people. They were a little bit surprised. The temperature in this area has already reached a hundred thousand degrees celsius. Although most of it was the effect of the explosion before, some of Souta and No God Emperor¡¯s energy still amplified the destructive power of the heat. So ordinary people would instantly die in this area. Even those B-rank and A-rank experts in Imperium would have a hard time staying alive. ¡°Who are you? Can you see that I¡¯m busy here? If you¡¯re not going to entertain me then I suggest that you leave this place.¡± No God Emperor said to the unknown group of people. These people were the strongest bunch of experts in this world. The army collapsed after they used antimatter, the strongest weapon of the government. So the remaining people of the government asked the strongest organization who specialized in dealing with the supernatural. From their point of view, Souta and No God Emperor were demons from hell that arrived in their world. These people were called World Knights. They only appeared when the world was on the brink of destruction. They were the most powerful group of people in this world. Currently, the antimatter destroys a huge portion of land. Everything within an approximate distance of five thousand kilometers was all dead. The land and air were filled with destruction yet these two demons were still alive. Their battles destroyed more than what the antimatter could. ¡°Demons, return to your world.¡± The old man said in a low tone while staring at Souta and No God Emperor. The five people behind him were preparing for battle. They knew that if they couldn¡¯t talk to these demons a huge battle would break out that could potentially destroy the world. No God Emperor smirked as he stared at these unknown people. ¡°How can I do that? Everything in this place has been enveloped by the crimson net so all of you are sacrificed for my awakening. There¡¯s no hope for you. Entertain me, at the very least, I could make you one of my subordinates.¡± . cm These people didn¡¯t even enter his eyes. They were ants in the low world that couldn¡¯t be compared to Imperium. It doesn¡¯t matter how great they were in No God Emperor¡¯s perspective, they were all lambs waiting to be slaughtered. ¡°You leave me no choice¡­¡± The old man muttered. Souta stepped back. He wasn¡¯t No God Emperor so he had to stay cautious. Plus, he was also exhausted from his battle against Draymond. But if these people were going to fight No God Emperor, perhaps he could lend them a hand. It¡¯s more better than fighting this guy alone. ¡°Come, if you can¡¯t defeat me then this world will fall.¡± No God Emperor raised his hand while his other hand was resting on his back. ¡°Attack him!¡± The old man said. Swoosh! The five people behind him quickly vanished and appeared in midair. It wasn¡¯t speed, it was pure space bending technique. The five of them surrounded No God Emperor. The person with the ability to control space quickly locked the space to prevent No God Emperor from moving. The second expert used a time ability to freeze time. The third expert threw a powerful punch and his punch contained a power of causality to never miss his attack. The fourth expert used a drained ability to steal No God Emperor¡¯s energy. The fifth expert simply used a sword slash. The only difference was his sword slash was terrifying as if a manifestation of a sword god appeared behind him. All of these happened in less than a second. Their ability was strong to the point that it even surprised Souta a little bit. He didn¡¯t expect folks from the sub-world to possess this kind of ability. They were powerful. There¡¯s no doubt about it but No God Emperor was also strong. He couldn¡¯t be defeated easily by such tactics. Bang!! A loud sound echoed as the five people were pushed away. They spat a mouthful of blood as they stared at No God Emperor with wide eyes. ¡°It can¡¯t be¡­ How¡­?¡± They couldn¡¯t believe what they were seeing right now. They locked the space, stopped the time, and even used casuality to directly attack him, yet No God Emperor broke all of the attacks easily. ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised.¡± No God Emperor smiled as he slowly raised his hand. ¡®Not good.¡¯ Souta widened his eyes. He moved his body as fast as he could to interrupt him. He couldn¡¯t let No God Emperor kill these guys. He could still use these five guys to assist him in a battle considering their magnificent ability. ¡°The ability to control space, time, and causality is too good but unfortunately I¡¯m not an ordinary person. I can break time and space. Causality also will not work on me and the same could be said for fate and destiny.¡± No God Emperor said. Ugh! The one who tried to drain No God Emperor¡¯s energy fell on his knees. He started coughing a large amount of blood. Argh!! He groaned in pain as he felt that his veins and organs were twisting together. No God Emperor glanced at this man and mocked him. ¡°You think that you could just absorb my energy just like that? If it was that easy then I wouldn¡¯t have to wait for a long time just to find a vessel that could handle my energy.¡± Boom!! The next second, the man exploded and his body parts were scattered everywhere. The remaining four people widened their eyes in fear. This was the first time they experienced something like this. At the same time, Souta arrived in front of No God Emperor. He swung his sword and shouted, ¡°Snap out of it. This guy is more powerful than you think. This guy is a god so don¡¯t expect to work such means to him.¡± ¡°You¡¯re expecting something from them.¡± No God Emperor stared at Souta as he used his hand to block the incoming slash. Bang!! Chapter 816: Chaos In Hall Plains: Power Of The No God Emperor No God Emperor caught Souta¡¯s sword and then he lifted his feet before launching a devastating kick at Souta¡¯s stomach. Bang! Souta was blown away and crashed on the nearby debris of rocks. No God Emperor turned his attention to the old man and the remaining four experts. He beamed when he saw their fearful look. ¡°The current era is quite beautiful, right? The rules are broken so gods can do whatever they want today. In my time, we are forbidden to use any sort of skills that could upset the balance of the world. Just like this¡­¡± No God Emperor pointed his finger at the corpse nearby corpse. The old man and the four remaining experts waited for a few seconds but nothing happened. Only Souta saw exactly what happened with the corpse. ¡°I just erased him from this world so he wouldn¡¯t expect himself to be born once again.¡± No God Emperor said but the others couldn¡¯t wrap their heads around it. He simply destroyed the existence of man. He deleted him from this world. Even his soul was gone and couldn¡¯t return to the soul realm to undergo reincarnation. ¡°The Great Lambs are managing the balance of the world. They are like the administrators of this universe. There are many things that gods couldn¡¯t do. Altering the laws and changing the rules is one of them.¡± No God Emperor walked towards the old man and the four experts slowly while narrating what happened to the world. ¡°Gods could fight among themselves but if it affected the balance of the world then a Great Lamb would intervene. Are we really gods? I think not since restrictions are put on us. We are like a bird in a cage. So I decided to fight them.¡± Souta stood up and wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. He didn¡¯t start another fight. He was curious about this story too and it would also give him a time to recover some of his stamina and best feram. It was actually favorable to him. No God Emperor opened both of his arms widely and stared at the sky. ¡°I fought them. I tried to erase the current laws and rules of the Hall Plains but guess what¡­ The Great Lambs arrived at my doorstep and a big battle occurred. I killed them but they kept coming at me. They manipulated my fate so I shattered my own fate and created one that no one could control.¡± The Imperium held every living being fate. No, Imperium created the fate of everyone. No God Emperor shattered his own fate and created a path that no one could control. Then, he ascended to godhood at that time. The Great Lambs couldn¡¯t prevent his ascension. The Gods were different from mortal beings. They weren¡¯t bound by time, space, and fate. But No God Emperor was just a mortal at that time so his fate was controlled by Great Lambs. He had no choice but to shatter his own fate to successfully ascend to godhood. After that, he fought two Great Lambs at the same time. He survived the battle and changed the rules of Hall Plains. He prepared himself to fight the entire Imperium. He gathered everything that he could to fight against the Imperium. Most of the gods at that time decided to stay on the sideline. They just watched as the Great Lambs attacked the Hall Plains. He survived the calamity and successfully repelled the Great Lambs. It was the start of his legends. He fought various gods before he was sealed using Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain. ¡°You have some amazing abilities but unfortunately you are too weak.¡± No God Emperor said to the old man and the remaining four experts. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen everything, yet.¡± The old man said in a low voice. ¡°Oh, then let me show you something you haven¡¯t seen in your life.¡± No God Emperor said coldly. The old man glanced at the four experts before he turned to No God Emperor. He shook his shoulders and several talismans flew out of his sleeves. Swoosh! Swoosh!! At the same time, the four experts snapped out of their thoughts. They quickly prepared themselves to help the old man in confronting the vile No God Emperor. . cm ¡°I¡¯ve locked the space again. I don¡¯t think it could hold him back but this is the best that I could do.¡± The one who could control space said. ¡°I¡¯ve stopped the time around him again.¡± The one who could control time said. ¡°Let me.¡± The old man said as he jumped in the air. He raised both of his hands and an image of buddha appeared behind him. No God Emperor lifted his head and a smile formed on his face even if the time and space around him were frozen. ¡°You have the power of a buddha? That¡¯s not bad but you¡¯re not the real buddha¡­ I can even fight a real buddha so you¡¯re nothing with me.¡± No God Emperor wasn¡¯t faced with the image of a giant buddha behind the old man. From his point of view, nothing could stop him unless a real buddha arrived here. If that happened, there was nothing he could do since he was only using a vessel. He couldn¡¯t release all of his powers in this state. He slowly opened his mouth and said, ¡°Archetype¡­¡± ¡®Not good¡­¡¯ Souta widened his eyes. He immediately looked at the old man and the four experts. ¡°Focus on defense! No God Emperor will demolish this place!¡± ¡®Souta, run! Don¡¯t bother them anymore!¡¯ Saya said hurriedly. At the same time, No God Emperor¡¯s energy level increased sharply. The space and land started to tremble as his best feram spread out in the whole area. In an instant, the whole continent started to shake under the pressure of intense energy. Bang!! The space and time around the No God Emperor were shattered like a fragile glass. The old man widened his eyes and he was hit by a massive amount of energy. He tried to fight back but the energy pressure was too high. The image of a giant buddha behind him crumbled into tiny fragments. Boom!! [Archetype: Heaven¡¯s Downfall]! [First Step: Overturning the Earth]!! A thousand-meter-tall golden spear emerged from the sky. It was giving off a majestic vibe that pressured everyone into their knees. ¡°Shit!¡± Souta cursed looking at this. This was the power of the true [Archetype]. The one that he was using wasn¡¯t even compatible with him and he haven¡¯t even mastered it. His proficiency couldn¡¯t even pass fifty percent. He raised both of his hands and tried to erect as many barriers as he could. He also gathered a huge amount of blood to create a thick layer of blood dome around him. He knew that he couldn¡¯t avoid this. He also wanted to keep the old man and the four experts but there was nothing he could do right now. The power of No God Emperor was beyond his current ability. Souta couldn¡¯t even imagine how powerful the real body of the No God Emperor was. ¡°Die alongside this land¡­¡± These words came out of No God Emperor¡¯s mouth before the golden spear landed on the ground. Boom!! The thousand-meter-tall spear easily pierced through the land. Everything within the land started to shake as a massive amount of energy was channeled through the ground. The whole continent was shaken as a ripple of vast destruction energy was sent out in every direction. The giant spear stood proudly oozing out a terrifying amount of energy. In just a few seconds, almost everything on the surface was obliterated. All the population on the continent faced annihilation. Their bodies were disintegrated into tiny particles. Bang!! No God Emperor looked at the destruction of his attack with a calm face. ¡°This world is too fragile. This isn¡¯t even one percent compared to the power of my real body.¡± He was right. A god didn¡¯t need to attack a sub-world to cause destruction. Their presence alone was enough to obliterate most of the sub-worlds. The rules and concepts of sub-worlds were too weak. No God Emperor stared at the golden spear and closed his eyes. He could feel that he was getting closer to freeing his real body. The people that died in his attack were sacrificed. Their bodies and all their energy fueled the ritual. This made the sky look redder than before. It was like a sea of blood flowing in space. ¡°Just a little bit more and I¡­¡± His next target was to completely destroy this sub-world. He would annihilate all the living beings on this planet. There was nothing they could do to stop him. All the people who were watching the disasters were filled with despair the moment they saw the destructive power of the No God Emperor. The largest continent on their planet suffered a total annihilation. The amount of power and energy could even be felt on other continents. All of their hopes crumbled instantly. Chapter 817: Chaos In Hall Plains: Reinforcement Boom!! An immense amount of best feram erupted at the top of the Mountain of Demise. The space around it was shattered as fragmented space scattered everywhere at the peak of the mountain. The entire mountain started to shake but it only took a few seconds before it stabilized. The vast amount of best feram scattered everywhere and it could be felt throughout the entire central region. The pressure it brought to the surroundings was unreal. The members of the Hall of Power couldn¡¯t help but look up in admiration. ¡°Our Emperor!!¡± ¡°Hail Emperor!!¡± It was the energy of their emperor, the No God Emperor. The one and only blessed being that goes against the world. Isabella, Franklin, Eztein, and the rest of the Astros looked at the top gravely. It wasn¡¯t a good sign for them. ¡°Where¡¯s Alice¡­?¡± Isabella muttered worriedly. She was worried about Alice even though her condition wasn¡¯t good. If the branches of trees didn¡¯t disappear a few minutes ago, she wouldn¡¯t know what would happen to her. Boom!! A loud explosion occurred near the top of the mountain. Isabella looked up and saw several figures floating in the mid-air. Each one of them possessed an aura that was stronger than her. ¡°This is bad¡­ All of them are Shackled Realm¡­¡± She muttered to herself. She was just an S-rank and she would have a hard time if a fight broke out once again. Plus, she wasn¡¯t an expert in close combat. All she could do was sneak attack her opponents. Isabella glanced at the other members of Astros. She found that they were exhausted too. There¡¯s no doubt that they would be annihilated. The figures that were floating near the top of the mountain were all members of the Hall of Powers. They weren¡¯t ordinary members. They were Lord Dramus and the others that Souta fought back in the Heiro Kingdom¡¯s royal capital. They slowly descended down and it made Isabella¡¯s heart skip a bit. She felt nervous as she didn¡¯t know how she could protect the Astros against these people. The other members of the Hall of Power went to the other side while one headed in her direction. ¡°I had to do this¡­ There¡¯s no other choice.¡± Isabella said to herself. She braced herself for the worse. Suddenly, an extremely dense aura exploded behind the group. Boom!! Isabella hurriedly turned her head and saw dozens of members of Astros were blown away. ¡®Another enemy¡­? It¡¯s not good.¡¯ Isabella turned pale. A huge monster walked out from the dust. It was a humanoid monster with overwhelming energy flowing out of its huge body. The monster didn¡¯t bother looking at other people. Instead, it focused its attention on the top of the mountain. Thud! Each time it took a step, the ground shook slightly. It walked forward as if there was nothing that could stop it. Isabella stared at the monster as it walked past before her. She didn¡¯t even dare to move or make a sound as her instinct was telling her that she would die instantly the moment she got on the nerve of this monster. The member of the Hall of Power stared at the monster coldly. He asked, ¡°Are you one of our emperor¡¯s subordinates?¡± The monster chuckled and said, ¡°I¡¯m not. I serve nothing but myself so get out of my way.¡± ¡°You¡­ Why are you trying to get in our way?¡± The member of the Hall of Power narrowed his eyes. ¡°It seems interesting that way.¡± The monster laughed before it took a step forward. Its best feram spread out creating a circular field around it that expanded outwardly. Boom!! ¡°You¡¯re too weak.¡± The monster said one last time before it charged toward the member of the Hall of Power. The member of the Hall of Power was confident but it was shattered immediately. The monster in front of him was unbelievably powerful. ¡°N-No!!!¡± ¡­ Eztein and Franklin were freed from the branches after Alice destroyed the core in the underground basement. Although they were freed, they were still exhausted while Drayrin still had some energy left with him. ¡°It¡¯s a bit unexpected that Ragnis failed but it doesn¡¯t matter¡­ His effort will be rewarded. Our emperor is back.¡± Drayrin laughed madly as he could feel the best feram on the top of the mountain. There¡¯s no doubt that his emperor had successfully took over the vessel. One more step and their emperor¡¯s real body would emerge from this land once again. Eztein and Franklin looked exhausted. Their chances of winning this battle were less than fifty percent with their current condition. Plus¡­ Eztein felt extremely bad as he detected several strong energy levels near the peak of the mountain. He was sure that old man Franklin could feel it too. If those people came here then there¡¯s only one outcome. Their defeat. ¡°Old man, can you still fight?¡± Eztein asked. ¡°Ask yourself. I can still fight till the end.¡± Franklin replied. ¡°Then, we should stake everything here.¡± Eztein smiled. ¡°That¡¯s my plan from the beginning.¡± Franklin grinned widely. Both of them dashed forward. Drayrin narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He could see that these two still had the will to fight. He got angry and quickly launched a beam at them. Swoosh! Eztein blocked the beam while Franklin went to the side and charged at Drayrin. Drayrin clicked his tongue and threw a punch but Franklin anticipated it since he knew that their opponent wasn¡¯t taking them seriously. He stepped to the side as both of his hands turned into huge blades. Then, he swung it repeatedly at his opponent. Bang! Bang! Bang! ¡°You fucking shit!¡± Drayrin cursed as he blocked all of Franklin¡¯s attacks easily. Then, he kneed Franklin on the stomach before he grabbed his face. He charged a ball of energy in his palm and smashed Franklin into the ground causing a huge explosion. Boom!! Eztein widened his eyes. The two of them were exhausted and they literally have one percent of winning against this opponent. But he had to fight even if he lost. Before he could even react, Drayrin came out of the smoke and arrived in front of him. Drayrin charged a huge concentration of energy in his before he threw it at Eztein. Swoosh! Suddenly, a figure appeared and swiftly dispersed the powerful attack. This figure was a woman wearing armor with a sword in her hand. She glanced at Eztein and said, ¡°You can take it easy. We¡¯re here.¡± Thud! Thud! At the same time, several figures appeared around Eztein. All of them were wearing full-plate armor. Eztein looked at them and breathed a sigh of relief. The warriors of Athen¡¯s Champion have finally arrived. He even wanted to complain but he couldn¡¯t do so because of his condition. These warriors left Ekatoe City earlier than Astros yet Astros was the first one to arrive in the Mountain of Demise. Well, he was just glad that the reinforcement was here. ¡°Y-You!! Who are you?!¡± Drayrin shouted. ¡°I am Ibis, Sixth Grain War Leader of the Third Set of Pallas Division.¡± The woman said in a strong tone as she faced Drayrin. ¡°A Grain Leader¡­?!¡± Drayrin subconsciously took a step back as he widened his eyes in shock. On the other side¡­ Alexander had also arrived. He was alone and behind him were corpses of the members of the Hall of Power. They tried to stop him but he wasn¡¯t an ordinary expert. He dismantled a group of fifty people with ten One Shackle Realms and three Two Shackles Realms experts in just a few minutes. Right now, he was staring at the figure that was descending from the mountain. He shook his head and smiled, ¡°Are you here to stop me?¡± Alexander¡¯s voice traveled through the air faster than normal sound. It quickly arrived at the figure. This man was none other than Lord Dramus, one of the experts that Souta fought in Heiro Kingdom¡¯s royal capital. ¡°If you didn¡¯t come here for the ritual then I will leave you alone but if you come here to disturb it then I will be forced to kill you.¡± Lord Dramus said. ¡°Would you believe me if I said that I came here to join you?¡± Alexander asked with a smile. ¡°No,¡± Lord Dramus answered immediately. Then, he asked, ¡°I¡¯m curious about where you came from. I¡¯m sure that we¡¯ve already caused the downfall of all major powers in other regions so there are only a few groups that could oppose us.¡± ¡°Me¡­? I¡¯m on my own.¡± Alexander answered calmly. ¡°I¡¯m enough so let¡¯s start this.¡± ¡°Come,¡± Lord Dramus raised his hands as his aura burst out like a tidal wave. ¡°Be careful, I¡¯m going all out from the start. If you don¡¯t watch out then you¡¯re going to die before you know it.¡± As soon as Alexander said these words, a vast aura exploded within his body. The enormous amount of elemental energy broke out like a tsunami that wanted to swallow everything. Chapter 818: Chaos In Hall Plains: Selfless Malevolence Governor Ray¡¯s army had also arrived at the Mountain of Demise. The reason why it took him so long was that he settled some of his soldiers in the Spring Land to create a stand on that piece of land. In short, a part of Spring Land became his territory. It just took him a few days since the situation in Spring Land wasn¡¯t good. Most of the superpowers of that land were gone from the schemes of the Hall of Power. Governor Ray¡¯s soldiers weren¡¯t something that anyone could underestimate. They were trained to the limit for this purpose. ¡°No God Emperor¡­ You¡¯ve finally returned¡­¡± Governor Ray muttered to himself while looking at the top of the mountain. He was the descendant of the God of Hall Plains so he had a connection with No God Emperor. No God Emperor was also a child of his ancestor. ¡°This is my mission. I have to complete it.¡± ¡­ In Bland City, below the surface¡­ Ninth Head was fighting a woman who called herself Aleteya. No, it shouldn¡¯t be called a fight. Aleteya was dismantling all of the golems that Ninth Head created with ease. It was too one-sided. It feels like Aleteya was bullying Ninth Head with her overwhelming power. Bang! Ninth Head crashed on the wall and spat a mouthful of blood. She fell to the ground and pressed her palm on the floor. In just a second, she created another golem. ¡®I can¡¯t win¡­ At this rate, I¡¯m going to die.¡¯ Ninth Head said to herself as she wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth. Aleteya was still standing in her position while looking calmly at Ninth Head. It looks like she didn¡¯t care about what Ninth Head could do. Her careless attitude was pressuring Ninth Head. It was enough for her to realize that Aleteya wasn¡¯t even using all of her strength. Aleteya slowly opened her mouth, ¡°Even though this body has deteriorated, you still can¡¯t defeat me. Give up before I kill you.¡± Ninth Head looked gloomy. Her opponent was saying the truth and she couldn¡¯t help but feel bad about it. She also couldn¡¯t turn her back and let this monster take what was beyond the door. She waved her hands and created dozens of golems with her remaining mana. She was ready to fight till the end. Aleteya smiled, seeing Ninth Head¡¯s determination. ¡°I admire your courage but it isn¡¯t enough if you want to defeat me.¡± The aura around her suddenly grew stronger. Boom! The whole area started to tremble as if it was about to collapse but they knew better that this place was durable since it bathed in the energy of a god for a thousand years. The best feram swept in every direction. Ninth Head turned pale as the golems that she created exploded one by one. When she came to her senses, she realized that Aleteya was standing in front of her. ¡°Remember that the one who killed you is Aleteya, the Selfless, and Malevolence,¡± Aleteya said coldly. Her hand flashed and it pierced Ninth Head¡¯s chest. Bang! Ninth Head coughed a mouthful as she stared at Aleteya¡¯s face. She already expected this outcome but it¡¯s really frustrating to die without even scratching her opponent. She thought that she grew stronger but it seems that all of her efforts were in vain. Her vision slowly turned blur as she tried to reach out her hand at Aleteya. In the next second, her hand was rolling in the air and her blood was spraying in every direction. Today, one of the Nine Heads of the Dragon Council died. Ninth Head fell onto the ground without any sign of life. She died just like that under the hands of a mysterious monster who called herself Aleteya. Aleteya gave Ninth Head one more glance before she turned her attention to the majestic jade door. She pressed her palm on the door when she noticed a presence appeared in the area. She slightly turned her head and said, ¡°And who might you be?¡± It was a man that was covered in bandages. He was wearing black trouser with various chains. The unknown man glanced at Ninth Head¡¯s corpse and said, ¡°It seems that I¡¯m already late.¡± Aleteya was annoyed when this man ignored her. She asked once again, ¡°Who are you?¡± The unknown man finally turned to Aleteya. He said, ¡°People called me Grim and I¡¯m here to stop you from achieving your goal.¡± ¡°A mere mortal like you¡­? And what do you mean by that? It seems that you have an idea about me.¡± Aleteya raised her eyebrows as if she was amused by this man¡¯s statement. ¡°I know who you are. You are the clone of Aleteya, the Monster Lord of Malevolence, and the Commandment of Selfless.¡± Grim answered calmly. ¡°Oh, that is pretty interesting¡­ How did you know that my clone is here?¡± Aleteya asked curiously. ¡°I have my own sources. When the Commandments attacked the Hall Plains a thousand years ago, you left your clone here in hopes that you will find what you are trying to find back then.¡± Grim paused for a moment before he continued, ¡°God Vexus¡¯s body contained the map of the Authority Famine. He managed to slip into your hands and entered a deep slumber here so you decided to seal one of your clones here.¡± The seal had a relation with God Vexus and Mountain of Demise. It would open once the Mountain of Demise had appeared and reacted to the body of Vexus, pointing out his location. The Commandments couldn¡¯t do it before since if they stayed in Hall Plains for a little longer, the gods of God¡¯s Continent wouldn¡¯t tolerate their impertinence. The gods of God¡¯s Continent also knew that the Commandments had some sort of goal for attacking the Hall Plains but they let them be. The reason was because of No God Emperor of Hall Plains. So after the Commandments destroyed the Hall of Power, the gods of God¡¯s Continent warned the Commandments that if they stayed longer in Hall Plains a war would break out between God¡¯s Will and all of the organizations within the continent. God¡¯s Will had no choice but to pull back. They knew that a conference occurred between the mighty beings of the continent that they would put aside their conflicts just to eliminate a bigger threat. So even if Olympus had war with other Holy Lands, they would sign a temporary treaty just to defeat God¡¯s Will. Even the Great Lambs were involved in this incident. Mortals didn¡¯t know what happened as the mighty beings entirely blocked all the senses of mortals near the Hall Plains. Only gods knew what was happening in this piece of land at that time. Aleteya pursed her lips when she heard Grim¡¯s words. ¡°You really know what¡¯s happening but do you think that you could prevent me from taking it?¡± ¡°If that body of yours hasn¡¯t deteriorated then I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance but it is a different question now,¡± Grim said seriously. ¡°Are you afraid that No God Emperor will be freed if you try to stop me?¡± Aleteya asked. ¡°Getting your hands on the map of one of the Authorities is a bigger problem. No God Emperor is alone but you have Ten Commandments.¡± Grim answered. ¡°Ehe~ that¡¯s what you are wrong¡­¡± Aleteya chuckled. ¡°Previously, the Great Lambs had intervened but now, Great Lambs will not do anything. The Imperium is different from before. The increase in mana density and the broken rules changed everything. Do you even know that the gods and monster lords from the shattered dimensions are eyeing the Imperium now?¡± Aleteya¡¯s expression changed as she faced Grim. ¡°All the barriers that separated the continents of Imperium will be broken. Those vicious monsters that are hiding in Dark Forest will come out and¡­ The Zodiacs, you should be more worried about them. That man has been eyeing the soul realm for a long time. Now that the rules have been broken, he will make a move sooner than what you¡¯ve imagined. Also, the Dreamscape¡­ The place where all dreams of living beings crossed had started to show an unusual sign. I have visited Cthulhu¡¯s dream and I saw that he has been freed. A war will erupt soon and no one can prevent it.¡± Grim¡¯s expression turned grave when he heard those words. He raised his hands and said, ¡°Even so, I have to stop you from getting your hands from the map.¡± ¡°A mortal like you will have no place in the upcoming era. All gods and monster lords will move without care since the Imperium opens up a battlefield for everyone.¡± Aleteya opened her arms widely and added, ¡°There will be another spurt of energy and it will be the last one. This time, the mana density will increase tremendously. It will filter all the living beings in Imperium.¡± The era of gods will appear soon. It will be a war for supremacy. Chapter 819: Chaos In Hall Plains: Tribes In Earthen Woods ¡°And you still think that No God Emperor is a lighter threat? The Great Lambs are gone so no one will contain him anymore.¡± Aleteya smiled. ¡°No matter what, I will stop you first. I will deal with that matter later.¡± Grim answered with a determined look on his face. ¡°Suit yourself. Come, I will show you why you are a mortal.¡± Aleteya raised her fists. ¡­ Somewhere in the Imperium, Aleteya¡¯s real body was sitting on a throne with her eyes tightly close. A few seconds passed and the corner of her mouth slightly curved upward. ¡°A mortal like him thought that he could join the upcoming era¡­ Maybe, he wanted to advance his ascension but it¡¯s not easy as he thought it would be.¡± She slightly opened her eyes as a figure appeared in front of her. It was a man wearing a black tailcoat. The man had short blue hair and eyes. ¡°What are you doing here, Organ?¡± Aleteya asked the man in front of her. The man named Organ turned his back on her before he said, ¡°They are trying to awaken the No God Emperor. Gluttony made an appearance but he didn¡¯t do anything about the seal. The other gods are watching it in case the No God Emperor came out.¡± ¡°So, what are you trying to say?¡± Aleteya raised her eyebrows. ¡°Are you going to stay here and let them do whatever they wanted?¡± Organ asked. ¡°I have my own plans¡­ Plus, No God Emperor will not be able to last long the moment he came out of Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain.¡± Aleteya said with a faint smile. Something came into Organ¡¯s mind. He glanced at Aleteya and said, ¡°Are you saying¡­?¡± Aleteya nodded at him, ¡°Yes, the gods of God¡¯s Continent will dispatch several gods to seal No God Emperor once again. Currently, less than ten gods are fortifying the crimson net.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I see¡­ So you¡¯re planning to.¡± Organ paused as he looked into her eyes. Aleteya didn¡¯t hide anything. She nodded and revealed some of her plans to him. ¡°Once they¡¯ve taken care of the No God Emperor. I will go there and eliminate all those gods swiftly before any reinforcement could arrive.¡± ¡°So you plan to start the war between gods?¡± Organ understood what she wanted to do. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the same as what that guy in the Zodiacs did at that time?¡± Aleteya asked back. ¡°It¡¯s different. It¡¯s outside of Imperium but now you are going to show your power here in this land. Are you going to use the full power of your Grid?¡± ¡°If necessary, I will use it. If not, I will refrain myself from doing so.¡± Aleteya then turned her head in the direction of Heaven¡¯s Sealing Mountain. ¡°What about you, Organ? What are you planning to do?¡± ¡°Me? I¡¯m planning to stand on the sideline.¡± Organ said with a laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t ever get in my way or else I will be forced to kill you,¡± Aleteya said coldly. ¡°Let¡¯s see when that happens. Well, you don¡¯t have to worry about me. I¡¯m busy observing the chaos in Ruin Desolate Land.¡± Organ said before he vanished into thin air just like how he appeared here. ¡°Ruin Desolate¡­ Organ, the Commandment of Faith. What a troublesome god.¡± Aleteya muttered before she closed her eyes once again. ¡­ At the frontline of the Mine Valley¡­ The forces of the Dragon Council were still fighting the tribes from the Earthen Woods. Even in the current situation, the tribes were still determined to take over the Mine Valley. It gives everyone an idea that the tribes were maybe working with the Hall of Power. After all, among the regions of the Hall Plains, only the Earthen Woods became united and didn¡¯t suffer many casualties in the past few months. Eilish and the other Heads of the Dragon Council were leading the battle. They were on the winning side ever since Eilish and the others joined the war. In their first appearance, they already destroyed a total of thirteen enemy camps. Eilish looked at the state of the battlefield with a frown on her face. They were defeating and conquering enemy camps one by one so she should be happy but something felt wrong for her. It feels like the enemy thought that they could still win. If that¡¯s the case, then they were still hiding something that could change the tide of her. Eilish turned her head and glanced at the huge mountain on the horizon. ¡°I wonder if they are fine¡­¡± She muttered to herself. The job that Souta gave to her before he departed was to extinguish the tribes from the Earthen Woods. Make the bow under the name of the Astros. It was hard since she wasn¡¯t fighting just a single organization but an entire region in Hall Plains, a region that was comparable to the Spring Land, the Earthen Woods. The tribes still have powerhouses but they haven¡¯t appeared yet. They have several Shackled Realm experts waiting for the right opportunity to appear. That¡¯s why Eilish was cautious. The other Heads of the Dragon Council too. Boom!! A huge explosion occurred several kilometers away. Eilish turned her head and looked in that direction. She narrowed her eyes and tried to feel any sort of energy fluctuations in the air. Swoosh! Swoosh! Two figures appeared beside her. They were Fourth Head and Eight Head. They were in charge of all the matters of the Dragon Council in this war against the tribes from Earthen Woods. ¡°This huge explosion¡­ If it¡¯s not caused by a weapon then only a Shackled Realm could do that.¡± Jovi, Fourth Head, said in a low voice. Eilish glanced at the two of them and nodded. She had the same idea. ¡°It seems that their experts couldn¡¯t take losing any more of their troops.¡± Eight Head said. He then glanced at Jovi and added, ¡°I¡¯ll go now. The enemy didn¡¯t know that you were here so you should hide for now.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go too,¡± Eilish said. ¡°Then, let¡¯s get going.¡± Eight Head said before his body shot through the sky. Swoosh! Eilish followed behind him as she took out her staff. She silently prepared herself to cast any spells. Jovi looked at their back before he vanished. He would watch their backs in case the explosion was a trap to attract the powerhouses of the Dragon Council. Soon, the troops of the Dragon Council were also dispatched to the explosion. Eilish and Eight Head arrived at the site. They floated hundreds of meters above the ground, looking down with cautiousness in their eyes. They surveyed the devastated land and saw dozens of corpses. They recognized that the corpses were people of the Dragon Council from their attire. ¡°The fluctuations of energy in this area are strong¡­ Surely, a Shackled Realm is a culprit behind this.¡± Eight Head said in a low voice. ¡°They are here,¡± Eilish muttered. Swoosh!! The wind blew strongly, dispersing all the smoke in the surrounding area. This gave Eilish and Eight Head a clearer view of the scene before them. They saw five figures staring at them from below. Four men and one woman. All of them have an aura of a One Shackle Realm expert. Eight Head glanced at Eilish and asked, ¡°Do you want to handle them?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ll leave them to you.¡± Eilish shook her head. Both of them were at Two Shackles Realm so they were far better than someone at One Shackle. Eilish better saved her energy when a stronger enemy arrived so she was going to leave this battle to Eight Head. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll take them all.¡± Eight Head said as he clenched both of his fists. He shot his body downwards with high speed. Swoosh! The five experts prepared themselves for battle. Boom!! In an instant, a battle between Eight Head and five One Shackle Realm experts has begun. Bang! Bang! Eilish looked around wondering why the enemy sent five One Shackle Realms this time. She was still alert as she didn¡¯t think that the enemy would send these five experts to their deaths. Five One Shackle Realms was a huge force and one wouldn¡¯t simply throw them away. Hmm¡­ Eilish turned to the battle while keeping her senses to the surrounding. In just half a minute, Eight Head was overpowering the five experts. He already killed one of them so there were only four remaining experts. They couldn¡¯t even gain an advantage against Eight Head, not in their current strength. The difference between One Shackle Realm and Two Shackles Realm was huge. Suddenly, Eilish widened her eyes. She quickly raised her staff and a barrier formed around her. Swoosh! A projectile flew from a far distance and exploded upon contact with the barrier. Boom!! The same thing happened to Eight Head. Luckily, Eilish also created a barrier around him to protect him from the projectile. ¡°What¡¯s that¡­?¡± Eight Head was a little bit surprised. He was busy fighting the remaining four experts so he didn¡¯t notice that someone targeted him. Eilish also had the same question. The projectiles were from approximately fifty kilometers away from their position. ¡°Just like I thought. It¡¯s a trap. We¡¯re lucky that I¡¯m paying attention to the surroundings or else that one would have injured us.¡± She muttered. Chapter 820: Chaos In Hall Plains: Situation In Mine Valley The power of that projectile wasn¡¯t something she could underestimate. In just a single hit, it cracked Eilish¡¯s barrier. Furthermore, the projectile came from a long distance. ¡°Finish them as soon as possible. I will deal with rest.¡± Eilish said to Eight Head. ¡°Got it.¡± Eight Head nodded and focused his attention on the four experts in front of him. He smiled as his aura grew far stronger than before. ¡°Give me one minute and I¡¯ll finish this.¡± Eilish heightened her senses as she gathered her energy in her staff. Ohm! In the next moment, several projectiles were launched at a far distance once again. She waved her staff and a huge semi-transparent dome appeared, blocking all the projectiles. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! A series of explosions occurred and the barrier collapsed within a few seconds. This time, Eilish pointed her staff at where the projectiles were coming from. ¡°Take this!¡± She casted a powerful spell in the blink of an eye. Several dragons made of water appeared around her. The dragons flew in the distance but the enemy intercepted them. Bang! Bang! They shot the dragons in midair causing a loud sound to reverberate in the whole area. But Eilish wasn¡¯t done yet. She took on a full offensive stance as she build magic circles one after another. Ohm! As a Two Shackles Realm mage, Eilish was an expert in mid to long-range combat. Her spell bombardment was on the highest level of what people could show at Two Shackles Realm. Boom!! Just like a powerful bomb, a mushroom of clouds rose from the sky several dozens of kilometers away. Eilish unleashed her spell bombardment of all tier 3 spells. It was pure destruction. The diameter of the explosion reached two kilometers and its shockwaves spread wider, causing further damage in the area. Eilish narrowed her eyes looking at this scene. She wondered if she had taken out the enemy or not. The projectiles weren¡¯t spells or combat arts. It was a weapon like a mana convergent bomb of Astros¡¯ Guardian Fortress. ¡°The one who¡¯s using it isn¡¯t probably a Shackled Realm. If I didn¡¯t take out the enemy then it¡¯s someone that broke the shackles.¡± Eilish said in a low voice. Suddenly, she looked up and saw several shadows far above her. These shadows were heading down with insane speed. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± It was all the projectiles of the enemy. This time, there were more than thirty bombs heading this way. She could probably block ten bombs but if all these bombs were detonated then it would cause a massive destruction. ¡°Just where did they get this many bombs¡­?¡± Eilish said gravely. She couldn¡¯t let those bombs get close any longer. She fired a beam of flames toward the bombs in the air. Swoosh! The flames hit one of the bombs. It exploded and a chain reaction occurred. The rest of the bombs were detonated at the same time. Boom!! The explosion shook the air as a powerful shockwave spread out everywhere. The ripples were so hot that it could instantly melt the trees in the area. Bang!! The explosions occurred more than thirty kilometers above the ground yet the power within could be felt on the ground. Eilish was forced to create a barrier to contain some of the power of the explosion. ¡°This is too much¡­¡± She muttered to herself. She took a glance below and saw that Eight Head had already killed two experts so there were two more left. With only two experts left, they couldn¡¯t hope to defend themselves against a Two Shackles Realm. Eight Head swiftly dispatched them in just a matter of a few seconds while reserving some of his energy for the upcoming battle. ¡°I¡¯m done¡­¡± Eight Head said with a smile. Hmm¡­? He noticed a faint fluctuation of energy within the corpses of the people that he killed. What¡¯s going on? The energy grew larger and larger. Eight Head widened his eyes and he took a step back. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± He gritted his teeth and looked at Eilish who was floating in the air. He shouted, ¡°RUNN!!¡± Eilish turned her head and a huge explosion erupted on the ground in an instant. Bang!! The white light spread out engulfing everything within its sight. It disintegrated all the objects that entered its lethal range without exception. BOOM!!! The ground shook as if a massive earthquake occurred. It was too devastating and the damage it caused was increasing every second. The explosion could be seen in the camps of the tribes and the Dragon Council. Tens of thousands of people who were in different camps saw a huge explosion shoot into the sky. The power shook the two sides and some people couldn¡¯t help but tremble in fear. Cough! Cough! Eilish coughed heavily as she glanced at the figure beside her. She asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Somehow¡­¡± Eight Head answered weakly. He took a point blank hit from that explosion. He was lucky that Eilish managed to isolate him for a second or else he would suffer heavy injuries. ¡°They have weapons that are equivalent to an all-out attack of a Two Shackles Realm¡­¡± Eilish muttered. The two landed on the ground. Eight Head fell on his knees and coughed a mouthful of blood. He took out a potion from his pockets and smeared it on his wounds. Eilish noticed that the ground was emitting intense radiation. The air became poisonous but she wasn¡¯t worried about it. Her resistance as a Two Shackles Realm was too high so it wouldn¡¯t affect her. It would only harm those ordinary people below B-rank. She raised her hand and said, ¡°The temperature had risen¡­ Probably, one thousand degree celsius.¡± The temperature wasn¡¯t a problem. The problem was the energy within that was trying to chip her defenses slowly. ¡°It feels like an upgraded version of a Mana Convergent Bomb,¡± Eilish muttered to herself. Eight Head glanced at her and asked, ¡°How did we survive?¡± ¡°Fourth Head¡­¡± Eilish only said one word. She alone wouldn¡¯t be able to block those powerful explosions. It was too sudden so she didn¡¯t have a time to prepare herself. Fourth Head saved her in the middle of the explosion and that gave her enough time to pull out Eight Head. ¡°Where is he right now?¡± Eight Head stood up. He managed to heal some of his wounds using the health potions. ¡°He went back to hiding. I think it¡¯s the right choice. I¡¯m sure that the enemy hasn¡¯t discovered him yet.¡± Eilish said. Suddenly, the two stopped chatting as they sensed something within their perception. ¡°Did you sense it?¡± Eight Head asked. ¡°Yeah, they are coming here.¡± Eilish nodded. In the next moment, two figures landed from the sky. The ground shook and the shockwaves blew all the dust away. Boom!! Two people stood on the ground surveying the area with their eyes. Eight Head tightened his muscles as he circulated his energy around his body. He was ready to fight once again. This time, he knew that the opponents weren¡¯t small fry like before. The two were definitely experts. The first one was a seven feet tall man wearing a black suit and black hat. He had various jewelry around his body that made him look like someone from a noble family. He was heterochromia. His left eye was green and his right eye was red. He had sharp features and short green hair with a pair of long-pointed ears. The second one was a man with a height of six feet. He was wearing a white cloak. He had short blue hair and a pair of blue eyes. His skin tone was light and he had a noble demeanor around him, that made him seem detached from the world around him. ¡°Are these two the experts that are helping the tribes in Earthen Woods¡­?¡± Eight Head said in a low voice. After a few seconds, he hadn¡¯t heard anything about Eilish so he turned his head and saw that she was shaking. Eilish was trembling nonstop and her eyes were widely opened. It looks like she had seen a ghost. She was petrified. ¡°T-This can¡¯t be¡­¡± Her voice was trembling and she couldn¡¯t even hide her nervousness. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Eight Head asked. At this moment, the two people glanced at them. The man wearing a black hat opened his mouth and said, ¡°Heads of the Dragon Council, right? If you are one then you are my target. That Grim said that I should keep all the Heads busy so he can do his job properly.¡± Eight Head gulped nervously. He could feel the intense raw power oozing out of this man¡¯s body. The man wearing a robe glanced at Eilish and Eight Head before he shook his head. He then turned to his partner and said, ¡°Can we finish this already? I don¡¯t want to waste my time with these people.¡± Eilish took a step forward as she focused her eyes on the man wearing a white cloak. ¡°I-Is that you, E-Eilan¡­?¡± Chapter 821: Chaos In Hall Plains: Eilan Eight Head was surprised when he heard Eilish¡¯s words. He turned to her and asked, ¡°You know one of them?¡± He noticed that talking to Eilish was useless. Her attention was on the man wearing a white cloak. Now he noticed some similarities between the two. Eilish and that man looked similar. Even the man with a black hat was surprised. He glanced at his partner and asked, ¡°Hey, Azure, do you know her?¡± The man who was called Azure shook his head. ¡°You know that it¡¯s my first time coming to this place so how could I know any of the people here? Just do your job, Ripper?¡± ¡°Ugh, fine¡­¡± The man who was called Ripper sighed before he turned his attention to Eilish and Eight Head. ¡°I don¡¯t have any grudges against you guys but you have to stay here for a while.¡± ¡°You! Are you with those Hall of Power guys?!¡± Eight Head asked. ¡°No, we¡¯re not with them,¡± Ripper said. ¡°Then, why?¡± Eight Head asked. ¡°We have different goals. I know that the Hall of Power will massacre everyone in this land soon but we have a goal that we wanted to achieve so we let ourselves be enclosed with that crimson net in the sky.¡± Ripper said while pointing his finger upward. Then, he dashed forward with unbelievable speed. Swoosh!! Tsk! Eight Head clicked his tongue in annoyance as he noticed that Eilish was still out of her mind. He stepped forward and clashed with the man who was called Ripper. Boom!! The shockwave of their collision blew Eilish who was close to them. Eilish was thrown several meters away and rolled on the ground. She forced herself to stand up and stared at the man who was called Azure. ¡°I¡¯m sure of it! You are Eilan! I can¡¯t be wrong!¡± She raised her voice as she stared at the face of the man. She continued, ¡°Do you remember me?! I¡¯m Eilish, your older sister!!¡± ¡°E-Eilish¡­ M-My s-sister¡­? I¡­ have a sister?¡± Azure widened his eyes and then he suddenly felt an intense headache. He fell to his knees and he screamed in pain. ¡°ARGHHH!!! No!! I¡¯m Azure!!!¡± He felt like his brain was about to explode. He couldn¡¯t do anything but held his head with both of his hands. Ripper stopped in the air to look at Azure. ¡°Hey, Azure! What¡¯s wrong with you?!¡± Eight Head used this opportunity to land an attack while Ripper was distracted. He punched his opponent in the face before he kneed his stomach and punched him once again. Bang!! Ripper¡¯s body crashed on the ground causing the dust to shoot up in the air. He quickly stood up and looked at Eight Head while clearly irritated. ¡°You fucking¡­¡± He was about to fight Eight Head when a huge energy erupted like a volcanic explosion. Boom!! Ripper, Eight Head, and Eilish looked at Azure who was screaming in pain. Azure was oozing overwhelming energy that made the space around them vibrate. ¡°ARGH!!!¡± Azure roared as the energy he was emitting grew stronger and stronger. ¡°Azure, get ahold of yourself!!!¡± Ripper shouted. ¡®This is bad. He is getting out of control.¡¯ he said inwardly. ¡­ In the sub-world connected to the crimson net¡­ Souta was on the ground coughing a mouthful of blood. His body was full of injuries to the point that no one would recognize him anymore if not for his energy signature. No God Emperor was standing several meters away from Souta. He was looking down at him with a faint smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve killed all of your hopes¡­ You thought that the experts of this world will be able to assist you in fighting me, right? They have great abilities but their power level is too low.¡± He said before he slightly turned his body and looked at the sky. ¡°This world is going to fall in just a few minutes. The crimson net is transferring some of its energy to the sun so it¡¯s going to emit a solar flare that will engulf everything in this star system.¡± Once that happens, all the living beings on this planet would die. They would become a sacrifice to No God Emperor. All the experts of this world that tried to stop him have died. Souta couldn¡¯t even do anything about it. After all, everything that was happening right now was beyond his expectations. Ugh! Souta forced himself to stand up. He glared at No God Emperor and forcefully circulated his energy around his body. Boom!! He activated his [Duel Element Drive], [Blood Armor], and his [Monster Orb Release]. He stood no chance of winning against this kind of opponent. No God Emperor raised his eyebrows with interest. He smiled and said, ¡°You still want to fight? I¡¯m gonna make you submit to me, I will let you witness how I return to the Imperium.¡± ¡°Come try it,¡± Souta said with determined eyes. This would be the last battle so he was going to use everything. He was exhausted even after using [Insta-Regen] to recover some of his energy. If he loses then he loses. There¡¯s nothing he could do with it. It is what it is. He would fall along with the entire Astros. ¡°Good, I admire your courage to stand before me. I¡¯ll give you a chance to fight me. You even trained my technique so you are the one closest that could approach me.¡± No God Emperor raised his hands with a smile. He created all the [Divine Circulation] techniques for monsters. It was a technique to further enhance their elemental power and energy. This was the reason why Souta felt that the technique was more compatible with him than the people in the Mince Hand. It was because he had best feram and they didn¡¯t have it. Souta tightly gripped that sword in his hand. Beads of sweat were forming around his body and his breathing was getting heavier every second. Suddenly, a figure crashed in front of them. The ground vibrated as a shadow stood up within the smoke. It was a huge creature holding a huge club in its hand. Souta and No God Emperor glanced at this newly arrived creature. ¡°Kehehe~ this is quite interesting!¡± A five-meter-tall creature walked out of the smoke. It has a pair of red horns on its head, two pairs of crimson-colored eyes, rows of razor-sharp teeth, and pointed ears. It has long black hair and its body was covered in a savage-looking pitch-black exoskeleton. Red veins could be seen through the gaps within the exoskeleton. Its long tail was thick and full of spikes like a battering ram. It has a gem on its forehead and shoulders. Souta was familiar with this creature. This was none other than the Uncontrollable, Gerxuzs. ¡°Let me join this event if you don¡¯t mind¡­¡± Gerxuzs laughed as he stared at Souta and No God Emperor. ¡°Hmm¡­? Another strong monster and from the looks of it, you already tapped into the beastly instinct.¡± No God Emperor said with interest as he observed Gerxuzs. ¡®Damn, why is he here?!¡¯ Souta said inwardly. He didn¡¯t even know the goal of this monster even after playing the game. Gerxuzs just appeared in different events causing massive destruction before he vanished as if nothing happened. ¡°Let me join this fight!¡± Gerxuzs roared and the whole area vibrated. His enormous amount of best feram gushed out like a tsunami. His battle intent soared through the sky letting everyone know that he, Gerxuzs, had arrived to fight. ROARRR!!! ¡°This is a lively one¡­¡± No God Emperor was unfazed. In the next moment, Gerxuzs used his [Dual Element Drive] and [Monster Orb Release] without hesitation. He quickly pounced at No God Emperor without fear in his eyes. All he had was pure savageness that wanted to destroy strong opponents. No God Emperor stepped back before waving his hand. A huge pillar of rock burst through the ground but Gerxuzs smashed it without effort using the huge club in his hand. Bang! Bang! ¡°Gerxuzs¡­ I don¡¯t know why he is here but if he¡¯s going to fight No God Emperor then I¡¯m going to join too.¡± Souta said in a low voice. He dashed forward and joined the battle between two powerful creatures. Boom!! Boom!! Gerxuzs didn¡¯t hold back at all. He was sending flames and ice every second toward No God Emperor while Souta was also attacking using [Bestrou] every time he saw an opening. Despite that, No God Emperor fought the two of them with absolute power. He wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage at all even in two on one situation. ¡°Don¡¯t bother me!!¡± Gerxuzs said to Souta as he swung his club at his opponent. ¡°Stop talking! I¡¯m going to fight who I want to fight!¡± Souta said as he ran beside Gerxuzs and swiftly slashed his sword. ¡°Any of you can¡¯t defeat me if you¡¯re going to be like that.¡± No God Emperor laughed as he raised both of his hands and caught the attacks of the two monsters. Chapter 822: Chaos In Hall Plains: Arrival Bang! Bang! The collision of the three energies created a huge phenomenon that encompasses the whole continent. No God Emperor and Gerxuzs kept fighting without care about their surroundings. The continent already suffered severe damage after No God Emperor¡¯s attack before. But now, it was slowly sinking due to the further damage it receives. The population of this planet could only accept their fate. There was no way they could stop these monsters that were fighting in their world. No God Emperor caught Souta¡¯s blade with his hand. Then, he raised his foot and delivered a devastating kick to his stomach. Bang!! Souta¡¯s armor cracked. He gritted his teeth and endured the pain. He charged [Bestrou] on the four spider limbs on his back and shot it at his opponent. Swoosh!! No God Emperor released the blade and he moved sideways but Gerxuzs was already waiting for him. He saw a huge club heading his way with huge momentum. He crossed both of his arms and felt the intensity of the attack. Then, he channeled more energy and forced back the club. No God Emperor was above in terms of power. Souta and Gerxuzs had no way to match him in their current state. ¡°Keke~ What a huge prey!! Let me hunt you down!!¡± Gerxuzs laughed madly. He charged forward and launched a series of attacks. His elemental power spread out wider than what it did in Imperium. Flames and ice covered the land and sky. ¡°You two are interesting. I have a proposal. What about you two became my subordinates? We will conquer everything.¡± No God Emperor said while avoiding all the attacks from Souta and Gerxuzs. ¡°In your dreams! I will kill you right here!¡± Souta said in a cold tone. ¡°Ehe~ I¡¯m taking down my prey! You are my prey today!¡± Gerxuzs laughed. Boom!! The three clashed once again. Their speeds exceeded the limit of what the folks of this world could fathom. The three monsters were so fast that nothing could observe them. Even the advanced technologies of this world were useless. The clash was sending ripples in space every second. The vibration traveled to a far distance and it even affects the people on the other continent. The vibration directly killed some of the people as their bodies couldn¡¯t handle the sudden bending of space. It was an extinction disaster for the people of this planet. All of their top experts were dead and their technologies were also useless. They were just lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Boom!! Gerxuzs and Souta crashed on the ground, causing a huge explosion that covered several dozens of kilometers. The whole battlefield was a desolate area and no living beings could be found in the surrounding except for the three of them. Cough! Cough! Souta forced himself to stand. He looked up and saw No God Emperor looking down at them. ¡®Gerxuzs and I have no cooperation. We can¡¯t defeat him like this.¡¯ he said inwardly as he glanced at Gerxuzs who was laying on the ground. ¡°Argh!! That hurts hahahaha!!¡± Gerxuzs laughed before he stood up. He shook his wrist and activated some of the artifacts hanging around it. Ohm!! ¡°You can¡¯t defeat me! Just accept me and join my forces!¡± No God Emperor declared in a loud voice. He raised his hand as his best feram rose to the sky, illuminating the whole place. [Archetype: Heaven¡¯s Downfall]! [First Step: Overturning the Earth]! A huge gigantic golden spear appeared in the sky once again. ¡°This is bad¡­¡± Souta widened his eyes. No God Emperor just used his Archetype once again and this time it was focused on the two of them not the experts from this world. BOOM!!! The spear landed on the ground causing massive destruction. Souta and Gerxuzs tried their best to minimize the damage that they received. The continent shook as if a world-ending earthquake occurred. The explosion rose from the ground up to the sky and the shockwaves spread out on the entire planet. It was a catastrophe. The whole continent exploded as fragments of it scattered all over the world. Tsunami occurred due to the intense vibration of the land and after a few moments, only a few lands were left on the continent. Almost everything was destroyed. No God Emperor looked down at the destruction he caused without batting an eye. He then raised both of his hands and saw that he was trembling. ¡°So this is the limit of this vessel¡­ I couldn¡¯t exert more power or else it would collapse before I could even switch it with my real body.¡± He muttered to himself. This body wasn¡¯t his and it has limited capacity so he couldn¡¯t exert more than the limit. Swoosh!! The smoke slowly disappeared leaving fragments of land. Boiling water almost covered everything and there were holes in the floor that were spewing lava. Sparks were appearing in space as the intense radiation of energy covered everything. Souta and Gerxuzs were laying on the ground full of heavy wounds. ¡°Submit to me¡­¡± No God Emperor muttered. Gerxuzs stood up and grabbed his weapon. ¡°I¡¯m not done yet.¡± He said strongly. Ohm!! The energy fluctuates once again. No God Emperor raised his eyes and saw three figures come out of the crimson energy that acted like a portal in the sky. It was a bridge to the Hall Plains that his subordinates created. Bang!! Bang!! Bang!! ¡°Other people have arrived¡­? Does this mean that they¡¯ve destroyed my subordinates in Hall Plains?¡± No God Emperor narrowed his eyes. He could understand if it was Souta and Gerxuzs but if more people arrived here it only means that his people in Hall Plains were getting defeated. Three people have landed on the floor. They were Ibis, Alexander, and Governor Ray. They were here to stop the madness that was happening in the Hall Plains. Alexander looked around and saw Souta¡¯s body. He said, ¡°Hey, so you¡¯re here fighting this guy. This is quite a spectacle to see you getting beaten by someone.¡± ¡°Cough! Shut up! That guy is strong¡­¡± Souta spat a mouthful of blood before he stood up from his position. ¡°Squad Leader Souta, can you still fight?¡± Grain Leader Ibis asked. Souta glanced at Ibis and recognized her face. He nodded at her question. ¡°I can.¡± ¡°Keke! This is my prey!¡± Gerxuzs laughed. ¡°Is he with you?¡± Alexander asked Souta. ¡°No,¡± Souta shook his head. ¡°Everyone, concentrate your attention on our target. He is No God Emperor. We can¡¯t let our guard down in front of him.¡± Governor Ray said. Looking at the five people in front of him, No God Emperor laughed. ¡°So you guys know each other. Do you guys really think that you could stop me? The time has arrived. As I¡¯ve said before the crimson net is channeling energy to the sun so¡­¡± No God Emperor smiled devilishly. Ibis, Alexander, Governor Ray, and Souta looked up. The only one who didn¡¯t care was Gerxuzs. He launched himself toward No God Emperor with all of his might. ¡°I didn¡¯t know anything about what you are planning to do or some shit! I just want to fight you! Come and show me the power of the apex predator!¡± Gerxuzs swung the huge club in his hands. Flames and ice gushed out like a raging tide trying to swallow everything. No God Emperor gathered his energy in his hand and threw a punch toward Gerxuzs. Boom!! The two started fighting once again. Alexander was still looking at the crimson-colored sky with a frown on his face. ¡°That guy is right¡­ The sun will send a solar flare to destroy this planet.¡± ¡°No God Emperor wanted to free his real body and he needed sacrifice to complete the ritual. It¡¯s complicated but that¡¯s the easiest way to understand it.¡± Governor Ray said without explaining too much. If he explained everything then it would be over before he finished telling them. ¡°So what should we do? That monster already started fighting the target.¡± Ibis asked as she looked at the battle. Gerxuzs was strong but he was still at a disadvantage fighting No God Emperor alone. They could see that No God Emperor was playing with him. Souta took a deep breath and said, ¡°Fight that monster, I will handle the solar flare.¡± ¡°Are you sure, Squad Leader Souta?¡± Ibis asked. Alexander and Governor Ray glanced at him. Souta nodded his head with a determined look. ¡°I have a way to deal with it.¡± Alexander, Governor Ray, and Ibis nodded at him before they joined the battle. Souta was a little bit tired so he was going to leave some of the battles to them. They needed to at least wear out No God Emperor. If they couldn¡¯t do it then it was the same for him. Boom!! Souta flew into outer space and saw a huge solar flare heading into this planet. The solar flare was four times larger so it would surely toast everything within this land. Huff!! Souta took a deep breath. Chapter 823: Chaos In Hall Plains: Solar Flare Ibis launched herself as she poured her mana into her sword. She activated her [Element Drive] before she drives her blade ahead. Swoosh!! No God Emperor blocked the blade with his fingers but Alexander appeared behind. Alexander swiftly placed both of his palms on his opponent¡¯s back. [Ultimate Shock]!! A burst of energy erupted within Alexander¡¯s palm. No God Emperor was pushed away and Ibis used this chance to pull back her sword and swung it again. Swoosh!! A huge blade of energy swept out landing on No God Emperor¡¯s body. He was thrown to the bottom of the sea before the energy blade exploded like a bomb. Boom!! At the same time, Governor Ray threw several punches in the air, sending energy waves at his opponent. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! The water was blown away before it evaporated as Gerxuzs jumped within to follow No God Emperor. ¡°Is this all you¡¯ve got!!¡± Gerxuzs shouted as he fiercely swung the huge club in his hand. Boom!! The seabed was shaken as Gerxuzs¡¯ elemental powers erupted causing the sea to evaporate and some part of it to turn into ice. Ibis looked at Gerxuzs¡¯ overbearing charge before she glanced at Alexander and Governor Ray. ¡°How about we let that monster be in charge? We just need to follow its attack so that we can reserve some of our energies,¡± she said. ¡°That monster will not work with us so I think it¡¯s a good option.¡± Governor Ray said. ¡°Well, you too reserve your energies. I¡¯ll try to keep up with them.¡± Alexander had a different idea. ¡°Is that fine with you?¡± Ibis asked. ¡°Well, yeah. I don¡¯t think that we could defeat that guy in this manner.¡± Alexander nodded. ¡°Okay, then we¡¯ll support you.¡± Governor Ray said. Alexander bent his knees and drove down as fast as he could. In just a second, he appeared beside No God Emperor. He quickly raised his left foot and launched a devastating kick. No God Emperor¡¯s perception was too high. He already saw this coming so he managed to block it with a little bit of effort. Then, he spun around and threw kicks at Gerxuzs. Bang!! Bang!! Alexander crouched as a foot passed above his head. He then took out a small booklet from his pocket. The booklet flew beside him and it opened revealing rows of words within its pages. ¡°[Mage of Earth] activate¡­¡± He muttered to himself. This small booklet was a dark-grade artifact for mages. No God Emperor glanced at the book. ¡°An artifact¡­?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Alexander smiled as he raised his hand. Boom!! A huge pillar of rock rose beneath No God Emperor. It hit him with huge power and he felt that it had some sort of suction power that pulled him over it. The pillar of rock rose from the sea. Governor Ray and Ibis were already charging a powerful attack. The moment they saw No God Emperor, the two of them released their attacks without holding back. ¡°Take this!!!¡± Two Four Shackles Realm experts activated their [Element Drive] and launched a devastating blow that shook the whole planet. Boom!! No God Emperor¡¯s body was smashed on the bottom of the sea once again. The sea spread out as shockwaves blew everything around it. Alexander jumped away and created a barrier using his elemental powers to protect himself from the shockwaves. BOOM!!! Souta, who was in outer space, could see the destruction of their attacks. He glanced at the other continents and saw that some people were leaving the planet using ships. ¡°They should get out as far as possible but the crimson net locked this entire star system so they could only leave their planet.¡± He knew that leaving the planet wasn¡¯t entirely safe since a huge solar flare three times larger than the planet was going to hit them in just half a minute. But the planet itself wasn¡¯t safe either since powerful beings were fighting without holding back. A fragile world like this one could barely handle the attacks of someone at their level. No God Emperor¡¯s [Archetype: Heaven¡¯s Downfall] already destroyed one of the continents of this planet. Souta was surprised to see Alexander could keep up with this level of battle. He never expects that he would meet Alexander too soon and he would be at Three Shackles Realm. With Alexander¡¯s prowess and a set of high-grade artifacts, Souta wasn¡¯t worried that he wouldn¡¯t last long in the battle. He probably would be able to keep up with Ibis, Governor Ray, and Gerxuzs in battling No God Emperor. Souta shook his head and focused his attention on the solar flare that was approaching. He tightly grip the vajra sword in his hand and channeled his energy into it. The bracelet on his wrist emitted a dim light. [Yin Yang Unification]!! His energy rose sharply and everything related to dark and light elements would experience an upgrade. Their power and effect would receive a five hundred percent boost. At the same time, two artifacts flew around Souta. They were the [Goblet of the Night] and [Darkness Time]. These two dark-grade artifacts were the ones that he received from Alexander. The equipment skills that could enhance his elemental powers were activated. Ten black spheres emerged behind him. They were the [Gravitational Ball] that could control gravity. Souta slowly raised the vajra sword and concentrated his energy on using the power of gravity. Ohm!! The space around him started to bend. The gravitational power reached the realm where it could bend space and light to a higher degree due to the boost that it received. Souta is a Rank 1 Great Battle Mage right now. It¡¯s the same class as his character in the game. Rank 1 Great Battle Mage ¨C Dual Wielder He chose the same shit when he upgraded his class before fighting Draymond. He was a Dual Wielder but now he wouldn¡¯t be able to maximize its full power since he only had one weapon. The goblet and hourglass or his bracelet weren¡¯t considered as one. P¦Ánd¦Á`no¦Í?1¨C§ão§® A Tier 3 class was entirely different from Tier 2 and Tier 1 where he had to choose his special element. Souta was overwhelmingly powerful for a high fourth-stage monster. He was level 71 as of this moment. Normally, it would take a high fourth-stage before one could rival a Three Shackles Realm expert. Depending on the level of experts some high fourth stage could defeat a Three Shackles Realm. But a peak fourth stage was something above a Three Shackles Realm and it was just below the Fourth Shackles Realm. Yet, in a high fourth stage, Souta could already dismantle almost every Three Shackles Realm in a one-on-one battle. He could even kill a Fourth Shackles if he used the power of his high grade artifacts. So without using the ability of artifacts, he could rival a Fourth Shackles but he lacks something to kill them. Well, he already proved this fact that he could kill a Fourth Shackles expert if he used his artifacts. He proved it by killing Draymond. Souta¡¯s Dual Wielder was powerful. Once he equipped two weapons in his hands, it would receive a huge boost to the point that a dark grade weapon would be able to rival a universal grade. Well, it was still Rank 1 so it was far from that boost. ¡°I¡¯m going to stop this solar flare!¡± Souta gritted his teeth. He knew that the experts that were fighting No God Emperor were different from the experts of this world that he tried to save. They wouldn¡¯t fall easily. Gerxuzs still have those weird powers. He didn¡¯t go all out when he fought Souta before. He left because of Kessa¡¯s interference. Alexander was only Three Shackles but this guy had a full set of high grade artifacts. Also, his elemental power was off the charts. In terms of elemental powers, none of them could rival him. Ibis was a Grain Leader of Athen¡¯s Champion. She wouldn¡¯t achieve her position if she was weak among the Four Shackles Realm. She experienced various battles and grew from it. Governor Ray was the most mysterious one but Souta already knew that he was someone that broke the first great shackle. This was the reason why he asked Draymond if Governor Ray was on their threat list. These four guys were strong and they could potentially defeat No God Emperor. As for Souta, he was already tired. He was fighting nonstop ever since he stepped into the Mountain of Demise. Huff¡­ Souta widened his eyes as his energy erupted like a volcanic eruption. It spread out in the vast expanse of space and the gravitational field burst forth like a force field. Ohm!! The space was distorted and the humongous solar flare collided with the field. Souta felt his veins popping up around his body. The power of the solar flare exceeded his expectations. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary solar flare at all. It possessed the power of crimson energy so its destructive ability was boosted to a higher level. Swoosh! He drove his sword forward. The gravitational field opened up like an umbrella shielding the whole planet from destruction. ARGH!!! Chapter 824: Chaos In Hall Plains: Gerxuzs Crozvar In Mountain of Demise¡­ Isabella, Eztein, Franklin, and the rest of the Astros were staring at the peak of the mountain. They¡¯ve taken care of everything. All that was left was to finish what was happening beyond the portal at the top. Even though it was in the sub-world, the fluctuations of energy were bursting through the portal from time to time. It was tearing through space, creating a phenomenon in the sky. ¡°Fuck!! I¡¯m tired!¡± Eztein cursed as he lay down and took out a bottle of health potion. He glanced at Franklin and asked, ¡°What about you old man?¡± ¡°There is no need.¡± Franklin shook his head. He was tired too. Torkez approached the two and said, ¡°Recover your strength as fast as possible. If our leader couldn¡¯t stop this then we¡¯ll go through that portal and help him.¡± ¡°Damn, that¡¯s insane¡­¡± Eztein complained but he still followed the instructions. Torkez sighed as he glanced at the top of the mountain. ¡°We lost fifty percent of our soldiers in this battle¡­ These are the biggest casualties that we¡¯ve suffered ever since we established the Astros.¡± If their leader failed, all of them were ready to go through the portal to help him. The battle there was something that was beyond their capabilities but they were prepared to risk everything. It was all or nothing. Outside the Hall Plains¡­ The gods have finished fortifying the crimson net so it wouldn¡¯t get destroyed easily. They wanted to protect the crimson net so that no one would free No God Emperor. Even if No God Emperor managed to free himself from the inside, they were prepared to deal with him and seal him once again. ¡°Our warriors are inside the Hall Plains. Trust them and they will stop No God Emperor¡¯s awakening. They have the spirit of a true warrior.¡± Hercules said with a serious look on their face. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we could do except to put our trust in them,¡± Hermes added. They could only guard this place against other creatures with vile intentions. If they forcefully enter the crimson net, they would shatter it and free No God Emperor so they could only wait here. Hercules looked at the sky as his eyes followed the path of the crimson net in outer space. ¡°Gluttony¡¯s aura has disappeared¡­¡± He said in a low voice. ¡°Gabriel from the Angel Faction has appeared. The Angel¡¯s target is the Seven Deadly Sins. Gluttony probably retreated for now. He is just assessing the whole situation to see if he could use it for himself or not.¡± Hermes said. ¡­ Souta felt his veins explode as blood poured out of his seven orifices. The gravitational field blocked the solar flare. Not even particles managed to pass through the field. The gravity was so dense that it locked down the entire space around the planet. ARGHH!!! Souta roared as he pushed through with all of his might. The solar flare was blown away and the gravitational field spread out covering a larger space. The flare slowly dissipated into nothingness. Souta made sure that it wouldn¡¯t affect anything so he spread the field more to cover the nearest planet. Huff¡­ Huff¡­ Souta felt his body getting heavy. He slowly floated around but the gravity of the planet pulled him little by little. Swoosh!! His body fell through the sky and crashed into the ocean, creating waves of water. ¡°Ugh! I¡¯m tired¡­¡± Souta muttered to himself. He was tired but he couldn¡¯t let himself rest at this critical moment. No God Emperor was still here so he needed to see through the end of this event. Boom!! He burst through the ocean and arrived on an inhabited island. This place was covered in a huge mass of land before but after the massive attacks, it was reduced to this state. The whole continent had sunken beneath the ocean floor. ¡°I¡¯ll rest for a while¡­¡± Souta said as he sat down and watched the battle with his own eyes. Bang! Bang! Bang! No God Emperor still had the upper hand even when fighting all four powerful experts at the same time. He was manhandling them, especially Gerxuzs who kept coming at him. ¡°Not yet!¡± Gerxuzs roared. No God Emperor flashed before him. In just a second, he landed tens of thousands of blows on Gerxuzs¡¯ body. Then, he used a powerful light and dark sphere to blow the monster away. Boom!! Ibis, Governor Ray, and Alexander were rooted in their position. They wanted to help but they couldn¡¯t even move their bodies. ¡°What¡­?¡± Ibis looked down and saw that both of her feet were covered in ice. Alexander and Governor Ray were in the same position. Their feet were covered in strange ice. They didn¡¯t even notice it as they couldn¡¯t feel any coldness coming from the ice. It was as if the ice didn¡¯t exist. ¡°Shit!¡± Alexander cursed as a shadow appeared before him. It was No God Emperor. No God Emperor smiled and asked, ¡°Are you surprised?¡± Alexander threw a punch but No God Emperor blocked it. Then, he threw hundreds of punches at Alexander¡¯s stomach. Ugh! Alexander spat a mouthful of blood. He widened his eyes as he saw a beam of darkness in front of his face. The next moment, he found himself several kilometers away with a dark beam heavily damaging his body. Boom!! Gerxuzs and Alexander were the closest ones to their target so when No God Emperor retaliated they were the ones who suffered first. Ibis and Governor Ray were on the back supporting the two. ¡°Is that all you¡¯ve got?¡± No God Emperor¡¯s voice traveled through the entire area. Gerxuzs stood up and glanced at the current state of his body. The smile on his face had disappeared. The only thing that was left was pure savageness. ¡°I¡¯ll show you something¡­¡± He stared at the sky and roared strongly. ROAR!!! His roar reverberated throughout the whole area. Alexander, Governor Ray, and Ibis couldn¡¯t help but look at Gerxuzs. Boom!! Gerxuzs¡¯ aura continued to grow stronger and stronger. The intensity of best feram spread out hundreds of kilometers with him at the center. The ocean and space started to vibrate due to the pressure of energy. Alexander narrowed his eyes as he stood up, ¡°This amount of energy and power¡­? He is using that move!¡± Swoosh!! No God Emperor was pushed away. He looked up and widened his eyes. ¡°This is¡­ So you¡¯ve tapped into that power!¡± The whole scenery started to change. Red and blue dots started to appear in the atmosphere as the sky slowly turned dark. ¡°I, who shall awaken¡­¡± The red and blue dots were pure elemental powers. They were glimmering in the darkness as the space around Gerxuzs started to distort. Ohm! ¡°¡­am the monster who will destroy every creation.¡± His voice reverberated throughout the entire world. His language was different but everyone understood it. P¦Ánd¦Á`no¦Í?1¨C§ão§® ¡°I seek obliteration and laugh at the Sins.¡± Gerxuzs bent his body as a pair of wings sprouted from his back. The two wings were pure black bones and each one had sharp edges. ¡°I mock the Commandments and step on the Zodiacs.¡± His body grew larger and exoskeleton armor covered his entire figure. The gems on his chest and shoulders emitted a dim light. ¡°I shall become the Monster of Obliteration.¡± All the red and blue dots flew toward his body. The dark sky turned back into the crimson sky. ¡°None shall escape my grasp. Obliteration is my hand.¡± He opened his huge mouth, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. Dark smoke seeped that contained pure energy from his mouth. ¡°Gerxuzs Crozvar.¡± Gerxuzs roared as a boundless amount of energy burst out of his body. The whole world started to shake at the presence of this powerful monster. Boom!! ¡°You¡¯ve tapped into your real name¡­ The beastly instinct of a monster.¡± No God Emperor smiled. This was getting interesting. He didn¡¯t expect that he would meet a fourth-stage monster that awakened the real name of his beastly instinct. This was outside his expectations. ¡°It¡¯s incomplete but it¡¯s quite amazing that you¡¯ve managed to awaken.¡± No God Emperor was impressed. They were really here to stop his awakening. He knew that he couldn¡¯t take this easy anymore. They were better than what he expected. ¡°Come! Show me what you¡¯ve got!¡± He raised his hand and taunted his opponents. Roar!! With a roar, Gerxuzs launched himself toward No God Emperor. His speed was several times faster than before. Swoosh!! Gerxuzs swung the huge club in his hand and it was followed by ice and flames. It shot into the sky creating a magnificent pillar of energy. Boom!! No God Emperor still managed to block the attack. ¡°This is it¡­¡± He was having fun. It¡¯s been a long time since he had fought. He had been sealed for a thousand years. In his sealed state he wasn¡¯t sleeping, he was aware and alone in the darkness. ¡°Come!¡± No God Emperor¡¯s fist and Gerxuzs¡¯ club collided in midair. Boom!! Chapter 825: Chaos In Hall Plains: Massive Destruction Bang! Bang! Gerxuzs used all of his might without holding back. A quarter of the planet has already turned into flames and ice. His power was raised to a higher level just by using the real name of his beastly instinct. He was Gerxuzs Crozvar, the Monster of Obliteration. If he ever reached the Monster Lord level in the future, that was going to be his title. With the power of obliteration in his hand, Gerxuzs managed to go toe to toe with No God Emperor. Boom!! Boom!! ¡°You¡¯re strong!!¡± No God Emperor praised his opponent. He never cares if this monster was his enemy or not. He was going to respect someone worthy of it. He jumped away but Gerxuzs appeared behind him. Before he could react, a huge club landed on his back and flung him in the air. Bang! No God Emperor stabilized himself in midair but he found that Gerxuzs was already gone. He widened his eyes as he lifted his head. ¡°So this is your real power¡­¡± He saw a huge ball of flames. The ball of flames had a radius of five hundred kilometers and it was emitting a heat that immediately evaporated all the moisture in the atmosphere. The amount of energy that it possessed was tremendously huge. That¡¯s not it¡­ The core of this ball of flames was a super dense small sphere of [Bestrou]. ¡°Come! I¡¯ll take it!¡± No God Emperor said as he raised his energy to the limit. Alexander, Ibis, Governor Ray, and Souta who were watching the battle widened their eyes. ¡°Shit! Does he want to kill all the living beings on this planet?!¡± Governor Ray said in a loud voice. ¡°If that happens, No God Emperor will complete his sacrificial ritual,¡± Ibis said with a gloomy look. The ball of fire in the sky was enough to obliterate anyone from this planet. Once it hit, it would cause severe destruction that would annihilate the entire population and it would only favor No God Emperor. ¡°It seems that we can¡¯t sit still here. We can¡¯t leave everything to that monster.¡± Alexander said in a low voice. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Governor Ray took a deep breath. Ibis nodded and she tightly grip the sword in her hand. She was ready to go all out and stake everything. Alexander glanced at the two before he said, ¡°I¡¯ll go up. You guys support me. I will change the battlefield to the nearest planet.¡± ¡°You! How can you achieve that?¡± Ibis asked as she was a little bit surprised at his words. ¡°I can control space to a certain degree.¡± Alexander smiled. ¡°Okay, you just need to change the battlefield.¡± Governor Ray nodded. Alexander started his preparation immediately. The two stood in front of him in case No God Emperor changed his target. Ohm!! The space started to fluctuate. It trembled rapidly as Alexander closed his eyes. He spread his fingers and grabbed the space around him. ¡°The fabric of space here isn¡¯t as strong as Imperium so I can do this with my current level.¡± At the same time, his aura rose sharply as several rings on his fingers emitted a dim light. These rings were dark grade artifacts and some of them were red grade artifacts. [Space Grasping: Tyrannical Warp]!! Alexander moved his arms as he pulled the space around him. The space bent and the scenery changed into a desolate land without any signs of life. He was a man that was once a powerful God. He created a dimension and connected it to Imperium so his knowledge about space wasn¡¯t small. If he had enough power, Alexander would prefer to create a separate dimension as a battlefield for them. Unfortunately, he was only a Three Shackles Realm so his ability was still limited even with the help of several dark grade equipment. Huff¡­ Alexander fell to his knees and coughed a mouthful of blood. He only moved five people to another planet but it already gave him some damage to his body. The only problem here was moving Gerxuzs and No God Emperor. Their bodies were tough and they didn¡¯t easily let Alexander bend the space around them. They had some sort of resistance. Plus, No God Emperor was a God. If it was his real body, it wouldn¡¯t work. A God¡¯s body was completely immune to space and time. So he had to forcefully exert some of his energy to fully warp the two using his space ability. ¡°I did¡­ my best¡­¡± Alexander said between his breath. ¡°Huh?!¡± No God Emperor was surprised when the scenery changed. No, he was more surprised that a space ability worked against him. The folks before locked the space but it didn¡¯t work. ¡°You¡­! Your space is at a level of¡­¡± He didn¡¯t even manage to finish his sentence as Gerxuzs interrupted him by throwing the giant ball of fire. ¡°Take this! [Scorching Thousand World]!¡± The ball of fire arrived in front of No God Emperor in no time. He raised two of his fingers and time seemed to stop. Yeah, he froze the time so the giant ball of fire stopped in front of him. ¡°So close¡­¡± He muttered as he pressed both of his palms forward. The first one to break the time restraint was Alexander. It only took him half a second before he fully moved his body. ¡°He stopped time¡­¡± Alexander narrowed his eyes. Crack!! A deafening cracking sound echoed. Like a fragile glass, the frozen time was shattered, no, it was easy to say that it was burned by the ball of fire. Bang!! Governor Ray, Ibis, and Souta regained their senses. They noticed the changes in time so they quickly realized that No God Emperor froze the time. Souta was the last one to regain his senses. He was currently resting so his guard couldn¡¯t be compared to the rest of the people here. The ball of fire continued to move toward No God Emperor. It still possessed the same momentum. In fact, the energy around it only grew stronger. ¡°It¡¯s enough¡­¡± No God Emperor smiled. His palms emitted a golden light. It illuminated the entire place with this strange light. Everything was bathed with golden brilliance. [Archetype: Heaven¡¯s Downfall]!! [Second Step: Brilliant Light of the End]!! Suddenly, the light was compressed together into a small dot. In the next second, it exploded like a volcano shaking the whole area with overwhelming power. Boom!! The two attacks collided. The extreme collision caused friction in the atmosphere that sent several ripples to the whole planet. Everything was seemingly engulfed with golden light and flames. It overturned almost everything in sight in an instant. Governor Ray and Ibis went beside Souta and shielded him from the energy waves. Alexander created a barrier around to protect himself. Governor Ray, who never went to a sub-world, was shocked to see the intensity of this battle. He also realized why Imperium was the only world that could handle the powers of a God. The sub-world was so fragile that a battle of this scale could already wipe out the surface of an entire planet. The land, sea, space, time, everything was so brittle. They were like Gods in the sub-world. The scale was just worlds apart. This was the reason why most of the Gods never visited a sub-world. Their presence alone could destroy an entire planet. Only Imperium could house them. Boom!! The explosion tore through the atmosphere of the planet and it even shook the moon that was orbiting around it. Governor Ray felt that there was a little bit of hope left for them. He glanced at the crimson net in the sky. The crimson net covered this entire star system so he wondered if the aftershocks would probably affect the folks here. They went to another planet but they were still in the same star system. If everyone here goes all-out then there¡¯s a chance that the aftershocks would travel to that place. After all, the mana density here was too low so it wouldn¡¯t be able to stop all the waves of energy that traveled in the atmosphere and space. If an ordinary bullet could travel faster on land, then it wouldn¡¯t be able to do the same in the water. That¡¯s the comparison where he could describe the difference between the two. The bullet was the energy waves from the battle while the water was the mana density that was stopping it. But if there was no water, then it would be devastating. ¡°I need to do this¡­¡± Governor Ray tightly clenched both of his fists. He wanted to prevent No God Emperor¡¯s awakening no matter what. In order to do that, he would have to stop the ritual so he had to prevent the folks from dying. ¡°I¡¯ll do this¡­¡± He stepped forward, ready to use everything he has got. The only reason why they weren¡¯t cooperating with Gerxuzs was because Gerxuzs¡¯ goal was different from theirs. Gerxuzs didn¡¯t care about them. He just wanted to fight No God Emperor even if the folks died or not. Chapter 826: Chaos In Hall Plains: Fusion Stage In Bland City¡­ Aleteya was looking down at the person in front of her. Her eyes were full of coldness as she stared at the man before her. Her energy was undulating from high to low as the floor trembled under her powers. ¡°Have you realized the difference between us? Even if this body has deteriorated, it¡¯s still something that you couldn¡¯t match,¡± she said coldly. ¡°Ugh! As expected of the Commandment of Selfless¡­¡± Grim said as he forced himself to stand. There was still confidence in his eyes even though he just suffered a crushing defeat. Suddenly, the two widened their eyes as they turned their heads at the same time. They felt a huge fluctuation in energy coming from the Mountain of Demise. ¡°It seems that someone is trying to prevent No God Emperor¡¯s awakening.¡± Aleteya smiled as she found this event quite amusing. She turned her head to Grim and asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you gonna go there? If you help the people fighting there, you could probably prevent No God Emperor¡¯s awakening.¡± ¡°No, my job here is to stop you from obtaining the item beyond it,¡± Grim said as he focused his attention on the monster in front of him. ¡°What are you gonna do once he awakens? The whole Hall Plains will fall apart and all the living beings here will be sacrificed in the ritual to regain his previous strength. You are included in those sacrifices.¡± Aleteya asked something she was curious about. ¡°I already said it before that I have a plan to deal with it or else I wouldn¡¯t let myself be trapped in this land,¡± Grim replied. ¡°You really are deluded if you think that you could fight me,¡± Aleteya said. ¡°No, I have something that will turn you back to where you came from.¡± Grim smiled underneath the bandages around his face. He placed his hand in his pocket and took out a small gem. Ohm!! The small gem emitted a dim strange light. Aleteya looked at it and widened her eyes. ¡°Y-You!! H-How do you have that item?!¡± ¡°Eh~ I simply snatch it under the nose of the Deadly Sins.¡± Grim laughed. The gem floated above his palm and his aura grew stronger and stronger. Aleteya regained her calmness immediately. ¡°This is getting interesting¡­ With Spatial Gem, you can really make this body disappear. I wonder who¡¯s the one that is backing you¡­ The Deadly Sins must be after your head right now.¡± She smiled beautifully as she found this turn of events quite amusing. A Spatial Gem was in the hands of some unknown mortal. It was a very rare item in this world and the process of making it was too hard. It has unknown power as only a few people knew about its true capability. ¡°You don¡¯t need to know that,¡± Grim said as he raised the spatial gem above him. Shiing!! An ear-piercing sound echoed followed by bright light. Aleteya stared at it without changing her expression. ¡°I will find you¡­¡± The brilliant light swallowed everything in sight. A huge pillar of energy rose from the center of the city. The whole city trembled as the power grew stronger. It affected the nearby people as the light tore through the sky. Boom!! The whole city suffered a terrifying disaster. The people who thought that they were going to die suddenly found themselves outside the city. ¡°Huh?!¡± ¡°What happened¡­?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m just doing my laundry!¡± They were confused about what was happening. They looked around and found that Bland City was in ruins. Smoke was coming out of it as a terrifying fluctuation of energy was sparking every second around it. A woman was sitting at the corner observing these people. She had beautiful blue eyes and a shoulder-length blue color hair. She had a pair of cat ears on top of her head and several fluffy tails sticking out of her robe. She shook her head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to save these people but I have to do this since he told me to do so¡­¡± No one noticed that she saved these people¡¯s lives. She didn¡¯t care at all. She just charmed them and used her energy to move them faster so that they wouldn¡¯t get caught up in the explosion. She turned her attention to the city and muttered, ¡°Did he complete his job? I know that it¡¯s hard but he had the spatial gem so I don¡¯t think that it¡¯s gonna be a problem.¡± She then shook her head and stood up. Her figure slowly disappeared without anyone noticing her presence. ¡­ Swoosh!!! The collision of the two attacks devastated the entire land within a radius of thousands of kilometers. The rocks were melted and the temperature in the air was as high as the sun. No ordinary creature would be able to live on this planet. Gerxuzs was floating in the sky looking down at the destruction that he had caused. The pair of bone wings on his back was destroyed and only a few exoskeleton armors were intact on his body. His breathing was heavy and blood kept pouring out of his injuries. The damage that he received was greater than he imagined. He was going all-out yet his opponent could still fight him without having a disadvantage. Huff!! Huff!! ¡°This is great¡­ The apex predator is really different¡­¡± Gerxuzs muttered to himself. No God Emperor¡¯s condition was better than Gerxuzs. It¡¯s not that he didn¡¯t receive any damage from that exchange, it¡¯s just that he was tougher than his opponent. It would take more than that if his opponent wanted to defeat him. Cough!! Cough!! He coughed a mouthful of blood. He felt extreme heat all over his body and he could see burn marks on his arms and legs. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve felt this pain¡­ This is the pain of fighting a worthy opponent.¡± No God Emperor smiled. Suddenly, he turned his head and raised his hand. Bang! He caught a first heading toward his face. The one who attacked him was Governor Ray. At the same time, Alexander dashed to their side. Swoosh!! No God Emperor saw this saw he turned around but Governor Ray grabbed both of his hands. Alexander didn¡¯t let this chance pass by so he swiftly launched a series of powerful punches. Bang! Bang! Bang!! After a few seconds, Governor Ray released No God Emperor and he attacked him along with Alexander. Both of their fists were embedded into No God Emperor¡¯s stomach. Ugh!! No God Emperor groaned in pain before he was blown into the sky. Swoosh!! Ibis was already waiting above. She raised her sword and extreme flames coated her blade. [Burning Mountain Cleave]!! She slashed her burning blade at her opponent. No God Emperor couldn¡¯t avoid it. He took the attack directly without any guard. His body turned into a stream of light as he crashed on the melting ground like a meteor. Boom!! It wasn¡¯t done yet. Gerxuzs pounced at his position and threw a terrifying cold energy. The whole area within a radius of ten kilometers suddenly turned into ice ground. Boom!! A few moments later, Gerxuzs came out of the smoke and crashed on the nearby rocks. ¡°Ahahaha! This is it!! Show me everything that you¡¯ve got!!¡± No God Emperor laughed as he stared at his four opponents. He raised his hand and wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. He was clearly enjoying this battle. He never experienced a battle in a thousand years so this little battle made his blood boil. ¡°I¡¯ll step it up¡­¡± Alexander stepped forward and the atmosphere around him changed. Gerxuzs stood up from the rubble. He glanced at Alexander and said strongly, ¡°I don¡¯t need your help. I can still fight for five minutes. You should wait for your turn.¡± Alexander ignored Gerxuzs¡¯ words. He kept staring at No God Emperor with a serious look on his face. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a creature like you in my entire life¡­ It makes me wonder how you were even born.¡± His voice traveled through the air. It was low but it contained mysterious power. Swoosh!! Several dots of light with different colors emerged in the surroundings. No God Emperor raised his eyebrows with interest. ¡°When you warped the space before, I realized that you¡¯ve achieved that level. It seems impossible but it only made this situation more interesting.¡± Alexander¡¯s clothes fluttered as the winds grew stronger. The dots of light exploded and their particles slowly scattered in the surrounding area. He opened his mouth and said, ¡°Element Drive: Fusion of the Myriad Elements¡­¡± As soon as he said those words, the whole place suddenly turned into vast spectacles with various elements floating in the air. The amount of elemental powers floating in the atmosphere was like a deep and vast ocean. ¡°I will fight you with everything that I¡¯ve got.¡± Alexander raised both of his fists and fixed his fighting stance. Gerxuzs glanced at him before he turned his attention back to their opponent. No God Emperor stared at the two unbelievable people with a wide grin. He couldn¡¯t hope for anything. This was the best. Chapter 827: Chaos In Hall Plains: Gerxuzs And Alexander Vs. No God Emperor ¡°I want to use stronger power but I guess I couldn¡¯t¡­¡± No God Emperor said to himself. In the end, the body he was using right now wasn¡¯t his. It was just a vessel to swap his real body inside the Mountain of Demise. Even if his pure energy strengthened this body to the limit and reached a different height to match its current [Monster Force Ultimate], there¡¯s still a limit. ¡®Should I just forcefully evolve this body again to the fifth stage¡­?¡¯ No God Emperor said inwardly. If he forcefully evolved this body again, then it would leave permanent damage to the owner. Well, he doesn¡¯t care about this body since he would swap it later but evolution would take a lot of time. His four opponents wouldn¡¯t give him time to upgrade this body again. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter¡­ They aren¡¯t enough to defeat me.¡± A smile formed on his face as he looked at Alexander and Gerxuzs. They stared at each other for a few seconds before their figures disappeared. Bang! Bang! Bang! Instantly, they already exchanged tens of thousands of blows to each other. Shockwaves were sweeping out in every direction as their figures collided in midair. None of them were holding back. No God Emperor with his ultimate power. Gerxuzs with his beastly instinct. Alexander with his Fusion Stage elemental abilities. Each one of them was a force to reckon at their level. They wrestled in the air. Gerxuzs fought without caring about his surroundings. Each one of his attacks was powerful enough to damage No God Emperor. Alexander tried to match Gerxuzs¡¯ pace. He had countless battle experiences so he could handle this sort of battle with his seven elements at Fusion Stage. His elemental ability was his greatest strength against No God Emperor. He was using different combinations of abilities to deal damage and caught his opponent off guard. Nonetheless, No God Emperor could still keep up with them. At this point, it feels as if there was nothing that he couldn¡¯t do. He was fighting two insane individuals and stood on his ground without backing away. No God Emperor¡¯s body blossomed with crimson light. Swoosh! With a flash, he charged forward. Such a swift speed. Gerxuzs first reaction was to raise his club to protect himself. Alexander stood away and launched a beam of seven elements. There was a clear bang. No God Emperor surprisingly grabbed the seven element beam and turned it into a small sphere. Then, he threw it at Gerxuzs. All of this happened in just a second. The explosion occurred and Gerxuzs was blown away. Luckily, the damage he took was small since he already prepared himself for the attack. ¡°It¡¯s hard to do it¡­ My grasping technique could barely hold those elemental powers.¡± No God Emperor muttered. It was just a moment but Gerxuzs didn¡¯t try to rest at all. He immediately charged forward and struck with his club. No God Emperor responded by throwing his fist. Boom!! A crimson sphere bloomed in the air, sweeping everything like a tsunami. Alexander smirked thinking that No God Emperor¡¯s power was really not a joke. He was sure that No God Emperor¡¯s real body was absurdly strong. He launched himself ahead and joined the battle. Every second, Gerxuzs and Alexander would take more than a thousand blows on their bodies. They were coughing up blood and the same could be said for No God Emperor. His appearance right now was different from before. He was breathing heavily and the nonchalant attitude around him had disappeared. He had also taken some damage from fighting these two strong individuals. Bang! Bang! Three silhouettes rapidly rushed at each other with matchless speed. Alexander¡¯s body threaded through an incalculable distance, striking as a line. His power was like a natural disaster for this planet. All sorts of elements were bursting through everywhere every time he made a move. Gerxuzs wielded a cold light, using his club to block No God Emperor¡¯s fist. The collision of their attacks let out a deafening sound. Power exploded. Alexander soared backwards, simultaneously bending his left arm and flinging, launching his fist over which was coated in seven elements. Boom!! No God Emperor immediately broke free from this attack. Gerxuzs seized this slight gap, rushing forward as he swung his weapon. Bang!! The whole area shook once again. Water, flames, lightning, ice, light, and other elements were moving in an unorthodox manner. Their fierce battle continued. Ugh!! No God Emperor crashed on the ground. He immediately got up but the two were already beside him. They simultaneously attacked him but No God Emperor changed his stance. He grabbed both of their wrists and smashed them together. Bang!! Then, he pushed both of his palms forward as a powerful beam burst forth and swallowed the two. Ohm!! Suddenly, several layers of barriers covered his figure. At the same time, the time outside the barrier had stopped and the space was distorted. Inside the barrier, No God Emperor had started building up a magic circle. ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate that this body didn¡¯t have any inner spell to aid my casting but I guess I have to do this from scratch. With a spell, I guess I don¡¯t have to hold back. The power will not be restraint, unlike my Archetype.¡± No God Emperor smiled wryly. He couldn¡¯t use any more Archetype or else this body would crumble down. It couldn¡¯t hold the true power of his Archetype. Plus, he couldn¡¯t even use one percent of its true power. Cough! Cough! Alexander coughed as he slowly stood up. He glanced at No God Emperor and realized what he was trying to do. ¡°He¡¯s conjuring a forbidden spell¡­¡± He glanced at Ibis and Governor Ray. He raised his hand and motioned them to stop moving. ¡°Don¡¯t move, I and this monster will do this. Reserve, your strength as much as you can. And you, Souta, recover too so that we can defeat this guy.¡± Alexander knew that he and Gerxuzs wouldn¡¯t last long. The only thing they could do was wear down No God Emperor as much as they could. Well, he could clearly see some sign of it. Bang!! Gerxuzs, who was on the ground, launched himself once again like a rocket. He struck the barrier around his opponent with all of his might. Boom!! The time had stopped around the barrier and space was distorted but Gerxuzs was like a machine that tore through everything. He kept smashing the barrier and after a few hits, it showed cracks on its surface. ¡°Go away!!¡± Gerxuzs heard a voice behind him. He turned his head and saw a huge beam of energy. He quickly jumped to the side and the beam swallowed the barrier. Boom!! It was a super dense elemental energy that Alexander created. It was a very destructive attack that seems to possess no weaknesses. ¡°One more attack!!¡± Alexander gritted his teeth and gathered all of his energy on the tip of his finger. It was a small sphere of condensed mana and elemental energy. The fluctuations around it were even affecting the surrounding space. Gerxuzs also charged his best feram on his weapon. This would be his last attack as he could feel that he was reaching his limit. Swoosh!! ¡°[Calamity of the End].¡± No God Emperor said softly. A magic circle appeared on his palm and a second emerged on top of it. A third and fourth circle formed before a brilliant light erupted. [Tidal Elemental Strike]!! [Obliteration of the King]!! Both Alexander and Gerxuzs launched their best attacks. Their attacks swooped together and instantly covered a vast distance. Not even a second had passed before their attacks collided. A ring-shaped shockwave spread out from the center of the impact. The shockwave wiped out everything within a radius of thousands of kilometers. The next thing that happened was a powerful suction force that pulled every debris toward the center of the impact. Boom!! A second shockwave swept out. This time the scale was far larger than the first one. It covered almost the entire planet as the intense energy fluctuations traveled through the air at insane speed. Ice covered everything, a sea of flames raged in every corner, then a forest appeared before lightning destroyed it. All sorts of phenomena occurred as the impact grew larger and larger. BOOM!!!! It was as if the end of the world had come. Ibis and Governor Ray protected Souta from the shockwaves. They created a field using both of their energy to make sure that it wouldn¡¯t harm Souta. Huff¡­ Souta looked down at his hand. He moved it and clenched his fist tightly. ¡°I can somehow fight now¡­¡± He muttered to himself. ¡°Prepare yourself, we¡¯re charging in,¡± Ibis said in a low voice toward Governor Ray. Governor Ray had a serious expression on his face. It was their turn now. They would charge the moment they got a clearer view. They would pull Gerxuzs and Alexander away so that they could rest for a few minutes. If Governor Ray and Ibis couldn¡¯t hold any longer then they would change the fighters again so that they could recover a little bit of their strength. It was their tactics. They wanted to avoid a full confrontation where everyone could be beaten at the same time. It¡¯s better if someone was holding No God Emperor while the rest were recovering then they would change fighters like a wheel. If all of them fell at the same time then there¡¯s no hope. Chapter 828: Chaos In Hall Plains: Governor Ray And Ibis Vs. No God Emperor Ibis activated her combat arts and spells one by one. After a few seconds, she glanced at Souta and Governor Ray and gave them a nod before she charged ahead. Swoosh!! She was going to fight No God Emperor even if she fell in this battle. She was a true warrior at heart. Governor Ray turned to Souta. He placed his hand inside his pocket and asked, ¡°Can you fight?¡± E¦Áglesn?¦Íel ¡°I recovered a little bit of my strength,¡± Souta answered. ¡°Take your time. Here.¡± Governor Ray threw a small bottle of potion at Souta. Souta caught it and realized that it wasn¡¯t a health potion or mana potion. The liquid inside the bottle was orange and he was familiar with it. This potion was a monster potion, he used it before when fighting stronger opponents. ¡°Take your time, use it to recover more of your strength.¡± Governor Ray said to him before he turned his attention to No God Emperor. Boom!! Gerxuzs and Alexander were laying on the ground. Their bodies were full of heavy injuries and their energy waves were getting lower and lower. They tried to move their bodies but exhaustion assaulted them. Even at their full powers, they couldn¡¯t even bring No God Emperor to his knees one time. No God Emperor stared at the crimson net. He narrowed his eyes and learned that his awakening was getting completed. Just a little bit more time and the cells of this body would change to match his own. It would leave permanent damage to this body but he didn¡¯t care at all. He just wanted to swap it so he wasn¡¯t going to use it next time. He shook his head and glanced at the two before he pointed his finger at them. Ohm!! A ball of energy gathered at the tip of his finger. He was going to end the lives of these two unbelievable creatures. He wasn¡¯t going to humiliate them anymore. They were worthy of his respect so he was going to end their suffering. They could die with great honor as the one they fought was none other than him, No God Emperor. At this moment, a red figure flashed toward the two. It was Ibis, a Grain Leader from Athen¡¯s Champion. She grabbed both Alexander and Gerxuzs before she threw them out of the way. Governor Ray jumped ahead and caught the two before he threw them in again in a faraway place so that they wouldn¡¯t get affected in the battle. ¡°I forgot that there are four of you.¡± No God Emperor muttered but he still fired the energy on the tip of his finger. Ibis pulled out her sword and slashed the energy beam. [Great Tidal Flash]!! The energy blade that she threw sliced the beam into two. It passed beside her creating a massive explosion. ¡°I¡¯m not done yet!¡± Ibis bent her knees before she dashed toward No God Emperor. She drove her sword with great momentum. Swoosh!! No God Emperor stepped back but Ibis was already in front of him. He raised his hand and she swung her sword with extreme speed. But then, the blade passed through his wrist. ¡°What?! Illusion¡­?! No, the Faint Sword Skill¡­?!¡± No God Emperor realized the technique she was using. When he looked up, he saw several hundreds of blades slashing at him. Shiing!! [Faint Sword Technique: Blooming Flowers]!! It was like a grinding machine. Hundreds of sword slashes were created in an instant, decimating the whole land into tiny pieces. Ugh! No God Emperor was pushed back as several cuts appeared on his body. Still, he thought that Gerxuzs, Souta, and Alexander were the only exceptional ones but he didn¡¯t think that there was another one here. He grinned widely, ¡°Faint Sword Skill¡­ You are from Athen¡¯s Legion? I didn¡¯t think that I would meet a person who could use the same sword skill as her. Although you can¡¯t use its full strength it was still a powerful sword skill.¡± ¡°My Faint Sword Skill is nothing¡­ I just exchange it with all my contribution points. I¡¯ve spent several years training this skill.¡± Ibis said before she pounced on her opponent. [Faint Sword Technique: Ultimate Heaven¡¯s Uprising]!! She raised her sword above her head and heavily slashed it down. The whole scenery changed immediately. Pink flowers started to appear and it was a manifestation of her energy. Each one contained an enormous sword will. No God Emperor was about to avoid the slash when Governor Ray arrived beside him. He pushed No God Emperor back to Ibis¡¯ range and used a skill to restrain him for a second. Swoosh!! No God Emperor was cut once again. This time, it was deep and the cut was huge. His wrist was almost sliced into two. His chest was bleeding horrendously. Argh!! He jumped away to create a distance between the two. He looked down at his state and said, ¡°The battle before wears down the energy fields protecting my body¡­¡± ¡°But¡­¡± No God Emperor stared at Ibis and Governor Ray before he continued, ¡°If you think that this is enough to beat me then you are wrong.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you something.¡± Governor Ray said with a smirk. No God Emperor curiously raised his eyebrows as if he was telling Governor Ray to show him what he got. Governor took out a small bottle from his pocket and removed its cap. He drank the liquid inside the bottle without hesitation. Thud! The next second, intense pain assaulted his body and he felt that his heart was beating wildly. His aura was growing stronger and his mana slowly turned into the best feram. What he drank was a monster potion. The potion that would let him temporarily gain the power of a monster. ¡°Are you out of your mind?¡± No God Emperor asked. Even Ibis was shocked at Governor Ray¡¯s action. She didn¡¯t expect that Governor Ray would force himself to drink a monster potion. The side-effect of that potion was extremely dangerous. Governor Ray simply gritted his teeth and endured the pain. He was prepared to take everything the moment he stepped on this path. He couldn¡¯t back down. He would bring down No God Emperor and that was the goal that was passed down in his family. ¡°I can handle this amount of pain!! Argh!!¡± He roared as his aura soared through the sky, shaking the whole land with his indomitable power. No God Emperor finally noticed that something was wrong. He widened his eyes as he stared at Governor Ray with eyes filled with surprise. ¡°Y-You!! You have the blood of¡­! You even trained my [Divine Circulation] to the limit!¡± He couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing right now. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m the descendant of your father. Well, it also means that you and I are blood-related.¡± Governor Ray grinned maniacally. He was waiting for this moment in his entire life. He wanted to complete the restraint that was passed down on his family. ¡°My father, Vexus¡­ I didn¡¯t think that we would have a child with another person after the death of my mother¡­ It¡¯s really surprising that it made my blood boil. Do you know what my father did to me?¡± No God Emperor¡¯s tone had changed. ¡°He betrayed me! He¡¯s the reason why I was sealed in that fucking mountain! Ahahahaha!! Interesting! Well, well, well, I could only say that this is going too well for me.¡± He laughed madly as if he achieved a lifelong dream. ¡°Your blood! I will absorb it to complete this body! That way, the ritual will speed up and the fountain will finally recognize this body as me! Oh, maybe, you have my father¡¯s corpse¡­ It would work pretty fast if I had his cells and blood. It¡¯s here, right? My father is a God so his corpse wouldn¡¯t rot.¡± No God Emperor slightly bent his knees. He was different from before. This time, he was the one that initiated the battle. He rushed toward Governor Ray with overwhelming momentum. ¡°You agitated him,¡± Ibis said to Governor Ray. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if we please him or not. Our goal is still to defeat him.¡± Governor Ray replied. ¡°True.¡± Ibis nodded at his words. Swoosh!! Governor Ray stepped forward and threw a punch. No God Emperor swung his fist and both of their fists collided causing the land to shake. Ibis jumped to the side and slashed her sword. She and Governor Ray worked together to fight their opponent. Their cooperation was better than Gerxuzs and Alexander. They filled up each other¡¯s weaknesses. Bang! Bang!! Governor Ray was a descendant of No God Emperor¡¯s father. His dad told him that No God Emperor would return one day and their mission was to prevent it. It was passed down from generation to generation. He once asked his father why they had to prevent No God Emperor from awakening when they were related to each other. The answer that he received was that No God Emperor was the cause of Hall Plains¡¯ downfall a thousand years ago. The moment No God Emperor broke his fate while he was mortal, he became the enemy of Imperium. It was equivalent to challenging the whole world. Chapter 829: Chaos In Hall Plains: Ancient Ruin Governor Ray was overwhelmingly powerful. His strength let him go toe to toe with No God Emperor. He practiced all the techniques that were passed down to him. The skills to deal with No God Emperor. Bang! Bang! Bang! No God Emperor had taken more damage due to the constant clash. He was surprised that the descendant of his father was this strong, but after careful thought, he guessed that it was natural since the same blood was flowing through their bodies. ¡°Your techniques!! It seems that my father created something that could deal more damage to his own blood!¡± He said with a smile on his face. The skills that Governor Ray was using right now were similar to those Dragon Slaying Skills. Those skills deal more damage to dragons but his skills deal more damage to the person with Vexus¡¯ bloodline. In short, it was a No God Emperor Slaying Skill. ¡°You will fall today! I haven¡¯t fully changed this body so the damage that you¡¯ve been dealing to me isn¡¯t enough!¡± No God Emperor laughed. Governor Ray moved forward and flung his fist coated with a huge amount of energy. No God Emperor already responded to it. With one hand, he grabbed Governor Ray¡¯s first and then kneed him in the stomach. Bang! But before he could even deal more damage to Governor Ray, Ibis slashed her sword. No God Emperor released Governor Ray and shifted his body to the side, barely dodging the blade. Ibis continued to slash her sword repeatedly with the hopes of keeping their target for a while. No God Emperor avoided all the slashes closely. When Ibis thrust her blade, he used the back of his palm to deflect it. Then, he noticed that he couldn¡¯t move his body once again. A slight gap was opened. Governor Ray simply used a restraining spell called [Chain Capturing Heaven]. This skill held No God Emperor in less than a second but it was enough for Ibis to launch a direct hit. Ibis stepped forward and hurriedly used her sword skill. Ah!! Flowers bloomed as a powerful energy erupted. No God Emperor¡¯s body crashed on the ground then Ibis followed up by sending multiple energy blades. Boom!! Souta watched the battle intently. The first time he saw Governor Ray, he already knew that he was at Four Shackles Realm. But he never expected that this governor was strong even among the Four Shackles Realm. This guy was even stronger than Draymond whom Souta fought before. Souta stood up and stretched his body. He threw the empty bottle to the side and felt a strong energy flowing through his veins. He could go for another battle right now. Although he could fight, he didn¡¯t think that he would win against No God Emperor in a one-on-one battle. Souta looked down and stared at his hand which was gripping the handle of the vajra sword. If they continued this path¡­ Then, it means that they had to kill Yenxa. Souta shook his head. He had to defeat No God Emperor first before he could think about it. At this rate, No God Emperor would really free his real body. He turned his head and saw Alexander laying on the side. He approached and asked, ¡°Are you okay? That guy almost beat you to death¡­¡± ¡°Does it look like I¡¯m fine¡­?¡± Alexander replied with great effort. He forced himself into a seated position before he glanced at Souta. ¡°You¡¯ll go again?¡± Souta nodded as he looked at the battle. ¡°It seems so¡­ Governor Ray will not last long since he used a monster potion to gain that power. I can only hope that he could exhaust No God Emperor.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I still have something on my sleeve¡­¡± Alexander said with a serious look. ¡°What is it?¡± Souta asked curiously. ¡°I can¡¯t use it now but I can sense that someone is activating it in Hall Plains. The relics of the past.¡± Alexander said and didn¡¯t explain anymore. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that,¡± Souta said and he felt that the burden on his shoulder had decreased a little bit. ¡°I¡¯ll follow you when you are ready.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Alexander nodded. He looked around and saw Gerxuzs laying on the other side. Gerxuzs had fainted as he was the most active one in the first round of battle. He fought No God Emperor one on one for a short amount of time before Alexander joined. From the start, he used everything without holding back. Eaglesnov?1,§ão§® Boom!! Boom!! The battle between Governor Ray and Ibis against No God Emperor continued. They¡¯ve already clashed tens of thousands of times in just a few minutes. Various skills and spells were thrown but none of them were able to knock down each other. In these few minutes, No God Emperor received more damage. It was all credited to Governor Ray¡¯s destructive attacks. In his state, he was even stronger than Alexander¡¯s strongest state by a few levels. Ibis was strong too but Governor Ray¡¯s performance overshadowed her. Right now, Governor Ray showed signs of exhaustion. Ibis was adjusting her strength to keep up with No God Emperor when Governor Ray slowed down. The side effect of drinking the monster potion was slowly sinking in. Ibis and Governor Ray jumped away to create some distance from No God Emperor. ¡°Can you still keep up?¡± Ibis asked. ¡°I think I can only hold on for two minutes¡­¡± Governor Ray said with a tired look. ¡°Come and I¡¯ll send you to the afterlife.¡± No God Emperor soared to the sky and launched himself at the two. He flicked his fingers and several energy spheres were fired at the same time. Ibis jumped ahead and slashed the energy spheres causing massive explosions in the air. Boom!! No God Emperor¡¯s expression turned sharp as he went inside the smoke. He arrived beside Ibis and elbowed the side of her stomach. Then, he punched her in the face before he kicked her away. Ibis stabilized herself in midair but No God Emperor chased after her. Luckily, Governor Ray intercepted him, and the two wrestled fiercely like two predators trying to kill each other. Bang! Bang! In the central region¡­ Amanda and the two archeologists continued their goals. They were inside a deep and abandoned ruin. ¡°We¡¯ve followed the map and this is the destination¡­¡± Lindi said while observing the architecture of the ruin with an amazed look on her face. ¡°If we didn¡¯t find the map, we would not be able to discover this place,¡± Jason added. ¡°So this is a ruin before the era of the Hall of Power¡­?¡± Amanda muttered. ¡°Yeah, we haven¡¯t studied it fully so I don¡¯t know if it was a Large Country or not. This ruin is ten thousand years old yet it hasn¡¯t collapsed. The people who created this place must be an expert.¡± Lindi explained. Amanda glanced at them and asked, ¡°So how are we gonna activate the mechanism?¡± War was currently happening in the entire Hall Plains. The Hall of Power has returned and it seeks to sacrifice every living being in this land. The scale of the battle was too much, especially the battles in the Mountain of Demise. It was beyond their capabilities. Only people that broke a shackle would have a good chance there. A good chance didn¡¯t mean that they wouldn¡¯t die, there were still strong people in the ranks of the Hall of Power. Amanda, Lindi, and Jason weren¡¯t even at Shackled Realm. Their strength would help the people fighting the Hall of Power by a little bit but they rejected this idea. There¡¯s no point in going there with their meager strength. So they decided to completely activate the ancient ruin in this land, a kingdom that appeared before the rise of the Hall of Power. They¡¯ve visited several ruins ever since the war started. They only got delayed because of the appearance of unknown trees that sapped their energies. ¡°It¡¯s simple¡­ We just needed to repeat what we did in the previous ruins. All the clues are here if you observe carefully.¡± Jason said. The three followed a passage. Soon, they arrived in a huge spacious room. There were stones that were emitting light in each corner. In the center, there was a huge stone monument with several runes carved into it. Before it was a huge circular stone with a height comparable to their hips. There were several small stones embedded in it. ¡°This is it¡­¡± Jason said. ¡°The activation room¡­¡± Lindi said. ¡°I just hope that it could help us fight the Hall of Power.¡± Amanda hoped. She didn¡¯t even know if their plan would work or not. If they failed then there was nothing she could do. She only wasted her time activating all the ancient ruins. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jason, Lindi, and Amanda stepped forward. Amanda and Lindi worked on the circular stone while Jason was alone in front of the stone monument. They were activating the ruins using all of their knowledge. Soon, the whole place emitted a dim light. Vein-like energy appeared on the walls, floors, and ceiling of the room. The mechanism of this ancient ruin was activated. It was still working even after ten thousand years had passed. Chapter 830: Chaos In Hall Plains: Last Ace No God Emperor opened his palm. He grabbed Governor Ray¡¯s face and smashed him on the ground. They moved in a straight line, creating a huge and deep valley. Ibis chased after them to help Governor Ray. Swoosh!! No God Emperor suddenly paused and released Governor Ray. He quickly turned around and caught Ibis off guard. She didn¡¯t have a time to dodge as he delivered a blow to her stomach. Bang! Ibis endured the blow as she swung her sword. No God Emperor already saw this so he managed to avoid the slash by shifting his body to the side. At the same time, Souta¡¯s flashed heading to the battle with insane speed. Governor Ray was reaching his limit and Ibis couldn¡¯t take No God Emperor alone so he had to step forward and fight once again. ¡°So you¡¯re here!¡± No God Emperor said with a smile. ¡°Yeah! And this time, I¡¯m gonna defeat you!¡± Souta roared before he swung the vajra sword in his hand. Bang! Bang! Bang! The two exchanged high-speed blows in the air. Each one of their attacks shook the entire area, causing the landforms to change. In just a few seconds, Souta was blown several kilometers. He was weaker than his opponent. ¡°Is that it?¡± No God Emperor chased after him but Ibis intercepted him. They clashed in midair. Ibis used the sword arts that she knew just to keep No God Emperor busy even for just a few seconds. Bang! Bang! Bang! Governor Ray spat a mouthful of blood. He forced himself to stand and glanced at the battle. He couldn¡¯t fall while No God Emperor was still here. He had to do his best but his body was at its limit. ¡°Damn¡­ I have to do this¡­ I can¡¯t fall here¡­¡± He gritted his teeth. The pain that was caused by the monster potion was the only thing that was keeping him conscious. ¡°I can still feel the pain. It means that I can somehow handle it.¡± He clenched both of his fists tightly. He could still feel the pain so his body was still working fine. Boom!! Souta and Ibis worked together to fight against No God Emperor. It¡¯s just that their opponent was unbelievably strong and they couldn¡¯t even gain an advantage even for a single second. No God Emperor was smashing them. Swoosh!! He grabbed both Souta and Ibis¡¯ faces. He grind their faces on the ground before he threw them away and launched a sphere of energy. Souta and Ibis kicked each other in the air to avoid the energy sphere. They landed on the ground and took a deep breath before they launched themselves once again. Governor Ray, who was watching in the distance, took a deep breath. He bent his knees and with a boom, he dashed ahead with all of his might. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna let it end here!¡± It became a three-on-one battle. Even though No God Emperor was outnumbered, he still didn¡¯t think that his opponents would be able to take him down. It wasn¡¯t easy to do that. It would take more before they could dream of defeating him. ROAR!! A deafening roar shook the entire land causing everyone to turn their heads. They saw that Gerxuzs had stood up and was raging to fight once again. His roar traveled throughout the entire planet. His battle intent was heard by everyone in the land. He was back. ¡°I. Am. Gerxuzs!!!¡± Gerxuzs glared at No God Emperor. He gritted his teeth and charged with great momentum. With every step that he took, his speed increases until he surpassed the perception of ordinary people. Swoosh!! Souta, Governor Ray, and Ibis retreated as Gerxuzs jumped in the air and smashed the huge club in his hand at No God Emperor. Boom! Boom! Boom! Alexander watched the battle with a serious look on his face. He was exhausted but he could still stand and launch a decisive attack. Suddenly, he felt something as he stared at the sky. ¡°It¡¯s activated¡­ The relics that I¡¯ve left in Hall Plains.¡± The corner of his mouth curved upwards as he slowly gathered his energy. He stared at the sky and opened his arms widely as if he was welcoming someone. ¡°One more time¡­¡± He said softly as blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth. The next second, his aura rose sharp as he activated [Element Drive]. Boom!! The whole planet started to shake, no, the entire space within this star system was trembling. The distorted space formed a crack. It slowly spreads out covering the whole star system. No God Emperor and the others who were fighting couldn¡¯t help but pause as they observed their surroundings. ¡°This¡­¡± No God Emperor widened his eyes as he quickly turned his head to look at Alexander. He bent his knees and launched himself at Alexander. The space was cracking and he realized that this wasn¡¯t ordinary at all since it covered the entire star system. It should be something that could threaten him. ¡°You have something in your sleeve. I didn¡¯t expect that.¡± No God Emperor said. Souta regained his senses and shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s hold down No God Emperor!! Alexander will try to take him out!!¡± Ibis and Governor Ray snapped out of their daze. Swoosh!! A figure passed before them and dragged No God Emperor onto the ground. Gerxuzs smashed his opponent once again before he struck No God Emperor¡¯s head with his club. Bang!! ¡°Don¡¯t get distracted while fighting me!!¡± Gerxuzs roared. Souta, Ibis, and Governor Ray dashed forward to keep No God Emperor busy. They were staking everything to Alexander¡¯s last ace. They could only hope that it would work. Bang! Bang! The whole space continued to tremble. In the Hall Plains¡­ ¡°We¡¯ve activated the ruins, so what should we do now?¡± Amanda asked Lindi and Jason. Rumble!! Before the two could even answer her question something changed within the ruin. The whole place started to shake as if there was a huge earthquake. Then, an enormous amount of energy soared through the sky as if it was going to tear the space. ¡°This¡­ All the ruins are moving at the same time.¡± Jason and Lindi said simultaneously. Their conjecture was right. The ruins were still active and it just needed to activate the trigger. It would start working again just like in the past. But¡­ They didn¡¯t know the use of these ruins. They just stake everything here thinking that the ruins could help them against the Hall of Power. ¡°What is happening¡­ It¡¯s moving as if someone was controlling it.¡± Amanda said in a low voice as she looked up. In the sub-world¡­ The space was broken. A loud sound reverberated in the whole star system. ¡°This is my final ace!¡± Alexander gritted his teeth. Several floating diamond-shaped devices came out of the shattered space. These devices were strangely metallic yet fluid at the same time. There were several eyes embedded around it and each one had a height of five kilometers and a width of one kilometer. It was gigantic. Argh! Eaglesnov?1,§ão§® Alexander gritted his teeth as blood flowed out of his seven orifices. He could hardly control these things with his current power level. Souta, Ibis, and Governor Ray quickly retreated as they knew that Alexander had completed his preparation. They went to the other side and cast multiple barriers to protect themselves. Thud! Governor Ray fell to his knees and spat a large amount of blood. His vision was getting blurry and he felt intense pain all over his body. He could barely hold on at this moment. ¡°Hey, can you still handle it?¡± Ibis asked while breathing heavily. Her condition was a little bit better since she didn¡¯t drink a monster potion but she was exhausted too. Souta glanced at the two before he looked down at both of his hands. He was trembling nonstop and he could barely feel the sword in his hand. He was getting numb. He shook his head and looked ahead. Gerxuzs was still fighting No God Emperor with pure determination. His tenacity was absolutely in a different league. He was a pure predator that wanted to end the life of his prey. ¡°We¡¯ll pull him out before Alexander attacks No God Emperor,¡± Souta said in a low voice. Ibis nodded and said, ¡°We¡¯ll do it, Squad Leader Souta. This guy could barely stand.¡± She was talking about Governor Ray. He was in a worse condition as his mana pool got damaged as the side effect of drinking a monster potion. ¡°Go!!¡± Alexander shouted. Souta and Ibis immediately dashed forward. They knew what they had to do. Alexander also knew what was going on even without asking. Swoosh! Ibis poured her remaining energy into her sword and clashed with No God Emperor while Souta threw strings of webs and attached them around Gerxuzs. ¡°Come here!!¡± He pulled Gerxuzs away and they swiftly made a retreat. Ibis had a web attached to her back so after she exchanged a few more blows with No God Emperor, Souta pulled her away. Chapter 831: Chaos In Hall Plains: I Want To Win ¡°What is that¡­?¡± No God Emperor muttered while looking at the diamond-shaped devices that were hanging in the sky. He could feel threatening energy coming from those things. It made him aware that these things were something that could endanger this vessel. ¡°Do you really think that I would let myself get attacked by you easily?¡± No God Emperor smiled and he changed his stance once again. If they were going to attack him, then he was going to attack them too. He wouldn¡¯t bother defending himself as he would focus on attacking them directly. ¡°I¡¯ll gamble on it¡­¡± His aura rose sharply to a higher level. The amount and fluctuation of energy that he was emitting right now was familiar to the Souta, Alexander, and the rest. He was going to use a big move. ¡°[Archetype: Heaven¡¯s Downfall].¡± Cracks appeared on No God Emperor¡¯s skin. He shouldn¡¯t use this skill anymore or else it would heavily damage this vessel. It was already beyond recovery. But he didn¡¯t care at all. He wanted to respond to the determination of the people that were fighting him. [Second Step: Brilliant Light of the End]!! A brilliant light erupted, engulfing everything in the vicinity. Souta and Ibis raised both of their hands. They created several layers of barriers to defend themselves against No God Emperor¡¯s powerful attack. ¡°Argh!! This is insane!!¡± Souta gritted his teeth as he felt intense pain all over his body. The power of their opponent¡¯s attack was no joke. It felt like this world was going to collapse. Souta and Ibis couldn¡¯t do anything except pour their energy on their barrier. They resisted with all of their might. ¡°ARGHH!!¡± Alexander roared as he raised both of his hands. Souta and Ibis created a barrier to protect him so that he could safely launch a powerful attack on their opponent. ¡°Take this!!¡± This would probably be his last attack since it¡¯s taxing his body too much. It was sapping his energy as if there was no tomorrow and his body was slowly turning numb. Bang!! Souta and Ibis couldn¡¯t hold any longer. The barriers were shattered and the golden light was smashed into their bodies. Their skin and muscles took a direct hit as their defensive field collapsed. Their blood vessels exploded and blood poured out of their pores. Argh!! They didn¡¯t last long. No God Emperor¡¯s attack was too much for them. A figure stood in front and held Souta and Ibis¡¯ hands. Swoosh! Alexander used this chance to jump in the air and pressed both of his hands downwards. Shiing!! A loud sound echoed as the diamond-shaped devices shot several white laser beams at No God Emperor. Each of the lasers was condensed energy fused with his elemental powers. It was so strong that it literally tore the space and arrived just right above the target. No God Emperor lifted his head before the lasers landed on his body causing a massive explosion. At the same time, No God Emperor¡¯s attack swirled around before it exploded. The two explosions collided causing an extreme reaction that shook the entire planet. BOOM!!! A mushroom of clouds covered a quarter of the planet¡¯s surface. The waves coming from the explosion traveled through the cracks in space, it arrived in different parts of the star system. Some of it even tore through the Hall Plains, causing massive damage. Although the explosion was powerful, none of it still managed to pass by the crimson net. A higher level of power was needed if one wanted to achieve it. The central regions directly suffered from it. The cracks caused by the activation of ancient ruins were left there so the energy waves from the battle passed through it. It heavily devastated the land, directly killing hundreds of thousands of people in the central region. It was horrifying. Swoosh~ The whole scene on the surface of the planet was like the end of the world. It was covered by thick smoke and soft burning rock filled the ground. An entire layer of the planet was just scraped out by the explosion. The ground was still shaking and the other side of the planet had begun crumbling into pieces. The explosion before disintegrated a quarter of the planet¡¯s crust so the effect of it was occurring. It was so powerful that the planet¡¯s magnetic field collapsed and it was pushed out of orbit. The temperature continued to rise. Rumble!! A figure burst out of the molten rocks. His body was full of injuries and blood kept pouring from these wounds. He was No God Emperor. Even after taking that powerful attack head-on, he still managed to stand. He lives up to his name as the one who challenged the entirety of Imperium. ¡°Ahahaha, that was close! Just a little bit more and you guys would be able to defeat me!¡± No God Emperor laughed. He praised them for their courage and strength. His opponents were the best of the best at their levels. They managed to put him in a situation where he could fail or not. It¡¯s been a while since he felt this emotion. The thrill of whether he could win or not. ¡°If given more time, you guys will be able to stand at the peak of the world.¡± No God Emperor said. He was exhausted after experiencing this thrilling battle. Seeing this scene, Alexander felt that he failed. His vision gets blurry before he falls to the molten rocks. Bang! He loses consciousness. That last attack was so powerful that it literally drained all of his energy. He wouldn¡¯t be able to pull off that massive attack without the relics that he buried in the past. Unfortunately, his current power was too weak to create an even more stronger attack. Cough! Souta slowly opened his eyes. He raised his head and saw No God Emperor floating in the air. He realized that Alexander had failed to defeat this guy. ¡°Is this the end¡­?¡± He muttered to himself. He looked around and found that Alexander and the rest didn¡¯t have the strength to fight back. ¡°I¡­¡± Souta glanced at his hand. There was a small bottle with orange liquid inside it. A monster potion. Just right before they got blown away, Governor Ray pushed himself to the limit and helped them sustain the shockwaves. He gave Souta his remaining monster potion in hopes that he could end No God Emperor. ¡®That¡¯s right, Governor Ray¡­¡¯ Souta turned his head. Governor Ray was laying on the burning rock. His left arm and left leg were missing. His skin was gone leaving the visible muscles to hot air. Cough! Cough! Souta heard a cough behind him and found that Ibis stood up while holding her head with one hand. Blood kept pouring out of the wound on her head. ¡°Grain Leader Ibis, are you okay?¡± He asked. ¡°Somehow¡­¡± Ibis answered. She stared at Governor Ray and said, ¡°That guy saved us so I have to respond to his brave will. I can still fight but I can probably last for another minute.¡± Souta grew silent when he heard her words. Alexander, Governor Ray, and Gerxuzs couldn¡¯t help them at this moment. Only he and Ibis were left here. The worst case was that both of them were on the verge of collapsing. No God Emperor was the same but they were at a disadvantage in terms of strength. If they fall here, Alice, Yuko, Eilish, Amanda, Isabella, Torkez, Franklin, and everyone from Astros would die. He couldn¡¯t let that happen. He turned to Ibis and said, ¡°Ibis, I¡¯ll leave the defense to you. Protect me at all costs.¡± ¡°What are you pla-¡± Ibis stopped when she show the determination in his eyes. She nodded and stood in front of him, ready to sacrifice herself. ¡°Just make sure to take out that guy.¡± Souta dived into his mind. He was standing in front of Saya. He said, ¡®Saya, I¡¯m going to use it¡­¡¯ ¡®But that would make you¡­¡¯ Saya was shocked at his words. ¡®It doesn¡¯t matter.¡¯ Souta shook his head and the corner of his mouth curved upward, ¡°I want to win.¡± He removed the cap of the bottle and drank the liquid in one go. ¡°I¡­ want to win¡­¡± He threw the bottle to the side and smiled, ¡°¡­No matter what!!¡± Saya lowered her head and sighed. After a while, she looked at him. She flashed a smile and said, ¡°I know! You really are¡­ so stubborn!¡± In his mind, he and Saya bumped their fist. At the same time, Souta¡¯s aura grew stronger passing through the limits. Crimson-colored energy flowed through his veins. No God Emperor was breathing heavily. He was focused on controlling the crimson net to send another solar flare that would annihilate this star system to complete his ritual. d¦Á- n?¦Íe|`c,0m Suddenly, he noticed a burst of energy in the distance. He turned his head and saw Souta and Ibis getting ready to fight him once again. No God Emperor smiled and said, ¡°You guys really are the best. I¡¯m not gonna lie, I¡¯m also at my limit so if you want to stop me then give me your best shot.¡± Souta pointed his sword at No God Emperor. He smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m gonna defeat you this time. Me and my partner will drag you down from your throne¡­¡± ¡°Saya!!¡± He said loudly. ¡®I know. So stop calling my name loudly.¡¯ A silhouette of a woman wearing red clothes appeared behind him. Both she and Souta tightly held the vajra sword. ¡°Sorry, about that¡­¡± Souta gently smiled and slowly said, ¡°¡­Archetype!¡± Chapter 832: Chaos In Hall Plains: Lifeless Blood Lightning The fragments of the shattered space floated in the air. It reflected what was happening in the sub-world, the place beyond the portal at the top of the Mountain of Demise. The people of the Hall Plains didn¡¯t need to go through the portal if they wanted to arrive at the sub-world, they just needed to go through the shattered space. Every person in Hall Plains couldn¡¯t help but look at the fragment of space. Gerxuzs, Governor Ray, and Alexander were laying on the ground. Their blood has evaporated due to the extreme hotness of the molten rocks. No God Emperor was floating in the air with a smile on his face. The people that were facing him were Souta and Ibis. Alexander¡¯s last attack heavily injured No God Emperor. While Governor Ray saved Souta and Ibis so that they could end No God Emperor. Everything was in the hands of these two people. They were facing the greatest opponent that they have faced in their entire lives. ¡°Give it all! If you can¡¯t stop me then, I, No God Emperor will sacrifice everyone in this land!¡± No God Emperor said as he stared at the two people. ¡°In the name of Goddess Athena, I, Ibis will stop you.¡± Ibis raised her sword. She poured her last bit of mana into her blade as she stood in front of Souta. She softly said to Souta, ¡°Squad Leader Souta, I don¡¯t think I could buy you a long time. I¡¯m ready to sacrifice myself, just make sure to end this guy with your attack.¡± Souta took a deep breath and nodded at her words. He knew that if he couldn¡¯t defeat No God Emperor then it would be the end of every one. ¡°Great determination! Here I come!¡± No God Emperor grinned before he launched himself. ¡°Argh!!¡± Ibis roared as she swung the blade in her hands. Boom!! This entire Mountain of Demise started to shake. Fountains of lava burst from the ground in every corner of the Hall Plains. The mana in the atmosphere was getting restless as if something bad was about to occur. The crimson sky slowly turned darker and darker. Even the crimson net that enveloped the Hall Plains and star system showed cracks on its surface. Everyone felt that the Hall Plains was about to collapse. These were the signs that the Mountain of Demise was slowly recognizing the vessel as No God Emperor. It means that No God Emperor would be freed and everyone would die without exception. Why was this happening? All the deaths in Hall Plains were sacrifices so it fuel the ritual. No God Emperor didn¡¯t need to kill every living being. He either needed to sacrifice the people in the sub-world or Hall Plains. Although the Hall of Power was defeated, the cause of their actions lingered around. That¡¯s why they tried to cause a conflict between different organizations across the land. It was all part of their plan. ¡°Boss¡­ It¡¯s up to you.¡± Eztein muttered while looking at the fragments of space that reflected what was happening in the sub-world. ¡°Souta¡­¡± Torkez narrowed his eyes. ¡°So he is fighting some absurd beings out there¡­¡± Franklin laughed. The other people watched the battle too from their position. Some of the people in other regions realized what was happening. They were rooted in their position as they watched the battle in the sub-world with their own eyes. The battle that would decide the fate of their land. Isabella closed her eyes and prayed for Souta¡¯s safety. She hoped that he would win this battle. ¡°Souta¡­¡± She heard a familiar voice behind her. Isabella hurriedly looked around and saw Alice approaching her while looking at the sky. ¡°Alice, are you okay?¡± Isabella asked with concern in her eyes. She was worried about her this whole time. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t mind me.¡± Alice shook her head and turned back to watch the battle. ¡°The most important thing¡­ is Souta.¡± She didn¡¯t know that Souta was fighting such a battle. If only¡­ If only she had enough strength. She tightly clenched her fist in frustration. ¡°Our Lord!!¡± ¡°Lord Souta!!¡± The other members of Astros shouted as they cheered for their leader. All of them wanted Souta to win this battle no matter what. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta closed his eyes and let Saya¡¯s energy flow through his body. He took a deep breath before he opened his eyes once again. He didn¡¯t pay attention on the battle between Ibis and No God Emperor. He knew that Ibis would give it her all no matter what. d¦Á -n?¦Íe| , c?m He just needed to do one thing¡­ And that is to complete his preparation so that he could defeat No God Emperor. ¡°Archetype¡­¡± The atmosphere suddenly changed as thunderclouds gathered in the sky. It covered almost everything above as if it was the entire heavens. Rumble!! The thundercloud roared like a violent beast. The sound of thunder reverberated throughout the whole world as if it was declaring something. ¡®Souta, leave it to me.¡¯ Saya¡¯s voice echoed in his mind. Souta grabbed the blade of his sword and slid his hand across it. His blood painted the sword before an oppressive feeling slowly permeated within. [Archetype: Great Blood of the End]!! The sound of thunder grew louder and louder. Droplets of blood slowly erupted from the ground, rising into the air. As far as the eye could see, blood rose from the sky. Each one of them contained a huge amount of power. Even in Hall Plains, all the blood in this piece of land soared upwards heading into the shattered space. ¡°What is this¡­?¡± Eztein muttered as he looked at the floating droplets of blood around him. ¡°Souta is gathering all this blood¡­¡± Torkez muttered. ¡°Our leader is really full of surprises.¡± Franklin grinned. All this blood had one direction and that was the planet that No God Emperor was in. It couldn¡¯t even hide the destructive power that it possessed. Even an A-rank could feel the pressure coming from a single drop of those blood. Now, there were tens of millions of droplets. Crackle!! An arc of lightning flashed in the sky, painting the whole world with its light. However, this lightning was different from normal lightning not it was the vajra lightning which had the color of black. ¡°¡­Lifeless Blood Lightning!¡± This lightning possessed the color of blood. No, the right thing to say was that this lightning was made through the refinements of all the blood that Souta gathered. They were integrated using the powers of dark and light to achieve such a state. It was made from the blood of the people that he had killed before. Thus, he named it Lifeless Blood Lightning. The blood had a form of lightning which was made possible by Souta¡¯s extreme blood manipulation and the integration of his element power. This lightning would be upgraded along with his elemental power and traits. Crackle!! The blood-colored lightning crackled around Souta. His sword emitted a dense amount of lightning that could entirely wreck everything into pieces. Souta created this using his knowledge with the help of Saya. He modified the [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] to suit his own body since it was incompatible with him. It was extremely dangerous so he didn¡¯t use Archetype for the time being. His time with Alexander also bolstered his knowledge since modifying techniques were related to Forbidden Spells and Sublimation of Combat Arts. Ohm! Souta took a deep breath and stared ahead. He completed his preparation so he had to help Ibis since she was holding No God Emperor alone. ¡°Grain Leader! Leave this to me!¡± Souta said before he dashed forward. Ibis was on a full defense against No God Emperor. She focused all of her strength on defense so that she could last longer. Her entire body was trembling and her eyelid felt heavy. She lost too much blood as she could feel slight dizziness. She could barely hold the sword in her hand. This was the limit of her strength and she didn¡¯t want to imagine what would happen if she fell here. Argh!! She had to buy time for Souta to finish his preparation. No God Emperor¡¯s hand quivered, and a flash of golden light burst forth. Ibis widened her eyes as both of her arms rolled in the air, splashing blood everywhere. Her sword fell on the molten rock. Argh!! She gritted her teeth and endured the pain. Swoosh!! She lifted her foot and launched a vicious kick. The next second, her foot was rolling in midair. Before she could even realize it, a hand came through her stomach. Ugh! ¡°You gave me a great battle. You are worthy of my respect.¡± No God Emperor said before he pulled out his hand. Ibis spat a mouthful of blood as she glanced at the gaping hole in her stomach. Swoosh!! She was about to fall when a red light flashed and her figure disappeared. No God Emperor turned his head and saw Souta behind him holding Ibis in his arms. He smiled, ¡°At last, this time we will settle it.¡± ¡°We will defeat you this time,¡± Souta said before he placed down Ibis. Chapter 833: Chaos In Hall Plains: [First Form] ¡°It¡¯s you and me again. Everybody has fallen.¡± No God Emperor said in a low voice. His body was full of wounds but he still stood strong. He was always like this. He stood against everyone even though the odds were against him. He never took a step back and faced every challenge with confidence in his heart. ¡°You will not be able to defeat me¡­ I will change this world.¡± He failed in the past so he couldn¡¯t let that happen once again. ¡°Change this world? I don¡¯t care about any of that, I just want to beat you so badly.¡± Souta said as he slowly raised his sword and pointed it at his opponent. ¡®Souta, be careful. Even though our enemy is close to his limit, he could still use a powerful attack.¡¯ Saya warned. ¡®I know¡­¡¯ Souta nodded. Red lightning flashed around him, boosting his abilities to a higher level. Once more time! Souta gritted his teeth and forced his body to use all of his might. [Element Drive], [Blood Armor], and [Monster Orb Release] were squeezed out to the last bit of his strength. Boom!! The burst of power shook the area around him. The molten rocks were instantly enveloped by darkness and light. The droplet of blood floated in the area giving off an ominous vibe. ¡°Let me borrow this, Grain Leader.¡± Souta said softly as he picked up Ibis¡¯ sword. The next moment, the two swords in his hand emitted a dark and white light. The effect of his class was instantly activated after he wields two weapons. The properties of the two swords had increased tremendously. Everything was upgraded to a higher level. Crackle! Blood flowed out of his palm and covered the two swords. ¡°This is the Lifeless Blood Lightning¡­!¡± Souta gathered a huge amount of red lightning on the blade of his sword. The concentration of energy distorted the space around the two swords which made people unable to discern what was happening. Only people with great ability could understand what was happening in Souta¡¯s swords. No God Emperor narrowed his eyes while looking at Souta. The energy he felt was something he didn¡¯t expect before. ¡°Y-You¡­ You have an Archetype?!¡± He smiled and shook his head. This was outside of his expectations. He never expect that a monster would instead practice an Archetype for humans and demis. ¡°Very well¡­¡± No God Emperor laughed lightly. He tightly clenched both of his fists. Both of them could feel the end of this battle was close. The winner of this battle would be decided in the next few seconds. The two stared at each other for a few seconds. Then, they disappeared from their position, rushing at each other with overwhelming speed. Swoosh!! [Archetype: Heaven¡¯s Downfall]!! [Second Step: Brilliant Light of the End]!! No God Emperor¡¯s fist was covered in golden light. The light illuminated the whole world as it rushed toward Souta with great momentum. ¡°AHHHH!!¡± Souta roared as he thrust his sword forward. The red lightning crackled and viciously collided with the golden light. Boom!! The collision of their attacks caused an extreme shockwave that blew everything around them. The space cracks and their energy waves flow through it. In the next second, Souta was pushed away. He looked down and saw the golden light heading at him. Ugh! He moved his hand and adjusted his body in midair. His shoulder was blown away, making his other hand limp. The golden light continued to advance before it exploded in a far distance causing massive destruction. Argh! Souta could feel his body getting numb and even his eyes felt blurry. It was getting closer toward the end. His back fell to the ground. He stared at the crimson-colored sky blankly. Huff¡­ Huff¡­ No God Emperor supported himself before he glanced at his opponent. His target got away in that instance and managed to save his life. ¡°You¡­ can¡¯t¡­ defeat me¡­¡± No God Emperor said with great effort. His entire body was aching as he felt that he was about to collapse in just a few minutes. Thud! He widened his eyes as he slowly turned his head. No God Emperor could feel it. The Mountain of Demise was slowly resonating with this vessel, recognizing this as him. When the mountain opened up to seal this vessel, he would take that slight gap to escape. ¡°Finally¡­¡± Everything in Hall Plains stared at the reflection in the fragmented space. They could see that Souta was overpowered by No God Emperor in their exchange of blows. ¡°N¡­ No¡­ way¡­!¡± No God Emperor won the battle so everyone in this land would become a sacrifice for freeing his real body. The Mountain of Demise trembled violently and everyone¡¯s expression turned pale. A lot of people felt despair at the development of the events. Not even God could help them at this moment. They realized that gods were restrained too. If one god arrived here, those gods from the shadows would watch their movement waiting for the right chance to eliminate them. Their conjecture was true since that was what Aleteya was planning to do. To eliminate all the gods that were guarding the crimson net to weaken the major forces of this continent. Gods could hardly move without permission from their chief gods. The three Bringers of Calamity were watching their move waiting for the right opportunity to strike. ¡°Alice¡­ Souta, is he¡­?¡± Isabella muttered with a concerned look. Alice shook her head. They could only see it in fragmented space so she didn¡¯t have any idea what was truly happening there. If they were going to fall, then they were going to fall together. ¡°But¡­ Souta hasn¡¯t given up¡­¡± Alice smiled as she stared at the droplets of blood floating in the air. Rumble! Everything feels like it was about to end¡­ Except for Souta himself. But this was everything that he envisioned. Souta could see it. He could finally see the outcome of him winning this battle. ¡°This is it¡­ !¡± He smiled as he tightly clenched both of his swords. ¡®Do it, Souta!!¡¯ Saya said loudly. ¡°Argh!¡± Souta stood up with all of his might. With Saya supporting him, he couldn¡¯t fall easily. She was always by his side no matter what. Saya would fight for him if he couldn¡¯t fight. Just like now, Souta could barely move his body so Saya possessed him and helped him control his body. She was using energy and gravity to move his broken limbs. The two of them were one. That¡¯s why he would never yield. ¡°I would never surrender no matter what!!¡± Souta smiled as he pointed his sword once again at No God Emperor. No God Emperor was a little bit surprised when he saw Souta stand up once again. ¡°You are full of surprises¡­ You shouldn¡¯t be able to move your body in your current state but I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯re able to move your limbs through energy control and gravity control.¡± No God Emperor smiled and felt that this battle was the greatest. He felt like he was fighting the version of himself back in the past. It was thrilling and pure excitement. ¡°I consider myself proud that I¡¯m able to fight you! I acknowledged you, monster! I am Altainus, they called me No God Emperor! Can I owe the pleasure of hearing your name?¡± Despite Souta possessing a power level that could never rival his real body, No God Emperor acknowledged this certain monster for his great courage and will to stand against him. ¡°I¡¯m Souta Ieshi, the one who will defeat you!¡± Souta replied. ¡°Very well, Souta Ieshi! Come!¡± No God Emperor raised both of his fists once again. The next clash would be the final clash of their battle. The two of them could sense it and for Souta, this was what he was waiting for. Swoosh!! No God Emperor and Souta dashed at each other with their meager strength left. Swoosh!! The one that showed greater speed this time was none other than Souta. His speed surprised No God Emperor. ¡°Y-You!¡± No God Emperor widened his eyes as he paused for a moment. Souta had already arrived in front of him, swinging both of the swords in his hands. [Archetype: Great Blood of the End]!! [First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]!! All the blood that went into this sub-world through the cracks in the space turned into red-colored lightning, it gathered around the two swords and turned into a flash of red light that burst in one direction. Crackle!! The previous clash was just a bait to expend No God Emperor¡¯s remaining energy. At that time, No God Emperor used the First Step of his Archetype but Souta just bluffed him to use Archetype. In fact, Souta didn¡¯t even use any form of his technique. He converged all the blood lightning so that No God Emperor would think that he was staking everything on offense. Honestly, it was a risky move since No God Emperor could take him out there. He was lucky that he avoided a lethal strike with Saya¡¯s help in controlling his body. Boom!!! No God Emperor flew in midair as a huge sword wound on his chest sprayed blood in every direction. He still had that smile on his face. ¡°I guess¡­ I should give you this win¡­ Continue to grow stronger and you will see what I saw at the top.¡± Chapter 834: Chaos In Hall Plains: Death And The End ¡°That attack¡­ Is stronger than I¡¯d imagined¡­ So you¡¯ve combined it¡­¡± No God Emperor fell on the ground. ¡°Although I could hardly detect it, there is a hint of beastly instinct in your Archetype¡­ Magnificent¡­ I expect nothing less from a person that brought me down. Perhaps, you will be able to surpass my real body.¡± His eyes turned blurry and he could hardly move his body. A cross-mark wound was gaping on his chest, it kept pouring out blood like a fountain. ¡°Kill this body¡­ If you can¡¯t, my real body will emerge and you don¡¯t want that to happen.¡± If his real body escaped, the first thing that would occur was the destruction of Hall Plains and this sub-world. All the deaths would be sacrificed to him to recover his peak. No God Emperor knew that most of the gods knew what was happening since the appearance of the crimson net that covered the whole Hall Plains and sub-world. They must be waiting out there to reseal him once again and this would cause a tremendous ripple in the world. A lot of gods have appeared and those gods who were hiding in the dark would use this chance to weaken the forces of the major superpowers of this continent. But now¡­ It would be stopped by people in this Hall Plains. No one predicted this outcome, the escape of No God Emperor was already within everyone¡¯s expectations. Hall Plains didn¡¯t belong to any major forces. Its people were weak. No God Emperor¡¯s plan was perfect. No one knew that he was planning to unseal himself until the emergence of the crimson net. No one knew that a perfect vessel had arrived that could house a little bit of his will. The history of the Hall of Power was even erased so no mortal knew about No God Emperor. They didn¡¯t expect that there would be a survivor from that time. That¡¯s why the appearance of the crimson net shook most of the gods. No God Emperor relaxed his body, waiting for the end to come. Swoosh!! The smoke was blown away as Souta¡¯s figure emerged from it with a sword in his hand. He landed on top of No God Emperor¡¯s body and raised the vajra sword. Grr! The color in No God Emperor¡¯s eyes had changed slightly. ¡°My Lord¡­?¡± A soft and familiar voice came out of his opponent¡¯s mouth. He was extremely familiar with this voice. It was the voice of the person he could consider his student. It was Yenxa. Souta steeled his heart as he bit his mouth until it bled before he stabbed the sword. ¡°I¡­¡± The sword pierced through the heart of his target and he slightly lowered his head. Souta gritted his teeth. Blood flowed out of his eyes and fell into Yenxa¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ Yenxa¡­¡± These were the words that came out of his mouth. He couldn¡¯t describe what he was feeling right now. It feels so heavy. Yenxa stared into Souta¡¯s eyes. She used all of her strength just to raise her hand and touched his cheeks. ¡°Don¡¯t cry¡­ My Lord¡­ I¡¯m not worth it¡­¡± With those words, her hand fell to the ground as she drew her last breath. Souta took a deep breath as he heard a notification in his mind. He knew that it came to this and it was the only thing he could do about it. He could hardly describe what he was feeling right now. Hmm¡­ Souta raised his head. He noticed a figure standing in front of him. ¡°Y-Yenxa¡­?¡± He muttered while staring at the figure. It was Yenxa. She smiled and went into one of her knees. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to serve you, My Lord. I¡¯m sorry that I couldn¡¯t continue to serve you until the end. Forgive me for my lack of strength.¡± Yenxa said as she bowed her head. This would be the last time she could salute the person she treated as her Lord. Souta realized that it was Yenxa¡¯s soul giving her last farewell to him. This only made him feel more complicated. It feels so bad. Souta closed his eyes and when opened his eyes once again, Yenxa¡¯s soul had already disappeared. The soul of a dead person could stay in this world for a few hours but Yenxa had already disappeared? She must have hidden herself from Souta¡¯s eyes. Souta stared at the sky. His hand slowly grabbed the vajra sword and pulled it out of Yenxa¡¯s body. ¡®We can¡¯t do anything about it.¡¯ Saya¡¯s voice echoed in her mind. She recalled the things that No God Emperor said when she met her in Yenxa¡¯s consciousness. Saya tried to disperse No God Emperor¡¯s Will out of Yenxa¡¯s body but she failed miserably. ¡°A Will of a God¡­? It¡¯s a bit unexpected but it made sense¡­ Souta shouldn¡¯t be able to completely move his body so your appearance here makes more sense.¡± No God Emperor laughed. He wasn¡¯t bothered a little bit by the fact that he just got defeated. ¡°Did you come here to force me out of this vessel?¡± Saya didn¡¯t say anything. She just kept staring at No God Emperor¡¯s Will. ¡°You¡¯re not enough to do that. You¡¯re just a whisp of your true self so you don¡¯t have enough ability. You are a God but you can¡¯t be considered a God anymore.¡± No God Emperor paused before he continued, ¡°Also, once my Will is attached to someone it can¡¯t be removed anymore. I called it [True Fusion Sense].¡± ¡°How do you know that I can¡¯t remove you?¡± Saya asked. ¡°Well, even if you miraculously remove my Will from this vessel it¡¯s already too late. I already modified this body so the Mountain of Demise will still seal it.¡± No God Emperor explained so that she could understand. ¡°You, a God who should be dead, still lingers in this world. You are a whisp of consciousness of your past self. Do you perhaps still remember what happened to you before you died?¡± ¡°Just a little bit¡­¡± Saya answered. No God Emperor shook his head. ¡°So you can¡¯t understand¡­ Your presence here is a bit unexpected. If only I know that there is a whisp of god¡¯s consciousness in Souta, I should have ordered my people to divide the energy from Blood Sacrifice and seal you along with that hydra.¡± ¡°You will fall again,¡± Saya said. ¡°Worry not, it¡¯s the same for me. Except, I don¡¯t have any people that I could communicate with. I will wait here until the moment that I¡¯ve been waiting has arrived.¡± No God Emperor laughed. ¡°You think that someone will unseal you,¡± Saya said. ¡°Yeah, right now. I¡¯ve caused a great commotion and people probably heard of my name now. There will be people out there that want to use my strength. They will use that for me to owe them so that I could help them with their goals.¡± No God Emperor said. He then raised his hand and said, ¡°Now, go away. If you try to erase my Will it would only damage your consciousness.¡± Saya stayed silent for a moment, ¡°Regarding Souta¡­¡± No God Emperor smiled as he raised his eyebrows with interest. ¡­ ¡°S-Souta¡­ Souta won the battle!!¡± Isabella smiled as she raised both of her fists. ¡°Tsk, you make us worry there.¡± Eztein smiled as he sat on the floor. He could finally relax his muscles and senses. ¡°As expected of the Lord that I choose¡­¡± Franklin smiled before he closed his eyes. ¡°Yeah!!!¡± ¡°Our Lord is great!!¡± ¡°Lord Souta won the battle!!¡± ¡°Ohhhh!!!¡± The rest of the Astros celebrated after seeing their leader finally defeat the threat to the entire Hall Plains. Their excitement reached its peak as all of them raised their weapons in the sky and shouted the name of their leader. The battle had reached its conclusion. Souta defeated No God Emperor and prevented the destruction of the Hall Plains. His name resounded throughout the entire land as the one who fought against the inevitable destruction. Alice gathered some people who could still walk near the peak of the mountain. The fluctuations of energy here were still strong and the distorted space could tear all the flesh of an expert below Solidfying Realm. It was dangerous to approach even so Alice didn¡¯t bring people below the Solidifying Realm. They would only die because of the distortion of the space. The crimson net isolated this land from the Imperium so it would take a while before the space recovered to normal. After some time, several figures appeared on top of the mountain. Alice and the people she brought immediately rushed forward to help them. She moved forward and felt the space tearing through her skin. Argh! She realized that her defense was still close to none and she hasn¡¯t recovered well after she fought Ragnis. She endured as her feet continued to move. She then saw Souta¡¯s figure carrying a body in his arms. It was Yenxa¡¯s lifeless body. Alice wanted to say something but she stopped when she saw Souta¡¯s expression. The corpse was protected by a layer of solid blood. It was to protect Yenxa¡¯s body from the distortion of space. ¡°Souta¡­¡± Chapter 835: Reaction No one tried to approach Souta after seeing his expression. They were rooted in their position as Souta¡¯s face was filled with anger. They couldn¡¯t help but feel a cold sweat on their spine. Even though Souta was on the verge of collapsing, their instinct was still telling them to run. Crack! The layers of solid blood around Yenxa crumbled, revealing her corpse. ¡°Yenxa¡­¡± Isabella stared at the corpse with a pale look on her face. The other members of the Astros realized why their leader was emitting such a dense killing intent. ¡°Hmm¡­ Isn¡¯t this¡­?¡± Eztein narrowed his eyes. He was about to continue when Franklin stopped him from saying something. ¡°Stop, don¡¯t say anything if you don¡¯t want your head to get sliced,¡± Franklin said to Eztein. All of them found that Yenxa¡¯s current appearance almost looked the same as the one that Souta fought in the sub-world. The person who wanted to destroy this world, No God Emperor. Thud! Thud! Souta continued to walk before he stopped in front of Eztein. He passed him Yenxa¡¯s body and his voice sounded hoarse, ¡°Take care of her, we¡¯ll bury her in our home.¡± ¡°O-Okay¡­¡± Eztein gulped nervously as he nodded his head. Souta stood silently as Alice slowly approached him. He lifted his head and looked into Alice¡¯s eyes. Alice simply stared back at him. After a few moments, Souta collapsed and fell into her bosom. He rested his face on her shoulder and tightly grabbed her shirt. ¡°I¡¯m tired, Alice¡­ I want to rest¡­¡± He said in a hoarse tone. He couldn¡¯t even conceal the sadness in his voice. All the bloodlust around him had disappeared as if nothing happened. ¡°You can rest now, Souta¡­¡± Alice said softly as she gently caressed his back. She knew that he fought a hard battle in the sub-world. A battle that exhausted him physically and mentally. He needed rest more than anyone. Bang!! The crimson net in the sky trembled. It surprised everyone in the Hall Plains as they stared at the sky. The crimson net was slowly crumbling down. No God Emperor was gone and Yenxa was killed before the Mountain of Demise could seal her. The mountain had calmed down and slowly returned to normal. So the crimson net was going to disappear soon since its supply of energy was cut off. Grim was standing in the middle of the destroyed Bland City while staring at the sky. He muttered, ¡°They successfully prevented the unsealing of No God Emperor. It¡¯s a bit unexpected but it will do us great.¡± He turned around and looked at his surroundings. He just finished what he should do in this place. He should get out of here before anyone could notice his presence. ¡°We¡¯ve completed our goal. It¡¯s time to return.¡± Grim said before he shot his body into the sky, heading into the other city to gather his comrades. He completed his goal and successfully eliminated Aleteya¡¯s clone using the Spatial Gem. He prevented her from acquiring the map of the Authority of Famine. Instead, he was the one that took it to safeguard it. Also, his group would actively search for it once they¡¯ve investigated the map, ¡°I need to act more quickly. It¡¯s getting chaotic in the whole world.¡± He was lucky that god hasn¡¯t moved yet. They were still waiting for the final burst of energy that Aleteya was talking about. It would be good if that¡¯s the case but if those godlike beings couldn¡¯t hold themselves back, it would be a total chaos all over the world. Mortals would be the ones to suffer every time they fought. It would be great if they could bring their battle out of the Imperium just like when Zodiac Leo fought the awakened Underground King and the other gods from different forces. If something like that happened then it would be the same as Desolate Woods. According to the information, Commandments had appeared there and fought a mysterious powerful creature. The land was completely out and no one managed to escape that place. In the center of the field, the space was shattered badly and it only started to recover after the increase in mana density. Grim didn¡¯t know that Souta survived that incident before everything broke out. After all, Merchant Jimmy was the only one that knew about Souta and his group entering that land. ¡°Just a little bit more time¡­¡± Outside the Hall Plains¡­ Hermes, Hercules, and the other gods who were prepared to fight No God Emperor widely opened their eyes. Their eyes couldn¡¯t conceal the shock that they felt. ¡°No God Emperor is still sealed¡­?¡± They couldn¡¯t believe that someone would be capable enough to stop the plan of No God Emperor. The threat of No God Emperor was gone just like that. They didn¡¯t even have any idea what happened in Hall Plains. Not just them, even those gods who were watching in a faraway land were surprised at this twist of event. Everyone expected that No God Emperor would break free and fight the gods from major forces. Everyone knew that he was sealed so his strength hadn¡¯t recovered to the peak yet, but they expected No God Emperor to at least weaken the major forces. It would be the start of the chaotic era. Once those vanquished gods saw a sign that the major forces had weakened, they would reappear once again. One by one, gods would start to move and it would cause devastating destruction to the world. Somewhere in Imperium¡­ Aleteya was sitting on a throne with her eyes closed. She slowly opened her eyes and looked into the distance. ¡°No God Emperor has failed¡­ It¡¯s not related to the person that eliminated my clone. It¡¯s a bit unexpected but it seems that I have to wait for another opportunity.¡± Her plan was to eliminate all the gods that would fight No God Emperor but since No God Emperor had failed, she couldn¡¯t continue her plan anymore. It would be dangerous if she started a fight against those many gods. Backup would arrive faster since it was different at the time when Leo fought them. It was in the far sub-world so reinforcement wouldn¡¯t be able to arrive easily. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve seen something interesting today¡­ Too bad, the map of the Authority of Famine was stolen by that man.¡± Aleteya smiled before she closed her eyes once again. She was wondering who would be the first to move. Those who were hiding in the shadows or those gods from the major powers. Everyone was still cautious and no one dared to take a move. Even the forces of the demons had slowed down as if they sensed what was going to happen soon. ¡°The situation here is different from the other continents¡­ I wonder what they are doing right now.¡± Who would be the one to make the first move¡­? On the other side¡­ Gluttony stood up from his seat and looked down at his subordinate who was kneeling in front of him. ¡°I expected more but No God Emperor highly disappointed me. He didn¡¯t even fight or kill any of those gods. What¡¯s worse is that he couldn¡¯t even unseal himself.¡± Esquin sighed as he shook his head. The aura around him drastically changed as if something bad was about to happen. The person kneeling in front of him said, ¡°Calm down, Sir. No God Emperor isn¡¯t within that plan so even if he breaks out of his seal or not it wouldn¡¯t change anything.¡± Esquin looked down coldly and said, ¡°Call Freygus here¡­ I want him to tell the organizations under my wings to move now.¡± The person nodded before he left the room. Esquin stared at the door for a while before he went back to his seat. He rested his chin on his palm and his expression looked displeased. ¡°It seems that I have to take care of this matter with my own hands. If no one is going to start it then I will be the one.¡± He would start it. His preparation was nearly complete. Although he suffered a setback since the Spatial Gem was stolen, his subordinates still recovered the data of it. ¡°Lucifer is eagerly waiting for this moment¡­ His god-rank demons were already stationed and eliminated some of the pests from Large Countries. The major forces are still watching from the sideline. If so, then I¡¯ll have to force them out of their cave.¡± Esquin closed his eyes and waited for the report of his subordinates. Ohm! His aura soared to the sky, breaking through the limit of what anyone could imagine. Boom!! The land shook heavily under the vast pressure of his overwhelming energy. Instantly, it covered several hundreds of kilometers of area. Every creature within the range couldn¡¯t help but kneel on the ground. In the Demon¡¯s Land¡­ Lucifer sitting on his throne comfortably. He stared in the direction of God¡¯s Continent for a few seconds. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, ¡°It¡¯s starting¡­ Tell our forces in God¡¯s Continent to back down. It will be quite entertaining this time. In the next few months, Gluttony will probably make a move. He couldn¡¯t contain himself anymore.¡± There¡¯s nothing that could hold them back anymore. The administrator was gone and the rules could be turned upside down easily. Chapter 836: Aftermath In an unknown place¡­ A man with black hair was sitting on a chair with a serious look on his face while watching several projections. There was a pink-haired man standing behind him and watching the same thing. A few seconds had passed before the man on the chair opened his mouth and said, ¡°Just like I¡¯ve said before¡­ Fate has been shattered and only gods could sense it. That girl shouldn¡¯t have died at this time since her fate lies in the future but¡­ It was shattered just like one of our variables that died.¡± ¡°Those who are destined to reach godhood could die at this moment. Fate and destiny are gone so it¡¯s all up to them if they could reach it. Imperium¡¯s fate wouldn¡¯t be able to help them anymore.¡± The pink-haired man added. ¡°Yeah, luckily, our three variables survived the calamity of No God Emperor. They did well¡­ I don¡¯t need to worry about them anymore.¡± The man on the chair was satisfied with the outcome of this event. He then turned his head to the other projection and said, ¡°As for our variables in Giza Continent¡­¡± ¡°Our variables there are scattered some of them are fighting demons while the others are exploring the forbidden lands.¡± The pink-haired man answered. ¡°At the very least, nothing is still happening to them. It should be this way, they should focus on gaining battle experience and turn it to improve their prowess.¡± The man on the chair said. ¡°They just needed to watch out for the opponents above their league.¡± The pink-haired man said. The man on the chair turned his attention back to the previous projections. ¡°The most dangerous place right now is undoubtedly Ruin Desolate Land.¡± ¡°It¡¯s totally chaotic out there to the point that the major powers of the continent are moving.¡± The pink-haired man said with a grave look on his face. ¡°The Great Barrier will disappear soon and it would be bad if their major powers were weakened¡­ The other continents wouldn¡¯t let this opportunity pass by especially, those from the three Bringers of Calamity.¡± The man on the chair said gloomily. ¡­ Several days had passed since the battle in the central region. Most of the major forces of Hall Plains had collapsed and new ones emerged controlling the whole land with mighty force. It was a swift move. Astros unified all the regions of Hall Plains under Souta¡¯s name. Their forces were feared in the whole land and no one objected to the rule of the Astros. Souta became a legend in this land. He became the Lord of Hall Plains and people dubbed him as the Blood Lightning Monster. The name Blood Lightning Monster traveled throughout the other lands. A monster among monsters. The strongest fourth-stage monster in their entire world. The one that stopped the plan of No God Emperor was him. Countless people speculated that once he reached a higher level, he would become an unstoppable force. He would become one of the most fearsome monsters in history just like those in the legends. The population of this land treated him with fear and reverence. They all submitted to his might to rule this region and lead it to another era. Ekatoe City reached an unprecedented stage. It became prosperous to the point that some people called this as the capital of the Hall Plains. As for the Dragon Council¡­ They lost two members; Ninth Head and Governor Ray. Governor Ray died in the battle against No God Emperor after he sacrificed his life to save Souta and Ibis. People mourned for the death of the two heads. Still, this didn¡¯t make the Dragon Council grow weaker. They became a region-wide organization that spanned the whole Hall Plains. Some of the other forces of the region wanted to join and replace the two dead heads. In Astros¡­ Souta hasn¡¯t woken up yet ever since the battle against No God Emperor. That fight pushed him to the limits be it physically or mentally. He shouldn¡¯t have used Archetype since there were still flaws with it but he had no choice but to do it. The whole Astros haven¡¯t celebrated their win since they took a lot of casualties in the war. They have to respect the people that sacrificed their lives first. It was ordered by Souta before he collapsed. Right now, aside from the ordinary members of Astros, the only people that were guarding this city was Kessa. Kessa was weak right now and even the weakest fifth stage would be able to defeat her in her current state. She had been sealed twice and that took a huge toll on her body. She hasn¡¯t even recovered yet when the Hall of Power used the energy from Blood Sacrifice to seal her. She was in her weakest state. Well, the warriors from Athen¡¯s Champion have been visiting Souta frequently so Kessa wasn¡¯t alone in case something happened. The news about Souta being in a coma hasn¡¯t reached the public¡¯s ears. A few people knew his current condition. Alice, Franklin, Eztein, Torkez, Doranjan, and Isabella have left the Astros to complete Souta¡¯s command. He asked them before he passed out and that made the entire Astros almost vulnerable. Luckily, Elder Hanmi and Eilish were still here. Amanda had returned and she heard the news about Elder Guan¡¯s death. She was heartbroken and stayed in her room for an entire day. After that, she went out to follow the rest. She wanted to increase her strength as soon as possible as she realized that she was too weak right now. If something like this happened again, a lot of people would die once again. Amanda couldn¡¯t accept that. She wanted to grow stronger and become the greatest leader of her clan. She would make sure that Elder Guan would be proud of her in the afterlife. While this was happening, a lot of major forces realized that Olympus had extended its hands on the land that wasn¡¯t theirs. It brought a lot of opposition since a group of Olympus¡¯ warriors have taken the Hall Plains. Even the Large Countries near this piece of land were shaken. They eyed the land as they were afraid that Olympus would overextend their hands once again. They were ready to fight and turn it into a war. Although there were objections to their actions, there were still forces that didn¡¯t care about it since their actions led to the conclusion where No God Emperor¡¯s plan failed. Still, since Olympus had started it. The other forces would try to extend their hands too in the shadows. It would lead to various conflicts between them but they didn¡¯t care since they could point their fingers at Olympus for starting it. Actually, Olympus wanted their warriors to stay low profile and hide the fact that they belong to them but the situation of No God Emperor forced them into the limelight. They have no choice but to move and fight for their survival. So the overall situation in God¡¯s Continent only became worse. The major forces were watching each other¡¯s movements. The tension was high and an all-out war could break out at any moment. A week had passed in the blink of an eye¡­ Souta was still in a coma. The warriors from Athen¡¯s Champion have been visiting him every day but their numbers have diminished. The higher-ups have warned them as it could be seen as a military march if a bunch of Shackled Realm warriors arrived here at the same time. Kessa was resting and others haven¡¯t returned yet. The only difference this time was that Yuko had woken up from her coma. She hasn¡¯t recovered to her peak yet but her recovery rate has increased after she woke up. Gragas had finished his job. He was now outside of the building looking at the people with a cup of tea in his hand. ¡°This world is the same as my homeworld. Full of conflicts and different agendas. The only difference is that people here are stronger and there are various high-level materials that I could use in forging.¡± He said with a sigh before he took a sip of his tea. The Imperium wasn¡¯t as great as the one describes in the book. It was the same as the other world in his opinion. As long as there were living beings, conflicts would continue to appear. Everyone had different attitudes and personalities so some of them would contradict each other and it would be the start of the conflict. At first, it was small then it would grow larger and larger. No matter what world it is, it is still the same. ¡°I wonder what will happen next¡­ Will it be me or not?¡± Gragas laughed to himself. He stood up and patted the dust on his clothes. ¡°I need to work now. That girl couldn¡¯t work, leaving all the work for me. I¡¯m such a pitiful old guy.¡± He went back to the mansion. He was the one who was handling Astros affairs in Souta and Alice¡¯s stead. They left all the affairs in this city to his hand. Luckily, he could ask Edward, the Head of the Shimpan Family, to help him or else it would break his mind. Some of the witches were helping him but they weren¡¯t as proficient as that guy. ¡°Tsk! Those guys¡­ They should let me rest after they return.¡± Chapter 837 Waking Up "Yenxa..." Souta was kneeling down in front of Yenxa''s lifeless body. There was a sharp sword that had sunk into her chest, taking her life. Argh...!! Souta gritted his teeth in madness. Two streaks of blood were flowing out of his eyes. His emotions were going out of control. In his current state, he would try to kill anyone who stood in front of him. He was slowly losing his reasoning. Hahahaha!! Souta stared at the sky and laughed madly. "You already know that not everyone will be able to follow you until the end." A voice sounded behind him and Souta immediately calmed down. He was still mad but he regained control once again. This situation flabbergasted him. Souta turned his head and saw nothing behind. No one was standing behind him. He was alone in this desolate place. But... The voice he heard just now was familiar to him. "You already know that this world is cruel. Everyone can die at any moment even those gods." The mysterious voice sounded once again. Souta looked left and right before he stared at the dark sky. The voice just now didn''t come from any direction. It feels like it was directly sent into his mind. "Yenxa died. She was already prepared to die the moment she decided to follow you. She has lived to the fullest. I know what you are feeling. You feel rage, sadness, and regret." Souta narrowed his eyes as he listened to the words inside his head. He noticed that the stars in the sky had disappeared as it slowly turned pitch black. Swoosh! A ripple spread out and the whole scene has changed. The area turned into the abandoned building of a certain school. In this building, a young man was fighting five people at the same time. He one-sidedly beat all five people who were wearing the same school uniform as him. Blood sprayed everywhere and screams of agony echoed in the building. "You are familiar with death. It''s always been by your side." Souta recognized the appearance of the young man. It was his appearance back on earth and he felt that something like this really happened back then. He couldn''t accurately confirm it since his memory was vague. Ohm! The scene changed once again. This time, everything turned pitch black. Souta was standing in the darkness. He moved his eyes as he heard a footstep behind him. He finally realized why the voice was familiar to him. Souta turned his body around and glanced at the figure with a blank look. His eyes were hiding an intense killing intent deep within. The figure standing in front of him had the same appearance as him. The only difference was that this figure had white hair and a long white tailcoat. Red veins could be seen through the figure''s skin. It was pumping energy throughout the entire body. Souta didn''t say anything. He just kept staring at this man with cold eyes that wanted to rip off this man''s flesh. "It''s the same... It''s impossible for everyone who is beside you to live until the end. Death is everywhere and you''ve already accepted it a long time ago." The figure said. Souta narrowed his eyes and a sword appeared in his hand. He tightly clenched it and was ready to fight this guy at any moment. The figure continued, "You have the power to bend the weak. Don''t rely on the support that is given to you by Imperium. It''s a temporary thing as it will disappear once you''ve grown." Souta bent his knees and launched himself at the figure. He raised the sword in his hand and swiftly swung it down with all of his might. "Those with power shall rule the weak! Kill those who are disobedient!" The figure said before he dashed forward. The two clashed fiercely. Each one of their blows contained a vast amount of energy with a pure murderous intent. Their high-speed blows caused extreme reactions in the air, sweeping every object in the surrounding. Bang! Bang! Bang! In just a few seconds, Souta was pushed back. The figure appeared behind him and he quickly turned around. In that slight gap, Souta loses both of his hands. He stared at the figure in front of him with the same frosty eyes. The figure slightly opened his mouth and said, "The power is you. You''ve already built it with a great foundation. Don''t forget my name... I am ------" Swoosh!! The figure swiftly sliced Souta''s head. Ah!! Souta opened his eyes and saw a familiar ceiling. He sat up and found that he was inside his room. "I''m back... What was that?" He noticed that he was full of sweat and placed his hand on his neck. It felt too real. It felt like his head have been chopped for real. Ugh! Souta experienced a little headache. He tried to remember what happened before he passed out. He recalled that after he killed Yenxa, he ordered Alice to take care of some matters before he collapsed. The strength of his group was sufficient to complete the task that he had given them. Alice was already at Two Shackles Realm so there wouldn''t be any big problem. It would also be a good training for them to increase their prowess. "Yenxa..." Souta was about to stand when a huge figure jumped on his body. Bang! The bed collapsed and both of them fell on the floor causing a loud sound to echo. Argh! Souta slightly opened his eyes. He felt a soft and fluffy fur buried into his face. This sensation and the energy were familiar to him. It was Yuko. "Master!!" Yuko said happily. Souta smiled as he hugged Yuko''s huge body. He then felt something slithering around his arm. He looked over and saw a small snake with a weird pattern all over its scales. It was Kessa. "Um... I... I''m happy... that you are... awake..." she said in a soft and tiny voice. Souta asked, "How long since the battle?" "I don''t know," Yuko answered innocently. Kessa shook her head. She was recovering from the side effect of being sealed using the energy from the Blood Sacrifice. Souta smiled wryly at their answer. He never expected an answer from them. He observed the two monsters in front of him and guessed that a lot of time had passed. Yuko recovered while Kessa''s energy reached the normal state of the fifth stage. She hasn''t recovered to her peak yet but she could show the power of a normal fifth stage. ''Probably one month had passed.'' Souta opened and closed both of his palms. He could feel that he had recovered and he got stronger. It''s just that he couldn''t use his Archetype once again. It didn''t damage his physical body but he could feel some cracks in his inner consciousness. If his inner consciousness was shattered then it wouldn''t do him good. It would break his mind and soul. There were still some flaws to his Archetype so he had to finish it first before he could utilize it again. But using it in real combat and seeing Gerxuzs'' technique let him see the flaws. He guessed that he could be able to finish modifying it soon. It wouldn''t take too long before he could use it in real combat. Souta talked with Yuko and Kessa for a few minutes before he stood up and stretched his body. His muscles were stiff so he circulated his energy to put some pressure on every fiber of his muscles. I wonder what happened... Soon, the news about Souta waking up was heard by the upper echelons of Astros. Gragas visited him and answered some of the questions that he had. One month and one week had passed since the battle in the central region. He found that the Hall Plains was supervised by Astros and Dragon Council. They became the most powerful faction of this piece of land. It seems Alice accomplished the task he had given to her. Also, they would probably return soon since a month had already passed. He was looking forward to their return since the task he had given them was some sort of training for future events. He couldn''t handle all the battle alone. No God Emperor''s vessel would have beaten him to death in a one-on-one battle. He wanted his people to grow stronger so that they wouldn''t fall. Just like Yenxa... Souta tightly clenched his fists. He was strong but Gods wouldn''t be able to hold themselves back soon. Gods were like nuclear weapons of each powerful organization. In a war, once a God appeared the God from the opposite side would appear too. Countless people would be caught up and died. Even Souta wasn''t sure if he could survive if two God realm powerhouses fought in Hall Plains. He would be forced to use his card and escape from the battlefield. "The things that I don''t like will happen soon." Souta muttered as he looked in a far distant place. Chapter 838 Progress "So Alice and others haven''t returned yet?" Souta asked. "Not yet, only Isabella returned two days ago," Gragas answered. He glanced at Souta''s face before he said, "Regarding Eilish, I think you should visit her. She coped herself in her room for an entire week before she locked herself in the training ground." "Hmm...?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "I think something happened to her when she fought the tribes from Earthen Woods," Gragas said. "Okay..." Souta nodded his head. He leaned his back on the sofa and said, "What do you think will happen next, Gragas?" "I don''t know. My attention is always on forging so I have little idea about the bigger picture of the whole situation." Gragas replied. "You''re still the same." Souta laughed lightly. He shook his head and added, "Just focus on your job, I will provide you with some rare materials later." Then, something came into his mind. He looked at Gragas and asked, "What about your department? Did you teach some people your skills?" "Oh, that..." Gragas scratched his cheek with his finger and answered, "A lot of them didn''t have a talent in forging. Well, I''m not going to shoo them away so I just taught them the basics. If they are willing to work hard, then they would learn forging eventually." "I see..." Souta nodded. "It''s not that everyone is talentless some of them show potential," Gragas added. He then rubbed his palms together and smiled wickedly. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Leader, I want to ask you something about Doranjan?" "Oh, you want me to convince him to provide more scales, right?" Souta raised his eyebrows and laughed inwardly. "Yes, I want his dragon scales. A scale from a fourth stage dragon would make for better armor. As long as he provides his scales, I promise that I will supply our army with dragon armor." Gragas said, trying to convince Souta. Souta shook his head. "I can''t help you with that. He is giving you some of his scales already so if you want more then you have to talk to him yourself." "Some? One scale per week? Ugh, it''s too little. Leader, can''t you do anything about it? Doranjan will fry me if I ask him." Gragas put both of his hands together and lowered his head. "Please, leader! You are my hope! Just make it five scales per week, no, three are enough!" Souta sighed and smiled wryly, "I''m afraid I can''t help you." "Leader...!!" Gragas collapsed on the floor. He couldn''t convince Souta and he couldn''t talk to Doranjan about it since it would endanger his life. "Let''s stop for now, I''ll go and visit Isabella first." Souta stood up and patted Gragas shoulder. He picked up the vajra sword, then strode forward and left Gragas in this room. Saya had fallen into slumber after the battle. She spends a lot of energy helping him maintain his body and control the energy released from the Archetype. Without her, he wouldn''t be able to defeat No God Emperor. The battle took a heavy toll on his body. Even the parasite queen was still exhausted up until now. Souta could feel it since it was inside his body. Also, the other parasites were gone so he couldn''t increase the number of the soldiers that had a parasite for the time being. The price he had to pay just to win was heavy. Especially, since he literally sacrificed the one he could call his student, Yenxa. Souta arrived in front of the lab. He raised his hand and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, he stared right through the walls and found that Isabella was busy with her experiments. He sighed before he entered the lab. Souta watched her while observing the changes in her aura. She had grown stronger in the time he was in coma. After all, one month and a week had already passed since he collapsed. He had given them a task and it would make them stronger. It seems that their training wasn''t in vain. ''She returned but Alice and the rest are still there. It seems that they took the more dangerous one and it is beyond Isabella''s strength so she returned here.'' Souta said inwardly. Isabella was much stronger than in the past. She had already reached the Peak of Solidifying Realm. She already did great by accompanying Alice and the rest with her current power level. The task he had given them was for people at Shackled Realm. Even someone at One Shackle Realm would have a hard time completing it. There was even a fifty percent chance that experts at One Shackle would die. ''If they took the more dangerous one... Then, it''s natural for Isabella to return since it is beyond any of the Solidifying Realm. There is a high chance that she would die.'' As long as they survived, they would get stronger. Souta just told Alice about some of the dangerous dungeons hidden in God''s Continent. He wanted them to clear those difficult dungeons so that they would gain more experience and enhance their combat style. The battle in Hall Plains a month ago improved their strength but it wasn''t enough for him. He wanted them to gain enough power so that they could stand on their own in this world. He couldn''t babysit and protect them all the time. Souta turned his head to the window and folded his arms in front of his chest. He guessed that he would finish some of the things before he went to volunteer himself at the Solnes Theatre. There was still a little bit of time left before everything crumbled. Aside from that, he needed Kessa to recover all of her strength. Her strength would be needed in his future plan. Huff~ Souta sighed as he remembered Yenxa. She was included in his plan unfortunately an event that was outside of his expectation occurred here in Hall Plains. He massaged his temples to calm himself. His energy was fluctuating wildly every time he recalled what happened to Yenxa. He bit his tongue to feel intense physical pain. It was hard to control his emotion and this time Yenxa became a trigger to it. "Damn..." Souta muttered to himself. "Souta...?!" Souta turned his head and saw Isabella looking at him. He quickly apologized, "I''m sorry for disturbing you." His aura must have disturbed Isabella when he recalled Yenxa. "I-It''s nothing." Isabella waved both of her hands. She asked, "H-How long are you waiting for me? I''m sorry, I was too busy that I didn''t notice you." "It''s fine. I just got here." Souta smiled and shook his head. "Anyways, I just wanted to ask about the progress of your research." He stepped forward and looked around the lab curiously. "I made a small progress but I haven''t found a way to extract life essence. I couldn''t replicate the pill that you have given to me." Isabella paused for a moment before she continued, "Unless, someone used it and I personally observed its effect. But we only have one pill so once it is used..." Souta understood what she was trying to say. She only had one sample and if someone used that pill, Isabella could gather more data but from her point of view it wasn''t enough. There was also no recipe so she was trying to figure out all the ingredients from that one pill. It was hard for her. "Our soldiers apprehended some criminals. You can use them as lab rats. No one will complain." Souta said but he knew that Isabella was a kind soul. She would hesitate to do something like that. Isabella grew silent as she lowered her head. "Nevermind. I''m not hurrying you." Souta shook his head and changed the topic. "Anyways, what happened to the task that I''ve given to Alice?" "Um, they went to a dungeon near the border of the Asgard. It is hidden in the lake and it houses dozens of fourth stage monsters. There are also golems that have the strength of a Three Shackles Realm. It is too dangerous so Alice asked me to return." Isabella slowly explained. She was only someone at Solidifying Realm so it would be dangerous for her to face those things. Even Alice couldn''t guarantee her safety so they decided to send Isabella back to Ekatoe City. "What''s the name of the lake?" Souta asked. He knew that Alice and the rest were discreet when they left Ekatoe City. The public didn''t even know that most of the upper echelons of Astros have left. There was nothing to worry and other forces wouldn''t be able to discover them easily. They also had parasites to change their appearance. "Drowning Whirlpool Lake," Isabella answered. Souta rubbed his chin when he heard her words. "So Alice chose that one... It''s really beyond someone at Solidifying Realm. Now, it seems that she really took the risk to open that one." He rubbed his finger and looked at his missing ring. The dark grade [Burning Ring Seal] was gone as he had given it to Alice. If she really opened it using the ring, then Souta was looking forward to their return. That was if they found it... Chapter 839 [Investiture Of The Dark] The warriors that were stationed in Astros heard about Souta''s news. They visited him and Souta talked to them for a while. He inquired about happenings around the continent to get a bigger picture of the whole situation. He also learned that he was being called back to the Champion''s Den. It wasn''t an immediate call since the higher-ups knew that he was heavily injured from the battle. They just wanted him to go back and report. Also, they have an important announcement. "Before I go to Champion''s Den, I need to visit Eilish." Souta muttered. Gragas said that something occurred in the war against the tribes from Earthen Woods. She refused to tell anyone about it. He sighed and glanced at his palm. He was stronger compared to before. He was taking it step by step, building his foundation solid. He had great combat arts and spells that could give him various options in battle. His equipment was high grade too. There''s nothing he could complain about. [Soul Blood Earring] and [Yin-Yang Unification] were his two universal grade artifacts. [Vajra Sword Saya], [Solid Hunter State Boots], [Burning Ring Seal], [Goblet of the Night], and [Darkness Hourglass] were his five dark grade artifacts. Two of these came from Alexander. His equipment alone gave him an advantage over an opponent of the same level. He was level 72 right now so he could be considered a high fourth stage monster. Plus, he already advanced his class to Rank 1 Great Battle Mage - Dual Wielder. This gives him strength beyond any of the peak fourth stages. Fighting No God Emperor damaged his body greatly but it also increased his strength. Some of his skills had leveled up throughout the entire battle. Souta was sure that he could fight an expert at Four Shackles Realm. He would be able to defeat them in a one-on-one fight with some difficulty. Yep, he saw Draymond, Governor Ray, Grain Leader Ibis, and Grain Leader Carmel''s strength so he was sure that he could defeat them. Draymond, the weakest among them, would give him slight trouble. If he could use his Archetype which would give him a huge boost, Souta would have no problem in fighting them in a one-on-one battle. He could even fight them in one versus four battles but he wasn''t sure if he could defeat four of them at the same time. But in one-on-one, he would dismantle any of them using Archetype. In short, his strength was beyond Four Shackles but below Fifth Shackles. His power was closer to the Fifth than the Fourth so he could clash with the weakest Fifth Shackles for a few rounds. Souta glanced at the system. He was level 72, the rewards from clearing the final quest of the Chain Quest gave him enough experience points to level up by one so he was level 72. When he was fighting Draymong and No God Emperor back then he was only level 71. [Congratulations on completing the Quest "Awakening"] [You''ve received 100,000,000 experience points, 25 free attribute points, and 15 skill points] [Congratulations on completing the Chain Quest ''Unprecedented Child''] [You''ve received a Grade A- score!] [You''ve received 50,000,000 experience points, 30 skill points, 60 free attribute points, 1 Level-up card, 3 Skill level-up cards, the Title "Vanquisher of the Lord", and Emperor''s Blessing Card!] Souta then focused his attention on his skill points. At this moment, he had a total of 48 skill points. This would greatly enhance his power. Hmm...? Souta suddenly recalled his dream. The dream where he was fighting himself and that person said that he shouldn''t rely on Imperium''s support as it would disappear when he had grown. Imperium''s support...? He didn''t know why but when he heard it the first thing that came into his mind was the system. Perhaps, it was really right since he didn''t know the origin of the system. The Imperium maybe gave this power to him so that he could adjust himself in this new world. Souta shook his head. For now, he would use what''s available to him. He couldn''t be picky with the current situation. He glanced at his skill set. Spell(s): Tier 1: [Light Heal], [Ice Shot], [Fire Ball], [Mud Slide], [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Shadow Spike], [Shadow Bind] Level 10, [Shadow Ball] Level 10 Tier 2: [Gravitational Ball] Level 10, [Dark Cloud Hunting] Level 10, [Dark Shooting Ray], [Doppelganger] Level 10, [Shadow Damager] Level 10 Most of his Tier 2 Spells were level 10 except for the [Dark Shooting Ray]. After upgrading his class to Great Battle Mage, their effects had reached a higher realm. As for his skills... Skill(s): [Dash] Level 10, [Stab] Level 10, [Cat''s Speed] Level 10, [Air Walk] Level 9, [Triple Muscle Strengthening] Level 10, [Shadow Cloak] Level 10, [Shadow Step] Level 8, [Crimson Moon] Level 10, [Cross Moon] Level 10, [Transforming Shadow Barrage] Level 4, [Night Overlord''s Aura] Level 10, [Dark Menace] Level 10 Auxiliary: [Weapon Master], [Divine Dark Circulation], [Divine Light Circulation], [Energy Manipulation] Level 7 Most of his combat arts had higher levels than spells. After all, combat arts could be trained in battle while spells needed to learn the structure and build the magic circle. If he wanted to level up his spells manually, Souta needed to change the magic circle that was in his inner consciousness. It was hard since the effect could damage his inner consciousness. So before changing the magic circle, he needed to build a magic circle outside and learned to tweak it. Only high-level mages could achieve it. For now, Souta was still an amateur mage. Even Saya wasn''t a master mage so he was relying on Eilish in learning magic circles. In the entire Astros, no one could match Eilish in terms of mage skills. She was unrivaled in this aspect. Souta smiled and opened the skill tree. After upgrading his class, he finally unlocked the top skills in his class. Some of them were still locked since he needed to unlock the skills below first. But all of them were top-tier skills. [Black Hole], [Void Shield], [Darkness Section], and [Negative Land] were four available spells in the upper section of his skill tree. These three spells were all Tier 3 Spells. [Void Plasma], [Investiture of the Dark],[Void Disappearing Step], and [Darkness Bite] were all the combat arts available. These combat arts were all high-level that could rival or potentially rival Tier 3 Spells. Great Battle Mage was a Tier 3 Class and it was the highest state of class that one could achieve in the game. Promoting this class was different from before since it needed four skills; two combat arts and two spells. But Souta already had skills in his mind a long time ago. He didn''t need to think through this so he hurriedly used skills points to learn four skills that he had chosen. [Congratulations you''ve learned Black Hole!] [Congratulations you''ve learned Negative Land!] [Congratulations you''ve learned Investiture of the Dark!] [Congratulations you''ve learned Darkness Bite!] 4 skill points had disappeared in an instant. Souta then leveled up [Investiture of the Dark] to level 6. 20 skill points were used to level up this skill. Then, he used 2 Skill Level-up cards to increase its level once again. [Investiture of the Dark] Level 8 Souta still had 24 skill points left. He used 20 skill points again but this time he used it to level up [Negative Land] to level 6, leaving his 4 skill points. He glanced at his remaining Skill Level-up cards. Skill Level-up cards: 3 He rarely used this card since he focused his attention on unlocking the Cosmic Body Parts first. These cards were from his previous chain quests back in the sub-world. Two cards had disappeared once again. [Negative Land] Level 8 Two of his newest skills had reached level 8 and it was a great boost in his strength. [Investiture of the Dark] was an extremely powerful combat art. It was a boost-type skill that would enhance his body but it was mainly focused on boosting his other dark enhancing combat arts such as [Shadow Cloak], [Dark Menace], or [Night Overlord''s Aura]. Their effects would receive an enhancement of twenty percent and it could be stacked up to four stacks. The stacks would disappear after leaving the battlefield for one minute. Each level increased the stack limit by one. So at level 8, the stack limit was eleven. It was good since each stack could increase the effect of dark combat arts by twenty percent. [Investiture of the Dark]: A skill created by a Dark God forty thousand years ago. It can enhance all the dark attribute combat arts. It was created by trying to copy the effect of Element Drive. Trying to copy the Element Drive. Although it was a failed product, the effect of the skill was still great. Element Drive could enhance the stats, elemental control, combat arts, and spells to a higher level. While [Investiture of the Dark] could only boost combat arts and stats. The good thing about this was that he could use this skill on top of Element Drive. Chapter 840 Unexpected Visitor [Investiture of the Dark] also gives him corrosion properties. It was the same as the [Negative Land]. It was a field-type spell that debuffs all enemies that entered the field. It corrodes the enemies decreasing their movement speed by twenty percent and slowly chipping their health until they die. It also decreased the enemies'' resistance to the dark attribute by twenty percent and rendering the light attribute''s effectiveness by twenty percent. Within this field, Souta could detect all the enemies and know what they were doing. It was just a bonus effect since he could already detect them through their blood. The decaying effect of this spell could render all the enemies'' dark attributes to zero percent if their elemental power was two stages below the user. In short, Souta would have absolute control of darkness within this field. [Negative Land] Level 8 and [Investiture of the Dark] Level 8 would be a great addition to his skill set. It would increase his combat prowess to a certain level. Aside from these two skills, he also learned [Black Hole] and [Darkness Bite]. Although they were at level 1, they were still high-level skills that would help him greatly in the battle. [Black Hole] was a super offensive Tier 3 Spell. Upon casting this spell, a black hole would appear out of thin air and suck all the matter within its surrounding. It wasn''t an ordinary black hole since it could even suck energies like mana or elemental power. Its crushing power was on a different level. [Darkness Bite] was a melee combat art. It was a powerful attack that could decrease the target''s darkness resistance by fifty percent and almost ignore the physical defense of the target causing true damage. While [Negative Land] and [Investiture of the Dark] were buff and debuff, the other two were offensive skills. ''Also, for the Forbidden Spell, I needed [Negative Land] and [Black Hole] so that I could build the same spells that I have in the past. These two would be the foundation of my forbidden spells.'' Souta rubbed his chin. He slightly understood the chain of forbidden spells so if he learned it, maybe he didn''t need to use some of his skill points to learn as many as could just to unlock the forbidden spell function. He could probably recreate all of his spells in the past manually. As for the sublimation of combat arts, it was easier than a forbidden spell so he didn''t need to worry about it for a while. ''This should be good... It will take a lot of time before I could promote my class to Rank 3 just like in the past. I would need to complete several chain quests.'' Souta shook his head and turned his mind to another topic. His name resounded through the Hall Plains. He was called the Blood Lightning Monster, the Lord of the Hall Plains. After all, he was the one who stopped No God Emperor from unsealing himself. A lot of God realm powerhouses were paying attention to this matter so it was inevitable that he would gather the attention of various organizations. The only thing that was holding them back was the name behind him, the Olympus. He was a warrior from Athen''s Champion, and Athen''s Champion was one of the god-legions in Olympus. If not for No God Emperor, just the fact that a warrior from Olympus had conquered a land beyond their own would create a complicated diplomatic issue among the other territories. Olympus had an excuse, they saved the Hall Plains and prevented the awakening of No God Emperor. There''s also a problem with the demon so the other territories could only turn their heads away from this. But if Olympus extends their lands once again then the other factions would do the same. They would collide and fight each other. ''As the main character of this event, a lot of people have heard of my name. They aren''t going to bother me since I''m just a mere fourth stage in their eyes. If they wanted to eliminate me, they wouldn''t bother themselves instead they would send their subordinates.'' Souta concluded. He needed to watch his movements for now since a lot of people were paying attention to him. Especially the organizations on the same level as Red Matter Association. Souta was walking when he noticed strange fluctuations of mana. He looked around and sensed that all the people in Astros have stopped moving. "Charm...?" He narrowed his eyes. This was the same scenario in White Line City back then. At that time, everyone has been charmed by some unknown person. Even he was affected at that time but it was different right now, he was far stronger than before. Souta didn''t even need to use his energy to break through the charm. It simply had no effect on him. "Who''s there? Show yourself if you don''t I''ll force you out." Souta said in a low voice but his words reverberated throughout the entire Astros. He could sense all the people with their blood so he noticed that someone was acting strange. A woman walked out of the corner. She had beautiful blue color eyes and shoulder-length hair of the same color. She had fair skin and wearing a white attire with green patterns. She had a pair of cat ears and several fluffy tails sticking out of her clothes. "I mean no harm to you." The woman said calmly as she raised both of her hands. Souta stared at the woman and quickly saw through her body. Her mana pool was completely solidified and she already broke the first great shackle. This woman was strong... He didn''t expect it. It means that she was holding back at that time in White Line City. "What do you want?" Souta asked in a cold tone. He slowly circulated his energy and raised his guard. If he fought here, he would bring the battle into the sky. He couldn''t fight here since a lot of people would become casualties. The woman smiled and brought her hands down. She said, "As expected, you already saw through my strength. Don''t worry, I''m not here to fight." "Then, why are you here? Also, you''ve charmed my people so how do you expect me to treat you? If we aren''t in this place I would have already swung my sword in your neck." Souta said to her in a strong tone. "So fierce... My name is Layla." The woman introduced herself. She slightly bowed before she continued, "I''m just here to tell you one thing. Be careful and watch your back. Even if you have the entire Athen''s Champion behind you, the Wingless Crow will find an opportunity to slice that head of yours." "Wingless Crow... If I''m not wrong, you are one of them." Souta said. He already expected this outcome the moment he decided to demolish the Wingless Crow branch in White Line City. "If I''m not one of them. I just joined the branch because I wanted to know a little bit about their plan." The woman named Layla said. "Why are you telling me all of this?" Souta asked. "It''s simple, by defeating No God Emperor''s vessel you helped us move our plan greatly. If you aren''t there, then we would be forced to show ourselves." Layla explained. "Who are you?" Souta asked. "You don''t need to know about that. You will know it in the future. I''m sure that we will meet again." Layla said as the smile on her face grew wider. "Just don''t forget that you helped us greatly this time albeit unintentionally. We appreciate it so I came here to warn you about the people that wanted your head. They are coming for you." "So it''s not only the Wingless Crow..." Souta said but before he could even receive an answer, the woman before him had already disappeared. "She left..." The people around him have returned to their senses. Some of the higher-level people realized that they have been charmed but those with low power levels didn''t even realize what just happened. "Don''t worry, it''s nothing..." Souta said and his voice traveled throughout the entire Astros. They needed to calm down so he decided to tell them that it was nothing and they didn''t need to worry at all. Even the warriors from the legion needed to calm down or else they would think that someone tried to attack this base. ?¦Á?d¦Á¦Ç¦È¦Í¦Å| Souta stretched his arms and thought about the words that the woman who called herself Layla said. ''So other organizations are lurking in the Hall Plains... Even if I didn''t move they will finish Yenxa to stop No God Emperor. However, I can''t let that happen. I can''t let anyone kill Yenxa. I have to take responsibility and kill her with my own hands.'' Souta shook his head. Topics about Yenxa would only make his emotion fluctuate and it''s not good for the current him. He should think about other things first. He stared at the system first before he sighed. His rewards weren''t as good as he imagined. After all, he didn''t even trigger the special quest of the Chain Quest so his rewards didn''t increase at all. In his previous Chain Quests, Souta always triggered special quests. Well, it''s not bad considering that he earned a bunch of skill points. He even promoted his class to Rank 1 Great Battle Mage. His two chosen skills were also level 8 so he was almost halfway to Rank 2 Great Battle Mage. Chapter 841 Eilishs Past I At the very least, he got a Blessing Card this time. Last time, he used Gluttony''s Blessing Card to fight and free Cluster from her fate. It was a real Blessing compared to the [Blessing of the God of Hunt] that he got. The God of Hunt was dead a long time ago so the Blessing that Souta receive was too weak compared to Gluttony. He could use this card in dangerous situations. Sadly, it was only a temporary one so he had to save it until he really needs it. ''The special quest... I didn''t trigger any of it. From the looks of it and the unknown visitor just now, it seems that something happened in the dark that I wasn''t aware of.'' Souta said inwardly. If he only completed the special quest, then his rewards would probably be doubled. Well, there''s no point in complaining anymore. He only had one thought at that time and that was to destroy the Hall of Power. Souta shook his head and glanced at his surroundings. After he told them that there was nothing to be afraid of, the people returned to normal. They trusted him, the leader of the Astros. He already met Gragas, Yuko, Kessa, and Isabella. The only one left was Eilish. According to Gragas, something occurred on the battlefield. "Should I try to get some information on other people?" Souta rubbed his chin. He stopped on his track and changed his direction. He went to find the witches that accompany Eilish in that battle. He actually wanted to talk to the Fourth Head who was with her but he was too far away. ''I''m sure that Eilish will not tell me everything... I''ll just ask first so that I could get an idea about what happened.'' Souta found a witch that was dispatched to the battlefield. Souta had just awoken from his coma so he haven''t read the full reports of the battle yet. He didn''t even know how great the casualties that they took in the war were. He would do that later. His priority right now was to talk with his closest aides. Some of the people greeted or saluted him when they saw him walking. It was normal for him since he was used to this kind of treatment. Civilians of the Mechanic Country treated him with great respect back in the game. He asked some of the people that were dispatched to the battlefield. Souta brought them to a quiet spot to have a conversation. The two witches followed Souta and they were quite nervous. Souta sat down on a chair and said, "You can sit down." After receiving his permission, the two witches sat on the chair across the table. They were facing the leader of the Astros and it gives them some sort of pressure. Although they knew Souta a long time ago since in the event in the sub-world, they weren''t close to him. He was more like a living legend to them. Souta observed the two witches for a few seconds. He realized that the two young men in front of him were at the level of intermediate Solidifying Realm. It seems that the individual prowess of Astros was increasing day by day. "No need to be nervous," Souta laughed lightly seeing their expression. "I just woke up from a coma so I didn''t know what happened before I passed out. I just want you to tell me what happened to the battlefield you were dispatched on." The two witches eased a little bit. They slowly them him what they experienced in the field. "We fought the tribes for several days. We held on and took over several of their base camps. Thirty percent of our forces died in those battles. The battles were brutal but with Lady Eilish and Eight Head at the forefront, we persisted. "The enemy set up a trap. Lady Eilish and Eight Head fought enemies that were at the level of Shackled Realm. I don''t know the exact things that happened since the shockwaves were too strong but Fourth Head appeared. They fought ridiculously strong people. It became too chaotic and some unknown power was used. It knocked down several thousands of people within a radius of ten kilometers. "I just heard Lady Eilish''s crying voice and Eight Head and Fourth Head saying stop to Lady Eilish. They are saying to stop releasing this power since it affected both allies and enemies. That''s what I heard before I passed out. I woke up a week later and the war had already ended." Souta listened to their words. He raised his hand to stop them from speaking. The two witches quickly shut their mouths as they stared at Souta, waiting for his question. They knew what they should do and shouldn''t in front of the leader. Souta rubbed his chin before he asked, "What is that power that knocked you out? Can you describe it to me?" "I don''t know what it is My Lord, but it feels like it''s some sort of miasma. It''s too strong luckily I was far from the center where the miasma was coming from and I used all of my energy to protect my body from harm. That miasma was like a faint dark smoke that spread out on the battlefield at an alarming rate... I..." The young witch hesitated as he glanced at Souta before he averted his eyes. "What is it? Did you see something there?" Souta raised his eyebrows and asked. "No, My Lord... But..." The young witch hesitated once again. "But what? I will not punish you or anything. Just tell me what it is." Souta said. "The miasma that killed our comrades felt like it came from... Lady Eilish... The energy signature in the miasma is similar to hers." The young witch said before he looked down. "It came from Eilish...?!" Souta narrowed his eyes. This was the first time he heard this. "I don''t know, My Lord, it has a similar energy signature with Lady Eilish and at the same time, it feels like it something fused with it. There is another unknown energy signature that I didn''t recognize. I''m sure that it didn''t come from Eight Head and Fourth Head." The young witch said. Souta could see with his [Galaxy Eyes] that the person in front of him wasn''t lying. There were telling him what they saw and felt but there was a chance that they were just mistaken. Nevertheless, this was vital information. The things that happened there seem not ordinary. It seems that he needed to free some of his to visit Eight Head and Fourth Head after he finished talking with Eilish. He was sure that it wasn''t simple. There was something behind the tribes in Earthen Woods. That land... He would clean it later. He asked them a few more questions before he dismissed them. He got something that he couldn''t understand. Why Eilish was crying? What was that miasma? He sighed and walked in the direction of Eilish''s room. After a few minutes of walking, Souta arrived in front of Eilish''s room. He raised his hand and knocked on the door. Knock! Knock! Souta waited for a few seconds and nothing happened. There was no response at all, but he could sense Eilish''s presence inside. He sighed and decided to open the door by himself. "Excuse me." Souta entered the room and surveyed his surrounding. He noticed that Eilish was on the corner with a blanket over her slender body. "Eilish..." ?¦Á?d¦Á¦Ç¦È¦Í¦Å| He stared at her and noticed that she was pretty much weak. Her attention was focused on other things and it seems that she hadn''t eaten anything this whole time. Eilish weakly raised and looked at him with blank eyes. Souta sighed before he squatted down and looked at her in the eyes. He noticed that she was feeling complicated and it seems Gragas was right. Something really happened in the battle against the tribes of Earthen Woods. "What happened?" He calmly asked. "I..." Eilish hesitated for a moment. "You can tell me everything, I''ll lend my ears to you," Souta said as gently as he could. He wondered what happened to her. Now that he mentioned it, Eilish came to Imperium for a reason. She wanted to come here not just because she wanted to see the Divine World. There was a reason why she insisted on following him. "If you have any problems I''ll help you to the best of my abilities," Souta added. "I... I''ve met my brother..." Eilish whispered as she tightened her grip on the blanket over her body. "You''ve met your brother...? Here in Imperium?! Isn''t that a good thing?" Souta said as he calmly watched the change in her expression. This was outside of his expectation. But it seems to be the right time to learn about Eilish background. He needed to understand her more. So her brother appeared on the battlefield... He could a little bit understand why she was sad if the brother she was talking about became her enemy. It wasn''t a sweet reunion. Chapter 842 Eilishs Past II "Yeah, but he doesn''t remember me anymore. I''m sure that was my brother, Eilan. I can''t be wrong." Eilish said while gritting her teeth. She was frustrated. "Okay, tell me what happened. How did you meet your brother here?" Souta said. He was curious and at the same time, he wanted to know the truth. The truth about Eilish. Eilish hesitated at first. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "I know that we''ve suffered great casualties and I can''t stay like this all the time but I can''t help it. I couldn''t focus. Every time I close my eyes, that scene always flashed in my mind." "It''s fine, I understand. Each one of us has our own issues and I think that you will not follow me without specific reasons. Just tell me everything. Let it out." Souta said to her. Eilish looked down for a few seconds. She closed her eyes and slowly said, "Eilan is the reason why I wanted to come to Divine World Imperium. He''s the sole purpose of my adventure." Decade ago... In a simple wooden house, the door opened and a beautiful young girl entered the house. She had short blue hair and smooth skin. She went to the kitchen and prepared a soup. She brought soup to one of the rooms. She had a smile on her face and her eyes were full of gentleness. In this room, there was a bed and a skinny young boy laying on it. The young boy looked exhausted and dry. The young boy opened his eyes when he heard someone enter his room. He looked over and muttered, "Sister Eilish..." "Eat this, Eilan. It would be bad for your body if you didn''t eat anything," Eilish said as softly as she could. "I''m fine, Sis. You don''t have to worry about me." Eilan said weakly with a wry smile on his face. "You''re the one who shouldn''t worry. I''ll find a way to cure your illness no matter what." Eilish assured her brother. "I will be fine," Eilan said to his sister. Eilish simply smiled before she helped her brother eat the soup that she prepared. The two of them were alone. Their parents died years ago, living them on their own. They helped each other and luckily, Eilish had great friends that helped them stand on their own. They were living a fair life but something happened four months ago. Eilan was diagnosed with an unknown disease. Ever since then, he became bedridden and no medicine could help his strange condition. Eilish watched her brother sleep before she exited the room. She washed the dishes and went to read some books. The books were all about medicinal herbs. She wanted to find something that could help her brother''s condition. "I will help my brother no matter what..." Eilish swore to herself. It was then that Eilish read about the legends of the Divine World, a world where gods live. According to the book, the gods were real and there were all sorts of mythical creatures living in that world. There were also various medicinal herbs with unbelievable effects. This gives some hope in Eilish''s heart. If the Divine World was real then she would be able the unknown disease of her brother. The only problem was where would she find this world. Where to start? Eilish closed the book in her hands and went out of the house. She gathered all sorts of books that could give her information about the Divine World in her village. Unfortunately, there was none aside from the book that she just read. "You''re reading about herbs again?" Eilish turned her head and saw a young girl between 16 to 18 years old. The young girl had black hair and black eyes with a red hue around her pupils. "I''m not, Friess." Eilish shook her head. Friess was the name of the young girl and she was one of Eilish''s friends. "Then, what it is?" Friess asked. Eilish smiled as she showed the title of the book to her friend. "The legend of the Divine World...?" Friess was confused. She glanced at Eilish and asked, "Isn''t that a children''s story?" "Oh, you know about it?" Eilish raised her eyebrows. "Yep, I read one of that books in the city." Friess nodded. "What''s wrong with that book?" "I want to find the Divine World," Eilish said. "Eh...?!" Friess was shocked at her friend''s words. "Isn''t that a fairy tale? Something that isn''t true..." She then sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She forgot that Eilish haven''t gone to the city before. She stayed here in this village and only go to mountain to gather some herbs. "Who knows but... What if the Divine World really exists out there?" Eilish said as she stared at the vast sky with a longing expression. "Wait a moment!" Friess raised her hand as she stopped Eilish from speaking further. "Let me call the others first." "O-Okay." Eilish nodded. Half an hour later, five girls gathered around the shade of a huge tree. The other three girls had the same age as Eilish and Friess. The first one had short black hair that was tied on the back of her head. The color of her skin was brown and she had a pair of pitch-black eyes. Her name was Greesa. The second one was a young girl with smooth and silky white skin. Her hair color was pink and it was tied into twin tails. She had a pair of fox ears and tail. Her name was Aileen. The last one was a tall girl with short brown hair and eyes of the same color. Her skin was dark with a few scars visible on it. She was Jaebi. The five of them were friends for a long time. All of them were village girls but they had great ambition. They didn''t want to stay in this village for the rest of their lives. "Eilish, tell them what you said to me," Friess said. The other three girls turned their heads toward Eilish. English smiled and flashed the book in front of them. "The Legend of the Divine World...? Isn''t that a fairy tale?" The three girls were confused about why Eilish showed them this book. "What if this book is real? What if Divine World really exists out there? Isn''t it great! I will be able to find a cure for Eilan''s disease!" Eilish said to them. "Are you serious?" Aileen asked. "Yep," Eilish nodded her head. Aileen, Jaebi, and Greesa looked at each other. They didn''t know what to say to their friend. "So what are you planning to do?" Friess asked. "I want to find it. As long as there''s hope then I will pursue it to cure Eilan''s disease." Eilish said as she raised both of her hands. "Even if that is true, then how do you plan to go there with yourself? From the looks of it, there are mythical creatures that could easily kill you." Friess asked once again. "I..." Eilish lowered her head. After a few moments, she raised her head and stared at Friess. "That''s why I will grow stronger. I will grow strong so that I could cure Eilan and protect him from any harm. I will do everything that I could do." It was at this moment that the girls realized that Eilish wasn''t joking. They accompanied him to the city for the first time and learned various things. The group of young girls aspired to become adventurers. They didn''t complain as they trained themselves in various combat styles. In just half a year, they learned basic fighting styles through self-taught. In the next year, they became official adventurers. Eilish also managed to build her first magic circle. The group explored various places to discover some clues about the Divine World. Also, they didn''t forget to search if anything could help Eilan in their adventures. By the time Eilish reached the age of twenty, the group became widely known adventurers in their city. Their efforts made them accumulate some wealth yet they didn''t find anything that could cure Eilan''s disease. It felt as if there was nothing that could cure that unknown disease. ... Souta listened to her story without disturbing her. He knew that she was telling the truth. So originally, Eilish wasn''t from that sub-world where he first met her. She probably got stuck there and couldn''t find a way to get out of that planet. She was a One Shackle Realm at that time so her body was strong enough to survive that vacuum of space but she wasn''t self-proficient. She still needed to eat and sleep so she couldn''t travel in the vast expanse alone without any direction. Her goal probably was the Council of High-Worlds. To acquire their information so that she could depart with a destination in her mind. But where were her friends...? Souta felt like he already knew what happened. 62c5b2942708fd12a9ad975e Chapter 843 Eilishs Past III Eilish continued her story. She and her friends became widely known adventurers in the entire country. Their strength far surpasses normal people in their world. In Giza Continent''s terms, they reached the level of B-rank. B-rank was numerous in Imperium but in sub-world with thin energy concentration, it was probably the highest that they could achieve. The resources also were too scarce to support a powerhouse to the highest level. Despite being the most famous adventurer group in their country, Eilish and the others couldn''t find a cure for Eilan''s disease. "We''ve achieved a lot of things in the past two years yet we haven''t found anything that could cure my brother..." Eilish said in a low voice. She even learned various healing spells but it didn''t work on her brother. "If we can''t find a cure for your brother in this country then we''ll search the entire world. If we can''t find it then we''ll search for the Divine World." Greesa said to her. "Yeah, you''re right." Eilish looked at her friend and smiled. "The five of us will each other," Jaebi said. Friess smiled seeing this scene. Even though they got famous, her friends still never change. They would never be drowned by wealth and fame. They were doing this because they had a goal and that would never change. "Just don''t forget to be careful, the world is large and we can''t even fathom how many dangers lurk in the shadow," Aileen added. "Always prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario." It''s true. The group faced countless challenges where they could die just to achieve their current status. They were the top adventurers in their country and the neighboring countries have heard of their names and achievements. There''s no doubt that they were one of the strongest. But it was just the start of their real adventure if they wanted to find the so-called Divine World. ... Eilish tightened her grip on the blanket around her and asked, "Souta, how many worlds did you visit out there? No, I want to know if you realized the scope of the expanse..." Souta didn''t answer. He just waited for Eilish to continue talking. That''s the only thing he could do right now. "My homeworld is just a speck of dust..." Eilish said. Souta nodded inwardly. There''s no end in the vast expanse of space. It was infinitely large. "I realized that after traveling from another world to another. Imperium was hard to fathom." Eilish added. "I discovered it after following you to this world. I came from a planet and then traveled through other star systems and galaxies by using coordinates teleportation. It''s hard to do it in this space since the fabric here is hard to break..." At the age of 22, Eilish''s group discovered the vastness of the universe. It was never-ending as they traveled through other galaxies and followed the clues left behind on the planet with mana density. The group discovered that everything was connected and there was even a teleportation circle left to go to another planet. It was left behind by a huge organization in the past that seemed to overrule hundreds of thousands of planets with mana density. They even found a star map that contained an extreme amount of galaxies yet the planet that had mana density in this map only had a number of seven hundred ninety two. It was just a small region in the territory of an ancient civilization. At the age of 25, Eilish''s group realized that they wouldn''t be able to find Imperium in their current situation. They discovered that there were other dimensions out there. They were already a powerhouse at A-rank at that time. Among every other planet that they visited, no one could rival their prowess. They became a living legend. ''Spaces and dimensions...'' Souta narrowed his eyes. He continued to listen about Eilish''s journey before they met. He realized the hard work she put in and the challenges she faced were extremely hard. Yet, she persevered and managed to stay alive all this time. "I''m from a small planet. I discovered that my planet is in a star system and the star system is just a part of a galaxy. Then, the clusters which contained thousands of galaxies. All of the clusters are just inside a dimension. We broadened our view at that time." Eilish slowly explained. "Our dimension alone felt like it was infinite yet we discovered that once we are out we are still inside another. Friess'' theory is correct." Their dimension was huge but they realized that strong people seemed to call it a sub-space. It wasn''t about the size. It was about the toughness of what builds that dimension that decides the scale of their dimension. Yep, before meeting Souta she came out from a total of seven dimensions. So she came from a dimension inside a dimension. She discovered it seven times. Hearing this, Souta pressed his temples. He had to process what she just told him to understand her words. It was at this time that Souta wondered if Imperium was the same as Eilish''s story. What if Imperium was just inside a sub-space and there was another higher dimension out there? From his knowledge, there were a total of thirteen dimensions. All of them have the same toughness of space, time, matter, and energy. Most of these dimensions were destroyed in the war twenty thousand years ago. Yet, in these dimensions, there were also countless dimensions hidden inside it which didn''t have the same toughness as the thirteen. But what if these thirteen spaces were just inside one bigger and more powerful dimension? Souta shook his head and dispersed those thoughts. It wasn''t the time to think about it. His current power couldn''t even make him the strongest in Imperium. Eilish glanced at Souta before she continued, "It was seven years before we met. A tragedy occurred. My friends and I met someone that I couldn''t even fathom at that time." ... Eilish and her friends just arrived in a new world. The gravity here was ten times higher than in the previous one and the mana density was slightly higher. "Our goal is to verify if this dimension is where the Divine World is located or not," Friess said to her friends. "Yes, I wonder if this is where our goal lies..." Jaebi said. "Are you okay, Eilan?" Eilish asked her brother who was on her back. "I''m fine, sis. I can''t burden you anymore." Eilan said with great effort. In truth, the environment greatly burdened his body but he couldn''t show it on his face since his sister would worry about him more. "It''s fine." Eilish shook her head. The group was a little bit excited after they arrived in what they called the outer dimension. The mana density and gravity here were stronger than their world. This alone means that there were stronger creatures. Probably someone that could rival them. "What''s the percentage of your liquefied mana?" Friess asked her friends. "I''ve already liquefied about sixty percent of my mana pool," Greesa said. "For me, it''s about fifty percent," Jaebi said. "Sixty percent too, the same as Greesa," Eilish said. "I''m close to reaching ninety percent," Aileen said. "It''s hard to liquefy all the mana in our mana pool but we are close to achieving it. We''ve used tons of resources to achieve our current power but I can feel that we can do this in this world." Friess said as she stretched out her hand. "The mana density here will help us so let''s focus on getting stronger first before we start our exploration. We can''t let our guard down." Suddenly, the entire group felt goosebumps across their entire bodies. They quickly turned their head and saw a figure standing several meters away from them. Swoosh! Friess and Aileen quickly raised their guards. They didn''t even notice the presence of this unknown figure. The figure in front of them was humanoid. It was complete darkness and they couldn''t even fathom such a creature standing before them. A creature made of darkness... "Such an ignorant bunch of people. You''ve wandered into this place without knowing that this is my territory." A deep voice came out of the humanoid darkness. Friess gulped as she felt nervous just by standing in front of this unknown being. She took a deep breath and said, "Please forgive us, we didn''t know that this is your territory. We''ll leave immediately if you don''t mind." Fighting wasn''t a good idea in their current situation. Her instinct was telling her that they had no chance of winning. "You should shut your mouth." A line of darkness flashed. Friess widened her eyes. She shifted her body to the side but the line of darkness tore straight to her left shoulder, severing her arm as a result. Swoosh! Her arm rolled in the air, splashing blood everywhere. Argh...!! Friess fell to her knees as she held her shoulder. She felt intense pain all over her body. She couldn''t describe it but it seems that darkness increased her pain sensitivity by several fold. Aileen glanced at Friess before she looked at the others who were stunned. "Everyone... Run...!!" She shouted. 62c5b2942708fd12a9ad975e Chapter 844 Eilishs Past IV "RUN!!!" Aileen shouted. Eilish and the others snapped out of their daze. Their bodies were trembling and sweat was forming all over their bodies. It was their first time experiencing something like this. The unknown being in front of them was beyond their imagination. Swoosh!! The humanoid darkness moved once again. Its body flashed ahead and it escaped their heightened perception. It was too fast. Aileen reacted based on her instinct. She just moved her body and drew a white line in front of her using her energy. Bang!! The white line flashed with an arrow of light but it was shattered immediately. The darkness advanced swiftly without obstruction. Aileen jumped away as a pillar of light burst from her previous position. Boom!! But the darkness managed to avoid the attack, it lunged forward flinging her several meters away. At the same time, Greesa and Jaebi pounced on the enemy. They moved at extreme speed but the darkness was faster than them. In just a second, they were blown away just like Aileen. "We can''t escape from this monster..." Friess said as she stood up and glared at their enemy. Although the darkness didn''t have any face, she could feel that this unknown being was laughing at them. "Cough!" Aileen stood up and wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth. She could feel that a few of her ribs were broken in that attack. "Someone needed to hold this monster or else all of us will die here." Aileen said as she glanced at everyone. "Yeah, this monster is far above our level. We stood no chance if we were going to fight." Jaebi said. Greesa nodded at their words. Aileen turned her head and looked at Eilish, "We''ve met a disaster the moment we arrive here. I think it''s better for you to escape and save your brother." "N-No..." Eilish trembled when she heard her friend''s words. She tightly grabbed Eilan who was on her back. Eilan had already fainted because of the burst of mana and the pressure from the unknown being. "Aileen is right. If you don''t escape your brother will die. Do you want your brother to die? Isn''t your goal to cure him?" Friess said. "N-No, I can''t do that..." Eilish felt her eyes getting wet. "RUN AWAY!! EILISH!!! DO YOU WANT YOUR BROTHER TO DIE?!!! EVEN IF YOU WANT TO STAY HERE THEN DO YOU THINK YOUR BROTHER COULD ESCAPE WITH HIS CONDITION?!" Aileen shouted. "Go away!! Eilish!! You have to save your brother no matter what!!" Greesa and Jaebi said at the same time. "I... I..." Tears fell down from Eilish''s eyes as she watched her friends. "Are you done?" The humanoid darkness suddenly asked. It moved forward with extreme speed but Jaebi and Greesa launched themselves ahead to intercept the enemy. Boom!! "GOOOO!!!!" Friess shouted once again. Eilish wiped the tears on her eyes before she turned around and ran with all of her might. She ran as fast as she could while tightly gripping her brother. Aileen glanced at Eilish''s back and smiled, "This is the best way. We can''t let her die with her brother." Friess also smiled, "I hope that she would achieve her dream." The humanoid darkness dashed forward with a dark curtain in its hands. The faint sound of laughter echoed in the area as the battle started. It was clearly playing with them. Bang! Bang! The sounds of battles echoed as shockwaves swept out. But then... Something strange happened. Huh? Eilish widened her eyes. She realized that she was in the middle of nowhere. Everything around her was pure darkness and the sounds of battle had disappeared. Where am I? She turned around and found that Eilan was gone. No... This can''t be...!! EILANNN!!! She shouted but no voice escaped out of her mouth. ... Souta listened to Eilish''s story without interrupting her. He was also observing her expression from the start until the end. Eilish turned silent as she started to tremble. Remembering those scenes felt like a nightmare for her. It took a few minutes before she calmed down. But her body was still shaking. It was a traumatic experience for her. "After that... I heard a voice..." Eilish said in a low voice but Souta could clearly hear it. ... "Someone with this body shouldn''t stay here and rot..." A voice sounded. Eilish wanted to say something but nothing came out of her mouth. It was as if sound couldn''t travel in this dark space. Even if she poured her mana into her voice, it was blocked by an unknown force. "I will take you with me. You will become one of ours." She turned around to find where the voice was coming from but she found nothing. No... This shouldn''t be happening... Friess and the rest sacrificed their lives so that Eilish could save her brother yet something like this happened. Her brother disappeared... Ugh! Eilish grabbed her neck as she was having trouble breathing. The whole world feels like it was going to crumble as she fell down on her knees. No!! This can''t be...!! The darkness slowly disappeared as thousands of tiny needles assaulted her. Argh!! It was a horrible experience for her and she felt like she was going to die at any moment. The first thing that she heard when the darkness disappeared was the voices of her friends. "E-Eilish...?" Eilish widened her eyes as she turned her head. She saw Friess, Greesa, Jaebi, and Aileen laying in the pool of blood. They were barely moving and their bodies were disfigured to the point that she almost didn''t recognize them. "Friess... Greesa... Jaebi... Aileen..." Eilish muttered as tears fell from her eyes. She ignored the needles that pierced her body as she crawled toward her friends. "W-Why... are you... here?" Friess asked as blood came out of her mouth. Cough! Cough! Eilish coughed a mouthful of blood as she forced her body to move. Her vision was getting blurry and she couldn''t even feel the pain around her body. Boom!! An earthquake occurred and cracks quickly spread on the ground. A huge wave of energy soared through the sky. The ground continued to shake and Eilish couldn''t do anything except watch her friend fall into the cracks. "No!!" Eilish shouted as she stretched out her hand trying to grab her friends. Unfortunately, there was nothing that she could do in this situation. The whole land collapsed in just a few seconds. Ohm!! The aura was so powerful that everything seemed insignificant in front of it. In the next second, darkness spread out as a powerful energy erupted like a volcano. The strings of darkness soared to the sky as if it was intending to slay the being that just arrived, the one that shook the whole land. "Who are you?!!! How dare you enter my territory!!" The darkness roared in anger. The energy it was emitting was beyond Eilish''s comprehension. She couldn''t believe that there was an existence that possessed this much power in this world. "Is this the end...?" Eilish muttered as she glanced at the darkness encroaching on the sky. Her body slid through the ground and fell through the huge cracks. "An elemental being in the sub-world...? Then, I will capture you. You will be a great addition to the group. I will first fix your mind. It seems that something is affecting your mind. You''re just like a golem right now, acting on what has been implanted into your mind." Those were the last words that Eilish heard before she fainted. She was supposed to die at that moment but she miraculously survived. She didn''t know why but the dark needles that pierced her body had disappeared along with her wounds. "An elemental being..." Souta didn''t expect that Eilish would meet one of the rarest creatures in this world. Elemental beings were considered extinct but actually, a few of them still live and were hiding in the shadows. The clash between the elemental being and the unknown person wrecked the whole land and Eilish mysteriously survived the calamity. "After that, I can''t use my power for a long time..." Eilish said. "That''s not the end... Since I can''t use my energy and I''m in an unknown world, the things that happened to me are too much. My mind was exhausted to the point that I wanted to die." Also, she wasn''t a melee-type fighter so her physical body was slightly weaker than someone on the same level that trained their body to the limit. "I can''t believe that I will find my brother. He really survives but I don''t know what happened to him since he couldn''t remember me." Eilish said. Souta patted her head and said, "It''s fine. The most important thing is that you''ve found that your brother is still alive. You''ve confirmed it and he is in this world so you would definitely meet him again in the future." He hugged her and added, "I will lend you my hand. I will surely help you find your brother no matter what it takes." 62c5b2942708fd12a9ad975e Chapter 845 To The Earthen Woods *sob* Eilish cried as she tightly wrapped her dainty hands around Souta. She buried her face in his chest. Those traumatic experiences never left her mind. It was the most horrible thing that she had experienced in her life. "It''s fine," Souta said gently as he caressed her back. A girl without her energy in an unknown world with stronger beings. She didn''t need to explain for Souta to understand what happened to her. He looked at her and said, "You can rest for a while. I promise I will help you find your brother." "Thank you... Souta..." Eilish said while sobbing. She kept crying until she fell asleep. Souta stood up and he placed her on the bed. He covered her with a blanket before he left the room. As soon as he left Eilish''s room, a cold glint flashed in his eyes. His expression changed quickly as he muttered, "Noxious..." Swoosh!! Two people appeared behind him. "Lord..." Both of them fell on their knees. These two experts were members of the Noxious Corps that Franklin trained to become assassins. It was good but the overall might of the corps still couldn''t be compared to the Witch Corps. These two experts were one of the few Solidifying Realm of the corps. They were only at the intermediate stage of S-rank. "Gather a few people that have the power level of S-rank. Also, notify Elder Hanmi and quickly depart to the battlefield where Eilish fought the tribes of the Earthen Woods. I will follow soon." Souta gave them an order without looking back. He continued to walk as his mind wandered about the previous events in the Hall Plains. Eilish met her brother and there was a woman that visited him before. There was something that happened that he didn''t know about. He went to his office and read all the reports. He already heard some of the reports from Gragas but there was still something that he didn''t know about. The Dragon Council. Governor Ray, the founder of the organization, didn''t make out and die before he could even receive a proper treatment. Also... The Ninth Head died in Bland City? So while he was fighting No God Emperor someone attacked that city and it demolished almost everything within. According to the residents of the city, they were mysteriously transported out of the city before the whole area collapsed. It was unknown who saved their lives but they were grateful for whoever was that person. "So while I was fighting No God Emperor, someone attacked Bland City, and at the same time, Eilish and Eight Head along with Fourth Head fought an unknown group on the battlefield against the tribes. Eilish''s brother was included in that group..." Is there a connection to it? Maybe, these two are from different organizations? Souta rubbed his chin. Aside from that, there were changes in Dragon Council. This piece of report surprised him. A week after the battle against No God Emperor, Alexander and Gerxuzs fought in the central region for an entire day. The battle shook the region and a lot of people were affected. Most of the survivors were still recovering from the war when the two fought without holding back. As a result, it devastated the central region even more. It already suffered from the war as various organizations fought all over it. Surprisingly, they became members of the Dragon Council, taking over Governor Ray and Ninth Head''s seats. "What are they thinking...?!" Souta furrowed his brows. This was beyond his expectations and he didn''t think that those two would join a measly organization such as Dragon Council. As for their current location, it was unknown. They disappeared ever since then. Not even the other members could contact them. He couldn''t contact them since their location was unknown. He wanted to ask them various things, especially that monster Gerxuzs. Souta could understand if it was Alexander alone but Gerxuzs... What sort of things comes into that brain for him to join the Dragon Council? "The two fought in the central region and then they joined the Dragon Council before disappearing... Is there an agreement between the two of them?" Souta shook his head as he couldn''t guess what were they thinking. Sigh... Just reading the reports already drained his mental capability. Souta leaned on his chair as he turned his head to the window. There were lots of behind the scene that happened while he was fighting No God Emperor. Speaking of No God Emperor, it''s his first time hearing the name of this god. Similar events happened in the game but they weren''t No God Emperor. A god trying to break out of their seal wasn''t the first time. Even Yamato no Orochi was trying to do the same thing. It''s just that he hasn''t heard of No God Emperor even in the game. Nevermind... He guessed that he should go to the Earthen Woods first to gather some information. He would help Eilish find her brother. But before that... Souta stood up from his seat. He opened his hands and a snake quickly coiled around his arm. It was Kessa. "I have something to do so you have to stay here and guard this place while I''m gone," Souta said to her. Kessa disappointingly rolled out of his arms. She slithered across the table, trying to find a spot where she could comfortably rest. Souta observed her for a while. Kessa was the strongest force in Ekatoe City so he could leave this place to her. The sealing technique using the energy from Blood Sacrifice wasn''t common. So it wouldn''t probably happen for the time being. Even the Hall of Power used several decades to accumulate so much energy yet they mostly used it just to seal Kessa. If they had a little bit left, they could seal him too. They didn''t expect that Souta would grow faster beyond their information. For them, Kessa was the only threat to their plan and the others could be dealt with by their own strength. She was strong but she easily fell into the enemy''s trap. So he needed to remind her to stay here so that other experts of Astros could support her. Also, the rewards that Souta got by helping Alexander in conquering the Multiple Elements Realm, he hasn''t used it yet. The [Five Element Rune Formation] would be a great addition to Astros'' defenses. It would solidify the whole city of Ekatoe, turning it into a fortress with powerful defense and attack. Souta already planned to erect it around the Guardian Fortress. One of the two Guardian Fortresses of Astros would stay here at the center of the Ekatoe and would act as a medium for the rune formation. So Souta could bring it out in the future. He smiled before he turned his back to Kessa. "I will be back..." Souta said to her before he left the room. He burst through the sky with insane speed. It caused a huge disturbance when he left but it only lasted for a second since he was already several kilometers away. Soon, Souta arrived at the site where Eilish fought the unknown group. Elder Hanmi and the others that he tasked were also here. "My Lord!!" The soldiers greeted him when he arrived. Souta gave them a nod before he focused his attention on his surrounding. "This...?" This place surprised him. Everything within a radius of ten kilometers was a barren land. Even the soil was dead and Souta guessed that no grasses would be able to grow here for a while. It would eventually turn back to normal since the Imperium''s energy would flow through it but this was still devastating. Souta squatted and placed his palm on the land. It felt like he was touching some ashes. It wasn''t burned but instead, it was as if life was sucked out of this piece of land, turning this place into a dead land. "If there is a user of dead mana here then they could use this land to turn it into their den. The land will not recover but instead will turn into something else." Souta turned his head to the soldiers close to him and asked, "Did you discover anything in this place?" "Nothing, My Lord! Every part of this land is the same!" The soldiers answered. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin as he went into deep thought. After a while, he glanced at Elder Hanmi and said, "Prepare yourself, we''ll go to the Earthen Woods." "Earthen Woods...?!" Elder Hanmi was surprised when he heard Souta''s words. "Yeah," Souta nodded. "That''s... We just went into a temporary treaty with them after the war in the central region." Elder Hanmi said. "It''s temporary. The groups in Earthen Woods are unified, unlike any other region. After the war, most factions have submitted to us yet this piece of land closed their borders. Plus, I wanted to know who collaborated with them. Is it the Hall of Power or something else that we don''t know about?" Souta said as he turned his eyes in the direction of the Earthen Woods. A glint of coldness flashed deep within his eyes. 62c5b2942708fd12a9ad975e Chapter 846 Earthen Woods "If that''s what you really want then we will follow you." Elder Hanmi replied. He stared at Souta''s back. He couldn''t believe that a monster who could barely fight him without help back then had already grown into someone that could dominate a small piece of land in Imperium. Souta was already capable of killing someone that broke the first great shackle, while he stayed at the level of One Shackle all this time. Although he was close to breaking through to Two Shackles, it wasn''t comparable to Souta''s absurd growth speed. Even Alice, Franklin, and the others also had unbelievable growth speeds. Some of them had already surpassed him. ''Perhaps, My Lady''s decision is right.'' Elder Hanmi said inwardly. He couldn''t help but think about his friend that passed away, Elder Guan. Elder Guan supported Souta from the start. "Good. We''ll go there immediately." Souta said. What if there was a bigger force here? He couldn''t carelessly fight since his action right now would be considered as the action of Athen''s Champion. He was sure that various factions all over the continent already knew that the Athen''s Champion extends their hands to the land that didn''t belong to them. One wrong move like overextension once again would be treated as a military march by the nearest Large Countries. Even the other Holy Lands would point their fingers at Olympus. The only reason why they were letting the Athen''s Champion stay in Hall Plains was because they prevented the awakening of No God Emperor. If No God Emperor really broke out of his seal, then the other Holy Lands and Large Countries wouldn''t tolerate such an action from Olympus. They were letting the Athen''s Champion be in the Hall Plains on the account of stopping a wild god go out of control. Well, Souta also knew that if Hall Plains was a land that was full of resources then a war would really break out. The balance would collapse just like that. It was easy to cause a war than to stop the war from happening. A war on a larger scale that involves god was something that Souta avoided now. He could fight higher-level experts with his hidden aces but that''s only a temporary one. Souta flipped his hand and looked at the system. He had the [Emperor''s Blessing Card] that was added to his hidden aces. He wouldn''t use this unless the situation was the worse possible outcome with no way out even after using all of his skills and equipment. Also, he had the [Blood Card] that he could use if someone from an entirely different level showed up. If he didn''t defeat No God Emperor using his Archetype at that time, he would be forced to use it. His power as Blood would easily dismantle Yenxa to nothing. It wasn''t a good time to use it since he could use it to survive a direct attack from a God or Monster Lord. So using it against a vessel of a God that didn''t even have the power of a Freedom Realm was a waste. Luckily, everything worked out without using the card. And then... There''s a new title. [Vanquisher of the Lord]. It was a title that was given to him after he prevented the awakening of the Lord of Hall Plains, No God Emperor. It gives him a 20% boost to his stats when fighting inside the territory of his enemies. It was a pretty good title to him since he preferred to bring the battle to his enemies'' territory. Witch Clan Leader Rowan, Inheritor of the Creep Lord, or Ancestor of the Great Asteley Empire. Souta fought most of his previous enemies in their territories so this title would be a great help to him. He looked at his titles. [Dominator of the City], [Ruler of the Sub-World], [Labyrinth Cleaner], [Thirteenth Zodiac], and [Vanquisher of the Lord]. In total, he already gained five titles ever since he arrived in this world. Swoosh!! Souta snapped out of his thoughts as they arrived in front of the Earthen Woods. The seemingly endless trees in front of him were all part of this land. This region was a gigantic forest that span almost seventy thousand kilometers. Hall Plains was just a small piece of land in the entirety of God''s Continent, yet a single region of Hall Plains was already this huge. Souta thought that two Mine Valley could be fitted inside this vast region. It was expected from the largest continent in Imperium. Despite having a huge land, Souta couldn''t feel any threat coming from it. He still didn''t lower his guard though. It was better to be cautious. Souta, Elder Hanmi, and the rest descended from the sky. "I thought that they closed their borders," Souta said while looking around. "That''s what the report says but it seems different now..." Elder Hanmi answered. "I couldn''t sense any lifeforms in our surroundings." Souta found it strange that he couldn''t detect blood within the range of his ability. It felt like this was an abandoned place. Even tiny insects or ants were gone and that only made this place more strange. Souta looked left and right before he said, "Follow me, we''ll go straight until we find someone that we could talk to." The group advanced while silently observing their surroundings. The area was foggy and the sunlight could hardly reach the ground. The trees were numerous and each one of them mostly had a height of twenty to thirty meters. They were keeping the whole area moist. After traveling for several kilometers, Souta finally detected signs of life. It was a small village with a population of two hundred people. Their power level was low as their strongest expert was only at B-rank. If not for the increase in mana density, this expert wouldn''t probably be able to reach B-rank. "Just what are they doing...? Did the higher-ups of the unified tribe abandon the Earthen Woods?" Souta muttered while observing the village. He raised his hand and pointed at the village. The witches nodded as they rushed toward the village while hiding their presence. They were going to sneak in and investigate if there was something with it. Their power levels were higher than the villager so they wouldn''t have a problem sneaking in unless there was a sensory type among the villager. A few minutes had passed and the witches had returned. They reported that there was nothing wrong with the village. They also heard that the villagers were talking about the war and how their lives could be taken once the enemies invaded them. "War...?" Souta rubbed his chin. "Maybe, they are talking about the war against the forces of Mine Valley." Elder Hanmi said. "That''s possible since they suffered a defeat. They pulled back all of their forces and concentrated it on their base camp, leaving the other villages alone." Souta nodded. After the war against Mine Valley, the unified tribe lost several of their Shackled Realm powerhouses. It was a major casualty on their side and their military powers had tremendously decreased because of it. "Okay, we''ll go and find other villages. Preferably, a stronger one." Souta said to his men. The group advanced once again. They left the village without anyone knowing about it. The villagers didn''t know about a group of people that could easily destroy their village had left. After traveling for a few minutes, Souta and the rest stopped moving. They sensed a group of people running at high speed. Swoosh!! "Get back and we''ll kill you painlessly!!" An eight-foot man with four arms said with a laugh. Behind him were three others of his own kind. They were following a girl with a pair of goat horns on her head. "No, I will never let myself be captured by people like you!!" The girl said as she tried to increase her speed by moving her feet faster. Souta and the others watched the scene from the sideline. "It seems that something is happening in Earthen Woods..." He muttered to himself. He slowly raised his hand and said, "Go and save that girl. Also, don''t kill the people that are chasing her. It''s better to ask all of them." Swoosh! Swoosh! The witches disappeared from their position. They quickly arrived in front of the girl and the four men. "Who are you?!!" The leader of the Four-Arm men shouted angrily. The witches didn''t say anything. Instead, they stepped forward and swiftly launched an attack on the Four-Arm men. Bang! Bang! Bang! The power gap was too huge so the witches easily took down their target. Seeing this scene, the girl fell on her butt with wide eyes. She didn''t even know why these people decided to save her. No, these people didn''t attack her because they knew that she wouldn''t resist, unlike the Four-Arm men. "W-Who are you...?" She asked in a trembling tone. "Don''t worry, we''re not gonna harm you as long as you cooperate with us. So can you kindly tell us what is happening here?" The girl flinched when she heard the voice. She turned around and saw a man sitting on a branch of a tree. The moment she saw the man, her eyes widened in fear and her instinct screamed at her, telling her to run away. Souta simply smiled as he noticed the fear deep within the eyes of the girl. 62c5b2942708fd12a9ad975e Chapter 847 Tribe Leaders The girl knew that the man that was looking at her was dangerous. She couldn''t help but tremble as her instinct screamed at her. "Can you tell us why these guys are chasing you?" Souta asked as he pointed his fingers at the Four-Arm men on the ground. "If you tell us, then we aren''t gonna harm you." "I..." The girl was about to say something when Souta interrupted her. "Oops, I forgot to tell you that I have the ability to detect lies so once you lie to me you should know what will happen to you," Souta said as he slowly put his thumbs on his neck and gestured to slit her if she made a wrong decision. The girl gulped. Her forehead was full of sweat and her hands were trembling nonstop. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "I... I am Emina, daughter of Rigoru, the Chief of the Goat Tribe. These people are from the Four-Arm Tribe. They wanted to capture me so that they could control my father. They wanted the whole Goat Tribe to submit to them." Souta raised his hand to stop the girl from continuing. He looked at Elder Hanmi and motioned him to start asking questions. The girl didn''t tell a single lie. She was really the daughter of the Goat Tribe. Elder Hanmi stepped forward and asked, "Tell us the status of your Goat Tribe. If these guys wanted your tribe to submit to them then it must be powerful." "Y-Yes... Earthen Woods housed hundreds of different tribes. Among those tribes, ten tribes stood among the rest. Our tribe is one of those ten. My father, Rigoru, is one of the few Two Shackles Realm of the Earthen Woods." Emina said. "So basically you''re a princess. I thought that the tribe in this land is unified so what happened to them?" Elder Hanmi asked another question. Emina slowly answered, "A few months ago, the hidden Tanuki Tribe had appeared. They unified all the tribes in the Earthen Woods in the blink of an eye." ''Tanuki Tribe...'' Souta rubbed his chin. If he wasn''t wrong, most of the tanukis were living around the territory of Takamagahara. Amatsukami, the abode of the Heavenly Gods such as Amaterasu and Susanoo. Takamagahara was far from Olympus. There were several Holy Lands and Large Countries between them. So there was a tribe of tanukis in this land too. It''s not surprising since he could find various races in different lands. The same for monsters, there were goblins here and there were also goblins in other lands. Emina continued, "The Tanuki Tribe decided to expand. They brought out tons of resources as they tried to strengthen the overall might of the Earthen Woods. While everyone was preparing, chaos occurred. A battle broke out and it destroyed several dozens of villages across the land. The culprit was two outlanders. People dubbed them as Golden Fist and Face Changing Demon. In the end, the tribe leader of the Hawk Tribe had to personally appear just to stop the two outlanders. "It brought rage as hundreds of innocent people died in that event. Since various tribes experienced a boost in their strength thanks to the resources provided by the Tanuki Tribe, they decided to take revenge. They wanted to expand the territory of the Earthen Woods. A war occurred as they fought the outlanders. Various tribes sent their forces yet the Tanuki Tribe didn''t even send a single one of their expert. You should probably know the outcome of the war. We are defeated." The unified tribe lost a huge part of its military prowess. They lost several Shackles Realm experts and hundreds of Solidifying Realm experts. It was a huge blow to all of the tribes in the Earthen Woods. They pulled back their forces after the chaotic event on the battleground. An internal dispute occurred at this time. Some of the tribes banded together to fight the Tanuki Tribe who didn''t help them in the war while the others decided to take the neutral stance. The Four-Arm Tribe, Hawk Tribe, Bear Tribe, and Tiger Tribe were the ones that decided to rebel against the tanukis. But they forgot why the tanukis managed to unify the entirety of Earthen Woods in the first place. The four rebel tribes were defeated and now they were strengthening their forces. They were targeting the other tribes as their military might grow stronger and stronger with each passing day. "Right now... I think the rebel tribes have the power to fight the Tanuki Tribe." Emina said. "Hahaha, we are going to rule the Earthen Woods! We''ll bring down those high and mighty tanukis!" One of the Four-Arm men on the ground laughed. Souta glanced at the Four-Arm men before he sent a gesture to the witches. The witches nodded as they pulled out the dagger on their waist. "No one gave you a permission to open your mouth so die..." They raised the daggers in their hands and swiftly swung them on the heads of the Four-Arm men. Swoosh!! Blood splattered, dyeing the grass in red. "Eeik!!!" Emina was terrified when she saw this scene. She subconsciously took a step back. Souta ignored the corpses on the ground as he stared at the girl. He knew that the girl wasn''t lying so a civil war was currently happening in this region. "What are we going to do now?" Elder Hanmi asked. "There are no changes in our plan except our target this time will be the leaders of those rebels," Souta said. "I see... I found it suspicious that the rebels could fight the overlord of this region. According to this girl, the Tanuki Tribe defeated them before yet they already possessed the might to rival them in just a short amount of time." Elder Hanmi said his opinion. "If we haven''t found any clues then we''ll ask the other tribe leaders," Souta said as a matter of fact. He''s going to find out if there were clues about Eilish''s brother here. After all, the group with her brother appeared at the time when they were fighting the tribes. The timing of the appearance was perfect along with the attack in Bland City. It shouldn''t be a coincidence. "Let''s go. Guide us to where the rebel tribes are, girl." Souta glanced at Emina. Emina could only nod her head. She didn''t have a choice since she felt that she would die once she disobey this man. ... The Four-Arm Tribe, Hawk Tribe, Bear Tribe, and Tiger Tribe''s leader were having a meeting. The four tribe leaders were sitting around a wooden table. The atmosphere was heavy as they didn''t even try to hide their energy level. "My men are after the Goat Tribe. They have no choice but to assist us in our goal." An eight-foot-tall man with two pairs of arms said. He was the tribe leader of the Four-Arm Tribe. "Does it really matter? I think that we could defeat the tanukis with our current military prowess." The Bear Tribe Leader said. "Hey, it''s the tanuki we are talking about here. It is better to maximize our chances before we dragged them down from their throne." The Hawk Tribe Leader said. "Those tanukis are cunning. They didn''t even send their forces in the war so they didn''t lose any of their experts." "That''s why we had to strike them now. I''m sure that they are preparing for us so they wouldn''t expect it if we launch an attack at this moment." The Bear Tribe Leader said. "We''re going to unify this land once again and we''re going to drag those tribes that taken a neutral stance. Those tribes are cowardly. They didn''t even think about their men that died in the war." The Four-Arm Tribe Leader said with a hint of hatred in his voice. "Let''s go and fight them. After we defeat the tanukis, we are going to destroy them one by one. Those tribes will regret why they didn''t make a decision." The Tiger Tribe Leader said fiercely. Suddenly, the door was slammed open and the three tribe leaders turned their heads. Bang! They saw a group of people entering the room as if this was their home. "Who are you?!" The Four-Arm Tribe Leader stood up and pointed his finger at these unknown people. Then, he recognized a girl among them. "Emina...?! Why are you here?!" Emina trembled as she hid behind Souta''s group. Souta scanned the room with a smile on his face, then he flicked his finger and aura covered the room instantly. "Let''s start the interrogation, I doubt that you guys would tell me anything so I had to do this." Souta said as he sat down on the vacant chair and stared at the four tribe leaders. His aura froze everyone in the room. It was as if a giant boulder was pressed on their shoulders, putting them on their knees. If he didn''t show his power, he doubt that these people would listen to him. 62c5b2942708fd12a9ad975e Chapter 848 Kill The four tribe leaders froze as they sensed the dense and horrific best feram in the atmosphere. Emina fell to her knees as she held her neck with both of her hands. She tried to use her energy to protect her from Souta''s aura but it was useless. Ugh!! Her power level was only at the intermediate liquefying realm. Souta''s aura at a high fourth stage could suffocate her to death. Souta glanced at Emina before he retracted his energy. He turned to the tribe leaders and said, "Elder Hanmi..." Elder Hanmi nodded. He stepped forward and asked the tribe leaders, "Is there someone helping you?" The expression of the four tribe leaders was pale. They lifted their heads and glanced at Souta with fear in their eyes. Souta rested his chin on his palm as he observed the tribe leaders with a bored look. "Answer the question!!" Elder Hanmi raised his voice. "W-Who are you...?" The Bear Tribe Leader didn''t answer instead, he asked a question. "Hmm..." Souta hummed before he moved his fingers. Several strings of webs flashed on his fingertips. Swoosh!! In the next moment, the head of the Bear Tribe Leader fell on the floor, splashing blood in every direction. The blood didn''t fall on the ground instead, it float above them. "T-This ability... N-No... It can''t be..." The Four-Arm Tribe leader backed away as he stared at Souta''s figure with fear and despair. "Y-You are... the Blood Lightning Monster!!" "B-Blood Lightning Monster...!!" The other two tribe leaders trembled as they felt a cold chill on their spine. Who wouldn''t know the Blood Lightning Monster in the entirety of Hall Plains? That monster was a powerful fourth stage that stopped the war in the central region with his overwhelming power. Although a lot of people didn''t know his appearance, news about Souta circulated around the land. The Blood Lightning Monster was also called as the Lord of Hall Plains. He was crowned as the strongest of the Hall Plains. The Blood Lightning Monster was a Head of the Dragon Council, he was the Seventh Head. Dragon Council become one of the most influential organizations in the Hall Plains after the war. The death of the First Head and Ninth Head weakened their forces a little bit but it was replaced by two people, Alexander and Gerxuzs. Enima stared at Souta in shock. She didn''t expect that the man she met had a high status. His status was higher than the entire Earthen Woods. She was glad that she didn''t offend Souta or else she would cause the downfall of her tribe. "Blood Lightning Monster...? People gave me a funny nickname. Well, I quite like it." Souta laughed. "Answer the question now." Elder Hanmi said to the three tribe leaders. "No... We don''t have anyone supporting us. We work together so that we could rival the Tanuki Tribe." The Hawk Tribe Leader said. The atmosphere suddenly turned heavy. The strings of webs moved once again and before anyone could realize it, the Hawk Tribe Leader was sliced apart. The same thing happened twice in a row. Two tribe leaders had fallen without a chance to fight back. "Oh, I forgot to tell you that I can differentiate lies from truth," Souta said to them. "He said that no one was helping you guys but I saw lies in his words. It means that someone is helping you so tell me who is it?" The remaining tribe leaders were shaken. They never expect that they would meet the notorious Blood Lightning Monster like this and it quickly led to the downfall of the two tribe leaders. "I don''t know who it is... She just appeared in front of us and gave us various resources that increased our military might. Our weapons also came from her. I don''t know why she helped us but we could only accept her offer since she was stronger than any of us." The Four-Arm Tribe Leader said. "That''s right. We used everything that we received to strengthen our tribe so that we could dethrone the Tanuki Tribe." The Tiger Tribe Leader nodded. Souta nodded. They really didn''t know the person that gave them support to fight the Tanuki Tribe. But he knew that it was a woman. He couldn''t help but think about the woman that visited him after he woke up. If he remembered correctly, the name of that woman was Layla. Layla... Souta closed his eyes before he waved his hand. Elder Hanmi and the rest of the witches stepped back. Hmm...? Souta raised his head and said, "We''ve got a visitor." "Visitor?" Elder Hanmi and the rest were confused but they quickly find out as the next second, a powerful aura erupted in the distance. Boom!! The aura spread out as it shook the entire area. The atmosphere turned chaotic in an instant. "Could it be...?" Elder Hanmi widened his eyes as he realized something. He turned his head and glanced at the two corpses on the floor. "Yeah, the woman that helped them planted a mark in their bodies. The mark disappeared since I killed two tribes leaders so the perpetrator realized it." Souta nodded and explained. He stood up and patted his clothes. He was about to exit the room when he remember something. "I forgot." Souta pointed his finger at the remaining tribe leaders and wrapped them around with webs. The only thing he was wondering about was why the perpetrator show herself. Is she confident with her skills? Or maybe she didn''t know that he is here? Nevertheless, this was a good thing for Souta since he didn''t have to waste his time to find the person behind the scene. Souta came out of the house and looked up. He frowned as he didn''t expect what he saw. The person floating in the air was a tall man wearing a white robe. "Of course, the culprit will not show themselves easily but I wonder if this man is involved." Souta muttered as he stared at the man. "Wait..." He turned his head and pointed his finger at the witches. The aura of this man was pressuring everyone behind him. There''s no need to doubt that this newly arrived man was strong. "What do we have here? A powerful fourth stage appeared in the scene!" The unknown man said with a smile. Souta observed the man for a few seconds before he said, "Why are you here? State your reason for disrupting this land." "And if I don''t?" The man asked. "I''m gonna force the answer out of your mouth." Souta coldly stared at the person floating in the air. He added, "I have one thing I want to add. You are no match for me. You will suffer if you try to fight me." He could see that this man didn''t have any artifacts higher than orange grade, so it all comes down to the skill he was hiding, but he doubt that would work too. "Your ego is too high..." The man said as the smile on his face disappeared. Souta glanced left and right. "There are too many people here. I think we need to change the battlefield." Since this was the base camp of the allied tribes, there were other people here aside from the tribe leaders. Their army was situated here but almost everyone was on their knees, struggling to keep their senses due to the pressure of the unknown man''s aura. "If you want to fight me then you have to bring someone at Four Shackles," Souta said before he charged towards the man. Swoosh!! In an instant, he arrived before his opponent. Souta opened his palm and grabbed the man''s face then he threw him up in the air. Boom!! A loud sound echoed as the man was thrown several hundred meters above the ground. "W-What...?" The man was shocked. He couldn''t believe that the monster was faster than him. It was beyond his comprehension as he never expected that a fourth-stage monster would be capable of this. Before he could even process everything, an enormous amount of best feram brushed across his body. The aura even reached the ground and the weaker people quickly collapsed on the floor. They couldn''t handle the enormous energy that was like a tsunami that could wipe everything out on the surface. Souta tightly clenched his fist and said, "Just like I told you before, you aren''t a match for me. You should have brought at least thirty Three Shackles." Ugh! The man gritted his teeth as he crossed his hands in front of him. The next moment, Souta''s fist slammed into his hands like a boulder. He could hear his bones making a cracking sound before he was blown away. Bang!! Souta didn''t follow his punch. He just stayed in midair, looking at the man with the same expression. "Now, do you want to answer my question or not? You should answer wisely if I were you." 62c5b2942708fd12a9ad975e Chapter 849 General Vanguard Swoosh!! Souta appeared in front of the man once again and threw a powerful punch. Bang!! A figure appeared and caught Souta''s fist, protecting the man from any harm. Hmm...? Souta raised his eyes as he stared at the figure that blocked his punch. It was a woman with long white hair. Her skin was white as snow and her body was covered in silver-colored armor. The armor was emitting a dim blue radiance and there were black lines around it with the red crest on the left chest part of the armor. The woman glanced at the man behind him and said, "I said before that you can''t start a battle without my consent. I will send you back to the headquarters later." "B-But... It''s just a monster..." The man said. "Did you forget the ruler of this land?" The woman said before she turned her attention back to Souta. "That''s the infamous Blood Lightning Monster, the newly crowned Lord of Hall Plains." "Blood Lightning Monster...? You mean... that monster is..." The man stared at Souta with wide eyes. "Yeah, that''s why I warned you not to create trouble since we aren''t in our territory." The woman said. "That crest and the symbol under your armor..." Souta said as the entire area started to shake heavily. "You''re from Asgard... With your strength, you''re probably one of the General Vanguard of a certain legion." "I''m Freydr, one of the General Vanguard of Tyr''s Arrow." The woman introduced herself. "You didn''t even bother hiding your identity. Does it mean that the higher-ups send you here for the purpose of confronting the Olympus?" Souta asked. He was skeptical. He didn''t expect that he would meet a warrior from another Holy Land in this place. Does this mean that those factions decided to follow Olympus'' action? Souta thought that they would let Olympus take care of this land since he took care of No God Emperor. But it seems that his assumption was wrong. Asgard wasn''t probably the only one in this land. The other factions probably send their forces out of their territory just like how Olympus send him here. It happened too early. Holy Lands sent out their forces in the other regions. It should be only for the demon army but now... Their purpose has changed. Souta was the ruler of Hall Plains. Although Hall Plains wasn''t officially part of Olympus, Souta was still the ruler of this land so in some way it became an extension of Olympus'' territory. So the warriors from other factions would conquer other small lands just like him. A fight would break out in different land because of this. The Large Countries who have allies in those different small regions would retaliate once they realized that a bunch of soldiers from the Holy Lands were marching in their neighboring lands. ''Since I''m capable of slaying No God Emperor''s vessel, they would send someone that could potentially rival me.'' Souta said inwardly. There was nothing good about this situation. If Souta defeated them, then the Holy Lands would only send a stronger force and then the Olympus would send someone stronger. This process would continue until the Holy Lands send the top brass of their forces, the Freedom Realm warriors. A warrior who broke all ten shackles. An expert who was freed from the limit of shackles. The Freedom Realm. "No, we don''t want to confront Olympus. We just want a share of this land. This Earthen Woods is enough for us." The woman who named herself Freydr said. "Tsk!" Souta could only click his tongue. Since Olympus started it, he couldn''t say anything about the action of the other Holy Lands. It seems that he really needed to go back to the Champion''s Den to know the reaction of the other factions. His assumptions must be wrong since a General Vanguard had appeared in this land. General Vanguard was a rank comparable to Grain Leader in Athen''s Champion. Sending an expert of this rank must have been because of his current strength. They didn''t think that an ordinary expert would stand a chance against him. "If I don''t want to share this land with any of you..." Souta asked. "We need to test you if you have the capability to do so," Freydr said. "Then, better prepare yourself. If the faction behind you sent you here then I guess the Olympus will not make it difficult for me if I protected this land, right?" Souta smiled and his aura burst out of his body. Boom!! The whole area trembled under the might of his energy. Elder Hanmi and the rest felt the pressure even though Souta was in the sky. He waved his hand and said, "Get out of here! We need to move! Our leader will fight and we will get caught up at this rate!" The witches quickly moved their bodies. Swoosh!! "Interesting... You''re the same as the rumors said." Freydr said and her energy burst out of her body. Both of their energies collided in midair causing sparks to fly out between them. Bang! Souta pulled out the vajra sword on his waist and Freydr quickly took out a small marble that turned into a golden staff. Freydr was the first one to attack. She pointed her staff at her target and several spheres of light appeared around her. These spheres of light shot rays that followed Souta. Swoosh! Souta moved around avoiding the rays as he used his Second Mode. Black spheres appeared on his back and the gravity around Freydr changed dramatically. At the same time, dark mist seeped out of his pores and black energy covered his body like an armor. He wasn''t going to underestimate a General Vanguard of Asgard and he also knew that he could defeat an expert at this level if he hold back his strength. [Crimson Moon]! BOOM!! The red energy blade collided with the rays of light and it caused an explosion in the air. Souta didn''t even pause as he flew straight to Freydr. He saw that something was wrong in the surrounding space. He moved his body to the side and threw several energy blades. Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of explosions occurred that almost covered the entire sky. Souta furrowed his brows and said, "[Ultra Air Mine]... That''s some high-level spell she got there." It felt like his opponent was more on the mage type than a warrior type. "Take this!" Freydr looked down at Souta from above as a huge magic circle appeared beneath her feet. [Grand Torment Burning Shock]!! A huge beam of flames erupted from the tip of her staff. The flames spread out illuminating the whole place with red flaming lights. The temperature rose sharply as the energy within the heat wave burned almost everything that it touches. Even though Freydr was several hundred meters above the ground, the trees started burning because of the change in temperature. Souta pointed his finger at the approaching flaming beam. A magic circle appeared beneath his feet and a black dot formed on the tip of his sword. [Black Hole]! The whole area turned dark instantly. The small black dot pulled all lights and matter within its range. Ohm! The ground started collapsing as trees and rocks were pulled towards it. At the same time, Souta moved his hand and made a grabbing motion. He added the force of gravity to the suction force of his [Black Hole] spell. Bang!! "This...! A tier 3 spell!" Freydr felt her body moving towards it. She circulated her energy and resisted the force that was pulling her. She waved her staff and moved away while casting several barriers around her. The [Black Hole] continued to suck every matter and particle. In just a few seconds, the light appeared and the black dot disappeared into thin air. It disappeared leaving the area with a devastating sight. A huge part of the land had disappeared from this world. Everything within a radius of two kilometers was wiped out. Souta didn''t even cast the spell on the land. He used it far away from the ground yet it was still affected. Freydr took a deep breath as she stared at Souta. She tightened her finger around her staff and her body emitted a dim golden light. [Greater Armor Enhancing]! [Higher Dark Resistance]! [Dragon''s Might]! [Earth Armor Body]! [Greater Agility Boost]! [Flame Strength]! She used several spells to boost her stats. She had to do this since she saw that Souta was different from any other fourth-stage monster that she saw before. Souta looked down at his palm and muttered, "Although the tier 3 spell is powerful, my opponent has strong resistance. As expected, I can''t beat someone at Fourth Shackles, especially a General Vanguard easily." He turned his attention back to Freydr and smiled before his aura changed once again. [Negative Land]! [Investiture of the Dark]! The day turned into night as darkness covered the whole area. Freydr tightened her muscles as she prepared herself for the battle. "Let''s see how much it will get after being boosted by these high-level skills." Souta pointed his sword once again. [Black Hole]!! 62c5b2942708fd12a9ad975e Chapter 850 Blood Lightning Monster Freydr widened her eyes when she saw the black dot. She hurriedly moved her body away as the powerful suction force appeared once again. Bang!! Bang!! The barriers around her crumbled into pieces. "Shit!!" She pulled back with all of her might. Ohm!! Everything was pulled and crushed into nothingness. The energy from the black hole sucked all the matter within its range with unbound might. It was far stronger than the black hole earlier. A huge explosion occurred as flames spread out but in the next second, it disappeared in the face of the black hole. Bang!! It only lasted for a few seconds before it disappeared. Souta stared at the destruction that was caused by his spell. Anyone below Four Shackles would be crushed instantly under the might of this spell. That''s what he concluded after seeing this spectacle. Although [Black Hole] was powerful, someone at Freydr''s level still survived without even taking grave injuries. As expected of a General Vanguard, she was stronger than ordinary Four Shackles. Well, he didn''t expect that he would be able to kill a Four Shackles with just one spell. "It''s quite good." Souta nodded. He raised his eyebrows and stared at his opponent. "Huff... Huff... Huff..." Freydr breathed heavily and her forehead was full of sweat. Intense pain was coming from her right hand which was covered in blood. She still took some damage from that tier 3 spell. [Holy Light of Healing]! She clenched her fist and a golden light covered her bloody hand. In the next second, her hand turned back to normal as if nothing happened. Souta smiled seeing the damage he gave to his opponent disappear just like that. "Really..." He bent his knees and launched himself at Freydr. Swoosh!! Freydr stepped back and waved her staff. Several rays of light were fired at the same time. Boom! Boom! Boom! Elder Hanmi and the rest were watching the battle several kilometers away. Even though they were far, they could still feel the pressure in the atmosphere and the shockwaves from their attacks. "A woman appeared to save that unknown man from our lord." A witch said. He looked down and he could see his hand was shaking. "Lord Souta will win this battle. His opponent isn''t as strong as the one in the central region." Elder Hanmi said. He was clearly talking about No God Emperor. As for Draymond, Freydr was stronger than him. Bang! Bang!! Souta and Freydr clashed several hundreds of times. Souta tested his current limits and after ten minutes, he almost gave up. He couldn''t keep up with Freydr anymore with his current strength. Even though he got stronger, it wasn''t enough if he wanted to defeat his opponent. A General Vanguard was really strong so he had to step up his game. If it was Draymomd he would have lasted longer. His new skills were strong but the gap couldn''t easily cross. [Possession]!! [Hunting State]!! [Serial Killing State]!! Souta''s aura grew stronger and stronger as he activated a few of his equipment skills. Ohm!! Freydr also activated the equipment skills of her staff and armor. At the same time, she buffed herself with spells so that her stats would grow stronger far above Souta. "Good... Let''s take it to another level!" Souta''s grin grew wider as dark and light spread out from his body, covering the whole battlefield with darkness and light. [Dual Element Drive: Dark and Light Integration]!! He swung his sword and blasted his opponent away. Freydr turned into a stream of light as she crashed into the ground causing massive destruction. Ugh!! Freydr spat a mouthful of blood as she stared above with a look of disbelief in her eyes. "Integration Stage...?! This will be troublesome." She gritted her teeth and her elemental power burst out like a tidal wave. Bang!! Her elements clashed with Souta''s elements, causing the land to shake. In terms of elemental ability, she admitted that she wasn''t a match to Souta. Hers was still at Force Stage so she would hardly be able to contend with her opponent if she fought using elemental powers. Swoosh!! Souta flashed towards her and she stepped aside while casting several spells. [Air Explosion]!! [Light Lock]!! Souta swung his sword and a burst of crimson energy blade flew out. He stepped forward before he disappeared from his position. Freydr widened her eyes. "He teleported?!" She quickly turned around while swinging the staff in her hand. Swoosh!! Souta was behind her. He stretched his hand as blood covered his entire body turning into armor. [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]!! His sudden increase in strength surprised Freydr. His hand tore through the layers of barriers around her as he grabbed her collar. "Shit!" Freydr cursed as she watched Souta swing the battering ram into her face. "You can''t defeat me easily!!" She roared as a raging tide of flames appeared behind her, sweeping everything in sight. It was a sea of flames that almost covered everything in the sky. The destructive energy of the flames even burned the blood armor around Souta''s body. It engulfed everything like a hungry beast. Boom!! Souta gritted his teeth as he crossed his arms in front of him. He could handle the heat but the destructive energy within it was something else. Even Draymond, who was weaker than Freydr, forced him to use some of his aces. So it''s natural that he had to go all-out against a stronger opponent. "So strong... I''ve finished testing my current strength. I guess it''s time to end this." Souta said as he felt his entire body melting. "Yeah, it''s time to end this!" Freydr roared as she increased the firepower of her attack. Boom!! On the other side... Three people were watching the battle from the mountain. These three people were from the strongest tribe in the Earthen Woods, the Tanuki Tribe. They were watching the battle with fear in their eyes. Souta and Freydr''s power was completely beyond their own. They could see the intense sea of flames and black holes demolishing everything around it. It was a horrifying sight for them. "Don''t worry." The three people turned their heads and saw a woman with a veil covering her face walk in front of them. "Milady..." The three said at the same time. This woman was the Chief of the Tanuki Tribe, Ezchi. Ezchi stopped in front as she stared at the battle with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She slowly opened her mouth and said, "It''s a natural reaction when facing an existence beyond your own. This is a battle between two powerful beings. You can''t control the reaction of your body in front of such power. It''s instinct." The vibration in the air was too high. Every second, it feels as if the entire space was trembling under the might of those two beings. Ezchi narrowed her eyes. ''Still... Blood Lightning Monster and a General Vanguard... It seems that the Holy Lands have started moving.'' She turned her head in a certain west. ''Beimun Empire will eventually learn this information. I needed to move my tribe soon since they will not tolerate this kind of action from the Holy Lands.'' Beimun Empire was situated in the west of the Hall Plains. It was a Large Country and the public knew that two god-rank powerhouses were protecting it. Aside from Beimun Empire, there was another Large Country beyond the south of the Hall Plains. These two Large Countries would undoubtedly react if they learned that another faction sent a bunch of their soldiers near their territory. They haven''t even touched the Hall Plains since it was like a boundary that divided their land yet someone wants to take it. ''I don''t need to wait for their reaction... I will prepare as soon as possible since there''s a possibility that this place will become a battlefield for high-level experts.'' Ezchi said inwardly. There was a possibility that the two Large Countries would ignore the Hall Plains but it was small since Asgard had already involved themselves in this land. The two Large Countries probably didn''t either any of the Holy Lands to get their hands on the Hall Plains. Who knows where they would stretch their hands once they''ve finished the Hall Plains. ''But I thought that the Holy Lands would''ve concluded to let this piece of land in the hands of Olympus, specifically the being who stopped No God Emperor. It seems that it wasn''t the case anymore after the General Vanguard appeared.'' Boom!! A loud explosion occurred. Ezchi stared at the battlefield and muttered, "It seems that the battle has concluded." The three people looked at their chief before they turned their heads at the battlefield. Ezchi turned around and added, "Blood Lightning Monster is as strong as the rumors said, no, he is stronger than those rumors." In the distance... Souta was floating in the sky with a sword in his hand. The wound on his body instantly disappeared as he stared coldly at his opponent who was laying on the ground. 62c5b2942708fd12a9ad975e Chapter 851 News About Giza Continent Souta glanced at his palm before his form turned back to normal. As expected, he couldn''t defeat a Four Shackles without using his release form. The limit of his current normal form was Three Shackles. To kill Draymond, he even used a Forbidden Spell of his [Yin-Yang Bracelet]. It would take more if he wanted his normal form to cross the gap and defeat a strong Four Shackles expert. ''Although I grew stronger, it''s not enough.'' Souta said inwardly before he returned his attention to Freydr. Freydr coughed a mouthful of blood before she stood up. She looked up and met Souta''s stare. "You are strong. Your reputation didn''t lie. I will pull back for now." She said before she turned around and left. Souta stared at her back until she disappeared. He didn''t chase after her to end her life. He knew that she didn''t lie when she said that she would pull back and he also felt that she didn''t have any battle intent around her. At the very least, a General Vanguard of Asgard would be gone from Hall Plains. He didn''t kill her so he wouldn''t receive any retaliation from the opposite side. Killing her would cause a different reaction. There''s a probability that the current situation would get worse if he killed Freydr, so he didn''t want to risk it. It''s probably better to chase them away for now. Souta moved his eyes and stared at the system. [You''ve triggered a quest!] [Territory]: Several powerful organizations have sent their forces to Hall Plains. They are planning to take a part of this land so as the Lord of Hall Plains, it is your duty to chase them away. Rewards: 20,000,000 exp, 25 free attribute points, and 15 skill points "Just an ordinary quest... Well, it''s not bad." Souta smiled as he turned his head to the horizon. After this, he was going to go back to Champion''s Den to know the reaction of the higher-ups in this situation. It''s better to know the limits of what he could currently do in Hall Plains as the representative of Athen''s Champion. He had an idea but it''s better to hear it from them. After the incident in Earthen Woods, Souta returned to Ekatoe City. He didn''t find any clues about the organization behind Eilish''s brother so he apologized to her. "No, it''s fine..." Eilish waved her hands. "Is that really okay?" Souta stared at her. "Y-Yeah..." Eilish averted her eyes as she answered. "I will just organize a few people to find clues about my brother." "We can''t do that." Souta turned around as he rubbed his chin. "I will help you find your brother, I already promise you." "I-I understand... Then, I''ll go now..." Eilish quickly excused herself. "Hmm...?" Souta raised his eyebrows as he stared at her back. "Something is wrong with her today..." Souta shook his head. He went to the Guardian Fortress in this land and started setting up the [Five Element Rune Formation]. With this, the defense of the Guardian Fortress would undoubtedly increase greatly. The safety of everyone would be guaranteed even without his presence. The overall might of Astros had increased. Although they lose tons of people in the war, the people who survived grew stronger than before. Most of the peak Liquefying Realm before had advanced their strength to early Solidifying Realm. Also, thirteen monsters from the Feral Corps had achieved third stage. Once Alice and the rest returned, their power level would greatly surprise everyone. While Souta was in coma, they were fighting and clearing dangerous dungeons. At night. Souta was on his bed with a transmission talisman close to his ear. "Are you still in the demon battlefield?" He asked. "No, we return a week ago. You haven''t called us for a month. What happened there?" Lumilia asked worriedly. "It''s nothing. A small war just occurred and it''s fine now. I''m doing great here." Souta answered before he asked, "Anyways, what happened to the battlefield?" He knew that the battle against demons in the Giza continent have worsen. It''s much worse than what''s happening in God''s Continent. After all, the demon army in this land has stopped advancing as if they were waiting for something to happen. The Giza Continent wasn''t like that, the demons continued to advance their forces. "Listen Wastes and Hunted Woods have become a land under the demons. The battlefield was moved to the border of Heretic''s Dynasty and Gigantis Kingdom. They are trying to take over two Large Countries at the same time." Lumilia took a deep breath before she added, "Actually, we''ve fought there for several weeks and we''ve benefitted a lot since it let us grow faster but the war grew larger and larger. The participants became above our current level and even Teacher Bargan was dispatched." Souta narrowed his eyes. It was worse than he imagined. Gluttony hasn''t attacked God''s Continent yet but the battlefield on the other continent already required someone at Teacher Bargan''s strength. Lumilia continued, "Teacher Bargan appeared without holding back. Luckily, he warned us before so we managed to retreat from the battlefield before he launched a fierce attack. Teacher Bargan annihilated twenty-nine cities. He killed fifty-seven Freedom Realm demons and nine demigods. The casualties on the two sides are estimated to be at least two hundred million. He did all of that in just a single day." Bargan focused his attention on the enemies. The battle between him and the demigods annihilated everything be it enemies or allies. If Lumilia and the others were there, they would die. Bargan was like a weapon of destruction that was detonated in that land. It destroyed enemies and allies. His power was recognized by everyone at that moment. There was no need to doubt anymore that he was the strongest mortal by far in the history of Imperium. Bargan was unstoppable before gods. The demons were shaken but they didn''t fall back. They adopted the strategy of the Deadly Sins and that was to seal Bargan. But Bargan was prepared this time and he escaped from their hands while killing two more Freedom Realm demons. Since the battlefield became a huge enough to consider Four Shackles a fodder, Lumilia and the rest were called back to their country. Souta sighed hearing Lumilia''s story. The battlefield in Giza Continent was much worse than he imagined. It reached the point that it was beyond his current strength. God''s Continent would become like that sooner since Gluttony would launch an attack. At that moment, the whole continent would be engulfed in the flames of war. Souta was prepared if he met someone above his current level. He had Blood Card and Emperor''s Blessing Card. But if a god-rank attacked, Souta could only save himself. He didn''t have enough strength to protect the others. "So what are you doing right now?" Souta asked. "Me? I''m just running our legion. It seems peaceful since I''m far from the battlefield. A lot of details in the war didn''t even reach the public''s ears since it will cause a panic." Lumilia answered. "Since you''re just managing the legion, I''ll give you a task," Souta said with a smile. "Okay," Lumilia nodded. "I haven''t even told you anything yet you''re already agreeing to it," Souta said. "Um... You''re the Commander of the Dark Oculus Legion and I''m just the Acting-Commander. I took over this position because your license has expired. When are you going to return? A lot of people are bugging me about you." Lumilia puffed her cheeks as she complained. "Ehe, sorry about that. I have something that I need to do here. I will return in the future. I promise." Souta laughed. "Anyway, take a map and draw a circle to the region that I will point to you." "Then..." Lumilia stood up from her bed. She went to the drawer and took out a map. Souta closed his eyes and tried to remember the dungeons from the game. He didn''t need to remember every dungeon, he just needed to recall the important ones that would greatly benefit Lumilia and the rest. He told her about a few hard dungeons that would give them enormous rewards. "Is there anything else?" Lumilia asked. "That''s all. I want you to remember that Solidifying Realm shouldn''t participate in the raid. It''s only for experts at Shackled Realm." Souta said seriously. "I understood. We''ll clear all these dungeons as soon as possible." Lumilia nodded. "By the way, how is your current strength?" Souta asked. "I''m close to breaking through the second shackle," Lumilia replied. "That''s good. Each of those dungeons will take you a few weeks to clear so all of them will probably take at least three months. At that time, you''ll probably achieve Three Shackles. Even more, if you maximize the benefit of those dungeons." Souta paused before he asked a question. "Is that true?" Lumilia asked. "Yeah, when did I lie to you? I''m looking forward to the time when I return." Souta smiled. 62c5b2942708fd12a9ad975e Chapter 852 Report A week had passed in the blink of an eye. Souta was extremely busy this week since he almost turned the entire Hall Plains upside down. His name resounded in the entire region and everyone learned why he was called the Lord of Hall Plains. He fought nonstop every day, chasing all the warriors from other factions. He even mobilized a lot of people just to find their clues. It became a little bit chaotic but it returned to normal after Souta chased them away. In the end, he became the most feared being in the Hall Plains. The name Blood Lightning Monster spread out as Souta chased all the warriors from other factions in this land. Souta was in his office reading the recent reports. "Hmm... This isn''t bad." He muttered. He placed the paper in his hand on the table before he stared at the window. Alice and the others haven''t returned yet. Well, he could understand it since he knew that those dungeons were hard to conquer with their current strength. Souta breathed and said, "Amanda, come here..." His voice wasn''t loud but it traveled throughout the entire Astros. Amanda, who heard his voice, immediately went to Souta''s office room. "Do you need me to do something for you?" Amanda asked. "Yeah," Souta nodded before he opened the drawer and took out a piece of paper. He threw the paper and Amanda caught it without any problem. She then took a look at it, only to find that it was a map. Before she could even ask anything about it, she heard Souta''s voice. "I''ve encircled a few places in that map. I want you to go there and verify something for me." Souta said. "What is it?" Amanda asked. "Check if the leader of those places hasn''t changed at all. Also, those red circles are dungeons that are suitable for your current strength. Bring a few people with you and clear it." Souta paused before he added, "Before you clear those dungeons just finish the task that I gave to you." "I understand." Amanda nodded as she stared at the map. "Good." Souta nodded with a satisfied look. He knew that Amanda wanted to increase her strength more than before after she learned about Elder Guan''s death. Amanda bid farewell before she left the room. Souta was going to start his plan now. The military might of the Astros was enough to complete a few things in his mind. He didn''t need to go and personally do it. "I needed Torkez to complete the cultivation of King Parasite." Souta closed his eyes as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. After a few seconds, he stood up and vanished from his position. Swoosh! He reappeared in front of a small tombstone. This was Yenxa''s grave. "Yenxa, I''m gonna go now. If you ever reincarnate into this world, I will find you. If you''re not, then I''m gonna invade the soul realm after I gain enough strength. I''m gonna bring you back." Souta said with a serious look on his face. The soul realm was one of the mysterious places of the Imperium. It was a realm where all souls go and undergo reincarnation. It has a huge impact on maintaining the balance of the world. Without it, souls wouldn''t have any place to go. They would be stuck in the material world and even potentially erased their existence because of the gods. Only souls could enter this realm. It was a rule since the beginning of the Imperium. Most of the knowledge regarding the soul realm has vanished. Only the Soul Tribe has interacted with that realm that even gods wouldn''t dare to do. According to the gods, the soul realm had powerful restrictions that ignore all concepts and it prevented gods from entering such place. "Don''t worry, I will find you." Souta said before he turned around from the grave. He returned to his office and prepared himself to depart. He was going to return to Champion''s Den. He already delayed it for a week so he couldn''t delay it anymore. He had to report back to the headquarters. Souta already finished the quest after chasing all the warriors. It''s time for him to know the opinion of those people sitting above. Souta went to Eilish''s room. "Eilish, are you busy? Do you want to come with me to Champion''s Den?" He asked. "O-Okay, I''ll follow you," Eilish answered. "Good, then we''ll go now. I''ll wait for you in the portal." Souta said. ... Souta was in the portal talking to the other warriors of Athen''s Champion while waiting for Eilish. "Do you have any news about the current situation?" Souta asked. "The only thing I heard before I was dispatched here two weeks ago was that there''s a huge battle in the Ruin Battlefield." The warrior pinched the bridge of his nose trying to recall something. "Oh, there''s also several battles involving several small organizations." "Hmm... I see." Souta nodded. Several small organizations... Probably those organizations at the level of the Red Matter Association. And then, the Ruin Battlefield... It was the largest battlefield in the entire continent. There were a total of three Ruin Battlefields and Olympus only occupied a small region in one of those three lands. That place was a total warzone. Most of the high-level experts were fighting in that land, trying to gain a piece of that huge cake. The resources in that place were high to the point that it became a battlefield where different factions such as Olympus and Asgard fought each other. Soon, Eilish arrived and they both entered the portal. The portal didn''t directly lead them to the Champion''s Den, but they were already inside the territory of Olympus. Souta didn''t have enough funds to build such portal. After a few days, Souta and Eilish arrived at the Champion''s Den, one of the most highly guarded cities in the entire territory of Olympus. The two entered the gate and they quickly noticed the warriors all over the place. It seems that everyone was busy and something big must have happened. The two didn''t waste any more time before they went to the headquarters of Athen''s Champion in this city. "I''ll go and report to Grain Leader Carmel. You can stay here and check the achievement points that you earned." Souta said to Eilish. Eilish nodded. ... "You did a great job in stopping the unsealing of No God Emperor," Carmel said with a smile on his face. "I just did what I had to do," Souta answered calmly. "Still, I didn''t expect that such a problem would occur in that small region. I didn''t even know No God Emperor nor the fact that there was a Large Country in the past in that land." Carmel said with a sigh. "Me too... It was already too late when I found out about his existence." Souta replied. "We''re lucky that we sent a few of our warriors in that land or else No God Emperor will be freed," Carmel said. "Speaking of that, what''s the reaction of other countries? I fought several warriors from other factions a week ago." "You did great in not killing them. It prevented us from having a war with them. I still don''t know the plan but the higher-ups are talking to them. The Holy Lands will probably back down from the Hall Plains. The only problem is the Large Country near that land." "The Large Countries... They didn''t touch the Hall Plains for hundreds of years since it served as a border that separated them. Now that we''ve touched it, they will be afraid that their land will be next." Souta said. "Yeah, around in each Holy Land, there are untouched regions. Those pieces of land are like Hall Plains. They aren''t under the Holy Lands or Large Countries. They are borders as the Large Countries didn''t want to get close to any of the Holy Lands." Carmel explained. If the Holy Land decided to invade and dispatched a god. It would be too late. The land of those Large Countries would become a battlefield and even if they could kill that god, the casualties on their side would be astronomical since it would be a battle between two gods. At the very least, with a border like Hall Plains, the Large Countries would be able to know if an army was marching toward them. Although it was full of holes, this gives them some sort of relief. "Well, since there are demons in the south, we should expect that there wouldn''t be a total war among us Holy Lands and Large Countries," Carmel said. "I see... Total war will not happen but skirmishes between the factions will still occur." Souta said. "It''s unavoidable. That''s what is currently happening. No big battle will occur between us." Carmel sighed. "Big battle... Are you talking about gods only? Or maybe a few higher levels of a mortal are included with it?" Souta asked. "Gods, Demigods, and Freedom Realm are the only thing that is considered big. In monster, that is what you called the peak fifth stage. If any of them fight, the effect of it will be tremendously disastrous." Carmel said with a serious expression. Souta recalled the incident in Ladros City. If not for the barrier, Teacher Bargan''s fight against the Deadly Sins officers would destroy the whole city. Luckily, it was a border city that was built to withstand an invasion from another country before the reinforcement arrived. Chapter 853 Grain Leader "Now, I want to ask you a serious question." Carmel''s expression turned serious. "What is it?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "Are you interested in promoting your rank?" Carmel asked as he rested his chin on the back of his palm. "Someone nominated you to become a Grain Leader." "Someone nominated me...? Can I ask who is it?" Souta asked. "You''re familiar with her... She''s Grain Leader Ibis, the one who worked together with you in defeating No God Emperor''s vessel. She retired from her position after suffering heavy injuries." Carmel explained. "Actually, I would like you to accept the position. Your strength is more than enough and our legion lost a few Grain Leaders in the previous battles." "What do you mean?" Souta narrowed his eyes. "Our Pallas Division lose a total of thirty-two Grain Leaders in the past month. Several organizations just like Red Matter Association are rising one by one. Even the other god legions suffered great casualties from the battle." "So the situation now is getting worse...?" "Yeah, we lacked manpower and a big battle occurred in the Ruin Battlefield. The Grains of Land, Lady Demeter''s legion, suffered horribly that various legions in Olympus sent reinforcement to help them." "Do you know the exact details?" "I''m sorry, even I don''t know exactly what happened in the Ruin Battlefield. All I know was that even the samurai from Takamagahara was defeated by an unknown group." Souta pinched the bridge of his nose. The position of Grain Leader would give him a huge benefit but there''s also danger to it. The chances of him being dispatched to a highly dangerous battlefield were high. Plus, not every Grain Leader was Four Shackles. It was the basic strength requirement in the position of Grain Leader. Stronger Grain Leaders already reached the Fifth and Sixth Shackles Realm and Souta could only defeat Fourth Shackles with all of his might. Unless he could use his Archetype in combat, there''s no chance of him defeating a Fifth Shackles Realm. "Okay... I accept the position of the Grain Leader." Souta nodded with a sigh. He wasn''t afraid since he just gained the Emperor''s Blessing Card which would let him fight an opponent of a higher level. If a Freedom Realm or a God hunted him in his mission, he still had a Blood Card to secure his life. Souta just hoped that god wouldn''t hunt him at this time. Gluttony would attack soon and a battle between gods would occur. Everything would be turned upside down so Blood Card would be needed in that moment. "Are you sure?" Carmel asked. "Yeah, I will take the position of the Grain Leader." Souta paused before he asked, "But a lot of warriors wanted to become a Grain Leader too, right? Is there a test?" "In your case, no. Actually, your contribution to the matter in Hall Plains was enormous. The higher-ups made an exception for you. If you want to become a Grain Leader then there will be no examination for you. You can take that position immediately. Also, there are Grain Leaders that nominated you just like Grain Leader Ibis and Grain Leader Darwin." Carmel explained. Grain Leader Darwin and Souta fought together against the Leader of the Rebels in the war in a subterranean world. So he has a good impression of him since both of them fought side by side at the stake of their lives. "Plus, I nominated you too. I have great expectations from you." Carmel added. "Oh, thanks for your trust." Souta smiled. "But you have to be careful... Since you are a Grain Leader right now, the responsibility on your shoulder will become bigger." Carmel said. "I know," Souta nodded. "By the way, what Grain will I take over?" "It''s Grain Leader Ibis'' position, the Sixth Grain War Leader," Carmel answered. "I see... So is there an official promotion? Or have you notified the Sixth Grain War about this?" Souta nodded and asked. "No, we''ll just send a memo to them that the new Grain Leader will be assigned to them. The Leader of Sixth Grain War has been vacant ever since Ibis retired but Ibis already informed her men that you''re probably the one to take her vacant position." Carmel explained. Souta inquired a little bit more about the position before he excused himself. He became a Grain Leader so he had a relatively high position in Athen''s Champion. Souta walked around and found that the warriors were busy. Some warriors arrived with grave injuries and some of them were dispatched to battlefields. Then, he met with Eilish. "Are you done?" Eilish asked. "Yeah, I need to go and check my achievement points. What''s the result of your achievements?" Souta asked. "It''s fine. I redeemed two spells and one pill that will greatly boost my strength." Eilish answered. "I see. I''ll check my achievement points too and see if I can find something useful in my current rank." Souta said. While walking Eilish asked what happened to his report. Souta told her that he became a Grain Leader of the Sixth Grain War. "You''ve become a Grain Leader?!" Eilish widened her eyes. "Yeah, that''s the reward I got after stopping No God Emperor," Souta said as he looked down. Eilish stayed silent as she glanced at Souta''s expression. She knew the cost of stopping No God Emperor. Souta lost one of the most important members of his group, Yenxa. Souta wasn''t the only one who lost a person close to him in that war. A lot of people of Astros experienced the same thing and one of them was Amanda. Soon, Souta and Eilish arrived at a huge hall. It was a place where he could exchange his achievement points. Souta went through the list of items available for his current rank. There were tons of things that he could get as a Grain Leader. He could even get some of the classified information if he had enough points. Weapons, armor, materials, pills, potions, skills, or even mana fruit was available. Souta ignored weapons and armor. He couldn''t get any universal grade through this method. He went through the skills and saw some skills for improving his growth rate. It was an auxiliary type just like his [Divine Dark Circulation] and [Divine Light Circulation] techniques. These two techniques improved the training speed of his elemental power and even enhanced his capacity. Right now, he practiced the two techniques to the highest level. It let him reach the Integration Stage and his capacity would enable him to last close to an hour using [Element Drive]. The recovery of his elements was faster because of this. Well, No God Emperor created these techniques for creatures that used best feram so it was extremely compatible with him. His element power was already stronger than most of the experts that attained the Integration Stage. Aside from the techniques, the things that boosted his elemental power were the fruits that he received from Alexander. After checking the skills, Souta looked through the pills, potions, and mana fruits. In the end, he chose to use his points in one legendary fruit. Most of his contribution was gone just like that. After all, the fruit was at legendary grade. It was called Field Energy Fruit. Holding the strange fruit in his hand, Souta glanced at Eilish and said, "We''ll find some room first. I want to absorb this and feel the effect of this fruit." "I see... Then, I''ll have to check the pills and spell that I''ve redeemed." Eilish replied. "Okay." Souta nodded. ... Inside a room, Souta used his energy to create a barrier to prevent the leakage of his energy. It was to prevent him from disturbing the other warriors in this place. It was the basic etiquette of the experts that wanted to train their energy. "Let''s start..." Souta raised the fruit close to his face. He widely opened his mouth and ate the fruit in one go. Thud! Souta gritted his teeth as he felt intense energy surging through his body. It widened the flow of his energy in his veins by a little bit. It was only a small change since he already had [Star Veins] which made his energy output a lot higher than normal. Ugh! He felt a scorching heat inside his body. It didn''t damage his body but it was an extremely painful experience. Thump! Thump! His heart beat wildly. It felt like it was about to burst out from all the energy flowing through his body. The fruit continued to change his body. Boom!! A tremendous amount of energy exploded like a bomb within him. The whole room started to shake. Luckily, he prepared several barriers before he started. The amount of energy that filled the room crushed some of the objects like chairs and tables. A layer of barrier was even shattered because of it. It could hardly contain all the energy that was bursting out of his body. Argh!! Souta groaned in pain as his sweat drenched his body. There was nothing he could do about it. Chapter 854 Mission After a while, the pain disappeared, leaving Souta breathing heavily. The Energy Field Fruit didn''t increase his strength not speed. It only enhanced his energy output, especially his energy capacity tremendously. The capacity of his monster orb reached a new height and it even enhanced his [Nebula Heart] a little bit. His energy recovery too has been boosted to a certain degree and the same could be said for his stamina. There was no increase in terms of strength, defense, and speed since the effect of the fruit was focused on energy and stamina. "It''s quite good..." Souta felt the changes in his body. "The effect hasn''t disappeared yet so my energy and stamina will continue to rise for a few days." After all, the Energy Field Fruit was a legendary grade so he wasn''t disappointed with the result that he received. "Since my energy output has increased, I can throw a much stronger energy-based attack than before." Souta raised a finger and a small sphere of energy gathered on the tip of his finger. He closed his palm and the energy sphere disappeared. He glanced at the system and was satisfied with the result. Energy(Best Feram): 14,650 Nebula Heart: 5,900 Stamina: 3,199 He guessed that he probably had a total amount of two ordinary peak fourth stage monsters'' energy. It was probably higher than Gerxuzs'' energy capacity. "Hu~" Souta stood up and stretched his body. He exited the room and found that Eilish had also finished what she have to do. He checked her with his [Galaxy Eyes] and found that her aura was slightly stronger than before. "It seems that the pills are effective," Souta said. "Yeah, but it will take for me before I broke the third shackle," Eilish replied. "You need to experience some battle first to stimulate your growth. We''ll do some missions first." Souta said to her. "What mission?" Eilish asked. "I don''t know. We''ll just check the catalog first." Souta shrugged his shoulder. Honestly, he had an idea about what mission he could take. With his rank as Grain Leader, he could probably take it. Souta checked the missions available for him. He knew that he just became the Grain Leader and he haven''t even visited his Sixth Grain War. He would do it later since he had to do this before the event in Solnes Theatre. He wouldn''t be able to have spare time later since the legion was dispatching warriors to several battlefields. Souta wasn''t dispatched immediately on account of his deeds in the Hall Plains. The higher-ups were letting him do what he wanted for now. Souta took a paper and passed it to the receptionist. "A mission to sub-world?" Eilish asked. "Yeah, I think it''s a good one for us." Souta nodded. Eilish looked at the details of the mission. "It''s a sub-world hidden in a dimension. It''s called Plunyx. Our mission is to gather the resources that are offered to our goddess." She glanced at Souta and asked, "Isn''t this quite easy? We just need to gather the resources." "Yeah, the people there worshipped the god of our legion. We''ll bring it back to the headquarters but you can''t let down your guard. There are strong people that could defeat you." Souta said to her with a serious look. "Also, our mission isn''t just to gather the resources. It is to write down the current state of that sub-world." There were many sub-world under Athena''s name. Those sub-worlds provided resources to the legion. Although they couldn''t get the highest grade that could only be found in Imperium, the legion could still harvest mid-grade ingredients. Once every ten years, the legion would send people to harvest those resources. Now that Souta thinks about it, he had territory under his name too out there in outer space. He guessed that he would send a few people there to get some benefits. Well, those planets under his name had the lowest mana density in the vast expanse of Imperium''s space. It was impossible for him to gather a legendary grade mana fruit, unless, it was a high-world. "I know... I''ve been to different planets and dimensions, so I know how to act." Eilish nodded. "Good. It''s quite good that this mission is still available. The other Grain Leaders are busy so no one took this mission." Souta smiled. Souta and Eilish went to the basement of the legion. The entrance was guarded by warriors at the level of the Shackled Realm, and upon arriving at the basement, the two saw a huge inactive portal. The height of the portal was twenty meters tall. There were two warriors standing beside it. "We''re here to complete this mission," Souta said as he passed a piece of paper to one of the guards. The guard took the paper and read the contents of it. "So you''re the new Grain Leader of the Sixth Grain War... I will say this to you, to open this portal, we needed to use a bunch of energy cores. You know how hard it is nowadays to open a portal considering the increase in mana density a few months ago. So you have to make sure to bring all those resources in just three days. You can''t bring less since opening the portal alone took a bunch of our energy cores." The guard slowly explained to Souta and Eilish. "Three days..." Souta narrowed his eyes as he rubbed his chin. "I don''t know if we could complete it in three days," Eilish muttered. "Well, I have another way." The guard said. Souta raised his eyebrows and asked, "What is it?" The guard pointed above with his finger. Then, he slowly explained, "Above, you can go into outer space. We''ll open the portal there and you''ll be able to stay there until you completed your mission. After all, it''s easier to open a portal up there." "I see... There''s a way like that. I forgot that we have a station out there." Souta nodded. "So would you like to take it? Or stick to the normal way where you could only stay there for three days." The guard asked. "I''ll take it. I think that I probably need a week to complete my mission. Three days is too short for me." Souta replied. "Okay. Then, follow me." The guard said. Souta and Eilish followed the guard. They went out of the city and flew straight to the outer space. Soon, they arrived at a piece of land just right above the Champion''s Den. The size of this land was two square kilometers. There were building around it and people were stationed in this place. Most of them were A-rank and above who could withstand the vacuum of space. "So there is a place like this just outside the planet," Eilish was a little bit amazed. "This land is called Station Brick. It was under the management of Lord Zeus'' legion. Usually, it is hidden in the space here so we won''t normally see it but the current situation right now didn''t let even the warriors here to hide." The guard explained as the three of them landed on a huge platform. "They are being dispatched to different battlefields too. I was lucky that I''m on guard duty so I''m not on the battlefield." The guard said with a smile. "How do you hide this huge land in a space?" Eilish asked. "Well, it''s simple. By ripping the space apart and creating a wider space inside it. Only people with space elemental mastery could do it." The guard answered. "Why did they have to bring this land outside?" Eilish asked. "Lord Zeus asked some of the gods to connect this land to the Imperium''s atmosphere a few months ago. The barrier here prevented any leaking of energy just like Imperium''s atmosphere so when the gods connect this land to Imperium, it gained mana density." The guard said. "I see... Even a normal Liquefying Realm would probably be able to destroy this if it didn''t have mana density." "Liquefying Realm is too much. All the materials that created this place came from Imperium plus the experts engraved some runes around it so it wouldn''t break easily." The guard explained. Souta looked around while listening to their conversation. It was his first time here, after all. He looked at various buildings around them and there was some sort of instruments all over the place. The three arrived inside a huge room. In this room, there was a portal that Souta and Eilish would use to arrive in the sub-world. The guard asked the warriors from this place to borrow some energy cores that they would use to activate the portal. Ohm!! The portal emitted a dim blueish light with a purple hue around it. "We''ll go now," Souta said to the guard. "Okay, if you encounter some problems you can ask some of the retired warriors in that sub-world." The guard said. Some of the retired warriors of Olympus didn''t choose to stay in the chaotic Imperium, instead, they chose to live a peaceful life in the sub-world. "I understand." Souta nodded as he waved his hand. "We''ll return in just a week." Chapter 855 The Fall Of Eru Empire Eru Empire. Eru Empire was one of the Large Countries near the battlefield against the demons. Their forces were huge and they were one of the reasons why the demon army couldn''t advance easily. No one would underestimate their might, even those Holy Lands had to be careful when dealing with them. A man was sitting on the majestic throne while looking down at his subordinates. Zardon III, he was the current emperor of the great Eru Empire. He was a man who stood at the top of the mortals. He was an elite Freedom Realm expert. No ordinary Freedom Realm would be able to match his combat skills. Everyone thought that he would be able to achieve godhood in the future. Most of his subjects believed that the current emperor would be able to join the ranks of their ancestor, the previous emperors of the Eru Empire that achieved godhood and was now protecting the country from the shadows. "How is the war?" Zardon III asked. "The demons have stopped forcing their forces. They reached became passive a few months ago so they didn''t initiate any attack." One of the Generals of the Army answered. "Hmm... What are they planning? They stopped before the battle became a war between Seventh Shackles..." Zardon III mumbled as he rubbed his chin. "Is it related to the latest event near the Olympus? My ancestor told me that a huge event happened there." "Your Majesty, even our allied countries noticed the anomaly in the demons. All of them have the same report saying that the demons are building defenses." The General said. "I see..." Zardon III nodded his head. From his point of view, the demons have conquered enough lands. It should be the time to start building defenses and manage the territory that they conquered. But he had a bad feeling about this... He always trusted his instinct as a Freedom Realm expert, which was hundreds of times higher than ordinary people. "The demons are planning something..." Zardon mumbled. He glanced at his subjects and asked, "Send a few of our scouts there to verify if the demons are really strengthening their defenses. Also, don''t forget to stationed more people around the walls. I have a bad feeling about this." "I understand, Your Majesty." The General nodded. Bang!! Suddenly, the huge metallic door of the throne room was slammed open. A man wearing a black outfit walked inside with a faint smile on his face. The man looked around as he combed his messy black hair with his fingers. He had that nonchalant attitude even in the presence of the emperor. "You!! Who are you?!" "How did you get here?! There are various runes all over the palace!" The subordinates of Zardon III shouted at the unknown man who intruded into their meeting. They released their aura one by one, filling the room with a very oppressive energy. Even Fourth Shackle experts wouldn''t be able to lift their heads in this atmosphere. Zardon III alone was already at Freedom Realm. The Commander of the Royal Guard and the General of the Army were also at Freedom Realm. Even the Minister was someone at Freedom Realm. The rest of the officials were either at Ninth Shackle, Eighth Shackle, or Seventh Shackle. Most of the top experts of the Eru Empire were in this very room. The unknown man still had that carefree smile in his place as he observed the people in this room. "A magical human, wood elf, high elf, dwarf, Four-Winged man, and mermen. The upper echelons of the Eru Empire are really filled with a variety of races." The man grinned wider as darkness spread out from his feet. Ohm!! Zardon III and the rest were instantly paralyzed. Their bodies had stopped moving along with their oppressive aura. They could only see the devilish smile on the unknown man''s face. "WHO ARE YOU?!!!" A loud booming voice echoed throughout the entire palace. The voice alone contained boundless power that dispersed the looming darkness on the ground. The palace started trembling as if it was about to collapse. The runes flickered wildly before they slowly dimmed down. Zardon III and the rest breathed a sigh of relief as the pressure around their bodies disappeared. "Grandfather..." The voice came from Zardon III''s grandfather, one of the God-rank powerhouse of the Eru Empire, the true pillars of this country. "I apologize for intruding on your place but I like your place now so I''m gonna take this land for myself. Also, I''ve deactivated all the runes here. I''m quite a master of runes myself. If I didn''t deactivate the runes, I would have some trouble arriving here. The defensive runes of a Large Country can truly hold back a god, luckily, I''m pretty good at disabling and carving runes." The unknown man bowed before he looked up. His eyes flashed with crimson brilliance. Boom!! The whole area trembled once again and a powerful aura that reached god-rank burst out of the unknown man''s body. Ohm!! His entire body was covered in a cape of darkness. Various crimson-colored eyes opened from the cape of darkness. "You!! You''re going to start the battle of gods?!!" The voice was filled with anger. The energy grew stronger and an old figure appeared above the palace, looking down at every living being of this country. But his attention was only focused on that unknown man. The unknown man stared above and the ceiling of the palace couldn''t block his vision. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "You alone...? It seems that the other gods of this country are underestimating me." "You''ve started it! This will travel across the continent and the other gods will move too!! A lot of mortals will be affected by your action!" The old god said in a loud and oppressive tone. "Let me start it... This will be over before you know it." The unknown man slowly raised his hand. BOOM!!! A powerful wave of energy rose from the capital of the Eru Empire. All the cities nearby could feel the presence of the gods. The intensity of the energy directly killed ordinary people. A mass panic occurred as the battle between gods began. In just a second, hundreds of thousands of people in the royal capital had died. Various experts from afar couldn''t help but gulp a mouthful of saliva. They were nervous as they didn''t expect a battle between gods would happen without any warning. It was too sudden that a lot of people died. This was greater than what happened in the Desolate Woods, the two Commandments back then were holding back their energy level so that the nearby countries wouldn''t be able to detect them. It''s the same for Zodiac Leo when he fought the Underground King, he held back and turned the battle in the sky so the city somehow survived. But this time, the gods didn''t care. They just kept releasing powerful attacks that could wipe out all the mortals. No, a barrier appeared all of a sudden that protected the royal capital from destruction. The remaining gods of the Eru Empire have started to move too. The energy soared through the sky and even the other countries saw it. They turned their heads and felt the intense vibration on the ground. Even the demons on the other side of the battlefield also felt intense energy fluctuations in the atmosphere. They all have the same thing in their minds. There''s no doubt that god-rank powerhouses were fighting in the Eru Empire. The gods from the nearest Large Countries opened their eyes. "This energy level... A powerful god had descended!" In just a minute, a figure fell from the sky and landed around the barrier that was protecting the royal capital. Bang! The figure was none other than the old god of the Eru Empire. He was on his last breath as he stared at his opponent in disbelief. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Five figures appeared at the same time beside the old god. All of them were gods of this country. Even the public didn''t even know a few of them since they have lived for a long time. "You... I''ve seen you five hundred years ago." One of the gods said as he stared at the unknown man''s face. His expression was grim as if he knew what was gonna happen right now. The unknown man looked down at them with a frosty demeanor. The darkness covering his body spread out in the sky, devouring all the light. In an instant, the light disappeared as everything turned dark. Countless crimson eyes opened within the darkness. It continued to devour everything in sight and it eventually covered everything with hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Even the experts who were trying to travel through space to escape were devoured as traveling to space was useless. It could even devour space. Everyone outside the Eru Empire, several hundred thousand kilometers away from the Eru Empire, stared at this sight in horror. "What is that?!" Their faces turned pale as they witness the power of a top god for the first time in their lives. It was a horrifying experience that brought terror to everyone that witness it. The unknown man slowly opened his mouth. "My name is... Esquin, the one who will devour everything. The Gluttony is the ability to devour everything. Now, let me hear your cry of despair." Chapter 856 Arsen Kingdom A piece of news traveled around the continent that made everyone turn pale. Esquin, the Ruler of Gluttony, descended with his real body and destroyed the Eru Empire. The six gods of the country put up a fight but they were eventually killed by him. The casualties of the battle? Almost everyone in the Eru Empire had died. Approximately seventy million people became the casualties of the battle. The only survivors of the Eru Empire were those experts who were stationed to guard the demon battlefield. In other words, it was a total annihilation. Everything was wiped out. Various gods who heard this piece of news grew restless. The Ruler of Gluttony descended in this land and they knew that a big battle would break out soon. A battle that would shake the entirety of God''s Continent. The Ruler of Gluttony was going to force those gods to move. The cost of this was the countless lives of the mortals. The whole continent felt the upcoming war of the gods. No one could prevent it anymore. Esquin has moved and destroyed a Large Country in just a single day. No one was prepared for this and everyone shall be drowned in the pit of destruction. The entire Eru Empire was thoroughly cleaned up. Right now, it was still covered by a huge dome of darkness with countless crimson eyes within. This dome covered hundreds of thousands of kilometers and it reached the height of twenty thousand meters. Outside forces didn''t know what was happening inside. They only knew that the Ruler of Gluttony launched a fierce attack. Esquin sat on the throne and dozens of people kneeled in front of him. These people were his subjects and they were willing to follow him until the end. "This land is ours... It''s cleaned up. The Eru Empire is as strong as the rumors said. Three of their gods could be considered elite. They surprised me with their strength." Esquin muttered as he rested his chin on the back of his palm. He raised his hand and played with a small marble using his fingers. This was no ordinary marble, this one contained different worlds that were under the rule of the Eru Empire. Esquin accidentally destroyed a few of them in the battle so this one was the only one he could save. He raised the marble to his eye level and looked at it with interest. "Looking at this, I couldn''t help but remember something that occurred a few months ago." That one undulation in the atmosphere felt like time and summoning was used strangely. It made him think that if Imperium was the same as this bubble and there was even a huge world out there. A world, a space, that could hold the presence of god. If that was true then the situation would turn around. Mortals didn''t know about this but Imperium has the most dense and toughest concepts. They thought that this was everything in the world. Going to a sub-world or should he say the other planet was everything. They didn''t even know that it was filled with countless worlds. Only gods knew that Imperium was called Mother. Just like the marble in his hand, it contained several dimensions. These dimensions were called boundaries. ¡¤?¦Èm First was a particle world that also contained infinite space but it was too weak that even the normal people of Imperium couldn''t enter it or else it would suffer destruction. The second one was called region which was by far stronger than particle world. It could house normal people of the Imperium. This region was just sitting in the so-called palace There were an infinite number of regions inside one palace. This was pretty decent since it could bear normal resources. Above it was the so-called boundaries that were compressed in the marble in Esquin''s hand. Then, there were outworlds that were above of the things that he mentioned. After that was something called beyond. And above it, were the thirteen dimensions which were called empyrean. It could even rival Mother but there was no planet inside it that was comparable to Imperium. "It''s an interesting one, right?" Esquin smiled as he glanced at his people. "My Lord, if that''s true then what sort of being will exist in a world above Mother?" One of the people asked curiously. "I don''t know, if it''s true then it will shake the entire Imperium." Esquin smiled as he opened his palm. "Well, I shall bring everyone here." Boom!! A huge amount of energy burst out of his body. The sky cracked and countless figures walked out of it. They were from the realm that he created in the past to hide his forces. Although none of them have reached god rank, there was still a huge number of Freedom Realm experts. "A beyond couldn''t contain a god so you guys couldn''t achieve godhood. Right now, I''ve brought you here to Imperium so some of you will advance and some will fail." Esquin smiled as he looked at the arrival of the new people. The army that he spent countless times cultivating has now descended into Imperium. He turned his head and looked at the Eight Circle Officer, "I will send you to inform all the organizations under my name to start the plan. I will not allow any delay." "I understand, My Lord." The Eight-Circle Officer bowed before he disappeared. Esquin''s expression turned serious. "Now is the right time. I will truly complete my goal, no matter what." He knew that there were giant obstacles in his path that he needed to defeat. Those Holy Lands and Large Countries would be the biggest threat to him. ... Souta and Eilish passed through the portals. They arrived in a huge pall with people dressed around them elegantly. Souta stepped forward as he surveyed his surroundings. He looked down and saw a magic circle carved on the floor. ''Hmm... So there is a teleportation circle here. They just connected it to these coordinates and opened a portal. The resource needed to warp is lesser since we''re from outer space.'' He said inwardly after a careful observation. Eilish glanced at her hands and muttered, "It''s been a while... It felt like a heavy boulder was removed from my shoulders. I think I can do everything in this land." Souta glanced at her and smiled, "The pressure of Imperium''s atmosphere is gone. It''s natural to feel that since the gravity and mana density is less than the Imperium." "Are we on just another planet or dimension?" Eilish asked. "Planet... We can arrive here if we fly through space but it would take us a lot of time. Going to another dimension needed us to break the space or any other related preparation." Souta answered. The people in the hall stepped forward and bowed at Souta and Eilish. "Greetings, the messenger of god." They said respectfully. All of them have proper etiquette and elegant demeanor, giving Souta and Eilish the impression that they were nobles. Souta glanced at him and asked, "Hmm... Can you brief me about this place and your identity?" "I understand, your holiness." One of them answered politely. She was a woman dressed in a beautiful white dress and her blonde hair draped on her shoulder like a waterfall. She explained that she was the first princess of the Arsen Kingdom. Beside her, a middle-aged man that looked like her was King Cerzes of the Arsen Kingdom. The old man on her left side was the pope of the church that worshipped Athena in this world. All of them looked at the floor, not daring to look at Souta in the eyes. The aura that was coming from his body wasn''t holy at all. It was like they were staring into endless darkness that could swallow them. Of course, Souta noticed this problem. He just ate a legendary-grade fruit and his energy had increased so it was a little bit unstable. It would take a few days before he got used to his current power. "Well, let''s go," Souta said to them. "I understand, please follow me," The princess said in a polite tone. Souta and Eilish followed the princess while observing the entire palace with their energy. The defense of this place was nothing. It didn''t even have any type of defensive runes. Well, Astros didn''t even have runes until he completed that quest related to Alexander, so he shouldn''t have talked about this. While walking, the princess was telling them the current state of the Arsen Kingdom. The Arsen Kingdom was a superpower in this continent. Their military might was one of the best and only a few could rival them. ''This brings back memories... Arsen Kingdom and there is another one in the north... I forgot its name but it''s a country comparable to this one. Then, there''s another one in the south that will wage war. What an interesting world.'' Souta smiled in his mind. ''But my goal is in the Devil Sea here in this world... I need to make a detour and visit that place later.'' Chapter 857 Talk ''In the game, I arrived in this land when the titans are waging war with Olympus. The Olympus send their citizens to their sub-world to avoid becoming casualties in an all-out war against the titans. The battlefield at that time is the land of Olympus and countless people had died.'' Souta recalled what happened in the game. He was tasked to escort some of the survivors to this planet. Slavery became a norm in this land a few years ago and when he arrived here with his fellow warriors, they abolished that system. Still, there are strong people hiding in this world. ''Right now, I arrived earlier so I wonder what''s gonna happen.'' Souta smiled to himself. He was quite interested about what would happen in this world. After all, he could remember a few interesting things here. "Should I prepare two rooms?" The princess asked carefully. "One is enough," Souta answered. "N-No, two rooms..." Eilish said. Souta glanced at her and raised his eyebrows. Eilish avoided his gaze as she slowly said, "I-I have to do something..." Souta looked at her for a few seconds before he turned back to the princess and said, "Okay, two rooms." "I understand." The princess nodded. "Can you tell me the current situation of this world? I need to know about the stance of other countries." Souta asked. The princess slowly told them the recent events around the kingdom and the continent. After a while, the three arrived in the guest rooms. There were two rooms here, one for Souta and the other for Eilish. "It''s already late so you can rest here for now. If you have any needs, you can ask me. I''ll stay in the room next door." The princess said before she politely left. Souta entered his room. He flicked his finger and set up a barrier to prevent the leakage of his energy. "It''s good." He sat down in the center of the room and closed his eyes. He would enter his inner consciousness for the first time in a while. He wanted to check something. Ohm!! Souta arrived in a seemingly endless space. The ground was like a smooth glass that mirrored the bloody sky. Various gigantic magic circles were hovering around and there were blueish veins-like things attached to it. This was his inner consciousness. It was entirely different from Saya''s since hers was just a fragment of her former inner consciousness. She explained to him before that her inner consciousness was shattered. Luckily, the time difference was still working. "I should start practicing my Archetype. It still needs a lot of work before I could use it once again. It wasn''t fully developed yet." Souta muttered to himself. His [Great Blood of the End] was different from the other Archetype. Using the characteristics that he learned when he fought Gerxuzs in the past, he tried to copy it and integrate it into this technique. Up until now, he hasn''t even managed to remove the flaws of this technique. But he would be able to complete the first step soon. When that happens, he could probably use the first form in real combat. Ohm! Blood seeped out of his pores and it turned into a red color lightning that flashed through the room. It was lucky that he set up a barrier or else everything in this room would turn into nothingness. Hmm...? Souta suddenly opened his eyes and the blood lightning disappeared. He turned his head to the next room. He sensed that Eilish had gone out of her room. "What is she trying to do?" Souta muttered to himself. He decided to follow her to know what she was up to. Eilish talked to the princess without even realizing that Souta was following her. The two walked out of the palace and they arrived in front of a huge arena. It was already late at night so only patrolling guards were in this area. "Arena...?" Souta rubbed his chin while floating in the sky. The princess said something to the guard and they left the arena. She then bowed toward Eilish and stayed outside. Eilish stepped inside the arena before she set up layers of barriers. "Hmm...? So she''s going to test her spells." Souta muttered. He looked at her expression and realized that she was still thinking about her brother. She was desperate to gain strength more than before. It wasn''t that bad but it seems that she was pushing herself so bad. Even Souta how to rest between his training routine when he was practicing inside Saya''s inner consciousness. "I''m not against her wanting to gain more power but... It will be bad if she became obsessive with it." Souta rubbed the back of his head with a sigh. ... The Church spread the news about the Messenger of God descending to their world. Everyone knows that a Messenger of God would descend into this world every ten years but they expect that it would happen this month. The Messenger of God was powerful and they have the strength to demolish a city with a single wave of their weapons. Although the Messenger of God wouldn''t leave the Arsen Kingdom, it still made everyone on the continent wary of them. In the past, some fools challenged a Messenger of God. The outcome was complete obliteration. Since then, most of the countries that have bad intentions with Arsen Kingdom would lay low once the Messenger of God descended into their world. It was a mythical being in their eyes. Aside from the higher-ups of the Arsen Kingdom and the Church, no one has seen the appearance of the Messenger of God. Souta stretched his body as he stared at the sun in the sky. It looks peaceful yet after hearing the princess''s story, he found that this world was quite chaotic. The princess silently walked beside him and said, "We''ve prepared breakfast." Souta glanced at her and nodded. His status in this world was even higher than the king or emperor. After all, he was the representative of the god that they worshipped. He even met Goddess Athena for real. Does this mean that they will do everything that he wanted? Should he test it out? Souta rubbed his chin as he smile wickedly. He then shook his head as he had something important to do first. The princess guided him inside a very spacious room. Eilish, the King, and the Pope were already here sitting on their seats. "Your Holiness, we''ve finished collecting all the offerings. It is in the vault of the Divine Cathedral in the City of Grain." The pope said respectfully. "I see..." Souta nodded. The City of Grain was quite far from the royal capital. The main city of the Church was outside the territory of the Arsen Kingdom. Arsen Kingdom and the Church had some sort of relationship but the Church wasn''t obligated to help the kingdom. It was like a one-sided relationship. The Arsen Kingdom was known as the Reydrud Republic in the past. It doesn''t matter who ruled this place, the church only wanted to know if they would worship their god. The reason for this was the teleportation circle was established in this land. So Souta and the other warriors that went to this world didn''t arrive directly at the church. Even though the church wanted to make this land their own, they couldn''t do it because of their oath. They had to stay neutral and only move when their lives were at stake. They couldn''t actively invade and conquer this land without any good reason. "I''ll go there and escort the treasures later. For now, I have something I needed to do." Souta said to the pope. Eilish lifted her head as she looked at him confusedly. She knows nothing about it. "May I know what''s the purpose?" The pope asked politely. "I''ll go to the so-called Devil Sea. As for what I''m going to do there, it''s confidential so I can''t tell you." Souta replied. "I understand, Your Holiness." The pope bowed his head. "Devil Sea is on the other side of the continent, Your Holiness. To go there, you need to traverse through the vast land and different hostile territories." The king said. "It doesn''t matter to me." Souta shrugged his shoulder. He glanced at them and added, "I''ll depart today wait for me for a few days." "Your Holiness, we can''t let you go there alone." The pope said hurriedly. "Huh?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "I''m not alone, Eilish is coming with me." "N-No, I mean that we can''t let you leave without any guide. We''ll prepare suitable people to guide you to your destination." The pope said. "Oh," Souta nodded. He realized that they didn''t know that he came here before in the game. From their point of view, Souta didn''t know the in and outs of this world. His knowledge was just the basic. It was also the same for the other warriors that descended here in the past. Chapter 858 Cryo Forest Five people were traveling in the middle of the huge forest. Two of them were Souta and Eilish. The other three were the princess who served Souta and Eilish. Her name was Dreimi. The other two were the Royal Guard Captain called Bandur and the Holy Knight Captain called Heimer. These three people were Souta and Eilish''s guides to Devil Sea. This forest was called Cryo Forest. It was a huge piece of land between the Arsen Kingdom and another country called the Viz Republic. According to the information, in the center of this forest, there was a giant pond of ice. Everything within that place was made of ice and no one could approach it because of the low temperature. "Have any of you visited that place before?" Souta asked. "I only saw it from a distance. I couldn''t approach it since I could die from an intense temperature." The Royal Guard Captain Baldur answered. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin and something came into his mind. "Okay, let''s check it out." Princess Dreimi and Heimer looked at him with wide eyes. That place was considered extremely dangerous. No one could survive the intense freezing atmosphere of that land. "A-Are you sure?" Baldur asked. "Yeah, if it''s dangerous then we''ll pull back but I doubt that it would harm me." Souta shrugged his shoulder. "I understand." Baldur nodded. They didn''t know Souta or Eilish''s power. They just know that both of them were strong, strong to the point that they could rival the top experts in this world. Arsen Kingdom was one of the strongest but they definitely weren''t the strongest. They were probably in the top 10 or top 9 and the difference to the forces above them especially those in the top 5 was huge. "Let''s be careful. This forest is the land that separated two countries. The Viz Republic is currently in a chaotic situation." Heimer said. "It''s been a while since we''ve entered this forest yet we haven''t even encountered a single monster. It''s strange." Princess Dreimi said while observing the surroundings. Heimer and Baldur couldn''t help but nod at her words. Souta glanced at them and didn''t explain. Actually, they should''ve encountered dozens of monsters already but they ran away after sensing Souta''s aura. Their instinct was telling them that Souta was a top predator. Roar!! Suddenly, a roar resounded through the forest. Eilish and Souta raised their heads in the direction where they sensed the roar was coming from. "Speaking of the devil, a monster had appeared!" Baldur said grimly as he pulled out a giant sword on his back. He stood in front to protect Princess Dreimi. Heimer brandished the two swords on his waist as he prepared himself. Souta raised his shadows as a shadow appeared above them. Bang!! The figure landed on the ground causing the dust to shoot up. The intense fluctuations of energy spread out covering several hundreds of meters in an instant. Souta stared at this monster. The monster was like a lion with glossy black fur. Its eyes were green and it had red sharp spikes protruding on its back. If he wasn''t wrong this monster was called Night Lion. It was a territorial and fearless monster. It would attack anyone that entered its territory. ¡¤?¦Èm "Hey, are you sure that you wanted to attack us?" Souta said in a soft voice using monster language. The thoughts of his words were only passed to the Night Lion so the others didn''t understand him. Roar!! The Night Lion roared in response as if it didn''t have any plan on backing away. Souta only shook his head. At this moment, Heimer launched him toward the lion. Baldur followed him and the two of them fought the Night Lion. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta, Eilish, and Princess Dreimi watched the battle from the sideline. Bang! Bang! The battle didn''t last long as Heimer and Baldur ended the Night Lion''s life in just a minute. An intermediate third-stage monster died just like that. It was a fierce monster unfortunately it faced someone like the Holy Knight Captain and Royal Guard Captain, who both experienced countless battles. The group didn''t immediately leave. Instead, they removed some of the valuable parts of the Night Lion just like the monster orb. After that, they continued their journey. Soon, the temperature became low. White mist covered the floor which was full of grasses made of ice. Even the trees in the surrounding were all made of ice. There were frozen statues all over the place. These statues were monsters and people that were frozen upon entering this dangerous land. "If you walk straight, you will find the frozen pond," Baldur said. "This..." Souta looked down as he opened and closed his palm repeatedly. "This is suitable for people that have ice affinity," Eilish said. "Yeah," Souta nodded at her words. The group continued to walk but they stopped after walking hundreds of meters. Princess Dreimi couldn''t handle the freezing temperature anymore. "I''m sorry, this is the farthest I can go." Princess Dreimi apologized. Even if she tried to protect herself with her mana, it was useless in this extreme environment. Souta looked at Baldur and Heimer before he said, "Stay here and protect the princess. I''ll go there with Eilish." Baldur and Heimer nodded at his words. There was nothing that they could do. Even though they wouldn''t die, the freezing energy was still affecting them by a little bit. Souta and Eilish advanced. Souta surveyed his surroundings as he wondered why the other creatures in this place weren''t showing themselves. With the range of his ability, he could sense that there were at least thirty creatures here aside from them. ''Maybe, they are sleeping. After all, it feels good to sleep in a cold place.'' He wasn''t bothered. He would detect it if anyone tried to approach him or the princess'' group. After a few seconds of walking, the freezing atmosphere grew to an intense level. There was nothing but pure ice in here. There was not even a speck of dust as almost everything was frozen. Eilish had no choice but to use her mana to protect her body from any harm. Souta looked up as he could see floating shards of ice. It was suspended as if it was attached to something. "Even some parts of the space are frozen...?!" He was a little bit surprised. Although the fabric of space in this world was different from Imperium, it was still unbelievable for an environment like this to appear in this world. Hmm...? Souta suddenly narrowed his eyes. One of the creatures that he sensed with blood moved slightly. It also released intense energy that made the atmosphere colder. "Did you sense it?" Souta asked. "Yeah," Eilish nodded at his words. "This is a little bit interesting. We''ll check it out." Souta grinned widely. The two walked further until they reached the so-called frozen pond. The atmosphere here was simply unbelievable. The amount of ice elements in the air was so high to the point that even time had slowed down. Of course, Eilish and Souta were unaffected since their bodies reached a higher state. But the blue fish on the pond was moving slowly, clearly affected by the slow-moving of time. Souta picked up a piece of ice fragments on the floor before he released it in midair. Thud! The time it took for the ice floor to land on the ground was six seconds. The height was just over a meter and a half yet it still took six seconds. "Interesting..." Souta smiled wider. He focused his attention on the pond. There was a small plant with a white thumb-sized fruit hanging on it. Besides the plant was a humanoid creature with clear blue skin. This creature had a shard of ice covering its body. It has long white hair, a white horn protruding from its forehead, and a pair of pure blue eyes. "Souta, that''s...?" Eilish narrowed her eyes. The creature wasn''t moving but she could clearly feel the pressure coming from its body. "A fourth stage monster called Icy Veil Lady..." Souta said to her. Icy Veil Lady was an evolution of Freezing Booslo. It was a monster that only had female genders. This monster kidnapped other male monsters and forced itself on them, before eating them as a nutrition for their babies. But reaching the fourth stage would make a monster different. They were far more intelligent than any of the lower species other than dragons who were born intelligent. "Hey, can I take that fruit over there? I quite like it." Souta said. The monster slowly turned its head and stared at Souta and Eilish with clear blue eyes. A piece of white veil was covering her nose down to her mouth. She looked beautiful and seductive but Souta knew that Icy Veil Lady was an extremely powerful monster. "No, you should go away from my home." The Icy Veil Lady said in a frosty tone. Chapter 859 Republic Souta rubbed his chin. That fruit was a super rare grade and clearly the owner of that fruit was the Icy Veil Lady. She seemed intelligent as she didn''t attack them immediately. If Souta was in her position, he would have launched at the invaders with murderous intent. Well, it was only a super rare grade so he could leave it to this monster. It would be a different matter if the said fruit was the legendary grade. He only came here because he was curious about this place. The environment of this land was good enough for a super rare grade to appear. In a few years, a legendary might appear here. "Okay," Souta said to the Icy Veil lady. Eilish glanced at him and asked, "Are we going to leave just like that?" "Yeah, it''s not that this monster has done anything wrong to us. In fact, we are trespassing on her territory. I''m just curious about this place." Souta answered her with a shrug. "Oh, I forgot that you''re a monster," Eilish said. Souta smiled and shook his head. Souta and Eilish turned around and they walked away slowly. The Icy Veil Lady stared at their backs until they completely disappeared. She then breathes a sigh of relief. If they decided to attack, she was sure that she was the one who would be lying on the floor. Her instinct was screaming at her the moment Souta stepped foot in her territory. Even though both of them were in the fourth stage, she felt that Souta was a league above her. Souta and Eilish returned and met Princess Dreimi''s group. "Can I ask what you saw there?" Princess Dreimi asked carefully while watching Souta''s expression. Souta smiled and said, "Nothing, it''s just a bunch of ice. The only difference is that place is suitable for people that have ice elements. They will improve faster in that kind of environment." "I see..." Princess Dreimi nodded. "But you shouldn''t approach that place without enough strength. It''s extremely dangerous. You will be frozen to death." Souta warned her. The group continued their journey. One hour later... The group found themselves surrounded by a group of people. It wasn''t ordinary people since these people were wearing high-quality armor. There''s no doubt that they were soldiers. Souta and Eilish looked around. They observed the situation first and counted the number of people in their minds. Baldur and Heimer brandished their weapons as they stared at the soldiers around them. Both of them were experienced fighters so they weren''t afraid of battles. "We''re still inside the Cryo Forest so why are the soldiers of the republic here in this land?" Baldur asked in a strong tone. There''s no way that he wouldn''t recognize the soldiers of the neighboring country of the Arsen Kingdom. The man who looked like the captain of the soldiers said, "You should know that this place is off limits. You have to follow us or else we will force you." "Off limits...!! Since when?!" Baldur opened his eyes widely. He didn''t even know this information. "The Red-Claw Bandits declared war on us. Various factions are getting restless and it seems that a huge war will break out soon." The captain said. "Red-Claw Bandits...?" Baldur and Heimer narrowed their eyes. Red-Claw Bandits was no ordinary bandit group. They were strong enough to threaten a country. They ruled the other side of the Cryo Forest, adjacent to the republic''s territory. The Arsen Kingdom was on the other side forming a triangle with the Cryo Forest between them. The captain seemed like he didn''t recognize any of them so he continued, "The Messenger of God descended on Arsen Kingdom. It''s fine since the Church is always neutral. It wouldn''t affect the power struggle in this land as long as no one disturbs the Messenger of God." "So what are you trying to say?" Baldur has a bad feeling about this. "A war will occur. Red-Claw Bandits declared war on us and we''re forbidding anyone from approaching our land. If you''re going to our land then we should verify your identity first." The captain explained. Baldur looked at Heimer. The identity of their group was sensitive. One was the Captain of the Royal Guard, the second was the Captain of the Holy knight, and the third one was a princess of a country. The last two were both from the Divine World. "Don''t worry, we won''t harm you as long as you follow us or perhaps you want to tell me who you are?" The captain said. Souta waved his hand and said, "We''re just a group of travelers. It seems that we arrived at a bad time." "You still have to follow us. We don''t want any chances of the enemy entering our ground." The captain said. "Okay," Souta nodded as he looked at Eilish and the rest. ¦Ñ¦Á§ád¦Ás `n?¦Í?| §ãom The soldiers of the republic guided the group outside of the Cryo Forest. As soon as they left the forest, Souta realized that the republic was treating that bandit group seriously. Hundreds of soldiers were stationed around the walls of the republic. Even the gate was closed. Only the soldiers could enter and exit the city. The soldiers placed the group in a prison. "Wait here, the Battalion Commander is coming here." The captain said to them before he left. "Battalion Commander?!" Baldur opened his eyes widely. "This is bad... Any of those Battalion Commander would recognize me and the princess!" He met those Battalion Commanders on the battlefield in the past. There''s no way that they wouldn''t recognize him, the Captain of the Royal Guard of Arsen Kingdom. "Should we escape?" Heimer asked. Souta wasn''t listening to them. He simply lay down on the floor and stared at the ceiling. He was thinking about the Icy Veil Lady from before. The power level of this world was the same as before. There was a dangerous fourth-stage monster living in this land. From his point of view, it would take half of the army of a country like Arsen Kingdom to subjugate that monster. It was still the same back then... The Republic was in a war against a powerful bandit group called Red Claw. From the looks of it, the other part of the continent wasn''t peaceful at all. Souta returned to his senses. He glanced at Eilish and the others before he said, "Let''s go. We''re going to escape." "I understand..." Heimer nodded. Souta stood up and stretched his arms. "I''ll handle the rest," Eilish said before she stood up from her seat. Souta nodded. He knew that he could leave things like this to her. Princess Dreimi and Baldur didn''t know what they were planning. Their role was to guide Souta and Eilish to the Devil Sea. Since they were already inside the republic, they would just go through this land to the other side. They didn''t need to go around and take a longer route for their journey. Eilish tapped her toe on the floor and a magic circle formed beneath their feet. Ohm!! A white light engulfed everything in the room. When the captain returned to the prison with the Battalion Commander, Souta and the rest were already gone. "How? They are still here?" The captain muttered in confusion. He didn''t know how Souta and the rest managed to escape the prison without anyone noticing. The Battalion Commander stared in front of the cell. After a few seconds, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "There''s a lingering mana here so they probably use some kind of spell to escape." ... Souta and the rest arrived in a dark alley. They were still inside the republic''s city. The group decided to stealthily explore the city first before they left. From what they saw, the republic wouldn''t hold back in confronting the Red Claw Bandits. They would try to destroy them with overwhelming strength. But... It''s not easy since the leader of the Red Claw Bandits was a top expert. He was called Bandit King by numerous people and was said to be the strongest bandit alive. He could rival the experts of the powerful countries. Even Heimer and Baldur were sure that they weren''t a match against the Bandit King. ?¦Á?d¦Ás ¦Ç¦È¦Í¦Å|¡¤?¦Èm "Hmm..." Princess Dreimi rubbed her chin as she recalled the information she received in the past. "I think there are three countries... The Dawn Break Tower, Sydfri Kingdom, and Crimco Empire." "Crimco Empire... That one is a powerful country. It tried to bring the church within its grasp three years ago, luckily, we''ve managed to defend ourselves." Heimer told them about his experience with Crimco Empire. "As for the Dawn Break Tower, they are trying to expand their land. The Sydfri Kingdom was affected so they fought back. Two weeks ago, they used a large-scale summoning spell to contract a hero from another world." Princess Dreimi said. Chapter 860 Fall The captain of the soldiers of the republic was shocked when he found that the group of people he put in the prison was gone. He quickly mobilized his men to find any clues about the group. He had no idea that Souta and the rest were already on the other side of the republic''s territory. They didn''t even manage to know the group''s identity so they thought that they were spies from other countries. The entire republic locked all of its borders so every person who approached their land would be apprehended by them. They would only release them after they confirmed their identity that they were not a threat to the country. ... "Hero from another world?" Souta was a little bit interested in this. "Yeah, Sydfri Kingdom has a higher-scale summoning circle. It could summon a person from a stronger world. That person would Souta and Eilish have tried all kinds of things that the republic could offer. They were like tourists that came here for vacation. They bought different street foods, visited various tourist attractions, and rented high-class hotels on their way to the border. be bound by the contract." Princess Dreimi explained. "I see..." Souta smiled and rubbed his chin. "The hero will return to where he came from after he finished his contract. According to our information, the hero will receive tons of benefits but we haven''t confirmed it yet." Princess Dreimi said. The group continued their travel inside the republic''s land. The republic was huge so no one thought that they were outsiders. The folks here just thought that they were from the other parts of the country. Souta and Eilish have tried all kinds of things that the republic They bought different street foods, visited various tourist could offer. They were like tourists that came here for vacation. attractions, and rented high-class hotels on their way to the border. On the next day... "We''re finally out of the republic. Where should we go now?" Souta asked his guides. "I think it''s best if we take the route near the border of the Crimco Empire. We will arrive at our destination faster it''s just that we need to be careful since it is highly dangerous." Princess Dreimi explained. "Crimco Empire... A troublesome country... Its military might is on a whole other level." Baldur said. "Well, before that we need to take care of some rats first..." Souta smiled as he turned his head. "Yeah, they''ve been following us since we left the territory of the republic." Eilish nodded at his words. Princess Dreimi, Baldur, and Heimer looked around. They haven''t sensed anything at all yet Souta and Eilish said that someone was following them. They didn''t doubt the words of the Messenger of God. "Is it an assassin? Or an agent from the republic?" Baldur narrowed his eyes. "It doesn''t matter. We need to take care of this matter." Heimer said. Souta glanced at the three and said, "Don''t worry, I''ll take care of it." "How could we let Your Holiness dirty your hands?! We can''t do that!" Heimer said with a hint of panic in his tone. "It''s fine." Souta shook his head as he took a step forward. The ground was covered in shadows instantly. A sound echoed as several tentacles strangled an unknown group of people who were hiding in the dark. "What is this?!" "No!!" "This...!!" Souta stepped forward and looked at this group of people. When he was about to say something, these people suddenly discharged a high energy concentration. "Self-destruction...?" He closed his palm and the tentacles tightly wrapped around these people before they could even explode. The tentacles turned them into a pile of crushed meat. Their blood flowed to the ground, creating a small pool of blood. Eilish walked beside him and said, "They are experts that are prepared to die. We can''t get information from them." "Yeah, it seems that someone is watching our movements. They even dared to send some people." Souta answered with a faint smile on his face. Souta asked Baldur and Heimer if they somehow knew where those people came from based on their attire. They answered that they didn''t know. Well, this was within his expectation so he wasn''t worried a little bit. "Let''s continue..." The group continued their journey and soon they arrived in the city called Crown. It was a huge and bustling city with a population of nearly two hundred thousand. "We''ll stay here for a while," Souta said. "Okay, we''ll buy some food and water needed for our journey," Baldur said. "I''ll go find rent an inn," Heimer said. "Good. Then, we''ll meet in the plaza an hour later." Souta said. The group separated as they had their own task to do. Heimer rented rooms for them while Baldur and Princess Dreimi bought water and food. Souta and Eilish toured around the city. Souta with his arms folded in front of his chest was sensing all the movements within his range. His range was tremendous as it covered the entire city. "What are you doing?" Eilish asked. "Hmm... I''m just trying to sense if there''s any problem within this city. You know, I''m a kind-hearted person that is willing to help an unknown person in danger." Souta answered as he smiled. "Tsk, as if that''s true..." Eilish clicked her tongue, not believing his words. "What? You don''t believe me?" Souta looked at her. "Yeah, yeah, I believe you..." "No, you clearly don''t believe my words." "I already said I believe you..." "Hey, did you forget that I can differentiate lies from the truth so I know that you didn''t believe me?" "Oh, I forgot about that. My bad." After an hour, the group met at the plaza. Then, they entered the inn and rested in the room that Heimer rented. They would rest here for a few hours before they continued their journey. Souta set up a barrier around his room before he sat down. Eilish was in front of him, waiting for him to finish his preparation. Then, both of them entered Saya''s inner consciousness. Souta started to perfect his Archetype while Eilish was training her energy capacity and spell casting. She wanted to break through to the Third Shackles as soon as possible. She confirmed that her brother was still alive. She wanted to know the truth about what happened to her brother that day. In order to do that, she had to improve herself first as she knew that she would face countless obstacles in her way. Plus... She wasn''t alone. Eilish opened her eyes and stared at Souta''s face. She knew that Souta would help her no matter what. She believed him. In the sky, above the continent, several meteors were descending towards the land with insane speed. Countless people couldn''t help but look at the bright meteors in the starry sky. Rumble!! After a second, the experts who were looking at the meteors frowned. Each one of them contained a vast aura that spread out in the surrounding area. It was like a flood sweeping everything in its way. After a few hours... Souta and Eilish finished their training. It was time for them to continue their journey. They headed out of their room and saw a commotion outside. Princess Dreimi and the other two were also here. Souta approached them and asked, "What''s wrong?" Baldur looked at him before he replied, "Several meteors fell from the sky... A lot of people said that it was a bad omen and a disaster will occur in this land." "Meteors?" Souta raised his head as he looked at the dark starry sky. "Yes, several meteors fell from the sky while we were resting in our rooms. It fell in different directions." Baldur said. "I''m surprised that you didn''t feel anything, Your Holiness. Just looking at those meteors made my heart palpitate. It feels like..." Heimer glanced at Souta. Those meteors gave a dangerous feeling just like when he first met Souta. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin. He didn''t sense it since he was inside Saya''s inner consciousness and there was a barrier around the room. The barrier prevented the leakage of energy and it also blocked energy from the outside. Champion''s Den, Athen''s Champion... Three warriors inside a spacious room noticed something peculiar. Hundreds of small spheres were in front of them and one of the spheres showed a strange ripple. "This...?!" One of the warriors named Fred quickly stood up from his seat. "What''s wrong?" His comrade named Jaden asked. "Look at this... Planet Plunyx... Someone entered the atmosphere of the planet." The other warrior said. His name was Berni. The hundreds of small spheres in front of them represent the sub-world under Athena''s name. They were the ones that collected information and counted all the resources that the legion harvested from these worlds. for him but it seems that''s not the case now. We should find available warriors now and send them as a reinforcement." Jaden Just now, the detection barrier around the planet showed a sign that someone forcefully entered Plunyx. "Is it the right time to harvest the resources in Plunyx, right? Then, who''s the one that took the mission." Fred asked his comrade. Jaden hurriedly went to the table and looked at the papers. He then answered, "It''s the Master of Hydra, the newly appointed Grain Leader of the Sixth Grain War of the Third Set Pallas Division, Souta." "Damn! How many warriors are with him?" Berni asked. "Just one... It''s his comrade. This mission should be just a vacation for him but it seems that''s not the case now. We should find available warriors now and send them as a reinforcement." Jaden answered with a grim look. Chapter 861 Aerin The small skirmish between the large organizations had disappeared but it was replaced by a bigger-scale of battle, a battle to fight the forces of Gluttony. So a lot of warriors didn''t even manage to rest before they were dispatched. Even the chaos in Ruin Battlefield hasn''t died down. That''s one of the things that the large factions wouldn''t give up, a piece of land in the Ruin Battlefield. Back in the Planet Plunyx... Souta stared at the sky before he shook his head. "Let''s go-" He paused and turned his head after a few seconds. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Eilish asked. "Hmm..." Souta looked at her and smiled. He widely opened his arms and said, "I told you before, right? I''m a good person." "Oh, what about it?" "Well, it has arrived. Someone that I will save." Souta said with a huge smile on his face. "Are you for real?" Eilish asked. "Yep," Souta nodded. Eilish sighed seeing his smile. "Suit yourself." Baldur, Heimer, and Princess Dreimi looked at him with confused expressions. In the dark alley... A woman was running while breathing heavily. She was wearing rugged clothes and her arms and legs were full of bruises. Her right eye was bleeding nonstop. Huff... Huff... Huff... "Help me...! A-Anyone... Help..." She was running as fast as she could with her remaining strength. Still, she knew that she wouldn''t be able to escape from the hands of her pursuer if this continued. ''If only I could use my mana...'' She said inwardly. "Oh, you''re here." A loud voice echoed behind her. It was the voice of one of the people that was pursuing her. "The little rabbit is here." One of them chuckled seeing her desperate struggle to escape. Her expression turned pale when she heard the voice behind her. Why? Why doesn''t anyone help her? She already raised her voice but it seems that no one heard her. She looked up and noticed something. No... She fell down on her knees as despair slowly consumed her heart. The people that were pursuing her also stopped as they stared at her with wide smiles. "Hehehe~ it seems that you''ve realized it. This alley is covered by a silencing barrier so no one will be able to hear you. Food shouldn''t try to resist. Just accept your own fate and become the food of the great one." They laughed at her. They enjoyed seeing her miserable look. The woman looked down at her hands. A streak of tears fell from her eyes as she recalled the faces of her brethren that became food. "No... I can''t die here... Even if I were to die, I have to fight until the end." She said to herself. She tightly clenched both of her fists. She forced herself to stand as she turned around to face her pursuers. "Oh, you''re gonna fight back?" One of the men asked with a laugh as if he couldn''t believe that this woman would fight back. Swoosh! Two figures flashed and knocked back the men instantly. Bang! Bang! The force pushed the men into the walls of the alley causing a loud sound to echo. "Argh! Who is it?" The man that looked like the leader got up immediately and shouted. He looked ahead only to find two tall men standing in front of the woman that he was trying to capture. These two men were Baldur and Heimer. The woman was shocked as she stared at Baldur and Heimer''s back. She slowly opened her mouth and asked subconsciously, "W-Who are you...?" Baldur glanced at her and said, "Let us finish this quickly." Then, he dashed forward along with Heimer. Bang! Bang! Bang! With Baldur and Heimer''s strength, they easily knocked out all the guys within a minute. They weren''t the captains of the Royal Guard and Holy Knights for nothing. Souta and Eilish were looking down on top of the building. "Is this what you want?" Eilish asked. "Yeah," Souta nodded. "It never occurred to me that you will save a complete stranger," Eilish said. "Well, it happens sometimes if I''m in the mood." Souta shrugged his shoulder. He stepped forward and jumped down. Eilish shook her head and followed him. ... The woman thanked Baldur and Heimer for saving her. She introduced herself as Aerin, an elf from the Elven Country called Lushinya. "It''s nothing, you''re lucky that Your Grace noticed you are in peril. You should thank him instead of us." Heimer said as he waved his hand. He was only doing his job by following the words of the Messenger of God. "Your Grace?" Aerin tilted her head. "Nevermind that." Heimer shook his head. He changed the topic, "Can you tell us why those people are after you?" "Those people..." Aerin looked down as her brows knitted tightly. "They are from the castle in the forest near this city." "There is a castle near this place?" Baldur asked. From his information, there''s no castle in the forest near this city. "Yeah, I didn''t know that a place like that existed. But they brought me there along with other people from different races. We... We are simply food for monsters that are living there. There''s a guy that tamed those monsters and he is the lord of that castle." Aerin explained. "A tamer... And the authorities of Crown City didn''t have any idea about it?" Baldur asked. "They know about it but they are in cahoots with that tamer. I think the tamer is a part of their forces. They are sacrificing the lives of innocent people to strengthen their powers." Aerin said as she tightly clenched both of her fists. "This is a big problem." Princess Dreimi said. "It means that the people of this city are livestock that they are saving for those monsters." "I can stop then if get back my strength. Unfortunately, they sealed my energy and I''m also at my weakest state. I can only escape as they feed those innocent people to the monsters in that castle." Aerin said. She looked up and stared at Baldur and Heimer. "Can I ask you to help me? From what I saw, you are experienced fighters. I could understand it if you don''t want to involve yourself in this matter." She saw it for herself that Baldur and Heimer were both capable warriors. She herself was strong but her current condition prevented her from exerting her full strength. At this moment, Souta and Eilish landed on the ground and walked toward the group. Souta smiled and said, "Of course, we''re gonna help you. My mood is better right now." Aerin glanced at the two before she turned to Baldur and Heimer as if asking if Souta and Eilish were with them. The one that confirmed this was Princess Dreimi. "They are with us." Princess Dreimi said. Souta simply smiled and didn''t say anything. He glanced at the system and saw the notification. He was lucky to receive a quest this time. He was simply testing his luck. [Tamer at the Abandoned Castle]: A tamer has been living in the abandoned castle near Crown City. Every week, the tamer would send his men to kidnap people to become food for his pets. Prevent the tamer from kidnapping more people. Rewards: 8 skill points, 15 free attribute points, and 500,000 experience points It''s not bad for a side quest. His main goal was still in the Devil Sea and it would never change until he achieved it. Aerin glanced at Baldur and Heimer. She said, "Are you fine with that?" Baldur and Heimer nodded. If Souta said that it was fine to help her then they would do it. In an abandoned castle... A man was sitting on a chair. He had sharp eyes and a scar on his left cheek. His long black hair was tied on the back of his head and he had various accessories all over his body. He was the tamer. "Huh? What did you say?! Someone beat my men and helped the food escape?!" The anger could be felt in his tone. It made the people in front of him tremble in fear. The tamer rested his chin on his palm and slowly said, "If you can''t bring back the food of my lovely pet then all of you will become food today." The people kneeling in front of the tamer turned pale as they felt goosebumps all over their bodies. "N-No...!!" "You can''t do this to us!!" They said as they started backing away but several huge monsters appeared behind them. ROAR!!! The monsters opened their mouths widely as they started to pounce at these people one by one. "Argh!!" "Nooo!!" .com "H-Help...!!" "Please... Give us a second chance!!" Their voices echoed throughout the room as their bodies were torn apart by vicious and sharp teeth. The tamer smiled viciously as he slowly closed his eyes. "It''s close... You will be able to show yourself to the world. Ehe, the Prince will be delighted with this." Chapter 862 Mountain Bringer Souta''s group along with Aerin was standing on top of the cliff. They were staring at the seemingly endless trees below them. "The castle lies in that area," Aerin said as she pointed at a certain area within the forest. Princess Dreimi was confused as she couldn''t see any castle. Eilish glanced at her and explained, "There is a barrier that hides the appearance of the castle so no one notices it until now." Souta smiled and added, "Let''s go, it''s quite interesting now that I saw it with my own eyes." The group jumped down and headed toward the direction of the castle. Their goal was to free other people and stop the tamer from killing more innocent people. ''It''s pretty good that there''s a fourth stage monster here... But...'' Souta looked at his surroundings as he narrowed his eyes. This planet was only comparable to the mid-grade world. The mana density was several times lower than high-world so the power of a fourth stage monster here was dangerous. The concepts were weaker to the point that the cold energy from the previous forest could even freeze time. A fourth stage could probably destroy this entire land. Soon, the group entered inside the barrier. Aerin wanted to hide their presence but Souta simply walked inside leisurely. Eilish and the others followed him. In the end, Aerin didn''t have a choice but to do the same thing. A huge castle appeared in front of their eyes. Its height was approximately three hundred meters and there were fifty-meter walls surrounding it. "It''s larger than what I expected," Baldur muttered. "It''s reckless to simply walk in this place." Aerin sighed. "It''s fine," Souta said. Baldur and Heimer pulled out their weapons as they stared at the gate of the castle with a fierce looks. Aerin''s expression also changed as she noticed that several people were coming out of the gate. "They are coming." Baldur and Heimer dashed with their weapons. Their energy exploded as both of them used their skills at the same time. Boom!! Their attacks swept everything in front of them, ultimately destroying the gate along with the enemies. Aerin was a little bit surprised when she saw this. She knew that Baldur and Heimer were strong but she didn''t think that they were this capable. "Sir Baldur and Sir Heimer are strong. Only a few people could defeat them on this continent." Princess Dreimi said. Baldur and Heimer advanced as they defeated the enemies. Princess Dreimi supported them by casting some buff spells. By the time they arrived at the door of the castle, they had already defeated more than fifty enemies. Aerin decided to join the battle as more and more enemies kept pouring out of the castle. Even monsters decided to come out. A dozen of them were even at the third stage. Boom! Boom! A huge battle erupted. The ground kept shaking as powerful skills were used every second. The aftershocks of the battles swept the nearby trees down to their roots. If this battle somehow occurred in the middle of the city, countless people would die. The city would be reduced to nothing in just a minute. Aerin swiftly moved her body from side to side, dodging all the attacks that were aimed at her. Despite her energy being sealed, she recovered a little bit of her stamina with the help of Princess Dreimi. Still, she couldn''t exert all of her strength so the only thing she could do was to take care of all of the weaker enemies. Baldur and Heimer were fighting all the third-stage monsters. Seeing this scene, Aerin couldn''t help but be amazed at their combat prowess. ''They aren''t ordinary travelers. Although their strength was enhanced by that girl''s spells, ordinary fighters couldn''t achieve the same feat.'' Aerin said inwardly. Baldur and Heimer continued to fight the third stage monsters, reducing the land into rubble. Boom!! A man stepped out on the highest balcony of the castle. No one noticed his presence as he observed the battlefield with a frown on his face. He was the Lord of this castle, the Tamer. "This... Where the hell did these people come from?" Even his third stage pets couldn''t easily kill all the invaders. He moved his eyes and saw Aerin. "That elf?! So she brought her comrades here... Her helpers aren''t ordinary, where did she find them?" Tamer wondered. The people of the two warriors that were fighting his precious pets were no joke. Almost everything in this area, aside from the castle, was destroyed by the aftershocks. "They are comparable to the higher rank soldiers of the empire. Someone at General rank. I need to deal with them now." Tamer said as he clenched both of his fists. ''Master, should I kill them all?'' A voice sounded in his mind. Tamer slowly smiled and said, "Yeah, kill them all. The Prince will forgive for destroying this land. The Crown City will be affected." ... Aerin watched the battle. She already finished dealing with her opponents. She hoped that Baldur and Heimer would defeat the third stage monsters. With her current condition, she couldn''t provide assistance to them. But... Aerin looked around and noticed that Souta and Eilish were gone. She wondered where they went at this crucial time. Baldur and Heimer needed help right now. "Where did they go?" Boom!! A loud explosion occurred. Aerin turned her head to the battlefield again. Several third stage monsters fired [Bestrou] at the same time. The attacks caused a seventy-meter-deep crater with a diameter of several kilometers. "This power... I need to help them." She was about to step forward when she noticed something strange. Huh? How? Despite the large-scale battle that was happening, the castle stood still as if nothing happened. It should''ve collapsed a long time ago due to the intensity of the battle but... For some reason, it was standing still. The aftershocks of battle probably even reached Crown City. The vibration of the ground felt like a huge earthquake occurred. If the Crown City was a little bit closer, then a lot of its structures would collapse due to the intense shockwaves and energy pressure in the atmosphere. If that''s the case then the Tamer was still alive. "I have to go inside and kill him." Aerin said to herself. That''s what she was gonna do if Baldur and the rest didn''t agree to help her. She would try to assassinate the Tamer by herself. But the aftershocks of the battle made it hard for her to approach the castle. Sigh... If only they made a plan. Unfortunately, Baldur and Heimer simply barged through the gate and started eliminating all the enemies one by one. Suddenly, a cold and sinister aura spread out from the castle. Aerin, Baldur, Heimer, Princess Dreimi, and the rest of the third stage monsters were petrified. The aura was overwhelmingly powerful. It was several times stronger than any of the third stage monsters on the field. "This aura... It''s somehow on the same level as the being in the Cryo forest." Baldur muttered as he subconsciously took a step back. Heimer, Princess Dreimi, and Aerin turned pale as their instinct screamed at them. Bang!! A gigantic head of a monster suddenly burst through the door of the castle. Its greenish eyes gleamed as the glossy black scales all over it shone brightly. Bang!! The entire castle slowly rose from the ground as gigantic limbs sprouted from the corners of the castle. "The entire castle is a monster...?" Aerin couldn''t believe what she was seeing. The pressure brought by the best feram was tremendous. She finally understood why the castle was unharmed despite having a large-scale battle beside it. So it was a monster all along. It was a huge tortoise called Mountain Bringer. Ohm! The Mountain Bringer widely opened its mouth and charged a powerful attack. The concentration of energy that occurred was like a hurricane that was about to destroy everything in its way. "This is bad!!" Baldur and Heimer quickly jumped away to protect Princess Dreimi. They didn''t have any confidence in blocking the attack. Ohm! After a few seconds, the beam exploded. It advanced as if it was about to swallow heaven and earth. There''s no way for them to avoid this beam. "DIE!!!!" The Tamer laughed as he watched his strongest pet fire [Bestrou]. BOOMMM!!! A huge mushroom of cloud rose to the sky. The intense energy fluctuations directly killed lower beings. The ground shook heavily and it could be felt even in the Crown City. No, the people at Crown City already saw the huge explosion. They started to panic as the energy pressure even reached their location. It was as if the entire world was going to fall. Cough! Cough! Baldur and Heimer coughed as they slowly opened their eyes. "I''m fine...? Does nothing happen? No..." They looked ahead and saw a figure standing in front of them. It was Eilish. "Leave it to me... I''m going to finish this as soon as possible." Eilish said as she stared at the Mountain Bringer. Chapter 863 Eilish Vs. Mountain Bringer "The people that invaded the Planet Plunyx. How''s their energy level?" A man asked several warriors. "Based on their energy level when they forcefully broke through the atmosphere, they are probably at Fourth Shackles." One of the warriors asked. "If that''s the case, Grain Leader Souta would be able to handle it. He just needed a little bit of support from our side." The man said. He looked at the papers in his hand and added, "Grain Leader Souta had sufficient strength. Before he departed, he redeemed a legendary fruit so there''s a high chance that his strength already surpassed our current records." When Souta joined the Athen''s Champion, he was only a mere peak third stage. A second-rate expert in the organization that belongs to a god. There were thousands of beings that could defeat him in the entire legion yet he slowly climbed up to the ranks at high speed. "You shouldn''t underestimate a monster that prevented the catastrophe in Hall Plains. Just send some warriors to Planet Plunyx. No need to bother the other warriors who are preparing for huge battles. Just send those available ones." The man said to them with a serious look. "Hmm... Let''s see... Will the Planet Plunyx be able to contain their strength? That world''s concept is fragile, after all. Grain Leader Souta fought the culprit in the Hall Plains in the sub-world and it almost destroyed the entire planet." Meanwhile in Planet Plunyx... Eilish stood in front of Baldur, Heimer, and Princess Dreimi. Her barrier protected them from the Mountain Bringer''s attack. She also didn''t forget to protect Aerin who was on the other side. "Leave it to me... I''ll finish this." Eilish said as she stared at the huge tortoise with a castle on its back. Baldur and Heimer nodded. They carried Princess Dreimi as they left the area. They didn''t want to get caught up in the battle. The Tamer who was watching all of this couldn''t believe his own eyes. "W-Who is that woman...?!" His voice was trembling. He couldn''t believe that there was someone capable of completely blocking his pet''s attack. It was simply unbelievable. Eilish sighed as she took out a small marble inside her pocket. The marble turned into a dark-colored staff with triangular accessories on its tip. It was then that her expression turned cold. "You''re facing me yet still you''re holding back... What a grave mistake you''ve made, monster." The energy inside her body exploded like a volcano. She no longer concealed her energy as it rushed out like a raging tide. In less than a second, several magic circles appeared beside her. [Ocean Waves]!! A huge amount of water burst forth in every direction. The Mountain Bringer who was closer to her was pushed back several hundreds of meters away. The energy pressure inside the water was trying to crush the tortoise''s limbs. Swoosh!! Baldur, Heimer, Princess Dreimi, and Aerin suddenly floated into the sky as a sphere appeared around them. Before they could even fathom what happened, dozens of dragons made of water formed and they rushed at the gigantic monster. At the same time, spears made of ice materialized above Eilish. The ice spears turned into a stream of light before crashing into the huge body of the Mountain Bringer. Bang! Bang! Bang! The energy fluctuated highly as Eilish used her spells at the same time. Looking at this scene, Heimer, Baldur, Princess Dreimi, and Aerin were horrified. Especially Aerin who didn''t know Eilish''s identity. The other three could somehow accept it since they knew that Eilish came from the higher world where gods lived. Still... Seeing it with their own eyes was simply unbelievable. "W-What is this...?" Aerin was speechless. Her eyes were wide open as she stared at the scenery before her. The entire forest was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a vast body of water that spans several dozens of kilometers. The geography of this land was changed just like that. Even the Crown City was flooded. Fortunately, the gate was locked and Eilish focused her energy on this area, or else the entire city would be wiped out of the map. The same thing couldn''t be said for the living beings of this forest. They were crushed into tiny pieces by the intense water pressure. Souta was floating in the sky. He realized that Eilish''s power was far stronger than before. She just broke through her second shackle yet it feels like she was close to breaking her third shackle. He wasn''t basing it on the destructiveness of her spell. He knew that this world was fragile so he was basing it on the energy of her spells. "It''s strange... She got stuck in one shackle for a long time yet it feels like she is about to reach the third shackle." Souta rubbed his chin. I think you should take a look at Is this related to the event where she met his brother? If he wasn''t wrong, Eilish said that she lost her consciousness back then, and according to the other people, an eerie energy broke out almost annihilating everything. Souta even went to that site and found that the situation was the same as they describe. It feels like the entire area was corrupted by something. It felt like Eilish''s energy but at the same time, it feels like it came from another expert. "Hmm..." Souta narrowed his eyes and stared at Eilish. His [Galaxy Eyes] scanned her but he didn''t see anything wrong with her body. There''s no foreign object nor energy. Swoosh!! Eilish was floating on top of the water, staring in the direction where the Mountain Bringer had sunk. Only the castle at the back of the monster was visible. "Hey, monster. I don''t know if you''ve learned the common language from your master but a fourth stage should be capable of learning that easily. Let me tell you something, I''m gonna finish this in just ten minutes so try to hold yourself." Eilish smiled evilly as she pointed her staff at the Mountain Bringer. Roar!!! A roar erupted and the huge body of the tortoise rose from the water. Its glossy black scales emitted black smoke and golden tattoos appeared from its four limbs. Its body grew larger once again. It reached a height of almost one thousand meters. Eilish seemed like an ant in front of this gigantic monster. "Human!!! I''ll kill you!!" The Mountain Bringer roared fiercely as his thoughts traveled across the land. Eilish simply smiled. She responded by activating her [Element Drive]. A huge amount of elemental energy burst inside her body, spreading in all directions. "If you haven''t learned [Element Drive] then you will not last longer. I learned and discovered a lot of things in the Divine World. Just like this..." Eilish swung her staff. Several hundreds of spears made of ice materialized behind her. She fired all the ice spears in less than a second. Swoosh!! The Mountain Bringer moved its gigantic body to avoid the ice spears but it was strangely hit by those ice spears. Even though it was huge, it was still a fourth stage monster. It has strength and speed that was above normal. Yet it couldn''t avoid the ice spears at all. "Causality... The laws and concepts of this world are weak compared to the Divine World. I can control it to a certain degree so you can''t avoid my attack." .com Eilish said in a cold tone. She stepped forward and the scenery suddenly changed. [Water Forming World]!! A vast and seemingly endless ocean appeared in the sky. The whole area became her domain. An ocean on the ground and the sky was taking it too far. [Water Forming Dragon]!! Hundreds of thousands of dragons made of water rushed toward the Mountain Bringer. It was a horrific scene as the vast energy of Eilish was splashing everywhere. "She manipulated the causality of this world. This technique is pretty much useless in Imperium since the laws and concepts there are higher. Plus, higher beings had natural protection against those things, especially the gods." Souta rubbed his chin as he watched Eilish bombard the Mountain Bringer with her spells. ''It''s useless for beings of this world but fighting someone at my level.'' Souta looked at his hand and clenched his fist tightly. ''I can destroy causality in my release form easily. Higher beings like me have a natural resistance to those phenomena.'' It''s still easy to brute force everything just like Teacher Bargan. Teacher Bargan would have burned everything in his way. Eilish couldn''t use causality in Imperium because the law of causality there was so powerful. Well, let''s see... Boom! Boom! Boom! Eilish already clashed with the Mountain Bringer thousands of times in a short amount of time. Her attacks never miss thanks to her manipulating the causality of this world yet she hasn''t taken down her opponent. Mountain Bringer was a powerful monster with extensively high defense. Its tough but after receiving hundreds of powerful spells, it''s bound to suffer injuries. "Five minutes had passed... I only gave you ten minutes so try to last longer." Eilish smiled coldly as she raised the staff in her hand above her head. Chapter 864 Complete Eilish dismantled the Mountain Bringer in just ten minutes under the eyes of its master. The tamer couldn''t believe what he saw. Mountain Bringer was a powerful fourth stage monster and only a few people could match it in the entire world. A country would have to sacrifice a lot if they were to face this monster yet, Eilish killed it. Eilish''s power was simply unbelievable. The whole land had changed and a vast sea remained in this land, replacing the previous forest. Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi finally saw the power of the existence from the Divine World. It was almighty as if Eilish herself was a god. "..." Aerin was stunned. She didn''t expect that Eilish possessed power beyond her imagination. She knew that she was a top expert in this world yet compared to Eilish, she was nothing. She finally understood why the group was nonchalant regarding the enemies. The tamer and all the monsters weren''t a threat at all. Eilish descended and stood on top of the water. She retracted her aura and the elemental energy around her disappeared. She was still at the Force Stage so she couldn''t maintain [Element Drive] for a long time. It seems that she needed to master techniques related to elemental power to extend the duration of her [Element Drive]. Luckily, there were manuals of it back in Astros so she didn''t need to earn achievement points and exchanged it in the Athen''s Champion. It was one of the manuals that Souta wrote down using Saya''s knowledge. She already mastered a number of spells so it''s time to focus on other skills to further improved her ability. Souta floated beside her and said, "You''ve grown stronger. I didn''t expect that you''re power is close to an expert reaching the limit of the second shackle." "I still haven''t touched it so it would take a lot of time," Eilish answered as she shook her head. She could already feel the third shackle but it would take a lot of time before she break it. She hasn''t even cracked it yet. Souta nodded as he glanced at her body. His eyes could see the invisible shackles around her. He stretched out his hand to touch it, but his hand simply passed through it. As expected, only Eilish could influence the shackles on her body. Eilish waved her hand and a figure flew toward her. It was the master of the Mountain Bringer, the Tamer. The tamer was about to say something when he felt a strong energy tighten around his body. It prevented him from opening his mouth to beg for his life. "Be quiet." Eilish said before she focused her attention on the corpse of the giant monster. She raised her hand and made a grabbing motion. Ohm! The corpse trembled and after a few seconds, a sphere the size of a human head flew out of it. It was the monster orb of the Mountain Bringer. "Here," Eilish threw the monster orb at Souta. "Thanks," Souta said as he looked at the orb in his hand. This orb had little use to his current energy level. He could drain all the energy within in just a single day. It would only be able to expand his capacity by a small margin. Well, it was better than nothing. Souta couldn''t help but give Eilish a second look. She was a better mage, a better mage than himself. Based on what he saw today, Eilish was the best spell user in the entire Astros. No one could beat her when it comes to spell mastery. Eilish sensed his gaze so she turned her head to look at him. She flashed a smile and said, "That''s my gift to you." Souta sighed and smiled to himself. "It''s quite bad." ... The threat of the tamer was gone and Souta received the system rewards from the quest. Rewards from the system were better than any parts of the Mountain Bringer. The group left the scene not wanting to attract any attention. The Crown City suffered damage from the battle as thousands of house within it was submerged under the water. They sent experts to investigate what happened, only to find a gigantic corpse of a monster. Eilish left the interrogation of the tamer to Baldur, the Captain of the Royal Guard. He used any means to extract information. They found that the tamer was a subordinate of the Second Prince of the Crimco Empire. Crimco Empire was a huge country and was stronger than Arsen Kingdom. It was within the top 10 strongest factions in the land. The tamer was raising a bunch of monsters for the Second Prince. The Second Prince wanted to kill his siblings and become the next emperor of the Crimco Empire. Souta didn''t care about this information. What matters to him was that he received a quest and cleared it without any problem.I think you should take a look at If the Second Prince came after him, then he would kill him. Aerin bowed her head as she thanked everyone for helping her. "Thank you for lending me your strength. I''m glad that we stop the tamer from killing more innocent people," she said. Souta yawned and said, "It''s nothing..." Then, he turned in the direction of the Crown City and added, "Well, it seems that the city was affected so you don''t have to thank us." Eilish smiled embarrassedly. "I didn''t expect that the effect of my spell would affect the city. I got used to Imperium''s pressure." People got injured due to the heavy energy and the sudden flood but no one died. The only problem was a lot of people lost their homes from the flood. "I will not forget anyone of you. If you need my help then you can find me in the Elven Country, Lushinya. I''m one of the Great Guardians of Lushinya. You can visit my country and I will show you my utmost hospitality." Aerin said from the bottom of her heart. Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi smiled. The group bid farewell to Aerin before they separated. Aerin went in the direction of her country while Souta''s group continued their journey toward the Devil Sea. Devil Sea. It was one of the most dangerous places in the entire Planet Plunyx. It housed countless monsters and each one of them possessed great power that made countless people tremble in fear. A lot of people and countries tried to establish a sea route in this place yet all of them failed. There was a king in the past that tried to negotiate with those monsters. It resulted in him being attacked by countless monsters. Those sea monsters were very aggressive towards any creature from the land. The sea was their territory and they wouldn''t tolerate any living beings on the land stepped into the water. The Devil Sea was vast. Dark clouds were hovering above it giving an ominous vibe. Lightning flashed and thunder roared every second. The atmosphere was heavy as the wind blew strongly causing huge waves that could trample any ships or boat. The fluctuation of energy in this area was high. The weather in this terrifying sea was terrible all day long. The storm never stops and if it somehow stops it only disappeared for a single day. Several figures were standing on the cliff looking at the ominous-looking sea. It was Souta''s group. They finally arrived in front of the infamous Devil Sea. "So this is the Devil Sea..." Baldur muttered. "I''ve only heard of it but it seems more terrifying than the rumors," Heimer said. They haven''t gone into this place in the past. Aside from the distance, they didn''t have anything to do with this place. So they only heard information about the Devil Sea. Souta narrowed his eyes. The things that he want were under that sea. He already knew what would happen so he had to prepare. Souta turned his head and said, "Stay here. Eilish and I will go." Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi were surprised at his words. They were about to say something when Souta interrupted them. Souta raised his hand. "You are my guide. I don''t need you to protect me so wait for me here." The three didn''t have a choice but to agree to his words. They were Souta''s guide. If a battle occurred that was above their levels then they wouldn''t be able to do a thing. They would become a burden. After all, the person that they wanted to protect was far stronger than them. "Don''t worry, it wouldn''t take long. I will return after I finish what I need to do." Souta assured them. Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi nodded at his words. Souta and Eilish jumped down from the cliff. They slowly approached the seaside as the strong wind brushed across their faces. "Even the wind here is sharp as it contained a little bit of energy. Ordinary people will get cut if they approach this sea carelessly." Eilish commented. "Yep, but the thing that made this place dangerous isn''t the wind." Souta smiled as he stared at the water. Chapter 865 Devil Sea Souta raised his foot and stepped on the water. Eilish followed behind him. The two continued to walk until the water level was above their waist. It was at this moment that several fluctuations of energy soared to the sky. It was coming deep in the sea. Boom!! Intense best feram spread out in the surrounding. Souta and Eilish were unfazed as they continued to descend to the bottom of the sea. Judging from the fluctuations, they could sense more than fifty third stage monsters and hundreds of second stage monsters in the area around them. All of them were baring their fangs at the two living creatures from the land that invaded their territory. "I''ll leave them to you," Souta said as he placed both of his hands on his back. He continued to descend without care about the wrath of the sea monsters around him. Eilish glanced at him and sighed. She knew that this was gonna happen. Well, she didn''t have a choice but to follow him. "Okay." She took out her staff and silently circulated her energy around her body. "You guys are sea monsters. If you turn around I will spare you but if you attack us then don''t blame me for killing all of you." Her words traveled throughout the water. It contained her energy that made the water vibrate. Since there were a lot of third stage monsters in this area, she was sure that some of them could understand her words. After all, a lot of third stage monsters possessed intelligence like humans and demis. Roar!! The answer that she received was a fierce roar. Eilish narrowed her eyes and her expression turned cold. "Then don''t blame me for what will happen next." Her energy burst out as a magic circle shone brightly beneath her feet. Souta ignored everything around him. He continued to descend at his own pace. He was sure that Eilish would kill all the monsters that would try to attack him. The battle had started and Eilish fought hundreds of monsters alone. Meanwhile, Souta reached five thousand meters below the sea surface. The battle was inevitable as he knew it from his past experiences. He had to get what lies here no matter what as it would build his future foundations regarding his sublimation of combat arts and creation of forbidden spells. Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi from above felt the intense fluctuations of energy. They saw water would burst from below every second. They knew that a big battle has occurred deep in the sea. Eilish''s energy was highly noticeable since it overpowered most of the energies of the third stage monsters. So they knew that Eilish was the one that was fighting those fierce monsters. Seven thousand meters beneath the sea surface... The sea monsters that Eilish was facing had increased. The number of third stage monsters reached five hundred and it was still increasing every minute. It was like she was fighting the whole sea. Souta didn''t care about the commotion. He went down and after a few minutes, he reached the bottom of the sea. Ten thousand meters below the sea surface. "Finally..." His goal was here. There was a huge palace here and a dome that prevented the water from coming inside. It was the city of merfolk, a type of demi that lived on the bottom of the sea. A group of merfolk came out of the dome and approached Souta. All of them were armed and each one was emitting fierce energy. "What do you want, surface dweller?" The merfolk in the middle asked. "Can you grant me access to enter your holy ground?" Souta asked even though he already knew the answer. The expressions of the merfolks turned cold and the aura in the bodies grew stronger when they heard him mention their sacred holy ground. "Surface dweller, you''re pushing your limit. We don''t even let anyone of you enter our city so don''t think that you can enter our holy ground just because you want it." The merfolk in the middle said coldly. The only reason they even bother to talk to Souta was because of Eilish. Eilish was fighting hundreds of third stage monsters alone. That alone speaks of how powerful she is. "You won''t let me even for a little bit?" Souta raised his eyebrows. If he could avoid resorting to violence then he would avoid it but he knew that he was running out of time. He could only stay in this world for seven days so he had to finish this as soon as possible. "Surface dweller, don''t dream. This place isn''t for you. I suggest you to go back and return to the surface. No matter what, we wouldn''t let you enter the holy ground. That''s the tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation." The merfolk in the middle answered coldly. "I understand..." Souta nodded as he turned around. The merfolks looked at his back warily until he disappeared from their vision. They had to be careful. Souta''s companion was powerful so there''s no need to doubt that Souta also possessed power. Souta hid his presence before he turned back. "I don''t want to do this but..." What he gonna do now would tarnish the tradition of the merfolk. Souta knew that no matter what surface dwellers wouldn''t be allowed in their holy ground. In the past, he helped the merfolks by Swoosh!! Souta entered the dome, the barrier that was preventing the water completing tons of quests. He helped them in the crisis but he was never allowed to the holy grounds. He only managed to enter that place when the merfolks were destroyed by their enemies. Souta couldn''t wait for that time. The merfolks in this world would get destroyed in the future but not now. So he was going to forcefully enter their holy ground even if they like it or not. Before they realized it, it was already too late. Swoosh!! Souta entered the dome, the barrier that was preventing the water from entering the city. He recalled some pieces of his memory before he advanced. The location of the holy ground was beneath the palace. No one among the merfolks realized that Souta already entered their land. In just a few minutes, Souta arrived in their most guarded place without anyone knowing. "If I was a bit weaker they would certainly detect me. Plus, the energy fluctuations from the battle above are hindering their senses." Souta said with a smile. The holy ground was beneath the palace. It has a radius of five hundred meters and there was an altar in the center. Tombs of the previous kings were on the north side while there was a small golden house on the east side of the altar. There were trees and grass. There was even a light crystal on the ceiling that acted as a sun. The whole place gives off a certain vibe. It was calming and pleasant. Souta approached the golden house. He entered it and found that the space inside was wider than what it looked outside. A space ability expert should be the one that created this house. Inside the golden house were rows of books. There were weapons and various accessories on the other side. Souta approached one of the bookshelves. He stretched his hand and took one of the books. "If my memories are correct, this is the right book. The key." He stared at the book in his hand and poured his energy into it. Ohm!! A faint fluctuation of energy burst outside. Sensing it, a smile formed on his face. He exited the golden house and observed the altar. The altar was vibrating and emitting a blueish light. Ohm!! In the next second, the entire holy ground started to shake. "It''s here..." Souta raised his head. He slowly pulled the vajra sword on his waist and prepared himself. "Now, the final step is to kill the guardian." Bang!! The entire holy ground vibrated heavily. The merfolks naturally noticed the strange happening inside their sacred place. The guards at the entrance have no idea so they hurriedly went inside to check what was happening. Bang!! The ceiling cracked open revealing the vastness of the sea above. The palace was split into two along with the holy ground. Then, a large pillar of light burst from the altar that landed on the dome. Swoosh! The transparent dome turned white blocking everyone''s vision from outside. Seeing this scene, thousands of merfolks panicked. They didn''t know what was happening except that something strange occurred in their holy ground. The guards arrived but Souta swiftly knocked them out before they could anything. Boom!! An intense aura spread out coming from the white dome. The entire white dome was connected to a space and a powerful living creature was beyond it. The aura alone knocked thousands of merfolks around the city. The heavy best feram was like a boulder that was pressing on their shoulders. Souta glanced at the book in his hand before he stared above. "So it''s still here... The position was a little bit different but it''s here in the sea." The book was an artifact to sense what he wanted to find. It was a guide. Chapter 866 Sayas Awakening "The space gap..." There was a dimension here and there was a monster guarding the space between this world and that world. The book in Souta''s hand was used to sense that world. All the things that he wanted were in that world. But before that, he should finish the guardian. Roar!! A deafening roar echoed coming from the white light. The giant tentacles landed and grabbed the palace. Then, a huge head came out of the white light. This monster was a kraken, a powerful fourth stage monster. "Who dared to open the gate?!" Its powerful voice spread out. Everyone inside the city heard the voice of the kraken. The merfolks were scared. They stared at the gigantic sea monsters with wide eyes. They were in disbelief as kraken was a legendary creature that their ancestor spoke of. "K-Kraken...?!!" "The monster from the book?!!" It was recorded in their books that there was once a powerful monster called creature that ruled the Devil Sea. The merfolks could fight this sea monster but they were caught off guard at this moment. Also, if they wanted to subjugate this monster they had to sacrifice a lot. What''s worse was that the kraken was in their territory. Thousands of ordinary merfolks would die if a battle occurred here. "It''s me," Souta said as he slowly floated towards the gigantic head of the sea monster. His voice traveled and the infamous kraken noticed his appearance. He was unfazed. "Do you want to stop me or not? If you block my way then I will be forced to kill you." Souta said while staring at the kraken. "I''ve made an oath in the past. No one will be able to remove me here. I will be guarding this place for the rest of my life." The kraken answered calmly. "You are powerful but we are in the sea... A creature like me is stronger in this environment." "Sorry but... I need you to get out of my way. I will end it in an instant." Souta''s expression turned cold. The atmosphere had changed and the aura around his body soared. Swoosh! Souta raised his sword and swiftly moved his body. "You can''t-" The kraken wanted to say something but it stopped midway. Souta already disappeared from his body. He was standing beside the kraken. His appearance was huge and there was black armor around his body. His weapon was emitting a fierce crimson light. "Ugh... You..." The kraken moved its eyes and stared at Souta. Souta exhaled as his body turned back to normal. The black armor turned into blood and the aura around him slowly disappeared. "Sleep for eternity..." Bang!! The gigantic body of the kraken exploded into tiny pieces. It was cut hundreds of times. Pieces of flesh and blood rain down across the entire city of merfolk, dyeing the whole land in red. The legendary monster was gone just like that. "An initial stage fourth stage shouldn''t try to fight me." Souta muttered before placing the vajra sword in its sheath. A lot of conscious merfolk felt a chill on their spine. The legendary kraken was killed just like that. They couldn''t even see the attack that Souta made. They only felt a burst of powerful energy and that''s it. The kraken was slain as if cutting some grass. Souta ignored the gazes of the merfolks. He floated above and entered the white light around the dome. Only Souta himself knew that he simply surprised the kraken. In that split second, he activated his second mode, [Blood Armor], and released form to kill the kraken. In base stats alone, Souta was already league above that sea monster. He couldn''t one-hit kill his opponent with his base form but it was possible if he used his second mode, [Blood Armor], and released form. It was a simple swing of his sword and it already took the life of his opponent. Even if the kraken activated his release form, Souta would still be able to kill him with that attack. He already calculated it in case his opponent managed to react to strengthen its defense. Souta arrived beyond the white light. This place was a space gap. The pressure in this place was stronger in outer space. He was sure that it would crush anyone below A-rank. This place was empty. It was just an endless space without any objects. "Hmm... Where is it?" Souta poured a little bit of energy into the book once again. The book emitted a dim light and he felt a strange connection to an unknown place. He stared above at a certain location inside the space gap..com "So it''s there." He flew at high speed and easily traveled several dozens of kilometers. Then, he pulled out his sword. [Crimson Moon]!! His body erupted a powerful energy and his elemental energy even burst out. "Break!" The crimson energy blade shattered the space. A huge slash appeared and it spread widely in the space gap. Crack! It exploded and turned into a giant circle that seemed to bend everything around it. Beyond it was a small world. Of course, it wasn''t small as it also contained infinite space. The reason why it was called small was because of the concepts and energy there. It was weak. It couldn''t be compared to any of the so-called "High-world" planets in Mother space. Ohm! Souta stared at it. At this moment, he heard a familiar voice in his mind. ''Souta...?'' It was Saya. "Saya, you''re awake..." Souta said with a smile as he looked at the sword in his hand. ''Yeah... I''m still weak but I could maintain my consciousness right now.'' Saya answered. ''By the way, that''s a boundary world right there. What are you doing here?'' "Boundary world?" Souta raised his eyebrows. ''Yes, a boundary world also called as boundary verse.'' Saya said. ''Have you perhaps heard about the terms particle, region, palace, boundary, outworld, and beyond?'' Souta shook his head. ''The concepts and laws there are different but it is far weaker than Imperium. Particle world is a small universe while region is a bigger verse that contained countless particle worlds. It''s called bigger since the concepts and laws there are much stronger than particle worlds.'' Saya slowly explained. ''Then, there''s a palace which contained countless region worlds.'' ''The thing in front of you... You shattered the space, right? So you''ve opened the space to this boundary. A boundary contained countless palace worlds.'' Saya said. "Yeah, I shattered the space." Souta nodded. He recalled information from his memories. Saya''s description was right. In his memory, inside that shattered space was a world that contained weak worlds. So that''s what they are called. He never knew what they were called up until now. He just called them small worlds. Well, other people also called them small worlds so he just copy them. ''A boundary should be able to endure your level. If it''s a palace world, it will not be able to handle your existence. It will collapse once you enter it. So if you want to avoid destruction, try to retract your aura since you can easily destroy the palace worlds in that boundary. Well, it''s not that every boundary has living beings. Sometimes it is just a desolate space.'' "I''ll go now. The space crack will heal soon." Souta said before he flew inside. Without the book, he would have a hard time finding this boundary world. He would have to shatter all the space around him one by one just to find it. Five thousand meters below the sea surface... Eilish had already finished dealing with hundreds of third-stage monsters. "Even though they are weak, their numbers made it hard for me to fight." Her breathing was a little heavy, indicating that the fight wasn''t easy. She didn''t suffer any injuries from the battle. She only had bruises around her body. Still, the hundreds of third stage monsters forced her to use her full power. She wasn''t Souta that had [Serpent Dominance] which could weaken all the beings weaker than her. "Is that all...?" Eilish looked around, only to see the corpses of the sea monsters. She heightened her senses. When she found that there was no one around her, she breathed a sigh of relief. "I consumed almost half of my mana so I need to rest to recover my energy." She just bombarded the whole area with various spells to defeat all of her opponents. She lost count of how many spells she cast in this short amount of time. "Souta, what is he doing right now?" Eilish slowly descended to the depths of the sea. ... Souta arrived in the boundless space. He observed his surrounding and noticed that the fabric of space was weak. He could easily rip it apart. Well, for people of this world, the fabric of space was tough. Their perspective was different from Souta who was used to Imperium''s concept and law. "Let me start it," Souta smiled and his energy swept around in every direction, scanning everything in sight. Chapter 867 Souta Vs. Nightmare King Souta scanned everything around him with his energy. It made the entire space vibrate. His energy was too strong. "It''s here." Souta raised his hand and ripped the space in front of him. He then took a step forward. Swoosh!! He arrived at a huge grassy land. ''By the way, Souta, what are you doing here?'' Saya asked. "Didn''t I tell you? Well, one thing led to another. Simply put I took a mission from Athen''s Champion." Souta said as he shrugged his shoulder. "For now, I should finish what I need to do here." He spread his energy once again and it made the whole land tremble. This land has living beings and they felt the pressure that made the whole space vibrate. Boom!! The nearest palace worlds started to collapse. It caused a crack in the space, indicating that a palace had exploded. Souta was like a god in this world that could literally erase anything that he wanted. "The Ultima Realm is trembling...?!" "W-what is this energy?!" "It''s too strong!!" The living beings of this boundary were scared. They had no idea what was happening. Ultima Realm was the highest world in this boundary. From the point of view of the living beings here, this was the world of gods. The palaces or what they called lower realms started to collapse one by one. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of thousands of people had died. ''Something is wrong with the people here?'' Saya''s voice sounded in Souta''s head. Souta nodded. He continued to release his energy and the casualties reached millions of people. He didn''t even bat an eye even though a lot of living beings had perished under his hands. ????????????????????????????????.???????????? Suddenly, the whole world turned into darkness. In the next second, the space in front of Souta cracked open and a figure coated in darkness stepped out of it. "Who are you? Have you realized what you have done? You killed millions of people..." The voice was filled with rage. The figure didn''t immediately attack since it know that Souta possessed a power that could potentially rival itself. Souta stared at this unknown figure and smiled. "I''m a kind person. So if you give me the [Nightmare Mask] and the two books called [Void Entanglement] and [Void Shrouding] I will leave this place." The figure frowned upon hearing Souta''s words. "You! How do you know about that? And who are you? I don''t understand where you came from since..." Souta smiled, "Since what? Since you''ve controlled all the living beings here, am I right? You''re wondering why a person like me isn''t under your control?" He already experienced this in the game. The figure covered in darkness was called Nightmare King. He was the sole ruler of this boundary and all living beings have been assimilated by him. The reason was he didn''t want anyone to rise up and challenge him for the position of the overlord. In short, all the people here didn''t have an idea that their lives were already part of the Nightmare King the moment they were born. Nightmare King grew so powerful to the point that he became a god of this boundary by simply taking half of the power of all living beings. He enjoyed his position. For hundreds of years, he controlled this world as if he was playing games. So their lives were connected to Nightmare King and they were also one of the sources of Nightmare King''s power. Through that power, he managed to manipulate the laws and concepts of this boundary. "Who the hell are you?! Tell me, how do you escape from my control?! If not, then I''m going to force the answer out of your mouth!" Nightmare King said with a hint of anger in his tone. His aura soared and the whole land started to shake heavily. It slowly pushed Souta''s energy away. Souta still had that smile on his face. "Since I''m a kind person, I''ll give you a time to think about your decision. After all, I don''t want to kill any more people." "A kind person? You... Don''t make me laugh, you didn''t even flinch when you killed all those people!!" Nightmare King raised his voice..com "Well, you see... I''m that kind of person. I get angry when my people got hurt and I didn''t even care when the same thing happen to strangers. I''m a monster with a little bit of kindness so if you don''t want to give what I want then..." Souta smiled coldly. He raised his hand and darkness swept out. "You''re a hypocrite!! Don''t ever think that you''ll match a god!!" Nightmare King roared. The darkness that Souta threw didn''t harm Nightmare King. It didn''t have any effect at all. "Well, it''s nothing new. I will not be kind to you anymore." Souta threw several spheres of darkness. Swoosh!! Nightmare King was unfazed. Souta''s bombardment didn''t hurt him at all. He coldly stared at Souta before saying, "I''m Nightmare King. I''m a personification of darkness so I can control all the shadows in this world. Darkness can''t hurt me because I am darkness." "Is that so? Then, try controlling this." Souta smiled before he raised his hand and opened his palm. A magic circle appeared beneath his feet. [Dark Shooting Ray]!! A black beam burst out of his palm and flew toward Nightmare King at incredibly high speed. Boom!! A loud explosion occurred and the shockwave swept out everything within hundreds of kilometers. The space was distorted and it took the lives of the people within the range of the attack. The other people in this world started panicking. Two insanely powerful beings started fighting out of nowhere. They didn''t have a place to hide since the tremors from the energy fluctuations enveloped everything within this world. Cough!! Nightmare King was on the floor. The darkness around his body had disappeared, revealing his features as a human. He couldn''t believe what just happened. That attack was a dark attribute so he should be able to control it. Souta hovered in the air looking at the so-called "God" of this boundary. "Let me give you a piece of advice. Your attribute is dark so naturally you can control darkness. I can control it too. That''s when the combat arts and spells come in. They are created so that their attacks wouldn''t be controlled by their opponents. If they aren''t, people would simply conjure attacks based on their respective attributes. If the two had the same elements then it would lead to a battle who can control the element better. But it will not happen with the appearance of combat arts and spells." If that would decide the battle then Souta wouldn''t be able to defeat Alexander who had a higher elemental power than him. Well, there''s also a factor of energy control. If Souta had perfect control of his energy then Alexander would have a hard time controlling the darkness that he could create. But it wouldn''t happen in spells and combat arts. There''s no risk of his attacks being controlled by his enemies. There''s only one person that could do this in Souta''s mind. The man who was called Anti Mage. Well, Anti Mage wasn''t really controlling the magic circle. Instead, he was disabling it to prevent anyone from using spells. He was analyzing magic circle and he had the ability to disrupt it. "Well, that''s your lesson. You shouldn''t rely on one thing. Element power is good but it wouldn''t make you invisible if that''s the only thing you could do." Souta said as he slowly pulled the vajra sword out of its sheath. Even Alexander had to master all sorts of skills aside from element power. "It''s already pretty good that you have reached Integration Stage in this world. You know, there are countless people that couldn''t even reach that level." Souta said. "You!! Don''t mock me!! I''m gonna kill you!! Do you really think that controlling darkness is the only thing that I know?!" Nightmare King roared. His aura spread out and it continued to grow stronger. He charged forward as the endless darkness followed behind him. "I thought that you would surrender since I''ve told you the difference in our skills but it seems you''re quite foolish. I don''t have any choice, do I?" Souta said as the smile on his face disappeared. He doesn''t want to kill Nightmare King since it would lead to the death of all the people in this realm. That''s why Souta was taking it easy to show Nightmare King that he could still surrender. But it seems that this guy was too drunk from playing "God" in this puny boundary. "I can only kill you. I gave you a time to surrender so don''t blame me for what will happen next." Souta said coldly. He tightly gripped the handle of his sword before his energy burst out like a raging tide. Boom!! He directly activated Second Mode. In an instant, he collided with Nightmare King''s body. Boom!! Chapter 868 [Nightmare Mask] If he could avoid killing all the people here then he would avoid it. But if he couldn''t, then they could only blame Nightmare King for not knowing what was good for this world. Bang!! In just a single collision, Nightmare King was blasted away. His body crashed on the ground leaving a trail with a length of several dozens of kilometers. "The things that I needed are in your body, right? If you don''t want to give it to me then I''ll kill you." Souta said as he chased after his opponent. "Y-You will pay for this!!" Nightmare King roared as he activated his [Element Drive]. The Integration Stage of the dark element shook the entire boundary. Boom!! Countless palace worlds exploded. Space cracks appeared in the air causing turbulence in the world. It feels like the end of the world had arrive and the people had no idea where to escape. AHHH!! Nightmare King charged at Souta. He tightly clenched his fist and an endless amount of darkness compressed around it. Ohm!! Souta simply swung his sword but Nightmare King was already gone. He hit nothing but the force behind his swing directly cleaved everything in front of him. Bang!! Nightmare King appeared behind Souta and threw the powerful darkness that he compressed. "I''m a God! I can appear anywhere in this world as long as I will it! This world is my domain!" Souta turned his head and saw the darkness close to him. It landed on his body and his hand suddenly moved. His aura spiked up as dark and light burst in all directions. He turned his body to the side and the darkness advanced forward, creating a vast destruction behind. Meanwhile, his sword caused a cut on Nightmare King''s chest. The deep darkness was even cut into two. Nightmare King was pushed back. He stared at the deep cut on his chest with shock in his eyes. "H-How...?!" He looked up and stared at Souta who was oozing dark and light elements. "Oops! I accidentally used it, the [Element Drive]... Sorry for scaring you." Souta smiled as he waved his sword. The blood on his sword splattered on the ground. He looked around and asked, "Saya, do you think this boundary will be able to hold it?" ''I don''t think so...'' Saya replied. "H-How come you possess that darkness...? I can''t control it!" Nightmare King couldn''t believe that the darkness in Souta''s body Souta nodded. He was right. This boundary was even weaker than any of the planets out there in the Imperium''s space. "H-How come you possess that darkness...? I can''t control it!" Nightmare King couldn''t believe that the darkness in Souta''s body was beyond his control. "Of course, you can''t... I''m using [Element Drive] and I''m at Integration Stage. Oh, you didn''t even know [Element Drive] yet you manage to achieve this level. If you''ve been to Imperium, I''m sure that you will grow stronger but your ego will be shattered there. Do you think you are a god?" Souta shook his head, mocking Nightmare King. In the game, Nightmare King gave him a hard time but now... Souta was stronger than this guy. "Let me show you the difference in our skill." Souta stepped forward and he instantly arrived in front of his opponent. His body was instantly covered in blood. [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]!! Before Nightmare King could even react, Souta already swung his weapon. Bang!! Nightmare King immediately got up and he disappeared from his position. He attacked Souta madly as he couldn''t believe that there was a being in the world that could rival him. There shouldn''t be one. He''s the only one. He''s the God. But why? Souta and Nightmare King exchanged blows thousands of times in just a second. The entire boundary was shaking as if it was about to collapse at any second. Countless people had perished in their battles and Nightmare King was getting weaker and weaker. After all, Nightmare King''s life was connected to all the life in this world. He assimilated them into his life. Despite that, Nightmare King could still contend with Souta in his [Blood Armor]. Boom! Boom! Souta opened his palm and cast [Black Hole]. A huge black hole appeared out of nowhere that instantly everything. Space, time, light, and celestial bodies were sucked into nothingness. Even the darkness that Nightmare King produces was rendered useless in front of the [Black Hole]. "What is this black hole?! It''s stronger than any of the black holes that I''ve seen!" Nightmare King retreated away but Souta chased after him. "Of course, it''s not an ordinary black hole. I''ve made it using a magic circle and my energy." Souta said as he arrived in front of his opponent. He stretched out his hand and was about to grab Nightmare King when Nightmare King vanished. He appeared behind Souta and attacked him with all of his might. Souta narrowed his eyes. Nightmare King was tricky as he was the personification of darkness in this world. Swoosh!! His body inflated and a vast energy exploded like a raging tide. Bang!! Four spider limbs sprouted on his back and quickly slashed at his enemy. Swoosh!! Nightmare King was surprised once again. His opponent had skills and abilities that were foreign to him. He didn''t know any of it so he was always caught off guard. Souta turned around and swung his weapon once again. "You''re a God? Yeah, then I''m a God too in this world!" Nightmare King and Souta fought once again. But the difference in skills and experience was apparent. Souta already had the advantage since he fought and killed Nightmare King in the game. Aside from that, Nightmare King hasn''t fought someone at Souta''s level. As for Souta, he was always fighting someone above his level. His fighting style and techniques were honed to a higher stage. Boom!! It didn''t take long for the boundary to crumble. The fabric of space was torn apart and it was in shambles. No other beings aside from the two could survive this. Souta demolished Nightmare King. Nightmare King indeed was strong but the difference between them was huge. The moment Souta activated his released form, he could only passively defend himself. "Just die and blame yourself for not heeding my warning..." Souta said coldly. With a wave of his sword, he cast [Black Hole] once again. The boost it received from his active skills and abilities was huge. Nightmare King stared at it with wide eyes. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "I see... So the things that I''ve found at that time aren''t from this world. It''s from yours, right? I understand now, the god that left those things is from your world." The black hole expanded as it swallowed everything. The palace worlds in this world were ripped apart and this boundary slowly followed suit. Boom!! Souta moved his other hand and made a grabbing motion. He ripped something within Nightmare King''s body. He already warned his opponent several times so he wasn''t going to show mercy this time. "Just die along with this world..." Those were the words that Nightmare King heard before the black hole swallowed his entire existence. He couldn''t believe that a mere black hole could possess this much power. The concept and laws were destroyed. ????????????????????????????????.???????????? Boom!! Nothing was left. Souta turned around and went back to the space gap. He just destroyed an entire boundary. Three objects were hovering around him. One was an ominous-looking mask while the other two were books. He glanced at the books. Souta knew that these two books were techniques that would improve his strength. It would be the base of his future skills. The [Void Entanglement] and [Void Shrouding]. As for the mask, it was a dark grade artifact called [Nightmare Mask]. It was one of his equipment in the game. Souta picked it up and placed it on top of his head. Nightmare King didn''t even know the true worth of a dark grade. He picked this up in the past and took the name Nightmare King for himself as he thought that he would become the next god of the world. What a funny thing... Souta started at the cracks for a while before he turned around. He was about to return to the sub-world when he felt something. Argh...! He felt pain all over his body. He could also hear voices whispering into his ears. Nightmare... ARGHHH!!! Souta''s energy burst out of his body. He entered an uncontrollable state and he could barely hear Saya screaming his name. "SOUTA!! SOUTA!!!" His energy soared, causing cracks in the space. The intense energy seeped out of the cracks, seemingly endless. This...?! Nightmare... Various scenarios floated into his mind. The worse case followed up as his emotion flared up. No...!! Souta opened his eyes widely and found himself in a dark void. Tsk! He clicked his tongue. He realized that he was only a consciousness right now. His real body was still in the space gap, causing destruction. "What a bad timing... I thought that I have to trigger it but it seems I was wrong, it activated on its own." Souta looked up and saw a floating land in this void. "The first time is a trial... I think Nightmare King failed in this test that''s why he couldn''t use the real purpose of the [Nightmare Mask]. It''s a key." A key of this realm... The Nightmare Realm, a part of the Dreamscape that soon will be owned by one of the three kings, Sea King Cthulhu. Chapter 869 Nightmare Realm Nightmare Realm. Souta floated and went to the huge floating land. The land had immense size and it was comparable to the size of a country. Approximately had a diameter of three hundred thousand kilometers. "I think I could do it..." He opened and closed his palm. He didn''t have any preparation at all. What he was wearing right now was ordinary equipment. All of his high-grade artifacts were in his real body. The only thing he had was the [Nightmare Mask]. If he died in this place, he would die in real life. "Nightmare King probably failed the test but he still survive..." Souta landed on the land. It was desolate but he knew that this place was dangerous. There were living creatures here and some of them were very aggressive. [You''ve entered the Nightmare Realm!] [Quest Triggered!] [Dream beast]: Kill fifty monsters that are living in the Nightmare Realm. Rewards: 10,000,000 experience points, 15 free attribute points, and 10 skill points [Find]: This piece of land is called Heizz. Find the core of this land within an hour. Rewards: 50,000,000 experience points, 20 free attribute points, and 10 skill points This... This is the test... It was still the same... Souta was glad that he knew the contents of this test or else he would have a hard time. Killing fifty monsters was easy but finding the core of this land which has a diameter of hundreds of thousands of kilometers was hard. He had to investigate. Luckily, this time he already knew the location of the core. "Well, it''s not bad. I will have an access to the Nightmare Realm from now on." Souta walked forward. In front of him, there were valleys, caves, and towering mountains. There were even floating lands just the size of a small island. The largest floating island approximately has a diameter of twenty kilometers. What he needed to do now was to kill dream beast... It''s a monster living in this dream realm. They were strangely powerful in this land but Souta think that he could handle them with his current strength. Aside from the dream beast, there were folks living in this realm too. They were called Hullscan. Each one of them possessed the power of dream realm to a certain extent. "For now, I need to know my current location..." Souta muttered to himself. He moved at high speed as he explored this part of the land. Soon, he found some monsters in front of the floating land. Souta swiftly eliminated them. They were all third stage monsters. They were a little bit stronger than ordinary third stage monsters but in the end, they were not a match for a top tier fourth stage like him. There were seven of them so he just needed to kill forty-three more. Back in Planet Plunyx... Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi have grave expressions. Space cracks appeared all of a sudden and intense energy gushed out of it like a flood. The whole area was shaking and the atmosphere felt like it was boiling. The sea kept moving, creating giant waves of water that washed away the shore. They didn''t have any idea about what was happening at all. They were stunned and rooted on the spot as they looked at the scene in front of them. "What is this...?!" "The space... cracked...?!" This was their first time seeing a space cracked. From their point of view, space was something that couldn''t break. Shattering a space was even harder than destroying a continent. Even Eilish, who was at the bottom of the sea was bothered. She could feel the intense fluctuations of Souta''s energy through the space cracks. "What happened to you... Souta?" She narrowed her eyes. Since the energy was coming from the space cracks, it means that Souta wasn''t at this sea anymore. Eilish took a deep breath before she went toward the space gap to find out the truth. She couldn''t leave him just like that. ... After a few minutes of traveling, Souta saw a small town. There were only three hundred people living in the town and the strongest person was at peak B-rank. This... Souta narrowed his head as he turned his head to the side. He glanced at the other floating lands and finally realized his position. He knew where to start now. It took him a while to recall the in and outs of this land. He couldn''t ask the Hullscan, the locals of this land, since they didn''t know how to speak the common language. They had their own language which was called Dreamspeak. Now that he knew where he was, it would be easy for him to complete the trial. Souta disappeared in his position and reappeared on the highest floating land in this area. This entire land was called Vanko. It was divided into nine zones and sixty-eight regions. If he wasn''t wrong, he was in the Hull Zone. Hull Zone was the smallest zone in this land. It only consisted of four regions. It was also the only zone that the Hullscan tribe owned. The other zones were the territory of the vicious dream beasts.I think you should take a look at "Okay..." Souta flew at high speed. He visited various floating land in just a few minutes. He also didn''t forget to kill the dream beast that he met. In just twenty minutes, he killed thirty nine drebeastsast. Just a little bit more and he would be able to complete one of the quests. The environment was twisted. Some place was filled with lightning. Some were raining heavily. Some have volcanic eruptions all day. Some have space distorted and strong gravitational pull. Some have sharp winds blowing out of nowhere. These winds were comparable to an attack of an initial B-rank. Some places had a super low temperature. All beings and particles were frozen. And Vanko was just a small part of the entire Nightmare Realm. Swoosh!! Half an hour had passed ever since Souta arrived in this land. He arrived near the core. He was also outside of the Hull Zone. "I''m here..." Souta looked ahead and saw various dream beasts wandering around. He tightly clenched his fist before he charged forward. His energy spiked up as he fought more than twenty dream beasts alone. Bang! Bang! Bang! He finally arrived in front of the core of Vanko. It was a huge sphere with a height of ten meters. It was oozing out a huge amount of energy, greater than his expectations. The pressure here was heavy to the point that it was suffocating. If he was weaker Souta would guess that he would fall on his knees. "The core is here..." Souta smiled as he stared at the core. This core was the power source of Vanko Land. It was made up of various laws and concepts. Souta wouldn''t be able to destroy it even if he used all of his aces in his sleeve. This was the reason why the core wasn''t heavily guarded. The concept and laws here were comparable to Imperium. The laws in boundary, beyond, or outworlds couldn''t hold a candle to Dream Realm. It was the highest level of concept and laws. Honestly, according to the gods, the Dream Realm was a part of the Imperium. It was connected to each other just like how the Soul Realm was connected to everything. It was a part of the cycle of the world, Mother. Well, this core wasn''t the core of the entire Dream Realm or Nightmare Realm. It was just one of the cores of this land called Vanko. Souta couldn''t even touch it with his current strength. He would explode and die painfully if he did that. "I know very little of this world but... is this really the core?" He muttered. He glanced at the system and saw that he already completed the quest. He wanted to stare at it and observed it using [Galaxy Eyes]. But he had a feeling that it wasn''t a good idea. This so-called "core" was beyond his current level. Besides, according to what he remembered there were nine cores in this land. Souta glanced at the system and heard a familiar sound. [Quest Triggered]!! [Vanko]: Conquer one of the territories in the Vanko Land. Reward: Access to the Dream Realm. Souta took a deep breath as he took the mask from his head. He then slowly stretched his hand toward the core. Ohm!! The mask emitted a dark red light. It feels like it became connected to the core and various knowledge was poured into his mind. All of it was about Vanko. "Just a little bit more and I will be able to finish it..." Souta muttered to himself. Conquering one of the regions wasn''t a problem for him. He could do it in the game so he could do it right now.????????????????????????????????.???????????? He stretched his arms and silently circulated the energy in his body. "Hu~ it''s time for a real exercise." After this, he would be able to exit this place using the mask. Also, he was looking for to the time when he gained the access of the Dream Land. He could enter and exit as he please. He would become as if he was a dream beast himself. Chapter 870 Sovereign The [Nightmare Mask] was a key. It would give him a chance to become a folk of this realm. The mask resonated with the core and he only had one chance. A chance to prove himself. Souta had to conquer one of the territories in this land. Once he achieved it, the mask would grant him the ability to enter and exit the Nightmare Realm once a week. This realm had tons of resources and it would enhance his growth. Souta stretched his arms. He walked forward as he silently circulated his energy. Vorr Zone. It was a zone far larger than Hull Zone. It consisted of seven regions and each region had a sovereign that stood at the top. Among the seven regions of the Vorr Zone, Souta arrived at the Ming Region. From his point of view, it was the easiest region to conquer. The sovereign of this zone was Rank 60 in the Sovereign Ranking of the Vanko Land. There were sixty eight regions so each sovereign was ranked from weakest to the strongest. The sovereign of Ming Region was ranked pretty low. Not every sovereign was ruling a region. It just means that they were at the top of the food chain in the entire Vanko Land. They were the sixty eight strongest beings. Some of the sovereigns were hiding in their region, not minding about worldly affairs. Some were treating the entire region as their plate and all the living beings there were their food. As for the Rank 60 Sovereign, that monster was ruling the Ming Region like a king. Souta glanced at the largest floating land in the Ming Region. This was where the sovereign was situated and his force was concentrated in this area. "Well, they already knew that someone will challenge them." Souta smiled as he placed the [Nightmare Mask] on his face. The moment the core resonated with his mask, all of the sovereigns felt a new challenger had arrived. Souta bent his knees and launched himself towards the floating land. His aura soared and hundreds of dream beasts living here felt it. They turned their heads and saw a flash of light before a huge explosion occurred. Boom!! Several floating lands were disturbed. Smoke and dust rose covering a huge part of the land of the sovereign. Bang!! Souta stood up and patted his clothes. He looked at his surroundings and noticed that dozens of dream beasts were already around him. They were the subordinates of the sovereign. "My energy isn''t full as I just battled Nightmare King so I should finish this as soon as possible." He said before he activated his Second Mode. Dark mist seeped out of his pores and several black spheres floated behind him. The ground turned black and countless black tentacles emerged within the shadows. Ohm!! His newest skills were included in his Second Mode. [Investiture of the Dark] and [Negative Land] added a strong boost to his Second Mode. The dream beasts around him attacked at the same time. Whoosh!! Their attacks didn''t even reach Souta at all. They couldn''t even pierce the gravitational field around his skin. "Die!" Souta waved his hand. The gravitational field around him expanded, turning into a powerful force that crushed the dream beasts on the ground. They wanted to escape but the black tentacles were holding their feet. Bang!! In an instant, Souta cleared a group of dream beasts. "A mere group of third stage is trying to attack me. It''s not enough." He said as he stared at the huge palace in front of him. This is where the Sovereign of the Ming Region lives. He could feel that there were thousands of monsters eyeing him. All of them were releasing powerful auras and at any second now they would launch another attack. Souta ignored the gazes around him as he focused his attention on the palace. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Bow down..." An unknown pressure surged within his body and all the monsters in the vicinity felt their strength leaving their bodies. [Serpent Dominance]!! "Only beings that are above my level are worthy to stand in front of me." His words reverberated throughout the whole area. The monsters were forced onto their knees. Only a handful of beings could ignore the effect of his ability. "Let me clean up this place." Souta raised his hand. A thousand drops of blood rose into the air, turning into swift and fast bullets that kill almost every creatures in sight. Even those who were on the other floating lands couldn''t escape such fate.I think you should take a look at They were brutally massacred. There was nothing that they could do. The effect of [Serpent Dominance] basically turned down into lower level creatures. Their speed, strength, resistance, energy, defense... Everything was decreased by seventy percent. Souta continued to walk until he felt several bursts of aura. He raised his head and saw four monsters walk out of the palace. All of them had the power of a high stage fourth stage. That''s why they weren''t affected by his ability. Before Souta could say anything, a figure appeared behind the four monsters. It was a giant humanoid monster with long arms. Its body was covered in dark green fur and its energy level was clearly stronger than the four. It was the Sovereign of the Ming Region also known as Dreaming Venomous Primate. "A challenger that arrived on my doorstep. To think that you would choose me, instead of the other sovereigns below me. Your head is too high." Dreaming Venomous Primate said in a cold tone. "You''re the best choice. I could definitely defeat you after seeing you today." Souta said with a smile. "Audacious!!" The four monsters roared and they quickly launched themselves at Souta. Whoosh!! "Come!" Souta grinned widely as he tightly clenched both of his fists. He stepped forward and threw a punch. One of the four monsters blocked his fist while the remaining three landed on the ground. They hurriedly charged forward and threw several energy spheres. Whoosh!! Souta stepped back as he moved his body from side to side. He couldn''t avoid everything but the gravitational field protected him from the attacks of his enemies. Bang!! He waved his hand and he divided the power of gravity. Ninety percent of the gravity went to the four monsters. It pressured them, greatly decreasing their mobility. "Don''t think I''m gonna hold back against the likes of you."????????????????????????????????.???????????? Souta said as he floated in the air. Hundreds of black tentacles emerged from the ground but the four monsters simply destroyed everything. In return, all of them fired [Bestrou] at the same time. Whoosh! Souta waved his hand before a river of blood appeared before him, blocking the four [Bestrou]. Then, the blood turned into sharp spears and flew toward his opponents. The four monsters spread out but they felt a powerful suction force behind them. When they turned their head, they saw a black hole appear out of nowhere. Ohm!! Souta activated [Element Drive] without hesitation to increase the power of his skills and stats. ROAR!!! A powerful energy surged in all directions. The four monsters have finally used their released form. Their choice was good. If they didn''t use their release forms then the black hole would suck them and would cause injuries on their bodies. Souta knew that he couldn''t end this battle just like how he killed the kraken. The kraken was weaker than any of these four so it would take him a while before he could win this fight. "Well, five minutes are enough for me. Even if that sovereign joined, it would only take fifteen minutes." Souta pushed his hand forward. All the blood of the monsters that he killed a few minutes ago surged toward the four monsters. The surging river of blood looked like ordinary blood but Souta already changed its shape. This river was formed by countless tiny sharp blood needles. Boom!! The floating land of the Sovereign of Ming Region was shaking heavily along with the dozens of floating land near it. The battle between Souta and the four strongest subordinates of the sovereign was tremendous. Thousands of dream beasts were watching the battle from afar. Those with low intelligence already run away when they felt the strong aura. They wanted to avoid the battlefield. The dream beasts that possessed intelligence were watching as this battle could change the entire Ming Region. No one expected that a challenger would appear at this time. A lot of monsters were tempted but they held themselves. Those who couldn''t control their instinct and greed to obtain more power have already perished. This was the battle for the title of Sovereign. Only creatures that could resonate with the "core" have the right to fight for the title. There were only sixty eight seats for this title and they were the strongest beings in the land of Vanko. Boom!! Souta laughed as he charged at his enemies. Seven shadows appeared beside him to attack his target. In an instant, blood covered his body and turned into a white armor. [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]! "I''ll kill everyone of you!!" Chapter 871 Ming Region I [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]!! Dozens of strings stretched out, sweeping everything in sight. The strings of webs were sharp and tough that it sliced the entire floating land into different parts. Bang!! The four monsters moved their bodies, avoiding the webs. Gigantic boulders of rocks crashed into the nearby floating lands. Even the palace suffered the same fate but it wasn''t fully destroyed. "Ehe~ too late!" Souta laughed as a black hole appeared in the air. The suction force pulled every piece of the destroyed floating land. The four monsters tried to get away from the black hole but the webs were swung towards their direction. They twisted their bodies and avoided it but they were hit by a powerful gravitational force that tried to push them towards the black hole. Bang!! In the next second, thousands of blood needles swept at their position. The four monsters were pushed into the black hole. The black hole tried to crush their bodies into smithereens but all of them were high level fourth stage dream beasts. An ordinary black hole in space wouldn''t scratch their bodies. But the black hole that Souta created was different. It was a tier 3 spell that was enhanced by his abilities and skills. Bit by bit, the powerful suction force managed to twist one of the arms of the four monsters. Their skins were ripped out and injuries started to appear on their bodies. "Dream beasts are really tough creatures but... This is the end. You''ve fallen into my trap." Souta said as he dashed forward. His body expanded as he activated his released form without hesitation. He was going to end the lives of these four monsters. Hmm...? Souta suddenly looked up and jumped away from his position. The next second, a powerful beam swallowed his previous position, disintegration anything that it touches. Bang!! Souta floated and stared ahead. He couldn''t help but smile, "Eh~ the great sovereign finally made a move. You couldn''t bear the thought of me killing all of your subordinates?" The Sovereign of the Ming Region, Dreaming Venomous Primate, observed Souta for a few seconds. "You''re strange... That body didn''t feel like a physical body yet you still possess flesh and blood. It also didn''t feel like a soul. Perhaps a manifestation?" Dreaming Venomous Primate said with a confused look. There was something wrong with this challenger. He then noticed the strangeness of Souta''s mask. "An artifact? I see... You didn''t resonate with the core but instead, that artifact is the one that resonated with the core. You... You''re not from this world, right? That body of yours is just a manifestation of your real body so you are from the real world." He said in a clear tone. He finally realized why he felt something with Souta''s body. It felt like it wasn''t real but real at the same time. So it was a manifestation. "You''re not from the world of dreams. You are a foreign entity and you think that you could challenge us in this world? That artifact of yours, I will take it." His tone grew colder and the energy around him rose sharply. His body transformed as he used his released form. Dreaming Venomous Primate already saw that Souta was a capable monster so he wasn''t going to underestimate Souta by holding. Also, Souta was already using [Monster Orb Release]. He would be at a disadvantage in a head-on clash if he didn''t use his release form. Souta smiled and replied, "Take it if you have the ability, oh great sovereign. Entertain me to the best of your ability." Souta kicked the air and launched himself. It doesn''t matter if his opponent realized that he was a foreign entity. In the end, all of them were gonna die. Whoosh!! He collided with the Dreaming Venomous Primate. The shockwaves pushed everything around them. Bang! Bang! Bang! In just a minute, the two clashed fiercely in mid-air thousands of times. Dreaming Venomous Primate realized that Souta''s physical strength was slightly stronger than his. He was still at a disadvantage even though he was already using what he gained from the core. Souta utilized his ability to the limit as the other four monsters joined the battle. His doppelganger and other skills made it possible for him to fight them at the same time. "What is this?!" Dreaming Venomous Primate couldn''t believe what was happening. He gritted his teeth and his aura rose once again. The venom in his fists grew stronger and stronger. He fully utilized his authority as the Sovereign of the Ming Region. His physical strength and speed along with other stats had received a huge boost. "Take this!!" Dreaming Venomous Primate threw a powerful punch. His fist was covered in dark green energy and an oppressive air was emanating from it. Souta didn''t back down. He threw a punch and both of their first collided causing a ripple in the air. Boom!!I think you should take a look at ''A sovereign is really powerful especially if they used their authority.'' Souta frowned. He guessed that he should eliminate the other four monsters first but they were supporting each other. Even the Dreaming Venomous Primate would protect them from a lethal attack. His seven doppelgangers were doing good in managing the situation. He wanted to control ten shadows but he was also controlling the webs, gravity, and blood so it would be too much if he added more. ''Once I kill one of them it would be easier to kill the rest...'' Souta said inwardly. This battle was really exciting. It''s making his blood boil. "Come!!" Souta grinned widely. He charged and clashed with the Dreaming Venomous Primate. After a punch, Souta stepped to the side and raised his foot. He swung it toward his opponent''s neck but his opponent crouched down, avoiding his kick. Using the momentum of his kick, Souta spun in midair. He threw another kick at his opponent and he focus all of his gravity powers to add more force to his attack. Dreaming Venomous Primate didn''t have a choice but to block. He knew that he couldn''t avoid the second kick so he raised both of his hands. Bang!! The kick pushed him a hundred meters away instantly. Souta transferred the power of gravity to the body of his target the moment his foot landed on the Dreaming Venomous Primate''s body. The power of gravity pushed Dreaming Venomous Primate and a suction force appeared behind him. When he turned around, a black hole was already behind him tens of meters away. "This...?!" He was surprised but then he realized that his hands which he used to block the kick were covered in blood-red webs. The webs were stuck into the nearest floating lands.????????????????????????????????.???????????? Meanwhile, the four monsters got freed from Souta''s doppelganger and other skills. After all, Souta concentrated his skills on Dreaming Venomous Primate. They fiercely launched an attack at the same time. They concentrated their attacks on Souta''s head. They wanted to kill him in a swift manner. Whoosh!! Souta raised his right hand and at the same time, he moved to the side. But the attacks of the four monsters still managed to hit him. He smiled widely as he felt the power of his opponents. The amount of energy used in this attack was tremendous. They really wanted to kill him in one attack. Bang! His defense crumbled before his right hand exploded into a bloody mess. His blood quickly turned into sharp needles that burst in every direction. The four monsters raised their defenses to block the blood needles but the needles were retracted before it could even touch them. "What?!" Before they could react, Souta already stretched out his hand and grabbed one of them. Then, seven shadows appeared once again and attacked the other three. Whoosh!! At this moment, a sharp blade pierced through the body of the monster that Souta was holding. "H-How...?" The monster was confused and he looked down. He saw that the hand that they destroyed was replaced by a sharp blade made of blood and at the tip of that sharp blade, there was a tiny black hole. "Even the parasites in my body were gone... Well, it doesn''t matter." Souta commented as he pulled out the sharp blade. In the next second, the four spider limbs on his back moved and ripped the monster apart. Blood scattered in every direction before it floated above Souta, joining the river of blood. "I finally killed one at the cost of my hand. It will be easier this time." Souta laughed madly before he threw the black hole at the tip of his sharp blade to the three monsters. "High level fourth stage... I could even fight someone at peak level when I was at initial level so you guys are pretty good. You should be glad that you are able to fight me to this extent. Hehe, hehehehehe..." Souta stabbed his left hand. His expression went back to normal. "That was close... Hu~ I almost got carried away. This emotional instability again. It''s too troublesome." Chapter 872 Ming Region II The three monsters moved to the side and avoided the black hole that Souta threw at them. They stared at him with a confused look. They didn''t understand why Souta would injure himself like that. "Sorry about that..." Souta took a deep breath as he controlled the blood flowing inside his body to turn into needles piercing through his skin. The emotional instability was really a problem for him. He can''t go on like this. He had to find a way to eliminate this problem or else it would create a disaster for him. "Hu~" Souta glanced at his hand. He opened and closed his palm repeatedly feeling the energy coursing through his body. Somehow, he only had half of his total energy left. Was his energy consumption ever this high before? No, he should have a lot of energy left since he was only fighting for a few minutes. The only possible answer for this was something was happening in his real body. "If that''s the case then I have to finish this as soon as possible. If I have all of my artifacts, this battle would have been concluded at this moment. Unfortunately, I had to finish the trial first." Souta frowned as he stared at the three monsters. Now that one of them was gone it would be easier for him to eliminate them. He couldn''t help but grin at this situation. Light gathered in his left hand and darkness gathered around his right hand. His right hand right now was made of pure blood. He sacrificed it to kill one of them. Well, that wouldn''t happen again since he calmed down. The river of blood above slowly flowed around Souta. It flowed on his hands before it turned into sharp swords. "Ahhh~ the dual blade..." The blood swords emitted a strange light before they received an enhancement from his class ability. At the same time, hundreds of blood spears formed above Souta. In the next moment, Souta launched himself at the three monsters. Seven shadows immediately appeared beside him and wielded the blood spears. Whoosh!! At this moment, Dreaming Venomous Primate already broke the skills that Souta used to keep him busy. He arrived in front of Souta and the two battled once again. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta was calm right now. He was forcing himself to stay calm. He observed the movement of his enemy before he precisely launched a counter to damage them. Unlike before, Souta was using the [Sword Mastery] to the utmost limit. He was like dancing in the air. His aura was sharp and his mind and body were in tune. He was pressuring the Sovereign of the Mind Region with his finely honed sword skills. Souta was using a weapon made of blood. It wasn''t comparable to dark grade but it was enough to hold for a while since his energy was coursing through it. It was also enhanced by his class ability. Well, even if it was shattered he could simply create another weapon using blood. Souta was good at hand-to-hand combat but it never gives an added boost. He was a person that was training almost every type of weapon. [Weapon Mastery]. Most of the weapons that he was practicing were slowly keeping up with his sword skills. That''s why... Dreaming Venomous Primate took a step back, outside the range of Souta''s sword. But he didn''t expect something. Souta''s sword turned into a long spear that pierced his shoulder. "What?!" He was surprised. He saw a blade moving to his neck. Bang!! Dreaming Venomous Primate realized that his subordinates had helped him from suffering an injury. Souta wasn''t surprised at all. He wasn''t fighting one monster but he was fighting four monsters right now. So it was within his expectations that they would save each other from suffering injuries from his attacks. Luckily, their coordination wasn''t great. It seems that they rarely ganged up against one person. The blade that was blocked by the monster suddenly turned into a whip that wrapped itself around the monster. "I got you..." Souta smiled evilly. He pulled the monster towards him and swung the sword in his other hand. [Crimson Moon]!! The crimson-colored energy blade landed on the monster''s body. Then, the whip turned into countless spikes that tried to burrow itself inside the monster''s flesh. Souta didn''t stop at all. The four spider limbs on his back fired [Bestrou], swallowing his target''s body. The other two monsters tried to help but Souta moved the river of blood and the seven doppelgangers to hold them for a few seconds. Souta created another sword as he approached his target. He swung his sword and he followed it once again. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! In just a second, he slashed his sword thousands of times. Each slash generated a force that could destroy an entire mountain in this land. [Crimson Moon]!! Souta slashed once again and this time the monster was shredded apart. Two down...I think you should take a look at Souta exhaled and stared at the remaining monsters. Just like what he said before, it would be easier after he killed one of them. Now that two of them were dead, it would be much easier to finish this. "Well, well, well, just a little bit more and this will be finished." Souta smiled devilishly before he charged at them. Meanwhile in Planet Plunyx... Eilish already entered the space gap and found that Souta was out of his mind, causing destruction everywhere. She didn''t have a choice but to step up and do her best to stop him. "If Souta managed to get out of this place... The folks of this world would be forced to rewrite their map. A country, mountain, river, or anything could disappear." Eilish cast her magic to the limit. She didn''t hold back at all. She was facing Souta, after all. She recalled the time when they first met. At that time, Souta was weaker than her but now, Souta possessed strength above her level. "Just what is happening to you, Souta..." Eilish said as she gritted her teeth. She was lucky that Souta was just in his base form and wasn''t using any of his abilities. He was simply swinging his sword in any direction, sending a powerful strike everywhere that shook the entire space. "I don''t know what happened but I needed to stop you." An energy blade flew and shattered the barrier around her. Then, it was followed by a second one that blew her thousands of meters away. Blood flowed from the corner of her mouth as she stared at Souta''s figure with concern in her eyes. "Ugh... I can''t..." Eilish was breathing heavily. She placed her hand in her back pocket and took out a potion. Huh?????????????????????????????????.???????????? She stared ahead with wide eyes. What happened? Souta''s right hand exploded, turning into a bloody mist. Now, that she saw it. She observed his condition and noticed that bruises were appearing around his body out of nowhere. "What is this...?!" This entire situation was strange. Eilish raised both of her hands as a wave of energy blade flew in her direction. She cast several barriers to protect herself. Bang! Bang! Bang! The energy blades easily shattered her barriers. It landed on her body causing a sword wound. She was blasted away into the far distance. "W-What... H-He grew stronger...?" Eilish couldn''t believe it. Souta was stronger right now than a few minutes ago. ... Swoosh!! Souta was floating in the air with two blood swords in his hands. He was staring at the dark sky with droplets of blood on his face. "Ah, if I was you... I would simply accept death." Souta said to the Dreaming Venomous Primate and the last one of the four monsters. He just killed the third one a second ago. This shocked his opponents as fear slowly invaded their hearts. He looked down at his hand and felt his power coursing through his body. He didn''t know why but his stats were increasing tremendously at this moment. His emotion was also fluctuating and it was getting harder to control. He could hear voices whispering in his ears. It was clouding his mind. "What is this...?" Souta muttered. He took a deep breath and focused his attention on his two opponents. Although his emotion was fluctuating right now, his stats had increased so he could end this battle easily. No, he should end this right now before he goes out of control. Who knows what would happen once that happened... Boom!! A large amount of energy and bloodlust burst out of Souta''s body. It spread throughout the entire area causing the space to tremble. With a boom, Souta launched himself like a rocket toward his opponents. He tightly gripped the swords in his hands. [Crimson Moon]!! A red energy blade flew out. The power of gravity bore down trying to restrict the sovereign and his subordinate''s body. Hundreds of black tentacles rose from the ground and the seven doppelgangers attacked once again. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of blood spears rained down at the two. Chapter 873 Pain Dreaming Venomous Primate tried to defend against the barrage of attack. He couldn''t believe that a creature from the real world possessed this much power. This creature didn''t even know how to use the power of Dream Realm. Boom! Boom! Boom! Several explosions occurred. Smoke covered a huge part of the aura. Dreaming Venomous Primate coughed a mouthful of blood. He looked down and saw that he suffered a few injuries from that barrage of attacks. Wait...! If he only suffered this then Souta''s target... He turned his head to the side and used his energy to blow the smoke away. Whoosh!! The thick smoke disappeared and he saw his subordinate''s head rolling in the air, splashing blood in all directions. Souta had a huge smile on his face as the blood of his opponent splattered across him. He turned his head and stared at Dreaming Venomous Primate. "This is fun, right?" Souta bent his knees and kicked the air. In an instant, he arrived in front of the Sovereign of the Ming Region. "Don''t worry, you will follow them soon." Souta said before he swung the sword in his hand. Bang! Dreaming Venomous Primate blocked the attack with great effort. He gritted his teeth but the seven doppelgangers attack him before he could even do anything. He didn''t have anyone fighting along with him so all of Souta''s skills and abilities were concentrated on him. ROAR!!! He roared and he easily destroyed the seven doppelgangers in just a few seconds. But Souta was already prepared. A black hole appeared behind the Dreaming Venomous Primate and the gravity force appeared once again pushing him toward the black hole. Bang!! Souta dashed and attacked his opponent. [Darkness Bite]!! A large amount of darkness landed on Dreaming Venomous Primate. The darkness pierced through his defenses and caused a deep wound across his chest. Argh!! Dreaming Venomous Primate roared angrily as he forced himself through the gravity field. He ripped the black hole and threw a vicious punch at Souta. Bang!! Souta didn''t back down. He simply slashed his sword once again at his opponent. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The two exchanged hundreds of blows in just a second. "You! Foreign creature!! You didn''t belong here!!" Dreaming Venomous Primate roared as he gathered his remaining energy in his mouth. [Bestrou]!! Souta fired his own attack and the two beams collided, causing a huge explosion that covered everything within a diameter of three kilometers. [Crimson Moon]!! A giant energy blade appeared and sliced through the smoke. Dreaming Venomous Primate quickly reacted as he moved his body to the side. Then, he threw another fierce punch in the direction where the energy blade came from. The energy that Dreaming Venomous Primate was exuding was totally powerful. It was beyond the scope of any other peak fourth stage monsters. He was a Sovereign and he resonated with the core of the Vanko Land. He was far stronger than the ordinary peak fourth stage. Souta couldn''t use his [Shadow Bind] nor any other tier 1 spell since the best feram of the Sovereign was disintegrating it instantly. Whoosh!! Souta phased through the darkness and dashed forward. He avoided the punch and arrived in front of his opponent. He moved his sword swiftly. [Darkness Bite]!! Dreaming Venomous Primate moved but he couldn''t completely avoid the darkness. It ripped his shoulder apart along with his right arm. His blood splattered everywhere. The blood turned into sharp spikes that flew toward him. Dreaming Venomous Primate reacted once again. He avoided the blood spikes but he didn''t expect that Souta was already behind him. With a slash, his left arm flew and rolled in the air. Dreaming Venomous Primate groaned in pain. He turned around, only to hear Souta''s voice in his ears. "You''ve entertained me..."????????????????????????????????.???????????? Souta slashed his sword once again. Then, he followed it by firing [Bestrou] using the four spider limbs on his back. Boom! Boom! Boom! Seven doppelgangers rose within Souta''s shadow. Each one of them grabbed a blood spear and stabbed it through the Dreaming Venomous Primate''s body. Bang! Bang! Dreaming Venomous Primate was still alive so Souta dashed forward and used his skill once again. [Darkness Bite]!! This time, the darkness destroyed the target''s body. The target''s defense crumbled and darkness spread out inside the body. Organs, blood, and flesh scattered everywhere. Thud!! Souta landed on the ground and his body turned back to normal. The debris of the destroyed floating lands fell and caused the ground to shake. *Ding!* [Congratulations on completing the Quest!] [You''ve gained access to Dream Realm!] [You can enter Dream Realm once a week!]I think you should take a look at [It will change depending on your Dream Power!] [You can exit the Dream Realm!] Souta exhaled as he glanced at the notifications that he received. It wasn''t done yet. He just defeated a Sovereign and stole the title from the Dreaming Venomous Primate. *Ding!* [You''ve gained authority to use Dream Power!] [You''ve gained Dream Power I!] [You''ve gained the title "Sovereign"!] [You are now the Sovereign of the Ming Region!] [You can suppress anyone in the Dream Realm that hasn''t resonated with the cores yet!] [All stats have increased by 150 points!] Souta nodded when he saw the system notification. Finally, he gained the Dream Power and it would be one of his foundations in the future. ''After I increase my strength to a certain degree, I will leave this land and explore the Dream Realm to find the real legacy of the Nightmare King using the artifact.'' Nightmare King divided his legacy into two parts. Souta only gained one part of it while the other one was in possession of another dream beast. He had to kill that dream beast unfortunately he failed many times in the game. Even though the Dream Realm would be owned by the Sea King in the future, Souta could still use the Dream Power. The only problem was that since Dream Realm became a part of Cthulhu, it would be useless to use Dream Power against him. Aside from Cthulhu, Souta could still use Dream Power against any other beings. Souta looked around and decided to exit the Dream Realm. He was the Sovereign of the Ming Region. It depends on him if he would subdue all the dream beasts in this region or not. Some of the sovereigns didn''t even bother building a force, they just secluded themselves in a place that no one knows. "I''m still getting stronger at high speed... I don''t know what''s happening it''s getting harder to control." Souta could feel that something was wrong in his body. He could hear faint voices in his ears and he felt heavy about this entire situation. It feels like he was about to die. "I have a bad feeling about this..." He waved his hand and a light engulfed his body. Ohm! When the light disappeared, Souta was already gone. ... Souta''s body was still causing destruction in the space gap. Various cracks appeared and his energy seeped out of it. His consciousness went back to his body and he stopped moving. "Argh... What is this...?" Souta didn''t have a time to observe his surrounding as he felt intense pain all over his body. It felt like thousands of needles were drilling into his organs and his brain was about to explode. "Argh...!!!!" He grabbed his head in pain. Thousands of eerie voices were whispering to his ears. It was affecting his physical and mental body. Even his soul was affected. "T-This can''t be...." Souta couldn''t help but scream. Various images flashed in his mind and the pain continued to grow stronger. "SOUTA!!" Eilish noticed that something changed once again. Souta was in pain this time. He wasn''t slashing his sword but his energy was still oozing out without control. She took a deep breath and flew in his direction. She had to figure out what was happening no matter what. Whoosh!! "No!" Souta could still hear the voices and various deaths flashed before his eyes. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, Nooo!!! Stop it!! Stop it!! IT HURTS!! Someone!! His body, mind, and soul felt a tremendous amount of pain that no one could have ever imagined. WHYYYYY?!!! Souta experienced the deaths of millions of people in an instant. It felt too real to be an illusion. It was horrifying to the point that he wanted to completely die. By the time that everything ends, Souta felt dry and numb. Nothing could reach everyone. Huff! Huff!! Souta woke up and his body was full of sweat. "W-What is that...?" He glanced at his hands and saw that he was trembling. He looked around, only to find that he was inside an unfamiliar room. His eyes looked like it was the eyes of a dead person. This... He felt like he lived through thousands of years and through that thousands of years, he only experienced death nothing else. ''Souta, are you alright?'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. "Hmm...? You are...?" Souta glanced at the sword. It felt familiar and important. ''You... You forgot about me...?'' Saya couldn''t believe it. "I don''t know, my mind is still cloudy... I... death..." Souta muttered as he held his head. ''What happened to you? I''ll make you remember everything! Brace yourself!'' Saya''s voice echoed before he felt a slight pain inside his head. It was excruciating pain but Souta only frowned at this feeling. It was then that various images flowed inside his mind and the cloudy feeling was slowly dissipating. "I... I''m Souta Ieshi!" Chapter 874 Karma Various images flowed into his mind and Souta felt his mind being clear. The cloudy feeling was dissipating and his eyes slowly regain their luster. "I remember now... I exited the Dream Realm and..." Souta''s expression turned dark. The things that happened after he exited was the worse thing. Thousand of years had passed in that place yet only a few hours had passed in the real world. He turned his head and glanced at the windows. He found that this house was inside the city of merfolk. "What am I going to do...?" Souta was doing all of this just to survive in the calamity but after experiencing that horrible thing. He grew numb to death. He wasn''t afraid of it. It felt like it doesn''t matter if he survived or not. He experienced millions of death at that moment. ''Souta, are you okay?'' Saya asked worriedly when she saw his expression. "Oh," Souta snapped out of his daze. He looked down and asked, "Saya, do you have any goals?" ''Me?'' "Yeah, I want to know if you have any goals." Souta nodded. ''My only goal right now is to watch you succeed and reach the apex. I will always be here watching you.'' Saya said. Souta smiled when he heard her words. He said, "Okay, I will reach the apex no matter what." Bang! The door was slammed open, causing Souta to immediately turn his head. It was Eilish. Eilish had concern painted on her face as she stared at him. She opened her mouth and asked, "S-Souta, are you okay? Does your body hurt? Do you need me to help you?" Souta stared at her first before he smiled, "I''m fine... The situation before is just a little bit problematic." ''It seems that I can''t die yet.'' He said inwardly. There''s also Yenxa. He would find her no matter what. Even if he fought the entire Imperium, he wasn''t afraid. Invading the soul realm and disrupting the cycle was a huge deal. It would cause chaos in the entire world. "Are you sure?" Eilish asked. "Yeah, I''m fine now," Souta assured her. "Sigh... I''m glad." Eilish breathed a sigh of relief. Souta stared at her for a few seconds before he asked, "Are you that worried about me?" "Of course! It''s only natural that I would be worried about you!" Eilish raised her voice. "Hmm... I see... I will rest here for an hour then we''ll head out." Souta said before he closed his eyes. "Okay, I will prepare a meal for you. I hunted sea monsters so I will cook it. Eat first before we depart." Eilish said before she left the room. Souta opened his eyes and stared at the door. He could still hear the faint voices in his ears. There were changes in his body. He realized that his stats had increased to a higher level. Stats...? Does it mean... Souta widened his eyes. He moved his eyes and glanced at the system. This... "What I experienced was the side effect...?" He saw that the souls in his [Soul Blood Earring] were tremendously high. The amount of souls needed for his next stat enhancement was astronomically high. It needed tens of millions of souls. So in other words, while his consciousness manifested in the Dream Realm, his body started to move uncontrollably and consumed all the souls from the boundary that he destroyed. This wasn''t the game so all the grief and hatred of those souls were poured into his body instantly. Damn! It was an experience that he wouldn''t ever forget.I think you should take a look at Souta sighed. He asked Saya about what happened and just like what he expected, he really consumed the souls and went berserk. Sigh... That experience only made him used to death. He was numb from it. Souta stretched his hands and felt the changes in his stats. His physical body right now was comparable to the body of a fourth shackle. He didn''t need any boost or enhancement to rival their physical strength. "I''m strong..." He said in a low voice. ''That''s the strength you gain from consuming all those souls... You know, I tried to forcefully control your body at that time but I was forced out as soon as I control your body.'' Saya said. ''You are lucky, I managed to expel a huge number of souls in that split second, or else you will not be able to handle the consequences. The grief and hatred will be too much for you, especially the karma. You can''t instantly consume tens of millions of souls. It''s like eating food. You can''t eat something that exceeded your stomach. The same thing happened to you.'' Souta grew silent. That wasn''t his intention, his body automatically moved after he manifested in the Dream Realm. ''Your mind will be crushed and you will kill everyone in sight until you died of exhaustion. That girl Eilish is there and she is trying to stop you from causing trouble on this planet. If a word gets out that you are losing control of your instinct then you will be hunted down. A lot of monsters died like that. They are prone to losing control, especially before reaching the monster lord. If they couldn''t control their instinct they will be placed under subjugation. You are still at the fourth stage yet you are experiencing something that monsters mostly experience at the peak fifth stage. Since I''m not a monster, I can''t help you with this.'' "I understand..." Souta nodded at her words. He looked around and asked, "What about the two books that I''ve stolen?" ''There, in the cabinet. That girl Eilish placed those two books there.'' Saya replied. "I will enter your inner consciousness first. I want to familiarize myself with my current body. It feels like a lot of time had passed since I moved." Souta said as he stretched his arms. He entered Saya''s inner consciousness and spends his time there familiarizing himself with his current strength. He only got out after some time since he had to depart soon. When he exited Saya''s inner consciousness, Souta packed his things but Eilish forced him to eat his meal first. He had no choice but to comply with her. After that, the two went back to the surface. "Are you sure we can go now? If you want, we can stay here tonight." Eilish said. She was still worried about Souta. "I''m fine. I can move now. What happened before is just an accident." Souta said to her. It was really an accident. He never thought that the [Nightmare Mask] would activate on its own and start the trial. It was beyond his expectations. Souta stared above. Unlike before, right now, he wasn''t afraid of the future. He became indifferent to it. "It seems that you are awake..." A voice sounded beside them. Souta and Eilish turned their heads and saw an old merfolk. This old guy was the Grand Elder of the merfolk tribe on this planet. ????????????????????????????????.???????????? "Sorry for the damage that I''ve caused," Souta said to the Grand Elder before he glanced at the surroundings. He could see that there were dozens of space cracks around the city. There were more above and it was causing a strange effect on this land. "Don''t bother it," Grand Elder shook his head. He turned his head and stared at the city. "I don''t know why the ancestor passed down that tradition. But now, I realized that we''ve been keeping a legendary creature under our noses. It''s been said that it is a guardian but the question is what is it guarding?" "Just a small world..." Souta answered calmly. "Hmm... Have you found what you want in that world?" Grand Elder asked. "Yeah..." Souta said plainly. Grand Elder turned his head and looked at him. "It seems that you are lost. You''ve possessed great strength better than anyone in the world." Souta shook his head and replied, "There are still stronger beings out there. The legend of Divine World in your books... It''s real. I''m from that world called Imperium." "Divine World... Does God really exist?" Grand Elder asked calmly. "Yeah, they are beings that I wanted to surpass." Souta nodded. "Is that so... I can see that your mind is in a mess. I don''t know anything about the Divine World but you have to know yourself and conquer yourself. I can see that you''ve experienced a lot of hardship. Don''t let your obstacle change you, young man." Grand Elder said. "Thank you and let me apologize once again," Souta said. "Don''t bother. Our tribe needed this. I''m observing them for dozens of years yet their attitude didn''t change at all. They all think that they are better than anyone from the surface. It''s time for them to accept the reality." Grand Elder said. "I understand, then goodbye Grand Elder... I will leave now." Souta smiled and shook his head. The Grand Elder of this tribe was still the same. He was like this in the game too. The Grand Elder stared at Souta''s back before he whispered, "Hardship prepares a man for an extraordinary destiny. The harder the obstacle, the more extraordinary your destiny is. Endure it and you will find the truth that lies in your journey." Chapter 875 Sign of Battle Souta shook his head when he heard the Grand Elder''s words. He continued to move toward the surface with Eilish. "Unfortunately old man, the destiny is gone. There''s no more destiny in this world. Anything could happen. Well, I understand your thoughts." He muttered. Soon, the two arrived at the surface. They met the trio who was waiting for them anxiously. Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the two return safely. "A lot of things have happened but we are here. Let''s return to the Arsen Kingdom." Souta said to them. Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi nodded at his words. Since there was nothing else to do, the group quickly departed from their location. Souta thought about the things that he would do now. His plan was still the same and he only change a few little things about it. ''I will groom the others into top-notch experts. They have combat arts, techniques, and spells. The only problem is the resources to increase their growth rate. Also, their artifacts are all low-grade. They didn''t even have a single dark grade.'' Saya imparted most of the techniques, combat arts, and spells that she knew. If it wasn''t enough then they could get some in the Athen''s Champion like what Eilish did. Saya wasn''t an expert in spells so her knowledge about it couldn''t be compared to the people that studied spellcasting. So the spells that she imparted were too few compared to combat arts and techniques. He could only farm low grade resources in Ekatoe City. It was only for the experts below B-rank. He couldn''t train high level experts using those meager resources. That''s why dungeon exploring was important. Alice and the rest were currently exploring dungeons and labyrinths. He was looking forward to their harvest. ''As for my own strength... I have enough. I already consumed tons of legendary grade ingredients. My current strength is already beyond the scope of any fourth stage.'' After this mission, Souta would volunteer to participate in the battle. He would choose the battlefield and head to the Selnes Country which would be later known as Selnes Theater. He didn''t participate in this battlefield in the game so he didn''t have any idea about what happened here. The only thing he knew was that Selnes Country was a Large Country in the past but their gods had fallen so they were reduced to a Small Country level. Although they were Small Country, they still have defense formation that was better than most of the Small Countries. It was left by their gods and a lot of people from other Small Countries wanted it for themselves. ''Tears of Divine Might... I wonder how it would affect me. I only ate four mythical grades in the game and it really enhanced my combat ability to the highest degree.'' Souta wondered. Then, he shook his head. He took out the book that he stole from Nightmare King. The [Void Entanglement] and [Void Shrouding]. These two skills were unique and they were classified as Synchro Skills. It could be a spell or combat art but these were Synchro Skill. Not every type of spell could be used as a foundation for a Forbidden Spell. And not every type of combat art could be used for sublimation. Only spells and combat arts classified as Synchro Skills could be used. The other skills wouldn''t be able to hold the entirety of enhancement. They weren''t exactly powerful. Some of them were even weaker than normal spells or combat arts. Souta took a deep breath and used 2 skill points to learn the two skills. *Ding!* [You''ve learned Void Entanglement(Level 1)!] [You''ve learned Void Shrouding(Level 1)!] Souta closed his eyes and felt the changes in his body. He had grown stronger once again. The [Void Entanglement] was a passive skill that enhanced his dark attribute by one hundred percent. It also increased his strength by 100 points, agility by 200 points, dexterity by 150 points, and vitality and intelligence by 100 points. It has the ability to resonate other dark attribute skills to the user''s body. Also, it would increase his perception to the concept of space. The [Void Shrouding] skill was a field type spell. It created a hollow area of darkness that lowered everyone''s dark resistance by thirty percent and it enhanced the user''s stats by 100 points. Through this spell, he could travel in the shadow for a short amount of time. ''[Void Shrouding] is the only Synchro spell that I have. My other spells are powerful but they aren''t Synchro so they couldn''t hold the properties of Forbidden Spell.'' Souta opened his palm and a magic circle appeared. It was the magic circle of [Void Shrouding]. He observed the magic circle. He didn''t notice any differences from other spells. He could only recognize that it was Synchro because of the system. Sigh... He really needed to learn more. Souta glanced at Eilish and threw the two skill books at her. "Here!" Eilish reacted and caught the books with her hands. "This...?" "Learn it. It''s a foundation for Forbidden Spells. I think you will be able to master it faster than me." Souta explained. "Oh, I see..." Eilish nodded as she stared at the books in her hands. These two books were useless to him now since he already learned them. If he didn''t have a system, he would have to spend a lot of time before he could use these two skills. Next was the [Dream Power I]. Dream Power was divided into different types. First was a physical dream like the Dreaming Venomous Primate that he killed. It could enhance the physical power of the user to a certain degree. Second was the element dream. It enhanced the user''s elemental power and sometimes it even adds elemental affinity to the user. Third was a manifestation dream. It was a power that could manifest a certain ability to the user. Each user has a different manifested ability. Some were useless and some were useful. ''So... My Dream Power... Is it still the same as the game?'' Souta closed his eyes and focused his attention on the Dream Power. Huh? Souta opened his eyes. He realized that his Dream Power was different from the game. It was different from the game in which he had the type of manifestation dream. This time, he had an element dream. He could only increase his element power to a certain degree with this ability. ''I thought I would get the same as before but it seems that''s not the case this time...'' Souta said inwardly. Still, the element dream could raise his elemental power close to the limit of the Integration Stage based on his estimation. If that''s the case, then his skills and other elemental related ability would be enhanced as well. Not just that, just by activating [Element Drive] the added stats would increase too. It''s quite good now that he thinks about it. He couldn''t focus on training his elemental power since he was Devil Sea right now. They were close to the border of a nearby practicing his Archetype. So Dream Power would make up for it for the time being before he could use Archetype in real combat. The group stopped at a huge cliff. They were quite far from the Devil Sea right now. They were close to the border of a nearby country. Souta and Eilish frowned as they felt that something was wrong. "Is there something wrong?" Princess Dreimi asked as she noticed their expressions were strange. "The energy in the air is chaotic. The laws and concepts of this world are also fluctuating as if some power is pushing it aside." Eilish said in a low voice. Souta nodded at her words. The laws and concepts of Planet Plunyx were stronger than the Boundary. Only powerful experts were capable of affecting the laws and concepts of this sub-world. ''Well, aren''t I the same?'' Souta smiled to himself. "They aren''t controlling it but the concepts are being affected somehow." Eilish frowned deeper. "Some powerful experts are fighting. The fluctuations of energy are overpowering everything else." "Let''s go... I wanted to see if there''s really a capable person in this world." Souta smiled. He looked down at his hand and closed his palm. "So I still got it... This excitement, ah~, it feels like it''s been a long time since I''ve participated in a battle. I thought that I wouldn''t feel anything but it seems I was wrong." Eilish glanced at him and asked worriedly, "Are you sure that you''ve recovered?" "Yeah, you don''t need to worry about me. I just wanted to fight right now. Experiencing countless deaths is too much for me." Souta grinned. He stepped forward and the rest looked at him curiously. Souta looked back at them and said, "Prepare yourself, we''ll travel at high speed. Eilish keep up with me." ????????????????????????????????.???????????? Ten black spheres materialized behind Souta. He raised his hand and the gravitational field covered the three. Before they could even process what was going on, a strong gravity pull them in a certain direction. Whoosh!! Souta flew into the sky with incredible speed, creating shockwaves in the places he passed by. Eilish followed behind him. Chapter 876 Chaos In The Continent Souta actually wanted to walk on land but it seems that there was something interesting that was happening right now in this world. This was his vacation so he should enjoy this as much as he could. Yet, it feels like his vacation was that horrible experience that made him numb to death. He was getting numb. He didn''t want to lose his emotion. After all, if he couldn''t find anything fun in this world then what''s the point of living? He wanted to fight and experience the thrill once again. Souta stretched out his hands and grabbed the space in front of him. He used the space to travel faster than before. The [Void Entanglement] was a passive skill and one of its properties gives him a high perception of the fabric of space. Ohm!! He was grabbing the space without even damaging it. In just a second, Souta traveled hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi experience something that they''ve never experienced before. Whoosh!! Before they could even process what was going on, they arrived at the battlefield. They landed on the ground and they started puking all over the place. That was too much for them. Their stomach couldn''t handle that speed. "We''re here..." Eilish arrived as she observed the surrounding. Everything was chaotic. The radiation of energy in the air could kill low level creatures. It was distorting all sorts of phenomena. A big battle has definitely occurred here. There''s no doubt. Judging from the fluctuations of energy alone, the experts were stronger than her. Eilish took a deep breath before she snapped her finger. Ohm! A barrier appeared and covered Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi. "This will protect you for the time being. Just don''t go to places with high energy fluctuations. The experts that caused this is stronger than me." Eilish warned the three sternly. The three nodded at her words. "We''ve arrived at the border..." Souta paused as he glanced at the three who were gasping for air before he asked, "But what country is this?" Baldur and Heimer observed their surroundings. After a few seconds, they glanced at each other as they reached a tacit understanding. "If I''m not wrong this place is the border of Sydfri Kingdom. One of the most powerful countries in the continent. Although the appearance had changed because of the destruction, I''m sure that this is Sydri Kingdom." Baldur explained. "What?!" Princess Dreimi was shocked. The Sydfri Kingdom was no ordinary country at all. It possessed a powerful military that could stand at the of the world. "Don''t tell me the Dawn Break Tower...!!" Princess Dreimi said. Heimer glanced at her and shook his head. "I don''t think so, Dawn Break Tower is powerful but they will not be able to demolish the border of Sydfri Kingdom in a short amount of time that we''re gone." It wasn''t a secret that Dawn Break Tower was expanding its territories. It even tried to fight the Sydfri Kingdom yet their battle led to a stalemate. Both of them just lost their forces in the battle. Baldur and Heimer''s positions were high so they knew a lot of things about other countries. They knew it better than normal people. "Lady Eilish said that the one who did this is stronger than her... Dawn Break Tower didn''t have an expert as strong as Lady Eilish." Heimer said grimly. Souta rubbed his chin. He knew that Heimer was correct. There was no way that this mid-level world could produce a top-notch expert that was stronger than Eilish. A Three Shackles expert was a huge problem but... He was sensing something else. There were several hints of higher power in the atmosphere. There were Four Shackles experts present in this situation. Someone that broke a great shackle was too much for this world. "Sydfri Kingdom? Is that the country that you mention to me that summoned a hero from another world?" Souta asked. "Yes, Your Grace, Sydfri Kingdom had a strange ritual where they are able to summon a being from another world. I don''t know the details since only the upper echelons of the country knew it." Baldur said. "Is it similar to the portal that I''ve used to arrive in this world?" Souta asked.I think you should take a look at "Probably not, they said that the two parties have to form a contract that they have to fulfill to each other. Of course, they could forcefully summon weak heroes. Aside from that, I don''t know anything else." Baldur said. Saya said, ''It''s probably similar to a demon ritual.'' "Oh, now that you mention it... It sounds similar and different at the same time." Souta nodded. He smiled and said, "I want to meet that so-called hero but it seems that I wouldn''t be able to do it." "Why?" Princess Dreimi asked curiously. "Well, the hero will not probably be able to handle the level of the experts that are attacking this kingdom," Souta explained. Hmm...? Souta turned his head looking in a certain direction. "What is it, Souta?" Eilish asked. She followed his line of sight and didn''t find anything. The three were confused about why Souta was looking in that direction. They didn''t ask since they knew that their senses couldn''t be compared to the Messenger of God. After a few seconds, a group of people appeared in their vision. "They are..." Eilish was a little bit surprised. The group of people arrived close to them. They were wearing armor and armed with sharp weapons. "You guys are then..." Souta paused as he turned his head to look in the direction where the intense fluctuation was coming from. "Then who''s the one causing all of this?" The people who arrived were warriors of Athen''s Champion. Souta and Eilish recognized them from the emblem on their armor. "Grain Leader Souta!!" They saluted to him first before they explained their appearance here. They told him that the instrument used to sense the sub-worlds under Athen''s Champion detected foreign creatures forcefully entering the atmosphere of Planet Plunyx. The headquarters dispatched them to support Grain Leader Souta in investigating the foreign creatures. But as soon as they arrived on this planet, the land was already in shambles. Various countries had fell including the powerhouses of this continent. The warriors realized that the foreign creatures were hostile. They went around to find him while supporting the other countries that fell. The entire continent was engulfed in chaos in just a short amount of time. Right now, the enemies were targeting the Sydfri Kingdom. There was nothing they could do in stopping the enemies. All of them were just One and Two Shackles. Their role was to support him. After all, the higher-ups were convinced that Souta''s strength was enough to combat the enemies. He just needed a little bit of support. Souta nodded after he listened to their explanation. He glanced at them. There were ten warriors and the leader was a Three Shackles expert while the rest were One and Two Shackles. "But who''s the one fighting the enemies?" Souta asked. "That... That''s the hero that Sydfri Kingdom summoned. We''re also surprised when we found out about this." The warriors answered. "Hero...?" Souta narrowed his eyes. From his knowledge, the strongest person on this planet was on the other continent, the land on the other side of the Devil Sea. That person was only at Three Shackles. The rest of the top tier was just Two Shackles. Even so, Souta was sure that Eilish was a little bit stronger than them. Perhaps, they could beat her if they fought in two on one but Eilish would win in a one-on-one battle. So... The hero could fight a Four Shackles expert? How? Souta felt like he needed to watch the battle with his own eyes to believe it. "Grain Leader Souta, the higher-ups lend us an artifact to support you." The warriors said. "Hmm..." Souta nodded. "They said that if you fought Four Shackles experts, this land will not be able to handle the consequences. It would receive great damage. I''m sure you can feel it already. The space is already distorted in this land." The captain of the warriors explained. He continued, "The artifact will create a powerful dome that will cover you and our enemies. It will protect this land from receiving further damage but the barrier will only last for thirty minutes." "I see..." Souta nodded as he understand what the higher-ups wanted. "Sigh... They knew that I have enough strength to defeat the enemies. They are just worried about the state of this planet when the battle was over so they sent these warriors to set up a battlefield for me."?????????????????????????????.???????????? The three were shocked inwardly. They just heard a big piece of news. They didn''t expect that the entire continent was in chaos at this moment. They just thought that it was a battle between two countries but it seems that the problem was bigger than they imagined. "Let''s go, I want to see how this so-called hero holding the enemies," Souta said. Chapter 877 Bless By The World Souta and the rest arrived at the capital of the Sydfri Kingdom. It was a huge city with a diameter of one hundred kilometers. It was bustling and the view was astonishing before but now... It was filled with smoke, corpses were scattered everywhere, and hundreds of buildings were destroyed. Even the palace at the center of the city was burning. Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi couldn''t believe what they were seeing. One of the most famous cities in the world was burning. Flames were everywhere and blood dyed the ground. "This is a sight to see..." Souta commented. "They are fighting there." Eilish looked up. The hero of the Sydfri Kingdom was a young man wearing silver-colored armor. He was swinging his sword against a man covered in a dark red robe. Their battle was fierce and they were using all of their might against each other. They were fighting twenty kilometers above the city. Still, the aftershocks of their battle could be felt throughout the entire city. It even extends to farther land. The space was distorting and all sorts of elements were bursting out every second. Each of their attacks was cancelling each other and it didn''t cause more damage to the surrounding. They were evenly matched. Souta raised his eyebrows when he saw the battle. "Souta..." Eilish said as she watched the battle. She noticed something strange. Yeah, there was a strange thing about this battle. The hero was only at Three Shackles yet he was able to fight a powerful man at Four Shackles. The mana in the atmosphere and the laws of this world were moving strangely. The hero was able to control it completely. If it was any other experts, there was no doubt that the hero would defeat them. Unfortunately, the one he''s fighting was a top-tier expert. Souta recognized the insignia on the robe of the man. That man was from the Wingless Crow. "I see... Their target is me." Souta understood immediately. That woman named Layla warned him about this. The Wingless Crow wanted to kill him since he annihilated the branch in Hall Plains. Souta glanced at his fellow warriors and said, "Set up the artifact. Once you activated it, I will start moving." The warriors nodded before they left to activate the artifacts. While waiting, Souta continued to watch the battle. Boom!! The hero fiercely attacked his opponent. Each one of his attacks contains a vast amount of mana and laws. It was capable of annihilating this entire land. If this continued, Souta guessed that the whole city beneath them would collapse under the sheer pressure of the battle. The man from the Wingless Crow took the hero''s attack head-on. From his point of view, the hero was simply a man that got lucky to obtain the protection of this world''s law. If not for this world''s laws, he would have already killed this hero. Still, he could crush all types of laws that were thrown at him. He even has the upper hand in this battle. Boom!! The land shook heavily and it caused a ripple on the ground that destroyed countless infrastructures. The battle was getting fiercer and fiercer with each passing second. They have already thrown hundreds of thousands of attacks. The space was full of cracks and the mana in the air was chaotic. The pressure from this battle immediately killed all the people below A-rank while people under Shackled Realm fainted from the pressure. Only people that had the protection of high-grade artifacts could handle the pressure. Unfortunately, there was no such thing in this land. Most of the artifacts in this land were only at blue grade. The orange grade was too rare to the point that some countries considered it a national treasure. Heimer, Baldur, and Princess Dreimi were under Souta and Eilish''s protection so they were fine. "That hero... He''s like the child of this world. I could control the causality of this world yet he is controlling it as if it is one of his limbs." Eilish commented. "Yeah, if it is against people from this world, they wouldn''t be able to defeat that hero. Too bad, his opponent is an expert from Imperium. That man is destroying the laws that are trying to restrict his movements." Souta said. Boom!! The shockwave directly traveled hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Souta could see the wailing souls in the air. He was tempted to consume them but he held himself back. He just experience that horrible experience so he didn''t want that to happen again. He should just take the souls slowly. He couldn''t take a lot of souls in an instant since he didn''t want to happen that once again. Ohm! A strange ripple swept out and everything stopped. Wind, smoke, flames, piles of rubble, and every living creature had stopped moving. The time had stopped. Except for the man from the Wingless Crow. He forcefully broke the laws around him with his overwhelming energy. He dashed forward and launched a powerful blow at the hero''s stomach. Bang!! Souta turned his head and glanced at Eilish. Even Eilish was affected by the time. She stopped moving along with Baldur, Heimer, and Princess Dreimi.I think you should take a look at Sigh... He waved his hand and a crack formed in the air. Bang! The time around them was shattered and his energy slowly spread out. Eilish was still a Two Shackles so she wasn''t strong enough. Eilish came back to her senses. She didn''t know what happened. "Eilish, you can go now. Bring Baldur, Heimer, and Dreimi with you. They will activate the artifact soon." Souta said. Eilish glanced at him and nodded. Souta was going to move so she had to create a certain distance. Even the battle between the hero and that unknown man was too much for her. "Be careful," She said before she turned around and left. She brought the three with her. Souta looked at her back for a few seconds before he stared down at the city. The Wingless Crow didn''t simply dispatch one expert to kill him. They knew that he fought No God Emperor''s vessel and even drive away the experts from the other factions in Hall Plains, directly controlling the land. Hmm... Aside from the man that was fighting the hero, Souta could sense six more experts hiding within the city. They were watching the battle with interest in their eyes. All of them were Four Shackles experts. The Wingless Crow really wanted to kill him for them to dispatch seven experts that broke a great shackle. These seven experts were already a huge force even within a powerful organization like Athen''s Champion. They were qualified to become Grain Leaders. Ohm!! The atmosphere suddenly changed. A huge barrier covered everything within a diameter of one thousand kilometers. The hero and the man from Wingless Crow were surprised at this sudden change. Even the other six experts were shocked at this event. No one expected this to happen. The warriors from Athen''s Champion finally activated the artifact. The barrier isolated this place from the outside world. Even the space was cut moving from this place to outside was blocked. The only way to escape this place was to break the barrier but that was impossible. Even a Seven Shackles expert wouldn''t be able to escape this place. Only those experts that broke nine shackles and above have the power to break this barrier. Even then, it would at least take them a while before they could break through. Swoosh!! Souta appeared in the air staring down at everyone. Right now, all the people within the city were dead. There''s nothing they could do on this scale of battle. It was too much for them. If the two continued fighting, this whole place, no, this entire continent would be affected as well. Souta already felt the change in the planet''s system. The hero manipulated the laws and his opponent crushed it causing natural disasters to occur in other parts of the world. If the other experts also used their powers then it would be over in an instant. This planet wouldn''t be able to handle their overwhelming energies. Souta''s presence was revealed. The hero and the rest of the experts from the Wingless Crow glanced at him. "Blood Lightning Monster, Souta..." The experts from the Wingless Crow recognized him. He was their target. He was the reason why they invaded this sub-world, to begin with. "Target confirmed. The Blood Lightning Monster has appeared." The man who was fighting the hero said while staring at Souta''s figure. Souta stared at them before he shifted his gaze to the hero. He smiled and said, "You''re quite good, hero. You are blessed by this world." Ohm! A figure appeared behind Souta in an instant. This figure was covered in a dark red robe and was holding two sharp daggers. The person behind the robe thrust the daggers forward with overwhelming force. The daggers landed on Souta''s neck. It tried to slice his neck but it failed because of his touch flesh. Whoosh!!????????????????????????????????.???????????? The figure didn''t stop and slashed the sword. This time the [Element Drive] of the attacker was activated. Bang!! Chapter 878 One Versus Seven Souta''s figure crashed on the ground. Then, three more people appeared and swiftly launched an attack. Boom!! The hero was stunned. He didn''t know where these strong people came from. He was just fighting one of them yet suddenly the entire situation changed. Shockwaves after shockwaves swept out across the region. In just a second, the entire city was flattened. It was replaced by a large crater with a diameter of five kilometers and a depth of five hundred meters. All the living creatures and infrastructures were turned into dust. Boom!! The experts continued to attack fiercely without holding back. All of them launched their most powerful attack in their strongest form. Their elemental power shook the entire region as if everything was about to break. Bang!! The hero raised his hand and covered himself with a barrier. He gritted his teeth. If he was on the receiving end of this barrage of attacks, he knew that he wouldn''t be able to survive. Crack! The space was shattered along with various laws in the area. "It started..." Eilish and the others were staring at the giant spherical barrier. They could see various elements sweeping out inside the barrier. Even though it was isolated and they couldn''t feel the pressure, just seeing it made them feel a cold sweat on their spine. "If this was unleashed without a barrier then..." Eilish narrowed her eyes. This whole continent would collapse instantly. The laws that were protecting this world would shatter. Millions of people would die once that happens. She needed to get stronger as soon as possible. Boom!! Inside the barrier, the hero floated in the air with a grim look. The barrage of attacks just now completely ravaged everything inside the barrier. There was nothing left except for them. Bang! The smoke was blown away as a powerful energy spread out. Souta stood in the air as he stared at the people from the Wingless Crow. He raised his hand and wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth. "This is it... This pain is different from those deaths. This pain is coming from the thrill of battle." Souta laughed as he opened both of his arms widely. His energy burst out of his body and his wounds quickly healed in an instant. The experts from the Wingless Crow took a step back. "Is he this strong?! This... We can''t even injure him with all of our attacks." One of them said while staring at Souta. This was beyond their expectations. Souta was stronger than they imagined. There were seven Four Shackles Realm experts here and yet the only thing that they could do was scrape his skin. They didn''t hold back at all. They even used their [Element Drive] along with their strongest skill to attack him. "He is just in his normal form..." Their expressions turned grim. They thought that seven Four Shackles Realms were enough to kill Souta but Souta was even stronger than the rumors. They already considered the possibility of Souta getting stronger. They calculated everything and even Souta''s most recent fight in the Hall Plains was in their records. According to their calculation, Souta was stronger than Four Shackles Realm. Yeah, Souta was so they were prepared to send four Four Shackles. In the end, they sent seven Four Shackles to make sure that Souta would die. Souta glanced at them once again. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "You didn''t expect any of this, right? Hahaha, after I kill all of you, the Wingless Crow will not bother me for a while. They will lose seven Four Shackles experts and it is a huge loss." The experts from the Wingless Crow didn''t say anything even though it was clear that Souta was mocking them. "Hmm..." Souta stepped forward before he added, "Well, I will destroy the Wingless Crow soon. I wanted to get my hands on the artifact that your leader possessed." The Wingless Crow was a powerful organization but they didn''t have any god among their ranks. So he could deal with it once he increased his strength. "Y-You!!! How do you know about that?!" One of them said but Souta made a grabbing motion. Ohm!! Ten black spheres appeared behind him in an instant and the gravity field appeared around the seven experts of the Wingless Crow. "You wanted to kill me so there is nothing wrong if I kill all of you here." Souta said as he activated various skills. His Second Mode enhanced his stats to a higher degree. Boom!! The seven experts moved their bodies as they tried to offset the gravitational field that was trying to crush their bones in every direction. "Let''s go!!" They moved at the same time and attacked their target. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta exchanged high-speed blows with seven of them simultaneously. In just a second, they already exchanged tens of thousands of blows. The seven experts did everything that they could but Souta was always countering them. Even if they landed a hit, it wasn''t enough to change the tide of battle. Souta still had the advantage. Boom!! The hero went to the corner of the barrier to avoid being caught up.I think you should take a look at "So strong..."????????????????????????????????.???????????? He was amazed when he saw the intense battle unfold before his eyes. He could barely handle one of the enemies yet Souta was fighting all of them at the same time. Even though Souta was alone, he was still overpowering his opponents with sheer strength. Bang!! The seven experts flew and crashed on the barrier. Their bodies were full of wounds and the same could be said to Souta. Souta glanced at his body and said, "It seems that this is the limit of my base form. It''s already stronger than any Four Shackles." He clenched his fist and the wounds on his body disappeared as if nothing happened. Seeing this scene, the expression of the seven experts turned pale. They did everything that they could to damage their target yet it was healed just like that. Souta glanced at them. "Let''s end this, shall we?" He opened his arms and shadows spread beneath his feet. [Void Shrouding]!! The seven experts wanted to escape but it was already too late. A black hole appeared behind them as seven doppelgangers jumped out from the shadows. Swoosh!! Souta bent his knees and launched himself. Strings of flesh moved and covered his body, turning into a layer of flesh. He tightened his grip around the vajra sword as red energy accumulated around the blade. [Darkness Bite]!! A flash of darkness burst forth. The six experts turned their heads. They saw one of their comrades'' bodies rolling in the air. The body broke into tiny pieces. The organs and blood flew everywhere like a firework. "This...?!" Their eyes were widely opened and their brain could hardly process what was happening right now. Before they could even regain their senses, the seven doppelgangers launched an attack once again. The black hole pulled them strongly. Souta glanced at his hand. "The parasite is moving well right now. It received huge damage when I used the Archetype so it''s quite good that it''s back." He looked ahead and flicked his finger. Ohm!! The black hole grew stronger once again. The entire area within the barrier was pure darkness. The spell sucked out all the light and particles in this region. Its crushing force had improved to a higher level. Even the hero who was on the other side of the region could feel the intense pulling force of the black hole. The barrier that he used to protect himself crumbled. Even the laws that were protecting him were pulled towards it. Souta watched the scene unfold before his eyes. [Void Entanglement]!! The black hole had resonated with him, causing its power to grow exponentially. Along with other enhancement skills, the power of the black hole was tremendously dangerous at this moment. If there wasn''t a barrier isolating this place then this world would perish in just a matter of seconds. All the lights would disappear first before the particles were sucked. Boom!! Still, the six remaining experts were strong. They were Four Shackles Realm and one shouldn''t underestimate an expert that reached this level of power. Three of them rushed towards the black hole to contain it. This caused the other three to break free from the pulling force. They launched an attack at Souta with all of their might. "Die!!" They roared as they arrived in front of him in less than a second despite the pressure that they were experiencing from their target. The gravitational field and all sorts of skills had lowered their stats, still, they have their own skills to enhance their bodies. Swoosh!! Before their attacks landed, Souta vanished before their eyes. Huh?! Their eyes were filled with shock. Souta reappeared behind them and swung down his sword. [Crimson Moon]!! A red slash burst and one of the three was cut in half. "Let me pass through..." They heard a voice and when they realized it, Souta was already behind them. They wanted to move their bodies but then several lines appeared on them. In the next moment, their bodies crumbled into tiny pieces. Chapter 879 Killing All The Seven Four Shackles Realm Experts Souta already killed four out of seven experts from the Wingless Crow. "Slicing their bodies is harder than I expected... Well, there''s nothing that I could do, they are Four Shackles Realm." Souta muttered as he slowly turned his body. He glanced at the remaining three and found that they had already destroyed the black hole and other skills that were restricting them. "There''s only three left so finishing this should be easier." He stepped forward and he vanished from the vision of the three experts. "What?!" The three experts didn''t see his movements at all. They heard a voice coming from their back. "Hey, I''m traveling through the shadows so I can reappear in any area in this place. Unless you have the power to overcome the shadows in a large area, none of you will be able to follow me." They quickly turned their heads but Souta was already gone. Souta was floating on the area one hundred meters above them. He was looking at them with a blank face. "The only area that my shadows can''t invade is around you. The protective field of your body is preventing the shadows from overwhelming you." He clenched his fingers around the handle of the sword. "Still..." Whoosh!! Before the three could even react, the gravitational force appeared once again along with the black hole. Even the seven doppelgangers rose from the shadows and attacked them. The moment they were distracted, Souta appeared twenty meters behind them. He swiftly raised his sword and swung it down with all of his might. [Crimson Moon]!! The three experts sensed a glooming sensation on their back but they couldn''t simply just turn around. After all, the seven doppelgangers were attacking them trying to blast them towards the black hole. Bang!! The red energy blade landed on the back of an expert. "Help me!!" He shouted as he felt an intense pain in his back. But his comrades didn''t have a time to help him as he noticed that the seven doppelgangers were focusing on his two comrades. It was then that he realized that Souta''s target was him. "No...!" The other two also noticed the situation. They immediately destroy the doppelgangers but thousands of webs swept out, covering their area. Whoosh!! Souta dashed forward, pulling back his hand and swinging it with greater force. [Darkness Bite]!! The sword which was covered in darkness sliced the expert into two. The expert had an unwilling expression on his face. He couldn''t believe that he would die in this lowly world. Bang!! Souta paused before he took a deep breath. Two more left... His killing intent burst forth as he charged at them with a cold smile on his face. The two experts tried to fight back but Souta was fully intent on ending this fight. He finished testing his strength so it''s time to say goodbye. "It was a bit enjoyable so you have my thanks..." The two experts heard those words as they saw a vast elemental energy burst forth from Souta. The darkness and light rushed at them as if it was a raging tide. [Dual Element Drive: Dark and Light Integration]!! The two fought back with all of their might. Their experience and honed skills made them able to last longer in battle but Souta obliterate any source of hope in their hearts. His [Element Drive] enhanced his body to the limit along with Dream Power. There was nothing that they could do. In just a few minutes, Souta completely obliterated their bodies not even leaving a speck of dust. Even their souls weren''t spared. "It seems that I still got it... Thanks for letting me test my current strength." With this, he confirmed the true extent of his power. Souta was undoubtedly strong even among the Four Shackles. He was prepared for his next plan. Souta stretched his arms. "Hu~ that was a good workout after a long time." For him, a thousand years had passed but in reality, he just fought the Sovereign of Ming Region in the Nightmare Realm a few hours ago. "I never thought that I would be able to enjoy the thrill of battle after that horrible experience. No, it made me appreciate and enjoy the battle more. I''m not afraid to die right now unlike before."I think you should take a look at Souta placed the vajra sword back in its sheath. He was far stronger than before and it would increase his chances in the upcoming event. The hero stared at him and he didn''t know what to do. He was rooted on the spot afraid of causing trouble. He didn''t know if Souta was an enemy or not. Souta becoming an enemy, he didn''t want to think about it. This world would collapse for sure once that happens. Ohm! The shadows retracted and the barrier slowly disappeared. Eilish and the others were faced with intense energy once the barrier vanished. "We''ll stay here and wait for Souta." Eilish warned Baldur, Heimer, and Princess Dreimi. The fluctuation of energy on the battlefield was highly dangerous. Even the space was shattered and its fragments were all over the place. Even the time was affected. If Baldur went to the distorted time he could grow older in an instant and die of old age. In some cases, the time was moving backward. Baldur and the other would turn into a baby if they encountered it. Unless they have resistance to time then they wouldn''t be able to escape such fate. "We can''t approach it... The fragmented space will tear your body apart." Baldur, Heimer, and Princess Dreimi nodded. They knew that this was dangerous. They could feel it. Princess Dreimi was already having a hard time to breath because of the intensity of energy coming from the region. Whoosh! Whoosh!????????????????????????????????.???????????? The warriors of the Athen''s Champion appeared one by one. "Where''s Grain Leader Souta?" The captain asked. Eilish shook her head and said, "He''s still there." "I''ll go there." The captain said. He was a Three Shackles expert so his body and resistance were better than the rest of the people here. He flew inside without hesitation. They waited for a few minutes before Souta appeared with the captain. "Souta!" "Grain Leader Souta!!" They shouted when they saw his figure emerge from the dangerous region. They breathe a sigh of relief. They almost thought that something bad happened. "Let''s go back. There''s nothing we need to do here." Souta said. The group left the area leaving the devastated region unaffected. The hero was left alone but at least he managed to survive the calamity. The capital of Sydfri Kingdom had vanished from the map along with all the people living here. It''s easy to say that the once powerful kingdom had fallen today. The king and higher-ups of the country had perished from the calamity. Soon, this region would become a forbidden land on this planet. It was easier to survive in the vacuum of space than being exposed to radiation on the battlefield. It would take a long time before the planet healed from the damage it received. The laws and concepts of this planet were weaker than Imperium so it would probably need thousands of years before the battlefield went back to its normal state. Even then, this planet would be reduced to a mere low-world. Most of the natural energy in the atmosphere would be consumed to fix the shattered space, time, and other laws. Even the energy regeneration befitting the mid-world wouldn''t be able to keep up. Souta and the rest arrived at the Holy Kingdom. They escorted the resources back to the Arsen Kingdom. Their journey was smooth this time. The time for them to return to Imperium has come. The warriors had left first while Souta and Eilish stayed for a while. The continent was in a mess. The experts from Wingless Crow annihilated several countries including those at the top. So the power balance would be shuffled in the meantime but that''s not Souta''s problem anymore. It was because of him why those people attacked this land. Well, Souta didn''t care about it. He couldn''t bother himself about them. He still has a lot of things in his mind that he needs to pay attention to. "Sigh... It feels like it''s been a long time." Souta sighed as he leaned his back on the sofa. This mission should be his vacation but a lot of things happened. It''s primarily because of him. "Wingless Crow... Do they really think that I''m afraid of them? I will destroy them sooner or later." Souta narrowed his eyes. He recalled the secret headquarters of the Wingless Crow in his memories. He could use it. Eilish sat down beside him and asked, "When are we going to return?" Souta glanced at her before he answered, "After they finished organizing the resources. We''ll transfer it to the Imperium." "I see..." Eilish nodded at his words. "Prepare yourself... A war will occur and it''s not just an ordinary war." Souta said in a grave tone. He heard from the warriors that Gluttony already destroyed the Eru Empire. It happened earlier this time. Something must have caused this for Gluttony to start his plan. Chapter 880 Visit "War...?" Eilish furrowed her brows. "Yeah, I asked our fellow warriors before they left, and guess what, a big incident occurred in God''s Continent." Souta paused for a moment before he continued, "One of the Seven Deadly Sins finally bared his fangs. Gluttony took down a large country called Eru Empire and obliterated all the gods that were protecting it." "What about our place, the Hall Plains?" Eilish asked. "Eru Empire is far from Hall Plains but there''s a chance that the higher-ups will dispatch us. Hall Plains is close to Olympus so the battle will not reach us easily. Plus, most of the gods didn''t leave their territory. So even if Gluttony is powerful he wouldn''t easily invade the territory of a Holy Land. After all, every Holy Land concentrated its forces on its territory. This way they could preserve the lives of the gods and strengthen their force at the same time." Most of the criminal organizations that were hiding in the dark were watching their movements. They were waiting for one god to come out and assassinated that one god. This was especially the case for the Three Bringers of Calamity. An incident like this happened in the past. A newly ascended god secretly left their territory so one of the Bringers of Calamity used this chance to assassinate that god. When that occurred a big battle broke out between the Holy Land and one of the Three Bringers of Calamity. Both sides suffered casualties but it didn''t lead to the extermination of one side. That''s why most of the gods that left their territory weren''t alone. They were also equipped with various escape talismans and at least one universal grade. The Three Bringers of Calamity were strong but they weren''t united. Even the Seven Deadly Sins were moving on their own accord. Gluttony moved on his own will. No one ordered him and no one among the other Deadly Sins cared about him. Their bases were also hidden. That''s why the Great Countries, Holy Lands, and other huge factions from other continents couldn''t exterminate this threat. "Then, what about the demons? According to the information, the demons sent a Demon Pillar to the Giza Continent to conquer a large country. Why didn''t the Bringers of Calamity assassinate that Demon Pillar?" Eilish asked. "It''s simple, the Bringers of Calamity wanted to see the demons fight the top faction in the Giza Continent in an all-out battle. They will appear once both sides suffer." Souta explained. It''s also a deadlock. The Great Countries couldn''t send gods to take back the large country since they were wary about the movements of the Bringers of Calamity. If the Bringers of Calamity killed the Demon Pillar then there''s a chance that peace would be achieved just to eliminate them. That''s what the Bringers of Calamity didn''t want to happen. They were moving carefully to avoid the scenario of powerful factions from different continents working together. "Then now that Gluttony moves..." Eilish didn''t finish her words as she imagined what would happen. "Yep, once the Holy Lands confirmed that this isn''t a trap, they would send gods to fight Gluttony. But for now, they will test the waters using us. No one knew if Gluttony was still in Eru Empire after he took it down." Souta nodded. "Then, the demons will advance, right?" Eilish said. Souta nodded gravely. "In other words, a series of large-scale battles will occur like a chain reaction and Gluttony is the one that pulled the trigger." Eilish understood. Souta knew that a lot of factions would use this chance. The small factions under the Bringers of Calamity were moving relentlessly for a few months now. They were creating chaos and testing different experiments just like the Red Matter Association. The Red Matter Association was just one of the many organizations under the Bringers of Calamity. "What will happen to us...?" Eilish asked unsurely. "Don''t worry, this is the reason why we joined the Athen''s Champion. Even though the gods wouldn''t appear to save us, it would still make other people have second thoughts about attacking our base. That''s good enough for us." Souta said to her. If Souta wasn''t under Olympus, a lot of factions would try to get a piece of Hall Plains. Even Ekatoe City might fall. Even the Wingless Crow would directly invade his territory to kill him. "The name of Olympus is enough to intimidate an organization without any god. Even if there''s a god among them, they wouldn''t carelessly attack us." Eilish nodded at his words. Souta knew that the Wingless Crow could only do this. Once he returned to Imperium, they would barely have a time to assassinate him. Plus, almost everyone knew that he had tamed the Nine-Headed Hydra so if they wanted to attack his base they should at least bring Hero-rank. Maybe, if they reserve energy for a long time like the one that the Hall of Power did they could seal Kessa again. But then... It seems that the word to him waking up had spread out. It seems that Wingless Crow had spy on the Champion''s Den and that spy saw him going to outer space. They even managed to locate the Planet Plunyx. ''This network... They are better than I thought...'' Souta wondered if the Wingless Crow was this capable back in the game. Knock! Knock! Souta and Eilish turned their heads to the door. "What is it?" Eilish asked. "Lady Eilish, a person asked us if he could meet Lord Souta." a voice sounded behind the door. about it. You''re with me the entire time. The only person that I could think of is that elf, Aerin. But she didn''t know our identity so Eilish glanced at him as if asking if he knew about it. Souta shrugged his shoulder while shaking his head. "I don''t know about it. You''re with me the entire time. The only person that I could think of is that elf, Aerin. But she didn''t know our identity so it''s not possible." "Do you want to meet that person or not? I''ll send them away if you don''t want to." Eilish asked. "Well, let that person inside," Souta said. "Okay, I''ll call him. Please, wait for a while." a voice sounded behind the door. Souta''s senses followed the maid. He soon found out the person that wanted to meet him was none other than the hero that was summoned to this world. It was outside of his expectations. "It''s the hero." Souta turned his head and said to Eilish. "Hero...? You mean..." Eilish raised her brows with interest in her eyes. "Yep, the one who was summoned to this world. It''s the man who was blessed by this world." Souta said with a smile. They waited for a few seconds before the maid knocked on the door again. This time she brought the hero with her. She opened the door and let the hero inside the room. She stayed outside and closed the door. The hero walked inside and saw Souta and Eilish staring at him. "You can sit." Souta pointed at the vacant chair. The hero nodded and sat down. Souta rubbed his chin and asked, "How did you know that I''m here?" "I could only think about God''s Messenger. The people that I''ve fought aren''t from this world. I couldn''t even defeat one of them even with my power so I think that the only ones who could defeat them are people that aren''t from this world." The hero answered. "So you are sure that there''s no one in this world that could defeat you, right?" Souta smiled. "Yeah, I can control the laws and concepts here so the people of this world will not be able to match me." The hero said before he snapped his finger and a looming aura oozed out of his body. Souta looked around and noticed that every shadow in the area have disappeared. It should be happening in the entire world... The hero glanced at Souta''s feet and saw that he still had a shadow. "I''ve erased the concept of shadow so it shouldn''t exist but it didn''t even affect you." Souta smiled and pointed at Eilish''s feet. "Eilish didn''t have a shadow yet she''s not from this world. It''s not that it didn''t affect me because I''m from another world. It''s just that I''m stronger than you. My power is above the scope of any laws or concepts of a sub-world with a level of mid-grade." Souta fixed his posture and said, "In short you are weaker than me, an expert who broke a great shackle isn''t someone you can handle. Well, you can fight them to a certain degree due to your power and this world but it''s not enough to defeat even the weakest Four Shackles." "I don''t know about it... In my world, I''m the strongest one. I have all the knowledge in the universe but then I heard a voice in my head. It''s calling to me and presenting a contract. I heed the call and arrived here." The hero said. "Wait... You''re not from the Mother so a Boundary or maybe a Region." Souta nodded. "What are you talking about?" The hero asked with a confused look. Chapter 881 Return From the hero''s knowledge, he was a being from the highest dimension. There were lower dimensions and the living being there couldn''t hope to match the living being in higher dimensions. But Souta''s explanation changed his view... Actually, the moment he arrived here he already realized it. This planet has its own laws and concepts that felt like it was alive. It was different from outer space which was made weaker but at the same time, it felt like the two were connected. This was different from his universe. He traveled to countless galaxies yet it was still the same back there. Even the lower dimension was nothing to him. He could easily crush it. It was then that he realized that the outer space was infinite. If he wanted to break through he had to shatter the space but that alone would only lead him to the lower dimensions. There seems to be an invisible barrier that he couldn''t describe. He tried countless times to verify if there was really outside space and time he was in. It was then that he heard a voice in his head calling for him. Souta''s explanation was simple. He only said what Saya said to him about Boundaries and other shits. "Let me ask you a question... How many levels of lower dimensions are in your world?" Souta asked. "There are countless dimensions in my world but they are divided into four levels. My world is the highest and the rest are all lower dimensions." The hero answered. "So it''s indeed a Boundary. It could contain a Four Shackles expert and that''s already the limit. A Boundary contained countless Palaces then there was a Region that was weaker than Palace. The last one was called Particle. It is so weak to the point that the strong experts there who are capable of destroying planets or galaxies will only be able to destroy a small house on this very planet." The hero nodded and said, "That''s why I knew that I''m in some kind of higher dimension. I''m capable of traveling to a galaxy from another galaxy in less than a second yet I could do it in this world. It felt like my power was suppressed. I resonated with the laws and concepts of this planet so I could do what I could do back in my world but it seems that I''m wrong." "Yeah, you are wrong. You shouldn''t apply your common sense here. Each living planet here with mana density has its own laws and concepts. They are different yet at the same time they are connected to the Imperium. It''s like they are a child of the Imperium which is probably why this is called Mother." Souta said. He changed his posture. "Okay, I''ve answered some of your questions first so can you answer why are you here?" The hero looked down for a few seconds and said, "I wanted to come with you." "Come with me?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "You are blessed by this world. If you leave it and go to another planet, you will not be able to receive its support. You will be back to your previous strength which is Three Shackles." "I want to grow stronger. I''m like a god in my world so I want to know what''s like a god in this world." The hero said. Souta frowned. "You''re not capable enough. If you think that there are only a few people stronger than me in my world that''s where you''re wrong. I''m still far from reaching god-level and you are the same. If you said something about god carelessly then you would get yourself killed." "God isn''t something you can disrespect openly..." Eilish added. "Sorry... I know nothing about it but I didn''t disrespect them. I just mentioned it." The hero said. "Yeah, I know that you didn''t have any ill intent but you shouldn''t casually mention ''God'' in other people," Souta warned in a low voice. "I understand..." The hero nodded. "Okay, now... Why did you think that I will let you come with me?" Souta asked. "I don''t know. I just wanted to try it. I have no way of finding your planet out there so might as well try to follow you." The hero said. "You''re quite brave but I will not permit it. I''m a member of a huge organization there so if I bring anyone with me, they will question me and I don''t want to deal with that problem." Souta said. "Then, I''ll join your organization. I think I''m capable enough since..." The hero glanced at Eilish as if he was saying that if Eilish could join then he could join too. After all, he was stronger than Eilish. Eilish was only at Two Shackles while he was at Three Shackles. "Hey, do you really think that it''s easy to join?" Souta smiled. Well, actually it''s easy since he joined the organization without any problem. It''s just promoting to higher ranks would be harder since the organization had to verify a person''s background. As for him, Athena handled this problem. "I don''t know but I will try my best. I can''t afford to stay here anymore. My contract has broken since the Sydfri Kingdom had fallen." The hero said. "Oh, your contract is broken? Can you tell me the specifics of that contract?" Souta asked. The hero slowly explained to Souta what he knew about the summoning contract. Just like what Souta expected, this was really similar to the demon contract. It''s just that there were too many restrictions on its use. ''So I can''t get it since the full details are gone along with the Sydfri Kingdom... As for the demon contract, I can''t do it since it''s an oath of the demon bloodline. It''s their innate ability.'' Souta rubbed his chin. He shook his problem and glanced at the hero. Until now, he didn''t sense any lies in the hero''s words. Everything was true so Souta had a favorable impression of this guy. Fine, I''ll use him... Souta sighed and said, "Okay, I will bring you back to my world but I want you to accept my condition." "What is it?" The hero asked. "It''s simple." Souta opened his palm, and a small egg formed on top of it. "This is a parasite. I want you to accept it inside your body so that I can monitor your movements. Also, I want you to do something for me." "That is..." The hero stared at the parasite egg and his eyes glowed with green light. After a while, he frowned and said, "You want me to place that inside my body? Once that thing integrates with my flesh it will be hard to remove it." "As expected, you have control over this world''s laws so seeing through this parasite is simple. But I will not bring you to my world if you don''t want to do it." Souta opened his arms widely. "What if you caused trouble there? It would bring me trouble since I''m the one who brought you there." The hero turned silent at his words. The parasite egg was easy to destroy but once the parasite integrated itself into his flesh then it would become like his own limbs so removing it would be hard. Plus, he had a feeling that Souta wasn''t telling him the most crucial point about the parasite. He thought about it for a few minutes. In the end, he agreed to Souta''s condition. "Fine, I will fuse that parasite to my flesh." The hero nodded. Souta smiled widely. "Good," He clapped and said, "Then let''s start the process immediately. The parasite is too weak to even pierce your skin even if you drop your natural protective field, so I want you to eat it. Once you eat the egg, focus your attention on the egg and simply guide it with your mana. The digestive system of a Three Shackles expert is too strong. It could die so guide it carefully." This was the problem with transferring a parasite to a strong being. A Three Shackles'' body was too strong even after lowering forcefully lowering the strength. Even if the hero was sleeping and doing nothing, the parasite wouldn''t even be able to integrate itself into the hero''s flesh. That''s why it needed the hero''s help. It took a whole thirty minutes before the parasite started to merge with the hero''s flesh. It was longer than usual. Souta stood up and reached out his hand, "I''m Souta Ieshi, to our future cooperation." The hero grabbed Souta''s hand with a smile. "I''m Vashno Xardo, it''s my pleasure to work with you." The two talked for a while before they bid their farewell to the royal family of Arsen Kingdom. They then departed and teleported back to the Imperium. On their way back, Souta said his plan to the hero named Vashno. They arrived at the Station Brick in outer space directly above the Champion''s Den. Souta didn''t let Vashno wander since he had to register this guy and write a report about this to the higher-ups. There was nothing he could do about it. It was a formal process. Chapter 882 Improvement Souta stayed in the Champion''s Den for a day as he settled Vashno''s registration in Athen''s Champion. He also inquired about the information regarding the upcoming war against Gluttony. It''s already nighttime when he settled everything. Souta dispatched Vashno to the Selnes Country first to gather information. He would go back to Hall Plains to settle some things and stabilize his power. He also needed rest in the meantime. The top factions were being cautious. Gluttony''s forces were larger than they expected. They launched a high-level surveillance artifact and detected dozens of god-rank powerhouses in the land that was once known as the Eru Empire. The gods of the Olympus were glad that they have launched an initiative to attack Gluttony when he appeared above the Hall Plains. If they attacked, the barrier would be broken so the No God Emperor would be freed and all the gods under Gluttony would appear. A huge battle would break out, wiping the entirety of Hall Plains along with the nearest territories. Olympus would undoubtedly suffer huge casualties once that happen since their land was close to Hall Plains. That''s the scenario that Olympus wanted to avoid, to avoid their land becoming the battlefield for the gods. All living beings would cease to exist at that time. Right now, the Olympus and other huge factions were fortifying their borders. They were even installing a huge amount of sensory artifacts. Runes and all sorts of enchantments were being activated one by one. It was definitely better than any of the Large Countries'' formations. None of them wanted their land to become a battlefield. Even gods wouldn''t be able to easily infiltrate their lands. The forces of Gluttony started advancing. It was slow but they were demolishing everything in their sight. Small villages, towns, or cities that weren''t affiliated with anyone weren''t spared at all. They were massacred. The experts that were involved weren''t powerful. It''s just that those small cities or towns were too weak. Some of them only have a single B-rank while others have one A-rank. Against Gluttony''s army, they were annihilated. The Holy Lands were simply watching on the sideline, observing what faction would Gluttony target first. Still, they sent some experts to help some civilians evacuate before Gluttony''s army arrived. Gluttony''s army would meet the first resistance. The Selnes Country, Fedru Republic, and Bruim Principality. Any of these lands contained Shackled Realm experts so they would be able to fight Gluttony''s army to a certain degree. The huge factions all over the continent would send some of their forces to help these three lands. Souta opened his eyes. His next plan was already decided, he would go to the Selnes Country next week. Next week... Right now, they should be testing each other... The battle didn''t reach a high level so he still had one week. Probably, Liquefying Realm or Solidifying Realm were the only ones that were fighting. But it would only last one week since Shackled Realm starting from One Shackle would appear. Souta stood up and grabbed the vajra sword. He glanced at Eilish who was reading a spell book and said, "Let''s go..." The two returned to Hall Plains using the portals. Souta and Eilish immediately went into Saya''s inner consciousness to train. Even by a little bit, Souta wanted to train his skills. He also didn''t forget to bring Yuko with him. She already attained the fourth stage so she possessed enough power to stand on a battlefield. Souta, Yuko, and Eilish their days training nonstop. After five days, the three came out of Saya''s inner consciousness. The aura around their bodies was stronger and denser than before. Souta went to his office with Eilish and read the reports about the things that happened in Hall Plains while he was gone. "A bunch of refugees arrive a week ago from the Obsidian Desert..." Souta rubbed his chin. Apparently, a disaster occurred in the Obsidian Desert. Not just the Obsidian Desert, it seems that other lands also experienced a disaster. This was quite a problem. Souta went to the next page. He found that the number of refugees almost reached three million. He realized that this was what was supposed to happen in the game. The players solved some of those problems, saving a bunch of cities and towns. Right now, there''s no players roaming around the continent to take quests and solve those problems. "It''s pretty chaotic right now... It started with Gluttony''s appearance and now almost all the small terrorist organizations had begun to move." Eilish said. "Luckily, nothing happens in our land. Well, it''s not a secret anymore that I''m affiliated with Athen''s Champion. Even if I''m not here, the Dragon Council had grown stronger so they could somehow maintain the balance in Hall Plains." Souta said. Knock! Knock! Souta and Eilish paused before they turned their heads toward the door. "What is it?" Souta asked as he placed down the stack of paper on the table. "Lord Souta, this is Hanmi. Alice and the rest had returned." Elder Hanmi''s voice sounded behind the door. "What a great timing." Souta smiled. "Call them here." "Understood." A few minutes later, the door opened. Alice, Eztein, Torkez, and Franklin entered the room. There was a hint of strong bloodlust around their bodies. Even their energy was much denser than before. It feels like they have undergone a huge transformation. Eilish was shocked when she felt the energy oozing out of their bodies. "This..." She stared at Alice as she felt dangers coming from her. "Whoa... You guys sure experienced a lot." Souta smiled widely as he scanned them with his eyes. Torkez and Franklin both reached Two Shackles Realm while Alice and Eztein were above them. They were at Three Shackles Realm. Alice stepped forward and placed a ring on the table. The [Burning Ring Seal]. A dark grade artifact that he gave to her before he A great advancement in their strength. Finally, the Astros had a top-tier SS-rank. "How about it?" Souta asked with a smile. Alice stepped forward and placed a ring on the table. The [Burning Ring Seal]. A dark grade artifact that he gave to her before he passed out after fighting No God Emperor. "We''ve gathered a lot but it seems that we can''t catch up with you..." Alice smiled wryly. She was proud of her achievement and wanted to show it to Souta but once she saw him she realized that Souta had gotten stronger once again. "Yeah, boss. It seems unfair. I forgot how many times I almost died in that place." Eztein complained. "I also experienced a lot of things while you guys are gone," Souta replied while wearing the [Burning Ring Seal]. Alice turned her head to Torkez and made a gesture pointing to Souta. Torkez nodded and he took an object on his back wrapped in bandages. He placed the object on top of the table. "It is hard getting that artifact. You didn''t even mention anything about the connection of the [Burning Ring Seal] to that labyrinth. If not for Torkez, we wouldn''t discover it." Alice said as if she was complaining about the lack of intel. Souta clearly know it but he didn''t tell her. "Yeah, boss. It was guarded by a strong golem equivalent to Seventh Shackles. We''re lucky that Torkez found a way to shut it down with fighting or else all of us will die." Eztein said. "You''re the one who awakened it by approaching it carelessly," Torkez said. "Yoo... No one mentioned it to me." Eztein said. Souta ignored them as he stared at the spherical object wrapped in bandages. He raised his hand and the object floated in the air. The bandages slowly fell on the ground, revealing a multi-colored palm-sized orb. A catalyst. A weapon of mages aside from a wand or staff. This is the [Orb of Arcane Seal]. A universal grade artifact that possessed great power. "Wahahahahaha!!" Souta laughed madly. Torkez and Eztein stopped arguing as they turned their head. Alice, Franklin, and Eilish also stared at Souta. "What''s wrong with boss? Did he finally lose his mind?" Eztein pointed his finger at Souta. After a few seconds, Souta stopped laughing. He exhaled and said, "I already lost my mind a long time ago. Anyway, I didn''t think that you guys would acquire this artifact." He recalled Torkez saying that there was a way to shut down those golems without fighting. In the past, he fought those golems and when he searched the area he didn''t find anything to shut down those powerful golems. "There are five dungeons surrounding the labyrinth. They are five kilometers apart from each other. The dungeons didn''t look like they were connected to each other but if you look at them from above, you can see that the labyrinth is the center. Each of those dungeons contained golems and the weakest golems are the answer. They build up a path forming a star and we have to place the shattered cores of the golems to shine it." Torkez slowly explained. "So it''s like that..." Souta nodded. "Great job in getting this extremely valuable artifact. We are on the right path." Chapter 883 [Orb Of Arcane Seal] Souta observed the [Orb of Arcane Seal]. Finally, a weapon suitable for his mage class. He could use it in tandem with his sword. He raised his hand and poured his elemental power causing the orb to change its color. The multi-colored orb turned into a black and white orb. Dark and light elements were flowing smoothly inside it. He felt a power flowing through his veins. It means that he successfully equipped this item and he could use it immediately. "Shadow Bind..." The surrounding area suddenly turned dark. The floor turned into a pitch-black darkness as countless black tentacles emerged from it. Souta looked around and nodded with a satisfied look. The darkness disappeared and ten black spheres materialized behind him. [Gravitational Ball]! He made a grabbing motion in the air. Alice and the rest stood in their position as they tried to sense what Souta was doing. Boom!! The entire land shook heavily. Soon, Alice and the rest realized that the entire Ekatoe City was floating fifty meters above the surface. Souta moved his hand and the entire city settled down once again. "The spell had grown stronger... It''s indeed a powerful weapon." He smiled with a satisfied look. [Orb of Arcane Seal](Universal): A powerful catalyst made from the heart of the Arcane God Emperor in the ancient era. It possessed powerful abilities that could enhance a spell caster''s ability to a higher level. Effect 1 [Venerable of the Sky]: +3,000 mana, +500 Intelligence, +100 mana recovery, and +100 Strength, Dexterity, Agility, and Vitality Effect 2 [Ultima Spell God]: Using this artifact as a medium to cast a spell will increase the spell''s effect or firepower by 200%. Effect 3 [Without Energy Dance]: There is a 15% chance to cast a spell without consuming energy. Effect 4 [Arcana of the Mage]: Summon the Arcana that will enable the user to cast a spell instantaneously without energy for 30 seconds. Effect 5 [Last Wisdom]: Enable to stack all the user''s spells by two. Effect 6 [Arcane Seal]: Summon the seal that will copy a target''s magic circle and store it inside the orb. The stored magic circle will disappear after two days. The added mana would be converted to best feram. Souta knew that his spell power had reached a new height right now. As long as he had this artifact, every time he cast a spell the effect or power would increase by 200% percent because of the passive [Ultima Spell God]. He could easily crush this city with a flip of his hand except for the Guardian Fortress. The fortress was equipped with [Five Element Rune Formation]. It was a powerful offensive and defensive rune formation that utilized the power of five elements. He got it after completing the quest of that guy, Alexander. It was one of the things that would protect the city. Although its scope was the entire city, its priority was the Guardian Fortress. The portal to the other side of the base was there. "This is good..." Souta was satisfied. He was slowly getting back his previous equipment. Right now, he has [Yin-Yang Bracelet], [Soul Blood Earring], [Vajra Sword Saya], [Burning Ring Seal], [Solid Hunter State Boots], [Nightmare Mask], and lastly the newly acquired [Orb of Arcane Seal]. "Hmm...? Oh, I forgot." Souta sensed that the citizens of Ekatoe City were panicking due to a sudden earthquake. The land even levitates for a few seconds. "Don''t worry, nothing will happen..." His voice traveled throughout the entire city. His words calmed down all the people living here. They knew that with the City Lord here, nothing bad would happen to them. The City Lord was the most powerful being in the Hall Plains except for the sealed No God Emperor. "You shouldn''t do that, you''re scaring our people." Eilish reprimanded him. "I know," Souta nodded as he leaned back on his chair. The door was slammed open and two children went inside. "Sister Eilish! You''re back!!" They were Aina and Anzu. The siblings that Souta took under his wings after the war in the subterranean world. Eilish hugged the two children. Souta looked at them before he stood up. He said, "I''ll go now. Take care of them." A wisp of his energy was dangerous for the two children. Now that he was stronger than before, it was dangerous if he stayed with them for a long time. The characteristics of best feram were different from mana. The two children were training and they even consumed resources according to their power level. They were close to achieving C-rank. They were above the level of ordinary people and most of it was thanks to the sudden increase of mana density. F-rank was the level of ordinary people but it was different now. There''s no F-rank in this world. Every ordinary person has the power level of E-rank and some of them are D-rank. They couldn''t maximize the benefits of the burst of mana at that moment. If they could they would''ve gotten stronger and reached C-rank directly. Aina and Anzu lacked training and knowledge they couldn''t make use of that event. "Sigh... Achieving C-rank is easier now compared to before..." Souta sighed. "Don''t be like that boss. It''s harder for us who are living in the sub-world. Reaching A-rank could already make you a top expert in the entire country." Eztein said. "Do you know who had it harder?" Souta pointed at Franklin and Torkez. "These guys fought for decades and they only reached B-rank before I met them. Their homeplanet is a low-world which makes a B-rank a top expert in their world." Franklin smiled and shrugged his shoulder. Torkez shook his head and said, "Imagine training for your entire life to achieve B-rank. In your mind, B-rank is the top of the world only to find that there are countless powerful beings above." "It''s not that bad. Some of the people here stayed at that level. Some of the branch guild masters of Adventurer''s Guild in the other continent are B-rank." Souta said. But now those branch guild masters probably achieved liquefying, entering A-rank. It was due to the large increase in mana density. It''s not just mana density, even the concepts and laws were stronger than before. He was just too weak to notice it before. Souta''s combat power at that time was Two Shackles. Right now, his minimum combat strength could rival several Four Shackles, the early stage of SSS-rank. SSS-rank was divided into three stages; early, middle, and upper stages. Four, Five, and Six Shackles, beyond that, was the realm of Hero-rank. Souta and the others left the room, leaving Eilish to play with the two children. They went to the other room and both Elder Hanmi and Gragas joined them. Elder Hanmi and Gragas reported the improvement of the Astros. "The people that joined my Department have made some improvements. We could start mass producing blue grade armor and weapons now." Gragas said. The Military Arms Department had the fewest people in all departments of Astros. They only had less than fifty members so the production of weapons and armor were just five to ten sets per week. "Blue grade..." Souta rubbed his chin. "How long do you think before your men can produce purple grade?" "Purple grade..." Gragas frowned and thought about the skills of his men. "If they maintain their pace, I think they will be able to forge purple grade in three months. For orange grade, probably a year or so. Currently, I''m the only one who can forge orange and red grades. I can forge one set of red grade in a month. If I forge an orange grade it would take me a week." "I see... At the very least, there''s an improvement." Souta comforted himself. But three months before they could learn the forging method of purple grade... It''s too long. A total war would have already occurred in the continent at that time. Souta glanced at Elder Hanmi and asked, "What about our forces?" Elder Hanmi explained the improvement of the forces of the Astros. There were 527 B-ranks, 409 A-ranks, 72 S-ranks, and 5 One Shackle Realms. While they were away, a few peak S-ranks managed to break their shackles. Isabella was one of them. Her improvement was really fast to the point it made some people ashamed of their own growth rate. Souta already expected this since she had the potential to reach godhood. A few S-rank witches advanced to One Shackle. They were George and Maki. The last one was Leef, one of Eilish subordinates. Plus, Isabella and Elder Hanmi so five One Shackle experts. There were a few One Shackle experts in the huge families around Ekatoe City. Although they were Souta''s subordinates, they weren''t part of the Astros. Even without Souta''s main group, the Astros was still strong. Alice and Eztein were both Three Shackles. Eilish, Torkez, and Franklin were Two Shackles. They''ve grown stronger. Chapter 884 Approaching The growth rate of Astros was getting faster. The combat arts, spells, and techniques that Saya provided helped the Astros in promoting their power level faster. The only thing that was lacking was a huge amount of resources. Pills, potions, or medicines to improve one''s rank. Isabella''s Poitioneer Department still needed to grow. Right now, the only thing that they could provide was pills and potions for C-rank to increase their speed in achieving B-rank. Souta and the others listened to Elder Hanmi''s report. The Feral Corps had improved too. The Red Dragon finally reached the fourth stage and a few second stages advanced to the third stage. 364 second stages, 12 third stages, and 4 fourth stages. As for the first stage and non-evolved they weren''t included. Doranjan, Yuko, Red Dragon, and the newly joined Devouring Alligator. Souta wasn''t included in the 4 fourth stage monster. Even though he was still in the fourth stage, his strength was abnormal. He was far stronger than the four of them combined. The Feral Corps was strong. This army of monsters was getting stronger at a fast rate. Monsters, humans, and demis. All of them could be found in Astros. What army of goblins? Souta laughed at himself. He couldn''t help but remember the time when he was weak wondering about the formation of his army of monsters. Right now, he had various races under his command. The largest group was monsters and witches. It''s been a year since he established Astros and the organization has grown stronger. They participated in a few battlefields. The most recent one was in the central region of Hall Plains. A lot of people died in the war but in the end, they still won. Souta looked at Alice and the rest. He said, "Tomorrow, I will depart and participate in the war. I''m sure that you''ve heard about the army of Gluttony, right? I''m going to fight in the frontline. A few of you will follow me to the Selnes Country." Alice, Eztein, Franklin, Eilish, and Kessa would follow Souta along with the dozens of squads from the Sixth Grain War. After all, Souta was a Grain Leader and he volunteered to participate in the war this time. Honestly, even if he didn''t volunteer, he would still be dispatched to the battlefield but the only difference was the chosen battlefield. It would be better if he volunteered and chose the battlefield himself. Alice and the rest nodded at his words. Gragas, Elder Hanmi, Doranjan, Yuko, and the rest would stay. Souta would bring Kessa with him so he needed someone to guard the city while he was gone. It wouldn''t be good if all the top experts of Astros disappeared. "A war... I''m getting excited." Old man Franklin grinned widely. "Tsk, old man, you''re too troublesome," Eztein said. "Prepare yourself," Souta said sternly. At this moment in time, Souta had no idea that the Selnes Country was different from the other two places. The only thing that he knew was that a mythical grade would appear, the Tears of Divine Might. It''s not that a mythical hasn''t appeared in the Imperium before, it''s just that the Selnes Country was a little bit more special than the rest. Selnes Country, Fedru Republic, and Bruim Principality would be the three places where the Gluttony''s Army would first clash against the forces of the Holy Lands. The demons and the other Bringers of Calamity would watch Gluttony fight against the Holy Lands, waiting for an opportunity to gain benefits. Some of the Holy Lands wouldn''t participate, their role was to watch for the predator eyeing the battle. They wanted to prevent the demons or other Deadly Sins from joining the battle. "Dismiss." Isabella, Elder Hanmi, Gragas, and Torkez left the room to do their things while Souta, Alice, Franklin, and Eztein entered Saya''s inner consciousness. They just returned from training but they would train again. They would participate in war. There''s nothing wrong if they could increase their strength by a small margin. A few hours later, Eilish arrived in the room and joined the rest. She would participate in the battle too. It''s peaceful even though a war could erupt at any moment. The Hall Plains was peaceful at this moment compared to the other lands, after all, Souta had already resolved the problems of this land. On the next day, Souta and the other four exited Saya''s inner consciousness. Their strength didn''t increase largely but their skills were better than before. They honed their combat arts so that they could use it better in battle. "A war..." Alice muttered. She glanced at Souta and asked, "The whole world is changing, can we keep up with it?" Souta looked at her before he answered, "We have no choice." He laughed and added, "Don''t worry, We''re strong. We''re not weak anymore." Eztein glanced at Eilish and noticed something. He asked, "Hey, old lady, are you going to break your shackle?" Souta, Alice, and Franklin turned to Eilish. They noticed that her aura was stronger than before. It was on the verge of reaching Three Shackles. Eilish shook her head. "I can''t do it. I need a little bit more time." Souta scanned her with his [Galaxy Eyes]. He noticed that one of her shackles was full of cracks. It was leaking a wisp of smoke that slowly entered Eilish''s body. "Do you want to stay here and focus on breaking through?" Souta asked. "No, I will participate in the war. I will find an opportunity to break through in the war." Eilish answered. "I see..." Souta nodded. The Astros would gain another Three Shackles after or in the middle of the war. "How about we spar? Maybe, it will help you stimulate your potential." Eztein smiled devilishly. He could still remember that this bitch drank several of his wine back in Champion''s Den. Even in the tournament, he was defeated by this bitch. But it was different right now, he was actually stronger than her. He was Three Shackles while she was still at Two Shackles. He wouldn''t be satisfied if he didn''t beat her once. Eilish''s expression darkened. She glared at Eztein. "Oh, a spar! Let me join too!" Franklin said. "Shut up, old man! Battle is the only thing that comes to your mind!" Eztein shouted. Souta stood up, ignoring the commotion. He opened the window and looked at the peaceful city of Ekatoe. "I don''t know what will happen in the war but I''m thoroughly prepared." He tightly clenched both of his fists and a blood-red light sparks around his arms. ... Bang!! Sounds of explosions echoed in the area. The ground shook as if it was about to collapse. Various buildings had fallen, taking the lives of ordinary people. Boom! The deafening sound echoed once again. Hundreds of figures clashed in the sky causing the void to vibrate. Their energy swept in all directions. The sky was dark and the ground was dyed in red. The stench of blood was thick and countless corpses were scattered across the entire land. Several kilometers away, in a small city, a boy and a girl were hiding in a small room. The vibration on the ground caused them to flinch. The boy hugged the girl tightly. Both of them were trembling in fear as the battle grew stronger and stronger every second. "M-Mom... D-dad... T-they..." The girl muttered as she tightly grasped on her brother''s clothes. The boy covered his sister''s mouth as he tightly clutched the pendant around his neck. The pendant was emitting a dim light that created a barrier around them. It was protecting them from the energy pressure in the atmosphere. Even though the boy was scared, he still had to act tough in front of his sister. He was the big brother so he couldn''t show her that he was scared. "Mom and dad are fine..." The boy whispered. He could see the scene just outside the room. There were two corpses lying in the pool of blood. A man and a woman. Their eyes were lifeless. They were his parents. "My Lord!!" "My Lord!!" Esquin, who was sitting on the throne, slowly opened his eyes. He held his head and muttered, "That dream again..." He turned his head and asked, "What''s the matter?" The man who was standing below the throne answered, "We''re about to face the first resistance of the Holy Lands. What should we do?" Esquin looked ahead and his gaze pierced through the walls, seeing the movements of his army. After a while, he opened his mouth, "Just attack, if they sent high-ranks then dispatch our high-ranks too. We are not afraid of starting the battle of the high-ranks." "I understand, My Lord!" The man bowed. He then retreated to convey the words of his god to the army. Esquin was left alone in the throne room. He rested his chin on his hand and laughed, "I''m waging a war... What a funny thing, I''ve become someone I hate the most, a leader." His expression turned gloomy as he stared at the sky, the beyond where he cultivated his soldiers. "When the war ends, the leaders will shake their hands. An old woman will wait for her son. A wife will wait for her husband. A girl will wait for her father. It''s pitiful." Esquin closed his eyes. "And I became someone who did the same... The things that I dislike about myself have increased again. Truly laughable." Chapter 885 Selnes Selnes Country... It was a powerful country that was known as the "Impregnable Nation Before Gods." In the palace at the center of the country, a group of five people gathered around the round table. They were the family heads of the Five Master Clans, the five families that ruled the entire nation. Windi, Botano, Flaem, Darkna, and Methal Clans were the Five Master Clans. "The Army of Gluttony is slowly approaching our territory. We should respond and eliminate the army." An old man with long white hair, a thick beard, and a mustache said. He was wearing a pure white robe with black trimmings. His name was Schine Windi, the Head of the Windi Master Clan. "I think we should let our people evacuate first. The Army of Gluttony isn''t something we should underestimate. We shouldn''t attack them recklessly." A pale and thin man with short black hair said. He was wearing formal dark clothes and his vibe seems like he was about to collapse at any moment. However, no one among the family heads underestimated this guy. He was, after all, Paente Botano, the Head of the Botano Master Clan. A beautiful woman glanced at Paente and nodded, "I agree with Family Head Botano. No one could invade our country unless a god personally attacked but Gluttony already destroyed a Large Country so we can''t rule out the possibility of Gluttony attacking our walls. It''s better to send messages to the Holy Lands." This woman had shoulder-length crimson-colored hair. Her eyes were red and her red clothes couldn''t conceal the curves hidden within. She was the Family Head of the Flaem Master Clan, Hono Flaem. A middle-aged man with short blue hair sneered, "Do you really think that the Holy Lands will dispatch gods to help us? No, they will not do it. They are afraid that this is a trap set up by Gluttony. Their gods are concentrated on their borders so they will not easily leave their lands." This man was tall and he had a pair of pure black eyes. Even his sclera was black. He was wearing white clothes which were covered in dark energy. He was Bezvin Darkna, the family head of the Darkna Master Clan. The last family head looked like a young man. He had his feet on the table, eyes closed, and his hands on the back of his head. His hair was white which gradually turned into blue on the tips. His name was Hoie Methal, the youngest family head. He was only 26 years old this year yet he already reached this level. Hoie slightly opened his eyes and glanced at the other family heads. "At least our situation is better than the other battlefields. The Fedru Principality and the Bruim Republic aren''t Large Countries in the past. The battle in those two lands will be much worse than us." Hoei said. "The All Filter Barrier Formation..." Paente muttered as he glanced at the windows. Hoei added, "For now, the battles haven''t reached a higher stage yet. It hasn''t reached the point where Shackled Realm is needed. Plus, we are just a country without gods so it''s unlikely for Gluttony to attack us personally. We still have the formation. In case something really happens, we should prepare to evacuate our citizens." "Are we gonna stay here locked up in our land? I don''t think we can''t stay! We should show them our might to intimidate them! We can''t let them approach our land easily!" Bezvin Darkna said. Hoei shrugged his shoulders, "I''m just saying my opinion. If you really want to initiate an attack then go but my opinion will not change. It''s disadvantageous for us to attack them at this moment." Paente nodded, "I think Family Head Methal has a point. We can''t attack the enemies right now. We should gather intelligence about the movements from the Fedru Principality and the Bruim Republic first and analyze their approach to the war." "Tsk! We have to intimidate them." Bezvin clicked his tongue. "I also want to attack them but now isn''t the right time. I heard that the reinforcement from the Holy Lands will arrive today. Let''s wait for their actions." Hono said. At this moment, the eldest family head, Schine Windi, opened his mouth. "Okay, let''s attack the enemies two days from now. We''ll eliminate the advance force swiftly and it will give us more time then we will let the reinforcement from the Holy Lands do its job. As long as one isn''t a god, our country will not fall." ... Souta arrived at the camp that the Olympus set up to help the three battlefields. The Holy Lands have already talked about this so most of them sent their men to obstruct the Army of Gluttony''s movement. It was to help the people but everyone had their own secret motives. The Olympus had set up a camp in this land so they wouldn''t easily give up this area. They would slowly turn this land into a vessel state of Olympus. The other Holy Lands surely had the same motives. If not for Gluttony''s threat, the nearest Holy Land, which was Eden, the Archangels wouldn''t let them set up a base near their territory. Even the Large Countries would reject this idea. Nearest was Eden, but it doesn''t mean that Eden was close to the three battlefields. There were still several Large Countries before them. This alone speaks for the fact that they were wary about the power of the Ruler of Gluttony. When Gluttony appeared to see the awakening of No God Emperor, Gabriel also appeared with a universal grade artifact and she destroyed him. In the end, it was just a clone of Gluttony. After that, she went straight to Eden in case the Bringers of Calamity ambushed her. The military camp of Olympus. Thousands of experts gathered along with the Sixth Grain War of the Athen''s Champion. All of them were veteran warriors that experienced hundreds of battles. The leader of this camp was Ares'' Warriors. A legion under Ares, the God of War. They dispatched several battalions to guard this camp. Six Hero-rank experts were currently guarding this place and there were hundreds of SSS-rank. Sixth Grain War would head to the Selnes Country along with three other groups. Two War Company and one Hammer''s Guard. A War Company was equivalent to a Grain in the Athen''s Champion. It was a troop under Ares, the God of War. The Hammer''s Guard was the same and it was under Hephaestus, the Blacksmith God. Souta already knew that the Sixth Grain War wouldn''t be dispatched alone. The six Hero-rank warriors stood in the air looking down at the warriors. The aura around their bodies was enormous and just standing there seemed to bring pressure to everyone. Behind them were two gigantic lions with overwhelming energies. Souta could feel the oppression that made him want to kneel down in front of these lions. These two lions were the Great Nemean Lion, a fifth stage monster. It''s the Guardian Beast of Ares, the God of War. Six Hero-ranks and two fifth stage monsters. This lineup was powerful. Ares seemed to be taking this a little bit more seriously even though the battlefields weren''t close to Olympus. The Hero-rank of the camp explained that they weren''t alone. Olympus wasn''t the only one who would obstruct the movements of the Army of Gluttony. So they should be prepared to meet the warriors from the other Holy Lands, especially Eden. Eden had sent a larger force that would slow down the enemies. It was to test the power of the enemy army. How powerful was the army that Gluttony secretly trained? How many top-rank warriors did they possess? Or do they have any gods? Souta shook his head. It didn''t matter to him what the plans of the Holy Lands were. His strength was still insufficient to stand at the same level of those gods and monster lords. The Hero-rank warrior continued, "The three lands will become a battlefield. The advanced team will enter the three lands and communicate with the folks. Warriors that broke two great shackles will stand at the back, ready to move once a high-level enemy appears." He especially mentioned the case of the Selnes Country. Souta was always curious about this country since he didn''t have any info about it. Selnes Country was powerful because of the barrier formation left behind by their god. The All Filter Barrier Formation. It was a layer of barriers that filtered any people that entered the country. The stronger the person, the more pressure it brought. Seven Shackles would feel suffocated inside the barrier especially the experts above. Unless one has the power to ignore the limitation of the formation, they wouldn''t be able to move freely in the Selnes Country. Souta understood the concept of this formation. If that''s the case, then... He silently glanced at the leaders of the two War Company and Hammer''s Guard. They were the limit... No, he should be able to verify it once he stepped inside the country. But his ace... Souta glanced at his sleeve wryly. Kessa was strong so the pressure brought by the barrier would be stronger for her. Chapter 886 All Filter Barrier Formation There''s no barrier in the other two lands so he thought that Selnes Country would be the same. Does this mean that he couldn''t get Kessa''s power to help him? Souta sighed inwardly. He was prepared for the war as he even brought his strongest ace but it seems that it would be in vain. No, it was too early to conclude it. There must be a time when he would need her help. He just hoped that time doesn''t come since it means that the situation has gone to something that he couldn''t control with his strength. The meeting lasted for two hours. All the warriors were informed about their jobs and roles in this war. The Sixth Grain War was powerful on its own. Aside from Souta''s group, it consisted of several squads. The number of experts in the Sixth Grain War was 108. 2 Four Shackles Realms, 9 Three Shackles Realms, 23 Two Shackles Realms, 47 One Shackle Realms, and the rest were Solidifying Realms. There were Liquefying Realms but they weren''t included in the mission. The War Company and Hammer''s Guard closely have the same number too. There were also squads from other Grains that were dispatched in this mission. Some of them were going to the Fedru Republic and Bruim Principality. After the meeting, Souta entered a tent with three people. A tall man with a giant axe on his back, Genzu. His skin was full of scars and he looked a bit intimidating. He was the leader of a War Company. A man with a pair of daggers on his waist, Heido. He was covered in tight dark clothes and a mask. He was the other leader of the War Company. Lastly, a young man wearing full-plate armor with a giant black hanging on his back. His name was Santu, the leader of the Hammer''s Guard. They have the same status as Grain Leader in Athen''s Champion so they were strong. "You''re the leader of this group, Souta. The War Commander assigned you as a commander of this group." Genzu said. The other two experts also glanced at Souta. They''d heard of his name but it was their first time meeting him. "I''m in charge of the group so I want you to give me your opinion. Should we proceed and fight the enemy or gather information first?" Souta asked. "I''m in favor of attacking the enemies," Genzu said. "I also wanted to attack the enemies but we need information first," Heido said. "I agree with Heido. We need to know our enemy first." Santu said. "I see... Okay, we''ll follow the majority. We''ll enter the Selnes Country and gather information about the enemy. Also, once we arrived there we''ll send some of our men to scout the enemy''s formation." Souta looked at them before he continued, "Also, it''s better if we can gain the cooperation of the army of Selnes. That way, we can move freely without being hindered." "Now that you mention it, our role is just to help them protect their defense line. Cooperation with them seems possible but there are forces from other Holy Lands too." Heido said while rubbing his chin. "The higher-ups said that we shouldn''t engage with the other Holy Lands." Santu paused as he glanced at Souta. "Especially you, Commander Souta. You have a history with a few of them in the Hall Plains." "I know, I will not act against them. Our focus right now is the Army of Gluttony." Souta nodded. He tapped his finger on the table and said, "Okay, we''ll gather information. No one will launch an attack without permission. After we enter the country, we''ll separate. You guys know what to do. After we gather information we''ll meet at the entrance early in the morning to talk about our next plan." The four people talked for a few minutes before they ended their meeting. Souta walked out of the tent and saw Alice and the rest. He conveyed the plan to them. Enter the country, go separate ways, gathered information, and meet up tomorrow morning. Well, it was simple and Souta made it this way since he wanted to find clues about the Tears of Divine Might. It was the reason why he volunteered to fight in Selnes Country. Otherwise, he would simply go to the same route he did in the past, the war in the Bruim Principality. Souta was talking to Alice and the rest when a group of people approached him. "Souta, you''re here too... Oh, should I say Grain Leader Souta?" Souta turned his head and smiled when he saw the approaching people. "I didn''t think that you guys would be dispatched here in this place." This group of people was the Blue Cross Squad from the Tenth Grain War. "It''s been a while. We''ve heard of your accomplishment in the Hall Plains. You''ve become quite famous in Olympus." Leilus said. "Yep, a lot of things have happened." Souta shook Leilus'' hand. Souta introduced his comrades to the Blue Cross Squad. "This is Alice." Alice nods her head. "This is Eilish." Eilish smiled and waved her hand. "Hello." "This is Franklin." Franklin simply stared at them. "And this is Eztein." Eztein waved his hand and said, "If you need something you can just ask me." The Blue Cross Squad greeted them and they introduced themselves in return. Drami, Marcus, Sekmet, Paolo, and the squad leader Leilus. They were the squad that Souta got to know in the war against the Red Matter Association. "Hey, Souta. I didn''t expect that you would become a Grain Leader in a short amount of time." Drami said with a smile as she jumped around him. "Things happen. I didn''t expect it either. The incident in Hall Plains was just an accident." Souta shrugged his shoulders. Souta and the rest of the Blue Cross Squas talked for a while. Soon, the group departed. They used a portal and flew for an hour before they arrived in Selnes Country. Souta left Kessa in the base after he heard the details of the All Filter Barrier Formation. Selnes Country. A nation known as Impregnable before Gods. The nation boasted about its powerful defense and military capabilities. It has more than five million population and a quarter of them were experts. The nation has a land area of three thousand five hundred sixty square kilometers. There were thick walls with a height of one hundred meters around the entire nation, and there were only four entrances. Flight would be impossible since the whole country was protected by a barrier formation. Below the walls, there was a long and deep river that surrounded the nation. This made the nation look like a large island. Souta and the rest arrived at the front, staring at the majestic walls of the Selnes Country. "It feels like this isn''t a small country..." Eztein commented. "A god was living in this place in the past," Eilish said. "Still, this place is a good one..." Souta said. Leilus agreed with Souta''s words. He said, "Yeah, the entire nation is surrounded by a huge river so walking is impossible. This river alone contained thousands of monsters. I heard that this is their first line of defense." The group walked forward and the guards in the gate asked for their identities. After confirming their identities, the gate opened and they entered the Selnes Country. Ohm! Once they stepped inside, Souta felt the changes in the atmosphere. "This..." Alice frowned as she looked at the sky. "It feels like this is a different space. The pressure here is strong." "So this is the famous barrier..." Eztein muttered. Souta glanced at his hand before he observed the others. The pressure he was feeling was stronger than them. It seems that his decision to leave Kessa in the base was good. Heido asked from the side, "Commander Souta, can you handle the pressure?" Souta turned to him and nodded, "Yeah, I''m just a little bit surprised. It''s just a bit stronger than I expected." "You don''t have to worry. If you''re feeling a stronger pressure then it means that you are strong." Heido explained. "I understand..." Souta took a deep breath. Heido, Santu, and Genzu bid farewell before they left with their men. Souta looked at their back. They were strong support. He would use them later. He turned to Alice and the rest before he said, "Let''s go now," Everyone had adjusted to the strange atmosphere so they started to leave. They finally had time to observe the country. Everyone could feel the liveliness and clamor despite the threat of the war. The citizens were confident in the defense of the nation which wasn''t breached for several centuries. There were people everywhere in the plaza and various stalls were installed across the streets. It wasn''t the vibe that everyone expected. "This is much worse than I imagined..." Souta muttered. Alice heard his words. She looked at him and asked, "Why?" "It''s not bad for them to be confident in the defense of their nation but..." Souta narrowed his eyes, looking at the smile of the citizens. "They clearly underestimate the Army of Gluttony, one of the Seven Deadly Sins. They didn''t have any idea at all." Chapter 887 Arrangement Souta and the rest were walking when an unknown man stood in front of them. This man was in a butler attire and every movement that he made was refined. "I''ve been expecting you, I''m Torne, a Butler from the House of Botani." The butler made a respectful bow to the group. "House of Botani?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "Yes, Sir. The House of Botani is one of the ruling parties of the Selnes Country. We''ve already reserved a mansion for you to use." Torne explained. "I see..." Souta nodded. Then, he glanced in the direction where the Hammer''s Guard and War Company went. "What about them?" "You don''t have to worry, Sir. All the reinforcement from the Holy Lands is the guess of our country. You will receive our utmost hospitality. It''s just that the place will be different to avoid clashing with other Holy Lands and also to protect the country." Torne said. The reinforcement of the Holy Lands was going to stay in different places across the country. They would be near the walls so that when an accident occurred the experts from Holy Lands would be able to provide help immediately. Souta nodded. He glanced at the warriors of Athen''s Champion and said, "Let''s go." He turned his head and glanced at the building far from him. After a few seconds, Souta shook his head and continued to follow Torne. ... In the building, two people were having tea while glancing outside the windows. One of them was a seductive woman with crimson-colored hair while the other was a middle-aged man with purple-colored skin and a pair of pointed ears. They were Hono, the Head of the Flaem Clan, and her trusted aide, Arche. Hono placed down the tea in her hand and said with a faint smile, "Olympus had arrived and they are quite strong..." Arche glanced outside and replied, "The Berserk War Axe Genzu and Blood Lightning Monster, huh?" "Well, the others are pretty strong too but those two are in a different league. They made quite a name in the past few months. Are they exaggerating the rumors or not?" Hono took a sip of her tea. "Berserk War Axe. He participates in the extermination of the Dark Mantle Corporation, defeating two of its executives. He stopped the civil war in the Halst Republic alone. He massacred the Tyrant Bandit group which took over several countries, dyeing the entire land in red. He only had a few combat arts but no one could underestimate him. Unlike us, he only mastered low-tier combat arts but those low-tier combat arts became his foundation of strength and he mastered them to the point of sublimation. If given more time, he will become an envoy of the God of War, Ares." Arche said everything he knew about Genzu, the Berserk War Axe. "I''ve heard that he is hot-tempered, is it true? Also, I''ve heard that he once clashed with a hero candidate of Asgard. The hero candidate of Balder, the God of Light." Hono said. "No, that man is not a hero candidate. The man that Berserk War Axe fought is the Lumen Harvin. Lumen is the title given to the people that received the God of Light''s blessing." Arche explained. "Asgard tried to convert this information people a lot of people knew the truth. The Berserk War Axe defeated Lumen Harvin even after using the blessing of the god." "What a terrifying man," Hono glanced at Archer and asked, "Can you defeat him in a battle, Arche?" Arche thought for a while before he answered, "I don''t know. If the rumors aren''t an exaggeration then I have a high chance to lose." "Then, what about the Blood Lightning Monster?" Hono asked. "I don''t know too... Blood Lightning Monster just recently gained fame. He''s the newcomer in the Athen''s Champion." Arche paused for a moment before he answered, "He participated in dozens of battles. His name was first heard when he subdued the Nine-Headed Hydra, the monster that God Hercules sealed before he ascended. The nickname Blood Lightning Monster was created when he stopped a god''s vessel from awakening the god''s real body. He could command lightning and blood to tear the entire land called Hall Plains. In that battle, he gained the title Blood Lightning Monster." "I heard about that battle too... We can even see the red energy pillar that reached outer space even from here. I don''t know anything about the sealed god but some people said that several gods appeared at that time afraid that the awakening will be completed. No one knew that the Blood Lightning Monster will be able to stop the plan of a god from the inside. "Unlike other monsters, the Blood Lightning Monster didn''t rely on his traits to fight. It was said that he was a master of spells and combat arts and was extremely versatile in all types of battles. A lot of people said that he is an invincible fourth stage monster. Among all the fourth stage monsters in the world, he is the only one." Hono said. The rumors about the Blood Lightning Monster were terrifying and exaggerated. But there was truth to it or else such rumors wouldn''t spread in the first place. "Even after that incident, he showed why he is the only one..." Arche said with a serious look. Hono agreed with Arche''s words. "Yeah, the other Holy Lands wanted to take a piece of Hall Plains so they sent their forces but... All of them were repelled by Blood Lightning Monster. Ordinary peak fourth stage wouldn''t be able to guarantee to defeat a Four Shackles expert yet Blood Lightning Monster could guarantee it." She paused and stared outside. "After seeing him today, I''m sure that he''s a step closer to our level. It''s almost as if he is a fifth stage monster now. A monster who could only defeat Four Shackles will not enter my eyes." "Blood Lightning Monster is rumored to be a bloodthirsty monster that drinks the blood of all the creatures he killed. He''s a vicious monster under Goddess Athena''s name. If he reached the fifth stage, there''s a high chance that he would become one of Goddess Athena''s Guardian Beast." Arche added. "Guardian Beast... It''s similar to the status of the heroes of the god. No one could order them except for the god that they served." Hono paused for a moment before she added, "Unfortunately, our gods are gone. If we had a god, you will probably become a hero, Arche." "There''s no need to think about it. For now, a lot of forces from the Holy Lands had gathered in our nation. We should prepare to launch an attack." Arche said. Hono nodded, "Our nation still has the barrier but we have to prepare... The Holy Lands had sent quite a strong force so we should be able to hold the Army of Gluttony for a month or so. Even if he can''t do it, we''ll rely on the barrier. It will be safe here unless someone who could ignore the laws appeared, a god." Hono narrowed her eyes as she stared at the cup of tea on the table. "Our clan has the weakest foundation in this country. We need to get stronger." In some other places, the news about the arrival of the Olympus forces had reached the people''s ears. Even the forces of the other Holy Lands in Selnes Country have heard of this news. "The Olympus is here!" "The Berserk War Axe and Blood Lightning Monster are here! These two represented Olympus in Selnes Country!" "It''s getting interesting..." "A lot of famous people have gathered in this place." Powerhouses across the country talked to each other. Even those from the Holy Lands were observing the newly arrived group. Some even found this funny, some were filled with hate, and some felt nothing. Heido and Santu were strong too but they weren''t strong enough. They were Four Shackles experts but Souta and Genzu defeated dozens of Four Shackles in their previous battles. Some of them were even stronger than these two. So most of the focus was on Souta and Genzu. ... Souta sat down on a sofa comfortably. The warriors of Athen''s Champion had settled down in this huge mansion with Butler Torne''s help. While they were walking before, Souta naturally sensed the gazes of dozens of powerful people. He chooses to ignore them. It was the same on the other battlefield so he was used to it. There was nothing he could do. He was too eye-catching. Most of the things that he did were absolutely stunning. Souta opened his eyes and glanced around the people within this room. Alice, Eztein, Eilish, and Franklin were here along with the two Four Shackles of the Sixth Grain War. Aside from him, these two were the strongest in the entire Sixth Grain War. Souta crossed his legs and smiled, "Okay, it''s time to do our job." He pointed at one of the Four Shackles named Fremi and said, "Squad Leader Fremi, asked three to four squads to gather information. Even the rumors gather it." Then, he pointed at the other Four Shackles named Edilon. "Go outside and wait for the squads that we''ve sent to scout ahead. If they are in trouble, save them." Edilon and Fremi nodded at his words. Souta then glanced at Alice and said, "Arrange all the potions that we''ve brought. We have to prepare now in case an attack from the enemy suddenly occurred." Tomorrow, he would meet with Genzu, Heido, and Santu to talk about their plan for the upcoming battle. Chapter 888 Five Master Clans Edilon and Fremi left to complete their task. Alice left too to arrange the potions and other things that they would need in the battle. Souta was left in the room with Eilish, Franklin, and Eztein. Souta casually glanced at them. Eztein was already at Three Shackles while Eilish and Franklin were both at Two Shackles. He needed them to increase their strength as soon as possible. They already have techniques, combat arts, and spells. The only thing they lacked was potions or pills that would stimulate their potential. Eilish was close to Three Shackles. He didn''t know what happened but her growth rate had suddenly increased. It must be related to the thing that happened when she met her brother. If he remembered correctly, the lingering energy at that time was mysteriously strange. It wiped out both allies and enemies. It had Eilish''s energy signature but at the time it wasn''t her. How? The energy signatures were unique to each person. It was like a fingerprint of low-level beings. Souta could change his appearance but he couldn''t change his energy signature. Even the mana he stored in his parasite turned out to be the same one as his. His mana and best feram had the same signature. He didn''t have best feram when he was at the second stage of evolution but his signature didn''t even change after turning into a monster orb. There was something wrong with Eilish but he couldn''t see it even with his eyes. Even Eilish didn''t have any idea what that strange energy was. "Boss, what should we do now?" Eztein asked. Souta snapped out of his thoughts. He glanced at Eztein and said, "I''m waiting for someone." Eilish raised her eyebrows and asked, "Is it that man?" "Yep, the hero from another world." Souta nodded. "Hero? As in the hero that received..." Eztein was confused. "It''s different from the heroes of Imperium. The hero of god is the general term for a person that received a god''s blessing. It''s also different from the Hero-rank which is a term for a person who broke seven shackles and above." Eilish explained. "The hero we are talking about is just a man who wants to save the world or probably just like that. The kind of hero you read in books." "Oh, I see... When did you meet this hero guy?" Eztein asked. "Eilish and I went on a mission in a sub-world a week ago," Souta said. "Does he have a parasite? If so, we can spar and not care about injuries." Franklin joined the conversation. Souta glanced at Franklin, "Franklin, now is not the time for this. Vashno is a Three Shackles expert so he is strong. Battle... We have a lot of time later for this." "I see..." Franklin nodded and went back to leaning on his chair. Eilish stood up and turned to Souta. She smiled and asked, "I''ll prepare a meal. Do you perhaps have anything that you want to eat?" "I''ll leave it to you. Anything is fine with me." Souta said. "Okay," Eilish nodded and left. Eztein looked at her back and asked, "Is there something wrong with her? She''s not the type to cook." Souta shrugged his shoulder. After a while, Eilish finished cooking the food. The group ate together and after waiting for an hour a man knocked on the gate of the mansion. "Vashnu''s here..." Souta muttered. He already sensed Vashnl''s energy on the gate. Soon, the door opened and a man stepped inside. Eztein and Franklin observed this newcomer. Souta smiled as he pointed at the vacant chair. Vashno sat down with a serious look on his face. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Souta pointed at Eztein and Franklin, "This is Eztein and this old man is Franklin." Franklin nodded and Eztein waved his hand. "Hello, I''m Vashno." Vashno introduced himself in a simple manner. Souta fixed his posture and said, "Let''s get down to the business. I''ve dispatched you here in advance to gather information about this country." Vashno sighed and said, "You''re right. This world broadened my horizon. Even this country alone already had people that surpassed me." "Right?! That''s why I felt too when I first arrived here in Imperium. I didn''t even know that gods were real." Eztein raised his thumb. "Eztein, let him talk," Souta said. "Okay," Eztein replied. Vashno continued, "Selnes Country is ruled by Five Master Clans; the Windi Clan, Botano Clan, Flaem Clan, Darkna Clan, and Methal Clan. There are other clans and strong families in this nation but the Five Master Clans are the ruling party. Each clan possessed a massive force that I''ve never seen before." "The Head of the Botano Clan is called Paente. He is a powerful man but according to the rumors that I''ve heard, he is also kind and helpful to the citizens of the country. "The Head of the Windi Clan is called Schine. He is the oldest among the clan leaders. They said that Schine came from the era three hundred years ago when the glory of the country was at its peak. "The Head of the Flaem Clan is called Hono. She is the only woman among all the clan leaders. She came from a branch clan outside the nation. She rose to the position with the help of the demi families that she gathered in the past. "Bezvin Darkna, the Head of the Darkna Clan. He rarely appears in public so I don''t have much information with me. He is the most mysterious among all the clan leaders. Most of the time, his wife is the one who appeared in public to convey his words. "Hoei Methal, the Head of the Methal Clan. He is the youngest clan leader. He is only 26 years old this year and it took him three years to rise to his current position." The clans had connections to each other. Sometimes they would engage in a political marriage to strengthen their bonds. Souta continued to listen to Vashno''s report. According to him, except for the Schine Windi, most of the previous leaders of the Five Master Clans were still alive. Souta asked if there was any strange wisp of energy or energy concentration in this place. Vashno shook his head, "I haven''t felt anything like that." Souta rubbed his chin. ''Hmm, then where will the Tears of Divine Might appear? I know that it appeared in the Selnes War in the game. As for the exact details, I know nothing about it.'' "There''s still places that I haven''t scouted yet," Vashno said. Souta raised his eyebrows. "The household of the Five Master Clans. It''s hard to infiltrate their mansions since there are several layers of barriers. There are even runes across their walls. It is said that their mansions were built enchanted by their gods in the past." Vashno said. "I see... If that''s the case, then I can''t blame you that you can''t gather info about them." Souta rubbed his chin. "Okay, then just tell me the basic knowledge of these Five Master Clans." Vashno slowly explained to Souta the structure of the Five Master Clans. The nation was divided into ten zones and each clan ruled two zones. The mansion they were in was situated in the third zone, one of the two zones that the Botano Clan ruled. Botano Clan ruled over the third zone and fourth zone. This land was different from the rest. There were thousands of trees planted across the area and some of the trees even reached the height of one hundred meters. Paente Botano, the Head of the Botano Clan, was an expert that used plant attributes. He was an expert that stood at the top of the country along with the other clan heads. Vashno also explained the details of the famous All Filter Barrier Formation of the Selnes Country. The barrier filtered anyone who entered the land. The strong experts were thrown away while the weak were accepted. Only people who had the bloodline of the ruling clans could enter without feeling the pressure from the barrier. Although it could filter the people, it couldn''t prevent a god from entering. A god was entirely a different being from mortals. This was the reason why the Selnes Country was called Impregnable before the Gods. Souta and Vashno talked for an hour. After that, the group left the mansion to walk around the city. The Blue Cross Squad tagged along with them. They looked around curiously. The atmosphere of the city was lively even though a war was approaching. There were stalls everywhere and people of different ages wandered around the streets. Most of the houses were built in the towering trees across the land. There were even hanging houses on the branches of giant trees. "Look over there, that tree is three hundred meters tall. It is the main attraction of the third zone and fourth zone. It''s a tree called Yasmoin Tree." Vashno pointed. Souta, Eilish, Franklin, Eztein, and the rest of the Blue Cross Squad looked over and saw a gigantic tree. "Its branches can be used as a material to create an orange grade armor of weapon. The household of the Botano is situated in that tree." Vashno added. "Hm..." Souta squinted his eyes and saw several barriers within. Vashno was right. This was a place that he couldn''t infiltrate. The defenses were right. Chapter 889 Durim Corporation The household of Botano Family was really hard to infiltrate. It consisted of several layers of barriers and even runes of detection were all over the field. No mortals could set up this place. It was really left by their gods. The restriction was so profound that only gods could probably achieve it. "Botano Clan, huh?" Souta glanced at the giant tree one more time. "Grain Leader Souta." Souta turned his head and saw Leilus. "We''ll go separate ways. I''ll inform you if we discover something." Leilus said. "Okay," Souta nodded. "Thank you." Leilus saluted before he left along with his squad. Souta and the rest continued to walk. They walked for thirty minutes and found a forest. It has a land area of ten square kilometers. It was part of the third zone and fourth zone. The experts from the Botano Clan were the ones that were maintaining the scene of the two zones. Greenery. It was the one word that came into Souta''s mind after seeing the land that Botano Clan ruled. "Vashno, is there an underground organization in this country?" Souta asked. "Yeah, it''s called Durim Corporation and they have connections to the Five Master Clans. If they don''t, then they will not be able to stay longer in this country." Vashno answered. "I see... Do you have a way to contact them? I want to see it for myself." Souta said. "They are situated in the fifth zone, in the Great Konsta Colosseum." "Fifth zone?" "Yeah, Methal Clan ruled the fifth zone and sixth zone. The Durim Corporation is the shadow leader of the Great Konsta Colosseum. They are the ones that secretly manage the affairs of the colosseum." Vashno explained. "Then, let''s visit this colosseum," Souta said. Great Konsta Colosseum. It''s the biggest colosseum in the entire nation. It has a diameter of nine hundred meters and could fit tens of thousands of people at the same time. The entire place was built using high-class materials that could somehow withstand the battle of the Shackled Realm experts. "We''re here." Souta and the rest looked down at the vast field. People were fighting on the stage and a large number of audiences were cheering on both contestants. "Most of the nobles of this country are gambling in this place. Tons of money are circulating in this place everyday." Vashno explained. "Can anyone become a fighter?" Franklin suddenly asked. Vashno glanced at Franklin before he answered, "Yeah, anyone can register. Fighters receive a certain reward once they defeat their opponents." "I see..." Franklin nodded and smiled wickedly. Eztein widened his eyes when he saw the look on Franklin''s face. "Hey, don''t tell me...!! You are planning to..." Franklin looked at Souta and asked, "My Lord, can I join the battle?" Souta sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Do what you want, just don''t kill any people for now." "I understand..." Franklin bowed. "Then, I''ll go now." Franklin walked away while Souta, Vashno, Eilish, and Eztein were staring at his back. He didn''t care about it. He already received Souta''s permission so he would join the battle. Souta placed his hand on Eztein''s shoulder and said, "Follow him, you''re stronger so prevent him from causing trouble." "Ehhh!!" Eztein dropped his shoulders. "Boss, why did you agree? I don''t want to babysit an old man..." "You''ll get used to it," Souta said. "Sigh... Fine..." Eztein nodded weakly. He was tired of that old man''s shit. He was causing trouble everywhere. It happened a lot of times in the dungeon and labyrinth. Eilish smiled and said, "You can also join the battle. Bribe the manager to let him fight you in the arena. Then, you''ll be able to beat him up however you want." Eztein turned his head and the corner of his mouth slowly turned upward. "Oh, that''s a good idea." He suddenly remembered something and lost his energy once again. "But I don''t have any money right now. I left most of my money in Astros." Souta ignored Eztein. He took Eilish and Vashno with him, leaving Eztein alone. He already gave his order to Eztein. He should know what to do. While Vashno was explaining the Durim Corporation, Souta suddenly stopped and turned his head. In front, a group of people were walking and their aura was very well hidden. But it couldn''t escape Souta''s eyes that could see all the truth and differentiate it from fake. The leader of this group was a woman with a tall figure, who looked like in her late twenties. She had long black hair flowing on her back. She was wearing a dark red qipao and her hands were clad in two dark gauntlets that have the appearance of a dragon. Her face was covered in a white veil so only her gem-like eyes were visible. Souta continued to walk. His mind was thinking about the overall situation of the current war. That woman was powerful. If he remembered it correctly, her name should be Shen Yao. She was a powerful expert from the Heavenly Court also called Heaven''s Palace. Souta didn''t think that he would meet Shen Yao in this place. Shen Yao would become one of the heroes of Goddess Nuwa also known as Empress Wa, the Mother Goddess of the Heavenly Court. Shen Yao received the blessings of one of the most powerful gods in Heavenly Court and broke all the ten shackles reaching the Freedom Realm. An existence that didn''t have any shackles, restraints, or limiters in their bodies. In the game, when Souta was doing missions, he once clashed with Shen Yao. He was weak at that time and got defeated. Later on, he worked with her together and fought when the titans rampaged in Olympus. ''The Heavenly Court dispatched her here... It seems that the situation is worse than I imagined.'' Souta rubbed his chin. He narrowed his eyes, ''If that''s the case, then I should check the forces of the other Holy Lands.'' So she was here at this point in time. He didn''t expect it. Shen Yao''s group passed Souta''s group. Both of them seemed to sense the power in each other. A man walked beside Shen Yao and whispered, "Lady Shen Yao, that man is the famous Blood Lightning Monster." Shen Yao looked at Souta''s back before she replied, "I see, no wonder I felt a strong energy coming from him. So he is the Blood Lightning Monster, the so-called strongest among all fourth stage monsters." The group continued to walk. "The mission this time will be harder than I imagined. A lot of experts from other Holy Lands appeared. Blood Lightning Monster of Olympus, Naruse Ichimon of Takamagahara, Omari Adel of Aaru, and Asfrith Beiner of Asgard. There are strong experts from other Holy Lands too. The angels even deployed a group of powerful battle angels." Shen Yao turned her head and stared at the sky. "Perhaps it is really related to this barrier. Is the battle going to happen inside this country? The chances aren''t high but it could still happen since the Holy Lands deployed most of their top-notch experts of this level in this land. As for the other countries, they didn''t have this barrier. The Holy Lands... Maybe, they already predicted that the Army of Gluttony has a way to breach this land but why haven''t they told the masses yet? Is it because they aren''t sure? I don''t understand what the gods are thinking." ... In a small room, Souta, Eilish, and Eztein were sitting on a sofa. There was a table in front of them and across it was a chubby man with messy dark hair. "I''m Sande, people also called me Dark Hider. It''s my pleasure to meet you, Grain Leader Souta. I didn''t know that you would visit me today so I haven''t prepared a better reception for you. Plus, I just received a guest a few minutes ago." Sande introduced himself politely. "Guest? Is it Shen Yao?" Souta asked. "Oh, so you know the Priestess of the Fist, Shen Yao?" Sande smiled. "I don''t really know her, I just heard of the rumors about her," Souta replied calmly. There was nothing to talk about Shen Yao since he supposedly didn''t know her personally. She was pretty famous so it was natural for him to hear rumors about her just like how other people knew him even though Souta hadn''t met them. "Since that''s the case, let''s get back to the business," Sande said with a smile. "Grain Leader Souta, you''re probably here for the same reason as the Priestess of the Fist." With those words, Sande placed a pile of papers on the table. Then, he placed his palm on top of it. "This is the information that I could give you about the Five Master Clans. Some of the information here isn''t even made to the public. Our organization only knew this because we''ve been working with them secretly for many years. The question is how much would you pay for it?" Souta smiled and said, "Tell me, how much do you want?" Chapter 890 Preparation "You owned the Hall Plains after you repelled the forces of the Holy Lands. They didn''t dare to send more people since you have Olympus on your back. I just want a simple thing. Let me establish a merchant group on your land. Of course, I will pay taxes and give you more benefits." Sande explained what he wanted in exchange for information about the Five Master Clans. He just wanted one thing. The right to move across the Hall Plains. Hall Plains wasn''t comparable to the current Selnes Country. Selnes Country was more prosperous and had a better economy. But Sande believed that it wouldn''t be long before the Hall Plains grew. After all, Souta had the backing of the Holy Land Olympus. So he wanted to invest and establish his corporation early on that piece of land. "I accept your condition," Souta said without hesitation. "You accept?" Sande was a little bit surprised. "Yeah, there''s no need to think about it." Souta nodded. "You''re very decisive. As expected of the one who is called the Only One." Sande smiled. "Let me tell you something, there''s another reason why the other forces are here in the colosseum." "Hm?" Souta raised his eyebrows. "There''s a tournament that will be held today. Anyone can join the fight. The winner will get a piece of red-grade artifact and a super rare mana fruit." Sande said. "I see..." Souta rubbed his chin. "It''s to test the might of the Holy Lands, right? Tell me, who organized this tournament?" "It''s the Windi Clan. They wanted to test the strength of the reinforcement by giving out a mana fruit and artifact." Sande replied. The prizes weren''t alluring enough for him. Souta had a bunch of universal and dark-grade artifacts. He also ate a lot of legendary-grade mana fruit. Well, Eztein and Franklin were in the arena so it''s better to leave it to them. If they won then they would be able to improve their strength. Eztein and Franklin were different from him. They didn''t have a lot of high-grade artifacts nor did they eat legendary fruits. Souta monopolizes most of the highest grades that Astros'' earned. There was nothing wrong with it. In the past, he created the Astros to help him in his plan and they also received benefits from him. If not, they would still be rotting in their world. But it was different now... Souta did all of that just for him to survive in the future. Death was Souta turned his head and glanced at Eilish, who was sitting beside him. the only thing that pushed him to keep moving forward. He didn''t care about it now. He wasn''t afraid of death. He has other goals now. Souta turned his head and glanced at Eilish, who was sitting beside him. Eilish noticed his gaze so she turned to look at him. Souta smiled and shook his head. He then turned to Vashno and said, "Vashno, go to the arena. Eztein is strong but he just entered Three Shackles so you have to participate and increase our chances of obtaining the prizes." Vashno pointed at himself. "Me?" Souta nodded, "Yep." "Fine..." Vashno sighed. "Don''t be like that. Don''t forget that you are a hero." Souta smiled. "Tch! A hero..." Vashno clicked his tongue. Souta ignored him and focused his attention on Sande. He stretched his hand and picked up the pile of papers on the table. "It''s mine now, I already gave you my permission to establish your group in my land. I''ll sign a letter and deliver it to you tomorrow. You can show my letter to the Dragon Council and they will not bother you anymore." "Many thanks, Grain Leader Souta." Sande rubbed both of his palms as he gave his thanks to the famous Blood Lightning Monster. Souta stood up. Vashno and Eilish also stood up. They both followed Souta. "Vashno, don''t let Franklin create trouble for me. If necessary you can suppress him with your strength." Souta''s voice sounded. Sande looked at Souta''s back with a smile on his face. "Selnes Country will experience a great change this time. Dozens of powerhouses have arrived in this land, ready to confront the enemies. Who will win this war? Who will survive and who will die?" ... Souta and the rest returned to the mansion. Alice had finished arranging the potion. Vashno, Franklin, and Eztein stayed in the colosseum to fight for the artifacts and mana fruits. It depends on their strength if they could get it or not. There were dozens of powerful experts in this country, especially the people from the Holy Lands. It was also a good experience for them. Souta, Alice, and Eilish trained in Saya''s inner consciousness. They didn''t bother themselves about the outside world. The Blue Cross Squad had returned. The other Four Shackles experts of the Sixth Grain War had also returned. They finished their tasks. Souta and the two only left the inner consciousness before the sun rises. War was coming and a little bit of an increase of strength was much appreciated. The three of them slowly opened their eyes. Souta glanced at his hands and felt the energy coursing through his body. He narrowed his eyes and muttered, "It''s not enough..." His elemental power hasn''t reached the Third Level, Fusion Stage. Souta wanted to achieve the Fusion Stage before the war but it seems impossible now. But at the very least, he made an advancement in his other strengths. Souta took a deep breath as blood-colored sparks flashed across his body. He retracted his energy and the pressure around him disappeared. He turned his head and glanced at Eilish, "What about you? Can you break another shackle?" Eilish shook her head. "Not yet, I need more stimulation." "I see..." Souta then turned to Alice. Alice opened her mouth and said, "I just broke through the Three Shackles. I''m still far from Four Shackles. I couldn''t sense the fourth shackle so it will take a lot of time." Souta nodded and said, "You should focus your attention on your elemental power. You should reach the limit first before breaking the fourth shackle. It will help you stimulate your potential and you will be able to achieve the Integration Stage as soon as you break the fourth shackle." Alice nodded. Souta turned to Eilish and said, "It''s the same for you. Reach the limit of Force Stage before breaking through the fourth shackle. It will be beneficial." Alice and Eilish had techniques to speed up the improvement of their elemental powers. Souta had his own manual that was created by No God Emperor. The [Divine Circulation Technique] was in the archives of Astros and monsters could learn it to improve their elemental powers. Souta stood up and stretched his arms. "Well, let''s go." He scanned the whole mansion with his energy and found that Eztein and the rest haven''t returned yet. Souta, Eilish, and Alice left the mansion. They went to the meeting place and found that Santu, Heido, and Genzu were already here. Souta talked with the three leaders while Alice and Eilish stood on the side listening to their conversation. Souta passed the information of the Five Master Clans to the three. After having the knowledge of the rulers of this nation, they have a rough idea about how they were going to help them. The Five Master Clans were strong but it wasn''t to the point of overwhelming. Heido glanced at Souta, Santu, and Genzu. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "The scout has returned. They estimated that the enemy army will arrive six hours from now. According to the words of the scouts, the enemy formation isn''t strong. It just consisted of twenty thousand people with fifty percent of them being at C-rank." Souta, Santu, and Genzu just listened to Heido''s words without interrupting. "The strongest among the right now are Solidifying Realm. They haven''t met anyone that could stop them ever since they began their attacks. This will be the first time they will face great resistance. Later, the Five Master Clans will invite us to a meeting to talk about how to deal with the enemy." Souta rubbed his chin and said, "I see... It''s about the time of the war, right?" "Yeah, the meeting will decide if we will immediately annihilate the enemy''s army or not." Heido nodded. "Hmm... If we annihilate the enemy then they will send a more powerful army but, if we let the low-ranks fight first then the Shackled Realm will stand on the back watching us. If we send a Shackled Realm then they will send a Shackled Realm too." Genzu said. "Liquefying Realm against Liquefying Realm. Solidifying Realm against Solidifying Realm. Shackled Realm against Shackled Realm. That''s how they want it." Souta said. "Probably, if that''s how it went then the all-out war will not happen immediately." Heido paused before he continued, "Even if an all-out war occurred, there''s still the All Filter Barrier. The Five Master Clans have absolute confidence in the barrier. They aren''t worried unless a god launched an attack." "Are they closing the gate?" Souta asked. "Yeah," Heido nodded. Chapter 891 Battle In a mansion, a group of people were sitting around a table. The atmosphere was cold and each of them possessed a strong pressure around their bodies. The meeting of the Five Master Clans and the representative of each faction. Souta was sitting beside Genzu, Heido, and Santu. The four of them were from the Holy Land Olympus. Souta folded his arms in front of him as he observed the other people in the room. The Heads of the Five Master Clans possessed great power and authority in this nation. Schine Windi was the oldest while Hoei Methal was the youngest but their strength should be close to each other. Even if Schine was strong, the only advantage he had was that he had more experience than Hoei. Souta turned his head and glanced at the representatives of the Holy Lands. The Heavenly Court had two representatives; Shen Yao and Li Guan. Shen Yao was the woman that he met in the colosseum. As for Li Guan, he was quite strong but he wasn''t on the same level as Shen Yao. He was a monster with brown fur covering his body. He was one of the monsters that lived on Primate Island, the land governed by the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. The Takamagahara had three representatives; Naruse, Manaka, and Ichisaki. Souta didn''t know the other two but one of them was quite famous. Naruse Ichimon from the famous Ichimon Clan. She was a young prodigy and the Shrine Maiden of the Dragon God Ryujin. She received the blessing of a powerful monster lord in her land and became the youngest Shrine Maiden at the age of eight. She was fourteen years old now. The Holy Land Aaru had three representatives but Souta only looked at Omari Adel. The famous Adel, the Child of the Flesh and War. A warrior from a vast desert that slaughtered countless people that threatened his land. He was a warrior with unbelievable speed. His name could be compared to Naruse, the Shrine Maiden of Ryujin, and Shen Yao, the Priestess of the First. ''Omari Adel... If I''m not wrong, he will receive Anubis'' blessing in the future.'' Souta rubbed his chin. Asgard had four representatives; Asfrith, Vincent, Narkel, and Freduim. The most famous one was Asfrith who was called the Inheritor of Earth. In the future, he would terrorize the land and would fight his enemies nonstop until he broke through the Freedom Realm. Vincent was strong too but he hadn''t done enough for people to hear his name. The group with the strongest battle power was none other than the angels. They sent several strong people to this country. They had a total of five representatives and not all of them were here. There were four more angels outside which possessed great powers. The angel that led them was called Kasci, a man with three pairs of wings on his back. He also had a pair of wings on the side of his head, covering his face. Kasci was a powerful angel under the legion of Gabriel. He possessed great power and was tasked to hold the Army of Gluttony in this land. None of his peers could rival him in his land and he, alone, shone more brightly than the rest. Some factions didn''t send their people to Selnes Country. Instead, they sent them to the other two battlefields, the principality and the republic. There were other strong people from Large Countries too. But they weren''t as eye-catching as the ones from the Holy Lands. They were low-key but Souta recognized a few of them who would become famous in the future. It was really a gathering of the future powerhouse. Souta observed everyone and calculated the overall forces in this place and slowly compared it to the enemy. He knew that this wasn''t going to be an easy battle. Schine, the Head of the Windi Clan, looked at everyone and slowly asked, "What''s your opinion on this matter? The Army of Gluttony will arrive soon. It''s just the first batch, should we eliminate it or not?" "It depends on you. What do you want? I''ll just do my job. If you want to annihilate them then I''ll help you." Shen Yao said. Kasci glanced at Shen Yao before he turned to the Five Master Clans. "Eliminate them. There''s no point in buying more time." Schine nodded and looked at the rest of the factions. "I''ll just do what the majority wants," Souta said. "Fight. I came here because I heard that there would be a great battle." Adel said. "Let the low-ranks fight first. Test their strength and look for the high-ranks of the enemy." Naruse said. "I agree with Naruse," Asfrith said. The representatives of Large Countries also expressed their opinions about this matter. Giving up the Selnes Country didn''t cross anyone''s mind at the moment. There was no way that they were going to do that without fighting. All of them were veterans. They were honed by countless battles that they experienced. "Okay, we''ll eliminate the Army of Gluttony once they''ve arrived here," Schine said in a loud voice. The rest of the people weren''t against the decision except for a few. The majority still wanted to exterminate the Army of Gluttony as soon as possible. They wanted to utilize the All Filter Barrier Formation. If the enemy was too strong then they would retreat inside the barrier. Souta stayed silent and just observed everyone. The war was problematic but it felt like something was wrong with this entire situation. While he was in deep thought, a familiar sound echoed in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!!] The war is coming! Choose your side to fight. >Alliance Army >Army of Gluttony The next quest will depend on your choice. Souta narrowed his eyes and looked at everyone. He silently chose the side of the Alliance Army. *Ding!* [War]: The Army of Gluttony will first meet a resistance in three lands. You''re in the Selnes Country camp. Contribute to the war against Gluttony as you defeat his soldiers. The first batch of the Army of Gluttony is approaching. Defeat them. Rewards: 500,000 experience points, 11 free attribute points, and 6 skill points ''First batch...'' Souta was sure that the defeat of the first batch of the Army of Gluttony was inevitable. The problem was the upcoming army. The one that was led by Shackled Realm experts. ''Souta, don''t trust anyone...'' Saya''s voice echoed in his mind. ''I know...'' Souta replied to her. There was no way to break the barrier unless there was a traitor among the Five Master Clans. In the game, the war occurred in this land so the possibility of a traitor was high. The meeting continued for half an hour... After that, the group dispersed and they gathered their armies near the south gate of the country. Hundreds of warriors gathered at the south gate and each one of them was emitting a strong aura. The citizens were watching from afar, cheering them to return with a great victory. Various warriors from the Holy Lands and Large Countries lined up while the soldiers from the Selnes Country were in the front. Each of the representatives and commanders stood in front of their men without fear in their eyes. Souta slightly turned his head and asked, "Where''s the three?" "I don''t know. They haven''t returned yet." Alice replied to him. "They probably got in trouble or maybe they got busy and forgot about the time." "Then, what happened in the tournament yesterday?" Souta said. "I heard that the one who won the battle was an angel named Vance. He beat all of his opponents including Franklin, Eztein, and Vashno." Alice said. Souta moved his eyes and glanced at the section of the angels. A subordinate of Kasci. Hmm... He was quite strong. No wonder even Vashno lost to this guy. He was on the same level as Heido and Santu. "So where are they?" Souta asked. "After they finished the tournament, I don''t know where they''ve gone," Alice said. "Sigh... Those three... I''ll talk to them later." Souta sighed. The gate made a mechanical sound and it slowly opened, revealing a long and wide bridge. "Soldiers!! Advance!!" Schine voices echoed throughout the entire army. Everyone heard him and the soldiers of the Selnes Country followed their leader. The other factions followed behind the main army of the Five Master Clans. At this time, Souta took a careful look and analyzed the strength of each group. Of course, this wasn''t the overall might of the Five Master Clans and the other factions. Some of their people were left behind in their bases while some were patrolling around the streets across the country. After all, the first batch of enemies just consisted of low ranks with the Solidifying Realm as the strongest. There were hundreds of Shackled Realm experts so naturally, the enemy wouldn''t stand a chance. The army passed through the bridge and stopped on the vast plains, looking ahead with a fierce look on their plains. After a while, they finally saw thousands of men marching several kilometers away from their position. Chapter 892 First Clash The Army of Gluttony has arrived. The atmosphere changed as thick bloodlust spread out in the air. It was a little bit suffocating. Souta narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Even though they are weak, they possessed great momentum." The enemy had fought their way to this country. The cities, towns, and villages that were on their way were massacred. Some of those people resisted but they couldn''t defeat the Army of Gluttony. Everyone knew that some of the towns or villages only had a few experts. So it wasn''t surprising that they couldn''t defeat the enemies. At the very least, the elderly and children managed to escape and seek refuge in other countries. "Souta, why didn''t they fight the Army of Gluttony the moment they exited the border of Eru Empire?" Alice asked in a low voice. "It''s not like they didn''t fight. There are battles everywhere. Small squads were dispatched first and fought several times against the enemies. That''s one of the reasons why some of the people managed to escape on time or else none of them would be able to escape." Souta explained. "A large-scale battle will occur now." Eilish joined the conversation. She pointed at the walls behind them and said, "From this country up to the borders of the Eru Empire will become the main battleground. The small-scale battle was just to clean up the entire land, and help the people escape. If a large-scale battle occurred while ordinary people were nearby I''m sure you already know what will happen." "The ordinary people will die... They will not be able to move under the pressure of a Shackled Realm expert." Alice said with a gloomy look. "Yeah. The ordinary people have escaped while those unfortunate ones have died so the whole area was cleaned up. The Holy Lands and Large Countries will start to fight. They will send their army and use the three nations as a vanguard. They will not give up the three nations easily and the land before us will become a battlefield. No more ordinary folks so they could counterattack without worrying about the death of ordinary people." Eilish explained. "What about the death of ordinary people who failed to escape?" Alice asked. "I''m afraid that the higher-ups are already prepared for it. Casualties will always happen. At the very least, they managed to evacuate tens of thousands of ordinary people. Even if there are ordinary people that are alive there... Once the battle starts, they will perish just from the shockwaves alone." Eilish said with a frown. She was quite knowledgeable about this since she experienced several wars in her journey. Eilish glanced at Souta and said, "Souta could even kill ordinary people if he released his energy. The higher-ups already tried their best to avoid high-rank battles while helping ordinary people. There''s no place for them in this kind of battlefield." "I see..." Alice nodded. "They are here," Souta said. They stopped talking and they focused their attention on the army ahead. They would thoroughly annihilate the enemies without letting any of them escape. "Attention!!" Schine, who was at the front of the army, raised his hand. A man from the Army of Gluttony was approaching them with steady feet. He was holding a huge piece of paper in his hand. He was here to give them the message of their army. He stopped thirty meters away from Schine and said in a loud voice, "People from Selnes Country! Open your borders and surrender yourself to our Lord Gluttony! If you don''t want to surrender then you will face the Army of Gluttony and die a painful death! Mercy will be given to the people who surrendered to our Lord!!" Souta, Shen Yao, and the other representatives glanced at this unknown man with a cold gaze. This unknown man thought that the Selnes Country would surrender while the huge forces like the Holy Lands were on their backs. Selnes Country would be destroyed by the Holy Lands if they surrendered. Schine narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "There''s no need." He waved his hand and the messenger opened his eyes widely. Whoosh!! A red line appeared on his neck. His head slowly fell to the ground, spraying blood in every direction. The messenger was killed. Schine raised his hand above his head and said in a loud voice, "I will only say a few words! Kill! Kill our enemy! Kill the one that threatens our country!" "Kill!!" "Kill!!" "For the country!!" "For our people!!" "Kill!!" The army of the Five Master Clans shouted as their energy shot through the air. Their spirit was high. The soldiers charged forward with great momentum. Their morale was high and their aura was making the ground vibrate. "Charge!!" Their voices resounded throughout the land. Souta watched this scene with a smile on his face. He turned his head and looked at the warriors of Athena. "Go... Edilon, Fremi, stay here. Let them fight and hone their skills through combat." Souta said. Edilon and Fremi, the two Four Shackles experts of the Sixth Grain War, nodded at his words. Aside from the two, the Three Shackles experts also stayed behind watching the battle from this position. Warriors of Athena charged as they followed the lead of the soldiers of Five Master Clans. They started fighting the enemies. Explosions sounded and various skills were used in just a minute. The mages floated in the air before casting spells to bombard the flanks of the enemies. The ground kept shaking and thick smoke rose into the sky. Souta glanced at Eilish, "Do you want to join them? You''re at the limit of Two Shackles. You can use this chance." Eilish shook her head. "I think it''s not enough. The strongest among the enemies are just Solidifying Realms. It will be hard to stimulate my potential using them." "Okay," Souta nodded. He slightly raised his head and looked ahead. His eyes moved and saw silhouettes from afar watching the battle. Souta squinted his eyes and suppressed the surprise in his heart. ''So they are here...'' It seems that they were just watching the battle and didn''t have any plans to move. But... If they were here then it was going to be more troublesome. ''Can I fight them alone?'' Souta looked at the Heads of the Five Master Clans and the representatives of the large factions. ''Can I trust these people? My strength hasn''t reached an overpowering state so I can''t fight those guys alone.'' The strong experts in the Army of Gluttony were just observing them. They were testing the might of Selnes Country and the alliance army. It''s troublesome but it''s made things more exciting. Unconsciously, a grin appeared on his face. Oops! I''m getting carried away. Souta took a deep breath and slightly moved his hand. After a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and bit his tongue until it bled. ''As expected it''s getting worse...'' He said inwardly, trying to ignore the pain. ''You can''t do it for the time being... You''ve just absorbed millions of resentment and grief so your body and mind will not be able to handle it more.'' Saya''s voice sounded. ''I''m just trying...'' Souta said. He absorbed all the souls in the boundary and it boosted his strength highly. But the effect was too much and it made it easier for him to lose control of his instinct. "What''s wrong, Souta?" Alice asked worriedly when she saw his face. "It''s nothing." Souta shook his head. It was already great that his strength increased vastly. It would need release form before he could think about defeating a Four Shackles but it was different now after he absorbed all those souls. The [Void Entanglement] and [Void Shrouding] also increased his base stats. The battle continued while the rest of the top contenders were just watching from the sideline. If one side moved, the other would move too. Still, the strong experts from the Army of Gluttony were several tens of kilometers away so the chance of them making a move was low. There''s no sign that the Shackled Realm experts of the Army of Gluttony were moving. At this rate, this bunch of people would get annihilated by the combined force of the Five Master Clans and Alliance Army. One by one the soldiers from the other side had fallen. They didn''t have enough force to stop several One Shackle experts much less the Two Shackles experts. They could only try to fight back and kill those experts below Shackled Realm. "It''s going to end..." Souta muttered. "What about the experts from the other side?" Eilish asked. "They are watching," Souta replied to her. Eilish turned around and looked at the Head of the Five Master Clans and the representatives of the huge factions. "They know it?" Souta nodded and smiled, "Yeah, when those people move we will move too. Just focus your attention on breaking the third shackle. At that time, you will have enough strength to perceive the enemy." "I thought that we didn''t want a battle between the same ranks. Our enemy didn''t have a single Shackles Realm while we dispatched our Shackled Realm." Eilish said. "Well, it''s not that they can''t. The enemy could send One or Two Shackles experts but they didn''t do so. I don''t know why but it seems that they are waiting for something." Souta said as he rubbed his chin. Eilish narrowed her eyes and something came into her mind. She glanced at the walls and muttered, "Probably something to deal with the barrier so they can launch an all-out attack." Chapter 893 Annihilation Of The First Wave Of Enemy "Hey, what are we doing here?" Eztein whispered to Franklin. Vashno glanced at the two of them and didn''t say anything. The three of them were inside an old store with various artifacts and potions hanging around. They were at the fifth zone near the fourth zone. The fourth zone was just a few meters away. Still, this land was under the rule of the Methal Clan. As for why they were inside this old store... Well, Franklin said that he sensed something in this direction and they arrived here. "I don''t know but I''m sure that I felt something here. It gave me goosebumps for a second." Franklin replied to Eztein. "Hey, I think we should go back now. Souta asked us to return." Vashno said to the two. "Wait, I just want to verify if it''s true or not," Franklin said. "You''re not allowed to fight. You just got beaten in the tournament yesterday. If you want to fight again then do it when the enemy arrives." Eztein said. "I didn''t use my full strength and for your information, you got beaten too," Franklin said calmly. "Me? Did I get beaten? Didn''t you see that I only used one hand against that man? I gave him a handicap!" Eztein rebutted. "Souta said that if you''re going to create trouble. I can force you to return, he will punish you." Vashno said. "I know, just give me a few minutes," Franklin said. The lady at the counter stared at them who were talking to each other in a low voice. The lady was wearing an apron and worn-out clothes underneath it. She had tan skin and long dark red hair that was tied in a bun on the back of her head. Her face and clothes have dirt on them. "Hey, are you going to buy something or not? You''re just chatting here." The lady said. "Please wait for a moment, my friend here couldn''t decide," Vashno said to the lady in a polite tone. "Sorry, this old friend of mine has alzheimer''s disease. He forgot what he wanted." Eztein said to the lady with a fake laugh. "I don''t have a disease, Eztein. I can still fight ten of you at the same time." Franklin said. Although it was loud, his voice was protected by a barrier so only Eztein and Vashno could hear it. "Don''t say that, do you think that I couldn''t beat you, old man?! I can fight twenty of you at the same time! Let''s hurry up and get out of here! The boss will get mad and we will face punishment!" Eztein raised his voice. Vashno sighed looking at the two. He turned to the lady and said, "I apologize for the interruption. I''ll get these two out of here. We''ll return later after we make sure what we want to buy." With those words, Vashno stretched out his hands and grabbed Eztein and Franklin on the collar of their clothes. He carried both of them and hurriedly left the store. These two were bothering other people''s work and he couldn''t take it anymore. The lady rested her chin on her palm as she stared at the door. "What''s wrong with those three? It''s not like I couldn''t hear them. I wonder what group they belong to... Don''t they realize that a battle is happening outside the country?" The lady sighed and looked at the windows. "Sigh... Business is good. People are buying potions and artifacts. It means that a war is going to occur. A storm. I just hope that it doesn''t bother me." Vashno brought the two outside and released them causing the two to fall on the ground. "You bastard!!" Eztein cursed. "Let''s fight!" Franklin said. Both of them stared at Vashno. Vashno sighed and said, "Don''t you realize? You''re bothering other people''s business. If she reported us then the guards would come to capture us. It''s a trouble and Souta will not like it." "Tsk!" Eztein clicked his tongue. Franklin stood up and patted his clothes. Vashno grew silent and turned his head to glance at the old store. That...? She heard them even though the barrier they created couldn''t block an attack, she still made to hear their conversation. He calmed himself. It''s not good to tell these two. It''s better to tell it to Souta first since there''s a large possibility that these two would cause trouble. "We need to move now." Vashno said. ... The battle outside the country has ended. The Alliance army and the soldiers of Selnes Country defeated the enemies. There were a few casualties but they still won the first clash. Throughout the entire time, Souta and the rest of the representatives just stayed in their positions. Their senses were maximized and if a powerful enemy appeared, they would be able to react on time. In the end, the experts of the enemy didn''t make a move. They simply watched before they left. Schine raised his hand and said in a loud voice, "We won the first battle! We annihilated our enemy but our war isn''t over yet!" He swept his eyes across all the soldiers on the field. "Our enemy this time is the Deadly Sins! We will not cower in fear! We will not go down without a fight! We will fight until the end!" The soldiers raised their weapons and shouted. Their voices echoed throughout the entire area. The army slowly moved forward and set up a camp two kilometers away from the country. They would slowly push forward and keep the battle away from their nation. Ahead of this land, the entire field was cleaned up, so they didn''t need to worry about causing the death of ordinary people. They would be able to use any type of wide-range spells or combat arts. S-rank could easily kill B-rank much less those ordinary people who didn''t have any resistance on their bodies. Souta talked with Santu, Heido, and Genzu. They decided that Santu would stay in the camp while Souta, Heido, and Genzu would return to the Selnes Country. Santu wasn''t alone. A bunch of warriors would accompany him. From the Sixth Grain War, Edilon, a Four Shackles expert, would stay along with dozens of warriors from the legion. Genzu and Heido would also leave some of their men at the camp. Santu was free to order them since he was the highest-ranking officer. Five Master Clans and the other factions would do the same. Soon, they finished setting up the camp, and various mages erected different types of barriers in the area. This was just the beginning. If they continued to win the battle, they would be able to move the frontline far away from the Selnes Country, closer to the Eru Empire. When that happens, the higher Shackled Realm experts on both sides would move. By higher Shackled Realm, it means that those who at least broke seven of their shackles. The group returned to the city. Souta, Genzu, Heido, and the Heads of the Five Master Clans along with representatives of the other factions didn''t rest. They started a meeting as soon as they returned to the country. Schine looked at the people from the Holy Lands and asked, "What''s the current plan of the Holy Lands?" Souta glanced at Genzu and Heido, asking if they contacted the base camp of the Olympus. Genzu saw turned to Heido and Souta did the same. It seems that he was the one who sent his men to deliver the intelligence to the base camp. Heido whispered, "The higher-ups said that they will give you full authority over the matter in this nation. If you have any problems you can consult with Genzu. Genzu is also an experienced commander." "I see..." Souta nodded. At this moment, Naruse, the Shrine Maiden of the Dragon God, raised her hand. "My superior said that we have to push the frontline. We can take it step by step after the battle in Bruim Principality and Fedru Republic died down. They said that they already checked the land ahead so we slowly pushed the frontline." She said. Shen Yao nodded at her words, "My superior has the same idea. We can''t stay in this country for a long time. We have to slowly push the frontline and gain the upper hand in the battle." Paente, the Head of the Botano Clan, glanced at them and said, "We can do that but we have to win the next battle. The second wave of the Army of Gluttony''s attack will happen soon. If we can''t overwhelm them then we can''t move forward." Hono, the Head of the Flaem Clan, agreed with his words. "Patriarch Paente is right. A normal win isn''t enough. I''m sure that there will be Shackled Realm experts in the next wave but we still have to crush them. If we had huge casualties then we couldn''t afford to push the frontline." Omari Adel smiled and said, "We''ll see it tomorrow. The Holy Lands are strong but we have limited manpower." Some of them were dealing with various organizations like the Red Matter Association. Some of them were observing the movements of the demons in case they attacked too. There were also battles in the Ruin Battlefield. Most of the gods were watching the Eru Empire since Gluttony''s real body appeared instead of his clone. All of the gods of the Eru Empire have been killed and a lot of Large Countries were getting restless. Even the mighty Eru Empire had perished so those Large Countries started to think what if they were the ones in the position of the Eru Empire? Would they be able to defend themselves? "That''s fine with me. We can''t just simply push the frontline because we want to. We have to do it step by step." Souta suddenly said. He understood what they wanted but he also had another goal in coming to this place. It wouldn''t be good if he went away from the country. Chapter 894 Blessing Of The Great Lamb The meeting ended in an hour. Souta and the rest went back to the mansion in the third zone. The warriors who participated in the battle rested and Souta stayed in his room. He was thinking about the battle. The battle in this land was quite different from the Fedru Republic and Bruim Principality. The battle in those two lands was extremely brutal. It was like a grinding machine that killed people every second. He could understand it since those two places didn''t have the All Filter Barrier Formation. The Army of Gluttony could attack as they wish. Souta leaned on the chair and stared at the ceiling. "What do you think, Saya?" He asked. ''I don''t know what the enemy''s plan is but... One thing is for sure, they haven''t moved today since they couldn''t pass through the barrier. It means that when they make a move again they have a way to break the barrier. They didn''t risk any of the Shackled Realm''s life today so when those experts appear it will be chaotic.'' Saya expressed her opinion. "I see..." Souta nodded at her words. Then, what about the Tears of Divine Might? There was supposed to be a sign of it yet he found nothing. He was sure that it would appear in this nation. That''s the only thing that he knew and it should appear here. A mythical grade fruit... It just appeared out of nowhere and a huge battle broke out in the Selnes Country. In the end, one player obtained the mythical fruit despite all the participants in the battle. ''If that player could do it then I could too...'' It shouldn''t be a matter of strength. The participants were all stronger than that player. The Head of the Five Master Clans alone were already insanely powerful. There were also experts from the Army of Gluttony. Two sides fought yet neither of them obtained it. Does that mean that the player manipulated the battlefield while hiding in the dark waiting for the right opportunity? If that''s the case then it''s a great achievement. Even Souta wasn''t confident that he could obtain the fruit if he was any weaker. He turned his head and a knock echoed in the room. "Come in." The door opened and Alice stepped inside the room. She looked around before she asked, "Is there something you need? I have been looking at you and it seems that you have something in your mind." "It''s nothing much... I''m just placing myself in the situation of the Army of Gluttony. If I''m the commander of the enemy then how am I going to defeat the Alliance army and the Five Master clans?" Souta said. Well, it was false since he was thinking about the Tears of Divine Might just now but he couldn''t tell it to her. Alice sat down and said, "You''re always like that. You''re always thinking about something not telling us a single word." "Really?" Souta raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Yeah, grinning to yourself while rubbing your chin." Alice grinned and rubbed her chin copying Souta''s movement. "Like this." "That''s how I look? Damn..." Souta looked up and his brows narrowed down. "I didn''t realize it but it helps me think." Alice sighed looking at Souta''s face. "So what''s the matter?" Souta asked. "You''re not the type to come here for nothing." Alice stared at him for a few seconds before she smiled and asked, "What if I come here just because I feel like coming here? Will you believe it?" "Well, yeah..." Souta nodded and said with a laugh. "If it was in the past I wouldn''t believe it. Look at yourself." He waved his hand and the mirror in the corner of the room moved in front of her. "Look." Alice looked at her reflection and was confused. She moved her body to the side and looked at him before asking, "What''s there to look at? It''s just me." The smile on Souta''s face grew wider. "You didn''t realize it. In the past, when I first met you, you wouldn''t budge at all. You have that expressionless face all the time." "Really? I feel like nothing has changed." Alice looked once again at the mirror as she placed both of her hands on her cheeks. "Yep, you started to open up to us. I know that you trust me so I will believe your words too." Souta crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes. "Hmm... It''s true." Alice grabbed the mirror and placed it on the table. She glanced at him from the corner of her and said, "You''ve changed... You were a little bit different before we left to clear all those dungeons and labyrinths. I have noticed it since I''ve known you for quite a long amount of time. You can hide it from others but not from me. I shouldn''t left you alone after the incident in Hall Plains." Souta just stared at her. After a while, he laughed and said, "You did the right thing. You grow stronger and I''ve grown stronger." "No, I''m not talking about that." Alice shook her head. "I''m fine, you don''t have to worry about it." Souta waved his hand. Alice sighed after hearing his answer. "It seems that you haven''t fully trusted me yet." She stood up and added, "I''ll go now. If you ever want to talk about it then I''m always here." After saying those words, she started to walk. Souta stared at her back and said, "I trust you. It''s just inconvenient for me to talk about it." Alice stopped for a moment. She waved her hand and opened the door. Souta sighed after seeing her leave just like that. Alice really knows him so it was hard to hide things from her. ''Are you really not going to say it to her?'' Saya''s voice echoed. ''She''s with you all the time. When she found out that you are a monster, she didn''t question it. She waited for you to tell her after dealing with the matters of the Witch Clan. She even told you about her past and identity.'' "Should I tell her that I''ve absorbed millions of souls? And experienced deaths for over a thousand years in my mind. No, it will make this matter more complicated. I don''t want her to get involved in this. If there will be a time when the world knows what I did, I will bear full responsibility for it." Souta said in a low tone. ''Various factions will hunt you for the so-called Soul Arts. Even if you surrender the artifacts, it will not change that you removed millions of souls from the cycle of reincarnation.'' Saya said. ''Killing is fine since gods knew that souls would simply go to the soul realm and be born once again. In the eyes of the gods, it''s not a complete death. It will probably be fine if you destroy a few souls. I''m sure that god did it before and I remember doing it too when I still had a physical body. But destroying millions of souls...'' "I know... The matter of soul is very sensitive." Souta said. ''But I''m curious about the Great Lumb... Although the rules are broken, they must have noticed that millions of souls didn''t return to the cycle of reincarnation.'' Saya said. "Great Lamb... I''ve received the blessing of the Great Lamb before." Souta suddenly said. ''What?! You...!!'' Saya raised her voice in shock. "I forgot that you didn''t know it. I received it before I arrived in Ladros City. I met the Great Lamb in a forest and told me a few things." Souta recalled what happened that time. ''W-What did it say?'' Saya was still shocked that she could properly speak. Souta smiled and shrugged his shoulder. "I don''t know... I couldn''t understand what it was saying so I put it in the back of my mind." ''Why?! Argh, if I was there I would have understood it! It was the first time I''ve got angry at you!'' Saya said. In Souta''s mind, he could see a woman''s silhouette covered in red baring her teeth at him. Souta laughed, "Don''t be angry. I know that the Great Lamb is important. No God Emperor even fought it in the past but its blessing didn''t give me anything else. It just increased my strength for a little bit. Even a purple grade weapon has a larger boost than its blessing." ''You don''t understand it at all! You, you received the blessing of the Great Lamb. It wouldn''t give a blessing to some random people. Even if you met it in the past, the chances of you receiving a blessing are close to zero. Back then when I was alive, I met a few Great Lambs but I didn''t receive a single blessing. You know what it said to me?'' "What?" ''The Great Lambs said that I don''t have the Scent of Imperium. The fate of Imperium isn''t with me and only people with the power of Imperium are qualified to obtain the Blessing of the Great Lamb. You... Souta, you should have the power of Imperium. I understand now why you are growing at an insane speed. It seems like there''s no limit as you could even carve inner spells out of nowhere. It all makes sense now. You have the support of the Imperium.'' Chapter 895 Household of Botano Clan Saya burst into laughter within Souta''s mind. "Souta, with the backing of Imperium, it''s no wonder you''ve been able to accomplish seemingly impossible feats. Even carving all those intricate inner spells, a task that should be impossible, becomes achievable with the support of Imperium." Souta fell into silence. He rubbed his chin, and the thoughts flooding his mind all circled back to the system. Was this system granted to me by Imperium? The origin of the system had always been shrouded in mystery. "But there''s one thing that''s rather peculiar about it..." Saya paused for a moment. Souta raised his eyebrows and asked, "What is it?" "You mentioned encountering a Great Lamb, right?" Saya inquired. "Yeah, so what?" Souta nodded in response to her words. "How do you know it was a Great Lamb? Great Lambs have various forms. They might appear as an elf, human, dwarf, or even a monster. They can take the form of any creature in the world. Those who received the Blessing of a Great Lamb in the past weren''t even aware of their blessing. They only realized it after attaining godhood and could fully analyze the strength they were using. Moreover, only gods possess the ability to distinguish Great Lambs from others," Saya explained. Souta was about to speak when Saya interrupted him. "Don''t claim that the Great Lamb introduced itself to you. It rarely manifests, and countless people aren''t even aware of its existence. Sometimes, even gods remain oblivious to the presence of a Great Lamb," Saya said. "How do I explain it?" Souta looked up. Observing Souta in this state, Saya shook her head. "Never mind, you don''t have to tell me. The most important thing is that you possess the Blessing of the Great Lamb, and you''re already aware of it. Many of the chosen individuals are completely oblivious to the fact that they''ve received a blessing." "It''s reassuring that you possess the Blessing of the Great Lamb. This implies that you won''t experience what the No God Emperor went through. While I''m not aware of the finer details, this is definitely a positive for you." Souta acknowledged her words with a nod. "Doesn''t it make me stronger?" "No, it serves as a symbol that you have the backing of Imperium. That in itself is quite significant," Saya replied. "The support of Imperium, huh?" Souta muttered. He shook his head and set those thoughts aside. Currently, there was little he could do about it. After all, he hadn''t even attained the status of a god. He planned to contemplate this matter once he had amassed enough power. Souta stood up and scanned the entire mansion. "I''ll be gone for a while..." the mansion, gazing at the colossal Botano Clan tree. "The Five Master Clans... Their strength is even greater than I had In an instant, he vanished from his position. He reappeared outside the mansion, gazing at the colossal Botano Clan tree. "The Five Master Clans... Their strength is even greater than I had imagined." Souta roamed the third zone, striving to memorize the landscape. He also surveyed the majority of the citizens with his own eyes. The population included a significant number of ordinary individuals lacking any combat abilities. Among them, there were C-rank and B-rank individuals. Souta noticed that some of these people had undergone training in the past, evident from their abilities. However, when it came to Rank A, only a handful existed in the entire zone. Souta could easily count all the A-ranks he spotted using just his two hands; most of them were part of influential families and served as guards for the third zone. As he drew nearer to the massive tree, Souta encountered a growing number of experts patrolling the vicinity. Even S-rank individuals from the Botano Family were present. ... Hono Flaem and her trusted aide, Arche, walked through a dimly lit basement. Their footsteps reverberated, and the torches along the walls cast a faint glow. Eventually, they reached the deepest part of the basement. A metallic door stood before them, adorned with countless floating letters. "Open thyself to the blood of the Flaem Family," Hono uttered in a hushed tone. With a resounding thud, the ground began to tremble, and the letters slowly rearranged themselves. The door creaked open, revealing an expansive room housing a stone tablet at its center. "Clan Leader... Are you planning to open this?" Arche inquired, her gaze fixed on the stone tablet. "No, doing so could lead to chaos. This was left behind by the previous clan leaders. They advised me to unseal it only when our nation gives rise to another god," Hono explained. "It''s been centuries, and yet no one in our nation has managed to attain the rank of Freedom Realm. It''s truly lamentable." Arche explained, "It''s due to the All Filter Barrier Formation. It provides us protection but also hinders our growth. The barrier has been suppressing our ability to become stronger. Despite having the blood of the Five Master Clans, outsiders are unaware of the sacrifices we''ve made." "The bloodline of the Five Master Clans... They claim the barrier doesn''t limit us, but rather, it restricts our movement. We''re not allowed to venture more than fifty kilometers away from our nation," Hono said with a chuckle. Stepping forward, she added, "The duty of the Flaem Clan is to guard this stone tablet and wait for the right time... the moment a god finally emerges within our nation. That''s when this will be activated." "You''re an exception," Arche said in a subdued tone. Hono turned her head and smiled, "Indeed, I originated from a branch family outside the nation. When the god perished, only those within the nation remained bound by the contract. My great-grandfather was just an ordinary family member outside the nation. Well, it doesn''t matter now. The instant I entered Selnes Country, my bloodline was purified, and this place bound me." "Is that truly the situation?" Arche inquired. "Yes... I''m endeavoring to discover a means to shatter it," Hono responded. "Have you found a solution?" "Yes, though executing it is quite challenging. Only gods possess the capability to breach it, or I would require the petals of the Corruption Fly Lord¡ªthe Monster Lord of Disobedience," Hono paused and continued, "And ultimately... to ascend as a god myself." ... Schine Windi, the Head of the Windi Clan, perused a document containing various pieces of information. He raised his head and cast a glance at the young man in his early twenties. Seated in a vacant chair, the young man maintained his silence. He sported short blonde hair, smooth skin, and a pair of blue eyes. He was Edmar Windi, Schine Windi''s son. "Edmar, our nation confronts a crisis. What are your thoughts on this?" Schine queried in a solemn tone. "Father, we simply need to safeguard our country. Let the Holy Lands and the Large Countries handle the battle against the Army of Gluttony. Our circumstances prevent us from engaging in an all-out war," Edmar responded. "Circumstances, hmm?" Schine directed his gaze back to the paper in his grasp. "We can''t afford to remain idle. What if those powerful entities decide to disregard us and permit the Army of Gluttony to ravage our nation? We still must provide assistance to a certain extent." "The bloodline of the Five Master Clans restricts our departure from the nation; otherwise, we''ll face severe consequences," Edmar stated. "We must still give our utmost effort. As the Five Master Clans of the Selnes Country, it is our obligation to safeguard our nation against these invaders. We cannot remain idle; this is our homeland, and we must stand up to protect it," Schine declared resolutely. Edmar chose not to respond verbally; instead, he merely fixed his gaze on his father. ... Souta arrived near the colossal tree of the Botano Household. He cautiously advanced, striving to suppress all the energy within his body. His gaze settled on the mansion atop the tree. ''A barrier... Infiltrating without detection is a challenge. And it''s not just a single barrier¡ªit''s composed of several layers.'' The residence of one of the Five Master Clans was heavily fortified. Even his room in Ekatoe City lacked the level of security present here. Souta comprehended the reasoning, considering that the foundation of the Astros was not as established as that of the Five Master Clans. He anticipated that his organization would eventually possess a robust headquarters. Souta gradually drew nearer, eventually positioning himself on one of the branches of the tree. The area was studded with sensors, yet he managed to evade them all with considerable effort. It took him a full hour to navigate around all the sensors. ''Next, I''ll attempt to investigate the other clans as well. I need to verify certain matters.'' The information he had acquired from Sande of the Durim Corporation encompassed numerous details not commonly known about the Five Master Clans. According to the information, Paente Botano had six children. Only five of them were known to the public. The sixth child was a young girl, approximately seven years old. She possessed an unusual body endowed with potent plant-based abilities. The strength of these abilities was so great that it rendered her weak due to her inability to control them. Souta proceeded with caution and before long, he identified a broad leaf upon which small houses had been constructed. A barrier enveloped the area. ''Hmm... This barrier is distinct. It''s purely sensory in nature. Although attacking it would easily disable it, I can''t risk doing that, as it would alert the experts within this vicinity. However, I might not be able to pass through the barrier physically, but my energy might work. It seems the barrier only detects tangible objects.'' Souta surveyed his surroundings before he heard a faint voice. "Excuse me, sir, who are you?" Turning his head, he beheld a girl with long green hair reminiscent of plant tendrils. Her eyes were a pure white, and she donned a simple white dress. Chapter 896 Gilaine Botano "How did you come to know of my presence?" Souta inquired of the young girl. The girl remained on the opposite side of the barrier, her hair seemingly rooted in the ground. Her pure white eyes appeared fixed on him as if observing his every move. "I sensed your energy, sir," the girl responded. "Hmm... You were able to detect me?" Souta raised an eyebrow, finding himself somewhat surprised. He hadn''t anticipated that this girl would detect him. Despite his efforts to avoid the sensors in the area, she still managed to sense him. While not an expert in stealth, Souta was confident in his ability to elude the senses of those with weaker energy control than himself. "Um... Sir, may I ask who you are?" the girl inquired, tilting her head. Souta sighed as he regarded the girl. He mustered a smile and inquired, "Do you not know me?" "I''m sorry, sir, but I do not recognize you," the girl replied. Souta remained silent as he observed the young girl. This girl appeared slightly peculiar, and her extraordinary nature was evident from both her appearance and her ability to sense his presence. Yet, her power level was notably low; he discerned that her mana pool remained in a gaseous state, not even liquefied. "I go by the name William. People also refer to me as the Great Hero," Souta stated. "Sir William...?" the young girl murmured. "Yes, that''s my name," Souta responded with a gentle smile. "And what about you? What''s your name?" "Gilaine, Gilaine Botano. But you can call me Gil," the young girl replied. ''Botano...? So she''s likely the hidden sixth child of Paente Botano,'' Souta surmised in his mind. Taking a deep breath, he inquired, "Gil, what brings you to this place?" "Me? Well... My father told me to stay here," Gilaine replied. Souta posed various questions, and Gilaine answered them candidly. He verified that this young girl was indeed the concealed sixth child of Paente. Her concealment was attributed to a disease she bore, one believed to be contagious to others. Disease? That''s inaccurate. Paente had deceived Giliane. She did not possess any disease; she simply had an unusual body that posed no risk of contamination to others. It took him a while to conclude a series of questions and answers. ''What''s your take on this, Saya?'' Souta inquired. ''I''ve confirmed it. She has the Flora Seed Body. It''s a type of physique with a strong affinity for the plant element and related attributes. However, she is currently quite weak... She''s required to consume various mana fruits to harmonize with her body. Once she completes this step, she''ll gain control over her strength,'' Saya explained. ''This is quite distinct from your body, which allows you to amplify dark elements. You''ve further evolved your innate body, resembling a person equipped with a high-grade artifact.'' ''Why is she enduring such suffering? I didn''t undergo that kind of hardship, even though my innate body is superior,'' Souta questioned. ''It''s because your body and strength surpass hers. Tell me, when you awaken your innate body, are you as weak as her?'' Saya inquired. Souta shook his head in response. ''This girl was born with that body. In contrast, you... Ugh, I''m uncertain about how one acquires an innate body, but I presume it''s somehow linked to the assistance of the Imperium. Awakening an innate body is likely impossible. Only those born with it possess such a trait,'' Saya explained somewhat reluctantly. ''Hey, are you still holding onto that resentment?'' Souta patted the sword at his waist. ''No, I''m not harboring any resentment,'' Saya replied. ''There''s no point in hiding the truth from me.'' Souta sighed. ''You and your ability to see through deception!'' Saya exclaimed, raising her voice. "Hello, Sir William? Are you still there?" Gilaine''s voice reached him. Souta looked up, shaking his head, and chose not to engage in an argument with Saya. "What''s on your mind?" Souta inquired. "Um... C-Can you tell me more about the outside?" Gilaine asked. Souta glanced at her and decided to recount some stories. Gilaine was a young girl who had never experienced the world outside. Throughout her life, her surroundings had been confined to this place. She remained unaware of the ongoing war outside the nation. She possessed no inkling that her family held a position of authority as rulers over an entire nation. All she knew was this small haven. Gilaine''s body was simultaneously strong and weak. Her weakness stemmed from her inability to control her powers, while her strength was evident in her ability to resist Souta''s energy, even though he was intentionally suppressing it in this vicinity. Souta regaled her with various stories, describing the diverse places that existed in the outside world. Gilaine became utterly absorbed in his narratives, her imagination painting vivid pictures of the beautiful locations Souta depicted. "I wish I could venture out there someday," Gilaine mused. "You can... once you master your abilities," Souta paused suddenly, slightly turning his head. "Gil, I must leave now. Don''t reveal our meeting to anyone." "Eh, are you leaving already?" Gilaine displayed reluctance. "Yeah, we''ll cross paths again in the future," Souta nodded. Without awaiting her reply, he withdrew and concealed his presence once more. He adeptly avoided all the sensors, departing the vicinity of the Botano household. A few minutes after Souta''s departure, a middle-aged man with short black hair arrived. He was Paente Botano, Gilaine''s father and the Head of the Botano Clan. "Gilaine, what are you doing here? It''s dark; what if you fall ill?" Paente inquired. "I''m just playing, father," Gilaine replied. Paente shifted his gaze to the backyard of the small house. "You didn''t disturb that, did you?" "No, father," Gilaine affirmed. Paente studied his daughter for a moment before heading toward the backyard. With a wave of his hand, his energy slowly radiated outward. "I''m going to install an additional barrier in the backyard for safety measures. Remember, this is for your well-being." A translucent barrier materialized, encompassing the entire backyard. Now, a total of five layers of barriers enveloped the area, all designed to safeguard whatever was concealed within. Not even Paente''s senses could breach these protective layers. Paente affectionately patted his daughter''s head and assured, "Soon, you''ll be able to explore outside." ... Souta stood at a distance, gazing at the massive tree with a crease on his forehead. ''I''ve managed to elude all the sensors, but that barrier layer is thwarting my progress. Any object that comes into contact with it will trigger an alert throughout the entire estate, which will only bring unwanted attention.'' He found the mechanism intriguing. He planned to study it later and attempt to replicate something similar for the Guardian Fortress. If the other Five Master Clans were as vigilantly guarded as the Botano Clan, then venturing there might prove fruitless. Such tight security was expected from a nation that had once produced a god-level powerhouse. "I should have brought Isabella along." Souta muttered before turning around and departing. He made his way back to the mansion. Night had fallen, with the moon hanging in the sky, casting a muted glow across the land. Simultaneously, various factions within the Selnes Country were making clandestine movements. The Five Master Clans, the Holy Lands, and the Large Countries each harbored their own agendas. ... Hoei, the Head of the Methal Clan, sat with a cup of tea, his gaze fixed upon the radiant moon. Gently raising his cup, he remarked, "I sense their movements... They are active in the shadows. Their intentions are worthless if they fail to overcome the Army of Gluttony." Hoei closed his eyes, savoring the flavor of the tea. "The future holds boundless possibilities... I eagerly anticipate its unfolding." ... Bezvin stood in his room, his gaze fixed upon the city. "The enemy will appear soon. We must prepare. The citizens should depart gradually, although it holds little significance for those of the Five Master Clans." His tone shifted gradually, and the aura enveloping his form receded to the extent of near-invisibility. "The Darkna Clan operates in the shadows. Swiftly eliminating our adversaries is our approach. I will employ any measures necessary to safeguard this nation, even if I must make sacrifices..." Under the moon''s glow, an enigmatic force was stirring. No one could anticipate what lay ahead, yet everyone was striving to manage the unfolding situation. The common folk remained oblivious to these developments. Meanwhile, several dozen kilometers outside the walls of the Selnes Country... Beneath the moonlit sky, a sizable assemblage of individuals congregated. Each member was a seasoned warrior, bearing the resolve to lay down their lives for their god. The Army of Gluttony had initiated their movement. Their bloodlust permeated the entire expanse, heralding their advance. Their adversaries remained steadfast, refusing to yield to their deity, having already vanquished the initial army. This time, they intended to assail with formidable might, obliterating all that obstructed their path. "The moment is upon us! Push forward, and we shall conquer the Selnes Country!" Chapter 897 Battle At The Selnes Country: War The following day... The advanced army stationed beyond the country''s borders had dispatched a report. The Army of Gluttony had resurfaced. This time, the army was significantly stronger than before. Scouts had detected energy levels indicative of Shackled Realm powerhouses among the enemy ranks. There was no doubt that this battle would be far more intense. The previous day''s skirmish had merely served as a prelude. Their enemies numbered approximately thirty thousand. Half of them were either C-rank or B-rank fighters. A significant contingent of A-rank and S-rank combatants was also included among the enemy forces. Upon receiving these reports, the alliance army and the Five Master Clans assembled outside the city walls. They had been well-prepared, so it took them only half an hour to assemble. Virtually everyone was present. The Heads of the Five Master Clans positioned themselves at the forefront, their forces advancing to the frontline. Among the alliance army, their representatives occupied the front positions, supported by their trusted aides standing behind them. Souta glanced at the Heads of the Five Master Clans. He understood that this battle wouldn''t be as straightforward as the one from yesterday. What would occur if they were defeated? Would they retreat and seek refuge within their barriers? However, that wasn''t Souta''s concern. His task was to stand the ground here, preventing the enemy from advancing toward the Selnes Country. Souta shifted his gaze and directed it at the trio. Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin. These individuals hadn''t been present during the previous day''s battle, and Souta was unaware of their actions. Souta turned his focus forward and inquired, "Tell me, what have you been up to? All I heard was that you were thoroughly beaten in the tournament." "Boss, it''s because of this old man. We kept encountering various situations where he wanted to find a powerful individual," Eztein explained, gesturing toward Franklin. Franklin remained silent, his stance resembling that of a statue. "And?" Souta said, his tone frosty. Eztein felt a chill run down his spine. "I... B-Boss... It''s not my fault! This old man! It''s all because of him!" Souta sighed. These two guys were really troublesome. If he wasn''t stronger, he wouldn''t have any way to handle them except using the queen parasite to forcefully restrain their bodies. Shen Yao, Naruse, Adel, and the other representatives of the large factions glanced at the Olympus group. Genzu, who was nearby, just glanced at Eztein and Franklin. He then turned to Souta and asked, "Are they going to be fine?" "Yeah, despite being idiotic, they are quite strong," Souta answered. Vashno looked around before stepping forward. He flicked his finger and erected a barrier that covered him and Souta. Souta noticed it, so he glanced at Vashno with a questioning gaze. "I think we''ve discovered something," Vashno said. "Go on," Souta said. "Yesterday, Franklin was trying to find a strong person, and he mentioned sensing danger. We followed him, which led us to an old store. The store looked pretty normal, but after we left, I overheard the lady at the counter mentioning something about our conversation." Vashno paused before continuing, "Hearing our conversation despite us creating a barrier to prevent others from eavesdropping on us indicates that the lady at the counter is not an ordinary person." "Are you sure about it?" Souta asked. "Yeah, I clearly heard her words. This suggests that she''s stronger than the three of us combined, or perhaps it''s her specialty. Her energy control is probably superior to any of ours. She could mask it even though all of us were there," Vashno explained. "I see..." Souta nodded. "After this, I want you to uncover the truth about that old store. Bring Eztein or Franklin with you if necessary. The upcoming battle isn''t going to be easy, so I advise you not to confront that lady." "I understand." Vashno nodded. Souta rubbed his chin. As expected, there were still hidden experts in the Selnes Country. So how is this going to impact the war? He''ll find out later. The army arrived at the camp. The soldiers in the camp had already prepared themselves, forming up in tight formations as they joined the group. Santu, who had remained in the camp, regrouped with the Olympus army alongside the other warriors. He briefed Souta, Genzu, and Heido about the current situation. The representatives of the other major factions also received identical reports from their comrades. Souta gazed ahead with a furrowed brow. He couldn''t dwell on the information Vashno had given him about the lady, as the enemy had now arrived. Boom! A deafening sound reverberated, and the entire army fell into silence. In the distance, tens of thousands of people could be seen marching in their direction. Their bloodlust seemed to permeate the air, casting a heavy atmosphere. "Hey, hey, this is no joke. Their killing intent is too potent," Franklin remarked with a grin upon witnessing the scene. Shen Yao, Schine, Souta, and the others frowned upon seeing the enemy''s formidable powerhouses. Suddenly, their eyes widened as they noticed hundreds of energy spheres hurtling towards them. "Everyone, prepare for battle!" Schine shouted. Boom! Boom! A series of explosions ensued. Some of the energy spheres were deflected, while others landed among their forces. Boom! Boom! "Charge, everyone! Let''s show them we''re not afraid of their tricks!" Schine''s voice reverberated amid the chaos of the explosions. It was the signal they had been waiting for. Thousands of soldiers under the wings of the Five Master Clans surged forward toward the enemy. One by one, their energy surged into the sky, accompanied by their fierce battle cries. "Attack!" "Move out!" "Bring down the enemy!" The Army of Gluttony clashed once again with the Army of the Five Master Clans. A massive battle had erupted. "Hahaha," Adel laughed and commanded, "Show them our strength. Eliminate those trash from the Army of Gluttony." The warriors of Aaru charged the enemy lines at Adel''s signal. Soon, the other representatives signaled their troops to attack the Army of Gluttony as well. In a matter of seconds, thousands of warriors followed in the wake of the soldiers from the Five Master Clans, launching a ferocious assault as if their lives and deaths meant nothing. Franklin and Eilish sprang into action too. The only individuals who held back were Souta, Genzu, Heido, and the experts who had broken at least three shackles. Souta turned and commanded, "Remain there." Alice and Eztein nodded along with the other Olympus warriors. The four Olympus representatives¡ªSouta, Heido, Genzu, and Santu¡ªhovered in the air, standing alongside the other faction representatives and the heads of the Five Master Clans. They kept a watchful eye on the experts positioned at the rear of the Army of Gluttony, individuals who emitted an unsettling sense of danger. Souta shifted his gaze, focusing on the battlefield. Hmm... Franklin was locked in intense combat. He swung his weapon with unbridled ferocity, carving through opponents on every side, charging at the enemy line devoid of fear. In his mind, sustaining an injury was inconsequential as long as he felled his foes. His speed, strength, and proficiency outstripped that of many on the field. Only a few seconds had elapsed since the battle''s commencement, yet he had already dispatched more than thirty S-rank opponents. His conspicuous prowess drew the attention of Gluttony''s Shackled Realm experts. Meanwhile, Eilish floated above, raining down potent spells upon the enemy ranks. Her fellow mages followed suit, conjuring spells that collided in mid-air. Her mastery of spellcasting was remarkable. She seamlessly transitioned between various spells within seconds, not even accounting for her internal spells. The barrage of her magical assaults surpassed even Franklin''s kill count in those few seconds. She unleashed an area-of-effect spell that decimated a substantial number of adversaries. Eilish garnered ever-increasing attention from Gluttony''s Shackled Realm experts. One, two, three¡ªno, nine experts at the Two Shackles Realm level surged toward her in an attempt to halt her onslaught. This calculated pressure served her purpose: compelling herself to reach beyond her limits, motivating her potential, and driving her to shatter the third shackle within her body. Franklin was compelled to fall back, joining Eilish''s side to assist her against the onslaught of the Two Shackles experts. Boom! Boom! As Souta observed the battle, he was abruptly gripped by a momentary shiver. ''Hold on...'' Furrowing his brow, Souta resisted the urge to look upwards. ''This sensation... There''s a foe above. They might be distant, but the unmistakable aura of killing intent is undeniable.'' Souta''s inner amusement was palpable. The enemy was orchestrating an ambush, a scheme he found quite laughable. With a sidelong glance at Eilish, Souta grinned. Allow me to lend a hand. Concentrate on breaking through. No enemy above your tier will come close to touching you. I''ll gather their attention. Taking a stride forward, Souta''s voice reverberated. "The Sixth Grain War of the Tenth Set Pallas Division... It''s time for war." Chapter 898 Battle at the Selnes Country: Show Souta glanced at the warriors of Olympus. He didn''t know how many warriors would die in this war. His only concern was protecting those close to him and providing them with a place to further improve their skills. With these thoughts in mind, he disregarded the pressure he was shouldering. Thud! Souta took a step forward, causing a ripple in the air. Genzu, Heido, and Santu quickly turned their heads to look at him. "What are you planning, Grain Leader Souta? We need to stick to the plan," Santu asked hastily. Souta ignored him and continued forward. His voice resounded, "Sixth Grain War of the Tenth Set Pallas Division. Under the orders of your Grain Leader, it''s time for war." Shen Yao turned her head and furrowed her brows. Adel laughed at Souta''s actions, "Is the Blood Lightning Monster unable to restrain himself?" "Huhu, Blood Lightning Monster. Are we finally going to see him in action?" Naruse chuckled as she covered her mouth with a fan. "Blood Lightning Monster..." Li Guan muttered. He wanted to discern the difference between himself and the so-called Strongest Fourth Stage Monster. With the blood of the Monkey King flowing in his veins, he believed he was qualified for that title as well. The other representatives turned their heads, observing Souta''s movements. The Heads of the Five Master Clans furrowed their brows, but they refrained from speaking. They simply watched as Souta stepped into the air. Souta positioned himself three kilometer above the surface, gazing down at the entire battlefield. His blood flowed from his finger, forming a crimson throne. He seated himself with a cold expression. His energy soared through the sky, manifesting as a pillar of dark red light. The pressure he emanated grew increasingly intense. "Warriors of Athena, go forth and ravage the enemies. Do not concern yourselves with those beyond your level. You have my unwavering support." His words invigorated the warriors from Athena''s Champion. Nothing was more reassuring than the words of their Grain Leader. They charged forward with fervor, secure in the knowledge that they had their leader''s backing. The S-rank warriors had no fear of being encircled and defeated by the Army of Gluttony''s Shackled Realm experts. "Let''s move," Alice declared, taking flight ahead, with Eztein trailing behind. Edilon and Fremi, the only Four Shackles Realm fighters of the Sixth Grain War, exchanged a glance before rushing forward to dismantle the forces of the Army of Gluttony. At the rear, the commanders of the Army of Gluttony stared at Souta, seated arrogantly upon the crimson throne, their brows furrowed in displeasure. "So that''s the Blood Lightning Monster, huh?" "No wonder he''s so arrogant. Just look at that energy density; it''s incredibly strong." "We must eliminate him. He''s one of the obstacles in our path to conquer the Selnes Country." "So, who will confront him?" "Let''s observe a little longer. Moreover, there are individuals who are eager to deal with him. We can entrust the task of facing the Blood Lightning Monster to them." "Very well, then let''s respond to his allies." "Our plan will commence shortly. Prepare yourselves to take action." They dispatched more Shackled Realm experts to handle figures like Edilon, Fremi, Alice, or any practitioners at the Three and Four Shackles Realm. They dispatched an equal number of experts to counter the warriors on Souta''s side. Edilon and the others found themselves swiftly embroiled in combat, their attempts to reduce the enemy''s numbers hampered. Boom! Boom! Boom! The battle grew even more chaotic with the introduction of several Three and Four Shackles Realm experts. Eilish clenched her teeth, stepping back and waving her hand. Instantly, a magic circle materialized beneath her feet. [Ocean Waves]! An immense surge of water erupted in every direction, engulfing the majority of people within the vicinity. The Two Shackles experts from the Army of Gluttony remained undeterred. They tore through the water torrents and advanced toward her. Swoosh!! Franklin''s form darted as he pulled three of the experts beneath the waves. "Follow me!" His aura brimmed with potent intent to kill, his body swelling as he transformed into a massive bulk. While Franklin dealt with three enemies, six Two Shackles experts still persisted in their pursuit of Eilish. Not only were Two Shackles experts involved, but even the One Shackle experts of the Army of Gluttony were converging on her. Eilish continued her retreat, simultaneously weaving spells in her defense. Their skirmish lasted a mere few seconds, leaving Eilish covered in bruises. Despite her efforts, she had only managed to eliminate a handful of One Shackle opponents. None of the Two Shackles experts had suffered as severe injuries as she had. "I require more power..." Sensing danger from her flank, Eilish instinctively made a grabbing motion. Whoosh! A figure materialized and swiftly executed a formidable lightning slash. Eilish contorted her body, narrowly evading the strike through tremendous exertion. However, her opponent pursued without delay. Bang!! In the blink of an eye, a potent lightning strike connected with her abdomen. Hurling through the water, she crashed into its depths. Bang! Her assailant''s intent was to pursue and finish her off, but their advance came to an abrupt halt. They glanced upward, noticing a group of One Shackle and Two Shackles experts observing them. These were the warriors of the Sixth Grain War. The Sixth Grain War stood as a formidable presence within the Tenth Set of the Pallas Division. While not on par with the First Grain, it commanded substantial influence. Comprising 2 Four Shackles, 9 Three Shackles, 23 Two Shackles, and 47 One Shackle Realms, its might was unquestionable. "Attack!" In an instant, the two factions collided, sending shockwaves rippling through the air. Eztein, Alice, and the remaining Three Shackles Realm experts from Athena''s Champion were deeply engaged in combat against the enemies. They found themselves unable to extend assistance to their compatriots. Simultaneously, the Shackled Realm soldiers representing the Five Master Clans had entered the fray, further intensifying the chaos of the battle. Boom!! The clash continued. Deep within the sea she had conjured, Eilish reopened her eyes. Franklin was grappling with three enemies simultaneously. In addition to him, there were A-rank and S-rank combatants locked in combat at a distant vantage. "They haven''t pursued me... I''m sensing energy fluctuations from above." She lifted her gaze skyward, understanding the implication. The warriors of Athena''s Champion had undoubtedly joined the fray. "I sense it... I''m on the verge of a breakthrough." Meanwhile, Souta maintained his vigil over the ongoing battles. Though the enemy enjoyed numerical superiority, his forces exhibited formidable strength. Their annihilation would prove a challenging endeavor for the opposition. Moreover, he was present¡ªan intimidating force that deterred any Three Shackles from targeting Eilish and Franklin. The same held true for Alice and Eztein. None of the Four Shackles would assail them. Unless the rear commanders chose to engage him, no one else could impede his intervention. Souta was acutely aware of their observation. As he had refrained from taking action, they maintained a vigilant stance, poised for any movement he might make. Should he attempt to slaughter the lower-ranking fighters, it was likely that those leaders would launch an offensive against him. ''Let''s see how this unfolds...'' He shifted his attention to the battlefield. ''Ah, it''s commencing...'' Souta leaned his chin on his hand, closing his eyes in contemplation. Gradually, a shadowy energy began to seep from his form, eventually coalescing into a magic circle beneath the throne. Swoosh! Swoosh! In an instant, ten silhouettes manifested alongside him. [Doppelganger]! ''I should be capable of managing more considering my current stillness. When engaged in combat, it''s arduous to control ten shadows simultaneously. Yet my circumstances differ now; I need not manage my blood or any of my own skills. My focus lies solely on the shadows.'' An orb emerged from Souta''s pocket, radiating a faint luminance that introduced an eerie ambiance to the air. In the subsequent moment, an additional ten shadows materialized. Thus, a grand total of twenty doppelgangers now occupied the space. A subtle smile gradually curved on Souta''s lips. [Orb of Arcane Seal]. This object possessed among its functionalities the ability to stack his spells by two. While [Doppelganger] ordinarily permitted the summoning of only ten shadows, the artifact''s influence enabled Souta to double his capacity to control these phantoms. The same enhancement applied to his other spells. Instances included doubling the quantity of black spheres evoked by the [Gravitational Ball] spell. Spells that were non-stackable ceased to pose an impediment. The similar enhancement extended to [Agility Boost], a spell once restricted to being cast just once upon himself. He was now capable of casting it twice consecutively to receive a double boost. "The moment has arrived..." The blood of the fallen soldiers transmuted into spears that levitated. Each set of twenty shadows grabbed two spears. Numerous leaders keenly monitored Souta''s actions. He emerged as the first to take a stand, unabashedly positioning himself above the battlefield. An air of readiness enveloped all as they braced for the forthcoming unfolding. The Blood Lightning Monster''s actions vastly exceeded their anticipations. Chapter 899 Battle At The Selnes Country: Assassins "If none of you are going to make a move, then I''ll initiate this." Souta''s voice resonated, cutting through the air. "Everyone, refrain from engaging my shadows. I''ll shatter the enemy formations." With his proclamation, the twenty shadows sprang into action with unparalleled swiftness. They darted forward, their forms flickering, and in an instant, they materialized at the heart of the battlefield. Simultaneously, the Army of Gluttony''s experts were in motion. Boom!! Upon collision with the twenty shadows, the sea seemed to part ways, and A-rank and S-rank experts were sent hurling away. "Advance!" A leader from the Army of Gluttony bellowed. Edilon and Fremi leaped into action. As the sole Four Shackles combatants of Athena''s Champion, their responsibilities were considerably weighty. Bang! Bang! Bang! Chaos enveloped the entire battlefield. Experts scattered, grappling in disparate areas. The Five Master Clans and the representatives of the Large Faction observed the unfolding spectacle with visible concern etched across their faces. The pace was astonishing. The progression of the war had surged with such rapidity that even the Four Shackles experts were forced to join the fray. Genzu, Santu, Heido, and their comrades dispatched their Four Shackles personnel into the fray. Fellow representatives of other factions mirrored this response. The sounds of explosions reverberated ceaselessly. The ground quaked, and potent skills rained down relentlessly. Weaker combatants often found themselves caught in the crossfire, resulting in severe injuries. Within a thirty-kilometer radius, the terrain transformed into a battlefield. Elements of fire, ice, water, lightning, and more surged across the field. The topography morphed multiple times in just a minute due to the actions of Shackled Realm experts. The representatives observed the melee when, suddenly, the twenty shadows vanished. Huh? Why did the Blood Lightning Monster halt his spell? Santu''s gaze lifted, his eyes widening in astonishment. "Where''s Grain Leader Souta?" Santu''s voice carried his surprise. Genzu and Heido shifted their attention to the crimson throne, only to find Souta conspicuously absent. "Where''s that monster?" Shen Yao queried, scanning the vicinity. "Over there?" Someone pointed. Simultaneously, they all pivoted their gazes. "Huh?" "What?!" Shen Yao, Li Guan, Schine, and the others stared with widened eyes. "Hehe, how intriguing." "He''s more of a warmonger than the rumors suggest." Experts like Adel, Asfrith, and Genzu shared hearty laughs in response to the unfolding spectacle. Angels knit their brows, observing with a mix of perplexity and consternation, while the representatives of Asgard remained reticent. Various reactions painted the scene. The name "Blood Lightning Monster." The origin traced back to that fateful night. It all initiated with him. Amidst the tumultuous epoch of Hall Plains, he emerged and delivered a decisive strike to Mine Valley. He led his comrades into the darkness, where even gods lost hope for mortals as they thought that no one could stop the No God Emperor''s plan. The unsealing of the No God Emperor plunged the land into desolation. Yet, he charted a path to triumph, thwarting a god''s scheme. He subdued the Hall Plains and established the Dragon Council, foiling various factions'' endeavors to secure a foothold. That marked the genesis of the name "Blood Lightning Monster." The Only One. Souta stood at the rear of the Army of Gluttony, his eyes sealed shut. He confronted the enemy leaders, his hand rising to sweep through his hair with nonchalance. A profusion of energy radiated from him, causing the very ground to incessantly quiver. Seventeen experts stood before him, each emanating formidable energy. They regarded him with brows knit in concentration. For Souta had chosen to disregard all else and boldly approached their threshold. Boom!! Their energies collided, creating a display of sparks that dispersed into the atmosphere. Souta''s grip tightened on his sword. While he recognized a few of these experts, his focus lay elsewhere. He aimed to discern if they indeed possessed a specific strategy. "Let''s see." Souta''s hold on his sword constricted, and with swift fluidity, he unleashed a swing. Whoosh!! One of them materialized before Souta, deploying a colossal hammer to intercept his blade. The clash birthed a shockwave that reverberated, an explosive noise coupled with the fissures that radiated from the epicenter like a spider''s web. Souta increased his pressure upon the sword''s hilt, extending his finger toward the obstruction. A perceptible shift enveloped him. Simultaneously, another expert executed a gesture, declaring, "I regret to inform you that we aren''t your enemies today." Crack! The magic circle vanished abruptly, dissipating Souta''s spell. "Anti-Mage..." Souta''s murmur hung in the air. In the ensuing moments, two more experts manifested beside him, their attacks were swift and unyielding. Souta leaped into motion, brandishing his sword to counter, yet despite his rapid reaction, the strikes found their mark. Boom!! His form was catapulted several kilometers into the sky. Whoosh! Souta managed to regain control in midair, casting his gaze downward at the seventeen experts who mirrored his scrutiny. A conversation flowed among them, their attention focused on him. A sneer graced one''s features as they remarked, "I had considered seizing him, but we have unfinished business. If he survives until then, I''ll claim him." "Very well, then linger here... I''ll assume your position. You can stand your ground while I transition to the vanguard," another responded. "In your dreams," the man retorted. Souta remained suspended above, gradually sheathing his sword. ''There are seventeen of them... Engaging them all at once is challenging, yet it appears they are not eager for a battle either.'' Had they truly intended to confront Souta, they would have done so already. Instead, they had merely displaced him without further aggression. ''Are they awaiting a particular development? What could be their strategy? Alternatively, perhaps they truly seek a direct confrontation. In such a scenario, my death would become paramount.'' Very well... He would subject them to another evaluation. Raising his hands, Souta poised for an assault when an inkling of something stirred his awareness. Swiftly, he maneuvered from his initial stance. In the next instant, a colossal pillar of fire descended upon his prior position, reducing all in its path to ash. Bang!! Souta observed the aftermath, then turned his gaze skyward. The opposition above had finally initiated their movement, veiling their presence to a certain extent. Luckily, Souta had discerned their blood, allowing him to detect their intrusion within his blood-sensing radius. Six experts descended from the heavens, encircling him in mere moments. Though they might not rival the potency of the seventeen, their strength was formidable in its own right. Souta''s brows knitted as his attention fell upon the crow emblem adorning one individual. "Wingless Crow... Their presence in this war caught me off guard. I miscalculated." A self-amused chuckle escaped Souta''s lips. This turn of events jolted the Five Master Clans and the representatives of the large faction. The presence of additional concealed experts had eluded their attention. Genzu''s expression soured as he asserted, "I will intervene." Heido and Santu acknowledged the decision with nods of concurrence. It seemed wise to have someone beside Souta under these circumstances. The other major factions weighed the prospect of dispatching their own forces, deliberating on whether immediate action was warranted or if delay was more prudent. Given the pervasive belief in Souta''s status as the strongest fourth-stage monster, they held assurance in his resilience. Consequently, even if he struggled against such numbers, they expected him to endure. Thus, the choice remained to dispatch their own forces when the time was right. Boom!! A resounding explosion resounded. Souta plunged into combat with the Wingless Crow experts. The quantity¡ªbe it one or six¡ªseemed immaterial to him. A single determination occupied his mind: the Wingless Crow experts must be killed today. "Excellent! I hadn''t anticipated you''d dare to challenge me once more! Approach if you dare! I shall obliterate each of you, wingless shit!" Souta''s laughter echoed as he executed a slashing motion with his sword. This action birthed a colossal crimson energy blade that hurled toward the six Wingless Crow experts. Effortlessly, one among the six experts intercepted the crimson energy blade. True to expectations, they were stronger than those Souta had previously dispatched within the sub-world. Their malevolent intentions had leaked out prior. This very leakage was what had alerted him to their presence. While he initially surmised that their intent extended to others, it became evident that their sights were firmly set on him, given their affiliation with the Wingless Crow. Neither the Five Master Clans nor the representatives of the large faction were privy to this hidden contingent''s presence. A sneer touched Souta''s lips. He was poised to launch another assault when a familiar sound registered within his consciousness. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] [Assassination]: The Wingless Crow''s assassination attempt on you has failed. Eliminate all six members of the Wingless Crow, ensuring none escape. Rewards: 30,000,000 experience points, 35 free attribute points, and 15 skill points "Hahaha, this is it. This merely fuels my determination to exterminate these shits." Souta''s laughter echoed. He propelled himself through the air with a forceful kick, closing in on the six experts. Without hesitation, he activated Second Mode. The opposition this time wielded considerable might. Furthermore, their numerical advantage posed a formidable challenge. Yet, such considerations scarcely concerned him. Souta''s energy radiated outward, permeating the atmosphere. An ominous mist unfurled, with gravity intensifying several fold and a spectral sea of blood ascending from the expanse of air, enshrouding the expansive heavens. Beside him hovered the [Orb of Arcane Seal], while the [Vajra Sword Saya] was clutched firmly within his grasp. "Let''s go." Chapter 900 Battle At The Selnes Country: Join Souta understood why the seventeen experts had only blasted him away instead of fighting him to the death. It seemed that there were people who intended to deal with him. It made sense. Boom! Boom! Boom! Souta and the six experts of the Wingless Crow clashed in the air hundreds of times. Shockwaves after shockwaves kept sweeping out every second. He sustained injuries in just a few seconds. The enemies were no joke. Each one of them possessed a power that could rival his own, so fighting six of them at the same time was difficult. Well, it was only difficult. Souta waved his hand, and countless strings of webs spread out. The battlefield had changed again, turning the land into a place full of webs. It covered a huge part of the battlefield with a radius of almost five kilometers. Some of the webs created a space for his comrades, preventing interference from other experts. "Come," Souta grinned as he retreated into the spider webs. The spider webs were attached to everything. Some of the webs were even attached to the blood floating in the sky. "Hmph!" The six experts sneered and chased after him. They dismantled all the webs blocking their paths easily. However, before they could even locate Souta, seven shadows appeared and attacked them simultaneously. Bang! Bang! Souta''s figure appeared, and he swiftly slashed his sword at one of the six experts. The man reacted quickly, raising the halberd in his hand and blocking Souta''s blade. He then lifted his foot and kicked Souta on the side. Bang! Souta disregarded the kick, even as it tore through his [Shadow Cloak] and other defensive skills. Instead, he made a grabbing motion in the air, harnessing the intense power of gravity to pull the man. In an instant, he moved swiftly, pouncing on his opponent''s body. [Darkness Bite]! Darkness erupted, covering a substantial part of the area and engulfing light and sound. Argh! The man groaned in pain as he held his shoulder. Souta seized his opponent''s foot and hurled him into the net of sticky webs. Then, his body inflated, utilizing the queen parasite to amplify his physical strength. He was about to launch another attack when the remaining five experts emerged. They assailed Souta simultaneously, sending him reeling back. They had just finished dealing with the doppelgangers. "Are you okay, Fendal?" a woman asked the man who was entangled in the web. Fendal freed himself from the web before responding, "He caught me by surprise. Still, I can understand why the agents we dispatched to eliminate him never returned. He''s far stronger than any of the Four Shackles experts." Fendal stepped forward, his expression turning serious. "I''ll get serious this time. I''ll complete our mission and bring his head back to headquarters." As soon as he uttered those words, the energy around his body intensified. "I thought he only had the strength of a Four Shackles, but it seems I underestimated him," Fendal said in a low voice. Looking at Fendal, Souta grinned. They must have miscalculated his strength once again and believed they could easily kill him. "It seems I have to take this seriously too." Strings of flesh covered his sword, enlarging it to a size that suited him. His energy fluctuated intensely, causing ripples in the air. Swoosh! Suddenly, a figure flashed and swiftly launched a powerful strike. Fendal reacted promptly, raising both hands to form a defensive barrier in front of him. Bang! The barrier shattered, but two of Fendal''s comrades were already beside the newly arrived expert. In that moment, Souta propelled himself like a rocket. The sword in his hand emitted a bright red light. [Crimson Moon]! Boom! A massive explosion erupted, and smoke enveloped the area. Two figures emerged from the smoke. One of them was Souta, who had grown significantly in size due to the parasite''s ability. He landed on his webs. Swoosh! Another person landed beside him, equipped with a massive axe. "I didn''t expect you to move," Souta said. "The higher-ups granted you full authority for this mission, so I had to follow you," Genzu replied with a smile. "I''ve been eager for a fight ever since we arrived here." "What about Heido and Santu?" Souta inquired. "I instructed them to stay put and refrain from taking action for now. They should observe the actions of the major factions and Five Master Clans first," Genzu answered. "I see..." Souta focused his attention ahead. The smoke slowly dissipated, revealing the six experts of the Wingless Crow who were gazing down at the two of them. "I''ll take three, and you''ll handle the other three," Souta said. Genzu glanced at him and asked, "Are you sure? You''re quite injured, so it might be better if I take four of them." "I''m fine, but if you insist on taking four of them, then I''ll leave it to you," Souta replied. Although he wanted to fight, he still wanted to conserve some of his energy for the upcoming battles with the experts. Fendal looked down at both of them and remarked, "Berserk War Axe, you''re here. I should''ve expected this, considering both of you are from Olympus." "Let''s go," Souta suddenly declared before charging forward. Genzu leaped into the air, tightly gripping the giant axe in his hands. With a swing of his axe, an enormous slash cleaved through the air. [Mountain Cleaving Slash]! "Come here!" Souta gestured with a grabbing motion. Fendal and another expert were pulled toward him. They quickly redirected their attention to Souta, their original target. Utilizing the pulling force, they closed the distance easily and launched an attack. Souta had already anticipated this scenario, so he remained standing, allowing their attacks to rip into his flesh. Blood spurted from his wounds, transforming into a red rope that bound the two experts. "Not enough!" Souta shouted, and the webs engulfed the two experts. He then propelled himself away, yet barely a second had elapsed before he sensed the gathering energy of the two experts. "Tsk!" Souta clicked his tongue and leaped away. He extended his finger, casting [Black Hole]. A black hole materialized, and the two experts simultaneously broke free from their bindings. Light, air, and nearly everything vanished within the black hole in an instant. Fendal roared and launched his scorching fist toward the black hole. Boom! The energy detonated, and the black hole shattered instantly. Fendal turned his head to look at Souta, blood seeping from his fist. He opened his hand, and a halberd flew into it. "Magred, let''s finish him." The man called Magred nodded. He was a large individual with brown eyes, short brown hair, and bear ears atop his head. Souta chuckled upon witnessing Fendal shatter the black hole. "Damn! That''s a Tier 3 spell boosted by the [Orb of Arcane Seal]!" These two were significantly more formidable compared to the Wingless Crow members he had encountered in the sub-world. Their determination to eliminate him was clear, dispatching expert after expert. If he managed to defeat them, the leader of the Wingless Crow might step in to confront him. It was both troublesome and intriguing at the same time. Souta turned his head and cast a glance at Genzu. Genzu was battling four Wingless Crow experts. He was powerful, but facing four opponents simultaneously posed a formidable challenge. Among the top powerhouses present, he and Genzu were the sole combatants. Souta slowly distanced himself, utilizing blood and webs to momentarily impede their movements. ... Schine hovered in the air, his eyes closed. He could hear the soldiers'' screams and sense the energy fluctuations across the battlefield. The most prominent battle was between Souta, Genzu, and the recently arrived six experts. Their arrival had taken everyone by surprise. Schine couldn''t help but wonder if there were still more experts concealed in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. After a while, he opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the ongoing battle. He slowly parted his lips and spoke, "It''s time... Patriarch Bezvin, I entrust this to you." Bezvin, the Head of the Darkna Clan, exchanged a profound look with Schine. He inquired, "Are you certain about this?" "Yes, Olympus has already taken action. If we wish to continue receiving support from the major factions, we must align ourselves accordingly," Schine calmly replied. "Very well..." Bezvin responded. He withdrew the two daggers from his waist and promptly vanished from his position. Shen Yao, Adel, Asfrith, Kasci, and the other representatives shifted their gazes to the Heads of the Five Master Clans. The Patriarch of the Darkna Clan was poised to initiate an attack. There was no room for doubt that the situation was about to escalate once more. Shen Yao sighed, turning to Li Guan. "We''ve reached this point. It''s time for you to join the battle as well." "Agreed," Li Guan replied with a nod. Naruse chuckled and instructed, "Manaka, Ichisaki, accompany them and engage the Army of Gluttony. Focus on the experts at the rear, the ones the Blood Lightning Monster previously attempted to target." Manaka and Ichisaki acknowledged her orders with nods. "Understood, Young Lady." Chapter 901 Battle At The Selnes Country: Fight Kasci closed his eyes before he said, "Darwin, Johnson, Hampton, you can fight as well. Target the experts at the rear, and you, Shanon, go and help the Berserk War Axe and Blood Lightning Monster." The four powerful angels that Kasci mentioned nodded. In an instant, they flew toward the battlefield with powerful momentum. The other experts from the large factions started to enter the battlefield one by one. It made the aura around the whole area more intense. The stench of blood and killing intent in the air was too high. Boom! Genzu was fiercely fighting the four experts alone. Wounds kept appearing on his body as he continued to clash with the four experts. Even though he was in a disadvantageous position, he still had a smile on his face. "This is it! This is war!" Genzu laughed as he swung down the giant axe in his hand. His eyes were turning red, and the wounds on his body only made him stronger. The four experts retreated while dispersing Genzu''s attacks. If they clashed carelessly with this guy, they would suffer injuries. "Berserk War Axe... He lives up to his reputation." Two of them moved and attacked Genzu from both sides. Genzu blocked one of them with his axe, but he couldn''t manage to block the other. His skin was scraped, revealing his flesh. "Argh!" He was about to counter when the two quickly retreated. Suddenly, he felt a chill, and when he looked up, he saw a huge flaming ball in the sky heading in his direction. Sizzle! The temperature rose significantly as the two experts who remained at the back poured a lot of their energy into the flaming ball. "[Earth Scorching Sphere]!" Genzu grinned widely, looking at the flaming ball. He jumped and pulled back the axe in his hand as a huge concentration of energy gathered around it. "[Titanic Cleave]!" In an instant, a red light flashed along with a wave of energy. The huge flaming ball was cut into two before it exploded in two directions. Boom! Genzu stood in the air with an axe on his shoulder. A few parts of his skin had burn marks, and the pain made him frown for a moment. The four experts stared at Genzu in shock. They were certain that if it was a one-on-one fight, they wouldn''t stand a chance against this guy. "Tsk! What the hell are those guys doing?" One of them clicked his tongue in annoyance. Their task was to deal with the Blood Lightning Monster, while the seventeen experts from the Army of Gluttony would hold off the experts from the large factions. Ohm! Several auras fluctuated in the air. The four experts, along with Genzu, turned their heads. They saw the experts from the large factions flying in their direction. "So they''ve decided to move," Genzu said with a faint smile on his face. The four experts narrowed their eyes. This was troublesome for them. If those people joined the battle, how were they going to kill the Blood Lightning Monster? Suddenly, they felt a sense of danger as darkness spread behind them. Swoosh!! A figure emerged from the darkness and swiftly swung a pair of sharp daggers. It was extremely fast and made no sound at all. If not for their sharp instincts, they wouldn''t have been able to react to this attack. The four of them quickly turned around and launched attacks without even confirming who was behind them. The only thing that mattered to them was the sense of danger they felt. Clang! Clang! Clang! The three managed to block the attack, but one of them had their arm torn off. The severed arm rolled in the air, spraying blood in every direction. "Oh, you managed to react even though I tried my best with that attack." A surprised voice emerged from within the darkness. The four experts retreated as they stared at the darkness warily. It was indeed dangerous. Ohm! A figure emerged from within the darkness, holding a pair of black daggers. It was a tall man with pitch-black eyes. He was dressed in tight-fitting clothes covered in dark energy. He was Bezvin Darkna, the Head of the Darkna Clan. ... On the other side, Souta was still fighting the two experts. He was forced to use the equipment skill of [Solid Hunter State Boots] to keep up with his opponents. His body was covered in wounds, but he didn''t bother healing them at all. His strength continued to improve the more injured he became. Bang! Bang! Bang! The deafening sounds kept reverberating, along with the shockwaves that swept through the area. Souta distanced himself from his opponents. He sensed several fluctuations, which he recognized. So, the experts from the large factions were coming to join the battle. Well, it''s better this way. The more chaotic the situation, the better it was. Fendal and the man named Magred also sensed the fluctuations. Their expressions turned unsightly as they realized that killing the Blood Lightning Monster would become even more difficult. "Magred!" Fendal said with a hint of rage in his voice. "I know," Magred replied before taking a step forward. His aura changed abruptly, transforming into a pillar of energy that shot toward the sky. His yellowish energy then spread out, covering the entire area. [Heaven''s Iron Will]! [Thousand Earth Vanity]! [Despairing Stone Armory]! One by one, he activated his secret skills along with his equipment skills, gaining a huge boost in his strength. Magred''s energy was so overpowering that it made the blood spears, along with the spider webs, disperse in the atmosphere immediately. [Element Drive: Earth Force]! Magred added his element drive, which boosted both his body and skills, making him even more powerful. Boom! Souta was pushed back just by Magred''s aura alone. He frowned, and the smile on his face slowly disappeared. "I thought we were going to keep playing. Ah, I''m so sad," Souta said while looking at the majestic figure of Magred. "Well, my help has just arrived, so..." Those words echoed as Souta propelled himself into the air. Magred flew to intercept him, and both of their figures collided in the air. Boom!! Souta''s body was thrown several hundred meters away. He was utterly outclassed by his opponent this time. In terms of speed, strength, defense, and energy, Magred was superior. It was ridiculous. Whoosh! Souta moved his body to the side, avoiding a sharp thrust of the halberd. Fendal attacked him out of nowhere, thinking that he could land a lethal blow. "It''s too early to think about killing me," Souta sneered. Magred also arrived at this moment and launched another strike at him. Souta barely avoided the attack with all his might. He was fast, but his opponent was faster. Bang! Bang! Bang! In just a few seconds, Souta suffered at the hands of Magred. His body was covered in wounds, yet he continued to move as if he didn''t care about them. Fendal appeared again. He thrust the halberd in his hand, causing a sea of flames to burst forth from the tip of his blade. His energy rose dramatically in less than a second. "Die!" Fendal''s voice was filled with an overpowering aura. The entire area shook, and flames emerged everywhere. Seeing this scene, Souta''s expression changed. He recognized this style. It was his style. Using everything in a single second to create a surprise factor and eliminate an opponent. This was his very own style. That''s right. Fendal had just used his [Element Drive] and other skills the moment he thrust his halberd. It was a very powerful killing strike. Souta raised his left hand and attempted to grab the blade. Then, using the sword in his right hand, he pushed the halberd away, but the force behind it was too strong. His skin veins exploded, and these wounds only made him stronger. The force of gravity greatly aided in changing the direction of the halberd. However, he couldn''t completely divert it. His left arm exploded, turning into a bloody mist. It was fortunate that he had avoided a fatal hit. In the next second, Souta took a step forward without caring about his injuries. His sword moved toward Fendal''s face in a flash. This time, it was his turn. His body erupted with a brilliant spark as light and darkness emerged from the blade of his sword. His blood seeped out of his pores and quickly formed into a dark armor. Swoosh!! Fendal was shocked, but he didn''t let it hinder his movements. He tried to avoid Souta''s counter, but then he realized that his body was bound by a blood-colored thread. These webs had the power of elements flowing through them. They were incredibly strong, not just at the Force Stage, but at the Integration Stage. Boom!! A massive explosion engulfed the entire area, disintegrating everything in its path. The energy violently spread out, exerting pressure on all the people on the battlefield. Thousands of people paused for a moment, staring at the immense explosion in the sky. "Just now, two energy levels surged dramatically. The Blood Lightning Monster and his opponent... Who is his opponent?" The war was growing increasingly chaotic with each passing minute, and no one knew what would happen next in this conflict. Chapter 902 Battle at the Selnes Country: Souta vs. Fendal Souta had previously covered several parts of the battlefield with his webs. The explosion just now shredded these webs, revealing the area where the soldiers were fighting. Alice looked up at the bright explosion and frowned. "Souta..." She turned her head and glanced at Eztein, asking, "How is Eilish?" "She hasn''t finished breaking through yet," Eztein answered. "We need to protect her. The battle is intensifying; we should gather together," Alice said. Eztein nodded in agreement. Both of them cast their eyes toward Eilish, who was in the midst of breaking her third shackle. "What about Franklin?" Alice then asked. "He? He''s still fighting on the other side... I''ll bring him over once Eilish completes her breakthrough," Eztein answered. Whoosh! Vashno, who was in the distance, stared at the massive explosion in the sky. "So this is Souta''s true power... It''s nothing compared to what he showed before. If this explosion occurred on Planet Plunyx... Plunyx would have shattered completely," he muttered, staring at the powerful figures battling in the sky. Compared to them, there was still a vast gap before he could attain such power. He couldn''t fathom how strong the gods were in this world. Vashno was essentially a god on Planet Plunyx, but after arriving here, he realized that he wasn''t even among the top combatants in the entire world. He was weak compared to the experts who were fighting in the sky. "I will reach that level soon," he muttered, determination gleaming in his eyes. ... "Fendal!" Magred shouted his comrade''s name. He tightened his fist and was about to charge when another person arrived. The newcomer was holding a long baton and swung it down in an overbearing manner. Magred frowned and threw a punch. "Go away, monkey!" His fist collided with the baton, creating extreme sparks. However, he had more power in his punch than the newcomer. In just a second, Magred blasted his opponent several hundred meters away. He was still in his strongest state, with his [Element Drive] and other skills active, making it impossible for ordinary experts to push him back. "Hey, I''m not just a monkey... I''m a Spiritual Monkey." The person who had arrived was, in fact, a monster named Li Guan from Primate Island in the Heavenly Court region. He was a powerful fourth-stage monster, a Spiritual Monkey. "I''m your opponent this time, and I will defeat you..." The path he was following was the path of Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Heaven''s Equal. Li Guan aimed to defeat all his opponents, just as Sun Wukong had done before. ... Thick smoke covered a significant portion of the sky, and the energy around it was still violently fluctuating, causing sparks in the air. Two figures emerged from the smoke and crashed onto the ground. Bang! The ground shook, and immense energy slowly spread out. One of them was Fendal, while the other was Souta. Huff... Huff... Fendal breathed heavily, and a streak of blood flowed from his mouth. He stared at the massive figure covered in black armor. He was now certain. He couldn''t defeat the Blood Lightning Monster alone. He needed help from his comrades if he wanted to kill this monster. But... Considering the situation, it seemed highly improbable. His five comrades were entangled with experts from the large factions. They were used... They were manipulated by those people from the Army of Gluttony. Fendal gritted his teeth in anger as he realized this. They should have acted sooner, but they were blinded by the bait, which was the Blood Lightning Monster. They just couldn''t ignore their target. ''No, I can''t give up now. The target is right in front of me. I still have a chance. My odds of winning are only forty percent, while the Blood Lightning Monster has sixty percent from what I can see. I have to wait, and he will make a mistake.'' Fendal calmed himself. He had originally thought it was the other way around, with him having a sixty percent chance of winning, and the Blood Lightning Monster only having forty percent. Fendal stood upright and tightly gripped the halberd in his hand. On the other hand, Souta walked forward, approaching Fendal with steady steps. Each of his steps caused the ground to shake slightly. His sword emitted a strange, ominous aura, as if there was a phantom within it. The [Possession] skill was activated right at the moment of the clash, yet he failed to kill Fendal. Fendal proved to be a remarkably strong and tough opponent. Souta''s left arm had already regenerated. It was the only wound that had healed. His other wound was important as it provided him with a power boost. His elemental powers completely enveloped the entire area, pushing the other soldiers away from him. There was nothing they could do; they were only A-rank, S-rank, and One Shackle Realm experts. "Still, I didn''t think that I would use [Element Drive] this early... Well, I can use it for a long time, so it doesn''t matter." With that said, Souta tried to hide the fact that he was close to reaching the Fusion Stage. But it was in vain now, as everyone felt the immense fluctuations of his energy. ''If I had reached the Fusion Stage before coming here, I could''ve killed this guy in just five minutes, a maximum of ten minutes if he still had aces up his sleeve,'' Souta thought inwardly. He also utilized the equipment skills of two of his dark-grade artifacts, [Vajra Sword Saya] and [Solid Hunter State Boots]. Thud! Souta stood in front of Fendal, and their energies clashed fiercely in the air. The soldiers retreated far away from the two. Shen Yao and the other top experts watched Souta and Fendal, the two experts on the verge of an all-out battle. The consequences of such a battle would be tremendous if left unchecked. The ten experts on the side of the Army of Gluttony also watched with interest in their eyes. There were seventeen of them, but the angels and other experts had disrupted them, leading to a battle breaking out. Suddenly, a figure emerged from their shadows. The figure only showed half of his body, yet he already exuded a very dangerous aura. "Is it ready?" one of the ten experts asked. "Yeah, it will begin in a minute," the figure replied before vanishing back into the shadows. A man with short black hair and a mask covering his face stepped forward. He glanced at everyone, and his lips slowly parted, "Man-Eating Tamer, Anti-Mage, Black Blader, Poisonous Vine, Red Mist, Thousand Earth, Boulder Jack, Spatial Whisperer, and Nine Yin, prepare yourselves. We will enter in just a minute. We are the main force of this mission. Of course, our comrades must follow us, or else we will be surrounded by our enemies. Our strength hasn''t reached the stage where we are invincible, so we must proceed with utmost caution." The nine experts didn''t say anything. They listened and, at the same time, watched the ongoing battle. The man continued, "The Fifth Circle and some Six Circle Officers has arrived. They will keep these people busy while we complete our mission. Of course, the others could join the fray too since it will be more chaotic in the next minute. The ten of us should focus on our mission." After delivering those words, the man fell silent once again, his eyes locked on the battle. Regardless of the plans of the Five Master Clans and the large factions, they were destined to fail today. Souta and Fendal stood facing each other. "I''ll kill you in five minutes," Souta said coldly. "Don''t get cocky just because your elemental power is stronger than mine!" Fendal roared as he swung the halberd in his hand. Souta also swung his weapon. Boom!! The collision of their weapons shook the entire area. Dust and rocks shot into the air as sparks flew around. In the next second, two lights collided thousands of times, creating a vast spectacle on the land. It was both beautiful and terrifying. Souta and Fendal moved at high speed, their clash sending hundreds of shockwaves throughout the area. Their skills wreaked havoc on the geographical formation of the land. Most of the soldiers had already retreated to a safe distance. Fendal moved swiftly from side to side as he pushed himself to the limit. His opponent was strong, even stronger than the intel they had gathered. His halberd was flashing with a brilliant flame, successfully blocking most of Souta''s attacks. Fendal was now in a passive defensive stance, waiting for an opportunity to end this battle swiftly. However, finding such an opportunity proved to be challenging. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta attacked him from various angles, employing his skills and traits simultaneously. Various webs, blood, and shadows were in motion, attempting to break Fendal''s guard. Fendal wore a sullen expression. If this continued, it was only a matter of time before he would be defeated. He was determined not to let that happen. Chapter 903 Battle At The Selnes Country: All Filter Barrier Formation Various battles were currently unfolding in the area. Violent energy was erupting every second across the entire landscape. The sky and the earth were engulfed in combat. It was no longer about S-rank; even the top SS-rank powerhouses had joined the battle, inflicting devastating blows on the land. Souta was locked in combat with Fendal, while Li Guan faced off against Magred. Genzu was engaging the remaining four Wingless Crow experts, with the assistance of Bezvin and powerhouses from the Large Countries. These battles were the most attention-grabbing, as combatants went all-out in their efforts to eliminate their foes. The battles felt apocalyptic, as the land crumbled and the sky thundered in anger. Meanwhile, the angels and others were still assessing the strength of the seven experts from the Army of Gluttony, who stood before them. Boom! Boom! Boom! Fendal crashed onto the ground, creating a massive crater. "Damn! This monster!" He spat out a mouthful of blood before rolling to the side. In the next moment, an energy blade crashed into his previous position. Fendal quickly regained his footing and leaped into the air. Whoosh! Seven shadows closed in on him, and he swiftly dispatched two of them with his halberd. He disregarded the remaining shadows and charged toward Souta. Bang! Bang! Bang! Both of their figures collided multiple times, sending sparks of energy flying in all directions. Suddenly, both of them stopped as they sensed hundreds of energy spikes. Souta and Fendal turned their heads simultaneously. "What''s happening?" Not only them, but almost everyone on the battlefield felt the energy fluctuations. They paused for a moment as these powerful energy fluctuations were new to them. "As I expected..." Schine said in a grave tone. "There''s no way the Army of Gluttony would send only seventeen top powerhouses. It''s twenty-three powerhouses if we add those six experts," Naruse said as she covered her mouth with a fan. Schine glanced at the powerhouses from the Large Countries. He said, "I guess we have to act now. The full force of the Army of Gluttony is here." The forces of the Large Countries nodded, their faces filled with gravity. Shen Yao took a deep breath and muttered, "Since Li Guan has joined the battle, it''s time for me to showcase my prowess too." In the distance, more than thirty kilometers away from the battlefield, a large group of people wearing black robes were flying at high speed. They didn''t bother concealing their energy, so most of the people on the battlefield sensed their aura. Gluttony''s men were divided into two groups. The first was the Army of Gluttony, comprised of individuals cultivated in other dimensions by Gluttony, whom he had brought into the Imperium to bolster his forces. This group also included smaller organizations secretly controlled by him around the continent, such as the Red Matter Association. They served as Gluttony''s private, covert force. The second group was the force of the Deadly Sins, consisting of the First Circle Officers and the highest-ranking officers of the Seven Deadly Sins. They were experts who only acted upon the orders of their chosen Sin and were primarily active within the Imperium. Souta narrowed his eyes and spotted a group of people flying several tens of kilometers away. "The officers are here..." He muttered to himself. It was a troublesome development, but the Alliance army and the Five Master Clans should still be able to manage it. There were individuals on their side who had not yet moved into action. A true clash would happen soon. Suddenly, Souta''s eyes widened as a familiar sound rang in his mind. This... Boom!! The Five Circle Officers and Six Circle Officers have arrived, triggering a massive battle between the two sides. All the representatives of the Large Countries had joined the fray. Only a few individuals remained on the rear side. Adel, Asfrith, Shen Yao, Kasci, Naruse, and the Heads of the Five Master Clans were the sole ones left behind. All of their followers had entered the battle, turning the entire landscape into chaos. After just a minute of observing, Adel and Shen Yao stepped forward. They rushed quickly to assist the outnumbered experts. Not even a minute later, another figure stepped forward. Hoei Methal looked down and declared, "I''m going to aid Bezvin in eliminating his opponent." With those words, he left the rear position and joined the battle, leaving only three out of five clan heads behind. Soon, everyone had left the rear position except for Schine Windi. He remained the lone figure standing behind, with his eyes closed, while everyone else was embroiled in combat. "This is war. I must steel my heart." Meanwhile, the Spatial Whisperer floated in the sky. Many experts noticed him, though their attention was primarily focused on the officers of the Seven Deadly Sins. He was essentially ignored, but that was part of the plan. "Open." He extended both of his hands forward and gripped the fabric of space. His energy surged, and his body tore through the space. Swoosh!! In the next instant, he arrived above Selnes Country. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. "The fabric of space has grown stronger, so even with my space attribute, it''s hard to move through it." Spatial Whisperer muttered to himself. He gazed down at the barrier that enveloped the entire country, which even locked the space, preventing him from entering the country via spatial tunneling. At that moment, the All Filter Barrier flickered. The barrier vanished. Ohm!! This triggered a series of reactions. The Five Master Clans and the experts from the large factions felt the disappearance of the renowned All Filter Barrier Formation. They turned their heads simultaneously, their expressions gradually changing. Boom!! Even the monsters residing in the river grew agitated at his presence. They roared, and their energy burst forth simultaneously, exerting immense pressure on the entire land. The citizens of the country could even feel this pressure. Spatial Whisperer ignored all the gazes directed at him and stepped forward, brandishing a sword. Ohm! The sword emitted a purple light. "Open for me!!" His voice resonated, and the light within the sword intensified. This sword was a one-time red-grade artifact. Once its effect was used, the sword would shatter and could not be repaired anymore. But that was inconsequential; this sword had not been his from the beginning. It had been given to him to initiate this plan. The plan to invade Selnes Country. The moment the sword disappeared, a vast purple light spread within Spatial Whisperer''s body. Simultaneously, ten experts from the Army of Gluttony smiled as purple light engulfed their bodies. They vanished from their positions and reappeared beside Spatial Whisperer. But it wasn''t just them. A substantial number of lower-ranked experts stood alongside them, including individuals at Three and Four Shackles. Swoosh! Without hesitation, they crashed into Selnes Country immediately. Schine opened his eyes wide. A powerful energy burst forth from his body as he charged toward Selnes Country. It wasn''t just him. At this point, anyone could guess it. There was a traitor hidden among the Five Master Clans. Even if it wasn''t within the Five Master Clans, it was possible that someone from the large factions was involved. The All Filter Barrier Formation wouldn''t disappear like this if there were no traitors. Everything was unfolding rapidly. This is it... Souta grinned devilishly as he observed the situation. Perhaps this was part of the script, right? The war should take place inside Selnes Country, not outside. That''s what had happened in the game, with the war occurring within the land of Selnes. So... Souta laughed. He had figured it out. He understood what would happen next. But first... Souta stared at Fendal coldly. "I have to kill you... The war will continue inside Selnes Country, and I must follow the script until that event occurs. But you, you don''t have to take part in that battle." "You damn monster!" Fendal roared as he launched another attack at Souta. Souta laughed and swung his weapon. Boom!! Naruse looked at the country with a frown in her eyes. She turned her head and said, "I''ll go inside. Everyone who can follow me, return immediately! There''s something wrong within the barrier!" Her voice resonated throughout the entire battlefield. Various warriors retreated, but would the Army of Gluttony let them retreat easily? There were still soldiers remaining in the country, but their numbers were few. They wouldn''t be able to defeat all the enemies that had entered the country. At the very least, they could buy some time. Boom! Boom! Boom! Souta moved his body as fast as he could, fiercely attacking his opponent. ''Hmm... This development is both good and bad at the same time. I''ll slowly defeat this guy and return to Selnes Country. No, I''ll only return after taking down six experts of the Wingless Crow. If this follows the game''s storyline, then the Tears of Divine Might will appear inside the country. I should go with the flow for now and see if there''s more to this.'' Souta thought to himself. Chapter 904 Battle At The Selnes Country: Clash Souta and Fendal clashed several times in midair. Souta gained an advantage and was overwhelming his opponent with his strength. At this moment, Fendal was heavily injured. He could only defend himself, as he had already lost the opportunity to counterattack. It was already too late for him. The only thing he could do was to defend himself and wait for his comrades to defeat their opponents. That is, if his comrades could defeat top experts like Genzu and Bezvin. At this point, Souta was already certain that he could kill Fendal, so he took his time to sense something in the Selnes Country. "What''s happening with the barrier?" Naruse had mentioned that there was something wrong with the All Filter Barrier Formation. Didn''t the barrier disappear? His senses were hindered by the energy of thousands of monsters rushing into the country. However, he managed to roughly guess what was happening. The barrier hadn''t completely disappeared; it was still there but no longer exerting any force to prevent the experts from entering inside. There was no suppression at all. However, it was still flickering, indicating that the All Filter Barrier Formation would soon be fully activated once again. ''So that''s what''s happening...'' Souta thought to himself. Souta slammed his sword at Fendal. Although Fendal managed to block it, the force behind the strike still pushed him several meters away. Then, Souta pointed his finger and cast [Black Hole]. Ohm! A black hole materialized beside Fendal, and he attempted to retreat. Souta changed his armor into [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]. In an instant, countless strands of blood-red webs spread out, blocking Fendal''s path. "Damn!" Fendal cursed. A powerful black hole was pulling him, and now, there were these webs as well. The black hole posed a greater threat than the webs; it could easily shred a Four Shackles expert apart. So Fendal swung his halberd to fend off the incoming webs. Bang! Bang! Bang! At the same time, the four spider limbs on Souta''s back pointed at Fendal. He unleashed several [Bestrou]s, creating a massive beam in the sky. Boom!! Souta stepped forward, moving through the shadows. He didn''t even give Fendal time to recover before appearing beside him. Fendal gritted his teeth, his figure covered in blood, and his breathing heavy. He was nearing his limit. Souta muttered as he swung his sword. "You''re finished." A brilliant red light flashed within the sword, heading for Fendal''s face. ... Souta wasn''t the only one who sensed that the barrier was about to close. Most of the top experts in the field understood it, leading to a fierce confrontation. The Army of Gluttony surged forward while the Alliance Army attempted to hold them back while retreating. Schine and Naruse had already returned to the country, rushing back when they saw hundreds of monsters from the river entering the borders. Kasci also returned to the country, engaging in combat with several Six Circle Officers while his fellow angels dealt with his opponents, allowing him to return to the country. A number of S-ranks and SS-ranks had also managed to make it back to the country. Shen Yao narrowed her eyes. She swiftly ended the lives of the two Four Shackles experts who were blocking her path. Then, she turned her head left and right before spotting Li Guan clashing with a powerful expert. Swoosh! She flew at high speed to assist him in defeating this expert. Time was running out, and they needed to act quickly. On the other side... Genzu and Bezvin were left alone to deal with the four experts of the Wingless Crow. The experts from the Large Countries had abandoned them to handle the Five Circle and Six Circle Officers of the Deadly Sins. They found themselves in a standoff, fighting for the opportunity to return to the country. The barrier was about to close any second now. They had to get back. Genzu took a deep breath and muttered, "I''m going to end this battle." A vast amount of energy exploded from his body, causing the entire area to shake. He swiftly appeared in front of the four experts and swung his axe at one of them. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bezvin narrowed his eyes. He silently concealed himself within the shadows, disappearing from his previous position. He vanished from the perception of the other experts, carefully hiding within the shadows. Bezvin focused his attention on the battle between Genzu and the four experts, patiently waiting for an opportunity to strike and eliminate one of them. His concentration was intense. He even noticed that the four experts were intentionally creating an opening for him to attack, but he resisted the temptation. He knew it was a trap. Seconds passed, and still, he didn''t reveal himself. In this intense battle, much had already transpired. Genzu had clashed with the four experts thousands of times, and wounds had accumulated on their bodies. Bezvin shifted his gaze, observing the other ongoing battles. He could see that some were holding back, waiting to engage opponents entering the country. ''Then, let me handle this...'' He thought to himself. Bezvin''s figure flashed, and darkness enveloped the area in an instant. [Element Drive: Dark Force]!! His daggers gleamed in the darkness as they closed in on the four experts. The sudden burst of energy surprised Genzu. He had expected Bezvin to conceal his energy, but instead, Bezvin had gone all out. The other four experts had the same reaction as Genzu. They attempted to retreat, but Genzu didn''t allow them to do so easily. He swung the giant axe in his hand, hurling a massive energy blade. [Earth Divine Cleave]!! The expressions of the four experts darkened. Meanwhile, Bezvin had already positioned himself beside them. They attempted to intercept the energy blade first, but it detonated before even coming into contact with them. The sheer force of the explosion sent a shockwave radiating within a five-kilometer diameter. Boom!! Despite the damage it inflicted on his body, Bezvin remained focused on the four experts. He swiftly lunged at them, driving his dagger toward the closest person. Bang! One of his daggers came dangerously close to the neck of his target but was halted, while the other successfully pierced the chest of his target. Bezvin''s face remained cold as he applied more force, attempting to finish off his target, but he failed, leading to a significant error. However, Bezvin didn''t need to worry. He abruptly retreated, and another energy blade was unleashed. Genzu slashed once again, unleashing a massive surge of energy that tore through the defenses of his target. Bang!! Bezvin kicked through the air and followed up by slashing at the target''s neck this time. All of this transpired in less than a second, leaving the other three experts with no time to react. One of them fell. Bezvin and Genzu remained silent as they propelled themselves through the air, closing in on the remaining three experts. Meanwhile, Hono Flaem, who was in retreat, caught sight of their battle. Seventeen Four Shackles enemies were chasing her. She observed Bezvin and decided to head in his direction. Whoosh!! Genzu, Bezvin, and the three experts sensed a sudden increase in temperature and intense energy fluctuations. They turned their heads and spotted Hono flying toward them. Bezvin quickly grasped the situation and, without uttering a word, vanished into the darkness once more. The three experts noticed the change, but Genzu continued his attack. Simultaneously, Hono unleashed a massive burst of flames toward the battle. Boom!! She arrived on the battlefield and joined Genzu in attacking the three experts. As for the seventeen Four Shackles experts, they remained unaware of Bezvin''s presence. Even the three experts, who were stronger than any of the Four Shackles, could hardly sense Bezvin, so how could they? Whoosh! Bezvin moved swiftly, effortlessly slashing the necks of six of them before they could react. Six Four Shackles experts were killed in a matter of seconds. This unexpected turn of events stunned them; they hadn''t anticipated a top expert hiding nearby. After eliminating six of them, Bezvin retreated. Ohm! Various individuals felt the immense energy surge, akin to a raging tide. In the next moment, a dark beam descended upon the position of the eleven remaining experts. The beam continued to advance until it collided with the ground, resulting in a massive explosion. Boom!! Bezvin ceased his [Element Drive], choosing not to waste any more energy. There would be battles inside the country, so he needed to conserve his strength. As the beam gradually dissipated, it revealed the location of the remaining experts. His regular strength was sufficient to deal with these individuals. He concealed himself in the darkness once more, eliminating them one by one. Souta remained in the air, holding Fendal''s head with one hand. He was clad in white armor, and the four spider limbs on his back emitted smoke. He turned his head slightly to observe the ongoing battles. ''We are nearing the end of this battle. Meanwhile, others are still fighting... I''ve killed one, and Bezvin has taken down one. Shen Yao is on the verge of eliminating one more. That leaves just three experts from the Wingless Crow.'' Chapter 905 Battle At The Selnes Country: Rushing To The Nation Three more, and the Wingless Crow would be done for the day. Souta sighed and canceled his elemental drive, returning his figure to normal. For the time being, he didn''t need to use it anymore. Nevertheless, his doppelgangers were engaged in battles all around. All the shadows were on the frontline, fighting the Army of Gluttony. Each one of his doppelgangers was formidable enough to take on experts at the Four Shackles Realm. In fact, they were even stronger, as it would take at least two Four Shackles experts to destroy one of the shadows. The alliance army was locked in an all-out war. They clashed fiercely with the enemy, and various experts began to reveal their true prowess. The four angels at the frontline radiated overwhelming energy. Their power permeated the entire area, capturing the attention of countless people. Manaka and Ichisaki, the two representatives from Takamagahara, also went all out. Their elemental energy and mana exploded, shaking the entire battlefield. They were simultaneously battling several Six Circle Officers. ''Strong... They are going to hold the enemies in this place,'' Souta thought inwardly. Nevertheless, some of the enemies managed to pass through and headed toward the country. While they weren''t top experts, they could still pose a threat to Selnes Country, which was home to millions of civilians. A few seconds passed, and Bezvin eliminated all the Four Shackles experts who had been chasing Hono. "Fall..." Bezvin muttered as he glanced at the experts he had killed, watching them plummet to the ground like a pile of leaves. He then turned around and disappeared into the darkness once again. Bezvin joined the battle. Upon seeing this, Souta didn''t waste any more time. "I should wrap this up quickly. I need to return to the country as well." Hono, Genzu, Souta, and Bezvin easily dispatched the two remaining experts from the Wingless Crow. Genzu and Bezvin already had an advantage when facing four of them, so it was inevitable that they would be overpowered with only two opponents left. Additionally, Souta and Hono were also present, sealing their fate. Some experts who wanted to help the Wingless Crow arrived, but they were all too late. All the Wingless Crow members had been killed. Two top experts found themselves surrounded and, in the end, met their demise. Swoosh! Swoosh! The four who had just finished their battles found themselves surrounded once more, this time by a large number of Five Circle Officers. Souta, Hono, Genzu, and Bezvin exchanged glances and nodded at each other before charging forward, colliding with the enemies before them. Suddenly, Souta came to a halt in midair. He heard a familiar notification in his mind and saw that he had completed the quest. He turned his head slightly and saw that Shen Yao and Li Guan had killed the last remaining member of the Wingless Crow. All six experts had finally perished, and the quest was complete. "Hmph, Wingless Crow... They''re nothing but trouble," Souta sneered, contemplating how he would deal with the Wingless Crow in the future. There was no place for them in this world anymore. He was determined to destroy them. As for his other quest, Souta glanced at the system. [All Filter Barrier Formation]: Return to Selnes Country before the barrier closes. Time remaining: 3 minutes Rewards: 800,000 experience points, 15 free attribute points, and 7 skill points Souta took a deep breath, then slowly opened his mouth and said, "Warriors of Olympus, heed my words! Return to Selnes Country! The War Company under Heido and the Hammer''s Guard under Santu will remain here! Defend this place with all you''ve got! Genzu and I will return to Selnes Country!" His voice reverberated, and all of the warriors of Olympus heard his words. Heido and Santu glanced at each other before nodding. It had been decided that they would stay here, which meant they wouldn''t be able to fight in Selnes Country. In that case, there was no need to conserve their energy any longer. Boom! Heido and Santu immediately activated their [Element Drive]. They would leave what was happening in the country to Souta and Genzu. All that mattered to them now was defending their post. Heido and Santu''s men roared fiercely, charging toward the enemy with great momentum. They no longer cared about returning to the country; they had received their orders and were determined to follow them as true warriors. Souta cast his eyes over the battlefield. He would leave this place to them. With this decision, there would be two battlefields in this land: one inside the country and the other outside. Kasci and Naruse had already made this choice. Both of them had entered Selnes Nation and left most of their men outside the country, with only a few dozen warriors accompanying them. Souta had decided that their choice was worth it. It was better to divide the enemy forces than to face them in one place. While there were drawbacks to this strategy, he had already prepared himself. He was confident that the others were also prepared. The enemies who had entered the nation must be stronger. Indeed, Souta recognized a few faces among them. "This is good..." He took a deep breath and joined Genzu, Bezvin, and Hono in eliminating the Five Circle Officers and Six Circle Officers who surrounded them. Their speed was astounding, and within moments, they had already dispatched dozens of Five Circle Officers. Their figures darted left and right, executing killing skills that emanated terrifying energy. The Five Circle Officers fell like grass before a scythe. All they could do was delay the four for a few seconds before meeting their demise. The four warriors paused and looked at the remaining officers surrounding them. "We''ve eliminated half of them. We should head back. If we stay any longer, the number of enemies blocking our way will only increase," Hono suggested. Bezvin nodded in agreement. "Alright, they won''t be able to stop us now, given their dwindling numbers," Genzu affirmed. Souta concurred with their decision. Hono and Genzu targeted the weakest link in the enemy formation. A sea of flames and a massive energy blade burst forth, killing two Five Circle Officers in the blink of an eye. Five Circle Officers posed no threat to them; it was the sheer number that made them capable of blocking Souta and the others'' path. Boom! They shattered the enemy formation and flew straight toward the country. Souta followed closely behind them, while Bezvin concealed himself in the darkness, where no one could detect him. Genzu glanced back. Heido and Santu were holding off several Six Circle Officers, which was why no Six Circle Officers were blocking their path. It was thanks to these two brave warriors. In addition to them, warriors from the larger nations were also stopping the enemies. Manaka, Ichisaki, and the four angels were battling the enemy''s top experts. It was a fight to the death. It had ceased to be a simple test. The barrier was now disabled, and some enemies had breached the lines. Warriors from different factions had united to hold their ground, preventing the enemy from advancing. This respite allowed others to retreat to Selnes Country. Asfrith and Adel were also making their way back, alongside Shen Yao and Li Guan. A few dozen of their men were following suit. ''Against the enemies in the country, I think we have a chance,'' Souta thought inwardly, reassured by the sight of people returning to Selnes. Suddenly, everyone felt a spine-chilling sensation. A foreboding aura rapidly spread, covering the entire battlefield. Boom! The ground shook violently as numerous experts below the Shackled Realm level dropped to their knees. An overwhelmingly oppressive aura enveloped the entire land, causing massive destruction. A man clad in red armor appeared one hundred kilometers away from Selnes Country. Hono''s eyes widened in shock as she stared into the distance and muttered, "No!! A Hero-ranked expert!" Genzu and Souta''s expressions darkened as they sensed the energy fluctuations. There was no room for doubt. This sudden change caught everyone off guard. Had the war already escalated to the point where a Hero-ranked warrior was dispatched? No matter what everyone thought, it seemed too soon. The top SSS-rank experts hadn''t even fallen yet, and a Hero-ranked individual had already appeared. "Is that person headed for the country too?!" If that were the case, it would be incredibly dangerous. Most of them would likely perish if that happened. "That expert is still a long way off! We need to enter the barrier before it closes!" Bezvin exclaimed loudly. His voice snapped the others out of their shock. Genzu and Souta nodded with grave expressions. They continued to fly toward Selnes at an extraordinarily high speed, their figures streaking through the air like meteors, leaving a trail of light behind them. They were fast, but the enemy Hero-ranked warrior was even faster. Whoosh! The Hero-ranked warrior sped through the battlefield. All the warriors who blocked his path were crushed to death. He effortlessly broke through the formation, killing hundreds of warriors from the alliance army. They were in despair... except for the angels. Ohm! A brilliant light erupted in the sky above Selnes, enveloping every living being in holy radiance. Suddenly, they felt rejuvenated. A man adorned in golden armor with two pairs of pure white wings descended from the heavens. He stood twenty kilometers above the ground, gazing at the man in red armor. "As expected, this was bound to happen. A Hero-ranked warrior would emerge in this conflict," the angel muttered. Chapter 906 Battle At The Selnes Country: Cancelling Rune Eru Empire... Esquin was sitting on his throne with a calm look on his face. A Seven Circle Officer stood at the side and reported, "My Lord, you''ve given the assault team the Cancelling Rune. It will dispel the barriers in the Selnes Country for a moment. One of the obstacles in our army''s path will be gone." "Hmm..." Esquin closed his eyes. After a few moments, his lips slowly parted, and he said, "From what I could see, they have used the Cancelling Rune in tandem with the one inside there. I have given them the right to act freely, and they''ve already exceeded my expectations. I expected them to simply use it, but it seems that they''ve made quite a plan with it." "They will take care of it, My Lord. The assault team are all excellent individuals. They will certainly take down the enemies. The Bruim Principality and Fedru Republic will fall too," the Seven Circle Officer said. Esquin glanced at the Seven Circle Officer and asked, "What about the task that I''ve given to Freygus?" "I don''t have any news about him, My Lord," the Seven Circle Officer bowed down. "I see... Freygus. If nothing has happened, then he should be able to initialize the bloodstones that we''ve collected before," Esquin muttered. "The only problem with this is the Vampire Clan. I guess that we will confront them soon. I wonder how powerful their Vampire Lord is." ... Hero-rank. Souta recalled that there were six Hero-rank warriors in the camp of Olympus, far beyond the Selnes Country. It was situated in the north, close yet far from the three battlefields which were Selnes Country, Bruim Principality, and Fedru Republic. The God of War, Ares, even sent two of his Guardian Beasts. If Olympus could send six Hero-rank experts, then the other Holy Lands could do the same. So after careful thought, it made sense that a Hero-rank was secretly watching the war in Selnes Country. Although it wasn''t from Olympus, the angels were currently their allies, so there was no need to worry. The angel glanced at the man clad in red armor. His wings flapped, and he traveled several kilometers in less than a second. Whoosh! His figure stopped before the man. "You''re not a direct subordinate of Gluttony. You''re the leader of the Red Fang Corporation, Prandel. It''s a huge merchant group, so I didn''t expect that you, Prandel, are under the rule of the Deadly Sins." The angel said in a calm tone. The golden light around his body was bright and warm. It gave a comforting sensation to the people who bathed in it. Prandel frowned and viciously threw a powerful punch. "A battle angel like you wouldn''t understand!! You will die!!" Boom!! The two Hero-rank experts confronted each other. A powerful shockwave that pushed everyone away swept across the entire field. They ascended into the sky, fighting at high altitude. Well, it was all thanks to the angel. Prandel didn''t care about the deaths of people weaker than him, but the battle angel cared about them. They were a hundred kilometers above the surface. Boom!! Boom!! Souta and the rest glanced at the battle before they continued flying to Selnes Country. All of them felt heavy at this moment. Even Hero-rank experts had started to fight in this war. What''s next? God? Just thinking about it made their scalps shiver. Even the All Filter Barrier Formation would collapse once that happened. "We''ll separate! Our target is the first ten experts! Those guys are the strongest, so brace yourself!" Genzu shouted as he informed everyone who was flying towards the country. "Are you in a hurry? I clearly saw that the barriers aren''t disabled from the outside. Someone must''ve opened it from the inside. In other words, there''s a traitor among us," Shen Yao said. "Traitor... I know, but there''s no time to think about it. We just have to fight for now," Genzu replied. Souta and the rest of the representatives of the large faction grew silent. They already had a suspect in their minds. It must be one of the Five Master Clans. ... Alice turned her head and glanced at the sky. She saw Souta and the rest entering Selnes Country. "We have to go back too... As soon as possible," she said. "I know..." Eztein nodded. The situation was extremely dire. Selnes Country had been breached, and the enemies were attacking on both sides. Their job right now was to follow Souta and the rest inside the city to combat the enemy. There were people who were going to deal with the enemies on this side. Boom!! A powerful aura spread out, and the sea parted. A lone figure rose, exuding brilliant light. It was Eilish. Eilish looked at the changes in her body before she observed her surroundings. It took her a while to break her third shackle. "I''ve broken through..." She muttered. "Hey, Eilish! We need to go back now!" A familiar voice sounded behind her. Eilish turned around and saw Eztein and Alice. She flew towards the two and asked, "What happened?" "I don''t have time to explain everything. I can only say that Selnes Country has been breached. The enemies are all over the city," Eztein said. "What?!" Eilish was surprised. "Yeah, we need to go now and organize our forces once we enter the country," Alice said. Eztein looked at Alice and Eilish. "You two can go now; I''ll go with Vashno. Franklin is deeper into the battlefield, so you should go first." Alice glanced at Eztein for a few seconds before she nodded. "Okay, I understand. Everyone from the Athen''s Champion should go back to Selnes Country and assist our leader. The Hammer''s Guard and War Company will hold the enemies back." ... Bang! Souta landed on top of the wall, causing the floor beneath his feet to crack. He slowly stood up while patting the dust off his clothes. Then, he observed the city with his own eyes. The destruction that the enemies had caused was already extensive. The soldiers of the Five Master Clans that remained in the country were currently battling the enemies. The monsters from the river were also fighting the Army of Gluttony. If Souta was right, he heard that almost all the monsters in the river around the country were part of Selnes''s defense. Genzu and the others landed in different parts of the land to suppress the enemies. They encountered the top experts of the Army of Gluttony, the ten people who first entered the country, who were the most dangerous. "I wonder what their goal is..." Souta muttered. He raised his hand and flicked his finger. Whoosh!! Hundreds of blood spikes rose from the ground and attacked the forces of Gluttony in the area. Bang! Bang! Bang! In an instant, more than twenty experts who were causing trouble in this area were killed. They were just S-ranks, so they weren''t a match against Souta. Souta floated above the ground while observing his surroundings. He stayed for a while as various soldiers entered the country. The battle started inside this land. It became chaotic as various explosions and energy surges erupted at the same time. "What''s their objective...? Or maybe, they just wanted to destroy this land like any other," Souta muttered as he stared at the sky. Soon, the barrier closed, and Souta heard the system notification indicating that he completed the quest. Ding! [Congratulations on completing the Quest ''All Filter Barrier Formation''] Ding! [Quest Triggered!] [Cancelling Rune]: The inside of the barrier has been modified. Participate in the battle to destroy the device that contained the Cancelling Rune. Time limit: 1 hour Reward: 10,000,000 experience points, 15 free attribute points, and 8 skill points Souta narrowed his eyes after seeing the contents of the new quest. Swoosh!! A pillar of light shot through the sky and connected to the barrier around the country. The barrier emitted faint sparks, and something changed within. At this moment, no one could leave the barrier. The interior had been modified. Previously, everyone could leave through the barrier, and if they wanted to enter, they had to pass through the gate. But it was different now; no one could pass through the barrier and leave the country. Even the gate was blocked. ''As expected... Gluttony is a master of runes, so he must have provided his subordinates with a rune to handle this barrier.'' Souta felt that this was within his expectations. Under normal circumstances, no mortal could break the All Filter Barrier Formation. "So I just need to destroy that device?" Souta muttered as several doppelgangers emerged from his shadow. The doppelgangers dashed through the air. The device was quite far. The entire country was huge, and it was divided into ten zones. Judging from the scenery of the land, he was in Zone 6, a territory under the rule of the Methal Clan. Souta knew Zone 5, so he wouldn''t mistake this land for Zone 5. The land of the Methal Clan was just beside the land of the Botano Clan. Not even a minute had passed when Souta sensed a feedback. Huh? All of his doppelgangers were destroyed in an instant. "My doppelgangers could even rival a Four Shackles expert..." Souta slowly turned his head and saw a lone figure walking in the street. It was a tall man with dark skin, green eyes, and long crimson hair. His body was covered in dark golden armor that was emitting a strange light. Souta smiled and said, "You''re here... I thought I would be able to destroy where the pillar of light was coming from, but it seems that you guys put an expert to guard us." Chapter 907 Battle at the Selnes Country: Boulder Jack "Blood Lightning Monster, you will stay here whether you like it or not," the man said. "Oh, I quite like that tone of yours." Souta raised his eyebrows, feeling amused by this guy. Boom!! A deafening sound echoed, causing Souta to turn his head. Souta smiled faintly. If there was an expert to hold him back, then the others must also have one. There were experts keeping all the representatives of large factions in check. If that''s the case, then the guards around the device must be weak. It comes down to their subordinates to do it. ''Well, I don''t have to worry. Alice will do her job even without me telling her to.'' Souta then focused his attention on the tall man. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, "Who are you?" "Blood Lightning Monster, you may not know me, but I know you very well. I''ve been tasked to keep you in this place. I am Jackgun Ferdona, also called Boulder Jack," the man said calmly. "I''m quite eager to know you, a monster who stopped the plan of a god. Those people from the Wingless Crow are all trash for failing to kill you. I should''ve expected this." "Oh, well, do you want to start it now?" Souta grinned widely. His aura rose sharply, causing the air to vibrate. "I have no choice but to force you to stay here." Boulder Jack''s expression turned cold. Souta didn''t waste any more time as he dashed towards Boulder Jack. Boom!! Meanwhile, Genzu and the others were fighting the top experts of the Army of Gluttony in different zones. Their battle caused a huge commotion, affecting thousands of civilians. There was nothing they could do at this moment except to fight. The civilians couldn''t leave the barrier because it''s been modified, and they needed to destroy the device that contained the Cancelling Rune to return the barrier to normal. Various battles occurred across the country at the same time. The two forces clashed fiercely, turning the entire country into a battlefield. No one expected this kind of development. The one with the highest number of enemies was the angels. They were in Zone 1, fighting a large number of Five Circle Officers and Four Circle Officers. Various factions fought their way to the center of the country, where the Cancelling Rune was located. Destroying it was the only way to get the civilians out of the country. It''s a must. Every minute, thousands of civilians were dying, and if this kept up, the entire population of Selnes Country would be annihilated. Alice and the other warriors of Athens''s Champion charged through the battlefield, slaying the experts from the Army of Gluttony. They kept a tight formation and worked with the soldiers of the Darkna Clan to push through the line of the enemies. "Keep pushing!" Alice shouted. She moved her body swiftly as her spear flashed with cold light, separating the heads of her opponents from their bodies. Alice continued to move forward while the rest followed her. She slightly glanced at what was happening above. Her expression was grave. Edilon and Fremi, the only Four Shackles experts of the Sixth Grain War, were fighting the Four Shackles officers along with the help of the Four Shackles of the Darkna Clan. ''All the top experts are busy dealing with each other... I, no, we have to do this.'' Alice said inwardly as she swiftly killed another officer. Then, she paused and raised her hand. "Halt!" In the next moment, a series of powerful spells rained down on the land in front of them. Eilish and the other mages cast their spells, demolishing the land along with their enemies. Boom!! Thick smoke and dust covered the area, but it wasn''t enough to delay them from advancing. "Charge! Our enemies took damage from our spells! Kill them!" Alice shouted as she led the charge. They managed to push through the enemy line, but it wasn''t an easy battle. They suffered a few casualties, and the civilian casualties were high. Boom! Boom! Genzu moved at high speed, exchanging thousands of blows with his opponents. Their figures kept flickering in the air as shockwaves followed through every time they launched an attack. After a few seconds, the two created a distance from each other. Genzu took a deep breath as he tightly grasped the axe in his hand. His opponent was on the same level as him. It was a man in dark attire equipped with a huge red sword. There was another giant sword hanging on his back. The only difference was that its blade emitted a dim bluish light. He was a powerful expert called Dark Blader. Dark Blader was stronger, and Genzu knew that he wouldn''t be able to defeat this guy without going all-out. "With the presence of a traitor, I can''t fight alongside my comrades. Although the chances of the traitor being one of the Five Master Clans are high, it still can''t rule out the possibility of them being from a large faction," Genzu muttered to himself. That''s why they separated and fought in different zones. What if the traitor appeared here and fought him two versus one? It''s fine since Genzu was confident that even if there were two opponents, he wouldn''t be killed easily. At the very least, he would be able to escape and inform the others about the traitor. It''s better consider it a traitor. They would quickly retreat to inform the others. than fighting side by side just to get caught off guard by the traitor. The other representatives had this confidence too. So if someone appeared while they were fighting, they would consider it a traitor. They would quickly retreat to inform the others. Souta remained steadfast in his resolve. If Shen Yao or anyone else were to appear, he was confident that he could protect himself without losing his life. He would also have ample time to alert the others about the traitor. Bang! Bang! Souta swiftly swung his sword, striking Boulder Jack head-on. "[Crimson Moon]!" The crimson energy blade struck Boulder Jack''s body, creating a deep gash in the ground. However, it had little effect on Boulder Jack, merely scratching him. Boulder Jack sneered, gazing down at Souta''s futile attack. He raised his hand and unleashed a barrage of thousands of rocks imbued with elemental power. Whoosh! Whoosh! Each rock carried potent elemental energy, forcing Souta to maneuver quickly to avoid them. Then, he pressed his hand downward, creating a powerful gravitational force that descended upon his opponent. As Souta retreated into the sky, twenty black spheres materialized behind him. The gravitational force was so intense that it halted the flight of the rocks. "This is troublesome... This guy is much stronger than Fendal," Souta muttered, continually adjusting his body''s position while wielding gravity to restrict Boulder Jack''s movements. It wasn''t that Souta couldn''t defeat his opponent; it would simply require a considerable amount of time. He remained confident in his ability to emerge victorious. With the [Vajra Sword Saya] in his right hand and the [Orb of Arcane Seal] hovering by his side, Souta believed he had the necessary tools. Souta pointed his finger at his opponent. Ohm! Boulder Jack''s eyes widened as he sensed impending danger. He leaped into the air, and in the next instant, a black hole materialized out of thin air, obliterating everything in its previous location. "Again...?!" Boulder Jack propelled himself through the air, moving as swiftly as possible. The first black hole suddenly vanished, only to be replaced by a second one. Whoosh! Whoosh! Boulder Jack continued to dart around, evading Souta''s repeated [Black Hole] spells, which wreaked havoc on the surrounding landscape. The moment a black hole materialized, it instantly obliterated a significant portion of the terrain. It was inevitable that someone might become ensnared in this destructive maelstrom. This kind of battle spelled instant death for those who hadn''t broken a great shackle. Souta''s spell had been amplified by the [Orb of Arcane Seal], and it required no more than a second to dispatch anyone who hadn''t broken a great shackle. Boulder Jack was taken aback. Despite his efforts to evade the relentless barrage of black holes, Souta continued to assail him. "This monster... This Tier 3 spell must be an inner spell; otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to keep casting it." A golden light radiated from Boulder Jack''s body, and his eyes turned a fiery red. "[Golden Body Asunder]!" "[Iron Bending Skin]!" His energy surged dramatically, enhancing his physical capabilities. In an instant, he thrust his fist into the air. Boom! A deafening noise erupted, but before the sound could even reach Souta, a golden energy fist had already materialized in front of him. Souta propelled himself through the air with a kick, using gravity to hasten his retreat. Simultaneously, he extended his finger and invoked [Black Hole]. A black hole materialized out of thin air and collided with the colossal golden fist. Boom!! Souta shifted to the side, his gaze tracking Boulder Jack''s movements. He clenched his palm tightly. In the next moment, a deluge of thousands of blood spears descended upon his target''s location. All escape routes were sealed off, leaving Boulder Jack with no alternative but to defend. "Do you think this will hurt me?!" Boulder Jack roared as he soared through the air, paying no heed to the blood spears attempting to pierce his resilient skin. Chapter 908 Battle At The Selnes Country: Each With Their Own Opponents The forces of the alliance army drew closer to the central location housing the device. The battle intensified as they launched a fierce frontal assault. Alice, clutching her spear tightly, felt the weight of exhaustion. She had been fighting relentlessly since entering this country, and it had taken a significant toll on her body. Huff! Huff! She wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth with her hand. Approaching her were a group of individuals who inquired, "Are you alright, Alice?" Alice nodded and replied, "Yes, I can still fight. The most crucial objective is to destroy the device and restore the barrier to its normal state." The individuals who had approached her were members of the Blue Cross Squad: Drami, Marcus, Sekmet, Paolo, and Leilus. They had grown significantly stronger since their involvement in the war against the Red Matter Association. "Most of the enemy forces are focused on the angels. We have a chance to break through," Leilus said. "I know..." Alice replied, glancing around. Many warriors from Athens'' Champion had already perished to reach this point, and more losses were inevitable. It weighed heavily on her conscience. They were on the frontline, but where was Franklin and the others? They desperately needed more manpower now. Alice turned her gaze to the Blue Cross Squad and asked, "What about you guys? Can you still fight?" "Yep, we can still do this!" Drami declared with a smile, raising her fist. The other members of the Blue Cross Squad echoed her determination with smiles of their own. Seeing their resolute expressions, Alice understood their answer. There was no need to wait for additional reinforcements. These individuals were true warriors at heart, ready to risk their lives. "Alright, let''s go!" Alice said. She glanced ahead and spotted Eilish preparing to cast another AOE spell. Eilish was pushing herself too hard, considering she had just broken through the third shackle. Alice reached into her pocket and discovered she only had three potions left. She knew she had to take action before her energy ran out. ... Shen Yao and Li Guan found themselves above Zone 10, locked in a fierce battle against the Spatial Whisperer and a woman known as Poisonous Vine. These two formidable experts prevented them from approaching the device containing the Cancelling Rune. Spatial Whisperer and Poisonous Vine possessed great power and effectively deflected any attacks aimed at the device. Shen Yao and Li Guan understood that, to destroy the device, they first had to defeat these opponents. Shen Yao distanced herself, her gaze fixed on the pair. She clutched her shoulder, experiencing a stinging pain that caused her brow to furrow. Her hands emitted a golden light, and the pain gradually subsided, along with the wound. Poisonous Vine found amusement in Shen Yao''s actions. She remarked, "As expected of a priestess. You can dispel my poison as if it''s nothing." Shen Yao remained silent, her attention shifting to the ongoing battle below. She could only hope that their comrades would swiftly destroy the device, as it had placed the entire country in lockdown, making evacuation impossible for civilians. However, a nagging sense of doubt lingered in her mind. Was it truly in the best interest of the Army of Gluttony to lock them in with the civilians? Shen Yao sensed that the enemy''s plan ran deeper than they initially thought. She turned to Li Guan, who stood beside her, and declared, "Li Guan, we must defeat them." Li Guan nodded resolutely. "Alright, I''ll take the lead." Spatial Whisperer squinted his eyes, and Poisonous Vine tightened her grip on her whip, ready to counter any attack aimed at the device. Boom! In the next moment, Li Guan''s body radiated a brilliant light, and a green gem materialized on his forehead, emitting a potent and overwhelming energy. The brown fur enveloping his body formed intricate golden patterns that connected to the gem on his forehead. His eyes turned white with multiple green irises. He had unleashed his released form. His aura underwent a radical transformation, emanating an intensely dangerous presence unlike anything they had seen before. "You should all understand that civilians shouldn''t be caught in the crossfire. Lives have been lost, and you will be held accountable," Shen Yao declared icily. "Go ahead, Li Guan." ROAR!!! Li Guan''s thunderous roar echoed through the sky. He bent his knees and propelled himself through the air, hurtling toward their opponents. In the blink of an eye, he stood before them. Whoosh! Poisonous Vine widened her eyes as her dark red hair billowed around her. She swung her whip through the air, but it found no target. Li Guan had already moved above her, preparing to deliver a powerful punch. However, Spatial Whisperer had anticipated this move. He extended both hands and manipulated the space in front of him. Bang! Spatial Whisperer warped the space as Li Guan veered to the side. Simultaneously, Shen Yao leaped above them, unleashing a formidable palm strike. "[Divine Desolation Palm]!!" A colossal palm, towering over a hundred meters, descended from the heavens. Shen Yao gritted her teeth, infusing even more power into her attack. Li Guan quickly retreated from Spatial Whisperer and Poisonous Vine. Opening his mouth, he gathered an immense concentration of energy. "[Bestrou]!!" Boom!! On the other side. Asfrith and Adel suddenly halted, simultaneously turning their heads. They witnessed a colossal energy palm descending from the sky, accompanied by a burst of dark gold beams. "That''s Shen Yao and Li Guan..." Adel remarked with a smile. Asfrith and Adel recognized the energy signature. They understood that Shen Yao and Li Guan were now giving their all. Adel glanced toward their opponents, Thousand Earth and Anti Mage. Then, he looked at Asfrith, who stood beside him, and inquired, "So, are you going to get serious?" "Not until I''ve confirmed the identity of the traitor. What if you turn out to be the traitor, and you attack me while I''m focused on my target?" Asfrith responded with a cold tone. Adel laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "Ehehe, I forgot that there''s a traitor among us." Shen Yao and Li Guan, unlike Omari Adel and Asfrith Beiner, hailed from different factions¡ªAaru and Asgard, respectively. They were from opposing factions, and if it weren''t for the threat of Gluttony, they might have been enemies engaged in the ongoing skirmish between the Holy Lands. "Then, we''ll have to split up. Choose one of them," Adel proposed. "I''ll lead away the one you don''t pick, so you won''t have to worry about my presence here." Asfrith remained silent, hovering in the air, his gaze fixed on Anti-Mage and Thousand Earth. Adel sighed and added, "You''re overly cautious. My guess is that the traitor is likely one of the Five Master Clans. Well, I''ll make a choice." With those words, Adel sprinted into action, his energy erupting and enveloping the entire battlefield. Anti Mage and Thousand Earth reacted swiftly, leaping away from the approaching threat. "You''re mine," Adel declared as he extended his palm. Winds and light converged, forming a massive net. Anti Mage sneered, drawing his sword and charging at the oncoming net. Flames and lightning enveloped his blade as he sliced through the net, reducing it to tiny fragments. Adel manipulated his hand, causing a potent wind to gather behind him. HA! With a shout, the wind burst forth, forcing Anti Mage in a particular direction. Anti Mage shielded himself from the wind by employing lightning and flames. Meanwhile, Asfrith engaged Thousand Earth. With Adel out of the picture, he could confront his opponent without worrying about his back. Although the likelihood of Adel betraying the alliance was slim, it was still better to exercise caution rather than face regrets. Boom! Boom! Kasci confronted a man with short black hair, whose face was concealed by a dark mask. However, his deep blue eyes emitted an unsettling energy, and his white and dark cape fluttered in the wind. "Who are you?" Kasci inquired of the man. Kasci had observed that this enigmatic figure was the one commanding unruly and formidable experts, like Man Eating Tamer. It suggested that the man held a significant position within the ranks of the Army of Gluttony. "Well, well, well, if it isn''t Glorious Wings Kasci... I''m Doriam, also known as Ice Death. You might not be familiar with me, but I hold some renown among the forces of my god," Ice Death chuckled. "What is your objective? I doubt you''re simply here to slaughter the people of this country," Kasci retorted coldly. "My objective... I don''t harbor such things. My Lord simply instructed us to destroy this place, and that''s precisely what I''m doing now. My Lord granted me the authority to assume command of this formidable force to conquer this small nation," Ice Death Doriam stated, a concealed smile beneath his dark mask. "If you believe I''m powerful because I can command them, you''re mistaken. They follow my orders because I represent our Lord." "So you do have a plan, then? I''ll have to extract it from you," Kasci declared coldly, his aura growing more potent. Chapter 909 Battle At The Selnes Country: [Colosseum Undead Party] Zone 3... Thousands of civilians had gathered at the country''s edge. They stood near the walls, waiting for the soldiers to destroy the device and restore the barrier to normal. Most of them were injured and covered in blood, their expressions filled with despair. Some wept in the corners, mourning the loss of their loved ones. The impact of this war exceeded their worst fears. No one had predicted that the barrier left by their god would become a cage, imprisoning them in times of crisis. Children, the elderly, and adults teetered on the brink of emotional collapse, especially those who couldn''t control their feelings. Fear gripped them as they witnessed people dying before their eyes. The atmosphere in the evacuation area was somber, knowing that many were still perishing out there at this very moment. Soldiers patrolled the evacuation site, their faces grave as they witnessed the plight of their fellow countrymen. The duty of soldiers below A-rank was to rescue civilians and help them relocate to safer areas. These were B-rank soldiers. Although possessing strength, they were not allowed to participate in this type of battle. Their sole role was to rescue civilians. If they encountered an A-rank expert, this group of B-rank soldiers would collaborate to confront the threat. These soldiers were willing to sacrifice their lives for their country''s people. Meanwhile, the overall battle situation favored the alliance army. Monsters emerging from the rivers were tearing through the ranks of the Gluttony Army''s experts. Thousands of people clashed simultaneously all across the country, causing the ground to continuously tremble. They made slow but steady progress, pushing the enemy line toward the device containing the Cancelling Rune. Their primary objective was to destroy that device and ensure the safe evacuation of the citizens from outside the country. Zone 6... Two figures clashed in the skies above, emitting numerous flashes of light that illuminated a three-kilometer radius. The golden and crimson figures collided hundreds of times in midair. Boom! Souta and Boulder Jack separated, creating some distance between them. They both turned their heads and spotted a massive energy palm far away on the other side of the country. "This energy signature... Li Guan and Shen Yao. Li Guan has finally unleashed his released form," Souta muttered, his brow furrowing deeply. Souta sensed something was amiss in this situation. Glancing at the system, he noted that he still had thirty minutes to complete the quest. ''I need to confirm the whereabouts of the other experts... I have a bad feeling about this. While Li Guan going all out is good, I suspect the enemy''s plan isn''t that simple.'' Souta wanted to dispatch his doppelganger, but he couldn''t, as his opponent had systematically destroyed all the doppelgangers he sent, rendering even shadow balls ineffective. Boulder Jack didn''t afford him an opportunity to figure out what was transpiring in the other region. "Keep your focus on me!" Boulder Jack''s voice echoed. Souta sensed the surge of energy. He reacted swiftly by leaping away and manipulating gravity to propel himself. Pointing his finger at Boulder Jack, he cast [Black Hole]. Ohm! A black hole materialized in front of Boulder Jack. He clenched his fist, and a brilliant golden light erupted from within, creating a strange ripple in the air. [Titan Fearsome Fist]!! In an instant, he unleashed a punch at the black hole, shattering it within a second. Without wasting any more time, he lunged back at his target. Souta took a deep breath and swung his sword, but Boulder Jack narrowly avoided it. In a swift move, he grabbed Souta''s arm and delivered a devastating blow to Souta''s stomach. Bang! Souta spat out a mouthful of blood, his [Shadow Cloak] and other defensive skills shattered. Ignoring the pain, several strands of web burst from the tips of his fingers. Whoosh! The webs ensnared Boulder Jack. Then, Souta lifted his right foot, and his flesh transformed. Multiple spikes emerged around his leg as he kicked Boulder Jack away. Bang! Boulder Jack was propelled several hundred meters away, but Souta wasn''t finished. He opened his mouth and unleashed [Bestrou]. Boom!! A massive explosion erupted. Souta tightened his grip on his sword, ready to cast another spell when several boulders of rocks hurled toward him. Swiftly, he waved his hand and cloaked himself in blood. The boulders of rocks collided around him, creating a strange field that attempted to crush his body into smithereens. Argh!! Souta gritted his teeth as dark and light energy enveloped his body, allowing him to burst through the rocks. [Element Drive: Dark and Light Integration]!! Souta hovered in the air, gazing at the area in front of him, which was shrouded in smoke. It seemed Boulder Jack had managed to block his [Bestrou] before it could land. "This guy is strong..." Souta narrowed his eyes as blood flowed through his skin, swiftly transforming into white armor. The power of the elements surged through both the armor and his blood. Hmm...? Souta looked around, feeling perplexed as the energy around him moved in a strange manner. Suddenly, thousands of rocks materialized out of nowhere. These rocks formed a massive floating platform in the air, with two distinct elements flowing through it. Giant tree pillars also materialized and transformed into sturdy columns, creating several layers of rocks and trees stacked upon each other. Souta found himself at the center of this complex structure. In front of him, the smoke gradually dissipated, revealing Boulder Jack''s unusual appearance. Boulder Jack''s arms were encased in a white carapace that extended two meters along the ground. Dozens of holes emitted energy from it. His face was concealed by softwood, revealing only his eyes, and he had branches on his back adorned with leaves. "[Colosseum Death Party]..." Boulder Jack muttered as he looked at Souta. On the ground, they beheld a colossal platform in the sky, measuring one kilometer in diameter. The elements of earth and wood flowed abundantly within this platform, emanating such oppression that onlookers felt pressure just by gazing upon it. Swoosh!! Souta scanned his surroundings vigilantly, sensing potential dangers lurking everywhere. "You will fall today, Blood Lightning Monster..." Boulder Jack declared. Souta couldn''t help but chuckle. "You look like a monster." He swung his sword, sending a ray of energy blade toward his opponent. Boulder Jack remained still, allowing the energy blade to strike his body. Bang! The energy blade had no effect on his sturdy form. He sneered and spread his arms wide, causing dozens of energy beams to erupt from the holes in his unusual arms. Souta contorted his body, narrowly evading the pursuing energy beams that relentlessly chased after him. With no other option, he waved his hand, releasing red-colored webs aimed at the energy beams. The two attacks collided, resulting in a series of explosive bursts. Boom!! Souta pressed on, skillfully attaching webs to his surroundings. However, he suddenly halted, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Cough! Souta examined the blood on his palm, wearing a concerned frown. "This... Am I poisoned?" Souta wondered aloud, looking down at the blood in his palm. He gazed up and noticed small purple flowers blooming on the pillars around him. "Floral Poison Field... You don''t even need to inhale the poison. As long as it touches your natural energy field, you will be affected by it," Boulder Jack''s voice echoed. "You''ll start feeling numb and dizzy, and then your flesh will slowly rot. I''m quite surprised that you haven''t collapsed yet." Souta spat out the blood in his mouth and replied, "Well, I have a high resistance to poison. You won''t be able to kill me with poison." His white armor concealed his true body. Seven doppelgangers emerged from his shadow and swiftly lunged at Boulder Jack. Boulder Jack unleashed another wave of energy beams, obliterating the seven doppelgangers. Then, he raised his hand, causing several tree branches to sprout from the ground. Swoosh!! Souta leaped into the air, brandishing the red webs, slicing through the pursuing tree branches. However, the branches persisted in their chase, forcing Souta to move as quickly as possible while controlling the numerous webs he had deployed in the area. Simultaneously, Boulder Jack continued to unleash waves of energy beams. Souta couldn''t help but feel weaker. Was it due to the poison? No, the poison had only marginally lowered his abilities. Thanks to his high poison resistance, which he had developed from consuming numerous mana fruits in the past, the poison barely affected him. "This field envelops everything, suppressing all elements except earth and wood. Your elemental power might be formidable, but it faces suppression in this place," Boulder Jack explained with a smile concealed beneath his wooden mask. He then leaped into the air, clasping his hands together. "End Series... Tri Withering Trees in the Corrupting Soil." Enormous dead trees emerged from the ground, encircling Souta. Each of these trees exuded a dangerous aura that gradually expanded, transforming the solid ground into dark soil. All the webs were corroded in an instant, and the encroaching aura swiftly approached Souta. Chapter 910 Battle At The Selnes Country: Power Of The Blood Lightning Monster In Zone 5... Roar! Li Guan unleashed a roar and swung the baton in his hand. Spatial Whisperer skillfully evaded it and delivered a forceful strike to his stomach. "Your released form is rather unconventional, enabling you to exchange blows with me. Your regular form is too feeble, but this unleashed state is a different story. As expected of the descendant of the Monkey King. It''s formidable, but there must be a drawback, correct?" Spatial Whisperer launched another strike. Bang! Li Guan crashed to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Cough! Li Guan had reverted to his normal form. He breathed heavily, his body riddled with wounds. His released form was unique, a gift inherited in part from his deity. However, he couldn''t maintain it for an extended period, even though he had reached the peak of the fourth stage. While his released form allowed him to contend with opponents of higher levels, he could only sustain it for one minute, lest his monster orb shattered. No amount of training could change this limitation. Even if he were to reach the fifth stage, the same constraint would apply. His deity, the Monkey King, had explained this to him. Only upon reaching the monster lord rank could he address this issue. That''s why, during his earlier battle against the Wingless Crow expert, despite being at a disadvantage, he refrained from employing his released form. Shen Yao had even assisted him in eliminating that expert. Huff! Li Guan remained on the ground, observing Shen Yao as she battled Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer on her own. His capabilities were limited to inflicting injuries on Poisonous Vine, leaving the rest in Shen Yao''s hands. Suddenly, he widened his eyes and turned his head to the side. "This... the Blood Lightning Monster?! His aura is nearly akin to that of a fifth-stage monster! So, this is the might of the strongest fourth stage!" In Zone 10... Genzu and Black Blader halted their battle, simultaneously turning their heads in a specific direction. Both of them sensed an exceptionally oppressive energy. "This... Souta!" Genzu identified the distinct energy signature. The foreboding energy radiated in every direction. Asfrith, Adel, and the others also perceived the surging energy. They couldn''t resist turning their heads toward the location of Souta''s battle. Even their opponents directed their attention to the space above Zone 6. "This power..." "How is this possible...?" "The Blood Lightning Monster exceeded his reputation..." A few moments earlier... "I can sense that you possess skills that dampen my abilities... However, I am strong. There''s little you can do. The [Colosseum Undead Party] lowered others'' elemental powers, except for my own," Boulder Jack declared. His assault enshrouded Souta''s form, releasing a dark smoke imbued with immense energy. All the trees were reduced to ashes, and a profound silence settled over the entire area. Thud! Souta collapsed to his knees. His white armor bore multiple holes, from which blood continued to flow. Cough! Souta expelled a mouthful of blood and seated himself on the ground. His aura steadily waned, and his elemental energy appeared feeble, as if it might dissipate at any moment. Souta remained on the floor, his gaze fixed on Boulder Jack. ''Damn, I only wanted to engage in some diversion until the Tears of Divine Might appeared. Who would''ve anticipated this man using his full power right at the beginning?'' he lamented inwardly. That had been Souta''s initial strategy, but it appeared increasingly improbable now. His original intent had been to let others battle one another first, yet this individual appeared resolute in seeking his demise. "Remember, it is I, Boulder Jack, the Insanity of the Earth Tribe, who will be the one to end your life," Boulder Jack proclaimed, extending his hand toward Souta. Energy coalesced from the apertures encircling his arms, poised for a fatal strike. Souta lowered his head and smiled, retorting, "Then, you shall be the first to face your demise. Fendal couldn''t even force me to resort to this." [Monster Orb Release]! In an instant, his expression turned cold, and an overwhelming surge of energy radiated outward, enveloping the entire area. A faint silhouette of a woman materialized behind him, wielding the sword. [Possession]! The malevolent energy surged like an unrelenting tide, threatening to obliterate everything in its path. Simultaneously, two artifacts floated beside him, emanating formidable energies: the [Burning Ring Seal] and [Goblet of the Night]. "I''m done..." Souta''s voice echoed as his earrings emitted an eerie light. The mournful cries of souls filled his ears, and his aura underwent another profound transformation. Boom! A colossal sphere, merging both darkness and light, materialized above Zone 6. It engulfed the entire rocky platform and the surrounding space, consuming everything in its interplay of light and shadow. The other experts within Zone 6 found themselves on their knees, overwhelmed by the tremendous pressure. It was an oppressive force, and they struggled to maintain their composure. The soaring energy was felt by nearly everyone in the country. Within the sphere of dark and light... Souta shook the corruption from his body, his white armor swiftly repairing itself as he confronted Boulder Jack with his colossal form. Dark and light elements surged through his body, radiating in all directions. Behind him floated three artifacts, each emanating a distinct color. The [Orb of Arcane Seal] emitted a white light, the [Burning Ring Seal] radiated red, while the [Goblet of the Night] remained entirely dark. Thud! Souta took a single step forward, the floor beneath him cracking under the force. He stood before Boulder Jack, fixing him with cold, unwavering eyes. "You should consider yourself honored. That pathetic Fendal only managed to force me to utilize Blood Armor and two of my artifacts, yet you..." His voice carried a tinge of annoyance. Souta was a little bit irritated. Initially, he had no intention of killing this man. He simply wanted to bide his time and enjoy the game. After all, he knew that Blood Armor alone wouldn''t be enough to defeat Boulder Jack. Li Guan had been the first to go all out, a strategic move since he was the weakest among them. His unleashed form could only inflict injuries on his opponent to lighten the burden on Shen Yao''s shoulders. Speaking of Shen Yao, she was starting to reveal her true prowess as she battled a formidable opponent. However, the rest of the team had yet to expend their energy. Boulder Jack instinctively took a step back, his gaze locked on Souta''s transformed appearance and aura. "Y-You... How is this even possible...?" Souta raised his sword, and strands of flesh enveloped it, reshaping the blade to match his current size. His voice resounded with determination, "Do you truly wish to be the first to claim victory over a top expert in this war? Then, you shall be the first to meet your end!" Boulder Jack sensed the impending danger and swiftly retreated, causing branches of trees to sprout from the ground. Whoosh! With a single fluid motion of his blade, Souta sliced through all the branches, reducing them to fragments. He propelled himself forward with a powerful kick off the ground, closing the gap between him and the retreating Boulder Jack. Gritting his teeth, Boulder Jack knew that this monster was indeed on another level. He leaped into the air, and pillars materialized, unleashing dozens of energy beams. Souta sneered, waving his hand to manipulate hundreds of crimson webs in the area. The webs effortlessly disintegrated the energy beams, granting Souta the opportunity to continue his pursuit. In a matter of seconds, Souta caught up to Boulder Jack. He delivered a swift kick to Boulder Jack''s stomach before swinging down his sword. [Crimson Moon]! Simultaneously, the four spider limbs on Souta''s back discharged [Bestrou]. Boom! A colossal explosion rocked the entire platform, shrouding the area in smoke and dust. Whoosh! Boulder Jack emerged from the dissipating smoke, his figure coming into view. Cracks marred the surface of his right arm, which he had employed to block all of Souta''s attacks. "This can''t continue... This monster is a dire threat," he muttered to himself, his expression growing increasingly solemn. Souta''s abilities¡ªstrength, speed, energy, and skills¡ªall had undergone a tremendous enhancement. The situation was far from a joke; it bordered on the absurd. Boulder Jack halted and glanced upward, observing flames descending from above. They enveloped a vast portion of the area, leaving him with no alternative but to confront them head-on. "Even flames...? No, these flames are connected to that ring floating beside him! Damn!" Gritting his teeth, Boulder Jack braced himself as the deluge of flames descended upon his form, attempting to consume him in searing fire. "Argh... Lure Play, Hundred Flowers Corrupting Bloom!" A protective field of energy enveloped his body, mitigating the damage inflicted by the flames. Subsequently, countless flowers bloomed on the ground and ceiling, emitting an enigmatic energy. "Burn!" Souta paid no heed to the flower''s effects as he invoked the equipment skill of the [Burning Ring Seal]. Boom! In an instant, the flowers detonated simultaneously, causing the entire platform to tremble violently. Massive cracks appeared all around, and elemental forces of earth and wind burst forth from the ruptures. The dissipating smoke swiftly cleared with a sweeping wave of energy. Suspended in midair, a colossal red sphere materialized. It gradually unfurled, revealing Souta''s form within. "You persist in resisting! Your strength is truly remarkable to bring me to this point. Regrettably, your fate is sealed," Souta declared. Chapter 911 Battle At The Selnes Country: Blood Lightning Monster Vs. Boulder Jack "I have no choice but to fight..." Boulder Jack muttered to himself, clenching his teeth before he swung both of his hands. Souta brandished his sword, generating a massive energy blade in the air. Boom! Their respective attacks collided, generating intense friction in the air. Sparks scattered in all directions, and the shockwaves reverberated powerfully across the entire platform. Boulder Jack was forcibly driven back, leaving a profound gouge in the ground. A streak of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "I can hardly believe it... Even with the elemental energy suppression, he can still dominate in combat. This poses a grave challenge for me. Furthermore, the moment he activated his released form, his debuff skills began affecting me. It''s incredible... just how many debuff skills does he possess?" Boulder Jack wiped the blood from his mouth and fixed his gaze on Souta, who remained airborne. Suddenly, he sensed a spatial shift. Without hesitation, he lunged toward Souta. In the following instant, a black hole manifested in his previous location, causing massive devastation. The entire platform teetered on the brink of collapse. It was an arduous battle, but Souta''s [Black Hole] spell, bolstered by his abilities and artifacts, was a formidable force. An ordinary [Black Hole] spell would never have the capacity to destroy this platform. Despite the ongoing collapse, the platform''s restoration occurred at a rapid pace. Assorted trees and rocks seemed to materialize out of thin air, absorbing Boulder Jack''s energy to effect the repairs. Bang! Bang! Bang! Boulder Jack and Souta engaged in dozens of aerial clashes, unleashing shockwaves every second. Skills were deployed repeatedly, transforming the entire atmosphere. Dark energy, white light, and a yellowish radiance intermittently illuminated the surroundings. Boom! Boulder Jack''s form collided with one of the pillars, and he spewed a mouthful of blood. Souta, his figure enshrouded in white armor, descended to the ground. He glanced at his hand and detected a hint of blood in his mouth. ''The corruption is remarkably strong. Even in my released form, it can still affect me.'' Both of them fell prey to each other''s debuff skills. Souta possessed debuff skills such as [Negative Land], and even [Gravitational Ball] was employed as a debuff. Souta surveyed his surroundings and remarked, "This will suffice... I can work with this. It''ll serve my purpose for now." Boulder Jack raised his head, perplexed. "W-What do you mean?" "I can see that [Colosseum Undead Party] is a powerful terrain-altering spell, ranking among the top Tier 3 spells. My Black Hole may bring destruction, but the ability to self-repair is quite the asset." Souta concealed a grin beneath his armor. He extended his hand, and the hovering orb surrounding him emitted a dazzling radiance. "Let''s bring them together in this location, [Colosseum Undead Party]!" Upon uttering these words, the entire field underwent a dramatic transformation. Boom! The platform quaked forcefully as something collided with it. In an instant, a new terrain emerged in the sky, obliterating half of the platform and causing the entire field to tremble. One terrain consisted of trees and earth, while the other was composed of darkness and light. The two merged together, vying for supremacy, eroding each other, and promptly repairing themselves. Souta''s hand remained in the air, and his eyebrows lifted with a touch of surprise. "Oh, I didn''t expend any energy to cast it. It''s a real energy-saver." He smiled while marveling at the spectacle of this intricate spell. This spell bore some similarity to the spell used in Lawless City when he tried to save Cluster¡ªboth were capable of altering terrain. Well, with the activation of the effect of [Orb of Arcane Seal], he hadn''t expended any energy at all to cast this spell. If this confrontation persisted, Boulder Jack would eventually succumb to energy depletion. After all, the [Colosseum Undead Party] demanded an astronomical amount of energy. "W-What is this?!" Boulder Jack''s eyes widened considerably. He involuntarily took a step backward, sensing the elemental energy suppression. "Nothing to be astonished about," Souta remarked, grinning as he charged toward his adversary. Boulder Jack clenched his teeth in frustration. He swung both his hands, releasing hundreds of energy waves. Boom! Souta deftly evaded most of them but still caught a few energy beams. He paid no heed to the harm they inflicted and continued closing the distance to Boulder Jack. Souta could discern it. He observed Boulder Jack''s dwindling energy reserve. Only a quarter remained, indicating that Boulder Jack wouldn''t be able to sustain this level of combat for much longer. Souta extended his finger and invoked [Black Hole]. Boulder Jack maneuvered away from it while launching barrages of energy beams. Boom! Boom! Souta manipulated the [Black Hole] spell to control Boulder Jack''s movements. He gradually drew his opponent nearer with each passing second. Boulder Jack couldn''t afford to confront additional black holes as he had before; the circumstances had shifted. Ultimately, Boulder Jack found himself positioned just twenty meters away from Souta. "No!" Boulder Jack''s eyes widened in realization. Souta propelled himself through the air, simultaneously weaving a web of red strings. Ohm!! The crimson strands moved and converged, enveloping the area around the two combatants like a cage. [Darkness Bite]!! In an instant, darkness erupted with tremendous force. Souta had already repositioned himself behind Boulder Jack. He seized the webs, gazing back at his opponent. "You managed to evade a fatal blow!" Ugh! Boulder Jack wore a grim expression. He hadn''t entirely dodged the attack; he had narrowly avoided a lethal strike to his heart or head. However, in doing so, his right hand had been nearly severed. Souta narrowed his eyes and swiftly advanced. The webs constricted, reducing the available space for the confrontation. They were now compelled to engage in close-quarters combat. "Fucking hell!! Perish with me, you monster!!" Boulder Jack bellowed, facing Souta with unyielding resolve in his eyes. His energy surged, piercing through the webs and causing the platform to tremble. Then, a radiant light emanated throughout the battlefield. "You...?! You''re altering your magic circle! If you fail, it''ll end you!" Souta''s eyes widened. "That''s precisely what I desire!" Boulder Jack grinned before spitting out a mouthful of blood. Swoosh! At that moment, Souta surged forward, positioning a blade against Boulder Jack''s neck. Blood spurted out of Boulder Jack''s neck. Simultaneously, Souta promptly retreated, enveloping himself in a blend of blood and webs. However, it was too late. The entire magic circle crumbled, bathing the surroundings in an intense light. Boom!! An immense explosion rocked the area. The repercussions of incorrectly modifying a Tier 3 magic circle were cataclysmic. The violent energy propagated in all directions, breaching the dark and light sphere. The earth quaked intensely, with shockwaves rippling outward at high velocity, followed by a powerful gale. All across the nation, people witnessed the explosion above Zone 6. A sphere of ferocious energy, spanning five kilometers in diameter, laid waste to everything in its path. It was utter annihilation. Zone 10... Genzu was locked in combat with Black Blader when the sudden surge of energy momentarily forced both combatants to halt. Genzu shifted his gaze, narrowing his eyes. ''Grain Leader Souta''s battle has come to an end...'' he silently contemplated. Similar realizations swept over the other top experts engaged in battles across various zones. Observing the explosion, they instinctively grasped that a confrontation had reached its conclusion. Asfrith, Adel, Shen Yao, Naruse, and the other elites couldn''t help but grow somber. Of all the top-tier experts within the country, the first one had fallen. As for the identity of the fallen warrior, they couldn''t ascertain it due to the blurring effects of the intense energy. Moreover, their distance from the epicenter prevented them from making a confirmation. Kasci and his opponent, who went by the name Ice Death, also cast their attention toward the explosion. Ice Death''s eyes flickered as he watched the explosion. "It seems their battle has concluded... with a casualty." As the explosion gradually subsided, a dense veil of smoke enveloped the entire area. Occasional energy sparks flickered, though less intensely than before. Finally, the top experts were able to discern who had survived and who had perished. Kasci turned to face Ice Death, a smile touching his lips. "It appears one of you has met their end just now. That leaves nine of you." "Indeed, Boulder Jack put up quite a fight, but him dying doesn''t mean that you''ve already won this war." Ice Death concisely replied. A hushed whoosh emanated from the midst of the dissipating smoke. Within it, a sphere formed of blood and webs gradually disintegrated into nothingness. Souta let out a breath as he assessed his surroundings. Boulder Jack''s demise had been confirmed. There was no conceivable way he could have survived, having sustained a fatal neck wound and destroyed his own magic circle. Souta leisurely emerged from the remnants of the smoke, gazing down at the location of the device in the heart of the nation. All eyes were on him. The Blood Lightning Monster had vanquished a top expert from the Army of Gluttony. The first top-tier expert had fallen in this ongoing war. Chapter 912 Battle at the Selnes Country: Traitor Souta checked the system''s timer and noted that there were only fifteen minutes left. The [Burning Ring Seal] floated in front of him, and from it erupted a roaring sea of flames, surging toward the location of the device housing the Cancelling Rune. The blazing conflagration streaked through the sky, capturing the attention of thousands of onlookers below. Whoosh! Abruptly, a figure materialized before the approaching flames, extending both hands to envelop the inferno with a formidable energy, halting its advance. The figure was a woman shrouded in a black cloak, beneath which she wore striking crimson attire. Her tall, imposing frame measured seven feet, and her red eyes burned with intensity. Long scarlet hair fluttered in the wind, and a dark blue beret, adorned with red jade, graced her head. Her hands were encased in gloves of a deep crimson hue. Souta arched an eyebrow upon seeing the woman''s arrival. "Red Mist... a name known far and wide, I presume. It''s clear you won''t allow me to destroy that device without a fight." "Blood Lightning Monster, you stand no chance alone... With me guarding the device, you will not succeed," Red Mist responded with icy resolve. Souta didn''t immediately launch an attack. He recognized Red Mist''s formidable reputation and understood her strength, even without witnessing her in combat. After all, she was famous like Anti Mage in the game. In this time period, she might be weaker, but she should still surpass Boulder Jack. "Who said I''m handling this alone?" Souta replied with a smile, gesturing downward. "See those warriors down there? They''re responsible for destroying that device. I can entrust that task to them. My role is to ensure you don''t disrupt their mission." Souta cast a brief glance at the system timer, realizing the gravity of the situation. ''If they can''t destroy it, I''ll do whatever it takes to ensure it''s destroyed before the time runs out. However, it won''t be easy with her in the way.'' he thought. Red Mist''s lips curled into a faint smile as she responded, "Oh, so you intend to thwart me? I thought it was the other way around¡ª that I was preventing you. After all, you''ve just defeated Boulder Jack. It seems you hold me in high regard." Her long crimson hair billowed in the wind as her energy surged. Flames began to dance around her, and the temperature soared rapidly. ... Alice led the charge with her spear as if it were a streak of lightning, piercing through the enemy ranks with lethal precision. Eilish remained at the rear, alongside other mages from the Athens'' Champion, ready to unleash powerful spells when the opportune moment arose. "We''re closing in," Alice remarked as she cast a determined gaze ahead. A colossal pillar of light stretched upwards, connecting to the barrier overhead, and it stood just a short two kilometers from their current position. While the distance seemed trivial given their formidable abilities, the enemies guarding it were bound to pose a formidable challenge. "We''ll break through their defenses," Alice declared resolutely. With a powerful sweep of her spear, she cut down enemies left and right, leaving them sprawled on the ground like fallen grass. Leilus, Drami, Sekmet, Marcus, Paolo, and others trailed behind her, all now Shackled Realm experts in their own right. Their strength and battle-hardened experience allowed them to keep up with the intense combat. They had faced numerous life-and-death situations in the past, forging them into formidable warriors ready for this crucial battle. Whoosh! Suddenly, Alice jumped back and thrust her spear forward. Her spear emitted a faint glow, and a blade of light appeared, swiftly intercepting her opponent''s attack. Alice narrowed her eyes but didn''t cease her assault. She executed her spear skills with precision, thrusting multiple times at her adversary. Clang! Clang! Clang! The exchange of blows continued for several rounds until the Blue Cross Squad joined in. Together, they fought as a unit for a minute before finally defeating the Three Shackle expert. Alice knew she could have eventually defeated the opponent on her own, but time was of the essence, so cooperation was vital. "We should keep moving." The group continued to advance, encountering dozens of enemy forces blocking their path. Fortunately, their numbers weren''t overwhelming, likely due to ongoing battles in other parts of the battlefield. The warriors of Athen''s Champion pressed on, determined to reach their objective and break through the barrier. Clang! Clang! The battle intensified with each passing moment, and casualties mounted on both sides. The conflict showed no signs of stopping unless one side emerged victorious. Eventually, the group found themselves drawing closer to the device. Alice and her companions laid eyes on it, a triangular object slowly rotating at the center of a massive circle. Below it, an elevated platform was adorned with various materials, emitting the blinding light. "Eilish!" Alice called out, her gaze locked onto the device. "On it!" Eilish leaped forward and aimed her staff at the object. A magic circle formed beneath her feet, and a sharp jet of water shot towards the device. Swoosh! However, just as the attack was about to strike the object, a figure materialized and intercepted her, preventing the attack from destroying the device. A man radiating the aura of a Three Shackles Realm appeared. He pointed his sword menacingly at Alice and her companions and ordered, "Go! Kill them!" Several figures surged forward, charging at the group. Alice wore a grim expression looking at this. ... Zone 2, a region under the rule of the Windi Clan. Schine walked with a solemn expression towards the Windi Clan''s household. His destination wasn''t the pillar of light where the device was situated; he had another purpose for returning to his clan''s abode. He passed through the barrier without acknowledging the clan''s soldiers. Most of the clan''s experts had joined the ongoing war, leaving only a handful of individuals behind. Finally, he reached the basement. Inside, Schine found a lone figure standing in front of a palm-sized, glowing white sphere. This figure was all too familiar to him. "Edmar... What have you done?" Schine''s voice trembled with a mix of anger and sorrow. The figure turned around, revealing the youthful face of a young man. With short blonde hair, smooth skin, and piercing blue eyes, he was Edmar Windi, Schine''s own child. "Father..." Edmar whispered as he met his father''s gaze. "Edmar, how did you come to know about the existence of that orb?" Schine inquired, his voice retaining a note of composure. "Father, you can''t hide everything from me, especially if it concerns our clan," Edmar responded. "Why did you do it? Why did you open the barrier and allow those people to destroy our country?" Schine''s voice was laced with disappointment and frustration. "Are you certain that it''s me?" Edmar''s face contorted with emotion as he stared at his father. Schine remained composed. "Then, why are you here?" he asked calmly. "You!" Edmar''s teeth clenched, and he shook his head before bursting into laughter. "Hahaha, Father, why? Why didn''t you listen to me? We should have destroyed this barrier long ago! Why? Why are you confining us to this small space?" His expression bordered on madness as his aura surged, creating a powerful gust of wind that shook the entire basement. "The restraint of the Five Master Clans! The All Filter Barrier Formation! It''s a prison, keeping us locked away here! I refuse to remain trapped and stagnate forever! I want to venture out and explore the world! Why? Why does this barrier persist? It''s holding us back! It''s the reason none of us can reach the Hero Realm! It stifles our potential! This abominable thing must be obliterated! I''ve had enough of it!" Edmar''s voice echoed in the chamber as his aura continued to intensify. Schine calmly advanced, his measured steps deliberate as he addressed his son. "Do you understand that this barrier has protected us all this time? It prevented the invasion of neighboring countries. They''ve coveted our land, but this barrier deterred them. It''s the last protection granted by our god." "Protection from our god?! That''s nonsense! Our god imprisoned us in this forsaken land known as Selnes Country! We need to shatter it!" Edmar shouted, his voice filled with fervor. "Patriarch Hoei proposed it as well! We can''t remain stagnant! Why can''t you see that?" Schine shook his head slowly, his expression resolute. "It appears that my words won''t reach you. Regardless, you''ve allied yourself with our enemies, putting our country in peril. I will not act blindly in response to your actions." "You intend to kill me? Then, try it!" Edmar roared, charging towards his father. Schine raised both hands, gathering the wind''s power within his palms. "This is the legacy of our ancestors. Do you comprehend what it means to break through under these circumstances? My son, you''ve been misled by those individuals." As Edmar and Schine clashed, their strikes created a shockwave, causing the confined space to tremble, and the basement itself to crumble under the force of their battle. Boom! A colossal explosion rocked the Windi Clan''s stronghold. Chapter 913 Battle at the Selnes Country: Schine vs. Edmar "Boom!" A massive explosion erupted. It was followed by dozens of tornadoes appearing out of nowhere. The wind currents were so strong that they uprooted nearly every tree and house in the surrounding area. If not for the protective barrier within the Windi Clan''s household, the damage it caused would have been much worse. Schine''s feet slid on the floor as he stared at his son in shock. His son had pushed him back? "Edmar, you...!" Schine couldn''t believe what he was witnessing. Had his son reached his level? "Are you surprised, father?" Edmar grinned maniacally. His expression was unrecognizable. "There''s no need to be surprised. Today, I break free from the shackles of the Five Master Clans! I will destroy this land that you wanted to protect so dearly!" Edmar laughed as he charged at his father once again. "Edmar, you''re insane," Schine said as he waved his hand, commanding a huge tornado and hurling it at his son. Boom! The barriers around the household of the Windi Clan started to show cracks. The devices and cores that maintained these barriers were affected by their battle, so it was natural that this would happen. All the other members of the Windi Clan had already retreated upon witnessing their young master and patriarch engaged in combat. Just as Schine prepared to attack once again, he noticed several figures in the surrounding area. "Hmm...?" Schine narrowed his eyes, noticing that these individuals were wearing dark cloaks adorned with the insignia of the Deadly Sins. "Edmar, you... you''re really cooperating with these people," he said in a hushed voice. "It''s nothing, father. I will break the curse in our bloodline," Edmar declared as he held a white orb in his hand and tossed it into the air. Whoosh! The people quickly moved to grab the white orb. Seeing this, Schine dashed forward to prevent them from taking the object. "No!" Edmar smiled before he lunged forward, delivering a powerful punch to his father. Bang! Schine''s figure crashed to the ground, leaving a deep gash. He spat out a mouthful of blood and stood, facing his son. The experts wearing black cloaks immediately left the area after securing the orb, leaving Edmar alone with Schine. Schine ignored the departing experts, knowing that he couldn''t do anything to them with his son blocking his way. He turned his attention to Edmar and asked, "You let those people take the core of the All Filter Barrier Formation...? Son, you can still turn back now. This is your homeland. Haven''t you felt any attachment to it?" Edmar glanced at his father coldly. "I love this country, and I won''t deny it, father. But this place suffocated me! It feels like I''m in a massive prison! For decades, I''ve watched people come and go from this land, yet I couldn''t do the same. It''s making me yearn to go outside! I''m tired of this life!" Schine shook his head. "You don''t understand, son. The significance of our barrier. It''s been said that only a god could break the All Filter Barrier Formation. That''s true, but at the same time, it''s not. The barrier wouldn''t break even if it were attacked by a god. That''s why the neighboring large countries near our land never dared to invade us in the past. Our god, the Isolated Formation God, is no ordinary deity." "You haven''t told me anything! You''ve been keeping everything a secret, and now you''re telling me I don''t understand? You''re right, it''s because you''ve been keeping your mouth shut!" Edmar said angrily. "I had planned to reveal the truth after you became the patriarch, but it''s futile now... You''ve betrayed our country. The patriarchs of the Five Master Clans all swore oaths they couldn''t break," Schine said calmly. His aura intensified, and the winds blew stronger. Edmar narrowed his eyes, preparing himself for the worst. His father was about to get serious. Whoosh! Both of their auras collided, causing sharp winds to spread throughout the entire area. In the next moment, both of their figures disappeared. The two clashed repeatedly in midair, sending sharp winds in every direction. Boom! Boom! Schine didn''t hold back at all. He kept unleashing powerful skills, yet to his surprise, his son could actually repel them. Edmar had hidden his strength well. Perhaps Schine should have noticed it sooner, but he had placed too much trust in his son. Edmar was his child, so it was natural for him to trust him. There was nothing wrong with that. The two continued to exchange fierce blows, causing the entire terrain to change. The household of the Windi Clan had almost collapsed. The only thing keeping it intact was the protective runes and barriers placed all over the area. "Our god died long ago, and he imprisoned us in this place!" Edmar roared. He raised his hand, and a saber appeared, with strong winds swirling around the blade. At the same time, his elemental power spread out, enveloping the whole area. [Element Drive: Wind Force]! Seeing this scene, Schine also activated his [Element Drive]. He jumped away and waved his hand. Whoosh! Several pieces of yellow paper floated around him, each adorned with strange symbols. "[Seal: Tiger]! [Seal: Boar]! [Seal: Snake]!" Three of the yellow papers emitted a dazzling white light. "The Windi Clan is the guardian of the seal! We are the masters of the seal in this country!" Schine declared as he pressed his palm downward. A colossal figure of a tiger materialized in the air, its body composed entirely of pure energy. The tiger rushed toward Edmar, opening its mouth wide. ROAR! Just as it was about to swallow Edmar, he swung his saber downward. The energy he had gathered burst out like a tidal wave, colliding with the massive tiger. Boom! Edmar was pushed back several meters, feeling a numbing sensation in his arm. The power of that seal exceeded his expectations. He gritted his teeth in anger. Suddenly, he glanced downward and leaped away, but it was already too late. A colossal, semi-transparent snake, composed entirely of pure energy, coiled itself around him, cutting off all of his escape routes. Despite its transparency, he could still see what was happening outside. Grr! Edmar felt a taste of blood in his mouth. The snake was trying to crush him into meat paste. ... In the heart of the nation, where the device was located, Alice was engaged in a battle against a Three Shackle expert. Eilish found herself in a similar situation, locked in combat with another Three Shackle expert. Leilus and the Blue Cross Squad had no option but to advance while fending off several Two and One Shackle experts. "This won''t get us anywhere," Drami muttered. "I''ll attempt to create an opening. You all should focus on breaking through," Leilus said. Drami, Marcus, Sekmet, and Paolo nodded in agreement. Leilus gathered energy on his blade and lunged forward. With a sweeping slash of his sword, a violent surge of cold energy erupted from his blade. Swoosh! The enemies tried to evade, but Leilus''s attack was aimed at the device, leaving them no choice but to defend against it. Just as they prepared to counter, several figures dashed through the ensuing smoke. Sekmet and Marcus flanked both sides, while Drami and Paolo charged ahead toward the device. Suddenly, a tremendous blast of energy descended from above, its force so powerful that it propelled everyone hundreds of meters away. Argh! Ugh! Drami, Paolo, Sekmet, and Marcus crashed into nearby buildings. Boom! Alice paused, turning her head. "No... Another Three Shackle expert...!" With the unexpected arrival of another Three Shackle expert, the group found themselves at a significant disadvantage. How should she handle this? The situation was dire. "Alice!" Eilish''s voice echoed. Alice snapped back to consciousness, wracked with extreme pain in her stomach. Her form transformed into a stream of light as she crashed into the ground, creating a massive crater. Ugh! She spat out a mouthful of blood as she forced herself to stand. Gazing upward, she spotted a lightning beam hurtling toward her. Swiftly, she shifted to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly bolt. Boom! However, the shockwave from the explosion still managed to send her several meters away. "Alice, we''re not alone! Focus on your opponent in front of you!" Eilish''s voice echoed once more. Alice glanced at Eilish, who was locked in battle with a Three Shackle expert. She understood the message and turned her head. There, she witnessed warriors from Asgard, Aaru, and other factions engaging the enemies on the opposing side. Most importantly, they were steadily drawing closer. Just minutes ago, these warriors had been several kilometers away. "They''re here, but what about Drami and the others? They can''t match a Three Shackle expert. The worst-case scenario is they''re surrounded by several One and Two Shackle opponents." Alice muttered to herself, tightening her grip on the spear. She shifted her full attention to her opponent, and her elemental power surged, causing strings of flesh to envelop her body. Chapter 914 Battle at the Selnes Country: Fight to destroy the device Eilish was exhausted, her breath heavy, and her forehead drenched in sweat. She glanced left and right. "I''m tired... My mana is almost depleted. I''ve used all my potions," Eilish said between breaths. She realized that she needed to create an opportunity before she collapsed. With her remaining strength, she knew she could still do it. Swoosh! On the other side, Alice was locked in combat with her opponent, a Three Shackles veteran who was keeping her at bay. She pushed the parasite to its limits to gain an advantage, but she recognized that defeating her opponent was proving difficult. It would likely take a few more minutes to secure a victory, and by then, it might already be too late. Leilus, Drami, Sekmet, Marcus, and Paolo wouldn''t be able to hold out much longer, given the relentless assault by several experts. Meanwhile, the other warriors were occupied with the officers of the Deadly Sins, which explained why Alice and her group hadn''t been overwhelmed by enemies. The fierce battle raged on. Hundreds of experts had perished, their energies slowly dissipating. The ground was stained with blood, and flesh littered the battlefield. The overpowering stench of blood tainted the atmosphere, making it sickening. The relentless combat turned this place into a grinding machine. Battle cries of all kinds echoed across the battlefield, mingling with the cacophony of explosions. The once-proud towering structures in the city now lay in ruins. The Blue Cross Squad found themselves in dire straits. The formidable experts trying to eliminate them were relentless, leaving the squad no option but to focus on passive defense, unable to mount a counterattack. A Three Shackles Realm expert moved swiftly, sending Marcus hurtling away. The protective barrier around him shattered, and he crashed heavily to the ground. Ugh! Marcus coughed up a substantial amount of blood as his vision blurred. "Marcus!" Drami shouted, desperate to reach her lover, but Leilus and the others held her back. "Don''t go!" Sekmet said in a serious tone. "We can''t move recklessly!" Leilus emphasized. He raised both of his hands and channeled a significant amount of energy into the barrier. "Conserve your strength! We''ll find a way to destroy that thing! Our comrades are keeping most of the enemies occupied! It''s our turn to take action!" Paolo glanced at Leilus and admitted, "I can''t hold on much longer. I won''t be able to assist you in maintaining the barrier." Leilus turned to his friend, took a deep breath, and focused on the enemies attacking the shell-like barrier. "I''ll count to three. Then, we''ll disperse the barrier and move in different directions. Our objective is the device. We are warriors of Olympus!" Leilus declared firmly. Suddenly, a massive explosion occurred, prompting everyone to turn their heads. Boom!! A mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke billowed a hundred meters above the ground, while a sea of flames spread out. "Eilish!" Alice, who was on the opposite side, widened her eyes. She tightened her grip on the spear and propelled herself into the air. Swoosh!! Not only Alice but also the Four Shackles experts engaged in aerial combat turned their attention to the ground battlefield. They all witnessed a powerful explosion that obliterated dozens of experts. A dozen One or Two Shackles experts wouldn''t have posed much of a threat to them individually, but the situation was different this time. Ugh! Eilish spat out a mouthful of blood. She was in a sorry state, her entire left arm badly burned, her natural defenses shattered, and now in a vulnerable state. A Three Shackle expert stared at her with crazed eyes. "Y-You... You didn''t care about yourself at all?!" Eilish forced a smile onto her face. "No, I sacrificed my arm to free some of our warriors. I can repair it later." Eilish was the one responsible for that explosion. She cleverly redirected her opponent''s attack toward the targeted area. However, she knew this alone wouldn''t suffice. That''s why she disregarded her own safety, channeling her energy into the enemy''s energy beam to amplify it. This action, in turn, burnt her entire left arm, and the potential consequences of failure would have been dire. "Y-You...! I''ll kill you now!" The Three Shackles expert clenched his teeth and lunged at her. Eilish responded, "I''m not your opponent anymore." As soon as she uttered those words, a strand of flesh wound itself around her feet. In the next instant, it pulled her to the ground, causing her opponent to turn his head. What he witnessed was a figure cloaked in a mass of flesh. This figure was still locked in combat with another Three Shackles expert, but he could see a strand of flesh connecting it to Eilish. The figure shrouded in the mass of flesh was Alice. "You!!" His anger flared. He was about to pursue her when he sensed several fluctuations behind him. Boom!! He turned his head and saw several figures rushing toward him. The explosion had enabled this group of warriors to defeat their opponents, and now they were ready to join the fight. Boom!! Boom!! The sound of explosions resonated throughout the surroundings. Alice stepped back, cradling Eilish. Eilish was visibly exhausted and likely unable to continue fighting. Nevertheless, her efforts had significantly contributed to helping the other warriors eliminate their opponents. In that explosion, a total of eleven One Shackle experts and four Two Shackles experts had perished. Even a Three Shackles expert was left injured, providing an opportunity for a warrior from Aaru to end their lives. "We have a chance..." Alice murmured to herself. She glanced at Eilish and inquired, "How are you feeling?" "I''m fine... I just have a little energy left," Eilish replied. Alice nodded and focused on the expert blocking her path. She whispered, "Keep this guy occupied for a few seconds, and I''ll move to free the Blue Cross Squad." "How do you plan to do that?" Eilish inquired. "I''ll accompany the warriors from Aaru. They''ll advance to destroy the device, but some of the Two Shackles experts surrounding the Blue Cross Squad will obstruct their path," Alice explained in a hushed tone. "I see... The Blue Cross Squad''s pressure will ease with the arrival of the Aaru warriors, and you''ll seize the opportunity to engage the Three Shackles expert ahead," Eilish comprehended Alice''s plan. "Yes... Can you buy me some time?" Alice asked. "Of course, I can manage for at least ten seconds. My mana is running low, and my natural defenses are shattered," Eilish replied. "That''s enough," Alice affirmed. "I''ll create a diversion." Upon saying those words, Alice brandished her spear, causing the temperature to plummet. A potent blizzard swept across the land, and enormous ice boulders descended from the sky. Her opponent frowned as he witnessed her use this skill, tightly gripping his sword as flames burst forth, clashing with the blizzard. Bang!! The ice boulders melted, giving rise to a veil of steam. From within the steam emerged a figure that launched an attack on the man. Alice''s opponent was taken aback, for the figure wasn''t Alice but Eilish. "I''m your opponent!" Eilish roared as she swung her staff down. Swoosh!! On the opposite side of the battlefield, the pressure on the Blue Cross Squad had significantly diminished. The several Two Shackles experts who had been attacking their barrier were now gone. However, a greater threat had finally arrived in their midst. It was the Three Shackles expert. "Go!" Leilus shouted. Paolo, Drami, and Sekmet promptly ceased providing energy to the barrier. Simultaneously, the Three Shackles expert launched a fierce assault. Bang! The attack came too swiftly, and the barrier crumbled without any resistance. Leilus lunged at the enemy with a determined look on his face. "Go! Scatter!" he commanded. The Three Shackles expert widened his eyes as he witnessed Drami, Sekmet, and Paolo being propelled in different directions. He quickly grasped their plan. He seized Leilus'' weapon and delivered a powerful blow to his abdomen. Then, he struck him in the face, sending Leilus flying several meters away. Ugh! Leilus couldn''t even react; he was propelled away in an instant. Bang! The Three Shackles expert paid no further attention to Leilus. He turned and pursued the nearest target. "None of you will escape from this place alive!" His speed was astonishing. In less than a second, he caught up with Drami. Drami recognized the imminent danger, but it was already too late. The man had already initiated his attack. Bang! Bang! Drami coughed up a mouthful of blood as excruciating pain overwhelmed her body. She felt her bones crack under the relentless assault, with ripples in the air converging toward her. The man delivered ten strikes in rapid succession before launching her toward the ground. Boom!! Drami''s body plummeted to the earth like a meteor, creating a substantial crater upon impact. Chapter 915 Battle at the Selnes Country: Isolated Formation God In zone 6... Souta slightly turned his head, observing the distant collision. He descended to the ground and faced Red Mist. He knew that Alice and the others were close to the device, so he didn''t need to intervene. Souta had confidence in their abilities; he had trained them to become strong allies in battles like this. Their preparations were not in vain. ''I need to get ready. The moment the device is destroyed is the moment I''ll take action. There''s something off about this arrangement, so I must plan ahead,'' Souta thought to himself as he focused on fending off Red Mist''s casual attacks. Bang! Bang! Red Mist retreated momentarily, wearing an amused expression as she said, "Oh, you''re not giving it your all. Is it because dealing with Boulder Jack took a toll on you?" "It''s not a big issue. Just a minor inconvenience," Souta replied with a smile before charging forward. Boom!! Inside the household of the Windi Clan... Edmar and Schine continued their fierce battle, nearly transforming the entire territory into a desolate wasteland. Their conflict, while not as attention-grabbing as Souta''s or Shen Yao''s battles, raged within the confines of the Windi Clan''s protective dome-like barrier. This barrier effectively contained the shockwaves and energy emanating from their clash. Edmar roared as he broke free from the suppressive seal that sought to restrain him. With a wave of his hand, an ancient script materialized before him. "[Seal: Dragon''s Suppression]!!" A dragon-like figure manifested behind Edmar and swiftly charged toward Schine. Schine widened his eyes upon witnessing this spectacle. "I didn''t anticipate that you would master our sealing techniques to this extent. However, our clan''s expertise isn''t limited to sealing alone; we are also adept in the art of unsealing." Stepping back, Schine formed a complex pattern with his fingers. A tiger, boar, and ox materialized behind him, all composed of mana and winds. The four energy constructs clashed fiercely in the air. Boom!! Simultaneously, Edmar charged toward his father. Schine narrowed his eyes, taking a step back, but Edmar''s speed continued to accelerate. In a mere second, Edmar stood before Schine. Winds coalesced in his hands as he hurled them toward his father, forcing Schine into close-quarter combat. "Father, you adhere to the teachings of our god, which have kept us imprisoned in this land! I merely seek to break free from this confinement!" Edmar''s face seethed with anger. He felt stifled within the land his father called home. Edmar advanced, deftly avoiding his father''s fist. He then contorted his body to launch a kick simultaneously. Schine made a swift gesture in the air, causing Edmar''s world to twist and his kick to land on empty air. The next moment, a fist was inches from Edmar''s face. Swoosh!! Edmar tilted his head to the side, generating a wind pressure that deflected his father''s punch to the side. He swiftly rotated in mid-air, seizing his father''s wrist. Bang!! Schine swiftly maneuvered his elbow, sending Edmar hurling several meters away. "Huh?" Schine inspected his hand, realizing that he could neither move nor feel his left hand any longer. A peculiar symbol within his left hand glowed ominously. "A seal..." Schine murmured, his eyes narrowing in understanding. Meanwhile, Edmar, who had been blown away, chuckled as he wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. "Father, you still refuse to tell me everything. Ehe, then watch as the beloved country you hold dear descends into the flames of war. Today marks the day I break free from this prison." Edmar laughed manically. Boom!! A massive explosion erupted above them, signaling the dispersal of the dragon conjured by Edmar''s seal. Schine remained composed, his gaze fixed on his son. He raised his right hand, causing the three beasts to transform into three small energy spheres that flew into his palm. "Didn''t I mention before that our clan specializes not only in sealing techniques but also in the art of unsealing?" Schine remarked. Schine pressed the three energy spheres into his left hand, causing the enigmatic symbol that had sealed his hand to gradually fade away. Edmar glanced at his father and replied, "Yes, you did, but what do you intend to do? Are you planning to seal me, Father? My mission is complete. The core and our clan''s artifact are both gone." "The clan artifact? You mean the [Seal of Bhumain]..." Schine''s eyes narrowed. "You even handed the clan''s artifact over to our enemies. You''ve fallen to a disgraceful depth, my son." The [Seal of Bhumain] held immense significance within their clan, possessing potent sealing abilities and symbolizing the Windi Clan''s authority in the country. "Let me share something intriguing with you. Today, this nation shall fall, and..." Edmar smiled, pointing a finger skyward. "The true objective lies in the All-Filter Barrier Formation. The cores are an integral part of it, specifically the five cores of this formation. Ours holds the utmost importance, as we are entrusted with its guardianship. However, I''ve received a piece of information ¨C our god, the Isolated Formation God, is an ancient entity." Schine maintained a stoic silence, his gaze unwavering on his son. "It''s all interconnected, Father! The Deadly Sins provided me with information that our god has existed since the dawn of the gods! They claim that the Isolated Formation God was involved with various powerful entities that were sealed in this land, including the No God Emperor!" Edmar laughed manically. "I had no prior knowledge of the No God Emperor; I only discovered its existence when the Deadly Sins divulged this information to me. But judging by your expression..." Edmar gazed deep into his father''s eyes and slowly continued, "You must have been aware, right? Your lack of surprise says it all. You must know what they''re seeking." Schine advanced with a somber demeanor. "That''s enough. Those individuals are ignorant about our god." "You!! Father!!" Edmar ground his teeth and lunged forward. "Why won''t you reveal everything to me?! You''re still clinging to the past!!" Schine raised both of his hands, channeling his energy to conjure a sharp gust of wind. Edmar sidestepped the attack skillfully. Then, he raised his right foot and delivered a powerful kick. Bang! Bang! Bang! Father and son clashed relentlessly, engaging in a flurry of powerful blows exchanged thousands of times. Neither of them yielded, and the intense battle raged on. Blood spurted between the two of them as their fists continued to land heavily, and their energies fluctuated wildly, causing winds to gather and form dozens of tornadoes in the vicinity. Boom! Edmar attempted to seal his father''s body, but Schine, an expert in unsealing techniques, deftly countered almost everything his son hurled at him. "The Isolated Formation God is entwined in numerous events, isn''t it, Father?! That''s why it perished in the incident hundreds of years ago! You''ve been alive since then, so I''m certain you know the truth!" Edmar roared. Schine remained silent as he struggled to fend off most of his son''s relentless attacks. He was finding it increasingly difficult to keep up. With each passing second, his reactions slowed. Ugh! Gritting his teeth, Schine absorbed a blow to his shoulder. His shoulder was sealed, but he quickly unsealed it using his technique. Gradually, he began to back away. Edmar noticed it and smiled widely. "You''ve grown weak, Father." A massive blade made of wind materialized in his hand, and he swung it at Schine. [Aero Demolition Seal]!! Schine took a step back, crossing his hands and forming a strange gesture with his fingers. The power of the wind gathered in front of him, manifesting as a protective turtle shell. Bang!! The sword collided with the shell, unleashing a tremendous gust of wind. Suddenly, Schine sensed something was amiss. He turned his head to the side and saw another figure. It was Edmar. ''A clone...?'' Schine''s eyes widened, but before he could comprehend what was truly happening, thousands of needles materialized in the air. In an instant, the needles pierced through Schine''s body, rendering the turtle shell''s protection ineffective. Ugh! Schine spat a mouthful of blood and felt a numbing sensation across his body. Edmar materialized at his side and delivered a powerful kick to his stomach. Schine''s body crashed onto the ground. He strained to open his eyes and saw two figures floating in the air, both resembling Edmar. "How...?" Schine questioned, his gaze fixed on his son. Edmar laughed and responded, "It''s quite simple. You underestimated my sealing abilities, Father. I sealed my appearance within this doll, and with my elemental powers, I controlled it. Simultaneously, I sealed a portion of my energy inside this doll." "You did this while we were fighting?" Schine inquired. "Yes, you didn''t even notice it. That''s why I said you''ve grown weaker. When was the last time you fought someone? You haven''t trained in the past decades. I''ve observed you and all the clan heads; you''ve relied too heavily on the All-Filter Barrier Formation!" Edmar explained. He raised his hand slowly, unleashing a massive wave of energy from his palm. Boom!! A massive explosion resonated, shaking the entire landscape. Schine was forcefully thrown back, tumbling across the rugged terrain, his form now stained with blood. "You never anticipated that I could overcome you, did you?" Edmar grinned, and the duplicate figure beside him dissipated into nothingness. "You can remain here and witness as I shatter the barrier that has confined us." Chapter 916 Battle at the Selnes Country: Death of Schine Edmar looked down at his father''s battered form, then shifted his gaze to the barrier enveloping the Windi Clan''s household. "This time... There will be no more barrier," Edmar muttered as he landed beside his father, who lay in a pitiful state. Schine summoned the last of his strength to open his eyes. He fixed his gaze on his son and uttered with great effort, "Our god didn''t imprison us... It was an oath we made for our survival..." Edmar''s mind swirled with confusion at his father''s cryptic words. The revelation that their god hadn''t imprisoned them, but rather, they had bound themselves by an oath for survival, left him with more questions than answers. Desperate for clarity, he leaned closer to Schine, hoping to uncover the truth, even as his father''s life rapidly ebbed away. "What do you mean, Father? What oath are you referring to?" Edmar asked urgently, his heart pounding as Schine''s life slipped away. Despite the excruciating pain coursing through his body and blood spewing from his seven orifices, Schine summoned his last ounce of strength to speak. "Our god... save us from the... impending doom... discovered the t-truth... a... byss... curse... the... I-Imperium... is silent... after the... calamity..." With great effort, Schine managed to speak these cryptic words before drawing his final breath. As black blood slowly enveloped his lifeless body, Edmar watched the bewildering scene unfold with a furrowed brow. What had just occurred? He hadn''t taken any action, yet his father had inexplicably met his end. Moreover, an eerie and foreboding aura hung in the atmosphere, causing Edmar to shiver slightly. Just what had transpired with the Isolated Formation God? Edmar couldn''t help but ponder, realizing that the information he possessed remained incomplete, and even the intelligence provided by the Deadly Sins had yet to unravel the enigma surrounding the Isolated Formation God. Bang! As the barrier cracked and the shockwave echoed through the area, a shadow descended upon the ground behind Edmar. Slowly turning his head, he cast his gaze upon the silhouette shrouded in the dissipating smoke. "This energy signature..." Edmar''s eyes narrowed in recognition. A figure emerged from the clearing smoke, revealing his distinct appearance. The young man had striking white hair that gradually transitioned into a deep blue at the tips. Clad in gleaming silver armor, his cold and penetrating black eyes remained fixed upon Edmar. "Hoei Methal..." Edmar whispered the name of the young man. Before him stood Hoei Methal, the Patriarch of the Methal Clan. Hoei glanced at the lifeless body beside Edmar and uttered, "It seems I arrived too late. Breaking through the barrier took me longer than anticipated. Edmar, you''ve embarked upon an irreversible path. You''ve slain your own father." "Let''s not rush to conclusions, shall we? While I did engage my father in combat, I never intended to end his life. His death occurred as he attempted to convey something to me," Edmar retorted, his tone frigid. "Given your position as a Clan Leader, perhaps you possess knowledge about what he was trying to convey." Hoei narrowed his eyes upon hearing Edmar''s words. "What are you insinuating?" Fury surged within Edmar, his voice growing more vehement. "Do not feign ignorance! My father was divulging secrets about the Selnes Country when he perished suddenly. You must be aware of the enigma surrounding the Isolated Formation God, correct?" "Our god? Knowing its secrets? Spare me your jests, Edmar! You''ve allied yourself with our enemies. Even if I were privy to the secrets, do you honestly believe I would share them with you?" Hoei''s countenance remained icy, his aura intensifying. He raised his hand and clenched it into a fist. "Come forth, you traitor. I shall impart upon you a lesson you won''t soon forget." "You...!!" Edmar gnashed his teeth, torn between battling his own father and contending with another Clan Leader. Disposing of this opponent would prove troublesome. Hoei stood defiantly, his rage visible, yet he couldn''t disregard Edmar''s words. The secrets of the Selnes Country? Each of the Five Master Clans held disparate pieces of knowledge, with no one possessing the complete puzzle. Hoei only knew that the Isolated Formation God hadn''t originated in Selnes Country but had come into existence nineteen thousand years prior, preceding even the emergence of the gods. At that juncture, Selnes Country hadn''t existed. The country had only taken shape in the current era. Schine Windi must have harbored some insight into Selnes Country''s mysteries, considering his presence during their god''s lifetime. "I will end you, Hoei. I had believed you also sought to dismantle the barrier, having proposed it during our prior assembly," Edmar declared. Hoei shook his head and retorted, "Indeed, I desired the destruction of the All-Filter Formation Barrier, but not in this manner. Are you even aware of the countless lives lost because of your actions? Windi Clan''s warriors are currently risking everything at the front lines, yet you... you''ve murdered your own father." Boom! In a sudden burst of action, Hoei advanced, launching a powerful punch. Edmar''s eyes widened, but he reacted with swiftness, raising his hand and seizing Hoei''s fist. Bang! "Your treachery against your nation and your father will be revealed to all," Hoei declared as he unleashed another punch. ... As the fierce battle raged near the device, Leilus and Drami were knocked away by the Three Shackles expert, leaving Sekmet and Paolo to confront their imminent threat. The Three Shackles expert, standing aloft in the air, cast a cold gaze upon them. "It''s futile," he declared, his tone icy. With a swift movement, he bent his knees and propelled himself toward Sekmet and Paolo at a high speed. Whoosh! Sekmet and Paolo maintained their determined charge towards the device, but their urgency grew as two additional figures, experts of the Two Shackles Realm, materialized above them. Panic welled up in Sekmet as she sensed the danger looming. "Not good!" Sekmet exclaimed, her eyes narrowing as she veered to the side, attempting to evade the oncoming threat. Paolo, equally alarmed by the sudden appearance of the Two Shackles Realm experts, voiced his concerns. "What happened to the support?" he questioned, anxiety in his voice. "They are preoccupied with my comrades! Focus on yourself!" the two Two Shackles experts admonished simultaneously as they launched themselves toward Paolo and Sekmet. Swoosh! Recognizing the imminent danger, Sekmet channeled her energy with urgency, conjuring a protective barrier in a desperate attempt to shield herself and Paolo from the impending assault. As the two Two Shackles Realm experts closed in on Sekmet and Paolo, Sekmet reacted swiftly. She channeled her energy and formed a barrier just in time to block the incoming attackers. Swoosh! The two experts collided with Sekmet''s barrier, causing a burst of energy to erupt at the point of impact. Sekmet gritted her teeth and strained to maintain the barrier, trying to withstand the pressure exerted by the attackers. Paolo, seeing Sekmet''s predicament, moved quickly to provide support. He unleashed a burst of energy from his hands, targeting one of the Two Shackles experts and aiming to disrupt their attack. "Go on! Leave this to me!" Sekmet''s resolute voice rang out as she channeled more energy into the barrier. "Understood," Paolo replied with grim determination, turning away from the battle behind him. He blocked out everything else, focusing solely on his mission to destroy the device and turn the tide of the battle. With Marcus, Leilus, and Drami incapacitated, Paolo knew he had to succeed, no matter the cost. Suddenly, a scream pierced the air from behind him ¨C Sekmet''s voice. She was engaged in a fierce battle against two Two Shackles experts, and the situation looked dire. Her chances of survival seemed slim. Paolo clenched his fist, summoning every ounce of remaining energy. Drawing his hand back, he unleashed a potent beam aimed directly at the device. Determination etched on his face, Paolo focused solely on his mission ¨C to destroy the device and turn the tide of the battle. Ignoring the chaos behind him, including Sekmet''s ongoing struggle against the two Two Shackles experts, Paolo steeled his resolve. With every ounce of energy he could muster, Paolo channeled his power, summoning a formidable beam aimed squarely at the device before him. In his desperation, he unleashed a powerful cry, urging the beam forward. "Get lost!!" The beam surged toward its target with intense force, Paolo''s last-ditch effort to accomplish the critical task at hand. The bluish energy beam streaked through the air at an incredibly high speed, but a shadow materialized in its path. It was the Three Shackles expert who had swiftly defeated Leilus and Drami earlier. Ohm! With a casual gesture, the Three Shackles expert intercepted Paolo''s formidable attack, seizing it effortlessly. His disdainful words cut through the tension, "You''re exhausted, and you think you can destroy it under my watchful eyes? You''ve overestimated yourself." In the blink of an eye, Paolo was forcefully propelled a hundred meters away, the impact scattering his energy beam before it could even reach the device. Ugh! Paolo expelled a mouthful of blood, his breathing labored as he gazed skyward. The weight of the mission rested on his shoulders, yet it seemed he couldn''t fulfill it. All the top experts of the Alliance Army were locked in fierce combat against the elite members of the Deadly Sins. They strained every fiber of their being to gain an upper hand in this war, yet warriors like Paolo found themselves unable to fulfill their vital roles. The Three Shackles expert gave Paolo one last contemptuous look before conjuring a crackling ball of lightning. Swoosh!! In that critical moment, Alice finally arrived at the scene. "I''ll handle him..." She rapidly intercepted the lightning ball, effectively neutralizing it, and launched a relentless assault on the Three Shackles expert. Though taken aback by the sudden turn of events, the enemy displayed seasoned reflexes, engaging Alice in a furious exchange. Bang! Bang! Bang! In the span of a mere second, Alice and the Three Shackles expert clashed in a flurry of blows. Alice wore a resolute expression as she relentlessly pressed her opponent, hoping that the shockwaves generated by their battle might inadvertently destroy the device. However, it appeared that the enemy had anticipated this scenario, proving once again that the Deadly Sins were cunning adversaries. Despite the intense combat raging around it, the device remained impervious to the shockwaves generated by Alice and the Three Shackles expert''s battle. Its resilience was a testament to the meticulous planning and defenses of the Deadly Sins. Alice continued her fierce battle with the Three Shackles expert, using her speed and strength to gain an advantage despite the injuries she was sustaining. She was determined to defeat her opponent and reach the device, even if it meant enduring further harm. In the midst of the chaos, Paolo, struggling with injuries and exhaustion, attempted to reach the device using the shockwaves of the ongoing battle to propel himself forward. He fought through his pain, desperately trying to fulfill his mission. However, a sudden and powerful lightning strike lit up the field, catching Paolo off guard. Despite his attempts to shield himself, the lightning struck him, sending him flying a hundred meters away, leaving him in excruciating pain as he crashed to the ground. Paolo strained to lift his head with great effort, his vision blurry from the pain. As his vision cleared, he saw a figure standing before him. Chapter 917 Battle at the Selnes Country: Dead Spell In Zone 5... Shen Yao was forcefully pushed aside as she endured the relentless assault of the Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. "Huff...!" Her breaths were labored as she quickly surveyed the ground battlefield. While she didn''t have all the details, the warriors below were engaged in a desperate struggle. "I have to do this... I can''t afford to hesitate any longer." Determined, Shen Yao steeled herself and retreated several hundred meters from her opponents. "Also..." Shen Yao gazed in a particular direction, sensing the presence of the Clan Leader of the Methal Clan. It appeared that he was preparing to engage someone of equal standing. Both of their energies continued to surge without pause. They clearly intended to give it their all right from the outset. "Don''t tell me..." She widened her eyes, suddenly realizing something. The Methal Clan Leader must have discovered the traitor. Additionally, there was a faint aura of the Windi Clan Leader, but it was steadily fading away. Whoosh!! Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer froze in their tracks. A sudden sense of danger gripped their hearts, prompting extreme caution. In the next moment, the entire area quivered as Shen Yao''s energy burst forth, flooding the surroundings like a raging tide. Boom!! Li Guan, who lay on the ground, gazed upward and muttered, "Shen Yao... She''s going to use it. She''s going to risk everything." Shen Yao floated in the air, her energy radiating wildly. Her hair danced in the wind, gradually turning white. [Earth Ascending Transformation: Golden Arhat]! Her pupils emanated a white glow, and golden tattoos emerged all over her body. Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer exchanged grim glances. They keenly sensed the impending danger emanating from Shen Yao at this very moment. Shen Yao locked her gaze on her two opponents. One of them had already been wounded by Li Guan, and it was a sufficient cue for her. She intended to take on both of them single-handedly. "Since the Blood Lightning Monster went all out and took one of you down, perhaps it''s time for me to do the same." Her words resonated as she slowly raised her hand. [Thousand Desolation Palm]!! In an instant, a colossal golden palm, spanning a thousand meters, materialized in the air. It descended upon Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer, who braced themselves as the palm loomed overhead. "Since you''ve chosen to stand in the way, you shall perish along with the rest!" Shen Yao''s voice echoed. The intense energy radiated throughout the entire landscape. The golden palm in the sky cast its shadow over every corner of the land. Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer inhaled deeply. Their energies surged as they unleashed their techniques in unison. [Space Divine Slash]!! [Omni Poison Strike]!! Their attacks clashed with the colossal golden palm, generating intense friction in the air and causing the space to tremble violently. Boom!! On the opposite side of the battlefield, Souta halted in his tracks, sensing the intense energy fluctuations in the atmosphere. "Shen Yao..." Souta murmured as he directed his gaze toward the source of the energy surges. Red Mist also turned her attention in that direction, a grin forming on her lips. "They''re taking it up a notch. What about you? Are you still going to hold back, or is it time to go all out? Maybe, your battle with Boulder Jack really took a toll on your body." Souta stepped back, scrutinizing his opponent. His aura remained as potent as ever, and the injuries on his body seemed to have boosted his strength. He could have healed those wounds, but he chose not to, in exchange for enhanced stats. "Well, I''m not entirely sure about that," Souta replied before he slashed his sword horizontally. A burst of crimson energy radiated from the blade, but Red Mist skillfully evaded it. Souta then retreated while twenty black spheres spun on his back. With a resounding shout, Souta gestured with his hand, unleashing a powerful gravitational force. Bang!! The gravitational pull was so incredibly strong that it suddenly inverted the entire field. In an instant, light and particles were forcibly pushed away, and various structures and trees were uprooted from the ground. Red Mist continued to float in the air, though a hint of frustration crossed her face. The gravitational force was formidable, but it wasn''t sufficient to completely immobilize her. She glanced downward, observing the ground that had been thoroughly cleared. Even the warriors engaged in battle had been affected by the pervasive gravity. Only those experts who had reached the Four Shackles or higher could withstand the gravitational onslaught from every direction. However, Red Mist noticed something peculiar. She turned her head, and her eyes widened in shock. Suddenly, the scenery around her underwent a dramatic transformation. A massive platform materialized beneath her feet, and towering pillars graced every corner, supporting a grand and imposing ceiling. Dark and light energies permeated every part of this structure, and she felt the elemental suppression inherent in this place. "You...?!" Souta grinned and declared, "[Undead Colosseum Party]..." "Boulder Jack''s spell... You''ve mastered it?" Red Mist squinted her eyes. She was well-acquainted with this spell and understood its danger, as she could feel her elemental power being suppressed within the field. She shook her head and smiled, remarking, "You, with the gravity earlier, that''s quite the strategy." Souta wasted no time and dashed toward her, wielding the vajra sword. "The gravity won''t resolve everything, but it''ll aid my allies, even though some of them will be affected." "Good," Red Mist smirked as flames enveloped both her hands. She retracted her fist and launched it at the opportune moment. Meanwhile, Souta slashed his sword, sending a massive blade of crimson energy. Boom!! Following the collision of their attacks, Souta quickly distanced himself from Red Mist, closely observing her every move. Suddenly, he widened his eyes as the entire ground crumbled into pieces. "This is..." Souta quickly grasped what was unfolding. Red Mist also halted, her attention fixed on the surroundings. The suppression that had been diminishing her elemental powers was gradually fading away. She had a notion of what had occurred. She glanced at Souta and commented, "It appears he took a drastic measure to counter your gravity scheme. You created a gravitational field to propel every object in this nation toward the device, and he simply annulled it. It''s still a spell, after all." In various regions of the country, numerous experts paused in their tracks, gazing skyward. Even top-tier experts like Naruse, Shen Yao, Kasci, and those affiliated with the Deadly Sins detected the shift in the atmosphere. "This...? My spells are restricted!" Naruse squinted her eyes. "The spells have dissipated..." Kasci muttered. In the space above Zone 7, Adel stood facing a man clad in a black robe, who wore a grave expression. Adel opened and closed his fist, realizing that most of his buff spells were rapidly vanishing. "I knew this wouldn''t be an easy battle. But I never anticipated encountering someone with this kind of ability here," Adel muttered in a subdued tone. The man standing before him was Anti-Mage, the nemesis of all spellcasters throughout the world. His appearance had also undergone a significant transformation, as the deceptive spell he had been using had dissipated. His red hair billowed in the wind, and his cold, red eyes bore into Adel. His features were chiseled, and a menacing scar marred his left cheek. Anti-Mage was, in fact, a pure-blooded barbarian. Anti-Mage''s fingers began forming a peculiar gesture, causing bluish dots of light to coalesce around his body. [Nullified Area: Dead Spell]!! At this moment, all spells within the country were nullified. No one could use them in Anti-Mage''s presence. Magic circles disintegrated into pieces as the effects of every spell were negated. This ability transformed the entire country into a dead zone, rendering the use of spells impossible. Anti-Mage''s unique ability provided him a significant advantage over any experts reliant on spells. "You aimed to destroy the device, didn''t you? Even the Blood Lightning Monster attempted it, but with my presence in this country, no spells can damage the device," Anti-Mage''s voice resounded. Adel looked down and observed the vanishing gravitational force. Even the vast platform in Zone 6 was crumbling. "Hmm..." Adel shifted his gaze to Anti-Mage and declared, "I never expected this turn of events. But if you think that disabling all spells in this country will secure your victory, let me demonstrate something." A smile crept across Anti-Mage''s face. "Give it a try, then." "Your ability couldn''t even stop Shen Yao''s rampage! She doesn''t rely on spells, so I''ll simply employ abilities other than spells!" Adel''s grin widened, and a potent surge of bloodlust radiated from his body. Ohm! A marble materialized in Adel''s hand, morphing into a three-meter-long greatsword. His forehead emitted a bluish flame that extended to coat his armor. Instead of heat, a potent frigid energy emanated from him, sharply lowering the temperature. [Heavenly Formation: Frost Flame]!! Chapter 918 Battle at the Selnes Country: Flaem Clan In Zone 9... Franklin, Vashno, and Eztein reached the vicinity of the Flaem Clan household. "Is this the right place?" Franklin inquired, his gaze fixed on the barrier enveloping the entire area. "Yeah, that woman assured us that we''d find it here," Vashno affirmed. "Are you certain we should trust that woman?" Eztein questioned, casting a glance at the intense battles unfolding in the sky. "If this doesn''t pan out, I''ll take you on, Vashno," Franklin retorted. "Don''t fret; I''ve already informed Souta about that woman, and he suggested that if we had the time, we should investigate," Vashno explained. "We? I''m afraid to say you''ve forcibly entangled me and this old man in your plan. It should be just you. Franklin and I should be on the front lines, fighting alongside the others," Eztein responded. "Enough talk. Let''s get inside," Vashno directed, taking out a small token from his pocket adorned with the Flaem Clan insignia. "If the Flaem Clan Master discovers us, we''re as good as dead. That woman can take down someone at the Five Shackles Realm, which clearly puts her among the top-tier experts. She''s above fifth shackles and it put her on the level of top SSS-rank," Eztein cautioned. "Don''t fret. She won''t kill you. Souta can handle her, so she''d think twice before attempting to harm us," Vashno reassured. "Damn it! Can''t you sense our boss''s presence? He''s currently locked in a fierce battle, and if we add to his troubles, we''ll meet our end too!" Eztein raised his voice. "You don''t understand because you''re new! Our boss is ruthless! When I first met him, he nearly tortured me to death!" "You''re naive," Franklin chuckled. "That''s because you fail to see how extraordinary our leader is. Unlike you, when I first encountered our leader, I decided to follow him because I had a hunch that he''d lead me into an unparalleled battle." Vashno sighed as he listened to the bickering between the two. He questioned his decision to bring these two along. Nevertheless, he glanced at the token in his hand and pressed forward, ignoring their arguments. Franklin and Eztein fell silent and followed Vashno into the barrier. Thanks to the token, they were granted access past the barrier surrounding the Flaem Clan''s premises. Vashno surveyed his surroundings. As anticipated, the place appeared barren, with most of the clan''s soldiers engaged in frontline warfare. If there was ever an opportune time to infiltrate a master clan''s territory, it was now. While they made their way forward, Vashno contemplated the woman from the store who had given him the token. He understood that she was no ordinary person. He surmised that she might be using them for her own agenda. He''d agreed to her task, as he hadn''t detected any hostility from her. Vashno also speculated that she was working on something for the country but preferred to remain concealed. "Perhaps some form of exile..." Vashno mused silently. Before long, they reached the vicinity of the Flaem Clan''s central building, a grand and imposing palace. "There are knights..." Eztein whispered in a voice meant for their ears alone. "As expected... They haven''t completely abandoned their territory. They''ve left some experts here to guard it," Vashno muttered. Franklin squinted his eyes and remarked, "They look formidable, strong." "So, are we going to do this? We can''t get in without confronting them," Eztein inquired, directing his gaze at Vashno. Vashno nodded and replied, "How about you go inside and infiltrate the palace, Franklin? Eztein and I will divert the guards'' attention." Franklin countered, "What if you infiltrate, and I engage them in combat?" Vashno sighed, "Very well, you''ll take on the guards." He then turned to Eztein and continued, "Eztein, you''ll be the one to enter the palace." "Alright, so what''s my role?" Eztein acknowledged, seeking guidance. "Simply locate the basement where the Flaem Clan''s secrets are concealed. According to the woman, you''ll know you''re in the right place when you come across a tomb," Vashno explained, handing the token to Eztein. "Use this to activate whatever you find in there." Eztein nodded as he stowed the token securely in his pocket. Vashno and Franklin exchanged glances, and Vashno nodded before the two of them surged forward. Their energies flared, alerting the guards to their presence. The guards swiftly turned their heads, sensing the sudden energy fluctuations. They spotted two figures rapidly approaching. Reacting, they readied their weapons and shouted, "Halt!" Vashno came to a stop and signaled for Franklin to cease his advance, intending to stall the guards and provide Eztein with the time he needed to complete his mission. The guards scrutinized Vashno and Franklin before one of them inquired, "Who are you? And how did you manage to breach the Flaem Clan''s premises?" "We''ve been tasked by Clan Leader Hono to conduct an investigation here," Vashno replied. "You''re mistaken..." a voice interjected. A man emerged from the doorway, regarding the two intruders with a cold stare as he passed by the guards stationed at the gate. He was a middle-aged individual with purplish skin and pointed ears, standing a few meters away from Vashno and Franklin. "I''m Arche, and you could say that I''m a friend of Clan Leader Hono. To be more precise, I hold the position of Chief Instructor among the Flame Knights of the Flaem Clan," the man introduced himself. "Clan Leader Hono explicitly tasked me with safeguarding this place. She instructed me not to heed anyone''s words other than hers. If she had any business here, she would have come herself instead of seeking help from outsiders." Vashno wore a troubled expression at Arche''s words. "I was already prepared for this. They won''t accept anything except what their comrades say," Franklin whispered to Vashno. He then addressed Arche and the two guards, declaring, "Well, if it''s come to this, let''s fight." Arche pointed his finger at the two intruders and ordered, "Seize them! Anyone who trespasses into our territory will face the consequences!" The two guards immediately sprang into action upon receiving the command. "Damn it!" Vashno cursed as he and Franklin leaped away, with the guards hot on their heels. While Vashno knew that the guards were formidable, the true concern was the man who called himself Arche. He could sense an overwhelming aura of dominance emanating from him. ''He''s probably at the Four Shackles Realm, or someone close to it, likely stronger than me,'' Vashno speculated internally as he skillfully evaded the attacks from the guards. Meanwhile, Franklin was already engaged in a heated exchange with one of the guards. His body had grotesquely transformed into a mound of flesh to keep up with his opponent. Nevertheless, all he could do was hold on. Franklin was clearly outmatched in terms of strength, speed, and energy. The guard he faced was an elite expert at the Three Shackles Realm, while Franklin remained at the Two Shackles Realm, creating a notable disparity between them. Bang! Bang! Bang! One shockwave after another swept out as Franklin continued his fierce duel. Blood sprayed from his body, yet he paid it no mind, instead channeling his [Element Drive] to muster more force in hopes of keeping up with his opponent. Vashno monitored the battle from the corner of his eye, debating whether he should intervene or not. His own adversary was also at the Three Shackles Realm, but Vashno''s experience in this realm placed him above in terms of strength, speed, and energy. Nonetheless, it would still take him several minutes to overcome this guard. Regardless, both of them were firmly rooted at the Three Shackles Realm. ''The objective is to stall... I shouldn''t conclude this battle. I''ll only exert myself when that man, Arche, joins the fray,'' Vashno decided internally. His current mission was simply to bide time for Eztein to complete his task. Moreover, he couldn''t afford to kill his opponent, as they were essentially allies in this ongoing war. All he desired was to uncover the secrets of the Five Master Clans, one of the few elements that could potentially shift the course of the conflict. He had an inkling that the true extent of the secrets held by the Five Master Clans was deeper than what lay on the surface. Boom!! A resounding explosion erupted, prompting Vashno to turn his gaze. His eyes widened as he witnessed the origin of the explosion: Arche. Arche had pinned down a figure in the center of a small crater, his aura overwhelming and exerting intense pressure. The figure beneath him was Eztein, who was gritting his teeth with blood trickling from his mouth. ''He sensed Eztein?! No, the plan has failed!'' Vashno immediately activated his [Element Drive] and harnessed the power of his parasite. His body transformed into a colossal monstrosity. Swoosh! In a fraction of a second, Vashno unleashed a devastating strike upon his opponent. Caught off guard by the abrupt shift in Vashno''s strength and appearance, the guard was sent hurtling through the air, ultimately colliding with a nearby structure. ''This should buy me a little more time to rescue Eztein.'' Without sparing a glance for the downed guard, Vashno dashed toward Arche, who still had a firm grip on Eztein. Chapter 919 Battle at the Selnes Country: Erkigal Arche sneered as he skillfully evaded Vashno''s attack, then lifted his foot and delivered a powerful kick that sent Vashno hurtling backward. Bang!! The force behind Arche''s kick produced a lightning flash that coursed through Vashno''s entire body. Argh! Vashno groaned in agony as he tumbled to the ground, gazing up at Arche with a deep furrow in his brow. Arche was a Four Shackles Realm expert, and not just any ordinary one. He teetered on the brink of the Five Shackles Realm, closer to the next level than the previous one. This elevated him above the typical Four Shackles experts, making him an elite within his category. ''If he were an ordinary Four Shackles, I might be able to hold my own for a while, but that''s clearly not the case now,'' Vashno reflected silently. Realizing the unfavorable circumstances, Vashno knew he couldn''t hope to defeat Arche, even at full power. He drew a deep breath as he regarded Arche. "Whose side are you on? Your clan is harboring something that could turn the tide of this war. We must unlock it if you wish to prevent this nation from falling." Arche felt a sense of unease when he heard Vashno''s words. He narrowed his eyes and inquired, "Where did you come across this information?" Vashno wore a self-assured smirk, his intuition seemingly proven correct. It appeared that the Flaem Clan was indeed harboring a vital secret, although he remained uncertain about the nature of this revelation. "I conducted an investigation of the Five Master Clans and managed to uncover some hints regarding the secret left behind by your god," Vashno disclosed. "Why do you believe it would aid us in this war? I have a suspicion that you lack a complete understanding of its true nature, do I not?" Arche probed. Nonetheless, Vashno replied, "Regardless, we must prepare for the worst." Arche refuted him, asserting, "The legacies left by our god are not something you can simply extract. They are meant for us, not outsiders like you. If anyone is to benefit from them, it will be us, so don''t harbor any illusions about it." Vashno let out an internal sigh. It had become increasingly evident that no matter what he said, Arche was resolute in denying them access to the god''s legacy. Boom!! Out of nowhere, a figure descended to the ground. The entire area quaked, and an intensely oppressive aura spread throughout the Flaem Clan''s territory. Meanwhile, Eztein had been flung backward, and the fierce battle between Franklin and the guard came to a halt as they both turned their attention to the new arrival. "What''s going on?!" Vashno furrowed his brow and squinted at the source of the disruption. The energy fluctuations alone were several times more potent than even Arche, who was on the verge of reaching the Fifth Shackles Realm. It was a level of power that left Vashno profoundly unsettled. He could sense a potent killing intent, and the newcomer appeared to be driven by the desire to eliminate him. ''Not good!'' Vashno recognized that he stood little chance of victory or escape if the new arrival was genuinely intent on ending his life. The power differential between them was far too substantial. While he could have considered fleeing had Arche been his sole opponent, he was relatively confident in his ability to escape him. Arche, alongside the two guards, paid their respects with lowered heads as they acknowledged the newcomer''s presence. "Where did you acquire knowledge about the relics our god left behind?" an authoritative voice resounded. The obscuring smoke dissipated, revealing a red-haired woman. She was none other than Hono Flaem, the Clan Leader of the Flaem Clan. ''This is a dire situation. The Clan Leader of the Flaem Clan is here...'' Vashno observed with a solemn expression. Hono scrutinized Vashno, her gaze then sweeping over Eztein and Franklin. She spoke, "If you''re unwilling to divulge the information, then I will simply dispose of you... I can always consult with the Blood Lightning Monster about it later. Intruding into Flaem Clan territory constitutes a criminal offense." Vashno''s eyes widened as Hono vanished from his field of vision, only to hear her voice from beside him. "Don''t be surprised. This is merely the natural consequence of trespassing upon another''s territory." A burst of crimson light radiated outward. Vashno was sent hurtling through the air, his hands dismembered and casting droplets of blood in every direction. He was utterly defenseless against Hono. "Damn! This is a dire situation!" Vashno clenched his teeth, never expecting the Clan Leader to make an appearance at this moment. Swoosh! Hono materialized before him, wielding a blazing blade that emitted scorching heat, causing the ambient temperature to skyrocket. Vashno observed her, recognizing that he had no hope of evading or blocking the attack. He could only pray to survive it. Then, another crimson light flashed. It was of a deeper hue than Hono''s energy and clashed vigorously with her blade, resulting in a resounding boom. Bang! Hono deftly maneuvered her body mid-air, executing a spin and landing gracefully on the ground. She regarded the flaming blade in her hand before casting her gaze forward. In this moment, Vashno grasped that he had been spared from harm. He couldn''t fully comprehend the specifics of what had transpired, but it was apparent that Hono''s assault had failed to reach him. He swiveled his head and spotted a figure in the background. Forcing a smile, he remarked, "I knew you''d come to our rescue. If we perished here, you''d have difficulty concocting an excuse when our leader eventually arrives." On the opposite side, Eztein breathed a sigh of relief upon witnessing the newcomer''s arrival. The individual who had saved Vashno was the woman from the old store. She appeared slightly different now, her hair tidied and adorned in armor. The woman smiled at Vashno and said, "I had no intention of provoking the renowned Blood Lightning Monster, so I wasn''t about to let you die. Originally, I had no plans to intervene, but the Clan Leader''s unexpected presence here surpassed my expectations." "We were equally caught off guard. I presumed the Clan Leaders were stationed at the frontlines," Eztein replied, wiping sweat from his forehead. Vashno silently signaled to Eztein to begin a gradual retreat. The current circumstances weren''t favorable, and they needed to be prepared for a possible escape. The Clan Leader''s power was insurmountable for them to confront head-on. Eztein nodded in agreement, prepared to comply with Vashno''s non-verbal directive. Hono''s gaze remained fixed on the woman, her voice measured as she inquired, "Why are you here, Master?" The unexpected revelation of the woman''s name stunned both Vashno and Eztein. Clan Leader Hono''s statement took them by surprise. Hono paid no mind to their reactions as she maintained her focus on the woman she addressed as "Master Erkigal." "Master Erkigal, I believed you perished during that incident..." "Erkigal...? Are you implying the previous Clan Leader of the Flaem Clan?" Vashno''s eyes widened in astonishment. Erkigal shifted her gaze toward Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin, offering them a smile. She then turned her attention back to Hono and replied, "You might not be fully aware of the details, given your branch family background, but it''s time to unleash that object." Hono furrowed her brow and inquired, "Could you clarify, Master? Furthermore, I''d like to understand why you chose to reveal yourself at this moment." Erkigal adopted a more solemn expression as she gestured upwards toward the barrier. "The Deadly Sins have been increasingly inquisitive about the Isolated Formation God. I could no longer disregard it. They''ve manipulated the barrier''s characteristics, but it''s a ruse¡ªa ploy to entice us into destroying the device and unveiling their true plan. Even Clan Leader Schine''s son, Edward, has turned traitor against the country. That''s why I''ve come forward." Hono raised her hand, her expression filled with confusion. "Hold on, that''s a lot of information to digest. You''re suggesting that the device is a trap, and Edward has betrayed our nation? How is that even possible?" Erkigal continued to elucidate, "You know I wouldn''t deceive you about this. The moment the Deadly Sins arrived, I began observing their actions. I also detected Edward''s suspicious behavior, so I kept a watchful eye on him. As a result, I discovered his collusion with the Deadly Sins. I suspect he''s currently engaged in combat with Clan Leader Schine." Hono sought further clarification, inquiring, "How does this relate to the object left by our god?" Erkigal responded plainly, "It''s quite simple. The object will reshape the landscape of our nation and encompass the entirety of the space inside the All Filter Barrier Formation. Given the current dire circumstances, countless citizens are perishing by the minute. To provide them with a space to survive, this is the sole solution. The All Filter Barrier Formation won''t be dismantled but rather serve as our confinement until the Deadly Sins accomplish their objective." "And what, may I ask, is the Deadly Sins'' objective?" Hono questioned. Erkigal provided her answer, "They are pursuing knowledge concerning the Isolated Formation God." Hono expressed her confusion, "Our god? What do they desire from our god? Even I, a Clan Leader, possess limited information regarding our god." "That''s exactly what I meant when I said you have limited knowledge," Erkigal remarked. She then turned her gaze toward Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin, instructing, "Stay here for a while and be prepared." With that, she approached Hono and subtly flicked her finger, enveloping the two Clan Leaders within a barrier to ensure that their conversation remained confidential. Erkigal began her conversation with Hono, her tone holding a note of urgency. "Hono, allow me to inquire. How much do you comprehend about the calamity that transpired centuries ago? More specifically, the rebellion of the No God Emperor." Chapter 920 Battle at the Selnes Country: Destruction Erkigal and Hono proceeded to the main building of the Flaem Clan, their conversation continuing as they entered. Hono pondered the mention of the No God Emperor, stating, "The No God Emperor? All I know is that our records describe him as Freeborn, with no shackles present on his body." Erkigal inquired further, "And do you possess any knowledge about the fall of the Hall of Power a thousand years ago?" Hono shook her head, replying, "I am not familiar with that either." Erkigal then shared more information with Hono, saying, "As the Clan Leader, I believe it''s appropriate for you to be aware of this. Afterward, you can proceed to assist our warriors in their battles against the enemy." Hono disclosed her intentions, explaining, "My original plan was to remain concealed, awaiting the appearance of the enemy forces. I observed that the Deadly Sins dispatched groups to various locations, including the Five Master Clans, which led me to this course of action." Erkigal acknowledged Hono''s situation. Erkigal had been living as an ordinary shop owner until circumstances necessitated her emergence. Once this information became known, returning to her former life would become nearly impossible. She had been presumed dead after attempting an experiment to break the binding that prevented the Five Master Clans from leaving the country''s borders. Everyone believed she perished in that incident, but she managed to survive. "There are hidden powers in this world. The incident in the Hall Plains sent shockwaves throughout the entire world. Vexus, the Divine Venerable of Wisdom, is the founder of the Hall of Power and the father of No God Emperor. His wife is a monster lord known as Areneya, the Lord of Upheaval." Erkigal paused for a moment before continuing, "As per the information passed down to me, Vexus and Areneya were immensely powerful. They uncovered something of great importance, and at the same time, whispers of the Authority of Famine reached the ears of other deities in the world." "Our god, the Isolated Formation God, is a close associate of Vexus. By the time our god intervened, it was already too late. Calamity had befallen the Hall of Power. Areneya perished, and Vexus followed, leaving their descendants alone. The Hall of Power crumbled, but No God Emperor refused to surrender. He rebuilt the nation from the ground up and defied his fate. Administrators descended from the heavens, unleashing disaster upon the Hall Plains." "The sky turned a bloody red, and ominous energy permeated the land. The fabric of space fractured, and darkness descended across the land. The Commandments of God''s Will manifested, further escalating the chaos. Even the mighty No God Emperor could only succumb to such a calamity. Our god, a close friend of Vexus, decided to save No God Emperor by erecting the Heaven''s Sealing Mountain." This preserves the life of the No God Emperor. Most of the survivors from that era have lost their sanity. According to the words of the Clan Leader before me, even the Isolated Formation God descended into hysteria after the calamity. ''I witnessed the profound darkness, the truth, and it gazed back at me. It''s all a falsehood. The door opens, and it slumbers. It''s here in this world. The eye below remains tightly shut. Hahaha, The Imperium... The Mother. Everything...'' These are the words our god left behind." Erkigal fell silent, her gaze shifting to Hono, who was processing the information. She waited for a moment before continuing, "What followed was our god, the Isolated Formation God, creating the All Filter Barrier Formation and binding our bloodline to this country. However, at that time, the barrier remained dormant. Soon after, calamity struck our nation. The sky turned blood red, the heavens shattered, and a rain of darkness descended. Our god perished, and the barrier absorbed his blood, activating it." Hono didn''t speak, but her expression grew somber. "There are numerous versions, but these were the words left behind by our god. We can''t verify their authenticity, but given that they originated from our god, belief is our only option. I lack the exact details, but Schine likely knows more than I do; he was present during the calamity. Also, keep this information confidential. I share it with you because you are the Clan Leader. Disclosing this to others could invite calamity upon you. You would be swallowed by darkness. The curse of Clan Leader knowledge is, at times, poisonous, even if our understanding of it is incomplete," Erkigal cautioned with a serious expression. "Our bloodline bears a curse... Action is necessary. If you believe that Deadly Sins is the sole organization present, you''re mistaken. Beyond the large factions, other organizations lurk in the shadows, observing the unfolding battle. They will act soon. That''s why we must unleash it." ... In the center of the nation, the battle came to an abrupt halt due to the sudden gravitational force, but it quickly resumed. The mages found themselves at a disadvantage as all their spells were disabled, forcing the confrontation into close combat. A growing number of experts gathered around the device containing the Canceling Rune. The gravitational force pushed them closer to the device, albeit briefly, thanks to Anti Mage''s intervention, which aided the warriors in pushing forward. Alice clenched her teeth, engaging in a fierce battle with her opponent. Warriors from other factions fought with equal determination, fully aware that it was a fight to the death. They had steeled themselves for the possibility of perishing in the midst of this battle. Amid the chaotic sounds of battle... Boom! Boom! ''It''s so noisy... Who is that? I''m exhausted,'' Marcus lay on the ground, his body covered in wounds, still feeling the vibrations in the air. ''This vibration... My comrades are still fighting...'' Marcus was utterly drained, pushed to his limits. The expert who had attacked him earlier had been far superior, rendering him unconscious with a single, devastating blow. ''Are you going to stay here?'' In his mind, Marcus heard a voice he knew well, his lover Drami''s beautiful voice. He imagined her standing before him, caressing his cheeks. Ugh! With great effort, Marcus opened his eyes, finding himself in an unfamiliar place. He struggled to recall that he had been blown away before losing consciousness. "What happened? Why am I here?" Unaware that the gravitational force had moved his unconscious body, Marcus slowly turned his head, and his eyes widened in surprise. More than fifty meters away from him, Marcus spotted Drami leaning against a rock. Her body was drenched in blood, and her left arm, along with her right leg, had been severed. Blood continued to flow from her grievous wounds. "ARGHHH!!!" Tears welled in Marcus''s eyes as he let out a roar that echoed through the battlefield. He slammed his fist onto the ground and forced himself to stand. Alice and the other experts momentarily halted their battle. They watched in awe as Marcus pushed himself to his limits, his gaze fixed on the experts from Deadly Sins. "Destroy it, Marcus!!" Alice''s voice rang out. "Break it!!" The other warriors joined in the chorus. The expressions of the Deadly Sins experts shifted, and they turned to confront Marcus. However, the warriors from the larger factions intervened, resolutely holding them back, even at the risk of their own lives. They would not allow anyone to obstruct Marcus from destroying the device. "AHHHH!!!!" With a final, agonizing cry, Marcus channeled his last reserves of energy into his hand. He clenched his fist with unwavering determination and hurled it toward the device. Swoosh!! His fist struck the barrier encasing the device, and cracks radiated outward. Marcus clenched his teeth, pushing himself to his very limits. Bang!! The barrier shattered, and the device exploded. Marcus''s fist disintegrated into a bloody mist that dispersed into the air. Huff! Marcus gasped for breath as he collapsed to his knees. His blood dripped onto the ground as he reached the absolute limit of his strength. He gazed at the sky and slowly closed his eyes. Boom! The entire device crumbled, sending shockwaves through the area. The major factions and the Deadly Sins briefly halted their battle as they watched the device''s collapse. The pillar of light connecting to the barrier gradually dissipated, and the barrier itself flickered as it reverted to its previous state. A series of explosions rocked the area, completely obliterating the device and the Canceling Rune it held. On the opposite side of the battlefield, Souta touched down on the ground, his gaze fixed on the sky. "They did it..." Souta muttered to himself, a determined look in his eyes. He placed his palm on the ground, channeling energy throughout his body. "It''s time to secure my survival in the upcoming events..." He wasn''t alone in his observation. The other top experts from across the nation also watched closely as changes unfolded within the All Filter Barrier Formation. They sensed that this was just the beginning of the battle. The battle among their subordinates had nearly concluded, and it was now time for the all-out confrontation among the top experts from across the country. Two of them had already fallen, namely Boulder Jack and Clan Leader Schine. Chapter 921 Battle at the Selnes Country: One after another The device lay in ruins, and Souta received a system notification confirming the completion of the quest. ''There have been numerous casualties, but in war, everyone must steel their hearts,'' Souta reflected inwardly, his gaze fixed on the battlefield where the device once stood. Red Mist also observed the same direction, her face graced by a smile. "It appears you were correct... They did indeed destroy the device." Souta turned to her and remarked, "Judging by your expression, it seems the device wasn''t your sole objective." "Oh, is it that obvious?" Red Mist raised an eyebrow and ran her fingers across her face. "Yeah, if that were the case, I would have fought you relentlessly just to destroy the device," Souta stated. "Hmm... It seems you believe you could defeat me. Well, based on your strength, I''d say you stand a chance," Red Mist replied. "I can defeat you, but it would likely exhaust me. So I''ve chosen to reserve my strength for now, as I''m uncertain about what may lie ahead," Souta replied. "Then what about Boulder Jack?" Red Mist inquired. "It''s his fault. He pushed me into a corner, so I had no choice but to eliminate him," Souta explained. Boom!! A deafening sound reverberated through the area, causing both Souta and Red Mist to turn their heads. They witnessed a bluish-white flame erupting from the ground and soaring up to the ceiling of the barrier. However, rather than raising the temperature, the area experienced a sudden drop in temperature. People in Zone 7 found themselves immobilized by the chilling cold that seeped into their bones and flesh. Souta narrowed his eyes and muttered, "The frost flame... It seems that Adel is gradually revealing his abilities." First, Shen Yao had shown her strength, and now Adel was unveiling his. Their true power was slowly emerging, as were the capabilities of their opponents. Adel''s opponent was Anti-Mage, a formidable individual capable of dismantling all spells. Meanwhile, Shen Yao found herself facing two opponents, Spatial Whisperer and Poisonous Vine. Poisonous Vine, while injured by Li Guan, still posed a significant threat, and the real challenge came from Spatial Whisperer, who possessed advanced space attribute techniques. "So, what''s your next move?" Souta inquired as he redirected his attention to Red Mist. "Me? Nothing... I just need to keep you here. If you don''t plan to attack me, then I''ll simply observe. It''s beneficial for me as it allows me to conserve my energy," Red Mist replied with a smile. She added, "As for the plan of our group''s representatives, it''s about to unfold in a matter of seconds." "What do you mean?" Souta furrowed his brows. "Just wait and observe," Red Mist said, gesturing toward the barrier. Souta gazed upward. "Luckily, I''ve completed my preparations. I can go all out once the Tears of Divine Might appear," he thought. He waited for thirty seconds before he noticed something. "It''s here... Have you noticed that no one has managed to exit the country ever since the device was broken?" Red Mist whispered. Purple dots began to emerge on the barrier, rapidly spreading and turning the entire barrier into a shade of purple within moments. This transformation was accompanied by an eerie, glass-cracking sound. Souta''s eyes widened. He saw it. Bang!! A deafening noise resonated throughout the country, as if everything was on the brink of collapse. Crack! The entire space fragment, taking on the appearance of a collage of various spaces on different levels. Souta could see there were people in those spaces. While not overwhelming, there were likely hundreds of thousands of people scattered among the different spaces. These individuals were the survivors of the disintegrated space. "It''s descending. All those realities are collapsing into this country, turning it into a convergence of condensed dimensions. And do you know what happens next once the barrier has been broken?" Red Mist asked as she glanced at Souta. "The Imperium''s pressure will flood in, crushing these fragmented dimensions or whatever you call them," Souta replied. "Perhaps it will create a new, higher-level reality that can support advanced lifeforms. It will be expelled here and concealed through the spatial gaps, just like the other dimensions there," Red Mist explained. "Or it may condense into a shell capable of withstanding the spatial forces of the Imperium. It will be a small object, but it will contain an infinite space within." "Hahaha, you guys are truly insane, aren''t you?! I love it! Those realities you mentioned don''t even compare to the Imperium. It''s troublesome, but that''s all. I won''t die from it; only the citizens of this country will suffer," Souta laughed. "While I had hoped to save innocent souls, if I can''t do anything about it, then it''s unfortunate for them." "I almost forgot that you''re a monster..." Red Mist remarked. The sky underwent a profound transformation as countless fragmented realities descended upon the country, enveloping everything and leaving no escape route. The citizens were baffled, unable to comprehend terms like sub-worlds, dimensions, universes, or realities. They only knew that they were in imminent danger once more. In the sky, Shen Yao turned her gaze upward. She raised her hand and unleashed a massive palm strike to shatter the falling fragmented spaces above her. However, she was promptly attacked by Spatial Whisperer and Poisonous Vine. Not only them, but other top experts wore somber expressions. It appeared that, at this rate, none of the citizens would survive. Only those with considerable combat strength had a chance to endure this situation. In the Botano Clan''s residence, Paente Botano stood above the barrier surrounding his home, locked in a fierce battle with a formidable opponent, the Man-Eating Tamer. Paente glanced at the descending spaces and mumbled, "They''re truly full of tricks..." "Hehe, your beloved country is falling today... None of them will escape this land," Man-Eating Tamer laughed. He waved his hand and commanded, "Attack!" Buzz!! Small black dots flew out from the Man-Eating Tamer''s sleeves, rapidly advancing toward Paente. These minuscule black dots, each only a few millimeters in size, were living beings, known as Miniature Devouring Bees, a fourth-stage monster. "Consume him, my minions!" Man-Eating Tamer cackled. "Hmph! Just a few pests!" Paente snorted as he leaped into the air. His aura extended, causing the branches of nearby trees to sway and strike at the tiny monsters. The two experts clashed. While Paente was inherently more powerful than fourth-stage monsters, their sheer numbers presented a challenge. Man-Eating Tamer kept distracting Paente with his tamed monsters, all the while seeking an opportunity to deliver a devastating blow. The trees moved as if they were alive, attacking both Man-Eating Tamer and the Miniature Devouring Bees. These bees congregated and simultaneously released their [Bestrou], despite their small size, they were formidable monsters similar to those larger fourth-stage monsters. Faced with hundreds of simultaneous [Bestrou] attacks, Paente could only gather his energy and employ the trees in the vicinity to partially shield him. Utilizing his [Element Drive], he amplified the resilience and power of the trees under his control, significantly altering the environment. This area had initially been lush and green, but with Paente''s application of [Element Drive], it became even more verdant. The trees grew taller, their branches and leaves extending like a net that blanketed the entire field. It was a landscape teeming with lifelike vegetation and trees that could readily subdue even seasoned experts. Despite being outnumbered, Paente managed to maintain his position against the Man-Eating Tamer and his minions. "This is problematic... I''ll just wear myself out if this continues, killing all his minions," Paente muttered to himself. The tiny bees continued their assault from every direction. Fortunately, not all of the monsters were at the peak of the fourth stage. Many of them remained at the initial, intermediate, and high stages. Bang! Bang! Bang! Paente''s eyes narrowed as he heard a series of loud impacts upon the canopy of trees that covered the area like an umbrella. Man-Eating Tamer grinned and remarked, "It appears those fragmented spaces are colliding with your self-created trees." Crack!! Another sound resonated, but this time it was distinct. Both Paente and Man-Eating Tamer turned their heads to look. The barrier encompassing the Botano Clan''s residence had been shattered. "What''s that?!" Man-Eating Tamer''s eyes widened as he sensed an unusual energy. The monsters he controlled appeared to grow restless. Ohm! In a matter of moments, the peculiar energy radiated throughout the entire country, and even the top experts felt its effects. Just as the fragmented spaces had materialized in the sky not a minute earlier, another change occurred. In Zone 6... Souta turned his gaze, his eyes adjusting to the energy''s flow. "I can see it... This is it." Chapter 922 Battle at the Selnes Country: Tears of Divine Might The strange energy began to spread throughout the entire country, affecting not only the land but also the top experts who could sense it. Even the monsters that had emerged from the river outside the city walls were growing restless. ''Souta!! This is!!'' Saya''s voice resonated in Souta''s mind. ''Yeah...'' Souta nodded while keeping his gaze fixed on the direction from which the unusual energy was emanating. He couldn''t shake the feeling of discomfort that had settled in his heart. This aura and sensation... It surpassed even the legendary-grade mana fruit. There was no doubt about it. The long-anticipated moment had arrived. The mythical-grade mana fruit, the Tears of Divine Might, had finally ripened. So, it had been concealed within the Botano Clan''s household all along. The reason Souta couldn''t perceive it earlier was that it had not yet reached its peak ripeness. The presence of the barrier also played a role, managing to obscure his other senses, even if it couldn''t fully block his vision. Souta gazed up at the sky, his eyes scanning the various battles taking place. He mentally calculated the number of experts who would vie for the mythical-grade fruit, all while keeping an eye on the ongoing confrontations. ''Souta, a mythical-grade fruit will appear...'' Saya''s voice resonated in his mind. ''What do you mean?'' Souta inquired, feeling a touch of confusion. ''You''re a monster, so I''m certain you can sense the fluctuations, but it''s not fully ripened yet. It will require more time, approximately five to ten minutes to reach its peak ripeness,'' Saya explained. ''I see... So that''s why monsters spend so much time staring at their mana fruit before they pluck it,'' Souta responded, understanding the significance of the fruit''s ripening process. "What is that?!" Red Mist muttered as her eyes remained fixed on the direction of the Botano Clan household. "This energy surge... It can''t be..." With determination, she abruptly took flight in the direction of the Botano Clan household, her desire to claim the mythical-grade fruit driving her. Souta didn''t hesitate and swiftly followed in pursuit of her. Amid the chaotic battles and the approaching spatial distortions, numerous top experts from all corners of the country began flying toward the Botano Clan household. They were driven by the unprecedented event of the mythical-grade fruit ripening, its potent energy radiating far and wide, attracting the attention of even the most powerful beings. In the Botano Clan''s mansion, Paente''s eyes widened as he observed the extraordinary scene unfolding before him. "It''s ripened!" he exclaimed in disbelief, realizing that the fruit he had sealed was now fully mature. The unexpected release of energy from the fruit had completely shattered the barrier. Paente understood that it was impossible to conceal the presence of a fully ripened mythical-grade fruit, as its energy was immensely potent and irresistible. Man-Eating Tamer, who had regained his composure, couldn''t help but laugh at the turn of events. "This is beyond my wildest expectations! I never imagined that something of this magnitude was concealed within your territory!" Paente narrowed his eyes and waved his hand, releasing a barrage of energy spheres. Swoosh! Man-Eating Tamer chuckled with a sinister grin, manipulating his swarm of fourth-stage bees. Together, they formed a defensive barrier that absorbed the impact of Paente''s attacks. Bang! Bang! The coordinated efforts of the bees left a gap in their formation, allowing an unscathed Man-Eating Tamer to advance. He taunted Paente, "If you''re aiming to kill me, you''ll need to dispose of all my minions first. Without eliminating them, you won''t get close to me." Paente took a deep breath and faced his formidable opponent, pondering the challenge of overcoming the swarm of monsters that Man-Eating Tamer controlled. Despite having already defeated more than twenty fourth-stage creatures, it seemed this guy had an abundance of minions at his disposal. Paente turned his head, and the forest canopy erupted in a shower of splintered branches as several figures emerged in the sky. Each of them exuded a formidable aura. They had arrived. On the side of the Deadly Sins, Red Mist, Anti Mage, Thousand Earth, Nine Yin, Poisonous Vine, and Black Blader stood prepared. Facing them from the alliance army were Omari Adel, Asfrith Beiner, Naruse Ichimon, Bezvin Darkna, Genzu, and Souta. Notably absent were certain experts who sensed the energy but were preoccupied with their own battles. Shen Yao grappled fiercely with her opponent, unwilling to let them escape. Kasci and the Deadly Sins'' representative, Ice Death, were embroiled in their own intense struggles. Hoei Methal remained entangled in combat with Edmar within the Windi Clan household, having been drawn into battle following the death of Clan Leader Schine. Paente squinted his eyes, understanding that even the large faction experts could not be entirely trusted when confronted with the temptation of a mythical-grade fruit within their grasp. ''This is bad for me... The mythical-grade fruit could also strain the trust among the large factions. The Deadly Sins will surely exploit this opportunity. My country is in danger... I need to find a way to save it,'' Paente thought to himself. Bezvin, Clan Leader of the Darkna Clan, contemplated the same concern. He observed the top experts from the large factions. Even those from the mightiest groups couldn''t resist the allure of a mythical-grade fruit. In truth, Souta had always harbored intentions of seizing the Tears of Divine Might. It had been his goal all along. Asfrith gazed at Paente and then cast his attention towards the source of the energy emanating from the mythical-grade fruit. "It''s indeed a mythical-grade fruit. Its energy alone surpasses that of a legendary-grade," he remarked in a hushed tone. The others remained silent, watching each other with bated breath as they anticipated someone to take the first step. Meanwhile, the remaining fragmented spaces had finally arrived just above their location. This instantly shattered the tense silence in the air. The first to make a move was Genzu. He stepped forward, unleashing his energy in an instant. With a mighty swing of his axe, a colossal slash cleaved the air. [Titanic Cleave]! The slash hurtled towards the Deadly Sins experts. They scattered in an attempt to evade the attack before launching their own offensive. Simultaneously, they charged forward. The large faction experts had no other choice but to respond in kind. They readied themselves and engaged their foes in battle, all while the spaces rained down around them. Bang! Bang! Bang! Amid the falling fragmented spaces, they clashed, these low-level realities akin to pieces of glass that concealed vast spaces within. Yet, the formidable experts could endure the damage it inflicted on their bodies. Boom! Paente gritted his teeth, his fingers moving in an intricate pattern. "Form! Last Rite!" A greenish light erupted from the tallest tree in the entire zone. This light transformed into a protective barrier, enveloping the entirety of the Botano Clan''s household. This was a precaution Paente had prepared in case the barrier was breached, and to safeguard the mythical-grade fruit from being damaged during the chaotic battle. The surge of energy from the fruit had ceased, a safeguard put in place to ensure it would remain dormant for another five to ten minutes. Boom! Boom! A minute passed, and the conflict in Zone 4 spilled into the surrounding zones. Multiple top-tier experts were embroiled in combat here, rendering the once-thriving green forest of the Botano Clan''s territory into a desolate landscape, exposed to the intense elemental powers of these powerful individuals. If people wanted to escape the falling realities, Zone 4 seemed to be the safest place. Almost every reality that descended upon this zone met its demise, disintegrating into nothingness. However, choosing to escape to this zone would expose individuals to the fierce battle between the top experts. Souta moved nimbly from side to side, his focus shifting to the barrier. "Saya, let me know if it''s the right moment to pluck the fruit. I''ll use my full strength and make a move for it," he communicated with Saya. "Okay," Saya acknowledged. With this information, Souta turned his attention back to his opponent. This time, he was confronted by a tall man with purple-colored skin. A black tattoo adorned his forehead, and his eyes glowed an eerie white. This man, known as Nine Yin, was an equally formidable opponent. Souta kept an eye on the falling realities, aware of their potential threat. They weren''t a direct concern for him, but he worried about their impact on his subordinates. He couldn''t predict the outcome; it was conceivable that most of the Sixth Grain War members would be annihilated. The worst-case scenario involved only the top experts surviving. Creating some distance between himself and Nine Yin, Souta closed his eyes. Souta inwardly instructed, ''Take them with you. Protect them for a while.'' Nine Yin rapidly closed the distance between himself and Souta, conjuring a swirling pale flame in his clenched fist. [One Joule Yin]! Unperturbed, Souta swung his sword, sending forth a crimson crescent. [Crimson Moon]! Boom! In the midst of this clash, three figures reached the outskirts of Zone 4. Among them was a man, accompanied by two women. "A mythical-grade fruit... This is beyond our expectations. Should we join the fray for it?" one of the women inquired. "No, let''s hold off for now. I believe there''s more to this conflict. Our objective aligns with that of the Deadly Sins¡ªsecuring the Isolated Formation God''s knowledge," the man responded. Chapter 923 Battle at the Selnes Country: Devour "Isolated Formation God..." The woman furrowed her brow at the deity''s name. She had long green hair and eyes. She inquired, "Does anyone know his actual name?" The man shook his head and replied, "No, not even the other gods were privy to his true name. He had been known as the Isolated Formation God from the very beginning. There''s scarce information about his origin." "That''s precisely why we''re here. We need to uncover his discoveries and the actual events in the Hall Plains," the other woman chimed in. She had shoulder-length brown hair and a pair of bunny ears atop her head. "Indeed, since most of the experts have congregated here, we should be able to explore the territories of the Five Master Clans," the man suggested. "Let''s commence with the Darkna Clan. I initially wanted to visit the Windi Clan, but a major battle is currently underway there," the green-haired woman proposed. "This is our sole opportunity to access the Five Master Clans'' estates. We couldn''t have done it earlier without causing complications. It''s fortuitous that the Deadly Sins have diverted their attention," the man emphasized. The brown-haired woman fixed her gaze on the falling realities above. She slowly spoke, "Some of these spaces could be classified as boundaries and outworlds, complete universes unto themselves, especially these outworlds." "Outworlds... I wonder where they unearthed these outworlds. Even after years of exploring the space gap, it''s exceedingly rare to come across them. They''re scarcer than high-level planets within our space. A single outworld can house numerous boundaries, yet here we have dozens," the man pondered. "It''s fragmented, so there''s no need to concern ourselves with it. There are likely few survivors in those outworlds," the green-haired woman reassured. "Agreed, then let''s proceed," the man declared before he turned and vanished. The two women exchanged glances before they also disappeared. On the other side of the battlefield... Alice gazed at the descending realities with a solemn expression on her face. "Is this the end...?" she murmured to herself. Glancing to the side, she saw Eilish lying on the ground, exhausted from pushing herself to the limit. Leilus, Paolo, and Sekmet had also collapsed. Drami remained alive but in critical condition. As for Marcus, he had perished after destroying the device that held the Cancelling Rune. His sacrifice would be remembered by countless warriors. Alice no longer had the strength to protect them, and the enemy forces were still pushing back. It was yet another issue to contend with. Huff... She took a deep breath, her expression turning resolute. Even if this was the end, she was prepared to face it head-on. They had foes on the ground, and fragmented realities above that could slice their bodies apart. Alice raised her head slightly. Even Edilon and Fremi, the Four Shackles expert of the Sixth Grain War, continued to battle despite their bodies being marred by deep wounds. They faced opponents of equal caliber, and they were one of the reasons why none of the Four Shackles of the Deadly Sins obstructed Alice and the others'' path. The voices of the warriors resounded in the midst of the despairing situation. "Warriors!! We''ll fight till the end!!" "Let''s take down more enemies before we meet our end!!" "Battle Angels! Strike them down!" "KILL!!!" "VALHALLA!! FOR VALHALLA!!" "Our god will guide us to the afterlife!!" The battle cries of the warriors reverberated through the area. They hailed from different factions, yet they united against a common enemy. Not a single one showed fear in the face of impending death. In Zone 1... The surviving civilians could only watch in dread as the glass-like objects rained down from the sky. Despair gripped their hearts, and tears welled up in the corners of their eyes. The elderly clasped their children tightly, offering comfort as the young ones cried out in fear. Everyone was gripped by the fear of impending death. They were ordinary people, different from the warriors engaged in frontline combat. "Mama! I don''t want to die!" "Don''t worry, Mama is here. I''ll keep you safe." "Sob... Sob..." "I''ll join you soon, my son." "I only hope it''s painless." "So many things I still wanted to do, and now death is upon us!" "I''m so scared!" "No...!!" The survivors wept as they clung to their loved ones. Some had already come to terms with their impending demise. Outside the All Filter Barrier Formation... Admunda, the Hero-rank Battle Angel, peered at the barrier with a deepening frown on his face. "What is transpiring within?" he mumbled to himself. Even Prandel, the Hero-rank of the Deadly Sins, appeared slightly perplexed by the energy fluctuations within the barrier. Admunda glanced at Prandel, and his frown deepened further upon seeing Prandel''s expression. It appeared that Prandel, too, was uncertain about what was occurring inside. A minute ago, the barrier had briefly shifted. During that moment, it had become fragile, and Admunda could have entered. However, it promptly returned to its robust state. Admunda had just stopped Prandel from entering the barrier at that moment. "Furthermore, no one is leaving the barrier... Something significant is undeniably transpiring. I clearly sensed that fragility for a brief period, during which anyone could have entered," Admunda pondered. Admunda wished to understand what was transpiring, but his senses were regrettably thwarted by the resilient barrier. "I can only entrust the situation to the warriors within," he murmured inwardly. Prandel turned to Admunda and said, "Hey, Battle Angel! Why don''t you die? I would have entered the country if not for your interference before!" "Prandel, leader of a merchant group called Red Fang Corporation. You really sided with Gluttony. You shouldn''t have sided with them. You will only kill yourself in the process." Admunda said in a cold voice. "Shut up! You can''t understand it! You guys will die in the end!" Prandel raised his voice. He bent his knees and launched himself towards Admunda. Boom!! The two Hero-rank warriors battled in the high altitude above Selnes Country, nearer to outer space than the ground itself. Admunda had deliberately chosen this remote location to avoid harming other warriors during their fight, recognizing the vast disparity in power between Hero-rank and lower-ranked individuals. It was akin to transitioning from the third to the fourth shackles. In the household of the Flaem Clan... Erkigal and Hono stood before the tomb. "Are we really going to do it?" Hono inquired, her uncertainty evident. "Yes, we need to act swiftly once it is revealed. This is necessary to ensure the survival of our people," Erkigal affirmed. "I understand..." Hono nodded. She raised her hand and made a small cut on her palm with a knife, allowing her blood to drip onto the tomb. "I, Hono Flaem, release this restraint. Our world needs your guidance, our people need your power, and our people will rise through the calamity. Oh, our god above, please show us your blessing." A crimson sphere materialized above the tomb, representing the core of the Flaem Clan. Similar to the core that Edmar had bestowed upon the Deadly Sins from the Windi Clan, it was intricately connected to the All Filter Barrier Formation. Ohm! A mysterious symbol appeared on the tomb, and an immense surge of energy erupted from it. The ground quaked, and rifts formed in the very air. In the next instant, this release of energy expanded at a rapid pace, engulfing everything in its path. Franklin, Eztein, and Vashno, who were on the surface, felt the eruption of energy. Before they could comprehend what was happening, an expansive, starry phenomenon expanded, shrouding everything in its vicinity zone by zone. In Zone 4... Souta, Genzu, and the other top experts halted their battles, their attention drawn to a peculiar sight. It was as though a starry quilt was gradually covering everything, zone by zone. "What is that space?!" Genzu exclaimed, his voice reflecting his astonishment. Souta narrowed his eyes, studying the phenomenon, but chose to remain silent. "The energy it contains is incredibly dense..." Naruse noted quietly. "It''s coming!" Adel shouted, releasing an energy beam in an attempt to push back the encroaching space. However, the beam simply vanished within the mysterious phenomenon. Swoosh!! Despite their efforts to resist, they found themselves helpless against this enigmatic force. It engulfed them along with the entire country, leaving no corner of the All Filter Barrier Formation untouched. Even the fragmented realities were not spared. Every last remnant within the barrier was meticulously erased, leaving nothing behind. The force then condensed everything into a small marble at the former site of the Flaem Clan''s household. The entire area now appeared desolate, devoid of air and light. Even the ground had vanished, revealing the true nature of the All Filter Barrier Formation, which was a spherical structure, explaining why no one could dig beneath it to access the country. This suspended marble then emitted a range of colors before suddenly expanding, enveloping the entire space within the barrier. Swoosh!! In a matter of moments, a new world materialized within the All Filter Barrier Formation. Everything had been rearranged in the blink of an eye. Chapter 924 Battle at the Selnes Country: Nine Yin Souta opened his eyes and found himself in an unfamiliar place. "What happened just now...?" he muttered, feeling a bit bewildered. The events had unfolded so quickly that he was struggling to make sense of them. ''I believe a new space opened up and engulfed everything within. It seems to be related to the Five Master Clans or one of the major factions. This move may have saved the people in the country from those fragmented worlds,'' Saya explained to him. "I see... So this place is the result of that space opening and merging all those fragments, right?" Souta inquired. ''That''s my best guess, but there''s no certainty,'' Saya replied. The sky was dark, and a vast forest surrounded him. Towering trees rose to heights of around thirty meters, nearly blotting out the sky above. Souta raised his hand, sensing the fabric of space around him. "The space here seems a bit unstable," he observed. "It''s a patchwork of tough and fragile areas, not evenly distributed." He could feel that some parts of the space were more susceptible to disruption, while others remained unyielding. It was clear that this place had been created by mashing together various fragmented worlds, likely with several layers due to the peculiar formation he had witnessed earlier. It appeared to be the result of some unknown force unleashed during the recent events. Souta ventured further into the forest, and after a few minutes, he sensed the presence of living beings nearby. He could feel the flow of their blood, indicating their vitality. He didn''t dwell on counting their exact numbers; there were likely more than a hundred individuals. As he approached, the scenery began to change. Tall structures rose to heights of about fifty meters, but the surroundings bore signs of desolation and decay. It seemed as though a catastrophe had befallen this place long ago, evident from the mold-covered walls and floors. Souta continued to advance, though he didn''t immediately spot any people in the area. However, he could sense their presence as they remained hidden in the abandoned buildings, observing him from a distance. From this, Souta deduced that these individuals were likely locals from those fragmented worlds who had managed to survive the collapse of their worlds. As he moved his gaze, he was able to see through the ordinary walls and directly into the people''s auras, assessing their energy flow and the state of their mana pools. Suddenly, he felt a presence approaching. When he turned his head, he recognized a familiar face. The figure had brown fur on his arms and neck, and blood still oozed from his wounds. It was Li Guan from Primate Island. Li Guan expressed his surprise, "Blood Lightning Monster, you''re here?!" Souta confirmed, "Yeah." He noticed Li Guan''s battered appearance and could tell that he had sustained serious injuries. In his current condition, he likely wouldn''t fare well against an opponent like Fendal, and dealing with someone as formidable as Boulder Jack would be an even greater challenge. "You''re with the Priestess of the Fist, right? Where happened there?" Souta asked. Li Guan provided some insight, "I don''t know... The space was swallowed, and I just found myself in this place." He found a quiet spot and seated himself, taking a moment to recover. Glancing at the surrounding buildings, he asked, "What about those people?" Souta pondered the situation, replying, "I haven''t tested their strength yet. They''re probably natives from the fragmented worlds that were drawn into this space." "Have you tested their strength?" Li Guan asked. "No, but I can sense that their power level isn''t bad. The strongest among them has already broken the first shackle," Souta replied as he kept his gaze fixed on the building where the people were hiding. He decided not to pay much attention to these locals from the fragmented worlds since they posed no threat to him. He had no intention of harming them without cause. If they initiated any conflict, then they would face the consequences. Souta refocused his attention on the fabric of space, searching for a path that would lead them back to the Tears of Divine Might. After a few moments, he found what he was looking for, and a smile played across his face as he turned to Li Guan. "You''re going to stay here and rest for a while, right? Then, take care of them for me," Souta said, pointing towards the people in the building. "They are probably confused since their world has changed, so take care of them. But if they have ill intentions, don''t hesitate to deal with them." "I know. I''m not badly injured. I''m just exhausted from using my released form, so they wouldn''t be able to harm me," Li Guan replied. "Okay," Souta acknowledged before he jumped into the sky. He wielded his sword and slashed at the space in front of him. Bang! The fabric of space was cut. Souta didn''t hesitate and flew towards it. Li Guan stared at the cut in space and muttered, "There are no changes in the cut. It feels like I''m not in Imperium." He sighed and closed his eyes, planning to rest for a few minutes before rejoining the battle. He had been resting for a while now, ever since Shen Yao took on two opponents single-handedly. ... Souta landed in an unfamiliar location, and immediately, the overpowering stench of blood filled his senses. "The smell of blood..." Surveying his surroundings, Souta detected faint energy fluctuations in the air, suggesting that a recent battle had taken place here. Multiple individuals seemed to have been involved in the conflict, though the fluctuations indicated that they were not particularly high-ranking, likely below the level of Four Shackles. The sky overhead bore a dark purple hue, and the ground was tainted in shades of red. Despite the evident structures in the area, many of them lay in ruins, with smoke billowing from several, casting an eerie and unsettling atmosphere over the scene. Souta knew he needed to proceed with caution in this unfamiliar and potentially hazardous environment. The grotesque scene lay before Souta, a macabre display of dismembered bodies and grisly piles of flesh. Saya''s warning resonated in his mind, urging caution in the face of an overwhelming presence. Acknowledging the presence of other individuals in this nightmarish place, Souta pressed forward, scrutinizing his surroundings with meticulous care. An unsettling sense of familiarity washed over him, and it became increasingly evident that the situation he had stumbled upon was fraught with complications. Souta had a strong inkling of who was responsible for the gruesome scene around him. He came to an abrupt halt, sensing a shift in the atmosphere as an eerie chill enveloped the area. Blood-curdling screams pierced the air, confirming his suspicions. He felt a heightened awareness from an individual who had detected his presence. In a split-second decision, Souta crouched low just in time to evade a deadly strike. The attack cleaved through the nearby buildings, reducing them to rubble. With caution etched on his face, Souta slowly turned to confront the figure standing just a few meters away. Draped in a sinister purple aura, the identity of his opponent became unmistakable ¨C it was Nine Yin. "Blood Lightning Monster, we meet again," Nine Yin''s voice echoed eerily, as if multiple voices were speaking in unison. Souta remained silent, his focus on examining his surroundings, seeking any possible paths through the fabric of space. "It''s useless... Do you think that I would let you go after you''ve arrived at my doorstep?" Nine Yin spoke ominously as he raised his hands. "I don''t know what happened, but it seems that this space serves as a sanctuary for many. Before coming here, we were already aware of our role in this war. The higher powers of the Deadly Sins have decreed that we must restrain any of Selnes Country''s top experts, no matter what." Souta pressed his temples in frustration and sighed. He then grinned and taunted, "Come at me!" Nine Yin bent his knees and charged toward Souta at an astonishing speed. However, Souta unleashed his formidable power the instant Nine Yin reached him. [Dual Element Drive: Dark and Light Integration]!! [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]!! [Monster Orb Release]!! Several figures emerged from Souta''s shadow, and black spheres began forming on his back. The sheer amount of energy he released shook the entire area. Boom! In less than a second, Souta unleashed a powerful slash with all his might. The crimson energy blade tore through the land, leaving behind a massive gully that stretched for over twenty kilometers and plunged to a depth of three kilometers. It obliterated everything in its path. Nine Yin landed on the side, his eyes wide with shock. He looked at his right arm, which had been severed. "You almost got me there..." he laughed before activating most of his skills and spells. His aura surged, growing stronger and rivaling Souta''s energy. Bang! The two clashed in mid-air, their blows sending shockwaves rippling through the surroundings. Souta realized that he shouldn''t hold back any longer. The Tears of Divine Might had appeared, and it was time for the most significant battle in this war. Boom! Boom! Chapter 925 Battle at the Selnes Country: Souta vs. Nine Yin Genzu found himself in a vast desert, facing a man named Anti-Mage, a notorious spellcaster hunter. "So you''re the one who''s here with me," Genzu remarked as he observed Anti-Mage''s movements. Anti-Mage looked at the wounds on Genzu''s body and commented, "Berserk War Axe, you''re injured. You wanted to fight me in your current state." "If you know my title, then you should also know my strength," Genzu laughed. "Besides, I don''t think you should be worried about the mythical-grade mana fruit when I''m here. You will not be able to get it." Anti-Mage sneered at Genzu''s words. "Do you really think that the mythical-grade mana fruit is that important for us? It''s a bit unexpected, but our goal has never changed from the beginning. The mythical-grade mana fruit has become our secondary objective. It will be our prize for completing this mission." "Then try to get past me," Genzu said in a cold tone. Anti-Mage''s face turned serious as he approached Genzu, adjusting his sleeves and clenching both of his fists tightly. "So you want a brawl. I''ll let you have it," Genzu said as he let go of his weapon and raised both of his fists. "You let go of your weapon?! Quite arrogant," Anti-Mage remarked. Both fighters stood in front of each other, the distance between them just a foot wide. Anti-Mage''s spell-dismantling abilities were useless against Genzu, who never used spells to begin with. The atmosphere was tense as they stared at each other. This battle would revolve around their martial arts skills, a fistfight between two high-tier SSS-rank experts. With a burst of their aura, both of them threw their fists at each other. Boom!! The entire space shook. Li Guan glanced at the slash on the fabric of space. The cut grew larger, and the energy burst from the other side passed through it. He could see what was happening on that side. "Blood Lightning Monster is fighting the top expert of the Deadly Sins." Even the people hiding in the building could feel the intensity of the fight in the air. The vibrations alone were enough for them to understand that some incredibly powerful beings were battling. Boom!! Souta and Nine Yin exchanged hundreds of blows. Nine Yin was using a strange weapon this time: a pair of knives bent forward and connected by chains below the handles. Clang! Clang! Souta was pushed back. He narrowed his eyes while defending himself from Nine Yin''s furious assault. ''He sticks his arms together, and I didn''t even notice it. He''s fast and strong, but his elemental power isn''t as strong as mine.'' Souta thought to himself. Though he was confident in his skills, he still wasn''t sure if he could defeat this guy without sustaining heavy damage. Nine Yin was strong, far stronger than Souta had initially imagined. If he were to categorize his recent opponents: At the bottom were the seven Wingless Crow members he fought in the sub-world, and Fendal was stronger than them. Even if those seven worked together, Fendal would dismantle them. Boulder Jack surpassed Fendal. Then there was Red Mist, who should be on par with Nine Yin. In fact, if Red Mist utilized her full power, she would likely surpass Nine Yin. Among the top ten experts of the Deadly Sins, Ice Death was at the top. The second position was a toss-up between Red Mist, Anti-Mage, or Thousand Earth. Man-Eating Tamer could also contend for this spot, as he had a wide variety of monsters at his disposal. He was the most unpredictable, having a weaker physique but numerous powerful minions. For the third tier, it would include experts like Nine Yin, Spatial Whisperer, and Black Blader, with Boulder Jack and Poisonous Vine at the bottom in terms of strength. "I have limited information about this guy compared to Red Mist, Anti-Mage, Man-Eating Tamer, and Thousand Earth, so unless he uses his full strength, I won''t be able to gauge him accurately," Souta thought to himself. He landed on the ground and conjured his doppelgangers once more. The doppelgangers charged at Nine Yin. Swoosh! Nine Yin didn''t fall back. He tightly gripped his weapon, and a series of lines appeared in the air. In the next moment, the doppelgangers exploded. "You''re getting annoying, Blood Lightning Monster!" Nine Yin roared as he swung down both of his weapons. A red and black energy blend flew out, swirling together in the air. "I could say the same to you," Souta replied as he slashed down the red and black energy. He then dashed towards Nine Yin, swinging his sword, but his opponent skillfully blocked the attack. Clang! Nine Yin gritted his teeth and kicked Souta on the side. Souta was blown away but managed to fire several [Bestrou] beams using the four spider limbs on his back. Swoosh! Nine Yin widened his eyes but reacted quickly. He evaded the beams and sent out several energy blades at Souta. In response, Souta moved his other hand and conjured a black hole, effectively dismantling all the energy blades sent by his opponent. He stopped in the air but continued to cast the [Black Hole] spell. With every new black hole that appeared, the entire scenery changed. The surroundings were slowly being crushed into nothingness. The spell was warping space, time, and all objects in this place. "Annoying tricks!" Nine Yin snorted as he deftly avoided the black holes. It was easy for him to predict where the black holes would appear, as he could feel the changes in the fabric of space. The space in this realm wasn''t as strong as the Imperium, so it would distort before the black holes even manifested. Souta also noticed the problem and decided to stop using the [Black Hole] spell for a while. The black holes were too powerful for this world. He kicked the air and charged toward Nine Yin, and his white armor swiftly transformed into a black one. [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]! Nine Yin didn''t back down. He collided with Souta, and the two of them wrestled in the air. Nine Yin''s body was engulfed in purple flames. His speed and strength grew, and he overpowered Souta. Souta was pushed back, but he gritted his teeth and continued to slash his sword in different directions. The intensity of his energy formed a massive platform beneath his feet. [Colosseum Undead Party]! At the same time, Souta activated [Possession] and the blessing of the God of Hunt. The pressure around him decreased as he started to fight back against his opponent. "Good!" Nine Yin roared as he increased his firepower. The purple flames around his body intensified, even though he was experiencing elemental suppression from the field. [Burning Heaven''s Earth Yin]! Souta moved his body to the side, but the flames still managed to burn his armor. The heat of the flame was directly transmitted to him, causing even more pain. Boom! The battle between the two shook the entire space as if it was about to collapse. The massive platform in the sky served as the foundation holding everything in place. Various cracks appeared in the space, severing the boundaries of this mashed world. In the space where Li Guan was, connected to the other fragmented worlds, the battle between the two powerful individuals was visible through these space cracks. Their energy seeped through these fissures, causing the connected worlds to vibrate. For the locals of these worlds, it was like witnessing a battle between gods. But for Li Guan, it was a battle between top-tier SSS-rank experts. "I didn''t even know that a fourth-stage monster could possess this kind of power... There''s a significant gap between the peak of the fourth stage and the weakest fifth stage, but Blood Lightning Monster''s strength seems to exist within that gap. If he isn''t the strongest fourth stage, I can''t imagine any fourth-stage monster surpassing this level of strength," Li Guan muttered to himself. Boom! Boom!! "Blood Lightning Monster!! I, Nine Yin, will kill you!!" Nine Yin roared as both of his hands flashed. He swung both of his weapons as fast as he could. "Nine Yin!!" Souta roared as he repeatedly blocked Nine Yin''s barrage of attacks. Both of their auras soared through the sky, sending rippling waves in every direction. The platform trembled as Souta and Nine Yin engaged in fierce close combat. Neither of them was backing down. The intense battle continued as Souta and Nine Yin clashed, their power shaking the very fabric of space. It was a brutal, no-holds-barred battle, and neither of them was willing to back down. The air was thick with tension and the sound of clashing energy and weapons. As the battle raged on, both fighters pushed their limits, using every ounce of their strength and skill. Blood continued to spurt from their wounds, and their bodies were battered and bruised. It was clear that this was a battle for survival, and neither of them was willing to give an inch. AHHHHHH!! The battle between Souta and Nine Yin reached a fever pitch. Both combatants were pushed to their limits, and the raw power they displayed was staggering. It was clear that Nine Yin was a formidable opponent, and Souta had to dig deep to keep up with him. The absence of Anti-Mage''s dismantling ability provided a small respite for Souta, but the battle was still intense. Every clash of their weapons sent shockwaves through the space, and the platform they fought on trembled under the immense energy being unleashed. Souta knew that he had to find a way to gain the upper hand in this battle. His determination to protect the Tears of Divine Might and emerge victorious was unwavering. The outcome of this battle hung in the balance, and he was ready to give it his all to secure victory. Chapter 926 Battle at the Selnes Country: Fierce Battle The battle between Souta and Nine Yin had reached a level of intensity that was reshaping the very fabric of space itself. The platform they fought on trembled and cracked under the immense energy unleashed in their clashes. The purple flames and black holes added to the chaos, distorting the entire area. Souta was fully focused on the battle, utilizing his vast combat abilities to counter Nine Yin''s relentless attacks. He adapted his Blood Armor and combat tactics to the situation, constantly shifting and changing to gain an advantage. His sword strikes were precise and powerful, obliterating everything in their path. The battle had become a cataclysmic event, altering the landscape and structures around them. The two powerful beings clashed with such intensity that they were causing a ripple effect in the space they fought in, creating a chaotic and unstable environment. Souta realized that the battle was not going as he had anticipated. Nine Yin had surpassed his expectations, demonstrating an incredible level of speed and strength. The cracks in his armor and the blood seeping out were clear signs that he couldn''t maintain a frontal clash with his opponent. In a quick decision, Souta leaped to the side to evade Nine Yin''s fiery attack. He reacted by using his unique abilities and tricks, strategically placing blood-red webs around the platform to set up defenses. As the battle continued, Souta found himself thinking about the difficulty of the fight. He admitted that it was harder than he had initially thought. Even his gravitational force manipulation and other abilities were proving to be less effective than he hoped. Nine Yin''s sheer power and determination were overwhelming, and it was evident that he was determined to keep Souta engaged in combat. The platform had turned into a battleground of chaos, with devastating attacks and counterattacks leaving their marks. Souta knew that he had to adapt and find new strategies to gain the upper hand in this fierce duel. Souta swiftly leaped to the side, narrowly evading the barrage of purple flames. Holding his sword tightly, he decided to take his combat abilities up a notch by activating his [Soul Blood Mode]. An intense rush of energy coursed through his body, significantly enhancing his overall stats. With this newfound power, he wasted no time and launched himself at Nine Yin while unleashing a barrage of spells. "Monster!! You still have some aces up your sleeve!" Nine Yin grinned, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He was well aware that battling the Blood Lightning Monster was no small feat, even for him. Suddenly, an ominous presence tingled at the edge of his senses. He swiftly moved through the air, and his eyes locked onto a developing anomaly¡ªa black hole was forming. Reacting instinctively, he swung his weapon aside without even glancing at it. Swoosh! His weapon effortlessly sliced through a doppelganger, cleaving it into two. At that moment, Souta and Nine Yin collided, their figures flashing, and they crashed into the nearby pillars. Boom! Nine Yin gritted his teeth, bracing his back against the wall. His weapons crossed in front of him, effectively blocking Souta''s blade. [Dark Swift Enhancement] [Malice Vigor] [Earth Dead End] Nine Yin''s strength surged as he utilized the equipment skills of his red-grade artifacts. He drove his knee into Souta''s stomach, momentarily halting Souta''s blade swing. At the last instant, he tilted his head to the side, narrowly avoiding Souta''s deadly spider limbs attempting to pierce his head. "The enhancement from my artifacts isn''t enough to end this monster! Then, I will use my technique!" Nine Yin quickly sidestepped and continued to clash with Souta, the two of them locked in fierce combat. Clang! Clang! Clang! After a few more blows, the two fighters disengaged from each other. Souta clutched the sword tightly in his hand, still emitting a dark and light energy. This was his advantage, as his elemental energy surpassed Nine Yin''s, who was only at the Force Stage despite his high-tier SSS-rank status. Souta sensed that Nine Yin was on the verge of exhausting his [Element Drive], and once that happened, Souta believed he would secure victory. The elemental suppression from the [Colosseum Undead Party] had already diminished Nine Yin''s abilities. "I can see that he doesn''t have much elemental energy left..." Souta observed, narrowing his eyes. He bent his knees and launched himself once again. Boom! Nine Yin took a deep breath as the purple flames surrounding his body transformed into a foreboding black hue. [Nine Hell Raging Flame]! Nine Yin was determined to conclude this battle once and for all. His opponent, the Blood Lightning Monster, was far from ordinary, and he recognized the potential of defeat. Still, he held confidence in his own abilities. "AHHHHH!!!" Nine Yin roared, and the black flames around his body dispersed in all directions, igniting anything they touched. The entire platform quaked with the ferocity of the flames. "I, Nine Yin, will finish my job!" A tidal wave of black flames surged toward Souta with unrestrained force. Souta wore a grave expression as the black flames exhibited power several times greater than the previous purple flames. They consumed everything in their vicinity, including Souta''s dark and light elements. Even the very fabric of space was being devoured by these intense flames. Bang! Souta gritted his teeth, taking a determined step forward. The flames washed over his body, burning through his defenses. His webs, blood, gravity, and other skills instantly disintegrated. Even his Blood Armor was slowly disintegrating, but he persisted in pushing through the relentless flames. Thud! Souta managed to reach the exact position he needed, near Nine Yin, who was still emitting the surging black flames. Slowly, he opened his mouth and whispered, "[Dual Element Drive: Light and Dark Fusion]..." In the next moment, a burst of light and darkness radiated from within Souta''s body. The black flames were pushed back, stunning Nine Yin. Souta stood at the center, with white mist emanating from his body. The elemental energy he now possessed exceeded the limits of this world. "W-What?!" Nine Yin exclaimed, staring in disbelief at Souta, who was radiating an overpowering elemental aura. He could sense that Souta had become a fusion of both light and dark. "T-This... Fusion Stage? How is this possible?" Nine Yin was utterly shocked. Could it be that the Blood Lightning Monster had achieved Fusion Stage? Souta regarded Nine Yin with cold, dual-colored eyes filled with darkness and light. He made a subtle movement with his sword, causing the two elements to merge along its blade. The fusion was highly concentrated, with no energy escaping. Every bit of power was channeled into the weapon. "I didn''t want to resort to this, as I don''t have much of it, but you''ve left me with no choice... You''re strong," Souta said before unleashing a powerful sword strike. [Darkness Bite]!! A never-ending vortex of light and darkness swirled around Souta''s blade as he unleashed a devastating attack. The combined force of the two elements surged forward, tearing through Nine Yin''s raging flames and creating a monstrous wave of darkness. Boom!! An enormous explosion rocked the platform, obliterating a quarter of it and sending shockwaves of power rippling across the landscape. As the dust and debris settled, a figure plummeted from the platform. It was Nine Yin, his eyes wide with realization. He could see faint wisps of fog permeating the area, a telltale sign of [Dream Power]. "Ah... I see... D-Dream Fog... Hahaha, [Dream Power]... Y-You have it..." Nine Yin''s voice was shaky as he landed like a meteor, creating a massive crater upon impact. Boom!! Souta peered down at the fallen Nine Yin, taking a deep breath as he deactivated [Dream Power], causing his elemental energy to revert to its previous state. His body slowly returned to its normal appearance. Thud! Souta''s knees gave way, and he fell to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood. "[Dream Power]... It forced the elemental seeds in my body to forcefully bloom temporarily. I''m not used to it, and it affects me." Exhausted and injured, Souta knew he couldn''t afford to rest for long. He had faced numerous powerful opponents today, but his determination to achieve his goal remained unwavering. The Tear of Divine Might was within his grasp, and he would do whatever it took to obtain it. Huff... Huff... Souta wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and struggled to his feet. Activating the equipment skill [Insta Regen] of his artifact, he felt his energy returning to his body. With newfound strength, he steeled himself for the challenges that lay ahead. He cast his gaze upon the tear in space and leaped into the unknown without hesitation. On the other side... Li Guan observed the outcome of the battle and recognized the significance of the Blood Lightning Monster''s victory. With two of the Deadly Sins'' high-ranking experts defeated, the alliance had a glimmer of hope in this challenging conflict. "I must take action as well," Li Guan murmured to himself. He rose to his feet and brushed off his clothes. His attention returned to the ruptured fabric of space, a sign that this world would soon be engulfed by the devastating battle between the two formidable combatants. Turning towards the building where the survivors from the fragmented worlds had taken refuge, he addressed them, "If you wish to survive, follow me. This world, your world, is on the brink of collapse." With his guidance, he aimed to lead them to safety and escape the impending catastrophe. Chapter 927 Battle at the Selnes Country: Genzu vs. Anti-Mage Souta landed in an unfamiliar place with a resounding "Thud!" The land was filled with various gases. "You should rest for a while," Saya suggested. "I can still go on," Souta replied. His ability [Insta-Regen] had recovered some of his energy, but it wasn''t enough to face someone at Nine Yin''s level. Souta found some solace in the fact that Nine Yin had only attained the Force Stage. If he had to face experts like Red Mist and others who had reached the Integration Stage, it would be a much more challenging situation. Souta was still confident in his fighting abilities but not in his current condition. "Be careful. Remember, you''re not alone in this war. Make use of others to eliminate your enemies and recover your strength," Saya advised. "Yeah, I know what to do," Souta nodded in agreement. He scanned his surroundings and felt that there was no immediate threat. "The fabric of space here is much more stable than the previous one," he observed. ... Bang! Bang! Anti-Mage and Genzu continued their high-speed exchange of blows. Neither of them showed any signs of backing down as they unleashed their punches without reservation. "Why don''t you utilize your weapon?" Anti-Mage inquired, still throwing punches. "I could ask you the same question! Why aren''t you using a weapon?" Genzu replied, a smile playing on his face. The two fighters relentlessly exchanged punches, each determined to overpower the other, eschewing any need for tricks. It was an all-out brawl. Bang! Bang! Genzu grinned as he felt his veins and muscles surge with power. His injuries didn''t weaken him; instead, they seemed to grant him increased strength and speed. His aura intensified as he activated his [Element Drive], growing even more powerful. For a brief moment, he managed to overpower Anti-Mage, but Anti-Mage responded by unleashing his own [Element Drive]. Boom! Lightning and earth clashed in midair between Genzu and Anti-Mage. Their elemental powers extended, enveloping the entire landscape and disturbing the very fabric of space. Both of them had reached the Integration Stage, and the battle caused significant changes in the entire desert. They exchanged tens, hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of punches. Blood continued to flow from their battered bodies. Both fighters employed various combat techniques to enhance their physical attributes and attacks. Despite the relentless exchange of blows, they stood resolutely. Genzu''s punch resembled an immovable solid rock, while Anti-Mage''s strikes were as swift and cutting as a whip slicing through the air. AHHHH! Their battle cry resonated throughout the area. Considerable time had passed, and the two combatants were still locked in fierce combat. The land was already stained red with their blood, and their breathing came in heavy gasps, their bodies covered in wounds. Anti-Mage was taken aback. He had been confident in his endurance and stamina, so it came as a shock that Genzu could not only keep up with him but also match his level. Today, he had finally met his match ¨C a man who relied solely on his physical strength and fighting abilities. "So, this is the strength of the Berserk War Axe," Anti-Mage silently mused. Genzu, too, was surprised to see that his opponent could continue to match him even after exerting his full strength. "He hasn''t used his weapon either! Is he really planning to brawl with me?" Genzu wondered inwardly as he unleashed a barrage of punches, gritting his teeth and exerting every ounce of strength in his body. Bang! Bang! Bang! "This guy...!!" Anti-Mage widened his eyes as he felt Genzu''s punches becoming sharper and more accurate. "H-He''s getting stronger?! I can''t afford to lose!" Gritting his teeth, Anti-Mage intensified his focus on Genzu''s punches while paying equal attention to his own. He was determined to improve and push himself further in this intense battle. Bang! Bang! In an instant, Anti-Mage absorbed hundreds of punches, the taste of blood filling his mouth. It was clear that neither he nor Genzu would go down easily. Given this reality, he chose to focus on self-improvement. His senses remained sharp, registering every incoming punch and calculating its trajectory. Simultaneously, he analyzed his own combat style, eliminating any unnecessary movements. "Take this!" Anti-Mage roared as he deflected one of Genzu''s punches. He advanced slightly and then launched a series of powerful punches into Genzu''s stomach. Bang! Bang! In mere moments, Genzu endured hundreds of punishing blows. The electrical charge emanating from Anti-Mage''s fists singed several areas of his body. Gritting his teeth, Genzu stepped forward and headbutted Anti-Mage. The impact generated intense friction in the air, creating shockwaves that rippled in all directions. Argh! Despite feeling a slight dizziness, Anti-Mage remained steadfast. He retaliated by unleashing hundreds of punches at Genzu, with lightning flashing in his fists with every strike. Genzu responded with an unwavering determination, throwing everything he had into the battle. He refused to yield, even if it meant facing death. This was his Warrior''s Will, the indomitable spirit of a man known as the Berserk War Axe. Bang! Bang! Bang! Anti-Mage and Genzu both felt the weight of the moment. They were exhausted, but their hands continued to move, albeit not as swiftly as before. "You''re impressive, Berserk War Axe," Anti-Mage acknowledged in a low voice. Genzu smiled and replied, "You too. I, Genzu Umbilan, will defeat you today." "I''ll remember your name as well. I, Fruen Dixys, also known as Anti-Mage, will put an end to you today," Anti-Mage declared with a grin. Both of them mustered the last of their remaining energy in their fists. Without uttering another word, they launched their fists toward each other. Bang! A powerful shockwave radiated outward as the two combatants'' punches collided. Genzu''s vision blurred the moment Anti-Mage''s fist struck his face, but he gritted his teeth and channeled more force into his punch. Ugh! Anti-Mage expelled a substantial amount of blood as Genzu''s fist landed on his stomach, his internal organs crushed by the tremendous force. Thud! Both of them collapsed to their knees, their consciousness gradually slipping away. They were helpless, having reached their limits. "I... have... to finish this..." Genzu struggled to stand but ultimately crumpled to the ground. The ground ceased its vibrations, but the damage they had inflicted on the land was already irreversible. Time and space were in disarray. Anti-Mage''s gaze shifted, and the last thing he saw was the fabric of space collapsing. ... On the Windi Clan household grounds, Hoei Methal stood with an air of arrogance, looking down upon Edmar who was below him. "Do you truly believe you can defeat me, Edmar?" Hoei inquired, his tone dripping with cold disdain. "Ugh..." Edmar clenched his teeth, his gaze burning with fury as he locked eyes with Hoei. "I initially wanted to kill you, but I''ll spare your life this time. After all, you claim you didn''t kill your father," Hoei stated to Edmar. Edmar''s body was covered in wounds, a testament to the severe beating he had received from Hoei. There was no way he could face a Clan Leader twice in succession. Battling Schine had already drained his strength, leaving him with little to defend himself against Hoei, the formidable Clan Leader of the Methal Clan. "It appears that you possess knowledge, Clan Leader Hoei..." Edmar managed to say. "It''s merely a collection of notes concerning the barrier. Your father had more knowledge than I did, but sadly, he''s no longer with us," Hoei replied, his foot slowly ascending before delivering a forceful kick to Edmar''s face. Bang! Edmar''s consciousness faded as he lost the battle and fell into unconsciousness. Hoei surveyed the area, taking in the ruined state of the Windi Clan Household after their intense battle. However, it appeared that the household had been transported to a different location, which puzzled him. "I can sense the laws and concepts here. This seems like a lower realm... but how? What happened to the binding contract with the Five Master Clans? We shouldn''t be able to leave the Selnes Country," Hoei pondered, narrowing his eyes as he observed his unfamiliar surroundings. "Could it be that we''re still within the country?" He shook his head, then turned his attention to Schine''s lifeless body. The Clan Leader of the Windi Clan had indeed perished, a reality that was difficult to accept. Hoei regretted being unable to prevent it, and he muttered, "You, who knew our god better than any of the Clan Leaders, passed away without sharing a single word about it. I must discuss this matter with the other Clan Leaders. The All-Filter Barrier Formation will crumble today." Shrugging off his somber thoughts, Hoei continued, "But first, I must complete my mission. I''ll search through the Windi Clan Household. Battling Edmar has left me drained." Suddenly, a figure crashed down at the site with a resounding "Bang!" Hoei swiftly turned his head, his expression growing serious as he fixed his gaze on the point of impact. "To think that I would find you here," a feminine voice resounded from within the dissipating smoke. Emerging from the dissipating smoke, a woman appeared with a smile on her face. She was Poisonous Vine, one of the formidable experts from the enemy''s side. Chapter 928 Battle at the Selnes Country: Betrayal Hoei observed Poisonous Vine, taking in the sight of her blood-stained form, although it was not her own blood, but that of the people she had killed. "How many people did you kill?" Hoei asked, his expression remaining composed. Poisonous Vine cast a glance at the unconscious Edmar before responding, "I''ve lost count. Battling that priestess was taxing, so I took down anyone who crossed my path before arriving here." The victims of her ruthless assault weren''t limited to the inhabitants of the Selnes Country but extended to individuals from the fragmented worlds as well. She spared no one, not even the creatures she encountered. "You understand why I''m here, don''t you?" Poisonous Vine smiled as she locked eyes with Hoei. Hoei''s expression remained unaltered. He produced a small, silver-colored orb and stated, "This is your objective... The cores are concealed within the Five Master Clans. Edmar already handed over the Windi Clan''s core to your group, so you still need to collect the remaining four." In Hoei''s view, the cores of the Five Master Clans were of lesser importance. They primarily served to maintain the integrity of the All-Filter Barrier Formation. There were more crucial secrets guarded by the Five Master Clans, such as the mysterious object hidden deep within the Methal Clan. ''I want to inspect the Windi Clan immediately, but it seems I won''t be able to do so for the time being,'' Hoei contemplated internally while keeping an eye on Poisonous Vine. Suddenly, both Hoei and Poisonous Vine turned their heads toward a nearby area where a figure had crashed, creating a significant fissure in the ground. Emerging from the dissipating smoke was a person with fiery red hair ¨C Hono Flaem, the Clan Leader of the Flaem Clan. Hono glanced at Hoei and Poisonous Vine, her expression bearing a serious and intense air as embers began to manifest around her body. "Clan Leader Hoei, shall we confront her together?" Hono inquired. Hoei considered the proposal and responded, "I could leave her to you, but it might be more advantageous if we team up. It would simplify matters." "If that''s your preference..." Hono nodded in agreement with Hoei. She then shifted her attention to Poisonous Vine. She tightly clenched her fists, her aura intensifying as the temperature in the vicinity surged dramatically. A few minutes ago after she activated the mysterious object, Hono seized the crimson orb, and the entire space around her began to expand, engulfing everything. In an instant, she found herself in a different location, separated from her master, and unaware of how this had transpired. That object created this whole mashed dimensions. Her primary objective now was to return to the Flaem Clan household. While navigating the various layers of space in her quest, she came across this place and sensed Hoei''s energy. "On second thought, I believe I can handle this. Eliminating one of the enemy''s top experts would alleviate the burden on our shoulders," Hono stated in a cold and determined tone. Her fiery red hair danced around the flames she was radiating. She hadn''t faced an opponent worthy of her full strength since the war had commenced. The foes she encountered outside the city had proven to be nothing in comparison. "Hmm... You believe you can defeat me," Poisonous Vine remarked, narrowing her eyes as she sensed the formidable aura emanating from Hono''s being. "Yes," Hono responded with unwavering confidence in her tone. She was certain that she could vanquish Poisonous Vine in her current state. Hono remained at her peak strength, whereas Poisonous Vine was not in her prime, having sustained injuries from Li Guan and her clash with Shen Yao. This disparity alone gave Hono a significant advantage. Furthermore, Hono believed that even if Poisonous Vine were at her best, she could still emerge victorious. "Is that so?" Poisonous Vine''s mouth curved into a sly smile. Bang! Hono''s eyes widened as pain surged through her body, and a streak of blood trickled down from the corner of her mouth. "Ugh..." Hono looked down to see a blade jutting out from her abdomen. She turned her head, and her gaze met Hoei, who held the handle of the blade behind her. "H-Hoei... You!" Gritting her teeth, Hono unleashed her aura, and a raging sea of flames burst from her body, engulfing the surrounding area. Reacting swiftly, Hoei withdrew the blade and leaped backward, firing off several energy blades. Boom!! At the same time, Poisonous Vine surged forward to join the battle. "HOEIIII!!!" Hono let out a violent roar, her fury echoing through the air. Hono''s elemental power continued to radiate outward, but she was already injured. What made the situation worse was that the attack had come from a fellow Clan Leader who was meant to protect the Selnes Country. She had been caught completely off guard. She had never anticipated that Hoei would align with the enemy. It raised the question of why he had battled Edmar from the outset when both of them should have been on the side of the Deadly Sins. In a matter of minutes, Hono succumbed to defeat. She was incapable of taking on two top experts single-handedly, and the betrayal by a fellow Clan Leader had taken a severe toll on her. If she hadn''t been caught off guard, she might have been able to hold her ground against the pair. "H-Hoei..." Hono muttered as she gazed at the Clan Leader of the Methal Clan. "It''s a ruse. Edmar is still alive. He''s merely unconscious," Hoei stated plainly. He crouched down and retrieved an object from Hono''s pocket. It was a crimson orb. "I didn''t expect you to have this core. I thought I''d have to locate the Flaem Clan, but it appears that''s unnecessary now that you possess it," Hoei remarked, gazing at the two orbs in his hands. One was silver in color, representing the Methal Clan, while the other was red, symbolizing the Flaem Clan. "With these two, we already have three cores. We need just two more to achieve our goal," Poisonous Vine chimed in, her smile reflecting the satisfaction of their progress. "Let''s go," Hoei decided. "I think you should have more fun with this. The forces of the major factions are formidable. You might be able to catch one or two of their top experts off guard," Poisonous Vine suggested. "Even I believe that we would face difficulties in a full-on confrontation against them. The only individuals who could certainly defeat them are Anti-Mage, Thousand Earth, Man-Eating Tiger, Red Mist, and Ice Death." "Are they truly that formidable?" Hoei inquired with curiosity. "Yes, the five of them are exceptionally strong. All of us are at the top of SSS-rank, but their unique abilities set them apart at this level of power. For instance, consider Anti-Mage. You''ve experienced his abilities firsthand, haven''t you?" "Yeah," Hoei confirmed. "Anti-Mage has the ability to dismantle any magic circle within his perception. He can analyze magic circles and compel them to cease functioning. Spellcasters would find it extremely challenging to contend with him. Fighters whose abilities revolve around combat arts and elements might stand a chance," Poisonous Vine elaborated. "Nonetheless, the experts from the major factions possess great strength as well. That''s why we must catch them off guard when they least expect it. The Priestess of the Fist, the Berserk War Axe, or the Blood Lightning Monster ¨C they are among the experts who can take on the major factions." "Very well," Hoei acquiesced, letting out a sigh. "I''ll act accordingly if I perceive an opportunity to deceive them." The Deadly Sins had secured three out of the five cores they needed. Once they possessed all the cores, they could completely shatter the All-Filter Barrier Formation and uncover the secrets it concealed. Only two cores remained: the cores of the Paente Clan and Darkna Clan. Darkna Clan... Red Mist hovered in the sky, her gaze fixed upon the imposing manor below. With a graceful descent, she arrived at the barrier that surrounded the clan''s grounds. "I wonder if the Clan Leader is present or not? If not, I might be able to obtain that object effortlessly," Red Mist murmured to herself. She considered herself fortunate not to have to exert her full power on this mission. Blood Lightning Monster hadn''t engaged in a serious battle, enabling Red Mist to conserve her energy and now seize the Darkna Clan''s core. Nevertheless, the barrier posed a significant challenge. "Fortunately, I have this," Red Mist said with a smile as she produced a piece of yellow paper. "It''s a [Dispelling Talisman] inscribed with the [Force Stop Rune]. A potent combination." Without hesitation, she launched the yellow paper at the barrier. Ohm! The barrier flickered for a brief moment, and it was just enough for Red Mist. With her incredible speed, she managed to slip through the barrier during that split second. The barrier''s strength was such that the combination of the [Dispelling Talisman] and [Force Stop Rune] could only disrupt it for a moment. If this combination were used on the All-Filter Barrier Formation, it would likely have no effect. This was why, to disrupt the All-Filter Barrier, they would require a more advanced rune ¨C the [Cancelling Rune]. Additionally, this particular rune had been modified and encapsulated within the device to establish a connection through the barrier. However, as Red Mist entered the manor, her senses expanded to encompass the entire area. There were guards within, but they were all unconscious. It was evident that they had been subdued without much difficulty, and there were no signs of battle in their surroundings. The situation was perplexing. "Don''t tell me that someone from the major factions is also targeting the Five Master Clans... Interesting," Red Mist mused, her curiosity piqued. Chapter 929 Battle at the Selnes Country: Red Mist Souta found himself in a strange and inhospitable land. The sky above was veiled by thick gas, and the temperature was unbearably high. This environment was clearly not suitable for ordinary individuals to survive in. "Yet, I can sense living creatures within those clouds..." Souta observed, narrowing his eyes in response. He conducted a quick assessment of his own condition and determined that he was still capable of combat. Battling Nine Yin had compelled him to utilize some of his trump cards, so he needed to be cautious in case he encountered another expert of similar caliber. For the time being, Souta decided to refrain from using [Dream Power]. It needed some time to cool down, as excessive usage could potentially damage his elemental seeds. He still had some energy reserves, having employed [Insta-Regen] to recover a portion of his strength. "So, until I locate the Tears of Divine Might, I''ll refrain from employing my other trump cards," Souta affirmed inwardly, casting a glance at the [Yin Yang Bracelet] on his wrist. The equipment skill of the bracelet was being saved for a major battle. After witnessing Nine Yin''s abilities, he was confident that Nine Yin was weaker than some of the other experts he might encounter. Of course, Nine Yin was superior to Man-Eating Tamer, but Man-Eating Tamer''s power lay in the monstrous creatures under his command. Confronting that individual was akin to battling an entire army alone. Nevertheless, Souta was well-prepared for whatever challenges lay ahead. "For now..." Souta''s eyes gleamed with determination as he directed his attention toward the living beings concealed within the clouds. He swung the sword in his hand, releasing a colossal energy blade that soared into the sky. Swoosh!! The energy blade cleaved through the gaseous clouds, parting them to reveal the figures of the inhabitants. These beings were tall and humanoid, with brownish skin and a horn positioned at the center of their foreheads. What distinguished them most was that they possessed two pairs of arms. "Oh, what kind of demihumans are they? I''ve never seen their race before..." Souta mused, his curiosity piqued as he observed them. He speculated that they might be related to the Four-Armed Tribe, but the horn on their foreheads was a distinctive feature he hadn''t seen in the Four-Armed Tribe he was familiar with. The four-armed individuals regarded him with evident fear in their eyes. The energy blade he had just unleashed had the potential to eliminate them with ease. Souta stroked his chin thoughtfully as he approached the four-armed beings. Although the language they used was distinct from the common tongue spoken in Imperium, they seemed to comprehend what he was saying. The monsters'' language was unlike any other language in the world, as it conveyed thoughts directly through words. He inquired if there was a collapsed space within this land, and to his surprise, they pointed him in a specific direction. Expressing his gratitude, Souta didn''t press them further and instead followed the indicated path. Swoosh!! He moved at high speed, covering thousands of kilometers before arriving at an intriguing location. "This is quite an interesting sight..." Above, the swirling clouds converged to create a massive storm. At its center, a profound darkness loomed, and purple lightning flashed at regular intervals. Just beneath it, a floating land was covered in colossal trees, while on the ground, a volcano spewed magma, drenching the land in a fiery red hue. In the sky, fierce battles raged on, with individuals unleashing their energies and skills that intermittently lit up the scene, generating shockwaves that reverberated through the surroundings. Souta observed the situation for a brief moment, stroking his chin as he considered his options. His eyes canvassed the entire area and he discerned that three factions were embroiled in combat. The first comprised the members of the Deadly Sins, the second consisted of the warriors from the alliance army, and the last group was composed of the indigenous beings of this world. Among the combatants, there were also monsters from the river he had encountered earlier, near the walls of the Selnes Country. "The atmosphere here is incredibly chaotic..." Souta muttered to himself, a wry smile forming as he tightened his grip on his sword. Slowly, he channeled his energy into the blade, a glint of anticipation in his eyes as he fixed his gaze on the experts from the Deadly Sins. "It wouldn''t hurt me to collect blood before the big battle." With a resounding boom, he propelled himself into the fray. After all, it wouldn''t hurt to gather some blood before the impending major battle. Swoosh!! At the residence of the Darkna Clan... Red Mist descended to the ground without attempting to conceal her presence. "I''ve arrived!" she declared, her voice resounding throughout the vicinity. Her mana radiated outward, enveloping the entire clan estate. Boom!! The ground quaked forcefully in response. In the basement, three individuals abruptly halted their activities, turning their heads in response to the intense energy fluctuation in the air. Among them, one was a man, while the other two were women. "This...?!" The man squinted his eyes as he perceived the distinct energy signature in the vicinity. "This energy signature differs from that of the Clan Leader of the Darkna Clan, so..." one of the women, with shoulder-length brown hair and a pair of bunny ears, commented. "It suggests that it''s someone from the Deadly Sins!" the other woman exclaimed. She possessed long, verdant hair and a pair of eyes that matched her hair color. The man directed his companions and declared, "Jaymi, Lou Yi, buy me some time. I''ll finish our mission as swiftly as possible." The two women, Jaymi and Lou Yi, nodded in agreement, their expressions resolute. They spun around and hastily exited the room to confront the expert from the Deadly Sins. Upon exiting the building, Jaymi and Lou Yi were greeted by the sight of a striking woman with radiant red hair. Her subtle smile concealed a dangerous aura that sent shivers down their spines. "Formidable..." Lou Yi, the woman with green hair, whispered as she gazed at Red Mist. Although Red Mist hadn''t fully unleashed her energy, Lou Yi''s heightened instincts warned her that this woman was a formidable threat. "Are you certain? Has she already reached the Hero rank?" Jaymi, the woman with bunny ears, inquired in a hushed tone, her eyes unwaveringly fixed on Red Mist. She was poised to react the instant Red Mist made a move. Lou Yi shook her head and replied, "She''s still at the Sixth Rank, but her energy feels incredibly potent..." "As long as she''s not a Hero-rank, we can still hold our own," Jaymi asserted, clenching her fists and gathering her energy. "Sixth Rank? Oh, that term... You must be from the Heavenly Court region. But it appears that you don''t belong to that Priestess of the Fist''s faction," Red Mist mused as she observed the two women, attempting to deduce their affiliations. Lou Yi and Jaymi maintained their vigilant stances, ready to defend themselves should Red Mist make any sudden moves. Their primary objective was to stall and avoid divulging information to the Deadly Sins. "Sigh... I''d rather not engage in combat, but it''s my duty, so I have no choice but to complete it," Red Mist lamented, her shoulders drooping. She scratched the back of her head and continued, "I managed to avoid a confrontation with the Blood Lightning Monster, but the circumstances have changed... Sigh, it looks like I have no alternative but to fight." Suddenly, the temperature surged dramatically, and Red Mist emitted a formidable aura, causing flames to flicker and dance around her. Boom!! "Well, I''m going to capture the two of you and extract the information I need," Red Mist declared, her smile broadening. With a wave of her hand, she unleashed a deluge of flames toward the duo. Jaymi and Lou Yi widened their eyes as they raised both their hands, releasing their energy to create a protective barrier that intercepted the oncoming sea of flames. However, when the fiery tempest dissipated, they found Red Mist already standing before them. Swoosh!! "This marks my debut in this war! I am Red Mist, and I am here to fight the two of you! It would be most convenient if you would kindly allow me to capture you!" Red Mist declared, sweeping her hand toward Lou Yi. However, before she could make contact, Jaymi swiftly intercepted her and unleashed a potent punch. Bang!! A mighty gust of wind displaced the flames surrounding Red Mist, causing them to disperse. Red Mist came to an abrupt halt, her eyes widening as she felt a numbing sensation in her hand. She gingerly raised her gaze to focus on Jaymi. "Huh? That wasn''t a combat technique. It was a basic punch, yet it inflicted damage. You two aren''t ordinary experts. Who is guiding you?" Rather than responding, Jaymi launched herself toward Red Mist. She channeled her energy, amassing a powerful whirlwind in her clenched fist. The entire vicinity vibrated as she directed her punch. [Tidal Giant Punch]!! The shockwave rippled outward, and the nearby structures crumbled under the sheer force of Jaymi''s attack. After landing on the ground, Jaymi took a deep breath, her expression concerned. "Did you manage to hit her?" Lou Yi inquired. "I did land a hit, but..." Jaymi inspected her fist, noticing the scorched marks, and offered a wry smile. She turned her attention to the smoky aftermath. "I had a feeling... this mission wouldn''t be a walk in the park. Blood Lightning Monster should''ve confronted her seriously to avoid putting us in this situation." Boom!! The smoke dissipated, giving way to expanding flames that swiftly enshrouded the entire clan''s premises. The temperature continued to soar, surpassing a million degrees Celsius and rising. "I have a question for you. Were you, by any chance, affiliated with the organization that acquired the Spatial Gem held by the Red Matter Association?" a voice sounded. A woman with fiery hair emerged from the smoke, her countenance adorned with a broad smile. Portions of her body bore red scales that emitted an unusual white light. Beside her stood a diminutive humanoid creature boasting a pair of dragon wings. The creature was no larger than an ordinary human''s palm. "Fiamma, it''s time to put an end to this," Red Mist declared. "Hmph, just this once," the diminutive creature, Fiamma, responded with a snort, folding her arms in reluctance. Chapter 930 Battle at the Selnes Country: Spirit User "A spirit?!" Jaymi and Lou Yi exclaimed in astonishment upon seeing the diminutive creature hovering next to Red Mist. Red Mist''s smile widened, and her energy continued to surge. She raised her hand slowly, speaking with determination, "You two are far from ordinary experts. I could sense it after just one punch, so I won''t hold back any longer. You''re most likely the group that''s secretly thwarting our plans." With swift movements, Red Mist advanced, her body ablaze with intense flames. Swoosh!! Jaymi and Lou Yi leaped away, well aware of the danger of engaging this formidable opponent up close without adequate preparation. They had never anticipated encountering a Spirit User and were taken aback. "Why don''t you spill the beans?" Red Mist''s voice resonated through the inferno. In the blink of an eye, the entire vicinity within the Darkna Clan''s barrier was engulfed in raging flames, causing Jaymi and Lou Yi to feel as though the air had been sucked from their lungs. They retreated, wisely avoiding a direct confrontation with Red Mist. "I''m going to make a move," Lou Yi informed her comrade. "Alright, I''ve got your back," Jaymi replied. Jaymi and Lou Yi were confident that they could take on most experts. Both were among the strongest within the top tier of SSS-rank. However, facing Red Mist, with her formidable spirit, was an entirely different matter. Lou Yi inhaled deeply and sprinted through the flames, feeling the scorching sensation on her skin. Swoosh!! She extended her hand, summoning a gleaming dark blue sword. An intense white and yellow radiance enveloped her, her energy reaching its peak. [Triple Element Drive: Light, Ice, and Earth Integration]!! Lou Yi unleashed her full might, cleaving through the sea of flames with a single swing of her sword. She focused her energy at the sword''s tip and thrust it towards Red Mist. [Divine Thrust of the Three Elements]!! Swoosh!! Red Mist was taken aback. She hadn''t anticipated that her opponent possessed three elemental affinities, and what was even more astonishing was that all three elements had reached the Integration Stage. It was truly remarkable. "As expected, you''re not ordinary..." Red Mist''s smile broadened. She clenched her fist, summoning a concentrated swirl of flames around it, then unleashed a mighty punch. [Scorching Earth Blast]!! Bang!! Her fist met Lou Yi''s sword, resulting in a powerful collision that reverberated through the entire area. Even the formidable barrier protecting the Darkna Clan flickered for a moment. Boom!! In the basement, Eldian Ruberd slightly turned his head, sensing the intense battle unfolding above. His expression was somber, and he could feel the overwhelming energy fluctuations. The aftershocks of the battle continued to shake the entire mansion. Fortunately, this place was fortified with numerous runes, making it resilient to damage. It was a legacy of the Isolated Formation God, crafted for the protection of the Five Master Clans, and not something an ordinary mortal could easily destroy. "Spirit Energy...? A Spirit User?!" Eldian was taken aback. Feeling spirit energy in this place was entirely unexpected. Spirit Users were exceptionally rare, and throughout his lifetime, he had only encountered five. The individual currently engaged in battle above marked the sixth. "Lou Yi and Jaymi won''t be easily defeated," he mused. "Even if their opponent is a Spirit User, they are more than capable of holding their own. Grim and the others have successfully completed their mission in Hall Plains, so we must succeed in this endeavor as well. It holds great significance." Eldian took a deep breath to steady himself, focusing his attention on the task at hand. He raised his hand, and a dark orb floated above it. The core of the Darkna Clan. "This is promising, but it''s not what we require," he concluded with a determined nod. A few moments later, he stumbled upon something of profound significance. "This...?" His eyes widened in shock, momentarily forgetting about the life-and-death battle raging above. "The information is incomplete, but it''s a monumental discovery..." he murmured, drawing a deep breath. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a golden cube, painstakingly transferring the information. Various images and revelations unfolded before him. "So, the Isolated Formation God predates the dawn of the gods. He ranks among the oldest deities in the current era. But what does this mean? ''Imperium was sleeping''? He also made reference to the incident in the Hall Plains, likening it to a situation in the Grand Desolate Island of the Mars Archipelago." Eldian wore a pensive expression, furrowing his brow as he contemplated these mysteries. "Grand Desolate Island... We must share this information with our allies on that continent." The incident on the Grand Desolate Island transpired around fifteen thousand years ago. The Isolated Formation God couldn''t ascertain the precise details because the barrier at the time had been impenetrable, rendering the continent inaccessible. This event was known as the Fall of the Doomsday. Eldian continued to organize the information. "The description of that incident bears striking similarities to the one in the Hall Plains when No God Emperor went on his rampage... Huh?" Suddenly, he came to an abrupt halt, double-checking the information to ensure he wasn''t misinterpreting it. "Wait a moment! The Isolated Formation God personally knew the Deadly Sins and had an agreement with the Ruler of Pride before he entered his slumber. According to this information, the Ruler of Pride should remain dormant for another fifteen thousand years as per their agreement. So, who is the Ruler of Pride that has been emerging in the last hundred years? A clone, perhaps?" The Isolated Formation God and the Ruler of Pride had formed an agreement eons ago. According to this pact, the Ruler of Pride was meant to remain dormant until the current era, and would awaken at that time. However, it was revealed that Isolated Formation God had broken the agreement due to the events in the Hall Plains, which had sent shockwaves throughout the world. "No, this information is insufficient... I need to locate the others," Eldian murmured to himself. He believed that by collecting information from all the Five Master Clans, he might uncover a grand conspiracy. Suddenly, Eldian was overcome by a burning sensation. He let out a pained groan and observed a black tattoo materialize on his wrist. The tattoo emitted a peculiar, indescribable aura that gave him an uneasy feeling. "W-What is this?!" Eldian attempted to cut or remove it, but the tattoo simply reappeared on other parts of his body. It seemed impossible to get rid of it. On the surface, Jaymi and Lou Yi remained locked in battle with Red Mist, their clash causing the surrounding landscape to deteriorate. Red Mist, seemingly undisturbed, brought up an intriguing observation, her spirit hovering beside her. "Isn''t it strange, Selnes Country?" she remarked with a smile. "Many have sought the secrets uncovered by their fallen god, yet no one has taken the initiative. It''s as if someone has been preventing them. I wonder why?" Lou Yi bore a solemn expression. Having faced Red Mist head-on, she understood that Red Mist was among the most powerful SSS-rank. With a deep breath, Lou Yi concentrated the three elements into her blade. Red Mist''s smile widened as she noticed their strategy. She first glanced at Lou Yi, then Jaymi, and the grin on her face grew as she deduced, "Oh, I see. You''re not trying to defeat me, but to keep me occupied. In other words, there''s another one of you." Lou Yi and Jaymi exchanged knowing glances, realizing that Red Mist had seen through their intentions. "Hahaha, it appears my assumption is accurate!" Red Mist laughed triumphantly. "Hey, quit playing around, I thought you were going to finish this!" Fiamma, floating beside Red Mist, protested. "Alright, alright, I''ll end this," Red Mist said, responding to her spirit''s complaints. She then turned her attention back to her two opponents. Her aura surged, growing even more formidable. [Element Drive: Fire Integration]!! The ground and surrounding objects were consumed by the flames, leaving nothing in their wake. The intensity of the blaze disheartened Lou Yi and Jaymi, compelling them to consider escape. Objects that fell victim to the fire were reduced to nothingness, not a trace of dust remaining. Beside Lou Yi, Jaymi activated her [Element Drive] as well. Wind and lightning enveloped her, serving as a protective barrier against the engulfing flames. Jaymi and Lou Yi exchanged worried glances as they contemplated their situation. "I agree, Jaymi, she''s far more formidable than we anticipated," Lou Yi conceded, her expression growing even graver. "What is Eldian doing? How much longer will he stay in that basement?" Jaymi voiced her frustration. "I don''t have the answers. All we can do is face her head-on," Lou Yi responded. Meanwhile, Red Mist advanced deliberately, her gaze locked onto the two warriors. She cracked her neck, exhaled, and assumed a ready posture. "Fiamma, I''m counting on you," Red Mist informed her spirit. "I know my role. Just give them them a beating!" Fiamma affirmed. Red Mist''s smile persisted as she nodded, and in the blink of an eye, she was right before Jaymi and Lou Yi. She focused a considerable quantity of flames in her palm, forging a substantial sword. In the next moment, she swung the flaming sword towards the two fighters. [Holy Flame Assault]!! Chapter 931 Battle at the Selnes Country: Meeting Red Mist landed gracefully on the ground, her expression still retaining that faint smile. The surrounding area was engulfed in the relentless blaze. Jaymi and Lou Yi had been reduced to kneeling forms, their bodies marked with burn injuries, realizing the futility of challenging Red Mist as a team. Observing them with a condescending look, Red Mist addressed Jaymi, "Against Boulder Jack, your chances would have been much better." She then shifted her gaze to Lou Yi, "But for you, the odds wouldn''t be so favorable due to your over-reliance on your three elemental affinities. Boulder Jack has a spell that effectively suppresses elemental energy, making him a challenging opponent. Given what you''ve displayed, I''d say you have a seventy percent chance of defeating him." With a casual shrug of her shoulders, Red Mist continued, "But don''t worry. You won''t have to face him because Blood Lightning Monster has already taken care of him." "W-What are you talking about?" Jaymi stammered, her voice strained. "I''m just clarifying some things," Red Mist responded. She glanced at the two, who were on the brink of collapse, and said, "Now, can you tell me about your background? If necessary, I don''t want to kill either of you." She turned her head and pointed her finger at the fire spirit, Fiamma. "My partner here is a good spirit. She doesn''t want to witness any more deaths." "Hmph! What are you saying? I''m not a kid!" Fiamma snorted, turning her head to the side, still indignant but perhaps slightly less so. "Fine, fine," Red Mist sighed, taking into account Fiamma''s protest. She turned back to Jaymi and Lou Yi. "So, what''s your decision?" Lou Yi grinned as she locked eyes with Red Mist. "You''re ignorant. You don''t know anything, and even your god, Gluttony, was in the dark." "My god? No, no, no, I didn''t worship anyone. I joined the Deadly Sins for protection and because it''s convenient to work under their banner," Red Mist explained. "It''s the same for most of us. Only those within the Order of Sins are true devotees, like Ice Death. I joined to survive the onslaught of the major factions." She slowly walked towards the two. Suddenly, she paused and turned her head to the side. Bang! A figure burst out of the ground. "Oh," Red Mist raised her eyebrows with interest in her eyes. "They really did have a comrade..." "Eldian?!" Jaymi and Lou Yi exclaimed upon seeing the person who arrived. The man who was named Eldian glanced at his two comrades before he turned his attention to Red Mist. He raised his hand, and a crimson-colored sphere floated above his palm. "This is what you want, right? Take it," Eldian said. Red Mist didn''t say anything. Instead, she kept her eyes on the man. She could feel a sense of danger emanating from this unknown man, suggesting that he might be able to force her to use everything she had or even potentially defeat her. "If you''re not going to take it, then I''ll destroy it," Eldian said before he threw the sphere in the air. Then, he fired a small energy ball towards it. Swoosh! Red Mist moved instantly. She quickly appeared in front of the crimson-colored sphere and slapped the energy ball away. Then, she took the crimson sphere and landed on the ground. She looked around and found that the three had already vanished. "Oh, he tricked me..." Red Mist mused. She glanced in a certain direction. She could still feel their energy fluctuations, indicating they hadn''t gone too far. She could still catch up if she moved now. "Like I''m going to do that," she said as she stretched her body. She looked at the crimson sphere in her hand. "I''ve already completed my job here, so there''s no point in following those guys. I''m going to rest and take my time until the battle is over. I thought I''d have to push myself in this mission, but it seems luck is on my side today." Red Mist sat down in a corner and gazed at the sky. She was still wondering about the affiliation of those three. They had displayed impressive skills for their levels, especially the man. "Probably at Thousand Earth''s level or maybe even stronger... He could give me a good fight. I''m not really fond of fighting, though, since I always get carried away. Fiamma also doesn''t like it when I''m in that state." ... Souta floated above, staring into the eye of the storm. The pitch darkness and strange fluctuations warned him that entering this place would lead him to another dimension. Beneath him, there was a sea of blood from all the people of the Deadly Sins that he had killed. It seemed to move as if it had a life of its own. Hundreds of people on the ground watched him. They were from the alliance army, so Souta didn''t need to kill them. It was a one-sided battle the moment Souta joined the fight. He wasn''t exhausted to his limit, so they couldn''t take him down. There was a chance for the Deadly Sins'' experts to defeat him if he fought another top expert and exhausted himself. Unfortunately for them, that didn''t happen, so they all perished. Souta exhaled as he turned his attention to the floating island, covered in huge, gigantic trees. The smallest tree was twenty meters tall, while the tallest reached fifty meters. His attention was drawn to a small house at the center of the floating island. He had seen it recently. Whoosh! Souta descended onto the land, and all the blood followed his movements. A figure stood in front of the small house, a look of concern on her face. "What are you doing here, Gilaine?" Souta asked as he walked towards the young girl. The girl was indeed Gilaine Botano, the hidden child of Paente Botani. Her eyes lit up when she saw Souta. "Sir William!" Souta paused for a moment, recalling that he had introduced himself to her as William and hadn''t revealed his real name. He shook his head and asked again, "Do you know what happened?" Gilaine lowered her head and said, "I don''t know. I was tending a powerful fruit, and when it bloomed, the world changed. Except for the house, I don''t recognize this place at all. I''m trying to find the location where the fruit is." "Wait..." Souta raised his hand to signal a pause and processed what she had just told him. After a moment, he looked at her and said, "Fruit? So you''re the one tending a mythical-grade fruit, and from what you''re saying, you know its location." Gilaine tilted her head in confusion. "Mythical-grade fruit?" gauge the fruit''s power based on the energy it emitted. "The fruit you''re tending to is a mythical-grade; that''s why I referred to it as a mythical-grade fruit," Souta explained with a gentle smile. "Oh, I see..." Gilaine nodded in comprehension. Souta continued, "Could you tell me where you sensed the fruit?" He spoke gently to the young girl. Gilaine looked up and pointed at the pitch-black hole in the sky. "There. I can sense the fruit there, but it''s not there. It''s beyond that place." Souta nodded in understanding. "I see... So there''s another layer of dimensions beyond that opening." "I want to go there, but I can''t fly," Gilaine said with a touch of disappointment in her voice. "Don''t worry, I''ll bring you with me," Souta assured Gilaine. He then observed her closely, sensing that she was weak yet she didn''t seem affected by his energy. He wasn''t intentionally releasing his energy, but he wasn''t suppressing it either, remaining in his normal state. Saya spoke to Souta, expressing her concerns about the situation. ''She said that she''s the one tending the fruit and she can sense it. Souta, something isn''t right with this little girl. I don''t think my previous guess works anymore. She''s more than that.'' Souta agreed with Saya''s assessment. He gazed at the patch of swirling darkness in the sky, recognizing that the space structure in the area was mostly stable, except for this unsettling darkness. It vibrated incessantly, emitting powerful energy and resembling someone banging on a door. There was also a strong and eerie energy seeping from it. ''It appears that another top expert is fighting on the other side,'' Saya commented. Souta took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for the potential battle with another top expert. He hoped to secure the Tears of Divine Might before having to face another powerful opponent. With determination in his eyes, he turned to Gilaine and raised his finger, signaling her to get ready. Gilaine''s feet were encased in hardened blood, which lifted her and Souta into the air. Swoosh! They began their journey towards the swirling darkness in the sky, ready to face whatever challenges lay on the other side. Chapter 932 Battle at the Selnes Country: Ice Death Souta and Gilaine ventured deeper into the eye of the storm, navigating the unstable spatial structure. The darkness was pervasive, and the energy fluctuations were intense, giving a sense of impending collapse. Despite these challenges, they continued to make their way toward their destination as guided by Gilaine. As they traveled through the tumultuous space, Souta and Saya pondered the connection between Gilaine and the mythical-grade fruit. It was becoming clear that this situation was more complex than initially thought. Eventually, they reached a new and strange land. The sky above was filled with thunderclouds, and the terrain was covered in ice, with even more potent energy fluctuations than before. Souta looked around before he turned to Gilaine. "Are you sure the fruit is here?" Gilaine nodded. "I can feel it. It''s beyond on that direction." "This energy signature..." Souta recognized the energy signatures of Kasci and Ice Death in the atmosphere, indicating that they had recently battled in this location. He also observed the tumultuous conditions in the sky and felt the intensity of the energy fluctuations. As Gilaine pointed to the west as the direction to continue their journey, Souta couldn''t help but curse inwardly. The west was precisely where the aftermath of the battle between Kasci and Ice Death was still affecting the environment. The dark clouds and the thunderous roars signaled the danger of the area. With a determined expression, Souta turned to Gilaine. "Hold on tight. We''re going to that direction." He formed a shield of blood around Gilaine to protect her from the chaotic energy and dangerous conditions. With Gilaine safely secured, he began moving towards the source of the intense energy. "But the battle must have concluded... I couldn''t feel any shockwaves." Souta rubbed his chin. Although he didn''t want to fight anyone at this moment, he could still do it if the situation calls for it. It also showed that this dimension was closer to the mythical grade fruit. The closer he gets to the fruit, the more likely he will encounter those top experts from both sides. Deadly Sins were his opponents. The same could be said for the top experts of the alliance army. They probably wouldn''t actively fight, but they would still hinder each other, just to acquire the fruit. Ohm! Souta snapped out of his thoughts as he felt the atmosphere get heavier. The concentration of energy in this area was high. "Stay behind me," he said to Gilaine while controlling the blood. His eyes gleamed in the dark. Gilaine nodded at him. Souta observed the distorted time and space around him. He realized that even a slight misstep could have dire consequences for Gilaine. Certain areas experienced accelerated time, while others moved in reverse, posing risks of rapid aging or de-aging. He wasn''t concerned for himself, but for Gilaine. Her special physique set her apart, but she was still susceptible to these fluctuations. "While these concepts don''t quite match Imperium, they''re still incredibly impressive. I fear even a Two Shackles Realm expert might struggle here," Souta mused. Suddenly, an icy chill ran down his spine, alerting him to imminent danger. He focused his gaze and spotted a figure standing several kilometers away within a tempest of high-concentration energy. This energy destroyed everything around it, yet left the figure unharmed. "Another problem," Souta muttered, recognizing that he couldn''t avoid yet another battle. In an instant, a sharp ice spear manifested and hurtled toward Souta. Swiftly, the surrounding blood responded, intercepting and then absorbing the ice spear before dispersing it. "He''s aware of our presence," Souta murmured. Gilaine was bewildered, the events having transpired too quickly for her to comprehend. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Souta took a deep breath and made a move, enveloping Gilaine in a cocoon of blood and moving her to safety. "I''ll send her to safety first, and then figure out how to escape this man," he resolved. He had no intention of fighting, especially after expending so much effort against Boulder Jack and Nine Yin. Some of his equipment skills were currently on cooldown. "So, you''re the Blood Lightning Monster," spoke Ice Death. His voice was as serene as water, yet there was an underlying pressure. Blood stains marred his cheeks and hands, and his body bore wounds. "Where''s Kasci?" Souta inquired. "Him? Oh, he managed to escape from me. I was so close to killing him," Ice Death replied, shaking his head. "It doesn''t matter anymore because he''s gravely injured. He''s exhausted, so even a lower-ranked expert could take him down." Souta was taken aback to learn that Kasci had been defeated and that Ice Death was close to killing him. Fortunately, Kasci had managed to escape. However, it was apparent that the intense battle had left Kasci in a precarious state, with his natural defenses shattered and his body weakened. Souta knew from experience that even lower-ranked experts could take advantage of such vulnerabilities to eliminate high-ranked opponents. With swift precision, Souta amassed a significant amount of blood in his palm and launched it toward Ice Death. Swoosh! Ice Death shifted his attention to the blood projectile, which was encased in a frosty barrier, preventing the blood from nearing him. He narrowed his eyes as he assessed the situation. "What''s that?" Ice Death muttered to himself. Souta felt a sense of relief as he observed Ice Death''s reaction. He had successfully sent Gilaine to the other side while also confirming that Ice Death was not in his prime condition. This meant that Souta still had a fighting chance. Both of them were injured, but Souta had deliberately left his injuries unhealed. A triumphant smile appeared on Souta''s face as he brandished his sword. His aura began to surge, causing the surroundings to tremble. Boom! Ice Death redirected his attention to Souta and questioned, "What did you just do? Did you send someone to another dimension just to fight me?" Souta maintained his enigmatic smile and bent his knees, launching himself into the air. Simultaneously, he activated his skills one by one. Boom! Ten black spheres materialized on his back. A shroud of darkness enveloped his body, and black mist began emanating from his pores. His energy permeated the surroundings, making them grow darker and heavier. Hundreds of black tentacles emerged from the inky darkness. Ice Death released his aura, instantly freezing all the tentacles. He raised his hand, conjuring thousands of ice spears in the air. Swoosh! Souta leaped into action, summoning seven humanoid shadows that darted forward, obliterating all the ice spears in their path. Bang! Bang! Bang! He swiftly closed the gap between him and Ice Death. Concentrating his energy onto his sword, he swung it horizontally. A bluish dagger materialized in Ice Death''s hand, and he deftly swung it to intercept Souta''s sword. [Crimson Moon]! [Calamity Ice Strike]!! Boom! The impact caused a massive explosion in the sky. Souta''s form was immediately sent hurtling several kilometers. He came to a stop only after traversing this considerable distance. "The hell!" Souta muttered under his breath, and a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth as he glanced down at his chest. There was a substantial gash running across it. "He''s injured and yet can still engage in combat at this level!" It was clear that his base form wouldn''t suffice. He straightened his posture as the wound on his chest slowly began to heal. However, he refrained from fully mending it, as some injuries boosted his strength. Souta was preparing to make another attempt when the entire space around him started to vibrate. Boom! A massive fissure materialized. Bang! Followed by another. Souta and Ice Death both shifted their attention to the newly formed cracks. One person emerged from the first crack, Hoei Methal, and another from the second crack, Poisonous Vine. Souta''s first reaction was to inspect the cracks they had created. Upon confirming that it wasn''t where he had sent Gilaine, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Blood Lightning Monster, you''re here!" Hoei exclaimed upon spotting Souta on the battlefield. He then turned his gaze toward Ice Death. "And an expert from the Deadly Sins..." Chapter 933 Battle at the Selnes Country: Hoei Methal "''Clan Leader of Methal Clan...''" Souta turned to look on the other side. ''And another one of the Deadly Sins...'' Poisonous Vine glanced at Souta before flying beside Ice Death. Silence enveloped them for a few seconds as they observed each other''s movements. Suddenly, Ice Death opened his mouth, "It''s time..." Souta widened his eyes, and his energy surged instantly. Thousands of ice spears flew toward him while seven shadows emerged beside him, quickly rushing toward the ice spears. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta maneuvered through the air, skillfully dodging all the ice spears. He focused his gaze on Poisonous Vine and Ice Death. Gripping the vajra sword tightly, he arrived a few meters away from the two. Swoosh!! Poisonous Vine smiled seductively as she swung the whip in her hand. The whip tore through the air, swiftly approaching Souta''s position. It carried an enormous amount of energy, evident to Souta. He abruptly halted in midair, contorting his body to narrowly evade the vicious whip. Nevertheless, the energy within it grazed his neck. Whoosh!! Sensing its threat, Souta didn''t hesitate. His aura surged once more. Boom!! Simultaneously, Ice Death, seeing Poisonous Vine miss her target, waved his hand, unleashing a white beam aimed directly at Souta. It froze everything it touched, including time and space. In that moment, a figure appeared beside Souta, intercepting the white beam. It was Hoei Methal. Souta merely nodded at Hoei before pressing forward. His elemental power expanded, causing the sea of blood to surge alongside him. Boom!! Souta clashed with Ice Death in mid-air. A shockwave radiated outwards, accompanied by an immense surge of energy. The entire area quivered, as though on the verge of collapse. Both combatants were propelled several hundred meters away from each other. Ice Death halted, refraining from launching further attacks. Instead, he merely fixed his gaze on Souta and Hoei. "Today, both of you will fall, and the All-Filter Barrier Formation will crumble," Poisonous Vine stated, a serene smile on her face. "Well, let''s see you try," Souta replied calmly. "The All-Filter Barrier Formation shall never falter! It is the legacy bestowed by our god!" Hoei proclaimed loudly. Souta''s attention was diverted as he sensed Ice Death preparing to make another move. Swoosh!! A giant block of ice appeared in the sky, colossal enough to obstruct the entire expanse. Its tremendous size and the vast energy it contained distorted space and time. "Fall. [Death Beyond Glacier]!" Ice Death uttered in a low voice, pointing his finger downward as the colossal ice block began its descent. Swoosh!! Hoei widened his eyes, struck by the immense scale of this impending attack. Dodging was an unviable option; his only chance was to neutralize it. He unfurled his palm, conjuring a sharp blade that slowly took form. His aura surged as he used his [Element Drive]. Boom! Souta remained undeterred. A tremendous amount of energy coalesced around his blade, a maelstrom of darkness and light swirling around it. The blood fused into the blade as elemental power surged within. Suddenly, an intense pang of pain assailed his body. Ugh! Souta groaned in pain as he spun around, swinging his sword. Swoosh!! The figure deftly evaded his blade and withdrew. Looking up, Souta saw Hoei, who had stabbed him in the back. Gritting his teeth, he collapsed to the ground. Thud! A peculiar sensation coursed through his body, and his vision began to blur. "This... poison..." Realization struck Souta: he had been poisoned. Though potent, the poison wasn''t fatal. Instead, it weakened his body to a certain extent. "Do you like my poison? I gave one of my strongest poisons to Clan Leader Hoei, so what do you think about it?" Poisonous Vine remarked, observing Souta''s suffering from her poison. "You really are strong, Blood Lightning Monster. You could still move even after taking it." "Did you finish the mission?" Ice Death inquired of Poisonous Vine and Hoei. Hoei responded by presenting the cores of the Methal Clan and Flaem Clan. "Good. With these, we have three cores in our possession," Ice Death nodded, looking satisfied as he took the cores from Hoei and examined them carefully. "The last remaining cores are from the Botani Clan and the Darkna Clan. We should concentrate our forces once we discover their whereabouts." "What about the Blood Lightning Monster?" Poisonous Vine inquired. Souta, lying on the ground, narrowed his eyes upon hearing their conversation. He prepared himself to summon all his strength, ready to fight his way out of this place. ''I could deal with the poison, but it will take some time...'' He thought to himself. His body was wracked with extreme pain due to the poison''s effects. Souta was poised to retaliate if they made a move against him. "I''ll kill him," Hoei declared, turning his head slowly towards Souta. Energy gathered intensely around his blade, emitting a bright light. "Finish him. I''ll take these cores," Ice Death commanded before turning away. "Okay, I''ll kill him. The poison isn''t enough to kill him, but it weakened his body so he isn''t my match," Hoei remarked as he approached Souta. He pressed his thumb against the blade''s surface. "I''ll end this quickly. You won''t feel any pain as I kill you." ''Huh?'' Souta paused, realizing something. Inwardly, he smiled, and his tense body gradually relaxed. ''So that''s how it is...'' In the next instant, Hoei closed the distance between them, thrusting his blade into Souta''s chest. With a swoosh, Hoei withdrew his blade as Souta collapsed to the ground. The floating blood in the air descended, pooling beneath them, forming a sea of crimson. "Let''s go," Hoei declared, turning away without looking back. ... Four figures traversed the desolate terrain: Vashno, Franklin, Eztein, and Erkigal. "So, you were the previous Clan Leader of the Flaem Clan?" Eztein inquired, casting a glance at Erkigal''s back. "Yes," Erkigal confirmed. "What led to your disappearance?" Eztein probed further. "In brief, I attempted to nullify the contract, ventured beyond the borders of Selnes Country, and encountered an accident. I then concealed myself, and everyone assumed I died," Erkigal recounted. Vashno surveyed the surroundings and posed another question, "What about Clan Leader Hono? She was with us before the space opened up, but then vanished. It appears you had foreseen this. What''s your strategy?" Erkigal halted, turning to face Vashno with a smile before resuming her stride. "My plan is straightforward. I aim to dissolve the contract and depart from Selnes Country. I dispatched Hono outside with the core of the Flaem Clan. By now, it''s likely that the Deadly Sins'' experts have taken the core from her possession." "What?!" Vashno and Eztein exclaimed simultaneously. "Don''t fret, I have someone handling it. He won''t harm Hono or anyone else," Erkigal assured them with a smile. "Who is this person?" Eztein inquired. "Hoei Methal," Erkigal revealed. "I''ve enlisted his cooperation with the Deadly Sins. Their entry into the barrier was key to commencing my plan. We''re set to dismantle the barrier, but safeguarding our god''s secret is crucial. It''s a generational curse we carry." "A curse?" Vashno expressed confusion. "Yes, a curse that binds us. We''re barred from disclosing certain information, or darkness will consume us," Erkigal explained. "Then, what about this space? Does it hold secrets related to your god?" Eztein inquired further. "Yeah, it''s a living labyrinth. But it''s different from the typical one; our god made modifications. When the labyrinth opened, it absorbed those fragmented worlds, creating this place," Erkigal clarified. "A living labyrinth?!" Eztein and Franklin were visibly stunned. Vashno glanced at the two, puzzled by the concept. "A living labyrinth is a divine legacy where you can access things related to the creating god," Eztein explained to Vashno. Turning to Erkigal, he queried, "Any idea what we might find in this living labyrinth left by your god?" Erkigal shook her head. "Possibly crucial artifacts. The combat arts and spells of the Five Master Clans are remnants from our god, so it might not just be techniques or skills." "Is Clan Leader Hoei your only ally?" Vashno asked. "Yeah, he was the sole voice suggesting breaking the All-Filter Barrier Formation during the Clan Leaders'' meeting. The others were too conservative, rejecting his proposal," Erkigal explained. She paused, recollecting something. "Oh, Paente knows I''m alive. He''s been engaged in something for years now. I''ve tried to contact him, but he''s refused. It seems he has his own plan." Chapter 934 Battle at the Selnes Country: Killing Game "Do you have any idea what it is?" Eztein asked. "I don''t know," Erkigal replied, shaking her head. "I wasn''t aware of what he was working on in his territory. His household was protected by a barrier, making it impossible for me to infiltrate." "We''re here," Erkigal announced, halting as she gestured toward a colossal stone monument. Franklin, Vashno, and Eztein observed the monument curiously. Erkigal turned to them and explained, "This is our first stop. It''s to monitor and mark what''s happening inside the All-Filter Barrier Formation. The Killing Game." "Killing Game?" Vashno raised an eyebrow. "Look at the stone monument," Erkigal directed, pointing ahead. The monument displayed several dots and inscriptions. Countless dots were present, almost unnoticeable unless one focused keenly. The brightest dots signified the strongest experts within the All-Filter Barrier Formation, while the unlit dots represented the weakest individuals. "They are all participants in this Killing Game. It''s the living labyrinth of our god. There are two ways to conclude this game: one is to eliminate all the brightest dots, and the second is to acquire the hidden treasures within this labyrinth created by our god," Erkigal elucidated. "Oh, your god is some psychotic entity," Franklin muttered under his breath. Bang! Eztein swiftly struck the back of Franklin''s head. "Don''t disrespect a god. No matter what, he is still a god. Besides, we are in his domain. What if his consciousness remains here? If you die, our boss wouldn''t even be able to avenge you." "You want to start something?!" Franklin retorted. "Huh? Old man, do you really think you could take me down?!" Eztein challenged. Vashno intervened and halted their impending confrontation. He sighed, feeling regretful for bringing these two along. Turning to Erkigal, he asked, "Could you enlighten us further on what''s happening?" He studied the dots but couldn''t grasp their significance. Eztein and Franklin also examined the dots, noticing that there were twenty-seven brighter ones on the monument, symbolizing the number of top experts within the All-Filter Barrier Formation. Erkigal didn''t respond immediately. Instead, she silently observed the monument. After a brief pause, she spoke up, "It seems that Clan Leader Schine has perished. The red dots signify a person''s death. If the individual died before the labyrinth was opened, their dot wouldn''t appear here." "So, that leaves us with only twenty-six... But that''s the count of top experts, and based on my prior observations, the number of higher-level experts doesn''t reach that count," Vashno remarked, narrowing his gaze. "There''s a chance that some powerful individuals are hidden in the shadows, unaware that this monument can track them," Eztein suggested. "Can we verify the name associated with each dot?" Franklin inquired. "Understood, I''ll check it right away," Erkigal responded. She moved closer to the monument and carefully examined it. After a few moments, she spoke again, "Based on this record, it appears that your leader encountered Hoei and two members of the Deadly Sins. You can also verify this. By concentrating your senses, you''ll feel your leader''s energy fluctuations in this specific dot. It signifies the presence of the Blood Lightning Monster. If it turns red, it means death. Additionally, you''ll receive some details about what transpired." "Let me verify it," Vashno interjected, stepping forward. He focused his senses on the twenty-six brightest dots, recalling his observations of the top experts during their battles. The information he gathered was startling, revealing the current state of the ongoing conflict. "What did you find?" Eztein inquired. "There are five unfamiliar experts... I believe they''re not affiliated with the alliance army or the Deadly Sins," Vashno reported, a furrow forming on his brow. "Five?" Eztein raised his eyebrows in surprise. Vashno nodded in acknowledgment. "I''ll check it too," Eztein said, moving closer to the monument. After a brief moment, he comprehended the situation. "Actually, there are only four unknown experts. I recognize the other one." He remembered something and glanced at Vashno. "You haven''t been to Hall Plains, so it''s understandable you haven''t encountered her. If she''s here, our odds of winning are high. Additionally, the smaller dots next to her match Alice''s and the others'' energy. It appears we don''t need to be concerned about them." "It suggests our leader required her strength," Franklin chimed in. "True," Eztein observed the monument and commented, "The most significant battles seem to be occurring at the Botano Household. The top experts are congregating there." A brief silence ensued as they contemplated the battles. "I''ll take this monument with me. Let''s go," Erkigal informed them. "How will you transport it?" Vashno inquired. "It''s simple." Erkigal placed her palm on the surface of the stone monument and poured her mana into it. Ohm! The monument emitted a peculiar light before shrinking to a palm-sized object. "There are items scattered around here that could assist us, and this stone monument is just one of them," Erkigal explained. "Let''s keep going. We''ll conquer this labyrinth, so be prepared." ... Souta coughed, then pushed himself into a seated position, placing his hand over the wound where Hoei had stabbed him. "The poison is gone. Clan Leader Hoei coated his blade with an antidote," Souta muttered before rising to his feet. The recent events had caught him off guard. He hadn''t anticipated Hoei''s cooperation with the Deadly Sins on the surface. What could be his motive? This piqued his curiosity. He discerned that Hoei''s intent to kill him was a bluff. Souta, realizing this, chose not to resist and allowed himself to be stabbed. Looking up, Souta cracked his neck. The outcome was better than he had expected. He managed to recover some of his energy. The wounds didn''t concern him much, knowing he could regenerate if necessary. "Gilaine is still on the other side. I hid her using the blood I controlled. I need to find her." He floated and traversed through the void. Swoosh!! Souta easily located Gilaine, which didn''t come as a surprise since he already knew her location. "Sir William, you''re here!" Gilaine''s eyes lit up when she saw Souta. "Ugh, no, just call me Souta. There''s no need to call me Sir William," Souta insisted. He observed that the energy within her had grown stronger. At this moment, her energy was comparable to those of B-ranks. "Um... Isn''t William your name, sir?" Gilaine asked cautiously. "No, no, William is just a nickname. You know, like the person before called me Blood Lightning Monster; that''s one of my nicknames too. Souta is my real name," Souta clarified. "Oh, I see... Then, Sir Souta, it is," Gilaine said with a smile. "Yeah, Souta is fine," Souta replied with a smile, reaching out to pat her head. Looking ahead, he said, "Let''s go and find the mythical grade fruit." ... On the other side, Ice Death, Poisonous Vine, and Hoei arrived at the location of the Flaem Clan household. They made no attempt to conceal their presence, causing the entire dimension to tremble due to their spiked energy. Immediately, they sensed the top experts within this place. "There you are..." Ice Death muttered, directing his gaze toward the Flaem Clan''s location. A smirk formed on his face, "I didn''t expect to find anything significant here after obtaining the core of the Flaem Clan. But stumbling upon you, Bezvin Darkna... that''s a surprise." In a blink, his figure vanished, slicing through the air. Hoei and Poisonous Vine swiftly followed suit. Swoosh!! Within the Flaem Clan domain, Bezvin paused, detecting the powerful experts'' fluctuations. "They''re here... Not just one, but three," Bezvin murmured to himself. "But one of them feels familiar... No, the Clan Leader of the Methal Clan? Has Hoei betrayed the Selnes Country?" Boom!! A thunderous sound resonated as three figures materialized in the sky, casting their gaze upon the Flaem Clan''s compound. Bezvin locked eyes with the trio, particularly focusing on Hoei Methal. "Hoei...!! You betrayed our people!" Bezvin gritted his teeth, his anger palpable. Despite his rage, he restrained himself, understanding his disadvantageous position. He knew his chances of prevailing against these three were slim. Ice Death fixed his gaze on Bezvin. Slowly, he spoke, "Bezvin Darkna, Clan Leader of the Darkna Clan, surrender the core of your clan or we will obliterate this place." Bezvin remained silent, his gaze unwavering. Hoei then spoke, "Bezvin, don''t resist. If you hand over your clan''s core, we will spare your life." Gritting his teeth, Bezvin retorted, "Seems like you''ve truly joined them, Hoei. I''ll kill a traitor like you even if it costs my life." "Don''t resist. We''ve already acquired the cores of the Flaem, Methal, and Windi Clans. Darkna and Botano Clan cores are the only ones remaining," Hoei stated icily. "You mean... You''ve defeated Schine and Hono?!" Bezvin''s shock was evident. Interrupting the conversation, Ice Death raised his hand and declared, "Time''s up. It''s time to destroy this place." Chapter 935 Battle at the Selnes Country: Mythical-grade Fruit Souta and Gilaine arrived in an enigmatic realm. Chaos reigned here, evidenced by the incessant trembling of space. "We''re close," Gilaine stated. "Then, let''s press on," Souta replied. Glancing ahead, he sensed the presence of the mythical-grade fruit. Its energy signature was unmistakable now, making his reliance on Gilaine''s guidance less crucial. "Let''s move faster." Apart from the fruit''s energy, numerous other energy fluctuations emanated from different sources. Souta pondered how these individuals managed to find this place without guidance. Had he not encountered Ice Death, Hoei, and Poisonous Vine earlier, he might have arrived here sooner. ... In the heart of the Botano Clan''s domain, a sprawling battlefield unfolded, echoing with the clashes of combatants. Boom! Boom! The ground quaked as shockwaves reshaped the terrain. The alliance army clashed fiercely against the Deadly Sins, engaging in a tumultuous struggle. High above, a fierce duel raged between two figures and the Man-Eating Tamer. Paente Botano and Shen Yao locked horns with the formidable adversary. Bang! The Man-Eating Tamer expertly directed his monstrous minions while Paente manipulated various trees to counter. Battling against the Man-Eating Tamer felt akin to confronting a horde of formidable beasts. Despite Shen Yao and Paente''s efforts, the onslaught seemed unending. They had already vanquished numerous fourth-stage monsters, yet the creatures continued to swarm, seemingly unaffected. "Hahaha! You''re no match for me! Surrender the mythical-grade fruit and the Botano Clan''s core!" taunted the Man-Eating Tamer, laughter ringing out. Undeterred, Shen Yao scoffed, swiftly maneuvering to dismantle five monsters in a blink. She also coveted the mythical-grade fruit, which was housed within the Botano Clan''s stronghold, safeguarded by a protective barrier. Without breaching this barrier, seizing the fruit remained impossible. "It seems surrender isn''t in your vocabulary," remarked the Man-Eating Tamer, narrowing his eyes. With a swift motion, he summoned hundreds of diminutive bees from his sleeves, each a fourth-stage monster. Shen Yao and Paente''s expressions shifted as they beheld the horde of creatures now before them. "This is outrageous! He shouldn''t have control over this many monsters!" Shen Yao exclaimed. "Hahaha! I am a Great Tamer, inheritor of the knowledge of Ursula, the First Tamer! Don''t compare me to the run-of-the-mill tamers you''ve encountered!" the Man-Eating Tamer boasted, laughing as the swarm of bees surged toward the pair. Swoosh! "I''ll bring you down," declared Paente, stepping forward. His form radiated a verdant aura as tree branches sprouted from his body. Ohm! His energy surged dramatically, causing his elemental power to intensify. The forest''s branches moved in unison, sweeping toward the encroaching horde of monsters. [Blooming of the Eternal Garden]! From the branches emerged an array of flowers that rapidly blossomed, their delicate petals revealing myriad pores that scattered throughout the vicinity. Upon witnessing this, the Man-Eating Tamer furrowed his brow, yet he continued to direct his minions to attack. Swoosh! Paente''s body, which was encased in hundreds of branches, darted forward. Simultaneously, the monsters inhaling the airborne pores suddenly froze, seemingly paralyzed. In an instant, countless branches erupted from the earth, piercing the bodies of the immobilized monsters. Bang! Bang! Bang! "Don''t inhale the pores. As fourth-stage monsters, you can hold your breath for a long time. A few hours won''t harm any of you," Man-Eating Tamer commanded his minions. Paente single-handedly confronted hundreds of fourth-stage monsters, engaging them with his unusual form while transforming the entire land into what he referred to as a garden. Despite his efforts, the monsters retaliated fiercely, launching relentless [Bestrou] attacks. Other creatures joined in, aiming to dismantle his branches. Bang! Bang! Meanwhile, Shen Yao observed the spectacle from the skies. She hadn''t anticipated that a Clan Leader possessed such incredible power. She knew Paente couldn''t hold out for long, but restraining a hundred fourth-stage monsters even for a few moments was an impressive feat. "I need to eliminate the tamer... I''ll strike when an opportunity presents itself." Shen Yao slowly raised her hand, channeling her mana. After a few moments, Shen Yao sprang into action. She vanished from her position, darting swiftly toward Man-Eating Tamer. [Golden Arhat: Elimination Spear]! Man-Eating Tamer''s eyes widened in horror as a shiver ran down his spine. He twisted his body, commanding dozens of monsters to protect himself. Boom!! A golden silhouette eviscerated the monsters in an instant. Their blood sprayed around as the figure continued its rapid approach toward Man-Eating Tamer. Swoosh!! A beam of light burst forth, leaving a golden streak in the air. Man-Eating Tamer gritted his teeth, surrounded by a horde of monsters. His right arm hung in the air, bleeding profusely. "This...!" Rage clouded Man-Eating Tamer''s gaze. He glared fiercely at Shen Yao. "Destroy her!!" He ordered, redirecting the attention of the beasts toward Shen Yao. "He dodged it!" Shen Yao cursed herself for failing to land a fatal blow. The creatures that attempted to impede her progress weakened her momentum, and she also underestimated the Man-Eating Tamer''s keen senses. Boom! A resounding echo filled the space as vibrations permeated the air. Shen Yao, Paente, and the Man-Eating Tamer swiftly turned their heads. Their expressions shifted as they sensed several top experts rapidly approaching their location. This arrival brought both good and bad implications. While signifying additional competition for the mythical-grade fruit, it also meant that none of them were willing to relinquish the fruit to others. If it had been a legendary grade, they might have negotiated, but the situation with a mythical-grade was uncompromising. "They''ve arrived," Paente said, returning to his normal state. The branches on his body dispersed, and he struggled to catch his breath. Using that form clearly took a toll on his slender physique. Bang! The space shattered like fragile glass. Several individuals emanating powerful energy descended upon the Botano Clan''s residence, surveying the scene from above. Black Blader and Spatial Whisperer arrived at the scene, joined by Naruse Ichimon. They stood on different cracks, observing the current situation. "Hmm... This place seems quite lively," Naruse remarked in an amused tone. Spatial Whisperer glanced at the Deadly Sins members first, then turned to the experts from the large factions. "The mythical-grade fruit is still here. You all kept it for me, right?" Boom! The space trembled as another person arrived¡ªOmari Adel. "Ah, am I too late?" Adel surveyed the scene with a smile. "Doesn''t seem like it... I thought the fruit would be gone by the time I arrived." Bang! Another figure appeared¡ªit was Souta. Souta scanned the surroundings before focusing on the Botano Clan''s household. The barrier had been shattered when the fruit ripened, but Paente had prepared another barrier to prevent easy access to the fruit. "We''re here," Gilaine said. "Just stay behind me," Souta instructed her in a serious tone. The atmosphere was tense, but no one moved. Each participant observed the others'' actions, all vying for the mythical-grade fruit. Their auras were slowly escalating, resembling the imminent eruption of a volcano. The tension reached its peak, and the situation seemed on the brink of chaos. ''Red Mist, Thousand Earth, and the others aren''t present... What could their objectives be?'' Souta frowned, realizing some familiar faces were missing. He had anticipated encountering them, but that wasn''t the case. Nonetheless, it was advantageous for him. With fewer competitors, his chances of obtaining the mythical-grade fruit increased. Once he possessed the Tears of Divine Might, all their strategies would be futile. It would make him unstoppable. ... Within the Darkna Clan''s residence: Red Mist relished her leisure time, reclining on the floor while gazing at the starry sky. The serenity of the scene was marred only by the presence of rifts in the space, some obstructing the view of the stars. "I never knew the lower world boasted such a beautiful sky... Perhaps I should invade a sub-world for future vacations," she mused. As she closed her eyes, Red Mist sensed movement and glanced toward a corner, where several individuals appeared. Swiftly, she retrieved the core of the Darkna Clan and tossed it into the air. Swoosh! The newcomers moved adeptly, catching the core in their hands. They were members of the Deadly Sins. "Take it to Ice Death and inform him that my task is done. I''m retiring for now. Don''t disturb me further," Red Mist instructed before shutting her eyes once more. The Deadly Sins members nodded in acknowledgment before disappearing. "Hopefully, nothing will disturb my peace," she muttered to herself. Chapter 936 Battle at the Selnes Country: Contract ?936 Battle at the Selnes Country: Contract Paente surveyed the tense atmosphere, observing the wariness between the experts from various factions. The emergence of the mythical-grade fruit had escalated the situation, and while he didn''t anticipate outright killings, it was evident that competition for the fruit would ensue. ''I need to take action...'' He noted the absence of other Clan Leaders besides himself. Each leader likely had their own intentions regarding the god''s remnants. However, this was a falsehood. Erkigal had previously reached out to him for cooperation, but their goals didn''t align. Paente recognized that the secrets left by their god interconnected the Five Master Clans in ways not immediately apparent. These dimensions were vital for his intentions. "It''s an ideal situation..." Paente cast a glance at the sky, knowing it was time to set his plan in motion. Once it concluded, everything, including his role, would come to an end. Gilaine''s presence assured Paente that nothing would go awry. ''The threads of fate are severed, making this the opportune moment.'' Paente joined both of his hands together, causing his aura to surge, generating a towering pillar of green light. [Evergreen Monumental Sky Mending Tree]! [All Life Converge into One]! [Evergreen of All World]! Boom! All attention turned toward Paente as he unleashed an immense surge of energy. From the ground, tree branches sprouted and rapidly expanded. Within a fraction of a moment, a colossal tree, reaching a height of five hundred meters, materialized on the land. Its branches ripped through the fabric of space and time, forcibly drawing together various dimensions. Curled up inside the tree, Paente merged with it, becoming one with the colossal structure. With narrowed eyes, Souta observed the gigantic tree as it slowly manipulated and integrated the various dimensions. Suddenly, a figure bolted toward the household of the Botano Clan. Swoosh! "I''ll claim it first!" Black Blader exclaimed, swinging a massive dark blade toward the barrier. But before his attack could reach its target, a figure intercepted him. Bang! Adel swiftly deflected the energy blade using crimson-colored energy that enveloped both his hands. "Nope, no one will lay hands on the mythical-grade fruit with me around," Adel stated with a grin. He then directed his attention to the massive tree. "Seems like the Clan Leader of the Botano Clan has gone mad. He''s fused himself with the tree and is unconscious." The colossal tree swayed, unleashing a barrage of powerful energy beams in all directions. However, the top experts evaded the beams with ease. "He''s unconsciously attacking anyone who gets near him. As long as we keep our distance, we''ll be safe from his attacks," Naruse remarked, covering half of her face with a fan. Paente lay dormant within the colossal tree. Sensing his state, the group understood what to do. Paente was currently out of the fight for the mythical-grade fruit. Observing the tree, Souta pondered Paente''s strategy that led him to use a technique rendering him unconscious. He turned to Gilaine and said, "Stay safe. Be cautious. I''m joining the battle." Gilaine nodded, her expression filled with concern. With a resounding boom, Souta propelled himself forward at high speed. Swoosh! Chaos ensued. Fierce battles erupted over the mythical-grade fruit. Black Blader and Adel engaged aggressively in mid-air, causing the entire area to tremble. Spatial Whisperer sped past the battling pair, aiming for the Botano Clan. The two fighters ceased their battle to pursue him. In that moment, Shen Yao moved, blocking Spatial Whisperer''s path. Boom! "You again?!" Spatial Whisperer gritted his teeth upon seeing Shen Yao blocking his path. "Yeah, and you will have to stop now," Shen Yao declared before thrusting her palm forward. [Divine Desolation Palm]!! A colossal golden energy palm materialized in the air, carrying an enormous force that obliterated everything in its path. Black Blader and Adel, who were chasing Spatial Whisperer, abruptly stopped and veered sideways to avoid being ensnared by the golden palm. Meanwhile, Spatial Whisperer, being closer to the palm, had no choice but to confront it head-on. Boom!! ... Here''s a refined version: In the depths of the unknown... Erkigal, Vashno, Franklin, and Eztein found themselves in a gloomy and foreboding place. The surroundings were veiled in a dark, viscous liquid that emanated an ominous vibe, affecting the minds of those less resilient. "Where exactly are we? This place gives me an unsettling feeling..." Eztein observed cautiously, surveying their surroundings. "From the hints we have, the legacy should be nearby. Frankly, I''m as unfamiliar with this place as you are. I''m simply following the remnants of guidance left by our deity," Erkigal responded. "Do you have any knowledge about that liquid? It seems to hold an energy, not mana. It''s unsettling my mind," Eztein asked with a furrowed brow. "It''s a curse, as per the texts left by our deity. It possesses the capability to harm and influence any living being, so it''s imperative we avoid contact with it," Erkigal cautioned. Her attention then shifted to her stone monument. "And this..." "What''s the matter?" inquired Vashno. "Paente, the Botano Clan Leader, is creating a mystical tree that seems to be extending into different dimensions. If its roots spread further, it might lead to discovery of this place. Fortunately, it seems to be more of a subconscious action rather than an active one. His current condition seems unable to fully control it," Erkigal explained. The four pressed onward through the eerie environment, the dark liquid covering every inch, amplifying the unsettling ambience. As they moved deeper, inexplicable voices started to echo in their minds. "H-Help me!!" "It''s a l-lie..." "No!!" "Mother!!" "Imperium...!" "Argh!!" "It''s staring back!" The voices spoke in various tongues, carrying emotions that forcefully penetrated their consciousness. They felt the sorrow, grief, hatred, and wrath conveyed by these cryptic voices. "Remain resolute. This is the corruption our deity warned about. Don''t succumb to these voices," Erkigal advised, trying to steel their resolve against the haunting whispers. Soon, the group noticed a dot of light in the distance. Gradually, the light expanded until it enveloped them entirely. Erkigal, Vashno, Franklin, and Eztein shut their eyes tightly as the radiant brilliance burst forth. Ohm!! In an instant, the environment changed abruptly. They found themselves amid a land consumed by raging flames. The sky was a ghastly shade of crimson, rent with a colossal tear. Figures soared through the air, casting spells that detonated and raged, engulfing the landscape in explosions. "What''s this...?!" Eztein''s voice trembled. "A battlefield." Franklin''s gaze sharpened. The air was charged with potent energy, and the pervasive stench of blood clung heavily. The turmoil was unmistakably a battlefield. "Though it''s only a vision, the intensity of this battle lingers, as if it happened not so long ago," Erkigal murmured, surveying the surroundings. Countless combatants clashed across the expanse, their war cries merging with the thunderous detonations. From the colossal tear in the sky, the ominous dark liquid they encountered earlier dripped incessantly. A man clad in resplendent golden armor floated in the air, his gaze fixed upon the rift. Adorning his head was an exquisite crown, and he wielded a razor-sharp, blue-hued sword. His locks of golden hair danced in the wind, a stark contrast against the tempestuous backdrop. His presence exuded an unmistakable pressure, an aura befitting a deity. Beside him stood a figure entirely swathed in crimson. Despite the absence of a mouth, a voice emanated from the red figure, "Vexus, Divine Venerable of Wisdom, you''ve come to realize the magnitude of your actions, haven''t you?" Vexus cast a glance at the red figure before returning his gaze to the immense rift. "I''m aware... I didn''t anticipate it would crack open even slightly. The impurity and power emanating from it are eroding my mind and body. My endurance won''t last much longer." The red figure seemed to direct its attention towards the colossal rift and remarked, "Indeed, it''s a forbidden domain. I sense its awareness. Its influence is even reaching my real body. I shall depart. The Administrators will soon arrive to rectify this anomaly. If any of your people remain alive, the Administrators will eradicate them, for they have made contact with the forbidden." "I understand..." Vexus nodded somberly. The red figure dissipated into nothingness, leaving Vexus alone before the immense breach. "Our pact is null, Superbia. By the time your real body awakens, I''ll likely have perished. There''s no need to fulfill the agreement," Vexus''s voice resonated across the winds. The sword in his grip radiated a brilliant light. Ohm! A blinding glare engulfed them, and the scene vanished. Erkigal, Vashno, Franklin, and Eztein remained gazing at the sky. "That was a god...?" Vashno recalled the deity''s demeanor from the vision. "That was Vexus, the Divine Venerable of Wisdom, the founder of the Hall of Power," Erkigal explained. "And the other being... He addressed him as Superbia. Does that mean?" Eztein squinted in contemplation. "Yes, your assumption is likely correct," Erkigal affirmed with a nod. Chapter 937 Battle at the Selnes Country: Battle for the Tears of Divine Might I ?937 Battle at the Selnes Country: Battle for the Tears of Divine Might I Spatial Whisperer manipulated the fabric of space and compressed it before thrusting it toward the golden palm. Bang! The golden palm forcefully disintegrated the compressed space, creating immense friction in the air that sent powerful shockwaves rippling outwards. Observing this, Spatial Whisperer narrowed his eyes, understanding the challenge ahead. He elevated his hand, causing his energy to surge through the sky. [Sky Splitting Strike]! Boom! Meanwhile, Adel and Black Blader maneuvered to the opposite side of the intense confrontation, seeking a direct path to the barrier. Their advance was halted by dozens of monsters, belonging to Man-Eating Tamer''s legion. Black Blader halted mid-air, lifting his sword with a surge of energy that emitted a vibrant crimson glow. His elemental energy dispersed, converging sharply at the tip of his blade. [Element Drive: Darkness Integration]! "Die!" Black Blader muttered as he swung down the sword in his hand. [Void Prying Domination]! A massive dark energy blade surged from his sword, hurtling towards the barrier. "He''s aiming to break the barrier!" Adel''s expression shifted as he sensed the immense energy emanating from the energy blade. Swoosh! Suddenly, the monsters redirected their attention and launched a barrage of [Bestrou]. Boom! The ground trembled violently as the monsters'' attacks clashed with the energy blade. Gradually, the energy of the blade waned, losing its initial momentum. Adel was poised to intervene when a new figure emerged on the scene. [Crimson Moon]!! Souta dashed at high speed, catching the monsters off guard. Swiftly, he sliced through their bodies before colliding with the dark energy blade. He skillfully cut the blade in half, preventing it from shattering the barrier. Glancing at Black Blader, Souta sensed the immense power radiating from him. He knew Black Blader was potentially as strong as, if not stronger than, Nine Yin. "This is troublesome..." Souta muttered to himself, tightening his grip on the vajra sword. Rather than launching another attack, Black Blader fixed his gaze on Souta. "Blood Lightning Monster, do not obstruct me. I will claim the mythical-grade fruit." "Hmph, if you can, stop talking and start fighting," Souta sneered. Black Blader''s eyes narrowed and he swiftly lunged toward Souta, leaving a trail of darkness in his wake. Swoosh! Souta took a deep breath, readying himself. As Black Blader closed in, Souta sidestepped and swung his sword. In a flash, Black Blader appeared before Souta, quickly blocking his strike. Clang! Clang! Souta and Black Blader moved at tremendous speed, exchanging hundreds of blows in an instant. Souta keenly felt the substantial disparity in their strength. He was compelled to utilize his [Element Drive] in conjunction with [Blood Armor]. Recognizing he couldn''t afford to hold back against such high- level opponents, close to the Hero-rank, Souta made sure not to underestimate them. Swiftly, Souta dodged Black Blader''s sword strike and extended his hand, casting hundreds of blood-colored webs. Several of these ensnared Adel''s left foot. Before Adel could react, Souta swiftly pulled him towards himself. In the blink of an eye, he noticed a figure hurtling toward him. Bang! Black Blader fiercely stomped on Adel''s stomach. Ugh! Adel groaned in pain, swiftly moving his hand to cut the webs ensnaring his foot. He then stabilized himself in mid-air. Glancing at Souta, he remarked, "As expected, even though we''re from the alliance army, you aren''t going to let me take that fruit." "Of course not. I would expect the same from you," Souta replied. Suddenly, the three - Souta, Black Blader, and Adel - felt a surge. Raising their heads, they witnessed Spatial Whisperer heading their way. Spatial Whisperer raised both hands, conjuring a massive ball of dark energy that swirled around him. Swoosh! He hurled the colossal energy ball towards the three. Souta diverted his gaze briefly and noticed Shen Yao battling the minions of Man-Eating Tamer. "This guy should be fighting Shen Yao!" Adel exclaimed, his aura intensifying as his elemental energy erupted like a volcano. Pulling back his fist, Adel soared into the sky and launched a powerful punch at the energy ball. His strike was charged with immense energy, causing the entire space to distort. [Earth Crumbling Fist]!! Boom!! A massive explosion erupted upon Adel''s collision with the energy ball. Within the explosion, a bright light streaked toward Souta and Black Blader. Adel moved at incredible speed. Souta and Black Blader reacted, but their responses were slow. Bang! Bang! Souta was sent flying and crashed onto the ground, while Black Blader managed to partially block Adel''s attack. Adel''s appearance underwent a drastic change. His hair turned white, his eyes became a pure white color, and his body emitted a strange brilliance that seemed to erode the darkness within Black Blader. [Holy Saint Glory]!! Undeterred, Adel continued his assault. His figure vanished and reappeared, attacking Black Blader once again. Even Spatial Whisperer was sent flying by the force of the attack. Just a moment later, Adel launched an attack at the three experts, who were unable to resist his assault. Hovering in the air, Adel gazed down at the barrier with determination. "It''s mine!" Adel declared, raising his hand triumphantly. But his triumphant moment was abruptly interrupted. "Don''t get ahead of yourself, puny guy!" Man-Eating Tamer''s voice echoed menacingly. Adel turned swiftly, only to find himself faced with a swarm of [Bestrou] hurtling towards him. Before he could react, the creatures engulfed him, scratching at the surface of the barrier. Boom!! A horde of fourth-stage monsters gathered around Man-Eating Tamer as he stood tall in the air, eyeing the barrier below. His gaze then shifted to Shen Yao positioned on the other side. Boom!! Boom!! Rubble scattered as four figures swiftly traversed the area. Souta, Adel, Spatial Whisperer, and Black Blader arrived near Man-Eating Tamer and Shen Yao, emitting an entirely different level of energy¡ªa signal that a serious battle was about to unfold. Naruse observed the unfolding scenario from above, her expression holding a sense of amusement. Floating above the barrier, all of them carefully monitored each other''s movements. Cracks were already evident in the barrier, signaling its imminent collapse. Shen Yao turned her attention to Adel and Souta, proposing, "I suggest we prioritize dealing with these foes before aiming for the mythical-grade fruit. We can discuss the fruit after we''ve neutralized them." Adel contemplated her proposal briefly before consenting, "Seems reasonable to me." "I''ve got no objections, considering they''re our enemies," Souta added. Black Blader''s gaze narrowed at the words of his enemies. He retorted, "If you''re aiming to defeat us, then come and try!" In an instant, he darted through the air, arriving before Shen Yao and swinging his blade downward. Swoosh!! Shen Yao''s hand, enveloped in a golden aura, rose to meet the attack. She utilized her armguard to deflect the blade''s strike, forcing Black Blader backward. She withdrew her fist, which was surrounded by an immense concentration of energy. With a swift motion, she hurled her fist downward. Bang! The air cracked and disintegrated into thousands of fragments resembling glass but forming the fabric of space. The entire area collapsed, generating shockwaves that Souta, Adel, and the others swiftly evaded. Naruse somersaulted in the air, giggling softly. Closing her fan, she released several papers into the air. "Appear!" Multiple creatures materialized, emerging through the fragments. Upon witnessing this, Spatial Whisperer sprang into action. Manipulating the fragments, he crafted a peculiar space that enveloped the creatures Naruse summoned. [Space Folding: Pocket Dimension]!! The creatures were forcibly shifted into alternate spaces that Spatial Whisperer created, effectively trapping them. "Oho," Naruse chuckled upon observing Spatial Whisperer fold her shikigami. She then shielded her mouth with her fan. "I suppose I can''t engage you with shikigami." "It''s futile... Your storage space might contain all your shikigami, but they won''t function against me. I''ve sealed off your space, rendering them unable to leave it for the time being," Spatial Whisperer stated in an icy tone. Souta recognized Naruse as an exorcist who controlled shikigami resembling golems and undead. However, he knew there was another variety she could employ¡ªusing monsters as her shikigami. It was akin to taming skills, although she wasn''t utilizing this type at the moment. Abruptly, Souta moved. Swoosh!! Several beams swept through his previous position. He glanced over and noticed they belonged to the Man-Eating Tamer''s minions. Chapter 938 Battle at the Selnes Country: Battle for the Tears of Divine Might II ?938 Battle at the Selnes Country: Battle for the Tears of Divine Might II Souta skillfully evaded the monsters'' attacks, swiftly wielding his sword. While individually stronger than any of the monsters under Man-Eating Tamer''s control, their sheer number posed a challenge. Leaping into the air, seven shadows materialized beside him. With a sweeping motion, he summoned a rain of blood bullets upon the field. Swoosh!! Shen Yao, Black Blader, Adel, and others reacted swiftly, shielding themselves from the bloody downpour. Bang! Bang! Bang! "That''s splendid! You''ll make a fine addition to my collection!" Man-Eating Tamer''s face twisted with a crazed expression as his minions valiantly intercepted the bullets. ''This individual poses a significant problem...'' Souta realized he needn''t engage in a fatal battle with Man-Eating Tamer at this moment. He knew Man-Eating Tamer''s minions, fourth-stage monsters, were predictable. They lacked the higher intelligence characteristic of more advanced monsters, as they were trained to unconditionally follow Man-Eating Tamer''s orders, even if it meant sacrificing themselves. If these monsters gained higher intelligence, they would no longer comply with unreasonable commands from Man-Eating Tamer. Man-Eating Tamer''s dangerous nature lay in his ability to treat his minions as mere disposable weapons, ready to be discarded to protect his own life. With skillful manipulation of blood and webs, Souta directed the seven shadows to engage dozens of fourth-stage monsters at the forefront. Boom!! Souta and Man-Eating Tamer abruptly turned their heads in response to the collapsing ground. The Botano Clan''s estate was flung into the air, accompanied by numerous scattered landmasses, all navigating the distorted time and space within this dimension. Shen Yao, radiating a substantial amount of energy, released a surge that spread throughout the area. Her imposing golden figure struck Black Blader with a forceful palm strike. Bang!! The environment seemed to crumble around them. The stability of the place rested primarily on the gigantic tree formed by Paente. Somehow, this tree managed to anchor everything in the dimension, shielding these delicate dimensions from the ferocious clashes between immensely powerful experts. Adel leaped from one floating landmass to another, eyeing a specific area shrouded by a spherical barrier¡ªthe Botano Clan''s residence, home to the mythical-grade fruit. "While they''re all entangled in their own battles, I''ll seize this opportunity," Adel chuckled to himself. He crouched, preparing to launch himself toward the coveted location. In an instant, he sensed spatial fluctuations around him, entrapping him. Reacting swiftly, Adel unleashed his energy, shattering the confines of the space encircling him. Bang! Breaking free, Adel looked up to see Spatial Whisperer hurling toward him at breakneck speed. Bang! Bang! Spatial Whisperer delivered a series of rapid attacks, catching Adel off guard. Though he managed to block three punches, the subsequent onslaught overwhelmed him, causing him to crash into the adjacent floating landmass. Ugh! Grimacing with pain, Adel swiftly regained his footing, turning to see Naruse grinning wickedly from a distance. "This blasted exorcist!" Adel realized that Naruse had intentionally allowed Spatial Whisperer to intercept and halt him. "I''m sorry, but I can''t let you have all the fun," Naruse chuckled. Despite Naruse''s words, Adel disregarded her and surged through the air to intercept Spatial Whisperer. They clashed mid-air, their collision reverberating across various sections of the battlefield. Eventually, they became entangled in the ongoing skirmish between Souta and Man-Eating Tamer. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta had been systematically eliminating Man-Eating Tamer''s minions when the two newcomers crashed into him. The collision triggered a powerful explosion, resulting in three streaks of light soaring through the smoke, creating a complex, intertwined pattern in the sky. These lights represented Souta, Adel, and Spatial Whisperer. They engaged in a high-speed aerial battle, exchanging relentless blows while navigating through the distorted dimensions. Meanwhile, Man-Eating Tamer stepped back, manipulating his minions to line up and continuously unleash the [Bestrou] technique. This barrage decimated Souta''s seven doppelgangers and tore through his intricate webs. Bang! Bang! The situation fluctuated rapidly as opponents changed with every passing moment. One instant, Souta faced off against Black Blader; the next, he was in combat with Man-Eating Tamer. Each combatant was exploiting every advantage, even utilizing the immense tree to launch attacks against their foes. Boom!! Souta crashed onto the ground, coughing up blood. Some of his injuries healed instantly, but he rose to his feet, gazing upward. "This is challenging..." Souta muttered to himself. His strength generally paled in comparison to the others, all top-tier SSS-rank experts. In theory, no fourth-stage monsters could contend with them. Nevertheless, his elemental prowess was unparalleled, almost akin to the Fusion Stage. His [Element Drive] boasted five times the endurance of theirs. "Focus on what you can do. They''re all exceptional, just lower than Hero-rank. Learn their techniques, their styles. Incorporate their strengths to refine your own," Saya''s advice echoed in his mind. "I understand... That''s why I''m aiming to engage them without relying on my equipment for now," Souta said, a determined smile forming on his face. He recognized his advantage in terms of gear; although they possessed fine equipment, it paled in comparison to his own. He sprinted back into the fray, rejoining the battle. Boom!! Adel and Souta swiftly dispatched dozens of monsters that attempted to approach the barrier. Shen Yao was locked in combat with Black Blader nearby, while Naruse engaged Spatial Whisperer, keeping him occupied. "You, you, and you! All of you are annoying pests!" Man-Eating Tamer roared in frustration. He flung both hands, summoning hundreds of fourth-stage insects that swarmed around him. The monsters gathered energy simultaneously, assuming their released forms. In the next instant, [Bestrou] descended, raining down upon the entire area. Swoosh!! Adel, Souta, Shen Yao, and the others'' expressions shifted, a blend of shock and concern. Naruse''s eyes narrowed as she swiftly closed her fan. Several pieces of white paper flew into the air, forming multiple layers of protective barriers around her. Each of them maneuvered defensively against the onslaught of [Bestrou]. Attacks from initial or intermediate rank were manageable, but they remained cautious about the strikes from higher-ranked monsters. One hit wouldn''t be fatal, but repeated assaults could lead to injuries, even for seasoned experts like themselves. Boom! Boom! A chain of explosions ripped through the area, violently shaking the land and reducing much of it to rubble. Billowing clouds of dust and debris ascended into the sky, casting a dark haze over the scene. Crack! Souta''s eyes widened as he swiftly turned his head. The protective barrier surrounding the Botano Clan''s estate had collapsed, and the tantalizing aroma and energy emanating from the mythical-grade fruit permeated the air. "The fruit...!" Adel''s voice rang out. "It''s open!" Black Blader''s exclamation echoed across the battleground. All present witnessed the exposed estate of the Botano Clan, with the mythical-grade fruit now readily accessible for anyone to claim. ... Somewhere within the All-Filter Barrier Formation, Erkigal, Vashno, Franklin, and Eztein found themselves in the midst of a pristine, white expanse. Dark splotches littered this realm, oozing a peculiar energy. "Was that the Hall of Power collapsing?" Eztein inquired, his gaze squinting. "I believe so... Vexus, the Divine Venerable of Wisdom, and No God Emperor''s father, seemed to be involved," Erkigal affirmed. "What''s with those cracks in the space? They seem abnormal. And this..." Vashno glanced at his palm, discovering a strange tattoo etched on its back. "This tattoo... It''s giving me an ominous feeling." "What?!" Eztein and Franklin examined their hands and found the peculiar tattoo imprinted on their skin, resembling an eye with a small teardrop. It emitted an inexplicable sense of foreboding. "That... You''ve been cursed!" Erkigal gasped. "You must not disclose this to anyone else now. I didn''t expect that merely witnessing that event would lead to a curse." "A curse?" Eztein''s eyes narrowed in concern. "Yeah, the reason why I couldn''t explain everything to you from the start was due to the curse. If I revealed everything, the darkness would engulf and kill me," Erkigal revealed. "I thought that I would die... But it seems that''s not the case." Eztein breathed a sigh of relief. Boom! The space quaked, and a colossal white stone monument materialized before them. Cracks riddled the structure, appearing on the verge of crumbling, yet it emanated an overpowering aura, commanding a presence above all. "What in the world is happening now?!" Eztein exclaimed. "Look!" Vashno directed their attention toward the stone monument. "It has finally manifested... Our god''s legacy. The path to end this living labyrinth," Erkigal murmured in awe. Chapter 939 Battle at the Selnes Country: Battle for the Tears of Divine Might III "It looks imposing..." Eztein commented. "Of course, it''s a creation of our god, the Isolated Formation God," Erkigal said, stretching her hand cautiously to touch the stone monument. Ohm! A dazzling light burst forth from the point she touched, engulfing everyone before they could react. Sinners... When Erkigal opened her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. The surroundings were filled with volcanoes, their fiery streams mingling with dark, viscous liquid. The atmosphere was intensely hot, and an overwhelming energy pervaded the space. Words and images flooded into her mind, seemingly from an unknown source she couldn''t identify. She surmised it to be the legacy left by the Isolated Formation God¡ªa repository of information for his people. Next, Erkigal found herself in a chamber lined with books. At the table, a man sat, penning cryptic words in a notebook. "The curse... The entity beyond... The curse is similar to the curse in Archetype. It prevented anyone from sharing information," the man mumbled, his voice carrying a sense of resignation. "I will die soon. I''ve laid down all the plans and I''ve found a loophole, but the curse is too strong. Imperium will not tolerate it." Erkigal realized that the man she was observing was the Isolated Formation God himself. "Hmm...?" The Isolated Formation God turned his head, detecting something. He closed his eyes briefly before reopening them, revealing surprise in his expression. "This... A part of my plan has succeeded. The curse will kill me, but it also distorts a portion of the monitoring system." Standing up, he gazed directly at Erkigal''s presence. "The monitoring system has been distorted due to the curse. I couldn''t see you, but I can sense you... You''re one of my people. Heed my words: do not dare to research anything about the so-called lost era. The era nineteen thousand years ago... Unless you''ve figured out a way to leave all the realities within the Imperium." "Huh?! You can communicate with me, my lord!" Erkigal was astonished. This was a scene from a thousand years ago. "I couldn''t directly communicate with you, but I can sense your presence. Don''t underestimate the means of your god, I''m different from other gods. The person standing before me is not you; it''s Vanhel Windi. You''re merely traversing through his memories, but I can detect if someone is prying into my existence," the Isolated Formation God clarified. "I can only leave behind memories for my people, as my own memories are too corrupted. Contact with them would result in your demise. The Windi, Flaem, Methal, Botano, and Darkna Clans are all cursed. I''ve left everything so that you can break it, but this curse will disappear along with the memories associated with it." Erkigal squinted her eyes. "I''ve committed a taboo...! Hmm? The curse is preventing me from speaking of it. The Imperium is dormant, and we are nearing the end. This is the final cycle. Utilize all the remnants I''ve left behind to begin anew, as you''ve shattered the All-Filter Barrier Formation." "This barrier will purify all impurities. Your strength and memories will be affected too. Concerning your strength, I''ve already made preparations. You will regain it over time. However, the memories... I cannot handle that. It was only slightly opened, yet it caused immense destruction. The extermination of the Cosmic Signs thousands of years ago is linked to it. Head to the Frozen Continent after the Great Barrier has opened up if you wish to unravel more or seek out the No God Emperor in the Hall Plains." The scene abruptly vanished, and Erkigal was overwhelmed by a severe headache. "Agh!" She beheld a colossal and magnificent gate, fashioned from unknown metals, slightly ajar. A dense surge of dark energy emanated from it, while a viscous dark substance flowed across the ground. Within the fissures of the door, Erkigal sensed someone staring back at her. It emitted pure madness. Huh?! Erkigal opened her eyes and found herself kneeling on the floor, drenched in sweat, with Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin gathered around her, concerned. "What happened? You touched the monument, and then you were suddenly on the ground," Eztein inquired. Erkigal looked at them and stated, "We''re going to forget everything that occurred here, whether we want to or not. The curse will erase our memories related to it. It''s similar to the curse of Archetype. Oh, I forgot that none of you have reached Five Shackles, so you wouldn''t understand Archetype yet." "Archetype?" Eztein and the others looked perplexed. "Yes, individuals should be able to train in it from the beginning, but there''s a curse preventing everyone from remembering it, no matter what," Erkigal explained. This was why only those at higher levels could remember and train Archetypes. The curse affected all living beings and those yet to be born. Only by attaining Fifth Shackles could they begin their training. "It''s over. These mixed dimensions will soon collapse, returning to their original state," Erkigal stated as she gazed upward. Once the All-Filter Barrier Formation was broken, it would purify the impurities. Some of their strengths would vanish, but the Isolated Formation God had readied his energy for this eventuality so they could reclaim their strength. However, there was no solution for their memories. ... On the battlefield... The barrier enclosing the Botano Clan had shattered, revealing the mythical-grade fruit radiating potent energy. "The mythical fruit?!" Spatial Whisperer immediately manipulated the surrounding space, attempting to isolate the fruit and claim it for himself. Swoosh!! Souta clenched his fist, conjuring a black hole that surged toward Spatial Whisperer. "Take this!" The voracious black hole surged toward Spatial Whisperer at incredible speed. "Damn it!" Spatial Whisperer cursed under his breath as he shielded himself with his arms, absorbing the impact of the black hole. His attempt to isolate the fruit was thwarted as the space around him shattered and was consumed by the force of the black hole. Meanwhile, Shen Yao, Adel, and Black Blader surged ahead, streaking through the sky toward the Botano Clan''s premises, their sole focus set on obtaining the mythical-grade fruit. Souta swiftly followed suit, ascending into the air and unleashing a barrage of blood bullets and crimson webs in all directions. Shen Yao and the others deftly dodged the incoming blood bullets while simultaneously launching their own attacks. In a synchronized effort, they managed to eliminate the seven shadows that were approaching the fruit, preventing any encroachment upon it. As the monsters surged forward, Souta focused his energy, activating the [Yin Yang Unification] technique. Feeling it wasn''t sufficient, he continued, swiftly utilizing most of the equipment skills at his disposal. His aura intensified, and he conjured numerous black holes. With an intense resonating hum, the black holes materialized across the battlefield, casting an ominous darkness over the entire area. From within this darkness, countless black tentacles emerged, spreading out menacingly. Suddenly, a brilliant light erupted from the center of the conflict, dispelling the encroaching darkness. The monsters summoned by Man-Eating Tamer were swiftly disintegrated within mere moments. Meanwhile, Shen Yao, Black Blader, and Adel engaged in a fierce battle at the heart of the field. Their energies surged to unprecedented levels, their exchanges of power reaching the peak. Everything appeared to collapse, with shattered space revealing other dimensions affected by the ongoing battle. It wasn''t just one dimension; several others were experiencing similar disturbances. Boom! Boom! Boom! The intensity of the battle reached an unprecedented level, felt by everyone present. The top-tier SSS-rank experts were unleashing their full power without restraint. Souta deployed the [Colosseum Undead Party], creating a large platform that subdued elemental abilities for his opponents. Raising his hand, he summoned a powerful gravitational field. Ohm!! The ground beneath the fruit began to shift as gravity pulled it. In the following moment, the Botano Clan''s residence appeared in front of Souta. Boom!! The detonation of the [Colosseum Undead Party] caused rubble to scatter in every direction. Shen Yao, Adel, and Black Blader glanced upward, spotting Souta near the manor. They transformed into streaks of light, intending to prevent Souta from obtaining the fruit. Souta sensed the impending danger. He realized he wouldn''t be able to withstand the combined forces of several top experts. Swoosh! Two figures materialized before him: the [Yin-Yang Twin Spirits]. They swiftly moved to intercept the trio. All of this occurred in a matter of seconds. Souta descended and finally laid eyes on the Tears of Divine Might. The fruit had a square shape with a triangular base. Strange circular carvings adorned its skin, transitioning in color from white to blue in mere seconds. Chapter 940 Battle at the Selnes Country: Battle for the Tears of Divine Might IV Souta gestured, manipulating gravity at his command. For some reason, the Tears of Divine Might reminded him of Gilaine. She had mentioned tending to it, perhaps creating a connection between them. Shen Yao, Black Blader, and Adel fixated their gazes on Souta. The fruit was just within his reach. They realized they couldn''t prevent Souta from claiming it. Even if they managed to defeat the twin spirits, it would be too late. "Kill!" Man-Eating Tamer''s enraged cry reverberated. His eyes were brimming with fury. Boom! A powerful aura erupted, enveloping everyone. A colossal figure tore through space, hurtling toward Souta. Souta was on the verge of grasping the fruit when chaos ensued. The Tears of Divine Might spun through the air. ''Be careful, Souta!'' Saya''s voice resonated in his mind. Looking downward, Souta spotted the enormous figure. He narrowed his eyes and muttered, "As expected, he already brought this one along. No, he had all his minions here ever since he set foot in the Selnes Country." The colossal figure was a black centipede, measuring approximately thirty kilometers in length. Its aura surpassed that of a typical fourth-stage monster; it was the Earth Drill Centipede, the mightiest minion of Man-Eating Tamer, now at the fifth stage. Swoosh! As the centipede sped past Souta, its overpowering aura seemed to exert a suppressing force against him, akin to a higher species subduing a lower one. It felt as though an immense weight was pressing down on him, hindering his movement. Souta swiftly reached out, grasping one of the centipede''s legs. "Fortunately, I anticipated this outcome." Narrowing his eyes, Souta glanced upward, observing the centipede''s trajectory towards the Tears of Divine Might. This entire sequence of events had played out as he foresaw. Upon recognizing the familiar faces of the Deadly Sins experts, he had predicted the inevitable confrontation and its potential outcome. Although Souta hadn''t sensed this particular centipede previously, he was well aware of the high probability that Man-Eating Tamer had already tamed a fifth-stage monster by now. Moreover, the tumultuous battles that had transpired had overshadowed the centipede, concealing its presence in the darkness. "A fifth-stage monster...? This is troublesome," observed Naruse, watching from the sidelines as she narrowed her eyes. She noted Man-Eating Tamer still had hundreds of fourth-stage monsters around him. This highlighted the true power of a tamer, derived not from their physical abilities or combat skills but from the creatures they had tamed. "Did he really bring a fifth-stage monster here?" Adel muttered, visibly shocked. The sight of a fifth-stage monster in this place was beyond belief for him. "Technically, we''re still inside the All-Filter Barrier Formation, so that monster isn''t operating at full strength. Nevertheless, being a fifth stage, defeating it will be an arduous task," Shen Yao remarked in a subdued tone. The consensus among them was that it would be nearly impossible to stop a fifth-stage monster in a brief moment, leaving most convinced that Man-Eating Tamer would successfully acquire the mythical-grade fruit. They hadn''t anticipated that Man-Eating Tamer would conceal a fifth-stage monster in Selnes Country immediately upon his arrival. Souta pushed himself to take action. Standing atop the centipede''s back, he cracked his neck with determination. "It''s just a fifth stage... I''ve taken down beings like this in the past," Souta said with a smirk. His aura surged, pushing back against the centipede''s presence in the area. Boom! Souta sprinted across the centipede''s back, causing all the blood in the vicinity to levitate. The blood underwent a transformation, crackling with blood-colored lightning around his body. Activating the [Emperor''s Blessing] card and harnessing the blood lightning, Souta stated, "It might not be enough to defeat this monster, but it''s sufficient to endure its pressure." Jumping into the air, he swung his weapon towards the centipede''s head. Boom! Mighty shockwaves reverberated as the blood-colored lightning expanded like a net throughout the area. "So that''s why he''s known as the Blood Lightning Monster," Adel remarked in awe. "His aura has amplified again," Shen Yao observed, narrowing her eyes. Souta''s current energy surpassed them all, unmistakably superior. There was no questioning it. Undoubtedly, Souta had utilized nearly all his equipment skills along with the [Emperor''s Blessing] card. They stood no chance against him in terms of equipment. Rapidly dashing across the centipede''s body, slashing his sword in all directions, the blood lightning crackled with each swing. ''I can barely scratch its carapace,'' Souta thought to himself. He was formidable, but a fifth-stage monster was in a different league. Fortunately, the centipede couldn''t unleash its full potential due to the All-Filter Barrier Formation''s influence. The stronger the creature, the more suppression it experienced. Souta leaped into the air and promptly cast the [Black Hole] spell. Ohm! A black hole emerged in space, aiming to tear into the centipede''s body. Yet, the centipede pressed on toward the fruit, seemingly unaffected by the power of the black hole. Souta confronted the centipede, questioning, "Why are you allowing that man to control you?" In response, the centipede screeched and lunged toward him. Gritting his teeth, Souta swung his sword downward, colliding with the centipede''s head and creating ripples in the air. Suddenly, he sensed an immense concentration of energy. A powerful dark green beam erupted, enveloping a vast portion of the sky. Boom! Thrown upward, Souta''s body suffered extensive damage. The force of the blast was lethal, but fortunately, he was in a state stronger than his usual power, sustained by the [Emperor''s Blessing] card. "Once more," he grunted through clenched teeth. Blood lightning crackled around his sword as he ran his finger along its surface. [Archetype: Great Blood of the End]! Thunderclouds amassed all around. Droplets of blood arced across the sky, merging with the forces of dark and light before transforming into blood-colored lightning. His webs coalesced into a blade, then he infused it with blood imbued with both dark and light elements, grasping it firmly with his left hand. As he held both the vajra sword and the newly formed blade of web and blood, an ominous radiance emanated from them. Souta drew in a deep breath. "I can''t even converse with you... What a tragic creature. Your mind has long been shattered." As the centipede approached, he unleashed his most powerful attack. [First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]!! The centipede retaliated instantly, unleashing a torrent of [Bestrou] from its mouth. A collision between a flash of red light and dark green erupted in the air. Ripples expanded, followed by the sudden appearance of a potent suction force. In the next moment, a shockwave surged in all directions, painting the sky with a vivid display of red and green brilliance. Boom!! Shen Yao, Adel, and Naruse swiftly erected a protective barrier, gazing with apprehension at the explosive spectacle. "That bastard is this powerful!!" Man-Eating Tamer couldn''t believe his eyes. ... In another dimension... Ice Death, Poisonous Vine, and Hoei turned their heads. The dimension trembled, crackling with powerful energy seeping from various fissures. "What in the...?" Hoei sensed an imminent collapse within their entire dimension. "Who could be causing this level of destruction?" Poisonous Vine felt a growing sense of danger. Ice Death remained silent for a moment, observing the energy seeping through the cracks. "It''s Man-Eating Tamer. He''s finally unleashed his ultimate minion, a fifth-stage monster. Most of the dimensions here are on the verge of collapse. We must locate the space where Selnes Country was positioned." Then, Ice Death gazed down at the Flaem Clan household, murmuring, "Bezvin Darkna is deceased, so our task here is finished. Our priority now is finding the core of the Botano Clan." Hoei''s gaze lingered on Bezvin''s body. He had been powerless to intervene when Ice Death killed his fellow Clan Leader. Though he attempted to confront Bezvin, Ice Death''s interference prevented any action. Had Ice Death not intervened, Hoei would have left Bezvin alive. ... In the dimensions where the household of Botano Clan was situated... The centipede bellowed into the sky, a massive gash evident on its head. Though not fatal, the wound significantly impacted the creature. Souta had managed to inflict a severe cut on the carapace of a fifth-stage monster. Blood sprayed in all directions as the enraged centipede roared furiously. Swoosh! Emerging from the dissipating smoke, Souta was drenched in blood. The black armor surrounding him was in tatters, and there wasn''t a trace of the natural energy field around his body. His aura had weakened considerably, only comparable to an initial rank fourth stage. Facing a fifth-stage monster''s attack, Souta realized that his defenses and resistance were shattered by a single [Bestrou]. "Hah, I wouldn''t have survived if not for the [Emperor''s Blessing]..." Souta chuckled weakly, observing as the thunderclouds sparked with lightning, gradually healing some of his grave wounds. "You''re still smiling?!" Man-Eating Tamer''s words faltered as he noticed something in Souta''s hand. Souta''s smile broadened as he raised his hand, declaring, "In this competition, I''m the victor." The Tears of Divine Might was finally within his grasp. Chapter 941 Battle at the Selnes Country: Escape Within the Darkna Clan''s domain... Red Mist reclined on the ground, her head supported by her hand. Her eyes were shut tight, and her brows furrowed. Amidst continuous booming vibrations in the space, Red Mist reopened her eyes, gazing up at the sky. She muttered, "Resting here is proving to be a challenge. The reverberations from the battle are reaching even this place. It''s becoming bothersome." Sensing the intense energy fluctuations emanating from the rifts, she foresaw an imminent collapse. "That Man-Eating Tamer... Employing a fifth-stage creature in lower worlds like this is excessive. He''s truly irritating. Perhaps I should just eliminate him," she grumbled. Fiamma appeared beside her and countered, "That guy had a fifth-stage monster with him, remember?" "So what? I can eliminate him before that fifth-stage monster even gets the chance to protect him. His combat skills are feeble. His real strength is in his tamed monsters," Red Mist said, casting a glance at her spirit. "Moreover, his tamed monsters are enslaved by him, so they lack high intelligence. They merely obey basic commands." Red Mist redirected her focus to the rifts. "I wonder what''s unfolding there..." She stretched her arms and let out a yawn. "Ah, it''s no longer my concern. I just wanted to rest." ... Souta laughed as lightning crackled around his body, mending some of his wounds and restoring his weakened aura to its former strength. With the Tears of Divine Might finally in his possession, Souta faced Man-Eating Tamer''s wrath. "You bastard!" Man-Eating Tamer snarled, pointing a furious finger at Souta. "Kill him!" The centipede''s energy surged, its body emanating a vibrant dark green light, adorned with thousands of spikes sprouting from its back. Dark green tattoos adorned its carapace. [Monster Orb Release]! The creature''s immense power bore down upon everyone present, exerting the formidable force of a fifth-stage monster. Boom! The ground quaked as magma erupted, the entire planet trembling under the sheer pressure exerted by the fifth-stage monster. "The entire world should''ve collapsed by now. The only reason it hasn''t is that giant tree, Paente," Shen Yao muttered, observing the towering structure. "Even worse, Man-Eating Tamer is completely furious. He''s likely to attack us all," Adel added grimly. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the battlefield... Naruse turned to face a figure several meters away, Black Blader from the Deadly Sins. "Are you still planning to fight me? The fruit is already in the possession of the Blood Lightning Monster. At any moment, he could consume it," Naruse said, a faint smile on her face. "Fight you?" Black Blader narrowed his eyes. "Well," Naruse continued, opening both hands, "Your comrade... What''s his name? Ah, Spatial Whisperer. He''s disappeared. Went inside the Botano Clan''s manor and took something. Not sure what it is, though." "Spatial Whisperer?" Black Blader glanced toward the Botano Clan''s household. "So he''s already acquired the core... I suppose my task here is done." He smiled and added, "You''re lucky today. Man-Eating Tamer is completely enraged. He''s out for blood." "Lucky?" Naruse chuckled. "True, he has a fifth-stage monster with him, but that doesn''t change the fact that his real body is weak." She opened her fan, gesturing for Black Blader to depart. "You can leave now before I reconsider." "What?" Black Blader frowned. "I said you''re free to leave. Your objectives are complete, aren''t they? No need to compete for the mythical-grade fruit anymore. Blood Lightning Monster has it now. Maybe you were itching for a fight," Naruse remarked, glancing at Black Blader sidelong. "Hmph, a bold child... I''ll remember this if we cross paths again." Black Blader snorted before turning away. "As if you could best me. I''ve seen what you''re capable of on the battlefield. If that''s your full strength, you''ll be the one to die if we fight," Naruse smirked. Closing her fan, Naruse observed the colossal centipede with a contemplative gaze. "Hmm... Should I intervene? No, all I can do is clear out that guy''s fourth-stage minions." Muttering to herself, Naruse ascended into the sky. However, she abruptly halted her flight when she noticed something¡ªa young girl, seemingly untouched by the intense battles that had unfolded. Her survival was curious amidst such chaos. Meanwhile, Souta was hurled into the air, his body regenerating once more as he wiped a trace of blood from his lips. "Damn... Facing a fifth-stage monster leaves me with no chance," he smirked wryly. It was evident that even after the centipede unleashed its [Monster Orb Release], he couldn''t inflict a scratch on it. The gaping disparity in their powers was clear. The centipede screeched, rapidly traversing through space. In a heartbeat, it stood right in front of Souta, its overwhelming power practically palpable. As the centipede''s legs shifted, cracks fissured through the space. Its gaping maw opened wide, unleashing a colossal [Bestrou]. Observing the impending assault, Souta''s smile widened. "Looks like things are getting interesting... The stage is set." In the following moment, the mammoth beam surged forward, consuming everything in its path. The sky''s hue altered as the beam''s force obliterated all in its trajectory, its energy fluctuations eclipsing the surroundings. Adel''s expression turned to shock. "Unbelievable! How did Blood Lightning Monster endure such an attack? Though with the All-Filter Barrier Formation suppressing the centipede''s strength, it''s still powerful." Shen Yao narrowed her eyes in silent contemplation. The energy beam dissipated gradually, leaving behind a warped distortion in the sky. Nearby planets in outer space crumbled, swept away by this embodiment of destruction. The immense power of the fifth-stage monster posed a significant threat in the lower world. Despite the presence of the giant tree that fortified the realm, the destruction wrought was immense. The centipede, its colossal form traversing space, seemed intent on confirming whether it had successfully vanquished Souta. Man-Eating Tamer''s expression soured further. Receiving a signal from his monster, he realized the truth. "What?! Blood Lightning Monster escaped?! Damn it!!" Enraged, he hadn''t anticipated that Souta would somehow survive the onslaught of the fifth-stage monster. How it occurred eluded him, but his minion was certain that Souta remained alive. "Furious!!" Man-Eating Tamer bellowed, his eyes glowering with anger as he looked down upon the battlefield. "Annihilate everything! I want that bastard dead at all costs!" Man-Eating Tamer commanded fiercely. Responding to his orders, the colossal centipede began its movements anew, redirecting its attention to the remaining individuals in this domain. Man-Eating Tamer seethed with annoyance at Souta''s survival. The utilization of a fifth-stage monster came with a steep price for him. Unlike conventional tamers, his methods diverged significantly. He subjugated the wills of his minions, particularly the fifth-stage monster, which carried an especially hefty cost. This was precisely why he had refrained from deploying the centipede earlier. Other tamers possessed monsters with high intelligence, comparable even to humans or greater. Those creatures wouldn''t abide by orders that contradicted their wills. With a whoosh, a formidable beam struck the ground, resulting in catastrophic devastation. Shen Yao and Adel leaped to create a protective barrier around themselves, witnessing the beam cleave through the terrain before triggering a cataclysmic explosion, eradicating the landmass in an instant, excavating the entire continent from the planet''s surface. "Damn, that''s some powerful shit," Adel exclaimed, observing the devastating aftermath. He ascended into the sky, heading toward the outer reaches of space. Shen Yao gazed at the colossal tree for a moment before following Adel into space. She was unsure of Paente''s intentions in creating a tree capable of stabilizing this dimension. Both of them sped through the cosmos, pursued relentlessly by the centipede. Aware of the overwhelming threat posed by a fifth-stage monster, they exerted themselves to their utmost capacities. Meanwhile, Man-Eating Tamer, consumed by fury, witnessed the havoc wreaked by his enraged minion. His frustration found an outlet in the relentless destruction unfurling around him. Hovering in space, Naruse observed the centipede''s assault on Shen Yao and Adel. With a graceful wave of her hand, she conjured numerous ethereal creatures ¨C her shikigami ¨C sending them forth with a swift flick of her wrist. "Attack!" Naruse commanded, tossing another paper into the air. As it twirled, ancient symbols emerged, materializing various enhancements. [Speed Enhancement]! [Armor Field]! [Greater Strength Enhancement]! [Force of Divine]! The shikigamis underwent a series of empowering boosts, elevating their overall capabilities as they surged toward the oncoming centipede. "This should keep that centipede occupied for around thirty seconds," Naruse murmured to herself, her attention shifting briefly toward the colossal tree. Chapter 942 Battle at the Selnes Country: Fighting the Earth Drill Centipede ?In another dimension... Asfrith and Thousand Earth exchanged a glance, sensing the overwhelming aura of a fifth-stage monster permeating the air. "The presence of a fifth-stage monster... Is our opponent powerful that they resorted to that level of power?" Thousand Earth muttered, analyzing the shifting energy. Asfrith''s gaze narrowed in response. He sensed imminent danger and realized the situation was turning dire on their side. "Hmm..." Thousand Earth paused, detecting a crucial detail. He turned to Asfrith and spoke, "Enjoy yourself... Our objectives here are fulfilled. We shall cross paths again in the future... With your strength, I trust you''ll withstand the onslaught of Man-Eating Tamer." With those words, Thousand Earth vanished into the air, leaving Asfrith standing alone. Asfrith''s mind echoed with the name "Man-Eating Tamer." Could it be that the escalating energy surge was caused by this very individual? Moreover, from Thousand Earth''s words, it appeared they intended to depart from this realm soon, leaving Man-Eating Tamer to sow chaos and destruction in their wake. Asfrith''s thoughts were occupied by the recent events. The sudden appearance of the fifth-stage monster within the All-Filter Barrier Formation had brought an air of imminent collapse to the once-protected realm. "Today marks the end of the renowned All-Filter Barrier Formation," Asfrith muttered, contemplating the unfolding chaos. Feeling the exhaustion from his relentless battle with Thousand Earth, Asfrith took a moment to assess his condition. He sat down and coughed up blood, acknowledging his numerous injuries incurred during the intense combat. His defenses were in tatters, leaving him vulnerable. "In this state, even a Four Shackle opponent could overcome me. The altercation damaged my field and defenses extensively. The same could be said for that guy perhaps that''s why my opponent withdrew; continuing the battle would only yield more harm," he murmured, leaning against the wall as he contemplated the situation. ... Adel soared above, enveloped in azure flames, his hands brimming with swirling energy. With a forceful shout, he unleashed his attack, [Frost Flame Vengeance], a torrent of icy blue flames surging outward, freezing much of the area. However, the centipede remained unfazed, merely retaliating with another devastating beam. Cursing under his breath, Adel swiftly maneuvered to evade the incoming blast. Meanwhile, Shen Yao appeared above the monstrous centipede, her radiant golden aura coalescing around her fists, poised for a powerful strike. "Eat this!" Shen Yao roared as she punched the head of the centipede. The impact of her punch sent shockwaves everywhere, but the centipede emerged unharmed. It simply moved forward, repelling her with an expanding energy field. Bang! She rolled in the air before managing to stabilize her posture, tasting a bitter hint of blood in her mouth. "Tsk! I need more power... I won''t be able to injure it at this rate." Shen Yao clicked her tongue in annoyance. The centipede''s exoskeleton was remarkably tough. Piercing it with her attacks would be quite the challenge. Her only chance lay in targeting the same spot Souta had cut. Shen Yao narrowed her eyes, focusing on the enormous slash on the centipede''s carapace. She then glanced upward, noticing dozens of peculiar creatures. "Shikigami... So that woman decided to help. Well, she has no choice since a fifth-stage monster has appeared." In the next moment, she dashed towards the centipede once again. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! The overwhelming power of the fifth-stage monster resonated throughout the dimensions. Countless individuals felt its impact and couldn''t help but tremble in fear. Those from the Selnes Country and the locals of these dimensions were engulfed in despair. Shen Yao and Adel exerted all their efforts to restrain the fifth-stage monster. Allowing it to escape into another dimension would result in devastation. [Destruction Frost Blaze]!! Adel roared, launching a bluish beam towards the centipede. Swoosh!! The centipede made no attempt to evade the beam. It plowed ahead, colliding with the attack. Bang!! Shen Yao narrowed her eyes as powerful shockwaves spread out. She took a deep breath and continued her assault on the centipede''s body. Focusing on the wound inflicted by Souta earlier, she directed her attacks while the shikigamis worked to restrain the monster. Bang! Bang! Shen Yao and Adel were no longer operating at their peak capacity. Continuous combat had drained Shen Yao''s stamina and energy, leaving her depleted. Adel faced similar exhaustion. Even before the appearance of the fifth-stage monster, they had already dispatched hundreds of Man-Eating Tamer''s minions. Shen Yao swiftly maneuvered through the air, observing dozens of energy beams aiming at the centipede''s legs. The beams were fired and began tracking her movements. However, she wasn''t the sole target. The shikigamis were also pursued by numerous energy beams. Swoosh!! Breaking through the blueish beam, the centipede surged forward, prompting Adel to cease his attack. He swiftly maneuvered, evading the relentless pursuit of the monstrous creature. "Where is that cursed exorcist?!" Adel exclaimed in frustration. "She vanished after leaving some of her shikigamis here!" Adel lamented the absence of Naruse, realizing that her presence could have neutralized Man-Eating Tamer while they confronted the centipede. Observing the decreased number of fourth-stage monsters around Man-Eating Tamer, Adel inferred that he couldn''t control all his minions simultaneously. Swoosh! Man-Eating Tamer clenched his teeth in frustration. Shen Yao and Adel were continually evading and assaulting his strongest minion, still alive and resilient. "These pests! If not for the barrier, they would be dead by now." He was pressed for time. It was imperative to eliminate these two adversaries swiftly. Reluctantly, he decided to engage in the battle personally. He wasn''t keen on doing so because physically, he was weaker than Shen Yao and Adel. Without his minions, they would have easily overpowered and defeated him. Man-Eating Tamer floated, eyes filled with rage, as he observed Shen Yao and Adel. His fourth-stage minions hovered around him, ready to act at his command. Swoosh! Shen Yao deftly dodged incoming beams and delivered a forceful punch to the monster. [Seeker of Golden Fist]! The impact of her punch momentarily halted the centipede. It turned to face her, clearly affected by the power of her strike, causing blood to ooze from its wound. The next moment, Shen Yao''s eyes widened as a chilling sensation ran down her spine. Reacting swiftly, she shifted her position. Swoosh! A dark green energy beam whizzed past her previous spot with intensified force, creating shockwaves that jostled her slightly. It dawned on Shen Yao¡ªshe wasn''t the target. The attack was aimed at Naruse''s shikigamis. The energy beam engulfed the shikigamis, erasing them from existence. Boom! "Damn it!" Shen Yao cursed under her breath. Though she and Adel were the primary force in this confrontation, the shikigamis provided significant support. Losing them increased the burden of battling a fifth-stage monster. "I''m already worn out... If I were at my best, I could have held on longer," Shen Yao murmured. Despite her exhaustion, she refused to yield. Emitting a radiant golden glow, she struck the centipede''s wound with a powerful blow from her fist. [Golden Arhat Fist]! Simultaneously, Adel emerged from the smoke, pressing both palms together to unleash a blueish flame aimed at the centipede. [Destruction Frost Ray]! Boom! A colossal explosion ensued. The merging golden and blueish lights twisted in the air, obliterating almost everything they touched. The energy fluctuations ran wild, while shockwaves rippled out in every direction. The centipede screeched in agony, blood streaming from its wounds. Its emitted light dimmed as its tattoos vanished and its spikes retracted. Ohm! Rolling in the air, it shook off Shen Yao who had been on its back. "It''s reverted to its original form," Shen Yao remarked, wide- eyed at the centipede''s transformation. "It couldn''t sustain its released state for long." "It''s a relief, but we''ve expended too much energy just now," Adel stated, his eyes narrowing. "However, it doesn''t mean we''re out of danger. I''m not sure how much longer I can keep this up." Even though the centipede reverted to its original state, the threat it posed remained significant. Being a fifth-stage monster, its power was undiminished despite the damage Shen Yao and Adel inflicted upon it. It still loomed as menacing as before. "We''re not left with much of a choice," Shen Yao said with a forced smile. The centipede pivoted its massive body, fixing its gleaming eyes directly on them. Chapter 943 Battle at the Selnes Country: Arrival In another location... Hovering in the sky, Ice Death, Poisonous Vine, and Hoei observed the floating spheres before them, each representing the cores collected from the Five Master Clans. A rift in space opened, and Spatial Whisperer and Thousand Earth emerged from it. Spatial Whisperer presented a green-colored sphere. "Here, I''ve retrieved the Botano Clan''s core." Ice Death smiled, seeing the last core. He nodded at Spatial Whisperer. "Well done. The Darkna Clan''s core is also accounted for. Red Mist dispatched someone to deliver it just recently." "Now that we possess all the cores..." Poisonous Vine began. "We''ll assume full control of the All-Filter Barrier Formation. Our forces will converge here, and we''ll stage an ambush to eliminate all the alliance army experts outside the barrier," Ice Death declared. The All-Filter Barrier Formation, crafted by the Isolated Formation God, held vast potential for their plans. Ice Death turned to Spatial Whisperer, inquiring, "What''s the current situation with Man-Eating Tamer?" "He unleashed his fifth-stage minion. It''s wreaking havoc. Even with the barrier''s suppression, I doubt they can overcome it," Spatial Whisperer responded. "So, he''s intent on causing widespread destruction. We''ll depart this place soon. Our task here is complete. We''ve emerged victorious," Ice Death stated. "What about Man-Eating Tamer and the others who haven''t returned?" Poisonous Vine inquired. "Let them be. They can fend for themselves. Besides, this land will soon belong to us. Our priority now is to present these cores to our Great Lord. If our Great Lord succeeds, we''ll be able to establish another All-Filter Barrier Formation," Ice Death explained, his gaze fixed on the floating spheres. Spatial Whisperer gestured, folding space to envelop the five cores. "Let''s proceed. Utilizing these cores, we''ll exit the barrier," Ice Death concluded. Cracks! Cracks appeared, spreading throughout the air. In just a second, the fractures nearly encompassed the entire dimension. "It''s collapsing. Follow me," Ice Death commanded before vanishing into the air. Swoosh! Spatial Whisperer, Thousand Earth, and Poisonous Vine swiftly followed his lead. Hoei stared at the spot where they had disappeared. He knew that attempting any action would result in his demise. "I''ll wait for the right moment. A single second will suffice," Hoei muttered to himself before trailing after the trio. Bang! The entire space collapsed, shattering like fragile glass. Its fragments disintegrated into nothingness, erasing everything within it. The Selnes Country had returned to normal after the dimensions that had swallowed the land collapsed, leaving the land of Selnes within the barrier again. Erkigal, Franklin, Eztein, and Vashno found themselves in the basement of the Flaem Clan, back before the space opened and consumed everything. "We''re back... I can feel the energy density of Imperium," Eztein muttered, sensing the familiar energy. "The laws and concepts here are stronger, no doubt," Vashno confirmed. Boom! A sudden, heavy tremor shook the ground, and the energy fluctuations became intense, pressing them down onto their knees. "What''s happening?!" Eztein exclaimed in alarm. Erkigal narrowed her eyes and said firmly, "Let''s go." The survivors from the first attack of the Deadly Sins were in a state of shock, kneeling and spitting out mouthfuls of blood. Their surroundings were chaotic. This time, when Erkigal had previously opened the legacy of the Isolated Formation God, the survivors were transported to a different space, far from the battle. In that space, they weren''t strongly affected by the events unfolding. However, the situation had changed drastically now that they were back in the Selnes Country. The energy radiation from higher beings was exerting immense pressure on them. The pressure was overwhelming. "Mama! H-help me!!" "I can''t breathe!" "N-No!" In this place, they were exposed and vulnerable, akin to chickens on the brink of being slaughtered. On some parts of the Selnes Country... Struggling, Genzu pushed himself out of the ground, spitting a mouthful of blood as he looked up. "W-What... is happening?!" His eyes widened in shock. The energy pressure in the air was immense, affecting his weakened body. Genzu had fought Anti- Mage until the very end, and now, lying there, he wasn''t sure if he had emerged victorious or not. All he knew was that he collapsed from the sheer expenditure of his strength. Asfrith, who had been resting nearby, was equally taken aback by the unfolding events. Rising to his feet, he gazed intently toward the center. Though aware of what was occurring, witnessing it firsthand was deeply surprising to him. "I think I could push myself to the limit..." Asfrith drew in a deep breath to steady himself. Clenching both fists, he quietly assessed his remaining energy. There wasn''t much left. Kasci leaned against the wall, his body covered in blood, while his broken wings hung limp at his sides. He had barely managed to survive the encounter with Ice Death, his strength draining away. He turned his head slowly, voice strained. "All the dimensions... that opened in this land are gone... It means that the civilians... are in danger once again... I don''t think I could participate in the battle anymore." Glancing down at the gaping hole in his stomach, from which blood continued to pour, Kasci understood the severity of his condition. This injury would have been fatal for most, but his tenacity kept him clinging to life. None of them were at their peak. Faced with a terrifying fifth- stage monster, they knew they stood no chance in their current state. Death seemed inevitable. The experts from the Five Master Clans and the alliance army shared this realization. Erkigal, Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin emerged onto the surface, their gazes locking onto the towering, fearsome figure looming before them. "To think that Clan Leader Paente had initiated something like this," Erkigal muttered in astonishment. "If he succeeded, he would gain power, but if he failed... it will all be in vain. He will die." "This is the energy that I felt in the stone monument... A fifth- stage monster," Vashno remarked solemnly. "Don''t worry, I mentioned that we''re familiar with the other one, haven''t I? You haven''t met her, but you''ll witness her might today," Eztein said, a smile appearing on his face. "Our leader is prepared," Franklin affirmed. In the distance, a towering tree stood proudly, its branches reaching toward the boundary of the barrier, casting a colossal shadow over a vast area. Just beneath it, a colossal centipede moved through the air, each of its movements causing the ground to tremble. Boom! The centipede rolled in pursuit of two luminous figures¡ªOmari Adel and Shen Yao. "Shit! The laws and concepts got stronger, so we''re back in Imperium!" Adel cursed as he soared through the air. "This is not good¡ªeveryone will be affected!" Shen Yao''s voice sounded gloomy. ROAR!!! A thunderous roar resonated across the land. Shen Yao and Adel turned their heads abruptly. Man-Eating Tamer also felt the intense pressure. Even with his fifth-stage centipede and fourth-stage minions, warning signs were evident, causing him to taste blood in his mouth. The side effects of controlling the fifth-stage monster were slowly manifesting. Swoosh!! A colossal figure emerged in the sky from one of the tree''s branches. It possessed a pair of wings spanning several hundred meters, but its most distinctive feature was its nine heads. It was the Lernaean Hydra. The hydra flew in the air, roaring loudly, establishing its dominance against the other fifth-stage monster. Souta stood atop the hydra''s back, wielding his sword as he fixed Man-Eating Tamer with a gaze filled with murderous intent. Man-Eating Tamer''s eyes widened in shock, which quickly transformed into anger. He ground his teeth and exclaimed, "Blood Lightning Monster, you''re back!!" Swoosh!! Souta leaped from Kessa''s back. He slid along the ground, hurtling towards Man-Eating Tamer. Meanwhile, Kessa collided with the gigantic body of the centipede. Despite her immense size, compared to the centipede, she appeared small. Observing this, Adel and Shen Yao exchanged a glance. Without uttering a word, they both launched an attack towards Man- Eating Tamer. With someone handling the centipede, they aimed to take down their primary target. A massive golden palm and a blueish flame streaked towards Man-Eating Tamer. Swiftly, Man-Eating Tamer leaped aside, commanding some of his minions to intercept the attacks. Boom!! The combined golden palm and blueish flame eradicated several of his minions instantly. With few minions left, controlling more would significantly drain him, especially as he concentrated on handling the centipede. Emerging from the dissipating smoke, Souta brandished his sword, its blade aglow with intertwining dark and light energies, creating a peculiar spectacle on its surface. Chapter 944 Battle at the Selnes Country: Crimson Twilight Emperor ?"Damn it!" Man-Eating Tamer cursed under his breath. He had just diverted some of his minions to obstruct Shen Yao and Adel''s assault. Despite the abundance of minions at his disposal, their numbers were not infinite. Frantically, he gestured and dispatched yet another group of monsters to impede Souta''s advance. "Stop him at all costs!" his voice rang out desperately. Souta discerned the note of desperation in Man-Eating Tamer''s voice. Paente had been engaged in a prolonged confrontation with this guy. During that time, while Souta was occupied fighting Boulder Jack, Man-Eating Tamer had expended an enormous number of monsters. He must be nearing his limit. "You''re going to die today," Souta declared in a cold, resolute tone. Seven shadowy figures arose from his form and intercepted the charging monsters, providing a diversion. Seizing the opportunity, Souta swiftly maneuvered past the entangled creatures, making a beeline straight for Man-Eating Tamer. Red lightning crackled around Souta''s form, while ten black spheres materialized on his back. "Don''t push me, Blood Lightning Monster!" Man-Eating Tamer bellowed furiously, unleashing his final minions. In response, Souta lunged forward with his sword, unleashing a burst of energy as the red lightning expanded like a spreading net. Swoosh! The formidable lightning engulfed the fourth-stage monsters, hurtling forward and culminating in a colossal explosion. Boom! Emerging from the billowing smoke, Man-Eating Tamer coughed up copious amounts of blood, suddenly feeling a shiver down his spine. Reacting swiftly, he dodged to the side. However, Souta had already moved behind him, his sword slicing through Man-Eating Tamer''s right arm in a swift motion. The severed limb spun through the air, splattering blood in all directions. "Weak," Souta declared, his left hand opening to release several strands of web that ensnared Man-Eating Tamer''s chest. In an instant, he forcefully drew Man-Eating Tamer closer. "Without your minions, you''re nothing compared to Boulder Jack," Souta asserted, thrusting his sword through Man-Eating Tamer''s defenses. "In a one-on-one fight, you stand no chance against me. Your odds of winning are zero." "Ugh!" Man-Eating Tamer spat blood, gazing up at Souta in disbelief. Attempting to speak, he struggled, "H-How... my most powerful minion... no one..." Without waiting for Man-Eating Tamer to finish, Souta withdrew his sword and forcefully kicked him to the ground. "Did you know what they called me before?" Souta''s voice reverberated as Man-Eating Tamer tried to recall. "M-Master Hydra..." Souta turned away, observing the ongoing battle between the Nine-Headed Hydra and the Earth Drill Centipede. "Behold the death of the monster you''ve enslaved. You''re a formidable tamer, but most of the creatures under your command lack depth. You''ve stripped them of their intelligence, reducing them to mere golems incapable of executing intricate commands," Souta stated with a crack of his neck. His presence became a crimson blur as he ascended into the sky within moments, radiating an unprecedented level of energy. "It''s here," he murmured, taking in a deep breath. A surge of tremendous energy coursed through him, fully revitalizing his stamina and power as the Tears of Divine Might restored him. "Since the effects of the [Emperor''s Blessing] persist, might as well use it to kill a fifth-stage monster." It wasn''t solely the [Emperor''s Blessing]; the effects of the [Yin-Yang Unification] hasn''t disappeared too, Man-Eating Tamer never stood a chance against him. Even if Man-Eating Tamer rivaled Nine Yin''s strength, Souta would still triumph over him. With resolve, Souta gazed upwards. "It''s a relief they aren''t here. I don''t know what they''re up to, but it seems they''ve left Man-Eating Tamer to wreak havoc in this place." Souta referred to Ice Death and the others who departed after the dimensions collapsed. Despite his newfound power, he dared not confront them simultaneously. They were the reason he concealed his trump card, even hiding Kessa for fear of becoming a marked target due to his potential threat in their eyes. Closing his eyes, Souta experienced an uncanny sensation that surged through his body, simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. A faint voice of a young girl seemed to echo around him. His body emitted a dazzling brilliance. Ohm!! The luminosity gradually faded, unveiling Souta''s form. His condensed energy permeated the surroundings, rendering his figure in the sky barely perceptible to ordinary onlookers. A crimson gem emanated a soft glow from the center of his chest, as golden tattoos sprawled across his body. Red fur adorned his wrists, and his nails had turned a deep shade of black. His eyes blazed a fierce red hue, each harboring four distinct pupils. Jutting from his forehead was a horn, standing five inches tall. On either side of his head, just above his ears, another pair of horns jutted out. His skin bore a mixture of red, green, and black, with sporadic scales dotting his body. Dark spikes protruded from his back, amidst a height of approximately 180 centimeters, a significant departure from his previous form. This was Souta''s current appearance, a result of his [Monster Orb Release]. As his form became visible to everyone, the onlookers were filled with awe and confusion. "Is that Grain Leader S-Souta...?" Genzu muttered in disbelief, observing the figure hovering in the sky. "B-Blood Lightning Monster...?" Kasci echoed, stunned by the transformation. Adel and Shen Yao gazed silently at Souta''s figure, intuitively realizing that he had consumed the mythical-grade fruit. The overwhelming pressure he exuded now far surpassed his previous strength, evident even amidst the presence of two fifth-stage monsters. Even the monsters across the country, despite being in the presence of powerful fifth-stage monsters, regarded Souta with a sense of reverence, a reaction only a fellow monster could understand. A lord had emerged. Souta exhaled a dense, dark smoke, his eyes glowing a fiery red. Monster. Weak monster. A monster standing at the top of the monsters. A monster among monsters. He who seek power regardless when. He who stood out in the brutal world. A being that the monster looked up to. A born emperor. His body exuded sheer perfection, each part pulsating with an unimaginable energy, considering his current stage. "T-This... Perfection..." Li Guan muttered, his gaze fixed on Souta''s form. With a deliberate motion, Souta raised his hand, his crimson hair swaying in the wind. The consumption of the Tears of Divine Might didn''t grant him an ability; rather, it unlocked the dormant potential within his bloodline. He underwent a transformation into a being far more powerful. To refer to him as a mere mutation would be disrespectful to the magnitude of the change. He ascended to something immensely greater. Crimson Twilight Emperor. These words appeared in Souta''s awareness. Despite being at the fourth stage, he now stood as the ruler among the crimson twilight. [Crimson Twilight Emperor]: Within the crimson twilight species, only one can claim the title of emperor. So long as the emperor lives, no other can ascend to this rank. The one who treads the twilight path shall hold dominion over the darkness and light of this world. [You''ve gained 500 health points]! [You''ve gained +10 hp recovery]! [You''ve gained 200 energy]! [You''ve gained +10 energy recovery]! [You''ve gained 50 stamina]! [You''ve gained +5 stamina recovery]! [All attributes have increased by 150]! [All traits and trait skills have increased by 1]!! [You''ve gained trait skill, Twilight Zone]!! [You''ve expanded your trait genes by 1]! [You''ve gained trait skill, Armor Integration]! [You''ve unlocked the full potential of your blood genes]! [You''ve unlocked the Bloodline Knowledge of the Crimson Twilight]! [You''ve unlocked the Heritage Knowledge buried in the genes of the Crimson Twilight]! [You''ve gained the Title "Crimson Twilight Emperor"]! Title [Crimson Twilight Emperor]: In any time or place, all goblin- type monsters will hold the Emperor in the highest regard. The Emperor stands as the supreme authority and can issue commands to goblin-type monsters of lower rank. >Goblin-type monsters under the Emperor''s command receive the following bonuses: +100 health, +70 energy, and +50 to all stats. >An Emperor has the authority to appoint generals. Designated generals gain insights into their roles directly from the Emperor. Initially, the Emperor may appoint a minimum of three generals, but this number may increase based on certain conditions. >The Emperor holds dominion over specific territories. These lands enhance the regeneration of all goblin-type monsters within. Any goblin-type monster undergoing evolution within the territory has a 50% chance of transforming into a Crimson Twilight (100% under specific conditions). Note: The Emperor possesses the ability to alter the allegiance of any goblin-type monster, even if it previously served under a Monster Lord. For the Emperor. Souta fixed his gaze upon the Earth Drill Centipede, his aura steadily intensifying. The centipede remained engaged in battle against the hydra. Three of the hydra''s heads fiercely attacked the centipede''s durable armor, while the remaining heads unleashed their powerful [Bestrou] ability. Despite having ascended to the rank of Emperor, Souta was still a fourth-stage monster. The influence of higher-ranking species was still palpable, but he found himself more resilient to its suppression than before. He could endure it now. Chapter 945 Battle at the Selnes Country: Reaction Within the Forest of Eternal Light... Seated on her throne, Raeshka closed her eyes, attuned to a stirring sensation. Gradually, she opened them, focusing her gaze in a specific direction. "Hmm... An Emperor has emerged among the ranks of goblins. This will add to the chaos," she murmured, her eyes scanning beyond the walls, observing her subordinates'' movements. "All goblin species under my domain sense the awakening of an Emperor..." Her eyes shut once more as she pondered the unfolding events in this tumultuous time. Memories surfaced, recalling a particular bear she had blessed. "One thing''s certain¡ªthe new Emperor doesn''t belong to the ranks of Monster Lords. The throne remains unoccupied. Perhaps it''s time to confer with the other Lords in this forest." ... In a hidden enclave on an island within the God''s Continent... Aleteya stirred from her dormancy, roused by a peculiar frequency in the air, discernible only to a Monster Lord. "A new Emperor... and from a goblin species, no less. It''s been quite a while since the last Emperor appeared. I recall two hundred years ago, the emergence of an Emperor among the spiders," Aleteya mused, narrowing her eyes. The time lapse since the last Emperor''s appearance seemed notably shorter this time, signaling shifts in the world. "It''s only been two hundred years since the rise of the Spider Queen, the Obsidian Divine Spider Emperor. She ascended as the Monster Lord of Trial... Merely two hundred years ago." Her gaze swept over the vast expanse of the God''s Continent, contemplating the moves of Gluttony. Chaos had brewed ever since Gluttony''s actions led to the demise of the five gods of the Eru Empire, signaling his readiness to confront the Holy Lands. Aleteya shifted her attention toward the Giza Continent. "Hmm... It might be time for me to extend my influence in this realm as well." ... On a small island nestled between the Giza Continent and Demon''s Land... "Just now... The goblin species has birthed another Emperor. We''re uncertain about its classification, but it hasn''t yet reached the level of a Monster Lord," a man of six feet in height spoke calmly. He was garbed in a simple black cloak and brown pants, with a sharp face framed by long, disheveled brown hair cascading down his back. His pointed ears resembled those of elves, while his eyes were a stark black with a small green dot at the center of his pupils. A thick beard adorned his visage, and fur covered his wrist, extending up to his shoulder. The raw aura he exuded possessed such savagery that it could render ordinary individuals helpless at its mere presence. "An Emperor among goblins... It seems those two fellows in the Dark Forest were eager to ascertain who would achieve such a feat," the man chuckled, causing a slight fluctuation in his aura that shook the immediate surroundings. "Control your energy, Underground King. It wouldn''t bode well if other forces were to detect us at this juncture," cautioned a man with immaculate white hair, akin to feathers, and eyes that resembled those of a hawk. His nails were as sharp as eagle''s talons. "Nevertheless, it''s disconcerting that the goblins have produced yet another Emperor. I''m curious about the kind of goblin it might be. The other two will undoubtedly want this information. They are, after all, the Emperors of the Frozen Dominion and the Frenzied Fear goblin species." "Those two won''t learn their lessons and might just face the same fate we do once they exit the Dark Forest. The Three Great Countries won''t take kindly to their emergence," the Underground King remarked. Then, he turned to Sky King, recollecting an incident, "I recall that you eliminated the other Emperors of the hawk species after ascending as an Emperor yourself." "The Endless Sky Hawk Emperor attempted to subjugate me once I ascended as the Emperor of Divine Night Hawk. With no other choice, I had to end her, as well as the other two Emperors, so that I could stand as the sole Emperor among the hawks," replied the Sky King. "How amusing," chuckled the Underground King, causing the surroundings to tremble once more. "I told you to restrain your aura," warned the Sky King, narrowing his eyes. "You''ve regained your full strength, but we''re not as fortunate. A fraction of our power remains sealed." The Underground King redirected his gaze towards the colossal creature at the far end of the cave. Though only half of the monster''s body was visible, it already spanned an enormous height of two hundred meters, nearly touching the cave''s ceiling. The monster''s form was shrouded in blue grotesque scales, its head adorned with writhing tentacles, and its red, gleaming eyes pierced through the darkness. An eerie mist enveloped its colossal frame. "A thousand years ago, our strength was sealed, and five hundred years ago, our spirits were restrained," declared the Underground King with a frigid tone. "And now, I''ve returned. It''s in the Demon''s Land, right? We shall proceed there." "Yes, once I''ve regained all my power, I''ll have no need for concealment. I''ll slay whoever I please," affirmed the Sky King, narrowing his eyes. "I shall re-enter the Dream once more... I shall reclaim all that rightfully belongs to me," boomed the colossal monster with a multitude of tentacles. His voice echoed deeply, akin to several voices speaking simultaneously. "The emergence of the new Emperor is an ominous sign. I foresee more arrivals soon." Goblins of all kinds across the globe sensed the birth of the new Emperor. Even the Supreme Dragon God, the Four Sacred Beasts, the Monkey King, the World Serpent, and numerous monster lords felt this occurrence. Even dormant monster lords were roused from their slumber as they perceived the new Emperor among the goblin species. These immensely powerful beings understood the significance of this event. If all proceeded smoothly, the newly crowned Emperor would become a formidable force in the future. Just two hundred years had passed since the last Emperor emerged. They all sensed that something significant was about to unfold in the world. Perhaps this was only the beginning. After this event, more Emperors might emerge. Initially, it began with a surge in mana density. Something dreadful was brewing in the world. The emergence of extraordinary individuals is not limited to just demis and humans but extends to the ranks of monsters as well. These individuals have displayed an unprecedented growth rate, swiftly overpowering their adversaries. The ascension of this new generation promises to inundate the world in due time. ... In the thirteenth dimension''s void, amidst the empyrean battlefield of a prior conflict, chaos reigned. The laws were in disarray, with energy undulations so volatile they could imperil even the Shackled Realm. A colossal star occupied the vast expanse, accompanied by a solitary planet orbiting around it. Despite the peculiar circumstances, the planet possessed a meager mana density and resources sufficient to sustain life. Suddenly, the star''s brilliance waned before erupting in an immense burst of energy. The resulting supernova consumed the lone planet, extinguishing its primitive life forms in an instant, unbeknownst to them. Amidst the explosion''s epicenter, a figure emerged, gradually opening its eyes to reveal purple pupils encircled by red rings. "How long has it been?" A voice resonated through space, causing vibrations and cracks to manifest. "Is this the opportune moment? I''ve sensed the emergence of a new Emperor. It appears I''ve been awakened ahead of schedule." The figure condensed, taking the form of a six-foot-tall humanoid. He boasted long red hair, fox-like ears atop his head, a third eye centered on his forehead, a wide mouth revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, and a lower body coated in red fur. His goat-like feet and long purple tail completed his unique appearance. A purple gem adorned his chest, surrounded by mysterious symbols. "It''s too early... Not the right time yet. The Imperium will emit another energy, reinforcing its laws and concepts entirely. Until then, I must adhere to the contract established by the Isolated Formation God." He glanced sideways, seemingly regarding something unseen. "My duplicates have ceased their movements. They should not stop since I have no intention of acting presently. Despite Isolated Formation God''s demise, my plans persist." Abruptly, the man closed his hand, and the explosion reversed. The sequence rewound, halting until the colossal star returned to its former state. Even the planet resumed its orbit, as if the cataclysm never occurred. "I, Acedia, will overturn it at the appropriate juncture. Until then, I shall preserve my energy." Chapter 946 Battle at the Selnes Country: Earth Drill Centipede I The warriors, including Alice and Eilish, gazed upward at the figure hovering in the air. "He had grown stronger once again..." Eilish murmured. "Keeping up with him is becoming increasingly difficult," Alice remarked with a wry smile. "I hoped for some rest, but it looks like we''ll have to wait until Souta and Kessa finish off that monster," Eilish said, settling against the wall and clenching her fist. She looked downward, determination etched on her face. "I must become stronger too. Breaking the Third Shackle isn''t enough... Not for my brother or for him..." Alice briefly glanced at Eilish, her eyes reflecting a mixed of emotions, before returning her attention to the radiant figure in the sky. ... Souta remained composed, observing the clash between the two fifth-stage monsters before him. An unfamiliar emotion swirled within him¡ªsadness. This feeling was unlike the usual volatile emotions that spurred his desire for retribution. Huffing out a dark smoke, Souta directed his gaze back to the intense confrontation unfolding. Raising his hand slowly, a deep resonance filled the air. Ohm! The ground quivered as masses of blood floated into the air. [Twilight Zone]! The blood amalgamated and expanded, engulfing the entire area in a deep crimson hue. The barrier''s edge was now adorned with a thick layer of blood, its acrid scent permeating the surroundings. Amidst the chaos, a colossal tree stood at the city''s center, while two monstrous entities battled nearby. At the barrier''s edge rested a small red sphere, reminiscent of a miniature sun. Souta felt a surge in his strength as a result of this. [Twilight Zone] was an ability enabling him to create a field akin to twilight, yet distinctly different, enhancing all Crimson Twilight species in the vicinity. Bending his knees slightly, he propelled himself forward toward the Earth Drill Centipede. Swoosh! The centipede swiftly detected Souta''s approach, maneuvering its massive body while launching hundreds of beams toward the Nine-Headed Hydra. Simultaneously, it directed another beam at Souta. Souta evaded the beam, but noticed it altered its trajectory, homing in on him. "A homing attack...?" Souta narrowed his eyes, spinning in the air and wielding the vajra sword. Swiftly, he slashed the air multiple times, releasing energy blades that intercepted the homing beams. Boom! Boom! Meanwhile, Kessa absorbed the beams directed at her with her nine heads sprawled out. She retaliated by unleashing [Bestrou] simultaneously. Boom! The ground trembled as the conflict escalated, causing horror among the onlooking survivors. Civilians struggled under the immense energy pressure in the atmosphere generated by the battle. The Earth Drill Centipede seemed consumed by madness, a relentless machine driven solely by a desire to kill. It attacked recklessly, showing no restraint. Souta and Kessa understood that reasoning with this creature was futile; it had lost its sanity. The only solution was to put an end to its rampage by defeating it. In an enraged frenzy, the centipede underwent another transformation, activating its [Monster Orb Release], intensifying the quaking vibrations that reverberated throughout the area. The atmosphere grew even heavier. Roaring, Kessa took flight and seized the centipede''s head, her form shifting as she dragged the creature toward the ground. [Monster Orb Release]! A colossal explosion erupted as the two immense creatures collided with the ground like a meteor. A vast crater, five kilometers in diameter, obliterated everything in the area¡ªbuildings, living beings, reduced to nothingness, leaving only the colossal monsters behind. Swoosh! Souta maneuvered across the centipede''s body, dodging the relentless onslaught of energy beams. With each passing moment, he slashed his sword repeatedly, unleashing hundreds of energy blades at the colossal creature. The centipede''s massive size made it an easy target, but its defenses were staggeringly resilient. "It''s tough," Souta remarked with narrowed eyes. He gestured with his free hand, summoning crimson-colored lightning that crackled above. Gripping his sword tightly, he leaped into the air, the lightning spiraling around the blade. [Lifeless Blood Lightning]! A surge of crimson energy erupted, causing massive fluctuations. The centipede''s body crashed into the ground, triggering a colossal explosion. It formed a maelstrom of violent energy, with dark and light elements whirling at high speeds while lightning struck relentlessly thousands of times within moments. Boom! Souta''s power surged incredibly. The effects of the [Emperor''s Blessing] card, combined with other active equipment skills, persisted as it hadn''t been long since he invoked them. Soon, the centipede''s body emerged from the intense onslaught. A thin, seemingly translucent membrane appeared on its carapace, shielding it from most of the damage inflicted by Souta''s attacks. "This is tougher than expected..." Souta murmured, shifting his gaze toward the centipede''s head. Meanwhile, Kessa engaged in a fierce battle at the centipede''s head. The clashes between them unleashed devastating attacks, obliterating everything in their path. Kessa''s form had drastically changed. Employing her [Monster Orb Release], she grew to a towering height of five hundred meters. Her body was covered in glossy dark scales, emitting black smoke from the gaps. The black smoke possessed corrosive properties that slowly dissolved the ground into a liquid state. However, the centipede seemed impervious to the effects of the smoke, its tough carapace barely affected by it. Pressing on, Kessa lunged forward, her heads clamping onto the centipede''s mandible. With a resounding roar, she unleashed another relentless assault of [Bestrou]. Boom! Explosions echoed across the battlefield. Adel and Shen Yao, observing from the air, wore grave expressions. "This is dire..." Adel muttered with a sense of gloom. "Yeah, the energy levels are escalating rapidly. If it spreads across the entire country, countless lives will be lost," Shen Yao said grimly. The energy radiation emitted by a fifth-stage monster posed a terrifyingly lethal threat to living beings. Once it reached a certain intensity, it had the potential to annihilate nearly everything in its path. Perhaps, only a handful of survivors would remain across the entire country if such an event occurred. "We have to ensure the safety of the civilians," Shen Yao affirmed with a determined expression. "You''re right. But where''s that damned exorcist? She vanished after sending her shinigami," Adel remarked, scanning the battlefield for any sign of Naruse. Her absence in this crucial moment only added to their burden. It seemed odd that she would disappear during such a critical situation, leaving them to face the threat alone. Realizing Naruse''s absence, Shen Yao contemplated if she had another motive for being in the country besides aiding them in battle. "Let''s create a protective barrier to reduce the impact of the energy on the civilians," Shen Yao suggested, her focus on the immediate task at hand. Adel nodded in agreement, and together, they swiftly moved to create a shielding field to safeguard the citizens from the escalating energy pressure. In another part of the area... Erkigal observed the ongoing battle and made a decision. "It''s time for me to act. I need to initiate the final phase of our plan." Vashno turned to her, inquiring, "For Clan Leader Hoei?" "Yes, he has a task to fulfill. It''s the only way to lift the curse and liberate the people in this country. If Hoei doesn''t succeed, we''ll be trapped in the midst of powerful organizations'' conflicts. We won''t be able to leave," Erkigal explained, a grave determination in her eyes. "Do you believe he can accomplish it?" Eztein asked, a hint of doubt in his tone. "He must succeed. Many of our comrades have sacrificed themselves in this war. Failure isn''t an option," Erkigal asserted firmly, her fists clenched in resolve. Franklin interjected, "Staying in this situation isn''t so bad, in my opinion." "That''s because you''re eager for a fight," Eztein replied to Franklin. "But consider this: the battle''s scale will shift drastically after this confrontation. Heroes and even fifth-stage monsters are engaging both inside and outside the country. Were it not for the All-Filter Barrier Formation, the consequences would be far worse than what we''re witnessing now." "Assist the other civilians. I''ll handle this." Erkigal instructed her comrades before vanishing in a swift motion. Swoosh! Within moments, Erkigal materialized in a dimly lit chamber, adorned with a complex magic circle etched into the floor, surrounded by flickering candles. Inhaling deeply, Erkigal strode into the center of the magical sigil, lighting all the candles around it with a deliberate motion. Ohm! The ambiance shifted, and the magic circle began to radiate a faint luminescence. "Our Lord, guide us and grant us your blessing to survive this catastrophe," Erkigal murmured softly, pressing her palm against the floor. This was the pivotal stage of their plan. Despite the unexpected emergence of the colossal tree, she remained resolute, determined to proceed and ensure that Hoei fulfilled his task. This ritual could potentially ease their path if executed successfully. Chapter 947 Battle at the Selnes Country: Earth Drill Centipede II ?Souta dashed across the centipede''s carapace, his relentless assault met by the resilient membrane of energy shielding the creature. Undeterred, he navigated through the constant barrage of energy beams, dodging or deflecting them with precise movements. Approaching the centipede''s head, he witnessed Kessa fiercely battling against the massive creature''s head. The beast''s enormous body swayed ominously, devastating the surrounding landscape with each motion. In a swift motion, Souta leaped into the air, confronting the hundreds of incoming energy beams. With a gesture, a black hole emerged, attempting to absorb and neutralize the onslaught of energy. Simultaneously, he channeled his energy into his sword, surrounded by an intense swirling of dark and light elements, and intensified by the blood-colored lightning crackling around him. Seven shadowy figures materialized from his own silhouette, darting forth to intercept any remaining beams that escaped the grasp of the black hole. With a resounding boom, Souta plunged his charged sword downward, the amalgamated energy twisting and hurtling towards the centipede''s form. Souta aimed at the area he had previously severed, knowing he needed to break through the formidable energy membrane once more. A deafening explosion echoed throughout the vicinity, but it wasn''t enough. Souta swiftly propelled himself forward with a kick, determined to continue the assault. Suddenly, a colossal greenish beam swept past his prior location, obliterating everything in its path. Souta narrowly avoided the devastating attack, feeling a sense of loss as his seven shadows were instantly annihilated. Even the fortified black hole, bolstered by [Yin Yang Unification], vanished in an instant. While the centipede redirected its attention to Souta, Kessa seized the opportunity to intensify her assault, relentlessly attacking the protective membrane shielding the creature''s body. This diversion forced the centipede to focus on the Nine-Headed Hydra, but it continued to unleash a barrage of energy beams in Souta''s direction, undeterred by the ongoing chaos. Boom! Boom! ''Kessa is doing exceptionally well... Even without my help, she could potentially defeat this monster, but it might take some time,'' Souta acknowledged silently, casting a quick glance at Kessa''s relentless assault. The centipede''s offensive maneuvers were feeble against her. Its primary strength lay solely in its formidable defenses, prolonging the battle. Kessa, with her sheer power, would eventually breach its defenses and annihilate the centipede. However, Souta was disinclined to wait. He felt an unsettling premonition, emanating from the colossal tree that Paente had transformed into. This feeling compelled him to expedite the centipede''s defeat. Swoosh! Dodging the energy beams, Souta maneuvered through the air. The combined energy from his monster orb and [Nebula Heart] surged within him, enveloping his body. Leaping into the fray, his body was cloaked in blood that transformed into a black armor. "[Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]!" In the following moment, he brought down his weapon upon the membrane. The impact sent a powerful shockwave rippling throughout the vicinity. His energy surged, his aura climbing higher as all his strength-boosting skills were now in full effect. With renewed vigor, he struck the membrane again. Boom!! Boom!! After countless strikes, he leaped back just as a barrage of energy beams swept through his previous location. Twisting around, he swung his weapon. Crimson energy blades clashed with the beams, sparking colossal explosions. His armor morphed from black to white, emitting webs that spread swiftly across the area. Ohm!! The blood-colored webs expanded, attempting to intercept the centipede''s energy beams. "It seems like this monster could keep this up for an entire day..." Souta muttered aloud. ''Considering it''s a fifth-stage monster, that''s not unexpected. Be grateful it doesn''t have any devastating lethal attacks,'' Saya''s voice echoed in his mind. Souta took a deep breath, gathering his resolve before focusing his assault on the weakened spot in the membrane. Cracks ruptured the surface, allowing the blood lightning to surge in, damaging the centipede''s body. "This is the opening I need." Raising his weapon, Souta''s armor darkened, his energy spiking as dark and light entwined around his weapon. [Archetype: Great Blood of the End]! Thunder roared, lightning struck, empowering his sword. The blood-colored lightning filled the sky above, casting a crimson hue across the landscape. Its impact produced a resounding boom that echoed through the area. [First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]! Souta brought his sword down, triggering a blinding eruption of violent energy. The lightning surged, obliterating everything in its path. Even the centipede''s energy beams were disintegrated into nothingness. Countless onlookers watched with squinted eyes as a dome of violent energy expanded. Stretching seventeen kilometers in diameter and six kilometers in height, it crackled with relentless blood-colored lightning that pounded the ground. Souta swung his weapon once more and unleashed a barrage of [Bestrou], resulting in yet another earth-shaking explosion. But before he could launch another attack, he spotted the centipede''s colossal body emerging from the explosion, hurtling straight toward him. Reacting swiftly, Souta propelled himself backward by kicking the air. However, the centipede''s immense speed caught him off guard. He raised his weapon defensively as the beast crashed into him. The impact sent him hurtling hundreds of meters into the air. As energy beams homed in on him, Souta quickly summoned hundreds of webs to intercept them. The webs coalesced into a colossal net, effectively intercepting the onslaught of energy beams. Souta, refusing to relent, manipulated the webs further, seeking to hinder the centipede''s movements. With determination etched on his face, Souta intensified the gravitational pull and delivered a forceful strike with his weapon, commanding the centipede to descend. The beast crashed into the ground, carving out a massive crater and revealing significant damage on its carapace. Blood oozed from its wounds, staining the land in a vivid red hue, indicating the potency of Souta''s attack. The centipede, feeling the immense pain, attempted to retaliate against Souta. However, Kessa continued her relentless assault. With the membrane on its head shattered and its carapace riddled with cracks, even its mandibles were broken. Kessa seized the opportunity, pinning down the centipede''s head and launching a barrage of [Bestrou] attacks. Explosions erupted in succession, signifying the centipede''s weakening state under the relentless assault. Looking in that direction, Souta could see a series of explosions. The Earth Drill Centipede was getting weaker. "Look at this..." Souta landed firmly on the centipede''s carapace, his grip on his weapon tightening as tendrils of flesh coiled around it. "Kessa, let''s finish this. Hold it down." His eyes glinted with a reddish hue as he spoke. Responding to his command, Kessa intensified her assault. Her claws elongated and grew sharper, effortlessly breaching the centipede''s defenses. With forceful strikes, she brought the creature down, delivering a heavy stomp on its head. The centipede, sensing Kessa''s intentions, unleashed a surge of its aura. A thin yet resilient membrane formed on its carapace, vibrating ominously while emitting an eerie green glow. "Ohm!" All nine of Kessa''s heads lifted high, their gaping mouths agape. Small orbs of black energy began to manifest across her body, floating in the air and congregating around the spot where all her heads pointed. In an instant, an immense concentration of energy formed, stirring up winds that coalesced into several tornadoes. Her elemental power surged, engulfing almost the entire region. A pulsating wave of energy rippled outwards as the winds converged. Dispersing along with the energy concentration, it entered each of Kessa''s nine heads. Soon after, Kessa unleashed powerful rays of energy. "[Hyper Convergence Strike]!!" Multiple beams of light erupted, creating a piercing straight line that sliced through the centipede''s body. Observing this, Souta swiftly evaded the light rays, sidestepping to avoid their path. The beams sliced through the webs in the area like lasers, continuing their trajectory until they reached the boundary of the barrier. In an instant, a succession of colossal explosions ensued, shaking the entire country. It was a linear sequence of explosions spanning hundreds of kilometers. Boom!! Witnessing this catastrophic sight, countless onlookers trembled in awe. It was an overwhelming display of devastation. The firepower of the Nine-Headed Hydra surpassed that of the Earth Drill Centipede, showcasing an entirely different level of power. Souta shook his head and attempted a forced smile. "I only said to pin it down. Oh well, it doesn''t matter." Emerging through the smoke, he drove his blade into the weakened body of the centipede. With its body greatly weakened, the blade sliced through the flesh effortlessly. The creature''s natural energy field was completely shattered by Kessa''s attack. "It''s time to end this centipede''s life." Chapter 948 Battle at the Selnes Country: Earth Drill Centipede III ?Souta swiftly dashed across the centipede''s body, slashing through its tough flesh with his weapon. Roaring with heightened energy, he accelerated, leaving behind a streak of blood-colored lightning in his wake. Swoosh! The centipede emitted a painful screech, attempting to shake off Souta while Kessa pinned it down. Despite its efforts, the monster couldn''t break free as its strength waned. Nonetheless, it gathered its remaining energy, unleashing powerful beams in a desperate attempt to retaliate. Focused on restraining the centipede, Kessa disregarded the beams, maintaining her hold on the creature. Unlike Kessa, Souta dodged the incoming energy beams, avoiding direct hits. His strategy was to keep moving and not engage in direct confrontation, mindful of the peril these fifth-stage monster attacks posed. Swoosh! Continuing his assault on the centipede''s wounds, Souta aimed for its head. Kessa steadfastly held the creature down as Souta prepared for a powerful strike. Bending his knees, he propelled himself into the air, wielding his weapon high above his head, as it crackled with lightning. Boom! Souta''s energy soared even higher, forming a massive concentration of power around his blade. "DIE!" With a shout, Souta descended like a meteor onto the centipede''s head, leaving a straight crimson trail in his wake. [Archetype: Great Blood of the End]! [First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]! A powerful force came down as Souta thrust his blade downward. Though the centipede attempted to create a barrier, it shattered instantly. The blood-colored lightning continued its unhindered path, piercing through the flesh and blood of the centipede. Boom! The centipede struggled fiercely, generating a spherical energy that expanded from its head. Kessa, who was restraining the monster, was forcibly pushed away, stumbling and falling to the ground as the energy passed through her body. Souta sensed the force spiraling out of control. The expanding energy field shredded his armor into pieces, and he tasted the bitterness of blood in his mouth. "Tsk, it''s its final struggle... I was so close." Gritting his teeth, Souta swiftly healed his injuries and pressed through the tumultuous energy field. "Kessa, one more time!" Souta commanded, knowing that this battle would conclude soon. Despite the centipede''s powerful resistance, this was its futile final struggle. Responding to Souta''s directive, Kessa swiftly rose, roaring to assert her dominance over the monster. She lunged forward, seizing the centipede''s head. Her claws tore through its defenses, prompting the centipede to thrash more violently. Simultaneously, she unleashed several [Bestrou] beams, rending through its flesh and exposing its head''s interior. Observing this opportunity, Souta charged forward for another attack. [First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]! His form blurred into a stream of light, piercing through the energy field. His blade shimmered, weaving the combination of his two elements together, creating immense friction in time and space. It converged, propelling the blood lightning forward. Swoosh! In the next moment, Souta''s blade penetrated through the centipede''s flesh, creating a gaping hole in its brain. A flash of light erupted, illuminating the entire area in alternating darkness and brightness. Boom! Gritting his teeth, Souta narrowed his eyes as the explosion propelled him hundreds of meters into the air. Glancing downward, he witnessed several beams of light forming a line that razed everything in its path. They were unleashed by Kessa. The resulting explosions reverberated across the vicinity, the smoke covering a diameter of over twenty kilometers, annihilating everything within. Survivors glanced upward to witness smoke enveloping a substantial portion of the enormous tree. The exposed section of the centipede outside the smoke had stopped moving. Within the smoke, energy fluctuations surged. Souta knelt and coughed up a mouthful of blood. "Using my Archetype repeatedly takes a toll on my body!" He cursed while wiping blood from his mouth. Gradually, his injuries began to heal, and his energy levels significantly dropped as the effects of the [Emperor''s Blessing] dissipated. "That was my one-time card," Souta muttered, rising and grasping his sword''s handle. The Earth Drill Centipede, a fifth-stage monster, had perished. Closing his eyes, Souta sensed a slight headache. He focused on processing the recently acquired information, particularly about the crimson twilight. He also noticed an improvement in his brain capacity and computational abilities. This enhancement enabled him to easily recall all the tier 1 magic circles he had recently studied. Did this mean he could cast tier 1 spells without relying on his system? He tested this thought by raising his hand and saying, "[Water Bullet]." A magic circle manifested in his palm, shooting several water bullets, all in a fraction of a second. Souta found himself slightly surprised at the enhancement in his computational abilities and the ease with which he could build a magic circle. Though the spell''s power was low, lacking any elemental affinity boost, this newfound skill was promising. It seemed true that an Emperor possessed not just strength but also an agile mind. This development was better than expected. His accelerated learning speed would allow him to acquire more spells without depending on the system. However, there was a downside. He remembered more about those unsettling dreams. The experience of death in those dreams disturbed him deeply, causing his emotions to fluctuate. To regain control, he had to bite his tongue again to calm himself. "Damn it!" Souta muttered softly. The traumatic nature of those dreams had shifted his mindset significantly. While previously terrified of death, now he found a peculiar comfort in it. Accepting death at any moment seemed reasonable, even pleasant. Accepting this change within himself, Souta acknowledged that he couldn''t alter it. Those experiences might have dulled his emotions to some extent, preventing the occasional emotional instability he used to face. After a few moments, he managed to calm himself. He focused on sorting through the overwhelming information in his mind regarding the crimson twilight. As an Emperor of the crimson twilight, he became aware of the existence of other crimson twilights in the world, but their numbers were scarce. Collectively, they might amount to no more than a single tribe, explaining why many believed them to be an extinct goblin species. Ohm! A sudden chill coursed through Souta as the voice of a little girl resonated in his mind. His eyes widened as he glanced towards Kessa. "Kessa! Move!" He shouted in urgency. Two streaks of light materialized in the air accompanied by splashes of blood. Souta clenched his teeth, feeling his leg cleaved in two. Blood sprayed, splattering everywhere, as he staggered and fell to the ground. He turned his head, witnessing two of Kessa''s severed heads suspended mid-air. A pained roar echoed from Kessa as she collapsed. Her heads were brutally cleaved apart, causing an unimaginable agony. Coughing, Souta struggled to push himself off the ground. The attack had occurred so swiftly, he hadn''t even had a moment to brace himself. Looking upwards, he muttered, "I foresaw this, that''s why I prioritized eliminating the centipede first. But who could have anticipated an attack undetectable by our instincts?" Had it not been for the little girl''s warning voice, the devastation caused by the attack would have been far worse. The high energy fluctuations in the surroundings had masked the attack''s energy signature until it was already too late to react. In a location within the Selnes Country... Erkigal sat at the heart of a colossal magic circle, assuming a lotus position with closed eyes. Her mana fluctuated intensely as she commenced the ritual, awaiting Hoei Methal to complete his part. Abruptly, her eyes snapped open, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Cough! Erkigal raised her head, staring upwards with an expression of shock and surprise. "You...! You''ve succeeded! How is this possible...?" Confusion mixed with her astonishment. Once the ritual started, it was irrevocable. Even if she died, the ritual would have persisted, albeit at a slowed pace. But it was completely halted now. Her gaze seemed fixed on something unseen. "What in the world did you discover there, Paente?!" Chapter 949 Battle at the Selnes Country: Omni Creation Tree ?Erkigal realized that Paente had succeeded in his transformation. He seemed to have gained consciousness within the giant tree, elevating his power significantly. However, this newfound power wasn''t sufficient to halt the ongoing ritual. Paente''s interference with the ritual suggested a deeper connection. "Could it be...?" Erkigal''s eyes widened in sudden realization. All of this might be the legacy that Isolated Formation God left behind for the Botano Clan. She let out a wry smile as she contemplated this revelation. The nature of what their god left in the Botano Clan was still a mystery to her. Paente had transformed into a mystical tree. A mystical tree? Wait a moment! Erkigal grasped a crucial piece of information. The tree had absorbed the essence of the dimensions created when she opened the living labyrinth. Now that the labyrinth was gone, the tree seemed to be integrated into the entirety of the Selnes Country, including the All-Filter Barrier Formation. Given that the tree had interrupted the ritual, could it also be vulnerable to it? It all seemed connected to the Isolated Formation God. "I need to make adjustments. And I hope that Hoei can complete his task. If you''re planning to thwart my plan, then you''d better prepare yourself," Erkigal muttered to herself. Ohm!! Souta''s leg regenerated rapidly as he gazed at the colossal tree. Stretching his arms, he checked his entire body. "I sensed something odd about the tree, but I never imagined this would occur." Souta squinted. What was previously a few hundred meters in height had expanded into kilometers, reaching the boundary of the barrier in a remarkably short period. Something peculiar caught his attention¡ªthe tree that bore the mythical-grade fruit had completely fused with the enormous tree, forming a single entity. This fusion resulted in an unusual and unique aura. The tree''s branches moved. Swoosh! Souta and Kessa quickly retreated, yet the branches weren''t targeting them. Instead, they pierced through the remains of the Earth Drill Centipede, a fifth-stage monster, one by one, as if driven by an unseen force. "What''s going on...?!" Souta exclaimed, bewildered by the unexpected turn of events. This situation was entirely confounding, and he was unaware that something like this could exist. Roar!! Kessa bellowed, sensing an inexplicable sensation¡ªnot danger, but something akin to it that eluded description. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered]! Souta''s heart sank. During his previous battles to acquire the fruit, he hadn''t received any quests. Yet, this one... He slowly opened the quest. [Prototype Omni Creation Tree]: The unexpected appearance of a tree breaks the natural order and may introduce a new race to the world. If it escapes the barrier, it will cause unparalleled chaos. Destroy the tree and prevent its breakout before it gains more power. Rewards: [???], 30 attribute points, 15 skill points, and 100,000,000 experience points Penalty for failure: Death ''There''s no other option...'' Souta drew a deep breath, glancing at Kessa. Thankfully, the Earth Drill Centipede was already dead; otherwise, the situation would be far more dire. The rewards were appealing, but the risk was monumental. All he could do was fight until the end. "Kessa, one more time." Souta exhaled black smoke as his energy surged like a volcano. Blood covered his body, forming quick armor. Gripping his weapon tightly, ten black spheres appeared on his back, activating all skills that could amplify his strength. Kessa roared as her two lost heads regenerated. Flesh strings enveloped her body, transforming her into a fearsome creature. Nine heads, each with vicious fins, sprouted from her back, and pulsating purple veins ran beneath her dark scales. Emitting black flames and corrosive smoke, she stood tall at four hundred meters, confronting the towering tree. The colossal tree''s movements alarmed survivors throughout the entire country. Horrified, they stared as the massive tree swayed ominously in the sky, appearing almost sentient. Only those who had witnessed Paente''s transformation understood what was happening. Some individuals with keen senses sensed a faint energy signature emanating from the tree, hinting at its connection to Paente. "What in the world is that tree?!" Eztein exclaimed, shocked. "Seems like there''s no end to this madness," Vashno muttered in disbelief. "It''s descending," Franklin warned. Several branches of the tree plunged downward at incredible speed. Reacting swiftly, Eztein, Vashno, and Franklin dodged the incoming attacks. Bang! Bang! The tree''s branches pierced the ground, unleashing roots that swiftly seized hold of the terrain. Hovering in the air, they heard a voice echo in their minds. "Go! Seek out capable fighters and head to the manor shared by the Windi Clan, Darkna Clan, and Methal Clan. I''ll handle the Flaem Clan. As for the Botano Clan, it''s under Paente''s complete control, so we must put a stop to it." It was Erkigal''s voice. "What''s happening here?!" Eztein demanded. "Time is short; gather fighters and protect the manor of the three clans. We''ll assist your boss in defeating Paente as soon as possible," Erkigal directed urgently. "Understood," Eztein nodded, taking a deep breath. He glanced at Vashno, who nodded in agreement. "Finally, a chance to fight," Franklin grinned widely. The trio swiftly departed from the area. Erkigal breathed a sigh of relief when Eztein and the others decided to heed her instructions. With no time for explanations, Paente''s growing strength meant imminent breaching of the All-Filter Barrier Formation, or rather, absorbing it. Everyone would soon become fodder for the rapid growth of that mystical tree. "Paente, you''re cunning, but you''ve overlooked something. I''ve communicated with our god and learned more about our deity''s preparations than you. Some of my memories remain intact as long as the barrier persists." Franklin, Vashno, and Eztein split up, each heading in different directions to seek out capable fighters. They were uncertain about what awaited them in the three clans. The casualties from the ongoing conflict left most warriors unfit for battle. Furthermore, not all the dispatched warriors were present in Selnes Country; some remained outside the barrier to hold back enemies there. Despite this, their words and actions didn''t go unnoticed by those who were able to move. Ohm! At that moment, the tree made another aggressive move. Its branches descended again, this time, across the entire country. Franklin, Vashno, and Eztein reacted swiftly, taking to the skies and utilizing their skills to destroy the incoming branches. Boom! Explosions echoed as the trio moved at high speed, obliterating hundreds of branches instantly. They successfully protected the manor of the three clans, but the number of branches continued to increase dramatically. They were beginning to feel overwhelmed. The situation unfolded across the entire country. Adel and Shen Yao exerted every ounce of their strength to safeguard the civilian area. The majority of the surviving ordinary citizens were concentrated here, and once they left, the chances were high that many among them would perish instantly. They stood defenseless against the onslaught of descending branches. Suddenly, radiating lights burst forth from the four manors of the respective clans: the Flaem Clan, Darkna Clan, Methal Clan, and Windi Clan. "Is this what Erkigal mentioned? What''s the significance?" Eztein murmured, observing the illuminating emanations from the closest manor, the Windi Clan. Vashno squinted, uncertain about the purpose of these lights. "Don''t dwell on it! Just obliterate those descending branches!" Franklin urged, his form transmuting into a grotesque mass. A massive blade-like arm emerged, slashing at the branches. Boom! Eztein, Vashno, and Franklin shielded the clans they had chosen to defend. Eztein stationed himself in the Windi Clan, Vashno guarded the Darkna Clan, and Franklin protected the Methal Clan. They were aided by only a handful of warriors, primarily in the Solidifying Realm and One Shackle Realm. Whoosh! High above the Methal Clan, a figure streaked through the air. Clad in fur-laden armor, it was Li Guan, a fourth-stage monster. Li Guan effortlessly dismantled hundreds of branches. Despite not being at full strength, his return to the fight significantly alleviated the pressure on Franklin''s side. Even in his weakened state, Li Guan surpassed both Eztein and Vashno in power. Casting a brief glance at Li Guan, Franklin refocused his attention on destroying the branches. Bang! Bang! Chapter 950 Paente Botano The giant tree''s onslaught was relentless, striking every corner of the country within seconds. People struggled to survive amidst the deadly barrage. Souta and Kessa advanced toward the colossal tree. It had once again altered its form, sprouting numerous branches in all directions. Kessa tirelessly demolished the branches, but their sheer number made her a sizable target. While they hindered her movements, they couldn''t fully impede her progress. She pressed forward, her body undergoing a transformation. [Monster Orb Release]! Expanding to an even larger size than before, Kessa''s scales emitted black flames and smoke that slowly ate away at the encroaching branches. Meanwhile, Souta leapt into the air, aiming for the tree''s apex. It was too risky to approach Kessa in her current state; the corrosive effects of her transformation could harm him. Better to engage from a safer distance. With a glance at Souta, Kessa continued her assault, slamming into the giant tree with tremendous force, causing it to shudder. Shockwaves rippled outwards, dislodging countless leaves from the branches. Bang! The tree swayed as Kessa relentlessly pounded against it. Meanwhile, Souta neared the top of the trunk, his gaze fixed on a greenish object resembling a teardrop perched there. Carved with a face at its center, it struck a chord of recognition within him. "Gilaine Botano..." Souta''s grip tightened around his weapon as realization dawned. Though the face bore resemblance to Gilaine, it wasn''t her. Paente still lurked within the tree, his presence palpable. Approaching cautiously, Souta was met with a barrage of beams aimed at him. Swiftly evading and deflecting the beams with his weapon, Souta refrained from drawing closer to the object. Instead, he extended a finger towards it, conjuring [Black Hole]. The black hole materialized, accompanied by a potent gravitational pull, but its effect was short-lived. Before it could inflict significant damage, a cluster of branches swiftly moved to envelop and suppress it. "So, it repels anything that approaches and possesses considerable power... But I believe I can manage," Souta muttered, his voice low. Crouching slightly, he surged forward. In response, the tree reacted, mobilizing hundreds of branches simultaneously. Swoosh! Swoosh! With deft movements, Souta evaded the onslaught, employing his abilities to alter the gravitational flow and project strands of webbing. Simultaneously, his seven doppelgangers emerged from the shadows, aiding in the offensive. Opening his palm, blood coalesced to form a massive blade, crackling with energy. His form blurred as he sliced through the obstructing branches, leaving a trail of lightning in his wake. In mere moments, he stood before the object, both swords poised to strike. Boom!! However, his blades halted inches away from the object, repelled by an invisible force field emanating potent energy fluctuations. Souta took a deep breath, infusing his attack with even more force. Dark and light intertwined around his swords as lightning crackled uncontrollably. Boom!! An immense explosion erupted, sending Souta hurtling back hundreds of meters. As he glanced up, he beheld the teardrop-shaped object slowly unfurling, revealing a figure within. It was Paente, but his form had undergone a transformation. Standing two and a half meters tall, his skin now resembled that of a tree, and his aura surged severalfold higher than before. His greenish eyes bore into Souta without a hint of emotion. "Gilaine... If you''re here, then Gilaine must be..." Souta began, his gaze fixed on Paente. "Her?" Paente''s head tilted slightly, as if recalling something. "Oh, she''s gone. Do you know her? Hmm... That''s a little unexpected. She''s gone now. She was simply a product of experimentation, and her purpose has been fulfilled." "I see... I sensed something was amiss with her from the moment she claimed a connection to the fruit," Souta remarked. "In essence, she is the consciousness of the tree that bore the mythical-grade fruit. I bestowed upon her flesh and intelligence, so essentially, I am her creator. She''s more akin to a golem than a human," Paente explained. He slowly extended his arms, casting his gaze skyward. "I am... the will of my god, the Isolated Formation God. He is undoubtedly a genius for orchestrating all of this. What lies beyond? Only the end holds the answer! It is coming! It will bring destruction to everything! It watches over me!" His expression twisted into one of vicious madness, his aura surging ever stronger. The fruit was not his true target; it was to fuse with the tree that birthed the mythical-grade fruit and transform it. All of this had been left behind by the Isolated Formation God, part of a plan meant to be executed at this time, as the rules had been broken. "Gilaine is gone, so I suppose I''ll just have to kill you. Don''t expect any mercy from me," Souta said coldly. Paente glanced at Souta, his tone dripping with madness as he responded, "Kill me? You think you can kill me? Nothing will stop me! All of you will become the fertilizer for my growth! Everything will end! I will be the pioneer to the end! Our god foresaw it!" "It''s useless to reason with you. You will die today, and that''s all that matters to me!" Souta declared before charging forward. Gilaine''s absence had caught him off guard, a detail he should have anticipated. He couldn''t piece the puzzles together, feeling a twinge of regret for her¡ªthough not because she was gone, but perhaps because he had been enjoying the calm. It was a rare moment of serenity in his heart. Boom! Boom!! Souta and Paente exchanged lightning-fast blows in the air, each strike sending shockwaves rippling through the surroundings. Perhaps because Souta had known her for only a few days, he lacked any emotional investment in her. It was akin to watching a stranger die¡ªa different experience from witnessing Aina''s sacrifice, which had stirred the hearts of a hundred warriors with its display of great will. Souta leaped to the side, propelling himself with a kick through the air. His swords swung in a swift arc, but Paente easily blocked the attack. Undeterred, Souta spun around, weaving hundreds of webs with his movements. However, Paente countered by summoning hundreds of branches from his back, effortlessly dismantling the webs. Observing Paente, Souta realized the gap in strength between them was vast. Despite this, Paente''s movements were rife with openings, predictable in their frenzy. His madness seemed to consume him, driving him to spam his attacks relentlessly. Swoosh! Souta deftly evaded each of Paente''s strikes. His mind and body now moved in perfect harmony, his energy flowing smoothly, enhancing his ability to unleash more powerful and accurate attacks. With each passing moment, he grew stronger and faster. Bang! Souta swung his weapon, unleashing a massive red energy blade that collided with Paente''s body, triggering a colossal explosion that sent him hurtling backward. Ugh! Paente paused, his gaze fixed on Souta hurtling toward him. "You bastard! There''s nothing that could stop me!" he roared, his teeth clenched in madness as he began to shake. His power surged rapidly, enveloping the entire giant tree in a pulsating greenish light. Boom! A shockwave of energy rippled across the entire country, followed by the emergence of countless strange entities from the tree. These humanoid figures, composed of tree-like material, exuded a dense and ominous aura. Witnessing this scene, most survivors understood the imminent threat posed by these humanoid creatures. It signaled the beginning of a battle to extinguish all life trapped within the All-Filter Barrier Formation. "Damn it!" Adel cursed upon seeing the multitude of humanoid figures. Despite his efforts to shield ordinary people from the energy fluctuations of the battle, the sudden appearance of these beings added to the chaos. Resembling golems driven by a single purpose¡ªPaente Botano''s will¡ªthe sheer number of these humanoid figures was overwhelming. It instilled a sense of despair in the hearts of some survivors, who felt there was no escape from the impending onslaught. All the humanoid figures descended from the sky, poised to exterminate all in their path and convert them into fertilizer to fuel Paente''s growth. Their objectives extended beyond mere destruction, however; they also targeted the manors of the other Master Clans. In relentless waves, they launched a ceaseless assault. Franklin, Eztein, and Vashno fought valiantly to defend the Master Clans, aided by Li Guan and other warriors. Despite their efforts, they found themselves vastly outnumbered and overwhelmed by the relentless onslaught. Meanwhile, in the Flaem Clan, Erkigal worked tirelessly to complete her ritual. Hono Flaem, the current Clan Leader, had regained consciousness and joined the fray, her flames wreaking havoc upon their attackers. "What''s happening, master?!" Hono demanded amidst the chaos, her flames engulfing their assailants. "It''s Paente. He''s attempting to annihilate us all. Something has changed within him, altering his motives," Erkigal''s voice rang out amidst the chaos. "I''m preparing something that may give those on the front lines a chance to defeat him." "Hmm..." Hono surveyed the battlefield, her gaze lingering on the other Master Clans emitting an enigmatic light. She marveled at Erkigal''s seemingly extensive knowledge of the other clans. "So, all I need to do is eliminate these unknown entities, and then you''ll be able to finish your work?" "Essentially," Erkigal affirmed. Chapter 951 Five minutes ?Hono''s arrival brought a surge of relief, her prowess incinerating the humanoid figures with ease, reducing them to mere ashes in moments. With the threat in the Flaem Clan swiftly eradicated, Hono focused on rallying her surviving clan members. "How many of our people are left? We need to regroup," she murmured to herself, her gaze scanning the area as she prepared to gather her forces. As another wave of enemies descended, Hono unleashed her powerful flames once more, incinerating them in a blazing inferno. "Take cover elsewhere! I''ll hold them off here!" she called out, her voice echoing with determination as she faced the onslaught alone. The people below watched in awe as Hono''s flames consumed the enemy forces, her strength offering a glimmer of hope amidst the chaos. Adel and Shen Yao observed the scene, noting Hono''s survival with a mix of surprise and relief. "So, she''s still standing..." Adel remarked, his attention shifting to the surviving members of their clan. "It seems the other Clan Leaders weren''t as fortunate," Shen Yao observed grimly, the weight of the situation pressing down upon them. Exhausted from the relentless battle, Adel and Shen Yao found themselves at their limits, their energy reserves depleted from the ongoing struggle. Boom!! Observing the turmoil across the country, Souta, engaged in combat with Paente, recognized the dire situation unfolding elsewhere. Paente had dual objectives: to annihilate all life and to unearth whatever lay concealed within the Master Clans'' domains. Each target held significance, hinting at a deeper purpose behind the chaos. With resolve, Souta directed Kessa to focus on dismantling the tree''s core while he confronted Paente directly, recognizing that destroying the central nexus was key to halting the threat. However, the task proved daunting. Paente, a formidable opponent, wielded immense destructive potential, challenging even Kessa''s formidable might. Undeterred, Souta engaged Paente once more, his movements precise and agile. He launched a powerful energy blade at his opponent, aiming to sever him in two. Bang!! In response, Paente bellowed in defiance, his energy surging as the colossal tree quaked ominously, indicating the formidable resistance they faced. Souta felt no fear as he kicked through the air, charging at his opponent. Swinging the two blades in his hands, he aimed for his target, but Paente swiftly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the blades. Adjusting his grip, Souta altered the direction of his attacks. Paente anticipated this move and swiftly raised a wooden shield, blocking the blades. A resounding bang echoed as Souta was taken aback by the unexpected resistance. Nonetheless, he persisted in his assault. Lifting his foot, he sent a black hole hurtling towards Paente. Reacting quickly, Paente sidestepped, and several wooden constructs entangled the black hole, causing it to dissipate along with the wood. Paente seized the moment and charged towards Souta. Attempting to create distance, Souta manipulated the gravitational field in the area and summoned his doppelgangers. However, Paente''s hand morphed into several branches, acting like a whip as it destroyed the seven doppelgangers. Another bang resounded, and Souta suddenly heard a feminine voice. "You''re correct, but there''s something you don''t know," the voice declared. Paente paused, his attention drawn to the source of the voice. "It''s you! Erkigal! You won''t be able to protect those things from me! I''ll eliminate everyone here!" Souta glanced at Paente, realizing that his opponent recognized the speaker. Judging from the energy, the voice emanated from a distance¡ªit wasn''t close but remained within the confines of the country. Erkigal''s voice persisted, "Paente has become a new entity in this world. He will consume all who remain here, but I''ll divulge what you must do to halt him. The hydra must dismantle the tree''s body, as it harbors an immense energy reserve, fueling Paente''s defiance of natural laws. Yet, this alone won''t suffice, for the tree''s roots extend throughout the country, even penetrating the All-Filter Barrier Formation. "What''s imperative is to persist in combat against him. He''ll augment his power until the hydra dismantles the tree''s central body. However, this isn''t enough, as the main body will regenerate despite being obliterated. Hence, I''ve devised a ritual to shatter the All-Filter Barrier Formation. We must strike all segments of the tree simultaneously; it''s the linchpin of our strategy." Souta absorbed the explanation. He comprehended the necessity of obliterating Paente alongside the central body and the All-Filter Barrier Formation. Should the barrier persist, it would only spawn another main body and Paente, perpetuating the cycle endlessly. "I''ll grant you five minutes. After that, obliterate Paente. Hydra, I trust you comprehend my instructions; I implore you to cooperate with our plan." With those words, Erkigal''s voice faded away. Paente chuckled menacingly as he lunged at Souta, his unusual appendage poised. "Does it matter? Even if you comprehend, you''re powerless to thwart me!" Souta deftly evaded the attack, shifting his body to the side, then retaliated by driving his foot into Paente''s abdomen. Following up, he swung both blades at his opponent with precision. Swoosh!! A massive gash tore across Paente''s chest, but it promptly sealed itself. Emitting a deafening roar, his aura surged once more, multiplying several times over. Souta halted, studying Paente intently. This transformation was markedly different. A sense of impending danger gripped him, unlike anything he had experienced before. "He''s truly become more formidable..." Souta muttered under his breath. Hovering in the air, Paente revealed his altered state. His complexion darkened, eyes blazing crimson. Beneath his skin, pulsating red veins emitted a faint glow. Sprouting from his back were countless branches. "Hahaha!! You''ll all meet your demise! Ignorant fools, your end is nigh! It approaches! It looms! Hahaha! Nothing can stop it!" Paente''s laughter echoed maniacally. His countenance exuded sheer ferocity, his murderous intent permeating the entire country, inducing a sense of suffocation. The pressure was stifling, reaching unprecedented levels. Souta recoiled, tightening his grip on both blades. The situation had escalated dangerously. "That girl urged me to eliminate him... There''s no other recourse. I must vanquish him," he resolved. Drawing a deep breath, lightning crackled around his form. The impending battle would be arduous. Despite his newfound strength, the odds of overcoming Paente seemed slim. Moreover, synchronization with Kessa and the mysterious girl was imperative. Nevertheless, Souta was resolute¡ªhe had to prevail, no matter the odds. In the blink of an eye, Paente and Souta vanished from their initial positions, triggering a flurry of explosions as they exchanged lightning-fast blows in mid-air. Souta found himself overwhelmed. His body bore the brunt of Paente''s onslaught, gradually succumbing to the relentless assault. Half of his armor and parasitic flesh lay in tatters, exposing his true form beneath. Paente surpassed him in every aspect¡ªspeed, strength, and power. Souta''s sole advantage lay in his exceptional combat skills. Creating distance, Souta evaded Paente''s pursuit, soaring through the air at breakneck speed, pondering how to defeat his opponent within the allotted five minutes. "Perish! This world is doomed! There is no salvation! Everything is a falsehood!" Paente bellowed, arms outstretched. A surge of energy coalesced above, hurtling down as a concentrated beam. Mid-flight, the beam exploded, fracturing into numerous smaller projectiles. Souta retreated, weaving intricate patterns with his hand, conjuring webs that intercepted the incoming onslaught. Explosions reverberated, shrouding the area in smoke. Swiftly, Souta summoned a black hole and propelled it towards the billowing smoke. The black hole devoured the haze and debris as it surged towards Paente. "Futile!" Paente scoffed, his hand morphing in size. With a swift motion, he extended his colossal hand and seized the black hole. Bang! The black hole surged forward, resisting vehemently as it disintegrated Paente''s palm into oblivion before collapsing. Yet, Paente remained unperturbed, displaying utter indifference as his hand regenerated instantaneously. Souta''s gaze narrowed. While his skills could inflict harm upon Paente, the daunting challenge lay in the latter''s extraordinary regenerative abilities. Both combatants shared a similarity in this aspect¡ªSouta with his parasite and Paente with his tree. "I need to increase the pace..." Souta muttered, his armor swiftly reforming. Five minutes. He had to endure for five minutes. Barely a minute had elapsed since the countdown commenced. "This opponent transcends humanity. His growth is exponential. Can you defeat him?" Saya queried. Chapter 952 Flames ?"Give it your best shot! Everyone''s fate is sealed!" Paente grinned viciously, spreading his arms wide. Souta leaped into the sky, brandishing his sword. Crackling with lightning, the blade descended in a powerful arc. A bolt of lightning streaked towards Paente, triggering a massive explosion enveloped in smoke. Boom! From within the haze emerged Paente, wearing a malevolent grin. Suddenly, his expression shifted as webs charged with lightning rained down from all directions. Using the electrified webs to propel himself, Souta darted around Paente, landing slashes on his chest and maneuvering with agility. Swoosh! Swoosh! Paente struggled to keep up with Souta''s lightning-fast movements, sustaining slashes to his neck, face, and body. Before he could react, the webs ensnared him, constricting his movements. Gritting his teeth, Paente tore through the webbing, only to find Souta standing before him. In the next instant, he was hurtled into one of the tree''s branches, a gaping wound on his chest. Paente swiftly rose to his feet, his neck and other injuries healing rapidly. "Resistance is futile! The end draws near!" Paente chuckled, gesturing with both hands. Hundreds of branches converged simultaneously, hurtling towards Souta. Souta refused to yield, charging forward and swiftly cleaving through the branches obstructing his path. In a blink, he stood face to face with Paente, bringing down his dual blades in a relentless strike. Paente dodged at the last moment, narrowly evading the lethal slash, yet the sheer force behind it grazed his skin. Souta''s gaze narrowed. With each passing second, Paente grew more formidable, presenting an increasingly daunting challenge. Swoosh!! Souta observed as Paente lunged forward. Recoiling his blade, Souta aimed for Paente''s neck, piercing it, but to no avail. Unfazed, Paente pressed on, ignoring the blade lodged in his flesh. Seizing Souta by the shoulder, Paente delivered a devastating blow to his stomach. Bang! Souta''s form dispersed into a stream of light, hurtling to the ground from a considerable height, creating a colossal crater upon impact. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Souta realized the futility of targeting vital points. His only recourse lay in annihilating every particle comprising Paente''s being¡ªa formidable task indeed. Surveying his surroundings, Souta noted the considerable distance separating him from the colossal tree, where Kessa valiantly battled to destroy it. Paente descended slowly, his eyes ablaze with madness, numerous branches sprouting from his back. His aura remained as potent as ever. "Hehe, this is quite exhilarating..." Souta chuckled, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. ... In other regions of the country, the remaining skilled fighters valiantly shielded civilians from the relentless onslaught of humanoid figures crafted from trees. Explosions and battle cries reverberated across the battlefield as spells were unleashed into the air, decimating the humanoid adversaries. Among them, Vashno stood guard over the Darkna Clan alongside fellow warriors, his strength undeniable but overwhelmed by the sheer number of foes. "She didn''t even bother to explain why safeguarding the Master Clans'' manors is crucial," Vashno grumbled inwardly as he delivered a powerful blow to another humanoid figure, the resulting shockwave engulfing nearby enemies. Exhaling heavily, he surveyed the scene, his expression growing grim at the sight of countless black dots dotting the sky. Each dot represented a humanoid spawned from the colossal tree, their sheer quantity casting a pall of dread over the battlefield. There must have been at least a million of these humanoids, a force beyond his capacity to vanquish alone. "The worst battle I''ve faced in my life..." Vashno muttered through clenched teeth, his gaze shifting towards the towering tree. Though obstructed by the throng of adversaries, he sensed the intense energy emanating from its vicinity. The Nine-Headed Hydra persisted in its relentless assault on the tree, while closer still, Souta engaged in combat with an unidentified foe. Abruptly, Vashno''s attention was drawn to a presence emanating from the Darkna Clan''s manor. "Is someone inside?" Vashno''s gaze narrowed, his attention drawn to the Darkna Clan''s manor. Within the confines of the manor, a figure emerged from the gate¡ªa striking woman clad in crimson. "Listen to me," she uttered, her finger trailing along the gate''s edge as she surveyed her surroundings. The warriors aiding Vashno remained locked in combat, oblivious to the woman''s presence until her voice pierced through the chaos. Though curious, their focus remained on the relentless onslaught of humanoid adversaries. Only Vashno, having momentarily cleared his immediate vicinity of foes, had the luxury to spare a moment''s attention. "Were you the one who roused me from my slumber?" The woman''s voice echoed amidst the swarm of humanoids encircling the manor. "Ah, speechless, are you? How lamentable," she remarked, her eyes aglow with a faint crimson hue. With a sweeping motion of her hand, a burst of light erupted, vanquishing every humanoid in her vicinity, leaving the area eerily devoid of foes. Vashno''s eyes widened in astonishment, struggling to comprehend the swift turn of events. The woman''s actions transpired too swiftly for him to follow. Unperturbed, the woman continued her stride, paying no heed to the warriors engaged in combat with the remaining humanoids. "It appears everyone left me here. Perhaps I should pay a visit to the one who disturbs my slumber," she mused aloud, her gaze drifting towards the distant figures locked in combat. Turning her attention aside, she beheld the colossal spectacle of the Nine-Headed Hydra locked in battle with the towering tree. Despite its immense size, the hydra seemed dwarfed by the colossal proportions of the tree, spanning dozens of kilometers. Selnes Country boasted a landmass exceeding three thousand square kilometers, yet the tree''s branches enveloped every inch of it, surpassing even some of the legendary World Trees in magnitude. "They should never have tampered with the barrier''s regulations. All they''ve done is exacerbate the situation by granting these entities flight. If Ice Death hadn''t intervened, these creatures would remain grounded," she remarked with a note of disdain. Boom!! Souta plummeted to the ground once more, coughing as he struggled to rise. Paente soared towards him, crashing into his previous location with earth-shaking force. Surveying the sharp branch protruding from his abdomen, Souta tore it out without hesitation, the wound swiftly healing. Paente dispelled the smoke with a wave of his hand, fixing Souta with a fierce gaze as he roared, "Why won''t you die?! Accept your fate! Embrace the impending annihilation of worlds and dimensions!" "Can''t finish me off? You''ll have to try harder," Souta retorted with a laugh, undeterred by his numerous injuries. Both he and Paente possessed remarkable regenerative abilities, rendering them evenly matched in endurance. Suddenly, Souta and Paente ceased their battle, both turning their heads in unison as they sensed the arrival of a formidable presence. While they might have ignored a lesser expert, this newcomer exuded strength that demanded attention. Stepping forward, a woman caught their gaze, her eyes locking onto Paente with unwavering focus¡ªRed Mist. "You... You''re still lingering here," Souta remarked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. Recalling their departure from the barrier with Hoei, Souta realized he hadn''t sensed Red Mist''s presence then. What role would Hoei play after infiltrating the ranks of the Deadly Sins? With a faint smile, Red Mist raised her hand, directing her attention towards Paente. "Are you the one who disturbed my sleep?" she inquired calmly. Her gaze then shifted upwards as she added, "You''re the mastermind behind that colossal tree. It seems the tree''s roots have ensnared the barrier, a development perhaps even Ice Death failed to anticipate. Can you create an opening to allow me to depart this place?" "Leave? No one escapes from here! All shall perish! Every last one of you!" Paente bellowed, his hand lashing out towards Red Mist like a whip, slicing through the land with devastating force. Bang!! The ground quaked beneath the impact. Paente recoiled as flames engulfed his form, emitting a pained cry. Argh!! Turning, he beheld Red Mist standing behind him, her lips pursed in determination as she extended her hand wreathed in flames. "Negotiation have failed. Now, it''s time to incinerate the blighted foliage," she declared solemnly. With her proclamation, a torrent of flames erupted from her being, a tempest of inferno cascading outward in all directions. The temperature soared as the scorching heatwave radiated across the battlefield. Boom! Observing the spectacle, Souta couldn''t help but recall memories from the game. Red Mist remained as formidable as ever. Red Mist, the Flame Spirit Judicator, the Witch Embers of Terror. Her power was unmistakable, her presence a force to be reckoned with. Chapter 953 Souta and Redmist vs. Paente I ?The air sizzled with the intensity of the flames as Red Mist transformed the landscape into a blazing inferno, her movements swift as she closed in on Paente. Within the searing conflagration, Paente''s anguished screams reverberated, his form writhing in agony amidst the engulfing flames. As the flames subsided, Paente emerged, his charred figure revealing the extent of his ordeal. Despite his burned flesh, he displayed a remarkable ability to regenerate, the damaged skin sloughing off to reveal unblemished flesh in a matter of moments. Red Mist regarded him with a raised eyebrow and an expanding smile. "Ah, still clinging to life," she remarked casually. "Your incredible regenerative capacity is reminiscent of someone I once knew¡ªa man who has immortality curse. Perhaps you''ve heard of him: the Immortal Thyvin." "I''ll tear you limb from limb!" Paente seethed, his fury igniting like a raging inferno. "Yet you struggle to string together coherent sentences," Red Mist sighed, her disappointment palpable as she waved her hand dismissively. "I have no desire for conflict, but if you insist on hindering my departure from this country, I''ll have no choice but to eliminate you," Red Mist declared, her energy pulsating as her transformation began. Red scales emerged on her skin, her eyes assuming a reptilian aspect, while fiery wings akin to a dragon''s sprouted from her back. Observing from the sidelines, Souta narrowed his eyes, recognizing that Red Mist was escalating the situation. While formidable, she faced a formidable opponent in Paente. Paente halted, his gaze fixed on Red Mist''s metamorphosis, a primal hunger gleaming in his eyes. "A spirit?! With it, the tree''s growth will be accelerated exponentially. Devouring it will allow me to consume the barrier and all within, hastening the world''s demise!" he exclaimed, his laughter echoing with madness. The ground quaked as massive roots erupted, impaling Paente''s form. Glowing green veins spread across his body, convulsions wracking his form. Boom! A powerful shockwave rippled outward, heralding the emergence of a dark crimson giant flower, surrounded by energy-spewing branches. Souta recognized the danger posed by the energy rays, swiftly evading their lethal trajectories. Swoosh! Swoosh! Red Mist unleashed a ball of flame, only for it to be effortlessly repelled. Dodging the energy rays, she retaliated with a more potent blast. Bang! Yet again, her attack was nullified, the resilience of Paente''s defenses proving formidable. "Tsk, what a lunatic," Red Mist muttered in irritation, vexed by the unexpected confrontation after completing her task. "If I had known some tree enthusiast would show up, I would''ve departed as soon as my mission was done." As the flower bloomed, thick smoke billowed from its petals, signaling the culmination of its energy. The space quaked under the immense power emanating from the flower. Souta sensed a looming danger within the smoke, his instincts on high alert. "Here it comes..." Red Mist murmured, her expression morphing into one of seriousness. With a swift motion, a figure emerged from the smoke¡ªa three-meter-tall creature with bark-like skin. A crimson flower adorned its left eye, while its right eye gleamed with emerald brilliance. Leaves adorned various parts of its body. This was Paente Botani, consumed by madness. "Spirit!" Paente exclaimed, his gaze filled with avarice and drool staining his lips. "If you seek my companion, come and claim her," Red Mist challenged, raising her fist in defiance as Paente charged towards her. Boom!! Their collision rent the air asunder, sending shockwaves rippling outward. Dozens of ripples spread from the epicenter of their clash as they exchanged powerful blows mid-air. Observing from the sidelines, Souta refrained from joining the fray immediately, opting to assess the situation before intervening. As Paente surged with newfound strength, the towering tree dwindled in size, evidently transferring a substantial amount of energy to him. This shift in dynamics could potentially work to Kessa''s advantage in her battle against the giant tree. With time still on their side, there remained a chance for success. Kessa appeared capable of toppling the tree within the allotted timeframe. However, the true obstacle lay in Paente himself. If Red Mist joined the fray against Paente, it would undoubtedly alleviate the pressure on Souta. "Alright, let''s settle this. This botanical nuisance has gone too far," Souta declared with determination, his grip tightening around his swords as he dashed towards the conflict. Swoosh!! Paente halted, his attention diverted as Souta''s blade found its mark, piercing his defenses. Reacting swiftly, he swung his arm towards Souta, but the nimble warrior evaded the blow, propelling himself forward with a kick. "Perish!" Souta''s voice rang out as his sword crackled with potent lightning, his energy surging to celestial heights. Paente extended his hand in a bid to intercept Souta''s attack, gritting his teeth as he struggled against the formidable lightning threatening to engulf him. Souta pressed on with unwavering determination, channeling all his strength into the assault. Yet, to his astonishment, it was he who found himself being pushed back. Paente''s defense and regenerative prowess proved formidable, resisting Souta''s onslaught with unyielding resilience. "Hahaha, your demise is inevitable! Embrace oblivion!" Paente cackled maniacally, his confidence unwavering. Suddenly, however, his laughter ceased as he was gripped by an inexplicable pain in his mind. Argh!! Paente''s anguished cry pierced the air as he clutched his head in agony, overwhelmed by the intense pain assaulting his mind. "Mister, now!" A voice resounded within Souta''s consciousness, jolting him into action. With renewed determination, he infused his attack with even greater force. "[First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]!" A torrent of blood-colored lightning surged forth, enveloping Paente''s form in its crackling embrace. Hovering in the air, Red Mist observed the spectacle, pinpointing Paente''s location before unleashing her own assault. "[Holy Flame Strike]!" A searing beam of holy flame collided with Souta''s lightning, converging on Paente''s position and triggering a cataclysmic explosion that rocked the very foundation of the battlefield. Boom!! The resulting blast reverberated with devastating force, sending shockwaves rippling outward and threatening to engulf everything in its path. Souta and Red Mist were forcibly propelled backward by the sheer intensity of the explosion, their eyes fixed on the billowing smoke as it obscured their view. As they landed on the ground, their gazes remained trained on the smoke, a sense of foreboding looming over them. Their instincts warned of imminent danger, prompting them to hold their ground rather than pursue Paente further. Taking a deep breath, Souta reflected on the voice he had heard ¡ªGilaine''s voice. It was a confirmation that her consciousness still lingered, not completely consumed by Paente''s influence. Turning to Red Mist, Souta spoke with resolve, "I know how to end this. Let''s eradicate his form precisely three minutes from now." Red Mist regarded Souta with a sidelong glance, questioning, "What exactly do you mean by that?" Souta elaborated, "The Hydra will dismantle the tree, and someone from our side will eradicate its roots within the barrier. To ensure success, we must synchronize the destruction of all three components simultaneously, preventing his continual regeneration." "Hmm... So that''s the sole method to vanquish this botanical foe," Red Mist murmured, her gaze fixed on the dissipating smoke. Boom!! A shockwave rippled through the air, dispersing the smoke and unveiling Paente''s altered form. His appearance had undergone yet another transformation¡ªlong white hair cascaded around dark green skin adorned with black tattoos. Possessing three pairs of arms and jet-black eyes, he sported attire reminiscent of verdant foliage. His aura exuded a newfound tranquility, a stark departure from the tumultuous energies of before. "It took some time... But now, mastery is mine," Paente muttered, sensing the surging power coursing through his veins. Aware that his potential remained untapped, he resolved to ascend even further, heralding the rise of a new race¡ªthe Enders, destined to usher in the world''s demise. "A new race? Your ambitions end here today," Red Mist retorted, her tone resolute. Paente turned towards Red Mist upon hearing her defiance, his gaze flitting between her and Souta. With a smirk, he declared, "Your fate is sealed. You shall serve as nourishment, aiding in my ascension. Resist if you dare." Unfazed, Red Mist raised her hand challengingly, beckoning him forth. "Try me." Meanwhile, Souta tightened his grip on his sword, infusing his being with energy as some of his wounds swiftly healed, leaving only a few remaining. Chapter 954 Souta and Redmist vs. Paente II ?Boom!! The three figures streaked through the sky, leaving behind a trail of intricate energy patterns as they clashed with incredible force. Souta, Red Mist, and Paente moved with such velocity that their collisions echoed across the battlefield, their elemental energies¡ªflame, plant, shadow, and light¡ªilluminating the tumultuous skies. Paente, now in complete control of his immense strength, attacked with precision and skill, making it difficult for Souta and Red Mist to gain any advantage. Their battle unfolded with ferocity, each blow resonating with deafening impact. Within a thirty-kilometer radius, no civilians remained. The sheer intensity of the battle would have surely claimed their lives if not for Adel and Shen Yao''s efforts to shield them from the overwhelming energy. "This guy is strong," Red Mist remarked with a laugh. "You need to take this seriously," Souta cautioned. "I am," Red Mist retorted as she deftly evaded Paente''s onslaught, retaliating with a barrage of flaming projectiles. Paente, undeterred, transformed his hands into a massive shield, deflecting the fiery onslaught before launching a barrage of spikes towards his opponents. Souta and Red Mist swiftly maneuvered to evade and counter the onslaught, their movements fluid and precise. "I know what you are... You don''t need to conceal it," Souta stated in a low voice, his focus unwavering as he deflected the incoming spikes. Swoosh!! Paente materialized behind Souta, his arm arcing towards him with lethal intent. Reacting swiftly, Souta slashed through the incoming spikes with his blades, while the spider limbs protruding from his back intercepted Paente''s attack. With a swift motion, Souta retaliated, delivering a powerful kick to Paente''s abdomen. Bang!! Paente ignored the pain and swung his hand at Souta once again. Souta retreated, and a flame burst out from below, swallowing Paente''s body. Souta raised his hand, touching his shoulder as he stared at Paente''s body within the flames. He realized that the armor on his shoulder was gone, along with his skin. It seemed Paente had managed to land an attack without him noticing. It was a bit problematic if that were the case. Beside him, Red Mist flew, her expression serious. The smile on her face was gone, replaced by a look that seemed to convey a desire for retribution. "What do you know?" she asked sharply. "Just a little bit," Souta shrugged. Boom!! The flames disappeared, revealing Paente''s unharmed figure. Paente simply glanced at the two of them and asked, "What can you do? You can''t even harm me, so why do you struggle?" As Paente took a step forward, the air vibrated, enveloping the area in silence. It was as if time had stopped. "The end is the outcome of all. It will bring you true salvation. It will wash away all of our sins," he declared loudly, his energy reaching another level, growing stronger with each passing moment. Souta took a deep breath, heightening his senses to their maximum capabilities. The energy emanating from Paente was extremely dangerous. He needed to prepare himself for the worst. Glancing at Red Mist, he said, "There''s only a minute left. We need to destroy this guy''s body at the same time the hydra destroys the tree." "Okay... But don''t call me that! Or else I''ll kill you!" Red Mist shot him a glare. "Fine... I''ll do my best too," Souta replied, knowing that she didn''t like being referred to by another title, the Witch Ember of Terror. Red Mist slowly raised her hands as her red hair fluttered in the wind. "Fiamma, take it up to the limit. We''re going to kill this guy within a minute." The temperature soared sharply as a massive surge of energy burst forth. More scales formed on her skin, and three horns emerged on her head, forming a circular pattern like a crown. The flaming dragon wings on her back fused seamlessly with her flesh, and three more tails protruded. [Spirit Unified Form: Embers of Eternal Flame Spirit]!! The heat became unbearable. The ground began to melt, along with the branches of the tree. All moisture in the air vanished in an instant. The heat wave carried an immense energy that incinerated everything it touched. In the distance, Adel and Shen Yao''s expressions changed upon sensing the energy fluctuations in the atmosphere. The entire area began to ignite as fire spread uncontrollably. "Shit!!" Adel cursed. This level of battle was not meant for civilians. The heat wave would instantly liquefy any ordinary person. If not for them, all the civilians present would have perished. Red Mist resembled a sun, her energy levels skyrocketing. "Not enough!" She pressed both hands together, and when she parted them, a red flaming staff with a draconic design materialized. Roar!! A mighty roar reverberated the moment the staff manifested, akin to the bellow of a powerful dragon. Souta narrowed his eyes as he created some distance. Being too close to her would subject him to her overwhelming aura. The temperature around her soared to several million degrees Celsius. There was a reason why Red Mist was known as the Witch Ember of Terror. That staff... It was a soul weapon. Red Mist belonged to a certain species of humans called witches. Her soul weapon was highly compatible with the spirit inside her body, resonating to further enhance her strength. Bang! Red Mist tapped the air with her staff, causing the temperature to plummet instantly. However, the destructive energy within the heat wave only intensified. Despite the lower temperature, the danger level increased significantly. All of this occurred in just a second. Paente was somewhat surprised by Red Mist''s transformation. He narrowed his eyes and muttered, "A witch... It''s my first time encountering one." "A witch, you say...? Don''t call me that!" Red Mist retorted as she aimed her staff at Paente. A tremendous burst of flame erupted from her staff. Paente had no time to evade as the sea of flames engulfed his body once again. Souta charged forward. His heightened senses located Paente''s body within the flames. The four spider limbs on his back pointed forward and unleashed [Bestrou]. Boom!! A massive explosion erupted. Suddenly, hundreds of roots burst from the ground, hurtling towards Souta and Red Mist with formidable force. Souta deftly slashed at the roots with his sword, cutting them down before turning his attention back to the explosion. Knowing Paente was still present, he readied himself for the next confrontation. With a swift kick, he propelled himself toward Paente''s location, with Red Mist following suit after incinerating the roots. Swoosh!! Paente, amidst the dissipating smoke, began regenerating his body when Souta and Red Mist abruptly appeared. Their arrival sparked a fierce battle that dispelled the remaining smoke. Red Mist confronted Paente head-on, unleashing her formidable firepower to continually burn his body, while Souta provided support from the sidelines. Boom! Boom! Boom! Paente deftly evaded Red Mist''s attacks, then countered with a powerful blow to her stomach. He recoiled upon realizing that his own fist was burning from the contact with her body. She was proving to be an immensely hazardous opponent. Paente acknowledged that without fusing with the tree, he wouldn''t stand a chance against her. "What an annoyance!" As Paente prepared to pursue Red Mist, Souta intercepted his path, swiftly slashing at his chest and causing blood to spatter in the air. Paente gritted his teeth and surged forward, deftly evading Souta''s sword thrust. With a swift kick to Souta''s stomach, he followed up with a barrage of punches. Souta stepped back, quickly adapting his armor. Shifting to his [Jade Spider] form, he ensnared Paente with spider webs before reverting to his [Great Black Orc] form, slamming his weapon down on Paente. Swoosh! Paente broke free from the webbing and swiftly blocked Souta''s attack. Before he could retaliate, he felt a searing pain in his side as Red Mist thrust her staff into him. Boom!! Paente was sent flying several kilometers away, crashing into the ground. But Souta wasn''t finished. He propelled himself into the air with a kick, then descended rapidly toward Paente''s location. His body was covered in blood before his armor expanded and transformed into a massive gray form, adorned with spikes. [Blood Armor: Stone Armadillo]! A streak of gray light, crackling with lightning, streaked across the sky and crashed down on Paente like a meteor. Boom!! Chapter 955 Souta and Redmist vs. Paente III ?A mushroom cloud of smoke billowed into the sky, accompanied by a powerful shockwave that rippled outward. As the smoke dispersed, an explosion rocked the area within it. Souta relentlessly swung his weapon at Paente, undeterred by his opponent''s counterattacks. Enduring the blows with his Blood Armor, Souta focused solely on pressing the attack. Since becoming the Crimson Twilight Emperor, he had tapped into the latent traits of his race, granting him enhanced endurance and resilience. However, he had yet to fully explore these newfound abilities, as Paente''s relentless assault caught him off guard. "You wretch!" Paente growled through gritted teeth, delivering a powerful punch to Souta''s stomach. Bang! Souta was sent flying hundreds of meters away, struggling to regain his footing. Paente, poised to pursue, found his path blocked by a torrent of flames erupting from the ground. The intense heat liquefied the earth beneath, signaling the ferocity of the flames. "You will meet your end today!" Red Mist''s voice rang out, cold and resolute. Paente hesitated, eyeing Red Mist''s airborne form. With a determined gesture, he summoned a vast forest of trees to smother the flames. "Excellent!" Red Mist''s grin belied her fierce resolve as she aimed her staff at her adversary, a magical circle forming beneath her. [Extinction Flame Burst]!! Before the encroaching trees could reach her, Red Mist unleashed a colossal beam of flames from her staff, aimed directly at Paente. Paente didn''t even have time to react as the beam smashed into his body, the flames drilling into the ground and turning it into a sea of melted rocks. Boom! Souta watched the scene unfold before his eyes, stealing a glance at Red Mist from the corner of his eye. Red Mist looked at him and said, "Hey, Blood Lightning Monster. We don''t have much time, so I''m going to hit him big this time. Try to tell your pet to finish it." "I know," Souta replied before taking a deep breath. Boom! The melted rocks shot into the air as Paente''s figure emerged. "It''s not enough... If you want to kill me, you need more than that," Paente said as he slowly opened his eyes. His figure transformed once again, his two pairs of arms now holding a sharp and glistening spear. Eyes were opening across his body, each seeming to contain a huge amount of energy. Paente pointed his spears at Red Mist and Souta. In an instant, a massive amount of energy gathered around them. The ball of energy expanded before shrinking again, then burst out like a beam. "Die along with everyone in this land!" His laughter echoed as the powerful ray moved at high speed. "Now!" Red Mist shouted, and Souta jumped into the sky. Gritting his teeth, Souta pressed both of his hands together. His artifacts floated behind him as blood gathered in front, forming several layers of shield. Boom!! The powerful ray collided with the blood shield. In just a second, the ray broke through three layers of shield and began slowly piercing through the remaining layers. Souta pushed both of his arms forward as his armor started to crack. "I don''t need to block it! I just need to deflect it!" Gritting his teeth, Souta activated the monster orb and [Nebula Heart], pumping energy throughout his body. Although the [Blood Armor: Stone Armadillo] boasted great defense, it was slowly crumbling under the assault. Red Mist watched the scene calmly as she loosened her grip on her staff. "Only a short amount of time left before the right moment, but this will destroy him." Raising her other hand, her body glowed as thousands of stars appeared within her. At the apex of her palm, a sphere resembling a planet materialized. "The embers of stars... The light of the living... You shall be the world''s ember..." The glistening energy surrounded her, forming a bow. The ball of energy in her palm fused with her staff, her soul weapon, transforming it into a colossal arrow. Boom! The scenery shifted as stars glistened in the night sky. Souta was slightly surprised as Red Mist''s power altered the [Twilight Zone]. The red sky transformed into a beautiful night sky, though it spanned only a few kilometers in diameter. "I didn''t expect her to already know this attack," Souta thought to himself. In that moment, Red Mist completed her preparations. Only a few seconds had passed since she began chanting. "[Oblivion Flame Arrow]!" With a burst of energy, Souta immediately ducked down. The massive flaming arrow surged forward, deflecting Paente''s attack to the side. Swoosh! Paente''s eyes widened as the flaming arrow engulfed his entire body. A straight line tore through Selnes Country, spanning dozens of kilometers until it collided with the All Filter Barrier Formation, triggering a massive explosion that reverberated throughout the entire nation. Boom!! "So much power..." Souta muttered while observing the aftermath of the explosion. He couldn''t help but wonder if he could survive such devastation if he were in Paente''s position. Red Mist exhaled a puff of smoke, her appearance returning to normal. She glanced at Souta and said, "If what you said is true, then he''ll get up. You mentioned that the only way to kill him is to destroy his body, the tree, and the roots at the barrier." "I know..." Souta replied, bending his knees and launching himself into the sky. Swoosh! Red Mist''s attack came too soon, but there was nothing to be done about it now. It was time to finish this. Bang! Souta landed at the site of the explosion, surveying the devastated landscape. Paente''s body had been utterly obliterated, not even leaving behind ashes after taking Red Mist''s powerful attack. He turned his head and saw Kessa on the verge of destroying the massive tree. The only problem was the roots in the barrier. He didn''t know if that woman, Erkigal, would make it. Ohm! The energy level slowly rose as a dot formed in mid-air. The small dot grew larger and larger until it became Paente''s head. "You really did it!" Paente said, rage evident in his eyes as he looked at Souta. Souta took a deep breath as his armor transformed again. He changed into [Great Black Orc], boasting powerful strength among his armors. He stepped forward, swinging the sword in his hand. A red energy blade burst out, slicing Paente''s head into two. Swoosh! The two parts of the head were quickly reattached, seemingly unaffected by the sword slash. Paente''s body continued to form as Souta attacked once again. "You can''t kill me! Hahaha!" Paente laughed madly. As long as the roots and the tree''s main body existed, he wouldn''t die. He would reappear no matter what. Red Mist''s attack had obliterated his body, but unfortunately, the tree and roots remained intact, allowing him to regenerate indefinitely despite his physical form being erased. Souta narrowed his eyes, his other hand opening as blood gathered together, forming a sharp sword. Blood-colored lightning crackled across his body as he stepped forward. [Colosseum Undead Party]! A massive platform materialized beneath Souta and Paente. Several pillars rose as a heavy pressure descended. "No, you will die here," Souta said in a cold tone. At the next moment, thunderous sounds echoed as blood- colored lightning flashed across the sky. Bang! Bang! Bang! Souta repeatedly swung the swords in both of his hands. Each swing carried enormous power that struck Paente''s incomplete body. Gritting his teeth, he exerted even more force into his attacks. In just a second, he unleashed hundreds of powerful strikes that caused the barrier to crack, though at the expense of rapidly depleting his energy. Bang! Bang! "It''s time! You may not have realized it, but Red Mist''s previous attack has already shattered all of your defenses and resistance!" Souta declared, raising both of his swords above his head. His energy surged as lightning crackled down onto his blades. The moment of reckoning had arrived. Simultaneously, Kessa''s powerful roar reverberated throughout the surroundings as she unleashed a devastating attack aimed at the tree''s main body, intent on destroying it. Swoosh!! Erkigal''s gaze darted to the barrier. She held onto hope that Hoei would succeed in his task. Failure would mean their imprisonment in this place, with no hope of escape. She sensed that Paente and the tree were on the brink of destruction. The final piece to complete their victory lay with Hoei Methal. "It''s in your hands now, Hoei," she murmured quietly, her voice tinged with urgency. ... Meanwhile, Hoei trailed behind Ice Death and the others, fully aware of the gravity of the situation. "The Selnes Country is on the brink of collapse... It will soon become our stronghold," Ice Death declared abruptly, coming to a halt. His gaze shifted upward, lost in thought. "Why the sudden stop?" Poisonous Vine inquired, puzzled by the pause. "The Selnes Country, along with the other two territories, will become the primary battlegrounds," Thousand Earth murmured, his tone grave. "Battlegrounds?" Poisonous Vine''s confusion deepened, sensing that Ice Death and Thousand Earth perceived something she did not. "Our forces will initiate a full-scale assault. They''re advancing toward the three territories," Ice Death explained, anticipating the escalation of warfare. Hoei observed quietly from the rear, noting the distraction among the group. This presented the opportunity he had been seeking; he couldn''t afford to let it slip away. "I can do it!" Hoei''s resolve solidified within him. He drew in a deep breath, steeling himself for what was to come. With focused determination, he flexed his legs, propelling himself forward with all his might. Swoosh!! Ice Death''s eyes widened in surprise as he sensed a sudden surge of energy. Reacting swiftly, he unleashed a counterattack. Boom!! Chapter 956 Collapse ?As the smoke dispersed, Ice Death''s released energy lingered in the air. He turned his gaze, his eyes brimming with murderous intent, down at his hand, which clutched a piece of frozen flesh. Slowly, he parted his lips, his voice frigid with certainty. "As I thought... You''re going to make a move." "Hehe," Hoei chuckled ruefully, his left hand pressed against the deep wound in his stomach, blood seeping from it relentlessly. The recent clash had taken its toll on him. He hadn''t anticipated Ice Death''s rapid response and subsequent attack. Swoosh!! Swoosh!! Thousand Earth, Poisonous Vine, and Spatial Whisperer encircled him, each emanating an aura on the brink of eruption. "You''re going to die. You should''ve realized this was inevitable," Ice Death declared icily. "What can I do? I can''t escape this place," Hoei remarked with a smile, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He was confined to the Selnes Country due to the curse, unable to venture far. But breaking free was necessary if he wanted to ensure his family''s safety amidst the chaos of war. "It doesn''t matter. I''ve achieved my objective," Hoei declared, raising his other hand to reveal the cores of the Master Clans. "You?!" Ice Death''s eyes widened in disbelief, moving to intercept Hoei''s hand, but he was too late. "Heh, the Selnes Country won''t fall without a fight!" Hoei exclaimed, channeling his energy to crush the cores within his palm, closing his fists tightly. "I may not live to see tomorrow, but my mission is complete. Erkigal, I entrust everything to you. Please safeguard the Methal Clan," Hoei silently conveyed as he braced himself to face Ice Death and the others. Reacting swiftly, Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer launched simultaneous attacks on Hoei. Boom!! ... In the Selnes Country... Souta raised both of his swords, summoning a massive net of lightning in the sky. [Archetype: Great Blood of the End]! With a powerful swing, he unleashed an immense surge of energy, directing it toward Paente''s form. [First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]!! Paente''s eyes widened in shock at the onslaught. The relentless torrent of blood lightning descended, tearing through every inch of his body. The earth quaked as thunder boomed overhead. "It''s over! You haven''t even fully recovered from Red Mist''s attack, so don''t think you can withstand this!" Souta''s voice thundered as he poured more energy into his assault. "DIE!!" The burst of lightning intensified, radiating outwards in all directions. On the other side of the battlefield... Kessa unleashed a mighty ray at the tree''s main body, its impact sending shockwaves rippling across the land. The ferocious attack laid waste to everything within a five-kilometer radius. Unconcerned with collateral damage, Kessa focused solely on annihilating the colossal tree. ROAR!! Her scales exuded a corrosive gas, amplifying the destructive force of her assault. The shockwaves intensified, and the ray expanded, engulfing the giant tree in its searing path. Boom!! Explosions erupted across various regions of the Selnes Country, visible to those who had evacuated. The towering energy beam and the cascading blood-colored lightning illuminated the sky with their ominous presence. A few moments later, the ground ceased its trembling, and the energy surge subsided. As the smoke slowly dispersed in the strong wind, Souta stood alone, his body gradually returning to its normal state. He breathed heavily, a streak of blood marking the corner of his eye. "If it weren''t for consuming the Tears of Divine Might, I wouldn''t have been able to replenish my energy," he muttered to himself. Having faced numerous powerful opponents today, starting with the members of the Wingless Crow, Souta had long been exhausted. Fortunately, the mythical-grade fruit had restored his energy and stamina. But Paente... Souta''s gaze narrowed as he looked towards the spot where Paente had disintegrated. Then, a familiar sound echoed in his mind. Ding! Upon hearing the notification sound, Souta clenched his fists tightly. He looked up, and a cracking sound reverberated through the air. Cracks began to spread across the All Filter Barrier Formation. "It''s over..." All the survivors couldn''t help but look up at the sky, witnessing the spreading cracks. Shen Yao, Adel, and the other experts watched the unfolding scene with bated breath. Bang!! A resounding noise echoed as the barrier collapsed. The barrier, unbreached for hundreds of years, shattered that day. Paente, the tree''s main body, and the roots were no more. The battle within the Selnes Country had concluded. "IT''S OVER!!" Souta''s roar echoed with tremendous force. His voice resonated throughout the entire country as he grasped his sword and raised it high into the air. Kessa glanced over before unleashing a mighty roar of her own. ROAR!!! The survivors of the battle raised their weapons and joined in the chorus of triumphant cries. Their voices reverberated across the land, marking the end of a long and arduous conflict. Souta flew through the air towards the survivors, accompanied by Yenxa. As he arrived, he beheld thousands of people cheering and chanting his nickname. "Blood Lightning!! Blood Lightning!" "Blood Lightning!! Blood Lightning!" Acknowledging their cheers with a wave of his hand, Souta made his way toward Shen Yao and the other top experts. Unlike himself, who had recovered using the mythical-grade fruit, they were visibly exhausted from the relentless fighting. "We need to retreat," Souta informed them. "What do you mean?" Shen Yao inquired, her eyes narrowing. "We must escort the civilians to safety. The Selnes Country is about to become a battlefield. Let''s not forget that two Seventh Shackles are currently engaged in combat outside," Souta explained, his expression grave. "Seventh Shackles...?" Shen Yao and Adel exchanged concerned glances, recalling the formidable expert they had encountered before and the angel who had intervened in the confrontation. "We can''t go into battle like this. Our warriors are exhausted, and some of them can''t even stand. We need to regroup and recover first," Souta declared firmly. "I agree," Shen Yao concurred, understanding the gravity of the situation. With Souta''s command, the survivors swiftly began their evacuation. The Selnes Country was no longer safe with the barrier breached and Paente defeated. It was clear that leaving was the only option, especially considering the threat posed by the Seventh Shackles. Gathering his group, comprised of warriors from Olympus, Souta surveyed the aftermath of the battle. The casualties were significant, a sobering reminder of the cost of the conflict. "What happened to Eztein and Franklin?" Souta inquired, observing the unconscious pair. "They collapsed after the barrier shattered," Alice reported. Souta nodded thoughtfully, then instructed, "I''ll attend to them later. For now, accompany the others and ensure their safety." "Understood," Alice acknowledged, ready to follow his directive. "Stay alert. There''s a possibility of enemy attacks. I''ll join you shortly, but there''s something I must attend to first," Souta cautioned, his gaze lingering on the scene before him. With those parting words, he pivoted and raised his hand, signaling for Kessa to accompany him. The hydra obediently morphed into a small snake, coiling around Souta''s arm as he soared into the sky. ... Souta arrived in the basement of the Flaem Clan. Inside the room, he saw an unconscious woman with long red hair. Judging from the energy inside her body, she was the one who had spoken to him¡ªthe person who had provided him with the information on how to defeat Paente. "This is a little bit strange..." Souta muttered as he observed the woman. ''How so? Did you see something?'' Saya''s voice sounded in his mind. "Yeah, her condition is quite similar to Eztein and Franklin. There''s something ominous about her that I can''t quite identify. It''s giving me chills," Souta explained. ''There''s something like that?!'' Saya sounded surprised. "Yep, there''s some kind of obstruction preventing me from seeing clearly. It''s a bit hazy, but I can detect a puff of dark smoke inside her body. I don''t know what it is, though," Souta said. ''Can you touch her or at least place the sword on her body? I''ll try to figure it out,'' Saya said. Souta nodded as he walked forward. He placed the hilt of the vajra sword on the woman''s back. As for him, he placed his palm on top of her head, directly checking her condition with his senses. A few moments later, Souta felt a rebound as his palm was flung away by some unknown force. "This...?" Souta was shocked as he saw his palm bleeding. Something that could make him bleed was definitely not ordinary. With his current strength, it was impossible for him to get hurt through normal means. The moment he tried to pry what was hidden inside the woman''s body, he received a backlash. It was strong, stronger than he imagined. Souta picked up the vajra sword before he stood up. He noticed that the hazy feeling inside the woman was slowly dissipating. "S-Souta..." Saya said. "What is it? Did you discover something?" Souta asked. ''It''s a curse. It''s similar to the one that prevents people from practicing the Archetype. It''s a curse from that era, the era tens of thousands of years ago,'' Saya explained to him in a serious tone. "What?! Are you sure?!" Souta was shocked. "I''m not entirely sure, but that''s the feeling I get from her," Saya said. "Then, let''s bring her and ask her some questions after she wakes up," Souta said. He moved his finger and a gravitational field formed around the woman. Chapter 957 Return ?Souta stood atop the walls of the Selnes Country, observing the ongoing war and the intense battle between the two Seventh Shackles high above. Turning his gaze towards the devastated state of the Selnes Country, he couldn''t help but feel a sense of disbelief. The once renowned Selnes Country now lay in ruins, a shadow of its former self. Shaking his head, Souta shifted his attention back to the sky where the two Hero-ranks clashed. Even from this distance, he could sense the subtle vibrations in the air, a testament to the immense power being unleashed. "S-Souta..." Kessa''s voice interrupted his thoughts. "Yes," Souta acknowledged her, turning to see an astonishing sight unfolding before them. With a swift motion, various spells¡ªfireballs, lightning bolts, torrents of water, and massive boulders¡ªhurtled through the air towards the battlefield. Each spell carried tremendous force, capable of wreaking havoc upon impact. "The war isn''t going to stop. The battle here is just the opening," Souta muttered solemnly. Boom!! Explosions erupted as the spells landed on the battlefield, illuminating the area with blinding flashes of light and shaking the ground with deafening blasts. The sheer power of each spell was terrifying to behold. Souta took one last look before turning away. With a gesture, he levitated the unconscious woman using his gravitational field. With reinforcements arriving, Souta and the other warriors needed to rest. Until further instructions were given, they couldn''t return to the battlefield. Three days had passed in the blink of an eye... The war had escalated as hundreds of SSS-rank experts were dispatched. Selnes Country and the other two territories became theaters of conflict, each overseen by two experts at Hero-rank. The events in the Selnes Country shook everyone. No one had expected such a massive battle to erupt within the barrier. Souta had earned a multitude of merits in the battle, and his name was on everyone''s lips. He was now known as the legendary Blood Lightning Monster, the one who had brought an end to the chaos in the Selnes Country. His reputation had soared to unparalleled heights, with many considering him the strongest fourth-stage monster. Dubbed by numerous names, Souta''s fame had reached extraordinary levels. Sitting down on a vacant chair, Souta exhaled deeply. "They made me write those reports. I hardly had any time to recover myself," he muttered. Looking around, he asked, "Anyways, Eztein and Franklin are still unconscious, right?" "Yeah, we''ve already consulted several healers, but they haven''t found anything wrong with them," Alice replied. "I see... Don''t bother them anymore. I''ll personally check their condition later," Souta said, waving his hand dismissively. Then, he turned his attention to Alice. "It seems like you''ve benefited a lot from the battle. You''ve pushed through your limits." Alice glanced down at her hands, nodding. "I wanted to participate in the battle again. I think I''ll be able to improve my skills to the next level." "I believe you''re ready to join the battle again. It will take a while before the return request is approved," Souta said before turning to Eilish. "And what about you? You just broke your Third Shackles, so your progress must have been significant this time." Eilish smiled confidently. "Yes, my progress has been satisfactory." They chatted for a while longer before Souta closed his eyes. Finally having some time to himself, he began to organize the knowledge and experiences he gained after becoming the Crimson Twilight Emperor. It took him several hours before he opened his eyes again. The information about the Crimson Twilight Emperor was unbelievable¡ªit was simply amazing. "I could finally exert the true potential of Crimson Twilight," Souta muttered to himself. This exceeded his expectations. Although his level remained the same, the effects of the Tears of Divine Might surpassed his imagination. Additionally, it granted him a new ability: Divine Might. Divine Might was a passive skill that enhanced all of his energy-based attacks by 50%. There were no exceptions; it could even amplify his Archetype. In short, his best feram carried the properties of Divine Might. "I''m eager to test my newfound strength on the battlefield, but I need to restrain myself. Drawing too much attention could be risky, so I''ll lay low for now," Souta reasoned with himself. Excitement coursed through him, but he reminded himself to be patient. As for his rewards, Souta narrowed his eyes, contemplating them. [Congratulations on completing the quest Prototype Omni Creation Tree!] [You''ve obtained an Origin Seed, 30 free attribute points, 15 skill points, and 100,000,000 experience points!] His attention was entirely captured by the Origin Seed. The system hadn''t provided any details about this item, leaving everything for him to discover. Ohm! Souta opened his palm and beheld a small seed, no larger than a bean. It appeared unremarkable, almost ordinary. "What could this seed be?" he wondered aloud. He attempted to infuse it with his energy, but to no avail. Despite increasing the force he exerted, the seed remained unchanged. Even the energy he employed was sufficient to vanquish an expert at the Solidifying Realm, yet the seed remained unscathed. Souta shook his head and tucked the seed into his pocket, determined to uncover its secrets in due time. Five days passed swiftly, and Souta''s request to depart was granted. With his objectives fulfilled, he saw no reason to linger any longer. The war raged on unabated, a relentless conflict with no end in sight. Souta knew that Gluttony would soon reemerge, plunging the situation into further chaos. "I wonder if Amanda has completed the task I assigned to her," Souta pondered aloud. Amanda, like Red Mist, was a witch, though from a different tribe originating from a sub-world. While Red Mist had been formidable, her journey to god-level had been tragically cut short. Souta vividly recalled the events surrounding Red Mist''s demise, a moment etched into his memory from his time in the game. "I never ask for anything... I don''t need anyone''s pity... I never..." Red Mist''s voice trailed off as she slowly crumpled to the ground. In an instant, the Jade Emperor obliterated her body, leaving nothing but ash in his wake. It was a display of unparalleled power, a shocking event that marked the first time the Jade Emperor had descended from his throne. Red Mist''s connection to the survivors of the Walpurgis marked her as a traitor, though the specifics eluded Souta. Nevertheless, she had been a force to be reckoned with, ranking among the top experts below the realm of gods. These individuals, the strongest mortals of their time, were a volatile mix of destiny and ambition. Some would fall while others would rise, but they collectively represented the pinnacle of mortal power. At the summit of this hierarchy stood Bargan Hevifield, the Flame Master, hailed as the unrivaled strongest mortal in history. Burghis Dham, known as the Divine General of the Giza Continent, held the esteemed title of the strongest general within the Red Crystal Empire. Holer, renowned as the Undying Undead of the Ruin Desolate Land, commanded legions of undead with unyielding authority. Yvis Yulen, dubbed the Butterfly Arrow of the Mars Archipelago, was famed for her unwavering accuracy, vowing never to miss a target. Khorghul, feared as the Ultimate Variant of Vulcan''s Ring, was a monstrous being that consumed other creatures to fuel its own power. Blue Fang, hailed as the Great Bounty Hunter of the Mars Archipelago, possessed a body akin to the wind itself, moving with unparalleled agility and grace. Xue Yi, known as the Transcendent Lightning of the God''s Continent, wielded control over thunder and lightning with unmatched mastery. Avine Abaddon, recognized as the Demonic Princess of the Demon''s Land, held sway over dark forces and held a position of formidable authority. They were among the strongest mortals Souta could recall, alongside Red Mist. However, he wasn''t entirely certain about the accuracy of their rankings, considering they were players. Nevertheless, he knew that those NPCs who were ranked were significantly more powerful than others of the same rank. Surprisingly, none of the individuals from the Frozen Continent made it into the rankings. This was likely due to the removal of the barrier around that continent was last, making it the most enigmatic land in the Imperium. With a smile, Souta turned away from the battlefield, taking one last look before departing. He gathered everyone beneath his Grain, preparing to return as he had received approval from the higher-ups. Standing before him were Alice, Eilish, and the others who had fought alongside him in the Sixth Grain War. However, Franklin, Eztein, and the woman named Erkigal remained unconscious. Having checked on their conditions days prior, Souta knew that the mysterious haze surrounding them had dissipated. It was only a matter of time before they regained consciousness. "Everyone! Let''s move out!" A few days later, the group arrived at the Champion''s Den. Despite using portals for travel, it still took them several days due to the necessity of stopping at various bases to report on the battlefield situation. Inside the headquarters of Athen''s Champion... Souta found himself in a room with Vandal, the Chief Captain of the Third Set Pallas Division, along with other Grain Leaders who were there to listen to his report. "Grain Leader Souta, you''ve earned significant merit this time. You performed admirably in the war," Vandal commended, setting down the papers he had been reviewing. He then regarded Souta with a keen eye before continuing, "Your growth is evident. You may now rest; we will inform you if your presence is required on the battlefield." "Thank you," Souta replied with a salute. Chapter 958 Meeting ?Fort Rindo, Giza Continent. A middle-aged man with short blonde hair and yellow eyes stood beside the window, gazing out at the landscape beyond the mansion. He was clad in exquisite armor that emitted a potent energy, marking him unmistakably as Bargan Hevifield, the Flame Master. Seated not far from Bargan were a man and a woman, engaged in conversation on a plush sofa. The man boasted a thick chestnut beard and closely cropped hair of the same hue. His attire, crafted from fine materials, bespoke his status as the Admiral of Fort Rindo''s naval army: Admiral Geopaz. The woman, garbed in a mage robe that concealed much of her form, possessed bright eyes, cherry lips, and long brown hair cascading down her shoulders. Adorned with delicate earrings and wristbands, she was none other than Shimley, the Ascendant Storm¡ªa Hero-rank adventurer hired by Admiral Geopaz. All three individuals had ascended to the pinnacle of Hero-rank, having shattered the tenth shackles and reached the coveted Freedom Realm, as known in God''s Continent. "The demons... Do you think they''ll attempt to traverse the waters?" Shimley inquired, turning her gaze to Bargan. "With the collapse of the Heretic''s Dynasty and the significant losses suffered by the Gigantis Kingdom, surviving remnants are scrambling to endure. The demons, however, have remained dormant since you vanquished their main force," Admiral Geopaz responded. "They''re amassing near Heaven''s Mount. Should the Demon Pillar emerge, the Gigantis Kingdom''s deities will confront him. The plan seems sound, but I can''t shake this foreboding feeling," Bargan remarked, his eyes narrowing in concern. "True, everything is proceeding remarkably smoothly. But therein lies the cause for concern," Admiral Geopaz added. "Isn''t that a positive sign?" Shimley interjected. "In theory, yes. But it also raises suspicions. There''s a possibility that the demons are orchestrating events to deceive us into believing our plans are unfolding predictably," Admiral Geopaz explained. "What if... there''s another Demon Army infiltrating our continent? At present, the situation in the Listen Wastes remains uncertain, so if a secondary force were to arrive..." Bargan''s voice trailed off, the implication clear. "You''re suggesting they might assault the Gigantis Kingdom from multiple fronts? The demons amassing at Heaven''s Mount could be merely a decoy," Admiral Geopaz surmised, grasping Bargan''s implication. "It would be a gruesome conflict. We must brace ourselves for the worst," Shimley concurred, her expression grim. Then, a thought struck her. "Wait, I''ve heard rumors that the Mechanic Country intends to deploy its forces against the demons. Is there any truth to this?" "Indeed. They plan to mobilize, but their arrival won''t be immediate. If we wait for their intervention, it might be too late for the Gigantis Kingdom. Moreover, the Mechanic Country''s alliance with us is uncertain. Reports suggest they''ll navigate the waters to reach the Listen Wastes directly," Admiral Geopaz clarified. The situation was dire. If only the Three Great Countries could commit their forces, things might have been more manageable. However, their wariness of the Bringers of Calamity, especially after the sighting of the Zodiac Leo in the Giza Continent, prevented them from doing so. The memory of the Zodiacs'' previous assault on the Three Great Countries decades ago loomed large, adding to their caution. With reports of Gula''s rampage in God''s Continent, the chaos only intensified. "What if the Zodiacs follow Gula''s lead? A war between the Three Great Countries and the Zodiacs would be catastrophic," Shimley voiced, echoing the concerns shared by many. "That''s why the Three Great Countries are bolstering their forces," Bargan affirmed, his expression grim with resolve. "I''ll escalate our response this time. I''ll personally confront the demons at the Demigod Rank and Hero-rank. Support me in containing them, and I''ll ensure their eradication. Though we may not be able to fully divert our attention to the Gigantis Kingdom, eliminating key Demigods and Hero-rank demons will ease their burden." ... Somewhere in the God''s Continent. Alexander sat before a stone tablet, his eyes closed in deep concentration. After a while, he opened them, a determined expression on his face. "It seems that I have to return to the Hall Plains," he murmured to himself. His preparations were complete. The ancient ruins he had left behind remained untouched, their secrets known only to him. He alone held the key to activating the main mechanism. As Alexander pondered his next move, he sensed a presence entering the hall. His attention shifted to the newcomer: Princess Yaniesvyl of the Heiro Kingdom. "I bring news," Yaniesvyl announced, her gaze fixed on Alexander, awaiting his response. "It''s about the initial clash between the Gluttony Army and the Alliance Army. The Blood Lightning Monster participated in the battle and displayed unparalleled combat prowess. He defeated several top experts of the Gluttony Army. His name is on the lips of countless people at this moment," Yaniesvyl explained. The news surprised her. She hadn''t expected the Blood Lightning Monster to take to the frontline, but considering his affiliation with a God''s Legion, it made sense. "It was said that a mythical-grade fruit appeared on the battlefield. A battle ensued for the fruit, and the Blood Lightning Monster emerged victorious, claiming the fruit for himself," Yaniesvyl added. "A mythical fruit...!?" Alexander was taken aback. "If a fruit of that caliber is appearing now, I fear there may be more to come. The Imperium is heading for greater chaos." He rose from his seat, straightening his clothes. "Let''s go. It seems I need to return to the Hall Plains immediately. There''s something I must confirm there." ... Eru Empire, God''s Continent. Esquin sat upon his throne, attentively listening to the reports from his subordinates regarding the battles across the three lands. After a while, he turned his gaze towards the window and remarked, "So, in the end, they failed to breach the All Filter Barrier Formation?" The silence of his subordinates spoke volumes, confirming the failure of the mission in the Selnes Country. The battle had resulted in significant losses as the Alliance Army made a decisive move. "A mythical-grade fruit has appeared earlier... The final burst is imminent," Esquin muttered to himself. He then addressed his subordinates, commanding, "Set up all the Bloodstones... Despite this setback, we must proceed with the plan. We need to present a formidable front to the Alliance Army." "My Lord, what about the issues in the smaller regions?" "Leave those matters to the organizations under our command. They can handle the affairs of the various smaller countries," Esquin instructed. Suddenly, Esquin paused, sensing something amiss. He fixed his gaze upon his subordinates and ordered, "Get out." The subordinates respectfully bowed their heads and promptly vacated the throne room, obediently following their Lord''s command. After a brief interval, a crimson figure materialized in the chamber. It lacked a discernible face, its form a pure, uninterrupted red. Surveying the room, the figure spoke, "The energy fluctuations here are intense and erratic. The demise of the gods of this land... You have indeed ignited a conflict." "Why have you come?" Esquin inquired, his tone devoid of emotion. "Gula, is this truly your course of action?" the figure countered. "Yes, time is running out. This is my final recourse. I must proceed, regardless of the consequences. If you seek to impede me, you must do so forcibly," Esquin asserted. "There is still time," the red figure retorted. "Superbia, do not attempt to dissuade me, or I will be compelled to engage you in combat. You comprehend the nature of my actions. Even if my efforts prove futile, the major factions in this realm will not emerge unscathed. It is undoubtedly advantageous to whatever designs you harbor," Esquin declared, his gaze steely as his aura intensified, causing the ground to tremble beneath him. "Very well... But be mindful, the factions in this continent wield considerable power," cautioned Superbia. "I am well aware. Were they not formidable, I would not have remained in concealment for so long. You should rouse your true form, Superbia. The world is undergoing rapid change," Esquin urged. "When the moment is right, I shall awaken," Superbia affirmed before vanishing from sight. Esquin furrowed his brow. He sensed that Superbia awaited a specific juncture. That enigmatic entity had played a role in various global events and was undoubtedly connected to the catastrophe that befell the Hall Plains. The extent of Superbia''s involvement remained shrouded in mystery to Esquin, who lacked comprehensive knowledge of the matter. The once tranquil God''s Continent now found itself thrust into the throes of conflict, its landscape scorched by the flames of war. Gluttony''s proactive stance further exacerbated the dire situation. This was merely the beginning. The Selnes Country, Fedru Republic, and Bruim Principality emerged as the primary theaters of war, witnessing countless clashes as various factions mobilized to repel Gluttony''s advances. Simultaneously, chaos engulfed numerous smaller regions across the continent, with some nations succumbing to the onslaught, resulting in widespread devastation and loss of life. Meanwhile, in the southern reaches of the continent, the demons bided their time, observing the unfolding chaos. They awaited the opportune moment, poised to strike when their adversaries had been sufficiently weakened. Chapter 959 Visit As the carriage approached Ekatoe City in Mine Valley, towering walls came into view, accompanied by the excited voices of the people nearby. Natan peered out of the carriage, fixing his gaze upon the renowned city known as the domain of the strongest fourth-stage monster, the Blood Lightning Monster. A soft breeze brushed against their faces, accompanied by the chirping of numerous birds in the sky, creating a peaceful atmosphere. It was said that the Lord of Ekatoe, the Blood Lightning Monster, had fought fiercely during a cataclysmic event two months prior to secure this peace and earn his title. Observing the influx of carriages, mostly occupied by merchants seeking opportunity within the city, Natan sensed the bustling activity. Upon entering the city, he was greeted by a landscape of prosperity and richness, marked by numerous stalls lining the streets and the lively chatter of people bustling about. "As expected of Ekatoe City..." Natan muttered to himself, impressed by the bustling surroundings. He then approached the carriage door, preparing to address his comrades. However, before he could speak, a group of guards approached them. "Welcome to Ekatoe City. Is this your first visit, honored guests?" one of the guards inquired. Natan, slightly taken aback, confirmed, "Ah, yes." "In that case, could you please ask your comrades to dismount and follow me?" the guard requested, gesturing towards a nearby door beside the city gates. Natan glanced back at the warriors accompanying him, realizing that they were now being addressed. One of the warriors, clad in full-plate armor, stepped forward and introduced himself as Sarguan, Captain of the Vanguard Knights of Palleo Kingdom. "Inquire as to why we are being directed to proceed after the luggage check," Sarguan requested, seeking clarification. "It''s a requirement of the city. All visitors must undergo a briefing to familiarize themselves with our regulations," the guards clarified. Sarguan acknowledged the explanation before turning to the carriage and addressing the occupants, "Young miss, what shall we do?" The carriage door opened, revealing a poised young woman with long blue hair dressed in an elegant white gown. She spoke, "Sir Sarguan, we must adhere to the city''s regulations." Following her, a tall young man descended from the carriage. Clad in fine attire, he bore a resemblance to the young woman and exuded a regal air. The young woman introduced herself as Princess Iris De Von Palleo of the Palleo Kingdom, while the young man was identified as Crown Prince Servon De Von Palleo. Accompanied by their entourage, they followed the guards to a barracks where the city''s rules were explained in detail. The guards clarified the city''s division into two regions: Pople and Astros. They emphasized that visitors were strictly prohibited from entering the Astros, as severe consequences awaited those who dared to defy this rule. "Astros is a large piece of Ekatoe, right? If everyone is forbidden from entering the Astros then who-," Sarguan began before being interrupted by the guards. "It''s natural. The people of our Lord. I haven''t been there before but according to the information, they are the army of the Lord. It''s not a secret that anymore they are warriors of the Goddess of Olympus. Aside from them, everyone will be killed instantly the moment they step foot in the Astros without permission," the guards explained. "If we want to have an audience with the City Lord, then what should we do?" Natan inquired. "You can go to the Shimpan Family. They are the most influential family in Pople. They are one of the families that retained their position as they submitted to the Lord after he arrived in the city. There''s also the temple, the Temple of Athens. Since our Lord is a warrior of Goddess Athena, he built a temple here to worship his goddess," the guards responded. The guards continued to explain the rules, emphasizing the strict prohibition against drawing weapons or pointing them at another person, which was rigorously enforced in Ekatoe City. "You''re quite lucky. The City Lord has just returned yesterday. If the Lord is still on the battlefield then you will not have a chance to meet him," the guard said with a smile. "Thank you," Sarguan responded politely. After that, the group exited the barracks. Natan glanced at Sarguan and asked, "Sir Sarguan, do we really need that? I''m sure if we announce our arrival some people will recognize us." "Yeah, they will recognize us and that''s it. The Lord of Ekatoe will not even glance at us. You have to know that the Lord of Ekatoe has been dealing with the Holy Lands. The Holy Lands are the most powerful factions in this continent. Their influence spread widely," Sarguan explained. "You shouldn''t concern yourself about that. For now, go and book a room for us." Natan nodded and promptly left to complete his task. Sarguan glanced at the carriage and asked, "Your Highness, who should we visit first?" "The Temple of Athena. We have to pay respect to the goddess first, and then we''ll go to the Shimpan Family to see if we can gain an audience with the City Lord," the Crown Prince, Servon, replied. Inside the carriage, Princess Iris glanced at her brother and asked, "What do you think about the Lord of Ekatoe, brother?" Prince Servon looked at his sister for a moment before he contemplated. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth to speak, "The Lord of Ekatoe, also known as the Blood Lightning Monster. According to the information, he is an absolute force among the fourth-stage monsters. His name first gained attention when he subdued a fifth-stage monster. The battle that occurred in this land a few months ago solidified his reputation, and that was when people began to call him the Blood Lightning Monster. "It was said that the other Holy Lands were upset when they learned that Olympus extended its influence beyond their territories. They sent some of their forces to claim a piece of this land, but... the Blood Lightning Monster repelled everyone and declared this land as his territory. The other Holy Lands had no say in the matter, and any attempts to send stronger experts were met with resistance. They didn''t even dare to send stronger experts that could rival a fifth stage, fearing retaliation. Unfortunately for them, the Blood Lightning Monster was the only one who dared to act." Princess Iris listened to her brother''s words, understanding the significance of the Blood Lightning Monster''s reputation, even in their own territory. "Although the rumors may be exaggerated, his strength is undeniable," Crown Prince Servon said. Soon, the group arrived at the Temple of Athena, where they paid their respects to the goddess. Even if they didn''t worship Athena personally, they understood the importance of showing reverence. After all, they were mere mortals while Athena was a deity. Following their visit to the temple, they proceeded to one of the most influential families in Pople: the Shimpan Family. Inside the Shimpan Family''s manor, in a well-appointed room, Crown Prince Servon and Princess Iris sat at a table with Sarguan standing beside them. On the opposite side of the table, Edward, the head of the Shimpan Family, sat with a smile on his face. "Is there something you need, Crown Prince and Princess?" Edward asked politely. He had heard of these two, or rather, he had heard of their country. The Palleo Kingdom was situated on the other side of the Hall Plains, beyond the Obsidian Desert. While the Hall Plains were vast, the Obsidian Desert was several times larger and housed powerful nations. Unfortunately, some parts of the Obsidian Desert were in chaos, leading to tens of thousands of refugees seeking refuge in the Hall Plains. Several countries in the region were experiencing civil wars, while others were combating terrorist threats. Despite the current chaos in the Obsidian Desert, there were still nations unaffected by it, such as the Palleo Kingdom. "As you can see, we wish to meet with the Lord of Ekatoe. Could you inform him of our presence and inquire about the possibility of an audience?" Crown Prince Servon requested. "I understand, but the decision ultimately rests with the Lord. I cannot guarantee anything," Edward replied. Faced with the formidable might of the Palleo Kingdom, the Shimpan Family could only strive to do their best. Despite the Palleo Kingdom being distant from Mine Valley, they still wielded enough power to potentially eradicate the Shimpan Family. The individual standing beside the Crown Prince and Princess alone possessed the capability to dismantle the Shimpan Family. However, Edward harbored doubts regarding the potential for unrest within Ekatoe City. What if the Palleo Kingdom attempted to influence the Lord of Ekatoe with monetary incentives? Edward knew he held no sway before the Lord, being merely a resident of the outer part of the city, the Pople, and not even a member of the Astros. "Thank you. We will await your news," Crown Prince Servon said with a smile. Chapter 960 Invitation Souta sat before a grave, the final resting place of Yenxa, one of his trusted subordinates. Alongside Yenxa, the fallen members of Astros rested in this sacred ground, a testament to their sacrifice in battle. A figure approached Souta, breaking his reverie. "My Lord, someone wishes to meet you," they informed him. Souta turned, curiosity evident in his expression. "Who?" he inquired. "The Head of the Shimpan Family. They said an emissary from the Palleo Kingdom in the Obsidian Desert is here," came the response, delivered with respectful deference. "The Obsidian Desert?" Souta''s eyebrows lifted in surprise. He knew of the vast desert adjacent to the Hall Plains. Rising to his feet, Souta made his decision. "Very well. I will receive them. Arrange the meeting," he instructed. With a bow, the messenger departed, leaving Souta to contemplate the implications of this unexpected encounter. Souta furrowed his brow, wracking his brain for any knowledge he might possess about the Obsidian Desert. However, he soon realized that his familiarity with the region was limited to hearsay; he had never personally ventured there during his time in the game. Leaving the grave site behind, Souta hastened to his office, eager to gather more information. Consulting his subordinates, he requested any details they could provide regarding the Obsidian Desert. The reports revealed that the Obsidian Desert was vast, stretching several times the size of the Hall Plains. It was home to numerous small countries, each boasting considerable power and longevity. In terms of military strength, these desert nations were formidable, comparable to the affluent countries of the Hall Plains that harbored high-ranked Shackled Realms. Among these nations stood the Palleo Kingdom, a significant force in the region. Surveying the documents spread across his desk, Souta pondered the implications of this new information. "What do you think?" Souta asked, placing the paper files on the table. "I believe their interest in us stems from our connection to Olympus. It''s no secret that we''re warriors of Athen''s Champion, and your position as a Grain Leader sets us apart," Alice remarked, offering her perspective on the Palleo Kingdom''s visit. "I share the same sentiment," Souta nodded in agreement. The situation in the Obsidian Desert was dire, with tens of thousands of refugees fleeing to the Hall Plains a few months ago. The influx of refugees had reached staggering numbers, nearing the millions. Even before Souta''s journey to Selnes Country, refugees from the Obsidian Desert had been arriving. "It''s likely they seek to leverage our strength to aid them in their current predicament," Souta mused. "Let''s await their visit and discern their intentions," he concluded. He wasn''t concerned about potential attacks here. With Kessa by his side, they were the strongest monsters in all of Astros. Even a Hero-rank expert would hesitate to cause trouble in their presence. Moreover, a powerful formation covered the land, further bolstering their defenses. The Astros could take on a Seventh Shackle Realm, and even Eighth Shackle Realms would find it difficult to infiltrate. As the time for the meeting arrived, the group from the Palleo Kingdom gathered at the table, opposite Souta and his men. Crown Prince Servon observed the man with a striking appearance seated across from him. Despite sensing no discernible aura from this man, his instincts warned him of his danger. With crimson hair and a dark horn protruding from his forehead, along with eyes tinged with a crimson hue and dark-toned skin, the Crown Prince recognized him instantly as the infamous Blood Lightning Monster. The individuals beside him, though somewhat known, paled in comparison to their leader''s notoriety. The Crown Prince stood up and introduced himself. "I am Servon De Von Palleo, Crown Prince of the Palleo Kingdom, and this is my sister, Iris De Von Palleo." Princess Iris rose gracefully, clasping the hem of her dress, and offered a polite bow. Souta reciprocated their greeting with a smile, even though they were already acquainted with his name. It was customary and a gesture of respect. Observing them, Souta noted the strength of the Crown Prince and his companion. Alongside them, the Princess, while somewhat weaker, still possessed formidable abilities, comparable to Alice''s level. This was to be expected from individuals representing a nation that could be ranked a rick country. Crown Prince Servon was about to proceed with explaining the purpose of their visit when something unexpected occurred. Ohm! The air rippled with an unsettling vibration, and an eerie energy permeated the surroundings. Princess Iris, Sarguan, Alice, and the others felt an abrupt chill run down their spines. Souta fixed his gaze on the Crown Prince and the other two individuals, noting their surprise at the sudden turn of events. From their reactions, he deduced that they were not responsible for this anomaly. Looking upward, Souta observed the distortion in space, one directly above him and another above the Crown Prince. Gray wisps of smoke emanated from these rifts, carrying with them an unfamiliar energy. ''Souta... Dream Power!'' Saya''s voice resonated within his mind. ''Yes, it''s Dream Power,'' Souta affirmed silently, acknowledging her insight. There was no mistaking it; he was familiar with Dream Power and could readily identify its presence. In Selnes Country, Souta had employed his Dream Power to vanquish Nine Yin of the Gluttony Army. Swoosh!! Two pieces of paper fluttered down from the distorted spaces above. One landed before Souta, while the other descended in front of the Crown Prince. Both Souta and the Crown Prince reached for the papers that had appeared before them. Crown Prince Servon''s eyes widened in alarm as he read the contents of the paper. "What is it, brother?" Princess Iris inquired, noticing her brother''s sudden change in demeanor. She glanced at the paper in his hand and gasped in astonishment. Souta laid the paper on the table with a grin. "This is unexpected. I didn''t deliberately conceal it, but it appears they''ve learned it." Alice and Eilish leaned in to examine the paper. The first thing that caught their attention was a symbol¡ªa broom against the backdrop of a peculiarly drawn moon, with clock hands and numbers indicating midnight. Alice furrowed her brow in confusion, but Eilish''s reaction was different. Recognition sparked in her eyes as she recalled encountering the symbol before, while reading a history book in the Champion''s Den. A broom against the backdrop of a moon with clock-like features. Walpurgis Night. "It''s an invitation from the remnants of Walpurgis Night," Souta stated, tapping the paper with his finger. Crown Prince Servon, now composed, laid his paper on the table. "I received the same invitation. It seems it''s truly from Walpurgis Night." ... A man sat perched on the roof of a modest house, his short brown hair tousled by the breeze. His eyes, one blue and the other green, held a peculiar gaze as he studied a piece of paper clutched in his hand. Engraved on it was a symbol: a broom set against a backdrop of a moon with clock-like features. "Tsk, Walpurgis Night... Those fellows couldn''t let it rest. They must be dreaming," he muttered, his voice carrying a note of disdain as he continued to gaze at the symbol before him. ... A woman reclined in a bikini, her curves accentuated by the scant fabric. Crimson hair cascaded down her back, and a pair of sunglasses rested atop her head. She was Red Mist, known among the experts who had invaded Selnes Country. With a glass of juice in one hand, she held a piece of paper in the other, her gaze fixed upon it. "Walpurgis...? Those fools never learn. They''ll never restore the glory of Walpurgis Night," she muttered before taking a sip of her juice. Beside her, a small figure flitted through the air. "Are you attending? Or will you decline the invitation?" the figure asked. It was Red Mist''s spirit, Fiamma. "Of course, I''m going. I''ll never forget what they did. It''s about time I paid that cursed place a visit," Red Mist replied with a smile. ... In the heart of a dense forest, a man sat before an altar, surrounded by dozens of monster carcasses. He was bald, clad in a simple white robe, with a string of red beads adorning his neck. Beside him sat a petite woman, her long blue hair tied back in a neat knot. She gripped an exquisite longbow in her hand. "Witches... What schemes do they harbor in this turbulent age?" the bald man murmured. "I cannot fathom their intentions. It has been an age since I last set foot in that realm. I wonder whose side they are on," the woman replied, her voice calm and composed. ... Naturally, Souta wasn''t the only one to receive an invitation from Walpurgis Night. Across the land, various individuals found invitations in their possession. The common thread among them was their connection to witches, either through affiliation or their own status as witches. Souta tapped the invitation with his finger, his gaze shifting to the Crown Prince. "So, what brings you here? It seems the invitation is related to your visit, given that you''ve also received one." Crown Prince Servon studied Souta for a moment before sighing. He nodded and replied, "Yes and no. My purpose here is indeed linked to the invitation, but I wasn''t aware that Walpurgis Night would make a move at this time. My visit concerns my sister." "Hmm... Can you shed some light on Walpurgis Night? I assume your sister is involved, considering you received an invitation," Souta inquired, turning his gaze towards the princess. Chapter 961 Memory Loss ?Souta, Alice, and the other top members of the Astros convened around the table after the Crown Prince''s departure, delving into discussions about the Walpurgis invitation. "Hmm... Send a message to Amanda. Have her return here as soon as possible," Souta instructed. "The invitation... should we inform Athen''s Champion about this?" Eilish inquired. "No, there''s no need. Athen''s Champion won''t intervene unless we present compelling evidence, such as proof of collusion between Walpurgis and the Deadly Sins," Souta replied, pausing to glance around the table before continuing, "Additionally, since the invitation originates from the Dream Realm, it suggests that Walpurgis is situated there. Even if we were to bring warriors from Athen''s Champion, the Walpurgis stronghold in the Dream Realm would repel them and transport them elsewhere." "So, we all can''t go there?" Alice questioned, her expression narrowing. "That''s correct. The invitation has its limitations," Souta affirmed. . "The invitation specifies that the banquet will take place in a month and a half. However, the exact time and location will be revealed closer to the event," Eilish explained in a subdued tone. "Which is why I need Amanda back here. I''ll be taking her with me. But we still have a month, so there''s no need to fret," Souta reassured, placing the Nightmare Mask on the table. "For now, activate it and attempt to gain entry to the Nightmare Realm. If successful, you''ll acquire the power of dreams." "The Nightmare Realm? I''ve heard it''s a part of the Dream Realm..." Eilish mused, eyeing the mask on the table. Souta, now possessing the power of dreams, had no need for the Nightmare Mask to access the Dream Realm. "Dream Power is beneficial. It will enhance your combat capabilities to a certain extent. Though I can''t guarantee how many of us can attend Walpurgis, gaining Dream Power will afford you more freedom in the Dream Realm," Souta elaborated. Since Walpurgis was situated in the Dream Realm, having Dream Power would be advantageous. Crown Prince Servon shared some details about Walpurgis that Souta hadn''t known from the game. Suddenly, a knock interrupted their discussion. Souta, Alice, and the others turned their heads towards the door. "What is it?" Souta inquired. "My Lord, Sir Eztein, Sir Franklin, and Sir Vashno have awakened," a voice announced. ... Souta was inside a room, observing as Eztein, Vashno, and Franklin regained consciousness. He noticed that their strength had greatly weakened. Previously, Eztein had been at Three Shackles, but now he had dropped to Two Shackles. "What are you feeling?" Souta inquired. Eztein looked at him before replying, "It''s the same, just weaker. But I believe I can quickly regain my former strength." "I feel much the same," Franklin added. "It feels normal, as if the loss of memories is inconsequential," Vashno remarked. "I see... Do any of you recall what happened to you?" Souta probed. Despite their efforts, Eztein, Vashno, and Franklin struggled to recall the events that led to their loss of strength. No matter how hard they tried, a crucial part of their memories seemed to be missing. The only recollection they had was of being with Erkigal in a strange space, assisting in the removal of mashed-up realities. Souta posed various questions, hoping to glean some relevant information about their experiences in Selnes Country. However, it became apparent that their memories were too fragmented to provide any useful insights. With his focus squarely on obtaining the mythical-grade fruit, Souta had little time to spare for delving into the details of what occurred in Selnes Country. The transformation of Paente into a formidable entity, along with the absorption of the tree that bore the mythical-grade fruit, marked the climax of the battle. With Gilaine''s demise, the conflict reached its conclusion. Leaving Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin to their recollections, Souta excused himself and made his way to another room. In this room, the woman called Erkigal was sitting on the bed. She turned her head when Souta entered the room. "You''re here," Erkigal said. Souta sat on the vacant chair before observing the changes in her body. She was the same as the three others. She, too, had suffered a loss of strength. "Do you remember what happened?" Souta asked. "I don''t know. I''m sure that the others are in the same situation," Erkigal replied. Pausing, she glanced at Souta before looking out the window. "But some words keep lingering in my mind." "What are they?" Souta narrowed his eyes, curious. "Frozen Continent, No God Emperor, and Forbidden Curse... These words kept popping into my mind, and I don''t know why. It seems like something important," Erkigal said. Souta widened his eyes, feeling surprised at her words. "No God Emperor..." He heard the name of that god once again. Was he related to this event? And the Frozen Continent... This land was the most mysterious among the seven continents. Even Souta, who experienced the game, didn''t know much about this land. "That''s the only thing that I know," Erkigal said. "I understand," Souta nodded. The things that happened to her and the others were beyond his imagination. It was probably the same for him because he too couldn''t remember his past, only fragmented pieces of it. With his current power level, Souta could easily delve into his memories and even rearrange them, yet his past remained elusive. Only fragmented pieces were left, such as his name and other basic details from Earth. It was as if those memories didn''t exist at all. "Do you need anything? I can arrange everything you need. I''ve also helped the people of the Flaem Clan settle in the Hall Plains," Souta said to her. During her unconsciousness, he had already delved into her background. He discovered that she was the former Clan Leader of the Flaem Clan. Many clan members perished in the war, but hundreds survived. In the scale of the current Hall Plains, the power of the weakened Flaem Clan was significant. After all, Hono Flaem, the current Clan Leader, was at the top of the SSS-rank. There was likely no one in the entire Hall Plains who could defeat her except for Souta and Kessa. "What happened to the other Five Master Clans?" Erkigal asked. Souta explained to her what had transpired after the conclusion of the battle in Selnes Country. The Botano Clan was decimated, with thousands of its members perishing and leaving nothing alive. Their Clan Leader, Paente Botano, betrayed the army by attempting to massacre everyone. Ultimately, he met his end at the hands of Souta, Red Mist, and Kessa. The Darkna Clan was severely crippled. While not all were dead, most of their experts had perished, and their Clan Leader, Bezvin Darkna, suffered a similar fate. The current strength of the Darkna Clan was greatly diminished, with the strongest remaining expert only at the Solidifying Realm. The Windi Clan faced a similar fate to the Darkna Clan, losing nearly ninety percent of their strength. Reaching their previous level of power would require significant time and resources. The Methal Clan fared relatively better than the other two clans. Although they suffered significant casualties, a higher number of experts survived. The strongest surviving expert was at the Fourth Shackle Realm. Four out of the five Clan Leaders had perished in the battle. After conversing with Erkigal, Souta exited the room. The other regions of the continent remained relatively calm. Although the war''s intensity was high, it was contained within the territories of Bruim Principality, Selnes Country, and Fedru Republic. While some areas experienced chaos, it paled in comparison to the conflict with the Gluttony Army. Only smaller nations were embroiled in such situations. The Holy Lands remained peaceful... for the time being. In his office, Souta sifted through the events that unfolded during his absence. The Dragon Council was growing stronger, consolidating their influence in the Hall Plains. They hadn''t encountered any threats beyond their capabilities. Sighing, Souta turned his gaze toward the window and called out, "Alice!" A few seconds later, Alice entered the room, her expression reflecting her confusion. "What is it?" "Um... Can you prepare some coffee for me? I want to relax for a while," Souta requested, slumping onto the table. "Why didn''t you call the maid or the butler?" Alice inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah, I never thought about it," Souta admitted. Alice sighed, observing Souta''s half-slumped form on the table. "Fine, just wait for me." "Okay, thank you," Souta replied, his voice slightly muffled by the table. After a few minutes, Alice returned to the room with a cup of coffee. Souta lifted his head, the enticing aroma of the coffee drawing his attention. He smiled appreciatively as he leaned back in his chair. "Here is your coffee, Sir Souta," Alice said, adopting a mock- waitress demeanor as she served the coffee. "Thank you, I''m gonna give you five stars," Souta remarked, eyeing the cup of coffee with satisfaction. "Five stars?" Alice tilted her head, puzzled. "Well, you know, like when a customer visits a restaurant and they''re going to leave a review. Something like that. Oh, never mind, don''t worry about it. I forgot you''re a princess," Souta explained, taking a sip of the coffee. Alice settled into her chair, listening attentively. "I''m a princess, but I''ve been living a relatively normal life for the past few years," she clarified before shaking her head and asking, "Anyway, what''s gotten into you?" Souta shrugged casually. "Nothing much. I just felt like I needed to relax for a bit. I know I''ll be busy soon because of the invitation." "Are you sure you have to go?" Alice inquired. "Absolutely," Souta affirmed. "We have witches in our ranks, and since Walpurgis discovered that, we don''t have much of a choice. Besides, I''ve been looking forward to it. I want to see their approach in this chaotic era. Will they stick to their past? Whose side are they going to take?" He grinned, his curiosity evident. Chapter 962 Arrangement ?The current Walpurgis was but a shadow of its former glory, lacking the power it once held. After the most powerful witch fell to the Commandments'' blade, they scattered, hiding from the relentless pursuit that decimated their ranks. Even their most formidable practitioners faced the same fate, nearly driving them to extinction. In the game, the remnants of Walpurgis met their end. Souta remained ignorant of the details, piquing his curiosity. Dispatched to the demon battlefield by the Mechanic Country, he had little knowledge of events in God''s Continent. Though he could access information as part of Athen''s Champion and the Mechanic Country, he chose not to delve deeper. "They were indeed formidable," Alice reflected. "Their organization rivaled that of entire nations, and their leader was deemed mighty even among gods." "Indeed, Le Fay is formidable, though the extent of her strength remains uncertain. Their actions have certainly drawn the attention of the Commandments," Souta acknowledged. "The God''s Will. They''re the ones responsible for the destruction of the Hall of Power." "That''s correct. The full details of its demise elude me," Souta admitted with a shake of his head. "But dwelling on it won''t help. We lack sufficient information. I''m somewhat surprised you haven''t experimented with the Nightmare Mask first." "Eilish is handling that. Besides, I have reservations about the Dream Power. My father''s proficiency in dream control raises concerns about his intentions," Alice explained. "The Great Demon Emperor. While powerful in dream manipulation, his abilities have limits. If he could locate you in dreams, he would have done so long ago. His influence is formidable but not all-encompassing," Souta reassured her. The one who will be capable of that in the future is the Sea King. At that time, the Sea King will be able to manipulate all the dreams of almost every living being, except for a few like gods. The gods even set up a formation to protect their people from dying in their dreams. Mortals are too vulnerable in their dreams without the protection of the gods. "So you don''t have to worry unless you meet your father in your dream. I''m sure that your father could pull you out of your dream and bring you to his position if you ever meet him," Souta reassured. "I see," Alice nodded in understanding. "For now, you can try to gain the Dream Power. I''ll enter the Nightmare Dream once all of you succeed," Souta concluded. ... Souta strolled through the streets, eliciting respectful greetings from those he passed. "Good afternoon, My Lord!" Returning their salutations with a wave, he continued until he reached the area inhabited by the Toxinum Goblins. Holes in the ground led to their underground caves, their preferred habitat. The goblins gathered upon hearing of their Lord''s visit. "My Lord, how may I assist you?" inquired the Tribal Chief with deference. Souta observed them silently, noting their progress since their time in the sub-world. While they had grown stronger, their rate of advancement lagged behind that of humans and demis in the Astros. ''The pills and potions that could boost humans have little effect on monsters. You know, you''re not even using those pills or potions,'' Saya said to him. It''s not that those pills and potions were ineffective. It''s just that their effect wasn''t as pronounced as it was for humans and demis. The only things that could truly aid them were natural resources like mana fruits. With him now the Emperor of Goblins, their growth rate would increase, but whether they could catch up to the rest remained uncertain. It still depended on their inherent talent. "Nothing, you can go. I just came here to see if you''re doing well," Souta said as he waved his hand, dismissing the goblins. "Thank you, My Lord." The Tribal Chief bowed politely before gathering everyone and returning underground. Souta watched as the goblins returned to their home, contemplating the future progress of the goblins in his territory. With the Heritage and Bloodline Knowledge of Crimson Twilight, he believed he could aid them as long as they followed the path of Crimson Twilight. ''I will try to gather the small goblin tribes in the Hall Plains. I wonder if my call can reach them,'' Souta mused inwardly. Turning away, he left, intent on assessing the current state of the tribe that gave birth to Yenxa. He hoped to see them grow stronger quickly, knowing their fate would soon be intertwined with his as their emperor. Over the next few days, several goblin tribes arrived outside Ekatoe City in response to the emperor''s call. Despite their weakness, they emanated a dense bloodlust and ferocity. Unaccustomed to the presence of humans and demis, they also lacked intellect. Driven solely by instinct to heed the summons of a higher being, they arrived, unable to resist the call. Souta organized the city to accommodate the entry of the goblins without endangering the civilians. He instructed Doranjan to open a portal leading to the other side of the Guardian Fortress. Recognizing that the newly arrived goblins were not yet capable of coexisting with humans and demis due to their wild nature, he questioned whether summoning them was the right decision. Deciding to allow them time to adapt to the other part of the Guardian Fortress, much like the toxinum tribe, Souta planned to oversee their integration. On the other side of the Guardian Fortress lay Involin Forest, where they first arrived on the continent. Spanning over seventy kilometers in diameter, the forest primarily served as a refuge in case of emergencies in Ekatoe City. The Astros had no intentions of expanding their influence there; it was merely a contingency plan for evacuations. They paid no heed to the monsters dwelling in the forest. Standing alongside Doranjan, Souta observed the goblins. "Are you certain about this, Souta? Only a few of them can communicate, and their intelligence is lacking," Doranjan inquired, casting a glance at Souta. "Yes, we''ll give it a try. Yenxa''s tribe will also settle here, and this territory will be under my jurisdiction," Souta affirmed. "If you say so..." Doranjan resumed his observation of the goblins. Souta descended and pressed his palm against the ground. Closing his eyes, he followed his instincts, drawing upon the knowledge of the Crimson Twilight Emperor. Ohm! His energy surged, causing the ground to tremble. Blood began to seep from his pores before ascending into the sky. Moments later, a rain of blood fell, drenching the entire area in red. Souta slowly opened his eyes, taking a deep breath before rising to his feet. "W-What was that?!" Doranjan exclaimed. "It''s something like a ritual. From now on, this land is my territory. This place will enhance any of the goblin-type monsters, especially those of the Crimson Twilight," Souta explained with a smile. He glanced at Doranjan and added, "Stay here for a while. Ensure they don''t cause any trouble. You can eliminate any who refuse to comply." "Fine..." Doranjan agreed. "Okay, I''ll head back now," Souta said, waving his hand. He stepped through the portal, reappearing on the Astros side, where the guards bowed upon seeing him. Souta pondered his next steps. With some time before his departure for the Walpurgis, he decided to check on the progress of the others to see if they had acquired Dream Power. Success would mean they could enter the dream realm without relying on the [Nightmare Mask]. However, those of lower levels weren''t qualified; attempting the trial of the Nightmare King without sufficient strength would likely result in their demise. Arriving at his manor, Souta found that Alice, Eilish, Yuko, Eztein, Franklin, and Vashno had successfully gained Dream Power. Isabella, Gragas, and Torkez, lacking in strength, hadn''t attempted it, their focus directed elsewhere. Using Dream Power was challenging, especially immediately after acquiring it. Even Souta himself could only utilize it for brief periods. The last time he employed this power was during his battle with Nine Yin. "Try it. Enter the Dream Realm because I''ll enter too. I''ll see you on the other side," Souta instructed them as he picked up the [Nightmare Mask]. He then sat down and closed his eyes. Ohm! In the next moment, Souta felt his surroundings change. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a different landscape. No longer in his manor, he stood in his territory within the Nightmare Realm. This land, called Vanko, was divided into nine zones, each containing different regions. Souta''s territory lay in the Vorr Zone, specifically the Ming Region, where he held sovereign authority. "I''m back," he remarked with a smile. Chapter 963 Sovereign Ming Region, Vorr Zone. Souta rose from his seat and surveyed the surroundings, detecting hundreds of creatures nearby. These were the dream beasts inhabiting the area. He found himself on one of the floating islands within this region. However, this island no longer floated; it had crashed during his confrontation with the previous Sovereign of the Ming Region. Realizing he needed to locate Alice and the others, Souta understood they could not have landed in other parts of the Nightmare Realm; the trial only took place here. While the Ming Region boasted abundant resources, they were currently of little use to him. Although it would be beneficial to bring these resources outside, he lacked the capability to do so yet. Such a feat required a high level of Dream Power. Nevertheless, Alice and the others would benefit greatly from the available resources. As for Souta, the only path to increasing his strength lay in confronting higher-ranking Sovereigns. Souta glanced at his sword and asked, "Saya, are you there?" ''I''m always here,'' Saya replied. "Well, last time, I couldn''t bring anything with me, so..." Souta shrugged his shoulders. ''That''s because you didn''t have Dream Power at that time. It''s different now,'' Saya said. "Hmm..." Souta suddenly turned his head as he sensed something. ... Dozens of figures were inside the crashed floating island. They were inhabitants of the Dream Realm called hullscan, a demi. Hullscan weren''t that different from humans. Their appearance was almost the same except for their tall figures and grey-colored eyes. An adult hullscan could reach a height of two and a half meters. Their group was led by two people: an old man and a man who looked to be in his early thirties. The old man was one of the great magicians of hullscan named Aorhen, while the younger man was an elite swordsman named Vabhron. They were leading this expedition team. According to the information, a commotion had occurred in the Ming Region. Various dream beasts left this region, and they started occupying other regions. Their goal in this expedition was to verify what happened to the Ming Region. The group was resting inside one of the large pieces of land that had crashed on the ground. "We only encountered a few monsters," Vabhron said as he glanced at Aorhen. "Most of them went to the other regions. The state of the Ming Region isn''t normal. Almost all the floating islands have fallen." Aorhen pointed at the ceiling and added, "Also, this large piece of land that we are in should be packed with thousands of monsters, and from what we''ve encountered so far, I can estimate that the monsters here didn''t even reach a thousand." "Yeah, it''s like a big fight happened in the region," Vabhron said with a worried look. Out of nine zones, the hullscan only occupied one zone, and this zone was the smallest of all. The other zones were occupied by vicious monsters. Fortunately, those monsters weren''t unified, so the hullscan managed to survive by working together. They owned four regions, and their Sovereigns were among the lowest ranking. They didn''t have anyone above rank 40. "I think it''s better if we go back now. We''ve explored almost half of the region and haven''t found anything except for traces of battle. It''s safe to say that we''ve completed our mission," Aorhen said. "We can''t yet. We should at least confirm if the Sovereign of the Ming Region is still alive or not," Vabrhon replied. Ohm! Suddenly, Aorhen and Vabrhon felt a chill down their spines. Both of them turned their heads simultaneously, only to see a lone figure with gleaming red eyes. "W-What is that?!" Aorhen shuddered at the sight of the unknown figure. "I-Impossible!! The Dream Power around that creature is resonating with the land!" Vabrhon covered his mouth in shock. Dream Power resonating with the land, no, it should be the core. It only means one thing. The figure before them was the Sovereign of the Ming Region. The title of Sovereign was a big deal in this place. It meant that they could suppress anything on this land that wasn''t a Sovereign. "Ahhh!" "Ugh!" The other people around them pulled out their weapons as they stared at the unknown figure. They couldn''t think straight as the suppression was clouding their minds. Souta stared at the group of hullscan. ''Oh, I see... My fight before against the previous sovereign must have caused a huge commotion. The other regions are probably investigating what happened,'' he said inwardly. Still, the hullscan were situated in the Hull Zone, so they must have experienced a lot just to arrive here. ''Are you going to kill them?'' Saya asked. ''Nope, they haven''t done anything to me, so I''ll let them go,'' Souta shook his head. Souta focused his attention on the group. They were shaking as they observed him with terror in their eyes. "Go back to your place. You''re lucky you haven''t done anything yet, or else you wouldn''t be able to leave this place," Souta communicated using monster language. "Y-Yes..." The group of hullscan bowed before hurryingly leaving. If the monster in front of them changed his mind, they would die. Souta stared at their backs as he pondered about the Hull Zone. The Hull Zone only contained four regions, all of which were of low ranking. It was adjacent to the Vorr Zone where the Ming Region was situated. Although it was nearby, the distance between here and the Hull Zone was still considerable. ''If the hullscan sent people to investigate what happened in the Ming Region, then there''s no need to doubt that the other regions would send people too,'' Saya remarked. "Hmm... Alice and the others would gather here. As for me, I will go to the other regions to see if there''s something that could help me," Souta replied. That''s right, Alice and the rest would gather in the Ming Region. Then, they would use the resources in this region to boost their strength. All of them were sovereigns too, as they completed the trial and gained Dream Power. Actually, they could take the resources in their regions, but they decided to gather together in case someone attacked them. . All of this was useless to Souta. The only thing that could help him was the resources in those higher-ranking regions. That''s why he was going to take them. He was going to challenge those sovereigns. "Let''s go!" Souta smiled as he bent his knees before launching himself. Boom! His figure crashed into the ceiling, tearing through the large piece of land. ... The land of Vanko was in chaos. Sovereigns who had stood at the top for decades had fallen, their thrones taken by unknown individuals. The sudden upheaval caught them off guard, as they hadn''t yet confirmed what had occurred in the Ming Region. Chaos enveloped the land as numerous dream beasts started to ravage other regions. Those top-ranking sovereigns didn''t bother themselves with the commotion, as the chaos was contained within the territories of lower-ranking sovereigns. Six regions had suffered a few days prior. Various individuals were sent to investigate, but they found only traces of battle and nothing else. This incident reminded them of a shocking event that had occurred a month ago in the Ming Region. The sovereigns of those six regions were missing, and their fate was unknown. In the Dean Region, within the Hull Zone, four individuals sat around a small table in a room inside a grand palace. Among them was a woman, accompanied by three men. These four were the sovereigns of the four regions in the Hull Zone: Yvun, Elio, Mira, and Ohrno. They were the pillars of the entire hullscan demi race in the land of Vanko. "It''s terrible," Ohrno said, a bald old man with a thick beard and mustache. "Yeah, six sovereigns have fallen few days ago," Mira nodded. She was a woman with long blue hair tied back. Elio remained silent, his gaze shifting to Yvun. He was the youngest among them, with short black hair, sharp eyebrows, and pale skin. Yvun looked at the three of them and said, "We need to prepare ourselves. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning. The entire lower ranking will likely be reshuffled." While others were unaware that six sovereigns had fallen just days ago, the four of them knew. As sovereigns, they resonated with the core of Vanko, allowing them to sense disturbances when a sovereign fell from the throne. They had sent their people to investigate the new sovereigns and their intentions. However, the event in the Ming Region a month ago remained shrouded in mystery, with no clear understanding of what had transpired in the battle there. Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door. "My Lord, the expedition team in the Ming Region has returned," a voice called from outside. "Call them in," Yvun commanded, turning his attention to his comrades. Soon, Aorhen and Vabhron entered the room, bowing respectfully to the four sovereigns of the hullscan race. "Can you narrate to us what you''ve experienced, leaving out no detail?" Yvun requested. Aorhen and Vabhron exchanged glances before beginning to recount their experiences to the assembled sovereigns. Chapter 964 Rank 11 Sovereign "You''ve encountered the new Sovereign of the Ming Region?!" Yvun expressed surprise. "Yes, My Lord. We''re certain it was the new sovereign," Aorhen and Vabhron confirmed. Yvun glanced at the three sovereigns beside him, then waved his hand, dismissing Aorhen and Vabhron. After they left, Ohrno commented, "They survived even after encountering the new sovereign. It seems this new sovereign isn''t bloodthirsty. As long as we don''t provoke him, it appears he''ll leave us alone." "I wonder where such a powerful being came from. He appeared and replaced a sovereign seemingly out of nowhere. Could it be that he came from outside of Vanko?" Elio pondered aloud, looking at his comrades. The land of Vanko was merely a small part of the Nightmare Realm, with countless lands and numerous powerful beings existing within it. "It''s possible. We didn''t even know such a being existed until now," Mira nodded in agreement with Elio''s assessment. "If the new sovereign is from outside Vanko, then we need to pay him a visit and express our stance," Yvun suggested, looking at his comrades. "What do you think?" "I''m on board," Elio agreed. "If we could establish friendly relations with the new sovereign, it would benefit our race," Ohrno chimed in. "I''ll stay here to guard our land," Mira volunteered. The lower-ranking sovereigns found themselves in a chaotic situation. The fall of the six sovereigns had sent shockwaves through various regions. Even those in the middle ranks were closely observing the situation in the lower ranks. Such occurrences were exceedingly rare, with six sovereigns falling simultaneously being unprecedented. Adding the incident in the Ming Region a month ago, a total of seven sovereigns had been replaced in a remarkably short span of time. There were sixty-eight sovereigns in total, divided into three groups: the lower ranking, middle ranking, and top ranking. Those in the top ranking held ranks 1 to 20, while those in the middle ranking were ranked 21 to 40. Sovereigns above rank 40 were categorized as lower ranking. In the Crane Zone''s Red Sea Region, Souta surveyed the magnificent landscape before him. Dozens of floating islands hovered above, surrounded by cascading lava that flowed like a waterfall. On the ground, volcanoes erupted, spewing forth vast quantities of magma. "Red Sea Region. Truly a spectacle," he remarked with a smile. "So, are you planning to attack this place?" Saya inquired. "It all depends on their response," Souta replied. As the Rank 60 Sovereign, he felt it was the opportune moment to advance in rank. Seeking resources to augment his Dream Power was his primary goal, but if push came to shove, he was prepared to challenge the sovereign of this territory. The Sovereign of the Red Sea Region held a position in the middle ranking, boasting considerable power. However, Souta had grown significantly stronger since his last encounter. "Let''s proceed," Souta declared, launching himself through the air until he landed on one of the floating islands. Scanning the area, he spotted a vibrant red lotus amidst the sea of molten rocks below. The lotus emitted an unusual energy, creating a hazy atmosphere around it. "It''s here, albeit not fully ripe. Still, it''s better than nothing. This could enhance the density of my Dream Power slightly," Souta mused, eyeing the lotus. Carefully, he stepped across the molten rocks, approaching the lotus. As he reached out to pluck it, a sudden sound caught his attention from behind. Turning around, Souta spotted a figure observing him intently. Half of the creature''s body was submerged in the molten rocks, its green scales gleaming under the fiery glow. With reptilian eyes, sharp fangs, and spikes adorning its back, it emanated a formidable presence. A glistening red gem adorned its forehead. . "It''s awake," Souta noted, raising his eyebrows. With an angry roar, the creature caused ripples to spread through the otherwise peaceful lava. Undeterred, Souta smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "I''m taking this." With a decisive motion, he pressed his hand down, unleashing a powerful force that sent the monster crashing down to the bottom of the molten sea. Gravity constrained its movements until Souta departed the area, leaving the creature to regain control over its body once more. A few hours passed, and across various lands, the same phenomenon unfolded. Souta seized everything he could find to aid in his improvement. The creatures inhabiting these realms were powerless against him; his strength far surpassed theirs. He didn''t even need to exert himself; his mere presence as a Sovereign was enough to subdue them. In a cave he had excavated using his [Burrow] ability, Souta sat in a lotus position surrounded by various plants and herbs he had collected. "Nevertheless, this place is in considerable turmoil. Dream beasts are engaged in battles everywhere," he observed with a sigh. Some of the items he had acquired came from the clutches of battling monsters, which he simply seized before their astonished eyes. "Regardless, it''s time for me to consume all of this," he declared with a smile, turning his attention to the gathered resources. For now, his focus would be on enhancing his Dream Power. A day later, the ground began to tremble before erupting violently. Boom! Several boulders were hurled into the air, shrouding the area in dust and smoke, from which emerged a silhouette. Ohm! A wave of energy surged forth, dispersing the dust and revealing Souta as he stepped forward, basking in his newfound strength. "I''ve leveled up," he declared with a smile, slowly extending his hand as gray smoke began to emanate from his pores. His Dream Power had also grown stronger. While leveling up was beneficial, his primary focus on this expedition was enhancing his Dream Power. Although still at [Dream Power I], it had significantly increased in potency. With this newfound strength, he could now potentially modify his territory¡ªa feat previously beyond his capabilities due to his limited Dream Power. "Oh?" Souta''s eyebrows lifted as he turned his head, sensing someone hurtling toward him at an incredible speed. It was likely the Sovereign of this region, alerted by the release of Souta''s newfound energy upon leveling up. "Hmm... Should I engage in combat, or...?" Souta pondered, stroking his chin. While this region held promise, his ambitions lay in claiming the position of a higher-ranking sovereign. With a smile and a shake of his head, he decided, "I''ll set my sights on the higher ranks." Boom! Souta shot off in the opposite direction, outpacing the incoming sovereign. Swoosh! He soared swiftly through the air, passing through several regions and alerting various sovereigns to his presence along the way. In just moments, he found himself in a peculiar environment, surrounded by water. Above and below, the sea stretched out endlessly, teeming with creatures swimming through the suspended depths. The Mare Region. Souta descended into the water, his presence now fully exposed to the countless monsters inhabiting the area. This should suffice. Boom! A tremendous surge of energy emanated from him, rippling through the watery expanse. With his energy now unmasked, it was inevitable that the sovereign of this region would take notice. Before him appeared a figure, humanoid but adorned with elongated horns, gleaming green eyes, and hair composed of needle-like strands. Its body was covered in blueish scales, and a tail bristling with spikes trailed behind it. It was the Sovereign of the Mare Region. "I am Dargan, Sovereign of the Mare Region. And who might you be?" Dargan introduced himself as he confronted the intruder. While he might have ignored a mere beast, Souta''s unmistakable sovereign aura demanded attention. A sovereign''s presence in another region was a serious matter. "I am Souta, Sovereign of the Ming Region. I suspect you know why I am here," Souta replied with a smile. "Ah," Dargan''s smile broadened upon hearing Souta''s words. "So you''ve come to challenge me for my position, have you?" "Yes, I seek to claim the rank of the 11th Sovereign," Souta affirmed. "It has been quite some time since anyone dared challenge me for my position. Very well, let us see what you are made of. May the land of Vanko bear witness to our battle! If you seek my position, you must be prepared to take it by force!" Dargan declared, his aura surging with intensity. "Come at me with all you''ve got!" "I wouldn''t have it any other way!" Souta''s grin widened in anticipation. The clash of their energies sent shockwaves through the sea, causing it to churn and boil. Nearby monsters fled in fear, sensing the immense power emanating from the two sovereigns. Outside the Mare Region, the other sovereigns hovered in mid-air, drawn by the palpable tension. They had felt the disturbance caused by Souta''s actions, especially the Sovereign of the Red Sea Region, whose resources had been plundered. With bated breath, they waited for the inevitable showdown between the two mighty sovereigns, knowing that the outcome would have far-reaching consequences. The battle for the rank of the 11th Sovereign was about to commence. Chapter 965 Souta vs. Dargan I The clash between Souta and Dargan intensified with each exchange, sending shockwaves rippling through the sea and beyond. Their collisions echoed with thunderous booms, shattering the tranquility of the Mare Region. Dargan''s laughter reverberated through the tumult as he met Souta''s challenges head-on. It had been years since anyone dared to challenge a top-ranking sovereign, and Dargan relished the opportunity to prove his dominance once again. The energy fluctuations grew more intense, drawing the attention of nearby regions. Even from afar, the other sovereigns could feel the power radiating from the battle, a testament to the monumental clash unfolding before them. Souta flashed forward, swinging his sword and sending dozens of energy blades hurtling towards Dargan. With fluid grace, Dargan maneuvered to evade each one, swiftly closing the distance between them with a powerful kick that propelled him through the water. Swoosh! His claws elongated and sharpened as he surged forward, aiming a fierce strike at Souta. Reacting quickly, Souta shifted his sword sideways to intercept the attack. In a swift countermove, he conjured another sword from his blood, thrusting it towards Dargan. Dargan responded by opening his mouth wide, unleashing a searing ray of energy. The clash of sword and energy beam ignited a massive explosion, sending shockwaves rippling through the water with a deafening boom. Emerging unscathed from the explosion, Dargan regarded Souta with a smile. "You''re strong! This is good! Now, kill me!" His energy surged, elemental power radiating from him like a tidal wave. Instantly, the entire sea reacted to his elemental energy, pressure intensifying several times over in an instant. Swoosh! "I could say the same to you," Souta replied, a smile playing on his lips. Retreating slightly, he noted the sea''s attempt to crush him. With a deft movement of his hand, he summoned a gravitational field, countering the pressure. Simultaneously, he activated all his skills to boost his strength to its fullest potential. Darkness spread through the depths of the sea as Souta activated his Second Mode. Swiftly, he moved through the shadows, appearing in front of Dargan. Dargan''s eyes widened in surprise. Reacting on instinct, he attempted to defend himself, but still felt a searing pain in his shoulder. Swoosh! Observing the deep cut on his shoulder, Dargan''s expression twisted into a wicked smile, his heart filled with excitement. [Elemental Drive: Water Force]! It wasn''t enough. He activated his skills on top of it. [Water Union: Sea Monster]! [Ocean Divine Will]! [Seven Sea Greater Body]! [Supreme Ocean Demolition]! Dargan''s energy surged, overwhelming Souta and pushing him back with its sheer force. This was the power of the Rank 11 Sovereign, a creature standing at the pinnacle of Vanko. "Then, allow me to match your display of strength!" Souta declared, his own energy pulsating. [Elemental Drive: Darkness and Light Integration]! As they observed the six sovereigns before them, they sensed something peculiar. Although there was resonance around their bodies, there was an inexplicable aura about them, leaving the hullscan sovereigns feeling unsettled. Alice, Eilish, and the others exchanged confused glances. The language of this realm differed from that of Imperium. Looking to Yuko for assistance, Alice addressed her. "Um... Yuko, could you please inform them that we can''t comprehend their language in the monster language?" In this moment, Yuko was their only means of bridging the linguistic gap. No creature could be incapable of understanding the monster language; it was merely a matter of translating one''s thoughts into any comprehensible sound. Yuko regarded Alice for a moment before nodding in understanding. Turning back to the three sovereigns, she relayed, "Hey, you! We can''t grasp your language, so communicate in a manner we can understand!" Yvun, Elio, and Ohrno exchanged puzzled glances. Their suspicions were now confirmed: these six new sovereigns were not native to Vanko. This revelation presented a new challenge. Uncertain of how to proceed in light of the language barrier, Yvun hesitated. "Um... perhaps we should return," he suggested tentatively, seeking input from his comrades. The situation was unfamiliar, and they were unsure how to navigate it. The clash between Souta and Dargan intensified, their blows resonating throughout the Mare Region. Waves of energy surged through the suspended sea as the combatants exchanged rapid, powerful strikes. Dargan manipulated the water itself, directing it to assail Souta from all angles. Yet, Souta countered with his own techniques, using gravitational force to push back against the aquatic onslaught. Dargan''s admiration was evident in his words. "To think you could match me blow for blow! You truly are skilled," he acknowledged. Souta returned the sentiment with a confident smirk. "And yet, you handle my assaults with equal finesse. It seems we are evenly matched." "I revel in this clash! It''s been far too long since I''ve experienced such exhilaration!" Dargan''s laughter echoed through the waters as he surged forward, his claws poised to strike at Souta''s vulnerable neck. Souta met his attack head-on, his sword arcing upward to intercept the deadly assault. The collision sent sparks of energy sizzling through the water, illuminating the dark depths with their brilliance. With a resounding bang, Dargan was sent hurtling backward, his form hurtling through the water until he crashed into a massive underwater island. Undeterred, Souta propelled himself forward, a blend of light and darkness swirling around him as he pursued his adversary into the depths of the sea. As Dargan emerged from the rubble, he underwent a startling transformation. His body elongated, his tail extending, and intricate black tattoos began to manifest across his scales. With each passing moment, his form grew larger and more imposing. [Monster Orb Release]! He roared, unleashing a surge of smoke and energy that enveloped the surrounding area in an eerie aura. Souta narrowed his eyes at the display of power but pressed on, his determination unyielding. Despite his own formidable abilities, he knew that Dream Power was the ultimate source of strength in the Dream Realm. Compared to the seasoned sovereigns of Vanko, his own reserves were meager, acquired in just a fraction of the time they had spent mastering their abilities. That''s why he sought to claim Dargan''s position¡ªto amplify his resonance and bolster the nourishment his Dream Power received from the core. With a swift movement, Souta closed the distance between them, his form unleashed. His vajra sword crackled with intense energy as it cleaved through the air, aimed directly at Dargan. Upon impact with Dargan''s claws, a powerful explosion ensued, reverberating through the depths of the sea. Chapter 966 Souta vs. Dargan II Boom! Souta was propelled backward by several hundred meters. Unfazed, he recognized Dargan''s formidable strength, understanding that their earlier exchanges had merely been a prelude to this real confrontation. "Dream Power... Elemental type, no, he''s more than that," Souta pondered, his gaze narrowing as he assessed his opponent. Despite the powerful currents and the suppression of shadows and light, Souta remained alert. He swiftly pivoted to face Dargan, gathering energy onto his blade as he prepared to counter the incoming attack. Swoosh!! Dargan didn''t retreat. He met the blade with his claws, delivering a devastating blow to Souta''s stomach. Ugh! Souta spat a mouthful of blood, which quickly transformed into spears that flew toward Dargan. With a wave of his hand, Dargan created an invisible field that instantly shattered the blood spears. "Come! Let''s fight!" Dargan roared madly. "As you wish!" Souta smiled, stepping forward without backing down. With each step, the surroundings underwent a dramatic transformation. The landscape turned crimson, the sky adopting a blood-red hue as if enveloped by a scarlet dome. [Twilight Zone]! Souta tightened his grip on his sword as blood gathered around his skin, swiftly transforming into black armor. [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]! Boom!! Souta and Dargan clashed fiercely. The [Great Black Orc] boasted the strongest strength among his armor yet Dargan could keep up with him. There was no doubt that Dargan was strong. Both of them were using their released forms, so it all came down to their individual skill to make a difference. Dargan was harnessing his Dream Power to the fullest, far surpassing the Sovereign of the Ming Region whom Souta had fought before. He manipulated the entire surroundings, making everything in the region feel like extensions of his own limbs. Dargan flew above and raised both of his hands. In an instant, all the waters in the sea were compressed into a tiny ball of energy. The density was so high that it seemed on the verge of explosion. Swoosh! Dargan fired the ball of energy in the next second. Souta widened his eyes and saw a concentrated beam flying at him. He was about to move when the surroundings changed again. The suspended sea reappeared out of nowhere, and it began to crush him. Boom!! In the blink of an eye, the concentrated beam swallowed him. It continued to advance until it crashed into the ocean below, causing a massive explosion. The Mare Region was a peculiar place. Several seas floated in the sky, while a large ocean lay below on the ground. Souta and Dargan were locked in combat in one of the airborne seas. The massive explosion reverberated throughout the body of water. The ocean split in two, transforming the waters into countless sharp needles. Some among them began plotting for after the battle''s conclusion. Regardless of the outcome, exhaustion was inevitable for the combatants. They planned to seize the opportunity presented by this momentary weakness. The significance of the Rank 11 position was immense. It offered substantial benefits through control of resonance alone. With access to greater Dream Power nourishment, the victor would inevitably grow stronger. Bang! Bang! Souta and Dargan continued their exchange of high-speed blows. Dargan manipulated the terrain to impede his opponent''s movements, causing constant shifts in the landscape. Swoosh! Souta leaped away just in time, narrowly avoiding the collision of two mountains that obliterated his previous position. The resulting explosion released a devastating surge of Dream Power. Quickly adapting, Souta''s armor shifted, transforming first into the protective [Stone Armadillo] to shield him from the blast, then into the agile [Jade Spider] as he spread his arms wide. Hundreds of webs shot out across the area. Dargan countered by conjuring countless water blades, which sliced through the webs Souta had scattered through the air. Swoosh! Unbeknownst to Dargan, Souta had already shifted into [Desert Grasshopper]. He closed the distance to Dargan before transitioning into [Great Black Orc]. Swinging his weapon, Souta forced Dargan to conjure an invisible barrier to deflect the sword. Bang!! "Although it pales in comparison to yours, I''ll tap into my Dream Power too," Souta grinned as white smoke emanated from his pores. His elemental power surged until it reached the Fusion Stage. Boom!! A massive explosion erupted, hurling Dargan''s figure several kilometers away. Dargan stabilized himself, groaning in pain as he lifted his head, his expression tinged with confusion. His opponent was undeniably strong, yet his Dream Power seemed lacking. How was this possible? Swoosh! Souta chased after Dargan, his figure pulsating with intense elemental energy. Darkness and light intertwined around his blade, creating a strange reaction. "You must be wondering why, right? Well, you won''t find out," Souta declared, his voice echoing with determination. His energy surged, and blood-colored lightning crackled around the blade as he swiftly swung it. "Ehe, you''re strong... You''re able to hold back even when facing me," Dargan observed, seeing the impending attack. He knew he couldn''t avoid it; all he could do was try his best to resist. Boom!!! The attack surged forward, a straight line of energy that left no room for resistance. Dargan, despite his formidable Dream Power, couldn''t withstand the sheer force of the blow. His lifeless body plummeted into the depths of the ocean. Swoosh! Souta glanced downward, a hint of surprise flickering across his features. Dargan had proven to be exceptionally resilient. Despite the devastating force of the attack, his body remained intact, a testament to his strength. "Now, onto the next part," Souta murmured, a determined smile playing on his lips as he turned his gaze towards the distant horizon beyond the Mare Region. Chapter 967 Douion Ohm! Souta sensed several presences approaching him at high speed. He anticipated this development. These individuals wouldn''t miss the chance to seize the coveted position of Rank 11 Sovereign. This was precisely why Souta hadn''t unleashed his full power during his battle with Dargan. If he had effortlessly defeated Dargan, these sovereigns might have been wary of challenging him. But now, they likely believed him to be weakened after the intense battle. Little did they know... A wicked grin spread across Souta''s face. Those who harbored ill intentions toward him would soon face the consequences. He would eradicate them without mercy, leaving no trace behind. ''They are here, Souta. Stop imagining some evil things,'' Saya''s voice resonated in his mind. "Oh?" Souta''s eyebrows lifted as he spotted several monsters. One, two, three... Ah, six! Six sovereigns. Rank 27, Rank 36, Rank 39, Rank 44, Rank 45, and Rank 51. Weak! Souta pressed his hand down, and his energy surged forth like a raging tide. [Serpent Dominance]!! "All creatures beneath me shall bow!" Before the six sovereigns could react, they were forced to the ground. Caught in Souta''s trap, they had no chance to escape. Souta raised his sword, and blood-colored lightning crackled above him. With a swift motion, he brought the sword down. Boom!! It was simple. Their fate was sealed the moment they entered the Mare Region. They shouldn''t have dared to challenge Souta, for it had become their graveyard. Had they known that Souta was concealing his true strength from the beginning, they would have fled long ago. The [Serpent Dominance] sapped seventy percent of their stats and resistance, leaving them powerless. Souta''s blade swiftly dispatched the six sovereigns. Today, a total of seven sovereigns had fallen. Souta closed his eyes and sensed the changes in his resonance. Compared to before, it was much better now that he was the Rank 11 Sovereign of the Mare Region. The nourishment his Dream Power received from the core of Vanko was simply amazing. This would enable him to increase his Dream Power faster. "Next time, I''ll let Kessa join so she can claim a higher position than me," Souta muttered. Beyond Rank 11 was like an entirely different world. Ranks 10 to 1 were all monsters at the fifth stage. He''d bring Kessa along next time he came here to pluck them down. He could try it alone, but he wasn''t sure if he could win the battle. Souta was strong, and he was confident he could exchange blows with a fifth-stage monster, but winning was an entirely different matter. He wasn''t confident he could defeat even the weakest fifth-stage monster. For now, he should focus on his goal. Souta looked into the distance. He launched himself and traveled several dozen kilometers. Soon, he arrived at the place where Dargan was living: an underwater cave. This cave was filled with all kinds of things and protections. "I''ll help you contain it," Saya said, standing beside him and raising both of her hands to assist. Glancing at him, she added, "I''ll focus on protecting the magic circles! You have dozens of them, so if one collapses, it could trigger a chain reaction. Focus your attention on that enormous energy!" "Got it!" Souta nodded, gritting his teeth in determination. The two elemental seeds rotated faster and faster, releasing a tremendous amount of elemental energy. The entire inner consciousness shook as darkness and light erupted. Some sort of energy formed around the three seeds, attempting to contain them. It was the Divine Might that he acquired from the mythical-grade fruit. Unbeknownst to him, the whole area outside of his inner consciousness started shaking as his energy spread throughout the entire region. The Mare Region felt the intensity. At that moment, sovereigns all over the land of Vanko were shocked. They all sensed the disappearance of seven sovereigns. This was significant, considering six sovereigns had fallen a few days ago, and one sovereign fell a month ago. In this short amount of time, a total of fourteen sovereigns had perished. This had never happened before. The whole of Vanko was becoming restless and chaotic. Various monsters from the regions whose sovereigns had perished started to rampage. Initially, it was only the lower-ranking regions that felt the chaotic situation, but now even the middle-ranking regions were growing restless. The situation would worsen once they discovered that one of the seven sovereigns who fell today held the Rank 11 position. So far, only the sovereigns near the Mare Region knew that Dargan had perished. A few hours later, Souta was on the floor, breathing heavily. "Are you okay, Souta?" Saya asked. "I''m fine. Thanks for helping me," Souta smiled. "It''s nothing. Anyway, I''m gonna sleep for a while, so don''t bother me," Saya said. "I know," Souta replied, sensing the fatigue in her voice. After all, she had helped him protect all the magic circles in his inner consciousness. The two of them had managed to avert disaster, but Souta hadn''t escaped unscathed. He had been badly damaged. He glanced at the system. The changes that had just occurred were immense, beyond his imagination. [Your Inner Consciousness was damaged!] [Your level had dropped to level 70!] [Your passive skill Divine Might had disappeared!] [Your Elemental Energy had disappeared!] [Your Dream Power had disappeared!] [You''ve gained a new stat Douion!] Souta felt strong, but he couldn''t exert himself too much due to the damage in his inner consciousness. He knew his body. It felt as if his level hadn''t decreased at all. As for his new stat called Douion, this was the fusion of elemental energy and dream power. The Divine Might became the shell of the two, mixing them together. [Douion I] "I want to test my strength, but unfortunately, my inner consciousness is damaged. The parasite couldn''t heal this type of injury," Souta muttered as he observed the flow of energy in his body. The source of Douion was in his inner consciousness, so using it would be a terrible idea. Also, his monster orb had an imaginary thread attached to his inner consciousness, silently supplying it with energy. So he had to be careful even when using best feram. "I don''t know how long it will take to recover from this. Douion... I want to test this as soon as possible. Is it worth it or not?" Souta massaged his temples. He couldn''t continue his plan with his current condition. He needed to go back to the Ming Region to find Alice and the rest. Chapter 968 Breakthrough Souta returned to his inner consciousness, where he encountered a large ball of energy in the sky. Within this sphere of energy, a small plant with two distinct colors - white and black - was visible. The plant emitted a constant, hazy mist. Observing closely, Souta noticed a thread extending from his monster orb and connecting to the top of the energy ball. This, he presumed, was the source of his Douion. "So, this is the source of my Douion? I should call it the Douion Pool," Souta mused. Surveying his inner consciousness further, he observed that while the magic circles remained intact, cracks marred the sky. He realized that if the damage he endured had been more severe, his inner consciousness might have resembled Saya''s - broken and devoid of substance. "I should give it a try," Souta said to himself. Raising both hands, he focused on controlling his Douion. Gradually, a white mist began to seep out of the energy ball. Controlling Douion proved more challenging than expected, but Souta remained determined. He understood that practice was key to mastering this energy. Then, a realization struck him. "Wait...?" Souta exclaimed, his eyes widening. He realized that Douion could potentially accelerate the repair process of his damaged inner consciousness. This wasn''t just a simple combination of two powers. It was a brand-new power with abilities that couldn''t be found in elemental energy and dream power. "I wanted to delve further, but I should pause for now," he sighed, exiting his inner consciousness. Stretching his arms, he felt the stiffness dissipate. Recognizing his current limitations, Souta acknowledged that relying solely on his physical abilities was his only option for the moment. Engaging in combat with beings of his level without access to his powers would be perilous. Even against Sovereigns ranked from 1 to 10, and those at Rank 12, who wouldn''t be affected by [Serpent Dominance], he would be at a disadvantage if he couldn''t access his full range of abilities. At the very least, they wouldn''t try to fight him today. His feats of eliminating seven sovereigns should be spreading right now. Within a few days, various creatures in Vanko would learn the truth of the battle in the Mare Region. It''s not that he couldn''t use his energy; it''s just that he couldn''t exert himself too much. It''s fine to use a little amount of best feram. "Sigh... I came here to improve my dream power, but something unexpected happened. I wonder how this will affect me in the future." Souta flew in the air while observing the surroundings. He picked up resources that he found in this region that could help him before going back to the Ming Region. If his condition wasn''t bad, then he would have stayed in the Mare Region. Upon his return to the Ming Region, Souta found Alice and the others exactly where he expected them to be, engrossed in their activities within the region. "Ah, you''re back!" Eilish greeted him with a glance. He planned to continue his strategy once he had recovered. When Amanda returned, he would gradually set his plan in motion. He suspected that the Astros were prepared for it. Ohm! Suddenly, an energy fluctuation erupted. Souta turned his head with a surprised expression. This energy signature... There was no doubt, it was Isabella. "She... She broke through the second shackle!" Souta exclaimed in surprise. It was astonishing how fast her progress was. She had caught up with Franklin and even surpassed Torkez. At this rate, she would soon catch up with the rest of them. "I thought her growth rate would slow down after reaching the Shackled Realm, but it seems I was wrong. She managed to break the second shackle even while researching potions and pills," Souta muttered to himself. Determined, he stood up and swiftly disappeared from his current location. Moments later, Souta arrived in Isabella''s lab. He found her there, a young woman with long green hair, wearing a lab coat, sitting on the ground with her eyes closed. As Isabella opened her eyes, the energy fluctuations around her began to calm down. "I''ve broken the second shackle," Isabella murmured, sensing the transformative shift within her body. With the barrier now shattered, she felt a newfound sense of potential, unbound by the previous limitations on her strength. "Congratulations," Souta offered with a warm smile as he approached. "Oh, Souta, you''re here," Isabella acknowledged, rising from her seat and adjusting her attire. "Undoubtedly, your breakthrough has been felt by everyone," Souta remarked, taking a seat nearby. He regarded her thoughtfully before inquiring, "It''s fortunate that you''ve surpassed this hurdle. How is your research progressing?" "Um... Can I ask where you acquired that pill?" Isabella queried, her tone laced with a hint of uncertainty. "Well, Saya is the one who gave it to me," Souta replied, his tone tinged with uncertainty. Recollecting the battle against the Red Matter Association, he remembered losing consciousness, allowing Saya to assume control of his body. The specifics of how she obtained the pill remained unclear to him. "Why do you ask?" Souta inquired, regarding Isabella with curiosity. "I believe it may be linked to the parasitic essence eater within our bodies," Isabella explained, her expression thoughtful. After collaborating with Torkez on their research, they had made significant strides. "I''m optimistic that we''re on the brink of a breakthrough." "It''s connected to our parasites?!" Souta exclaimed, his surprise evident. "Yes, the pill possesses characteristics that could benefit the parasites. Although we haven''t conducted a test yet, I''m confident it will enhance our parasites to a certain degree. Torkez noticed the similarities when he analyzed the data from my research," Isabella elaborated. "When will you begin the testing?" Souta inquired. "We''re finalizing our preparations, so I anticipate we''ll commence live testing next month," Isabella responded. Chapter 969 Thrones "Then, I''ll take my leave," Souta said before exiting Isabella''s lab. He couldn''t help but feel a sense of anticipation for the developments in her research. While he had hoped for Isabella, Doranjan, and Kessa to go to the Dream Realm to enhance their Dream Power, it seemed that plan would need to be postponed. As he walked away, Souta pondered on the potential implications of Isabella''s research progress. He eagerly awaited the results of their live testing, hoping it would bring positive outcomes. However, he also realized that Isabella''s research had taken longer than expected, primarily because she hadn''t initially realized the broader connections beyond the pill itself. It was clear to Souta that the pill was just one component of a larger project, with the other half revolving around the parasitic essence eater. Souta arrived in his office, mindful not to disturb Isabella in her research. Knock! Souta glanced at the door and said, "Come in." The door creaked open, and Erkigal entered the room. She scanned the surroundings before focusing on him. "What do you want?" Souta inquired. "I just wanted to inform you that I''m leaving today. I''ll be visiting the remaining members of the Five Master Clans," Erkigal replied. "You can do whatever you want. You didn''t need to tell me," Souta waved his hand dismissively. "Well, it would be rude if I left without saying anything to you. I just wanted to thank you for fighting for my country," Erkigal turned around, offering a wave. "It''s nothing. I''m just fulfilling my mission," Souta replied. Erkigal left the room, leaving Souta to ponder her next moves now that their country had become a battlefield. Would she choose to join the fight once she had recovered? Souta leaned back in his chair, his gaze drifting to the ceiling of his office. The mysteries surrounding the Five Master Clans lingered in his mind, their secrets hidden away despite his investigations after the war. Even Paente Botano, once a mere man, had ascended to formidable power, transforming into something beyond human. Yet, Souta found no concrete answers. It was as if someone had erased all traces of information or clues, leaving behind only unanswered questions. Their memories... must have been wiped clean. As he pondered, Souta''s attention returned to the door, sensing someone''s approach. A knock sounded, and he called out, "Come in." Alice entered the room and took a seat, her gaze fixed on Souta. Raising his eyebrows, Souta inquired, "What''s the matter?" "Tenth Grain War Leader has arrived," Alice informed him. "Grain Leader Carmel?" Souta''s surprise was palpable. "Yes, Grain Leader Carmel wishes to speak with you," Alice confirmed. "You should have escorted him directly," Souta sighed. "Very well, I''ll summon him," Alice conceded, rising from her seat. Over the next three days, Souta allowed his men to engage in continuous combat. They were only permitted rest during sleep. Most of their waking hours were spent sparring with each other, and gradually, they showed signs of improvement. On the fourth day, Souta granted permission for them to utilize their mana. The battleground expanded, and the barrier strengthened to accommodate their enhanced abilities. With the ability to use mana, the intensity of the battles surged even further. He watched the battle unfold with keen interest, eager to witness the extent of their improvement over the course of one week. "Let''s raise the stakes," Souta declared, pressing his hand downward. Instantly, a powerful gravitational field descended upon the entire area. Caught off guard, everyone dropped to their knees under the intense pressure. "Endure it! Push yourselves! Use this to toughen your bodies!" Souta urged firmly. He desired to exert even greater power, but he refrained from doing so, mindful of the potential harm it could cause him. The soldiers struggled immensely. The gravitational force was overwhelming, pressing down on them relentlessly. Despite his depleted energy, Souta still wielded enough power to challenge hundreds of experts at various ranks¡ªB, A, and S. His true strength far surpassed that of any individual present, the gap between them akin to the distance between heaven and earth. ... In the three theaters¡ªBruim Principality, Fedru Republic, and Selnes Country¡ªcountless warriors gazed skyward. The entire battlefield fell into an eerie silence as several beams of light descended from above, carrying with them an immense amount of energy that suffused the area. A deep, resonant hum filled the air. Various creatures experienced a peculiar sensation as the energy penetrated their senses and emotions. Their rage began to subside as the intensity of the light increased. Whether they belonged to the Alliance Army or the Gluttony Army, all felt the same inexplicable effect. They couldn''t help but swallow nervously, unaware of what was about to transpire. Only those at the highest echelons had any inkling of what awaited. Ice Death observed the battlefield from a distance, his brow furrowing with concern as the battle abruptly ceased. A sense of unease gripped him, though he couldn''t discern the cause. "What''s happening over there...?" Ice Death muttered to himself. Beside him, Thousand Earth and Spatial Whisperer remained silent, equally perplexed by the sudden halt in combat. They weren''t alone in their confusion. Even renowned experts from both factions were left bewildered. Thud! Thud! A thunderous pounding resonated within the minds of all present, as if originating from within their own bodies. Something ominous was on the verge of descending. Ohm! From the rays of light emerged figures resembling concentric rings forming a spherical shape. They bore no resemblance to humans or demis; their monstrous appearance was unmistakable. Each of these beings consisted of several interconnected rings revolving around a central crystal, with multiple eyes adorning their surfaces. In every theater of battle, two of these creatures descended, wielding immense power. "This...?!" Shen Yao, stationed atop the wall of Selnes Country, widened her eyes in shock. Memories of a book from her homeland flooded her mind¡ªa tome detailing creatures exclusive to the Angel Faction''s territory. The Apocryphal Monster - Throne. Chapter 970 Start of Panathenaic Festival As time passed, the Panathenaic Festival drew near. Souta felt a tinge of exhaustion, the strain of exerting even a small amount of energy weighing on him. Yet, he didn''t dwell on it, knowing it was all part of the process to train his men. With him absent, the rest of the squad would continue their training autonomously. Rather than delving into teaching them flashy combat arts or intricate skills, Souta focused on imparting the basics¡ªthe cornerstone of any proficient warrior. Accompanied by Alice, Souta stepped through the portal, leaving the remainder of the squad behind to manage affairs in Astros. Soon, Souta and Alice arrived at the Land of Eternal Spring, Athena''s territory within Olympus. It sprawled across a vast expanse, dwarfing even the Hall Plains in size. To put it into perspective, the Hall Plains occupied just one-twelfth of the Land of Eternal Spring''s territory. Within this expansive domain lay dozens of countries, all united in their worship of Goddess Athena. This land had stood for millennia, experiencing unparalleled prosperity. While occasional conflicts arose among the mortal countries within, they were swiftly resolved through the intervention of Athena''s warriors. Welcome to the Land of Eternal Spring, specifically the Acropolis of Athens¡ªthe seat of power ruled by the Athen''s Champion. This prestigious position represents the pinnacle of authority within the entire territory. The Acropolis rarely intervenes in the affairs of mortal countries unless the situation threatens numerous lives. As the main headquarters of the Athen''s Champion, the Acropolis of Athens houses the majority of warriors affiliated with the legion. It serves as a beacon of aspiration for the people of the Land of Eternal Spring, as their goddess resides within its walls. Exiting the portal, Souta and Alice gazed around in wonder. Although Souta had visited this place numerous times in the game, the real-life experience held a distinct allure. "So this is the Land of Eternal Spring..." Alice murmured, taking in the bustling scene as numerous warriors emerged from other portals. The festival had drawn warriors from all corners, converging them here. "We''re in the Acropolis of Athens, and over there..." Souta gestured toward a grand and magnificent palace in the distance. "That''s the Palace Goddess, the divine residence of our Goddess Athena. No one is permitted to enter unless granted permission by our Goddess herself." "Hm..." Alice nodded, casting a glance at him. "You seem quite knowledgeable about this place, especially considering it''s our first time here." Souta smiled and shrugged. "You could say that. It''s always good to do some research beforehand." Alice chuckled. "I''ll keep that in mind for next time." While they conversed, two warriors approached them, offering salutes. "Grain Leader Souta, we''ve arranged your lodging. Please, follow us." "Okay," Souta replied with a nod. The two warriors led them to an exquisite building. Given Souta''s status as a Grain Leader and his renowned achievements in the Hall Plains and Selnes Country, his accommodations were of the highest caliber. His reputation even surpassed that of some Chief Captains. After learning about their lodging arrangements, Souta and Alice set off to explore the Acropolis of Athens. Countless individuals bustled about, and the streets teemed with numerous experts going about their business. The entire place pulsed with activity and vitality. "Grain Leader Souta!" "So you still believe in prayers?" "Sort of." "This place is beautiful," Alice muttered, her gaze lingering on the majestic statue. "Yeah, it''s peaceful. It''s been blessed by the gods. Natural disasters won''t touch this place," Souta nodded in agreement. He glanced at Alice and added, "There will be a march on the last day of the festival. As a Grain Leader, I have to attend, and I''ll bring you along." "Sure, I''m fine with that," Alice replied. The plaza was bustling with people of all kinds, chatting and laughing with each other. The atmosphere was vibrant and alive. Whether they were ordinary folks or powerful warriors, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves on this day. Souta and Alice strolled through the streets, chatting animatedly as they sampled various foods from the street vendors. They also took in the sights, visiting beautiful spots and marvels like the statue of the Goddess Athena. Being in a place overseen by a god was truly a unique experience. The mana density alone was noticeably higher compared to other places they had visited. As they walked, various warriors who recognized Souta greeted him warmly. Some, like Manduk, were familiar faces, having sparred with him after he reached the fourth stage. There were numerous events taking place at the festival. Souta and Alice decided to attend the musical event, finding seats among the audience. They watched as various performers took the stage, their music predominantly centered around the Goddess Athena, fitting for the occasion. Souta was taken aback when he spotted Grain Leader Carmel on stage. He hadn''t known Carmel possessed such musical talent, let alone could perform so remarkably. "Perhaps singing is Grain Leader Carmel''s hobby," Alice speculated quietly. "Probably. And what about you? What''s your hobby?" Souta asked, his attention divided between Alice and the performance on stage. "Me? Um... How should I put it? I guess I don''t really have a hobby..." Alice replied, sounding uncertain. "You''re not being truthful. I can tell," Souta chuckled lightly. "Ugh... Well then, what''s your hobby?" Alice deflected, avoiding the question. "You already know. It''s training. I spend most of my free time doing that. It''s just that I can''t right now, for some reason," Souta replied. "What happened?" Alice''s eyebrows furrowed in concern as she waited for his response. Souta didn''t answer immediately. He turned to look at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the performance. "Well, something occurred in the Dream Realm that caused damage to my inner consciousness." "Inner consciousness?!" Alice exclaimed, standing up in shock. Damage to one''s inner consciousness was considered serious and difficult to repair. "Shhh!" Souta hushed her, placing a finger to his lips. With a snap of his fingers, he erected a barrier to muffle their conversation. "Calm down. It''s not severe, and I can repair it. I''ll explain further later; there are too many people around here." Alice nodded, gradually calming down upon hearing his reassurance. Chapter 973 Inner Consciousness Souta glanced at Alice and smiled. "Anyway, you still haven''t answered my question." "Ugh," Alice avoided his gaze, feeling a bit embarrassed. She hesitated before finally admitting, "I... I''m not sure if I can really call it a hobby or not, but I love trying different types of food." "Food...?" Souta closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. He realized that despite spending so much time together, he hadn''t noticed this about her before. She must have been doing it secretly while he was occupied with training or other matters. "Um... Say something, Souta!" Alice urged, feeling uncomfortable with his silence. Souta opened his eyes and glanced at her before giving her a thumbs up, a sign of encouragement. "What does that mean?!" Alice questioned, still feeling unsure. "I mean it''s perfectly fine. There''s nothing wrong with enjoying food. Besides, you''re strong and capable of controlling your energy. You can burn off any excess calories using mana, so..." Souta gestured with both hands, trying to reassure her. Alice turned her head away, focusing her attention on the performance on stage. "Why so silent? There''s nothing to be ashamed of. Look at me, I love drinking coffee, so much so that I even secretly opened a coffee shop in Ekatoe," Souta said, attempting to lighten the mood. "Yeah..." Alice responded softly, her embarrassment evident in her tone. She had always been drawn to food ever since she was a child, but she found it difficult to express this passion openly. Growing up in the Heavenly Demon Palace, she was constantly reminded of the importance of maintaining proper etiquette and an elegant demeanor as a princess. Souta glanced at her and smiled warmly. "Hmm... So that''s why you tried all the street foods earlier. It makes sense now." "Souta, please don''t say any more," Alice pleaded, using her hand to block Souta''s view. "If that''s what you wanted, you should''ve told me earlier," Souta said firmly, rising to his feet before taking hold of her wrist. Alice''s eyes widened as she felt herself being pulled along. Looking up at Souta, she heard his voice urging her, "Let''s go! Let''s try all the foods this place has to offer!" The two of them left their seats and wandered around, sampling various foods from different stalls. By the time they returned to their lodging, it was already late at night. Souta sat in a chair, poring over a paper in his hand. It contained the arrangement of the Panathenaic Festival, a document he had access to as a Grain Leader. "Last day...? They only mentioned a march. After that, it''s all blank. They''re definitely hiding something," Souta remarked, his brows furrowing in concern. "What could they be hiding?" Alice inquired, her curiosity piqued. Souta shook his head. "I have no clue. I don''t know what the higher-ups are thinking." She looked up and couldn''t help but gasp at the sight before her. In the sky, there loomed an enormous sphere of energy. Within this sphere, she beheld a plant adorned with two distinct colors. There were dozens of intricate magic circles scattered across the expansive sky. "W-What?!" Alice exclaimed, utterly taken aback. The sheer abundance of inner spells alone was enough to astonish anyone. It became clear to her why Souta exhibited such versatility in battle. Her astonishment swiftly turned to concern as she noticed the cracks in the air around them. Just as Souta had described, his inner consciousness was indeed damaged. Souta, standing beside her, smiled and inquired, "What do you think?" "It''s truly remarkable, just as you described. But how do you plan to repair the damage?" Alice nodded in acknowledgment before posing her question. "See that energy sphere?" Souta directed her attention to the massive energy sphere and elaborated, "My elemental seeds were fused along with my Dream Power. The shell containing them is constructed from the ability I gained after consuming the mythical-grade fruit - Divine Might. The fusion of my Elemental Power and Dream Power resulted in a unique form of energy. Somehow, this new power has the potential to repair the damage." Alice listened intently to his explanation. Souta''s Dream Power was elemental in nature, which might explain why the elemental seeds managed to fuse together with it so seamlessly. Their compatibility seemed promising. "Have you tested your new power?" Alice inquired. Souta shook his head, explaining that he couldn''t afford to exert himself too much, as it would only exacerbate the damage. "How long do you think it will take for you to repair the damage?" Alice pressed for more information. "Probably two to three months. Without this new power, it would likely take much longer," Souta replied. A thought occurred to Alice, and she turned to him, saying, "Then, what about the invitation to Walpurgis..." "I will attend. We can''t ignore the remnants of those witches. We need to understand their intentions," Souta declared firmly. Indeed, with witches among his allies, it was inevitable that they would attract the attention of the remnants of Walpurgis Night. Souta needed to ascertain whether these witches would be allies or adversaries. Exiting the inner consciousness, Souta reassured Alice of his well-being, though her concern lingered. Damage to the inner consciousness was not to be taken lightly. "Speaking of Dream Power, what type did you acquire?" Souta asked, curiosity evident in his gaze. "It''s a manifestation type. With my Dream Power, I can sense and absorb the emotions of living beings, using them to enhance specific strengths of mine. Its utility is somewhat limited at present, but it promises to grow more potent as I advance in its mastery," Alice explained, detailing her Dream Power. "You can absorb emotions... Is there a specific emotion for each enhancement?" Souta inquired. "Yes, essentially every emotion has its unique enhancement. For instance, fear can bolster my energy, while happiness can augment my speed," Alice replied. "I see..." Souta studied her expression before slowly remarking, "Your ability... Damn, you truly are a demon. Even your Dream Power has a demonic quality to it." Chapter 974 Exchange The following day, Souta and Alice attended the fighting game at the colosseum. It was a straightforward battle open to individuals below the Shackled Realm, with participants prohibited from utilizing spells or combat arts. Thousands of spectators gathered to watch the event, some even placing bets on the outcomes of the matches. Despite the low ranks of the participants, their skills were undeniably impressive. They outmatched Souta''s army by a significant margin. Souta aspired for his men to reach a level where they could rival these warriors, but he was aware that achieving this goal would be no small feat. "Grain Leader Souta!" Souta and Alice turned to see Grain Leader Carmel approaching them. "I''ve heard something intriguing about the last day of the festival. I think you''ll find it of interest," Carmel said mysteriously. "What is it?" Souta inquired, intrigued by Carmel''s cryptic words. "Just wait and see. The Palace Goddess will open its doors," Carmel replied. "The Palace Goddess?!" Souta exclaimed in surprise. "Yes," Carmel confirmed with a nod. Souta felt a little bit of confusion. If the Palace Goddess were to open its doors, it would signify the appearance of Goddess Athena to the public. This was no small matter, especially considering that most of the gods were currently preoccupied, closely monitoring the situation in the Eru Empire to see if Gluttony would make a move. Souta felt a little bit of confusion. If the Palace Goddess were to open its doors, it would signify the appearance of Goddess Athena to the public. This was no small matter, especially considering that most of the gods were currently preoccupied, closely monitoring the situation in the Eru Empire to see if Gluttony would make a move. "Do you have any updates from the battlefield?" Souta inquired, his curiosity piqued. Carmel cast a glance at him before responding, "The conflict is escalating. The Angels are taking it more seriously, deploying several Thrones to the frontline." "Thrones?! Those fifth-stage monsters exclusive to the Angel''s territory?" Souta''s surprise was evident. This development was unfolding faster than he had anticipated. "Yeah, those monsters wreaked havoc on the battlefield upon their descent. They''ve managed to advance the frontline significantly. There''s a rumor circulating that the Angels are planning to dispatch the Virtues battalion to the Fedru Republic, aiming to completely obliterate the Gluttony Army there," Carmel explained. The situation on the frontline seemed to be favoring the Alliance Army, with the Angel Faction taking proactive measures in the fight. "Even the Virtues battalion?!" Souta''s brow furrowed in concern. The Virtues were an elite combat unit within the Angel Faction, alongside the Principalities, Dominions, and Powers. Each had their distinct roles, but all were renowned for their formidable fighting capabilities. "I believe their aim is to ascertain whether Gluttony remains in the Eru Empire. If not, then the gods must remain vigilant, prepared for a potential ambush," Carmel offered his perspective. "And what of the demons?" Souta inquired. Carmel''s expression darkened as he replied, "The demons... They''ve fallen ominously silent since Gluttony seized control of the Eru Empire. I suspect they''re biding their time, waiting for the conclusion of the battle against Gluttony. Regardless of the outcome, it''s advantageous for the demons. That''s why some of the Holy Lands are hesitant to engage in warfare." "Are you sure you want to give me one? You''ve worked hard to earn those merits..." Alice expressed her concern, looking at him earnestly. "Yeah, if you don''t want it, then I''ll just pick one and give it to Eilish or Yuko," Souta replied casually. "N-No, I want it," Alice quickly responded, her mind racing as she contemplated her options. She pondered what type of fruit would be most suitable for her current abilities. Perhaps something to enhance her elemental power? Her elemental abilities were already nearing their peak, so if she could augment them further with the power of a legendary fruit, she might easily reach the Integration Stage upon breaking through the Great Shackle. Alice considered her options carefully. Perhaps a fruit that could enhance her mana pool, allowing her to sustain prolonged battles, would be beneficial. Alternatively, she could opt for a fruit that would bolster her physical abilities, granting her increased strength and endurance. With the Athen''s Champion being affiliated with a god and backed by the Holy Land Olympus, it was likely to possess a wealth of legendary-grade resources. In contrast, larger countries couldn''t afford such extravagance, typically reserving legendary-grade rewards for individuals deemed worthy of investment. However, within the Holy Lands, obtaining legendary-grade items was more straightforward¡ªas long as one had accrued enough merits, acquiring such rewards was feasible. Souta glanced at her before offering a suggestion. "I think we should go for the Great Breaking Iceborne Potion. It can help you concentrate energy to break your fourth shackle." The Great Breaking Iceborne Potion was crafted from a legendary-grade fruit and was specifically designed to concentrate energy, aiding in the breaking of a great shackle within an expert''s body. Additionally, it offered a slight enhancement to an expert''s ice element abilities. "Great Breaking Iceborne Potion..." Alice repeated thoughtfully. After a moment of contemplation, she agreed to Souta''s suggestion. Breaking a shackle was a pivotal step for her, as it would elevate the limitations of her strength and grant her various benefits. Therefore, prioritizing this advancement was crucial. "Then, let''s go," Souta said with a smile. He led Alice to the Athen''s Champion building, where he engaged in conversation with some of the warriors before exchanging his merits for a Great Breaking Iceborne Potion. Examining the potion in his hand, Souta noted its appearance resembled that of a standard mana potion. This highlighted one of the advantages humans and demis possessed¡ªthey had access to potions and pills crafted from various resources, their physiology being highly compatible with such ingestibles. In contrast, monsters couldn''t fully exploit the benefits of these potions or pills, even if they consumed the same ones. This realization prompted Souta to urge Isabella to develop a potion tailored specifically for monsters, one that would effectively cater to their unique constitution. "Take this," Souta said, handing the potion to Alice. Alice accepted the potion, examining it carefully. Souta observed her eagerness to use it and nodded. "Alright, go ahead and use it. Let''s ask some warriors to find a suitable place for you to safely break through." "I understand," Alice replied, nodding in agreement. The two swiftly departed and sought out some warriors to locate a suitable space. They arranged for a spacious room equipped with various runes designed to contain energy, ensuring that the breakthrough wouldn''t disturb anyone. Alice positioned herself at the center of the room, with Souta observing from the sidelines. Catching Souta''s nod of encouragement, she took a deep breath and then opened the potion. A peculiar fragrance wafted from the bottle as Alice swiftly consumed its contents. Ohm! Souta, arms folded, leaned against the wall, maintaining a watchful eye on Alice. He understood the significance of the potion''s effects; any excess energy would be channeled into breaking her fourth shackle. Boom! A powerful surge of energy emanated from Alice''s body, filling the room with an intense pressure. Undeterred, Souta remained unfazed, closely monitoring the fluctuations in her energy as the breakthrough progressed. Chapter 973 Welcoming of the Hero Alice felt her energy rising, focusing her concentration to carefully guide it. Sensing her strength gradually increasing, she could feel herself edging closer to the next level of power. Simultaneously, the room grew colder as her ice element expanded, the elemental seed within her body growing more profound and emitting an intense elemental power. She was on the brink of attaining the next stage of her ice element mastery. However, she soon reached the limits imposed by her shackles¡ªthe restrictive barriers of mortal potential. Unable to grow any stronger without breaking these shackles, Alice recognized that her only path to further strength lay in shattering these limitations. Ohm! Gathering her energy within her abdomen, she focused on sensing the great shackle¡ªa formidable barrier far more challenging to overcome than a standard shackle. Indeed, some experts struggled to break it at all, remaining trapped in the third shackle for years on end. "I still have enough energy," Alice thought to herself. Now that she had reached the limit of the third shackle, she was determined to break the fourth. With ample energy at her disposal, she knew she had to make the attempt. The Great Breaking Iceborn Potion proved its effectiveness. As Alice focused her energy on the great shackle, an ethereal blizzard formed around it, gradually encasing it in ice. Meanwhile, Souta observed Alice''s efforts intently. He could see her energy surging as she attacked the great shackle, causing it to show signs of cracking. Boom! The energy emanating from Alice intensified, signaling her progress in breaking through the barrier. "She''s ready to tackle it," Souta muttered, witnessing Alice''s determination. Alice was on the brink of achieving the coveted SSS rank, making her the first SSS-ranked expert in Astros¡ªa prerequisite for assuming the position of Grain Leader. Boom! A resounding echo filled the room, akin to the beating of a mighty heart. Had the room not been fortified by protective runes, Alice''s breakthrough would have surely caused a significant disturbance. Indeed, an expert ascending to the SSS rank was a momentous occasion. Crack! A powerful force emanated outward, and Alice slowly opened her eyes, sensing the profound changes taking place within her. The barrier hindering her progression dissolved, clearing the path for her to advance to the next stage of elemental power. "Congratulations!" Souta smiled warmly, genuinely happy for Alice''s achievement. "Thank you!" Alice replied gratefully, her expression reflecting her sense of accomplishment as she rose to her feet. Fragments of the shattered shackle littered the ground around her. With a subtle gesture, Souta employed a touch of his gravity manipulation to gather and control the fragments. These remnants were symbolic of Alice''s breakthrough, typical manifestations when an expert shattered a great shackle. Souta possessed similar fragments in his storage back in Astros, acquired alongside the Legacy of the Serpent Bearer. They held various applications, from crafting sealing stones to concocting potions capable of impeding energy circulation. However, their creation was complex and demanding. Turning to Alice, Souta inquired, "How do you feel?" Souta turned at the familiar voice and saw Alice approaching. She was dressed in an attire similar to Kassy''s, resembling a military uniform. "It suits you," Souta remarked, extending his hand. "There''s nothing that doesn''t suit me. My mother always said that to me in the past," Alice replied, linking her arm with Souta''s. "Let''s go," Souta said. With thousands of warriors in attendance, the parade commenced, winding its way through the Acropolis. Countless civilians lined the streets, watching and following the procession, while the rhythmic beat of drums filled the air. The entire atmosphere buzzed with energy. The Acropolis of Athens was vast, requiring three hours of walking for the parade to reach its final destination in front of the Palace Goddess. For the warriors, however, this journey was merely a stroll, and none of them showed signs of fatigue. Dum! Dum! The rhythmic drumbeats intensified as the procession approached the Palace Goddess, drawing the attention of countless spectators. A powerful choir began to sing, their voices resonating with the crowd and bestowing buffs upon all present. Upon the platform stood two magnificent creatures, their gaze fixed upon the gathering. They were Ember Pegasus, horses wreathed in flames with majestic wings unfurled. These fifth-stage monsters added an aura of grandeur to the occasion. In the next moment, a hushed anticipation swept through the crowd as a figure emerged from the towering doors of the Palace Goddess. Clad in flowing white garments, the figure was a vision of ethereal beauty, her chestnut-colored hair cascading around her snow-white skin. Atop her head sat a regal helm, accentuating her commanding presence, which permeated the air with an undeniable aura. She was none other than the Patron God of the Athen''s Champion, Goddess Athena. Approaching the platform, a tall figure garbed in black attire strode forth. It was Agape Gataki, one of the Division Commanders of the Athen''s Champion. "PAY RESPECT TO OUR GODDESS!" Agape''s voice boomed, echoing throughout the surroundings. Everyone, including Souta and Alice, knelt on one knee in reverence to the goddess, maintaining a solemn silence as they listened intently to Agape''s words. "Today marks a momentous occasion! A day of reverence to our esteemed goddess! She who bestows favor upon the wise and valiant, granting them rightful renown! We extol your strength, we acclaim your name, and we offer gratitude for your boundless blessings! Goddess, we honor you in all things!" As Agape paused, the warriors slowly rose to their feet, their eyes fixed ahead in rapt attention. Observing their response, Agape continued, "Today heralds a jubilant celebration! A reenactment of legendary heroics! We bear witness to the ascent of the courageous! Truly, a divine blessing upon us all!" Souta''s mind raced as he recognized the familiar cadence of Agape''s words. "Now, let us extend a hearty welcome to the hero of our tales, Grain Leader Souta!" Agape''s proclamation resounded throughout the gathering. Souta''s head snapped up, his eyes wide with astonishment. Suddenly, everything fell into place¡ªthe cryptic remarks from Grain Leader Carmel, the anticipation in the air, and now, the unexpected spotlight cast upon him. As he rose to his feet, the weight of realization settled upon him. Wasn''t this the Welcoming of the Hero? The realization struck him like a lightning bolt. Was he to be hailed as a hero already? It seemed too swift, too abrupt. He had anticipated embarking on two or three arduous missions before such an accolade would even be considered. Chapter 974 Chamber of Imaginary Souta made his way toward the platform, his heart still reeling from the unexpected turn of events. The Welcoming of the Hero... Those words from Agape had been meant for this very occasion. Heroes¡ªwarriors blessed by Athena herself, recognized for their ingenuity and courage in diverse trials. Becoming a Hero was an arduous journey, one that required much more than this singular moment. Souta felt he was merely a candidate, a step closer to the ultimate recognition from Athena. There was still a long road ahead before he could stand proudly beside her as a true Hero. A candidate like Souta would undergo a lengthy filtering process. Observers would scrutinize his actions to assess his worthiness. With numerous warriors vying for a god''s blessing and only a limited number of spots available, not everyone would succeed. Hence, a rigorous process of elimination was in place. Reflecting on his past deeds, particularly his pivotal role in thwarting the No God Emperor and his actions in Selnes Country, Souta realized these events had likely caught the attention of the higher-ups. It seemed they deemed him qualified to be considered as a Hero candidate. Approaching the platform, Souta knelt down, expressing his gratitude to the goddess. "Thank you for this opportunity," he said earnestly. Athena observed him before turning to Agape. Approaching the platform, Souta knelt down, expressing his gratitude to the goddess. "Thank you for this opportunity," he said earnestly. Athena observed him before turning to Agape. Agape, understanding his role, addressed Souta. "Warrior Souta, please stand up. You will receive this badge, signifying that you are one of the chosen ones of our goddess." He placed a badge with the symbol of Athen''s Champion into Souta''s hand. Atop the symbol was a crown, indicating that he was one of the Hero candidates. The crown, in gold, designated Souta as a Hero candidate, with the potential to turn silver upon achieving the status of a Hero of Athena. [Hero''s Badge (Red)]: A badge crafted for warriors chosen to become the Hero of Athena. (Hero candidate) Effect: +15% to all stats when participating in missions for Athen''s Champion. This badge marked Souta as a Hero candidate, while a fully pledged Hero possessed a dark-grade artifact. The boost provided by that artifact was 25%, and Souta had acquired it in the past, becoming Athena''s foremost warrior who fought for her will. Turning back to face Athena, Souta kneeled once more, presenting the badge on his palm. Athena approached him and took the badge from his hand. She spoke slowly, "Rise, my warrior." "I understand, Sir," Souta affirmed respectfully. "Okay, I''ll leave you now," Agape said before taking his leave. Souta bowed to his superior before approaching the device. As he activated it, the door slowly opened, and he entered immediately. With only two days at his disposal, he couldn''t afford to waste any time. As he stepped inside, Souta found himself in a darkened space, the typical appearance of the Chamber of Imaginary. He sensed the room drawing energy from his monster orb. Opening his arms wide, he allowed his energy to flow freely. Swoosh!! The Chamber of Imaginary had the ability to transform into any environment imaginable, provided it had enough fuel. It was a beneficial for mortals. As Souta opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by stars and galaxies in the vast expanse of space. Suddenly, the scenery twisted and shifted, transforming into a space identical to his inner consciousness. Athena had initially prepared a gift for him, but upon seeing his condition, she changed her mind. Realizing the state of his inner consciousness, she granted him access to the Chamber of Imaginary. This would aid in repairing some of the damage within. While two days might not be sufficient to fully heal, it would certainly expedite the process. "I''ll create an environment and harness the surrounding energy to assist in my current condition," Souta resolved. Focusing intently, he directed his efforts towards repairing his inner consciousness. The chamber''s power augmented his efforts, thankfully finding that the damage within wasn''t as extensive as feared. Without the aid of the chamber, repairing it would have been an insurmountable task. He contemplated creating a similar sanctuary for Astros, but the cost was prohibitive. Only a select few warriors within the Athen''s Champion had access to this chamber due to its exorbitant expense. Souta continued his task of repairing his inner consciousness. In the blink of an eye, two days had passed, and Souta''s time in the Chamber of Imaginary had come to an end. He stood outside the chamber, gazing at it with reluctance. Though he wished to linger, he knew he had no choice but to depart. The chamber''s consumption of resources was exorbitant, and he couldn''t afford to sustain it without making sacrifices, perhaps even selling some of his equipment. "This will suffice... The cracks in my inner consciousness have diminished, and I feel a greater capacity for exerting energy than before," Souta murmured to himself, assessing the benefits of his time within the chamber. Had his inner consciousness been undamaged, he would have devoted his attention to honing his abilities further. Resigned to his departure, Souta turned away from the chamber. He knew that greater gifts awaited him once he ascended to the status of Athena''s Hero. He left the Palace Goddess and headed straight for the Athen''s Champion building. Despite not leaving the acropolis yet, he decided to spend some time exchanging his merits for a few spellcasting books. While repairing his inner consciousness, Souta felt compelled to delve into the intricacies of spellcasting. He had already imparted the basics to the warriors of Astros, freeing up time for his own studies. Once he felt proficient enough, he planned to revisit the teachings with his people. After bidding farewell to familiar faces, Souta prepared to depart. He requested the opening of a portal and soon found himself back in Ekatoe City, where he was greeted warmly by the witches stationed at the portal. Chapter 975 Preparation Souta''s journey to the Acropolis of Athens proved to be unexpectedly rewarding. Becoming a Hero candidate earlier than anticipated and addressing some of the cracks in his inner consciousness through the Chamber of Imaginary were significant achievements. Upon returning to Astros, Souta learned that Amanda had also returned. Eager to catch up with her and discuss her recent endeavors, he promptly summoned her to his office. Amanda''s arrival was swift, her demeanor unchanged but her aura notably strengthened, indicative of her advancement to the First Shackle Realm. Despite her growth, she appeared relatively unchanged, likely due to her focus on gathering intelligence in various locations. "Sit down and tell me everything," Souta said. Amanda sat down and began narrating her discoveries. Souta listened attentively, refraining from interrupting her. As Amanda spoke, Souta''s expression darkened. He had anticipated this, but hearing the situation firsthand from Amanda made it even more dire than he had imagined. Amanda elaborated on the events unfolding in various small towns, cities, and countries unaffiliated with gods or any powerful figures in the Shackled Realm. Many of them were being ravaged, and Souta foresaw the situation escalating further. It was evident that he needed to devise a countermeasure for such scenarios. These small cults or terrorist groups were becoming increasingly unrestrained this time. Souta sighed as he glanced at Amanda. "Good job," he said. "I will revise the plan later, so stay here for a while." "I understand," Amanda nodded in acknowledgment. "Have you heard about the invitation?" Souta asked. "Invitation...?" Amanda looked puzzled. It became apparent that no one had informed her about the Walpurgis Night yet, which was understandable given everyone''s busy schedules. "Well, the remnants of the Walpurgis Night have sent us an invitation, so we''re planning on accepting it. You should stay here, as I''ll be bringing you with me," Souta explained to her. "Umm... Souta, can I ask what Walpurgis Night is?" Amanda inquired, sounding unsure. "Oh, so you have no idea about it," Souta responded, a little surprised. He then proceeded to explain to Amanda what the Walpurgis Night was, starting from their glory days when they were protected by their god until their eventual downfall. "I see. I''ve heard a few stories about them, but I didn''t realize they were the Walpurgis Night," Amanda remarked. She glanced at him and asked, "So what should I do now?" "You can find Franklin and the others. Join their training for a while," Souta suggested. "I understand," Amanda replied before leaving the room. "The four of us will attend the Walpurgis," Souta explained to them. "That''s the limit of the invitation, so we cannot bring more people with us." Souta also informed Athen''s Champion of his invitation to the Walpurgis Night. As a Hero candidate, it was imperative to keep them apprised of his whereabouts to avoid any unexpected disappearances. Recognizing the significance of Souta''s candidacy, Athen''s Champion expressed their concern and offered increased support. They even considered sending someone with Souta, but the limitation of the invitation prevented it. As a Hero candidate, Souta now received significantly greater support from Athen''s Champion. Monthly resources provided to him were several times larger than before, reflecting his elevated status. While he retained his title as Grain Leader, the addition of "Hero candidate" alongside his name further emphasized his importance. A day earlier... Souta found himself in the office of Vandal, the Chief Captain of the Third Set. "Are you certain about this decision?" Vandal inquired. "Yes, there are witches among my people, so I can''t avoid attending. Additionally, I''m interested in understanding the stance of the witches of Walpurgis Night amidst this chaos," Souta replied. "Very well, I''ll grant my approval. We cannot compel you to stay, so exercise caution. If you fail to return within two weeks, I''ll ask some of the Division Commanders to venture into the Dream Realm to retrieve you," Vandal stated. He placed his trust in Souta, especially considering Souta had a Nine-Headed Hydra within his ranks. "Thank you," Souta expressed his gratitude politely. "Then, consider it your mission. Your objective is to ascertain the stance of the Walpurgis Night. If you believe you can manage them, take whatever action is necessary. If not, retreat and report back to us," Vandal instructed before handing Souta a piece of red paper adorned with various symbols. "Take this. Tear it apart when you wish to retreat. It will reveal your location even in the Dream Realm." Back in the present... Souta was fully prepared. He had made all necessary preparations in the past few days, including focusing on repairing his inner consciousness after using the Chamber of Imaginary. While the cracks remained, they were less severe than before. He could now freely utilize his best feram, although employing the douion still posed a challenge. Nonetheless, he was ready to engage in combat if necessary. In addition to his other preparations, Souta had also maxed out two of his skills: [Void Shrouding] and [Void Entanglement]. He recognized that [Void Shrouding] would serve as the foundation for his future forbidden spells. These skills had both reached level 10, thanks to the ample skill points he had earned from his quests in the Selnes Country. Turning his attention to Alice, Eilish, and Amanda, Souta asked, "Are you ready? We''re departing soon." The three nodded in response, indicating their readiness. "Alright, then let''s not waste any more time," Souta declared before rising from his seat. Curiosity about why the remnants of the Walpurgis Night had disappeared in the game lingered in his mind. He intended to uncover the answer during this expedition. Chapter 976 Black Blood Cult Esquin remained seated on his throne, holding a piece of paper in his hand. After a moment of contemplation, he tossed the paper aside and spoke, "The angels are taking this seriously. They''ve even dispatched those thrones to the battlefield." Glancing at his kneeling subordinate, he instructed, "Inform the Black Blood Cult to mobilize. I don''t care about the method; I simply wish to gauge the reaction of the Holy Lands." "My Lord, the Black Blood Cult...?" The subordinate expressed surprise. "Yes, instruct them to act swiftly, or else I will have no qualms about eliminating them. It would be in their best interest to comply rather than face the consequences from my men," Esquin declared in a cold, unwavering tone. The Black Blood Cult was one of the organizations affiliated with the Deadly Sins. They relied on the Deadly Sins for protection, shielding them from potential extermination by the Holy Lands in the past. Numerous similar organizations operated under the auspices of the Deadly Sins, and they were obligated to comply with their directives. Over time, the Black Blood Cult had grown in strength, with its Cult Leader even ascending to the rank of gods. "I understand, My Lord," the subordinate responded before melting into shadows and vanishing from the room. Esquin leaned on his hand, a wicked grin spreading across his face. "The formation of the bloodstone will be complete soon. The final surge of energy approaches. At that moment, I will confront those gods," he mused aloud. With a swift movement, tens of thousands of figures emerged from the shadows of the Eru Empire. These were the experts from the sub-world personally cultivated by Esquin, his private force that other Deadly Sins couldn''t command. A select few among them had attained god-rank. In their former world, where only a Tenth Shackles level of power was sustainable, they had been trapped at that level for an extended period. It was only when Esquin brought them to the Divine World, Imperium, that their potential began to unfold. Now, they stood ready for the impending war, prepared to face the gods themselves. ... In the vast wilderness of the Blue Apple Territory, a group of individuals marched forward. They hailed from a Large Country, their purpose clear as they trudged through the rugged terrain. The Blue Apple Territory itself belonged to a Large Country known as the Aqua Serene Nation. Its name derived from the legendary Divine Blue Apples that had once flourished in the land. Twenty of these mythical-grade fruits had simultaneously appeared from a single tree, earning the territory its moniker. Within the carriages accompanying the group, a plethora of supplies could be found: food provisions, potions, and pills, all intended for delivery to the three theaters of war. Unable to utilize the portals due to their absence in these theaters, the group had no choice but to rely on traditional methods of transportation. After all, only the Holy Lands possessed the financial means to construct portals at will, and as mere support personnel, the group was hesitant to incur additional expenses. Moreover, the distance between the Aqua Serene Nation and the three theaters stretched over two thousand kilometers, requiring a substantial allocation of resources to establish a portal connection between the two lands. The Aqua Serene Nation wasn''t the sole provider of resources; neighboring Large Countries also contributed to the cause. While manpower predominantly hailed from the Holy Lands, the resources essential for the war effort were supplied by these Large Countries. Aware of the consequences should they withhold their support, none among them dared to voice complaints. If they failed to contribute, the Holy Lands would retract their forces, leaving the Large Countries vulnerable to direct confrontation with the Gluttony Army. Amidst their journey, the group suddenly came to a halt, the leader sensing a shift in the atmosphere. "Wait! Something isn''t right," the leader, an expert at the Eight Shackles Realm, exclaimed, raising his hand to silence his comrades. Boom! Boom! Boom! A cascade of explosions erupted in the three theaters, sending shockwaves rippling outward and billowing clouds of smoke into the sky. The ground quaked beneath the force of the blasts, threatening to crumble beneath the onslaught. With their disguises discarded, the cult members watched in awe as the colossal explosions unfolded before them, their sinister plan executed flawlessly. Swoosh!! A powerful gust of wind dispersed the smoke, revealing the warriors standing opposite the cult members. Despite the intensity of the explosions, only a handful of warriors had perished. Their veteran status allowed the higher-ranked warriors to react swiftly, erecting barriers to shield the lower-ranking fighters from harm. Furthermore, their foresight had prepared them for potential ambushes by Gluttony''s forces, allowing them to mitigate the impact of the attack. "Eliminate them all!" commanded a hero-rank angel in a cold, unwavering tone. A brutal skirmish ensued between the warriors of the Alliance Army and the cult members of the Black Blood Cult. It was a one-sided battle. The Alliance Army, comprised of elite warriors from various Holy Lands, swiftly dispatched the cult members with ruthless efficiency. Together, they constituted the continent''s finest fighters, and against such formidable opposition, the cult stood little chance. Within a mere half-hour, the Alliance Army had eradicated every last cult member, showing no mercy as they swiftly dealt with their adversaries. A thousand kilometers away, the Cult Leader''s expression soured as he witnessed the fate of his subordinates unfold. He hadn''t anticipated that, despite the element of surprise, his forces would fail to eliminate even a quarter of the warriors. "Should I...?" he murmured, his mind grappling with indecision. The Cult Leader hesitated, weighing the consequences of taking action. While he recognized that failing to impede the Alliance Army''s progress would displease Gluttony, making a move would entail expending more energy and risk detection by the gods of the nearby Large Countries. Even when he severed the supply routes, he had exercised caution to avoid drawing unwanted attention. Caught between conflicting concerns, the Cult Leader found himself at a crossroads, unsure of the best course of action to take. "I''ll eradicate them all in an instant and flee to the Eru Empire before the neighboring gods can detect me," the Cult Leader declared decisively. But before he could act, an ominous sensation swept over him, and in the blink of an eye, he found himself one hundred kilometers away from his previous location. A powerful arrow then crashed into the ground where he had just stood, unleashing a devastating shockwave. Boom!! The earth trembled beneath the force of the impact, sending ripples of energy reverberating throughout the area. "What...?" the Cult Leader gasped in astonishment, his eyes narrowing as he turned to confront the source of the attack. Above him, a man hovered in the sky, while on the border of the Aqua Serene Nation, a woman took aim with her bow, poised to strike again. "Hmm... So, you''re the Cult Leader of the Black Blood Cult?" the unknown man remarked, his voice tinged with curiosity. He was a tall figure, adorned with a thick black beard and mustache. Long hair cascaded down his back, and his eyes crackled with electric energy. In his hand, he wielded a trident exuding a formidable aura. "Amanikable..." the Cult Leader muttered the name of the god in a subdued tone. A sense of foreboding washed over him as he realized that the Alliance Army had anticipated the intervention of a god. To encounter a god of such stature was disheartening indeed. Chapter 977 Fall of a God Amanikable, the formidable God of Sea and Hunt, hailed from the Skyworld Faction, a powerful faction renowned as one of the Holy Lands. "I''m afraid your journey ends here," Amanikable declared with an air of certainty. "Don''t underestimate me!" the Cult Leader snapped, his teeth clenched in defiance. He was keenly aware of the dire predicament he found himself in. The god before him was no ordinary opponent, and the woman positioned at the border of the Aqua Serene Nation was another powerful god altogether. With his senses heightened, the Cult Leader braced himself, knowing that the moment the woman released her arrow, it would hurtle toward him with deadly accuracy. She was none other than Skadi, a formidable goddess known for her prowess in bow hunting, winter, and mountains. Towering at a height of ten meters, she possessed blueish-white skin and long, flowing white hair tied back in a neat bun. Adorned in dark clothing accented with white fur, her imposing presence exuded an aura of power and authority. In addition to Skadi, the gods of the Aqua Serene Nation observed the unfolding events from a distance. The Cult Leader keenly felt the weight of their collective gaze, the pressure of several deities scrutinizing his every move. Despite the daunting presence of Amanikable and the distant watchful eyes of the other gods, he remained determined to find a means of escape. With the other gods positioned one thousand kilometers away, he sought a way to evade their scrutiny and evade his inevitable fate. "You''re not going to make a move? Very well, then allow me," Amanikable declared before directing the trident in his hand towards the Cult Leader. In response, the Cult Leader''s aura surged forth, causing the entire area to quiver. With no hesitation, he unleashed his formidable domain. [Piercing Domain: Impaler of the Sky]! The landscape contorted as hundreds of thousands of spikes erupted from the ground, varying in size and shape. The largest spikes reached a staggering length of one kilometer, while the smallest were mere millimeters in length. Boom!! The inhabitants of the Aqua Serene Nation were suddenly overcome by a palpable pressure in the air. Sensing the impending danger, their gods swiftly intervened, warding off the overwhelming power of the Cult Leader''s domain. Without their divine protection, the entire nation would have been consumed by the relentless onslaught. Skadi remained unperturbed by the need to shield the people, knowing that they were under the guardianship of their gods. Instead, she focused her attention solely on the unfolding battle before her, her primary objective to contain the immense powers at play. Meanwhile, within the three theaters, the inhabitants were similarly gripped by a sense of impending doom as the overwhelming force of the domain threatened to engulf them. "This energy... Could it be... a god?!" one of the warriors exclaimed, his voice tinged with disbelief and awe at the staggering display of power. A god has appeared, and it''s not on the frontline. There''s a huge difference between gods and mortals. They couldn''t do anything about it except to escape, but where? There was an ongoing battle on the frontline, and there was a god battle on the back. Then, a blinding ray of light pierced through the heavens, its brilliance casting a vast swath of illumination across the land below. Even the gods locked in combat were not immune to its radiance. Suddenly, a colossal figure descended from the sky, a creature of unimaginable proportions. With four pairs of wings stretching out majestically, and four heads bearing the visages of a human, lion, eagle, and ox, it inspired awe and terror in equal measure. At the center of its form, where the roots of its wings met, a colossal eye glared outwards, its gaze piercing through the fabric of reality itself. A monstrous entity had descended from the Angel Faction, none other than the renowned Cherubim. As the battle between gods raged on, the Cherubim and Skadi worked tirelessly to contain the shockwaves and minimize the devastation wrought upon the environment. An all-out clash of the divine was inherently destructive, and their efforts were crucial in protecting the land from utter ruin. A deafening explosion rocked the battlefield, drawing Skadi''s attention back to the ongoing clash. In the midst of the chaos, Amanikable asserted his dominance, overwhelming the Cult Leader with relentless force. With a mighty thrust of his trident, he drove the Cult Leader into the earth, pinning him down beneath his divine power. Bang! Coughing up a mouthful of blood, the Cult Leader managed to wrench himself free from Amanikable''s grasp, retreating hastily to put some distance between them. Despite his injuries, he refused to yield, wiping the blood from his mouth with a grim determination. However, Amanikable made no move to pursue him further. Instead, he fixed his gaze upon the wounded Cult Leader, issuing a challenge veiled with a hint of respect. "If you still possess any strength, now is the time to use it," Amanikable declared, his tone firm and resolute. "Draw upon your reserves, Cult Leader. Show me what you are truly capable of." The Cult Leader remained silent, his jaw clenched in frustration. He knew that escape was no longer an option, not with Amanikable''s overwhelming might bearing down upon him. His domain had been shattered, leaving him vulnerable and exposed. With no other recourse, he steeled himself for what lay ahead, knowing that he must face his adversary head-on, even if it meant confronting the limits of his own power. "Oh, it seems you have yet to master it," Amanikable remarked, his expression betraying a hint of disappointment. With a resigned sigh, he realized that the time for mercy had passed. No one would come to the Cult Leader''s aid now¡ªit was time to bring this confrontation to an end. As the Cult Leader involuntarily took a step back, his blood seeping into the ground below, Amanikable''s demeanor shifted. With a determined resolve, he tightened his grip on his trident, his aura pulsating with unparalleled power. "Allow me to impart a lesson as your elder," Amanikable declared, his voice resonating with authority. With a commanding gesture, he raised his trident, causing the very fabric of space to tremble in response. "There are many names for this power, but among gods, it is known as the Grid," Amanikable explained, his gaze unwavering. "It is the pinnacle of divine strength, unique to each god. Some Grids may not offer assistance in battle, while others¡ªsuch as mine¡ªare formidable forces unto themselves." [Three Thousand League of Raging Sea]!! In an instant, the battlefield was engulfed in a maelstrom of energy, the sheer force of Amanikable''s Grid threatening to tear reality asunder. Sensing the impending danger, the Cherubim, Skadi, and the gods of the Aqua Serene Nation hastily marshaled their powers to contain the devastating onslaught. As Amanikable unleashed the full force of his Grid, the laws of reason and order seemed to bend and warp under its overwhelming power. Gods were forbidden from wielding such immense abilities, for fear of disrupting the delicate balance of the world. Yet, with the absence of the Administrators and the erosion of fundamental rules, the gods were free to exercise their might without restraint. No God Emperor tried to change it before but the Administrators interfered. With a resounding bang, the Cult Leader found himself engulfed by a deluge of water, its relentless force crushing down upon him, rendering him helpless and immobile. Every fiber of his being screamed in agony as the pressure threatened to shatter his very existence. "It is futile," Amanikable declared calmly, his voice cutting through the chaos. Stepping forward, he approached the incapacitated Cult Leader, a sense of inevitability permeating the air. "My Grid has nullified all the water resistance within you, leaving you vulnerable to my attacks." Despite the agony coursing through his veins, the Cult Leader refused to yield. Summoning every ounce of his remaining strength, he erected a powerful barrier, a last line of defense against Amanikable''s impending onslaught. "Useless!" Amanikable''s voice boomed as he thrust his trident forward, the force of the water overwhelming the Cult Leader''s barrier without hesitation. "As I stated, all resistance to water-based attacks has been nullified. Your defenses are powerless against my Grid''s influence." "It cannot be... I am a god! I should be impervious to such effects!" the Cult Leader bellowed in defiance. "Indeed, it is not impossible," Amanikable replied calmly, his gaze unwavering. "You possess no water resistance, rendering you vulnerable to my attacks, that''s my Grid [Three Thousand League of Raging Sea]. The only recourse against it is to wield another Grid in battle." With a swift motion, Amanikable''s trident flashed, impaling the Cult Leader''s head. Despite the Cult Leader''s futile struggles, Amanikable swiftly moved to extinguish his source, snuffing out the the life within him. On this day, a god met their end. Chapter 978 Obsidian Desert With a deafening bang, the Cult Leader''s demise unleashed a cataclysmic surge of energy, rippling outward and engulfing the surrounding area in a tempest of formidable energy. This was the aftermath of a god''s death¡ªa phenomenon that created the Ruin Battlefields. When a god perished, the immense energy contained within their energy pool had nowhere to go, resulting in a violent burst that ravaged the land far and wide. Amanikable, having vanquished his foe, withdrew his domain, allowing the chaotic energies to spread throughout the devastated landscape. In the wake of the battle, the once-stable terrain now lay in ruins, its very essence warped and distorted by the remnants of the god''s power. It was a grim reminder of the consequences of divine conflict, leaving behind a scarred and unstable realm where danger lurked at every turn. Amanikable looked around and said, ''It seems that no one helped the Cult Leader. Gluttony simply tested us.'' The Cherubim and Skadi turned their heads to look in the direction of the Eru Empire. Just one thing was sure: Gluttony was watching them. He must have wanted to know how the large factions would react. The gods were on standby. "Gluttony learned about our formation, so we need to change it. He knew how many gods were here, so he would prepare if he were to attack," Amanikable said. The Cherubim glanced at Amanikable and said, "You should''ve left the Cult Leader''s body intact. That way, more mortals would benefit from it." His voice felt like several people were talking at the same time. Amanikable cast a wary glance at the monster lord. It was his first encounter with a cherubim, a renowned monster lord from the Angel Faction, known for its extreme danger. "I really can''t do anything about it. You saw him still moving even after I pierced his head. As for the mortals, they can do as they please if they discover the excess energy left by the Cult Leader. Spoon feeding them won''t make them great experts," Amanikable remarked. Skadi glanced at both of them before suggesting, "We could completely shatter the laws binding this land together. That way, we could move it and position it in front of the three theaters." "That works for me. It would force even wandering experts to join the war if they wish to reap its benefits," Amanikable agreed. The cherubim remained silent, its reaction indicating complete agreement with their plan. They wasted no time after reaching their decision. A resounding echo filled the air as they severed the laws holding the land together. Removing a large piece of land, they positioned it in front of the three theaters. The damage they caused surpassed even that of the battle. As for the area between the three theaters and Blue Apple Territory, it became a void, devoid of anything except severed laws and concepts. The gods of the Aqua Serene Nation were powerless to intervene. It was the joint decision of the three Holy Lands - the Skyworld, Angel, and Asgard. "It will take considerable time for the area to stabilize, now that we''ve completely severed the laws," Skadi remarked. Alice inquired, "So, where do we head next?" "To the east," Souta replied. The Obsidian Desert dwarfed the Hall Plains in size but lacked comparable resources. Despite this, numerous formidable forces occupied its expanse, engendering frequent conflicts. Tens of thousands had sought sanctuary in the Hall Plains from this troubled land. Pressing eastward, the group eventually reached a city where they decided to rest and gather information. In a bustling pub, Eilish ordered drinks while the others discreetly listened to the conversations around them. Amanda surveyed their surroundings before speaking in a low voice, "Seems like this place is no different from the others. Conflict is rampant everywhere." Souta nodded in agreement. This city, embroiled in war with its neighboring counterpart, echoed the chaos prevalent throughout the region. Mercenaries, their voices brimming with tales of battle, filled the air of the pub. Alice''s expression soured as she absorbed the grim reality. She could envision similar scenes unfolding across the continent, though such news seldom reached their ears amidst their preoccupation with the Gluttony Army. "I suspect there''s someone orchestrating these conflicts from the shadows. I''ve been investigating the other places, and it seems certain organizations are perpetuating strife between these small cities," Amanda divulged to the group. Eilish interjected, her gaze darting around the room before she continued, "It''s to be expected. With larger factions concentrating their efforts on combating the Gluttony Army, smaller entities have seized the opportunity to act out. Look around¡ªmost individuals here are of modest strength. If we were weaker, we wouldn''t be as at ease. We''ve begun to prioritize the larger threats while neglecting smaller-scale issues like this one." Downing her beer in one gulp, Eilish continued, "Amanda''s assessment holds weight. The pattern matches the intel she gathered during her mission. Someone is indeed pulling the strings behind these conflicts. Whether directly linked or not, it''s likely that the instigator isn''t particularly formidable. They could be operating under another influential figure." In the midst of the chaos, factions boasting Shackled Realm experts, such as the Paleo Kingdom, remained largely unaffected. Glancing at Eilish, Alice inquired, "So, do we intervene?" Souta, however, took the lead in responding. With a sigh, he conceded, "Alright, I''ll handle it somehow. It''s not much trouble for me, anyway." Unnoticed by the patrons, Souta covertly unleashed his shadows. Seven doppelgangers materialized and swiftly vanished, each equipped with formidable combat prowess. "Absolutely," Eilish concurred with a nod. "Nipping problems in the bud is often the best strategy. Small issues can snowball into major threats if left unchecked." Souta, deep in thought, rubbed his chin before speaking up. "Speaking of which, I really need to deal with the Wingless Crows sooner rather than later. Allowing them to continue operating unchecked could lead to complications down the line. They''ve already attempted assassination once, and I can''t risk them interfering with important matters in the future." Reflecting on their previous encounter with the Wingless Crows in Selnes Country, Souta resolved to take decisive action against them. Intent on eliminating the threat once and for all, he planned to leverage his status as a Hero candidate to muster support for an assault on their headquarters. The Astros alone wouldn''t suffice; he would need every resource at his disposal for this confrontation. Chapter 979 Walpurgis Night Souta and the others listened to the conversation around them for a while. There was nothing new except for the wars across the entire region. The only places that weren''t affected were those lands that housed Shackled Realm experts. "We should go," Souta said before he stood up. Alice, Eilish, and Amanda followed behind him. The next day, the group continued their journey. They came across several cities with the same situations; all of them were embroiled in war. They personally witnessed how the war affected these places. It was different from the current peaceful Hall Plains. After all, the Obsidian Desert didn''t have an organization that held absolute power over the whole region, like how the Dragon Council did in the Hall Plains. Soon, they arrived in a place where sandstorms were rampant, with towering boulders of rock providing some protection against the elements. "Are you sure this is the right place?" Alice asked, her voice barely audible over the howling winds. "Yeah," Souta replied confidently. The group pressed onward until they reached an area where a strange formation of rocks gathered, forming what appeared to be a makeshift magic circle. Souta retrieved the invitation and noticed that it emitted a strong aura of Dream Power, confirming that they were in the correct location. Alice and Eilish, both attuned to Dream Power, immediately sensed its presence emanating from the paper. "It feels like no one has been here before. Are we the first ones to arrive here?" Eilish wondered aloud as she surveyed their surroundings. "Probably not. This place was likely constructed to facilitate faster travel for those near the Obsidian Desert. There are probably other similar locations with the same function, serving as entry points to Walpurgis," Souta explained. Indeed, there were likely several such locations where witches could enter and exit Walpurgis Night. If it were only situated in the Obsidian Desert, someone would have surely noticed witches in the area. Alternatively, perhaps they were exceedingly cautious and remained within their headquarters. Turning to Amanda, Souta handed her the invitation. "Here, you''re the only one who can bring us to Walpurgis Night." Only a witch could activate the invitation. Even if someone stole it, they would be unable to enter Walpurgis unless they were a witch. Amanda didn''t initially know what to do with the invitation, but as soon as she held it in her hands, information flooded her mind. In just a second, she knew how to activate it and enter the Dream Realm. Turning around to look at Souta, she said, "I''m going to activate it." Souta nodded in response, but then he raised his hand and said, "Wait!" Alice and Eilish glanced at him, wondering why he asked her to stop. Even Amanda was confused by his action. After a moment, Souta frowned and continued, "The doppelgangers I sent to resolve the small wars in this place are gone. Someone destroyed them." "What?!" Alice and Eilish exclaimed in surprise. They knew the capabilities of Souta''s doppelgangers, so if someone managed to destroy them, it wouldn''t be an ordinary expert. Whoever possessed the power to destroy the doppelgangers must be hiding in the Obsidian Desert. "Indeed, I wanted to investigate it, but it seems I have to postpone that for now. I''ll look into it later," Souta said. The individuals who destroyed his doppelgangers must be wary. They probably suspected that someone from the countries with Shackled Realm experts was involved. While the situation was still manageable, Souta knew he needed to address it before it became a bigger problem. Glancing at Amanda, he said, "We''ll investigate that later. For now, let''s focus on the witches." After hearing Souta''s words, Amanda took a deep breath. She then cut her palm and let her blood drip onto the invitation. Summoning her soul weapon, she sliced the invitation into several pieces. Swoosh! The pieces of the invitation emitted a stronger Dream Power. They swirled in the air before striking Amanda''s hand. Bang! A mark of the Walpurgis Night appeared on the back of her palm, emitting a dazzling light that enveloped everyone. In the next moment, they found themselves in a different place. Standing on a huge platform, countless islands floated above them. The unmistakable sensation of the Dream Realm confirmed their arrival. Alice looked around and said, "I wonder which part of the Dream Realm this is." "I have no idea. The witches keep this place a secret," Souta replied. "But it doesn''t seem like we''re at the Walpurgis," Eilish noted. "Yeah," Amanda nodded. "We need to find a way to get there. Follow me." They leaped from the platform and landed on one of the floating islands. Each island was unique; some were engulfed in ice or flames, while others were shrouded in storms. "Be careful. This place is different from where we earned our Sovereign titles," Souta cautioned. Vanko was relatively tame compared to this place, even though it was situated in the Nightmare Realm. Souta could sense countless dream beasts on different floating islands, either fighting or sleeping. Thud!! The islands shook heavily. Souta, Alice, Eilish, and Amanda paused as they felt a powerful energy in the air. They all raised their heads simultaneously as a shadow loomed over the entire island. "That''s...!" Eilish widened her eyes. "Don''t move," Souta commanded, noticing that the other dream beasts on nearby floating islands had stopped moving as well. Alice and Amanda remained silent as they watched the monstrous figure soar above the floating islands. The creature was terrifyingly huge, spanning almost fifty kilometers in length. Its body was covered in red scales, and its wings emitted a large amount of flames. Its sharp claws seemed to grasp at space as it continued its forward motion. It was a fifth-stage dragon. Judging from its presence, Souta could guess that it was at its peak¡ªa powerful monster even among fifth-stage dragons. The dragon shifted its gaze, scanning the numerous floating islands. After a while, it continued forward without bothering any of the creatures in the area, simply passing by. Once it disappeared from view, Souta and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief. Luckily, the dragon was just passing through; otherwise, the situation would have become much more troublesome. Eilish glanced at Amanda and asked, "Are you sure we''re in the right place?" Amanda nodded without hesitation. She was certain. The information she received had led them here, unless the invitation contained false information. "If Amanda says so, then this must be the right place. It''s possible the witches chose this location due to the powerful dream beasts, making it difficult for those who seek them to approach," Alice added. Without further delay, the group pressed on. Half an hour later, they stumbled upon a room teeming with dream beasts. These creatures were formidable, with the strongest among them reaching the peak of the fourth stage. The group swiftly dispatched all the dream beasts, their combined strength making the task relatively easy. Souta''s prowess far surpassed that of an ordinary peak fourth stage monster. While his inner consciousness was nearly healed, he still couldn''t utilize his douion, and had to be cautious when employing his inner spell, as the magic circle was situated within his inner consciousness. Once the room was cleared, they discovered a magic circle etched into the ground. "A magic circle?" Eilish remarked after examining it closely. "The pattern and structure suggest it''s another teleportation circle." "Teleportation?" Souta''s interest piqued. Amanda nodded in confirmation, explaining, "Yes, it''s a teleportation circle. This one appears to transport us directly to the territory of the Walpurgis Night. It''s a one-time use, and only a witch can activate it." Only a witch could activate it? It seems that witches really have a long history. They can even create magic circles exclusive to them," Eilish muttered. Only experts who truly mastered spellcasting could create a spell. These experts were called Archmages. Even if their power level was low, as long as they truly mastered spellcasting, they would be called as such. Souta glanced at Amanda. The Walpurgis Night had a long history, so their force couldn''t be underestimated, and they were cautious too. They set up teleportation so no one could pinpoint their location. He wondered if the thing that Chief Captain Vandal gave him would work. The witches must have prepared something to prevent anyone from pinpointing their location. They were prepared this much, so it should be possible. "I''ll activate it now," Amanda declared, her hands firmly placed on the magic circle as she channeled her mana into it. Ohm! The magic circle radiated a brilliant light, engulfing Souta, Alice, and Eilish as they stepped into its glow, their forms vanishing from sight. Swoosh! As the light faded, they found themselves in a new location, facing a colossal metallic gate adorned with the symbol of the Walpurgis Night. "We''re here," Amanda stated softly. Souta nodded in agreement. With little information about this place, he could only anticipate what awaited them beyond the gate. Thud! A resounding sound reverberated as the gate slowly began to swing open. Chapter 980 Entering the Walpurgis Night The towering gate creaked open, revealing a figure stepping forth. Clad in a pristine white attire, the man possessed blonde locks and piercing blue eyes. "Greetings, esteemed guests. It brings me great pleasure to welcome you. I am Harlon Aradia, your guide in the Walpurgis Night," the man announced with a courteous bow. ''A witch...'' Souta mused silently. Alice, Eilish, and Amanda regarded the man with curiosity, unable to detect any palpable energy emanating from him, yet sensing an inexplicable aura about him. "Dear guests, if you would be so kind as to accompany me. We have prepared accommodations for your stay," Harlon continued, a warm smile gracing his features as he turned and gestured for them to follow. Souta and his companions trailed behind Harlon, passing through the gate and into the mysterious realm beyond. They beheld a vast and bustling metropolis sprawled before them. People of diverse races ambled along the thoroughfares, engaged in lively conversation. It was a scene that diverged from their expectations; instead of being solely inhabited by witches, the city teemed with inhabitants of various demi races native to the Dream Realm. At every intersection, streetlights cast their glow, illuminating the nocturnal streets. In this perpetual darkness, a black sun loomed in the sky, emanating a potent aura of Dream Power. This was Walpurgis Night, the renowned headquarters of the witches. Once renowned throughout the world, the witches had retreated to the safety of the Dream Realm following the fall of their gods. Souta observed the black sun, noting its similarity to Vanko''s core but with a significantly greater intensity. Enveloping the entire city was a vast barrier, overlaid by a dense layer of Dream Power, all meticulously crafted to conceal Walpurgis Night from prying eyes. "So that''s why no one managed to discover them..." Souta mused silently. He surmised that this infrastructure wasn''t constructed by the present Walpurgis Night; rather, it must have been established during the faction''s prime in bygone eras. Presently, the group arrived at a colossal edifice. Inside, they were guided to a specific chamber. Harlon addressed them, "Here we are. Dear guests, you are free to explore the city or remain here until the banquet. Just remember to attend tomorrow''s festivities. If you have any inquiries, don''t hesitate to seek me out at the reception." With a gesture, he conjured a key, presenting it to them. "This key grants you access to your room," he explained before vanishing into the thin air. "Let''s enter the room first," Souta said, prompting Alice, Eilish, and Amanda to nod in agreement. They used the key to unlock the door and stepped inside, curious about what awaited them. As they entered, they were struck by the spaciousness of the room, which appeared larger than its exterior suggested. The furnishings and amenities were neatly arranged, with small lights floating near the ceilings and a thin mist adding an ethereal touch to the atmosphere. The room also contained multiple compartments, including entertainment areas and other facilities. "This is our room," Amanda murmured, taking in the surroundings. "We''re in a Dream Realm," Eilish remarked, walking over to a corner where she noticed a sticker on the wall. Curious, she touched it, causing it to enlarge and release a variety of food items. In an instant, a table filled with an array of dishes appeared beside her. "Whoa! It''s amazing! They really have powerful Dream Power," Eilish exclaimed, impressed by the magical display. Souta scanned the room and suggested, "Let''s check for any surveillance devices in this room. We can''t afford to have our actions monitored. We need to be cautious." The group meticulously inspected every corner of the room, but found no signs of surveillance equipment. Once satisfied that they were not being observed, Souta gathered everyone around a round table. "Tomorrow, we''ll attend the banquet. We''re unsure of their intentions, so we must remain vigilant. We''re isolated here, and we can''t rely on quick assistance if needed," Souta cautioned, his gaze sweeping over each of them. "Stay cautious and gather information about this place, but avoid trouble. If possible, refrain from conflict." His words were met with solemn nods of agreement from the group as they prepared themselves for the tasks ahead. ... At the same time, a woman with fiery red hair arrived in front of the imposing metallic gate. She was Red Mist, a formidable expert known for her prowess in battles within the Selnes Country. Frowning as she gazed at the gate, Red Mist found herself recalling unwelcome memories. After a brief pause, the gate slowly creaked open, revealing a figure on the other side. The figure was a tall man dressed in dark attire, with neatly cropped black hair. Before the man could introduce himself, Red Mist cut him off sharply. "Hold your tongue. I have no desire to listen to your words. I might just accidentally incinerate you," Red Mist warned, a surge of her potent aura emanating and pressing down on the tall man. "Ugh...!" The tall man grunted, feeling the weight of her power bearing down on him. Ignoring his discomfort, Red Mist strode past the gate, taking in the familiar sight of the city that stirred memories within her. "This place still looks the same. Those bastards, I wonder what they are planning. This time, I will settle everything that I have left," she muttered, her fists clenched tightly in determination. Taking a decisive step forward, Red Mist vanished from her position, leaving the tall man behind. Swoosh! She reappeared in the dark alleys of the city, her keen eyes scanning her surroundings until they settled on a wooden door nestled in a corner. A smirk played on her lips as she approached the door, opening it without hesitation. She was well acquainted with the owner of this establishment. As she stepped inside, Red Mist surveyed the area using her mana, her voice cutting through the air, "Mavois, come out!" An old man emerged from the shadows, his surprise evident in his eyes as he gazed at Red Mist. "You...?! When did you return? Are you planning to kill me now?" the old man named Mavois muttered in disbelief. Red Mist settled herself on a vacant spot, crossing her legs before answering, "Just now. You''re clueless, aren''t you? They sent out an invitation using Dream Power, and I received it." "Invitation?!" Mavois exclaimed, bewildered. "You really don''t know anything? It''s ridiculous. I''m warning you, Mavois. If you want to live, get out of this place," Red Mist said, her expression serious. "Are you going after them?" Mavois inquired. "I will settle everything that I''ve left in this place. Also, let me answer your question before. I have no plans of killing you this time, but you can''t hide here forever. If you don''t leave, then don''t worry¡ªI''ll make sure to kill you painlessly when the time comes," Red Mist said, her voice tinged with a hint of killing intent. "I know... I''ll never forgive myself either. Every day, the scenes of that day keep replaying in my mind," Mavois said, lowering his head. "It''s already too late for regrets. Let me ask you some questions. Who''s the current leader?" Red Mist inquired. "It''s still La Befana. After the incident decades ago, La Befana secluded herself and didn''t show herself to the public. Different factions think that she will retire soon, so they are eyeing the position of leader," Mavois answered. "Eh, after so many years, those bastard witches haven''t taken the position for themselves. They are really incompetent," Red Mist remarked, amused. She then stood up, giving Mavois one last glance before saying, "The next time we meet, you will die, so get out of here while I''m still being kind." Mavois remained silent as Red Mist left the place. He tightly clenched both of his fists and muttered, "She returned... She will definitely settle everything in this place." ... Souta, Alice, Eilish, and Amanda returned to their room after touring around the city, gathering information to familiarize themselves with the area. Walpurgis Night. A realm in the Dream Realm ruled by the witches, holding sway over numerous races and exercising absolute power within its borders. It was an isolated realm, with strict controls on exit and entry; only the higher-ups had the freedom to come and go as they pleased. The expanse of the city exceeded their expectations, with Walpurgis Night boasting many areas and regions. Souta speculated that this place resembled Vanko, where he had once held the title of sovereign. In Walpurgis Night, perpetual night reigned, and the atmosphere was saturated with Dream Power, continually altering the terrain. Indeed, the landscape and environment of the realm changed every hour, resembling a labyrinth. The barrier encompassed an expansive land area of approximately three hundred thousand square kilometers, with the black sun, emitting copious amounts of Dream Power, situated at a distance of about two thousand kilometers above the surface. They also discovered that the current leader of the witches was known as La Befana. However, concerning the invitation they had received, it remained a mystery to the public. This left Souta and the others perplexed, as it indicated that the witches were plotting something behind the scenes. Souta sat on the chair, his fingers tapping the table in thought. "They haven''t even disclosed the purpose of the banquet," he remarked. "I''ll remain here tomorrow. I won''t attend the banquet," Eilish declared suddenly. Souta turned to her, curious. "Why''s that?" "I plan to inscribe a teleportation magic circle here. That way, if anything untoward happens at the banquet, I can teleport you out immediately," Eilish explained. Souta nodded in agreement. It seemed like a prudent precaution, though he harbored doubts about the effectiveness of the teleportation within the confines of Walpurgis Night. After all, they were still within its isolated boundaries. It reminded him somewhat of the All-Filter Barrier Formation. Chapter 981 Murder While Souta and the others conversed, a knock echoed from the door, prompting them to turn their heads in curiosity. Alice rose to her feet and inquired, "Who''s there?" Upon opening the door, she beheld a man with long black hair dressed formally. An eye patch concealed his right eye, while his left eye emitted an unusual aura of dark green. "Dear guests, I''m Yonvi. Elder Amulgu has extended an invitation to her residence. She wishes to speak with you," the man introduced himself, elucidating his purpose for being here. "Very well," Souta acknowledged before standing up. The Walpurgis Night held sway over this enigmatic realm with formidable power. At its helm was La Befana, the witch who occupied the esteemed position of matriarch. La Befana had disappeared from the sight of the witches decades ago, yet her presence lingered through her life candle, which continued to burn in their Ancestral Hall. Although unseen, they knew she still lived. Within the Walpurgis Night, two major factions vied for dominance: the Silver faction and the Gold faction. Presently, they engaged in a struggle for the position of matriarch, sensing that La Befana''s life candle was waning. Once the flame extinguished, it would signal her demise. Elder Amulgu, an executive of the Walpurgis Night, aligned with the Gold faction, which sought to preserve the status quo of their clandestine existence. They preferred to remain hidden and disinterested in worldly affairs. Beneath the matriarch were two supreme elders, representing the Silver and Gold factions respectively. Below them stood six elders, further stratifying the hierarchy of power within the Walpurgis Night. Souta, Alice, and Amanda found themselves facing a woman of striking beauty. Her long green hair cascaded gracefully, and her eyes, pure white, exuded a sense of nobility and gentleness. Draped in a light-colored robe adorned with the insignia of the Walpurgis Night, she introduced herself as Elder Amulgu. "I summoned you here to convey my intentions. I harbor no ill will toward any of you, dear guests," Elder Amulgu spoke with a soothing voice, one that seemed to possess a calming effect on those who heard it. "For centuries, the Walpurgis Night has had no visitors from the realm of reality. Please, refrain from actions that may lead to misunderstandings." "Misunderstandings?" Souta arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "That''s correct. I''m here to urge you not to take any action before tomorrow''s banquet," Elder Amulgu clarified, casting a pointed glance at Alice and Amanda beside Souta, presuming him to be the group''s leader. "So, you suspect that one of us visitors, such as myself, is the murderer? If the killings began only after our arrival, it''s understandable to consider us suspects," Souta acknowledged. He then shrugged and added, "That''s acceptable. We''ll remain in our room until tomorrow." Elder Amulgu gave a slight bow and expressed her gratitude. "Thank you for your understanding, dear guests. We will swiftly apprehend the suspect. Additionally, I must ask you to refrain from interacting with other witches. Do not involve yourselves in the internal affairs of the Walpurgis Night." "In that case, why were we invited?" Souta inquired. "The truth is, I am uncertain as well. I received the same invitation as you did. None of us were the senders," Elder Amulgu admitted, pausing briefly before continuing, "We suspect that the one behind the invitation is Matriarch La Befana. Apart from her, we can''t think of anyone else." "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin thoughtfully, surprised by the revelation that the witches themselves were unaware of the invitation''s origin. Elder Amulgu continued her explanation, "There is a high chance that it was sent by the matriarch, but it doesn''t necessarily mean that other witches weren''t involved. We are currently investigating the origin of the invitation, but there has been no progress. Everything was concealed perfectly." Both the Silver and Gold factions began investigating the moment the invitation appeared. Despite their efforts, they had yet to uncover the truth. Hence, they decided to host a banquet for the visitors, hoping to gather clues about the mysterious invitation. The gathering scheduled for the following day was intended to be a simple discussion aimed at uncovering any leads. Following their meeting with Elder Amulgu, the group returned to their room. Souta opted to heed the elder''s advice and avoid conflict for the time being. However, he couldn''t shake off his curiosity about the events unfolding within the Walpurgis Night. It seemed that someone among the witches was vying for the position of matriarch, and the mysterious invitation was likely linked to this power struggle. There''s one more thing that intrigued Souta: when Elder Amulgu claimed they didn''t know the identity of the murderer, Souta sensed she was lying. It suggested that they were aware of the suspect''s identity but chose not to address it, likely to avoid external interference. Turning to Alice and Amanda, Souta inquired, "What do you make of this? You''ve been quiet, simply observing." Amanda shook her head and replied, "I''m not certain. But I''ve felt as though someone has been watching me. It doesn''t seem to be isolated to just me, though. I suspect all the witches may be experiencing the same." "Are you certain?" Souta pressed. "I can''t say for certain. It''s just a gut feeling," Amanda responded with uncertainty. "Hmm... If that''s the case, then something significant must be unfolding in the shadows," Souta mused with a grin. Alice gave him a pointed look before cautioning, "Don''t let your curiosity lead you into trouble, Souta. Remember, your inner consciousness..." Souta interrupted her with a reassuring gesture. "Don''t worry, I''m just intrigued by the prospect of uncovering more about the Walpurgis Night. Most factions across the world have little information about them since their isolation." The events of the past marked the decline of the witches. Morgan Le Fay, revered as a powerful being even among gods, spearheaded the golden era of the Walpurgis Night. However, their glory days came to an end with the intervention of Organ the Faith and Sanaamon the Purity. "Organ Assielin and Sanaamon Agres..." Souta muttered, recalling his numerous encounters with them in the game. He had faced repeated defeats at the hands of the Bringers of Calamity, due to him interrupting their plans. "I understand," Alice replied, her expression softening. "Just remember to prioritize your well-being. We''re in a delicate situation here, and we need to tread carefully." Souta nodded in agreement. "Of course, I won''t forget. We''ll proceed cautiously, especially given the circumstances." With that, the group settled in for the night, preparing themselves for the events that would unfold at the banquet the following day. ... In the dark alley of the city, two figures could be seen standing in front of a corpse. One was a bald man wearing a white robe, and the other was a short, petite woman with blue hair and eyes. "Amithaba... What a grim fate," the monk said as he closed both of his eyes. "Someone is killing these people," the petite woman said, her tone tinged with disdain. The corpse in front of them was mangled brutally, with almost every bone broken and countless tiny holes dripping blood visible on its skin. "Is this normal in this place, Edeya?" the monk asked the petite woman. "Back when I was living here, none of this was happening. It''s been a long time since I''ve been here, so I don''t know its current state," the petite woman named Edeya shrugged her shoulders. "If this is not normal, then the culprit is probably one of the guests like us," the monk said. "We don''t even know what the Walpurgis Night are planning, and someone is already targeting them. What should we do next, Zhang Ren?" Edeya sighed. The monk, Zhang Ren, turned his head in a certain direction before saying, "For now, let''s leave this place. The witches are coming. We''ll plan our next action later." Zhang Ren and Edeya left the scene. After a while, several witches arrived and saw the bloody corpse on the ground. The leader of this group of witches was Harlon Aradia. Looking at the corpse, Harlon couldn''t help but frown. He turned to his subordinates and said, "Clean it and investigate the surroundings. Find any clue to track the culprit. Don''t tell the public yet. We don''t want them to panic." "Yes, sir!" The other witches nodded. Harlon looked at the backs of his subordinates. He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Tsk, what are the higher-ups trying to do! Are they planning on letting the culprit go just like this? They even invited outsiders into this land." The higher-ups were hiding something from them. Harlon could feel it. The murders occurred after the guests arrived. He was confident that he could find the culprit, but the higher-ups insisted that they couldn''t take this incident to the public. They could only mobilize a small troop to investigate the matter to avoid causing commotion. The question was: how many guests had arrived in the Walpurgis Night? He didn''t even know the exact number of the guests, but there were quite a lot of them. Tomorrow, at the banquet, it felt like something was going to change. It sent shivers down his spine. Chapter 982 Witch Hunt The time for the banquet had arrived. The hall was neatly arranged, with all kinds of food prepared and elegant music echoing throughout the area. The witches were already present, chatting with each other with smiles on their faces. Souta, Alice, and Amanda arrived at the venue. "Most of the people here are stronger than me," Amanda said in a low voice as she observed the witches around. "It''s natural. If this were in the past, you would have seen even stronger witches," Souta said with a smile as he stepped forward to take a glass of wine. "Souta, do you think the bloodline of Le Fay still continues to this day?" Alice asked. "I don''t know. There''s probably a chance, but according to what I know, Le Fay didn''t have any children before she died," Souta answered. "I see..." Alice turned her head to the side as she noticed several people entering the venue. The other guests had arrived. The first group consisted of a monk and a girl. The monk wore a white robe with beads around his neck, while the girl was petite with blue hair tied back. Surprisingly, there were only two of them, even though the invitation allowed for four people. The second group comprised four men, led by a man with short brown hair. His left eye was blue, while his right eye was green. He scanned the room calmly, as if searching for someone. "That man is called Leyni. Like you, he is a dear guest of the Walpurgis Night," a voice sounded beside Souta''s ears. Souta turned his head and saw Harlon walking towards him. Harlon smiled and raised the glass of wine in his hand. He stood beside Souta and said, "The man beside Leyni is a witch like me. His name is Lobart." He then pointed at the monk and the petite girl. "That monk is called Zhang Ren, while the girl''s name is Edeya. They too are guests of the witches." "Hmm..." Souta observed the other guests. The guests arrived one by one, and Souta noticed several familiar faces. He hadn''t expected to see them here; it seemed they had also received invitations. There were a total of thirty-one guests in the venue, but Souta suspected that not everyone had arrived. Some might be deliberately hiding in the city. However, there were people he hadn''t expected to see: Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer. These two dared to participate in the gathering, despite being wanted individuals known for their attack on the Selnes Country. Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer noticed his gaze. They were a little surprised to see him there. Souta waved his hand and said, "Hello, we''ve met again." "Tsk! Bullshit monster!" Poisonous Vine clicked her tongue in annoyance as she turned her head away. Spatial Whisperer narrowed his eyes but didn''t say anything. He turned his head away, clearly not wanting to engage with Souta. Souta shrugged at their reactions. It seemed they didn''t want to associate with him. ''They''re here, but where''s Red Mist? She''s the only one who could have brought them here,'' Souta thought to himself as he scanned the crowd. He hadn''t caught a glimpse of her yet, so she was likely still in the city. "Those two are from the Gluttony Army, right? I''ve seen their faces from afar," Alice said, observing Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer. The atmosphere was lively as various people talked to each other, and Souta simply listened, discerning the truth and lies in their words. The guests conversed with the witches, hoping to glean more information. None of them had any idea about the purpose of the banquet. If someone claimed it was merely a gathering, no one would believe it. There had to be a motive behind such an event. "It seems normal," Alice remarked. Souta glanced at her before replying, "It may appear that way, but most of the people here have different agendas. I can discern the lies and truth in their words." "Those two are from the Gluttony Army, right? I''ve seen their faces from afar," Alice said, observing Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer. "Yes, they are quite strong. We should be cautious around them," Souta agreed. They were chatting when three people approached them. It was the group from Paleo Kingdom: the prince, princess, and the captain. "It''s good to see you again, Prince Servon, Princess Iris, and Captain Sarguan," Souta greeted the three. Prince Servon smiled and exchanged greetings with Souta''s group. After the pleasantries, Prince Servon inquired if Souta knew the purpose of the banquet. Souta shook his head and replied, "We have no idea, but I believe we''ll find out later. Many attendees would be dissatisfied if an explanation isn''t provided." "Indeed," Prince Servon concurred, scanning the crowd. "The other guests seem formidable, and some exude an aura of bloodlust." Alice suddenly asked, "Prince Servon, may I inquire if you were invited by someone yesterday?" Prince Servon glanced at her before replying, "Invited? No, we weren''t. Why do you ask?" "You see, an elder spoke to us yesterday," Alice explained. "An elder?!" Prince Servon, Princess Iris, and Captain Sarguan were surprised. "Yes," Alice nodded, recounting what had happened the previous day. "Hmm... Our guide only instructed us not to wander around the city, so we opted to remain in our room," Prince Servon said, looking at Souta. "The Lord of Ekatoe is well-known in reality, so I believe the elders didn''t want you to view them as rude by merely sending a message, hence their decision to personally speak with you." The venue fell silent as three figures approached the platform. These individuals were the elders of the Walpurgis Night, among the highest authorities in this land. Souta and Alice ceased their conversation, focusing their attention on the elders, as did the others in attendance. "They''re the elders..." Prince Servon murmured, observing the trio. Souta narrowed his eyes. Like Elder Amulgu, these three elders radiated an immense amount of Dream Power within their bodies, surpassing even the sovereigns he had encountered in Vanko. Prince Servon, Princess Iris, and Captain Sarguan hadn''t noticed, but the atmosphere seemed to shift. Only those with Dream Power would perceive the subtle changes. "Alice, if something happens, protect Amanda," Souta instructed in a language only she could understand. He spoke with a seriousness that conveyed the gravity of the situation. Alice nodded, recognizing the significance of Souta''s words. "Hello, everyone! I''m Cermine, an elder of the Walpurgis Night," one of the three elders on the platform introduced herself. Cermine was a striking woman with long, curly black hair and captivating eyes. She wore a loose robe and a sizable hat atop her head. Suddenly, Cermine stopped talking, her gaze shifting to the two elders beside her. "What''s happening?" she asked, her tone tinged with concern. "I don''t know!" the two elders replied, equally perplexed. Their conversation was audible to everyone in the venue; they hadn''t taken measures to block the sound. The sudden exchange puzzled the gathered guests. Then, without warning, a dense surge of Dream Power descended. The entire venue quaked as powerful energy fluctuations erupted in every direction. Boom! The crowd stood frozen in shock, utterly unprepared for this unexpected turn of events. Souta, Alice, Amanda, and the prince''s group were taken aback. Information flashed in their minds, and the same phenomenon occurred throughout the entire venue. "What''s happening?!" Elder Cermine exclaimed as she processed the sudden influx of information. She quickly grasped the gravity of the situation; something significant was unfolding, poised to alter the course of the Walpurgis Night. In a matter of moments, the powerful experts in the room absorbed the information presented to them. "Witch Hunt." These two words resonated within the minds of everyone present, a clear and ominous directive. Souta heard a distinct sound within his mind and swiftly accessed the message. [Quest triggered!] [Witch Hunt]: In this game, participants are tasked with hunting witches. Those who successfully hunt witches who received the invitation will gain 15 points. Witches who don''t have an invitation are worth 5 points, while non-witches are only worth 1 point. However, if non-witches are included in a group with invited witches, they are worth 5 points. Upon acquiring 100 points, participants become eligible to use the stake. There are six holy stakes scattered around the land, each containing a witch''s corpse. Only those with the bloodline of the witch can use the stake to break the black sun. Note: There is a two-day time limit for the game. If no one manages to complete it, the Purity''s power will destroy everything. Rewards: 2 random cards, 20 skill points, 25 free attribute points, and 100,000,000 experience points. Souta understood the gravity of the situation. The mention of Purity''s power intrigued him, as it was one of the two beings that had clashed with Morgan Le Fay centuries ago, ultimately leading to the downfall of the God of Witches. It seemed that those two powerful entities were still influencing events in the Walpurgis Night, ensuring that no one could escape their grasp. The objective of the game, to destroy the black sun, hinted at the presence of Purity''s power within it. This revelation made Souta look up, pondering the implications of such a task. Chapter 983 Witch Hunt: Start Souta turned to Alice, his expression grave. "Be careful! Eilish will teleport us soon. This place is about to become a battlefield." Alice nodded solemnly, having also received the information and understanding the gravity of the situation. The Witch Hunt. In this deadly game, they were all compelled to fight and kill until they amassed 100 points to wield the holy stake. Those who reached this threshold would have the power to destroy the black sun, thereby ending the game. However, Souta sensed something different. While the information in his system quest was detailed, the knowledge conveyed by the descending Dream Power only outlined the rules of the game and the consequences of failure. It did not disclose that the force capable of destroying the realm was none other than Sanaamon the Purity. The power was more potent than he had anticipated. It was unheard of for external forces to implant information into his mind, let alone the minds of everyone present. The involvement of Sanaamon the Purity indicated a far-reaching problem, likely linked to the events of centuries ago¡ªthe downfall of Morgan Le Fay. "Souta, regarding the Witch Hunt... Should we consider leaving?" Alice asked, her voice laced with uncertainty. "We can''t. This is a forced summoning. Those who received the invitation are being brought here against their will," Souta explained. The only entities capable of resisting such a summons were likely those of godly stature. Reflecting on it now, the barrier, layered with Dream Power, bore striking similarities to the All-Filter Barrier Formation. Morgan Le Fay''s connection to the Isolated Formation God seemed increasingly apparent. "Hmm..." There were rewards awaiting the victors of the game, though the specifics remained unknown. However, the sheer density of Dream Power surrounding the notion hinted at its extraordinary value. Dream Power of such magnitude was exceedingly rare in reality, making the reward all the more enticing. Souta paused as more information flooded into his mind, undoubtedly originating from the Dream Power, disseminating to all present in the venue. There were rewards awaiting the victors of the game, though the specifics remained unknown. However, the sheer density of Dream Power surrounding the notion hinted at its extraordinary value. Dream Power of such magnitude was exceedingly rare in reality, making the reward all the more enticing. Boom!! The ground trembled as a brilliant light erupted. Souta swiftly positioned himself in front of Alice and Amanda, shielding them as another surge of energy descended upon them. Reacting swiftly, Eilish from afar enveloped Souta, Alice, and Amanda in her energy, conjuring magic circles beneath their feet. They found themselves being teleported away from the chaotic scene by Eilish, as per their prearranged plan. Ohm!! Alice''s surroundings suddenly shifted, and when she regained her bearings, she was back in their room. Looking around, she spotted Eilish, who was on the floor, visibly exhausted and sweating profusely. Concern etched on her face, Alice quickly inquired, "What happened? Where''s Souta and Amanda?" Eilish struggled to catch her breath before responding, "Something went wrong. The Dream Power was much stronger than anticipated. It didn''t just affect us; it pulled everyone into different places." Alice fell silent, absorbing the gravity of the situation. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then scanned the room before asking, "Did you receive the same information?" Eilish nodded wearily. "Yes, the Witch Hunt. The witches are going to verify if this is real or not." The barrier isolating the Walpurgis Night from the outside world was highly unique, akin to the All-Filter Barrier Formation, suffused with Dream Power that permeated the entire Dream Realm. This barrier not only blocked most sensory and clairvoyant abilities but also posed a formidable challenge to breach. "If they confirm the validity of the Witch Hunt, a significant battle is inevitable. We must prepare ourselves," Alice asserted. Eilish, deep in thought, posed a crucial question, "Do you remember all the faces that attended the banquet?" "Yes," Alice affirmed, nodding. "Those faces represent potential adversaries. We must exercise caution if we encounter them." Opening the door and stepping outside the room, Alice was met with a startling sight. The landscape on the balcony had undergone a drastic transformation. "What is this?" she muttered, her voice tinged with disbelief. Eilish followed behind and beheld the same sight. The landscape was now dominated by towering infrastructure reaching heights of thousands of kilometers, veiled beneath a dense layer of white clouds suspended in the sky. "This is unlike anything we''ve seen here before," Eilish remarked, her tone filled with awe. Suddenly, a small skull materialized before Alice and Eilish, constructed from swirling Dream Power. "Hmm, what is this?" Eilish pondered aloud. The small skull''s mouth creaked open, and a series of words materialized in the air before them. On the other side... Souta stood atop a towering building, observing the small skull as it projected rows of letters into the air. It was the names of the people that received invitation. "Oh? He''s here! I didn''t expect him to be in this place at all! Does he know some witches?" Souta mused to himself, recognizing a few familiar names among those listed as receiving invitations. Surveying the area, he noted the expanse of towering buildings and a distant boundary formed of dense Dream Power. Below, bewildered individuals roamed the streets, their confusion palpable. Judging by their energy and aura, most appeared to be ordinary people. He descended from the building, sensing a disturbance nearby. As he turned his head, a ray of light streaked towards him. Swoosh! In an instant, the light landed on a nearby building before ricocheting into the sky. Souta landed gracefully on the ground, observing the peculiar display. He noted the abundance of Dream Power saturating the area. "Hmm... This place is covered in Dream Power," he remarked to himself, tapping the ground lightly with his foot. Turning towards the source of the disturbance, he spotted a man with long black hair perched atop a nearby building, gazing down at him with a blank expression. "My name is Lagius. I''m designed to eliminate all the participants in this game," Lagius stated calmly before springing into action. Boom! Souta grinned as he leaped aside, swiftly flicking his finger. A thin, sharp web shot forth like a whip. Bang! The ordinary bystanders watched in confusion as the situation escalated rapidly. A battle had erupted seemingly out of nowhere, with two individuals locked in combat in the midst of their surroundings. Moments earlier, they had been going about their lives peacefully. Then, without warning, the influx of Dream Power had flooded their minds with information. Suddenly, they found themselves transported to this unfamiliar location, unwitting participants in a deadly game. Swoosh! Souta leaped from building to building, evading Lagius''s pursuit. He extended his hand, grasping the edge of a structure as he observed Lagius closing in. Just as Lagius neared him, Souta leaped away, launching sharp webs in his direction. Boom! Lagius collided with the building, causing an explosion that billowed smoke through the area. Emerging from the debris, Lagius fixed his gaze on Souta. Souta raised an intrigued eyebrow, recognizing a significant detail. He grinned, remarking, "You... You''re not human. Your energy and aura are different¡ªsimilar to that of a golem." "Kill," Lagius responded bluntly, raising his hand and firing several rays of light. Swoosh! Swoosh! Souta chuckled as he evaded the attacks with nimble movements. Turning to Lagius, he confirmed, "I''m certain now. You''re not human; you''re a golem." ... Somewhere within the Walpurgis Night, a woman with fiery red hair stood amidst a collection of corpses. Deliberately, she raised her foot and brought it down upon one of the lifeless heads, causing its brain matter to splatter across the floor. This was Red Mist, a witch aligned with the Gluttony Army. "Ha-ha-ha! Excellent! Magnificent!" Red Mist''s laughter echoed with a manic fervor. The unfolding Witch Hunt game was a boon for her, perfectly aligning with her goal to obliterate the Walpurgis Night. It was a scenario beyond her wildest dreams. To her, it didn''t matter who had orchestrated this Witch Hunt. All that mattered was the imminent destruction of this place. As her laughter rang out, the temperature in the room began to climb, flames igniting beneath her feet. In mere moments, the corpses around her began to liquefy, filling the room with a sickeningly sweet stench of burning flesh. Seconds passed, and the corpses vanished into oblivion, leaving no trace behind. Not even ashes remained, as every remnant of their bodies was utterly obliterated. Red Mist turned on her heel and exhaled, a stream of smoke escaping her lips. Sensing a shift in her consciousness, she realized she had garnered points for slaying these witches. Without a second glance, she strode forward and exited the room, displaying no outward sign of the carnage she had wrought. Whether or not she gained points was inconsequential; all that mattered was that she had struck a blow against the witches. "It''s beginning. They''ll soon realize their fate is sealed. This stronghold they''ve guarded for centuries will crumble," she muttered to herself as she traversed the hallway, steeling herself for the slaughter that lay ahead. From this moment forth, she would unleash a merciless massacre upon all the witches she encountered. Chapter 984 Witch Hunt: Golem 984 Witch Hunt: Golem "A golem..." Souta hovered in the air, scrutinizing Lagius''s movements. The appearance of a golem in this place piqued his curiosity. Lagius had claimed he was designed to eliminate all the participants, indicating that someone orchestrating the Witch Hunt had created this golem as an obstacle for the game. Though Lagius possessed impressive strength and speed, it seemed insufficient for his stated purpose. "It''s not enough!" Souta chuckled, flicking his finger to unleash thin, sharp webs into the air. The webs sliced through Lagius''s rays of light, triggering several explosions. Boom! Boom! Lagius crouched, then lunged forward. However, just as he was about to strike, he abruptly halted. Tough webs restrained his movements, ensnaring him completely. Souta leaped away, laughing, as Lagius broke through the webs with sheer force, resuming his pursuit. The two engaged in a high-speed chase, with Souta leaping from building to building while Lagius left destruction in his wake. Bang! Bang! As Lagius closed in, Souta halted, allowing him to draw near before swiftly evading and delivering a powerful blow that sent Lagius hurtling into a building. The impact caused the ground to quake, enveloping the area in dust and smoke. "This golem is stronger than I expected," Souta muttered to himself, assessing the situation. "I''m not well-versed in golems, but he''s skilled in combat. His attacks show precision." Aware that his reaction time and overall strength were crucial in this battle, Souta braced himself for the fight ahead. The intensity of the battle between Souta and Lagius reached new heights as they exchanged blows with incredible speed and power. Lagius burst forth from the smoke with even greater velocity, his fist poised for a devastating strike. Souta swiftly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow, then retaliated by launching sharp webs from his palm. However, Lagius effortlessly seized the webs and tore them away, wasting no time in delivering a punishing knee strike aimed at Souta''s face. Souta managed to shield himself with crossed arms, but the impact sent him hurtling hundreds of meters into the air. As Lagius leaped after him, Souta anticipated his move, seizing Lagius''s wrist and using his momentum to hurl him downward. Lagius crashed into a bridge with tremendous force, prompting Souta to unleash a barrage of sharp webs that sliced through the structure. The ground trembled beneath the impact, sending clouds of dust billowing into the air as the battle raged on. Thud! Souta landed on the ground and stared at the smoke. Then, he glanced at his palm, feeling his webs snap before hitting something. Lagius was probably one of the more advanced golems he had encountered. Most golems had basic and predictable movements, even though they were extremely strong. Many experts could deal with a golem stronger than them, as long as the gap in strength wasn''t too high. But this guy, Lagius, was different. His movements and actions were remarkably precise. Swoosh!! A silhouette stood up within the smoke, and in the next moment, several boulders of rocks flew out. Souta laughed as he simply waved his hand and sliced the boulders apart using his webs. Then, he swiftly shifted his body to the side as a beam of light flashed in front of him. The beam landed several dozen meters behind, causing an explosion. The ground shook slightly, and the deafening sound reverberated. Swoosh!! Souta suddenly felt something below him. He saw Lagius appear and prepare to throw a fist. He twisted his body and used his elbow to block the punch. Although he blocked the punch, the force behind it still managed to throw him several dozen meters away. This was what he was talking about. Ordinary golems wouldn''t be able to fight like this unless an expert was directly controlling it. But from this situation, Souta could see that no one was probably controlling this Lagius guy. "Good! Let me see more of it!" Souta''s grin grew wider as he jumped in the air. He swung his hand, and the webs followed his movements. Swoosh!! Lagius didn''t stop at all. He opened both of his palms and tore the webs apart with his bare hands. Tearing the webs that Souta created was hard to do. A web that a monster at his level could create was one of the toughest. Gragas even used his webs to create an orange-grade weapon. Souta laughed as he opened both of his arms. Thousands of webs burst out from his hands, enclosing the whole area. Suddenly, blood seeped out of his pores and flowed through the webs, turning them red. Boom!! Explosions ensued. Ordinary people fled in panic as chaos erupted around them. Two formidable figures clashed with relentless intensity, their conflict posing a deadly threat to anyone caught in its wake. These bystanders were ill-prepared for such violence, their minds unequipped to comprehend the sudden danger. Panic and despair spread among them as the specter of death loomed large, casting a shadow of fear over their frantic flight. As the battle raged on, crimson webs cut through the air like blades, effortlessly slicing through buildings. Several kilometers away, a group of onlookers watched from the safety of a building, their eyes fixed on the tumultuous clash unfolding before them. "The higher-ups confirmed that there''s no way out of this game but to follow it. All of us will be forced to kill," stated a man with tousled brown hair. "A battle has already started. Witches like us are also a target, so we have to be cautious," added a woman with a prominent scar across her left eye. "There''s something wrong with the guy that is fighting the monster..." remarked a man with long blue hair, drawing his comrades'' attention to Lagius. They all sensed something peculiar about him. "The aura and energy waves feel like he''s a golem..." the man with tousled brown hair observed, voicing their collective suspicion. "You''re right. It''s really a golem," the woman with a scar nodded. She then turned to her companion and instructed, "Go and report this to the elders. We''ll earn some points for now." The implication of "earning points" in this context was clear: they were going to kill someone. Killing was the only way to accumulate points and ensure their survival in the game. They, the Silver Faction, would earn some points by killing people to guarantee themselves that they could finish this game. Amidst the ongoing battle between Souta and Lagius, Souta manipulated the blood webs, slicing through a building with ease. Lagius took the attack head-on, sustaining several cuts on his body before they swiftly vanished. He then leaped to the side, hurling a building towards Souta. Swoosh! Souta''s grin widened as he effortlessly sliced the building into tiny pieces. Advancing towards Lagius, he unleashed thousands of webs in the area. Lagius skillfully dodged most of the sharp webs by leaping from side to side. However, a few managed to graze him, leaving shallow cuts across his body. "You can regenerate, yet you still choose to avoid my attacks. It seems your abilities have limits, after all. You''re just a golem, bound by the capacity of your core," Souta remarked while studying Lagius intently. Lagius altered his trajectory, kicking off the ground to propel himself into the air. As he ascended, he encountered dozens of blood-red webs stretched out before him. With a powerful exertion, he forcefully tore through the webs with both palms, then surged forward toward his target. Swoosh! "Very well, then let me see it!" Souta laughed, and strings of flesh emerged from his body, transforming his appearance into something monstrous. In an instant, their fists collided, creating a powerful shockwave that rippled through the air. ... Somewhere within the Walpurgis Night, Elder Amulgu sat tapping the table with her finger, deep in thought. Several people stood opposite her, reporting their findings. "In short, we can''t do anything about this Witch Hunt game. We have no choice but to follow it," she muttered, frustration evident in her voice. It seemed as though this game had become the law of the land, orchestrated by some higher power unbeknownst to them. The thought of being manipulated like pawns was unsettling. "A battle has already started in several areas. Even the Silver Faction is trying to earn points. What should we do now, Elder?" one of the subordinates inquired. Elder Amulgu glanced at each of them before replying, "For now, let''s focus our attention on finding the six holy stakes. As for the points, we can address that once we locate the stakes." The subordinates nodded in agreement, understanding the urgency of their task. Elder Amulgu sighed deeply and said, "According to your reports, humanoid golems have appeared in different areas, targeting all people. We must protect the innocent." The Walpurgis Night, spanning approximately three hundred thousand square kilometers, was divided into hundreds of areas. These divisions were marked by Dream Power barriers, which blocked perception and senses from adjacent regions but did not prevent physical passage between them. Finding the six holy stakes in this vast land would be challenging, but it was imperative. Earning points was relatively straightforward. They could simply kill one hundred civilians, which equated to one hundred points. However, for unknown reasons, ordinary people were being transported throughout the land, and humanoid golems had appeared, targeting participants. Since ordinary people were inadvertently included as participants, they too became targets of the golems. This likely served to reduce the number of participants, ensuring that gaining points would not be an easy task. Thanks for reading and I hope you like it. DonnEll Creator''s Thought Chapter 985 Witch Hunt: Dreamscape 985 Witch Hunt: Dreamscape Alice looked down from the building and frowned. "Someone is chasing them..." she muttered. Eilish glanced over and saw people running away from a man. The man moved at high speed, punching a person in the chest, causing them to explode. Blood and organs scattered on the ground, creating a grotesque sight. "They are hunting ordinary people," Eilish said. The man turned his head toward a nearby building. Suddenly, he flashed and crashed into it, sending smoke and dust shooting up. Bang! A woman jumped out of the shadows and launched a beam of flames. The fire immediately melted the lower floors of the building, causing the top to collapse. Alice and Eilish watched the two fight fiercely. They sensed something was off about the man. "That man... His energy and aura are quite different from humans and demis," Eilish remarked, narrowing her eyes. "It''s similar to a golem," Alice added in a low voice. She observed the battle intently and noticed that the movements of the human-like golem were unlike those of the golems she had encountered before. Alice glanced at Eilish and said, "Let''s go. We don''t know if there''s only one golem or not. We have to find Souta and Amanda." Eilish nodded in agreement. Suddenly, a feminine voice sounded behind them. "Too bad, I found you... You can''t leave this place." Eilish and Alice widened their eyes as they turned around simultaneously. They saw a woman with long black hair and purple eyes. They couldn''t sense anything from her, which must have been why they hadn''t detected her until she spoke. "Can you handle her, Alice?" Eilish asked. "Probably..." Alice replied, her uncertainty evident. "What about the people behind her?" Eilish added, a wry smile on her face. The woman wasn''t alone; several others stood behind her, fixated on Alice and Eilish like predators eyeing their prey. "Run!" Alice shouted, releasing her energy. Eilish reacted swiftly, jumping and conjuring a magic circle. In a certain region of the Walpurgis Night, Souta was locked in combat with the golem named Lagius. Souta seized Lagius'' face and hurled him to the ground, creating a massive crater. Without pause, Souta unleashed several sharp red webs at his opponent. Lagius swiftly rose and deftly dodged all the webs, then crouched and propelled himself towards Souta. Swoosh! "You can''t fight me head-on!" Souta chuckled, tightening his fist. Unafraid, Lagius met Souta directly, their collision creating a ripple in the air as Lagius was flung and crashed into a nearby building. Bang! Souta propelled himself through the air, closing in on his target. His physical prowess far surpassed Lagius'', leaving the golem at a disadvantage. His body crashed into the building, observing Lagius as he struggled to rise. Souta swiftly followed up by kicking Lagius in the chest, sending the golem hurtling through the walls and into a nearby building. Bang! Souta halted, his gaze fixed on the resulting explosion. He raised his hand and touched his cheek, noting the brief injury inflicted by Lagius. "He managed to cut me in that moment...?" Souta muttered, observing the wound swiftly heal. His expression grew solemn as he concluded his assessment of the golem''s capabilities. Having identified its strengths and weaknesses, Souta saw no reason to prolong the battle unnecessarily. Resolved to push himself further, Souta acknowledged the risk of employing his Best Feram without fully restoring his inner consciousness. A loud reverberation echoed through the air, causing Souta to look up and spot a building hurtling toward him. "Ehe~ Haven''t you learned that this kind of attack is nothing to me!" Souta laughed as he leaped into the air and drew the vajra sword from its sheath. Swoosh!! A crimson energy blade emerged, slicing the incoming building cleanly in two. With the building split, the energy blade continued its trajectory toward Lagius. Lagius, realizing he couldn''t evade the approaching energy blade, raised both hands to deflect it. However, Souta was already beside him. Souta retrieved an orb from his pocket, which emitted a dim light¡ªthe [Orb of Arcane Seal]. He made a grabbing motion in the air, summoning a powerful gravitational field that locked Lagius in place. Then, with a swift motion of his sword, a burst of energy shot toward Lagius. Boom!! A massive explosion resounded, shaking the entire area. Lagius emerged from the smoke, with only half of his body remaining after the devastating attack. Despite the damage, he began to regenerate as he landed on the ground. Staring at Souta, Lagius remarked, "Threat level... Top class SSS-rank. Elimination is impossible." Souta stepped forward out of the dissipating smoke, observing Lagius''s wounds slowly healing. "You managed to survive my attack. Quite surprising, considering I intended it to be fatal," Souta mused, wondering if he had unconsciously held back due to his damaged inner consciousness. Then, with a grin, Souta added, "Perhaps my initial assessment of you was off. You are stronger than I thought." Swoosh!! With a powerful force, Souta traversed through the shadows and materialized in front of Lagius. A gravitational field locked down the area as Souta''s aura intensified. "This time... You will not survive!" Souta declared in a cold tone, swinging the sword in his hand. An immense darkness tore through the land, creating a massive gully. In an instant, everything seemed to merge into darkness. The ordinary people who had been fleeing were unaware of what had transpired. Standing alone in the midst of the destroyed landscape, Souta held a bluish orb crackling with energy in his hand¡ªthe core of Lagius. "I''m going to take this back with me. I''ll let Torkez study this thing," Souta muttered as he stowed away the core. He then turned his attention to the area around him. During the battle, he had noticed some peculiar spots in this place. Swoosh!! He materialized in front of a small wooden house that had somehow remained intact despite the destruction wrought by the battle. "If I''m not mistaken... this is the higher part..." Souta opened the door and gazed upon a vast expanse beyond. An endless forest stretched out before him, inhabited by strange creatures that seemed to exist only in dreams. Above the forest, an inverted city floated in the sky, with flying cars buzzing around it. "This is the surface part..." Souta surveyed his surroundings. The creatures here were ethereal, dreamlike entities that couldn''t exist in reality, distinct from the other dream creatures he had encountered. He halted and turned towards several individuals who were observing him. One stepped forward, saying, "You''re correct. This is the surface part of dreams. When people in reality sleep and dream, places like this form." He was a man with short brown hair and a long, sharp spear slung across his back. He continued, "The living creatures here are manifestations of dreams. To clarify, when someone dreams of you in reality, a place like this appears and a creature resembling you is created within that person''s dream." These dream creatures could only exist within dreams, and Dreamscapes like this were abundant throughout the Dream Realm. Although invading someone''s dreams was challenging, once accomplished, dream creatures could pose a threat to the dreamer unless the dreamer had full control over the Dreamscape. There were instances where dreamers managed to delve deeper into their dreams, arriving in the Dream Realm where they could harness Dream Power. If the Dreamscape represented the surface of dreams, then the Dream Realm and Nightmare Realm were deeper layers of dreaming. "So what do you want from me?" Souta asked, noting that these people were not constructs of the Dreamscape. They seemed different, real. "We can''t allow you to gain points, so we''ll take you down here," the man replied, his expression growing serious. "Haha, that''s a straightforward answer. I thought you might try to find an excuse," Souta chuckled. Then, his demeanor turned cold as he asked, "Do you understand the consequences of your actions?" "I don''t need to know. You''ll stay here in this Dreamscape. The higher-ups ordered us to prevent all the guests from gaining points. I, Lorna, have taken on this task," the man replied. "Very well, then let''s begin!" Souta laughed, flicking his finger and sending dozens of sharp red webs toward them. Swoosh!! The man named Lorna leaped into the air, swiftly dodging the sharp webs. His companions also scattered to avoid the onslaught. "Witches! Come!" Souta called out with a wide grin. He extended both arms, and thousands of red webs shot out in all directions, slicing through everything in their path. Bang! Bang! Bang! The impact of the webs hitting nearby objects reverberated through the Dreamscape. Chapter 986 Witch Hunt: Dream Palace 986 Witch Hunt: Dream Palace "You''re not getting away!" a woman shouted, leaping from a nearby rooftop. Alice and Eilish spun around to see several witches closing in on them. The situation was dire; they were being targeted without knowing why. "We can''t shake them off! We have to fight back!" Eilish said, her eyes narrowing with determination. Alice surveyed their surroundings quickly. The human-like golem continued its battle with the witch, while ordinary people scrambled for safety around them. "Yeah, we have no choice but to defend ourselves," Alice declared. She turned swiftly, summoning a spear into her palm and thrusting it towards their approaching adversaries. A surge of mana erupted from Alice''s body, causing the temperature to plummet. A bluish beam shot from the tip of her spear. Swoosh! The pursuing witches halted abruptly, leaping aside to dodge the attack. Alice raised her spear skyward and cast a spell. [Hailstorm]! A frigid wind swept out, accompanied by countless ice fragments that rained down from above. Eilish raised her staff, her mana surging sharply. A magic circle appeared beneath her feet, intensifying the downpour of ice. [Slow Rain]! This rain could at least slow the movements of their pursuers. After casting her first spell, Eilish quickly followed up with another. She tapped the air with her staff, causing a glow of light to flicker around herself and Alice. [Raindrop Speed]! It was a buff spell designed to enhance the speed of a target affected by any form of water. [Greater Speed Enhancement]! [Enhance Perception]! [Greater Agility]! Eilish had been diligently studying different spells since her arrival in Imperium. She had access to dozens of spell models exchanged from the Athen''s Champion. Unlike Souta, who started learning from scratch, Eilish already possessed a solid foundation in spellcasting upon her arrival. Her focus was on mastering Tier 3 spells and exploring forbidden spell realms. She cast a total of four buffs on herself and Alice. Eilish knew she was weaker than Souta, so she focused on learning support spells to assist him. Having slowed down the pursuing witches, Alice and Eilish swiftly turned around and burst into the distance. Bang!! As they flew, the two heard a loud sound behind them, accompanied by rising energy fluctuations. It seemed the witches were getting serious, employing their skills and soul weapons. "They really don''t want us to escape," Eilish muttered, stealing a glance behind her. "We''re approaching the border!" Alice exclaimed, causing Eilish to look ahead. In front of them lay a dense curtain of Dream Power, covering everything like an opaque veil. They couldn''t sense anything beyond it, as the Dream Power blocked their perception. Swoosh!! Alice and Eilish crashed into the Dream Power. Inside it, they couldn''t even sense each other. They could only continue to fly through this vast power, akin to navigating an ocean. After a few seconds, they emerged on the other side, arriving in another region. "Ugh, that feeling is unpleasant," Eilish said, referring to the unsettling sensation caused by passing through the Dream Power, which had completely blocked all of her senses. "Look!" Alice exclaimed. This region was markedly different. It featured a singular megastructure resembling a mansion, stretching across several dozen kilometers in diameter and towering to meet the Dream Power above. This colossal building occupied most of the space in this expansive region. "Let''s go!" Alice said, kicking off the air and flying toward the building. Eilish followed closely behind. Swoosh!! The witches who had emerged from the Dream Power saw the two of them heading toward the building and increased their speed to catch up. Alice and Eilish didn''t look back as they entered the building through the window. Once inside, they immediately sprinted through the expansive hallway. The corridor was vast, lined with numerous doors on either side, and even doors above, creating an inverted appearance. With witches still in pursuit, finding a place to hide was paramount. The two abruptly halted at the sound of a voice. They glanced upward and spotted a woman peering at them through a slightly ajar door above. Eyeing each other warily, Alice and Eilish deliberated their options regarding the unfamiliar woman. "I''m Kayla from the Gold Faction, captain of the Third Night Squadron. If you want to avoid the Silver Faction, follow me," the woman introduced herself. Alice and Eilish decided to follow Kayla, partly because of their previous encounter with Elder Amulgu from the Gold Faction. They hoped that aligning with her faction might offer some safety. Navigating through several rooms, Kayla finally stopped and turned to them. "This should be a safe spot. They won''t find us here for a while." Despite Kayla''s assurance, Eilish and Alice maintained their guarded expressions. Eilish spoke up, her tone serious, "We appreciate your help, but there''s really no need for you to assist us. You can leave us be." Kayla nodded understandingly, but her gaze remained steadfast. "I understand your caution. However, we of the Gold Faction have been ordered to prioritize the six holy stakes over acquiring points. Please, rest here for now. I won''t harm you." Alice exchanged a glance with Eilish before nodding slightly. They didn''t fully trust Kayla yet, but they also knew they were vulnerable alone in this hostile environment. "Still, there''s no need for you to help us. You can simply leave us alone," Eilish said firmly. Kayla nodded in understanding, her expression resolute. "I understand your caution, but the Gold Faction''s mission is to solve this game and uncover its truth. We''re different from the extreme tactics of the Silver Faction." She regarded them earnestly. "I chose to assist you based on your actions. If you had chosen violence, I wouldn''t be here. I would have left you to the Silver Faction''s pursuit." Eilish nodded in acknowledgment. "We''re focused on avoiding conflicts and finding our comrades. If we''re cornered, we''ll defend ourselves." Glancing around the room, Eilish noticed its peculiar atmosphere. "Anyway, what''s with this room? It feels different from the outside." "This place is called the Dream Palace. It was created purely from Dream Power by our ancestors. Each room is a separate space, and sometimes it appears larger or smaller from the outside. This place is also dangerous because there are many dream beasts living here," Kayla explained. Alice glanced at her, intrigued. "So you don''t know this whole place?" Kayla shook her head. "I only know the usual routes in this building. Even we witches didn''t dare to fully explore this place. If we were as strong as our ancestors, we wouldn''t have allowed these dream beasts to occupy a building built by them." 17:38 "I see... So that''s why the building you guys are using isn''t as grand as this one," Alice nodded in understanding. The current Walpurgis Night was nothing compared to their glorious days when Morgan Le Fay was still present. "Can you tell us more about the Silver Faction? I''m concerned that their actions will provoke retaliation from all the guests. It seems like you witches have limited information about the current situation in reality," Alice asked Kayla, her expression serious. Kayla nodded in response. "Yes, we witches are not fully informed about everything happening outside. The Silver Faction is known for their aggressive approach. They prioritize earning points through violence and killing participants. They disregarded all the non-witches in this game." Eilish interjected, her tone grave. "Some of the guests here are affiliated with dangerous groups, like the Gluttony Army. They''re capable of causing significant trouble, especially if provoked. It''s crucial for you witches to understand the potential threats among the guests." "The Walpurgis Night is inside the Dream Realm. It''s not easy to find this place. If you exit, the Dream Power will erase a part of your memory, and you won''t be able to pinpoint it from outside. That''s why no one has managed to find us in the past several hundred years," Kayla said with a slight confidence about her home. "Fine, so what should we do now?" Eilish sighed and asked. "Our elders tasked us with finding the six holy stakes. That''s the objective of my squadron, but I got separated from my comrades while venturing into this place," Kayla explained. "Holy stakes?" Alice narrowed her eyes. "Do you have any idea what the holy stakes are?" "Actually, none of us knew about these holy stakes. We are currently investigating, and we only know that they have a connection with the witches," Kayla shook her head. She glanced at the two of them and said, "The information from the Dream Power said that it''s in the corpse of a witch. That''s our only clue for now." "Let''s go. Tell us something about the Silver Faction while we''re trying to find these holy stakes and our companions," Eilish suggested. Thanks for reading and I hope you like it. DonnEll Chapter 987: Witch Hunt: Cemetery In an unknown Dreamscape, Souta was locked in combat with several witches, moving swiftly to contend with multiple opponents simultaneously. After an explosion, Souta landed atop a towering tree, surveying the witches converging below, all intent on bringing him down. They were formidable opponents. He discerned their strength from their recent clashes and their seamless coordination indicated they were a seasoned team accustomed to fighting together. Defeating them in his current state would prove challenging. "So, this is an elite team of witches... I''m slightly jealous. I wish my soldiers had this level of skill," Souta mused inwardly. Unfortunately for him, developing such coordination among a team required extensive battle experience. "This monster is strong! We need to proceed cautiously!" Lorna alerted his comrades, his voice carrying a sense of urgency. As Captain of the Dark Gold Corps within the Silver Faction, Lorna had accrued significant experience facing various monsters within Walpurgis Night alongside his teammates. However, Souta proved to be unlike any monster they had encountered before. The Dark Gold Corps was an elite team comprising only seven witches, recognized as among the finest within the Silver Faction. Lorna''s primary role within the team was that of a damage dealer, specializing in inflicting harm upon their targets. He shared this role with Cresin, a fellow witch distinguished by his long black hair tied in a ponytail. "Let''s move!" Lorna commanded in a hushed tone. Their directive from the higher-ups was clear: prevent the guests from gaining points at all costs. The lives of the guests were inconsequential if it meant safeguarding the interests of the Silver Faction. The seven witches surged forward, converging on Souta with focused determination. Swoosh!! Souta leaped into action, deploying hundreds of blood-red webs with a sweeping motion of his hand. Lorna and Cresin reacted swiftly, drawing their soul weapons to slice through the incoming webs. Meanwhile, Nima, a colossal figure wielding a massive shield, charged forward at tremendous speed, positioning himself as the vanguard of the team, ready to engage their target directly. Souta unsheathed his vajra sword and struck swiftly. The clash with Nima''s shield produced a powerful rebound, pushing Souta back momentarily. As he regained his footing, he looked up to see a bolt of lightning descending towards him. Reacting quickly, Souta maneuvered to evade the lightning, only to find himself confronted from behind by Lorna and Cresin. Realizing the danger, he attempted to dodge, but it was too late. Swoosh!! Cuts appeared on Souta''s body as a powerful light erupted from the ground, crashing into him and sending him hurtling towards the upside-down city. His impact with the buildings caused a massive explosion that reverberated through the area. The sudden explosion caught the attention of the dream creatures nearby. As they turned towards the disturbance, a surge of force emanated from Souta, dispersing them into Dream Power that scattered into the atmosphere. Emerging from the rubble, Souta assessed his surroundings. To escape this place, he needed to locate the person who was dreaming of this place. "I must find the dreamer''s source or eliminate the dreamer," Souta muttered, placing his hand against his chest. He sensed that his inner consciousness was still not prepared for intense battle. Pushing too hard could exacerbate the damage. He needed more time to recover. His opponents were formidable-not as strong individually as the experts from the Gluttony Army he had faced in Selnes Country, but their teamwork and coordination were exceptional. "This feeling... It''s exhilarating," Souta thought to himself, unable to suppress a grin as he watched the witches closing in on him. "Hold him down! We''ll keep him busy until the Silver Faction finishes this damn game!" Lorna commanded his comrades. ... Somewhere in the Dream Palace, Red Mist entered a room and discovered corpses scattered on the floor. "Who''s been taking out all these witches?" she muttered to herself, surveying the bodies. She noted that the style of these killings was distinct from the methods employed by the individuals she had brought from the Gluttony Army. Poisonous Vine typically used poison and a whip, while Spatial Whisperer utilized spatial slicing techniques. The corpses in this room showed signs of being killed with bare hands- some strangled, others beaten. "Hmm... The lingering energy suggests these deaths are recent. But there''s no trace of Poisonous Vine or Spatial Whisperer''s energy signature," Red Mist remarked with a frown. This made her remember something from her past. She recalled encountering a person who warned her that someone would destroy the Walpurgis Night. Red Mist looked ahead and decided to follow the trail. She entered different rooms and saw dead dream beasts, likely slain by the same person. After walking for almost an hour, she arrived in front of a particular room. The energy emanating from this room was distinct. The door was exquisitely crafted with ancient symbols on its surface. "Just what is this?" Red Mist pushed the door open and stepped inside. Beyond the door lay a vast cemetery. The ceiling stretched several kilometers above the floor, and a small moon cast a dim light over the graves. Each grave was adorned with a soul weapon emitting a faint radiance. Red Mist advanced, surveying the graves scattered across the ground. "Here rests the Great Northern Witch... Hmm? Isn''t this the renowned witch from a bygone era?" she mused, recognizing the significance of the cemetery where powerful witches of old were interred. This place had remained hidden since the upheaval following the downfall of Morgan Le Fay. Continuing her exploration, Red Mist approached a colossal tomb, sensing heightened energy emanating from it. Perched atop the tomb was a broomstick. "Here lies the Great Matriarch Morgan Le Fay...?!" she exclaimed in astonishment at the name inscribed on the tomb. Squatting down, she placed her palm on the soil, immediately discerning that no body lay within the grave. "As expected, they couldn''t retrieve her remains..." Red Mist murmured, her thoughts aligning with her expectations. If Morgan Le Fay had managed to return here before her demise, she might have established a living labyrinth to pass down her skills and abilities, potentially spawning another deity within the Walpurgis Night. However, Le Fay was ultimately obliterated by her enemies, leaving behind only her soul weapon. Following her death, the Walpurgis Night''s power waned, leading to a steady decline. Unable to produce a Freedom Realm expert, let alone a deity, they retreated further into the Dream Realm. Red Mist extended her hand and grasped the soul weapon. "The [Broom of All Possibilities]." In her grip, this soul weapon felt ordinary, yet it was the symbol of the Walpurgis Night. Throughout history, no witch had surpassed the achievements of Morgan Le Fay. Since this was an important place for the witches, Red Mist felt compelled to destroy it. Her aura intensified, and the temperature began to rise. Hmm...? Suddenly, Red Mist frowned and turned her head. She saw a man standing at the entrance of the cemetery. The man looked at her blankly. He had short blonde hair and eyeglasses on top of his head. His blue eyes stared back at her, and he wore silver and gold armor stained with blood. "Who are you?" Red Mist asked. The man continued to stare at her before finally speaking, "You can''t destroy this place. I still have something important that I need to find out." "This place is important, and that''s why I must destroy it," Red Mist asserted. The man, looking unfazed, responded, "I don''t understand. You''re a witch, yet you want to destroy this place?" "Perhaps you''re the one responsible for killing the witches and dream beasts outside. I appreciate your efforts, but I will proceed with my plans to destroy this place," Red Mist replied coldly. The man explained, "I eliminated them because they obstructed my path. Although I spared some, they returned with reinforcements, leaving me no choice but to eliminate them all." "So, will you step aside or force me to fight you, witch?" the man asked, his demeanor calm yet resolute. Red Mist''s frown deepened. "Don''t call me a witch! I''ve forsaken that race long ago!" She waved her hand, and a massive burst of flames erupted from her palm. Swoosh!! The man smashed his fist on the ground, causing a wave of rocks to emerge and block the flames. Boom!! He stood tall, facing Red Mist. Mechanical sounds echoed as his armor transformed, covering his face. The gaps within the armor emitted a dim light as energy began to flow around his body. "If you want to fight, then let me give you one." Two stars shone brightly on his chest as the energy fluctuations around him intensified. "I am Ryan Turnost, a Major General of the Mechanic Country." Chapter 988: Witch Hunt: Red Mist vs. Ryan A Major General holds one of the highest positions in the army of the Mechanic Country. There are only two ranks above that of Major General: Lieutenant General and General. Beyond those ranks is a special title known as the ''Commander of the Nation''. This is an extraordinary position with the highest authority in the entire nation. They are regarded as the gods of the Mechanic Country-a force that instills fear in the territory of their enemies. Now, a Major General from this nation appeared at Walpurgis Night. "I''ll show you the power of a Major General!" Ryan slightly bent his knees before launching himself at high speed. Boom!! Red Mist snorted as she unleashed several rays of concentrated flames toward Ryan. Ryan jumped backward, and energy wings emerged from his back. With a flap of his wings, he advanced forward, skillfully avoiding the flames. "Energy reading has changed!" Ryan suddenly frowned as his armor''s sensors detected something unusual within his target. "Take this!" Red Mist exclaimed, increasing the firepower of her attack several-fold. The spirit energy spread throughout the area. Ryan quickly crossed his arms in front of him. In the next moment, his body was struck by a highly concentrated flame powered by spirit energy. Bang!! A deafening explosion occurred, shaking the entire area. The smoke slowly dissipated, revealing Ryan standing in the middle of a crater. Electric sparks crackled around his body as he cautiously eyed Red Mist. "Spirit energy... Calculating compatibility... Determining spirit type..." Ryan frowned and took a step back. He raised his hand, and blades formed on the back of his palm as he quickly surveyed his surroundings. He needed a strategy to maneuver Red Mist out of this area without causing extensive damage. Realizing that engaging Red Mist directly would risk significant destruction to the cemetery, Ryan decided to change tactics. With a resounding "boom," Ryan launched himself once again. Red Mist unleashed several flame arrows, aiming them at Ryan. Swiftly, Ryan moved his body, slicing through the flame arrows with the blade on his hand to minimize the damage. Swoosh!! Ryan swiftly closed the distance to Red Mist. He swung his hand, narrowly missing Red Mist as she dodged his blade. Reacting quickly, she crouched and then lunged forward, her fist emitting intense heat as she struck Ryan in the stomach. Bang!! Ryan''s armor dented under the impact, and he grimaced in pain. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed Red Mist''s wrist with both hands and then delivered a swift kick to her knees, causing her to momentarily lose balance. Taking advantage of this opening, Ryan threw her away. Red Mist''s body flew through the air. She glanced ahead and saw an energy beam heading towards her. Reacting swiftly, she crossed her arms in front of her just in time to brace for the impact of the energy beam. Bang!! The force of the beam propelled her body even further away. "This bastard!" Red Mist realized that Ryan''s goal was simply to remove her from that location. Clenching both fists, she exerted tremendous effort to halt her airborne momentum. "If you''re not prepared to see this place destroyed, then brace yourself!" The temperature sharply rose as flames erupted from her body. A massive wave of flames swirled above her like a raging tide, illuminating the entire area as Red Mist resembled a dazzling sun. "Descend! [Demolition Star Light]!" A colossal ball of flames plummeted toward the ground. The earth beneath dried up as smoke filled the surroundings. The intense heat set almost everything ablaze. "Damn, she''s really intent on destroying this place! I don''t know her story, but I can''t let her wreak havoc here!" Ryan smiled wryly beneath his armor. He clenched his fist and raised his hand. With a swift motion, he opened his palm, unleashing a massive surge of energy that swirled and crackled with mechanical sounds. "Allocate five percent of armor energy to the Mana Particle Cannon!" Mana crackled around his armor like lightning, intensifying as the ground trembled beneath him. In the next instant, Ryan unleashed a powerful energy beam. The beam collided with the enormous ball of flames, causing a ripple in the air. Bang!! The colossal ball of flames was pushed back and then exploded. The resulting blast shook the entire area, and a fierce heat wave swept out, turning grass and trees into ashes. Swoosh!! Ryan dashed forward, swiftly closing the distance to Red Mist. He couldn''t allow her to cause any more damage to the surroundings, risking the failure of his investigation. Launching into the air, Ryan tightly clenched his fist, his energy surging as he reached Red Mist. Red Mist frowned but stood her ground, meeting Ryan''s fist with her own. Both combatants exchanged lightning-fast blows in mid-air. Ryan attempted to maneuver the battle elsewhere, but Red Mist stubbornly held her ground, unleashing powerful attacks. Bang! Bang! Ryan pushed himself further, increasing his power and speed to a higher level. Red Mist was taken aback as Ryan successfully threw her away once again. Ryan followed up by activating additional skills to increase his speed and power once again. He delivered a powerful punch to Red Mist, sending her flying several hundred meters before crashing into the ground. "[Dual Element Drive: Lightning and Wind Integration]" A surge of powerful elemental energy emanated as Ryan soared towards Red Mist, determined to prevent her from further damaging the land. Within the smoke, Red Mist stood up, her eyes widening at the intense elemental energy surrounding Ryan. She looked up just as Ryan flew towards her at high speed. Bang!! In an instant, pain shot through her stomach as Ryan struck her with his knee. Lightning and wind swirled around his knee before propelling her away. Red Mist spat out a mouthful of blood as her body flashed through the air, crashing into the ceiling near the miniature moon. Boom!! The smoke and dust quickly dissipated as Red Mist gazed down at him coldly from above. The temperature began to rise once again, reaching a level where rocks started to melt. "You can''t stop me! Protect this place if you can! Fiamma, let''s increase the scale!" Red Mist spoke in a low voice, preparing to amplify her power, when suddenly the entire area began to shake. Bang!! A loud reverberation echoed throughout the surroundings. The landscape began to shift as the Dream Power moved strangely. "What''s happening?" Ryan muttered, preparing himself for the unknown. Meanwhile, Red Mist observed her surroundings and reached a conclusion. "This place is on the verge of transformation." The Dream Palace was beginning to shift, with all its rooms, spaces, dimensions, and dreams becoming jumbled and intermixed. Established routes and paths were rendered obsolete, affecting not only the Dream Palace but all regions within Walpurgis Night. "I see... So this must be the Dream Power that orchestrates this game. It moves according to someone''s will," she muttered to herself. Red Mist turned towards Ryan, realizing the impending chaos. She raised her hand and declared, "Allow me to send you a parting gift! Walpurgis Night is descending into chaos! No one can reverse it!" A concentrated ray of flames burst forth from her palm. Swoosh!! Ryan grinned beneath his helmet and responded, "It doesn''t concern me. I simply need to fulfill my objectives." He raised both hands and intercepted the ray of flames. Boom!! A massive explosion erupted, but the Dream Power swiftly descended and rearranged the entire area. It happened in an instant. The next moment, Red Mist found herself in a vast new space. It bore resemblance to the previous one, except the cemetery was now absent. "Tsk! He got lucky!" Red Mist clicked her tongue in annoyance. She pondered the man''s objective. Was he trying to complete this game by locating the holy stakes? The game must not be cleared under any circumstances. The destruction of Walpurgis Night was her utmost desire. Descending, she landed on the ground and spotted a small door. Exiting the space, she arrived in a grand hallway. "I''ve used up some energy fighting that guy, so I''ll devote all my remaining energy to exterminating these witches. He''s strong. If I want to take him out, it''s going to require too much effort," Red Mist muttered to herself. Continuing to walk, she inspected each door one by one, scanning for any witches in the vicinity. She wasn''t sure of her location, but she didn''t care-other witches were likely experiencing the same disorientation. ... On the other side, Ryan looked around the cemetery. He breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that only the locations had shifted, not the people-he was still within the cemetery. Fortunately, the entire area had been divided into two, and he had managed to throw Red Mist to the other side. Otherwise, she would have been here with him, engaging in battle. "These witches are too stubborn. They always come looking for a fight," Ryan muttered. Mechanical sounds echoed as his armor transformed, revealing his face once again. He stepped forward, surveying the entire cemetery. Ryan narrowed his eyes and continued, "I''ve expended some of my power suit''s energy, so I must complete my objectives. If I''m wrong, all my efforts will have been in vain. It must be here... The data of the Second Rebel..." Chapter 989: Witch Hunt: Change Alice, Eilish, and Kayla were shocked as the entire Dream Palace began to shake, signaling a structural transformation. The process was swift, taking only a few seconds. "The structure changed?! All the routes I knew will be useless..." Kayla muttered in disbelief. They were caught off guard by the sudden change. They hadn''t expected the Dream Palace to shift like one of those labyrinth puzzles. Exiting the room, they beheld a small island in the distance. "So, where are we now?" Eilish questioned aloud. "I can sense living creatures nearby," Alice informed them. "Dream beasts often inhabit spaces like this within the Dream Palace. They''re territorial, so be prepared. We''ll have to fight through these monsters," Kayla explained to Alice and Eilish. Alice and Eilish nodded, their expressions turning serious. They gradually increased their energy levels, preparing themselves for battle. The monsters noticed their presence and launched an attack. To the monsters, the three of them were invaders encroaching on their territory. Fierce and vicious, the monsters charged at them with great momentum. Boom!! A battle erupted on the small island within a designated area of the Dream Palace. Alice, Eilish, and Kayla worked together to eliminate all the third-stage monsters. With their current strength, third-stage monsters posed little challenge, and it only took a few minutes before they cleared the entire island. Afterward, the trio discovered a door that led them somewhere else. Soon, they arrived in a hallway filled with doors once again. "For now, let''s keep moving forward," Kayla said to Alice and Eilish. They explored the area for half an hour, encountering hundreds of doors leading to different dimensions. Some doors even harbored dozens of fourth-stage monsters. As they walked, a door suddenly opened to the side, and several people emerged from it. Kayla raised her eyebrows upon recognizing them. "Kim! Lesie! Barno! Ivie!" The four individuals who emerged were Kayla''s comrades. They turned toward the voice calling them and saw their Captain Kayla. "Captain!!" A smile lit up their faces upon seeing their captain safe and sound. They had been concerned, fearing something had happened to her. "Captain! There''s something important we need to tell you," the woman named Kim exclaimed as she stepped forward to address Kayla. "What is it? Have you discovered something important?" Kayla asked eagerly. "We''ve received word that the elders are heading to the Dream Palace. It seems they''ve figured out how to clear this game," Kim explained. "Really?!" Kayla was taken aback by this unexpected information. "It appears that the key to clearing the game is here in the Dream Palace. The elders have contacted all the witches they could reach to gather here. However, given that everyone was scattered across Walpurgis Night when the game began, only a few witches will likely respond," Kim elaborated. "Do we know when the elders will arrive?" Kayla inquired. "I''m not certain, but we received this information an hour ago, so they should be on their way. If all goes well, they should arrive soon," Kim responded. "So the elders are likely here... It''s just difficult to locate them in this vast Dream Palace, where every space is unique and constantly changing," Kayla muttered to herself. Alice and Eilish remained silent, attentively listening to the conversation. Following their discussion, Kayla introduced Alice and Eilish to her comrades-Kim, Lesie, Barno, and Ivie-who then introduced themselves. The group continued their search for the holy stakes while also trying to locate the elders of Walpurgis Night and other witches. Nearby regions were witnessing an influx of people gathering toward the Dream Palace, where battles were erupting in every corner. Human-like golems had begun rampaging, their numbers swelling to several hundreds within the Dream Palace. Kayla inquired of her comrades whether the elders of the Silver Faction were allied with them. They admitted uncertainty, noting that Silver Faction witches often targeted non-witches for points. However, given the gathering of witches from both factions in the Dream Palace, alliance seemed probable. After half an hour, the group finally encountered Elder Amulgu, accompanied by another elder from the Silver Faction. "You''ve arrived," Elder Amulgu greeted them warmly. "Greetings, elders!" Kayla and her comrades responded respectfully. The other elder glanced at Alice and Eilish, inquiring, "And who are these two?" She was a striking woman with long black hair and piercing black eyes, clad in a loose robe and holding a long staff. She introduced herself as Elder Grecia of the Silver Faction. Alice and Eilish remained silent, bracing themselves for whatever might come next. "They are our companions whom we''ve encountered," Kayla replied, bowing respectfully. Elder Grecia gave Alice and Eilish a cold look. "They''re not witches, are they?" she asked sharply. "Elder Grecia, let us focus on our task at hand," Elder Amulgu interjected calmly. "Hmph!" Elder Grecia snorted, turning her head away. Elder Amulgu nodded and smiled warmly at Alice and Eilish before leading the way forward. Elder Grecia walked beside her, followed by Kayla and her companions. As they walked, Elder Amulgu addressed Kayla, "I have a task for your team." "What is it, Elder?" Kayla inquired politely. "I need you to locate the holy stakes. We''ve confirmed that all six holy stakes are here in the Dream Palace. In exchange for this information, a group of guests has promised to help us break this game," Elder Amulgu explained. "Elder, what if..." Kayla began, but Elder Amulgu cut her off. "They have bound themselves with the highest contracts from the Monster Lord of Contracts. They won''t break their word unless they have no fear of a monster lord''s might," Elder Amulgu explained. Kayla then asked, "What exactly are the holy stakes, and who are these individuals?" "I don''t have much information about them. The leader, a man named Grimm, is heavily bandaged and provided us with details about the holy stakes," Elder Amulgu replied. "He informed us that the holy stakes were created by our Great Matriarch Morgan Le Fay. Their purpose is to destroy the black sun, which she predicted would lead to the downfall of Walpurgis Night." The revelation left Kayla and her companions puzzled. How did an outsider possess such detailed knowledge? Even the elders of Walpurgis Night were unaware of these matters. "If the black sun poses a threat to Walpurgis Night, why didn''t the matriarch destroy it earlier?" Kayla wondered aloud. They were filled with questions but lacked the means to answer them. Elder Grecia glanced at Elder Amulgu and remarked, "There''s one crucial detail you''ve overlooked. He mentioned that the Great Matriarch was secretly investigating the downfall of the Hall of Power in the past. Have you considered why there''s a passage in the Obsidian Desert? He spoke of two titles: the Isolated Formation God and the Divine Venerable of Wisdom." Alice and Eilish listened intently, pondering the connection between Morgan Le Fay and these two fallen gods. "The downfall of the Hall of Power..." Alice thought aloud, recalling the appearance of the Commandments of God''s Will in that location and Morgan Le Fay''s subsequent fall from grace. There had to be a significant link between these events. Elder Amulgu turned to Kayla and continued, "I need you to locate this place..." She provided the general appearance of the rooms where the six holy stakes were situated. However, due to recent space shuffling within the Dream Palace, she was uncertain of their exact location. Elder Grecia scrutinized Alice and Eilish, questioning, "Are you certain we can trust these two? Why don''t we focus on earning points instead?" "Stop, Elder Grecia! You cannot engage in such actions in front of me!" Elder Amulgu exclaimed loudly. "Very well... But don''t come crying to me later if we fail to clear this game and you end up with no points," Elder Grecia retorted. "I never expected to encounter you here..." Suddenly, a voice with a faint tone of amusement echoed through the room. Elder Amulgu, Elder Grecia, and the others turned to see a woman with red hair standing before them. The two elders widened their eyes in disbelief at the sight of this unexpected visitor. "You...!" Elder Amulgu stammered, clearly astonished. Alice and Eilish were equally surprised, recognizing the newcomer. Instinctively, they took a step back. The person who had appeared was none other than Red Mist. "How fortunate to encounter the esteemed elders," Red Mist remarked with a smile, eyeing them as if they were prey. "You''re seeking the so-called holy stakes, aren''t you? Unfortunately, I cannot allow that. Walpurgis Night will come to an end." "You traitor!" Elder Grecia seethed upon hearing Red Mist''s declaration about the downfall of Walpurgis Night. "A traitor?" Red Mist raised her eyebrows mockingly at the elder. Stepping forward, she continued, "Ah, yes. That''s the label you all decided to give me after what you did! The fate of Walpurgis Night has been sealed, and you witches are powerless to stop it!" Elder Amulgu swiftly turned to Kayla and the others. "Everyone, get away from here!" "It''s too late!" Red Mist laughed, and suddenly, an intense wave of flames erupted from her body like a tsunami, engulfing the entire area in fire within moments. Chapter 990: Witch Hunt: Remuria The ground shook violently as flames erupted, swiftly engulfing everything in sight. Elder Amulgu reacted swiftly, summoning her soul weapon-a golden staff adorned with a serpentine design known as the [Engulfing Serpent Staff]. A protective field materialized before her, halting the advance of the flames. "Go now! Leave this to me!" Elder Amulgu commanded loudly. Kayla and her group immediately turned and flew away. Although they were uncertain about the identity of the woman causing the chaos, they obeyed the elder''s orders. "Let''s go," Eilish said, urging the group onward. Alice cast a final glance at Red Mist before following Eilish. She understood the danger posed by Red Mist, surpassing that of Poisonous Vine and Spatial Whisperer based on her display of power in Selnes Country. Swoosh! Elder Grecia stepped forward, her attention fixed solely on Red Mist. Unlike Elder Amulgu, she made no effort to protect Kayla and the others. "Aqua Burst!" A powerful torrent of water surged from the tip of her staff, colliding with the flames and creating a dense veil of vapor that shrouded the entire area. "Remuria, I will settle what should have been done long ago! Your treacherous deeds end today!" Elder Grecia declared loudly. "Remuria... It has been a long time since I heard that name. I almost forgot it," Red Mist emerged from the billowing vapor, her gaze fixed on the two elders before her. "Regardless, I have forsaken that name. People in the real world know me as Red Mist." "Do you truly believe you can escape your origins? How amusing! You are still the same pitiful girl!" Elder Grecia laughed mockingly. "Remuria... You''re still alive...?" Elder Amulgu muttered, clearly taken aback. The two elders from different factions held contrasting views regarding Red Mist. Red Mist turned to Elder Amulgu and retorted, "Don''t look at me like that. You did nothing to prevent what happened. Everyone in this land turned a blind eye to me." "I will never forgive this place, so I have resolved to thoroughly destroy it, no matter the cost. I never anticipated an invitation would be extended to the real world, offering me the perfect opportunity," Red Mist laughed maniacally. The origins of the invitations that all the guests received remained unknown. Despite being a witch, Red Mist was unable to pinpoint the location of Walpurgis Night due to the encircling Dream Power. However, thanks to the invitation, she managed to return. Elder Amulgu remained silent, her gaze fixed on Red Mist, whom she knew as Remuria. "The Walpurgis Night will reclaim its former glory. We will uncover the mastermind behind this, and you will face the same fate," Elder Grecia declared firmly. "Fate? Let me share something interesting with you. Walpurgis Night was destined to fall, but that fate was shattered, allowing you all to potentially prevent it from happening," Red Mist explained, raising her finger to emphasize her point. Had fate not been shattered, the destruction of Walpurgis Night would have been inevitable unless a deity intervened personally. Fate was a mysterious concept-capable of change yet sometimes immutable, perhaps dictated by the will of the world. "But that''s irrelevant now. Fate has been shattered. Nothing is absolute in this world, and even gods can fall from their lofty status," Red Mist continued. "Do you mean that if fate hadn''t collapsed, Walpurgis Night would be doomed to fall?" Elder Amulgu asked in a low voice. "Exactly. That would have been the inevitable future for Walpurgis Night. It was written in fate, but for some reason, fate collapsed," Red Mist paused briefly before adding, "Now there''s a chance that you can prevent its destruction. So give it your best effort and let me witness your struggle until the end." "You''re insane!" Elder Grecia exclaimed loudly, pointing her staff at Red Mist. A ray of light burst forth from the staff, but it missed its target as Red Mist had already moved to a different location, watching them calmly. The air around her grew hotter once again as she spoke. "I will settle everything today. Kill me, just as you tried to that day," Red Mist declared. "Enough!" Elder Grecia retorted, casting another spell. Several pillars of water descended from above, each spewing hundreds of water blades in every direction. Swoosh! Red Mist swiftly dodged all the water blades, flames swirling around her arm as she struck the ground, causing a sea of flames to erupt. The flames and water collided, enveloping the entire area in vapor once again. The vapor quickly dissipated as Elder Amulgu unleashed a powerful energy release, revealing Red Mist''s position. "Remuria, did it really have to come to this?" Elder Amulgu questioned, locking eyes with Red Mist. "Yeah," Red Mist replied coldly, dashing forward to confront the two Walpurgis Night elders. Swoosh! Meanwhile, Kayla''s group, along with Alice and Eilish, arrived in a certain room. It was a spacious living room, adorned with sofas and various neatly arranged objects. Despite the comfortable setting, they wore serious expressions as they surveyed their surroundings cautiously. Below them, on the stairs, several human-like golems stared back at them. "These golems are already here..." Alice remarked quietly, circulating her energy silently. "Should we engage them?" Eilish asked in a hushed tone. "Let''s take out some of them before we make a break for it. We shouldn''t waste time facing these golems head-on," Kayla suggested. Kim and the others nodded in agreement with their captain''s plan. Fighting the golems wasn''t their primary objective, so expending unnecessary energy on them would be counterproductive. "Let''s go! Focus on the golems ahead!" Kayla commanded before dashing forward. In response to their captain''s directive, Kim and Levie leaped into the air, summoning their soul weapons. The energy around them surged as they cast their spells. Kayla, Barno, Ivie, Alice, and Eilish benefited from the boosts provided by Kim and Levie''s spells. Ohm! Kayla, Barno, and Ivie surged forward, swiftly wielding their soul weapons to strike the golems ahead. The trio''s coordinated attacks overwhelmed the golems in front of them. Meanwhile, Alice and Eilish positioned themselves to block the left and right sides, preventing the other golems from advancing. Alice thrust her spear repeatedly, unleashing blasts of cold energy at the golems. Eilish conjured water dragons to impede the golems'' progress. Their goal wasn''t to destroy the golems but to keep them occupied and prevent them from interfering with Kayla and the others. "We''re ready!" Kim shouted. Alice and Eilish turned their heads and dashed to the front. Meanwhile, Kim and Levie raised their soul weapons into the air. "[Solid Rock Barricade]!" Two walls of rock burst from the ground, temporarily isolating them from the golems on the sides and leaving them with a clear path ahead. Having already dealt with the golems in front, they swiftly moved to exit the room. Bang! An explosion erupted ahead, causing them to halt in their tracks. "Something''s wrong?" Kayla muttered, narrowing her eyes. Suddenly, a heavy surge of energy rippled throughout the area. Boom!! Alice, Eilish, and the others widened their eyes in shock as their instincts screamed at them. Undoubtedly, a powerful golem had appeared. Kayla scanned left and right, searching for a way to avoid direct confrontation with the formidable foe blocking their path. Ahead of them lay only one route, obstructed by the imposing golem, while thick walls crafted by Kim and Levie sealed off their flanks. "We''ll break through the walls and head for the door upstairs," Kayla whispered to the group. Alice and the others nodded in agreement. Before they could make a move, a strange occurrence interrupted their plans. The entire room shook violently, and an even more potent surge of energy erupted from the ground, tearing through the space around them. Boom!! "What''s happening?!" Kayla exclaimed. Everyone was shocked by the unfolding events. First, Red Mist''s appearance, and now something entirely different was happening. The chaos was overwhelming, with multiple unexpected occurrences simultaneously. "This energy... It''s not from a golem," Alice whispered, her voice filled with uncertainty. Eilish looked up, her gaze fixated on the shattered space above them. Within the fractured area, she discerned several figures. "W-What?!" Eilish gasped, her eyes widening as she focused on one of the figures. Alice noticed Eilish''s reaction and asked, "What''s wrong?" Eilish remained silent, still staring at the figure moving within the broken space. Alice followed Eilish''s line of sight and spotted three figures. One was a man covered in bandages, another was a woman with cat ears and a tail, and the last was a man with blue hair. Something about the man with blue hair caught Alice''s attention. His appearance bore a striking resemblance to Eilish. "Is that..." Alice began, glancing at Eilish once again. "E-Eilan?! It can''t be..." Eilish muttered in shock. Her long-lost sibling, whom she had been desperately searching for, appeared here in Walpurgis Night of all places. Bang!! The ground shook violently as a human-like golem burst through the rubble. Alice reacted swiftly, positioning herself in front of Eilish and thrusting her spear with all her might toward the golem. "Eilish! Snap out of it!" Alice shouted, putting additional force into her spear. Chapter 991: Witch Hunt: Separation Alice felt a strong impact as she was pushed back, crashing into the walls. Luckily, Eilish snapped out of her thoughts and jumped away, narrowly avoiding the attacks of the human- like golem. Bang! The powerful golem stood before them. Other golems also gathered around, all facing their direction. They were once again surrounded. The plan had gone awry, with unexpected events unfolding. "We can still jump into the shattered space. It will lead us to another area within the Dream Palace," Kayla suggested. They had no choice but to proceed if they wanted to avoid fighting the golems. "That works for me," Eilish replied anxiously. She was determined to follow her brother and discover why he was in this place. Alice emerged from the rubble, surveyed her surroundings, and declared, "I''ll do it." "Do what?" Kayla asked. "I''ll lure these golems down there," Alice declared, pointing at the rift in the floor. "What? If you want to do that, we should just fight these golems," Eilish protested. "If we fight them now, we''ll have little energy left for other tasks. Our group''s goal is to find the holy stakes, while you two want to locate your comrades, right?" Kayla reasoned. Eilish bit her lip, acknowledging Kayla''s point. These golems were formidable; a serious fight would deplete their mana reserves. Amanda and Souta were missing, and Amanda was the weakest among them. If she encountered these golems alone, the outcome would be dire. The powerful golem slowly bent its knees, preparing to charge. "There''s no other choice! I''ll lure them away! Don''t worry, I''ll find a way to escape!" Alice said firmly, facing the golem and swinging her spear. Bang! "Alice..." Eilish looked at Alice, concern etched on her face. "Go! I know what I''m doing. Besides, I haven''t unleashed my full strength yet," Alice declared loudly as she grabbed the golem''s wrist and delivered a powerful knee to its stomach. [Ice Wall]! [Freezing Ground]! Her energy surged as she cast two spells to restrain the other golems while engaging in combat with the powerful golem. Eilish watched for a moment, then nodded decisively. She turned to Kayla and the others. "Let''s go!" "Are you sure about this?" Kayla asked, sounding uncertain. "We can''t waste any more time," Eilish replied firmly, flying towards the rift in the ceiling of the room. She understood what Alice meant. Alice, with her lineage, still had reserves of strength she couldn''t reveal in front of others. Kayla and the rest cast one more glance at Alice before following Eilish. Swoosh! Alice leaped forward, thrusting her spear at the powerful golem. The golem dodged her attack, grabbing her foot and hurling her to the ground. Simultaneously, the other golems leapt towards her. Bang! Bang! Suddenly, a massive tornado filled with sharp ice materialized in the room, sweeping away the approaching golems. [Cold Tornado]! [Freezing Shards]! Alice staggered to her feet, tasting blood in her mouth. She had underestimated the golem''s strength; escaping would not be as easy as she had hoped. The powerful golem strode through the dissipating tornado, its wounds from the ice shards healing rapidly. "I need to find its core," Alice muttered, scanning her surroundings. "I must lure these golems away and eliminate them swiftly." The weaker golems quickly stood up, their wounds healing rapidly. Ignoring Alice''s words, the powerful golem charged toward her with alarming speed. Alice raised her hand, and tentacle-like flesh burst forth, ensnaring all the golems in her sight. Her once smooth and dainty hand transformed into a grotesque mass of flesh. "Come here!" Without hesitation, Alice leaped down into the rift, dragging the golems with her. Ohm! The shattered space cut through her body, but she swiftly healed her wounds using the power of her parasite. In the next moment, she descended into an unknown realm. Alice immediately slammed her hand onto the ground. Bang! The earth shook violently, sending clouds of dust into the air. Alice retracted her hand and noticed a large cut. The flesh restraining the powerful golem had been sliced apart. "Where did that golem go?" Alice muttered, peering up at the rift in space above. Had the golem managed to free itself and become lost in the space gap? When she had jumped into the rift, Alice had sensed several other rifts scattered throughout the Dream Palace. It was evident that someone had deliberately torn the space apart. The architecture of the Dream Palace was peculiar; it was designed to contain and interlink various dimensions, making it challenging to tear space apart. The ancestors of the witches would not have devoted time to constructing the Dream Palace if space could be easily breached. "I''m fortunate the golem became lost," Alice muttered to herself. It was the golem''s own doing; slicing her flesh in the space gap had propelled it elsewhere. This outcome favored Alice, but if the golem managed to return to its previous location and pursue Kayla''s group, it wou I pose a significant problem. Alice looked around and realized she was in a vast room. Everything seemed unusually large, with objects several times larger than normal. A nearby table stood a foot taller than her, and the chair next to it dwarfed her in size. Bang! She was jolted from her thoughts by a noise. The golems stirred, dispersing dust with their mana. "I''ll deal with these golems first," Alice declared as her appearance shifted. Strands of flesh emerged from her skin, forming an additional layer of armor-like tissue over her body. With a swift kick off the ground, she launched herself towards the group of golems. The spear in her hand gleamed with a cold light as she brought it down. [Frozen Zero Strike]! The ground quaked heavily as a cold wind swept out, turning the floor to ice. The golems were thrown back, and the one that took the attack head-on sustained heavy damage, with several parts of its body frozen solid. Bang! Alice thrust her spear once more. The golem crossed its hands in an attempt to block the attack, but the intense cold emanating from the spear froze its hands within moments. Not wasting the opportunity, Alice stepped forward, putting more force into her assault. [Sonic Thrust]! A brilliant light flashed, accompanied by a resounding echo. The golem''s frozen hands crumbled into tiny pieces of ice. Alice then spun in the air before hurling her spear. [Ground Burrowing Spear]! The golem was powerless to resist. A blinding white flash filled its vision. The next instant, the spear impaled its body to the ground, causing sharp ice to erupt around it. The golem''s eyes lost their luster as its core collapsed. Alice landed gracefully, retrieving her spear. She surveyed the remaining golems around her. "This will take some time," she muttered, raising her spear once more. [Great Blizzard of the Thousand Moon]! [Chilly Wind]! [Hail Storm]! [Freezing Breeze]! [Freezing Ground]! Alice unleashed spells one after another. Although not as skilled as Eilish in spell-casting, she possessed a wide repertoire of spells from her studies at the Ladro Institute until now. The surroundings transformed instantly. The table, chair, glass, and other objects in the room were encased in ice, now resembling sculptures. Frigid winds swept in every direction, carrying sharp ice shards capable of piercing through metal. Heavy snowflakes fell upon the area. Alice maneuvered swiftly, charging at one of the golems. With a deft movement, she swung her spear downward, severing the golem''s arm. Though her intent was to deliver a fatal blow, the golem managed to evade a strike to its core. "This time, there''s no escape for you!" Alice declared, advancing and thrusting her spear repeatedly. [Dozen Piercing Strike]! The golem staggered back, riddled with gaping holes in its body. A final spear thrust shattered its core, causing its body to collapse limply to the ground. Alice glanced to the side and saw the remaining golems closing in on her. Gripping her spear with both hands, she raised it above her head. [Cold Tornado]! A powerful tornado descended from above, hurling the golems in all directions. Using her enhanced physical strength, fueled by the parasite within her, Alice pursued the scattered golems. With swift spear movements, she closed in on them with a determined intent to eliminate. After a few moments, Alice stood atop a golem, her spear embedded in its body. She withdrew her weapon and released her mana. It took her five minutes to destroy all the golems. "That was quicker than expected. Perhaps because the strong golem got lost in the space gap," Alice mused to herself. Then, she turned her head to the side and asked, "Finished watching?" Chapter 992: Witch Hunt: Edern "You''re quite adept to have sensed me!" boomed a loud voice that echoed through the entire room. Alice turned and saw a towering figure smiling down at her. The man stood several times taller than her, his knees reaching her height. He wore a white fur robe adorned with tribal tattoos across his arms and face. "Who are you?" Alice inquired. "Me? I don''t really know, but here in this dream, they call me Edern," the giant replied with a grin. "Dream?" Alice raised an eyebrow. "Yes, isn''t this place a dream? I''ve been trapped here the moment I was born," Edern explained as he settled into a massive chair. "You''ve been trapped here... How?" "Let me enlighten you. The witches named this structure the Dream Palace, a labyrinth of dreams and dimensions. Look around you..." Edern gestured at their surroundings. Alice glanced around and finally noticed dozens of corpses lying in pools of blood at the corners of the room. "They perished when they were brought to this place during your so-called Witch Hunt Game," Edern explained solemnly. "They couldn''t withstand the pressures of this space, being ordinary individuals." Edern paused, then continued, "Don''t be surprised that I know about the game. All living beings-humans, demis, or monsters-within Walpurgis Night receive shared information in their minds." "The Dream Palace is not as the witches portrayed it to you," Edern continued. "Long ago, the witches abducted people from their dreams and imprisoned them here. They used these captives for experiments. Over time, the witches ceased their visits, and the experiments ceased as well. However, those abducted individuals remain trapped here, unable to return to reality, bound by a mysterious power preventing their escape." Alice regarded Edern and asked, "And what about you?" "Me? I''m a descendant of one of the giants they abducted in the past," Edern explained. "Just like my parents, my life is bound to this place. I cannot leave." Edern chuckled before standing up and pointing towards the door. "There are others like me here, and we''re planning something against the witches who come to the Dream Palace." "What do you want from me?" Alice inquired. "I need you to bring us death," Edern replied bluntly. "Due to the experiments, we are partially fused with the Dream Palace. To end our suffering, you must destroy the Dream Palace itself." "What do you mean by that?" Alice asked, feeling puzzled. "When you destroyed those golems, did you notice something?" Edern explained. "Those golems are failed experiments, which is why there are far more golems in the Dream Palace compared to other regions." Alice narrowed her eyes in thought. The golems seemed to have a directive to eliminate all participants. Who was giving these orders? It must be related to what Edern was describing- the witches who conducted these experiments. Alice glanced at Edern, her expression reflecting confusion. "Why do you want me to kill you? Is death really the only way?" "We, the people trapped in the Dream Palace, seek death as a form of liberation," Edern explained. "We are essentially slaves here, unable to move freely without orders. Many of us have begun to plan against the witches who control this place. They want to eliminate everyone brought into the Dream Palace, hoping the witches will retaliate and end us." Edern paused, lifting a finger. "Another crucial point: we cannot end our own lives, and we are programmed to defend ourselves if attacked. It''s as if we are like golems, with commands hardwired into us. The only difference is that we are living beings." Edern moved toward the door, continuing to speak. "I understand you have many questions, but even I do not have all the answers. I don''t know the purpose behind these experiments." Alice followed quietly behind him, absorbing his words. "For us, death equals freedom. Our bodies endure unbearable pain every night. We are forbidden from fighting each other, so we seek out monsters that can defeat us. Yet, no matter how many times we are destroyed, we always return," Edern explained solemnly. "The destruction of the Dream Palace will grant us true liberation." In a hushed tone, Edern stopped at the door and slowly pushed it open. Edern turned to Alice and said, "That''s why we are willing to provoke the witches, even if it means sacrificing all the ordinary people who arrive here." Alice grasped the gravity of Edern''s words. She followed him beyond the door and found herself in a vast land teeming with gigantic trees, sensing the presence of living beings all around. "I''m asking you again to grant us death," Edern reiterated. "I lack the strength to destroy the Dream Palace," Alice replied honestly. "You don''t need to destroy the Dream Palace. Let me show you," Edern suggested. "Follow me." Edern led Alice into the forest until they reached a village. Alice''s heart sank at the sight of hundreds of people bound in every corner. Children cried out of fear, while adults attempted to offer solace, their faces etched with visible terror. "The atmosphere here isn''t as intense as the previous space, so they are able to survive for now. However, they will soon meet their end at the hands of my comrades to provoke the witches. We view this ''game'' as an opportunity to attain death. We will obstruct anyone attempting to clear it. Therefore, if you wish to progress in this ''game,'' you must be prepared to confront and defeat us," Edern explained as they walked. Soon, the group arrived at the center of the village where a large altar with various symbols on the ground stood. "What is this?" Alice inquired. "You are the fifth person we have brought here. We cannot approach the altar due to certain rules, but inside it is a separate space. You can enter and compete with the first four. Then, you will understand what lies within," Edern responded. Alice remained silent, eyeing Edern cautiously. Though she had just met him and did not fully trust him, there seemed to be some truth in his words. "Why hesitate? If you refuse to participate, I will not hesitate to end the lives of everyone in this place, including yours. That way, you will have no choice but to proceed," Edern threatened. "Fine," Alice sighed as she walked towards the altar. The altar erupted in a blinding light, engulfing her body. When the light subsided, Alice had vanished. Edern gazed at the altar and muttered, "Whoever emerges from that altar will bring us death. Many are transported inside, but only one will emerge. We have only one hour remaining." Inside the altar, a competition unfolded. Those accidentally transported there faced inevitable death. Edern and his kin had activated this ritual since the Witch Hunt Game began. Edern did not understand the full workings of the altar, but he knew it was a tool used by the witches who had experimented on them in the past. "Death... Bring it to me," he whispered solemnly. ... Alice opened her eyes to find herself inside a colossal arena. Corpses littered the ground, blood staining the earth. Since arriving in the Dream Palace, Alice had grown accustomed to the sight of corpses scattered throughout this nightmarish realm. It was a grim reminder of the harsh conditions faced by the denizens of Walpurgis Night-a place where survival depended on strength. The overwhelming presence of death left Alice feeling numb. Though she did not know these fallen individuals, the sight of their pitiful faces of the children reinforced her resolve to see this place destroyed. "Edern''s plan is to show all participants that the Dream Palace must be eradicated. That''s the purpose," Alice muttered to herself. She lifted her gaze to confront the figure hovering above. "Are you the final challenger?" a woman with blue hair and fiery red eyes inquired, grinning wickedly. "You don''t seem to be one of our citizens. I assume you''re a guest. In that case, there''s no issue if I end you." "Your attire resembles that of some of the corpses here. Did you perhaps kill your comrades?" Alice inquired. "What choice did I have? They attacked me first. We''ve all been manipulated by those people, right? They''re trying to defy the witches, thinking they stand a chance. Are they out of their minds?! They brought you here too, seeking something from this place, didn''t they?" the woman replied with a deranged expression. "Stay here with me, and you''ll end up like me! There''s something twisted about this place! Hahahaha!" Alice glanced around cautiously before muttering to herself, "This situation must be resolved swiftly." "What was that? I''ll tear you limb from limb and reveal the truth of this place!" the woman cackled as she bent her knees and charged at Alice. "There is indeed something wrong with this place, which is why you can meet your end here," Alice stated coldly as she thrust her spear forward. Chapter 993: Witch Hunt: Witch Rite of Duel Boom! A deafening explosion reverberated as the woman was thrown against the corner of the colosseum. She spat out a mouthful of blood, her face filled with surprise as she gazed at Alice. "You''re even better than I imagined..." The woman rose to her feet, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. "I suppose I, Lancy, will need to take you more seriously! Once I defeat you, I''ll ascend the ranks and become a high-ranking official of the Walpurgis Night!" Her energy surged, and a potent elemental power emanated throughout the area. Lightning crackled from above as Lancy drew her soul weapon-an elegant pair of golden daggers. "Your ambition is to climb the ranks of the Walpurgis Night? Did you betray your comrades for that?" Alice''s voice was icy, and the temperature plummeted. The ground beneath her began to freeze. "Do I need any other reason? The Walpurgis Night means everything to witches like me. You wouldn''t understand, being an outsider," Lancy retorted as she advanced toward Alice. The two stood face to face, locking eyes as their energies clashed in the air, sending sparks flying. This was the Witch Rite of Duel¡ªa battle where participants fought until only one remained alive. According to the intel, the victor of this contest would be rewarded by their dreams. Edern and his comrades were barred from this event due to certain regulations. They had learned about it from historical records left by witches who once governed the Dream Palace. These witches had used the Rite of Duel to select a champion from among the Walpurgis Night citizens, indifferent to the casualties, focusing solely on the outcome. Swoosh! Lancy swung her daggers, but Alice deftly evaded by stepping backward. She countered by thrusting her spear upward, colliding with Lancy''s daggers, then redirected her weapon, pushing it forward. Lancy widened her eyes and tilted her head as the spear grazed her cheek, drawing blood that swiftly froze into ice. Gritting her teeth, she pushed forward into the chilling aura surrounding Alice''s body. Bang! Lightning erupted, countering the cold energy. Lancy swiftly moved her hands, swinging her daggers in rapid succession. Her speed had dramatically increased. In the Witch Rite of Duel, the more participants you eliminated, the greater your power grew. Lancy had already claimed lives before encountering Alice, granting her a surge of Dream Power. She had not been this formidable from the outset. Intoxicated by her newfound strength, she realized she had ascended to the level of some elites. Though she remained distant from true elites like Lorna and others, she believed she could reach that level. "Just perish!" Lancy cackled madly, relentlessly swinging her daggers. Swoosh! Alice staggered back, blood flowing from a gash across her face. Lancy raised both hands, summoning lightning from above. The bolts formed a net that enveloped Alice. "[Lightning Visage]!" The area blazed with intense light as lightning struck forcefully. Alice dropped to her knees, tasting blood in her mouth. "Hehe, look at you!" Lancy mocked, eyeing her opponent''s battered state. Alice gazed at Lancy and spoke calmly, "Enough..." Rising amid the onslaught of lightning, darkness and frigid energy radiated from her feet. In an instant, the platform was engulfed in darkness, forcefully dispersing the vibrant lightning that had filled the surroundings. Ohm! "W-What is this?!" Lancy''s eyes widened in astonishment as she beheld a massive sphere of bluish flames enveloping her opponent''s body. Clang! A metallic sound rang out as a bracelet fell to the ground. With a gust of wind, the bluish flames dispersed, revealing Alice''s transformed appearance. Her hair had turned silver, gradually fading to a light blue at the tips. Her skin was pale, almost devoid of color like porcelain. Her irises had transformed into slits encircled by a crimson ring. Black horns protruded from the sides of her head, and a blue flame danced on her forehead. "Heavenly Demon''s Aura..." Alice''s voice echoed powerfully as the ground trembled beneath her. She slowly raised her hand, and her spear flew into her grasp. "Y-You''re a demon?!" Lancy''s eyes widened in shock as she subconsciously took a step back. "That''s correct," Alice replied coldly, pointing her spear directly at Lancy. "[Secret Technique: Heavenly Demon''s Dark Spiral]!" Darkness surged from beneath Alice''s feet, gathering at the spear''s tip and swirling menacingly toward Lancy. "Damn it!" Lancy attempted to evade, but the swirling darkness closed in swiftly. She used her daggers to fend it off, but the force behind the attack shook her entire frame. Bang! The darkness dispersed, revealing Lancy with eyes ablaze with anger. Dream power vibrated wildly around her, altering the terrain with each passing moment. "You''ll meet your end today, demon!" Lancy''s voice dripped with lethal intent. "You lost the moment I realized we were alone. I''m not an ordinary demon, so I''ll offer you my condolences," Alice retorted coldly before thrusting her spear forward. "[Secret Technique: Destruction Divine Strike]!" The attack was swift and unstoppable. Darkness surged instantly, obliterating everything in its path. Lancy''s eyes widened in horror as her dream power proved powerless against the relentless darkness hurtling toward her. "ARGHH! NOOO!!" Lancy''s voice faded as the darkness swallowed her whole. Alice surveyed the aftermath of her destruction. She exhaled deeply, wiping sweat from her forehead. The technique she had unleashed was one of the secret arts reserved for Demon Spirits in the Heavenly Demon Palace. "Demon Spirit" was a term used in the Demon''s Land, equivalent to an SSS-rank in the Giza Continent. The technique had drained a significant amount of her stamina and mana, as she was not accustomed to using it. There were still techniques suitable for a Demon Spirit, but Alice hadn''t had the time to practice those skills yet, so she could only rely on this one. She retrieved her bracelet, causing her appearance to revert to normal. "Now that I''ve dealt with that woman..." Alice muttered, glancing upward as she sensed dream power gathering above. ... At the altar, Edern observed with anticipation. He noticed the altar emitting a faint light and trembling slightly. "This is... The Witch Rite of Duel is concluding..." Edern grinned broadly. He hoped the victor would receive something significant from the Rite of Duel. All the powerful knights produced in the past had emerged victorious from the ritual. "If my assumptions are correct, then there''s one thing left from the past. I''ll finally meet my long-awaited death." People like Edern would typically engage in combat with all the participants in the game. However, Edern and his family chose not to participate in such conflicts, instead activating the Rite of Duel in the hopes of creating an expert who could handle these challenges. For those associated with the Dream Palace, death was the furthest outcome imaginable. Ohm! A blinding light erupted from the altar, and a figure emerged from it-it was Alice. Edern stepped forward eagerly but was abruptly repelled by a powerful force. He flew several meters back, realizing he had forgotten the rules binding him from approaching the altar. "Are you alright?" Alice inquired as she approached Edern. "I''m fine. This won''t kill me; I''ve tested it before," Edern assured as he got back on his feet. "You''ve tested it?" Alice raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I tried approaching the altar to see if the rules could harm me, but it only pushed me away without causing any damage," Edern explained, gesturing dismissively. "Anyway, did you receive something from it?" "Yes, I did," Alice confirmed. ... Meanwhile, in the Demon''s Land. A man with silver hair and a pair of black horns sat on a throne, his eyes closed. Slowly, he opened them, revealing slitted pupils with a crimson ring around them. He was Lucifer, the Great Demon Emperor of the Heavenly Demon Palace. "Just now... I sensed Alicia releasing her demonic powers. It''s strange-she''s in the Dream Realm, yet I can''t pinpoint her location. Something is blocking my ability," Lucifer murmured in a low voice. Lucifer couldn''t help but feel a sense of amusement. A faint smile crept onto his face. "This is intriguing... There are very few beings capable of matching my power over dreams. I never expected my daughter to seek refuge in the Dream Realm. She''s exceedingly cautious and to think that already attained the rank of a Brigade Commander in my army." Lucifer glanced towards the door and commanded, "Gather an army to invade the Dream Realm. I will open the way to the Dream Realm so find my daughter, Alicia, no matter what." His voice resonated throughout the entire palace, reaching every demon''s ears. "There''s nothing you can do to stop me. Your mother''s protective spells shield you from direct detection, but you cannot hide forever. The more you face opponents beyond your current capabilities, the more you will rely on your demonic powers." Chapter 995: Witch Hunt: Death Swoosh! The smoke dissipated, revealing Edan and Lemi''s tattered appearance, blood covering their bodies as they stared at Alice. Alice kicked the ground, unwilling to give them an opportunity to fight back. She tightly gripped the spear in her hands as her aura rose once again. She sensed that their demise was imminent. With their guards down, the first attack pierced through their defenses effortlessly. The fact that Alice couldn''t end them even with their lowered guards spoke volumes about the tough defenses of the giants. Ohm! For the final strike, a surge of dream power exploded from her body. Alice gritted her teeth as she aimed the spear at the couple. Her strength surged wildly as she absorbed the emotions of the village people. Edan looked at the light and said, "This is it, Lemi!" "I know, we''re finally free from all the suffering!" Lemi smiled. In the next moment, Alice thrust the golden spear forward. A burst of light erupted, swallowing Edan and Lemi once again. Boom! A ripple spread out, shaking the entire space. It felt as if this dimension was about to collapse at any second. The power of [Rhongomiant] shattered the rules around Edan and Lemi''s bodies that prevented them from dying. They wouldn''t return anymore; they had truly perished this time. Alice stood on the ground, gazing at the spear in her hand. This universal-grade weapon boosted her strength to a certain degree and granted her a powerful attack at the cost of her elemental energy. The moment she acquired this weapon, a flood of information rushed into her mind. "The King of Knights was killed just as he was about to aid Le Fay in her battle against her enemies. He fell at the hands of his own subordinates and some witches. So, it''s the witches'' fault that they''ve plummeted from their former glory... Instead of assisting Le Fay, they eliminated the one man who could have aided her," Alice said, narrowing her eyes. "[Rhongomiant]. The Holy Spear of Light... It possesses the power to challenge the very rules," Edern explained as he approached Alice. Alice turned her head to look at Edern. "Indeed. That''s why I specifically targeted the rules binding your parents'' lives in the Dream Palace. It grants them release through death." "I suppose it''s my turn now." "Are you certain you wish to meet your end?" "Yes. I''ve awaited this moment for a very long time. You possess the power to end us, but tread carefully when encountering others like myself. Among them are formidable individuals equal to five or even six shackles," Edern cautioned. "Is this the only thing left there?" Alice asked, gazing at the spear in her hand. "I''m not certain. I cannot guarantee you''ll find anything else there. You''re fortunate that the Holy Spear remains," Edern replied. He then gestured and said, "Regardless, let''s proceed. Grant me death." "Very well," Alice nodded before taking a deep breath. ... Red Mist stood before the two elders, her eyes ablaze with madness as the ground beneath her feet began to liquefy. "Submit!" Red Mist bellowed, raising her hand as a massive ball of flame descended from above. Elder Grecia clenched her teeth, tapping the ground with her soul weapon. In an instant, several layers of a water barrier formed around her. Meanwhile, Elder Amulgu retreated, erecting a protective barrier around herself. Boom! A powerful explosion reverberated, shaking the entire hallway. The door began to splinter as flames erupted, spreading into different spaces through the breaches. The barrier surrounding Elder Amulgu shattered, but she swiftly conjured another. Taking a deep breath, she pointed her staff at Red Mist. [Wind Fracture]! A razor-sharp wind sliced through the air, hurtling toward Red Mist. However, before it could reach her, the gust dissipated into nothingness as flames consumed it. "[Mantle of Flame Spirit]..." Red Mist muttered, fixing her gaze on Elder Amulgu. The [Mantle of Flame Spirit] acted as a barrier, incinerating any attacks launched against her. "I''ve grown stronger, and now I realize I surpass all of you. I am no longer weak. It''s satisfying to know I can eliminate the elders of the Walpurgis Night," Red Mist declared coldly. Elder Amulgu wore a somber expression as she glanced at Elder Grecia. "We must unite our efforts. Remuria is formidable." "Then support me! Today, I shall vanquish this traitor!" Elder Grecia declared loudly. "Agreed. Let us relocate. This confined space hinders our ability to leverage our numbers," Elder Amulgu sighed, resigned to the necessity of combat. Remuria had evolved beyond her previous understanding. She raised her staff, initiating her incantations. "[Recovery]! [Flame Resist]! [Greater Heat Resist]! [Agility Boost]! [Defense Enhancement]! [Burst Power]!" A flurry of buff spells enveloped Elder Grecia, bolstering her strength. Sensing the augmentation, Elder Grecia wasn''t content. She brandished her staff, casting additional spells upon herself, further amplifying her power. Simultaneously, her elemental energy surged forth like a tidal wave. [Dual Element Drive: Water and Lightning Integration]! Elder Grecia leaped toward Red Mist, her staff tracing a path through the air. With a single fluid motion, her power surged in tandem with the staff''s movement. A potent whirlpool of water crackling with lightning erupted from the floor, colliding with the intense flames in the vicinity. Bang! Red Mist crossed her arms defensively as the water and lightning vortex crashed into her, driving her forcefully into the door. Boom! "Now!" Elder Grecia bellowed, charging forward. Elder Amulgu moved in unison. Arriving beside the door, she relaxed her grip on her staff. It ascended above her, spinning and accumulating a vast amount of energy. Then, she clasped her hands together, and upon parting them, a black and red scissor materialized. This was her soul weapon, the [Divine Cutting Scissor]. "OPEN!" Elder Amulgu commanded, wielding her soul weapon to forcibly widen the space. The area beyond the door quaked violently, allowing Elder Grecia to surge forward, unleashing a barrage of devastating attacks. Boom! Boom! Elder Grecia bombarded the surroundings with her spells, heedless of any bystanders in the vicinity. Her sole focus was on eliminating the traitor. The thunderous explosions echoed throughout the area. Bang! Elder Grecia drew in a deep breath, her eyes narrowing. "There''s something..." Elder Amulgu tensed, sensing it too. As the smoke and dust cleared, they coalesced into a swirling vortex of flames. The inferno emitted a dense and formidable energy. In the next moment, the flames dispersed, revealing Red Mist within. Her appearance had undergone a drastic transformation; red scales adorned her body, and a pair of dragon wings extended from her back. "Hahaha, there''s nothing you can do!" Red Mist laughed, spreading her arms wide. "Spirit..." Elder Amulgu muttered, her eyes narrowing. "Remuria... Even with the aid of a spirit, it changes nothing," Elder Grecia declared. The two elders emanated a powerful energy, enveloping the entire area. They advanced, confronting Red Mist, shrouded in swirling flames. Elder Grecia surged forward, her aura intensifying. She harbored no fear of Red Mist; as one of the elders of the Walpurgis Night, she possessed unwavering confidence in her strength. Bang! The entire area trembled violently as Elder Grecia positioned herself before Red Mist. "Hmm... Dream Power, huh?" Red Mist muttered, her gaze fixed on the elder before her. "You should concern yourself with your own fate," Elder Grecia retorted, her tone icy. In the following moment, she wielded her soul weapon, commanding a vast reservoir of dream power. The [Dream Power III] possessed by the elders was formidable, unmatched even within the ranks of the entire Walpurgis Night. Those combat elites who trailed only the elders could only aspire to [Dream Power II]. Red Mist thrust her fist, emanating an intense heat. Boom! The flames expanded as they clashed with the dream power. Red Mist''s elemental energy erupted as she unleashed [Elemental Drive: Fire Integration]. Her mastery of elemental power was remarkable, nearing the Fusion Stage. Had it not been for the stringent requirements of the Seventh Shackle, she would have reached the Fusion Stage long ago. Red Mist bombarded the land with ferocious flames, but Elder Grecia countered by wielding her dream power to manipulate the terrain, conjuring objects seemingly out of thin air. While the dream power held sway in the Dream Realm, Red Mist was no ordinary Sixth Shackle expert. Despite Elder Grecia''s prowess, Red Mist''s elemental power and spirit energy allowed her to engage in a formidable clash with a full-powered elder of the Walpurgis Night. Bang! Bang! Explosions reverberated incessantly. Elder Amulgu remained in the rear, providing support to Elder Grecia. She observed the battle keenly, interjecting with spells occasionally to disrupt Red Mist''s attacks and aid Elder Grecia. She hadn''t anticipated a reunion with Remuria under such circumstances. It exceeded her expectations, as the Remuria of the past had undergone profound changes. "I apologize, Remuria, but we have urgent matters to attend to. Please stop!" Elder Amulgu said as she thrust her colossal scissor forward. [Cutlass: Slash over the Elements]! Red Mist widened her eyes as the flames were cleaved apart by the slashing motion. Chapter 996: Witch Hunt: Power Boom! Red Mist emerged from the dissipating smoke, her eyes widened in shock. A deep gash marred her shoulder, blood flowing incessantly from the wound. "Amulgu..." she murmured, casting her gaze downwards at the injury. The wound inflicted by Elder Amulgu''s weapon possessed unique properties; it inflicted continuous bleeding and thwarted any attempts at healing. Fighting against two elders of the Walpurgis Night was proving arduous, but Red Mist knew she had to persevere if she wished to defeat them. Elder Grecia spared a brief glance at Elder Amulgu before redirecting her attention to Red Mist. With a swift motion of her hand, she aimed her staff at Red Mist and invoked a spell. A dragon formed from lightning and water materialized in the air. Swoosh! Red Mist swiftly leaped backward, simultaneously launching fireballs in her retreat. Halting in mid-air, she found Elder Amulgu already before her. "Remuria, you must cease this," Elder Amulgu implored, her soul weapon poised to strike. Red Mist arched her body backward, narrowly evading the attack. Utilizing flames, she propelled herself away. Elder Amulgu showed no restraint, combining her formidable [Elemental Drive] with her immense [Dream Power III]. The power wielded by the elders was exceptional, far surpassing the ordinary. They numbered only six within the entire Walpurgis Night. Only the two Supreme Elders and the Matriarch stood above them. Despite facing two of the six elders simultaneously, Red Mist managed to hold her own, a testament to her remarkable strength. Boom! Boom! Elder Amulgu and Elder Grecia continued their fierce confrontation with Red Mist, causing the very fabric of the room to quake incessantly. "You underestimated us, traitor!" Elder Grecia''s voice thundered as she unleashed a barrage of potent spells. Bolts of lightning and torrents of water descended from above, wreaking havoc upon everything in their path. Red Mist evaded the attacks with agile maneuvers, conjuring a barrier of flames to shield herself. Though the lightning and water shattered the barrier, she persisted in creating a new one. In the ensuing chaos, Red Mist suddenly found herself amidst a tempest. She soared through the sky as thunder reverberated and rain cascaded down relentlessly. Below her stretched an endless expanse of ocean. "Fiamma... Increase the output once more," Red Mist murmured, sensing the impending danger. "You fail to grasp the dominance of dream power within the Dream Realm," Elder Grecia''s voice reverberated. Red Mist scanned her surroundings, attempting to locate the source of the voice, only to be met by a deluge of lightning descending upon her. She clenched her teeth, preparing for the impact. BOOM! A thunderous roar resounded as the lightning struck with ferocity, thousands of bolts striking in a mere instant. From a distance, Elder Grecia and Elder Amulgu observed as the sea of lightning enveloped the area. "Let me finish-" Elder Grecia''s sentence was abruptly cut short as a powerful heat wave dispersed the sea of lightning and the storm above in an instant. "She still possesses such formidable power," Elder Amulgu remarked, her eyes narrowing. In the distance, the entire area was engulfed in dazzling flames. Amidst the blaze stood Red Mist, her hands clasped together. As she parted her hands, a red flaming staff adorned with draconic motifs materialized. ROAR! A mighty dragon''s roar echoed, shaking the surroundings. Red Mist had finally summoned her soul weapon. With her soul weapon and spirit in harmony, her firepower reached its zenith. Pointing her staff at the two elders, a magic circle manifested beneath Red Mist''s feet. [Extinction Flame Burst]! The two elders swiftly evaded the attack, flanking Red Mist from both sides as they charged towards her simultaneously. "I am no longer the same as before. I am not weak anymore. I have grown stronger than I was in the past," Red Mist muttered, aiming her soul weapon at Elder Amulgu. [Obliterating Flaming Maelstrom]! Elder Amulgu halted in her tracks, erecting a barrier to shield herself. However, the flames erupted with such intensity that they swiftly melted through the barrier, spreading out to engulf the entire area, even reaching Elder Grecia on the opposite side. The flames evaporated the ocean below, shrouding the area in a dense vapor. Emerging from the mist, Elder Grecia cast buff spells on Elder Amulgu to bolster her strength, while simultaneously casting debuff spells to diminish Red Mist''s power. Swoosh! Red Mist leaped away, opting to avoid a direct confrontation with Elder Amulgu. Sensing her strength waning, she realized that Elder Grecia''s debuff spells were taking effect. "Tsk!" Red Mist clicked her tongue in annoyance, swiftly sidestepping to evade Elder Amulgu''s slashing attack. As she raised her foot to counter with a kick, she found her opponent already behind her. "You still have a chance to end this peacefully!" Elder Amulgu urged, her giant scissor hurtling towards Swoosh! I Mist. Red Mist twirled her soul weapon, conjuring swirling flames to intercept the giant scissor. With a deft movement, she leaped away, knowing the flames wouldn''t last long. However, she suddenly sensed a shift in the air. "What?" She exclaimed, turning her head just in time to step onto something in midair. "[Destruction Spatial Mine]..." Elder Grecia''s voice echoed. Boom! Boom! Explosions reverberated incessantly, shrouding the area in smoke as energy fluctuations surged, rendering it a desolate dead zone. The radiation emitted from the chaos made it clear that no ordinary person could survive within its vicinity. Swoosh! A figure plummeted to the ground, cratering the earth upon impact. It was Red Mist. Despite her injuries, Red Mist propelled herself back into the air. The most severe wound, inflicted by Elder Amulgu, continued to bleed profusely without relent. "The embers of stars... The light of the living... You shall be the world''s embers..." Her voice echoed, accompanied by a radiant glow enveloping her form. The lights, reminiscent of thousands of stars, gleamed intensely as a sphere akin to a planet materialized before her. The luminous energy coalesced around her, forming a bow, while the sphere merged with her soul weapon, transmuting it into an arrow. Ohm! The surroundings transformed, with tens of thousands of stars illuminating the sky in a breathtaking display. Elder Grecia''s eyes widened in alarm, sensing the imminent danger, while Elder Amulgu looked up, beholding the dazzling stars with trepidation. "This is dire..." Elder Amulgu muttered under her breath. In the next instant, a surge of potent energy erupted. [Oblivion Flaming Arrow]! A profound silence fell as the arrow streaked across the landscape, leaving in its wake an intense wave of heat. Elder Grecia and Elder Amulgu wielded their dream power, attempting to manipulate the very fabric of the land. Yet, their efforts proved futile against the unstoppable momentum of the arrow. Despite their attempts to bend the terrain and alter time itself, the arrow pressed on with unwavering force. A series of explosions erupted, upheaving the very essence of this dimension. Boom! Smoke engulfed the surroundings, with sparks of energy scattering in every direction. The unstable energy levels created a rift in space, a glaring tear in the fabric of space. As the smoke dissipated, the two elders lay on the ground, coughing up blood, their bodies adorned with burn marks. "She possesses formidable strength..." Elder Amulgu remarked, grimacing in pain. She hadn''t anticipated that Remuria would surpass their own abilities. "She''s nearing the level of the Supreme Elders..." Elder Grecia added. The two Supreme Elders of the Walpurgis Night also resided within the Sixth Shackle Realm, yet they were unparalleled in their mastery of dream power. Both had achieved the pinnacle of "IV" in their dream power, a realm beyond the reach of "III" and below. Elder Amulgu glanced back at the rift in space. "She breached the spatial structure of this room..." Red Mist''s power had been unequivocally demonstrated. Among the elders, none could rupture the spatial structures within the Dream Palace. Though it was merely one of thousands of spatial structures, the feat of causing a rift was remarkable. Red Mist hovered above, the wound on her shoulder continuing to bleed. "Are you alright?" Fiamma, the flame spirit, inquired. "I''m fine. You understand, being connected to me. I can fight for an entire day," Red Mist reassured. She then directed her gaze downwards at the two elders. "I''ve faced countless battles while you witches have idled here..." Red Mist''s tone turned cold. She aimed her soul weapon downwards and declared, "It''s time to end this. The fall of the Walpurgis Night is inevitable, and you cannot stop it." Elder Grecia rose to her feet, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. "I concede that you have surpassed me, traitor. But do not think you can defeat me so easily. It will take more than this to end my life." "Then, brace yourself!" Red Mist prepared to unleash an attack when something interrupted her. "Hmm?" She sensed an energy fluctuation behind her and swiftly turned, only to be confronted by a colossal energy blade hurtling towards her. In a swift motion, Red Mist dodged the energy blade, narrowly evading its lethal trajectory. The blade cleaved through the ground, dissipating the violent energy that permeated the atmosphere. "I''m relieved to have located you," remarked an old man with a lengthy sword, alighting on the ground with a faint smile. Red Mist''s gaze narrowed. "Mavois... You''ve chosen to confront me." "I have no choice. The Walpurgis Night has been locked down," Mavois replied solemnly. Chapter 997: Witch Hunt: Situation "Mavois! You''ve arrived!" Elder Amulgu exclaimed. "Yes, elders. I''m contemplating of joining the fight once more," Mavois responded. "Do you truly believe you can alter the course of this conflict?" Red Mist''s voice carried a chilling edge. Mavois glanced at Red Mist before replying, "I am not alone. I understand that my aging limbs alone may not be sufficient to halt you, Remuria." With those words, several figures descended from above. They were the cream of the crop, the elite warriors of the Gold Faction known as the Crescent Moon Corps. Serving as the counterpart to the Dark Gold Corps of the Silver Faction, they ranked just below the six elders and comprised seven members renowned for their exceptional combat prowess. Mavois had formerly served as the captain of the Crescent Moon Corps before retiring, but the current circumstances compelled his return to the battlefield. Mavois positioned himself alongside the two elders and inquired, "How are you both faring, elders?" "We''re managing. Remuria''s strength caught us off guard. It''s nearing the level of the Supreme Elders," replied Elder Amulgu, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. "The Supreme Elders... It seems her power stems from the spirit within her," Mavois murmured, his gaze fixed on Red Mist. Having previously encountered Red Mist, Mavois had suspected she had attained a level of power akin to theirs. However, the realization that she was approaching the strength of the Supreme Elders exceeded his expectations. Though all were Sixth Shackles, disparities in abilities and power distinguished one expert from another. Just as the Supreme Elders were Sixth Shackles, they possessed [Dream Power IV], elevating them above their counterparts. The Crescent Moon Corps encircled Red Mist, their energies unmasked as they sought to exert pressure on her. All seven members boasted Sixth Shackle energy levels. Ellan, the current captain of the Crescent Moon Corps, declared, "No need to hold back. She''s faced off against the elders, so don''t underestimate her." In response, the other members unleashed their [Elemental Drive] and [Dream Power II]. While they lacked the elders'' level of dream power, they had yet to reach the pinnacle of the Sixth Shackle, unlike the elders. "Attack!" Ellan commanded. In the blink of an eye, the six members surged forward with formidable momentum, their energies engulfing the entire vicinity. "Excellent," Red Mist remarked, her own energy surging in response. Unfazed by her opponents'' increased vigor, she asserted, "Come! I''ll vanquish every last one of you!" Boom!! ... Eilish and Kayla''s squad traversed through the spatial gap, emerging in an unfamiliar locale. The atmosphere was shrouded in darkness, with the sky obscured by thick, billowing smoke. The ground lay strewn with desiccated leaves, and every tree stood barren, devoid of foliage. "What sort of place is this?" Eilish pondered aloud. "I''m uncertain. The Dream Palace is vast, and I haven''t explored it entirely," Kayla replied. Casting a glance back at the rift in space, she remarked, "The golems haven''t followed us. It seems your friend is keeping them occupied." Eilish nodded, her confidence evident. "Alice is strong. Those golems wouldn''t pose much of a threat to her." Having witnessed Alice''s prowess firsthand, Eilish harbored no doubt about her friend''s capabilities. Alice was among the Astros'' most powerful experts, unlikely to be bested by mere golems. "What are you going to do now?" she inquired of Kayla. "I will try to find the holy stakes," Kayla said. "I see... Do what you have to do, and I will do what I need to. I will follow those people," Eilish said as she narrowed her eyes, recalling the scene where she saw her brother. "Those people?" Kayla said, slowly looking up. "They are probably here. They keep ripping the spatial structures of the Dream Palace, but it ends here. If there''s another rift, then they probably have gone there." "Ripping the spatial structures of the Dream Palace...? That''s something beyond our level," Kim, a member of Kayla''s squad, said. "It doesn''t matter. I will find my brother no matter what," Eilish said in a determined tone. "We''ll go together with you while searching for the holy stakes," Kayla said. "Thanks," Eilish replied before she turned around and flew off. Kayla and her squad followed Eilish. Swoosh! ... Alice stood in the middle of a devastated land. Edern and his parents had perished under her spear. She loosened her grip on the spear, and it slowly dissipated into thin air. She felt it enter her inner consciousness, releasing an aura that increased her stamina, energy, and health recovery. This was one of the abilities of [Rhongomiant], a universal grade weapon. "Huff... I need to find the others now," Alice sighed as she looked up at the sky. She felt that there was more to this Witch Hunt Game, and the Walpurgis Night held a lot of dark history. Edern and his family were victims of the witches'' experimentation. There were victims who had reached the level of Fifth and Sixth Shackle, levels beyond her current abilities. The only thing she could do was fight people at her level. But what if there are some at Seventh Shackle... Who would dare to confront someone at that level? The Matriarch of the Walpurgis Night? But the matriarch had been missing for a long time. Alice shook her head. There was no need to dwell on these details at the moment. The information wasn''t sufficient to draw a conclusion. She walked towards the village and untied all the ordinary people who had been captured. She couldn''t help but feel pity for these individuals. Edern and his parents had been desperate enough to die that they would resort to anything to achieve it. As expected, strength mattered in this world. Alice turned around and muttered, "Eilish... I wonder if she caught up with her brother." As for Souta, she was confident that he would be fine. He was stronger than them, even if his condition restricted him, though it would be a problem if he encountered someone at Sixth Shackle. The person she was most concerned about was Amanda. She was the weakest among them, lacking even enough strength to contend with someone at Second Shackle. In Walpurgis Night, there were hundreds of SS-rank experts, and even the human-like golems possessed significant power. Encountering a fourth-stage dream beast would be extremely dangerous for Amanda. It wouldn''t be an issue if she were at least at Eilish''s level, but she was currently only at One Shackle. In this place, too many creatures could snuff out the life of a One Shackle expert. This was merely the diminished Walpurgis Night. In its heyday, they would have seen Seventh Shackle and above walking around in broad daylight. "I need to find Amanda. If she''s in the Dream Palace, the danger is even higher since people like Edern are here. The golems may be failed products of the experiments, but they can leave the Dream Palace, unlike Edern and those like him. There should be a reason to it." Alice muttered. ... In other regions, experts battled human-like golems. Some fought among themselves for the so-called points of this Witch Hunt Game. Outside the elders'' influence, chaos reigned. Combatants clashed with a singular aim: to accumulate one hundred points. The human-like golems moved with startling speed, cutting down people indiscriminately. Blood stained the ground crimson as corpses littered the floor. It was a gruesome spectacle. Amanda ran, evading the attention of the human-like golems. Beside her were Princess Iris and Captain Sarguan of the Palleo Kingdom in the Obsidian Desert. They had met at the onset of the Witch Hunt and decided to stick together to mitigate the dangers of the chaotic situation. The group halted as they landed atop a building. Peering down, they witnessed people locked in desperate combat. Captain Sarguan cast a glance at Amanda and inquired, "Can you keep up?" Amanda nodded in response. Despite being the weakest among them, they had chosen to include her out of deference to her leader, the renowned Blood Lightning Monster. "Don''t fret, we''ll locate your comrades and my brother," Princess Iris assured Amanda. Princess Iris and Captain Sarguan found themselves separated from Prince Servon, much like Amanda had been from Souta and the others. Fortunately, they encountered each other. "Take a breather. We''ll rest here for a minute before continuing," Captain Sarguan instructed Amanda and Princess Iris. Seated, Amanda and Princess Iris complied while Captain Sarguan kept a vigilant watch over their surroundings. Narrowing his eyes, Captain Sarguan noticed something amiss. "Prepare yourselves, a golem is approaching our location," he warned. Amanda and Princess Iris immediately rose to their feet. Not even a minute had passed, yet a golem was already closing in on them. "It''s still advancing. I''m certain it detected us," Captain Sarguan remarked, his hand inching toward the sword strapped to his back. "Thermal readings... Exterminating the participants," the golem announced as it surged toward their location. Swoosh! "So it detected us based on our body heat?!" Captain Sarguan exclaimed as he revealed himself, drawing his sword. With a determined swing, he aimed for the approaching golem. "Die! I prefer not to attract further attention with a fight, but you''ll meet your end today!" Chapter 998: Witch Hunt: Elder Uiny Captain Sarguan swung his sword heavily, unleashing an energy blade that cleaved through the golem''s body. The golem split in two, crashing into the nearby building with a resounding bang. As the dust settled, the golem began to slowly rise, its body already beginning to regenerate. "Run! I''ll take care of this golem first. I''ll make it quick!" Captain Sarguan instructed Amanda and Princess Iris before leaping onto the adjacent building. Princess Iris nodded, turning to Amanda. "Let''s go. Captain has it under control." "Okay," Amanda agreed, stealing a quick glance at Captain Sarguan before following Princess Iris. Swoosh! Captain Sarguan materialized in front of the golem, his energy surging before a field expanded, covering a fifteen-meter radius. [Slow World]! Within the field, time seemed to decelerate, even slowing the golem''s regeneration. "Die!" Captain Sarguan moved with lightning speed, slashing his sword several times in a mere second. The golem failed to react in time as its body crumbled. With precision, he sliced apart its core, extinguishing the golem''s energy source. As the field dissipated and he sheathed his sword, Captain Sarguan surveyed the fallen golem''s remains. "This golem is formidable... Only an expert of the Fourth Shackle Realm or higher could have vanquished it." The golems proved formidable, their numbers overwhelming. Captain Sarguan couldn''t help but envision the horrors unfolding in other regions of the Walpurgis Night. Ordinary people, lacking the strength to resist, would be massacred like helpless prey. He pivoted and trailed after Amanda and Princess Iris. Despite their slight lead, Captain Sarguan''s speed ensured he''d catch up within moments. Swoosh! Captain Sarguan soared through the air, spotting the pair ahead. Accelerating, he swiftly closed the distance and landed behind them. "Is it done, Captain?" Princess Iris inquired. "Yeah, that golem was quite formidable," Captain Sarguan replied, his gaze flicking to the ground where other golems engaged in combat with remaining survivors. He longed to aid them, but finding the prince remained his priority. "Hmm...?" Captain Sarguan scanned his surroundings, detecting others trailing behind them. Amanda and Princess Iris also noticed the newcomers. They appeared non-hostile, likely seeking refuge from the golems. Despite their apparent innocence, Captain Sarguan remained cautious. He had no knowledge of these individuals. The strangers exchanged glances with Captain Sarguan before continuing onward, recognizing the safety in numbers strategy amidst the golem threat. Swoosh!! A powerful surge of energy erupted, causing everyone to momentarily freeze. "What''s happening?" Captain Sarguan''s eyes narrowed as he turned to see a figure hurtling toward them. Instinctively, he positioned himself in front of Princess Iris, sensing the approaching individual''s malevolent intent. "All these people have attracted that person''s attention," Amanda observed, scanning their surroundings. She surmised that the newcomer was drawn by the large gathering of individuals, each one a target in their eyes. "Get ready!" Captain Sarguan shouted, swiftly erecting a barrier. A colossal whip lashed out, unleashing a torrent of energy. Bang!! The whip''s energy effortlessly cut through the weaker individuals nearby, their bodies rent in two as blood cascaded to the ground like rain. Captain Sarguan gritted his teeth as he shielded Princess Iris and Amanda from the onslaught. "Ugh... It''s so heavy..." Amanda gasped, feeling as though a colossal weight bore down on her. Captain Sarguan noted Amanda''s struggle before addressing Princess Iris with determination. "Princess, you must escape. Leave this to me." "No one leaves without my say," a commanding voice interrupted. The survivors, still reeling from the attack, felt the oppressive aura emanating from the woman suspended in the air before them. She was none other than Poisonous Vine, a formidable expert of the Sixth Shackle Realm. Poisonous Vine surveyed the survivors with a calculating gaze before speaking, her voice laced with menace. "Eleven... Eleven people survived my assault. Impressive." Princess Iris and Amanda exchanged uneasy glances, feeling the oppressive weight of Poisonous Vine''s unleashed energy. Their own strength, at Two and One Shackle respectively, paled in comparison to her overwhelming power. "Perish!" Poisonous Vine''s command preceded a swift lash of her whip. Captain Sarguan channeled his energy, erecting a barrier to shield Princess Iris and Amanda. Despite his efforts, the three of them were swiftly overpowered, sent hurtling away in an instant. The remaining survivors met a grim fate, mercilessly cut down by Poisonous Vine''s attack. Bang!! The trio crashed into a nearby building, its structure collapsing with their impact. "It''s rather exhilarating," Poisonous Vine remarked, her voice carrying a hint of satisfaction as she observed the whip in her hand. It had been quite some time since she had last unleashed such devastation. It wasn''t a reflection of her weakness, but rather a testament to the formidable strength of the top experts who partic I in the battles of Selnes Country. Their prowess often overshadowed her own, giving the impression that she was merely an ordinary expert at the Sixth Shackle Realm. "I forgot. That monstrous bastard is here. I don''t understand why he''s still in the fourth stage, but at this moment, everyone treats him as if he''s in the fifth stage. He''s closer to the fifth stage than the peak fourth stage close to him," Poisonous Vine muttered, casting a glance at the boundary of the region with a furrow in her brow. The Blood Lightning Monster. The Only One. A being that left an indelible mark on all who participated in the conflicts of Selnes Country. While gazing at the boundary of the region, she noticed something peculiar. The dense dream power was gradually shifting to a shade of purple, emitting sparks in every direction. "What''s happening?" Poisonous Vine muttered, her voice tinged with concern. Suddenly, a powerful beam struck her from above, sending her body hurtling down like a stream of light, crashing onto the ground. "Ugh!" Poisonous Vine groaned, spitting out a mouthful of blood as she glanced upward. There, she saw a figure emerging from the thick dream power in the sky. It was a woman clad in a dark robe, wielding a crimson-colored saber. "Y-You!" Poisonous Vine''s eyes widened in recognition. The woman who descended was an elder of the Walpurgis Night known as Elder Uiny. Elder Uiny scanned the area and declared, "This place will be sacrificed to the greater will. Everyone should accept their fate." "What in the world are you saying?" Poisonous Vine gritted her teeth as she rose to her feet. She unleashed her energy and propelled herself toward the elder. "Persistent," Elder Uiny remarked, casting a cold gaze down at Poisonous Vine. Bang!! The air trembled as the two powerful experts clashed. Captain Sarguan, Princess Iris, and Amanda emerged from the rubble, their eyes fixed on the battle unfolding above. Turning to the two women, Captain Sarguan inquired, "Did either of you sustain any injuries?" Princess Iris waved her hand dismissively, replying, "I''m unharmed, thanks to you, Captain." Both Princess Iris and Amanda emerged unscathed, thanks to Captain Sarguan''s protective presence. As the Captain of the Royal Guard of the Palleo Kingdom, his strength was formidable. "The individual who arrived... She''s an elder, but her words suggest she''s an opponent. Can you take her on, Captain?" Princess Iris turned to Captain Sarguan with concern in her eyes. Captain Sarguan shook his head solemnly. "I can engage in combat, but victory seems unlikely. The elders of the Walpurgis Night surpass me by far. Their combat techniques and spells are of a caliber beyond mine." Boom! Boom!! In the sky above, Poisonous Vine and Elder Uiny clashed with ferocity. Their movements were lightning-fast, each exchange unleashing devastating force. The surrounding terrain suffered under the shockwaves of their confrontation. "Damn..." Poisonous Vine staggered backward, gritting her teeth as she wiped blood from the corner of her mouth. "Are you finished? If so, then allow me..." Elder Uiny materialized in front of Poisonous Vine, her elemental power surging like a tidal wave as she swung her saber with deadly precision. [Trinity Elemental Drive: Earth, Fire, and Wind Integration]!! The entire terrain transformed as towering volcanoes erupted, spewing molten rocks into the air. The wind carried waves of heat throughout the area, intensifying the chaos. Poisonous Vine plummeted to the ground like a meteor, attempting to shield herself with her [Elemental Drive], yet she was still tossed about as if she were made of paper. "Argh... Where''s that Red Mist? She wanted to take down the elders, didn''t she? Well, here''s one," Poisonous Vine growled through gritted teeth, realizing her inferiority against the elders of the Walpurgis Night. Elder Uiny peered down and declared, "You cannot thwart me. All those present here will be sacrificed for the greater will. Every region in this land will undergo this fate." "What do you mean?" Poisonous Vine demanded as she struggled to her feet. "You''re aware of a being who seeks to exterminate all life in this land, aren''t you? Have you heard the name Purity?" Elder Uiny inquired. Poisonous Vine''s eyes widened in shock. "The Purity... One of the Ten Commandments of God''s Will..." "Indeed. There will be no exceptions. Everything in this land will perish, and the entirety of the Walpurgis Night will be obliterated," Elder Uiny stated coldly. "Aren''t you a witch?" Poisonous Vine asked. "Yes, but I have come to realize the greatness of the higher power. The truth must remain buried here, as the time for its revelation has not yet arrived. No one shall see beyond, lest ''she'' awaken prematurely," Elder Uiny explained. "It appears I''ve uncovered a traitor among the witches. If you claim there are no exceptions, then I must confront you. If you had simply destroyed this place without involving me, I might have overlooked it. But by including me, you''ve essentially challenged me to a duel," Poisonous Vine declared, her grip tightening on the whip in her hand, a sinister grin spreading across her face. "I won''t go down without claiming at least one or two of your limbs." Chapter 999: Witch Hunt: Destruction "I would welcome the destruction of the Walpurgis Night, but by involving me, you''ve essentially challenged me to a fight to the death," Poisonous Vine asserted, her voice laced with determination. Releasing a dense surge of mana, she surrounded herself with swirling elemental energy, activating numerous spells and combat techniques to bolster her strength. "Very well, your strength is commendable. You shall serve as a fitting sacrifice to the greater will," Elder Uiny replied calmly. Poisonous Vine raised her hand, pointing it squarely at the elder. "Be warned, I am not the only one who heard your words." Elder Uiny turned slightly, her gaze falling upon a man wielding a long sword behind her. It was Captain Sarguan. Elder Uiny reacted swiftly, shifting her body just in time to narrowly avoid Captain Sarguan''s slashing attack. With a quick motion, she delivered a forceful knee to his stomach, sending him hurtling several hundred meters away. But before she could fully recover, a powerful force struck her body, propelling her backward. Bang!! "Haha, you fell for it. I warned you about someone behind you so you wouldn''t notice me when I attacked," Poisonous Vine laughed triumphantly as she pursued the elder. Launching herself into the air, Poisonous Vine''s whip flashed through the air, creating an arc as it wrapped around Elder Uiny. Spikes erupted from the whip as Poisonous Vine slammed the elder forcefully onto the ground. Poisonous Vine withdrew her whip, unleashing a green smoke that signaled the release of a potent poison. "Ha! Who would have thought that the esteemed witches would harbor traitors among them! It''s laughable!" she exclaimed. With incredible speed, Poisonous Vine swung her whip hundreds of times in just a second. The ground collapsed beneath her as molten rocks shot into the air, accompanied by deafening sounds echoing through the area. As she continued her assault, Poisonous Vine observed a concerning development: the temperature was steadily rising, indicating that Elder Uiny''s elemental power was spreading across the land, altering the terrain. In the next instant, dozens of volcanoes erupted simultaneously, sending molten rocks soaring into the sky. Boom!! Captain Sarguan rose to his feet, his gaze fixed on the ongoing battle. With clenched teeth, he muttered, "That woman... I shouldn''t assist her, but leaving that elder unchecked is too perilous. She understands her own limitations against the elder." Glancing around, he noticed that Amanda and Princess Iris had retreated to a safe distance. The chaos had drawn the attention of others in the vicinity, prompting them to flee. However, the relentless golems continued their pursuit, showing no concern for the safety of their targets. "I had intended to withdraw, but I have a foreboding feeling about this..." Captain Sarguan muttered to himself. One of the elders harbored intentions to annihilate the Walpurgis Night. Something was unfolding beyond his comprehension. Bang!! Elder Uiny rose to her feet, her gaze fixed on Poisonous Vine. Her body radiated with a dense dream power, causing the ground to tremble beneath her. "Traitor? From your perspective, perhaps, but I beg to differ. How can I be considered a traitor when I was never aligned with the Walpurgis Night to begin with?" Elder Uiny replied calmly. "And what is your allegiance, then?" Poisonous Vine questioned. "Moon Coven. Ever since Morgan Le Fay began delving into the calamity, we made it our mission to thwart her at any cost. The truth must remain concealed to prevent catastrophe," Elder Uiny explained. "Haha! You actually answered my question. Are you idiot?" Poisonous Vine burst into laughter. "Moon Coven! I''ll make sure to find it and obliterate your little witch gathering! Hahaha!" "Worry not, for you shall not depart from the Walpurgis Night. There is nothing that can impede us now. The two Supreme Elders who could oppose us are no more. All those present here will be sacrificed for the greater will," Elder Uiny declared. Poisonous Vine''s expression turned serious. The revelation that the two Supreme Elders of the Walpurgis Night were deceased was no trivial matter. It indicated that the elder before her was meticulously prepared for the destruction of the Walpurgis Night. "I care little for the fate of the Walpurgis Night, but I have no desire to meet my end here... I am no match for this wretched elder, so it seems today shall mark my demise. Damned luck! If only that Spatial Whisperer were present, we could join forces against this fool," Poisonous Vine muttered, rubbing her chin as she contemplated her grim fate. Elder Uiny smiled faintly before adding, "Allow me to divulge further. Among the six elders, one is an ally of mine. We have deliberately avoided regions connected to the Dream Palace, as they harbor experimental beings that engage in deadly combat. Anyone who ventures there is doomed to face them, a fate akin to certain death." "Oh, she''s still prattling on? Is she enamored with dispensing information? Frankly, it''s giving me creeps," Poisonous Vine muttered under her breath. "That''s enough chatter. I sense several individuals approaching this vicinity. If they have not fled, it must be because they are confident in their strength," Elder Uiny declared before launching herself toward her intended target. "Oh? Reinforcements, you say? How quaint. I''ll simply await their sacrifice then," Poisonous Vine remarked, swinging her whip confidently. Elder Uiny swiftly evaded the whip''s lash, focusing her mana into her saber as she locked her gaze on Poisonous Vine. Poisonous Vine shifted her stance, narrowly avoiding the slash that whizzed past her. Sensing the imminent danger, she leaped backward, but Elder Uiny relentlessly pursued her. Bang! Bang! The two clashed fiercely, and Captain Sarguan reentered the fray. With determination, he joined the battle with all his might from the outset, recognizing that holding back would only hasten his demise against the superior Elder Uiny. Amanda and Princess Iris watched the battle unfold from a safe distance, several kilometers away. They were unable to retreat due to the golems attacking people from afar. "Does Captain Sarguan truly have to engage in combat?" Amanda inquired. "Captain Sarguan has always been that way. But did you hear what the elder said? The Walpurgis Night is doomed," Princess Iris replied with a somber tone. "Yes, it''s doomed," a voice suddenly echoed from behind them, startling both Amanda and Princess Iris. Amanda narrowed her eyes, taking a cautious step back. "Who are you?" she demanded. Princess Iris remained silent, but her expression mirrored Amanda''s uncertainty. The newcomer was a petite woman with blue hair tied back, accompanied by a bald monk. "I''m Edeya, and this is Zhang Ren. You may remember us from the banquet," the woman introduced herself and her companion. She then turned her attention to the ongoing battle. "You''re discussing the Walpurgis Night, correct? On our journey here, we stumbled upon something intriguing. The destruction has already commenced. The edges of this land are slowly collapsing, and magic circles are appearing beneath the ground, accelerating the process." "W-What do you mean?" Princess Iris stammered, her voice tinged with apprehension. Edeya pointed to her head, emphasizing her words. "Remember when this game began? It stated there were two days until its conclusion, but the magic circles are now shortening that time limit. We were ambushed by a group of witches, and after interrogating them, we learned something crucial." "What did they say?" Amanda inquired eagerly. "They revealed that Elder Uiny and Elder Cermine were the ones who ordered the attacks on all participants and kept potential threats at bay. These two elders are traitors, and they likely know who created this game. The only way to halt the acceleration of destruction is to destroy all the magic circles throughout the Walpurgis Night or eliminate the two traitors," Edeya explained grimly, casting a determined glance toward the ongoing battle. "The elders are formidable, which is precisely why cooperation is imperative," Zhang Ren, the bald monk, asserted. "But where is this Elder Cermine you mentioned?" Amanda inquired. "We''re uncertain. Our intention is to locate her once we''ve dealt with Elder Uiny. It''s crucial that we stop her," Edeya responded. "Do you think you can defeat the elder?" Amanda pressed further. "I cannot say. We''ll ascertain our chances once we join the fray. But for now, let us cease our discussion. Those battling the elder are in need of assistance," Edeya remarked, her gaze fixed on the ongoing conflict. As Amanda and Princess Iris watched Edeya and Zhang Ren soar toward the battlefield with incredible speed, they realized the enormity of the impending battle. It dawned on them that an elder of the Walpurgis Night wielded such formidable strength that it necessitated the collaboration of numerous experts to confront. The six elders had not attained their positions through mere happenstance; they had diligently honed their skills and climbed to positions of power through relentless effort. The situation within the Walpurgis Night was complex. Numerous factions operated in the shadows, some aligned in temporary alliances with conflicting agendas at play. Until now, only a few people knew that the two Supreme Elders were dead. They were killed at the hands of the traitors, Elder Uiny and Elder Cermine. The deaths of the two Supreme Elders were a significant blow to the organization. They wouldn''t be able to function without the two highest authorities, who were only second to the matriarch. "I wonder where Souta and the others are..." Amanda muttered, watching the battle from afar. Looking back, no one knew that the events of Walpurgis Night would solidify the name of the Blood Lightning Monster. It was the time when he showcased his unrivaled prowess. It was the time they dubbed him as the Destroyer, the Monster Without Equal. Chapter 1000: Witch Hunt: Powerful Elder Uiny Poisonous Vine crashed to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Her body was wracked with intense pain. "Oh, shit... This bullshit elder is too strong," she said in annoyance. Elder Uiny looked down at Poisonous Vine before turning her gaze to Captain Sarguan. She pointed her saber at him and fired dozens of light rays. Swoosh!! Captain Sarguan moved as fast as he could. All the light rays that entered a certain range around him slowed down. "Hmm... A rare time attribute," Elder Uiny murmured, furrowing her brows. Captain Sarguan possessed a rare time element affinity. It was one of the reasons he had risen to his position and become a Captain of the Royal Guard of the Palleo Kingdom. Elder Uiny suddenly appeared before him. Captain Sarguan was taken aback and took a step back, slowing down the time around him severalfold. The pieces of rock that had been shot into the air moved at a very slow pace. "Time affinity is good. Unfortunately, you''re too weak," Elder Uiny said before she swung her saber down. The saber emitted a strong heat wave that shattered the time barrier around Captain Sarguan. He had expected this, knowing she was stronger than Poisonous Vine, but experiencing the disparity in power firsthand was unpleasant. Captain Sarguan crashed onto the molten rocks on the ground. Elder Uiny chased after her target, but then two rays of light flashed toward her. She reacted quickly, slashing the rays of light and firing energy blades in return. Boom! Boom! At the same time, the volcanoes on the ground erupted once again, shooting molten rocks at her targets. Zhang Ren, the bald monk, stepped forward and punched the molten rocks. Bang!! Edeya observed Elder Uiny and said, "This is kind of dejecting... The pressure is stronger than I expected. So this is the might of an elder. The chances of us winning this battle are getting lower." "This is just an elder of today''s time. Imagine the might of an elder in Walpurgis Night''s glory days," Zhang Ren commented. Elder Uiny narrowed her eyes as she observed the two new faces. "Wandering Monk and Autumn Snow," she said. "Oh, you know us? It seems that our influence has even reached my hometown," Edeya remarked, raising her eyebrows. "I know everyone who could pose a threat to my plan. It seems you defeated the witches I sent after you," Elder Uiny replied. Suddenly, a figure appeared behind her: it was Poisonous Vine. A whip flashed through the air, but Elder Uiny blocked it with her saber. "Now!" Edeya shouted, and she and Zhang Ren immediately dashed forward. Elder Uiny glanced back and kicked Poisonous Vine in the stomach, then sent a powerful gust of wind that blew her away once again. Turning around, she faced Edeya and Zhang Ren. Edeya opened her palm and summoned her soul weapon, a small silver sickle. She didn''t hold back, activating several combat arts to boost her strength and [Elemental Drive]. She knew she had to use this much power to keep up with Elder Uiny. Edeya swung her soul weapon, but Elder Uiny blocked it effortlessly. Stepping aside, Elder Uiny used her other hand to punch Edeya in the stomach, hurling her several meters away. Elder Uiny looked up and saw a huge golden palm descending at high speed. "Amithaba, [Buddha''s Lotus Palm]!" a voice echoed. She wanted to move, but then she felt her movements slow down. "What?!" Elder Uiny turned her head and saw Captain Sarguan looking at her. She had been caught off guard by his time attribute attack. In the next moment, the giant golden palm slammed into her body, sending her to the ground with tremendous force. Bang!! Elder Uiny crashed into the sea of molten rocks. Zhang Ren flew beside Edeya and asked, "Are you okay?" Edeya spat out blood before answering, "I''m fine. She''s strong, and our attacks barely damage her. We need to work with the others." Zhang Ren glanced at Captain Sarguan and Poisonous Vine. He then said, "I doubt that woman would work with us." Edeya sighed. "You''re right. She''ll attack on her own, so we have no choice but to adjust to her movements." "Yeah, I''ll stay at the back and provide support. You''ll fight the elder head-on," Zhang Ren said. "I know." Edeya nodded, her expression turning serious as her mana began to rise. Bang!! Elder Uiny emerged from the sea of molten rocks, and Edeya immediately rushed ahead. Zhang Ren stood at the back, activating several skills to boost the strength of Edeya, Poisonous Vine, and Captain Sarguan. He had no choice but to buff Poisonous Vine since she was also fighting Elder Uiny. Her strength was essential if they wanted to take down an elder of the Walpurgis Night. This was just the might of an elder of the Walpurgis Night. The only reason the two Supreme Elders had perished was that they were poisoned by Elder Uiny and Elder Cermine, who had backstabbed them. Elder Uiny exchanged blows with Edeya and Poisonous Vine, who were attacking her from both sides, while Zhang Ren supported them with his skills, buffs, and debuff spells. From time to time, Captain Sarguan would launch an attack whenever he saw an opportunity. It was against one. Amanda and Princess Iris stood at a distance, watching the fierce battle unfold before their eyes. "We have to support them," Princess Iris said firmly. "How?" Amanda asked. "I have a few support skills. We''ll advance forward and maintain a distance behind the monk, and you will focus your energy on creating a barrier to protect us from the violent energy sparks while I use my skills," Princess Iris explained. "I understand." Amanda nodded. The two looked at each other before advancing forward. They maintained a distance behind Zhang Ren, and Amanda used her mana to protect them from the energy fluctuations of the battle. Princess Iris began to chant as she cast a buff spell for everyone, and she also cast a debuff on Elder Uiny. Her debuff spells didn''t have much of an effect against the elder, but it was better than nothing. Elder Uiny''s strength gradually diminished as she received several buffs from Zhang Ren and Princess Iris, while the strength of Edeya, Captain Sarguan, and Poisonous Vine increased. Bang! Bang! The battle raged on as Elder Uiny fought against them. Elder Uiny attempted to retreat, but she stopped in midair when she felt a whip wrap around her ankle. She then saw Edeya flash in front of her and grab her face. In the next moment, Elder Uiny felt her defenses crumble as Edeya swung the sickle in her hand. Blood splattered as a huge cut appeared on her chest. "Good, but this isn''t enough if you want to stop me..." Elder Uiny said calmly as a raging tide of energy burst out, pushing Poisonous Vine and Edeya away. Boom!! "What is it this time?" Edeya narrowed her eyes. Her instincts told her it was dangerous. "Oh? She''s using the full might of her dream power," Poisonous Vine said, raising her eyebrows with interest. Zhang Ren and Captain Sarguan wore grim expressions. The aura emanating from Elder Uiny was entirely different from before. [Dream Power III]! Elder Uiny had been toying with her dream power before, but now she was utilizing it to its full potential, the power that set the elders apart from the rest of them. "This is bad... An expert at her level using that level of dream power," Amanda said in a low voice. She had heard from her comrades that Souta had fought someone with the same level of dream power. That dream beast was weak, and Souta had only played with it. The dream beast was nothing compared to the experts that had fought in the Selnes Country. The only difference was that the dream beast Souta fought had weaker physical and energy levels compared to Elder Uiny. The only thing a dream beast could offer was its dream power. But if an expert like Elder Uiny were to utilize [Dream Power III], the result would be devastating. "It''s fine for you to feel the power of an elder," Elder Uiny said, tightly closing her palm as her dream power flared up. In the next second, the entire scenery changed. An upside-down land formed in the sky, with countless volcanoes spewing molten rocks on its surface. Pillars of lava connected the ground and the land above. The temperature reached several million degrees Celsius. "It''s time," Elder Uiny declared, and a powerful wind swept out. Edeya, Zhang Ren, Captain Sarguan, and Poisonous Vine ignored it, but Princess Iris and Amanda were blown away. The barrier Amanda created was shattered in an instant. "This is something else... It seems we have to put more effort into this fight. This is the reason why I left Walpurgis Night back then," Edeya said, forcing a smile as she looked at the elder. "Come, struggle with all of your might! Walpurgis Night will be destroyed tonight!" Elder Uiny proclaimed, facing the four experts who sought to stop her. She bent her knees and charged forward with great momentum. Swoosh!! Edeya and the others didn''t back down. They faced the mighty elder of the Walpurgis Night. Chapter 1001: Witch Hunt: Arrival Two out of the six elders were traitors. They schemed and poisoned the two Supreme Elders, intending to kill all the inhabitants of the Walpurgis Night and destroy it once and for all. They were members of the Moon Coven, a gathering of witches formed during the Walpurgis Night''s glory days. It was created to prevent the "truth" from spreading in the world. Morgan Le Fay, the Great Matriarch, delved into forbidden knowledge that couldn''t be uncovered no matter what. Le Fay was investigating the calamity, and it''s said that her research made some progress. However, she perished before she could uncover the truth-the hidden truth about the so- called "Rebels." The Walpurgis Night was a small sacrifice to prevent a greater tragedy that could involve all dimensions. The Witch Hunt Game was a plot created when Le Fay fought against the Commandments long ago. The Purity sent his power into the Walpurgis Night to destroy it, but Le Fay managed to isolate it with her own power. The power of Purity was supposed to obliterate the Walpurgis Night instantly, but her power countered it, giving all the inhabitants a chance to survive. However, Le Fay''s power couldn''t completely erase the Purity''s power, resulting in the creation of the Witch Hunt Game. The six holy stakes were remnants of Le Fay''s power before she died. When Le Fay finally passed away, the Commandments couldn''t locate the Walpurgis Night as it was hidden away in the Dream Realm. Though the Purity''s power still lingered, he couldn''t pinpoint it due to the strong dream power that prevented him from locating it. They could only wait until the power bloomed to destroy the Walpurgis Night. At last, it bloomed, and the one who sent the invitation was the remaining power of Le Fay. The game was intended to prevent destruction, but the Purity''s power corrupted it, twisting the rules into a macabre contest of killing witches to gain points before they could utilize the holy stakes. That''s the truth about the Witch Hunt Game. Two god powers were locked in a struggle for dominance. Elder Uiny hovered in the air, gazing down at the devastated landmass below her. She radiated a potent dream power that warped her surroundings with every passing moment. "And after that, we waited for the moment when the Purity''s power would become active, secretly carving magic circles all over the land. The instant we received the invitation, we already knew that the Purity''s power was blooming," Elder Uiny''s voice reverberated. Edeya, Captain Sarguan, and Zhang Ren looked at her with grim expressions. They realized that even if they worked together, they weren''t a match for an elder. Their bodies were riddled with wounds. Poisonous Vine stood at the back, surveying her surroundings, trying to find a way out of this predicament. "You''re strong, but it''s not enough if you want to kill me," Elder Uiny remarked. Poisonous Vine clicked her tongue in annoyance. "This is bullshit! Let me take an arm or two!" As soon as she spoke those words, she charged forward and swung the whip in her hand. Her mana swirled fiercely around the whip, creating a vortex of violent energy. [Extreme Poison Vine]!! Elder Uiny narrowed her eyes and stepped back, but the whip chased after her relentlessly. With no other choice, she gathered her energy into her blade. As she swung it, a fierce wind and flames swept out, colliding with the whip. Bang!! "You bitch! Do you really think you could kill me so easily, huh? Then why don''t you try it? Hehe, did you perhaps know that I''m not alone when I arrived here?! Once you meet those people, then you''ll meet your end!" Poisonous Vine laughed as she swung her whip once again. Elder Uiny narrowed her eyes, moving her body as fast as she could. She made a grabbing motion in the air, and her dream power erupted. Molten rocks rained down from the upside- down land in the sky, each piece containing energy capable of harming higher-level experts. "Idiot! You will die too! You can''t kill us without suffering a huge blow!" Poisonous Vine exclaimed before darting around, avoiding the descending molten rocks. Elder Uiny narrowed her eyes and raised her hand, causing thousands of gigantic fireballs to form behind her. In the next second, she unleashed all the fireballs in Poisonous Vine''s direction. The whole area trembled as thousands of gigantic fireballs descended. Poisonous Vine attempted to increase her speed, but then she realized she was standing on top of a huge platform. The platform emitted a powerful gravitational force that slowed down her movements. "This...?! She manifested this platform using dream power..." Poisonous Vine could only watch as the gigantic fireballs descended toward her position. Boom!! Boom!! "Let''s go!" Edeya exclaimed before dashing forward. She moved through the air, focusing her attention on her target. In just a second, she arrived behind Elder Uiny. Making a hand gesture, she swung her sickle downward. [Rapture Cleave]! Elder Uiny noticed the attack and stepped to the side, but she didn''t anticipate the attack spreading out. Blood splattered, covering Elder Uiny''s figure. Then, two huge golden palms formed on both sides, crushing her. Bang!! As the two golden palms parted, revealing Elder Uiny''s bloody figure, Edeya gritted her teeth and tightly clenched her soul weapon. When Edeya arrived in front of Elder Uiny, the elder lifted her head and opened her palm. A burst of dream power erupted in every direction, distorting the whole area. Ohm! Edeya widened her eyes as she paused in midair. She felt her body being twisted in all directions, groaning in pain before forcefully pushing her body away, creating an explosion in front of her. Bang!! Her body flew several hundred meters away before she stabilized herself, taking a deep breath as she looked at Elder Uiny. Elder Uiny stood at the center, radiating powerful energy. They sensed that she had grown even stronger once again. "Battle Warrior... This is the base of my dream power, a manifestation dream. The longer the battle lasts, the stronger I become," she said, looking down at Edeya and the rest. From her perspective, they were truly formidable to have pushed her to this extent. They were stronger than the top elite squads like the Dark Gold Corps and Crescent Moon Corps. "I admit it. You people are strong, but that''s it. I can''t kill any of you right now since you''re quite strong, but you will exhaust your stamina before me, and that will be your end," Elder Uiny said in a cold tone. Edeya, Zhang Ren, and the others remained silent, acknowledging the truth in her words. Elder Uiny couldn''t deliver a killing blow to any of them since they were protecting each other, and the same could be said for them-they couldn''t deliver a fatal blow to Elder Uiny. Amanda and Princess Iris were breathing heavily, sweat beading on their foreheads. They could barely endure the energy radiating from the battle. Princess Iris''s support skills seemed ineffective in the face of the intense confrontation. Poisonous Vine stood up, ignoring Edeya and the others. She cared little for their well-being, her focus solely on Elder Uiny. "If that''s all you''ve got, then you''re not going to succeed in killing every living being in Walpurgis Night. With your strength, you may be able to defeat a Spatial Whisperer in a one-on-one battle, but you''re no match against Red Mist." "Red Mist..." Elder Uiny muttered, narrowing her eyes. "I don''t know her real name, but if you ever encounter her, you''d better call for backup. Red Mist''s strength is on par with Thousand Earth and Ice Death. She''s keen on wiping out all the witches, so you know, you''re probably on her list," Poisonous Vine said. "Well, she''s not here, so what are you gonna do?" Elder Uiny asked. "It''s simple. Keep fighting until I take one of your limbs," Poisonous Vine grinned before charging forward. Swoosh!! Suddenly, a ray of light burst through the upside-down landmass in the sky, continuing to move forward before slamming into Elder Uiny''s body. Bang!! Elder Uiny groaned in pain as she crashed to the ground. "What''s that?" Poisonous Vine paused in the air. Edeya, Zhang Ren, and the others looked at the newly arrived expert. "I can''t let you do that!" A voice echoed as the smoke slowly dissipated. Elder Uiny coughed before she stood up and looked up. There, she saw a young man with short, black spiky hair with red strands. His eyes were black, and he was wearing brown and white clothes, with a figure hanging on his back. The figure resembled a little girl with pale blue skin and long red hair. She had dark eyes and a pair of white horns on the side of her head, covered in a long cloak. "You''re the reason behind this killing game, then I will stop you to prevent this madness," the young man said, his gaze fixed on Elder Uiny. "Brother Bryan, you can put me down," the little girl said to the young man named Bryan. Elder Uiny ignored the words of the young man as she silently closed her eyes. She could feel her connection with the magic circles that were increasing the speed of destruction. It was getting close, so there was only a short amount of time left. "Fine, then I''ll take all of you," she said calmly. Chapter 1002: Witch Hunt: Six Holy Stakes Edeya, Zhang Ren, and the others observed the two people who had just arrived. It was a young man with a little girl hanging on his back. The energy he emitted wasn''t weaker than theirs. ''A monster and a human...? I don''t know who they are, but if they''re going to help us defeat this elder, then it''s good,'' Edeya thought inwardly. If the newly arrived pair would really help them, then their chances of winning would grow higher. The little girl loosened her hands around the young man and floated beside him. "Be careful... Brother Bryan," the little girl said in a monster language. "Don''t worry," the young man smiled. Boom!! Suddenly, the ground shook heavily, and shadows danced around. A strange energy permeated the surrounding area. Elder Uiny narrowed her eyes as the ground trembled beneath her. She sensed something coursing through the entire place. "What''s happening?" she muttered. "Brother Bryan, something is wrong within the land," the little girl said while looking at the ground. Bryan nodded at her words. He could feel it, and the same could be said for Edeya, Zhang Ren, and the others. The whole land was changing, and it wasn''t within Elder Uiny''s expectations. "Well, it seems that it''s not going according to your plan," Poisonous Vine said with a smile. Elder Uiny looked at the people around her. She had to finish this as soon as possible to find out what was happening. "I don''t know what''s happening, but I''ll defeat this woman first! She said that she''ll kill everyone, so we have to stop her!" Bryan smiled as he released a powerful surge of elemental power. The four elements uncontrollably shook the area, covering a large piece of land. ... Red Mist, who was fighting the two elders and a group of elite witches, suddenly stopped. The shadows in the area began to move as if something was controlling them. "What''s happening?" Red Mist muttered. Elder Grecia smiled and said, "It seems that you don''t have any idea about it. The Witch Hunt Game will end soon." "What?!" Red Mist narrowed her eyes. Elder Grecia added, "Do you really think that we don''t have a plan? We will not sit back and do nothing." "Then, I''ll simply have to handle this with my own hands," Red Mist said coldly. "Try it! This Witch Hunt game will end, and you will die here!" Elder Grecia said. Elder Amulgu, watching from the side, thought about the people who proposed this plan to them-the plan to end this killing game. She observed Red Mist''s state. With their current formation, their chances of winning against her were high. The group of elite witches and two elders would be enough to fight Red Mist. "If this is happening, then the other witches must''ve found the holy stakes," she said inwardly. The plan would start even without them, as long as the holy stakes were found. That guy would use the power of the holy stakes and the Walpurgis Night to end this game. ... Bang! Souta distanced himself from the Dark Gold Corps, landing atop a nearby building. He observed them while pressing his hand against his chest. Lorna and the rest of the Dark Gold Corps wore grim expressions. No matter what they did, they couldn''t hold this monster down. He always managed to evade them, and Souta''s regeneration posed a significant problem for them. Souta exhaled, a smile appearing on his face. "[Dream Power II]. You couldn''t use it for a long time... I wonder how long you can keep up with me," he said. Then, he removed his palm from his chest and added, "Ah, it''s getting closer. I will be able to use my full strength in just a few moments." Suddenly, the ground shook heavily, and the shadows across the land trembled. Souta looked around, narrowing his eyes. What''s happening? The entire dreamscape was shaking, not just this place, as if something ominous was occurring. "Someone outside of this dreamscape is even affecting the shadows here!" This indicated that a certain being outside possessed higher dark element power, even better than Souta himself. He didn''t know what was happening outside, but it piqued his interest. However, if he wanted to find out, he would need to get past the Dark Gold Corps first. This group of elite witches was no joke. Souta knew that using his physical abilities to defeat a group of Six Shackles experts was close to impossible. The witches were strong, which was why they dominated a huge piece of land in the Dream Realm. Even Vanko couldn''t compare to this land. The only noteworthy beings in Vanko were the fifth stage monsters who stood among the Top 10 Sovereigns. The rest of the fourth stage were nothing. The Dark Gold Corps would probably sweep all the fourth stages in Vanko. "It doesn''t matter. It''s close anyway. I will be able to use my energy," Souta said inwardly. Lorna and the other members of the Dark Gold Corps wore dark expressions, not knowing what was happening outside the dreamscape. ... Somewhere within the Dream Palace... Eilish''s group arrived in a strange place. The ground resembled transparent glass, and everything around them was filled with stars. Above them, three figures could be seen. Two men and one woman. The man in the center was covered in bandages, while the second one resembled Eilish. "Eilan!" Eilish shouted, seeing her brother. "That''s your brother..." Kayla muttered as she observed the three people. The man covered in bandages glanced at the group. He then said, "I''ll find the rat that''s been sneaking around, so take care of this place. The experimental subjects will advance here soon." With that, he flew into the air and disappeared. The only people left were Eilish''s brother, Eilan, and the woman with a pair of cat ears and a tail. The woman glanced at Eilan before observing Eilish and Kayla''s group. She asked, "Do you know them?" Eilan looked at Eilish for a moment before shaking his head. "I don''t know them." He turned around and raised both of his hands. A sphere of energy appeared before him, growing larger, then shrinking, then expanding once more. The energy swirled, gathering more energy from the atmosphere. "You don''t know them, but that woman looks similar to you. Are you sure you don''t know her?" The woman paused before slowly adding, "Perhaps it''s related to your body." When Eilan remained silent, the woman shook her head and glanced at Eilish''s group. "Anyways, you should get out of this place. A lot of strong experts are coming here since they''ve sensed our location. This place will become a battlefield, and with your current strength, you''ll only die if you stay." Ignoring the woman''s advice, Eilish focused on her brother. "Eilan! Don''t you remember me? It''s me, your sister, Eilish!" Boom!! The entire area shook violently as a large amount of energy burst out of Eilan''s body, darkness seeping from his pores. The woman with cat ears turned her head and said, "You should hurry up and go. It''s starting. This place will become a battlefield. If you die, then no matter what you want to do, it will be gone." Eilish gritted her teeth as she was pushed back by the powerful wave of energy that Eilan was releasing. She then saw six brilliant lights shooting into the sky. Kayla''s eyes widened. "I-I think that''s the holy stakes... so they''ve already found them..." The six holy stakes had appeared, emitting a bright light. At the same time, several powerful energy fluctuations burst out. Ohm! The woman with cat ears glanced at Eilish''s group before shaking her head. "If you have a death wish, then I won''t stop you." She flew above and released her own energy, forcing a smile. "It''s my job to stop those guys." The appearance of the holy stakes immediately attracted the attention of powerful experts, who rushed in the direction they could feel it. It was a plan set up from the beginning of the Witch Hunt. They proposed it to a few elders of the Walpurgis Night, who agreed to it. They would end the game without gathering one hundred points. Using the Spatial Gem, they broke through layers of space in the Dream Palace, providing a path for other experts to their location. They set it up this way because they were confident they could defeat those experts. Boom!! The energy fluctuations grew stronger as several loud sounds echoed with the arrival of the experts, who stood in the air, far away, looking at the two. "Layla, it''s your turn," Eilan said. "I know," nodded the woman with cat ears named Layla. Her expression was serious; she understood that it wouldn''t be an easy fight. Their aura was overwhelming, causing the whole area to shake uncontrollably. If all of them fought, this space would collapse due to their strength. A man with short black hair and eyes stepped forward. He looked down at Layla and Eilan, saying, "So it''s here... You have no choice but to fight us and kill us." His goal was simple: death. Chapter 1003: Witch Hunt: Eilan "Ah, experimental subjects..." Layla said, eyeing the man and the two figures behind him. She knew they would encounter these individuals, victims of the witches'' cruelty in the past- people who sought death above all else. The man glanced up at the six shining lights above them. "So, those are the holy stakes... Unfortunately, I can''t allow you to clear this game." If no one cleared this game, the entire Walpurgis Night would collapse, granting him the long-awaited death he desired. The man turned to the two figures behind him and inquired, "What do you think, Arven, Lensa?" "As long as we achieve our goal, Sir Gawain," replied Arven, a tall man with long blonde hair and blue eyes. "Gawain... Don''t tell me you''re..." Layla''s eyes narrowed as she sensed danger. "Fear not, I''m not the one you''re thinking of. I''m just a shell that couldn''t die. Though I''ve lost my strength and freedom, I''ve gained an undying body due to the witches'' actions in the past," Gawain explained. Two other experts arrived, both women. They were Elder Lincy and Elder Reana of the Walpurgis Night. They were aware of Layla''s group''s plan, having been informed about it beforehand. "Shall we begin? If you can kill me, then that would be great," Gawain asked, a smile forming on his face. The two elders and Layla were prepared to fight against him and his men. Gawain desired to die while in battle, not to languish in this place forever. He would do anything to achieve it. "Why don''t we deal with the others first?" Elder Lincy suggested, turning her head to the side. She was clad in a tight black suit, her green hair tied back. Elder Reana and Layla braced themselves for the worst. "Hmm..." Gawain glanced to the side, narrowing his eyes. Arven and Lensa, who stood behind him, followed his gaze. An army of human-like golems slowly advanced from the distance, their strength ranging from S-rank to SSS-rank, posing a significant threat. Gawain sighed before refocusing his attention on Layla and the two elders who had just arrived. "Isn''t it quite interesting?" he remarked. "We wouldn''t die even if those golems destroy us, as we''ve already tried it before. Though I can''t say the same for you." He stood calmly, pointing his finger at Eilan. "I understand what you''re trying to do here. You''ve seen the data from the experiments, right? You''re attempting to improve upon it." Layla narrowed her eyes, inwardly surprised that Gawain had instantly grasped their plan with just one look. "You''re striving to become immortal, just like us. I hope it doesn''t bind you to this place as it has us, or else you''ll only suffer," Gawain added. He then waved his hand and said, "I hope today brings us death. The lives of countless people in Walpurgis Night are in your hands." Despair permeated the land as battles erupted everywhere. Countless ordinary people perished, and the survivors fought desperately for survival. The golems ruthlessly hunted down all living beings in the land. Children cried out in despair as their blood stained the Walpurgis Night. "Now!" Gawain exclaimed. A smile crept onto Gawain''s face as he slowly drew his sword from its sheath. His aura intensified, and his powerful bloodlust filled the air. Arven and Lensa, the experts behind him, also emanated overwhelming bloodlust. Layla and the two elders beside her narrowed their eyes. It appeared they couldn''t reason with them. A battle seemed inevitable at this rate, but they showed no intention of interfering with Eilan. The plan progressed smoothly as long as they could halt these individuals and the golems. Layla took a deep breath and remarked, "There''s little we can do. Gawain is a legendary knight from the past, when Morgan Le Fay still lived. Despite his strength waning from experimentation, he remains formidable, though not overpowering." Elder Lincy and Elder Reana nodded in agreement. They had joined Layla''s group because of their proposal to end the game and settle all unresolved matters of the Walpurgis Night. "We must wait until Eilan integrates himself with the land to utilize the six holy stakes," Layla continued, glancing down at Eilan. She then shifted her focus back to Gawain. "I''ll attempt to keep Gawain occupied, though I doubt I''ll last long against him." Elder Lincy and Elder Reana directed their attention to the two experts standing behind Gawain. "I am no longer Gawain. I am no Knight. I am just a man who yearns for death. Grant me my desire, or I shall be your harbinger of doom," Gawain declared as he advanced, his sword emitting a dark green glow. With a swift motion of his hand, a massive energy blade shot forth from his sword. Swoosh! Forcing a smile, Layla dashed forward, circulating her energy to greatly enhance her strength. As the energy blade approached, she pressed both hands beside it, her energy skyrocketing as lightning crackled from her palms. Bang! In the next moment, a colossal explosion erupted. Layla emerged from the smoke, hurtling directly at Gawain. "This is going to be troublesome," Layla thought inwardly. Boom! The powerful experts clashed, sending shockwaves sweeping out. Eilish and Kayla''s group were forced to their knees. The pressure from the battle was intense, leaving them vulnerable. Kayla spoke up, "The elders are engaged in battle. This exceeds the level of combat we''re equipped for." Kim, a member of Kayla''s squad, added, "Countless golems are on their way. We''ll be doomed if we don''t escape immediately." Their ability to fight the golems was limited by their strength. Faced with hundreds of golems simultaneously, their fate was inevitable. "Eilish, we need to leave now! You can talk to him later!" Kayla shouted, casting a quick glance in Eilish''s direction. Gritting her teeth, Eilish stared at her brother. Eilan stood amidst the chaos, seemingly unaffected by the battles raging around him. Shadows danced at his feet, and the energy around him moved in a strange, resonating manner with the land. "Eilan!" Eilish called out. Eilan frowned, clutching his head in pain. "I''m not your brother!" he exclaimed, his voice sounding distorted as if multiple voices spoke at once, while the shadows around him writhed wildly. "No, you are Eilan! You''re my brother!" Eilish insisted. "I am not your brother!" Eilan''s shout echoed, his hands clutching his head in agony, his energy fluctuating wildly. Eilish took a nervous breath, sensing something was seriously wrong with her brother. "Eilan! Remember me! I''m Eilish, your sister!" she pleaded desperately. Her friends had perished while searching for Eilan''s cure, and she refused to let their sacrifices be in vain. Bringing back her brother was their collective wish. "This can''t be! This woman must die!" Eilan growled through gritted teeth, his eyes wild with madness. His bloodlust surged, engulfing the entire area in an instant. Eilish and Kayla''s group groaned in pain, struggling to catch their breath as the intense killing intent bore down on them. Layla, momentarily distracted from her battle with Gawain, was thrown back and crashed onto the ground, sending a massive shockwave rippling out. Quickly rising to her feet, Layla dispersed the smoke with a wave of her hand. She turned to Eilan, urgency in her voice. "Don''t harm them! You''ll provoke the Blood Lightning Monster! We can''t afford to antagonize the rising star of the Athens Champion in our current predicament!" Gawain gazed down with a disappointed expression, refraining from pursuing Layla. He muttered, "Internal conflicts in this situation. I can see that the Walpurgis Night has no future now. Ever since the betrayal back then, the Walpurgis Night has treaded the path of destruction. All the secrets of the witches will be buried in this land." Layla turned to Eilish, urgency in her voice. "Forget about him for now! Your brother is not him, so get out of this place!" "M-My brother isn''t him...?! H-How?! It''s definitely him, so how?" Eilish muttered, confusion evident in her voice. "The lives of the people in Walpurgis Night will be lost! Can you bear the weight of those consequences?! I''m telling you, your brother is gone!" Layla exclaimed loudly. "All the people of Walpurgis Night... But that body is definitely my brother?" Eilish lowered her head, grappling with the revelation. "Yes, exactly! Your brother is just a vessel! A vessel being used by obscrum! I promise, with my name on the line, I''ll ensure you can talk to him later!" Layla assured her. "What do you mean?" Eilish asked. "There won''t be a ''later'' in this situation," Gawain interjected, pointing at Eilan. "That man has become a host for an elemental being. Without the elemental being, the man will perish." "What?!" Eilish exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock. Chapter 1004: Witch Hunt: Leave everything to me Elemental being. A creature of pure elements. They possessed immense elemental power. Eilan became a host for one such being. Due to Eilan''s unique constitution, he was compatible with the elemental being, which also prevented him from succumbing entirely to his illness. If the elemental being were separated from him, Eilan would die, as their bodies had fused into one. Using data from the witch''s experiments, they planned to integrate the elemental being controlling Eilan into the Walpurgis Night, similar to how experimental subjects were bound to the Dream Palace. In this way, the elemental being would gain the power to control the entire land and harness all the Dream Power that sustains this place. He would merge with the core of Walpurgis Night, gaining the strength to end this game. He would become the true ruler of Walpurgis Night and save the countless lives hanging by a thread. Gawain laughed mockingly, glancing at Layla. "Do you really think you can simply use the power of a core in the Dream Realm so easily? If it were that simple, other beings would have done it before." Layla replied, "We''re not sure yet, but if it succeeds, you''ll be able to attain your death." "That''s a big ''if''," Gawain retorted. "Gaining the power of the Dream Realm, which encompasses all living creatures that sleep, isn''t something that''s easy to do. Did you research the beings that forcefully controlled the lands in the Dream Realm?" The vast territories in the Dream Realm, such as Walpurgis Night and Vanko, were powered by cores made of pure Dream Power. These cores also nourished the creatures, allowing their Dream Power to grow stronger even without training. "W-What about my brother?!" Eilish asked desperately. "Is that even a question? From what I can see, the body will die if the elemental being is separated. It has become too dependent on the elemental being, so there''s no point in separating them. If you did, then Walpurgis Night would probably collapse since no one could stop its destruction except for the elemental being," Gawain said calmly. As for the six holy stakes, they were insurance. Powered by Morgan Le Fay, they held great potential. However, using them to destroy the black sun, which was the core, would result in the destruction of the barrier. Without a core, the land would slowly die, forcing the witches to migrate to other lands. "D-Does that mean I can never get my brother back?" Eilish muttered. She had finally found her brother, but this was something she didn''t expect. Her brother''s illness had disappeared because he became the host of an elemental being, but Eilan''s body had become too dependent on it. Gawain raised his hand, and Arven and Lensa stopped fighting the two elders. The two elders stood in the air, turning their heads to see the human-like golems just several kilometers away, drawing closer and closer. "It seems we won''t need to fight... I was hoping to achieve death in battle," Gawain muttered to his comrades in disappointment. Well, it was fine since others like him, trapped in the Dream Palace, would achieve death if the game failed. He just hoped that Walpurgis Night would emerge as strong as it had in the past and clear this game, but reality was more disappointing than he had imagined. Gawain looked up and muttered to himself, "I stayed here to see what the witches would do in the crisis left by the Purity. I don''t even need to stand in their way to give them a proper experience, Le Fay. I will die soon once Walpurgis Night has completely fallen." The hope that Morgan Le Fay left was in vain. The witches didn''t use their knowledge. They were the same as before; the internal conflict proved that there was no more hope for them. The Supreme Elders and Matriarch didn''t even make an appearance. He suspected they had been taken down by the group of witches that betrayed them in the past. They should have massacred them instead of sparing them. If the witches had managed to train at least one Demigod or Freedom Realm warrior, they would have been able to avert this disaster easily. Unfortunately, all the Demigods and Hero- rank warriors perished hundreds of years ago. "Shit... Eilan lost his focus because of her. The golems are getting closer," Layla thought to herself. They had only a minute before the golems arrived. It would take time and concentration for Eilan to integrate himself into Walpurgis Night. "I''ve already finished half of it, so I don''t need much more time. Just make sure that girl doesn''t get close to me," Eilan said to Layla. Layla nodded at his words. She knew how crucial this moment was for them. If they failed, they would have to resort to using the holy stakes to destroy the black sun. Eilan turned to Eilish and said, "I remember you now. You''re that girl from the sub-world. You have potential, but the bloodline of Umbra is too thin in your veins, so I chose this body. I didn''t expect to find you in Imperium. Be thankful to me for curing your brother''s illness. I''m the reason he''s still alive, so don''t bother me anymore." After saying those words, he turned around and concentrated on integrating himself with the land. Shadows danced around his feet as bluish lights glowed around him. "B-Brother..." Eilish muttered, feeling conflicted. She wanted her brother to return to normal, but separating him from the elemental being meant his death. Moreover, if she disturbed him, could she handle the burden of countless people dying? Eilan immediately turned back around and launched a ray of energy. "I said don''t distract me, lest you want everyone in this land to die! Are you prepared to take responsibility if everyone here perishes?!" he roared. Swoosh!! The ray of energy flashed toward Eilish at high speed. She couldn''t avoid it due to the pressure from the higher-level experts in the area. Layla and the others were all experts at the Sixth Shackle Realm, and their energy was like a heavy boulder pressing down on weaker experts like Eilish. Boom!! ... Meanwhile, somewhere in Walpurgis Night: Bryan, Edeya, Zhang Ren, and Captain Sarguan stood in front of Elder Uiny. Filled with rage, Elder Uiny was helpless against them. "H-How?! Why did the magic circle stop working?!" Elder Uiny roared madly. She was losing her sanity at the thought of their plan going wrong. The magic circles beneath the land, which were speeding up the destruction of Walpurgis Night, had suddenly stopped working. Perhaps, it was related to the strange phenomenon that had just occurred. Who could do such a thing? And now, the worst-case scenario had appeared. All six holy stakes had gathered in one place-in the Dream Palace. At this moment, every living being in Walpurgis Night could sense the presence of the holy stakes. "I won''t let you kill everyone here!" Bryan declared as he dashed forward, pulling back both of his fists. Swoosh!! Bryan threw a series of powerful punches, but Elder Uiny avoided them with all her might. She gritted her teeth in anger, seeing these people trying to thwart her plan. Edeya also charged forward to assist Bryan in battling the elder. She smiled and said, "The holy stakes have appeared. It means someone is going to clear this game soon, and you''re desperate to get there to stop the holy stakes from being used, aren''t you?" "Y-You!" Veins popped up on Elder Uiny''s forehead. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her waist. Looking down, she saw a whip wrapped around her. "Are you forgetting that I''m here, you bitch?" Poisonous Vine laughed as she slammed the elder to the ground. Bang!! Elder Uiny felt the effects of the poison slowly taking hold as Poisonous Vine continued to release it. She struggled to get up, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "T-This can''t be..." These people were weak individually. In a one-on-one fight, there was no way they could defeat her. But the current situation didn''t allow for such a scenario. "Swoosh!!" Bryan flashed before her and delivered a powerful punch to her stomach. Her body bent backward as she was sent flying several kilometers away. Ugh!! Elder Uiny steadied herself, her heart beating wildly as she looked ahead. Bryan stood in the air, surrounded by overflowing elements. His strength was almost approaching the level of the elders. ... Boom!! A massive explosion ensued, shaking the land as smoke and dust billowed around. "Hmm...?" Gawain, who had been watching with a disappointed expression, raised his eyebrows. Layla looked at Eilan and exclaimed, "Why did you do that?! Do you understand what this means?!" "I already told you to keep her away from me," Eilan retorted. Swoosh!! As the smoke slowly dissipated, a figure emerged standing in front of Eilish. Eilish stared at the figure in front of her with wide eyes. It was none other than Souta. Souta placed his palm on top of her head and said, "I heard everything, so leave this to me." Chapter 1005: Witch Hunt: Release A few minutes ago... Souta moved from side to side, deftly avoiding the attacks of Lorna and the other members of the Dark Gold Corps. He leaped into the air, shooting hundreds of sharp webs. However, Lorna simply sliced the webs apart with his blade. Swoosh!! Souta ducked down as an energy blade passed above him. He then lifted his foot and kicked the expert beside him. In the midst of the chaos, he noticed Lorna rushing toward him. He could sense their desperation. Their Dream Power and Element Drive weren''t going to last much longer, so they were staking everything on defeating him. It was a crucial moment for him, so he refrained from using too much energy. He had only used a small amount to destroy the golem earlier, and burdening his inner consciousness now would disrupt his focus. Hmm...? Suddenly, Souta felt a shift and turned his head in another direction. He sensed something significant had occurred. It was his first time experiencing this sensation, but he recognized what it meant. The six holy stakes, capable of ending this game, had appeared. Lorna and the other members of the Dark Gold Corps paused, sensing it too. "The holy stakes have appeared...?!" Lorna narrowed his eyes. He wasn''t sure if it was advantageous for him or not. Souta grinned as he observed the Dark Gold Corps. "It seems the holy stakes have appeared. Will you continue to fight me, or not? If I''m not mistaken, your goal is simply to keep me occupied while the witches complete the game, am I right?" Lorna and the other members of the Dark Gold Corps remained silent, watching Souta warily. They had realized they wouldn''t be able to defeat him; continuing to fight would only exhaust them further. "Oh, you''re not saying anything," Souta remarked. "It seems I need to give you a reason to stop. Well, it''s time. It''s already been decided." He grinned widely as he slammed his hand against his chest. Ohm!! Souta opened both hands as a large amount of best feram gushed out of his body. He could finally use his energy without restraint. The entire ground began to shake violently as the overflowing energy surged in every direction like a raging tide. Souta slowly floated in the air, relishing the sensation of using his power once again. It was thoroughly exhilarating. His inner consciousness was completely fixed. "W-What is this?!" Lorna narrowed his eyes, sensing the intense pressure in the air. The rest of the Dark Gold Corps subconsciously took a step back. Their instincts screamed at them to run away, but they knew they couldn''t escape from the monster before them. Boom!! The entire dreamscape began trembling. "You couldn''t even kill me while I was relying solely on my physical abilities and a few traits, so why do you think you can stop me now that I''m using my energy?" Souta''s voice echoed as he threw a punch into the air. A surge of energy erupted, causing a massive explosion. The blast spread widely, wreaking havoc and causing massive destruction. Uncontrollable cracks spread out in all directions. The dreamscape was on the brink of collapse. "Just cause destruction until the person who dreamed this place dies. It''s not bad for me." With his physical abilities already formidable enough to match theirs, enhancing every fiber of his muscles with energy would elevate his strength to unimaginable heights. Souta looked down at the Dark Gold Corps and said, "How about it? Do you want to continue fighting? I think one minute is all I need to eliminate all of you." The Dark Gold Corps was left speechless. "Anyway, I believe I''ve already killed the dreamer just like that. The pressure of my energy sure takes me back. It''s easy to dispatch weaker creatures," Souta remarked, glancing at the cracks in the sky. He then refocused his attention on them and added, "On another note, I think it''s already too late to run. I warned you that you would suffer the consequences of obstructing my path." Swoosh!! With a swift step, he appeared in front of them, swinging his fist viciously. Lorna and the members of the Dark Gold Corps tried their best to block Souta''s attack, but they were blown away by the immense surge of energy. Souta soared into the sky, his hand raised with ten black spheres on his back. A magic circle formed beneath his feet and a black hole materialized on top of his palm. Ohm!! The black hole grew larger and larger, swallowing up the light in the area as it swirled around the void. "Take this!" Souta laughed as he hurled the black hole. In just a minute, the battle was over. Souta had swiftly dispatched all of them. They stood no chance against him the moment he could unleash all of his skills without holding back. The dreamscape collapsed, and Souta flew toward the direction where he could sense the holy stakes as quickly as possible. Utilizing his skills to enhance his speed, he shot through the air at high velocity, leaving shockwaves in his wake. A few golems attempted to block his path, but he effortlessly destroyed them. In the Dream Palace, he encountered Alice, who was also heading in the direction of the holy stakes. He brought her with him, and together they managed to arrive on time. ... Souta placed his palm on top of Eilish''s head and said, "Leave everything to me. I''ll take full responsibility for what happens next." His voice carried a tinge of bloodlust that permeated the air. "The Blood Lightning Monster?!" Layla exclaimed in surprise at his appearance. The two elders observed the situation intently. Eilan narrowed his eyes at the unexpected arrival. "A fourth stage...?" Gawain raised his eyebrows. "No... A fourth stage possessing this much power is unheard of." As he looked at Souta, he sensed a power that a fourth stage shouldn''t possess. A fourth stage shouldn''t be able to rival any of the top-tier SSS-rank experts. Just where did this monster come from? "S-Souta..." Eilish muttered as she gazed at Souta''s back. "I''ll take care of everything. Your brother... I promised you that I''ll bring him back," Souta stated firmly as he stepped forward. Then, he turned his head to briefly glance at Kayla''s group before addressing Alice, "Alice, take care of Eilish for a while." Alice nodded in acknowledgment of his words. As Souta took another step forward, his energy level began to rise steadily, causing the pressure in the air to escalate. Layla gulped nervously, her eyes fixed on Souta. "What are you doing, Blood Lightning Monster?" she inquired. Souta glanced at her and recognized her. "Ah, I remember you. You''re the one who infiltrated the Wingless Crow and visited me in my city," he remarked. Layla narrowed her eyes. "So what do you plan to do?" she demanded. Souta smiled and pointed at Eilan. "It''s simple. I''m going to bring Eilish''s brother," he declared. "Y-You?!" Layla gritted her teeth in frustration. "Do you want this game to fail?! Do you want to witness the destruction of Walpurgis Night?!" Souta waved his hand dismissively, his tone cold. "The most important thing to me is bringing Eilish''s brother. Her will matters to me more than the fate of Walpurgis Night." There was no way he would prioritize others over his own people. Souta had become indifferent to lives after the incident in the sub-world. The only thing keeping him grounded was his loyalty to his own. "It seems we couldn''t negotiate," Layla conceded, glancing at the two elders. There was no avoiding a confrontation with the infamous Blood Lightning Monster. Souta slowly ascended into the air, his energy radiating outwards. "Come." His voice echoed commandingly as his energy erupted like a volcano, exerting pressure in every direction. Combat arts and spells were activated one by one, further enhancing his strength to unprecedented levels. "Shit!" Layla cursed, eyeing Souta warily. The two elders positioned themselves behind her, ready to offer support. Gawain observed the situation with amusement, intrigued by the arrival of the newcomer. The power Souta possessed surpassed normal limits. At that moment, numerous golems swarmed into the vicinity, intent on eliminating all participants in the game. Swoosh! Souta waved his hand, conjuring a barrier to protect Alice, Eilish, and Kayla''s group. Then, he ascended into the sky, raising his hand above his head. Hundreds of blood-red webs shot out from his palm in all directions. The gravity in the area intensified several times over as shadows spread out from the ground. In an instant, the webs pierced through the bodies of the golems, while Layla and the others did their best to avoid them. ROAR!! Souta unleashed a fierce roar, his energy level skyrocketing uncontrollably. His voice reverberated throughout the entire dimension. Boom!! Strings of flesh emerged from his skin, transforming his appearance into something monstrous. Four sharp spider limbs protruded from his back, and his hair grew longer. Every cell in his body brimmed with power. It had been a while since he felt such overwhelming strength. Utilizing his [Monster Orb Release] was effortless for him now. In fact, he was unbelievably stronger in this moment. "Anyone who dares to obstruct my path will face my wrath. Don''t bother trying to reason with me, as I care for nothing else at this moment." Souta gazed down at everyone below from his elevated position. The energy he radiated was utterly devastating. Chapter 1006: Witch Hunt: I, Souta Ieshi Souta looked down as the webs destroyed the rushing golems. His released form radiated overwhelming power. He raised his hand, and the entire area was suddenly dyed red. "[Twilight Zone]!" The [Orb of Arcane Seal] floated beside him as Souta drew the [Vajra Sword Saya] from its sheath. "I''ll take Eilish''s brother with me. If anyone wants to stop me, they''ll have to face me," Souta said to them. Layla gritted her teeth and said, "Blood Lightning Monster, do you realize what you''re doing? If you prevent us from clearing the game, the Walpurgis Night will fall. Countless people will die." "So?" Souta tightened his grip on his sword before adding, "It''s unfortunate that the Walpurgis Night will fall, but if you ask me to choose, I''ll pick Eilish''s wish over all the people of Walpurgis Night. She means more to me than any of you, and nothing''s gonna change that." He slightly bent his knees and charged toward Eilan. Layla immediately reacted by activating several skills to enhance her strength. She then waved her hand, and a huge lightning pillar descended from above. Bang!! A crimson glow radiated from Souta''s blade as he swung his sword at the pillar of lightning. The two elders also reacted, pulling out their soul weapons and rushing at him. At the same time, more and more golems arrived in the area. Souta clashed with the two elders, and their attacks destroyed the golems around them. Boom!! Elder Lincy wielded a rapier as her soul weapon. She stood at the front, trying to attack Souta. Her attacks were swift and powerful, imbued with the elements of fire and wind, but Souta blocked them all. She thrust her blade, but Souta swiftly moved to the side to avoid it. He then stepped forward and slashed his sword, but Elder Reana appeared beside him and blocked his attack with a small round shield. At the next moment, five golems pounced on the three of them. Souta stepped back and sliced the golems apart, while Elder Lincy dashed forward, penetrating the golems'' bodies with her rapier. Souta watched them as he carefully analyzed their movements and skills. The combination of the two elders was impressive. Elder Lincy had high attack power, while Elder Reana had great defenses. Their coordination was almost perfect. It was clear that this wasn''t their first time working together. As for Layla, who stood at the back, she was supporting them with her spells. Hmm? Souta looked up and saw a sea of flames rushing at him from above. When he looked down, he found a huge tornado with high destructive power. "Dream Power... This level of Dream Power is even greater than that possessed by those witches that I fight before." Souta muttered as he created a field of blood and webs to block the two attacks. The difference between [Dream Power II] and [Dream Power III] was significant. It was like the gap between a minor shackle and a great shackle. Among all the witches in the Walpurgis Night, only six had achieved it. He had fought a sovereign in Vanko who possessed the same level of Dream Power. That sovereign had weaker physical and energy levels compared to the elders, so the difference was huge. Boom!! The webs and blood field decreased the impact of the attacks, so they only managed to bruise him. Souta looked down at Eilan. Eilan was possessed by an elemental being, and Souta finally understood why Eilish possessed such power. She had the bloodline of Umbra. Some human races possessed certain capabilities that allowed them to host elemental beings, and Umbra was one of those races. They had an ability that could greatly enhance a darkness elemental being within their bodies. They were like spirits and contractors, with the key difference being that the host would die once separated from their elemental being. "Umbra and an elemental being... I need to separate them. I have an idea, but I''m not one hundred percent sure it will work," Souta thought as he narrowed his eyes. He moved to the side, slashing at the golems that kept rushing at him. Then, the spider limbs on his back pointed at the two elders and Layla. Swoosh!! [Bestrou] was instantly fired. If he wanted to get to Eilan, he needed to get past the two elders and Layla. It would have been impossible without using his energy, but now, his chances were quite high. Boom!! Elder Reana blocked the [Bestrou] with her soul weapon. She stared at him grimly. "He''s too strong... I''ve never seen a fourth stage monster with this much power," she said. She still couldn''t believe that a fourth stage monster had this level of strength. "We don''t need to hold back," Elder Lincy said before dashing forward. A huge amount of elemental power was released from her body. The whole area shook as they used their [Elemental Drive] and [Dream Power III]. Various phenomena occurred in the area as objects appeared out of thin air, carrying enormous power. Swoosh! Elder Lincy arrived in front of Souta and thrust her blade heavily. Souta reacted by swinging his sword at her blade. The collision of the two attacks caused intense friction in the air, sending ripples outward. Souta was slightly pushed back. Looking at Elder Lincy, he took a deep breath before charging at her. [Serial Killing Steps]! [Hunting State]! [Carpet of the Night]! [Darkness Sweep]! [Traceless World]! He activated the equipment skills of his dark-grade gear: the [Goblet of the Night], [Darkness Hourglass], and [Solid Hunter State Boots]. All the light in the area suddenly disappeared as shadows enveloped everything. Elder Lincy''s movement speed decreased while Souta''s speed increased due to the effect of the activated skills. Caught off guard, Elder Lincy was already slashed by Souta before she flew hundreds of meters away, crashing onto a group of golems. Boom!! Layla gritted her teeth. She knew that the Blood Lightning Monster was strong; their organization had been gathering intel about anyone with great potential to reach the levels of the gods. She raised her hands in the air, and several magic circles formed beneath her feet. Souta turned in her direction as he sensed the energy fluctuations. He was about to charge at her when several strong golems pounced on him. Each of these golems possessed energy levels that could rival top-tier SSS-rank experts. "She could even charm non-living things now..." Souta muttered to himself. He remembered the time when she visited Ekatoe City; she charmed all the living beings in the city except for him. He wasn''t the only one who had grown stronger. Others were trying to keep up with this changing world. "If you think this is gonna stop me, then you''re wrong!" Souta opened his other hand, and a black hole appeared. He smashed the black hole into the golems. Ohm!! Although these golems had the energy level of Sixth Shackle experts, they were nothing compared to the Dark Gold Corps he had just fought. Suddenly, Souta held his head with one hand as he felt something. "Damn, she''s even trying to charm me. Though she couldn''t do it, the feeling it left behind is still distracting me," he muttered. The golems tried to resist the power of the black hole. Souta tightened his grip on his sword, preparing to end them with a powerful slash. In the next moment, he felt a pain in his body as he realized that Elder Reana was already behind him. She smashed her shield into his body, sending him hundreds of meters away. Boom!! Souta crashed onto the group of golems. The weaker golems, with only a defense of SS-rank and below, immediately disintegrated under the force. He stood up, tasting blood in his mouth. The artifacts floating around him vibrated strongly. He realized that Layla was stronger than the two elders. Turning his head left and right, he sensed that the area had changed. This place had almost nothing before, but now, there was a vast land with volcanoes, mountains, and oceans all over the place. They were all created by the dream power of the two elders. Souta closed his eyes, sensing that Elder Lincy had already risen and was rushing at him with Elder Reana. In the next second, he opened his eyes, and the whole world seemed to slow down. His senses reached a higher limit as he detected everything happening around him. Before Elder Lincy and Elder Reana could react, their bodies were blown away. They were caught off guard by the sudden increase in Souta''s strength. Boom!! Their figures crashed hundreds of meters away, causing massive explosions in the land. "W-What is this?!" Layla widened her eyes in shock. She could only watch as the two elders disappeared, and Souta was already standing in their previous position. Souta stood motionless, looking at his hand. He radiated a strange energy that made the whole area tremble. "So that''s how it is..." He muttered to himself. He slowly turned his head to Layla before turning to Eilan. The elemental being on Eilan''s body was focusing on integrating itself into the Walpurgis Night. Souta understood that his plan was viable. He could execute it flawlessly. Swoosh!! His figure shot through the sky, causing cracks to spread through the air. Loud sounds reverberated in the area, and his energy erupted like a tsunami. The space shattered, revealing the dense dream power above the Dream Palace. Souta raised his hand and declared, "I, Souta leshi, hereby declare... The Walpurgis Night will fall today." His voice echoed throughout the region of the Dream Palace. Chapter 1007: Witch Hunt: Traitor Bryan crashed to the ground, a streak of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. He wiped away the blood and smiled. "This woman is strong," he muttered. Bending his knees, he charged at Elder Uiny in an instant. Four elements swirled around his fist as he threw a heavy punch at her. Elder Uiny manifested a huge mountain in front of Bryan using her dream power. However, the massive mountain didn''t even last a second as Bryan pierced through it. He arrived in front of her and smashed his fist into her face. Bang! Elder Uiny''s body was sent flying, crashing onto the ground. Then, a huge golden palm appeared above, descending toward her location. Zhang Ren, the monk, unleashed his powerful skill without holding back. Edeya also launched several concentrated beams at the impact. Boom! A series of explosions ensued, sending mushroom clouds rising into the sky. The shockwaves swept out tens of kilometers in diameter. Poisonous Vine hovered in the air, observing the explosions below. She smiled and remarked, "Finally, my poisons are slowly taking effect... It seems she''s getting weaker." It had been challenging to affect Elder Uiny with her poison due to the intense resistance surrounding her body. However, now her poison was gradually seeping through those cracks. "It seems I''m not the one who''s going to die today," Poisonous Vine said, a grin on her face. Swoosh! Elder Uiny waved her hand, dispersing the thick smoke in the surroundings. She coughed up a mouthful of blood before looking up at Bryan, Zhang Ren, and Edeya. "It can''t be... Why did the magic circles stop working?" The magic circles that were supposed to hasten the destruction of Walpurgis Night had ceased functioning due to some unknown interference. How? Why did this happen? Elder Uiny wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and glared at her opponents. She knew she had to kill them, no matter what. Thud! Bryan landed in front of her, tightly clenching both fists. "It''s time for you to stop worrying about other things! Focus on the fight in front of you!" he declared. He dashed forward and threw a punch. Elder Uiny shifted her body to the side, narrowly avoiding Bryan''s fist. Then, she raised her foot and swept it toward Bryan''s side, but he blocked it with his hand. Bryan then opened his mouth wide as a burst of four elements erupted. [Quad Element Roar]! The beam sent her several kilometers away. Boom! Bryan wanted to chase after her, but he sensed something. Looking up, he saw suspended energy blades in the air. He immediately jumped away, but the energy blades chased him. Swoosh! Swoosh! He destroyed some of the energy blades with his fist, though a few managed to cut his body. "She left those energy blades before I could attack her... If she''s not injured, I don''t think I can win against her," Bryan thought, glancing at the wounds on his body before turning his attention to the explosion where Elder Uiny was located. The smoke dispersed, revealing Elder Uiny, covered in blood. "What''s Cermine doing?" she muttered to herself. Among the six elders, there were only two traitors who desired the fall of Walpurgis Night. She fought here with her life, yet Elder Cermine was nowhere to be seen. Boom! The ground shook in another region of Walpurgis Night. Elder Cermine was locked in a fierce battle with a man covered in bandages. Shockwaves swept out as they clashed in the middle of the region, affecting the surroundings and even destroying some golems that pounced on them. Widespread destruction ensued as the two experts fought fiercely. Elder Cermine retreated, casting narrowed eyes at Grim. She bore a huge wound across her body. She hadn''t expected to encounter someone as formidable as him in this land. She asked, "Who are you?!" "I''m called Grim," the man covered in bandages introduced himself. He smirked underneath the bandages on his face and said, "Moon Coven. I know your history. Unfortunately, your plan will not succeed today." "Y-You know it?!" Elder Cermine widened her eyes. "I know a lot of things. Your plan is to let this land fall down, right? This is the right time since the power of Purity is getting active. You people don''t want anyone to uncover the truth," Grim explained. He paused before adding, "You''re just simply wasting such information. It''s better to analyze those things and prepare for countermeasures." "You don''t know the consequences of such actions! You have no idea of the horror behind it!" Elder Cermine said strongly. Grim turned serious and replied, "So you''ve seen it? No, you''ve just read the data about it. If you had truly seen it, you''d be corrupted without a doubt." He finally had an idea about what happened to this elder. Even though she hadn''t seen it, just by reading the data alone, her mind had somehow been corrupted without her knowing. All she wanted to do was bury that information, no matter the cost. Nothing mattered to her, not even her family, as she didn''t realize that her mind was corrupted. "That information can''t be revealed no matter what! It will awaken faster than you can imagine!" Elder Cermine said, her tone tinged with madness. "Don''t worry. I won''t spread such information. My comrades will study it and prepare a countermeasure for its arrival," Grim assured her. "What can you do?! You''re not even a God?!" Elder Cermine roared. "I''m not alone. Our Origin Order has gods. We''re in pursuit of the truth. Have you perhaps heard about the Primordial Gods?" Grim said as he took a step forward. "Primordial Gods?" Elder Cermine retreated, but Grim chased after her. He said, "Yeah, those Primordial Gods. They are currently in slumber, but they will awaken soon after a long time. The time when the Great Barrier disappeared will come." Grim flicked a gem out of his pocket. The gem rotated in the air as it produced a huge amount of energy. "You can''t escape with a Spatial Gem in my hands," his voice echoed. Elder Cermine gritted her teeth as she felt a strong pressure pressing down on her. She tried to resist the pressure, laughing maniacally. "Hahaha, Primordial Gods? Those gods from the forgotten era! It wouldn''t change a thing! They couldn''t even prevent the calamity from their era, so why do you think they could change the situation? Hahahaha!" Her eyes were filled with madness as she continued, "They would only make the situation worse! Do you think the gods in our era will let them wander around?! If they wanted to reign again, then they would have to fight the current gods! Even if they don''t want to reign, the gods will not let them walk around without restrictions!" The rulers of the forgotten era and the rulers of the current era wouldn''t be able to coexist easily. A battle would surely occur before they reached an understanding. Grim didn''t say anything more as he arrived in front of Elder Cermine. ... In the Dream Palace. Red Mist staggered back, spitting a mouthful of blood. Her breathing was heavy, and she was covered in wounds. She glared at Elder Amulgu, Elder Grecia, and a group of elite witches in front of her. Despite her increased strength, she couldn''t defeat them. "Don''t push yourself too much..." Fiamma''s voice sounded in her head. "No, you know the reason why I''m doing this. I can''t forgive them. If I die, then immediately leave this place," Red Mist replied to her spirit. Her eyes burned with revenge. Elder Amulgu, Elder Grecia, and the elite witches weren''t in good condition either. They had suffered heavily while fighting someone as strong as Red Mist. Exhausted and riddled with injuries, they stood before her. Elder Amulgu stepped forward and said, "Give up now. You can''t kill us. You must have realized this too. The holy stakes have appeared, and this game will end soon." "Give up? There''s no way... Do you understand how much I loathe this place? I''ll burn this place even if I die," Red Mist declared, standing up and wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. "Do you really want to destroy our land? If so, then you''ll leave me no choice," Elder Amulgu said as she gathered her last bit of energy into her soul weapon. "Would you believe me if I said that I... I wanted to live a normal life?" Red Mist said. Elder Amulgu didn''t respond. Mavois and the other elite witches stood behind her, raising their weapons in preparation against Red Mist. ''You can stop now...'' Fiamma said to Red Mist, sounding concerned. She knew that this would happen, yet she couldn''t do anything to stop it. ''I will not stop until I draw my last breath,'' Red Mist said with difficulty. Fighting two elders and a group of elite witches was too much, even for a strong expert like her. Back then, she hadn''t even imagined such a situation. No one would have thought that she would fight two elders and the Crescent Moon Squad on her own. She had been a normal girl at that time. The first witch to manage to leave the Walpurgis Night ever since they had hidden themselves. The traitor, Remuria. Chapter 1008: Witch Hunt: Scheme A young woman wearing a white dress, her long, beautiful red hair cascading down her back, descended the stairs. She spotted a man in the kitchen, busily preparing breakfast for them. The man looked up and smiled at her. "Remuria, just a moment longer. Breakfast is almost ready." Remuria settled into a chair, her gaze fixed on the man. With black hair and gentle features, he meticulously finished preparing their meal and set it on the table. His name was Lavin. The couple happily enjoyed their breakfast together. At that time, the Walpurgis Night was their entire world. No living beings in the land had ever left its confines. It was a place where diverse people lived, and those who stood at the apex were the witches, the rulers of the land. Lavin held the esteemed position of Captain Guard in a Royal City located in another region of Walpurgis Night. Though his status was high in that region, compared to Remuria, it paled in significance. Remuria, the granddaughter of an elder of the Walpurgis Night. The couple remained together for years, finding happiness in each other''s company. Yet, there were those who harbored resentment. Among them was Elder Grecia. She couldn''t abide the idea that the bloodline of a royal witch like Remuria would be passed to a non-witch race. At first, Remuria ignored Elder Grecia, assuming she wouldn''t act against her. Besides, Remuria felt useless as a witch, despite being the granddaughter of an elder. At twenty-five years old, she still hadn''t awakened her soul weapon. Not awakening a soul weapon was shameful for witches. The soul weapon was their symbol of strength and status. Remuria and Lavin were having dinner together in their house. "I will go to another region tomorrow, so don''t wait for me. I have to lead my troops and eliminate some dream beasts," Lavin said. Remuria nodded at him. She stayed silent for a while before saying, "I have something to tell you." Lavin raised his eyebrows, curious. She revealed that she was pregnant. Lavin''s excitement was palpable at the news. He was finally going to be a father. The couple celebrated this precious occasion. Months flew by, and Remuria eventually gave birth to a baby. They named him Remus. The child displayed immense potential; testing revealed he had affinities for four elements and possessed a remarkable amount of mana comparable to a C-rank fighter. Many witches received the report, but they didn''t take any action, considering Remuria''s grandmother''s position as an elder. Furthermore, they were uncertain about whether the baby, Remus, would awaken his soul weapon in the future. After all, his mother, Remuria, hadn''t awakened hers, and his father was not a witch. The likelihood of Remus awakening a soul weapon was low. One day, Remuria was in her room, humming a song to her baby. Lavin wasn''t at home yet, as he was on a mission. "You will grow strong in the future, Remus," she whispered, smiling as she gently kissed the baby''s forehead. Suddenly, a knock echoed on the door. Remuria turned her head and asked, "Who''s there?" Based on the aura, she knew it wasn''t her husband. Though not as powerful as him, she was still an A-rank expert and could sense the energy of nearby people. "A letter for you!" a voice replied. Remuria stood up and went to open the door. She received a letter from a delivery man. After the delivery man left, she opened the letter and read it. After a while, her eyes widened in shock as the letter fell to the ground. Tears welled in her eyes as her lips trembled. "G-Grandma is... d-dead?!" The letter came from the witches, informing her that her grandmother, one of the Six Elders, had passed away. ... Somewhere in the Walpurgis Night, Elder Uiny sat having tea, a pleasant smile adorning her face. Seated across from her was another woman. "Cermine, Elder Renia is dead..." Elder Uiny stated. "So, what are we going to do next?" Cermine inquired. "You''ll allow Elder Grecia to nominate you to become an elder. Meanwhile, I''ll support the family of Elder Renia from the outside. We''ll slowly pierce through the Walpurgis Night until the power of Purity blooms." "Then, I''ll instigate Elder Grecia. She despises what Remuria is doing, so it won''t be difficult to oppose her," Cermine declared. "I have something to give you," Elder Uiny said, retrieving a small bottle from her robe and placing it on the table. "What''s this?" Cermine asked, peering at the reddish liquid inside the bottle. "It''s a potion called Concentrating Soul. It''s a lost potion from the Walpurgis Night''s glory days. It can help a witch awaken their soul weapon," Elder Uiny explained. She paused before adding, "Give this to Elder Grecia. Then, she''ll have no choice but to give it to Elder Renia''s granddaughter. If she doesn''t awaken any soul weapon, then it''s your time to take that position." "Wouldn''t it be better to give it to Remuria directly?" Cermine asked. "No, it''s just a ploy to make it appear that we aren''t on the same side. If that girl truly awakens her soul weapon, then it''s fine with me since I could use her. But if not, then you''ll be taking that position," Elder Uiny explained further. "But what if Elder Grecia refuses to give it to Remuria?" Cermine inquired. "Elder Grecia will give it to her. Despite her disdain for Remuria, she remains loyal to Walpurgis Night. If I nominate that girl, Remuria, then Elder Grecia will have to prove that Remuria is unfit to become an elder. If she fails to give it, I will still support Remuria''s candidacy. Regardless of the outcome, this is merely a facade to demonstrate that we are not allies," Elder Uiny explained. "I understand... Then, I''ll deliver it to Elder Grecia," Cermine said with a smile as she tucked the potion into her pocket. "I''ll discreetly contact the authorities in their city. No one will be able to interfere until I give the signal," Elder Uiny declared with a smile. ... Remuria carried her baby, tears streaming down her face, while Lavin comforted her. They were at the funeral of Elder Renia, Remuria''s grandmother. Many people attended, mourning the loss of the esteemed elder. Elder Renia had been a pillar of the Walpurgis Night community, and her passing was a significant loss for the witches. Elder Uiny approached the grieving family and said, "I''m sorry for your loss, but I have something to tell you." Remuria turned her head, and Lavin took Remus from his wife, leaving Remuria alone with Elder Uiny. There was a moment of silence before Elder Uiny spoke. "Elder Renia had high expectations for you. She believed that you would continue her legacy. All of her belongings will be passed on to you." "What do you mean?" Remuria asked, bewildered. "The elders have one vacant position, and I believe you are more suitable to carry on the legacy of Elder Renia. You were her only family," Elder Uiny explained. In the days that followed, Elder Uiny continued to visit Remuria''s family, openly supporting them. Many witches began to see Remuria as a competitor for the vacant elder position, especially with Elder Uiny backing her. Some witches voiced complaints, arguing that Remuria lacked the qualifications to become an elder as she was weak and did not possess a soul weapon. Remuria was at home with her baby when Elder Grecia visited, accompanied by Cermine. "What can I do for you, Elder Grecia?" Remuria asked, preparing tea for her guests. "I merely wanted to ascertain if you truly intend to carry on Elder Renia''s legacy," Elder Grecia replied, glancing towards the room where Remus was sleeping. Remuria followed her gaze to her child''s room. Elder Grecia continued, "If you are indeed committed, then are you prepared to sever ties with your husband? I cannot allow a non-witch to enter the sacred domain of witches." "W-What do you mean?" Remuria asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty. "It is as I said," Elder Grecia stated coldly, rising from her seat. "We will take your child, and you will not be able to see your husband. The bloodline of the witches must remain pure." Remuria''s eyes widened in shock. She then heard Remus cry and hurriedly went to comfort her baby, humming a soothing tune. "If you choose to remain in this situation, then forget about carrying on Elder Renia''s legacy. Perhaps it''s best for you to live like this," Elder Grecia declared, observing Remuria holding her baby. She then added, "Oh, I forgot to mention, I slipped a Concentrating Soul potion into your drink. If you awaken a soul weapon, then you may have a chance at the position. But if not, there will be no need for you to step foot in our sacred grounds." Remuria''s heart raced with fear and confusion. She turned to Elder Grecia, her eyes wide with shock, before collapsing to her knees, still cradling her child. "W-What is happening to me?" she gasped, feeling agony coursing through her body as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Elder Grecia''s expression remained cold as she explained, "Do not fret. This will not kill you. It is merely a test to awaken your soul weapon, if you truly possess one. I will determine if you are worthy of Elder Renia''s position." Chapter 1009: Witch Hunt: Madness Ugh! It hurts. It hurts... Remuria lay on the ground, writhing in agony. It felt as though she were being consumed by flames, with sharp needles piercing every pore of her body. The pain was excruciating. Elder Grecia and Cermine watched from the sidelines as Remuria underwent this torment. "If you have truly awakened a soul weapon, then you are free to do as you please. I will not stand in your way," Elder Grecia declared. Remuria lay in agony, unable to hear or speak, consumed by unbearable pain. As Remuria''s energy levels began to rise, Elder Grecia raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Elder, what if she succeeds? Must we truly grant her the position of an elder? Should we not intervene?" Cermine asked anxiously. "Do not interfere. Despite my disdain for her, I will not stoop to such actions. If she succeeds, it is her fortune," Elder Grecia replied coldly, dismissing any notion of intervention. The door slammed open, and a bloody figure burst into the house: Lavin, Remuria''s husband. Elder Grecia was so focused on Remuria that she didn''t notice his entrance. At the sight of his wife and child in agony, Lavin''s fury erupted. Drawing his sword, he gathered mana into it and charged at Elder Grecia. "You dare to do this to my wife?!" Lavin roared furiously. Startled, Elder Grecia raised her hand in defense. Boom! A massive slash cleaved through half of the house, enveloping the area in dust and smoke. Lavin gritted his teeth in anger. He had come here upon hearing news of Remuria''s capture by an elder. The report claimed that the elder intended to eliminate Remuria, a potential candidate for the position of elder. Initially skeptical, Lavin found himself with no choice as a group of witches blocked his path, attempting to kill him. In that moment, he realized that the news might indeed be true; otherwise, why would the witches be after him? His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Remuria spitting a mouthful of blood onto the floor. Without hesitation, he launched an attack on the elder. Lavin didn''t hesitate as he launched himself again, releasing his energy, causing the ground to shake as his sword emitted a dazzling light. "You dare to draw your sword against the elder!" Cermine roared, leaping forward to clash with Lavin. "Wait!" Elder Grecia reached out her hand, but it was already too late. Cermine and Lavin collided fiercely in the air, creating ripples in the atmosphere. Several kilometers away, Elder Uiny sat in a chair with a cup of tea in her hand, unable to hide the pleasant smile on her face. "It''s happening... This event will create a crack among the witches," she muttered, glancing at her tea. Everything had been orchestrated by her. She was the one who had provided the information to Lavin. She had also ordered those witches to block Lavin''s path. Those witches were members of the Moon Coven, just like her. Bang! Lavin crashed to the ground, creating a massive crater. He was strong, but compared to Cermine, who could become an elder, he was nothing. "The punishment for drawing your weapon against an elder is death! No one in the Walpurgis Night could do that!" Cermine declared fiercely as she slashed her blade. Boom!! Simultaneously, a huge burst of flames erupted in the area. Elder Grecia turned her head and murmured, "She''s at the final stage..." Remuria stood up, surveying her surroundings. She spotted her husband on the ground, covered in wounds. "L-Lavin!" she shouted. Gritting his teeth, Lavin kicked Cermine away, then rose to his feet. "Run, Remuria! The path at the back is clear! I''ve dealt with all the witches hiding in the shadows!" "What?!" Remuria''s eyes widened in disbelief. The flames around her surged uncontrollably. She could barely contain the intense blaze she was releasing. The temperature continued to rise without relent. "You have to control it, Remuria," Elder Grecia urged. "Shut up!" Lavin roared, charging at Elder Grecia with all his might. Cermine crashed several dozen meters away, a faint smile playing on her lips as she watched the scene unfold with trepidation. "Lavin won''t last much longer. I poisoned him in our clash just now. Remuria will witness her husband''s demise," she muttered inwardly. Elder Grecia sidestepped, evading Lavin''s attack. "I understand your anger, but I haven''t harmed Remuria," she stated calmly. "You understand? Take a look at your surroundings!" Lavin roared, swinging his sword with all his might. Elder Grecia turned her head, her perception expanding. Finally, she noticed the corpses of several witches. She couldn''t comprehend how she hadn''t noticed them before. If Lavin had fought them, the energy fluctuations should have been significant. Swoosh! In that moment, Lavin''s sword reached her neck, and she was sent flying several dozen meters away. Boom! "Argh!" Remuria roared in pain as a staff with a draconic design manifested in front of her. Her soul weapon had finally awakened. Remuria was utterly confused. Her heart raced, her mind swirling with questions. Why was Lavin fighting Elder Grecia? How had this confrontation even come to be? As her confusion mounted, the flames around her danced wildly, engulfing the entire area. Boom! A deafening sound reverberated as several figures materialized in the air. It was the Crescent Moon Corps, led by Mavois. "Lavin! You''ve committed a grave sin by murdering witches and attempting to harm the elder!" Mavois''s voice echoed throughout the area. In an instant, they launched an attack on Lavin. Despite his efforts to resist, Lavin was helpless against these elite witches. Mavois landed beside Elder Grecia and asked, "Are you alright, Elder?" "Yeah, I''m unharmed. But I''m puzzled as to how he managed to kill those witches without my notice," Elder Grecia replied, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. She had a foreboding feeling about the situation. "Elder Grecia, forgive me, but..." Mavois paused, hesitant to continue. "But what?" Elder Grecia glanced at him, her curiosity piqued. "Your son is among them," Mavois replied in a low voice. "Huh?!" Elder Grecia''s eyes widened in disbelief, feeling as though she must have misheard. Meanwhile, in a distant location, Elder Uiny began to laugh maniacally. "Hahaha! Even if you attempt to remain calm, hearing of your son''s demise will inevitably stir your emotions!" Raising the cup of tea in her hand, Elder Uiny reveled in the chaos she had orchestrated. This event would create fractures among the witches, gradually dividing them and providing her with an opportunity to infiltrate their ranks with her own followers. It''s perfect. Chaos reigned, and the frenzy of madness and rage brought her pleasure. The demise of the Walpurgis Night was drawing closer. Elder Grecia, Remuria, and the others were mere pawns in this game. They would all lose their loved ones. They would turn against each other. Argh! Remuria cried out as she gazed at her child. Remus was just a baby, unable to withstand the pressure of the experts and the chaos of battle. She struggled to control the flames unleashed by her newly awakened soul weapon. "No...! This can''t be happening! Why?!" Remuria felt herself slipping into madness, and the same despair consumed Elder Grecia, who had just lost her son at Lavin''s hands. Little did they know, someone had orchestrated this tragic scenario. As Elder Grecia moved without restraint, Lavin experienced the true power of an elder. The force of her dream power spread out, crushing him without resistance. In that moment, amidst the chaos, it was evident that no one could match the might of an elder. Only another elder or a Supreme Elder could hope to counter Elder Grecia''s power. "Remuria, you can''t die yet! I''ll help you escape from Elder Grecia''s grasp! Remember everything that transpired here!" Elder Uiny declared, extending both of her hands. But Elder Grecia was consumed by grief at the loss of her son. Nothing else mattered to her. With cold determination, she personally ended Lavin''s life, the one responsible for her son''s death, right before Remuria''s eyes. Filled with despair, Remuria found herself unable to even hold her child, knowing her uncontrollable flames would only consume him, reducing Remus to ashes. In a strange twist, when Elder Grecia moved to attack Remuria, the landscape underwent a mysterious transformation. Pillars of boulders erupted from the ground, separating the two women. This tragic turn of events had blindsided everyone except for a select few involved in the scheme. The outcome had claimed the lives of Elder Grecia''s son, as well as Remuria''s husband and child. ... Red Mist fixed a steely gaze upon Elder Amulgu, Elder Grecia, and the group of elite witches before her. "I will never forget what transpired," she declared, her tone seething with anger. Despite her battered body, she was resolved to fight these witches to the bitter end. "Traitor... You escaped before, but you won''t do it again! Today, you will fall no matter what!" Elder Grecia''s voice was laced with determination. Suddenly, the ground trembled violently, and fissures formed in the fabric of space. Boom! "What''s happening?" Elder Amulgu muttered, gazing upward. "The dimensions in the Dream Palace are colliding, causing ruptures in space," Mavois explained. Elder Grecia and the others followed her gaze and beheld a massive tear in the sky, revealing the realm beyond the Dream Palace. The six holy stakes shone brightly amidst the dense clouds of dream power. At that moment, a voice reverberated throughout the region. "I, Souta Ieshi, hereby declare that today marks the downfall of Walpurgis Night!" Chapter 1010: Witch Hunt: [Douion] A figure appeared in the sky, radiating an immense amount of energy. His voice reverberated like thunder throughout the entire area. Souta broke through the layers of space in the Dream Palace with his might. He looked down at everyone from above, his energy palpable throughout the entire legion. "This monster is insane! He dared to declare that in the land of the witches!" Gawain, watching from afar, grinned widely. The two experts behind him didn''t say anything. They simply continued observing Souta. "He''s too strong... How is he a fourth-stage monster?!" Elder Reana gritted her teeth. Elder Lincy took a deep breath as she felt goosebumps all over her body. The two of them were already using their elemental and dream powers to the limit, yet this monster only grew stronger. Layla narrowed her eyes, observing Souta''s figure in the sky. The Blood Lightning Monster was on their list of potential beings that could reach god-rank. His growth rate was fast, and his combat power was unbelievably high. He was also the one who prevented the unsealing of No God Emperor in the Hall Plains. According to their calculations, he would probably have reached Monster Lord rank in the next few years. "Come! If you don''t want to, then it''s better for me!" Souta said as he bent his knees and launched himself at them. Boom!! "He''s coming!" Elder Lincy exclaimed. Elder Reana immediately moved, positioning herself at the front and raising her soul weapon. In an instant, Souta arrived in front of her and swung his sword with all his might. Elder Reana tried her best to block the attack, but she only lasted a second before being blown away. Her body smashed heavily into the ground, creating a massive crater. Elder Lincy wanted to attack, but it was already too late. A black hole smashed into her face as a massive red energy blade landed on her stomach. Bang! Bang! In just a few seconds, Souta blew the two elders away as if they were mere insects. He stood in mid-air, looking at his hands in wonder. "So this is the might of [Douion]. It''s better than I expected," he muttered to himself. He had used this power after realizing that he wouldn''t be able to defeat Layla and the two elders with just his released form. The [Douion] was unexpectedly effective in combat compared to what he had imagined. This was his first time using this kind of power in combat, so he wasn''t used to it. He also wasn''t trained in its use, so if he got sloppy with this power, he could understand why. "Shit!" Layla gritted her teeth as she pressed both of her hands together. A huge magic circle appeared beneath her feet. [Zero Destruction Zone]! Several pillars of rock rose from the ground. Each pillar was carved with strange symbols, releasing purple smoke into the area. A purple tattoo appeared on Layla''s forehead as her energy rose sharply. In the next second, several magic circles appeared on the pillars. Elder Reana and Elder Lincy rose to their feet. They felt the buff they were receiving from Layla, which also healed some of the injuries they had sustained from Souta. "This monster is as strong as the Supreme Elders," Elder Reana said. Elder Lincy couldn''t help but nod in agreement. The power that Souta was displaying rivaled that of the two Supreme Elders of the Walpurgis Night-a being clearly above the other elders. "Hmm...?" Souta turned his head, noticing several magic circles forming in the surroundings. [Zero Destruction Zone]. A powerful tier 3 spell that could lay out dozens of magic circles in the field and give them a twenty percent enhancement. The user only needed a light thought to activate different types of spells. Since it was a field-type spell, it also healed or slowed down any target within the field. "That''s good!" Souta said as he raised his hand and made a grabbing motion. The [Orb of Arcane Seal] spun wildly beside him, emitting a dim bluish light. In an instant, he manifested his own [Zero Destruction Zone] using the universal-grade artifact. It collided with the one Layla had cast, causing energy sparks to fly everywhere. The difference was in the magic circles laid out in the field. He poured his energy into all the magic circles, causing them to light up. All the magic circles in the field of [Zero Destruction Zone] were separate from what he was using. "He copied the spell?!" Layla exclaimed. Ohm!! In the next moment, black holes appeared in the area as darkness spread out, trying to swallow her field. The fierce collision of their spells rocked the whole dimension, widening the rifts that Souta had created earlier. Boom!! On the side, Alice was fighting the golems along with Kayla''s squad. Although the battle between Souta, the two elders, and Layla had destroyed many golems, there were still more left. Alice thrust her spear, piercing through the bodies of the golems. She then turned her head toward the battle, seeing the ripples in the air that shook the entire dimension. "This place is about to collapse soon," she muttered. She observed her surroundings, trying to find a way out of this situation. There were too many golems, and she couldn''t fight all of them. Alice looked at Eilish and Kayla''s squad before saying, "Prepare yourselves. Once this place collapses, we''re going to shake off all these golems." It was the only plan she could think of. But first, they needed to hold their ground against the onslau golems. Boom!! Boom!! Gawain watched the battle for a few seconds before saying, "Arven, Lensa, we''re going." Arven and Lensa nodded at his words without question. "This monster could potentially destroy us. No matter what happens, even if this monster couldn''t do it, that elemental being will be able to once he completes the ritual. In the end, we''ll face death," Gawain said. Swoosh!! Arven and Lensa charged at Souta without a word. They brandished their weapons swiftly and attacked him. Souta looked at them. "They''ve decided to join the battle?! But that won''t change anything!" The four spider limbs on his back moved and fired [Bestrou], forcing Arven and Lensa to defend. At the same time, the two elders arrived beside him. Souta glanced at them before slashing his sword. Elder Reana stepped forward, blocking his attack, while Elder Lincy stabbed him in the stomach from the side. Souta ignored the damage as he kicked her. Then, he stretched out his hand. Elder Reana wanted to step back, but a powerful gravity pushed her body towards his hand. In the next moment, their figures descended like meteorites, with Arven and Lensa chasing him. They clashed on the ground, creating shockwaves after shockwaves. Souta moved as fast as he could, keeping up with Arven, Lensa, the two elders, and Layla. The [Douion] boosted his strength more than he expected. The experts he was fighting right now weren''t just simple Sixth Shackle experts. "He''s too strong... What kind of energy is he using?! It''s kind of similar to elemental power and dream power, but also different," Layla gritted her teeth, activating spells to aid the experts fighting Souta head-on. Bang! Bang!! Arven and Lensa were blown away. Souta moved his hand as thousands of webs spread out in the area. His [Douion] flowed through them, destroying everything in its path. Gawain took a deep breath as he raised his hand and slashed his palm with his sword. He glanced at the battle and said, "Death, take me away from life. I shall bring doom to those who couldn''t bring death to me." The next second, his body emitted powerful energy. He charged at the battle like a shooting star, tearing through the tough crimson webs. Swoosh!! Souta widened his eyes, but he managed to raise his sword in front of him, blocking Gawain''s blade. "I knew you wouldn''t simply watch," he grinned, staring into his opponent''s eyes. "You''re a madman! You''ll destroy the Walpurgis Night, killing hundreds of thousands of people just to satisfy that girl''s wish!" Gawain said as he put more force into his blade. Souta''s figure was blown away and crashed on the ground several kilometers away. Boom!! He immediately emerged from the smoke, pointing his sword at Gawain. "Not my problem. If you have an issue with my decision, then stop me." Gawain grinned widely and said, "That''s good. I hope you can destroy me!" Swoosh!! The two collided in the air fiercely, shaking the two fields of [Zero Destruction Zone]. Various spells flew every second as Souta and Gawain exchanged high-speed blows. Souta moved from side to side as the two elders, Arven, and Lensa joined the battle once again. He couldn''t deliver a lethal blow against any of them since they were working with such high precision. Even with his [Douion] activated, he couldn''t gain a significant advantage. They were truly experts, especially this Gawain guy. His sword techniques were honed to the limit. Speaking solely about swordsmanship, Souta would admit that Gawain was better than him. Their battle continued before a loud sound erupted. Cracks spread all over the place as the entire dimension collapsed. Boom!! Fragments spread out above the Dream Palace as Souta flew out of a huge rift. He could see the full view of the palace, the region, the boundaries, and the clouds of dream power above. Souta looked down as his webs pierced through the dimensional fragments. He pulled Alice and the others as he threw them behind him. At the same time, thousands of golems poured out of the rifts like flies. "I''m still not used to [Douion]..." Souta muttered. Chapter 1011: Witch Hunt: Fight Gawain, Arven, Lensa, Elder Reana, Elder Lincy, and Layla emerged from the fragments. They stood in the air, looking at Souta. "Blood Lightning Monster?! Do you want all the people here to die?! Is that what you want?! Don''t forget that you''re a hero candidate!" Layla shouted. Souta raised his eyebrows and said, "Huh? I want to save them, but unfortunately for them, I''ll have to choose Eilish''s wish. Also, my mission here is to see the stance of the witches, and I''ve already determined that it''s fine if the Walpurgis Night falls." "Souta..." Eilish muttered, looking at his back. Souta turned around, glancing at her before he said, "It''s fine. I''ll bring your brother back. Just trust me." He then looked at Alice and said, "Alice, get them out of here. Also, I might need your help soon, so prepare yourself." "I understand," Alice nodded. Souta focused his attention back on his opponents. There were six of them, and he knew it wouldn''t be easy, especially with that Gawain guy. Gawain stepped forward and said, "You have the potential to destroy us. I will tell you that you can kill me by destroying the Dream Palace." "How kind of you. I''ll keep that in mind," Souta smirked. He raised his hand and made a gesture. "Come at me." Layla gritted her teeth as she cast [Zero Destruction Zone] once again. Souta responded by casting [Zero Destruction Zone] too. Bang!! The two fields collided, causing ripples of shockwaves in the air. Souta raised his hand, and his bracelet emitted a dim light. [Yin Yang Unification]! In the next second, all of his attacks reached a higher level of power. Arven, Lensa, Elder Reana, and Elder Lincy rushed forward, exchanging high-speed blows. In just a second, thousands of attacks were launched. Boom!! Boom!! A series of explosions ensued as they continued their fierce battle. Souta moved as fast as he could, trying to eliminate one of them, but they were tough and knew what to do. They were preventing him from eliminating any of them, understanding that it would become much more difficult if Souta managed to defeat one. Layla raised her hands, casting buff spells on her allies and debuff spells on her opponent. Arven and Elder Reana had tough defenses, so they charged at the front while Lensa and Elder Lincy focused on damaging Souta. However, the wounds they inflicted on Souta healed instantly, leaving only a few bruises to activate the effect of [Draw Blood]. Souta soared into the sky, and a black hole with a diameter of three kilometers materialized beneath him. He kicked the black hole towards his opponents. "Eat this!" Swoosh!! The black hole advanced, destroying everything in its path. Gawain took a deep breath as he put his sword back in its sheath. He then looked at the black hole seriously before drawing his sword once again. [Sword Drawing Technique: Spatial World Cut]! The gigantic black hole was cut in two by a powerful slash from Gawain. "It''s better if you don''t underestimate me, monster. Even though I don''t have my original strength, I''m still strong," Gawain said as he raised his sword, radiating overwhelming energy. He had been one of the twelve legendary knights back then. He accompanied the King of Knights in his conquests, defeating countless formidable enemies. He had learned various forms of sword styles and integrated them with his own. Layla glanced at Gawain, recalling the data about the King of Knights. They had been the most powerful allies of the Walpurgis Knights back then. The King of Knights was supposed to help Morgan Le Fay in her fights against the Commandments, but one of his knights betrayed him. The Walpurgis Knights weren''t the only ones who fell at that time. The Knights of the Round suffered the same fate. If Gawain still had his strength, then only god-level beings would be able to stop him. "Then, see for yourself," Souta said as he tightened his grip on his sword. Ohm! Blood slowly seeped out of his pores, floating in the air and turning into red sparks. Dark clouds gathered below the clouds of dream power, and thunderclaps reverberated throughout the area. "There it is... the power that dubbed him the Blood Lightning Monster," Layla muttered as her expression turned dark. She knew that from this moment, the difficulty was about to escalate significantly. The pressure in the air grew stronger and stronger every second. [Archetype: Great Blood of the End] Blood-colored lightning flashed within Souta''s sword. His [Douion] flowed through the lightning, making it much stronger than before. Bang!! Gawain laughed and said, "Isn''t it laughable? A monster using Archetype. You''ve used your characteristics as the base of your Archetype. Truly one of a kind." "Then, let me respond by using my own technique!" He grinned as he pointed his sword at Souta. A powerful gust of wind swept out as his hair fluttered. His aura rose sharply, and space seemed to twist around the blade of his sword. [Archetype: Spatial Gale Sword Style]! In another region of Walpurgis Night, Elder Uiny stared at the young man in front of her. She gritted her teeth and raised her soul weapon. Ohm! She gathered her remaining energy into her weapon. Elemental power and dream power swirled around it, causing the whole area to vibrate. This was going to be her last attack. She had to deliver a lethal blow before everything ended. The Moon Coven had prepared for this day for a long time. There was no way she could fail. That information had to disappear, or else it would bring catastrophe to the world. She was an ordinary witch back then when she learned about the information that Morgan Le Fay was researching: the door and the god known as the Heaven''s Calamity. The curse from the forgotten era that was still active to this day. "The whole world will suffer!" Elder Uiny roared as she charged forward with insane speed. Bryan gritted his teeth as he tightly clenched his fist. His four elements swirled around his fist, distorting the space around it. His mana flared up, some strands of his hair turned red, and his eyes glowed with purple light. "Die!!" Elder Uiny swung her weapon with all of her might. Bryan shifted his body, but her attack managed to disintegrate his cheek. The ground behind him was obliterated by the attack. He stepped forward and threw his fist heavily at her stomach. [Quad Element Destruction Fist]! Elder Uiny looked at the punch. She knew she couldn''t avoid it; it was already too late. "It can''t be..." Her body bent as she was sent flying several dozen kilometers. The four elements spun at high speed, tearing her flesh and skin every second. Boom!! A powerful explosion resounded as a mushroom cloud, containing four elements, rose into the sky. The shockwave from the explosion swept out, destroying all the buildings within a diameter of ten kilometers. The energy at the center of the explosion was so violent that it disintegrated every object in its range. Amanda and the princess held onto the ground as they looked at the devastating explosion. "So strong..." Princess Iris muttered as she narrowed her eyes. "This should be the end," Amanda said. To fight one elder of the Walpurgis Night, it took several strong Sixth Shackle experts, and there were six elders. They couldn''t imagine how strong the Supreme Elders were if an elder was already this powerful. Swoosh!! The smoke disappeared, revealing the devastated area. Violent sparks were flying everywhere, and a lone figure stood at the center of the impact. Ugh! Elder Uiny coughed up a huge amount of blood. Her eyes moved, staring at them. "She managed to take that!" Edeya was shocked. The toughness of an elder was really on another level. She was still standing even after taking that attack head-on. "No, look carefully," Zhang Ren said. Poisonous Vine, who was observing from the other side, laughed and said, "Ehe, even if she managed to take that, she doesn''t have enough strength to fight. My poison is slowly paralyzing her body. If it were other people, they wouldn''t be alive anymore." Elder Uiny ignored them as she forced herself to take a step forward. Then, she fell to her knees and coughed up a mouthful of blood once again. Her whole body was growing numb, and her eyes were becoming blurry. "Y-You people will regret it... The W-Walpurgis Night... should fall to prevent... the spread... Le Fay shouldn''t have investigated it... she only brought the curse here," she said with great difficulty. She then smiled and added, "Ehe, I might be cursed too... since I''ve read it... There''s no turning back." Elder Uiny collapsed onto the ground after saying those words. Bryan just stared at her before someone called him from behind. "Brother Bryan!" It was the little girl. He turned his head and saw his friend. He smiled and said, "I''m fine, Tehani. I''m just a little tired." The little girl pounced on him, wrapping her hands around his waist. Bryan gently patted her back before turning his head to the approaching Edeya and Zhang Ren. The little girl named Tehani hid behind him, looking at the two cautiously. Edeya glanced at the little girl before she looked at Elder Uiny and said, "She''s still alive. She just lost consciousness. What do you plan to do?" "Me? I don''t know..." Bryan forced a smile on his face as he scratched his cheek awkwardly. Chapter 1013: Witch Hunt: True Power of an Emperor Gawain widened his eyes as he felt goosebumps across his body. He slashed his sword once again. "Third Stance: True Slash!" The forbidden spell continued expanding, destroying every object in its path. He stared at it with narrowed eyes, wondering if they had defeated the monster. Gawain didn''t know if he was imagining things, but he felt something in that moment. Layla, Elder Reana, and Elder Lincy observed the destruction. They couldn''t discern what was happening at the impact of the spell. The energy levels were too violent at this moment for them to sense it. Arven and Lensa were also observing from the side, near the spell. The power that had destroyed the objects slowly receded, leaving a chaotic area full of violent energy sparks. Spatial fragments floated everywhere. "He''s coming..." Gawain suddenly said. Layla and the two elders widened their eyes. They saw a pool of blood spreading from the bottom of the huge crater created by the forbidden spell. The blood enveloped the ground, and a figure landed on top of it. Souta was covered in wounds, and his blood continued to drip non-stop. He had only healed the wounds that could hinder his movements, leaving the others since they were needed for [Draw Blood]. "Eh, that''s a strong attack," he said with a grin on his face, looking at Layla and the others. If he didn''t have the regeneration ability of the parasite, it would be hard to continue fighting after taking that much damage from the forbidden spell. "He''s tough... It''s difficult to prepare another forbidden spell, and I don''t think I have enough mana for it," Layla said in a low voice. Elder Reana and Elder Lincy agreed with her assessment. Preparing another forbidden spell would be challenging in their current condition, especially considering Souta''s likely interference. The air vibrated as dark clouds in the sky grew thicker. Lightning flashed every second, increasing the pressure on everyone in the area. Ohm!! Five statues rose from the sea of blood, each emanating an ominous vibe. "Those statues look familiar," Alice muttered. Gawain looked at Souta and finally understood something. He laughed, "Hahaha, so that''s how it is! The monster who caused a commotion two months ago was you! You''re an emperor!" He raised his sword and added, "I didn''t think that I would meet a fourth-stage emperor here on Walpurgis Night. I wonder what''s currently happening in reality. It should be quite interesting since a monster like you has appeared." Releasing his energy, Gawain looked down at Souta. Since the [Third Stance] didn''t have enough power, he would use a more powerful stance to show how a master used an Archetype. "Show me how powerful an emperor is," Gawain said with a huge grin. His energy exploded as he charged at Souta without hesitation. [Second Stance: Vanishing Gale Step]! Swoosh!! Souta stood at the center of the five statues. He raised his finger, and ripples appeared on the sea of blood. The five statues fused together, forming a huge skull with its mouth wide open. The skull, standing ten meters tall with its jaw submerged in the sea of blood, had horns on its sides and purple flames glowing in its eye sockets. Souta stood within the mouth of the skull, gazing ahead at Gawain. In the next moment, tens of thousands of webs burst from the sea of blood as Gawain appeared hundreds of meters away. Swoosh!! Gawain moved swiftly, slicing through the webs. He noticed a change the webs had become tougher. It was now harder to cut through them compared to before. "Eh, I''m looking forward to seeing what sort of power you possess." He laughed before thrusting his sword forward with tremendous force. [Fourth Stance: Gale Piercing Blow]! A powerful swirling wind burst from his blade, destroying the webs in its way. However, before it could reach Souta, a wall of blood rose, altering the attack''s direction. Gawain''s attack split into two and exploded at a distance, creating a mushroom cloud that distorted the space. The grin on his face widened as Gawain observed what happened to his attack. Suddenly, Souta turned his head to the side and waved his hand, sending hundreds of webs. "You think I wouldn''t notice!" Arven and Lensa were employing a high level of stealth, but he could sense them due to having blood in their bodies. The two immediately launched an attack and broke through their stealth. Swoosh!! A lot of witches emerged from the Dream Palace. They were unsettled by the battle, which was causing tremors in all the dimensions contained within the palace. They could only watch from a distance without intervening. It wasn''t that they chose not to act, but rather that they couldn''t. The battle was in a different league compared to them. Only experts close to the level of the elders could participate in such a large-scale conflict. Shockwaves swept out one after another. "That''s it!" Gawain laughed as space bent under his sword. [Sixth Stance: Spatial Reinforcement]! The space in the area distorted with every movement of Gawain, seeming to cover his body in armor and enveloping his blade with an ominous vibe. "Sir Gawain, we can''t hold out much longer! We''ve been out of the Dream Palace for a while!" Arven shouted as he charged at Souta. Normally, experimental subjects couldn''t leave the Dream Palace. Arven, Lensa, and Gawain could exit due to their power, but they couldn''t sustain it for long. The pulling force of the Dream Palace grew stronger by the minute. "Don''t worry about it. We can''t die," Gawain said with a laugh. He wasn''t wrong; their bodies would only be destroyed, respawning somewhere within the Dream Palace. Arven and Lensa rushed from both sides of Souta, while Gawain charged straight ahead. Souta pressed both hands together and grinned widely. [Armor Integration]! The huge skull suddenly closed its mouth, swallowing Souta. The sea of blood burst towards the sky, creating a rain of blood across the area. Webs swept out in every direction, slicing through every object in their path. "Protect yourselves!" Layla shouted loudly as she created a barrier. Boom!! Some of the people watching from afar were sliced into tiny pieces of meat. Those who couldn''t defend themselves in time died horrific deaths. Elder Lincy and Elder Reana wore grim expressions. Almost everyone here were citizens of Walpurgis Night. They wanted to protect everyone, but their strength was insufficient to shield them all. Elder Reana stretched out her palm, and a drop of blood fell onto it. She furrowed her brows and said, "This is bad. The destructive power within this drop of blood is immense... It can kill a Fifth Shackle directly..." Elder Lincy couldn''t help but turn her head, gazing at the rain of blood. Does this mean... Ohm!! Elder Lincy, Elder Reana, and Layla felt goosebumps across their bodies. Even the experts who managed to defend themselves felt an unsettling sensation. It was as if they were facing an apex predator. Gawain retreated with an excited look on his face. "So this is the power of an emperor... I never expected to face a future powerhouse before I depart this world." Arven and Lensa stood beside him, their expressions grim. Their condition was worse than Gawain''s; Arven had lost his entire arm up to his shoulder and half of his chest, while Lensa had lost his left leg and hand. "Sir Gawain, I can''t resist the pulling force of the Dream Palace any longer. I''ll be forcefully pulled back in one minute," Lensa said. "Before we''re pulled in, we''ll fight until we''re destroyed. Perhaps this monster can even destroy the Dream Palace," Arven added. Gawain looked at the two and said, "There''s no need to worry. Look ahead. I don''t think there''s anyone who could stop this monster in the entire Walpurgis Night. The potential of an emperor is not a joke." Arven and Lensa glanced ahead and widened their eyes. Ohm!! A powerful pressure descended over the entire region. Souta walked forward, his body covered in crimson-colored armor adorned with black markings. The four spider legs on his back glowed red, and a pair of horns protruded from the sides of his head, moving in a circular motion like a crown. He raised his finger and stepped on his web. [Emperor Armor] It was a fusion of his armor brought forth by his trait skill [Armor Integration], gained when he became an emperor. A monster standing at the pinnacle. A lord among monsters. Souta ignored them, fixating his gaze on Eilan''s location. Then, he glanced up at the six holy stakes shining brightly above. Anyone who looked at him could feel the immense pressure. Merely by observing his figure, they felt as though a colossal boulder rested on their shoulders. Gawain muttered, "So this is the true power of an emperor..." Being closest to Souta, he comprehended that an emperor was an entirely different existence compared to everyone else. Chapter 1014: Witch Hunt: Six Holy Stakes [Emperor Armor] Though he had never used it before, he knew from the knowledge he gained that its use came with a steep cost. However, after obtaining [Douion], he realized this power could sustain the usage of [Emperor Armor]. The ability to mend damaged inner consciousness was extraordinary. This form continued to drain his blood rapidly. If his regeneration couldn''t keep up, he would lose all his blood in seconds. The [Nebula Heart] and monster orb continued pumping out a vast amount of best feram, enhancing every cell in his body. Souta turned his eyes toward them. "Let''s go! This is our final battle!" Gawain shouted, a broad grin on his face. Arven and Lensa didn''t hesitate as they charged toward Souta at high speed. Swoosh!! Souta waved his hand, and hundreds of thousands of blood spears emerged from the sea of blood. "He''s gotten stronger... We need to reassess his strength," Layla muttered as she watched from a distance. The witches observed the dense burst of blood spears. The number of spears was astronomical, prompting them to retreat several dozen kilometers away. The sheer power made them feel suffocated. Whooosh! Arven and Lensa attempted to dodge the blood spears while blocking those they couldn''t evade. In the next second, Souta was already beside them. They widened their eyes, bracing themselves despite their heavy injuries. However, it was in vain. Taking advantage of their weakened state, Souta swiftly moved his sword. "Die!" With a fluid motion, Souta passed through them. Space rifted and blood spurted from Arven and Lensa''s bodies. Souta slightly turned his head. "They aren''t dead?" "What a monster," Gawain commented, observing Souta. He folded space, creating a new layer of space around Arven and Lensa to protect them from Souta''s reach. However, Souta sliced through the space. Souta kicked through the air, charging at Arven and Lensa. His sword emitted blood-colored lightning. Whoosh! In an instant, Arven and Lensa were cleaved in two. Arven spat a mouthful of blood, his vision blurring as he struggled to feel his body. He glanced at Souta and managed, "Destroy the Dream Palace, or we''ll just keep coming back..." With those words, his body fragmented and slowly disappeared into thin air. The same fate befell Lensa. Souta frowned as he observed them. He noticed something peculiar-when Arven and Lensa vanished, their souls were absent. This realization suggested why they could repeatedly return: their souls were likely bound somewhere within the Dream Palace. This also explained why their strength remained consistent; without destroying their souls, their physical forms would endlessly regenerate. Their current bodies were akin to puppets, perhaps explaining the failures with the human- like golems. "They''ll be honored, you know. Arven and Lensa are great knights," Gawain remarked solemnly. Souta turned towards Gawain, his energy intensifying as he stepped forward. "It''s my turn now!" Gawain raised his sword, grinning widely. [Eight Stance: Crawling Gale Hole]! A massive swirling wind formed above, behaving like a black hole, sucking in everything in its path. Descending rapidly, it obliterated the blood spears in its wake. Swoosh!! Souta leaped into the air, tightening his grip on his sword. [First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]! The two attacks collided, sending shockwaves through the air. The entire area trembled violently as energy levels surged to new heights. Boom!! The lightning and wind surged out, devastating a vast swath of the land. Despite the destruction wrought, the colossal Dream Palace remained standing. It would take more than that to breach its dimensional boundaries. Emerging from the explosion, the figures clashed fiercely in the air, generating successive shockwaves. Bang! Bang! Bang! Gawain chuckled as he wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. "Heh, I see your strategy now." It had been a while since he''d fought like this, and it thrilled him to his core. [Ninth Stance: Furious Heaven''s Cut]! Souta grimaced in pain as the attack sliced through his body upon execution. Similar to before, but stronger and more numerous, the cuts added to his agony. Gazing down at Gawain, Souta charged forward, channeling immense energy into his sword. With a swift motion, Souta drew back his sword and aimed it directly at Gawain. In the next moment, he hurled the blade with all his strength. The sword streaked through the air, emanating a crimson light as it tore through the fabric of space. Bang! The resounding impact reverberated through the surroundings, causing visible cracks to appear in the air. Gawain''s eyes widened in disbelief as he witnessed Souta''s sword pierce through his formidable [Ninth Stance]. A peculiar blend of dream power and elemental energy surged through the wound, creating a new force that shattered Gawain''s defenses. "This... This is a fusion of energies, something beyond my expectations. Hahaha! Fascinating!" Gawain exclaimed, his voice tinged with both astonishment and admiration. The sword plunged deep into Gawain''s abdomen, triggering a violent explosion of blood- colored lightning fueled by Souta''s [Douion]. The intense energy tore through Gawain''s body, causing excruciating pain that he stoically endured, accustomed to suffering as an experimental subject. "Now! Finish it! Claim your victory!" Gawain laughed heartily, spreading his arms wide in acceptance of whatever fate awaited him. Cracks formed on his body, and his blood began to transform into pulsating blood lightning. Souta''s arms stretched out, releasing tendrils of lightning that spread like a vast spider''s web toward the heavens above. His expression tensed with determination as he exerted his full strength to wrench the six holy stakes from their positions. The entire Walpurgis Night trembled under the strain. The power contained within the holy stakes, relics left behind by the Great Matriarch Le Fay Morgan, pulsed and surged with energy that seemed to defy comprehension. Across the land, every living being sensed the profound shifts occurring. The dense dream power in the atmosphere swirled chaotically, hinting at an imminent collapse of this realm. Souta''s actions were unraveling the very fabric of Walpurgis Night itself, an event that would leave an indelible mark on its history. Layla, Elder Lincy, Elder Reana, and the other witches could only watch helplessly as Souta seized the six holy stakes, a feat that indicated he had surpassed the initial conditions of the game. His recent outburst had caused casualties among the witches, earning him enough points to qualify for this act, but wielding the holy stakes would not be straightforward due to their immense power. "He''s taken the holy stakes... Only those who meet the game''s first condition can do that," Layla murmured, her voice tinged with resignation. The stakes, originally intended to confront the black sun housing Purity''s power, were now in the hands of a being far beyond their control. "Do it..." Gawain''s voice was resigned yet almost reverent as he watched Souta''s actions unfold. The fate of Walpurgis Night now hinged on Souta''s intentions with the holy stakes, a turn of events that seemed to defy the very purpose for which they were crafted. Souta gritted his teeth, struggling to harness the power of the holy stakes. With determination etched on his face, he bent his knees and charged towards Gawain, who was nearing the end of his strength. As he moved, Souta''s form shimmered with a blend of white and red light, intertwining in a complex dance of energy. He collided with Gawain with a resounding impact. Bang!! "This has been a remarkable experience... I''m grateful to have lived it," Gawain uttered with a serene smile, his body beginning to dissipate into thin air, leaving only the vajra sword behind. Gawain''s mortal form succumbed entirely to the overwhelming power of the holy stakes, unable to withstand its force. Souta grasped the sword and surged forward with relentless momentum. Concentrating the holy stakes before him, he conjured a vortex of potent energy. His destination: the Dream Palace, where Eilan awaited. Boom! Eilan, engrossed in his ritual, snapped his head up in shock. "You can''t..." Before he could finish, Souta drove the sword into his stomach. Eilan convulsed in agony as blood lightning surged through him. The [Orb of Arcane Seal] encircled Souta as the [Zero Destruction Zone] materialized. "Y-You!!!" Eilan felt himself overwhelmed by immense power, his body slowly succumbing to its force. The shadows surrounding the Walpurgis Night began to writhe and burst through the ground. Eilan was already halfway merged with its darkness. "ALICE!!!" Souta shouted, applying more pressure against Eilan. "ON IT!!" Alice''s voice echoed as she appeared above them. Webs encased her limbs, forming a protective barrier against the intense atmospheric pressure. "Sever it!" Souta commanded. Alice fixed her gaze on Eilan, opening her palm as a golden spear materialized. "[Rhongomiant]!" Chapter 1015: Witch Hunt: Destruction A brilliant golden light descended upon Eilan''s body. "§¡§¯§¯§¯!!" Eilan screamed in agony as the radiant energy penetrated every pore. A spectral figure seemed to wail above him. Alice gritted her teeth, intensifying her assault. Bang!! "NO!!!!" Eilan''s voice echoed as if multiple voices cried out in unison. His scream reverberated across the entire land. Every inhabitant of the Walpurgis Night heard his anguish. "An opening," Souta thought inwardly as he swiftly swung the six holy stakes. The universal-grade [Rhongomiant] had the power to completely obliterate experimental subjects. Alice utilized this power to sever the connection between Eilan and the elemental being, creating an opportunity for Souta to extract the entity using the holy stakes. Swoosh!! A dark phantom struggled visibly, resisting the holy stakes'' power. It was a form composed entirely of darkness, devoid of any physical body. "N-No! You can''t! I''m already part of the Walpurgis Night!" the elemental being screamed, panic evident as it stared at the six holy stakes. "It doesn''t matter," Souta said coldly before driving the six holy stakes into the dark phantom. Boom!! An immense explosion of energy rocked the Walpurgis Night, sending tremors through all who witnessed it. It became evident that the realm of witches, the Walpurgis Night, was on the verge of collapse. Cracks fissured across the Dream Palace as its dimensional spaces quaked. Bang!! Bang!! Souta ripped through the dimensional barriers of the Dream Palace, thrusting the holy stakes toward the elemental being. Half of its form had already been extracted from Eilan. Just a little more, and he would succeed. Ding! [Warning!] [You are about to fail the Quest!] Souta gritted his teeth and roared, disregarding the system notification. The Quest demanded he complete the game by destroying the power of Purity inside the black sun to save the Walpurgis Night, but he was using the power of the six holy stakes for another purpose. "This is my will... You cannot force me to do something I don''t want to do! This is the only way to save Eilish''s brother! The Walpurgis Night is doomed!" Boom!! Souta tore through the Dream Palace, driving the six holy stakes deep into the elemental being. His energy surged as blood-colored lightning flashed intensely in the sky. "NOOO!!!" The elemental being screamed wildly as it was hurled into the depths of the Dream Palace, triggering a massive explosion that shook the entire structure. The clouds of Dream Power in the sky trembled, and the boundaries and barriers reacted similarly. His voice reverberated as Souta finally separated Eilan from the elemental being. Simultaneously, the six holy stakes that had pierced the entity began to vibrate. Ohm!! A dense wave of energy permeated the land, obliterating all shadows and the elemental being. Everything felt its impact. It was as if the entire land had suddenly perished. Swoosh!! Souta hovered in the sky, surrounded by his floating equipment, watching the explosion below. Eilish stared wide-eyed at the scene. She wanted to stop Souta from destroying the land, yet she also yearned for him to save her brother. "Souta..." Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. Souta was a Hero-candidate. Eilish could already imagine what people would say when they discovered that he had allowed hundreds of thousands to perish. Several hundred thousand survivors still scattered across the Walpurgis Night. Millions had already died due to the onslaught of humanoid golems in every region. And now... Gigantic cracks split open across the Walpurgis Night. The Dream Palace began to crumble, and through the rifts, Red Mist gazed upon Souta''s silhouette. "So it''s you..." She muttered to herself. "The one who will bring the destruction of the Walpurgis Night..." She always said that the Walpurgis Night was destined to fall, but now that Fate had been shattered, there was a chance to defy that future. There was a reason why she possessed this knowledge. Back then, Red Mist had just escaped from the Walpurgis Night. She found herself in an unfamiliar location within the Dream Realm. Covered in blood and dirt, she collapsed to her knees and wept. The events had been overwhelming. In an instant, her beloved family had been taken from her. She cried for days on end until her tears gave way to seething anger. Madness consumed her heart. She thirsted for revenge but felt utterly powerless. She wandered aimlessly through the Dream Realm, desperate to find a way back to reality. Her current state prevented her from returning to the Walpurgis Night, and she had even forgotten where it was located after passing through its concealing barrier. It was during this time that she encountered someone. All she could discern was that it was a woman, as her face and body were obscured by a red robe and white veil. The mysterious figure gazed into her eyes and remarked, "There''s no life in your eyes. It seems you''ve recently endured something tragic." "What do you know about it?!" Remuria roared, launching herself at the stranger. With a flick of her finger, the unknown woman sent Remuria flying several meters away. Gritting her teeth in fury, flames erupted from Remuria''s body. Her soul weapon materialized in her hand, radiating intense heat that set ablaze the grass and trees around them. "A soul weapon? You''re a witch..." the unknown person exclaimed. Remuria bristled, ready to attack again, but found herself immediately suppressed. She couldn''t resist at all; the person before her was overwhelmingly powerful. "So it''s happening now, huh? The destined fall of the Walpurgis Night," the unknown person muttered. "Destined fall...? W-What do you mean?" Remuria asked, bewildered. "You see... Everything that unfolds in this world is already written in fate. That includes your escape from the Walpurgis Night," the unknown person explained. "W-What? So, my family died because it''s written in fate? I''ve suffered like this because of fate, and there''s nothing I can do about it?" Remuria trembled with the weight of this realization. "Yes, the only way to escape from fate is to become a god. They are masters of their own destiny," the unknown person answered. She continued, "However, even achieving godhood is tied to fate; if destined to be stuck in the Shackled Realm, one cannot ascend. Mortals are bound by these rules, making escape nearly impossible. Only those who break free become gods." "Hahahaha, so that''s how it is..." Remuria laughed maniacally, tears welling in her eyes. "At least I know that the Walpurgis Night is destined to fall." "That should be the case, but an unimaginable event will occur in the future... A calamity will begin," the unknown person said cryptically. Remuria snapped back to reality. "D-Do you mean the Walpurgis Night has a chance to avoid its destined demise?" "That''s right. The world will descend into chaos. I foresee someone destroying the Walpurgis Night, but now I can''t see if it will still happen. Even peering into it gives me a headache. Once fate disappears, I can hardly predict what comes next." The unknown figure turned away. "I must leave now to pay respects to a Dream Lord. I doubt we will meet again, but who knows if fate will change." "Who are you?" Remuria asked. "Fate still binds you, destined to join Sins, so I cannot disclose who I am," the unknown person said before fading away into the air. That was how Red Mist learned of the Walpurgis Night''s inevitable demise. She gazed up at the figure in the sky. The entire land trembled, not just the Dream Palace. The Walpurgis Night had suffered a devastating blow from the six holy stakes. Since the elemental being was half fused with the land, its demise reverberated through every part of it. She had never anticipated that Souta would be the one to bring about the downfall of the Walpurgis Night. "Hahaha, it''s happening! Witches!" Red Mist laughed maniacally, memories of her husband and son flooding her mind. Bang!! Space began to collapse, and vortexes of energy appeared all around. "We need to leave now," Elder Amulgu glanced at Red Mist one last time before retreating with the other witches. She knew the Dream Palace wouldn''t hold much longer. The living experimental subjects in the Dream Palace couldn''t help but shed tears at the sight of these events. They were about to find release in death. Their long-awaited rest was finally at hand. Death was a welcomed relief for them; they had waited for this moment for a very, very long time. Gawain, newly spawned, laughed. "I''m glad to witness this conflict. My king, my brother, I will join you in death soon." He had observed the Walpurgis Night and realized that the Moon Coven had completely infiltrated them. The current Matriarch must have recognized this and chose not to intervene, perhaps hoping the witches would determine their own future. Chapter 1016: Witch Hunt: Consequence Ryan was still in the Dream Palace when he felt the intense aftershocks. The entire space seemed to tremble nonstop, and cracks appeared in the air. He looked up and muttered, "This place is done... I need to get out of here." Ryan used a device on his wrist to record the data he had discovered in his investigation. The data was important. He hadn''t discovered the "Second Rebel," but he had learned something else. It was called the "War of Heaven." It referred to a war in ancient times, an era that wasn''t recorded. According to the data, several powerful civilizations from different worlds fought for dominance. It was during this time that the Divine Planet Imperium was formed, connecting all realities and creating the so-called World of Gods. It was a time when gods lost their concept of creation. They lost their authority to create worlds or creatures. "That also bothered me... So that''s why gods couldn''t create any living beings even though they are ''God.'' They lost their authority for some unknown reason. And also..." Ryan narrowed his eyes. The Divine World wasn''t called Imperium at that time. The ancient civilizations that stepped foot into Imperium after it was formed called it World Amalgamation, the planet that rooted everything. "It seems that Morgan Le Fay''s research is beyond what I expected... No, wait...!" Ryan looked at the data and scanned it once again. He then widened his eyes, realizing something. "The other paragraphs formed two words: Akashic Records... what''s that? I don''t have time. I need to get out now." He then looked up and immediately moved. Ryan sped through the terrain as fast as he could, with the spatial structure of this place collapsing around him. The entire Walpurgis Night was about to collapse. The clouds of dream power above started descending like meteors, the boundaries of each region began falling apart, and cracks formed around the barrier that isolated Walpurgis Night. The survivors started panicking, trying to find a way out before they got caught in the destruction. Edeya looked at the sky before turning to Zhang Ren, Bryan, and the others. She said, "We need to leave now." Zhang Ren nodded at her words. "We can fly through the cracks in the barrier to get out before this place collapses." They had no choice but to do that. The witches were going to lose their home, and not all of them had the capability to fly through the cracks in the barrier. Only a few people would probably survive after this. "The six holy stakes were used, and the game ended in failure. It''s lucky that the barrier was affected," Edeya muttered. "Can we return to reality now?" Amanda asked. "No," Zhang Ren shook his head. "We need a more stable place if you want to return to reality, or find a dreamscape and rob the dreamer of their dream to descend to reality." The Walpurgis Night was unstable due to the usage of the six holy stakes that had destroyed its structure. ... Souta landed on the ground with Eilan. He looked around at the devastated land. The Dream Palace was slowly collapsing. Eilish''s figure flashed as she hugged her brother tightly. "Eilan..." Eilish muttered, tightening her arms around him, afraid he would disappear once again. Souta looked at Eilish and the unconscious Eilan before saying, "There''s something we need to do." "What?" Eilish asked. Souta said, "Your brother is dying. His body is falling apart at this moment." That''s right, Eilan was separated from the elemental being, and his body wouldn''t be able to last long without it. However, Souta did something using the power of the six holy stakes, and [Rhongomiant] gave him an opportunity for it. They managed to lessen the side effects of having the elemental being separated from Eilan''s body. Souta had already planned for this when he saw the six holy stakes. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to use their power to destroy the black sun if he used them to kill the elemental being and lessen the side effects on Eilan''s body. Alice also did a great job severing the connection between the two using [Rhongomiant]. She pierced through it, and the holy spear managed to even cut through the side effects. Looking at Alice, Souta wondered where she had gotten that holy spear. It was a powerful universal-grade weapon wielded by the King of Knights. He said, "Alice... use it to pierce his body, and I''ll amplify it using the lingering energy from the holy stakes. It should be enough." Alice nodded as she glanced at Eilan. "I-Is this going to work?" Eilish asked nervously. "It should. I''m eighty percent sure that it will work," Souta replied with a serious look on his face. He then glanced at Kayla''s squad and asked, "Can any of you use healing spells?" They started the operation as Eilish laid Eilan on the ground. Alice stabbed the tip of the spear into Eilan''s chest while Souta placed his hands on Eilan''s stomach. The healer kept casting healing spells on Eilan to ensure his body wouldn''t completely collapse. Ohm!! Intense energy emerged from the spear as Alice used its power. On the other hand, Souta used the lingering power of the holy stakes to amplify its effect. Then, a parasite emerged from his hand, entering Eilan''s body. The parasite didn''t last long before it dried out, vanishing into thin air. ''Even the parasite couldn''t repair the damage to Eilan''s body. At this rate, Eilan will die,'' Souta thought inwardly. He glanced at Alice and said, "Put more power. I''ll handle the excess energy." Alice nodded and gritted her teeth. She tightened her grip on the spear and slightly pushed it downward. Swoosh!! Souta took a deep breath as he slowly guided another parasite inside Eilan''s body. Then, he let out a tiny bit of [Douion] to aid Eilan. ''Nice... The parasite didn''t die, and the destruction of Eilan''s body has stagnated. Let the parasite seep through and repair it along with [Douion],'' Souta thought. The [Douion], which could even repair a damaged inner consciousness, was a huge help. After a while, Eilan''s condition stabilized. Souta breathed a sigh of relief as he stood up and looked at the sky. "Is my brother okay?" Eilish asked. "Yeah, but this isn''t done yet. Alice, protect them with everything you''ve got." As soon as Souta finished his sentence, a deafening sound reverberated in the sky. Bang!! Souta narrowed his eyes and said, "I didn''t finish the game, so the consequences of failing it will appear. This is the real problem." The power of the Purity would descend now since he didn''t use the holy stakes to destroy it. Layla, the elders, and the other survivors looked at the sky with grim expressions. They knew that the result of the game was failure. An intense energy was seeping out of the black sun. "This is..." Layla muttered, sensing the ominous energy spreading throughout the land. They were in the region where the Dream Palace was located, far from the edge of the Walpurgis Night. They wouldn''t be able to leave this place easily. Boom!! Heavy pressure bore down on the entire land, accelerating the destruction of the Walpurgis Night. "S-Souta... This pressure..." Alice stammered. It wasn''t just her. Every living being in the Walpurgis Night felt it. Even weaker experts were completely restrained by the pressure. They felt goosebumps across their bodies, their instincts screaming at them. Even Souta, who was the strongest among them, could feel it too. It was a higher power, completely above any of them. The power of the Purity. Ohm!! A ripple spread across the sky. Souta looked at it and tightened his grip on the vajra sword. He had resolved the issue with Eilan using the six holy stakes, so only this problem remained. "S-Souta..." Eilish fell to her knees, unable to withstand the intense pressure. Even using her energy was useless. Souta pointed his finger at her, and a string of crimson web wrapped around her wrist containing his [Douion] to help her endure the pressure. "Don''t worry, I''ve thought of this scenario before," Souta said calmly. Ohm!! The dream power in the sky spread, and the black sun slowly descended. Boom!! The black sun exploded, scattering a huge amount of dream power across the land. A figure emerged from it, looking down at everyone. The energy he emitted was so dense that the space around him twisted. "Hmm... The Walpurgis Night is collapsing? This isn''t what I expected," his voice echoed through everything. "Damn, this is quite bad..." Souta forced a smile onto his face after sensing the energy level around the figure. There was no doubt that the one who had emerged from the black sun was the avatar of Purity. The energy level was hundreds of times higher than his own. Just by existing alone, the avatar caused the acceleration of the Walpurgis Night''s destruction. The other witches below the Fourth Shackle fell directly to the ground. They felt their bodies being crushed in every direction. If no one helped them, they would die from the avatar''s overwhelming energy. Chapter 1017: Witch Hunt: Avatar The avatar of Purity had the appearance of a ten-foot-tall man. His skin was brown, his eyes were red, and he sported a pair of long red horns on the sides of his head, along with curly dark red hair. Two long spiky tails protruded from his back. The avatar looked at Souta for a few seconds and murmured, "Hmm... Someone related to the Sea King?" He then turned his head to address everyone. "Hmm... It seems that Le Fay''s plan to stop me from destroying the Walpurgis Night has failed. In fact, I don''t need to do anything as this place is already collapsing," he muttered, observing the crumbling boundaries of each region. It had taken many years before this avatar became active. He hadn''t expected that upon emerging from the black sun, the Walpurgis Night would already be on the path to destruction. "Well, might as well destroy it completely," the avatar said as he raised his hand, channeling a huge amount of energy in his palm. Ohm! ''Damn!'' Layla cursed inwardly. There was nothing she could do right now. The two elders looked pale, while the other witches couldn''t even move an inch due to the intense pressure in the atmosphere. At this rate, everyone''s going to die. Swoosh!! Souta shielded Alice and everyone from the pressure with his energy. "Don''t worry, I already expected this to happen," he reassured them. Alice looked at him and realized something. Souta had intended to use the holy stakes for another purpose. But who would destroy the black sun? There was only one answer that came to her mind. "Y-You''ve torn it," she asked. "That''s right. I tore it earlier. They couldn''t sense our location simply because of the barrier and dream power, but now..." Souta glanced at the barrier. "The barrier is full of cracks, and the dream power in the sky is falling. It''s possible to pinpoint our location." It meant that the Athen''s Champion would be able to pinpoint his location. No, the moment the barrier cracked was the moment they started to locate him. It was when he killed the elemental being and before he healed Eilan. "No matter what, I''m still a Hero Candidate, and I know what kind of response the Athen''s Champion will make if they couldn''t sense me even after I tore the barrier," Souta added. He already knew this was going to happen, so he moved with precision. A few minutes earlier... Vandal, the Chief Captain, was sitting in his office arranging a pile of reports when he suddenly sensed something. "Hmm..." He narrowed his eyes and turned his head. "Grain Leader Souta tore the talisman! I can''t sense his location... He went to the Walpurgis Night, and it seems something happened there, but the Walpurgis Night''s location is really well-hidden." Vandal stood up and immediately walked out of the room. It seemed they had underestimated the isolation barrier of the Walpurgis Night to the extent that even after tearing the talisman, they couldn''t pinpoint its location. It was a problem that a Chief Captain like Vandal wouldn''t be able to handle alone. He needed to report this to the higher-ups. Soon, he went to the office of one of the Division Commanders of the Athen''s Champion. He reported everything that was happening without leaving out any details. Cicero, the Division Commander of the Pallas Division, knitted his brows. "The Walpurgis Night lives up to its name. Even I, an Archmage, can''t pinpoint its location. Some sort of power is blocking my senses." "So what should we do, Commander Cicero?" Vandal asked politely. "Pass the information to the Acropolis. Inform Agape that the Hero candidate is lost in the Walpurgis Night. If there''s nothing we can do, then all we can do is wait for the signal," Cicero said. He had already anticipated this. After all, no one had managed to discover where the witches were hiding for hundreds of years. Not even those who sought to destroy them could sense their location. So, if there was truly nothing they could do, they would wait. Wait until the Hero candidate in the Walpurgis Night did something that would allow them to pinpoint his location. The information reached the higher-ups in the Acropolis. Athena sat on her throne, listening to the reports. She said, "I''ll give you permission. Activate the defense formation." Before Agape, a Division Commander, could respond, he suddenly felt something. He turned his head and muttered, "The signal..." They felt the power that had been blocking their senses disappear. They could finally pinpoint the Hero Candidate''s location. Athena stood up, her gaze piercing through the fabric of reality. Again, she commanded, "Activate the defense formation and prepare to strike. I entrust it to you." Agape nodded and swiftly departed, ordering the warriors to activate the defense formation and donning his personal armor. A few moments later... Agape floated above the Palace Goddess with a sword in hand. He looked down and saw a semi-transparent layer enveloping the whole city. The entire city was protected by a barrier, so there was nothing to worry about now. He took a deep breath, and his energy skyrocketed in an instant. His senses were maximized as the space around him trembled. Agape Gataki, one of the Division Commanders of the Athen''s Champion, a demigod whose name was feared on the battlefield. [Archetype: Supreme Warrior]! [Ninth Form: Ultimate Heaven''s Cleave]! In an instant, Agape slashed his sword. Whoosh!! His slash cut through the fabric of reality, descending through a place where dreams formed. Ohm!! Powerful energy descended upon the Walpurgis Night. The avatar widened his eyes as he looked up. In the next moment, a powerful slash tore through his body. Souta jumped to the side, pulling Alice, Eilish, and Eilan with his webs. Layla and the elders also moved as the intense energy descended, slicing through the entire land. Bang!! Edeya, Zhang Ren, and the others in different regions turned their heads. They had been planning to pass through cracks in the barrier to escape the collapsing land, but something unexpected happened. A heavy energy descended, causing unstable fluctuations throughout the area. The entire land quaked as a bright light bore down, destroying everything in sight. "This is?!" Edeya widened her eyes. Zhang Ren, Bryan, Amanda, and the others were shocked. The Walpurgis Night was cleaved in half, revealing a sprawling expanse of land tilting in disarray, violent energy sparks erupting from every corner. Bang!! The avatar spat a mouthful of blood, eyes widened in shock. "What?! This... This level of energy! A demigod?!" His body teetered on the verge of collapse. He hadn''t expected a demigod to launch such an attack at this moment. Looking down, he surveyed the extensive damage caused by the slash. His sole goal had been to destroy the Walpurgis Night and all of its secrets. Since the demigod had managed to slice the Walpurgis Night in half, he decided it was time to end it. He would destroy the land completely before this body collapsed. Swoosh! His body plummeted but stopped just short of hitting the ground. "Hmm?" The avatar noticed he was ensnared in strings of webs, the surrounding area cocooned in them. Swoosh!! Suddenly, a figure appeared before him, radiating immense energy. It was Souta. Souta raised the vajra sword and drove it into the avatar''s chest without hesitation, exerting all his strength to end the threat once and for all. The Athen''s Champion had given him this opening, and he wasn''t about to let it slip away. The avatar widened his eyes, desperately raising both hands to counter Souta''s overwhelming energy. Unfortunately for him, it wouldn''t be easy. Having just endured a powerful attack from a demigod, his defenses and resistance were broken at the moment. Had he been at full strength, Souta would have posed little threat. Bang!! Souta gritted his teeth, pouring more force into his attack. Despite appearing on the brink of vanishing, the avatar managed to withstand the assault. Their collision upon the ground caused a massive explosion, their energies creating ripples in the fabric of space. The avatar stared at Souta and remarked, "A fourth stage has this much power... Has that Sea King finally regained his strength?" "I don''t know what you''re talking about, but you''re going down today!" Souta gritted his teeth, his energy violently radiating throughout the area. "I see... So you have no connection with that monster?" The avatar laughed. Souta stretched his hand and shouted, "ALICE!!" Alice leaped into the air and hurled the holy spear at the avatar. Swoosh!! Souta caught the spear, channeling his energy through it. His [Douion] and best feram amplified its power to a higher level. The [Dual Wield] was also activated as he wielded both weapons. The avatar stared at the spear and remarked, "[Rhongomiant]? It''s still intact?" Souta''s energy surged to its peak as he thrust the [Vajra Sword Saya] and [Rhongomiant] into the avatar''s chest. ARGH!! He roared as a brilliant light erupted, the golden, white, and black energies intertwining and drilling through the avatar. Boom!! Chapter 1018: Witch Hunt: La Befana Blood-colored lightning struck fiercely, its deafening sound shaking the entire area as the avatar began to feel the oppressive energy. His flesh finally started to crack under Souta''s relentless assault. "You even possess an Archetype? No, your Archetype is quite different. You''ve mixed it with your own. Gahaha, this is interesting!" The Purity''s avatar laughed, fixating on Souta. Ignoring his words, Souta raised both weapons and struck the avatar once more. Boom!! The cracks spidered across the avatar''s body as the blood-colored lightning struck again. Gradually, his form collapsed, scattering the remaining energy in all directions. Whoosh!! "You''re lucky this body was sliced by a demigod..." the avatar said, half of his face missing. Souta took a deep breath before thrusting [Rhongomiant] forward. The holy spear obliterated the avatar''s head, and then he slashed through the body with his sword. "Luck? Perhaps, but I anticipated something would emerge from the black sun, so I planned accordingly," he said. The avatar''s energy dispersed into the surroundings. And just like that, the avatar of Purity was destroyed. Boom!! Souta exhaled and glanced at Alice. Releasing [Rhongomiant], it flew into her hand. He then descended to the ground. Alice looked at Souta as she stowed away the spear. She then asked, "Is it finally over?" "Yeah," Souta nodded, turning to Eilish, who cradled her brother in her arms. "Souta, thank you so much... I..." Eilish began, but Souta cut her off before she could finish. "It''s fine. I promised you before that I''d help. It''s nothing," he said, waving his hand dismissively. He had simply done what he wanted to do. Gradually, his form returned to normal, and exhaustion began to set in. Using [Douion] and [Emperor Armor] in combat without training had taken its toll on him. Souta glanced at the system interface and narrowed his eyes. [You''ve failed the Quest!] [You''ve failed the Quest!] The words appeared in red. It felt ominous, like something significant was about to happen. This was the first time he had gone against the Quest dictated by the system. Taking a deep breath, Souta shook his head and gazed at the sky. "We need to get out of here. The Walpurgis Night has only a few minutes before it collapses completely, but before that..." Turning to Kayla''s group, Souta narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who are you?" "I''m Kayla, Captain of the Third Night Squadron," Kayla introduced herself. "Not that. I mean your true identity," Souta replied in a cold tone. "What do you mean, Souta?" Alice asked, casting a curious glance between Souta and Kayla. "It''s simple. How can a witch of your power level survive a battle like this? Throughout the fight, I''ve only protected you and Eilish, yet you managed to come out unscathed," Souta said, pausing briefly before adding, "From the moment I first saw you, I knew you were in disguise." He was right. The battle they just endured was on a different scale, yet Kayla emerged unscathed, clearly hiding her true strength. The members of the Third Night Squadron were stunned by Souta''s words. They turned their gaze to their leader, awaiting an explanation. Kayla sighed and smirked. "I didn''t expect you to see through my disguise." With a swift motion, she ran her hand through her hair, and her appearance changed. Wrinkles appeared, and her hair turned gray. The squadron members gasped in surprise at the transformation. "Matriarch La Befana?!" they exclaimed. The missing matriarch of the Walpurgis Night had been Kayla all along. Alice widened her eyes as she looked at La Befana. "As I suspected," Souta remarked, observing her closely. "You already suspected my identity?" La Befana raised an eyebrow. "Anyone could deduce it from your strength. Among all the witches I''ve encountered, you''re the only one who has reached the realm of a hero. Not even the elders have achieved this level. When I fought them previously, I heard them mention that I was as strong as the Supreme Elders," Souta said, moving forward. "Supreme Elders, hmm? From what I''ve observed, you could likely defeat both Supreme Elders simultaneously if you used all your strength, including that peculiar energy," La Befana mused. Souta stood facing her squarely. "What about you?" "Hmm... That''s a good question. If I were an ordinary hero, you might stand a chance against me. Unfortunately, I am the Matriarch of Walpurgis Night. The dream power I wield surpasses what you can handle with your current strength," La Befana replied, as wisps of smoke curled up from the ground. Souta glanced to his side, thinking to himself, ''[Dream Power V]... It''s far beyond my current capabilities. If she only have [Dream Power III] then I could possibly manage her at my peak.'' "Why did you allow this to happen to Walpurgis Night?" Souta pressed. "It''s not that I wanted this outcome. I simply couldn''t intervene," La Befana explained. "What do you mean?" Souta narrowed his eyes, seeking further explanation. "Mordred. Every Matriarch succeeding Le Fay has been bound by his contract not to interfere. Knight Mordred betrayed the King and allowed this to happen," La Befana explained. Souta nodded, though he wasn''t entirely familiar with the details. From what he gathered, Walpurgis Night''s downfall stemmed from betrayal, preventing the King of Knights from aiding Le Fay against the Commandments. "Why didn''t you simply step down from your position?" Souta inquired. "It''s not that simple. Finding a successor isn''t easy. To become a Matriarch, a witch must undergo rigorous processes and rituals," La Befana replied. "So what will you do now?" "Nothing. I didn''t plan to reveal myself until you confronted me. The era of glory for witches has passed; it''s time for us to accept our diminished status. If we wish to regain prominence, we must adapt to a changing world," La Befana stated before turning away. Souta watched La Befana''s departure before glancing around. The other surviving witches seemed oblivious to their matriarch''s presence. It appeared she had employed some form of concealment to evade their perception. Meanwhile, in the Acropolis of Athens, Agape descended gracefully from the sky, his sword still in hand. The formidable aura that had surrounded him slowly dissipated, leaving a visible fissure in the fabric of dreams and reality above. Athena, seated upon her throne, attentively surveyed the city, anticipating any potential disturbances caused by Agape''s action. Cutting through the dream realm could affect sleeping citizens, and she was vigilant about maintaining order. "So the Walpurgis Night is fading away... They couldn''t restore the glory of their ancestors," Athena murmured thoughtfully. "Of the twelve knights, only Lancelot and Percival remain alive. The two managed to escape when Lamorak confronted Mordred. And then there''s Merlin, the Great Mage, still hiding somewhere." Athena closed her eyes, recalling the great battle hundreds of years ago. It had caught the other factions off guard with its suddenness. "Hmm...?" Athena opened her eyes and furrowed her brow, her gaze piercing the rift between dream and reality, sensing something ominous. "This is...?" She stood abruptly, vanishing from her throne. The warriors guarding the room only heard her voice command, "Send a message to the Champion''s Den immediately. He has appeared, and I request permission to lift the ban on my Grid." Whoosh! Athena''s urgent command echoed through the halls of the Acropolis. The warriors guarding her throne room swiftly relayed her message to the Champion''s Den. In the midst of the collapsing Walpurgis Night, time seemed to freeze as everyone''s instincts screamed of impending danger. Back in the tumultuous realm of the Walpurgis Night, Souta sensed a shift in the atmosphere. He glanced around, noticing the unease that gripped those around him. La Befana paused, looking up in disbelief. "This can''t be...?! He''s here!" Her eyes widened, and her lips trembled. "Souta, I can''t move..." Alice gasped, falling to her knees. "Ugh!" Eilish collapsed, clutching her neck with both hands. Blood flowed from her nose, eyes, and mouth. Souta pressed his palm against his chest. His heart pounded wildly, and his instincts urged him to flee. Layla, the elders, and the other witches felt the same sensation. They recognized it-an oppressive aura, similar to when the black sun shattered, but thousands of times stronger this time. The lands surrounding the Walpurgis Night also sensed it. Some of these lands were larger than Walpurgis Night itself, home to Hero-ranks. The land of the witches became visible as its barrier was shattered. Curious powerful beings who had been about to investigate Walpurgis Night suddenly halted. An Eighth Shackle expert stared towards the land of the witches and murmured, "A powerful being is approaching... This isn''t good." Ohm! Above Walpurgis Night, space twisted and then opened wide. Smoke billowed out as a figure emerged from the spatial fissure. It was a man with long dark red hair and a pair of horns, resembling his avatar. He hovered in the air, gazing down at the split Walpurgis Night. The imposing aura around him left no doubt: he was the true body. He was Sanaamon Agres, the Commandment of Purity. Chapter 1019: Witch Hunt: Sanaamon Agres Souta and everyone else felt as if there was a sword hanging over their necks. They couldn''t do anything except watch the figure in the sky. Souta crouched down, placing his palms on Eilish and Alice''s backs. He channeled his energy, but it wasn''t very effective. Sanaamon was quite different from Carmilla and Julius, whom he had met back in the Desolate Woods. Those two commandments had been suppressing their aura and energy to avoid detection. "The Purity... He''s here!" La Befana stared at the sky in shock. The rest of the Third Night Squad members had fainted due to the intense pressure. "He''s going to end everything... He ended our Great Matriarch, and now he wants to finish what he started back then," La Befana muttered to herself as she recalled the tragedy that had happened hundreds of years ago. Dozens of kilometers away, near the collapsed Dream Palace... Layla gritted her teeth as she tried to endure the pressure. She looked up and recognized the man standing in the air. ''The Purity... To think he would move even though the Walpurgis Night is already over! Don''t tell me, he wants to finish it with his own hands!'' she thought to herself. She looked left and right, trying to find a way out of this insane situation. The appearance of Purity''s real body was completely unexpected. She wondered what Grim was doing in this situation. She knew he had a separate mission in this expedition. Meanwhile, Grim also had a horrified expression on his face. ''The situation right now is extremely dangerous. The Selfless didn''t even appear when I destroyed her avatar, yet Purity...'' Grim tightly clenched both of his fists. Not even the [Spatial Gem] could save him if Purity launched an attack. ''Our plan isn''t even complete yet. Do I need to awaken the Primordial Gods faster than planned?'' he thought inwardly. On the other side, Poisonous Vine was near the barrier. "Oh shit! I''m going to die! A god has appeared!" she cursed under her breath. She had just managed to survive against the elder of the witches, yet now a god had appeared, which was completely out of her league. Poisonous Vine turned her head to the cracks in the barrier. ''I need to get out now...'' She forced herself to move her body under the heavy pressure. ''I need to leave to tell the tale of this encounter.'' The survivors with low strength started to collapse one by one. They were dropping like flies as they attempted to escape through the cracks in the barrier. Souta had a grim look as he gazed at Alice and Eilish. He covered them with his webs, along with Eilan, then created a barrier to protect them from the pressure. He looked at the card in his system, wondering if he could save them by using it. The chances seemed too low. Whoosh!! Sanaamon simply stood in the air, not bothering to hide his energy. There was no need, as this wasn''t a secret mission. He admired the broken barrier and said, "This barrier had no defenses at all. It existed to block perception so that no one would be able to sense it." The barrier had prevented him from finding the Walpurgis Night and even stopped him from pinpointing the location of his avatar. It was magnificent. "The barrier formation created by the Isolated Formation God is truly one of the best," he muttered. For him, something that could block the perception of someone of his caliber was certainly remarkable. The Isolated Formation God was indeed one of the best in this field. Unfortunately, he perished due to not knowing his boundaries. If given some time, Sanaamon wanted to study this kind of barrier formation so that he could bypass it next time. Sanaamon moved his hand and slowly closed his fist. He turned his head and raised his eyebrows. "Oh, someone has arrived," he said. The next moment, the space vibrated and a large fissure appeared in the sky. Boom!! A deafening sound reverberated as a figure emerged from the fissure. It was a beautiful woman armed with a sword. She had chestnut-colored hair that draped down over her shoulders, and her eyes were like a pair of beautiful stars. She was the Goddess Athena. Two god-rank beings now hovered above the land. The mortals below were like ants under their presence. "What are you here for?" Sanaamon asked. "I''m here to stop you," Athena said. "Do you think you can do it alone?" Sanaamon paused, then looked down and realized something. "Oh, you''re the one who protects that monster. The demigod that sliced the Walpurgis Night is your subordinate. I see... I see..." Athena didn''t say anything. She just observed every movement that Sanaamon made. "You''re trying to train some crazy monster here. He has the [Douion] similar to the Sea King, and his physique is quite unique-perfect for the dark attribute," Sanaamon paused for a moment before adding, "[Cosmic Body], suitable for gaining the power of the cosmic authority." He lifted his head and looked straight at Athena, saying, "Perhaps you are hiding the cosmic authority with you? Are you planning on giving him the cosmic authority in the future?" "Cosmic authority? Do you really think I have that? The fight against that guy resulted in nothing," Athena said. Souta only had the [Cosmic Body]; he didn''t possess the cosmic authority. Having the [Cosmic Body] only gave him a chance to acquire the power of the cosmic authority. It didn''t mean that Souta already possessed it. Only people with the [Cosmic Body] could acquire the cosmic authority, so without it, the cosmic authority was useless as no one would be able to wield its power. "Well, it doesn''t matter to me," Sanaamon said as he raised his hand. A huge amount of energy gathered in his fist. Before turning his attention elsewhere, he intended to destroy the Walpurgis Night completely. In the next second, he smashed his fist downward. Athena''s eyes widened as she quickly pressed both of her hands together. A huge amount of energy erupted from both gods. Souta, Alice, La Befana, Grim, and the rest of the survivors looked up as a bright light shone above the sky. Boom!! In an instant, the entire Walpurgis Night was obliterated, leaving nothing behind. A powerful wave of energy swept out, pushing the other lands in the Dream Realm away. The entire space was cleared. The only thing that remained was the violent waves of energy. Sanaamon looked down, then turned his gaze to Athena and said, "So that''s what you''re after... I thought you also had an interest in the things hidden in the Walpurgis Night." Athena knitted her brows and asked, "Why did you destroy the Walpurgis Night?" "There''s no need for you to know. Some things are better left buried in the dark. Well, anyway, you did a great job saving them." Sanaamon felt amused. Yes, Athena had saved all the living beings in the Walpurgis Night. Those who were still alive before Sanaamon''s attack landed were transported back to reality. They were returned to the place where they had entered the Dream Realm. "I don''t care about the mortals. I just want to destroy anything related to the calamity," Sanaamon declared. He took a step forward, energy gathering around both of his fists. Athena raised her sword, prepared to fight back against a god of this magnitude. Boom!! Suddenly, the entire Dream Realm trembled. Both Athena and Sanaamon paused, turning their heads. They could sense something changing in reality, and its effects were even felt in the Dream Realm. "This is...?" Athena muttered. "The last outburst of Imperium," Sanaamon''s expression turned serious. He then laughed and said, "Isn''t this interesting? The last outburst is here!" Imperium sensed a significant change as the final outburst finally occurred. Clouds of dense mana gathered in the sky, and heavy rain poured down. Countless people looked up at the sky, experiencing the profound change. In the throne room of the Eru Empire... Esquin opened his eyes and gazed upwards, his vision piercing through the thick walls and barriers. "It''s here..." A smile spread across his face as he rose from the throne. "It''s time to escalate this war," he declared. He strode out of the room. The stage was set, and it was time for him to fulfill his role. Many gods observed the movements of the Eru Empire closely. The intensity of the war grew with each passing second, affecting numerous small countries and cities. The death of the Cult Leader had also brought more experts to the battlefield. The situation across the three theaters looked dire, with even Hero-ranks joining the fray. In the Demon''s Land, at the Heavenly Demon Palace... Lucifer furrowed his brows as he stared at the clouds of mana in the sky. "The great change is upon us. Inform our forces in the other continents to halt their advance until further notice. We should observe how the other gods react to this situation," he instructed his subordinates. The demon standing below the throne nodded and bowed to him. Across the Imperium, various gods couldn''t help but gaze at the sky. Dark clouds, dense with mana, blanketed the land with their energy. In the Holy Lands, large countries, and other factions, a sense of foreboding spread. It seemed that something significant was about to occur in the near future. Chapter 1020: Return The last outburst of Imperium. Various gods across the world sensed the great change. They knew something significant was about to happen in the near future. Sanaamon looked at Athena and said, "I want to kill you right now, but I''m afraid I need to go. After all, I''ve already completed my objective, so there''s no point in staying here any longer. The other gods in Olympus are already moving." Destroying the Walpurgis Night had been his goal for hundreds of years. Now that it was gone, he needed to return. Sanaamon turned around and waved his hand. He added, "Dream Lords, don''t worry. I will avoid causing trouble for now. I won''t stay in your territory any longer." With those words, he stepped forward into the spatial fissure and vanished. The Dream Lords. They were gods that oversaw the Dream Realm. Born within the dream, they had attained godhood there. The moment Sanaamon broke through the boundary between dreams and reality, the Dream Lords began paying attention to his movements. Still, no one tried to stop Sanaamon from leaving. They knew that the Commandment of Purity was powerful, and if a battle broke out, there would undoubtedly be casualties. Athena stared at the fissure where Sanaamon had vanished and muttered, "Just what was hidden in the Walpurgis Night that made him so determined to ensure its destruction?" She wouldn''t find an answer now, as Sanaamon had personally obliterated the land of the witches. He couldn''t do it before since the gods of the witches were still present, but now that they were gone, it took him only one attack to destroy it. The battle at that time was quite chaotic, reminding her of the chaos that occurred in the Hall of Power. The chaos in the Hall of Power was much greater, as only two Commandments appeared to fight the Walpurgis Night. Moreover, the Hall of Power under No God Emperor''s rule had only one god-level being, yet it managed to force several Commandments to appear and even fought the Administrators before being sealed. No God Emperor was sealed because they couldn''t kill him. The man who was born free. Without any shackles in his mortal body. "Also, Purity learned about the [Cosmic Body]. It seems he didn''t care about it. After all, the Cosmic Authority isn''t present, but if the Zodiacs learned about it, the outcome would probably be different." It''s understandable since most god-level beings in the Three Bringers of Calamity didn''t care about mortals, even if the said mortals had huge potential. They simply moved without care, not minding if they killed millions of people, just like how Sanaamon moved to destroy the Walpurgis Night. He didn''t care if there were innocent people or not. The only thing that mattered to him was destroying the Walpurgis Night. "I made the right choice by simply returning the people to reality. If I had blocked the attack, Purity would have launched a more powerful attack that could shatter the fabric of dreams." Athena waved her sword at the fissure, and it disappeared in an instant. Then, she also left the Dream Realm. ... In the Obsidian Desert, Souta and the rest found themselves back at the place where they had entered the Dream Realm. It was a formation of rocks that resembled a magic circle. They stood in the middle of it. Souta looked left and right before saying, "We''re back in reality." Athena had managed to return all the living beings in the Walpurgis Night to reality just in time. Hmm? Souta looked up and noticed rain pouring down heavily. He opened his hand and observed that the droplets were pure mana. This feels just like back then. He noticed his fatigue was disappearing, and everything in Imperium was experiencing a great change. Ding! [You''ve leveled up!] [You''ve leveled up!] [You''ve leveled up!] [You''ve leveled up!] Souta looked at the system notifications, seeing that he had immediately reached level 74. He was close to reaching level 75. "What happened?!" a voice sounded behind him. Souta turned and saw that Amanda had woken up. Eilish and Alice were also standing, their fatigue gone. Eilish immediately went to her brother''s side. It seemed that Eilan had been returned with them and wasn''t transported back with Layla. Perhaps it was due to the absence of the elemental being, or maybe Goddess Athena didn''t want them to be separated. "Amanda, we''ve been looking for you," Alice said, looking at Amanda. "I don''t know. A lot of things happened. Luckily, I''ve been with Princess Iris and Captain Sarguan," Amanda narrated her experience in the Walpurgis Night. She had been in another region while Souta, Eilish, and Alice were in the region where the Dream Palace was located. The distance between them had been vast, as Amanda was closer to the edge of the barrier. "Wait! Did you say Bryan?!" Alice exclaimed. Amanda nodded and asked, "Why?" "Can you describe his appearance?" Alice asked urgently. Amanda described what she remembered. Souta and Alice confirmed that she was talking about their classmate, Bryan Dagruel, a member of the Dark Oculus Adventurer Legion that Souta had founded in the Hebrei Kingdom. "I''ll ask Lumilia what happened later when I call her," Souta said to Alice. "Still, I didn''t expect Bryan to be in the Walpurgis Night. And two of the six elders are traitors," Alice muttered. "It seems Bryan has grown a bit stronger if he could exchange blows with an elder," Souta commented with a smile. Having personally fought two elders at the same time, he knew how strong an elder was. It seemed that Bryan had reached the minimum strength of a normal Sixth Shackle. Alice looked at him and said, "It''s not just a little bit, you know. I saw your fight against the elders, so I know I wouldn''t be able to exchange blows with one of them, as I''m still at the Fourth Shackle. But Bryan was able to do that? Does that mean he''s vastly stronger than me?" "You don''t need to be frustrated. Just move at your own pace. Also, the spear you acquired is really something. You''ll understand what I mean once you reach the Fifth Shackle," Souta reassured her. Alice raised her eyebrows and asked, "Why the Fifth Shackle?" "Because you''ll forget it. It''s a powerful technique embedded in that spear, and there''s a curse that makes people forget about that level of technique. I wanted to see it when I held the spear before, but it rejected me. The King of Knights made sure that others wouldn''t be able to see the technique unless they passed the test," Souta explained to her. "Fifth Shackle... I think I can reach it in less than two weeks due to the phenomenon just now. I''ll find out what you''re talking about then," Alice said. Suddenly, Souta turned his head and said, "It seems they are here too." "Who?" Alice asked. "Princess Iris, Princess Servon, and Captain Sarguan," Souta replied. He had detected their blood and presence just now. "Let''s go. I have to thank them," Amanda said. The group left the area and went to meet the group from the Palleo Kingdom. They greeted each other warmly as Souta thanked them for not abandoning Amanda. They were good people, and he wouldn''t forget their kindness. Prince Servon invited them to their place. Souta didn''t have a reason to decline, so he accepted the invitation. Also, with Eilan still unconscious, it was good that they could stay in the Palleo Kingdom for a while. On their way, Prince Servon recounted his experiences in the Walpurgis Night. He had been separated from Princess Iris and Captain Sarguan when the Witch Hunt Game began. He endured a brutal fight as the human-like golems chased him nonstop, but he was lucky to have survived in the end. Alice and Eilish didn''t mention anything about Souta using the six holy stakes for other purposes that freed the avatar of Purity. In the end, even though the Walpurgis Night was collapsing, it was Purity who completely obliterated it. Soon, the group arrived in the Palleo Kingdom. There was a commotion in the kingdom due to the rain of energy, but when Prince Servon arrived, the commotion died down. He assured the people that everything was fine. Many people experienced enhancements in their strength, especially those with lower power levels. Amanda asked Princess Iris if there was a place where she could train. She was confident she could break her Second Shackle now. Eilish focused on caring for her brother, but she also felt her own strength had grown. She believed she would soon be able to break a major shackle. In a room, Souta and Prince Servon chatted while looking out over the castle grounds. People were bustling in the streets, creating a peaceful scene. "The current state of the Obsidian Desert isn''t good. The Palleo Kingdom is still stable, but you should remain cautious," Souta advised. "Yeah, only forces in the Shackled Realm aren''t affected by the current situation in the Obsidian Desert," Prince Servon nodded. "No, it will affect forces like the Palleo Kingdom sooner," Souta paused for a moment before further explaining, "Before we went to the Walpurgis Night, I sent a doppelganger to investigate, but it was destroyed. If you need help, just send me a message. It''s my thanks for not abandoning Amanda in the Walpurgis Night." "Don''t thank me. You should thank my sister and the captain. They''re the ones who were with Amanda," Prince Servon smiled and waved his hand. Perhaps the greatest benefit he acquired in the Walpurgis Night was the connection with the Blood Lightning Monster, the Hero Candidate of Athen''s Champion. Chapter 1021: Rest Souta sat in the room prepared by Prince Servon, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the system notification. [You''ve failed the Quest!] [Punishment will be given shortly!] [You will temporarily lose your sense of sight!] [A heavy punishment will be imposed once you''ve failed another Quest!] In the next moment, his vision turned blank. He completely lost his sight. This was the consequence of failing the quest. But this was nothing to him. With his current state, Souta didn''t need his eyes to perceive his surroundings. He could use his energy to sense his environment, forming a mental image in his mind. Additionally, he could detect any presence of blood within his perception range. The only issue was his eyes, the [Galaxy Eyes], which had completely lost their function. It was temporary, but the duration of his blindness wasn''t specified. It could be a month, a year, or even longer. He only knew that eventually, his vision would return. Souta placed his palm over his eyes and channeled his best feram and [Douion], attempting to discern any clues about the system affecting his eyes. Ultimately, he didn''t detect anything unusual. Souta sighed as he leaned back on the sofa. Once Eilan woke up, they would return to Ekatoe City. He needed to keep a low profile for a while after the unexpected events of the Walpurgis Night. He finally understood why the Walpurgis Night fell in the game. ... Somewhere on the continent... Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin walked through a cave. "Are you sure it''s here?" Eztein asked. "Yeah, Souta said it''s here," Vashno nodded. Eztein glanced back and remarked, "Still, the phenomenon just now is similar to what happened a few months ago." "It happened before?" Vashno raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, it boosted our strength too," Franklin replied. "No, it wasn''t just a boost in strength. The laws, concepts, everything seemed to have expanded. It was like the entire world underwent enhancement. Lower-powered beings gained the most from it," Vashno explained. "Is that so? Well, I couldn''t care less," Eztein shrugged. "I''ve been feeling strange lately," Franklin interjected. Eztein glanced at him and asked, "What do you mean?" "I''m getting stronger faster than before, and I feel like there''s a technique in my mind that I don''t know," Franklin remarked. "Now that you mention it, I''m feeling something similar. It started when I woke up from the slumber after the battle in Selnes Country," Vashno added thoughtfully. "Hmm... Selnes Country. Something must have happened there, but I don''t remember a thing," Eztein said, pondering. Soon, the trio reached the end of the cave. "This is the place. According to Souta, there''s a passage to the lower world here. We should investigate and report our findings to the nearby city," Vashno declared, looking at Eztein and Franklin. "Let''s descend now." Eztein and Franklin nodded in agreement. ... Eilan had woken up. In the room, Souta, Amanda, Alice, and Eilish had gathered around him. He lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. "How are you feeling, brother?" Eilish asked softly, sitting beside him. Eilan slowly turned to her, furrowing his brows. "B-Brother? Who are you?" "It''s me, your sister. Do you remember me?" "No, I don''t remember anything. Argh...!" Eilan suddenly clutched his head and screamed in pain. Souta watched from the side for a moment before speaking up, "He seems to have lost his memories. Don''t worry; memory loss can often be recovered, unless caused by someone with significant power." Eilan likely lost his memories as a side effect of the elemental being being separated from his body. If that''s the case, it shouldn''t involve any higher beings, so it should be recoverable. "Take care of your brother. We''ll return to Ekatoe City. I''m sure the Athen''s Champion is looking for me," Souta told Eilish. Soon, the group bid farewell to the royal family of the Palleo Kingdom and returned to Ekatoe City after a few days of travel. Only a few people knew that Souta had left the city, so their return didn''t cause a commotion. Yuko immediately slammed her large body into him, causing both of them to fall to the ground. "You''re back, master." Yuko stuck out her tongue and licked his face, which was only visible through her thick fur. Souta simply let her do as she pleased. He relaxed his body and allowed himself to rest. Ohm! Suddenly, Souta found himself in a different place. Looking around, he saw towering buildings and people chatting everywhere. Glancing down at himself, he noticed he was wearing plain clothes. With a snap of his fingers, his attire transformed. "This must be a dreamscape... It seems I''ve fallen asleep," Souta muttered. His physical body remained in reality; he was only dreaming. It was different from when he visited Walpurgis Night, where he physically entered the Dream Realm. Using his [Douion], characterized by Dream Power, he remained conscious in his dream and exerted great control over the manifested dreamscape. Souta strolled through the streets, observing the people chatting around him. "These people are constructs of my dream, different from dream creatures. They''ll vanish once I wake up. I''ll train my [Douion] here for a while." In reality, Alice could only see Souta''s face, visible because Yuko lay on top of him. "He''s fallen asleep," she murmured. Alice then noticed a small figure flash by and disappear into Yuko''s thick fur. "Kessa? She must be waiting for Souta too." Suddenly, a knock echoed from the door. Alice opened it and found a witch standing there. "Is Lord Souta here? A warrior from Athen''s Champion has arrived," the witch announced. Alice turned to glance at Souta, sighed, and replied, "I''ll go meet the warrior." Leaving the room, Alice followed the witch to the guest quarters. Entering, she found the warrior was none other than Chief Captain Vandal. Alice stood at attention and saluted. Vandal returned the salute and motioned for Alice to take a seat opposite him. "How is Grain Leader Souta?" Vandal inquired immediately. "He''s currently resting, Captain Vandal," Alice answered. "Then, I won''t disturb his rest. Please inform him to report to headquarters once he''s awake. The higher-ups are eager to hear about what transpired in Walpurgis Night. Additionally, his movements are restricted for now. Grain Leader Souta should remain within Hall Plains," Vandal instructed. Alice nodded in acknowledgment. She understood the seriousness of the situation, especially with the appearance of a deity during Walpurgis Night, particularly the Commandment of Purity. It was clear that Souta needed to keep a low profile for the time being. "Understood. I''ll notify him as soon as he wakes up. I''ll inform him that Vandal wishes to speak with him," Alice affirmed as Vandal prepared to leave. "That will be all for now. I had hoped to speak with Grain Leader Souta personally, but it seems I''ll have to wait. Please notify me when he awakens," Vandal concluded before standing up. After bidding farewell to Chief Captain Vandal, Alice noted that his aura had noticeably strengthened compared to before he would soon reach the Eight Shackle Realm. Several hours later, Souta woke up from his dream, still buried in Yuko''s fur with Kessa curled around his wrist. Alice promptly informed him of Vandal''s visit, prompting Souta to prepare to meet him. ... "How was your trip to Walpurgis Night?" Vandal inquired. "Challenging. A lot happened, and even the Commandment of Purity appeared," Souta replied. In the end, Walpurgis Night was still destroyed. Even if he hadn''t intervened, it would have met the same fate as in the game. Thankfully, he managed to rescue Eilan, which was his primary objective. "Let me get straight to the point. The higher-ups also want you to prepare yourself," Vandal stated. "I see... So, is the situation worsening?" Souta asked. "Not exactly, but after the recent strange phenomena, the higher-ups have become cautious. "They''re warning everyone to be ready," Vandal explained. Souta nodded thoughtfully, stroking his chin as he reflected on events from the game. "Additionally, a deity has fallen near the three theaters. The battlefield has expanded significantly, and I''ll be heading there in a few days. As you''re under my Third Set, I advise you to remain in the Champion''s Den for a week or two once I''m deployed." "Why is that?" Souta inquired. "You''re a Hero Candidate. It''s important for you to demonstrate your strength to the other candidates there. If that''s not sufficient, visit the Acropolis and seek an audience with the Guardian Beast of our Goddess. After that, you''ll need to refrain from participating in the war for a while." Souta remained silent, allowing Vandal to proceed. "Do as I''ve instructed if you wish to become a Hero. After completing these tasks, you''ll likely be deployed to the battlefield, where it will be your opportunity to demonstrate your abilities. Failing to do so would hinder your progress, as other higher-ups may not recognize your potential. Building a favorable impression could expedite your path to becoming a Hero." Chapter 1022: Plan "Why are you telling me this?" Souta asked. "You''re under my Third Set, so if you become a Hero, the Third Set will also benefit. Allocated resources will increase, and a lower world will be put under our care," Vandal replied. "I understand. I will try," Souta nodded. "That''s good. Just don''t forget to make a good impression on the higher-ups. I''m sure you''ve met some of the Division Commanders, so I''ll leave the rest in your hands. Show them why you should be the one to become a Hero." "I''ll remember," Souta said. Vandal was heading to the battlefield. If he found an opportunity there, he could probably reach Eight Shackle faster. If only he could learn some Archetype, then his combat prowess would rise even without reaching Eight Shackle. ... In an unknown place, Sanaamon sat in a chair with a faint smile on his face. Sitting in front of him was Organ Asseilin, the Commandment of Faith. "You''ve destroyed the Walpurgis Night?" Organ asked. "Indeed. My avatar managed to escape the seal, but it wasn''t easy. I had to personally destroy it. The secrets there should never be released," Sanaamon replied. "Morgan Le Fay... That witch. She tried to learn about the forbidden things in the world. It''s not good for us, as it will shorten the time," Organ said. "What about the Four Authorities?" Sanaamon asked. "Aleteya''s avatar was defeated before she could even obtain the Map of Famine. Well, it''s nothing to worry about, since deciphering the map is not easy." "What about you?" Sanaamon asked. "I''m still in the middle of planning to turn the whole Ruin Desolate upside down. Just don''t get in my way, or I''ll have to kill you," Organ said in a cold tone. Sanaamon laughed and replied, "As long as you don''t get in my way either. That''s the rule of God''s Will. We will not interfere with each other''s agendas. Also, I''m planning to sit back for a while and watch how Gluttony will handle the Holy Lands." "Gluttony, huh? I remember how the previous Aspect of Gluttony died. It seems the current one is quite courageous." "Courageous? Yes, he''s a courageous fellow. He even dared to order Lucifer to stop the Heavenly Demon Palace''s invasion. I wonder how things will turn out." "It''s the same as before. Gluttony will fall if he doesn''t have a better plan. Fighting the Holy Lands alone is impossible unless you have some sort of strategy. If it were easy to destroy the Holy Lands, they would''ve fallen long ago. The only question is how much damage he''ll cause to the Holy Lands before he falls." Organ leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "The last outburst has occurred, and the Walpurgis Night has perished. The Call of the Witch shall not happen in this era." "Call of the Witch, huh? So, do you want to find the two remaining Great Knights and Merlin? They''re erasing all traces of themselves, making them difficult to find," Sanaamon said. He added, "I even thought they would appear when I destroyed the Walpurgis Night, but I didn''t detect their traces at all. They''ve completely abandoned the Walpurgis Night." ... Meanwhile, in an unknown place, Eztein, Franklin, and Vashno stood in the middle of a vast forest. "We''ve successfully descended," Vashno muttered. Eztein looked at his palm and commented, "This place is too fragile. Are you sure this is the place the boss was talking about?" The three of them had arrived in an unknown lower world. Souta hadn''t given them much information about this place, only that they needed to find some treasure and investigate it. Treasure... Souta had said they would recognize it once they saw it, as its class wouldn''t belong to lower world standards. Franklin looked around, scanning the area with his mana. "I think we''re in a pocket dimension. The space here is limited," he said. "Now that you mention it, there are dozens of creatures living here," Eztein said, also scanning the area. He then raised his hand and added, "Let''s get out of here." His hand pierced through the fabric of space, causing an energy fluctuation to erupt as a spatial rift formed in front of them. "How sweet! I can''t do this in Imperium, but now I feel like I can do anything in a lower dimension," Eztein laughed, seeing the spatial rift ahead. Vashno glanced at him and said, "You''ll be surprised by how much a being at your level can influence a lower dimension." The three of them stepped forward into the spatial rift. They exited the pocket dimension and found themselves facing a group of armed people on the other side, who were looking at them warily. "It seems that tearing through the pocket dimension caused a disturbance among the locals of this world," Vashno commented, observing the people in front of them. "So what should we do?" Eztein asked. "We just need to knock them out. People like them will collapse under this much pressure," Vashno replied, raising his hand. His mana erupted instantly, causing the armed people in front of them to collapse before they could even react. The three then left the area. As they walked, Vashno explained more about the lower dimension. He had originally been a being from a lower dimension too, and he was like a god there, capable of traveling from world to world. It was during one of these travels that he was summoned to the sub-world of the Mother Universe, where he first met Souta. They weren''t as restricted in this universe compared to the Mother Universe. It felt like they were on top of thin ice that could collapse with just one wrong move. Some beings from Imperium would become intoxicated with the god-like powers they could achieve in the lower dimensions, sometimes choosing not to return to Imperium as they enjoyed their lives as gods in the lower dimensions. The trio toured around and discovered that this place was quite advanced. It reminded Franklin of the Great Astley Empire that they had destroyed in the past. The only difference was that the technology here was lower than the empire''s, so they weren''t capable of planetary travel. "So how do we find that treasure, and what are we supposed to investigate?" Eztein asked. "Let''s not hurry. We just need to take one step at a time," Vashno said. ... In Ekatoe City. Chief Captain Vandal left after bidding farewell to Souta. Souta understood what Vandal wanted him to do. He leaned back in his chair, thinking that he should go to the Champion''s Den next week since he had nothing else to do. After gaining the approval of the higher-ups, Souta needed to accomplish at least one significant task in the war for them to likely choose him as the next Hero of Goddess Athena. Knock! Knock! A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," Souta said. He had already sensed that it was Alice. The door opened, and Alice entered the room. She looked at him before sitting down on the vacant chair. "How is it?" Souta asked. "Amanda said she wants to use the [Nightmare Mask] to travel to Vanko and gain power from dreams," Alice replied. "What do you think, Alice?" "Most of the lower-ranking Sovereigns in Vanko are occupied by us and the demis there. Targeting higher-ranking Sovereigns would be quite dangerous given Amanda''s current strength." "Hmm... Kessa," Souta said, and a snake popped her head out of his sleeve. It was Kessa, who wrapped herself around his arm. "What is it?" Kessa asked meekly. "I think you should accompany Amanda into the Dream Realm. Also, if possible, I want you to conquer the top 10 Sovereigns in Vanko. It''s time we establish Vanko as the third headquarters of the Astros," Souta said. "Conquer Vanko?" Alice asked incredulously. Souta looked at Alice and nodded. "We should start slowly. Begin by defeating the Rank 10 Sovereign first, then proceed step by step up to the Rank 1 Sovereign." "What about the people? How can we relocate them to Vanko?" Alice inquired. "We''ll figure that out later. Currently, we can''t bring anyone to the Dream Realm with our current abilities. The witches could do it because they had powerful experts in their ranks in the past, which allowed them to hide in the Dream Realm." Souta smiled at Kessa and said, "Accompany Amanda. Since I''m here, you don''t have to guard Ekatoe City for a while." Kessa nodded and quickly left the room. Souta stood up and turned to Alice. "I''m going to visit Eilish and Eilan for a while. Do you have anything to report?" "Hmm... Isabella and Torkez wanted to see you. It seems their research has yielded some results," Alice replied. "I see... I''ll check on it later," Souta said with a sigh. As the leader of the group, there were many things he needed to personally oversee to ensure they were on track. "It''s quite troublesome, but having people work for me has its advantages too." Chapter 1023: Complete When Eilish sensed Souta''s presence, she immediately stood up to meet him. Souta looked at her and then turned his gaze to Eilan. "How is he?" Eilish glanced at her brother before replying, "He hasn''t remembered everything yet, but his memories are slowly returning." "That''s to be expected. After all, the elemental being is still a powerful expert, so your brother''s memories will take time to recover," Souta said. "Um... S-Souta..." Souta turned his head and saw her fidgeting with her hair as she looked down. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "What is it?" Even though he didn''t have sight in the conventional sense, he could perceive images through his energy senses. He could discern her expressions and hear her heartbeat. "Thank you for everything you''ve done for me. Finding my brother has been my lifelong wish, and I never imagined I would achieve it. Thank you again," Eilish said sincerely. Souta could sense the depth of her gratitude. He shook his head modestly and replied, "It''s nothing." After chatting for a while, Souta left the room and headed to the lab where Isabella and Torkez were conducting research. Upon his arrival, the two researchers immediately stood up from their seats, waiting for him. "I heard from Alice that you wanted to discuss your research with me," Souta said to Isabella and Torkez. The two exchanged glances before Isabella stepped forward. She opened her palm and presented a dark red pill to him. Souta took the pill and examined it closely. "What is this?" "We''ve perfected the pill through our research. It''s meant specifically for you, Souta," Torkez answered. "Me? How is this pill related to me?" Souta asked, puzzled. "It''s not coincidental. This pill is designed to be consumed only by someone who hosts the queen of the parasitic essence eater within their body. We tested it extensively with your blood samples, and it showed significant effects," Isabella explained. "The parasitic essence eater..." Souta muttered, remembering that Saya had given him the pill during their operation against the Red Matter Association. "So, what can this pill do?" Souta asked. "It''s for the task you requested," Torkez replied. "You mean..." "Yes, it''s for cultivating the king of the parasitic essence eater. This pill is designed to create a king inside your body. That''s why I mentioned it''s not a coincidence you have it," Torkez explained. "I see..." Souta nodded. Since Saya was still asleep, there was nothing he could do about that for now. At least, having this pill meant he could cultivate the king of the parasitic essence eater. "Should I just consume it? Is there a procedure?" Souta asked. "The king will not manifest from nothing. You have many normal parasites in your body, correct? One of these normal parasites will ascend to become the king. As far as I understand, their species can only have one king and one queen," Torkez explained. Once the king of the parasitic essence eater was born, the number of parasites would increase once again. "Souta, if you''re ready to take it, please sit here," Isabella instructed, guiding him to a chair. She attempted to pierce his skin with needles, but they failed to penetrate. "It won''t work even if I lower my guard. I''ve already deactivated all of my resistances, leaving only the toughest parts of my flesh. You''ll need to infuse mana into the needle to pierce it," Souta explained to her. Having recently leveled up, his body''s toughness had significantly increased, making him far more resilient than before. Isabella infused her mana into the needle, but it still didn''t work. Souta explained that the needle was made of low-quality materials, so Isabella resorted to using her weapon to make a small incision before attempting to insert the needle. "We need to document the changes," Isabella said. Souta nodded, and when he received a signal from Torkez, he placed the pill in his mouth. The pill released energy as it dissolved immediately. He felt a strange sensation coursing through his body. Thump! Souta sensed as if countless ants were crawling over his body. All the parasites within him seemed to vibrate, resonating with the queen. Isabella and Torkez paused, observing their palms. They noticed their flesh moving in a strange manner, which wasn''t surprising since both of them also hosted parasites. All the parasites in Souta''s body were experiencing the same sensation. Anyone who had received parasites couldn''t help but glance towards the lab. The parasitic essence eaters resonated with the movements of the queen. Souta furrowed his brow. He felt his energy depleting rapidly. "This..." Despite the pain, Souta endured, knowing he had to go through this. He could sense changes occurring within his body. One of the parasites began to transform. Ding! [A parasitic essence eater in your body is evolving! Do you want to expel it? Yes/No?] ''No,'' Souta replied. A substantial amount of energy from Souta''s monster core and [Nebula Heart] was being drained. He observed the changes passively, ready to intervene if he sensed any potential harm. [5%... 17%... 32%... 46%... 63%... 81%... 99%...] Ding! [The transformation is complete!] As the transformation finished, Souta felt that only twenty percent of his energy remained in both of his energy pools. He hadn''t anticipated that transforming a parasite into a king parasite would consume so much energy. [King Parasitic Essence Eater] With this, he could now gather more parasites to bolster his army. Their strength would ascend to a higher level, and their formidable regeneration ability meant they wouldn''t easily perish. Souta raised his hand, and strands of flesh emerged from his skin, as if he could control every fiber of muscle in his body. Then, without hesitation... Souta swiftly drew his sword and swung it at his neck. Blood spurted out, and his head fell into his palm. Torkez and Isabella were taken aback, but they quickly noticed something strange happening. The flesh from his hand rapidly attached itself to the flesh on his neck. His head slowly moved across his arm before settling back onto his neck. "So I''m essentially immortal now..." Souta remarked. "Immortal?" Torkez exclaimed, wide-eyed. "Yeah, I can regenerate from any type of wounds, even if only a single cell remains, but it''s not that simple. Regenerating my energy pool is challenging since it contains my energy. Fortunately, my energy pool is now linked to my inner consciousness," Souta explained. Though the connection was small, it was better than nothing. He remembered a time in the past when his energy pool was damaged, and he had to consume numerous mana potions to recover it. Such a method wouldn''t have worked if his energy pool had been destroyed back then. It''s one of the differences between mortals and gods. "Additionally, the strength I gain when using my parasite has increased threefold. As for cultivating parasites, I still have no idea when a newborn parasite will emerge." Souta slowly explained to Torkez and Isabella as they bombarded him with questions. With the completion of the parasite king, the Astros'' forces will gradually become stronger over time. It was unexpected that the pill could facilitate the cultivation of a parasite king. "You both did great. For now, feel free to do as you please. I don''t have any tasks for either of you," Souta said to Torkez and Isabella. Afterward, he returned to his office, looking visibly tired. A significant amount of energy from his pool had been depleted, prompting him to seek some rest. He planned to check on Gragas and Doranjan''s progress later. "The higher-ups forbid me from leaving Hall Plains... I had some matters to attend to, but it seems I won''t be able to do them. What should I do?" Souta muttered, tapping his finger on the table in contemplation. "Alice..." Souta said calmly, his voice echoing through the entire building. Shortly after, Alice knocked on the door and entered the room. She glanced at Souta before taking a seat. "I''ve heard from Torkez that the cultivation of the parasite king is complete," she said. "You already knew?" Souta raised an eyebrow. "He sent a report detailing the experiments, including the funds used. At the end, it stated the experiments were complete and further work wasn''t necessary," Alice explained. "He''s likely focusing on the Guardian Fortress now. If he finishes it, we can construct and enhance another fortress." "I see... Tell him to prioritize his training. The Guardian Fortress is important, but individual strength shouldn''t be neglected," Souta replied. Chapter 1024: Game Eztein was sitting comfortably on a sofa with a glass of wine in his hand. He was in a place called Gedron, ruled by humans. Their technology was quite advanced, and they had all sorts of entertainment. He thought he would be able to find their goal easily, but it seemed he was wrong. There were other species on other planets, all participants in some kind of battle game where the losers faced severe punishment, sometimes even the extinction of their race. So Vashno, Franklin, and Eztein decided to separate to find their goal in this universe. Eztein watched the television as the reporter explained the difficulty of the portals that had appeared in some places. "Portals... That''s the result of losing the matches against other races. A pocket dimension containing various monsters appears in some places on this planet." The situation of the human race on the planet Gedron wasn''t good. They were ranked near the bottom. "The beings that initiated this game are the most suspicious ones. Well, Vashno is already trying to find them, so we will know soon," Eztein thought. He placed the glass of wine on the table before standing up. He fixed his clothes and left the room. "I have to do something." Souta had told Vashno that this was dangerous, so they had to be careful. Once they encountered something beyond their capabilities, they should return to Imperium and report to the local authorities there. ... In a huge city, smoke rose from the buildings as flames spread. Various people were fighting monsters that had appeared from the portals. It was a large outbreak. People were running for their lives as the monsters hunted them down. Swoosh!! A man was leaning against a wall, watching the scene unfold. He saw a mutant like himself get sliced in two by a monster. He placed a communicator near his mouth and said, "We can''t hold on anymore! We need reinforcements! The monsters are advancing at high speed! This is threat level A! We need high-level mutants!" Mutants were humans who had gained supernatural abilities by participating in the game. They were like representatives of humanity. "Hold on! If the monsters break out, millions of civilians will die!" someone shouted. "We can''t close the portal! There are too many monsters pouring out! We''re stuck near the portal!" another voice responded. While the people in the city were being hunted down by monsters, a group stealthily approached the portal in hopes of closing it. Unfortunately, the monsters discovered them and almost wiped out the entire group. The man gritted his teeth as he tightly held the gun in his hand. He poured his mana into the gun before stepping out and firing at the monsters in his line of sight. Bang! Bang! Bang! Explosions echoed throughout the city as the battle raged on. Swoosh!! The man suddenly stopped moving as he noticed a figure land from above in his field of vision. It was Eztein. Eztein looked around and locked his gaze on the monsters. He raised his hand, and a metal pipe flew into his palm. "This is enough," he muttered. From his point of view, this universe wasn''t dangerous at all. It was probably because the powerful experts were hiding in the shadows. So, what he needed to do was simple: attract the attention of those experts to see if they would respond. Eztein smirked as he infused his mana into the metal pipe. In the next moment, he stepped forward and swung the pipe heavily at the nearest monster. Bang! With just a single hit, the monster exploded into tiny pieces. "Not yet," Eztein muttered. He moved at high speed, eliminating the nearby monsters. Bang! Bang! Bang! In just a second, more than a hundred monsters exploded under the might of his metal pipe. No monster could withstand a single hit from Eztein; they died without leaving a corpse. Eztein arrived in front of the portal and pushed his hand forward. He grabbed the space inside and twisted it, channeling his energy to collapse the pocket dimension on the other side. Boom!! The space trembled, and the energy fluctuated for a moment. Eztein shook his hand as the pocket dimension collapsed. The man from before collapsed to his knees. He lifted his head and saw Eztein walking over. "A transcendent..." he muttered. Eztein stopped at the corner, looking at the scene of the city. Smoke was rising from buildings, and monsters were flying all over the place. The humans were trying to hold back these vicious creatures. "I should finish this in a flashy way. Even though I''ve experienced war, seeing a brutal sight like this still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don''t like it." Eztein stepped into the air as his mana started rising, causing the entire space to vibrate. This world was too fragile, and he was only using a little bit of his energy. ... News quickly spread like wildfire: the monster outbreak in City Gorge had been stopped by a transcendent being. Photos and videos of a man killing all the monsters were posted on the internet. Many people were talking about this mysterious figure, and various governments were trying to find him, but all traces of him had disappeared. At this moment, Eztein was in a bar with a different appearance, watching the news. He wondered if the people who created the game would notice him. Maybe preventing a monster outbreak wasn''t enough to catch their attention. "A match against the dwarves is going to be held today. I should use this opportunity to disrupt the game since they don''t want to show themselves," Eztein thought to himself. He would force them out, whether they wanted to be revealed or not. After that, he would leave the investigation to Franklin and Vashno, who hadn''t shown themselves yet. Hmm... Eztein looked down at his palm and noticed that the parasite in his body seemed to be acting strangely. ''What''s going on? Is the boss activating the control of the queen?'' he wondered. The strange feeling didn''t last long. He thought that maybe Souta had done something. It wasn''t a major concern, as it wouldn''t hinder his mission. He would ask about it later once he returned to the Astros. Soon, the time for the battle arrived. It seemed that the battle was being broadcast around the world. "It''s here..." Eztein muttered, focusing his attention on the television. The top experts of the human teams disappeared and reappeared in a strange place where the contest would be held. About one hundred people were set to represent humanity. This was a crucial battle for humanity. If they lost, dozens of portals would manifest simultaneously in Gedron. The one hundred humans found themselves in a vast land filled with volcanoes. They looked around, pale and anxious, realizing the daunting challenge before them. This environment greatly favored their opponents. Suddenly, the ground shook violently, and dozens of dwarves emerged from the earth. They were all armed with heavy weapons. The humans looked grim, aware of their disadvantage. They were weak-much weaker than the dwarves before them. Bang!! Suddenly, a loud sound echoed as a crack appeared between the two groups. Slowly, a figure emerged from the rift. It was Eztein. "Hello, I''m sorry to disturb you all, but I think it''s time to end this," Eztein said, waving his hand. Many were shocked by this sudden turn of events. Someone had managed to disrupt the competition between the two races. Eztein looked at the two groups, left and right, and smiled. "The strongest of humans and dwarves. You all possess quite interesting things." He stepped forward and approached the nearest dwarf. Throwing a punch into the air, he caused a spatial rift to form. "What is this? A small spatial storage? Damn, not even the people from my world use this," Eztein remarked. He pushed his hand into the rift and, when he withdrew it, he was holding a massive sword. "This... That''s my sword?!" The dwarf was flabbergasted. "Spatial storage is useful, but it''s only practical here where people aren''t very strong. In my world, many would be able to shatter your spatial storage. Especially since spatial storage lacks a complete law and concept," Eztein explained in a way the dwarf could understand. Only those with spatial attributes had the confidence to use spaces as storage. They could seamlessly blend the storage without any spatial fluctuations. ... In an unknown place, Vashno watched the broadcast. "So, Eztein is finally making a move... He''s planning to attract the attention of the people behind the game. I thought Franklin would be the one to do that, given his personality." Vashno observed as Eztein forcefully intruded into the space where the competition was being held. It was a simple trick with the laws and concepts being weaker in this universe. "I''ll use this opportunity to infiltrate their other location and track where the power is converging." He stood, adjusted his clothes, and gazed at the stars. Chapter 1025: Danger "I''m tired of this! I''m going to destroy it!" Eztein threw a heavy punch into the air. The space cracked, and a loud sound reverberated throughout the entire area. Bang! Shockwaves swept out, blowing the humans and dwarves several hundred meters away. "Playing God?! I know you''re watching this broadcast, so come here and let me join too!" Eztein punched the air once again, and the cracks grew wider. The dwarves and humans were shocked by the power Eztein wielded to shatter space. "What is this power?!" "He''s breaking the space!!" They had never experienced this kind of power before. If they hadn''t seen it with their own eyes, they would never believe such power existed. Eztein glanced at the dwarf and human representatives. His hands emitted intense energy as he forcefully grabbed the space and twisted it. "Go back to where you came from! This is not a place for you!" He opened a rift in space and sent the representatives away. He knew that if a battle occurred here, they wouldn''t survive. After all, their combat prowess was below D-rank. Even an ordinary farmer in Imperium could overpower them. Eztein suddenly narrowed his eyes and turned his head. "There you are!" He stretched out his hand as an even greater amount of energy erupted from his body. Boom!! The people watching the broadcast suddenly saw the screen turn black. The broadcast was cut off as Eztein discovered something. Many were curious about what would happen next, while others felt fear from the power they had witnessed. Someone had managed to intrude on the battle. Back in the unknown space, Eztein stood with a cold look on his face. Beneath his foot was a man with purple skin and long, pointed ears. "W-Who are you?!" the elf shouted. "A First Shackle Realm... Have you grown tired and decided to play god in this place?" Eztein said with murderous intent. "First Shackle? How do you know that? Don''t tell me you came from a higher dimension?" The elf''s eyes widened in surprise. After all, the people in this world didn''t know about the existence of shackles. Only beings treated as gods knew about them. Eztein pressed his foot down harder and said, "Tell me who is behind this game, or else I''ll kill you painfully. And don''t you dare tell me you''re the only one behind it, because I won''t believe such lies. I know you''re too weak to achieve this alone." "Y-You...?!" The elf glared at him. "To be able to do this... it must be someone stronger," Eztein muttered. ... Meanwhile, Vashno arrived in an unknown place. Dozens of people lay unconscious on the ground. "It will be easier for me if this world is lower..." Vashno muttered. He was originally from a lower world, where he was like a godlike being, but this world was higher than his homeworld. It was hard for him to manipulate the laws here. His senses swept the area. "I''m close. The broadcast has been cut, so they''re focused on Eztein." His figure flashed, and he quickly reappeared in another part of the planet. He stood in the sky, looking down at the towering buildings. Vashno immediately released his energy as he descended, suppressing every living being in the surroundings. Hmm? Vashno raised his eyebrows, and a smile formed on his face. "It seems I''m in the right place." As soon as he said those words, a figure burst through the building. The figure was a man with a pair of wolf ears. The energy around him was so intense that it made the whole space vibrate. "Two Shackles... But it''s not enough," Vashno said as he observed the demi that appeared. Without saying another word, Vashno moved at high speed, arriving in front of the demi. He raised his hand and pressed the man to the ground with a powerful surge of energy. Bang!! For the current Vashno, a Two Shackles Realm was too weak. He could easily subdue someone at this level unless the expert was exceptional. The demi didn''t have a chance to fight back. He thought the opponent was just a little bit strong, but who would have thought he was beyond his league? "W-Who are you?! Don''t tell me you''re with the man who interrupted the battle?!" the demi glared at him. "If you''re talking about Eztein, then you''re right. Can you tell me your background and what your organization is doing? If I find out you''re not related to what I''m looking for, then I''ll leave you alone," Vashno asked. "It''s already too late. My comrades are about to attack your friend. Once that happens, I''m sure you won''t let me go free," the demi said. "Can you contact them?" Vashno asked. The demi shook his head and said, "It''s already too late. Also, we aren''t afraid of you. You''re not the only higher-dimensional being that has found our world." "What do you mean by that?" Vashno narrowed his eyes. "Ehe, those people are going to attack your friend. You can''t stop them. They''ve always visited this world to entertain themselves. To them, this world is nothing but a mere playground. You''re lucky I''m the only one left to guard here, or else you wouldn''t be able to act like this. Your friend acted as bait so you could find this place but... Ehehe!" The demi laughed. The demi glanced at him and added, "We have dozens of bases on different planets, and you''re lucky you chose this one. Either way, I''m gonna die once they find out I let someone do this." Vashno snorted and swung his hand down, slicing off the demi''s four limbs. The demi screamed in pain as his blood spurted all over the ground. His voice echoed through the surroundings, but no matter how much he screamed, no one was going to hear him. Vashno tortured the demi for a whole five minutes. For the demi, those five minutes felt like a lifetime. "Tsk, I don''t want to torture anyone, but he forced me since Eztein is in danger," Vashno said with a displeased look on his face. He descended to the building and started rummaging through the files, according to what he had heard from the demi. After a while, Vashno finished gathering the information, and what he found was surprising. He had a grim look on his face as he realized the danger in this mission. Swoosh!! Vashno suddenly raised his head, sensing a presence in the sky. "Franklin?!" The person who arrived was Franklin. The information he had gathered also pointed to this location, but it seemed someone had been faster. "I didn''t expect to see you here," Franklin said upon spotting Vashno. Vashno cut straight to the point. "You need to go now." "Me?" Franklin pointed to himself. "Yes. Eztein is in danger. I''ll go help him, while you head back to Imperium and send this evidence to the local authorities there," Vashno said. "No, I''ll go help Eztein. You know the truth, so you''ll be able to explain it to the local authorities. Also, you''re faster than I am, so you can call reinforcements more quickly," Franklin said. Vashno took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine, I don''t have time, so I''ll go now." "Sure, then I''ll go help Eztein," Franklin replied. "Here, take this. Once you''ve found Eztein, run to the different points on this map. There are fourteen planets you need to visit and find something valuable that Souta might call a treasure. I think the treasure Souta is referring to is hidden on one of those planets," Vashno said. "I''ll remember your words," Franklin nodded. The two immediately separated. Franklin didn''t know the full details; he simply trusted that if Vashno said Eztein was in danger, then Eztein was indeed in a precarious situation. Vashno moved as fast as he could, tearing through the space of this dimension. There were two organizations in this world that came from Imperium: the Blackstone Immortal Sect and the Deadly Sins. These two organizations used the lower dimension to exchange information and smuggle artifacts to avoid detection by the authorities in Imperium. The worst-case scenario was that Deadly Sins officers would arrive today. The Blackstone Immortal Sect wasn''t as strong as the Deadly Sins or other major factions, but it still had experts at the Hero rank. Whenever they descended into this world, the conflicts between races became their form of entertainment. From the looks of it, the Deadly Sins were planning something dangerous. They were waging war on the God''s Continent at the moment. "We discovered something big, but how did Souta find out about it? He also mentioned a treasure here... Maybe the treasure is the artifacts being smuggled. It''s good that I gave Franklin that map." Chapter 1026: Fight Eztein looked into the distance and narrowed his eyes. He sensed several intense energy fluctuations heading in his direction. "So, they are finally taking this seriously. The people who play at being gods are angry," he said with a mocking look on his face. Swoosh!! In the next few seconds, several cracks appeared in the fabric of space, and unknown figures emerged from them. They all stared at Eztein, intense energy radiating from their bodies. Each one of them was far from ordinary. "Shackled Realms... Fourteen Shackled Realm experts. For a lower dimension, this number is significant. It seems something is truly happening in the shadows," Eztein said as he observed them one by one. "Where are you from? We know everyone of great strength in this universe, which means you must be an outsider," an unknown elven expert said in a cold tone. "An outsider? Then we have to eliminate him. No one from the outside should know the truth," a human expert added, glaring at Eztein. A man with long black hair and a pair of swords hanging on his back stared at Eztein. After a moment, he spoke, "Eliminate him. He''s an expert from Imperium. I don''t know why he is here, but this information must not be spread." If word got out about this world, dozens of experts from Imperium would invade, seeking whatever valuable resources were hidden here. Even though this was just a weak world, there were experts who could benefit from its resources. Once that happened, they wouldn''t be able to dominate and rule this world. Swoosh!! Three people immediately rushed toward Eztein. Their energy erupted, covering a vast expanse and shaking the entirety of the pocket dimension. "Hmph!" Eztein snorted as he pulled out his weapon. His spear glowed with a bright light as he thrust it forward, colliding with the three experts. Boom!! The pocket dimension immediately collapsed under the force of the extremely powerful experts. They reappeared on a vast planet covered with water. The inhabitants of this planet quickly felt the intense energy vibrations in the air. They shivered as they had never experienced this kind of pressure in their entire lives. To them, the experts fighting now were like gods-beings beyond their comprehension. The elven expert stared at the spatial fragments in the air with a gloomy expression. "The pocket dimension where the game was held has collapsed. Without it, we will not be able to continue the game between planets anymore." "It doesn''t matter. As long as we kill that man, the price is nothing. We can create pocket dimensions like that again, but if word of this gets out, your world, your universe, will no longer be in your hands," the man with the pair of swords replied, looking at the elven expert. The elven expert remained silent. She knew the man with the swords was from the so-called Divine World. She didn''t know the full extent of that place, but she had heard there were countless beings there who could easily destroy her universe. "So you have to kill him, whether you want to or not," the man insisted. Boom! Boom! A series of powerful explosions erupted as Eztein crashed into the ground. He stood up and tasted blood in his mouth. Looking up, he saw the experts gazing down at him. Eztein glanced left and right, seeing the devastation they had caused on this planet in such a short amount of time. He needed to bring the fight to outer space to prevent the living beings here from getting caught in the battle. Swoosh!! In the next instant, four experts rushed at him. Eztein tightly clenched his weapon as strings of flesh covered his body. He bent his knees and launched himself into the air, intercepting the four experts. Boom!! He exchanged blows with them while moving towards outer space. He finally understood why gods rarely moved in Imperium-because their movements could affect countless lives and devastate the lands. By the time Eztein reached outer space, he was already fighting eight experts simultaneously while the rest blocked his escape route. Eztein knew there was no way he could escape unless he could overwhelm them all at once. But it was nearly impossible with his current strength. He could only fight these experts and hope that Vashno and Franklin completed their investigation in time. The people living on the planet were enveloped by fear and helplessness as powerful beings far above their level fought fiercely. Tsunamis and earthquakes occurred as the shockwaves swept out, destroying countless infrastructures they had built. "Is this a god?" the leader of the race on this planet muttered, watching the battle with fear in his eyes. The beings above were transcendent. Every time they moved, it caused natural disasters. It was unstoppable in their eyes. Boom! Boom! Boom! Eztein moved as fast as he could, thrusting his spear repeatedly. But his opponents were not easy to defeat. Three of them blocked his attacks while the other three struck him from behind. The remaining two experts cast debuff spells to decrease his combat prowess and buff spells to enhance their allies. Swoosh!! Eztein turned around and saw a huge beam of flames heading in his direction. He knew he couldn''t avoid it, so he raised his spear. With a swift move, he tried to deflect the attack, but it exploded right in front of his face. The explosion caused the entire space to vibrate. Boom!! Eztein''s figure was blown away, crashing into the moon at high speed, causing dust to shoot up into the air. Ugh! Eztein immediately stood up and spat a mouthful of blood. His burned skin and flesh quickly healed thanks to the power of the parasite in his body. ''It''s hard. I wanted it to be easier, but they don''t show any openings. If I try to act, the people watching from a distance will move too. I need to create an opportunity,'' Eztein thought inwardly as he took a deep breath. ''I''ll surprise them with this.'' Eztein narrowed his eyes, but then he felt something change. Ohm! He felt the world come to a halt. All the atoms stopped moving suddenly. Even the experts attacking him had frozen, and their attacks had paused in mid-air. Everything was frozen in time. A beautiful elf stepped forward, looking down at Eztein. ''Time stop?!'' Eztein exclaimed inwardly. Among the fourteen experts, only five people were clearly unaffected by the time stop. These five were far stronger than the other nine experts. Eztein circulated his mana and forcefully broke through the time stop as he unleashed his Element Drive. [Dual Element Drive: Lightning and Fire Force]! His mana surged out like a raging tide as the lightning and fire swept out in every direction. Eztein leaped through the space, arriving in front of the elf. The elf was a little surprised, seeing Eztein break through the time barrier. But it was within her expectations since he came from a higher dimension. With a swift motion, Eztein thrust the spear in his hand forward with elements twisting around its blade. [Night Piercing Thrive]! The elf wanted to avoid the attack but realized that it was too late. The powerful attack had locked onto her, cutting down all of her escape routes. The spear was about to reach the elf when several figures appeared beside Eztein simultaneously. All of them unleashed their Element Drive too. Boom! Eztein gritted his teeth and forced himself to move forward, ignoring the enemies beside him. His spear flashed brilliantly as the elements shot forward, piercing through the body of the elf. At the same time, the enemies managed to land a fierce attack on Eztein''s body. Their attacks collided, causing a massive explosion that destroyed the entire moon. Time returned to normal as the inhabitants of the planet witnessed the destruction of their moon. The shockwaves from the explosion heavily slammed into the side of their planet, destroying everything in sight. Boom!! Eztein emerged from the explosion with his body covered in wounds. The wounds didn''t last long, as they completely healed due to the ability of the parasite. "I couldn''t finish that elf. They managed to change the direction of my attack at the last moment," he muttered in a low voice. He had hoped to surprise them and eliminate one of them when he used his Element Drive, but he failed. His enemies were even prepared for it. Eztein turned his head and saw that the enemies who had been affected by the time stop were starting to move. The elf and the rest of the experts emerged from the smoke, staring at Eztein with frowns on their faces. They were surprised by his regeneration ability. "A low-tier healing spell or any ability could barely work against a being that broke a shackle, yet he managed to heal all of his wounds in an instant," the man with a pair of swords on his back muttered. "This... He almost got me. I''m done with this. I''m going to take this seriously," the elf said with a hint of anger in her tone. Although they managed to change the direction of the attack, avoiding her vital parts, she still sustained injuries. Her shoulder was bleeding badly. Chapter 1027: Sending assassins Souta was sitting in his office, reviewing all the reports from Ekatoe City and Astros. Doranjan was on the other side of the portal, managing all the monsters out there. The situation was quite good since a few monsters had recently achieved the third stage. They were set to receive parasites once a new batch appeared. With the cultivation of the parasite king completed, Astros would be able to reach even higher levels of power. Souta needed to carefully consider the next actions for his group, including the development of Astros and his candidacy as the Hero of Athena. Astros was a dominant force in the Hall Plains. No organization in the land could threaten them with Kessa, a fifth-stage monster, among their ranks. The only issue was their lack of higher-level experts. Although Alice and the others were strong, it wasn''t enough for the rapidly changing times. They had to keep up or risk being eliminated. Alice was on the verge of breaking the fifth shackle. The final burst had accelerated her progression, so she only needed a little more to reach her goal. Eilish was close to breaking the great shackle, which would elevate her to a Four Shackles expert. Amanda was working on gaining Dream Power with the help of the [Nightmare Mask]. Kessa had accompanied her to Vanko to deal with the higher-ranking Sovereigns there. Souta wasn''t too concerned about Amanda''s safety, as Kessa was with her. There were only a few monsters in Vanko that could challenge Kessa. Souta opened a drawer and took out a map. As he examined it, his brows furrowed. "Anything suitable for Alice''s current strength... Something that could push her to the Fifth Shackle." Souta drew a circle on the map, marking a potential location for Alice''s next challenge. He then decided to call her in for a discussion. A few moments later, Alice arrived at his office. "I was about to come here when you called me," she said as she took a seat in the vacant chair. She glanced at the piles of paper on the table and asked, "So, what do you need me to do?" "You know I had a task in mind for you," Souta said with a chuckle. "I''m aware. Spending time with you has made me quite familiar with your methods," Alice replied with a faint smile. "You''re right." Souta moved the piles of paper to the floor and opened the map on the table. "Here, you''ll need to go to this location." "That place...?" Alice raised her eyebrows in curiosity. "Yes, it''s near the territory of Takamagahara. Specifically, there''s a small city called Uben. You should head there first and find an inn named Densetsu," Souta explained. "An inn named Densetsu. I''ll remember it," Alice said, nodding. Souta continued, "When you get there, give the owner seventy platinum coins and tell them you want to place an order." "Seventy platinum coins?! That''s an enormous amount-equivalent to several tons of mana stones!" Alice exclaimed, astonished by the sum. "No, no, no. The price is appropriate. I''ll explain: the owner of the inn is a member of an organization called Kuro no Ansatsu, an assassin group under the Koga Clan." "An assassin group?" Alice asked, intrigued. "Yes. The reason the price is so high is because the target is quite formidable. In fact, seventy platinum coins is a modest amount. Kuro no Ansatsu is a powerful assassin group affiliated with the Koga Clan, one of the most prestigious assassin clans in the entire territory of Takamagahara. The leader of the Koga Clan has even achieved godhood." "And the person you want to have assassinated?" "The leader of the Wingless Crow. I want him dead. Since he had the audacity to send assassins after me, I believe it''s only fair to return the favor. If I could leave Hall Plains freely right now, I''d handle him personally." "I see..." "Anyway, seventy platinum coins are just the down payment. Once the order is completed, we''ll pay them double the annual budget of the Astros. I''ve already compiled all the information I know about the Wingless Crow to help reduce the final cost. The price for an expert of that level is significant." "I understand." Alice nodded. She then asked, "Is there anything else you need me to do?" "Yes, there''s one more thing. After you place the order, you''ll need to go here." Souta pointed to a location on the map. He continued, "With your current strength, this should be manageable and won''t take up much of your time, so you should be able to return quickly." Alice took note of all the details for her task. She would be going alone this time. "Oh, I forgot. The Dragon Council sent this letter for you." Alice placed a letter on the table. "Dragon Council..." Souta glanced at the letter. Alice looked at him, as if wanting to say something, but she shook her head instead. She then bid farewell and left the room. Souta sighed and massaged his eyes. His vision was gone, and it was challenging to act as if he hadn''t lost his eyesight. He hadn''t told Alice about his condition, as it would only cause her unnecessary worry. Fortunately, his condition wasn''t permanent, and it didn''t bother him much since his perception was exceptionally high. His advanced perception could effectively function as a replacement for his lost eyesight. "Franklin and the rest are still on a mission. Their task is quite challenging since it involves the Deadly Sins. They won''t be able to gain the support of the local authorities unless they''ve gathered concrete evidence that the Deadly Sins are present. Vashno is there as well, so he''ll know what to do if things go awry. He''s quite clever, unlike Eztein." Souta tapped the table with his finger. He aimed to prevent any actions by the Deadly Sins in that land, near the border of the Immortal Land, which is ruled by the Heavenly Court. This was one of the missions he had undertaken in the game. He had thwarted the Deadly Sins in that lower dimension, leading to the downfall of the Blackstone Immortal Sect. He''s simply following the game''s script to ensure the situation doesn''t deviate too much from what he knows. With so many unexpected developments, he needed to stick to some of the planned paths. "After that... Gluttony will personally move. The target is..." Souta furrowed his brows. It would be a battle between gods. Somewhere in an unknown place... Red Mist lay on a bed, slowly opening her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. She held her head, feeling a headache. "Ugh... Where am I?" she muttered as she pushed herself into a seated position. She looked left and right, unable to recall the room she was in. Something peculiar about the environment caught her attention. Her perception and mana couldn''t spread out, and the mana density in the air was dozens of times higher than normal. It was clear she was in a special environment. She recalled the events leading up to this moment. The last thing she remembered was the collapse of the Dream Palace. The Blood Lightning Monster had destroyed the core of the Walpurgis Night. "I managed to survive..." she muttered to herself, feeling disoriented after the destruction of the Walpurgis Night. Red Mist stood up and exited the room. She entered the living room and saw someone on a reclining chair, reading a book. The figure turned her head, her face obscured by a dark veil. The unknown woman smiled beneath her veil and said, "You''re awake. There''s plenty of food on the table to replenish your energy." Red Mist glanced at the table and asked, "Where am I?" "This place?" The woman gestured around. "This is the Everlight Realm, a special dimension between dreams and reality. It was created by the God of Dream long ago." "So why did you save me?" Red Mist inquired. "I didn''t save you," the woman replied. "You were sent away from the Dream Realm, and the spirit within you was drawn to this place. It brought you here. However, I did allow you entry, as no one can enter the Everlight Realm without my permission." "Fiamma?" Red Mist placed her hand on her chest, feeling that her spirit was in a deep slumber. She had used too much spirit power during the Walpurgis Night, leaving Fiamma exhausted. The unknown woman glanced at the book in her hand and said, "The Walpurgis Night was indeed destroyed. All contact with it vanished the moment it activated its isolation barrier, and when that barrier fell, the destruction was immediate. The Call of the Witch will not occur again, as all major witches capable of performing it have perished." "The Call of the Witch?" Red Mist turned her head, intrigued. This was the first time she had heard of this term. "It''s a relic of the past," the woman explained. "Burning at the stake, dying in flames, and purifying the soul weapon. The Soul Tribe is not something to meddle with. Go out, and you''ll face a trial. Your companion, the spirit within you, is the key, as she is the one who received its calling." The woman pointed toward the door. "Who are you?" Red Mist asked, her curiosity piqued. "I''m just a woman from a lost tribe," the unknown woman replied. She glanced at Red Mist and slowly removed the dark veil from her face, revealing a third eye at the center of her forehead. "The Three-Eyed Tribe," Red Mist whispered, recognizing the ancient lineage. Chapter 1028: Searching Eztein spat out the blood in his mouth and stared defiantly at the experts surrounding him. With a smirk, he said, "A lower dimension housing this level of strength? It''s more likely you guys are in contact with Imperium." "Kill him!" the elf commanded coldly. Swoosh!! Five experts immediately rushed at Eztein with blinding speed. He tightened his grip on his spear and launched himself forward to meet them. Bang!! Ripples swept through the space as Eztein collided with his opponents. His elemental powers surged, covering a vast expanse of space with crackling lightning and blazing fire. The clash of energies was intense, each strike sending shockwaves that reverberated through the void. Eztein fought fiercely, his spear dancing through the air as he parried and thrust with precision. Despite the odds, he managed to hold his ground, using his Element Drive to its fullest potential. The combination of lightning and fire created a deadly aura around him, making it difficult for his enemies to approach. The elf and the remaining experts watched from a distance, their expressions a mix of frustration and caution. They underestimated Eztein''s resilience and power, but they were determined to bring him down. The battle raged on, the void filled with the echoes of clashing elements and fierce determination. "That''s it!" Eztein laughed as he swung his spear down with immense force. One of the five experts attempted to block it but was blown away, hurtling several thousand kilometers through space. Eztein''s elemental prowess was overwhelming. His mastery over lightning and fire was greater than his opponents'', as he was close to achieving the second stage: Integration. The only thing holding him back was his power level. If not for this limitation, he would have already reached the Integration Stage. The scale of the battle was unimaginably vast, akin to gods clashing for supremacy. The locals on the nearby planet were gripped by despair, knowing that the destruction of their moon would cause catastrophic problems. Half of the planet''s surface had been devastated, leading to countless deaths. "I have to move farther from the planet. The destructiveness of someone at our level exceeds my expectations," Eztein muttered while blocking and dodging the relentless attacks of his opponents. With a swift motion, he propelled himself away from the planet, drawing his enemies along with him. The void became their battlefield, free from the constraints of a nearby celestial body. The experts pursued him, their determination unyielding. Eztein''s elemental attacks intensified, each strike pushing his enemies back. His laughter echoed through the emptiness of space, a testament to his fierce spirit and unyielding resolve. The clash of elements created a dazzling display of power, illuminating the darkness of the void with flashes of lightning and bursts of fire. Boom!! Suddenly, a powerful energy erupted as space collapsed around them. Eztein and his opponents momentarily paused, turning their heads to see a huge spatial rift forming before them. "This energy signature..." Eztein muttered, recognizing the familiar aura spreading out. The elf and the other experts narrowed their eyes, clearly unsettled by the unexpected intruder. An old man stepped out of the spatial rift with a smile on his face, his hands clasped behind his back as he surveyed the destruction they had caused. "Franklin, why are you here?!" Eztein exclaimed, surprised to see him. That''s right, the old man who had arrived was none other than Franklin himself. "Why am I here? Of course, it''s to help you," Franklin replied matter-of-factly. "You''re weaker than me. I need Vashno here," Eztein dismissed Franklin''s words. "Vashno? He went back, so you won''t find him anywhere in this universe," Franklin shrugged. He then glanced at the experts and said, "Anyway, are they our opponents? This should be entertaining." "Damn... Why is this old man the one who arrived?" Eztein gritted his teeth in frustration. He wanted to fight Franklin himself, but he couldn''t afford to be distracted with the current threat of the experts who wanted him dead. Franklin glanced at Eztein from the corner of his eye and said in a low voice, "We need to get out of this place. There''s something we need to find. Also, it seems that more enemies will appear soon." "Huh?!" Eztein was taken aback. "I don''t have time to explain. They are coming, so follow me," Franklin urged. He then raised both of his hands and smashed the space around him. Bang!! The fragments of space scattered everywhere as seven experts rushed toward Franklin and Eztein. The elf and another three experts stepped forward, launching powerful attacks. "Damn!" Eztein cursed as he raised his spear and channeled a large amount of energy. A barrier appeared, absorbing the brunt of the enemies'' attacks. The resulting explosion shook the entire space, teetering on the edge of collapse under the might of these experts. Franklin stepped back into the spatial rift, observing the aftermath of the powerful attacks. Although he craved the thrill of battle, he knew their mission was paramount. They needed to reach the planets Vashno had mentioned. "Let''s go!" Franklin urged Eztein. Before Eztein could respond, a man with a pair of swords hanging on his back appeared above him. In a swift motion, he drew the swords and swung them heavily at his target. Swoosh!! Eztein quickly reacted. His elemental energy gathered at the tip of his spear as he thrust it forward. The collision of their attacks sent shockwaves rippling through space. Both fighters were thrown back, crashing into nearby planets. Eztein gritted his teeth, feeling the impact reverberate through his body. He stood up, shaking off the debris, and glared at his opponent. Franklin moved swiftly, his body enveloped in strings of flesh. He extended his palm, releasing dozens of energy spheres towards their enemies. Bang! Bang! Franklin landed beside Eztein. "Come on, let''s go." Eztein got up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He shot a glare at Franklin before following him. The two quickly leapt through the spatial rifts. "Don''t worry, I''ll help you. We need to find the treasure as soon as possible," Franklin said with a laugh. "You should be the one to return to Imperium. Vashno is more familiar with lower dimensions. He can handle more than we can in Imperium," Eztein replied. Franklin chuckled. "I''ll show you later what I''ve learned. The laws here are entirely different from those in Imperium." Eztein remained silent, his thoughts racing. The enemies they faced were formidable, and the stakes were higher than ever. They had to stay focused and work together to achieve their goal. As they traversed the rift, the space around them shimmered with strange energies. Franklin''s laughter echoed in the void, a stark contrast to the tension Eztein felt. "We''re close," Franklin said, his tone becoming more serious. "The coordinates Vashno provided are just ahead." Swoosh!! In a faraway place, the space shattered and two figures emerged. They were Eztein and Franklin. "What is this?" Eztein asked, looking down at the huge planet below them. "A planet," Franklin replied. "I can see that. I want to know what we''re doing here," Eztein said, clenching his fist tightly. "It''s one of the locations Vashno mentioned. I''ll scan this planet, so keep those guys busy for a minute," Franklin said, waving his hand before descending. Swoosh!! In an instant, Franklin descended onto the vast land, scanning the entire area with his mana. He noticed that most of the living beings on this planet were elves. The elves naturally sensed his arrival since he wasn''t trying to hide his energy. They stared at his figure floating in the sky, seemingly like a god. Eztein, still hovering above, prepared himself for any potential threats. "Hurry up, Franklin," he muttered under his breath. Franklin closed his eyes, extending his mana throughout the planet, searching for any traces of the treasure or clues Vashno had mentioned. "A transcendent being. A being that managed to shred the limit of a mortal body," muttered one of the strongest elves on the planet. For the elves, beings who transcended their mortal limits became higher-dimensional entities, unbound by the laws of their universe. Despite countless attempts by elves on their planet to break these limits, all had failed. There were many paths to transcendence, but each was extremely difficult. The success rate was less than one percent, making transcendent beings rare across all the planets in the universe that harbored life. Using mana or manipulating the laws and concepts of the universe- each method was nearly impossible to achieve. "What should we do?" one of the elves asked. "Can we fight something like that?" another elf asked, their voices tinged with panic. They were anxious, uncertain about Franklin''s intentions and why such a powerful being had descended upon their world. "We must remain calm," said the strongest elf, his voice steady. "We don''t know why he is here, but we must be prepared. Summon the council and alert all high-ranking mages and warriors. We need to be ready for anything." The elves quickly moved to follow his orders. Messengers were dispatched, and the air buzzed with urgency as they mobilized their forces. Boom!! The space vibrated as a large amount of energy fluctuated. Franklin looked up and narrowed his eyes. "They''re here. I need to make it quick." Eztein had already engaged the enemies in the sky. Despite his strength, he couldn''t hold all of them off indefinitely. Three experts had landed on the planet, actively searching for Franklin. Franklin knew this would happen. He flew around as fast as he could, scanning the terrain for any signs of treasure beyond this world. Anything above orange grade would suffice. Boom!! Boom!! Explosions echoed as the battle intensified. News of this clash spread rapidly across different species in the universe. Transcendent beings had appeared and started fighting out of nowhere, leaving a trail of destruction and casualties in their wake. The intense battle between transcendent beings reverberated across the cosmos, disturbing numerous civilizations on different planets. The conflicts weren''t confined to one world; multiple planets felt the tremors of their clashing powers. This disturbance drew attention to the game, where species competed under the watchful eyes of mysterious overseers. The players in this cosmic game realized that the overseers had taken drastic measures to eliminate an unknown man, disrupting the fragile balance that existed. Meanwhile, Vashno was tearing through space, traversing a special, enigmatic realm. Countless interchanging spiral patterns surrounded him, constantly shifting and transforming. These patterns blended into a kaleidoscope of colors and emitted a strange screeching sound that echoed directly in his mind. The spirals morphed into countless eyes, all fixated on him with an eerie, emotionless gaze. Vashno was familiar with this place, having passed through it when descending into the lower dimension. It resembled a hyperspace, a liminal zone separating the lower dimensions from the Mother Universe where Imperium resided. Ordinary individuals couldn''t withstand the mental strain of this space. Only those who had broken through one of the limits could traverse it safely. The experience of passing through this realm often altered a person''s mindset, with the effects varying from one individual to another. Initially, Vashno had struggled to comprehend this space. But after arriving in Imperium, he began to suspect that the eyes he saw might belong to entities within Imperium itself. During his first attempt to ascend, Vashno felt as if everything was stripped away-his identity, power, and all his possessions. It was a harrowing experience that left him feeling vulnerable and exposed. Bang!! With a powerful surge, Vashno tore through the space, finally arriving in the Mother Universe. "I''m finally back," he muttered, breathing a sigh of relief. "I need to report this as soon as possible." He hurriedly moved towards his destination, knowing that the information he carried was crucial. The events unfolding in the lower dimensions were of great significance, and the local authorities needed to be informed immediately. Chapter 1029: Meeting Franklin and Eztein had been battling tirelessly across ten different planets, causing massive devastation as their clashes shattered worlds. The intensity of their combat had left both sides exhausted, with the destruction stretching across the universe. Eztein''s voice was strained as he spoke, "This is the eleventh planet... I don''t think I can last longer." Franklin, equally weary, replied, "They are getting weak too." Eztein, despite his fatigue, remained determined. "I know. Their [Element Drive] won''t last much longer. It''s our chance. Our elemental power is stronger than any of theirs, so we will still have the boost from [Element Drive] while theirs will disappear." He took a deep breath and added, "Go now. I''ll handle the rest of them." Franklin raised an eyebrow, surprised by Eztein''s confidence. "You''ll take all of them?" Eztein nodded firmly. "Yes. I will hold them off. You need to find the treasure. I can''t let any of them follow you." Franklin''s expression showed a mix of skepticism and respect. "Alright. I''ll leave it to you." "I don''t want to use my other element since it''s hard to control three elements at the same time," Eztein said. "I see... Then, I''ll come back soon and help you kill those guys," Franklin said before he descended to the planet below. Boom!! An intense energy wave swept out as the space was shattered. Several figures walked out of the rift, looking at Eztein with eyes filled with anger and madness. There were only two targets, and despite their advantages, they had failed to deliver a lethal blow multiple times. "I''m tired of waiting, you know? I''ll take all of you," Eztein said with a smile. The man with a pair of swords narrowed his eyes. He knew that their targets weren''t ordinary experts. "You''re going to stop us alone? I already realized your goal here. All ten planets we''ve visited before have some common elements. It''s related to us," the man with the swords said. The elf glanced at the man before turning her attention back to Eztein. "You''re trying to uncover the truth about us. Unfortunately, you''re going to die today whether you like it or not," the man declared. "Eh~ let''s see if I''ll really die," Eztein replied with a wide grin. He bent his knees and launched himself forward. He raised his other hand, and a massive surge of energy erupted. [Triple Element Drive: Earth, Lightning, and Fire Force]! The overwhelming wave of elemental energy sent the opponents sprawling several thousand kilometers away. Eztein''s affinity with three elements had always been inherent. When Souta first met him, he had only mastered [Earth Force]. In recent battles, he had begun using [Fire Force] and [Lightning Force] as well. Controlling three elements simultaneously was no easy feat, and he deeply respected experts who could manage even more. He knew firsthand the difficulty of [Triple Element Drive]. Boom!! The man''s eyes widened in shock. "Triple elements!" The rest of the experts were equally stunned, but Eztein didn''t give them a moment to regain their composure. He swung his spear diagonally, sending the three elements swirling in their direction. Eztein took another step, covering a vast distance. [Dream Power I]! "When I say I''m going to stop all of you, I mean it. I have the strength to do it." Eztein raised his spear high as white mist seeped out of his body. He then charged forward and thrust the spear. Swoosh!! The man with the pair of swords widened his eyes. He crossed his swords to block the spear. Clang!! He gritted his teeth and tasted blood in his mouth as the three elements swirled powerfully at the spear''s tip. In the next instant, he was sent flying. His figure vanished and crashed heavily into the sun of this star system. Boom!! Eztein took a deep breath as he surveyed the remaining opponents. His Dream Power, Manifestation Dream, allowed him to double any attack he executed. It acted like a mirror, reflecting all his attacks into reality. So when he thrust his spear, another force of the same power manifested and struck his target. ''Damn, I''m tired. I can''t keep this up for long,'' Eztein thought, exhaling heavily. He wasted no time and charged toward the nearest expert. Swoosh!! It was an old man wielding a staff. The old man was shocked as Eztein appeared before him. The other experts quickly moved to attack Eztein. The elf narrowed her eyes as she saw the moves her comrades used. She shouted, "No, don''t use it! It won''t work! Use your own power!" But it was already too late. The old man attempted to manipulate the laws and concepts of the universe. Three experts followed his lead, trying to erase Eztein''s concept of power by bending the laws. In this lower dimension, they wielded god-like control, able to reshape its very concepts as if it were their own. However, Eztein, having broken three shackles, was beyond their manipulation. The laws of a lower dimension could barely affect him at his current level. With the three elements concentrated at the tip of his spear, Eztein thrust it forward with all his might. [Dividing Heaven''s Wave]! A massive wave of energy swept across everything in sight, obliterating numerous planets in its path. The elf expert gritted her teeth as she was forced back by the overwhelming energy. Laws and concepts were shattered. Swoosh! All that remained was utter destruction. Eztein lowered his spear and surveyed the devastation he had wrought. "I only took out three of them..." he muttered to himself. Despite his exhaustion, eliminating three of the enemies was a significant achievement. He was fatigued; the effects of [Element Drive] were fading, leaving only the power of dreams. "Their condition isn''t good either." Eztein forced a smile, glancing at his enemies. At that moment, Franklin finally arrived, appearing above Eztein. Eztein asked, "How is it?" Franklin took in Eztein''s appearance before replying, "You look quite tired." "Of course! Do you realize how strong these guys are?" Eztein shot back. "Is that so? Then watch me take out a few," Franklin said with a smile. "Are you blind? They''re exhausted too, while you still have plenty of energy left. It''s only natural you can take them out now! If they were at their peak, you wouldn''t be able to do a thing!" Eztein said loudly. Franklin shrugged and tossed a black spear toward Eztein. "Here, take this. It''s a dark-grade artifact. You should be able to use it well since you''re a spear user." "Oh, you found the treasure," Eztein said, raising his eyebrows. Swoosh!! Before Franklin could reply, a massive flame sphere was hurled at them. Franklin stepped forward and pulled out a short shield. [Defense Lock]! A huge, transparent shield materialized, blocking the flaming sphere. Boom!! "I''ve found it. It''s a bunch of red-grade artifacts and one dark grade, which you''re holding. I also destroyed an ominous magic circle carved into the ground. I don''t know what it was for, but I had a bad feeling about it, so I took it out," Franklin said. The magic circle had given him a chill the moment he glanced at it. It felt like something terrible would happen if he stared at it any longer, so he decided to destroy it. It wasn''t merely carved into the ground but embedded in the fabric of reality itself. Strings of flesh covered Franklin''s body as he activated his [Dream Power I]. "It''s my time! Come and let us tear through it!" Franklin roared. ... Dragon Council... Souta arrived in a dimly lit room with a huge round table at the center. He saw a woman sitting at one of the seats around the table. He found his seat and sat down. He turned to the woman and said, "I didn''t expect to see you here. I thought you left the affairs of the Flaem Clan to Hono." The woman was none other than Erkigal Flaem, the former Clan Leader of the Flaem Clan. One of the five Master Clans of the Selnes Country. The Flaem Clan relocated to the Hall Plains after the tragic event in the Selnes Country. "I''m here for a different matter. Hono is the Clan Leader, so she''s the one managing the clan. I''ve done what I could for the clan in the past," Erkigal replied. "I see... I wanted to ask if you remember what happened to you in the Selnes Country. I''ve heard that you''re with my subordinates," Souta said. "Oh, those three... I''m with them, but I don''t remember anything after we entered some sort of dimension. The only thing I know is that we''ve stopped the formations of different dimensions," Erkigal answered. "So you don''t remember either. Franklin, Eztein, and Vashno are the same. Their memories of what happened seem to vanish into thin air. If a person at your level is still affected by it, it seems that a higher being is involved," Souta contemplated. "Perhaps... It could be our God since everyone isn''t bound in the country anymore," Erkigal suggested uncertainly. While the two were chatting, the door opened and the Fourth Head entered the room. Chapter 1030: [Hell Fiend] The rest of the Nine Heads of the Dragon Council had arrived, with the exception of Gerxuzs. After the events in the central region of Hall Plains, Gerxuzs had taken the position of the First Head, while Alexander had become the Ninth Head of the Dragon Council. The Third Head remained the same. She sat in her seat and closed her eyes. Souta observed them, noting that each one had grown stronger. It was beneficial for the entire organization. The only group that could threaten the Dragon Council with their current power was the Flaem Clan. Hono and Erkigal were both powerful experts. Souta could even sense that Erkigal was close to reaching the realm of the hero. She was so close that the energy around her was intense. Although she was tightly controlling it, she couldn''t hide it from him with his keen senses. If she wanted to, she could probably reach it, but for some reason, she was holding herself back. Souta glanced at Alexander and wondered why he was even interested in this meeting. Alexander had also become strong. His improvement was astonishingly fast, as he had just reached the Sixth Shackle during the last outburst. His energy was still a bit unstable due to the recent breakthrough. Jovi, the Fourth Head, stood up and clapped his hands to gather everyone''s attention. "I''ll explain something for those who still don''t know the topic of our meeting this time. A while ago, our expedition teams discovered something in the southern part of the Hall Plains. Experts in this field have determined that these ruins date back ten thousand years," Jovi explained. Souta recalled Elder Hanmi, who had participated in the expedition with a few dozen witches. "As for the rest of the details, the Ninth Head will explain," Jovi said as he looked at Alexander. Alexander stood up and everyone looked at him. He raised his hand and slowly opened his palm. Ohm! A projection appeared at the center of the table. The projection was a huge ancient city. This piqued everyone''s attention. ''So this is the reason why Alexander is here.'' Souta muttered inwardly while sensing the projection. Alexander looked at them for a while before he explained, "This is the ancient city buried beneath the southern region of Hall Plains. It''s filled with dangerous traps and it has a size of over one thousand five hundred diameters. The expedition team only explored a tiny space of the city. They stopped after they encountered a dangerous formation." No one asked where he got this information as they knew that each one had their own secrets. Also, Alexander swore in his life that the information he had was one hundred percent accurate. Alexander continued, "I have a way to disable the formation, but it will take two days. So if you want to explore the city, I want you to prepare yourself, as beyond that formation, there are dangerous things-golems, traps, or anything that could harm you." Souta closed his eyes. ''Alexander, this guy already has higher-grade artifacts, yet he still seeks more in that city. It seems that there are really valuable things there if they could attract his attention.'' Souta decided that he would participate in the expedition in two days'' time. Erkigal would join the expedition too. It''s not that the Dragon Council couldn''t reject her; it''s just that it''s better for her to gain a favorable impression of the organization. She''s a powerhouse, and a lot of people wanted to gain her favor. "The first and second layers aren''t that dangerous, but beyond that, I suggest only bringing experts who have broken a great shackle," Alexander added. ... Back in the unknown lower dimension. Boom!! A brilliant light erupted as the sun exploded. A man with a pair of swords emerged from the explosion with a cold look on his face. "So you''ve done it... There''s no going back now," the man said, staring at Franklin and Eztein with a chilling gaze. Eztein took a deep breath and said, "Old man, I''ll handle that man and the elf. You go and keep the rest to yourself." "Well, if you say so, then I''m fine with it," Franklin shrugged his shoulders. The man stepped forward, slowly raising his swords. His energy rose sharply as he activated his combat arts and the equipment skills of his weapons. "I''m Chan Yu, a member of the Blackstone Immortal Sect, the one who was tasked with managing this universe. Today, I declare that you will be the enemy of our sect. We will kill you no matter what." The man''s declaration echoed through different planets. His pair of swords were red grade, so the boost he received was significant for his current strength. "Eh, you''re really mad, but it will not change a thing whether we become your enemies or not! In the end, you''re still weaker than me!" Eztein laughed as he charged forward without hesitation. That''s right, if Chan Yu was really stronger than Eztein, then Eztein wouldn''t have been able to kill three of them. Chan Yu would have defeated him alone, but that didn''t happen. Chan Yu glanced at the elf and said, "Use it!" The elf expert nodded and took out an hourglass from her robe. The hourglass emitted a brilliant light, sending waves of energy in every direction. Ohm! Eztein and Franklin paused for a moment, sensing the disturbance in the space. A layer of barrier began covering the fabric of space in this universe. "For ten hours, no one will be able to leave this universe. You guys will stay here whether you like it or not until the Deadly Sins officers arrive," Chan Yu said. It meant that even if Franklin and Eztein could kill them all, they wouldn''t be able to leave this universe. The hourglass slowly disintegrated, and the elf expert exhaled heavily, feeling the exhaustion from using that one-time artifact. Eztein tried to split the fabric of space, but nothing happened. It seemed that it could only be shattered by higher-level beings. "Hmm... A layer of barrier covers the fabric of space to prevent us from leaving and tearing this universe. It''s interesting," Franklin grinned widely. He bent his knees and charged at the enemies. "Take those two while I handle the rest." He was still brimming with energy, unlike Eztein and the rest of the enemies who had been fighting nonstop. Swoosh!! He immediately reached one of the enemies and smashed the enemy''s head with a small shield with all his might. The enemy was a human expert. He raised his daggers to block the attack. The shield smashed into his daggers, sending vibrations through the space. Franklin kicked the human expert on the side. Then, he raised his hand and a knife flew over. The treasures he found were just a bunch of artifacts. There was only one dark grade and dozens of lower grades, but it was enough for him. The shield alone was red grade and possessed high defensive capabilities. These artifacts were floating behind him. He was controlling them using his mana. He wanted to hide them in the space for a while, but the fabric of space was blocked by a special barrier, so it wouldn''t work. Franklin activated the equipment skill of the knife. The knife duplicated itself into five, and The quickly threw them at his opponents. The other five experts were forced to either dodge or block the knives. He was fighting nine experts at the same time. Even though they were exhausted, there were still nine of them. Bang! Franklin didn''t hold back as he unleashed [Element Drive] once again on top of [Dream Power I]. He also used his combat arts to enhance his combat prowess. ''They already exhausted their elemental power when they fought Eztein, so I have an advantage in one-on-one. I need to create a situation that is favorable to me,'' Franklin thought inwardly. Swoosh!! Franklin arrived in front of the human expert. Boom!! On the other side of the battle, Eztein was fiercely fighting Chan Yu and the elf expert. Eztein tightly gripped the dark spear in his hand. He infused it with his mana and felt the changes in the surroundings. He was curious about its ability since it was a dark-grade artifact. "That''s the [Hell Fiend Spear]. That spear belongs to the Sect Leader, and you dare to use it. Your insolence knows no bounds. You''re going to die," Chan Yu said coldly. Eztein laughed before he charged once again. Dark energy seeped out of his pores as both of his hands turned black. "Let me try if this is really a good spear!" He laughed, swinging the spear at Chan Yu. Chan Yu swiftly moved, blocking the spear with his swords. Then, he raised his foot, launching a sweeping kick, but Eztein took a step back. The two fought fiercely, their weapons dancing through the space at extremely high speed, sending vibrations in every direction. Bang! Bang! The elf expert jumped into the battle, but Eztein quickly moved away, gathering his mana at the tip of the spear. [Mad Fiend]! With a swift motion, he thrust the spear forward. The elf expert avoided it, but Chan Yu was too late to react. He tried to block it, but the spear grazed his arm. "ARGH!!" Chan Yu staggered back, sensing the extreme pain in the wound. The pain was so intense that he was losing his focus on the battle. Black smoke seeped out of the wound caused by the spear. He tried to dispel it using his energy, but it was difficult. The [Mad Fiend] was one of the equipment skills of the [Hell Fiend Spear]. The person hit by the spear would have their pain sensitivity increased by a thousand times, turning a simple pain into intense torture. Even those who normally don''t feel pain would feel it, as the spear would force them to experience it. The skill didn''t possess any tremendous destructive power, but it could disrupt the target''s concentration by inflicting excruciating pain. Chapter 1031: Sword Saint Franklin''s [Dream Power] was straightforward. It was a Physical Dream that enhanced his physical capabilities to a certain degree. "Hahaha!" His laughter echoed as he exchanged high-speed blows with his opponents. They were exhausted, but it wasn''t easy to eliminate them since they had the advantage in numbers. A loud explosion erupted, and all of them were forced back due to the sheer power of the blast. Boom!! Franklin looked down at his hands. His arm was broken, and his flesh was torn apart. The pain was endurable, but it quickly disappeared as the injury instantly healed. "That''s strong." Franklin''s smile widened as he flexed his fingers. Wind swirled around his limbs, and a saber flew into his hand. It was another red-grade artifact. His opponents glanced at him warily, tightening their grips on their weapons. They were prepared for another clash. With a burst of speed, Franklin launched himself at the nearest figure, raising the saber in his hand. He swung with a force that created a powerful shockwave, but the figure parried his attack with twin daggers. The figure was a demi with a pair of wolf ears and a tail. The others immediately pounced forward. A mage expert waved her hands, weaving magic circles in the air. Vines made of flame appeared out of thin air, attempting to snare Franklin. "Come on! Give me everything!" Franklin countered with a swing of his saber. [Dominating Mad Slash]! The wind slashes burst forth, slicing the vines into tiny fragments and forcing the mage to step back. Bang!! Two experts took advantage of the situation, closing the distance in just a moment. They were an old man with a pair of gauntlets and a demi armed with a lance. Franklin blocked the old man''s punch with a small shield while he let the demi damage his body. Then, flesh burst out of his body, wrapping itself around the old man. He twisted his body, smashing the old man into the demi. Boom!! Franklin stepped forward as the damage to his body quickly disappeared. "Give everything to me! Hahaha!" With a swift motion, he repeatedly slashed his saber in the air, sending dozens of wind blades. On the other side of the battle, Eztein was on the offensive, forcing Chan Yu and the elf expert to retreat. Chan Yu was losing his focus in the battle. The pain he was experiencing at that moment could make anyone go insane. It was slowly consuming his willpower. Eztein had a great advantage. With a dark-grade artifact, his strength was greatly enhanced compared to before. His [Dream Power], which doubled his attack, suppressed his opponents, forcing them into a defensive stance. Eztein swiftly swung his spear repeatedly. It didn''t matter if they blocked it or not, as he knew they wouldn''t be able to keep fighting like this. They would collapse sooner or later. Huff! Eztein took a deep breath and was about to use a powerful move when the entire space trembled. Boom!! A loud sound echoed throughout the whole universe. "What?!" Eztein momentarily paused. Chan Yu, the elf, and the others also stopped as they felt a tremendous force tearing through the barrier that covered the fabric of space. With a final boom, the barrier shattered along with the space. A huge rift, larger than several galaxies, was formed. Powerful energy gushed out of it, enveloping everything. Countless people from various planets immediately collapsed, unable to endure such tremendous force. A figure wearing a black cloak stepped out of the enormous spatial rift. "The magic circle has been destroyed..." the figure muttered. His voice carried a power that shook everyone to their cores. "T-The messenger is here..." Chan Yu said with difficulty. "Messenger?!" Eztein widened his eyes. The Messenger of Gluttony. They were enigmatic people who could appear everywhere, possessing great power that rivaled the top experts across the continent. They mostly spread the words of their god, Gluttony. All of the Messengers of Gluttony were Seven-circle officers. The Seven-circle officers had the power of the Hero-rank. "A messenger arrived in this dimension?" Franklin narrowed his eyes. A messenger didn''t even appear in the three theaters, yet it appeared here in the lower dimension. Franklin felt that it was connected to the magic circle he destroyed. "Hmm?" Franklin suddenly turned his head as he felt someone tug his clothes. Eztein also looked around. Swoosh!! The messenger turned his head toward Chan Yu and the rest. The elf expert felt suffocated by the insane amount of energy. ''T-This guy can destroy our universe easily...'' she thought inwardly, her heart filled with fear. "W-We made a blunder. I''m Chan Yu, the one that was tasked with this mission," Chan Yu said with difficulty. The messenger didn''t say anything. He simply kept staring at them. His face was covered in darkness, so no one could see his actual appearance. The only notable thing about him was the symbol of Deadly Sins on his back. After a while, he lifted his head and looked somewhere into space. Then, his head suddenly twisted, and blood spurted out of his neck like a fountain. His body exploded, and the energy it contained spread out, pushing all the celestial bodies away. Bang!! Chan Yu and the others were shocked by what they saw. The messenger suddenly exploded? Before they could even regain their senses, darkness spread out not far away from the explosion, and the same messenger emerged from it. "Ant, there''s nowhere for you to go!" A powerful voice resounded throughout the void. ... Eztein and Franklin found themselves in a different place. "You''re here..." The two turned around as they heard a familiar voice. They saw Vashno looking at them. "What happened? A Messenger of Gluttony arrived, and then I felt something before I vanished," Franklin asked. "An expert from the Divine Sword Sect has arrived. He pulled you out of that world before he made a move," Vashno explained. "Divine Sword Sect?" Eztein raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, the Divine Sword Sect is the nearest organization in this place." Vashno nodded. This place was just near the border of the Immortal Land. The Immortal Land was divided into two lands: the north, ruled by one power, the Holy Land Heavenly Court, and the south, ruled by various sects. The experts in the south were quite different as they called themselves cultivators. They were powerful beings, and most of the sects were treated as large countries by people outside the Immortal Land. "We have to surrender a few of the red-grade artifacts that we got. That''s the price," Vashno said. ... The messenger looked intently, his gaze piercing through reality itself. He saw a man with long black hair and a long robe holding the entire universe in his hand. "Ant from Deadly Sins, you shall know that you''re not welcome in this land. And you, the Blackstone Immortal Sect, will fall for this. You shall pay for this transgression." Chan Yu turned pale upon hearing the voice. This voice was from the Sword Saint of the Divine Sword Sect, a powerful sword cultivator feared on the battlefield. If that''s the case, then their Blackstone Immortal Sect would face the might of the Divine Sword Sect. They would stand no chance since their sect was only a two-star power with no God Realm powerhouse. As for the Divine Sword Sect, there were three God Realm powerhouses: the Sect Leader, also known as the Sword God, and the two Guardian Elders, also known as the Twin Star Sword Annihilation. As for the Sword Saint, he was one of the geniuses with the potential to reach the God Realm. He himself was already at the Tenth Rank of the Shackled Realm. "Die!" The Sword Saint''s voice resounded as his energy surged like a raging tide. [Dragon Devouring Sword Slash]!! In just a second, the entire universe collapsed, leaving nothing behind. Chan Yu, the Messenger of Gluttony, and everyone were obliterated into nothingness. There was no resistance at all, as the Sword Saint greatly surpassed them in terms of everything. Swoosh!! The Sword Saint appeared in the Imperium, Immortal Land. He was wearing a flowing robe embroidered with various exquisite designs. His long black hair cascaded down his back, glowing faintly under the sunlight. He turned his head, gazing in the direction of the Blackstone Immortal Sect. In just a short amount of time, he gathered everything that he could. He scanned the lower dimension for information before he killed those people. The destroyed magic circle that he saw was a summoning spell. That''s right, the Deadly Sins had a plan to summon their people in the lower dimension and slowly build an army there. Once there was an army, they could launch an attack on the Immortal Land. ''And it''s not the only magic circle... There are summoning magic circles in different parts of the continent. I have to inform the Sect Leader about this. Also, there''s a chance that other groups are colluding with the Deadly Sins, just like the Blackstone Immortal Sect.'' The Sword Saint floated in the air with his hands on his back. He glanced down and saw Vashno, Franklin, and Eztein. With a wave of his hand, he retrieved a few red-grade artifacts from Franklin. Chapter 1032: Relax "I''ve transferred the people of that dimension to another place. They are too weak, so they wouldn''t be able to survive the current Imperium. They would die under the strong laws and energy here." The Sword Saint''s voice echoed before he disappeared into the air. He still had a lot to do. The information about the Deadly Sins that he had obtained needed to be dealt with quickly. The Blackstone Immortal Sect should be razed to the ground. He also needed to inform the Holy Lands about it. Swoosh!! "Damn, who is that guy? I could hardly breathe under the pressure he was exuding!" Eztein said. "That''s the Sword Saint, an expert who broke ten shackles," Vashno replied. "Ten shackles?! No wonder he''s that powerful. He''s closer to the realms of gods," Eztein said. "I''m disappointed, you know? I still haven''t defeated any of them before the Sword Saint appeared. Eztein is the only one who enjoyed the battle," Franklin sighed. "Don''t compare me with you, old man! I don''t enjoy fighting like you!" Eztein quickly said. "Stop arguing. Franklin, how many artifacts are left after the Sword Saint took his share?" Vashno asked, stepping in to separate the two. "Hmm... There are still four red-grade artifacts. Eztein has the dark-grade one." "Four red-grade and one dark-grade. The haul is quite good compared to our previous expedition." "This dark-grade artifact is amazing. I haven''t tested its other skills yet, but the enhancement alone is impressive," Eztein muttered as he examined the dark spear in his hand. "Let''s go back. We need to inform our leader about this. The Deadly Sins are setting up various summoning circles, and I fear there are tons of them scattered around. Also, I want to enter seclusion-I can feel the next shackle," Vashno said. He wondered what was currently happening in the three theaters. The battles involving Hero- rank individuals were catastrophic. Luckily, the Imperium had been enhanced again, so the damage should be less severe than expected. Ohm!! An immense surge of energy suddenly erupted in the distance, causing the ground to shake violently. "What?!" Eztein, Franklin, and Vashno turned their heads. They saw a huge, magnificent golden sword in the distance. It reached the clouds as it pierced the ground, causing a massive explosion that reverberated throughout the entire area. BANG!!! Its sheer size alone obliterated the surrounding mountains. "Is that...?" Eztein asked in shock. "Yeah, that''s the direction of the Blackstone Immortal Sect. The Divine Sword Sect has started their attack," Vashno nodded. The Sword Saint had just left, and a massive battle had already begun. It seemed they didn''t want anyone from the Blackstone Immortal Sect to escape. "This energy level... A demigod?!" Vashno narrowed his eyes. ... On the border of Takamagahara, in a small city called Uben. Alice was in her rented room, looking through the map in her hands. She had just finished her "order" in the Kuro no Densetsu. The innkeeper told her she needed to wait until the order was completed. Still, it was her first time in Takamagahara-a Holy Land comparable to Olympus. She couldn''t help but look out the window. Being a border city, the concentration of experts here wasn''t as high as in the main region of the land. Still, there were B-rank and A-rank experts walking around. Compared to her current level, A-rank was weak, but in a city like this, it was considered a powerhouse. The strongest experts here were undoubtedly the people in this inn, who were secretly members of the assassin organization Kuro no Densetsu. Knock! Knock! A sound echoed from the door. Alice turned her head, surprised that she hadn''t sensed any presence. "Come in!" she said. Ohm! The shadows shifted, and a figure emerged in front of her. The figure was clad in black, with a pair of slender swords hanging on his back. The light in the room dimmed the moment he appeared. Thud! The man placed a head on the table. Alice glanced at the head. "Is this...?" "Yes, the order is complete. This is your request, the head of the leader of the Wingless Crow. It was quite troublesome, but we managed to finish it." The man spoke as his body slowly dissolved into the shadows. Swoosh! Alice narrowed her eyes, still staring at the head. Now that the order was completed, they had to pay the full price. She leaned back in her chair and gazed at the ceiling. The next thing she needed to do was find the dungeon that Souta had told her about. "The powerful leader of the Wingless Crow has fallen just like that." The power of the Kuro no Ansatsu was truly something else. After all, they were part of the Koga Clan-one of the most powerful assassin clans in all of Takamagahara. ... Hall Plains, Southern Region. Five figures arrived in a small city called Dukenbin: Souta, Eilish, Eilan, Anzu, and Aina. "Is this our destination?" Eilish asked. Souta shook his head and explained, "No, but we''re going to stay here for a while. You can think of it as a vacation." "Yeah, I mean, you wouldn''t bring Anzu and Aina if there was danger," Eilish said, glancing at the two children. The ancient ruins that the Dragon Council was going to explore were just thirty kilometers away from the city of Dukenbin. With Souta''s speed, he could easily get there, so there was nothing to worry about. He decided to bring Anzu and Aina with him since they hadn''t been outside of Ekatoe City for a long time. Souta also altered his appearance using the ability of his parasites. As the Lord of Ekatoe, he was well-known in Hall Plains, so it was better to keep a low profile while they were here. "Let''s go," Souta said before taking a step forward. Anzu and Aina looked at the streets with excitement. The City of Dukenbin was prosperous. The narrow cobblestone streets twisted and turned like a labyrinth, lined with houses and stalls. Merchants shouted, waving their wares at the crowded stalls, selling everything from tapestries to fragrant spices. Various people darted between the stalls, their voices echoing in the streets. The smells of freshly baked bread and roasted meat filled the air. Souta and the others wove their way through the crowd. Souta said, "Let''s find a place to stay first." "After that, we should find a place to eat. The food here looks amazing," Aina said with a bright smile as she tightly held Eilish''s hand. Eilish smiled and said, "Sure." Eilan didn''t say anything. He just curiously looked at his surroundings, as if it were his first time entering a city like this. His memories hadn''t recovered yet. "Whoa, that sword looks cool!" Anzu exclaimed while staring at the sword displayed in the store. Souta shook his head with a smile. These children didn''t realize that the artifacts they were wearing were a hundred times more expensive than anything in the store. Eilish walked beside him, holding the children''s hands. She looked at him and said, "About the ancient ruins..." "There''s danger, so we won''t be bringing Anzu and Aina with us. Elder Hanmi will arrive tomorrow to set up a base camp near the ruins. We''ll leave the kids there before entering the ruins," Souta answered. Not only the Astros but the entire Dragon Council would be setting up a base camp. Aside from Ekatoe City, this base camp would be the second safest place in all of Hall Plains. Also, only Souta and the others strong enough would enter the deeper layers of the ancient ruins. Eilish was qualified, but it was better for her to stay outside. Soon, the group arrived at an inn. They rented a room before heading out to find a place to eat. The group chatted while eating. "Still, I thought this city was quite peaceful," Eilish muttered, turning her head. The children couldn''t hear her words. "Most cities are like this," Souta replied. Both of them sensed that there were people being executed in the main plaza of the city. It was likely due to a political struggle. "The battle against the No God Emperor claimed numerous experts. Many of those experts were officials of the cities and countries in Hall Plains. So it''s natural for a second party to want to take their positions," Souta said. "Let''s avoid going there," Eilish said. "I know; we have children in our company," Souta nodded. After they finished their meal, the group went to a high place where they could enjoy the beautiful scenery. The mountains and rivers in the background, along with the chirping of birds, made the view even more stunning. In the soft glow of the setting sun, Souta and the others admired the scenery before them. The sky was painted in hues of orange and pink, reflecting off the river below, with trees and grass rustling gently in the cool breeze. "How pretty," Aina murmured. "Hmm?" Souta raised his eyebrows and turned his head. "Is there something wrong?" Eilish asked. "Well, the witches arrived earlier than I expected. It seems they already planned to meet me to learn more about the ancient ruins," Souta explained. "Is Elder Hanmi among them?" "Nope, only three witches arrived. I think Hanmi will go straight to the base camp tomorrow." "Are you going to meet them now?" "No, let them wait for a while. It''s not every day that we can relax like this." Souta shook his head with a smile. He leaned back and stared at the sunset. ''My eyes... My vision has returned, but it''s still blurry. It will probably take another week before I fully recover my sight.'' He could feel that his vision was slowly returning. The punishment for failing the quest wasn''t severe, but he should probably avoid failing next time. After all, he didn''t know what kind of punishment might be given next. Eilish, who was beside him, stared at him for a few moments. Then she gently smiled and said, "Sometimes I wonder if you were really born a monster." Chapter 1033: Ancient Ruin The next morning, Souta left Eilish, Eilan, Anzu, and Aina to tour around the city. He went straight to meet with the witches who had arrived. He briefly explained his plan for the current expedition. All of them would explore the upper layers of the ancient ruins, except for those experts at the level of Four Shackles and above. The plan could still change. It depends on what they discover in the ancient ruins. Souta would provide the full details once they arrived. For now, it was important to set up a base camp and gather supplies such as potions. After instructing the witches on what they needed to do, he sent them on their way. He then rejoined the group and spent the day touring the city. They sampled all kinds of delicacies the city had to offer and visited various tourist spots. The children were having the time of their lives as Souta allowed them to do everything they wanted. He also bought everything they desired. After a whole day of relaxation, the group went to the base camp near the ancient ruins. The base camp was huge, with various supplies being transported in. When Souta arrived, he changed his appearance back to normal. The staff greeted him as he walked past them. Souta''s perception spread out, covering a vast distance as he scanned the area with his senses. "What is this place, Sister Eilish?" Aina asked, looking around curiously. "A new workplace. I''m going to be working with Brother Souta, so you''ll be staying here for a while. Be sure to behave well while we''re gone," Eilish said to the children. Anzu and Aina nodded at her. "W-What about me, sister?" Eilan asked. "You''re going to follow me," Eilish said, observing Eilan''s appearance. She then added, "You''re a host of an elemental being. Although the entity is gone, your strength is still that of a B-rank, no, A-rank. That''s just your physical strength, so you need to understand the process." The group was guided by a witch. Souta and the others arrived at the edge, peering down into the massive hole in the ground. The hole, gaping and ominous, seemed to swallow the sunlight, casting eerie shadows on the ruins below. "So that''s the ancient ruins..." Souta muttered. The remnants of a once-great city stretched out like the skeleton of a forgotten giant. Towers and temples cast shadows as vines jutted out of the abandoned small houses. This hole had a diameter of fifty meters, and the distance between the surface and the floor below was approximately three hundred meters. Souta turned to the witch who had guided him and asked, "What about the others?" The witch was about to answer when Souta waved his hand and said, "Never mind, I''ve already sensed their energy, so they are here." As soon as he finished his sentence, a group of people appeared in the distance. They were led by Jovi, one of the Nine Heads of the Dragon Council. A few minutes later, the rest of the people who were going to join the expedition arrived. Eight out of the Nine Heads of the Dragon Council were present, and they all had one goal. The ancient ruins. Souta turned to Alexander and asked, "Have you finished disabling the formation?" Alexander nodded. "Yeah, but it doesn''t mean that all the traps have stopped working. It just means that we can access the deeper layers of this ruin." "I know," Souta replied with a nod. In all of Hall Plains, no one knew about this expedition except for those involved. They didn''t want to publicize it, lest it attract unwanted attention. Erkigal stepped forward, looking down at the chasm with a smile on her face. "If there''s nothing else, then we should proceed now." The rest of the Nine Heads nodded in agreement. They looked at the group they had brought and checked their supplies one more time before finally jumping down into the huge chasm, entering the ancient ruin. Thud! This area had been searched by a previous expedition team, so there was nothing to worry about. They proceeded straight to the place where the previous team hadn''t been able to reach. The area was pitch black, and the darkness seemed to move strangely, as if it were alive. Souta heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Quest Triggered!] "I''ve already disabled the formation here, so we can move forward," Alexander said to the group. They stepped forward and saw a narrow path. There were torches on the sides, casting a dim light on the surroundings. "The torches are powered by mana, so they will only go out if the mana line is cut off," the Second Head said, observing the torches. Soon, they reached the end of the path and saw a huge city. Towers, temples, and houses appeared to be untouched by time. It was as if they had just been built recently, clearly different from the previous area. "The mana here is denser... and the gravity is four times higher than normal," Erkigal commented, sensing the heavy atmosphere. Everyone was a little shocked by the ancient ruin. They hadn''t expected that everything here would remain intact despite the time that had passed. "For over ten thousand years... The condition of the structure is still the same. It''s a magnificent work involving higher levels of craftsmanship related to time and space. It feels like something you''d only find in those Holy Lands," one of the archaeologists they brought said. Alexander looked at them and said, "We don''t know what lies beyond, so let''s set up a camp first. Erect those barrier formations and inform the people from above about the situation." Everyone nodded in agreement. They immediately set up a camp, and several layers of barrier formations were erected for protection. While everyone was busy, Souta sat on the floor, sensing what was in the city. He couldn''t detect any beings with blood, but that didn''t mean there were no golems present. He opened the quest and reviewed what he had to do for this expedition. From the looks of it, it seemed pretty straightforward. [Exploration: A ten thousand-year-old ancient ruin was discovered.] [Exploration progress: 11%] [Rewards: 5 skill points, 15 free attribute points, and 200,000,000 XP] ''Five skill points... It should be easy,'' Souta thought inwardly. The only drawback was that he had to personally explore every corner of the ancient ruin to reach one hundred percent progress. There was also no time limit, so there was no risk of failing the quest. After a while, the camp was completed, and the group continued their expedition. They advanced into the dark streets of the unknown ancient city. The houses appeared normal, but there was an eerie atmosphere in the air. The Eight Head, a seven-foot-tall man with a bulky build, approached a huge tower. He raised his hand and removed the dust from the top of the door. "Come here. What language is this?" The Eight Head asked. "This language... It''s Elven, specifically the language of the Ocean Elves," one of the archaeologists said. "Do you understand it?" The Eight Head asked. "It says ''Northern Library."" "Hmm... I see." The Eight Head nodded and tried to push the door open, but it didn''t budge. "There''s probably some sort of mechanism here to open the door. We can''t force it open, as it might trigger a trap," Souta said. He was familiar with this kind of setup since he had cleared many dungeons and labyrinths in the game. The Fourth Head turned to Alexander and asked, "Do you have any information related to this tower?" "Hmm... Let me think for a moment," Alexander said, deep in thought. After a while, he looked up and said, "There are four keys, and we need to find them in this city. That''s the only way to safely open the door." "The question is, where are the four keys located?" the Sixth Head said. Alexander opened his hand and said, "Scout, draw us a map of this area. For now, we''ll continue our exploration." Souta glanced back at Elder Hanmi. Elder Hanmi nodded, already understanding Souta''s intent. He turned to the witches he had brought and instructed them to scout the area behind them and create a map. Souta and the other members of the Nine Heads had brought their own teams on this expedition. Only Alexander had just one person with him: Princess Yaniesvyl, a princess from a kingdom in the Spring Land. Souta had met her before during a confrontation with someone from the Hall of Power. Aside from the Dragon Council, members of the Flaem Clan were also present. They had become one of the strongest forces in Hall Plains after relocating from the Selnes Country, which was currently a War Theater. Hours had passed, and the group had finally explored the entire area. The scout managed to create a map of the city based on their exploration. The city was divided into four zones, separated by a huge and wide road running in four directions. At the center of the city stood a massive stone monument with various ancient languages inscribed on it. Chapter 1034: Keys Each zone had one special structure: The north had the Northern Library, written in Ocean Elves'' language. The south had the Beast Stadium, written in Ancient Werewolf demi language. The east had the House of Herbs, written in Monster Treant language. The west had the White Pavilion, written in Centaur language. Based on this, they concluded that in the past, each zone was populated by specific species. The White Pavilion and Beast Stadium were already accessible, so there was no need to find keys for them. However, the Northern Library and House of Herbs were closed, so keys were required to open them. According to their recent discoveries, both closed structures shared the same set of keys. Alexander drew circles on the maps created by the scouts, indicating the locations of the keys. He then projected the appearance of the keys so everyone would know what to look for. "These are the locations of the four keys. As for the exact locations within those areas, I don''t have that information," he explained. At the same time, Souta heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Four Keys: Find the four keys and open the Northern Library and House of Herbs] [Rewards: 3 skill points, 5 free attribute points, and 1,000,000 EXP] Based on the rewards, he guessed that this was an easy quest for him. They should be able to find the four keys if they thoroughly search the areas Alexander had indicated. Still, Souta didn''t expect to receive another quest during this expedition. It seemed that his decision to come here was right. "We don''t need to waste much time, so we should split up and find the keys. However, remain vigilant-there''s no telling how many traps might still be active," Alexander said. The group nodded in agreement. Each team chose one of the keys to search for and then departed. Souta''s group teamed up with the Eight Head''s group. They decided to search for the key in the south, located in the Beast Stadium. The exact location of the key was unknown. Soon, the group arrived at the Beast Stadium. It was massive, with a seating capacity of two hundred thousand. "The atmosphere here is different from the outside..." Eilish commented. It''s natural, since this place was built to withstand the fights of high-level experts. Dozens of runes were carved into the walls, emitting a strange energy into the atmosphere. The group looked over at the massive ring at the center. Eilish walked to the side, entering a room. Souta glanced at Elder Hanmi and said, "Take some people and search the other areas of this place." After saying this, he followed Eilish with a few others. "Hmm... I see, so this is a control room," Eilish muttered. "Control room?" the Eight Head asked, entering the room. "Yes, this is used to set up the stage before the fight begins," Eilish explained. Souta looked over and saw dozens of devices with words he couldn''t understand. He asked, "So you understand these words?" "It''s not that hard. If you have free time, you can study various languages from different tribes. They aren''t that complicated. The structure of a third-tier magic circle is several times more complex," Eilish smiled. "Never mind. I''d rather use my time to train," Souta shook his head. "So, how do we use it?" the Eight Head asked. "Let me activate it first," Eilish said before she pressed a button. Ohm! A large amount of mana erupted in the center of the stage, causing the whole stadium to vibrate. An intricate pattern lit up on the ground as a transparent layer expanded from the center of the field. "What is this?!" the Eight Head was a little shocked by what happened. "It''s been enhanced. The stage can now accommodate a higher-level battle," Eilish explained. At the same time, a witch arrived and reported to Souta. The message was simple: the key they were trying to find was hidden in the stage, specifically protected by the guardians of this place. "Guardians?!" the Eight Head raised his eyebrows. Souta turned his head. He had already scanned the area but hadn''t sensed anyone else in the stadium besides them. "So, where do we find these guardians?" the Eight Head asked. No one knew the answer. The group decided to split up and search the stadium. Half an hour later, they all reconvened in the control room. The group pieced together the information they had gathered and concluded that the guardians weren''t living creatures. The only way to manifest these guardians was through the control room. Eilish stood in front of the devices, examining them one by one. Not just her, but even those who understood the language were beside her. Souta and the rest waited for their findings. After a while, Eilish said, "We''ve got it." "The key?" the Eight Head asked. "No, the guardians. We understand how to spawn them. There''s a pattern to this and it''s quite related to the culture of the ancient werewolf tribe. But who''s going to fight the guardians? We need to defeat the guardians if we want the key to appear." "I''ll do it," Eight Head said. ... On the platform, Eight Head stood at the center with his energy level rising every second. His muscles were bulging through his clothes, and his pair of gauntlets roared with vast energy. Souta, Eilan, and the rest stood in the audience seats, watching Eight Head prepare for battle. ''He has grown stronger. Compared to the past, the Dragon Council has become a huge force. It''s slowly approaching the level of the Red Matter Association,'' Souta thought inwardly. If they continued to grow, the Dragon Council''s influence would gradually spread beyond the Hall Plains. Bang!! The ground shook heavily, and intense waves of energy spread out like ripples. Eilish used the device to spawn the guardians of the key. Gigantic golems emerged from the ground. Their bodies were made of tough metals with high conductivity to mana. The witches and Eight Head''s subordinates were shocked, sensing the energy waves coming from the golems. The power was overwhelming. They knew that none of them would stand a chance against any of these three golems. ''So this is why Alexander warned the people below the Fourth Shackle... The energy levels of these three golems are comparable to a Fifth Shackle,'' Souta thought inwardly. He wasn''t bothered by this, as it was only close to Fifth Shackle. He had fought experts several times stronger in the Selnes Country and Walpurgis Night. Fifth Shackle was nothing. Moreover, these golems weren''t truly Fifth Shackle; they were just very close to it. Still, Souta didn''t let down his guard. He prepared to intervene if Eight Head couldn''t handle the battle. Bang! The ground trembled beneath the heavy footsteps of the golems as they moved forward. Their eyes glowed with an eerie light, devoid of any emotion. The three golems were distinct. The first one was made of pure metal, the second had lava flowing over its body, and the last one had lightning coursing through its hard exterior. The metal golem charged forward, lifting its feet to crush Eight Head. However, Eight Head anticipated the attack and jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike. The ground shook violently, sending dust into the air as the energy of the metal golem fluctuated. Without wasting the opportunity, Eight Head ran past the metal golem, advancing towards the lava golem with incredible speed. Swoosh!! "The golems'' attack and defense patterns are predictable. They''re nothing compared to the human-like golems from the Walpurgis Night. Eight Head understands this, so he should be able to handle them," Souta commented while watching the battle. As long as the difference in their strength wasn''t enormous, a person with great skills could manage this type of golem. Bang! Eight Head slid on the floor and punched the leg of the lava golem. The golem retaliated by sweeping its arm, but Eight Head jumped into the air, feeling the intense heat pass below him. He flexed his muscles, activating his combat arts to buff his strength, causing his aura to sharply rise once again. Flames covered both of his arms as he unleashed a barrage of powerful punches. Bang!! His flaming fists struck the body of the lava golem with tremendous force. The extreme heat caused all the moisture in the air to evaporate instantly. Lava and flames collided fiercely. Realizing he couldn''t overpower the lava golem, Eight Head didn''t hesitate. He activated his Element Drive, intensifying the flames around his body. The heat he emitted began to evaporate the lava golem. At this moment, the lightning golem and the metal golem charged at him. Eight Head noticed their approach and used his great mobility to pass between the two golems in just a second. He then opened his palm, and a massive flaming sphere materialized. [Scorching Earth Sphere]! In an instant, the enormous flaming sphere was hurled toward the lightning and metal golems. The collision triggered a massive shockwave, and flames erupted in every direction, filling the entire stage with wild fire. Boom!! Chapter 1035: Northen Library and House of Herbs It took half an hour for Eight Head to destroy the three golems. The battle wasn''t easy, as the golems were quite strong. Among the entire party, except for Souta, Eight Head was the only one capable of taking down the three golems alone. Eight Head expended a significant amount of mana during the fight, leaving him somewhat fatigued. His elemental energy was depleted, but he still had plenty of stamina remaining. After the battle, the key appeared in front of them. It emerged from the remains of the golems, taking the shape of a magatama. Souta smiled as he looked at the key. They had acquired it without expending any of his own energy. It had been relatively easy. He checked the progress of the quest. [Exploration Progress: 21%] Even after thoroughly exploring the entire ancient city, the progress was only twenty-one percent. It hadn''t even reached halfway. Based on this, it seemed they would need days before the progress hit one hundred percent. "We''ve finished our job here, so let''s go back and meet the rest," Souta said before turning around. ... The group arrived in front of the House of Herbs. They found the other groups already waiting for them. "What took you so long?" the Sixth Head asked. "Acquiring the key in our location was a bit tricky. Eight Head fought three golems before the key appeared," Souta shrugged. "Anyway, now that we''ve gathered the four keys, it''s time to open this building," Alexander said, looking at the huge structure before them. At the same time, Souta heard a familiar sound in his mind. *Ding!* [Congratulations for completing the Quest "Four Keys"!] [You''ve gained 3 skill points, 5 free attribute points, and 1,000,000 experience points!] *Ding!* [You''ve leveled up!] [Level 74 > 75] ''Oh, my level increased,'' Souta noted with raised eyebrows. It was within his expectations since he was so close to Level 75. The experience bar was now less than one percent. He still needed a lot of experience points to reach Level 76. Souta opened and closed his palm, savoring the sensation of his strength increasing. He was at the late fourth stage, but the power he wielded now far surpassed that of any typical fourth-stage individual. Even a peak fourth-stage Gerxuz could not match his current level of strength. While Souta was occupied, Alexander had already opened the door to the House of Herbs. A wave of mana surged out, brushing against their faces. Suddenly, Alexander''s expression shifted. "Wait!" He immediately dashed forward as arrows began flying towards them from inside the building. Alexander gathered his mana into his hand and slammed his palm onto the floor. Swoosh! The space rippled, causing the arrows to vanish and reappear behind the ground, losing their momentum. Erkigal turned her head and raised her eyebrows with interest. She noted that the arrows were coated with a dangerously potent poison. "Don''t lower your guard," Alexander warned, exhaling. He then pointed at the arrows and continued, "That poison is extremely dangerous. It''s called Withering Bond Poison, and it''s powerful enough to harm an expert who has broken a great shackle." The mention of the poison caused a stir among the experts, especially those below SSS-rank. Given their strength, they were accustomed to resisting many toxins, but this one was different. "Withering Bond Poison... I''ve heard of it before. I think many factions banned its production because it involves the refinement of people," Erkigal said. "You''re partly correct. This poison was banned because creating it required experts to refine lower dimensions at the Boundary level, resulting in the deaths of countless people," Alexander explained, his face reflecting his disapproval. Numerous universes had fallen in the past just to create a poison like this. When the major factions discovered its creation, they banned its production and hunted down those involved. The most potent Withering Bond Poison could even harm Seventh Shackle experts. Though the poison appeared ordinary, its potency was extraordinary. Souta looked at the arrows coated in poison and suddenly remembered someone. "Poison, huh? If Yenxa were still alive, I wonder how powerful she would be today. Her potential was immense," Souta murmured, recalling the little goblin who had always been by his side. The group decided to collect the arrows. The poison was incredibly potent, and its recipe had been lost to time. The interior of the House of Herbs was much larger than its exterior suggested, thanks to spatial manipulation. Various herbs were neatly arranged along both sides of the room, and the air was thick with the scent of precious materials. Everyone entered, their eyes widening in amazement at the sight before them. So many herbs. They could harvest them. Of course, no one intended to monopolize the resources. They planned to divide the spoils fairly, acknowledging that everyone had contributed to gaining access to the building. The House of Herbs consisted floors, each dedicated to different types herbs. After thoroughly exploring the House of Herbs, the group proceeded to the Northern Library. This time, they were especially cautious as they opened the door. They were aware of the traps, having anticipated them, and easily avoided any danger. The Northern Library was vast, spanning twenty floors, with each floor as large as an entire city block. Books of all kinds were neatly arranged on the shelves. Among the books were those on combat arts and spells, alchemical recipes, forging techniques for blacksmiths, as well as simpler texts on agriculture and languages. The group explored the library, marveling at the vast array of knowledge contained within. Most of the books on combat arts and spells were located on the fifteenth floor and above. Eilish stood by one of the shelves, picked up a book, and opened it. She murmured, "Understanding Tier 3 spells. Hmm... I see." The others also began perusing books that caught their interest. The House of Herbs and the Northern Library exceeded their expectations. The contents of the two buildings alone were already worth a fortune. The Heads of the Dragon Council were pleased with their discovery; it was a significant haul for them. Souta checked their progress. [Exploration Progress: 29%] This indicated that there were still many areas to explore within the ancient ruin. They had yet to reach the halfway point. Half an hour later, the group exited the building and gathered to discuss their next move. Alexander pointed to a massive stone monument at the center of the city and said, "That''s our next destination. We''ve gathered all four keys, so we should be able to open the passage to the other side." "There''s more?!" Everyone''s eyes were drawn to the towering stone monument, which reached a height of three hundred meters. "Yes," Alexander confirmed with a nod. Without delay, the group arrived at the stone monument. The four keys floated in the air in Alexander''s hand, each emitting a faint glow. A surge of energy emanated from the monument, as if it were resonating with the keys. Ohm! The stone monument trembled, and a passage opened beneath it, leading downward. "This is?!" The group was astonished, despite Alexander having already mentioned the existence of a passage within the monument. Witnessing it in person was quite different from merely hearing about it. Alexander glanced at them and said, "Let''s go." He then added, "Keep your guard up." The group cautiously entered the passage leading into the unknown. The air was thin but manageable for them. The passage was pitch black, and the floor felt slightly damp. The passage stretched out before them like a gaping maw, with rough and uneven walls that seemed to have been shaped by ancient, forgotten beings. Eilish, Eilan, Erkigal, and the others peered curiously at the seemingly endless path ahead. Erkigal reached out and traced her finger along the wall, discovering it was coated with a greenish, sticky substance. She examined it and found that it was a type of weak poison, which would only affect those below A-rank. As they ventured deeper, the passage seemed to close in around them, the walls narrowing slightly as if the earth itself were trying to swallow them. The silence was nearly suffocating, interrupted only by their footsteps, the occasional creak of armor, and the rustle of cloth. Every sound felt amplified, and the darkness ahead was impenetrable. Time passed swiftly. It had been thirty minutes since they entered the passage, and they had yet to catch a glimpse of what lay on the other side. Souta checked the exploration progress and noted that they had reached thirty-five percent. This was quite surprising to see. Soon, they sensed a change in the atmosphere; it grew heavier. They also noticed that the floor had turned to sand, and the walls on either side had become dry. The Fourth Head opened his palm and sensed the energy in the air. "It''s similar to a specialized environment," he said. "The mana here has a specific attribute. It''s particularly suited for those who practice the earth element." Everyone understood what he meant, as they too could feel the change. This passage was indeed peculiar. The seemingly endless path alone could be intimidating to ordinary people. Chapter 1036: Abandoned town Soon, the group discovered a door set into the wall. Although their curiosity was piqued, they remained vigilant. They opened the door and found no traps; in fact, the room inside was empty. However, the room had a notable feature. Despite its unusually large size, it was imbued with earth-element mana, which was denser than in the passage. They concluded that this was likely a training room. "A training room for those with an earth affinity," commented the Sixth Head. This type of training room was something they had only heard about. Such facilities were typically found only in large factions like the Holy Lands or major countries, which had the resources to construct them. After examining the training room, the group resumed their journey forward. Time passed quickly. The group moved through various rooms, each imbued with different elemental energies such as fire, wind, lightning, space, and water. They finally reached a strange barrier that seemed to be the last section of the passage. "What''s beyond this?" the Fourth Head murmured. They could see that a vast area lay beyond the barrier, appearing several times larger than the passage they had traversed. The Eighth Head stepped forward, intrigued by the barrier. He raised his hand to touch it, only to find his hand pass through without resistance. "Huh?" Suddenly, he felt a strong pulling force, dragging his hand toward the ground. Surprised, he quickly regained his composure, clenched his fist, and resisted the force before pulling his hand back. The Third Head watched curiously, wondering what had caused Eight Head to exert such effort. The Fourth Head glanced at Eight Head and asked, "What''s beyond this?" Eight Head looked up and replied slowly, "The environment beyond is harsh. Gravity is likely fifty times stronger, and the mana density is chaotic. It would tear apart low-rank experts." Everyone was taken aback by Eight Head''s assessment. This meant that only a few people could safely cross to the other side. Souta found it intriguing that such a place existed within this ancient ruin. He checked his progress and saw that he had reached fifty-seven percent by merely traversing the passage. Eilish walked up to Souta and said, "I''m going to stay here with Eilan. I don''t think we can manage the area beyond this." Souta nodded in agreement. Elder Hanmi and the others also decided to stay behind. Only the Nine Heads and Erkigal, who were strong enough to withstand the intense conditions, would cross the barrier. Soon, the group moved past the barrier. Souta sensed a distinct change in the atmosphere. It felt as though they had entered a separate spatial structure, and an ominous vibe pervaded the air. Glancing at his progress, Souta saw that he had reached fifty-one percent simply by passing through the barrier. The progress was increasing faster than before. "I sense some malignant force here," Erkigal said, her eyes narrowing. Alexander glanced at her and replied, "This ruin has been here for thousands of years, so anything could happen. It''s best to prepare for any situation." The group nodded in agreement and continued forward. After a few minutes of walking, they emerged from the mouth of the passage, blinking as they adjusted to the sudden brightness of the open air. The ceiling hung approximately one kilometer above the floor, adorned with numerous crystals that emitted a light akin to that of the sun. They found themselves at the edge of a cliff, overlooking a vast valley. Below them sprawled a silent town, surrounded by trees, bathed in the soft light from above. "A small town?" Souta raised his eyebrows. He quickly spread his energy and confirmed that there were no living beings in the town. He jumped down from the cliff, and the rest followed. Upon reaching the town, they found it eerily quiet, with buildings in various states of decay. Roofs had caved in, windows were shattered, and thick vines and ivy crept up the walls. This was a stark contrast to the pristine city they had seen earlier. "The ominous aura is everywhere," the Fourth Head muttered. The pervasive aura sent shivers down their spines. They were certain that if they had brought their subordinates here, they would have lost their minds. There was no sign of life in the town. The silence was palpable, as though time itself had abandoned this place. At the center of the town stood a massive statue, towering over the ruins like a silent sentinel. The statue depicted a woman with noble and playful features, though she was worn and weathered by the harsh environment. Clad in a flowing dress, she wrapped her arms around her knees, looking down with a faint smile on her face. The Third Head, usually reserved, finally spoke, her voice edged with unease. "The statue... It feels like it''s watching us." Everyone shared the same feeling. Alexander gazed at the statue, his eyes filled with deep emotion. This ancient ruin had once been his home. After his reincarnation, he was unsure of what had transpired, but he suspected that the disappearance of the God who had protected the land had led to the chaos enveloping the territory. He reached out, his finger brushing the cool stone of her hand. In that instant, memories surged back with vivid clarity. Alexander remembered the first time he met her, in a small, lifeless cave. He had sought refuge from the rain and was unaware that she lived there. At that time, he had been lost, both figuratively and literally, wandering without purpose. Her eyes had conveyed a deep wisdom, and her smile-a small, knowing curve of her lips-had offered him a semblance of comfort. She had spoken with her hand covering her mouth. "None? What a peculiar name, but it suits you. Don''t you think?" Alexander had stared at her blankly, feeling as though her gaze could see right through him. She had continued, "You don''t have a home. You don''t have a family. You don''t have any friends. You have nothing. See? There''s no place for you in this world." "That''s why... I..." He looked at her with determined eyes. Alexander came back to his senses and slowly withdrew his hand from the statue. From that small cave, he had built everything from scratch, eventually transforming it into this ancient ruin. With the God''s absence, the territory had become vulnerable. It had been plunged into chaos, and the citizens were powerless to change their fate. ''I need to find out...'' Alexander thought inwardly. The group continued to explore the town and eventually stopped in front of a larger house, which seemed to belong to the village chief. The house appeared simple from the outside, but when they opened the door, they discovered a large magic circle carved into the floor. Various symbols of a bird enveloped in raging flames were etched on the walls. "It suddenly gets hot," Eight Head remarked. The atmosphere inside the house was starkly different from the ominous environment outside. It felt as though they were standing directly under the sun, with a temperature so high it could instantly burn lower-level experts. Souta examined the symbols of the red bird and thought, The Great Vermillion Bird... "It''s here..." Erkigal said with a smile as she stepped forward. She then turned to the group and said, "I''m going to stay here. If you plan to continue exploring, you can go without me." Souta observed her closely, wondering if what she sought was in this house. He sensed that Erkigal was on the verge of a breakthrough, given that she had been at the peak of the Sixth Shackle for a long time. The others nodded in agreement. They had no objections to Erkigal staying behind. After thoroughly checking every corner of the abandoned town and finding nothing of value, the group bade farewell to Erkigal and left. "Be careful... The ominous energy is growing stronger," Alexander warned. The others nodded; they could sense it too. The pressure intensified after they left the abandoned house. "Dead mana..." the Third Head muttered. "Dead mana?! Don''t tell me..." Eight Head''s eyes widened. "It''s to be expected," Souta said. "This ruin has been buried for thousands of years. It''s not surprising that undead might appear." At this moment, Souta sensed something unusual in the dead mana, though he couldn''t quite pinpoint what it was. The group continued forward, and soon the surroundings changed drastically. The once lush trees were now withered, contrasting sharply with the vibrant foliage of the abandoned town. The soil was dry, and strange whispers filled the air. "Given the environment, the undead here shouldn''t be weak," Souta remarked. Alexander and the others nodded in agreement. They understood that a higher concentration of dead mana typically meant stronger undead. Souta glanced at the exploration progress. [Exploration Progress: 72%] The progress was significant, and it seemed likely that he would complete the exploration soon. Chapter 1037: Breakthrough and Undead Eilish stood at the passage where the energy held a strong water affinity, clutching various herbs in her hand. "This should be enough," she muttered before entering the room. Sitting down on the floor in a lotus position, she closed her eyes and slowly placed a few herbs in her mouth. Ohm! She began circulating her energy, focusing intently on sensing the shackles that were limiting her body. It was a great barrier that she was about to confront. Boom!! The ground trembled slightly as her energy erupted like a volcano. Sensing the great shackle within her body, Eilish gathered her energy around it. Bluish energy rose from her body as droplets of water materialized in the air. Elder Hanmi and the other witches glanced ahead, sensing the fluctuations. "Lady Eilish is about to break through..." one of the witches muttered. If she succeeded, it would mean the Astros would gain another SSS-rank expert. Though SSS- rank wasn''t uncommon in Holy Lands or large countries, it was still a significant rank in regions like the Hall Plains. An expert at that level could easily become an overlord in other lands. In the entire Hall Plains, the number of experts who had reached the Fourth Shackle was fewer than twenty. Even within Athen''s Champion, a Fourth Shackle expert was qualified to become a Grain Leader. Eilan glanced in the direction of his sister. Though he still hadn''t recovered all of his memories, he could feel the connection he shared with Eilish. Even the subordinates of the Nine Heads were taken aback. "Someone''s breaking through... and with this level of energy!" "A Fourth Shackle?!" "The force under the Seventh Head is incredibly strong!" "Of course it is! The Seventh Head belongs to a God''s Legion in Olympus, after all!" Their voices echoed as they marveled at the power of Ekatoe City. It was no longer a secret that Souta, the Seventh Head of the Dragon Council, was a member of Athen''s Champion. Almost everyone in the Hall Plains knew that behind the Seventh Head stood the might of a colossal organization serving a Goddess. Princess Yaniesvyl was equally surprised. She had once encountered the infamous Blood Lightning Monster when her country was in peril. Later, she discovered his true background and caught a glimpse of the immense power of the Holy Land Olympus. The power of great Olympus, which had stood for thousands of years, was beyond anything she could have imagined. Bang! The ground shook once again. Eilish slowly opened her eyes, feeling the changes within her body. "So this is what it feels like to reach the Fourth Shackle..." The aura seeping from her body was far stronger and heavier than before. The gap between the Third and Fourth Shackle was immense. In other lands, the difference was enough to separate them by rank entirely. She could feel that growing stronger would now be easier with the limiter, or shackle, removed. Even her elemental power, which had been stuck in the Force Stage for a long time, was beginning to show signs of reaching the Integration Stage. Eilish guessed that if she focused on enhancing her elemental power, she could achieve it by next week. A smile crossed her face as she thought of Souta. "I wouldn''t have been able to achieve any of this if I hadn''t met him." Eilish stood up and clenched her fist. Mana gathered around her hand, and droplets of water spun like a vortex in front of her. ... The group moved cautiously through the dense, withered trees. The light above cast deep shadows across the woods, and they could feel the dead mana growing stronger with every step. "It''s here..." Alexander muttered, frowning. They reached an open space, and the moment they stepped into it, a chilling sensation washed over them. The ground was scattered with old, decayed bones, half-buried in the earth. A foul, rotting stench filled the air, intensifying the oppressive atmosphere. Suddenly, numerous skeletons clad in various armors began to rise from the ground. Their eye sockets glowed with a sinister red light as they locked onto the living intruders. "Prepare yourselves," the Fourth Head commanded. Though the skeletons were not particularly strong, their overwhelming numbers posed a significant threat. Just as the Fourth Head and the others were about to charge, a voice echoed through the air, reaching their ears. "Join... the dead family... and you will be saved." A wave of unease swept over them as the voice spoke. It carried an eerie power that seemed to tug at their minds, sending shivers down their spines. "Oh, that makes things easier. We''re certain now there''s a high-level undead here," Souta said, his lips curling into an amused smile at the situation. Swoosh!! The Eight Head, Sixth Head, and Fourth Head charged forward, their figures crashing into the swarm of skeletons, sending bones flying into the air. Eight Head''s muscles bulged as he unleashed his energy. These undead were weaker than the golems he had fought before; their only advantage was sheer numbers. Boom!! The ground shook violently as a series of explosions erupted. Bones and rotting flesh scattered everywhere as the three Heads tore through the undead. mere conds, hundreds of undead had been obliterated. Alexander stepped into the air, gazing down at the land stretching to the horizon. He could sense a far more dangerous aura lurking in the distance. This place had become a nest of the undead, and it seemed they were following the command of a powerful entity. "This is not good," he muttered. A soft voice beside him drew his attention. Turning his head, he saw the Third Head had followed him into the air, curious to observe what was unfolding. Her eyes widened in surprise. Far beyond where the three Heads were battling, hundreds of thousands of skeletons were rising from the ground, and dark clouds had begun to gather ominously overhead. Swoosh!! The pair descended quickly, sharing what they had witnessed. It seemed they would need to exercise their full strength in the battle ahead. "Let''s just destroy them," Alexander said. "There are hundreds of thousands of undead, and I doubt there''s not at least one high-level undead among them. It''s impossible for such a large group to coordinate without a commanding presence." Everyone nodded in agreement. Without hesitation, the group charged forward, their energy erupting and causing the land to tremble. Each member of the group was extraordinary, none below SSS-rank. As they advanced, the strange voice echoed once more. "Join the family... This is your last chance." The power behind the voice was stronger than before, attempting to force them into submission. Yet, the Nine Heads withstood the mental assault and continued to annihilate the skeletons in their path. The Third Head raised her hand, and a massive magic circle materialized beneath her feet. "[Downfall Chilling Grace]!" In an instant, several gigantic ice boulders materialized in the air. They plummeted to the ground like meteors, unleashing intense energy that erupted and froze the entire area, along with thousands of skeletons. Alexander, Souta, and the others turned their heads to see the Third Head unleashing powerful AOE spells that wiped out thousands of skeletons. Swoosh!! Alexander advanced at high speed, obliterating every skeleton in his path. Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble. He looked down, sensing something ominous. Without hesitation, Alexander leaped away just before the ground burst open. Debris flew everywhere. Alexander narrowed his eyes as a massive silhouette emerged from the ground. It was a colossal skeletal dragon, its form towering before him. "A skeletal dragon...?" The bones of the dragon creaked and shifted into place. Its ribcage formed a twisted cage of bones, and its wings were a skeletal framework that spread wide, casting ominous shadows over Alexander. The dragon''s skull, with its long, jagged teeth and hollow eye sockets, turned to face him. Though the skeletal dragon had no eyes, Alexander could feel its gaze locked onto him. He took a deep breath and clenched both fists, three elements swirling around his hands. Suddenly, he looked up and saw a figure descending toward him. Swoosh!! He pulled back his fist and threw it as the figure swung a dark sword. Boom!! The sword and fist collided, creating intense friction in the air. Powerful shockwaves surged outward in every direction. Alexander was thrust several dozen meters away. He glanced at the figure that had clashed with him, and his frown deepened. It was a skeleton clad in majestic dark armor, its bones inscribed with strange glowing symbols. "A Devouring Death Knight... And that armor, I''m familiar with it," Alexander muttered, his eyes locked on the death knight and the skeletal dragon. The Death Knight advanced, dragging the enormous dark sword in its hand. "Join the family... There is no future beyond the family." Alexander exhaled deeply and cracked his fingers. A faint smile appeared on his face as he said, "It looks like I need to get a bit serious. I knew this expedition wouldn''t be easy from the start." As soon as he spoke, his energy surged, causing the entire ground to tremble. Water, wind, flame, and earth swirled around him in a powerful vortex. "These four elements should be enough..." He raised both fists and silently activated several combat arts to further enhance his strength. Chapter 1038: Fighting the Undead The rest of the Nine Heads turned their attention toward Alexander, sensing the surge of his energy. "It seems he''s encountered a strong undead," the Fourth Head remarked. The situation had escalated into a full-scale battle as the Nine Heads fought against the overwhelming number of undead. They knew they had to eradicate every last one of them; if even a few found their way to the surface, it could spell disaster. They couldn''t allow that to happen. A minute passed, and though tens of thousands of undead had already been destroyed, their numbers showed no sign of dwindling. The group had no choice but to split up, spreading out to obliterate the undead across a wider area, much like the Third Head''s devastating AOE spells. Boom!! Boom!! A series of explosions erupted across the battlefield. Alexander was at the far end, moving at high speed. His figure flashed as he exchanged blows with the death knight, all while skillfully dodging the skeletal dragon''s attacks. "Join and submit to the family... It''s the only salvation," the death knight growled. ''Family? I have no idea what this guy''s talking about,'' Alexander thought, mildly confused. He couldn''t make sense of the so-called "family" of the undead. There hadn''t been any sign of undead here in the past, and if any had appeared, it must have meant that the people who once lived here had been transformed. Swoosh!! Alexander shifted his body to the side, raising his hand. In an instant, pillars of rock erupted from the ground, launching the skeletal dragon into the air. He brought his palms together, fusing wind and water. "[Storm Destroyer!]" The death knight raised its sword high, dark energy surging from the blade. With a swift motion, it slashed through the powerful wind and water attack. The scale of the battle intensified with each passing second. Boom!! At that moment, powerful energy fluctuations erupted from the battlefield, drawing the attention of everyone around. Even Alexander, locked in battle with the death knight and skeletal dragon, was momentarily distracted. The skeletal dragon seized the opportunity. It opened its massive jaws, unleashing a powerful black beam. Alexander gritted his teeth as the force blew him several kilometers away. Boom!! Eight Head glanced up, spotting two distant figures radiating an ominous, dangerous aura. "What is that?" he muttered, a frown creasing his face. The rest of the Nine Heads also sensed the overwhelming energy. They couldn''t help but look up, their gazes locking onto the two figures whose power far surpassed that of the undead they had been fighting. "As expected... there are stronger undead here. This could spell disaster for the cities on the surface," Fourth Head remarked, his tone grim. Souta also observed the situation closely. From the start, he had sensed something unusual about these undead, though he couldn''t quite put his finger on it. He turned his gaze toward the horizon, wondering what lay beyond. ''These undead... they''re different from the ones I''ve encountered before,'' Souta thought. A question nagged at him: Where had these undead come from? Could they have been the original residents of this ancient ruin, turned undead by some unknown force? "Submit and join the family. I''ll give you a minute to decide," a voice echoed in their ears, resonating with an eerie power. At that moment, several towering structures emerged from the ground, each radiating a strange energy. These majestic towers, standing at over a hundred meters tall, amplified the power of the undead in the vicinity. It was clear now that these undead were not mere mindless creatures. They operated like an organized force, with a clear hierarchy, and their leaders seemed to possess high intelligence. Souta shook his head as he listened to the words of the two undead hovering in the air. Flesh burst from his arm, devouring dozens of undead that charged toward him. "This could be a real threat to the Hall Plains... so I should start doing my part," he muttered, watching as his arm returned to normal. He stepped forward, cracking his neck, his gaze locked onto the two undead. Up until now, as they searched for the key, Souta had hung back, letting the others handle the challenges. He hadn''t sensed anything that could truly endanger them. But this time was different. The aura exuded by the two undead in the air was far greater, and much more dangerous. "These undead need to be stopped here." Souta slowly rose into the air. The two undead watched him with keen interest. One was a man, the other a woman. Unlike the other undead, which were nothing more than bones, these two still had flesh, though their pale skin suggested a complete lack of blood. Both were clad in long robes. They weren''t ordinary undead; they were Grand Night Ghouls-an advanced form of undead creature. Alexander wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as he stood up. He turned his head, spotting Souta floating toward the two ghouls. "So he''s handling those two..." Alexander muttered to himself. "Then, I just need to focus on defeating my own opponents." He glanced at the death knight and the skeletal dragon, readying himself for the battle ahead. Alexander raised his hand, and the ring on his finger began to emit a bright light. "If you think you''re the only one with a high-level artifact, you''re wrong. Let me show you how to truly wield the power of an artifact." His voice echoed confidently. He knew that the sword and armor of the death knight were dark-grade artifacts-once belonging to one of the ancient residents of this ruin. Without wasting any more time, Alexander dashed forward, colliding head-on with the death knight. Boom!! Souta, hovering in the air, glanced briefly toward Alexander. He noticed that his comrade had resumed his fierce battle with the skeletal dragon and the death knight. ''This will probably take ten minutes...'' Souta calculated, estimating how long it would take for them to finish off these undead. "Time''s up. What a shame," the ghoul woman said, her voice cold and taunting. "If you''d just accepted our offer, you wouldn''t have to face death." The aura surrounding the two ghouls intensified, causing the entire area to tremble. "Well, let''s see..." Souta smiled, slowly unsheathing the [Vajra Sword Saya]. "You''ll pay dearly for your arrogance. Your death is certain," the ghoul woman grinned, her eyes glinting with malice. Beside her, the ghoul man''s gaze was icy, his aura now reaching its peak. In response, Souta unleashed his own energy. The two forces collided mid-air, causing violent friction. Sparks exploded in every direction as the air crackled with power. In the next instant, their figures vanished, and shockwaves rippled through the air as they exchanged rapid blows. Bang! Bang! Bang! The Nine Heads watched, their expressions grim as they felt the intensity of the battle. "We need to destroy those towers," Fourth Head said, his tone serious. The other Heads nodded in agreement. The power of these undead far exceeded their expectations. If they suddenly emerged on the surface, it would bring a catastrophic calamity. The undead could easily turn the entire southern lands into a wasteland before the Dragon Council could even respond. Fortunately, they had uncovered this threat before it was too late. They dashed in different directions, unleashing all their mana without reservation. Combat arts, spells, and equipment skills were used to their fullest to enhance their combat prowess. Their figures streaked through the towers with the intent to destroy them. The scale of the battle had reached a point where they could no longer hold back. Swoosh!! Souta released several energy blades, which the two ghouls dodged with ease. He kicked off the air and activated his Second Mode, shadows spreading out from his body. Most of his combat arts and spells were dark-attribute. The ghoul woman wielded lightning power. She moved with blinding speed, darting left and right. Her nails elongated into deadly claws as she swung them in a lethal arc, targeting Souta''s neck. Souta reacted swiftly. He raised his sword to parry the ghoul woman''s attack, then stepped forward and kneed her in the stomach before slashing with his sword. "[Cross Moon]!" The ghoul woman opened her mouth, unleashing a burst of lightning that engulfed the massive crimson energy blade. The lightning wave not only destroyed the energy blade but continued to surge forward, aimed directly at Souta. Souta was momentarily taken aback by how easily his attack was countered. He tightened his grip on the sword, causing blood to seep from his palm and coat the blade. He kicked off the air and slashed through the lightning wave, cutting it in half. The blood on his sword spread out, dispersing the lightning in moments. He had activated numerous skills, some of which diminished his opponents'' abilities while others enhanced his own strength. The fact that his opponents could still keep up despite these advantages indicated their formidable power. They were strong enough for him to regard them as threat. "Isn''t this quite interesting? Let me see just how strong you really are." Souta''s grin widened. In an instant, a heavy gravitational field descended over the battlefield, flattening thousands of skeletons under its immense pressure. Shadows seemed to come alive, rising slowly from the ground. "Undead! Come forth!" Chapter 1039: Danger Alexander tilted his body to the side and struck the death knight''s sword with a powerful punch. The bracelet on his wrist flared with light as flames erupted, engulfing the death knight. He was utilizing the equipment skills from two dark-grade artifacts simultaneously. Alexander leaped into the air, turning his focus to the skeletal dragon. The skeletal dragon opened its mouth wide, preparing to unleash a devastating breath attack. Suddenly, rocks burst from the ground, slamming into the dragon''s jaw and diverting the attack''s trajectory. Alexander took advantage of the distraction, swinging his hands to conjure hundreds of water spears. "[Rain of Spears]!" In the next moment, the water spears descended upon the skeletal dragon with fierce intensity. Bang! Bang! Bang! Alexander was about to launch another attack when he sensed a presence behind him. He quickly turned around and saw that the death knight had freed itself from the flames. The death knight swung its sword in a deadly arc, aiming for Alexander''s neck. Alexander swiftly shifted his body to the side, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp blade. "Destruction is your fate. The only salvation in this world is the family," the death knight declared. "I have no idea what you''re talking about!" Alexander retorted as he gathered the four elements into his fist. With a powerful swing, he released a massive wave of energy that engulfed both the death knight and the skeletal dragon. The four elements swirled at high speed, annihilating everything in their path. The energy wave advanced several kilometers, obliterating thousands of skeletons before it erupted in a massive explosion. Boom! Alexander withdrew his fist and stood tall, surveying the devastation he had wrought. As he prepared to move, he sensed a presence. Quickly turning his head, he saw a man with rotten, pale skin and pitch-black eyes. It was another undead. "Go away... You do not belong here," the undead rasped in a coarse voice. "Y-You are...?" Alexander''s eyes widened as he sensed something familiar about this undead. In an instant, vivid scenes from his past life flashed before his eyes, revealing someone with the same demeanor as this undead. Before Alexander could ask, the undead dissolved into smoke and vanished. He tried to pursue it, but the skeletal dragon and death knight had already recovered from the damage. The two undead launched a relentless assault. Boom! Alexander gritted his teeth as he crossed his arms in front of him. The breath attack and energy blade struck him simultaneously, sending him hurtling hundreds of meters away. "Go away. What did that even mean?" He frowned, deep in thought about the strange events and the mysterious undead. He was determined to uncover the truth of what had happened here in the past. "Did you really think you could just push me around?!" Alexander said coldly as he waved his hand, dispersing the attacks from the two undead. His elemental energy surged like a raging tide, enveloping everything around him. "Did you really think you could just push me around?!" Alexander said coldly as he waved his hand, dispersing the attacks from the two undead. His elemental energy surged like a raging tide, enveloping everything around him. [Element Drive: Fusion of the Myriad Elements] Alexander raised his hand and made a grabbing motion in anger. Before the two undead could react, they were teleported directly in front of him. "A simple spatial manipulation... You should know that my elemental power is on the verge of reaching the Fourth Stage." His cold voice echoed through the battlefield. The skeletal dragon and the death knight were overwhelmed by the intense pressure bearing down on them. "Vanish into oblivion!" Alexander commanded as he swung his hand, channeling his immense elemental energy. A gigantic palm, forged from seven elements, descended from above. Each element fed into the next, creating a self-sustaining cycle of power. The ground beneath cracked and shattered under the sheer force of the descending palm. The skeletal dragon and death knight could not withstand such overwhelming power. The ground split open as shockwaves ripped through everything. Fire blazed across the sky, while earth and water clashed violently. The air howled and darkness twisted under the force of Alexander''s attack. The power of a man on the brink of the Fourth Stage of elemental mastery-Alexander Dreyfus. The other Nine Heads looked on in astonishment, struck by the sheer magnitude of Alexander''s display. They had always known him to be strong, but this was beyond anything they had anticipated. This was a whole other level of power. Souta turned toward Alexander, feeling the intensity of the elemental energy. It was clear that Alexander''s power was on the verge of reaching the Fourth Stage, an extraordinary feat. "That guy... Just how the hell is he training all of his elements?" Souta muttered. He struggled to maintain balance between his two elements, but Alexander was mastering seven. The sheer might of those elements was evident, a testament to Alexander''s skill. Most people would be stuck at the First Stage of Element Drive with such a diverse range, unable to elevate all seven elements to this level. Suddenly, the entire area shook violently. Rumble! An ominous aura quickly spread through the surroundings. Alexander, Souta, and the others felt a chill run down their spines. Instincts screamed of impending danger. Before they could react, darkness surged from the horizon, enveloping everything in an instant. Malignant energy overwhelmed them, drowning their senses. "What''s this?" Souta muttered, trying to resist, but the darkness continued to close in from all directions, leaving no room for escape. He sensed a shift in the environment, but couldn''t discern what was happening as his senses were being suppressed. He couldn''t even hear his own voice. Shoosh!! After some time, Souta found himself in the middle of nowhere. He rose and spread his energy, trying to regain his bearings. "W-What happened...?" Souta held his head, frowning. He recalled being in the middle of a fight with the two ghouls when an overwhelming force had enveloped him. A slight headache pulsed through him, affecting his emotional stability. His instincts were in turmoil, a sensation he hadn''t felt since becoming an emperor. "Huh?!" Souta was taken aback when he noticed the system status. To his surprise, the mission had been marked as completed with one hundred percent progress. Perplexed, he glanced around and saw the rest of the Nine Heads beginning to stir. "Damn, what the hell is that?!" Eight Head exclaimed as he stood up, clutching his head. Fourth Head surveyed the cavern, her expression grave. "This place is eerily familiar, but it''s darker and more foreboding than before. The darkness stretches endlessly, and the strange black gooey liquid everywhere gives off a dangerous aura." Despite the palpable sense of danger, there was an inexplicable pull drawing them toward it. "Don''t touch any of it. I have a bad feeling about it," Alexander warned, his voice serious. He took a deep breath to steady himself before turning to the rest of the Nine Heads. "I believe this place is beyond the ancient ruin. For some reason, the darkness must have transported us here." The Nine Heads, still reeling from the sudden shift, exchanged uneasy glances as they prepared to navigate this ominous new environment. From what he could remember, this place was indeed beyond the ancient ruins. It was a forbidden area, likely the reason for the fall of the ancient ruins. ''There''s a device that could suppress the corruption here. If I can find it, maybe I''ll be able to cleanse this place,'' Alexander thought inwardly. Ohm!! Suddenly, the corruption intensified, and everyone felt as if they were being crushed. Alexander, Souta, and the rest collapsed to their knees. "What is this power?!" The Fourth Head felt as though thousands of needles were piercing his body. They all experienced intense pain. Souta suddenly heard a familiar sound in his mind. Ding! [Escape]: This place is full of corruption. You must get out within two hours. Rewards: 2 random cards, 10 skill points, 15 free attribute points, and 50,000,000 XP. This...? Souta was surprised. It seemed that this quest wouldn''t be easy, given the rewards. As he processed this, he noticed that the pressure around him had lessened. The same thing was happening to Alexander. Both Souta and Alexander felt something within their bodies countering the pressure. They glanced into the depths of the darkness, sensing something beckoning them. "We need to leave this place as soon as possible," Souta said. Alexander glanced at Souta. "I know something about this place. There''s a way to cleanse the strange power here." "Cleanse the strange power..." Souta looked at the black, gooey liquid and asked, "Is this what you''re referring to?" "Yes, that liquid is tainted. In fact, everything here is corrupted by that strange power. Any living creature affected by it will lose themselves. The people who once lived here developed technology to suppress the strange power," Alexander explained. ... In the darkness, a corpse suddenly opened its eyes. Its gaze penetrated the void, observing the figures of those who had arrived in this endless darkness. Those figures were Souta and the others. Their arrival had not gone unnoticed by some unknown entity. It emanated a magnificent power-something unlike anything they had encountered before. "Stay here... and you will discover the true salvation... There is nothing..." Chapter 1040: Darkness The ground shifted in the darkness as they walked. Alexander explained what he knew about the strange power that seemed to corrupt everything around them. Souta listened closely. Alexander wasn''t sure why the area had become tainted, but he was certain it was connected to the fall of the ancient ruins. Something else had troubled him when he first entered this place. The barrier and the seals had changed. It seemed as though someone had locked this place down. "This place is strange. It feels... alive, like it''s feeding on us," Souta muttered, furrowing his brows. Alexander and the others felt the same unease. They could hear whispers coming from every direction. If their mental resistance had been weaker, they wouldn''t have been able to endure it. Though it still affected them, the presence of Souta and Alexander-both emanating an aura that countered the corruption-kept it at bay. Even Souta and Alexander didn''t fully understand how they were able to do this. It was as if they had uncovered something new within themselves. "Is this really darkness?" the Eight Head asked. Souta shook his head. Despite his affinity for the dark attribute, he could tell that the darkness in this place was entirely different. Even his own dark energy felt repelled by this strange and alien darkness. "It''s different, isn''t it?" Alexander glanced at Souta before continuing, "That''s why the people from the past called it tainted. This power can devour even darkness. It can corrupt anything-even the law itself." "A power that can taint the law of Imperium..." Souta mumbled. If it were the law of a lower dimension, it wouldn''t be surprising. But this was the law of Imperium. Its laws and concepts were what allowed gods to exist in this world. In any other realm, such laws would collapse, unable to sustain a god''s presence. ''Souta...'' A feminine voice suddenly echoed in Souta''s mind. ''Saya, you''re awake!'' Souta thought, startled. His hand instinctively moved to the hilt of his sword. ''What''s going on here? Why are you in a place like this? I woke up because I felt something malevolent,'' Saya said. ''Wait, just one question at a time. You know this place?'' ''Yeah, it''s the a-arghh!! N-No... I''m just a sword, but I''m still affected by the curse... Damn.'' Souta heard Saya''s scream in his mind. After a while, Saya calmed down. She said, ''I can''t say it. The only thing that I could tell you is that this power is dangerous. You need to get out of this place. With your current strength, it will corrupt you.'' ''I know. We''re already trying to find the exit here and see if we can find the device that could suppress the strange power here,'' Souta explained to her what they were doing. ''You should know that this strange power is related to the Great War twenty thousand years ago. It''s also tied to the curse that made people forget the Archetype,'' Saya said in a serious tone. Great War and Archetype. Souta recalled hearing her mention the curse surrounding Archetypes. Only those with sufficient power, like those at the Fifth Shackle, could remember it. Additionally, the God of Hunt from that era had been cursed, preventing him from passing down any information. Fortunately, the God of Hunt had written down some details about the war before the curse took effect. Saya took a moment to sense their surroundings. After a while, she seemed relieved and said, ''You''re lucky-this is likely just a remnant of power from the past. Still, even though it''s a remnant, you''ll be affected by it if you stay too long.'' ''In your estimation, how long can I stay here?'' Souta asked. ''Thirty minutes...'' Saya paused, sensing his strength. ''No, probably one hour. Wait... What are you?'' ''Huh? What are you talking about?'' Souta asked, confused. ''Ah, I get it. Right, you have the support of Imperium, so it''s no wonder you''re emitting an aura that resists the corruption. The power of Imperium... but it seems you''re not the only one with it here.'' At those words, Souta glanced at Alexander, who was leading at the front. Both he and Alexander somehow possessed an ability that resisted the corruption, and it was also helping the other Nine Heads clear their minds. ''With the two of you... I''d say two hours,'' Saya concluded. ''Two hours...'' Souta glanced at the quest given to him by the system. He now understood why he had to leave this place within that time. ''Both of you will undoubtedly reach the level of the gods in the near future. I thought that guy was just a little special when we fought the No God Emperor, but this confirms it. He''s just like you,'' Saya said. ''But how do you know this is the power of Imperium? We couldn''t even distinguish it from normal energy. If not for this accident, we wouldn''t have realized our energy possessed it,'' Souta asked. ''Of course you couldn''t distinguish it. You''re not even a god yet. Like I said before, many people only realize they have the support of Imperium after they reach godhood,'' Saya explained. Soon, the group arrived at the edge of a massive pit. They couldn''t see what lay below-it seemed like the bottomless maw of some unknown creature, ready to swallow anything. "Let''s go," Alexander said in a low voice. Without hesitation, he leapt into the pit. The rest of the Nine Heads exchanged glances before following him. They had no choice-Alexander had already gone down. Thud! They fell for nearly a minute before reaching the ground. The drop was significant, and they felt a strange energy brushing across their bodies as they descended. The place where they landed was a circular platform, its surface covered with intricate symbols. Alexander squatted down and placed his palm on the floor. After a few moments, he spoke, "This is still functioning. We can use it later." "What''s that?" the Third Head said, pausing and pointing a finger upward. Alexander, Souta, and the others looked in the direction she indicated and saw something moving in the darkness above them. Souta''s expression grew serious as he realized what it was. "Souls..." Alexander muttered. This place somehow trapped the souls of the dead, preventing them from passing into the soul realm. Over time, they became tainted and turned into malicious undead. Alexander, an expert at the Sixth Shackle, was even stronger than most at his level due to his immense elemental power. He could perceive the souls if he focused on them. "It''s blocking our path," the Eight Head said. "No, we can get out of here as long as we suppress the taint," Alexander replied. Everyone prepared for battle. In a situation like this, fighting was inevitable if they wanted to escape alive. The device Alexander needed was nearby. If the platform was still functioning, the device should be operational as well. The only thing they lacked was a power supply. Alexander glanced at Souta and the rest of the Nine Heads. He quickly formulated a plan based on their combat abilities. If there was no power supply, Alexander would have to find a substitute. In a place like this, finding one would be nearly impossible, so the alternative was to use his own energy as the power source. However, this would leave him unable to fight against the enemies. "I''ll find the device, but I won''t be able to fight. I''ll leave all the enemies to you," Alexander said. The rest of the Nine Heads nodded in agreement, their expressions serious. Soon, a group of undead appeared before them. The Eight Head and Sixth Head immediately charged forward to intercept them. Bang!! A battle erupted in the blink of an eye. Alexander dashed ahead, ignoring the undead as he headed straight for the device. Fifth Head and Fourth Head followed close behind, protecting him from the undead that had passed by Eight Head and Sixth Head. Meanwhile, Third Head and Second Head provided support from the back with their spells. "These undead!" Jovi, the Fourth Head, gritted his teeth. They all could feel the corruption''s influence growing stronger in the air. Their resistance to the corruption wasn''t as strong as Alexander''s and Souta''s. ''They are lucky that this is juts a remnant, a mere whisp of the real power,'' Saya said. Souta stood at the edge of the battlefield, observing. Thousands of undead surged toward them, but only a few managed to get past Eight Head and Sixth Head. The two were exerting their full strength as they battled the relentless undead. Boom! Boom! Explosions erupted as they unleashed various spells and combat arts. However, more powerful undead continued to advance. Souta also noticed the two ghouls he had fought earlier. In addition to them, seven gigantic creatures appeared in the distance, casting deep shadows over everyone present. Saya... Souta thought inwardly as he took a step forward. ''I know...'' Saya replied. Souta took another step forward, gripping the handle of his sword tightly. His aura began to rise as he activated his Second Mode. Darkness spread from his feet, ten black spheres formed on his back, his eyes gleamed with white light, and a silhouette of a red woman appeared behind him. Chapter 1041: Familiar "Here." Alexander arrived in front of a cube adorned with intricate patterns on its surface. It appeared ordinary, but he knew this was what he had been searching for. The cube, now dull, rested atop a piece of metal surrounded by various incense. It sat in a place resembling a shrine, with a miniature wooden house behind it. This place had once been beautiful, but now... it was filled with filth that didn''t belong. "Is this the place?" Jovi, the Fourth Head, asked. Alexander nodded, then stepped forward. "I''ll leave it to you. Destroy any undead that approach this area," he said. Fourth Head and Fifth Head nodded at Alexander''s words. They turned to face the battlefield before them. Thousands of undead continued to rush at them without pause, and powerful ones lurked behind. The ghouls, skeletal dragons, and giant undead watched from the rear of the army. At the front, Eight Head and Sixth Head were fighting the undead with all their might, while Third Head and Second Head provided support from behind with powerful spells. "Do you think we can hold them off?" Fifth Head asked, concern evident in his voice. He could sense dozens of auras among the undead that were at SSS-rank. Some of them were even at the peak of SSS-rank, equivalent to the Sixth Shackle Realm. "Yeah, Seventh Head is still with us," Fourth Head replied confidently. The Seventh Head of the Dragon Council was widely known as the Blood Lightning Monster, the undisputed strongest Fourth Stage monster in the world. Meanwhile, Alexander stepped deeper into the shrine-like area. He passed the cube, his eyes focusing on something beyond. Several dozen kilometers away lay the source of the taint. What had once been a small, contained area from the past had expanded over the years. It was also possible that the area had been opened before, allowing the contamination to spread. This might be tied to a past event in the Hall Plains-the fall of the Hall of Power. The Hall of Power had been a Large Country, but it collapsed under the weight of a calamity. Afterward, it rose again, led by the No God Emperor. "Calamity that struck the land..." Alexander muttered, sensing a connection to the calamity that had led to the downfall of the Hall of Power. He took a deep breath and removed his necklace, placing it on the floor. It began to emit a dim light, and in the next second, a barrier formed around the shrine. The necklace was a dark-grade artifact. In fact, none of Alexander''s artifacts were lower than dark grade; all were dark grade or higher. Turning back, he placed his hand on the cube. His elemental power surged, focusing entirely on the cube before him. ... Eight Head and Sixth Head were locked in battle with the undead when an oppressive aura suddenly descended upon the battlefield. An undead, emitting a foul stench, appeared. It had the appearance of a man with messy black hair and rotting flesh. As soon as this undead arrived, the two ghouls, the giant undead, and other high-level undead charged at the group. Third Head and Second Head''s eyes widened in alarm. They quickly cast several spells, enhancing the abilities of Eight Head and Sixth Head. "Let''s go!" Eight Head shouted, undeterred by the overwhelming presence. Feeling the surge of power from the buffs, he clenched his fist and delivered a powerful punch to one of the giant undead. Bang! At the same time, Sixth Head blocked the skeletal dragons'' advance. Neither hesitated as they activated the equipment skills of their artifacts. There was no point in holding back in a situation like this. The undead that had triggered the high-level undead to attack simply watched the battlefield from above. "I am Fhe. I''ll give you a choice-submit and become one of us. Forget your past and join us in immortality," a coarse voice escaped from the mouth of the undead. It introduced itself as Fhe. "Sooner or later, we will engulf the whole world. We are the answer that will break the shackles of Imperium," Fhe''s voice echoed across the battlefield. Just Fhe''s voice alone made Eight Head and the others wince in pain. They felt an unknown power invading their minds, similar to a charm. "Still resisting? Then, as an advocate of the higher will, I will exterminate you here and turn your souls into one of us." Fhe slowly bent his knees, gathering a massive amount of energy around him. "He''s coming," Second Head said gravely. Swoosh! In the blink of an eye, Fhe launched himself forward at incredible speed. Before Eight Head and Sixth Head could react, he was already beside them, his hand poised to strike. But before he could land his blow, a figure appeared in front of him, blocking his hand with a sword. It happened in an instant-Eight Head and Sixth Head were hurled away before they could even grasp what had occurred. They turned their heads and saw a monster with four sharp spider limbs rattling on his back. It was Souta, the Seventh Head of the Dragon Council. Souta narrowed his eyes, sensing the powerful energy fluctuation from the undead who called himself Fhe. He was already in his released form, knowing that Fhe was not an enemy he could take lightly. The four spider limbs on his back locked onto Fhe and quickly fired [Bestrou] in an instant. But Fhe vanished from his position before the beams could even reach him. Souta didn''t follow up. Instead, he took his time to carefully observe this peculiar, powerful undead. At the same time, Fhe studied the monster that had blocked his path. The creature before him stood on a razor-thin thread, its aura several times stronger than normal. Yet, something about this monster made Fhe feel a deep sense of repulsion. "Imperium...! So the Imperium sent you here!" Fhe''s voice surged with power, agitating all the undead in the area. "Imperium? So you can sense it, huh? I don''t even understand why I have the power to fight the corruption here. It only appeared in this place," Souta replied with a smile. "There''s no need to answer. All things will end up the same," Fhe said coldly. Souta remained silent, grabbing a web strand beside him. In an instant, thousands of webs erupted, slicing through the hordes of undead. He propelled himself forward, dragging the mass of webbing along with him. Swoosh! Fhe opened his palm, his nails elongating into razor-sharp claws. As Souta closed in, Fhe swung his hand, aiming for his neck. Souta swiftly raised his sword, intercepting the deadly strike. Then, with a deft motion, he swung the webs, entangling Fhe in the sharp strands. Despite their razor-like edges, the webs couldn''t cut through Fhe''s body. "He''s durable..." Souta thought as the tension grew. The four spider limbs on Souta''s back charged up an attack and fired it at Fhe. Boom!! Souta landed on the ground, focusing on the explosion. His senses felt dulled compared to outside, likely due to the corruption''s effects. Before Saya had identified the power of Imperium, she estimated he could last an hour in this place. The power of Imperium extended that to two hours. Yet, even within the first hour, Souta could already feel the corruption impacting his senses. Graa!! Hundreds of skeletons surged toward him. Souta slashed through them with his webs while keeping his attention fixed on the explosion. The skeletons were sliced into pieces as the webs shredded their bodies cleanly. "You have to stay here. In the end, you will become one of us. Don''t worry, you won''t feel any pain," Fhe''s voice echoed ominously. Fhe emerged from the explosion, looking down at Souta with a sinister gaze. "Tough..." Souta narrowed his eyes. He glanced towards Alexander. Alexander needed to finish his task quickly. Souta doubted that Eight Head and the others could withstand the onslaught for two hours. The only reason Eight Head and the rest weren''t severely affected yet was because of the strange power from Imperium that Souta and Alexander possessed. Without their influence, the corruption would have overwhelmed them much sooner. Souta abruptly shifted his body to the side as sharp nails narrowly missed him. He then turned around, and strings of flesh quickly enveloped him, transforming him into a monstrous entity. As Fhe prepared to attack again, a massive fist struck him in the face, its immense energy nearly breaking through his rotting flesh. Bang!! Meanwhile, Alexander was channeling a tremendous amount of energy into the cube. Argh! It wasn''t enough. He gritted his teeth, his aura surging to its limit, causing the surrounding area to tremble. He remembered this place. It was the frontline of the taint they had previously suppressed. In the past, the taint was minimal because the device was still active. With his abilities back then, he could easily suppress and even disperse the taint¡ªit wasn''t much of a threat. Hmm? Alexander suddenly looked up and saw the undead that had warned him earlier. Now that he examined it more closely, he realized that this undead had been one of his subordinates in the past. "Y-You!" It seemed that none of the Heads had noticed the presence of this undead. Chapter 1042: Arsnobal ROAR!! Fhe unleashed a massive surge of energy, causing the ground to tremble. He raised both of his hands and proclaimed, "Oh, great one... I offer you everything." Swoosh!! Souta dashed in front of Fhe and swiftly slashed with his sword. Fhe''s head flew through the air, but his smile only grew wider. In the next moment, a powerful force erupted, sending Souta flying several hundred meters away. Souta was taken aback by this turn of events. He watched as Fhe reattached his severed head with ease, as if nothing had happened. It was evident that destroying such an undead was no simple task. But there was something else that troubled him. The other undead roared with increasing ferocity. Their screams reverberated throughout the area, and their appearances began to change drastically. Additionally, their strength had surged dramatically. Souta sensed dozens of energy levels at the Sixth Shackle Realm emanating from the undead. While this wasn''t a problem for him, it would place the Nine Heads at a severe disadvantage. There was a significant chance that they wouldn''t be able to withstand the onslaught of so many Sixth Shackle undead. After all, none of the Nine Heads, except Alexander, had reached the Sixth Shackle Realm. "I have to hold them off..." Souta placed his palm on the ground, summoning several shadows. [Doppelganger]! The shadows quickly moved to intercept the Sixth Shackle undead. However, even the doppelgangers weren''t enough to block all of them. Souta jumped into the air and used the power of [Orb of Arcane Seal] to stack up all of his spells. Several doppelgangers rose from his shadows once again. Simultaneously, he divided his focus between controlling all the doppelgangers and applying gravitational pressure on the Sixth Shackle undead. His goal was to ensure that the Nine Heads wouldn''t fall easily, thereby preventing Alexander from becoming vulnerable. Suddenly, Souta''s eyes widened as he sensed a presence appear behind him. He quickly turned around, but it was too late. Swoosh!! A searing pain shot through him as he felt his neck being struck. Fhe had almost severed his neck with a single, deadly attack. "I just stacked all of my spells, yet this undead could still pierce through my defense easily," Souta muttered as he retreated, but Fhe quickly pursued him. "If you want to fight, then I''ll give you one," Souta said, narrowing his eyes. He left his neck partially unhealed, intending to use his trait to boost his stats. Fhe moved with ferocious speed, attacking with a relentless fury. In the blink of an eye, he swung his hands thousands of times. Souta blocked the barrage of attacks with his sword and the four spider limbs on his back. Fhe, despite being an intelligent undead, had become a mindless killing machine in this state. He continued his unceasing assault on Souta. Boom! Boom! Their intense clash sent shockwaves rippling through the area. Souta felt the immense pressure of the undead he was battling. It was challenging to maintain focus while also controlling the doppelgangers to fend off the Sixth Shackle undead. Seizing an opportunity, he activated the equipment skill of his [Solid Hunter State Boots]. The skill immediately enhanced his speed and slowed down Fhe''s movements. With his speed now greatly increased, Souta swiftly evaded Fhe''s relentless attacks. He maneuvered to the side and delivered a precise slice to the undead''s neck. Fhe''s head rolled through the air, and Souta swiftly grabbed it. Souta infused his energy into his palm and crushed the head with a powerful force. Despite this, Fhe continued to move as if nothing had happened. His head reappeared after a few seconds, seemingly unaffected. Souta refrained from attacking further and focused on defense, fully expecting this undead to be exceptionally difficult to destroy. "I''ll try destroying this guy more and see if there will be a difference," Souta muttered as he focused on blocking the relentless attacks from Fhe. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Eight Head, Sixth Head, Second Head, and Third Head were struggling under the intense pressure from the undead. "They keep coming, and they''re even stronger than before... It''s getting hard to defend," Second Head shouted, his voice strained. Third Head, though silent, nodded in agreement, feeling the same strain. The army of undead showed no signs of faltering. Even with Seventh Head joining the fray, the pressure remained overwhelming. Despite their efforts, the tide of the battle seemed to be tipping further out of their favor. Eight Head and Sixth Head, who had been holding the front line, were now severely injured, their bodies battered and bleeding. Despite their grave wounds, they continued to fight with unwavering determination. The situation was further exacerbated by the relentless pressure of corruption. This wasn''t just physical pain but an invasive, corrupting pleasure that tried to tempt them. The pleasure, more than the pain from their injuries, was a constant, nagging force threatening to undermine their resolve. Corruption could manifest in many forms, and this particular type was as insidious as it was dangerous. It wasn''t merely about physical corruption but a psychological invasion that sought to exploit their vulnerabilities. The only thing keeping them from succumbing to this corruption was the aura emanating from Souta and Alexander. Even though they couldn''t fully understand or feel the power of Imperium, it was evident to them that these two had abilities capable of resisting the corruption. They had sensed this when they observed the reactions of Souta and Alexander, realizing that their resilience was crucial to their survival. As the battle raged on, the Nine Heads continued to hold the line, driven by their will to support Alexander''s efforts and to survive the encroaching corruption. The danger in this place exceeded everyone''s expectations. Meanwhile... "Arsnobal," Alexander muttered the name of the undead. "That''s right. It''s me," the undead confirmed with a nod. Arsnobal, once a revered Captain of the Royal Guards, had now become a mere shadow of his former self, reduced to an undead. Despite his current state, he retained fragments of his former identity and knowledge. "If you know me then you must be the successor of our God. I told you to escape but since you arrived here I''ve already confirmed it." Arsnobal said, his voice carrying a mix of recognition and resignation. Alexander remained silent, absorbing the gravity of the situation. It was clear that Arsnobal wasn''t aware of his past and the events that led to his current state. The undead had gained significant strength and influence, and the power that once was used to suppress the taint was now a potential threat to the world. "Why are you here?" Alexander finally asked, breaking the silence. "What happened to the others?" Arsnobal''s gaze hardened. "We were all part of a grand design, one that has been twisted and corrupted beyond recognition. What you see now is only a fraction of what was once a grand defense. The corruption spread, consuming everything, and those who resisted were turned into what you see before you." Alexander''s thoughts raced. The battle ahead was more than just a fight against undead; it was a struggle against a corruption that had far-reaching consequences. If Arsnobal and his allies had fallen, it underscored the immense power of the corruption they faced. "What happened to the Myriad Palace?" Alexander asked, his tone heavy with concern. "Myriad Palace..." The undead named Arsnobal''s voice grew melancholic at the mention. "After the disappearance of our god, many began to covet our land and its treasures." They activated the formation of the Myriad Palace and sealed the entire land. Over time, generations lived and died here, but this also led to divisions among the people of the Myriad Palace. They neglected the taint, and those who came into contact with it became subconsciously corrupted. Alexander''s eyes narrowed as he listened to Arsnobal. "There''s something peculiar about your story. Taint, you say? If you aren''t corrupted, how did you manage to maintain your consciousness?" "As expected of the successor of our god. You are truly worthy," the undead forced a smile on his rotting face. "It''s simple. Someone managed to enter the sealed Myriad Palace after thousands of years." "Who?" Alexander asked. "The Divine Venerable of Wisdom and the Isolated Formation God." "What?!" Alexander''s eyes widened in shock. He then sensed something within Arsnobal''s body. "Let me take it from here." A different voice emerged from Arsnobal''s mouth, and his demeanor suddenly changed. "Who...?" Alexander frowned and instinctively took a step back. The undead''s demeanor shifted abruptly, and the air around them grew heavier with a palpable sense of menace. The new presence that spoke through Arsnobal''s mouth was vastly different, its voice resonating with an unsettling authority. "I am the will left behind by Vexus, also known as the Divine Venerable of Wisdom. I am the reason this undead could remain conscious despite the corruption," the undead explained, pausing briefly. "We cannot say too much due to the curse, but there is one thing you should know. We are the cause of the calamity in Hall Plains. Both I and the Isolated Formation God became sinners." Alexander listened in silence, not interrupting. "Hundreds of years ago, we succeeded in opening a slight gap. This gap led to the fall of the Hall of Power. It brought calamity and drew the attention of the Administrator. The sky turned red and shattered, and infinite corruption poured down from the breach. The Isolated Formation God was affected and began to plan for the future. As for me, I remained in the Hall of Power to face the consequences of our actions." The undead walked forward and stood beside Alexander. "I left a fragment of my will here. Even after the Administrators'' cleansing, the remnants of the calamity have lingered. My memory is incomplete since I am merely a will with a specific mission," the undead explained. "You mean...?" Alexander turned his head, intrigued. "Yes, I need to eradicate the remnants of the calamity here. You plan to suppress the calamity, but that alone won''t prevent its return. We need to eliminate it completely, and I require your help," the undead said. "What truly happened during the calamity? You mentioned causing it, but according to the information I''ve gathered outside, it led to the appearance of the Commandments," Alexander asked. "That''s correct, but the ones who truly acted were the Administrators. The Commandments only sought to understand one thing. I mentioned my memories are incomplete, didn''t I?" "Yes," Alexander confirmed. "Although my memories are incomplete, I still know that what they are searching for is in the Ruin Desolate Land. The Authority of Famine is there. If you need exact details, I''m afraid I cannot provide them. You might find more information by locating my corpse or by seeking out a person named Patmos, the one who carried the Balance Scale," the undead explained. Chapter 994 Witch Hunt: [Rhongomiant] Chapter 994 Witch Hunt: [Rhongomiant] Bang! Bang! Souta moved swiftly, doing his best to keep up with his opponents. Lorna and her comrades were elite witches¡ªstrong and skilled experts. "This monster is quite tricky!" Lorna remarked as she pursued Souta. "You''re the one who''s tricky!" Souta retorted, grinning widely. He leaped away, shooting crimson webs at Lorna''s team. Taking a deep breath, Souta gestured, using his webs to hurl a giant boulder at his opponents. Then, he lunged forward, tightly gripping the vajra sword. Swoosh! Cresin, a damage dealer from the Dark Gold Corps, swiftly sliced the boulder into several pieces while Lorna advanced to confront Souta. Bang! In an instant, Souta and Lorna exchanged hundreds of blows. Lorna''s attacks were swift and precise, but Souta managed to skillfully block each one. Suddenly, Souta leaped away as a ray of flames engulfed his previous position. Turning his head, he saw a man in a dark robe. The Dark Gold Corps comprised seven witches¡ªtwo damage dealers, one tank, two mages, an archer, and a healer. They formed a formidable team with exceptional coordination. The two mages excelled in support spells, casting buffs to enhance Lorna, Cresin, the tank, and the archer. Additionally, they employed debuff spells to weaken Souta''s abilities. The Dark Gold Corps held a prestigious position within the Walpurgis Night, belonging to the Silver Faction just below the authority of the elders. Few could rival them in combat prowess. Swoosh! Lorna and Cresin swiftly closed in on Souta''s sides. Souta parried Lorna''s attack with his sword while conjuring a shield made of blood to fend off Cresin''s assault. Leaping into the air, Souta found himself confronted by the tank waiting below. "Go down!!" The tank roared as he slammed his shield toward Souta. Souta reacted quickly, enveloping himself in a layer of blood to cushion the impact. He was sent crashing down onto the ground, kicking up dust and smoke. Bang! Emerging from the smoke, Souta faced a barrage of flames and arrows raining down from his previous location. Knowing he couldn''t stay in one spot for long, lest the archer and mages target him, Souta swiftly moved from side to side. "So it''s a battle of attrition, huh? I can keep this up until they exhaust themselves," Souta thought to himself, maintaining his agile evasion tactics. Souta placed his hand on his chest, and after a few moments, a grin spread across his face. "Hehe, if you don''t kill me, then all of you will regret it... I can feel it. You won''t be able to bear the consequences. You can''t kill me with your strength; all you can do is keep me confined to this place," Souta taunted, laughing. Lorna narrowed his eyes upon hearing Souta''s words, a sense of unease creeping over him. "Go ahead and try! Otherwise, you''ll be responsible for the downfall of your entire faction! Hahaha!" Souta laughed maniacally. ... Meanwhile, Edern stood before Alice, flanked by two towering figures¡ªhis parents. "You obtained something, didn''t you?" Edern inquired eagerly. "Yes," Alice confirmed. "In that case, you should start by killing us. Can you do that?" Edern asked excitedly, eager for the long-awaited release of death. "Yeah," Alice nodded, then lifted her head to meet Edern''s gaze. "But I don''t think it will be easy. You mentioned that individuals like yourself are programmed to retaliate if attacked, correct?" "You needn''t worry about that. You''ll face us one-on-one. Each of us will take turns engaging you, ensuring it''s a fair match. It''s a different story if you were to attack us simultaneously," Edern clarified. "Very well, let''s relocate. I don''t want innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of our battle," Alice stated firmly. "Agreed," Edern smiled, turning to his parents. "Mother, Father, let''s proceed. Today, we shall achieve the long-awaited release of death." Alice and the three towering figures moved to a different location. Engaging in battle here would pose a risk to the ordinary people. Edern''s mother was named Lemi, and his father was Edan. They have endured centuries of suffering in this place, subjected to all manner of experiments that have bound them to the Dream Palace. The only reason they have not succumbed to insanity is because of their mutual support for each other. Lemi and Edan have provided each other with emotional and physical support through their trials. After ''freeing'' these three giants, Alice would have to confront and fight the other victims of the witches'' experiments to prevent their plan from harming ordinary people. Alice sensed that battles would erupt in different parts of the Dream Palace. She realized that these individuals would not cease their efforts until they achieved their desired "death." As they moved, Edan and Lemi shared with Alice what they knew about the history of the Walpurgis Night. The witches who had worked in the Dream Palace in the past had conducted research on the soul. "They were attempting to manipulate the laws of the soul realm, but such actions carry consequences. During that time, a being named Great Lumb arrived at the facility without anyone noticing," Edan recounted, recalling the incident from the past. That being, Great Lumb, was like an ominous sign. The events that followed marked the downfall of the Walpurgis Night. Two of the Ten Commandments appeared and killed Le Fay Morgan, leading the Walpurgis Night to retreat into hiding. "They said that Great Lumb is an administrator tasked with maintaining balance," Lemi explained. Soon, they arrived at a desolate place devoid of any living beings for several kilometers¡ªa perfect location for their battle. "This place will suffice," Alice remarked, turning around to face the three giants. "So, who will fight first?" "I''ll go first," Lemi asserted, stepping forward and casting a glance at her husband and son. "We''ve discussed this at length, but now that death is upon me, I''m feeling a bit nervous." "If you''re unsure, then let me go first," Edan offered. "No, if you go first, I''ll have to witness you fading away before my eyes. I can''t bear it," Lemi replied resolutely. Alice looked at the couple and proposed, "Why don''t I take both of you on at the same time?" Lemi and Edan exchanged a glance before turning back to Alice with wide eyes. "Are you certain you can handle it?" Edern asked, his perspective on death differing from that of his parents, who were well-acquainted with the concept. Alice nodded confidently at Edern. "Yes, they''ve been together all this time, so it''s fitting for them to face this together as well." "Thank you," Edan responded earnestly, his expression shifting. "Please be cautious, though... We are strong. The moment you attack, we may not be able to control our bodies. We will retaliate whether we intend to or not. Therefore, please give it your all from the start." The atmosphere shifted, and Edern quickly distanced himself from the trio. Edan and Lemi stood poised, awaiting Alice''s attack. Alice took a deep breath as she approached the couple, her energy escalating and the temperature dropping around her. Strands of flesh emerged, enveloping her entire body. After a brief moment of intense focus, Alice vanished. Swoosh! In an instant, she materialized in front of Lemi and Edan. Opening her palm, a bright light emanated from the center of her chest, coalescing into a gold and silver spear. A brilliant flash erupted from the spear, unleashing a surge of energy like a tidal wave. "RHONGOMIANT!!" Edan and Lemi''s eyes widened as a blinding light exploded before them. The shockwave rippled through the air, shaking the entire area. BANG!! The impact reverberated, the force of Alice''s attack resonating through the surroundings. Edern, watching from afar, was blown away by the impact of Alice''s attack. Sparks appeared in the air, distorting the space of this dimension. "That spear is still here!" Edern muttered, recalling something his father had told him in the past. Powerful knights had emerged from the Witch Rite of Duels, gaining recognition among the witches. Among them was a formidable leader who stood behind Le Fay Morgan, calling himself the King of Knights. The spear belonged to that man¡ªthe King of Knights. The [Rhongomiant] was a powerful universal-grade weapon. BOOM! The ripples spread throughout the area, and the aftershocks were felt across the entire space. Ordinary villagers cowered in fear as they sensed the vibrations in the air, uncertain if they would survive the day. The children cried nonstop until they fainted, and the adults were unable to comfort them amidst the heavy pressure in the air. Fear and despair consumed their hearts. On the battlefield, the smoke gradually cleared, revealing Alice''s figure. She held the universal-grade weapon in her hand, her expression blank. The aura surrounding her was fierce, akin to that of a lion. Alice exhaled deeply, her grip on the spear tightening once again. Thanks for reading and I hope you like it. Chapter 1043: Force "In the midst of the chaos, the clones of the Commandments intervened," the undead explained. "But they didn''t act recklessly because they didn''t want to antagonize the Administrator. It was still too early for that." "Too early..." Alexander repeated under his breath. "The God''s Will knows things about this world that others don''t. They are erasing all those connected to the calamity. So, do not ever speak of it again. If they learn that you possess knowledge about the calamity, they will exterminate you, your family, and anyone associated with you." The undead paused, allowing Alexander a moment to absorb the gravity of his words. After a few seconds, he resumed speaking. "Have you, perhaps, heard of the Cold Break Incident?" Alexander shook his head. "The Cold Break Incident happened thousands of years ago," the undead began. "The holders of the Cosmic Sign at that time perished, and no one knows how or why. It''s strange, considering the holders of the Cosmic Sign are powerful, even among the gods-yet they were wiped out, just like that. My friend, the Isolated Formation God, and I investigated it, and we discovered traces of the calamity behind the incident." The undead''s gaze turned serious as he continued, "Avoid the topic of the calamity at all costs. It''s too early for you to delve into it. Even gods aren''t safe if they seek out more knowledge about it. And the God''s Will-well, they''re especially cautious when it comes to the calamity. They wouldn''t hesitate to offend the Holy Land if it meant dealing with this." "I understand," Alexander replied, nodding solemnly. "Good," the undead said, his voice resolute. "Now, let''s begin and purge this filth from the world." ... On the battlefield, Souta and Fhe exchanged high-speed blows. Bang! Bang! Souta realized that his opponent was growing stronger with each passing second. For beings of their caliber, a second was more than enough time to execute thousands of moves. Yet no matter how many times Souta destroyed Fhe''s body, the undead simply regenerated, returning with even greater force. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him. ''Souta, you have to destroy its soul, body, and energy source at the same time. And the most crucial thing... is the corruption. You have to extinguish it as well,'' Saya''s voice echoed in his mind, her tone urgent. "It''s easier said than done. Doing all that simultaneously is no small feat. Besides, I don''t even know how to extinguish the corruption," Souta muttered, his sword clashing with Fhe''s relentless assault. He leapt into the air and raised his hand, his blood expanding outward and transforming into hundreds of crimson spears, ready to strike. With a simple motion, hundreds of blood spears flew forward, tearing through the skeleton army. Bang!! From within the smoke, the undead Fhe emerged, his energy level surging dangerously close to Hero-rank. Swoosh!! In a blur, Fhe vanished from sight and reappeared right in front of Souta. Startled, Souta''s eyes widened as he instinctively raised his weapon. His reaction was quick enough to block the attack, but the sheer force behind Fhe''s blow sent him crashing into the ground, creating a massive crater upon impact. Bang! Debris of rocks exploded in all directions. Souta stood up from the crater, the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. "Damn, I have to keep up the pace." He cursed under his breath as two artifacts flew beside the [Orb of Arcane Seal]. The [Darkness Hourglass] and [Goblet of the Night], both dark grade, joined the fray. He activated their skills: [Darkness Time], [Traceless World], [Carpet of the Night], and [Darkness Sweep]. Once again, he clashed with the undead Fhe. Bang!! Bang!! The tide of battle seemed relentless. The undead continued to surge in overwhelming numbers, using their sheer force like a tsunami to press the Nine Heads into a corner. Souta knew they wouldn''t last long at this rate. As he battled Fhe, he was continuously harassed by the undead, their attacks chipping away at him. While the minor attacks from SS- rank undead were manageable, the cumulative damage from SSS-rank adversaries was significant. Even Fourth and Fifth Shackle-level enemies could make an impact, albeit small. The number of skeletons destroyed during the fight reached tens of thousands, and notifications flashed continuously as Souta unleashed a storm of blood spears across the battlefield. Boom!! Souta stepped forward, closing the distance to Fhe. A sword of blood materialized in his other hand, and with dual blades, his class ability was fully activated. Fhe roared in response, charging with an overwhelming intent to kill. [Crimson Moon]! Boom!! Eight Head and the rest turned their heads, sensing the intense energy fluctuations. They saw a vast wave of crimson lightning surging like a tidal wave. "Seventh Head..." Third Head muttered. "The famed crimson lightning of the Seventh Head," Fourth Head said. They knew that things were getting worse if the enemy had forced the famed Blood Lightning Monster to use this power. This was the power that made the Blood Lightning Monster renowned throughout the Hall Plains, and his name even reached other lands. Still, the massive amount of energy from the undead clashed with the lightning. The clash caused intense friction in the air and space. The undead Fhe roared fiercely, his killing intent soaring through the air. He looked ahead and, in the next moment, realized that Souta had grabbed his face. Swoosh!! Souta dragged the undead Fhe deeper into the darkness, crossing the vast land in just a second. Thousands of skeletons were destroyed in the process. Then, he threw Fhe heavily into the ground, causing a massive crater. Souta landed on the floor, staring at the undead. He was still experiencing excruciating pain, but he didn''t show it on his face. "So this is how the Imperium plays, huh? I don''t even give a shit about it. If you''re going to take it back, then take it back." He opened his palm, and lightning flashed across his body. His aura rose sharply as white smoke seeped out from his feet. Souta looked down and said, "You know what? I''ve been trying to test the limits of my new power in the past week. I don''t need it to fight the corruption. I alone am enough." He stabbed his sword forward. The blade pierced through the space, causing a rift to open in front of him. "Dream is reality. Reality is a dream." White smoke poured out of the rift, enveloping the area. A strange power erupted, shaking the entire place. "Right now, my voice is the rule, my body is the land, and my blood is the ocean. I am everything. Hahahaha!" Souta combed his hair with his hand as he laughed madly. "I call it [Dream of the Twilight Blood]." In an instant, the entire scenery transformed. A vast crimson sky stretched above, with the sun trapped in perpetual twilight. Darkness and light flowed across the land, and crimson lightning flashed erratically. Fhe and the tens of thousands of undead caught in the transformation were overwhelmed. The pressure exerted by this realm affected not only their bodies but also their very souls. Souta hovered in the sky, his hands clasped behind his back. A faint smile played on his lips as he spoke. "Welcome to my dreamscape, undead." Chapter 1044: Undead Army Eight Head and the others felt the tremors. White smoke spread out, enveloping tens of thousands of undead in an instant, greatly reducing the pressure on them. "W-What is that?!" Sixth Head muttered, staring at the thick wall of white smoke. "This...?!" Fourth Head widened his eyes. "If I''m not wrong, this is the boundary of dreams..." Third Head said in shock. "Are you telling me that Seventh Head brought a dream to reality?!" "I can''t think of anything else." Everyone was shocked by the fact that the Seventh Head had the power of dreams. Even among the high-level experts from the Holy Lands, only a few people possess the power of dreams. The white smoke covered most of the undead, leaving only a few thousand for them to deal with. Even so, among these few thousand undead, there were hundreds of Second and Third Shackles. There were also dozens of Fourth Shackle undead. It wouldn''t be easy for them. In the Dreamscape... Souta landed on the ground, facing tens of thousands of undead without a hint of fear in his eyes. He opened his palm, sensing the power coursing through the air. "Manifesting my Dreamscape into reality is quite taxing. This won''t last long. My [Douion] will not be able to hold it together." Souta turned his attention back to the army of undead. He took a step forward, and those below the level of the late Fourth Stage were pressed to the ground as [Serpent Dominance] spread out. Even though his strength was far above any Fourth Stage, he was still at the late Fourth Stage in the end. Darkness and light burst from the ground, obliterating the undead. Their flesh and bones were reduced to nothing. Souta attempted to absorb their souls, but he realized they were resisting, fighting back against the absorption. "This...?!" Even their souls were corrupted beyond recovery. Their flesh and souls were no longer theirs; they now belonged to the strange energy that corrupts all things. It could even resist the absorption power of universal-grade artifacts. This strange energy corruption clearly had a deep, sinister origin. "If that''s the case..." Souta narrowed his eyes. With a swing of his hand, blood-colored lightning rained down upon the field, obliterating their souls. Boom!! He jumped into the air and raised his sword, locking his gaze on Fhe. Fhe roared and charged at him, but before he could even reach Souta, he suddenly found himself trapped in a place full of spider webs. "This is my Dreamscape, and I''m the master here. There''s nothing you can do against me." Souta''s voice echoed as countless strings of webs moved, slicing Fhe''s body into tiny fragments. Then, blood-colored lightning descended, obliterating those fragments and leaving nothing behind. Boom!! Souta floated in the sky, observing everything. He noticed that Fhe had begun to regenerate from nothing once again. "That''s one of the worst things about these guys-they regenerate from nothingness. Boost your Archetype using your power. I''m sure you can do that since you can bring your Dreamscape into reality," Saya''s voice echoed in his mind. "Well, the truth is, I''m not sure if I can do that. I just recently trained [Douion], so I''m still getting a grasp of its uses. Also, I''m not sure if I can do it while maintaining the Dreamscape in reality," Souta replied. ''What?!'' Saya was surprised. "Err... Actually, a lot of things happened after you fell asleep. I haven''t had time to explain it to you," Souta said awkwardly. He hadn''t been able to train before, as his inner consciousness was damaged. He only managed to train his [Douion] after the events of Walpurgis Night. At that moment, Fhe charged at him, but was immediately stopped by seemingly endless strings of crimson webs. No matter what he tried, Fhe couldn''t get close to Souta. Souta''s power in this Dreamscape was too great. After all, he was the master here. With a wave of his hand, a powerful force pushed Fhe to the ground. A never-ending swirl of darkness and light engulfed his body. "You won''t be able to do a thing." Souta''s cold voice echoed. In this Dreamscape, he was the rule. ... In the long passage of the ancient ruin... Eilish stood before the transparent barrier, sensing the ominous fluctuations of energy on the other side. She stepped forward and passed through it. The strange energy brushed across her fair face, causing her to shudder. Something was wrong, and her instincts screamed at her. "I wanted to train my elemental power, but it seems I''ll have to postpone that. Something bad is happening." Eilish continued down the passage until she arrived at a cliff, where an abandoned small house lay at the bottom. But what truly caught her attention was the looming darkness spreading from the horizon. "W-What is that?" She narrowed her eyes and realized that countless undead were marching toward her position. Tens of thousands of skeletons moved across the ground, and there were also numerous flying undead. "I have to warn the others... This is bad." Eilish immediately turned around and went back. She reported what she had seen to the others, and they began preparing to fight the undead army. It was a serious situation, and they needed to be ready. Soon, Eilish returned to the cliff, watching the undead army draw closer. Her heart pounded as she sensed the heavy atmosphere in the air. She had reached the Fourth Shackle, but she knew it wasn''t enough to take on all the undead she could see. She might be able to handle thousands of them, but among the army were many strong undead that could pose a serious threat to her. Another issue was that she had just broken through to the Fourth Shackle and hadn''t stabilized her energy yet. After a few seconds, she felt a stinging sensation, as though something was trying to forcefully enter her mind. "W-What is this...?" Intense pain surged through her body. She looked ahead, her eyes full of concern. If this was happening to her, then what about Souta and the rest of the Nine Heads who were out there? She had no idea what had happened to them. She immediately headed back. When she arrived, she noticed something terrible. "It''s..." The members of the Dragon Council had started killing each other in the narrow passage. Their blood and flesh painted the walls and floor, and their energy levels were rising sharply. "Sister!!" Eilish turned her head and saw Eilan, her brother, defending himself against one of the members of Dragon Council. Her figure instantly disappeared and reappeared in front of the person attacking her brother. With a wave of her hand, her mana erupted, pressuring everyone in the area. The attacker was forced to the ground. He looked up at Eilish and started laughing like a madman. "Hahaha! Accept us! Join us! Salvation is here!" Eilish frowned at his words. She raised her foot and stomped on the man, knocking him out. Something was wrong. A strange energy was possessing the members of the Dragon Council, causing them to fight. Only a few people seemed able to resist the possession. "Eilan, tie him up," Eilish said to her brother before rushing toward the others who were possessed. Eilan nodded at his sister. He immediately followed her instructions and started tying up the people she had knocked out. He was a little terrified, as everyone had suddenly started battling. After some time, Eilish had knocked out all the possessed individuals. The energy could affect her, so what about Souta and the others who had ventured deeper into that land? She couldn''t imagine what they might be experiencing at that moment. "Everyone, prepare yourselves. There''s an army of undead marching toward us. We have no choice but to fight." Eilish informed them about what she had discovered beyond the passage-the army of undead and the looming darkness approaching. If either of these reached the surface, it would cause chaos and affect countless people. Eilish went outside the passage again to check the situation. She saw that the army of undead was close to reaching the abandoned town below the cliff. The army would arrive in less than five minutes. Eilish took a deep breath, her eyes filled with concern. "I can hold these undead off for less than a minute..." She understood that even though she had reached the Fourth Shackle, she wouldn''t be able to fight this army effectively. "If I had more time, I could improve my elemental power to the Integration Stage and stabilize my current realm," she muttered. Unfortunately, she didn''t have time, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and prepare for battle. Eilish''s figure shot into the air as her mana erupted. She pulled the staff from her waist and raised it above her head. Ohm! A magic circle appeared beneath her feet, accompanied by droplets of water. In an instant, the droplets transformed into dragons. "Go!!" At her command, dozens of water dragons rushed toward the incoming undead. This was her first battle as a Fourth Shackle, and she was already facing an army. Chapter 1045: Erkigal Boom!! Eilish bombarded the army of undead with powerful Tier 3 spells. Thousands of undead were destroyed in just a few seconds. Her spells were incredibly potent. In Astros, she was the most knowledgeable person when it came to spells. Even Souta had sought guidance from her. After all, Souta and the others followed diverse paths, while she focused solely on spellcasting. Souta and Alice had been mage students in the past, but their magic skills were primarily used to complement their fighting styles. Bang!! Eilish narrowed her eyes, sensing powerful undead rapidly approaching. These undead emitted the aura of a Third Shackle Realm. Eilish''s eyes focused on the enemies as she activated more spells. Her long blue hair fluttered across the winds as her energy level surge once again. She pointed her staff as the approaching undead and conjured a spell. [Air Mine]!! The undead ignored her spell as they rushed at her madly but before they could even reach her, their rotting bodies seemed to bump something in the air. In the next moment, several explosions resounded across the field. The bodies of the undead were torn apart as their flesh and bones scattered on the ground. Eilish took this chance to flew higher. In the attack just now she destroyed several Third Shackle undead but this was only the first wave. Hundreds of flying undead flew, their murderous intent was locked at her. Eilish gritted her teeth. She could feel intense pain all over her body, seemingly disrupting her focus. At this rate, she would turned similar to the people of Nine Heads that started killing each other. She forcefully held the staff in front of her and powerful water elements erupted from her body. [Element Drive: Water Force]! Then, she followed it by conjuring her spells. [Ocean Waves]! [Water Forming World]! The land was filled with water. The crushing waves swept across the army of undead, destroying those who were below Second Shackle Realm. Her elemental power had already reached the limit of the Force Stage. Now that she had broken through the great shackle, her element would soon reach the Integration Stage. She was not far from it. Eilish wasn''t done yet. [Thousand Water Shock]! [Spiral Dominant Sphere]! [Dominating the Wind]! A powerful storm seemed to appear out of nowhere in this land. The undead were destroyed one by one, but the Third Shackle undead managed to approach her. Their combined energy somehow allowed them to endure the might of her spell. Seeing this, Eilish took a step back, creating several layers of barriers around her. Her expression was gloomy as she knew this would happen soon. The enemies had hundreds of Third Shackle undead, so an expert like her, who had just broken through to the Fourth Shackle, would be at a disadvantage. They were using their numbers to overwhelm her. The Third Shackle undead chased after her. Eilish flew around while casting spells to hold them back. She would be in danger if these undead managed to force her into close combat. Boom! Boom! Explosions reverberated as wind and water swept across the field, trying to obstruct the powerful undead. "I have to go back now," Eilish muttered to herself. She couldn''t endure the strange energy that was trying to invade her mind. Although she hadn''t used her dream power yet, it was better to retreat for now than to push herself. She couldn''t help but glance at the distance. Her eyes were filled with concern. She didn''t know what she would do if something happened to Souta. Just as she was about to cast another spell to give her an opportunity to leave, a strong wave of energy erupted. The temperature sharply rose in an instant, evaporating all the water in the area. Then, a pillar of flame surged from the abandoned town below. "This?!" Eilish widened her eyes in shock. This pillar of flame instantly turned all the undead in the vicinity to ashes. The Third Shackle undead weren''t even spared. Swoosh!! Eilish felt pressure from the aura. Soon, the flames disappeared, revealing the appearance of a woman. This woman was none other than Erkigal, who had chosen to stay here. Erkigal looked at her palm with a smile on her face. She then clenched her fist, sensing the intense power coursing through her body. "After a long time... I finally achieved it." Her soft voice echoed. Eilish widened her eyes. The pressure around Erkigal was similar to that of the expert who had appeared outside of Selnes Country. A Seventh Shackle Realm. An expert who had broken through the second great shackle. A Seventh Shackle Realm meant that Erkigal had already entered the Rank of Hero, a rank beyond SSS. Erkig I turned to Eilish and said, "Good job, now leave everything to me." As soon as she said that, her figure flashed toward the horizon where the looming darkness was coming from. Boom!! All the undead she encountered were burned to ashes. As a Hero-rank, her strength was even greater than someone who had just advanced. It was all thanks to the house that contained the power of the Great Vermilion Bird. This was also why she chose this place for her breakthrough. She already had information that such power could be found here. After all, she couldn''t go to the real Vermilion Bird just to ask for help. As for why no one detected her breakthrough, it was all because of the formation inside that house. That house could even conceal the aura of a Great Vermilion Bird, so concealing a breakthrough to the Seventh Shackle was normal. In the depths of the land... Souta was suppressing the undead Fhe in the dreamscape. Fhe roared madly, but darkness and light rushed at him from every direction, not giving him a chance to do anything. With a flick of his finger, Fhe was blown hundreds of kilometers away in an instant. Bang!! Souta floated in the air, watching the powerful undead. He then glanced at his hand and noticed that he was shaking. "I''m still affected by it..." Even though this was his dreamscape, the strange power was still affecting him. The pain wasn''t as strong as before, so it was bearable. Swoosh!! Fhe launched himself once again but was slapped away by Souta in an instant. His body flew through the air before crashing into the ground, creating a massive crater. Souta turned his attention back to Fhe and narrowed his eyes. "This guy could recover from soul damage... Is this really an undead?" ''No, you can''t consider it anymore. It has become something beyond,'' Saya said to him. "I see..." Souta nodded as he flew forward with a calm look on his face. Seeing him, Fhe roared madly. Unfortunately, before he could do anything, hundreds of webs with blood coiling around them bound his limbs. The blood turned solid like ice, preventing Fhe from moving further. Roar!! Souta ignored the fierce roar as he stood in front of the undead. Suddenly, he raised his head and looked back. "This...?" He could feel an intense energy beyond the dreamscape. And this energy was familiar to him. There''s no doubt. It''s Erkigal, the former Clan Leader of the Flaem Clan. "Since she''s here, I don''t need to do much. I have to preserve my energy," Souta muttered. At this moment, Erkigal arrived at the battlefield, turning tens of thousands of undead into ashes in the blink of an eye. A Seventh Shackle expert was a true powerhouse. No one could deny this level of power. Erkigal landed on the floor. Her figure was covered in intense flames. The rest of the Nine Heads stared at her in shock. They couldn''t believe that Erkigal had become a top powerhouse. Erkigal raised her hands, and a sea of flames erupted, engulfing the incoming waves of undead. "It''s good..." she said as a faint smile appeared on her face. This was the realm that most of the experts in Selnes Country wanted to achieve. The All Formation Barrier wasn''t just preventing enemies from entering but was also suppressing them. That''s why many experts from the Master Clans wanted to escape, and she was one of them. She had tried to break free from the past but ultimately failed. Swoosh!! Souta appeared at the side, looking at her. He said, "You''re here, so you have to work for it." "Don''t worry, I''ll make up for the time I was gone," Erkigal replied before turning her attention back to the front. Souta walked to the back, looking at his hand. He was still shaking, due to the effect of the strange energy. ''Saya, what more can you tell me about this?'' he asked. ''Just prepare yourself. I think the next Great War isn''t far off. You''ll have to fight something even stronger. Not just you-prepare everyone who''s beside you,'' Saya said. "I know..." he muttered in a low voice as he narrowed his eyes. He was extremely powerful at his current level. He was also close to reaching his next evolution. He needed to prepare himself. When he first arrived here in God''s Continent, Souta could barely fight someone at the First Shackle. Yet now, he was strong enough to destroy anyone below the Seventh Shackle. He had experienced a lot, and it had helped him develop his strength. "Seventh Shackle... I''ll try to reach that level in my normal form if possible." Chapter 1046: Beyond No matter how many undead there were, Erkigal burned them into ashes. There was one exception: the undead Fhe. He reappeared out of thin air even after being reduced to ashes. Erkigal dashed forward. Her body was emitting bright and intense flames. She tightened her fist, and a huge amount of energy swirled around it. [Falling Star Fist]! In the next moment, she threw her fist as flames surged, swallowing Fhe. Boom!! Souta watched all of this from the sidelines. He understood why Erkigal had held back her breakthrough. "Vermilion Bird... Phoenix," he muttered. Vermilion Bird was a powerful species of monsters. The Great Vermilion Bird was also one of the four divine beasts of Fengdu Land. It was known as the Guardian of the South. ''Her flames have the characteristics of the Vermilion Bird''s flames,'' Saya said. Souta nodded at her words. Ohm!! A pillar of white light suddenly erupted in the distance, causing Souta and the others to turn their heads. In the pillar of light, Alexander was gritting his teeth as he kept pouring his energy into the cube. "Just a little bit more and we''ll be able to start it," said the undead who had the will of the Divine Venerable of Wisdom. Argh! Alexander roared as his elemental power surged, filling the air with a crackling intensity. The ground beneath him trembled violently, and a powerful wave of energy radiated outward in all directions, shaking the very fabric of the battlefield. The undead halted momentarily, their relentless advance pausing as they sensed the overwhelming power emanating from Alexander. But their pause was short-lived. With a renewed frenzy, they surged forward with mechanical precision, their singular focus locked onto Alexander. "Protect Alexander!" Souta commanded, his voice cutting through the chaos. He drew the [Vajra Sword Saya], its blade gleaming ominously as he prepared for the onslaught. Beside him, the [Orb of Arcane Seal] spun with a mesmerizing glow, accumulating and stacking spells with formidable speed. "Protect the Ninth Head!" echoed the other Nine Heads, their voices brimming with urgency as they moved into position. Each of them sprang into action, their combined might forming a defensive line to shield Alexander from the relentless tide of undead. The Nine Heads acted with practiced efficiency. As they intercepted the undead, their movements were synchronized, each one covering a different angle of attack. They wielded their respective abilities-ranging from elemental magic to physical prowess-with precision, creating a formidable barrier against the advancing horde. Erkigal, still enveloped in her intense flames, unleashed a barrage of fiery attacks, incinerating any undead that ventured too close. Her newly achieved Seventh Shackle power made her an indomitable force on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Souta, with the [Vajra Sword Saya] in hand, deflected and cut through the ranks of the undead, his blade crackling with electric energy. The [Orb of Arcane Seal] beside Souta was a sight to behold. It spun rapidly, its surface shimmering as it gathered and amplified the spells he cast. The energy around him grew dense, creating a protective barrier that repelled the undead while bolstering his offensive capabilities. In the midst of this chaotic clash, the strategic coordination of Souta and the Nine Heads was critical. Their combined efforts created a buffer zone around Alexander, allowing him to concentrate his energy on the cube without distraction. The immense pressure and relentless assault from the undead made every second count, and their ability to maintain this protective shield was paramount for the success of their mission. Ohm! The white light that had been engulfing the area gradually shifted to a deep blue, its swirling energy creating a mesmerizing display in the air. The intensity of the light momentarily halted the advance of the undead, giving Alexander a brief respite. "Now, let me take over from here!" the undead with the will of the Divine Venerable of Wisdom declared. His voice was filled with authority and resolve. "Activate the platform and leave this place. I''ll eradicate these impurities from this world." Alexander, visibly drained from the immense effort, withdrew his hand from the cube. He took a deep breath, his exhaustion evident but his resolve unwavering. He nodded at the undead''s words, understanding the gravity of the situation. "Don''t forget my words," the undead continued, his voice carrying a somber tone. "Even though I''ve experienced the calamity, I still don''t fully understand what it is. There are hidden aspects the Imperium that we cannot yet comprehe ,but the right time is approaching. My friend, the Isolated Formation God, has calculated that it will be revealed in the future. The major factions that sit comfortably in their positions will face upheaval. Use this time to solidify your strength. This is the best opportunity for mortals to prepare." Alexander listened intently, absorbing the weight of the undead''s words. The gravity of the situation and the enigmatic warnings about the future left him with much to ponder. After a moment, he turned his attention back to the cube, which was now radiating with the stabilized energy. "Now, leave this place!" the undead commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. Swoosh!! His figure shot into the distance as the pillar of light erupted. He arrived beside Souta and the rest. "Let''s go!" he said. Souta, Erkigal, and the others exchanged glances before following Alexander. The group quickly arrived at the platform. Alexander placed his palm on the surface. Ohm! As Alexander placed his palm on the surface of the platform, a series of blueish lines began to illuminate, spreading across the ground, walls, and ceiling. The lines resembled veins, pulsating with a steady rhythm as they channeled and distributed mana throughout the entire area. The platform itself seemed to come alive with the infusion of energy. The lines connected in an intricate pattern, creating a network that glowed with a faint, ethereal light. The energy within the platform surged, amplifying as it synchronized with the mana in the surroundings. "Everyone, hold on!" Alexander commanded as he adjusted his stance, preparing for the platform''s activation. The group, including Souta, Erkigal, and the rest of the Nine Heads, took their positions on the platform. The air crackled with energy as the lines on the platform intensified, their glow becoming more vibrant. Souta looked ahead. He sensed that the atmosphere had changed and seemed to be countering the corruption in the air. "Is everything here done?" Erkigal asked. Alexander nodded, his face serious. At the same time, the platform ascended, tearing through the clouds of souls above. The souls tried to drag them down, but under the protection of the platform, they were powerless against Souta and the others. Souta wondered about the cause of this phenomenon. The souls, the undead, and everything here seemed to be part of the same entity-something that shouldn''t belong here. He pondered the cause of the Great War in the past, the curse in the Archetype, and the secrets of the calamity. Swoosh!! The platform broke through the barrier and shattered into countless fragments. Souta and the rest arrived at the vast forest where the abandoned town was located. They landed on the cliff and heaved a sigh of relief. "Stop! Are any of you possessed?!" Souta, Erkigal, and the others lifted their heads and saw a woman with blue hair looking at them warily. Eilish focused her gaze on Souta. Although she was worried, she noted that Souta and the others had just emerged from the looming darkness. She wasn''t sure if they had been affected, similar to what happened to the members of the Nine Heads who started fighting those who weren''t possessed. "Possessed?!" Souta raised his eyebrows and then recalled the corruption. It seemed that the strange energy had even affected the other members of the Nine Heads. He walked toward her and patted her shoulder. "Don''t worry, I''m fine. We''ve finished dealing with the source of the undead." Eilish breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing his words. She couldn''t imagine who could stop them in the entire Hall Plains if they had become possessed. "We''re finally out of that place... I thought I was going to die," Fourth Head said as he collapsed onto his knees. Eight Head and Sixth Head were covered in wounds, exhausted from their front-line battles. Erkigal glanced at Alexander and asked, "Are you sure it''s done?" "Yes..." Alexander nodded, his gaze fixed on the looming darkness. In the depths of the darkness... The shrine in the depths of the darkness seemed to pulse with an otherworldly energy. The souls trapped within, once held captive by the strange corruption, were now being slowly drawn away by the invisible chains. These chains, forged from the very essence of the soul realm, began to extract and channel the wailing souls, liberating them from their torment. The undead who possessed the will of the Divine Venerable of Wisdom stood silently, their eyes reflecting the tumultuous energy around them. They observed the process with a mixture of satisfaction and somberness. The strange power that had once held sway was indeed weakening, and with it, the souls that had been confined here were being freed. "There is a balance to be restored," the undead murmured, their voice echoing through the shrine. "The interference of this alien power has disrupted much. It is a reminder of the forces beyond our understanding and control." The shrine''s powerful ripple continued to sweep through, its effect resonating far beyond its immediate vicinity. The energy that had been distorted by the alien force was being realigned, signaling a shift in the equilibrium of this realm. Though they had sealed it long ago, the partial reopening had revealed the vast and unsettling power that lay beyond. This served as a stark warning to the people of Imperium: the threat was not only real but also profound, capable of impacting even divine beings. "If you gaze long into it, it also gazes back..." A seemingly huge eye opened in the depths. The undead widened his eyes as he found himself in a dark space filled with countless stars. An infinite array of realities flowed through the Great Gap. It was far beyond the sight of anyone. He looked down and realized that he wasn''t in the body of the undead; he was merely a spirit at this moment. "You''re here." A voice sounded behind him. He turned around and saw a young girl in a black dress, holding a fan that covered half of her face. The young girl''s presence seemed to distort the space around her, her playful smile contrast against the infinite, dark expanse. Her black dress flowed like liquid shadows, and the tentacles that emerged from it writhed in an eerie, hypnotic rhythm. The undead, though merely a spirit in this realm, could still sense the gravity of the situation. He was aware that this was no ordinary encounter. The space around them defied the fundamental rules of existence, making him feel both awed and unsettled. "You''ve prevented the two from making direct contact with this. That''s great," the young girl said, her voice carrying an almost musical quality. Her eyes, partially obscured by the fan, gleamed with an unsettling mix of curiosity and mischief. The undead, though no longer bound by physical form, could still communicate. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice echoing in the boundless space. "And what is this place?" "You are...?" he asked. "Naruse Ichimon, but that doesn''t matter anymore now that I''m here. This place contains knowledge that doesn''t exist in the Imperium." The young girl paused, glancing at him before continuing, "You will disappear soon..." "I know..." The Divine Venerable of Wisdom looked around. "Follow me," Naruse said as she turned around. "Before you disappear, I want to show you something. The calamity is inevitable. It will arrive no matter what. So when you slightly opened it, it wasn''t entirely a bad thing. After all, we need to understand the calamity before it''s too late." "Countless people died because of my actions..." "It''s a necessary sacrifice. It''s better to give some people a glimpse of what''s to come. Otherwise, when the real calamity breaks out, people will have no idea how to respond, leading to even more deaths." Naruse Ichimon led the Divine Venerable of Wisdom through the shifting expanse of the Great Gap. Her form glided effortlessly, and the surroundings warped and twisted with each step, reflecting the gravity of their journey. The Divine Venerable''s spirit, though no longer bound by physical constraints, felt an overwhelming pressure. It was as if the Great Gap itself was a living entity, its vastness pressing down upon him, a reminder of how minuscule his existence was in the grand scheme of things. Chapter 1047: Returning to Ekatoe City Alexander relaxed his tense muscles only when he saw the looming darkness disappear. The remnants of the calamity were gone. He turned around and left the place. On the other hand, Souta glanced at the system as he completed the mission. The quest was easier than he thought it would be. Perhaps it was due to Alexander and the perfect timing of Erkigal. He didn''t push himself too hard. Ding! [Congratulations on completing the quest!] [You''ve obtained 2 random cards, 10 skill points, 15 free attribute points, and 50,000,000 EXP!] [You''ve also earned an additional 7 skill points and 50,000,000 EXP as extra rewards!] ''Additional rewards?'' Souta raised his eyebrows. He realized that the quest was only meant to escape, yet they had also eradicated the remnants of the calamity. He opened the system. Just a little more, and he would have enough skill points to unlock the remains of the Ophiuchus legacy. As for the attribute points, he had more than enough. "We''ve eliminated the problem in this land. It''s time to harvest our rewards. Call in more suitable people who can descend here and pack the resources. We will divide them ourselves," Souta said, waving his hand. With the corruption issue resolved, all the resources here could be harvested by the Dragon Council. The only challenge was that it would take some time to retrieve everything, as only high-level experts could descend to this level without being harmed by the extreme environment. The group went back to the surface. They drank potions and received healing spells since they were wounded. Souta was sitting on a chair with a cup of coffee in his hand. Sitting across the table were the two kids, Aina and Anzu. "Brother Souta, what happened down there? I heard there was a big battle," Anzu asked excitedly. "A big battle? Sort of, but it''s not as great as it sounds," Souta replied, taking a sip of his coffee. He opened his eyes and glanced at them. "You two should focus on training first. You have a great advantage now since the mana density in Imperium has increased significantly." Reaching the Liquefying Realm used to be a major achievement, but now, it''s easier to liquefy and solidify one''s mana pool. It''s also easier to sense the mortal shackles in this era, raising the level of experts in the world. "I will train hard and become strong!" Anzu declared. "Good," Souta said with a faint smile. He glanced outside, where the sun was beginning to set, casting a warm glow over the landscape. At that moment, Eilish approached them. "Sister Eilish!" Aina raised both of her hands. Souta glanced at Eilish and asked, "Are you going to stay here?" "Yes, I plan to improve my elemental power to the Integration Stage before I return," Eilish answered as she carried Aina in her arms. "That''s good. Achieving the Integration Stage while at the Fourth Shackle is a significant advantage. Most SSS-rank experts only reach the Integration Stage at the Fifth or Sixth Shackle." "What about you?" "I need to head to the Champion''s Den. After all, I''m still a Hero Candidate of Goddess Athena. I haven''t reported what happened during the Walpurgis Night to the higher-ups yet." "Be careful." "You don''t have to worry. Nothing''s going to happen. Actually, I need you to pay attention to the Obsidian Desert. The number of refugees coming to Hall Plains is increasing. Prince Servon and Princess Iris are probably struggling with the situation in the Obsidian Desert." "I understand." Eilish nodded. Souta glanced at her before continuing to drink his coffee. He trusted that Eilish would find information regarding the Obsidian Desert. For now, he needed to focus on his task. A person approached them and bowed. "Seventh Head, Ninth Head are asking for your presence in the meeting." Souta nodded and stood up. He glanced at Eilish and the two kids before saying, "I''ll go now. I have something to attend to first." Souta arrived in a room where the rest of the Nine Heads were already present. Their expressions were serious. "What''s the matter?" Souta asked as he sat down. The Nine Heads glanced at him before Fourth Head began to explain. Previously, in the passage, the members of the Dragon Council had been affected by the strange energy. They started killing indiscriminately, but Eilish had knocked them out to stop the rampage. The issue now was that no matter what they did, the affected members remained in their altered state. Alexander shook his head and said, "We can''t return them to normal. They will always remain this way. So it''s better to kill them." He knew better than anyone that those people wouldn''t be able to return to their previous state. It was the same for him in the past, even when he had great power. Once a person was affected, the change was permanent. ''That''s right. Sometimes, corrupted beings might not act aggressively because they don''t realize they are affected. Their subconscious reasoning would gradually change without their awareness,'' Saya said. Souta sighed but said nothing. He simply observed the rest of the Nine Heads. After all, the affected individuals were their subordinates, and it would be difficult for them to kill those people. At this moment, Erkigal spoke up. "If you don''t want to kill them, then lock them up. Leave them to me. Some survivors of the Windi Clan are in my clan, so they will be able to seal these individuals." The Windi Clan''s sealing technique was sufficient. Although the top experts of the clan had perished in Selnes Country, the remaining clan members still knew the sealing technique. While not as proficient as the higher-ups, it was effective enough for dealing with lower- level experts. In the end, the Nine Heads agreed with Erkigal''s proposal. Although it might have been better to eliminate those affected, they couldn''t bring themselves to do it. They still had emotions. Afterward, they divided the share of the loot from the ancient ruins. Souta took his leave first, delegating the task of transporting the loot back to Astros to his subordinates. The next day, he returned to Ekatoe City with the two kids. Souta was in his office, listening to the reports from his subordinate. The improvements in Astros seemed to be progressing smoothly. Alice, Eilish, and Vashno were at SSS-rank. There were dozens of experts at SS-rank. Although most of them were just First Shackle, it was a significant improvement for the overall strength of Astros. What shocked him was the report about Isabella. She had achieved the Third Shackle, finally reaching a level equal to Eztein''s. Her improvement was as monstrous as ever. Curious, he quickly called for her. In less than a minute, Isabella stood in front of Souta, fidgeting nervously. Her eyes darted left and right, clearly uncomfortable under Souta''s intense gaze. "Em... Umm..." Isabella struggled to find the right words. ''Souta, you''re making her uncomfortable.'' Saya''s voice echoed in his mind. "Oh," Souta snapped out of his thoughts. He rested his chin on his palm and said, "Isabella, how''s the legacy of the God of Hunt?" "Um... It''s great... I should say that it''s perfect for me. It''s easier for me to train with it than any other techniques in our archive," Isabella replied honestly. The archive of Astros contained numerous techniques provided by Saya, which contributed significantly to the improvement of the experts here. "Can you attack me without holding back? Use all of your strength," Souta said, raising his hand. "But..." Isabella hesitated, but Souta interrupted her. "Don''t worry about it. If you think you can fight me because I''m still at the fourth stage, you''re underestimating me. My strength is far beyond yours," Souta said lightly. Isabella wasn''t wrong. With her current strength, she could easily defeat a late fourth stage monster. However, Souta''s power was abnormally high for his current stage. "O-Okay..." Isabella nodded. In the next moment, her expression shifted, and her aura seemed to blend into the surroundings. A sharp dagger appeared in her hand, emitting a cold light that contrasted with the environment. Swoosh!! In an instant, she appeared in front of Souta and thrust her dagger forward with all her might. Souta narrowed his eyes as he pinched the sharp dagger in front of him. Shockwaves erupted, but his energy dispersed them, preventing any damage to the building. Bang!! "This...?!" Souta widened his eyes, turning his attention to Isabella. Isabella had returned to her normal self. The cold demeanor she had displayed was gone, replaced by her usual meekness. "H-How is it?" she asked. Inwardly, she was astonished at how effortlessly Souta had blocked her attack. "Now that I think about it... You have a space element," he said slowly. He felt the power of space in her attack. Although it was nothing compared to Alexander''s or the Spatial Whisperer''s attacks, it was still impressive for Isabella''s level. "You''re strong. I''m afraid you might even be stronger than Eztein," Souta said with a wry smile. He could imagine Eztein''s reaction if he saw how strong Isabella had become. However, Eztein still had the advantage of greater combat experience. Souta closed his eyes and recalled the time when the Faceless Woman first appeared in the game. That was supposed to happen next year, so if nothing goes wrong... Isabella, who once had the lowest strength among them, was now catching up to the rest of the Astros. "You should go to the ancient ruins and find a man named Alexander. He''s the current Ninth Head of the Dragon Council," Souta said before shaking his head. He then called out, "Amanda! Are you here? Come to my office!" His voice echoed throughout the entire Astros. In less than a minute, Amanda arrived at the office and stood beside Isabella. Amanda glanced at Isabella before turning her attention to Souta, wondering what was happening. "Go to the ancient ruins. Eilish is there as well, along with Elder Hanmi and other witches. Find Alexander, the Ninth Head of the Dragon Council, and ask him to give Isabella some instructions about the space element. I will owe him a favor for this," Souta instructed Amanda. Chapter 1048: Proving "To the ancient ruin?" Amanda asked, confused. "Oh," Souta raised his eyebrows, realizing he had forgotten that only a few people involved in the mission knew about the ruin. He carefully explained its location to Amanda. "Hm, so Elder Hanmi is there? And I need to find the Ninth Head of the Dragon Council?" Souta nodded. "Alright, I''ll do it," Amanda agreed. "Also, you can train there for a while. There are plenty of high-level resources. You can use our share," Souta added. A few minutes later, Amanda and Isabella departed, heading straight for the ancient ruin. Souta hoped that Alexander was still there. Shaking his head with a smile, he said, "That girl Isabella... She''s growing too fast. By next month, she''ll probably catch up to Eilish." ''You don''t have to talk like that. Your improvement is just as fast. When you first entered Athena''s Champion, you could barely fight someone at the First Shackle. But now... there''s no one at the Sixth Shackle who can match your strength. If that''s not fast, then I don''t know what is,'' Saya remarked. Leaning back in his chair, Souta nodded to himself. Saya was right. When he first joined Athena''s Champion, he was weak. But his strength was growing-and he would only get stronger in the future. "My lord, Lady Kessa and Yuko are-" Before the voice could finish, the door slammed open, and two figures burst into the room. Bang! A soft body collided with Souta, knocking him to the floor. He felt a snake coil tightly around his wrist. Souta glanced toward the door and calmly said, "You can go now." The subordinate bowed and quietly left the room. "Master..." a soft voice whispered in his ear. "I know, I know..." Souta forced a smile. Glancing down at Kessa wrapped around his wrist, he asked, "What happened in the Dream Realm?" "Dream Realm?" Kessa tilted her head. "Yeah, Dream Realm-Vanko Land." "Um... yeah, we couldn''t defeat Rank 1, so we returned," Kessa replied. "Hmm..." Souta stared at the ceiling, thinking about Vanko. The Rank 1 Sovereign was still there, and it would be troublesome to take him down. The dream power of that monster was too strong, even for Kessa. Souta glanced at Yuko and Kessa. Both of them had gained the power of dreams, but it wasn''t enough. In his opinion, [Dream Power II] and above would be more reliable. A piece of paper on the table floated up and into his hand, as he couldn''t stand because Yuko''s massive body was pinning him down. He read the reports. Gragas was steadily increasing production output, which was good news. As for the monsters on the other side of the portal, there had been some progress, but it was slow. Not everyone could advance like Souta, who reached the Fourth Stage in just a few years. Doranjan didn''t interfere much in the affairs of the monsters; he simply observed and reinforced the fact that Souta was the overlord of the land. Most non-evolved monsters had low intelligence, driven primarily by instinct. First-stage monsters weren''t much better, but they showed some improvement. The real focus was on the second-stage monsters, especially those nearing the third stage. However, they hadn''t been here long enough to reach the third stage. Not even a year had passed since their arrival, so it was nearly impossible for them to advance that quickly. Even Souta needed several months to progress from the second to the third stage, and their growth was slower than his. The next day, Souta stood before the portal. Souta glanced at Torkez, who stood behind him, and said, "I''m heading out now. I''ll leave everything in your hands." "I understand," Torkez nodded. Souta waved before stepping into the portal, followed by two warriors from Athena''s Champion. Ohm! The surroundings shifted, and Souta found himself standing between towering buildings. He had arrived at the headquarters of Athena''s Champion in the Champion''s Den. "You''re here," a man said, stepping forward with a smile, extending his hand. "Good to see you, Grain Leader Carmel," Souta replied, smiling as he shook the warrior''s hand. Carmel stood beside him and asked, "How have you been?" "It''s the same. I''m still training to increase my strength," Souta replied, glancing at Carmel. His vision had partially returned, but the effects of his [Galaxy Eyes] still couldn''t be used. However, he could vaguely sense that Carmel had reached the Fifth Shackle Realm. "It''s good to see you haven''t lost your drive. Keep it up, and you''ll reach even greater heights," Carmel said with a smile. "Thank you." Souta briefly recalled what Vandal had told him. Around them, some of the warriors glanced in their direction, recognizing him. "Hey, isn''t that the Hero Candidate?" "You mean the Blood Lightning Monster!" "Yeah, that''s him! I saw him at the Panathenaic Festival!" "It''s really him!" A crowd of warriors gathered, their murmurs filling the air as they looked on. Souta, Carmel, and the two other warriors walked past, drawing even more attention. "You''ve become quite famous," Carmel said with a laugh. "It''s only natural, especially after the festival announcement was seen by so many warriors," Souta replied, waving his hand dismissively. On the path of strength, fame was inevitable. He knew he would face and defeat increasingly powerful opponents in the future. Even gods, back when they were still mortal, had their journeys to godhood heard by countless people. "What are you planning to do?" Carmel asked, noticing the determined look on Souta''s face. "Me? You haven''t heard?" Souta raised his eyebrows in surprise. "The Chief Captain only mentioned that you were likely to arrive here, nothing more. He didn''t say anything else." "I see... seems like the Chief Captain wanted to keep it a surprise. I''m here to prove my position as the Hero Candidate." Carmel''s eyes widened. "You mean..." "Yeah," Souta nodded, a confident smile on his face. "I''m going to speak to the higher-ups about claiming the title of Hero of Goddess Athena. I believe I''ve earned it." Souta was ready to prove himself. Carmel was taken aback. He knew this day would come eventually, but he hadn''t expected it to be so soon. He remembered when Souta was just a normal squad leader in his Grain. Now, Souta''s status in Athena''s Champion had surpassed his own. Souta had created legend after legend, and his name had spread like wildfire, capturing the attention of countless people. Soon, the group arrived in front of a building. One of the two warriors accompanying them stepped forward and gently knocked on the door. The door opened, and a guard stepped out, his gaze sweeping over the group. He did not conceal his aura, which was at the Fourth Shackle level. He recognized both Grain Leader Carmel and the Hero Candidate Souta. "What can I do for you?" he asked. "I want to meet the higher-ups. I need to prove myself," Souta said. The guard''s emotions shifted. He knew that Souta had only recently become a Hero Candidate, and yet he was already eager to prove himself. It seemed rather rushed. However, the guard didn''t question him. After a brief, thoughtful glance, he said, "Follow me." Souta nodded and stepped forward. Carmel watched him go and waved his hand, "I''ll stay here and wait for your news." The two accompanying warriors also remained behind. As Souta entered the building, the guard slowly closed the door. Inside, the building was illuminated by the soft glow of an exquisite chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The light flickered gently, casting long shadows across the marble floors. Souta raised his hand, sensing the change in atmosphere. He smiled to himself before stepping forward. His footsteps echoed through the vast, empty space as he walked deeper into the hallway. Exquisite paintings lined the walls, each exuding a strange aura. Soon, he arrived at another door. He raised his hand and gently knocked. A soft voice responded from within. "What do you need?" "I need to meet the Division Commanders," Souta replied. The door cracked open, revealing a woman with short brown hair. Her blue eyes sparkled like gems, her skin was as pale as snow, and her features were sharply pointed, reminiscent of elves. She wore silver-colored armor, with a pair of swords hanging at her waist. "You''re..." The woman raised her eyebrows, recognizing him immediately. "I am Grain Leader Souta of the Third Set Pallas Division, and also a newly appointed Hero Candidate of Goddess Athena," Souta introduced himself, raising his hand. "I am Chief Captain Eleni of the Second Set Pallas Division. It''s a pleasure to meet you," the woman said, shaking hands with Souta. A Chief Captain. It was a position higher than Grain Leader. Furthermore, the Second Set of Pallas Division was generally considered stronger than the Third Set, even across other divisions of Athena''s Champion. Chapter 1049: Dispatch "I need to meet the Division Commander. I want to prove myself," Souta said. "This early...?!" Eleni''s eyes widened in surprise. From her perspective, he had just recently become a Hero Candidate. "Are you sure about this?" Souta nodded, his expression serious. Eleni studied him for a moment before saying, "Follow me." Souta followed Eleni through several halls, taking a few turns before arriving at a majestic room-the office of a Division Commander, one of the higher-ups of Athena''s Champion. "Chief Captain Eleni of the Second Set Pallas Division is here with the Hero Candidate. Please grant us permission to enter, Sir," Eleni announced, bowing her head slightly. Souta mirrored Eleni''s actions. Despite the wall covered in runes, the perception of a Division Commander could bypass such barriers. The door emitted a mechanical sound before slowly opening. Eleni glanced at Souta and nodded. Souta responded with a nod, straightened his back, and stepped forward. Inside the room, he saw an elderly man clad in a white robe with golden trimmings. The man had long white hair and a thick beard. He held an exquisite wooden staff with a golden orb atop it. This old man was Cicero Flavius, the Commander of the Pallas Division-the highest authority in the Pallas Division. "This is the second time we''ve met," Cicero said calmly, his gaze fixed on Souta. "Yes, sir," Souta replied. Their first meeting had been when Athena used Cicero to give him the [Hidden Concealing Method], a technique to hide the presence of his Cosmic Body. Without it, many people, including the Zodiacs, might have discovered his Cosmic Body and sought him out. "So, what brings you here today?" Cicero inquired. "I want to prove myself," Souta said. He recalled Vandal''s words: after completing his current task, he would be deployed to the battlefield again to earn achievements until his name was firmly established. Essentially, he needed to showcase his strength. "You want to start the rite?" Cicero raised his eyebrows, intrigued. "Yes," Souta nodded with determination. A few minutes later... Souta emerged from the room and saw Eleni waiting for him. "How did it go?" Eleni asked. Souta smiled and replied, "It''s done." "So, when will you start?" "In three days." The news quickly spread throughout the city like wildfire. The Hero Candidate Souta was set to begin the rite of trial, aiming to prove himself as a worthy Hero of Goddess Athena. The Champion''s Den was abuzz with excitement. Many powerful figures heard the news and couldn''t help but be intrigued. After several years, someone from Athena''s Champion was set to undertake the rite once again. "The Blood Lightning Monster?!" "You mean the warrior who made a name for himself on the front lines!" "Yes, that''s the one!" "Even warriors from other Holy Lands have acknowledged his strength!" "Isn''t he just a Fourth Stage monster? Maybe the rumors are exaggerated! The initial clash against the Gluttony''s Army involved experts at high levels of Fifth and Sixth Shackle! How can a Fourth Stage monster keep up with those experts?!" "You have no idea! Even those famed experts from the war couldn''t deny his strength!" "Who knows!" The name "Blood Lightning Monster" quickly became the talk of nearly everyone in the Champion''s Den. Some doubted his strength, while others were simply excited about the upcoming event. ... Ekatoe City, Astros. Torkez was in his office, handling city affairs while Souta was away. Hmm... He paused, raising his head as he sensed someone behind the door. Knock! Knock! "Who is it?" Torkez called out. "It''s Remina, sir," came a feminine voice from the other side. "Okay, you can enter." The door creaked open, and Remina stepped into the room. Torkez glanced at her and asked, "What''s the matter?" "Sir, we''ve learned that a legendary-grade fruit is about to ripen in the central region," Remina said. "Oh, wait, what?!" Torkez''s eyes widened as he stared at her. A legendary-grade fruit was no ordinary resource. It could attract experts from the Shackled Realm, especially if it was similar to the Divine Phaseless fruit, which could grant elemental affinities. "Are you sure about this?" Torkez asked. "Yes, sir. A few of our men have confirmed the fruit''s energy. Additionally, a messenger from Palleo Kingdom has arrived, requesting assistance." "Why?" "For the same reason that a legendary-grade fruit will be ripening in the Obsidian Desert in the next few days." "What?!" Torkez pinched the bridge of his nose, then dismissed Remina. He hadn''t anticipated such developments while Souta was away. The emergence of a legendary-grade fruit was a significant event. While for major factions like the Holy Lands, legendary-grade resources were obtainable with enough points, for weaker factions, they were highly valuable. The world had been changing ever since the final outburst of Imperium. Legendary-grade and mythical-grade resources were appearing more frequently than before. Torkez took a deep breath and stood up. With most of the higher-ups in Astros-Souta, Alice, Eilish, Isabella, Amanda, Eztein, and Franklin-all away, he was handling the situation alone. He walked out of the room and headed to a high-temperature area where he saw a dwarf hammering a piece of metal. "Gragas..." Torkez said, tapping on the table beside him. Gragas stopped and turned his head. "What do you want?" "Do you have time?" "No," Gragas replied flatly, returning to his work. "I''m in the middle of something important. You know the state of our department''s development, right? I still need to increase the production of weapons." "I know..." Torkez sighed. Torkez knew that Gragas had only a few blacksmith apprentices in Astros, and their production speed was extremely slow. Feeling defeated, Torkez left and went to another area. There, he saw the huge bear sleeping in a grassy field. "Yuko..." Yuko slightly opened her eyes and glanced at him. "It''s time for you to do something," Torkez said. Yuko continued to look at him in silence. Seeing that she didn''t dismiss him, Torkez continued, "Souta would be proud of you if you took on a task while he''s away." Yuko perked up her ears at the mention of Souta''s name. "I need you to go to the central region with a few of our men. Follow their instructions, and you''ll make Souta proud." In the next few hours, Torkez assembled the group for the mission to the central region: Yuko, a high Fourth Stage monster. Leef, a peak First Shackle expert and a genius from the Witch Corps. She participated in the Tournament of Astros, where she defeated Yenxa before losing to Eilish. Arfi, the son of the Chief Enforcer of the Witch Corps, also a peak First Shackle expert, and a participant in the Tournament of Astros. Red Dragon, a high Fourth Stage monster who joined the Astros before their arrival in Imperium. In addition to these four, there were twenty experts and monsters of lower ranks. Torkez glanced at Yuko and said, "Yuko, remember to follow Arfi''s instructions. Also, keep an eye on Red Dragon." Red Dragon nodded in acknowledgment. Torkez then turned to Arfi, who was leading the mission. "Arfi, I''ll leave them in your care. Remember, you''re not alone. The Dragon Council will likely dispatch some experts as well. Coordinate with them, and we''ll discuss the legendary grade fruit once we secure it." The Dragon Council would undoubtedly be aware of this legendary-grade fruit. It was crucial to work with them to secure the fruit and prevent other forces from claiming it. "I understand," Arfi replied with a nod. Soon, the group left the city. Torkez watched them until they disappeared from view. "Actually, I didn''t want to send Leef and Arfi away since they''re on the verge of a breakthrough, but we''re short on manpower right now." Torkez sighed. Due to the recent events, Leef and Arfi were close to breaking through to the Second Shackle, which would have strengthened Astros significantly. However, they had postponed their advancements to undertake this mission. The casualties from the No God Emperor incident had left them severely weakened. "The remaining issue is the Obsidian Desert..." Torkez sighed again. Souta had previously mentioned that they owed a favor to the royals of the Palleo Kingdom. However, with their current situation, Torkez couldn''t afford to send more people. Even if he dispatched those remaining who were capable, would it be enough to handle the situation? Kessa needed to stay in Ekatoe City for protection, so she couldn''t be sent on this mission. Doranjan was occupied with managing the monsters, which meant he was unavailable for additional tasks. And Torkez himself couldn''t leave since he was responsible for managing the affairs of Ekatoe City. Chapter 1050: Trial The desolation in the three theaters was overwhelming, a once fertile land now reduced to a wasteland of ruins and ash. It was evident that this place, once full of life, now bore the unmistakable scars of war. The ongoing battle against the Gluttony Army had turned the area into a scorched and barren landscape. Smoke lingered in the air, rising ominously from distant fires. Thousands of figures hovered in the sky, engaging in fierce combat, launching devastating spells that shook the very foundation of the land. The ground below was littered with the remnants of war-broken weapons, shattered armor, and fragments of those who had fallen. Vandal stood at the rear, his expression grim as he surveyed the battlefield. He could feel the overwhelming energy fluctuations saturating the atmosphere, a constant reminder of the brutal conflict. The intensity of the residual energy was palpable, its very presence harmful to those not strong enough to endure it. The cause of this devastation ran deeper. The gods from the Holy Lands had clashed, killing a god from a powerful cult. This battle had further escalated the danger of the region. The aftermath of their divine clash had left the land marred by broken space and distorted time, anomalies that made survival here nearly impossible for the unprepared. Vandal turned his head and looked at the warrior beside him. "How''s the progress of the battle?" he asked. The warrior, the First Grain War Leader of the Third Set, responded, "We''re slowly pushing the enemy back, but it will take time. The fifth-stage monsters dispatched by the Angels are fighting on the front lines against the Hero-rank forces of the Gluttony Army. There''s also the added chaos from mercenaries searching for the god''s remnants." Vandal''s gaze hardened. "What about the supplies from the other Holy Lands?" "They''re increasing the supply flow," the First Grain War Leader said. "They understand the need to contain the battlefield here. However, there''s a report from the Holy Land Heavenly Court." Vandal narrowed his eyes. "What''s in the report?" "They discovered that the Gluttony Army has set up numerous summoning magic circles across the continent. While the exact locations are still unknown, the Heavenly Court has begun taking action to cleanse the Immortal Land," the First Grain War Leader reported. "Summoning magic circles?" Vandal mused. "So, the Gluttony Army plans to create more battlefields. Are they looking to split their forces? If that''s the case, it could make it easier for the Holy Lands to wipe them out." "They also warned us about other cults and terrorist groups. Some of them are under the control of Gluttony." Vandal''s expression darkened. "The Gluttony Army has been amassing forces for years, and now we''re finally seeing the full extent of it." He drew his sword and leaped down from the wall. "Let''s go." The First Grain War Leader nodded and followed the Chief Captain of the Third Set. Swoosh! Vandal''s aura as a Seventh Shackle erupted, and his figure shot through the air at incredible speed. In moments, he reached the fierce battlefield before him. Fifth-stage monsters from the Angel Faction clashed violently with several Hero-rank experts from the Gluttony Army. Without a second thought, Vandal dove into the fray. He activated his combat arts, slashing his sword toward one of the Hero-rank experts of the Gluttony Army. The expert, sensing the attack, glanced down and saw a massive energy blade hurtling toward him. Gritting his teeth, he raised his sword and, with great effort, deflected the strike. Bang! His eyes narrowed as he gazed at the figure below. Something about the man''s armor caught his attention. "A Hero-rank... from Olympus?" Vandal didn''t respond. Instead, he focused his energy, channeling it into his blade, preparing for another strike. He didn''t recognize this man. Most experts who reached Hero-rank were either famous or infamous, even those from cults or terrorist groups. But this one was unfamiliar. Perhaps the Gluttony Army had been secretly training these experts. Boom! The air trembled as the Thrones and other Hero-ranks clashed once more. Six Thrones and four Hero-ranks from the Holy Lands faced off against thirteen Hero-ranks from the Gluttony Army. Despite being outnumbered, the Thrones and their allies had the upper hand. They steadily pushed the enemy back, largely because four of the Thrones were at the intermediate stage, while the remaining two were at the high stage. Vandal and the expert from the Gluttony Army locked eyes, a brief moment of acknowledgment passing between them before they vanished from their positions. In the blink of an eye, shockwaves erupted as their figures clashed violently. Boom! "You have no idea! If you think you can kill us, then do it! I, Bedas, will not fall easily!" the man bellowed, laughing madly. Bedas? Vandal thought. As expected, he hadn''t heard that name among the Hero-ranks who had made a name for themselves in the past decades. Without hesitation, Vandal and Bedas charged at each other again. Bang! ... In the Champion''s Den, the headquarters of Athena''s Champion, Souta floated in mid-air in an empty room, his eyes closed. A strange energy flickered around him before vanishing in an instant. Slowly, he opened his eyes. His feet touched the ground as he felt the power coursing through his body. "I''ve improved my mastery of [Douion]. I''m getting better at controlling it," he muttered to himself, before shaking his head. Souta left the room and found Eleni waiting for him outside. "It''s time. Follow me," Eleni said, turning around without hesitation. Souta followed her. After receiving permission from the Division Commander, Souta had secluded himself for training, remaining unaware of events outside over the past few days. Soon, he met with the Division Commander once again. "Here," Cicero said, tossing a piece of paper to Souta. Souta caught it and glanced at the note. Before he could speak, Cicero continued, "This is a mission I picked up from the board. Your task is to complete it. Report back tomorrow, regardless of whether you finish it or not; the second trial will begin then." "I understand," Souta replied with a nod. The mission was straightforward. A coup d''¨¦tat was underway in a small country under Olympus. The royal family had requested assistance from the true ruler of the land, and it was up to Souta to resolve the situation. Honestly, Olympus was indifferent to who ruled the small countries within its territories, as long as they adhered to the laws and paid their annual tribute. Some residents of these small countries even came to the Champion''s Den, hoping to join one of the God''s Legions. Souta folded the paper and tucked it into his pocket. "I''ll head out now," he said. "I''ll be waiting for your return," Cicero replied, closing his eyes. With that, Souta departed on his mission. He flew directly toward the Creona Kingdom, where the task awaited him. Opening his system, he saw the quest displayed clearly in front of him. [Ruler]: Choose one of the two groups and make them the ruler of the country. Rewards: 5 skill points and 50,000,000 experience points Cicero hadn''t specified which group Souta should assist, leaving the decision to him. As long as they adhered to Olympus''s laws, nothing else mattered. Swoosh! Souta''s figure streaked through the sky with a loud boom. Soon, he slowed as he approached the Creona Kingdom. Patting his clothes, he glanced around and muttered, "It''s quite a distance from the Champion''s Den." Though he couldn''t calculate precisely, he estimated he had traveled over five thousand kilometers. "It''s far. It''s just that your speed has greatly increased, so you can cover such distances with ease. If Imperium hasn''t changed, you''d be able to move even faster," Saya commented. "I know," Souta replied with a chuckle. He shook his head and refocused on his task. He entered the country unnoticed. The priority now was gathering information. To complete this task within a single day, he needed to make a quick decision. Creona Kingdom was a small country located between the territories of Goddess Artemis and Goddess Demeter. There was nothing particularly notable about it, except that many aspiring warriors from here sought to join the legions of these two goddesses. The people of Creona were fervent believers in Artemis and Demeter. The country had a radius of three hundred kilometers and a population of millions. Currently, the king of Creona Kingdom had died six days ago. "So, there are two contenders: the Crown Prince and the Third Prince. I need to choose one to rule this country. The royal family requested help... Haha!" Souta chuckled lightly as he read the newspaper in his hands. The Holy Lands truly had their ways. They could determine who would rule these countries, and no one would dare oppose it. While these nations appeared independent at first glance, a closer look revealed that they were merely vassals. "Hmm... I think I''ll start by observing the Crown Prince." Souta rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then stood up and tossed the newspaper aside. In an instant, he vanished from his spot and reappeared in the streets near the palace. The streets were eerily desolate, though Souta could sense people inside the houses. What should have been a bustling area now felt abandoned, as if frozen in time. The conflict between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince had clearly impacted the citizens of the country. In the distance, the royal palace loomed above all the surrounding buildings. Perched on a high hill, it seemed to dominate the landscape, as if it were the very heart of the land. "The Crown Prince should be there," Souta mused. Chapter 1051: Declaration Souta observed the people in the palace silently. He wanted to complete this mission as soon as possible, but first, he needed to observe. There wasn''t enough time to fully understand the Crown Prince and the Third Prince. If either of them did something he disliked, he would immediately decide to give the throne to the other. The fate of this country was in his hands. "I see, so that''s why Division Commander Cicero assigned me this mission." A faint smile formed on Souta''s face as he continued to observe the palace. The strongest person in the palace was a Fifth Shackle. An expert of this level was formidable, but to Souta''s current strength, it meant nothing. The strongest here was only as powerful as the elite witch he fought during Walpurgis Night. The Crown Prince was in the middle of a meeting with several people-his key supporters. They discussed various topics, including the Third Prince. Dozens of nobles supported the Third Prince, and they were gathering their forces on the other side of the country, slowly approaching the capital. Souta floated in the air, his chin resting on his palm. "What do you think, Saya?" "It''s fine. The Crown Prince''s idea isn''t bad," Saya replied in an uninterested tone. "I see... The next one is the Third Prince." The Crown Prince''s focus was primarily on military improvement. He neglected many aspects concerning the citizens, as his sole focus was on strengthening the military. Under his rule, every man of a certain age would be enlisted as a soldier and trained to fight. Anyone who was a citizen of the Creona Kingdom would be obligated to serve in the military for at least five years. Anyone who broke the law would be punished by public execution. "How should I deal with this...?" Souta rubbed his chin. He was eager to finish this quickly and move on. He turned his head and vanished from his position, heading straight for the Third Prince. Time passed, and night fell. The kingdom appeared peaceful on the surface, but everyone knew that a civil war could break out at any moment. Tensions between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince were high, as neither was willing to back down. In a luxurious room, a man lay sleeping on a bed. This man was the Third Prince of the Creona Kingdom. At this moment, the Third Prince had no idea that a monster was standing beside his bed. Souta stretched out his hand and placed his palm on the prince''s head. Energy flowed through his hand, allowing him to glimpse into the Third Prince''s dream. "Hmm... His dream is quite pure. It''s just a beautiful piece of land," Souta muttered as he observed the dreamscape created by the prince''s mind. "Since he doesn''t have control over his dream, let me try something." Using his [Douion], he manipulated the prince''s dream. The Third Prince continued to sleep peacefully, unaware of what was happening in reality. In the dream, the entire Creona Kingdom appeared before the Third Prince. He stood on the wall, clad in silver armor. Various soldiers surrounded him, and opposite them was an overwhelming army from another country. The Third Prince experienced all kinds of scenarios: his country was invaded, nobles turned traitor, and unknown sicknesses spread throughout the kingdom. Gasp! The Third Prince woke up, his face covered in sweat and tears. He glanced at his trembling hands. "W-What was that?!" Bang! The door slammed open, and a tall man in armor rushed into the room. "Prince, what happened?!" the man asked urgently. They had no idea that the culprit had already left, vanishing without a trace. Souta returned to the palace. He found the Crown Prince sleeping and did the same thing to him, extending his influence beyond just one person. He even checked the dreams of others present. Time passed, and the sun was already rising on the horizon. "Have you finished everything?" Saya asked. "Yeah," Souta nodded. It was time to complete this quest and return to the Champion''s Den. His body shot through the sky like a meteor, and in an instant, he landed on the ground, creating a small crater. His actions drew the attention of those nearby, but he had no intention of hiding anymore. "Who''s there?!" "Who are you? What are you doing here?!" Souta glanced left and right, ignoring their questions. He had no business with them. "Where''s the Third Prince?" Souta asked. "The Third Prince?! Are you asking to die?! Are you from the Crown Prince''s faction?" one of the people shouted loudly. Souta slowly raised his hand, and an overwhelming surge of best feram erupted from his body. Boom!! The ground shook, and the people around him turned pale, overwhelmed by the intense pressure. "Call the Third Prince before I destroy this place," Souta said coldly. He quickly retracted his energy, not wanting to cause further damage. He sat in the corner, leaning his back against the wall, and waited for the Third Prince. Even though he could easily go to the Third Prince''s location, Souta chose to wait. He did this to assert his authority. Some might call him arrogant, but the truth was that his status was far above that of a mere prince from this small nation. Even without his rank as a Hero Candidate, his strength alone placed him above everyone in this land. Soon, the Third Prince and his entourage arrived before him. The Third Prince frowned and asked, "Who are you?" The people beside him wore fierce expressions, their energy fluctuating in the air as if they wanted to tear Souta apart. "You are not chosen. You will no longer fight for the throne. The next king of the Creona Kingdom will be the Crown Prince," Souta said calmly. "Y-You!!" The people beside the Third Prince widened their eyes at his words. Unable to control their anger, they unleashed their energy, causing the ground to tremble. Swoosh! In an instant, they drew their weapons and pointed them at Souta. Souta sighed and stood up, unfazed by the weapons aimed at him. He looked at the Third Prince and stretched out his hand. "Come, follow me," he said calmly. The experts beside the prince, some of the most powerful in the nation, didn''t hesitate to attack upon hearing Souta''s words. Souta snorted as ten black spheres materialized behind him. A gravitational field erupted from him, pushing everything away. His shadows spread out, covering a vast area as hundreds of web-like strings shot out in all directions. "W-What?!" The experts didn''t have time to process what was happening when sharp webs pierced through their limbs. Their blood splattered on the ground, but oddly enough, it began to move. The blood suddenly enveloped their bodies, turning into solid spheres that bound them in place. "Weak," Souta said disdainfully. He glanced at the prince and added, "Let''s go." His figure shot instantly into the sky, pulling the Third Prince along with him using the power of gravity. The Third Prince remained in shock. Everything had happened so fast, and all of his followers were suppressed just like that. In the next moment, Souta and the Third Prince crashed in front of the royal palace. Bang!! The ground shook, and dust shot into the air. Souta walked out of the smoke with the Third Prince. "We are at the royal palace?!" The Third Prince looked around in shock. He glanced at Souta''s back and asked, "What are you trying to do?" Souta looked back and said, "I already said before. I''m here to give you to the Crown Prince. Erase any thoughts you have of becoming king." Their arrival in front of the royal palace caused a commotion. People from the palace gathered, quickly recognizing the Third Prince. Word spread rapidly, and more and more people assembled. Souta waited calmly beside the Third Prince. From the beginning, the Third Prince had a slim chance of inheriting the throne. Even if they fought, Souta was sure the Crown Prince would emerge victorious. After all, the strongest expert in the nation was on the Crown Prince''s side. The Third Prince had only a few Fourth Shackles on his side. Even so, a fight would only damage the foundation of the nation. It was better to resolve this matter before such a situation arose. A few moments later, the Crown Prince arrived with his entourage. "What''s happening here?" the Crown Prince asked, glancing at Souta and then at the Third Prince. "Brother? You''re here." "Stop the chit-chat," Souta said, waving his hand as he floated into the sky. "I was sent here to stop the chaos and stabilize the situation in this nation. I declare the Crown Prince as the king of the Creona Kingdom. The decision has been made, and the empty throne will be given to the Crown Prince." His voice reverberated in every direction. "To oppose this decision is to challenge me. I am a Grain Leader from Athena''s Champion and a Hero Candidate. I hope no one is foolish enough to oppose me, or I will do what I do best- kill." Chapter 1052: Battle I The Third Prince, the Crown Prince, and the others could only stare at the figure in the sky. The moment Souta revealed his identity as a member of a God''s Legion, all opposition vanished. Moreover, he wasn''t just a simple warrior in the God''s Legion-he was a Hero Candidate. His status was so high that this might be the last time they would ever see someone of Souta''s caliber. Hero Candidates were rare, and ordinary citizens in various nations around Olympus might never see one in their entire lives. Souta descended from the sky after his declaration. With his hands clasped behind his back, he glanced at the Crown Prince and the others. The Crown Prince and his followers quickly reacted, bowing their heads. "We welcome the envoy of Olympus to our country!" There was no doubt about Souta''s identity. If he were faking it, he would have faced the wrath of Olympus. "Go on," Souta said. With that, the crowning ceremony proceeded under his watch. The Crown Prince finally took the empty throne left by his father and was crowned the King of Creona Kingdom. Afterward, Souta left the country, flying straight toward the Champion''s Den to report back. What he did was simple. He had tested the Crown Prince and the Third Prince in their dreams to determine who was suitable to become king. In the end, the Third Prince forfeited and betrayed the country just to stay alive, while the Crown Prince never surrendered his kingdom. They had no idea that the dreams they experienced that night were manipulated by him. It showed how much control he had over his [Douion]. He was getting better and better at using it. If he mastered it, he could potentially pull thousands of people into a dream in an instant. Soon, Souta arrived at the Champion''s Den and immediately reported to the Division Commander. "I see..." Cicero nodded as he listened to Souta''s report. He tapped his finger on the table and said, "The next test will be in the arena of the Champion''s Den. We won''t tell you who your opponents are, but prepare yourself-this one is meant for you to prove your strength." "Opponents?" Souta raised an eyebrow. "Yes, there will be a lot of opponents to see how far you can go. You have five hours to prepare, so do your best." Souta gave a slight bow and was about to leave when Cicero stopped him. "One more thing. What do you want? Tell us-this is also one of the benefits of being a Hero Candidate. Anything, as long as it''s within our power," Cicero said with a serious look. This was it. Souta knew this moment would come; after all, he had completed this process in the game. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "I only want one thing. If possible, I want the blood of Lady Echidna." "Lady Echidna?" Cicero narrowed his eyes at Souta''s request. "The Monster Lord of Retribution... I can''t promise you anything right now, but I''ll let you know if it''s possible." Echidna, the Monster Lord of Retribution, was one of the monster lords under the banner of Olympus. She was shrouded in mystery, as no one had seen her in this era; she always remained secluded in her cave. "I have a question," Souta said. "Go on," Cicero replied, raising an eyebrow. "Is the use of weapons permitted in the upcoming matches?" "Of course, a weapon is a part of one''s self. Why do you ask?" Cicero responded. Souta nodded and said, "Can I see one of your forbidden spells, Division Commander? You see, I have a special weapon here." Cicero Flavius, known as the Grand Mage, had mastered several forbidden spells. ... Souta stood in a dark space, surrounded by crackling blood lightning that surged around his body. In front of him was a red humanoid figure radiating a dangerous aura. "You have to think carefully. Your [Archetype] is special because you''ve mixed it. Consider what you can do with it and how you can strengthen it," Saya advised. "I know..." Souta replied, narrowing his eyes. The intensity of the blood lightning around him grew stronger and more violent. "You''ve delayed your [Archetype] for a long time. Now that you''ve encountered the entity from the other side, I think you realize that you need to improve it. When you face those beings again, you''ll need a way to destroy them," Saya said. Souta charged forward, engaging the red humanoid in a fierce exchange of blows, using only his fists and the crackling blood lightning around him. Bang! Bang! Shockwaves erupted, rippling out in every direction. "You want the blood of a monster lord, right? Is it related to your ability?" Saya asked. "Kind of. When I became an Emperor, I unlocked another trait gene, but it''s still vacant. I want to try filling it with the blood of a monster lord. If that doesn''t work, I''ll settle for Kessa," Souta replied. The two figures continued clashing at high speed, their movements blurring as they exchanged powerful blows. Souta pushed his [Archetype] to its limits, channeling every ounce of his power. "This is also why I''m trying to prove myself as a Hero-candidate so early. I want to test my luck with the monster lords in Olympus," Souta said, his voice laced with determination. "A monster lord wouldn''t just hand over their blood willingly. You know that, right?" Saya cautioned. "I know," Souta nodded. "But their blood will enhance my strength. I''ll gain a new armor, and my [Emperor Armor] will be more stronger." ... Meanwhile, in Ekatoe City... Franklin, Vashno, and Eztein returned after their journey to a distant land. "Hu~ I''m exhausted," Eztein groaned as he slumped onto the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling. Vashno stretched and said, "I''m going to report to Souta." "The boss isn''t here..." Eztein said, glancing over at Vashno. "What do you mean?" Vashno asked, frowning. "If he were here, he would''ve summoned us already. There''s no way we could enter Astros without him sensing us. It''s impossible, you know?" Eztein explained. Vashno nodded. "Then, I''ll store the artifacts we collected in the vault." He said before leaving the room. Eztein leaned back comfortably on the sofa, slowly closing his eyes. It had been a while since he''d had a moment to relax, and he intended to enjoy it while he could. Knock! Suddenly, a knock echoed through the room. Eztein''s eyes snapped open, and he turned his head toward the door, his senses instantly on alert. After sensing who it was, he said, "Torkez, you don''t have to knock. Just come in. Also, what are you doing, old man? Open the door." The door creaked open, and Torkez stepped inside. His eyes swept across the room, scanning everything. Eztein was on the sofa, while Franklin sat on the other side. "Good," Torkez said as he took a seat in a vacant chair. He crossed his arms and slowly added, "I have something to say." Eztein stretched out his hand. "Oops, I don''t want to hear it. Don''t say anything." "Palleo Kingdom, a nation in the Obsidian Desert, has requested our help. Our leader, Souta, mentioned before that we should assist Palleo Kingdom if an opportunity arises since he owes them a favor," Torkez continued. "Argh!! Don''t!! No!!" Eztein started writhing on the sofa as he covered both of his ears. "I wanted to send people, but we lacked manpower. Souta, Alice, Eilish, and the others are away, so there''s no one to lead our men. Even Yuko went to the central region because of the legendary fruit." "It can''t be!! I...!!! Argh!!" Suddenly, Eztein stopped moving. He slowly turned his head and looked at Torkez. "I''m sorry, Torkez, but I''m on the verge of breaking through the Fourth Shackle, so I can''t go." "Hmm...?" "I''m serious. I''ve been stuck at the Third Shackle for quite some time. I don''t even know why, but after the events in Selnes Country, my strength has decreased. The old man''s the same as me." Torkez glanced at Franklin. Franklin nodded. "He''s right. Something strange really happened in Selnes Country. Vashno, Eztein, and I have all experienced a decline in strength." "I see..." Torkez sighed. "I''ll go. I think it''s better to clear this favor as soon as possible. I''m sure Souta would want that too," Franklin added. "You''ll really go?" "Yeah, it''s better to test myself in that place. It''s quite chaotic in the Obsidian Desert, right? Well, it''s better than nothing," Franklin replied. ... Champion''s Den. The time had come, and Souta emerged from his training. He had much to do; [Archetype] and [Douion] were his priorities right now. As soon as he stepped out of the room, Souta was greeted by a warrior. "Grain Leader Souta, please follow me to the arena. Everything is ready," the warrior said. Souta nodded and smiled faintly. It was finally here, and after this, he would go to the Land of Eternal Spring. Then, he would be dispatched to war once again to gain more achievements. Soon, he arrived at the arena. The arena was alive with energy. The event was certainly a big one, and the spectators were all excited. The sun hung overhead, bathing the entire arena in golden light, while colorful banners bearing the insignia of various Gods'' Legions waved proudly in the breeze. Souta sat in the waiting room, feeling the lively atmosphere and the excitement in the air. He stretched out his arms and said with a smile, "It''s time for me to do what I always do: battle." Chapter 1053: Battle II This event attracted warriors from other legions as well. They remained in their seats, looking down at the platform below. Cicero sat at the top, with three individuals beside him. The first was an old woman with long greenish hair. Her face was full of wrinkles, and she wore a white robe. She was Frena, a Division Commander of Athena''s Champion. The second was a middle-aged man in dark armor. He had red hair, blue eyes, and greenish scales on his skin, indicating that he was a demi. His name was Adein, a War General of Ares'' Warriors. The last one resembled a ten-year-old boy with black hair, black eyes, and a horn protruding from the center of his forehead. His name was Casme, also a War General of Ares'' Warriors. A War General was equivalent to a Division Commander in Athena''s Champion. All four of them were demigods. "Cicero, isn''t this too early? If I''m not mistaken, he just gained the title of Hero Candidate, right?" Casme asked. "Yeah, but that monster looked confident. Also, the rumors about him aren''t just exaggerations," Cicero replied calmly. "The strongest Fourth Stage monster, huh? It seems that another Monster Lord will appear in our Olympus soon," Adein said, resting his chin on his palm. "I''m a Division Commander of Athena''s Champion, yet this is my first time seeing him. It''s been a while since I''ve returned here," Frena said with a smile. Casme glanced at Frena and asked, "You''ve been to the Ruin Battlefield, right? What''s the current situation there?" Cicero and Adein also turned their attention to Frena, eager to hear about the state of the Ruin Battlefield. "It''s getting peaceful there. Because of the threat of Gluttony, the battles in the Ruin Battlefield have decreased. The Holy Lands are gradually retreating to their bases, not daring to engage in another battle," Frena explained. "The threat of Gluttony isn''t minor. Our God even sent two War Generals to search for signs of high-level experts from the Gluttony Army, but those with great strength are really well hidden," Casme said. For now, the Holy Lands were monitoring the battlefield while staying vigilant of their surroundings, wary of where the high-level experts of the Gluttony Army might be hiding. Fortunately, the Angels were taking the initiative to fight on the frontlines, allowing the other Holy Lands to keep watch. "Gluttony... I''ve seen him before. He was just a kid back then, without any strength. He was part of some demigod forces involved in the war between Angels and the Fallen," Adein said. While they were talking, the spectators erupted into loud cheers as the announcer stepped onto the stage. Wooo!!! They rose to their feet, pumping their fists in the air. "I''m your announcer, Dezmo, from the Song of Hermes," a man enthusiastically introduced himself to the crowd. "I won''t keep you waiting any longer. Let''s introduce the one who took the trial." Everyone went quiet, focusing their attention on the stage. "Introducing the man who took the rite. He''s been called the Only One, the one who stood at the top." A man dressed in dark attire slowly walked out of the passage. The entire stadium fell into silence as he stepped forward. "Who could''ve seen this coming! His rise has become legendary everywhere! He''s only just become a Hero Candidate, yet he''s already taking the rite! He''s a monster among monsters!" His footsteps echoed with each step as his long hair fluttered in the wind. "They say he''s the strongest Fourth Stage, and no one has refuted it! He steps onto the battlefield with strength and wisdom!" He stepped onto the platform and paused, looking around as he combed his hair with his fingers. "It all began when he was tasked with going to the Hall Plains. He effortlessly took control of a city and tamed the fierce Lernaean Hydra. He swiftly ended the great turmoil in the Hall Plains that disturbed the gods. He went to the frontlines and proved his strength to the warriors by taking over one of the three countries that later became a battleground. He''s the one and only Blood Lightning Monster! The undisputed one!" Souta placed his hand on the handle of the vajra sword while glancing at the spectators. He flinched as a slight pain surged in his eyes. In the next second, his vision changed. ''This...? It seems that the effect of [Galaxy Eyes] has completely returned.'' he thought to himself. Among the spectators, he spotted many familiar faces-Grain Leader Carmel, Manduk, and some of the warriors he had encountered before. "So that''s the legendary Blood Lightning Monster..." "It''s my first time seeing him." "I wonder if he''s as strong as the rumors say." Aside from the warriors of Athena''s Champion, there were also warriors from other Gods'' Legions. All of them were curious about the famous strongest Fourth Stage monster. The announcer, Dezmo, raised his hand with a big smile on his face. "Now! It''s time to start this rite of battle!!" The audience erupted into loud cheers. Ohm!! A surge of energy enveloped the entire platform, forming a barrier around it. Souta remained still, knowing this was simply a measure to protect the spectators. Bang!! The platform shook violently as hundreds of buildings, mountains, and rivers emerged. "Condensing space and time." A new space formed within the barrier. The audience wasn''t shocked by this as they had seen it before, but it was still an amazing sight, especially for ordinary people. "Now that the stage is ready! The match will start now! There are no allies within the stage! Everyone is an enemy!" the announcer declared. There was no introduction for Souta''s opponent. There was no need; everyone would find out soon enough. It was also a surprise element for the one taking the rite. Just be prepared to fight, no matter who stands in the way. That''s just how it is. "The first opponent is here!" The spectators and the announcer weren''t visible inside the barrier, and no voices from outside could be heard. The audience rose to their feet as they watched the first opponent emerge from one of the buildings, looking down at the ground. "It''s going to start..." In the VIP room, Cicero and the other three observed the scene below. "It''s not necessarily the first opponent. The rite isn''t a one-on-one battle to begin with," Frena commented. The others were well aware of this, as it wasn''t the first time they had seen a Hero Candidate proving himself. Inside the barrier... Souta raised his head, sensing someone within his perception. As long as they had blood, he could detect them within a specific range. He leapt onto the top of a building, looking left and right. A smile formed on his face as he focused his attention ahead. Far away from him stood a man dressed in black pants and a white tunic. "Come!" Souta faintly smiled as he opened his arms and looked up at the sky. [Twilight Zone]! The sky turned a deep crimson, resembling blood, and his eyes gleamed with power. He stood atop the building, his clothes and hair fluttering in the strong winds. The shadows beneath his feet spread outward. Far from Souta, the man watched with a serious expression. He was Welfaz, a member of the Third Grain War Leader of the Second Set Pallas Division. "You''re not alone," Souta said, glancing left and right. He sensed the presence of others, feeling the blood coursing through their veins. That''s right; the other opponents in this battle had arrived. No one said this would be a one- on-one fight, but Souta already knew that from his past experiences. Three people stood to his left, and four stood to his right. They all watched him intently, assessing his movements. Suddenly, a woman moved. She raised her hand, and a surge of energy erupted from her body. At the same time, a man crouched down, placing both palms on the floor. The woman was Zeime, the Second Grain War Leader of the Fourth Set Pallas Division, while the man was Dopoy, the First Grain War Leader of the Fourth Set Polias Division. Ohm!! A magic circle appeared beneath Welfaz''s feet as his energy surged toward the sky, manifesting as a pillar of bluish light. Welfaz pulled back his hands, and a large amount of energy swirled between his palms. In the next second, he pushed both hands forward, shooting a massive blue energy beam. [Destruction Lightning Ray]!! Souta raised both hands as the concentrated ray of lightning approached him. In an instant, the building he stood upon disintegrated, and smoke and dust enveloped the area. Swoosh!! Souta emerged from the smoke, rushing straight at Welfaz. His body was covered in burn marks, but they quickly vanished. His aura rose sharply as ten black spheres materialized behind him. Not only that, but most of his spells and combat arts that could enhance his abilities were activated. "Let''s go!" Souta laughed. Spreading his fingers, dozens of strings of webs shot out, slicing through the buildings in his path. "Come!" Welfaz tightened both fists. In the next moment, Souta arrived in front of him. He threw a punch, and Welfaz responded in kind. Their fists collided, causing intense vibrations in the air. Boom!! Chapter 1054: Battle III Swoosh! Souta and Welfaz were both hurled hundreds of meters apart. They locked eyes briefly before vanishing once more. A series of shockwaves rippled through the air as the two clashed at high speed, their blows too fast to track. Within just a few seconds, Souta could already feel his hands growing numb from the impact. "This guy... he''s as strong as the elders from Walpurgis Night. No, he''s even better." A wide grin spread across his face as strings of flesh emerged from his pores, enveloping his skin and turning him into something monstrous. He drew the vajra sword, its blade also covered by the twisting flesh. With newfound strength surging through him, he swung the weapon with brutal force. Bang! Welfaz''s eyes widened as he instinctively crossed his arms in defense. A powerful impact slammed into him, sending his body hurtling backward. He crashed through several buildings, leaving massive destruction in his wake. This time, Souta didn''t pursue. He merely observed his opponent, realizing just how strong Welfaz was. His attack had only managed to knock him away. Suddenly, Souta shifted to the side as two rays of light shot past him, narrowly missing on his left and right. Swoosh! He turned his head, eyes locking on the group of people watching his battle. "This is going to be troublesome," Souta muttered to himself. "These guys are the best SSS- rank in the Pallas Division." He raised his hand, and the [Orb of Arcane Seal] floated beside him. Ohm! His energy surged again as he activated the effect of [Last Wisdom], doubling the potency of all his spells. Souta took a deep breath, and doppelgangers emerged from his shadows, instantly rushing off in different directions. Swoosh! With that handled, he turned his full attention back to Welfaz. Welfaz now stood amidst the rubble, eyes locked on him, fists clenched tightly as a reddish glow enveloped his body. [Fighting Master: Vanity]! Welfaz finally activated his skill, and without hesitation, he dashed forward. Boom! In the spectator''s seats, four demigods watched the battle with interest gleaming in their eyes. "He''s really strong," Frena muttered, a hint of surprise in her tone. "Strong," Adein, who rarely spoke, added. "It feels like I''m no longer watching a fourth- stage monster." "I''ve seen him before, but this is my first time seeing him fight. His close combat techniques are impressive," Cicero remarked with a smile. "This power goes beyond the fourth stage. There should be limits, but his strength now feels closer to the fifth stage than the fourth. It''s fair to call him a false fifth stage," Casme paused for a moment before adding, "It seems the rumors weren''t just exaggeration." Cicero glanced at Casme and said, "He''s strong, which is why he managed to seize the position of Hero-rank. Welfaz should have claimed it, but then this guy showed up." "Oh, so Welfaz was about to become a Hero-candidate, but this monster took the spot instead," Casme chuckled. ... Souta leaped back, narrowing his eyes. He was being pushed back by his opponent. Swoosh! Welfaz suddenly appeared beside him, launching a swift kick. Souta crossed his arms to block it, but the sheer force of the blow sent him flying. His body crashed into a building, triggering a massive explosion. Souta quickly got to his feet and glanced down at his arms. "Defense penetration...?" That kick had pierced through his defenses. Despite having activated both his spells and combat arts to boost his defense, Welfaz had managed to break through with a single strike. Souta glanced around and sensed that all his doppelgangers had been destroyed in an instant. It seemed the others were finally making their move. If that''s the case, then... Boom! A massive surge of best feram erupted from his body, scattering the debris around him. The pressure in the air intensified, and Welfaz''s expression shifted as he felt the weight of it. "It''s here..." Welfaz muttered. Souta walked forward, a wide grin spreading across his face. His body had transformed as he entered his released form. "Let''s turn it up," Souta said before charging ahead. At that moment, Zeime and Dopoy hovered in the sky, raising their hands as magic circles formed beneath their feet. Ohm! Welfaz frowned as he suddenly felt his strength surge. Pulling back his fist, he launched a powerful punch. His punch collided with Souta''s sword, creating a massive shockwave that rippled through the air. Bang! Souta quickly lifted his leg and kicked to the side, but Welfaz caught it in his hand. Reacting instantly, Souta spun around, unleashing several energy blades. Welfaz swung his hand, dispersing the energy blades effortlessly. Then, he stepped forward, lightning crackling around his clenched fist. Swoosh! Souta felt a sharp pain in his stomach, but he gritted his teeth and endured it. The four spider- like limbs on his back aimed at Welfaz, firing [Bestrou]. He was about to launch a follow-up attack when he sensed something. Kicking off the ground, he propelled himself into the air. In the next moment, several humanoid puppets emerged from the ground. Hovering in the air, Souta realized he was surrounded. He glanced left and right, seeing the puppets positioned all around him. Welfaz emerged from the smoke, completely unharmed. He stared at Souta but made no move to attack. Souta knew his opponents were all top-tier SSS-rank members of Athena''s Champion. They were the best, and defeating them would not be easy. Aside from Welfaz, there were also Zeime and Dopoy, both formidable in their own right. While their combat power was slightly weaker, their support skills were top-notch. Then there was the skinny guy in leather armor beneath a dark green robe. He was a Puppeteer -an expert at crafting and controlling puppets. Souta turned his gaze to the remaining four, who were also sizing him up, carefully moving into position. "A Brawler, two Supports, a Puppeteer, a Formation Master, a Rune Knight, and two Rogues..." He guessed their professions based on their weapons, attire, and the way they had destroyed his doppelgangers earlier. Souta couldn''t help but think of Cicero. That guy had chosen a well-rounded party to take him down. It felt like a full-on subjugation team. The Brawler, Welfaz, was the strongest among them. In comparison to his previous opponents, Welfaz surpassed even the elders of Walpurgis Night. The two Supports and the Formation Master were weaker, while the rest seemed to be at the level of the elders. However, unlike the elders who remained in Walpurgis Night, these Grain Leaders frequently took on missions and fought in various locations. "Come," Souta said, dashing forward. Welfaz flew into the air to intercept him, and their figures collided fiercely in the sky. At the same time, the two Supports sprang into action, buffing Welfaz and casting debuffs on Souta. The Formation Master activated the formation he had set up beforehand. This coordinated move made a significant difference; Souta felt overwhelmed. His strength was being suppressed while his opponent received enhancements. Although his own buff skills were still active, he couldn''t feel their effects due to the debilitating pressure from his opponents. The same could be said for Welfaz. While Souta''s skill set could reduce his opponents'' strength, its effect was minimal compared to the two high-level Supports and the Formation Master. "Don''t worry about me; just suppress him," Welfaz said, throwing another punch. At his words, his comrades'' expressions grew serious. Their energy surged like a raging tide, sweeping through the area. The elemental power around them intensified as they activated their [Element Drive] simultaneously. Boom! Souta stepped back, feeling the intense pressure in the air as various elements rushed toward him. "They''re not going to hold back anymore." He shifted his body and swung his sword. [Crimson Moon]!! Boom! The crimson energy blade collided fiercely with the various elemental attacks, causing massive explosions. Souta glanced at his opponents and realized that their elemental power was at the Second Stage. It was quite potent, and their debuffs and buffs had grown stronger as well. He darted left and right at high speed, evading the numerous attacks launched at him. Boom! Boom! A series of explosions erupted around him. Although the battle was chaotic, Souta could see that they were firmly in control. It was a well-coordinated formation, and they weren''t allowing him to escape. They were circling him within the same area. "I can see why Division Commander Cicero chose them. They''re perfectly in sync." Souta suddenly stopped and looked up. He saw hundreds of humanoid puppets falling from above. Charging his best feram into his blade, he grinned wider. He was about to attack the puppets when he suddenly turned around and slashed his blade. Swoosh! Two figures appeared, moving to the side, both armed with sharp daggers. "Stealth? Well, I can sense your blood, so it doesn''t matter if you use a skill to blend your energy in the air." Souta laughed as he stepped forward, facing the two Rogues. He flicked his fingers, sending dozens of sharp webs shooting into the air to slow down the hundreds of falling puppets. At the same time, the four spider limbs on his back fired [Bestrou] at those who slipped through the webs. As he did this, white smoke seeped from his body, and he swung his sword heavily toward the two Rogues. Swoosh!! Chapter 1055: Battle IV Souta''s strength surged once more. Darkness and light enveloped his body as he charged at the two Rogues. Swoosh! The Rogues flinched, surprised that Souta had discovered them. However, being experts, they quickly reacted, raising their daggers to try to intercept their target. In the next moment, their bodies were thrown to the ground. Souta laughed as he descended upon them like a meteor. The Rogues saw a streak of light heading their way, and they rolled to the side just as a massive body crashed down beside them. Rumble! The ground collapsed, and the shockwave pushed them away. But they didn''t get far, realizing that their feet were bound by sticky webs. Souta emerged from the smoke, locking eyes with the two Rogues. He pulled the webs tight, and his [Douion] flowed through the blade. [Crimson Moon]!! A strange energy blade shot from his sword, revealing a vast space within it. The two Rogues were momentarily dazed but quickly snapped back to reality. They wanted to dodge, but it was already too late. "Shit! Dream power!!" They could only curse as the energy blade approached. Bang!! They braced themselves for impact, but just then, a barrier materialized in front of them. The energy blade collided with the barrier, creating intense friction in the air. Boom! The announcer, Dezmo, raised his arm and exclaimed loudly, "Now this is a shocking development! They have already used their [Element Drive], forcing the Blood Lightning Monster into a corner, but they didn''t expect this to happen!" On the battlefield, Souta broke through the barrier, hurling the two Rogues away. Grain Leader Carmel watched the battle unfold and shook his head with a smile. "They shouldn''t underestimate Grain Leader Souta. His strength is growing almost every day." The other warriors were equally surprised, some of them still trying to grasp what was happening in the fight. "Did you see that? Something''s off with his elemental power." "Hmm..." Only the high-level experts understood the situation on the battlefield. They realized that the Formation Master was orchestrating something by placing Souta at the center of the battle, keeping him confined to that area. "It''s already forming..." A tall man in full plate armor spoke in a low voice. He was a member of Hell''s Paradise, the legion under Hades. He glanced at Welfaz and muttered, "Welfaz is also preparing to fight at his full strength. By now, he must have realized that he can''t take on the Blood Lightning Monster in a one-on- one battle." A man with a giant axe sat down and crossed his arms over his chest. He was Genzu, the Berserk War Axe, and one of the warriors who had participated in the Selnes Country war. "I''m glad I''ve caught up," Genzu said with a smile. The tall man in full plate armor looked at Genzu and asked, "Berserk War Axe, you''ve been to war, right? What do you think of this battle?" "Hmm, the Blood Lightning Monster is strong. In the war in Selnes Country, he fearlessly stood at the front, fighting against the experts from the Gluttony Army." Genzu smiled wryly and continued, "I hate to admit it, but Welfaz is strong-stronger than me. It''s just that the Blood Lightning Monster is even stronger. His fighting style is quite unique, and he excels in almost every aspect of battle." "So you mean..." "Yeah, Welfaz is powerful and known as the Fighting Star. His skill in hand-to-hand combat is high, and some of his combat arts have reached a higher realm. He truly deserves the position of Hero-candidate, but then the Blood Lightning Monster appeared. There''s a reason why Grain Leader Souta is known as the Blood Lightning Monster. That red lightning of his is unique and incredibly powerful. I''ve seen its destructive power firsthand in the Selnes Country." "So it''s real, huh? That''s quite interesting." Genzu glanced at the tall man before shaking his head. He knew this man was from Hell''s Paradise. From the spectators'' point of view, the Blood Lightning Monster could only be defeated if Welfaz and the others worked together. They were enjoying the spectacle of a live monster subjugation. After all, based on what Souta had shown just now, he was definitely above everyone else. He was holding his own while fighting against all of them at the same time. ... On the battlefield, Souta frowned after destroying the barrier. He turned his head and glared at the Formation Master-the one who had created the barrier to protect the two Rogues. He bent his knees and launched himself into the air, but Welfaz appeared before him. "Get out of my way!" Both of them unleashed their attacks, sending each other flying several hundred meters away. At that moment, the humanoid puppets broke free from the webs. They landed on the ground and immediately rushed in Souta''s direction. Swoosh!! Welfaz hovered in the air, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He stared at Souta, who was simultaneously destroying dozens of puppets. "This guy is too strong. I know it, but..." He couldn''t help but feel bitter. Welfaz had always wanted to become a Hero ever since he was a child. He came from a small village far from the Champion''s Den, where the strongest expert was only a C-rank, and that man had become his teacher. He easily surpassed his mentor and embarked on his journey. By the time he arrived at the Champion''s Den, Welfaz had already reached the level of B-rank. He trained tirelessly until he finally managed to join the Athen''s Champion. He had been hailed as the Fighting Star. "I want to win, so..." A smile formed on his face. Welfaz walked slowly, starting to use all of his combat arts. His energy rose sharply, and he quickly dashed into the air. His body was like a meteor shooting toward Souta. Swoosh!! At the same time, the two Rogues and the Rune Knight charged at him. Souta didn''t back down; he stood firm against them all. Boom!! He swung his sword with precision and power. The two Rogues kept appearing behind him while the Rune Knight fought him head-on. Shockwaves reverberated as various elements clashed in the sky, creating a brilliant spectacle. The ground shook continuously as if it were the end of the world. The two Supports narrowed their eyes as they cast buff spells on the four individuals going toe-to-toe with the infamous Blood Lightning Monster. "Hahaha! Come!" Souta''s laughter echoed across the battlefield. He grabbed one of the two Rogues by the face and hurled him at the Rune Knight before firing a crimson energy blade. The spider limbs on his back moved swiftly to block Welfaz''s punch. "It''s not enough!" Souta pressed forward as blood seeped from his pores, quickly enveloping his entire body. The blood turned black as it transformed into armor. [Blood Armor: Great Black Orc]!! Welfaz widened his eyes in shock and felt intense pain in his stomach. His body turned into a stream of light as he crashed to the ground. Bang!! Souta turned around and saw that the other three were already rushing at him. He flew into the air, crashing his massive body into all three of them and pushing them to the ground before unleashing a wave of [Bestrou] using the spider limbs on his back. Souta''s [Douion] surged as he swung down his weapon once again. Everyone felt as if they were being pulled into a dream, and before they could snap out of it, the Rune Knight and the two Rogues found themselves staring at a massive energy blade before them. Boom!! Smoke and dust engulfed the area as dozens of buildings disintegrated under the sheer force of the explosion. Swoosh!! The Rune Knight and the two Rogues emerged from the smoke, their bodies covered in injuries. Souta opened his arms as thick white smoke emerged beneath his feet. "Let''s take it to another level!" He stabbed the space in front of him and opened both of his arms. Thick tendrils came out of the shattered space and filled the area. "Dream is reality. Reality is a dream." Welfaz and the others felt a chill, sensing the strange vibe in the air. They saw the ground turning black and white, and a sun appeared on the horizon. Dark clouds gathered in the sky as thunder reverberated everywhere. "This is my dreamscape. My voice is the rule, my body is the land, and my blood is the ocean of this dream." Souta said as he pointed his sword at the Rune Knight and the two Rogues. Welfaz and the rest wore grim expressions as they felt the intense atmosphere in this place. The pressure was so strong that they thought anyone below the Sixth Shackle would be crushed in this realm. There''s some kind of dream power here that was trying to destroy any foreign beings or objects. ... "What a shocking twist is this?!!! The Blood Lightning Monster brought his dream to reality!! Is this the legendary power of dreams?!" The announcer, Dezmo, said enthusiastically. His body was brimming with energy as he watched the battle unfold. The spectators held their breath at the sight. Some of the high-level warriors stood up from their seats with wide eyes, unable to believe what they were witnessing. "This power...?!" This wasn''t a simple manifestation of dream power. Only someone with high-level control over dream abilities could achieve such a feat. Chapter 1056: Battle V The two Supports frowned and raised both of their hands, casting healing spells on the two Rogues and the Rune Knight. This was the advantage of having Support members on a team; a well-timed buff and heal could make a huge difference in critical moments. Welfaz stood at the front, staring at Souta. "Let me take it from here. Rest for a while." The two Rogues and the Rune Knight exchanged glances before nodding at him, then retreated under the watchful gaze of the mighty Blood Lightning Monster. "Oh, so you''re going to fight me... I see what you''re thinking," Souta said, a smile creeping onto his face. This guy was stronger than any of the Sixth Shackles he had faced before. Welfaz was probably as formidable as Ice Death and Thousand Earth had been during the Selnes Country conflict. "Show me everything you''ve got," Souta challenged. "Very well," Welfaz replied, taking a step forward. "I''ll take the initiative then." Souta chuckled as he pointed his sword at Welfaz. The ground trembled as darkness and light burst forth. Welfaz tried to defend himself, but it was futile. The two elements enveloped his entire body, leaving nothing behind. "Hmm...?" Souta frowned, turning his head to glance at the Formation Master. The Formation Master was floating in the air several kilometers away, magic circles swirling in both of his hands. Souta then looked up, realizing there was a formation designed to lock him down and suppress his power. However, with his current strength, the formation couldn''t completely subdue him; it could only weaken him. Souta raised his hand, and a surge of energy erupted in front of him. He raised his eyebrows, excitement glimmering in his eyes. "You finally couldn''t hold back! I thought you''d just lie there until the match is over!" Souta laughed, watching the intense elemental energy swirling in front of him. He knew Welfaz hadn''t been defeated by his previous attack; he was merely testing the waters. Welfaz stepped forward, radiating overwhelming energy. The elements of lightning, time, and wind swirled around him, causing everything in the vicinity to slow down or speed up. His elemental power had reached the limit of the Integration Stage. If Welfaz were at the Seventh Shackle, he would easily reach the Fusion Stage, the third level of elemental power. He clenched both fists as a golden glow enveloped his body. [Fighting Master: Ultima]!! His most powerful combat art was activated, and as his clothes burst with energy, they further amplified his power. Welfaz was finally making use of the skills from his artifact equipment. "I see... You can resist the pressure in my dream! The undead I fought before were too weak, so let me test something with you!" Souta laughed as he charged forward, unfazed by the increase in his opponent''s strength. In fact, it only fueled his excitement for the battle. He didn''t care about the Formation Master or the others at all. If this were a life-and-death situation, he would eliminate them first at all costs. But since this was only a match without life or death on the line, he wanted to test his strength. As the two approached each other, hundreds of humanoid puppets surged toward them. In the next moment, a wave of energy erupted, unleashing various elements. The puppets were hurled in every direction. Bang!! Welfaz and Souta were pushed several dozen meters apart, their energies clashing fiercely in the air. Welfaz turned his head, glancing at his opponent, and moved. He charged through the puppets, focusing his energy into both fists. Souta grinned as blood-red light erupted from within his body. The two figures clashed, creating intense friction in the air. The whistling sound echoed as their energies violently struck the ground, causing massive destruction. "This is it!!" The excitement in Souta''s eyes reached its peak. He swung his sword madly. Each slash contained enormous blood lightning and the power of dreams, drastically altering the terrain. Darkness and light enveloped the ground, unleashing powerful waves as if an ocean were caught in a raging storm. The energy shot into the sky, destroying the humanoid puppets one by one. Despite this, Welfaz maintained his stance while exchanging blows with Souta. He was like a small ember in a powerful storm, on the brink of being extinguished at any moment. He was trying to endure it all. Boom! Boom! Boom! The Formation Master maximized his ability, his energy fluctuating as he pushed both hands forward. Every time Souta struck Welfaz, the Formation Master would use the formation to create a barrier to protect Welfaz. While this didn''t stop Souta''s attacks, it was enough to reduce their momentum. His timing was impeccable, having executed this maneuver several times in the past. One wrong move, and Welfaz would suffer heavy injuries if the Formation Master failed to lessen the impact of Souta''s strikes. Meanwhile, the two Supports continually tried to heal and buff Welfaz while casting debuffs at Souta. Each of them played their role perfectly, allowing Welfaz to go toe-to-toe with the legendary Blood Lightning Monster. The spectators held their breath as they watched the intense battle unfold before their eyes. It was a brutal and bloody conflict. Bang! Bang! The clash of their energies rang out, strong and fierce, as the two continued to exchange high-speed blows. "Hahaha! How refreshing! This is my dreamscape, yet you can fight me to this extent! How exhilarating is this?!" Souta laughed madly as he raised his hand. A net of blood-red lightning descended from above, while darkness and light surged from below. Welfaz gritted his teeth and took the attack head-on. The lightning, darkness, and light smashed into his body, causing wounds to appear all over him, but these injuries quickly vanished as his comrades healed him. "Show me!!" Souta''s [Douion] erupted. Intense lightning, darkness, and light gathered around him as he fiercely swung his weapon against his opponent. He utilized his [Douion] to the maximum of his ability. The Formation Master put forth everything he had, creating several layers of barriers to protect Welfaz. Souta didn''t care about the barriers. He continued to launch fierce attacks. Boom!! Boom!! This situation persisted for five more minutes. The entire land was now devastated, but since it was Souta''s dreamscape, it could return to its original state as long as he maintained [Douion]. Welfaz was experiencing the most intense battle of his entire life. Even with the support of his comrades, he couldn''t gain an advantage. Souta''s movements became increasingly swift and powerful. He was strong before, but now the Formation Master could hardly keep up at all. Souta was overwhelming them. Dark clouds covered the sky as countless arcs of blood-red lightning rained down on the field. The Formation Master and the others were forced back, staring at the sight before them in horror. Boom!! Souta''s eyes flashed with immense power. He swung his sword, and Welfaz was thrown hundreds of kilometers away in an instant. Souta bent his knees and moved through the shadows. "How refreshing!" An ocean of blood formed, appearing to drown Welfaz. In the next moment, the ocean of blood transformed into countless crimson spikes. Welfaz tried to defend himself, but his body was still pierced. At the same time, Souta appeared in front of him. Welfaz gritted his teeth, knowing he couldn''t avoid the next attack. However, he felt overwhelmed at this moment, as if something had changed within Souta''s aura. He couldn''t describe it, but the effect of this dreamscape had intensified to the point where he could barely muster his strength. "Thank you, I finally achieved it." Souta''s voice echoed. His eyes sparkled with excitement as his aura surged to a higher level, and he swung his sword once again. [Douion II]!! The entire place seemed to crumble as cracks filled the space. In the next second, everything shattered. Bang!! The spectators held their breaths, rising from their seats to look at the arena before them. No one uttered a single sound as silence enveloped the entire venue. As the smoke slowly dissipated, Souta stood in the air. The dreamscape had vanished; he had exhausted his [Douion], causing the collapse of the dreamscape and returning to the previous battlefield. On the ground before him lay the unconscious Welfaz. "You''re strong... Stronger than the people I''ve fought before." Souta breathed heavily as he stared at Welfaz. Even though he was tired, a huge smile spread across his face. He had used this battle as a whetstone to sharpen his [Douion] to a higher level. And he achieved it. In the next moment, Welfaz''s body disappeared from the battlefield, reappearing outside of it. "He''s out!!! The Greater Fighting Star Welfaz was defeated by the Blood Lightning Monster!!" The announcer, Dezmo, broke the silence. "Who would''ve thought he would be the first one eliminated!!" Souta turned his head and jumped into the air. Although he had exhausted his [Douion], he still possessed a vast reserve of best feram from both his monster orb and [Nebula Heart]. Since his power of dreams and elemental power had merged into [Douion], he could no longer utilize his elemental abilities, as they were now connected to it. But that was enough for him. The Formation Master and the others sensed the energy fluctuations and began to retreat, but Souta wasn''t about to let them escape easily. He waved his hand, and a massive magic circle appeared. His universal-grade artifact, the [Orb of Arcane Seal], spun faster, emitting a brilliant white glow. Chapter 1057: End of Battle The Formation Master and the others felt goosebumps rise on their skin. They realized something terrible was about to happen. "It''s the end!" Souta declared, locking his energy onto his target. His universal-grade artifact emitted a blinding light. [Three Ways of Ruination Land]!! A massive, ominous magic circle appeared before them. Casme and the other demigods couldn''t help but rise to their feet at the sight of the magic circle. "This is...?!" They recognized the spell. It was familiar to them. They couldn''t help but glance at Cicero, who was sitting beside them. Numerous questions swirled in their minds. Cicero smiled wryly and shrugged his shoulders. "That brat has something with him..." [Three Ways of Ruination Land] was one of the forbidden spells that Cicero could wield. Moreover, it was a forbidden spell he had personally developed, designed primarily for overwhelming attack power. As soon as Souta cast the spell, he felt a significant chunk of his energy dissipate. The entire land was engulfed in dazzling white light. There was no sound at all; everything was obliterated, and even the fabric of time and space on the battlefield distorted. A massive gully formed, filled with dark spots-the aftermath of the spell. These dark spots contained a high concentration of energy that could cause decay across the field. On the ground, a greyish liquid pooled, and this strange substance could induce intense hallucinations. This was the spell [Three Ways of Ruination Land]. Souta exhaled heavily as his form reverted to normal. He felt quite tired after using a forbidden spell. Even with his immense energy, he could probably use it only seven times before his reserves were depleted. He still had other forbidden spells in his other artifact that he had previously used, but those were difficult to execute due to their costs. In fact, he preferred using them, but casting them would leave him vulnerable. Souta landed on the ground. His opponents had already been transported outside the battlefield, which meant one thing: he had won this match. After a moment, the crowd erupted into loud cheers. They had been too stunned by the spectacle to react until now. "WHOA!!!" "Blood Lightning Monster!!" "What a beast!!" "He''s too strong!" "At this point, I wouldn''t even be surprised if he defeated a Seventh Shackle Realm!" The excitement of the crowd reached its peak as they chanted his name repeatedly. The announcer, Dezmo, declared the end of this rite. The Blood Lightning Monster had defeated the Fighting Star Welfaz in a fierce battle and used a forbidden spell to overpower the rest of the warriors. His opponents were experts at the Sixth Shackle Realm. The announcer, Dezmo, stood at the side, looking at Souta. He announced, "This is truly the most ferocious monster that we''ve ever seen in this world. He''s an exceptional monster with ridiculous strength. When I say ridiculous strength, I mean he is one hundred percent more powerful than any of the Fourth Stage monsters that have ever been born. He''s truly the best, and no monster could ever reach this level." Souta stood at the center, absorbing all the cheers of the crowd. ... After the battle, Souta returned to the Athena''s Champion headquarters in the city. He sat down in a room to recover his energy. The result of the battle was excellent; he had managed to raise his [Douion] to a higher level. If he recovered to his peak, he estimated he could maintain his dreamscape for more than an hour. This was a significant leap for him. Now, he could turn his attention back to his [Archetype]. He would seek ways to improve it to further enhance his strength. After a while, Souta stood up as he sensed someone approaching the room. In the next moment, a knock sounded on the door. "What is it?" Souta asked. The person on the other side was Elini, the Chief Captain of the Second Set Pallas Division. She informed him that he was being summoned by the Division Commander. Souta followed her. "You''ve become the topic of the city." "I can''t help it. A lot of people witnessed the battle." "You showed them something they''ve never seen before. Even the Division Commanders are impressed with your performance." The two of them chatted as they walked. After a few minutes, they arrived at the Division Commander''s office. Now that Souta had finished the rite, all he needed to do next was earn some achievements. This shouldn''t take long, unlike other Hero Candidates who spent years just to accumulate enough accomplishments. After all, his achievements in Hall Plains and Selnes Country were significant. So, he would only need to do a little more, and he would have enough. Some people took several decades, but Souta only took a few months. In the game, Souta hadn''t been this fast. He fought on the battlefield back then, killing countless enemies from the Gluttony Army. Cicero tapped 1 finger on the table as he glanced at Souta. After a while, he said, "About your request before..." Souta''s expression turned serious. "Lady Echidna replied. She wants you to come there and receive it personally. As for the details, I don''t even know them," Cicero said, shaking his head. He didn''t know what a Monster Lord wanted with Souta, but he was sure that the strongest fourth-stage monsters in history had caught the attention of several Monster Lords in Olympus. Even though Souta was only a fourth-stage, he still had the power to obliterate any Sixth Shackle expert. Honestly, this feat was unbelievable. "I understand," Souta said. At the very least, Lady Echidna only wanted to meet him. "Lady Echidna is a mysterious lord, even among all the Monster Lords in Olympus. There''s little information about her, and only a few people have seen her before." Cicero paused before adding, "But don''t worry too much; she won''t kill you since you''re the Hero Candidate of Goddess Athena." Souta nodded. "So, what will you do? Are you going to meet Lady Echidna or go to the Land of Eternal Spring?" "I think I''ll go meet Lady Echidna first." "I see..." After that, Cicero dismissed him. Souta returned to his room to relax for a little bit. He lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Half an hour later, Souta stood up. That was enough for him. Souta went out of the room, and a warrior approached him. The warrior handed him a letter before leaving. "What''s this?" Souta opened the letter and saw that it was just a map indicating the location of Lady Echidna''s nest. He knew it from the game, but other people didn''t have that information. ... Ekatoe City. Alice had returned to the city from her mission. Her energy spread as she sensed that Souta and the others weren''t here. Where are they? She wondered, having no idea where the others had gone. The only person Alice knew the whereabouts of was Souta, as he had told her before that he was heading to the Champion''s Den. She found Torkez and asked him what had happened. Torkez filled her in on everything that had occurred so far. Legendary grade appeared? This was to be expected, given that cities around Hall Plains had started fighting a few months ago due to the emergence of rare grades. Now that the density of mana had increased again, legendary grades shouldn''t be limited here. Alice had just returned, so she wouldn''t be going out for a while. Instead, she intended to stabilize her power, having recently reached the Fifth Shackle Realm. Her strength was far greater than before. Compared to others, she felt undeniably stronger. The universal-grade artifact, [Rhongomiant], appeared in her hands. "Souta was right. There''s something here," Alice muttered to herself. It was a power greater than she had imagined. [Archetype]! She finally understood why Souta hadn''t told her about it before. It seemed that experts below the Fifth Shackle wouldn''t be able to remember anything related to this type of technique. The King of Knights had hidden a technique within his spear. He hadn''t left anything aside from it, nor did he leave any living labyrinth. That was the information she had learned. "If that''s the case, then..." Alice''s mind couldn''t help but wander to Isabella. Isabella had received a God''s Legacy from a Living Labyrinth, so there was a possibility that one of the techniques she obtained was an [Archetype]. She took a deep breath, and the golden spear vanished from her hand. She needed to finish settling the business with the assassin first. Delaying it would be unwise, as the assassin organization from Takamagahara was vast. Ekatoe City would lose a significant amount of money just to pay for the assassin. Alice couldn''t complain, given that the Leader of the Wingless Crow was strong, and the price was reasonable. Luckily, it seemed they had obtained a lot of resources from the ancient ruin. In her opinion, it should be doable. Chapter 1058: Lord of the Wood A few days had passed. In the ancient ruins, Eilish had fully stabilized her strength and could now unleash her Fourth Shackle Realm power completely. The same could be said for her elemental abilities. She was at the Integration Stage with the strength of the Fourth Shackle Realm, far stronger than when she had fought the undead. Eilish stood up from her seat, and the energy fluctuations around her gradually calmed. "I need to return now. Souta is probably already in the Champion''s Den, so I have to go back to Ekatoe City." She exited the training room, walked through the dark passage, and arrived at another training room. She opened the door and saw Isabella, Amanda, and another girl with the Ninth Head, Alexander. She knew that Amanda and Isabella had arrived at this place a few days ago. Souta had wanted Alexander to give Isabella some tips on the space element. Among all the people she knew, Alexander was probably the most knowledgeable expert on elemental powers. He glanced at Eilish before turning his attention back to Isabella. "Just practice as I taught you, and you will be able to grasp the fabric of space." Alexander didn''t need to train Isabella for long. He simply showed her how to cultivate her space element, and if she followed his guidance, she would be able to master it even in his absence. Isabella could continue to improve as long as she adhered to his advice, even if she returned to Ekatoe City. Alexander couldn''t stay here for too long, as he had other matters to attend to. "That''s all. Don''t forget my words, and you will improve faster than before," Alexander said. After that, Eilish, Amanda, and Isabella prepared to depart. Eilan was coming with them as well, having reached the Liquefying Realm. His physique was already strong, and his energy control had improved significantly due to his time as a host for an elemental being, which accelerated his progress. ... Somewhere in Olympus, Souta was flying toward the direction where Lady Echidna lived. A transmission talisman floated beside his ear. "I see... So what happened to Bryan?" Souta asked. "He''s being hunted by the hunters from the Adventurers Guild. Apparently, he saved one of the monsters on their list, so he had to run away. We only know that he''s heading to Ambrosie Country." A feminine voice echoed from the other side of the talisman. The owner of this voice was Lumilia, the acting leader of the Dark Oculus Legion. "Do you have contact with him?" "No, we lost contact with him. Brando and Yujin also went to Ambrosie Country to find him. There''s too much happening right now, and the hunter faction of the Adventurers Guild is pressuring us." The hunter faction mostly consisted of people who took on monster subjugation quests. Many harbored deep-seated hatred for monsters, having lost loved ones to monster tides or similar tragedies. "The hunter faction, huh? I can''t blame them, but don''t confront them. They have a lot of hidden powerful experts," Souta cautioned. "Don''t worry; we''ve been receiving support from various tamers." The two continued to talk for a while before Souta ended the conversation upon arriving at his destination. He descended to the ground and saw a huge cave, its entrance gaping like the maw of a great beast. The air was thick with tension, carrying a heavy pressure over the surroundings. "It''s here... the den of a Monster Lord." Souta stepped forward and entered the dark cave. ... In the Champion''s Den, Cicero sat in his office, reviewing reports. He glanced out the window and muttered, "He should have reached that place by now." After this, Souta would be required to gain more achievements. It was only a matter of time before he solidified his position. To become a Hero of Goddess Athena. Strength alone wasn''t enough. Many warriors aspired to this position, yet only a few managed to attain it. Suddenly, a knock sounded. "Come in," Cicero said. The door swung open, and a warrior rushed into the room. "Sir, something happened?!" the warrior exclaimed. Cicero lifted his head and glanced at the warrior before him. The warrior quickly informed him of the unfolding events. "What?!" Cicero stood up from his seat, shock written across his face. "The three theaters have collapsed?!" ... In the three theaters, the battle between high-level experts was nearing its conclusion. They had been fighting for several hours, and the experts from the Gluttony Army were beginning to experience a decline in their energy. "Huff... huff... huff..." One of the experts from the Gluttony Army breathed heavily, staring at the approaching monstrous entity. They couldn''t do anything to stop these monsters. The Thrones were strong and resilient, their high-level energy resistance rendering the Gluttony Army''s attacks ineffective. Even with an advantage in numbers, it would take significantly more to defeat a fifth-stage monster. A fifth-stage monster was vastly different from a fourth-stage; it had undergone many changes. The Thrones floated in the air, still radiating an intense amount of energy. The other experts from the Holy Lands charged forward, launching fierce attacks that inflicted even more injuries on the Gluttony Army''s ranks. Bang!! Vandal was sent flying to the side of a warrior from Asgard. This warrior was also a Hero-rank like him; however, unlike Vandal, this warrior was at the Eighth Shackle. "Isn''t this strange?" Vandal asked. "Strange? What do you mean?" The warrior glanced at Vandal. "Our enemies..." "Now that you mention it, it is indeed strange. I felt something was off before, but I ignored it." The warrior looked up, staring at the Thrones above. Although the Hero-ranks from the Gluttony Army were being suppressed, they could have escaped given their numbers. If they had fought with the intention to flee, at least one or two should have survived. Yet, none had, resulting in the current dire situation. Why? Swoosh!! The Hero-ranks from the Gluttony Army continued to fall one by one. "We''ve eliminated them." Among the thirteen Hero-ranks, only one remained alive. "I thought we could take down at least one, but the power of these monsters is beyond our expectations," the last Hero-rank of the Gluttony Army said in a hoarse tone, glancing at the mighty Thrones. Swoosh!! The other two experts from the Holy Lands appeared beside him and pierced his body with their weapons. Blood spurted as he gazed into the faces of his killers. Then, he drew his last breath, losing all signs of life. Just like that, all thirteen Hero-ranks had fallen in the three theaters. The morale of the lower-level experts surged as they witnessed their allies eliminating the high-level experts of the Gluttony Army. They fought more fiercely as they cut down the enemies before them. Vandal looked down at the battlefield, wondering how the Gluttony Army would respond. Swoosh!! Some of the lower-level experts from the Gluttony Army seemed to go mad, bursting into hysterical laughter. Vandal and the other Hero-rank experts frowned. "Hahahaha!!" "Despair!" Suddenly, one of the corpses of the Hero-ranks from the Gluttony Army opened its eyes. Black liquid flowed down from the corners of his eyes, while a red glow emanated from its chest. "May chaos take the world!!" In the next moment, a powerful surge of mana erupted from all the Hero-rank corpses. "T¡ªThis...?" Vandal was taken aback. Various runes appeared in the sky above, and cracks formed in the fabric of space. The lower- level experts from the Gluttony Army began falling one by one, losing all signs of life within seconds. "A large-scale summoning!!" one of the Hero-ranks from the Holy Lands muttered in disbelief. Buzz!! Buzz!! The space was shattered. Everyone, including the Hero-ranks and Thrones, stared at the fractured sky. An ominous, massive dark sphere emerged from the rift. A seemingly endless torrent of energy gushed out of it like a tsunami. Ohm!! Everyone felt goosebumps prickling their skin as fear began to swell in their hearts. The ground and air vibrated as the massive black sphere formed cracks on its surface. "T¨DThis... Best feram! At this level?!" "It can''t be...?!" The Hero-ranks had an inkling of what was to come. The Thrones collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by immense suppression. The lower-level experts felt suffocated. The untamed energy from a higher being was harmful to them. Even if they wanted to run, they couldn''t; their bodies were rooted to the spot. Black smoke seeped out of the cracks. Just then, "Wuuuuuu..." A bizarre cry echoed throughout the battlefield. Everyone who heard it felt a stinging sensation wash over their bodies. Vandal and the other Hero-ranks knew that a being sealed within the massive black sphere was now breaking free from its restraints. Something indescribable was slowly emerging from it. "It''s coming!" Rumble!! Massive black tentacles erupted from the sphere, stretching out into the surrounding space. And at that moment, "Arghh!!" "Nooo!!" The lower-level experts let out horrified screams, their minds beginning to unravel. "I''ve seen records of this monstrous entity before..." an Eight Shackle expert muttered, his face pale as he resigned himself to death. Honestly, everyone knew their chances of survival were slim the moment they sensed the suffocating best feram. Buzz!! Hundreds of creatures resembling goats with numerous tentacles emerged from the black sphere, each one radiating powerful energy. But they weren''t the most dangerous of all. The entity that suppressed everyone on the battlefield remained within the massive black sphere. Its enormous eye could be seen in the depths of the darkness, gazing down at all. "Finally... I''m free..." A voice, composed of many different tones, echoed within everyone''s minds. The Eight Shackle expert closed his eyes and said, "It''s the Black Goat of the Woods, Shub Niggurath. A powerful monster lord from ancient times, the Lord of the Wood." From this moment, the war against Gluttony took a dire turn as he unleashed a sealed monster lord onto the front line. Looking back at history, today marked the official beginning of the battle of divines. Countless lives would be extinguished without any knowledge of how they died. Those who heard this news felt a heavy gloom settle over the future. This event would disturb all the divines on the God''s Continent. The flames of war were slowly spreading across the entire continent. Even factions far from the battlefield were already preparing for the worst. Chapter 1059: Battle at the Fengdu Land Fengdu, part of the Immortal Land. A group of experts invaded the secret base of the Deadly Sins, slaughtering everyone they encountered within its confines. The surge of energy was immense, causing the ground to tremble. Cities and villages nearby couldn''t help but turn their gazes toward the source of the disturbance. Bang!! A man in a white robe pulled his sword from the body of a skinny man draped in a red cloak. Ugh! The skinny man collapsed to the ground, blood spilling from his wounds and forming a small pool. "Pest," the man in the white robe said with disgust. They had received information about a Deadly Sin base in this location. Wasting no time, they launched their assault, showing no mercy as they slaughtered everyone in their path. Suddenly, the skinny man on the floor opened his eyes, rolling them back into his head. "Ehehehe, it''s too late... It''s complete." A chilling voice escaped his lips. "Complete?! Don''t tell me..." The man in the white robe widened his eyes in horror. In an instant, darkness enveloped the entire area, spreading out from the base and covering several kilometers. A magic circle glowed ominously within the shadows, emitting a dangerously powerful energy. The man and his comrades felt goosebumps creep across their bodies. They tried to move, but no matter how hard they struggled, they found themselves immobilized. Eerie sounds echoed as countless red eyes flickered to life within the darkness, revealing rows of razor-like teeth. "Oh, Great Lord, please destroy everything! Burn the world!" The creepy laughter of the man echoed through the air. "BARE WITNESS!!" His body quickly desiccated, all signs of life vanishing from him. He was the catalyst; his death had triggered this erratic spell. Ohm! A figure began to materialize from the magic circle. The man in the white robe and the other experts who had raided the place felt a chilling fear grip their hearts. They wanted to scream, to shout warnings, but no sounds escaped their lips. "Die." A low voice echoed as the eyes in the darkness shifted. The razor-sharp teeth engulfed everyone in an instant. It was swift. The warriors perished, leaving nothing behind. Swoosh!! Several dozen kilometers away, a massive city named Fengdu stood tall. This city, named after the land, had a population of over thirty million and housed countless powerful experts. The area was governed by a group known as the Cult of the Great Divine Beast. The Cult of the Great Divine Beast worshipped the four divine beasts: Vermilion Bird, Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise, and White Tiger. At this moment, nearly everyone in the city turned their heads, sensing the intense vibrations in the air. "W-What is this?!" "Can you feel it?" "I have a bad feeling! I don''t know why!" Even several dozen kilometers away from the impact, they could sense the energy fluctuations. The distance only heightened their anxiety, indicating that the source of this disturbance was nothing ordinary. Immediately, the Cult of the Great Divine Beast deployed countless experts, showcasing the might of Fengdu City. Hundreds of thousands of warriors moved out, either flying or riding on various artifacts. Their momentum was imposing. At the forefront stood four powerful figures, their energies overshadowing the entire army. Soon, the army arrived at a devastated landscape. The atmosphere crackled with violent energy, and darkness swirled ominously across the ground. Countless experts felt a heavy gloom settle over them as they beheld such a scene. On the ground, a man sat on a rock. He had dark brown hair and wore a dark robe with fur lining the collar. The intense energy surrounding him distorted their vision, making it difficult to see his face clearly. Swoosh!! The four leading experts descended, their gazes fixed on the unknown man. "Gluttony..." Indeed, the man before them was the Ruler of Gluttony, Esquin Georagnisus-the one who had ignited this war. Esquin slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the four entities before him. He muttered, "Four divine beasts. I''ve heard your names before. It''s truly something else to meet you in person." The four experts silently agreed with his words. They were the four divine beasts that ruled over the entire Fengdu Land. Four Monster Lords, in the flesh. Esquin leaned back, resting his chin on his hand. A smile formed on his face as he said, "Just to make sure, in case I''m wrong, I need your answer... What did you four come here for?" A woman with striking red hair and red eyes stepped forward. "Of course, to stop you. You will not be able to do what you want here." The other three stood firmly by her side, united in their resolve. They wouldn''t allow Gluttony to act with impunity in their territory. Fengdu Land was under their protection, and they would defend it at all costs. "I''m disappointed," Esquin replied, standing up. The ground began to tremble as his energy radiated outward. Within the shadows, countless eyes opened, fixated on the four Monster Lords. In an instant, Esquin vanished from his position, while the four Monster Lords unleashed a powerful aura, their forms transforming into gigantic, monstrous entities. Boom!! The sky and land vibrated as a powerful shockwave swept outward. Every living creature in Fengdu Land felt its intensity. Panic spread rapidly. Not a single person could fully grasp the speed of the beings that stood at the pinnacle of power. An overwhelming intimidation filled the air; the mere presence of these entities stole the breath of ordinary people. By the time the army reacted, the land was already in ruins. "Set up the highest level of formation!!" "Pour your energy in and don''t hold back!!" "The Ruler of Gluttony is here!" Hundreds of high-level experts stood at the forefront, raising their swords high into the air. Their energy erupted simultaneously, activating the army''s formation. Ohm!! Esquin, who was locked in combat with the four Monster Lords, paused momentarily to glance upward. He narrowed his eyes and muttered, "What a troublesome formation..." The [Four Supreme Directions Formation]. It represented the Vermilion Bird in the South, the Azure Dragon in the East, the White Tiger in the West, and the Black Tortoise in the North. The four guardians of Fengdu Land. This formation suppressed the enemy and significantly enhanced the combat prowess of the four divine beasts. It was designed specifically to amplify their power. "Tsk, I haven''t even analyzed the [All Filter Barrier Formation] yet, and here comes another one..." Esquin clicked his tongue in annoyance and waved his hand. Shadows surged toward the experts maintaining the formation, but several layers of barriers formed, preventing the shadows from causing harm. Bang!! "Black Tortoise..." Esquin turned his head, immediately recognizing who had formed those barriers. There was only one Monster Lord present who was adept at defensive skills. The gigantic Black Tortoise roared as a massive barrier descended from above. It moved with incredible speed, forcing Esquin down to the ground in an instant. Ohm! Esquin looked up and felt the pressure intensify. His eyes widened as he saw the Black Tortoise hovering above the barrier, significantly amplifying the pressure. "Gluttony, you will not be able to do as you please," the Black Tortoise''s voice echoed. Esquin snorted and punched the barrier that was pinning him to the ground. Darkness enveloped the barrier, and countless teeth appeared upon it. In the next moment, the barrier vanished into nothingness. Swoosh!! Esquin leaped away, and when he turned his gaze, he saw a pillar of flames erupting from the ground. He immediately adjusted his direction, opening his palm. In the next second, a magic circle appeared in his hand. He aimed it at the incoming opponents and cast a forbidden spell. [Supreme Hell Flare Burst]!! A high-intensity dark flame erupted, engulfing the entire area like a tsunami. The Vermilion Bird remained unfazed. She flew forward, bright red flames bursting from her body, colliding with the dark flames. Boom!! The temperature in the area surged sharply. Esquin retreated, devouring the space behind him. A huge rift formed, distorting the entire area. Esquin stepped backward, but the Vermilion Bird immediately charged at high speed. Both of them passed through the space, arriving in the gap between universes. They could see the universes connected by some unknown roots to the Mother Universe. In this place, Esquin and the Vermilion Bird clashed, sending waves of powerful energy in every direction. Boom!! "Sure enough, divine beasts live up to their name! Unfortunately, I won''t stop until I find the Original Sin! I will topple everything in my way, even if it''s a divine beast!" Esquin laughed, charging straight at the gigantic monster. They tore through several worlds in their battle, causing destruction everywhere. Those worlds collapsed under the might of these powerful entities. The only world capable of containing God-rank beings was the Mother Universe. Swoosh!! Suddenly, the White Tiger and Azure Dragon appeared, launching an attack on Esquin alongside the Vermilion Bird. Chapter 1012: Witch Hunt: Souta vs. Gawain "Then, I''ll tie her up and interrogate her after she wakes up," Edeya said, looking at the unconscious Elder Uiny. Zhang Ren stepped forward and cupped his fist at Bryan. He asked, "Benefactor, you''re quite strong. Where are you from?" "Me? Hmm... I''m from the Hebrei Kingdom," Bryan answered. "Hebrei Kingdom?" Zhang Ren didn''t know where that country was. He thought it was just a small country. "Hahahaha!!" A laugh resounded, causing them to turn their heads. Poisonous Vine was laughing madly with her arms open wide. "Hahaha, I''m still alive! I thought you were going to kill me. So why are you on the ground while I''m still laughing here?" She continued laughing for a minute before she stopped. She looked at Edeya, who was tying up Elder Uiny, and said, "Kill her. It''s better for her to die." Edeya narrowed her eyes and replied, "We still have a lot of questions, so I''m not gonna kill her." She stared at Poisonous Vine, and Zhang Ren stood beside her. If Poisonous Vine was going to push them, they would fight. Poisonous Vine looked at them for a few moments before she turned around and said, "Fine, do what you want. I''ll give you some advice: don''t push your luck. That woman is strong, so don''t get ahead of yourself. If she recovers even a little bit, you''re gonna regret it." She then flew into the air and left the area. She knew that Edeya and the rest weren''t really her comrades. They simply worked together because Elder Uiny was too strong. Also, it wasn''t wise to fight since she knew she would be at a disadvantage. "She''s gone," Edeya muttered, before turning her focus on Elder Uiny once again. She also didn''t want to fight since they were all exhausted. If Bryan hadn''t appeared, who knows what would have happened to them. Zhang Ren looked at Bryan and asked, "Benefactor, you''ve saved us. I don''t think we would have been able to defeat an elder without your help. Can you give us your name?" "I don''t think so. The only reason I was able to defeat her is because you guys already exhausted her. Oh, my name''s Bryan Dagruel," Bryan said. "You''re too polite, benefactor. I''ll remember your name. In the future, I''ll return this favor. I''m a wandering monk, Zhang Ren," Zhang Ren said politely. He then turned his head to look at Captain Sarguan. "I''ll go now, benefactor." Captain Sarguan fell to his knees. He was too tired even though he had only been fighting on the sideline. He raised his head and saw a monk approaching him. "Stay still. I''ll heal some of your wounds," Zhang Ren said as he stretched out his hand and placed his palm on Captain Sarguan''s forehead. A golden glow shone on his palm, enveloping Captain Sarguan. Princess Iris and Amanda landed on the ground and hurriedly ran to the captain. Bryan looked at them as Edeya stood beside him, carrying the unconscious elder in her hand. "I''m Edeya. You''ve really saved us here," Edeya said. She then glanced at the little girl beside him and asked, "Is she your only friend here?" "Oh, yeah..." Bryan replied as he patted Tehani''s head. "Hmm..." Edeya stared at Tehani before she said, "So you''re a local here, huh? It''s been fifteen years since I''ve left this place. Perhaps, you may have heard of the name Autumn Snow." "Eh, no, no, I''m not a local here. I don''t even know this place," Bryan shook his head. "If you''re not a local, then how did you arrive here?" Edeya raised her eyebrows. "I don''t really know. One day, while I was running from adventurers, a paper appeared in front of me. After some time, the paper appeared again and I found myself here," Bryan explained. "Wait, where are you from?" Edeya asked. "Hebrei Kingdom." "Where''s that? No, what region or continent are you from?" "Giza Continent." "I see... So you''re a witch since you''re the one who received the invitation." Edeya nodded as she observed him. Bryan was being chased by adventurers because of Tehani. The values in Giza Continent were completely different from those in the God''s Continent. He was on his way to Ambrosie Country because it was the only country in the Giza Continent where monsters weren''t being killed indiscriminately. After all, it was the land of tamers. Boom!! The ground shook heavily. Edeya looked up and said, "The game is still ongoing... The six holy stakes have appeared, so this game will probably conclude soon." Zhang Ren glanced at Edeya and asked, "What are we going to do?" Edeya smiled wryly and said, "I don''t think we are in a condition to fight again." Just fighting one elder almost killed them. Who knew how powerful the experts currently fighting in that place were. "If the Supreme Elders are still alive, then this would become easier..." Edeya said with a sigh. "Brother Bryan, the shadows are acting weirdly," Tehani pointed out. Bryan looked at the shadows but didn''t say anything. He actually didn''t have any idea about this. Boom!! Boom!! The ground shook heavily, and the air vibrated. Violent energy sparked in every direction, and the sound of thunder reverberated in the sky. Souta pointed his sword at Gawain. "Lifeless Blood Lightning." A crimson lightning burst out from his blade, traveling a long distance in an instant and arriving in front of Gawain. Gawain grinned as he turned his sword to the side. The space bent, changing the direction of the lightning. He then stepped forward, directly distorting the space around him. Ohm! Souta widened his eyes as he turned his head. The spider limbs on his back moved, blocking something that appeared. It was Gawain. "Good instinct," Gawain said with a smile. "I could say the same to you," Souta replied. Both of their figures blurred as they clashed in the air. The blood-colored lightning flashed everywhere as the space twisted in all directions. The collision between the two generated a violent impact as they crashed into the Dream Palace. They kept attacking each other on top of it, sending hundreds of attacks in just a second. [First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]! A series of lightning chains descended from the sky, generating a powerful force that tore through the space Gawain had distorted. Bang!! Gawain moved at high speed, trying to avoid all the lightning strikes. He slashed his sword from time to time, bending the space and creating a powerful gale to decrease the power of the strikes. He moved through the air and space, observing Souta who was releasing an overwhelming amount of energy. "There''s no way... This is a fourth-stage monster." If it were the time when he was just at the Sixth Shackle, he would surely have been defeated by now. But having achieved godhood, all his experience and skills were superior to those of normal experts. Gawain then glanced to the other side, noticing that Elder Reana, Elder Lincy, and Layla were preparing something. He sheathed his sword. Winds gathered around his feet as he leaped through the air, avoiding the lightning strikes. Locking his gaze at Souta, he swiftly drew his sword. [Third Stance: True Slash]! Souta widened his eyes as blood spurted into the air. A huge cut appeared on his shoulder, extending down to his stomach, tearing through his resistance and defenses. Gawain grinned as he advanced forward, bending space in his wake. He had completely mastered his Archetype, whereas Souta had only learned to use it in combat and hadn''t mastered all its forms. He pointed his sword at Souta before thrusting it gently. [First Stance: Serene Gale Thrust]! A powerful wind swirled around his sword as it moved along its path. It flashed, directly hitting Souta''s body. Boom!! Souta emerged from the smoke, his wound completely healed. He slashed his sword, sending out a huge energy blade followed by lightning. Gawain smiled and said, "What an insane regeneration ability." He ignored the incoming attack and instead executed his skill. [Third Stance: True Slash]! Souta instinctively raised his hand to block, but a cut appeared on his neck, spewing a large amount of blood. "Ugh!" Souta narrowed his eyes. The slash cut through the space between the target and Gawain, landing directly on Souta. Even if Souta created a barrier to block it, the attack simply ignored it. An unavoidable slash. It ignore any distance to strike its target. At that moment, Layla finished her preparations. A huge magic circle appeared beneath her feet, while Elder Reana and Elder Lincy''s energy skyrocketed. [Dark Swallowing Void]! The air pressure dramatically increased as they activated their spell. It was a forbidden spell. Souta looked towards the part of the Dream Palace where they had come from. He could sense that the darkness was behaving strangely. The elemental being was nearing the completion of its ritual. "I have to do this..." Blood from his neck dripped onto the ground, creating a pool. His douion and best feram flowed through the blood. His webs sprang out, creating a cocoon to protect himself from the spell. A small dot appeared in the air and expanded at high speed. In an instant, it covered a diameter of thirty kilometers, destroying everything in its path. Silence fell as even the sound was erased. Several rooms in the Dream Palace that contained dimensions were also destroyed. Chapter 1061: Gluttony vs. Four Divine Beasts II Esquin fought fiercely against the four Divine Beasts in the sky above Fengdu Land. Rifts spread across the sky like a spider''s web, the result of their battle. Their overwhelming energy exerted pressure on every living being in the land. The might of the Gods was a power that had not been seen in over a hundred years. Only now did people once again recognize the overwhelming strength of the beings who stood at the top of the world. Boom!! The darkness seemed alive, biting through the sky. Vermilion Bird unleashed a torrent of flames, transforming the entire sky above Fengdu Land. Ohm!! A sea of raging flames flooded the heavens, captivating the attention of every living being below. The warmth it radiated felt comforting, yet they knew that anyone who touched those flames would perish instantly. Esquin stood in the middle of the flames, the darkness around him devouring the fire that sought to burn him. "You''re finally taking this seriously..." He frowned as he propelled himself high into the sky, above the sea of flames. Only then did he realize that Vermilion Bird had vanished. Suddenly, Esquin''s eyes widened as he turned around. The space behind him tore apart, and a gigantic flaming bird emerged from the rift. In an instant, the bird transformed into a woman enveloped in flames. It was Vermilion Bird. The darkness surrounding Esquin erupted, but it was already too late. Vermilion Bird hurled him upward, above the atmosphere, and the sea of flames followed suit. Boom!! "I, the Vermilion Bird, awaken the great power within myself. I burn away desire, hatred, and ignorance." Vermilion Bird appeared before Esquin and threw a powerful punch, a massive bird''s shadow manifesting behind her. "Thou shalt never feel anything as I burn everything. Witness for thyself as I become the great existence that ignited the ember of nirvana." The space distorted as a sun formed around Esquin and Vermilion Bird, becoming the center of their confrontation. "The radiant might of the nirvana flames, Elyra Fenix." Vermilion Bird''s appearance transformed. The flames surrounding her body shifted to a pale flame devoid of heat. Her form was adorned with crimson and golden tattoos, and she grew an additional pair of wings. The [Monster Lord Transformation]. The ultimate power of the Monster Lords. It was called a transformation, but some Monster Lords barely changed in appearance when they used this power. "So this is the might of the Vermilion Bird, one of the four Divine Beasts," Esquin muttered to himself. He then looked down and added, "It''s impressive, but we''re almost finished here." On the ground, the Gluttony Army was nearly done setting up everything. This war had just begun, and chaos was about to ensue. Esquin chuckled before taking a step forward. "Let me see just how great the Divine Beasts truly are!" He faced the Vermilion Bird once more, along with the other three Divine Beasts. Boom! The six God-rank powerhouses that Esquin had brought stood calmly, watching the battle unfold. They slowly released their energy, causing a brilliant formation to materialize on the ground. The entire area on their side had transformed into a massive fortress filled with all sorts of runes, with spatial rifts forming all around it. More and more experts from the Gluttony Army stepped out of the spatial rifts. They intended to turn this land into a battlefield. Having already established their presence here, they knew it wouldn''t fall easily. On the other side, the army from the Cult of Great Divine Beasts felt a sense of gloom. Despite the enemy''s arrival in their territory, they knew they couldn''t act. After all, six Gods stood at the forefront, and attempting to intervene would be suicide. They needed to maintain the formation to ensure the four Divine Beasts received the enhancements required to battle the Ruler of Gluttony. "We can''t fight this war alone," a Tenth Shackle Realm expert from the Cult of Great Divine Beasts said. Indeed, they required the strength of the other sects in the Immortal Land. If possible, they should summon the Heavenly Court to this battle. After all, the Heavenly Court was the most powerful faction in the entire Immortal Land. ... Meanwhile, in the three theaters. A warrior lying on the ground, covered in wounds, slowly opened his eyes. "Argh! W-What happened...?" He lifted his head and surveyed a land of ruins. The sky was dark and filled with cracks that spread in all directions like a spider''s web. The ground vibrated incessantly, and countless corpses were scattered everywhere. Hundreds of concentrated energy blasts fell from the sky like meteors, causing massive explosions. "Huff... Huff..." The warrior forced himself to stand. He recalled that after the ancient Monster Lord had appeared, the gods on their side had launched a fierce attack. Goddess Skadi, God Amanikable, and the onster Lord Cherubim. After that, everything seemed to collapse. "Hey! You still alive?! Hurry up and retreat!" A voice sounded in his ears. The warrior turned his head and saw a figure with dark red hair. "Yeah, somehow I''m still alive," he replied. "That''s good. You better hurry up, or else you''ll die. The situation isn''t looking good for us," the dark red-haired warrior said. The two warriors began to run, despite their bodies being covered in wounds. It wasn''t wise to fly right now, as God-rank powerhouses clashed in the sky. A mere whisper of their intense energy could be fatal. Bang! Bang! Hundreds of monstrous dark entities, filled with tentacles, marched forward, causing the ground to shake. Each one emitted an eerie sound that affected a person''s mind. The two warriors wore gloomy expressions as they glanced back at the advancing monsters. Each one of those creatures radiated incredible energy. Swoosh!! "How many survived the aftermath?" the warrior asked. "I don''t know," the dark red-haired warrior replied, shaking his head. Almost a million warriors had perished in mere moments. Even the Thrones stationed at the frontline had fallen quickly. Only a few hundred remained among the hundreds of thousands who had fought. The survivors possessed strength, but those who were weaker and at lower levels had perished without a chance. None of them had made it through. The friends they had laughed and shared drinks with were all gone. "Goddess Skadi ordered all survivors to retreat. She wants us to get out of here and has warned the cities beyond the three theaters to evacuate," the dark red-haired warrior said. Goddess Skadi knew that their current strength wouldn''t stand against the monsters. Moreover, if these creatures reached the cities beyond, it would endanger countless lives. Soon, the two warriors spotted other survivors. They were all desperately trying to flee from the monstrous dark entities. Their priority was clear: escape and allow the ordinary people to evacuate far from this impending doom. The three theaters had collapsed, and these monsters would wreak havoc, leaving death in their wake. "At this rate, those monsters will catch up," the dark red-haired warrior said as he stopped in his tracks. He slowly turned to face the horde of monsters. "What are you trying to do?" the other warrior asked. "You go; I''ll buy us some time," the dark red-haired warrior replied. "Then..." the warrior stood beside the dark-haired warrior and said, "I''ll help you double that time." "You...!!" The dark red-haired warrior turned his head, but upon seeing the determined look in Aken''s eyes, he swallowed what he was about to say. He smiled and asked, "What''s your name?" "Aken, a warrior from the Great Aaru Holy Land." "That''s a fine name. I''m Erik, a proud warrior from Asgard! And today, we die as warriors, brother!!" The dark red-haired warrior, Erik, roared as he raised his sword high. Both warriors stood firm on the ground, facing the incoming monstrosity known as the Dark Young. The army of monstrous creatures surged forward like a dark tide, their growls echoing across the battlefield. ROAR!!! As the rest of the survivors retreated, two brave warriors fought fiercely to the end to buy them some time. They never gave up until they took their last breath. Standing side by side, they appeared as if they had been brothers their entire lives. All that mattered to them was that the warrior beside them would stand by them until the end. Somewhere in the land of Aaru. "Mom, when''s Dad gonna come home?" a young girl asked, looking up at her mother. The mother smiled gently as she stroked the head of her child. "Soon, your father is going to return." "Really?" The young girl looked at her mother with great expectations. "Yes, so you have to be a good girl," the mother replied. This is war. Countless people in the land were affected by it. In this chaotic situation, the brave spirit of the warriors lives on. Chapter 1062: Reaction The news about the situation in the three theaters and Fengdu Land spread like wildfire, shocking various factions across the continent. They had anticipated that the Ruler of Gluttony would make a move sooner or later following the final burst of Imperium. Speaking of that final burst, it also triggered several chaotic situations around the continent, rapidly enhancing the blooming of high-grade resources, such as legendary-grade fruits and herbs. A battle for these resources erupted as various factions scrambled to secure their claims, aiming to monopolize these newfound treasures. Lower-level experts found it increasingly difficult to navigate this shifting landscape. Staying alive had become a challenge, as even small syndicates began to mobilize in response to the Gluttony Army''s activities, drawing the attention of powerful factions. With the Holy Lands preoccupied with the Gluttony Army, small syndicates operated unrestrained, plundering cities, villages, and entire countries. In just a single week, the situation had spiraled into chaos. The Holy Lands remained vigilant, keeping a close watch on the movements of the demons. They were determined to prevent the demons from exploiting the turmoil. In the three theaters, Amanikable, Skadi, and the other God-ranks dispatched to confront the Lord of the Woods were holding the line, but the battle resulted in massive destruction across the land. Less than five percent of the warriors survived the initial impact. Death was everywhere, accumulating relentlessly as if there was no tomorrow. ... Great Sun City in the Aaru Holy Land. This city was where Ra, the Great Sun God, resided. Ra sat on his throne, wearing golden armor and a helmet resembling a falcon. In his hand, he held a scroll containing reports of various situations. "Hmm... So that brat, the Ruler of Gluttony, has started to fight. He even unleashed the ancient monster lord." Ra frowned as he read the contents of the scroll. The situation was much worse than he had imagined. He had expected Gluttony to act, but not the ancient monster lord. "The worst case here is the Immortal Land." The Immortal Land, in which the Heavenly Court resided, had special rules. Half of the land was governed by the Heavenly Court, while the other half was controlled by various sects. Those guys wouldn''t even turn their eyes outside and have never permitted any gods to step into the Immortal Land. If they were to force it, they would face fierce retaliation from both parties. "We can''t send reinforcements to Fengdu Land unless they permit it. Well, there''s nothing to worry about since it''s the Immortal Land we''re talking about." Ra continued to analyze the implications of the unfolding chaos. He leaned back in his throne, contemplating his options. Ra summoned a celestial messenger, a being of light and speed, to relay his command to the other gods. As the messenger vanished, Ra''s thoughts turned to the warriors fighting in the three theaters. Their bravery was commendable, but would it be enough against the overwhelming tide of Dark Young? "In the meantime," he muttered to himself, "I need to prepare the city for what''s to come. The people must be kept safe, and the barriers reinforced." He rose from his throne, determination radiating from him like sunlight piercing through the clouds. The Great Sun God was not about to let his realm get affected by war. ... Valhalla, Asgard Holy Land. Odin sat on his throne, reading a report. Two crows perched on his shoulders, observing the scroll in his hand. After a while, Odin closed the scroll and set it aside. His mustache and beard trembled as he opened his mouth. "The Immortal Land... We don''t need to worry about it. They will deal with it themselves. Even if it is the Ruler of Gluttony, it''s not easy to take down Fengdu Land. The four Divine Beasts are strong, so we only need to focus on the ancient monster lord." Naturally, he was aware of the existence of Shub Niggurath, the Lord of the Woods. They couldn''t let Shub Niggurath wreak havoc in the land, as it would cause too much damage. They had to stop that monster. "We''ll send more men to the three theaters to contain the damage that has been done. As for the Immortal Land, the Angel Faction will likely try to go there. Leave it to them." The battle at Fengdu Land. The battle at the three theaters. Both situations involved God-rank powerhouses. ... Somewhere in the Hall Plains. Five people dressed in dark robes stood motionlessly in a strange place. Their minds were connected to a dangerous being as they established contact with it. In a dark realm filled with various runes, a throne stood at the center, occupied by a man wrapped in countless chains. Dozens of energy blades were embedded in his body. The man opened his eyes and coldly glanced at the five figures below him. "I don''t know how you managed to connect your minds to this place, but it''s quite interesting, isn''t it? So, pests from Gluttony, why have you come here?" His voice was filled with power. That''s right; the five people in dark robes were from the Army of Gluttony. One of the five stepped forward and pulled down his hood, revealing his appearance. He had long white hair, red eyes, and snow-white skin. "No God Emperor, born from the union of a human and a monster¡ªa man who possessed great power. We have come here to make a deal with you," said the man with white hair. The sealed being they were addressing was none other than the No God Emperor. They had sacrificed a high-grade artifact just to connect to this place; otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to communicate with him. No God Emperor looked at them for a moment before saying, "Hmm... Interesting, so the Deadly Sins are making a move. Although I''m sealed, I still felt the last outburst. Times are really changing, and it''s getting more and more fun. Tell me, what''s the deal?" The man with white hair replied, "We will free you, but there''s a condition." "I refuse," No God Emperor said bluntly. "What?!" The man with white hair was taken aback. Even his four comrades behind him were shocked by No God Emperor''s response. "I said there''s no need for you to unseal me." No God Emperor paused for a moment before continuing, "I already know when I will come out, and there''s nothing you can do to change it. But if you still decide to free me despite my warning, I will tell you this: the moment you unseal me from this place is the moment you will die. I will also try to stop the god you worship from whatever he''s planning." His voice was calm, but his words dripped with menace. The man with white hair narrowed his eyes but didn''t respond. He knew that No God Emperor would truly follow through on his threat. Seeing their silence, No God Emperor laughed and said, "You can go now. You might change my mind. I will be unsealed sooner than you think, and it will be fun." The man with white hair turned around and motioned for his comrades to leave. The other four nodded, and they slowly disappeared from the place. Before departing, the man with white hair looked back at No God Emperor and said, "I hope you don''t regret this decision. You''re finally going to be free, yet you waste such an opportunity." "Ehe, don''t worry about it. I have my own plan. You''re quite daring to speak to me like that. If it were back then, I would have skinned you alive before I snapped your head off," No God Emperor chuckled. ... Ekatoe City. Yuko and the others who had been dispatched returned to Ekatoe City from the central region. Their expedition had gone quite smoothly, as the Dragon Council took the initiative to resolve the matter. They planned to divide the legendary-grade loot among themselves. It wasn''t surprising, given that they were currently the strongest organization in the entire Hall Plains. Eilish, Eilan, Amanda, and Isabella had also returned, having improved significantly thanks to the facilities and various resources in the ancient ruins. Alice sat in a chair, surveying her surroundings. After her return, she had taken over the city''s affairs, giving Torkez some much-needed free time. Alice turned her head and saw Eilish and Isabella walking over. She asked, "Where''s Amanda? I thought she was with you." "She visited Elder Guan''s grave. She is still pushing herself," Eilish answered. Elder Guan''s death had been a significant blow to Amanda. "I see..." Alice nodded. She recalled the first time she met Amanda. At that time, Amanda''s mind had been filled with hatred. She would do anything to find a clue about the Witch Clan. "Um... I think I''ll return to the lab now," Isabella said quietly, fidgeting with her hair. Alice and Eilish had no objections, so Isabella quickly moved away and disappeared. She sequestered herself in her lab, working on various tasks related to her profession. Boom!! Suddenly, a massive surge of mana erupted. Alice and Eilish couldn''t help but turn their heads. They were very familiar with this energy. "This?!" "Vashno''s energy signature..." This energy was stronger than before, as it had reached a higher level. Vashno had ascended to the realm of the Fifth Shackle. "That guy finally reached a higher level... I thought I would be able to catch up," Eilish smiled. When they met for the first time, Vashno had been fighting the assassins who wanted to kill Souta. He was the Hero of the Sub-world back then. After a few moments, another surge of energy erupted. Boom!! "Eztein, that guy..." Eilish muttered. Eztein had broken through to the Fourth Shackle Realm, achieving the rank of SSS. The overall power of the Astros had increased once again. Chapter 1063: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Start After some time, Franklin returned from helping the Palleo Kingdom. When he arrived, he was a little surprised by how chaotic the Obsidian Desert had become. There were too many ongoing fights between factions, and some syndicates were rampaging across the land. The Palleo Kingdom was barely maintaining its position due to its strong military power. "The Obsidian Desert isn''t in a good situation. If things get worse, it will affect the Hall Plains," Franklin remarked. Alice, Eilish, and the other upper echelons of Astros were sitting around a table, discussing their plans in case a war erupted in the region. "From what I see, the Palleo Kingdom could still hold on for a month or two. After that, it will descend into total chaos," Franklin said. Eilish looked at them and said, "Isn''t this the Dragon Council''s job? We should inform them about this; we''ll just need to provide support." "Dragon Council. Message them about it, and I''m sure they''ll hold a meeting regarding the situation in the Obsidian Desert," Torkez replied. The group discussed the matter for a while before dismissing the meeting. After everyone left, Alice sighed as she stood up. She walked toward the window and looked outside, wondering what Souta was doing at that moment. The sun hung low in the sky, casting a golden hue over the cobblestone streets of Ekatoe. Eilish and the others left the meeting room, leaving Alice alone. Eilish went to the garden and found her brother with the two kids, Aina and Anzu. "Sister Eilish!!" Aina exclaimed, raising both of her hands. Eilish smiled gently as she patted Aina''s head. She then glanced at her brother and said, "Let''s go; I''ll take you out to the city." The four of them set off for the city. Ekatoe City. Compared to before, Ekatoe City was now a bustling place filled with all sorts of goods coming from everywhere. It had become one of the most prosperous cities in Mine Valley. The streets of Ekatoe were alive with the sounds of merchants showcasing their products to the people. "Fresh apples!! Spices from the north!!" The vendors shouted, trying to attract more customers. The aroma of their products filled the streets as people darted from one stall to another. Eilish, Eilan, and the two kids strolled through the bustling streets. While they were exploring the city, a witch arrived at Astros through the portal of the Guardian Fortress. He came from the other side, where Doranjan was training the monsters. The witch immediately entered the building and approached the office. He raised his hand and gently knocked on the door. Knock! Knock! "Come in!" Upon hearing those words, he slowly opened the door and saw Lady Alice behind the desk. "I have a report from the other side," he said as he walked forward and placed a pile of papers on the desk. Alice looked at the papers for a moment before she nodded and said, "Good job, you can go now." "Thank you," the witch replied, bowing before leaving the office. "Hmm..." Alice picked up the report and turned around. The contents were quite promising; it seemed that Doranjan''s efforts were paying off. The report stated that four monsters had already reached the third evolution, and another two were expected to evolve next week. According to Doranjan''s calculations, by the end of this month, two squads of third-stage monsters would be born. As for the fourth stage, it was still far too early for that level to appear. ... Vashno and Eztein were on the training ground, watching the soldiers train. "Their skills are impressive. In terms of swordsmanship alone, they are already veterans. Even their hand-to-hand combat skills are improving," Vashno commented. "That''s what our boss wants. He doesn''t want our soldiers to be fragile experts. He wants a group of elites¡ªnot just strong in terms of power level, but skilled as well. Even the mages are becoming more proficient," Eztein replied. The mages under Eilish were training hard. Eilish had them spar using only one spell without any additional boosts. They needed to learn when and where it would be the perfect time to cast their spells. Casting spells alone wasn''t enough. The same applied to the soldiers. Using combat skills alone wasn''t sufficient; they had to utilize those skills at the right moment. "Ah~ I''m tired..." Eztein yawned as he lay down on the grass, staring up at the beautiful blue sky. "How did I even end up in this situation?" he muttered. Vashno glanced at him and asked, "Speaking of which, do you know Souta well?" "Not really, but it feels like it''s been a long time since I met our boss," Eztein replied with a sigh. "Oh? How did you meet Souta?" Vashno asked, intrigued. "Well, it''s not something I''m proud of, but I fought our boss before. He captured me and let that witch, Amanda, torture me. It was a horrible experience. I always shudder when I think about it," Eztein explained with a frown. "At that time, I thought I was going to suffer until I died. Well, it''s natural, since I''m their enemy¡ªI would have done the same to them if I had won that fight. I really thought I was going to suffer, you know?" He looked at his hands and continued, "I don''t know how, or maybe it''s because of the parasite inside my body, but I don''t really care about it. The boss treats his subordinates well compared to my previous boss, so I have nothing to complain about. The only thing I regret is my parents." "Parents? You have parents?" Vashno was surprised. "Of course! How could I be born into this world without parents?" "Not that. I thought everyone in your family besides you had died." "Anyway, my parents are still alive and they hold pretty high positions in my previous organization. Well, I don''t really care about them." "You said your regret is your parents, yet you''re saying now that you don''t care. You''re confusing me." "I mean, I wanted to meet my parents to see their reactions. You know, I''m just a product of a political marriage, and they really don''t care about me." Eztein suddenly paused, narrowing his eyes as he pointed at the sky. "Wait! What''s that?" Vashno looked up and saw the same thing. He furrowed his brows and muttered, "Those are people...?" The figures stood in the sky, looking down at the city. In the next second, a massive surge of energy erupted, accompanied by a glass-shattering sound that reverberated throughout the entire city. Bang!! Fragments fell from the sky as a huge hole seemed to appear above. "What...?" Eztein and Vashno widened their eyes at the sight before them. Alice, Franklin, and the others who were in different places looked up at the fragments falling from above. Every single person in Ekatoe City witnessed the scene. Something above the city had shattered. Swoosh!! As the fragments fell, the figures in the sky descended and struck different areas around the city like meteors. Boom!! A series of explosions erupted in an instant, causing panic everywhere. Alice stood at the window, witnessing the destruction before her eyes. She was shocked, but she quickly regained her senses after a moment. She waved her hand, and her voice echoed, "Everyone, focus on evacuating the civilians! Don''t engage in a fight carelessly!" The soldiers of Astros would prioritize evacuating the civilians while the higher-ups, like Alice and the others, would try to confront the intruders. Swoosh!! Alice turned her head as she sensed a powerful presence approaching. "Who?" She saw a man with white hair suspended in the air, gazing at the building she was in. The mere presence of this man alone exerted immense pressure on her. There was no doubt that this man was leagues above her current level. It wasn''t looking good. "Let''s start!" The man with white hair muttered as he raised his hand. In the next instant, several rays of energy were fired from his palms. Boom! Boom!! Explosions erupted around Astros, destroying several facilities. Smoke and flames engulfed the area, affecting countless people who lived there. However, the man with white hair was not yet satisfied. Just as he was about to launch another attack, a powerful energy surged from the City Lord''s building. Ohm!! The man with white hair narrowed his eyes and said, "Come, I''ll take you." The City Lord''s building collapsed as several serpentine heads burst out of it, carrying a massive amount of best feram. The monster unfurled its wings as it stared at the man with white hair. ROAR!! The fierce roar reverberated through the area, shaking everything around. Alice immediately retreated, realizing that Kessa was about to face the invader. She stood at a distance, observing the invader, and noticed something familiar. The insignia on the man''s robe was recognizable to her. "The Gluttony Army." Alice felt a sense of gloom upon realizing the identity of the invader. Chapter 1064: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Damages The Gluttony Army. The instigators of the war were now attacking the city. Knowing this, Alice frowned as she stood back, scanning her surroundings. People were running in every direction, desperate to escape the chaos. Bang!! A deafening sound rang out as a man with white hair collided fiercely with Kessa. "Kessa can handle this. I''ll go help the others," Alice muttered, determination flashing in her eyes as her body soared into the sky. Swoosh!! The man with white hair cast a fleeting glance at Alice but made no attempt to stop her. He knew full well that the Nine-Headed Hydra standing before him wouldn''t allow it. He turned his attention back to the hydra and said, "So this is the famous Lernaean Hydra that the Blood Lightning Monster subdued." Without hesitation, his body shot forward, clashing fiercely with the monstrous beast. He moved at incredible speed, dodging and blocking the hydra''s relentless attacks. But then-Bang!-several powerful elemental beams rained down from above, striking his body. The impact sent the man with white hair crashing into the ground. He quickly stood up, his gaze locking onto the gaping hole that had been blasted into the barrier above. "Tsk," he muttered, his tone laced with annoyance. "They need to destroy the barrier formation immediately. Its suppression is still so strong that I can hardly use my full strength." They had sacrificed an artifact just to punch a hole through the barrier, and yet it continued to exert formidable power. There was no doubt-this was a high-level barrier formation. The barrier formation was none other than the [Five Elements Barrier Formation], which Souta had obtained after completing a quest to help Alexander take control of the Multiple Element Realm. The man with white hair took a deep breath, his frustration evident as he prepared himself for the ongoing battle. ... Meanwhile, chaos engulfed Ekatoe City. Explosions erupted in multiple areas, sending waves of panic through the streets as people frantically fled from the danger zones. The oppressive pressure radiating from the clash between the mysterious man and the Nine-Headed Hydra was palpable, suffocating the city. Ordinary citizens trembled under the intensity, their bodies almost paralyzed by the overwhelming energy. Astros'' soldiers moved swiftly, working tirelessly to evacuate the civilians from the battlefield. Yet, despite their efforts, the devastation was already mounting-hundreds of lives had been lost in the early stages of the conflict, the casualties piling up unnoticed amidst the chaos. Smoke and flames billowed into the sky, casting a grim shadow over the city. On the shattered remains of a building, a lone figure stood. Slowly, he pulled back his hood, revealing his features. His green hair shimmered faintly in the light, his piercing red eyes filled with resolve. A pair of wolf-like ears twitched atop his head, adding a fierce edge to his already striking appearance. Suddenly, the man turned his head, sensing something. His sharp eyes caught sight of a group of three people who had just appeared, their expressions tense and wary as they stared at him. "So, you''ve arrived... Well, I might as well kill you," he said with a wicked grin before his body vanished. Swoosh!! The three soldiers widened their eyes in shock. Despite their finely honed senses as members of Astros, they couldn''t track the man''s movements. In an instant, massive holes appeared in their chests, their hearts completely obliterated- leaving nothing but emptiness where their lives had been. "Too weak..." the man with wolf ears muttered, his tone filled with disdain. He lifted his gaze to the horizon. Their objective was clear: locate and destroy the core of the formation. As long as the barrier remained active, it severely restricted the strength of any outsider within its range. "That''s the plan," he murmured to himself. "Arden is already fighting the hydra. I can feel the intense energy fluctuations in the air. Now, all that''s left is to find the formation''s core... and the Blood Lightning Monster." Arden-the man with white hair locked in battle with Kessa, the Lernaean Hydra-had a specific role: to confront the city''s strongest creature and destroy its critical facilities. In truth, Arden was the only direct member of the Gluttony Army present. A Seventh-Circle officer, his rank reflected his formidable strength. The others accompanying him were mercenaries and operatives from various organizations, mere tools for the larger scheme. The main forces of the Gluttony Army were preoccupied with something far more dangerous. Moreover, this wasn''t an isolated attack. Hundreds of locations across the continent were under siege simultaneously. This was a full-scale war. The Gluttony Army wouldn''t stop until their leader''s ambition was fulfilled. ... In the southern part of the city, Vashno and Eztein stood opposite a striking woman with pure white hair. Her piercing blue eyes and sharp brows conveyed a commanding presence. In her hand, she held a green-covered book that radiated a strange, otherworldly light. "This woman is strong..." Eztein muttered, his gaze fixed on her as he readied himself, his wariness evident. "Yeah," Vashno agreed, nodding at Eztein''s words. "We don''t have a choice but to fight. The city is already half-destroyed, and countless lives have already been lost." Both of them could feel it-the overwhelming energy fluctuations radiating from Kessa and her unknown opponent. The power was immense, almost suffocating. If Kessa unleashed her released form, only those with a certain level of strength would be able to withstand the pressure. That was why the soldiers of Astros were racing to evacuate the civilians before it was too late. The woman with white hair shifted her gaze, locking eyes with Eztein and Vashno. She studied them for a moment before speaking. "Where''s the core of the formation?" she asked plainly. "Huh? Do you think we''d actually tell you?" Eztein replied, his frown deepening. He couldn''t help but feel insulted by her casual tone, as if she didn''t take them seriously. The woman let out a sigh. "I gave you a chance, so don''t blame me for what comes next," she said, her voice calm but laced with menace. "Even with this barrier formation suppressing foreign beings like me, I still have more than enough power to kill you." As soon as the words left her lips, she vanished from sight. Eztein''s eyes widened in alarm, and he instinctively turned around-but he was too late. A sharp pain tore through his arm as a brilliant flash of white light erupted. Swoosh!! "Ugh!" Eztein groaned, his face contorted in pain as he watched his severed right arm spin through the air. The speed was overwhelming. He could barely react, even with his heightened senses. And yet, this woman wasn''t even using her full strength. It was absurd. "I''m Arie," her voice rang out, cold and confident. "Leader of the Fiery Dawn. The one who will kill you." Eztein gritted his teeth, rage and pain coursing through him. Tendrils of flesh began to writhe and extend from his body, attempting to mend his injuries. Before he could recover, Arie''s overwhelming force slammed him into the ground. Bang!! The earth trembled violently from the impact, sending shockwaves through the area as a dense cloud of dust shot into the air, obscuring everything in its wake. The woman who called herself Arie stood above, exuding an air of dominance. She raised her hand, and dozens of small dots of light materialized around her. With a simple motion, the glowing orbs shot out behind her, targeting someone in the distance. Boom!! Vashno emerged from the cloud of smoke, his sharp gaze locked onto Arie. "Damn, she already detected me," he muttered under his breath, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. ... Elsewhere in the city, at the location of the Guardian Fortress: Torkez stood before a bank of glowing screens, his expression grim as he took in the severity of the situation. "The formation has sustained twenty-five percent damage," he reported, his tone heavy. "The enemy breached through the hole in the barrier, but it''s still active. It can still provide us with some support." A soldier approached and reported the latest updates to Torkez. He nodded, his expression steady despite the chaos. "Then use our reserve mana stones to power the formation," Torkez ordered firmly. "Focus on supporting those fighting the enemy." The soldier nodded and quickly left to carry out the command. No one had anticipated an attack on the city today. The sudden assault caught everyone off guard, resulting in hundreds of casualties in mere moments. Torkez turned his attention back to the situation at hand. "What''s the status of the damage to the fortress?" he asked. "Sir," a witch reported, "the fortress has sustained fifty percent damage. It''s no longer capable of performing a spatial jump. The surrounding facilities have also been severely affected." "The facilities?" Torkez''s eyes widened as realization struck him. "Does that mean we can''t contact Athena''s Champion?" "It appears so, sir," the witch confirmed grimly. Torkez sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration. This was one of the worst-case scenarios. It meant they were on their own-reinforcements from Athena''s Champion wouldn''t be easy to come by. It seemed the enemy had planned this meticulously. Torkez couldn''t help but admire the strategy. If he were attacking a city, cutting off the reinforcement route would be an effective tactic. He glanced at the screen, his expression hardening. "Kessa is keeping their strongest forces occupied. There are four more enemies remaining, and they''re strong-stronger than any of us. But the formation is still active, so we might be able to hold them off until reinforcements arrive." The key now was to manage the current situation. "Use the formation to assist those fighting the enemies," Torkez ordered. In the central part of the city, Kessa was locked in battle. She was powerful enough not to need any assistance. Moreover, the area around her was the most dangerous in the city due to the intensity of their fight. In the southern part, however, Vashno and Eztein were already engaged with an enemy. They were in desperate need of help-their opponent was simply too strong. Torkez looked at his subordinates and gave his orders, his voice steady but urgent. "Tell our men that if they spot Franklin, direct him to the southern part of the city. Also, make sure to evacuate everyone from that area." Once he had finished giving his instructions, Torkez turned his attention back to the projection, his mind racing. After Alice left the central area, she moved to the western part of the city to confront an enemy there. She was alone, and her opponent was far too strong for her to hold off for long. "We don''t have enough men," Torkez muttered through clenched teeth. Several capable witches had been deployed to the eastern and northern parts of the city to deal with the enemies there. But before Eilish had even arrived to lend a hand, there had already been casualties. Eilish was stationed in the east, while Yuko, along with capable witches like Leef and others who had participated in the tournament, was stationed in the north. Chapter 1065: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Arie, Leader of the Fiery Dawn "What about the other portal? It hasn''t been destroyed, right? It shouldn''t be, since they have different locations," Torkez asked. "Yes, sir. Some of our men have already gone through to call Lord Doranjan." "That''s good," Torkez replied, letting out a sigh of relief. Doranjan''s presence, along with his monsters, would be a significant asset. If they could draw power from the formation, they might just have a chance of holding off the enemies. "Speaking of the barrier formation," Torkez continued, his tone sharpening, "don''t let the enemies discover the location of its power source. Keep funneling mana stones into it to maintain the barrier''s strength." He understood the critical importance of the barrier formation. If it collapsed, the enemies would be able to unleash their full might-and that would be a nightmare. "The formation''s enhancement will be active soon," Torkez muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on the projection ahead. Meanwhile, almost everyone in the city paused for a moment, gazing up at the sky. From the central area to every corner of the city, people could sense an immense amount of energy swirling above. Five different elements were converging, creating a magnificent spectacle in the sky. Arden, locked in combat with Kessa, looked up. "The barrier formation still has this much power..." he muttered under his breath. The rest of the experts he had brought with him needed to finish their task as soon as possible. If they couldn''t completely disable the barrier formation, their mission would become much more difficult. Turning his attention back to the Nine-Headed Hydra in front of him, Arden spoke with quiet resolve. "It seems this won''t be easy for me. But it''s fine. As long as I defeat you, everything else will fall into place." He wasn''t concerned by the fact that he was facing the strongest creature in the city. The Nine-Headed Hydra was well known, and Arden had been deployed specifically because of his strength to take down such a formidable opponent. The only thing they hadn''t anticipated was the powerful barrier formation. It was unexpected, but they were confident they could still handle it. ROAR!! Kessa let out a fierce roar as she unleashed multiple [Bestrou] attacks simultaneously. Arden moved with swift precision, dodging all the incoming beams. Boom!! ... In the southern part of the city, where Vashno and Eztein were positioned, the battle raged on. Eztein slowly pushed himself up from the ground, his hands beginning to regenerate. In the blink of an eye, all his injuries vanished, as if nothing had happened. "She''s too strong..." Eztein muttered under his breath. Above him, Vashno moved with incredible speed, desperately evading the dots of light that Arie, their enemy, was throwing at him. Arie glanced briefly at Eztein before turning her attention back to Vashno. With a wave of her hand, she launched another barrage of dots of light. [White Brilliant]!! Arie muttered to herself, "I''ve heard of the abilities of people here-the insane regeneration that makes them nearly immortal. It seems it''s not just a rumor, especially after seeing both of you possess it." Swoosh!! Vashno was struck by the dots of light. His body was flung violently to the ground, causing several nearby structures to collapse under the impact. Arie didn''t press the attack. Instead, she turned her gaze upward at the barrier formation and said, "This barrier formation will only make your suffering worse. If you simply destroyed it, you would have died without enduring such pain." Swoosh!! Suddenly, Eztein leaped behind Arie. He gathered all his energy into his fist and launched a powerful strike. Arie turned her head, and the dots of light around her converged, forming a semi-transparent shield. Boom!! Eztein''s punch landed with all his might, but the shield didn''t even budge an inch. Arie flicked her finger, and in the blink of an eye, Eztein was sent crashing into a nearby building, causing a massive explosion. At that moment, Vashno rose from the ground. He fired a concentrated ray of energy at Arie, but she already sensed it and effortlessly blocked the attack. Bang!! Vashno didn''t relent. He fired more rays of energy at his opponent while dashing through the air. His combat arts activated, enhancing his combat prowess as his elemental energy surged outward. "Element Drive...?" Arie raised an eyebrow as she turned to Vashno. "Ahhhh!!!" Vashno roared as he raised his hand above his head. His elemental energy swirled around him, transforming his arm into a massive blade. [Death Cleave]!! A colossal energy blade shot out from his hand, slicing through the ground as it surged toward its target. For the first time, Arie''s expression changed. She quickly raised her hand, and more dots of light gathered around her. A shield materialized, colliding fiercely with the energy blade. Boom!! The clash of their powers sent violent energy sparks flying through the air, creating a shockwave that demolished nearby buildings and trees. A deafening sound echoed as the massive energy blade slowly dissipated in the air. Vashno took a deep breath, his expression grave as he stepped back. He glanced left and right, realizing that many ordinary people had yet to be evacuated. He understood why they couldn''t escape- the intense energy fluctuations from the battle made it impossible for them to move. They were just ordinary people, without any resistance to the overwhelming pressure. Vashno exhaled, focusing his attention back on Arie. Arie wore a neutral expression as she observed her hand. "Fine," she muttered, "Since you''re really intent on this, I''ll take you seriously." She slowly lifted her head, her gaze locking with Vashno''s. Her eyes flashed with murderous intent. Vashno shivered, sensing the chilling killing intent aimed directly at him. Arie raised her hand, and hundreds of dots of light materialized above her. In a swift motion, the countless dots shot toward him. [Destruction Stars]!! Vashno widened his eyes as the dots of light rapidly closed in. He pushed his body to its limits, trying to dodge, but he knew it was futile. In desperation, he relied on the parasite''s regeneration to heal the attacks that he couldn''t avoid. However, he was aware that this tactic wouldn''t work for long. Suddenly, a surge of energy erupted above him, filling his body with a fresh wave of power. The enhancement from the barrier formation had arrived. "It''s here," Vashno muttered, his eyes gleaming with determination as he swung his hand, dispersing the dots of light that had been heading toward him. "Hmm...?" Arie''s expression shifted, her brows furrowing as she observed this unexpected turn of events. Swoosh!! Eztein suddenly appeared below her, his body radiating with the combined force of lightning and fire. With a fierce cry, he unleashed a powerful ray of energy toward her. The enhancement from the barrier formation surged through Vashno and Eztein, fueling their bodies and enhancing their combat abilities. Despite this, Arie''s power remained overwhelming. "You''re getting on my nerves," Arie hissed, her eyes narrowing as she raised both hands. Suddenly, thousands of dots of light descended upon the entire area like a torrential storm. Vashno and Eztein stood firm side by side, their faces set in grim determination as they raised both of their hands. "She''s still too strong!" Vashno gritted his teeth, feeling the weight of the oncoming onslaught. With the enhanced energy from the barrier formation swirling around them, they erected a defensive shield, their combined power pushing back the dots of light that rained down. However, there were too many attacks. The dots of light continuously bombarded their defenses, forcing them to stand their ground and focus purely on blocking the attack. Their energy flared brightly in the sky, struggling to hold against Arie''s relentless assault. The relentless barrage of light continued, the blasts shaking the very foundation of the southern part of the city. Buildings crumbled into dust, trees were uprooted, and debris flew through the air. The ground trembled beneath the shockwaves as Arie showed no signs of stopping her assault. Boom! Boom! Boom! The sounds of the explosions reverberated across the city, causing the people nearby to panic. Soldiers and civilians alike could feel the pressure of the battle, with the air itself vibrating from the intensity of the clashes. Many turned their heads toward the southern sector, eyes wide with worry. "It''s too dangerous here," one soldier muttered, his voice barely audible over the chaos. The soldiers knew that there was little they could do against such overwhelming power. From their vantage point, they could see the massive figure of Kessa, the Nine-Headed Hydra, clashing with the invader in the central part of the city. It was clear that the battle was reaching critical levels, but even with the fierce struggle happening on both fronts, they couldn''t afford to ignore their task. "That''s why we need to finish our job as fast as we can!" another soldier urged, his voice filled with urgency. The chaos surrounding them was overwhelming, but they understood that the civilians still needed to be evacuated. The soldiers'' role was clear: Get the people to safety before the city was completely consumed by destruction. As they hurriedly guided the civilians out of the danger zone, the realization that the city''s fate was hanging in the balance settled in. With the barrier formation weakening and no immediate reinforcements from the Athen''s Champion, it felt as if the very ground beneath them might collapse at any moment. The ground trembled as the sudden figure soared through the air, speeding toward the battlefield with undeniable power. It didn''t take long for the fighting forces on both sides to notice the new arrival. As the figure drew closer, Arie, focused on her ongoing attack, turned her head to face the incoming challenger. She instinctively raised her hand, summoning a translucent shield to block the figure''s path. Bang!! The shield collided with the oncoming force, halting it mid-air. The sudden disruption caused Arie''s continuous bombardment to stop for a moment. It was the break that Vashno and Eztein needed. Without hesitation, both charged forward from opposite sides, closing the distance with incredible speed. "You''re too late," Eztein said as he grinned, recognizing who had arrived. The familiar figure of Franklin appeared in their midst his signature chuckle ringing through the air. He was grinning widely, seemingly unbothered by the chaos surrounding them. "Haha, I just took something." As he spoke, Franklin quickly raised his hand and threw a spear toward Eztein. The weapon gleamed ominously as it cut through the air with remarkable precision. Eztein''s eyebrows shot up as he instinctively reacted to the weapon flying toward him. The spear''s presence and power were undeniable. "This...?" Eztein muttered. The three of them charged at Arie and fiercely attacked her shield. "You trash!!" Arie gritted her teeth. Her energy surged as elemental power erupted from her body like a raging tide. Boom!! Eztein, Vashno, and Franklin watched as an ocean of white light descended from above. The entire area was bathed in the light, which began to corrode everything in its path. Chapter 1066: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Fight In the east. Amanda and a few witches lay on the ground, covered in wounds. Eilish knelt, clutching her right arm, her body drenched in blood. Ugh! Eilish spat out a mouthful of blood as she glanced up at the figure above. The figure was a tall man with a long, thick white beard. His muscular frame radiated raw power, and lightning sparks flashed around him. "I''m Leorin, Leader of the Deso. Now, tell me where the core of the formation is, and I will grant you mercy," the old man, who had introduced himself as Walfen, said in a deep, rumbling tone. Eilish didn''t answer right away. Instead, she looked at Amanda and the other witches around her. They stood no chance against this man. She was the only one who could still fight, while the rest were too powerless. It felt as if death were standing right before her. The sensation was all too familiar. She had faced this feeling countless times when she was searching for a cure for her brother. ... In the north. Dozens of twenty-meter-tall golems rampaged through the area. Buildings and trees collapsed under the overwhelming might of these golems. Yuko, Isabella, and other witches, including Leef, fought fiercely against them. A boy who appeared to be about fourteen stood on the shoulder of the largest golem. This golem towered over thirty meters tall, its body surrounded by various enchantments. "Hahaha, there''s nothing that can save you! I, Walfen, Guardian of Stone Fortress, am here!" The boy laughed maniacally. The golems he controlled continued to destroy everything in their path, ravaging the area and causing the deaths of hundreds. Bang!! Yuko, Isabella, and the other witches ignored the boy''s words. They continued clashing with the golems, doing everything they could to give the citizens of Ekatoe City time to evacuate to safety. Aside from the central area where Kessa was fighting, this place was likely the most devastated by the invaders'' onslaught. The boy named Walfen ravaged the land with his golems. Yuko, Isabella, and the others didn''t have nearly enough numbers to stop all the golems from causing destruction. Moreover, in addition to the giant stone golems, Walfen unleashed hundreds of regular-sized metallic golems, scattering them throughout the area. As a result, the citizens of Ekatoe City who lived here were perishing one by one. The golems advanced at such a rapid pace that the soldiers of Astros couldn''t keep up with them. At that moment, Gragas and a few of his apprentices arrived in the north. "Fight!" Gragas roared, gripping his hammer tightly as he charged forward. His apprentices followed suit, engaging the human-sized metallic golems. Gragas swung his heavy hammer with powerful precision, smashing through the golems. Bang!! It took them several minutes to wipe out the remaining golems. "Damn, what is happening?" Gragas gritted his teeth, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He couldn''t help but glance at the massive golems in the distance. Yuko, Isabella, and the others were still battling these enormous threats. "Master, there''s a survivor here," one of his apprentices said. Gragas turned and walked over to his apprentice. There, he saw a young girl curled up in a box, hugging her knees and trembling, tears streaming down her face. He turned to one of his apprentices and said, "Escort her to the Guardian Fortress. At least it''s safe there." The apprentice nodded and approached the young girl. "You don''t have to be afraid anymore. We''re here to save you. I''ll take you to a safer place." "My... father... He..." The young girl sobbed, fear evident in her eyes. Gragas watched as his apprentice carried the girl away. He sighed, his fist tightening in frustration. "Ordinary people are powerless in this situation," he muttered. "The young girl couldn''t even move due to the energy fluctuations from the battle." If the energy here was enough to immobilize ordinary people, Gragas could only imagine the devastation in the central area. "Let''s go," ," he said, his voice firm. "We still have more people to save." ... In the west, a man stood amidst the rubble, the stench of blood thick in the air with corpses scattered around. He had green hair, red eyes, and a pair of wolf ears. In his hand, he gripped Alice by the neck. His name was Ferdin, the Leader of the Northern Green Wolf Tribe. Ugh! Alice groaned in pain, her eyes burning with fury as she glared at the man before her. Ferdin scanned the area as he tightened his grip on Alice''s neck. With a violent motion, he threw her to the ground, creating a small crater upon impact. Bang!! "Quite strong, but not enough to defeat me," Ferdin said, wiping his cheek and noticing a bloodstain. "Too bad. You alone couldn''t stop me." ... In the Guardian Fortress, Torkez felt a heavy gloom as he watched the scenes unfold in the projection. The invaders'' power was overwhelming, and there simply wasn''t enough manpower to counter it. There were far too few capable of holding off the invaders. "The enhancement from the barrier formation isn''t enough," he muttered. In the west, Alice fought alone, and even with the boost, it wasn''t enough. If she had help, she could at least hold her ground. The same situation was unfolding in other parts of the city. The invaders had been here for a while now, and the results were devastating. "Sir Torkez, Sir Doranjan has arrived through the portal," a subordinate reported. Torkez turned his head, letting out a sigh. "That''s good." He narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. After a few moments, he spoke again. "Tell Doranjan to head to the northern part of the city." "Yes, sir!" The subordinate quickly left after receiving the orders. Too much damage had already been done to the north due to the rampage of the golems. It needed to be stopped as soon as possible, or everyone there would perish. Torkez felt sorry for the others, but he hoped they could hold on just a little longer. He sighed once again as he glanced at the projection. The scene on the screen showed the current situation in the south. "Franklin, Eztein, and Vashno. There are three of them there, so I hope they can defeat the enemy." If they couldn''t, there would be no one left to support the east and west, where Alice, Eilish, Amanda, and the others were fighting. "Tell our people in the south to keep a safe distance from the battle. Our mages should stay out of the fray, ready to cast healing and buff spells to provide support," Torkez instructed. The Shimpan Family and other noble families in Ekatoe City were too weak to fight the invaders. They could only help the civilians evacuate. ... In the south, "Shit!" Eztein cursed as he looked up. Vashno and Franklin also stared ahead, seeing Arie floating above them in a black dress. Greenish gems flowed along her dress, extending to her back, where they formed a large, intricate circle. Arie''s pure white hair fluttered in the wind as her red eyes gleamed with power. Dozens of sharp white spears hovered beside her, exuding a dangerous aura. [Incinerating Holy Nova]! Arie stepped forward, and the air vibrated violently. Franklin, Vashno, and Eztein wore grim expressions as they watched their opponent. The pressure she was radiating now was on an entirely different level compared to before. "This just got real," Vashno muttered. Swoosh!! In an instant, Arie vanished before their eyes. Vashno reacted, but it was already too late. He felt a searing pain in his stomach as he was sent flying. Bang!! Franklin and Eztein widened their eyes as the same fate befell them. They crashed to the ground, sending smoke billowing into the sky. Vashno immediately sprang to his feet, using the parasite to heal the wound in his stomach. His elemental power surged as he charged toward Arie. "Back me up!" His voice echoed. His power level surpassed that of Franklin and Eztein, so he would fare better fighting Arie head-on, while the others assisted him. He could also take more damage than they could. Vashno, Franklin, and Eztein didn''t hold back, using their combat arts, spells, and elemental power to the fullest. Boom!! Boom!! Vashno attempted to block Arie''s attacks, but they were too fast. He was struck several times and sent flying dozens of meters away. "Go!" Vashno gritted his teeth as he bent his knees and launched himself at Arie once again. White smoke seeped from his pores as his aura surged higher. "Dream fog?! You have dream power?" Arie was momentarily surprised by this development. Swoosh!! Eztein and Franklin rushed at her from the sides. They also activated their dream power, their energy intensifying in response. "You two?" Arie''s surprise grew as she saw that both of them wielded dream power as well. Vashno didn''t let the opportunity slip away. He gathered his energy into his fist and threw a powerful punch. [Dominion Titan]!! Chapter 1068: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Weakening "Ohm!!" "What''s happening?" Isabella muttered. Suddenly, the golems became stronger and faster. One of the three golems that had been stuck on the ground rose and charged toward her. Swoosh! Isabella immediately drew her dagger and swiftly cut through the space in front of her. She also made sure to hide her presence. By the time the golem reached the spot, she was already gone. Isabella appeared a hundred meters away and breathed a sigh of relief. That was close. Fortunately, her spatial ability had improved from all the training she had done before. "But jumping through space is quite taxing now..." Isabella muttered. She recalled what Alexander had said: jumping through the fabric of space would put pressure on her body and energy due to the outburst of Imperium, which had strengthened the fabric of space. As a result, a large chunk of her mana was consumed just by performing that spatial jump. "I can''t always do this. I have to find a way," Isabella said. Bang!! An explosion rang out, causing Isabella to turn her head. She saw Yuko being thrown aside by the golem she had been fighting. Her body crashed to the ground, creating a deep gully. "This is bad..." Isabella muttered. The golem was about to chase after Yuko when something unexpected happened. "We''re here!" A voice echoed, and a figure collided with the golem. Bang!! Isabella breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing who had arrived. It was Gragas, along with a few of his apprentices. Although their main profession wasn''t combat-related, they could still be of help in this grave situation. "I''m here helping the civilians, but after Kessa used her release form, we no longer need to," Gragas said, feeling heavy in his heart. That''s right-he had been assisting the civilians with a few of his apprentices, but the immense best feram that swept through the entire city had stopped him. She had unknowingly killed the ordinary people with her energy pressure. Swoosh!! A series of flames rained down from above, crashing into the other three golems. Isabella, Leef, and the other witches looked up and saw a massive green dragon, accompanied by dozens of monsters. Doranjan and the others had arrived to help. Seeing the new arrivals, Walfen frowned slightly. ... In the south, the battle was reaching its breaking point. Boom! Boom! Shockwave after shockwave as a rain of light fell from above, destroying the remaining structures in the area. Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin were fiercely battling the mad Arie without pause. "We''re reaching the limit of the parasite!" Eztein shouted, narrowly avoiding the beams of light. "I know, but it''s not easy to defeat her!" Vashno replied. In the next second, Eztein''s arm was severed again by the ray of light. He immediately regenerated it using the parasite. "You bunch of trash!!" Arie roared as she continued firing her attacks. Swoosh!! Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin flew in different directions to divide her attention. She couldn''t focus properly, giving them a significant advantage. However, it wasn''t easy to approach her due to the overwhelming power of her attacks. Bang!! Vashno and Eztein attacked from both sides, but Arie easily blocked their strikes. "It hurts!! It hurts!! Argh!!" Arie roared furiously as a surge of mana erupted within her body. Vashno and Eztein were pushed back, but something happened below. A massive block of land soared through the air, heading toward Arie. Arie gritted her teeth and unleashed another barrage of rays of light, destroying the piece of land. Bang!! The rubble scattered in midair, and Franklin emerged from the debris. His energy swirled around his fist as he threw a powerful punch. Arie couldn''t avoid it, so she took the attack head-on and fired back. Boom!! Franklin''s attack sent her soaring upward, while Arie''s counterattack hurled him to the ground. It was clear she had won this exchange, as her attacks pierced through Franklin''s limbs. Ugh!! Franklin spat a mouthful of blood. His energy level had diminished as his dream power and elemental drive slowly faded. He didn''t have much strength left, and his parasite could barely heal his wounds. "It''s up to you!" Franklin grinned. Swoosh!! Arie''s eyes widened as she looked up and saw two figures heading straight for her from above. AHHHH!! Eztein gritted his teeth as three elements gathered around the tip of the [Hell Fiend Spear]. Vashno also poured all his strength into the attack. His aura flared up as he threw a powerful punch. "This is it!" Arie was about to conjure a barrier when the two were already in front of her. She was caught off guard, unable to think clearly due to the accumulated pain from the attacks she had received. She didn''t even know how they had gotten so close. "GO DOWN!!" Vashno and Eztein launched their attacks simultaneously. [Destruction Stars of Fist]!! [Heaven''s Piercing Strike]!! In the next moment, two massive attacks struck Arie''s body before she could finish conjuring her barrier. The impact caused all sorts of phenomena in midair. The elements and energy radiated above the devastated land, creating a magnificent yet horrifying scene. Swoosh!! Arie left a straight line of light as she violently crashed into the ground. Cracks spread out, and the land collapsed, creating a massive pit. Boom!! Vashno and Eztein landed and immediately fell to their knees. They didn''t have much strength left after their attacks. The intense energy they had been radiating slowly faded. "Where''s the old man?" Eztein asked. "He''s safe," ," Vashno replied, sitting down and leaning his back against a block of rock. Eztein gazed at the massive pit and asked, "Do you think we got her?" "I don''t know. If she manages to get up, then we''re done," Vashno replied. They no longer had the strength to fight, and there would be one outcome if Arie managed to recover from their attacks. "Sir Vashno, Sir Eztein, we have to go now." A voice called from behind the two. Vashno and Eztein turned their heads and saw the mages of Astros, accompanied by Franklin. They were the ones who moved Franklin out of the way before their attacks landed on Arie. Moreover, they were also the reason why Vashno and Eztein managed to close the distance and get in front of Arie before she could even cast a barrier. At the right moment, the mages cast buff spells to boost their speed and strength. The sudden increase in speed and strength caught Arie off guard. The pain she was experiencing also played a significant role in why their plan worked. The mages gave Eztein and Vashno potions to slightly recover their energy. "Thanks," Eztein said. Ohm!! Suddenly, a strange sensation coursed through everyone. "Did you feel that?" Vashno asked. "Yeah..." Eztein nodded as he looked up. Franklin forced himself to stand and said, "The barrier formation is getting weaker..." The mages around them exchanged confused glances. In the next moment, the ground trembled as a powerful surge of energy erupted from the massive pit. Boom!! Eztein, Vashno, Franklin, and the others turned their heads, their eyes widening in shock. They were familiar with this energy signature. After all, they had just fought the person who possessed it. Swoosh!! A woman emerged from the pit, massaging her temples. Her body was covered in blood, and thick energy radiated from her. "Argh, it still hurts, but it''s slowly fading..." It was Arie. She had somehow managed to get back up after withstanding the insane attacks from Eztein and Vashno. "I thought I was going to faint. Luckily, the suppression is weakening," Arie muttered to herself as she walked with unsteady steps. Eztein realized something and slowly said in shock, "The suppression is weakening...?! Don''t tell me...?" Ohm!! Eztein and the others looked up as a blazing fire erupted from the hole in the barrier above. "What is that?!" Arie was the same. She narrowed her eyes and glanced upward. Not just her, but everyone in the city who was still alive saw the blazing fire emerging from the gigantic hole in the barrier. The temperature immediately changed as the fire raged relentlessly. Ohm!! ... In the Guardian Fortress. Smoke and fire rose into the air, and corpses were scattered everywhere. A man with wolf-like characteristics stood, staring at the fire in the sky. He was Ferdin, the leader of the Northern Green Wolf Tribe. Ferdin tore his gaze from the sky and glanced at the man before him. "What did you do? You''ve weakened the suppression of the barrier formation! Why?" Torkez glanced at Alice, who was lying on the ground, covered in blood. "I didn''t do anything. Did you?" Ferdin tilted his head, clearly confused. Alice forcefully lifted her head and weakly said, "D-Don''t tell him anything!" Ferdin frowned as he kicked Alice in the stomach, then opened his palm and threw a ball of energy. Boom!! An explosion erupted where Alice had crashed. Ferdin glanced at the aftermath before clicking his tongue in annoyance. "Tsk, still alive. You know what? All of you are like cockroaches. Hard to kill with that damn regeneration." The entire western area was obliterated. Ferdin had massacred everyone, and Alice was the only survivor. She was the only one with enough strength to fight, but Ferdin had defeated her. In the end, Ferdin had found the Guardian Fortress and killed everyone there. Only a few remained alive. Chapter 1069: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Reinforcement "Tell me how to completely shut down the barrier formation. There''s no point in resisting since you people can''t even defeat me, even with the formation suppressing my strength," Ferdin said to Torkez. Well, he was right. This was still in his suppressed state. If he wasn''t suppressed, there was nothing they could do. They would be obliterated in an instant. "I already told you, you''re the one who did it," Torkez replied, pausing as he pointed at the scene in the hole. He added, "You killed my people, and it prevented the formation from receiving energy. I thought you deliberately killed them for that reason, but it seems you''re just stupid." Veins popped on Ferdin''s forehead. "What did you say?!" "The timing was right. I was going to ask my people to stop supplying energy to the formation, but you killed them... So now, you have to pay for it," Torkez said. "Me? Pay for it?" Ferdin stepped forward. His energy slowly rose, putting pressure on Torkez''s entire body. "Now!!" Torkez shouted. Swoosh!! Alice watched as the entire Guardian Fortress was engulfed by light. The enemy, along with Torkez and a few other survivors, disappeared. Huff... Huff... Huff... Alice forced herself to stand and surveyed the corpses around her. Some of the people who couldn''t evacuate the city in time had fled to the Guardian Fortress, yet this had happened. They were all dead. Her heart felt heavy in this moment. Even if they had managed to repel the enemies, the damage done to the city was immense. So many lives had been lost. She had been to Selnes Country, and the situation there was strikingly similar. "They''re here." Alice looked up at the fire in the hole of the barrier and saw the Guardian Fortress appear below it. A line of flame shot straight toward the Guardian Fortress, splitting it in two. Boom!!! Alice raised her hand as the Guardian Fortress exploded. "Torkez..." She shook her head. She had been sure that Torkez would make it out alive since they were there. She glanced at her hand and noticed that her parasite was reaching its limit. "I still have energy left, so I can still fight, but the parasite won''t last much longer. I can do it." Alice muttered to herself. She gathered her energy and flew toward the others to help. In the sky, several figures descended from different parts of the city. This would escalate the battles around the city once more. However, a figure emerged from the fire. She had striking red hair, and she was the one who had split the Guardian Fortress. She was Erkigal Flaem. "When I received the SOS signal, I thought it was a drill, but someone really attacked Ekatoe City while the Blood Lightning Monster was away," Erkigal said, looking down. Debris from the Guardian Fortress fell to the ground, causing dozens of small explosions. But Ferdin remained in the air, staring at Erkigal. Erkigal glanced left and right. "So it''s up to me now. The rest already went down." "I see... That''s why that man earlier said he planned to stop providing energy to the formation. It''s because of this," Ferdin muttered, his frown deepening. That''s right. Anyone who didn''t belong to Ekatoe City would be suppressed by the [Five Element Barrier Formation], even if they were from the allied Dragon Council. That was how Souta had set it up. "They really are prepared," Erkigal muttered as she glanced at the center of the city. The Nine-Headed Hydra was engaged in a fierce battle with a powerful, unknown man. Although she was confident in her strength, Erkigal knew she wasn''t a match for the Nine- Headed Hydra. Yet, that unknown man was fighting the Hydra while also being suppressed by the barrier. It was fortunate that the barrier was still active, even though it was suppressing her strength as well. The suppression had lessened, but it was still in effect and wasn''t going to shut down for a while. "Do you think you can stop us?" Ferdin asked. Erkigal shifted her attention back to him and laughed. "Might as well see for yourself." With those words, she charged at Ferdin. Ferdin snorted and threw a punch. Boom!! The tide of the battle had shifted with the arrival of the Dragon Council. ... In the south. An explosion rang out as a figure descended between Vashno''s group and Arie. "Who?" Vashno narrowed his eyes. Eztein, Franklin, and the others also became wary. The smoke slowly dissipated, revealing a woman. "Let me handle this. I''m Hono Flaem, the Clan Leader of the Flaem Clan." The woman introduced herself, glancing at Eztein and the others before turning her attention back to Arie. "Who are you?" Arie gritted her teeth. "I already introduced myself. Didn''t you hear it?" Hono replied, taking a step forward. Flames surged from her feet, causing the temperature to rise. Vashno looked at the mages and said, "Let''s go. We can''t stay here any longer." The mages nodded, and they quickly moved Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin away. A battle was about to begin, and they were too exhausted to participate. Staying in the fray would only make things more difficult. Hono smiled when she sensed that Vashno''s group had left. She said, "Let me guess, part of the Gluttony Army, right?" Arie gritted her teeth in anger and waved her hand, firing dozens of rays of light. "Don''t get in my way!!" The rays shot straight toward Hono, but before they could reach her, a mantle of fire appeared, blocking the attack. "You know, you people destroyed my country-Selnes Country. The Gluttony Army and all its followers should pay the price. So, I''ve decided... I will not let you die easily," Hono said, her voice cold. She remembered all too well how the Selnes Country became a battlefield, resulting in the deaths of countless citizens of her homeland. ... In the north. The battle had erupted into full-blown war with the arrival of Doranjan''s monster corps and the other Heads of the Dragon Council. They clashed fiercely with the golems. ROAR!! Doranjan let out a mighty roar as he unleashed a powerful [Bestrou]. Boom!! Several dozen golems advanced forward, only to be intercepted by a large group of monsters. Yuko and the other witches finally had a breather with the arrival of reinforcements. The pressure on them eased as they now had allies to help in the fight. Various attacks filled the air, resulting in a series of explosions. The entire area had transformed into a small-scale warzone. Boom! Boom! Boom! Isabella moved swiftly through the air. Her presence was nearly undetectable as she appeared near the head of one of the golems. She placed her hand inside her pocket and quickly threw out a potion. The potion exploded on the golem, creating a green mucus that temporarily immobilized it. "Now!" Isabella commanded before disappearing from her position. She knew the golem was strong, and the effect wouldn''t last more than a second. It would easily break free, but that was all the time they needed. The witches heard her words and wasted no time. They immediately launched a barrage of combat arts and spells, bombarding the golem as it broke free from the restraint. Boom! Boom! Isabella moved swiftly toward the other golems, hoping to lessen the burden on her allies in the battle. Her potion was a powerful asset and one of her greatest sources of strength. She excelled with it. She landed in a high position, several dozen meters behind the two people facing Walfen, and stared ahead. "That''s the main culprit," she muttered, looking at Walfen''s face. Walfen, the creator of these golems, stared at the scene with a frown on his face. He wanted to rush in and quickly kill those people, but someone was blocking his path. "You! Do you think you can stop me?" Walfen said, glaring at the two people below him. The two people were man and woman-the Eight Head and Third Head of the Dragon Council. "Eh~ how can you know if we haven''t tried?" the Eight Head grinned, eyeing the boy on the shoulder of the giant golem. "Then die!" Walfen said coldly. As soon as he finished speaking, the giant golem swung its massive hand. The Eight Head and Third Head immediately vanished from their positions before the golem''s hand could even land on them. Bang!! The Eight Head appeared above and threw his fist, covered in powerful energy. Boom!! The giant golem staggered, but Walfen quickly controlled it to swing its hand again. However, the Third Head was already behind him. She waved her hand and conjured a tier 3 spell. Ohm!! A dense barrage of sharp ice spears rained down from the sky, forcing Walfen to defend himself. Though the ice spears were strong, they barely damaged the giant golem. It was too tough. The defensive capabilities of the golem were higher than they had expected. "Now you''ve done it," Walfen glared at the two of them. His energy surged once again, causing the surroundings to transform. Chapter 1071: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Shock across the city Eight Head continued exchanging blows with Walfen, supported by Third Head. Their battle shook the entire area, and the land was left devastated-unrecognizable from the prosperous place it once was. Bang!! Eight Head landed another fierce punch before stopping midair. Intense pain coursed through his body as he fell to the ground. "Eight Head!!" Third Head shouted. Eight Head spat a mouthful of blood, his aura slowly fading. He had finally reached his limit. He could no longer continue fighting. The effect of the potion had worn off, and he had drained his elemental power. Thud!! Walfen landed next to Eight Head, slowly lifting his head to reveal a wicked smile on his face. "Finally reached your limit, huh?" Walfen taunted. He was in the same condition, but he had always been much tougher than them. Third Head was also exhausted, but her condition was still better than Eight Head''s. She could still move, though it was dangerous since Walfen still had energy left. "I already told you," Walfen sneered. "You''re all weaker than me, and all of you will die." He started laughing. Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and turned his head. He immediately swung the remaining arm of the golem. Behind him, Isabella appeared. She raised her hand, but intense pain shot through her as the massive hand of the golem collided with her. She gritted her teeth and, with her other hand, threw a potion. Her body crashed to the ground, creating a massive crater. However, the potion shattered on Walfen, causing a red substance to spread out. In the next second, the red substance emitted an intense heat before erupting in a massive explosion. Boom!! A shockwave swept through the area as a massive mushroom cloud erupted. The ground trembled violently. Third Head rushed to Eight Head''s side, using her remaining energy to conjure a protective barrier. "Damn..." Eight Head gritted his teeth, watching the explosion unfold. Third Head''s expression remained solemn. Though the explosion was powerful, they both knew it wasn''t enough to take down Walfen. Swoosh!! The explosion''s aftermath slowly cleared, revealing a huge golem emerging from the smoke. The golem slowly crumbled into pieces, leaving Walfen suspended in midair. "Hahahaha!! Is that it?!" Walfen laughed maniacally. "I applaud you for destroying my masterpiece, but in the end, I''m still standing, and none of you will be able to do anything!" His laughter echoed in the air. Third Head and Eight Head exchanged grim looks, knowing that they could no longer fight Walfen. They had no energy left to continue. Walfen was about to speak when he suddenly felt something was wrong. "Argh... What''s this?" He fell to the ground, struggling to breathe. His throat felt like it was being burned. "So, it''s already taking effect..." a voice came from behind. Walfen forced himself to turn and saw Isabella walking toward him, covered in blood, holding a bottle of potion in her hand. He narrowed his eyes, trying to attack, but realized he couldn''t control his energy. It felt as though something was blocking his mana pool, freezing it from the inside out. "W-What did you do?!" he demanded. Isabella didn''t answer immediately. She continued walking, placing her hand on her chin as she mused, "Hmm... What did I do? I think you already know." "Know what?!" Walfen shouted, his eyes wide with disbelief. Isabella turned her head, raising an eyebrow. "You haven''t realized it? The question you should be asking is: What is the effect of the potion I threw before?" "What?!" Walfen''s eyes widened further. "It''s difficult to affect you since you have strong resistance, but it all worked out in the end. I injected a potent energy-enhancing potion directly into Eight Head''s blood to weaken you. After that, I threw another potion, which caused the massive explosion. Actually, the explosion itself wasn''t the main effect. The main effect was the gas that followed the explosion," Isabella explained, pausing briefly before continuing. "You inhaled the gas, and it disrupts a person''s energy pool. The main ingredient of this potion is the Shackle of an expert who has broken through their limits. It has a powerful sealing effect. It shouldn''t affect you normally, but you''re weakened right now. Also, with the power of the barrier formation, you won''t be able to use your strength for... hmm, let me calculate... Oh, you''ll be unable to use your strength for about an hour." "N-No, you''re lying!!" Walfen shouted in denial. "You can try it," Isabella replied calmly, facing him. "Attack me. You know you can''t gather your strength anymore." "Then why?! Why aren''t you affected by it?" Walfen demanded, his voice strained. "If you think about it carefully, you wouldn''t be asking such a dumb question," Isabella replied, her tone calm. "The purple smoke from before-it''s an antidote that offsets the effect. I call it the [Anti-Limit Sealing Potion]. You must be wondering why it didn''t affect you, right? It''s because of the first potion I threw at you. That one has an effect that cancels out the [Anti-Limit Sealing Potion]. So..." Isabella smiled. "The [Limit Sealing Potion], [Anti-Limit Sealing Potion], and [Reverse Anti Potion]-such a great combination. I didn''t expect to test them today, but thank you for proving my theory right." She Walfen, holding t potion in her and. Ifen glanced at bottle, his expression darkening as he seemed to realize something. If Souta were here, he might have recognized this moment as a turning point. Isabella was becoming the Master of Potions, a role she once held in the game-leader of the Heavenly Potion Pavilion, which played a key role in supporting the alliance army against the Three Bringers of Calamity. "This is the end," Isabella''s voice was soft but firm. With a final, fluid motion, she threw the potion on the ground. The liquid inside splashed at Walfen''s feet. In an instant, dark red mucus erupted, crawling up his body step by step, as if sealing his fate. "Even if you restrain me, you can''t stop my golems! They will keep moving until they''ve completed their orders!" Walfen''s voice was filled with intense hatred as he glared at Isabella. But his words faded as the dark red mucus fully enveloped his body, sealing him. Swoosh!! Isabella''s legs buckled, and she collapsed to her knees, her body exhausted from the relentless battle. She had pushed herself to the limit, and despite her parasite regeneration ability, the toll on her was immense. The battle had been far beyond her usual capacity. Third Head, supporting the barely-conscious Eight Head, approached Isabella. She glanced at the solidified dark red mucus and asked, "Is it done?" Both she and Eight Head were inwardly surprised. They hadn''t fully understood the effects of the potions Isabella had been using until she explained it. Isabella nodded weakly. Her gaze swept across the battlefield, and with a tired sigh, she spoke meekly. "I...Umm... I-I need to go now." Without waiting for a response, she turned and began to walk away. "She''s gone," Third Head muttered under her breath, watching Isabella retreat. "Yeah," Eight Head nodded, still recovering from the battle. He turned to Third Head and asked, "What should we do now?" "We should rest," Third Head replied, her voice filled with concern for his condition. "With your current state, you won''t be able to participate in any more battles." The air was tense, but they both understood that there was little left for them to do. The remaining golems that Walfen had unleashed would be handled by others. The monsters and witches who had fought in the battles had already finished their tasks, and it was time for them to recover. They would leave the cleanup to the people of Astros, who were more than capable of dealing with the aftermath. Meanwhile, Doranjan, Gragas, Yuko, and the other soldiers who had witnessed Walfen''s defeat began to relay the news to their subordinates. Their morale surged as the news spread: Walfen, the Guardian of the Stone Fortress, was finally defeated. The echoes of his defeat reverberated through the northern part of Ekatoe City. As Walfen''s energy fluctuations dissipated, it was felt by several powerful experts across the city. They all knew that the tide of battle had shifted. Within moments, reports of the victory spread to others across the battlefield, marking a turning point in the war. In the central area of Ekatoe City, Arden''s battle with Kessa suddenly came to an unexpected halt. Arden''s focus was broken as he turned his head sharply, his eyes widening in disbelief. "What?! Walfen''s energy fluctuation disappeared..." he muttered, his voice filled with shock. In that brief moment of distraction, Kessa seized the opportunity and launched a flurry of devastating attacks, her moves sharp and swift. Boom!! Boom!! Arden barely managed to react in time, but the barrage of blows rattled him, pushing him back as he struggled to regain his composure. Meanwhile, in another part of the battlefield, Leorin, Arie, and Ferdin also froze as they felt the unmistakable absence of Walfen''s energy. A ripple of realization swept through them all at once. "It only means one thing..." Leorin whispered, his voice tense with the implications. The news hit them all like a wave of cold realization. Walfen, the formidable Guardian of the Stone Fortress, had been brought down by the combined forces in the northern part of the city. The balance of the fight had shifted, and the tide was no longer in their favor. In the southern part... Arie was shocked for a moment, but after careful consideration, she realized it made sense. She had nearly been defeated by three weaker opponents, and now a stronger one had appeared. Hono smiled and asked, "Are you worried about your comrade?" Arie didn''t respond immediately. Instead, she narrowed her eyes, scanning the surrounding area. "Don''t worry, you''ll be next," Hono continued. "You''re not in your peak state, so you must have realized that you can''t defeat me, right?" She took a step forward, her confidence palpable. That''s right. Fighting Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin had drained a large amount of Arie''s mana and elemental power. Although the suppression from the barrier formation had slightly lessened, she still couldn''t use her full strength. If this continued, there was only one possible outcome. Hono flicked her fingers, and walls of flames erupted in four directions, completely enclosing both herself and Arie. "You can''t escape." Chapter 1072: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Leorin Hono enclosed herself and Arie within a barrier of flames. She couldn''t let this woman escape. Bang! A barrage of fire arrows erupted from Hono, streaking toward Arie with relentless force. Hono felt confident in her chances of victory. She was at her peak, while Arie was both weakened and unsteady-clearly not in the right state of mind. It was only a matter of time before she brought this woman down. Boom! Boom! Arie managed to block some of the fire arrows, but others found their mark. One pierced her shoulder, another struck her leg, forcing her back against the wall of flames. "Ugh!" Blood spurted from Arie''s mouth as burn marks seared her skin. The oppressive heat around her continued to rise, and she realized with horror that her blood was slowly evaporating. "Damn!" Arie cursed angrily, waving her hands as she unleashed dozens of rays of light. Swoosh! Hono darted side to side, nimbly avoiding the incoming beams. A magic circle flared to life beneath her feet, and moments later, several towering pillars of flame erupted from the ground. [Ember of Night Sky]!!! Arie''s instincts screamed danger. She summoned a shield to defend herself, but the flames were too powerful-her shield shattered within seconds. "Damn it!" she spat, her frustration mounting. When she looked up, Hono was already closing in, now just a few meters away. Hono''s gaze was cold and unyielding. "You can''t defeat me. In your current state, you''re nothing." "Bullshit!" Arie roared defiantly, but her voice was drowned out as an overwhelming surge of flames erupted around Hono, their heat and intensity seeming endless. Boom! The temperature skyrocketed as the entire area trembled violently. [Element Drive: Fire Integration]!! Hono extended her hand toward Arie. Paralyzed and powerless, Arie could do nothing but watch as Hono''s hand drew closer to her face. If only she weren''t in this weakened state. Arie was certain that, at her peak, she could defeat Hono-even now, she could see through the limits of Hono''s abilities. Even if Hono still held back some of her strength, Arie was confident she could handle it. But confidence alone couldn''t overcome her current frailty. Bang!! Hono''s fiery grip seized Arie''s face, and with a brutal motion, she smashed her into the wall of flames. The searing heat radiating from Hono''s hand was unbearable, sending waves of excruciating pain through Arie''s body. "You''re strong-stronger than me!" Hono admitted, her voice sharp and unwavering. "I didn''t think I''d be able to kill someone at your level!" But she continued, her tone colder now. "Of course, the experts who invaded Ekatoe City were on an entirely different level. They were powerful, but they weren''t prepared for what awaited them in this place." The [Five Element Barrier Formation] suppressed their strength to a significant degree, limiting them to only sixty percent of their full power. Earlier, when Torkez had been ordering his subordinates to supply mana stones to the formation, the suppression was even stronger-reducing their strength to less than fifty percent. Yet, even at less than half their full power, the damage they caused was devastating. This alone spoke volumes about the strength of the experts who had invaded Ekatoe City. Their confidence in handling this mission stemmed from this power. From their perspective, the only real threat to their plans was the Nine-Headed Hydra. "You trash!!" Arie roared, her voice brimming with defiance as light gathered in her hand. She swung it swiftly, aiming directly for Hono''s neck. In a flash, Hono reacted, using her other hand to block the attack. Boom!! The collision generated a powerful shockwave that rippled through the area. Hono''s eyes widened in surprise. Despite her injuries, Arie still possessed immense strength. If Arie were at her peak, Hono was certain she wouldn''t stand a chance. "It''s not enough," Hono said firmly, her voice laced with determination. As she spoke, her cape, dress, and boots began to emit a faint glow, signaling the activation of their equipment skills. Hono''s energy surged sharply, her entire presence radiating power. Her attire, crafted from high-grade equipment, amplified her elemental energy and boosted her strength to its peak. She wasn''t holding back anymore. [Flame Majestic Destroyer]!!! Hono deflected Arie''s attack with ease and drew her hand back. The flames around her stirred violently, swirling toward her palm as she condensed them into a blazing sphere of destruction. With a swift, decisive motion, she thrust the concentrated flame forward. Arie''s eyes widened in alarm as she sensed the overwhelming danger, but it was too late. The flames reached her before she could react. Boom!! The fiery explosion erupted, engulfing Arie entirely. The flames spread out in a devastating wave, melting half of the southern area. The ground and rubble dissolved into molten slag, and the intense heat warped the very air, sending powerful heat waves in all directions. Hono stood her ground, breathing heavily as she surveyed the aftermath. Her gaze locked on the figure ahead-Arie, lying motionless in a pool of bubbling lava. Arie''s energy fluctuations were fading, dissipating into the searing air. Ohm!! Hono exhaled deeply, her body relaxing as she deactivated her Element Drive and the other skills she had been using. "I told you before you wouldn''t win in your current state," she muttered, her gaze fixed on Arie''s motionless form. In the southern area of Ekatoe City, the battle had concluded. Arie, the leader of Fiery Dawn, had fallen. Naturally, the high-level experts scattered around the city felt it-the sudden disappearance of Arie''s energy fluctuations. First Walfen, and now Arie had been defeated. High above the city, near the barrier formation''s central breach, Ferdin froze. His senses honed in on the absence of Arie''s energy. His eyes widened in disbelief as he turned toward the southern part of the city. "Arie is... gone?!" he muttered, the weight of the realization sinking in. But before he could process further, a surge of intense heat shot toward him. Reacting on instinct, Ferdin twisted his body just in time to dodge as a flash of flame streaked past him. "I already told you today is the day you all fall," Erkigal said, a faint smile curving her lips. Ferdin remained silent. He didn''t need to argue-the situation spoke for itself. Two of their members had already been defeated, and it was clear their enemies were fully committed to bringing them down. His gaze settled on Erkigal. She wasn''t someone to take lightly. From the intensity of her energy fluctuations, it was evident that she was probably the strongest combatant in the city, second only to the Hydra. The fact that she dared to face him alone only reinforced her confidence in her strength. "What are you worrying about?" Erkigal asked sharply, her body surging forward in a blur of motion. Ferdin grinned, energy swirling in his hands. "Nothing!" Boom!! The two collided with explosive force, the clash sending shockwaves rippling through the air. ... Meanwhile, in the eastern area of the city... A tall, imposing old man floated in the air, his presence dominating the battlefield with powerful energy fluctuations. This was Leorin, the leader of Deso-a notorious criminal organization. "This old man is strong," Eilish muttered in a heavy tone, her voice laced with exhaustion. Amanda nodded in agreement, her body battered and bruised. Both of them bore the marks of a grueling fight, struggling to hold their ground against the monstrous strength of Leorin. Amanda glanced to the side, a hint of relief in her eyes. "Luckily, we''re not alone anymore." Reinforcements had arrived, though not without cost. The effort to slow down Leorin had claimed the lives of dozens of witches. Among the new arrivals were the Fourth and Sixth Heads, their presence rekindling hope. Alice approached, her gaze assessing their condition. "Can you still fight?" she asked. Eilish gave a firm nod. "Yeah." Amanda, however, shook her head. "I don''t think I can fight anymore." Alice placed a reassuring hand on Amanda''s shoulder. "I understand. You''ve done enough. Rest for now." It was a reasonable request. Amanda wasn''t as strong as the others; her mana reserves were nearly depleted, and her parasite had reached its limit. The fact that she had lasted this long against someone as formidable as Leorin was a testament to her resilience. Leorin turned his head as he sensed something. After a moment, he looked back at the Fourth Head, Sixth Head, Alice, and the others. ''Even Arie has fallen... I need to be more cautious. If Walfen''s defeat was due to carelessness, then Arie shouldn''t have...'' he thought inwardly. The Fourth Head glanced at the Sixth Head and nodded. "Let''s go." The Fourth Head dashed forward, his mana erupting. Their target was the old man, Leorin. Swoosh!! The Fourth Head and Sixth Head flanked him, launching their attacks. Leorin raised his hand, swiftly catching the Fourth Head''s strike, and created a barrier to block the Sixth Head''s energy ray. "If you think I''ll still underestimate you, you''re wrong! Walfen and Arie have fallen, and this proves you can take us down!" Leorin said in a low tone. He tightly gripped the Fourth Head''s wrist and threw him at the Sixth Head. Sixth Head caught the Fourth Head, but Leorin had already pounced on the two of them. With a wave of his hands, a bolt of bluish lightning shot down from above. Bang!! Fourth Head and Sixth Head were slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater. At the same time, Alice and Eilish made their move. Eilish raised her staff and conjured a spell that enhanced Alice''s speed and strength. With others taking the lead, Eilish could focus on her ranged fighting style. Her mana surged sharply as she cast another buff spell toward the Fourth and Sixth Heads. Alice opened her palm, feeling her strength increase from Eilish''s spell. A golden spear materialized in her hand, and her aura surged like a tidal wave. [Rhongomiant]!! With a powerful thrust of her spear, a massive golden ray erupted. The brilliant light it emitted illuminated the entire eastern area. Leorin gazed at the golden ray, narrowing his eyes. He tightened both of his fists before throwing his hand forward. [Legend Lion Fist]!! A majestic lion made of lightning erupted, colliding with the golden ray. Boom!! The collision of the two attacks created intense friction in the air, sending violent energy sparks scattering across the area. Alice gritted her teeth, putting more force into her attack. Chapter 1073: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Alice, Eilish, Fourth Head, and Sixth Head vs Leorin Leorin roared as a sea of lightning surged outward from his body, crashing against the golden ray with unstoppable force. Boom! Alice''s eyes widened as she quickly twisted her body, narrowly avoiding the violent surge of lightning. "Just because you people managed to take down Walfen and Arie, do you really think you can take me down so easily?!" Leorin bellowed, stepping forward with an aura of intense lightning crackling around him. At that moment, the Fourth Head and Sixth Head rose to their feet. Without hesitation, they charged at Leorin. Swoosh! The two moved in unison, exchanging fierce blows with Leorin. Shockwave after shockwave rippled outward, uprooting trees and shattering houses in the surrounding area. A magnificent yet terrifying display of energy sparks erupted in the sky, illuminating the battlefield as the fierce clash continued. Eilish stood at the rear, her hands weaving intricate patterns as she cast buff spells to empower the Fourth Head and Sixth Head. Boom!! Boom!! The Fourth Head and Sixth Head responded without hesitation, activating their [Element Drive]. Not to be outdone, Leorin unleashed his own power. A sea of lightning erupted, enveloping the entire area. The battle turned into a chaotic spectacle as lightning bolts struck the ground, carving molten paths through the scorched earth. Leorin''s fury raged unabated, while the Fourth Head and Sixth Head fought back with unrelenting intensity and precision. Sparks filled the air as their attacks collided in brilliant explosions of light. "Fall!!" Leorin''s gauntlets glowed with a dim but ominous light. He activated their equipment skills without hesitation, the burst of power forcing the Fourth Head and Sixth Head to stagger backward. Bang!! Just as Leorin prepared to press his advantage, his instincts flared. He turned, his eyes widening as a massive dragon made of water surged toward him with incredible speed. [Lightning Destruction Wave]!! A colossal lightning palm materialized, crashing into the water dragon midair and obliterating it in a blinding flash. The palm didn''t stop; it surged forward, aiming straight for the Fourth Head and Sixth Head. The two narrowed their eyes, their focus sharpening. Channeling their mana, they unleashed powerful attacks to counter the approaching force. The collision of their attacks with the lightning palm generated intense friction, the air itself seeming to crackle and burn. Boom!! Leorin advanced relentlessly, his form emanating an overwhelming aura of raw lightning energy. Blue and white arcs of electricity danced from his fingertips, connecting the scorched ground beneath him to the charged air around him. "Fight! Give me everything you''ve got! Stop me if you can!" he roared. Electrical arcs surged from the sky, bolstering the massive lightning palm that continued to press against the Fourth Head and Sixth Head''s resistance. Sparks and shockwaves erupted as the battle reached an even more ferocious intensity. Leorin, the leader of Deso, was a powerful man who had lived for sixty years. Deso, a criminal organization, primarily operated within a small country. While influential on a local scale, they were insignificant compared to the massive might of the Deadly Sins. Despite his power, Leorin was forced to obey the commands of the Deadly Sins. The same fate befell Arie, Walfen, and Ferdin, all leaders of their own organizations. It wasn''t just them- numerous similar groups moved under the shadow of the Deadly Sins, aligning themselves with the larger force. The Deadly Sins ordered these organizations to become active, even compelling those that had been in hiding to emerge. It was a golden opportunity for plunder and expansion, as the Deadly Sins diverted the attention of the Holy Lands away from smaller criminal groups like Deso. "Even if you stop me, people like me will just keep coming!" Leorin declared, his voice filled with defiance. At this very moment, numerous cities were under simultaneous attack. Ekatoe City was just one of many caught in the crossfire. "§¡§¯§¯§¯!!!" The Fourth Head and Sixth Head roared as they tore through the massive lightning palm. But before they could regain their footing, Leorin was already waiting for them behind the dissipating attack, ready to strike. Leorin surged forward, flashing with incredible speed as he attacked the two. The Fourth Head and Sixth Head reacted just in time, managing to block the strike, but the overwhelming force behind it sent them hurtling backward. Boom!! At that moment, Eilish completed her spell. She pointed her staff at Leorin, and a powerful bluish beam erupted toward him. "Hmph!" Leorin snorted, raising his hand effortlessly to block the beam. But it was a ruse-a carefully planned distraction. Behind him, Alice was already gathering an immense amount of mana. Leorin''s senses tingled as he realized the threat, but it was too late. Alice unleashed her attack. Swoosh!! A brilliant golden ray descended from above. Leorin crossed his arms in front of him, bracing himself as the attack struck. The impact rattled him, and an unsettling sensation coursed through his body. ''What is this...?'' Leorin stepped back, allowing the momentum of the golden ray to dissipate before him. His sharp gaze shifted to Alice, scrutinizing her with a mix of irritation and wariness. ''It''s not her ability... Is it her weapon? That power is tearing through my flesh...'' Leorin thought to himself, his gaze fixed on Alice as he assessed the situation. While he was distracted, the Fourth Head and Sixth Head seized the opportunity and charged at him. Leorin''s eyes widened as he sensed their approaching energy. Quickly turning, he launched a lightning-infused punch. Boom!! The Fourth Head braced himself, standing at the forefront to block the lightning strike, while the Sixth Head darted above, his focus locked on Leorin. Energy and elemental power surged outward from the Sixth Head, crackling like a storm. In a heartbeat, the Sixth Head appeared before Leorin, unleashing a relentless barrage of punches. Leorin reacted instantly, his hands moving in a blur as he defended and counterattacked simultaneously. Bang!! Bang!! Their blows collided at incredible speed, sending shockwaves rippling through the air. Blood splattered as the ferocious exchange continued. The Fourth Head quickly rejoined the battle, flanking Leorin to provide support. He knew that if the fight persisted, the Sixth Head would eventually falter. Wasting no time, the Fourth Head unleashed his attacks, aiming to turn the tide of the battle. Thousands of blows were exchanged within mere seconds, their movements blurring as their elemental powers spread outward, creating a chaotic field of violent energy. Despite working in unison, the Sixth Head and Fourth Head couldn''t overpower Leorin. The battle reached a stalemate. Leorin endured countless strikes from both opponents, his body accumulating wounds. But his adversaries fared no better-both the Sixth Head and Fourth Head were bloodied as they unleashed their relentless attacks. Their figures weaved through the air, a mesmerizing yet deadly display. The vibrant lights from their energy and elements illuminated the battlefield, radiating power so intense that no ordinary person could survive even a single touch. Bang! Bang! Bang! Alice stood on the sidelines, her sharp eyes observing the clash as she waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. She knew she couldn''t face Leorin in direct combat like the others, and patience was her greatest weapon. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled softly, white smoke drifting from her body. Slowly, she activated her [Dream Power], preparing for her next move. Alice felt a strange sensation coursing through her body as she tightened her grip on her weapon. Whispers echoed in her ears-faint voices ranging from innocent children to the elderly. She was absorbing the emotions saturating the city. Grief and fear swirled around her, vivid and overwhelming. Alice could almost see the despair etched on the faces of the helpless as they fell before the invaders. With each emotion she absorbed, her power grew stronger. Boom! The Fourth Head was violently thrown to the ground, his body crashing with immense force. He spat out a mouthful of blood but quickly stood, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "Damn!" he hissed through gritted teeth. Lowering himself into a crouch, he launched back into the air. Swoosh!! Leorin shifted to the side, narrowly avoiding the Fourth Head''s charge. The Sixth Head seized the moment to attack, but Leorin countered swiftly, conjuring a lightning net that temporarily halted the punch. Capitalizing on the distraction, Leorin swung his hand toward the Fourth Head, his movements sharp and precise. The Fourth Head''s eyes widened as the lightning whip lashed toward him. He twisted his body to the side, barely evading the crackling energy, but he didn''t falter. Pressing forward, he opened his palm and released a sphere of energy. Leorin dodged the sphere with ease, but his realization came a moment too late-the Fourth Head''s target wasn''t him. It was the lightning net. "Shit!" Leorin cursed, turning quickly, but the Sixth Head was already upon him. Lightning arcs coursed through the Sixth Head''s hand as he swung it with terrifying speed. [Destruction Lightning Wave]!! The Sixth Head didn''t attempt to block the attack. Instead, he gathered his own energy, channeling it into his fist for a devastating counterstrike while twisting his body to minimize the incoming blow. Swoosh!! A deafening roar escaped the Sixth Head as searing pain tore through him. Blood splattered violently, and he watched in horror as his severed hand spiraled through the air. Yet, his other fist connected solidly with Leorin''s chest, driving home the attack with raw, unyielding force. Boom!! Leorin gritted his teeth, gathering his mana at his chest, trying to push against the force of the Sixth Head''s strike. But in his focus on blocking the attack, he had forgotten about the Fourth Head. The Fourth Head was already behind him, both hands thrust forward. [Divine Shock]!! "YOU!!" Leorin groaned in pain, his head twisting slightly to glance at the Fourth Head. "Ehe, fall down!" the Fourth Head chuckled, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. A ripple of energy surged outward, followed by a powerful explosion. The force rippled through the air, reverberating like thunder, and the elements spread outward like an expanding balloon, devastating everything in its path. Eilish, Alice, and the others, watching from the sidelines, braced themselves, their eyes wide as the explosion''s shockwave rattled the very air. It was a force of destruction unlike anything they had witnessed. Chapter 1074: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Surrender Boom!! The deafening roar of the explosion echoed through the air, and a shockwave of blinding light exploded outward in every direction. The sky ignited with a kaleidoscope of colors, each one representing the fury of the elements as three silhouettes were flung across the battlefield, crashing in different areas. The air was thick with a dangerous maelstrom of energy, crackling and pulsing with destructive power. Alice''s eyes locked onto Leorin''s energy fluctuations, her instincts sharpened. She tightened her grip on the golden spear, and a surge of overwhelming energy burst forth from her. With a single, forceful thrust, a vast golden beam erupted. Ohm!! The beam shot toward Leorin, moving faster than the eye could follow, closing the distance in less than a second. Leorin, still reeling from the joint attack of the Fourth and Sixth Heads, had no time to dodge. Alice roared, putting every ounce of strength into her strike. She twisted the spear in her hand, and the air seemed to tear apart as the energy twisted and danced in a chaotic, violent spiral. A dome of raging energy exploded outward, obliterating everything in its path. Boom!! Alice hovered in the air, her chest rising and falling with labored breaths as the shockwaves from her attack subsided. The battlefield lay in ruins, unrecognizable after the devastation wrought by their fierce clash. Her energy was nearly depleted, but she stood firm, her resolve unwavering. The Fourth Head and Sixth Head slowly rose from their positions, scanning the wreckage, wondering if their combined efforts had finally taken down Leorin. A heavy silence blanketed the field, broken only by the mournful wail of the wind sweeping across the scarred landscape. Then, the ground trembled with the crackling of lightning, and someone slowly rose from the rubble. Alice, the Fourth Head, and Sixth Head frowned as they saw the figure emerge from the destruction. It was Leorin. Cough! Cough! Leorin spat a mouthful of blood, his body riddled with wounds, blood still pouring from his battered form. But his gaze was fierce as he lifted his head and glared at them, the defiance in his eyes unyielding despite the severity of his injuries. "Really... I never thought it would come to this." Leorin''s voice was strained as he turned his head left and right, taking in the situation. He saw that, aside from the Fourth Head and Sixth Head, Alice and the others were still standing. Even if he managed to take down the Fourth and Sixth Heads, he knew he''d be too weak to fight the rest. The realization hit him hard: his defeat was inevitable. "I surrender now," Leorin said, his voice low but resolute. The words hung in the air, and for a moment, the battlefield seemed to hold its breath. Alice and the others were taken aback by his sudden declaration. "What do you mean?" Fourth Head asked, his voice edged with suspicion. He couldn''t shake the feeling that this might be some sort of trap. "I meant exactly what I said," Leorin replied, glancing at the Fourth Head. "I surrender. I won''t fight anymore." A tense silence followed as Sixth Head narrowed his eyes. "How do we know you won''t go back on your word?" he asked, skepticism lacing his voice. "Hmm..." Leorin paused, his gaze sweeping over them. After a moment, he spoke again, his voice steady but laced with the weight of his situation. "Walfen and Arie have fallen. I guess I''m next, so I want to surrender. Even if I were to defeat three or four of you, I''d be completely exhausted by then, with no strength left to resist. It''s better for all of you if I surrender. If I keep fighting, I''ll surely take a few of you down with me, and I''m sure you don''t want that, do you?" Alice and the others fell silent, taking in his words. There was no denying the truth in what he said. If the battle continued, Leorin, despite his injuries, could likely take a few of them down before succumbing to exhaustion. Many lives had already been lost, and no one wanted to add more to that toll. "Moreover," Leorin continued, his voice steady as ever, "I''m the Leader of Deso. I still have people to return to. I don''t want to fall here. Deso is a small organization, and the Deadly Sins simply gave us an opportunity to expand. But you should know this city isn''t the only one being attacked right now. The Holy Lands are swarmed, dealing with simultaneous assaults in cities all across the continent." Leorin''s eyes darkened, knowing the stakes were even higher than they appeared. The Ruler of Gluttony''s war was reaching far and wide, and the Holy Lands were stretched thin. "That''s why, I''ll surrender," Leorin finished, his tone almost pleading. "I hope you''ll let me go. Or, perhaps you''d prefer I fight to the death with you?" If they didn''t accept his proposal, Leorin knew there was only one option left: to fight. Before exhaustion could take him, he would take down as many as he could. Noticing their hesitation, he pointed toward the direction where Arden and the Nine-Headed Hydra were clashing. "You shouldn''t be worried about me..." Leorin said, his voice carrying a hint of urgency. "You should be more concerned about that man, Arden. He''s a member of the Army of Gluttony, the one dispatched here. Unlike me, that man won''t surrender. He''ll fight to the death, no matter what, just to complete his mission." Arden was a fanatic of the Ruler of Gluttony. A Seventh-circle officer of the Army of Gluttony, he was a force to be reckoned with. After a brief silence, Alice spoke, her voice firm. "Fine, we accept your proposal." Eilish, still unsure, stepped forward and asked, "Are you sure about this, Alice?" "Yeah," Alice responded, though her eyes remained hard. "I don''t want to let him go after everything he''s done, but we don''t have any other choice. It''s better to have fewer opponents with our current condition." Alice had already weighed the pros and cons of agreeing to Leorin''s proposal. After much consideration, she decided that it was better not to fight him to the death, despite how disrespectful it might seem to those who had perished in the battle. No matter what, Alice didn''t want to add more casualties. It was more important to focus on the more dangerous opponent first. "I won''t attack any of you," Leorin continued, his voice steady. "In fact, I''m going to leave this place. Arden will become my enemy now. He won''t tolerate my surrender, so he''ll hunt down Deso." Fourth Head raised an eyebrow, skepticism evident in his voice. "If he''s going to hunt you, why do you still want to leave?" Leorin gave a wry smile. "It''s simple. If I don''t leave now and we continue fighting, it''s only a matter of time before I fall from exhaustion after killing a few of you. But if I leave now, I don''t think Arden will be able to follow me since he''s occupied with that hydra. I''ll have time to prepare, and if somehow you manage to defeat him, then it''s a win for me." Leorin was bargaining on the fact that he was stronger than any of them and could take down a few before he fell. If not for the suppression of the barrier formation, he wouldn''t have needed to surrender. Unfortunately for him, none of them had found the source of the formation, so he resorted to this tactic. Alice understood his reasoning, and it was why she agreed to his proposal. "Then, what will you do now?" the Sixth Head asked. The others remained silent, still observing Leorin in case he went back on his word. After all, they couldn''t fully trust him. "I''ll wait for an opportunity to leave," Leorin said, turning his head toward the direction where Arden was fighting the hydra. ... Swoosh!! Arden was exchanging blows with the fierce Nine-Headed Hydra. He moved quickly from side to side, dodging the energy beams coming at him. A magic circle appeared beneath his feet as he raised both hands. [Destruction Meteor]!! A gigantic flaming meteorite appeared above him, descending rapidly. However, the nine heads of the hydra opened their mouths simultaneously, firing highly concentrated energy beams at the meteorite. Boom!! The air vibrated as the meteorite shattered into thousands of fragments. Arden dashed through the air, narrowly avoiding the falling meteorite fragments. He descended quickly, landing near the hydra, and opened his palm. His energy surged through his body and into his hand. In the next moment, he thrust his palm forward, releasing a powerful shockwave. Boom!! The Nine-Headed Hydra roared as it was pushed back several meters. Arden quickly realized that the situation was no longer in his favor. Both Walfen and Arie''s energy fluctuations had disappeared. The two of them must have been defeated. ''They''re useless... They can''t even locate the core of this barrier formation,'' he thought inwardly. The situation was still salvageable. If he could eliminate the other threats, he would be able to turn things around. However, doing so would make the others expendable, and he would face punishment for it once the task was completed. Suddenly, Arden felt something. He sensed Leorin''s energy fluctuations, and they were close. Swoosh!! Arden quickly turned his head and saw Leorin flying toward the giant hole in the barrier. ''Don''t tell me...'' His eyes widened as he realized what Leorin was trying to do. He narrowed them again and shouted, "Leorin, you''ll die! You don''t know what you''re doing-" Before Arden could finish his words, Kessa attacked him. A series of [Bestrou] struck his body, causing a massive explosion. Boom!! As the explosion reverberated, Leorin continued flying, ignoring everything happening around him. Even Ferdin, who had been engaged in battle with Erkigal, was momentarily distracted. He couldn''t help but glance at the unfolding scene. "Leorin!" he shouted. Leorin was about to leave the barrier when something unexpected happened. A loud crash echoed as his body was thrown to the ground at high speed. Bang!! Leorin spat out a mouthful of blood as the dust shot up into the air. He had no idea what had happened. It felt as though he had been pushed by a terrifying force, and by the time he realized it, he was already on the ground. "What happened?" Chapter 1075: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Despair Alice and the others were also flabbergasted when they saw the scene. They couldn''t figure out what had happened at all. Leorin was kneeling on the ground, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "What is this?" he muttered as he looked up at the sky. Swoosh!! The smoke and dust settled in the central area, and Arden walked out of it, wounds covering his body. He radiated an immense aura as he cracked his neck and glanced in Leorin''s direction. Arden locked onto Leorin''s energy fluctuations. His voice reverberated. "I told you that you can''t leave... Did you really think you could just leave because you wanted to? Our target is to destroy this city and kill the Blood Lightning Monster." The entire area vibrated as black energy surged into the gaping hole in the formation barrier. Alice, Eztein, and the others in the city, including Leorin, couldn''t help but look up. They sensed that something was wrong. "If my role is to stop the hydra and yours is to destroy the city and handle the rest of the people here, then who''s going to kill the Blood Lightning Monster? Have you ever thought about this? Do you really think it''s easy to back out once you''ve made a deal with the Deadly Sins? It''s not. You have no idea what the Deadly Sins truly are." His cold voice echoed. Ferdin turned his head, sensing something. Suddenly, black spears pierced his body from behind. "W-What?!" He muttered as blood dripped to the ground. Erkigal, who was facing Ferdin, widened her eyes. She saw a mass of darkness behind her opponent. The darkness caught Ferdin off guard and pierced his body with sharp spears. Swoosh!! Ferdin fell to the ground as the darkness behind him slowly dissipated into thin air. On the other side of the city, Leorin forced a smile as he clicked his tongue. "Tsk, I made a bad choice." Ferdin''s energy fluctuations had disappeared, and Leorin could now feel something terrifying drawing closer to him. He didn''t know what it was, but he had a bad feeling about it. Suddenly, Leorin jumped as if trying to avoid something. He looked down, but darkness appeared on his back, quickly turning into black spears that pierced his body. "Ugh!" Leorin fell to the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood. He realized it. It came from him. It was within his body, so there was no way to avoid it. How? This should be impossible. At that moment, Arden''s voice echoed once again. "You''ve failed to see the loophole. You people don''t realize it. Why? It''s simple-you don''t know what the Deadly Sins are. You think you''re going to take advantage of the situation while the main army of the Gluttony Army is busy with the Holy Lands. But it''s the opposite. We are the ones taking advantage of people like you. The moment you made a deal with us, the moment you fell into our hands, you were afflicted by our curse." Leorin felt his vision growing blurry. He looked down and saw that the entire ground was covered in dark, ominous energy. Ohm!! Erkigal, who was in another area, couldn''t help but turn her head as she sensed something terrible approaching. Eztein, Vashno, and the others also felt it. "What is this?!" It gave off an indescribable feeling. Whoosh!! A mass of darkness emerged from the ground, transforming into a figure cloaked in a dark robe. The figure radiated immense power. He stood calmly, slowly observing everyone. His perception spread out, scanning the entire area. After a few moments, he lifted his head and glanced at the barrier formation. "Barrier formation from ten thousand years ago..." His voice was low, yet everyone heard it, causing them to shiver involuntarily. Erkigal''s face grew grave as she saw the figure. She recognized him. A Messenger of Gluttony. This was bad. A Messenger of Gluttony was something else entirely. Everyone stood frozen as the tremendous aura swept through the area. The Messenger of Gluttony exuded a power that they could feel, and their instincts screamed that this person was filled with overwhelming malice. Leorin, lying on the ground, forced himself to lift his head and glance at the figure not far from him. "A Messenger is... here... I didn''t even... realize that I... I was bound by a c-curse..." He spoke with great difficulty, staring directly at the figure clad in dark attire. Even though his vision was blurry, he could still make out that this person was a Messenger of Gluttony. The Messenger of Gluttony had a strange appearance. They were all cloaked in dark attire, and nearly all of them possessed the same abilities. They were also incredibly loyal to their God, to the point of madness, willing to sacrifice their lives if their God willed it. Ohm!! Alice, Eilish, Fourth Head, and Sixth Head wore pale expressions. Being close to the Messenger of Gluttony, the pressure they felt was overwhelming. "T-This is bad..." Fourth Head muttered. "Yeah, I don''t think we can stop this person," Sixth Head nodded. "I know, it''s useless... From his aura alone, the only one who could stop this is the hydra," Fourth Head replied. None of them had the power to stop the Messenger of Gluttony. Only Kessa had the ability to do so, but she was occupied with Arden, and Arden wouldn''t allow Kessa to save the rest. The Messenger of Gluttony retracted his gaze from the barrier. He looked at Alice and the others, and they instantly felt goosebumps spread across their bodies. It was as if they were being stared at by death itself. Fourth Head and the others realized it. Even if it was futile, they had no choice but to resist with all their might. Death was certain. The Messenger slowly raised his arm. "Amanda! Run!! Go and bring others with you!!" Alice shouted. They couldn''t stop the Messenger of Gluttony. He was on an entirely different level than their previous opponent. "B-But..." Amanda looked at Alice, feeling weak as she recalled Elder Guan''s death. "Hurry!! We don''t-" Alice couldn''t even finish her sentence as the Messenger of Gluttony suddenly vanished from her sight. Fourth Head and Sixth Head widened their eyes as they felt a surge of extreme danger. Swoosh!! ... A few hours earlier. Souta was in the den of a Monster Lord, known as Lady Echidna. He was alone, sitting in a vast cave surrounded by trees, grass, and a lake. There was an ecosystem here, but the monsters living in this area were non-evolved. None of them were at the level of the first evolution stage-not a single one. After a while, he opened his eyes, feeling power coursing through his body. "T-This is magnificent..." Souta commented. "Remember my words, resist it. Hold it back and tame it. Put it under your control, and you will be able to rise. If you can''t, then you will be the same as the rest, buried in the depths." A voice echoed. It was Echidna''s voice. She didn''t reveal her appearance to him; she simply communicated with him in this way. "I know what to do now," Souta nodded in response to her words. "Ehe~ you''re truly a work of art. Your power exceeds everyone else''s, but you must not let it control you. It should be the opposite. You must control it if you want to reach the highest level. It''s incredible, really. I can''t believe there''s a fourth-stage monster like you." Souta nodded again. Suddenly, he felt a tiny fluctuation in his pocket. He realized it was coming from his communication talisman. He took it out and poured his energy into it. "S-Souta!! We''re under attack!!" Alice''s voice came through the talisman. "What?!" Souta narrowed his eyes. "We''re under attack. I guess they are from the Gluttony Army based on the insignia I saw," Alice explained. "Gluttony Army?" "Yeah, Kessa is currently fighting one of them. I''m heading to the west to provide some help, but I don''t know how long we''ll last. The enemy is too strong." "Okay, you have to hold on. I''ll be back as soon as possible." Souta cut the communication with a grave look on his face. He looked ahead and said, "I''m sorry, Lady Echidna, but there''s an urgent matter, so I need to go now." "Ehe~ it''s fine. I''ve heard it. You can go now. I will summon you again once you''ve reached the next stage. I''m sure it''s not that long." Echidna''s voice echoed. "Thank you for your understanding," Souta bowed. Then, he turned around and left. Echidna''s voice lingered in the air. "Next month or the next two months... He''ll reach the fifth stage, so it''s not that long." Swoosh!! After leaving the Den of a Monster Lord, Souta immediately burst into the air as fast as he could. Ekatoe City had been invaded by the people from the Gluttony Army, and the situation was very serious. Kessa was there, so she could probably hold off the strongest expert. As for the rest of his people, he knew it was too early for them to face a powerful opponent like a Seventh-circle officer of the Deadly Sins. However, there was a powerful [Five Elements Barrier Formation] set up around the city, so they could probably hold on. Souta thought about what was happening in the city. He wanted to call Alice again, but since she had said she was going to help the others, it wouldn''t be wise to disturb her. Chapter 1076: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Madness Soon, Souta arrived at the Champion''s Den. He descended and walked through the gate, as flying was forbidden within the city. He immediately went to Athena''s Champion and noticed that the warriors seemed to be in a hurry. Souta walked and arrived at the portal. What he found there surprised him. "What?!" Souta widened his eyes. "Tens of thousands of cities are being attacked right now. Even Division Commander Cicero has been dispatched to clean up the commotion in some of the big cities." A tall man with dark green hair stood before Souta. He wore black and dark red leather armor. He was the Chief Captain of the First Set Wisdom of the Pallas Division. With the absence of the Division Commander, he was the one tasked with handling the matters here at Athena''s Champion branch in the Champion''s Den. "Recently, the frontline in the three theaters suffered a devastating loss. And in the Immortal Land, in the Fengdu Region, Gluttony has appeared." Besides that, tens of thousands of cities were under attack by various organizations, all backed by the Gluttony Army, so they had no fear. "Have you noticed that the other God''s Legions around the Champion''s Den are on the move too?" Souta nodded and inquired about the portal. He soon discovered that the other side of the portal had been destroyed, rendering it unusable. Ekatoe City wasn''t the only one under attack; it was just one among the tens of thousands of cities. "I have no choice but to fly there." Souta muttered to himself. Souta left Athena''s Champion and flew through the air. Unable to use the portal, it would take him time to get there. He just hoped they could hold on. In the office, the Chief Captain of the First Wisdom Set glanced at the sky and then said, "Go to Ekatoe City. Grain Leader Souta needs some people there. Prioritize his safety above all else. We''ve received reports that some of the Heroes of the Gods have been ambushed. The situation is dire." Honestly, they only just found out that Ekatoe City was under attack after they noticed that the portal wasn''t working. Most of the ordinary citizens in the Holy Lands weren''t affected, but those from the outside were greatly impacted. It was chaotic, especially around the perimeter of the three theaters. There seemed to be an ancient Monster Lord there, wreaking havoc. Swoosh!! Souta was flying through the sky. He left the territory of Olympus and arrived at Mine Valley. ... Ekatoe City. Eilish looked over and saw her arm flying through the air, blood spraying in every direction. Her eyes narrowed in pain as she heard the desperate cry of her comrade. "EILISH!!" Their scream echoed in her ears before another wave of pain assaulted her body. The Messenger, cloaked in a dark robe, stretched out its hand, and darkness pierced through her body. Ugh! When Eilish realized it, she was already lying on the ground. A huge gaping hole was visible in her chest, and blood was gushing out, forming a small pool around her. The Messenger stood several meters away, holding a heart dripping with blood in its hand. Eilish turned her head and saw Alice, Amanda, and the others rushing toward her. She wanted to say something, but her throat was filled with blood. She couldn''t help but cough, spilling more blood. ''No, don''t come here!'' Eilish looked down and saw the blood from her severed arm still gushing out. ''I see..'' ''So I''ve reached my limit...'' She felt her strength slowly draining away, and her heart seemed to wither into nothingness. ''I was looking forward to his praise. What do you think, Souta? Did I do it right? Perhaps, this is retribution. Back then, at Walpurgis Night, you killed many people to save my brother. You didn''t hesitate to forsake countless lives for my wish. But now, maybe this is also a form of karma. People in our city have died one after another, and I''m probably next.'' Eilish turned her eyes as her vision blurred. She saw a silhouette in her fading sight. It was familiar, so she tried to raise her other hand, but she couldn''t muster any strength left in her body. "Y... Y-You''re... fi...nally... here..." Eilish forced a smile, struggling with every breath, as the silhouette in her vision crouched down and gently wiped the blood from her cheek. The Messenger of Gluttony turned its head and saw a figure beside Eilish. Alice, Amanda, and the rest paused, staring at the figure. "S-Souta..." Alice muttered, her voice barely audible, while her eyes locked on his back. A heavy silence fell over the battlefield. Souta held Eilish''s hand without saying a word. His heart pounded wildly, emotions swelling within him, threatening to consume him. Eilish''s vitality drained rapidly. Dark smoke lingered around her wounds, making them worse with every passing second. "S-Souta... I..." Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at his face. Despite her blurry vision, she knew it was him. "Did... I live a... great life?" She asked, recalling everything she had endured-the hardships of searching for a cure for her brother''s illness, the friends she had lost, and all the pain she faced, until the day she met him in the sub-world. "Yeah," Souta nodded, his voice breaking as he lowered his head. He saw the life in her eyes slowly fade away. He exhaled deeply, standing up, his gaze fixed on the sky. Eilish had died. He was too late. Souta stepped forward, determination in his eyes. The Messenger of Gluttony turned toward him, sensing the change. Its aura began to rise, swelling with power. "Souta, get a hold of yourself! Echidna said you have to control it! Tame it! Don''t let it control you!" Saya shouted in his mind. Souta glanced at the sword in his hand and whispered, "It''s too late, Saya... It''s too heavy." As soon as he spoke those words, the [Vajra Sword Saya] slipped from his grip and fell to the ground. In the next instant, his energy erupted violently like a raging tide. "ARGHHHHH!!!" The ground was instantly drenched in blood as dark clouds gathered above, flashing with blood-colored lightning. Souta clutched his head, his knees buckling as he fell to the ground. His emotions reached their breaking point, and his energy surged uncontrollably, forming a storm of darkness and lightning that swept across the area. Boom!! People and objects alike were thrust away by the overwhelming force of the energy. "S-Souta..." Isabella whispered, staring at the intense storm of energy swirling around him. "It''s dangerous here... What should we do?" Amanda glanced at Alice. "I..." Alice hesitated, her eyes fixed on the scene unfolding before her. She gritted her teeth and finally answered, "We need to retrieve Eilish, first." Swoosh!! The Messenger of Gluttony stood undisturbed inside the violent storm of energy. He glanced at Souta briefly before taking a step forward. His target was here, and it was time to finish his job. Ohm! Souta roared, his voice full of rage. Four spider limbs erupted from his back as a massive skull emerged from the blood. The skull loomed behind him, its mouth wide open. ROAR!!!! Various roars echoed through the city. Doranjan felt a stinging pain in his head as he turned his gaze toward the source of the chaotic energy storm. "This is...?!" Doranjan flapped his wings, his eyes scanning the other monsters. They were all writhing in pain, as if something was forcefully stirring within them. Roars of agony echoed throughout the area as they struggled on the ground. Torkez staggered forward, his body covered in injuries. He turned to the green dragon and shouted, "Doranjan!! You have to go now!! Bring all the other monsters with you!! Get out of this city!" If he wasn''t mistaken, this would lead to a monster tide. The monsters would lose themselves and turn into uncontrollable killing machines, only stopping once their energy and stamina were completely depleted. They had to get out before it was too late. It would be a catastrophic disaster if a monster tide broke out here. "I, who shall awaken..." A voice that contained immense power reverberated through the air. Rifts opened in the sky, and white smoke gushed out of them. A wave of energy washed over the entire city. Torkez, Alice, Eztein, and the others couldn''t help but turn their heads, sensing the overwhelming malice in the air. The Heads of the Dragon Council felt goosebumps crawling across their bodies. ROAR!!! Kessa writhed madly on the ground as she felt a strange sensation bubbling inside her. It was intense, forcefully trying to break free. Her energy surged uncontrollably. Even Kessa was affected by it. She had to leave, or it would be a great disaster if she succumbed to the monster tide. No one would be able to stop her. Boom!! The situation descended into chaos. Everything had changed in an instant. "Go!!" Torkez shouted. He urged the people still alive to help the monsters evacuate the city. Chapter 1077: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Souta vs the Messenger of Gluttony ARGH!!! Souta roared fiercely. His energy exploded as blood-colored lightning erupted in all directions, forming a powerful storm of violent energy, with him at its center. The Messenger stepped forward and raised his hand. His energy erupted as well, attracting Souta''s attention. ROAR!!!! Souta roared, and crimson-colored armor covered his body. His figure flickered as he dashed toward the Messenger of Gluttony. Swoosh!! Countless black strings emerged. Souta swung his hand swiftly, slicing through the black strings coming at him. In the next moment, he arrived in front of the Messenger. The Messenger opened his palm, and black strings formed around it, quickly turning into a sharp sword. He immediately swung the sword at the incoming monster. Bang!! The two fought fiercely, their energy clashing and causing widespread destruction. Erkigal landed on the ground, covered in blood. She stared at the fierce battle in front of her before glancing at Alice. "Go," Erkigal said. "Seventh Head has lost control of his power and will soon be subjugated." "What?!" Alice turned her head, eyes wide in shock. "You should''ve known it," Erkigal continued, her tone grim. "It''s always been like this, right? Every time a monster loses control, they are subjugated. I''m sure Seventh Head knew this." She paused, her gaze flickering to the battle. "He''s already affecting the other monsters. At this rate, there will be a monster tide, and it will involve all the monsters in Ekatoe City- monsters that you know." Alice didn''t reply. Instead, she stared ahead at the battle, her eyes filled with concern. "You need to go now!" Erkigal urged. "I''ll try to lessen the impact of the battle." Boom!! A loud explosion erupted, sending Souta crashing to the ground. His body caused a massive crater, which immediately filled with blood. A huge gash ran across his chest, tearing his armor into pieces. Thud! The Messenger descended, eyes fixed on Souta as he slowly rose from the blood-soaked crater. He watched in disbelief as the wound on Souta''s chest began to heal, and the torn armor repaired itself, absorbing the blood around him. Souta turned his head, his eyes burning with madness. Roar!! The Messenger of Gluttony raised his sword, sensing something. He quickly looked up, only to see several spatial rifts opening in the air, releasing white smoke. "Dream..." The white smoke swirled rapidly, quickly engulfing the area. The entire landscape began to shift. The sun became trapped in a perpetual twilight, and the sky crackled with red lightning. ''Dreamscape...'' The Messenger turned his head, seeing Souta now floating in the middle of the sky. Lightning coursed through his body, and both of his hands radiated with the combined power of darkness and light. Black strings emerged from the Messenger''s body as he bent his knees and charged toward Souta. Swoosh!! Seeing the Messenger charging at him, Souta roared. Blood gathered around his palms and transformed into swords. Clang! Clang! The Messenger and Souta exchanged rapid blows, their weapons clashing with incredible force. Bang! The Messenger was momentarily surprised. Despite being consumed by his power, Souta''s combat skills remained exceptional. His movements were deeply ingrained in him, and even in his maddened state, his fighting style remained precise. ... On the outside, Erkigal and the others immediately retreated as the white smoke filled the entire area. "Dreamscape..." Erkigal narrowed her eyes, staring at the thick white smoke. "This is something that the Seventh Head used back in the ancient ruins, but judging by the intense fluctuations... his Dream Power is stronger than last time," the Fourth Head said. The white smoke continued to expand, devouring everything in its path. "Back away! Anyone caught in it will be transported to the dreamscape!" the Sixth Head shouted. The witches who had been fighting immediately began retreating. The situation had grown even more dire, as their leader, the Blood Lightning Monster, had lost control of his power. Swoosh!! Suddenly, several figures clad in armor descended from above. Each one radiated powerful energy. They stared at the dreamscape and narrowed their eyes. "So we''re too late... A dreamscape has appeared." One of the warriors stepped forward and glanced at Erkigal. He asked, "What happened here?" Erkigal glanced warily at the figures and asked, "Who are you?" She could sense that the warrior who had questioned her was no weaker than herself. It would be troublesome if these warriors were enemies. "Hmm? We''re from Athena''s Champion. We were dispatched here after Grain Leader Souta left the Champion''s Den," the warrior said, turning his head back toward the dream fog. "But it seems we''re too late. Grain Leader Souta has lost control of his power and will be put under subjugation." The other warriors unsheathed their weapons, and their energy erupted like a volcano. "But before that..." The warrior at the front turned to look in the direction of Kessa. "The hydra is being affected by Grain Leader Souta, so deal with the officer of the Deadly Sins over there first." Three warriors stepped forward and flew into the air, their target none other than Arden, who sensed their arrival. Kessa had to leave the city before she became consumed by the power within her. Doing so would leave Arden alone, and it was unwise to leave a strong person like him unchecked. They had to deal with him to prevent him from disrupting everything here. The rest of the warriors stepped forward and allowed the dream fog to engulf them. Swoosh!! When they opened their eyes, they saw an entirely different scene. It felt like the end of the world as two figures fought fiercely in the sky. Boom! Boom! Souta opened his mouth wide, and the four spider limbs on his back aimed at the Messenger. A massive concentration of energy gathered at his mouth and the tips of the spider limbs. In the next moment, he fired a [Bestrou] toward the Messenger of Gluttony. Ohm! The beams tore through the air, sending shockwaves through the area. The Messenger of Gluttony dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the beams, but Souta continued to aim at him. Swoosh!! The Messenger moved side to side, dodging the beams coming at him. Energy gathered at his sword as black strings from his body pierced the sea of blood below. The black strings rooted themselves in the sea in an instant before he stopped moving and swung his sword. A massive dark energy blade collided with the beams. The collision of the attacks caused a massive explosion that illuminated the entire area. Black strings quickly emerged from the sea of blood, tearing through the thick smoke caused by the explosion. Souta observed this and launched a fierce strike. Blood-red lightning descended from above. Then, darkness and lightning seemed to come alive as they wriggled toward the Messenger of Gluttony. The Messenger retreated, trying to avoid the attack. His energy pushed back against the pressure of the dreamscape. The oppressive power of the dreamscape was terrifying. If it were another expert, they would have been immediately suppressed in this realm. He moved, continually firing energy blades. Bang! Bang! The Messenger and Souta fought relentlessly, disregarding everything else. The entire dreamscape was filled with violent energy. A blinding light erupted as the Messenger of Gluttony managed to get close to Souta. They engaged in another round of close-range combat. Every time they swung their fists or weapons, a powerful shockwave was generated, dispersing the smoke around them. In the distance, the warriors from Athena''s Champion watched the battle unfold before their eyes. "Should we interfere, Sir?" One of the warriors looked at the leading warrior. "No, it''s too early. Let them fight for a while. We''ll eliminate the Messenger of Gluttony and then proceed to subjugate Grain Leader Souta. Still... To think that a Messenger has appeared here is beyond my expectations." The leading warrior replied. He was Trander, the Chief Captain of the First War Set. Leyn, the Chief Captain of the First Wisdom Set, had dispatched him to this place. But the appearance of a Messenger of Gluttony in this small city was unexpected. He knew that Messengers of Gluttony had appeared in various cities under attack at this moment. The current situation against the Gluttony Army was reaching its peak. Several Holy Lands were about to make a move, and it would be devastating. Countless people would be affected. Suddenly, a powerful energy fluctuation erupted. Trander and the rest of the warriors couldn''t help but widen their eyes. "Brace yourselves!" Trander shouted to his subordinates. Ohm! This energy fluctuation pierced through the boundaries of dream and reality. Everyone in Ekatoe City turned their heads toward the thick white smoke, sensing that the fluctuation originated from there. Amanda, who was carrying Eilish, paused. She turned her head and felt goosebumps spreading across her body. This is bad! Isabella arrived before her and said, "Hurry up! We need to go now! We can''t stay here any longer!" Chapter 1078: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Monster Subjugation Franklin, Eztein, and Vashno, who were in another area, also felt it. Their instincts screamed at them to run. There was no way they could resist such force with their current strength. "Let''s go... We can''t stay here," Vashno said. "Yeah, it''s too much..." Eztein paused before continuing in a grave tone. "Ekatoe will be gone..." They knew that after this, the once-prosperous and bustling Ekatoe City would be no more. The damage to the city was too great. It would take a lot of time and resources to rebuild. The three got up and began to retreat. It wasn''t just them. The other survivors of the battle started retreating as well. They were all warriors of Ekatoe City, none of them ordinary people. All the ordinary citizens who hadn''t managed to evacuate in time had perished when Kessa unleashed her form. Some of the warriors helped the monsters leave the city. Some of the weaker monsters, already affected, had lost control and began attacking everything in sight. This forced Torkez to order some witches to eliminate the monsters. A monster tide would occur if Doranjan and the others stayed here much longer. In the dreamscape... Trander and the other warriors watched as the Messenger of Gluttony''s sword expanded like a balloon. The Messenger stepped forward, and Souta roared fiercely. The four spider limbs on his back transformed into a mass of flesh, wriggling in the air as it flew toward the Messenger. The Messenger of Gluttony stepped back, but the flesh still managed to slice his shoulders. Blood spurted from the wound and quickly transformed into sharp blades. These blades then flew toward Souta. Swoosh!! The sharp blood blades pierced the Messenger''s skin as he swung the balloon-like sword in his hand. Ohm!! In the next moment, a powerful explosion erupted, tearing through the boundary between dream and reality. A deafening sound reverberated. On the outside, people saw a burst of light erupt within the thick white smoke, followed by a powerful, dense energy flying out. Boom!! The entire city rumbled as the thick white smoke shattered. The sheer force of the explosion surged into the sky. Everyone who witnessed this realized that the dreamscape had been shattered. "It''s too strong..." Erkigal''s face grew grave at the sight. Alice, who was several dozen meters behind, wore a concerned expression, her fists tightly clenched. Whoosh!! An object fell from the sky and pierced the ground. Alice turned her head and saw a familiar sword. "This... is Souta''s sword," she muttered, recognizing it. "I..." Swoosh!! The area was filled with smoke, and violent energy sparks flew every second. The radiation was so high that a huge crater, nearly two hundred meters deep, marred the ground. The wind blew slowly, dispersing the smoke. Trander, the Chief Captain of the First War Set, stood in the air, observing the surroundings with his subordinates. "Prepare yourselves. We''ll intervene," he instructed his subordinates. Whoosh!! In the center of the crater, the Messenger of Gluttony stood. A few meters away, Souta knelt on the ground. Souta''s body was cut in two, from the center of his head to the bottom. Only his bones remained from his head to his torso. His powerful attack tore through Souta''s defenses. The strength of any of the Messengers of Gluttony was not to be underestimated. They were a force to reckon with due to their immense power. The Messenger stood calmly, his gaze still fixed on Souta. Suddenly, Souta''s eyes lit up as the flesh on his body began to move once again. His energy surged, and his flesh merged, reconnecting the half of his body that had been sliced off. ROAR!!! The ground turned black and white as dark clouds gathered in the sky once again. The gravity in the area increased severalfold, and black spheres materialized behind Souta. The darkness on the ground writhed as black tentacles rose from it. Several spells activated one after another. The Messenger vanished from his position and appeared behind Souta. Black strings emerged from his body and transformed into a sword. Swoosh!! Souta turned around, his blood covering the four spider limbs on his back. The limbs transformed and swept toward the Messenger of Gluttony. The Messenger''s sword flashed, cutting through the toughened spider limbs. The blade continued its path, heading straight for Souta. In the next second, a massive cut appeared on Souta''s back, and his blood spurted out like a fountain. The blood armor on his back was torn apart by the sharp blade. The Messenger of Gluttony was about to attack once more when Trander appeared behind him. Swoosh!! Trander gritted his teeth and delivered a powerful kick to the Messenger. The Messenger of Gluttony was sent flying into the air, and the other warriors quickly drew their weapons. In less than a second, they simultaneously activated their combat arts and launched their attacks. Several powerful auras erupted, followed by violent sparks of energy. A massive explosion ensued. "Continue!" Trander shouted as he bent his knees and launched himself into the air. It was difficult to catch a Messenger of Gluttony off guard, so they had to either eliminate him or deal significant damage. Trander and his subordinates held nothing back. They bombarded the Messenger with powerful skills. The sky was filled with various lights, making it both beautiful and dangerous at the same time. The air vibrated as their auras swept through the entire city. As the Chief Captain of the First War Set, Trander possessed great strength befitting his position. Swoosh!! A figure fell from the lights in the sky and crashed to the ground. Trander followed swiftly, swinging his sword. A terrifying sword energy erupted. The Messenger of Gluttony lifted his head and saw the sword energy. It was too late to dodge now. Boom!! Trander landed in front of the Messenger, tightly gripping his sword as his energy surged. "Die!!" With a swift slash, an enormous white light erupted. [Titanic King Incineration]!! The Messenger of Gluttony didn''t stand a chance to defend himself. He was bombarded by powerful attacks from the warriors of Athena''s Champion. His defenses were torn apart, and his flesh was shredded into pieces. Whoosh!! Trander and his subordinates stopped attacking. They saw the Messenger standing still, covered in blood. His flesh was torn apart, and his aura slowly dimmed. The moment Trander launched his attack, he made sure to shatter the defense around the Messenger, allowing the attacks from his subordinates to easily deal damage. It was flawless execution. "After all that, you''re still alive..." Trander said as he stood in front of the Messenger. He slowly raised his sword. His elemental power and mana swirled around the blade. Swoosh!! With a powerful thrust, he stabbed the Messenger in the head. From start to finish, the Messenger of Gluttony never uttered a single word. "If there were three or four Messengers, perhaps you could wipe us out. Unfortunately for you, you''re alone." Trander''s voice echoed as he withdrew his sword, and the Messenger collapsed to the ground. The Messenger had perished at their hands. "Now..." Trander turned around and gazed at Souta. Souta''s wound had already healed. He roared to the sky, unleashing his energy without care. "It''s time for monster subjugation." Trander clenched his sword, narrowing his eyes. Souta''s insane regenerative ability was troublesome. It was true that the Messenger of Gluttony was stronger, but Souta was harder to kill. At the very least, the Messenger couldn''t regenerate a vaporized brain, but Souta could. "Chief Captain..." One of the warriors glanced at Trander with a worried look. Trander shook his head. His eyes were determined as he said, "Don''t treat Grain Leader Souta as a fellow warrior. Right now, he is nothing but a monster. A monster consumed by his power. We must take him down before he can harm the survivors of this city." "Yes, Sir." The warriors obeyed his command. "Disperse!" Trander shouted, his eyes locked on his target. His subordinates immediately sprang into action, and an arc of red lightning flashed into their previous position. The lightning poured down in every direction from above, spreading like a net and destroying everything in its path. Trander leapt into the air, his focus solely on Souta. He aimed his sword at his target as his aura surged through the air. [Vanity of the Knight''s Will]!! Trander activated the equipment skill of his weapon. He vanished from his position and flashed toward Souta, tearing apart the red lightning in his path. "Grain Leader Souta, it''s time for you to rest before you harm your comrades." He thrust his sword with immense power, and a white ray shot out. Swoosh! Chapter 1079: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Last Resort Outside the city. "Sister!!" Eilan froze in shock as he saw Amanda carrying his sister. He rushed forward, his eyes darting anxiously over Eilish''s fragile state. "No! Why?" Tears streamed down his face, unstoppable and overwhelming. Though his memories remained incomplete, and his bond with Eilish was faint, his heart felt unbearably heavy. The sorrow was inexplicable, yet deeply visceral, as if some buried connection was wrenching his soul apart. Amanda looked at Eilan, her expression somber. She understood his turmoil-this pain, this moment of helplessness. "It''s too much..." she said softly. "The entire city has collapsed. The Messenger of Gluttony appeared, and... Souta-" she hesitated, her voice faltering. "Souta lost control. He will now face subjugation." The future felt bleak. Amanda''s gaze swept over the survivors huddled nearby. Despair etched every face. Only a few thousand had managed to escape, those fortunate enough to have been near the city gates when the catastrophe began. For now, they clung to life, but the weight of loss pressed heavily on them all. As for those living in the heart of the city, most of them perished. The once-prosperous Ekatoe City was reduced to rubble in the blink of an eye. "Amanda!!" Amanda turned sharply at the sound of someone calling her name. She saw a woman with green hair, dressed in a lab coat, sprinting toward her. "Isabella, what''s wrong?" Amanda asked, concern flashing across her face. "Have you seen Alice? I thought she was with me, but when I turned around, she was gone!" Isabella''s voice trembled with worry. "No, Alice isn''t here..." Amanda replied, scanning the crowd of survivors. After a moment, she added, "Maybe she''s somewhere else." "I''ve already checked the other areas, but I still can''t find her." Isabella shook her head, the knot of unease in her chest tightening. Among the survivors gathered near the other city gates, Isabella had seen Gragas, Eztein, Franklin, Vashno, Torkez, and even some of the monsters that had fled the city. Yet, there was no trace of Alice¡ªnot in this group, nor in any of the others. The absence gnawed at her, filling her with a growing sense of dread. Realization struck Isabella like a bolt of lightning. Slowly, she turned her gaze back toward the ruined city. "Don''t tell me..." The weight of her thoughts sank in. Only the Nine Heads of the Dragon Council had stayed behind to reduce the devastating energy''s impact on those outside the city. "I''ll go back to the city," Isabella declared resolutely before dashing away. "Don''t-!" Amanda called out, reaching out a hand to stop her. But Isabella was already gone. ... Above the city, near the gaping hole in the barrier formation, chaos reigned. Arden grinned wickedly as he clashed with three warriors from Athena''s Champion. His laughter echoed, sharp and mocking, as his eyes flicked to Souta. Souta was locked in a fierce battle with the Chief Captain and the rest of the warriors. The clash of energy and steel filled the air. "Ehe, it seems my mission here is complete," Arden sneered. "The Blood Lightning Monster has lost control and will soon be subjugated. Pity about the Messenger, though-he''s perished. Guess that means I''ll face punishment when I return." His tone was casual, but his eyes glimmered with a twisted satisfaction. Arden unleashed a powerful shockwave, forcing the three warriors to retreat momentarily. He didn''t follow up with another attack; instead, he soared higher into the sky. "You''re not getting away!" one of the warriors shouted. The trio quickly recovered and shot into the air, hot on Arden''s trail. Swoosh!! Arden glanced back at his pursuers before increasing his speed, his thoughts drifting to the plans of his God. The Gluttony had established a base in Fengdu, within the Immortal Land. After that, his God departed, leaving no clear destination. Only the Gluttony himself knew his next move; even his most trusted subordinates were left in the dark. The situation in Fengdu had been entrusted to the Gluttony Army, but Arden was certain his God had far grander plans in motion. He had glimpsed part of the strategy-a targeted strike near the Holy Land Olympus. However, the full scope of the operation remained elusive. Other leaders were in charge of different regions, and Arden''s knowledge was limited to scattered fragments. All he knew was that the Gluttony Army''s reach was vast, currently waging war on tens of thousands of cities across the continent. ... Bang!! A powerful shockwave rippled outward as Trander and his subordinates launched a relentless assault on Souta. Trander weaved left and right, narrowly dodging the streaks of red lightning crackling toward him. His grip tightened on his sword, determination blazing in his eyes. Swoosh!! A massive spider limb descended from above, aiming to crush him. Trander swiftly stepped back, raising one hand to fire a concentrated ray of energy. Without hesitation, he followed up with a swift slash of his sword. Boom!! Behind him, the other warriors closed in. They flanked Souta, plunging their weapons into him with precision and force. Souta''s immense strength allowed him to hold his ground, but the combined attacks of several powerful warriors began to take their toll. Wounds riddled his body, and only the insane regeneration granted by the combined King and Queen Parasite kept him alive. Even so, his defenses had been shattered multiple times. Blades pierced him from all directions as his enemies sought to immobilize him, each strike further pushing him to his limits. Boom!! The intense energy explosion sent shockwaves rippling through the air, its devastation palpable even from dozens of meters away. Despite the violent storm of energy, Alice didn''t falter. She pressed forward, bracing herself against the crushing pressure surrounding her. It was overwhelming, but she refused to stop. Clutching the [Vajra Sword Saya], she forced herself to take another step forward. Argh!! A sharp, metallic taste filled her mouth as blood welled up. The violent energy was tearing at her skin, peeling it away layer by layer. The pain was excruciating, but Alice pushed through. She had to. There was no other choice. She had to try everything before it was too late. Gritting her teeth, her gaze locked on the figure ahead, and she screamed, "SOUTA!!!" Trander turned his head at the sound of her voice. His eyes widened as he saw Alice approaching, her body battered but unyielding, as she endured the relentless energy storm with sheer determination. "What are you doing here?! The energy radiation here is far too strong! You can''t stay here!" Trander shouted, his voice sharp with urgency. Alice paid no heed to Trander''s words. She pressed on, enduring the crushing pressure that grew heavier with every step. Her grip tightened on the vajra sword, even as her blood dripped steadily onto the ground. ROAR!!! Souta''s deafening roar pierced the air as his energy surged wildly. Red lightning crackled across his body, and the warriors surrounding him struggled to hold him in place. His wounds closed almost instantly, and the spider limbs on his back regenerated with horrifying speed. A wave of violent energy erupted, sweeping outward and slamming into Alice. The sheer force caused the blood vessels in her body to rupture. Ugh!! She coughed up a mouthful of blood, her body trembling under the immense strain. The pain was unbearable, and being so close to the epicenter meant she bore the brunt of the energy''s destructive force. It wasn''t just Souta. Trander and the other warriors were also radiating immense energy, their combined pressure suffocating and relentless. Argh!! With a desperate step, Alice closed the distance and stood in front of Souta. Her outstretched hand trembled. The skin was gone, exposing raw, bloodied flesh that dripped relentlessly onto the ground. Her voice was weak, trembling with emotion as she whispered, "I... I''m sorry." Summoning every ounce of her remaining strength, she drove the [Vajra Sword Saya] into him. ... Half an hour ago.. Alice had spotted the Vajra Sword falling from the sky. Intrigued, she walked over to where it landed and wrapped her fingers around its handle. The moment she touched it, a voice resonated in her mind. It was Saya, the fragmented inner consciousness of a God-rank powerhouse dwelling within the sword. Alice was initially bewildered, but after a moment, it all made sense. A weapon imbued with the fragmented inner consciousness where time was different-it was not entirely unexpected for such a phenomenon to occur. "You have to stab him," Saya''s voice instructed her firmly. "Once you do, I can establish a connection. I''ll forcefully link you to his consciousness. It''s the only way to bring him back." Saya explained her plan: she would create a medium, a path that would allow Alice to enter Souta''s consciousness. However, Saya herself wouldn''t be able to interfere once it was established. Maintaining the connection would demand all her focus. The rest would depend entirely on Alice. "Do you think you can do it?" Saya''s tone was grave. "There''s a chance your consciousness will be swallowed up and you''ll never return. Eilish''s death was unexpected, and it shattered his mental state." Saya paused before continuing, her voice tinged with regret. "When Yenxa died, Souta had already steeled himself. He had come to terms with it. But Eilish... her death was unexpected. It triggered everything he had been suppressing. And don''t forget the Nightmare Realm-it made everything worse." Alice listened closely as Saya elaborated. "When his consciousness entered the Nightmare Realm, his physical body absorbed the souls of those trapped in the Boundary. Upon his return, their torment, their horrifying deaths-he experienced it all at once. It broke something inside him." Saya''s voice grew heavier. "I knew he was on the brink, but I couldn''t prevent it. Eilish''s death was the final trigger. But there''s more-be cautious. Souta has faced gods before, and their presence lingers in his memory. If you encounter any of them in his mind, it could be dangerous for you." Alice clenched her fists, her eyes resolute. "I''ll bring him back, no matter what. Even if it costs me my life..." Her unwavering determination filled the air with tension, a testament to her willingness to risk everything for Souta. The [Vajra Sword Saya] sank deep into Souta''s chest, emitting a fierce red light. "Argh!!!" Alice gritted her teeth and pushed harder, driving the sword deeper. Suddenly, her vision blurred, and she felt her consciousness slip away for a brief moment. When she regained her senses, she found herself in an entirely different place. Saya''s voice echoed in her ears: "It''s all up to you now. I''ll maintain the connection, but I can''t assist you beyond that." Alice looked around, taking in her surroundings. The space around her was an endless, oppressive gray. Beneath her, the ground appeared to ripple like a layer of water, its surface undulating without end. She knew she was inside Souta''s mind. Determined, Alice moved downward, passing through the water-like layer. As she descended, her vision blurred once more, and the world around her shifted drastically. "What is this place...?" Alice found herself standing in the middle of a desolate road. The sky was dark, thick with storm clouds, and the rain poured down heavily, drenching everything in sight. Chapter 1080: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Across the time The architectural style of the houses around Alice was unfamiliar, starkly different from anything she had seen before. Suddenly, the scenery shifted once more. Alice found herself standing inside a house. She looked down to find the floor was made of aged wood, and the dim light in the hallway cast long shadows, giving the space an eerie, almost haunting atmosphere. "Where am I?" Alice muttered under her breath, her eyes scanning the darkened surroundings. Sob... Sob... A faint sound of crying reached her ears. Drawn by the noise, Alice walked toward a door and peered inside. What she saw made her heart tighten. Inside the room, a woman sat on the floor, cradling a child in her arms, her body wracked with sobs. Bruises marred her face, arms, and legs, evidence of a violent assault. "I... I''m sorry..." The woman''s voice trembled, her words muffled by her sobs as she clung to the child. The child, a young boy, sat in her lap. His face was eerily expressionless, unmoved by the woman''s grief. He stared ahead, his gaze distant, as if he couldn''t-or wouldn''t- acknowledge the tears of the mother who wept before him. "I''m sorry, Souta... Your sister is..." The woman continued to sob, her voice breaking with every word. "Huh?" Alice''s breath caught as she heard the woman''s words. The language was unfamiliar, yet the name was unmistakable. Souta...? Alice''s mind raced, confusion swirling in her thoughts. What was happening? Why was this boy-why was this place-connected to Souta? She stared at the young boy in the woman''s embrace, her heart pounding. His blank, distant expression seemed to say everything yet nothing at all. If this was real, then- A sudden noise from below interrupted her train of thought. The unmistakable sound of footsteps echoed through the house, causing the woman to freeze. She quickly wiped the tears from her face, her hand trembling slightly. She looked at the boy, her expression softening for a moment before she forced a smile. "Your father is here... I have to go now." Her voice was shaky, as though every word was an effort. The boy, Souta, didn''t respond. He just continued to stare at the woman, his gaze cold and unyielding, as if he didn''t care whether she stayed or left. The woman, seemingly trying to muster some semblance of normalcy, patted the boy''s head gently. With one last glance at him, she turned and hurried downstairs. Alice watched the woman''s retreating figure until she disappeared downstairs. Then her gaze turned back to the boy, Souta. He stood there, looking down at his feet, his small fists tightly clenched in an expression of silent anguish. "I''m in Souta''s mind, so this must be his memory... Or perhaps a product of his imagination." Alice murmured softly to herself. "But I don''t think he would strongly desire a memory like this to manifest. So, there''s a high chance that this is something from his past." If this was indeed a memory, then the child standing before her had to be Souta. Past life? Alice''s thoughts raced. If this was a memory, then Souta should have remembered his past life. Such a scene wouldn''t have appeared in his mind if he hadn''t already been aware of it. A weight pressed heavily against Alice''s chest as she realized the significance of this. She looked at the boy-Souta-and a deep sadness swelled in her heart. She wanted to say something, anything, to comfort him, but no words came. Instead, she turned and walked downstairs, her mind still reeling from the revelation. Bang!! The sound of a violent impact made Alice freeze. She rushed into the room just in time to see the man-Souta''s father, perhaps-strike the woman from earlier. The force of the punch sent her crashing into a nearby table, knocking over everything that had been placed on top of it. The man glared at her, his face twisted in a mix of anger and contempt. "How many times do I have to tell you? Huh?!" The man shouted, his voice harsh and filled with fury. "I''ll do it..." The woman muttered weakly as she struggled to rise, her face a mask of pain. Alice couldn''t understand their words-the language was foreign to her-but the violence in their actions spoke volumes. From their behavior, she could tell they were all ordinary people, trapped in a cycle of abuse. "A sub-world... This isn''t in the Mother Universe. It''s probably from a lower dimension." Alice analyzed the situation, her sharp mind piecing together the details. "There''s no mana in the air, and the laws and concepts are too fragile to be of the same realm. It''s different... weak." Alice stayed in the shadows, observing as time passed, but the scenes of abuse never stopped. Day after day, she witnessed Souta''s father tormenting the woman, his cruelty relentless and unforgiving. Her chest tightened with each passing day, the hopelessness weighing on her heart. Then, one day, Alice saw something that made her stomach turn violently. Her blood boiled with disgust as a cold wave of killing intent washed over her. The father returned to the house, accompanied by several of his friends. The man exchanged words with them, their conversation laced with laughter. They handed him something- drugs, perhaps¡ªand then they moved toward the woman''s room. The father''s laughter echoed through the house, a sound that made Alice''s blood run cold. He savored whatever it was he had obtained, his voice thick with satisfaction as the sounds of groaning and crying seeped through the walls from the woman''s room. "Haha, stop resisting! We paid for it, so your gonna satisfy us tonight!" One of the men sneered as he roughly grabbed the woman''s hands, forcing himself on her. "N-No...!!" The mother''s voice cracked, filled with pain and terror. Alice''s eyes snapped shut, her fists clenching so tightly that her nails dug into her palms. Every fiber of her being wanted to stop this-to end their lives for what they were doing-but she was powerless here. She couldn''t intervene in this twisted, cruel memory. This was worse than she had ever imagined. No man should ever do this to his wife, to anyone. Her heart screamed for justice, but she was trapped in this memory, forced to witness this torment without the ability to act. The rage burned in her chest, but she was powerless to act on it in this form. The disgust twisted her insides. The next day, the abuse continued. The father, drunk with power and violence, swung at the woman with all his might. He punched her hard in the stomach, causing her to gasp for air before slamming a bottle into her head. Bang!! The sound of the bottle breaking echoed through the house as the mother collapsed to the ground, her body going limp. Blood poured from the wound in her head, pooling around her like a dark testament to her suffering. "Serves you right," the father said, his voice dripping with malice as he casually sank into the couch. "I told you to shut up." Alice turned her head, her heart aching as she saw Souta standing there, staring at his mother with an empty, hollow expression. His face betrayed nothing-no anger, no fear, just a complete absence of emotion. "Hey, brat! Give me a glass of water. I''m tired here, you know?" The father barely glanced at him as he spoke, dismissing him like he was nothing more than an errand boy. Tsk! The father clicked his tongue in annoyance when Souta didn''t respond quickly enough. He picked up a remote and turned on the television, his back to the child. A moment later, Souta returned, silently offering his father a glass of water. The father took the glass without sparing a second glance at him. But then, something unexpected happened. A sharp, agonizing pain shot through the father''s neck. He groaned, his hand instinctively reaching to his throat. His vision blurred, and he staggered back, clutching the source of the pain. His eyes went wide as he realized what had happened. There was a knife lodged in his neck, blood dripping from the wound and staining his clothes. "Y-You...!!" The father''s eyes narrowed into a venomous glare, a mix of rage and disbelief. He turned, his fists clenched in fury, and pounced at Souta. With terrifying force, he began to throw punch after punch, landing blow after blow with savage brutality, not holding back in the slightest. Ugh!! Souta staggered with each hit, his body unable to protect him from the relentless assault. Bang! Bang! As the punches continued, the father''s strength began to fade. His strikes grew weaker, his body slowing, and the fury in his eyes turned into confusion. His limbs trembled, and his vision began to blur. "Y-You... dumb child..." With a final groan, the father crumpled to the floor, his body twitching as the darkness overtook him. Alice watched the scene unfold, her eyes narrowing as she saw the cold, empty gaze in Souta''s eyes. It was a look she knew all too well-the same chilling expression she''d seen countless times before, just before he ended a life. The sudden, brutal calmness before the storm. The police arrived shortly afterward, their uniforms swarming the scene. They began investigating, taking photos of the bloodstained floor and the two bodies. The air was thick with the scent of death, but the officers were professional, their movements quick and precise. Alice observed the chaos, her gaze drifting over the scene. It was almost surreal-no one seemed to notice the young boy standing in the corner. Souta stood there, unmoving, his figure blending into the shadows of the room as if he was invisible. It was strange. She was sure she could see him, but no one else did. The officers worked around him without a second glance, their eyes gliding right over him as though he wasn''t even there. Does he have an ability? Alice wondered. She scanned the area, but there was no sign of energy emanating from Souta. No mana, no aura, nothing that indicated a power or force of any kind. Impossible... No one here had mana. The world around them was devoid of the magical essence she was so familiar with. So how was it possible for Souta to be so invisible to them? Alice''s mind raced with questions as she continued to observe the scene unfold. "Does he have an ability?" she mused. "A tiny release of energy will be all it needed for everyone here to perish." Just as Alice was deep in thought, the door creaked open. An old man entered the house, his presence startling in its suddenness. He moved silently, and just like Souta, no one seemed to notice him. The officers continued their work, oblivious to the new arrival. The old man knelt in front of Souta, his eyes studying the boy with an almost knowing look. "Do you have any relatives?" he asked, his voice soft and gentle. Souta looked up at him, his expression blank. "I don''t know." The old man''s gaze never wavered. "What''s your name?" "Souta Yamazaki." The old man continued to ask various questions, each one met with simple, unremarkable answers from Souta. But there was something strange about the way the old man''s eyes never left the boy, a knowing glint in them, as if he already understood everything. After a few moments, the old man stretched his hand toward Souta. "You will forget everything that happened here," he said in a low, comforting tone. "From now on, you are my grandson." Souta''s eyes fluttered, and with a soft gasp, he fainted, collapsing into the old man''s arms. The old man stood up, cradling the unconscious boy as though he weighed nothing. As the old man turned to leave, his gaze suddenly shifted. His eyes locked onto Alice''s. For a brief moment, the world around Alice seemed to still. Her heart skipped a beat. The old man wasn''t looking at the officers or the room-he was looking directly at her. She could feel the weight of his stare, a silent recognition that sent a chill crawling down her spine. ''He knows I''m here.'' Alice''s pulse quickened, and a sense of unease settled over her. The old man''s expression didn''t change, but something in his gaze told her that he wasn''t just some bystander. He was aware of her, and that could only mean one thing-he was far more than he appeared. This can''t be... If that''s the case then this old man is... "Yeah, I''m a God..." The old man''s voice, calm and matter-of-fact, confirmed what Alice had feared. The weight of his words sunk in, and Alice stood frozen, processing the implications. Alice had always known that gods existed beyond the realm of ordinary mortals, but to encounter one who was aware of her presence in this fractured world of memories-it was something else entirely. The old man narrowed his eyes, as though seeing through her, his gaze penetrating. "You''re looking through my grandson''s memory, and you didn''t expect to see me here." He spoke as though this was just an inconvenient interruption. "You didn''t come from this timeline, but from the future. It seems my grandson will really arrive there." The old man''s voice grew colder, his expression hardening as he continued, "What are you doing here? For you, this is only a product of going through my grandson''s memory, but for me, this is real." His words sent a shiver down Alice''s spine. This wasn''t just a memory she was looking through; this was a living, breathing reality for the old man. He existed here, in this space, as much as she did. Alice took a deep breath and forced herself to steady her nerves. She could sense that this situation was spiraling into uncharted territory, one that could easily break her concentration if she didn''t keep a clear mind. "I''m Alice¡ªno, Alicia Remeri Lucifer," she said, bowing slightly in respect, though the weight of the situation pressed heavily on her. "I''m Souta''s friend..." "Lucifer...? Someone from the Demon Race?" The old man slightly turned his head. "Yes, Sir. I''m here because Souta is in a dire situation. He lost control of himself, so I had to enter his mind to pull him out of it," Alice replied politely. "Lost control..." The old man raised his eyebrows as he glanced at the child in his arms. He stretched out his hand and flicked his finger. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes and muttered, "It seems that it''s already happening... I can''t see what''s beyond, not even a tiny bit." Alice looked at the old man with a confused expression. Noticing Alice''s look, the old man said, "Well, I''ll explain it to you since I need to ask you something. You see, I''m Kryvon leshi, the Patriarch of the leshi Clan." Chapter 1081: Destruction of the Ekatoe City: Endure Alice''s eyes widened at the old man''s words. Ieshi Clan? The legendary clan from the distant past. The patriarch was still alive-and Souta was his grandson. "Disaster is approaching, and the Imperium is preparing to combat it," Kryvon said, pausing to glance at Alice. "But I don''t think it''ll be enough. If we leave everything to the Imperium, it''ll end just like last time." He studied her for a moment before continuing, "From what you''ve said, my grandson is in danger. But unless it''s a god, you have nothing to worry about. Instead, you should be concerned for yourself and your friends. If none of you are blessed by the Imperium, then there''s a high chance you won''t survive." "What...?" Alice''s eyes widened. Kryvon''s gaze remained steady. "My grandson won''t die unless it directly involves a god-or something from that door. After all, he will become one of the blessed children, and I wanted to raise one myself. "One month after fate has shattered, there''s a ninety percent chance the Imperium can protect them from danger. After two months, that drops to eighty percent. And after ten months... the chance is zero. At that point, it will be up to them. They''ll have to face their challenges with nothing but their own strength." Alice furrowed her brows. Seeing her expression, Kryvon realized-she had no idea when fate had shattered. "If ten months have passed since then, my grandson''s survival will depend entirely on his own ability," Kryvon added. "The foreign energy had already seeped into the Mother by that time, so the Imperium will no longer be able to protect them." There was so much to take in. It was Alice''s first time hearing any of this, and she could barely process the weight of it. Her heart churned with complex emotions. "Hmm..." Kryvon mused. "Remember the Mars Archipelago. Once the Great Barrier opens there, tell my grandson to go and find the remnants of the Ieshi Clan. I''m going to erase this, so you''ll have to go deeper. It''s up to you to bring him back." "Wait-!" Alice started, but before she could ask anything, Kryvon snapped his fingers again. Ohm!! The entire world twisted around her. In the blink of an eye, she was deep in the ocean. "What is this...?" Alice frowned as a wave of emotions crashed over her grief, despair, fear, hatred. She could feel them all at once, raw and overwhelming. Scenes unfolded before her eyes. Everything Souta had been holding back poured out like a raging tide. She saw it all-his arrival in the Imperium for the first time, and then, the countless deaths he endured when he first stepped into the Nightmare Realm. Of course, what she saw was just images but based on this she could guess what happened. The worst thing was the emotions here that was trying to pierce her mind. It was horrible. Ugh!! Alice dropped to her knees, struggling to breathe as the overwhelming scenes suffocated her. So... Souta went through all of this... I... Everything else faded away. Nothing else mattered. She just wanted to bring Souta out of here -no matter what. "ARGH!!!" With a desperate cry, she pushed forward, breaking through the layer- -and arrived in a vast, white space. In the middle of the vast white space, a massive writhing mass of black tendrils twisted and churned, radiating pure grief and fear. At its center, Souta lay curled up, his eyes closed. He looked like the human Souta she had seen before, but his face was contorted in pain. The eerie, gooey black substance clung to his body, as if trying to consume him. These things weren''t just darkness-they were the physical manifestations of accumulated negative emotions. Just looking at them made Alice''s mind waver. Fear, grief, and hatred surged through her, clawing at her sanity, trying to drag her down into it. "SOUTA!!!" ... "SOUTA!!" A faint voice called his name. It was familiar-so familiar. "SOUTA!!" His head throbbed, the pain unbearable, as if it were about to explode. It was too much. The agony consuming him was beyond anything he had ever felt. With great effort, Souta forced his eyes open. Through the swirling darkness, he saw a figure rushing toward him. Alice. ''Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!'' Voices filled with madness echoed in his mind, clawing at his sanity. They wouldn''t stop. They were driving him mad. ''Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!'' "S... Stop!!" Souta gritted his teeth, his eyes locking into Alice. He reached out, desperate-but the black mass clung into his arm, dragging him deeper. Alice lunged forward and grabbed his hand. The moment their skin touched, the overwhelming emotions inside her intensified tenfold. "Argh!!" She clenched her teeth, struggling to keep control. The violent surge of rage, grief, and despair twisted inside her, screaming for destruction. ''Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!'' But she refused to let it go. With all her strength, Alice tightened her grip and pulled, determined to drag Souta back-no matter what. "Souta!! You have to come back!! Don''t let this beat you!! We still have to return to the Giza Continent! How could I face them if you''re gone?! Souta!! Please-Argh!!" Desperate, Alice activated her dream power. A tidal wave of emotions crashed into her, threatening to tear her mind apart. The madness, grief, and rage were unbearable-but she had to endure it. Gritting her teeth, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Souta, pulling him close. The darkness clung to him, writhing and suffocating, but she refused to let go. She shut her eyes and focused, absorbing the overwhelming emotions. With every ounce of strength, she pulled. Ohm!! A brilliant light erupted, flooding the entire space. Alice''s eyes snapped open. The black tendrils still clung to Souta. But beyond them-something else. From the distance, a massive eye opened. And it was staring straight at her. "S-Souta...!" Alice whispered, her gaze locked on the eye. It felt like it was Souta, but as she thought more carefully, she realized it made sense. She was in his mind, after all. This place was a manifestation of his emotions-his subconscious, everything he had buried inside. The black tendrils slowly retreated as the eye continued to watch her, unblinking. "Huh?" Alice felt the atmosphere shift. The overwhelming hatred, fear, and grief that had consumed her earlier began to fade. She couldn''t explain why, but she sensed a shift-like the emotions now trusted her, no longer wishing to harm her. "So you trust me this much..." Alice muttered, her eyes softening as she looked down at Souta in her arms. Then, her gaze shifted toward the black mass-the physical manifestation of all his negative emotions, lingering inside his mind. Alice reached out and touched the mass. The moment her fingers made contact, she felt the raw emotions swirling within it. But before she could process them fully, they faded, retreating quickly as the black tendrils pulled back. It was clear: they were afraid of harming her. Even these negative emotions, born from Souta''s pain, seemed to treat her with a kind of caution. Deep down, it seemed Souta didn''t want anything harmful to come to her. "Eilish''s death triggered it... and I..." ... Ekatoe City. A surge of energy rippled through the air once more before it quickly diminished. Trander and the other warriors stepped back, wary of the sudden shift in power. "Did it work?" The warriors watched as Souta''s body cracked, the blood armor fragmenting and falling away. His transformation unraveled, and he collapsed to the ground. Cough! Alice coughed up a mouthful of blood, her body battered from the intense strain. Still, she forced herself to hold onto Souta, checking his condition. After confirming that he was safe, she let out a sigh of relief. ''You did it...'' Saya''s words echoed in her mind, even as the vajra sword clattered to the ground. "Alice! Souta!" Alice turned at the sound of her name, her heart lifting slightly. It was Isabella. Isabella rushed over, her eyes wide with concern. "Look at you, Alice! Do you have any idea how worried I was when I found out you''d returned? And Souta... He won''t let you do something like this." Alice shook her head, offering a small smile. "It doesn''t matter. All that matters is that it worked out." Trander observed them for a moment, then turned away, raising his voice. "The immediate danger has been quelled, but the damage has been done. Our mission is complete. We''ll take Grain Leader Souta back to Champion''s Den." Isabella opened her mouth to respond, but Alice cut her off. She shook her head, her expression serious. "It''s better this way. Who knows if those people will return? If they do, who''s going to protect Souta here? We can''t. That''s the truth. We can''t fight another group of experts like them." Their forces had already taken significant losses, and they wouldn''t survive another major battle. If those enemies returned, they would likely be even stronger than before. Despite their victory, there was no celebration. The people of Ekatoe City were far from joyful. The damage done was immense, and recovery would take much longer than anyone had hoped. Countless lives had been lost on the battlefield. This battle served as a harsh reminder-anything could happen now, especially with one of the Deadly Sins on the move. Countless lives would be affected by the chaos it would bring. Nothing in this world could be taken for granted, particularly when the Gods themselves were involved. The warriors who had chased after Arden returned, their faces grim. They reported that Arden had managed to escape, warning that they should remain vigilant-there was always the possibility that he would return. The entire Dragon Council needed to prepare as well. They could easily find themselves caught in the wake of something much larger, and if they weren''t ready by then, the consequences would be far worse. The following day, Athen''s Champion sent a group of warriors-mostly B-ranks and A-ranks -to assist the Astros in rebuilding Ekatoe City. Along the way, they learned about the devastation that had spread to other regions, where reinforcements had arrived too late. It was total destruction. Thousands of cities, like Ekatoe, had been razed to the ground. Chapter 1082: Awakening The God''s Continent descended into chaos in just a week. News of the events unfolding across the continents spread like wildfire. The Ruler of Gluttony launched an attack on Fengdu Land. After establishing a fort there, he vanished, and no one knew his current whereabouts. The forces of Fengdu Land clashed with the Gluttony Army that Esquin had brought with him. Meanwhile, the entire three theaters collapsed when an ancient Monster Lord emerged. Several Gods arrived to fight the Monster Lord, but nearly ninety percent of the warriors present in the theaters perished in the battle. The death toll was staggering. This was only the beginning of the chaotic situation. On the third day, various small terrorist organizations launched attacks, destroying tens of thousands of cities in the process. This action spread fear throughout the continent. By the fourth day, many individuals had made a name for themselves by stopping the experts attempting to seize control of cities and countries. On the fifth day, large organizations with the backing of Gods made their move, destroying several of the major countries. These organizations were on the same level as the Black Blood Cult, which had previously tried to destroy the theaters, but its Cult Leader had been slain by the God of the Sea, Amanikable. On the sixth day, tensions between the Angel Faction and the Fallen Angel Faction reached a boiling point. While there were small skirmishes, the conflict had yet to escalate to a God- level confrontation. It was also on this day that the Gluttony appeared. He surfaced in a Large Country on the eastern edge of the continent, eliminating the Gods of that country before vanishing once more. So many events had unfolded in such a short time. "So, that''s what happened..." Souta murmured, massaging his temples. He had just woken up from a long slumber following the tragedy in Ekatoe City. To his surprise, he found himself in a room at Athen''s Champion, within the Champion''s Den. He frowned as he looked outside. Eilish was dead. It was real. He hadn''t been able to save her. Souta clenched his fists tightly, blood dripping onto the floor. The door creaked open, and a familiar figure entered the room. It was Grain Leader Carmel. Carmel smiled as he took a seat in the vacant chair. "How are you?" he asked. "I''m fine. It''s just... there''s a lot on my mind," Souta replied. "I''ve heard about what happened," Carmel said, his expression turning serious. "You''re lucky you managed to wake up. Otherwise, you''d be completely subjugated. I heard about how you lost control and almost triggered a monster tide. The higher-ups have already put you on the watchlist. If you lose control again and cause a monster tide, then, as the source of it, the warriors will deal with you without mercy." "I know... It''s better to kill me if that happens. I don''t want to kill my people again," Souta sighed. "The situation with the Gluttony Army is even worse now. Three Heroes of Lord Ares have perished on the battlefield. Also, in the three theaters, I''ve heard that Lord Odin is preparing to unleash the World Wolf Fenrir to confront the ancient Monster Lord," Carmel said in a low voice. "Once that happens, it''ll be a dead zone for mortals. The warriors have been ordered to evacuate everyone near the three theaters. No mortals will survive that battle." "And what happened to my city?" Souta asked, glancing at Carmel. "Some low-rank warriors were dispatched to assist your people in rebuilding the city. It''s only been a week, so I doubt it''s anywhere near its previous state," Carmel replied. "I understand," Souta nodded. Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Souta stayed in the room, not leaving at all. It was only now that he was allowed to step out. He had been locked up because the higher-ups weren''t sure if he had fully regained his right state of mind. They had observed him for the past two days to ensure his mind had returned to normal without any issues. Since Souta had remained calm and caused no trouble while locked up, he was finally allowed to leave. Meanwhile, the outside world remained embroiled in chaotic battles. What Grain Leader Carmel had mentioned earlier had come to pass: the World Wolf Fenrir was unleashed in the three theaters to confront the ancient Monster Lord. Souta stretched his arms as he walked out of his room. To his surprise, he found someone waiting for him outside. "You''re here," he said. "Yeah," came the reply. The person waiting for him was Alice. Upon hearing that he had woken up, she rushed over, but she had been told not to disturb him until he was allowed to leave. So, she had simply waited outside without bothering him. Souta walked beside Alice and glanced at her face. In a low voice, he said, "Thank you..." Alice shook her head, dismissing his gratitude. "It''s nothing. I just did what I had to do." She glanced at him, then took the sword hanging at her waist and handed it to him. "Here, take this. She''s the one who helped me." Souta raised an eyebrow as he accepted the vajra sword. The two of them left the Champion''s Den. Alice didn''t bring up his past or any heavy topics. She knew he had just woken up and needed some time to rest. Even though he was back at full strength, his mentality was another matter entirely. Soon, the two of them arrived in the ruined Ekatoe City. Souta saw that the city was beginning to recover, but it was still a long way from its former state. Tens of thousands had died in the attack, and many facilities had been destroyed in the battle. The first thing Souta did after returning was visit Eilish''s grave. To his surprise, Eilan was already there, staring at the tombstone with a blank expression on his face. Souta stood beside him and stared at the stone as well. After a long silence, he finally asked, "Have you fully recovered your memory?" Eilan shook his head. Souta glanced at him from the side. Eilan continued staring at the tombstone. After a few moments, he spoke softly, "I only knew her for a short time, but... it feels heavy, seeing her cold body. I can''t stop it. I know she''s my sister, but I can''t remember the time I spent with her." "You''re confused," Souta said quietly. "You don''t have memories of the time you spent with her, yet you stand here, grieving in front of her grave. All you need to do is hold onto that feeling and use it." It was ironic, those words coming from him-after all, he had lost himself when he watched her take her last breath. Souta shook his head, then turned and left Eilan alone. The next day, Souta went to check on the monsters'' condition. He had heard that they were the most affected when he lost control and nearly triggered a monster tide. Kessa was fine now. Because she had been affected, Arden had managed to escape; otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to leave the city. Doranjan and the others were doing well, too. Some monsters had been consumed and started attacking their own allies, but those monsters were already slain. The same fate would have befallen Souta if Alice hadn''t managed to pull him out. "I''m fine now..." Souta murmured, patting Yuko''s head. Alice appeared and approached them, her gaze shifting to Yuko as she asked, "How are they?" "They''re fine. It seems there are no side effects for now," Souta replied. "Then that''s good." Souta then asked, "How are things in Hall Plains? Any news from the Dragon Council?" "They''ve divided their forces and quelled the unrest in the land. Although there have been some casualties, the situation didn''t escalate further. The Dragon Council still maintains control over the land. If we fail to defeat the invaders soon, Hall Plains will descend into chaos. But, overall, the Dragon Council is doing well." Alice slowly explained to him what had happened in Hall Plains while he was unconscious. The Dragon Council had been strengthening their forces. The Flaem Clan had taken control of a significant portion of land in the southern area of Hall Plains. The Dragon Council did not interfere, recognizing the Flaem Clan''s powerful military might. The former clan leader, Erkigal, was a powerhouse at the Hero rank, and the current clan leader was at the peak of SSS rank. Hono was on the verge of reaching the coveted Hero rank. She just needed a small push and would achieve it in no time, especially since she had already been at the Sixth Shackle for quite a while. "However, there''s a problem," Alice said. Souta raised an eyebrow, glancing at her with a questioning look. "I mean, there''s no immediate problem in Hall Plains, but one is approaching," Alice explained. "What is it?" Souta asked. "The Obsidian Desert. All the top forces there have collapsed. We can''t contact the Palleo Kingdom, and the statuses of Princess Iris and Prince Servon are unknown." Chapter 1083: Incompressible "The Obsidian Desert isn''t backed by any Holy Lands or Large Countries, so they aren''t as fortunate as we are. At the very least, we have Athen''s Champion on our side, and behind Athen''s Champion is the entirety of Mount Olympus. The Obsidian Desert, however, has nothing," Alice explained, her expression grave. "Hmm..." Souta glanced down at Yuko, who was resting her head in his arms. He then asked, "What''s the Dragon Council''s response?" "They''ve said that it''s too risky to engage there, but they''ve helped the people of the Obsidian Desert," Alice replied. Souta glanced at Alice and asked, "Do you want me to go?" "No, I don''t want you to go. Who knows if someone might target you again?" Alice shook her head. "Yeah, I''m concerned about that too. And Athen''s Champion is still observing me, which is why they haven''t assigned me to any missions, even though there''s a large-scale war happening in different places." Souta started walking, with Yuko and Alice following beside him. He glanced at the people working to rebuild the city. "The Obsidian Desert... we''ll deal with it. We can''t rely on them staying in their lines. They''ll probably make a move once those people stabilize their position," he said, pausing before adding, "Also, we need to gather resources. Mana stones, coins, food... everything is gone. We need more resources to pay the assassins." "Oh?" Alice raised an eyebrow, recalling the assassins she had hired before. With the current state of the city, they had nothing to pay for it. The three of them arrived at the northern walls of the city, where a passage led one hundred meters below the surface. Souta, Yuko, and Alice found Torkez speaking with a group of witches. As soon as the witches noticed Souta, they immediately bowed and left the room, leaving him and the others alone. This place was the core of the [Five Elements Barrier Formation], where mana stones were stored to maintain the power of the barrier. "How''s the damage to the formation?" Souta asked. "We can''t repair it ourselves. We''d need to hire a formation expert capable of repairing it, but I doubt it''ll be easy. Our barrier formation isn''t ordinary. It''s strong enough to even suppress Hero-rank individuals," Torkez explained. "Yeah, I don''t know what those people sacrificed to breach our formation, but the cost is significant. If it were a formation that only affected S-rank or SS-rank, it would be easier. But our formation can even affect Hero-rank. As long as they''re at Seventh or Eighth Shackle, they''re still within its scope. In short, the price for such a formation won''t be small," Souta nodded in agreement. In the end, they had no other choice but to go to the Obsidian Desert. Souta owed Princess Iris and Prince Servon, so he would make sure to learn about their situation when he got there. "Call Franklin and the others... We need to discuss this," he said. Soon, they gathered for a meeting in a large room. Everyone at the top of Astros'' hierarchy had convened to discuss the development of Astros and Ekatoe City. Torkez was tasked with overseeing the rebuilding of the city, and most of Astros'' resources would be allocated to him. As for the portal to the Champion''s Den, Athen''s Champion would handle it. They wouldn''t spend a single coin on the portal. Doranjan would continue his work with the monsters, while Vashno and Franklin were tasked with heading to the Obsidian Desert to gather information. Eztein would remain in Astros to train and prepare the soldiers. Gragas and Isabella would focus on their research, while Souta and Kessa would journey to the Land of Vanko to conquer it. As for Alice, she would take charge of the general affairs of Astros while he was away. Once their plans were set, Souta dismissed everyone. He sat back in his chair, staring at the ceiling with a deep sigh. "The peaceful times are gone..." he murmured. Shaking his head, he stood up and left the room, making his way straight to the graveyard. He visited Eilish and Yenxa''s graves. Their deaths served as a harsh reminder to him-he could lose anyone, anything, at any moment. He stayed at their graves for several hours, lost in his thoughts. Night had already fallen, but Souta remained seated in front of their graves. Footsteps sounded behind him. Souta didn''t need to look to know who it was. He could sense someone approaching, even from several kilometers away, by the blood in their veins. "You''re still here?" Alice said, glancing at him before sitting down beside him. "Yeah, I don''t want to forget them," Souta replied quietly. "It feels like I could forget them at any moment, and I don''t want that. I want to carve them into my memories." Alice stared at the grave. Speaking of memories, she remembered learning that Souta was one of the Imperium''s blessed children. She knew that she and the others wouldn''t be able to catch up to him. Only other blessed children would be able to. They would grow faster than anyone else. The only thing Alice could do was try her best. Even now, she was still surprised by Souta''s background. She hadn''t expected him to have such a connection, but it made sense. After all, Souta seemed to know so much-it was like he was a walking encyclopedia. "You''re really amazing..." Alice muttered. She paused, feeling a shift in the air. Turning her head, she saw Souta looking at her. "W-What''s wrong?" she asked. "I never thought I''d hear those words from you," Souta chuckled. "Have you realized that the ''you'' from when we were still in school would never have said that?" "N-No, it was just a compliment," Alice stammered, shaking her head before changing the topic. "Anyway, I''ve met your grandpa in your memories. Since he''s a powerful God, he could perceive my presence even though I was only observing him in a memory." "Oh, so you know...?" Souta raised his eyebrows in surprise. "It was unintentional... you know?" Alice averted her gaze. "Hmm... So, what did my grandfather say?" Souta asked, his curiosity piqued. "He said you should go to the Mars Archipelago and find the remnants of the leshi Clan there." "Mars Archipelago, huh? To be honest, I don''t recall much about my grandfather. I only know that he took me in when I was a child and trained me," Souta said quietly. "I''m surprised, you know?" Alice remarked. "When I learned that your grandfather is the Patriarch of the leshi Clan... In the entire world, only a few people know about that mysterious clan. Just what is he planning?" "I don''t know his plan. He never told me anything. No, he doesn''t need to, since his creation -the Battle World Online-has already taught me most of the things I need to be wary of." "What did you say?" Alice asked, confused. Souta looked at her and repeated, "I don''t know his plan." "No, no, after that..." Alice urged. "He doesn''t need to tell me anything because the Battle World Online taught me everything I need to know," Souta explained. "He doesn''t need to tell you anything because... what?" Alice asked, still puzzled. "The Battle World Online," Souta repeated. "What?" "I said, the Battle World Online..." "I can''t understand... No, the words coming out of your mouth are incomprehensible." "Don''t tell me..." Souta narrowed his eyes. He was speaking in normal language, but it seemed Alice couldn''t understand it. "It seems there''s some kind of power preventing you from understanding it. Did my grandfather do this?" Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. "Is this similar to the Archetype?" Alice asked. Souta looked at her and felt that there were similarities. No matter how hard he tried to think it through, he couldn''t come up with an answer. In the end, he could only sigh. "Damn, it seems I really need to go to the Mars Archipelago to find out the truth. I originally planned to go, but now it seems I need to speed things up," Souta said, massaging his temples. Alice glanced at his face and asked, "Is there something I can help with?" "There''s nothing for now. You can take it easy. If you want to train, you can head to the ancient ruins. We still have a part of it, and the environment there is great for training." Souta lowered his hand and looked at her face. "As for techniques... I''m sure you don''t need any of that." "Yeah, I don''t need any techniques at the moment. I still have a lot of things I haven''t mastered yet," Alice nodded in agreement. Souta stood up from his position and stretched his arms. He glanced at the sky and said, "It''s already dark. We need to head back." "If you say so," Alice replied, standing up as well. Souta glanced at the graves one more time before turning to leave. "Eilish... Yenxa... and all of you who sacrificed your lives... I have to go now. But I''ll visit you again in the future." Chapter 1084: Rank 1 Sovereign I Vashno and Franklin had already left. Their goal was to gather information about the current state of the Obsidian Desert. Everyone was doing their part, while Souta and Kessa were preparing themselves. Souta took a deep breath as he held the [Nightmare Mask]. He glanced at Kessa for a moment. He didn''t want to bring her along, but her power was essential. She was the key force in taking over the Land of Vanko. But what if something happened while they were away? He had to make it quick. Souta shook his head. Too many negative thoughts were clouding his mind. He couldn''t let it affect him. He shouldn''t be thinking like that. "Let''s go!" Souta and Kessa''s surroundings quickly changed, and they arrived in the Land of Vanko. Souta floated in the air, observing the surroundings. Not much had changed since the last time he visited; it looked exactly the same. After all, the Land of Vanko was just a small part of the Nightmare Realm. "Kessa, let''s go." Souta said. Kessa transformed into a small serpent and coiled herself around his wrist. Together, they departed the area. In the past, before they left for the Champion''s Den, Kessa had told him that she and Yuko couldn''t defeat the Rank 1 Sovereign of this land. It made sense-Souta knew just how powerful that monster was. However, things were different now. Back then, Kessa''s partner was Yuko, who hadn''t even reached the peak of the fourth stage. Yuko couldn''t provide much help in dealing with the Sovereign. But now, with Souta by her side, it was a different story. Souta was the strongest fourth-stage monster to have ever lived. His combat style was refined to an extraordinary level, and his techniques were honed to perfection. In fact, his base stats were higher than those of peak fourth-stage monsters in their released form. Together, Souta and Kessa tore through the air, passing through several zones. Soon, they reached the territory of the Rank 1 Sovereign. Souta didn''t even attempt to hide his aura. He was certain the Sovereign would have noticed his presence, along with Kessa''s. He had to take over this land. There were many benefits to ruling here, as he could transform it to resemble the Walpurgis Night. Souta gazed down at the vast expanse before him. A tall mountain loomed in the distance, its slopes surrounded by dense trees. At first glance, it seemed ordinary compared to the territories of other sovereigns. Yet, it was a fact that the Rank 1 Sovereign resided here. Boom!! A surge of dream power exploded in all directions. Souta scanned the area, his gaze shifting left and right before focusing downward. The dream power was insignificant compared to that of the top witches of the Walpurgis Night. The real issue was the one who wielded this power. Even without the dream power, the sovereign of this land was a formidable force. Rumble! The ground cracked open as a massive figure emerged from below. Its powerful hands gripped the edges of the hole as it rose from the earth. The creature had two pairs of glowing green eyes, sharp teeth, and black scales with a reddish hue. It stood on four limbs, with two long, sharp tails extending a kilometer in length. A strange, reddish fur covered its back, emitting a foul odor. "Somnyori... A great monster from the Dream Realm. A fifth-stage evolution monster..." Souta muttered, his eyes fixed on the enormous beast below. The creature''s height reached nearly one hundred meters-huge and fast. "You''ve returned, hydra. Do you think I will allow you to leave again? Leave now, before I change my mind." The Somnyori''s voice echoed, vibrating through the ground. He spoke in the language of monsters. His dream power was causing the entire area to tremble uncontrollably. Of course, such a display of power wouldn''t go unnoticed by the other beings in the nearby territories. They could already feel the shift in the atmosphere, their eyes drawn to the direction of the Rank 1 Sovereign''s land. "Somnyori... Is it possible to negotiate with you? I need the Rank 1 position," Souta said, addressing the creature. If it were possible, he really didn''t want to make this monster his enemy. It would be far more beneficial if he could gain it as an ally. "Fourth evolution stage? You think I would just give up my territory? If you have the strength, then come and take it! This is my domain, and anyone who disturbs me will be punished!" The Somnyori''s glare burned into Souta. Its best feram erupted like a volcano, sending shockwaves through the area. "It''s unfortunate, but I have to do this." Souta''s eyes turned cold as he gripped the handle of his sword. The [Orb of Arcane Seal] floated beside him, emitting a faint glow. The Somnyori opened its mouth and instantly unleashed [Bestrou]. Swoosh!! "Kessa..." Souta muttered, his gaze fixed on the beam hurtling toward him. "Yes," Kessa responded, emerging from his wrist. She transformed mid-air, her massive form materializing as she reached out with her claws to intercept the incoming beam. ROAR!! Her deafening roar echoed throughout the entire territory. The entire land seemed to boil with the best feram of two fifth-stage monsters. This was fortunate, as there were no other monsters residing here besides the Somnyori. Even if there had been, they would have fled after witnessing Kessa and the Somnyori''s previous battle. Souta didn''t waste any more time. Facing a fifth-stage monster, he immediately activated his combat arts and spells. His energy surged as he dashed through the air. The Somnyori ignored him, which was to be expected. Even though Souta was stronger than a typical fourth-stage monster, it didn''t change the fact that he was still at that level. This was his chance to deal as much damage as possible while the Somnyori wasn''t paying attention. Back in the Selnes Country, he and Kessa had clashed against a fifth-stage monster. The only difference then was that he had several buffs, especially the [Emperor''s Blessing], which had greatly boosted his overall stats. Now, however, he didn''t have that enhancement. It all came down to his arsenal. "Well, let''s see..." Souta opened his system menu and checked the random cards he had received earlier. [Level Up Skill Card] and [100,000,000 EXP]. Seeing these two cards, he couldn''t help but sigh at his luck. The experience card was of little benefit to him given his current level. It would have been useful if he were at a lower level, but now that his level was higher, the Level Up Card would be far more valuable. He waved his hand and immediately used the EXP card and the Level Up Skill Card. Shaking his head, he refocused on the situation at hand. Swoosh!! Souta heightened his senses, skillfully avoiding the attacks from both Kessa and the Somnyori. He was close enough that even their unintentional strikes were flying in his direction. The aftershocks and energy rays were swiftly evaded as he moved with precision. Souta slipped through the gaps in their battle and positioned himself above the Somnyori. At the same moment, Kessa stretched out both of her hands and seized the Somnyori. Her nine heads slithered through the air, sinking their fangs into her opponent''s flesh. Souta tightened his grip on his sword, his energy surging within him. Activating his [Douion], a powerful pressure radiated from his body, and blood-colored lightning crackled around him. His released form and blood armor were activated. The only thing he refrained from using was the emperor armor-it would give the Somnyori a chance to react. [Soul Blood Mode]! [Possession]! [Blessing of the Hunt]! [Yin Yang Unification]! [Hunting State]! [Serial Killing Steps]! [Darkness Time]! [Traceless World]! [Carpet of the Night]! Most of the equipment skills that enhanced his overall stats were now active. His aura intensified to the point where the Somnyori sensed something was wrong. A wave of danger washed over him as Souta descended at high speed. Instinctively, he attempted to move, but Kessa''s grip held him firm. [Archetype: Great Blood of the End]! [First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]! Souta swung his sword down in a fluid motion, determined not to let the Somnyori break free from Kessa''s restraint. Boom!! A flash of red lightning streaked down from above, striking the Somnyori. The creature crashed to the ground as the lightning intensified, spreading across the entire area and creating a field of searing arcs. Darkness and light erupted on both sides, transforming the entire landscape. The air was filled with a deafening roar and a powerful gust of wind that uprooted every tree in the surrounding area. Swoosh!! Souta retreated, taking a deep breath as he watched the destruction unfold. His eyes narrowed as he sensed a surge of energy emanating from the center of the impact. "Kessa!!" Kessa heard his call. Her body immediately began to emit dark smoke, crackling with corrosive energy. Her aura surged higher and higher as she shifted into her released form. The Somnyori also appeared in his released form, a wound on the back of his neck, blood gushing from it. His face twisted in fury. "I''ll kill all of you!!" Chapter 1085: Rank 1 Sovereign II "It''s not enough..." Souta muttered, staring at the wound on the Somnyori''s nape. It wasn''t surprising-after all, the Somnyori was on the same level as Kessa. Its speed and strength far surpassed Souta''s. Killing a fifth-stage monster like that was nearly impossible for him. Still, at the very least, he had managed to wound it. The injury wasn''t deep, but it was better than nothing. Bang!! Kessa and the Somnyori clashed repeatedly, reshaping the entire landscape of the territory. Although the Somnyori''s wound wasn''t deep, it gave Kessa an opportunity. She targeted the wounds on his nape, causing it to bleed nonstop. Most of her attacks focused on that spot. ROAR!! The Somnyori unleashed his dream power, and a dark green sea rose, submerging both him and Kessa. This sea was made of highly potent poison. Kessa ignored it. Her body was incredibly tough, and the poison wouldn''t affect her easily. She swam at high speed, ramming into her opponent. Her heads sunk their fangs into the Somnyori''s body, while her claws intercepted the incoming sharp tails. Her dream power allowed her to create a delayed impact. It''s like she could freeze the force of her attack in time and trigger them at will within a one-minute window. The Somnyori''s dream power was formidable. Its ability was simple-an elemental dream, much like the one Souta possessed. But beyond that, with his vast dream energy, he could shape his territory to his will. Bang! Bang! The two wrestled in the depths of the poisonous sea. Despite their massive bodies, both Kessa and the Somnyori moved with incredible speed. Waves of toxic tsunamis crashed through the surrounding territories, reshaping the landscape with their sheer force. At this moment, aside from the two combatants and Souta, no living being remained within several dozen kilometers. Souta watched the battle, tightening his grip on his sword. His voice rang out: "This is your last chance! Give up your position, or we''ll take it by force!" "You damned fourth stage!! You think you can threaten me?!" the Somnyori roared as his sharp tails shot toward Souta at high speed. Swoosh!! Kessa stepped forward and unleashed [Bestrou] at the incoming tails, intercepting the attack. ... Meanwhile, A massive, ant-like Sovereign muttered, "In the territory of the Rank 1 Sovereign..." She was the Rank 4 Sovereign of the Land of Vanko. She had survived the previous chaos only because the hydra hadn''t targeted her. The last time the Nine-Headed Hydra appeared, Vanko was thrown into turmoil. Several powerful Sovereigns had fallen to its might. All beings in the Land of Vanko knew the terror of the Nine-Headed Hydra. Even the Rank 2 Sovereign had perished in battle. Only the Rank 1 Sovereign had managed to repel the fearsome beast. And now, the hydra had returned-directly challenging the Rank 1 once again. It was a battle for dominance. "This land will undergo a massive change after decades of stillness," the ant-like Sovereign muttered. She wasn''t the only one who felt it. Every surviving Sovereign sensed the shift. This battle would decide the future of the Land of Vanko. If the Rank 1 Somnyori triumphed, the balance of power would remain. But if the hydra won... no one could predict what would come next. Ohm!! A strange, powerful energy erupted from the battlefield. "What?!" The Rank 4 Sovereign''s eyes widened as she stared in the direction of the battle. The other Sovereigns felt it too-an overwhelming surge of power. Ekatoe City. Inside the office of the newly built City Lord''s mansion, Alice sat at her desk, scanning reports. "I need to finish this... Tomorrow, I''ll head to the ancient ruins," she muttered to herself. Cough! Cough! Alice paused, looking down at her hand-blood stained her palm. Her face paled as she quietly wiped it away. "It''s been a week, yet it''s still affecting me..." When she entered Souta''s mind, she had used her dream power to absorb the overwhelming emotions, hoping to lessen his burden. But even after a week, the emotions she had taken in still lingered, weighing heavily on her. "I thought they would dissipate by now, but it''s too slow... At this rate, it''ll take more than a month to fully recover." Alice shook her head and glanced at the door. Channeling mana into her voice, she called for someone to bring her a glass of water. A few moments later, someone delivered a glass of water. Alice took a sip before leaning back in her chair. She let her muscles relax and stared at the ceiling in silence. Meanwhile, in the Obsidian Desert, Franklin and Vashno sat in a dimly lit pub, silently listening to the murmurs around them. They were in Oslan, a city that had once been the capital of a nation-before it fell to an organization that now occupied its streets. "Shit! Am I gonna die in this hellhole?!" "They say there''s another battle tomorrow! Who knows how many will die this time?!" "Red Spring City was wiped out two days ago! I heard the survivors are planning a counterattack!" "What about Serene Palace in the south? I heard there''s going to be a battle for its inheritance!" The drunken voices carried through the pub, reaching Franklin and Vashno''s ears. From this, they pieced together just how chaotic the Obsidian Desert had become. It hadn''t been like this before-back when Franklin first came to assist the Palleo Kingdom. After a few moments, the two stood up. Vashno paid the bill, and they left the pub. "The situation here is a mess. Various factions are fighting for dominance," Vashno said. Franklin nodded. "Yeah, but is anyone from the Gluttony Army still here? Maybe they already left after taking down the major factions." "You''re probably right, but we can''t rule them out yet-not until we have proof. So for now, we lay low. No trouble." "I know, I know." "We need to get to the Palleo Kingdom and figure out what happened to them..." Vashno trailed off, his eyes shifting slightly to the side. He muttered under his breath, "We''re being followed." "Oh? How strong are they?" Franklin raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued. "Not much." Vashno replied flatly. At Vashno''s words, Franklin suddenly lost interest. He sighed and said, "Then let''s head to a secluded spot. We''ll see what they want there." The two of them changed direction, making their way toward an area devoid of people-only abandoned houses dotted the landscape. "Well, why don''t you all come out now?" Vashno called out, scanning his surroundings. At that moment, a group of armed figures emerged from every direction, surrounding Franklin and Vashno. A man with an eye patch eyed them cautiously and asked, "Who are you? This is the first time I''ve seen you in this city. Who sent you here?" "Aren''t you being rude? Why don''t you introduce yourself before asking such questions?" Franklin smirked, scanning the group. "You can still smile after being surrounded by us? You must have some confidence." The man with the eye patch noted. Franklin took a step forward and stopped right in front of the man. A wide grin spread across his face as he said, "I''m not confident. I''m just enjoying this absurd situation. Now, why don''t you hurry up and tell me who you are? Depending on your answer, I might even tell you who I am." The man with an eye patch was about to speak, but Franklin cut him off. "There are too many of you... Let''s reduce your number first. Maybe that way, you''ll tell me what I want." As soon as the words left Franklin''s lips, his face twisted into something monstrous. Flesh- like tentacles erupted from his body, immediately impaling the nearby individuals. "Hehe, let''s see..." Franklin''s voice became dark, almost demonic. The tentacles twisted, ripping through those they impaled, and blood sprayed from the wounds like a fountain. Seeing the scene unfold, Vashno sighed and placed his palm over his face. "It can''t be helped..." He floated in the air, scanning the surroundings carefully, ever watchful for anyone else hiding nearby. It was always better to be cautious than to overlook something. Soon, the area was thick with the pungent stench of blood. What was once a group of people was reduce to more than nothing but a pile of flesh and gore. Vashno and Franklin left, having gathered the necessary information from these men''s remains. "Those men could only provide us with a little information." "What can we do? They were weak, so it''s understandable they wouldn''t have access to valuable intel. For now, the priority is gathering the basic details about the current state of the Obsidian Desert." Franklin sighed. "I shouldn''t have come here. Eztein should have been the one for this." "Don''t say that," Vashno replied. "Souta gave the orders, so if you don''t take this mission seriously, things won''t end well for you. Our leader''s emotions are unstable because of what happened." Vashno shook his head with a sigh. "Well, you''ll get what you want soon enough. I think Souta''s planning to wipe out the forces here." Chapter 1086: Rank 1 Sovereign III "W-What is that? Is that monster really a fourth stage?!" The sovereigns were stunned, shaken by what they had just felt. It was something completely beyond anything they had ever experienced. They could feel it¡ªthe kind of power that no fourth stage should possess. In the territory of the Rank 1 Sovereign, Souta and Kessa stood over the fallen Somnyori. "I''m quite tired now..." Souta wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, gazing down at the lifeless body of the Somnyori. "In the end, he never surrendered. I have nothing but respect for this guy," he muttered softly. Until the very end, the Somnyori fought fearlessly. He never once cowered, even in the face of Souta and Kessa''s relentless assault. Souta had tried to persuade him, but the Somnyori''s pride was too great. He would rather die than relinquish his position. "We''ve taken down the Rank 1... Now, it''s time to claim the position," Souta said, his gaze turning toward the sky. "Umm... Souta, what should I do?" Kessa asked, looking up at him with uncertainty. "Nothing. Just resist it if you feel the nourishment from the core of Vanko," Souta replied. With Kessa present, there was a strong chance that the Rank 1 position would pass to her, so Souta had instructed her to resist the pull of the power, just in case. "Okay." Kessa transformed into a small snake and quickly slithered beside him. Souta ignored Kessa and focused on his task. He extended his hand, feeling something in the air. He closed his eyes, sensing it as it coursed through his body, nourishing his dream power- no, his [Douion]. The effect was minimal, since his [Douion] wasn''t just a simple dream power. To use it effectively, he had to train his elements in tandem. He had reached [Douion II], but advancing further was difficult. After an hour, Souta opened his eyes and stood up. "It''s time to change this land. It will become one of our bases of operation." He would rule Vanko. No one could resist him here. As for the other sovereigns, they had already lost their chance. They hadn''t attacked him when he and Kessa were exhausted from fighting the Somnyori. "That''s their only chance if they want to resist." "Let''s go." Souta and Kessa left the Somnyori''s territory and flew straight toward the core of Vanko. Although Souta had seen it before, he still couldn''t help but feel a sense of awe as he gazed upon it. The core was a pure, condensed form of dream power-responsible for nourishing the dream power of all the Sovereigns in Vanko. Souta raised both hands and closed his eyes. "I''m the new Rank 1 Sovereign, so..." He could feel the nourishment from the core-it was far greater than before. Yet, he hadn''t come here just for that. Ohm! Souta pressed his palms together, and a powerful surge of energy erupted from his body. Whoosh!! Kessa watched in silence, her gaze focused on the crack that appeared in space above the core. Strange energy seeped out from the crack, radiating with an unfamiliar power. Souta opened his eyes and exhaled deeply, a smile forming on his face as he gazed at the crack in space. He and Kessa vanished into the crack, arriving in an unfamiliar mansion. "It''s here..." At the same moment, a familiar sound echoed in his mind. Ding! [Quest Triggered]! [Nightmare Lord]: Collect the Five Legacies of the Nightmare King before anyone else can open the Nightmare Palace. (Legacies: 0/5) Rewards: 40 skill points, 5 random cards, 1,000,000,000 experience points, and the title "Nightmare Lord" "Finally..." Souta muttered, his gaze fixed on the quest details. Now that he had triggered the quest, Souta couldn''t help but feel a sense of relief. He had feared he wouldn''t receive such an important quest, but it seemed his worries had been unnecessary. This quest wouldn''t be easy-it would take time and effort. He would face powerful dream creatures along the way, each battle more challenging than the last. It had taken him a while to rise to Rank 1 Sovereign. Without Kessa by his side, it would have taken far longer. In truth, he only needed to find four legacies-since the first one was already here, in this mansion. Souta walked into the hall and saw a book floating in the center. Sensing no immediate danger, he stepped forward and carefully picked it up. "[Extreme Nightmare Art]..." A smile curled on Souta''s face. This was a combat art set designed specifically for those who wielded dream power. It wasn''t just about infusing dream energy into attacks-it was far more intricate and specialized. This was the first legacy. ''I can use points to learn it, but... I''m still saving for the Thirteenth Sign.'' Souta thought to himself as he tucked the book away. He glanced around the mansion, wondering if there was anything else he might have missed. "Maybe I should find the witches who survived the destruction of Walpurgis Night." He muttered to himself. Those witches possessed deep knowledge of dream power-especially the Elder Witches. Their command of it was on an entirely different level compared to his own. Souta and Kessa left the mansion and returned to the territory of the former Rank 1 Sovereign. To his surprise, the corpse of the Somnyori was still there. "It''s a pity they didn''t try to snatch it. I would''ve had a reason to destroy them if they had." Souta mused. Now, his next goal was clear-he needed to improve his [Douion]. [Douion II] wasn''t sufficient if he planned to bring a large group of people to Vanko. Souta''s plan was to divide Vanko into two sections. The first half would be for humans and demis, while the second half would be designated for monsters. He also intended to rearrange the territories of the other sovereigns to solidify his control. ... Souta and Kessa exited the Nightmare Realm and returned to reality, their mission in the Land of Vanko was complete. They had successfully taken down a fifth-stage monster. As Souta grew stronger, he was steadily reclaiming what he had once lost in the game. His progress toward finding the legacies of the Nightmare King, which had stalled for so long, was finally picking up again. In the office of the city lord in Ekatoe City, Alice sat across from him, listening intently as Souta recounted his recent experiences in the Land of Vanko. "That''s basically what happened. Here, take a look and see if you can learn anything from this." Souta said, placing a book on the table in front of her. Alice took the book and flipped it open. "The [Extreme Nightmare Art] contains five moves... It would be better if you could learn it, especially since you have dream power as well." Souta explained. He intended for the core members of Astros to learn this skill set. Most of them had dream power, so mastering this art would significantly boost their combat abilities. "So this one was hidden in Vanko?" Alice glanced up at him. "Yeah..." Souta nodded. Alice looked down at the book in her hands. She had often wondered where Souta''s knowledge came from. She rarely asked about it because she trusted him, but now that she knew more about his past, she realized it was far more complicated than she had imagined. ''leshi Clan, huh.'' She muttered inwardly. Shaking her head, Alice asked, "You''ve told me about your next move, but I still want to know ¡ªhas anything changed in your plan?" "Nope," Souta replied, shaking his head. "We''re going to wait for Franklin and Vashno to deliver the information. After that, I''ll gather a few people to target and destroy some of the organizations taking advantage of the chaos. We can''t afford to delay our improvements. We need to get stronger so that the kind of incident we faced before doesn''t happen again." "Then, I''m going to the ancient ruins first. Contact me if you need anything." After their meeting, Alice left, and Souta took charge of the city''s affairs. He oversaw everything that required his approval. The construction of Ekatoe City was progressing smoothly, thanks to the help from Athen''s Champion. Souta kept a close eye on all activities in the city-from training the soldiers to the ongoing construction. Based on his observations, he concluded that money was a significant concern. The current funds were insufficient for everything to run as smoothly as it should. He still held shares in the ancient ruins, but Souta wasn''t keen on withdrawing any money. Those resources had been hard-earned and were essential for training. Using them to generate more funds felt counterproductive. Souta decided to wait for Franklin and Vashno''s report. Since the Deadly Sins had invaded his city, he planned to take it back by plundering the organizations linked to the Sins. There were still many things to consider if he wanted to develop his territory. The potion department was in good hands, as Isabella had started producing new potions after a few successful experiments. The only issue was the lack of materials. The same could be said for Gragas and his apprentices-they lacked the resources to mass-produce equipment. Three days passed quickly, and Souta finally received a report from Vashno and Eztein. "It''s time to plunder from those people..." Chapter 1087: Into the Obsidian Desert Eztein and Vashno sat inside a rundown house, gazing out the window. They saw countless houses and buildings reduced to rubble, debris scattered across the streets, and the once- magnificent castle at the center now in ruins. This was the capital of the Palleo Kingdom. "The Palleo Kingdom has fallen..." Vashno muttered. "I didn''t expect this. I was here before, but now..." Franklin trailed off, turning his attention to the map on the table. After a brief pause, he continued, "We can''t find the royal family... We haven''t confirmed whether they''re dead or alive." "What do you think are their chances of survival?" "Probably slim. If they had managed to survive, they would have sought help from us, but we haven''t heard anything. The enemy is strong, and the fall of the Palleo Kingdom is the greatest proof of that," Franklin said. "What do you mean?" "The Palleo Kingdom''s military might is stronger than most of the Nine Heads in the Dragon Council. The Captain of the Royal Guardians, Captain Sarguan, is a genuine Sixth Shackle Realm cultivator with a time affinity. An ordinary force wouldn''t be capable of taking down this kingdom." "I see... If that''s the case, we need to be more cautious. Don''t cause any trouble. I''ve already sent someone to report to the leader," Vashno said. "I wouldn''t dare. I''ll simply wait-Souta will annex this place. The entire Obsidian Desert will change once again," Franklin said, waving his hand. From the shadows, dozens of hidden organizations emerged, swiftly dismantling the ruling factions of the Obsidian Desert. The major powers, such as the Holy Lands and the Large Countries, were too preoccupied with their own affairs to pay attention to this small piece of land. ... The Next Day Deadman City Once the capital of the Palleo Kingdom, this city had been renamed to reflect its new rulers- the Deadman faction. At the heart of the ruined castle, the leader of the Deadman, known as Undead Eater, sat on his throne. His subordinates stood in formation before him, awaiting his command. "From now on, we, the Deadman, are the rulers of this land! Hahaha!" Undead Eater burst into mad laughter. His subordinates cheered and laughed alongside him. They were now in complete control- free to do whatever they pleased. They were the sole rulers. Undead Eater tilted his head back, gazing at the sky. His laughter faded as he noticed something- a small dot against the sun. "What''s that?" His eyes narrowed, and he slowly rose from his throne. A moment later, an overwhelming force descended upon the city. Boom!! The ground trembled violently, and a shockwave of crushing air pressure erupted in all directions. "What?!" "What''s happening?!" The members of the Deadman panicked, while the more experienced among them quickly realized the city was under attack. "Let''s go!" Undead Eater shot into the sky, his gaze locking onto the looming shadow. As his eyes adjusted, he could make out the figure, and the energy it radiated told him one thing-it was a monster. The Best Feram could only belong to a monster. Yet, he didn''t realize that the one standing above them was Souta, the Blood Lightning Monster. Souta hovered high above, his cold eyes scanning the ruined city below. The last time he had been here, it was bustling with life. Now, it was nothing but rubble and filth. A few moments later, several figures appeared behind Souta. They were warriors of Athen''s Champion. "Grain Leader, what are your orders?" One of the warriors asked. Souta raised his hand, signaling them to wait. After a few seconds, two figures flew to his side -Franklin and Vashno. "There are a few hundred civilians packed together in the basement of the castle." Vashno reported. "Aside from them, everyone wandering the city is a member of Deadman. We''ve also checked the other cities of the Palleo Kingdom-they''ve been occupied by different factions." "I see..." Souta''s gaze darkened. "Then, save the civilians and eliminate every member of the Deadman. Show no mercy." "Yes, sir!" The warriors of Athen''s Champion, along with Franklin and Vashno, vanished in an instant, moving to carry out Souta''s command. "You!!" Undead Eater''s eyes widened in rage. These unknown intruders had completely ignored him and were now attacking his city. "I''m Undead Eater!! You will regret this!" he roared. To him, this place was already his domain. Souta didn''t bother responding. Instead, he charged straight at Undead Eater, his vajra sword slicing through the air. Swoosh!! The blade was mere inches from cleaving Undead Eater in two-until two figures suddenly appeared at his side, intercepting the attack with their daggers. Souta narrowed his eyes, glancing at the two men flanking Undead Eater. Their auras radiated immense power-all of them were Sixth Shackle Realm experts. "Three Sixth Shackle Realms... No wonder the Palleo Kingdom''s forces couldn''t match them," Saya''s voice echoed in his mind. Souta sneered. Instead of backing down, he pushed forward, increasing the force behind his attack. His energy surged, skyrocketing as his body swelled into something monstrous. Thick strings of flesh coiled around his vajra sword, pulsating with power. At the same time, four spider-like limbs erupted from his back, twitching as they adjusted to his transformation. Without hesitation, he activated both his released form and parasite, unleashing his tremendous strength. Bang!! The three figures were sent hurtling hundreds of meters through the air. Undead Eater gritted his teeth, his glare fixed on Souta. "You damned monster!! You''ll pay for this!" His energy surged violently as countless bones erupted from the ground, twisting and fusing into a colossal skeletal hand. Souta, unfazed, raised his vajra sword and activated Second Mode. In an instant, several inner spells and combat arts activated one by one, pushing his combat power to terrifying heights. [Crimson Moon]!! With a single swing, his blade unleashed a massive arc of energy, glowing crimson like a bloodstained crescent. It tore through the air and crashed into the giant skeletal hand. For a brief moment, the two forces clashed-until the skeleton hand was cleaved clean in half. Boom!! Across the city, Vashno, Franklin, and the warriors of Athen''s Champion were engaged in fierce combat against the Deadman''s experts. A few warriors had descended into the underground levels to protect the civilians. With hundreds of civilians to safeguard, evacuation was difficult. Instead, the warriors set up a barrier to shield them from the intense energy pressure. The warriors of Athen''s Champion fought with brutal efficiency. These were elite fighters that Souta had brought from his War Grain. However, not all of his subordinates were here-many were on separate missions. Bang!! High above, a massive explosion rocked the sky. Souta remained on the defensive, his vajra sword raised as the Twin Death Daggers relentlessly attacked at high speed. The Twin Death Daggers were Undead Eater''s most capable subordinates, infamous for their speed and lethality on the battlefield. Undead Eater was powerful in his own right, but his true strength lay in his ability to summon extraordinary skeleton warriors. Combined with the twin brothers, they made for an incredibly difficult opponent. Together, they slaughtered countless experts in the past with their coordination. "It''s going to be the same, monster!! Hahaha!! You''re going to die!" Undead Eater laughed maniacally. The twin brothers continued to attack Souta from every direction. Their movements were too fast, and Souta struggled to keep up. In a matter of moments, they had cut his body thousands of times. ''An unbalanced fighter...?!'' Souta felt a flicker of surprise. The twin brothers'' speed was closer on the level of the Realm of Heroes than anyone, but their attack power was lacking. Despite having slashed him tens of thousands of times, none of their blows had managed to pierce his bones. All of their wounds were shallow. They had sacrificed raw power to push the limits of their speed. Thanks to their combat arts and support spells, their maximum velocity now rivaled that of a weak Seventh Shackle Realm fighter. It was impressive, to say the least. Even Captain Sarguan wouldn''t be able to defeat these three, even with his time affinity. ''I see...'' Souta''s eyes flickered toward Undead Eater, who was charging a powerful attack. ''So their primary reliance for damage is this guy.'' "Die!!" Undead Eater released the charged attack, firing a dark ray that tore through the air, instantly -closing the distance between them. The twin brothers had already disappeared, reappearing several kilometers away. "I''m done. I''ll keep one of you alive." Souta muttered, and in that instant, his [Douion] erupted like a tidal wave. Dark and light energies surged around his body, crackling with power. He aimed his sword forward and bent his knees, preparing. In the next moment, he shot through the dark ray like a shooting star, heading straight for Undead Eater. Swoosh!! Undead Eater''s eyes widened in shock. When he looked down, he saw Souta''s sword piercing through his chest. The dark ray he had unleashed slowly dissipated as a hand emerged from the energy, grabbing his neck. "Ugh... What...?!" Once the area cleared, he saw Souta standing before him, now covered in white armor. [Blood Armor: Jade Spider]!! Before the Undead Eater could react, the twin brothers rushed forward to rescue him. They arrived at his side and were about to strike at Souta when blood-red webs exploded outward in all directions. The twin brothers'' speed was incredible. They effortlessly dodged the webs, their figures flickering through the air as they slashed the incoming webs. Souta was confident that the twin brothers wouldn''t be able to easily tear through his blood web. After all, he had already tested their attack power, and in his opinion, it was too weak. With a simple motion, Souta made a grabbing gesture in the air. Ohm! The twin brothers suddenly found themselves trapped. The entire area was enclosed by blood, forming a massive sphere around them. Blood? The realization hit them instantly. "Blood Lightning Monster!!" That name was the first that came to their minds when it came to manipulating blood. "Too late." Souta''s voice was cold as the blood sphere rapidly shrank in around them. Chapter 1088: Missing case Deadman City. The members of the Deadman were all wiped out by Souta and his allies-except for Undead Eater. Souta had wrapped him in webs and left him to Franklin for interrogation. Half a day after they raided the city, Souta had obtained valuable information from Undead Eater. "According to the information he gave, this city was already destroyed before they took over," Franklin reported, recounting everything Undead Eater had divulged. A week ago, they had planned to attack this city, but when they arrived, the city was already in ruins. They had no idea who had destroyed the capital of the Palleo Kingdom. The status of the Royal Family remained unknown, as their bodies were never found among the dead. "Hmm..." Souta rubbed his chin, considering various possibilities. There was a slim chance that the Royal Family was still alive. Suddenly, a sound rang in his mind. Ding! [Quest Triggered]! [Find]: Find the captured Palleo Kingdom''s royal family and rescue them. Rewards: 8 skill points, 10 free attribute points, and 100,000,000 experience points. ''What?'' Souta raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn''t expected to trigger a quest this time. Moreover, the quest suggested that the Royal Family was still alive-they were just being detained by an unknown person or possibly an organization. Souta glanced at Franklin and said, "Contact the base. Tell them to send people here to bring back all the materials. Also, inform them to notify the Dragon Council. If they''re interested, they could send a team here." After speaking, Souta tossed a transmission talisman to Franklin. The people they had rescued needed to stay in the city for a while, so Souta forbade them from leaving. He instructed the members of his Grain to thoroughly investigate the city for any clues regarding the whereabouts of the Royal Family. The Obsidian Desert was vast, making the search for the Royal Family a daunting task. Who knew if they were even still in the desert? Souta and the others waited for reinforcements from his city and the Dragon Council. They would take the resources from the Deadman and also arrange a place for the civilians to stay in Hall Plains. On the third day since arriving in the Obsidian Desert, Souta and his group finally left Deadman City. Before they departed, Souta cast [Doppelganger] and scattered the duplicates in every direction. With his current best feram and recovery abilities, maintaining the doppelgangers for an extended period was no problem for him. ''My main goal here is to gather resources, but it seems I need to complete my quest first,'' Souta thought inwardly. The Obsidian Desert was vast, and as they passed through dozens of villages and towns, most of them were occupied by strange organizations. The highest combat level among these groups was only A-rank, which seemed weak in Souta''s eyes. He didn''t bother with them unless they went too far, such as massacring innocent civilians. Otherwise, Souta simply ignored them. This desert stretched endlessly, filled with nothing but sand. Most of the resources that could be gathered had already been claimed by the top factions. There was nothing of value in the small villages and towns, especially since they didn''t even have experts at the Shackled Realm. Eventually, Souta''s group reached a massive city known as Birth Camel City. Like many other cities, Birth Camel City had suffered an attack but managed to repel the organizations that assaulted it. However, their losses were high, and the current atmosphere in the city was far from lively. Souta, Vashno, Franklin, and the warriors of Athen''s Champion gathered in a room they had rented. The night had fallen, and it was dark outside. "Grain Leader, something feels off about this city," one of the warriors said. "Go on," Souta prompted. "I spoke to a few locals, and they told me that the city lord''s people took all the corpses. Even the locals who lost their loved ones in the attack never saw their bodies." "Did the city lord cremate the bodies?" "No, all the dead bodies are just... gone." "That''s really strange." Souta rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I actually wanted to investigate the city lord''s mansion, but I discovered that it''s surrounded by several detection runes, so I refrained from entering," Franklin explained. "Also, this city is under the rule of the Red Sand Republic, but after the chaotic events a week ago, Birth Camel City declared its independence," Vashno added. The chaotic situation had occurred when various forces attacked countless cities across the continent. The Obsidian Desert''s top faction was also targeted by hungry organizations hiding in the shadows. "I''ve learned that several organizations are preparing to fight for the inheritance of the Serene Palace. From what I gathered, the Serene Palace has a huge amount of resources stored in its vault," Vashno said. "We''ll deal with the Serene Palace. It''s better to destroy the factions fighting for it," Souta narrowed his eyes. Those factions reminded him of the people who had invaded Ekatoe City, trying to align themselves with the Deadly Sins. He would demolish them without hesitation. "However, we need to investigate this city too," Souta said, turning to a few members of his Grain. "Allan, take a few people and investigate the Serene Palace first. Let me know if a major battle is about to take place." A warrior named Allan nodded. The next day, Allan and a few warriors left the group. Souta, Franklin, Vashno, and the remaining two warriors walked through the streets. Despite Birth Camel City having recently been attacked, there were still many people coming in and out of the city, especially mercenaries looking for work. "What are we going to do now?" Franklin asked. Souta didn''t respond immediately. Instead, he glanced at Vashno and asked, "What do you think? High profile or not?" Vashno shook his head, replying, "It''s better to investigate in the shadows. We can''t disturb the enemy or they might not reveal themselves." "That''s good. I''ll go to the city lord''s mansion while you investigate the people under the city lord''s command," Souta said. "Yes, sir." The group split up and went in different directions. Souta arrived in front of the mansion. He could see dozens of runes placed all around. Most of these runes were for detection, but they weren''t a problem for him. He stepped forward, carefully hiding himself in the shadows. Souta moved through the darkness without anyone noticing. He managed to enter the mansion without causing a commotion. As he was about to proceed, he felt something. His eyes narrowed as he turned his head. "One of my doppelgangers got destroyed...?" Souta muttered under his breath. Sure enough, there were still many dangers lurking in the Obsidian Desert. It was likely as dangerous as the Red Matter Association. He shook his head and refocused on the task at hand. Souta entered a room and began scanning the papers, looking for any useful information. After a while, he hadn''t found anything unusual. Everything appeared normal. ''It seems I really need to capture this city lord,'' Souta thought inwardly. ... Somewhere in a dark room, a man with long white hair tied at the back sat in a chair, a cup of tea in his hand. Opposite him sat a chubby woman, holding a piece of meat. "How is it?" the man asked. "I guess he took the bait. The Deadman vanished a few days ago, so the Blood Lightning Monster is here," the woman replied. "I see... Then, proceed as planned." The man nodded. After a moment, he asked another question. "What about the other side?" "Oh, you mean from Aaru? It failed. Omari Adel broke through to Hero-rank and killed his way out. He became famous overnight," the woman answered. She swallowed the meat in her hand and glanced at the man before her. "Why not send a Hero-rank?" The man shook his head. "There are already Hero-ranks sent there, but they were intercepted. Also, most of the Hero-ranks from the Gluttony Army are on the main battlefield." They weren''t part of the Gluttony Army. They were just an organization under it, so they didn''t have the authority to alter the Ruler of Gluttony''s arrangements. The total number of Hero-ranks in the Gluttony Army was fewer than in the Holy Lands. That''s why the Ruler of Gluttony carefully planned his attacks and even unsealed an ancient Monster Lord to divert the Holy Lands'' attention. It was already a blessing that the Holy Lands weren''t united. On top of that, there was the looming danger of the demon army, watching from the sidelines. Ekatoe City. Torkez was floating in the air, watching as people worked on constructing houses and buildings. "Sir Torkez!" He turned his head as he heard someone call his name. Torkez descended to the ground and stood in front of a warrior. "There''s a letter for Grain Leader Souta," the warrior said, holding out the letter. Torkez took the letter and asked, "From whom?" "Lady Echidna," the warrior replied. Torkez'' eyes widened. He carefully placed the letter in his pocket and turned to the warrior. "Thank you. I''ll give this to our leader when he returns." Chapter 1089: Serene Palace Souta and the others returned to the inn. Franklin, Vashno, and the others had similar experiences they found nothing significant about what the city lord had done with the corpses. "There''s no other choice but to ask them directly," Vashno said, glancing at Souta. "Yeah, I thought we would find some big clues in their houses, but it seems I was wrong. This matter must be big if they''re taking such extreme precautions." Souta frowned, his mind racing. He turned to Franklin and asked, "What about the others?" Franklin shook his head. Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Souta and the others remained in Birth Camel City. Souta kept in contact with Alice through the transmission talisman. She informed him that the team sent to gather materials from Deadman had returned and was ready to collect another batch. Meanwhile, Souta and the others observed any potential changes in the city. They discovered that several people were missing, including some of the wealthier residents. These individuals held a higher status than the common folk, akin to nobles in a kingdom or empire. "We''ll capture the city lord today," Souta said. Franklin and the others nodded in agreement. Souta and the others concealed their presence as they surrounded the city lord''s mansion. "I''ll go now," Souta said. He moved into the shadows, the only one intended to enter the mansion. The others would remain outside, keeping watch for anyone coming or going from the building. Inside the mansion, Souta quietly made his way to one of the rooms. He surveyed the area before stepping out, his gaze settling on the direction of the city lord''s chamber. Through the blood, he could sense the presence of others nearby. Souta had been tracking the city lord for the past few days, so he knew the lord would be in the mansion at this time. He stood in front of the door, his gaze cutting through the walls. Reaching out, he turned the handle and opened the door. Before anyone inside could react, Souta unleashed his spells. Intense gravity crashed down, followed by dark smoke that filled the room in an instant. Swoosh!! Souta stepped forward and launched hundreds of webs. "Who are you?!!!" Their voices gradually faded as the webs wrapped around their bodies, trapping them completely. Just like that, everyone in the room was restrained by Souta. It had been too easy. Souta stood still, glancing left and right. With a flick of his finger, a man covered in webs floated in front of him. This man was the city lord of Birth Camel City. The webs around the city lord''s face gradually faded. "Who are you?! Did you really think you''d get away with this?!" The city lord spat, fury in his voice. Souta remained silent, his gaze moving between the city lord and the others. It became clear to him that someone was assisting them from the shadows. These people were too weak- there''s no way they could have gained independence from the republic on their own. If someone as powerful as Deadman had invaded the Birth Camel City, they wouldn''t have stood a chance. It was possible that the city lord was in cahoots with the people that invaded this city before. Souta sat down in a vacant chair, his gaze fixed on the city lord. He asked, "What did you do to the bodies of the people that died before?" "You think I''ll tell you?!" The city lord sneered. "You should release me! Maybe then, you''ll have a chance to survive!!" Souta sighed at the city lord''s words. With a flick of his finger, one of the people wrapped in webs suddenly exploded. The webs quickly consumed the body, compressing it into a small, grotesque ball of flesh. "Ugh..." The city lord''s eyes widened in horror. Souta stared coldly at the city lord and said, "You see, I''m not playing around here. If you keep acting like this, I might just make you disappear." The city lord''s fear was evident. His tone shifted as he realized the man before him would kill him without hesitation. ... Outside the mansion, everything appeared normal, as if nothing had happened. "What do you think will happen?" Franklin asked with a bored expression, glancing at the mansion. There was a faint energy fluctuation, but it quickly dissipated. Franklin knew that Souta was finished. "Nothing. I think the city lord is dispensable to the one pulling the strings in the dark. After this, they''ll be aware of our existence-though they might already know, especially since it''s been a few days since Deadman was eliminated in the Palleo Kingdom," Vashno replied. A few minutes later, Souta emerged from the mansion. Franklin and Vashno exchanged a glance before following him. The warriors of Athen''s Champion followed suit. The group left the city and quickly took to the sky. "Change of plans," Souta said. "We''re going straight to the Serene Palace." Franklin, Vashno, and the warriors nodded without questioning him. They understood that Souta must have gathered crucial information from the city lord. Souta increased his flying speed by manipulating gravity. What he learned from the city lord was that the corpses had been transported to the Serene Palace. Even the missing people were taken there. Just as Souta had expected, the city lord was merely a pawn. There were influential figures in other countries as well, all being controlled by this unknown group. But... why would this group reveal such information about the transportation of the corpses and missing people to their pawns? It almost felt as if... "Someone is baiting you," Saya''s voice echoed in his mind. "Yeah, it feels that way. Still, I have to go there to verify it," Souta replied, controlling his remaining doppelgangers to head toward the Serene Palace. Meanwhile, various factions across the Obsidian Desert were keeping an eye on the Serene Palace, each vying for its inheritance. "Battle, corpses, missing people... The battle will create more corpses. I see... It''s some kind of sacrifice," Souta muttered to himself. Suddenly, he halted mid-air, sensing something. Franklin and the others quickly followed suit, coming to a stop as well. "What''s wrong?" Vashno asked, following Souta''s gaze but seeing nothing. "Really... My doppelgangers are all gone. They''ve been intercepted by someone," Souta said. With this, he was certain that someone was targeting him. ... Red Sand Valley. A grand palace loomed in the distance, its golden spires reaching toward the sky. Marble columns lined the entrance, each intricately carved with the history of its founding. The sun bathed the palace in hues of gold and crimson, causing the walls to glow as though they contained fire within them. The palace was surrounded by a semi-transparent barrier, its highest point stretching three kilometers above the surface. This was the Serene Palace. The heart of one of the most powerful factions in the Obsidian Desert. Its history spanned over two thousand years. At this very moment, several individuals observed the magnificent palace from afar. They were warriors from Athen''s Champion. Allan, one of the warriors, turned to his men and asked, "How''s the investigation going?" "Squad leader, based on our information, the barrier will disappear at any moment. We need to prepare, as a battle is sure to follow," his squad member replied. "I see..." Allan nodded, then glanced at another member. "Go back and inform Grain Leader Souta about this." "Yes, sir." What they didn''t know was that Souta was already on his way. Allan turned his attention back to the palace, a worried expression crossing his face. He couldn''t quite put it into words, but his instincts were screaming that there was a hidden danger. He had survived countless perils in the past thanks to his sharp senses, and now, they told him that there was more to this Serene Palace than met the eye. This was why he hadn''t dared approach it like the other factions, who were already close to the barrier. Currently, five organizations surrounded the Serene Palace, all waiting for the barrier to fall. These five groups were the ones who had taken down the top powers of the Obsidian Desert. They had allied themselves with the war of Gluttony to dismantle the forces ruling this land. They were similar to the group that Arden, a member of the Gluttony Army, had brought to Ekatoe City. Everyone waited patiently. Allan and his group kept themselves hidden at a distance. "The destruction of the Serene Palace is also a mystery..." In the past weeks, the people of the Serene Palace had been killed. As for who was responsible, no one knew the answer. Allan understood that the factions gathered here were driven by greed. They all coveted the inheritance of a powerful faction like the Serene Palace, and that was enough for them to overlook the dangers lurking within. Chapter 1090: Opening of the Barrier Somewhere in the Obsidian Desert. A massive mansion stood beside an oasis. A man with long white hair rose from his seat. He glanced in a certain direction and said, "It''s time. Prepare yourself." "Huh?" A chubby woman looked at him. "Is it already time, Leonard?" "Yeah." Leonard nodded at her words. "Maeb, don''t forget our mission. The other group already failed against Adel, so we can''t afford to fail this time. We have to kill the Blood Lightning Monster, no matter what." "It''s a pity," Maeb said, standing up from her seat. "If Adel hadn''t broken through to the Hero-rank, he would have died there." "Arden will be freed from his punishment in just a month. If we can''t kill the Blood Lightning Monster, he''ll destroy our group. This is our only way to survive." Leonard said, a frown on his face. The Gluttony Army couldn''t send another Seven-Circle Officer. The power of those officers was needed more on the main battlefield. They had already lost a Messenger of Gluttony last time, and they couldn''t afford to send another high-level expert. But Leonard had a plan. "Let''s go." ... Red Sand Valley. Souta''s group landed on the ground from the air. In the distance, they could see a magnificent palace surrounded by a barrier. "Grain Leader Souta!" Allan greeted him. Souta nodded and glanced at the barrier. It was weakening-he could tell it didn''t have much energy left. It might collapse soon, or they could force their way through it since it was growing weaker. "How is it?" Souta asked. "There are five organizations surrounding the Serene Palace," Allan reported. "Their leaders are strong, but they''re probably weaker than the leader of the Deadman." "Oh." Souta raised an eyebrow. It seemed that silencing those people would be easier than he had thought. "Also, I have a bad feeling about this. Everything around here feels like a setup," Allan explained anxiously. Souta turned his gaze to Allan. "Go on." "I''ve investigated the Serene Palace. Although it has a long history, this type of barrier is something they shouldn''t have. There''s no mention of this barrier, and even when they were at war, they never showed it. If they''d had it from the beginning, they wouldn''t have fallen overnight. Maybe they''re still inside the barrier." "You''re right. This is probably a trap set up by someone," Souta said. That being said, he would still go, even if it was a trap. He knew that Princess Iris and the others were still alive because of the quest, and they were probably inside the Serene Palace. The group waited for a few hours until there was finally a change. Ohm! An energy wave spread across the area like a ripple. The barrier flickered, and everyone sprang to their feet. "It''s here." Hundreds of people stared ahead, a mix of anticipation and nervousness on their faces. The sky above the Serene Palace shimmered with hues of blue and white as the massive barrier that had enclosed it for so long began to fracture. Cracks of light spread across its translucent surface. Bang! With a deafening sound, the barrier shattered into thousands of glimmering fragments, dispersing like embers from a dying flame. A wave of energy swept out once again, brushing across everyone in the area. The barrier around the Serene Palace was gone. "It''s finally gone." An old man with a thick beard and mustache laughed. His energy surged as he rushed toward the magnificent gate of the palace. A man clad in golden armor gripped his sword tightly. "Everyone! We''ll go inside and claim the wealth of the Serene Palace," he commanded. People began to enter the palace as the gate opened. In the distance, Souta watched as the barrier disappeared. He turned to his group and said, "Let''s go!" Souta''s group flew through the air, reaching the entrance in just a moment. They saw that there were still people outside the palace. The expressions of these people shifted when they noticed Souta''s group. "Is it just me, or do these people look like they''re trying to prevent anyone from entering?" Franklin asked. "You''re not alone." Vashno turned his head, sensing more people approaching the palace. They didn''t belong to any of the five groups that had entered. "It seems they''ve made a deal. They want to keep all the loot for their five groups, not wanting to share with the smaller ones." "Hey, this land is now the territory of the Red Alliance. Go back if you don''t want to become our enemy," one of the people guarding the entrance said. "Red Alliance?" Franklin raised his eyebrows and took a step forward. "Yes, it''s the alliance of the Red Night, Ever Dead, Extreme Light Association, Flare Family, and Freezing Wind Cooperative." Franklin grinned wickedly as he approached the man. "You see, our leader is a bit special. You don''t want to mess with him¡ª" "Franklin," Souta interjected. Franklin looked at Souta and smiled. "I''m just playing with my prey." In the next second, his hand transformed into a sharp blade and stabbed the man in front of him. "Ugh! You...!" The man stared at Franklin with wide eyes. A streak of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth as he felt intense pain in his stomach. "Finish this," Souta said, walking forward and ignoring the people around him. Vashno and the warriors of Athen''s Champion dashed forward, all drawing their weapons. Bang!! The sounds of fighting echoed as Souta passed through the gate. He gazed at the majestic palace, scanning for any traps or mechanisms outside. After confirming that everything was fine, Souta turned his head. A bloody scene unfolded before his eyes. "We''re done," Franklin said, standing up, his entire body covered in blood. "Good." Souta began to walk, with his men following close behind. The blood on the ground began to rise into the air, chasing after Souta''s group. The others behind them were shocked by the scene. They were just small groups or wandering mercenaries who had hoped to make money in this place. "As expected, there''s really a group that isn''t afraid of the five giant factions." "Let''s go, brother! There''s no one guarding the entrance now!" "Take anything from those people and leave this place!" They shouted as they ran toward the gate. ... Souta and his group arrived inside the palace. They were greeted by a crystal chandelier hanging high above, casting a soft reflection across the polished marble floors. Silken banners of gold and red draped from the ceilings, displaying the emblem of the past leader of the Serene Palace. "So, where are they?" Franklin muttered, looking around. "Let''s go." Souta said to them. Their footsteps echoed softly against the polished marble floors as they moved deeper inside. Silver corridors, towering archways, and opulent chambers bathed in golden light surrounded them. They passed all of these while observing the changes in their surroundings. "It''s like a labyrinth..." Vashno muttered. Souta ran his palm lightly across the smooth stone walls. "It''s tough, but you can break these walls if you want." As soon as he spoke, Souta clenched his fist, gathered his energy, and threw a punch. Bang! The walls collapsed under his punch, revealing the room inside. "However, this isn''t advisable since there may be mechanisms that could destroy the materials we want if we force our way in. Well, it''s not a problem for me since I can see those things, but it''s better to be careful," Souta explained. The group continued through several corridors and chambers. A few minutes later, they arrived in a different chamber. The floor was covered in blood, and the walls were pure white, glowing with a dim light. Various languages were written on the ceiling, emitting a strange energy. "This..." Souta frowned. ''You''re right. This is a sacrificial altar.'' Saya''s voice confirmed his thoughts. However, this was a completely different ritual than the one the remnants of the Hall of Power performed for the No God Emperor. In this world, there were hundreds of rituals with different purposes. Suddenly, the ground shook heavily. Rumble! Souta and his group were alerted. They hadn''t done anything yet, so they knew they weren''t the cause of it. "It seems that the others who entered the palace have already caused trouble," Vashno said. Souta sighed and said, "Let''s move." It was better to find Princess Iris and Prince Servon first. He didn''t want them to die in a place like this. Perhaps the pool of blood here came from the corpses of the missing people. If that was the case, then someone could enter and exit the Serene Palace at will, even with the barrier intact. They moved to another chamber and found another sacrificial altar. However, this one was incomplete, with bodies still in the pool of blood that hadn''t dissolved yet. "There''s a flow of energy from these altars... If we follow it, we might find its source," Souta muttered. He could sense it. Chapter 1091: Battle in Serene Palace Bang! A deafening explosion echoed as the walls shattered into a hundred fragments. Flames, water, and all kinds of elemental forces erupted in every direction, wreaking havoc on the surroundings. Across the battlefield, warriors clashed, their weapons and abilities colliding with such force that the ground trembled beneath them. But the most striking figures were the leaders of the five giant organizations. "The leaders are fighting!" Bang! Another devastating impact shattered the floor, exposing the chamber hidden below. Chaos consumed the battlefield. People scattered in every direction, snatching anything of value amid the destruction. On the far side of the room, Princess Iris and the rest of the Palleo Kingdom''s royal family sat bound, their fates uncertain. Slowly, Iris stirred. A surge of energy fluctuations rippled through the air, forcing her groggy mind to awaken. "Ugh... What''s happening?" she muttered, blinking as she took in her surroundings. The room was stark white, almost unsettling in its purity. Beneath them, a small pool of blood had begun to spread. Her gaze drifted upward, where ominous words were etched into the ceiling, their presence radiating an eerie foreboding. Aside from her family, several others were also bound within the room, their faces pale with fear. "You''re awake." A voice came from beside her. Princess Iris lifted her head and met the gaze of her brother, Prince Servon. Before she could ask anything, he spoke again. "This might be our chance to escape. Someone must have found this place there''s a battle happening outside." For days, they had been trapped in this room, helpless as the pool of blood beneath them slowly consumed the weaker captives. The gruesome sight was unbearable, especially for those unaccustomed to such horrors. One by one, the other captives began to stir, roused by the relentless tremors and surging energy from the battle outside. A spark of hope ignited in their hearts- a fragile but desperate belief that escape was possible. Bang!! The wall suddenly collapsed, and a figure crashed to the ground. Prince Servon''s eyes widened as he took a step forward. "This..." He quickly realized the person was already dead. His gaze shifted to the gaping hole in the wall. "This is our chance. We have to get out of here." "Yeah..." Princess Iris exhaled sharply and forced herself to stand, determination flickering in her tired eyes. Their weakened state was the only reason they hadn''t escape sooner. If they had even a fraction of their former strength, any expert of decent caliber could have shattered the walls with ease. Prince Servon stepped out of the walls, his eyes scanning the blood-soaked battlefield. Corpses lay stewn across the ground, a grim testament to the ongoing battle. Spotting a sword embedded in the dirt, he strode toward it and used the blade to cut the ropes binding his wrists. "Here. I''ll cut yours too." Without hesitation, he moved to his family and other captives, slicing through their restraints one by one. "Follow me." His voice was steady, though the weight of the situation pressed on him. Carefully, he led them forward, weaving through the wreckage and avoiding the area where the energy fluctuations were at their most intense. "We need to get out of here." Right now, they were too weak to fight. If they encountered anyone hostile, they wouldn''t stand a chance. Prince Servon moved cautiously, guiding his family and the others through the battlefield. Every step was calculated, every movement laced with urgency. He wasn''t here to fight-he was here to survive. Boom!! A devastating surge of energy ripped through the ground and ceiling, shaking the entire structure. They froze, holding their breath as several figures descended through the gaping hole. Each one radiated an overwhelming, almost suffocating presence. The man at the front turned his head, his sharp gaze locking onto them. ''Damn, he noticed us.'' Prince Servon clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to curse aloud. Suddenly, Princess Iris gasped. "Wait, brother! Isn''t that the Blood Lightning Monster?! The Lord of Ekatoe, Souta!" "The Lord of Ekatoe?" Servon''s eyes widened in shock. He turned for another look-only to find that Souta was already standing before them. "Hey, I didn''t expect to find you here." Souta smirked, his presence radiating confidence. "Lord Souta, what are you doing here?" Prince Servon asked, trying to steady his voice. Souta glanced at the ongoing battle before replying. "Well, I''m here to take something from these people. Their kind raided my city, killed my citizens... and took the life of my friend, Eilish." His voice was calm, but the weight behind his words was unmistakable. "What?! L-Lady Eilish is dead?!" Princess Iris''s eyes widened in shock. She had met Eilish before, but among Souta''s people, she was closest to Amanda. They had fought side by side during the Walpurgis Night, surviving life-and-death struggles against an elder. Even so, hearing about Eilish''s death was a heavy blow. "Yeah." Souta nodded, his expression unreadable. His gaze shifted past them, scanning the weary group. Then, something caught his attention. "By the way, where''s the captain?" Princess Iris hesitated before answering, her voice lowering. "Captain Sarguan? He... He died too." Souta remained silent for a moment. He had expected this. In a situation like this, survival was never guaranteed. Without another word, he raised his hand. "Allan, bring a few warriors here. Give them some potions to help them recover. Then, lead them safely out of the palace." Allan stepped forward, nodding. "What about you, Grain Leader?" Souta smirked. "Me? Well, I''ll just do what I can." Souta''s mission had been simple: rescue the royal family. The only real difficulty was finding them-it had taken him several days to track them down. In truth, fighting hadn''t been necessary, but he had come to the Obsidian Desert with another purpose. He intended to destroy the organization that had aligned itself with the Ruler of Gluttony''s rampage. To plunder. To kill. Souta turned his head, scanning the area. Only Allan, Franklin, and Vashno remained by his side. The other members of his Grain had left with Prince Servon''s group. "There''s only one mission. Kill everyone belonging to the five organizations. Kill them. Kill them all." Souta''s eyes were cold, his eyes burning with murderous intent. He closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath. A strange feeling stirred within him, as if someone was whispering in his ears, urging him to unleash his fury. ''Souta, are you okay?'' Saya''s voice echoed in his mind, concern lacing her words. She could sense the shift in his emotions. ''It''s nothing. I can control it.'' Souta reassured her, though the words felt heavier than usual. "Don''t go straight for the five leaders... Take out the weaker ones first, reduce their numbers." Souta gave his orders, his tone decisive as he walked forward, leaving Franklin and the others to carry out their part. Souta walked forward with unwavering determination, his hand sweeping through the air, hurling anyone in his path aside. With every step, his energy swelled, building steadily with each movement. "Argh!!" Screams echoed as people were tossed aside by the force of his power. As he passed through several chambers, the tide of battle began to shift. Those who had been fighting no longer dared to engage¡ªmany began to avoid him altogether. The intense fluctuations of his feram were unmistakable. A flood of blood trailed in his wake, moving unnaturally, as if drawn to him. It seeped into the chambers behind, spreading like a dark tide. Souta soon arrived in a vast room. The walls, ceiling, and floor were riddled with holes, debris and dust scattered in every corner. At the far end of the room stood a magnificent throne, crafted from rare and exotic materials. In the center of the chaos, five figures were locked in combat. They were the five leaders. Their alliance, forged hastily, was fragile-its threads easily snapped. Souta stepped forward, his gaze drawn to something behind the throne. Several large eggs rested there, glistening faintly. "This...?" ''Dragon eggs. They''re close to hatching.'' Saya''s voice resonated in his mind, her tone laced with both curiosity and caution. Behind the throne, three dragon eggs lay hidden, their surfaces glistening with an otherworldly glow. Souta turned his head, his eyes scanning the battle. In the midst of the chaos, an old man stood, laughing as he held a bottle of potion in his hand. The potion was valuable-one of the rarest treasures in this place. Without a word, Souta waved his hand. Tendrils of webbing and blood shot out, wrapping around the dragon eggs with eerie precision. As soon as he did, the five leaders froze. Their eyes shifted toward him, an unmistakable awareness flickering in their gazes. "I''m afraid that you people might break the dragon eggs, so I''ll be protecting them for a while." Souta said with a smile on his face. "You!! Put them down!!" A woman clad in dark red clothes roared, her voice filled with fury. She was one of the five leaders. Without waiting for them to attack, Souta swung his hand down. A torrent of blood erupted, surging in every direction, flooding through several rooms at once. The five leaders immediately ceased their fighting, their focus shifting entirely to the incoming flood. They scrambled to defend themselves, their powers clashing against the waves of blood. Bang!! The room shattered in an instant, and several figures sprang from the shadows around Souta. His doppelgangers emerged, filling the space with their presence. At the same time, a twin glowing figure materialized beside him. [Yin Yang Twin Spirit]! It was one of the abilities granted by his universal-grade artifact, the [Yin Yang Bracelet]. Now that he was stronger, the twin spirit had grown more powerful than when he had last used it. Against a lone Sixth Shackle Realm expert, the twin spirit would be more than enough to deal a lethal blow-but this time, his opponents were five, five Sixth Shackle Realm experts. With the twin spirits and his doppelgangers, Souta had bought himself a precious moment. The five leaders were all at the Sixth Shackle Realm, and if they weren''t holding back, they could easily obliterate this palace. Even the weakest Sixth Shackle Realm expert could reduce this place to rubble. But they were hesitant, no doubt afraid of burying the treasures hidden here. "The people who set this trap... If they were trying to trap me, they should''ve known that filling this place with blood would only benefit me. Perhaps they were just that confident." Souta muttered, turning his gaze back to the chaos around him. At the very least, he had a minute before the five leaders overwhelmed his doppelgangers and twin spirits. Chapter 1093: Battling a Seventh Shackle Realm The rewards for the quest seemed underwhelming. He didn''t even know if the title "Slayer" would be of any use. It should be good, right? He decided not to dwell on it. He would find out once the quest was completed. Bang!! As the clash continued, Souta activated several of his equipment skills, boosting his strength significantly. He moved with everything he had, desperately trying to outpace Feron''s relentless pursuit. Souta wielded the Vajra sword with precision, blocking and slashing with calculated strikes. Yet, despite his efforts, he could feel Feron''s pressure mounting-his opponent''s attacks were unyielding. "What''s wrong, Blood Lightning Monster?! I thought you were going to slay me?!" Feron taunted, laughing cruelly. Souta wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his retreat finally coming to a stop. In the blink of an eye, Feron appeared in front of him, and without hesitation, Souta swung his sword with deadly precision. His aura exploded, and blood-colored lightning crackled around the blade, enhancing his strike. [Douion II] He didn''t forget to activate his [Douion] alongside [Possession] and his other equipment skills. Right now, aside from his universal-grade artifacts'' equipment skill, every dark-grade artifacts'' equipment skill he had was in play. The entire battlefield plunged into darkness as Souta and Feron clashed in midair. Boom!!! High atop one of the towers, Leonard and Maeb watched the battle unfold. "The Blood Lightning Monster is really something," Maeb remarked, clearly surprised. "I didn''t expect him to last this long against a Seventh Shackle." Souta''s fighting power was far beyond her expectations. She had assumed that once a Seventh Shackle appeared, they would easily overwhelm him. "I thought bringing in several Sixth Shackle Realms wouldn''t be enough, so I planned for a Seventh Shackle. But it seems I still underestimated him." Leonard''s voice was calm, but there was a note of respect in his words. Feron hadn''t naturally ascended to Hero-rank-he had paid a steep price to achieve it. The sacrificial altars were designed specifically to help him reach the Seventh Shackle Realm. He had made a dark pact to borrow the power of the ancient Monster Lord, a fearsome entity that had appeared in the three theaters. There was a reason Leonard hadn''t taken the same path. Once a person made a deal with that Monster Lord, they were eternally bound to it. The cost was immense: constant suffering, until the individual eventually became nothing more than nourishment for the Monster Lord. That''s why Leonard had chosen a different route-he found an expert on the brink of death, someone desperate for power, and made use of their obsession with reaching greater heights. And that expert was Feron. ... On the other side of the land, Prince Servon and his group stared at the direction of the Serene Palace, their eyes wide with shock. "This pressure?!" "A Seventh Shackle Realm expert?!" They could see several towers glowing with red light, and an overwhelming energy emanating from somewhere within. The force of the battle sent tremors through the ground, the sands vibrating beneath their feet, while flickering lights danced in the distance. "One of them is the Lord of Ekatoe!" They quickly recognized that one of the immense sources of power was a best feram. There was only one being capable of such a display of power in the Serene Palace-it was Souta, without a doubt. ... On the battlefield, Franklin and the others stood at a distance, watching in awe. "The Grain Leader has grown to this level." Allan muttered, his voice filled with admiration. He had witnessed Souta prove his strength in the Champion''s Den, but what he saw now was beyond anything he had imagined. This display of strength far surpassed what Souta had shown that day. With this kind of power, Allan wouldn''t be surprised if Souta contested for the position of Chief Captain. After all, the minimum requirement for a Chief Captain was Seventh Shackle Realm, and all of the Chief Captains were at Hero-rank. "Damn! This kind of battle power... it''s unheard of!" Vashno muttered, his voice tinged with disbelief. "You shouldn''t be surprised. Our Astros will soon grow into a top-level faction under Souta''s leadership," Franklin said, his voice confident. He knew Souta had plans to create a powerful force. Olympus didn''t prohibit such ambitions. It was clear from how each god had their own military legions, like Goddess Athena''s Athen''s Champion. Even some kings within Olympus'' territory were warriors in a god''s legion and possessed their own military. Olympus wasn''t overly strict about these things, as long as they didn''t betray the realm. ... Meanwhile, the battle between Souta and Feron raged on. Boom!! Boom!! Both combatants moved with incredible speed, their blows shaking the air. Souta flew through the sky, his spider limbs launching [Bestrou] at Feron. The attack was swift, but Feron skillfully dodged, soaring after Souta in hot pursuit. In the air, Feron closed the distance and threw a punch. Souta gritted his teeth, taking the blow head-on. Then, with quick reflexes, he thrust his sword forward. Whoosh! Feron shifted his body to the side, narrowly avoiding the full force of the strike, but the blade still managed to cut across his shoulder. With a snarl, he spun around and delivered a brutal kick to Souta''s stomach. Souta''s body bent forward under the force of the blow, sending him flying several hundred meters before crashing into one of the nearby towers. Bang!! Despite the heavy impact, Souta immediately sprang back to his feet, his senses heightened. He felt a surge of intense energy headed his way. Without hesitation, he kicked off the air and dodged sideways. In the next instant, a powerful arc of lightning struck the spot where he had been just moments ago. Souta cast a brief glance at the tower before quickly shifting his attention back to Feron. This guy is strong. Everything in this area had been set up to favor Feron. The towers surrounding them were feeding him energy, significantly enhancing his strength. Even if one of the towers was destroyed, it would regenerate in a minute or so, making it an unending source of power. All of this was the result of the pact with the Lord of Woods, Shub-Niggurath. Souta clenched his fist, his resolve hardening. With a wicked smile on his face, he launched himself forward. Souta collided with Feron, and the impact sent a shockwave through the air. Bang!! Sparks flew in every direction as their powerful auras clashed. The killing intent emanating from both combatants surged, creating an oppressive pressure that weighed heavily on everyone in the area. The survivors of the Serene Palace''s destruction were exposed to the intense energy of the battle, struggling to endure the strain. Blood-colored lightning crackled violently from Souta, crashing into Feron. The force of the blow sent him hurtling toward the ground. "You truly are the strongest Fourth Stage!" Feron gritted his teeth, enduring the pain as he roared in defiance. His energy surged once more, and he barreled forward, tearing through the blood lightning with his own lightning. As he advanced, red marks across his body glowed brightly, further enhancing his power. Souta saw Feron charging toward him, his figure like a blur. Without hesitation, he raised his sword high, dark and light swirling around the blade in a chaotic dance. In an instant, both of them launched their attacks. Boom!! The collision sent ripples through the air, followed by waves of destructive energy. Several towers exploded on impact, sending rocks and debris flying across the land. The shockwave was so powerful that it sent both Souta and Feron tumbling several kilometers away. They crashed into the sands, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris. Feron was the first to recover. Spitting blood, he bent his knees and launched himself back into the fray at breakneck speed. Whoosh!! "Hahahaha!! Good!! This is what I wanted!" Souta''s voice rang out, his laughter filled with manic excitement as he pushed himself up from the sand. He raised his hand and made a grabbing motion toward Feron. "Today is the day I slay a Hero-rank!" Thousands of red webs sliced through the air like deadly blades. The sky above churned ominously, black clouds swirling as arcs of lightning flickered beneath them. Blood rained down from the heavens, mingling with crimson lightning that crackled through the storm. Feron''s senses sharpened as he sprinted across the battlefield. His body moved with uncanny precision, dodging the sharp webs and evading the deadly crimson bolts that lashed out from above. "Come!!" Lightning erupted from his body, surrounding him as he activated his Element Drive. Feron tore through the air, each step shattering the atmosphere around him. Bang!! Souta''s eyes narrowed as he whispered, "Dream is reality. Reality is a dream." With a swift motion, he slashed through the very fabric of space in front of him, the air itself seeming to ripple and distort as his blade cut through the space. White smoke billowed from the rift, quickly engulfing the entire area in a dense, choking fog. Ohm! Feron''s eyes widened in shock as the smoke swallowed him whole, along with everyone else in the vicinity. The landscape around them shifted, as if reality itself had been altered. The towers remained, but the sky was now a haunting crimson, with a sun trapped in an eternal, blood-red twilight. The sands beneath their feet seemed to shimmer with a strange duality, a blend of light and shadow. Dark clouds amassed overhead, and the thunder rumbled with ominous force. The blood-red rain began to fall in torrents, each drop carrying an eerie weight. [Dream of the Twilight Blood]! Souta''s lips curled into a smile as he locked his gaze on Feron, his eyes glinting with a mix of amusement and dark anticipation. Feron glanced at Souta, narrowing his eyes. He had heard that the Blood Lightning Monster possessed dream powers, and now he saw it was true. "The suppression here is strong, but it''s not enough to restrain me. Do you really think this will stop me?" "Nope." Souta replied flatly, sensing his opponent had disappeared from his sight. Swoosh! Feron reappeared behind Souta, his body crackling with an immense amount of lightning. [Lightning Destruction Fist]! Lightning coiled around his fist as he threw the devastating punch at Souta. [Soul Blood Mode]! Souta spun around and swung his sword. The clash of sword and fist sent shockwaves through the air. Sparks of elemental energy erupted, spreading violently like a spider''s web. Boom!! Both Souta and Feron were sent flying several kilometers apart. "You''re really strong! Is this the power you''ve gained from a Monster Lord?" Souta laughed, pointing his sword at Feron. "Then, let me show you what I''ve gained from a Monster Lord as well." [Blood Armor: Divine Retribution]! In an instant, blood surged across his skin, forming an additional layer of protection. Chapter 1094: [Divine Retribution] "That white hair... Is that Souta?" Franklin, Vashno, and Allan stood at a distance, watching the battle. They had also been caught in the white smoke when it expanded. Ohm! Souta stood at a towering height of two and a half meters. His long white hair fluttered in the wind, and the spider limbs on his back had vanished. Two pairs of black horns curved from the sides of his head, and his skin had grown pale. He wore a short robe made entirely of blood, yet his attire also bore white scales woven into its design. A long, black, razor-sharp tail swayed behind him like a serpent. The aura radiating from his body was dark-completely at odds with his luminous appearance. [Blood Armor: Divine Retribution]! This form was entirely different from his previous armor, which had resembled full plate armor with intricate designs. Yet, the fundamental principle remained the same-this was still an armor. His true body lay beneath this new skin. He had already filled his vacant slot with the blood of Lady Echidna. Power surged through Souta''s body. Every ounce of energy he had absorbed from Lady Echidna''s blood had been used to create this form. His red eyes locked onto Feron. Souta opened his other palm, gathering blood that swiftly took the shape of a sword, activating [Dual Wielder]. One blade, the vajra sword, gleamed with light, crackling with blood lightning. The other sword, cloaked in darkness, pulsed with the same ominous energy. Feron steadied himself. He watched as Souta took a single step-then vanished from sight. "Damn!" A sudden fluctuation rippled beside him. Before he could react, Souta was already there. Feron barely had time to register the attack before a sword strike sent him hurtling through the air. In an instant, his body was flung several kilometers away, crashing through multiple towers. Boom!! Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Feron struggled to comprehend what had just happened. This Blood Lightning Monster-Souta-was stronger than anyone he had ever faced. It should be impossible. No... This can''t be... Gritting his teeth, Feron pushed himself to his feet, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. His eyes locked onto Souta, burning with fury. Souta strode toward Feron, his lips slightly parted. "Come... Just like I said before, I will slay a Seventh Shackle Realm today." "You...!! Don''t underestimate me!!" Feron roared, the red markings on his body glowing intensely. His muscles swelled, and his energy surged with overwhelming ferocity. "I will tear you apart!!" Feron bent his knees and launched himself forward like a raging beast. "Too bad you can''t do that," Souta said calmly as he swung his sword. Boom!! The other people trapped in the dreamscape trembled under the sheer pressure of the battle. Powerless, they could only watch-fear gripping their hearts. If even a single stray attack flew in their direction, they would be annihilated. Trapped in this place, they had no means to defend themselves. The overwhelming pressure bore down on them, suppressing them to their absolute limit. All they could do was pray that no attack would stray their way. The five leaders, however, were far more terrified. They hadn''t expected the monster before them to be the legendary Blood Lightning Monster. And they knew-once this battle ended, they would be next. Their only hope now was that Feron could somehow defeat him. Boom!! Souta and Feron moved at blinding speed, exchanging thousands of blows in mere seconds. Feron''s heavy punch crashed into Souta''s stomach, sending him hurtling hundreds of meters away. Souta twisted in midair, stabilizing himself before immediately launching a devastating energy blade. Feron barely spared it a glance before punching straight through the attack. Then, his gaze flicked upward-to the dark clouds churning above. Hundreds of arcs of blood-colored lightning rained down at once. His eyes shifted to the ground. The once-solid sands had transformed into a vast, crimson ocean. This was his opponent''s dreamscape-a realm where everything bent to Souta''s will. The sky, the ground, even the very sun itself¡ªall of it existed to aid the Blood Lightning Monster in battle. Whoosh!! Feron weaved through the descending lightning arcs, closing in on the white figure. "In my current stage, I am the master of darkness and light," Souta muttered, lifting both of his swords. Darkness and light erupted from the blades, intertwining with the blood-colored lightning, crackling with destructive power. Souta took a step forward-then swung both swords downward. Whoosh!! A massive surge of darkness, light, and blood lightning exploded outward, obliterating everything in its path. Feron instinctively tried to evade, but the force of the attack dragged him in-like an inescapable gravitational pull. The towering structures disintegrated in an instant. Those unfortunate enough to be caught in the devastation perished without even a moment of pain. It was pure destruction. Fortunately, this was only a dreamscape. As the chaos settled, the attacks finally dissipated, revealing a massive gully stretching dozens of kilometers, still crackling with violent energy. [Divine Retribution] was different from his other armors. While his previous armors specialized in enhancing specific stats, this one not only boosted his physical attributes but also elevated his control over both darkness and light to an even greater level. Souta hovered in the air, his gaze sharpening as he noticed something- The destroyed towers were regenerating. That meant Feron was still alive, even after taking that devastating hit. Souta scanned the battlefield before descending. Every wound on his body had already vanished-without a single scar left behind. Lying in a pool of his own blood, Feron stirred. A chilling sensation crawled up his spine as he turned his head-his eyes locking onto Souta''s approaching figure. Once again, he witnessed the impossible-Souta''s wounds had healed in mere seconds. "Damn... Just like they say... you''re really like an immortal." Feron coughed up a large amount of blood, his breath ragged. "It doesn''t matter if I rip out your heart or sever your head... you just won''t die." Despite his battered state, he still had a massive reserve of energy-drawn from the regenerating towers. But no matter how much power he had left, his wounds refused to heal. Gritting his teeth, Feron forced himself to stand. A deep sense of danger clawed at his instincts. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze locked onto Souta. The red marks across his body flared violently, his veins bulging as his energy surged once more. "Argh!! I''m not done!!" Feron roared, his body wracked with excruciating pain. Whoosh!! Souta remained calm. He could feel Feron''s power recovering-drawn from the surrounding towers. But he wasn''t bothered in the slightest. He lunged forward, his sword flashing as it sliced toward Feron''s neck. Feron sidestepped, but not fast enough-the blade grazed his cheek, drawing blood. Gritting his teeth, he retaliated, his fist rocketing forward like a cannon. Souta swiftly raised his other arm to block. The sheer force of the impact sent him skidding several meters back. Feron didn''t hesitate-he pounced. But the moment he threw his fists forward, Souta caught them both. Then Feron noticed something. His eyes flicked upward-Souta''s sword was wrapped in webs. The blade blurred, accelerating toward him at terrifying speed. He tried to retreat, but Souta''s grip held him in place. Whoosh!! At the last second, Feron twisted his body with sheer force-but not fast enough. The sword tore through his left hand. Blood sprayed into the air, but Feron gritted his teeth, enduring the pain. He drove his knee into Souta''s torso, forcing himself free from the restraint. Ohm!! A powerful wave of energy erupted, and the entire dreamscape lost its color. Everything faded to black and white as Souta''s fingers tightened around the vajra sword. Feron''s eyes widened as an overwhelming sense of danger crashed over him. "In this state, I can absorb the force of every attack I endure-then use it to amplify my own strikes." Souta''s voice was calm, yet edged with power. "As long as I don''t die, every hit only makes my attacks stronger. It''s the perfect trait for me... especially with my regeneration." As those words left his lips, he drove the vajra sword forward. The immense concentration of darkness, light, and blood lightning at the sword''s tip exploded outward. Ohm!! A blinding flash of black, white, and crimson lightning tore through the air, surging in a straight line. Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! A chain of massive explosions followed, their force ripping apart the battlefield. Mushroom clouds of devastation rose into the air. The sheer impact blasted away everyone watching, including the five leaders. The weaker ones? They were obliterated on the spot. Souta hovered in the air, watching the explosions fade. With a simple wave of his hand, the lingering smoke vanished into nothingness. He descended, his gaze locking onto Feron''s bloodied, broken figure. A smile curled on his lips. "Amazing... You''re still alive after all that." Souta''s voice was calm, almost amused. "Unfortunately, this is the end." He raised his sword. Feron couldn''t even speak. His breath was ragged, his body shattered. He stared into Souta''s eyes. Yes-he had reached the Seventh Shackle Realm. But in the end, what did it matter? The only thing waiting for him now... was death. Feron''s life flashed before his eyes. As a child, he had dreamed of becoming a Hero. But in the end, he had forsaken that path, forging a contract with a fearsome Monster Lord in pursuit of power. It had brought him here-to his final moment. "Die." Souta''s voice was devoid of emotion as he swung his sword down, severing Feron''s fate. The man who had once strived for Hero-rank had achieved it... Only to perish on the same day. A chime echoed in Souta''s mind. The quest was complete. He lifted his gaze as the dreamscape began to dissolve, reality seeping back in, turning the world back to normal. Souta turned his head, scanning the battlefield. The two who had attacked him at the start were gone. It seemed they had fled after witnessing him battle a Seventh Shackle Realm. With a casual wave of his hand, he shaped a throne from blood and sat down, his gaze shifting toward the five leaders. The moment his eyes landed on them, they shuddered. They had just witnessed him slay a Seventh Shackle Realm. Fighting back? It wasn''t an option. They knew exactly what would happen if they tried. "Hmm... Give me everything you took from the Serene Palace." Souta''s voice was calm, yet edged with menace. "I might change my mind." His figure radiated overwhelming pressure, the power of his Blood Armor still surging around him. "P-Please, spare my life..." The old man trembled as he presented everything he had taken from the palace. The other four, desperate to survive, quickly followed suit, offering up their stolen treasures. Souta rubbed his chin, eyes flickering with amusement. Blood tendrils coiled around the items, lifting them from the ground. Then, he glanced back at them and slowly spoke. "Sorry... my mind didn''t change." The five leaders'' eyes widened in horror. In an instant, their energy exploded like a volcano as they tried to flee. Wings unfurled, bodies launched skyward- But they were too slow. Before they could escape, Souta''s blade cut through the air. Reality warped. And just like that¡ªthey were dragged into his dreamscape once again. A few minutes later, Souta emerged as the dream fog slowly dissipated. "Ah... I''m a little tired." He stretched his arms, surveying the battlefield. It had taken more effort than expected-he hadn''t anticipated encountering a Seventh Shackle Realm here. Inside his mind, Saya''s voice echoed. "With your current strength, you can even challenge those strong Seventh Shackle Realm warriors-those nearing the Eighth Shackle." Souta chuckled. "Yeah." He knew he could give them a tough fight. "Grain Leader!" A familiar voice called out from behind. Without turning, Souta already knew who it was. "There''s nothing left here." His tone was final. "Let''s go back." Chapter 1095: A Step Forward Days passed quickly. Souta''s group had returned to Ekatoe City, bringing with them the spoils of war. His men had looted a vast trove of resources from the Obsidian Desert, and the organizations of the five fallen leaders were utterly destroyed. Most of their wealth now belonged to Astros. With a newfound budget, construction in Ekatoe City accelerated. The materials used were far superior to before, ensuring that the city''s foundation would be stronger than ever. Souta hired skilled workers from across Hall Plains to aid in the city''s expansion, while Torkez shifted his focus to the Guardian Fortress. Their goal was clear-build, fortify, and install another portal to link it with the existing Guardian Fortress. Souta sat in his room, examining the rewards he had received. His level had risen to 77, and he had gained a new title- "Slayer." Its effect was simple yet brutal: each consecutive kill within a ten-minute window granted him a stat enhancement. However, if he failed to kill within that timeframe, the enhancement would reset. Ten kills equaled a 1% boost to all stats, and the effect could stack up to 100%. "This suits me perfectly," Souta thought, a smirk playing on his lips. With war on the horizon, this ability would prove invaluable. A 100% increase in stats was an overwhelming boost. If Souta had maximized the effect during his battle with Feron, the fight would have ended much faster. With his current arsenal, he no longer needed to flee from a Seventh Shackle Realm opponent. Of course, facing multiple at once was another matter entirely. "My attacks are strong... but my defense-" Souta muttered, deep in thought. He had noticed a pattern. In every battle against high-level opponents, parts of his body were constantly being destroyed. "I''ve been relying too much on my regeneration," he admitted. It was time to reevaluate his defenses. Most of his skills focused on attack power, leaving his defense lacking in comparison. At the very least, his new title would help, as it boosted all basic stats, including defense. Meanwhile, the construction of the portal to the Champion''s Den was finally completed. To prevent another disaster like last time, the higher-ups had dispatched two Sixth Shackle Realm experts to guard it. With most warriors tied up on missions, two experts were more than enough. Souta was satisfied. He understood how busy the warriors were-constantly fighting on the frontlines, risking their lives. In recent days, Souta hadn''t taken on any missions. Instead, he used the portal to travel to Athen''s Champion''s base in Champion''s Den, redeeming combat arts and spells with his accumulated merits. The higher-ups hadn''t assigned him elsewhere, still wary of what had happened when he lost control of his power. After his return, Souta rarely appeared in public. Most of his time was spent training inside Saya''s inner consciousness, pushing himself to grow stronger. Occasionally, Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin would join him. ... In the blink of an eye, another week passed since the portal''s completion. Souta exited Saya''s inner consciousness and stretched his body. Stepping toward the window, he gazed outside. It felt like ages since he had seen the world beyond. Given the time difference within the inner consciousness, it truly had been a long time. "Learning spells is really hard..." he muttered. Opening his palm, he slowly constructed a Tier 2 magic circle. The process felt sluggish-too slow compared to the speed of his opponents. And this was just a Tier 2 spell. A Tier 3 magic circle would take even longer. Just as Eilish had once told him, mastering a Tier 3 magic circle was far more complex than learning multiple languages. It was like constructing a complex program-each step had to be carefully built while precisely controlling his energy. Souta opened the window and extended his palm outside. [Light Shock]! The Tier 2 magic circle he had constructed flared to life, and a ray of light shot from his palm. It surged into the sky before exploding, illuminating the entire city. People all over Ekatoe City instinctively turned their eyes toward the sky, drawn by the sudden burst of light. Souta smiled as he watched the glow fade. Shaking his head, he murmured, "I''m getting better at spellcasting." Souta recalled the lessons Eilish had given him on spellcasting. Since most of his dark-element skills came from the system, he had decided to manually learn the light-attribute spells he had redeemed from Athen''s Champion. Stretching his arms, he summoned his key subordinates to his office for a meeting. He needed an update on the city''s development. A few minutes later, Vashno and the others gathered in his office. Alice was absent-she was still deep within the ancient ruins, focusing on strengthening herself. Souta turned his gaze to Eztein. "Let''s start with you." Eztein nodded. "The progress of our forces has been remarkable, especially with the influx of new resources. Many have advanced to A-rank, and a few have even reached S-rank. Additionally, several witches have broken into the Shackled Realm." Souta closed his eyes, contemplating. "That''s good, but we can''t just hand out resources without effort. Obsidian Desert-I''ve personally wiped out the five largest factions there. Investigate and identify any remaining factions that resemble them. Then, eliminate them." Eztein gave a sharp nod in understanding. Next, Gragas delivered his report. "Weapon and armor production is steady, but we require more raw materials to sustain the current output." Souta leaned back in his chair, considering his next move. Isabella also requested more materials, explaining that she was working on two potions that would aid in the liquefaction and solidification of mana. Souta approved, knowing that once these potions were completed, more people in the Astros would be able to advance to A-rank and S-rank. "What about the construction of the Guardian Fortress, Torkez?" Souta asked. Torkez gave a confident nod. "I estimate we''ll have it finished by the end of the month. It will surpass the previous Guardian Fortress in both structure and functionality." "That''s good," Souta said, eyeing him. "But don''t forget to take breaks and keep up with your training." Torkez nodded again, then paused as something came to mind. "Oh, I almost forgot something." Torkez took out a letter and placed it in front of Souta. "They said it''s from Lady Echidna." Souta raised an eyebrow, intrigued. He hadn''t expected to receive a letter from her. Without hesitation, he took the letter and slipped it into his pocket, deciding to read it later. Franklin and Vashno had nothing to report, so they remained silent, simply listening to the meeting. After a few more minutes, Souta dismissed everyone. Without delay, he headed straight for the portal connected to the other Guardian Fortress. Involin Forest. This was where his group of monsters gathered. As Souta stepped out of the portal, his perception expanded instantly, scanning the surrounding area. "You''re here," a deep voice rumbled. Souta turned his head and saw a massive green dragon. Doranjan. "How heavy were our losses last time?" Souta asked. "It''s quite serious," Doranjan replied. "Half of our groups were affected and lost control as well. We had no choice but to eliminate them." "I see..." Souta nodded, his expression turning grim. It had been a dangerously close call. If Kessa had been fully affected, everything would have collapsed that day. With the other warriors occupied trying to stop him, no one would have been able to keep her in check. "What''s the current progress?" "There are still seventeen third-evolution-stage monsters left. Most of them come from the goblin race." "I see." Souta hovered into the air, gazing toward the goblin camps. "None of them evolved into Blood Goblins... Doranjan, when a second-stage goblin is about to reach the third stage, have them drink different types of blood." Doranjan flew beside him and nodded. "Also, make sure to give them only monster blood," Souta added. "It''ll be useless if they drink human or demi blood. They won''t gain any traits from it." "I understand," Doranjan said. "There are a few second-stage goblins close to reaching the third stage, so I can start testing it soon." "Good." Souta nodded in approval. He understood why the goblins were evolving faster than other monsters. This was the emperor''s territory, after all. They received all sorts of buffs, allowing them to catch up to the others at an accelerated pace. "What about the dragon eggs?" Souta asked. "They''ll hatch without any issues," Doranjan replied. "At first, I thought they were dead, but after sensing their life force, I confirmed they''re perfectly fine. We just need to provide them with energy to nourish them properly." "Then I''ll leave that to you. Also, don''t forget to train," Souta said with a smile. That would be another three third-stage monsters added to their forces. "I know," Doranjan replied, his eyes studying Souta closely. Even though Souta remained in the fourth stage, his strength continued to grow, eventually surpassing every other fourth- stage being out there. "Oh, right! Have you figured out what type of dragons are in the eggs?" Souta asked. "No, we can only determine that once they hatch," Doranjan explained. Souta continued asking Doranjan various questions, ensuring he had everything he needed before heading back. Upon arriving in Ekatoe, he learned that Princess Iris and Prince Servon had requested to speak with him. It seemed they hadn''t had a chance to talk to him since his return. After all, he had been busy training. They spoke for a long time, expressing their gratitude for his help in saving them. During their conversation, Souta also learned that they had been staying in Ekatoe ever since the incident in the Obsidian Desert. Most of their men had perished, and rebuilding without any support was proving difficult. Unlike Souta, who had the backing of Athen''s Champion, they lacked the resources to start over. It was already night by the time Souta returned to his room. Alone, he sat in silence, his gaze fixed on the letter resting on the table. Taking a deep breath, he reached for it. Slowly, he tore it open, and a surge of energy rushed out. For a moment, nothing happened. Inside, the letter was covered in inscriptions. Sensing this, Souta infused it with his own energy. Ohm! A change occurred. A voice echoed through the room. "I heard that you''ve lost control of your power. You were consumed... but somehow, you survived." It was Echidna''s voice, imprinted within the letter. "I thought you would need to reach the Fifth Evolution Stage first, but since you survived, you can begin now. There''s no need to wait-it will benefit you greatly. Once you complete it, your path to becoming a Monster Lord will be open. It''s quite fascinating, as it differs from the usual path. I''m looking forward to seeing how it unfolds." The voice faded. "I see... So that moment was crucial for me," Souta muttered as he closed the letter and placed it back on the table. He stood up and gazed out the window. "Saya, it looks like I need to change my plans. I''ll stop training for now and focus on constructing that framework. I don''t know how long it will take... but I won''t come out until I''ve completed the first step." Chapter 1096: Seclusion Souta made the necessary preparations, informing his people that he would be entering seclusion for an indefinite period. He also instructed Kessa to guard him in case of any danger. Once everything was in place, he headed to the training ground. Sitting down, Souta closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and entered his inner consciousness. From this point on, everything depended on him... When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the physical world. He found himself within his inner consciousness, where a massive sphere of energy loomed in the sky. At its center, a peculiar plant with black-and-white hues pulsed with an enigmatic presence. Several ethereal strings extended from the sphere, seemingly emerging from nowhere. Compared to the last time he was here, the plant had grown larger, and the sphere itself was gradually taking on shades of black and white. This entity represented Souta''s [Douion II]. Beside the sphere, intricate magic circles stretched across the sky. Focusing his mind, Souta muttered a few words. At once, the scenery shifted. The atmosphere darkened, thick with an unrelenting killing intent. The air itself felt suffocating, and above him, countless black tentacles writhed in the sky, moving with an eerie, unnatural rhythm. "It''s here... deep inside my mind," Souta muttered, his eyes filled with determination. Meanwhile, the vajra sword stood embedded in the ground before him. Saya''s consciousness observed from within, aware that this moment was crucial for him. As a monster, there was no escaping this trial. This wouldn''t grant Souta an immediate boost in power, but it would carve a path for his future. Kessa, in her small snake form, slithered across the ground, her eyes fixed on Souta. Her duty was clear-she would guard him at all costs. ... Somewhere in the Obsidian Desert A man and a woman stood side by side, gazing at the grand mansion before them. "We can''t stay here any longer," Leonard said grimly. Maeb gave a silent nod, acknowledging the weight of his words. They had failed. Despite their efforts, they couldn''t kill the Blood Lightning Monster. Even a Seventh Shackle Realm warrior had proven no match for him. "Our group is finished," Leonard muttered through clenched teeth. "Those Deadly Sins bastards will come for us... and the Blood Lightning Monster has seen our faces. We''re lucky he didn''t decide to hunt us down." "So, we''re just going to leave our people behind?" Maeb asked, glancing at Leonard. "What choice do we have?" Leonard replied with a bitter expression. "If we take them with us, it''ll only make it easier for the Deadly Sins to track us. Even if we admit our failure, those bastards will still hunt us down. We have a little time since the frontlines are getting more intense, so they won''t come for us immediately." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Maybe they''ll forget about us... but it''s better not to take any chances." Maeb sighed before nodding. "Alright, I''ll follow you." "Thanks. Then let''s go now." Without a word to anyone, the two slipped away from their faction in the Obsidian Desert, vanishing into the unknown. ... In the ancient ruins... A surge of elemental power erupted, and Alice''s eyes snapped open. She stretched out her hand, and in an instant, a cold mist spread across the entire room. "Finally... I''ve reached the limit of the Integration Stage," she murmured. Her elemental power was on the verge of advancing to the third stage. All she needed now was to break through to the Seventh Shackle Realm, and achieving the Fusion Stage would be effortless. Leaving the training ground, Alice ascended to the surface, where the people of Astros greeted her with respect. At the camp, she reviewed the files detailing the distribution of the ancient ruins. This place had been divided among the Nine Heads, a division of immense wealth. The value of the training grounds for elemental cultivation alone was immeasurable. Of course, not everyone in the Dragon Council had access to these training grounds. Each of the Nine Heads was allocated a limited number of slots. "Lady Alice, have you completed your training?" a voice called out. Snapping out of her thoughts, Alice turned to see a tall young man with blue hair approaching. "Eilan," she acknowledged, standing up to greet him. "No need for formalities," Eilan said with a slight shake of his head. Alice studied him for a moment, sensing his energy. He had reached the Solidifying Realm- an S-rank level of power. "It seems you''ve grown stronger," she noted. Being the host of an elemental being came with its own advantages. Though Eilan''s current level was still low, it was only a matter of time before he reached the same power as the elemental beings that had fused with him in the past. "It''s not fast enough..." Eilan muttered, lowering his head. "It''s still not enough. And... I''m starting to remember my sister. I... I need to grow stronger and recover my memories." "You''ll achieve your goal," Alice said with quiet certainty. Eilan looked up and gave a small nod. "Thank you. By the way, are you planning to return?" "Yeah, I''ve finished training my elements here," Alice replied with a nod. With that, she bid farewell to Eilan before departing. He chose to remain in the ancient ruins, determined to continue honing his strength. After a long urney, Alice finally arrived in Ekatoe City. The city had changed significantly since she had last seen it-improving in ways she hadn''t expected. As she walked through the streets, people greeted her with respect. Before long, she reached the city lord''s mansion, where she was briefed on recent events. Wasting no time, she made her way to the training grounds, where she found Souta sitting with his eyes closed, deep in concentration. Alice approached the vajra sword, placing her hand on its handle. "How long will it take for him to wake up?" she asked. "I don''t know," Saya replied. "It shouldn''t take too long-he''s only completing a framework. In the meantime, Souta has already arranged something for you and the others. Vashno is out right now, so you can wait for his return." Alice nodded and sat down, silently watching him. Her thoughts drifted back to the time she had entered his mind, where she had seen the manifestations of his negative emotions. It felt as if Souta was still battling those demons even now. After a while, she stood up and stretched her arms. Souta was working hard, and even though she had just finished training her elemental power, she couldn''t afford to be idle. She cast a glance at Kessa. "Kessa, don''t let anything happen to him." Then, turning to Saya, she asked, "Can I train in the inner consciousness?" Saya nodded. "Souta has already made preparations. All of you can train there as long as you don''t neglect the affairs of the Astros." Days passed quickly... Alice exited the inner consciousness, making way for Franklin and Eztein to enter. Soon after, Isabella, Torkez, and Yuko followed, alternating their training while managing the affairs of Ekatoe City. Of course, Yuko was excluded from such duties-she was far more likely to create trouble than to solve it. Recently, a major piece of news had begun circulating-Hono Flaem, the Clan Leader of the Flaem Clan, had reached Hero-rank. After a long period of stagnation, Hall Plains finally had a Seventh Shackle Realm expert. This development ignited a new wave of motivation among the Nine Heads. They trained harder than ever, and while a few managed to break through to the Sixth Shackle, many remained stuck at the Fifth. Rare-grade resources had begun to appear in abundance. However, no new legendary-grade resources had surfaced. Given the current state of Hall Plains, rare-grade materials were still the most valuable, providing immense benefits to low-level experts. If legendary-grade resources appeared too frequently, they would undoubtedly draw the attention of powerful forces from outside Hall Plains. After all, aside from the Astros, only the Flaem Clan possessed the strength to stand against a faction that housed a Hero-rank expert. Meanwhile, in another part of the continent, deep within the barren lands of the Red Mountain Range... Vashno stood atop a valley, gazing at the vast expanse of red-colored mountains stretching before him. He was far from Hall Plains now-so far that even its influence barely reached him. He stood on the outskirts of the Fallen Angels'' territory, though even here, he remained tens of thousands of kilometers from their border. However, Vashno''s destination wasn''t within the Fallen Angels'' territory. His goal lay deep within the Red Mountain Range itself. "Imperium is too vast... I''ve only seen a fraction of it, even after months of being here," he muttered before leaping down into the valley. Of course, part of the reason for this was that he hadn''t actively ventured beyond familiar territories. He understood his place-his strength was only considered second-rate in Imperium. There were countless individuals far stronger than him... but even more who were weaker. "According to the information Souta left behind, a large portion of this land belongs to a Fifth Stage monster," Vashno muttered. Moving cautiously, he navigated through the dense forest of red-leaved trees. After an hour of careful travel, he arrived at a small sinkhole. Peering down into the darkness below, he took a deep breath-then leaped. Whoosh! He had no idea how deep the descent would be, but he continued falling, a cold breeze rushing past him. Silently, Vashno circulated his mana, preparing for whatever dangers might await in the depths. After a while, Vashno finally landed at the bottom. Darkness engulfed the space around him, and the silence was almost suffocating. "Souta said I should be able to handle the dangers here with my current strength..." he muttered. He stretched out his arm, his palm grazing the rough, uneven walls. Somewhere in the distance, he could barely make out the faint sound of flowing water. Moving forward cautiously, he soon found himself passing through an invisible barrier. The moment he stepped through, the atmosphere shifted. Frowning, he turned around-only to find that the path he had taken was gone. "What?!" Vashno''s expression darkened. Chapter 1097: Improvement The path behind him had vanished. Vashno stared at the empty space where it once was, his gaze lingering on the walls before he finally turned away. There was no choice but to move forward. "Damn... Souta said I could handle the dangers here. The last time he said that, a Messenger of Gluttony showed up," he grumbled. "I was lucky I managed to strike a deal with the Sword Saint." Muttering to himself, he pressed on. After half an hour of walking, he stepped into a vast, open space. Before him stood a massive tower, stretching tens of kilometers from the ground into the unseen heights above. This shouldn''t be possible... Unless... the space here was far larger than it appeared. Vashno thought back to the barrier he had passed through earlier. That must have been the entrance to this distorted space. "So, I''m finally here..." Vashno muttered, his eyes fixed on the towering structure before him. "As always, it''s time to do my job-and get stronger." Steeling himself, he approached the base of the tower, where a massive door awaited. Without hesitation, he stepped inside. The challenge had begun. He already knew what to expect-Souta had given him some details about this place. Now, it was up to him to see it through. ... Champion''s Den, Headquarters of Athen''s Champion. Office of a Division Commander Division Commander Cicero sat at his desk, eyes fixed on the report in his hands. "That brat... He actually slew a Seventh Shackle Realm expert?!" he muttered, disbelief flashing across his face. The sheer potential was staggering. With the body of a Fourth Stage monster, he had managed to kill a warrior at Hero-rank-an almost impossible feat. Even the weakest Seventh Shackle expert could effortlessly crush a peak Fourth Stage opponent. That was simply the gulf of power that existed between them. And yet, he had done it. Cicero exhaled slowly, his grip tightening on the report. This changed everything. Even if another Fourth Stage monster were given Souta''s exact equipment, they still wouldn''t have been able to accomplish such a feat. Cicero set the report down on his desk and gazed out the window. "He''s growing too fast... At this rate, the next time I hear about him, he might have already slain an Eight Shackle Realm expert." He exhaled and rose from his seat, his thoughts shifting to the ongoing war. The casualties had been severe-they had lost Grain Leaders and several Chief Captains on the battlefield. Even some of the God''s Legion had lost their Hero-rank warriors. "These troubled times are forcing the young ones to improve drastically..." And it wasn''t just Souta. Others had begun to emerge from distant lands, showcasing terrifying strength. The balance of power was shifting. ... Everlight Realm A stunning woman with striking red hair floated in the air, her eyes closed. Waves of intense flames radiated from her body, engulfing the vast space around her. Ohm!! A tremendous surge of energy erupted from within her-then, in an instant, the flames vanished. Silence followed. After a brief moment, the woman slowly opened her eyes. She was Red Mist-once known as Remuria. "I''ve grown stronger once again," Red Mist muttered as she descended to the ground. Suddenly, a woman clad in black attire appeared beside her. She belonged to the Three-Eyed Tribe. With a faint smile, the woman spoke. "You attained the Rank of Hero a month ago, and now you''ve passed the trial. The spirit within you is currently dormant-something it received has put it into slumber. There''s no need for you to stay here any longer. I will send you out." "Wait! At least tell me your name!" Red Mist reached out, but before she could grasp anything. Her surroundings shifted in an instant. She now stood in an unknown place. She had been sent away without a shred of resistance-a clear sign that the woman from the Three-Eyed Tribe was far stronger than her. Red Mist scanned her surroundings, her gaze landing on a massive volcano, its peak spewing thick, dark smoke into the sky. "Where am I?" The thought echoed in her mind as she turned left and right, searching for any sign of a town or city nearby. "I need to figure out my current location first. After that, I''ll head to the Immortal Land," she murmured. Her eyes narrowed in determination. "The Heavenly Court''s history dates back to the very start of this cycle. I need to see it for myself." For the longest time, she had been adrift, her motivation lost after the destruction of Walpurgis Night. A part of her had accepted death. But the things she had witnessed in the Everlight Realm had reignited something within her. There was still truth to uncover. And there was still Fiamma, the one who had remained by her side. She had a purpose once more. ... An Unknown Place A man wrapped in bandages stood silently, gazing at a glowing green orb in his hand. A voice echoed behind him. "Grimm, it''s time for our next mission." Without turning, Grimm narrowed his eyes before finally glancing over his shoulder. "It''s time for that mission," he muttered. He rose to his feet and walked toward the window, pushing it open. The clear sky stretched endlessly before him. Behind him, the woman spoke again. "We can''t afford to fail like last time." "Fail?" Grimm scoffed, keeping his gaze on the horizon. "It wasn''t a failure, Layla. What happened at Walpurgis Night was... passable. We obtained valuable information about the Forbidden." His eyes flickered as he cast a sideways glance at her. "And that," he said, "was more than enough." "Is that so?" Layla murmured. Grimm nodded, his fingers tightening around the glowing green orb. "The tragedy that befell Witch Le Fay... The information confirms that some of the Knights of the Round Table are still alive. Before losing his sanity, the Isolated Formation God made extensive preparations. According to the texts he left behind, there exist beings who know far more about this matter than we do." Layla''s gaze sharpened. "Beings that know the truth...?" "Exactly," Grimm replied. "The Ten Commandments of God''s Will." A heavy silence followed before he continued. "They are actively preventing anyone from uncovering this secret. Their reasons remain unknown." Layla frowned. "So, prepare yourself," Grimm said. "This time, we''re leaving the God''s Continent-our destination is the Endless Sea." Layla''s breath hitched. "Endless Sea..." Her mind drifted to a certain powerful being that resided there. Grimm gave a knowing smirk. "Our next mission leads us to a ruin that dates back twenty thousand years. We''ll find more clues there... and seek an audience with the Monster Lord Leviathan." Beyond their mission, the world was growing ever more chaotic. The Ruler of Gluttony moved unrestrained, far more powerful than his predecessor. And with his rise, further calamity was inevitable. ... Days passed, but the continent''s situation showed no signs of improving. In the Three Theaters, the World Wolf, alongside Skadi and other gods, clashed against the ancient Monster Lord Shub-Niggurath and her countless offspring. Everyone knew-sooner or later-those battlefields would become Ruined Lands, forever scarred by divine conflict. The battle between God-rank beings raged relentlessly, warping the very fabric of energy and law. No mortal dared to step foot there. Meanwhile, in Fengdu Land, the Army of Gluttony was slowly being pushed back. The Heavenly Court had reinforced the Fengdu Army, turning the tide in their favor. Yet, despite the improvement, the devastating clash between Gluttony and the Four Divine Beasts had left deep scars on the land, wounds that would take a long time to heal. Once again, Gluttony had emerged-this time in a Large Country-where he annihilated every God-rank being before vanishing without a trace. This brutal display of power forced the Large Countries into action. In response, they formed the Large Countries Coalition Force, an alliance of ten powerful nations. As tensions escalated, more factions joined their ranks, strengthening the coalition. Even smaller countries aligned themselves, though their influence within the group remained minimal. Beyond the Holy Lands, the suffering was immense. Outlying territories bore the brunt of the devastation, while the demon factions remained eerily silent, merely watching as chaos unfolded across the continent. Yet, despite the turmoil, new talents emerged. Omari Adel''s name spread far and wide as he ascended to Hero-rank, making his presence known. Meanwhile, Shen Yao, a prodigy from the Heavenly Court, proved her strength in the battle for Fengdu Land. Amid the relentless conflict, she broke through to the Seventh Shackle Realm, solidifying her place among the continent''s rising powers. Even the Anti-Mage, once believed to be dead, had resurfaced in another part of the continent. Meanwhile, several experts who had survived the battle in Selnes Country emerged stronger than before, having honed their skills through hardship. Ekatoe City A training frenzy had overtaken the city. Determined to grow stronger, warriors pushed themselves to the limit, working relentlessly to overcome their weaknesses and refine their abilities. At the soldiers'' training grounds, Franklin appeared, stepping up beside Eztein. Eztein gave him a sidelong glance and asked, "Just came out of the inner consciousness?" Souta had granted them permission to train within Saya''s inner consciousness, a rare opportunity they weren''t taking for granted. "Yeah, I''ve already mastered the second stance of [Extreme Nightmare Art]. My progress isn''t too bad," Franklin said with a smug grin. Eztein''s eye twitched. "Not too bad? Shut your mouth, old man! I haven''t even mastered the first stance yet, and you''re out here showing off?" Franklin chuckled, "Ehe, maybe I''m just better than you." "Ugh..." Eztein turned away, glaring at the soldiers who were training nearby. Then, with a smirk, he shot back, "At least my elements are already at the Integration Stage-unlike a certain old man who''s still stuck in the Force Stage." Franklin''s grin widened. "Why don''t we spar, then?" Eztein snapped his head back toward him. "Huh?! You serious?" He cracked his knuckles. "Fine! Just because you hit SSS-rank, you think you can match me? I''ll teach you a lesson, old man!" Above Ekatoe City... A sudden explosion of light illuminated the sky as two figures clashed fiercely, sending shockwaves rippling through the air. Their battle created a breathtaking yet dangerous spectacle, drawing the attention of nearly everyone in the city. Down below, Torkez and the others watched the chaotic duel unfold, shaking their heads in exasperation. "Those two just love making a scene, don''t they?" someone muttered. No one disagreed. Chapter 1098: Next Step Alice emerged from her seclusion. She stood up and glanced at the training ground where Souta was. She muttered, "He still hasn''t left." A hint of concern crossed her face. Shaking her head, she turned and made her way to the city lord''s office. She was still at the Fifth Shackle Realm, but her strength had grown tremendously. Her training had paid off-she was now confident that she could defeat multiple Fifth Shackle experts on her own. She had come a long way. She and Souta had been together since before they even reached A- rank, and now, their strength had soared to the level of SSS-rank and Hero-rank. The most significant achievement was that she had learned an Archetype. It was the Archetype hidden within [Rhongomiant]-[Golden Spear: Legend of Victory]. A simple yet formidable technique, it consisted of only three stages. She was still at the first stage, but even that was a remarkable accomplishment. She was more than satisfied with her progress. Beyond the Archetype, she had also mastered several high-level demon arts, techniques imparted to her since childhood. If she unleashed her full power, she would surpass the standard limits of the Fifth Shackle Realm, making her strength difficult to measure. "My focus has been on mastering skills, but now I need to push my limits in the Fifth Shackle Realm. Hopefully, I can sense the Sixth Shackle soon and prepare for the breakthrough," Alice muttered. She arrived at the office and began sorting through the paper files on the table, reviewing reports from Ekatoe City. "Hmm... Vashno hasn''t returned yet. Who''s next after him? Oh, it''s Franklin... I should tell him to get ready." Her gaze shifted to the notes Souta had left before entering seclusion. She wondered when Vashno would return. Knowing Souta, he wouldn''t have assigned anything beyond Vashno''s capabilities. Alice turned her head and decided to summon Amanda to the office. Before long, Amanda arrived. "Your mission is here." Alice placed a piece of paper on the table. Amanda picked it up and scanned the contents. "Should I handle this alone, or can I bring someone?" she asked. "You can take someone you trust, but don''t involve Eztein or the others. Souta has different plans for them," Alice replied. After a brief pause, Amanda nodded and left the office, leaving Alice alone. She considered the situation for a moment and decided it was fine to send Amanda out, even though Vashno hadn''t returned yet. A few hours later, Alice finished handling all the paperwork. She then read the latest reports from the Champion''s Den about the current situation across the continent. By the time she left the office, night had already fallen. Stepping outside, she saw people still working hard. Her gaze settled on the massive structure in the distance - the Guardian Fortress, which Torkez and his team were building. "Guardian Fortress..." she muttered, memories of their time in the sub-world resurfacing. They had come a long way. There was a time when their group was powerless against an S- rank expert, but now, the Astros were strong enough to stand against Hero-rank opponents. She shook her head and turned away, making her way to the canteen. After finding a vacant seat, she sat down, and the staff quickly prepared her dinner. "Oh, this looks good," Alice remarked, eyeing the delicious meal in front of her. Wasting no time, she dug in. The next morning, Alice arrived at the office early. Sitting across from her was Eztein. "Let the expedition members exchange their merits in the treasury," Alice instructed. "Got it," Eztein nodded. A week ago, Ekatoe City had sent a force to the Obsidian Desert to eliminate any organizations similar to the Deadman. They successfully destroyed several groups and brought the spoils back to the city. This operation also served as a way for the newly trained soldiers to gain real battle experience. Souta didn''t want to hand them resources without effort, so they were sent into the Obsidian Desert to prove themselves. The dangers in the desert had lessened since Souta had already wiped out the five leading organizations there. However, despite the absence of the strongest groups, the harsh environment and lingering threats still made it a perilous journey for the recruits. Alice listened as Eztein finished his report. After a brief discussion, he left the office, returning to his own training. Meanwhile, Franklin would take over the task of training the soldiers. Suddenly, a massive surge of energy swept through the city. Ohm! Eztein, who was walking down the hallway, abruptly stopped and turned his head. Franklin and everyone in Ekatoe City felt the powerful wave ripple through the air. Inside the office, Alice''s eyes widened as she locked onto the source of the energy. "This...?! This energy signature!" In the next instant, she vanished from the office. Reappearing above the building, she scanned the area, sensing the lingering fluctuations. Without hesitation, she descended and stepped through the door. Inside the building, in a laboratory, a young woman with green hair slowly opened her eyes. She stretched out her hand, feeling the surge of energy coursing through her veins. "You''ve broken through, Isabella," a soft voice echoed. Isabella turned her head and saw Alice leaning against the wall. She smiled and gave a small nod. Alice studied her closely, shock evident in her eyes. Isabella had reached SSS-rank. She had shattered the Fourth Shackle with overwhelming momentum. It was too fast. Alice could still remember when they first met Isabella-back then, she had been just an ordinary person. But now, she had caught up to them. "Congratulations on reaching SSS-rank," Alice said, clapping as she walked toward Isabella. "It''s nothing. I''m still far from repaying everything Souta has done for me," Isabella replied humbly, shaking her head. "Don''t be like that. If Souta were here, I''m sure he''d be proud of your progress," Alice said with a small smile. Soon, the news spread throughout the city-Lady Isabella, the Chief of the Potioneer Research Department, had broken through the Fourth Shackle Realm. Another expert had ascended to SSS-rank. The city erupted in celebration. The strength of the Astros continued to grow. Aside from Isabella''s breakthrough, nothing major had occurred. Despite the large-scale battles raging across the continent, the small city of Ekatoe remained peaceful. With Souta in seclusion, Alice took on the responsibility of communicating with Lumilia and Lynn on the other side. Through their discussions, she gained insight into the situation in the Giza Continent. The war against the demon army had slowed. Their forces were no longer advancing; instead, they had halted, as if preparing for something. For now, they simply held the territories they had conquered. The situation in Giza was far better compared to the God''s Continent, where the Ruler of Gluttony was rampaging alongside his followers. It wasn''t just the Gluttony Army-various criminal organizations that had been lurking in the shadows were also making their moves. From Lumilia and Lynn, Alice learned that while the demon army had halted its advance, it was now engaged in a fierce battle against the onslaught of monsters emerging from the Sea Serpent Territory. A massive conflict was currently unfolding in the Listen Wastes. "I heard from Teacher Bargan that the Alliance Army of the Six Nations-Bright, Rein, Fran, Farmas, Alea Republic, and the Lion''s Kingdom-are planning to launch an offensive against the demons. Their movements have also prompted the Hebrei Kingdom and other nations to consider attacking as well," Lumilia explained. "They''re taking advantage of the demons being preoccupied with the monsters from the Sea Serpent Territory," Alice mused, contemplating the situation. After a brief pause, she asked, "Do you have any information on that territory?" "It''s too far, and our legion isn''t large enough yet, so all my information comes from Teacher Bargan," Lumilia explained. "According to him, a powerful monster dwells in the depths of the territory-the Thunder Saint Sea Serpent. It''s the true overlord of the Sea Serpent Territory." "I see..." Alice murmured thoughtfully. The two continued chatting for a while before finally bidding each other farewell. "Tell Souta that once he''s out of seclusion, he can contact me. I''ve already completed everything he asked me to do," Lumilia said. "I will," Alice replied. After the call ended, she placed the transmission talisman on the table, her mind turning over everything she had just learned from Lumilia. Somewhere in an unknown location... A man clad in a dark robe lined with fur stood before a few dozen people. He was Esquin Georagnisus, the Ruler of Gluttony. Esquin cast a glance at the man closest to him and asked, "Is everything in place?" "Yes, My Lord," the subordinate replied respectfully. "All the organizations deemed criminal by the Holy Lands are on the move. It''s only natural that they will move since we''re drawing the Holy Lands'' attention." "Good." Esquin nodded, his gaze sweeping over his gathered followers. Then, his voice thundered, "Everyone! Are you willing to die for me?!" "YES, MY LORD!!" Their unified roar shook the air. "There is no guarantee of survival!! In fact, many of you will die in this process!! But follow me! Trust in yourselves! This war is nearing its end!!" Esquin declared with unwavering intensity. His words ignited the crowd, their fervent roars rumbling through the ground. Their faith was unshakable-nothing could break their devotion. Esquin raised his hand, and in an instant, a massive magic circle materialized beneath their feet. Ohm! Blinding white light erupted, engulfing everyone in its brilliance. It was time to escalate the war. Chapter 1099: Mount Olympus Ohm!! A tremendous force descended upon Mount Olympus, only to be halted by a transparent barrier. The impact sent a massive shockwave rippling outward. All the powerful beings residing on Mount Olympus turned their heads. The disturbance was too great to ignore. The sky darkened, and mortals felt an unbearable pressure weighing down on their bodies. Someone had dared to attack Mount Olympus. This had not happened since the pantheon''s founding. Swoosh! A man with flawless skin and golden eyes floated in the air. His radiant hair fluttered in the wind, and the armor encasing his body gleamed brilliantly, like the sun itself. He was Apollo, one of the God-rank powerhouses residing in Mount Olympus. Apollo narrowed his eyes as he studied the barrier. Then, his gaze shifted-he had noticed something. A lone figure hovered in the distance, suspended in the air tens of kilometers away. "This...?! To think that you would appear here, of all places!" His eyes widened in shock. With a swift motion, he opened his palm, and an exquisite bow materialized in his grasp. Several other God-rank beings turned their attention forward, their expressions shifting to disbelief. "Ruler of Gluttony!!" That''s right. The Ruler of Gluttony stood before them, his gaze cold and unyielding. Esquin swept his eyes across the mountain and spoke. "Fifteen. I can sense fifteen God-rank beings... but where is Zeus? If you choose to fight me, most of the mortals in this land will perish. Only Zeus has the power to protect and battle at the same time." Apollo, Dionysus, and the other gods frowned. Esquin''s words rang true. They could fight him, but none among them had the ability to shield the mortals while doing so. A woman with long, flowing brown hair slowly opened her eyes, locking her gaze onto Esquin. A delicate white veil concealed her face, and a pristine white dress draped over her curvaceous figure. She was the Goddess Demeter. "That may be true, but Mount Olympus is unlike any other land. Do not compare it to the rest of the world. This place - our Holy Land-can protect the mortals." Demeter moved her hand. To the untrained eye, it seemed slow, but in reality, it had taken less than a second. A surge of immense energy erupted from her, and in response, the entire mountain pulsed with a strange, radiant light. Ancient runes flared to life, their brilliance stretching across the land for hundreds of thousands of kilometers. A tidal wave of overwhelming energy burst forth, rippling like a divine tsunami. Watching this unfold, Esquin merely chuckled. Then, without hesitation, he ascended higher into the sky until Mount Olympus appeared no larger than a nail beneath him. Veins bulged along Esquin''s arm as he swung his hand downward. "Fall! [Thousand Divine Earth Spear]!!" Thousands of colossal spears materialized in the sky, each spanning three kilometers in length. They plummeted with terrifying speed, radiating a destructive energy capable of annihilating anyone below God-rank. Before they could strike, a massive flaming sphere engulfed them. Boom!! The air seared with blistering heat, yet the mortals below remained unharmed. The runes woven into the land shielded them, absorbing the energy with ease. Esquin remained unfazed. Studying the glowing inscriptions spread across the Holy Land, he muttered, "More than a million runes are currently active... Mount Olympus truly has a deep foundation." The barrier he had failed to shatter in his initial attack still held strong. The great nations he had crushed in the past were nothing compared to this. And yet, this was merely the tip of the iceberg. The Holy Lands had yet to reveal their full strength. Esquin shifted his gaze toward the one who had stopped his attack. "Apollo..." High above, Apollo locked eyes with Esquin. His bow and hands blazed with dense, golden flames, flickering and twisting like living entities. Then, the battle erupted. A fierce clash unfolded in the skies above Mount Olympus. Below, the mortals-shielded by the land''s countless protective runes-scrambled for safety. Overhead, darkness gathered, writhing like a living mass. From its depths, countless sharp teeth and glaring red eyes emerged, watching hungrily. The people in the nearby settlements and cities gazed in awe and fear at the towering Mount Olympus. A patch of darkness loomed above it, writhing ominously, while the land itself pulsed with the glow of countless runes. Even from a distance, they could feel the immense pressure radiating from the mountain. Something monumental was unfolding. Swoosh!! Dozens of figures streaked through the sky, tearing through the air with overwhelming energy. Each one carried immense power-they were Tenth Shackle Realm experts, Demigods, and Gods, all converging upon Mount Olympus. Moments after the figures soared past, a massive explosion erupted atop Mount Olympus. A torrent of elemental energy blasted outward in all directions, shaking the land and sky. "What is happening...?!" A voice trembled amidst the growing panic. "I''ve heard of this before! T-That power... It''s the Ruler of G-Gluttony!!" Some mortals, recalling whispered rumors and scattered reports, recognized the overwhelming energy surging above the mountain. A chilling realization dawned upon them. Fear crept into their hearts. The Deadly Sins were attacking Mount Olympus. ... A few days later, news of Mount Olympus being attacked by the Ruler of Gluttony spread like wildfire. Even attempts to suppress it were futile-after all, countless people had witnessed the high-level battle firsthand. The clash had been impossible to ignore. Even those far from the battlefield had seen the brilliant flashes of God-rank attacks. That day, the very flow of nature''s energy had shifted, and everyone had felt its disturbance. The Ruler of Gluttony had assaulted Mount Olympus but was ultimately forced to retreat, suffering a grievous injury. Though mortal casualties were high, no God-rank beings had fallen. It was clear-the combined might of Olympus had repelled the threat. Yet, what truly unsettled the other factions was a lingering question: How had the Ruler of Gluttony managed to approach Mount Olympus undetected? The Holy Land was surrounded by layers of surveillance, yet none of them had sensed his presence until he had already struck the barrier. None of the surveillance systems within a hundred thousand kilometers of Mount Olympus had detected the Ruler of Gluttony''s approach. This alarming fact meant one thing¡ªhe could potentially infiltrate other Holy Lands just as easily. The various factions reacted in different ways. Some of the Holy Lands mocked Olympus for failing to kill the Ruler of Gluttony, while others reinforced their security, tightening surveillance around their strongholds. A few, however, remained indifferent, unconcerned by the event. Among the Gods, a controversial debate arose. Some openly suggested that mortals should have simply been ignored. "A few hundred years would be enough to repopulate. Mortals breed like chickens. But if a God-rank being falls because of them... now that would be a true loss." Alice stared at the news in shock. She had never imagined that the Ruler of Gluttony would be bold enough to launch a direct assault on Mount Olympus. "The Holy Lands have sat on their thrones for thousands of years... They''ve grown too comfortable." She muttered. Her gaze drifted toward the distant Mount Olympus. She couldn''t help but wonder-what were the Gods thinking now? Regardless of the outcome, one undeniable fact remained: Mount Olympus had been invaded. Even though the attacker had retreated with heavy injuries, the blow to their prestige had already been dealt. ... In Valhalla Odin sat upon his throne, deep in thought over what had transpired in Olympus. "So that old man Zeus didn''t make a move? He should have acted and used everything at his disposal to eliminate Gluttony right then and there," he muttered, stroking his long white beard. Olympus was home to countless powerful beings, yet somehow, the Ruler of Gluttony had survived. It was difficult to comprehend. A voice broke the silence. "I heard that even Hades and Poseidon didn''t intervene." Odin''s gaze shifted to the speaker-a man floating in the air, his expression laced with intrigue. "From what I know of them, they wouldn''t tolerate anyone humiliating Olympus like this. And yet... not a single trace of them was seen in battle. I suspect there''s far more happening behind the scenes than what the public sees." It was Loki, the God of Mischief. "It feels like Gluttony is merely trying to divert attention," a small raven perched on the right side of Odin''s throne remarked. Odin''s gaze remained steady as he listened. "Huginn, I understand what you''re implying," another raven, Muninn, spoke from the other side. "Gluttony''s actions may seem random, but they''re anything but. Every move was deliberate. There''s something within Olympus that drew him in... something tied to its very foundation." Odin stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I see... Zeus and the others must have realized this as well." With that, he closed his eyes, sinking deeper into his thoughts. ... In an Unknown Place Esquin, the Ruler of Gluttony, knelt on the ground, his body wracked with pain. He coughed violently, spewing a massive amount of blood onto the cold earth. His face was deathly pale, his breathing ragged and uneven. For a moment, darkness engulfed him, swirling like a living entity before vanishing just as quickly. With great effort, Esquin pushed himself to his feet. He waved his hand, and the blood around him dissipated into nothingness. A slow, knowing smile crept onto his lips. "It''s already too late. I''ve sacrificed far too much for this... None of my subordinates who accompanied me made it out alive." His eyes burned with something deeper-satisfaction. "But thanks to their sacrifice and loyalty... it is complete." Esquin scanned the dimly lit cave before settling into a corner, his back pressed against the cold stone wall. He exhaled slowly, his gaze drifting toward the ceiling. "I''m exhausted... but I''m not done yet." His voice was barely above a whisper. A smirk tugged at his lips. "The plan in Mount Olympus was risky, but it worked. Next... the Angels." He understood the power of the Holy Lands all too well. There was a reason even the largest criminal organizations dared not challenge them directly. Against these mighty factions, most could only cower in the shadows. Yet, Esquin was different. Pushing himself up, he took a deep breath, steadying his resolve. The next step was already in motion. Esquin had fulfilled his role-distracting the Gods of Olympus. His followers had also completed their task, establishing contact with them. "They" had agreed. With that, the next phase of the plan was already set in motion. Chaos would only escalate from here. His eyes burned with anticipation as he uttered the final command. "Open up Olympus!" Chapter 1100: Rise of the Titans Something was brewing in Olympus. The wind howled as three figures stood at the edge of a massive, gaping hole in the ground. The crater stretched several kilometers wide, its depths concealed beneath layers of intricate barriers. These three figures were none other than Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon-the highest of the Gods of Olympus. Poseidon glanced at his companions, his sharp green eyes narrowing. Clad in bluish armor covered in shimmering scales, his short blue hair rustled in the wind. "Have you heard? The Ruler of Gluttony managed to sneak into our territory," he said, his voice calm but edged with tension. A scoff came from the man beside him-Hades, King of the Underworld. His long ash-colored hair framed a face twisted in disdain. Clad in pale armor tinged with a faint red hue, he sneered. "That brat. He must have known about this..." His eyes darkened. "Otherwise, he wouldn''t have dared." Zeus remained silent, his gaze fixed on the growing fractures in the barrier. His expression was grim. They were now facing a critical situation-one that could turn all of Olympus upside down. His voice was low, almost resigned. "The things we did in the past... they''re finally surfacing. And now, there''s nothing we can do to stop it." Poseidon crossed his arms, his expression unreadable. "The Ruler of Gluttony is a cunning one. He knew he couldn''t change anything alone." Crack! The sound echoed ominously as the fractures spread further across the barrier. Without hesitation, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades summoned their weapons, their energy surging. Their fighting intent burned like a storm ready to break loose. In the next instant, a deafening crack echoed through the air as the barrier shattered into countless fragments. A surge of overwhelming energy erupted from the gaping hole. Ohm!! From the depths, a gigantic hand emerged, gripping the edge of the crater. Moments later, a colossal face rose from the darkness, its eyes locking onto the three gods hovering in the sky. The very air trembled under the crushing pressure. The ground shook violently, cracks spiderwebbing across the land. Then, a voice-deep, ancient, and filled with power-boomed across Olympus. "Poseidon, Hades, and you, Zeus... I, Kronos, am back!!" At his declaration, the world seemed to boil over. Dark clouds churned in the sky, thunder roaring like an enraged beast. The sheer weight of Kronos''s presence crashed outward, shaking the heavens themselves. Boom!! A thunderous explosion shook the land as countless craters ripped open the earth. From these depths, colossal figures began to rise each exuding an overwhelming aura of power. A voice, deep and commanding, echoed through Olympus. "I, Oceanus, shall reclaim what is rightfully mine!" Another bellowed with fury. "I am Hyperion, and I will take Olympus for myself!" Then, a third voice roared, seething with vengeance. "Everyone will pay! The Heavenly Court and Asgard will not be spared!" One by one, the Titans emerged from the abyss. Their voices shook the heavens. Their rage boiled the earth. The ancient rulers of this land had returned- and this time, there would be no mercy. Zeus''s gaze was cold and unyielding as he locked eyes with Kronos. Without hesitation, he surged forward, his body crackling with blinding arcs of lightning that tore across the sky. Swoosh!! Poseidon and Hades exchanged a glance-silent understanding passing between them- before launching into action. Zeus''s voice thundered across the battlefield. "You Titans were defeated once before! What makes you think this time will be any different?!" Boom!! The sky shattered with the force of their collision. Shockwaves erupted in all directions, shaking the heavens and earth alike. The war between the Titans and the Gods of Olympus had begun. The Ruler of Gluttony had orchestrated a flawless plan-one that required immense sacrifice. He had risked everything, using himself as a mere diversion to ensure its success. His loyal followers had perished in the mission, but in the end, they had succeeded. They had made a deal with the Titans. ... Panic spread like wildfire across the entire territory of Olympus. Borders were swiftly locked down, and all attempts were made to suppress the news. The ordinary citizens remained oblivious, but those with power felt the tremors of change. Chaos reigned. The Gods of Olympus took up their weapons, preparing for war. At the frontlines, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon clashed against the mightiest of the Titans. Their battle would shake the heavens. The warriors who had been deployed to the battlefield-and even those stationed at the Ruin Battlefield¡ªwere immediately recalled. The battle against the Gluttony Army was no longer the priority. A far greater threat had emerged. Even the invisible floating islands drifting in outer space were summoned back. These islands, more than just hidden sanctuaries, could now serve as fortresses in the coming war against the Titans. In just a few days, Olympus became a land divided. Mount Olympus was transformed into a fortified stronghold, the last line of defense preventing the Titans from spreading their destruction any further. But the cost was already immense. Numerous cities and settlements lay in ruins, crushed under the wrath of the Titans. In the Champion''s Den, the Gods'' Legions summoned their warriors. The entire city buzzed with urgency, the atmosphere thick with tension. Everyone knew-a new war had begun, and this time, it was on their land. ... Ekatoe City Vashno had returned from his mission. His presence alone radiated fierce, untamed power, his energy more abundant than ever. Alice and the others immediately sensed his growth. Gathered in the meeting room, Vashno began his report. "I''m still at the Fifth Shackle Realm, but I can feel my breakthrough approaching." His voice carried confidence. "I''ve learned many things... and also, there''s this." He placed a small bottle on the table. Inside, a pill shimmered faintly with a mysterious glow. "This is called the Great Shackle Breaking Pill. It increases the chances of breaking through the Great Shackle by thirty percent." Alice said nothing. She simply glanced at Isabella and gave a small nod. Without hesitation, Isabella stood up and took the small bottle containing the pill. Her task was clear-analyze it, replicate it, and ensure the Astros reaped the full benefits. Alice then turned her attention back to Vashno. "That''s good. While you were away, the Ruler of Gluttony attacked Mount Olympus. Any increase in strength is more than welcome." She shifted her gaze to Franklin and slid a piece of paper across the table. "This contains the details of your next mission. Memorize it, then burn it." Just as Franklin reached for the paper, Vashno suddenly stretched out his hand. "Wait!!" Everyone turned their attention to Vashno as he met their gazes. "What did you just say? While I was away, the Ruler of Gluttony attacked what? Mount Olympus?" Alice nodded. "Yeah, why?" Vashno let out a frustrated sigh, massaging his temples. "Why? We''re part of Athen''s Champion, and Athen''s Champion is part of Olympus! Of course, this concerns us!" Alice simply crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "If Souta were here, he''d say it''s not our problem. There''s nothing we can do about it. This is the Gods'' fight. We only need to move if the Gluttony Army attacks." Vashno stared at her for a moment before exhaling deeply. "...That''s true. There''s nothing we can do about this. Let the Gods worry about the Gods." Franklin ignored Vashno and focused on the paper Alice had given him. After studying it for a few moments, the paper crumbled into ashes. He had already memorized the location and his objective. Alice clapped her hands, drawing everyone''s attention. "Alright, everyone, work hard. Isabella has already reached the Fourth Shackle Realm. At this rate, she''ll surpass you if you don''t keep up." "I-I won''t... I''m still studying..." Isabella mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper. With that, Alice dismissed the meeting. Franklin departed immediately, eager for the task Souta had arranged for him. Meanwhile, Alice sat in her office, reviewing the detailed reports from Vashno. Aside from the Great Shackle Breaking Pill, Vashno had also acquired a variety of rare-grade resources and even one legendary-grade. The legendary-grade was simple yet powerful-it could greatly enhance physical strength for a short period. Since it was of legendary grade, the boost it provided was immense. That concluded the physical gains from Vashno''s expedition. Alice gazed out the window. "Franklin has already left. Next up is Eztein." She had no way of knowing how long Franklin''s mission would take. By the time he returned, Souta would probably still be in retreat. The next day, Alice placed the rare-grade and legendary-grade in the Astros treasury. Any member could redeem them with enough merit points. Meanwhile, Isabella began her research on the Great Shackle Breaking Pill. Given her expertise, she estimated it would take about a month to identify its ingredients. Eztein continued training the soldiers, occasionally sending some of them on missions in the Obsidian Desert. As for Gragas, he was making steady progress, gradually increasing production output. At this point, most of Astros'' soldiers were equipped with blue-grade artifacts, with some even possessing higher-tier gear. One day, a knock echoed through the office. Alice lifted her head and said, "Come in." As soon as she gave permission, a witch entered the room and bowed. "Lady Alice, a warrior from Athen''s Champion has arrived. He wishes to meet Lord Souta." "A warrior?" Alice raised an eyebrow. Standing up, she said, "Bring him to the guest room. I''ll speak with him." She left the office and headed to the guest room. Upon entering, she spotted a familiar figure sitting calmly, sipping tea. It was Grain Leader Carmel-the very leader they had once served under before Souta''s promotion to Grain Leader. Alice greeted Carmel and took a seat across from him. Without wasting time, she got straight to the point. "I''m sorry, Grain Leader, but Souta isn''t available right now. He''s at a crucial stage in his training, and we can''t afford to disturb him." Carmel nodded slightly. "I see... In that case, I''ll inform you instead." He paused briefly before continuing, "The higher-ups are summoning all warriors under Athen''s Champion to report to headquarters." Alice frowned. "Why? What happened?" Carmel''s expression darkened. "There''s another war in Olympus. The Ruler of Gluttony did something when he attacked-something that led to the emergence of... unwanted beings." Alice''s eyes widened. "What?!" Chapter 1101: Into the Land of Eternal Spring "This is the effect of the Ruler of Gluttony¡¯s last attack. It¡¯s one of his schemes to prevent Olympus from dispatching experts against his army. Although we failed to eliminate him, he was severely injured, and the Gods and Goddesses have announced that he won¡¯t be showing up for a while." "This... This is truly a serious matter." Alice¡¯s expression darkened. The weight of the situation was immense, as it concerned all of Olympus. "The Gods are confident they can eliminate all the enemies. However, no matter what happens, the casualties will be extremely high," said Grain Leader Carmel. "I understand. But what about Souta? I don¡¯t want to disturb him while he¡¯s still in seclusion." Alice looked at him. "I¡¯ll report this to the higher-ups. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll understand since Grain Leader Souta is a Hero-candidate. If he participates in the battle and earns significant merits, he may even become a Hero soon." Grain Leader Carmel assured her. "Thanks." After Carmel left, Alice took a moment to gather her thoughts before summoning the higher-ups of Astros for an urgent meeting. Vashno and the others arrived in the meeting room. Though surprised by the sudden summons, the seriousness in Alice¡¯s expression told them that this was no trivial matter. Torkez narrowed his eyes. "It must be news from the Grain Leader. It¡¯s related to the battle in Olympus, isn¡¯t it?" Alice glanced at Torkez and nodded. "Yeah. Athen¡¯s Champion is recalling its warriors. In fact, all of the Gods¡¯ Legions are preparing for war." "War? Against who? The Gluttony Army?" Gragas frowned. "No, Grain Leader Carmel didn¡¯t reveal who the enemies are. It¡¯s classified information, and we need to swear not to divulge it," Alice explained. "So, we need to send people there since Souta can¡¯t participate." Alice turned to Vashno. "Vashno, I want you to lead Eztein and a few of our men." Kessa and Yuko would remain in the city, while Isabella, Torkez, and Gragas would stay to complete their respective tasks. As for Alice, she would stay until everything was arranged, but she would eventually head to Olympus, as she was part of Athen¡¯s Champion. "Vashno, Eztein¡ªgather a few elites and report back to the Champion¡¯s Den in Souta¡¯s name. Make sure no one learns of this information. Olympus has locked down its borders, and no one can leave without permission. Only those authorized¡ªlike us¡ªare allowed through. So don¡¯t ever speak of this to anyone," Alice warned. Everyone nodded at her words. They understood that this matter had to remain secret¡ªany leak could bring severe consequences. With that, Alice dismissed the meeting. Vashno and Eztein immediately set out to select a team of elites to accompany them. Most of their chosen warriors were witches. After all, aside from the locals of Ekatoe City, the majority of Astros¡¯ manpower came from the Witch Clan. In the end, they selected a total of twenty people, with power levels ranging from the Solidifying Realm to the First Shackle Realm. Astros still lacked experts at the Second Shackle Realm and beyond. Vashno and Eztein also took time to prepare, equipping themselves with high-grade artifacts¡ªmostly of red grade. A few hours after the meeting, Vashno led Eztein and the selected elites through the portal, arriving at the Athen¡¯s Champion branch in Champion¡¯s Den. The atmosphere was heavy with tension. Everyone knew that war was imminent, and warriors from various legions were making their final preparations. Vashno and his group scanned their surroundings. "This isn¡¯t good," Eztein muttered as he watched several wounded warriors being carried on stretchers. "The stench of blood is thick. It looks like the battle has already begun," Vashno said, frowning. He still had no information on the enemy, nor did he know the location of the battlefield. Without those details, it was difficult to grasp the full scope of the situation. Vashno shook his head and led the group forward. Before long, they arrived at an office where they were met by one of the Chief Captains¡ªa high-ranking officer from the Second Set Pallas Division named Eleni. Eleni glanced at them and said, "Grain Leader Carmel has already explained why Grain Leader Souta isn¡¯t coming. Your assignment won¡¯t be here¡ªit will be in the Land of Eternal Spring." "The Land of Eternal Spring?" Eztein raised an eyebrow, recalling that it was Goddess Athena¡¯s territory. "That¡¯s right," Eleni confirmed. "You¡¯ll have to enter another portal. But don¡¯t worry¡ªsomeone will guide you. Once you arrive, you¡¯ll need to swear an oath before the Goddess Statue. If you break the oath, the Goddess will know." Eleni briefed them on everything they needed to be cautious about before assigning a warrior to guide them. Under their escort, Vashno and the others made their way to the portal, arriving in the Land of Eternal Spring. It was their first time setting foot in this land. Unfortunately, they weren¡¯t here for a leisurely visit¡ªthey were here for war. Without delay, they proceeded to swear an oath before the Goddess Statue. The process took less than ten minutes before they were led to the barracks, where they would receive a briefing on the current situation. ... Inside a massive barracks, Vashno and the others sat among rows of chairs. Hundreds of warriors filled the seats, waiting in silence. No one spoke. They simply waited for their superior to arrive. Vashno took the opportunity to observe the warriors around him. Some were weaker than him, while others far surpassed his strength. Their power levels ranged from the First Shackle Realm to the Sixth Shackle Realm. With an army like this, they could sweep through the entire Hall Plains. A few minutes later, a woman with long black hair, tied neatly at the back of her head, entered the room and stepped to the front, commanding everyone¡¯s attention. "I¡¯m Irida, a Chief Captain, and I¡¯ll be briefing you on the current situation." The woman introduced herself briefly before getting straight to the point. "I¡¯m going to explain your enemies¡ªthe ones you¡¯ll be fighting soon. They are called Titans, a special kind of giant buried beneath Olympus. They possess immense physical strength." With a flick of her finger, Irida released a surge of mana. A three-dimensional map, crafted from metal, materialized before everyone. It was a detailed map of the entire Land of Eternal Spring. "Currently, numerous Titans have emerged across Olympus. You don¡¯t need to worry about the most powerful among them¡ªour Gods will handle those. However, weaker Titans have also surfaced, and it falls to us to fight them." She paused, pointing to specific locations on the map. "In the southern and eastern regions of the Land of Eternal Spring, Titans have appeared. They¡¯ve already destroyed dozens of cities and kingdoms under Goddess Athena¡¯s jurisdiction. Our mission is clear¡ªprotect our people and eliminate this threat." "Once you walk out of this room, you¡¯ll have to choose your destination¡ªsouth or east. The choice is yours. However, regardless of which direction you take, the objective remains the same: eliminate the Titans in the Land of Eternal Spring." Vashno listened carefully. He understood that Irida wouldn¡¯t disclose any information beyond this region. Only the higher-ups had access to the full details of the war. Irida went on to explain the differences in terrain between the two areas. To the east, a vast lake stretched across the land, surrounded by dense forests. Meanwhile, the southern region was dominated by towering mountains, some reaching as high as one and a half kilometers above sea level. Irida had done an excellent job briefing them, covering a wealth of information in just an hour. Once she left, it was up to the warriors to decide where they would go. Vashno and Eztein exchanged glances. "Where do you think we should go?" Eztein asked. "Considering our lineup, I think the south would be a better choice," Vashno replied, glancing at their assembled elites. "South it is, then. Let¡¯s go," Eztein said with a grin. With their decision made, the two led their men out of the barracks. This would be a valuable opportunity to gain more experience in battle. Discover exclusive tales on .com.C?m They proceeded to another building, where they officially enlisted their group for the southern battlefield. There, they immediately received detailed information about the settlements in the south. The southern region of the Land of Eternal Spring was divided into three major areas. Each of these regions functioned similarly to Hall Plains, consisting of multiple nations and factions. One of the three regions had already fallen to the Titans. The battle there was fierce, with warriors struggling to reclaim their lost territory. "Let¡¯s go." Vashno, Eztein, and the rest didn¡¯t need to fly to the south. Athen¡¯s Champion had invested heavily in establishing portals to both the southern and eastern battlefields. With the organization¡¯s vast resources, setting up portals was a minor effort¡ªespecially since they were crucial for transporting large quantities of supplies. Chapter 1102: Mission Bound Camp¡ªone of the key settlements established to combat the rampaging Titans in the southern region of the Land of Eternal Spring. Vashno and his group arrived at the camp via the portal and wasted no time in taking on a mission. After making their preparations, they quickly set out. Their objective: to rescue survivors in a fallen nation¡ªthe Carmine Kingdom. The Carmine Royal Family had been wiped out when the Titans launched their assault. Now, the entire kingdom was under Titan control, and the remaining survivors were still fighting for their lives. Many of Athen¡¯s Champion¡¯s finest warriors had been born in the Carmine Kingdom, and news of its fall had devastated them. Now, they had a chance to fight for their homeland. After leaving the camp, Vashno and his group arrived at a mountain overlooking the fallen kingdom. The Carmine Kingdom, now in ruins, was surrounded by towering peaks. "According to the scout¡¯s report, there are no Hero-rank Titans here. All of them are currently engaged with the Chief Captains," Eztein said before glancing at Vashno. "Still, we don¡¯t have anyone at the Sixth Shackle Realm. This mission is dangerous." "Yeah, but we¡¯re not alone," Vashno replied. "Other squads have also taken missions related to the Carmine Kingdom." That was precisely why their mission was classified as Rescue, not Eliminate. Some squads were tasked with hunting Titans, while others¡ªlike them¡ªwere assigned to rescue survivors. "That¡¯s good," Eztein nodded. "Let¡¯s move," Vashno said, dashing forward. Eztein pulled out his weapon and followed closely behind. Leef, Ren, Sisi, and the rest did the same, gripping their weapons as they advanced. They were all elites of Astros¡ªwarriors who had once proven themselves in the tournament. Swoosh! They soared over the kingdom¡¯s crumbling walls and landed inside. Instantly, the atmosphere shifted. Energy fluctuations pulsed through the air, and the ground beneath them trembled¡ªa clear sign that battles were already raging. "Ignore it," Vashno instructed. "Our mission is to rescue survivors. Save your strength¡ªwe¡¯ll need it when we find them. There¡¯s a high chance we¡¯ll have to fight then." The group moved swiftly between the ruins of shattered homes. The once-proud kingdom was now barely recognizable beneath the weight of destruction. Countless buildings had collapsed, reduced to little more than rubble. As they passed through the devastated streets, they came across the remains of both Titans and the kingdom¡¯s fallen citizens. Corpses littered the ground, their presence thickening the air with the stench of decay. Dark smoke curled into the sky from various parts of the city, a grim reminder of the ongoing chaos. Boom! A deafening explosion erupted overhead. Vashno, Eztein, and the others instinctively turned their heads. A surge of intense energy fluctuations swept through the air, pressing down on them like a heavy weight. "A Fifth Shackle Realm battle..." Vashno muttered, his brows furrowing. Leef and the other elites tensed as they felt the overwhelming pressure in the atmosphere. This was their first time experiencing a war on this scale¡ªone where the Holy Land itself was engaged. Ever since Souta brought the Witch Clan to Imperium, they had rarely ventured beyond Hall Plains. Encounters with high-level experts were few and far between. But here, in the midst of a war-torn kingdom, a battle between Fifth Shackle Realm warriors was already unfolding. "We should move now," Vashno said. The group pressed forward, carefully weaving through the ruins of collapsed buildings. Along the way, they passed several ongoing battles but ignored them, focusing solely on their mission. In a way, the fighting worked in their favor¡ªit kept the Titans occupied. Before long, they reached the outskirts of their destination. Vashno and the others took cover in an abandoned house, using it as a temporary hideout to plan their next move. Their target was just one kilometer away. For ordinary people, that would be a considerable distance¡ªbut at their level, they could cross it in an instant. "Remember, this is a rescue mission," Vashno reminded them, his gaze sweeping over the group. "I know, I¡¯m not that crazy old man¡ªI won¡¯t go looking for trouble," Eztein said with a smirk. Then, his expression turned serious. "But who exactly are we saving? The mission didn¡¯t specify." "Probably any survivors," Vashno replied. "Even those without status or background deserve to be rescued. Ordinary people have the right to live, too." He then turned to Leef and the others. "Our priority is the people. If we encounter any enemies, Eztein and I will handle them." They nodded in agreement. Failure wasn¡¯t an option¡ªnot on their first mission. They carried Souta¡¯s name on their backs, and any misstep could reflect poorly on him. Moving with precision, they stealthily approached their target. Soon, a thick stench of blood filled the air, assaulting their senses. Vashno and the others instinctively furrowed their brows. Something felt off. Vashno and Eztein tensed, sensing multiple presences nearby. Whoever they were, they weren¡¯t even trying to conceal their auras. And when they finally arrived, they were met with a gruesome sight. Severed limbs lay strewn across the ground, twisted and torn like discarded dolls. The stench of blood was suffocating. Towering figures loomed over the carnage, their massive forms drenched in crimson. Some were still feasting¡ªgnawing on limbs with sickening crunches. Even for battle-hardened warriors, the sight left a bitter taste. "Are we too late?" Eztein whispered, his voice grim. Vashno¡¯s expression darkened. He scanned the area, his gaze sweeping over the gruesome scene, searching desperately for any sign of survivors. Ohm! The moment he unleashed his energy, several Titans froze. Then, as one, they turned their heads toward him. They had felt it. Leef and the others instinctively took a step back. The sheer presence of the Titans was suffocating, their immense killing intent pressing down like an invisible weight. "There are three survivors left," Vashno said, his voice steady. He placed a firm hand on Leef¡¯s shoulder, snapping her out of her daze. "Leef, take the others and get them out of here." "Only three..." Eztein muttered, his gaze sweeping over the carnage below. The sheer scale of the slaughter was staggering. Just then, one of the Titans locked onto their position. With a thunderous step, its mana surged, shaking the air around them. "It seems..." A deep, rumbling voice echoed through the area. "...that we have visitors." "Eztein, you know what to do," Vashno said, his tone firm. "I know," Eztein replied with a serious nod. Boom! A deafening crash echoed as several massive figures descended before them. Dust and smoke billowed through the air before slowly clearing¡ªrevealing the monstrous forms of the Titans. Each one was a towering behemoth. The smallest among them stood at ten meters tall, its sheer bulk easily weighing over thirty tons. One of the Titans let out a booming laugh. "We were just playing with them! Who would¡¯ve thought they¡¯d break so easily? You humans really do have such fragile bodies!" Eztein remained silent, sharpening his focus and preparing to strike at a moment¡¯s notice. "We were too cautious..." Vashno muttered, his voice laced with regret. "And because of that, we arrived too late. It cost the lives of so many people." Before them stood nine Titans¡ªfive of whom were at the Fifth Shackle Realm. The odds were stacked against them. Then, both Vashno and Eztein¡¯s eyes widened as they looked up. Something was coming. Swoosh! More Titan figures appeared in the air, their massive forms looming over Vashno¡¯s group. Eztein¡¯s eyes narrowed. This was a trap. The Titans had anticipated the arrival of rescuers and set an ambush. The newcomers varied in strength, ranging from Third Shackle to Fourth Shackle Realm. Leef and the others felt the overwhelming pressure bearing down on them. Any one of these Titans could crush them effortlessly. The gap in power was undeniable. "Wait for my signal," Vashno said, his voice steady. The Titans didn¡¯t see them as a threat. To them, this group was already as good as dead. One of the Fifth Shackle Titans stepped forward, his massive form radiating arrogance. "What do you feel, knowing your fate is sealed? You might as well bow now and accept your place as our slaves. Kneel before me, the Great Arvin." Eztein slid a hand into his pocket, a smirk tugging at his lips. "How about you bow down to me instead?" Arvin¡¯s eyes narrowed, his expression darkening. Then¡ªboom! In a flash, he vanished¡ªreappearing right in front of Vashno in the blink of an eye. "You¡¯re the strongest among them? Then I¡¯ll break you first¡ªso the rest can drown in despair!" Arvin¡¯s deep voice rumbled like thunder. His twenty-meter-tall frame loomed over Vashno as he clenched his massive fist, muscles coiling with terrifying force. Then¡ªboom! He swung. A crushing shockwave erupted from the sheer weight of his attack. Bang! But¡ªVashno didn¡¯t move. Arvin¡¯s monstrous fist had slammed into something¡ªbut not Vashno. His eyes widened. What just happened? Arvin¡¯s gaze snapped downward¡ªonly to meet Vashno¡¯s unflinching stare. A single, radiant golden wing, wreathed in flames, had blocked his colossal fist. Huh? Confusion flickered in Arvin¡¯s eyes. But before he could react¡ª Boom! A wave of golden energy surged from his right, crashing into his massive body like a tidal force. Bang!! The impact sent a shockwave rippling through the air. Then, amidst the chaos¡ª Find your adventure at .com.C?m "Now!" Vashno¡¯s voice rang out like a command of war. The battlefield erupted into chaos. Leef and the others vanished into streaks of light, darting in different directions toward the last survivors. No matter what¡ªthose people had to be saved. Meanwhile, Eztein shot into the sky, his energy surging outward in waves. "Tch¡­ fighting this many titans on a rescue mission? Talk about bad luck." Eztein chuckled, but his eyes gleamed with resolve. "Well, no point complaining now. Looks like I¡¯ll have to work extra hard today." Above, the titans roared, their massive frames shaking the air as they prepared to crush him. But Eztein didn¡¯t waver. Instead, his aura flared, crackling like a brewing storm. On the ground, Vashno stood firm. His golden eyes, burning with power, swept over the towering figures of his opponents. The battle had truly begun. Chapter 1103: Titans The titans were stunned; they hadn¡¯t expected Vashno to possess the strength to throw Arvin away. Vashno stood calmly, his body radiating a golden aura. His gaze swept over the Fifth Shackle Realm titans, locking eyes with each one. "Eztein, I¡¯ll leave the others to you," he said, his voice echoing. Then, he soared into the sky. A pair of giant golden wings unfurled from his back, bathing the area in radiant light. [Nine Layers Golden Purple Destruction]! With a single flap of his wings, Vashno vanished from his position and reappeared before the titans. His massive wings swung downward, unleashing waves of golden energy. Boom!! The titans scattered, but Vashno gave them no time to regroup. He launched a relentless barrage of powerful attacks. Boom!! Boom!! Explosions shook the battlefield, one after another. Arvin pushed himself up, his gaze lifting to the sky. Above, Vashno clashed fiercely with his comrades. "This guy...!!" Veins bulged on Arvin¡¯s forehead as fury surged through him. His energy flared violently, and he launched himself into the air. Clenching both fists, he locked his gaze onto his target. Swoosh!! Vashno sensed Arvin¡¯s glare and turned his head. At the same time, he felt the other Fifth Shackle Realm titans charging toward him, their immense energy distorting the air around them. Without hesitation, he spun around. His massive wings flapped, and in an instant, he vanished¡ªhis figure tearing through the sky. In the blink of an eye, he soared above the clouds, with the titans hot on his trail. When Vashno stopped, a powerful shockwave erupted from his body, scattering the clouds. He gazed down at the titans and slowly opened his hands. In the next instant, his entire body radiated a brilliant golden light. Raising both hands, he summoned an immense surge of energy, the air around him trembling under its sheer force. [Golden Incineration]!! A colossal golden pillar descended from the heavens. Eztein watched in awe, his eyes narrowing slightly. The sheer intensity of Vashno¡¯s power caught him off guard. "Is this what he learned on his expedition...?" he muttered. He knew that Souta had arranged something for each of them. Vashno had been the first to embark on his journey, and now, he had returned wielding devastating new abilities. Vashno was still in the Fifth Shackle Realm, yet he could hold his own against multiple Fifth Shackle Realm titans and an entire group of Fourth Shackle Realm warriors. ... Hovering in the air, Vashno gazed down at the titans below. He was powerful, but he knew it wasn¡¯t enough to defeat all of them. His goal wasn¡¯t victory¡ªit was to buy time. Leef and the others needed every moment they could get to rescue the survivors. His expedition had taught him much, pushing his strength to new heights. Yet, he hadn¡¯t mastered everything he had learned. There was still room to grow. His [Nine Layers Golden Purple Destruction] was only at the second stage. There were nine stages in total, and once he mastered them all, his strength would reach an entirely new level. But more importantly, he had yet to grasp the most crucial part of what he got from the expedition. Ohm!! From the rubble, Arvin and the other Fifth Shackle Realm titans emerged, their eyes locking onto the figure hovering in the sky, his massive golden wings radiating brilliance. Among them, a titan named Nevo scanned the battlefield. His expression darkened, fury surging within him as he saw that some of the Fourth Shackle Realm titans had perished in the attack. "You...!! Fine! Since you refuse to join us, we¡¯ll eliminate you!!" A surge of energy erupted from the titans, their elemental powers flaring to life. Several of them activated their combat arts, amplifying their presence to an overwhelming degree. With a powerful stomp, they bent their knees¡ªBoom!¡ªand launched themselves toward Vashno at incredible speed. Whoosh!! Vashno let out a chuckle. "Slaves? Hahaha! Perhaps you don¡¯t know, buried beneath the earth as you are, but times have changed. A certain being rose to power, and because of him, the slave policy was abolished. No force dares to openly keep slaves anymore." Find adventures on .com.C?m With that, he flapped his massive wings and charged forward, colliding head-on with the titans. The collision sent shockwaves rippling through the sky, distorting the air as powerful elemental forces clashed. Boom!! Vashno unleashed everything he had. His [Element Drive] and [Dream Power] surged alongside his combat skills as he fought fiercely against the Fifth Shackle Realm titans. At the same time, he steadily cut down the numbers of the Fourth Shackle Realm titans. Even his enemies had no choice but to acknowledge his fearsome strength. "Hahaha! We titans don¡¯t care! We are the masters!" one of them bellowed with laughter. Vashno sneered. "Oh? You really don¡¯t know, do you? Perhaps that ignorance will be your downfall!" Just then, his gaze shifted to the right¡ªanother titan was rushing straight at him. The titan swung a fist with enough power to crush a mountain, the sheer force distorting the air around it. But before the attack could land, Vashno vanished¡ªdisappearing in a blur of golden light. In the next instant, he reappeared above the titan¡¯s arm. His massive wings flapped, propelling him forward until he was face-to-face with his towering opponent. Bang!! A blast of golden light erupted from Vashno, sending the titan hurtling backward. His entire body pulsed with overwhelming power. But there was no time to breathe. The other titans charged at him all at once. Boom!! The sky burned with the aftershocks of their battle, the air thick with destruction and raw, unrestrained strength. Once, the titans had stood at the pinnacle¡ªbut now, they struggled against a single warrior. "Let me educate you all¡ªyour time has passed," Vashno declared. While he battled the stronger opponents, Eztein was locked in combat against Third Shackle Realm titans and a few Fourth Shackles. Forced to unleash his full strength, Eztein activated both [Element Drive] and [Dream Power] simultaneously. His movements blurred as he weaved through the battlefield, his spear a deadly extension of his will. Bang! Bang! One by one, his enemies fell, their hearts pierced by his relentless strikes. Eztein couldn¡¯t help but glance up at Vashno¡¯s battle. He wasn¡¯t sure how long Vashno could hold out, but judging by his performance so far, he seemed to be managing just fine. "I can take down a Third Shackle titan easily¡­ but anything beyond that¡ª" Eztein narrowed his eyes. Titans possessed immense strength and incredibly tough bodies. Eliminating one at the same level as him was no simple feat. Even compared to the other powerful creatures he had fought in the past, titans stood out for their overwhelming power and defense. For now, his best option was to avoid direct confrontations with stronger foes and focus on cutting down the lower-realm enemies. Whoosh!! Three Fourth Shackle Realm titans charged toward Eztein from different directions. Without hesitation, he dashed toward the one on his left, thrusting his spear with precision. However, the titan reacted swiftly, deflecting the attack before countering with a powerful kick. Eztein sidestepped just in time, narrowly avoiding the strike. In one fluid motion, he adjusted his stance and swung his spear downward, his elemental energy tearing through the air. Bang!! The titan was sent crashing to the ground, the impact forming a massive crater. At that moment, the other two Fourth Shackle Realm titans closed in on him. "Dammit!" Eztein gritted his teeth, trying to evade their incoming strikes, but it was too late. Their massive fists slammed into him, sending him hurtling toward the ground like a meteor. Boom!! He crashed with devastating force, the impact shaking the battlefield. Blood spewed from his mouth as pain shot through his body¡ªhis bones shattered under the sheer power of their blows. But he couldn¡¯t afford to stay down. Gritting his teeth, he forced his body to move, his powerful recovery kicking in as his injuries mended rapidly. Then¡ª Boom!! A vibrant explosion erupted in the distance, painting the sky with brilliant colors. Both Eztein and Vashno turned their heads toward the source. A wave of relief washed over them. It was a signal. A sign that Leef and the others had successfully rescued the survivors and were already retreating. That meant there was no reason to waste any more time fighting the titans. Eztein unleashed a powerful attack, forcing his opponents back. Up in the sky, Vashno did the same. His massive golden wings spread wide before releasing a barrage of golden rays, raining destruction upon his enemies. The two of them knew it was time to retreat. Staying any longer would only drain their strength¡ªand possibly lead to their deaths. Swoosh!! Without hesitation, Vashno and Eztein shot into the sky, pushing their speed to the limit as they tore through the air. Of course, the titans weren¡¯t about to let them escape so easily. They gave chase, unleashing a barrage of attacks. Yet instead of slowing them down, the reckless assaults only widened the gap between them. Vashno and Eztein skillfully used the force of the titans¡¯ attacks to propel themselves even farther forward. As for the injuries they sustained, they didn¡¯t bother worrying¡ªthanks to the Parasitic Essence Eater within their bodies, they would heal quickly. This only fueled the titans¡¯ rage, but there was nothing they could do. Vashno and Eztein had already widened the gap. Before long, they had completely lost their pursuers. Finally, they came to a stop in midair, exhaling heavily as they caught their breath. "Hu~ that was some dangerous stuff." Eztein wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Let¡¯s go," Vashno said. Without wasting any more time, they turned and flew off. Before long, they regrouped with Leef and the others. The three survivors were with them¡ªmission accomplished. It was time to return to camp. ... Back at the camp, Vashno submitted his report. Of all the survivors out there, only three had made it out alive. He also detailed the trap laid by the titans, a clear sign that the enemy was growing more aggressive. The war between Olympus and the Titans was escalating rapidly. On the frontlines, even the Gods had begun to take part¡ªled by Zeus himself. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades were confident that Olympus would ultimately prevail. However, they knew the cost would be high. Countless mortals would be caught in the crossfire. After all, the titans¡¯ power remained as formidable as ever. But the higher-ups of Olympus were certain of victory. By their calculations, this war would last only a few more months. Chapter 1104: Return and Improvements Days passed quickly. Vashno and his team continued taking on missions, completing many while failing others. But each failure became a lesson, further sharpening their skills and experience. Find adventures at .com.C?m Slowly, Vashno¡¯s name spread throughout the entire camp. Warriors began calling him the Golden Warrior, a title inspired by his radiant golden presence in battle. His combat prowess was undeniable. He had already slain more than twenty Fifth Shackle Realm titans, an achievement that earned him the respect of his peers. At this point, it was clear¡ªin a one-on-one fight, Vashno could slay a titan of the same level with ease. It wasn¡¯t just the warriors¡ªthe titans had also taken notice of Vashno. Whenever they saw a warrior cloaked in golden light, they knew it was him. Meanwhile, the situation in the Carmine Kingdom remained unchanged. The land had become a relentless battlefield for warriors below the Hero-rank, with clashes erupting in different regions every single day. At this moment, Vashno and his group had returned to the camp. As they walked, countless warriors turned to glance in their direction. "That¡¯s the Golden Warrior..." "I heard he killed another Fifth Shackle Realm titan this time!" "Even the titans are starting to avoid him! They only fight if they have the numbers advantage!" Whispers filled the air as Vashno stepped into a tent, submitting their latest mission report. The registrar smiled as Vashno¡¯s team handed in another completed mission. "You¡¯ve truly lived up to Grain Leader Souta¡¯s expectations," he said. "You¡¯ve accomplished a lot this past week. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be pleased once he comes out of seclusion." "Thanks," Vashno replied with a small smile. The registrar glanced at the records and nodded. "I just updated the rankings. In the entire bound camp, you¡¯re now the fifth highest warrior in the Fifth Shackle Realm based on merit points." With the mission officially recorded, Vashno left the tent and headed back to his team¡¯s quarters. Inside the tent, Vashno, Eztein, and the rest of the team gathered, discussing their current situation in the camp. "You¡¯ve made it to fifth place in the Merit Rankings for the Fifth Shackle Realm. That¡¯s a huge achievement," Eztein said, grinning. "Is this all thanks to the skills you picked up during your expedition?" Vashno nodded. "Yeah, and I can still grow stronger. I think it¡¯s time for me to advance to the Sixth Shackle Realm. My foundation is solid¡ªI¡¯m ready." Eztein¡¯s eyes widened. "Wait¡­ does that mean that when that old man gets back, there¡¯s a chance he¡¯ll be stronger than me?!" "Yeah," Vashno confirmed. "Damn, I should¡¯ve gone first!" Eztein gritted his teeth in frustration. "Well, ranking among the Fourth Shackle Realm isn¡¯t that bad," Vashno said. "Not that bad?! No, it¡¯s bad!" Eztein exclaimed, eyes widening. The Bound Camp was massive, housing tens of thousands of warriors. Among them, only a select few stood at the top: 1 Ninth Shackle Realm warrior 4 Eighth Shackle Realm warriors 15 Seventh Shackle Realm warriors These were the Hero-rank powerhouses of the camp. Below them, the strongest warriors before reaching Hero-rank included: 100 Sixth Shackle Realm warriors 300 Fifth Shackle Realm warriors 1,000 Fourth Shackle Realm warriors These were the SSS-rank warriors of the Bound Camp. "And I¡¯m ranked four hundred!" Eztein exclaimed, clearly frustrated. "It¡¯s fine. Your time will come," Vashno said, closing his eyes. "Besides, there¡¯s something else¡­ a technique implanted in our minds." Eztein frowned. "A technique? Where did it come from?" "The former clan leader of the Hono Clan, Erkigal, mentioned it," Vashno explained. "She said it¡¯s a technique of the Five Master Clans." Eztein¡¯s eyebrows shot up. "What? How did we even acquire something like that?" Vashno shook his head. "She doesn¡¯t know either. She said that we were together when something happened, but even she can¡¯t remember the details. Her best guess? Someone entrusted it to us¡ªto continue the legacy of the Five Master Clans." "Then how do I learn it?" Eztein asked. "Go deep inside your mind," Vashno explained. "You¡¯ll find something there, but you¡¯ll have to force it open. The technique of the Five Master Clans is powerful¡ªI¡¯ve already incorporated some skills that fit my combat style." "I see¡­ So that old man has it too, right?" "Yeah," Vashno confirmed, standing up. "I¡¯m going to train for a while. Get some rest¡ªwe¡¯ll take another mission tomorrow." Vashno had made a name for himself. He was no longer just another warrior in the Bound Camp¡ªhe was proving he could stand alongside the strongest experts in the Holy Land, one of the most powerful forces in the world. ... Ekatoe City. The office of the city lord was quiet. Alice sat at her desk, her posture upright but relaxed, her eyes scanning the documents spread before her. Behind her, a large window framed the city skyline, the afternoon sun casting long, golden streaks across the room. A soft knock at the door broke the silence. "Lady Alice, Lady Amanda has returned," a voice called from outside. Alice raised an eyebrow. "Send her in. I need her report." Moments later, the door opened, and Amanda stepped inside. Alice studied the red-haired woman before her. There was a noticeable shift in Amanda¡¯s energy¡ªit was far stronger than before. "It seems this expedition was worthwhile," Alice remarked. Amanda nodded. "Yes, I learned a lot." She then began to recount her experiences. Unlike Vashno, Amanda had ventured to a place known as the Light of Darkness, located near the Fallen Angel Faction¡¯s territory. Accompanying her was Princess Iris, and together, they faced countless life-and-death situations. The dangers of that place had nearly claimed their lives¡ªnot just once, but multiple times. The dangers had far exceeded Amanda¡¯s expectations¡ªthere were moments when she nearly gave up. But in the end, it was all worth it. She had completed her mission, advanced to the Second Shackle Realm, and gained something invaluable. She had acquired an artifact¡ªthe Dark Hourglass of Light. A dark-grade artifact, it possessed the ability to convert dark energy into light energy and vice versa. Beyond that, it had a powerful restraining effect on beings aligned with either darkness or light. Its final ability allowed it to create a field of darkness and light, accelerating the growth of light and dark elemental seeds. However, it had a limitation¡ªit could only be used for three hours, once per week. "This...!" Alice¡¯s eyes widened in surprise as she examined the black hourglass before her. The artifact was incredibly valuable¡ªespecially for those with both dark and light affinity. She glanced at Amanda, recalling the reason for her unique energy. Amanda had gained dual affinity after consuming a rare, legendary-grade fruit¡ªthe High Phaseless Fruit. It was clear now that Souta had tailored each of their expeditions to match their abilities and fighting styles. No two paths were the same. Alice exhaled softly, leaning back in her chair. "Ieshi..." she murmured. "I¡¯ll compile the techniques I learned and add them to our vault later. There are a lot of high-level skills in this," Amanda said. One of the most significant techniques she had mastered was [Fiend God Immovable]¡ªa powerful skill that allowed her to manipulate darkness and light to their fullest extent, reinforcing her body. At first glance, it seemed simple, but its true strength lay in its profound applications. And this was just one of the many techniques she had acquired during her expedition. Alice took note of the skills that both Amanda and Vashno had gained. Their abilities were of exceptionally high caliber, comparable to the techniques Saya had once bestowed upon them. The only key difference was that Saya¡¯s techniques, while formidable, were not always fully compatible with their individual fighting styles. With more training options available, more members of Astros would be able to discover the techniques best suited for them. With this in mind, Alice eagerly anticipated the time when everyone had completed their expeditions. By then, Astros would possess an even greater collection of high-level skills. One such technique was the [Extreme Nightmare Art], a powerful skill for those gifted in dream power. Among Astros¡¯ higher-ups, Franklin stood out as the most talented in this category¡ªhaving already mastered the second stance, while others struggled to perfect even the first. In short, the future of Astros was promising. Their forces would soon diversify, with specialists emerging in dream power, advanced body-strengthening techniques, and elemental mastery. The possibilities were limitless. Moreover, the risk of skill leakage was minimal, as everyone who received these techniques carried a parasite within their body¡ªa safeguard against betrayal. Of course, this wasn¡¯t a foolproof method, as there were still some mysterious techniques that could bypass such measures. "It¡¯s been a while since Franklin left... He¡¯ll probably return soon," Alice murmured. After chatting with Amanda for a while, Alice dismissed her. Left alone in the office, she pondered the next best move for Astros. Princess Iris... She was growing closer to Amanda. If, at some point, she decided to betray them, it could pose a serious problem. She should receive a parasite too. Amanda didn¡¯t return empty-handed¡ªaside from the Dark Hourglass of Light, she had acquired several other artifacts. While the dark-grade artifact was the most valuable, she also brought back two red-grade artifacts and several of orange-grade and lower. Her expedition had been undeniably successful. Alice leaned back in her chair, deep in thought. "I should prepare myself to head to Athen¡¯s Champion," she murmured. It was time for her to step onto the battlefield and contribute to the war. With that decision made, she left the office and headed to the training grounds, determined to sharpen her skills before departure. As for Souta, she knew it would still be a while before he emerged from seclusion. Chapter 1105 Mountain Rock City Over the next few days, Alice prepared herself. Once ready, she left Ekatoe City, traveling to the Champion''s Den through a portal. Before departing, she gave Torkez instructions on how to proceed with the city''s development. Alice arrived at the Champion''s Den alone, immediately noticing the gloomy atmosphere. It must be the effect of the war. "I wonder how they are doing..." she muttered to herself. Without hesitation, she made her way to the office of the Chief Captain in charge. Alice asked Eleni, the Chief Captain in charge, about Vashno and the others. "They''re doing great in the Land of Eternal Spring. Their achievements have even exceeded my expectations," Eleni said. "Land of Eternal Spring?" Alice raised an eyebrow. "Yes. The enemies have invaded our Goddess''s territory, and many of our warriors have been dispatched there," Eleni explained. "You''ll understand once you arrive, so there''s no need for me to go into detail. You''ll receive a full briefing when you get there¡ªso don''t worry." Alice nodded before saying, "As for Souta, I''m afraid he can''t join the battle yet. He still hasn''t come out of seclusion." "It''s fine. The higher-ups will understand," Eleni said, waving her hand dismissively. With that, Alice left the office and went through the same procedures as Vashno and the others. She was briefed on the enemy forces and then traveled to the Land of Eternal Spring, where she swore an oath before the Goddess Statue. Everything proceeded smoothly. ... Bound Camp Vashno sat in the training ground in a lotus position, his body surrounded by a massive swirl of energy that moved in an unnatural rhythm. Golden sparks crackled across his form, expanding outward before condensing into a pair of radiant wings that slowly wrapped around him. After a moment, he opened his eyes and muttered, "Third stage... I''ve reached the Third Stage of [Nine Layers Golden Purple Destruction]." He rose to his feet, sensing the profound changes within his body. Having earned a wealth of merit from his missions, he had used them to redeem valuable resources, accelerating his training speed. A knock echoed against the metal door before Eztein stepped into the training ground. He glanced around before fixing his gaze on Vashno. "Come on, Alice is here," he said. "She''s here?" Vashno raised an eyebrow. Without hesitation, he followed Eztein, and soon, they met up with Alice. "You''ve made quite a name for yourself," Alice remarked upon seeing him. "It''s nothing. I''m still a long way from that," Vashno replied humbly. "A long way? That''s some bullshit," Eztein scoffed. "If anyone''s far from it, it''s me." Vashno and Eztein shared their stories about their experiences in battle to Alice. The titans were powerful¡ªfar stronger than ordinary experts of the same level due to their immense strength and defense. As the battles intensified, the titans began using various tactics and traps to corner the warriors, making each fight even more challenging. After some time, Vashno and Alice left for the main building to select a mission. As they stepped inside, Alice noticed several warriors casting glances their way. Their hushed conversations and subtle gestures made it clear¡ªthey were talking about Vashno. "He really managed to make a name for himself..." Alice muttered inwardly. Before long, the two reached the front of the line. Alice scanned through the list of available missions, her eyes carefully assessing each one. After a minute, a particular mission caught her interest. She picked it up and approached the receptionist for more details. The moment the receptionist saw Alice''s choice, her expression turned serious. "Forgive me, but are you sure you want to take this mission?" she asked. "It''s highly dangerous. If you''re certain, please head to that room over there¡ªsomeone will provide you with the full details." Vashno and Alice exchanged glances, noting the seriousness in the receptionist''s tone. "Yes, I''ll take this mission," Alice said with a firm nod. The receptionist guided them into a room before leaving. Inside, Alice and Vashno waited in silence for their briefing. "Is this mission really that classified?" Vashno asked after a moment. "Yeah," Alice replied. "It involves entering the titans'' territory. The specific details weren''t listed, but I chose it because of the merits we''ll earn once we complete it." "The titans'' territory?" Vashno shot her a sharp glance. "Yeah." Alice nodded. "It''s a dangerous mission, and the higher-ups must be planning something. I want to know what it is." A few seconds later, a knock echoed at the door, and a middle-aged man entered the room. He glanced at Vashno and Alice before taking a seat across from them. "I''m First Grain Leader Bomhet," he introduced himself. Then, his gaze sharpened as he continued, "I can tell from your expressions that you''re serious about this mission. Not just anyone can take it¡ªWarrior Vashno''s achievements are the only reason you''re even allowed to view the details." Alice and Vashno listened without interrupting. "The mission''s location is far beyond the Carmine Kingdom, in a city called Mountain Rock City," Bomhet began. "Of course, you''re not the only ones assigned to this task. Several other capable squads will be working alongside you." He glanced at them before continuing, "The legion will assist you in sneaking inside. Your objective is to dispel the protection runes guarding their settlements using this." He placed a strange, triangular-shaped artifact on the table. "This is a one-time-use artifact designed to deactivate a set of runes," he explained. "The titans have been sealed away for thousands of years, so their knowledge of runes is outdated. This artifact should be enough to disable their defenses¡ªyou just need to place it at the core of their rune formation." Bomhet''s expression darkened. "However, we don''t know the exact location of the main runes. That''s what makes this mission extremely dangerous." "What if there''s a Hero-rank titan inside?" Alice asked. "We''ll apply more pressure," Bomhet replied, his expression serious. "Our Hero-rank warriors, including myself, will take to the battlefield, forcing the Hero-rank titans to leave their base. If they refuse to come out, we''ll simply exterminate all titans below Hero-rank." The Bound Camp was fully committed to eliminating the titans in this region. They were prepared for an all-out battle, and if this plan succeeded, it would pave the way for a full-scale assault against the titan forces. "I understand," Alice nodded. "There are other warriors assigned to the same mission. You''ll likely meet them in Mountain Rock City," Bomhet said. "Also, don''t forget to pick this up tomorrow." He gestured toward the artifact. Alice asked a few more questions before she and Vashno left the room. Their next step was to inform Eztein and the others about the mission. This was, by far, the biggest mission Vashno and his group had taken on since arriving at Bound Camp. ... The next day, it was time for the mission. Alice and the rest woke up early, preparing themselves for what lay ahead. Alice went to retrieve the artifacts needed to dispel the protection runes inside Mountain Rock City. Along with them, she received additional mission details, as well as potions and artifacts designed to conceal their presence, ensuring they wouldn''t be easily detected. As for how they would infiltrate the city, they would move around while the Hero-rank warriors launched an assault on the titans, creating a passage for them to slip through. Just entering the enemy''s base was already a massive risk. After retrieving everything they needed for the mission, Alice returned and distributed the potions and artifacts to Eztein and the others. "Use these when we arrive to conceal your presence," she instructed, carefully explaining how to use them. With their preparations complete, the group set off. To avoid encountering titans, they took a longer route, circling around the Carmine Kingdom. Moving swiftly through the mountains, they carefully avoided any dangerous spots along the way. Their journey went smoothly, taking nearly four hours of travel. Soon, the group arrived near their destination¡ªMountain Rock City. The atmosphere here was completely different. The city sat nestled between three massive mountains, its perimeter shielded by powerful protection runes that prevented enemy forces from breaking through. Above, several immense pressures clashed in the sky, and the air trembled with the constant echo of booming explosions. Bang!! Alice and the others felt the crushing pressure in the air. Without hesitation, they took out their potions and drank them, concealing their presence. To ensure even greater security, they activated the artifacts as well. Ohm! A surge of powerful energy rippled through the area, followed by a deafening explosion in the sky. Alice and the others looked up, their expressions tense. "Hero-ranks..." Alice muttered, her voice low. The air crackled with raw energy. Arcs of lightning streaked through the darkened clouds, flames coiled like serpents, and shockwaves rippled outward, shaking the very atmosphere. The Hero-ranks were in the midst of battle. Their clashes sent tremors through both land and sky. Every few seconds, a concentrated blast of energy would break away from the fight, crashing into the ground below and erupting in a massive explosion. "There are more than two Hero-ranks fighting up there. It''s complete chaos," Vashno said, his gaze sharp. For now, all they could do was hide¡ªwaiting for the Hero-rank warriors to carve a passage into Mountain Rock City. Silently, they endured the suffocating pressure in the air, biding their time. Chapter 1106 Shocking News While Olympus waged its own war, the rest of the world remained just as chaotic. Various factions clashed, each vying for power in this turbulent era. Legendary-grade resources had begun appearing more frequently, fueling even fiercer battles across the continent. As warriors and leaders rose to prominence, their growing fame made them prime targets for rival organizations seeking to eliminate competition. Amidst the turmoil, a major shift had occurred in Fengdu Land. The Gluttony Army¡ªonce a dominant force¡ªhad fallen in Fengdu Land. This shocking news spread across the continent, shaking various forces to their core. Even the Holy Lands were left wondering¡ªwho had made a move powerful enough to bring down the Gluttony Army so suddenly? Odin, Amaterasu, and other mighty figures were equally taken aback upon hearing the news. Odin smirked. "Interesting¡­ So that guy finally decided to join the commotion." Ra sighed. "This guy... I have a feeling he''s only going to stir up more trouble." Lugh chuckled. "Oh? So he''s finally making his move." Even some of the Commandments, who had been closely monitoring the situation in the God''s Continent, were caught off guard. None of them had accounted for that being to make an appearance¡ªespecially now. The demons were no different. They had been watching from the sidelines ever since the Ruler of Gluttony began his rampage, refraining from making any major moves. Instead, they waited patiently¡ªfor the perfect opportunity. ... A few days ago¡­ Fengdu Land. The sky was torn apart. Storms of violent energy clashed, each impact sending tremors through the air and land. Spatial rifts cracked open across the battlefield as titanic forces collided in a ferocious struggle. Despite their injuries at the hands of Gluttony, the four Divine Beasts continued to fight, locked in battle against the God-rank beings who served the Ruler of Gluttony. Even with their injuries, the four Divine Beasts managed to slay one of the six God-rank beings that Gluttony had left behind. Their strength remained formidable, and none dared to underestimate their power. Time and time again, their experience and abilities had proven their might. A fearsome screech tore through the battlefield¡ªthe cry of the Vermilion Bird. Its piercing call resonated across the land, even distorting the fabric of space itself. Flames erupted around Vermilion Bird as she blazed through the sky, her body engulfed in an intense pale fire. With a flash, she dived downward, her burning form crashing against the barrier surrounding the enemy fortress. Boom!! At the same time, Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise were locked in fierce combat with the remaining five God-rank warriors of the Gluttony Army. Their battle shattered the very fabric of space, distorting reality itself and throwing the energy flow of the land into utter chaos. For the mortals witnessing this clash, it was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. But with such overwhelming power came an undeniable sense of despair. The battlefield was littered with countless corpses, a grim testament to the scale of destruction. The air hung heavy with the stench of blood and death. In just a few days, this land had become a merciless meat grinder¡ªwhere anyone, no matter their strength, could perish in an instant. A battle of this magnitude was terrifying, yet for some, it was a source of inspiration. Witnessing such immense power ignited a deep desire within them¡ªto one day reach this level themselves. After all, in a mortal''s lifetime, few would ever witness a battle of this scale. A clash between Gods was a sight to behold. Whoosh!! Just as Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise were about to collide with the five God-rank warriors of the Gluttony Army, several figures suddenly appeared before them. These figures intercepted the attacks of both the Monster Lords and the Gods, causing the very air to rupture. A massive ripple of energy spread outward, followed by an overwhelming pressure that crashed onto the battlefield like an invisible tidal wave. In an instant, every mortal within a hundred-thousand-kilometer radius was forced to their knees, their bodies trembling under the sheer weight of the power unleashed. Even the lands surrounding Fengdu Land quaked under its influence. They all felt it. The presence of a supreme being. Ohm!! The four Divine Beasts turned toward the figures that had suddenly appeared on the battlefield, their expressions filled with shock and disbelief. "You...?!" "Why are you here?!" The five Gods of the Gluttony Army were stunned. Before them stood not one figure, but multiple¡ªeach identical in appearance. A playful laugh echoed across the battlefield. "This piqued my interest. Hahaha! Now this is getting fun!" The presence alone sent chills through those who recognized it. A being spoken of only in legends. A being who once defied the Gods themselves. Long ago, he rampaged through the heavens, single-handedly defeating thousands of heavenly soldiers. He clashed with the Four Heavenly Kings. He attained enlightenment and became a Buddha. He was the Victorious Fighting Buddha. The Monkey King. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven¡ª Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong''s golden eyes gleamed with both power and wisdom. His crimson robe billowed in the wind, and a golden staff rested lazily on his shoulder. He, the Monkey King, had arrived on the battlefield of Fengdu Land. The Four Divine Beasts carefully observed the figures before them, but no matter how keen their senses were, they couldn''t determine which one was the real Sun Wukong. However, his next words answered the question lingering in their minds. "I''m still in the Five Elements Mountain¡­ but this is enough for me." There were twenty clones of Sun Wukong standing on the battlefield¡ªyet each radiated overwhelming power. ... The Gluttony Army in Fengdu Land had fallen. The sudden appearance of Sun Wukong sent shockwaves across the world, catching countless forces off guard. But no one doubted the power of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. All five Gods who had been guarding the Gluttony Army''s fortress had perished overnight¡ªwiped out as if they were nothing. Even the Jade Emperor himself was stunned by the Monkey King''s actions. Nobody had expected the Monkey King to make a move at this moment. The chaos had been raging for a while now, and already, dozen of Gods had perished. For the Gods, the situation in Fengdu Land was considered settled¡ªfor now. But for mortals, it was a different story. With the fall of the Gods, countless experts saw an opportunity and took the risk of venturing into Fengdu Land. Despite the land being in ruins, the sheer fact that several Gods had perished was enough for many to ignore the dangers. Especially for those warriors who had been stagnant in their growth for years, trapped at a bottleneck. They hungered for an opportunity¡ªan event great enough to break their shackles and push them to the next level. And so, another battle loomed on the horizon. A battle not between Gods¡ªbut between mortals. After all, the artifacts and treasures left behind by the fallen high-ranking experts were enough to make even the most cautious warriors salivate with greed. Scattered across the battlefield, some relics lay in plain sight, while others were trapped within the unstable rifts of space. And for many, the rewards far outweighed the risks. ... Land of Eternal Spring The news of the Gluttony Army''s fall in Fengdu Land reached only the ears of the higher-ups. With Olympus sealing its borders, information from the outside world was scarce¡ªaccessible only to those with the proper authority. Mountain Rock City High above the city, the battle between Hero-ranks still raged on. Alice and the others remained hidden, waiting for the right moment to strike. They were in the same situation as the rest of Olympus¡ªmost of its experts were preoccupied with the war against the Titans, completely unaware of the chaos unfolding beyond their borders. Bang!! The clash between Hero-ranks remained as intense as ever. Even though there was only one shackle gap between the Sixth Shackle and the Seventh Shackle, the disparity in power was immense. After all, breaking into Hero-rank required shattering a Great Shackle, a feat that separated the truly powerful from the rest. Dozens of energy rays rained down from above, each impact triggering massive explosions that rocked the entire battlefield. Boom!! The very ground and air trembled, struggling to withstand the overwhelming force of the ongoing battle. "This...?" Alice narrowed her eyes. The others noticed it too¡ªthe protective barrier around Mountain Rock City flickered for a brief moment. "Is it time?" Eztein whispered. "Not yet." Alice replied, her gaze fixed on the battlefield. They continued to wait, tension thick in the air, until¡ª A blazing blue ray descended from the sky, whistling through the air with a force that sent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. Whoosh!! The sheer pressure was suffocating, weighing down on everyone present. The moment the ray collided with the barrier Crack!! The entire shield froze over, encasing Mountain Rock City in a massive glacier, towering like an icy fortress in the heart of battle. In an instant, the temperature plummeted, turning the air freezing cold. Leef and the others felt their bodies stiffen, an icy layer creeping over their skin. Without hesitation, they hurriedly circulated their mana, forcing the frost away before it could completely freeze them solid. A chill of fear settled in their hearts. The sheer power behind that attack¡­ It was beyond anything they had faced before. "Probably someone at Ninth Shackle..." Vashno muttered, his voice low. Someone at this level was far beyond their league. Even in the Holy Lands, a Ninth Shackle Realm expert was considered a top-tier force, standing at the pinnacle of power. Alice''s golden eyes locked onto a small hole in the massive mountain of ice. She instantly understood¡ªthis was their chance. Her gaze flicked upward, confirming her suspicion. The Ninth Shackle Realm expert from the Bound Camp had created this opening. "Let''s go!" Alice commanded, her voice sharp and decisive as she dashed forward. Vashno and Eztein exchanged a quick glance before following her, their movements swift and precise. The others immediately followed suit, each of them aware that hesitation meant death. Swoosh!! Above them, a lone figure hovered in the sky¡ªa man with short, curly white hair, standing effortlessly in midair. His eyes gleamed with power as he gazed down at the frozen barrier of Mountain Rock City. He was the Ninth Shackle Realm expert of the Bound Camp. A force beyond reckoning. Slowly, he lifted his head. His energy surged, flooding the battlefield with a frigid aura so intense that even the Hero-rank warriors battling in the distance hesitated. Then, he opened both of his palms, and the very air itself seemed to freeze in anticipation. Boom! The sky trembled as the two towering titans descended upon the Ninth Shackle Realm expert from Bound Camp. Their colossal figures radiated an overwhelming aura, their mere presence distorting the air around them. Yet, the white-haired warrior stood firm, completely unfazed. "To think that there are two titans of this level in this settlement..." he muttered, his voice calm, as if he were merely observing an interesting spectacle. The space above Mountain Rock City had become a battlefield of monsters and legends. Bound Camp''s warriors had completed their task. The infiltration team¡ªAlice, Vashno, Eztein, and the others¡ªhad already made it inside the barrier. The titans had the advantage in numbers. But the warriors of Bound Camp? They had already won the first move. Chapter 1107 Settlement Mountain Rock City Alice and the others had arrived in the city. It was encased in a barrier, enveloped by a thick layer of ice¡ªthe aftermath of an attack unleashed by a Ninth Shackle Realm expert. "So how are we going to find the core?" Eztein muttered, glancing around. Towering buildings loomed in every direction, and the city was teeming with titans. Although the Hero-rank titans were outside battling the Hero-rank warriors, danger still lurked everywhere. "I don''t know..." Alice shook her head. Finding the core would be difficult. That was why multiple capable squads had been assigned to the mission. As long as the protective barrier was dispelled, their objective would be considered complete. "Let''s go." Alice and the others left their position. Using artifacts and potions, they concealed their presence, ensuring the city''s surveillance systems couldn''t detect them. The higher-ups had already calculated the capabilities of the runes embedded throughout this titan settlement. As the group slipped deeper into the city, they spotted titans roaming everywhere. Even the weakest among them possessed the strength and durability of a B-rank warrior. At times, they couldn''t help but wonder¡ªhow had Olympus managed to overthrow the titans in the past? Titanomachy. The great war that occurred over thousands of years ago. According to history, the Titans were once a powerful faction, rivaling the strength of the Holy Land in the present age. They enslaved countless creatures and gradually extended their influence over other powerful factions. In response, the Jade Emperor made a decisive move, halting the Titans'' expansion. Soon after, the Titanomachy began¡ªan era-defining conflict where the Gods of Olympus overthrew the Titans and sealed them beneath the earth. It was through this victory that Olympus solidified its position, rising to become one of the most powerful factions in the world. ... Alice and the others moved cautiously as they made their way through the streets. Time passed quickly... An hour had gone by, and they still hadn''t found anything. The group took shelter in one of the abandoned houses, gathering to discuss what they had observed so far. Mountain Rock City had once been an ordinary city. That changed when the titans arrived and turned it into one of their settlements. That''s why the buildings here weren''t sized for titans¡ªthey were originally made for humans and demis. As for the people who once lived in Mountain Rock City, the titans hadn''t massacred them. Instead, they had turned them into livestock. "We lack information. Why don''t we capture one of the titans?" Eztein suggested. "I doubt an ordinary titan would know anything useful," Alice replied, shaking her head. "If we want information about the main runes, we''ll need someone with authority. Capturing one won''t be easy¡ªbut it could speed things up." "I think that''s our best option," Vashno agreed. "It''s risky, but it''ll help us find the main runes faster. We can''t stay here too long¡ªHero-rank titans might sense us eventually. Plus, the potion''s effect has a time limit." "I thought about that too. To pull this off, we need to locate the other squads that entered the city," Alice agreed. With that, the group set out to find their allies. This mission would require teamwork. Alice and the others left the building and moved stealthily through the city, weaving between houses and searching for any trace of the other warriors. Of course, they knew it wouldn''t be easy¡ªthose squads were also equipped with artifacts and potions that could temporarily conceal their presence. Before long, they arrived at a strange location. In the heart of the city, there was a massive, gaping hole. "This...?!" "Is this where the titans came from?" Alice and the others stared at the massive hole, easily a hundred meters in diameter. "I have a feeling that what we''re looking for is down there," Eztein said, his voice low. The rest of the group silently agreed. One glance at each other was all it took¡ªthey all had the same thought. They needed to descend into that enormous chasm. But there was a problem. Titans patrolled the area in large numbers. Even with their potions and artifacts masking their presence, getting past them without being detected would be nearly impossible. "We still haven''t found the other squads," Vashno muttered. "Maybe they were captured," Eztein said. Alice shook his head and replied, "Only people with certain achievements could even view this mission. That means all the squads who took it are capable. They wouldn''t be captured without causing a commotion." It would be a different matter if there were still Hero-rank Titans in the city. Vashno glanced at Alice and asked, "Then what should we do?" Alice looked down, thinking through various possibilities. After a moment, she said, "What if we take this matter into our own hands? From the looks of it, the other squads are still hiding." "You mean..." Vashno''s eyes widened. He quickly shook his head. "That''s too risky. You said before that we needed to be careful¡ªbut what you''re suggesting now is the opposite." "I know," Alice replied with a nod. "But it seems like this is the only way to create an opportunity." ... In the Bound Camp A woman with long, striking green hair sat in the meeting room, clad in a gold and green robe. Her demeanor was cold and fierce¡ªlike a sharpened blade. She was Kyveli, one of the Heroes of Goddess Athena. "So, the plan to take over Mountain Rock City has begun?" Kyveli asked, her eyes sweeping across the people in the room. "Yes, Lady Kyveli. All the Hero-rank members of this camp have launched a decisive attack on Mountain Rock City," one of them replied respectfully. Kyveli nodded and said, "Prepare everyone. Once the people we''ve sent into Mountain Rock City succeed, we''ll launch an all-out attack. That city holds a strategic position¡ªonce it''s ours, we''ll be able to strike the enemy camps on both flanks." The people in the room nodded in agreement. Kyveli glanced at them, her thoughts guarded. I can only give them the fake plan. The real one is known only to a few mortals. The Gods are preparing something. To prevent any leaks, she had shared only the false plan. The true strategy was a closely guarded secret, known only to the Gods and a select few. They intended to slowly chip away at the Titans¡ªuntil nothing remained. Kyveli stood up and walked out of the room. Rising into the air, she floated above the camp, her gaze fixed in the direction of Mountain Rock City. "Our mission is extermination," she said coldly. "Don''t leave a single enemy alive. Turn their world into a living hell." ... Meanwhile, in Mountain Rock City Alice and the others were still staring at the massive hole before them. "Are you sure about this?" Vashno asked, his voice low with concern. "Yeah, I''m confident," Alice replied, her expression serious and resolute. Suddenly, their expressions shifted as they sensed a presence behind them. Vashno, Eztein, and Alice spun around in unison¡ªeyes locking onto a figure approaching through the dust and shadows. They slightly lowered their guard when they saw that the figure wasn''t a Titan. The unknown man introduced himself as Berken, a member of one of the squads participating in the mission. "Our squad has a proposal. I''m sure you''ve realized that whatever we''re looking for is probably down there," Berken said, his gaze fixed on the massive hole. Alice and the others nodded in agreement. Berken continued, "We''re heading straight in. Our squad leader is a skilled formation master¡ªhe''ll create an opening that allows us to jump down safely. However, once we''re inside, each squad will split up to search for the main rune as quickly as possible." Going down meant revealing their presence to every Titan in the area. It would trigger a fierce battle. "This is the only option we have," Berken said. "The Titans outnumber us, so it''s going to be a risky fight¡ªbut we don''t have a choice. The effects of our potions and artifacts will wear off soon, and once that happens, they''ll detect us. Our only path is to fight our way down." Alice nodded. "Agreed. I was thinking the same. There''s no other way but to force our way through." "Good," Berken said. "Our squad leader will create an opening soon. Wait for the signal." He then revealed the Athen''s Champion emblem before turning to leave. After Berken left, Eztein, Vashno, and Alice exchanged glances. "Can we trust that guy?" Eztein asked. "Probably," Alice replied. "He showed his emblem before he left." "Still, just in case this is a trap¡ªbe ready," Vashno added. It was better to be prepared than caught off guard. Leef and the rest of the squad looked tense. They were deep in enemy territory, and the uncertainty in the air was slowly tightening its grip on their hearts. Alice and the others waited in silence¡ªuntil a sudden wave of energy erupted. "Here it comes," someone muttered. In an instant, a massive formation rose around the gaping hole, glowing with power. The burst of energy rippled through the air, drawing the attention of every Titan nearby. One by one, the terrifying auras of the powerful Titans ignited¡ªerupting like volcanoes. Boom!! Alice, Vashno, and the rest of Athen''s Champion stood with grim expressions. The Titans were coming. Chapter 1108 Battle "Let''s go!" Dozens of figures flashed through the air, entering the giant formation. They were the warriors of Athen''s Champion. They dove straight toward the massive hole. Whoosh!! The titans charged after them but were pushed back by the formation. The glowing bluish light of the formation electrocuted any titan that attempted to follow. However, it wasn''t enough. A blue-haired warrior named Sekdab shouted, "Hurry up!!" Sekdab was one of the squad leaders participating in the mission. He was the formation master who had set up the barrier to create an opportunity for the other warriors. He knew the limits of his formation. Since he was the only one maintaining it, his capabilities as a Sixth Shackle Realm warrior were stretched thin against the numerous titans. Bang! Bang!! Loud echoes rang out as the titans fiercely collided with the formation. Their bodies, bursting with power and energy, tried to pry open the barrier that was preventing them from advancing. "INVADERS!!!" "Kill them all!!" Their roars filled the air, thick with bloodlust. Bang!! Powerful titans began breaching the formation, their eyes locking onto the warriors. Of course, Sekdab''s formation couldn''t hold back hundreds of titans at once. It was within everyone''s expectations. "Prepare for battle!!" Berken shouted. Alice, Vashno, and Eztein looked up, seeing titans rushing in their direction. All the warriors drew their weapons as their energy surged outward. Whoosh!! The battle had begun. While descending toward the hole, Alice flew around, fiercely clashing with the titans using her spear. Vashno, Eztein, and the other high-level warriors engaged their enemies. Bang! Bang! The sounds of battle echoed through the air. The squad leaders, who were at the Sixth Shackle Realm, positioned themselves at the rear, holding back the Sixth Shackle Realm titans. Boom!! Vashno kicked one of the titans as a massive golden wing unfurled behind him. He glanced down at the enormous hole below and felt a strange sensation. "A suction force...!" he muttered. Ohm!! At the bottom of the giant hole, swirling energy formed a gate¡ªa portal leading to an unknown place. It radiated a powerful pull, dragging everything toward it. "There''s a portal! It looks like this is where the titans were sealed!" Alice shouted. She shifted to the side, a golden spear materializing in her hand. The spear glowed brightly as she thrust it forward, blasting the titans in front of her away. Bang!! "Go!!" Sekdab roared, pressing both of his hands together. A second later, the formation he had erected collapsed under the titans'' relentless assault. Sekdab staggered backward, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Looking up, the warriors saw hundreds of titans surging toward them. Whooosh!! In an instant, the group vanished into the portal. Their vision spun wildly, and when they regained their senses, they found themselves in midair¡ªplummeting toward the ground. Everyone quickly looked around, observing the unfamiliar scenery surrounding them. A huge, dark cave stretched around them. The distance between the ceiling and the ground was vast. At the center stood a massive tower, its surface carved with countless symbols. ''It''s similar to the place I''ve been to,'' Vashno thought inwardly, ''but the symbols are different. This must be one of the places where the titans were sealed.'' Alice noticed something. She turned toward Berken and the other squad leaders, all at the Sixth Shackle Realm. "There''s a gate on each floor. What should we do?" she asked. "Go to different floors. I assume all of you still have the artifact you received to dispel the runes, right? Use it when you find the main runes," said a woman with short brown hair. "The main rune should be easy to spot. If you can read the energy flow in the air, you''ll be able to locate it when you''re nearby." She then glanced at a man with black hair and dark eyes. "Omiros, do it for everyone," she said. The man named Omiros nodded and closed his eyes. A surge of energy erupted from his body, bathing everyone in a greenish light. "I can only mark one person per squad, but that''s enough for us," Omiros explained. "Use the mark to share information. There''s a limit to it, but it should be sufficient here." Alice and the other warriors were amazed by the abilities of these high-level fighters. "I know some of us might die," Berken said in a loud voice, "but don''t surrender to those titans! Fight until the end! Fight until your mission is complete!" There were still many of them gathered at this moment. They all knew titans awaited inside the tower, and that fierce battles would soon erupt. Some of them might fall¡ªbut even in death, they would uphold the dignity of a warrior. Whoosh!! The group of warriors entered the tower, each passing through the gates on different floors. ... Alice''s group entered the floor near the top of the tower. This floor was dominated by a vast sea, dotted with dozens of islands. Floating islands hovered in the air, glowing with an eerie red light. "Another space..." Eztein muttered, raising an eyebrow as he scanned the surroundings. Suddenly, the group tensed as they felt an energy wave sweep across the area. "Is the artifact and potion still active?" Eztein asked in a low voice. Vashno shook his head. "No, we already canceled their effects when we fought those titans earlier." "Damn," Eztein cursed under his breath. "That means the titans here have already detected us." "Yeah." A few moments later, several gigantic figures appeared in the air, rushing toward them with immense momentum. "They''re here." Alice and the others quickly drew their weapons. They knew it. A battle was inevitable. "Eztein, take this." Alice tossed an object to him. Eztein caught it and immediately recognized it¡ªthe artifact that would be used to dispel the main rune. "I''ll leave this task to you. We''ll keep the enemies busy. Besides, you''re the one with the mark," Alice said. Eztein nodded. Alice glanced at Vashno and the others. "Let''s go!" They didn''t wait for the titans to arrive. They would meet them head-on. Swoosh!! Alice shot into the air, her energy soaring high. The golden spear in her hand blazed brightly before she launched a massive energy attack. The golden ray sliced through the air, speeding toward the titans. The titans scattered, evading the attack, but Vashno had already led Leef and the other elite warriors of Astros into the fray. Vashno clenched both fists tightly as his body glowed with golden light. In an instant, he collided with one of the Fifth Shackle Realm titans. Boom!! A powerful ripple spread through the air. Watching this, Alice felt a small sense of relief¡ªthe number of titans here was fewer than the ones on the surface. There were nearly 200 First Shackle Realm titans, 150 Second Shackle Realms, 100 Third Shackle Realms, 50 Fourth Shackle Realms, and 15 Fifth Shackle Realms. "Let''s reduce their numbers first, so Leef and the others can fight more comfortably," Alice muttered to herself. She glanced at Vashno and said, "Vashno, don''t hold back." Vashno paused for a moment before nodding. An immensely powerful energy wave erupted from within him, bathing the entire area in golden light. Ohm!! A massive pair of golden wings, tipped with a faint purple hue, unfurled from his back. [Nine Layers Golden Purple Destruction]!! Vashno radiated overwhelming energy, stunning the titans for a brief moment. He flapped his wings, disappearing from his position in the blink of an eye. Whoosh!! In the next instant, he struck a powerful blow to all the Fifth Shackle Realm titans in the area. The fifteen high-level titans staggered backward, reeling from the heavy impact on their bodies. His [Nine Layers Golden Purple Destruction] had reached the third layer, making him far more powerful than before. He could now take on multiple titans of the same level at once. "How long can you last?" Alice''s voice rang out. "Five minutes..." Vashno answered, his gaze fixed on the Fifth Shackle Realm titans. His voice dripped with confidence. "It''s enough." Alice replied, turning her focus to the lower-level titans. Her aura flared, and the temperature in the air plummeted dramatically. "Prepare!" Alice gripped the spear tightly in her hand and launched herself into the air. Her figure blurred across the sky, leaving a trail of ice particles as she chased after the titans. [Freezing Ground]! [Chilly Wind]! [Hail Storm]! Her skills unleashed a storm of pure ice. [Great Blizzard of Thousand Moon]! [Ice Tornado]! Titans below SSS-rank were frozen within seconds. They couldn''t even react before their bodies were encased in ice as Alice unleashed a sweeping, devastating attack. Alice moved with lightning speed. With every slash and thrust of her spear, a titan fell from the air. In just moments, their numbers had decreased dramatically. The Fifth Shackle Realm titans seethed with anger at the sight. They tried to retaliate, but Vashno intercepted them single-handedly. Vashno activated [Element Drive], combining it with his other skills and equipment to hold back the fifteen Fifth Shackle Realm titans. His golden figure flashed through the air, continuously clashing against the powerful titans with relentless force. Chapter 1109 Sixth Shackle Realm Titan Boom!! The sound of an explosion echoed across the air. A figure plummeted from the sky, crashing into one of the islands. Dust and smoke erupted, engulfing the surface of the island. In the next moment, the smoke and dust were swept away by a surge of energy. Vashno stood, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. His bones had been shattered, but they were already healing in a matter of seconds. "Just like I thought..." Vashno muttered, his voice low. "Fighting fifteen Fifth Shackle Realm titans is too much even for me. I couldn''t even take out a single one of them." Even with his skills, this was an arduous task. Thankfully, his goal was only to buy time¡ªnot to eliminate all fifteen titans. Swoosh!! A figure cloaked in a blueish aura rose behind him. It was Alice. "Thank you for your hard work. Now, let''s finish the rest of these guys." Her voice was cold, yet brimming with confidence. Vashno nodded, casting a brief glance at the titans Alice had already slain. Only a few dozen titans remained, and it was better to leave them to Leef and the others. Wasting more energy to eliminate these titans wasn''t wise¡ªthere were higher-level opponents to focus on. But now that Alice was here, it wouldn''t be a problem for him to handle the fifteen Fifth Shackle Realm titans. "Kill one. I''ll hold back the rest." Alice''s voice echoed, unwavering. Whooosh!! Hundreds of ice spears rained down from the sky. Vashno watched the ice spears rain down for a moment before swiftly turning his attention to one of the Fifth Shackle Realm titans. He flapped his wings and charged forward, fearless. In a one-on-one battle, he was confident in his strength. He had held off all fifteen titans at once¡ªhow could one possibly stand against him alone? There was no chance at all. Vashno collided with the Fifth Shackle Realm titan, sending it flying several hundred meters away with a forceful blow. Bang!! The titan spat a mouthful of blood, glaring at Vashno with rage burning in his eyes. "You piece of trash!!" he roared. In the next instant, a flash of golden light blinded his vision. Pain exploded through his body as he was sent crashing into one of the islands. Boom!! Vashno didn''t hesitate. He pursued the titan, launching a relentless barrage of attacks. The ground trembled with each strike, and explosions erupted continuously, shaking the very island beneath them. After a while, Vashno paused, his attention turning toward Alice''s battle. Below him, the island had sunk completely beneath the sea, dragging the titan''s lifeless body with it. "One down," he muttered under his breath. Whooosh!! He watched as the body of another titan plummeted into the sea. The titan, covered in deep injuries, was losing energy with every passing moment. It was another Fifth Shackle Realm titan. There was no sign of life left in it. "Strong... She can slay one of them even while fighting fourteen titans." Vashno muttered, impressed. ... Meanwhile, Eztein soared through the sky, his gaze scanning the surroundings. "The energy flow in the air doesn''t show any signs of the main runes. That means it''s not here," he muttered to himself. The possibility that the main rune wasn''t on this floor seemed increasingly likely. "If that''s the case," Eztein thought, "then the other squads should be able to locate the main rune." "That''s right!" he said, a spark of realization igniting in his mind. Eztein glanced at the mark on his hand. It could be used to exchange information with the other squads. He infused his mana into the mark. The symbol glowed with a bluish light as information began flooding into his mind. It was about the ongoing battles between the titans and the other squads. But there was one piece of information that caught his attention. Each squad, stationed on different floors, had encountered a Sixth Shackle Realm titan. "What?!" Eztein''s eyes widened in shock. He recalled that none of the titans they had faced so far seemed to be at the Sixth Shackle Realm. There had to be one lurking somewhere¡ªlikely hiding, observing the battle from a distance. Maybe it was following him secretly. Eztein couldn''t shake the feeling of unease, glancing around his surroundings warily. If there was really a Sixth Shackle Realm titan here, he wouldn''t stand a chance against it. As he scanned the area, he sifted through the information he had received from the mark. After a few moments, he muttered to himself, "I have to return. The main rune isn''t here. We can''t stay here any longer." ... The other floors of the prison tower were as varied as they were dangerous. Each floor presented a different environment: some were engulfed in extreme heat or freezing cold, while others seemed to exist in a vast, empty void. The warriors fought the titans relentlessly, slowly but surely whittling down the numbers of these monstrous foes. But some warriors had already fallen. It was inevitable. This was war. Casualties were a part of the cost. In the midst of the chaos, a squad finally managed to make a crucial discovery. "The main rune has been found!" Sekdab muttered, his voice filled with a mix of relief and urgency. The main rune sat at the center of an ancient altar, surrounded by a circle of runes, each one pulsating in perfect synchronization with the core. Ohm!! A screeching sound reverberated through the air, sending a chilling wave across the tower. The titans, wherever they were, paused. Their heads snapped toward the source of the noise. It wasn''t limited to this floor. Even titans on the surface could hear it. Thousands of titans, drawn by the resonance, began charging toward the tower. Whoosh!! Sekdab''s eyes widened in shock. He spun around, his voice urgent and commanding. "Inform all the squads!! Fight every titan!! Kill them!! The main rune has been found!! There are many of them! There''s a passage connecting the entire tower! We cannot let the titans reach it!!" As soon as Sekdab''s words left his mouth, his gaze snapped upward, and his heart sank. Three massive titans were charging straight at him. Bang!! The sound of their advance reverberated through the air as countless other titans scrambled through the tower, determined to protect the main rune. At the same time, the squads on different floors received the critical information¡ªthe main rune had been found. But there was a catch. The rune wasn''t just one. There was a main rune on each floor of the tower. That''s why the warriors hadn''t discovered them sooner. The runes remained dormant, only becoming active once the rune on the current floor was destroyed. ... On one of the tower''s floors, Eztein arrived to inform Alice and the others about what he had learned from the mark. As he landed, he surveyed the battlefield. The group of titans they had been fighting earlier had been completely wiped out. Vashno was resting in the corner, his body still glowing faintly as he drank potions to replenish his mana. Alice turned toward him, her expression calm but focused. "How is it?" she asked, her voice steady. Eztein opened his mouth to respond, but before he could speak, a surge of new information flooded the mark. "What?!" Eztein''s eyes widened in shock. Alice, Vashno, and the others all turned their gaze toward him, sensing something urgent in his reaction. "The main rune has been found," Eztein explained, his voice laced with surprise. "But it''s problematic. The Formation Master, Sekdab, discovered that there''s one main rune on each floor." "One on each floor..." Alice murmured, her mind processing the new information. "Yeah, but it''s not active yet. We''ll have to wait until Sekdab''s squad destroys the main rune on their floor. Once they do, it''ll be our turn to destroy the one here," Eztein clarified. "I see, so for now, the only thing we can do is wait," Vashno said, the weight of the situation settling on him. Just as they were contemplating their next move, the air suddenly trembled. Energy waves swept across the area, causing the ground beneath them to vibrate. "Or... maybe we fight the titans until the main rune on our floor activates," Vashno added, his gaze fixed on the sky, where the rumblings were emanating from. Alice, Eztein, and the others immediately grabbed their weapons, the weight of the situation sinking in. Another wave of titans had arrived. But this time, the air felt different. A presence far stronger than before surged forward. A genuine Sixth Shackle Realm titan had appeared. The titan towered at a towering twenty meters, its dark gray skin marked by blueish veins running beneath the surface. It wore heavy reddish armor that gleamed under the dim light, and a massive club rested menacingly on its back. The sheer force of energy emanating from it was overwhelming, suffocating the air around them. The air grew thick with pressure, suffocating them all. Leef and the others instinctively took a step back, beads of sweat dotting their foreheads as the weight of the titan''s presence pressed down on their bodies. It was as if the very atmosphere itself had become hostile. Vashno gritted his teeth, his voice steady but tinged with resolve as he discarded the empty mana potion bottle. "There''s nothing we can do but fight until the main rune on this floor becomes active." The Sixth Shackle Realm titan hovered above them, towering and unyielding, its cold eyes scanning the group with contempt. "You people..." The titan''s voice boomed, echoing like thunder across the sky. "Surrender yourselves to us. You''re fragile and weak. There''s no way you can win." Alice''s grip tightened around her spear, her voice cold yet resolute. "Do everything you can to survive." Vashno, Eztein, and the others exchanged a determined glance, nodding in silent agreement. They stood in the face of insurmountable odds. The titan''s overwhelming strength and numbers were on their side, while they were mere warriors fighting for their lives in this perilous battle. The Sixth Shackle Realm titan''s lips twisted into a cruel smile as he watched their unwavering resolve. "It seems you people will not surrender..." His voice dropped to a low, mocking growl. "Well, I like that. I will enjoy torturing you before your inevitable end." Alice remained silent, her gaze unwavering. Without a word, she stepped forward, and in an instant, the temperature around her plummeted. The air grew heavy with the intensity of her power as she activated her [Element Drive]. Vashno and the others swiftly scattered, instinctively aware of the destructive ice storm that would soon engulf them. Whoosh!! In a matter of seconds, towering structures of ice erupted from the ground, their jagged edges gleaming with an eerie, frozen glow. Alice hovered above the chaos, her spear raised as a wave of freezing energy cascaded outward, blanketing the area in frost and crystal. Even the titans felt the air grow icy, their bodies slowing under the pressure. The Sixth Shackle Realm titan roared in defiance, his immense strength pushing through the frozen prison with ease. As he shattered the ice, a wicked smile stretched across his monstrous face, his eyes locked on Alice. Bang!! The sound of cracking ice echoed through the air as the titan broke free, his laughter rumbling like thunder. "Impressive," he sneered. "But it will take more than that to stop me." "This is interesting! Integration Stage at this level!" The titan said. Chapter 1110 Legend of Victory and a Demon The titan stood proudly, his body radiating intense energy that seemed to melt the ice around him. "I am Shavtar! A titan of molten rock! I will treat you as an opponent!" His voice reverberated through the air. Then, his body ignited in flames, and he began to release waves of scorching heat. The pressure he emitted grew exponentially as he activated his [Dual Element Drive: Earth and Fire Integration]. "I will not hold back!" With a mighty roar, Shavtar took a step forward, pulling the massive club from his back. He fixed his gaze on Alice, his eyes narrowing. He didn''t know why, but he felt an overwhelming sense of danger emanating from this girl. Alice''s eyes narrowed, her grip on the spear tightening. The cold aura around her intensified as she met Shavtar''s fiery gaze. She could feel the raw heat radiating from the titan, his power rippling through the air like an overwhelming storm. But she wasn''t about to back down. The ground beneath them cracked as Shavtar''s body ignited, flames roaring around him, and molten rock began to spill from the cracks in his skin. His massive club gleamed with destructive potential as he swung it, the air distorting from the sheer force. With a swift motion, Alice hurled her spear forward, its blade gleaming like a shard of frozen light. The spear tore through the air, leaving a trail of frost that clung to everything it touched. But Shavtar didn''t flinch. With a roar, he swung his club and met the spear mid-air. Bang! The clash was explosive. Ice shards splintered into the air as the fire surrounding Shavtar surged to block the blow. Alice remained calm, using the recoil from the strike to propel herself higher into the air, evading the shockwave from Shavtar''s club. But Shavtar wasn''t finished. The titan swung his club again, this time sending a wave of molten rock cascading toward Alice, the ground beneath him crumbling as fire and earth intertwined in a devastating surge of power. "I''ll burn you to ashes!" Shavtar roared, the flames intensifying around him. Ohm!! Alice shrugged her shoulders, and strings of flesh seemed to cover her entire body, transforming her into something else entirely. Her energy was being overwhelmed by the titan in front of her. Shavtar bent his knees, his energy flaring up once again. In the next moment, he launched himself toward his opponent. Whoosh!! Seeing this, Alice tensed her muscles. The golden spear in her hand gleamed brightly as a series of golden dots appeared in the air around her. [Archetype]! [Golden Spear: Legend of Victory]! In the next instant, both Alice and Shavtar vanished from their positions. Shockwaves erupted. Eztein looked up and saw the trails of two figures repeatedly clashing in the air. One was a massive, red titan, and the other¡ªa fluid, golden blur with a blueish hue. The sound of weapons clashing echoed through the air, as sparks flew from every strike, showering the battlefield. Boom! Boom! The elemental powers of Alice and Shavtar rampaged across the land. Several floating islands in the sky collapsed under the sheer force of their clash. Ice, flame, and earth erupted, pushing the water below and triggering a massive tsunami. "This power? I knew it! My instincts were right! You could give me an entertaining fight!" Shavtar smirked. The weapon in his hand fired a red and brownish energy ray. Alice raised her spear high above her head. Hundreds of giant golden spear-shaped roses rose from the sea below. [First Stance: Thousand Victory]!! One of the giant golden spears intercepted the energy ray, while the others launched toward Shavtar. Swoosh!! This was Alice''s first time using an Archetype in battle. Her strength surged to the point where she could exchange blows with someone in a higher realm than hers. Shavtar dashed through the sky, but the giant golden spears relentlessly pursued him. He struck at them from time to time to delay their progress, causing the sky to fill with explosions. Boom!! Shavtar moved side to side, avoiding the golden spears with remarkable precision. His movements were fast and accurate as he closed the distance between himself and Alice. Alice had already predicted this. She controlled more golden spears, moving backward to increase the distance between them. Boom!! While Alice fought Shavtar, Vashno and the others were engaged with the other titans. Vashno and Eztein held nothing back in their battle, pushing their limits to their fullest. Their energy exploded in all directions as they moved at incredible speed. Vashno had been fighting for quite a while, and he was nearing his limit, fatigue starting to take its toll. "These titans..." He gritted his teeth. His golden form flashed through the air, colliding violently with the titans. Bang!! Bang!! A resounding crash echoed. Meanwhile, Alice''s figure was sent crashing into one of the nearby floating islands. She spat out a mouthful of blood, forcing herself to stand despite the pain. Her bones felt shattered from the impact. "Strong..." Alice muttered as she slowly looked up at Shavtar, who loomed over her. Even with an Archetype and a universal-grade artifact, defeating someone at a higher level wasn''t going to be easy. Shavtar eyed her, a smug expression on his face. "Are you done?" Alice gritted her teeth, her body already starting to heal from the damage. Using an Archetype in battle was more exhausting than she''d anticipated. "I know what you''re trying to do," Shavtar continued, his voice dripping with condescension. "Dispel the main rune that''s keeping the barrier active on the surface, right?" He paused, letting his words hang in the air before adding, "Too bad you''ll fail." "Fail?" Alice chuckled, despite the pain still coursing through her body. "Why is that barrier so special?" "Nothing. A normal God-ranked being could break through this barrier. There''s nothing special about this place," Shavtar explained, his tone casual yet condescending. "The barrier is set up to keep Gods from noticing our movements, but it can''t block their attacks." Alice stared at Shavtar, her eyes narrowing as she assessed him. He didn''t seem to be lying. There really wasn''t anything extraordinary about this place¡ªexcept for one thing. The location of Mountain Rock City. It was strategically placed. Boom!! The flow of energy in the air suddenly shifted. Vashno, Eztein, and the others felt it too. They turned their heads, their eyes widening in surprise. "It''s here!" "They''ve done it!" The group could feel the main rune on this floor had become active. When it becomes active, it''s time for them to do their part. "Eztein, find its location. You have the artifact, right?" Vashno glanced at Eztein. "Yeah," Eztein nodded. Alice, however, merely glanced at the sky before turning her attention back to her opponent. "Hmm... You know, this place is actually quite advantageous for me." Shavtar frowned at her words. A sense of unease crept up on him. Something wasn''t right in this situation. "Let''s try it again." Alice raised her spear, and her aura surged, spreading darkness in an instant. Swoosh!! Shavtar subconsciously took a step back. The darkness swirled around the area, and from it emerged a figure with pale skin. She had a pair of black wings on her back, a sharp tail, and horns on the side of her head. The entire place seemed to vibrate with energy. It felt suffocating. The atmosphere changed instantly. "Ah~ It''s been a while..." Alice closed her eyes, feeling the breeze brush across her body. "You!! You''re a demon!!" Shavtar widened his eyes, staring at her transformed form. "Yes, I am," Alice replied calmly. In the next moment, she charged toward Shavtar. [Freezing Darkness]! [Heavenly Demon''s Aura]! [Heavenly Demon''s Black Curtain]! Alice clashed with Shavtar, moving faster and striking harder than before, putting heavy pressure on her opponent. She moved above Shavtar and thrust her spear downward. In response, countless giant golden spears shot out in every direction. The Archetype was still immensely powerful, but Alice could feel it wasn''t enough to defeat a strong Sixth Shackle Realm titan while she was only at the Fifth Shackle Realm. She had to use everything she had¡ªeven her true form. "A demon!! What''s a demon doing in this place?!" Shavtar roared, trying to dodge the barrage of golden spears. Suddenly, he widened his eyes as a sharp instinct flared within him. He spun around and swung his weapon. Whoosh!! His instincts had been right. Alice was behind him, preparing to strike. Shavtar''s weapon collided with Alice''s spear, sending shockwaves in all directions. Boom!! [Secret Technique: Heavenly Demon''s Dark Demon''s Stride]!! [Supreme Molten Titan]!! The two combatants unleashed their full power, exchanging hundreds of blows in the air. Their movements were so swift and forceful that even the ongoing battles nearby were affected. Vashno had to quickly move Leef and the others out of the way to avoid the shockwaves. Alice didn''t hesitate to tap into her [Dream Power], further enhancing her chances of overcoming the powerful titan. She pulled out every skill in her arsenal, each one a calculated strike aimed at Shavtar. [Rhongomiant]!! A golden ray of energy tore through the air, slamming into Shavtar and sending his massive form crashing to the ground. Boom!! A massive explosion erupted, shattering the entire island into pieces. Alice floated in the air, her eyes scanning her hand. She noticed it was broken. With a quick shake, it returned to its original form. This was the advantage of having a parasite¡ªwounds healed almost instantly. The smoke gradually cleared, revealing Shavtar rising from the debris of the sunken island. His once-powerful body was now riddled with wounds, but his gaze remained fiery and defiant. Alice looked at him, her expression unwavering. "It seems you''re mistaken. The main rune on this floor will be deactivated." A grin spread across Shavtar''s face. "Hahaha, perhaps you''re right... but I''m enjoying myself too much! I''ve never fought a demon before, so keep going!" With a roar, he lunged toward Alice once more. Alice didn''t flinch. She bent her knees, her body springing forward with incredible speed. From the clouds above and the sea below, enormous golden spears materialized, each one gleaming with power. "This is it!" Shavtar laughed, shifting side to side, narrowly avoiding the golden spears. As he closed the distance between them, Alice thrust her spear toward him. He twisted his body, gathering energy into his club, and then swung it with overwhelming force. [Annihilation Earth Strike]! Alice''s eyes narrowed in realization¡ªit was too late to dodge. She barely shifted her body, raising her other hand to absorb the attack head-on. At the same time, the gigantic golden spears that Shavtar had avoided earlier reappeared, streaking toward him with deadly precision. Boom! A ripple spread through the air, followed by a massive explosion. A figure plunged into the sea, while another crashed into a floating island. Alice''s eyes fluttered open as she found herself sinking to the bottom of the sea. Pain coursed through her body, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to move. Her left hand had been severed, floating beside her. She reached out, and strings of flesh connected her severed hand. In a moment, it was whole again, as though nothing had happened. Focusing her energy into her feet, Alice propelled herself upward, shooting out of the water. Boom! Her wings unfurled as she ran her fingers through her hair, scanning the area to sense Shavtar''s location. Chapter 1111 Taking over the Mountain Rock City Cough! Shavtar spat out a mouthful of blood, his body trembling as he pushed himself out of the rubble. His hand pressed against his chest, where a massive hole was gushing blood, staining his body. "Damn..." he cursed under his breath, a wave of numbness sweeping through him. "Defeated by a Fifth Shackle Realm..." The words tasted bitter on his tongue, a humiliation he couldn''t swallow. For a titan like him, this was a disgrace. To fall to someone who was supposed to be beneath him was a blow to his pride. A titan who suffered such a defeat was no longer worthy of respect. Shavtar''s gaze lifted, his eyes meeting the demon standing over him, the one who had torn through his defenses with relentless power. "So this is what a demon is..." Shavtar muttered, struggling to gather his energy for one final push. But before he could make a move, Alice responded with a powerful golden ray that cut through the air, followed by a barrage of gigantic golden spears. Bang!! The golden ray tore through the island, reducing it to nothing but debris and dust. Alice looked up, her expression cold and unwavering. With a simple motion, she reached out and summoned the severed head of Shavtar. The massive titan''s head landed in her hand with a sickening thud. "A Sixth Shackle Realm titan is dead." She muttered the words with an eerie calmness, before casually tossing the head aside. Her body was then engulfed in blue flames, her demonic form fading away as her disguised form reemerged. Her Element Drive, Dream Power, and other skills were all deactivated. Alice fell to her knees, feeling the full weight of exhaustion crash into her. Even with the power of the Archetype, the toll it took was immense. "I''ve done my job..." Alice muttered under her breath, her voice barely audible as she lifted her head. She stood alone, bloodied and weary, yet unbroken. From a distance, the remaining titans watched her in stunned silence, their hearts heavy with dread. They couldn''t fathom how a Fifth Shackle Realm being could defeat one of their own at the Sixth Shackle Realm. A demon. The realization sent a chill through the air. Fear rippled through them as they saw her standing tall, a force of nature they couldn''t understand or defeat. ... Somewhere on the floor, Eztein floated in the vast, empty space. Before him, an ancient symbol was etched directly into the very fabric of reality itself. "What the hell?! They even carved a rune into the fabric of space!" Eztein''s eyes widened in disbelief. "The one who did this must be a master! A true expert!" He marveled at the rune, his awe mixed with a sense of unease. This kind of symbol wasn''t something easily destroyed. Even with all his might, attacking it would only provoke a response¡ªand likely one that would be dangerous to him. Eztein pulled out a strange device, holding it carefully in his hands. The device hovered, its sleek surface gleaming as it emitted a faint hum. He poured his mana into it, and as if responding to his energy, the device began to glow with a brilliant white light. Ohm!! The light from the device grew brighter and brighter, shifting from a radiant white to a deep, eerie red. Then, it faded into an unsettling black. Suddenly, a strange, intricate symbol materialized in the air. "What''s happening...?" Eztein murmured in confusion. He hadn''t anticipated anything like this when he activated the device. Bang!! A pair of massive skeletal hands shot out from the air, their size immense and overwhelming. "What is this?" Eztein instinctively took a step back, his heart racing. From the device, a towering skeleton slowly emerged. It rose to a staggering height of thirty meters, its bones crackling as it stretched to its full height. With a powerful motion, the skeletal figure reached out and grabbed hold of the ancient rune carved into the very fabric of space. A burst of unimaginable energy erupted as the skeleton made contact, sending a violent shockwave through the air. The sheer force of the explosion sent Eztein flying, crashing through the air for dozens of meters before he hit the ground with a heavy thud. The entire floor was soon enveloped in a dark, oppressive light that seemed to devour everything around them. Whooosh!! Alice, Vashno, and the others felt the intense pull of the light, their bodies seemingly consumed by it in an instant. In the blink of an eye, they found themselves in a completely different place. Eztein slowly pushed himself to his feet, dazed but unharmed. He looked around in disbelief at the surroundings¡ªtowering mountains, massive icy structures, and a bleak, familiar landscape. "What?! We''re back on the surface!" he exclaimed, his voice laced with confusion. Alice, Vashno, and the others glanced around, confirming that they had indeed been transported to the surface. The air felt different, and the familiar sensation of being inside the tower was gone. The other squads that had participated in the mission were also there, appearing just as bewildered. It seemed that once they completed their task, the mysterious force had pulled them all away and brought them to the surface, though none of them fully understood how or why. They had been transported as soon as the runes were dispelled. Without those active runes, they became vulnerable to higher-level manipulation of power. And the only one capable of such a feat was the massive skeleton that had emerged from the device. The skeleton was the force that had dispelled the runes, enabling their sudden transport. "Why didn''t the skeleton come out earlier? It would''ve made it much easier if it had helped us fight," someone asked, their voice tinged with frustration. Sekdab looked over at the speaker, then shook his head. "Even we didn''t know about the skeleton in the device. All we knew was that it had the ability to dispel those ancient runes," he explained. The truth was, the skeleton had done its job¡ªdispelling the ancient runes¡ªand now the barrier that had protected Mountain Rock City was gone. With no protection remaining, the titans would no longer be shielded from the forces they had been fighting so hard to protect. Suddenly, a booming voice echoed across the battlefield. "Exterminate the titans! From today, Mountain Rock City will be returned to us!" With those words, a surge of powerful pressure erupted in the sky, signaling the beginning of the final assault. Hero-rank warriors clashed fiercely in the air, their momentum surging as they launched their attacks. Their intent was clear¡ªto eradicate the titans and reclaim the city that had been under their threat for so long. The battle was now in full swing, and with the barrier gone, there was no holding back. Boom!! A massive sword slash descended from the sky, landing squarely in the heart of Mountain Rock City. The force of the impact shattered the ground beneath it, sending shockwaves through the surrounding area and creating a massive explosion that could be felt for miles. Alice looked up and saw a fierce woman with long green hair. The aura around her was oppressively powerful, causing the air to vibrate with its intensity. The woman gazed down coldly at the battlefield. The other Hero-rank titans attempted to advance, but they were held back by the Hero-rank warriors. Despite the fierce battles raging around her, the woman remained unfazed. She raised her sword high and declared, "In the name of our Goddess Athena, I, Kyveli, the Chosen Hero, shall destroy this place!" Her energy exploded like a volcanic eruption, sweeping across the area, making every living being feel its overwhelming force. Meanwhile, deep underground in the tower, the skeletons¡ªwho had stopped moving after dispelling the runes¡ªbegan to stir once more. They resonated with the power of Kyveli''s energy, their movements synchronized with her intense force. Ohm!! The skeletons'' bodies expanded. On the surface, Kyveli looked down and frowned. ''It''s not here...'' she thought before swinging her sword downward. A massive energy blade shot out, crashing into the city and obliterating everything in its path. Then, a pillar of violent energy shot into the sky, followed by an underground explosion of high-intensity energy. Boom!!! All the titans beneath the surface were annihilated. "The power of a Hero..." Alice stared at Kyveli, who was suspended in the air. ... The battle in Mountain Rock City lasted for two days before the titans were completely exterminated. The Hero of Goddess Athena, Kyveli, made her move and slew one of the two Ninth Shackle Realm titans guarding the city. While there were still many questions about the higher-ups'' plan, the details remained sealed. Only the Gods and a few select mortals, like the Heroes, knew the full scope of the plan. The warriors quickly established a base in Mountain Rock City and dispatched units to flank the other titan settlements. The tide of battle shifted when the titan settlement in Mountain Rock City collapsed. Hero-ranks appeared frequently, fighting fiercely, and their presence had a profound impact on the lower-ranked beings. ... In the Goddess Palace, Goddess Athena sat on her throne, a worried look on her face. In front of her, Kyveli, one of her Heroes, knelt in submission. "My Lady, it seems that the Right Hand of the Great Night is not in Mountain Rock City. Other titan settlements have been taken over, but it''s the same situation everywhere," Kyveli reported. "Great Night... Nyx... Zeus said that it''s buried in one of the places where the titans were sealed. We have to find it," Athena muttered. "I understand, My Lady. I will do anything to accomplish it," Kyveli responded. Athena closed her eyes. The Great Goddess of the Night. According to Zeus and his brothers, Goddess Nyx had separated herself into different parts, and those parts scattered across the Land of Olympus. ''It will be done... This war will end soon. However, those beings on Nyx''s level will awaken as well. There''s also the Ruler of Gluttony. I can feel that he''s planning something again,'' Athena thought inwardly. ... It had been three days since the battle in Mountain Rock City ended. Eztein glanced at Alice, who was staring out of the window. He frowned and asked, "Are you worried about what you did?" "No," Alice shook her head. She knew he was referring to her use of the demonic form. "I''m sure it''s not a problem. The titans said it could block the perception of the Gods. Moreover, judging by the actions of the higher-ups, it seems they''re trying to find something." If the Gods of Olympus couldn''t perceive what was happening inside the barrier, then her father would likely be in the same position. "I see..." Eztein nodded in understanding. A lot of people in the Astros were aware that Alice was a demon, especially the witches. After all, Alice had used her true form when fighting against the Clan Leader, and many people had witnessed that battle. However, the information was tightly controlled within the Astros because of the parasites in their bodies. Even if they wanted to, they couldn''t share it with anyone outside. "We''ve earned tons of merits, so I think it''s time to exchange them. We should use them to strengthen ourselves again," Alice said. "I understand," Eztein nodded. "I think we should let Leef and the others take lower-difficulty missions by themselves. The last mission was too dangerous for them," Vashno suggested. Alice rubbed her chin thoughtfully, considering Vashno''s words. After a few moments, she nodded. "That''s a good idea. There are too many high-level titans in our missions, and it''s becoming harder for them to keep up with us." Chapter 1112 Awakening Hall Plains A man with short blond hair and a pair of golden eyes arrived at Mine Valley. Following behind him was a beautiful woman who was once a princess. The man was none other than Alexander Dreyfus, the Ninth Head of the Dragon Council. "It''s been a while since I returned here," Alexander muttered. "A lot has happened. I heard Ekatoe City was attacked by members of the Gluttony Army," Yaniesvyl said. "I expected as much. Souta, the Blood Lightning Monster, has drawn too much attention lately," Alexander said, pausing before continuing. "Besides, the Gluttony Army isn''t as powerful as it used to be. I heard they suffered a defeat in Fengdu Land¡ªsix Gods perished there." "So what should we do now, sir?" Yaniesvyl asked, glancing at Alexander. "We''ll simply visit the Dragon Council and deliver the artifact," Alexander replied with a shrug. "I''ve already given a piece to that monster, the First Head." He began walking but soon stopped again, turning his gaze toward a distant point. "Olympus... I''ve heard rumors that they''re closing their borders. Seems like something''s happening in their land," he said. ... Ekatoe City The city was functioning well. Though the Gluttony Army''s previous attack had scarred the land, the people had rebuilt it. New structures stood proudly, and laughter and chatter filled the streets. The city was better now than it had ever been. Ohm! An invisible ripple suddenly spread from the training ground. A man with dark green skin slowly opened his eyes, revealing unusual pupils. "I wonder how many days have passed..." Souta muttered as he stood up. He stretched, feeling the familiar sensation in his body¡ªthough this time, it was slightly different. "I''m not done yet, but I''ve made progress," he said to himself. Turning his head, Souta saw a small snake and a bear resting beside him. A smile tugged at his lips as he reached out and gently patted them. "Hey, stop sleeping here. I''m already awake," he said. Yuko slowly opened her eyes, and when she saw Souta, she immediately leapt at him. Thud! Her huge body pinned him down as she stuck out her tongue and licked his face. Kessa also stirred, slithering around before coiling herself around his arm. "Master! Master!" It took more than ten minutes before Souta managed to calm the two monsters down. "Hu~..." Souta let out a sigh of relief. He released a bit of his energy, evaporating the saliva from his face. He stepped out of the room and picked up the Vajra Sword. "What happened while I was gone?" Souta asked. ''Hmm... A lot happened¡ªespecially in Olympus. The Ruler of Gluttony launched an attack,'' Saya replied. "Ruler of Gluttony...?" Souta frowned, rubbing his chin as he recalled certain events from the game. If he remembered correctly, the Ruler of Gluttony would attack the Angel Faction before returning to¡ª "So it''s that time already..." Souta exhaled and shook his head. Things were about to get messy in Olympus. The Titans should have awakened by now. This battle wouldn''t last long. Saya''s voice pulled him from his thoughts. "So, how was your seclusion?" "Oh, well, not bad," Souta replied, glancing at his hand as he slowly clenched it. He hadn''t increased his raw strength, but the path ahead had become a little clearer. He could move forward. "I''ve done everything I could. The blueprint up to the tenth form is complete¡ªI can start training it," he muttered, hanging the sword at his waist. Souta exited his seclusion, and word of his return quickly reached the higher-ups of Astros. He visited them one by one, observing their progress and the overall improvements made to the city. Torkez, Gragas, Isabella, and the others present reported what they had accomplished during his absence. Souta was satisfied. Even without his direct involvement, the city continued to operate smoothly. ... Now that he was out of seclusion, Souta received updates from Athen''s Champion. As a Hero-candidate, he had access to information about the ongoing war against the Titans. Of course, he already knew much of it¡ªbut there was no need to reveal that to anyone. "I''ll have to participate in the war," he murmured. If he wanted to raise his status further, earning more merits was essential. That was the one thing he still lacked. "Still... the Titans." Souta closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He recalled how the other giants would eventually join the fray. Several Gods of Olympus would fall before Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades rose to defeat the Titans'' main deities. Based on his memories, the event would occur within the next two to three months. Moreover, something significant was also set to unfold in the Land of Eternal Spring during that timeframe. A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. Souta turned his head and asked, "What is it?" But before he received an answer, he sensed a familiar energy signature. "Never mind. I felt a familiar energy," he said, standing up. He left the office and made his way to the guest room. There, he found a young man with blond hair and a beautiful young woman waiting. "What brings you here?" Souta asked with a smile, taking a seat across from them. The two guests were Alexander and Yaniesvyl. "I''m here to give you something," Alexander said. "What is it?" Souta raised an eyebrow. "Here." Alexander pulled out an object and placed it on the table. It was an artifact shaped like a miniature table, roughly the size of a palm. Simple in design, yet it radiated an eerie, unsettling aura. The item immediately piqued Souta''s interest. It was his first time seeing this artifact¡ªhe had no idea what it was or what it could do. He reached out, picked it up, and examined it closely. Then, slowly, he infused it with his energy. "Hmm... I see... So that''s how it works." Souta understood the artifact''s effect. Through the system, he learned that this item was called the [Meeting Table of Outer Realm]. It was a red-grade artifact, and this piece was only a fragment of a larger whole. With the [Meeting Table of Outer Realm], those who possessed parts of it could communicate with one another. "I''ve already given the other members of the Dragon Council their pieces. So, let''s try it," Alexander said, pulling out his own fragment of the artifact. Both of them activated the artifact, and their consciousnesses were transported to a strange place. It was a vast and finely crafted room, with a large table in the center. Souta looked around, noticing several figures appearing around the table. They were all members of the Dragon Council. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Gerxuzs. This time, his appearance was different¡ªGerxuzs had clearly reached the fifth evolution stage. It was no surprise. When Souta first met him, Gerxuzs had been at the peak of the fourth stage. It had only been a matter of time and preparation before he broke through to the next stage. Suddenly, Alexander clapped his hands, drawing everyone''s attention. "Since I''m also a member of the Dragon Council, I''ll naturally invest in this organization. This artifact will allow us to hold meetings, even if we''re worlds apart." The Heads of the Dragon Council turned their focus to Alexander, listening intently as words appeared in the air, explaining the functions of the [Meeting Table of Outer Realm]. "I also have a plan to destroy the previous contract of the Dragon Council," Alexander said. "I will use the power of the Corruption Lord to erase it, and we will create a new and better contract." Before long, the meeting concluded, and their consciousnesses returned to reality. Alexander exchanged a few words with Souta before departing. It seemed he had only come to deliver the artifact¡ªnothing more, nothing less. Souta stood up, stretching his arms. He gazed out the window, taking in the view of the city. "Tomorrow, I guess I''ll have to visit Athen''s Champion." ... The next day, Souta departed early in the morning. He passed through the portal and arrived at the Champion''s Den. As expected, the atmosphere here was far from normal, heavily affected by the ongoing war against the Titans. "Grain Leader Souta, this way." A warrior greeted him and led him to the meeting. Souta met with the person in charge to learn more about the current state of the war. The Athen''s Champion was steadily eliminating the Titans in their territory. It wasn''t an easy task, but progress was being made. As for the casualties, they were staggering. In the Titans'' first attack alone, millions had perished. Entire kingdoms and nations in the Land of Eternal Spring had collapsed in a matter of days. "I see... Then, I''ll head there to eliminate some Titans," Souta said. He bid farewell and immediately set off for the Land of Eternal Spring. It was time for him to join the war and earn a few more achievements before the upcoming event unfolded. Staying here when that happened would be too risky. Chapter 1113 Calm River County Bound Camp Souta arrived at Bound Camp without any issues. He immediately reported to the higher-ups before heading to meet his group. "You''re back," Alice said, eyeing him. "Yeah, it went quite well. I can do better now," Souta replied. He then glanced at Eztein and Vashno. The group filled him in on what had happened during his seclusion¡ªthe details of their mission and other events. As he listened, Souta raised an eyebrow when he heard that Alice had used her true form. He looked at her, silently asking for an explanation. "It''s fine. The barrier could block the perception of Gods," Alice replied. Souta closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded in understanding. Titan settlements were often protected by similar measures, so he understood the reasoning. "Alright, now that I''m here..." Souta turned to Eztein and said, "Eztein, go back and complete the task I assigned you. I''ll take care of everything here." "Go back?" Eztein looked slightly surprised. "Yeah," Souta nodded. "I understand. I''ll complete it as soon as possible," Eztein said. "No need to hurry. You can take your time. Franklin will probably return soon, so it''s better if you go now," Souta waved his hand, dismissing the urgency. "No, I''ll finish it quickly," Eztein grinned. He was laughing inwardly, knowing that his expedition would lead him to discover many valuable things that would be useful for him. Souta watched as Eztein and the others prepared to leave. Now that he was here, his own mission would be far more challenging, likely involving Hero-rank Titans. ... Several days passed quickly after Souta''s arrival at Bound Camp. Eztein and the others had left, while Souta, Alice, and Vashno remained, not taking on any new missions. Souta allowed them time to absorb the fruits of their labor. Alice and Vashno both used the merits they had earned from their missions. Alice had finally broken through to the Sixth Shackle Realm. Her strength had reached the peak of SSS-rank, just one shackle away from the famed Hero-rank. As for Vashno, although he remained in the Fifth Shackle Realm, his strength had improved significantly. He was on the verge of breaking through, able to do so at any moment. Both Alice and Vashno had benefitted greatly from the war against the Titans. The resources and battles they encountered had accelerated their growth. In the training ground, Souta clenched his fists tightly, blood-colored lightning crackling around him. "This is good..." he muttered. ''Truly, there''s a huge improvement,'' Saya''s voice echoed in his mind. "It''s not perfect yet, but it''s fine. I won''t be able to perfect it until I reach the fifth stage," Souta replied, his focus sharp. The fierce energy surrounding him dissipated as he finished his training. Souta walked out of the training ground, looking for Vashno and Alice. But before he could find them, someone called his name. "Grain Leader Souta!" Souta turned to see a warrior approaching him. "The higher-ups are summoning you," the warrior said. Souta nodded in understanding. ... In the large room, Souta was slightly taken aback. In front of him stood a beautiful woman with long green hair. He recognized her. She was Kyveli, one of the Heroes of Goddess Athena¡ªa powerful expert at the Ninth Shackle Realm. ''Is it time? It''s been days since I arrived here, so...'' Souta thought inwardly. "Let me introduce myself quickly. I am Kyveli, one of the chosen Heroes of Goddess Athena," she said calmly, her gaze observing Souta carefully. "You can call me whatever you wish, as long as it''s not disrespectful, Hero-candidate." "I''m Grain Leader Souta and also a Hero-candidate. It''s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Kyveli," Souta replied politely. Kyveli nodded in acknowledgment. "I''m sure you know that we''ve already taken control of three more Titan settlements after destroying the one in Mountain Rock City. This time, we''ll do the same. We''ll support the other camps and launch an attack on another settlement." She paused before continuing, "We need to eliminate the Titans in the Land of Eternal Spring as quickly as possible. To do that, we must be aggressive. So, prepare yourself. Sir Cicero mentioned something interesting¡ªyou''ll need to join the frontline." Souta nodded in agreement, ready to face what lay ahead. "Then, let me give you a mission. In Calm River County, there''s a titan named Arvidal. This titan holds different values. He seeks peace and wants to find a place where his kind can settle. You know what to do, right? Find him and escort him out once the battle breaks out," Kyveli said. "Arvidal... What does he look like?" Souta asked. Kyveli opened her palm, and her energy surged, gathering together to form the image of an old titan. "Is it just about escorting him out?" Souta asked. "Yeah, but it won''t be easy. This titan is a rare formation master and rune master. He''s guarded by powerful titans," Kyveli explained. She said a few more things before dismissing him. Souta walked out of the room, deep in thought. Although he knew he was a Hero of Goddess Athena in the game and had some knowledge of the events, Souta still didn''t know every detail. There was something going on here that seemed out of place. It felt like they were rushing things. Souta shook his head, pushing those thoughts aside. He needed to focus on his mission first. "Titans who want to settle down and coexist with other races..." he muttered to himself. They could probably survive this battle, but their population would remain small, and they would face discrimination because of the war they''d started. ... Souta told Alice and Vashno to prepare, as they had received a mission. He briefed them on the details. "So, another big battle is about to happen?" Vashno asked. "Yeah..." Souta nodded. "It feels like they''re rushing things," Alice muttered. Souta glanced at Alice and replied, "I think so too. But we can''t get involved with that kind of information. It won''t come to light until I become a Hero of Goddess Athena." "Our mission this time is to escort a titan out of the battlefield. We''ll probably have to defeat the other titans guarding him as well. However..." Alice paused, then continued, "This time, they don''t plan to eliminate all the titans. They want some with different values to survive." "There''s no need to overthink it," Souta shrugged. The three of them prepared for the mission. By the next morning, Souta was summoned by Kyveli once again. She informed him that they would be invading Calm River County, and that he only needed to focus on his mission. He was advised to avoid unnecessary confrontations with other titans. Afterward, Souta left and checked his system. [Escort]: Escort Arvidal out of the battlefield in Calm River County alive. Reward(s): 8 skill points, 12 free attribute points, and 10,000,000 exp. He had triggered another quest. The rewards seemed modest given his current strength, so it shouldn''t be too difficult. However, he would have to be cautious¡ªthis battlefield involved Hero-ranked titans. Preparations were complete. A massive battle was about to erupt. Souta, Alice, and Vashno stood on the ground, their gazes fixed on the sky above. Countless figures soared through the air, heading toward one destination¡ªCalm River County. Leading the charge were Hero-rank powerhouses. Below the Gods, they were the strongest warriors in this war. Souta turned to glance at Alice and Vashno, then launched into the air. Swish! The two followed him without hesitation. The atmosphere buzzed with tension and power. Every warrior in the sky was prepared. Ready for war. Soon, Calm River County came into view. At its center stood a titan settlement, shrouded by a glowing barrier¡ªjust like Mountain Rock City. At the front of the formation, Kyveli raised her hand. Everyone halted in midair. Ohm! A pulse of energy rippled through the sky. A middle-aged man appeared before them, floating effortlessly. He had slicked-back red hair and wore robes of red and black. The pressure he exuded was immense¡ªcrushing. The warriors instinctively straightened their backs. Even Kyveli, a Hero of Goddess Athena, gave a respectful nod. Souta narrowed his eyes. "Even the Division Commander is here¡­" he muttered. That''s right. The man who had just appeared was Savas¡ªone of the Six Division Commanders of Athen''s Champion. A Demigod powerhouse. Savas raised his hand. A jade staff materialized in his palm, gleaming with divine energy. A heartbeat later, his power erupted like a volcanic storm. BOOM!! The skies trembled. The sheer force of a Demigod''s presence shook the very air. The moment Savas finished his chant, the sky lit up with divine brilliance. A massive magic circle rotated beneath him, pulsing with divine runes. At the same time, explosive energy surged from all over the Calm River County¡ªdozens of titans responded with their own pressure, glaring across the sky at the invading force. "Oh Goddess, give me your blessing and let me destroy our enemies!!" Savas''s voice thundered across the battlefield like a god''s decree. OHM!! A divine light engulfed everything in sight¡ªsky, land, and warriors alike. [Fallen Barrier]!! A wave of pure energy surged from the magic circle, expanding in every direction like a tidal wave. The barrier protecting the titan settlement trembled as cracks formed across its surface. Crack! Crack! Some of the warriors instinctively closed their eyes, but to their surprise, the light had no effect. Not just them¡ªeven the titans remained unharmed as the radiance washed over them. "What... happened?" Vashno muttered, confusion flickering in his voice. Crack! The barrier surrounding the titan settlement began to fracture, breaking apart into hundreds of shimmering fragments. Bang! "That spell won''t harm anyone," Souta said quietly. "[Fallen Barrier] is a forbidden spell crafted solely to shatter barriers. And this time, it was amplified by the power of a dark-grade artifact¡ª[Boosted Spell]." Chapter 1114 Arvidal "Why didn''t they use it before?" Vashno asked in a low voice. "Not everyone can use [Fallen Barrier]. Only a few people are capable of it, and the Division Commander is one of them. Even those who studied forbidden spells didn''t want to waste time learning the magic circle for [Fallen Barrier]," Souta explained. Naturally, a Division Commander had many responsibilities. They couldn''t easily leave for another battlefield. Moreover, Calm River County was several times larger than Mountain Rock City. The number of titans here was much greater, and their strength significantly higher. Such a technique could only be used in a place like this¡ªanywhere else, it would be a massive loss. Boom!! The entire area shook. The air instantly filled with immense pressure. Figures of titans surged through the air, each one radiating immense strength. Those at the front stood fearlessly before Division Commander Savas, Kyveli, and the other Hero-ranks. Kyveli stepped forward and motioned for Savas to fall back. "Sir Savas, please leave this to me. You need to rest for a while," she said. After casting a powerful forbidden spell with the aid of a dark-grade artifact, Kyveli knew that Savas was somewhat drained. "Thank you," Savas said, closing his eyes as he stepped back. "Kill them all!!" one of the leading titans suddenly roared. In an instant, a wave of titans charged toward the army of warriors. Whoosh!! Kyveli raised her weapon, her energy erupting like a tidal wave. With a powerful swing, she unleashed a massive crescent-shaped energy blade. Bang!! Warriors and titans below Hero-rank were blasted hundreds of meters away. As a Ninth Shackle Realm expert, Kyveli didn''t hold back. Just like that, a fierce battle erupted once more between the titans and the forces of Olympus. And this was only one of many. Across the entirety of Olympus, countless battles raged. Even gods like Zeus and Hades were engaged in combat. Swoosh!! Souta helped Alice and Vashno descend. The sky had become a battlefield for Hero-ranks¡ªthose below that level could do little more than get in the way. Although it was just one Shackle, the gap between the Sixth and Seventh Shackle Realms was immense. "Let''s go find the titan Arvidal," Souta said to Alice and Vashno. He already had Arvidal''s details in mind. The titan would be easy to spot¡ªhe was heavily guarded by others due to his rare skills as both a Formation Master and a Rune Master. With that in mind, Souta, along with Alice and Vashno, rushed toward Calm River County. Swoosh!! ... In a vast mansion, a towering titan¡ªten meters tall¡ªsat on an oversized chair. He wore a grand robe of white and red, his dark green skin stretched taut over bulging veins that pulsed visibly beneath the surface. He was Arvidal. The door burst open as another titan entered the room. "Arvidal! The warriors from Athen''s Champion have launched a full-scale attack on our base! We can''t stay here any longer!" the titan exclaimed. "I know," Arvidal replied calmly, "but we''ll stay a little longer." "But the Mad Giants said you have to leave now..." "No, not yet... I''m still waiting for someone," Arvidal said, shaking his head. In the outside world, titans were often considered part of the giant race. But the titans rejected this notion¡ªthey refused to associate with other races, believing themselves superior to all. This time, however, things were different. The titans were at a disadvantage in this war. And somewhere out there, a group of giants¡ªthe Mad Giants¡ªwere willing to assist them. "The Mad Giants will force you out," the titan warned. "Your skills are too valuable. They won''t just wait¡ªthey''ll come here themselves." "Then let them come. I''ve already prepared a greeting for them," Arvidal said, still calm as ever. Though only at the Fourth Shackle Realm, Arvidal wasn''t as powerful as many other titans. But he had worked relentlessly to master the rare and complex skills he now possessed. He glanced at the titan and asked, "Do you know who started this war?" "Olympus...?" "No," Arvidal replied. "We''re being used. Even our gods have become pawns in this war. The one who freed us all¡ªthe Ruler of Gluttony¡ªis the true source of this chaos." Arvidal closed his eyes. Outside, the ground trembled, and the air boiled with overwhelming energy. He could feel the clash of powerful experts even from here. There was nothing he could do to stop them¡ªhe was merely a Fourth Shackle Realm expert. While that level of strength might be considered impressive elsewhere, here in Olympus, it was only mid-tier. Bang!! The door burst open as several massive figures stepped into the room. Each one had reddish skin, bald heads, and glowing red eyes. "Arvidal! Come with us. Now!" one of the giants ordered, his tone firm and commanding. "You may be here," Arvidal said calmly, "but I''m not going with you." "Wha¡ª?" the titan beside him gasped, stunned by his defiance. Arvidal raised his hand and snapped his fingers. His energy surged as glowing runes ignited across the floor. A massive formation spread throughout the room, extending upward and beyond. Bang!! The ceiling shattered as a field of lightning burst forth, lashing out at the giants. "What are you doing, Arvidal?! Are you trying to break the deal?!" one of the giants roared in fury. He reached out¡ªbut lightning struck him violently, halting his advance. "I never agreed to anything," Arvidal replied coldly. The entire area was now covered in runes, the air humming with raw energy. The formation had taken hold. The giants could no longer approach him so easily. The commotion quickly drew the attention of other titans. Powerful figures, who had been nearby, descended, their eyes fixed on Arvidal''s formation from above. "Arvidal! What are you trying to do in the middle of a war? Can''t you see they''re attacking us?!" one of the titans shouted. Arvidal turned his gaze outward and saw warriors clashing with titans. Battles raged in every direction. "Since you refuse to cooperate, we''ll handle this by force! Don''t think your formation or runes can protect you!" one of the titans bellowed as he descended toward Arvidal. Despite the strength of his runes and formation, Arvidal was still only at the Fourth Shackle Realm. His power was limited, and even the mightiest of runes would falter under such overwhelming force. Arvidal stood alone at the heart of his formation, surrounded by giants and titans. The air crackled with tension, yet he wore his usual calm expression, as if he believed nothing could harm him. And, in that moment, he was right. Swoosh!! "So, here you are, Arvidal..." A voice echoed through the air. The giants and titans turned in unison, their gazes shifting toward the ground. Three figures stood, observing the half-destroyed mansion. Arvidal''s form was visible beneath the rubble. The three figures were Souta, Alice, and Vashno. The commotion caused by Arvidal''s formation couldn''t escape Souta''s notice. Naturally, he had to investigate whether Arvidal was here. And he was right. Souta''s gaze locked onto Arvidal, and he spoke with steady authority, "Arvidal, right? We''re here. Your escort has arrived, so come with us now." His words sent shockwaves through the titans nearby. They turned in disbelief, eyes fixed on Arvidal. "What¡­?!" "Arvidal!! How could you do this?!" "You''ve betrayed us and are working with the enemy!!" In mere moments, the titans'' anger erupted. The realization hit them hard¡ªArvidal had turned against them, colluding with their enemies. Arvidal closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts before reopening them. He turned his gaze to his fellow titans and spoke in a quiet, yet firm tone, "We''re doomed. We can''t continue to live by enslaving other races. We must evolve. In the grand scheme of things, we titans are nothing more than pawns used to hold Olympus back." "You! Traitor!!" One of the titans roared, his fury boiling over. He threw a massive punch at Arvidal. The punch struck the formation, meeting an unexpected resistance. For a brief moment, the formation held¡ªbut it didn''t last. The energy shattered, breaking apart into countless fragments, leaving the titans even more enraged. Bang!! The titan was forced back slightly, but now that the formation had shattered, he threw another punch with even greater force. At the same time, Souta moved, followed closely by Alice and Vashno. In the blink of an eye, the three of them vanished from their positions. A massive wall of blood surged forward, appearing between Arvidal and the titan. The blood barrier held momentarily, blocking the punch and buying Souta a brief moment. As soon as Souta arrived, he drew the vajra sword in a fluid motion and unleashed an energy blade. [Crimson Moon]!! Bang!! The explosion rocked the area, smoke billowing and obscuring everything in its wake. The other titans finally reacted, unleashing their energy with a force that made the air vibrate. The smoke was blown away, revealing Souta, Alice, and Vashno standing beside Arvidal. Souta glanced up at Arvidal''s towering figure and smirked. "Man, you''re huge. Leave this to us. My comrades here will guide you¡ªI''ll handle the rest." "You have my thanks," Arvidal said, giving a slight nod of his head. Souta waved his hand dismissively, a grin spreading across his face. He then shifted his focus to the titans, whose fury was palpable. His gaze lingered on the Mad Giants, calculating their next move. "Giants...? Well, I suppose it''s time for them to join the fray. It can''t be helped," Souta said with a grin. "I''ll have all of you accompany me for a while." He raised his hand, and countless droplets of blood began to float in the air, shimmering with dangerous intent. Chapter 1115 Show of Power "A monster?!" "A mere Fourth Stage monster dares to act so boldly in front of us?!" The titans'' fury surged as they felt the intensity of Souta''s energy. Dozens of them glared at him, eyes cold with killing intent, as if ready to tear him apart on the spot. But the Mad Giants reacted differently. Their brows furrowed as they took in Souta''s unwavering gaze. "A Fourth Stage... This presence feels familiar," one of the giants muttered. "Have you heard of the legend of the Blood Lightning Monster?" another asked, his tone suddenly wary. "You mean..." The giant''s eyes widened as he turned sharply to look at Souta. "It''s probably him. He can control blood, after all..." It was only natural that the titans¡ªrecently unsealed¡ªwere unaware of past events. But for the Mad Giants, stories of the Blood Lightning Monster''s legendary rampage in recent months were impossible to miss, especially around Olympus. Swoosh!! A nearby titan couldn''t hold back any longer and charged straight toward Souta. One of the giants reached out his hand, shouting, "Don''t¡ª!" But it was already too late. A powerful surge of best feram erupted from within Souta, flooding the entire area with overwhelming pressure. The shockwave rippled outward, and the weaker titans instantly plummeted from the sky, unable to withstand the force. Boom!! Everything happened in a flash. The countless droplets of blood suspended in the air sharpened into deadly spears. In the next moment, they shot forward at high speed, streaking toward the titans like a crimson storm of death. As for the titan who had launched an attack at Souta¡ªan explosion erupted, and a moment later, his severed head rolled through the air. The head tumbled several times before landing with a dull thud at the feet of the giant who had reached out moments earlier. "Ugh..." the giant muttered, staring down in disbelief. It was real. This was truly the infamous Blood Lightning Monster. And the head... it belonged to a titan at the Sixth Shackle Realm. All of it had happened in an instant. The weaker titans who had fallen to the ground lay injured, their bodies pierced by blood spears. Some, struck in vital points, had perished instantly. Whoosh!! The smoke began to clear, revealing Souta in his released form. The energy radiating from him now was entirely different¡ªdenser, darker, and far more dangerous. "Weak. Too weak," he said coldly. "Sure, they''re stronger than average warriors... but against a veteran¡ªthis is nothing." His eyes swept across the battlefield, locking onto the stunned expressions of the remaining titans. "There are still thirteen Sixth Shackle Realms, thirty-five Fifth Shackle Realms, and the rest are Fourth Shackle or below... This really is the den of titans," Souta muttered, scanning the battlefield. He glanced down at his sword, feeling the surge of power flowing through his body. His muscles tensed, crackling with energy. He was level 78 now¡ªone level higher than before his seclusion. It reminded him of the time he mastered the Vajra Extremity: another moment of breakthrough, another step into deeper power. Behind him, Arvidal watched in awe. "I''ve heard the stories... but this? This power is far too exaggerated for a Fourth Stage monster!" he said, barely believing his own words. "It''s normal for him," Vashno said to Arvidal, his tone calm. "Don''t overthink it¡ªit won''t make sense anyway." Alice turned back slightly, her expression firm. "Let''s go. Souta will handle all of them." The three of them moved out, and no one dared to stop them. All eyes were locked on Souta, still floating mid-air¡ªan overwhelming presence radiating terrifying energy. Souta slowly turned his head, eyes narrowing. He muttered, "For now... let''s start thinning the herd." The moment Souta spoke, an unexplainable pressure descended upon the weaker titans. They staggered, their strength draining from their limbs like sand slipping through fingers. [Serpent Dominance]!! Souta flicked his fingers. From the ground, shadows surged upward, and from above, blood rained down like crimson blades. The weaker titans didn''t even have time to resist¡ªas shadow and blood intertwined, they were torn apart in an instant. Bang!! Even the Sixth Shackle Realm titans instinctively stepped back. "What just happened?!" "There''s no way this is a fourth stage...!!" It was a scene no one could have imagined. Many had dismissed the legend of the Blood Lightning Monster as exaggerated¡ªan embellished tale. After all, in all recorded history, no fourth-stage monster had ever wielded such overwhelming power. "Ah~" Souta let out a satisfied sigh as he felt his stats rising¡ªhis title [Slayer] was taking effect. A wide grin spread across his face. There was nothing quite like the rush of growing stronger. One by one, he activated his skills. A doppelganger emerged behind him, immediately darting off to follow Alice, Vashno, and Arvidal. They were strong, yes¡ªbut just two warriors. His clone would support them if anyone tried to block their way. "Everything''s set... Now¡ªlet''s get this started!" Souta''s bloodlust surged like a storm unleashed. With a wicked grin, he charged straight toward the Sixth Shackle Realm titans, energy crackling wildly around him. The titans quickly dispersed, spreading out in the sky. Souta opened his palm¡ªcountless webs of blood and energy burst forth like tendrils. Whoosh!! The Sixth Shackle Realm titans darted away, but Souta gave them no time to regroup. With a swift slash through the air, he tore open space itself, allowing his dreamscape to spill into the battlefield. "Dream is reality. Reality is a dream." White smoke surged outward at blinding speed, swallowing everything in its path. It twisted the world around them, blurring the line between illusion and truth. In the distance, Vashno, Alice, and Arvidal paused. They watched as a vast cloud of white smoke consumed the area behind them, knowing exactly what it meant. "Souta''s using his dreamscape... It''ll be over soon," Vashno said, his voice calm but laced with certainty. "Dreamscape..." Arvidal muttered, his gaze lingering on the swirling white smoke. He understood its significance all too well. The three of them continued their advance, staying clear of the other battles raging around them. Their focus was on one thing: escorting Arvidal out of Calm River County. The rest of the war could wait. Boom!! A massive explosion shattered the air nearby. The trio paused, instinctively turning their heads toward the sound, their expressions tense. Sensing the surge of energy, Alice spoke first, "A battle between Sixth Shackle Realm titans." Vashno and Arvidal nodded in agreement, their attention drawn to the clash. Ahead of them, two figures were locked in a fierce battle, their blows shaking the very earth beneath them. The ground churned with the intensity of their fight. "Follow me," Alice ordered, her pace quickening as she veered around the area of battle. As they ran, Alice asked, "What do you know about the titans'' plan?" Arvidal shook his head, his expression grim. "There is no plan. They just want to ravage this land, take it back as their own. If there is one, I''m not important enough to know about it." Alice fell silent at Arvidal''s words. She understood. Despite his talents as a formation and rune master, Arvidal was still a Fourth Shackle Realm expert. His rank wasn''t high enough to be privy to the titans'' true plans. After a moment, she broke the silence. "What about the giants? Why are they here?" Arvidal''s face darkened. "The giants... They wanted to integrate us into their ranks. I''m sure they had another plan, but I don''t know what it is." Vashno, keeping his focus on their escape, added, "There are many things we won''t understand right now. No need to dwell on it." The war between Olympus and the titans had become a tangled web of schemes and plots, each move carefully orchestrated in the shadows. ... Meanwhile, the thick white smoke slowly began to dissipate, revealing Souta standing alone amidst the scattered corpses of fallen titans. He ran his fingers through his hair, a slight frown on his face. "Too weak. These titans believe everyone should bow to them, but they''re far too weak." Of all the Sixth Shackle Realm titans he had slain, none had posed the same challenge as the Elder of Walpurgis Night. With their strength, they wouldn''t stand a chance against the top-tier Sixth Shackle Realm experts he had battled in Selnes Country. Souta''s gaze shifted to the sky, where Hero-ranks were locked in battle. "I''d like to join the fight, but I have a more important mission," he muttered to himself. "Might as well eliminate a few weaklings on the way." His eyes scanned the battlefield. Corpses littered the ground, yet the giants from before were nowhere to be found. "They escaped... They must know who I am." With a swift motion, Souta launched himself into the air, heading in the direction of Alice, Vashno, and Arvidal. Souta knew their location thanks to the doppelgangers he had sent ahead. With a sudden burst, he shot into the air, not bothering to conceal his energy. He made his presence known, loud and clear. He was here, and no one could ignore him. His speed was incredible as he tore through the sky. Some of the fighters nearby couldn''t help but glance in his direction, their attention caught by the overwhelming energy radiating from him. A sea of blood trailed behind him, a testament to the carnage he had left in his wake. Ahead, he saw a battle unfolding¡ªThree Shackle Realm experts clashing in fierce combat. Without hesitation, Souta kicked off the air and surged forward, accelerating his pace. Boom!! In an instant, Souta barreled through the air, crashing directly into the Three Shackle Realm titan. His body, reinforced and incredibly tough, sent the titan exploding into a mist of blood. The titan''s blood floated in the air, joining the ever-growing sea of blood that followed him. Nearby warriors stopped in their tracks, watching in awe. "That''s..." "It''s the Hero-candidate!" "The Blood Lightning Monster!!" "He''s finally here! I haven''t heard his name since the war against the titans started!!" The recognition was immediate. Many had witnessed Souta''s appearance when he received the title of Hero-candidate in front of the Goddess, and the sight of him now only confirmed the rumors that had spread across Olympus. ... After a few more seconds, Souta arrived above Alice, Vashno, and Arvidal. Alice glanced up at him and asked, "You''re done?" "Yeah," Souta nodded, his expression calm. Arvidal observed him for a moment, his thoughts racing. He knew that unlike most titans, who were indifferent to others, Souta had garnered much attention. Tales of the Blood Lightning Monster were widespread, and the more Arvidal witnessed, the more incredible the rumors seemed. ''He''s done already?! There were more than ten Sixth Shackle Realms, and he finished them in just a few minutes... This is even more exaggerated than I thought.'' He couldn''t help but marvel inwardly at the display of power.